"Jackson, enclosed within the pouch, is an object known as Hollow Spirit. Outside of God's Tower, it's next to useless, but within it is an object that will help a Climber grow stronger.
Please, take care of yourself. I'm sorry for what happened to your family; I am happy to have met you and taken care of you all these years. If there is anything I can do, please know that you are always welcome at Saint Mary's, and I'll do whatever I can to help.
Love, Tara Le Doux."
Jackson smiled at the words, carefully rolling the letter up, returning it to his jacket, and palmed the Hollow Spirit, holding it to the sun as he closed one eye, inspecting it.
The green core's light sparkled in front of the sunlight as he returned it to his pocket. The pitch-black stone claws gripped the orb tight. He hadn't seen one before, and it was only mentioned in passing in his father's journal.
Hollow Spirits provided Climbers with a monster's essence, increasing various parameters of the one who absorbed that essence. There were five tiers to the spirits, each providing stronger boons, ranked from lowest to highest, White, Green, Blue, Purple, and Red.
"Now's as good a time as any!" Jackson sighed, stepping through the portal. Instantly, a feeling of nausea permeated throughout him as he felt his consciousness being pulled away from his body.
Jackson's body distorted as it was being drawn into the portal. He became disoriented as he was flung through, stumbling through the sand as he exited on the other side.
Seagulls cawed as they floated through the sparsely cloudy day. Everywhere Jackson turned, there was the rolling tide of the deep ocean. Behind him was a lush jungle teeming with tropical foliage.
He stepped toward the jungle when his body was flung thousands of meters into the air. Floating high on a cloud was a slender, ashen-skinned woman with long pointed ears. Her eyes were black, and her iris was white, matching her snow-white hair that cascaded down her back.
Jackson quickly ascended above her position and began falling as he crashed into a cloud and groaned at the hard impact. He turned around, catching the eyes of the woman before him.
"Greetings, Mortal. Welcome to Tutorial Island! Since you're new here, let me provide you with a small guideline on how to navigate through God's Tower." She said in an ethereal tone, her smile betraying her intentions.
"I'm Jax; nice to meet you." Jackson said, struggling to adjust himself on the cloud before huffing as he sat back.
"You may call me Elissa. Now, onto business! In order to help you humans adapt to God's Tower, we have provided an aide that will be able to assist you as you climb through the floors." She said, waving her hand as a sparking translucent orb floated through the air.
It rippled through the air like a bubble before colliding with Jackson's chest and disappearing into his body. Immediately, he was encased in the same soft blue light before it faded.
"What was that?" Jackson asked as he inspected his body.
"That was the Tower Auxiliary System or TAS. You may interact with it through your thoughts and navigate it using your vision. It will be instrumental in guiding you as you climb the tower." She explained.
"What are some commands that I'm able to use?" Jackson asked. Immediately she smirked, crossing one arm across her ample chest as she rested her other against her cheek.
"My, not a very common question! You think more people would ask that question, but no, most don't even ask any questions at all! Status, Quests, and Inventory would probably be the most useful ones. I'll let you figure out the rest." She said with a wink, licking her lips as she crossed her long fishnet-covered legs.
"Do you have anything for me before I start?" Jackson asked, his gaze trying to pierce into her eyes.
"Oho! You are just full of interesting questions! Since it's been 3,141,592 people since the last person asked, why not! Here!" She said, throwing her arm toward him as a red, round glow sparkled, casually floating into his hands. Jackson began looking around frantically as his body burst into dozens of tiny blue lights as he began disappearing.
"Now before you ask anymore questions… Good luck!" She laughed as Jackson's body was transported back to his previous position on the beach of Tutorial Island, slamming into the sand, kicking it into the air around him.
The man glared into the skies, 'How could anyone mistake them for caring for you..?' He thought to himself, rolling the glowing red orb with gold roots dancing around its circumference in his palm.
He looked at the orb as a small window appeared before him:
[Climber Starter Kit]
[Rank: Mythic]
[Everything a Climber needs to begin their journey through God's Tower, with some additional features.]
[Would you like to open the kit?]
[
'Mythic..?' Jackson thought, reaching into his satchel and grabbing the journal, quickly flipping through the pages before locating where his father had mentioned the starter kit.
"Make sure you ask that damned succubus for a gift before she dismisses you. Earlier this week, Vayne mentioned that one of the guys we started climbing the tower with was murdered yesterday. Apparently, he received a complete set of Uncommon beginner equipment from her."
"..." Jackson closed the notebook, his eyes locked on the object in his hand, drooling as his eyes sparkled in excitement, 'YES!'
A blinding, brilliant light burst from within the orb as it floated in the air as Jackson took a step back. The golden vines holding the sphere grew larger around it before twisting through the air as they braided around one another to the ground and spread out as the glowing gem burst apart.
Hundreds of tiny glowing red shards floated around the small golden pedestal. They slowly started to rotate around it as the golden vines multiplied, creating a large tabletop as the shards shot through the air and shattered against its surface.
After the last shard vanished, a dozen shapes of pure white light began to form and expand atop the table as each object began developing before the young man.