The surge hit like a tidal wave.
Nathan’s mana channels, still adjusting to the D-Rank expansion from the primer, were suddenly forced wider. Deeper. More efficient. The refinement formula tore through him like liquid fire, burning away the last remnants of the F-Rank ceiling and replacing it with something new. Something powerful.
His Bunny Girl System blazed with warnings:
[WARNING: Foreign mana detected.]
[WARNING: Mana channels expanding beyond baseline parameters.]
[CRITICAL: System stabilization failing.]
[CRITICAL: Aptitude threshold being exceeded.]
The pain was excruciating—worse than the primer, worse than the mace in the Whispering Dark. Nathan fell to his knees, his body trembling. His summons surrounded him, their presences blazing through the link, lending him their strength.
[DING! Magical Aptitude Increased!]
[D-Rank → C-Rank]
The surge didn’t stop. It kept pushing. His channels stretched. His core blazed. The walls of his limitations crumbled.
[DING! Magical Aptitude Increased!]
[C-Rank → B-Rank]
[DING! Level Up! Nathan Cross: Level 64]
[DING! Level Up! Nathan Cross: Level 65]
[DING! New Skill Unlocked: Multi-Shadow Clones Lv.1 — Creates illusory duplicates of the user that confuse enemies. The clones have no physical mass and cannot deal damage, but they are indistinguishable from the original by conventional means.]
[DING! New Skill Unlocked: Nimble Feet Lv.1 — Passively enhances the user’s speed, agility, and reflexes. Reduces stamina consumption when moving. Allows for rapid repositioning in combat.]
The surge finally, gradually, began to calm. Nathan collapsed onto his back, gasping for breath. The living room was a mess—furniture knocked over, the air thick with residual mana. But he was alive. He was transformed.
Mirko knelt beside him, her pink eyes bright with relief. ’Master. You did it. You really did it.’
Nathan managed a weak smile. "B-Rank. I’m B-Rank now. Fuck yeah!"
’The Young Lord has ascended,’ Shiro said quietly. ’The ember burns ever brighter.’
Kuro’s voice was soft. ’You have broken every ceiling they placed on you. This is only the beginning.’
---
Later, when the chaos had settled and the furniture had been righted, Nathan sat on the sofa, his summons around him. The B-Rank mana hummed through his channels—powerful, abundant, free. For the first time in his life, he felt like he could fight without limits.
He tested the new skills. [Nimble Feet] made him feel lighter, faster—the world moving a fraction slower around him. [Multi-Shadow Clones] created three illusory duplicates that stood in a row, each one identical to him. Mirko poked one and her finger passed through.
’Hmph! They are intangible! But useful for confusion.’
"The Young Lord’s enemies will not know which one to strike," Shiro observed. "That is valuable."
Kuro studied the clones with professional interest. ’They are indistinguishable from the original. Even I cannot tell the difference. That is impressive.’
The front door opened, and Lucy burst in, her backpack bouncing. "I’m home! School was boring! Did anything happen while I was—" She stopped, staring at the four Nathans in the living room. "Why are there four of you?"
Nathan dismissed the clones. "Long story. I’ll explain later."
Lucy shrugged and headed for the kitchen. "Fine. But I’m making toast. And you have to tell me everything."
Mirko hopped onto the armrest. ’The tiny human is resilient. She will demand details.’
"She always does."
---
Two weeks passed in a blur of recovery, training, and the quiet comfort of a life no longer under siege.
The new house slowly became their home.
Lucy took the biggest bedroom and filled it with her drawings—dragons, long-eared warriors, and scenes from Nathan’s broadcasts. Mirko often patrolled the small backyard in her bunny form, guarding the flower beds as if they were Tower gates.
Kuro found a dark corner in the living room and decided it was the perfect place for her. Shiro claimed a high shelf near the window, where she could sit and watch the sunrise every morning with a calm, proud expression.
Nathan trained. Every day. [Nimble Feet] made him faster than he’d ever been—the world moving a fraction slower around him, his body responding with a grace that would have seemed impossible months ago. [Multi-Shadow Clones] had become second nature—a flicker of will, and three identical Nathans stood beside him, each one indistinguishable from the original.
And when the summons came—a formal request from Helena to attend a briefing at the guild hall—Nathan felt the familiar spark of anticipation. The Tower Worlds were waiting.
---
The Celestial Peak guild hall was quiet in the late morning, the observatory dome casting long shadows across the briefing room. Helena stood at the head of the table, a holographic display flickering before her. The party was assembled—Garrett with Red at his feet, Dillon with Cloudy coiled around his shoulders, Elise with Aurora’s Heart resting against her chair. Smithy sat near the back, his Void Eel drifting lazily. Valerie had claimed her usual corner, TUFF GRANNY mug in hand.
Nathan’s three summons were in their small forms—Mirko on his shoulder, Kuro in his jacket, Shiro perched on the table before him.
"Now that you’ve all had time to rest," Helena began, "let’s talk about Tower Worlds."
She activated the display. A rotating image of a Tower appeared—or what should have been a Tower. Instead, it was a sphere of pale light, suspended in space, its surface rippling with colors that shifted and swirled like oil on water.
"Master Class Towers and above are fundamentally different from anything you’ve climbed before," Helena said. "They’re not towers in the traditional sense. They’re stable pocket dimensions—presumed to be fragments of worlds that existed before the Babel Towers fell into them. Each one is self-contained, with its own rules, its own inhabitants, and its own way of being cleared. The TCA calls them Tower Worlds."
"Stable pocket dimensions," Elise repeated. "How are they accessed?"
"Through the Towers themselves. A Master Class Tower’s entrance leads directly into its World. There are no conventional floors, no staircases, no standard boss encounters. Instead, each World has a Clear Condition—a specific objective that must be met to complete the climb. Defeating the world’s central threat is part of it, but it’s rarely the only requirement."
Garrett frowned. "So it’s not just about killing monsters anymore?"
"Correct." Helena advanced the display. "Master Class and above, the Towers begin to resemble what they actually are—fragments of civilizations the Babel Towers absorbed. The worlds inside are remnants of those civilizations, still functioning, still living, still following the rules that governed them before the Towers took them. Some are peaceful. Some are hostile. All of them are dangerous."
Dillon leaned back. "So we’re not just climbing Towers anymore. We’re exploring other worlds."
"You’re completing objectives that will put those worlds ro rest." Helena’s expression was serious. "The Tower Worlds are not empty. They have inhabitants—people who’ve been living inside the Towers for centuries, unaware of the outside world. How you interact with them will determine whether you succeed or fail. And whether you survive."
The room was quiet for a moment. Nathan felt Mirko’s presence stir through the link. The Tower Worlds. The Shepherd’s victims. The Demi-Beasts’ allies. The worlds that had been absorbed by the Towers, preserved like insects in amber. These were the places they’d been fighting toward. The places where the truth was buried.
"What’s our first target?" Nathan asked.
Helena pulled up a new image—a world of eternal twilight, its sky streaked with pale gold and dying red. Cities of crumbling stone rose from endless ash, and strange figures moved through the shadows.
"The Ashen Expanse," she said. "Master Class. It’s the most accessible Tower World in our region—the entrance is located in the northern wastes, about a day’s travel from the capital. The TCA has been studying it for years, but no one’s attempted a clear in over two decades."
"What’s the Clear Condition?" Dillon asked.
Helena’s expression darkened. "No one knows. The last party that entered the Ashen Expanse never returned. Their communication crystals went dead within hours. The TCA declared the World unstable and restricted access. But after the Cleansing, the TCA’s stance has changed. They need information. They need experienced parties. And they’ve asked for you specifically."
"Specifically?" Garrett raised an eyebrow.
"You’re the party that hunted Fester. You cleared an Elite Class Tower. You stopped the Cleansing. The TCA trusts you to handle whatever the Ashen Expanse throws at you." Helena paused. "That doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. The Ashen Expanse has been absorbing mana for centuries. Whatever’s inside has had a long time to grow."
Nathan looked at the image of the Ashen Expanse—the dying sky, the crumbling cities, the eternal twilight. It looked like the end of the world. "When do we leave?"
"Three days. That gives you time to prepare, resupply, and make any final arrangements." Helena studied the party. "This will be unlike anything you’ve faced. The Ashen Expanse doesn’t follow the rules you’re used to. Be ready for anything."
---
The party dispersed after the briefing, the weight of the coming expedition pressing down on them. Garrett headed to the guild’s equipment vault to requisition supplies. Dillon went to the training yard to work on his [Thunder Edge]—he’d been pushing himself harder since the Cleansing, determined to keep pace with the rest of the party. Elise retreated to the guild library with a stack of Tower World research.
Nathan found himself on the observatory balcony, looking out over the city. The red sky of the Cleansing had faded to a soft grey, streaked with the first hints of blue. The Towers gleamed on the horizon—silver and obsidian and pale gold—and somewhere beyond them, the Ashen Expanse was waiting.
Smithy appeared at his side, the Void Eel drifting at his feet. "You’re thinking about the expedition."
"I’m thinking about what Helena said. The Tower Worlds are fragments of civilizations the Babel Towers absorbed." Nathan paused. "The Demi-Beasts were one of those civilizations. The dragons were another. The Ashen Expanse is one more. How many worlds did the Shepherd destroy?"
"Countless." Smithy’s voice was quiet. "The Court’s records mentioned dozens of Tower Worlds, each one a fragment of a civilization that refused to bow. Fester believed the Shepherd was preserving them—saving the strong from the weak. But I think the truth is darker. The Shepherd wasn’t saving them. He was collecting them. Absorbing their power. Their life force. Their potential."
Nathan felt a chill. "And the Tower Worlds are what’s left."
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