The Tower of Authority.
The first summit awakens an aura core.
The second summit determines the Path of a Transcendent.
The third summit awakens the affinity of an authority.
The fourth summit evolves the nature of that affinity.
The fifth summit awakens a Transcendent Edict.
Rather than breaking the body, the tower targeted the mind and will. The pain felt with every step was simply the side effect of the mind space forcibly expanding, allowing human consciousness to survive the strain of an awakening upon the summits.
Each Awakening opened the mind to a whole new reality existing alongside the mundane world they had known all their lives, and without the expansion of the mind space, direct exposure to the cosmic glyphs carrying the secrets of transcendence would snap a human mind like a twig.
The Sixth Summit—was also known as the Summit of Soul Authority.
The awakenings so far had focused on the core, the Path of Authority, and Law Authority. Each of these was merely a fragment of true Authority—just like the Soul Authority that awaited on the Sixth Summit.
Arthur stood before the steps leading up to the sixth floor with a surprisingly carefree expression.
Just a few moments prior...
Facing the sinister-looking, hiltless blade hovering before him, Arthur felt a deep connection to the weapon. The faint ripples of vibration it emitted, along with its sinister violet reflection against the Fifth Summit, hadn't stopped him or caused him to hesitate in the slightest.
The moment the tip of his finger made contact with the cold, vibrating surface of the blade, it vanished into thin air—as if its very presence had been nothing more than an illusion.
Faced with this sudden turn of events, Arthur wasn't shocked or shaken. Instead, he stood in silence, his eyes unfocused.
In that exact instant, Arthur's mind was introduced to a vast world that had existed within him all along, entirely without his knowledge.
He felt like he was in an entirely new world.
A world drowned in violet,
With nothing but water everywhere he looked.
Even the water beneath his feet was the same; there was no sound except the sound of waves constantly crashing against the spherical barrier.
"What's this?"
A semi-transparent blue form. Still, this wasn't what deserved the question.
He was back in his real body, or let's say the form of his real 34-year-old body, but... blue.
Arthur flexed each arm slowly to confirm what he was seeing. Looking around, he saw his Edict floating high up at the center of this space.
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The moment he thought of moving towards it, His body moved slowly, floating in the direction he wanted.
The experience of floating in this fashion felt real; he didn't know if the fact that he was back in his real body helped with this feeling, but he felt free and calm at the moment.
Arthur reached the blade quickly; this time, without trying to touch it, he only observed every inch of its devilish, sinister beauty.
He wasn't a sword fanatic or anything, but the connection he felt to his Edict was slightly part of the reason he was so drawn to it.
Besides that was also the fact that an Edict was a sublime extension of his Authority.
Arthur barely had the time to focus longer on the blade as his attention was drawn to a faint glimmer underneath the waves.
The crashing sounds of the spherical barrier surrounding this space and keeping away the infinite darkness beyond weren't a nuisance,
In fact, the sounds were comforting.
Looking closer, Arthur realized the light emanating from beneath the water wasn't just a single glimmer. Much like the patterns engraved upon his aura core, the light formed interconnected networks, overlapping above and below the surface to trace complex, multi-dimensional glyphs he couldn't comprehend.
One... two... three... seconds of trying to trace the entire structure beneath the waves from the reflective violet sheen they carried.
His vision suddenly changed. He was drawn into the world of runes and glyphs once more.
This time, the knowledge he was receiving was far different compared to the last time he was here.
"Waves, Vibrations, Frequency.... The more he drifted. The more knowledge he brushed against when he was kicked out once more.
He didn't return to that space; instead, he fell to his knees, clutching his head from the pain he felt when he came out of his trance.
He stayed curled on the floor, enduring the mental backlash in silence without uttering a scream, while his mind processed the sheer weight of everything he had experienced.
The more he thought, the more he felt drained, weak, and on the verge of incurring another headache,
Regulating his breathing, he forced himself to empty his mind of distractions, taking slow, deliberate breaths until the pain subsided to a manageable dull throb.
The questions and disbelief of the entire experience he once carried all the way from the first summit were slowly crumbling...
Albeit not entirely. A lingering question remained regarding how real—how absurdly detailed—this "dream" truly was.
Arthur let out a huge sigh, pushing his exhausted body to his feet as he looked back down one more time.
Seeing the struggling challengers climbing as their lives depended on it, the familiarity between them as they discussed with each other while making their way up the steps.
He had no such feelings of importance attached to scaling the steps of the tower and not a single attachment to any challenger around him.
For Arthur, climbing had solely been a means to an end: waking up.
Turning back to face the next set of steps, he said to himself while slowly regaining his usual nonchalance; this time, beneath his casual exterior, a subtle glint of seriousness now settled into his eyes.
"I'll get my answers when I reach the top, as usual... no need to overthink it," Arthur comforted himself, steadying his mind while staring up at the next summit.
"Luckily, the Sixth summit is the easiest to reach."
With that final thought to himself, he headed up the steps leading to the Sixth summit.
"He's..... actually going for it." Myu was the one to mention it, but they all saw Arthur climbing for the Sixth summit after a series of unexplainable actions on the Fifth from their position below.
Ness frowned, scowling at Arthur's sheer audacity. Lucas had a shocked expression, and the same went for Henry.
While Vihr was equally shocked, his eyes held slight admiration and acknowlegement as he watched Arthur's ascending.
It was worth noting that among all the challengers present—excluding Arthur—these five had made the most progress. Yet not a single one of them had even set foot on the Fourth Summit.
They weren't far from reaching the fourth summit, but Arthur was attempting to climb to the Sixth summit.
The summit known by everyone to be impossible unless you were incredibly lucky and your willpower was unshaken.
But how firm could the willpower of 14-year-olds be?
"Guess he's that stupid... After all, losing a challenger to the Sixth Summit is nothing new." Ness's concluded, disdain and pity written all over her face.
Vihr was the first to react, turning to glance at his sister for a second before shifting his gaze back toward Arthur.
Although he harbored immense admiration for Arthur at the moment. He had to admit, the thought of Arthur getting stuck on the challenge of the Sixth Summit crossed his mind too.
Satisfied that no one dared refute her statement, Ness focused back on her own climb, aiming to reach the Fourth Summit as quickly as possible.
"I think Ness was right?" Lucas chimed in, his tone laced with rare hesitation. "He hasn't moved past the very first step since he started challenging the Sixth Summit..."