Invitation or threat? (part 1)

Aito simply grunted. There was no need to argue here, even if Roan's answer felt… weird in more ways than one. The merchant had his secrets, he could respect that. And since he was bound by an oath, Roan could at least be given the benefit of doubt.

"Hehehe, so! The 9th and 10th floors!" Roan continued, "To put it simply, those are occupied by Fearmongers. The clear condition is to slay them. But as you've probably guessed, it's not as simple as throwing your weapon around."

Right, he had already seen what one Fearmonger was capable of. Its use of the Fear could prove deadly to those who weren't shielded against it. Fortunately for him, he had Fearless Aura Lv1, but would it be enough?

If he remembered correctly, there should be other types of Fearmongers he had yet to encounter.

"Do you know more about them?" Aito asked.

"Certainly! Who do you think you're talking to?" Roan replied as if it were normal. "What you can expect are the most common types of Fearmongers called Goliath, an evolved version of Berserkers, albeit stronger, bigger, and capable of using lesser Fear. If I use the System classification, I'd say they could be considered being between Lv2 and Lv3 enemies, in the Tower at least. They are nothing like special types such as Paineaters, Tricksters, or Shifters, but they are still worthy foes."

Goliath, Tricksters, and Shifters. Aito memorized these three new types of Fearmongers. He still knew nothing about them, but according to Roan, only Goliaths could be found in the Tower.

So he decided to worry about other types later. Aito had already enough food on his plate to deal with and risked indigestion if he ate too much. However, he did wonder why nobody cleared the top floors since the creation of the Veil—whenever that was—and asked Roan about it.

"Well… you see, Fear is a powerful skill only a few people, if nobody, can resist under normal circumstances. It requires a particularly strong will which most people lack. Me first, since I'm a coward and would certainly fall to the Fear, hahaha!" Roan said, laughing like a madman.

Aito didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How could someone admit being a coward that openly? Either Roan was mature enough to accept his cowardice as a part of himself or just plain stupid and mad.

"Anyway, that's why Fearmongers are dreaded. As for why nobody has cleared the top floors for a while…, well, they just couldn't." Roan explained, stating it like it was a fact acknowledged by most people.

"Meaning?" Aito said, sending him an inquisitive gaze.

"Simple! Only the braver class can shield their allies against Fear." Roan said, raising a finger to back up his statement—although pointless. "But they've grown sparser with the death of the goddess of bravery many, many, many years ago. Now, only pale copies of bravers can be created using memory beads available outside the Tower. Even then, there is a shortage of them on the frontline, so you can't expect one to appear amongst challengers. It's very, very, very improbable."

Roan then leaned his elbow on the counter and tilted his upper body as if to make a statement when in reality he looked like one of those "memes" Aito had liked to use when making fun of people online during his past life.

"But not impossible," Roan said, looking at him intently. Before it became too awkward—which was already the case—he leaned back on his chair.

That statement made Aito's suspicion o-meter rise because it implied, or at least he felt it implied, that Roan knew he had a skill that could shield him from the Fear. But how did he know? Only Belmand could be aware of it.

"Who are you exactly?" Aito asked.

"Now that's a deep, profound, existential question!" Roan said with a friendly smile, before pointing at Donna behind her stoves. "Who is she?"

"Who am I?" He said, this time pointing at him then Aito. "Who are you? Isn't that an interesting topic?"

'The fuck is he on about?' Aito thought, thinking the merchant had a screw loose, if not more.

"In my mind, living beings such as humans are ever-changing. One day you think you know a person, the next day, he or she or heshe or whatever, seem different." Roan said, "You know why?"

Aito shrugged, thinking that if he played his game, the nonsense would last longer than needed.

"Because we have the ability to learn." Roan said, "Every second, minute, hour of our life, we learn something new. Not necessarily consciously, though. Ah! Also, that acquired knowledge can manifest itself in our ever-changing way of perceiving our surroundings, which can also influence our way of perceiving someone and thus make the person appear different in our eyes, not really what I wanted to talk about but I just thought about it right now."

Aito sighed.

"Anyway, following that train of thought, can we ever pretend to know who we are, since we are ever-changing?"

Aito shrugged once more. But somehow, he thought that the crazy man playing philosophe in front of him was making sense in his own twisted way, although Aito didn't completely agree on the part about learning every second.

"Of course that's arguable since we usually can pinpoint major traits of our personalities and that's what people usually identify as 'being who they are.'" Roan said, "However, that's not the point. To my mind, since we are learning every day, it means we don't have a fixed personality. So 'who are you,' following my theory, is a question impossible to give an answer to."

"All your nonsense was just to arrive at such a weird conclusion?" Aito said, unable to contain his complaint.

"No, no, no. Let me finish." Roan said, making an unusual gesture of titling his index finger up and down. "Since we change every day, we can't be someone, but we can become someone. Therefore, the question shouldn't be 'who are you?' but 'who do you want to be?'"

"That…" Aito said, interrupting his answer to look down at his empty bowl. Somehow, that stream of gibberish made him think about his past and present because he had indeed changed in the course of three years and three months.

Some core aspects of his past personality had remained, but many others were now gone under a pile of empty bottles to be replaced by others, like his trust issues.

An issue that couldn't only be attributed to his time on the island, his foul mood, his years of alcoholism, and his overall way of thinking.

Before, he hadn't been gullible, but he sure had been more willing to trust someone. Now, however, something blocked his trust, especially towards humans. What was it? He didn't know.

Roan's question resonated with him in a way, but Aito couldn't identify how exactly.

Although it was flawed, arguable, and…

"It doesn't make any sense," Aito said.

"I know, right?" Roan replied shamelessly.

Aito sighed, then shook his head, "Then what was the point of it?"

"Was there a point to it? Or two points?" Roan said, smirking. "Who knows?"

***

Walking on the almost empty streets of the Mall, Aito headed to his room with a lot more informations about the Tower he had thought he would get in one day.

He had spent a few hours extracting informations from Roan until Donna asked them to leave because of the Cooldown period. Roan had bid farewell and disappeared who knows where leaving Aito alone for the return trip.

Shops would close during CDs, leaving only beggars roaming the second floor. Aito didn't know where shopkeepers' lodgings were, nor did he care, but he found it weird that they left their shops open for the picking. Maybe there was some sort of magical security installed. Who knew?

All Aito knew was that ramen at Donna's food cart was gods damn good but also gods damn expensive. Two bowls had cost 400 TP in total. He had bought some provisions supposed to last a week from Roan for the price of 400 TP. Taking that into account, Donna's dishes could indeed be considered costly.

However, it appeared that her dishes had invigorating effects capable of restoring one's stamina, justifying the cost. Still, even if his stamina and mood had recovered, his mind was now tired after talking with Roan for such a long time.

But it had been worth it. He didn't know if he could really trust the informations he had gotten from him. However, something was better than nothing. Aito was satisfied with that for today. It could even be called a fruitful day.

The only real complaint he had was about his account balance. He had started the day with 110000 TP, which, considering his overall expenditures, was now down to 100900 TP.

So nine thousand and one hundred tutorial points in one day. Aito had money and could be considered pretty loaded for someone who just entered the Tower, but at this rate, he would go broke in less than two weeks.

From now on, he decided to buy only the essentials. Judging by the other challenger's equipment he had seen during his tour, he could say with certainty that he already had a decent weapon and armor. So until he was certain he needed new equipment, he wouldn't buy any.

He had to manage his expenses more wisely, considering he now knew that the Tower would remain open for two more months before finally sending the challengers to Iris.

"Iris…" He said, entering the plaza of the second floor where the stairs leading to the Square were located. "I really wonder what it looks li—"

Aito halted his steps because three men, with weapons in hand, barred his way to the staircases. Two of them were equipped with leather armors, each armed with a shield and sword.

A bald man, with bruises and cuts on his face, stood in between the other two. He wore a full plated metallic armor, and a Zweihänder rested on his shoulder as he prepared to talk.

"Remember me, bl-a-ck cha-llen-ger?" He said, with underlying anger.

Aito tightened his grip on the double-edged ax, took a rapid glance around to look out for potential hidden enemies, then stared at the man, before sighing. He had eaten a good meal, had a more or less normal conversation with Roan—well, as normal a conversation as the peculiar guide could provide.

Just when his mood had gotten much better, a complete stranger seemed to be trying to poke at his nerves.

Despite his better judgment and the tense atmosphere, which could be usually found before a fight, he tried to stay as polite as possible.

"No, sorry." He said, then pointed at the staircase behind the bald man. "Could you let me pass… please?"

The bald man snorted. "Sure, if you come with us first."

"Why and where?" Aito asked, starting to lose patience.

"The sect leader has invited you to his quarters." The bald man said, "He would like to make you an offer."

'And now he's gonna tell me I have no choice.' Aito thought, thinking back to the countless similar situation he had read about in books.

"It's your choice." The bald man said, "You can either accept or walk away."

'Oh… nevermind what I just said.'

"In your next life, that is."

'…'

'…'

'…'

"You want a taste of my steel?" Aito asked.