Law Tower (Part 3)

The diamond let off a shining green light the moment the words finished and before the criminals could come any closer, space around the gem seemed to shimmer as a massive phantasmal ship smashed towards all three of them at the same time. The front of the ship was decorated with a skeleton that had its arms folded across its chest but when the ship emerged the skeleton let out mad cackling and deep red flames lit up in the sockets of its eyes as it breathed out a swath of green flames. Rowan may not have access to his own elemental attunement here, but the same could not be said by something created through the laws he practiced. Rowan had effectively circumvented the rule.

The first criminal unsheathed a sword from his waist and slashed, some type of sword based laws that cut into the green flames but unfortunately he was too unprepared for what the combination of three laws could produce. The flame reformed after being cut, but that was not where the danger came from as the massive floated ship sailed across the sea of flames and smashed down, turning the first criminal into paste. The tower had failed to even act in time to save him, causing the spectators to look at the scene in amazement. The other contestants had all engaged opponents, but none in such a flashy manner. The other two criminals grew wary and dove backwards, creating a space between them and the massive ship.

They both channeled their laws. One began to shine while the other had a layer of metallic substance close around his body while he charged once more, but the flying dutchman was not done after that. It was just an intro. The ship swiveled so that its side was facing the two men before panels on the side fell away and revealed ghostly green cannons. The cannons unleashed only what could be described as hell on the two, and no amount of struggling could save them from this fate. The cannons released round after round of cannon fire that left glowing green trails in the air as they reached their destination and exploded with not only fire but lighting as well. The entire tower shook under the bombardment, which ended moments later with a notification from the robotic voice.

"Level complete 1000 points awarded and law streamers released, please move onto the next floor after digesting the streamers." Rowan, on the other hand, simply reached his hand out and the flying dutchman folded itself back into its gem state, where he put it back into his inventory and smiled. "Now then, Empry, I think that worked out better than I thought it would." Empry was silent for a moment, making Rowan look down at the bracelet to make sure nothing was wrong before he finally got an answer. [Congratulations Rowan on the finalization of the technique, I look forward to how far you can take it.] Rowan smiled and snatched the streamers from the sky and began to digest the information they contained as he felt his comprehension of the laws increasing with every passing second. The part he kept to himself was that this was only the beginning, and this tower could serve as an excellent place to bolster his arsenal if he could use the criminals.

Rowan stepped on the next floor and executed the exact same move as before, but this time a single criminal escaped the onslaught, only to be caught by Rowan and a hand that no longer feigned having flesh. This time the process was a bit different because when Rowan was done, he was holding a gem shaped like a falcon and deep brown, but what stood out was that its wings were made from arrows. Rowan stepped into floor three the moment all the information was digested. Rowan was showing his talent at this moment with how quickly he could devour the knowledge and apply it,each time he used the abilities, they were more defined and scarier. Rowan never managed to create a new weapon as he reached the fourth floor with ease as all three criminals on the second floor died to the new weapon almost instantly and without Rowan being able to fully use it. Things changed on floor four, though, where a single enemy was standing before him and he was wearing no cloak..

Standing across from Rowan was a man with dark brown skin and orange bull horns coming from his head. The man sized up Rowan the moment he saw him and laughed loudly, "Young man, I didn't know what type of monster you must be for the tower to justify a kid of your age going against me, but seeing you, I do now. Starting from this floor, the tower adjusts your enemy to your skill level. The fourth floor is where the tower truly begins. Now what amazes me is that I have once presided over the seventh floor and have reached the mastery stage in my law, but the laws I sense from you, while more than one, are only in the elementary realm and bordering on intermediate at most." Rowan cocked his head to the side and scratched his head. "You can see law energy? How?"

The man smiled. "It is a talent of my bovine race. I was born a beast and assumed human form. Our ancestors spent their lives grazing and in time that translated into an ability to see the simplicity in everything, even the laws." Rowan nodded to himself and channeled his soul force and applied it to his hyper vision and immediately he got what he wanted, but unfortunately, the law tower was not a place to use such an ability. His eyes saw so many laws at once that blood tears ran from his eyes and he had to slam his eyes shut, causing the criminal across from him to widen his eyes in shock. "Young man, circulate your mana through your eyes and let them heal for a moment. My people have developed this talent over centuries. Why would you attempt something so brazen, especially in a place built to focus the laws." Rowan did what the man said and felt instant relief. He blinked the blood away and rubbed the stains from his face.

"Aren't you a criminal? Why are you helping me? The man laughed, which caused his body builder like physique to oscillate, the muscles looked like stones colliding. "Not all of us in the law tower are criminals. The people of the first layer have a separate entrance and we come here to train. The tower asks us to go against some of you second layer brats every year. The first three levels are indeed criminals, but anyone capable of making past that point is a true talent. We can no longer risk you, so the rest of the floors are populated with members of the king's army that are here for training. Of course, the reward is still the same. You get your points , but we also get given a portion of your points if we can force you to withdraw from the tower or even more if from the trial entirely. It is nice to meet you, Rowan Raid, disciple of the king."

Rowan's jaw dropped at the revelation, mainly because that silly damn queen could have just told him that. "Uhm, wait, you know me?" The man smiled. "Indeed, I was actually in the stands for the farewell battle with your master. I'm a squad leader and have special seating! I saw the whole battle and let me tell you, it was just as exciting as when his kids battled the king. It was awesome. You are famous throughout the first layer. Everyone is counting the days to your ascension. Rowan was stunned at the information because truthfully, since he had left, he failed to realize just how much time had passed with the time difference. The thought of people waiting for him excited him, but also made him think of how lonely it would be if he rushed his ascension and did it without Em and Camille. Rowan smiled, "Well then, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rowan Raid."

The man grinned and walked forward and offered his hand to Rowan. "Bodie Toro" Rowan shook his hand and the man then began to back up. "Now young sir it would be my pleasure to be your fourth floor test. I study the law of spears." Rowan knew that weapons as common as the spear had their own universal laws that touched on everything they were proficient in. When combined with the spear equivalent to spear intent, it could make for a fearsome combination in the right hands and was in fact one of the most common training paths for most cultivators.They would try to raise their weapon training to a suitable level where both it and their law specialization could combine for devastating attacks that would render common cultivators helpless before them. Rowan nodded politely and held his hand out where two gems now floated above his palm. "My name is Rowan Raid. I study the law of weapons, souls and storms. I look forward to learning from you." Rowan's words were the gun that started the races as Bodie flew out like a bullet towards him. The sound barrier was broken the moment his foot raised off of the ground.

A spear appeared in his hand. One end of it was a plain silver spear head but the back of it was a deep black bull horn. The spear stabbed forward with his momentum while Rowan looked at it piercing towards him the only thing that he could truly think was how amazing of an ability it was. The spear was absolutely horrifying but Rowan was able to think of how happy he was that he finally was going to have a real fight after all of this time in the trial world.