The huge tower showed up out of nowhere. Changed everything in just one afternoon. People from the kingdoms in the north to the busy trade cities in the south saw the same crazy sight. They all saw it no matter where they were. In mountain villages or big cities with a lot of history. The sight was so shocking that it caused a lot of panic. Store owners left their shops in the market. Important meetings were stopped in the middle. Army bases started emergency plans. Churches were filled with people who thought the end of the world was coming. In cities people ran to temples and shrines while others locked themselves inside their homes. Rumors spread like crazy. Some people thought an old god had come back. Others thought an old enemy had woken up from far away. A few people even thought the world was ending.. No matter what people believed one thing was clear. The gigantic tower was real. Nobody knew why it was there.

At the Imperial Academy people were shocked at first. Then they became really interested. Students who were scared at first now looked at the tower with amazement. Even teachers who had spent years studying magic and history were completely silent. The tower was just too big to understand. Mountains are big. Oceans are huge. Kingdoms are powerful.. The tower was something else. It went up high that the top disappeared into the sky and its bottom stretched across the horizon like a big pillar holding up the world. Every seconds silver letters moved across its dark surface making little flashes of light that could be seen from really far away. Just looking at it made everything else seem small. People had spent years building big buildings and cities but compared to the tower it all seemed like kids toys.

Aurelion was standing with the crowd watching how people were reacting. Unlike people he was not scared. He was confused and curious. He also had another thought that he found funny. As he watched students try to figure out where the tower came from he started to smile. If someone had told him years ago that his made-up world of politics would suddenly have a tower that went beyond the sky he would have thought it was ridiculous. His story was about people, kings and magic but now there was this huge tower that seemed to come from a completely different kind of story. "The person who wrote this story really lost control " Aurelion said to himself. "One minute it's about people the next minute it's like the end of the world." But nobody around him understood what he meant so he was the one who thought it was funny.

The sun started to set. The world was not going back to normal. Instead the air was getting more and more unstable. The clear sky from the morning was now covered with dark clouds. The wind started to blow hard and trees bent under its force. Flags on walls were waving wildly. It was getting colder even though it was still evening. People over the world looked up at the sky with worry because it seemed like the whole sky was changing. The storm was not like any weather. There was no rain, no thunder. The clouds were moving in circles around the tower like the whole sky was part of some big ritual.

The wind got even stronger. In the Imperial Capital things that were not tied down were picked up by the wind and dust and leaves were swirling around. Some students from the Academy were having trouble standing up. Even powerful magic users could feel that something big was happening. The clouds got darker and darker like an ocean of black across the sky. Lightning was flashing all the time making shapes that seemed alive. The tower just stood there not moving while the world shook around it. A strange feeling came over everything like the world was holding its breath.

Then the sky exploded with light. A big beam of light came from the clouds. It was so bright that many people covered their eyes. Whole cities were filled with the light and mountains and rivers were shining. The tower was reflecting the light. It seemed like the light could make all the darkness go away.. Even with all the light there was no person or god in the sky. There was the light.. Then something even more amazing happened. Every living person on the continent heard a voice.

The voice was not coming from the air. It was not making any sound. It was there in peoples minds. The voice was old. It did not have any feelings. It was eternal.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT]

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

The whole world stopped moving when the words appeared in the sky in letters. The letters were huge stretching for kilometers and people could read them from anywhere.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[The Celestial Tower has come down.]

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

People were shocked. The announcement stayed in the sky while the old voice kept talking.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[The time of nothing changing is over.]

[The time of Ascension has started.]

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

The storm got worse. Lightning flashed across the sky. The voice kept talking.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[All living people can try to climb the Tower.]

[Who you are will not decide if you can try.]

[Your family will not decide if you can try.]

[Your position will not decide if you can try.]

[ what you can do will decide if you can try.]

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

In the Imperial Capital important people looked at each other in shock and regular people looked up at the sky with eyes. Just thinking about what this meant was enough to change everything.

The announcement kept going.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[The Celestial Tower has One Hundred Floors.]

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

Aurelion narrowed his eyes. The world was listening.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[Floors One through Thirty.]

[The Lower Tower.]

[Tests of Foundation.]

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

Pictures appeared in the sky. Big forests, kingdoms, huge deserts, monsters and whole civilizations.

The announcement continued.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[Floors Thirty-One, through Sixty.]

[The Middle Tower.]

[Tests of Legacy.]

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

The visions changed.

Ancient ruins emerged.

Forgotten cities were seen.

Collapsed civilizations were shown.

Lost technologies were revealed.

Relics were buried beneath history.

Millions of people watched in awe.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[Floors Sixty-One through Ninety.]

[The Upper Tower.]

[Trials of Authority.]

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

This time the sky displayed scenes.

Individuals were wielding stars.

Warriors were bending gravity.

Mages were tearing space itself.

Kings were commanding oceans of flame.

The scale of the Tower dwarfed anything humanity currently possessed.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[Floors Ninety-One through Ninety-Nine.]

[The Divine Floors.]

[Trials Beyond Mortality.]

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

The visions became really hard to understand.

There were floating continents.

Broken realities were shown.

Cosmic oceans were seen.

Stars were drifting through darkness.

Many people who were watching could not even understand what they were seeing.

The final announcement was bigger than all the previous revelations.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[Floor One Hundred.]

[The Final Floor.] 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

The images vanished.

The heavens fell silent.

For moments nothing happened.

Then one final message appeared.

---

╔════════════════════════════════╗

[Ascend.]

[Challenge.]

[Evolve.]

[The Tower awaits.]

╚════════════════════════════════╝

---

The golden text slowly faded from existence.

The divine light withdrew into the storm clouds.

The thunder gradually subsided.

Despite the apparent calm returning to the world nobody believed things would ever return to normal again.

The Tower had shown that kings and emperors were equal to commoners.

The Tower had shown the churches a miracle beyond their doctrines.

The Tower had shown scholars a mystery that could change every field of knowledge.

The Tower had offered adventurers opportunities, beyond their imagination.

As Aurelion stared toward the colossal structure dominating the horizon he knew that countless people had just arrived at the same conclusion.

Tomorrow the entire world would begin moving toward the Tower.

[To Be Continued]