Alex held the new knife in his hands. Although Alex was confident in his magic, his first encounter with the wolves taught him the importance of having a physical weapon as a backup. There would always be a chance that he ran out of mana, and he would need something to protect himself with.

He held his knife in one hand and walked around the practice range once to get a feel for things. Alex wanted to get comfortable in this area but also he wasn’t sure what to do to get started. Based on the tower AI’s answers so far magic was just something he could do now. He didn’t need any wands or staff.

“Hey, the voice of the tower, AI thing. Are you still there,” asked Alex.

“Yes, Alex I am still here if you need me. Though the time taken to speak with me will take up the time you could be practicing your magic."

"Yeah, about that. Can you explain more about it? Like are there any wands or staffs for magic? Or do I just go for it?”

“Once you enter the tower proper you will have access to Tower Points which act as a currency. If you wish you can buy magical items such as wands and store spells within them for quick casting. They are not available here because they do not come with your starter items. Also, understand that items such as these are a crutch for those who use them. If they rely on them then without the wands the climber will become powerless and easily dealt with.”

“Ok. I think I understand. Use magic intuitively and I will be stronger than others. I want to do that. Thanks.”

The tower did not respond.

“Let’s try this magic now,” said Alex. “Training dummy, 3, start.”

He slotted his knife into a belt holster leaving his hands free to use his magic. He held his hands open and pointed them to the newly materialized dummies that had formed. Alex took a deep breath in and tried to imagine what he wanted to have happen.

“LIGHTNING BOLT GO!”

Alex shook his hands a little and he felt a tingling sensation in his fingers, but no amazing lightning bolt shot from his hands. He took a deep breath and held out his hand again, envisioning a bolt of lightning forming in his palm. But nothing happened. Undeterred, he tried again. And again. Each time, he felt a surge of energy but no lightning.

“Come on. Why isn’t it working?” he asked himself as the three humanoid dummies converged on him.

Alex’s question went unanswered by the tower. He felt like the mana within him had shifted and changed as he tried casting. The training dummies tackled him to the ground and stabbed him for a few seconds before disappearing indicating that he had lost.

“Or maybe that is just my mind playing tricks on me,” thought Alex as he got back up.

“Are you sure you can’t help me with my magic,” asked Alex desperately into the air.

“If you are having trouble with your magic you may pay for a trainer’s assistance within the tower using your tower points. Currently, at this time you have zero training points however and within this space, training is entirely self-directed,” answered the tower.

“Come on.”

Alex checked the time remaining within floor zero. He had already wasted twenty minutes trying to get lightning bolts working. He knew if he wanted to do something like this again he would probably have to pay for it using this new currency.

“If I can’t train my magic so easily and within one hour I will have to switch to my knife. I have taken down the wolf before so I will try it again now that there is no risk of permanent injury and then I want to try fighting some of the other mutated creatures.”

“Mutated wolf. One. Start.”

Particles swirled in the air and formed themselves into the shape of one of the wolves he had fought before. Alex rushed forward and got himself to the wolf before it could use its spiked tail to gain distance. When the knife met flesh it felt the same as the one he had fought before. Moving quickly, he dodged the wolf’s swipes and tail before backing away again.

Alex tried to take things a bit slower this time and watched his posture and stance versus the wolves. Due to the wolf being his level, and the lowest level, future encounters could be even more dangerous if he didn’t level up or group up with others fast enough. As he went he tried to mimic what had worked best for him so far and what he thought would be best.

As he practiced the wolf cut him up but not as much as before now that he wore the basic gear. It had formed onto him once floor zero had transitioned into the practice range. Slowly he bled the wolf to death.

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When the wolf disappeared, he took a break and did the same moves without an opponent. He moved through a series of strikes and parries, his movements stiff and jerky. With the failure of his magic currently, he understood that he needed to know how to use his knife properly. Wildly swinging his knife might get him part of the way there but others entering the tower would know how to fight with many different weapons. He did not want to fall behind. Because he was not a fighter he would not gain the same perks as them now that he was a mage. He partially wished that he could go back and change that now, but his decision was final, and he had to stick with it.

“Human fighter. One. Start.”

Alex was ready to fight, and he didn’t want to waste any more time. He raised his blade and a form identical to himself appeared. This time Alex did not rush forward because he was unsure of how hard the fight would be. Level one could mean many things, so he chose to stay defensive. When the human finished appearing they rushed forward to attack Alex.

His opponent moved quicker than himself and attacked immediately. Alex was forced to dodge and block. Alex barely had time to react as he parried the blow with his knife. The impact sent shockwaves up his arm, and he stumbled back, struggling to regain his balance. This thing the tower had generated was much better than himself. As he barely got by he felt as though he was learning nothing from the fight. Occasionally he was able to retaliate but it was few and far between and not impactful enough to change the fight.

Alex tried to defend himself, but the simulation was relentless, striking blows landed with bone-jarring force. Alex felt a sharp pain in their side as the opponent's blade grazed him, drawing blood. The fighter pressed his advantage, launching a flurry of attacks that Alex struggled to block. Alex could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to keep up with the lightning-fast movements of his opponent. Soon, however, his hands and arms were covered in small knicks and cuts. Alex dropped his blade in between the action. The simulation reacted immediately and rammed its knife into Alex’s gut. He froze up and felt the pain flair up. Alex dropped to the ground and the fight stopped.

Checking himself he found that he was no longer injured.

“Huh. That is neat. Though it is clear that I cannot adequately fight another person. Let’s try that again.”

Alex summoned another fighter and started aggressively. The result was not good. The fighter blocked the blow and punched him. The fighter now so close to Alex threw out a flurry of attacks. He was stabbed multiple times and kicked as well until he fell over. Alex groaned as the second match against a humanoid ended.

“Definitely should avoid going up against another person, especially against a fighter path person. I’m pretty sure they used some sort of technique toward the end to send out so many jabs within that last second or two. Unless I get some spells and proper magic fighter will beat mage each time.”

Alex summoned the mutated bear next. He had little interest in getting beat up constantly by the human opponents generated by the tower. He would not learn that way. He knew he would have to work harder and earn the points to have a real trainer teach him how to fight with both magic and knives. A mutated bear appeared next. If he couldn’t beat human opponents then he wanted to know how to fight the monsters which could generate him tower points in the future.

Alex watched as it formed and shuffled closer. Its massive claws were poised to strike. They seemed longer and deadlier than those he had seen in pictures. It’s teeth were also sharpened to a point. The fight was fast and brutal, the bear's massive bulk slamming into Alex with bone-crushing force. Alex fought back with everything he had, using his knife to strike at the bear's vulnerable spots. He soon realized that the bear’s fur was altered in a way to take on hits and keep going. That change along with its weight and force behind it was a deadly combination.

It battered him with swipe after swipe of its massive claws, leaving him bleeding and bruised on the ground. As the fight continued, Alex felt his strength waning. His movements became sluggish and uncoordinated, his knife slipping from his grasp. The bear pinned him to the ground squeezing the life out of him.

Alex fought the bear several more times finding it to be a very different challenge to the wolf. He soon realized that his knife could not penetrate its fur very deeply and that it was far too big to move around.

As he fought he was able to drag out the fights for longer and inflict a bit more damage each time. Regardless the bear won, in the end, each time. Alex was tested each time with his pain tolerance, something he knew was woefully lacking. Each of the bear’s attacks while not life-threatening did cause pain to wrack his body each time and changed how he fought because of it.

He also tried to mimic the human simulation and it’s attack patterns. It was not a great one-to-one due to his change in opponent, but he could tell some of the movements were there. Of course, he couldn’t be entirely sure because he had no one watching him and the fight as it went on. Ultimately his latest fight with the bear went as it had before and Alex ‘died’ once more.

Alex checked the time again and saw just under ten minutes ticking down. “Just enough for two more fights.”

He decided to change things up and summoned a mage.

The lightning mage was summoned to the other end of the training area and Alex dashed forward. He felt his stamina was low after the previous fighting but continued. The mage immediately summoned lightning in its hands. Balls of lights glowed in each of its hands.

Alex instinctively ducked when he felt the mage release its attack. The lightning balls flew past him dangerously so. The next attack however did not miss. Alex was almost within range when the attacks were charged up again. He took the attacks squarely in the chest as he swiped at the mage’s robes.

Alex was thrust back, his body seizing up, but he saw what he was looking for. Blood started to pool around the mage’s chest. The mage began preparing another spell, which took longer to form. Alex struggled to move and stand up, but his muscles failed to respond properly. He was hit by a lightning bolt to the chest and the simulation ended.

“It was nice to see what should be my magic working properly. I just wish I could use it myself. Lesson for next time though. I need more knives.”

Alex started up the simulation again once he was ready and had a sleeve of knives at his disposal.