Extra's Descent-Chapter 344: Dimensional Tower [2]

[Welcome to the Dimensional Tower.]

Raven had just emerged from the portal. Immediately, his brows raised as he took in the surroundings.

"....Hot."

The first thing he had come to realize was that it was agonizingly hot. Furthermore, a vast barren landscape stretched out before him.

"Oh…."

As he surveyed the scenery, all sorts of monsters entered his peripheral vision.

It was then.

[Difficulty: Hard.]

Blue text appeared before him, a system interface he was tired of by now.

"...."

[You are in the tutorial phase. Please clear the first floor by eliminating five Ash Drakes and locating the exit portal.]

"Ash Drakes?"

[Clue: The portal is hidden within one of the Drakes.] free𝑤ebnovel.com

From the lecture notes he had written down, Ash Drakes were quite hard to find.

"Tutorial Phase, huh?"

This was by no means a tutorial phase at all.

There was a one in one hundred chance to spot an Ash Drake. Whoever would find them this soon was quite lucky.

But in any case.

"There's no one here?"

The expanse was wide, yet Raven couldn't find any signs of human–life.

"So everyone's separated then."

He had come to that conclusion after realizing he was most probably alone.

—Kiiik!

"Haah!"

A winged creature dove from above—a Scorched Hawk, its talons outstretched and aiming for Raven's exposed side.

The creature wasn't what the system had tasked him to find, but it seemed the Tower had more than just Ash Drakes to worry about.

Swoosh—!

With a swift movement, Raven spun, his dagger tracing a clean arc through the creature's outstretched wing. Blackened feathers scattered across the dry ground as the Scorched Hawk tumbled down with a soft thud.

"This isn't the target I'm after."

Raven muttered, his eyes darting around the empty wasteland. He could feel the intense heat pressing down on him, making it difficult to think clearly.

He recalled the system's message.

[Eliminate five Ash Drakes and locate the hidden portal.]

But where were these elusive drakes?

Raven scanned the empty sky and barren land. For a "tutorial," it sure wasn't forgiving.

—Kiiiik!

Just as he lowered his guard slightly, another sharp cry pierced the air.

"Another one?"

Raven braced himself as another Scorched Hawk swooped down.

***

Brandon rushed ahead. There were several hawk–like creatures hovering above the figure.

It was hard to discern who the person was due to the sunray's blockage, along with the visible heatwave distorting the air. It was really hot.

In any case, Brandon got closer, the shrill growing louder.

"Ah?"

As soon as the hawk–creatures spread out in alert, the figure instantly registered in his peripheral vision.

"Raven?"

How was he here?

Shouldn't each cadet be separated for each floor?

Despite Brandon's sudden arrival, Raven was too distracted to deal with the hawks.

Swoosh—!

Brandon moved quickly. Dashing forward, threads extended from his fingertips and latched themselves around two of the hawks.

Yanking them down, their wings flapping frantically as they hit the ground with a dull thud. The creatures screeched as they struggled, but the threads held firm.

"Raven!"

Brandon shouted as he pulled the hawks closer.

Raven, who was still fending off another Scorched Hawk, glanced in Brandon's direction, clearly surprised.

Then, he asked between swift strikes of his dagger.

"Brandon? What are you doing here?"

"Clearing this shitty exam.'"

Brandon replied, stepping in to help Raven finish off the last of the attacking hawks.

Slash—!

With a swift slice, Raven downed the final bird, its body hitting the ground before it disintegrated into white particles.

"Thought we were supposed to be separated?"

Raven muttered, sheathing his dagger.

"What's going on?"

"No clue. Could be a bug."

Brandon frowned, looking around at the barren wasteland and the endless horizon.

Then, he turned towards Raven, and asked.

"What kind of clearing conditions did you get?"

"Kill five Ash Drakes."

"Same as me then."

The reality washed over them as they both realized what they needed to do.

Raven massaged his chin, pondering on what they should do.

"So that means….. We need to kill ten in total so we can both pass?"

"Seems to be the case….."

A frown spread across Brandon's face as he muttered those words. Finding a single Ash Drake should've already been hard enough. He had only been lucky to find one as soon as he spawned.

"Haaa…. It's so hot."

Raven wiped the sweat off his face and removed his blazer, letting it fall on the sandy ground.

"Brandon, what should we do?"

There were two different ways to go about this, and Brandon was aware of that.

Either to split, increasing their chances in finding an Ash Drake individually. Or, to stay together, increasing their chances of survivability.

"For now, let's stick together. There's no guarantee we would find an Ash Drake anyway. Plus, you're pretty knowledgeable about this, right?"

It was true. There was no one else who studied as hard as Raven did. Amelia was a close second, but when it came to persistence, Raven took the cake.

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"I guess so. Alright, but we need to do something about this heat."

Raven said, as he shaded his face from the sun's scorching rays.

But to their horror, there was no shelter in sight.

"Raven."

With nothing else to resort to, Brandon turned towards Raven, who looked back at him.

"We have four hours to complete each floor. Do you know of a faster way to find these Ash Drakes?"

Raven mulled over Brandon's words, pinching his chin as his brows furrowed.

Shortly after, he looked at Brandon with a serious expression as he went on to say,

"Instead of us coming to them, why don't we have them come to us?"

***

"Why are Brandon Locke and Raven Blackheart inside the same Tower ID?"

A female voice rang out inside the simulation's observation chamber. There were several screens above to monitor each cadet.

"Did none of you check for any bugs?"

She exclaimed. She was mostly furious because she was responsible for disseminating information about the real Dimensional Tower.

Meaning, she was the most excited about this entire examination.

Yi Jihyeon, a foreigner, and the guild leader of Blood Crescent Moon.

"There should've been no bugs, Miss Jihyeon. I don't know why, but it's not that Brandon Locke and Raven Blackheart are in the same Tower ID. The problem is, their souls are registered as the same ID."

The one to respond was the official technician for Imperial Academy. The man responsible for the Dimensional Tower's simulation.

Alan Ross, a direct higher up of the Iron Fist guild.

"Does that make any sense? How can the system deem two people to have the same soul?"

Yi Jihyeon exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, Miss Jihyeon."

Bellion dismissively waved his hand. Yi Jihyeon's fuse was blowing over the top. Someone had to ease her down.

"Don't you think this would make it more interesting?"

"How so?"

Yi Jihyeon frowned.

"Those two are actually close friends. Furthermore, they were also deemed as the strongest in their respective year during their time in Astrea."

"Where are you going with this, Field Marshal?"

"This would make things a lot more interesting. You know, regarding the fifth floor of the highest difficulty."

The Fifth Floor of the highest difficulty. It wasn't exactly the fifth floor of the real Dimensional Tower, but actually the 31st floor. The last floor the guild had cleared before they decided to recall back.

"Oh?"

A sudden realization washed over Yi Jihyeon as her brows raised.

"So the plan was implemented in the end."

"That's right."

"Well good luck to those two."

After all, the reason why they decided to separate each cadet into Tower IDs was because of the 31st floor.

…..The floor that was the sole reason why the previous top guild had disbanded.