The moment SeTa set foot on the Tenth Floor, it felt like stepping into another world entirely.
The air pulsed with refined energy, clean and stabilizing. The oppressive, chaotic pressure that had suffocated the lower floors was gone, replaced by something almost nurturing. Above, a ceiling of silver-blue clouds shimmered over a perpetual twilight. The light was neither too harsh nor too dim—it was balanced, intelligent, as if tuned to perfection.
Below that sky stretched a sprawling metropolis.
No longer mere ruins or scattered camps, this was a safe zone in the truest sense. An entire continent of civilization. There were Awakening Towers, floating combat dojos, spell academies built into living trees, and smithies forged from fire-elemental cores. Merchants hawked enchanted tools in glowing bazaars run by beastfolk, shadowkind, and transdimensional traders. Spirits of the Tower moved openly here, some offering guidance, others watching silently.
In Floor 1, survival was the goal. Here, purpose was everything.
As SeTa passed through the gates, eyes turned. Not just toward him, but toward the creature walking beside him.
Zuvanox, the black-gold Pi Yao, padded silently by his side, shimmering with subtle power. Some saw a beast of legend. Others—a living relic. Whispers followed them.
"Is that... a Pi Yao?"
"No way. Those were extinct."
"He's just now reaching Floor 10?"
"An irregular... definitely an irregular."
SeTa ignored the attention. Zuvanox occasionally sniffed around, unearthing rare stones and lost trinkets tucked away under stalls. A few vendors gawked, stunned. The Pi Yao always found treasure—an instinct it carried like a compass for value.
A figure intercepted SeTa near the central plaza. Clad in black robes adorned with a phoenix emblem, he belonged to Ishara's Talon, a ruthless guild known for aggressive recruitment and obliteration of rivals.
"We've been expecting someone like you," the man said, smiling politely. "We offer protection, legacy, and access to any technique you desire. All we ask is loyalty."
SeTa's eyes narrowed. "And if I decline?"
The man's smile remained, but his voice cooled. "Then I look forward to seeing how long you last."
As the tension hung, another figure stepped forward.
A silver-haired woman in starlit robes, her presence calm, curious—Luminous Veil, the arcane exploration guild.
"No pressure from us," she said, bowing slightly. "We only hope that when the time is right, you'll remember we welcomed you as you are."
No recruitment. No demands. She simply offered a moment of peace and faded into the crowd.
Two paths, SeTa thought. One sharp, one patient.
He made his way toward the towering structure at the city's core—the Awakening Tower. Unlike the stone buildings around it, the tower shimmered like crystal caught in a dream, rising endlessly skyward. Only one class could be awakened per climber every ten floors. And that required AP—Achievement Points.
Inside, everything was hushed. The air shimmered with mana so pure it almost sang. Climbers knelt or paced within magic circles, praying or muttering calculations. SeTa approached the marble altar at the center.
A robed attendant awaited him. Her expression shifted the moment she saw him.
"Present your intent," she said.
"I wish to purchase the class 'Godsend Strategist'." He placed his AP token onto the altar.
The token pulsed once. Then light exploded around him.
Pure white mana engulfed SeTa. The air turned heavy with meaning. Ancient. The tower trembled subtly.
> [Notice: Unique blood resonance detected. Class 'Godsend Strategist' rejected. Recalibrating...]
[Omni-Class Awakening Triggered: Voidborn Strategist.]
Shock rippled through the chamber. The attendant gasped.
Only three Omni-Class awakenings had ever occurred in the history of the Tower.
"Alert the Tower Master," the attendant whispered sharply to a junior. "Now."
SeTa stood at the heart of it all as the white light fractured into deep cosmic blue, then collapsed into a sigil. It branded faintly on his skin—a mark of the Voidborn Strategist.
It wasn't just a class. It was an inheritance.
Suddenly, from within his coat pocket, something stirred.
A faint buzzing sound, like wings in golden mist.
Zuriel, nestled in shrunken form, hidden from all but him, twitched. The pure mana saturating the tower roused her. She instinctively absorbed it—drinking the essence without thinking. A soft burst of yellow light erupted around SeTa's chest. It lasted only a second.
Gasps echoed around the room.
"What was that?"
"A summoning?"
"No… too brief. Maybe a relic."
SeTa made no move to explain. Zuriel curled up again, energy satisfied, and faded back into his coat.
From the upper chamber, footsteps descended.
A tall man cloaked in layered robes stepped into the light. He wore no crest, no guild sigil. Just presence.
The Tower Master.
Silent, unreadable. His aura bent space gently around him. He approached SeTa and simply observed for a long moment.
Then, he nodded. "Come. You'll want to understand what you've just done."
In a private chamber above, the Tower Master poured tea for them both.
"You are the fourth Omni-Class awakener this tower has seen since its creation," he said, voice like velvet over iron. "Of the last three 2 went on to reshape and dominate this tower and as for the third no one knows."
SeTa had no reaction.
The man's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Good. I'll spare you a lecture. But consider this…"
He reached into a drawer and pulled out a crystal, dull and almost cracked. "You'll need this before Floor 17. Don't ask why. You'll know."
SeTa took it silently.
Nothing was explained. But a thread had been spun. Not an alliance. Something older.
Like the beginning of mentorship.
The Tower Master rose. "Stay alive, Climber." He left without another word.
SeTa stared at the crystal.
Not just a Climber now. Not just a Strategist.
A force the Tower could no longer ignore.
And somewhere, in hidden records and sealed rooms, the name 'SeTa' began to ripple through realms.
The real climb had only just begun.