Through the eyes of a tower climber

"That is... impressive." A behemoth of a woman sits snugly at a dining table, coldly regarding the small Japanese boy sitting across from her. "What ever do you mean?" She asks with a mischievous smile. "Mmmf!" "Oh, come on sweetie. Nobody can hear you from there." Her arms lay wrapped around a small figure, completely hiding the diminutive form who begins to wriggle. From within the ocean of muscle a pair of azure eyes poke out, followed by the rest of Ghost's head. "You're just jealous." She mumbles, before sinking back into the comforting embrace of biceps and abs. "Sure. Jealous. That's the word I'd use." Heh. I know love-struck eyes when I see them. I'm sure he's just dying to do the same with his own partner.

"Well... seating arrangements aside, I don't believe we've been introduced. My name i-" "Auvic right? The folks from Curei'a spoke highly of you. Some kind of celebrity I take it? Anyway, the name's Aeryth, and I'm the chief manager of this year's reverence festival. And you've already met my glorious little muffin, Ghost." "Nehehehe..." "Yes, I see you have... a relationship." Thonk, thonk, thonk. A waiter steps over, delivering three steaming bowls of long awaited ramen. The scent of hot food prompts Ghost to wriggle free of her muscly cocoon and immediately begin slurping down her bowl with no regard for the remote concept of manners.

Auvic takes a more civil approach, whispering his thanks before proceeding to actually use his chopsticks. Finally! I've been waiting for this all day. Aeryth on the other hand manages to take civility a step further, drinking down one noodle at a time, sipping a ladle of broth, and mixing a different variety of toppings with each bite, savouring every mouthful in a show of unparalleled elegance. Yet despite this seemingly slow method of eating she manages to keep pace with the native ramen eater and the insatiable glutton, managing to finish at the same time Auvic places down his cutlery.

"Great! Now that we're all fed we can get down to business. You are both morons." Ghost tries to hide away in her cocoon of muscles, to escape the criticism she knows is coming. Yet her retreat is vetoed by said cocoon of muscles. There shall be no escape for you, cutie. "A bit harsh don't you think? We were just trying to keep a dangerous individual under control." "You underestimated him severely. Auvic I can understand, but Ghost you should have known better. Didn't your system tell you anything?"

Ghost rests her chin on the table, visibly frustrated by her inability to escape. "He's a god seed like us. All his stats were null. I figured we could just stall him until you showed up. Didn't expect you to just let him get away." That complicates things... "You are aware of god seeds?" A shrill voice pipes up, prompting a confused glance from Aeryth. "Huh... Thought that was just a creepy doll." Ghost perks up, her eyes widening at the doll's words. "Wait, do you know what a god seed actually is? Can you tell us?" "Unfortunately, it is not my place to discuss the matters of this world's gods. I have an agreement to uphold with them." I am speaking to a god level being. Noted.

Leaning forward, Aeryth regards the doll with renewed interest, her eyes meeting its hollow sockets dead on. "Surely you can tell us something right? A hint maybe?" Ghost perks up, an idea flashing through her tiny head. "Auvic was classified as a god seed! Surely there's some loophole you can exploit with that, right?" The doll twists its head, a broken imitation of a quizzical tilt as it turns to face Ghost. "I'm fucking afraid again..." "Perhaps you are right, but I am quite comfortable with the arrangement I have and have no desire to risk disrupting it. Though, what I can safely tell you is that Auvic likely classifies as such by technicality. Strictly speaking he is my Acrylon, something akin to an apostle or a ward. Out of curiosity, what do you already know of god seeds?"

"Only that people who surpass the limitations of their magic system in some way often seem to be labelled as such. Oh, I do have numbers though. I'm at fifty-six percent, Ari and Faux are at ninety-nine, and Auvic is at... sixty-nine percent." "I wonder what criteria are used. Or perhaps Auvic's is a placeholder? I can't imagine what would lock you at such a close value as ninety-nine either, aside from intentionally holding the process back. Though I should refrain from further elaboration. A stray word would be enough to provide irrevocable interference."

Aeryth shakes her head, putting thoughts of gods and freaky dolls to the side. "Anyway, we're getting sidetracked. Faux, the guy you were dumb enough to pick a fight with, is a known mass murderer who has been wreaking havoc in Qing for the past three years." "Qing? Seriously? They couldn't think of a more creative name for the cultivator world." Not very good at staying on topic, are you? "It was named after the Qing dynasty. Now back on topic. Had you actually pissed him off he would've been able to level this city, let alone snap that noodle you call a neck in two. In fact, the only reason he didn't is probably because of folks like myself and Kav being around. But even with all of us a fight could lead to some serious collateral."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Auvic leans his chin into his hands, a hint of doubt in his eyes as he takes in her words. "Is there anything I can do to help?" "This is my headache to deal with, not yours. Just stay away from him and especially don't challenge him to more sparring matches. Him fighting is the last thing we need right now." Leaning back, Auvic raises his hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. No crazy hero moments for me. I'll stay put." This idiot is going to need a unit watching him for sure. "You'd better. I'm late for work now. If you cause me any problems I'll fold you like a crepe." Aeryth picks up Ghost, planting her on the chair beside her before standing up.

"Aww, but what about our date?" "Tomorrow. I have more headaches than just Faux to deal with today. They're opening a new all you can eat buffet nearby. I'll take you there." "Sweet!" Giving Ghost's hair an affectionate rustle, Aeryth leaves and steps out into the open air. The scent of noodles and cooked meat gives way to the soft waft of freshly cut grass and evening winds. The sky, once a bright blue, turns amber under the first sunset as the red sun climbs down the horizon, its white twin shortly behind dipping its toes.

The city lays quiet, the only sounds being the gentle brush of wind and the occasional shuffling steps of city-goers as Aeryth confidently swaggers her way down the street. Pivoting, she turns her way into the darkest alleyway one could imagine, painted black, hidden from all sunlight, and dotted with a bunch of completely pointless, but menacing looking spikes. Stopping by a large spike jutting out of the wall, she sits along it and pulls out a sizeable book which in her hands looks more like a child's notepad. What is that idiot doing... She waits, her eyes flickering across the pages as she ignores the shadow draped figure approaching.

As soon as the figure reaches within a metre from her she slams the book shut and turns to face him. "Took you long enough, Don. And here I thought I was the late one." The figure stops, visibly sighing before dispersing the shadows to reveal his brown hair and expired complexion. "Haah... I'll manage to sneak up on you one of these days." Sure... As if I don't already know the positions of all my subordinates at all times. "Report. Where is our little headache now?"

"The target has been visiting a variety of bars and cafés. No incidents reported yet. Though he does seem particularly interested in the magic systems of other domains." Aeryth leans against the wall, letting out a deep sigh. "How am I supposed to deal with this bastard..." "It might interest you to know he has signed up for the dive. With randomly assigned partners." Oh? This could maybe work out then. I wonder... "Good work. Anything else to report?" "The scouts have returned from the labyrinth. It's mostly the usual. Breeding season has just passed so divers will have to be wary of more numerous shuun and millivipers, the flooding in the eastern section of floors ten to sixteen has lessened, and divine beast Nok still sleeps. Though, there were also reports of a few particularly strong entities wandering the twenty-fifth floor."

Entity? Seriously? I know you've got this whole fancy and mysterious shtick you're working with, but still... "What kind of 'entities'?" "An instance of the white shadow was spotted in the labyrinth for the first time in one hundred years." "White shadow? Never heard of it." "An old myth about a creature which was sealed away by the city's guardian." "Right... What else?" "A gold monkey, or ape... They weren't clear about which. Anyway, it seems to be capable of wide-area elemental telekinesis. And is reportedly 'extremely buff'." I like the sound of this one. "Then there was two figures within the dark central tunnels with glowing purple and red eyes. The scouts dared not approach because of a tremendously imposing Aura."

"Hmm... Send Fiata Nite to investigate them." "Of course. And then there was also a hobo." "Fucking what?" "A shirtless man covered in dirt with a staggeringly unkempt beard." "Did the scouts arrest him?" "Those who tried were wiped out and buried neck deep in stone. They had to be freed by one of the junior scouts who was spared the man's wrath." "Get a bounty posted for this guy. Make sure you assign an appropriate difficulty and provide warning about the other creatures." "Of course. And... there's one more. A being with many eyes which left several scouts traumatised." Don't tell me... "I need a full description. Colours, shape, everything." "Unfortunately the many eyes and a strange ring of light is all we could pry from the scouts. The experience completely broke them."

Dammit... Why does this have to happen this year? I really hope I'm wrong about this...

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"So, from one love-struck fool to the next, fight on!" "Right... So what exactly do you like about... What was she called?" "Sil? Everything! The uncannily smooth face, the hollow gaze, the ear piercing voice, it's all just so... perfect! Oh and don't get me started on the unnatural ways she can contort her limbs!" "Wait... So you're not just being hypnotised into thinking she's a beautiful maiden or something? You actually like that?" "I seem to get that a lot... What do you like about your partner?" "Muscles." "Is... that all?" "Oh, are we talking about more than appearance? Well she cooks, cleans, can crush a skyscraper with her pinky, and gives really nice cuddles. She does tend to leave her dumbell collection lying everywhere though. Don't ask me why she collects dumbells of all things. She doesn't even use them. And where she gets them I have no idea, but seriously, how do you even get a disk bigger than me stuck in the drain? It's ridiculous! Fuck, she can clean for sure but when she leaves a mess, she leaves a mess!" She does realise I can hear her from across the city, right?