--- The Academy, Alabaster City ---
Sitting at my desk listening to Ms. Floris go on about the history of the Tower, and the lifestyle of society as a whole revolving around and developing quickly from technology, items brought back from the tower I couldn't help but agree. The last fourteen years on this world were interesting seeing the ingenuity of the people throughout its history learning and growing from the Tower. My attention wavers, I sit in a room furnished lightly with antique furniture, and a single lone candle atop a table. The floor boards creak, as someone draws close an old man stands behind the candle, battle-worn and wiry. He pulls back the chair tiredly, and sits down with a heavy sigh. The old man looks up at you as if finally noticing that I am there, and grinning widely he asks, "You are here to hear my tale, yes?". Nodding my head briefly and scooting closer to hear him. He in turn nods and says, "It is a long tale my friend, and even harder to recount...". You feel his age sweep over you feeling the weakness of it, but then you feel something else what is it why cant you place your finger on it... The old man grins and says enticingly, "Let us begin... my young self" my attention snaps back to my current world, Norvus. I tilt my head oddly enough that is one of the rare few times I saw myself twice in one setting. It has occurred before however I didn't recognize this older version of one of my lives, that was disconcerting in and of itself.
"Nihr, Pay Attention!" my eyes focus back in on the board, Ms. Floris looking at me with a little concern in her eyes. She taps the board and says, "Now back to the rankings for Tower Climbers, depending on many different things and on the Climber themselves, they can fall into many ranks. Who can tell me the order from bottom to top and why the level's of two rankers at A rank might be different?" she finishes with a flourish of her hand as the words Climber Ranks glows into existence on the board behind her.
A student at the front row stands confidently, if I recall his name is Theodore Ricktus, tall kid for his age around six foot broad shouldered, good academic, terrible physical health even though he is so tall and broad nicknamed Scarecrow, ranked in the top 100's last I scrolled the rankings. Not too concerned about them in all honesty the rankings, pointless to pay much attention to considering they only matter in school and if you get a normal 'job'. Ricktus straightens his back as he shouts, "Ms. Floris, rankings for the Climbers from bottom to top are as follows-" taking a breath, he continues "H, G, F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS, the level ranges can vary due to, unique skills, skills acquired through the Tower-" he coughs a couple of times breaking his stride but continues undaunted, "or the way they built their stats, however it is a common consensus that extreme buil-" he gets cut off as Ms. Floris nods, saying, "Yes yes, we will talk about extreme builds at a later time and why the Tier rankings show them as such. Now, most of you are unawakened meaning you do not have access to your System Status or the various unique perks that come with your systems." she glances around the room making sure everyone is paying attention. Waving her hand the information for the ranks manifests on the board. Taking a moment to admire her elegant use of pure energy manipulation, but something was hidden behind that elegance. Shaking the thought from my head to not get distracted, especially after my last slipup I don't wish to disappoint her anymore today after all she has done for me. "Now the class trip for awakening will be in in three weeks. Those of you already awakened are not required to attend however, it will allow you to accompany myself and 3 other Veteran Climbers to see how they conduct themselves." after she finishes a girl in the second row, raises her hand. Ms. Floris nods to her, "Yes Ms. Jorsen?" the girl who I identify as Emily Jorsen, elegantly stands from her seat, her black flowing hair drapes her shoulders, set on pale skin brings a stark contrast to her, her eyes are the most disturbing for most people. Probably from a previous Climber's bloodline, you reach high enough in the Tower, climbing high enough accumulating enough energy in one way or another and it can manifest in many different ways, physical traits, mental ones, it varies quite a bit, and these traits sometimes get passed down to descendants, can skip generations as well, which has a lot of the researchers baffled, some have narrowed it down to genetic codes being changed adding gene's etc. Fascinating research mind you. Her eyes have a black scelera with an inset of red, giving her a vampiric look. Setting my hands on the desk, as Emily says, "Are we allowed to miss the class trip for awakening, even if we are unawakened? I know some families have special traditions they prefer over the standard methods."
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Ms. Floris eyes look happy at that, and replies, "Why yes, some families do have their own superstitions regarding awakenings, some try special methods, some have developed these methods to a degree, to influence the awakening of an individual." Ms. Floris gets a pondering look as she taps a finger on her chin, "While some of the methods have been proven to influence an awakening to a degree. Some people have gone overboard causing the death of unawakened. Please be aware of those risks before agreeing to anything, even if it is coming from family." she lets out a sign of displeasure at the thought of some of the methods, those "High Society" members have used. After collecting herself, "If you miss the Class Trip, then please be aware that the next trip is not guaranteed or fixed in terms of date and location. Since I will be conducting this awakening myself, we are headed to a higher floor than the normal trips usually take place on. Remember to remind your families of that if they wish to take advantage." Her smile just for a moment seems darken the light behind her. In less time that it takes to blink the light brightens to normal, and everything is fine.
"Are there anymore questions-" before our teacher could finish my head snaps in the direction of the Tower, for a moment absolute silence descends on the world around us, a single bell sounds from the Tower seemingly bouncing off of everything, hearing it mentally, physically our bodies vibrating from the single sound then, a moment later a heavy impact slams into the building a pulse of energy sliding through it, windows shatter inwards covering students with glass, knocking desks and students over from the sheer force of the wave.