Rhys woke up in the university infirmary questioning every decision that had brought him to this point.Just how many times am I supposed to end up here? he wondered as he forced himself upright, rubbing the back of his aching neck. I don’t think I’ve visited the infirmary this many times in my entire eighteen years of life, yet somehow I’ve managed to break that record in just one week.The room was quiet except for the steady sound of breathing. He glanced to the bed beside him and found Sophia lying there, still unconscious. The Champion of Poseidon looked strangely harmless in her current state. It was hard to believe this was the same girl who had stood proudly before the entire university only a short while ago before Principal Liam knocked both of them out without warning.A ridiculous thought suddenly crossed his mind.She’s completely defenseless right now… I could just suffocate her with a pillow.Rhys stared at her for a second before mentally shaking himself.…What is wrong

Subject selection at the University for the Nourishment of Young Talents was surprisingly flexible.Students had plenty of freedom to shape their own education, but there was still a basic structure everyone had to follow.Each semester, every student was required to register for six subjects. Every subject had two classes each week, and everyone also participated in a mandatory team exercise every Sunday.Each class lasted roughly two hours. The university timetable was simple, with lectures held from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and again from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.Outside those hours, students were free to train, practice on their own, or study however they wished. The professors, assistant professors and training facilities were all readily available, making it easy for anyone willing to put in the work to improve.Although there were dozens of classes available, they were divided into three main categories.First came the mandatory core subjects.Then the non-combative subjects.Final

“Let’s make one thing absolutely clear before we begin.”Professor Mave’s voice carried across the entire arena, silencing the students almost instantly.“This is a sparring session, not a fight to the death.”His sharp gaze swept over the twenty students standing before him.“I don’t expect anyone to leave this arena on a stretcher, and I certainly don’t expect anyone to end up in the infirmary.”He paused to let the warning sink in.“You may fight using the blunt training weapons provided, or you may choose to fight bare-handed. A match ends when one side lands a decisive strike or when the other surrenders.”His expression hardened.“When I give an order, you obey it immediately.”He folded his arms.“And under no circumstances will you deliberately try to break your opponent’s bones.”As he spoke, Assistant Lobo wheeled over a large rack filled with training weapons.There were wooden swords of different lengths, spears, staffs, shields and bows. Beside the bows sat bundles of arro

“Yo, big brother!”Ravan burst into laughter as he watched Rhys somehow defeat Sophia.To the mortals living inside the Tower, what had just happened looked like nothing more than unbelievable luck.To Ravan, it was something entirely different.Concepts like fate and luck were not abstract ideas to the gods. They were real forces that governed reality itself. Most beings could never perceive them, let alone understand them, but to those who had mastered the laws of the universe, they were variables that could be nudged, twisted and reshaped.People tripped over rocks every day.They forgot important things.They bumped into strangers by accident.Mortals called these events coincidences.The gods knew better.Fate quietly guided countless possibilities every second, and Fate happened to be one of the countless threads resting in the palm of Dreavon’s hand.“So,” Ravan asked with a grin, “how did that fight look from your perspective?”Dreavon smiled.“In nine hundred and ninety-eight

Rhys had always believed that actions carried far more weight than words.That belief became even stronger after watching Principal Liam summon thousands of ghosts into the assembly hall.The moment the spirits appeared, a chill spread through the room.Students who had been whispering moments earlier fell completely silent.Goosebumps crawled across Rhys’s skin as he looked at the countless ghostly figures drifting around the hall. It was difficult to imagine that every single one of them had once sat exactly where they were sitting now, attending classes and dreaming about climbing the Tower.Now they were nothing more than wandering spirits.At that moment, Liam didn’t need to say another word.Everyone understood the message.The Tower was filled with danger.Monsters.Harsh environments.Criminals.Unknown diseases.Those things could all kill an Ascender.Yet according to Principal Liam, none of them claimed as many lives as hatred did.A single moment of anger.A desire to settl