Once again, Jason found himself in a milky white world, except this time there was no wave of terrifying killing intent. Aros wore a grey robe and still had the same short grey beard, With his hands clasped behind his back, he gave Jason a nod. "I've been watching your progress. I'm quite pleased."

Jason forced back his emotions and put on a respectful expression. Although he doubted Aros was a G.o.d, Aros was still the most powerful living thing Jason had ever encountered. It was best to be polite and not let his emotions get the best of him. "Sir Aros, what does tier two and tier three mean? Please enlighten me."

"Of course, of course." Aros stroked his beard and gave a light chuckle. "Now that the tower recognizes your species as a tier three trial taker, I can tell you many things."

Jason grew expectant. Perhaps he would learn more about the Tower's origins? Aros began to explain. "This tower was created by a… human?"

Aros scratched his head. "He a.s.sumed the appearance of a young male, though I doubt that's his true appearance."

Aros paused. "Anyway, he stated that the goal of the tower is to find a disciple."

"A disciple?" Jason repeated.

"Let me take a few steps back." Aros grew solemn. "In our universe, there is a type of energy. It has many names. Qi, mana, and chi, just to name a few. To be clear, your galaxy lacked any form of this energy. Quite rare. Oh, now that I think about it, maybe that's why he was so interested in this galaxy?" Aros coughed. "Pardon my rambling. Anyway, by cultivating and manipulating this energy, one can go beyond their mortal body. For example, I'm several million years old, and am quite renowned in the universe for my battle energy, a unique usage of the energy I mentioned earlier."

"Several million years old?" Jason gasped.

Aros chuckled as he stroked his beard. "Anywho, over the years, many life forms have come up with unique methods of combat by utilizing this energy. In order to let their legacy survive, they find disciples to pa.s.s on their techniques. Sects are formed, wars are raged, blah, blah, blah. That has nothing to do with you right now."

Jason's eyes flashed. "So that means… I'm your disciple?"

"Ehhh." Aros tilted his head back and forth. "Quasi-disciple, maybe? You haven't learned my core techniques yet."

"Okay. I think I understand." Jason nodded hesitantly. "So the creator of the tower is looking for a disciple to pa.s.s on his techniques? How powerful is he, compared to you?"

"Let me tell you a story." Aros grew solemn. As he did, the surroundings dimmed. "n.o.body knows his name, where he came from, or how old he is. It was as if he just randomly appeared."

A grey light flashed through Aros' eyes. "I was just minding my own business when he arrived before me. You must imagine my surprise. At my level, n.o.body in the entire universe could sneak up on me. And yet there he was. I could sense nothing from him. It was as if he was just a mortal."

Aros glanced at the ground as he recalled that moment. "Back then, I was rather arrogant, haha. I immediately struck him with my strongest attack." Aros clenched his hands. "How laughable. The attack I was so proud of, it was nothing before him."

Jason gulped. "W-what happened?"

Aros raised a finger. "One finger blocked my attack. There was not even a scratch."

Both Aros and Jason fell silent. Aros was already far stronger than Jason could imagine. He didn't even know how strong, and yet someone else blocked Aros' strongest attack with a finger?

Aros waved his hand, dispersing the heavy atmosphere. "Back to the tower. Based on your civilization's potential, you are designated as one of three tiers. Tier one is the lowest, while tier three is the highest. The rewards for completing the tower's trial are different based on your tier."

"Huh?" The last sentence Aros said struck Jason like lightning. "What did you say?"

"Oh, just that the rewards are different based on the tier." Aros gave Jason a strange look. "Don't ask me what they are. Even I don't know."

Jason collapsed to his knees. How could this be? Most likely, based on what Aros was saying, instead of a wish, there was now going to be a different reward. How was he to revive his father? The realization that his father might now be gone forever left Jason gasping for breath.

"What's wrong?" Aros teleported over to Jason and helped him to his feet. Seeing that Jason was unresponsive, Aros lightly placed his finger on Jason's forehead and sent a wave of energy into his soul.

A feeling of peace and everlasting calmness spread through Jason's mind, awakening him from his thoughts. With a complicated look, he sent Aros a grateful nod and silently wiped away the tears in his eyes.

Aros quietly glanced at Jason. Everybody had their own problems. It was best not to pry. Seeing that Jason's soul returned to normal, he sighed. "I can't say anymore about the tower, lest I get in trouble."

Jason grit his teeth. He now knew the purpose of the tower. The reason why all his friends, family, and comrades died. The reason why humanity was annihilated. It was all to find a disciple. How laughable.

Aros' voice broke Jason from his thoughts. "The main reason I summoned you here was to pa.s.s on a technique to you. Now that you have been recognized as a tier three trial taker, you get to learn it a bit earlier."

"Another technique?" Jason's expression brightened. All of Aros' skills were extraordinarily powerful. Hearing that he would get another one was a nice surprise.

"This is one of my core techniques." Aros grew solemn. "It is to convert the ambient energy in the universe into battle energy, thereby increasing the amount of battle energy you can utilize. Because your galaxy doesn't hold any energy, you can only use this technique in the tower."

"Great!" This was a great surprise. Aros' skills were powerful, but were limited by how much energy they cost.

When Aros saw how excited Jason was, he grew proud. He stroked his beard as he asked. "Are you able to sense mana?"

Jason nodded. "I can feel it, but I can't control it."

Aros slashed out with his hand. "Control your battle energy to carve out a portion of mana. Then, drag it into your body."

"So domineering?" Jason blinked. Wasn't that too simple?

"Battle energy is meant to be domineering!" Aros smirked.

Jason closed his eyes and did as followed. Over the past few months, his control over battle energy had risen considerably. It was a piece of cake to carve out some mana and drag it into his body.

"Now send your senses inward." Aros placed his palm above Jason's head. "Move the mana along this route until it is converted into battle energy."

Jason found to his surprise that in his mind's eye, he was able to see a line marking out a complicated path through his body. He did as instructed and used his battle energy as a shepherd to guide the mana through his body. After several laps, the quant.i.ty of mana grew smaller and smaller. Sensing Jason's confusion, Aros' explained. "My battle energy is made up of mana, but it is a very pure form of it, so you are grinding away the impurities. Because your body is a battle physique, it naturally converts mana into battle energy."

Time pa.s.sed slowly, and after around half an hour, the initially large amount of mana was now reduced to a sliver. Suddenly, the blue energy flashed as it turned grey. As it did, a notification appeared in front of Jason.

Energy Conversion

Convert Mana into Battle Energy. The time it takes to convert is based on the quant.i.ty of Mana and your Willpower Stat.

You have successfully converted Mana into Battle Energy.

+.1 to maximum Battle Energy.

"Ugh." Jason was expecting a bit more than point one battle energy. It took over half an hour, afterall.

"Greedy kid." Aros chuckled. "Your soul is so weak, so don't expect much. Oh, you're Willpower stat increases the power of your soul, so you should focus on that."

Jason too felt that he was a bit greedy. He turned to Aros. "I'm grateful for this technique. Thank you, Aros."

Aros patted Jason's shoulder. "Well, that's all. You can be off now. Remember, the tower is going to be different from what you know from now on. Be careful as you adapt."

"Ah, wait." Jason quickly asked. "When do you think I'll be strong enough to use your sword?"

"Ah?" Aros' face grew ugly at the mention of his stolen sword. "At the very least, you need to have a stage three battle physique, and have at least two hundred Willpower."

"So much?" Jason gasped in shock. To reach a stage three battle physique was simply a matter of money. Two hundred willpower, however, was much harder to get. Only when he remembered how powerful the sword was did he realize he might have bitten off more than he can chew.

Aros waved his hand in irritation. "Get lost!"

With that, Jason was forcibly teleported back to his previous position. He still didn't realize how important the sword was to Aros.