Ascension of the Primalist [A Tamer Class, LitRPG]

Seth stood alone in a dimly lit chamber, waiting for the tower's instructor to return and initiate his trial. His gaze wandered around, drawn first by the crystal-clear orb resting atop a four-legged stand at the center. Its faint glow was almost completely overpowered by the brilliance of the light-lamps hanging around the room. Inch-deep grooves dropped from each side of the stand, running across the floor and up the rune-covered walls to the ceiling.

Just as Seth was about to move, the heavy door behind swung open and the tower's instructor stepped inside, carrying an orb filled with azure aether in his hand.

"Sorry for the wait," the man said, swapping the ball-shaped artifact on the stand for the new charged one. The moment he did, aether flowed through the grooves along the floor, crawled up the walls, and reached the ceiling in a few seconds. "All right, I’ll now explain the trial, so listen carefully."

Seth snapped his focus back to the instructor and nodded.

"When I leave, place your hand on the orb to start," the man explained. "An aether barrier will form around you, and the clock will begin. Each floor has its own orb. Touching it will summon a beast on a white cross painted on the floor on the other side of the chamber. You’ll have five seconds to prepare before it appears."

"The time limit to defeat it increases according to the floor—two minutes for the first five, four minutes for floors six to ten, and so on. Each beast will be different. Their Rank goes up by two per floor until the eleventh, then by four after that."

The instructor pointed to the door on the opposite side of the chamber and continued, "Once you kill it, you’ll have one minute to reach and activate the next floor’s orb. If you fail to do so—or your barrier gets broken, or you run out of time while fighting a beast—all the orbs deactivate and the trial ends. Your clock will stop at that specific moment, so no need to rush down the stairs to exit the tower. But don’t take too long. Oh, and don’t bother using potions or instant spell-scrolls. They won’t work here. Any questions?"

Seth shook his head, processing everything. "No, sir."

"Then good luck."

With that, the instructor turned and stepped out of the room, leaving him alone once more.

'The aether barrier probably won’t cover you,' Seth said to Nightmare, weighing the pros and cons of letting the direwolf fight without protection. Even if Devus had made it clear before Seth entered that no one could watch the fights, the Tower’s rewards would only be given out at the end of the spring semester—eight months from now. Which left them plenty of time to use their free attempt. 'I don’t think it’s worth the risks.'

'Let's just try first,' Nightmare retorted, moving out of the teardrop’s domain and materializing by Seth’s side. 'If it doesn't cover me, I can still help clear the first floors.'

'Fine,' Seth relented, approaching the stand.

Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand on the orb brimming with aether. Almost instantly, a cloud of tiny blue particles appeared around him, dancing and twirling gracefully before enveloping him and fusing into a shimmering barrier. Turning his head, he saw Nightmare also covered by an identical layer of aether. 'Looks like I was wrong.'

'Oh yeah!' the direwolf exclaimed, his joy resonating deeply through their bond. 'That ponytail jerk will finally shut up when he sees your ranking!'

Seth’s eyes moved toward the large black door, which was now opening on a staircase on the opposite side. 'Alright, let’s go.'

They both dashed forward, their rushing footsteps echoing as they climbed up to the first floor. Beside Seth, Nightmare licked his chops—it would be his first fight in almost four days.

The moment they reached the top of the stairs, they entered a vast chamber illuminated by the light-lamps adorning its walls and the blue aether swirling in the orb a few feet in front of them.

Seth's eyes swept the room, quickly spotting the white cross a few dozen yards ahead. Without wasting time, he touched the orb to activate it, then charged forward, followed closely by Nightmare. According to Devus, the first beast would be Rank 2, so there was no need for caution here.

As they neared the cross painted on the floor, a brown rabbit appeared out of thin air and glanced at them apprehensively.