*Step. Step.*
The sound of my footsteps echoing against the obsidian tiles was the only thing accompanying me as I walked further away from the garden.
The guilt that had briefly flickered in my chest, Adam's guilt, was already beginning to fade.
It was strange. Just a moment ago, I had felt like a monster for crushing a child's happiness.
Now?
'It was necessary.'
The thought felt natural. Smooth.
Like a well-oiled gear sliding into place. Radu was weak. Not in prowess, but in character.
By crushing that flower, I had taught him a lesson that may or may not help him in the future.
'So I kinda did him a favor.'
A small smirk tugged at the corner of my lips. Yes. That was it.
I was being a great brother.
[DING!]
A sharp chime rang out, and a semi-transparent red screen manifested before my eyes once again, hovering amidst the crimson twilight.
[Soul Integration has progressed!]
[Current Progress: 41%]
I halted, staring at the number. 41%. It had jumped.
And that by a lot.
I raised my hand, examining the pale skin, the sharp nails. The slight dissonance I had felt earlier, the jarring gap between Adam and Sethius, was shrinking even more.
My past memories... they felt distant now.
Like a movie I had watched years ago and barely remembered the plot of.
Conversely, the urge to draw my sword, the disdain for weakness, the thirst for power... it was amplifying.
"Good."
I lowered my hand. If I wanted to survive in this world, Adam had to die.
Or rather, he had to be consumed.
I needed Sethius's instincts. I needed his cruelty.
"Now then..."
Since I was already outside, away from the prying eyes of the maids, it was time to properly assess my assets.
I needed to know exactly what I was working with.
"Status."
The screen flickered, expanding to reveal the full details.
[Legacy]: One Who Likes To Cut (C+)
My eyes narrowed at the text. "One Who Likes To Cut..."
It sounded crude. Barbaric, even.
But, as I focused on the text, information came to my mind.
[Legacy Description]:A Legacy bestowed upon a soul that finds joy not just in the battle itself, but in the act of severing. It is the mark of a man who views the world as a collection of things waiting to be cut and nothing more.
[NOTE]: The grade of the Legacy increases as the user performs feats that resonate with this nature within the Tower.
"Hah."
A dry laugh escaped me. It was a rather fitting description for a maniac like Sethius.
Legacies were not common. In this world, the Tower was everything.
It was the source of mana, the source of power, and the source of authority.
Countless beings were born on the upper stratums of the Tower, just like the Vampires residing here on the 87th Floor.
But geography didn't equate to strength. No. 99% of them would simply rot here.
They would live their mundane lives, breed like cattle, and turn to dust without ever possessing the authority to do the Tutorial and climb to a different floor.
They were trapped. Simple citizens with zero power.
But did that make them truly useless? Hardly.
The Tower followed a cruel law of equivalent exchange. The higher the Birth Floor, the higher the probability of awakening a Legacy.
But power always demanded a price.
And for us, high-borns, that price was the future.
The higher the potential for power, the lower the fertility rate.
It was a golden cage where the strong were few, and the weak were many.
So, to have a Legacy was to be a noble in the truest sense, transcending bloodlines.
And mine? It was a C+ already!
Most will start at E or F and get capped at B, and in the off chance you are very lucky at A.
To start at C+ meant that Sethius was already recognized by the Tower.
"And it grows stronger the more impressive my feats are..."
My thumb brushed against the hilt of the Miao Dao. That meant I needed to cut strong things. Important things.
Next on the list was... my rank.
[Rank]: F+
This... was the most terrifying part. I was fourteen. Not even in the Academy yet, where the average freshman would be hovering around Rank G.
The talented ones might be G+. A true genius, the kind that appeared once a decade, might hit Rank F- after the Tutorial.
But F+?
That was absurdist fiction. That was the median strength of a graduate student, one who already done their one-year compulsory stay on the 10th floor.
"I'm essentially a shark swimming in a pool of goldfish."
It made sense why Sethius was this arrogant. He had every right to be at the end of the day.
And finally, the traits.
[Unity of Sword and Body (SSS+)]: The user does not wield the sword; the user IS the sword.
→ Absolute mastery over any bladed weapon is instinctive; it only needs polishing.
→ All damages provoked from sword-based attacks are increased by 100%.
→???
[Maniac of Slaughter (S+)]: In the presence of blood and death, reasoning fades, and instinct takes over.
→ Pain is converted into pleasure.
→Fear is converted into excitement.
→ All capabilities increase by 10% when facing a stronger opponent.
[Eye of Mimir (S+)]: The eye that sees the root of all things
→Allows the user to perceive the flow of all energies and the essence of all things
→Allows the user to see the weak points of what they are facing.
"Monstrous."
I closed the system interface. The knowledge was intoxicating, but knowledge without application was useless.
I needed to test this. My body was itching.
The mana beneath my skin was buzzing, demanding to be released.
*Step. Step.*
I moved deeper into the castle grounds, ignoring the looks of the guards as I passed them by.
I headed toward the outskirts, near the jagged cliffs that overlooked the Abyss, the edge of the vampire domain.
There, nestled between dark, towering rocks, was a clearing.
It was barren, save for a few ancient, petrified trees that looked harder than steel.
"This will do."
I stood in the center of the clearing. The wind howled here, carrying the scent of ozone and sulfur from the abyss below.
I reached for the Miao Dao.
*Ssshhhhing—!*
The blade slid from the sheath with a sound like silk being torn. It was long. Heavy. Yet in my hands, it felt weightless.
I closed my eyes. I didn't think about a technique. I didn't recall a manual. I just let my trait take over.
*Thump.*
My heart beat once. The world slowed down.
I could feel the wind pressing against the flat of the blade.
I could feel the microscopic vibrations of the steel.
My eyes snapped open. The crimson iris glowed with a terrifying light.
"Cut."
I didn't shout. I whispered.
*SWOOOOOSH!*
I swung. It wasn't a fancy move. It was a simple diagonal slash. But the speed...
*Crack!*
The air in front of me screamed as it was split apart.
A crescent of pure, black mana erupted from the blade, tearing through the clearing.
*BOOM!*
Ten meters away, one of the petrified trees, a trunk as thick as a car, didn't just break.
It disintegrated at the point of impact. The top half of the tree slid off slowly, the cut surface smooth as a mirror, before crashing to the rocky ground with a heavy thud.
"....."
I stood frozen, the blade extended. I looked at the tree. Then I looked at the sword.
"Hah..."
My breath came out ragged, but not from exhaustion. From ecstasy.
The feedback... the sensation of the blade biting through the hardwood as if it were butter... it sent a jolt of pleasure straight to my brain that was better than any drug.
[The Tower is looking at you fondly]
[Your Legacy has progressed even further]
Two tiny notifications popped up. Even cutting a tree counted? My grin widened, stretching across my face until it hurt.
"More."
I looked at the other trees. I looked at the rocks. I looked at the world around me.
Adam wanted to save people. Booriing.
Sethius?
Sethius just wanted to see what else he could cut.
*Swoosh! Swoosh! Crack!*
The clearing was soon filled with the sounds of destruction, and for the first time since waking up in this hellish world, I felt truly alive.