After a long ride home, Theo trudged into his abode and collapsed into his simple curved plush chair, his body sinking into the cushions like a stone in quicksand.
His mind relentlessly replayed all that had happened in the past hour. He almost found it hard to believe, yet simultaneously, he believed and knew exactly what it was. The reality of his situation settled over him like a weighted blanket.
The process of awakening as a Hero wasn't too complicated.
When one turned eighteen, they underwent the trials of the Tower—a mimicry that the Hero Association created to stimulate awakening in humans without having to venture into the Tower itself.
Theo had been told things used to be far worse during the days of ruin. Earth had progressed significantly from its decrepit state. Although it had lost half its mass to the disaster of the end, humanity was slowly recovering technology. And even more remarkably, with strange energy essences such as dust now in the mix.
New Earth technology evolved at a breakneck pace. The awakening stimulation machine stood as testament to this progress.
The machine resembled a sleep pod. Each person entered the chamber and their consciousness was transported into a nascent realm existing at the boundary between reality and the Tower.
Neither fully in reality nor in the Tower, it was a place that only consciousness could access. The machine's job was to forge a pathway and facilitate reaching this liminal space.
Barely touching this boundary, those destined for awakening would awaken, while others wouldn't. Of course, late awakenings—such as a year or two after stimulation—had been recorded.
Some humans, despite all warnings, still preferred to rush headlong into the Tower... only to meet their crude demise. Their bodies often found twisted and mangled like discarded toys.
No one could really blame them. Even a low F-rank Hero lived better than a mundane human. That was what Theo had believed until he became that low F-rank with a supposedly useless skill.
Of the ten percent that managed to awaken a skill as a hero, only five percent unlocked a class. This formed the true hierarchy of heroes.
It was an inner sanctum that only those who had unlocked a class understood. The interaction of this hierarchy manifested vividly in the Nether Tower.
So far, the highest rank Theo knew of was SSS. He had never seen or heard of a UR Class.
When he examined the abilities his class granted him, he was almost tempted to call it nonsensical. His fingers trembled slightly as he scrolled through the panel, disbelief etched across his features.
But he had witnessed its effect on the daughter of the Crimson Steel clan. The panel clearly stated that he could tame Heroines.
He had heard of Heroes and Heroines taming beasts from the Tower. In fact, there was a particular lady with a white tiger-like beast who frequently appeared in a popular skin lotion commercial.
The absurd advertisement claimed their product could make your skin as white as that of the tiger-like creature. The woman was also an actress who always performed alongside her beast.
Theo furrowed his brow, his palm pressed against his forehead. He had never in his life heard of a Heroine Tamer.
'How will someone tame heroines?'
The question bounced around his mind like a ricocheting bullet.
He didn't need to find the answer immediately, but he needed to be progressive with this new class and skills.
First, he needed to steel his mind that if push came to shove, he was going to pin Syra down and fuck her till she passes out.
Nurturing the thought, Theo felt like a joke. He had never even had sex, only watched it. How exactly was he supposed to fuck her till she passes out?
And would all the knowledge he had gathered from watching really be enough?
He sat up abruptly, clenching his fist until his knuckles turned white.
'This is time for a change goddammit, stop doubting it!'
He paused for a while, his eyes fixed on some invisible point in the distance, lost in contemplation.
'Still, I wish I can find someone else to test this on instead of just trying it on Syra. What if I flop?'
Theo sat motionless for several moments, his mind racing through potential scenarios and solutions.
It was night time, around 9:46 PM.
Not exactly the kind of hour that a weak F-rank should be wandering the streets, considering the levels of criminal atrocities that prowled the city beneath dark skies. The night in this city had teeth and claws, ready to devour the unprepared.
But still, tomorrow was another day. He wanted to make sure he gets this right.
He did not want Syra to be his first. Not because of her arrogance. But simply because all he wanted to do was crush her soul.
If it was his dick he'd be using to do so, then so be it. Which was why he must get the training this night.
Theo changed into nice jeans and a black round neck shirt, then pulled his favorite grey hoodie over it. He completed the disguise with a black cap and a black nose mask, his reflection in the mirror barely recognizable even to himself.
After a dozen seconds of final preparation, he left the house.
The place he was going to?
It was a place Theo never thought he would visit in his entire life.
A city of lust...
And more so, it existed in the Tower.