3 months had passed. The written assessment as I suspected was easy. I passed with flying grades. I got a S which is the best you could get. Coming first in the new academic year.
It was time for my first lesson. Right off the start the letter I received informing me that I passed stated the first lesson would be to see our system. So naturally I was excited.
I arrived at the academy. The same gates blocked my way but this time they looked a lot less frightening. Maybe because I passed, they could no longer block me.
I walked in, went to the left building and through the door to the reception. Class 1-A. Depending on your grade the you got the higher the class you'd be in. 1-A being the best.
I sat down near the window to the left, in the middle. Each class had 5 rows each with 5 Wooden chairs and wooden desks. Anyway the very same man who handed out the written assessments walked in.
"Good morning students of Admitul Academy. My name is Giren Slinfold and ill be your teacher for the coming year." Giren said. He seemed like a serious man and real pain in the neck if I was to make an assumption about him.
No one really replied to his greeting, maybe everyone like me didn't want to get any form of attention from him. It would be difficult being the highest scorer but well Im going to try avoid his prying eyes. Which we couldn't even see behind his blacked out glasses.
"The very first thing we're going to learn is how to access your system. This is important as everything about you will be displayed and your future will be determined.
So I know it's only your first day and first hour here but I'm a man who likes to get to the point and get things done quickly. Something you'll all learn soon.
I want everyone here to think to themselves these words
'System open' internally and you should get a display"
For someone who said he likes getting to the point, which he did , he sure did take a minute. Anyway everyone nodded silently and listened to what he said.
Including me obviously.
'System open' I said to myself.
-zium
An unusual sound was made but lo and behold. Before my eyes a screen appeared. It was black with lots of information on it and it took up about 40% of my vision.
"Now, listen carefully. Before you should be lots of information. This is all about you. But to simplify it think to your self 'System Significant'."
Following his instructions i did just that.
'System Significant' and before my eyes the screen became significantly simpler only holding certain information now.
"Okay if everything went right then you should be seeing the following. Your name, your age and the time. Say yes if you can see this"
"Yes~" everyone present responded.
"Good. Following this you should see your Rank, strength agility and other stats. This will determine your future."
It was as he said. Before me I saw just that.
=============================================
Name: Ziron Kinsworth Age:10 Time: 9:26
Rank: E
Talent: E
Strength: F
Agility: F
Stamina: F
Intelligence: C
Mana: F
Luck: E
Charm: C
Aura: F
Profession: Porter
Skills: None
Artifacts: None
=============================================
My heart sunk. That was the day I died. It didn't take a genius to see the bullshit stats I had. My profession was what? A porter. A bloody porter! It was good as nothing. All my dreams would amount to shit. I was finished before I could even start!
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I mean. Even if I was a porter I would've been able to become strong enough to be a knight anyway. If not for my dog shit talent! Your talent depicts your growth rate. This means I wouldn't be able to grow. At all.
A tragedy. That was the only way to describe this.
[10 years later]
My life was a weak one. I didnt give up. I really tried my best but all I could amount to was carrying bags for real warriors to challenge the Tower. I made enough money to get by.
I long since moved to Alphiton. I mean in order to have the most success In my profession id have to come here.
Luckily due to my intelligence and charm (not really its thanks to a skill i have) I was able to get into a group who'd take me with them to the Tower. It was a formidable team. And with them we eventually climbed to the 50th floor. In only 6 years of climbing. It was an amazing speed which had the whole kingdom surprised. Apex. That was the name of our guild. I was a irrelevant character but altleast I survived to this point.
Afterall how many people could say they did? Very few.
Here we stood. 8 of us. Before two gigantic doors. Made from the impenetrable steel of the tower with the most mesmerising and intricate design woven into them. I was but an ant before these doors.
Our leader without hesitating opened the door. He was a strong individual. An S rank swordsman. His fiery red hair and dark eyes made everyone who could see calm down. His golden armour shined brightly for us all.
There was another 4 fighters so a total of 5. With two tankers both rank A. We had 2 magicians 1 ranked A and the other B. Then there was me the porter. My job was usually to hide. How stupid. To this day that very instruction frustrated me to no end. But there was no way I could rebuke it.
I had to accept it. I had to give in and hide.
Once we walked into the room it lit up with blue flames which were located on huge pillars each what felt like a mile away from one another. This room was unfathomably massive. Why? We had never come across something so unreasonably big before.
As if to answer my question it came. Two gargantuan wings flapped as it got closer. It's diamond scales reflected the the blue light of the flames. It's claws ready to rip through the very fabric of this world.
It was a dragon. Not just any dragon but the strongest one the world had ever seen. Its size making the biggest mountains look small. In case your wondering. Isn't every floor the same? You'd be right about that. But that rule applied for every floor but the 50th.
Theories went on to say that this is because half the tower has been claimed. A monumental achievement hinting at only 100 floors. But who knows. All that is known is the 50th floor alone is different for every challenger.
And before us was our doom.
It felt like an endless sky.
From what I could tell the very floor of this room was made of the same diamond that scaled the dragon. It reflected the clear blue above us making everything look the same.
Countless pillars each a mile away going on forever. I couldnt see no end to this room, my sense of direction dimming the longer I observed.
A nightmare. That's what this was a terrible dream.
Diendall was the name of the monstrous beast before us. Pressure from the wind each time it flapped his wings was enough to make me crumble.
Ofcourse everyone else managed to stand albeit with some struggle. The tankers acted like a windbreaker for the team. Even with that I was still sent a distance behind.
I enjoyed staying somewhere I could see Apex fight. Observing was my favourite time of day. It gave me insights and thoughts which were exciting to think about.
Even if I couldn't do anything about it.
This time, however, I was certain staying would be the death of me. I had to run and hide if I was to survive. Yes, I enjoyed battle in any way I could even if this was just watching. But I'm no fool. I knew when to truly run and hide. My job was to hold bags afterall, with spare equipment, food, heals and for the loot afterwards.
Diendall's roar without fail inflicted fear into both me and the B rank mage. It was a skill, but how was i supposed to resist when fear was the very first emotion I felt upon seeing his arrival.
"FORMATION! NOW!". Our leader shouted at the very top of his lungs. Following the command the two tankers marched foward. 2 more warriors behind, one carrying a ruby coloured battle axe with a silver handle, donned in red armour. The other wielding a black steel tachi, with light armour to help with movement.
Our leader had separated from the group, being S rank made him incredibly potent. Giving him the ability to flank on his own and deal massive amounts of damage.
The two mages had kept a distance and used wind magic. Both were capable of different elements but against diamond the best chance at doing any damage was strong cuts from perfected wind attacks.
Apex's determination was admirable. It was the very reason I stuck with them regardless of my weak status. I'm not sure why they kept me either, there are stronger porters out there, which would've been better suited for a such a powerhouse of a guild. But well im glad they did.
Upon seeing them approach, Deindall landed with much force behind him. This very attack launched everyone about 50 metres from where they originally were. The formation slightly hindered as everyone scrambled back into position.
Me? I was sent back at a ridiculous speed and slammed into the very entrance of this hellhole. The fat bags on my back cushioned the landing but still it felt like my spine broke inwards stabbing my organs. I fell to the floor and couldn't help but cough blood out. I was really that far away. We had walked about a half a mile into the room and now I was separated. Maybe for the better.
The issue was. I had all the heals with me, the mages were capable but them switching to healing magic but that would lessen the attack force, not ideal against such an opponent. But with such force being relentlessly emitted by Deindall how could I approach again. Before being flung back and slowly but miserably dying.
Even from when I sat i could feel the force reach me. It was suffocating. Everyone was fighting to the best of their abilities, yet I was here. Useless. I felt a sharp pang in my heart. I had to do something. I couldnt just stay some distance away uselessly.
But what. What could I do?
Dragons may be the very top of the food chain. But even they had a weakness. There was always balance in the Tower, nothing was truly unfair. Deindall may be the peak of any dragon humanity has faced, the toughest but he too should have a weakness.
Currently everyone was fighting but knowing them well the chances were slim. Only Seirek our leader could truly deal damage. And he alone was not good enough. Everyone was canon fodder in this fight.
We knew there was a jump in difficulty from the 49th floor to the 50th but this was ridiculous. To render everyone below S rank almost useless was insane. Ofcourse they were still mighty as a team and even the B rank was someone to take into consideration. But this was outrageous.
Weakness. I had to find it. I was the only one capable of observing and adventuring the room to locate anything. I took out a minor healing potion and gulped it down. After a few minutes I felt my body recover. Enough for me to explore and find anything.
I got up. I need to go in the direction Deindall came from, my instinct was telling me there was something there which could reverse the situation. The room couldn't actually be endless and I was confident that Apex would be able to survive for a good few hours. They were a durable lot.
I had a goal now. I needed to wrap around the fight. I couldnt get too close otherwise I'd be blown back from the chaos. Naturally I walked at the fastest pace I could to the right. My stamina wasn't great at all I had to conserve it, especially in this dire situation.
=============================================
Name: Ziron Kinsworth Age:20 Time: 16:33
Rank: E
Talent: E
Strength: E
Agility: E
Stamina: E
Intelligence: B
Mana: F
Luck: E
Charm: C
Aura: F
Profession: Porter
Skills:
[Efficient carrier] (lvl. 4)
Carry bags without any struggle. Holding the capability to move heavy bags at the lowest cost of energy. A passive skill.
[Void Holder] (lvl.5)
You can make a bag of your choice have the deepest pockets this world has seen. Able to hold countless treasures without increasing the weight.
Artifacts: None
=============================================
I pulled up my system screen. I did the best i could. Raised my stats with so much hardwork but with my talent amounting to nothing I never got far. The one stat where luck truly mattered, talent.
As i walked a considerable distance to the right i turned. I now had to walk god knows how long in the direction where the mighty dragon came from. And without waiting I set off.
It was unfortunate. Truly, every stat can be worked on and improved but only in relation to your talent. I was set up from the very start, if only I had a talent that could challenge the very laws of this universe. But well what can pondering about 'what ifs' do in this situation.
I could feel the battle from my left. It was truly ferocious but I had to march on. I couldnt divert my attention, every moment they fought was a moment for me to find a weakness. Even though I had no direction where to look i had to try.
30 minitues had passed. I continued to walk and it seemed I was getting no where. Was this room truly endless? My mind started to waver. I mean how could it not. An absolute beast was raging a insane battle to my left with my comrades putting up their very best to survive and I had no idea how to help and my only suggestion was proving to be fruitless.
That was untill another hour passed and I found the end.