Capítulo 2: Abduction
(True Elite Guild Headquarters, The Upside)
Rocky shivered uncontrollably as he could not get a grip on his emotions.
First responders had arrived pretty quickly at the blast site, and so had some climbers from the True Elite Guild that his sister was a part of.
The firefighters did not let Rocky near the flaming apartment; however, they searched every last room of the apartment for any sign of Riva or her dead body but found no traces of life.
Whether it be unfortunately or fortunately, they found no signs of any dead body within the apartment, as Riva was declared to be missing.
The climbers from the True Elite Guild, who were apparently Riva's team members, juniors, and superiors, searched the house for any sign of forced entry or struggle. However, despite using detection spells and advanced tower technology, the blast seemed to have reduced the entire apartment to ashes, and even if there were signs left behind by the intruder, they seemed to be incinerated by the fire.
Among the climbers that had come to the blast site, Rocky knew one 'Uncle Joe' really well as he was the second in command in Riva's raid party and was someone whom his sister trusted a lot.
It was to this Uncle Joe to whom Rocky revealed everything he knew about today's accident, and it was he who escorted Rocky from the blast site to the True Elite Guild headquarters for his own safety.
Although Rocky protested a lot, saying that he wished to search for his sister on his own, Joe firmly denied his demands and forcefully brought him to the guild headquarters for a meeting with the guildmaster.
*********
(The guildmaster's office)
Rocky shivered as he constantly worried about the state that his sister was in as although he did not vocally express it much, his sister actually meant the world to him.
Their parents were normal middle-class people who were not chosen to be climbers.
Their father was a financial consultant, and their mother was an orthopaedic doctor as the Yadav family of four was a small and happy unit.
Two years ago, just a day or two after Riva turned 18, their mother and father died suddenly in a car accident as Rocky and Riva were orphaned overnight.
It was on this very day when Riva got the news that their parents had died, that she awakened as a climber and the life of the brother and sister suddenly changed overnight.
After their parents' untimely death, Riva took up the financial mantle of the family and looked after Rocky's every need while also making a name for herself as a rookie climber.
She was a prodigy, a rising star, and someone who uplifted the Yadav family from middle class to urban elite in a short time.
For Rocky, she was his only family still alive, and Rocky was ready to go to hell and back if it meant that he could save her. However, unfortunately, the incident surrounding Riva was climber related, and he was not qualified enough yet to interfere.
"Man, Joe, I told Riva to move into the upside, man. We have an apartment for her here.
It would have been safer for her here, man, however, just because she did not want her little brother to go through a stressful high school change, she kept declining the apartment.
Fuck, man."
"Hey, bunny, keep your voice down, man. That kid is sitting right inside the guildmaster's office; he may hear you," Joe said as Rocky heard everything the two talked about outside.
Rocky and Riva used to live on the 42nd floor of a high-end luxurious apartment, and the area they lived in was by no means a district full of crime or problems.
They lived amongst really wealthy families who had a considerable influence over the local administration; however, the upside was undoubtedly in a league of its own.
A fortified mini-township where only mega billionaires and the most important climbers of the country lived, the upside was a residential area where buying a house needed more than just mere money.
It was Rocky's dream to buy a house there someday after he became a climber; however, he had no idea that his sister had already gotten an offer to buy an apartment there.
The fact that she declined a life of luxury just because he would not have to go through the stress of changing schools made Rocky feel even more emotional as he was reminded of just how kind and noble his sister was.
*SWOOSH*
Rocky was surprised when the office door suddenly flung open, and a tall and handsome man walked into the room with a deep frown on his face.
Rocky did not even need to take a good look at his face to recognize him as he was arguably one of the most famous and influential humans on Earth at the moment.
Hailed as one of the three strongest climbers and the leader of the undisputed strongest climber guild of them all, he was guildmaster Karna, a ranker who had managed to cross the threshold of being a mere human by ascending to floor 51 of the tower. His presence itself was suffocating, his aura intense. No matter what room he walked into, it was assured that he would become the centre of attraction in that room.
As he sat across from Rocky, he looked into Rocky's eyes and let out a deep sigh before extending his hand as if offering it for a handshake.
For a moment, Rocky was perplexed; he did not expect the guildmaster of the prestigious True Elite Guild to shake his hand. However, after leaving him hanging for a few seconds, Rocky finally responded as he shook his hand.
Up to this point, Rocky trembled constantly. However, as soon as he shook Karna's hand, he felt a sense of warmth washing over him as his nerves calmed down, and he stopped trembling.
"Rocky Yadav, let me first offer my sincere apologies for this lapse in security from the True Elite Guild.
We were supposed to be protecting your sister, but we failed. I don't know how to softly tell you this, but I reckon you would not want anything less than the absolute truth regarding this subject, so I'll not mince my words.
It looks like agents of Olympus gods have kidnapped your sister," Karna said as Rocky suddenly felt his heart rate spike and his vision double after hearing this sentence.
*Crash*
He slipped awkwardly from the chair he was sitting on and hit the floor below as his body began shivering as if it was going into epileptic shock.
"AMELIA, AMELIA, SOMEONE SEND THE HEALER HERE, THE BOY'S UNDERGOING AN AWAKENING. AMELIA-"
Rocky heard guildmaster Karna shouting before his vision completely blacked out, and he lost consciousness.
Capítulo 3: Awakening
When the tower first selected someone to become a Climber, they underwent a painful process which was popularly known as the 'First Awakening'.
Originally, every human, animal and insect was endowed with three essential elements at birth, namely- the body, the soul, and the mana pathway.
Upon their arrival into the world, each individual received a physical form, or body, which they soon learned to master.
This early mastery of their physical form was crucial for their survival and interaction with their immediate environment, however, the time it took for various species to master their bodies varied greatly from species to species.
Parallel to the physical network of veins and capillaries within the body, there also existed a metaphysical conduit known as the mana pathway or mana circuit.
Unlike the visible circulatory system, this mana pathway was a metaphysical network, invisible to the naked eye yet essential for channeling the mystical energy known as mana which was essential to perform extraordinary deeds and magic.
For humans, this conduit remained sealed and inactive until maturity like a dormant channel lying in wait until the tower deemed them worthy to ascend as a Climber.
Till date, the criteria for this selection by the tower remained a mystery, sparking curiosity and speculation among those who yearned to be chosen.
The act of being selected and undergoing the First Awakening was a transformative experience, as it initiated the unsealing of the mana circuit.
With the unsealing of the mana circuit, an individual encountered the world's natural mana for the very first time, often leading to their body collapsing from shock—a process that, in severe cases, could result in the awakener's death.
The dormant mana circuits of the awakeners, never before activated, suddenly surged with mana, inundating the newcomer with sensations entirely new and overwhelming, as mana flowed through their body for the first time.
Despite the variability of experiences among individuals, a common and notable aspect of the first awakening was the intense pain accompanying the process. This pain was accompanied by the expulsion of a foul-smelling, consolidated black gel-like substance from the pores, as the world's natural mana fortified and purified the climber's body.
The expulsion of more black gel signified a more thorough cleansing of the body, removing unwanted impurities and enhancing the climber's future potential.
However, this black gel was highly toxic and required expert handling by trained professionals. Contact with this substance during a climber's first awakening could nearly guarantee a serious infection for an ordinary human.
In the secondary and higher secondary schools of Earth, it was mandatory for the schools to teach all students what to do when a friend or colleague underwent their first awakening, as every kid was educated and taught that they needed to stay away from the awakener and immediately call the climbers association at 922 for assistance.
Usually, the climbers association dispatched a healer to whatever location the awakening call came from, however, since Rocky was within the True Elites Guild when he underwent his awakening, there was no need to call for a climber's association healer as the True Elites guild already had in-house healers who were well trained to perform this task.
"Guildmaster, I've never seen someone eject so much black goo before, it's almost never ending.
He has already ejected 2.5kgs and is showing no signs of slowing down" The True Elite healer, Cassian, said in astonishment as even Karna looked surprised at this phenomenon.
" The cleaner his mana pathways get from the start, the easier it will be for him to learn spells.
He's bound to have a bright future like his sister…." Joe said with an undertone of jealousy as he watched Rocky undergo his first awakening with envy.
" It's too early to decide his potential, also talent is not everything in this world, temperament matters equally or perhaps even more than talent " Amelia the guild secretary said, as although she was a mere mortal, her standing within the True Elites guild was second only to Karna and the vice guildmaster.
A few more minutes passed and Rocky ejected yet another half a kilo of black goo before finally showing signs of slowing down as the healer Cassian could finally catch his breath from constantly wiping and healing Rocky's body.
" His heart rate is stable, but I think he will be out till morning with how much weight he just lost.
Damn, the kid went from having an undefined body to a chiseled body in minutes" Cassian said, as he rubbed his cleaning cloth over Rocky's newly formed six pack abbs.
" Comeon Cassian, the kid was already in pretty good shape.
Although the awakening improved his physique, you're exaggerating its importance" Amelia said as she noticed Rocky transform before her very own eyes and noted that although it was a decent transformation, it wasn't as pronounced as Cassian made it to be.
" Alright, let's let the kid sleep for tonight. He has already been through a lot.
Cassian keep checking on him from time to time throughout the night and Amelia bring him to meet me when he wakes up tomorrow morning" Karna said, as he dispersed the group once Rocky's awakening was completed.
**********
( Meanwhile, within Rocky's subconscious )
Rocky found himself walking in a pure white space that seemed to stretch till infinity.
For as far as he could see, there was nothing but just pure white walls as he wondered if this was a dream or was it an elaborate illusion?
" Rocky Yadav…we meet at last " a deep voice said from behind Rocky as he turned and found himself staring at a handsome man with deep blue eyes and pure white angel wings.
The appearance of the man was a bit nostalgic for Rocky as he looked like the perfect copy of what his school books depicted as 'Shakuni', one of the most powerful gods of the tower, and one half of the most followed godly pair on Earth, the Gemini brothers.
"You look like Shakuni the Terrifying" Rocky blabbered without thinking as the man before him smiled as he said "I am Shakuni".
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