Chapter 18: The culprit
[True Elites Headquarters, The Upside]
*Camera Shutters*
*Flashes*
"It fills me with profound sorrow to convene this press briefing. Today, we at True Elites grapple with a crisis of unparalleled scale.
Joe Jones, a key figure in squad 16 and a recognized member of our guild, has been implicated in collusion with the Agents of Olympus, suspected of playing a pivotal role in the abduction of his team leader, the rising star Riva Yadav.
On the day of the incident, Joe, tasked with Riva's security, was the initial responder to the explosion at her apartment and is suspected of wiping away any useful evidence that could have been collected, torpedoing the reconnaissance efforts.
Currently, Joe has vanished from his home and was last observed entering the tower solo.
Our intelligence points to his presence on floor 21, a known stronghold of the Olympians, further casting doubt on his allegiance in Riva's disappearance.
This incident marks the first instance of a human, a fellow member of our society, committing such a stark betrayal against our community, and it pains me to acknowledge the emergence of such a traitor from within our ranks.
Going forward, one of the guilds foremost priority shall be to apprehend Joe and make him stand trial for his crimes, right here on Earth and to aid this purpose, we the Elites issue a massive bounty of One Million Tower Gold for his capture alive and a hundred thousand if dead.
Despite this adversity, we the True Elites remain unwavering in our commitment to secure Riva's safe return, whatever the cost so may the Gemini Gods extend their blessings and give us strength, amen" declared Karna in a global press statement with his words causing a far reaching ripple effect.
For an Earth climber, a devotee of Gemini, to forsake their gods for Olympus and collude with extraterrestrials to kidnap an Earthling represents an egregious violation.
Historically, Earth's climbers had been known for their steadfast devotion to their guardian deities and fellow humans. By forsaking both, Joe had now not only become a renegade of faith but also the planet's foremost adversary.
***********
( Meanwhile Rocky )
Rocky watched the press conference live and felt his blood come to a boil when he found out that uncle Joe, the same man who he and his sister trusted so much, was the snake that betrayed her.
"Uncle Joe…. No….. Bastard Joe you will pay for this, I swear!" Rocky said seething, as he resolved to make Joe pay for this betrayal.
[ Strongest System Notification:- You have a new quest!
Quest Title- Punish the traitor.
Quest Description- Joe, a man your sister trusted so deeply has been revealed to be the one who betrayed her.
Avenge your sister by capturing Joe and turning him over to authorities on Earth.
Time limit - None
Failure Penalty - None
Rewards - ???? ]
A new system notification issued Rocky his first mission without any penalties.
Without a time constraint on it either, the system was very lenient with this quest, however, the rewards for completing the quest remained a mystery.
With or without the quest, Rocky had resolved himself to bring Joe to justice anyways, and hence even if the reward for this quest was nothing at all, Rocky still would not care.
However, while Rocky seethed in anger, a new wave of support began emerging for him and his previous statement on social media, as his public image took yet another major shift once his baseless allegations were proven true.
The same people who were cursing him just a couple of days ago, began to change their tone and sing his praises as they commended Rocky on his bravery to call things as he saw them, even if it went beyond social conformities.
From a positive figure to a hated villain to a visionary, Rocky's image took violent turns, however, as a result of all the controversy around him, he became a household name that gained global popularity.
In the week following Karna's interview, Rocky went from having about one and a half million subscribers on his channel to over 15 million as he observed explosive growth unlike anything one could have imagined.
Brands came knocking to make Rocky their brand ambassador, promoters lined up with thick stacks of money for Rocky to give a shoutout of their products in his vlog and other popular influencers begged Rocky to make a collaboration video.
He also got invited to 'Dinnertime With Sunny' for the second time in the same month, however, Rocky rejected all offers.
Focusing solely on his system workout routine and his upcoming final exams, Rocky bided his time until he could officially enter the tower as he was now burning with ambition to begin his climber journey and bring his sister's kidnappers to justice.
Chapter 19: Graduation
Good news came for Rocky in the form that both his friends Taylor and Adam underwent their first awakenings on their birthday week itself.
From their entire batch, it was only the three of them and a nerdy girl named Layla who underwent first awakening around their birthdays as the rest were either waiting to turn 18 or had not undergone awakening at least in their first few months of turning 18.
While technically one could still undergo awakening between ages 18-21, the longer it took for one to awaken the lesser their potential generally was and such talents were mostly undesirable to major guilds.
It was around this time that children began to realize that not everyone was created equal as the power dynamics began subtly shifting for the first time in their life.
Uptil now, everyone wore a uniform, everyone received the same education, everyone played the same games together and were more or less friendly with one another, however, all that was going to change starting now.
The climbers would go onto join the tower, join the climber university and become warrior's or craftsmen while the non-climbers would be forced to prepare for rigorous entrance exams and a difficult job market, which would on average pay 1/10th of what a level10 climber would earn a year.
While the climbers would go on to improve their physical strength, their appearance, their lifespan.
Drive fancy cars, date beautiful women/men…. The non-climbers would live a normal life and cower every time the year of death came around praying that their heroes and saviors managed to fend off the monster tide.
Jealousy, disbelief, desperation…. This was the first time that the young adults had to feel these emotions as intensely as they did and it drove them crazy.
While Rocky, Taylor and Adam laughed and giggled about their upcoming climber life, the rest could only grit their teeth and secretly search on the internet about shady ways to forcefully undergo awakening, following unproven superstitions and drinking unlicensed medicine in hope of having a life that was never meant for them.
Not all humans were born equal. This was a tough concept to swallow for most, however, in this world where the tower existed.
Only the Climbers were the first class citizens.
While non-climbers were second rate, and the fact that this distinction was not made at birth, but rather after individuals matured and had hope of becoming climbers, made this process even more painful and cruel than it should have ideally been.
Just like that, soon the final exam season rolled around and Rocky, alongside both his friends, managed to pass out with flying colors.
All three having received their no objection certificates from the school, they could now enter the tower and join a climber academy after officially registering with the climber association.
**************
( Graduation night, Amelia's house )
For Rocky, his graduation day coincided with the last and final day of his 90 day hard challenge as after receiving the result and going out for lunch with his best friends, Rocky returned home to complete his last workout routine as he observed a massive difference between his last workout session as compared to his first.
On his last day, Rocky could complete all ten sets of his exercises with relative ease as he needed hardly 60 minutes to complete the full workout routine that once took him half a day to complete.
His 5 mile running time had dropped down to just over 20 minutes and his lung capacity became better than ever.
He had gained a lot of knowledge about the tower, its history and the various factions within it, including a thorough understanding of which factions controlled what floors and which gods were friendly with which gods.
His Me Tube channel had grown to 22 million subscribers in just 90 days and he was currently riding a wave of explosive growth and adding hundreds of thousands of subscribers to his channel everyday.
Overall, it all felt like a dream to Rocky, however, he could not enjoy it in peace as the absence of his sister kept pricking him constantly.
Since him graduating also meant that he would soon be moving out of Amelia's apartment, after completing his workout and drinking his refreshment potion, Rocky decided to do something grand for Amelia as a thankyou gesture.
Instead of getting hammered on booze like the rest of his class for his graduation party, Rocky hand cooked dinner for Amelia, ordered her expensive gifts from the money that he received from his MeTube channel and decorated the house as best as he could with flowers and candles.
It was almost like a date, although it was not-
Despite how it looked, Rocky only wanted to make a nice gesture which was why he did all that he could to convey his heartfelt gratitude.
Later at night, as Amelia returned from work, she was surprised and thrilled to see what Rocky had planned for her, as watching the beautifully decorated dinner table and the young and handsome Rocky waiting for her in a suit, she could not help but chuckle and blush as she graciously accepted his arrangement.
Although the food that Rocky cooked was not really that good, Amelia felt really moved by his effort as just for one evening she dropped her stern attitude and laughed and enjoyed alongside Rocky, celebrating his graduation.
During dinner, for the first time in her life Amelia wondered if she had an actual boyfriend, would she be treated to such special evenings more often?
She questioned whether she was missing out on the quality of life and it's little joys because she was basically married to her work? However, she quickly shrug these thoughts off as she knew that while a relationship had its highs, the lows lasted longer and were worse and that she did not need such drama in her life.
"So, when are you planning to move out? Also what university are you planning to enroll into?" Amelia asked, once their dinner was complete and the two washed the dishes.
"Hopefully the day after tomorrow, I'm going to register myself as a climber tomorrow at the association and move onto enrolling into a climber university at floor zero, while the new session is yet to begin" Rocky replied as Amelia nodded her head and approved of Rocky's plan.
If Rocky was fast, he could still enroll before the next university session commenced and complete his introductory training to become a climber.
"I'll miss you, kid. You're a problem child, but a good child.
Although I might not show it, I'm quite fond of you and should you run into any trouble, you can always count on Aunt Amelia to help you out.
Since the guildmaster has promised you a letter of recommendation, you can rest assured that any B grade university will accept you, even if you have the worst evaluation at the association.
With a half decent talent you can enroll into an A grade university, however, if you wish to aim for the top four universities, you will need to have more than just the guild master's recommendation letter to make the cut.
My suggestion will be to go for the university for nourishment of young talents as your first choice…..
The best warrior's are always once who have been mentored by that crazy principal" Amelia said as she conveyed her true emotions in the most formal way possible as Rocky smiled and gave her a tight hug, taking her by surprise.
For a second, Amelia was stunned, but she then smiled and returned Rocky's embrace feeling warmth in her heart.
-----------
/// A/N - Bonus chapter 1/5.
I'll try to complete the bonus series by tomorrow or day after by latest. ///
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
21 Power
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