61 Tower

~~~ Rasiel's POV ~~~

After we left Alexandria with the two romantic guides, it took us nearly two and a half days to reach the tower.

Mostly because we could only move from 8 am to 8 pm through the labyrinth, while occasionally leaving it because the non-immortal people needed to eat and poop.

Luckily the restaurants were really great and we had a lot of options. For example, if you wanted Chinese food, you just needed to find a Chinese room setup and you are good to go.

If this place wasn't a trap and the food wasn't prepared by faceless monsters, I might even consider inviting Cthylla here...

The bathrooms were also impressive, especially the Japanese ones, which were surprisingly modern for the year 2005.

Even though I didn't need to use them since my body seemed to dissolve food completely, it was interesting to see them

Anyway, returning to our journey, we encountered many shelters along the way, but couldn't stop to greet everyone due to time constraints during the day.

However, I did sense around 500 people in this section of the Ikea, some even with unique auras I hadn't encountered before.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to investigate further. So, I hope to get the chance if we find a way to enter and exit this place at will…

"There it is, we're finally here..." John exclaims after looking around the corner.

Then he makes some space for us to see what is there too, and it truly resembles a labyrinth's middle portion.

Basically, a vast open area with a towering black structure that appears to be constructed from furniture right in the center.

"I hope you guys didn't skip leg day because climbing that will be a real challenge," I say to them, imagining the sore muscles they will have tomorrow.

"Funny... but first, we need to get past the Staff…" John remarks unamused.

Sadly, he is right at that… the Staff gathered around the tower like ants, and there are countless of them.

"Hmm, it seems we'll need to improvise... let's see if this works," I say, looking for an employee that has a similar shape to mine.

Then I use telekinesis to carefully lead it towards us, while not alerting the others.

"Wait, you're not going to do what I think you're going to do, right?" Patrick asks, shocked, which makes the other two look at him, confused.

I mean the last time I dissected one, they had nothing inside so…

*Crack*

I wink at him, and when the being is within my range, I grab it and swiftly snap its neck. Then remove its shirt to avoid damaging it and proceed to cut open its back with my knife.

—

"Wow, I've never seen one of these things from the inside before... but how do these things move without a spine, muscles, or any other organs?" Ana asks, thoughtfully.

She mentions that she used to be a nurse in her old world, so it's no wonder she's curious about their anatomy and isn't like Patrick, who looks disgusted.

Well, maybe he looks that way because he knows what will happen next... then I turn it around to cut some holes for the eyes, nose, and lastly, the mouth, to complete it.

"Here, take this," I say as I give the confused John my backpack and M4 and enter my new Halloween costume.

And finally, I can fulfill my dream of becoming an Ikea employee…

I would be lying if I said I didn't know what it's like to wear human skin... but having a second skin layer is still a bit strange, though not really uncomfortable since it fits my body size and doesn't even smell.

Afterwards, I put the Ikea shirt back on, and I'm ready to go... This will definitely go into the top ten weirdest stuff I have ever done.

"Thank you for holding my stuff," I say and take back my equipment from the dumbfounded hunter while the other two stare at me in disbelief.

Why are they so shocked? It's worth a try, isn't it? So, I ask them, "Is something wrong?"

But they all shake their heads.

So, I shrug and continue, "I'll get you some costumes too and try out my disguise at the same time, so stay put."

Not waiting for their response, I leave our hiding spot and walk towards the ant colony.

John said they are aggressive here even during the day, but coming closer to them, they simply ignore me and my equipment and continue to walk aimlessly around the tower.

This gives me the chance to scout out the area and discover that the tower has small doors all around it.

Afterwards, I grab two other Staff who should fit John and Patrick, and lead them towards the shelves where my group is.

Then push them to the ground before breaking their necks, saying, "One more, prepare these two while I get one for Ana," and leave them again while they only nod with blank faces.

Back at the swarm, I grabbed a smaller one that could be the right size for Ana and dragged it to her. It kinda feels like going shopping for clothes without having to pay for them.

When I return with the new costume, Patrick is already waiting, wearing his, while John prepares another one for himself.

And after Ana puts hers on, we join the faceless family and head towards the tower.

—

"How can you do such a thing without even thinking about it twice?" Patrick whispers as we stagger through the crowd toward the doors.

"Psst!" comes from Ana behind us.

"By simply trying it?" I answer him while pushing away a larger Staff member who blocks the way.

"Psst! Be more careful, you idiot!" comes from John.

… Don't they know it's impolite to interrupt people while they are speaking?

Anyway, after a few minutes of silence, we finally arrive at the doors, and when I push against one, it simply opens.

And what greets us is a seemingly never-ending dark staircase, clad in darkness.

The stairs go up, so they will probably lead us to the top of the tower. The only problem is, even when I try to look through the darkness with my new eyes, I can't see anything...

Since I can't hear anything moving either, I take off my costume because it's starting to get hot inside and prepare myself mentally for climbing a bunch of stairs.

John sees this and hisses, "What are you doing?! Put it back on; who knows when more of them will appear."

"They won't. Between us and the top is nothing... at least it seems like it," says Patrick as he frees his head, and then stares up like he's in a trance.

"How can you be so sure?" asks Ana and also looks up.

"Because I saw that nothing will happen to us until we arrive at the top," says Patrick and throws off the costume and starts to climb the stairs.

"A psychic? At least not another witch," says John while glancing at me, and then following him.

Luckily, I'm not a witch, or I would feel offended...

I fold the costume and place it in my backpack while Ana looks at me doing it and asks, "You want to keep it?"

I shrug and say, "Yes, he said there is nothing on the staircase, but it doesn't mean there aren't any on the top…"

"True, I will keep it too," she says and also folds it before placing it in her backpack and we begin to follow the other two, who are barely visible in the darkness.

"This darkness is not natural…" says John after we walk for a few minutes.

"No, it's not. It seems to be alive," I say because I can sense countless weak auras after entering the darkness. It feels like pieces from a dead soul that somehow gathered here...

Ana grabs John's hand after hearing this, and we continue to walk upstairs, while being more cautious of our surroundings.

But even after reaching probably the thirtieth floor, nothing changes or attacks us. Honestly, I start to get bored walking through the darkness while nothing happ—

"Ah!!! Oh my god, I think something touched me!" shrieks Ana and freezes.

"What the..." I look at her back and see that there is a white, nearly glowing paper stuck onto her clothes. Everyone gathers around her, and I take it off her and turn it around.

On the other side is a coal drawing that looks like it was made by a child. It's hard to tell what it is, but I would guess it's some dude standing in the middle of the woods.

"What does it mean?" asks Patrick who I thought would already know it.

"Nothing good; let's get rid of it," says John, trying to find something in his jacket with no success.

Since I can guess what he's trying to do, I take out my new lighter and try to set it ablaze, but the flames seem to have no effect on it.

"It's not working?" asks Ana and steps back from it.

"No, but it's still a piece of paper," I respond, crumpling it before throwing it away.

John stares at me and then asks, "The lighter right now was mine, right?"

"No... let's get going before whatever is doing this starts to play more pranks on us," I say innocently and continue to walk upstairs.