Chapter 2: New Beginnings

There was an eerie silence the minute the baby executed 6 people. There were around 44 people left, and everyone picked up quickly and easily what they had to do to ask a question - and that is to raise your hand.

Someone in authority likes to be respected, and especially in this case, someone who can wilfully kill - they can command that respect. And this baby did it within seconds.

Lucas, who was quite obviously intimidated just like everyone else raised his hand, although he was visibly shaking. The baby nodded at him. Lucas gulped and spoke.

"What is the Levelling Tower?". Lucas felt like it was important to understand what the point of these people being here was, and find out how to leave later.

"A great question young sir! Essentially - it is to level by killing monsters and going up through the tower! The amount of floors are unknown, however the difficulty is known which is Extreme!". The young baby laughed whilst flying around trying to gauge everyone's expressions.

Horrified. Faces had pure horror on them whilst following the baby with their beady eyes.

"Since you asked a good question, I will expand my answer. These floors open every 24 hours, however only 5 people can go in at a time. Everyone who is alive needs to at least clear the floor once. Every floor is repeatable. You have a week until you have to have completed it by - if not, the people who have not completed it will die. You also gain gems, these can be used to build things like a Training Hall, Alchemist, Magic Tower. You'll get it eventually".

Lucas was deep in thought. He was lost, and honestly scared. Fighting? Monsters? He was a primary school teacher for Gods sake, the most he had to do was split up 8 year olds from fighting each other. This whole thing felt like a game.

Because this whole thing reminded him of a video game, he thought of a status window which one would find in a fantasy game, and something shocked him.

Name: Lucas

Class: Unattained

Level: 0

Inherited Skills: Spirit Arrows - F

Class Skills:

Strength: 2

Dexterity: 7

Magic Power: 10

*Spirit Arrows – Able to create mana arrows. Able to embed an element.

Lucas was shocked. Spirit Arrows? F? He connected the dots quite quickly and was shocked. F? The skill is ranked F? Doesn't that mean it's quite bad? Lucas spiralled for a good 30 seconds, meanwhile Aine and Gray had also figured it out too.

Name: Aine

Class: Unattained

Level: 0

Inherited Skills: Enchanted Seedling - D

Class Skills:

Strength: 4

Dexterity: 4

Magic Power: 9

*Enchanted Seedling – Link together with a seedling of your choice (can select any plant), it will grow alongside and change the outcome of your skillsets and class.

Despite the situation they were currently in, Aine found happiness and was quite content with her ability. She already had a few ideas floating around her mind the minute she saw the description.

Name: Gray

Class: Unattained

Level: 0

Inherited Skills: Heightened Sense - F

Class Skills:

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 10 (+5)

Magic Power: 1

*Heightened Sense – when in battle, passively increases reaction speed and +5 dexterity.

Gray hadn't been really bothered by this, he was still too worried about the situation entirely, and took this to heart unlike Aine.

There were 3 minutes left and Aine rose her hand.

"What does the letter signify next to our skill? And what is the difference between Class Skills and Inherited Skills?". Although Aine didn't show it, she was indeed nervous.

The baby wasn't exactly taken aback, however he did show signs of being a tad shocked. "Well that is another great question! The letter signifies the rank of you ability, however do not fret! Every ability has a chance to evolve after meeting conditions - and those conditions open up when you gain a class at Level 5. Inherited Skills are skills in which are to do with your personality, hobbies, or even talents that you're not aware of, whereas class skills are abilities that come from your class".

"With that, I think I've answered enough questions, good luck to you all!".

Without any hesitation, the baby whirled everyone away.

They ended up being transported to the middle of their town. Surrounded by nothing but dorms. To their left, their was an observatory, to their right, there was a small looking training hall, behind them was an armoury, and in front of them was a blue screen saying 'Enter: Floor 1' with what looks like a portal behind it.

Lucas, Aine and Gray instantly found eachother and decided on what their next plan of action was.

To them, they needed to find weapons, and where else should they go other than the armoury? They did a full 180 and looked at the small store that had 'Armoury' in big letters. As they walked in, they were get a free wooden weapon, and currently they had no idea how to get more than that. Lucas went for the bow almost instantly, as he felt like this would resonate with his ability, aswell as picking up a quiver and wooden arrows.

Aine went straight for a long wooden pole. She had no idea what to do with it, but she needed something. Whereas Gray went with what was familiar, that being a rapier as it resembled something like a fencing sword.

The siblings had no idea how long they had until they had to go in, so unfortunately they bit the bullet and was about to enter. Until they were stopped.

"Wait! Let me come with you!". A large built man with a spear ran behind them. Waving his spear in the air. He had a 1 star above his head, just like the siblings and everyone else who was here.

Lucas looked in shock. They didn't expect someone to run after them, let alone join them.

Lucas looked him up and down. "What inherited ability do you have?".

Josh's eyes shone. "I have spear aura! If my weapon is a spear, I can cover it in spear energy which makes the weapon more sharp! It's ranked F". Josh spared no details.

Lucas nodded. "Alright then, I am Lucas, an Archer, and the other two are undecided at the moment in time. They're named Aine and Gray though". Lucas gave him a brief of what their party consisted of.

"I'm Josh! I hope we get along!". Josh smiled as they all walked in together.

However, the three siblings didn't realise that this would be the last thing he said.

The moment they entered the portal, they were shocked by the message "Subjugation! Hunt 50 Goblins!".

Almost comically timed, Josh had a spear straight through his skull as they all finished reading. Blood spurted all over Gray and Lucas.

They all looked at the direction the dagger was thrown, and they could see around 10 goblins with a Level 5 above their heads. All three of them freaked out, however they couldn't run. They know they couldn't. Lucas rose his bow, and just like a natural, used his skill 'Spirit Arrow', almost like he has used it all his life.

Just like that, Lucas commanded Gray and Aine to stand infront of him in a triangle form.

"Guys, don't be scared! We can do this!". Despite his encouraging words. Lucas had no idea what to expect. He had no idea if they could do this. He was just as scared. Just like everyone else, except they had done something about it.

Without thinking, Aine clicked on her skill as soon as she did, a long list of plants came up. She scrolled through and instantly clicked on the 'Chinese Wisteria'. This was an invasive plant that was beautiful and had a lovely pale violet colour, however, this was an invasive species due to the growth of speed, aswell as having strong vines.

Instantly, Aine had a small Wisteria growing from her head, and her roots have changed to a pale violet colour.

"Due to picking Chinese Wisteria, you have gained the skill Wisteria Glow - F'. Aine's skill window now looked like this.

Name: Aine

Class: Unattained

Level: 0

Inherited Skills: Enchanted Wisteria (Level 0) - D, Wisteria Glow - F.

Class Skills:

Strength: 4

Dexterity: 4

Magic Power: 9

*Enchanted Wisteria – Linked to the Chinese Wisteria, you level up along with your plant and grow with it.

*Wisteria Glow - Whenever activated, the surrounding allies gain +5 Strength, aswell as slowly healing small wounds. Actively takes away mana when activated.

"Wisteria Glow!". Aine went through a transformation within a few seconds, her hair got longer and her roots went violet. She instantly understood her skill and activated it instantly.

The 10 goblins charged at them, however Lucas shot at one, aiming straight at its head.

Lucas cracked a smile as he heard Aine say bullseye, however there was no time to dawdle, there were still 9 left.

However this time, Gray made the first move. It was the first time he activated his skill, however it activated passively, so he gained +5 Dexterity, and his eyes glowed, and the goblins seemed to slow down in front of him. Along with +5 Strength, these goblins proved to be paper in front of Gray. He jabbed straight into the goblin, aiming for its belly, and instantly pulled out and pierced its head. This happened in a few seconds. Gray had never felt more alive, it felt like fencing all over again. However, he knew not to stray far away from Aine and Lucas.

Aine kept supporting Lucas's targets. Lucas would take aim and fire into a goblins eye, and Aina would finish it off by using her long wooden pole and would pierce straight into its belly.

The siblings were filled with adrenaline, despite Gray receiving a scratch here and there, it would almost disappear because of Aines ability.

The goblins were chopped down to three left. Unfortunately, Gray's eyes were hurting, and he had deactivate his ability, however he wasn't tired. Same with all three of the siblings except Aine. She was heaving and had to deactivate Wisteria Glow, she didn't realise how much mana it took. She barely understood what mana even was and she knew it was scarce.

The last was taken down by Gray and Lucas, and the siblings could finally breathe.

All of them levelled up twice, and they felt rejuvenated. However mentally, they felt exhausted. This was a completely new experience. All of the siblings could smell something pungent. They looked behind them and saw Josh, having a random spasm here and there, with his brain on show for everyone to see.

This was their reality now. They had to adjust, and as soon as possible for survival.