Fighting through the pain that assaulted his brain with his every movement, Eric managed to peek at the approaching minotaur. As if all his senses were suddenly heightened, he observed as the minotaur slowly approached him, incapable of doing anything to stop it.

  The minotaur’s giant left hand inched slowly toward him, while its right hand dragged a massive axe that while sounded heavy, refused to leave any trace on the ground.

  When the minotaur’s giant hand was only a few centimeters away, Eric exhaled through his nose, ready for whatever happened next. However, unlike what he expected, he only felt a warmth spread from where the approaching minotaur’s hand landed on his back, steadily resting there.

  “Are you alright, young man?” the minotaur said, turning to Eric and lowering itself to meet him in the eyes.

  Through the pain, Eric managed to stand up straight, the minotaur removing his hand as he did so. He was surprised by the difference between what he expected to happen and what had actually happened. But if he was honest, being surprised wasn’t that big of a surprise considering how much his entire world kept shifting.

  “Who are you?” Eric asked, wincing through the fading but still very noticeable pain.

  The minotaur tilted its head, thinking for a moment. “Hmmm… Harkus. But young man, you still haven’t answered my question. Are you alright? Because you don’t look alright, ” he said, concern evident in his eyes.

  “It’s nothing,” Eric muttered as he massaged his skull. “That image,” he gestured toward the engraved wall behind him, "it messed with my head.”

  Turning to face the engraved image, Harkus put away his axe, strapping it on his back. “Hmm,” he said, analyzing the image. As he traced the faded image with his fingers, he seemed to have noticed something. “There’s intent behind this,” he said, frowning as he sensed something Eric couldn’t. “Very powerful intent. Do not try to understand it. It is beyond us.”

  “Okay,” Eric said, amused at the minotaur’s words and the minotaur itself, though not showing it. Even though he had seen other species, this was his first time actually talking to one. The lizardman only tried to kill him and both Ondal and Ta’ir looked human, so it didn’t count. “Do you know where we need to go?”

  “You came from this direction I presume?” Harkus said, pointing at the hallway that Eric came from, and Eric nodded in confirmation. “And I came from there.” He pointed toward where he approached from. “So, lets head that way.”

  Eric was about to nod, agreeing with Harkus, but a question popped into his mind. “Not going to try to kill me, are you?” he asked, his eyes narrowed, the pain having dissipated enough that he could probably respond to any attack.

  Harkus chuckled, a deep sound that resonated through the tunnel. “Do I have a reason to?” he asked mid laugh. “What’s your name by the way? I already gave you mine, its only polite you give me yours.”

  “Eric,” he answered simply, moving his body lightly as that extreme sensation of hollowness left him slowly, taking the final remnants of pain away.

  “You seem to have recovered quite fast there,” Harkus said with surprise, slapping Eric on the back. “Shall we?” he asked, gesturing for Eric to walk forward.

  Eric, still equally unsure and marveled at the situation, began to walk side by side the minotaur.

  The pair easily advanced, avoiding the dark tunnels and discussing their direction briefly. They spoke a bit, exchanging little tidbits about their experiences through the previous trials. Through said conversation, Eric was able to glean a key piece of information that he already had an inkling about.

  The trials aren’t the same for everyone, he began to reason. My fifth trial was solitary and seemed designed as a trial, his was with others but it still had the same principal, mana reinforcement. The sixth and seventh were the same, but not the eighth. Apparently, he had to climb a mountain, but the conditions were similar.

  “So, are you one of those esteemed young masters? Or are you an independent that thought that this would be a good opportunity to gauge the difference between them and yourself?” Harkus asked, interrupting Eric’s musings.

  Harkus glanced at Eric, trying to analyze him. Only the elite are supposed to enter a newly established tower. It’s their chance to flaunt their power, their lineage and test their strength. The only ones that would also dare enter would be those that wanted to compare themselves to such elites, confirming their own limits. Seeing it as an opportunity to gain something, no matter how small.

  Harkus had also gained something from the short exchange the two had. Specifically, how uneducated Eric was in the matters of the multiverse, the System and cultivation. It stirred something within him, and he wanted to clarify some things.

  Sure, the young masters and elites could go anywhere to enter the Tower of Revelation. Places like the 'Stellar Beacon,' or the 'Fourth Horizon,' Frontier’s that had established themselves as centers of trade and power that had gained a unique name. Hell, there were even those places claimed by factions, like 'Purity Chalice,' that was for the exclusive use of the elves and all their subraces. But a new Frontier? They only came here because this one is different.

  This time, all eyes are on the Frontier. Missing out wasn’t an option for these so-called “young masters”—their futures rest on how well they perform under such spotlight. The ones who didn’t show up will be as good as forgotten, their ambitions crushed before they even began.

  It didn’t take Harkus long to determine that Eric was not a young master. And considering that the natives of the newly integrated galaxy won’t arrive until a week after the tower first appeared, that only leaves one option. Harkus grinned, his thoughts nearing their end. Eric is a fool that wants to test himself against these arrogant young masters. Pride began to build in his chest. Just like me.

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  “So, are you? A young master, I mean,” Harkus repeated.

  Eric narrowed his eyes, unsure of how to respond, he weighed the question in his mind. Is being from the newly integrated galaxy good or bad here? Not wanting to risk it, he decided to play along.

  “That obvious, huh?” Eric said sarcastically, sure that he could play it off as either answer depending on Harkus’s reaction. Still, as his expressions were still off, he made none.

  Harkus narrowed his eyes. “I knew it!” he exclaimed, seemingly having caught on to the “sarcasm.” “You’re one of mine. Let’s show all of them that they aren’t as great as they think,” he added with a laugh.

  The pair stopped walking mid conversation as they had reached the end of the tunnel. Quickly glancing to both sides, one side led to a four-way intersection and the other led to what appeared to be a one-way tunnel that veered left at the end.

  “Imma go this way,” Eric said, not asking or even considering either option with any amount of care. “Before you ask, there’s no reason. I just don’t have to think about where to go when I hit the end,” he explained, walking through the tunnel that veered left at the end.

  Harkus let out a loud laugh and followed. “Interesting choice,” he said, catching up. “So, what did you do during the last floor? I don’t recall seeing you.”

  “Didn’t have the same trial as you. Mine was in a desert. I just got here,” Eric answered.

  “That makes sense,” Harkus said, not having caught that from their earlier exchange, unlike Eric. “What about the first floor? I didn’t see you their either. What were you doing?”

  “Not much,” Eric answered without having to think too deeply. “Though, to be honest, I very much felt like everyone else knew something I didn’t, and I was just kind of dragged along with whatever they were doing. You?” he asked, turning the question.

  “What did I do?” Harkus lifted his hand to his chin and began to tap it with a finger, remembering his actions. “To be completely honest? Not much. The spores didn’t affect me, I just burned them with my internal energy. So, I just made my way toward the portal and waited in case someone activated the hidden quest,” he said, explaining his actions. “By the way, what exactly do you mean with ‘dragged along?’ What exactly happened?”

  Eric frowned, catching on to something. “What do you mean hidden quest? Was that common knowledge? Wait, are you talking about the big mushroom? Is that why there were a lot of people just waiting near the portal?”

  Eric couldn’t distinguish the emotions on the minotaur’s face, especially when it didn’t involve his eyes but, on this occasion, no matter what part of the minotaur’s face he focused on, he could clearly tell that the minotaur was surprised. Whether it was shock, amusement, or disbelief wasn’t clear, but it was there.

  “Did you come to the tower without knowing a single thing about it?” Harkus asked, disbelief evident in his tone.

  “I knew some things,” Eric lied. “Just not everything. And it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. I didn’t know my skills wouldn’t work or that my mana would be disrupted. I also definitely did not expect to be kidnapped by humanoid plants, or whatever they were. Does every floor take something away?”

  Harkus chuckled, though it wasn’t mocking, it resembled the laugh of a grandfather seeing their grandchild make a mistake. “No, only the first ones. They’re meant as a way for you to get acquainted with your new body. When skills, magic and everything is blocked what more can you do? It’s to make sure that you become used to your new body when your body is blocked, like now, it’s so that you get used to your skills. Not all of your physical abilities are blocked, only the highs so that you don’t overly depend on them,” Harkus explained.

  Eric raised an eyebrow. “What about concepts? Or bloodlines?”

  “Do you possess any of the two?” Harkus asked, curious.

  “No, but I’m curious,” Eric answered honestly, shaking his head.

  “Hmm.” Harkus considered his answer. “Concepts are hard to hold back, harder to suppress, so instead, the System disrupts them by counteracting their effects, and at times, it can even disrupt your heavenly connection. As for bloodlines… those can’t be blocked. Not by the System, not yet anyway.” Harkus answered honestly.

  “Heavenly con—”

  Eric was about to continue his questioning, but a rattling noise echoing down the passage cut him off. He didn’t even have to question where the rattle came from or what was making the noise. From one of the corridors ahead, figures made completely out of bone emerged.

  Most of them looked humanoid with only small variations, like extra ribs, what appeared to be horns or overly sharp teeth. Yet the one that emerged the last was a completely different matter altogether.

  A giant skeletal figure towered over the rest, not quite as tall as Harkus but easily taller than Eric. The bones that made up its body shone with a holy light that completely pushed back the little darkness that there was in the tunnels, making it as bright as day.

  From the central part of its shoulder blades, protruded what were clearly wing bones. They were so long, that only in there slightly closed position could the skeletal figure enter the passageway. Other than the wings and its height, it appeared to be a completely normal human skeleton. Though at the top of its skull, what appeared to be a ring was burned into it.

  Both Eric and Harkus were filled with awe, to varying degrees and because of different reasons. Eric was fascinated by the entire scene. Moving autonomous skeletons in a maze. Now, this, this is a dungeon, he thought.

  Harkus on the other hand marveled at the holy light that radiated from the giant skeleton, quickly recognizing it for what it was. An angel, he thought to himself in marvel.

  Sadly, for both of them, their marvel lasted little as the skeletons began to rush forward with an unmistakable hostility. The giant winged skeleton, however, remained steady in its position, as if its empty eye sockets could see what was happening and was only assessing the situation with care.

  Eric focused, a sword appearing on his hand as his mana channels flared to life. They began to flow through his body, reaching out and empowering his grip on the sword. Warmth began to spread throughout his body, and he readied himself by falling into one of the positions Anna used to, now modified by his experience on the seventh floor.

  Ondal had given him all manner of weapons, but to more closely resemble Anna and more easily mimic her, he chose the sword closest to hers. It was one that reminded him of those used by knights. Compared to Anna’s it was thinner and had a pommel, but it was the best he could do.

  Having fought so many ghosts, enemies that didn’t fall as easily as humans, he began to analyze the enemies before him, already knowing that they would be harder to take down. His eyes quickly locked onto the nearest skeleton, and his eyes began to scan where its various bones connected. “Shoulder, neck” he mumbled to himself, clarifying his targets and their order.

  Beside him, Harkus reacted instantly and decisively, quickly removing the axe from his back and wielding it. As he tightened his grip on the large handle, hardened earth appeared from nowhere, enveloping his grip, reinforcing it.

  Even though the attack had caught them off guard, that didn’t mean that they were incapable of adapting to the rapidly changing situation. The skeletons were rushing forward, but Eric and Harkus were far from unprepared.