“It’s been a couple of hours,” Ta’ir said, looking at an hourglass that he had propped up on his counter. “How many do you think will actually make it to him?”
Ondal adjusted himself as he rested both arms on the wooden counter opposite of Ta’ir, beside the hourglass. “I don’t actually know,” he said, pausing to consider the question. “From this Frontier? Very little. No matter how strong the beast is, it will die when unprepared or when fighting enemies that they did not expect.”
“They’ve been preparing for the tower for quite some time. I don’t think they exactly qualify as unprepared,” Ta’ir said, turning the pages of a book full of colorful images that appeared to pop into the air and dance before him. “And wouldn’t Eric be far worse off than them? No training or knowledge of what to expect.”
“True. If we’re talking about being unprepared and facing off against things that you didn’t expect, then Eric is the one that fits that description the most. Without a doubt,” Ondal said without missing a beat.”
“Then—”
“But I don’t believe that Eric will be as bad off as we would assume,” Ondal continued, not allowing Ta’ir to comment. “For one, his body resisted the gravity of this place even before he evolved, then he cultivated without a cultivation sense, and an entire faction had to work together to get rid of him. If that isn’t enough, just take my word for it, I could feel it, deep within me. There was something dangerous about him. He has potential,” he said with a bestial grin. “And if he doesn’t, well… I guess I’ll have to find something else to do.”
“So much emotion, just to end up being as callous as usual. You just want another hunt,” Ta’ir commented with a smile and a light shake of the head. “When do you expect them to meet?”
“Immediately after the introductory portion of the tower,” Ondal answered. “News should have already spread elsewhere, and tower returnees should be feeling pretty grateful that they left before and didn’t continue to climb the tower. One of the most expensive rewards is being carried by a nobody. Word should start to spread pretty soon after he is first seen. If he decides to take a break, then that will be a problem for him.”
“How big a window specifically do you think they’ll have? Will he make it to the twentieth floor?”
Ondal stared at Ta’ir for a second and Ta’ir immediately caught on to what was about to happen. Ondal burst into laughter, but Ta’ir had already made preparations, and the air only rippled slightly, the others in the library were barely aware of what was going on.
“But you just said that he there was something about him,” Ta’ir said, amused. “What was that about then?”
“Potential is about the future, my dear Ta’ir,” Ondal said amidst his laughing.
“So how far will he go then?”
“He’ll be lucky to clear any floor,” Ondal said, his laughing beginning to settle. “I only expected him to get out of the introductory floors. If he has some sense then he should give up before the fifteenth floor, and that’s if no one finds him. But if he doesn’t make it… I guess we’ll have to send someone to retrieve a corpse,” he added casually.
“I guess we will,” Ta’ir said, agreeing with Ondal’s assessment.
At the level that both of them were at, there really wasn’t much of a difference in terms of knowledge. Both have lived long enough to know most of what is considered general knowledge and the only differences in said knowledge boil down to what they excel at. Ta’ir, having read almost thirty-seven percent of the library, is what is considered book smart. Ondal on the other hand, having been bred to fight, excelled at fighting and his instincts were honed to detect danger.
Both of them knew and respected each other’s respective fields of knowledge. Which is why Ta’ir so readily agreed to Ondal’s assessment, even if it was somewhat vague and unexplained.
“But why are you acting like you don’t know about his condition?” Ondal asked, changing the topic.
“What do—You caught that?” Ta’ir said, ready to lie but changing his words mid sentence, his eyes raising slowly to meet Ondal’s.
“I know your tricks and that book was far too ordinary for a book that you would choose. There had to be a trick somewhere. So where is it?”
Ta’ir sighed and a book suddenly materialized before Ondal. It was a simple book with no name. It was a washed out green and some parts of it were already falling apart. Without thinking too much about the book’s appearance, Ondal opened it, and a flurry of text began to appear.
“Book one enters the Tower of Revelation. Book one moves…” Ondal began to mumble rapidly as he rushed through the entire contents of the book. To his surprise, there was far less information than he expected. “Is it defective? It only recorded movement. Did it break?”
Ta’ir gave a knowing smile. He had already read the book and asked himself the same question. The book itself was an ancient relic that recorded the actions of the bearer of its paired book to the smallest detail. It not only kept track of its location through movement or teleportation, but also other details like the environment and conditions that went beyond the bearer.
If the bearer was injured, than the book would record it. If the bearer walked into a rainy forest, than the book would record it. And it wouldn’t just say “bearer stabbed,” no, it would go into detail about the injury. How deep the stab was, the weapon that was used, the conditions under which it happened and even the description of the attacker.
Had the book been functioning properly, they would quite literally know more about Eric’s journey into the Tower of Revelation than Eric himself would. But the book wasn’t functioning properly, not when Eric was the bearer.
“I had the exact same question,” Ta’ir said. "At first, I considered that maybe you damaged it, but I quickly discarded that idea. I’ve seen you break everything except the things I give you. You tend to be fully aware of how rough you can be with those and never exceed it.”
“As I should,” Ondal commented with a slight smile.
“So, instead of blaming you, I began to investigate the magic that was engraved into the book. If you flip to page thirty-six, you’ll see a diagnostic report.”
Ondal did as Ta’ir instructed and sure enough, there was a lengthy report with various figures, sigils, runes and numbers. It was a bunch of magic terminology that was too detailed for Ondal, but he quickly grasped its contents, his long life wasn’t just for show. Even if he wasn’t a magic user himself, he knew more than enough about it.
“According to this, everything is fine,” Ondal said, facing Ta’ir.
“Exactly,” Ta’ir said with a smile that took over his entire face.
“No…” Ondal muttered in low voice.
“Yes! There’s more to discover about him then I previously thought,” Ta’ir exclaimed. “He better return because I have so many questions for him. In the meantime, I am currently investigating naturally occurring phenomena that can disrupt communication, observation, maybe even fate divining.” The gold in his eyes stopping flowing for a second before quickly resuming. “Wait—he’s not connected to fate. Do the effects go even beyond him? Can he imbue items? So many questions.”
“Mark the relevant books and I’ll go get them,” Ondal said with resignation as he glanced at the ever-growing pile that was already beside the counter.
----------
There was a flashing bright light, as bright as the morning sun that parted the night sky, but in this case, it eked its way through the greenery that surrounded it. The shining portal demanded the attention of the only person who could see it, the person who had just cleared the floor’s trial.
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Eric sat there with his head hung, a few meters from the portal that was obscured by vines and giant leaves, covered in blood and gore, only some of it his. His breathing was calm and steady, but his eyes betrayed the rush of euphoria that his body was experiencing.
Is this real? The line gets blurry. Maybe I just think that’s how I’m supposed to feel. If I believe it’s real than it must be—
“What am I even thinking? Focus!” he said, smacking himself on the head.
Raising his head and focusing his sight, he could make out a total of twelve individual bodies, well, twelve that were complete. Most of the bodies were incomplete, some were only missing their head, while others were missing more than one extremity. But they were all burned to some degree.
Letting out a deep and heavy sigh, he opened his hand, summoning a vial full of a black substance. It was the only item that came to mind when he thought about what might be the “infinite essence.” As the vial appeared in his hand, Eric spoke.
“All of this, for this little thing?” he said, a bit incredulous.
Eric didn’t actually know if the vial in his hand was the infinite essence that everyone was after or not, but after going through all the things that he knew he had, it was the most mysterious thing he found among his possessions.
“It has to be, right?”
Feeling that he had already begun something, he moved the vial to his left hand and brought forth the cultivation orb. Almost immediately as the orb pressed against his skin, he felt his cultivation sense become heavier.
As he looked at both items, determination building within him, he began to recall how it was that he arrived at his current position. How he ended up covered in blood and surrounded by bodies that were half torn to pieces and more than anything, why he now felt that he had to use the infinite essence.
----------
The fourteenth trial, unlike the previous ones that only had a single difficult aspect like the guards, had multiple difficulties.
The first difficulty was the area of the trial itself. It was on a branch of a giant tree; the tree was so enormous that the branch he was on was an entire jungle all on its own. The floor was incredibly unsteady, he could be stepping on a solid branch, or it could just as easily be a thick leaf waiting to crumble.
Then there were the creatures that inhabited the giant tree. Lizards, insects and birds of all sizes resided on the tree. And while they came in all sizes, they preferred one most of all, human sized… or slightly bigger. And to top it all off, it was raining.
The quest that was given to him was simple enough, deliver an egg the size of a small cat to a specific point. He was even given a minimap that he could summon at will, making it virtually impossible to get lost.
But then there was the greatest difficulty of all, the egg itself. It was considered a delicacy by basically all life forms, even Eric himself felt a sudden pull toward it. The egg was essentially a monster lure that he couldn’t let go of.
So, his journey through the damp greenery that was a giant tree was a harsh one. He had to fight off literally every living creature that came his way, while being careful of his every step.
“The birds were definitely the hardest,” Eric said to himself as he reminisced. “They never stopped, they just attacked and if I didn’t let go of the egg, they left and tried again later on. Persistent fucks.”
That wasn’t to say that Eric was alone in the tree, at various points he crossed paths with others that were also transporting their own egg, very similar to the one he was carrying.
“And that was where I made my biggest mistake...”
Eric was so focused on keeping the egg safe by watching his footing, and being alert to any possible attack, that he didn’t realize that some of the people who he came across rested their sights on him a bit too long. Not the egg, but him.
“In my defense, I had no reason to suspect them. I’m on another floor and the people that were after me should have only arrived after I did. And that is considering time for the rumor that I left the floor to spread. Though, now that I think about it, I did disappear before. Some might have already assumed that I left the thirteenth floor. In fact, I even expected that to be the case. But there was also the fact that they really didn’t do anything suspicious, at least until they did,” he said to himself, taking out some food he had purchased on the previous floor from his storage, as he continued to contemplate the events that occurred.
Eric’s journey continued without issue, other than the issues that he had already been encountering that is. He fought off a fire breathing lizard that burned his entire right arm, exposing muscle. Then he finally caught a bird that had been following him since the beginning, sacrificing the same arm in the process.
“The sleeve was already ruined, why ruin another one.”
While the assault by monsters was relentless, there was nothing that he couldn’t handle with a bit of perseverance. Even if damage accumulated, he soon overcame it with his healing.
“A lot of these trials would be a lot harder if I didn’t heal as fast as I did. I would’ve been overwhelmed in the seventh trial by a single ghost. I would have died of blood loss on the third, hunger would’ve taken me earlier on the eighth. And I would not have survived my encounter with the lizardman or the cold woman on the first floor. Whatever this bloodline assimilation is, it has saved my unprepared ass multiple times.”
As he advanced, he started to notice more and more people coming his way. They wouldn’t stop or interact in the least, but they would linger, as if to confirm something. While Eric’s senses were great by normal human standards, they weren’t exceptional at the level he was at now. It was why it was possible for others to trail behind and around him, avoiding his perception entirely.
It wasn’t like he was completely oblivious to their presence, but it was hard to distinguish them amongst everything else that wanted to attack him. So, while he didn’t dismiss the sensation, he put it toward the back of his mind, focusing entirely on his journey.
Soon enough, he arrived at his destination. It was an oddly shaped area. Thick leaves, vines and branches curled around, creating what appeared to be a giant birdcage. In the center of everything, there was this flower-like object with an opening that was the exact size of the egg that Eric was carrying. The map pointed toward the center of the cage and without thinking, Eric put the egg where it looked like it belonged. And just like that, he completed the quest, the portal appearing behind the vines and branches.
“Then it all went to shit,” he said, taking a sip of water.
As he began to walk toward the portal, suddenly, from all around him, dozens of people jumped out. And Eric didn’t have to process what he was seeing at all, it was obvious that they were there for him, and they also didn’t appear to be in the mood to talk, their eyes said everything.
“I’m guessing none of you are open for dialogue?” he said, readying himself.
A fireball struck at his feet, but he dodged it without difficulty, but as he did so, a chain wrapped around his arm and yanked him to the side. The force with which he was pulled almost dislocated his shoulder.
As he landed on his side, a sword was already making its way down. Luckily, he had already summoned a sword of his own while he was still mid-air and managed to block it. Then something pierced his leg, causing him to falter and the sword grew closer.
Eric tightened the grip on his sword and with a quick twist of his wrist, he deflected the sword just enough to roll out from under its reach. The moment he got his footing, he was met with a flurry of attacks. Two more chains came flying toward him, followed by a couple daggers aimed for his chest. He parried one chain with his sword and narrowly dodged the other, ducking to avoid the daggers.
Without wasting a second, he dropped to one knee and slashed across the legs of an approaching enemy, sending them stumbling back. But another came from behind, wielding a staff that crackled with electricity. Eric was familiar with that sound, his fight with Krellon still vivid in his mind. He dodged to the side, not really knowing where the attack was coming from. The staff grazed him, sending a jolt down his arm. Ignoring the pain, he swung his sword in a wide arc, creating some distance.
For a moment, he stood amidst the crowd of opponents, each closing in with their weapons drawn. Blood flowed down his leg, still unsure of what had injured him.
With a deep breath, his concentration heightened to its absolute limit allowing him to see more than he was used to. Feeling that the more he stood still, the worse it would be, he charged forward.
He only managed to deliver a couple of attacks—all blocked, before he went on the defensive once more. Blocking, parrying and dodging was all he could do as he was assaulted from all sides in a variety of ways.
With each passing second, his wounds grew, and his stamina diminished. It didn’t matter if he could heal quickly if he was getting more and more injured the longer the fight dragged on.
Just as Eric was about to contemplate his limitations, a deep, earth-shaking shriek echoed through the naturally formed cage. The giant tree branches that formed the tree trembled in response. Vines hung loose and leaves began to fall as if the seasons had suddenly decided to change.
A massive shadow loomed over the fighters, and then they saw it—an enormous bird that glittered with each and every color imaginable. Piercing through the naturally formed cage, its gaze was set on the egg in the middle of the structure, which had miraculously remained unharmed.
Then it swiftly changed its gaze toward the intruders of its domain, Eric and his attackers.
Its feathers began to vibrate, and they became a pale green color. Eric tightened his grip on the sword, sensing that something was coming, and prepared himself.
With a loud shriek, all of the attackers that were close to the beast were reduced to nothing but blood and gore. It was as if they had been struck by a thousand blades. Even Eric had received a few cuts, but he immediately recognized what had happened.
Wind! his mind shouted in realization.
With another shake of its feathers, turning them a strong dark red, magma began to fall from somewhere that they couldn’t see. The bird never moved, only shifted colors and absolutely decimated the attacking strangers.
Light blue and lightning rained down. A powerful green and the area was blanketed by toxins. When its feathers shifted to a clear, almost transparent blue, water blanketed the area, cleansing the poison as it walked toward its egg. With its egg firmly in its grasp, the giant bird turned to leave, but not before it quickly shifted to a bright red color and released a wave of flame that charred the area slightly.
After the giant bird left, leaving nothing but destruction, a pile of bodies began to stir, underneath them, Eric was struggling to breath.
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