The reward for achieving 500 consecutive victories consisted of two items.
One was a book — "Origin Magic Body".
The other was an invitation letter.
The invitation was dated Year 5027.
In other words… two years from now.
The location was listed as the Combat Arena.
The contents were roughly:
Congratulations on achieving 500 consecutive victories. You have already proven your strength. But do you wish to prove that you are the true invincible champion among those of the same tier…
In short—
It was an invitation to fight.
That certainly matched the War God's style. It seemed that entity truly loved watching people fight.
Otherwise it wouldn't have created something like the Combat Arena.
Two years, though…
That was quite far in the future.
After finishing reading the invitation, it transformed into a streak of light and flowed directly into Rei's body.
Rei could sense that from now on, even without the invitation, he would still be able to enter the designated arena space at the specified time.
It even had a loss-prevention feature.
Very thoughtful.
Rei then opened the other book.
"Origin Magic Body"
The book described a method of tempering one's body, transforming it into a physique that resonated more closely with one's personal path of the Origin, ultimately becoming a constitution highly compatible with the Dao of magic.
"A special physique, huh."
Rei was familiar with the concept.
Different physiques could grant people different abilities.
For example:
Titan Strength Body — granted tremendous physical strength.
Innate Arcane Body — dramatically increased the speed at which one could comprehend magic.
There were many kinds of physiques.
However, people born with special physiques were extremely rare.
That said, physiques could also be cultivated artificially through certain special methods.
Usually, a person could only possess one physique.
Attempting to possess two often resulted in severe rejection between the two.
Rei stored the book in his spatial storage.
After briefly reviewing it, he concluded that the physique described within was extremely powerful.
At the very least, for a mage, it was likely a top-tier physique.
However, Rei did not want to lock in his physique so early.
After all, he was pursuing a multi-class path.
If his physique became permanently specialized toward pure magic, his path might become too narrow.
Aside from that, he also received a new title within the arena.
[Title: The Unbeaten]
After leaving the Combat Arena, Rei checked the rankings.
He had already become Rank 1 among Level 3 competitors.
Within the Level 3 rankings, his record stood at:
[200 Wins – 0 Losses]
The winning streak bonus was still active.
So even though he had only won 200 matches, his average of 400 points per match, combined with an extremely high multiplier—
Along with the 100× score coefficient—
Had pushed his total score to a terrifying 800,000+ points.
He was far ahead of the second-place competitor, Tendi.
Reaching 500 consecutive victories had taken him less than two hours.
He had left the hotel at 8:00 AM.
Now it wasn't even 11:00 AM yet.
With so much free time available, Rei obviously wasn't going to return to rest.
Instead, he headed to the second great wonder of the City Within the Circle.
[War God Tower]
Rei had actually wanted to challenge this tower for a long time.
But various matters had kept delaying him until now.
In front of the tower, many eager young adventurers had gathered.
The tower itself rose straight into the sky.
It was impossible to determine its exact height.
Its peak disappeared into the clouds.
Looking up at the vast sky, Rei briefly considered flying up to observe the world from above.
But he had heard that the upper atmosphere was extremely cold, and the life energy required for breathing—perhaps oxygen—became extremely thin.
Flying too high could cause unconsciousness.
Considering that he could still die from falling, Rei quickly abandoned that idea.
"Hey, Little Deer! Back to challenge the War God Tower again today?"
"Yeah! I'm almost past Floor 30… Once I clear it, I'll get a Tier 3 bow technique!"
"Haha! Then good luck! But the guardian of Floor 30 this cycle isn't easy!"
"Mm! I'll definitely beat it this time!"
"Strategy guides! War God Tower strategy guides for sale! Only 10 copper coins!"
Rei looked at the tower.
Just like the Combat Arena, a clear indicator floated above it.
Current War God Tower — Highest Cleared Floor: 77
This cycle?
Did the tower operate in different cycles?
Rei actually didn't know much about it.
Most of what he knew came from listening to Akase brag about the monsters he had fought.
The tower's actual mechanics, however, were still somewhat unclear to him.
"Boss, does this tower really have different cycles?"
At the moment, Rei had used Flesh Reconstruction to transform into an ordinary-looking man.
The guide seller glanced at him.
"You're not from around here, are you?"
"The War God Tower resets with new monsters every six months. Each half-year is considered a new cycle."
"The monsters on each floor remain fixed during that cycle."
"Six months ago, I heard Luluvi charged straight to Floor 100 in one run and reached the summit."
Luluvi?
Rei had heard that name many times in the City Within the Circle.
It had practically become a local legend.
She was probably somewhere in the city, though Rei had never seen her.
Floor 100.
Akase had also reached Floor 100.
It almost felt like everyone could reach the top.
That made the achievement feel slightly less impressive.
"So, want a guide?"
"Sure. I'll take one."
The shopkeeper asked:
"What level are you?"
"Level 3. But I'll take the guides for the other levels too."
"Haha! Straightforward customer."
Rei paid 50 copper coins and received strategy guides for Levels 1–5 of the War God Tower.
There was no guide for Level 6.
Apparently, Level 6 class holders were extremely rare across the entire continent.
Though Rei doubted that rumor.
As far as he knew, there were five in the City Within the Circle alone.
Well… four now.
One of them had gone chasing Merce.
So the entire continent supposedly had only a few Level 6 experts, yet several of them gathered in a single city?
Interesting.
For Level 3, the highest cleared floor was 56.
For Level 4, the record was 77.
For Levels 1, 2, and 5, the records were 50, 55, and 30 floors respectively.
Rei skimmed the guide.
For the Level 3 tower, floors 1–20 contained Normal and Elite monsters.
Starting from Floor 21, every floor contained Lord-tier monsters.
Their numbers and individual strength varied.
From Floor 51 onward, every floor contained King-tier monsters.
After Floor 56, the guide contained nothing.
No Level 3 adventurer had reached higher.
However, the guide mentioned that in most cycles, higher-tier monsters would start appearing around Floor 60.
In short—
The higher you went, the stronger the enemies became.
Each floor's guide also listed monster traits, strengths, and weaknesses.
For ordinary adventurers, the guide was definitely worth its price.
But for Rei—
The first 56 floors didn't really matter whether he knew the details or not.
"…Forget it. I'll just go in."
Normally, Rei believed one should always prepare thoroughly before battle.
But when death wasn't permanent, there was no need to be overly strict.
Just like the Combat Arena, dying in the War God Tower would simply eject you outside.
Though if possible, Rei still preferred not dying.
Floor 1
Monster: Slime
Weak.
Rei casually fired a Flame Missile and destroyed it.
Floor 20
Monster: Bone General (Elite)
Just like the guide described.
The information matched perfectly.
That gave Rei peace of mind.
The thing he feared most was unexpected mutations.
Almost every monster died instantly upon encounter.
Before long, he reached Floor 56.
From here onward, every monster was King-tier.
But Tier 3 King monsters were nothing more than punching bags for the current Rei.
The rewards from the first 50 floors were mostly useless to him.
The reward from Floor 50 was a Mana Expansion Crystal.
For Rei, it was completely useless.
After reaching Level 3, his total mana had already exceeded 29,000,000.
Why would he need something that increased it by 50 points?
Unfortunately, advancing the next stage of the Void Realm still required Iz's Mana Enhancement Technique.
That book…
Iz absolutely refused to let him study it further.
Still, his current mana pool already far exceeded his needs.
A new mana-enhancement technique wasn't that urgent anymore.
Rewards would only be distributed after leaving the tower, so he hadn't received the crystal yet.
Floor 60
Now the enemies changed.
Tier 4 monsters appeared.
And not just any—
Tier 4 King-tier monsters.
The sudden jump in difficulty felt rather extreme.
Tier 4 King Monster — Root-Leg King
Rei blinked.
"What a coincidence."
This monster was the same one that had hurled black pillars at him during the Beast Tide in Raines Town.
Meeting it again felt strangely nostalgic.
Did he have some sort of strange fate with certain monsters?
He kept encountering familiar enemies.
Old rivals, one after another.
BOOM!
A black pillar launched toward him.
In that moment, Rei remembered all the effort he had poured in since then—
All the training, sweat, and perseverance.
BOOM!
The pillar struck an invisible barrier.
[Origin · Absolute Guardian Barrier]
No effect.
The barrier trembled slightly—but didn't crack at all.
Back then, this Tier 4 King monster could pierce through every barrier he had.
Now?
It was nothing.
Rei snapped his fingers.
Cracks opened in space.
[Awaken Void (Tier 4) (LV: 301)]
Summon additional Void creatures. Summon Thousand-Eyed Void Watchers. Summon Void Pillar Guardians. Summon Buzzing Hunters. Summon Thousand-Tentacle Maw. Summon Headless Berserkers. Summon Special Species. Summons gain additional Void traits.
Rei could summon far more than just the Thousand-Eyed Void Watchers.
What he had shown Xu Zhou earlier was only the tip of the iceberg.
BOOM—
Four gigantic floating eyes burst from the void cracks.
Each one possessed thousands of pupils.
They drifted through the air like massive tadpoles.
BOOM—
Four enormous guardians emerged, each carrying a colossal black pillar.
Four winged creatures with blade-like arms circled the Root-Leg King in silence.
Four worm-like maws opened in the sky, revealing thousands of tentacles inside.
And four massive Headless Warriors carrying giant axes stepped onto the ground.
Awaken Void…
The Nation-Destroying Legion.
Rei had summoned twenty Tier 4 Nation-Destroying Void creatures at once.
If he used Origin · Myriad Laws, he could summon eighty more.
A total of one hundred simultaneously.
Now—
Twenty Nation-Destroying monsters surrounded a Tier 4 King monster.
Compared to their massive bodies, the Root-Leg King almost looked… small.
BOOM!
Another black pillar flew toward them.
But it shattered against the pillar held by a Void Pillar Guardian.
The guardian's pillar remained completely intact.
"Finish it."
Buzz—Buzz—Buzz—
At speeds invisible to the naked eye, countless wounds suddenly appeared across the Root-Leg King's body.
The Buzzing Hunters specialized in speed and assassination.
In an instant, they sliced apart every stone-like muscle in its body.
Incredible speed.
Brutal cutting power.
These creatures were even faster than the Blood-Stinger Bees Rei had encountered before.
In fact—
All these Void summons were likely stronger than ordinary Nation-Destroying monsters.
Because the Awaken Void spell didn't merely summon them.
It also granted them additional Void enhancements:
Regeneration.Void Corruption.Void Physiology.
And every single one of them was a Special Species.
A mere King-tier monster had no chance.
Within seconds—
The Root-Leg King was brutally torn apart.
Watching its fading corpse, Rei felt a surge of emotion.
Back then, he had stood on the city walls like a powerless extra.
The moment he saw a Tier 4 King monster, he ran for his life.
Now—
He could summon a Nation-Destroying army.
With his current strength, he could probably wipe out some small countries without difficulty.
Growth truly was everything.
If he had died back then over some meaningless matter…
If he had died defending Raines Town…
How could the current him exist?
Thinking about that only strengthened his survival instincts even more.
From Floor 60 to Floor 74, every enemy was a Tier 4 King monster.
Floor 73 contained two King monsters.
Floor 74 contained four simultaneously.
Unfortunately—
Four or one made no difference to Rei.
Each one died to a single axe strike from the Headless Warriors.
Floor 75
For the first time—
A Tier 4 Nation-Destroying monster appeared.
"Floor 75… Nation-Destroying class."
"Fighting a higher-tier Nation-Destroying monster solo…"
"This War God Tower trial is really extreme."
"But someone has already cleared Floor 77."
"There are quite a few experts out there."
The trial was difficult.
But based on the records, there were definitely strong players.
More specifically—
Level 4 experts.
Levels 1–3 generally stalled around Floor 50.
Only the Level 4 record holder had reached Floor 77.
Converted proportionally, that was truly terrifying combat power.
Rei crushed Floor 70.
Outside the War God Tower
"Hey…"
"What's going on?"
"The Level 3 tower record… it's rising?"
565758
The highest cleared floor continued rising—
one floor every twenty seconds.
At Floor 60, it paused briefly for a minute.
Then jumped to 61.
After that, it resumed the twenty-second pace.
It looked as if nothing could slow it down.
In less than three minutes—
The record surpassed Floor 77.
Now it read:
78
The record for the current cycle had been broken.
"Level 3…?"
"Could it be… Kanzaki Rei?"
Recently, the name Kanzaki Rei had begun spreading throughout the city.
He had defeated Artrendo, the former Rank 1 in the Level 2 Combat Arena.
Now he had appeared on the Level 3 rankings.
And he was a Root-Origin Mage.
With all those factors combined, his reputation had started spreading.
Though not very far yet.
After all, even in the modern internet age, viral news could take weeks to reach everyone.
In this world?
Information traveled even slower.
"Kanzaki Rei? Who's that?"
"Wait, you don't know? The newly appeared Root-Origin Mage who defeated Artrendo in the arena! The guy who helped Artrendo comprehend Ultimate Intent! Iz's disciple! Rank 1 Level 3 Mage! Rank 2 Level 3 Arena Fighter! The early awakener under Kumironi's supervision!"
"How the hell am I supposed to know that many people?"
"Idiot, I'm talking about one person!"
"One person?!"
Forget it. Impossible to explain to this fool.
After arguing for a while, the two of them looked up again at the tower.
Highest Cleared Floor: 91
"…What the hell?"
They had only been arguing for a few minutes.
And someone had already reached Floor 91.