CHAPTER 117: FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!

The 3rd Floor of the Tower of Cessation was originally supposed to be the learning place for the players, as well as humanity’s first interaction with a civilization that was different from their own.

In many players’ eyes, this interaction was going to be pretty special. And in some ways, this certainly was a unique experience for the outsiders.

One thing they learned after being on the 3rd floor for a few days, however, was how the natives of the tower on this floor were pretty much the same as them.

For the humanity outside of the tower, the people that they were interacting with were almost the same as a new civilization that had evolved a little differently from their own. A civilization that simply had their own unique characteristics.

The culture, the society, the norms, their social understandings and prejudices, the humans here were pretty much the same as them, however, unlike them, they had interacted with the system and the elements of the tower all their lives.

"New outsiders? Huh, more useless trainees."

"Follow these men, they will bring you to the testing arena."

"It’s fascinating how we had to establish a system for these outsiders."

The natives knew more about the system and how things worked. They knew how to use different powers, and they had knowledge of the system that the rest of the common players did not have.

The natives did not have to do it, but they started sharing their knowledge with these newcomers.

They taught them so that they could make them useful enough to be helpful in the upcoming battle against the monsters of the Red moon.

The common goal here was to survive against the night of the Red Moon.

The players needed to survive to finish this stage, and since they only had one chance, they needed to be stronger than a certain average numeric value to defend all the cities.

And for that, the different cities trained their players differently.

"You don’t have to call out the skill names out loud, just thinking about them with a clear picture in mind could activate the skills."

"Much like every other system function, having a clear image of what you want and thinking about it will trigger a system response."

"The system is very sensitive, and intelligent. If you do not understand anything, directly questioning the system might also induce a response."

"However, for that, one needs to understand the system and have a general understanding of the system’s functions."

"System is there to assist every single being that is registered with the system. As long as one possesses an ID, they could obtain every clearance available to a being through right means."

"Not everyone possesses an ID, on that note. No one is born with an ID, not even within the tower. When someone is born, they are given a name, and either that name, or an identity that one chooses to take on at one point in time becomes their tower identity."

"The thing you people call awakening seems similar to what we call the [Naming]. When one obtains a name recognised by the system, they obtain an identity.

However, it does not mean they cannot use the system before that. Even those who aren’t awakened (Have an ID) could use the system... at least within the tower."

Thanks to these people of the tower, the players were able to learn a lot about the system and elements that were different from the game.

Thanks to them, they were able to learn how things worked and how they were supposed to use the common skills found around this floor.

With the help of the instructors that trained them to the bone, made them do all kinds of chores, and made them swing their weapons all day long, the players had seen a noticeable difference in their combat abilities as well as skills.

They now knew how to use their skills, how to actually use the skills that they were wasting until now.

A swordsman knew how to swing a sword and those with magic skills knew how true magic would be different from using magical skills.

They learned how skills weren’t rigid in nature and can be used in different forms. The use of skills, the actual use of stats, the bodies that they now had, as well as their knowledge about different things helped the players immensely.

Some players who passed a certain standard in the eyes of the ones in charge of each of the cities were able to get a formal role as an honorary citizen and were allowed access to different things in the city.

They could now purchase different things within the city, and some who stood out in the eyes of the guardian captains were even allowed a kind of authoritative position where they were able to purchase property.

The players who were granted such access were scarce though. To build a reputation with the guardian captain of each city was a matter comparable to taming a dangerous beast— something the players will soon be doing themselves.

But then again, to achieve all of this, to achieve a higher clearance level within the city, to achieve a goal that no other player was aware of, to save an individual one cared about, and to meet the expectations of one’s idol, everyone needed to fight.

As soon as they entered the city, they needed to fight against the soldiers or the captains or the ones chosen by the captains.

Once they fight and prove their skills and strength, they are either shoved into a training unit as new recruits or are granted a certain level of security access.

They needed to fight every single day against the soldiers to improve their skills and their wills to endure the harsh training they were being put through.

After achieving a certain level of skills, they needed to fight against the monsters in the forest under the guidance of the different squads.

To achieve a higher clearance level, they needed to fight the captain or the vice captain of the city to prove themselves.

The players needed to fight, fight, and fight.

They needed to fight every single day in a place that was meant for learning, something that would not have been the same had they been in the game and these people were NPCs.

What the players were going through again highlighted how the natives were no AIs. They were also mortals with the same emotions as the ones from outside the tower, making them more interesting to the researchers who were not spared from the training of the soldiers.

Still, in certain places throughout the floor where the A2P2 had become dominant with their higher number of squad members, in places like the 30th city where an association captain was so close to the Guardian Captain, the things were different for these research oriented players.

The A2P2 had already made a pact with various cities throughout the floor, making many cities an association hub where the majority of the association individuals had gathered despite the floor’s random city assignment.

The association had already made Intercity travelling possible on a limited scale, so, the association was already rectifying the mistakes they had made on the 2nd floor.

"The day’s near..."

"The Red Moon will haunt us soon..."

Less than three weeks were left for Night of the Red Moon.

It would not be long before the players and the natives are fighting against a cyclic phenomenon the players might have to experience once again in an unknown future...