The resting zone shook.
Not violently.
Not like an earthquake.
It felt more like reality itself was shifting position.
The candidates immediately became alert.
Some stood.
Some tightened their grip on their weapons.
Others silently activated essence around their bodies.
Above them, the administrator's voice echoed throughout the chamber.
"Candidates."
"Floor Seven will now begin."
A giant countdown appeared above the room.
5
The atmosphere instantly changed.
Everyone knew this wasn't another simple monster floor.
The administrator had made that much clear.
Drax stood slowly from his seat.
The black jade pendant rested against his chest while his black jacket fluttered slightly from the gathering essence in the room.
He looked toward Isis and Alexis.
"Try your best to regroup and prepare. Anything could happen."
Isis nodded.
For a brief moment his eyes changed.
His second personality surfaced.
The calmer.
More experienced one.
"I don't trust this tower to begin with."
Alexis tightened her grip around her staff.
A small smile appeared on her face despite the tension.
"Well, preparing for the worst is still preparing."
4
The room trembled again.
Several candidates looked nervous.
Others appeared excited.
A few seemed completely indifferent.
Lex remained seated.
Watching.
Waiting.
His eyes briefly met Drax's.
Neither spoke.
Neither looked away first.
3
A cold wind suddenly swept through the resting zone.
Nobody could tell where it came from.
2
Space distorted.
The walls began disappearing.
The floor dissolved beneath everyone's feet.
1
The administrator spoke one final time.
"Survive."
Then everything vanished.
Darkness.
Silence.
Then Light. Drax opened his eyes Immediately something felt wrong. The scent in the air.
The temperature. The sounds. Everything. His brows furrowed.
He found himself sitting at the back of a classroom.
Sunlight streamed through the windows.
Students talked casually.
Someone laughed.
Someone passed a note.
A teacher was writing on a chalkboard.
Drax stared.
Confused.
Then he looked down.
His eyes widened slightly.
His body was younger.
Smaller.
The body of his former self.
Eleventh grade.
One year before graduation.
A memory.
Or at least something pretending to be one.
The students around him looked real.
Too real.
The sounds.
The smells.
The atmosphere.
Everything felt authentic. Almost perfectly authentic.
Almost.
Then a sharp pain exploded inside his skull.
Drax immediately grabbed his head.
"Tch..."
The headache intensified.
Like something was trying to force him to forget.
Trying to bury something important.
His vision blurred.
Then A small stream of abyssal essence leaked from his body.
Black particles drifted around him and suddenly The memories returned.
The tower.
The candidates.
Floor Seven.
The White Tower.
Everything.
Drax slowly lowered his hand.
The headache disappeared instantly.
His eyes became cold.
"Something's wrong."
The students around him continued acting normally.
Unaware.
Or perhaps unable to become aware.
Drax stood from his desk.
Nobody reacted.
The teacher kept writing.
The students kept talking.
As though he didn't exist.
That alone told him enough.
This wasn't reality.
This was a reconstruction.
A simulation.
A memory.
Or something worse.
Drax walked toward the nearest window.
Then without hesitation He jumped.
CRASH!
Glass exploded outward.
Several students screamed.
The classroom disappeared behind him.
Wind rushed past his face.
Drax landed smoothly on the street below.
The moment his feet touched the ground he looked upward.
And froze.
A giant portal covered the sky.
His eyes narrowed.
"...If I remember correctly..."
The memories were coming together now.
Not his memories. History.
A history lesson humanity had never personally experienced.
One from a century ago.
The beginning.
The first outbreak.
The first monster invasion.
The event that changed everything.
Drax slowly exhaled.
Then looked at the portal again.
"...We're experiencing the first outbreak."
The sky trembled.
The portal expanded.
Reality groaned.
Then something massive pushed through. An enormous claw emerged first.
Then a horn. Then a head larger than entire city blocks.
Buildings shook.
People screamed.
The creature forced itself through the opening.
Followed by another.
And another.
And another.
The world erupted into chaos.
Countless monsters descended from the sky.
Some were larger than mountains.
Others resembled twisted beasts.
Some possessed wings.
Others crawled.
All of them radiated enough pressure to wipe cities from existence.
The planet below instantly descended into catastrophe.
Buildings collapsed.
Cities burned.
Humanity died by the thousands.
Drax watched silently.
Then sighed.
"I hate this tower more the higher I climb."
The words carried genuine irritation.
Not fear.
Not concern.
Annoyance.
Because now he understood.
Floor Seven wasn't testing power.
It was testing something else.
The candidates weren't spectators.
They had been inserted into history itself.
And now they had to survive it.
Drax glanced across the ruined skyline.
Smoke rose everywhere.
Monsters were pouring from the portal endlessly.
Like an invasion with no end.
Then he smiled.
A dangerous smile.
One that rarely appeared anymore.
"Switch."
His body vanished.
A burst of darkness swallowed his location.
The next moment Drax appeared atop a massive skyscraper.
Hundreds of meters above the city.
The wind howled around him.
Below him humanity was losing.
Entire districts were already gone.
Monsters ran through streets.
Buildings collapsed.
Flames covered the horizon.
Drax placed both hands inside his pockets and simply watched.
The scene was horrifying.
Apocalyptic.
The end of civilization.
But instead of concern His smile widened.
"Nightmare."
A black sword materialized instantly.
The newly evolved blade hummed softly.
Responding to his will.
Responding to his intent.
Drax grabbed the hilt.
The sword felt alive.
Perfect.
The city below became a battlefield. A feast. An ocean of essence and Drax could already feel it. The deaths.
The monsters. The energy. Everything.
His Abyssal World stirred inside him.
Hungry, Growing and Expanding.
Drax slowly rested Nightmare on his shoulder.
Then looked toward a massive creature charging through the city.
Four legs. Six eyes. Hundreds of feet tall.
Its footsteps shattered roads. Vehicles exploded beneath its weight.
Human soldiers attacked desperately. None succeeded.
The monster ignored them entirely.
Drax's smile became sharper.
"You made the wrong choice sending me here, tower."
Darkness gathered beneath his feet.
"I'll enjoy the feast you've given me."
BOOM!
The skyscraper exploded beneath him.
Drax launched himself forward.
Flying directly toward the monster.
Wind screamed around him.
The city blurred. The distance vanished. The monster finally noticed him.
One of its six eyes locked onto the approaching figure.
But ut was too late. Drax reached its face instantly.
Nightmare flashed.
"Abyssal Mutilation."
The strike landed.
BOOOOM!
One eye exploded.
Multiple invisible cuts erupted across the creature's skull.
Blood sprayed through the air.
The monster roared in agony.
Entire buildings shattered from the force of the scream.
Yet It wasn't enough. The creature wasn't dead, Not even close.
Drax landed smoothly behind it.
Dust rolled outward. The giant beast slowly turned toward him.
Furious and Wounded. Ready to kill. Drax looked up at it.
Then smiled. A genuine smile. One filled with excitement and anticipation.
One filled with hunger.
"You're my stepping stone to Stage Six."
The monster roared and the battle for Floor Seven finally began.