Black Phoenix Heir

Chapter 3: Chapter 3 — The Tower

Chapter 3 — The Tower

Victor followed the guard through the stone hallway, still trying to take in everything around him. The laboratory had been strange enough, but the rest of the tower was something else entirely. The corridors were wide and tall, with dark stone walls stretching farther than he could see. People passed them from time to time, most wearing robes of different colors and carrying books, herbs, containers, or strange pieces of equipment. A few barely glanced in Victor’s direction.

The guard, however, seemed to have no interest in letting him look around for too long.

"Keep walking, slave."

Victor glanced at him before continuing.

The guard was a large man with a rough face and an even rougher attitude. He hadn’t introduced himself, and Victor hadn’t bothered asking. From the way he spoke, it was obvious he didn’t care enough to remember Victor’s name.

As they continued down the corridor, the guard began explaining the basics.

"First thing you need to know is that you’re a slave. That means you don’t belong everywhere in this tower. Slave quarters are on the bottom floor. You aren’t allowed on the second floor, and most of the first floor is restricted to you unless you have a permit."

Victor looked around.

"So there are areas we’re allowed to enter?"

The guard snorted.

"Designated areas. Don’t get confused."

Victor nodded.

"Second thing. You’re going to have a bracelet on your wrist. Don’t mess with it."

Victor instinctively looked down at his wrist.

A dark metal bracelet surrounded it. He hadn’t noticed it before.

The bracelet was simple in appearance, without any obvious decorations, but something about it made Victor uncomfortable.

The guard continued, "It’s a Grade Three artifact. You can’t take it off, and you shouldn’t try. If you somehow leave the tower while wearing it, it’ll send a pulse through your body and kill you."

Victor stared at the bracelet for a moment.

I guess there’s no getting out of this.

His fingers moved slightly as he examined it.

I wonder how I’m supposed to stop being a slave.

He looked ahead again.

The guard hadn’t even slowed down.

"Slaves are worthless here," he continued. "Don’t expect anyone to care about you. If you work, you eat. If you don’t work, you don’t eat. Simple enough."

Victor remained quiet.

"You’ll work twelve hours a day. Tomorrow you’ll get your assignment. The slave quartermaster handles that, so make sure you see him when you wake up."

They continued walking.

A few moments later, they passed an open doorway. A wooden sign above it read Quartermaster.

The guard pointed toward it as they passed.

"That’s the quartermaster’s office. Be there when the sun comes up."

Victor glanced toward the room before looking forward again.

"What happens after the twelve hours?"

The guard shrugged.

"That’s up to you."

He glanced back.

"You get twelve hours to do whatever you want. Sleep, cultivate, walk around where you’re allowed, spend credits, whatever. Just don’t miss your work."

Victor nodded.

That was at least something.

The tower seemed to operate on a strict system. Slaves had almost no freedom, but they weren’t locked in a cell for the entire day either.

As they continued through the corridors, Victor noticed more of the tower’s scale. There were doors everywhere. Some led to laboratories. Others had signs he couldn’t understand. He saw people carrying crates, herbs, bottles, and strange materials. A few individuals wore much finer robes than the others, and everyone seemed to give them space as they passed.

There was clearly a hierarchy here.

Victor filed that thought away.

He didn’t know the rules yet.

But he would.

Eventually, the guard stopped in front of a narrow wooden door.

"This is your quarters."

Victor looked at it.

The guard pointed at him.

"See the quartermaster the moment the sun comes up. If you’re late..."

He paused, looking Victor up and down.

"Well, let’s just say you don’t want to be late."

Victor said nothing.

"Get in there, slave."

The guard turned and walked away without another word.

Victor watched him disappear down the corridor before opening the door.

Inside was a small room.

There were two beds, two desks, and a small amount of storage space. It wasn’t much, but it was considerably better than what Victor had imagined when he’d heard the word slave.

He looked at the two beds.

The left side was clearly occupied. A few personal belongings were arranged neatly on the desk, and the bed had obviously been used.

The right side was empty.

Victor walked over and looked at it.

"Looks like I have a roommate."

He sat down on the edge of the bed.

The mattress was thin, but after everything that had happened, he wasn’t going to complain.

For the first time since waking up, Victor had a moment where nobody was watching him.

He leaned back and closed his eyes.

There was too much to think about.

The memories he’d inherited had given him a basic understanding of the cultivation system.

Spirit energy.

Inner Worlds.

Core.

The knowledge wasn’t complete, but it was enough for him to understand his current position.

He was in the Body Tempering Realm, the first major realm of cultivation.

There were ten ranks within the realm, and he was currently at the fourth rank.

Victor frowned.

Rank four.

According to the memories, rank four of the first realm was barely worth mentioning. Even among ordinary cultivators, he was weak. Among the people inside this tower, his strength was probably even less impressive.

Benton’s words returned to him.

The weak are nothing.

Victor opened his eyes.

If he wanted to stop being a slave, he needed strength.

But strength alone wasn’t enough.

He needed to understand the black flame.

It was the only thing he had that was different from the original Victor.

Victor sat cross-legged on the bed and closed his eyes. He slowly focused his mind inward. The world around him began to fade as his breathing became slower, his awareness sinking deeper into his body until he could once again sense his inner world.

It was difficult to describe. Victor couldn’t see it with his physical eyes, yet he could perceive it clearly, as though another set of senses had opened within his mind. An endless space stretched before him, quiet and still, with nothing surrounding the few things that existed within it.

At the center of that space was his Core.

It slowly rotated in place, faint and unstable. Victor studied it for a moment and immediately understood what it represented. His Core was the foundation of his cultivation, and its current state told him exactly how weak he was.

Victor had known that from the memories he inherited, but seeing his Core for himself made the reality clearer.

Then he noticed the other presence.

Beside his Core burned a small black flame.

Victor’s attention shifted toward it.

The flame was tiny, yet something about it felt different from everything else within his inner world. It didn’t seem connected to his Core, nor did it behave like the World Energy surrounding it. It simply burned quietly, its black flames twisting without producing smoke or light.

Victor stared at it for several moments before focusing his mind on it.

The moment he did, he felt something.

It was faint at first.

Almost like a gentle pull.

Victor frowned and concentrated harder.

The feeling became stronger.

Something was calling to him.

Not with a voice or words, but with a strange sensation that seemed to come from within the flame itself.

Victor hesitated.

He had no idea what would happen if he followed it.

But curiosity eventually won.

He focused on the black flame again.

His awareness slowly began moving toward it.

The closer he got, the stronger the pull became. It wasn’t dragging his body anywhere. His physical body remained seated on the bed, perfectly still. Instead, it was his consciousness that was being drawn forward.

Victor realized what was happening.

My mind is being pulled into the flame.

He could have resisted.

Instead, he followed it.

The moment his consciousness touched the black flame, everything around him changed.

The sensation of his inner world disappeared, and his awareness was carried somewhere else.

There was no pain.

No darkness.

Just a brief sensation of passing through something he couldn’t understand.

Then it stopped.

Victor opened his eyes.

He was standing inside an enormous library.

Shelves stretched endlessly into the distance, disappearing into darkness. Thousands upon thousands of books filled them, while strange symbols were carved into the walls and enormous doors stood between the rows.

Victor slowly looked around.

He couldn’t remember ever seeing anything like this.

More importantly, he couldn’t feel his physical body anymore.

His body was still sitting on the bed.

He knew that.

Yet his consciousness was here.

Victor looked down at his hands and moved his fingers. They responded normally, but the sensation was different. There was no weight to his body, no feeling of the floor beneath his feet.

So this isn’t a physical place.

The realization settled in.

Whatever this library was, it existed somewhere within his spiritual world, connected to the black flame.

Victor turned slowly, taking in the endless shelves.

He had no idea what this place was.

Then he heard footsteps.

Someone was approaching.

Victor slowly turned toward the sound.

A figure stood between the shelves.

It was impossible to tell how old they were. The figure wore a long robe and stood completely still, watching Victor from the darkness.

Victor didn’t know who—or what—the figure was.

But one thing was certain.

This place had been waiting for him.

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