I was filled with shock when I heard those words. 6 years? Would I not be dead by then? I did not have the coin to support the mysterious book in my library for that long. The old man before me seemed to sense my dilemma.
"Any skills or possessions that you have that have a maintenance fee will temporarily have the cost lifted. At this time, any physical training routines that you have experienced will be wiped and replaced with the tower's standard. Sierra as the only mage of the group you will receive a mental training program as well."
The man's eyes hovered over me as he said this. He obviously knew far more than he was letting on.
"If you have not noticed you have been returned to a state of your youth. Your memories have been wiped and you have been returned to level one. This is to ensure the fairness of the upcoming trials. This is the third floor, and by far the longest. When you graduate from here you will have the same starting point as every other contestant. You will also have your memories restored at that time."
"However, any previous levels and skills that you have learned are permanently lost. Even your previous classes are lost. If you decide to take the same path as before you will need to relearn those skills at your own pace after you have left here. The sacrifice of these skills, levels, and even classes will be made up for by the 6 years of training you will receive here. You will graduate with much more potential than you previously had. And a special ability that only those who graduate from here can have. This ability will be unique to you and is determined by your own choices and hard work."
The man spoke as we walked. We were taken down the stairs. The stairs only led to a single level. This level was a military style Barack. It held 6 beds, as well as 3 showers and 3 toilets. The entire room was open, and there was no sense of privacy.
On each bed there was a uniform. It was a simple black suit, much like you would see in anime. They were all the same fashion, no difference between sexes.
"Get showered and dressed when you are done return to the floor you came in on. You training will begin in 30 minutes."
The girls looked at each other for a moment, questioning everything that they had heard. With their memories temporarily wiped none of what had been said made much sense to them. I took advantage of their temporary stillness to take off my clothes and get in the shower.
It had been a long time since I was able to take a shower, I had been using the skill for a while now. When the old man had mentioned that our abilities were gone, I had immediately checked that one. It was as he said.
The rest of the girls were quick to join me. With only 3 showers we had to take turns, and this meant that no shower could last for too long. When I was done, I equipped the uniform I had been given. I found that it was a magical item of decent quality.
[Inverted Tower Academy Uniform (black)]
1. Indestructible
2. Fits to size
3. +1 stat growth
4. climate control
The last function was an ability to keep the user warm in the cold, and cool when it was hot. It also had a waterproof function and was fireproof. All in all, it was an incredible uniform. Something that would be able to stay with us for the rest of our lives.
When we returned to the floor, we came in on I was surprised to find that we were not alone. There was a total of two other squads that were waiting for us on the ground floor.
Both squads were older than us, one seemed to be around the age of 12, and the other around the age of 14. They emitted a level of power that was above our own weak levels. The younger of the two squads had around a D rank strength, and the older around a C rank strength. This led me to believe that those squads who graduated had a B rank strength.
Considering the fact that they would be level one was rather insane. It was no wonder that those who survived the tower were famous. With the increase in strength that the parties could receive here was rather insane. But the cost of failure was death, this went to show that power always had a price.
The old man soon came down the stairs. His eyes rested on the 3 parties for a moment before he began to speak.
"This morning you should have noticed that the senior class had graduated and is being replaced by a new junior class. This is normal, in two more years then same will happen again. The period of growth you receive here will eventually come to an end, and you must once again face the trials of the tower."
"Not all of you will survive when you leave our black tower. Only the strength you gain here, and the teamwork you can develop will help you on this journey. So, put in the work. The harder you work the better your results will be. Whether you can make it to the 5th, 10th, 15th or higher floors depends on the work you do now."
"In a year' time it will once again be time for the tower competition. Each of you needs to work hard to not bring disgrace to our Black Tower. Only with hard work can we obtain victory. Only with victory can you obtain a chance for more power. Only with power do you have a hope of survival."
The man paused as he looked over the group of children. "With that let the morning exercise routine begin."