Daniel, as Thanatos, had successfully passed the first test of the floor — Karnickel's Zeroth Floor Test. His success guaranteed his climb to the 1st floor of the tower. Having used the door that served as an entry into the ethereal elevator which Karnickel had summoned for him, Daniel emerged from it as soon as it appeared on the first floor.
Ding–!
< Climber Thanatos has passed the test of the Zeroth Floor >
< Rewards >
— Acquired 3 Intelligence Points
— Acquired 3 Stamina Points
— Acquired a special gift from Karnickel.
'Hmm. An intelligence and stamina boost,' Daniel thought with mild excitement. 'Not bad. But it's not enough yet.'
However, the double stat boost did not catch his eyes as much as the special gift which Karnickel the Rabbit had given him.
Sshhh–!
The door opened with a puff of cloud dispersing as Daniel's figure emerged from it, entering into a massive space that was akin to a large hall. Daniel stepped out and the door vanished, leaving him as the sole object of the many eyes that were fixed on him at this point.
"Who's the creepy guy with the eerie mask?" one of the other climbers in the hallway asked another he seemed to be friendly with. Like every other person present, Daniel's entry had also caught their eyes. Naturally, they would be drawn to a new addition to their number after all.
"Dunno, maybe a death god wannabe, hehe!" the second climber laughed as he made a silly joke on the mask that now covered Daniel's face.
Daniel was the newest member of the batch that was attempting to clear the first floor and as he looked around, he understood that these people had also crossed Karnickel's floor and had gotten a pass for it. This made Daniel wonder if Karnickel's test was that easy, or if everyone here was just as strong as he was.
'There are hundreds of people in here,' Daniel thought to himself, glancing around through the hole in his mask.
Little did he know that despite the number of persons he was seeing, the sum number of climbers who had been ejected out of the tower or dead were all together almost three to four times what was before his eyes.
'Seems they are all waiting for something, I suppose.'
Daniel observed the crowd a little more, as much as they also observed him before he decided to make his own inquiries of the situation. The climber walked up to a boy, signalling him out just because he was closest to him.
"Hey, kid," Daniel called out, gaining the boy's attention.
The boy turned around to meet Daniel's towering figure standing over him and casting a rather large shadow. The kid instantly gulped and tracked back, scared shitless by the death god mask that the stranger was wearing.
"Wh-What!" the boy screamed, drawing even more attention to the two of them.
"Oh, sorry about the mask," Daniel apologised. "Unfortunately, I can't take it off but don't be afraid, I won't hurt you as long as you have no bad intentions towards me either."
'That's scary. Who introduces himself like this?' the boy thought, swallowing his saliva a few more times.
"I'm Thanatos," Daniel introduced himself, extending a hand to shake the boy, which the younger climber obliged and shook him right back.
"My name is Rykar," the boy replied.
Daniel nodded his head and crouched down in front of Rykar, meeting his eye level. The masked climber then looked around while holding Rykar's hand, before turning back to look at the boy, whose eyes were fixed on his grip.
'He's strong,' Rykar thought to himself.
Daniel raised a finger before the boy's eyes. "I wanted to know one thing, Rykar. Why are you all here?" he asked.
"From the looks of it, it doesn't seem like anyone has left this place. I could be wrong though."
Rykar nodded his head repeatedly. "You are right. No one has left. I was the 50th climber to come into this hall and it looks like they are waiting for everyone to gather before proceeding."
'I see. Then the next test may likely be group-oriented and if that's the case, I would be forced to find a partner or more,' Daniel thought.
The possibility of his prediction coming to pass was against his initial plan when he entered the tower. Daniel had planned to climb as an unknown one-man army and that was the reason for the death god mask he had purchased back on Earth before climbing, and also for travelling solo. After confirming that he could smuggle mana-infused items with him into the tower, he was gladdened and went ahead to don his mask while in Karnickel's elevator.
But now, another problem was trying to raise his head: the issue of having a tag team, worse off if it was going to be more than one person.
"Thank you, Ry—"
At the very next instant.
Fsshh—! Baammm—!
Before Daniel could finish his statement, he felt a hand come close to him and before contact was made with his body, Daniel had pulled on the hand without even turning back before proceeding to disarm its owner and dropping their body on the floor in a few quick movements.
Watching this, Rykar's jaw dropped in that instant but it was not just him, even a group of climbers who had come to interrupt their discussion.
Daniel's fist stopped in its tracks towards punching the culprit's face in.
"Who are you? And what do you want?" Daniel asked, pinning the climber so badly that he squeaked in pain.
"L-Let him go!" another voice yelled in what appeared to be a frightened command.
Daniel looked up and saw Rykar surrounded by a group of guys, his eyes narrowed as he wondered what sort of charade this was.
Around Rykar was a group of two other male climbers with intentionally puffed up chests, aiming to intimidate Daniel. This very act caused Daniel to chuckle under his mask and shake his head.
'Is this some sort of joke?' he thought. Daniel found their act pitiful for a man like himself who had seen war and had undergone training that the youngsters could only dream of.
"I said… le-let him go!" the youngster commanded again, pointing a shaking finger at Daniel.
Daniel shot him a glare, while still keeping his colleague immobilized. "And if I don't?" he asked.
The climber hopped backwards and away from Daniel, dumbfounded by the guts of this new entrant.
Shing–!
A sword glistened and made its way to Daniel's neck with a voice following just after.
"...Then I will make you."