Return of the Tower Conqueror

  Graveyard of Swords (III)

Cain scanned the room quickly, noting that there really was nothing in it save for the overhead crystal providing the faint lighting. The walls were dull, and the floor was even. There was no bed, no tables or chairs, just a squared cubicle of the dark.

He walked up cautiously and sat down in front of the massive ante-Human. Even seated, he was nearly taller than Cain, though it was hardly surprising for the latter as he'd seen some as tall as twenty feet on the higher floors. The ante-Human didn't flinch or even did anything to recognize that Cain had entered and sat down.

The two sat in silence for minutes on end, with neither breaking it. Cain stared curiously at the man, but the only thing that he could discern through a status window was the name 'L'ksha'. Everything else was rendered unreadable, likely because the ante-Human was far, far stronger than him.

"Humans... have swarmed the Crucible," the ante-Human spoke out first, its eyes eerily shifting over slightly, meeting Cain's. "Yet... it is the Time Thief that graces Us first. Fate... is an inscrutable thing."

"..." Cain smiled bitterly, wondering whether it was even possible to hide who he was from creatures like Vyle and him. "It really is."

"Have we ever met before?" L'ksha asked.

"No." Cain shook his head.

"Alas, first or second, all meetings are ordained by chance," the ante-Human said. "You have come within our Sacred Domain as a guest, but I hope you shall leave a hero."

"I do too," Cain said. "I don't understand something, though."

"Then ask."

"In the previous timeline," Cain said. "The Sword Spirit didn't really put up much of a fight. It was the easiest to defeat of all the Eight. Couldn't you guys have asked some of those standing outside your Domain for help?"

"The Sword Spirit... is sentient, human," L'ksha replied. "It feels as you and I feel. It breathes as you and I breathe. If we sent the Lessers, we would only enrage it. Anger is the fuel that would undo this world."

"... is it true?" Cain asked abruptly after a short silence. "That this entire domain... is a giant?"

"Yes," L'ksha replied confidently. "Though we may not have means of ascertaining our Inception, we can confirm that much, at the very least. The Ruined King, after all, resides within the Heart of the Giant."

"Fascinating," Cain mumbled. "Everything I see in this place... makes me question the reality."

"The reality is always what we believe it to be," L'ksha said. "If a madman truly believes he is wrought with demons, is he a madman or just a man encased within a different reality to our own?" Cain looked bemusedly at the ante-Human for a moment, not saying anything.

"In the previous timeline, the group retrieved the Sword Spirit and brought it back here. Is it the same, still?"

"Yes," L'ksha nodded. "After you bring it to us, we shall inject it back into the Divine Blade and restore their previous glory... to some extent, at least. In return, I shall award you and your companions personally -- and the path to the Ruined King shall become achievable."

"Will we still have to venture into the Sword Palace? That place was... not fun."

"The key is in there," the ante-Human confirmed. "Though I shall reward you even if you do not defeat the Ruined King, I shall not crown you Heroes."

"..." I didn't know there was an opt-out clause... interesting...

"Shall you accept the Quest?" L'ksha asked.

"Yes." Cain nodded whereupon a notification window popped out in front of him.

//You have accepted 'Light of the Sword Saint' Quest!

Challenge: Head over to the Primaeval Blade Mountain, defeat the Sword Spirit Host, and retrieve the Sword Spirit. Return it to L'ksha for a reward and the continuation of the Quest.

There is no time limit!

Up to 5 people can participate in the Quest!

Good luck!//

L'ksha turned silent right after, indicating that it was time to go. Cain nodded and stood up, walking out deep in thought. Though the general framework remained mostly the same as in the previous timeline, several discrepancies had him mulling over just how far he ought to go. The previous expedition did not face the Ruined King, and Cain, initially, had no plan of doing it either.

Any creature within the Tower with a 'King' in their name was an Emperor-level threat, just two short of the hardest possible bosses. Although it was qualified as a Dungeon Boss rather than a Raid Boss, it hardly inspired enough confidence in him to force that fight. Let's see how it goes first...

As he stepped out of the muddy house, his eyes landed to the side where he saw Ak'kar excitedly flaying his arms about as he retold one legend after another to the four sitting opposite of him. To Cain's surprise, they seemed extremely engaged, even occasionally interrupting the ante-Human to ask some questions.

He stepped to the side and lit up a cigarette, curiously listening-in without interrupting. Thinking back... this is the first time they got to talk to any of the Tower natives... it might change their perspective slightly.

The reality was that the Tower really was just like another world -- the monsters could be viewed as wild animals on Earth, and ante-Humans, as well as some other humanoid races, were like people -- some good, some bad, some willing to help, some not so much. At some point, people would come to trust the Tower natives more than the people as they were far less likely to be betrayed. God, the more I remember, the more I realize just how fucked up everything got eventually...

"--and after we fought the Swamp Prince," Ak'kar's voice echoed out. "We realized that the Evil Vine was actually an illusion he cast because he was really weak and frail! We stole his Tome and rescued the Villagers! After, we celebrated for a good fortnight!"

"Wow, I can't believe it was all a farce!" Emma exclaimed.

"Yeah... they hid it... so well." Diya assented.

"Really? There were a lot of clues that something's wrong..." Senna scoffed.

"What happened to En'dra?" Jamal asked.

"She was felled, luster be lost," Ak'kar sighed as Jamal's expression dropped. "After fighting heroically for ten months, she was captured -- but before the vile Prince could torture the information from her, she had stopped her own heart, ending her Grace."

"Shame... she sounded like an amazing warrior." Jamal said.

"She was..."

"Ho ho, you guys look like you're having fun," Cain joined in, startling the four who appeared to have lost themselves in a different world for a while there. "Did you teach them well, Ak'kar?"

"I have, human Cain," the ante-Human stretched the thin, sickly-pale lips into a flat smile. Though it was strange and unnerving, Cain knew that it was a genuine smile. "They listened to me with hearts!"

"Good, good.���

"Did you talk well with the Shaman?" Ak'kar asked, a certain glee of expectation in his gaze.

"We'll depart soon after resupplying," Cain said, smiling faintly. "To free the Sword Spirit of its pain."

"Thank you, human Cain!" Ak'kar abruptly bowed a quarter of a way through, his left arm resting on his chest, a sign of respect. "We shall never forget your Grace!"

"Just promise me you'll bring out some jyster once we return victorious."

"Of course!" Ak'kar nodded, smiling once again. "We shall bring out six jugs and sing R'asha!"

"Ha ha ha, good, it's a promise then," while the four stared at the two in confusion, Cain patted the ante-Human's shoulder as the latter walked away. "What?" he asked the four who continued to look at him strangely.

"Uh, I don't know -- mind fucking translating?" Jamal said.

"Oh, it's a type of booze," Cain replied. "Uh, I heard someone somewhere in the Tower mention it when I first got trapped... apparently it's really good but also very rare."

"Aha, aha..." though nobody appeared to quite believe him, not even Diya, he didn't elaborate and they didn't ask any further.

"Where do we go from here?"

"... didn't you guys read the notification?" Cain asked them bemusedly, realizing that Ak'kar might be a really good storyteller.

"Ah!" their eyes veered forward and slightly down as they read through the same information Cain did. "Where's that place?" Senna asked.

"About a two days from here," Cain replied. "If we launch ourselves off the tip."

"... I just misheard him, did you guys?"

"Yup."

"Definitely misheard him."

"I... I misheard... too..."

"..." Cain grinned, the action that only seemed to startle them further. "L'ksha assured me it is only a tiny bit dangerous, but that the experience is magical. It's a looooooong drop, and we'll never quite get to experience something like it."

"You are not -- I repeat -- you are not asking us to jump off a fucking edge of that thing, C'!" Emma exclaimed hurriedly. "I don't think it's even physically possible to calculate just how fucking high we are!"

"That's what makes it even more exciting!" Cain exclaimed. "The danger of not knowing just when you might splatter your brain... haah. Just imagining it is making me feel the rush..."

"I wanna say he's messing with us again," Senna chimed in. "But... I... I don't think he is."

"He's definitely not," Jamal sighed. "This is probably a punishment."

"Tsk, a petty bastard..."

"It's safe guys, don't worry," Cain reassured them again, though, in fairness, if he had been told something this crazed without first witnessing it, he would have likely reacted the same. In reality, they were really just short of five miles in the sky. While still ridiculous, it wasn't nearly as high as they were likely imagining. "If you don't want to, though, we can go back the way we came, spend a week there, and then trek all the way around and likely extend a two days long journey into two-three months-long nightmare. But, you know, whatever you want."

"..." the four fell silent, mulling over it, the expressions of pain on their faces. They didn't want to... but they looked like they knew they had to.

"Fine!" Senna was the first to bite her tongue and exclaimed. "Whatever. The worst thing, we just really die! Fuck it! I'm not a coward!"

"Of course you're not!" Cain chuckled.

"Whatever, just do what you want..." Emma sighed.

"I--I'll trust you." Diya nodded, firming her resolve.

"Jamal, ma' boy," Cain turned to the last one who hadn't spoken, smiling. "Come on, you trust me, right?"

"Not in the slightest."

"That hurt, you know?"

"If you can't take it, don't dish it."

"Wow. That was lame."

"Ugh, fine, fine, I'll jump! We'll all jump because, apparently, we're all fucking insane!"

"Good! Alright, let's go and eat something while you guys stare from the tip down into the abyss and imagine what the fall will be like!" his nonchalant attitude served only to piss them off further, though, in their eyes, he could see that they cast the doubt away -- even Senna. Will it be as fun as it seemed on the video? Cain mused as they walked past the L'ksha's house and stopped at the very tip of the blade, looking down at the shrouded abyss. Maybe even more... geez, I kinda wanna jump right away...