I pressed the trigger without hesitation. The gunshot rang out across the room, startling the people around me. Toji flinched, and I realized he'd stayed behind me as the guide approached.

When the surprise cleared, the Minion was unharmed.

Minion Z pointed at his undamaged forehead. “Vitality.”

The guide reached out and grabbed the gun, and the metal let out a terrified shriek, then clattered to the ground, warped and twisted. Minion Z had crushed the steel frame with his bare hands.

“Strength,” he said. “That was a good shot. But these weapons of this level aren't capable of harming denizens of the higher floors of the Towers.”

I picked up the remains of the gun, wondering if it would fire again. The imprint of five fingers on the barrel told me that wouldn't be possible.

The guide once again flew into the air, his tiny wings carrying him despite his weight and their small size.

“How is that possible?” Victoria asked from the side. She and her followers were staring at the crushed gun in horror.

Her eyes shifted toward Rodney’s corpse. The man had died in vain. His gun wouldn't have worked even if he’d fired it.

“I have leveled up, and each one I gained solidified my existence further,” Minion Z said. “Each level up will give you stats to dispense, until even you can face this weapon without flinching.”

“So it is like a game,” Toji whispered beside me.

I shook my head. “You don't die in a game, kid.”

Victoria stepped forward, and all eyes turned toward her.

“So, you…leveled up,” Victoria’s confusion at the term was obvious. “But god wouldn't have given us these weapons without a chance to fight back. Do items have stats too?”

“You almost had the answer. Instead of stats, items use essence to strengthen their existence,” the guide explained. “This essence determines the rarity of an item. Obviously, the higher the essence an item can contain, the better the rarity.”

Minion Z raised his hand and the staff within it glowed.

“This is a rare staff. Quite a quality item, if I do say so myself. But what does that mean, hmm?” The guide asked.

After a moment, we realized he wasn't pausing for dramatic tension. He was genuinely asking us.

When nobody replied, Minion Z tutted. “The Towers do not add useless things. Remember that. Despite their name, rarities are not there to tell you how rare an item is. They are there to tell you how powerful an item’s existence can become once its essence has been refined.”

He waved his staff and the people around me flinched. A shadow moved out from beside me, and I saw Toji staring at the item in wonder, and then looking down at the console in his hands.

Several other people were doing the same, with several eyes going to Victoria’s shield. The only exception was Norwood, who looked straight ahead.

When he caught me staring, he nodded at me, and I turned away. I hadn't seen Norwood’s item yet. Had he thrown it away?

“Yes, yes, you were all given common items to start with, very impressive,” Minion Z’s sarcasm was strangely human. “As I said, each item has essence, but just having it isn't enough. For a denizen’s existence to be strengthened, stats need to be allocated, and for items, their essence needs to be refined. Each tier you unlock is a refining of that essence. Requirements to reach the next tier aren’t generated randomly. They are the actions that solidify the purpose of an item and allow it to grow.”

“So, the higher the tier, the better our weapon?” Norwood asked, his voice sharp. “What if I were to reach the next tier, would I then hit the limit and be forced to find a new item? Or would it be enough to harm you?”

The boldness of his question drew looks, but everyone was curious to know the answer. I leaned forward, curiosity lighting up like a fuse within me.

“A tier 0 weapon is as fragile as paper compared to me. Even if it was filled with refined essence, it would never match me,” Minion Z smiled. “Common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary. Those apply for both skills and items. Each level of rarity determines how high a skill can rank up in tiers. Each new tier grants a different passive effect. Those who succeed in life are the ones that obtain a high rarity skill, and then rank it up to obtain its passive effects.

Common rarity skills and items can only reach tier 2. When fully ranked, a common skill will give you three passive effects. This may sound impressive at first, but uncommon skills can reach rank 3. And rare skills can reach tier 6. Epic skills can reach tier 8, and are limited to those who will leave their mark on the Towers.”

“What about legendary skills?” I asked.

Minion Z titled his head, his three-eyed gaze falling onto me. “You don't have to worry about those.”

His tone was chilling, and yet he stated it like a matter of fact.

Then the guide turned to the group and clapped his hands together. “Ah, I see your eyes shining now. Some of you have realized the implications. Yes, yes. Should you level up your existence and rank up your skills and items, then you too will be able to withstand bullets and crush metal barehanded. But do not think the Tower so generous, or existence so easy.”

I turned around and saw that Minion Z was right. Horror and fear had permeated the room seconds before, but it was replaced by curiosity and greed.

Several people even had a ghost of a smile on their faces, and their eyes were gazing into the distance as they imagined themselves to be tough and powerful. It was a fanciful image to escape into, but I refused to fall into that trap. People had been dying left and right, and I wasn't going to be one of them because I’d spent my time daydreaming about being stronger.

“Now then, enough about the items. Let's talk about all of you. I stated before that skills are an expansion of your being, and stats are the solidification of it. These go hand in hand. Should you earn too many skills or increase your number of passives past your limits, well,” Minion Z paused, pondering his next sentence. “At first you won't feel a thing, then, as your existence begins to break, you will go…strange. The lucky ones die. The unlucky ones live, no matter how much they beg and plead. We call this phenomenon dispersal.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Good god,” Victoria’s voice was hushed. “Our souls. He's talking about our souls. Leveling is strengthening them. It's the key to our salvation.”

“Stats are how we avoid dispersal?” Toji asked. “Like, the more we have, the more passives we can handle?”

“Indeed,” Minion Z nodded. “There is a hard and fast rule. Every twenty five stats you solidify your existence enough to handle a new skill or passive. That limit forces some hard choices. Some denizens choose to unlock multiple passives on one skill by raising their skill tier. The others choose to unlock multiple skills without raising their tier. Only you can decide what's best for you.”

Several people whispered when they heard his words, each of them saying the same thing.

“Status screen,” I said.

Status screen:

Name: Ben.

Tower: Unassigned

Floor: 1 (in progress).

Class: N/A.

Mana: 1

Vitality: 11

Intelligence: 6

Wisdom: 8

Stamina: 14

Dexterity: 13

Available stats to assign: 0

Skill list:

Crafting (Legendary): Tier 0

Inventory:

Essence stones(F-rank): x100

Constellation-touched metal: x3 ingots.

The scrap metal I’d taken from the interview with He Who Hammers The Cosmos had automatically sorted itself into ingots

Interesting.

The moment I opened my status screen, a series of blue boxes appeared, their text crowding my vision as they vied for my attention.

[Congratulations! You have met the requirements to unlock your tier 0 passive for the skill: Crafting(legendary).]

[Congratulations! Your new passive has been unlocked!]

The messages blinked away once I'd read them, and a new screen appeared. This one was familiar, though slightly changed.

Crafting(legendary): From the humblest of blacksmiths to the greatest of Stars, all who follow the path of the craftsman must wield this skill to succeed.

Tier 0: Unlocked. As a reward for simply having this skill, all basic crafting knowledge instinctively comes to you when you wield a crafting tool.

Tier 0 passive: Unlocked. Level up by crafting items. This passive applies in all stages of a trial.

Tier 1: Unlockable. Requirements met: 1/4. You must craft four different items.

Tier 1 passive: Locked.

I stared at the change.

[Tier 0 passive: Level up by crafting items. This passive applies in all stages of a trial.]

What did that mean?

We'd just learnt about levels and stats, but the part about the passive applying in all stages of a trial was a mystery. I needed to know more about how it worked.

No.

First, I had to check my stats.

Counting them, I had a combined 52 stats, or 53 if mana counted as a stat. That meant that I could have two different skills or passives.

So far, I had one skill unlocked and one passive unlocked. I was just on the edge of going ‘strange’ as the guide put it.

Except that wasn’t quite true.

I'd unlocked another passive, but it belonged to my hammer, not my [Crafting] skill. Which meant I should have been over the limit. But I didn't feel any different.

I gripped the hammer in my hand. “Weapon passives don't count toward dispersal, do they?”

“All items passives do not,” Minion Z confirmed. “Which is why a good item is sought after by all in the Towers.”

“It seems to me that leveling is better,” I said. “How do we do that?”

My fingers gripped my hammer tightly, and Toji looked at me in concern. My question was partially motivated by the lack of stats I had. Right now, all I'd received was a useless passive from a useless skill.

In other words, I had no more room to grow.

“Act,” Minion Z stated. “And live. When you finish a floor your actions will be measured, and experience gifted to you based on them. Though there are also safe zones, which allow you to level by stating the word ‘safe zone screen’ and selecting the level up option.”

Several people frowned. We'd all gone into a safe zone after entering the Towers, but we hadn't been told any of this when it could have helped us. Instead, we'd been forced to suffer.

Wait.

“So,” I tried to keep my tone measured. “We can only level in the final stage of a trial?”

Minion Z’s eyes glimmered, “that's exactly how I'd put it.”

I tapped the air, and with just a thought my status screen appeared. I cycled through it until I reached my newly gained passive.

[Tier 0 passive: Level up by crafting items. This passive applies in all stages of a trial.]

‘All stages of a trial'.

That wording gave me an inkling of what the skill passive did. But if that was the case, then it was incredible. At least, it could be, with more information.

Nobody noticed the smile that crossed my lips. Not even Toji. They were all too busy watching the guide and asking their own questions.

“Which stat is the best one to focus on?” Norwood asked. His eyes had lost their anger, and he gazed up at Minion Z with a calm expression.

“That depends on the trials you take. Puzzles, battles, speed, wisdom, magic, challenges, strength, emotions, and Stars. These are the seven types of trials,” the guide explained. “This trial is a puzzle trial, aided by intelligence and wisdom. But other types of trials require different stats, or the aid of others and items should you lack these stats. That's why stat specialization is rarely seen in the Towers and leads to death more often than not.”

The smiles starting to form were wiped out by the guide’s words. The biggest issue with leveling was clear to everyone. They wouldn't be able to do it until they'd finished the trial, which meant they couldn't adapt to the issue at hand.

“So, it is safe to say I have passed this trial,” Norwood smiled. “For I had the greatest intelligence.”

“You thought your stat measuring was the trial?” Minion Z paused, and then he laughed. The sound came out as a sharp cackle. “No, that was the explanation. Your trial is coming now.”

Norwood’s expression slipped, but before he or any of us could react, Minion Z snapped his fingers, and a mighty groan filled the air.

The floor underneath me rumbled, and the walls blurred as my body shook. Toji clasped my side, his eyes shifting wildly from side to side, and I raised my hammer warily.

Would more Tower denizens come out? I hadn't been sober for the last ones, but the corpses looked like they'd belonged to creatures that would shred through our trembling group with ease.

“Your tutorial trial will be simple,” Minion Z’s voice broke through the cacophony of noise and movement. “Remember to pay attention to the Rule.”

The guide's voice was accompanied by a flurry of movement from the fountain in the center of the room. The statue of children in the center cracked, and then shattered as a whirlwind of water spouted out and filled the room.

Each wave twisted and churned unnaturally, the liquid forming massive hands. They had five fingers and looked oddly human, flying toward us and pushing our bodies, funneling everybody into the four sides of the room.

Their might was too much to fight, so I blocked Toji’s body with my own, and we were swept into one side of the room.

[The tutorial trial has begun. Good luck.]