In a white room with no doors, two laser-like beams met each other.
One was deep red, not unlike blood, but more dreadful and devious. The other was pale blue, like a colored mist, but more streamlined than its counterpart.
At the point of their contact, a figure began to take shape.
The two beams kept tracing the insides and the outsides of this figure as if it was printing it in solid form. It was certain by then that these beams had a certain blueprint to follow.
Only a moment had passed after the two beams had completed the figure when it exploded with a booming sound. Blood, flesh, and bones splattered around the room, reaching to the corners of the roof.
The two beams died away as the white walls absorbed the filth and soon the room with no doors was empty again.
Four more beams came out of nowhere and made contact with each other. Two red and two blue.
The process of creation had slowed down with the increase in the number of colored beams. But the figure was the same, and unfortunately, so was the result.
The explosion came out at the same time as the last.
More beams came, more blasts shook the room, and more time passed with every turn…
100 years passed, but there was no one to appreciate the efforts of the creator. The numbers of the two different colored beams had risen to over ten thousand combined.
Soon, cracks began originating from the white walls as well. A black slimy liquid came out of the cracks as if the walls were bleeding.
The red room shook, chunks of walls fell into the blood puddle, gathering after each fleshly explosion, along with the slimy black liquid.
Just as the time came for this figure to explode, the beams didn't fade away but went inside this hideous red-black puddle.
With an unseen ferocity, it condensed, forming a nail-sized object in no time.
More solid than a liquid, but not solid enough either.
All the laser beams fumed with exhaustion and pushed the queer object into the figure's chest.
Cracks appeared on the boy's figure, and the time of the explosion had come and gone. The cracks kept appearing and disappearing, and the object embedded in the figure's chest kept losing its size.
The beams could take it no longer and disappeared, with no sign of coming back.
The room had regained its whiteness, but the cracks in its walls stood out.
The price had been paid.
When the object had all but vanished in the boy’s chest, the widening cracks on his body paused. Then they started to close up. The bones mended, the flesh sewed, and fresh skin formed.
When the last crack over his chest was getting closed, a grain-sized thing could be seen churning just right of the figure's heart.
Whatever the object had meant to do, it did it wonderfully and… survived.
Finally, the figure was complete. A wave of freshness filled the room. It was like a sudden gust of wind, which comes and goes as it pleases. It engulfed the figure, filling its lungs, and all the organs, veins, and every other part of the body.
The chest rose and fell.
Once more.
Kai’s eyes snapped open, his pupils narrowing from the sudden whiteness. He had to blink several times to not get overwhelmed by the blinding color.
What is this? Where am I? I… Didn't I die? Questions bombarded Kai's mind.
The moment he realized he could think, his eyes went down to his body. He was shocked. There were no injuries and only a phantom pain squirmed in his chest.
Kai touched his chest, and the last scene of his death came back to him. Suddenly, his mind spun, and he snapped his head left, right, and back. But aside from the white walls, he could find nothing.
He isn't here, Kai told himself. He is dead.
"Hello," Kai could do nothing but say out his thoughts aloud. "Is anyone…"
As if waiting for him to say something, a reply came to him.
…
[[Welcome to the Primordial Tower, Kai Stormborn.]]
…
The voices echoed within the room, for voices they were. Kai could distinctly hear two different voices saying the same sentence. The strange thing was that he didn't find it odd. It seemed perfectly natural for these voices to be together, as if they were meant to be like this.
"Who is this?" Kai shouted, now warily. "Where am I?"
Trust was a word Kai had erased from his mind long ago. He certainly had died. But the condition of his body told a different tale. He had revived, in a condition he could scarcely remember himself to ever in the last two years.
All the more reason to be cautious, Kai told himself. Is it the fabled Resurrection?
Kai waited, remembering what he could about a senseless topic he had never cared about, and the voices replied.
…
[[Kai Stormborn, you have been found worthy to be a Contestant of the Primordial Tower.]]
…
Worthy? Kai already doubted whatever was coming next. He had heard such tones and words many times.
…
[[
The Primordial Tower is a battlefield where Contestants put their lives on the line to use the benefits of the Systems.
It is also the means to gain unmeasurable power and strength.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
In Primordial Tower, either you die a cruel death or get to live and become an overlord.
There are only two paths and it will be YOU who will decide which path to choose.
]]
…
Two paths, Kai wondered if it was really so. But he restrained himself from voicing out his doubts.
"System? Unmeasurable Power? I don't understand any of it," Kai said. The big words sounded cool to him, and the prospects of gaining power which solely belonged to him were mouth-watering. But Kai had learned that every rise in strength comes with a price.
What price will I have to pay this time? Kai remembered his life and asked himself.
As if answering his thoughts, the space in front of him twisted and a hologram appeared. It was an immense tower, more like a spire than a cylinder. It hovered there, rotating on its axis, shining brilliantly in red and blue like an exquisite gemstone.
Kai couldn't take his eyes off it. Something about it made him uneasy, but not in a bad way. The feeling leaned more towards the expectancy than the fear of the unknown.
…
[[
The Primordial Tower has 7 sets of 3 floors each and every 3rd floor is a roadblock filtering out the worthless.
The Contestants of the two Systems battle each other on each floor from time to time.
Contestants can gain Mission Credits for completing a Mission and Attribute Points to increase their strength along with many Skills and Items in the Random Worlds.
If the mission is not completed in the specified time limit, then the Contestant will be judged unworthy.
]]
…
Kai needed not to be told what the voices meant by the word judged.
From the example and the emphasis on the Random World, Kai could tell that the only way to become stronger was to complete the missions. The battle within the tower was nothing but the price for that power.
A world where strong becomes stronger, and weak becomes weaker, Kai thought, his expectancy turning in elation. I like it.
He didn't understand the idea of Random Worlds, and Credits and Attribute Points, but he was sure when it came to killing, he could hold his own no matter where he was to go.
When he was young, Kai had believed knowledge was supreme. Seeing his mother and father, whose face he didn't even remember, surrounded by people with happy faces, he could see himself as a scientist then. But the coming years had brought him to reality.
Those who only seek knowledge will be slaughtered like animals, Kai told himself. What I need now is Absolute Power to serve as the backbone for my knowledge.
Kai looked at the tower, like a precious treasure made only for him, when he noticed something odd.
7 sets of 3 floors each, he counted, but there are 22 floors on it.
Before Kai could ask about the 22nd floor, the voices spoke again.
…
[[
All Contestants are divided among the two Systems of the Primordial Tower.
Now you must choose, to which System you will give the authority to judge you, Kai Stormborn.
Chaos or Order.
]]
…
Chaos or Order, Kai dared not answer.
He had seen Order in his last 2 years of life when his eyes and ears weren't clouded. What looked orderly was actually rotten from within. He had also tasted Chaos, a flavor of blood. One drop in the mouth, and one can forget to ever get rid of that sensation. That taste grew over you, consuming senses and thoughts alike.
Kai wanted no more lifelong enemies. He only had one, and he had already killed him, blasting him to pieces alongside himself.
…
[[
All worlds, imagined or real, consist of both order and chaos.
Order, as the name suggests, assign missions that are in the favor of balance. Chaos prefers imbalance.
The direct battles of the Tower's floors are the manifestation of the indirect struggles within the Random Worlds outside it.
Aside from their inherent nature, both Systems work identically. They don't do favorites, neither do they know mercy.
In the end, those who are unworthy will be judged the same.
]]
…
Balance doesn't mean good or evil, Kai reflected.
He did not care about it either, but the lack of data given by the voices troubled him. He knew there was more to it than what was told to him. I just don't know what to ask.
The voices continued, uncaring of Kai's furrowing brows.
…
[[
Before your first transfer to the Primordial Tower, you must undergo an Initiation Mission.
By selecting one of the two missions that will be given to you, you can submit your choice.
The Initiation Mission is to make you familiarize yourself with your Stats, Abilities, Skills, and general working of future missions. The difficulty setting will be the lowest, and your pain factor will be reduced for free this one time.
If you complete the mission within the time limit, then you will be transferred to the Tower, otherwise, your existence will be erased.
]]
…
Cruel and blunt, Kai noticed. Now it feels more natural.
The towering hologram disappeared, and rows of dull gray-colored words materialized in front of Kai. Kai couldn't tell if the words had appeared in his eyes or in the room's space. Seeing these words, he even doubted if the hologram of the Tower was real or not.
…
[
Mission: Assist Thunder Faction in saving the life of Beedle the Bard
Mission Summary: Mr. Beedle has completed the book which can alter the course of the future.
The book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, is an anthology telling many strange stories. It is written in the runic alphabet and enchanted so that none other than the wizard himself can read and make sense of its contents.
If he were to die before delivering the book in safe hands, the book will very well rot away without revealing its secrets. Because of the power of Magic, Mr. Beedle must hand over the book personally.
The Thunder Faction is tasked to provide a safe passage to the wizard.
Mission Objective: You will be a guard in the unit, where the Captain of the Guard will give you certain tasks which may be counted as part of this mission.
Mission Time Limit: 48 hrs
Mission Grade: E-
Note:
1. A Mission Grade can differ from Contestant to Contestant even if they are in the same Random World.
2. A Contestant’s Mission Grade can differ from the Overall Grade of a Random World
]
…
Kai stared at the sentences, reading them over once.
The mission seemed simple, the details even simpler. But that hadn't made him doubt what he was reading.
Beedle the Bard? The Tales of Beedle the Bard? These words were strange to Kai.
The words in Kai’s eyes faded and a new notification appeared, shining dull gray, but with an unseen ferocity.
…
[
Mission: Kill a Thunder Faction's guard assigned in saving the life of Beedle the Bard
Mission: Assist Thunder Faction in saving the life of Beedle the Bard
Mission Summary: Mr. Beedle has completed the book which can alter the course of the future.
The book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, is an anthology telling many strange stories. It is written in the runic alphabet and enchanted so that none other than the wizard himself can read and make sense of its contents.
If he were to die before delivering the book in safe hands, the book will very well rot away without revealing its secrets. Because of the power of Magic, Mr. Beedle must hand over the book personally.
The Thunder Faction is tasked to provide a safe passage to the wizard.
Mission Objective: You must kill at least one guard assigned personally for the safety of Mr. Beedle to loosen their defense.
Mission Time Limit: 48 hrs
Mission Grade: E-
]
…
This left a bitter taste in Kai's mouth. But there was one more pressing question.
Which one is issued by the Order, and which one by the Chaos?