Tower Awakening: I Have Limitless Potential Trait

Chapter 6 – 1st Floor: The Forgotten Catacombs (4)

He looked at the young man standing in front of him. The spear rested on the ground, but he still harbored a sense of unease. In a death game like this, trusting a stranger was a fatal mistake.

"How did you know..." he asked, his voice rough and dry, "... I was from another realm?"

Elian smiled and tapped the side of his head. "It is obvious if you know what to look for. Your clothes are made of strange fabrics we do not have in the Ring Cities. Your reaction to everything around here screams beginner. But I will explain everything you want to know. The Hub-World, the Tower system, all the basic information. In exchange, you just need to get along with me. Let's climb up together."

He weighed his options. His body was exhausted. His mental fatigue was dangerous, and his rusty sword was already cracked. Walking blind in a massive maze without a guide was suicide. This was his first time meeting a person from another realm after teleporting to the tower, and he needed information. He decided to take the risk. He lowered his guard and let his cracked weapon rest by his side.

"Fine," he nodded. "My name is Daniel."

"Nice to meet you," the young man replied, extending his empty hand.

He reached out and shook it. After the tense introduction, they found a clean spot near a broken pillar to catch their breath. They began to share a bit of their background. Elian explained that he was born in the Hub-World, living in the poor district. He was not rich, but he was lucky to be chosen by the Tower as a challenger.

He kept his own story brief. He shared that he was a student in another realm and had to work night shifts to support himself. He left out the part about his unknown trait and the secret boss he encountered earlier. It was better to keep some secrets.

He looked at the young man. "You promised me information. How does this place work?"

Elian nodded and leaned against his spear. "The first thing you need to know about the Tower is the drop system. As chosen Challengers, when we kill monsters, the system transfers items into our inventory. But the drop possibility is strict, especially for valuable things like Mana Cores. We sell whatever the system gives us to the merchants outside for local currency. Ordinary people who are not chosen cannot use the system. They have to carve monster corpses by hand if they ever get one."

He listened. It made sense. Tower Coins were reserved for the Tower Shop, but if he wanted to survive in the Hub-World outside, he needed local money.

"Speaking of outside," Elian continued, his tone turning serious. "The Tower System's authority is absolute. It stays active even when you step out into the Hub-World. Your inventory, your status panel—you keep all of it everywhere you go."

He frowned, realizing a potential problem. "But if we have a system floating around, isn't it dangerous? What if someone spies on my stats?"

"They cannot," Elian answered. "The system panels are private. I cannot see yours, and ordinary people cannot see the system's existence at all. To them, we look like normal people grabbing weapons out of thin air. We can only identify other Challengers by sensing their mana. We carry a specific mana signature, similar to the Tower itself."

He sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. The rules were strict but protective of the Challengers. "And the Hub-World itself? You mentioned Ring Cities."

Elian picked up a loose rock and drew a rough circle on the dirt floor. "The Tower is at the center, called Ground Zero. It is guarded, and no one is allowed to live there. Surrounding it is Ring 1, the Bazaar, and then Ring 2, the Slums. That is the Core—the protected zone."

Elian drew a massive, jagged outline spreading far beyond the small circles. It indicated a gigantic continent. "But the Hub-World Core is tiny compared to what lies outside. Beyond the rings are the Wildlands."

"The Wildlands?" he asked. "Do monsters leak out of the Tower?"

"Not without reason," Elian clarified. "The Tower's mana is so dense that it pulses outward. When the Tower first appeared centuries ago, those pulses mutated the local wildlife into terrifying beasts. They destroyed the old civilizations."

Elian pointed to the northern part of his dirt map. "Up north, past the Storm Peaks, lies the Ruins of the Silver Kingdom—a massive empire wiped out by mutated beasts. To the northeast are the Easternia Ruins, now overrun by mutants. And to the southeast, the Oakhaven Trading Ruins were destroyed by invasions. The Wildlands are a graveyard of fallen cities and fortress remnants."

He stared at the dirt map, feeling small. "Then... did humanity outside the Core survive?"

"They did, but they are scattered," Elian nodded. He tapped four far corners of the map. "Far to the southeast, across the Sea of Mists, is the Mariner Confederacy with their grand city, Portus Maris. In the Desolate Wastes to the west lies the Desert Hegemony and their oasis city, Sun-Gate City. Up north in the frozen mountains is the Mountain Clans Confederation centered at Glacierhold. And finally, the Eastern Kingdoms Pact at Orientis."

To finish the lesson, Elian drew a line connecting the distant kingdoms back to the center. "Because the Tower is the greatest source of power and wealth, this massive economy flows back to the Core. The Hub-World is split into two main factions. Local Factions represent those ancient clans and merchant guilds who survived the ruin. Challenger Factions are massive guilds created by generations of successful climbers from other realms who decided to build their own empires here."

He absorbed the information. The political and economic structure of the Hub-World was far bigger than he imagined. It was a breathing world, scarred by destruction but rebuilt around the Tower. Challengers often went to the outer dungeons in the Wildlands to train and harvest materials if they were too scared to enter the Tower itself.

Elian wiped the dirt map away with his boot and looked at him with a serious expression. "Since you are new and we are heading the same way, I have a proposal. Why don't we form a group through the system?"

He frowned, looking at his cracked sword. "What is the benefit of forming a group? Why would you want to team up with a beginner like me?"

"There are a few solid reasons," Elian answered, holding up his fingers. "First, the labyrinth is huge. Two pairs of eyes are better than one, so we could reach the door to the higher floors much faster than soloing. Second, the system rewards cooperation. If we form an official party, the Tower gives a two times experience buff. That means every time we slay enemies together, the experience points we share get multiplied. We level up faster."

Elian paused, giving a small shrug. "And honestly? It is just better together than alone, right? Down here, a single mistake means death. If one of us gets pinned down by a monster, the other can save him."

He listened to the offer. The double experience buff sounded tempting, especially since he needed to grow stronger fast to gather coins for Olivia's estate. But teaming up meant he had to rely on someone else.

"I am not sure," he said, keeping his eyes on the dark corridor. "I need time to think about it."

Seeing his uncertainty, Elian did not push the matter. He smiled and picked up his spear. "That is fair. You do not have to accept right away. Think about my invitation while we search for the door to the next floor together."

They stood up and began walking side by side. He kept a short distance, allowing Elian to take the lead since the young man knew the environment better. The tunnels grew wider and colder the deeper they walked. For a while, the only sound in the catacombs was their footsteps echoing against the stone walls. Elian pointed out different types of moss and explained how to identify safe paths.

The peaceful exploration did not last long.

A low, guttural growl echoed from the shadows ahead. He stopped walking, his grip tightening on the hilt of his rusty sword. Elian lowered his stance, pointing his spear toward the darkness.

From the dim light of the cavern ahead, multiple pairs of glowing yellow eyes appeared. The scratching of heavy claws against the stone floor echoed across the walls. It was not just one beast this time. A group of corpse beasts, similar to the Grave Hound he fought earlier, stepped out from behind the ruined walls. Acidic saliva dripped from their jaws, and their thick bone plates rattled as they moved forward.

"Grave Hounds," Elian whispered, his voice losing its relaxed tone. "A whole pack of them."

He felt his heart pump against his chest. His mental fatigue vanished, replaced by a sudden rush of adrenaline. He knew they could not outrun a pack of predators like that. There was no narrow crack to hide in this time.

They both knew they needed to fight.