The room immediately fell silent.
Jack stared at Instructor Marcus.
"Their body... stops aging?"
Marcus nodded.
"Physically."
"If a Climber reaches the age of forty while still inside the Tower..."
"Their appearance ceases to change."
"They will forever possess the body of a healthy forty-year-old, regardless of how many years they continue climbing."
The classroom erupted into whispers.
Oliver slowly raised his hand.
"So... they're immortal?"
Marcus chuckled softly.
"No."
"They can still bleed."
"They can still be poisoned."
"They can still die."
"The Tower halts aging."
"It does not grant invincibility."
He picked up another piece of chalk and wrote across the blackboard.
The Gift of Longevity
"The moment a Climber leaves the Tower..."
"The blessing changes."
"They begin aging once again."
"But the Tower never completely releases them."
Marcus turned toward the class.
"Every former Climber ages many times slower than an ordinary person."
"It is not uncommon for Explorers to live for two or three centuries."
"The greatest veterans have lived even longer."
A wave of amazement swept through the room.
Jack finally understood.
Humanity had spent more than two thousand years climbing the Tower.
Without this blessing...
Most of that knowledge would have vanished with each passing generation.
Marcus nodded.
"Some legendary Explorers who first entered the Tower hundreds of years ago are still alive today."
"They serve as Guild Masters."
"Instructors."
"Researchers."
"And advisors to kingdoms."
He slowly folded his arms.
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"But longevity comes with a price."
The room quieted once more.
"If you spend fifty years climbing..."
"The outside world experiences those same fifty years."
"If you spend a century inside..."
"Your parents..."
"Your friends..."
"Everyone you once knew..."
"May already be gone."
No one spoke.
Jack lowered his eyes.
The Tower did not merely demand courage.
It demanded time.
Marcus allowed the silence to linger before erasing the board.
Then he began drawing dozens of creatures.
A dragon.
A phoenix.
A wolf.
A goblin.
A mermaid.
A griffin.
A giant.
A serpent.
A harpy.
A bird with radiant white feathers.
When he finally stepped aside, the blackboard had become a mural of legends.
He wrote two words beneath them.
Mythical Inheritance
"This..."
Marcus said quietly,
"...is the Tower's greatest gift."
Every student's attention focused on the board.
"The Tower grants every Climber the opportunity to inherit the power of a mythical creature."
Excited whispers immediately filled the classroom.
Marcus raised one finger.
"But remember this."
"Your first inheritance is not necessarily your last."
Jack blinked.
Marcus continued.
"Many people outside the Tower mistakenly believe an inheritance is permanent."
"They are wrong."
He erased the drawing of the goblin.
Then he drew another creature in its place.
An orc.
He connected the two with an arrow.
Goblin → Orc
"This process is known as..."
He wrote another word.
Overwriting
"If a Climber possessing a Goblin inheritance later obtains an Orc inheritance..."
"The Goblin inheritance disappears."
"It is completely overwritten."
"There is no way to recover it."
The students stared at the board.
Marcus continued drawing.
Orc → Ogre → Cyclops
"An inheritance may continue evolving as a Climber ascends higher floors."
"The deeper one ventures into the Tower..."
"The greater the opportunities become."
He drew another chain.
Wolf → Dire Wolf → Fenrir
Then another.
Salamander → Ifrit → Phoenix
Jack felt his heartbeat quicken.
"So..."
"You become stronger by replacing weaker inheritances?"
Marcus smiled.
"Sometimes."
"But strength alone is not everything."
He tapped the board.
"A Goblin inheritance mastered by an exceptional Climber may prove far deadlier than an untrained Dragon inheritance."
"The Tower rewards those who understand their power."
"Not merely those who possess famous names."
Oliver raised his hand.
"So everyone eventually gets a dragon?"
Several students laughed.
Marcus shook his head.
"No."
"The Tower chooses."
"Some Climbers never replace their first inheritance."
"Others may overwrite theirs several times during their ascent."
"There are even legendary inheritances that have only appeared once in recorded history."
Jack instinctively thought of Eva.
Her Harpy inheritance...
Had it once been something weaker?
Or had she inherited it immediately?
Marcus seemed to anticipate the question.
"You have already met two Explorers."
He wrote their names.
Eva — Harpy
Juno — Caladrius
"Explorer Eva currently possesses the inheritance of a Harpy."
"Whether it was her first inheritance..."
"Or the result of several overwrites..."
"Only she knows."
He wrote another name.
Captain Rowan — Unknown
"As for Captain Rowan..."
Marcus smiled faintly.
"His inheritance is classified."
The classroom immediately erupted with complaints.
"That's not fair!"
"What is it?"
"Tell us!"
Marcus laughed.
"One day..."
"When you become Explorers..."
"You'll understand why some inheritances are best kept secret."
Jack couldn't help smiling.
That only made him more curious.
Marcus erased a corner of the board before writing another title.
Inheritance Hierarchy
"This is knowledge every Climber eventually learns."
"But no academy outside the Tower teaches it."
Oliver frowned.
"Why not?"
Marcus turned toward the window overlooking the distant Tower.
"Because no one outside possesses the complete hierarchy."
The students exchanged confused glances.
Marcus continued.
"Every inheritance has a rank."
"Some are considered Common."
"Others Rare."
"Ancient."
"Divine."
"And beyond."
He paused.
"But those rankings are incomplete."
"The Tower constantly reveals creatures humanity has never recorded."
"Every expedition discovers new possibilities."
"When that happens..."
"The hierarchy changes."
He smiled.
"So the complete rankings are maintained only by the Climbers still living inside the Tower."
"They are passed from expedition to expedition."
"Updated."
"Expanded."
"And guarded."
Jack slowly looked toward the Tower beyond the academy window.
Somewhere inside...
Thousands of Climbers were still exploring.
Still discovering.
Still rewriting humanity's understanding of mythology.
The Tower wasn't simply preserving legends.
It was creating new ones.