Floor Zero

"What do you mea-" before I could finish asking my question, I felt an enormous presence behind me.

"Leave us!" the being behind me said. Haldon bowed and then teleported away.

"Nox Mill! Nice to meet you," said the being behind me. Mustering all my strength, I turned back.

A huge man who was around seven feet and had a bulky, fit physique stood behind me. He wore a brown shirt that was too small for him and displayed all his giant muscles. Black joggers could also be seen on him.

The man's hair came down to his neck. But his face was covered with a black mask.

The mask was a strange one. It had numerous beautiful engravings and two horns protruding from its upper corners. Although the mask covered his entire face except his mouth and chin, it didn't have any holes for the eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked. Although his presence was immense, I felt I could ask him any question. It was a strange feeling of comfort.

"The tutorial's administrator. You can just call me 'J' if you like, or just call me admin," replied the giant of a man.

"Why wasn't I teleported with the others?" I inquired.

"Well, there is a reward for every achievement in the Tower. I am here to give you the reward," he replied.

Why was he here personally to reward me? From what I have noticed till now, he seems to be the highest authority in the tutorial.

"Couldn't the system give me the reward? Why are you here?" I asked.

"Well, that's just how the tower works," he said, smiling.

"So, how is Luke?" he suddenly asked.

What! How did he even know about Luke? Did he know Luke before?

"Wh-what?" I managed to get out amidst my confusion.

At hearing my question, the admin blurted out laughing. Finally, after a minute or two of laughter, the man calmed down.

"You… Who do you even think I am? Did you think that I would not notice one of the librarians? You dumb kid, I have been around since the second Tower Lord. How many Librarians do you think I have seen in my lifetime!" replied the giant man, laughing loudly, "But among all the Librarians I have witnessed in my lifetime, there were none like him."

It seems I forgot that I knew nothing about the Tower, its people, or how it works.

"Well, you are still in the tutorial, so I doubt that he will meet you yet. Or maybe you two already did. Well anyways, tell him J said hi the next time you meet," said the man.

He stood still for a moment, maybe deep in thought, then suddenly shouted, "Ah yes! Before I give you the reward. Might as well give you some advice!"

"Advice?" I asked.

"You need to be careful. The Tower Lord has summoned all the Divina and high rankers to discuss an important matter,"

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked. What did the Tower Lord's meeting with other powerful figures have to do with me?

"Well, it so happens that the topic that they plan to discuss is... you," he replied.

"Wh-What!" I unintentionally shouted. Why did those powerful beings want to discuss me?!

"Well, not 'you' in particular, but the impact you will have on his seal," he replied.

"Do you mean, Luke's seal?" The words seemed to flow out of my mouth unintentionally.

The administrator sighed heavily before saying, "Well, I guess there is a lot left for you to know. Anyways, my main point was that you need to be careful of everything and everybody. I guess I might as well give you the reward instead of blabbering on and on."

He snapped his fingers, and, the next moment, a giant wheel appeared beside him. It looked like a wheel of fortune.

Many slots were engraved on it, but all of them were covered. Some slots were leaner, while some others were a bit wider. An arrow was at the corner of the wheel.

"Spin the wheel," ordered J.

Without thinking too much, I spun the wheel with full force. The wheel kept spinning, and after around two minutes, it finally stopped.

The arrow pointed towards a lean slot. The covering on the slot disappeared. The giant man seemed a little surprised but just smirked.

"Seems like the Tower favours you a lot," the man said.

[Congratulations on unlocking the privilege to access the Store!]

"Normally, you can access the Store only after you reach a certain level. Use it wisely," the man said as he snapped his fingers again.

Wait! What did the stor-

Suddenly, everything around me became dark, like I had been thrown into an abyss. I lost sensation in all my senses. It felt as if I was falling, but at the same time, it felt as if I was standing completely still.

After what seemed like a few minutes, I opened my eyes again. I was in what seemed like a huge clearing behind a forest. Above me were two moons and myriad stars. Was it already night?

[Congratulations on entering the Tower!]

[Arcane has increased by 1]

I surveyed my surroundings only to find myself alone. It looked like I was late, and everyone had already gone away.

In front of me was a path. A huge gate surrounded by walls could be seen at its end. Was this the city Haldon had told us about? The path was wide enough for a mid-sized truck to move through it effortlessly. It was surrounded by trees on either side.

I was around eight kilometres away from the city entrance. Not wasting any more time, I started my walk towards it.

On reaching the halfway point, I stopped. Rustling and movement could be heard from inside the forest.

"Looks like a sheep got lost," said a man as he came out of the forest. He wore a black cloak and carried a short sword.

"A new group came in not too long ago, he may be part of that," said a woman who had appeared beside the man.

"Looking at his tattered clothes, it seems that he has some experience fighting," pointed out another man crouching on top of a tree branch.

"So what? At most he might have killed a wolf or two," replied the man who had spoken first.

All of them were covered in dark cloaks. The woman had a sword, while the man on top of the tree used a bow.

"Get to the point already, you guys! Hey, you! Give us all and anything you have!" shouted a voice from behind me. A huge man who was around six feet and had a bulky physique had come out of the forest behind me.

"But Dan, he probably just came out of the tutorial, what do you even expect him to have?" asked the woman.

"Anything is fine. If he has nothing, we can always sell him as a slave. The rich love having slaves," replied the man who had come from behind me.

He seemed to be their leader. Their leader didn't wear a black cloak but was covered in chainmail armour and carried a huge sword.

Should I fight them? Or should I wait for them to make the first move? Normally, I wouldn't doubt my ability to take out people like this, but in the Tower, things were different. They might have skills that I don't even know about.

Still, making the first move is better than waiting in a situation like this.

"Just when I thought I could go home after working all day, someone like him had to come around," said the man sitting on the branch in a melancholic tone.

"We still need to deliver this month's gold to the boss tonight. Let's get this over with quick," the woman said.

He readied his bow, and the others readied their weapons as well.

"You are at death's door, kid. How do you feel?" asked the man with the short sword.

"It makes me sad that you guys didn't even ask my name!" I replied. The goons were slightly taken aback by my response.

Saying something the other never expected to hear is always one of the best ways to make them drop their guard, if even for a moment.

Dash!

Anatomical Liberation!

Not wasting even a moment, I sprinted towards the tree where the bowman was. Using a low-lying branch, I propelled myself upward and appeared behind the bowman. I thrust the hilt of my dagger into his throat, knocking him out without even giving him a chance to scream.

8 seconds left until Dash finishes.

Concentrating arcane at my leg, I launched myself towards the man with the shortsword.

"WHA-" Before the man could finish his sentence, I already kicked his neck, knocking him out.

6 seconds left.

"Superior senses!" shouted the woman. Was it a skill?

I darted towards her and tried to pierce her heart with my dagger. Unfortunately, she managed to parry my dagger with her sword. She twisted her entire body and tried slashing at my hand.

Fortunately, using my skill, I was able to dislocate my elbow and grab hold of her wrist. She seemed to be taken aback by my sudden dislocated elbow. Using this to my advantage, I spun my entire body while grabbing her wrist and kicked her on the side of her face, knocking her out.

Although killing was necessary sometimes, it was still wrong to kill unnecessarily.

2 seconds left.

I concentrated arcane at my feet and launched myself at the team leader of the goons. Aiming for his neck, I thrust my dagger forward. Blocking my attack with the hilt of his sword, the goon tried to punch me with his other hand.

Fortunately, I had already jumped back.

Dash had ended.

"Just who are you?" queried the goon with a signature frown of malignancy.

I remained silent, assessing him carefully. In the middle of his armour lay an embellished insignia; it depicted the pointed fangs of a reptilian creature, most probably a snake.

"How dare you defeat my team! But, haha, they're weaklings anyway: catch my blade if you can!" the giant man roared ferociously before gripping his sword with both hands and charging with an ululating warcry: "F-F-FLAME Sword!"

I watched his huge sword ignite, flamboyantly burning the darkness with its scarlet embers!

Well, looks like things just got a lot more interesting.