As the group of five sat around a giant circular table, evenly spaced apart from one another, they seemed to be in a state of deep contemplation even as they continued looking at the giant holographic image of an ever-so-slowly rotating sphere in front of them.
The sphere wasn't that huge. It was, however, riddled with many unevenly shaped green and white shapes.
What stood out to them most was that most of the sphere was blue, which the five of them surmised to be water, or something equivalent at least.
The blonde elf holding a mace was the first to speak up, "So...it does seem like choosing this Earth would be the best option for us at the moment."
Hearing that, the dwarven mage nodded, "Compared to the other few planets we were given as options...I suppose it is. I don't think a planet which is literally made of 90% magma would have many residents who could enter our tower. Especially since it only has like what, 3 countries?"
"And neither would that planet which is just a...black void? Does it even support life in the first place? The description just says 'A planet of darkness' . What does that even mean?", a green elderly goblin spoke as she had a quizzical expression on her face. Her silver hair dropped down to cover her eyes, which led her to start tying her hair to her back as a new voice started speaking.
One might wonder where the new voice even came from, if they didn't pay attention to realise that it was, in fact, coming from a floating ball of light which was positioned to the right side of the goblin.
"I just wish they would have given us more information about who exactly we're inviting. How are we supposed to make a judgement on whether they're safe to invite purely based off this description?"
The five top-rankers, each the top-ranked from their own race respectively, looked at the description right below the holographic sphere as the pixie made her statement.
Planet: Earth
Description: Earth is the third planet from the Sun and uniquely supports life. This capability is due to Earth's status as an oceanic world, the only one in the Solar System with liquid water on its surface. The vast majority of Earth's water is in its global ocean, which covers 70.8% of the planet's crust. The remaining 29.2% of the crust consists of land, primarily forming continental masses within Earth's land hemisphere.
There are 7 continents, 195 countries, and more than 7000 languages on Earth.
Age: 4.543 billion years
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
A strange quietness enveloped the group as they fell into their own thoughts once more. It was only after another 2 minutes that a rumbling voice broke the silence. As the 5 meter tall giant started speaking, the rest of the group turned their heads towards him, with a glimmer of respect in their eyes as they heard his words.
"...Given the fact that their world has existed for this many years, and has so many nationalities are able to co-exist...we can surmise that their ability to get along with other races is excellent. This can only be a good thing for our tower."
At this point the elven warrior raised his arms, upon which the Giant nodded.
"But couldn't this also mean...that their ability to co-exist is the complete opposite of excellent as well? The fact that there are so many countries could also mean that their ability to stay united isn't all that great either."
The Giant contemplated his words for a moment, then nodded, "You're right, that is also a possibility. But that doesn't matter. Given the rules of the Tower which punishes Ascenders who kill each other, that should serve as some level of deterrent. And even putting that aside, if they are not united, then there'll be conflict. The fact that there are still this many countries would mean that their conflicts are likely not combative in nature."
The Giant then stood up from his spot, causing a small ripple of air to sweep outwards in this stale room. As he then started walking around while speaking in thought, he continued speaking, "Perhaps the nature of their conflicts could be in terms of diplomacy, in which case we would benefit. Their race would be scrambling to get into the good graces of our various races. Perhaps...the nature of their conflict could be economical, in which case they have more of a reason to help us climb the tower, since we'll be able to access even more resources in the higher floors. Or perhaps..."
The dwarf spoke up, "Or perhaps they don't have any conflict at all, and we're truly looking at a species whom have learned to co-exist."
This caused a slight commotion to break out within the group. In all of history, even for all five races, the only constant was conflict. If this race had truly learned to find a balance and avoid conflict...
Perhaps this race is exactly what we need to unite the races of our tower.
"And so shall we choose Earth. Cast your votes."
The Giant, returning to his seat, clicked on the floating 'Approve' button at the bottom of Earth's description. And for the first time amongst the other 7 planets they'd reviewed, they'd come to an unanimous agreement.
The sphere then turned green, together with the description, and after a moment it winked out.
Initialising contact...
Establishing World Link...
Calculating spatial coordinates for the Tower....
Establishing neural connection with all living beings on Earth...
Connection established!
We welcome Earth to the Tower of Ascension!
"Now, let's go and meet our new members, shall we?"
And so, the group got up and headed to the Tower Portal, the dwarven mage suddenly tilted his head. Although his world had no physical conflicts per say, their race did have great pride in their ability to craft masterworks in the field of blacksmithing and enchantments. This was the primary source of 'conflict' that existed throughout their race.
And the dwarf now realised that they hadn't considered one aspect of Earth's culture, though even if they had considered it, that wouldn't have made a difference to their decision.
And that one aspect they hadn't considered was...
What Earth's technology would be like.