While clearing floors 5 to 9 was a breeze for Rocky, the horror of the mysterious phenomenon ''Vorithra Slyithen'' finally caught up to him as he stepped into the first evaluation floor of his Climber journey, Floor 10.


    Rocky had been nervous heading into floor 10, as after reading about dimir''s warnings and the experiences of the champions of the past, he knew that the floor evaluation test that he would be receiving would bepletely differentpared to what other climbers would, as for the normal climbers, a floor 10 evaluation usually revolved around them participating in a test of basic qualities such as speed, intelligence, strength etc.


    If the climber was considered as above the par standard, he/she was allowed to move past floor 10, while if they failed in 3 of the six basic tests, they were barred from climbing further until they improved.


    Erin and Buhara had both appeared for the floor 10 promotion less than a week ago, having sessfullypleted theirs with a ''S'' and ''SS'' evaluation respectively, however, curiously, Sophia had not attempted her floor10 promotion yet, suddenly pretending to fall sick on the day that the entire ss was supposed to take it.


    Rocky suspected that she definitely knew something about Vorithra Sylithen that he did not, as while she did not seem to know about the exact term or its meaning, she seemed to know the fact that ascension tests were different for other climbers and Champion''s.


    Rocky tried his best to probe her regarding this topic, however, failed to get anything significant as her own knowledge regarding the topic seemed redundant as she was only told as much as she was needed to know by her brother and father and not shown the full picture, making the limited knowledge that she did possess useless for Rocky.


    Taking a gamble, Rocky decided to enter floor 10 anyways as he desperately wished to catch up to the rest of the ss, before their weekly trips through the tower from floor 11-20 began.


    *************


    Through a nervous heart, Rocky stepped into floor 10, as he immediately sensed that something was wrong.


    Usually, ascending the tower or reaching a new floor felt just like teleportation, where one just went from a lower concentration of mana to a higher density mana environment, however, overall the experience of jumping between floors felt the same.


    However, as Rocky tried to enter floor 10, the chants of Vorithra Sylithen immediately echoed in the air around him as instead of experiencing teleportation, Rocky felt like he had jumped into a warp portal where his body was being constantly stretched and sucked forcefully, as he entered a domain that was forbidden for others.


    The Gemini tattoo on his back, that had not caused him any pain since the first time it seared onto his back, began to burn once again, as Rocky felt waves of pain crashing through his body.


    For a full five minutes, he felt as if he was spinning in a limbo while also being stretched, as he started to feel extremely sick with his bodily functions thrown into disarray.


    Then, as he was finally thrown onto solidnd, with his body intact, he was immediately washed over by high concentration of mana, as despite his racial enhancement, he was no longer able to take the punishment, buckling over to his knees.


    The air around him shimmered with an ethereal purple glow, as there seemed to be neon purple vapor rising from his body, or from the tattoo on his back to be more precise as he was covered in a purple bubble of smoke.


    The immense pressure of the mana density hit him hard, as although he had moved from floor 0 to floor 54 before to meet Nagini alongside principal Liam, even that jump did not make him feel as powerless as this one, as although this was only floor 10, the concentration of mana in this ce was richer than anything he ever experienced before.


    With his body buckled to the ground. His knees scraped against the cold, barren earth, as his stomach churned violently in protest from all the damage he had taken while being teleported to this space.


    *BLURGHH*


    Vomiting violently on the ground, letting out food, blood and bile, Rocky felt as if  the world around him was swimming, as disembodied chants of "Vorithra Sylithen" rang around him from every direction possible, whispering a single phrase in chilling unison.


    His vision blurred and his head spun, but he forced himself to stand as clutching his chest as he steadied his breathing.


    He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and took in his surroundings— which looked like a barren yet majestdscape stretching before him.


    ck and Gray jagged peaks loomed ominously around him, and in the far distance, atop a solitary tall mountain, stood a towering castle cloaked in mist with its spires glistening in the faint twilight that covered the entire sky.


    As Rocky looked around to check for any signs of life or monsters, he found none and instead, a figure materialized before him, stepping out from a dark portal which undoubtedly looked like an extremely high leveled spell.


    ''A three eyed demon?'' Rocky wondered as he looked at its appearance.


    The three-eyed demon was unmistakably female, standing at a staggering height of over seven feet.


    Her crimson skin shimmered under the ethereal purple glow that enveloped the entire domain, while three piercing eyes adorned her face, with the third positioned squarely on her forehead.


    Her three eyes unmistakably radiated a predatory yellow light, fixating on Rocky with an unwavering and almost unsettling intensity.


    Her hair, as ck as night, cascaded down her shoulders in thick, curling waves, framing her angr features, while sharp cheekbones entuated a sinister smile, revealing rows of gleaming, dagger-like teeth as two twisted horns jutted from her temples, curving backward like a crown of darkness.


    Her physique was formidable yet elegant, with lean, corded muscles visible beneath the intricate armor that adorned her form.


    The armor itself seemed crafted from some ancient metal, shaped into swirling patterns and adorned with arcane symbols that glowed faintly in the eerie twilight.


    She stood alone confidently in this barrenndscape with her long, barbed tail swaying gently behind her as she spoke in a voice bothmanding and melodic, "Wee to the origin realm, Champion of Gemini."


    —--------


    /// A/N - Mass Release chapter 3/3 ///