"So, how long do we have in here before we need to head back?" Asked Renaldi as we walked up another set of twisting stairs. We'd been through several more rooms, one of which was another gargoyle trap. "And what are we looking for here exactly? Aside from the spellbooks I mean."

I shrugged. "Couldn't tell you. I saw something on one of the murals that makes me think this place might have some relation to Suvaya. Whoever built it might have left behind some books or something that will help us identify the conduits. Knowing where each one is and what they can do would be a pretty big help. If not, then yeah, spellbooks are the main goal here. We still have a few hours before we need to head back."

Probably more than that, but I was accounting for the annoying trip back UP the damned mountain, which took much longer than the trip down. Maybe one of these books would have a damned teleport spell in it. He seemed unruffled. "How about the tower? Any idea how much further we have to go?"

Sierra, who was talking to Abel about sausage recipes of all things, looked up at that. "Oh, I can answer that. I don't have a map or anything but based on the construct layout used for..." She waved a hand. "This. We have maybe one or two more floors."

I sighed with relief. "Well, I just hope the library at the top is of more use. The one we found on the lower floor wasjust a dumping ground for books. Some interesting stuff in there, granted, but only two spellbooks. If we're lucky the rest of them will be up top." I still wasn't sure what type of magic the tower's master had done, since the two books we found had been based in different things.

When we reached the next room, we found another four way intersection, and Sierra called us to a halt. She'd told us at the last one that the spiralling staircases served another interesting purpose aside from shielding. They also made it functionally impossible to tell if you were walking up or down. These four way rooms were another sort of trap we'd bypassed with the compass.

Since they were WITH us, there was no way to know exactly which door to take, but Sierra was able to use the spell construct's orientation in regards to the tower to determine which spellwork was leading upwards instead of down. That let us at least keep moving in the same direction.

As she did her thing, I glanced over the floor. The mosaic here was different, in that the woman's strawberry blonde hair had faded to white. Her face was only lightly lined with age, which made sense since she was an Ascendant. In this mural, she sat in a chair, looking out a window at a darkened sky with a huge moon in it. Seventeen lines traveled from the ground to the moon, and I became even more convinced this place held some information about Suvaya.

We climbed another staircase, and when we reached the second to last room, it became clear that this was where we'd been meant to end up. Sierra turned around, double checking her work. "That four way intersection is where all the other paths lead. Any way you climb the tower you end up here eventually." She pointed at the door on the far end of the room. "That'll be the way to the peak of the tower."

As the last of us stepped into the room, the doors slammed shut. I was half expecting another gargoyle trap, but instead the mural on the floor began to glow. No, not mural, murals. In fact, Surrounding the big final mural on the ground was smaller versions of ALL the other murals, seemingly in order.

There was the woman in her dress, running from the dark forms, the knight, the sad woman in the chair, but laid out like this and interspersed with other murals from rooms we'd presumably skipped or bypassed, they told a complete story.

"She wasn't native." I said in realization. "She entered by accident. Not during an awakening, but just...slipped through the distortions by mistake. She was F-rank, so she didn't die, but she was talented. She spent her life learning about this place. How it worked. Why it was the way it was. She found the temples, figured out what was coming, but she couldn't do anything to stop it."

As we watched, the murals began to move, one at a time, acting out the stages of her life, showing us what she'd been through. She'd made a home here. Made friends, found family. Tried to help the people here as best she could while she lived. She traveled for a while fighting monsters, hence the knight. But she'd lived too long. The awakening came, the outsiders descended.

"They killed her." Said Jessie in a whisper. "The worshippers in the local kingdoms convinced them she was evil. They sent people like us to kill her off, and they did."

"That's why I didn't contact the locals about the ritual." I said bitterly. "Aside from the insanity that is local factional politics, we don't know how many of her loyalists are still here. They've dug in deep from what we were told. If they find out we're trying to ruin the ritual...well, I'd rather just avoid the whole thing."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Callie pointed at the second to last mural. The woman, looking sad and resigned, putting a map in a small chest and locking it. She handed the key to what looked like a younger version of herself who inserted it into her own heart. Some kind of golem or something. As the motions reached the final mural, the center of the circle lit up. A picture of the woman in the dress.

Gingerly, she stepped forward out of the image, walking into three dimensional space, the world warping as she appeared standing upright, looking at us peacefully.

The golem was...a work of art. She looked like a real person, but somehow even more lifelike. Skin made of literal ivory, hair carved into curling waves from flickering rubies, eyes with irises of actual sapphires. She felt...strong. Like Crighton felt strong. Impact. Forty points at least. I didn't think we would be able to beat her if we fought.

Smiling warmly, she nodded to us. "Well done." She said cheerfully. "You found the combination. I do so appreciate the release, I was getting quite bored."

"Combination?" I said in confusion. "We just read the story. Exactly as it was laid out. I don't see how that could be considered a combination. Haven't any other people managed to get this far?" I wasn't really in a position to argue, but that seemed a bit too easy.

She shook her head, the stone she was made from moving like flesh and hair without any stiffness. It was disconcerting to watch. "Not at all. Firstly, this tower was sealed with the death of its owner. The harvest approaches, and it shows itself once more. Secondly, the combination was for someone to learn the WHOLE story. An understanding of the ritual was key to that puzzle, as was the perspective of an outsider. Had you lacked those components...this conversation would have gone much differently."

Which implied the tower had read our minds or something. I'd normally be creeped out, but I had other things to worry about. "Alright. So...can you help us? We need to find and eliminate the conduits before Suvaya manifests or a lot of people are going to die. Can you tell us where they are?"

"I can." She said calmly. "But before I do so, I must test your mettle. The key contains a map and a ritual diagram that the tower master compiled over her long life. To earn it, I must taste defeat."

I grimaced. Because of course she must. "We're expected to beat you? Because with your Impact I'm pretty sure you could crush us. You've got to be at the peak of F-rank stat wise, and given you're an animated pile of rocks I'm guessing you're pretty Might focused."

She shook her head. "As I said, only a taste is required. A single blow to prove your competence. You must be strong enough to weather what's to come. To defeat the strongest of the conduits, this level of strength is the minimum. Should you fail the test...a quick death here would be much more merciful than the fate you may suffer when the harvest comes."

"I have one question." Said Callie before we started. "How did you make sure this place would be found? Just leaving it to sit and wait would have been way too big a leap of faith, even considering fate sense."

The golem chuckled. "The tower master mapped the starlight slides during the last 'awakening'. She arranged for the tower to relocate when next the moon was revealed. Now, which of you will be attempting the challenge. Only one may attack." I looked at Abel, who nodded, stepping forward.

Walking over, I laid a hand on his shoulder. Mercy Kill, Afterburner, and with a very large amount of effort, I even channeled Marked for Death through him, targeting the golem. I swayed on my feet a bit as I stepped back, but I could see the power thrumming through him. "If we pass, you give us the key and escort us to the chest?" I asked intently.

"Not only that." Said the golem. "I will aid you in your quest." That was...useful. If this worked.

"Alright." I nodded. "Abel, hit her with everything you've got. No holding back." He grinned at me, cracking his neck as he stepped back. I saw him take up a stance, fist cocked back and readying for the blow. Afterburner gave ten hits of amplified power, and with his stacking ability he'd be able to layer those. To my shock though, I saw his hands start to glow as they transformed into golden flame.

It occurred to me the only time I'd seen Abel cut loose was in the tournament. Without the single fighter rules, he had another source of power. His bond with Mel. It had to be at least as strong as the one I had with Callie, he was the one who taught it to us.

Space warped, and he stepped back, leaving behind a flaming image of his body. Then another step, and another. When he finished, there were nine figures in varying positions in a line behind where he'd been. Like looking at a stop motion instruction for a wind up and a punch. Abel, standing at the back of the line now, took a deep breath, and then flickered forward through the lubricated space.

As he took each position he overlapped and stacked the flaming versions of himself, all of them heavily condensed from powerful flame but not harming him at all. It was like watching someone wind up and perform a martial arts kata on fast forward, and when he reached the end he let out a roar of challenge and SWUNG, with every single bit of force he had in him.

A crystallized image of living flame condensed from his Expert level Ragam Skill appeared in front of the golem and brutally smashed a fist into the figure. On impact, the construct exploded in a massive firestorm of force and fire, swallowing the thing whole.

As the flame faded, i saw the golem standing there, mostly unharmed. Mostly. From its nose dripped a single bead of melted ruby, like a drop of blood. Looking down at the floor I saw a small scuff in front of one of the dainty diamond heels. The golem nodded, smiling slightly as she wiped her nose. "Well done. You pass. Barely." Turning her back on us, she waved a hand and the door behind her opened on its own. "Now come. Claim your prize."