SS-Rank Degeneration Ability

[Congratulations! You've awakened the SS-Rank Degeneration ability]

[Due to the conditions of the tower, the ability has been limited to D-rank]

"Holy Fuck! An SS-rank ability!" Blake exclaimed in amazement. This was beyond his expectations. He had this potential, yet he allowed himself to settle for less. If he had entered a tower right from the start, maybe he would have been able to lift his family out of their sufferings.

"Don't worry, Lucian, mum. I'm coming back and will grant you the life we've always desired!"

----

[Updating Status window]

[Name: Blake Allsworth]

[Race: Human]

[Ability: Degeneration]

[Class: N/A]

[Rank: Mortal]

[Level: 1]

[Mana: 10]

[Battle Power: 10]

[Intelligence: 5]

The light finally dispersed, and they were finally allowed to head back to their respective positions.

Heading back to Miriam, Blake had a new look on his face. His once dull golden eyes were lit up in bright flames.

"Hey! What was your ability? Have you gotten your talent yet?" Miriam threw a barrage of questions immediately as he settled beside her.

"Yeah... Kinda," Blake muttered, scratching his head. 'She doesn't have to lean this close,' he thought, feeling a weird sensation all of a sudden.

"I awakened an SS-rank ability," he said without much thought. "Degeneration... which I don't have any idea of."

"Hmm... that's a bit strange. Degeneration? Haven't heard about that." Miriam said, her finger placed on her chin with a thoughtful expression.

"But that's great! An SS-rank ability! Imagine what you could get with that! You would become a star. But you've yet to get your talent."

"That's quite strange. One gets his talent as soon he awakens his ability. Anyway, I'm pretty sure y'know how it works. The talents are quite the main deal. Having a high-rank ability can go to waste if one has a low talent. But that rarely occur."

"Just-"

[All candidates have fully awakened their abilities]

[You've been granted fifteen minutes to get accustomed to your abilities and skills]

[Note: All abilities have been limited to the D-Rank]

"What's going on? How did we even get here?" A few muttered, staring with confusion. Those who had ventured onto a tower were quite confused by the strange situation.

"How do I get to access my skills and ability?" Blake muttered, scratching his head. Now with his status window fully unlocked he was a bit lost on what to do.

"It's quite easy. Here, let me help you with that." Miriam said, taking hold of his hand.

"Status window."

"Huh? You could have just told me that," Blake thought to himself. All of a sudden, he felt Miriam acting weirdly towards him.

[Name: Blake Allsworth]

[Race: Human]

[Ability: Degeneration]

[Class: N/A]

[Realm: Mortal]

[Level: 1]

[Mana: 10]

[Battle Power: 10]

[Intelligence: 5]

"Ability and skills," Miriam muttered. Taking hold of Blake's hand, she was able to see his status.

[Ability & Skills]

[Degeneration: A unique ability which enables the user to worsen an injury]

"Just that?" Blake thought his smile suddenly fading. "Hell! What was he to do with that?"

"What kind of an ability is this?" Miriam thought with a confused expression. "This..." she muttered unable to utter a word.

"Let's check your skills, maybe we can get more knowledge about your ability."

[Skills]

[Damage Augmentation: Increases the damage dealt to a target]

"Just a skill? That's quite strange. So what do you think?" Miriam asked, staring at him.

"Dunno... would have to carry out some tests to see how the skills work. How about you, you haven't yet told me your ability."

"Well, it's better you see for yourself," she said with a wry smile.

"System status!"

[Name: Miriam]

[Race: Human]

[Ability: Freeze]

[Talent: Yellow]

[Class: N/A]

[Realm: Mortal]

[Level: 2]

[Mana: 18]

[Battle Power: 13]

[Intelligence: 9]

[Skills]

[Icy mist: Creates a chilling, misty aura around the user capable of slowing down enemies' movements and attacks]

[Cold Resistance: Increased resistance to cold temperatures]

"My ability isn't really that great, and my talent is basically shit. I've accepted it, though, and have decided to earn enough money and leave a comfy life."

"What about your ability rank? If you're able to level up, I'm pretty sure it can evolve to a stronger ability and maybe even get a strong class."

"Nah, It's a D rank ability, won't amount to anything special. And I'm not cut out to become an Ascendant. I just wanna live a quiet life."

Also Blake was quite curious about the single name on her profile but just didn't dwell long on that.

"I see. So what is this place? How do we get out from here?" Blake asked, staring around.

As if answering his question, the automated voice came again.

[With everyone getting accustomed to their abilities, the trial shall now begin]

[Welcome Candidates to the Tower of Trials...!]

[Number of candidates present: 10,000...]

"How are they able to gather such large amount of people?" Blake thought.

[All candidates will be faced with a variety of tests which, if passed, would grant access to the next trial...]

[The tower reward system is similar to the other towers. Candidates are required to survive each test to receive their rewards]

[All abilities have been limited to the D rank level to grant all a fair opportunity...]

"Fair! What about those in higher levels? Their experience and greater strength put them in a favourable position." Miriam muttered with a frown.

"By the way things are going... I'm already having a bad feeling about this. Hey, Blake. Let's stick together while we're here," She said, staring at him.

"Sure. It's a good idea. Two heads are better than one after all," Blake said with a nervous chuckle.

[More information would be released after the first test]

[Alert! The first test is now commencing. Prepare yourselves!]

[First Test: Survival]

[Description: Candidates are tasked to survive the onslaught of terrifying beasts until the countdown elapse]

[Each beast kill will be rewarded to the rightful owner...]

[The test shall now begin in Three...]

[Two... One!]

The ground began to rumble with the walls lighting up. Now able to fully see the layout of the room. They discovered a large opening, which was dark. From the depths, they began to make out the red glowing eyes within.

"Shit! Beasts! We're doomed! "

The room was plunged in chaos as the countdown ended.