Chapter 47 | Iris’ Advancement, Layer Rules
Ding!
[Your Elemental Attack skill has reached Level 10 and has evolved to Epic-rank as a result.]
Ding!
[Have Soulless complete his Advancement Tasks: 3/3]
While resting on her bed in the Crowford Estate, surrounded by silk sheets and ornate furniture that spoke of generations of wealth, Iris’ eyes widened as she saw the notifications appear before her, her heart racing with excitement as she realized what they meant.
Ding!
[You have completed all of your advancement tasks and have officially advanced to Tier-1.]
[Reward: +5 Points to each stat.]
Her family had been pestering her about when she would move to the First Layer to be able to grow even stronger and bring honor to their prestigious name, their questions becoming more frequent with each passing day.
As a response, she had simply answered "When I am ready" and they left her alone for the moment, though she felt like their gazes were becoming more intense and impatient.
Their expectations were weighing heavily on her shoulders.
Theodore Crowford and Angela Crowford were both awakeners who could access the Fourth Layer, meaning they were at the very apex of humanity, standing among the strongest individuals in the entire world, their power nearly godlike.
Still, no matter how many questions Iris asked them about the Layers or the other races that inhabited the Eternal Realm, their family refused to answer anything of substance, deflecting her curiosity with practiced ease.
"You’ll discover it yourself," Theodore replied with a smile, his eyes glinting with mystery and amusement. "Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise, right?"
But now that Alicar had seemingly completed his advancement tasks, she was now a Tier-1 awakener, meaning she could enter the First Layer and finally begin her true journey beyond the confines of her family’s expectations.
She announced the news to her parents, and with expressions of pure joy and pride, they gave her their credit card, a sleek black card that radiated wealth and status, its surface cool against her fingers.
"You can buy three pieces of equipment with this on the fifth floor," Angela beamed, her voice filled with maternal pride. "Go get whatever you want!"
Of course, the Crowford family could afford much better items, even from the tenth floor actually, with its astronomical prices and legendary equipment that most could only dream of.
But the reason why they didn’t do it was not to "spoil" their children too much, to force them to earn their own power and develop their own strength through struggle.
"You know, unlike you, Lucius didn’t receive anything when he advanced, he had to earn it all himself," Theodore explained, his tone carrying a hint of sternness and expectation.
"Do the other families do that too...?" Iris lifted her eyebrows, confusion flickering across her delicate features. "Seems like a waste of potential..."
"If you get everything handed to you, you’ll never grow stronger," Theodore’s expression turned serious, his eyes boring into hers with unwavering intensity. "So you only get three items, select them wisely."
Just like that, she was literally kicked out of their massive estate until she came back from the First Layer, the heavy oak doors closing behind her with a resounding thud that echoed through the courtyard.
She glanced at the card with the symbol of a black crow on it, the ancient sigil of the Crowford family, then sighed heavily, her breath misting in the cool evening air.
"Alright, I need to go quickly to meet up with Alicar!"
...
Alicar opened his eyes as he emerged outside of the Trading Centre, his new Cinderwood Staff in hand, the smooth wooden surface warm against his palm, pulsing faintly with elemental energy.
’Not too sure how I’ll meet Iris and Leon, as for Viktor, I’m pretty sure he’ll be too deep in the First Layer for me to see him anytime soon,’ he thought, his mind already planning his next moves.
Either way, as long as nothing happened to them, it would be fine, Alicar could manage on his own after all, he had survived worse than anything the First Layer could throw at him... or so he thought.
He was much stronger than all of his "vessels" due to the fact he inherited all of their skills except for Viktor since the man was simply overleveled compared to Alicar, his stats far exceeding what a Tier-0 could achieve.
Much like with the Initial Stage, the way a person entered the First Layer for the first time was at midnight after completing their advancement task, a rule that seemed to be universal across all races and tiers.
Unlike the Initial Stage, as soon as an awakener entered the First Layer, they could immediately leave as nothing was stopping them except if they were in combat, giving them a quick escape if needed.
The spawn location was completely random as well, meaning no one could pinpoint where they would appear, adding an element of unpredictability that made preparation difficult.
The consensus was that you appeared in an area with monsters ranging between level 11-15 though, a relatively safe introduction to the new layer that allowed newcomers to acclimate.
You could appear in more dangerous areas, but it was extremely rare, the system seemingly designed to give newcomers a fair chance at survival.
The reason why awakeners couldn’t simply take the First Layer gates to access the First Layer was simple: they couldn’t.
Unless someone was sent directly by the system itself, trying to enter a gate was suicide, and not metaphorically, you would literally die, your body torn apart by the very energy that powered the Eternal Realm.
If an awakener not supposed to enter a supposed layer tries to pass through the gate, they would die, their body rejected by the Eternal Realm itself, their remains scattered across the threshold.
Some people tried in the past, desperate to bypass the system’s restrictions and gain an advantage, but all that was found was their remains on the other side of the portal as the Eternal Realm rejected them completely.
The reason as to why was unknown, as even Tier-2 awakeners who attempted to enter the First Layer would also meet the same fate even though they were much stronger than the layer required, their power meaningless against the system’s will.