"Brother, what did you say about the Sixth summit?" The smugness was on full display as Ness did her best to rub it in Vihr's face.
"....."
Vihr didn't say a word, Instead, he was paralyzed by a subtle, creeping fear. He had always viewed himself as different from his siblings, who worshipped their father like a living god.
Even before they headed out to the academy to prepare for awakening after being found to possess sufficient mental aptitude, their father had granted both Vihr and Ness a rare audience. As a high-ranking Transcendent wielding Legendary Authority, an audience even with his own flesh and blood was a scarcity, as most of his time was consumed by matters deemed far more critical.
But, this time they were granted an audience.
Not to wish them luck but instead to warn them of the dangers that involved the Sixth Summit.
Vihr as usual paid no mind to all the fear, instead set his Father as a goal to crush.
The Fifth summit was never his aim, like his siblings.
He wanted beyond that, Far beyond. Seeing the same view as his siblings wasn't enough for his ambition.
He needed an Authority capable of exploring horizons he constantly dreamed of.
But Right now just like the challengers he once disdained for their fear of the Sixth summit, he was feeling,
Fear.
The relentless challenger who shared his mindset—the one who had stormed up the tower without a single pause—was finally stopped dead in his tracks. And if he failed to overcome the trial of the Sixth Summit, he would likely end up dead for real.
At that exact moment, Arthur stood in an absolute void, completely unfazed.
Although he could see nothing beyond his body, he was completely unbothered.
"This same illusion? Like always the Sixth challenge is the easiest of all the floors." Arthur shook his head in dissapointment at the sight of the familiar darkness.
This wasn't his first time here. Granted, during the early days of his "climbing entries" when he was still figuring out the mechanics of each summit, he had failed this trial countless times. But once he grasped the underlying rules, the sixth challenge actually required the absolute minimum physical effort to conquer.
The challenges corrupted an individuals willpower from the first challenge up to the fifth but the Sixth took full advantage of that. Instead of the usual expansion of the mind space, the challenge this time focused on a battle of wills.
The difficulty of the challenge depended on the degree of corruption from the previous challenges.
Through countless trials with repeated failures at the Sixth challenge. Arthur found out that as long as the corruption percentage of a challengers willpower was low, the Sixth challenge was a breeze.
"No changes then...." Arthur contemplated in the pitch-black silence with a slight expression of disappointment on his face.
The only reason he had remained stationary was to observe what new mechanics or changes the sixth trial might present. Yet, it defaulted to the exact same system as always. Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping dot com.
But, in the entire time he started the challenge, it was the usual default setting.
When the tower encountered a challenger- Arthur, without a hint of corruption climbing towards the Sixth summit, they'd get stuck in darkness without a step forward or a way back.
Of course, this realization only existed in Arthur's head, and he hadn't learned it the easy way.
The stairs ahead were swallowed by an abyss that seemed eager to consume him the moment he took a step forward, while an invisible barrier locked his retreat. The longer one lingered, the more the darkness came alive, projecting vague outlines of ancient, terrifying beasts that flickered in the void before sinking back into the shadows.
"I better get moving, before I'm stuck here for good" Arthur thought to himself before taking a blind leap regardless of what he could see or feel from the lingering darkness.
Immediately he did, just like wet paint to a pale of water. The darkness dissolved revealing the steps once more.
Only this time he was no longer at the first step but instead only a step away from the Sixth summit.
At this point there was no need for hesitation anymore, Arthur casually stepped over the threshold and landed on the Sixth Summit.
This copy was taken from the author's page without permission, and the published story there supports the person who wrote it.
[Congratulations Challenger on reaching the Sixth summit]
"D...d... did anyone see him climb?! Did you see him?!" Vihr was out if character raising his voice at the challengers beside him
"He dis..... he dissapeared for a moment and next he was on the last step of the Sixth challenge." Myu stammered uncertainly, reeling from the shock she was feeling.
This was the Sixth summit, the line between what they called Authority and a True authority.
"Six, no.... Seven Legendary Transcendents." Lucas muttered under his breath, frozen in similar disbelief.
The expression and emotions were similar all around, except for one who had it worse.
"N-No way..." Ness shook her head, repeatedly closing and opening her eyes, hoping the vision before her would change.
Yet Arthur remained standing on the Sixth Summit, standing quietly with his back towards them.
"But... that's the Sixth summit.."
"The Sixth!!!" Ness's voice quivered with a mixture of rage, denial, and pure envy.
The stranger that just walked past them on the third summit was currently on the Sixth summit.
It was unbelievable.
By the time the group finally reached the Fourth Summit, the natural enthusiasm of crossing such a massive milestone was completely absent. Instead, every single pair of eyes was pinned on the solitary figure far above them.
"Interesting." Vihr was the one breaking the silence, with a renewed fire igniting in his eyes alongside a wild grin.
Quickly he sat down first to recover as soon as he could while taking slight glances at the group before finally speaking when he couldn't take it any more. Visit novelping dot com for the full chapter.
"Aren't you all going to recover your strength... we still have a long way to go."
"Well that's unless you plan on ending your awakening on the Fourth Summit."
'.....'
No one responded.
Only absolute, heavy silence met his question.
This confused him as he opened his eyes once again to see what was happening to his fellow challengers.
They all still had their eyes on Arthur, He understood the admiration but he was far more eager to step onto that summit himself rather than stare up at an individual he recognized as a rival.
"Look... he's crazy. I think he's going to climb towards the Seventh summit." Myu's pointed towards Arthur, her words were shocking but not as shocking as the sight.
It had barely been a few minutes since Arthur set foot on the Sixth Summit; the mere thought of challenging the Seventh was sheer madness. The mental toll of the sixth trial alone was usually enough to eradicate any lingering ambition for higher floors.
Furthermore, while six legendary figures had managed to conquer the Sixth Summit in recorded history, not a single challenger had ever attempted the Seventh.
But here was Arthur Cross facing the steps leading up to the Seventh summit ready to climb once again.
"That's suicide...." Vihr paled, his blood running cold at the sight of Arthur approaching the steps slowly.
"Tsk.. tsk.. soaring so high only to fall from overconfidence...." Ness sneered, her shock instantly melting into bitter pity.
As a Transcendent with a True Authority, Arthur's future would have been limitless. Yet here he was, throwing it all away out of hubris. Ness instantly categorized his actions as reckless greed—because from her perspective, that was the only explanation.
Meanwhile, a few moments ago,
Right after Arthur stepped onto the Sixth Summit, he eagerly awaited his reward, hoping to shed light on the lingering questions about what these trials and summits actually signified. As much as he wanted to wake up, the mysteries of this "dream" were getting harder to ignore.
[Congratulations Challenger on reaching the Sixth summit]
[The tower will awaken your soul authority]
"Soul authority?"
As usual, the terms made little sense to him, but there was a lot he could infer from the reward he'd gotten so far.
However, before he could process it further, the tower projected a completely unprecedented line of text before his eyes:
[The tower detects two soul domains from within the challenger]
"Huh?"