City of Genesis

[https://i.imgur.com/DgG44fm.png]

The moonlight shone through the window, creating a natural light inside the darkroom as one Zenith Victor read the book in his hand. He flipped through the book one page at a time before he paused when he sensed someone arriving outside his apartment. He closed the book for a moment as he looked towards the window impassively.

"I know you're there. Come out."

A second later, the moonlight was obstructed by a man in a dark cloak who had suddenly appeared in front of him. As soon as he showed up, he knelt to Zenith with the utmost respect.

"Young Master, your answer?"

Zenith silently eyed him while the man waited for his response. A second later, he opened his book and continued reading instead, letting the silence fall upon them as he ignored the man like he was nothing but thin air. The only sound heard in the room was from the book when Zenith flipped through its pages.

As he was doing all this, the man was trying his best to maintain his calm but he was sweating profusely with each passing second.

For a while, not a single one of them uttered a word. Zenith was focused on reading his book while the man didn't dare make a noise. The more Zenith was acting like this, the more the man wasn't able to get a read on him, and the more his fear of Zenith increased. The one sitting in front of him, while incredibly young, was easily one of the scariest people he had ever met in his life. If he had a choice, he would rather not face him at all.

A few more minutes went by, Zenith closed the book in his hand and finally broke the unbearable silence.

"I take it that Order has agreed to my demands?"

A hesitant expression appeared on the man's face.

"Yes, Young Master."

As he answered, he couldn't help but take a good look at Zenith.

Zenith Victor was a young man with vibrant golden hair. He had cerulean blue eyes that bordered between coldness and indifference which made the man feel small and conscious, as though those very same eyes were judging his very being. It was like he was facing the leader of the organization he served instead. The two of them had the same air that was near suffocating for smaller men like them.

He let out an inaudible gulp.

Despite his fears, he greatly admired this young man who was a whole decade younger than him. Zenith was only 18 years old but out of all the people that he knew, he was the only one who dared to make demands from one of the most powerful organizations in the tower like this. Normal people wouldn't even dare think about doing such a thing! As for the few that did, they were nothing but cold corpses under the ground right now.

But then again, this was the same person who challenged a god eight years ago. If he dared to offend a god, would he even fear the Order?

"Since that's the case, I will climb the tower and reach that floor."

"Yes!"

For a brief moment, his eyes wandered into the book in Zenith's hand.

It was a book containing general information about Orus, the god of death, plague, and pestilence. He was a subordinate of the god of the underworld whom Zenith challenged 8 years ago. He was a god with a notorious reputation inside the tower which even other gods stayed away from.

If he remembered correctly, that god was responsible for spreading incurable diseases in the tower that killed tens of millions of people in a course of a year.

What could he want from a god like that? As far as he knew, the last time he showed an interest in a god, he challenged that same god to a game— one that shook the entirety of the tower. Suddenly, a terrifying thought came into his mind.

"Don't tell me he's planning to?!"

Eight years ago, he was among the people who watched Zenith climb the pyramid. He heard from the other children how fearless Zenith was when he challenged a god when he was only 10 years old. What was more was it wasn't just any ordinary god. It was the god of the underworld, one of the strongest gods in the universe!

Would he shy away from a mere subordinate of that god? He didn't think so.

Zenith frowned when he noticed where his gaze was so he discreetly moved the book away from his view, directing the man's attention back to him.

"If you go back on your words, I will see to it that Order will be destroyed. Tell them that."

Shivers ran down his spine upon hearing his words. Only Zenith could afford to say those words with confidence.

He looked down and meekly nodded his head.

"I will."

Just when he thought that Zenith was done, he saw him open the book in his hand and take out a piece of paper that was neatly folded and hidden between its pages.

"Since you guys want me to work for you, you must show me your sincerity," he said as he handed the paper to him. "I want everything listed here to be delivered within three days. Any later, and our deal will be off. Understand?"

The man carefully received the letter. "I understand, Young Master."

"You may leave."

He bowed his head for the last time before leaving in a blink of an eye. There weren't any traces of him left in the room. It was as if he didn't come there at all.

A few moments after the man's departure, Zenith laid down on his bed as he stared at the ceiling motionlessly.

The tower they lived in consisted of more than a hundred floors. Under normal circumstances, it was near impossible for someone from the lower floors to climb onto the higher floors. However, a grand event called Tower Ascension would soon take place inside the tower which would only happen once every five years. The tower's residents would be given the opportunity to reach the higher floors and obtain great rewards tempting numerous people into participating. There was a problem though— not just anyone could climb the tower.

During this grand event, the tower would conduct several tests and only allow those who passed the tests to get into the next floor. Hundreds of millions of people would sign up each time to participate in these tests which would take place all over the 1st floor. Throughout the millennia, however, those who were able to reach the current highest floor in the tower among these people numbered only in the twenties. One could imagine just how difficult it was to climb the tower.

If Zenith took these tests, he was confident that he'd be able to pass. However, he didn't want to merely just pass. He wanted to dominate the tests so he could receive special rewards meant only for the most exceptional individuals on those tests.

Suddenly, his eyes glinted in cold light as his thoughts drifted towards a certain organization.

For some reason, the Order wanted him to climb the tower.

Five years ago, they asked him to participate in the Tower Ascension. He refused since he wasn't interested back then. Aside from that, he was also wary of the Order's plan. He didn't know what they wanted but they were definitely plotting something which involved him climbing the tower. Otherwise, they wouldn't have asked him to climb the tower. The Order he knew would never do something without any reason.

Truthfully, he'd rather not have anything to do with them at all. However, his circumstances had changed. There was something he desired in the upper floors, and to obtain it, he would have to take the tests to climb the tower. Since he intended to participate in the Tower Ascension this year anyway, he figured he'd at least make use of the Order and make a deal with them.

Earlier, he was only putting on a good show and played hard to get to gain the maximum benefits from something he was already going to do.

"But now that I've gotten the Order to accept my demands, it's time to begin my preparations."

Even though he had been planning on climbing the tower for a while already, he had yet to truly begin his preparations. The Order was a big organization, and they had eyes everywhere. If he had prepared early, they would've suspected his motives and he wouldn't be able to make big demands out of them. But since that was no longer a concern, he had to prepare as soon as possible especially since the test was starting in the next three weeks.

But before all that...

Zenith got up from his bed and carefully checked every spot in his room. Minutes later, he captured a tiny mosquito hiding under his bed.

It wouldn't have been a big deal if it was a normal mosquito but this one wasn't. It was a mosquito emitting a faint aura that was similar to that man from earlier.

"Trying to spy on me?" He scoffed before pinching the mosquito with his fingers.

He didn't know when that man released the mosquito but it was a good thing that he checked his room. All of his words and actions would've reached the Order otherwise.

He really couldn't afford to let his guard down against someone from the Order.