Chapter 265: Tower in the Mountains

“What a shitty place.” Aether sighed.

This cave was far worse than the one Kade had found before.

Stalagmite towered over them; it was like a complete roof over them, ready to fall and kill them all in a second, and for some reason, they were dripping with water, which made him wonder what was on top of the cave, since he couldn’t see the top of it before this.

Either way, the water flowed down from above, making it feel like it rained; it was going to be hard for them to sleep through it. They will probably not get a lot of sleep. He was used to it, but the family was definitely not.

’Good luck to them.’

They already seemed to regret their decision to come with them, but would waiting really have been a better idea? No, while they didn’t know this, if he hadn’t taken the job, the receptionist would have thrown it away. So there wasn’t a next time; this had been their only chance, and they were lucky he even wanted the job.

Kade was busy making a fire, with the family waiting impatiently for him to do so, Selmira even shouting at the boy, but Kade didn’t seem to mind her, focusing on his task.

He, meanwhile, retreated to a dark corner in the room and sat down.

There had been something he wanted to do for a while, but never had the chance to do so.

That dream he had, he never got to the end of it.

Why had he been a shadow? Why did he lead himself to that statue?

“Do you have any idea?” Aether said, turning his head to a Lost. But it just shrugged its shoulders.

“Really helpful you are, thanks.” He rolled his eyes.

The statue had to mean something, after all, he got a weird feeling when he was close to it, like he knew the person it was made after, but when had he seen someone like him?

And it wasn’t just like he felt as if he had just met him, but that he knew him for his whole life, like a friend he had known his whole life. Who was he?

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he remembered something.

[Tear of Darkness].

It had been some time since he got it; many months had passed since his first battle with Denial, where he had to deal with it in little parallel worlds. Yet, while he was able to defeat him, and learn how to deal with them.

There was something he still didn’t understand.

Why, in a place that was meant to hold his memories, were there some he didn’t remember?

At first he had though that they belonged to the Abyss, but he denied this.

So then, who did they belong to, or was he just lying to him?

If he was or if he wasn’t something, those memories were important, really important, after all, one of them held this relic, which was of the highest class to exist, a class meant for the gods, given to a rock.

And yet the rock did nothing, no message, it had one ability, and that one did nothing, plus, he couldn’t even see its description.

Plus, Voidpiercer knew something about it, and he didn’t want to say anything about it, or rather, he wasn’t allowed to say anything. Which had to mean that the rock was related to the Abyss.

But then he knew nothing else about it.

What he wanted to get to was what happened after he got it, that time when he jumped from the tower, and meant that weird figure, it looked similar to the one in the statue… but if it was him, then why was he guiding himself to it?

What was he trying to say? That he knew him somehow, that they needed to meet, well, it’s not easy to become a Harbinger, since the figure said they would meet only when he reached that level.

The Abyss’s history is buried deep by the Breakers, but he never expected there was so much of it, and how complicated it was. It made him wonder if there was more, just how deep did it go…

…

…

…

Night came, and after a lot of trying, the family finally managed to fall asleep.

Kade also looked to be close to finally sleeping.

Sadly for him, he didn’t plan on letting him do so.

Aether walked to him and nudged him awake.

“Wakey wakey, little guy, it’s time for training?”

Kade turned to him, clearly frustrated.

“So late at night? How am I supposed to beat any monsters at night?”

Aether rolled his eyes. “You won’t have to if you keep your guard up, consider this a test.”

Kade groaned. The boy definitely didn’t want to do this, but he knew he had no choice. Aether was not going to stop until he got up.

So with his body screaming to go back to sleeping, the boy sat up, and gave Aether a cold shoulder as he left the cave, with Aether following from a distance.

If he stood next to him, no monsters would attack, and the test would be for nothing, so he needed to take some distance.

It was cold outside, really cold. It also reminded him of the night after his battle with the worm.

Speaking of it, his wounds have gotten better; they were still visible, but they have started healing.

How much would he pay for Praise’s healing?

He really had it good in Frozen Crown.

Only now he realized just how much she had healed him, and how fast.

To not get lost, Aether decided to mark some stones along the way with his paintbrush. He had only used it a few times now, but he didn’t mind; he knew that he wasn’t going to use it a lot when he bought it. He only bought it for his plan with the rebellion. But it was also becoming helpful now.

Kade seemed to be doing well. The kid adapted quite fast. Even when tired, he still was able to keep his guard up, yet he still wasn’t able to see them, but he didn’t blame him. At first, he could also only see them with Eden; of course, things have changed now. And let’s not forget it was pitch dark, so it was hard to see anything.

If you didn’t have Eden, that is.

He was really happy with his ability.

…

Then Kade finally stopped, which surprised Aether.

“Um… you might want to see this.” The boy said.

’Huh?’ Aether tilted his head in confusion. But decided to see what the boy had seen.

…

…

Ahead of them, rising from the mountain like something placed there rather than built, stood a tall, narrow structure.

It pierced through the darkness, its form outlined faintly by the pale light of the night sky. The base was carved from the same gray stone as the mountain, yet smoother, shaped with a precision that the surrounding cliffs lacked. It did not blend in. It stood apart.

Vines had claimed parts of it.

They clung to the stone in thin, winding strands, wrapping around the surface in uneven paths. Some stretched upward, following the natural lines of the structure, while others crossed over themselves, forming tangled patterns that broke the clean design of the tower. Small, dark leaves grew along them, pressed close to the cold surface, shifting slightly whenever the wind reached them.

In places, the vines thickened, gathering around the edges of windows or along the base, as if trying to root themselves deeper into the stone. Some had dried, their leaves brittle and curled, while others still held a faint, dull green, stubbornly alive despite the cold.

The tower rose in a single, uninterrupted column, its surface marked by faint vertical lines that ran from its base to its peak, like veins etched into stone. Small windows dotted its height, thin and elongated, some glowing faintly with a dim, unnatural light that flickered behind the glass.

…’ What the heck is this doing here?’

A tower in the middle of the mountains, who had built it, and why?

And probably the best question… was someone this inside, or was it abandoned?

The vines told him that it had probably been left behind, but had it?

’Damn it…’ He really wanted to explore it, after all, he knew that it had to hide something, but at the same time, he knew they couldn’t because they had a job to do, they needed to get the family to the Harbor, and get their money for it.

It hurt his heart to neglect something that clearly held importance, and maybe it was also his adventurous instinct that made him want to explore it.

But he couldn’t.

…

But this didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do this after they were done with their task.

…

…

’We will be back… just you wait.’

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