Fate, haggard and on the verge of passing out, walked up the stairs of the Tower of Age, situated at the centre of the world and on the westernmost side of Ira.
When Roundtable was formed, he had placed only one condition—unrestricted access to the Tower of Age. He was the only living human, barely, in the world to have the right to enter the Tower of Age.
He was alone; even his doted Kirin was not allowed in.
The Tower of Age was the tallest structure in the world—a white tower that impaled the clouds and left them in dust. Atop the tower was a giant bell; it has been rung exactly six times. At the end of the first age—the age of the Divine Kingdom—and then at the beginning and end of the second and third ages, and lastly, at the dawn of the current age.
Today, it would be rung twice: to end the Age of Balance, where the world was solved by agreements and balance in each faction, and begin the Fifth Age—the Age of Conquest.
Fate began his climb nine days ago. It took him nine days to climb the Tower of Age. He could’ve climbed in a minute; no one was here to force him. But he followed tradition.
At the end of the first age, the divine kingdom was torn into eight pieces, and the nobles were condemned as eternal sinners and sentenced to live in their kingdom, which was becoming the Greater Labyrinth. At that time, the daughter of the Divine Emperor climbed the Tower of Age barefoot. She was not born with mana. A human climbed this tower, barefoot, bleeding, and Rung the end of the Divine Age.
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Since then, every bell ringer has climbed the tower barefoot to honor her determination. Fate did the same. He had not used a single ounce of mana to make it easier. His feet were bleeding. Somewhere between his climbs, he began to crawl with each step. Nine days of unrested climbing on these marble tiles had taken his soul; the white marble was colored red.
Finally, he reached the top of the tower. From here, he saw the weeping moon, the dead moon, and the sun at the same time.
It was time to end the Age of Balance.
Bloody feet, Fate grabbed the rope attached to the clapper.
KWANG!!
The sound reverberated through the world.
KWANG!!
KWANG!!
KWANG!!
Fate stopped. Nineteen minutes before the Age of Conquest began. He fell on his knees, covered in sweat, his bald head glistening. He was not bald by choice, but calling the World Spirit made his hair stand for weeks.
He was six when the world spirit told him he was worthy of ringing the bell that would call the end of the age. For the rest of his life, he worked to earn the right to ring the bell that called the Fifth Age.
After nineteen minutes, he rang the bell again.
KWANG!!
The moment Bell first rang, at the southernmost corner of Ira, on the edge of Dragon Province, a girl fell from darkness, covered in wounds. She was passed out. This girl would soon be the talk of the whole world. For now, though, a slave trader captured her to sell because, even with her wounds, the girl was phenomenal; he had not seen a more handsome girl in his life.
That girl was the reason Fifth Age began.
The prophesy says in the fifth age, All eight Greater Labyrinths would be conquered and A new divine ruler would be crowned.