Celestial Bloodline

After the competition, seven students from the first year were chosen based on the number of battles they won.

Alec took 1st place with 12 consecutive wins and one loss against Nine. Carcel got 2nd place with 11 wins, and surprisingly, Kyle was tied with Carcel with 11 wins too. He only lost to Alec and Carcel.

Mia came in 3rd, and Lara got 4th place. Lily stood in 5th place. She lost to Kyle but defeated Jake, who was ranked higher than her. Nine secured the last spot, making it into the top seven. He was so happy that he hugged Alec and Carcel to thank them.

Just as the results were declared, Aliza, who wasn't seen during the competition, walked into the hall. She looked at the winners, her gaze lingering on Kyle for a moment before nodding as if she expected such results.

Then, she asked the seven students to follow her. Outside the hall, there were seven more students from the second year waiting for her.

Aliza led all of them to a special classroom that seemed to be designed just for the 14 winners - seven from the first year and seven from the second year.

This classroom had many benches and chairs all lined up in two neat rows.

The beautiful professor stood in front of the students sitting on the chairs and started briefing them about their new schedule.

They still had a whole week before they set off for the tower, so their classes and training for the next week got a major shake-up.

Instead of their usual morning classes, they were going to be split up and assigned to different professors who would provide them with intense survival training for hours. After that, Aliza would give them different lectures and share all the information she knew about the tower.

Aliza wasn't part of the lucky generation that got to enter the tower, which means her knowledge about it was a bit limited. However, she made up for it by diving into lots of books and old knowledge about the tower.

According to her, the 'Tower of Opportunity' has a total of nine floors, and each floor is as big as a whole kingdom. The first three floors always stay the same, but there isn't much information about the other floors because their structures change every time new climbers enter the tower.

Also, once people enter the tower, they have to stay inside for a whole six months. No matter what happens, they can't come out before that time is up. There's another way to exit the tower, though. Climbing all nine floors and choosing an exit scroll as a reward on the 9th floor.

But that hasn't happened in the past hundred years because, well, who would be idiot enough to climb the tower just to choose an exit scroll in the end, right?

Not to mention, six months is a lot of time. During that time, those who enter the tower can encounter various opportunities by completing different trials or hone their skills through life-and-death battles.

The tower is like a treasure trove for the younger generation because those older than eighteen aren't able to enter, no matter what they do.

A lot of powerful individuals tried to force their way into the tower, but they failed miserably. Not even the high-rankers could get in because of all the restrictions set up around it.

Aliza glanced at the students and wrapped up her speech with a few more lines.

"The tower may be full of opportunities, but it's not without its dangers. One little slip-up or mistake could cost you your life. That's why, whenever the tower opens up, only the absolute best from all over the continent are chosen to enter. So, I hope you all don't take it lightly."

....

One week flew by, and early morning, all 14 winning students were standing in front of the Academy gate with Professor Aliza, waiting for the Vice Principal.

Kyle and Nine were standing together when a student from the second-year batch, who wore glasses, approached them. Despite spending the past week studying and training together, Kyle had only interacted with Nine, Alec, and Carcel.

Kyle glanced at the student, who greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, I'm Blane."

He just nodded in response, but Nine pushed him back and shook Blane's hand with a smile.

"Hey, senior! I'm Nine, and this here is Kyle. He's a bit shy around others, so don't mind him."

Kyle blinked, staring at Nine's back with a deep expression as a question mark popped into his mind.

'Shy? Who, me?'

Nine chuckled when he sensed his gaze.

"I mean, he's not much of a talker."

Soon, he kicked Kyle out of the conversation and started talking with Blane as if they were old buddies.

Kyle narrowed his eyes and instantly ordered his peacefully sleeping bonded companion.

'Bia, go hit this guy. He's irritating me!'

But all he received in response was a hair pull from the little bird on his head.

"Ah... you-!"

-'Don't disturb me.'

'Do something useful for once, will you?' SourceddirectlyfromMV6LEMP6YR.

Kyle sighed, knowing that there was no point in arguing with Bia. The only thing he feared was his hair getting burned and him ending up bald if she got too angry.

After he gained the skill fire resistance, normal flames no longer affected him. However, for some reason, Bia's golden flames were still capable of causing him minor injuries. But he knew that as his strength increased, they wouldn't harm him anymore.

Just when everyone was deep in conversation, George finally showed up, but he wasn't alone. He brought along an unknown person.

After nodding towards Aliza, the vice principal positioned himself in front of the students. To his left stood an old man wearing mage robes, who seemed oddly familiar to all the students. But no one could quite pinpoint who he was.

As everyone was whispering and trying to figure out who the mysterious person was, a small voice emerged from the crowd.

"The librarian?"

The old man next to the Vice Principal looked at Kyle, a bit surprised. He had one question in his mind.

'I changed my hair and eye color with an artifact, so how did he know who I am?'

George also glanced at Kyle, but his question was different from the librarian's.

'He got chosen?'

The vice principal didn't care about how Kyle knew the librarian's identity because, in his opinion, the librarian's hiding skills were always useless. But how on earth did a lazy person who didn't even have proper sword skills before manage to fight and defeat so many students and get selected?

It is true that Aliza had been reporting to him that Kyle had been working hard recently, but he did not believe a single word. Because every time he went to oversee the students, Kyle was always lazing around.

But now, he was having second thoughts. Maybe the kid was working hard, and he was the only one who failed to notice it. George's point of view of Kyle was finally changing.

Aliza, who was standing behind the two old men, followed their gaze and sighed before asking them to continue because they were getting late.