The Phoenix [Cultivation, Reincarnation, Tower Climber]

The Hall of Records itself is a bit of an anachronistic building. Every building in the city is anachronistic, all seeming to have wildly different architectural styles, but this is the only one I've seen that looks modern. Well, maybe not modern to most people, but it reminds me of Soviet brutalism. It's a giant concrete block in a sea of brick and marble, and it's at least twice as tall as every other building in the area aside from the arena.

It's situated in a square containing a few of the other important buildings for the Floor, including the Quest Hall, and behind it, the arena rises up like a mountain. It looks to be the least popular building in the area, with almost no one entering or exiting. In contrast, the Quest Hall on the far side of the square has a line out the door. I'm not looking forward to standing in that line later.

As I enter the building, I start to think about what to change my name to. I won't be truly hiding my identity, because I doubt it will be possible, and it will only cause trouble later on, but I also want to be able to use my real name without causing an uproar. That's all assuming that I make a name for myself, but it won't be possible for me not to make a name for myself on these early floors. So I need a public identity that I can keep separate from my more personal one. And I need to pick it now before I earn some kind of ridiculous nickname.

Of course, this is all assuming that I earn enough renown for any of this to be a problem. Given what I've learned so far about the limits of power, it's possible I'll struggle later on, but at least on these early floors, I don't think it will be possible for me to truly lay low. And in the case that I do somehow fail to rise to the top, then it won't really matter.

For my public persona, there are a few things I need to consider. First is how I want to come across. Arrogant? Friendly? Mysterious? Something else? Friendly isn't a real option, but I do need to make sure I don't accidentally come across that way. If I want to avoid being overly bothered, arrogant is probably the way to go. Mysterious will only invite more investigation, while arrogant will probably keep away all but the sycophants, making everything much easier to handle.

I'm still not sure exactly how I want to go about appearing arrogant, but seeing the interior of the Hall of Records, I'm sure I'm about to get some ideas.

The first room through the main entrance is enormous. If it's not spatially expanded like the lecture hall in the dorm, it's probably about half the entire building. Most of the room is completely empty, with only a relatively small desk on the far side, but the walls are lined with lists upon lists, displayed in white holographic script on the gray walls. I look closer at the nearest one to see that it is for "Batch 8947384 (Volsted)" and contains the rankings of everyone in this list.

None of their names really mean anything to me, but seeing how many have switched over to using nicknames gives me a few ideas about my own nickname. Quite a few of them seem to be using their homes as part of their nicknames. For example, there is one named "The Sword of Lyria," and I assume Lyria is either the place they hail from, or a person that they serve.

Looking around the room, I see many similar nicknames, as well as a few strange ones like "King of Ducks and Sometimes Geese," "Super Duper Crazy Lady," and "Number 12." The curiosity I feel about the origin of those names reinforces the fact that I need to choose something more ordinary. Or at least something that doesn't create as many questions as those.

There are only a few dozen other people in the building with me at the moment, but as I look around, I notice that over half of them are grouped up around the right wall, staring at the names without speaking. Once I get close enough to read the words, it becomes obvious why. After each of the Batch numbers on the lists on this wall is the suffix "(Earth)."

It doesn't take long to find my own name, since about half the people in this area are grouped around my Batch's list. This actually throws a bit of a wrench in my plans. If I change my name right now, they'll all notice, and it won't take a genius to figure out that it was me with how few other people are in here. I'll have people asking me questions almost immediately. I don't really see a way around it unfortunately, unless I can somehow delay the change.

I look on for a bit longer, checking out the rankings of the others in my Batch. Jacob seems to be rated rather highly as well, being around rank 90,000. Also, his last name is Wigglesworth, which is kind of funny. I didn't notice that before.

I glance around at the other Batches as well, just curious to see if any famous names ended up in the Tower. I spot one or two that seem vaguely familiar, but then my eyes settle one for a bit longer. It's not any kind of celebrity, as far as I'm aware, but it's still a name I recognize, and one I encountered recently too. Yuri Filippov sits at the top of his own Batch, ranked at 52,689 overall. That's the man who was meditating in Nadia's office when I was there.

His rank slides up a few hundred spaces as I watch, and at the same time, my own falls a few. If he manages to form his ki center before I do anything else significant, his rank might actually surpass mine. That's not a big deal, but it does make me feel a bit competitive. He might be a heaven-sent genius, but I'm not about to take second place to some kid who only found out about ki yesterday.

After I've spent a bit more time looking at the other Earth Batches, I turn back to the rest of the room. A few of my stalkers have entered, walking casually around as though they're actually interested in all the other random Batches while they steal glances at me. I ignore them though as my attention is drawn to the wall directly opposite the door. In text large enough to be seen from anywhere in the room is the top 50 for the entire Floor.

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Right below it is a desk that looks like a reception desk. It's manned by two people, a man and a woman, both of whom are staring forward without moving. I watch them for a bit longer, thinking they feel a bit uncanny until the uncanniness rises when I realize that they aren't blinking either. It's almost like they're lifelike wax figures instead of people.

I walk up to them, trying to appear more confident than I am so as not to draw attention from the others in the room. When I get close enough that I can sense their ki, my eyes widen as I realize what's going on. These receptionists aren't people. They're ki constructs.

Making humanoid ki constructs isn't something completely unheard of for me, but it's certainly not something simple. Creating them is very difficult, requiring not only immense amounts of ki, but also very fine control, and a lot of practice. It's an impractical skill that very few ever bothered to learn back on Earth. I know that the scale of power in the Tower is completely different than Earth, but still, using two ki constructs of this level as mere receptionists seems a bit wasteful.

"Good afternoon," says the female construct in a monotone voice when I reach the desk. "How can I help you today?"

"I'd like to change my nickname," I say, quietly, so as not to be overheard.

"Certainly," she replies. "Please hold out your ring hand."

She holds out her own hands, so I oblige, putting my left hand forward. She reaches to grab it, and I feel the slight tingle of my ring communicating with her. I also notice how incredibly lifelike her skin feels. If I didn't know better, I might think she was a real person.

"Current nickname: Bella Tompkins," says the construct. "What would you like to change it to?"

I wince at how loudly she speaks, but it doesn't look like anyone is paying too much attention.

"Before we change it, is it possible to delay the change so that it happens while I'm not here?"

"All nickname changes are pushed at midnight, unless you specify otherwise. Would you like to make the change immediately, or specify a different time for it to occur?"

Well, that's convenient.

"Midnight is fine," I reply.

"Certainly. What would you like your new nickname to be?"

I hesitate for a moment. I did mostly decide on what I want. It needs to be arrogant, but not over the top. I also don't want to be stuck with something too embarrassing later. It also needs to fit my abilities. I can't name myself something like "The Bowmaster", since I have no intention of using a bow. That limits me a bit, but I've had no shortage of epithets over the years that I can draw upon.

After looking around the room, "The Flame Empress" or something along those lines would fit in with the other names, and it's not bad, but it's still a bit generic. It would certainly be arrogant, playing off the famous Ascendant the Ice Empress, and I would certainly be able to live up to it on these lower Floors at least. However, I'm not really into it.

I could also try something a bit more eastern and try "Celestial Fire Maiden" or "Monarch of the Burning Heavens." Well, something with "Celestial" in it would be a bad idea. Actually, no, that might be a really good idea. Especially once I reject the Hatep's offer. That would piss them off, which might be kind of fun, except it would also be really annoying. So no, it's a bad idea.

Anyway, back to Eastern names, there are plenty of other nicknames around that are similar, but still, the style doesn't really speak to me. It's also kind of over the top. I don't mind playing a role, but I'd be cringing internally every time I had to introduce myself as "the Monarch of the Burning Heavens."

The last option that seems common from looking out at the room is something named after a mythical creature. It seems that even in the Tower, dragons are beings of legendary power, and there is no shortage of dragon-based nicknames. Just in the top 50 right above the desk, I can see three. There are also plenty of Phoenixes and Griffins and Krakens and more around.

I find myself drawn a bit to doing something with Phoenix. It's fitting, given my past, though a bit on-the-nose, and it's the second or third most common animal-based name, so it won't draw much attention for being unusual. The only real problem that I see is that Vanessa will probably be able to sniff out the truth about my past if I use that. It won't take long for her to guess correctly if I choose my nickname based on the bird that famously is reborn after every death. Then again, I can just brush her aside. Shamelessness goes a long way…

Okay, maybe it's still risky, but I really don't like any of the other names. The more I think about them, the more that "Phoenix" feels right. It's a bit odd, actually. It feels similar to how I felt drawn to the Tower from my dorm. As if the name is calling to me. It's a bit unnerving, but at the same time, the last time I felt this, it brought me here, so I might as well keep following my gut.

And as for modifiers like "Great" or something like that? Well, what could be more arrogant than not bothering with them?

"The Phoenix," I say.

"Confirmed," replies the construct. "Your name will be changed at midnight. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"That will be all," I say, drawing my hand back. "Thank you."

"Have a lovely day," it replies before returning to its unnatural stillness.

I turn around, a bit cheerful at how it all turned out. It was faster than I dared to hope it would be, and even better, it doesn't need to happen immediately. It will probably be pretty obvious to anyone focused on gathering information but I should be safe from excess attention during this outing, at least.

I walk toward the exit, looking forward to visiting the Quest Hall next, but when I'm only halfway across the massive room, the door opens again and someone new enters. He looks fairly plain, and he's even shorter than me, but he has an aura about him that makes him feel like a giant. We make eye contact and he immediately walks straight toward me. He stops right in front of me and crosses his arms. He's clearly not an administrator, but just by sensing his ki and looking at his stance, one thing is painfully obvious: if we fought right now, I would lose.

"You're Bella Tompkins," he says.

It's not a question.

"Yes?" I reply.

He doesn't respond. He just keeps staring at me.