To take a moment away from the current situation, here’s a look at what was happening at the military base back in Anhui.

It was a lovely bright morning. The sunlight trickled through the window onto the back of the base’s leader, casting a shadow over his desk and breakfast.

“Sir we have news in regards to the Huangshan operation!” A soldier burst into the colonel's office saluting, ready to report.

“Has agent 12 contacted us? It’s only been 2 days, he does work fast.” Charlie put his coffee down after taking a sip, still a few bites left of his croissant.

“Actually sir… The report comes from the news.”

“What?” He raised an eyebrow as his eyes shot up from the documents he was skimming through. Now paying full attention to the soldier who seemed fidgety.

“The news sir, we were all sitting in the canteen having our breakfast sir. The channel switched to a sudden live broadcast, and a news report about a mountain collapsing in the Huangshan mountain range was being broadcasted…” Charlie’s mind began disassociating, the words coming out of his personnel's mouth began to distort and become muffled. The aged veteran's mind began to race. Thoughts of a comrade in danger overtook, and imagery of past tragedies began to surface.

“Sir?”

“Send a scout party now! I want all hands on deck! Fish out any information in regards to the news broadcast as well as who is currently on site. Send out the covert unit to comb the area and check for survivors, we must confirm agent 12’s whereabouts!” Slamming a fist into his desk caused the cup of coffee to spill over on the documents he dropped earlier. A furrowed brow and the look of desperation was engraved in the colonel's face as he shouted orders at his subordinate.

“SIR YES SIR!” The soldier gave one more formal salute before racing off to complete the task at hand.

Charlie fell back into his chair before placing both of his hands over his face. Taking a deep sigh he pushed into his skin, and dragged his palms down until his fingertips touched his jawline.

“Please, please be safe…”

Back at level 0 of the tower, I was sitting in a lotus pose trying to figure out how to work with my new vision. Discovering the ability to see and feel aura during my fight has been quite the help. When focused, I can clearly see the flow of said energy coursing through my body. During this time I can deduce a few things about my aura. The reason I say ‘my aura’ instead of just ‘aura’. Is because I am uncertain if everyone else's aura flows the same. There seems to be a large well where the aura stems from. However, it is distributed differently across the body. Some areas like the arms, legs, spine and brain receive a larger portion of it in a more viscous and rapid flow. This makes sense as these are the areas humans use the most in day to day lives. Another thing I discovered is that the aura around my eyes is my own. The theory is that Hallimer's aura has been absorbed by me and incorporated into my own, with that in mind even though I can feel the aura there. Moving it or trying to slow down the flow does nothing! My vision remains the same. This prompted some unusual tactics like trying to narrow my eyes to see if that affected the foresight, or making circles with my thumb and index finger to see if it can be channelled. None of that worked. Lastly I tried shouting.

“Turn off foresight!”

“Vision off!”

“Time be still!”

“Good thing no ones here, otherwise they might think I escaped the looney bin.” I’ll admit I was embarrassed. Unsure if it was because my shouting didn’t work, or if my imagination was so limited when trying out those phrases. Sitting back down on the floor in defeat, I tried once more. This time silently. I closed my eyes and thought about not seeing forwards or backwards, just seeing what is in front of me as it is. I opened my eyes slowly, and as I looked around my vision was clear.

“That's one thing checked off the to-do list then.” Sighing triumphantly I stood back up to continue on with my adventure. Maybe that word is too light for my scenario, but it’s all about the mindset. Can’t let myself get too depressed.

Taking a walk up the stairs from my last battle, I filtered up to the first floor of the tower. At first glance it seemed like an empty hallway with a few doors leading to side rooms, no grand reception or open space like the room downstairs. However, the tower seems to maintain its gothic-royal architecture. Wondering if the rooms held secrets I began to open doors one by one, each room had almost nothing in it. Some had loose pots, or a bed and a desk, others were completely empty with no indication that anyone had been living there. An eerie scene considering the rooms totalled to 12 on this floor alone, maybe abandoned servant quarters? I’m unsure, whatever the case. If there is nothing here then I have no reason to stay, I must keep climbing.

Beings of the demonic nature are the residents of the tower, and at this time a few of the higher ranked individuals were having a small meeting in a conference room stationed on floor 75 of the tower. A spacious room, the walls were riddled with banners and paintings depicting a bloodline of royal demons. 5 pillars made out of limestone and marble held up the ceiling and separated the room. The first separated the dual doorway, being at the entrance of the room and directly opposite to the seat held at the head of the pentagonal table. The pillars that followed also stood parallel to the points of the table, which itself was crafted from the black marble found all around the castle. A pentagram decorated the table's surface in gold, and outlined in a deep almost wine red. The seats resembled those of smaller throne like structures, with tall, large back rests all engraved with a roman numeral at the top of said backrest indicating the rank one held among the five. At the current moment only 2 of the 5 seats were occupied.

“Have you heard anything from Hallimer?” The first entity sat at the number ‘I’ seat. She was the only lady allowed at the table. Her curly blonde hair rolled down to her bosom, accentuating her already voluptuous upper figure. She wore a single piece black dress which held itself together at the collar with an open back and a widely exposed front leaving her breasts to be held in by each side of the dress, the opening reaching down to her navel, before the rest of her lower figure was seen. Her lower body was that of a snake. Labelling this species of demon as a snake woman, reminiscent of the Greek theology’s medusa but without the snakes for hair. The dress was accompanied by a cape that a king would wear, however the design itself was modified to show a slightly lesser rendition in the hierarchy. It was a black, satin material with white fur on the outline accompanied by depictions of snakes across the robe in gold. Her facial features were sharp and symmetrical, paired with her blue snake eyes granted her an air of mature, powerful mystique that she carried with her as per her position of power.

“Not since he left for the lower floors, mumbling about some rat problem on his way out.” The other figure which sat at the ‘IV’ seat was an orc. A large muscular, grey skinned monster, with a bald head and a rather barbaric outfit. This consisted of only some furred shorts, covered by a metallic kilt that stemmed from the upper thigh to his waist. His exposed torso only donned a single chest plate covering his left side pectoral muscle, and was held together by a leather belt that connected over the shoulder along the back right shoulder blade, before finally reaching the end connection from his left armpit to the chest plate. His head was large and looked to be sculpted out of rock, jagged and stiff. 2 tusks protruded from his bottom lip from each corner before stopping just above his upper lip.

“Hmmm…”

“Is there a problem?”

“The fact that I don’t know if there is, is the problem itself. I’ve tried telepathy but he’s been unresponsive.” The lady placed her index finger on her chin as her gaze moved towards the ‘V’ seat.

“Gruko, be a dear and go fetch him. I’m sure he’s fine and just being a loner as always, but it doesn’t hurt to check.” Moving her hand aside she flashed a gentle grin towards the orc whilst mellowing her eyes.

“Gruko does not like babysitting duty.”

“It’s not babysitting. Do I need to remind you that Hallimer is stronger than you even if you can beat him in raw power?”

“Then why does Gruko have to go fetch?”

“For the emperor's sake Gruko! Do this for me?”

“Only if you answer Gruko’s previous question, Isabelle.” A mischievous look was his response.

“Fine. 3 minutes of strangulation with my tail, and don’t make it weird.” A sigh of defeat followed by a disgusted face towards the orcs ridiculous fantasies.

“Gruko shall get it done my sexy Slytherin queen!~~” The orc shot up from his seat, blushing and clasping his hands together, before grabbing his large club and dashing out of the room.

“Gruko is coming, broody Hally!!”

“This has to be some sort of weird joke, right?” Speaking to no one in particular I looked around the empty 10th floor of the tower. The funny thing is every floor so far has been empty, no sign of life anywhere. There were rooms and remnants of people living here, but nothing that was alive resided anywhere. It was like a ghost town, actually ghosts would be more preferable to this complete inexistence of anything.

“Climb the tower she said, mention nothing of it being a wasteland she did. Fuck me sideways…” In all honesty it was for the best that no one was here, it just meant that the trip will be easier for me. Why all the complaining then? Well according to my current knowledge. This tower is set up like a dungeon or a level progression you’d see in video games or fictional stories. A fantasy structure with remnants of existing historical designs one could encounter in the world, written to enact a sense of familiarity. Included in these games and stories of fantastical realms, is always a hero and a challenge. Of course there are side challenges the hero faces along the journey, for example let’s take the Japanese folk story of Momotaro. A hero sets out on an adventure to kill the demons and their general. Along the way he encounters a talking dog, monkey and pheasant, and they set off to the demon island. Along their journey their boat crashes into a rock close to the island, they find a way to get onto the island and proceed through it. Structure, a hero, allies, a challenge, and side challenges on their way to the main boss. In this journey they grow stronger together as they adventure, yet I am here in an empty palace. Stuck, bored and genuinely confused. I’m not asking to face a horde of demons or do puzzles. However, I would like someone to talk to at least, or you know have a fight in order to grow stronger. I’m guessing that there is a main bad guy or boss that I will be facing at the top of this tower. Yet all I’m seeing and getting the further I climb is blank, empty space. If I am meant to be the hero of this adventure then surely there would be adversaries here for me to hone my skills and get stronger in order to defeat the main villain? It just doesn’t make any sense!

“What am I even thinking about? I should be glad that there haven’t been more encounters with someone like Hallimer. I’m sure I could come out of it alive, but honestly… Thinking back on it. I’d rather just not engage.” Thoughts swirled through my head as I kept traversing the empty floors and shimmering up the stairs. All in all I was getting a great leg workout from all this walking and altitude traversal.

*Gurgle*

“Oh lord…” I felt an unease in my stomach, at first I thought I might’ve gotten hungry from my continuous trekking. To my utter shock it was an entirely different beast rearing its ugly head.

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“I need to shit so bad.” I was currently on floor 17 of the tower, again another floor void of any life, as well as just empty rooms without a bathroom in sight.

“Come on, this has got to be the worst thing yet!” I began to run around frantically. The doors kept getting swung open, with each room being as empty as the last. I fear my time is running thin. I proceeded to the next floor, same routine, same exact result. Next floor, at this stage I became desperate even an empty pot and a leaf would do! But to my horror. Nothing of sorts could be found.

“Damn it!” I fell down to my knees in anger and sorrow. Smashing my fists into the ground with visible tears dripping down my cheeks.

“It can’t end like this! I won't let it end like this!!!” Picking myself up, I ran faster than ever before. Kicking doors open to find nothing. Trying my best to not lose hope I blitzed my way up to the 20th floor, running as fast as my tired legs could carry me. My stomach was in pain, my mind was becoming more frantic by the second. All the while my sphincter was fighting a losing battle. Battling my way up the next set of stairs, I eventually reached the 20th floor and the scenery finally changed. Less rooms and a slightly wider open space, surely this is the golden ticket. Surely these godless beings have the amenity of a bathroom or a shit hole or something! My hope was reignited, I desperately ran around the floor paying no mind to the racket I was making by slamming doors open. Until finally I reached the promised land. By no means was this an exquisite dumper, it was definitely made for an ass bigger than mine, but none of that mattered. There was a container and toilet paper. That is enough for me.

“GOD BLESS AMERICA!” I yelled as I pulled my trousers down to sit on the stinky throne, finally being able to let go of all that riddled me to this sorry state.

“Ahhhhhhhh” I let out a sigh of relief akin to ecstasy. My hardest fought battle yet has finally been won.

*Thump*

*Thump*

*Thump*

My moment of pleasant solitude was interrupted. My ears perked up as sounds of heavy, I mean REALLY heavy steps could be heard approaching my vicinity. Like an elephant doing jumping jacks, the walls shook with every single movement. The panic which I let go of rushed back like a predator lunging for its prey.

*Thump*

*Thump*

*Thump*

The shaking stopped for a few seconds, whatever was causing it must’ve stopped moving. I waited with a bated breath, silently praying in my head that whatever the creature was. Couldn’t sense or track me. Alas it was for naught. A large grey hand gripped the open doors frame where I was defecating, followed by what I can only describe as a stone pig's head rolling around the corner above the hand to glance at a private moment of mine.

“Who dares poop on Gruko’s toilet!” It makes sense now, the size of the toilet and the doorway. It was never meant for someone my size. Rather, for a beast of sorts.

“You! Gruko will bash you!!!”

“Wait wait wait wait just hold on a second!” Moving my arms in front of me, palms open. I tried to plead with the atrocity in front of me. It seems like I have disrespected it without knowing so.

“Gruko is already holding onto his club. Also one second is already gone, bye bye toilet thief!”

“Let me just expl-”

*BOOOOM*

Gruko had no reason to wait, an intruder was defacing his personal lavatory without even asking first. His club, which resembles more of a stone pillar, was swung at a great force hitting me across my entire body vertically. The swing came from below at a speed that seemed like an impossible feat for a foe that large. The club didn’t stop upon impact, unable to block or disperse the attack I was left with taking the full brunt of its force. Not to mention the fact that the monster followed through with the swing, sending the club through me and into the wall behind. Sandwiched between the weapon, and structure. My body went limp for a second. The impact was great enough to smash through the wall sending me along with the rubble, into the next room.

“Hmph, that will teach you to touch Grukos stuff!” The beast let out a huff whilst moving the large stone club to rest on his right shoulder.

“Oh no, Gruko should have asked if this frail thing had seen broody Hally. Oh well.”

*Rustle*

“Hmmm?” Just as Gruko had turned around and was about to leave, he heard the noise of rubble shifting behind him.

“What kind of braindead maniac… just hits… without even bothering to hear someone out?” Getting up from the floor was no easy task after taking such damage. The rubble which had piled on top of me didn’t help much either. To be honest if I hadn’t used my aura to coat my body in a protective layer, I would most likely be dead by now. Better yet I should’ve pretended to be dead. But this rage that wells and swirls within me… he must know my rage.

“You… alive? After getting hit by Gruko? Impossible!”

“Shut up!”

“Whu-?”

“I said shut up! You babbling buffoon! Who the fuck attacks someone when they’re on the toilet!? Not only is that the most vulnerable state one can be in, it’s also just plain fucking rude! To add, what kind of nasty pervert are you!? I was clearly in the middle of something, pants down, guard down. YOU DIDN’T EVEN LET ME WIPE!!!!” An explosion of air burst outwards from within my body. My anger was justified, his too. Neither one of us was in the right, but that didn’t matter to me. My dignity had just been destroyed, my pants? Still all the way down. My ass? Unwiped. A despicable scenario all caused by this imbecile that speaks in third person. I want his death, at my hands.

“Are you even listening? Bastard!” In my enraged state I had failed to notice that the freak in front of me had gone completely still, almost as if he fell asleep standing up.

“Where is Gruko, why is there no light?” Whilst listening to Ren's rant, Gruko’s mind had been transported into a completely black space. A lightless abyss. Gruko couldn’t even see his own hands, or feel the club he held previously. As he tried his best to look around whilst turning his body in all directions, he began to feel a chill run down his spine. A feeling of helplessness and manic anxiety that breathed onto the back of his tough grey skin. Gruko, being a warrior, has seen countless battles. The last time he had felt anything close to fear was when he first fought against the demon emperor, way back when he was still recruiting powerful warriors for his conquest of world domination. To Gruko, that feeling was not just foreign. His body had long forgotten such a feeling, and his already low IQ brain couldn’t even begin to process it properly. He slowly turned back around to try and understand. Maybe this strange feeling was coming from some being which stood behind. Still unable to see anything, Gruko began to feel even more helpless. Not being able to see when you could so all your life can definitely be a shocking experience. However, sight was not something Gruko had a great deal of reliance for. What truly scared him was the fact that even when he couldn’t see the threat, every cell that connected together to create the orc could still feel the impending doom.

“Wha-” Just as Gruko was about to speak. He saw it. Eyes of a fiery gold, each one as large as the orc itself. They illuminated a part of the endless darkness, only to reveal the snout of the scaled creature. A nose and mouth so massive that Gruko could barely make out where the nose began, and the eyes rested. Dwarfing the orc entirely, the dragon let out a slight breath. Steam came out of its nose and covered the darkness in a fog through which only its glowing, eclipsed-sun, orbs for eyes could be seen. A being so large that it enveloped the darkness it resided in. Gruko’s brain was incapable of processing it. He had seen mighty dragons, and felled them before. Yet this one… Was far superior than anything he or anyone in the tower could even imagine. A cataclysmic disaster of a creature, with a power that is yet to be seen. Poor old Gruko. In that moment his brain had completely shut down from fear. It had tricked itself into thinking that it was already dead, and began killing off the rest of Grukos body.

“ARGHHHH WHATEVER! FUCK YOU MAN!” There was no time to question his strange behaviour. After all, if he wanted to ignore me he is well within his rights. Just makes it easier for me to kill him. From my anger I used both hands to grip the sword handle, in that moment I channelled all of my power into my legs. Moving the aura to them in order to reach my target as quickly as possible. It all felt… natural. Like I already knew what to do reflexively despite never training in such endeavours before. Shooting off from my spot, I propelled myself taking minimal steps across the floor. Gliding over the surface of the floor, sword point held behind me, and as I reached the receiver of my rage, I swung horizontally across his body. The sword went through the muscular, jagged frame like it was cutting air. Reminding me once more of the blade’s power. Bringing the sword back, I twisted my wrist placing the sharp edge to face the ceiling before committing to a vertical slash pushed upwards from below. Even though my opponent was now cut into 4, blinded by my anger I continued to hack away at his flesh. With each strike, as deadly as the last. Slice, after slice, after slice, after slice. The process continued on for what felt like a satisfying 5 minutes. In reality it was most likely a few seconds. Empowered by aura and the smoothness of the blades cutting, I mangled the ugly creature's remains into minced meat. Finally finishing my onslaught with the sword facing upwards as I held it and my arm in a state of triumph. It took a second before the flesh fell to the floor, and all the blood which ended up above me, rained down in a dramatic scene of brutality.

“Ahhh, I still haven’t wiped…”

Taking us back to floor 75 of the tower, Isabelle was getting less patient by the minute.

“That stupid orc. How long does it take to go down some floors and look for a general?” Being the leader of the 5 generals, her role was to manage them as well as look after the rest of the tower. The most trusted person in the demon emperor's army. His right hand woman.

“Gruko! Where are you?” Using her telepathy allowed her to communicate with anyone she has previously come in contact with. Her role during the demon emperor’s conquest was crucial, not only was she the main line of communication between the army’s many legions. She was also unparalleled when it came to magical combat. Being hailed as the witch of annihilation, among her many other nicknames. Sadly, her telepathy had yet to work since Hallimers absence. This had only happened when the subject she wanted to contact had already died. A ridiculous thought, and almost unimaginable. The current day army had no enemies. They had won the war long ago and subjugated or killed anyone who dared oppose them. Not to mention that the two she was trying to contact were generals. The highest echelon of warriors.

“Fine, if neither one of you wants to respond then I’ll just take a peek myself.” She closed her eyes and concentrated her energy into her vision. Along with telepathy, Isabelle possessed another unique skill granted to her upon birth. This is what made her a fearsome mage as well as second in command.

“All-seeing.” As her eyelids lifted, a noticeable change had occurred. Her blue, snake eyes had turned to a deep purple. With the irises morphing from slits to hexagonal shapes which overlapped each other. This ability allowed Isabelle to peer through space, several layers of it in fact. She could see the different dimensions and how they stacked up to create the reality she and everyone else resided in. Being able to see through all the physical, metaphysical and theoretical planes of existence. Her first objective was to check on the missing general holding the ‘V’ seat, Hallimer. Whilst looking through the floors she eventually moved to floor 0.

“What! This is impossible!” Standing up from her seat in a confused panic, Isabelle gripped into the table with her long fingers. Leaving scratch marks from her sharp nails as she looked at the scene of floor 0. Remnants of a hard fought battle, and the carcass of one of the strongest generals across the 5 of them. Her shock was understandable, after all, there hadn’t been a worthy challenge for even the lowest ranked foot soldiers since the war ended. Yet her vision was showing her the lifeless body of Hallimer, the suspect nowhere in sight. To confirm her theory, she looked further up the tower to try and find Gruko. The only thing she found however, was a single man on floor 20. Covered in a blanket of blood, sword arm pointing upwards victoriously, and before him. A gigantic pile of pink, red and grey giblets.

“Ghk!” She placed her palm on her right eye whilst squinting her left. A pain shot through her brain and optic nerves as she tried to get a look at the man standing in front of her dead comrade. Not being able to make out his facial features or anything more than the gory sight surrounding him. Almost as if her unique eyes were not allowed to look, with serious reprimand to follow if disobeyed.

“Who is that? How did it end up here?” Deactivating her vision, she began questioning herself. The answers could not be found within, yet she was cautious about rushing out to find out. After all, if her theory of this man being the murderer of 2 generals was true. Then the battle between herself, and him. Would not only prove challenging, but may even end in her untimely death.

“Kei and Wei can you both hear me?”

“Yes, what is it big sis Izzy?” The two beings answered in unison to Isabelle. One seemed rather uninterested whilst the other was quite eager.

“We appear to have an intruder, he has already defeated Hallimer and Gruko.”

“Whaaaaa!? But those two are like, insanely strong!?”

“Yes, meaning that he must not be underestimated. His current position is floor 20. I assume he will keep climbing the tower and will reach floor 40 eventually. I shall send troops to intercept. However, if he makes it through… I authorise full power.”

“Really? It’s been a while since we got to go all out. Are you sure we’ll need to?” The less interested voice had become more lively, perking up immediately to the idea of an all out battle.

“2 Generals lie dead, we cannot lose any more. No more shame can be brought to our lord's name. Get it done.” With those last words Isabelle had severed the telepathic link.

“Aye aye, cap’n” The pair looked at each other both with mischievously ecstatic grins on their faces.

“Looks like it’s time for a party sis!”

“Oh boy I can’t wait!!!”