Sam lay on the ground, panting heavily from the pain, as his body began to repair itself. Only, with all of his energy reserves gone, his form was taxed nearly beyond repair, and wounds that should have closed in seconds inched shut instead, his blood running out, his life with it. Only a slight presence of mind had him reach up with his right hand, summoning his hammer back to his hand. As soon as he felt the comforting weight resting in his palm, Sam let his hand slump back, Terra’s Will in it.

  Abrinadus erupted into spasms as he fought against death, but weakened as he already was, the dragon had no chance. With his head split in half, and his body barely better, his reign over the Desolation Belt was over. One final gurgling moan signaled his death. A tide of essence crashed into Sam a moment later. With his mind too far away for conscious control, he let the System notification appear.

  You have killed Abrinadus, Dragonlord of the Desolation Belt!

  You have leveled up!(x2)

  Sam lay there for a time, letting his body recover from its strain. At some point, the System carried him away to the next layer, a few notifications waiting for him. Sam’s mind was nearly overwhelmed at this point, from the fatigue and the pain, and it took a good few minutes for him to heal enough to stand. When he did so, he almost wished he hadn’t. The space around him warped and spun in odd and incomprehensible patterns, making each step feel like he was about to fall.

  In the far distance, a massive obelisk jutted out of the ground, waves of abyssal light coursing off it every few minutes. Closer to it, space looked like a whirlpool, so chaotic that even Sam’s E Rank perception was unable to parse its movements. The sky above was tinged purple, and was strangely opaque, as if it were the limit of reality. It seemed that he was in some sort of pocket dimension.

  As he adjusted to the environment, Sam saw that he was standing in the middle of a crystalline forest, with trees made from rock rather than wood, with leaves of diamond, ruby and emerald. Only once he made sure that there were no monsters nearby did he open his notifications.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Congratulations on reaching the fiftieth floor of the Tower of Transcendence!

  Given your extremely high potential, and the immense difficulty over the higher floors, many of the following challenges will be focused on improving your abilities, rather than combat. You have attracted many eyes in the greater Multiverse, and beyond. Do not disappoint them.

  Your climb has now been shielded from all outside viewers, save for those that you individually permit. Outside factions of the C Rank or higher may still track challengers, but only by their chosen aliases, and their current floor number.

  Choose your alias now.

  -

  Sam furrowed his brow, and thought of a few names. Most of them were far too obvious however, and would instantly tie him to his faction. Then he looked down at his hammer, at its blocky end, and the faint threads of lightning dancing across it. He smiled.

  You have chosen the alias “Thor”.

  Accept?

  Y/N

  Sam selected yes, and the notification vanished. There was no change on his end, but he was sure that his watchers out in the Multiverse were seeing the effects. With that out of the way, he had a few more messages to read. First up was a title upgrade.

  You have completed the Desolation Belt: Layer 10! (Challenge Mode)

  You have upgraded a title!

  Forty-Ninth Floor Obliterator: Primal-> Fiftieth Floor Obliterator: Ethereal

  Not content to breeze through the paltry difficulty of the base Tower of Transcendence, you have proven that you are capable of greater things. In defeating the tenth floor of Challenge Mode, you have overcome a hurdle that few could at your level. In defeating the twentieth floor, you have further proven your might. In defeating the thirtieth floor, your talent is evident, in struggling against challenges deemed worthy for all but the greatest of E Rankers. In defeating the fortieth floor, you have gained a new understanding of your mortality, tempering might with humility. In defeating the fiftieth floor, you have truly cemented your talent as one far above the norm.

  Bonuses: +100% to all stats

  With this upgrade, Sam saw a new rarity that he had never seen, or heard of. He still had no idea what some of the higher rank rarities were, as his highest was Celestial. He had a suspicion that was far from the most powerful, given that his current Tower title was already giving far more in terms of potency. Then again, that title was hardly a normal one.