The Ripple of Anomalies
Eren stepped into the new floor with a sharp, uneasy breath. The hum of the Tower was ever-present, but something felt… different. The shadows seemed deeper, the air heavier, and there was an unsettling energy that seemed to pulse around him.
Before him stretched a vast, desolate landscape, an endless expanse of cracked earth and twisted spires. The sky above was a swirling vortex of dark clouds, and distant flashes of lightning cast the scene in an eerie glow. But it wasn't the harsh terrain or the ominous atmosphere that unsettled him the most—it was the feeling that the Tower was watching him more closely than ever before.
He felt like a cog in a machine that had just begun to adjust to his presence. The cryptic message from the obelisk echoed in his mind. Flux identified. Adjusting parameters. Eren had no idea what the Tower truly meant by that, but it didn't bode well.
He glanced down at the Insight Fragment in his pocket. It had grown warmer ever since the moment it was analyzed, its energy now pulsing in sync with his heartbeat. The shard was more than just a clue; it was a key to something much larger. But what?
Suddenly, the air seemed to vibrate, and a low, distorted hum filled the space. Eren's senses heightened as the ground beneath him began to shift. The Tower wasn't waiting for him to explore—it was pushing him forward.
A blue light flickered on the far side of the landscape, cutting through the dark mist. Eren's instinct urged him to approach, and he followed, his pace quickening.
As he neared the source of the light, the ground suddenly gave way beneath him. Eren was sent hurtling downwards, the air rushing past his ears. He instinctively reached out for something to grab hold of, but everything was crumbling around him. The world seemed to disintegrate into a blur of darkness and flashes of blue light.
Just as suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. Eren crashed onto solid ground, his body jarred by the impact. He gasped for air, his heart pounding in his chest.
Looking around, he found himself in a completely new environment. The sky above was no longer swirling with dark clouds, but a steady, oppressive gray. The ground beneath him was uneven, covered in cracks that seemed to pulse with an unsettling energy.
He was no longer alone.
A massive figure stood before him, cloaked in darkness. Its eyes glowed a faint, malevolent red, and its silhouette shimmered with an unnatural energy. The very air around it seemed to warp and distort, like the figure was a distortion in the fabric of reality itself.
"Welcome to the Trial of Anomalies," the figure intoned in a voice that seemed to echo from every direction at once.
Eren's pulse quickened. Trial? Was this another test created by the Tower? Or was this something entirely different?
The figure's form flickered, and before Eren could react, a wave of distortion shot toward him. He barely managed to roll out of the way, his heart pounding as the ground where he'd been standing exploded into a mass of twisting energy. The air vibrated with the sheer power of the attack.
"Are you ready to face what the Tower has become?" the figure asked, its voice growing louder, more menacing.
Eren pushed himself up from the ground, his mind racing. This was different. The floor had shifted, the environment had changed, and now he was up against something far more dangerous than he'd expected.
The Tower wasn't just testing his strength—it was testing his very ability to adapt to these anomalies. The distortions in reality, the shifting environment—this was a challenge on an entirely different level. He wasn't just fighting physical enemies; he was fighting against the very nature of the Tower itself.
He glanced around, noting the shifting landscape. The ground beneath him rippled as if the world was warping in real-time. The sky above flickered with strange, chaotic patterns of light. This wasn't a trial; this was a battlefield, and the rules were constantly changing.
The figure, now fully materialized in front of him, raised a hand, and Eren felt the temperature drop drastically. In an instant, the air was thick with ice, and the very ground beneath him froze over, encasing him in a chilling prison.
Eren gritted his teeth. Adapt, he thought. He couldn't fight this figure using his usual tactics; he needed to adjust to the environment, just like the Tower was forcing him to do.
With a burst of energy, he activated his mana-infused knife and slashed at the ice surrounding him. It cracked, but the more he struggled, the faster the ice encased him.
No time to waste, he thought, his mind working furiously. He couldn't fight the figure head-on—he needed to outsmart it, outmaneuver the chaos.
He focused on the Insight Fragment in his pocket, feeling its faint warmth. The fragmented knowledge inside it might hold the key to understanding the anomalies. But how could he access it?
Focus, he thought, I need to connect the dots.
The answer came to him in a flash. The Tower wasn't just testing him with physical challenges; it was testing his mental resilience, his ability to adapt to shifting conditions. And now, it was up to him to evolve—just as the Tower had done.
He reached deep within himself, drawing on the power of his flux nature, and channeled it through the fragment. The chaos around him intensified, but he forced himself to stay focused.
The ice began to crack, not from his physical strength, but from the energy he was channeling into the fragment. The chaos was dissipating, slowly at first, but Eren could feel it—he was starting to understand.
The ground began to stabilize, the air warming up once more. The figure's eyes narrowed, sensing the shift.
"You are adapting," it growled. "But it won't be enough."
The distortion intensified again, but this time, Eren was ready. He had learned the Tower's rhythm, its shifting nature. He could feel it now—the key to overcoming the anomalies wasn't strength, it was understanding the environment, adapting to the flow of energy.
The battle had only just begun, but Eren wasn't about to back down.
End of Chapter 17