Jin and Lea looked into the room with eyes as big as the moon. They just couldn’t grasp why the school would spend this much money to build a storage room. It was quite a waste. Every weapon in here was kept in a beautiful display case themed from the land of origin. The room was divided into two sections: melee and ranged.
“Look at that!” Lea shouted while pointing at the roof. The room’s source of light came from the roof as normal but what made it unique was a big stained-glass window in front of the lamps that artfully gave the room its personality. It gave the effect that the floor was made from colored tiles with different colors of light everywhere. Millions of tainted glass pieces formed a scenario just like in the medieval churches. The piece of art showed a man with two moon-shaped swords who stood on top of stone tower. That’s me, isn’t it? Jin felt a bit surprised seeing it. He studied his old self for a while before walking towards the melee weapons.
There they were, two beauties shining in an orange light. Every well-known weapon had multiple duplicates in here but certain ones only had one or two of their kin. This weapon was Jin’s favorite. In his previous life, he couldn’t take it because it didn’t fit his mana organ but this time was different. With two eyes filled with mana, he could now easily dual wield swords that aren’t supposed to be. The steel blades were both placed in their holder pyramids. Jin thought it was a funny way of displaying weapons by placing them inside of miniature, ancient monuments from the country they belong to, with only the hilt sticking out. The khopesh, the Egyptian pride.
Jin retrieved the blade, a modern marvel forged from an unprecedented steel alloy, from its sheath. Its sleek, curved blade shimmered with a polished sheen, hinting at the strength and resilience of its unique composition. Crafted with precision engineering, the edge was razor-sharp, capable of slicing through obstacles with ease. The hilt, designed for maximum comfort and control, fit perfectly in Jin’s hand, promising great maneuverability in combat. As Jin brandished the khopesh, he felt the weight of its potential, a fusion of tradition and innovation ready to carve a new path through his enemies.
An amazing blade but these will become useless after the fifth floor of the tower when we receive equipment with stats. Jin then proceeded with pulling out the second blade. The blades were normally used with a small shield because the Egyptian warfare just worked that way. What the people from that time hadn’t realized was how deadly two of those blades working together were.
“It suits you,” Lea said from behind him. “Do you mind if I go get that sword you recommended me? I’ll be right back.” She left the wheelchair for what it was and ran off to search for the sword. The jian that Jin had asked Lea to try out was an amazing weapon; there were two main reasons for it: history and opportunity. In the tower, you would find artifacts from legends, so if you get used to using a blade that has a great history, it will give you a huge advantage against the others. The jian is a sword that allows the user to create its own art very easily and develops over time.
Lea came back with the long blade in its sheath. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t like the feeling of being watched,” Jin whispered. He received a questionable look from his companion before being pushed towards the door. Jin could feel it, all attention was focused on the room they were in. That must be the reason they decorated it so much, they’re showing of to the spectators. They may be invisible to the eyes but the vibrations in the walls and the sources of mana already give me enough information.
As Jin approached the door, he balanced the weight of the two hefty blades on his lap. Passing through multiple security checks, they finally reached the exit guarded by the five vigilant soldiers who called themselves guards. They escorted Lea and Jin back to their dorms with their guns ready for combat. Jin waved Lea goodbye as the two of them got separated. The men continued until he was safely in his hospital bed. The cozy hospital bed made him relax for once. Even though the day was still young, it felt as if two days had passed. 14 hours had passed since the day had begun.
The two blades were placed on a wooden stance next to his desk. Jin grabbed the notebook from below the mattress where he had hidden it. He couldn’t let anyone see the things he had written inside without being put in a cell and tortured until he released all the info he knew. Some would call Jin too self-centered by keeping all the formulas about mana to himself but it was purely for their own good. Most of the humans would die trying to open their mana without the help of the tower and the remaining ones would be consumed by their desires and go rampant. The mystical arts were something you learned slowly, but humans don’t understand that concept. Maybe it is because of their short lifespans compared to angels or demons, maybe because they live in a world that provides all they need.
Jin knew what kind of creatures humans were. People call them extremely complicated but that’s not true. Humans are a “higher race”. That’s what the constellations call them. It’s a race that builds their own civilization and conquers big pieces of lands. Every higher race has a primal desire. For most, it’s survival but humans don’t think like that. They only want power. The race is known amongst the constellations for its greed. They kill each other millions of times without a victor but they still keep going. Humans want to feel better than their own race and stand out. This gives them diversity but also division. Only a small group of them can accept live as it is.
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Jin had rested enough and began with his work again. After making his way to his desk he requested a scale. As the door opened Jin could see that two guards were standing outside with rifles, guarding the entrance. One of the higher ranked people within the facility must’ve watched my test and decided to protect me. Almost instantly after making his request it was completed. The scale arrived in a black box. Jin grabbed both swords and weighed them. 1.806 and 1.802 kg close enough to each other. He started scribbling text down his notes. Formulas and calculations about how the most efficient way of infusing his weapons with mana. When he was halfway there a knock on his door took his attention.
“Come in,” he shouted without looking. Jin could hear the door opening. Five pairs of footsteps he counted. “What is it you want from me?” Jin asked while turning around. Four armed guards and a man dressed in an expensive looking suit. The man’s hair had already turned gray from age and he had a scar on his neck. “What you can do for me? A lot but this is about what I can do for you. I want to make a deal with you.” The man sat down on the hospital bed with the guards around him. “And that is?” Jin asked. He wasn’t very interested in deals. Most of them would just try to leach off him later on.
“Not so fast, let me start by introducing myself. I’m Jonathan Hunter, you can just call me Jonathan though. I’m one of the seven heads of the WS-union. I specialize in exploration and research about the tower. You might be thinking what that has to do with you so let me tell you. You, Jin, have a lot of potential. When I say this just know that it means you’re the best of the elite. I want to give you some important information but it’s highly classified and I’m not allowed to tell you until I have a contract with you. This might seem like a lame start of a deal but I have permission to tell you the rough details. The world is in danger, and our time is less than we think. Things are progressing too fast and we expect that humanity will fall before the tower even appears. The tower will appear in ten years just as the message said but that’s only the tower. I’m not allowed to say anything more except for the deal details. Are you open to listening?”
It was a lot but Jin started to get where he was hinting at. “Sure I’ll listen,” he said. “We’ll provide you with transport, all the money you need, immunity to murder in decent cases and a lot more in return for only one thing.” This sounds like a total scam but the immunity would be nice. If I remember it right the WS-union is the organization that was created to save the world from the second tower. They have power in every country and consist out of wealthy and smart people. For people like them to request anything from me is weird, something smells fishy but I need to know that threat.
“A promise. Maybe a contract would be a better name for it. You just need to sign one document and we’re done,” the man said as he handed Jin a document. It only had one page and very few words written on it.
‘Plead: I will not harm innocent citizens with my power. I will not destroy any property that doesn’t belong to me without consent from the WS-union. I will kill all hostile enemies of the human race to the best of my abilities. I will listen to the WS-union when the situation calls for it and will help to defend humanity. When the pledge is broken a grave punishment will be given.
Return: Immunity to murder in decent cases, agent number 000 function in the WS-union special force when having the capabilities for it, yearly income of 500.000 € (base) and full usage of the WS-union’s facilities. You will have the ability to cancel the contract at every given time.’
Jin read the page and looked up at Jonathan. “Couldn’t you be any vaguer?” Jin asked. “It looks like this contract comes down to one simple thing, you want me to help you defeat enemies without becoming corrupt, but would you mind explaining what the agent number and team leader function are?” Jonathan looked at him with a smile.
“Of course, that’s why I’m here. We’re planning to make up a team of special forces to protect the world from the danger that is coming before the tower. Agent number 000 means that you will be the first recruited and you will get privileges because of it. The 000 number is what we call the “mercenary leader role”. You won’t have to listen to the small commands and will be paid on your actions. You might be wondering why we want you on this function. Well, we want to give you this function because we saw everything that happened inside the test. Nothing escaped our eyes, not even the details. You have an amazing ability to lead people, great abilities, a lot of knowledge and we plan on using that. You’ll be the leader of the special forces but only in situations that require your help. All the missions that don’t require your help will be lead by agent 001 who we haven’t decided on. Just so you know, the contract will start 364 days after it is signed. Now, are there any more questions?”
It was clear the man’s answers were scripted so that he wouldn’t give away any information. Jin reread the document a few times, searching for things that he could regret later on. “I want to add one thing, in return for adding this condition you may take away my yearly income.” Jonathan looked surprised hearing him say that. “What is it?” he inquired. “I only want to be summoned on a code red or above. Otherwise, don’t even bother asking me,” Jin said. The world catastrophes were divided into color levels. The order went as followed: white (one low level monster running loose), yellow (10 low level monsters), orange (a group of mid-level monsters), red (at least one high-level monster), purple (a group of high-level monsters), black (entities with unknown power).
Jonathan seemed a bit stressed by the sudden change in the document. “Alright, I will add it to the contract.” One of the guards handed him a pencil and he noted it down and removed the salary line. He then proceeded by adding his signature and handing the document over to Jin. Jin read it once again before placing his signature. “I’ll leave you for now. I’ll see you next year so please prepare for the worst. There will be informants notifying you in a few days about the situation. We’re happy to cooperate with you.”