Chapter 10: Walking A Different Path

The next day, Kayn woke up really early in the morning to prepare to go to school. As he got off his bed, he immediately went to the bathroom to take a bath and do all of his morning routines.

At this present moment, Kayn still isn't recognized as a Hero; despite the fact that he has already awoken his ability. He's nothing more than a kid that possesses almost nothing in his name. Of course, possessing nothing is not the reason why he isn't a Hero yet.

In reality, before being recognized as a Hero, one needs to fulfill two difficult requirements.

The first requirement is they have to be granted access by the 'Tower' to enter its floors.

Only when one could enter the 'Tower' would they be called a Hero, otherwise they'd just be an individual that possesses an ability or also known as a Superhuman.

In order to gain access to enter the 'Tower', they must first have to do something that will get the attention of the 'Tower', and that so-called something is by clearing the Dungeons and performing extremely well during the operation.

Unlike inside the 'Tower' where there exist different floors that the Heroes must clear in order to go to the next higher level, outside exist numerous portals or gates that are called Dungeons.

In reality, dungeons are just a part of the 'Tower'. As a matter of fact, people that enter a Dungeon could sometimes be seen by the people inside the 'Tower' as long as one knows the location of the portal from the other side. The reason for this is because it's the inhabitants of the 'Tower' themselves that open up those Dungeons in order for them to make a path to invade Earth.

During the portal creation, a small rift will form on Earth which the Superhumans and Heroes could use to get inside ahead of time to stop the monsters who are trying to make a path to connect to their planet. If this portal gets completed because no one was able to clear the Dungeon in time or no one wanted to clear the Dungeon, an occurrence called Dungeon Outbreak will happen.

Once a Dungeon Outbreak occurs, no one will be able to stop it from continuously spawning monsters on the side of Earth, that's because once a Dungeon is complete no one will be able to destroy it and it will forever continue to exist as long as no one clears the 'Tower'. This was the main reason why Kayn is so adamant about stopping the 'Tower' so that no more monsters will invade Earth.

The only way to stop the monsters from invading Earth through the use of the Dungeons is to find the exact location of the Dungeon inside the 'Tower' and establish a fortress on that side in order to stop the monsters from continuing to enter the portal they have created. To do so, they will first send a Hero inside the Dungeon to scout the location and then communicate to their comrades who are inside the 'Tower', that is if no one knows its whereabouts yet.

It might sound easy, but in truth, this expedition actually requires a tremendous amount of resources and manpower to achieve. Not to mention, countless lives would certainly be sacrificed during the reclamation. Moreover, Heroes need to be stationed at the fortress all the time to defend the portal from any monsters that intend to enter it. As such, it is of utmost importance to clear a Dungeon to prevent a Dungeon Outbreak.

The second requirement is they'd have to graduate from a Hero Academy that teaches all potential Superhumans how to become real Heroes.

To graduate from a Hero Academy, they'd have to study extremely hard in order to pass all the subjects and challenges related to the 'Tower' that takes a total of around two to three years to complete. Of course, it's also possible for one to graduate in a shorter period of time, though rarely would there be cases like that since that only happens when an individual has shown great potential and received the attention of guilds.

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The reason for all of that is because being a Hero is not a job where as long as a person has the ability or is being recognized as someone more powerful than ordinary people, they can immediately be called one.

Becoming a Hero requires one to walk an arduous path, since with great power naturally comes great responsibility. They might be considered strong, but similarly, their enemies are strong like them as well. Not only that, every single day is considered their last day unless the said day has finally ended. That's because life inside the 'Tower' is utterly different compared to life on Earth. And it's exactly because of that reason why people have to study about the 'Tower' before entering its floors, otherwise, it would be akin to suicide.

All the teachings taught by Hero Academies are real-life experiences and lessons learned through numerous blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifices shed by the Heroes that have already entered the 'Tower' throughout the years, thus it's a given just how important knowing about this information is beforehand. Without it, Heroes would have to undergo the same fate as the first generation of Heroes where they had to explore everything inside the 'Tower' blindly.

"You have already graduated from a Hero Academy, so are you planning on graduating again?" Natas can't help asking while eating his breakfast. Apparently, although he is a Spirit, he still feels hungry. Maybe this is because he still hasn't gotten used to being a Spirit yet or perhaps, he is not an actual Spirit, but something different instead. Only time would be able to tell him about that as he continues to study his new unknown identity.

"Of course not," Kayn shook his head. "Continuing to study in a Hero Academy is just a waste of time for me. After all, my knowledge about the 'Tower' is something that even all the Hero Academies combined together can't compare to,"

After all, Kayn has reached the top floor of the 'Tower'. Not only that, but he had also led countless Heroes on numerous expeditions to clear the floors. If there's anyone that can compare to him, it's probably only Nicholas, who had also undergone a reincarnation just like him.

"Exactly," Natas agreed. But he quickly added, "Then how will you solve the other requirement in becoming a Hero?"

"There are many ways to tackle that issue. Problem is, we need to consider everything thoroughly first before jumping to conclusions," Kayn explained. As he had mentioned previously, walking on the same path as he had walked in his previous life is not going to help him that much in his goal of fighting against those people that betrayed him, Nicholas, and the almighty 'Tower' itself. Of course, he could still do what he had done before since there are still a lot of things in his previous life that can help him in achieving his goal in this current life. However, he can't plainly stick with only doing the same thing. Simply put, he needs to walk a completely different path than what he had walked in the second life.

"In that case, should it not be much better staying in your house than going to school? We could use the time you will be spending in school to decide on how we can solve our current problem instead," Natas expressed his opinion.

"That's exactly what I am about to do," Kayn said as he grabbed his bag by the side and walked to the door.

"What do you mean?" Natas asked, curious at what Kayn meant with his words. He might be a God, but that doesn't necessarily mean he knows everything. Yes, he indeed knows a lot, that's an undeniable fact, especially information related to the 'Tower'. But just like what he mentioned before, he didn't pay attention to Kayn during this time because he wasn't a Hero yet. In other words, he doesn't pay attention to anyone who hasn't entered the 'Tower' or those that haven't received the title 'Hero', or in general life on Earth. As such, he isn't familiar with any events that transpired during this moment in time.

"Rather than explaining it to you, you should see it with your own eyes," Kayn grinned at Natas.

"You..!" Natas exclaimed in disbelief.

"Besides, I believe you don't like people telling you stories of what they have experienced. Instead, you prefer experiencing it yourself," Kayn added as he stepped past the door of his house. He had noticed yesterday that Natas was so focused on observing his surroundings in the park and while they were walking to his house. The only explanation for this is that Natas have heard stories and even seen life on Earth from the 'Tower', but he prefers to experience living such a life himself.

"Fair enough," Natas nodded his head in acceptance. Indeed, he likes to experience things rather than simply hearing or looking at them. After all, where's the fun in doing that? It's like watching reaction videos when he could instead just watch the videos himself or even do the same as what the videos did.

As soon as Kayn walked outside, he tightly closed the door and locked it before starting to walk in the direction of the school he was studying.

Studying was one of the greatest hobbies that Kayn has cultivated throughout his life as it was something, he needs to have in order to turn his life for the better and climb out of poverty. Because of that, he was able to pass the entrance exam of one of the top academies in the world, the Starlight Hero Academy.

The Starlight Hero Academy ranked 5th out of the top 10 Hero Academies on Earth. The reasons are that numerous great Heroes on the top of the pyramid inside the 'Tower' had graduated from this Academy and are actively providing resources, chances, monetary gifts, and opportunities to their juniors who study in the Academy and perform excellently. Through this, they were able to provide top-notch knowledge and experiences to all Heroes that will graduate from their school.

Moreover, the Starlight Hero Academy is located in the Moon Dragon City, which is the capital city of the Dragon Beast Republic, the organization that governs all the geniuses of the Phoenix Beast Republic, Tiger Beast Republic, and the Tortoise Beast Republic, which means to say that its where numerous geniuses are gathered together.

That's right, Kayn is literally living in the same territory as Nicholas, the President of the World Leader Alliance and his nemesis, and at the same time is actually also studying in the same school as the latter. This means that not only is Nicholas his predecessor as the former number one Hero on Earth but his senior in the same Hero Academy as well.

What a really strange coincidence.. or is it?