The second floor of the Storm Dragon’s trial tower was much like the first. Unlike the lower floor, there were plenty of walls here. The space was about the same size, but thick panes of ice created a maze which threw strange reflections around. There was no elemental this time, instead the maze was controlled in some way by a creature called a Visionary Of Violence. My reflections lashed out as I traversed the maze, giving me more than a few welts on the head. The visionary itself was little more than a ball of congealed mana, which was smashed easily once I reached the centre of the maze.
The third floor held an opposite kind of storm. Seeing through the choking smoke was impossible, and intangible beings formed from the flames all around. The changes my body had undergone in the last week or so were on full display here as I barely took a breath the entire floor. My hair and clothes were singed and burned in places after I managed to engage the main enemy of this floor.
I was calling them Floor bosses in my head. After the Ice Elemental came the Visionary Of Violence and then on the third floor was the Akashic Phoenix. A disgusting parody of the firebird from legend. Appearing as a tarry, molten vulture, the dangerous monster was hiding in the smoke, returning from the flames when destroyed. Each time, it returned stronger, but it had a finite amount of resurrections.
We pushed through to the fifth floor quickly as the fourth was a joke. A blanket of powerful lightning strikes barred my way to the other side of the room where a weak looking creature sat chanting a hymn. Naea just laughed, turning into a bolt of lightning herself and appeared behind the creature. She couldn’t easily kill it as it was faster than it looked, but once it stopped channelling the storm, I simply crossed the room and dashed its head with my staff.
Floor five had no great surprises, which was fine with me. In fact, it was the most straightforward after the first. Clearly fashioned after the destructive force of a landslide, another elemental pit itself against us. The real challenge in this fight was keeping myself from getting stuck in the deepening mud. Each bulky form I destroyed only added to the quagmire.
The first floor of the Trial Tower was also the hardest fight of the five. A large part of the change was my mood about the place. Initially, I had been filled with wonder and more than a little anticipation. The opportunity to battle creatures which weren’t just names in a sand dune had been exciting. My mood soured after the end of the first battle. I hadn’t forgotten to loot the Ice Elemental, it simply had no loot.
After that point, I had no patience for the trial itself. I mostly smashed my way through the ice maze on floor two, overpowering the design with brute force. By the time the melting phoenix stopped reviving, it was just grateful to be done. One strike finished the lightning mage and the Bog Elemental was mostly just annoying and stank.
By the time I finished, I had nearly forgotten the point of all this. Nothing in the tower had given me any levels. There hadn’t been a single lootable enemy. Once I got serious and angry, even the challenge was muted. I had put in some thought between floors while Naea and I collected our breath about the design and layout of the tower.
While the place was a potent trial, it was designed for general consumption. The enemies had all been level 29 on inspection but I had nearly 40% additional attributes when compared to my level. Naea also tipped the scale, punching well above her weight when needed. Our symbiotic combat style let me exchange my large mana pool for healing, completely invaluable.
My own Aspect of the Dragon had trivialised most of the challenge. Each step of the way, the Yo Staff, Weapon Mastery and Infusion allowed me to push through the difficulty. Even my newly incorporated Kirin Strikes, though rarely needed, was the exact tool needed at various moments. Picturing the other Aspects there might be, I wondered if any would fare so well in the same position. Well, of course they wouldn’t, I thought to myself, this is a trial for dragons.
I blinked at the intrusive thought, confused. Aspects were still a mostly foreign concept, but with each Guidance Stone I felt a little closer to understanding the Dragon within. It wasn’t actually sentient, but there was intelligence within the Aspect which judged my actions. I felt approval when my actions were decisive while anything broaching on cowardice brought disdain. Apparently it also means you’re hearing voices.
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I shook my head for the death of my once aspired profession of therapy. I centred my sense of self. “I am Grant Kaeron. I’m twenty three years old in two months. The world has gone to shit around me, but I’m still here. Everything is crazy, but I’m not.”
“Right,” said the fairy hovering at my side, “you’re as sane as anybody I’ve ever met.”
“Sane like Alice,” I agreed. I may be through the looking glass, but I wouldn’t let any of this break me. Had the Aspect of the Dragon infected my mind and changed my ways of thinking? Impossible to answer. My mentality seemed healthy enough considering the state of things. So long as I kept getting stronger, I could leave the dungeon and figure out my next steps. “Speaking of next steps…”
“No one said anything about steps.” Naea muttered and I chose to ignore her. When the fifth floor was conquered, I expected to be finished with the tower. Instead, like on the previous floors, a wall simply disappeared. The opening had stairs leading upwards. Come to think of it, I had seen a smaller room atop one of the other towers. My eyes lit up.
Treasure?
Naea and I raced up the stairs. I maintained she was cheating by flying, she countered by saying the stairs were built for my lanky legs and I should just shut up. I ran for a few minutes before anything changed. First came a slight breeze which was heavenly. The air in the tower was stale, especially on the fifth floor where the bog stink still festered. Even if the tower smelled like fresh baked bread and black coffee, my two personal favourite smells, it wouldn’t compare to the breeze from above.
Soon, it wasn’t just the sense of smell which was affected. There was no description of the sensation, no way to put its existence into words which could do it justice. All at once sense memories of nostalgic times, moments of peace and comfort from youth, pressed against my heart. Instead of scrambling to find the source, I took joy in the journey to get there.
The indescribable scent impacted Naea, too. She was silent, having stopped flying. She was open-mouthed, gawking at the plains walls and stairs, even at me, with huge eyes full of wonder. I nudged her with my head and we both giggled at each other. Music echoed on the edge of my hearing and it seemed as though the beat matched with my own movements and thoughts.
“What is this?” I asked, though Naea’s look of confused awe didn’t exactly suggest her to be an expert. When she didn’t answer, didn’t even respond, it wasn’t that she was ignoring me. Even speaking while the melody played was difficult, trying to consider anything other than the moment was nearly futile.
Whatever was happening, it was something more defined than “magic”. With each step higher, the same euphoric sensation which danced on my skin, sat on my tongue, in my ears or around my nose could be felt more clearly. The density of mana in the air was growing by the moment. I began to feel its effect within my very core itself. Even as my feet continued to move, my mind fell into my inner world.
The harmony of my outer senses were magnified within. The space had never felt so actualised and complete, while at the same time being more malleable than ever. While trudging slowly up the stairs in the real world, I watched the “natural” flow of my world with academic interest. Within moments, the discordance gave me a headache. Despite looking like a paradise, everything was fake.
Why did the river flow where it did? What point did the volcano and storm have when nothing tried to interact with the other elements? Under the watchful inspiration of the divine sensation outside, I rewrote the rules for my inner world. The river didn’t move because I willed it, the river moved because that’s what rivers do. The volcano was not a reservoir of power to be tapped at will, nor were the smoky storm clouds.
The issue was me and my perception of the energy within. Without the assistance of the mystical sensation, I wouldn’t have known anything was wrong. To make such a small, yet drastic change to my mana was daunting. It might even have been impossible, had I not been exactly where I was. Everything clicked, both in my mind and soul.
The change was subtle, enough to think nothing was different, yet as I opened my eyes in the real world I knew nothing could be further from the truth. Mana crashed through my pathways, a tsunami which would never stop again. I took a breath, taking a moment to harmonise my energy with the melody once more. Even Naea managed to pull herself from the stupor and give me an impressed look, though she made no comment.
After a long time, yet all too soon, we reached the end of the stairwell. So enamoured by the wonderful sensation during the climb, this time I truly had forgotten what I was doing. When the stairs opened up I found myself at the top, open layer of the trial tower. Like waking up from a dream, I gazed out over the dungeon and took it in.
It’s so small. From up high, the area I was trapped in wasn’t so daunting. If anything, I began to feel caged, which absolutely wouldn’t do. My soul rumbled against the idea. I calmed myself, picturing my escape from the dungeon and the world of opportunity I would find outside. Before that, however…
Tower Quest Received - Earn The Storm Dragon’s Blessing
Climbing the tower is impressive, but it only grants you an audience.
Reward:Blessing of the Storm Dragon
A single, large room was a little ways away from me. The waves of life-changing power were coming from within, even the thick solid walls unable to hold back the energies inside.Just the barest vapours of that power had started something inside my soul, changing my understanding and use of mana completely. What could possibly be so powerful? I wanted to find out.
I wanted to make it mine.