Tower of Eternity

Lira looked around him after the white light faded.

An entirely white room with gray lines on the walls that created a pattern of squares met him. Extremely large words that weren't even on a screen filled up his vision as he looked up to the insanely high ceiling. It did not match the outside look.

"Tower of the King of Eternity? That's…something."

All of a sudden, a voice popped into his head. It sounded old, fatigued, and rough.

*Welcome to my Tower, lower one. You are the first to enter of your world's participants. For this, I will give you some advice. To complete this tower, you must come to understand even a smidgeon of the knowledge Eternity has to offer. Now, you will do so through three trials. Combat, Knowledge, and Ascendance. For the first two trials you may choose a level. The levels for the combat trial, in your language, are Human, Variant, King, Spirit, Emanation, Sin, Virtue, and Monster. They represent what you will face. I think this is simple enough. Choose now.*

*Can it read my mind though?*

*Ehm.*

*Yup. Alright. Emanation.*

*Are you certain?*

*Certainly.*

*You do understand that this choice may be beyond your understanding and ability, correct?*

*Definitely.*

*And you would still choose it? Do you not fear the unknown?*

*I do, depending on the situation. But, what have I to fear as a result? Death? Infinite pain? A fate even worse? If I wish to go farther, I will have to let go of such things. This much I can do, if for nothing else, then to repay my parents for their love and my buds for their friendship. No need to think all superior or wonder myself a god among men.*

*Will you say the same even if you defeat this trial? If, afterwards, you are a god among mankind?*

*I can say with certainty…I will. I never said my ambition wasn't higher. Even the end of the world wasn't surprising to me, even in its actuality. I have always wished to stir up a chaos so great, it changes the course of the universe – something we humans are still grasping at understanding. However, I would not cross my parents, and I would not think my self greater because of it. In the end, in my truest opinion, we all are, and that's the end of it.*

The voice was silent for a while, then took his time enunciating each word.

*I see. Then, I will start the first trial. In your case, success and failure will determined in a period infinitesimally smaller than a second. What you gain from it could range from game breaking powers to knowledge of things far greater to a few stat points. Good luck.*

Zip.

Lira's figure blinked, almost like it glitched for a moment.

Just like that. It was gone and back in a flash.

Now, however, it was painted red. He was bleeding from every orifice, his blood mixing with sweat as he collapsed on the floor. He was totaled, unable to get up or even speak or think.

*The first trial is complete. Well done. Only three other mortals have ever completed the Emanation Combat Trial. It is interesting. Your deepest thoughts and beliefs and how you act are dissonant. Worry not though. You now have the power to harmonize those. Out of all four of you mortals now, you may just be the most monstrous one I've seen in terms of mentality. Now, on to the second trial – Knowledge. You may choose from the following levels: World, Star, System, Universe, Multiverse, Outerverse, Program, Infinity.*

*Ah, that's simple for me. Program.*

*Alright. You will have 300 years within the Library of Simulations. Worry not. Existence passes in an instant outside regardless of the period spent within. If you can grasp even .01% of the knowledge in the library and integrate it into yourself understanding of your existence, you will be considered to have passed. Off you go.*

Zip.

Lira's figure this time glitched out, blinked a few times, and then the particles of his body that were missing seemed to rearrange themselves until he was fully back once more.

There was no blood this time, no sweat. No tears. He didn't even look tired. No, rather, he was expressionless. A poker face.

*That's not fair, King. Knowledge, knowledge like this is depressing. It easily overshadows the truly negligible knowledge that Humanity holds to be true. It makes what we've done seem so…small. If I was someone else, I might just look down upon Humanity. Now, I can only…laugh at our foolishness.*

*Well. You made the choice. You could have chosen world or star. It's actually quite surprising you haven't gone mad in 300 years. Many do with lesser trials.*

*I attribute that to my basic philosophy, not to my mental strength. I will probably forget a decent portion of it as I am not living it.*

*Interesting, interesting. Well, the final trial awaits you. Ascendance. It is, in and of itself, far beyond the difficulty of the others. You will have to face yourself in every game and situation imaginable. The reward for the trial will depend on how much you win.*

*If you mind me asking, will this take time to finish or is it like the other ones?*

*It will take time, however, only you will determine how much.*

*Cryptic…just like I like it.*

*It will occur in this very room. Begin.*

*Oh that quick?*

Instantly, the white around him transformed into a coliseum. He was now geared with a sword, a flail, and a scutum.

Across from him was him, geared just the same.

Even though he was told he would be facing himself, it was still a bit jarring to see himself.

"Hey, can you…talk?"

"…"

"Maybe? Just don't wanna?"

"…"

*Maybe I'm lucky. Killing a talking version of myself would be like killing one from an alternative timeline. That'd be fucked up.*

The other him began to sprint at him, his bastard sword in his right hand.

*Oh, holy shit, sprinting? No hesitation? He really wants to kill himself, huh?*

Lira brought his scutum up trying to predict where the sword would go.

It was at this moment, however, that the impact of what was going on hit Lira again. This was himself.

*He wouldn't attack normally because I don't attack normally unless I'm luring for another attack or practicing. If I saw a scutum like this, which covers the top and bottom well enough, with sides that were maneuverable, I'd try to make him think I was going for his feet, then the side, and go over the top.*

With what he'd so in mind, he immediately began to sprint towards the other him, just as he was within a few meters distance.

The other him, in response, showed a look of surprise, and then he slowed down to a jog, but kept moving forward.

*Holy shit, it can emote. It's like me. I'm going to be killing me.*

Just as they got within slashing distance of each other, both scutums covering the majority of their bodies and swords out to their right, Lira through his sword at the other him's feet before immediately bashing into him with his shield, while his right hand brought out the flail for a final swing down.

On the other side, the other him immediately yanked its foot back uttering an "ugh" of pain before being pushed over by Lira's shield bash, its shield forced to the right side of its body. Before it could get back up, the striking head of the flail came from the left and smashed into its head, breaking off a chunk of skin.

It was over.

*Brown on the outside, red and white on the inside. Ugh.*

Zpt!

Once more, everything changed.

This time, he was still in the white room, but between himself and himself was a translucent chess board and its pieces.

He lost.

Zpt.

He was now in the ocean. Between him and the other him was a drowning woman.

He made it there first.

Zpt.

He was now sitting at a desk taking a test, the other him nearby at another desk.

25 questions later, he scored higher.

*These aren't even all skill. There's shitloads of luck involved in this. How is this ascending?*

Zpt.

Again.

Zpt.

Zpt.

Zpt.

Zpt.

…

Suddenly, everything went dark.

This time, he could not see another of himself or even himself for that matter.

*How would you face yourself without your some of your senses?*

"This is damn near impossible. Does he not have them too?*

*Hahahaha. This is the Ascendance trial.*

Swnng.

Lira heard the start of the sound of a blade breaking wind and immediately dived left.

He stopped for a moment before diving left once more.

Swish!

The slight wind and sound from a full-frontal slash filled the air.

*He's to my right now. He knows I know where he is. He won't attack again just yet. Split second decision I'd make the first time and be unable to save it by doing the unexpected and attacking again. Bet he'll circle just a bit, in hopes that I'll think he circled all the way. He could throw his weapon, but he also knows its not a guaranteed woun-

Lira immediately "felt" around for something near where he'd expect his waist to be. It was weird as he couldn't feel it, but once he found that he couldn't close his hand any further, he knew he'd found a weapon. He quickly but gently rubbed his hand up until it was no longer in his hand, then brought his hand back and took out the dagger.

*Shit, we have daggers. He could thr-*

Lira dropped to the ground instantly.

There was no noise.

*Can't tell if he threw it or not. They don't make enough noise. I'll go in low.*

He arched his back as if he was a wrestling or Jiu-Jitsu practitioner going in for a takedown, something that that might be most effective for shorter weapons.

*It exposes my head, but his groin and leg tendons are easier to reach by far, not to mention I can throw-stab and punch it in once I'm close enough. It's too risky, not something I'd usually do, and especially not something I'd do with the upper hand.*

He slowly crept forward waiting for even the slightest sound, his muscles tense, and his mind even more so.

…

…

Suddenly, Lira immediately flung his hand like he was going to throw his knife, but halfway through the motion, his right hand turned to a palm that followed the knife with as much force as he could muster.

AH!

Instantly, though he could not feel pain, he felt like he lost something in that exchange.

*Right arm? Must be, the rest of my body is protected by the arm and too low to lop off. Did I win?*

Zpt.

He was now suddenly in front of a giant rock, before which was a pickaxe. To his right was another him in front of the same set up.

*Can you work harder than yourself? Even without an arm?*

*Why are you suddenly talking? Does this mean I'm getting close to the end?*

Without skipping a beat, he picked up the axe with his remaining hand and arm and began slamming the pickaxe routinely into the rock.

Hours later, he won.

This made over 300 wins and around 50 losses.

It was indeed surprising for him to have beat himself this many times, but to him, it was a matter of process. It was simple to use what circumstance the shadow failed to recognize to beat it. The whole point of all of this seemed to be finding an enemy's weakness above all and exploiting it. It was only made easier by having the opponent be himself.

The Ascendance part, to him, only came in the form of certain situations that forced one to challenge one's limits as a human. However, being able to lose seemed to take away much of the tension. He was healed as the King willed it and challenged as the King willed it.

*I know Eternity is a long time and all, but I don't have years for this…literally. Every situation ever could take far longer than my life and this isn't the library. Do I age here?*

*This is the Trial of Ascendance. Hahahaha.*

*Sigh. I'm definitely close. Let's move on!*

Zpt.