Standing before Anna and Captain Lee is a 5'10 training dummy. It mimics the features as a human, except for the eyes. It's eyes are hollow replaced by a glowing blue light. "It must be powered with mana" Captain Lee says making an observation. "Very good! Rose replies, "You're quite the intelligent one aren't you, no wonder you're a captain" She chuckles.
Alright, let me explain how the dummy works. You can completely customize the training dummy any way you like. As long as you are standing behind the yellow line, it won't take the initiative to attack you. As soon as one foot passes the line it will immediately see you as an enemy. Watch this.
Rose steps forward, passing the yellow line. The training dummy immediately dashes towards her from 20 meters away. Rose waits until the dummy steps right before her and immediate launches a scorching flame punch right through it's chest, incinerating it immediately.
The room emits a light green glow and a screen appears in the centre of the training room with the words "Success" written across them in a large white font. "THAT WAS AMAZING" Anna squeals in delight, "Rose you're so talented!! what level are you? Can you possibly teach me your ways? Take me as your student". Captain Lee sighs at Anna's forwardness.
Rose chuckles in response, my level is not relevant. As you know I was made to help you by the creator of this tower. My powers are but a fraction of his own. However, I can teach you how to reach the second stage of magic, 'Feeling Mana' if you would like?
"That would be amazing" Anna squeals in delight. "So what do I have to do?" She asks.
"First things first, clear your mind. Remember the feeling of the Mana entering your body. I want you to see the light specks and guide them towards you. Once you have enough they will attempt to escape, just like when they entered the magic affinity orb. Don't resist them leaving, but instead attempt to surround your body and weapon with them.
If you succeed then the mana will fuse, gaining you extra speed, defence, and power. This will be extremely difficult and will take a lot of practice to master. It is recommended that you spend at least half an hour a day meditating, to feel the mana in your environment and attract it towards you.
Now, who would like to fight the dummy first?" Rose asks, catching her breath after such a long explanation.
"I will," responds Captain Lee. "As expected of the Captain" replies Rose. "I will put the training dummy on the lowest setting. Right now it has around 75% of the strength and speed an average human man has. However, do not take it lightly as it is not afraid of death." She comments, ensuring that Lee understands the severity of the task at hand.
"Neither am I" the Captain responds coldly as he removes his sword from its scabbard. He fearlessly strides over the yellow and black striped line, exuding confidence. Without a trace of fear in his eyes. The two men begin to run towards each other, and when the dummy is a mere meter away, the Captain slashes horizontally, taking off the dummies head.
"Whew" The captain lets out a short breath before walking towards the others. A green "Success" message glowing against his back.
"Not bad" comments Rose, "I guess you took lessons when you were younger?"
"Surprisingly, the answer is no. I wasn't very athletic as a child. I used to watch a lot of anime and would pretend to be a master swordsman in my free time. I guess some of the things I saw on those shows actually works." He comments.
Anna lets out a chuckle as her concentration is broken by the funny story. "You? Unathletic? Yeah right" she chimes in with a smirk on her face.
"Hey believe what you want to believe" He responds sarcastically. "Anyways, you're up."
"Alright alright, I'm going." Anna walks towards the hazard line holding her magic staff tight. She's a bit unsure of what to do as she cannot cast spells yet, let alone use the mana to strengthen herself. She bravely sprints over the line, rushing towards the training dummy who's instinctively running towards her. When the dummy gets close she swings the staff at it's body and the blow connects. *SMACK*
The dummy falls to the ground but it is not defeated yet. Immediately standing up, it's hollow eyes aggressively stare towards Anna. Once again, the dummy charges towards Anna, who smacks the right side of the body again. *THUNK*
Unsurprisingly, the dummy falls to the ground once more it gets up even slower this time. The blue eyed dummy snorts and charges one final time towards Anna. When she swings her weapon, he ducks under the staff and tackles her to the ground.
Anna's police training kicks in almost instinctively and she puts her hands up to protect her face from the flurry of blows the dummy rains down on her. Although she can feel them hit, she knows that this dummy isn't very strong, and is almost out of energy.
Taking a peek through her guard she immediately notices a powerful strike coming towards her right side of her face.
Hurriedly, she moves her head to the side. Barely dodging the punch, before using the dummies momentum against him. Anna instantly pushes him off her and gets back up.
While the training dummy lays still on the ground, almost out of energy. Anna races up beside it and kicks it in the head one final time as the blue light in its eyes eventually dim and go out.
The words "Success" flashes on the large screen in the centre of the training area. However, Anna is covered in sweat, her body trembling as the adrenaline starts to wear off. "I highly recommend you learn to imbue yourself with mana before fighting, especially as a mage. Once you start attempting to climb the tower you will face enemies a lot stronger than that. If you're unable to use magic to strengthen yourself you will be killed immediately." Rose comments
In an attempt to help guide Anna she sets up another training dummy. "Here, watch this." She says.
Rose takes the magic staff from Anna and immediately creates a connection with the mana around her. Through years of practice, the mana surrounding her naturally enters and strengthens her body.
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"Through my connection with the mana, I'm able to manipulate it to surround my body, as well as strengthen my insides." Rose steps over the line and immediately the training dummy charges towards her ferociously.
Rose brilliantly manoeuvres the mana, it's bright gleam covering the staff as the orb on top acts like a catalyst. With the now mana imbued staff, Rose mimics Anna's actions by swinging the staff horizontally, hitting the dummy in the ribs.
Unexpectedly to Anna, the dummy gets swept off it's feet, flying and crashing into the wall 20 meters away, it's eyes instantly dimming.
"WOW, you're incredible Rose! Please teach me, I promise you won't regret it." She begs.
"I guess I can help you with this one thing," Rose states. "Quickly, start meditating."
Anna does what she's told standing tall like an old oak tree, unwavering. She senses the mana around her when all of a sudden it starts moving on it's own accord.
Rose pressed her hand into Anna's back and shows her how to manipulate the mana in order to reach the 'Feeling Mana Stage'. "OH I get it now" Anna comments, full of understanding. Rose removes her hand and allows Anna to practice this state on her own.
Interestingly, Anna's eyes gain a hint of light blue in them, as the mana begins to surround her body. It goes all the way from the bottom of her black boots, engulfing her whole body, including her staff.
"Excellent," Rose says to her. Now, destroy the dummy once more.
Anna immediately steps over the hazard line, both her and the dummy charging like wild bulls once more. As they begin to get into range, Anna swings her mana covered staff and sends the Dummy flying five meters before it falls on the ground, destroyed.
"Impressive" Rose compliments her. "Thank you" Anna responds, panting and out of breath. The mana within her dissipates quickly, slipping away as she struggles to hold onto it, leaving her feeling drained and exhausted.
"Looks like both of you will be able to handle yourselves on the first floor" Rose comments.
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In another subsection of the tower:
*Slash* *Stab* *Slash* Jay pierces and swipes at the training dummies. Although he's just a beginner he shows signs of potential, his form however is very poor.
Jay continues to let out all his past grievances on the targets. "He really is incredible" Rose mutters to herself. In just 10 minutes he learnt how to imbue mana into his body and spear, befitting of someone who has an affinity with the rarest element.
Jay pants heavily, as he continues fighting the training dummies. He's read enough manhua and webtoons to know that those who get strongest the fastest are the ones who continue to train while others stop.
"Hey Rose, when can I take on the first floor?" Jay asks. "Soon, very soon" She responds pleasantly. "Your talent and attitude has definitely surprised me, continue to train and I will take you to the first floor."
Jay smiles towards her before dashing across the hazard line, sharp spear in hand.
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Meanwhile, in a different subspace of the tower...
"Isn't this cool Victor, you and I both have an element." One of the goons chuckles out loud, "sucks you didn't get anything" he says mockingly to the other goon. "Shut up fatso, you just got earth cause of how big you are." The second goon retorts.
"Enough both of you," Victor says, without a trace of emotion sprinkled on his face.
"Let's just practice against the dummy then attempt the first floor." Victor pulls out his dual daggers before walking towards the dummy. "Watch and learn boys" he says. Although he has a tall and lanky figure, Victor is incredibly swift on his feet. Along with his natural intelligence, this makes him a gifted fighter.
As the training dummy charges towards Victor, he swiftly throws one of his daggers directly between the eyes, while the other dagger pierces it's chest, right where it's heart would be if it had one. As he threw the daggers, Victor did not bother imbuing them with mana. He simply covered himself with a thin layer before throwing. Increasing the speed and power behind each one.
"Wow" both goons exclaim as they watch in astonishment. They've never seen Victor fight before as they usually do all the dirty work for him. Watching him kill the training dummy so mercilessly was definitely an experience for them, and a reminder.
"Our turn" the big goon says to Victor. Both goons walk into the training area, past the hazard line. The larger goon Josh, carries a heavy shield and a long sword, just like a Medieval knight. While the other goon is light on his feet, carrying a simple bow and arrow.
The training dummy sprints towards the frailer goon, who is holding his bow awkwardly. Josh leaps in front of his counterpart and blocks the charge with his shield. The two parties knocked back a few steps on impact.
While the two recover from the blow, an arrow is drawn along the bowstring. The smaller goon releases the string *Fwunnnnngg* the arrow goes flying.
Unfortunately, the arrow misses, barely scraping the side of the dummies arm. "FUCK" the little goon yells, immediately drawing another arrow from his quiver.
"Hahaha" the big goon laughs, blocking the incoming training dummy once more with his abnormally large shield. "Try again" he comments, supporting his friend.
The little goon pulls back the bowstring, before knocking an arrow into the dummies chest, eliminating it.
Both boys let out a short sigh of relief before stepping back towards Victor.
"Not bad boys," Victor comments. "Let's go take on the first floor"
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After spending what seemed to be half an hour getting used to the layout of this place, Derek had finally selected his weapon and taken his affinity test. Unfortunately for him, he was not blessed with an affinity towards any element.
However, much like Jay, he selected the spear as his weapon and moved towards the training grounds, in order to face the dummy.
"Hey Rose, how many different planets have these towers?" He asked curiously.
"More than you can imagine, just because there is a tower on a planet however, does not mean that the habitants are able to conquer it. There are many ownerless towers that have stood for over thousands of years unclaimed." She explained.
"Interestingly, the more advanced the lifeform is, the more difficult the tower is. For example, a planet full of goblins would have a much easier tower compared to a planet that belongs to Dragons.
"Dragons exist?" He asked, taken aback. "Of course, how do you think you humans know about them? They visited your world thousands of years ago." She explained patiently.
"Weird, I wonder if I can become as strong as a dragon." Derek thought to himself as he walked passed the hazard line.
Much like all the others, the training dummy rushed towards him, not hiding an ounce of it's killing intent. As he belonged to the army Derek naturally had large visible muscles. They tensed as he lifted the spear and thrusted straight forwards in a piercing fashion.
The spear penetrated through the target's chest, instantly eliminating it. The dummy turned into particles and vanished, replaced by the glowing green screen with the words "Success" written over them.
"For someone who has is unable to cast magic, you're endowed with supernatural strength." Rose commented. "Try to open up your status page I want to see your stats. Everyone is meant to begin with one stat point per attribute, but I have a feeling you're going to give me a pleasant surprise."
"Open Status" Derek says. As the screen appears, he reads:
User: Derek Kilees.
Titles: None.
Affinity: None.
Magic: 1.
Mana: 1.
Agility: 2.
Strength: 3.
Health: 1.
"No wonder you're so strong, I wouldn't be surprised if you have a special bloodline.
However, with such a minimal increase in your stats it is most likely very impure." Rose explained. "If you want to explore your bloodline you will have to wait to clear the higher floors. There are some potions there that can stimulate your bloodline, and potentially even grant you abilities.
"My momma always told me I was special" Derek replied, chuckling to himself. "Say, when will I be able to attempt that first floor?" He asked impatiently.
"Whenever you're ready, there are a few of you who have completed all three of the tutorial tasks." She replied.
"Am I the strongest out of us?" Derek asked proudly.
"Yes and no, you have the highest Strength stat, but someone else also has the same." Rose answered.
"Interesting, do they have a special bloodline too?"
"It doesn't seem like it, they just happened to be very lucky." She replied, her words igniting Derek's competitive spirit.