Awakener's Guide to Climbing the Tower

Knock.

Knock.

"Come in."

Misha stood outside Elyes’ room with one hand still raised near the door.

She drew in a slow breath. It should not have felt this difficult. She was only saying goodbye, not stepping into another boss room.

Then again, boss monsters were usually easier to understand than people.

After her conversation with King the night before, she had finally made up her mind.

She could not keep locking herself away whenever someone she knew died. Grief did not stop the Tower from moving. It did not return the dead, and it certainly did not bring her any closer to the reason she had entered this place.

Caleb had left clues everywhere without giving her a single complete answer. At least she now knew he was somewhere above her, rewritting rules and hiding behind Administrator permissions like the infuriating brother he had always been.

But Mateo... She had nothing. Not one message, and not one strange intervention. There was not even a distorted System window that might have carried his fingerprints.

King rarely mentioned him, and when Misha tried to bring him up, the creature became conveniently fascinated with cleaning his paws.

She had entered the Tower to find both of her brothers. Yet somewhere between surviving floors and losing people, she had let herself stand still.

That was enough. That’s right, it was enough.

How many times had she promised herself she would endure whatever the Tower placed in front of her? How many people had already carried her far enough that turning back would make their efforts meaningless?

Misha lowered her hand and pushed the door open.

Elyes sat in his wheeled chair beside the bed, a blanket covered his lap, though one hand had escaped it to hold a thin book.

He looked up from the page, his sleepy eyes settled on her. "You finally remembered doors work from both sides."

Misha stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "Good morning to you too."

"It was, until someone interrupted my reading." Elyes lowered his gaze to the book again.

"You told me to come in." She crossed her arms and huffed.

He turned another page. "I assumed it was Sebastian."

"Should I leave and knock again while pretending to be him?"

Elyes lifted his gaze towards her once again and studied her for a moment. His eyes moved from the cloak resting over her shoulders to the belts holding Twinfang at her sides.

"You’re leaving." He closed the book over one finger.

Misha’s fingers brushed the edge of her cloak before she straightened her back. "I’m going to continue climbing."

Leaning farther into his chair, his expression remained perfectly blank. "It only took you five days."

"I... was injured." She reasoned out.

He lifted a brow. "You were sulking."

"I was grieving."

"You can do both," he said before he reopened the book.

Misha’s eye twitched. "King said something similar."

"That is concerning," He paused before turning another page. "I dislike agreeing with invisible creatures that refer to themselves as royalty."

From Misha’s shoulder, the small black cat narrowed his golden eyes at him.

[The exhausted one remains insolent nya.]

Misha ignored King before Elyes noticed her looking toward empty air.

She crossed the room and stopped near his chair. "I wanted to thank you before I leave."

Elyes’ expression immediately became suspicious. He watched her as though gratitude were usually followed by an invoice. "For what?"

"For allowing me to stay here." She glanced toward the collection of potion bottles on his bedside table then back at him. "And for helping me recover."

"I expect returns on my investments."

Misha folded her arms as she stared down at him with an amused smile. "How touching."

"It should be." He closed his eyes. "You’re expensive."

"I stayed in one room for five days."

"You broke two potion bottles."

"One slipped." She looked away in guilt.

He tapped one finger against the book’s cover. "You threw the other at the invisible creature you call King."

Misha froze. "T-The pillow," she hurriedly corrected. "I threw it at the pillow."

Elyes studied her then he squinted his eyes. "You threw a potion bottle at a pillow."

She cleared her throat. "I-I was emotional."

"That explanation has become alarmingly flexible."

King’s whiskers twitched against her neck. [He cannot see me, yet he is still irritating. A remarkable talent nya.]

Misha pressed her lips together to keep from answering him.

Elyes watched her for another second, then sighed in resignation. He reopened his book. "Go, then."

She blinked a few times in confusion. "That’s all?"

"What were you expecting?"

She inwardly sighed. This was Elyes, after all. She should have known better than to expect anything resembling a normal farewell.

She turned and walked toward the door.

"Misha."

Her hand stopped on the handle.

Behind her, paper shifted as Elyes lowered the book. "The floors above Exodus will not be like the ones below."

She glanced over her shoulder. The usual exhaustion remained on his face, but his fingers had tightened slightly around the book’s cover.

"The rankings will be announced publicly starting there." He rested the book across his lap. "If you climb high enough, some will want to recruit you, and others will want to use you."

She thought of Tobias’ warning. Her gaze briefly moved around the expensive room before back at him. "Does that include House Faust?"

Elyes met her eyes and answered without hesitation. "Yes."

Misha had not expected that.

His mouth curved by the smallest degree as he leaned his head against the back of his chair. "Especially House Faust."

"Should you really be telling me that?" Misha turned more fully toward him.

"I’ve never been particularly gifted at family loyalty." He closed his eyes once again. After his father died, everything in his family had changed.

Misha did not know the details, and Elyes had never offered them. Still, she recognized the familiar shape of a family wound left untouched for too long.

She kept her hand on the door, her fingers curled around the handle. "And you?"

Elyes opened his eyes and raised one brow at her.

"Should I trust you?" She watched him carefully.

He appeared to consider the question with far more seriousness than she expected. "No."

Misha stared at him, then a small smile appeared on her lips. It was the same answer Gerbaut had once given her.

Elyes turned his gaze back on the book and flipped a page. "But you can trust that I dislike wasting resources. At the moment, you are one of mine."

The words were insulting. And somehow, they were also reassuring.

Misha shook her head and smiled helplessly before she opened the door.

Sebastian stood directly outside.

Misha flinched hard enough that one hand nearly reached for a dagger.

The old man did not react. As always, Sebastian stood perfectly straight in his dark uniform. A leather pouch rested in one gloved hand while the other held a small black case.

"Were you listening?" She lowered her hand from the dagger.

"I was waiting."

"That did not answer me."

"It was not intended to." He extended the leather pouch.

Behind her, Elyes turned another page. "Take the supplies, you’ll need them." He spoke without looking up.

Sebastian stepped forward, still holding out the pouch. "This is for you, Miss Misha."

The pouch looked small enough to fit in one hand, but the moment her fingers closed around it, a window appeared.

「 〔Faust Provision Pouch〕

Grade: Rare

Type: Spatial Storage

Contents:

Advanced Healing Potion x10

Advanced Stamina Potion x10

Mana Recovery Potion x10

Preserved Meals x15

Clean Water x20

Basic Camping Set x1

Antidote Kit x4

Communication Orb x3

Tower Coins x5000 」

Misha’s eyes widened as she stared at the window. "This is too much..."

Sebastian adjusted one glove. "It is the minimum Young Master Elyes considered acceptable."

From inside the room, Elyes did not look up. "I considered half of that acceptable. Sebastian ignored me."

"Your standards were inadequate." The old man remained facing her.

"They were financially responsible."

"You purchased twelve experimental mana lenses last month."

Elyes paused on one page before he answered, "They were necessary."

"Eleven exploded."

"The twelfth did not." The tired mage finally looked up.

Misha looked between them. She had somehow expected House Faust to be more dignified.

"Thank you," she murmured, tightening her fingers around the pouch. "I’ll return what I don’t use."

"That won’t be necessary." Sebastian’s tone remained formal, though something gentler softened his eyes. "Supplies exist to be consumed."

Misha opened the storage space inside her cloak and placed the pouch within it.

Sebastian then held out the black case. "And this."

She accepted it. The case was light, its surface smooth except for a silver clasp at the front.

"What is it?"

Sebastian only inclined his head toward the clasp so she opened it.

A silver badge rested against black velvet. It resembled the ordinary Ranker badge she once saw from Jules, but hers carried a dark border around its edge and it was silver, not bronze. Her Tower Name had been engraved across the front.

MISHA APOCALYPSE

Staring at it, a soft smile slowly touched her lips. She finally had one.

She lifted the badge from the case and turned it over. One word had been engraved into the back.

GRAVEKEEPER

Her smile disappeared as she ended up staring at the title.

The color slowly drained from her face. "No... Not this..."

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