I spend the weekend the same way I spent the week before school started, sparring with Tila, eating with her, Thomas, Nali, and Noah who is Thomas's fiancé.
When Monday rolled around you could feel the buzzing of all those who passed the requirements to enter the tower while the wailing and complaining of those who didn't, the tower is a safe place to get experience without dungeons and you are revived if you die below the tenth floor for free.
With that being able to enter is the best way to prove your strength and capabilities so as to attract more attention and better offers from different families and factions.
But what I want isn't to attract better offerings but instead to compare this worlds tower to my worlds Trials, although the amount of information one can give to those at lower levels is limited they can still give some info, and so far from what I heard they are near identical if not set to different ranges due to different cultivation styles.
When you enter you gain a player screen that only shows in the tower telling you your current stats and abilities, it also lets you absorb knowledge easier so as to increase ones learning speed like in my world.
There is a tower specific auction and store along with different goods you can only find in the tower to help yourselves advance and increase cultivation speed.
It almost sounds like one of my worlds old games but after the tenth floor if you don't have enough tower tokens it is a real death, because of this teachers discourage students from dying as much as possible while still testing their boundaries in a safe environment. Best if no one got used to dying and cause overconfidence only to face a real death later and become truly dead.
Standing in the physical practice room from the first day we wait until the teacher arrives in either excitement or dread depending on their position.
When he walks in he sees a mix of excited and sullen faces, he smiles at them and says "For those that pass the base requirements of c-grade in all but one and at lowest a D-grade for the one may go to the railway that will take you to the tower for those not at that level get to your treadmill and get going."
Following the others to the railway we come to see a sleek thin tube looking object pull up in front of hundreds of students, they get in as much as possible easily having fit four to five hundred students before closing it's doors and taking off.
The next one pulls up five minutes later and we all get on, the seats are compact ones with a strap to go around ones torso, getting a seat and buckling in I wait until it takes off.
And take off it did with a jolt that had my head spinning, it takes off from 0 to 200 kilometers an hour in less than five seconds and it's speed increasing before rapidly decreasing, I can hear the younger students barfing in the back as the older ones unbuckle easily and start heading out. Slowly standing I follow Thomas to the massive standing pitch black structure, when you stepped against the wall it seemed you melded with it before completely disappearing.
Stepping inside I come to see a pure white room with only a bed barely big enough to get up and walk around in, "status screen.'" I say and it appears in front of me.
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Status Window
Name: Aadi Null
Age:17
Awakening Age:10
Affiliations: Planet Cerulean Base no.4, Neelan-Turnover city
Spirit Energy status: Core forming stage
Mental realm status: Body and mind melding phase
Energy type: Healing, buffing, water, fire, earth, wind, ice, lightning, metal, mist, oscillation, etc.(expand to see full list)
Combat arts: Conductor spearman ship, Military style dagger art of planet cerulean base no.4, etc. (expand to see full list)
Strength:15 (the human limit with no energy is 3)
Speed:20(the human limit with no energy is 3)
Agility:21(the human limit with no energy is 3)
Stamina:25(the human limit with no energy is 3)
Endurance:25(the human limit with no energy is 3)
Spirit Energy: 50(the average amount for your current level is 0.1)
Mental energy: 100(the average amount for your current level is 1)
Current skills: sense control D-grade, reaction speed D-grade, mental energy control D-grade, etc. (expand to see full list)
Current level: Low D-rank
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I stare at the screen in shock as the information presented is beyond my expectations, it said both my current affiliation as well as my one to my original planet. Lucien will have to be informed of this as soon as possible as it means the tower is most definitely linked to my world in some way.
Luckily one can't see another's status screen no matter what and there is no way for anyone but me and who I tell to know this information.
"Tutorial start." I say and am transported to an area with about 500 other people with a small village with a few villagers around, we are all in thin worn down leather armor with a basic weapon to fit our preferences.
With an old clearly used spear in my hand I wait in line standing in army position for someone to come, and come they did.
"You lot have been sent here for training purposes, you will remain here until both you and I view you as capable enough to survive on your own. I will put you through the ringer to make sure you are at least F-rank before allowing you to even set foot outside this village and at least peak F-grade before you are considered to be capable enough for advancement, if anyone thinks they are to advanced to go through this step forward for testing now." No one does, not even myself.
I could easily advance right now if I wished but I want to further my studies not in combat but in manufacturing and making things, the first floor is the best floor for practicing whether it is for physical training or studying theoretical and more arts and crafts based things.
"Now that none of you choose to advance you will be divided based off your skill set, for those in combat go to the left, those in support stay in front of me and those for production and creation to my right." I step to his right, I am already more advanced then those my age in combat and support what I need to do is tie up my short coming.
If I ever ended up trapped by myself again I needed to be able to make a basic weapon, healing items, clothes, and food for myself.
The best way to learn that was through the production classes on the first floor of the tower as my studying speed will be ten times faster than outside of this floor meaning this is the most optimal time for me to properly learn and develop it.
"Combat classes will be personally taught by me, support classes will be taught by Samantha" he points to a blonde hair blue eyed beauty, "production and creation will be taught by Samuel."
A buff black skinned and bald head man steps forward at these words, it is easy to tell he is a more physically inclined production person most likely in blacksmithing or farming. "All you follow your respective person and prepare to begin training, one month in here is a day outside so you will spend half a month everyday till you are up to standard. Don't worry your body's time still follows your own worlds time so you won't age rapidly while in here."
Finally we all head to our respective training locations, the craftsmen training spot was heavily organized and clean to spotlessness, there are ten different buildings each with their own designs and a massive field for planting and growing things surrounding the place.
You could even see a greenhouse all the way in the back, most likely for herbs and hard to grow crops.
The brick building meant for craftsmanship for heat related things is easy to identify along with the one for woodworking as their is a massive orchard behind it, the potion one was also clear for the herbs and things hanging on it to dry.
The hospital one was a bit harder to tell as there were fewer tells but the only other one smelling like herbs and disinfectant it was one identified by crossing out the other possible ones.
The massive barn and farm shed gave away which one was for farming and animal caretaking, the tannery/leather working area was beside the barn and was identifiable due to the tanning racks in the back but the others were a bit harder to tell as what they could be was unidentifiable without seeing what was inside.
"These two smaller buildings in gray are your rest areas and will be separated by gender, males to the right and females to the left , the barn one is the farming and animal care location, the purple one is the apothecary, the blue one is the hospital, the brick one is forging, glass blowing, and jewelry making, the wooden one is wood working, the brown one is tannery, leather working, and clothes making, the yellow one is rune and enchanting work although considered outdated it is a required course to master here, and the last one is miscellaneous for ones not big enough to be required but good for extra credit if you learn it."
"Since it is still your first day we will start off in whatever you have experience in, although I am the main head instructor their will be different people in each building to teach you more in-depth things for that specific craftsmanship. Any questions?" No one raises their hand, it will be a busy period from this point forward.
Farming first thing to water the plants and give care to the animals, then it is forging, a lunch, followed by apothecary and learning more in depth healing arts that can't be done with first aid and emergency care. That is the first schedule.
The other schedule is glass blowing and jewelry making, followed by Tannery and leather working, then it is wood working and finally it is enchanting and rune work.
The two schedules are swapped back and forth everyday to make sure all the bases are cleared while leaving Sunday open for anyone to look into and learn a miscellaneous production method separately. It was a grueling schedule that left most to exhausted by Sunday to learn anything extra even I didn't want to get up but I came to learn as much as possible to survive if I am ever stuck and even one more thing could be the difference of life and death.
Entering the miscellaneous area I see a masonry are for stone work, an area for building machines, a kitchen for cooking, and a small library in the back with an assortment of item from rune work, apothecary items, and even some wood work and metals from the forging class.
I intend to fill my Sunday just like the other days of the week, doing one of every class in the miscellaneous area from first thing in the morning till late at night until sleep time comes.
First is cooking, followed by masonry, next is machine building and finally I come to the mish mash room in the back to see what it is. Entering the room I see it is disorderly and messy compared to all the other facilities with items strewn together in areas that make no sense, the iron ingot is place with a fire energy gem from rune making and frosted flower from the apothecary.
Stolen novel; please report.
It was a hosh posh of things all strewn out but put in piles that made no sense, waiting for the teacher of this area to show up I am surprised to see Samuel come from the spiral stair case.
I had assumed him to be from a more physically demanding creation means, but whatever this is it appears more like rune making in that it was energy based rather than physical based. He also appeared equally surprised to see someone actually there, not that I blame him who would want to learn a completely unknown craftsmanship that even most people have never even heard of.
But I am here to learn as much as possible and a completely obscure type of item could mean me dying and not even knowing how I died.
"I didn't expect anyone to come to this area so soon usually it takes at least a month before people are accustomed enough to such heavy class work to look into the miscellaneous section and usually only if they are doing poorly in a majority of there other classes so they come hoping to get a bonus so as to barely scrape by a passing. What has you coming in here so soon, you are one of the better students who is showing great promise in all of the craftsmanship's you don't need extra credit to pass." Samuel says.
"If I just wanted to pass I would have stepped forward the first day when he asked if anyone thought themselves capable of passing the tests that day." I reply, he appears amused at my statement as though he views it as cocky.
"You know the passing assessment on the first day is high E-grade not peak F-grade like it will be at the end of the assessment correct, you would have failed miserably if you had attempted even if you are from the Enhanced Being College." He says, and I shrug it is easy to guess from my size and attitude I consider myself above them so no question how he knew I was from there. In this group of people I am the only one this young looking so of course I stand out.
"Still if I wanted an easy time I would go to combat or support to easily wing it out until the assessment and pass easily, I am a healer/buffer who has an S grade in their physique I can easily pass either of the other two options. I came here to learn of all the hidden pieces and identify hidden means so as to not die without even knowing how through something like poison or stepping on a rune trap and dying. I want to make up my short coming as much as possible and this is where I am the most worst off." I reply.
I can see him grinning in appreciation for what I had just said. "Fine, the place you are in is for energy forging a unique type of production that requires intense physical and mental energy to be able to perform. You are much to young to even think of learning it, come back when you reach a base of D-Level as that is the base requirement to perform even the smallest bit in this style."
"I am already at D-level so it should be fine right?" I say.
He froze and looked at me before asking, "How old are you, boy?" "17" I answer.
"Ha, you expect me to believe a seventeen year old has reached a D-level most that age can hardly reach E-level." He replies with a certain amount of ridicule.
"You can do an assessment yourself if you don't believe it but the tower says I am a D-rank, so I should be able to do the basics as you call it." I look him in the eyes conveying my seriousness and truthfulness to him in my gaze as well as my assuredness at passing any test he threw.
"Fine I'll test you but if you pass you are to be here from Sunday morning to night learning this nothing else can be learned as this is a harsh course that will require all of your attention and energy to just barely keep up with at D-level. I made that the base requirement not the preferred requirement for a reason." He said and indicates for me to follow him upstairs.
The room has a basic treadmill, weight station, obstacle course, the sensory rooms door is open, and the items for testing ones energy level and control are also there.
One by one I test each attribute and meet the requirements, once we reach the clear ball however I hesitate.
"If you don't think your energy is enough say so now." He says.
"I am unsure if your clear ball can handle my energy the last two I was tested on broke and I don't want to break yours." I say.
He appears taken aback at this and then says, "this is a clear ball made by the tower to test energy, it can bear up to S-level energy, both in amount and intensity there is no chance you can break it."
So I put my hand in and begin to input energy, and unlike last time it does not break.
A bright white color shines from the ball in a near blinding amount, more and more it gets brighter and brighter when a small crack was heard but stopped a second later.
I can see Samuel looking at me like a scientist would a new monster in horror and interest clearly this was a pass. Samuel approaches with a sheet of paper and puts I on the crystal ball pushing a little mental energy against the paper words begin to appear, he looks at the paper then me and says, "We start today, you are to show up every Sunday from this point forward." He hands me the paper.
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Mental Energy test
Amount:100
Purity/Intensity: SSS-grade
Type: Healing/Buffing
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My energy amount was bottom of E-level but my intensity level was max.
I follow Samuel down to the confusing room and see him taking out one book after another from the book case, all of them at least as thick as my Forearm and as big as my head. There are easily twenty of these books pilled on the table when he finishes, he then grabs a metal ball the size of a basket ball.
"You will read these books, this metal ball is a mental practice control device if you get through one layer the next is more compact and has thinner and more complicated veins each layer, it's layers will come off when you complete it you will practice using this while studying the books to get used to high grade multi-tasking. The ball can only be used when studying these books as you have to send a small amount of mental energy into the books to open them which activates the opening lock for the ball. If either your studies or mental energy manipulation falls under acceptable levels the lessons will stop as I will view you as not ready." He says.
Nodding my head in acceptance of this I go to the only empty desk in the room and begin my first practice slash study session. I only have three hours left before sleep time and I want to get a head start while I am able to give my all still.
"Head back to your room to do that, you are each given separate rooms to allow practicing things you want, don't take up my limited space here." He shoos me out and I return to my room with a small mountain of books and a metal ball the size of a basketball. Spreading the books out on my bed and holding the metal ball in my arms on my lap I begin practice.
It is much harder than all my other practices until this point, it is near impossible to study the book and control my energy at the same time as mental energy has a certain aid in retaining information easier but using it while studying makes it have a near backwards affect making it near impossible to remember what I last read.
I spend 5 hours that night barely getting 5% through the first level and only 10 pages of a several thousand page book.
I spend the rest of the week coming back from the classes and immediately studying while practicing but by the time the next Sunday rolled around I am only 100 pages in and barely 20% of my way through the first layer.
Walking into the classroom at 4 o'clock that morning I prepare to be made to give up learning it until a later date as even the easiest assignment was simply almost impossible to me and there is almost no way I can pass any test he may have for me. I barely got passed the basic introduction and beginning of basic materials involved for a newcomer.
Seeing me walk in with a blank face he gets up and grabs a group of papers and sits them down along with a different metal ball.
Sitting myself down in front of them Samuel explains what to do.
"Like with studying you are to use your mental energy while also answering the questions on this paper, the end result for both will be combined to base the score and see if you will continue this class. You have until 9 O'clock to finish."
And so in silence I spent the next Five hours going over all the questions as slowly as possible while working my way through the metal ball.
I Know far more then I thought I would as it is a test made for only the first chapter most likely, while I can only get through 15% of this different ball on the first try. I know this is only the first test but it makes me feel a little less bad about how horrible I am going to do and how I will no longer be able to continue.
I see him come over and take both the ball and the paper to grade, only ten minutes he comes back with the paper.
"You will be continuing your studies it seems, most people try and cheat the studying part by studying and doing the metal ball separately but they fail to realize that responding with complex information while using mental energy is just as difficult as when you try and study while using it. Most fail because they try and cheat it or don't put in the effort. The base requirement for you at D-level is 10% for the mental ball and 20% for the written test on the first chapter." He smiles at me then continues.
"You got 15% on the mental ball and 30% on the written test over achieving in both, from this point forward you will continue studying until you can begin working as an apprentice here, you have as long as you need to complete the tutorial and I am sure you won't leave until you are in a stable position for this craftsmanship."
I feel myself relax as I realize I succeeded, I had no intention of slowing down my practice despite being ahead though so as to get the most from as little time a possible.
"You will be unable to take the books or ball out when you leave the tower so that will be your break day from this, all other times you are to keep up the practice if you keep up this pace by the end of a year in here you may be able to start helping me."
And so I spend the next 2 weeks in consistent studying and heavy work with no breaks in between.
With the first month passed we all leave the tower, it is afternoon the next day when we leave, meaning we had missed the morning classes but most of those who came out were either exhausted or slightly injured so no physical fitness class is likely to occur.
I see Thomas standing in front of the wait line for the return tram so I head to him, I can see his questioning look as the eyebags under my eyes are proof of my lack of proper sleep.
Most cultivators can go days with limited rest so to come out this tired means an extreme lack of sleep and energy in ones body. I have not experience a need to sleep this bad due to not sleeping at all since inside the slime caves, as Lucien has always made sure I rested and took my health seriously.
I get on the train with Thomas and return to our rooms to promptly collapse on my bed and sleep, the past month has been nothing but work and no more than 2 hours asleep at night while doing high intensity mental energy use everyday.
I had truly gotten the most out of my month in the tower, shoring up my biggest weakness of lacking in obscure information.
Waking up early the next morning I go to classes and find that it is easier to study then before, not to say I was dumb before on the contrary I was more intelligent due to my high mental energy but now it was like even if I took a nap I could say word for word what the teacher had told us and answer the questions despite only having seen an example once.
I had increased my ability to retain information to an extraordinary level.
Realizing I don't need to pay to much attention I decide to doze off through the rest of my classes until lunch rolled around.
Once we go to the gymnasium we see the teacher and wait for the rest to show up, once everyone is here the teacher begins to talk. "Every other day is when you will be in the tower while you will also be required to remain passing grade in both physical aspects as well as in theory classes if either slip you will lose your ability to enter the tower, you will be tested once a week for theory classes and once every 3 months for physical."
With that said we begin to work out, the tutorial floor is all about energy control so making it so your body is stuck still while your mind runs faster is fine but from the 1st floor to tenth floor some emphasizes is also place on physique so it goes from one month to a day to a week a day and from tenth floor on it is one to one as both is needed in large amounts the further you go.
So although no ones physical strength has increase there is at treadmill and obstacle course is clear to see as less injuries and mess was on each of them, most people only stay a month on the tutorial floor at our school as that is when the first advancement test takes place so all those able to enter will be guaranteed to pass.
But I will remain until I get all that I can out of the tutorial stage before heading, months to refine your energy control with no aging is a massive advantage if used correctly.
And so the next 6 days are spent going to classes one day and spending a month in the tutorial stage the next day, I am finally able to begin helping Samuel sort out items in preparation for his forging as I am now half way through the first book and have enough basics to know what goes with what.
Energy forging is an imperative part of machine making, advance blacksmithing, even alchemy needs items made using it as some of there tools need certain elements attached to them to have proper affect.
It is an imperative part of many advanced creation techniques and has high requirements for even the smallest things as you need to use your mental energy to meld together completely different items while categorizing large amount of information so as to see every little shift or change to make the melding as perfect as possible.
Each item has slight differences and if you don't take that into account it could blow up in your face, it is why you need to be able to multitask both learning and energy control as you need to both control energy and study the items reaction at the same time.
I am still not even ready for the easiest forging of a fire ingot that requires you to forge a still hot freshly pressed iron ingot before combining it with a highly compatible Fire energy crystal.
It is a high compatibility item but I have yet to get all the way through the first layer of the metal ball while completing the tests so am not yet good enough for it, but I am getting ever closer by the sixth month mark I should be able to make my first attempt.
It will take me an entire month to perform that one attempt so it will be slow crawling if I mess it up.
And so another four days in the world passed, another 2 months in the tower. I am ready to begin my first energy forge attempt of a fire ingot and cannot deny my excitement at this, some others have also begun to try and join but can't even pass the starting line.
I fail the first attempt.
A total of 24 days outside since I first began the tutorial and a year in there I succeed in making my first fire ingot.
Two months world time into my stay on the tutorial floor and I have made two more fire ingot and three earth ingots after perfecting the fire ingot. I am now to advance in my academy theory classes and have heard all the teachers tell me to try and skip forward but I would rather finish off this semester then test out as I want to leave the tutorial floor before spending an entire week testing myself if I can go forward a grade so I consistently decline.
After 6 months in our world time and 90 months or 7.5 years in the tutorial section and I have finally been promoted from newbie to official low level craftsmen, most don't get it until they are thirty-five but I am getting it at seventeen.
The first semester is over and I plan to leave the tutorial next time I enter, it is time to test myself and see how far I can skip grades now.