As Daniel opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the starry night sky above him.
Suddenly, he felt a will descending from the heavens, scanning his entire body. It was a strange feelingâbut after going through it several times, heâd gotten somewhat used to it.
It didnât take long before multiple notifications appeared in front of him.
[ You have successfully cleared the second floor of the Tower ]
[ Evaluating achievements... ]
[ You have been selected as "Best Player of the Second Floor." ]
[ You have earned a Seven-Star Achievement! ]
[ Processing rewards... ]
Several glowing windows appeared before him, each shining with a light that carried the feeling of real accomplishment.
Three golden items materialized once again in front of his eyes. Without wasting time, he quickly checked them... and fell silent from the shock.
[ Banished Star of Darkness (Rank S): An ancient star once hidden deep within the Forgotten Church... For years, everyone sought it, but no one knew where it was... ]
Daniel looked at it with a bit of wonder. In truth, he had no idea what this item was or what it was even good for.
What was he supposed to do with a star?
Still, he decided to set it aside for now and moved on to the next reward.
[ Ring of Nature (Rank S): One of the six rings of the Prophet of the Eternal Faith... This ring grants its user the ability to use any of the four elements. ]
[ Requirement: For each element you want to use, you must have a certain level of understanding of it. ]
"A source, huh?" A spark of excitement flashed in his eyes. This was an elemental sourceâand an S-rank one at that.
He already had the Ring of Ragzar, but that one only helped him control fire. This ring, on the other hand, allowed him to control all four elements.
[ Burning Moon Armor (S): An armor forged from the remnants of an ancient planet. This is the same armor the Prophet of the Eternal Faith wore during his first war campaigns... Automatically fits the userâs body upon equipping. Grants complete immunity to all attacks below rank B, 50% immunity to rank A attacks, and 30% to rank S attacks. Against Demons, all resistances increase by 20%. Provides 80% resistance to all mental attacks below rank S. ]
"My armor just broke too," Daniel muttered with a nod. The rewards were about what he expected.
All of them were S-rank! It was worth noting that below the fifth floor, no one had ever received anything higher than an A-rank item.
Then again, it wasnât entirely unexpected. The difficulty level of this floor was classified as Hell, and he had to fight a demon whose strength had, at one point, reached peak A-rank.
As far as he knew, A-ranksâwhether the weaker or stronger onesâonly started appearing from the third or fourth floors onward.
On the second floor, the strongest bosses that had ever appeared were mid B-rank. From what heâd heard, there were only two recorded cases of bosses reaching peak B-rank.
An A-rank? That simply hadnât existed here before. He wasnât even sure if anyone would believe him if he said it out loud. Theyâd probably just think he was insane.
Honestly, even he thought the things he did on the second floor were complete madnessâespecially fighting an A-rank.
But thanks to that battle, he learned a lot. If necessary, his current power could reach mid A-rank, and he had a skill that allowed him to enter a sort of Super Saiyan state and crush even a peak A-rank like a bug.
And now that he thought about it, ever since heâd entered the Tower, he had been breaking records and setting new ones non-stop.
Who wouldâve thought a teenager mocked for being talentless just two or three months ago would reach this level?
"But still... another Seven-Star Achievement... Whatâs it even good for?" he muttered, glancing at one of the older notifications.
Unfortunately, there was no explanation, and he hadnât had time to research the topic.
"When I get back, I should either look it up in the Awakened Associationâs online community or ask Mr. August," he decided not to worry about it for now.
At the moment, he was genuinely tired and just wanted to go home.
He was about to request to leave when suddenly, another notification appeared in front of him.
[ Due to receiving the title of Best Player of the Second Floor and earning a Seven-Star Achievement, you are granted an additional reward. ]
[ Upgrade Talisman: Can be used to upgrade anything you choose, with no limit on upgrade level. Single-use only. ]
Danielâs eyes widened in shockânot because he got another reward, but because of what it was.
An Upgrade Talisman! Heâd heard a bit about theseâthey were among the most valuable items in the world, sold at astronomical prices in auctions.
He never expected to get one himselfâespecially one without any upgrade limit. Did this mean he could upgrade any of his items or skills?
Or even better... did it mean he could upgrade his class? His current class was already in a tier that had never been heard of.
What would happen if he pushed it even higher? The thought alone made his excitement explodeâthis could bring a completely unexpected surprise.
The talisman appeared in his handâa golden paper inscribed with strange, ancient markings.
It radiated a majestic and ancient aura, as if it were drawing power from the depths of the worldâit was enough to inspire awe.
He placed all the items he received into his inventory, changed into his regular clothes, and then issued the exit command.
[ Do you want to leave the Tower? ]
Daniel clicked "Yes" without even a second of hesitation.
The world around him shiftedâand when he opened his eyes again, he found himself outside the Tower, standing in front of the entrance.
The sky had darkenedâit was clearly dusk. But the area was strangely quiet and empty... almost unnaturally so.
He glanced at the streets. Not a single person in sight... plenty of cars were scattered in the middle of the road, but theyâd clearly been abandoned.
"Whatâs going on here?" A bad feeling crept into his heart.
Without wasting time, he tried using Fallen Step to teleport to where he had left his Fallen to protect his family...
But it failed. He couldnât teleport.
"Whatâs going on?" That sense of dread kept growing stronger in his chest.
The fact that he couldnât teleport to the location of the Fallen heâd assigned to guard duty could only mean one thing...
They were dead.