Episode 17

1

"Caim, you're as mad as a hatter!" Victoria exclaimed as the forest fell silent again. "I can't believe all this shit happened in like two minutes."

This area should be clear of mutants now.

Because it was suddenly very quiet. He hadn't paid much attention to the details, specifically, but hhe assumed that any extra mutant that might have been lurking in the dark forest, weighing its options, would have also died when the ground gave way. Sinking into the depths of darkness.

Depths into which he had almost fallen in flames.

He felt a chill. He tried not to show it.

"I don't know what happened to me. I lost control."

"And you destroyed that crystal, which could have teleported us far away," Yonah said.

"Yes. I'm sorry."

"I'm not accusing you of anything, just saying that I'm worr... Watch out."

Caim turned around as he jumped backward.

Too little and nowhere near fast enough to make any difference. Tentacles. His first thought was that he had been wrong. That he hadn't killed the tentacled creature, that even the fall hadn't been enough to finish off the damned thing, but that wasn't it.

It was the same black tentacles that had emerged from the giant spider after killing it.

Caim immediately relaxed upon making that connection.

"Move!"

Was it Victoria's or Yonah's voice? Well, it doesn't really matter. It was what both felt... and it wouldn't change anything.

Caim moved, yes.

But to extend his arms to the sides. To accept the tentacles coming for him.

"Don't worry, this is a part of me."

The dozens of dark tentacles... pierced through his body... twisted his guts... but once again, there was no pain at all, not a trace of blood... Perhaps this was something that crossed the soul and not the body. Something that didn't really exist, or that existed in between.

Something like me.

Yet, even without a hint of pain, he fell to his knees first and then collapsed to the ground...

To the ground, and forward. Towards the dark abyss he had narrowly escaped from. His heart rose to his throat.

But hands caught him and dragged him back towards the light.

He had no time even for a sigh of relief; he immediately lost consciousness.

2 He saw nothing in the darkness of unconsciousness. He supposed he had already dreamed enough with his eyes open while killing that thing.

He didn't know why he had thought of that distant past day just then. No matter how much time passed, it was something he could never forget. In exchange for her life, Victoria had not only lost her father. She had had to kill him with her own hands.

So, of course, he thought about it constantly. He could never forget it. It was a sin he would always live with, even though he would have liked to kill that son of a bitch with his own hands. What mattered was not the priest whose name he preferred to forget, but Victoria.

Yet, why had he been thinking about that precisely then?

Well, he had done many crazy things in a short time. Remembering something unrelated was no crazier than breaking unnecessarily his only means of escape in case the worst possible situation occurred.

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He had defeated the enemy, and everyone had survived, indeed, they were perfectly fine, without a scratch, but that did not mean it hadn't been a mistake. What had he been thinking?

He couldn't complain if he had only gambled with his life, but he had no right to gamble with the lives of his companions.

He felt appropriately ashamed.

And with that shame weighing on his fragile heart, he opened his eyes.

The blurred faces of his companions floated above him, swirling like lost souls, a moment before his vision forcibly cleared.

"We can't afford the scares you give us," said Yonah.

Victoria just swallowed hard.

Caim, supporting himself on the ground with his hands, moved from lying down to sitting. For a moment he thought he might get dizzy. Just for a moment.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

But this is nothing to be scared of. In fact, I feel better than ever." He smiled like an innocent child as he activated the underlying system of his power just with his own will.

He had done it once, so why not now?

He wanted to spend mental experience points, not having to gesture foolishly in the air over screens that were only visible to him...

Screen? What was a screen?

He frowned. Briefly.

He spent the twelve points, no more, no less, earned in the forest massacre in the following way, without lifting a finger:

Strength: 7

Constitution: 2

Dexterity: 2

Agility: 4

Intelligence: 1

Wisdom: 1

Charisma: 1

Endurance: 9

He felt satisfied.

He had to feel that way because he couldn't regret it and try his luck with something else.

And the Skills...

There was a new one, of course. His smile widened. With every fight, he grew stronger in every sense. He was slowly becoming unstoppable.

Maybe I really am a son of the devil, he thought before he could stop himself. No normal human could do this. Victoria, Yonah, and the other humans they had met so far were clear proof that the Tower did not affect everyone in the same way.

Only him, marked as different, as strange.

But I can't be the only son (or daughter) of the devil here. Alive or dead, many more must have reached this place.

He had competition.

Still, he felt he was the one destined to conquer the Tower. But he had competition.

Come, then, wherever you are.

I am more than ready.

I have been waiting for this... all my life.

The change was immediate this time. Of course, the difference between spending a handful of points and spending a dozen was immense. He felt like a new man.

He felt like he could do anything, but that wasn't a change.

That's why he had thrown himself without thinking twice at a creature with a mouth so big it could swallow a couple of buildings at once.

"This is the end of the first floor," declared Caim suddenly.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Victoria.

"I just know."

He wished had a better answer, but he didn't want to lie to them. They deserved better than even a white lie.

They crossed the forest without problems. Victoria and Yonah walked tensely, cautiously, but Caim was not worried about the possibility of more mutants lurking. Just as he knew this was the end of the first floor, he knew that the mutants had vanished from this world, just like the thing that spawned them.

In the next room, a staircase opened up before them. Very different from the previous one, not only longer but also wider, touching both walls.

He hoped that living armors wouldn’t start emerging from beneath the stones.

The tension returned to him as if it had never left. After all, this was uncharted territory for him now, even for his sixth sense, as they were crossing the threshold between the first and the second floor. The threshold between the past and the future.

What could be on the other side?

What could there be that would make the journey worthwhile?

If he could answer that, he wouldn’t be here in the first place.

No living armors came out to obstruct their path. No skeleton soldiers either. Nor more exotic monsters that were staples in any dungeon, like cyclopes, griffins, nymphs and sirens, fairies, witches, different from female mages; he could go on all day.

The fact was, there was nothing.

The fact was, they were left with a clear path.

"Here we are," said Caim. "At last. It felt fucking endless, to be honest."

Caim extended his hand and touched the door. The door to the future.

He took a deep breath. He felt that this was something he couldn’t take lightly. They joined their hands to his on the doorknob.

Yes, it's true. He was not alone. And he had to make sure things stayed that way. Caim could drink poison with a smile on his face, but he had to make sure they didn’t die in his quest for answers.

He was not alone, and the future should not be different.

Victoria, Yonah, and Caim opened the door to the future.

The hallway filled with a blinding white light.

Episode 17: FIN