As Reece materialized in the next zone, he was immediately blinded by an intense, searing light. Unlike the perpetual gloom of the jungle, this place was bathed in glaring sunlight, and the sudden change left him momentarily disoriented. He raised an arm to shield his eyes, blinking rapidly as he adjusted to the brightness. Almost immediately, he noticed another drastic change—the air was stiflingly hot, the kind of dry heat that saps the moisture from your skin within seconds.
Once his vision cleared, Reece took in the sight around him, and a look of irritation crossed his face. "For fuck's sake, a desert? I go from a rain-drenched jungle straight into a sun-scorched wasteland? And if I'm not mistaken, this is an imitation of Desaria's Central Continent!" He shook his head, exasperated.
Prima's voice chimed in, equally annoyed. "Not an exact copy, but close enough, master. The heat and atmosphere are eerily similar. This looks like the Desert of Forgotten Echoes, specifically the outer reaches. Whoever designed this zone must have been in a particularly sadistic mood."
"No kiddin' " Reece replied with a groan.
Before him stretched a surreal desert unlike anything found on Earth. The sand wasn't the usual dusty beige but a polished, mirror-like surface that shimmered under the harsh sunlight, creating the illusion of walking on glass. It reflected the sky above, which shifted in hues from electric teal to deep crimson, casting strange, otherworldly colors across the desert floor.
Massive stone pillars jutted from the ground at odd angles, some carved with cryptic symbols and runes that glowed faintly in the shade, remnants of an ancient civilization. In the distance, he could see enormous "whirlpools" of sand spiraling in the air, frozen in time, as if reality itself was distorted here.
The silence was unnerving. The air seemed to absorb sound, making every step feel like an intrusion into a forbidden realm. But every now and then, he caught faint echoes drifting by—voices, laughter, even soft music, as if ghosts were trapped in the sands, whispering to each other from across the void.
"This place gives me the creeps," Reece muttered, feeling a shiver run down his spine as he took his first step on the glass-like sand.
"Considering this is only the second zone, I doubt most others, who have encountered the more dangerous aspects of this desert—the echo pools and the glass worms, have even gotten to the next zone" Prima replied thoughtfully.
"Meh… let them struggle… Just cast [Zone Sync] and let's get this nightmare over with," Reece said, his tone exasperated.
He gathered primal mana into his legs, channeling it to prepare for a high-speed dash.
With a loud BOOM, he shot forward, accelerating even faster than he had in the jungle, reaching over 100 miles per hour within seconds.
The intensity of his movement caused the glassy sand beneath him to melt briefly, leaving a trail of hardened glass in his wake.
As he ran, he continued his rant. "I swear the randomness of these tutorials is anything but random. Those damn administrators are probably laughing themselves silly, dropping us from a jungle straight into a furnace. There's barely any water mana here, so anyone without a strong affinity can't even create water, and even those with the affinity would struggle. It's ridiculous."
Prima sighed, her tone tinged with resignation. "Master, please stop complaining and focus on moving. You're already bending the rules with [Zone Sync]—let's not draw unnecessary attention to ourselves."
"Yeah, yeah…" he muttered, adjusting his path as Prima projected a faint, glowing blue line in his vision, mapping the shortest route through the desert. The path wove between the massive stone pillars and skirted around several large echo pools that dotted the landscape.
As they passed by the echo pools, Reece noticed several of the other trial-takers standing motionless, entrapped within the shimmering, misty surfaces of the pools. These unfortunate souls were caught in the grip of powerful illusions, their deepest desires or worst fears projected back at them by the raw spiritual mana concentrated in the pools.
Outside the tower, on Desaria, the native inhabitants would use these pools as places of reflection or leisure, safely exploring their own minds. But for humans without proper spiritual training, echo pools were deadly traps.
Each pool was like a mirrored lake, its surface swirling with a misty gray vapor. Anyone who strayed too close risked being drawn into an illusion of their own making. The spiritual mana would infuse their souls, amplifying their hidden desires or fears until it overwhelmed them.
Most people lacked the mental fortitude to resist such direct contact with raw spiritual mana, and the result was gruesome. If someone remained in an echo pool too long, their soul would "bloat" from the overload and eventually burst—leaving them dead on the spot, forever lost in their own dreams.
As Reece sped past, he glanced at the limp bodies of those who hadn't survived, lying flat on the sand next to the pools. They looked peaceful, almost serene, as if they had fallen asleep—an illusion shattered by the empty, glazed-over eyes staring blankly at the sky.
"Such a waste," he murmured, shaking his head as he continued along the path Prima had mapped out.
"They should have known better than to wander near an echo pool unprepared," Prima replied. "Even I can't help feeling a bit sorry for them, though. They're just so… hopelessly naive."
"Survival of the fittest," Reece replied, his tone cold. He wasn't here to babysit amateurs. The Tower was ruthless, and those who didn't come prepared had no one to blame but themselves.
As they continued through the desert, they encountered other groups of trial-takers—some struggling to move forward in the oppressive heat, others locked in desperate battles with the local monsters.
One of the most dangerous creatures here was the glass worm, a mutated variant of the infamous sandworms that roamed other desert worlds. The glass worms had translucent, crystalline bodies that sparkled under the sunlight, making them appear almost beautiful. But when they opened their circular maws lined with razor-sharp teeth, beauty turned to horror as they devoured anything in their path, grinding flesh and bone to dust.
The majority of the climbers were unprepared for such creatures. They had never seen anything like the glass worms and lacked the combat experience to handle them effectively. Reece watched in mild pity as he sped by, noting the look of sheer terror on the faces of some climbers as they tried and failed to defend themselves.
He focused on his own path, ignoring the chaos around him. Prima's [Zone Sync] spell had already revealed the route to the teleportation pad, so all he had to do was follow the blue line glowing in his vision. The thrill of running at such high speeds without using any advanced movement techniques was exhilarating, and he could feel the primal mana pumping through his mana heart, fueling every stride.
However, his sudden high-speed passage did not go unnoticed.
For many climbers, struggling through the sweltering heat and deadly illusions of the echo pools, the sight of a figure streaking across the desert at impossible speeds was utterly bewildering. Most assumed it was some kind of mirage, but as the dust cloud kicked up by his passage settled, they saw the hardened glass trail left in his wake—proof that someone, or something, had passed through.
"What the hell was that?" A young woman with brown hair and sharp brown eyes gasped, her voice full of shock. She was part of a group moving cautiously through the desert, her attire and demeanor marking her as someone of noble birth.
Her maid, a woman dressed in a formal servant's outfit, looked equally stunned. "Yes, Young Lady Aveline. It appears someone—or something—is moving through the desert at unimaginable speed."
Moments later, two men dressed as butlers approached from a distance, having been sent ahead to scout. One of them spoke breathlessly. "Young Lady Aveline, we scouted the area… It wasn't a glass worm or any known creature… It… It was a trail of footprints." The first servant paused, unsure of how to properly explain to her young mistress, "We checked closely… and the sand under those footprints had melted into glass."
Aveline frowned, her expression one of disbelief mixed with growing unease. "Footprints? Melted glass?"
"Yes, my lady," the second butler replied, clearly shaken. "We… we believe it was a person. But they moved so quickly… faster than anything we've ever seen."
Aveline was silent, contemplating the implications. Whoever or whatever it was, it had to be incredibly powerful. Part of her wanted to veer off, to avoid crossing paths with such a creature, but another part of her—a competitive, ambitious part—felt drawn to investigate further.
"Lead me there," she ordered, her voice cold. "I want to see this with my own eyes."
Other climbers who encountered Reece's path through the desert had similar reactions. The trail of glass footprints was both unnerving and intriguing, and many found themselves drawn toward it despite the obvious danger. Some speculated that it was a beast in human form, while others whispered that it might be an advanced climber testing the limits of the tutorial.
But whatever the case, the legend of the "Glass Phantom" spread quickly among the desert's survivors. And some, Aveline included, the more daring of all these decided to follow the trail of footprints, thinking they might score more in the final evaluation should they hunt down this "Glass Phantom"
Meanwhile, Reece was oblivious to the commotion he was causing. He was simply focused on reaching the teleportation pad and getting out of this furnace as quickly as possible.
"Prima, how much time has passed since we entered the first zone?" he asked, stepping onto the teleportation pad as it activated.
"It's been one hour and five minutes, master," she replied, her voice calm. "We spent most of our time crossing this desert—it's far larger than the jungle zone."
"Good. If the next two zones aren't as taxing, we might be able to finish this tutorial within the day," he replied, a note of satisfaction in his tone as he felt the teleportation pad's energy surge around him.
As the light enveloped him, whisking him away to the next trial, Reece allowed himself a small smile. He was making excellent time, and if things continued this smoothly, he'd be one step closer to completing these zones. But he knew better than to get complacent. The Tower was unpredictable, and every climber's journey held new challenges and dangers.
With a final flash, he vanished, leaving the glassy desert and the scattered climbers behind, each one left to ponder the mystery of the Glass Phantom as they struggled to survive.