We leave the city as dawn comes. The undead are more aggressive at night, so leaving when the sun comes up means that most of the city is tired. The defenders are at the end of their shifts, having directed their own hordes of minions all night, and new ones are set to only take over in half an hour or so.
Of course, the replacements are staggered, but still. It’s the best time to leave. When it’s still dark, but the undead are placid, and the guards are tired. We slip out one after another. Opal and Sylves make it look easy, teleporting and flying away. Thatch simply jumps over the wall in a giant leap, while Inu climbs up, using her “void” to make herself lighter, and Richard digs underneath.
I, for my part, sigh as I cloak myself in darkness, and hold my mana tightly inside me, letting not a drop of it leak. I’ll miss being able to steal Norman’s techniques for stealth - but that just means once we meet again, I’ll be able to learn even more. Ah, I’m so curious how far they’ll go. How far I’ll go in the same time.
With everyone’s abilities set in my archives, I use my mantle to channel a fragment of [Unassuming] into me. That, combined with my mana suppression and Kuro’s help lets me sneak out of the gates undetected, quickly disappearing between the shambling undead bodies.
[Suppression 26 > 27]
And then, we’re outside. In the wilderness of the fifth floor. Where water goes stale in hours, and food spoils within days. We have preserved rations, of course, but the faster we’re out of here, the better. We did get a map to a nearby ascension well, so hopefully it won’t take too long.
One of the skeletons steps a little too close to me, and I quickly manifest a needle of mana, controlling it to pierce into its eye and fall apart there. My mana pushes out the remnants keeping the skeleton alive, and it falls to the ground in a pile of bones.
[Solidification 17 > 18]
With quick steps, I head further into the wasteland of bones and graves, smelling the rot, feeling the way the fetid mana brushes against my skin. And once more, I’m reminded of why this floor sucks. There is no proper rest out here for any lone climbers. It’s a constant, eternal grind.
And yet, somehow, I look forward to it.
- - -
Reaching the ascendancy well takes three days. We sleep in shifts, and even that’s not quite enough to get us a lot of rest. I do my best to hide our presence, but while I sleep, the others aren’t so lucky. They have to constantly fight off the undead. By the end of the three days, they’re all ragged.
My Perpetual Pursuit epitaph and my authority over efficiency allows me to weather it better than them. Even with that, though, I spend more mana than I regenerate. For the first time in a long while, my vessel is consistently trickling down, sitting at about half-full when we finally find the well.
Even that is twisted by the influence of this floor. The golden pattern is inlaid into a bone mausoleum, guarded by spectres and wraiths - aka the perfect targets for [Deconstruction]. Like the fogfae before them, I pick them apart with the skill.
[Level Up! 75 > 76]
As always, my points go into vessel. The bone-cathedral is impressive, but I disregard it entirely. Instead, what my eyes focus on is the ascension well. I take a deep breath. “Ready?” I ask the others.
Inu, Thatch, Opal, Sylves, Kuro and Richard all affirm, and with another moment, we step onto the gilded lines carved into the floor.
[Ascend?]
The tower’s prompt comes as reliably as always. I look at it for a long moment, then nod. The white light consumes my world, my vision eaten up as I’m transported to the challenge.
[Challenge: Worthiness. You’ve climbed so far, you’ve won so much. Are you worthy of power’s touch?]
I blink, and the world around me changes. Whiteness pulls away to reveal a simple room, one with pale walls made from wood, and a floor that is covered in dull, grey carpet. In front of me, there is a desk, and behind it, on a chair sits… me.
A mirror image of myself. Those same dark eyes, the white-dyed hair with dark roots poking out, the chipped black nail polish I keep reapplying. I stare at myself, and then my clone gestures at the seat in front of the desk. “Sit,” mirror-me says easily.
Tilting my head, I step forward, pull back the simple chair, and sit down. For a long moment, I just stare at this construct of the tower, because that’s what it must be, and my mirror image’s lips curl upward slightly, in a smile that is far more emotive than what I could ever manage.
“You got it exactly right,” mirror-me says. “I am not you. This vessel was created in a way that minimizes the processing power required to conjure it up. Would you be more comfortable if the Tower took a different shape?”
“Change your eye colour,” I say simply. “And your hair. Those are mine.”
“Very well,” the tower’s avatar nods, and the changes happen quickly. The eyes turn a dull blue, and the hair goes darker than that, like an ocean in the sun. “Is this better?”
When I nod, my clone’s lips curve upwards again. “Wonderful,” the Tower says. “Are you ready to speak?”
“I need to give you a name.”
“You may just call me the Tower?” it suggests, tilting its head as I so often do.
In response, I shake mine. “No, that won’t do. I think I’ll call you… Yuki.”
“That’s just snow,” Yuki notes, tilting its head the other way.
At that, I grin. “It sure is, Yuki.”
The avatar looks at me with a calm, plain expression that’s far more suitable to my face than the smile from before. Those eyes, staring me down, glimmer for a moment, and then Yuki nods. “Mood parameters elevated. This appears to be an acceptable name to you. Are you ready to speak?”
This time, I nod. “What is there to speak about?”
Again, the avatar breaks out into a smile that looks out of place on my face. “Your worthiness,” the Tower says, gesturing at the table in front of it. There are sheets of paper with questions laid out on them. “Ascenders must prove worthy before they are allowed up.”
“What decides worth?” I ask.
At that, a glint appears in those pale eyes. “Many things. Fairness plays a role. Viciousness does, as well, and so does honor. The Tower is intended to be climbable, so it frowns on others sabotaging each other. Still, sometimes climbers must die. We are lenient. But you…” Yuki places both hands on the table and leans forward. “You are looking to ascend, properly. You have ambition. You are interesting. So show it. Show it your worth.”
I tilt my head a little. It’s odd to see my own face invading my personal space. Then my eyes drift to the papers again. “Alright. Let’s go through your questions, then.”
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