Chapter 43: First Time

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: First Time

The morning light broke through the colossal stone archway of the Tower Gate, where hundreds of Sol-Aethel students stood in organized ranks. Ahead of them, the massive portal hummed with spatial mana before depositing Squad 07 onto the stone-paved floor of Layer 1: The Gateway Basin.

Unlike the untamed wilderness many had feared, the 1st Floor of the Tower was a sprawling, fully reclaimed metropolis of steel, enchanted stone, and defensive bastions. Functioning as humanity’s primary forward operating base, the entire floor was crisscrossed with paved trade roads, bustling supply depots, armored troop barracks, and trade caravans heading toward the upper floor ascensions.

Leading the first-year cohort across the central avenue, Dean Sterling and a dozen senior professors halted before a massive, eight-story structure built from polished grey granite, bearing the glowing crest of Sol-Aethel Academy.

"Welcome to Layer 1," Dean Sterling announced, his voice carrying clearly over the ambient din of the base. "As you can see, the 1st Floor has been completely secured and reclaimed by humanity. This facility before you is the Sol-Aethel Staging Complex. For the duration of your one-week deployment, this building will serve as your primary headquarters, rest area, and command hub."

Sterling gestured toward a glass-fronted wing on the ground floor. "Senior faculty will be stationed in the main administrative hall twenty-four hours a day. If your squad encounters logistical impasses, gear failures, or strategic questions during your field operations, professors are available at all times for guidance. Use your time here wisely. Dismissed!"

As the crowd began to disperse into the main foyer, Rowan pulled up the Academy-issued GPS tactical interface on his mobile device. The screen illuminated with a detailed blue overlay of the 1st Floor’s reclaimed sectors, displaying real-time node markers, resource hubs, and squad waypoints.

"Alright," Rowan said, turning to Barney, Seraphina, Caelen, and Mirei. "Before we head into the wild zones on Layer 2 or take on field contracts, we need to map our logistics base here on Floor 1. Follow me."

Taking the lead, Rowan guided Squad 07 through the key locations marked on their tactical map:

The Central Logistics & Trade Depot: A massive, climate-controlled warehouse district where trade caravans bought and sold raw materials. Rowan noted the exact drop-off stalls for high-grade agricultural produce and mana-herbs.

The Field Forge & Repair Foundry: Located on the western avenue, equipped with high-grade anvils and blast furnaces for Barney to inspect their spatial forge access and tool calibration setups.

The Alchemical Alchemy Synthesis Wing: A specialized facility packed with public distillation cauldrons and testing apparatuses, allowing Seraphina to verify ingredient purity ratios before field deployment.

The Vanguard Armory & Firing Range: Situated near the outer perimeter wall, where Caelen calibrated his tower shield’s kinetic dampeners, and Mirei checked the wind-current conditions for her archery sightline.

"The infrastructure here is completely solid," Caelen noted, tapping his shield as they finished looping back toward the Sol-Aethel Staging Complex. "If we pull back from an expedition on the lower edges, we can restock, repair, and process ingredients without leaving the Tower."

"Exactly," Rowan said, locking their squad routes into his device. "Now that our base of operations is mapped, we can head inside, drop our heavy packs, and prepare for our first assignment."

Squad 07 stepped into the administrative wing on the ground floor of the Sol-Aethel Staging Complex. The hall was lined with glowing quest boards, and sitting behind the central consultation desk was Professor Aaron, a veteran instructor from the Environmental Management Faculty.

"Ah, Squad 07," Professor Aaron greeted, resting his hands on his desk as the five students approached. "I see your squad registration is locked. Ready to take on your first contract?"

"Before we head out into joint squad operations on the unmapped sectors, we want to start with individual contracts," Rowan said, stepping forward. "We need to get fully accustomed to the Tower’s ambient mana density and environmental conditions first." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"A wise choice," Professor Aaron nodded approvingly, tapping his console. "The Tower’s internal pressure affects every class differently. Individual calibration contracts are the safest way to adjust your mana circuits before tackling team objectives."

He brought up a series of introductory solo tasks on their academy-issued mobile devices:

Rowan Vance (Crop Maintenance & Harvest): Assigned to Greenhouse Block 04 on the 1st Floor’s agricultural sector. His objective was to oversee, nurture, and harvest a batch of sensitive mana-crops growing under the floor’s artificial mana-lamps, maintaining soil vitality against ambient environmental fluctuations.

Barney Ironforge (Equipment Restoration): Assigned to the Auxiliary Garrison Armory. His contract required him to field-repair and re-align damaged E-Grade iron breastplates, shields, and steel broadswords returned by frontline patrols.

Seraphina Vane (Field Synthesis): Assigned to the Apothecary Lab Wing. Her task was to brew standard-issue Health and Mana Recovery Potions under strict time constraints, ensuring batch purity met the garrison’s baseline standards.

Caelen & Mirei Thorne (Mana Circuit Adaptation): Assigned to the Weighted High-Density Training Grounds. Their joint task involved undergoing high-intensity physical sparring and evasive maneuvers under simulated atmospheric mana pressure to sync their physical reflexes and internal mana circuits with the Tower’s environment.

"Your individual metrics will be tracked automatically by your academy passes," Professor Aaron instructed, stamping their digital permits. "Once all five of you complete your calibration tasks, return here to log your results and claim your first integrated team contract."

"Understood, Professor," Rowan said.

The squad exchanged brief nods before splitting up toward their respective facilities across the 1st Floor hub.

***

Across Layer 1, the five members of Squad 07 set to work, acclimating their skills and bodies to the heavy, ambient mana of the Tower.

Greenhouse Block 04 — Agricultural Sector

Inside the humid glass enclosure of Greenhouse Block 04, Rowan stood before several rows of drooping Verdant Sun-Spores. The crops were struggling under the synthetic glare of artificial mana-lamps, their leaves yellowed by uneven leyline absorption.

Rowan knelt, pressing his hand gently into the dry soil. Activating Breath of Eden, a soft, golden pulse rippled outward from his palm. The soil instantly softened, absorbing the cosmic life force as the roots drank deeply. Within minutes, the stalks straightened, their leaves turning a vibrant, healthy emerald while glowing mana-spores burst into bloom. He harvested the peak-grade batch with practiced efficiency, filling three supply crates in half the allocated time.

Auxiliary Garrison Armory — Metallurgy Wing

The clanking of iron and the roar of blast furnaces echoed through the armory. Barney wiped sweat from his brow, gripping his heavy smithing hammer over an anvil. Before him lay a chipped E-Grade iron breastplate and a bent steel broadsword.

channelled his mana down his forearms into the hammer, striking the white-hot metal with rhythmic, thunderous precision. Clang! Clang! With each blow, cracks sealed and impurities were driven out. The bent blade straightened into a razor-sharp edge, its structural integrity fully restored. He quenched the blade in cooling liquid, setting down a flawless set of garrison-ready gear.

Apothecary Lab Wing — Medical Hub

Seraphina worked in total silence, her sharp eyes fixed on the bubbling glass cauldrons in front of her. While other student alchemists struggled with the atmospheric mana interfering with their distillation temperatures, Seraphina remained entirely composed.

Her fingers moved with surgical precision, measuring out dried moon-grass and mana-thistle. She adjusted the burner’s flame, controlling the heat ratio down to the degree. As the liquid stabilized, she poured two dozen vials of crystal-clear Health and Mana Recovery Potions, each achieving a 98% purity rating—far exceeding the garrison’s baseline requirements.

Weighted High-Density Training Grounds — Vanguard Sector

At the edge of the training grounds, atmospheric mana compressors increased the local gravity and air pressure, simulating deep-Tower conditions. Sweat poured down Caelen’s face as he braced his tower shield against the impact of a heavy mechanical training ram.

BOOM!

Caelen stood his ground, channeling mana through his legs to anchor his stance. Behind him, Mirei moved fluidly through the heavy air, drawing her recurve bow with unyielding precision. Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Three arrows flew in rapid succession, striking the moving target cores dead-center right over Caelen’s shoulder. Their movements were seamless, their internal mana circuits adapting completely to the Tower’s pressure.

An hour later, all five squad members reassembled in the administrative hall of the Sol-Aethel Staging Complex, their academy passes glowing with completed task verifications.