Six hundred and forty-six times.
That was the number of times that Daniel Ensoul had listened to the voice of his twin brother through the golden ring that wrapped comfortably around his finger.
Daniel listened and listened until he could recall David's words about everything he experienced inside Heaven's Tower on instinct.
Even as he jogged around the park right now with a pair of white earpieces stuck into his ears, he was listening for the six hundred and forty-seventh time. Every time he heard David's story, it gnawed at his heart and his zeal for revenge roused more than ever.
Daniel had made up his mind to enter the tower just like his brother. Prior to his entry into this eldritch structure, Daniel was preparing himself both mentally and physically.
He began physical training like a soldier getting ready for war, gradually reshaping his body into the battle mode that it was used to. He also purchased some medical equipment. Some he would use to treat himself, others for offence in any way he could.
After running some laps around the park, Danny stopped jogging and sat on a bench close to him to get a quick rest as the message from David continued to play. Daniel took out his wallet and brought out an old picture of their mom, him and David when they were a simple, poor but happy family.
It's been a week since Daniel visited his mother. This was not because he didn't love or care for his mother. He had simply done so for his mental resilience.
Daniel didn't want his thirst for revenge to be quenched and if he saw his mother in her current comatose state, he would be tempted to want to stay back.
Because of this, he personally employed a nanny to take care of his mother as well as to stand in as the relative of the woman if need be. Daniel had even go as far as paying making a one year payment upfront as well as other preparations with his account managers to see that the nanny would get paid up to three to four years should he continually be absent after which his contract with the nanny would be terminated if he doesn't pay for her services.
He had taken his brother's mistake as a lesson and made up his mind to make corrections where David couldn't, starting with him not underestimating the time it would take to climb the tower. David had assumed it was a task that would require some months at best and ended up dedicating six years to his climb.
Daniel, on the other hand, was not going to make that mistake thanks to David's final message.
'Please hang on for a little while more, mother.'
Daniel clutched the picture tightly within his grasp, rumpling it as he swore in his heart to accomplish the two goals for which he was entering the tower.
His first goal was to find the cure-all elixir, Heaven's Tear, and his second was to kill everyone who had a hand in his twin brother's suffering and death.
Daniel rose from the bench and jogged back to his apartment.
*********
After about another half an hour of jogging, Daniel reached his apartment. He went ahead to freshen up and eat some meal before getting to the main issue that was inside his head.
Daniel heaved a sigh and closed his eyes. Within the next second, a luminescent screen appeared in front of him again with the same message that he had received a few days back.
[You have inherited the Legacy of the Divine Dragon]
[Do you accept?]
[Yes / No]
Daniel was yet to address this request since he didn't want to rush his decision but after giving it days of thoughts, Daniel decided to accept the request. After all, the [Legacy of the Divine Dragon] was the legacy of his twin brother, David Ensoul.
In the course of his final message, David had mentioned something about acquiring the powers of the Twin Dragons, the two pairs that make up the Divine Dragon who he finally became.
Through the powerful mana he came to possess, along with a formidable mastery of magic, David was able to instil the essence of his being into the ring which he sent back to his brother.
David was weak already after being slowly poisoned by the ones he once trusted and he knew full well that every top ranker inside the tower wanted what he had and he decided that while he still had control over himself, he would pass it on to the one person he could trust in the world — his brother.
David had climbed to the upper echelon as a player of Heaven's Tower, earning himself fear-striking names:
…Allavan the Great Dragon.
…The Wildfire of Justice.
…Master of Dragons.
Daniel chose [Yes] as his answer to the request that had popped up before his eyes.
Bzzt–!
[You have accepted the Legacy of the Divine Dragon]
[The succession process has begun…]
[0%... 12%... 23%... 46%... 100%]
[The succession is now complete]
[You have successfully inherited the Legacy of the—
Daniel fazed out and dropped to the ground unconscious as his body started to severely convulse on the floor of his room. His muscles jerked terribly and involuntarily, scattering whatever they hit in their paths as black goo seeped from every orifices in Daniel's body.
His eyes, ears, mouth, nostrils, skin pores etc. Every single hole in his body leaked this mildly viscous, black liquid.
This continued for about five minutes and then, Daniel's body became stiff all of a sudden as he laid on the ground unconscious. After a few more minutes, his eyes fluttered open and he woke up with a start, looking around his room with confusion in his reddened eyes.
Daniel found himself in a pool of black thick substance that appeared like spoilt oil as he immediately rose to his feet.
'For a second there, I thought I was dying.'
Bzzt–!
[Body Purification: Successful]
[You can now absorb and use mana with your new body]
'Mana? That's the special power Dave mentioned that exists over there and to a little extent, in our world as well.'
This information was pleasing to Daniel. If he was able to use mana, then it was a good thing.
Bzzt–!
[Legacy of the Divine Dragon]
…
Daniel's eyes widened with shock as seconds passed, while he read through what the [Legacy of the Divine Dragon] entailed.
'Just how strong were you, Dave...'