A droplet of morning dew trailed down the stem of a multi-colored flower. Sitting a couple meters away, a teenage girl watched the droplet assimilate into the dirt.

Her vision was exceptional, as were the rest of her physical senses. Despite her peak level of perception, her eyes seemed dispirited and distant.

It had been a couple days since she witnessed the boy enter the tower. Ever since that moment, she would be visited by more vivid dreams than before. She never had a sense of being taken over by some foreign being, instead she felt like she was regaining something that had been lost to her—almost as if her foggy mind was becoming clearer.

Each morning she would wake up with new memories that would make her smile, cry, or anywhere in between. Inside these dreams were multiple versions of the same brilliant man, whom she would follow throughout many adventures.

They were together through joy and sorrow, excitement and boredom, anger and affection. She mentally matured many steps forward with each passing night, feeling more and more complete.

Although she knew these dreams were real, she was still her own person. Should she wish for it, she felt she could easily sever these visions from ever affecting her again, almost like cutting a thin thread. Of course, that was the last thing she would ever do.

Ever since she was a young child, she received these dreams at night. She could tell that they were a part of her, simply describing who she was.

“Sans…”

She mumbled while tracing her lips with a finger.

Loud footsteps trampled over her thoughts. Shortly after, the excited voice of an elderly man called out from behind.

“There’s my beautiful granddaughter!”

A man with long and fading brown hair stepped into the garden.

This man was Xin Lian, an extremely powerful businessman, who happened to also be her grandfather. Although he had a great status, she didn’t turn to greet him and continued to stare at the exotic flower.

“I told you to not be so loud you oaf.”

A different elderly man could be heard right after.

The second man was Ming Kato. With a head full of silver hair and an irritated look on face, he was the headmaster of the most prestigious academy in the city, and he happened to be her other grandfather.

Just as the two old men entered the garden, two other individuals could be heard following in after. A handsome man spoke in hushed tones with the woman by his side.

These were the young girl’s parents, and despite how low they spoke, she could hear their entire conversation.

“This is ridiculous, and I will not stand for our daughter to act so unreasonable.”

The man snipped back to the woman.

“Let her be willful Jin, there’s no harm in it anyway. We could even accompany her into the tower if you’re that concerned.”

The woman soothed back.

“Elder Bai said it was some homeless kid. I’m not breaking the family rules just so she can satisfy her sense of altruism.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed and her mouth twitched, but she remained silent.

The two old men briefly locked eyes as they came closer to their granddaughter, who was still facing away from the group. Both elders withheld the urge to pick her up and twirl her through the air as if she were still a child.

Before they could say anything, she stood up and faced them, a small smile hung on her face. Her expression was difficult to read, but it didn’t change the staggering level of beauty that radiated from her.

“Thank you Grandpa Lian, Grandpa Kato.”

She gave a slight bow.

Grandpa Lian cleared his throat and waved his hand while looking away.

“Ah it’s nothing my dear girl. Us old fools would be happy to oversee your training.”

He spoke with a neutral tone, but his beaming smile gave him away.

“I can’t speak for this addle-brained idiot, but this old man will have you prepared to take the exams within five years!”

The silver haired man spoke with confidence while holding five fingers up.

“Nn.”

The girl shook her head and held two fingers up.

“I will take the exams in less than two years from now, and I will easily pass them.”

The whispers in the back went silent when she proclaimed this. Everyone looked at each other strangely. Grandpa Lian broke the silence.

“Of course! Of course! It’s good to have such ambition when you’re young, but I do want to warn that these exams are quite difficult. They go over many different skills. Just the physical training alone can take years.”

Grandpa Kato nodded his head in agreement before explaining further.

“These exams were created so that members of our family would be well suited for tackling the trials of the tower. You might not know, but the tower’s trials can change heavily from floor to floor. One trial could be combat focused, while a different trial could take the form of alchemy or even wealth accumulation.”

“It’s uncertain which trial you’ll get on each floor, and therefore you have to be prepared. Otherwise, you could spend years learning a new skill on the spot and have absolutely no foundation to start with.”

The girl nodded.

“I understand, but I will still finish these exams within two years or less.”

She said unmoved with her previous confidence. The two grandpas eyed each other with wry smiles.

“This is ridiculous!”

An unsettled shout raged from the back.

“Jin!”

The woman next to him reached out a hand.

“No, this is absolutely ridiculous.”

He dodged her grasp and walked forward to confront his daughter.

“A woman of your age should not be racing through training and examinations to blindly rush into the tower. We have men for that. We have servants for that. Our family does not lack money nor time.”

Patriarch Lian berated his audience.

“I want what’s best for my daughter. And five years of intense training? No! You’re almost an adult, and now you need to prepare for your future with another family. I will not stand for you to spend this time training to go off on some adventure into the tower.”

The girl closed her eyes and waited for him to finish. There were no ripples in her expression, but as soon as he finished, she opened her eyes and the temperature seemed to drop a couple degrees.

“When two years go by, I will be entering the tower no matter what. And… as I’ve said before, I am already promised to someone. I’m sorry.”

She gave another slight bow before walking out of sight.

Grandpa Lian let out a sigh before patting his son on the back.

“Don’t worry, it’s just couple years of training. Even if she enters the tower without passing the exams, we can always bring her back out. Besides, once she sees the difficulty of the exams then she’ll likely give up.”

Grandpa Kato nodded in agreement.

“Afterall, we modified those exams together so that anyone in the family would be prepared enough to handle even the fifth floor, making them officially a high ranker. Unless she has monstrous talent…”

The old man went silent as he said this.

“On second thought, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen our little flower serious about studying before. The entire time she had been at the academy… No? Perhaps not even once.”

He looked up into the air, pondering.

“I thought you said she was doing well in Academy?”

The Jin glanced at his father-in-law with some suspicion.

“Well, that’s just the thing, she is doing well. In fact, she’s rank one in her class!”

He said this as he was coming to a realization.

“Father, you’re saying that she’s rank one in her class without even trying?”

“Hoho, little Mei, why would I lie?”

Mei’s eyes widened. Her father absolutely never lied.

“Well Jin, I have a feeling we won’t need to worry about our precious flower’s future in the slightest. How about you wait and see in a year before approaching this issue again?”

Grandpa Kato proposed.

Patriarch Lian’s expression turned to confusion as he processed the new information. Eventually, he let out a sigh and waved his hands.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Do what you want…I still don’t like it. I’m going to go conquer my trial, I’ll return once she’s given up this folly.”

He walked away defeated.

“Hohoho. With that kind of talent, us old fellows will indeed make sure she’s fit for those exams.”

Grandpa Lian called out to his son while stroking his beard. Both of the old men maintained a sharp glint in their eyes.

----------------------------------------

In an abandoned spirit shard mine, a small boy lay curled up like a prawn next to a large serpent like beast.

This was the corpse of the Awan Snake, which had a hole pierced through its head by the boy’s fist.

The value of this beast couldn’t be expressed in simple terms. Even just slaying such a beast and showing proof to local authorities would net someone a sizeable amount of profit, let alone harvesting the body.

The hide of the Awan Snake was used in many types of crafts, including armor and fashion, while the fangs and claws were used to craft different weapons and artifacts. Lastly, the beast core, hidden within the body, was its most valuable component.

Beast cores could be used in alchemy, crafting, or even absorbed for strength with special techniques. Some beast cores could even give special properties if they were absorbed by the right person, although such a thing was very rare.

Even though the Awan Snake’s corpse was such a mountain of wealth, it was currently just being used as shelter by an extremely sick boy.

His eyes squeezed tight as if he were having a terrible dream, and his body convulsed violently every few seconds.

The tattered rags he wore were completely soaked in sweat. A purple residue mixed into his blood and saliva, which came out in small quantities with each convulsion.

This went on for a few days before his body stilled and his breathing regained its proper rhythm. After a deep rest, he finally awoke.

His eyes opened with great exhaustion.

Weakly waving his arm in front, his current strength was incredibly lacking. A rumble echoed out from his stomach, his throat felt like a scorched desert.

“Ugh…”

He used the beast for support and carefully picked himself up. As soon as he was standing, he kneeled back down, retching out the final remnants of violet liquid in his system.

He secretly promised to treat his body better.

Glancing at the Awan Snake’s corpse once more, a small green light on the floor caught his attention. It was the murky orb he pulled out of the beast’s head.

After picking up the orb as a souvenir, he began the arduous journey back to the entrance of the mine. Fortunately, he wasn’t alone for the long walk back as his stomach decided to speak to him the entire time.

The walk was strenuous, but he could feel some of his strength coming back by the time he found his way out of the cave.

He leaned against the mine’s entrance looking down the path he had come. He could see rays of sunlight shining through the trees above. It was about midday.

The mountain range was densely populated with large trees, making it easy for him to lose his sense of direction should he journey deeper.

Most people would have brought a map, supplies, and most importantly, companions. He had none of those, but he didn’t mind.

Without any hesitation, he marched deeper into the mountain range, occasionally picking and eating berries or fruit that he recognized. By the time nightfall came, he was deep within the mountains and surrounded by monolithic and ancient trees hundreds of meters tall.

Just as he prepared to take a rest, he saw a flickering light in the distance.

A fire?

He thought to himself. Was it a natural fire, or was it humans?

What would people be doing so far away from the roads?

He crept closer and closer.

Eventually, the sound of laughter lightened the atmosphere. Even though he was still some distance away, he could make out the form of a large man sitting across a boy, who appeared only a little older than himself.

He reached the outskirts of the small camp and hesitated. How should he make his presence known?

“Excuse me…”

He called out uncertainly.

Alarmed, the two men around the fire sprang to their feet, ready for combat.

“Who’s there!?”

The large man snarled while the boy next to him had a hint of fear in his eyes.

“Just a nobody.”

He held his hands up and cautiously stepped into the light for them to see.

Both the man and the young boy were stupefied by the sorry figure in front of them. Bloodstained rags barely held together, and underneath the rags were wounds that only recently closed.

If they had known the severity of the boy’s injuries just days ago, they would have been blown away by his recovery speed.

“What’s a young lad like you doing out here? Clearly you’ve experienced how dangerous this place is.”

The man gestured while looking at the boy’s body.

“I was… training?”

He couldn’t think of a better excuse and just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

However after he said that the younger boy’s eyes lit up.

“Me too!”

He exclaimed and immediately reached into the bag secured to his waist.

“See this? This is from a Wood Leopard.”

He held a sizable fang in his outstretched hand.

The older man shook his head, losing some of his initial vigilance.

“Put that thing away boy. It’s not nice to brag.”

He sounded serious when he said this, but he couldn’t hide the pride in his voice.

The Wood Leopard was a D rank beast that liked to roam the mountain range. Often times it was used as a fresh hunter’s rite of passage. Considering the boy’s age, it was quite the achievement to take one down alone.

“Sorry for our inhospitable greeting. Beasts are ferocious, but humans are more so. Young lad, this is my kid, Chenbo. You can call me Chenda. As you can see, I brought my boy out here for some life experience.”

Chenda folded his arms and inspected the bloodied figure once more.

“I can see that you’ve had some trouble, but you can tell me your story after you clean up. There’s a stream just down the way, and… Chenbo’s clothes might be a little big on you. Chenbo lend him a pair of clothes.”

Chenda sat back down by the fire while his son rummaged some clothes out of the large sack on the ground.

“Here you go! I can lead the way there if you-“

“Chenbo that’s enough, let the lad clean himself up.”

Chenbo nodded towards his father and handed over the set of clothes to the dumbfounded boy.

Why are these people being nice to me?

The boy’s mind raced.

“The stream is just a little ways in that direction, you really can’t miss it. Don’t worry we’ll still be here so take your time.”

Chenda spoke while the boy vacantly walked towards the stream.

Once the boy was out of sight, Chenda’s eyes narrowed, and he spoke in a hushed tone.

“Chenbo my boy, some people are ill-fated. You can tell these people apart by the look in their eyes. Sometimes, life just isn’t so gentle a mistress.”

Chenda glanced in the direction the boy had left.

“Don’t get close to him, it’ll only cause more harm than good.”

Chenbo was speechless when he heard his father say this. People can be ill-fated? What concept was this? Nonetheless, he nodded his head with a serious look.

Naturally the boy heard this as he made his way towards the stream.

Don’t worry… I also don’t want to get close to anyone.

His already faded eyes became a little more grey.

Eventually, he came across the previously mentioned stream and inspected himself.

He was truly dirty.

Disgusting was a nice word for how messy and unkempt his appearance was in comparison to everyone else.

He placed his possessions, the green orb and new set of clothes, onto the ground before stripping away his rags. He let out a shiver as he stepped into the stream.

It was cold, but more importantly it was refreshing.

Why didn’t I bathe in the stream before?

He gracefully sloshed his arms about, letting the dried blood and bodily fluids peel away into the water.

I never thought to bathe before, but this is kind of nice…

A foreign concept, especially to one with such poor origins.

The caked-on dirt drifted away, leaving behind a snowy white complexion. Over the years, his naturally charming and slightly feminine features only became more prominent.

Although only wildlife bore witness to this event, it was like the stream was giving birth to an angel in the moonlight.

The boy played with the water listlessly, ignorant of his captivating display. An entire life spent as an ant beneath the trash—he only ever knew the looks of disgust and rejection.

After a while, he waded out of the water.

He reached for his rags and paused. They were almost indistinguishable from the dirt below.

Forget about what others think, even I’m revolted looking at this!

With a wry smile he fitted himself into the borrowed clothes.

The sleeves were a little long, and the pants drooped onto the floor. He never owned shoes and he seemed a little silly in the oversized clothes, but otherwise he was comfortable.

Unfortunately if his hair were longer, one could easily mistake him for a young girl that had sharp features, that was just how delicate he looked buried beneath the clothes.

The boy glanced down to inspect himself and held his arms out to his sides. The sleeves flopped over his hands. He couldn’t help but feel a little excited to wear new clothes, a privilege he could never cherish.

After spending a minute looking himself over, he placed the murky green orb in his pocket and made his way back to the campsite. It only took him a few steps to trip over his pants, prompting him to fold up the hems.

Sitting by the fire, Chenbo couldn’t help but continuously glance towards the direction of the stream. An hour had passed since the young boy left. Out of nervousness, excitement, thrill, or the combination of all three, he restlessly shifted about the entire time.

“Boy, you’re really too excited.”

Chenda raised an eyebrow towards his son’s behavior while stirring a pot of soup.

“I’m sorry, it’s just. What if he tags along? We can hunt beasts together! We could watch each other’s back while fighting off hordes of monsters. Left and right! I bet we could take them all on!”

“Did you see how he looked? It seemed as if he was fighting off all kinds of beasts in a fit of survival. It almost seems heroic. Ahhhh…”

Chenbo let out a stream of words, detailing his inner fantasies of a wild adventure. His imagination continued to run rampart in his head.

He was an only child, and deep down always harbored jealousy toward those with siblings. This was like a heaven-sent opportunity to make memories, to make a lifelong friend.

Chenda shook his head and let out a sigh. He already warned this unruly son of his about getting close to the boy, but it seemed that his son was single minded on this topic. He reminisced about his younger days, chasing adventures in a similar manner.

The father unknowingly let out a smile and didn’t say anything else.

“Um…”

The father and son simultaneously turned, finding the young boy standing there. His hair was still wet, giving him a somewhat androgynous appearance in his oversized clothing.

Both men felt a chill crawl down their neck when they secretly thought about how attractive the young boy looked.

“Ahem!”

Chenda cleared his throat and shook off his weird thoughts before continuing to speak.

“We were just about to have food. If you’re hungry, how about you stick around?”

Chenbo’s eyes lit up.

“Yea! Come sit, sit!”

He patted to an empty spot next to him and procured another bowl from the large bag.

The boy stood awkwardly rooted in place. However, he couldn’t deny that he wanted to feel the warmth of the fire after bathing in the chilly water.

He crept closer and eventually found himself with a hot bowl of soup in his hands.

“So, I was just telling pops about maybe us hunting together? You know? We could fight together and practice different techniques during the day, and then at night we could look at the stars and tell stories!”

Chenbo ecstatically began to share his ambitions while the young boy stirred his bowl of soup with a spoon.

These are… potatoes? Is this meat?

The young boy thought to himself. He took a bite.

“Mm…”

A small sound escaped him at the taste of real food. His eyes lit up as he devoured the food, completely disregarding the scalding temperature.

The father and son duo immediately focused their attention on their food to purge any sort of unstable thoughts that had just popped up.

What in the world? Is this a boy or a girl?

Chenda couldn’t help but think as his heart rate quickened.

A boy… He’s a boy… We’re going to fight monsters together. He was half naked and covered in dirt. Think about the dirt. Dirt. Fight. Dirt. Fight.

Chenbo’s mind ran in circles, internally doubting himself.

A deep panting broke Chenda out of his reverie. He noticed the boy staring fervently at the pot of soup with an empty bowl.

“Hah! More?”

Chenda proudly reached to grab the ladle and gestured for the boy to bring his bowl close.

“My bastard son never compliments my cooking.”

The man sniffed and wiped his nose with his arm.

“But I knew my soup wasn’t a failure. It takes years of experience with fire manipulation to get the meat to maintain its juiciness like this.”

“Hey! I like your soup! Why do I need to compliment your soup when it’s the only thing you ever make?”

Chenbo countered and an argument over food ensued. The sound of heated words eventually devolved into laughter and smiles.

The boy glanced towards the floor, recalling the sound of his own father’s laughter. Although he had lost track of time in the cave, he was fairly sure it had only been a week or two since entering the tower.

It hadn’t been long since he had last seen his parents alive. Although they could barely speak in that final moment, he could still find solace in their embrace. His thoughts filled of his time together with them.

“It’s late, and we should get some sleep. That includes you too.”

Chenda’s voice broke the young boy out of his reverie. The man stood up and waved his hand at the fire, causing it to grow slightly dim but still releasing heat.

As if on cue, Chenbo let out a sleep-inducing yawn off to the side and took out two bundles of cloth.

“Here, rest your head on this.”

Chenbo offered one of the bundles to the young boy, who stared back blankly.

“Go on kid. This mountain range is dangerous, but you’ll be fine around us. I’ll be keeping watch for a few hours. Chenbo, I’ll wake you when it’s your turn.”

Chenbo pushed the bundle into the boy’s hands before finding and spot and settling down. With a final look at the bundle, the boy decided to copy Chenbo. He found a spot by the warm fire and used the cloth as a pillow.

They’re good people. Hopefully they’ll be okay.

The boy thought to himself as he floated in and out of sleep.