3 . The Infinite Tower Part : 1

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

TIME: INFINITY

Was he going crazy . Did the shock of death shake his brain to the point that he started hallucinating voices .

But that could not be . If there was one thing he was confident in , it was his brain .

Mika was the only one who understood the level of control he had on his mind so the prospect of someone influencing him was close to impossible .

Or was this Loannis ,was he the one doing this . DID HE SOMEHOW SURVIVE THE EXPLOSION !!! 

That should be impossible . If he had died , the chances of that weakling loannis surviving were zero .

' What is these ? '

[[ THEODOROS MIKAEL GARMADON . YOU HAVE UNFORTUNATELLY MET YOUR UNTIMELY DEATH FROM YOUR EXISTING HOME PLANET . YOUR SOUL IS NOW WONDERING THE INFINITE DARKNESS REFERED TO AS THE NOTHINGNESS ]]

'So whatever was talking to him was definitely not loannis . With the fact that the voice was ' talking' to him in a non mocking voice .

Mika tried to move to look around or at least touch something but it proved to be unsuccessful .

He 'looked' once more at the blue screen in his ' mind ?' more curious about his situation than afraid .

' what do you want ? '

[[OUR PURPOSE IS TO RECRUIT WORTHY BEINGS WHO HAVE DIED FROM THEIR HOME PLANET TO THE INFINITE TOWER TO PARTICIPATE AS CONTESTANTS ]]

' What is The Infinite Tower ?'

[[ THE INFINITE TOWER IS A SEPARATE SUPREME REALM EXISTING WITHIN THE NOTHINGNESS . IT IS A HUB CONECTED TO OTHER LOWER RANDOM WORLDS THAT EXIST OUTSIDE THE NOTHINGNESS ]]

' How is one considered to be a contestant ? '

[[ THE INFINITE TOWER HAS SEVEREAL REQUIREMENTS BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES ARE ONLY TWO . WORTH AND AN INNATE ABILITY .]]

'How does one classify worth and an innate ability ? '

[[ WORTH IS CLASSIFIED USING THE ACCUMULATION OF ALL YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCE FROM YOUR HOME PLANET . IT IS ALSO INFLUENCED BY YOUR INNATE ABILITY AN THE PERIOD YOU CAN MAINTAIN YOU EGO WHILE FLOATING IN THE INFINITE DARK . AN INNATE ABILITY CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS WHAT YOU ARE BEST AT IN SIMPLER TERMS ]]

 It was an interesting way to classify things . Only the true strong would be recruited and then the weak among the ones recruited would act as stepping stones for the strong to grow .

With that he could infer that The Tower was definitely not a kind place . 

' What would you classify your nature as ? '

He felt a shift in the surrounding , as if a change that he was unaware of had occurred , the voice that answered him next seemed different , more ... organic ?

[[ WE ARE NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD , ORDER AND CHAOS CAN NOT EXPLAIN OUR EXISTENCE BUT ARE SIMPLE CONCEPTS THAT ARE BIRTHED FROM OUR VERY ACTIONS . OUR TRUE NATURE IS ONLY POWER !!! ONLY POWER IDENTIFIES OUR VERY BEING AND THROUGH THAT POWER YOU CAN COMPREHEND OUR EXISTENCE !! ]]

'What happens if I refuse your offer ? ' There was once more a shift in the air , a sort of rising tension that resulted from his words .

[[ YOUR VERY BEING WOULD CONTINUE TO DRIFT IN THIS INFINITE DARKNESS FOR AN ETERNITY . THIS WOULD EVENTUALLY LEAD TO YOUR EVENTUAL EXISTENCE ERASURE BY BEING DEVOURED .OR YOUR SLOW FALL TO MADNESS DUE TO MEMORY LOSS UNTILL YOU BECOME A HUSK , LACKING AN ANCHOR TO MAINTAIN YOUR SENSE OF SELF !! ]]

Mika could feel it the underlying threat from the entity . A sudden shudder rushed through him , but he quickly suppressed the feeling .

Irrespective of what form his body was in now , he refused for anyone to usurp the control he had on his being .

' NEVER DO THAT !!! ' He felt the presence disappear from him . Their was a silence that suddenly took over .

It seemed to stretch to an infinite amount of time before refocusing back once again on them . 

' I have one finale question , after which I will give you an answer ... Why are you doing this and ... what the FUCK ARE YOU !!! '

There was silence but both the 'two ' could feel it , the unspoken tension .

The clear tension that the question had brought but Mika felt it differently . It was as if the ' Being ' was waiting for this very moment .

As if a turning point had bee achieved in this whole conversation .

[[ WE ARE THE SUPREME ONE. A HIGHER EXISTENCE WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO PRESIDE OVER THE INFINITE TOWER . WE SCOUR THE INFINITE DARK IN SEARCH OF WORTHY CONTESTANT , OUR GOAL IN DOING ALL THIS ... ENTERTAINMENT AND EVOLUTION !!!! ]]

The being spoke it's voice booming outwards in a chorus of multiple voices that seemed to join together to one loud ' sound ' .

He felt like that was the truest answer the being would give him. Anything else would probably be a lie or a half truth .

Now with all the information he had been given , a decision was to be made .

He could either refuse and drift eternally in this infinite dark place or he could accept and perhaps go to the infinite tower as the being was saying .

The answer was obvious but , he could feel it .

At some point , the being had lied in whatever it was saying . A very minute detail it said was deceitful , he could feel it in his gut . but whether the being was lying or not it would not help his current situation . 

Thinking it through, if he accepted , he would be avoiding existence erasure and the being would also acquire it's so called 'entertainment and evolution ' ,they would both benefit from that scenario .

But , if he denied , only he would suffer the lose . . .

it suddenly clicked . YES, what exactly would the being lose from his denial ?

'What happens to you  when I refuse ? ' This was the question he should have asked from the go . It would have would shown him the level of importance the being had in recruiting him .

But the answer never came .

The silence persisted for a while and he realized he would not be given an answer . But , silence in itself was an answer .

' Truly interesting .'

It showed the being had also something to lose on his refusal but was it so .

Would he take that chance . There was no more hesitation in his mind , the answer was clear from the very start .

' I ACCEPT !! ' 

And that was it , it felt as if a certain presence had marked him with his agreement and then suddenly out of know where .

' There was light ', an all encompassing bright light that seemed to cover everything in his surrounding but weirdly , he felt comforted , he felt ' GOOD ' .

The light finally receded and he could ' see' . The darkness that had covered him had been pushed back encircling him a couple of steps away but far enough to be visible .

It was like a tar like substance that bubbled and popped trying to bypass the presence encircling him .

Mika looked on at the infinite dark in admiration and spotted countless tiny twinkling dots further away from where he was .

Were they also like him , souls drifting in this unknown realm , he would not know .But he felt it again , as if he had touched on a mystery with his earlier thought but it once again disappeared.

[[ CONTESTANT THEODOROS MIKAEL GARMADON ,WELCOME TO THE INFINITE TOWER !!! ]]

[[ PLEASE WAIT FOR A MOMENT AS WE COMPILE YOUR DATA .... WAITING .....WAITING....WAITING..IDENTIFIED ]

[[ LOCATING INNATE ABILITY ... SEARCHING ...SEARCHIN ... IDENTIFIED ]]

[[ INNATE ABILITY : SUPREME BODY CONTROLL FOUND . SEARCHING FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ]]

[[ DECRIPTION : THE USER POSSESSES SUPREME CONTROL OF THE BODY . .....ERROR .....ERROR . FURTHER INFORMATION HAS BEEN UNFOUND ]]

[[ COMPILING PHYSICAL STATISTICS OF FORMER BODY ... LOADING ... LOADING ... COMPLETE . STATUS SHEET COMPILED BELOW ]] 

[[ 

STASUS OF CONTESTANT : THEODOROS MIKAEL GARMADON

CODE NAME : NOT SET 

AUTHORITY : NONE 

TITLE : NONE

INNATE ABILITY : SUPREME BODY CONTROL ( UNCLASSIFIABLE )

HEALTH POINTS (HP) : 180

MANA POINTS (MP) : 50

SOUL POINTS (SP) : 200

ACTIVE ATTRIBUTES -

STRENGTH : 13 (20)

AGILITY : 14 (20)

PHYSIQUE : 16 (20)

INTELLIGENCE : 10

BREADTH : 25

PASSIVE ATTRIBUTES -

CHARISMA : 20

LUCK :22

PERCEPTION :18

WORTH :120

ABILITIES -

1 ELEMENTARY MARTIAL ARTIST [ PROFICIENCY 76% ]

2 ELEMENTARY WEAPON MASTER [ PROFICIENCY 44% ]

3 ELEMENTARY INVENTOR [PROFICIENCY 99% ]

SKILLS - 

1 AUGMENTATION : [ DERIVED FROM YOUR INNATE ABILITY . IT ALLOWS ONE TO ENHANCE THE BODY CAPABILITIES UP TO A MAXIMUM OF 50% PAST THE BODIES LIMIT . SUBSKILLS SUCH AS HARDENING , EAGLE EYE , OVERCLOCK , INTENT ETC MAY COME ABOUT FROM THE USE OF THIS SKILL . THE SKILL INCRESES THE CHANCES OF TRUE AND CRUSHING DAMAGE OCCURING . WARNING !!! THE USE OF THE SKILL PAST 50% WILL CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE BODY ]

2 P. M .S PUNCH :[ AN ALMOST PERFECT PUNCH COPIED FROM PEACOCK MANTIS SHRIMP THAT DERIVES 100% OF THE BODY CAPABILITIES . WARNING !!! DUE TO THE LACK OF PREVIOUS CYBERNETIC ENHANCEMENTS THE USE OF THIS PUNCH HAS 100% CHANCE OF TURNING THE ARM THAT IT IS USED ON CRIPPLED AFTER 5 PUNCHES . THE PUNCH CAUSES CRUSHING AND TRUE AT ONCE THAT SHAVES OF A MAX OF 10% OF HEALTH FROM AN ENEMY WITH A

SUBSEQUENT INCREASE OF 3% FOR EVERY FOLLOWING PUNCH ] 

ITEMS : NONE 

]]

A/N : [ I WILL NOT BE EXPLAINING ANY SKILL TWICE . ONLY UNDER SPECIAL OCCASIONS BUT I WILL POST THEM ON THE AUXILIARY CHAPTER ].

[I need to explain some things before I continue this book

1 normal contestants normally have their stats at a range of 9-11

2 the Mc had previouse values reaching above 20 but with the removal of the cybernetic he had the values have dropped

3 the values that have been bracketed are the ones the Mc can achieve when he uses his skill augmentation safely. He can exceed it but it would cause more harm than good

4 passive attributes can only be increased by use of equipment or under special occurences while active ones require points

]

And that is the end of this chapter . Peace out

If you like my work , support me on ko-fi at https://ko-fi.com/prof_nuclear