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Re-Birth Of A Genius. Creator/Destroyer Chapter 55

Sam slept peacefully that night. After what happened to the panthers, this is the only time he felt a little peaceful. His mind calmed down a little as he drifted to sleep in his comfortable bed. Next day early in the morning even before the sun rose, a series of knocking sounds woke him up.

When he went outside, he saw Philip standing there.

"Sam principal came. He said that he has something important to talk to you." Philip sounded fl.u.s.tered. Sam just nodded and walked downstairs and saw the Principal, who is sitting in a chair with a gloomy expression. When Sam took a seat in front of him, he took a deep breath and asked.

"Sam, did you do it?"

"Do what exactly sir?" Sam replied with a smile. When he saw Sam's smile, without a hint of malice and coldness, he wasn't even able to relate to the person he saw a few days back when he came to confront him about Eisen's 'message'. He immediately understood what made this young man feel so happy.

"Why did you have to go too far? We could have talked it over. Will you take every small matter to this extent?" Principal asked with a dejected expression. Eisen is a good candidate for this competition. He is not only a person with good cultivation for his age, he is also a person with expertise in auxiliary professions as well. He is a very valuable person on the roaster now. But he slipped away just like that because his own self- centred egoist actions.

He is also dissatisfied with Sam. Even though, he can understand him being angry, he never would have expected that he would just kill the person because his pets got attacked. If they were killed, he might understand. They were injured badly. If there is any person other than Sam, they would take a huge ransom, and let this matter go. After all, there are lot more powerful beast pets that could be bought with money. Any normal cultivator will do so. At least, he himself would so. But Sam's answer stunned him.

"To be honest sir. I do. I will take every small matter to this extent." Principal was dazed for a bit and said.

"He is a main part of the roaster. He can be used to gain some actual results for the city. Did you at least think about what you have done? How much loss, is it for the academy and the City?"

"And why should I care about that?" This time not only principal, the rest of the team also left stunned. At first, they were confused, but they understood something that this discussion is related to Sam and someone else who was supposed to be the part of the team, but was unable to do so because of Sam. But what Sam said shocked them rather than confused. 'what does he mean, why should I care?' He is part of this freaking team for crying out loud. This is thought that ran through everyone's mind. Without giving a chance for Principal to speak, Sam continued.

"Probably you forgot, let me remind you. This is a part of business deal between both of us. You paid me and I will participate in the competition on behalf of your academy. The deal doesn't include me tolerating what ever your students throw at me and lay on the floor to let them walk over on me. You are here asking me explanation on why I did that? Where were you when your beloved student got so carried away and hired the most notorious organisation in the city to make a hit on my pets. I didn't see you demanding an explanation from him."

Sam asked in a solemn tone. The gentle smile is gone.

"But I would have given you a compensation. You could have healed them or you could have taught him a lesson. Why go to that extent?" Principal asked with an exasperated tone.

Sam just chuckled. Then he took a sword and threw it at the feet of the Principal, then he took a bag full of spirit stones which seemed to be a lot from his storage and placed it on the table. He looked at Principal straight in the eyes and said.

"200,000 spirit stones. Would you be leaving your arm here, please? You can heal your arm at the healer and I will pay you that also. Are you willing?"

The whole seemed to freeze on the spot. All the students felt their blood run cold. Principal also stared at Sam as his aura grew wilder. Sam didn't avert his gaze even under the pressure of the superior cultivator and just looked at Principal straight in the eyes.

Why is he so daring? Because he knew that Principal won't attack him. There is no other option. Sam is the only hope, if he needs to get some benefits through this tournament.

Principal tried his best to calm himself and left after saying. "Whatever happened, happened. I hope you will fulfil your end of the deal Sam. I will see you all at the academy in a while." He then left without even taking a look at the group.

Sam also didn't say anything and left to his room to freshen up. He changed into his usual black vest and coat and walked downstairs. By now, all the members in the group are ready to go.

The group started their walk as they went to Falcon Cliff academy.

The Falcon cliff academy is also part of the northern region of the falcon cliff city. Sam and his group came here and sat with the people from the Starwood city.

There are separate seating arrangements for them as well as other cities under the jurisdiction of the Falcon cliff city. Other than those five groups, there are another group from the Falcon Cliff academy themselves. All the groups which comprised of total of 60 candidates along with their supervisors sat there.

Sam observed other city lords and he was surprised a bit. The other city lords are at most at middle stage of Novice stage and so were principals of the academies. Some principals are at most at the level of elders of the academy. This left him surprised and confused at the same time. He observed something else that is the other people are looking at their group strangely, the principals and city lord of other groups are looking at them and whispering with in themselves. Even though, he felt it was weird, he didn't think much of it and waited as his gaze was fixed on the seats at the top most platform.

The seats were for the Count and the Principal of the Falcon Cliff city. The two strongest of the people in the territory.

After a while a huge bird screech could be heard and everyone looked at towards the sky. There is a huge Whirlwind falcon, which is obviously at the Level 3. On top of the falcon, a middle-aged man with a dignified countenance stood proudly with his back straight. He is none other than the Great Mage Falcon also called Count Falcon. He is the superior of the territory of not only the Falcon Cliff city but also the other five subordinate cities.

He is followed by a group of Novice warriors and Mages riding on level 2 Whirlwind Falcons. They are called the Falcon guards, the elite guards of the Falcon Cliff city.

Sam looked at the various people standing up in respect for the Count and he also stood up. He is in distaste for bowing and kneeling, but standing up as respect is still not overboard and neither did, he feels undeserving.

Great mage or Great Warrior is cultivation stage above Novice stage and Falcon Cliff city has at most a handful of them. They might even exceed ten people and strongest of the Great Mages/Warriors is undoubtedly the Count followed by the Principal of the Falcon Cliff academy.

While everyone is deep in their own thoughts, an entourage arrived from the depths of the Falcon Cliff academy lead by a Middle-aged man with extreme scholarly aura. He has a long beard and long hair which reached his shoulders. The second most powerful person in the Falcon Cliff city is here.

Both the big shots gave each other a warm hug as they exchanged greetings, they seem to be rather close. After sometime both of them took their seats and gestured to the audience to take a seat. They didn't expect everyone to bow. Sam heard from whispers of the spectators that the City lord doesn't like people bowing to him at all and mentioned in many occasions to not to bow.

After everyone settled down, Count Falcon came forward and addressed the people.

"Dear citizens of my territory. On this auspicious moment, I am very happy to see that the City lords and the Principals of the academies from the subordinate cities brought the candidates for this grand occasion. I appreciate the candidates who came to this event and I wish them all the best for their future.

Today the young talents from all over my territory are here in order to participate in a tournament that is going to be held by the joint administration of Principal Castor and me. This tournament is to assess the younger generations with potential and give them new opportunities, such that they will excel in the future. I hope all the candidates give their best in the tournament and strive to be the best. The tournament rules will be explained by Principal Castor.

After finishing his speech followed by an applause from audience, he took a seat and Principal Castor took his place and waited for a moment for audience to settle down. After the audience came to silence, he started speaking.

"As our Count Falcon said. The young people will be participating in a tournament. The qualifications to enter the tournament are that the candidate must be younger than or at twenty years of age and he must be one of the chosen ten of the respective cities.

We also conducted a tournament a few days ago to select the top 10 people in our city who will compete along with the other five groups of the sub ordinate cities. There would be an age assessment later on to proceed with and the people who didn't pass the requirement will be eliminated immediately and the respective cities must find a substitute themselves. If they don't have a substitute, a candidate from Falcon Cliff city will take his place.

The tournament is for a very important cause, so you the evaluation will not only be diverse, but also considers all traits of a person not just focussing on the battle prowess.

There are two types of final rankings. One is the team ranking which will be ranked by the c.u.mulative performance of the team of city. The second ranking is the individual ranking. The rewards for both the rankings will be given adequately.

The candidates will be assessed in three rounds.

The first round will be an endurance challenge. The challenge is to travel in a tower as high as possible. The tower is filled with various formations, obstacles and other restrictions. The tower is a part of our testing ground, which has thirty levels. The higher level a person climbs, the higher the points they will obtain.

I wish you all the best." Principal concluded his speech.

Chapter end

Re-Birth Of A Genius. Creator/Destroyer Chapter 56

After Principal ended his speech, he gestured to an elder to lead the group to the testing grounds of the academy. All the spectators followed them to the spectator's area provided at the testing grounds. After all of them left the bigshots in the place were guided by the attendants of the academy to the private cubicles to get a better view of the test.

The Elder led the candidates and their supervisors of the six groups and made them take their positions in front of a huge tower. There was a huge plaque written with characters 'TOWER OF WILL'. Sam looked at the ancient looking tower and was in awe about its exquisite structure.

The tower is tall and may be the tallest of all the buildings in city, but nobody was unable to see it when they normally roam in the city for which the credit went to the arrangements of testing grounds.

The Elder turned towards the six groups of people and said. "This 'Tower of Will' is testing place to know how strong is your will and how strong is your belief in yourself. There are thirty levels in this tower and the higher you go the higher the points you will gain. These points will be added to the c.u.mulative score of yours for the final evaluation of the tournament.

If you are unable to step forward after you reach a certain level, don't be stubborn and learn to back down, when you can. Otherwise the repercussions will be dire and hinder your future development.

The best record for the tower is of 27 levels and that is done by our current emperor, when he came here to test his will especially in this tower.

I wish you all the best." He finished his speech and gave the position to another attendant who is in charge of sending candidates in to the tower.

The attendant came forward and said.

"The first participants will be Falcon Cliff city." As soon as he said that all the participants from the Falcon Cliff city came forward. Attendant pointed at one guy among them and gestured him to enter the tower. The first floor of the tower illuminated a little confirming the tower begin testing the candidate.

Soon, the dimly lit first floor began illuminating brightly in white light. The first floor was passed. Now the candidate will be moved to the second floor and the that also illuminated with a dim light. This time ten minutes passed and the second floor also passed. The candidate was moved to the third floor. Seeing that the testing takes sometime the candidates and the spectators started chatting. Sam observed all the candidates from various cities and some interesting info was heard from two people from Mountain lake City which is one of the close neighbours to the Starwood city. He heard two guys talking secretively.

"Hey, do you know why the cultivation levels of the City lord and Principal of the Falcon cliff city are higher?"

"No, I am also curious. Do you know anything about it?"

"Yes, I overheard when our City lord explained to his son just now."

"Really? What is the reason then?"

"Apparently, Starwood city is like an exiling zone to the dukedom we are part of. The officials of various departments and organisations, who offended their superiors at their early stages of career will be transferred to this city. This city has literally no resources except for that Starwood forest and some other common herbs. So, every big shot in the city from another place, who has beef with the higher ups and were transferred there to stomp on their progress. The opportunities are less and resources are scarce. They said that even the Noble families in that city are exiled branch of a big noble family because of their internal strife. That is why other cities are controlled by a single noble family and there might be at most an extra noble family which are deployed by a big- name noble family to get the resources, but the noble families in Starwood city are different.

Principal added that, if not for the fact they don't have any strong evidence against them to be dealt directly and the organisation can't do it due to their reputation, they might have been already dealt with by their superiors.

So, long ago the upper echelons of various organisation, reached a consensus together discreetly, to send all these people who offended them to this City."

When the other guy heard this, he was shocked and Sam who heard it discreetly was given more huge shock from the info. Never would he have expected that there would be a city like this where the people who offended their bosses were transferred. He didn't expect that this would be the reason for the higher cultivation base of City lord and the Principal. He thought that the Starwood city might be somewhat impressive or something. But the reason made him almost burst in laughter. So, most of these guys are people who were kicked by their bosses to the curb.

Sam looked at the Principal and City lord who is looking at the tower with a serious expression.

"Hello, Kelly." His thought process was interrupted by a person's deep and cheerful voice. He turned his head only to see that a young man who is from the Falcon Cliff team greeting Kelly. Sam didn't bother with it and diverted his attention to the tower as the candidate came outside just now.

"Candidate Logan from Falcon Cliff city. Twelve levels passed and failed in thirteenth level.12 Points." Attendant announced as the candidate came back with a dejected expression.

"Sam." A sweet voice came from beside him and he saw Kelly calling him. He turned towards her and saw the young man who spoke to her earlier standing beside her with a smile.

"This is Hawk. Son of the Count Falcon. He is my childhood friend." Kelly introduced him and Sam was a bit surprised. This time he observed the young man closely and indeed found some similarities in facial features between him and the Count.

Hawk extended his hand and said. "Nice to meet you Sam." His tone was polite, not like some random young masters he used encounter.

"Nice to meet you too." Sam also said in a same polite tone. Even though there are no signs of friendly smile on his face like Hawk, his face didn't show his usual coldness and temper or any signs of displeasure as well.

"I heard a lot about you from Howard recently and Kelly also said that you are quite unique. That is why I became curious and came here to meet you." Hawk said with same smile. Sam didn't feel repulsed by his smile.

"By Howard you mean, Kelly's uncle?" Sam asked. He didn't remember any other guy named Howard which he met with recently. But there was still a doubt as he didn't see any reason for the Artisan tower head to say something about him to Count's son.

"Yes. Howard and my father are friends. Kelly used to live here when she was still a little kid. That is how we became friends. Recently, when Howard came to meet my father, you are one of the main topics they used to discuss." Hawk explained.

"Oh, really? I never expected that. I don't think there is not much to talk about me." Sam replied. And they made small talk. Hawk was polite all the time. He observed that Sam is a guy with cold personality and is not one to make friends easily, so he also kept his distance and just talked with him normally. They talked about various things and when Sam learned that Hawk is a formation master, they had some more interesting things to talk about.

"Candidate Yash. Twenty floors. Failed in twenty first floor. Twenty points."

The announcement put a brake to their conversation and they looked at the candidate curiously. He is a young man with a peculiar around him, wearing black. He is a seen with another two people having same aura as him in the Falcon Cliff city team.

"Your team seems to having some good contenders." Sam noted as he observed the trio with peculiar air. He felt that something very familiar from them, but wasn't able to put his finger on it and went into deep contemplation. When he finally made a guess, he was shocked. The peculiar feeling is blood l.u.s.t. He looked at the boys in their late teens, they are at peak of Acolyte or initial stage of Novice, but the blood l.u.s.t from them is not something that normal amateurs will have. They are used to killing and the body count must be high for their age.

Sam thought and looked at the trio for a while before directing his gaze towards another participant who just finished his test.

Time slowly passed by and only three people left from the Falcon Cliff team. Hawk and the other two from the peculiar trio.

"Candidate Yaar. Twenty-one floors. Failed in twenty second floor. Twenty- one points." After another forty-minute time one of the guys from trio completed his test. Time passed.

"Candidate Yuv. Twenty floors. Failed at twenty- first floor. Twenty points." Finally, Hawk's turn came.

"I will see you later." Hawk said to Sam and Kelly and went inside the tower.

The first floor of the tower dimly lit and with in a few seconds it illuminated brightly. Hawk completed the first trail faster than anyone else. He proceeded to the second floor and in the same way, he completed that in a very small time. Sam looked at the tower with an amusing smile. Hawk climbed the tower until he reached the tenth floor in no time. At tenth floor, he took some time to pass.

Even though the time taken to complete the floors increased significantly. His completion time is way faster than other people who participated before. With in twenty minutes he reached twenty-first floor. This surprised everyone at the venue. Even though they felt surprised at the performances of the trio who made to the twenty floors, the time they took was rather high compared to Hawk.

Just as they were discussing in whispers another floor illuminated brightly and Hawk entered the twenty-second floor. Another ten minutes passed; another floor lit up. Everyone burst into uproar and the crowd looked so excited. They wanted to see someone set a record from their city.

Count Falcon is grinning ear to ear at his seat.

"your son is truly good." Castor said from side.

"He still has ways to go, to be as great as me." Count Falcon said in a serious tone, but his grin clearly told that he is proud of his son."

Then crowd shrieked again as they another floor illuminate. Hawk passed twenty-second floor and climbed his way to the twenty third floor. Until now, this is the best performance. They were eagerly waiting but they were disappointed when tower returned to normal and Hawk came out with a bitter smile.

"Candidate Hawk. Twenty-two floors. Failed in twenty third floor. Twenty- two points." Crowd applauded for the young man.

Even though they were a bit disappointed as they had high expectations on Hawk, the competition has to go on. And the candidates from the next group went forward.

Starwood City was last on the list and they have to wait until every other candidate is done with and within that group Sam is the last candidate. So, he stood there and waited patiently.

Even though there are some significant results in the next candidates, there are nothing remarkable. Only one person achieved a result of twenty points from other cities, before the turn of Starwood city came at time of sun set.

Kelly entered first to the tower as the rest of them waited for their turn. Kelly got 18 points which is not bad. The remaining teammates like Freya, Haley scored around 12 to 15 points. Just as crowd gave up. Jack entered the tower and gave a huge shock to everyone.

His speed his comparable to Hawk and he didn't seem to stop at all. He cleared the floors after 10th level even faster than Hawk. Hawk was staring at the tower with a surprised expression, but with in the surprise there is a competitive spirit burning making him excited. When Jack arrived at the twenty third floor where Hawk failed everyone became silent.

Five minutes passed

Ten minutes passed

Twenty minutes passed. To everyone's shock the floor illuminated brightly. Just as they thought that Jack would go to twenty fourth level. He withdrew.

"Candidate Jack. Twenty-three floors. Withdrew from twenty fourth floor. Twenty- three points.

Jack's face doesn't look good, even after he came back. His face was pale and his eyes are blank. The test almost broke him apart.

There are only two candidates left. Philip and Sam. Sam helped Jack to take a seat and passed him some water as Philip entered the tower.

Re-Birth Of A Genius. Creator/Destroyer Chapter 57

Sky turned dark and night arrived. But at the testing grounds of the Falcon cliff city, neither spectators nor candidates are ready to leave. Right now, all the spectators are staring at certain disbelief. They were shocked out of their senses for the feat the person accomplished.

The said person though, is smiling and didn't speak anything else. Sam looked at Philip who stood beside him as nothing happened.

Philip just came out of the tower, but he shocked everyone with his performance. The person responsible for announcing the result is also staring at him disbelief. Because, when he entered the tower, his performance is similar to that of Jack. Rapidly climbing the levels easily. That didn't give them much shock, but the fact that he took less than half the time to complete the same twenty-third level in which Jack almost collapsed made them surprised.

When everyone thought he was going to attempt the next floor, he withdrew and came back smiling as if nothing happened. If not for the fact, that Sam noticed some signs of exhaustion on his face, nobody would believe that he achieved such high score on the tower of will.

After sometime Sam took a step forward and coughed to get the attention of the attendant responsible for the score. The attendant came out of the daze and shouted the results.

"Candidate Philip. Twenty third floor. Withdrew from twenty fourth floor. Twenty-third points."

After noting down the scores, he gestured Sam to enter the tower.

Sam walked inside the tower and was baffled to see the walls inside the room. The walls of the room are filled with runic diagrams. Sam instantly recognised what the technique used for the creating these structures. These structures are done by a technique named inscription etching. To be able to use this technique one must be proficient in inscriptions as well as painting Artisan. But judging from the complication of the runic arrangement it must be some kind of formation which means he must be a formation master as well. Sam looked at the room and only saw a circular platform in the middle of the room which seemed to be seating arrangement. He walked to the platform and sat down.

As soon as he sat down, he felt a jolt in his mind as his consciousness slipped away. When he opened his eyes, Sam saw himself in a familiar place. This is the street he used to live in when he stayed at the Lava rock village. When Sam started to look around, he saw a familiar person standing at a distance away from him.

The person in front of him was none other than the Village head of the Lava Rock village. He walked towards Sam with an evil look on his eyes. "How dare you hurt my son? I will kill you today." Village head said in a cold tone. Sam looked at the village head coldly. He tried to move but he felt his strength completely suppressed by the Village heads aura. Sam felt cold sweat, but he didn't falter. His strength seemed to weak in front of the village head and he felt like he would be dead at any time. Danger loomed over his heart as he saw village head walking towards him.

Sam closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. 'Even I have to die. I will at least die trying.' He thought in his head as he made his move and leapt towards the village head. He balled his fist and punched the other party in daze, but the other party didn't dodge at all. As his fist made impact to other party's face.

*BOOM* Sam woke up with a jolt. His mind felt a buzzing sensation. He is extremely familiar with this feeling. This is the time acceleration he felt in the tower when he simulated.

Sam slowly stood up and looked at the runes on the wall as he tried to comprehend the test. When he entered that illusion, his memory seemed to be erased. He only saw the more powerful Village head and himself are in confrontation and he is in helpless situation.

He felt weak. He didn't even have a thought that this is a test and not reality. Not even an inkling came to his mind.

Sam thought in contemplation. 'Here losing the battle is not the real loss. Losing the battle without even having will to fight is the real loss'. He seemed to understand what the test of will is.

He slowly walked towards the entrance which opened for him to enter the next floor. When he entered the next floor, he saw that the room is similar to the one in first floor. But the only difference is that the second-floor walls have more complex runic structures.

"This tower is definitely not created by the people of this city. This is way too high level for them to make. I will not believe even if they beat me to death." He thought out loud and sat down on the platform again.

Sam again felt his memory lapsed. His conscious drifted as he came into another familiar scene. Testing grounds of the Starwood academy, Carl and his friends surrounded him as he felt his whole-body spasm in pain and bled with several wounds. All of them are looking at him with an evil look...

Third floor, Sam entered another familiar place, the healers experimental lab in the tower, he felt his body tied up to the chains which used to restrain the green scale lizards. Albert and Alfred are walking towards him...

Fourth floor,

Fifth floor,

Tenth floor, Sam looked at all the people surrounding him. All the people he had conflicts with are right in front of him. Even though he has his full power and he was full of energy, there are so many people for him to handle. Village head, Oliver and his lackeys, Carl and his friends, Carter, the seniors who lost to him in the assessment, the noble family heads, Leonard, Raymond, Eisen and his father. He is surrounded by everyone as felt suppressed and tiny in front of all the auras of all his enemies. He has Golden Crescent in his hand and tightened his grip.

He wants to live; he doesn't want to die and he really doesn't want to die in hands of these people. But he saw the looks in the eyes of these people that had no emotion but extreme rage in their eyes. There is only one way for him. Get to live or die trying. He swung his golden crescent as the blade keened in the air and slashed the person in front of him...…

Sam opened his eyes as he looked at the walls and shook his head. He felt dizzy all over as he remembered the sensation. In all the ten situations, Sam always met with the enemies that are powerful than him and all these times he doesn't have any memories or recollections that this is the illusion for the test.

All that registered in his mind is are his power level at the situation, his enemies power level and the difference in between both of them. His helplessness, his hopelessness. That is the only thing he had in mind and the test how he will face it.

Each and every time, the only test he has to do is how can he overcome the situation. Every time he has no choice but to die due to his powerlessness. But his evaluation laid on the way he died. Did he die while trying or did he give up? That is the basis of evaluation.

Sam slowly stood up and walked towards the eleventh- floor stairs and went inside another room. This room is almost similar to the rooms before, but the walls are etched with a different form of runes compared to the other times.

Meanwhile, outside. The people are numb for the surprises now. They saw how fast Sam moved in the ten floors and eleventh one, they had a sense of dejavu and they eyed the candidates who cleared the floors just as fast.

Sam looked at the platform and the different type of runic patterns than before.

He doesn't know what type of change it will make to the illusion types, but the change will definitely be there.

Sam went to platform and sat down. He closed his eyes slowly and again there was a jolt in his mind.

Sam opened his eyes only to see and endless desert in front of his eyes, he saw the miles and miles of sand carpeting the earth as far as his eyes could see. He doesn't have anything on him except for the cloths he wore. The scorching sun and the hot sand beneath him gave a burning feel over to his body. He tried to use his spiritual energy but nothing happened. He tried a few more times and then only he realized, he is an ordinary man. Now, he is nothing but an ordinary man who is struck in between an endless dessert. He looked around a bit and then picked a direction where he could see a faint image of mountain ranges and started walking.

He walked neither fast nor slow, he just maintained his pace and walked without caring about sun and heat. Soon, he found a dead tree on his way but didn't mind it and walked forward, his throat started to feel dry, his cloths are soaked in sweat, he is dehydrating in a fast pace. But he didn't stop.

After walking for a long distance, Sam froze on the spot. The dead tree appeared again, He looked at for a while and just thought that it might be another tree and he might have been feeling dejavu. He walked past it, this time his body became dry, his cloths that are soaked in sweat also started to become dry. He felt an unimaginable thirst, he walked for another long distance.

He looked at the dead tree that came again. His heart screamed of despair, he felt that something is wrong. He slowly walked towards the tree and with the little bit of meagre strength he left, he broke a small tip of a branch and took it along with him. This time his skin started cracking and his lips broke.

After another long distance, he spotted the dead tree again, he walked towards it and looked at the branch tip, he pursed his lips and placed the broken tip on the branch, which obviously matched, his heart went cold. He is looming with despair. He looked at the dead tree and at the mountain ranges that can be seen far away. He thought. 'Am I going to die like this?' Then he shook his head and thought again. 'I will try until the last breath.'

He took another step forward with determination and walked towards the mountain range. He walked miles. His feet started to bleed, he encountered the dead tree again but this time he didn't stop, he increased his pace and walked again, after sometime his legs gave in, he crawled with his hands, his hands gave in he still crawled with his remaining strength. His clothes were tattered. His body was full of abrasions from the sand and bleeding. He can't see what was in front of him, but he didn't stop. Soon, he felt weak and tired. He closed his eyes and breathed his last breath and final thing he saw is the dead tree which he saw for the tenth time.

Sam opened his and looked at the platform. He shook his head to come out of that feeling. His body broke out in cold sweat. He stood up from the platform and walked towards the door for next floor. He was thinking what would be the next test. He walked towards the room in the next floor and sat on the platform and closed his eyes again.

Sam opened his eyes and he felt wet all over and looked around in daze. He was floating in and endless ocean, he instinctively started kicking his feet to stay afloat. His memory is blank. He doesn't remember anything. All he had in his mind was that he fell into the sea and he has to move in order to be safe.

Sam started to swim and he did so in a direction where he could see an island. He swam in a moderate pace to keep his stamina in check. He swam for miles and just when he thought he would have reduced some distance and looked towards the island; he only saw the same black dot he saw when he just arrived. Sam looked around and again started to swim...…..

Sam opened his eyes on the platform and walked towards the next one.

Meanwhile, outside.

Spectators looked at tower. They saw Sam clearing levels, just like the other high-scorers. They are not waiting whether he would make a good score or not. There are more inclined on thinking, whether he would beat the score that Jack has set. They are waiting in anticipation and they are not the only ones.

"How far do you think, he would go?" Hawk asked Kelly who stood beside him. Jack also stood with them. He had enough rest to stand and Philip is looking at Hawk and Kelly to hear what she would think.

"I don't know. But I hope, he would make it far." Kelly answered in a sweet tone. Freya and Haley are sitting a little away from them. They are feeling dejected at their low results. They both scored only 14 and 15 points respectively. They didn't even see what the third set of tests, which are twenty-first on wards are. Now only they understood that they are full of themselves. Even Philip who always goofs around and has a very 'average talent' compared to them beat them big time. They sighed and looked at the tower as another floor illuminated brightly.

Chapter end

Re-Birth Of A Genius. Creator/Destroyer Chapter 58

"He is already at twentieth floor. Do you think he will beat the others and win first place?"

"I don't know. But he is not faster than others. Maybe he might be same as the other two guys who are in the lead."

"I think so too."

"I don't think so. He might even withdraw from the next floor."

Some candidates and spectators are discussing about Sam as they spectated the tower.

Meanwhile Sam is being under the test that will lead him to the last set of the tests in the tower. The test to enter twenty-first floor.

Sam is sweating all over as he looked at the time as he sat on the platform. His conscious is wide awake. In his mind.

Sam is hanging on to a tall vertical rocky surface. He looked down and beneath him is a pool of hot lava, from which the hot vapours came out searing his skin. He looked upwards towards the mouth of the volcano. He can clearly see a blue sky filled with white clouds.

Sam started climbing. His spiritual energy is sealed and his memory is blank. The only thing he knew is that he cannot hold on to the rocky wall at the same spot if he wants to survive. His body has several cuts and bruises and some of the wounds are bleeding. He slowly started getting near the mouth of the volcano. When he finally placed his hand over the mouth and pulled himself up, a light flashed and he found himself at the point he started.

"F.u.c.k" He cursed out loud as he looked at the pool of lave very near to his legs. This is the fourth time this happened. Every time he climbed up with all his might, he will come back down as if he was struck in a loop and worse every time this happened, his injuries will worsen due to the close exposure of the heat from the lava. He is growing tired and he wants to rest, but something in his mind is telling him that climbing is the only escape route. If he wants to live, he needs to climb.

He started climbing and again reached the top and again came back to the bottom in a flash.

Fifth time.

Sixth time.

Tenth time. Sam is fully wounded. His skin cracked. He has third degree burns; he is holding the rocky protrusion with all his might. But he refused to give up. His palms are covered with blood and burns. He is hurting all over and he still tried to pull himself up, but this time his hand lost the grip and he fell into the lava pool.

*splash*

Sam opened his eyes on the platform. He is drenched in sweat. His skin became cold.

*pah* *pah* He slapped himself twice to make himself more awake. He looked at the door which just opened and he felt anxious as to what to see in the next round.

His first ten rounds, he was put against powerful enemies, which he cannot win against. But he was given a fighting chance and the next ten rounds, he was put against the nature and was thrown into a helpless situation which he can't even put up a fight with. He really wants to see what would he up against next.

He slowly made his way to the next floor and the style of the runic patterns really changed. He sat on the central platform and closed his eyes. Suddenly a voice came in his mind.

[Oh, another young man. Seems like the younger generation is getting stronger and stronger. In one day, there are already seventh one. Let me see what you have in your head.]

The voice sounded like as if it was belonged to an old man. It sounded coarse. Just as the voice finished, Sam felt someone enter his consciousness and read him like a book. He found an old man's silhouette in his consciousness and all his memories flashed past him one by one and the memories were not just after his rebirth, but also the memories of the previous life. The Old man looked at the memories with a surprised expression. Then he turned towards Sam's conscious and said.

[your soul belongs to another world. I wasn't able to see how you got here; he seems to be of someone who is far more powerful. Anything related to him in your memory is unable to read. Coming back to your situation. You really seem to have gone through a lot in your past life. This might be a bit unfair to you, but I can't do anything about it. I hope your will is strong enough to make it to the top.] The Old silhouette disappeared as soon as he spoke without giving Sam any chance to speak.

Sam again felt a jolt in mind and his consciousness drifted again. He opened his eyes and saw a familiar place, very familiar that it etched into memory and into his very soul.

Sam looked at the shed he was in and looked at the kids of various ages from three years to ten years in ragged cloths. He is right now back to his past, this place is familiar to him, because this is where his four-year-old previous self, lived.

Sam looked at the door and had a bad premonition, he tried to remember why he was back here, but nothing came to his mind, The memory of his was only remained until the situation, the rest of the memory is blank, even though he knew that he got past this, but he doesn't remember how he got past this.

Suddenly, door opened. A young man in his twenties came in with a loud bang and looked around as if searching for someone, when his eyes landed on Sam, he immediately walked towards him and without any word he kicked him in his guts. Sam flew over and landed on the floor all the kids frightened and stood up from the grounds and huddled to other side of the shed.

"You little piece of shit. Why didn't you go to your shift today? Who will pay for the food you are going to eat?" He walked towards Sam and held him by his throat and felt Sam's skin was warmer and his voice grew harsher.

"So, you have a f.u.c.k.i.n.g fever and slept in. Do you know what kind of opportunity you missed? If you have a fever, you should go and beg even more and you will make even more money. You made me lose so much today." He threw Sam on the floor and kicked him again and again. Then he turned towards the rest of the group and then said.

"You better not give this guy any food. If he wants to eat, he should go out and beg for money and submit the collection. Then only he will have anything to eat understand?" His voice grew louder and louder and the rest of the kids nodded their heads weakly.

After that guy left, Sam sat up slowly and leaned against the wall. He is looking at the bowl he was given for the begging and looked at the door.

He clearly knew the young man. When Sam was in the street, this young man reached out to him and said that he can go to the orphanage where he can eat, sleep and go to school like any other school. But he was smuggled to this place, where he has to beg all day to eat food. But he clearly didn't understand what to do. But he knew that once a kid tried to escape, he was beaten so bad that the kid died.

Sam looked at the door weakly. He picked the bowl and walked towards the door. He made his way to the streets and started begging. When he walked towards a deserted alley to sit, he saw something.

A van is there with a door opened and two men are talking. He overheard their conversation.

"When are we going to leave?" One person asked another.

"I don't know either. But before we leave, we need to find out that last group. Even though we caught almost all the leaders of these, we need to find that bastard who stole our goods silently. I heard that he is in this city and he is using our goods to make money." The man spoke as he waved a photo. Sam sneaked a peak at the photo and was surprised to see that.

Even though he wasn't able to understand what the two men are speaking, he knew that they are angry at the young man in the photo and the young man happened to be the person who beat up Sam.

Sam looked at the two men and hesitated a bit. He immediately left the alley and continued begging before he went back to the shed silently. He went to the young man and silently gave him the money he got through begging.

Young man took the money and still seemed to be a bit disappointed, he took the money and slapped Sam.

"Why is your collection still low? You are a waste for me." He scolded and threw a piece of bun at Sam and left the room.

Sam slowly made his way to the room and ate the bun which is definitely not enough for him. He tried to sleep and was thinking about the two men and whether to lead them here or not.

Last time, a boy tried to lead police here and what happened is that the police was bribed by the young man and the boy became victim and got his leg broken.

Sam was afraid that if he does this and get caught, he will also suffer. This is too much for a four-year-old boy. He can't seem to come to a decision and he only slept when he was unable to stay up due to his fever.

Next day he woke up again with a round of kicking. "How dare you to sleep again today? Didn't I make myself clear last night?" The young man kicked him again and again. Sam wept as he hugged his head.

Why? He asked himself. He was tired of this. He was clearly tired of this. After the beating was over, he took his bowl and went to the streets but this time he didn't beg anyone. He walked to the alley where the two men talked yesterday and waited there. He sat there for a whole day and when it was evening the two young man came again.

"There are no leads."

"For me neither." Two of them spoke with frustration. Sam walked towards the two men from his spot and then pointed at the photo in their hands.

When they looked at the kid pointing at the photo they were confused and shooed him away.

"Kid, get away from here. It is not a place for you to stay."

Sam didn't move and tugged one man's pants and pointed towards the photo and then towards the street.

"You know where this guy is?" One of them asked as he looked at Sam.

"Yes." Sam said and nodded his head. His throat hurt when he tried to speak. That is why he is refraining himself from speaking.

The two men exchanged glances and gestured Sam to show the way. When they reached the hide out and found the young man, they immediately started beating him up and only stopped until the young man is dead. The young man looked at Sam with resentment as he breathed his last.

"Don't worry, we will take care of you." One of the two men said with a smile. At the time Sam nodded. But he didn't know that this is situation that led him to a scenario of leaving the pan only to land in stove.

As soon as the young Sam closed his eyes, Sam who is sitting in the tower opened his eyes as he shivered heavily. That is one of the most painful memories in the past. The decision to rat out the young man, took everything a four-year-old has to offer.

He understood now. This is the third set of the trails. He has to live through the same scenarios of the past and take the same decisions he took. But it is not easy. Because, he would rather not live the scenarios again. When the door to the next floor opened, he started hesitating for the first time.

Chapter end

Re-Birth Of A Genius. Creator/Destroyer Chapter 59

When the candidates who also passed the test of the twenty-first floor, Jack, Philip and the other guy from the trio, saw that Sam took more time than them to complete the same floor, they felt that he would withdraw from the twenty-second floor.

But before they could finish their thought process, they saw the twenty second floor lit up dimly. They didn't think that he would go further. Philip and Jack are confused. Then they heard Hawk saying.

"You guys know what the twenty-first round is. The test is according to one's own memory and the memory may not be of same time. So, we can't judge the ability by the amount of time we took."

After hearing that, they realized the situation. They also felt that they couldn't judge it like that.

Time passed and Sam slowly climbed from one floor to another and passed each trail. But the time required for each test kept on increasing. Sam came to the twenty fourth floor which the other guys failed or withdrew from. Sam is already in the floor for almost an hour. They felt like he might be pushing it too far. Just as they thought he would fail, the twenty fourth floor illuminated brightly.

The twenty fifth floor also dimly lit up. Sam didn't stop. He neither failed nor withdrew like all the other people thought. Instead, he advanced forward.

One hour passed, twenty fifth floor illuminated.

One and half hour passed. Twenty sixth floor illuminated. Slowly, Sam is getting higher and everyone in the crowd, including the bigshots are getting excited. They are anticipating what would happen.

Sam is right now, in a floor where the current Emperor set a record. This floor is the limit of the emperor and is the highest anyone has ever climbed. Now, another person is on the floor and he is a young man who is not even in his late-teens.

"Do you think this kid will make it?" Count Falcon asked Castor who is looking at the tower intently. He didn't answer to the question of his friend. He also wants to know. Will there be a genius who could beat the record set by the emperor himself? He is also curious.

Then another uproar broke in the audience attracting the attention of the Count. The twenty seventh floor illuminated after a long, long time. Someone reached the same level as emperor did. But they didn't see Sam coming out of the tower. Then they saw the twenty eighth floor dimly lit up.

"Damn, it."

"It can't be."

"Is he insane."

"Oh my god."

Everyone gasped as they saw the tower. Never did they expect that Sam would advance further.

Three hours passed. They just looked at the tower with mouths wide open. Even though it was almost midnight, no one is in a hurry to leave. They are all looking at the tower in anticipation. Then suddenly, the twenty eighth floor illuminated. Sam broke the record. He broke the record that was set by the emperor.

"He did it. He really did it." Count Falcon stood up from his feet as he spoke. Castor also looked at the tower with a surprised expression.

He saw the moment the Emperor's record is broken.

Twenty ninth floor. Sam is sitting there for a long time with his eyes closed. After he entered the twenty first floor, he has relived the worst scenarios of his past life. He has seen the past which he desperately wanted to suppress within his mind, but now they resurfaced again and he has to experience them all over again. Many times, he wanted to give up after a test is passed, but he gritted his teeth and just went along because, there is a voice in his mind telling him. 'Just one more step.' Every time he wanted to step back, his heart and mind are not allowing him to do that. They are urging him to take another step forward and he is finally at the twenty ninth floor. If he can get past this, there is only one more test, to complete this tower.

Sam opened his eyes with a jolt. The twenty ninth floor is over. He laid on the floor for a while to catch his breath. He is exhausted mentally. He looked at the door which opened and looked at it intently. He stood up and walked to the door slowly. He really wants to see, what he would be the final test. Because, he knew one thing about his memories. All the tests he passed now, there aren't even half of them, hell they might not even be a quarter of them of the whole incidents in his whole life.

When he entered the thirtieth floor, he is nervous and anxious to take a seat on the platform. But the spectators are just as anxious. They want to see, if the person would complete the Tower of Will. Would he be able to complete the quest even the emperor failed to? These are the things that everyone has in mind.

Sam slowly walked towards the platform and sat down. He closed his eyes and prepared himself to face whatever he has to face now. With a jolt, his conscious drifted to the distant past.

Sam opened his eyes only to see a familiar luxurious ceiling. He is in his eight-year-old self. He tried to move his arms but was unable to do so. When he looked at them, he saw that he was tied up to a bed. He immediately felt anxious, because he knew what would happen to him next. He sweated profusely and looked at the door of the room. He wished that the door would never open if possible.

But his wishes weren't fulfilled. The door opened and a mature woman walked inside the room in a revealing dress. She seemed to be in her late thirties, but actually she is in her early forties. She walked inside as she swayed her h.i.p.s and looked at Sam as if she was seeing a piece of meat served in a plate.

Sam clearly knew the situation. He was 'adopted by a big shot couple who are very popular and rich in India. As technology developed and country progressed, the people who practised their traditional arts became lesser and lesser and particularly in a country like India, where people are used to behave like a mob. If they see a person succeed in information tech, they will push their children to IT. If they see their neighbour's son earn high by working overseas, they will push their son to do the same. This is the most common thing that happens in India and it stayed even when they improved in tech and development of Economy and soon came a day where the people who are extremely proficient in traditional skills are treated like national treasures and the couple who 'adopted' him are actually to people who inherited the skills like 'Kancheepuram's textile making', Aari or maggam work etc.

But why was he tied up? Because the truth behind his adoption is that he was sold by someone to this couple who has weird s.e.x.u.a.l preferences and he is their new 'toy' who they bought to 'play'.

The lady slowly walked towards Sam and said. "You said, you wanted to study right? I will help you. But you have to be obedient and do whatever I ask you to. Understand?" She spoke and didn't wait for Sam's response as she climbed the bed with some 'tools'.

The next day morning. Sam walked out of the mansion, with a driver who is taking him to his private tutor's place. The lady agreed to let Sam study, but she will never agree to let him go to school, as it would be risk of getting their secret out. At the same time Sam looked at the young girl about the same age as him, coming out of the room of the husband of the lady. He only looked for a second and boarded the car.

Sam life continued like that for days. He will be going to the various tutors' house to learn different subjects. Even though, it was more tiring than going to school, it has some perks too. Sam's learning is extremely high that the teachers were stunned completely. They never seen any kid like that. But there is only thing that is different about this guy. He will never ever talk. He is completely aloof.

Sam days passed and the nights…

A year passed and Sam had change in the tutors for a third time. Due to his quick learning ability, he is far ahead of his peers and learning quickly. The couple who 'adopted' him though, didn't really care about that. They have money to hire tutors and they will have a 'toy' who is obedient.

But this time someone came into Sam's life. A young lady teacher, who is in her twenties became his art teacher. She tried to become closer to Sam and did so with her utmost effort. But Sam was completely repelled by her behaviour.

One day when Sam came to the art class, he wasn't able to sit his chair. Last night the 'play' affected him too much. As he was being obedient for sake of classes, the lady took it too far.

When the young teacher looked at Sam's situation, who is feeling vexed and didn't have any outlet to vent his frustration, she approached him and started talking. She told him her story and Sam was completely dumbfounded when he heard that.

She is also once 'adopted' by the same couple and that was when she was ten years old. She has been their 'toy' for more than three years until she crossed the age of their preference. She was again 'adopted' by someone else.

Sam looked at her and hugged her as he cried. He is after all an eight years old kid. How can he take all this abuse? Then from that day on Sam and the lady came to become closer and one day the lady said something to Sam.

"I have a way for you to escape this. If you do what I say, I will take you out of that house and you can study and play as you like." Hearing the young lady's words, Sam became tempted. Seeing his expression, the young lady passed him a vile and said.

"Mix this in their food and they will sleep for a long time. Then I will come and take you out of the mansion. Do it when they are alone." Sam took the vile and went back to the mansion. He hid the small vile carefully and went to his room.

Every night the couple will send all the workers of the mansion back and the couple and their two 'toys' are the only people left in the mansion before dinner. Sam walked to the kitchen slowly and emptied the vile in the juice the couple will have after dinner.

After dinner, as usual the couple started drinking the juice as Sam watched them from behind a wall sneakily. As the couple was talking and drinking, slowly they started losing consciousness. When they finally collapsed, Sam walked towards them and looked at their faces.

But when he looked at them his face paled in horror. The couple is bleeding from their mouths and nose. He just stood there rooted after realising what he did.

The young tutor sneaked into the mansion silently and looked at Sam and said. "Come here Sam. Let us go. They are just sleeping. We have to leave before they wake up." She said in a gentle voice.

But would Sam believe her? He has seen too many people die right in front of him and even though he was young, he can differentiate between people from being dead and alive.

He killed someone. This is the thought that came into his mind. He didn't know what is happening as the young lady dragged him out.

His world turned upside down. He became a murderer. Without even knowing why, an eight-year-old Sam became a murderer.

The Sam in the tower opened his eyes all of a sudden and saw the same old man's silhouette he saw when he entered the twenty first floor. The old man's face is not clear at all, but he can faintly sense that the old man is smiling at him.

Re-Birth Of A Genius. Creator/Destroyer Chapter 60

The old man and Sam looked at each other for sometime with out speaking anything. Finally, the old man himself broke the silence.

"Okay, you are a lot more patient that I thought. Don't you have any questions at all?"

"I do." Sam replied.

"Then why are you not asking?"

"Okay then. Why am I still here?" Hearing Sam's question, the old man got stunned and didn't know what to say. He thought inwardly. 'you have an unknown old man who read your mind like a book and the old man came directly to face you after the test is over and you have only one question and that is why are you still here. Why are you not following the norm? You should really ask who am I right? And why am I so awesome that I can read your memories right? But why are you in a hurry to go?' He heaved a sigh and finally said.

"Okay then I will say it myself. My name is Murali and I was an old expert once in this western continent. Right now, the one speaking to you is one of the wills I left behind."

"I understand. So, can I go out now?" Sam asked. This time Murali lost it again. After all, here he is saying that he was an expert in past and this kid is concentrating on when the conversation will end. Shouldn't he be awe and admire him? Shouldn't he be asking me for guidance and request me to take him as a disciple? The old man thought inwardly. He is supposed to be genius, then why is he acting dumb.

But did Sam really didn't know about the opportunity? Of course, he understood and that is the main reason he is trying to end the conversation. If he listens to more information, the deeper he would be in this shit. If Murali knew what Sam was thinking he might puke blood in exasperation.

"Okay kid, I will get straight to the point. I died a long time ago and before I died, I left my inheritance some where in this western continent and this tower one of the keys of that inheritance. There is a total of four towers like this each having different type of tests. To open the inheritance, the four keys has to be put together. By now the other three towers already has a successor and this fourth one the tower of will, being the most difficult one of all, is late in finding one. The successors should be less than twenty years of age and has to be below Great Mage/Warrior cultivation. And the inheritance will open only when all the four successors are selected with the required criterion and now that happened.

I will transfer the ownership of the tower to you and the four of you can communicate together and open the inheritance at the same time. If you don't like it, you can bring a companion along with you and you can give them the inheritance. After all, it shouldn't be forced.

I saw that you have gone through a lot kid and I hope you will think it thoroughly before making a decision." The old said and waved his hand as he disappeared with a wave of light entering Sam's mind with some information regarding the tower and the inheritance. A small platform appeared in front of him and there is a palm shaped groove on it. Sam placed his palm on it and the tower ownership has been transferred.

Sam went through the info given by the old man and looked at the method to move the tower. He can decrease the size of the tower and store it away if he wants to do so, but Sam didn't do it and came out of the tower first.

When he saw the gawking crowd as if they are seeing an animal, Sam felt weird and walked towards the attendant responsible for the scores. Seeing him coming close, the attendant came to his senses and spoke loudly.

"Candidate Sam. Thirty floors. Cleared the tower of will. Thirty points." As soon as he finished every person stood up and started clapping loudly. Sam slowly walked towards the group/

"Congratulations Sam. You really are as good as Kelly made you out to be." The first one to congratulate him is Hawk. Sam nodded at him with a smile and latter walked away to give the group sometime for themselves.

Philip and Jack looked at each other and at Sam. This is the difference between them. That is what they thought inwardly. One by one candidates of the Starwood academy came and congratulated him. Even the Principal and City lord came. After some time, a voice silenced the commotion.

"The first round of the competition ended now. And the rankings are going to be displayed. As soon as he said that a screen appeared at the stage and there are two rankings that are being displayed.

The first one is the individual ranking and the second one is the group ranking. Both of which the first places were occupied by the Starwood city. The first three places are occupied by Sam, Philip and Jack respectively in the individual ranking followed by Hawk and in the same way, the first place in the group ranking, the Starwood city occupied the first place followed by the Falcon Cliff city.

"The second round of the competition will start at the noon and the candidates are requested to rest till then in the accommodations provided by the academy. You will be led there by an attendant. Come to the academy entrance at the time of competition."

As soon as Count Falcon finished speaking everyone started moving and left in their own ways. An attendant led the six groups along with their supervisors to the accommodation provided. Soon, they were taken to six stone houses inside the academy and each group was allocated one.

Sam looked at the shoddy house they were allocated compared to the rest of the houses and felt that something is wrong and looked at the attendant with a questioning gaze. When met with the sharp gaze, attendant who is far weaker than him immediately cowered and said. "Elder Arlo was the one who arranged the accommodations. I don't know anything." He said and left the place immediately.

Sam looked at the City lord and shook his head as he entered the stone house and picked a room to relax. After sometime, someone entered the house and there was some commotion outside which disturbed him from the rest.

He walked outside and looked at the person who came and is in confrontation with the City lord.

"Hello, my old friend. I hope the service is satisfactory." The middle-aged man with brown hair said sarcastically.

"Arlo, is it really necessary for you take it out on the candidates due to our personal grudge. I was the one who made a mistake and offended you and I am already facing the consequences, but why are you making it hard for the candidates, they are kids after all and have nothing to do with our grudge." City lord said dejectedly. But he only heard Arlo laugh sarcastically.

"Nothing to do with us? I don't care. They came here depending on you and everyone depending on you will be having a hard time in my turf." He said and then looked at Sam and others.

"Even though, your candidates did well in the first round, they still have to go through the second and third round and anything might happen. And if anything happens to them, you are the one who caused it." After that he gave a mocking look to the City lord and left the place.

City lord looked at the students with a dejected expression. Just as he was about say something, Sam walked back to his room. He already guessed this scenario and was not surprised that someone will come and give a warning.

Sam sat there and meditated to recover himself.

Meanwhile, at another stone house, the peculiar trio are in same room and are discussing something.

"Do you think he got the ownership?" Yuv asked the other two.

"He should get it. But the tower didn't show any signs. It didn't shrink and disappear from the spot like other towers. Do you think, he rejected it?" Yaar said.

"We don't know that for now. We can see that after the competition is over. We will try the method we used for another tower and see if it works after the competition. If it is successful, the ownership hasn't been taken and if we fail, we have to capture that kid named Sam." Yash said and the other two agreed.

Sam didn't know, that the trio which he noticed are plotting against him. He is deep in thought as he was thinking about something. He is going through the info provided by the old man about the inheritance. Even though, Sam knew that this might bring some problems, he still took the ownership, because the old man said that he can pass the inheritance to other person if he doesn't want it. Sam took ownership, so that if the inheritance is not useful for him, he can use it to obtain some resources from the site of inheritance and also, he can make use of the inheritance to get some benefits to himself.

Time passed and noon came. All the candidates and spectators gathered at the academy entrance. Soon, Count and Principal along with the elders came to the spot.

"Dear Participants, I congratulate you all for passing the tower of will and even if some of you guys aren't satisfied with your results, you shouldn't let it to hold you back. Will is important to the cultivators but it is not the only thing that is important and it is only one of the qualities which can be improved with time. So, don't be dejected and move forward.

The second round of competition will take place in the woods that are near the academy. We cleared a patch of woods and made some arrangements for the competition specifically. The rules will be announced by the Principal Castor when we arrive at the spot. I wish you all the best." Count falcon finished his speech and all the participants and the spectators applauded.

After sometime everyone arrived at the entrance of the woods.

Principal stood in front of the participant groups and said. "This round is a team competition. But you will not be participating along with your teammates directly. The teams will be jumbled." As soon as principal said that everyone broke into discussions. But Castor paid no heed and continued.

"In a few moments all the participants will be picking a token and will be divided into teams randomly. After that all of your cultivations will be sealed and you will be an ordinary human before we escort you to a place in the woods. Candidates will be blind folded and will be led into the middle of woods. Each team will be left in a different place and each team will have to work together to find the clues we have hidden and you can only use the resources we hid in the forest or the resources you obtain in the forest. You guys have to figure out the clues and find the scrolls which will unlock your cultivation in stages.

The teams can confront each other for the scrolls, food, resources and even for no reason. Each person's score will be calculated individually. And there are various ways to obtain points in the forests, which you will know a bit later.

But before that let me tell you guys something. Strength is not the only thing that will save you. You have to develop sufficient awareness and adaptability to be safe as well as to grow. I hope the candidates will keep that in mind and will do their best. I wish you all best of luck.

Now, please pick the tokens in the box." Castor finished his speech and the candidates proceeded towards the box which has tokens in it to pick their teams.

Re-Birth Of A Genius. Creator/Destroyer Chapter 61

All the candidates walked towards the box and picked the tokens one by one and came back to their groups. Each token has a number between one and six. An attendant came forward towards the group and said.

"Form a group according to the number on the token." After he spoke everyone started moving and soon six groups formed, but this time the members are all jumbled. Sam looked at the token in his hands which showed number six on it and then looked at the new teammates he has to work with for the following days.

He didn't know how to react, when he saw that there is only one person that he is familiar with in the team and that is Jack. The rest of the team are completely strangers to both of them.

Sam and Jack stood together and took a look at the rest of the team members. There are two girls in the rest of the team and one of them is the part of the Falcon Cliff team. She wore an exquisite dress and has a proud look on her face. She must have been from an affluent family. He remembered that the girl has obtained 19 points in the tower of will.

Another girl is a bit normally dressed compared to the first girl and she is from another subordinate city. She has a normal face which will easily blend in a crowd.

The remaining six members are mostly from the other subordinate cities except for the two people who are from the Falcon Cliff city, two of them stood on either side of the proud girl and tried to talk to her as if they are sucking up to her and are only replied with her arrogant face and light words. But they didn't seem to be bothered with it.

From the remaining four two people are from the Mountain lake city, one is from the Misty river city and the remaining one is from another subordinate city named Blue lake city.

Sam didn't try to make a conversation with them as he saw the hostile looks from the rest of the team. They seem to hold a deep opposing opinion against him and didn't look like they want to talk to him.

Sam and Jack didn't bother with them and just stood side by side silently waiting for the Elder to continue. After a few moments, when everyone is settled, the Elder continued.

"We will be placing a seal, on you which will bind your cultivation as well as your eyesight. After we leave you in your respective spots of in the forest, you will regain your sight after some time.

The round will go for seven days at maximum. The one with the highest points wins. The points which you gain individually, will be yours and the points you gain together as a team, will be divided among the participants according to their wishes.

Some elders will be monitoring you in the woods and are also responsible for the point records. If you are in a disagreement with the teammates about the points allocations, you have to solve it within fifteen minutes or else the elders wouldn't note your points down.

The Elders won't be helping you directly and they would not interfere even if you are in a life and death situation unless you break your token. If you break your token, not only will they help you but also you will lose your right to compete further and will be escorted out of the woods.

On the matter of how you can earn your points, there are three most basic ways.

One is eliminating the opponent teammates. For every opponent you defeat, you will be awarded with a point and if you are fighting against multiple opponents at a same time, you will be having a progression on the points you have obtained. That is if you are fighting against three opponents, you will get one point for the first one, two points for the second one, three points for the third one.

The second way to obtain the points is to collect the point scrolls in the forest. There are point scrolls kept in various places in the forest. Every scroll you obtain is a bunch of points. You have to find the scroll, obtain it and then you have to open the scroll and place your token on it to claim points.

Not only point scrolls, you can also find attack scrolls, scrolls which can unseal your cultivation, weapons, food resources, medicine kits in various places.

Whatever you obtain depends on your awareness, adaptability and your intelligence. I only have on advice for you guys. Every danger leads to an opportunity and every opportunity leads danger to you.

The final way to obtain points is simple, you just have to survive. Every single day you survive is a point to you. That means, even if you don't do anything and just manage to survive for seven days, you will still get seven points.

So, I hope you can survive and all the best.

Elders, seal the cultivation."

As soon as the elder finished his speech, other elders came forward and walked towards the participants and started using some scrolls and seal their cultivations.

Sam looked at the elder, who took out a scroll and used it on him. His vision turned black and he felt his spiritual core completely sealed. Then he felt someone holding his hand and started guiding him somewhere.

After some time, Sam opened his eyes and looked around. His eyes blurred by the sudden light. By the time his eyes adjusted to the surroundings, his teammates also came to their senses and looked around the surroundings.

They are in middle of woods, where is a patch of plain land surrounded by a bunch of densely packed trees.

"I am Dustin from the Falcon Cliff city. Let us introduce ourselves." One of them spoke. Then one by one all of the teammates introduced themselves.

"Val from Falcon Cliff city."

"Jessie from Falcon Cliff city."

"Jack from Starwood city."

"Sam from Starwood city."

"Eve from Sand stone city."

"Vales from Mountain lake city."

"Shor from Mountain lake city."

"Tom from Misty river city."

"Kiba from the Blue lake city."

"Okay, now that we knew each other, we need to have a team leader. I would nominate myself to the position." Dustin said as he looked at others proudly. Everyone looked at each other and then looked at Jack and Sam. After all, those two guys hold top positions in the first round. They thought that they might have some objections, but they only saw Jack observing Sam while the latter is touching and sniffing the surroundings.

Dustin and the other two from the Falcon Cliff city are also watching the duo, to see if they have any objections.

"Now that none of you have any objections, I will be the team leader now. You guys have to listen to what I have to say and complete the assigned jobs. First of all, we.."

"We have to get out of here as soon as possible." Suddenly Dustin's speech was interrupted by Sam. He looked at Sam and said.

"What do you mean, we have to get out as soon as possible? Don't interrupt when I am speaking." He said in a harsh voice.

Sam didn't bother with him and said. "We are in territory of a beast. We aren't ready to fight with it yet. If we don't get out of here soon, we might have to encounter it, which is clearly not a good idea." As soon as Sam said that, someone sneered.

"Why should we believe you? Just because you said we are in a territory of a beast, we are there? How come we didn't see any signs of beasts here?" The one who spoke this time is Val. He looked at Sam and said these words with an arrogant voice.

"I don't have time to explain to you guys." He paused as he looked at the sky and then continued. "If you guys don't want to get into trouble follow me, otherwise don't blame me later." As soon as he finished, Sam turned to a direction and started running while Jack followed after giving a look to the crowd.

Crowd were dumbstruck by his decisiveness. They didn't expect that Sam would leave just like that. While they are still in daze,

*roar* a roar pierced the silence and got them back from their daze.

"It seems like a bear's roar." Eve said in a low voice. She immediately turned to look at the direction in which Sam has left and then looked at the rest of group.

Soon, the roaring sounds neared them and footsteps could be heard.

The group immediately got tensed.

"Let us move." Dustin said and picked a direction as he moved when the rest of them are about to follow the low voice stopped them in their tracks.

"They went in that direction." Eve said from behind.

"We don't need to go there. The sound of stream could be heard from this direction. If we go there, we can have a water resource near us." Dustin said and started moving again, the rest of them followed and Eve also paused for a second but still followed the group.

Meanwhile, Jack and Sam ran for a distance and sat near a large tree. When they heard the loud roar, Sam smirked and Jack heaved a sigh of relief. Then the latter looked at Sam and asked.

"How do you know that we are in danger?" He was really curious on how Sam was able to do that easily. They clearly didn't have any spiritual sense as their cultivations are sealed.

Sam just smiled and said. "The place we are in stinks of urine of the bear and the trunks have some claw marks of the bear. The marks seemed to be freshly made which indicates it got the territory recently, so the bear will concentrate highly on this place to deal with the invaders. So, we have to leave the place as soon as possible."

"then why didn't we go to the stream nearby. We could have a water source nearby; wouldn't it be helpful?" Jack asked again.

"who said that near the stream is a safe place? We shouldn't be too near to the stream we want to stay safe. Now that we are normal people, we have to take care and it is not safe near the stream. After all, we are not the only people who needs water. If we stay too near the stream, we have to face all the beasts which will come to have water and we are too far away, we might have trouble getting water. That is why we ran this way. We cannot take any risk until we have a clear view on the situation. We just came here and we need to understand and adapt before we think about starting a fight."

Sam finished and Jack nodded in understanding.

"Ahhhhhh." Suddenly a shriek could be heard and both of them turned towards the direction, where the sound came and saw some people coming towards them. They are the members of the team. They are running with their lives as a bear was chasing them. Out of eight there are only seven people left.

"Climb a tree and stay still without making a noise." Sam instructed Jack and he stood up and took of his pants as he started peeing at the roots of the tree. The girls who are in the middle of the group didn't see anything but the boys who are in front felt like they were hit by a lightning when they saw the unexpected view.

Sam didn't bother with them and put on his pants and immediately climbed a tree. Then he turned towards the group who are still running and said. "you guys pick a tree and climb it. Then stay still without making any noise."

After that he stayed silent.

The group immediately made their way to the tree that are near to them and started climbing. Even though, they are normal people without their cultivation, since their bodies are refined by the spiritual energy their strength is absolutely superior to a normal average human. That is the reason, they were able to run away from the bear. Otherwise, they could just forget about running away.

All the members climbed the tree, but the bear still caught a man who is at the back of the group.

"Ahhhh, No, No." He is none other than Tom. He immediately took the token from his pocket and broke it. Then a shadow came to their view and then took away Tom from the bear's claws. The bear didn't understand what was going on for a second. It started sniffing around to find the scent of the group and started clawing the tree trunks. Even then the group stayed still from Sam's warning.

Suddenly, bear stopped its movements and walked towards the tree Sam climbed and started sniffing around. Then it looked around.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRR" with a loud roar, it turned around and walked away.

Re-Birth Of A Genius. Creator/Destroyer Chapter 62

The team members of the team 6 are all gathered after the bear left the area. Well, at least all the remaining members. The six members who came and joined Sam and Jack are looking at the duo awkwardly not knowing what to say.

They ostracized him at first, because they got jealous of his achievement in the tower of will. But now they almost got killed because of their behaviour. Now, they understood what the Elder was warning them about adapting and surviving. This test is harder than they thought it would be.

"Thank you." Eve broke the silence with her slow and timid voice. She looked at her feet and didn't look him in the eye. After a few moments the rest of the members also thanked him except for Dustin. He is still suffering from the embarrassing situation.

Sam scanned the crowd and just nodded at their words. Everyone turned silent again. Looking at the awkward situation, Jack said. "What's next?" He looked at Dustin while saying these words. The latter felt even more embarrassed.

"Sam, will you be the leader of the group?" Shor asked. The rest of the group also looked at him with some expectation. All except for one.

Sam looked at their expressions and said after a few moments of silence.

"If you guys want me to lead the team, I have some conditions."

"What are they?" Val asked.

"First of all, you guys better listen to every command without any questions and if you don't want to listen you can just leave the group.

The second thing is that point scrolls you find are yours individually and even if we work as a team to obtain it, I will decide on who will get what share of the points.

The third and final condition. If you fight with someone, you can take the points by yourselves and I won't interfere in the battle unless you ask me to and then I will take my share of points. Same goes for you guys too. If I am having a battle to get points, you are not allowed to get in my way and interfere. If we battle as a team, I will decide the share of points according to the contribution of everyone

If you are okay with all the conditions, you guys can follow me. If you don't, you can be on your own way now."

The rest of the teammates were dumbstruck on the conditions. If they were to agree, they will lose control of their actions completely to Sam. So, they are hesitating.

"Why do you get to decide the point share?" Dustin asked.

"I will be providing ways to find food and I will be the one to provide you the ways to live safely and I will be the one to lead you guys in a battle. Then who do you think should share the points if not me?" Sam spoke and took a seat near a tree as he leaned against the trunk and Jack followed his actions.

Sam looked at their pondering expressions and said. "I don't have all day for you guys. The first day is the most important day and I can't waste my time on you. Please, decide quickly." His voice carried a hint of impatience.

All of them exchanged glances and started whispering to each other. The trio from the falcon cliff city seemed to came to a decision and Dustin spoke.

"We can't agree to your suggestion on the point share. I will be the leader of the team and decide the point share and you will be responsible for the food and shelter for which I will give you a ten percent points from each person in the group on top of your share." Dustin said and the remaining two nodded their heads.

Sam looked at them with an amusing expression and stood up as he stretched lazily. "What about you guys?" He asked the remaining three people.

"I will join you." Eve said and took a step forward. Both Vales and Shor looked at each other and said. "We also agree with Dustin and others. You deciding the point share is a bit unreasonable."

Sam raised his eyebrow and asked. "Why do you think so?"

"What if you distribute the points unfairly to yourselves?" Vales asked in return.

"So, you think there won't be this problem with Dustin?" This time it was Jack who asked this.

"What? Do you think we are like you, county bumpkins? Do you think we have to rely on these petty tricks to gain the points unfairly?" Val sneered at Jack. Sam just stayed still in silence but Jack asked the two guys from the subordinate cities.

"Is that your concern as well?" When he asked the question, he looked at them with some displeasure. Vales and Shor didn't answer but from their embarrassed expression, the answer is obvious. They really did think that Sam might use this to get more points and Dustin wouldn't do so, because in their eyes only them from a subordinate city who have less resources has to rely on those means. In their eyes, the people from the Count city are all noble and superior.

Sam could guess their thoughts without them speaking. He shook his head with a wry smile. The more people he met, the more similarities he found about these people to the people from his previous world. They really do hold high opinion on the people from a superior place. For example, most people from India have a great prejudice that the all other Indians are like them and their behaviour is similar and the Americans, who are from a richer country will have a superior way of thinking and treat them as something special. [A/N when I say 'most', I am considering the large populace and I am not targeting anyone personally and by the way I am also an Indian and there was a time I had that opinion.]

Sam looked at the remaining team members and said. "The conditions I said aren't up for negotiation. If you guys have listened to me regarding the bear incidence, I would have stayed in the team without being a leader, but after that happened, no chance. You guys can be on your own." Sam said and turned around to walk away. Jack and Eve followed.

"Wait, I will join you." Shor said and immediately walked towards them hurriedly. Actually, he really didn't have anything against Sam being the leader. He agreed with Dustin because of his friend's suggestion to suck up to the candidates from the eminent background in the Count city. They also thought that Sam would immediately agree and won't leave the group. But when it came to the point, he chose to trust Sam more as he proved his worth just now.

The remaining four people remained there with an unpleasant expression on their faces. The trio especially are gritting their teeth in anger. They didn't expect that Sam would leave decisively. They just wanted to give it a try to take over the point share and if it didn't work, they will try to get some benefits. But Sam didn't follow their script and just left as soon as they tried their trick and now, they are hesitating whether to follow him as they felt that it would be their loss of face to follow him.

Before they could make the decision, Sam and the other three left the place.

"What is so great about him? we can definitely make it in this forest. The last time is just because we are caught off guard." Dustin snorted as if trying to convince them and himself. The other nodded.

"Yes, once we get our hands on a cultivation scroll, we can get through this easily." Vales also said from the side. Jessie the only female is looking at the direction Sam left. The other are thinking that they can easily get through this if they unseal the cultivation. But is getting the scroll so easy.

Sam and the three teammates started walking towards a certain direction in a moderate pace as he examined the surroundings. Soon, they stopped at an empty place surrounded by trees. They could hear a faint sound of stream.

Sam left the group there and walked towards the sound and soon found a small stream going through a rocky bed. The stream is very small and its depth is also very low. The water is pure and transparent as the pebbles and the gravel can be seen clearly under the water.

Sam took a handful of water and took a sip. The water tasted normal and a bit refreshing after the walk. He went back to the team and said.

"The water is stream is that way and the stream is too small to attract bigger animals. This place is good for now. We can stay here for tonight.

First of all, we need a few things to stay safe. First thing is we need fire. Second, we need to find some food and some containers to store water.

Shor, go and collect some fire wood. The sticks need not be big, but they should be dry and bring as many as you can.

Eve, you fetch some dried leaves, dried grass, birds' nest, dried tree bark along with some green leaves, which are big. Both of you don't go too far. You should be within the visible range from this place.

Jack you will follow me."

Sam gave instructions and walked to a certain direction along with Jack after he saw the other two left.

Sam and jack walked towards a direction where there is a small path in between the grass. They are moving stealthily and slowly without making any sound.

They finally stopped near a cave and hid on a tree.

"We have our target inside the cave." Sam said to Jack in a low voice.

"What is it?" Jack asked curiously.

"I don't know exactly. But it is a beast but the danger is less compared to the bear we encountered earlier."

Jack didn't say anything and he waited as Sam broke a bamboo tree which is a distance away from them. After that he searched a while and finally found a stone which has somewhat sharp edge.

He came back to Jack and asked. "How sure are you at your throwing skills?"

"I can do just fine." Jack said in a confused tone. He didn't know why Sam was asking this but still answered.

"Okay, then. In some time, the animal will be coming out of the cave and I will try to stop it to stay in a single place. You have to hit its head from a distance and the hit should be as strong as possible."

"The cave is so wide. Is it possible to stop it in a place?" Jack asked. Sam didn't say anything and both of them went back to the camp place. The other two already came back with the stuff they collected.

Sam placed the bamboo pole and the stone on the ground and picked up some dried wood. The next actions made the group confused to no end.

He picked up a flat piece of wood and round stick and placed them together. Then he peeled of the outer layer of the bamboo pole, twisted and weaved a thin but stiff rope. He took a raw stick and made a small bow on which thread he made a small loop around the round stick he picked up earlier. He made a bow drill to start a fire.

He placed the stick attached to the bow on the flat wood and started operating the bow drill after around ten minutes of continuous action, Sam is already sweating and the hole formed on the wood started emitting some smoke and he took out the drill quickly and took some bird's nest and placed the small spark in wood on the nest and after some continuous blowing the nest caught fire.

Soon, there is a fire in the middle of the camp and the teammates are all surrounding it. Even though it is just a little before evening and it is not that cold, they were still happy to rest before a fire.

They didn't understand how Sam made a fire out of some dry wood, but they were surprised and in awe at the trick he performed.

Sam didn't sit for a long time. He walked towards the bamboo pole and broke it in half. Each half measuring up to three feet long.

He took one half and split one end into several thin vertical pieces until it reached a half foot long and started sharpening the edges of each tip. After sometime, he took some sticks and broke them into small pieces. He then placed them at the bottom of the split end to make the pieces he spilt to spread as wide as possible.

Now, the pole has one end normally and the other end like an inverse umbrella frame without the canopy. He took other half of the pole and stuffed the opening with some tree bark and dried leaves and covered it with some green grass leaving only a small opening to reach the dry stuff.

He gave the stone to Jack and picked up the two poles, then started walking towards the cave as Jack followed him with a wooden stick which is still burning.

After they walked neared the premise of the cave, both of them looked at the cave as they hid behind a tree. Soon, they saw a fox entering the cave with a rabbit in its mouth.

After it went deep inside the cave, Sam gestured Jack to move and they picked up all the dried wood around the area and arranged it on the ground at the entrance of the cave leaving only a small area as if leaving a path.

After arrangements are done, Sam lit the dried wood as well as the bamboo pole he stuffed the dried and green leaves with and threw the pole inside the cave. Then he held the pole with the inverse umbrella frame facing the path.

Soon the dried wood was burning vigorously and the inside of the cave is also filled with smoke and amid the smoke a creature ran outside and looked at the fire surrounding the cave and ran towards the only way that is towards the pole Sam held.

He immediately pressed the frame on the fox head with all his might and pinned on the ground for a second. "Jack now." Sam shouted and soon the stone with a sharp edge flew threw the air and it pierced through the ear of the fox immediately seizing its movements.

Sam slowly moved towards the fox and to be on safe side quickly broke its neck. After that both of them put out the fire with the soil around them.

Jack looked at Sam and smiled for which latter replied with same one. Both of them walked inside the cave and saw the half-eaten.

They held a torch and walked towards the cave a bit deeper and within the light of the flame, they saw a small dagger.

Both of them smiled and Sam picked up the dagger as he checked it. Now, he clearly understood the statement of the elder. 'Every danger leads to an opportunity.' The danger of facing the fox may lead to this dagger.

He passed the dagger to Jack and kept on searching and found nothing else. He tried to search for a point scroll but there is nothing.

Both of them came out and started dressing the fox right there instead of making it at the camp. Then they cut the pieces of the fox meat and left the carcass there before walking towards the camp.