The challengers weren't lying when they said that everything would be taken care of as long as he showed up inside the Administration Building and introduced himself as a Civilization Seedling preemptively chosen by the Tower.
When the registration officials there saw Roark's blue emblem, they welcomed him in with such enthusiasm that he felt like a son returning to his family after decades of absence.
But this was also understandable. A city's development depended on the resources the challengers of that city could unearth from the Tower. Civilization Seedlings were the cornerstones of this process, each of them contributing more than a hundred typical challengers combined.
Before he knew it, his accommodation, tokens, and paperwork were done and dusted. Someone even dragged over a beautiful middle-aged officer to assist him as his temporary guide. The treatment almost brought tears to his eyes.
“In the barracks, our Lost Lotus City does not have a high status yet, all because we've always cked a sufficient number of Seedlings. Our army has been getting lesser budget allocation than even those tier-3 cities. How can we develop if things go on like this?
“So everyone's hope is on the upcoming generation of challengers now. You're the first Seedling to check in this season. It is natural that everyone would be stoked!”
Roark listened to the officer's compint-filled guidance with full focus. Information was the best tool in any unfamiliar setting. Life in the barracks was much different compared to the city. He needed to understand the ins and outs of the atmosphere here before making any big moves.
After getting acquainted with his living space (which looked a lot better than the cabins his siblings were occupying), meal arrangement (he hadn't seen food this fresh in months), and other adjacent facilities, Roark's energy was only climbing upwards.
Observing his reaction, the officer's mood seemed to improve quite a lot too. With a satisfied smile, she checked the time and said,
“There are still eight hours left of the day. Do you want to go visit the Tower at this time? Or would you like to rest for today? Don't worry, you don't have to feel pressed-”
“I can do that?” Roark interrupted her sharply. “Why didn't you say so until now? Let's go!”
Although the challengers were not formally trained like the regur army, the maintenance of hierarchical behavior was still loosely enforced.
Ordinarily, taking that tone with a superior would have gotten him facing some disciplinary action. But the officer looked half-tempted to kiss him on the forehead and tell him what a good boy he was.
Without further ado, she called in a rusty jeep and drove Roark towards the Tower, chattering nonstop about the rules and regutions to follow once he was inside.
“Electronic devices won't work once we're near the Tower. Some might even be ruined for good. So if you have any on you, please leave it in the Jeep.
“The first thing a newcomer faces upon entering the Tower is his attribute assessment and combat affinity test. Be focused during the test and go for what you feel the most comfortable with.
“Since you have that emblem, the Tower will automatically push your challenge streams in its algorithm. You'll start off with more viewers than the number most challengers get in months.
“If you want to survive in the industry, you have to present the audience with an interesting scene from your very first Livestream to gain your initial subscriber base. So you have to retain viewers from the initial push!
“Not everyone can luck out and get interesting challenges that attract viewers in the beginning. With your weak physical constitution and cking combat training, you cannot hope to charm the audience in direct combat. So go for strategic battles.
“If you aren't familiar with how strategic challenges work, it's better not to start any livestreams for now. Just train and build your foundation with the resources allotted to your name in the barracks.
“And of course, the most important thing is communication during the challenges. Talk to your viewers as much as you want, but never reveal any information associated with your Seed skill or Challenger Skills. Or they'll use it against you in future challenges. Many have perished this way.”
The jeep came to a stop about three hundred meters away from the Tower's base. The entire area from here on was tightly guarded by security forces of all 25 cities. Thick walls, electric fences, and even two wide trenches had been dug around the tower.
Although enemy breakouts from the tower were rather rare, whenever one happened, death tolls in the nearby human settlements piled up in thousands. So such preventive measures were necessary, even if they looked comically inadequate in front of the mile-wide base of the tower.
Roark bid the officer goodbye and walked through the secure entrance by himself, bathed in the red and purple radiance coming from the wall of the Tower. Once he stepped past the gates, she wouldn't be able to stay with him anyway.
A thin film of energy separated the environment outside the tower from the mysterious world inside. Walking through it felt like being doused in ice-cold water for a fraction of a second.
On the other side, Roark found himself in the center of a brightly lit arena. In front of him was a square stone stele three meters in height, dispying some carved letters that looked familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
This was the universal nguage of the Tower. Everyone connected to this pce could read it, speak it, and understand it without prior practice.
Naturally, Roark wasn't surprised to see what was written on the stele.
[ Civilization Seed Code: U-XXX-1 ]
[ Attributes: Assessing ]
[ Seed Skill: Harvesting Hatred ]
[ Seed Skill Status ]
- Nuisance ( 12,998/1,000 )
- Clown ( 2345/5,000 )
- Troll (658/10,000 )
- Locked
- Locked
- Locked
- Locked
[ Challenger Skills: None ]
[ Challenger Skill Status: Locked ]
The only difference in the stats here compared to his personal information panel was in the second line, which said that his attributes were being assessed instead of showing the [ Locked ] status.
Soon, the letters in that line disappeared, sinking back into the stele like rocks in mud, and a new line repced them. Roark's eyes lit up as he deciphered the data there.
[ Attributes ]
>Strength: 1.1
>Agility: 1.2
> Dexterity: 0.9
> Stamina: 0.8
> Spirit: 1.1
> Vitality: Locked
> Mana: Locked
> ???: Locked
> ???: Locked
The stats were neither amazing, nor anything to feel disheartened about. His strength and agility were above average, but the next two attributes left a big gap in his physique.
“At least the spirit attribute is good. That extra 0.1 means all of my physical attributes can be enhanced by 10% in a life-and-death situation. All I have to do is to push myself to my limits to gain that state.”
As for vitality and mana, unlocking and developing these were solely up to his performance inside the Tower. He could exchange his earnings here in exchange for elixirs that nurtured these attributes.
“The officer said every civilization seedling gets a free allotment of elixirs each month as a gift from the City authorities.
“I can probably redeem mine any time now. Let's see where these attributes jump up to once I consume that supply.”
The st two attributes were a mystery not only to him, but also to the entire human civilization. No one, not even Lord Crimsonstar, had managed to figure out what these were for.
But Roark did remember what Lord Crimsonstar had said about these mystery attributes in an interview recorded when he was at his peak form.
“Maybe, if someone finally climbs up to the fourth floor of the Tower, we'll unveil something about it. But defeating the Beastmen
experts on the third floor... is not a possibility for the near future. We probably need to develop for a century more to produce such experts on our side.”
