Return of the Tower Conqueror

  Memories

Nearly a week had passed since Cain and Sera had bunched inside the makeshift cave, spending their days either chatting idly or sleeping. The latter had grown somewhat accustomed to the former's antics, forcing Cain to step up slightly as to not become 'obsolete' as he claimed.

He had also noticed quite a few visitors over the past six days, but most just skirted about on the far outskirts without daring to venture inside. After all, the residual Mana from his battle with Mael was still burning infernally, making it virtually impossible for nearly everyone to actually step within the 'domain'.

He replayed the battle inside his head time and time again, infinitely so; every single mistake he did, every single close call, every improvement he could have made... there were so many. He was still stuck in the mindset before 'Awakening', having made up quite a few Skills on the spot during the fight. Even worse than that, however, he had also come to realize that 'Spellweaving' wasn't about preparedness either.

The truth was that he'd actually forgotten quite a few Skills he'd created-- considering the sheer number of them, it wasn't surprising. Stats, after all, didn't really result in 'giga-brain'; within a nanosecond that's determining life or death, it was impossible for him to pull out a perfect Skill for just that moment, oftentimes resulting in the usage of subpar Skills.

Sighing, he relaxed slightly, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he looked outside into the great dark. He'd done it again, just like the previous floor. Essentially absconded everyone to have fun on his own. The fact that he didn't get the 'cleared floor' message-- and any message besides the confirmation of the kill-- spoke to the fact that Mael was just an optional, 'fun' challenge. If he'd just stuck with the others and let the old man take the Moonstone, they'd have probably already finished other bosses and cleared the Floor.

Furthermore, he wouldn't be needing to sit still in recovery for so long, stuck in the silence of his own mind. In the end... it's borin', huh?

It was the scary truth he realized quite some time ago-- there was a good chunk of him that bathed in the delirium of fighting, of the spectacle of it all. Even though he spoke to Emma as though he was above it, the 'Mana disease' was within him too, but just in a different way. He fought for two decades, almost all of it well above his actual means. Every corner was a poisoned dagger, every dark window hiding a creeper, every night a sullen falling of demons. It was difficult, if not impossible, to vanish those instincts.

His desire to fight, essentially, had become instinctual; rather than a 'drug', it was more akin to a 'need' and primitive desire-- almost like sex. Sighing again, he turned to the side and saw Sera staring at him blankly while chewing on some beef jerky.

"I'm boooored~~," he exclaimed. "Dance for me!"

"..."

"Fine, sing for me!"

"..."

"Tsk, you're the most useless daughter-in-law ever."

"S-shut up..." Sera reacted somewhat angrily, growling at him.

"How were you guys 'Awakened' anyway, if you don't mind me asking?" Cain said suddenly, surprising her.

"Huh?"

"I was just wondering whether the process was the same," he added. "Or is there something special to it?"

"... I think it's different," Sera replied. "After all, we were force-fed 'cores', so to say."

"Cores?"

"Hm," she nodded. "Remnants of the fallen 'Awakened'."

"Ah, Blood Crystals." Cain's expression furrowed slightly. "Quite... devious."

"They were apparently left by those who died during the last Crucible," Sera elaborated. "But I don't know how the qualifications measure us or who gets a chance to 'Awaken'."

"... you didn't wanna Awaken like that anyway, trust me," Cain said. "Just follow daddy Cain. You'll be stronger than your brother in no time."

"Does a day-- nay, an hour pass without you bragging about something?"

"That's the key in maintaining confidence-- every day, at least twice, voice something you love about yourself!"

"... what's that? Sounds stupid."

"Let's do it!"

"Ah, I said too much."

"Yup," Cain grinned. "Alright, I'll go first-- I love my insurmountable wit, and I love my big heart that has enough love for everyone~~ you go!"

"..." Ah, she physically shuddered in cringe. That musta been harrowing...

"And I love my daughters, and I love my wife, and I love my friends, and I love the fact I can love so much--"

"Stop, stop, please, in the name of all that is holy, just stop!! You're killing me!!"

"Pfft..."

"Can you physically even feel embarrassed?!!" Sera quizzed, her cheeks red with fire.

"... na, I don't think so," he replied with a strange tone of melancholy. "Is that bad?"

"... very. Makes you say really, really stupid stuff all the time."

"Eh? No, no, that has nothing to do with embarrassment." Cain corrected.

"It doesn't?"

"Na, that's just 'cause I'm stupid to begin with."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Yup, my humor wins again. Aaah..."

"S-pfft-shut up, ha ha ha ha, you dumbass..."

The bell-like laughter rang against the cave's walls, a welcome melody to the otherwise dreary reality. Cain's lips relaxed into a smile as he watched the young girl fight with herself. In many ways, no matter his complaints, all his actions were worth it. They'd go out when they are done, likely for years, but Sera, Anna, Izirdul and others would stay behind to lick their wounds and try to stand back up. This Kingdom would likely enter the time-loop, becoming a dungeon-- people will continue to swarm this place and fight the bosses, get the items, and move on.

Those living here, however, would stay; breathing through the same reality over and over again until they are finally freed, some distant day in the future. Was it worth it? Suffering for who-knows-how-many-times just on the off-chance that, one day, you might become someone great? Most of them wouldn't.

Cain recalled the 'Purging' quite well-- it was... hell-- hell akin to nothing else he had ever or would ever come to see. Within the span of a single year, close to a billion of Tower-natives would end up dying. Graves would stack into mountains, and entire chunks of continents were cleaved into 'Floaters' that acted as graveyards.

It wasn't even people from Earth that led the charge in the slaughter-- certainly, just like Cain himself, they participated. He used a good chunk of Tower-natives as fodder while searching for specific items, but they numbered, at worst, in a few hundreds-- most of the casualties were the result of the 'Tower Wars', as they were dubbed. There was a massive influx of Tower-natives ascending to the higher floors and trying to carve out their place. All the 'Awakened' from the sub-fiftieth floor that were acting as loot pinatas by that point were suddenly freed from the restraints.

Whoever is in charge of the Tower must have known-- even Cain knew. Well, rather than 'knew', the news itself shocked the world-- for a good year or two, the Tower was nearly barren of people from Earth, save for either complete morons, high-end superstars, or people like Cain, who wrung star-eyed and expectant Tower-natives and played them like a fiddle.

But once the information surfaced, nearly everyone groaned audibly-- wasn't it obvious, after all? Repressed for years, and fed up with being treated like nothing more than mobs, and finally freed and given the opportunity to chase after they wanted... was there any doubt there would be a swarm?

Wars were everywhere; Cain himself participated in three over the span of two years. The scale... just thinking about it sent shivers to his spine. It wasn't something that could be replicated on Earth-- after all, gathering nearly eighty million souls to fight a single battle... that's just impossible. Yet, within the Tower, on the 'Death's Plains', exactly that happened. Land, underground, and the sky... all became battlefields for eight months of constant warfare. At the start, there were two loose alliances, eventually breaking off into smaller and smaller chunks until it simply became a free for all arena.

One of the key reasons why he was able to 'jump the hump' was precisely this war-- he'd shot almost forty Levels up thanks to it, an unprecedented feat at the time. He wasn't alone, however; there were many that arose and became Superstars precisely out of the ashes of the 'Purging'. Items that were gathered during that period would incomparably crash the economy, ensuring it didn't repair even until Cain left.

It was likely different for the Superstars; they hung around only for the first month of battling, taking out the highest-leveled bosses before just moving on onto the higher floors since it was more beneficial to them. But, for the rest of the world... it was like a downpour after decades of drought.

"What are you thinking?" Sera asked suddenly.

"Nothing," Cain replied. "It's about time. We should get going."

"Huh? Are you healed?"

"Na, not even close."

"Then just shut up and rest!"

"I'm fine enough to walk back," Cain said. "Where a healer can just heal me to full normally."

"... oh."

"Ah, how impulsive. Whoever said opposites attract was clearly a dumbass..."

"Huh? What do you mean? Cain? What do you mean? Hey, don't ignore me. Cain! What do you mean?! Cain!!"

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