Cross stood in the massive, sterile room, the space so futuristic and sprawling that it almost felt unreal. The walls were sleek and metallic, the ceiling stretched high above, and there wasn’t a single person in sight besides him and Emily. The silence was heavy, the hum of hidden machinery the only sound to break it. Cross couldn’t help but feel small standing in such a colossal space, as if the room itself was alive and watching him.
Emily seemed to notice his reaction. “This place feels empty, doesn’t it?” she said with a grin. “That’s because it runs on a special core derived from the Source that surrounds the Towers. It’s like a self-regenerating generator, constantly powered by the energy of the Towers.”
Cross raised an eyebrow. “Source-powered generators? That’s... something else.”
“Yeah, and the entire test is run by it. No staff needed to operate once it’s set up,” she explained, pointing toward a large, very out-of-place red button in front of them. It looked like something from a cartoon, sitting on a sleek console that didn’t match the button’s cartoonish appearance.
“All I have to do is press this,” Emily said, her hand hovering over the button, “and the test will begin. A portal will appear, and you’ll be greeted by the AI. From there, you’ll get missions, monsters to clear, and a time limit to complete them.”
“Monsters? Like, actual monsters?” Cross asked, feeling a slight flutter of excitement.
Emily chuckled. “Sort of. Sometimes they’re modeled after the ones you’d find in the Towers, and other times the AI will summon Fiend replicas. But don’t worry, you won’t actually die. You’ll feel everything—pain included—but if things get too rough, you’ll just get booted out of the dimension. Your body can handle everything within your current capabilities.”
“So the monsters are capped at what I can handle?” Cross asked, almost disappointed. “That seems a little... easy.”
Emily smirked. “Oh, trust me, you’ll be challenged. The AI will adjust the difficulty depending on how strong you get inside the test. If you improve, so will your opponents.”
Cross grinned. “Alright. Sounds fun.”
Emily raised an eyebrow. “Fun? Well, just remember—pain is very much real. Try not to let it get to you too much.”
He winced. “Yeah, yeah. Pain’s real. Got it.”
With a dramatic flourish, Emily pressed the big red button. The air in front of them shimmered, and then the space started to twist and warp. A swirling vortex of light began to form, pulsating with energy that sent ripples through the room. Cross’s breath hitched at the sheer spectacle of it.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Without hesitation, he activated his Heavenly Eyes. As his vision shifted, the entire portal came into clear focus. He could see the layers of energy, the intricate flow of Source particles weaving together to form the vortex. What caught his attention most was the type of energy—it was composed almost entirely of Domain particles.
Cross’s excitement surged. A portal made of Domain particles? It was as if the world itself was handing him a key to unlock his own potential. He studied the patterns, letting the newfound understanding of the Domain Class seep into his mind. His heart raced with the realization that his affinity for Domain was deeper than he had thought.
Before Emily could say anything else, Cross leaped into the portal.
The sensation was overwhelming at first, like being thrown into a blender of color and light. He felt himself twisting through space, his stomach lurching as the dimension bent around him. For a moment, he wasn’t sure which way was up or down, but then, with a thud, his feet landed on solid ground.
He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the new surroundings. He was standing in the middle of dense woods—not the lush greenery of a rainforest, but something far more sinister. The air was damp, the trees tall and gnarled, their branches clawing at the sky like twisted fingers. It was the kind of place you’d expect to find a cabin full of horrors.
The smell of moss and decay filled his nostrils, the crunch of leaves under his feet the only sound in the eerie stillness.
“Welcome, Cross,” a voice said, echoing through the trees. It was smooth, robotic, but with a hint of warmth that made it unsettling. “I am Nova, the AI that will oversee your test.”
Cross looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice, but saw no one. “Alright, Nova. What’s the deal?”
Nova’s voice continued, emotionless. “You are currently inside a special dimension created for this test. The rules are simple. You must complete all assigned missions within the time limit, or you will be disqualified. There are only two ways to fail—dying, or not completing your objective.”
Cross raised an eyebrow. “What’s the first mission?”
A holographic screen appeared in front of him, floating mid-air. The text was bold and clear.
Mission: Find the Sixth Stage Tower Monster, Wendigo (Fiftieth Floor Boss) & Kill It. Time Limit: Seven Days
Cross blinked. Once. Twice. He read the mission prompt again, as if it might change if he stared hard enough.
“What?!” he shouted, his voice cracking. He could feel the familiar surge of panic bubbling in his chest, his mind racing a hundred miles an hour. A fiftieth-floor boss? His legs felt weak, his breath hitched, and he had to grab a nearby tree to steady himself. “I’m not even in the first stage of Body or Domain, and you want me to kill a fiftieth-floor boss?”
Nova’s voice remained eerily calm, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “The mission is accurate. No error has been detected.”
Cross’s heart hammered in his chest as he began pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “No error? No error? This has to be a bug!” His voice rose in pitch as the reality of the situation settled in. He wasn’t ready for this—nowhere near it. “I’m supposed to be fighting monsters at my level, not something designed to flatten a high-ranked veteran!”