Tower of Heaven

[Beginning the trial of Floor 4: Trial of Intelligence]

[Description: Not every problem can be solved with brute strength alone. An Ascender must possess a steady logical mind during any situation. Solve the puzzle before time runs out.]

Time Limit: 1 Day

[Requirement: Complete the trial without using violence or brute force.]

Atlas found himself in another dark space, but it wasn't pitch black like the first room. Instead, he simply had to wait a few moments for his eyes to adjust.

Once they did, he saw that he was in the middle of a large corridor that was split into two paths on both ends.

'Hmm, this must be some kind of maze. Makes sense for a trial of intelligence, since many would lose patience after being lost here for a long period of time.'

Since he had no basis to determine the correct path yet, Atlas moved forward and chose the path on the right, walking blindly. The path further continued, becoming its own corridor that split once again into multiple paths.

Atlas followed a single route, though, without deviating in the slightest. Until he got his bearings, going in a straight line was the best option. It didn't take long for him to hit a dead end.

'Now, should I return back to the start and choose a new path or continue on one of the many branches I passed?'

At this point, any sort of thinking was just needless drivel. He didn't have any indication of the size of the maze nor the different ways it could hinder him.

'I'll just do whatever feels right.'

He had noticed his intuition becoming much stronger ever since he opened his eyes for the first time, becoming something he couldn't ignore.

This realization became more prominent when he read the tower rules, being able to decipher them in only a few minutes. Even being the Heavenly Emperor, he wasn't nearly knowledgeable or well-read enough to do so.

After all, he had spent the majority of his life on the battlefield, not within a library. As for the 6 years he spent in this life reading, he didn't think it had increased his mental capacity enough to pull off something like that.

Atlas continued moving from one branching path to another, simply backtracking whenever he met a dead end. Judging by the small window that continually hovered near his eye level, he had plenty of time.

[22:55:43]

As he continued, he realized that it wasn't simply barricades or walls that would block his path. He ran into a few pitfalls that he couldn't see the bottom of and even some more arrow traps like he maneuvered through on the previous floor.

Luckily, due to the 3rd floor, he had regained some of his battle sense and had been able to dodge those arrows. For safety purposes though, he picked one up to use as a weapon.

[20:36:18]

Time continued to trickle by as Atlas continued his fruitless effort, but he wasn't discouraged. He had confidence in the fact that he had never taken the same route twice.

By this point, he had long passed the area where he first entered, and if he had to guess, he'd say he had walked at least a kilometer in distance.

[15:31:22]

Only a few hours later, he finally saw the exit to the maze, which would be more apt to be called a labyrinth. Honestly, he couldn't understand how it was a trial of intelligence.

It was too easy to be so. All he had to do was walk until he hit a dead end and then backtrack and do it again. It was really that simple.

But Atlas didn't realize that this simplicity was unique to him. With him never repeating the same path twice, he still walked around 5 kilometers to reach the exit, and that was if he measured linearly from his starting point to his finish, ignoring all the walls in between.

If he factored in the length of every other path he took before reaching that point…

Many people would lose their patience spending a prolonged period of time lost in the darkness, and some would resort to violence in one way or another, breaching the tower's restrictions.

This was especially so considering that they wouldn't be able to have pinpoint accuracy in choosing their paths like Atlas did. They were bound to take repeated paths many times before arriving at the exit.

[Ascender [Atlas Vaun] has inflicted no physical damage to the environment and succeeded within the time limit.]

[Trial of Intelligence complete. Transporting Ascender to the 5th trial.]

"Begin." He said, waiting for the next text prompt to show up. And he didn't have to wait long.

[Beginning the trial of Floor 5: Trial of Endurance]

[Description: Chasing Godhood is a path wrought with struggle and blood. A cultivator who cannot endure does not deserve to become a god.]

Time Limit: 1 hour

[Requirement: Stay conscious throughout the duration of the trial.]

[Reward: Access to the Tower System]

This room was much smaller than the rest, essentially being a white box that had enough space to hold Atlas and maybe one other person.

Reading the requirements, he wrinkled his brow. 'Stay conscious? That's it?'

Suddenly, an intense wave of pain impacted his body. It didn't have any source, seemingly appearing out of thin air, but that didn't discount its strength.

"Nnngh-" Atlas groaned. The suddenness of the situation didn't allow him to prepare, making the pain much worse.

Before he could even get used to it, another wave of pain assaulted him, this time twice as bad as the first.

'Shit. No doubt it'll keep increasing like this.'

The pain still wasn't at the level he had endured throughout his life, but even if he could endure, it didn't mean he enjoyed it.

Atlas slowly brought his body to the ground while trying to minimize the pain he felt from moving and sat on the floor. He crossed his legs in a meditative posture as if he was planning to cultivate, but he simply sat in silence.

'Endure. That's no problem at all.'

The waves of pain that assaulted him in inconsistent intervals slowly became greater, increasing twofold every time. By now, he was feeling 8x the amount of pain he felt at the start.

'Ah, that's what this feeling reminds me of.' He suddenly thought as a certain memory flashed into his head.

It was a memory of him on a massive battlefield with powerful waves of qi impacting him at every second. His enemies tried to blast him with anything they could muster, but it was to no avail.

'That was an amazing battle.'

He continued thinking about the various battles he had fought in his past life. He felt the pain of those days once more. 'Compared to that, this is nothing. There isn't even a sword run through my body.'

Chuckling slightly, Atlas noticed that the level of pain was slowly decreasing, soon vanishing into nothingness.

[Ascender [Atlas Vaun] has stayed conscious throughout the trial.]

[Reward Granted: Access to Tower System.]

[Trial of Endurance complete. Transporting Ascender to the 6th trial.]

As the familiar feeling of transportation covered his body, Atlas once again smiled thinking he'd have an easy time with these trials. That is, until he saw the new prompt that was floating in front of him.

"Shit."