Zenith sat inside his apartment with many thoughts running inside his mind.

In yesterday's seminar, the butler suddenly disappeared on stage after they were all given a wooden box by the staff. Zenith concluded that it must've been the doing of the guardians of the tower. He didn't see and detect any of them because he wasn't powerful enough. In his eyes, it only seemed like the butler just disappeared into thin air.

As for the reason why they took him away, it was because he had harmed a lot of those who attended the seminar. It would be strange if the guardians just left him alone.

In any case, the butler's fate wasn't something important to him nor was it something he should care about. What was important was the seed in his hand.

Zenith was holding a glowing tiny orb in his hand with a thoughtful look on his face.

In this world, there exist wondrous organisms called spirit seeds. They were the amalgamation of heaven, earth, and the tower's Nu. Through the use of a spirit seed, an individual could gain extraordinary strength or even the ability to manipulate various elements. They were organisms full of mysteries sought after by countless mortals due to their many uses.

During the seminar, they were all given a spirit seed with everyone immediately using theirs on the spot. The only one who dared bring the spirit seed they received outside the venue was Zenith alone.

Zenith wasn't surprised by their behaviors though. Spirit seeds were incredibly expensive to the point that most people wouldn't even have the chance to own one in their entire lives. Although one could stumble upon a spirit seed in the wild, there were only a few cases of people being able to utilize it.

Those in the amphitheater most likely used theirs right away either because of their excitement or out of fear of being robbed for possessing such an organism.

He was different, however. A day had already passed since the seminar and he had yet to use his System Seed. In the Tower Ascension, this particular spirit seed was incredibly important so he wanted to take his time inspecting the seed to make sure it didn't have any problems.

"It seems like I'm worrying too much," he muttered to himself as he eyed the organism in hand.

He had already examined the spirit seed more than a dozen times and all of the results showed that the seed was in a good condition without any hints of being tampered with. Of course, he couldn't discount the possibility that his abilities were just lacking in this particular area which was why he couldn't find a single flaw in it.

In any case, he already did everything in his capabilities to ensure there weren't any problems with the seed. If his judgment turned out to be wrong...

"I will applaud my opponent for successfully sabotaging me," he thought to himself before releasing the spirit seed in his hand.

Instead of falling to the ground, the seed floated in mid-air as it shone with greater intensity than it ever did before.

And then it moved.

Spirit seeds were living organisms. Although they weren't capable of having complex thoughts like humans or animals, they have their own self-awareness and self-preservation instincts. If a captured spirit seed found an opening, it would try its best to escape by exploiting that opening.

Zenith didn't have such worries about this spirit seed due to its unique nature.

Instead of escaping, the spirit seed flew around him with interest, as though it was observing him. This continued for a few seconds until suddenly, the spirit seed's light started flickering. It looked like a little creature that found something that excited it.

The next moment, the spirit seed entered his chest.

In the Epic of Primo, it was said that every creature born from the primeval water of the universe had a container inside their body that stored their Nu. This container was known as Spirit Core.

There were many uses to a spirit core. One of them was to allow an individual to manipulate their Nu and perform miraculous feats just like what the butler did back in the seminar.

In theory, everyone with a spirit core should've been able to use their Nu freely. However, this was not the case since every creature's spirit cores were already sealed before they were even born.

This was where the System Seed came in. One of the purposes of this seed was to unseal an individual's spirit core and allow them to finally be able to use their Nu.

Zenith's body glowed in a blinding blue light as the System Seed started to assimilate with him. At the center of his chest, there was a small orb that seemed to contain a miniature version of the universe inside.

Zenith was stunned upon seeing this small orb.

"This..."

It was his spirit core.

In this tower, there exist six types of spirit cores ranging from F-Rank to A-Rank, with the former being the weakest and the latter being the greatest. Spirit cores of each rank had different colors: gray, red, orange, green, blue, and purple.

However, Zenith's spirit core didn't fall into any of this category. It looked like a universe condensed into a small orb instead.

His brows furrowed as he tried to analyze his core.

"What rank is this?"

Since it didn't have the same color as any of the six types of spirit cores, it was quite difficult to determine the rank of his spirit core.

Before he could further think about this, the light he was emitting died down. It was a sign that the System Seed had finally finished assimilating into his body. The said spirit seed could be seen happily settling down in his core, being surrounded by the rich Nu within. Aside from that, Zenith also noticed a strange silhouette inside his Nu.

At this point, Zenith had questions after questions regarding his unusual awakening. As far as he knew, no one had ever possessed a spirit core like his before. And then there was also that strange silhouette.

"Was there something wrong with the System Seed after all?"

This was Zenith's first suspicion but he found it highly unlikely. A System Seed could never affect a spirit core to this extent no matter how much it was modified. The only way this could be theoretically possible was if the System Seed would be used in tandem with other high-ranking spirit seeds— which was something that didn't happen in his case. Still, he wouldn't completely dismiss this possibility. For all he knew, the System Seed might just indeed be the cause of all this strangeness.

"I will have to look into this later but for now..."

Zenith finally paid attention to the four lines of texts floating right in front of him.

Status

Spirit Seeds

Quest Log

Experience Points

It was another feature of the System Seed. This was the reason why this spirit seed was incredibly important for the Tower Ascension. If one only wanted to unseal their spirit cores, there were dozens of spirit seeds that specialized in that. But out of all species of spirit seeds, the System Seed was the only one with this ability.

"Status," Zenith mentally commanded as he gave a portion of his Nu to his System Seed.

He wanted to see what the system would show about his status.

In a split second, a wall of texts formed in front of him.

Status

Zenith Victor

Title: The child who challenged a god

Race: Human

Rank: +E-Rank (?)

Attributes

Power: +E-Rank (?)

Dexterity: +E-Rank (?)

Durability: +E-Rank (?)

Vitality: +E-Rank (?)

Hidden Attributes

Speed: +E-Rank (?)

Perception: A-Rank

Willpower: S-Rank

Luck: D-Rank

Charisma: A-Rank

Core

Spirit Core: E-Rank (?)

Zenith had a serious expression on his face as he read the information in front of him. His status showed nearly every vital information about him. If one of his opponents ever managed to take a hold of this information, things would end up very badly for him.

He would have to find a way to protect this information somehow.

His eyes then fell upon his title.

"The child who challenged a god."

It was quite a mouthful title but from what he had heard, this was how most of the residents of the tower referred to him after he challenged a god 8 years ago. He wasn't surprised to see this in his title. What was surprising though was how even his attributes were. All of them were at +E Rank with only four of his hidden attributes at different ranks.

"Overall, I'm at +E-Rank, huh?"

Although he already had a good idea about his strength, seeing it in this format was something else.

"And those question marks... is it because of what happened back then?" Zenith thought with a frown, remembering what happened to him after challenging a god.

Next, he looked at his core's status. His spirit core was rated at E-Rank. He was a bit disappointed to have a low-ranking spirit core but he didn't dwell too much about it. Even if it was F-Rank, the lowest rank, he would just have to find a way to raise its ranking. Furthermore, the question mark at the end indicated that there was something more to his core than what he could see in his status.

When he was done looking at his status, he decided to check the other options in his system.

"Spirit Seeds," he thought to himself as he poured more Nu into the System Seed.

Spirit Seeds

Provisional System Seed (E-Rank)

After they were given their spirit seeds in the seminar, the staff told them that their System Seed was only a temporary one. It would self-destruct the moment the Tower Ascension started.

This was because they were not yet qualified to climb the tower. The seminar was just for screening and for temporarily awakening their spirit core. To climb the tower, they had to pass the preliminary test, which could be found in:

"Quest log."

Quest Log

Preliminary Test:

Find the Sword Saint in the Silent Mountain and accomplish one of his tasks.

Rewards:

System Seed (E-Rank)

Tower Ascension Qualification

Only after completing this quest would he be given the right to climb the tower.

Zenith sighed as he looked at the shadow of a mountain in the distance through the window of his apartment.

That mountain was none other than the Silent Mountain in his quest log.

He was still far away from his goal but he was taking small steps towards it.

"I'm about to climb the tower. Will you keep your promise to me?" he thought as memories from 8 years ago flashed into his mind.

Back then, he challenged a god. It was the greatest challenge he had ever faced in his entire life. He used all of his strength and wits to survive, and somehow, he really made it out alive.

A lot of people in the tower thought that he died 8 years ago while the others believed he was nothing more than a tale, which was perfectly understandable. After all, who'd believe that a mere child challenged a god? Or that the child was able to survive against a god?

However, the truth was sometimes stranger than fiction. He was real and against all odds, he survived.

Zenith clenched his fist as he thought of what transpired between him and the god.

8 years ago, he made a secret deal with him. He would do a favor for the god, and in exchange, the god would help him obtain something that he desired. Whatever favor the god wanted from him, he had no idea. However...

A cold glint appeared in his eyes.

"If I found out that you lied to me, I will do everything in my power to destroy you."

"That is a promise from me to you..."

"...oh, god of the underworld."