The Claudes, floating above all those still reeling in shock from the utter violence against, and disappearance of, those who dared to raise their voice against him, wear constantly widening grins upon their faces, apparently pleased with the reactions from those below them.

"Now that that's taken care of..."

They then start raising their palms once again. Noticing this, a large portion of the crowd starts retreating backwards in fear of the hand that has sent an innumerable number of people to their early graves.

"Off I go.", he says just before he vanishes suddenly.

The ocean of people then let out a collective sigh of relief, and soon began frantically discussing all manner of things; what they should do next, what they did to deserve such a harsh punishment, whether that was a god or a devil , and more, all scrambled together into an endless mess of words.

"We should go into the tower and kill that..."

"We should search for a way out. There has got to be..."

"Prostrate yourselves before god. Repent for your..."

"We're all going to die. We're all going to..."

Suddenly a man steps into a small open area in the endless crowd of people, and postures himself proudly while looking upon the disorderly crowd with a hint of arrogance and superiority, but the fervently discussing crowd pays him little mind. He gazes upon those around him with his deep black eyes, while the flowing golden mane upon his head flows slightly with the breeze. He is donned in a set of pure white prison clothes, and in the front pocket of his top, the head of a metal flask can be seen poking out. He then clears his throat and announces himself to those surrounding him in a loud voice, "Hello everyone, my name is Leon Beltrán.", but the crowd ignores him still.

"I believe that we should be venturing into the tower to secure our lives for the time being, and hunt down that bastard Claude. Anyone who wants to join me in pursuing this goal is welcome to do so.", he says in a righteous tone as if expecting the "helpless masses" to come rushing to his side, fawning him with praise, but after a dozen or so seconds of waiting, his confident expression fades into a blank look with a tinge of embarrassment. But after Leon had seemingly given up, reflected in his eyes, tinged with a slight hint of disappointment, appears the image of a man in a pure black uniform walking towards him. The man looks to be around 30 years old and 5 feet and ten inches tall, has deep raven black hair, piercing snake-like green eyes, and a long scar running across the front of his neck.

"Did you want to join my group?", Leon says pridefully but a little frightened, apparently from how the man walking towards him looks. After around ten more steps towards Leon, the black-clothed man is standing just a few feet away from him, wearing an expressionless look on his face. A long silence occurs between the two men who are now facing each other, only filled with the frantic conversations by those surrounding them. Finally Leon breaks the silence between them after what seems to be a small eternity, and asks him loudly, albeit with a hint of awkwardness, "What do you want?"

The man in black clothes' face then starts morphing into a sinister looking grin, and he says, "What I want from you is simple Leon; I want to see what those phrases Claude warned us about, do, and I want you to say one."

"What are you, stupid?", Leon says angrily. "If you want to see what happens so bad, why don't you just go ahead and say it yourself?"

The black-clothed man then reaches into the waistband of his uniform and pulls out a pitch-black and squarish handgun, and points it at Leon. A panicked expression quickly overtakes Leon's face, but the other man's grin only grows wider.

"Wrong answer.", the man says, and he subsequently aims the gun at Leon's abdomen and pulls the trigger.

A gunshot rings out amongst the ocean of people, startling all those nearby who were still distracted by their own conversations to notice what was happening between two men. Their prattling quickly ends and their eyes turn towards the pair standing out in the open, including Ryan's.

'What is going on there?', Ryan thinks to himself. He then shuffles through those around him to get to the front of the crowd to observe what is happening.

Leon, now on the ground clutching his stomach, starts screaming out and rolling around on the ground in pain. The man in black then starts walking towards Leon's body and kicks him right on the area that he was holding. A rapid flow of blood from the injured area, quickly stains his hands in a deep red tinge. Along with this, another bloodcurdling scream, louder than the ones he let out before, escapes from Leon's mouth, stunning the crowd, and corrupts their faces with an expression of terror similar to the one that was worn when Claude was still around. The man then says to Leon in a loud voice, "Say one, or the next bullet goes right in your dick."

Leon, with a pained expression and tears littering his cheeks, quietly acquiesces through gritted teeth saying, "Yes, yes, of course." He then takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and in a barely audible voice, he whispers, "Party Menu.", all while tensing his muscles as hard as he can to lessen the future pain as much as he can.

But a few uneventful seconds go by, and Leon opens his eyes in relief from not experiencing more pain than he already is, but seems surprised by what he sees before his eyes. He then whispers a few more words under his breath and suddenly a window appears before all of the rest of those that now reside in this new world.

Congratulations to Leon Beltrán for creating the first party, Chivalry. Members of this party will receive a bonus of 20% increased skill EXP gain for the first month in the tower, limited to the first 25 people who join. The party leader shall experience a 30% increase instead as well as 5 free stat points.

-Admin

Startled by the window in front of him, Ryan quickly reads it before turning back to the source of it, the man still on the ground clutching his stomach, who seems to be fine besides the hole in his torso. He then turns towards the man in black who seems a little lost in thought. The man then seems to affirm something, gives a slight nod to himself, and says "Interesting".

He then proceeds to mutter something quietly, and another window appears before everyone's eyes once again.

Congratulations to Casimir Capone for accessing the Shop first. You are eligible to one free item from the shop of a maximum rank of C. You are also eligible for a discount of 50% on any 3 items in the shop.

-Admin

Ryan, stunned by the sudden actions of the man in black, Casimir, observes him for a few seconds, and he soon hears the beginnings of laughter coming from him. Then quickly, almost agitatedly, Ryan practically yells the last phrase, "Skill Tree", after noticing what Casimir seemed to notice earlier, that the "warning" from Claude was nothing more than an empty threat. Then the final reward window appears before everyone's eyes, as if taunting those who weren't smart enough to realize the truth soon enough.

Congratulations to Ryan Mitchel for accessing the Skill Tree first. You shall be given one random skill, set at level 1, and you can observe which skill you have acquired in your profile. You are also eligible to one free skill point.

-Admin

Upon glancing at it, Ryan heaves a heavy sigh of relief after noticing it is his name on it, but suddenly the sound of another gunshot rings out throughout the crowd. Ryan quickly glances towards Casimir wielding his gun pointed in exactly his direction, smoke still streaming from the barrel. A lanky body right in front of Ryan tumbles backwards towards him, staining his uniform with the blood streaming out of the new orifice on their head.

"I know you're there Ryan. You stole my reward Ryan.", Casimir yells out.

He then fires off another round, shooting another person dead in front of him. Immediately Ryan starts shuffling deeper into the crowd, pushing aside those in front of him with all of his strength, in a desperate attempt to escape the bullets flying his way.

"Still won't come out... Alright then.", Casimir says, and he then begins firing his gun nonstop.

Quickly the nearby crowd snaps out of their stupor caused by the second sudden eruption of violence that they have experienced today, and they quickly sprint away from the source of the carnage. Leon, still on the ground from before, quickly stands back up and although hunched over from clutching his injury, he quickly blends in with the crowd that is running away and escapes the area to prevent Casimir from finishing him off.

After what seemed like dozens of bullets the sound of gunshots abruptly stops. Casimir, now sporting a slightly pale expression, rests his shooting arm by his side, and says to himself in a barely audible voice, "So that's what exhausting my MP will feel like."

Ryan, who now believes he is at a safe enough distance, immediately relaxes following the ceasing of the sounds of gunshots, but this reprieve is cut short by the shout from Casimir who he left behind.

"Don't let me find you Ryan Mitchel or I'll gut you like a pig, decapitate you, and use your head to play soccer with.", and upon hearing this, Ryan starts running away from Casimir even faster than before.

Still remaining in the same place that he shouted from, Casimir mutters to himself, "So he's a coward; huh. Well, there is always next time."

***

Casimir, now surrounded by the shocked faces of the surrounding bystanders, quietly observes them and notices that of those who have received weapons, they can be seen clutching them close to their chests in the hopes of feeling some sense of security. He then starts quietly muttering some phrases to himself, and upon finishing these mutterings he makes an announcement to the people surrounding him.

"Congratulations to all of those who are too frightened to travel into this tower alone, rejoice as I am giving you the gracious opportunity to join my party, Stigma.", he says while making large gestures with his hands, one of which wields a small tattoo of a crescent moon.

The crowd stands still, speechless, but soon small streams of people quickly begin moving towards where Casimir is standing silently after he finished his announcement. Almost all of those who are moving towards him, wear expressions of a mixture of fear, dread, and respect. The man moving at the front of one of these streams stands at a staggering 6 feet 8 inches wielding a large metal hammer, but similarly to the rest of those approaching Casimir, he looks fearful as well.

He inwardly mutters to himself, 'I must join this man, only he had the insight to find out the truth behind the rewards. He is the only person who can lead us through this hell and secure our safety.'

***

A disorderly group of hundreds if not a thousand plus men and women stand before Casimir silently, waiting for his next actions.

"Line up into crows of ten and kneel.", says Casimir, carrying a look of arrogance while gazing upon these hopeful future servants of his.

After a brief hesitation by those gathered, they kneel down one by one and Casimir begins walking towards the person nearest to him. He stops in front of the giant man with the giant hammer, and stares at him blankly for a few seconds. The man looks up at Casimir with a bit of hope in his eyes, and he inwardly mutters, 'I must join him, I must.' Casimir bends down and lightly touches his right palm against the forehead of the man, and says an inaudible word to himself. Suddenly a bright light engulfs the man, causing those nearby to look away hurriedly. Upon looking back at the man, a small marking slowly condenses on his forehead in the shape of a black crescent moon.

One by one Casimir continues down the numerous lines of people kneeling down in front of him, and one by one their foreheads all light up with the same symbol of a moon. Over an hour later, after all those who were once kneeling have been inducted into Casimir's party, he starts leading them towards the hundred foot tall red gate lying in front of the tower.

Ryan, now around a half a mile away from all of the commotion Casmir raised, only sees the dim red light near the tower continuously shining for a few minutes. He then continues getting farther away from the area he came from, and goes on with biding his time, unknowing that the person he is hiding from has just left.

***

In a different part of the large crowd of people, Leon, who escaped the hubbub that Casmir caused, is huddled in an empty corner with a very sparse crowd nearby. Upon noticing the continuous red light coming from the front of the tower, discerningly realizes that Casimir has just left. He takes a swig from the small flask in his left hand with a pained expression, and removes his right hand from his abdomen revealing a small hole in the uniform, surrounded by a large bloodstained area, beneath which, the faint glimpse of a light scar in the shape of a bullet hole can be seen. He then sloshes the flask in his hand around for a little while and with a grim look he says to himself, "One-fifth gone just like that."

He turns his head back towards the looming red gate, and with a vicious smile, he venomously spits out the small phrase, "You will regret ever doing that to me Casimir.", as if to show his vow of vengeance to all those around him. He then slinks off in a further direction away from anyone who might have witnessed his humiliation.

After around another half hour of walking, Leon starts gathering members for his party, riding on the coattails of the accident that made him become the first party leader, and he soon gathers a party similar in size to Casimir's. Leon's new party members bear a tattoo of a sheathed sword upon their foreheads, and he leads them into the tower imposingly as if to make up for the embarrassing display he presented earlier.

***

Continuous brief flashes of dim red light fill Ryan's eyes as he observes the crowd of people is noticeably thinner than when he escaped in this direction before, and he comes to the conclusion that Casmir has probably already left.

'It seems like it is time for me to go as well, but first...'

"Profile."

-General Information- Name: Ryan Mitchel Age: 23 Race: Human Level: 0 Stat Points: 0 Gold: 0 -Stats- Vitality: 9 Health Points(HP): 90/90 Physical Resistance: 0.21% Stamina: 12 Stamina Points(SP): 120/120 Constitution: 11 HP Regeneration: 1.1% per 5 Minutes SP Regeneration: 1.1% per 5 Minutes Intelligence: 13 Mana Points(MP): 130/130 Magical Resistance: 0.28% Wisdom: 15 MP Regeneration: 1.5% per 5 Minutes Luck: 0 Critical Hit: 0% Affliction Resistance: 0.11% -Titles- -Traits- The Curse of Cronus -Skills- Stealth Commands -Afflictions- The Conqueror's Encouragement

'Let's see what this "Stealth Commands" skill does.'

"Identify."

Stealth Commands

Skill Rank: C

Allows for command words to be said internally to prevent those around you from seeing your intentions. It also allows you to create a fake profile to reveal to others when needed. In addition, it allows the inspection of the profiles of those who have a lower level of the skill "Stealth Commands" than you. A required skill for spies and assassins alike. Level: 1

'This... This will most certainly help me pay back Casimir for that experience.', Ryan thinks to himself joyfully.

After taking his eyes on the skill window in front of him, he remembers the other reward he was given, the skill point. He quickly opens his mouth to say the phrase "Skill Tree", but remember his new skill and decides to test it out.

'Skill Tree.', and instantly a new window appears before his eyes, but it is a rather simple looking one.

Skill Trees

Skill Points: 2

Then confused, he thinks to himself, 'Only two things; huh. The other windows were a lot more complex, so much so that I don't doubt that some people will get confused by them in the future. It really seems like the creator has too much time on their hands; I guess they just got lazy when they got to this one.... Well, it doesn't matter that much, it's easier to understand.'

Shut up boy, you don't understand my genius. I was creating things before your great-grandfather's, great-grandfather's, great-grandfather was sucking on his mothers teat.

-Admin

'...'

'...'

'...'

'...'

'...'

'So I have two skill points to start off with; huh. I guess we all get one skill point at the beginning. Just means more for me.'

Don't ignore me, you brat.

-Admin

"I wonder what skills I'll get.", Ryan whispers expectantly.