Eren sat against the cold metallic wall of the chamber, his chest rising and falling in rapid, uneven breaths. His knuckles were white as he gripped the Orb of Insight, its soft glow doing little to comfort him.
"Flux Variant?" The words repeated in his mind like an ominous mantra. He shook his head, as if the motion could shake loose the doubt and confusion threatening to consume him.
His breathing hitched, and his thoughts spiraled. What did it mean? Why was the system labeling him like this? Everyone else had stats, skills, paths—they were part of some larger, structured design. But him?
"An anomaly," he whispered bitterly.
The words on the screen had felt almost accusatory, like he didn't belong.
Unraveling Under Pressure
Eren clenched his jaw and slammed a fist into the floor, the impact reverberating through his body. A deep ache blossomed in his hand, but the pain was grounding, a tether to reality.
"This isn't fair!" The shout echoed in the empty chamber, bouncing back to him as a mockery of his own frustration.
He buried his face in his hands. For weeks—maybe months now, it was hard to tell—he'd been clawing his way forward in the Tower, trying to make sense of it all. The promise of power, of survival, had been a faint light in the chaos. And now?
The system had dangled answers in front of him only to snatch them away. It refused to explain. No stats. No skills. Nothing but cryptic labels and warnings.
"What am I even doing here?" His voice cracked, raw from the strain. "What's the point if I'm just some… outlier?"
He didn't cry, but the pressure behind his eyes built, the kind that felt like an emotional dam about to break. Every question that had been building since he woke up on the cold stone floor of the Tower hit him all at once.
A Moment of Clarity
The Orb of Insight pulsed faintly, drawing his attention. Its glow was steady, calm—an antithesis to the storm in his mind. He stared at it, his breathing slowing as the light reflected in his eyes.
"This thing," he muttered, turning it over in his hands. "It's not going to fix anything."
But as he gazed into the orb, a strange sensation washed over him. It wasn't like the Tower's voice or the oppressive energy of the trials. This was subtler, like a whisper at the edge of his consciousness.
For a brief moment, his thoughts grew clearer. The panic ebbed, replaced by something fragile but steady—a sense of control.
"Focus," he told himself, forcing his hands to stop shaking. "I can't lose it now. Not here."
The Tower thrived on breaking climbers, whether through its trials or their own doubts. If he fell apart, it would win. And for all its mysteries, all its cruelty, Eren wasn't ready to let the Tower win.
Questions Without Answers
Pushing himself to his feet, Eren paced the chamber, the Orb of Insight tucked into his pocket. His mind raced, but now the thoughts were structured, analytical.
"Flux Variant." The term stuck with him, and though it filled him with dread, it also carried a weight of significance.
The system had labeled him an anomaly. Did that mean he wasn't supposed to be here? Or was it something more? The fact that he didn't have access to stats or skills set him apart from other climbers, but why?
"Unstable." Another word that gnawed at him.
If his condition—or whatever this was—was unstable, what would that mean down the line? Would he lose control? Would it kill him?
The questions were endless, and the answers weren't coming. But Eren knew one thing: he wasn't normal. And that terrified him more than anything the Tower had thrown at him so far.
Resolve Amid Uncertainty
Eren stopped pacing and exhaled slowly, forcing himself to center. He didn't have answers, but he couldn't let the questions paralyze him.
"I'll figure it out," he said aloud, the sound of his voice grounding him. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but I'm still here. I'm still climbing."
The words weren't confident, but they were enough. For now, that had to be enough.
He glanced at the map he had been sketching since the floor began, the paths converging into a central point—the final gate.
His hands steadied as he rolled up the map and tucked it into his satchel. He didn't know what he'd find at the gate, but it was the only path forward.
As he approached the next corridor, a faint flicker of determination lit within him.
The Tower Watches
Unbeknownst to Eren, the Tower's mechanisms hummed quietly in the background, monitoring his every move. His designation as a Flux Variant had triggered a chain of hidden processes.
Deep within its endless layers, something stirred.
For the Tower, anomalies weren't problems. They were opportunities.
Chapter 12 end