[Are you really going to go to her house?] Evangeline asked, a hint of wariness in her tone.
Yep, she sounds like an interesting person. Wouldn't hurt to learn some tech stuff as well while I'm at it, Neraxis replied with a shrug as he opened up the pod.
As he did so, he glanced around, noticing about five people, including himself and Aella, who had managed to finish the training this quickly.
It was all thanks to her guidance when she saw the spider. Only then did their pace really pick up as they seemed to take all the right paths until, eventually, they arrived at the exit.
Neraxis glanced at one of the pods opening and noticed Aella get out of it before looking around as her gaze landed on his.
She merely nodded with a soft smile and went toward a few of the other girls in his class—those whose names he did not know.
Nonetheless, Neraxis was a bit surprised it was taking Kael this long to finish.
Just as those thoughts fell, however, the pods right behind him opened, revealing both Celina and Aurelia, who happily jumped out of the pods, flashing a few looks at him before walking away.
[Guess you can't flirt with so many people in the room, now can you?] Evangeline teased, which he ignored as he walked up to Magnus, who was doing something on the laptop.
"Will there be more, or are we free to go?" Neraxis asked. Magnus quickly folded the laptop before answering.
"You can go for now," he said, but upon taking a closer look, Magnus stopped him. "Wait."
Neraxis turned around with a slightly puzzled expression. "Yes?"
He was met with a whisper, seemingly to avoid the others from hearing.
"I see you've reached E- rank. Congratulations. However, you should visit the headmaster, as there are certain procedures for situations like these."
Don't tell me... Neraxis stared at Magnus with a knowing expression before whispering.
"You said E rank is ideal for the tower. Does that mean I have to do it early now?" he asked, immediately receiving a surprised nod in response.
"That's right. Aside from you, two other students have already completed the first floor, and as you can see, they succeeded. Now you must succeed as well."
Neraxis sighed and turned around. "Got it... I'll be going there right away then."
"Good luck," Magnus said as his parting words and quickly went back to browsing something on the laptop.
Meanwhile, Neraxis swiftly made his way to the fourth floor.
It was surprisingly empty. At this time, people should have been on break, and yet, no one was around.
After a few minutes of walking, he soon arrived and knocked on the headmaster's door.
As he did so, the door swiftly opened itself, revealing William sitting with his legs up on the table.
"You're the third one. Nice. Didn't expect someone like you to improve so fast, though," William stated, earning a shrug from Neraxis in response.
"If you didn't expect something , then why bother covering for me last time?"
William merely glanced at him for a moment and quickly changed topics. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, are you getting along with Celina?"
"Yes, we talked a fair bit recently," Neraxis stated with a smile, making William's brows twitch.
"I see..." he said and stood up, putting on his professional expression as he signaled for Neraxis to get closer, which he did.
William flicked his fingers, and suddenly, Neraxis found himself being pushed back, seemingly into a wall.
But before he could make an impact, he felt a breeze, followed by the surroundings morphing, and lastly, the view of the purple tower—Dreamspire.
Right behind him, William appeared, placing a hand on Neraxis's shoulder and saying, "I expect you to perform as well as the others. If not, then at least get a good score."
As his words finished, he suddenly leaned in and whispered, "We are going to have to talk about your 'affiliations' right after you are done, so be prepared."
Neraxis immediately twisted his body around with alarm, yet once he did, William was already gone.
He knows I'm in The Obscura... he sighed with a bit of resignation. Of course he does. Why am I even surprised? This man used to have more intel than even the government.
[If he had bad intentions, he would have likely already confronted you,] Evangeline commented before continuing, [Besides that, I'd assume some of your comrades are monitoring you and possibly even protecting you. I wouldn't be too worried.]
If you say so, Neraxis agreed before proceeding toward the purple tower.
William had not told him anything, but he did do a bit of his own research, and there was supposed to be a booth right before the massive gate, which he was walking to.
Soon, he found it, with a lone man idly sitting by, seemingly about to fall asleep.
Yet when he noticed Neraxis, he immediately stiffened before correcting his posture.
Neraxis walked up and announced, "I'd like to enter the first floor."
"Place your finger on here," the man swiftly replied, pulling out a device that looked like a fingerprint scanner.
Cooperating, Neraxis put his finger on it, and soon, his information was displayed in a holographic format as the man began reading it while questioning him.
"...Rank?" the man seemingly finished, not expecting much.
However, as Neraxis's words rang out, he was left shocked.
"Boy..." the man leaned in. "You do understand that lying will get you nowhere, right?"
Neraxis nodded. "I'm not lying. Havenspire's headmaster brought me here. As per the first-year regulations of having to clear the tower's first ten floors, I'm here to clear the first floor."
Immediately, the pieces seemed to click into place as the man remembered something. He pulled out a different device that had the word "Attempts" written on it.
There was a fingerprint scanner on it as well, and Neraxis soon used it, immediately bumping up the count of attempts to 1 as the man spoke.
"You are free to enter. The liabilities have already been explained by the academy, I assume, so I won't run you through that. Just go toward that massive, scaly, purple door and place your hand on it."
"Got it. Thanks," Neraxis replied and headed over to the door that was indeed massive, much bigger than the one he had seen in the Astral Tower.
After placing his hand on it, his vision contorted, and soon, he found himself sitting on a sofa in a completely blank white room with a single timer in front of him, counting down from ten minutes.
However, the timer soon stopped, and instead, a blue system window appeared in front of him before swiftly turning red due to Evangeline's influence.
Yet the content it displayed was a bit unnerving.
[Climber: Neraxis Valen]
[Records: Astral Tower - 1/12]
[Dreamspire has taken notice of your achievements!]
[Difficulty Increasing!]
Neraxis's eyes widened at the sequence of notifications until, finally, the last ones fell.
[Dreamspire Tower - 1st Floor: Arena of Beginnings]
[Objective: Survive and kill as many monsters as you can in 10 -> 20 minutes]
[Status: Initializing...]