Awakener's Guide to Climbing the Tower

She woke before sunrise.

For several seconds, Misha did not know where she was. Her hand tightened around the dagger beneath her pillow. Her body tensed, ready to move, before the unfamiliar ceiling and faded curtains returned to focus.

King was back on the windowsill, staring outside.

She pushed herself upright with a quiet groan then rubbed at one eye before looking toward the cat. "You didn’t wake me."

One of his ears twitched in her direction, but his gaze remained fixed outside. [No one entered nya.]

"I see..." she murmured, lowering her hands to her lap. "Good..."

King finally turned his head, his golden eyes rested on her for a moment, but he said nothing.

She got up from the bed and checked on her clothes, they dried overnight. She changed quickly, tied her hair away from her face, then fastened Twinfang against her thigh.

King flew from the windowsill as she approached the door.

The house remained silent.

Astrid slept in the room across from hers. The door had been closed, but a thin wire ran from the knob and disappeared beneath the gap.

Misha could hardly judge when she had slept with a dagger under her pillow.

Hiiro’s door had been left partly open. She passed it, hesitated, then glanced inside.

He had somehow turned sideways during the night. One leg hung over the edge of the mattress while the other remained trapped beneath the blanket. His forearm covered most of his face, and half the bedding had slipped onto the floor along with one sock and an empty food wrapper.

Misha pulled the door slightly closer to the frame, though she left enough space for him to hear movement in the hall. She did not know whether that had been his intention or if he had simply forgotten to close it. With Hiiro, either seemed possible.

Caius’ door stood at the far end of the hall, closed and with no visible trap.

She waited for only a second before continuing toward the stairs.

Cold air slipped beneath her clothes by the time she stepped outside the house.

The village looked differently beneath the gray light before dawn. Mist clung to the empty roads, gathering around doorways and abandoned carts. The eastern sky had only begun to brighten, though sunrise still felt far away.

Misha crossed the empty road and headed toward the village square.

「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕

Required Party Members for the Next Floor: 6

Current Party Members: 4 / 6

Entry Denied. 」

The notification hovered nearby, bright and unhelpful.

Misha folded her arms and stared at the numbers. She had already read them yesterday. It was also the reason why Skyreach recruited her back then.

She lifted her head toward the empty sky. "Caleb."

Nothing happened. The morning mist around the village continued drifting.

Misha waited then pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Caleb," she called once more, raising her voice just enough for it to carry across the square. "You’re watching, right?"

King settled beside her boots, wrapping his tails around his paws. He looked entirely too comfortable while she stood there talking to the sky. [Master does not appear merely because you call his name nya.]

Misha looked down at him. "He does when he feels like annoying me."

King’s whiskers shifted as though the argument bored him. [That is because your irritation amuses him nya.]

"Exactly. My irritation always amuses that boy." She turned her face back toward the sky and narrowed her eyes. "Which means there’s a decent chance he’s listening now."

The village remained silent.

After a moment, Misha became aware of how ridiculous she looked. Standing alone in an empty square before sunrise staring upward while arguing with her younger brother, who might not even be able to hear her.

She drew in a slow breath. Fine... there’s another way to call him.

"The One True Shadow Monarch," she said, each word coming out flatter than the last, "Devourer of Light and Shadow."

The air shifted immediately and a gray window appeared before her.

『Administer Authority Detected.』

Misha closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. ’Of course that worked.’

"Caleb..." She heaved out a helpless sigh before she dropped her hand and looked at the hovering requirement beside the gray window. "I can’t climb with the current rule."

King finally raised his gaze toward her. His expression carried the particular patience of someone preparing to explain a simple fact to an idiot. [You speak as though changing another Tower protocol is no more difficult than replacing the price on a merchant’s sign nya.]

"I am not asking him to remove the rule." Misha pointed at the party count, tapping the air where the numbers floated. "I’m asking him to change how the portal identifies a party."

King stared at her without blinking.

She gestured toward herself, already feeling defensive. "The souls grow stronger with me. They fight through me, and they still have their own skills, memories, and personalities."

[Some possess far more personality than necessary nya,] King replied, one tail flicking against the stone.

"That isn’t the point." Misha crouched slightly, bringing herself closer to his eye level. "They’re technically part of my party."

King stopped moving. His ears did not flatten, his tails did not lash, he simply became very still, and somehow that reaction gave him away more clearly than surprise would have.

Misha watched him for a few seconds then raised her brow. "You hadn’t thought of that, did you?"

King turned his head toward her with painful slowness. [I considered several solutions far superior to yours nya.]

She straightened, the corner of her mouth pulling upward. "So no."

His eyes narrowed. [Your suggestion was so obvious that it did not deserve immediate mention nya.]

"Uh huh, you didn’t think of it."

[Watch your tone, insolent human.]

She nearly smiled, though the original system notification flickered before she could annoy him further. The blue light dimmed, brightened, and disappeared.

『Reviewing Floor Entry Protocol...』

King’s attention snapped toward the gray window.

Staring at it, her amusement faded beneath a sudden tightening in her stomach. "That was fast."

[Master requires no great effort to correct such a crude oversight,] King declared, though his tails had started moving behind him.

She glanced down at them. "You called it difficult a moment ago."

King lifted his nose. [I said it could not be compared to changing a shop sign. Even the simplest act performed by a king remains beyond the reach of ordinary creatures nya.]

"You really will defend him no matter what he does." Misha shook her head, though there was no real annoyance behind it.

『Irregular party composition detected.』

『Contracted Constellation Souls identified.』

『Reclassifying Contracted Constellation Souls as Auxiliary Party Members...』

Ding!

「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕

Entry requirements for Floor 8 have been met. 」

An oval shaped portal formed nearby.

Misha couldn’t help but stare at it. She had expected another warning, or an error perhaps. Instead, the portal stood there as though the System had always intended to let her through.

"That actually worked," she muttered, taking one step closer.

King recoiled slightly, looking personally offended by her surprise. [Of course it worked. A simple alteration like that is nothing for Master nya.]

She turned toward him and planted one hand against her hip. "It was my idea."

[Master performed the difficult part nya.]

"I’m the one who had to think of it."

King’s gaze dragged over her in open distain. [You asked a question nya. Do not mistake neediness for brilliance.]

"My argument was valid." She pointed toward the portal, though King made a point of looking away from it.

[Your argument compared preserved souls inside an inventory to living party members nya.]

"They fight and they think for themselves, even complain."

King’s expression soured. [That final trait does not qualify them for combat nya.]

"It should. You’d be worth at least three party slots."

His eyes narrowed to thin golden lines.

Misha crouched in front of him again, unable to resist pushing a little further. "Besides, it isn’t unreasonable. They’re bound to me, they also grow through my achievements. If I enter a floor, they enter with me."

[Inside your inventory nya.]

"That sounds discriminatory."

[They are dead nya.]

She held his stare. "Still discriminatory."

King released a long sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl. It carried the exhaustion of someone forced to endure the failures of lesser beings.

Misha stood again, still half amused. Then she stared at the portal.

Her contracted souls counted toward party requirements now. As long as it continued doing so, she would not need to gather extra Raiders every time a floor demanded a minimum number.

She could enter with fewer people. Maybe, eventually, she could climb without anyone else at all.

Climbing alone meant fewer people to protect. It also meant no one would be there if she failed.

"Wow. A miracle really did happen."

The voice came from behind her.

Misha spun around, her hand around Twinfang before thought caught up with movement.

Caius stood at the edge of the village square. He had already dressed in his academy uniform. There was no sleep in his posture and no stiffness. He looked as though he had been awake long before her.

Mist curled around his boots as he approached. His gaze moved over the portal, then settled briefly on the system notification.

"A miracle," he repeated, the faintest hind of amusement reaching his face. "Apparently, they do happen."

Misha slowly removed her hand from Twinfang. "You’re up early."

"So are you." He adjusted the staff-spear against his shoulder and continued toward the platform.

She watched him come closer. "I asked first."

His mouth moved slightly, not quite enough to become a smile. "No, you made an observation."

Caius stopped few steps away, his eyes passed over King, stayed on the active portal, then returned to her face.

There was interest there. At least, Misha thought there was.

He studied the portal for another moment before asking, "How did it happen?"

His voice carried just enough curiosity to sound genuine. Too genuine, perhaps.

Misha crossed her arms. "The requirements changed."

"I can see that."

"Then why ask?"

"Because portals don’t usually reconsider their rules overnight." He lowered his weapon from his shoulder and rested its end against the stone.

Misha searched his face. There was nothing, no real surprise, no confusion, and no discomfort.

"You said a miracle might happen tomorrow." Her eyes narrowed as she remembered the exact way he had said it yesterday.

Caius gave a small nod. "I did."

"And now one happened."

His gaze moved back to the portal. "That would explain why I called it a miracle."

"And you’re not surprised?"

Caius turned his attention toward her. "I am."

"You don’t look surprised."

"I’m not particularly expressive in the morning." He said it with such calm certainty that it almost sounded reasonable.

Misha’s annoyance sharpened. She felt her eye twitch so she stopped herself from reacting more strongly. He probably wanted that.

Beside her, King remained silent. His ears had angled forward, and his attention rested entirely on Caius now.

"Perhaps the System recalculated the party composition," he said at last, his voice careful without sounding hesitant.

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