“Where to next?” Leon asked his new teammate as they sat down and enjoyed the spoils from their latest fight. There had been a scuffle for some fruits that were said to increase one’s comprehension of magic, and they had managed to get their hands on some before others could take them all.
Jet sat with crossed legs on top of a boulder, his hands placed in his lap as he meditated, fully exploring the gains that he had gotten from the fruit. Black cracks filled the air around him, a sign of him actively utilizing Space magic.
Leon watched with interest as Jet tested out his new strength. According to the dark haired man, he was only a tiny step away from High B rank, which made Leon even more sure that he had made the right choice in befriending him.
It turned out that Jet was quite the easy going guy, and after a couple of days, Leon was able to get a pretty good feel for him. Jet was someone who valued his friends and respected the strong. When Leon had showed him a portion of his strength, he had felt that Leon’s potential was quite good, so he did not mind pursuing that alliance that Leon had proposed.
After a few minutes, Jet stood up with a grin on his face. “Let’s keep roaming. I don’t know any good spots. My grandad did not tell me a lot of stuff, he did not want to make things too easy for me.”
“Alright.” Leon nodded and turned around, but all of a sudden, the ground shook beneath his feet. “Whoa!” He staggered, but quickly regained his footing.
In the distance, a massive cloud of dust rose, but was soon cleared away by the extending stone tower that reached up into the sky. The tower was incredibly wide, and it was had for Leon to fathom the actual size of such a construction.
“No way!” Jet was more knowledgeable and quickly jumped up to the highest point of the mountain they were camping on. His eyes were wide, and his jaw had gone slack.
Leon appeared beside him a second later, still as confused as before. “What is that? Is it good?” He asked with blatant curiosity.
“Of course it is! Don’t you know the Tower of Trials?” Jet was surprised by Leon’s question and turned to look at him.
“No, I don’t.” Leon shrugged in a carefree manner.
“You’re joking, right? There is no way someone as old as you won’t know of the Tower of Trials. And by your rank, you are surely someone of renown in the Demon Continent, yes? You must know the Tower of Trials.” Jet scoffed.
Leon simply remained silent. How long had he been in this world? Just around a month. So how could he possibly know of this seemingly famous Tower of Trials?
Jet was surprised when he felt Leon’s gloomy aura blow against his face. Had he touched upon a sore topic? He quickly cleared his throat and spoke.
“The Tower of Trials is a rare appearance during Divinity’s Bout. In all the times Divinity’s Bout has been held, the Tower of Trials has only been recorded to appear four times. All four times, the Tower of Trials has given great bounties to those who managed to conquer each floor, with the top floor holding the best rewards.
“The Tower of Trials has fifty floors, so only fifty people in each zone can get a reward. Also, the towers appear in all zones at the same time, but the zones to not merge, so that means there are towers for each zone.” Jet explained as quickly as he could.
“We need to hurry. I’m sure others are already heading there as we speak!” Jet exclaimed and dashed forward. The space around him twisted and warped, making it easier for him to move forward at fast speeds. As for Leon, he stuck to using Gravity magic to make himself lighter, and Wind magic to push himself forward, so he was easily able to match Jet’s speed.
The two travelled like dark shadows over the mountain. The Tower of Trials was massive, so it looked close, but it was actually very far from them.
Over five hours passed as they rushed to the tower, before finally reaching a small hill that laid a fair distance from the Tower’s entrance. From the hill, they could see that a large amount of people had already gathered in front of the tower’s entrance, and many more were just coming. But there was a ruckus at the entrance to the tower. It seemed as if no one was entering at the moment.
“Smells like trouble.” Jet mumbled and turned to Leon. “We might need to force ourselves into the tower. Can you keep up?” He smirked.
“Heh. I think you should ask yourself that question.” Leon chuckled and cracked his knuckles.
From where they were, they could see that a group of people numbering around thirty or so, had taken up the entrance to the tower, and were refusing to allow anyone in. From the way they spoke and acted, it seemed that they were actually strong people, or else those outside the gates, which numbered around forty to fifty, would have acted out by now.
Now, Leon may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but it was easy for him to tell that the thirty who had blocked the gateway were trying to limit entry. Perhaps they were extorting those willing to enter the tower, or maybe they wanted to secure the rewards for their own people, but Leon did not care. He wanted something, and he would damn well make sure he got it.
Two dark shadows sprinted across the empty plain that surrounded the tower. The people guarding the tower noticed them a bit early, but were still alarmed. Quickly, those who excelled at defense stood at attention, and mages cast spells, but they made a mistake.
They did not expect a mage adept in Space magic.
A black crack appeared in the air just before the barrier, and the two dark shadows dashed through. A second later, they appeared right behind the defense perimeter and dashed through the swirling white portal that led into the Tower of Trials.
This singular spectacular feat roused the flames that had been simmering within the hearts of those waiting outside. They picked up their weapons, readied their spells, and attacked those who blocked their way to the tower!