A week later…

  Kael finally stepped out of the mystic bath.

  His footsteps boomed against the stone, and the floor cracked beneath his weight.

  Not because he was merely heavier—

  but because his whole body **thrummed with a new density**,

  as if matter itself had tightened around him.

  Every movement felt laden with an invisible gravity.

  His breath rose, hot and saturated with power.

  It seemed as though the simple act of walking threatened to fracture the resting chamber itself.

  He straightened slowly, steam tearing away from his shoulders.

  His eyes burned brighter than ever.

  — “At last,” he breathed, his voice lower now, almost resonant.

  “I thought that bath would never end.”

  He opened his mouth.

  His voice rang through the room.

  But something was wrong.

  It wasn’t him.

  It was like hearing a stranger speak through his vocal cords—

  a deeper timbre, saturated with echoes, almost metallic.

  A voice that vibrated, as if several tones overlapped into one.

  Kael frowned.

  He tried to form a simple word, but what came out were warped, unstable sounds.

  — “Aaahhh… Aeee… Aei… Aeeeiiiooo… Uuuuuu…”

  Like a child learning to speak.

  Raw syllables.

  Not meaning—just noise, heavy enough to shake the air.

  He went still.

  They were his sounds… yet they felt as if they came from somewhere else.

  Kael shook his head, trying to shake off the vertigo of his own voice.

  He remembered the Guide’s warning.

  The rest zone…

  he didn’t know when it would appear.

  What if it came too late?

  He clenched his fists.

  No.

  Better to deal with it now.

  — “While I’m at it… better buy what I need now. No point waiting.”

  He inhaled, focused his Magia, and opened the Merit Shop.

  Translucent panes blossomed before him, listing artifacts and runes.

  His eyes skimmed until—

  — “There. This one.”

  A dark-and-gold shard pulsed in the corner of the interface.

  **Universal Translation Rune.**

  Kael’s smile sharpened.

  — “Priority.”

  He confirmed the purchase.

  A heartbeat—then a **dry, vicious pain** detonated under his skin.

  — “Tss—”

  He grit his teeth.

  The rune didn’t carve the skin.

  It burned through it.

  Into the bone.

  Etching its shape stroke by stroke.

  Each incision felt like a heated chisel biting into his clavicle.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  A muffled crack echoed inside him.

  His breath hitched.

  When the pain receded, he looked down.

  A faint sheen glowed on the skin—

  but the true mark lay deeper, fossilized into his frame.

  ? Rune acquired: Universal Translation ?

  Kael exhaled, wiping the cold sweat from his brow.

  — “Etched… to the bone. No wonder it’s pricey.”

  He flexed his fingers.

  Breathing steadied.

  A dry laugh escaped him.

  Almost bitter.

  — “One more floor… and it’s done.”

  The Guide had said it.

  After Floor Five, the **Conquest Shop** would open.

  Not Merit trinkets.

  The real market.

  The Conqueror’s forge.

  His golden eyes glinted—

  2,920 points.

  More than enough to matter.

  He tightened his fist.

  Yes.

  He was eager.

  A soft shimmer blinked into view.

  A notice he had never seen.

  ? System: Combat reward — validated ?

  **New skill acquired**

  Name: *Shroud of Death*

  Rank: C

  Effect: *Allows the bearer to cross the Otherworld.*

  Kael stood still.

  A beat.

  Another.

  Of course.

  The specters.

  Their fall had forged more than remnants.

  The corner of his mouth twitched—

  half-smile, half-disbelief.

  He dismissed the pane.

  Thana’s faint shadow waited near the stone door—the same one the Guide had opened seven days ago.

  He had stayed inside the bath long enough.

  Thana paced.

  Her steps clicked sharply against the floor—

  one, two, one, two—

  a rhythm of suppressed impatience.

  Then a cold current of Magia sliced the air.

  Familiar.

  Vibrant.

  She stilled.

  He was coming.

  What hit her senses next froze her in place.

  He emerged from the corridor’s dark—

  and she stopped breathing.

  This wasn’t the same Kael.

  He had grown.

  A full head taller.

  His features sharpened—chiseled by pressure and rebirth.

  His hair had changed: deep black streaked with bluish flames, as if an inverted fire moved through every strand.

  But his aura—

  His aura **crushed the air**.

  It spilled from his skin like a suffocating tide.

  Blue-black. Heavy.

  A halo of death itself.

  The stone beneath him cracked with every step.

  Even his breathing had weight—

  a low resonance, alien and cold.

  Thana felt her spine go taut.

  A vertigo.

  Half awe, half dread.

  He stopped before her.

  The same Kael.

  And yet—

  not the same at all.

  — “So, princess… done with your bath at last?”

  Her voice trembled.

  Irony hung on the surface.

  But her eyes—

  moist, gleaming—

  betrayed her.

  She had waited.

  And the jab was only a mask.

  He reached up.

  His hand settled on her tiny head.

  A simple touch.

  A reassurance.

  Or a reward.

  He wasn’t sure himself.

  Thana stiffened.

  Her pride screamed to jerk away, to snarl and scold him.

  But warmth bloomed under her ribs.

  A rare, wordless softness.

  She would never admit it.

  Not aloud.

  But the truth stood plain:

  she was glad.

  More than glad.

  Something old—

  something lost—

  clicked back into place.

  Not chance.

  Not accident.

  A mechanism.

  A pairing.

  Kael and Thana.

  Two broken forces.

  Two battered shadows.

  Restored to their natural alignment.

  Their Magia hummed together.

  Their steps rang in tandem.

  Even the air seemed afraid to oppose them.

  A truth unfurled in the room.

  Cold.

  Immovable.

  It didn’t matter what stood before them—

  Human.

  Monster.

  Conqueror.

  Boss.

  God.

  Anything that blocked their path

  would break.

  They were no longer two.

  They were one blade.

  One will.

  One hunger.

  A hunger spelled in a single word:

  **Eradication.**

  Even if—

  let’s be precise—

  that’s only half the truth.

  Humans.

  Monsters.

  Conquerors.

  Bosses.

  Gods.

  Against half of these, they already had the power.

  But the other half?

  They would need more.

  Much more.

  And they would get it.

  Kael clenched his fists.

  His breath steadied—

  cold and unwavering.

  — “We’ll finish this tutorial,” he said softly.

  “Every floor.

  Every trap.

  Every abomination.”

  “We’ll take everything this Tower dares to give us.

  Stats.

  Skills.

  Relics.”

  “No matter the pain.

  No matter the price.”

  His golden eyes burned.

  His words weren’t a promise.

  They were a **sentence** handed down.

  — “And after that…

  I’ll eradicate anyone who stands in our way.”

  His voice cracked like a blade.

  Not a threat.

  A truth already written.

  At his side, Thana felt a shiver climb her neck.

  Not fear.

  Not doubt.

  Conviction.

  The kind that could swallow stars.

  He stepped forward.

  The stone fractured beneath his foot.

  His gaze did not waver.

  Accumulate.

  Ascend.

  Seize everything.

  Then ruin any who dared oppose him.

  Human.

  Monster.

  Conqueror.

  Boss.

  God.

  None of the names mattered.

  A glacial hush filled the chamber.

  And in that instant—

  He felt it.

  A call.

  Distant.

  Implacable.

  Burning.

  **The next Floor.**

  A furnace.

  Awakened.

  Waiting.

  And demanding its due.

  Thank you for reading ??