'A lot has changed these past years...' I started walking as I entered the flow of people moving through the crowd.
Everyone was pressing close to each person, they were all trying to get past the morning rush. I noticed their clothing styles... most people wore fitted materials and they had some built-in pockets that had screens displaying information on them.
I looked down at my black shirt and trousers. I was the only one that dressed so plainly.
Around the crowd as the flow continued, I saw holographic screens above advertising some products and services... weapons, armors, potions. It was a cool thing to see for first time viewers like me while everyone around didn't pay much attention to it.
I kept walking, scanning the buildings for any guild. I needed to find one to register, back in my time, guilds were like a small clan but with cramped offices and basic facilities. They served as registration centers for anyone who sought out to become an Ascendant.
Without a guild ID, no Ascendant could enter the Tower of Constellations, it was a verification pass for them to do anything in the Tower.
I assumed everything would still run the same way in this age, but I still suspected otherwise.
I turned to a corner and found another wide district. The buildings had large name displays at the top. These were the guilds. I scanned through as I walked, looking for anyone that felt right.
"..."
After ten minutes, I saw a building that stood out more than the rest, its entrance was marked by a grand archway. Above the doors, words were projected in golden light.
"Ruins of Light."
I stopped in my tracks. I stared at the guild for a while, something about it drew me in.
'Nice name...' I walked towards the entrance and stepped inside.
As I did, the first thing that came to my mind was shock and awe. The interior was very massive, a wide scale hall with a ceiling thirty feet high. The floor was polished marble, reflecting all the movements of people walking across.
It was far different from the guilds in the old age. Back then because of many people fearing to lose their lives in the tower, there were little to no Ascendants registering in guilds.
But now, dozens of people filled the entire place, all of them wearing gears... armors, enchanted accessories and other protective items.
I saw some groups of people wearing matching colored outfits. They were likely a party.
I smiled, taking in everything before me. This was familiar territory.
I walked towards the reception where several desks were arranged in a row. Each desk had a person seated or standing behind it, handling the long line of registrations and inquiries.
I picked one with the shortest line and approached.
The woman behind the desk was middle aged, her hair was tied back and she wore a white blouse that was... noticeably tight. The buttons strained to contain her huge chest.
I found my eyes drifting downwards.
"Hello sir, how can I help you?"
"Uh..em" I snapped myself back to composure. "I am here to register as an Ascendant."
On the woman's tag read her name "Catherine". She looked at me from head to toe, I was genuinely handsome, with white hair and golden eyes, on top of that I didn't wear any gear like most Ascendants would.
She smiled and tapped on a screen embedded in her desk. A panel projected upwards from the table. It displayed a form with multiple fields.
Name:
Aspect:
Oath of Acknowledgement:
The last section was a legal agreement. I leaned in to read it.
"I, the undersigned, acknowledge that I am joining this guild and entering the Tower of Constellations of my own accord. The guild will not be held accountable for my death should I perish within the Tower. I understand the risks and accept full responsibility."
'This is... crazy!' I thought back to my time, everyone knew as an Ascendant you were on your own, your well being, everything was all your decision.
Nobody would take blame for your death even if it was caused by another Ascendant. That was the way of the tower.
The strong will always prey on the weak.
I filled out the form and signed the agreement, submitting my information. I glanced around the hall, my eyes landed on a party seated in the lounge area... a place guild members rested between missions. One of them stood up and casually said "Status."
A panel appeared in front of him just like the one I saw when I woke up.
A wave of shock flashed through my eyes. 'He has it too?!'
I turned back to the receptionist. "Miss Catherine," I pointed towards the man. "How does that guy have a glowing panel?"
Catherine was taken aback by my question and looked at me in confusion. 'Is he serious? Did he not see his system when he chose to become an Ascendant?'
"That is the Aspect System." She said. "Anyone who is an Ascendant has it... don't you?"
"I do have it... I didn't know everyone had it."
Catherine laughed. "Of course everyone has it, everyone here is an Ascendant and this is basic knowledge. It was around fifty years ago, a legendary Ascendant reached the 500th floor and unlocked the system for everyone who wanted to climb the tower... that made a lot of people aspire to become what they are today." She explained. "That's the reason why there are a lot of us here, the system made it easier."
'Fifty years ago... wait, wasn't that me?' I thought, holding my chin with a barely visible grin. "Where is that legendary Ascendant now?"
Catherine lowered her head slightly in respect. "Nobody knows... it was announced later on that he disappeared after reaching the 500th floor. The Ascendants sent to look for him couldn't even find his body. They believed he died completing the floor, however even his remains were never recovered."
'They can't find my body? Did the monsters eat me? Sigh...'
Beep!
The printer on her desk beeped, signaling the completion of the registration and printing of my ID card.
Catherine picked it up and glanced through it. She saw the name, age, level then stopped at the Aspect field.
[Aspect: Nameless]
'He picked this? Is he insane?' She thought, looking at me with even more confusion.
Nameless was the hardest Aspect out of the six. Basically everyone avoided it just because of how hard it became after the new age. The leveling up was hard, the adaptive ability made you useless if you couldn't learn fast enough in battle. Against other Aspect users, a Nameless Ascendant was just a normal human being which after a specific amount of time could adapt to a certain skill of the opponent... but before then the match would be over because the stats difference was huge.
She did not bother saying anything to me as I had already chosen my path for life... I couldn't change it now.
"Welcome to Ruins of Light," she said, handing over the card.
I took the card and examined it, there was a section for the amount of money the guild had given me for joining.
[Rune Coins: 100,000]
'Isn't this a bit too much?' In the old age, this was the price of completing at least ten A rank missions.
I slipped it into my pocket and turned to walk away, pausing when I heard someone call out to me.
"Wait."