"...what's happening with..."
"...we need to go now..."
"...there's no way we can..."
"...the ceiling is..."
"...abominations..."
"...before it's too late..."
"...too late..."
I was abruptly stirred from the depths of my slumber by the alarming cries of giants.
Cries that should have never been able to reach me, considering I was presently in a pipe network running between two storage floors.
Yet they did.
And they were only getting louder with time, until they became a cacophony of sounds.
"Ah!" And then the entire world quaked with such strength that I was thrown against the narrow confines of the pipe I was in.
That's when I fully woke up, and [Guided] exploded with instructions for me to follow.
Fighting through the confusion, I immediately started crawling towards what I believed to be the direction of the depths of the tower.
"...down, go down!"
"...don’t stop! Just keep moving you—"
"...lower levels might help us survive!"
"...this way! I know a shortcut—"
"...someone find a light! Can’t see a thing—"
"...hurry! Before the abominations—"
"...the town is doomed! We should have never—"
"...we can barricade below! Buy some time for—"
"...Go! Don’t slow down!"
Absently, I realized that the giants were doing the exact same thing as I was, and with even more urgency, prompting me to redouble my [Exertion] in getting to the deepest part of the tower I had ever found.
"Hu—" Then the world quaked again, this time stronger than before, stronger than anything I had ever experienced, causing me to violently crash against the metallic walls of the pipe I was in.
The blow happened so fast and with such force that I could only lie paralyzed for a couple of breaths, only coming back to myself with [Guided] urging me to get moving again, this time adding movements to mitigate any future quakes.
I barely had time to shift to another pipe network when a third quake shook the world, but even though I was ready for it this time, it barely served a purpose, and I was still thrown around like a small piece of metal.
This series of events repeated itself again and again, only growing stronger and more dangerous with every subsequent repetition, spurring me beyond my limits to descend further and further before it was too late.
Then, when the quakes grew so strong that staying inside pipes became too dangerous, as I didn't have enough space to react and prepare myself for impact, I was [Guided] to stop and stand in the middle of a conduit hub.
Before I had time to feel exposed due to standing in such a vulnerable position, the next quake hit, launching me uncontrollably towards one side of the hub.
[Guided] was there to tell me what to do, however.
Hence, acting by instinct, I turned my head in one direction, my back in another, crossed my arms, bent my legs... and tensed my entire body moments before I crashed into the metal wall, resulting in almost no harm to me.
I instantly headed back to the center of the hub, priming myself to react to the next quake, which unavoidably took place mere breaths after the previous one.
And again.
And again.
Until even [Guided] admitted defeat against the ever-growing strength and frequency of the quakes and commanded me to curl up and do everything to protect my head.
From there, as the quakes only grew more and more dangerous, entering truly perilous territory, [Guided] and I became one and did everything in our power to survive.
One quake after another, I felt my entire body slowly become one gigantic bruise, but I remained conscious, and even when I heard and felt ominous snapping sounds originating from my hips, my shoulders, my back, my arms, my legs...
I held on.
Even when I felt blood gush from my mouth.
Even when a deafening boom rendered me deaf and unable to tell up from down anymore.
Even when I lost sensation in my legs...
I held on.
I endured.
I persevered.
Because I had only ever known how to do that.
Until only darkness remained, and I was forced to accept the call of unconsciousness.
◇ ◈ ◈ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◈ ◈ ◇
Pain.
My entire world was pervaded by pain when I came to myself again.
Everything hurt, indiscriminately.
That was if I could even feel those parts to begin with.
I didn't feel my legs anymore.
[Guided] was unusually silent, merely urging me to reestablish my [Cycle], but otherwise waiting for me to assess my own situation.
I started with just that.
Reestablishing my [Cycle], that was.
Only once I found no serious irregularities on that side did I get started with the much messier one that was my own body.
I tried to lift my right arm, but all I ended up doing was generating a wave of pain that instantly informed me it was the wrong thing to continue attempting.
My right arm was a no-go.
What about my left?
Same result.
Both my arms were broken, and they were preventing me from moving my head.
I couldn't feel my legs anymore, and if I had to hazard a guess, they were probably broken, too.
Breathing hurt.
Everything hurt.
What happened?
I remembered the quakes... my hurried escape downwards... then the quakes grew too violent... and they didn't stop... I was repeatedly thrown against the wall of the conduit hub I took refuge in... and then... then...
Nothing.
I woke up in this wretched state.
Was this how I died?
After I had endured so much suffering?
Beyond maintaining my [Cycle], [Guided] kept silent.
So there truly was nothing to do but wait...
I tried to listen for anything, but apart from my own faint breathing and the steady sound of my heartbeat... nothing.
Silence.
True silence.
Silence like I hadn't heard in a long time, ever since [Perception] advanced.
At least I was veiled in darkness and didn't have to fear being discovered by giants anymore...
Small comfort.
I wondered how the refuge had fared with this disaster... Was it even still standing?
What even was this disaster about?
What could have caused such an intense series of quakes?
Did the ceiling fall or something? I remembered hearing mention of the ceiling...
What did that have to do with rust abominations, though?
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And what about the hunters? What about the giants who were working on the lowest floor of the tower? They should have survived, right?
How did the pipe networks of the tower fare? Were they still usable?
Questions, questions. I had so many questions, but no one to answer them...
And it wasn't like I could simply close my eyes and try to sleep, as I needed to keep my [Cycle] going.
Who knew if, or when, the density of beneficial elements in the air would fall to the point where I would slowly begin to starve?
Yeah, in all honesty, [Guided] was perfectly reasonable in telling me to make the most of my circumstances while they were still good.
Still...
"I'm bored..." I muttered aloud, my voice coming out hoarse despite retaining its natural high pitch.
Normally, [Guided] would have urged me to start doing my usual [Exertion]s, jumping, crawling, lifting things, but in this state, there was literally nothing else I could do but lie there and wait for things to happen passively.
I wondered how vigorously this state was contributing to [Tempering]'s advancement...
Was my current state even contributing any further? Would all the benefits have come from the initial massive burst of damage? How much did the healing part account for? Would I even be healing from such heavy injuries?
I sure hoped so, but I couldn't be certain.
I had never been injured to this extent before...
While I was on this line of thought... were my thoughts contributing to [Insight]'s advancement?
They rightfully should, shouldn't they? I was deriving [Insight]s from my own musings, after all.
Back to the healing issue.
Was there a way for me to apply the fundamental truth of [Exertion] towards healing myself?
What type of [Exertion] could induce healing?
◇ ◈ ◈ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◈ ◈ ◇
"Kuh—" I grunted, unable to help myself as I slowly extricated myself from the prison of my own twisted and entangled arms.
Nonetheless, an agonizing amount of time later, I finally disjointed my two arms enough that the force holding them together seemed to vanish, and after pushing through the pain for some more, I finally felt them give in.
Encouraged by this development, I stopped everything and switched to slowly pushing my arms with my own head, and while it still caused waves of pain to radiate from wherever I pressed, it was comparatively much better.
Until, with one last shove, my head was finally freed from the protective bounds formed by my own arms, and I finally got to pseudo-freely witness the state of the conduit hub I had found refuge in, no longer restricted to indistinct peeks at the messy floor through the fleshy gaps of my own shattered body.
It was a completely new sight.
Even completely swallowed by darkness, I could normally picture the entries of all manners of pipe networks, where they led, how they bent, which path to take, having grown to know them through sheer exposure...
Not right now.
Barely, I could make out twisted entries, warped pipes, entire dislocated areas, large gashes running through the walls, the ceiling, the floor...
How did I survive that?
I could only stare dumbfounded at this scene of utter devastation, only now beginning to grasp the immensity of the disaster that had befallen the entire town.
And I survived that.
I did.
And maybe...
Maybe I would heal.
No.
I will.
I will heal.
Not like I had any other choice.
◇ ◈ ◈ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◈ ◈ ◇
For the first time in a long, long while, [Guided] appeared unsure of the path to take.
Not unsure in the sense of not giving me more and more [Exertion]s to carry out, though. No, that part was seemingly unaffected by my circumstances, as it was only increasing my [Exertion]s with time, broken body or not.
Instead, it all came down to the sort of [Exertion] to undertake to deal with my shattered body.
All the strange [Exertion]s it had already asked of me, such as tensing my entire body for a breath only to relax it the next, or breathing in strange ways, were shortly terminated and never practiced again, leaving me confused.
With my [Cycle] still largely able to sustain me, I wasn't despairing, but the fact that I still hadn't been able to make my legs so much as twitch weighed heavily on my mind, and for [Guided] to not have already found a way to leverage the fundamental truth of [Exertion]...
Was it, possibly, my fault?
I had long become aware of the reality that [Guided] was not omniscient, and that its omnipotence depended entirely on my own ability to follow through with its commands.
Meaning, if I looked at my current circumstances from its perspective, the only explanation for its being powerless to guide me towards healing was that I simply had never heard even a subtly related piece of knowledge from all the giants that it could base its guidance upon.
In other words, it needed me to come up with [Insight]s.
So...
What could allow me to heal from the likes of injuries that completely paralyzed parts of my body?
I should have started contemplating that earlier...
◇ ◈ ◈ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◈ ◈ ◇
Nothing.
Nothing I could do.
Nothing I could think up.
Nothing I could make.
Nothing could rationally lead to my injuries healing.
I didn't even know why I couldn't feel my legs anymore, my entire body still lanced with waves of agonizing pain whenever I tried to so much as move, and every one of my breaths was an exercise of perseverance and temperance.
Nothing but sheer will could possibly pull me back from the depths of impotence I was slowly falling into.
So it was that only my own will could conceivably allow me to accomplish the impossible.
[Guided] understood my miserable [Insight], and before I really had time to steel myself for what it would take to make my will manifest and form as an Aspect, I was commanded to begin pulling unimaginable quantities of deleterious elements into my body.
At least it would massively benefit my [Tempering] and [Exertion] Aspects...
◇ ◈ ◈ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◈ ◈ ◇
The will to fight through pain.
The will to persevere when I had nothing to hope for.
The will to dare to think about a better future.
The will to torment myself for something that could never come.
The will to not let myself close my eyes and give in to the supremely alluring call of unconsciousness and slumber.
The will to hold on.
Without being given the opportunity to give in to sleep, I didn't know how much time had passed since I began my [Exertion]s to manifest my will into a tangible existence.
I only knew to follow [Guided] as it pushed the height of my agony ever upwards, seemingly without an end.
Anytime I believed I could make it, I was [Guided] to dive deeper and deeper into the unfathomable depths of pain, of exhaustion, of cold, and now...
Of hunger.
I was being [Guided] to cease pulling beneficial elements into my [Cycle].
I was to starve myself.
I should have predicted that eventually happening back when I was forbidden from using my [Cycle] to warm up...
"Hehehe..." As muddle-minded as I was from utter exhaustion and the permanent torment, I could still feel how absurd the very act of allowing hunger to corrupt my being once more was, causing me to laugh involuntarily.
Nevertheless, if that was what it would take...
I started expelling any beneficial elements I pulled, leaving behind nothing but pain and misery coursing through my ruined body that wasn't healing, no matter how long I waited.
And soon enough, the first pang of hunger made itself known, nearly causing me to instinctively [Cycle] beneficial elements.
I hated it.
I hated hunger with such an intensity that I wanted to cry and curse as I willingly allowed it to slowly consume me.
But what else could I do...?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
My body was a broken mess.
Only my mind could save me.
Thus, until I was [Guided] to do otherwise, I would abide and endure.
As I always did.
It wasn't like I knew how to do anything else.
◇ ◈ ◈ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◈ ◈ ◇
I sensed it before I felt it.
A diffuse sense of resolve.
Like a light was being lit within.
A mounting cognizance of my own determination.
To withstand and carry on through the most agonizing torments.
To never give up so long as even a crumbling path still existed for me to stride on.
Aspect Formed: [Will] (Tier 0)
I willed my body to finally heal.
For it to be restored to its previous state and allow me to move anew.
I felt a faint warmth come into existence within my chest, spreading tentatively, then swiftly coming into contact with something that evidently dealt with my breathing, seeing as I instantly started to cough and wheeze uncontrollably.
It was doing something.
A very hungry something.
Fortunately, I had a long-awaited enemy to vanquish now that it no longer served a purpose.
◇ ◈ ◈ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◈ ◈ ◇
I could nearly experience [Guided] rejoicing when I regained the rough use of my right arm, abnormally twisted, bent, and rigid as it was, only for it to then immediately command me to use it to, in turn, smash my left arm back into its proper shape.
I guessed, from how insistent it was, that otherwise it would heal just like my right arm.
I assented and slowly brought my deformed right arm to bear on my left, targeting every area that looked even slightly crooked.
The pain was... forgettable.
Uncomfortable, sure, but so relatively far from what I was [Guided] to put myself through every breath I was awake that it truly didn't bother me.
Then the wait resumed, with my [Will] in turn coming to bear on my left arm, forcing me to [Cycle] untold amounts of beneficial elements to sustain its healing warmth.
Soon.
First, my left arm...
Then my right one...
Then my back, my legs...
I could heal my whole body now.
It would only take time.
Time, which I would be [Guided] to make the most of, for who knew what awaited me once I began crawling my way back to the surface...
◇ ◈ ◈ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◈ ◈ ◇
Corpses.
Everywhere.
Rotting remains of giants who had failed to endure.
The smell was abominable, but regardless of how odious I remembered it being, I simply became used to it at some point.
How could I not, when this smell was spreading everywhere?
The paste furnaces had grown cold, and everywhere was in a similar state of disarray to the conduit hub where I had taken refuge and spent all my time barely recovering.
Making every one of my footfalls as silent as I could, I stepped over corpse after corpse, taking in every detail I could, from the state of the clothes they wore, to how they died, to any tools they owned, remembering everything for when I decided to start packing up supplies.
Already, I had uncovered multiple boxes of paste, a very pointy and sharp piece of pristine metal that could easily pierce the cold corpses of the giants, super-powerful lights, and much better clothes—though those I had to crudely shorten by hand to fit my diminutive frame.
Even then, what I had uncovered was probably only an insignificant portion of all the spoils that still remained for me to discover and add to my growing hoard.
And that was without accounting for the fact that I had found all those without it being my main purpose.
Yup.
I was currently trying, and apparently failing, to find my way back to the surface, what with the haphazardly blocked-off pipe network entries and exits, the collapsed rooms, and the erratic gaps that had formed all over the very structure of the tower's underground floors.
If things continued this way...
I shook my head, clearing away my bad thoughts.
Imprisoned underground or not, I was still alive and kicking, so even if an entire floor's worth of metal separated me from the surface, I would simply dig my way through it.
I had all the tools I could ever want to do that now...
And I was certain [Guided] would happily let that become part of my regular regimen of [Exertion]s...
"Ah—" Jumping over yet another corpse, I was so lost in my detailed observations and thoughts that I didn't notice a semi-hidden obstacle in the way, and before I realized it, my back instinctively tensed, and I felt myself inexplicably slow down, granting me enough time to react and land on my two hands instead of on my face.
"..."
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