Gilgamesh barely had enough time to register the words on the transparent blue screen floating just ahead of him before Ate spoke again.

  “The Tower is patient. All may view the Schema. Call for it now within thy mind.”

  Gilgamesh eyed the goddess for a moment in thought, then called for it.

  [ Gilgamesh - Hero (Iron Rank) ]

  Attributes:

  Strength - 2

  Agility - 4

  Vitality - 3

  Perception - 7

  Force - 3

  Spirit - 0

  Control - 8

  Willpower - 14

  Traits:

  Incomplete Stigmata (???), Master Golem Core lvl. 1 (silver),

  Material: Clay (inferior)

  Mana Capacity: 0/0

  Unalloted Attribute Points: 10

  The first thing Gilgamesh noted was his name. That the Schema acknowledged it caused an unfamiliar emotion to wade through him, but he did not dwell in it for long.

  "Is this my worth...?" Gilgamesh deduced from the information laid out. He had a confident guess as to what each one of these ‘Attributes’ entailed, but he inspected them further to know the answer exactly.

  [ Attribute ]

  'A measure of one's Might.'

  Strength - Might of the body.

  Agility - Speed and dexterity of movement.

  Vitality - Toughness and resilience of the body.

  Perception - Precision and speed of the senses.

  Force - Potency of mana.

  Spirit - Sensitivity, capacity, and resistance for mana.

  Control - Deftness in wielding mana.

  Willpower - Strength and resilience of the mind.

  Most were easily intuitable, as he had suspected. Given his Strength Attribute of 2, Gilgamesh determined that 10 was roughly the limits of a normal human. The low numbers of his physical abilities came as no surprise. After all, Leprosy limited him in many ways.

  On that note, his Willpower of 14 stole his attention for a moment, as it was higher than what ought be possible.

  “Is this the effect of the Mind Clashes?” With an explanation determined, he set his sights upon the category of Traits. More specifically, upon the one he had received as his reward from that hellish Crucible.

  [ Master Golem Core (silver) ]

  ‘Allows for direct control over soulbound Golems. Holder becomes a Living Golem.’

  Mana Cost: Dependent on the Grade of Golem wielded.

  [ Level ]

  'The proficiency the Holder has attained.'

  "...Level 1?" Gilgamesh assessed the unfamiliar term. "Does this mean to say that I am a novice with this power? How do I increase my proficiency...?"

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  [ Grade ]

  'The Tier of Creation.'

  Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed at the second sentence of his Silver Tier Trait. 'Golem' was not a particularly appealing or pleasant designation, but more importantly than that, it was not clear what exactly that entailed.

  [ Material ]

  'The substance of a golem's structure.'

  [ Clay (inferior) ]

  'Mudane fine soil.'

  "So I am made of dirt now..." Gilgamesh read the nature of his new state of being with a trace of contempt. Not only was he denied the power of the Zoraster's holy bloodline, but he had now been diminished to an inferior state of existence.

  His attempt to gain more information than what was already given had no effect. It seemed this was something he would need to discover on his own.

  He thus turned his attention to the other Trait within his Schema, the one of far more concern.

  [ Incomplete Stigmata (???) ]

  ‘The Mark of one who has started a path. Defier, thy path is unknown.’

  ‘Magic is denied. Traits can be altered.’

  [ Magic ]

  ‘Magical spells possessed by the Holder.’

  [ Traits ]

  ‘Innate Abilities possessed by the Holder.’

  The Stigmata stated that he could not acquire Magic, but it was not quite clear how Magic and Traits differed. Controlling golems seemed magical enough to him.

  “Another thing to discover…” Gilgamesh supposed.

  Gilgamesh’s thoughts deepened. This Trait was even stranger than he anticipated. It spoke of ‘Paths’ and called him a ‘Defier’, but gave no explanation to either. He could not even tell with certainty whether it was a blessing or a curse.

  Further musing proved to be a waste of time, so he once again returned his focus to the Schema. At last, Gilgamesh's sight drifted down to the very bottom of his Status.

  [ Mana Capacity ]

  'The current and maximum amount of Mana one wields.'

  'Mana Capacity is measured in Motes.'

  'A Mote is the smallest perceivable unit of Mana.'

  Gilgamesh eyed his nonexistent Mana Capacity, then looked back up to Spirit.

  “Zero…” A strange number that loomed very large over the others. It would suggest a complete lack of ability to even obtain mana, and perhaps the reason why he had never awakened before.

  A somber silence fell over Gilgamesh, as he thought of how fiercely and desperately he had toiled for as long as he could remember, of how in his heart and soul he knew his effort would one day be rewarded.

  The zero that stared back at him now revealed the truth that there was never any possibility to begin with.

  Gilgamesh took a pause to reorient himself. “But… It is different here. Things that were not possible before are possible now… My effort will manifest. This must be the Journey."

  Gilgamesh made his choice with the utmost convinction.

  [Spirit: 0 -> 1]

  An immeasurable presence enveloped him in an instant, and he was struck with indescribable pain. Red Light violently flared around him like lightning as a different Light swelled within. The two forces vied for supremacy as if to claim him, but neither was greater than the other. They destroyed each other and melded together to settle within him.

  The pain subsided and muted awe took its place. The change was not just physical. His entire being felt full. Complete. It was a feeling more profound than mere satisfaction.

  Unbeknownst to Gilgamesh, Ate’s closed eyes were fixated on him, drawn by the unexpected and held by the possibilities.

  With dormant resolve reignited, Gilgamesh returned his focus to his Schema. This time to the words next to his name.

  [ Hero ]

  'A member of the Heroic races.'

  [ Iron Rank ]

  ‘An unawakened being.’

  “What…?”

  “It is time.” Ate spoke as she raised her arms in prayer, her tone more reverent than before. “Blessed be thy Salvation from the Outer Sea.”

  The wane of her grandiosity made it seem as though those would be her final words, but strangely, the goddess seemed to linger and strain, as though resisting something that compelled her otherwise.

  “Seek Truth.”

  Red Light snapped around her as she vanished, but there was no time to contemplate. Light bloomed in her place, and a second Watcher appeared. A green-haired boy, no more than 11 or 12, dressed in the whimsical attire of a court jester. On his right cheek beneath his eye was the marking of a red star, and on the left was a blue teardrop.

  “Hahahaha! What a fool!” Nem mocked her before turning his attention to the crowd with great showmanship. “Welcome to the Tower, you unworthy Outsiders!”

  This new god harbored only a shade of the otherworldly grandeur and dignity of Ate. Gilgamesh would go as far as to say he seemed eerily too ordinarily, which only unsettled him more.

  Nem opened his arms wide with an ecstatic expression towards the sky. “Is the Tower not magnanimous? To open its gates to such inferior drifters.”

  As his arms lowered, so did his expression into one of disdain. “Too magnanimous. How dare you defile this sacred house with such tainted souls… If it were up to me…”

  “Ahaha! Rejoice!” Nem’s expression snapped back to one of narcissistic jubilation. “The Tower knows just how wretched you are. Ah, but the Tower is merciful. All will be given a chance to prove themselves and earn its grace. “

  “How, I hear you foolishly ask?” Nem held a performative hand to his ear. “Why, through the Trials of course! Ten Labors to separate the grain from the chaff.”

  "Hold these words close, inferiors." Nem smiled upon them as though he were supreme. "You are all unworthy."

  Light illuminated the dark space in an instant, and enveloped everything in a pure white. It receded just as quickly as it appeared to reveal a bleak city beneath the tranquil night sky.

  Gilgamesh looked around. It was an 18th-century Victorian city in design. The buildings and streets were moderately well paved, though there was slight damage to some of the buildings and broken bits of cobblestone here and there. But more noticeable than that, was the complete absence of any other life aside from the other initiates.

  “Ahhhhhhhhh!”

  Gilgamesh's head jolted in the direction of the scream and found the cause. A humanoid creature, pitch black as though it were woven from darkness itself, that seemed little more than a monstrous amalgamation of mouths.

  [ Nightmare - ??? ]

  The crowd fell in a panic, but Gilgamesh calmly kept his keen focus on the creature. It caught an unfortunate victim and began to devour him. The manner in which it ate felt instinctively eerie. Unsettlingly inhuman. Once most of the man was nearly devoured, his dead body began to spasm. Black ooze spewed forth from his orifices and enveloped him. Ominous mouths split open across his flesh, and it rose as another nightmarish creature.

  [ First Trial - Nightmare ]

  ‘Survive the Night.’