We cut to a little Cinister and little Ragna playing with different toys in the orphanage. They kept playing until Ragna tried to jump Cinister but it was a vain attempt because Cinister dodged it and Ragna went face first into a bookshelf and a book fell on him.
"Are you okay?" Cinister asked as he went to help Ragna
"Yeah I'm fine but this book looks really good" Ragna showed the cover of the book which was a heavily armored hero winning against a weird looking red monster
"Again with your heroes. I've told you so many times heroes are just labels for egotistical jerks who think they are doing the good thing" Cinister replied as he helped Ragna up
"Come on don't you have a hero you inspire" Ragna asked as he put the book back in its place
"Well the only hero I can recall was a guy with a long sword and a short dagger who rescued me when me and my parents were in danger" Cinister said as he looked down
"Oh I'm sorry about asking but he sounds like a good guy" Ragna replied as he brought ice cream to Cinister
"Yeah I hope I can meet him one day" Cinister said as he unpacked his ice cream
We cut to the present
"Damn why did I just get a flashback" Cinister mumbles to himself as Ragna yells at him
"Kill the enemy!"
"Sorry I'll do it" Cinister said as he used [Fire Ring Double] and [Fire Gun] 200% to shoot the final Valko exploding it into oblivion "We are ready for the Academy"
"Of course we are but are you okay dude?" Ranga asked as he walked up to him
"Yeah let's just leave before I get a heatstroke" Cinister replied
After the rigorous amount of training and adventuring in the drill dungeon a long day had passed after the Fangra went out of it, they stumbled upon a familiar face standing, waiting for them at the exit.
"You are not ready for the Academy" the acquainted voice was heard
"Jarvis? What are you doing here?" Cinister asked "And what do you mean we aren't ready?" Alya decided to chime in as well
"First of all I can be wherever I want and well do you guys even know the slightest bit about the layout of the Academy floor?" Jarvis asked them expecting no response
"Umm no I only found out the Academy even exists a couple days ago" Ragna replied as Cinister and Alya looked down simultaneously
"Fine, let me give you a simple history lesson," Jarvis said as he started explaining "Floor 26 was the first event(Halloween) floor on which scalers could earn a special weapon called [The Sword of Devotion], which is a blade that can cut anything if you believe in it with all your heart. Because the weapon was strong enough to cut through everything it made three of the biggest clans fight for it"
"Clans? There are clans in the Tower? "Cinister interrupted Jarvis
"Yeah their is about 100 clans but the 3 that were fighting for the weapon were [The Divers], [The Black Market] and [The BS clan] all of them battle for it but no one was able to figure out how to get it but its remains are still present on the floor"
"Okay that's cool and all but you still haven't told us about the floor itself" Alya decided to speak up
"I was getting there" Jarvis replied " In the present the floor is separated into 3 parts which were divided not too long ago the three of them consist of: Campnoon which had been created by the clan of The Divers, it is the Academy itself and is situated to the west. The second part of the floor is known as The central authorities which was established by the Black Market, which is the city where a lot of students of the Academy apply for internships as they are now turned against the institution and have put up attempts to raid the Academy multiple times. Lastly is the third part of the floor it used to belong to the Blessing Stone Clan but after their withdraw out of the race for The Sword of Devotion the land was taken over by monsters that used to be killed by the clan.
"So there is 3 parts - Campnoon, Central authorities and The Land of the Beasts" Cinister summarized Jarvis's long and unnecessary explanation
"And don't forget there is a sword which could replace my practise sword" Ragna was ecstatic about it
"Oh yeah I forgot your blade was taken by the clowns" Alya said while crossing her arms
"Yeah now that you guys have a better idea of floor 26 I wish you good luck" Jarvis said while disappearing from tin air
"Okay we should stalk up on supplies" Cinister said as the Fangra walked around the city, then they spotted a nice colourful shop that read "BlackSmith Charm" and as they went in, a cloaked stranger with red hair was stalking them
The Fangra went into a shop to see a plethora of different weapons, potions and supplies for adventures that are serious, so they decided to upgrade their gear and buy potions so they can prepare for the next couple of floors.
"Hey Cini, can I ask you a question?" Alya asked as she went closer to Cinister
"Yeah what's up" Cinister replied to her as he puts a staff he was looking at, in a display
"I think that lady is following us" she said as she pointed towards a lady that was pretending to look at some rusty daggers
"Calm down she probably isn't stalking us" Cinister said to reassure her
"Nope I definitely am" The mysterious lady appears behind him in a blink of an eye
"Ahh!" Cinister and Alya jumped while Ragna took his sword of out his sheath
"Wow calm down I don't mean harm" The Lady said as she revealed her long red hair and piercing green eyes "My name is Eulb and I wanna help you guys!"
"Um do I know you from somewhere?" Cinister asked as he backed up against the wall
"Nope and you don't need to I just like helping new scalers who are going to the Academy" she said as she stood firm and had a cold gaze
"We never said where we are going" Ragna mentioned
"Oh well I'll give you this and you can decide if you want to use it" Eulb gives a map to Cinister that shows the 3 regions and all the fastest shortcuts to one region to another "Well I'll be taking my leave now but we will meet soon, don't worry~"
She said as she disappeared and left all of the Fangra stunned
"Is It just me or today has just gotten weirder and weirder" Alya said as she looked at Ragna and Cinister
"I have no idea but I want to find that sword of devotion" Ragna replied excitedly as he jumped up and down with joy
The Fangra bought a lot of different gear like armour and new weapons for Ragna and Alya and potions for health, mana and poison for Cinister.
"Alright we can start climbing the Tower again" Cinister said
The Fangra defeated floors 21 through 24 with ease, getting 2 legendary, 5 epic, 10 uncommon, 20 common scrolls and a Blessing Stone.
"Is it just me but these floors are nothing compared to what we faced in the mini event" Alya said as she bandaged her arm up from the previous fight
"Don't worry floor 26 will be a hard challenge so don't let your guard down especially after that weird lady told us that she will be there" Cinister replied
"I just want to find that sword" Ragna chimed in
"You seem really excited about that sword but if 3 big clans couldn't find it then we are also not going to be able to find it" Alya replied
"Just wait when I find the sword I will become the greatest hero that has ever lived" Ragna said with determination in his eyes
"Again with this hero nonsense" Cinister sighed "Even when we were kids I told you that heroes are scumbags who just want clout"
"Then I'll be the only hero that does good deeds and helps other people with only one goal in mind, to help everyone get what they want from the Tower" Ragna decided to give Cinister a good talking to
"Fine I'll believe it when I see it but let's head to floor 25" Cinister responded as the Fangra went to the next floor but something felt off.
There were no contestants and the floor was only as big as a house but it looked empty except for a strange looking ball that was put on a pillar. The Fangra were now ready for the challenge that will decide their fates in both their near and far future
On the said floor the Fangra noticed something really strange the instant they walked in the though simple looking normal door of the floor. The area was only as big as a normal house although it was supposed to be land similar to size as a continent. In the small floor there was only one thing sticking out of the otherwise empty room- a pedestal with a single orb positioned on it. The Fangra were going to seal their fate for the near and far future