Chapter 33
After a few minutes of waiting, the rankings finally showed up.
1st - Andy - 1,000
2nd - Shenlong - 950
3rd - Dubaku - 900
4th - Amara - 890
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24th - Jason - 600
Jason was disappointed, but he’d expected as much. His skill levels and equipment were still poor compared to the best of the best. However, the person who ranked first caught him by surprise. Andy had been a good friend of his before he time traveled. He was the champion of Alister. Andy was, well, not a fighter. It was only during the later stages of the tower that he finally took ascending seriously. Thus, it was a surprise that he managed to get first place. If one considered all of the thousands of skills the tower offered, Andy’s was the most versatile. Compared to the other champions, Andy only had a single skill from his god.
Reality Shaping
Bend reality to your will. Consumes Illusion Energy when creating illusions. Amount consumed is based on the strength of illusion. Maximum strength of illusions is based on the Willpower stat.
As long as Andy could imagine it, anything could be created. Dueling him at his peak was annoying, to say the least.
Jason glanced at Shenlong’s rank. Second place. An expected result from that monster. The person in third was the same as the first stage. Dubaku? Jason had only heard about this man; he’d never met him. Dubaku had died long before Jason reached the front lines of the tower. He was from Sudan, a country in Africa. From the rumors, Dubaku was a crazy battle maniac. One rumor in particular stood out from the rest. Dubaku actually exited the tower to fight the monster waves that the tower released occasionally. Very few ascenders did such a thing, especially the strongest ones.
The person in fourth place was someone Jason was very familiar with. Amara. Just thinking about her gave him a headache. She was the champion of Amrita, the goddess of magic. Like Jason, she had a title. It was very intimidating, unlike his. Amrita, the Blazing Phoenix. Arrogance was ingrained deep in her bones. She deigned to notice very few, yet no one dared to complain. Like Shenlong, she was a bona fide genius. Not in martial arts, but in magic. She was twenty years old, and a natural-born. It took her less than a year to reach the front lines.
Jason continued down the rankings, recalling all of the familiar names. There were even a few he was unfamiliar with. A few minutes later, he was teleported to the third stage. Glancing around, he found himself surrounded by ascenders as far as the eye could see. Don’t tell me everyone is gathered here? Is it a free-for-all?
The notification that appeared made everything clear.
Tournament of Champions - Stage 3
Ascend the steps of heaven. Combat between trial takers is forbidden. Doing so will result in disqualification from the tournament.
The ground began to tremble. In the distance, a massive staircase rose from the ground. One step after another appeared. It was impossible to see exactly how wide each step was, but it was at least ten miles. When the trembling stopped, the top of the stairs could no longer be seen.
Ascenders dashed towards the first step immediately, trying to complete the stage as fast as possible. When an ascender reached within a hundred feet of the stairs, they were teleported to the first step. A monster flashed into existence in front of them. Several hundred ascenders arrived next, followed by a matching number of monsters.
It took several minutes before Jason could reach the stairs. Like the others, a monster spawned in front of him. The monster’s form was blurry. He couldn’t make out any features, besides that it was humanoid.
Shade of Heaven - Level 74
Health: 1/1
Jason glanced at the other shades before coming to an understanding. The monster was based on his level. As it was the first step, and there were clearly hundreds more, the monsters would get progressively harder. The first step was a joke. It was killed without suspense.
As soon it was killed, Jason was teleported to the second step. It was a good thing too, because it would have taken several hours just to reach the base of the second step. That’s how big the stairs were.
Shade of Heaven - Level 74
Health: 5/5
Once again, the shade was killed in a single hit. Then again, and again, and again. When Jason reached the tenth step, a notification appeared.
You have reached the tenth step of heaven.
Willpower +1
He sucked in a breath. Willpower was one of the hardest stats to acquire, as it was related to the soul, the foundation of any living thing. Incredibly, he could gain willpower just by climbing some steps. This was an unexpected benefit.
His happiness fell as soon as he stepped towards the shade, who now had a hundred life. Something felt off. Like gravity had increased, and yet not. The change was so imperceptible that if Jason hadn’t reached the third realm, he wouldn’t have noticed it. As he glanced around at the other ascenders, he realized only he had noticed. He frowned. Looks like these steps aren’t as simple as I thought.
There was nothing he could do. Shrugging, he continued onward.
You have reached the twentieth step of heaven.
Willpower +1
You have reached the thirtieth step of heaven.
Willpower +1
You have reached the fortieth step of heaven.
Willpower +1
You have reached the fiftieth step of heaven.
Willpower +1
Only when he reached the fiftieth step did he realize what that feeling was. Mental suppression. It was something one felt when fighting high grade monsters or bosses. It had nothing to do with stats. It was an assault on one’s will. Willpower increased the strength of the soul, yet it had little to no effect when defending against mental suppression. Take a building for example. The willpower stat added more floors. If one had a weak will, the quality of the materials the building was made of would be poor. There would be weaknesses. Defects. Just a slight increase in gravity would topple it.
Looking around, he could spot a few ascenders who were sweating profusely with pale faces. It was clear they were under heavy pressure. To Jason, though, it was like a light breeze. It was basically not even there. Jason had fought millions of monsters, participated in multiple wars between ascenders, and watched humanity be destroyed. His will had long been tempered into fine steel. No, something far beyond that.
He licked his lips. How far can I go? While others were beginning to struggle, he was thinking about how much willpower he could gain. The difference between them was clear.
Chapter 34
“Damn, why did it suddenly get so much harder?” An ascender next to Jason collapsed to the ground after killing their shade.
A nearby ascender commented in frustration. “It’s just one step higher, but it feels at least fifty percent harder.”
There were numerous complaints around Jason. Apparently, the fiftieth step had a much higher increase in difficulty compared to before. He didn’t even notice.
Is it just my imagination? As Jason continued onward, he noticed the shade of heaven grow clearer. It was no longer as blurry as before. In fact, it even seemed to be bigger than before. Only after several more steps did he confirm his guess. The shade, besides becoming stronger, was transforming. It almost looked like… himself. Jason gasped. Don’t tell me it’s turning into a doppelganger? He already knew how hard it was to fight a clone of oneself, thanks to the arena’s fifteenth challenge. If he had to fight a doppelganger while enduring the mental suppression, he’d fare even worse.
Not much time passed before he reached the hundredth step. It was then that he felt it. A pressure weighing down on him. It wasn’t physical, and yet it clearly affected his body. But that was secondary. The main effect was that his mind felt slower. Like each thought took more effort. Only after strengthening his resolve did the pressure subside. The a
scenders around him weren’t so lucky. A few had collapsed immediately after reaching the hundredth step.
Looking back, Jason found that a huge portion of the ascenders had not reached the hundredth step. It looked like over half had been eliminated. It was expected. Almost every ascender was participating in the tournament, but not all went through too many hardships. Experiencing struggle and setbacks strengthened one’s will, or sometimes crushed it.
Not only had Jason been affected by the pressure on the hundredth step, his shade had grown clear as well. It wore his equipment and looked identical to him, except it was expressionless.
Shade of Heaven - Level 74
Health: 5,000/5,000
Even so, it was killed easily. The shade might have his appearance and equipment, but it lacked intelligence. It was no more than a simple beast. A notification appeared upon its death.
You have reached the hundredth step of heaven.
Willpower +2
Oh? Jason smiled. Another pleasant surprise. As the difficulty went up, so did the rewards. Feeling more motivated than ever, he continued onwards, slaying shade after shade.
Less than an hour later, he reached the two hundredth step. That was when another change occurred. Besides the drastic increase in mental pressure, his shade had grown demonic. It had black pupils and a perpetual smirk. Jason was irritated. The shade was ruining his handsome visage. He quickly killed it before others got a look.
There was one surprise. The shade was no longer a mindless beast. It now possessed the combat techniques of someone at the border of the first realm.
You have reached the two hundredth step of heaven.
Willpower +3
Of the two million ascenders that reached this step, only five hundred thousand could continue on. The shade had grown strong enough to give them a good fight. To endure the mental suppression and fight a foe your equal? It was an uphill battle.
Jason continued onward. Strangely, even though there were fewer ascenders, he was still surrounded by them. Glancing around, he found the reason why. The steps were growing smaller.
The pressure continued to increase. It was now far, far beyond a gentle breeze. He felt tired from the depths of his soul. Like he had taken too many sedatives. Each thought was a struggle. The feeling left him frustrated. When he reached the two hundred and fiftieth step, he decided to sit down after killing his shade. Not to give up, or because he had reached his limit; no, it was to strengthen his resolve.
He recalled the past. The dwindling population of humanity. The collapsed buildings. Cities on fire. One memory in particular stood out. He had left the tower to help eliminate the monster waves, as they had grown numerous by that point. If monsters weren’t eliminated, they would create dungeons. What he found at the end of one dungeon left him sick to his stomach. Humans. Corpse after corpse. Old, young, male, female, it didn’t matter. They were all there. Bugs crawled underneath their skin, consuming flesh to strengthen themselves. Jason was determined to find the monster responsible. Suffice to say, it didn’t have a pleasant ending.
That was just one memory. There were countless others. As he recalled them all, something primal rose from deep within him. It was something he had long taken control of and beaten into submission. Not now. He unleashed his fury. But not randomly. No, it was controlled. Manipulated.
When he opened his eyes, he found a shocking sight. A gray aura covered his body, with streaks of red lines flowing through it. It was the combination of battle energy and killing intent. Even though he didn’t intend it, he had successfully combined the two. Battle energy was just that. Energy. It had no will. Only when combined with one’s killing intent would its true power show itself.
Something else surprised Jason. The mental pressure he had been facing had dissipated. It had returned back to a gentle breeze.
Good. Jason clenched his fist. With this, he would have no problems facing the next few hundred steps.
Unfortunately, he had drastically underestimated the steps of heaven. When he reached the three hundredth step, his shade had actually reached the third realm. Not only that, but the mental pressure he was facing was far worse than before. He could only use around seventy percent of his strength.
In the end, he died on the three hundredth and thirty-second step. He gained a total of seventy-two willpower. Now he was much closer to his goal of two hundred than before. Yet his happiness didn’t end there. The rankings were next.
1st - Jason - 1,000
2nd - Cay - 950
3rd - Shenlong- 900
4th - Dubaku - 890
5th - Olivia - 880
Chapter 35
Olivia is actually ranked fifth? For someone so young to have such a strong will was simply incredible. She was what? Seventeen years old? What did she go through to achieve such a result? It was scary just thinking about it.
Shenlong appeared again, which was expected, but Dubaku had been at the top of every stage so far. It was strange to think someone as strong as him didn’t live until the end in the alternate timeline. What exactly had caused his death?
And then there was Cay. Jason didn’t want to acknowledge it, but he had to admit that Cay Wolf was a terrifying figure. If he encountered Wolf out in the open, he’d try to kill him if he had the chance. It was best to nip problems in the bud before they grew out of hand.
The screen disappeared and was replaced by another.
Tournament of Champions - Stage 4
One versus one duels. You may only lose three duels.
The climax of the tournament arrived via the most ordinary fashion; by pitting ascenders against each other. Only the strongest would remain. It’s fortunate that I can have up to three losses. Jason thought he was lucky. What if he encountered Shenlong in his first match? He would lose without a doubt. Not only was Shenlong at the third realm, or perhaps even at the peak, he had superior equipment and skill levels.
It was inevitable. Jason had only entered the tower around half a year ago. Even if he had complete knowledge of the tower and perfect combat techniques, there was more to an ascender’s strength. Items were even more important. Combat techniques like the three realms only mattered when fighting equally equipped opponents. It gave you that extra edge.
Take Roy from before Jason time traveled, for example. Shenlong and Roy had been rivals for decades, but once Roy acquired the divine-grade sword, his strength skyrocketed.
Jason’s vision abruptly blurred. In the next moment, he found himself in the center of the colosseum. Across from him was a young male swordsman. In the air, a countdown appeared. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Just as Jason was about to charge forward, the youth made a ‘T’ with his hands and shouted. “Stop! Timeout!”
Jason raised an eyebrow, deciding to humor the boy. “What’s wrong?”
The youth leaned forward and asked with a sheepish smile. “Uh, what level are you?”
“74. Why?” Jason didn’t understand what the youth was doing. This was a duel, not an interview.
The youth took a step back and gulped. “7-74…”
The youth promptly raised his head to the sky and called out. “I surrender!”
With victory in hand, Jason was teleported back to the waiting room, absolutely baffled. What he didn’t know was that the youth, upon looking into Jason’s eyes, was terrified. His mind had been assaulted by killing intent so cold, so murderous, that he nearly had a heart attack. Jason was still influenced by his mindset back on the third stage and had yet to return to normal.
The next four duels ended in the same way, leaving Jason thoroughly confused. So confused, in fact, that he started to doubt his handsome appearance. He felt even more certain of his guess when he recalled the evil shade. Perhaps his face had changed when climbing the steps? He touched his head here and there, only to frown when he noticed his charm hadn’t disappeared. It w
as still perfect as usual. What then was the cause?
By the time the sixth duel started, his mindset had returned to normal, his killing intent evaporating. The opponent before him was unlike the previous five. It was an elderly man garbed in loose robes with his hair tied in a knot. In his hand was a five-foot-long spear. The man who had long since been dubbed the strongest ascender stood before him. Shenlong, the grandmaster.
As the timer counted down, both men sized each other up. Jason was conflicted. He was happy at finally having met another acquaintance, yet sad that he would lose so soon. No, stop thinking that way. He realized that his way of thinking was wrong. Even in the face of an insurmountable opponent, he would never give up. After all, wasn’t that what allowed him to kill the field boss not long ago? Wasn’t that the reason why Baal, the final boss of the tower, was defeated? That’s right. Even in the face of absolute defeat, never give up.
The countdown neared zero. Jason readied his posture, taking a defensive and reactionary stance. He was able to do so because he had something that annoyed ascenders: a shield.
When the countdown hit zero, Shenlong moved. Step, step, step. It was like he was walking along the beach. His stance was practically non-existent, and his movements as casual as could be. This was a trap. Only weaklings would be fooled by it, and Jason was no weakling.
Jason’s tension rose as Shenlong came closer. Each step seemed to be in rhythm with the beat of his heart. Thump, thump, thump. It was painful, and yet the pain only seemed to increase. Blood began to drip from his orifices. Wait, something’s wrong. This isn’t normal. Someone on Jason’s level shouldn’t be intimidated by the aura Shenlong was emitting, much less be damaged by it. No, this was the result of a skill. Jason widened his eyes in surprise. This is a mental suppression skill! I thought only bosses had this?! Jason knew most of Shenlong’s abilities, and this was most definitely not one of them.
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