Chapter 88: [The Truth Behind the Tower!]

"How did I find you, huh? That would lead to a series of questions and I would need to go back quite a bit. How about we have a walk towards the castle and we start from the beginning of the story? It might take a bit, but it's worth listening to," Annabeth spoke as she tried to recall a couple of things. With her finger on her chin as she looked up at the sky, she seemed to be smiling at something."All right. Let's go back then," I spoke as I began walking first. Even though I would have prefered sitting down and listening, I didn't exactly mind walking either.

She smiled at me before she walked along with me. Putting her hands at her back, she then started speaking about a story that goes as far as the tower existed. A story that was passed down through legends. Something that fascinated anyone who listened to the story.

It was a story of a man who entered the tower first. The first [Player!], Adam Wesker. The guy who completed it and left the tower in one try. It is said that he entered the tower on being called upon by the [Principle of Existence!], something that has been mentioned in the Legends multiple times.

[The Principle of Guidance] was a book or a bundle of records that contained the hidden lores behind various heroes who were climbing the tower. It is usually revised by the Tower itself and helps fated adventures in times when they need it the most. Going back to Adam...

Adam was a guy who helped everyone present in the tower. Every NPC that the tower created, every NPC that ever existed in the tower. Adam met them, helped them, solved their problem. From the basic tutorial, to the highest floor, not a single quest unturned, not a single thing was left out by him.

He gained powers beyond people's imaginations. He had artifacts that people didn't even know existed in the tower. And with that he completed the tower completely. Not a single leaf unturned.

Though he was gone, he left behind a legacy. The Legacy of the 7 heroes that will someday appear in the tower to conquer it. The ancient text on 57th floor mentions his words as,

"Even though I will be the one to clear the tower first. To conquer it, it's not my legacy. It is a note that I found on my way, so the least I can do is to inform all the NPCs and the players that will appear in the future. That the tower will one day be cleared by 7 Heroes, 7 people who will wield powers beyond anyone's comprehension.

And only then true freedom will be given to everyone that is present here."

Annabeth spoke a bit enchanted by the words before she looked at me.

"And how do you know that it's just a fairy tale?" I asked and she continued,

"The records of Adam are pretty much visible as soon as you cross the 10th Floor, so it is confirmed that he existed. You can ask any old NPCs and they will praise him for hours. In fact it is because of him that we know that there are only 100 Floors on the Tower. And also the Legacy of the 7 Heroes, that was also confirmed by anyone who crossed the 50th Floor. Not in a good way but well..."

She turned silent as we kept walking. Even though I was interested in the story of Adam and the 7 Heroes, I wondered how it was connected to me.

"The reason it was not in a good way, because the 7 heroes were chosen by the system randomly. And they weren't just one. Every time one of them died another random [Player!] was selected by the [System!] to take his place. This kind of started a war to find those heroes and kill them.

Rather than promoting those heroes to win and conquer the tower, everyone wanted to have their power and change their destiny."

"It was an ugly struggle of power. Thousands of people died in the upper floors, until those with [Immortal] or above gifts, got the title of the [Hero] with various blessings and skills. With their broken gifts, combined with the heroes authority and skills, they became someone who started ruling the entire tower, on their own. The worst? They had no intention of conquering the tower."

"Various powers rose and died, trying to fight against them but they were destroyed because of the difference that the tower created. Though after years of struggle, a single organization was able to stand up against them. Fighting against the heroes as the [Villains] of this tower, a certain group consisting of [Immortal] gifts and above was born. They were called the Corrupted ones."

"I am a part of the group of villains, the 11th Seat. And our leader, the 1st Seat, has a rather strange power that could interfere with the [Tower] itself. It can erase or corrupt people's skills and gifts, or increase their power to a huge extent."

"We have two goals. One is to kill those [Heroes] and find the ones who will actually conquer the tower. Second is to find an alternative, that is another way to get out of this tower. The first one is still out of reach, so we were trying to mess up the entire tower hoping to open a rift through the bottommost floor, the tutorial of the tower, and get outside of here."

"Currently this is the second phase of the tutorial. And we were lucky to have created a rift to this world when the tutorial started. We are now trying to create another rift between this phase and the next. And finally to the last one that connects all the worlds together."

"And as for your answer, the reason I found you was because you were on our list of people who were to be monitored. We couldn't have you or anyone else disturbing our plans even by mistake. That is the reason I approached you. To try and see if you were worthy enough to join us, or it would be better to keep you in check so that you can't disturb our plan."

She told me the story in detail as we reached the castle walls. Even though it was probably a big secret, she told me everything without hiding anything. She looked at me as we both paused our steps and then asked,

"So Crowley. Is there anything else you want to ask?"

"Your plan to open the rift. Will it affect our [Tutorial]?" I asked as I was still hoping to take as much as I could from the tutorials. Though she shook her head as she answered,

"To be honest. We don't know. And honestly, we don't care either. I can vouch to protect you since you are my benefactor in a way, but other than that I don't think I can help you out with the changes that might occur to the Tutorial itself."

Honestly that was a lot of information to digest. But I can understand where they were coming from. It was pretty clear from Annabeth's expression. They were too tired of these constraints put upon them by the Tower. They wanted to break free as fast as possible.

"How sure are you that you can get out of here if you can cross the last tutorial?" I asked as I wondered if their plan was solid or were they just desperate.

"The last floor gives you an opportunity for you to choose a world of your own choosing, find a method to complete the quest given to you by the system and as a reward your [Gift!] increases based on the grade you get for completing the quest."

"Since we can choose any world we want, we believe we can all just choose our own world, create a rift that bypasses the rules of the tower and get out of here," she spoke as she pondered about something.

'A rift, huh?' I thought as I recalled the boundary of the tutorial in the first tutorial. Will it be possible? Maybe. They were able to create a rift between this place and the safe zone, after all. Sёarᴄh the nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Is that so? Will it be all right if I were to-"

Suddenly a man, deeply injured and his body almost eaten from various places appeared in front of us.

"3?" Annabeth was shocked to see him in that state.

"11! We messed up! We need to run!" That guy screamed with fear as he looked at Annabeth, shouting even more," we messed up badly! The plan was a failure! We can never escape from this Hell! 11.

We fucked up bad!!!" He shouted as he looked at Annabeth, crying as he barely kept himself together.

"Calm down! 3! Tell me what happened? Tell me-"

[Alert! Alert! Alert! Alert! Alert!]

[A forced Rift has been created between the tutorial and the connecting World! The Externals Have found their way into the tower!]

[Everything within the Tutorial will be erased as a Safety Measure!]

[Erasing everything within the tutorial and sealing it off completely!]

"Huh?" Annabeth was alarmed as she saw the system, while I narrowed my eyes at that guy who just appeared. His wounds weren't bleeding but they weren't healing either. They were simply chewed off as if from a non living thing.

"It's... Hiradale. My name is Hiradale. It was fun working with you 3," that guy spoke as he smiled with a pain filled expression.

"What are you-" and Annabeth's voice was the last thing that I heard before... complete darkness surrounded my eyes and I lost all my senses.

It was cold.

Did I... die?