11 Disciple (4)

'Reading!'

I was left speechless.

NAME- MIYAMOTO MUSASHI

RACE- HUMAN

STRENGTH- 7.947

ENDURANCE- 7.590

SPEED- 9.391

PERCEPTION- 8.290

MANA- 8.103

SKILL(s)-

Grave of Swords (Grade-4), Steps of the Lightning (Grade-4), Heavenly Stab (Grade-4), Lightning Dance (Grade-3), Lightning Assimilation (Grade-3), Demonic Fists Formations (Grade 2), Song of the Sword Saint (Grade-1), Extrasensory Perception (Grade 2), ???'s Formations (Grade-8)

"..."

I was a weak person in the Tower, pathetically weak. And this man in front of me was a strong person, overwhelmingly strong. Those stats and skills were nothing to scoff at. Obtaining those stats might be absurdly complex because of how the stats are distributed in decimals and yet this man had stats that left me awed.

'I might be looking at the strongest human.'

And this man was going to train me now. I couldn't help but feel grateful for all the hard work I did.

'Someday, I'll have to surpass him.'

It was a must. I wanted to reach the top of the Tower and I knew that that wouldn't be possible if I was even a step behind. I had to get stronger than anyone else in this Tower.

'Fuu… let's not get carried away. Don't forget that you still are a pest that can be blasted to smithereens just by a flick of a finger.'

First, let's learn the basics of the Tower. Even though I managed to get a bit of understanding about the Tower, there were still a lot of things I had no idea of.

'Like those Grades.'

I had no idea what they were.

"Hm? You seem spaced out."

"Ah, I am sorry but I was going through my status. Is it alright if I ask a question?"

"Don't hesitate to do that. I am your master from now on."

It felt weird to hear him say that. I truly was the disciple of the reverent Sword Saint now.

"Then, can you explain the grading system of the Tower?"

"Hmm, do you have any skills?"

"Yes, I have."

"What are they?"

Was he testing me? Well, that didn't matter. I knew that it would be foolish of me to dictate my skills to someone, even if it was my master.

"...I am sorry but I cannot tell you."

"Good. Never let others know of your skills. You seem to have that down."

"Yes."

"Hm… now, onto the grading system."

Musashi began his narration of the Tower's grading system of the Tower.

Skills were graded from Grade-10 to Grade-0. These grades were actually the proficiency of the user using the skill, with Grade-10 being the starting phase of the skill and Grade-0 being reached only when the user had achieved utmost proficiency in the skill. There was only one person who had a Grade-0 skill throughout history. I asked about that man, but master gave no answer and remained silent with a rather sullen look.

Climbers were graded on the basis of floors, Climbers who just started climbing the Tower were called rookies, those who have completed the trials of the 30th floor were called risers, those who have reached the 50th floor but couldn't beat it were called semi-rankers, and those who have gone beyond 50th floor were called rankers. There were even some who were called high-rankers because they had reached the highest conquered floor of the Tower.

Monsters and beasts were also graded based on ranks but it was different from the climbers, with DDD rank being the lowest and SSS rank being the highest. To explain SSS rank being, if an SSS rank ever tried to destroy the Tower, the Tower wouldn't even last for a second and would crumble to nothingness. SSS rank beings were basically beings greater than Gods. Even though no one had seen an SSS rank monster or beast yet, in the ancient texts from the beginning of the Tower, it was said that the only SSS rank resided on the 100th floor, in a deep slumber and dreaming. Even the Gods and Demons residing on the 98th floor were SS rank at best and there was a huge gap between SSS rank and SS rank.

"..."

Then that would mean master was very close to reaching utmost proficiency in the Song of the Sword Saint skill… what a monster

"And that is it."

"I see… thank you. Wait, Gods and Demons?"

"Yes. Gods that we had read and worshipped on Earth and the Demons we know about. They were real. Like the God of Destruction from the Vedas, Shiva. The Ruler of the Underworld from the Greek Mythology, Hades. Demons like Asmodeus and Baal and such. All of them exist in the Tower."

I see... so everything wasn't just fiction.

"They are Gods and Demons because they have climbed up to the 98th floor."

"Wait, does that mean they are also Climbers like us?"

"They were. After reaching the 98th floor, some embraced Godhood and some switched to the Demons, abandoning their previous races. But that doesn't change the fact that they are also Climbers. If they want, they can challenge the 99th floor but they never did."

"Why?"

"Because the 99th floor is too much, even for them. And they have their stupid pride of being a God or a Demon. They will keep on staying on the 98th floor and look down on us from there, snickering and looking for Climbers with potential, only helping those who can help them maintain their status. That's who they are. They are just a bunch of scums.

"Hm, I see..."

Gods and Demons... they were interesting.

"And that's about it. Let me get something for us to eat. After that, we are starting."

"Yes!"

This feeling… was unknown territory for me. This was 'excitement' and I had to say, this didn't feel bad at all. A strange thumping that took place in my heart, I liked it.

But now I had a lot of things on my mind. First of all, those question marks in master's status.

'???'s Formations… what was that? Some kind of sword technique or something?'

Master was called the Sword Saint because of his expertise in the way of swords. Then that skill must be related to swords. Moreover, that skill was the only low-ranking skill among the others. Was that skill really that hard that not even the reverend Sword Saint couldn't gain that proficiency. I should ask master regarding this.

The second thing, ever since the Tower acknowledged me, I could somehow feel something… something familiar, as if I knew that thing very well. It was just a feeling but I could sense objects.

'Is this because of perception stat? It was absurdly high.'

But I had no way of telling. Another question was added.

Third, the Gods and Demons. What was their purpose? Hearing Master, it felt like they were just a prideful bunch wanting to maintain their status and rule. but it seemed as if they had something else in their minds. Oh well, that could wait

And lastly, the formations I had been seeing since the beginning. The fluid sword and plum-like steps, the swishing sounds that fell softly in my ears and the gentle but firm force behind those formations— they replayed in my head hundreds of thousand times, detailed to the core. It was simply too preposterous to be passed as "good memory". I felt it assimilating with me. What was that?

…I was confused.

"I am back."

The door opened and the gallant figure of the Sword Saint walked towards the small table with a humble tray filled with things that would go down our throats. It was mostly bland and tasteless, but it still felt good to see someone actually serving me food instead of throwing the thing in front of me, making me crawl and eat it from the ground.

'Yes… it feels good.'

If possible, I wanted to protect this lifestyle…

***