I couldn't summon my Grimoire to read what my abilities were as it would alert them enemies. I tried to check it inside myself, but all I could tell was that no active abilities were working. Maybe it was because I wasn't in tune with it yet, but I was getting very little information from it.
So no passive abilities. I frowned.
And what is the [Monster Necromancer Art]? Is that the mage class or the tamer? I pushed that aside for now as more fragments of information filtered through the Grimoire.
And what was the deal with me starting my Awakening at Iron rank? It should have been Bronze. Was this the work of my Grimoire?
I only had three abilities at Iron rank, and none of them were usable for now. I didn't even know what they were. So I can only rely on my physical strength… A smile tugged at my lips.
To think I'd start from Iron rank.
The two men escorting my carriage were Bronze ranks, but I could feel an Iron rank ahead, escorting the other carriages. If I can surprise the two here, I can get away before the Iron knows what's happening. No way I'm fighting an Iron with their skills while I haven't figured mine out.
So I kept pretending to be unconscious, my eyes barely cracked open. The tunnel ended in a large chamber, and as we entered it, heat rolled over us like a blanket of sun but then came the smell of blood so thick it swallowed everything else.
I swallowed hard and my body trembled. What is it with me and blood today? And why am I so unlucky?
In the center of the chamber stood a massive altar, dominating nearly the entire space. Its middle had been hollowed out and filled with boiling blood and other things I didn't want to identify.
Steps had been carved into the altar, descending into the blood pit.
They set the platforms down at the edge, and the masked men peered into the hole.
"I don't feel like carrying them down those steps. I don't want to fall into the ritual."
"Can't we just throw them? We threw all the others from here."
"Idiot. All the others weren't like this. These ones get special Grimoires. We need to bleed them slowly into the ritual. It also has to be timed," the Iron-ranked man said.
A snort drew my attention to the big man beside me. The big man isn't human. He was taller and broader than most, but his face was as young as mine, probably because he wasn't human at all.
"I'm glad you decided not to throw us from here," he said cheerfully in a rumbling voice. "I'm afraid of heights. Maybe you could also try not to kill us?"
The Iron rank turned and pointed at him. "Shut up, Barbarian." Then he looked at the five Bronze ranks. "Get them down there. Do it one cage at a time if you have to. Carry the big one first. I want to report to the Priestess."
With that he turned and walked away.
They waited until he was gone before talking again.
"Do it one after the other," one of them mocked, imitating his voice.
They all laughed until they noticed the Barbarian laughing too.
"What?" he said when they all stopped laughing to glare at him. "I thought we all found his voice funny. You should let a man die smiling, you know."
Litha muttered something from her cage, but I couldn't see or hear her clearly. The masked men didn't find it funny.
"If it's death you want, then we'll give you one."
"Will his meat be good with all the blood removed? I like red meat. Wait is your blood even red, Barbarian?"
"Hey! My blood is red!....sometimes!"
Barbarians were one of the many races found inside the Tower. The Dungeon Tower hadn't appeared only on Earth, it had emerged in countless worlds. Climbers weren't only human that could be found but they were one of the most numerous.
Four of the five masked men gathered to lift the big one's cage.
And that was the moment I'd been waiting for!
The fifth stood in front of my cage. I didn't know how strong the bars were or how strong I was for that matter but none of that mattered when death was this close.
The moment he turned his head toward the others struggling with the Barbarian's cage, I moved. I crouched and shot my hands forward, gripping the bars and bending them apart. I expected resistance, but they warped easily, screeching loudly as they gave way.
The fifth masked man never stood a chance.
I slammed into him and sent him tumbling into the blood pit below.
The others turned in shock, and at the same time, the Barbarian slammed himself against the bar, his weight crashed down onto the cage, throwing them off balance.
One of them fell screaming.
The remaining three dropped the cage to faced me.
My confidence wavered when one of them summoned his Grimoire and his hands began to glow with power.
I scanned the area for a weapon, but the only thing nearby was the twisted cage. I grabbed it and moved it in front of me just as a purple bolt struck, melting the metal into goo. Not wanting molten steel near me, I hurled it with everything I had.
And surprisingly, It flew like a bullet. It struck one of the masked men with a wet, horrible crunch. He dropped without a sound, dead before he even hit the ground.
I stared at my hand.
I'm Iron rank... I'm really Iron rank!
"S-s-stop! Or I'll melt your chest!" one of them shouted, but his voice shook.
I grinned. "I don't think so."
I charged. I was clumsy like a newborn lamb but still fast enough for Iron rank. I reached him before he could unleash his attack, grabbed his glowing hand, and bent it upward. Then I lifted him off the ground and swung him like a weapon into the man trying to sneak an attack.
Both of them went flying.
"This is intense," I said with a grin..