Chapter 160: The First Climber
Chapter 160: The First Climber
The morning of Aurelion’s departure arrived beneath an unnaturally clear sky.
For months, the Celestial Tower had dominated the world.
For months, kingdoms had argued, scholars had researched, armies had mobilized, and adventurers had dreamed.
For months, humanity had stared toward the heavens and wondered what waited beyond the giant black structure that had descended from nowhere.
And for months...
Aurelion had prepared.
Now the waiting was over.
The first rays of sunlight stretched across Tower City while thousands of people awoke earlier than usual. Merchants abandoned their morning routines. Adventurers left training grounds half-finished. Scholars postponed research. Construction crews paused projects.
Nobody needed an official announcement.
The news had already spread.
The Crown Prince was entering the Tower today.
The city moved with unusual energy.
Not excitement.
Not fear.
Expectation.
The feeling that something important was about to happen.
Inside his residence, Aurelion stood alone before a window overlooking the distant Tower.
The structure dominated the horizon exactly as it had every day since its arrival.
Black walls.
Silver runes.
Rotating celestial rings.
Dark storm clouds.
A monument to the impossible.
His gaze remained fixed upon it for several moments before he finally looked away.
There was one place he wished to visit before leaving.
One final stop.
One final piece of his old life.
The Imperial Academy.
The Academy remained surprisingly quiet.
Classes had not yet begun.
Most students were still asleep.
Only a handful of professors and early risers occupied the grounds.
For the first time in weeks, Aurelion walked through the campus without discussing the Tower.
Without receiving reports.
Without planning expeditions.
Simply walking.
The morning air felt cool.
Familiar.
Comforting.
His footsteps echoed softly across stone pathways while memories resurfaced one after another.
The first day after his reincarnation.
The confusion.
The panic.
The realization that he had entered a romance novel.
At the time, he had expected noble politics.
Romantic misunderstandings.
Social conflicts.
Perhaps a few dramatic events.
Nothing more.
Aurelion laughed quietly.
Life had apparently found that expectation hilarious.
A romance novel.
Then monsters.
Then magical disasters.
Then an impossible Tower descending from the heavens.
If someone had explained the future to him on that first day, he would have assumed they were insane.
Yet here he was.
Standing at the edge of history.
Preparing to enter one hundred unknown worlds.
The irony felt almost beautiful.
His wandering eventually brought him toward one of the Academy’s largest training grounds.
The same place where he had spent countless hours practicing.
Learning.
Growing.
The field stood empty now.
Silent.
Several damaged sections remained visible despite recent repairs. Reminders of magical experiments that had gone slightly wrong.
Or completely wrong.
Aurelion smiled faintly.
There had been many of those.
For several minutes, he simply stood there.
Remembering.
Then another voice interrupted the silence.
"You always did like this place."
Aurelion turned.
The Headmaster stood nearby.
The elderly man looked exactly as he always did.
Wise.
Calm.
Slightly annoyed by everything.
The Headmaster approached slowly.
Neither spoke immediately.
Words felt unnecessary.
Eventually, the old man sighed.
"So."
Aurelion nodded.
"So."
The Headmaster shook his head.
"I knew this day would come."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it’s true."
Aurelion couldn’t argue.
The old man studied him carefully.
Then smiled.
"I’m proud of you."
The words caught him slightly off guard.
The Headmaster continued.
"When you first arrived here, I thought you were talented."
His smile widened.
"Then I realized talented wasn’t the correct word."
Aurelion raised an eyebrow.
"What was the correct word?"
The old man laughed.
"Troublesome."
For the first time that morning, genuine laughter escaped Aurelion.
The conversation continued for nearly an hour.
No politics.
No Tower discussions.
Just memories.
Stories.
Reflections.
A teacher speaking with his student one final time before a long journey.
When the conversation finally ended, the Headmaster offered a simple nod.
"Come back alive."
Aurelion returned the gesture.
"I plan to."
By the time he returned to the city, the news had spread even further.
The streets were packed.
Crowds filled every district.
People lined rooftops.
Balconies overflowed.
Windows remained open despite the early hour.
Tower City had effectively stopped functioning.
Everyone was watching.
Not just the city.
The world.
Throughout the Holy Dominion, magical broadcasts displayed images from Tower City.
Within the Beast Kingdom, warriors gathered around enormous projection crystals.
Merchant Federation officials monitored events through communication networks.
Even the secluded Elven Territories observed quietly from distant forests.
The entire continent was watching.
Not because Aurelion was entering.
Because of what his entry represented.
Humanity’s next step.
The next Chapter of the Tower.
The next piece of history.
Inside the Imperial District, military commanders and nobles had already gathered.
The Emperor stood near the front.
Beside him stood Grand Duke Caelion.
Dozens of familiar faces filled the area.
Professors.
Knights.
Officials.
Students.
Some looked excited.
Others looked worried.
A few appeared emotional.
The atmosphere reminded Aurelion of a farewell.
Which, in many ways, it was.
No one knew how long he would remain inside.
Weeks?
Months?
Years?
The Tower followed its own rules.
Nothing could be guaranteed.
One group of Academy students eventually approached.
The youngest among them looked particularly nervous.
After several seconds of hesitation, one finally spoke.
"Your Highness."
Aurelion smiled.
"Yes?"
The student swallowed visibly.
Then asked the question everyone secretly wanted answered.
"Will you come back?"
Silence.
The surrounding crowd listened carefully.
Aurelion looked toward the Tower.
Then back toward the students.
His answer remained simple.
"I plan to."
The students laughed nervously.
The tension eased slightly.
Yet everyone understood the reality.
Planning and surviving were not always the same thing.
Eventually, there was nothing left to discuss.
Nothing left to prepare.
Nothing left to delay.
The time had come.
The crowd gradually parted.
A path formed naturally through the city.
Thousands of people stood on either side.
Watching.
Waiting.
Aurelion began walking.
No carriage.
No escort.
No ceremony.
Just a man walking toward the unknown.
The city remained strangely quiet.
People whispered.
Some offered encouragement.
Others simply watched.
Every face reflected a different emotion.
Hope.
Fear.
Curiosity.
Respect.
Aurelion continued forward.
One step after another.
Tower City slowly disappeared behind him.
Civilization gradually faded.
The dead lands approached.
The final boundary.
The final line separating humanity’s world from the Tower’s.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Life disappeared.
No birds.
No insects.
No animals.
No sound.
Only silence.
The blackened landscape stretched endlessly toward the giant structure.
The ground itself looked dead.
As though the Tower had consumed everything nearby simply by existing.
The further he walked, the larger the structure became.
And it was already unimaginably large.
The walls stretched upward beyond comprehension.
The silver runes glowed brighter than ever.
The celestial rings slowly rotated around the heavens themselves.
For the first time, Aurelion truly understood how small humanity appeared in comparison.
Not weak.
Simply small.
The Tower possessed a scale that transcended ordinary understanding.
A kingdom looked insignificant beside it.
A continent looked insignificant beside it.
Even history felt insignificant beside it.
And yet humanity still chose to climb.
The thought made him smile.
Far behind him, thousands continued watching.
Then something unexpected happened.
The Tower reacted.
At first, only a few people noticed.
A silver rune brightened.
Then another.
Then another.
Soon entire sections of the structure began glowing.
The phenomenon spread rapidly.
Like stars awakening across an endless night sky.
Gasps echoed throughout the crowd.
Military commanders exchanged confused looks.
Scholars immediately began recording observations.
Because this had never happened before.
Not like this.
Commander Reinhardt’s expedition had entered.
The Second Expedition had entered.
The Tower had opened.
Nothing more.
Now the structure itself seemed alive.
The silver runes illuminated across enormous portions of the Tower.
The celestial rings accelerated slightly.
Even the storm clouds surrounding the summit became more active.
Lightning flashed repeatedly through the heavens.
The entire structure radiated power.
The crowd stared in disbelief.
"What is happening?"
"No previous entrance caused this."
"Why is the Tower reacting?"
Questions spread everywhere.
Nobody possessed answers.
Not even Aurelion.
He continued walking.
The pressure surrounding the Tower increased with every step.
Ancient.
Overwhelming.
Impossible.
The giant structure seemed to be watching him.
Not literally.
Yet the feeling remained.
A strange sense of awareness.
Recognition.
As though the Tower had finally acknowledged his existence.
The thought should have frightened him.
Instead, it filled him with anticipation.
The gate stood before him.
Hundreds of meters tall.
Covered in glowing silver symbols.
Ancient beyond imagination.
For a moment, everything became still.
The wind stopped.
The crowd fell silent.
The world itself seemed frozen.
Then the runes erupted with light.
Silver brilliance flooded the landscape.
The ground trembled.
The sky darkened.
Reality distorted.
And slowly...
The gate opened.
Darkness appeared beyond the threshold.
Not ordinary darkness.
Possibility.
Adventure.
Mystery.
The unknown.
The entrance stretched before him like a doorway into another reality.
Which, in many ways, it was.
Aurelion stopped.
Not from hesitation.
From appreciation.
This was the moment.
The end of one story.
The beginning of another.
The romance novel.
The Academy.
The Empire.
Tower City.
Everything behind him belonged to the past.
Everything ahead belonged to the future.
He looked back one final time.
Far away, thousands of people watched.
The Emperor.
Grand Duke Caelion.
The Headmaster.
Students.
Soldiers.
Citizens.
An entire world.
Then he turned forward once more.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
No dramatic speech.
No final declaration.
None was needed.
Actions spoke louder.
And this action would echo throughout history.
Aurelion took a step.
Then another.
Then another.
The darkness welcomed him.
The light swallowed him.
And before the eyes of the entire world...
Aurelion vanished into the Celestial Tower.
[END OF VOLUME 1: THE DESCENT OF THE TOWER]
