Damian snapped awake. His eyes blurred for a moment before it became lucid. He sat up, taking in the scenery around him. Except, there was nothing to take in. What filled his vision instead was a darkness that felt almost stifling.
However, he wasn't afraid. While the Tower dropped people in random places, it, however, never dropped people in unsafe areas. It dropped people in areas that would allow them to prepare for the tests it would issue out.
The moldy, musty and earthy air made him realize he was in a cave, or at least, in a place that smelled like it. He stood up, but he almost fell as his head spun.
Damian's eyes narrowed. This strange feeling was only limited to those who had just awaken their Abilities. As for him, as he was not even an indigene of Earth by birth, his Ability had long since awakened. It was just slightly surpressed by the limiters placed on him. Now though, it seems to have rid itself of such shackles.
Getting a grip of himself, Damian began walking. Although he had no idea where he was, what he was aware of was that, as long as he hadn't been dropped in the deepest parts of the cave, he would make it out.
It was then he suddenly remembered the other person he had entered with. He almost felt guilty bringing her in without consulting her. But, there was nothing he could do anymore. Although, she had withstood the awakening of Edict in her body, that didn't mean the Ability that was bestowed upon her by the Spheric Embodiment had been awakened.
This was another advantage of Spheric Towers. They awaken the Abilities of those whose Abilities are still unawakened. And this process takes half a month at the very least. Thus, depending on how complex and powerful one's Ability is, an individual would be unconscious during the process for two weeks or more.
Hence, the reason Damian felt much better after thinking about it. Depending on her luck, her presence here could change her life for the better or bury her, never to be heard again.
As Damian kept his mind busy with thoughts, he never halted even for a second. He just kept going and going. He had no clock to know just how long he had been walking, but he could have sworn it was nearing an hour.
Still, that didn't deter him. He just kept advancing. By some luck, however, Damian didn't seem to encounter any dead end. It felt as though every of his steps magically paved a way for him.
Soon enough, his eyes caught the reflection of light. His steps quickened towards it, and lo and behold, a hole serving as the entrance and exit of the cave appeared before him.
He stepped out, his eyes forced shut by the intense light and his nostrils bombarded by the woody and pine-fresh scents reminiscent of a forest. His eyes snapped open, and indeed he was in a forest.
Damian proceeded to move, however, he had barely taken a step when series of messages appeared before him.
[ Welcome to the Spheric Tower! ]
[ As the first to enter a Spheric Tower, you have been bestowed the right to check the maps of every Tower you enter from now on ]
Damian momentarily stopped. There was a reason that lady of the House of Etoile had been unwilling to be second. There was a reason he had also been unwilling to be second.
It was none other than because of this.
With the right to check the maps of the Towers he entered, extremely detailed ones at that, he could move unhindered throughout the Tower, pinpoint the locations fraught with danger but likewise natural resources, know the positions of those that entered the Tower with him.
And the beauty of this was that, this would always be the case in all of the Towers he entered in the future.
[ Spheric Tower: Nevermore Territory ]
[ Spheric Tower Grade: Tier 5 Bronze ]
[ Main Quest: Stop the Draconians from conquering the Southern Human County ]
[ Side Quest: Kill the son of the Draconian Duke ]
[ Hidden Quest: - - ]
[ Reward: - - ]
Damian inhaled deeply.
To most, Towers were tall structures divided horizontally into floors. Indeed. However, Spheric Towers, unlike normal Towers, aren't separated into floors, but instead, have one large floor.
This one large floor though, appear disproportionate in size to the overall size of the Spheric Tower that contained it. An example was the Spheric Tower Damian currently was.
On the outside, its wideness only measured 150 meters, however, upon getting inside, it appeared as though one had arrived in a different world.
In simper terms, Spheric Towers are structures that appeared to have worlds or more appropriately, dimensions magically tucked into them.
'Map.'
Damian said in his mind, and the messages in front of him vanished, only to be replaced a second later by the detailed map of the Nevermore Territory.
He examined the map and instantly realized that he was in fact on the territory of the Draconians he was meant to stop. The Southern Human County, however, was farther away.
In fact, if he had to deduce the distance between his current position and the Southern Human County, then it was approximately ten thousand kilometers.
At his current level, this was a distance that would take him atmost ten days if he kept running. But obviously, that was impossible. Even for someone like him who had been advancing rather swiftly, fatigue wasn't something that could be easily ignored. However, he need not do such a thing.
His eyes flashed as his mind focused on a certain spot on the map. He suddenly turned right, before walking towards it.
He might as well strengthen himself before he starts aiming for the Quest.
*
Damian breathed heavily as a Spheric Beast fell before him. The Spheric Beast was a mutated wolf that easily towered over his tall frame. And although, it took him nearly half an hour to defeat it, the rewards were worth it.
Unlike the creatures of the outside world, those spawned by the Tower didn't give any Edict Essence. However, what they lacked in the bestowing of Edict Essence, they made it up in the dropping of rewards.
Taking a moment to catch his breath, Damian looked at the three bronze colored orbs that lay next to the mutated wolf's corpse. They shone with a light that mesmerized even him. Without hesitation, he swiftly picked them up and lodged them in his Storage Ring.
He then looked towards his status window, and nodded contentedly. Although, the Spheric Beasts offered no Edict Essence so he could level up to the next Stratum, what he did get from them aside from the rewards were the little increase in his stats. Though they were little, when piled together however, they became sizable.
And right now, he felt it was enough to start the Quest.
Without further ado, Damian began making his way towards the Draconian Duchy.