The sensation of falling snapped Kain back to consciousness. The wind whistled past his ears, and a sharp cold bit into his skin. All he could see was darkness.

Then, with a force that knocked him back to reality, he hit solid ground, finally seeing color.

He groaned, coughing as he rolled onto his side. A fall from that height should have killed him. At least it felt like that's how it should be.

His muscles ached like they had been squeezed through a meat grinder, and he felt a faint, sharp pulse coming from the mark on his palm. He looked down and saw that the Mark was different now. It grew bigger, and the lines looked indented deeper in his skin.

He got up to his feet, scanning his surroundings. He wasn't in that cold, lifeless chamber anymore. Now, he saw open space that stretched on seemingly infinitely. The air was heavy and suffocating, and it smelled damp, likely from fresh rain. The ground beneath him was a mix of grass and uneven cobblestone.

Kain groaned, clutching his sword tighter before quickly glancing at it. Cracks webbed the blade and the blue aura he used to battle the monster that chamber spawned was nowhere to be seen.

"Brilliant." He muttered, "Guess I should have expected something this skinny to break easily."

He half-expected the voice to pipe up then. To offer guidance or tell him to climb like it had done beforehand. However, he heard nothing. The voice was silent. He should have felt relief, but he needed answers.

Kain began to walk forward, hoping to see someone else he could ask about this place. He didn't know if humans here would be hostile, but they were his best chance at getting some information if they existed.

Ahead of him, after a few minutes of walking and going up a nearby hill, he began to see the faint glow of torches, and between them, he could make out a cluster of buildings.

"Finally, something," he said, a small smile on his lips as he finally found a clue before setting off towards it. He quickly sheathed his blade and covered it with the cloak he wore. He glanced down to assess his appearance. He wore a shaggy cloak over what seemed to be easily maneuverable leather armor. He had a scabbard far too big for his sword, but one that served its purpose well enough. All in all, he seemed like a mercenary, even to himself.

As he approached, he began to hear voices. A faint hum of life, occasional laughs, and footsteps on cobblestones filled his ears. He slowed, the tension in his shoulders easing. This felt familiar. Far more familiar than the cold, dreary chamber he woke up in.

The village looked simple: cobbled streets, wooden buildings, and lanterns swaying gently in the breeze. As Kain stepped in, no one batted an eye, like strangers were an everyday occurrence here. He saw a man nod towards him, a woman wave as she ran with a basket of what seemed to be everyday groceries, and a little child stared at him, starry-eyed as if they looked up to him when they had just met.

"Hey, there!" He said to no one in particular. He just wanted to speak to someone. Once he spoke, however, he finally realized what had been bugging him. Every person in this town...was armed. The majority of men held Axes, swords, and spears. The Women wore belts filled with small, intricately carved daggers and bows on their backs, covered by a thin fabric. Even the children seemed to sometimes pull a knife from their boot and put it back when they were done with their task.

A few heads turned in his direction. He caught some of their whispers before they all went back to their work. He, however, noticed how the kids that looked at him beforehand seemed disappointed. Then, someone stepped forward. A girl, no older than him, with short auburn hair and Onyx eyes. She carried two short swords on her side, and her sharp eyes seemed to size him up.

"You're new." It wasn't a question. He realized everyone else understood that about him the second he spoke. Not just her.

"Yeah," Kain replied. "New and lost. Where am I?"

The girl's expression softened slightly, but her gaze seemed to linger on his palm as they spoke. "You're on the first floor of the tower. I assume you were told that much when you entered."

"Wasn't exactly with a chatty type." He groaned.

She smirked; the kind of grin that said she'd seen this beforehand. That gave him at least a little confidence that he wasn't an outlier. "Figures. Come on, I'll help you out. Name's Lyra!"

Kain hesitated for a second, before following the girl. "My name is...Kain." He was happy he still remembered his name, at least. She was his best bet and he, frankly, wasn't looking forward to explaining this again.

"This place is a hub for climbers like me. Safe zones like this pop up on every few floors of the tower. Straggling Ex-climbers who lose a limb are usually the people who settle down in them, and over generations, the tower classifies them as safe havens." She explained as they walked past a shop that sold shining, brilliant-looking blades and armor.

"Climbers? Kind of like me?" He said, remembering what the voice had told him beforehand.

Lyra glanced back at him, smiling softly as she scratched the back of her head. “N-No offense, but you don’t look like much yet. Most climbers unlock their Aspects before they even come here. I'm surprised you survived in the wilds just outside."

His eyes twitched. He didn’t enjoy being underestimated, but it was true that he didn’t know what she was talking about. "Aspects?" He questioned, assuming it was something similar to his mark.

She stopped and turned to face him, a flicker of disappointment crossing her face. “You really are new, huh? Most climbers have an Aspect. It’s like...” She paused, searching for the right words. “A power tied to who you are. Personality, instincts, whatever. You get it when the Tower sees you as... ready. As fit to begin your climb.”

Kain frowned "So, are you saying I'm defective or something?" He said, defensively.

Lyra snorted. "Hardly. For all we know, you could awaken an amazing Aspect next week. It just means you have a harder climb ahead of you. No Aspect means no edge in a fight, no way to defend yourself."

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"Great." He said, his voice low. "At least that's something to look forward to, Aye?"

Before Lyra could reply, a deep rumble echoed across the village. The ground trembled beneath them, and the faint glow of the torches flickered.

"Okay. What the hell was that?!" Kain asked, instinctively gripping the sword at his side, jostling it from the size of the Scabbard.

Lyra’s head snapped toward the village center, gripping her shortswords tightly. “That’s not just shadows. Something bigger’s coming.” She cursed under her breath, scanning the horizon with sharp eyes.

“Shadows? Not those things again..." He was cut off quickly by Lyra.

She didn’t respond. Instead, she grabbed his arm and started pulling him toward the village’s center. “No time to explain. If you want to survive, stay close.”

Kain barely managed to keep up, noting that Lyra seemed to be extremely quick on her feet. He saw villagers spring into action and begin to run in the same direction they were.

From the corner of his vision, he saw a shadow move, and he quickly raised his sword instinctively. He felt his blade block something and stopped moving.

In front of him, was a shadowy monster, similar to the one he fought in that chamber, but still different. This one was smaller, and its face was distinctly more human. It had sharp scythes for limbs and dashed towards him, as he got yanked back.

"Don't fight! Not here. They'll never end!" Lyra said as she yanked at his cloak. He understood what she meant. They were being created inside the village. The shadows in the village were the conduit!

He began running, and as he did, the shadows pressed in from all sides, morphing different sizes of the same creature. Each lunged at the villagers who lagged behind. Kain kept his grip on his cracked sword, his knuckles white as he ran, heart pounding like a drumbeat in his chest.

Ahead, Lyra darted through the chaos like a shadow herself, her short swords gleaming as they occasionally flicked out to slice at a monster close by. Her movements seemed almost effortless and each time she slashed, the black mist was soon to follow. She was strong, that much Kain understood. Why was she even on floor 1?

“Where are we even going?!” he shouted, barely ducking in time as a clawed hand slashed above his head, and swiped his sword, missing the beast that jumped back and away from his range.

“To the center!” Lyra called back without looking at him. “There’s a ward-stone. It’ll hold them back; if we can reach it!”

Kain didn’t know what a ward-stone was, but if it meant safety, he wasn’t going to argue. The ground trembled again, a low, seismic hum vibrating through the air. He stumbled but kept moving, determined not to fall behind. Because faltering meant death here. He barely killed one of the beasts on his own.

As they turned a corner, the village center came into view. In the middle of the square stood a large, glowing stone about ten feet tall, covered in weirdly shaped runes that pulsed with blue light. It seemed similar to the runes he found on the door that awakened his mark. Dozens of villagers had already gathered around it, forming a defensive perimeter. They fought with a ferocity Kain hadn’t seen before, their weapons glowing faintly as if drawing strength from the ward-stone itself. He noticed 4 older individuals standing around the ward-stone, hands on it.

"Get to the circle and get to slicing them!" Lyra shouted, pulling him forward with her.

The shadow creatures seemed to grow more frantic as they approached the ward-stone, their attacks becoming wilder, less coordinated. One lunged at Kain, and for a moment, he thought it would be the end. Dead by shadow monster Scythe. But Lyra was faster. She twisted mid-run, one of her swords flashing as she cut the creature in half.

"Stay focused!" she snapped, her tone sharp but not unkind.

Kain nodded, swallowing his fear as they finally crossed into the ward-stone’s radius. Instantly, the air felt different—lighter, almost charged. The creatures hesitated at the edge of the stone’s glow, their snarls becoming hesitant growls.

Kain’s mark flared suddenly, the lines glowing brighter than ever, searing his hand with a sharp, burning heat. He hissed, holding it to try and stave off the pain. "What’s happening now?” he asked, panic creeping into his voice.

As if on cue, From the mass rose something larger, more solid. It towered over the others, its form less misty and more flesh. Jagged, bone-like spikes jutted from its limbs, and its eyes burned with a cold, blue light.

Kain’s stomach sank. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” All of this death, and THEN the leader shows up?

“That’s a Warden,” Lyra said grimly. “It’s not here for us—it’s here for the stone. If it breaks it, the village falls. And by extension, we fall.”

"How much longer, Chief?!" Lyra shouted desperately behind them.

"A few more minutes, Lyra! The big one will go straight for us, so focus on it!" Kain heard an old man reply to her, almost as if she was the leader of this defense.

Kain knew what he had to do. He wasn't fit for taking out the smaller enemies. There were too many of them. He looked down at his mark as it flared with strength.

"But...if it's just one big monster." He said as he tightened his hand into a fist, and took a deep breath.

"Lyra! Cover me!" He screamed over the chaos, as he began to run forward towards the Warden. This giant beast was a problem. But if he went down, Kain was willing to bet the raid would end.

"Cover you? What are you—out of your mind?!" She said in response. However, as much as she complained, Kain could feel every enemy close to him disintegrate. She was doing what he asked.

"Alright, sword...Don't fail me now." Kain said, throwing his sword over to the hand with the mark and letting go of the power in it. Letting go of his fear of the blade shattering. He felt invincible. The power of the mark snaked across his entire body before it mostly converged on the arm holding his sword and by extension, the sword itself. The sword glowed with a brilliant blue color as the aura enveloped it.

Kain leaped, the glowing mark on his palm flaring as he closed the distance. The Warden’s chest loomed ahead—a perfect target.

He was a one-trick pony. All he had was this mark which gave him enough energy for a few hits at max strength. Right now? All he could manage was one.

Perfect a place as any. He thrust his sword forward and the air around him exploded as he made contact with the beast.

The impact was deafening. Blue light erupted from the point of contact, engulfing the Warden in a brilliant explosion. The force of the strike blasted Kain backward, slamming him into the cobblestones, where he lay gasping for air.

The Warden staggered, its massive frame convulsing. Cracks appeared across its body, glowing fiercely with the same blue light of Kain’s attack. It let out a final, guttural roar before collapsing to its knees. The cracks erupted, light pouring out in blinding streams as the creature disintegrated into a swirling mass of shadow and mist, like the shadow beasts before it.

The mist dissipated, leaving nothing behind but silence.

Kain struggled to his feet, his body trembling from the effort. The village was eerily still, but now he saw the aftermath—the shadow creatures gone, leaving only blood-soaked streets and piles of bodies behind. Around the ward-stone, villagers stood frozen, their weapons slack in their hands as they stared at where the Warden had fallen.

Lyra approached; Her swords at her sides. "You...killed it," she said, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips, her eyes wide with surprise. "But what in the hell was that? That's no Aspect!"

Kain glanced at the faint glow of his mark, a flicker of confidence igniting within him. That confidence, however, was short-lived after he laid eyes upon the death he had tried to ignore with his final gambit. People died here. And they weren't even climbing.

Kain’s stomach churned as he stared at the bodies. Only minutes ago, these people had been running errands, laughing, alive. Now, they were part of the carnage. He didn't know them. He never got to. And he never will. That's what death was, huh?

“Guess I’ve got more in me than I thought,” he said. He still has to climb. And if this is floor one, then he has to get much, much stronger. And under his arm, his sword, which he assumed to be broken after that attack...was not.