Isaac stared up at the grey tower in front of him. The tower stretched straight up, beyond the clouds, and if the stories were true, right into the heavens. He looked around and found a spot nearby that was shaded and pulled out a book that he had picked up from a small bookstore in one of the larger villages he had passed on his way to the capital. He scanned the cover, reading the title for the hundredth time since purchasing it - “Insights Into Novice Trials by Alex Levante”. The book had been a rare find. Sure, it was full of complex mathematics he only superficially understood, runes he had never seen, and the typical jargon that scholars enjoyed, but it was also one of the most insightful books Isaac had ever read on the novice trials. With a small sigh, Isaac laid down, placed his head on his backpack and spent the next several hours reading.

“The Towers have stood for centuries, no-one that I have ever interviewed has ever been able to tell me how or when they came to be. They just always have been. While there are hundreds if not thousands of interesting aspects about the Towers, I have always been most interested in what have come to be known as the Tower Trials.

Trials are unique, and can be separated into two categories: Hero and Ascension.

Hero trials are quests that are given by the power of a Tower itself, and can only be entered by a single individual to whom the quest has been given to. From my research, Hero trials are extremely rare. I have only ever known a handful of individuals that have undergone a Hero trial. They appear to be equal parts deadly and rewarding, with those that pass their trials coming out of the tower with amazing new abilities and classes.

Ascension trials however, are different. These trials are open to anyone that meets the requirements. The Novice Trial is a form of ascension trial, though it is probably the most important trial that someone will take in their lifetime.

While the majority of Trials remain a mystery, hundreds of years of research have allowed us to understand the Novice Trials to a better degree. Novice Trials are a right of passage, and though one is not required to take it, one cannot develop their Mana System without it. The trials are however, deadly, and every year there are dozens of recorded cases of men and women that go in, but never come out.

The Mana System is an extremly complicated area of research that is far beyond the scope of this book, however, the Mana System is typically described as a visual and quantitative representation of a person’s health, mana, skills, abilities and growth.

Regardless of the danger, the successful completion of their Novice Trials are required for entry into any of the four grand academies.

The requirements for the Novice Trial are as follows: Men and women have to be between the ages of 16-18, and they must have never entered any Tower previously.

Those that survive the trial and gain access to their Mana System are able to gain experience and level-up as they ascend the different floors of the Towers. Leveling-up allows the individual to place points into attributes of their choice. The known attributes include strength, constitution, agility, and intelligence, though there have been recorded cases of unique attributes appearing for specific classes. Increasing attributes leads to superhuman feats of power that is carried over to outside of the tower.

Participating in tower trials is the only known way to obtain classes. Though how, when, and why the Tower or Trial determines the class an individual is given is unknown. The class an individual awakens then further determines the skills and abilities they can use, as well as the type of mana that they can access effectively.

There are dozens of classes in existence, and not all classes are created equal. How powerful a class is however, is difficult to measure and most scholars believe that it is the utilization of the class rather than the class itself that is important.

The trials that one undergoes typically include solo and team combat with other trial-takers, puzzles, tests of knowledge, tests of courage, and other less well understood tests. Researchers believe that how one approaches each trial ultimately plays a important part in class assignment, however-”

A nearby shout made Isaac look up from his reading. "I'm uh sorry m'lord, I wasn't watching where I would be going" a terrified young boy was saying to a young man, dressed in full combat gear and accompanied by a handful of guards. Obviously a noble. Important one too.

The noble glared at the young boy, a murderous glint in his eyes. "Don't worry, a hand should be sufficient repayment". The noble nodded to a guard on his right. Isaac watched as the guard pulled out a blade attached to his side and grabbed the boy with his other hand.

Isaac sighed again, placed a leaf in between the pages he was currently reading and put the book in his backpack before getting up. Welp, this is a bad idea. Here goes!

"Let the kid go, no need to be a prick about it. He already apologized". The noble turned his head, fury etched on his face. Who had dared to speak to him like he was some sort of commoner? Who would dare to give him a command?! The noble locked eyes with Isaac and laughed viciously. "Don't interfere or you'll be nex-".

Isaac crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. He didn't have any actual combat training, and he knew he didn't have a chance in hell to take on the noble and his four guards in a straight up fight. But he wasn't interested in a fair fight. That privilege could only be afforded by the rich and powerful, and Isaac was neither.

The world seemed to slow around him, his mind calculating the quickest and safest way to grab the kid and retreat. As he reached the guard that held the young boy, he threw the handful of sand he had grabbed before as he had stood up. The guard released the boy and raised his arms to cover his face "ugh!".

Isaac grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him as hard as he could, throwing him backwards behind him and out of the immediate grasp of the noble and his guards. He threw a forward kick and heard a crack as he shattered the man's knee. One down. The guard fell to the ground screaming in agony, while two of his friends pulled out their blades and stepped forward ready to end Isaac's life.

One of the guards slashed at his head, fully intending on removing it from his shoulders, but Isaac ducked and used his legs to swipe the man's feet from under him. He stood up and used the momentum to jam his knee into the downed guard's face. The guard screamed as his nose exploded in a spray of blood. Two down. Isaac grimaced as he felt pain shoot through his leg. Right ... metal helmet. Won't do that again. Fuck me. The pain in his leg made it hard to stand, but he dove at the third guard with enough force to knock the blade out of his hands. They wrestled for a couple of seconds, but the guard's weight and armor proved too much and eventually Isaac was flipped onto his back. The third and fourth guard managed to pin him down despite his struggles. The noble stood over him, a smirk on his face as he drew his sword.

Isaac felt his jaw shatter as the noble struck him with the pommel of his blade. Blood ran out of his mouth from where he had bit right through his tongue. "I guess your hand will have to do". Isaac turned his head and spit out the blood that had been pooling in his mouth as the noble raised his sword and then … froze. The noble's eyes widened in suprise, and his entire body trembled as he tried to fight the unseen force that had paralyzed him. "That will be enough Lord Syrian. The trials will begin momentarily. You should head over before they begin the announcements."

Isaac opened his eyes to see a young looking woman wearing a white breastplate and a white staff tipped with a brilliant green gemstone strapped to her back. Her voice sounded much older than she looked. Huh, must be using some sort of illusion spell to change her appearance. She waved her hand and Lord Syrian and his guards all seemed to unfreeze at once.

Syrian gave Isaac a hard look, but quickly turned to the young woman and bowed deeply, “Of course Commander Heza, my apologies”. Syrian snapped his fingers and then turned around, heading towards a large group of people that had gathered at the base of the tower.

The crowd that had gathered around Isaac during the fighting began to disperse, though Isaac saw many of them giving him glances filled with approval. “Not bad kid, but next time don’t dive into a man twice your weight and covered in armor. You here for the Novice Trial?”. Commander Heza stood up and offered her hand to Isaac. He took the hand, but immediately fell back on his ass, his leg flaring in pain when he tried to put any pressure on it.

“Yeah, but it doesn't really seem like i’m going to be in tip-top shape now”. Heza grinned and placed her right hand on his leg, and her left hand on his jaw. Her hands glowed briefly with a soft blue light and Isaac could feel his bone, muscle and skin knitting itself back together. The healing wasn’t exactly painful, though it itched like crazy and Isaac had to use every bit of his willpower not to scratch himself. After a few brief moments of painlessness induced bliss, Isaac got up and bowed “Thank you Commander, but I don’t have the coin to pay you for healing”. Commander Heza waved his comment off, “you did a good thing back there kid, though because of it you’ve made one hell of a powerful enemy. Keezan Syrian isn’t one to forget such a public slight”.

Isaac groaned at her words, “Keezan Syrian? You mean that’s the son of the Syrian family that runs the Crimson Dragon guild?”. Fuuuck me. The Crimson Dragons were a relatively new guild, but they had risen in popularity recently by being known to be ferocious in battle, and unforgiving to their enemies. The commander chuckled at my obvious dismay, “the one and only". She looked to the Tower briefly. "Come along now, the trials are starting soon”.

As they walked, Commander Heza explained more about the Novice Trials to Isaac. While the book he had picked up had described a great deal about the trials, Heza went into depth about the obstacles she had to overcome in her own trial. Eventually they reached a crowd of people that stood in front of a stage. “Alright, here’s where I leave you, goodluck kid”. Heza walked off after Isaac thanked her for all the help.

A few minutes went by before he saw a chubby man walk onto the stage. He gave a slight cough, and then placed two fingers to his throat. The fingers glowed blue with mana. A booming voice shot out across the field, “WELCOME!”. Conversations that had been ongoing quickly came to a stop as everyone, including Isaac, looked towards the stage. The chubby man cleared his throat again, “Welcome, welcome! My name is Dracus Silver and I am the headmaster of the academy in charge of this year’s Novice Trials for this Tower!” Isaac could feel the excitement building in the air.

“I won’t keep you too long. Just a couple of things you need to know before we start. First, time is altered inside the Tower. Seven days inside the Tower is only equal to a day outside the Tower. Second, you are not allowed to bring any weapons or armor into the Tower. Other equipment though as well as food and drink are allowed. Lastly, when you emerge from the Tower you are to report to the nearest academy guard. They will escort you to a healing tent so that your wounds, if you have any, may be treated. Afterward, you are to report to the tent with the academy symbol for interviews. These interviews will pull information from your Mana System and will be used by guilds and other individuals to provide sponsorships. Sponsorship is required to attend any of the four academies, though sponsorships do not guarantee a spot in any academy. More information regarding sponsorships and the benefits they provide will be made available to you by your sponsor”. Isaac grit his teeth in frustration, he hadn’t been aware that he needed to secure a sponsorship before being accepted into one of the academies. “So with that, please lineup, and let this year’s Novice Trials begin!”

There was a flurry of movement as everyone raced to get into the Tower. Isaac spent a few minutes watching his potential classmates race ahead, pushing and shoving each other to try and claim one of the spots at the beginning of the line. He found it interesting. Some of them were rushing to their deaths and they had no idea.

Way to jinx yourself. He couldn't help but laugh at himself as took a place near the back of the line. It took almost half an hour before his turn came. As he walked up the steps to the Tower he spotted Commander Heza near a small podium. She grinned at him, “place your hand on the rune here”, she pointed to the podium in front of her. Isaac moved forward and placed his palm on top of a rune that looked like a diamond with an S inside of it. The rune glowed bright red for a fraction of a second, then a steady blue.

A large, blue, glowing portal seemed to rip open in front of the Tower. “Good luck kid, the first time sucks”. Isaac walked towards the glowing portal slowly, as he edged closer he could feel a pull on his body, like he was being sucked in. He reached out a hand to touch the portal and his entire vision filled with a light blue hue. His body suddenly felt like it was free-falling and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t orient himself. Minutes, hours, or days passed, he had no idea. Then just as suddenly as the blue light had appeared, it was gone.

Isaac immediately fell to his knees and threw up the small meal he had eaten earlier. Thanks for the warning Heza, he thought sarcastically. After several minutes had passed he finally managed to open his eyes. The first thing that Isaac noticed was the screen that appeared in front of him:

Your Novice Trial Has Begun!

Your Mana System has been activated! As a small gift, you have been awarded 5 attribute points. Spend them wisely!

You are now level 1.