You humans fight and struggle against everything. You resist everything, even yourselves. Humanity’s flaw is their need to compare themselves to others leading to greed, desire, resentment, and finally… betrayal. Brothers turn on brothers for mere trinkets. I actually pity you humans. For beasts, we never betray the pack unless forced to make decisions for the survival of the majority.

~Cernunnos, Lord of the Wild Things

Light from outside refracted and reflected its way down into the depths of the crystal cluster, creating plenty of light for them to see. The various shades of green and blue shifted constantly, and Crow felt like he was swimming underwater and staring up at the sun above the surface.

The light also created an equal amount of shadows, making it hard to see more than a hundred meters. There was no variance in the tunnel’s incline, width, or straightness for almost an hour. The only change was that the deeper they went, the colder it was. Even passively using Night Fire couldn’t hold off the Frigid Mana, so periodically, he had to bring the heavenly flame to the surface to chase away the chill.

The other two were even worse off than him, but they managed to keep going.

Crow’s hand reached out to touch the walls, but Hooligan slapped it away. Instead of explaining, she took out a cucumber from her Shield at the expense of strange looks from him and Munro. Crow had a feeling if Hooligan knew where his mind just went, she’d beat the shit out of him. She pressed one end of the vegetable against the wall, and it froze so fast that it shattered before the Frigid Mana could claim the rest of it.

“How did you know?” Crow asked and then looked down at his boots. “And how come it’s not freezing our feet?”

“This is a Frigid Starburst, which is like a crystal cluster, just made from frozen and condensed gases. And I’ve no idea why the ground doesn’t freeze us, but my mom said that within the frozen gases are micro-formations condensed from the Truths. The answer is probably in there somewhere.”

“Who are your parents?” Crow asked, finding that Hooligan’s brain contained a lot of mysterious knowledge. She also had a strange set of skills, and the best contradiction was that he knew most of her violent leanings mainly were for show. A way to protect herself.

“Do you really know what I look like under these wrappings?” Hooligan answered in return.

“No. However, I don’t need to see your face to recognize you with or without the wrappings. Your aura is deeply imprinted in here.” Crow tapped his head. “But I don’t think you need to worry about that. If I’m not wrong, you are from a different tower anyway. The chances of us meeting again outside of here are low.”

“Wait, what?” Munro interrupted. “There is more than one tower?”

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“Twelve Towers of Day or Night,” Crow said, not hiding it. It was knowledge they should learn or know at some point. “We come from the Tower of False Dawn, and our Shield is the Soul Shield. It’ll protect us from all curses or other abilities that attack the soul. Ironic, isn’t it?”

Munro stared at Crow with guilt in his eyes.

“I come from the Tower of the Sacred Sun,” Hooligan said.

“Gloom Shield.”

“H-how do you know that?”

“What’s a Gloom Shield?” Munro asked.

“A Shield that protects her from spells related to Dark Mana and grants her an innate ability and potential to master Dark related techniques.”

“Seriously, how do you know that?”

“I met someone from your tower during another trial years ago. But I cannot say more than that, as it is his secret, not mine.”

“Your tower is broken, right? My father once told me of a tower destroyed by the Alliance of the Eclipse.”

“I don’t believe it’s true, but yes.”

“Why am I just hearing about all this?” Munro asked. “And why do you think our tower isn’t broken? It is called Tur Briste, which literally means shattered tower.”

“Do you think an upper realm group of nobodies can really destroy something created by primordial gods? I don’t. I think it is easier to convince people it can’t be climbed and erode their willpower than damaging the tower itself.”

“The tower walls were destroyed!” Munro argued.

“Those walls weren’t built by the primordials. Regular cultivators and gods worked to encase the towers in a sheath that would prevent anyone that exited the realm from drifting out into the infinite and disappearing.”

Hooligan listened and tried to memorize everything that was being said. Crow seemed to be a treasure trove of knowledge, and she regretted they weren’t from the same tower.

“And are you sure you can reach the upper realms?” She finally asked.

“I am.”

“Why?”

Because I will help the Draoidh will retake everything they lost! Crow wanted to say but kept it to himself. “Instinct?”

Hooligan nodded, but their conversation ended because they arrived at a massive chamber. The Frigid Starburst was hollow, and in its center was a dazzling spectacle of light and water. Piles of tiny crystals were scattered on the areas that weren’t underwater. Crow watched as water droplets froze from the mist and landed on various stacks.

The Shrine was in the middle of what Crow hesitantly called a lake. The water radiated danger similar to the crystalline walls. One touch, or maybe even a breath, would instantly freeze weaker people. Crow might offset it with his Night Fire, but he wasn’t confident enough to try.

“It’s a maze.”

“What?” Munro asked.

“We can’t go over the water, so no matter what, avoid it. Stay in the center of these winding ice paths, and follow those to reach the Shrine.” Since the flowing water randomly changed direction, they had to stay hyper-focused. Actually, he wasn’t sure if the water changed or the ice trails floating on it. “We have to move fast, or we’ll have to recalculate our path as we move forward.”

“You know the path?” Hooligan asked.

“The current one, yes. But give me half a day to observe so I can find the safe spots.”

“Four hours,” Munro replied. “I’m not sure I can survive longer than that.”

Crow looked at Hooligan, who shook her head. She seemed to understand that he was asking if she had a method to help.

“Fine, we can attempt it in three hours. However, it’ll be dangerous. I’ll guide us, but neither of you can hesitate. The droplets from those waterfalls make this trek so dangerous because I believe they are just as deadly as trying to jump over the water. So while I study the shifting patterns and find safe stopping points, you two observe the waterfalls for any changes.”

They were afraid to sit down, so they spent the next several hours standing and observing with high vigilance. Crow didn’t need them to do anything, but he figured keeping their minds busy would help distract them from the cold.