[SYSTEM INITIALIZING]
[SYSTEM SUCCESSFULLY AWAKENED]
Name: Zenon Castellan
Race: Human
Level: 1
Class: Unassigned
[STATS]
Strength: 8
Agility: 9
Endurance: 7
Mana: 12
Available Points: 0
[TRAITS]
Divine Eyes
---
'What the fuck?'
This wasn't supposed to happen. In the game, I had to reach the sanctuary and be acknowledged by the tower before I awakened my system. Everyone knew that. It was one of the most basic facts about Tower of Babel. You didn't get your system until you got to the sanctuary, so why was it appearing now.
Besides, what was this Divine Eyes trait?
Amidst my thoughts, the screen flickered once, and then another sharp chime rang in my head.
---
[CONGRATULATIONS]
[YOU HAVE AWAKENED AN SSS-RANK SKILL]
[→PLEASE CHECK YOUR SKILL TABS FOR MORE DETAILS]
---
An SSS rank skill?
Impossible!
I've never heard of an SSS rank skill in the game, and I was a veteran who'd played Tower of Babel for quite some time! The highest ever recorded was an S-rank, and that had belonged to a top-ranked player who'd cleared the twentieth floor.
I gave in to my curiosity and instantly checked my skill tab to see what my SSS rank skill was all about.
---
[SKILLS]
[Dimensional Archive]
[Grade: SSS Rank]
[Description: All entities slain by the user can be recorded within the Archive. Recorded entities can be stored, analyzed or summoned. The strength and number of the summoned creatures depends on the user's mana, and summon slots stats. Summons can be upgraded through experience, evolution stones, or special system conditions.]
[Archive Capacity: 3 (Can be upgraded)]
[Active summon slots: 1 (Can be upgraded)]
---
"Wow." I muttered in disbelief. No matter how you looked at it, this skill was insane!
"Isn't this broken?" I muttered. Granted it was a little weak right now, but I had the ability to summon creatures I'd killed. If I played this right and build around this skill…
"Wait, does that mean…?"
I sat up slowly, every movement extremely painful as I turned my attention to it. The falcon lay beside me, its eyes still open, although its red embers had faded to dull glass. My knife was still buried in its throat, the hilt slick with black blood.
As if in line with my thoughts, the now familiar sharp chime dinged in my head again, and a new screen appeared in front of me.
---
[ENTITY DETECTED]
[Name: —]
[Race: Demon Falcon
[Level: 3]
[Would you like to register this entity in the Dimensional Archive?]
[YES/NO]
---
I stared at the translucent golden screen in front of me, my heart pounding in my chest.
This was it! The first glimpse of what this skill could do. A creature that had killed me more times than I could count in game, and nearly took my life minutes ago was now available to me as a weapon!
I reached out with my mind and pressed YES.
---
[REGISTRATION INITIATED]
[ANALYZING ENTITY…]
[RECORDING DATA…]
[BINDING TO ARCHIVE…]
[REGISTRATION COMPLETE]
[→Archive Capacity: 2/3]
[→Summon Slots Available: 1/1]
---
A pulse of energy suddenly radiated from the dead falcon's body. It was a wave of warmth that pushed back the cold rain just for a moment. I watched, my breath catching in my throat, as the bird's form began to change.
The wounds on its body closed first, then the nasty gash on its leg knitted together, leaving no scar. The deep puncture in its neck slowly sealed, the flesh smoothing over as if it had never been torn.
The feathers that had been ripped loose grew back, unfurling from the skin in waves of dark red and black, the broken leg straightening with an audible pop that made me wince.
Then its eyes ignited. The red embers flared back to life, but this time around they did not contain the furious hateful burning they had held before.
The reanimated falcon slowly lifted its head and rose to its full height, its gaze finding mine, and I found myself taking an involuntary step back.
Standing at nearly four feet tall, its sleek body was masterpiece of deadly elegance. Every feather lay perfectly in place, a seamless blend from the deep red at the crown to absolute black at the wingtips.
Its beak and talons were as sharp as scythes, and I had seen what they were capable of. Hell, I had even experienced it firsthand.
I knew instinctively that this wasn't a regular beast, but a predator of the skies.
The falcon continued to stare at me unceasingly, seemingly unaffected by the heavy downpour. However, instead of fear, I felt something else bloom in my chest.
There was a thread that connected me to it, pulsing warmly and steadily, and I knew that this magnificent yet terrifying creature was mine. It was not a slave or a puppet, but my partner. A familiar bound to my soul as surely as my own heart was bound to my chest.
I could feel its presence, the steady rhythm of its heart, the warmth of its blood, the way the rain felt against its feathers, and beyond all that, I felt something else from it; a flicker of recognition to its master.
I slowly pushed myself to my feet, my own wounds still screaming as my body was still a ruin of torn flesh and aching bones. Still, I forced myself to my feet and inched towards the falcon.
"…I need to give you a name." I muttered, the words slurring slightly from exhaustion. "After all, I can't keep calling you 'falcon' in my head."
The falcon tilted its head, a gesture that showed its curiosity, and it made chuckle.
I thought about it for a moment; the way it had hunted me relentlessly yet patiently, with a single-minded focus that had nearly ended me. The more I thought about it and its visage, the name suddenly appeared to me.
"Horus."
"Your name will be Horus."
The falcon—no, Horus—spread its wings spread once, twice, and then folded back against its body. A soft sound escaped its throat, something closer to a croon, and from our connection, I could tell Horus was satisfied with his name.
I reached out with a trembling hand, and Horus pressed its head against my palm.
I was still bleeding and in pain, standing in the middle of a storm with nothing but the clothes on myself and a knife that was now practically useless, but I had a system now, an SSS ranked skill and Horus.
The Tower of Babel was a hellish world, and I just experienced that first hand. I almost lost my life to Horus, but that did nothing to dampen my spirits.
For now, my priority was getting to the Sanctuary.
I looked toward the west, where the Sanctuary should be if everything in this world was unchanged and similar to that of the game.
"Let's go." I ordered.
Horus immediately launched into the air, its wings beating as it began to circle above me, his figure a mere shadow against the black sky as his burning eyes never left mine.