Levi had heard of ancient martial sects that built their sacred temples at the top of mountains and required their initiates to make the perilous trek up every day. This daily task trained discipline and tenacity, and served as a convenient way to weed out the weak in body and spirit. The Institute of Ascension’s stairs had likely been constructed with the same principle in mind, further incorporating a wide array of traps and obstacles to hone the students’ reflexes.

  Needless to say, Levi was not a fan. He could understand the logic behind it, of course, but there was a difference between understanding and actually having to go through the tedious task of ascending the stairs by foot.

  Fortunately, this time there were far less people around. Classes had already ended by now, and most of the students were trickling downward to leave. By the time Levi reached the 40th floor, the stairwell was pretty much empty, save for the occasional professor or graduate student.

  Taking a deep breath, Levi once again used reinforcement on himself, magic flooding his body. He grunted as he felt a slight burning sensation. An aftereffect of the magical overburn from earlier, no doubt.

  By his estimations, he had approximately thirty minutes before his body would reach its limits and magical overburn would hit him again – less, if he had to use any other complex spells. That was fine. Thirty minutes was more than enough time to spare.

  Just in case, Levi cast a total presence concealment spell on himself. This brought his time estimate down to about twenty-eight minutes, but it was worth it. Making his fellow students suspicious was one thing, but he didn’t want to alert anyone in authority that something was amiss. His magic settled over him like a cloak as all light, sound, scent, heat, and magical signature from his body were nullified and neutralized.

  With his presence concealment active, Levi could do a pirouette in front of a dragon and it wouldn’t notice. Probably. Maybe. Tricky creatures, dragons were – they had a habit of accomplishing the impossible when it was least convenient. Perhaps that hadn’t been the best example.

  At any rate, now that he didn’t have to worry about any witnesses, Levi could go full throttle. Normally, he would’ve wanted to explore the tower more, but with the clock ticking down, he didn’t have any time to waste.

  The walls of the tower practically blurred around him as he ascended the tower in leaps and dashes. The traps and obstacles became more complex and dangerous with every floor, but Levi had the dual advantages of speed and experience.

  Levi once had to hunt down a dark sorcerer who’d constructed a labyrinth so elaborate, it’d allowed him to evade even Death himself. That had been a godforsaken mission; Levi hadn’t seen sunlight for three whole months as he painstakingly tracked the sorcerer down. That mission had left a mark on him. Levi had jumped at shadows for nearly an entire year afterward. The sheer number of lethal traps and horrific ambushes he’d encountered had been one too many.

  In retrospect, it really did feel like Death had sent Levi on the missions he didn’t want to do himself…

  However, this current mission wasn’t one of them. Levi’s gaze hardened. Death had spoken of an unknown, cataclysmic danger threatening this world. Levi needed to figure out what it was immediately so he could complete the mission and…

  And…

  Levi’s pace faltered for a moment, but only a moment. He resumed his speed a second later. Now wasn’t the time to think about that.

  Ice spikes speared outward from water vapor, gravity reversed then imploded around random points, swarms of animal golems snarled to life, magic-draining chains lashed out at whiplike speeds, homing arrows curved through the air faster than the speed of sound, walls of flame blasted outward in massive explosions…

  It was oddly impressive how the designers of the tower managed to come up with a different set of traps for every floor. It didn’t even feel all that repetitive. Levi had to applaud their originality.

  From what he’d read in the library, the Institute’s central tower was structured according to a strict organization. There were 100 floors in total. Floors 1 through 40 were for undergraduate studies. Floors 40 through 50 were reserved for advanced training halls and post-graduate studies. Floors 50 through 70 were filled with research workshops and esoteric archives. Floors 70 through 80 held the administrative offices.

  Warpgates were located every ten floors, which meant that even the professors and visiting adventurers often had to climb at least a few flights of stairs to make it to their destinations. It brought Levi some solace knowing that the students weren’t the only ones having to do this shit.

  Starting on the administrative floors, floor 70 and above, the traps and obstacles finally ended. Levi didn’t know the reason why, but knowing bureaucracies, he’d wager there was a good chance they just didn’t want the admin accidentally hurting themselves.

  The final floors of the tower, floors 80 through 100, were known as the Restricted Sanctum. It was where the forbidden vaults, sealed archives, and restricted workshops lay. Weapons so dangerous they drove the wielder insane. Research into matters so arcane and taboo that it officially didn’t exist. Magical experimentation that defied the natural order itself.

  The upper twenty floors held the deepest and darkest secrets of the Institute of Ascension. This area was forbidden to most people. Access was typically only granted to the highest echelons of Institute members. It was extraordinarily difficult for even a non-Institute affiliated Ascendant-tier adventurer to gain access to these floors.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  On the path leading up to the Restricted Sanctum stood a sealed door. This was where Levi found himself nine minutes into his journey.

  He was breathing a bit more heavily than usual; magic could only compensate so much for his body’s lack of physicality. The trip had been pretty uneventful, at least. He’d run into a decent amount of people on his way up; mostly professors and staff, but some adventurers, administrators, and even two nobles who he assumed were guests.

  Luckily, nobody had detected him. Lucky for them, that was. Levi was not very well-versed in the mind arts; they were one of the most forbidden and difficult fields of magic, with an exceedingly high risk of accidental self-lobotomization if something ever went wrong. Which it often did. The only reliable way he knew to modify or erase someone’s memories was through the arcane technique of blunt force trauma.

  Levi took one look at the sealed door and immediately knew he was in for a rough time. He could tell that the door and surrounding walls were constructed of pure adamantine. The unique sheen to the silvery-grey metal was unmistakable. Furthermore, the door was protected by layers upon layers of defensive enchantments, some of which he could tell were centuries old. The magic was so dense that it shone faintly, visible even without his True Sight.

  Two streams of magic led further into the tower, likely alarm enchantments to alert the Institute to any intrusion. There was also a warpgate located right behind him, which meant any guards or sentinels would be instantly transported to this floor with no delay.

  Levi spent several minutes examining the magic to see if there were any exploitable weaknesses, but he couldn’t find anything. He couldn’t even identify the unlocking mechanism – it didn’t seem to operate on magical signatures or biometrics. A unique password or puzzle, perhaps? Or maybe it was System-based.

  He frowned. Should he turn back? No, he couldn't – not when he was this close.

  Through his True Sight, the vile dark magic blazed from somewhere in the Restricted Sanctum, nearly blinding in its intensity. The wrongness was leagues more potent here than it had been below, making his heart pound furiously. This could very well be the world-threatening danger Death had mentioned.

  Levi held his hand up to the door, closed his eyes, and listened to the flow of the magic. Ten seconds passed. Twenty. Around the thirty second mark, he withdrew his hand and opened his eyes.

  He could break through this door. It would be hard, but he was certain he could cut through.

  Unfortunately, the defensive enchantments were structured in such a way that he wouldn’t be able to disable the alarms. His brute-force attempt would immediately send the entire Institute into lockdown. He could handle that, though.

  He could easily block the warpgate to stall out any guards. Incapacitate them, if necessary. He’d have more than enough time to figure out where the source of the wrongness was and eliminate it.

  This would also mean he’d no longer need to attend the Institute, as the only reason why he had originally planned on staying was to investigate the source of dark magic. Hell, his atrocious reputation, his strained relationship with his family, his seeming lack of friends or acquaintances aside from Andevar, who didn’t even really count – none of it would matter anymore. He would be free to go off and do his own thing.

  He’d probably end up as a fugitive afterward, but that was fine. He could deal with that. Levi had been one of the most wanted individuals in his previous world, after all. It would be nothing new.

  For the sake of his mission, forcing his way through this door would be the most optimal choice.

  Levi nodded once, making up his mind. His magic whirled to life within him. However, as he readied himself to blast through the enchanted defenses…

  He found something holding him back. He wasn’t sure what it was. But for some strange reason, he couldn’t will his magic to burst forward. It was like there was some subconscious block stopping him. But why?

  This was the best path he could take. It was the most efficient route and would grant him the most operational freedom afterward. Granted, he’d end up on the run once more, but he was already used to that. This was more important; he had to hurry and figure out what the imminent cataclysmic threat was–

  Levi paused. Hold on. Did he actually need to hurry?

  With a sudden start, he remembered that there was no time limit on this task. Death had even told him it could take years or decades before the threat revealed itself. There was no guarantee this source of dark magic was it – and in fact, it probably wasn’t, else Death would’ve easily been able to detect it.

  Besides, Levi had a new family now. He had peers. Sure, they hated him, but he could change that. He had the opportunity to make a name for himself and live the life he never got to live–

  Levi clenched his jaw so tightly his teeth creaked against each other. No. He couldn’t. He refused to let his mind go down that path, that tempting, treacherous, hopeful path.

  He didn’t deserve it. How could he, when none of the lives he’d taken had received a second chance?

  No. No, a life on the run was more fitting for someone like him. Hunted and pursued, drifting from place to place like a vagabond wanderer, searching for signs of the impending cataclysm on his own – that was the life he deserved.

  And yet…

  Death’s words suddenly flashed through his mind.

  Do try to let it be an adventure.

  Levi had never experienced an adventure before. His early life had been him trying to survive on the streets; his service under Death had been driven by ideals and duty; and after his final task… he had just been waiting peacefully to die.

  He’d taken Death’s offer of reincarnation for a chance to atone for his past sins, but… Levi didn’t even know what that meant. How did one earn redemption? Was saving the world enough? It had to be, right? But Levi already had saved the world in his previous life, and all that had earned him was sleepless nights and endless guilt.

  There had to be something more to it.

  Perhaps, Levi considered, an adventure might help him discover what the missing piece was. Not an adventure that he deserved, after what he’d done. But an adventure all the same.

  Because when it came down to it…

  Levi didn’t want to end up in a teahouse all alone again, with only Death as his company.

  He would come back another day. Find another method to access the Restricted Sanctum. Perhaps even gain a couple of comrades along the way. It would take more time, it was inefficient, it was definitely riskier, but oddly?

  Levi smiled. He was completely fine with that.

  And so he turned away from the sealed door, resolving to return another time.

  Only to come face to face with Professor Heimler stepping through the warpgates, a mere fifteen feet away.