Chapter 36: The Tower

The woman Adryan assumed to be Flora blinked, clearly still a little lost.

Unable to help himself, the red-haired man chuckled a little, smiling at the woman. "Why, Miss Worm, I must say that even though you are an old woman, you really are beautiful!"

The woman's somewhat lost eyes immediately sharpened in righteous fury. The woman's hands grabbed the man's shirt and pulled him closer to her until their noses were almost touching.

"Call me old again, princess, and I swear-" Her blazing fire died as she suddenly ran out of gas, drying up at the sight of the big grin on his face above her.

On top of her! Not how she usually saw him as a spirit, but on top of her!

A strange sensation in her fingertips caused her to look down. She saw the shirt crumpled between her fingers. Squeezing a little tighter at the cottony sensation, she looked at her hands in astonishment. They were not the ugly pink four-digit ones she had become accustomed to seeing but her delicate five-digit human hands!

She got her body back!

'It's impossible! My condition was only slightly better than before. Recovering my body would have taken decades at that rate...'

Feeling her own body in a long time, her eyes widened in shock.

"What is this?" she mumbled, but her voice was interrupted by the sudden voice of her charger, who had brought his face close to her ear.

"Sorry to disturb your rejuvenation time, but we have an audience in case you've forgotten. Can you walk?" Looking at the stares he was getting, Adryan could only sigh a little.

Was his body so comfortable that Flora forgot where they were now?

It took a few seconds for her to respond, but the white-haired woman slightly nodded. Her look had recovered, but she still had a hint of disbelief.

With that permission, Adryan lowered her to her feet but didn't let go; instead, he grabbed her hand and waited for her to find her balance.

The white-haired woman snorted slightly but allowed herself to be helped. Once she found her footing, she let go of the man's hand, giving him a side eye and then looked at the rest of those present with suspicion.

Considering her next move, she was somewhat surprised when the red-haired man stepped in front of her, covering her with his larger body.

"Remember how I said it was likely that someone else would join us?" Adryan asked with slightly raised lips, "I was referring to her."

"I don't need you to babysit me, Princess." The white-haired woman huffed, her brow furrowed into a grimace of annoyance.

Adryan's lips twitched slightly.

'Miss Worm, this is not the time to play hard to get.' He gave her a flat look, already somewhat expecting that reaction but still finding it ridiculous.

Someone unknown appearing in front of a group of experienced Beyonders the way she had?

She would have been attacked instantly!

The only reason that didn't happen was because the rest were busy recovering from the Sequence Suppression to do something, and he had been quicker to catch up with her.

Sharron and Maric looked at each other, somewhat dazed and confused. They didn't understand where she had come from or how she had gotten here, but seeing the familiarity with which their boss interacted with her, they didn't comment much; they just watched.

Uron was the most stunned, his eyebrows raised in surprise and bewilderment. His gaze focused on the new guest who had appeared almost out of nowhere.

From Reader of Sequence 9, beyonders on this path gain the Eye of the Reader, an ability that facilitates the gathering and analysis of information they can observe. As the sequences progress, this ability strengthens, allowing them to analyze Beyonder's abilities and find their weaknesses.

There were also several additional ways to use it, such as watching an area for any abnormalities. This helped in performing rituals, spells, and magic to find mistakes and avoid accidents.

Being the Mysticism Magister of Sequence 5, he had failed to detect someone even when using the Eye of the Reader!

As an experienced Wise Owl, Uron regained control and took a more serious look at the larger group before him. Internally, he decided to take what Adryan Kenway said more seriously.

'I have to ignore the tone he's speaking in. It may sound like he's telling a joke worse than Jhona's, but he's revealing true information... What a curious method of deception, using humor and tone to make the person you're talking to think you're just talking rubbish when you're telling truths... Brilliant!'

Squinting slightly, Uron questioned: "Mr. Adryan, could you introduce us to your... friend?"

She had to be unique to have passed through all the temple's security means without being discovered.

'A Secret Sorcerer perhaps? No, even for them, bypassing all the security measures would be impossible...' As his advanced but suppressed mind tried to give the woman an identity, Adryan looked at the white-haired woman beside him and smiled.

Knowing that smile better than anyone, she was about to stop him by silencing his mouth, her hands already in motion, but as always, his lips were quicker than hers.

"This is Abigail. My wife." The redhead said, smiling.

"We're not married!" Flushed with fury and indignation, Flora could only do the next best thing she could think of: clench her fist, which connected with the man's side.

pu...

"Ah, not here, my dear. There are people present." Adryan groaned a little at the blow, highly amused at what was happening though highly surprised.

While it seemed like the blow would have more force when it touched him, it merely felt as if Flora had caressed him with her fist.

'Non-violence rule?' Adryan wondered internally as he tore his gaze away from Flora and focused on the rest.

The Goth Duo looked rather lost and confused while Uron looked away uncomfortably.

'Of course, the nerd would be uncomfortable.' The redhead rolled his eyes a little internally.

Snorting a little, the woman moved to Adryan's right side, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Ignore what the Princess says. He looks smart, but he's a severely mentally retarded monkey. I am Flora, his companion." She fixed her hair a little, tucking it behind her ear.

"And may I ask why we were not informed of the existence of this companion, Mr. Kenway?" Uron asked calmly while looking at him.

"Because it wasn't necessary," Adryan replied, a bored expression on his face.

"Excuse me?" Uron narrowed his eyes, his tone a little more serious.

Adryan did not care how the man, who was, in a way, his superior, was looking at him. He closed his eyes in disinterest as he rolled his shoulders.

"Mr. Uron, I'll keep it simple for you to understand. The situation with Flora is rather peculiar. You need not worry about her causing trouble."

"I'm afraid that's not the case, Mr. Kenway. The Church must be aware of every member you brought into the country. You are not in a place to do as you please without informing the Church first-"

"The situation with Flora is a matter for the Scarlet Monarch." Adryan cut in a soft voice without opening his eyes. The Wise Owl's mouth immediately snapped shut, his eyes wide open.

Then, the red-haired man opened his eyes, which glowed cold as a blade. "If that is not enough to know that you should not inquire further, then you are not a Wise Owl but a Foolish Pigeon."

The expression broke a little, but with his experience, the man recovered and nodded solemnly.

"I understand."

The sentence that every Beyonder knew echoed loudly in the minds of all present.

<Do not meddle in God's affairs>.

Unconsciously, Flora clenched her fist slightly. Still remembering clearly the first time she had seen 'Him.'

Considering that the situation had been resolved, Adryan took a better look around with a raised eyebrow.

They were now in a 'room' with black ceramic floors. It had no walls or ceiling; instead, a thick grey fog enclosed them in a capsule.

"I doubt this is the Tower," Adryan asked, returning his attention to Uron, who nodded.

"This isn't the Tower; we're in the antechamber right now." Wanting to put the subject behind him, Uron wasted no time explaining.

"How familiar are you all with the Tower?"

"Just the basics. A structure somewhere in the Spirit or Astral World that is divided into floors and whose entrance appears at timed intervals, and you can only find it if someone who already has the compass takes you there or if you're unlucky. How do the rewards and floor levels work." Adryan replied, extremely curious about what the Church of Wisdom might know.

Uron nodded, his face returning to its usual expressionless expression. "Then you already know almost everything we know about it regarding what it is."

Adryan was surprised at this. "Wait. The Church doesn't know what it is either?"

"No one knows what the Tower is, Mr. Kenway." Uron shook his head. Disappointment was evident on his face.

"If we were to put someone from the Fourth Epoch with everything they knew about the Tower with someone from the present with the same characteristics in the same room and set them to argue about the information each has. The difference would only be a few short sentences." Then the man snorted ungraciously and added. "We don't even know if it has an ending."

'A little emotional there, Mate.' Adryan looked flatly at the man who, realizing his mistake, coughed a little.

"If you have any questions, wait until I'm done to express them, or if you like, raise your hand." Seeing that no one said more, the man nodded and began.

"The entrance to the tower opens every so often, and once it opens, you can only climb one floor at a time. The time between openings is variable; it can be a few weeks or even months. It used to be years, but it hasn't been for a while now. The place is also always different from the previous one.

"The only sure way to find the entrances is through 'compasses' provided by the tower." Uron then held up his hand, showing the tattoo that still glowed faintly purple.

"This is the compass; by means yet unknown to us, it will always point to the next entrance along with the exact time, place, and moment it will open. Attempts have been made to replicate it, but all attempts have failed."

A pale hand was raised.

"What is your query, miss?"

"Is the tattoo necessary? Is there no other way?" Sharron asked.

"The compass has to be attached to the skin, to the body. It functions not only as a guide but also as protection from the journey. We tried to enter the tower using the compass and using crumbs to follow its path, but the seeker never returned.

"It's not permanent. You can remove it if you wish; it's just a matter of saying so. Besides, it only takes one of you to have it to make the journey safe; the rest can refuse it."

Sharron nodded softly at the answer, satisfied.

'Is there something in the temperance faction that makes tattoos frowned upon? What are they, Catholic?' Adryan looked curiously at the little ghost, and after a moment's consideration, he gave a slight nod.

'If the Rose School is different from the original story, then there is no one better to ask than the members of the Temperance Faction, who have been in an internal war with the Indulgence Faction...'

His company was already making a small profit and the mess left by the previous owner was mostly sorted out along with the Fors problem, Adryan could now finally afford to have a deeper talk with the gothic duo.

Seeing that there were no more questions, Uron continued with his explanation.

"Next are the zones."

"First is the area where we are, the anteroom. As you may have noticed, violence is forbidden here. We can't hurt each other or attack each other.

"We advance a little further and will be in front of the Tower. There is nothing to mention there, only that if you try to go beyond the marked path, you will come out in some random part of the world, so stay on the path.

"Once inside the Tower, there will be a meeting point where more people will start climbing the Tower. The non-violence rule also applies there; as long as you are not on the floors, you cannot attack or harm another. There, you will get the compass I mentioned earlier.

Uron paused momentarily, and seeing that no one said anything, he just continued.

"Finally, there are the floors themselves. While we don't know how many there are, we know the types. First of all, all floors are different; you will never face the same challenge that you have already faced in a previous one.

"There are so many types of challenges that it would be impossible to count them all. Sometimes it defeats a monster; sometimes, it acts like a mental freak. The variety is so great that explaining it is a waste of time.

"Finally, there is the escape system. If required, one can leave the floor they are on whenever they want, but if they use that escape, they will be forced to complete that floor to advance."

'Is this the case of Professor's Syndrome? Edwina also had the same problem, giving lectures and exams to her crew...' Unable to avoid making the comparison, Adryan just stood quietly and listened to the rich explanation.

His eyes moved momentarily to Sharron and Maric, who were also listening attentively, and then to Flora, who was looking on in boredom.

He was confused as to why she decided to say her name when he gave her the opportunity to use a fake one. No one would have known, but she still revealed her name.

Maybe it was pride?

Also, how come she now had a body?

He was sure that Hunter Hallow had something to do with it, but he also felt that the Tower had done something since the Sequence of Flora was suppressed.

He also couldn't shake that strange feeling he had all over his body, as if something was missing.

'I doubt it's because I no longer have my beloved Parasite inside me. But if it's not her, then what is it?' While confused, he didn't feel it was an urgent problem, so it could wait a bit.

Putting that aside, Uron had finally finished his explanation.

Without further hesitation, the brown man held out his hand with the purple tattoo, and the mist surrounding them extinguished like a mirage.

With the fog gone, what immediately caught Adryan's attention was the structure in sight that stunned him.

A shadowy tower loomed in the distance, following a path of the same black ceramics and surrounded by grey mist.