"Why do people from here climb the Tower?"
For players, this question could not get any easier. Everyone was after the rewards. Everyone wanted the resources that could be used to improve their characters and teams. And they had no qualms about completing every cycle because they had nothing to fear. Or rather, if you asked them what they feared, it was simply the failure of clearing the cycle, not getting rewards, and falling out of the speedrunner rankings. Basically shallow stuff that had nothing to do with survival.
But what about the inhabitants of the abyss? Without a doubt, they knew if they died here, they die for real. Their deaths might even be in a completely pitiful and unimaginable manner - eaten by wild beasts, preyed upon by other challengers, killed by traps, or incinerated to the point of leaving no corpse behind. What drove them to still want to enter the Tower despite its unmasked dangers?
It was a day after Mikaela and Alexei entered the door. As expected, nobody wanted to team up with them due to what the woman did. They ended up exploring the first floor on their own. But thankfully, his new boss was really strong so all monsters and traps that came their way were immediately cleared.
Maybe because his survival was not yet threatened that various unnecessary thoughts entered his mind.
"It is so unnerving here. The environment outside is not great. And this place is worse in that monsters and snares could claim lives anytime. Why do they still want to challenge the Tower?"
The woman who sat in a meditative position on top of a dead tree's stump opened her eyes and calmly replied to him, "Those who enter this place received the Tower's call."
"The tower's call, milady?" Alexei put down the water container that he just filled with water from the nearby stream. He then busied his hands with sorting the weird by-products that she made from the goblin-like monsters that she hunted. However, his attention never left her. "Pardon me, but what do you mean?"
Meeting his inquisitive eyes, she replied, "Literally. The Tower called us. It called practically everybody else who had entered it."
Alexei was confused since not even playable Alexei had any recollection of 'receiving a signal' from the abyss. Did the 'call' from the Tower come to him in an unimaginable manner?
If he was not aware of the other party's serious personality, he would have suspected whether Mikaela was simply trying to sound cool and mysterious.
Mikaela noticed his perplexed expression. However, she chose not to give further explanation. Instead, she gave him a once-over and said, "Let's not talk about that anymore. It's not what matters right now. I think there's something more fruitful for you to do. You didn't believe I brought you here with me only to babysit you, did you?"
"...No."
Of course, there must be something else she wanted from him.
Mikaela saving him and healing him was done out of kindness. But bringing him into the abyss was not.
In this place, it was easy to get crazy because stars could not be seen. They had to always be on guard against illusions. Dangers lurked everywhere. The Tower was very unforgiving as it did not even provide buffer zones or a tutorial zone. Once you were inside, you needed to adapt fast and constantly fight in order to survive. Here, very few people would have the time and inclination to do charity.
The previous day... When he saw how fast she moved after unleashing her skills, he immediately knew.
If she really wanted to save those slaves, it would be easy for her. Once Mikaela used her ultimate skill, everybody inside the huge circle would either get healed or get killed and all of this would happen in a blink of an eye. What happens inside her huge circle depends entirely on her.
Since Mikaela did not heal those slaves, it meant that she thought of what would happen if she made a move.
Preventing deaths would not really mean that she would also be saving them for real.
Leaving them outside would mean that they would continue to be enslaved. Perhaps they would end up suffering more. Those Mikaela killed definitely had close friends or family members that would look for the slaves to vent their anger. To escape from oppressors, the only option was to make those slaves enter the Tower with her. But bringing them inside the Tower would mean Mikaela would have to ensure their survival in a more difficult environment.
Considering her strength, Mikaela naturally had the ability to protect everyone. The problem was that those people were merely ordinary people with no fighting capabilities, which meant that they would simply be a burden.
Because she understood this, she chose to let them die early. It was to not prolong their sufferings and to not also incur these burdens. To appease their spirits or comfort herself, she just avenged them by killing a few Guild members.
Of course, death was death. Seeing that Mikaela was in a more solemn mood today, even she herself might be aware that her choice had been extremely cruel. But this was the abyss. If she came here, it meant that she had a goal that must be achieved. Being slowed down was the last thing that she would want to happen.
'I knew it.'
'Following this person will surely lead to the surface world. But I must not be a burden to not be abandoned.'
Alexei, in a sense, was like those people. He was not strong and he knew no fighting techniques.
When she was hunting, she would sometimes let half-dead goblins charge at him but all he managed to do was stab these monsters crudely. In the eyes of someone like her who had been wielding her sword since young, Alexei's performance must have been very painful to watch.
So why did she choose not to leave him behind? Although Mikaela knew he preferred the outside world, why did she force him to come here with her?
Alexei stared at his Gift which she allowed to be displayed when they entered the Tower. He knew this thing was the answer.
As if to confirm his hunch, the woman also gave the blue gem hanging around his neck a glance. She softly said, "Al. You should hurry up and learn to use your Gift."
"I will do my best."
'I don't know where to start.'
The wry smile on Alexei's face spoke this to Mikaela on his behalf. She stood up. He subconsciously stood straight too.
After grabbing the water container and her huge backpack, she began to walk toward a cave. Since Alexei had been acting as her attendant, he naturally followed.
Ten minutes later.
'It seems she wants me to be on the verge of death to force my Gift to awaken,' Alexei thought bitterly after seeing the hostile red eyes of the goblins residing inside the cave and the wounds that accumulated in his body.
In the distance, thanks to the woman's brooch that gave off a faint glow in the dark, he could see her crossing her arms. The monsters in front of him cried out collectively so he could only dash forward while raising his sword. Behind him, the woman watched him fight with his life on the line.
...
The first floor of the Tower was like a world by itself. According to some pioneers from thousands of years ago, the entire first floor was comparable to eight towns merged together. The ceiling could not be seen. If one looked up, all they would see was a sky similar to the one outside. Mountains and rivers stretched on the horizon.
Such a big place was obviously not only home to goblins. Various races lived here, and the number of monsters always stayed the same every abyss cycle.
A day after the Tower opened its doors.
Alexei and Mikaela who only got two hours of sleep set out for another monster cave. When they found one, the latter stood far away, observing how Alexei would deal with the enemies. However, the youth only knew crude fighting methods.
Whenever he stepped back to catch his breath, she would frown. Whenever he stabbed an enemy in fatal places, her eyes would glimmer in approval. However, those instances were very few.
Before arriving here, she healed him using her Gift. Mikaela's Gift belonged to the wind type. Yet, her Gift was unique in that it not only gave her attack capabilities but also crowd control abilities and healing abilities. In-game, she was basically a jack of all trades, master of none. This was precisely why she was not regarded highly by players who preferred characters with amazing damage potential.
However, this was not the game anymore.
Alexei believed that if she wanted to, Mikaela would be able to solo the entire cycle, because she was practically a one man army
Alexei also believed that unless he got one-shotted by a Boss, the woman would be able to heal him. This spelled trouble to him since it meant that in her eyes, there would be no way for him to die so it would be okay for him to suffer.
Sure enough, just like yesterday, they spent the entire morning going from dens to dens. He fought until he was covered with injuries. Every time he hovered between life and death, Mikaela would heal him at the back. Then she would make him jump back to fighting until the green light from her brooch shone again.
The cycle mercilessly repeated which left him beyond exhausted and in doubt of life. The fatigue from yesterday also contributed to this, but he knew he could not complain. He also did not dare to since he knew that this cruel training was also for his good.
If he showed no improvement...
The thought of being abandoned scared him.
"You should be thankful these weak goblins can be killed with just a sharp tool. But what would you do if a strong beast stands in front of you?"
The panting Alexei received healing for the nth time as he sat in a slouched form with his back against a withering tree. His chest heaved violently. His ears had been ringing since last night. His vision was blurry from dizziness, hunger, exhaustion, and the sweat running down his forehead.
"I..." He gasped for air before he bitterly continued, "Why... can't I activate it?"
"Think how you got your Gift. Try to recall the emotion you felt right before it appeared on your person."
'I don't know. I was barely alive back then.' He wanted to reply. But even moving his mouth was too laborious for the current him. Back then, all he wanted was to survive. But he had been fighting for so long with his life in the line yet he could not resonate with his Gift. What went wrong?
Her voice rang again. "If it is really a strong desire to survive, is it my presence that keeps it from activating?"
Alexei turned his head with difficulty. He saw that his beautiful boss was frowning with a lifted brow. Then she stared at him in a way that made him feel ominous inside.
'Ahhh. I can already predict what's going on in her mind...'
Mikaela revealed no expression but it was easy for him to guess that she planned to toss him to a more dangerous opponent. A pack of corrosive wolves perhaps. Or a den of a mutated lion. Basically, any being on the first floor that could easily flatten him into a meat paste. She would probably stay so far away to make him feel the threat to his life.
Alexei felt fear for a moment.
If he learned that his guess was just partially correct, he would definitely be scared witless. The woman actually contemplated breaking his arms or legs to further increase his immersion in the crisis.
But thankfully, just when she was about to act upon it, a masked fairy popped up in the air above them. The blue-skinned, humanoid, winged creature looked small but the faint halo shining from its body was too eye-catchy to ignore. Their attention automatically went to it.
After staring at them for a few seconds, it smiled and said, "Hello. Hello. I'm one of the Tower's spirit servant, Ying. The grace period has ended. I will teleport you now to the challengers' area."
The two exchanged glances as a flash of light engulfed them. Her eyes were questioning him. Alexei had never heard of fairies residing on the first floor nor the grace period that was mentioned so he shook his head to tell her that he was clueless. In response, she knitted her brows before grabbing his left arm.
A few seconds later, the light vanished and the place where they originally stood turned empty.
When they opened their eyes, they instinctively knew that they were several thousands of miles away from their previous location. Pillars that reached the sky could be seen around them. Mysterious symbols were written on the ceiling and the walls. Thousands of creatures surrounded them and all of them were challengers marked with numbers.
"I'm number 972." Mikaela whispered in a low voice.
The place was beyond chaotic and noisy from the thousands of voices filling the place so he had to resort to lip reading to understand what she said.
Alexei looked down and found a number sticker attached to his right sleeve. "It's 630..."
'What are these numbers for?'
Puzzled, he tried hard to recall whether the abyss he knew assigned numbers like this to players. Unfortunately, none came up.
In front of them, all fairies in the place formed a line as they floated just high enough for everyone to see them...