Sam closed the entry, and started looking around the rest of the documents. As this was a low level library, a lot of the information was repressed, tailored to a level that was seen as appropriate for those at Sam’s rank. However, there was still a decent amount. This library was used by low E Rankers as well.

The amount of information available ranged wildly in terms of theme and writing style, but there were a decent amount of informational entries. Sam nodded. He might be here for a while. As he looked around, he collected a few different entries. The first one was a first hand account of the first level of the Tower, which was allowed by the System given that every person had different level designs. All that this would do would be to give someone a little bit of an idea about the general layout of the Tower. The second one was a graph, populated with the average number of people that reached each level. Sam was surprised that such information was not hidden, but he supposed that anyone who reached a sufficiently high level in the Tower would brag about it, if their position was secure enough. Thirdly, there was a less informative piece that waxed lyrical on the possible origins of the Tower. It was a bit flowery for his taste, but it still seemed to be useful. The last two were simply missives sent out by more benevolent factions about strategies to use in the Tower, likely in order to curry favor with the up and coming E Rankers of the Multiverse. In any case, it was all helpful information. Sam got to reading.

The Journey of Davos Anberogen, E Ranker

In my travels, the Tower of Transcendence has been by far the most impressive. A massive cylinder of metal, rock and sheer might, it is larger than the eye can see. It floats in the center of its very own universe, drawing in E Rankers like honey draws in flies. Just like the unfortunate fate of the flies however, many die in pursuit of the sweet honey of power. During my own fateful attempt, one that I survived, naturally, I found myself facing off against all manner of monsters, sapients, and even the ghosts of my past. I will not disclose anything beyond the first level that I passed, but I believe that I achieved a highly respectable score.

Sam scrolled down the next few pages, which were simply flavor text about the man’s journey to get to the Tower. There were a lot of words for what essentially boiled down to a private teleporter. In addition, it looked like Davos was quite a popular figure among the lower Rankers that used the Interweb.

Looking at his name for a few seconds had brought a pop up about him. Apparently he was well known for his literary expertise, and had written a few books on the side. They were shown at the bottom of his bio. One of them was about the Boundless Expanse, in which a young man, suddenly thrust into the world of politics and violence that were the factions of the Multiverse, discovered hidden strengths that allowed him to surpass his enemies, and create a kingdom for himself. There were a strange number of similarities between the story, and his own. Perhaps that was simply an effect of the Dao Archetypes.

The other story was a bit more fantastical in nature, in the vein of the some of the Isekai novels that Sam had read many years ago. It was a fairly unique premise, about a man named Jonathan who was reincarnated into another world, at the behest of a god. However, he died a few minutes after arriving, and was sent to Hell. In this world, Hell was a massive place, crafted to hold every damned soul within the universe.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

At Sam’s reading speed, he was able to flick through much of the book within a few minutes. It was actually quite good. Shaking his head, Sam closed the entry. He had more important things to do here. With a sigh, he kept reading the original subject of his attention. The book could wait. However, he would be returning to it. He wanted to find out what happened next.

The entry continued in a similar vein, and Sam skipped ahead until he got to a useful part.

Upon entering the first level, I was teleported to what felt like an entire world. It was an ancient desert, filled with the ruins of countless civilizations. Within it, various monsters roamed, searching the ash for any signs of life. As E Rankers, they did not need sustenance. Instead, they hunted for the thrill of the chase. I evaded them with my flight abilities, raining hellfire down on them as I went. It took me days to clear out the realm, but eventually I found myself at the center of the level, where I was greeted with a sub boss. It took the form of a titanic sphinx, battered and weathered from millenia of exposure. Of course, it had simply been created by the System, or whatever force governs the Tower, a mere few days ago. It was quite realistic though. I engaged in a glorious battle with my adversary, quickly getting the better of the sphinx. Of course, as this was the first level, I was hardly going to lose to such a weak opponent. With my Dao of Writing, I quickly got the better of my enemy, warping reality itself around the monster. As the creature died, I was sent to the next level, for a new set of challenges.

The entry ended there, and Sam closed it, opening the next one. His journey into the depths of Hell could wait until later. While he had enjoyed reading the book, it was hardly worth prioritizing over things that were actually useful. The next document was the graph about success rates within the Tower.

Percentages of Challenger floor achievement

50% of Challengers

Level 7

35% of Challengers

Level 10

10% of Challengers

Level 15

2.5% of Challengers

Level 25

2% of Challengers

Level 35

0.49% of Challengers

Level 40

0.01% of Challengers

Level 50 and above

Looking at the graph, more than ninety percent of people left before reaching level 15. It showed what Sarge had been talking about when he had spoken on the extreme difficulty of the Tower. Less than one in ten thousand challengers even made it past level 50, let alone past seventy five, or ninety. Past level 50 was the territory of legends, beings who could destroy universes with a single attack. Or at least, beings that had the potential to do such things.

Fate was not some cosmic absolute. If a being was too blatant in their flaunting of their rank in the Tower, it was likely that they would be killed, and that potential would be cut short. The Tower only seemed to show possible futures. If that was not the case, any Fate mage would be akin to a god, able to manipulate the strands of causality to an extreme degree. It was likely that some of them could do things like that, but not to the degree of controlling reality.

Fate was the element that Sam knew the least about, as it was the hardest to find any information on. The element and its practitioners were highly mysterious, and they only told their allies about the true power of their element. However, that was not why Sam was here. He was here to learn more about the Tower of Transcendence.