Chapter 260
The Heaven (II)
Ethan stared pensively at a thirty-something-looking old man, keeping some distance between the two. The latter hummed a playful tune as the two descended down the bridge after tying ten people to the other end, leaving them dangling off the edge. It was done so effortlessly Ethan wondered whether he’d completely mistaken the men’s identities. But no... he hasn’t.
They were definitely a part of the elite group trained in the harshest conditions for years and, yet, were defeated as though they were complete beginners. By an Elementalist, no less, a class known as defacto weakest against the Assassins. In fact, a major reason for the fewer people getting classified as Elementalist in the recent years has been this.
The old man looked entirely unassuming; he had dirty-blonde hair with a few strands of silver here and there, a jaw full of stubble, and a pair of innocent-looking eyes. Not to mention the man’s gait which left so many openings it was wonder he still lived.
However, for someone that strong, Ethan mused, it didn’t matter; he noticed the Assassins at such a major distance despite splitting focus... who would possibly keep up their guard at all times when they have so much skill?
“What do you think?” Ethan abruptly got pulled out of his thoughts, the man’s voice booming.
“About what?” he asked back warily.
“About this place,” the man nudged his head forward. “Looks like something straight out of a game, doesn’t it?”
“... yeah,” Ethan replied. “It’s odd.”
“Have you noticed? Back when I fought--”
“--fought?” Ethan interrupted, causing the man to cough awkwardly for a moment.
“--khm, yea, fought those people-- there were no signed marks left, no stains on the perfect, silver carpet of stone.”
“Oh, yeah!” Ethan exclaimed, glancing back. “Strange... the scale itself, too, is out of proportion. As though it was built for giants or something.”
“Hey, it’s possible?” the man chuckled. “Maybe this is Asgard from the legends or such, or maybe even the heaven. It was there all along, time after time, and now it’s come to us to see it. Maybe all the giants are hiding in the countless spires and pillars, waiting to jumpscare us.”
“... ah, for the first time, you make sense.”
“H-huh?”
“You look dumb and you said something dumb,” Ethan said, his voice strangely calm and peaceful. “It’s all good.”
“Ouch. Okay, Mr. Smartpants. What do you think this place is?”
“Another floor,” Ethan shrugged. “While, yeah, sure, it might be a bit more ‘decorative’ and different, the other floors were just as mystical. The second floor is upside down, the fifth floor had a mirror that literally played out a movie of your life and caused many, many, many families to separate--”
“--personal experience?”
“Hush.”
“A’right.”
“The point is, it’s just another weird, strange, bizarre floor that we’ll eventually pass through and forget.”
“... I dunno,” the man sighed, looking up. Ethan followed the man’s gaze and paused for a moment; winged spires and arches like masts blew out above him in a labyrinth-like cacophony of vaults and beams and ribbed cages. He realized he may have been wrong; while yes, other floors were mystical, they were almost... too mystical. They had things beyond fathom, those that people couldn’t even hope to reproduce.
This place, however, seemed like it was designed by a human’s hand. It had all the characteristics of an architectural marvel taken to the absolute extremes. Ethan realized why the man mentioned Asgard and Heaven-- some people would have likely imagined those two, or many other such places, looking like this place.
“It’s like someone took human’s imagination,” the man said. “And realized it. Akin to an adult taking a child’s drawing and realizing it in full scale.”
“Do... do you think this place was designed for us?” Ethan asked, shocked.
“No,” the man shook his head, chuckling as he glanced at him; the sapphire-blue eyes were piercing and deep, freezing Ethan in place. He realized that beneath that gaze... he was a child himself. “Shouldn’t the existence of literally hundreds of others species have erased any notion that we are somehow the center of the universe?”
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“... oh.”
“I just think that ideas congregate, here and there, above and beyond,” the man added, looking back at the white marvel. “Have you noticed? Despite the countless differences between us and the peoples and creatures of the Tower, we are practically identical in all categories that matter. Without a fail, we are all tribal, suffused with high doses of pride and inflated self-worth, unequivocally believing we are bigger than life. There are hierarchies wherever you look; why wouldn’t their heaven be akin to ours? Spangled in silver and floating in the coalition of Mana that protects it.”
“...”
“Then again, for all we know,” the man suddenly shrugged. “This could just as well be a sex temple where cross-species bonin’ was allowed or something.”
“Aaaaand you ruined it...” Ethan sighed, shaking his head. “You actually had me. Had me. For a moment there, I thought-- damn, what a smart and well-read dude.”
“Really? In my head, I sounded so pretentious I nigh knocked my own teeth out as an instinctive reaction.”
“... seriously, though... who the hell are you?” Ethan asked again.
“Ah, people at last,” the man, once again, avoided his question, causing Ethan to frown. “Should we go say hi?”
“If you wanna immediately end up fighting them all, sure.”
“Eh? Why would we fight?”
“Okay... more and more, you just don’t sound or behave as a Ranker,” Ethan voiced his frustrations. “What do you mean why would you fight?! All of us are trying to be the first to discover secrets to this place and obtain the best rewards! If you mess with someone, of course they’re gonna strike back!”
“... a’right,” the man nodded in acknowledgement, causing Ethan to sigh in relief for a moment. Just for a moment, though. “So if I spank and whoop their asses, they’ll calm down and talk with us?”
“... oh go suck a dick.”
“Uh... any... any random dick or do you have a specific request?”
“Do you piss off everyone you meet like this?!!” Ethan growled.
“...”
“No...”
“Khm,” the man coughed awkwardly, a strange look in his eyes. “Forget that, forget that. You still haven’t replied to my question.”
“What question?”
“Would you like to get adopted?”
“Oh, I erased that question from my brain since, otherwise, I’d have to run for the hills ‘cause you’re clearly a bear. A very specific kind of bear.”
“... that hurt my soul a bit,” the man said. “But, fair enough. How about you first meet my family, then?”
“Do they all happen to be locked up inside a basement hollering at your statue and crying tears of ‘joy’ whenever you appear?”
“You have a very dark and twisted view of the world, dude,” the man looked at him strangely for a moment. “But, you might know one of my daughters, actually.”
“Hm?”
“What’s the nickname that you lot gave her? Uh... gimme a sec. I remember her telling me and me laughing my ass of and she then not speaking to me for almost two weeks-- ah, yes, Princess of Blades! I-- I think. No, yeah, definitely. He he. Princess of Blades... my god. Ha ha ha...”
“...” Ethan paused and stiffened, his eyes widening. Though the nickname ‘Princess of Blades’ wasn’t widely known, it was recognized among the high-end Rankers and people pushing the floors. It was an alias of a particularly dreadful woman who once hospitalized almost fifty of the strongest people in the Tower because they insulted her dad. From then on, virtually everyone who ascended the ranks was warned that even mentioning ‘a’ father, not even her father, in front of her was strictly off-limits.
And Ethan knew that all of that was true because he witnessed the beatdown first-hand, since his previous boss was one of the men who got his ass whooped. The fifty people tried to retaliate yet were unable to even fart before being absolutely obliterated. In fact, to this day, that memory remains the most harrowing sight Ethan had ever experienced, including the Tower’s bosses that he himself had fought and nearly died to.
He felt so helpless on that day that it can’t really be put into words. It was beyond the dread that he would feel in front of strong bosses; with them, at least, there was hope that if he executed the fight perfectly, he’d come out on the other end alive and stronger. However, watching that rain of blades bore holes through some of the strongest Conquerors the world had to offer as though they were made of the thinnest paper... left a scar.
Despite it sounding insane that a random guy he met was that woman’s father, Ethan... believed it. It was clear that the man wasn’t a Ranker and that he had virtually no knowledge when it came to Rankers. As such, there were only two ways he would know of that nickname-- either he had a Ranker friend, which was extremely unlikely since nobody spoke of that day, or... he was, indeed, that woman’s father. In fact, for the first time since Ethan met him, things began to make sense. It was finally clear how he was so easily able to dispatch of ten Assassins without so much as breaking a sweat or how he so casually mentioned he could whoop the asses of everyone present here.
“Is... is... is she really your daughter?” Ethan asked, his voice trembling.
“Hm? Yeah, why? You heard of her? Eeeh, so you heard of my little princess! Pfft, ha ha ha...”
“Dammit, don’t laugh! I’m being serious-- are you really, really, really her father?!” Ethan’s outburst seemed to startle the man who looked at him oddly for a moment before nodding, his expression turning serious.
“Yeah. Why? Did she bully you? Tsk, I keep telling her to just ignore others, but man o’ man does she not listen. Don’t worry, when I get back, I’ll give her a stern talkin’ and get her to apologize to you! No daughter of mine will be going around causing trouble!” C-causing trouble?! Ethan mused, realizing something-- the ‘Princess’ never told him that story. Realizing this, Ethan sighed in relief and praised himself for not mentioning it.
Nonetheless, a lot of things were still in the dark-- such as how come nobody knew who this man was, or where he was all this time, or even where the ‘Princess’ was and how did she get that strong and why didn’t she behave like a Ranker at all. In fact, she only helped on the fringes when parties were stuck with Floor Bosses, never participating in any high-end battles despite the invitations. Ethan, however, didn’t have time to ask these questions since the two of them were suddenly approached by a group of five, two of whom Ethan recognized as some of the Tower’s leading Rankers. And, from the fact that the five encircled them, it was clear they didn’t have the best of intentions.
Since Ethan was confident in being able to escape, he didn’t care-- not to mention that he had such a grand figure by his side. Glancing to the side, he saw that man was frowning... and that he didn’t even seem to notice the five people that approached them. He also continued to mumble about how he gave his ‘daughters too much freedom’ and how ‘he hadn’t disciplined them enough’ and how he ‘spoiled them beyond belief’. It was a fairly queer scene and one that Ethan would come to define as the turning point in his life and remember with a strange mix of happiness and bitterness for many years to come.