Liv led Langa back into the more populated area of the town, and they could see the guardsmen patrolling the area. Occasionally, people greeted Liv, and he stopped to chat with them for a bit. It was a little annoying, and it reminded him of when he was a child going into town at Eshowe with his father. His father's students and their parents would always come up to them, leaving Langa bored while they spoke.

“How come you're so popular, Liv? Do you know everybody in this town?” Langa asked.

“No, but it's inevitable, my Renown is pretty high, especially here. I own part of this place,” Liv said, walking towards a large building in the town centre.

Langa stared at him in surprise as he realised they had arrived at Sorrento Inn. For nearly three weeks Langa had only managed to raise 2 gold, which, while a lot of money, could not buy even 2 square metres of land. But Liv owned a fucking building? “You own this inn?”

"Yes, I do, but I meant that I own part of this town,” Liv clarified, and he said something to one of the waiters before he led a flabbergasted Langa to a booth at the back.

“I must have misheard you. Did you just say you own this town?” he asked.

“Part,” he said, sitting down.

“Liv. We've only been in the Tower for three weeks How the fuck do you already own a town?” he asked, exasperated.

Liv pushed a lucent tile with the menu towards Langa. “There was a terrible dungeon eruption nearby, and I helped save the town. The situation was very dire, and one of the rewards for saving them was getting a share of the town. Many buildings were destroyed in the attack, and I helped them rebuild. I bought this inn with my own money from back home,” he said. “The town was under the Menika Shin guild’s protection, and to be honest, they don't have much presence on the lower Floors, so they sold me some of their lands in here. I'm still paying for it, though.”

Langa knew that while the system restricted what players could bring into the tutorial, they would have access to their restricted items once they entered the Tower. How rich was Liv to have bought an inn and land out of his own pocket? “Why? We're going to leave this Floor anyway?” Langa asked. He didn't see the reason why buying a town would be useful.

“Oh, that's a long story," he said. "Hold on, what do you want to eat? I'll have them prepare it for you.”

“I'm starving. Give me whatever’s ready, as long as it has meat in it. I also want whatever’s good to drink here.”

"Fine." Liv rolled his eyes and stood up, heading for the kitchen. When he came back out, he was carrying two cups, followed by a server carrying a tray with two plates of fire-roasted red meat and stir-fried vegetables.

“Thank you,” Langa said, receiving his plate, as the server smiled and left. It smelt delicious. “What is this?”

“Roasted Venison Steak with caramelised onions, sufril and fire-shroom sauce. It's my favourite, so the staff always has it ready,” he said. “The drink is non-alcoholic, though, sorry. I can't have you drunk when I have something important to talk to you about. You can drink as much as you want after, I promise. Plus, there’ll be plenty of alcohol when the others arrive for the festival tomorrow.”

“The others?” Langa said, his mouth full of the tender, perfect meat. The fire-shroom sauce gave it a spicy taste that enriched it. He wasn't even mad about the alcohol because the food was so good.

Liv nodded, pulling the steak apart with his bare hands. “I invited everyone participating in the exhibition match with us to stay at the Sorrento Inn. I figured it's good to know each other after we work together or against each other. Since tomorrow is a Towerwide holiday festival to celebrate our batch entering the Tower, the organisers thought it would be cool to have the post-match dinner and a festival celebration here.”

Langa took a long drink from his cup as his face darkened. “Is Fi Kindaro III coming?”

There was a pause, then Liv shook his head. “No, he's not. He responded yesterday, saying too many of the people participating are his enemies, and he's afraid we might jump him since this is a yellow zone.”

“He's always been good at self-preservation,” Langa muttered, pushing thoughts of revenge away and starting to eat again.

“Yeah, anyway, it's probably better that he's not here. His death would taint the festivities. By the way, I want to introduce you to Coraloa. If we're going to go places in this Tower, it's good to have people with a determined future like her on our side,” he said.

"Who?" Langa asked.

The meat on Liv's plate was almost all gone when he answered. "She's one of our batch's rankers. She and I both got placed in the Menika Shin guild's territory after the tutorial. She's a bit... set in her ways, but she has an incredible attribute."

"Okay." It didn't sound like Liv was going to elaborate, so Langa nodded and continued wolfing down his meal. “So,” he said once they were done eating. “Back in the tutorial, you said you had a favour to ask me. What is it?”

Liv took a deep breath. “There are actually two favours, the first is easier to ask, so let's start there,” he said.

He pulled out a white cloth from his inventory, and it hovered above them like a sheet. It then wrapped around the two of them, and it was almost as if the entire inn was gone, since Langa could neither see nor hear them. “I want to start my own guild, and I want you as my right-hand man,” Liv told him.

Of course, Langa had expected something like this, and if it wasn't for the prophecy, he would have agreed easily. “You want to start a guild? For what reason?” he asked instead, hoping to learn more about his motivations.

Liv tensed up a bit and then shrugged. “A guild is a good starting point for my goals. I want to have a lot of influence in this Tower.”

Langa tilted his head to the side, sensing the hesitation in Liv. Why was he always like this? Even in the tutorial, it always felt like he was constantly holding himself back. Langa didn't like that. He wanted to know the truth before he decided whether to work with him or not.

“You're being evasive, Liv. Why are you so hesitant?” He asked, then pointed around them. “No one is watching, you know. I'm the only one who can hear you; isn't that why you isolated us?”

The tension disappeared from Liv’s face, and he said, “I told you this before, I have issues with my father. I need the power of a guild if I want to stand against both him and my grandmother's kingdom.”

But Langa felt like there was still more Liv wasn’t saying, and he needed to push him harder to learn the truth about him. “I'm sure that's the result you want, but you don't have to hold back with me. Tell me the real reason you want to form a guild. I'm not going to judge you if that's what you're afraid of.”

Liv’s purple eye glowed watching Langa as if he were assessing him. A new aura encompassed him, and his karma, which had been barely noticeable before, was all Langa could feel now. It was like an ocean barely held back by a thin sheet of plastic from bursting open. Surprisingly, he felt a larger number of deities’ eyes on both of them than ever before.

“I want to be a king,” Liv said with confidence, and no other emotion in his voice.

”What?” Whatever Langa expected him to say, that was not it.

”It's my Obsession. I want people to kneel before me, to bow their heads, and to worship me,” Liv said firmly. “I want to hold this Tower in my hands and make those who look down on demigods grovel before me. Langa, I want to stand mighty and strong above every single being in this and many other Towers. I want the multiverse to know my name and tremble with fear, admiration, and respect before me. I want to reign supreme.”

Oh boy. Langa scratched his head. So, his first friend in the Tower had a god complex. Awesome. Wonderful.

In truth, Langa wanted to use Liv’s influence and reputation to form a force that would have enough power to free the 36th Floor from the demons and save his family, but now he was hesitant. He was 90% sure that Liv was the tyrant mentioned in The Lone Witchseer’s prophecy. He wondered if he should let this go and try his luck with the Guardians or the Hallow Reapers.

Langa knew that if he wanted to save Earth from demons, he needed the strength of a guild. As much as he would rather be free to do what he wanted, to topple a kingdom and conquer a world, he needed more than just his own strength. Just thinking about how much work it would take made him want to vomit. The ideal solution would be to form a guild that he controlled himself. The problem was that that kind of tedious work was not his strong suit, and he knew without a doubt that building and leading a guild himself would bore him to death, and he might lose motivation and go back to the old jaded him who lived passively while the world passed him by.

“Was that so hard to admit?” Langa asked Liv, feigning calmness, pushing his worries to the back of his mind.

“It actually was,” Liv admitted, his eyes back to normal. “My den-brother is the only person alive who’s ever seen this side of me. I want to trust you, Langa, but he was the first person I ever cared about, and he didn't like the real... the demon in me. You are the only friend I have.”

He was evidently now the closest friend of a guy who might be a sociopath. Awesome. Wonderful.

Well, it didn't matter to him. Liv had saved his life and taught him a lot of things about the Tower when he first entered this world of gods and monsters. It was not like Langa didn't have his own issues, after all, the first real conversation the two of them ever had was a session of trauma bonding.

“Liv, being a little arrogant, ambitious, and pretentious doesn't make you a demon. The gods know I've met plenty of people like that back home. What you do about it is what defines you,” he told him.

He looked at Langa as if he did not believe that.

“Okay, tell me about this guild you want to start. What's it about?” Langa asked. He wanted to know if it would align with his goal to save Earth.

Liv looked at him without understanding. “Like I said, it's to help me climb the Tower, and save as many demigods as I can. That way, they'll devote themselves to me, making me more powerful.”

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“I get that, but what's the goal of the guild?” Langa asked, and frustration was starting to creep in. Liv looked at him blankly. “Liv, the Guardians are keepers of order in the Tower. The Dungeon Seekers are focused mostly on dungeon exploration, identifying and closing Gates, and conquering rifts. The Menika Shin guild is mostly an information guild. They get all the first clears in the Tower and have a monopoly on important information and they make a lot of money selling it. The Hallow Reapers are a business. They have a lot of subordinate guilds working for them, in farming items, skills, herbs, mines... hell, I heard their merchant group has their own roving auction house. They are rich as hell. So, what will your guild’s theme be?”

Liv looked down sheepishly. “I actually hadn't thought about that.”

“Seriously? Did you think you could just stand there and say, 'I'm Liv’Kungsadu, I'm strong, so join my guild!' and people would fall on their knees for you? Maybe some idiots will, but most people have more substance than that. You need to stand for something in order for them to follow you. What kind of guild do you want to build? What kind of leader do you want to be? Until you can answer that, I'm not joining you,” Langa said as he made to stand up.

"Wait," Liv said. "I said I wanted to trust you, but I'd like you to trust me too, so I don't want to lie to you, Langa. Before you go, there's one more thing I have to tell you. It’s about Makoto.”

Langa’s blood went cold. This was unexpected, and he couldn't help but feel that this couldn't be something good. “What about Makoto?”

Liv looked down, scaly hands clenched. “That day, when Karisha was almost defeated, they tried to be stealthy, but I saw the three of them leave,” he said quietly. “Makoto and Kindaro followed by Ghol.”

What the hell did this mean? Hadn't Liv said he'd been distracted when Makoto left to find Langa? “Liv. Are you saying that you could have saved Makoto?” Langa asked, his hand tightening on the cup he was holding.

"If I followed them, Karisha may have been able to regenerate her health." Liv’s body tensed up and he looked away. "I had to finish the fight."

"There is a right answer, Liv," Langa warned. Liv was the one who brought this issue up and there was no way the storm brewing inside Langa’s heart would let him chicken out of finishing what he'd started confessing to. “If you stopped holding yourself back, could you have saved Makoto or not?”

There was a sigh, and then Liv looked up at him and said, "Maybe."

Maybe? Fucking Maybe? An unfamiliar emotion swelled up inside Langa and before he knew it, he hastily stood up, lightning pulsing inside him and all his strength, and punched Liv in the face across the table. The force of the hit pushed Liv back, and his head hit the wall, causing the chair to wobble.

"The correct answer was no!" Langa shouted. His hand stung, and he lost nearly 10HP from the impact.

"Langa, I-" Liv started, hand going to his cheek, eyes on Langa.

"I bet you barely felt that punch," Langa said, standing still and nursing his hand. For the first time in a long time, he wished he'd put more points into strength. If Liv had said yes, he could have saved Makoto, it would have been unforgivable. Maybe was just a possibility. It could be 90 % or 1%, and that uncertainty nagged at Langa's heart.

“I'm sorry, I know you cared about him and I-”

“Why? Why did you let that innocent boy die? Why did you pretend as if you cared about him, warning me that he was in danger, only to do nothing to save him when the time came?” Langa shouted, no longer containing his voice.

“I hesitated because he would have held you back.” Liv’s voice was stone cold. Gone was the warm, benevolent expression on his face. His red eye fixed on Langa seriously, his aura prickling.

This was the Liv that Langa had always seen bubbling under the surface of his kindness. The real Liv. Was this the demon his den-brother saw? “Is everything a game to you? Do you just lie and pretend to be a good person all the fucking time?” Langa asked, sitting back down, heart hurting. “Makoto looked up to you.”

“Did he? I'm still learning how to differentiate between mortals' positive and negative emotions. He was a good child, but he was too weak to protect the power he had been given. If he lived, you would have had to protect him because that's the kind of person you are. I freed you from that,” Liv said honestly.

Langa was lost for words. Someone he considered a friend had hesitated to save a child he cared about because he didn't want him to hold Langa back. What the fuck was he supposed to do? He was mad, livid actually about Makoto, it didn't matter that Liv was honest about that. It didn't matter that it was only a possibility. Because if it were not a strong possibility, he wouldn't have apologised for it.

Did he genuinely believe that he had done what was best for him? What the fuck? Langa didn't think. He lunged forward, letting his body move to attack Liv again, sending him toppling on to the floor. The punch yanked the veil open so that the cloth stopped concealing them. The people in the inn were startled and turned to look at the two of them.

The guards of the inn made their way towards the table, swords drawn, as Liv lay on the floor. "I'm fine, stand back," he called out to them.

They obeyed the order but continued to watch the table.

Langa didn't care that they had an audience. He punched and punched Liv's face until his fists were bloody. Frustration and anger filled his fists but Liv just took it.

“Fuck!” Langa cursed. “Fight back!”

“I'm sorry,” Liv said. The only indication that he'd been hit was a trickle of blood on his nose, which Langa suspected might be from his hands. The worst part about the apology was that Liv seemed to understand that he should be apologising, but not why.

Who did Liv think he was to choose the place of Makoto's death? Even if it was just a possibility, Langa knew he would have taken it and done his best to save the boy's life. The anger surged in Langa's body like never before, and he felt a stir in his Brand, the darkness urging him to give in to his anger.

Langa took a deep breath, the lightning fizzling out. He was impulsive, but he wasn't ruled by instinct. He'd met many people since the integration and only allowed a few of them in. He only allowed himself to give a fraction of care to them. From Aquila’s team to Synn and Undkese, he'd tried to close the walls again so as not to repeat what happened when he couldn't protect Makoto, but Liv had been different. He was the one person Langa allowed himself to call a friend, yet he was even more broken than him.

Self-control was something he took pride in. He forced down the anger and calmed himself. 'I am in control,' he thought to himself, pushing away the bad thoughts to the back of his mind. First, he needed to find out exactly what Liv was playing at and why he cared so much about Langa's future.

He forced himself not to take out Tonare and plunge it deep into Liv's chest.

“What the fuck do you want from me that you would do something like that?” he asked.

"I told you, I want you by my side, working with me, standing at my right hand. Together, we can do so much more than just climb the Tower. Work with me," Liv said, sitting back up.

Langa could not believe this. It was not okay for Liv to interfere with other people’s lives just because he could. Langa wasn't going to get over what Liv did to Makoto, and he needed to think about whether he even wanted to associate with him again. He still wanted to use him and his influence as a weapon to save the 36th Floor, but at this point, was it even worth it? He clenched his fist and started walking away. He couldn't deal with this shit right now.

"Where are you going?" Liv asked.

"To get a drink, otherwise I might fucking kill you!" he snapped back.

*

Langa went up to where Synn was sitting at the bar and plopped down on the chair next to her. He should have punched him again. Liv deserved it, he deserved far worse. He could feel the Brand and the corruption sealed inside the Void Star in his heart, whispering words of encouragement to attack Liv and make him pay. He ignored it.

“What's wrong?” Synn asked. “Did you fight with your boyfriend?”

Langa just rolled his eyes and placed the pouch containing her money on the table. “Here's your reward from The High Commissioner: 50 silver.”

She eyed him suspiciously before looking into the pouch. “You didn't pilfer anything, did you?”

“Please, I've seen how protective you are of your stuff. I've got a feeling you'd burn me alive if even one copper was missing,” he snorted.

“Hmm. Well, I have been meaning to go shopping with Cora as soon as she gets here, so at least now I have enough money to buy myself a nice weapon and some better robes,” she said, looking down at herself.

“Hey, what's your best but cheap wine?” Langa asked the barkeep. “I want something that will numb the mind without knocking me out.”

The goblinkin seemed to think for a moment before saying, “Staburn Sherry might be your thing, perhaps?”

“Sherry, huh? That ain't wine, but sure, give it to me. Let me burn,” Langa said. Alcohol always helped numb the bad thoughts and detach him from his feelings. He grasped around for a topic, something to distract him from the storm of emotion plaguing him.

“I'll take a bottle as well,” Synn said, finishing the rest of her drink.

Looking back, Langa saw that Liv had left his table and was not in the restaurant anymore. What the hell? Had he run away? He should apologise a million more times, not to Langa but to Makoto, who had admired him.

He shook his head and gulped the sherry. “Do you know how many of us are going to be taking part in the Celestial Clash tomorrow anyway?” he asked Synn.

“Two of the top ten rankers have already said they aren't coming, so maybe only eight of us?” she said with a shrug.

“Argh,” Langa said, the sherry slightly bitter on his tongue. “I hope we can make a match at least half as fun as last year’s Tier 3 league finals.”

Synn took a sip of her wine, finishing over half the bottle in one go. Damn, and Langa thought he was an alcoholic. “That game was insane, though. I watched it back, and there are so many people with great potential in this Tower,” she said, and the two of them immediately started discussing the game in detail.

While they sat there talking and drinking, two people came and sat next to Langa but he was too engrossed in his conversation to care. “You know, I still can't believe that last play. Kian had it all figured out, and then The Pioneer just bulldozed his way through, that bastard,” he said, shaking his head.

“Oh, come on, Langa! You have to give credit where it's due. The Pioneer's raw power is unmatched. He's a force to be reckoned with on the field,” Synn argued.

“That's all he has, though, power. Kian thought on his feet. As far as I'm concerned, he was robbed of the title,” Langa said, his voice slightly louder thanks to being tipsy. "Of course, you would support Hucielbicon, he is fire just like you."

“Please! Kian may not have won, but his efforts were recognised. He was named the Celestial of the match!" she protested. "You're just sticking up for him ‘cause he's your star brother since you're both bound to The Lackadaisical Herald!”

Before he could argue with her, someone else interjected. “He's right, though. In terms of skill, Kian Dir Besta is much better than The Pioneer.” They both turned their heads to see that the person who spoke was a dark elven woman sitting next to Langa.

“Yes!” Langa said, slamming his cup on the table, feeling vindicated. “Thank you…uh?”

“Linora,” the woman said with a smile. “I've heard of you both, so it's my pleasure to meet you, SynnForessa and Langa Zulu.”

Synn giggled. “Damn, Langa, we’re famous! But you can't seriously believe what you just said. Kian has never won a single match against Hucielbicon one-on-one.”

“Sorry, I have to agree with Langa on this one. Sure, The Pioneer is strong, but Kian's strategy is always on point. It's a shame he hasn't come out on top yet. There's a reason why he keeps getting titled Celestial of the Match even though Hucielbicon wins.”

Langa nodded vigorously. “Hey barkeep, whatever the lady wants to drink, put it on me,” he said, smiling at Linora and gloating at Synn.

“Thank you,” she said, raising her cup of mead to him.

"I'm not good at planning and shit, but I can appreciate a good strategist," he said.

“Yeah, even My Liege was impressed with Kian's strategies, and he's notoriously hard to please,” Linora told him. The person sitting next to her cleared his throat indignantly, and she laughed. Since Linora was leaning forward, Langa couldn't see her companion. “I've only been following Kian's career for a week now, but he has good game sense.”

Synn playfully rolled her eyes and said, “Well, I still stand by The Pioneer. He's the heart of Menika Shin’s elite team, no doubt about it.”

Langa raised his cup and said, “To each their own, I suppose.”

They clinked their cups together as Langa bought Linora another drink, and the conversation continued, fuelled by friendly banter. It wasn't that Langa didn't believe in Hucielbicon’s power, it was the opposite. He saw how strong he was and wanted to race against him, to fight against him until he brought him down. Once you looked up to someone, it was hard to surpass them.

“It sucks that we might not get a rematch this year though,” Synn said with a sigh on her third full bottle of wine.

“What, why?”

“Because The Pioneer is close to breaking through to Tier 4, and last time I think Kian was about three levels below him,” Synn told them.

"That is fucking awful," Langa said.

The person sitting next to Linora whispered something to her, and she nodded. “I need to go get our rooms ready,” she said, standing up. “It was nice talking to you two. Thanks for the drinks.”

“Anytime,” Langa grinned as she left. He poured himself another cup of sherry and turned to his left. That was when Linora's companion finally came into view, and Langa's mana surged violently immediately.

The person had white hair, dark skin, long, pointy ears, and a haughty look on his handsome face. Langa stared at him, anger brewing in his heart, especially after the conversation he just had with Liv. It wasn't Fi Kindaro III, but the resemblance was too fucking uncanny.

“It can't be Mari,” the dark elf said quietly.

“Pardon?” Langa said, realising he was talking to him.

“She prefers making allies over enemies,” he said, twirling the purblan juice in his cup. “It can't be Joh, he never leaves his enemies alive. So, it can only be Fi, he is notoriously good at pissing people off,” Vos Kindaro II said as he finally looked at Langa.

"Sorry for staring," Langa said, looking away. "You look just like him, and your brother is a stinking piece of shit."

Vos snorted and raised his cup. "Don't I know it?”

They drank in silence for a moment, Synn looking between the two of them, before Vos spoke again. “What did he do? Did he kill someone you loved? Did he manipulate you by pretending to be your friend only to betray you later?" he asked, and then his eyes blazed as he said, "Or did he take control of your mind and freeze you in place, forcing you to kill someone that you loved for no other reason than that he could do it?"

Langa forced himself to swallow his drink, shuddering to think about the third option. "The first two," he said.

"Lucky you," Vos said darkly. "It's easier to hate Fi when it wasn't your hand that took your loved one's life."

Both Langa and Synn stared at Vos, and he shrugged as if it weren't a big deal. Langa could not imagine being forced to do that.

"Seriously? I'm glad I had no siblings. Your brother sounds like a waste of space," Synn spat, her mouth curled up in disgust.

If that was the way he treated his siblings, no wonder he didn't hesitate to kill Makoto and defile his corpse. "The worst thing my sister ever did to me was slap me in the face when my nephew and I slept at groove and made her worry all night when we were teenagers," Langa muttered.

Vos cracked a small smile, and Synn bumped Langa's shoulder. "So, you were a wild child? You're simple-minded, so I didn't think you were the type."

"Hardly, my nephew was the wild one. We were at his boyfriend's family's tavern, and it was in a very shady part of the city, so it was better for us to sleep there than to try and go home in the middle of the night," Langa said with a shrug. "Sis’Thandi was just angry because we didn't call, and she was scared that something happened to us."

"She was worried about you, then? Your sister sounds like my eldest brother. He too worried about us too much," Vos said with a faraway look. Before Langa could ask, he changed the subject. "By the way, the spirit says she's sorry and thanks you. She says her soul will watch over you for as long as you need," the dark elf said, looking over Langa's shoulder.

"What?" he asked blankly. "Who said that?"

"Your grandmother. Her soul is hovering around you," he said.

“I’m being haunted by a ghost?” Langa asked tensely. He was terrified of ghosts.

Vos tilted his head slightly and said, “Haunted is a strong word. She says she looks in on you and your sister occasionally, and I happened to see her today.”

That was weird. Langa had never met any of his grandparents. It was freaky that there was a ghost near him and he couldn't see her. “That’s not creepy at all. Wait, where is my sister? Is it my maternal or paternal grandmother?”

The dark elf shrugged. “Maternal, I think. Sorry, it's not easy for me to communicate with souls I didn't reap. I can't tell where your sister is.“

Langa was about to ask him what reaping souls meant when Synn asked in a quiet voice, “Hey, what do you see when you look at my soul?”

“I don't read the souls of the living without their consent,” Vos said before looking down at his comcer, and placing two silver coins on the table. "Do excuse me. Linora has readied our rooms, and I need to rest. It has been a long journey. I will see you tomorrow for the game.”

“Oh, uh, good night then,” Langa said politely as he stood up.

“Good night.” He turned on his heel and started walking away.

“Wait! I'm giving you permission to read my soul!” Synn called after him.

“There are thousands of shattered fragments—no, maybe millions of them,” Vos said. He didn't turn back. He stood at the foot of the stairs and said quietly, “I wonder how many lifetimes it would take to repair your broken soul.”

With that, the dark elf gracefully went up the stairs.

“I don't think it can ever be repaired,” Synn said with a sad smile. “He's an interesting fellow, don't you think?”

Langa watched him leave curiously. He had no idea what to make of Fi Kindaro's brother.

“He's not what I expected,” he muttered to himself, and then he froze again as Liv walked back into the tavern, towards him. What did he want now? Langa had cooled down some, so he supposed he could hear him out.