Days ago, Frei Lasren would have never imagined she would be in this situation. Not even during the scandal in the Sacred Forest, not even when she thought her whole family had died at the hands of that Saint of Truth combat healer woman. Even if she had lost her uncle, even if she had lost what she had in terms of family, she wouldn’t have felt like this. Because what was happening now, represented something else to her entirely.

  She was shaking, trembling with anxiety as she stared at the Shattered Tower that had sunken several meters into the ground. It was as if it was experiencing several earthquakes each second, and the times they stopped it was only for brief moments.

  Over two days had passed since the phenomena first occurred, since the Shattered Tower began to experience the current ongoing anomaly that signified a battle of epic proportions was unfolding; or as others theorized: symbolized that the god of the tower was angry. To her, it didn’t matter which one it was, because either way she was inside.

  Amber was inside of the tower. The same Amber that she had pledged her loyalty to in order to be able to see the world of the stars. The same Amber who had learned the secret of the gods, and was supposed to help her leave the Arcane Council. That Amber was inside of the Shattered Tower that was going through a catastrophic change. If her master died, she? would lose all reason to live.

  Her whole goal, her whole desire has always been to see that world; to see where her ancestors came from. After her family was destroyed by a Primordial Spirit that goal seemed impossible, yet she had dedicated herself to it for most of her life. She had become an Archmage, she had revolutionized shadow magic and became a well respected scholar. She had betrayed that path and joined the Arcane Council and?— all those efforts led nowhere.

  Her only hope was Amber, the girl who had befriended primordials, the girl that had access to the secret of the gods, and the same girl who was potentially about to die. It made her feel utterly helpless.

  She was strong, yes, but she couldn’t just brute-force herself into the Shattered Tower; she had tried but she hadn’t been able to get access. In a way, all her strength, all her efforts, all her achievements were pointless right now. It was no different to when she was a child, having no choice but to watch as fate decided her life.

  Whether she would lose everything again, or whether it was pointless to worry about it. She knew Amber was extraordinary, but… even then considering she herself could kill Amber if she went all out, and there were plenty of things that she herself could die to; it was hard to believe Amber was alright.

  Which is why she was shaking, why she felt lost and scared.

  “Frei… it’s okay, Amber will be fine,” a soft voice reassured her.

  Frei turned to the side and saw a golden-haired woman. It was the exiled marchioness from Cytel, the same noble who had tried to exile Amber from her country and was punished by her actions. And now, she was on their side with a rather soft expression. Normally, Frei would’ve recoiled at her voice and at the hand on her back, but right now it felt like the sky was falling; right now any mental fortitude she had as a centuries old being was gone.

  “It’s just…” She bit her lip. “What the fuck will I do if my master kicks the bucket? I can’t…”

  Crying right now was actually not that far off from what she wanted to do. Something that Aveline seemed to notice as she carefully spoke.

  “The Amber we know won’t die to that… and besides do you really think her god friends didn’t put some safe measures to ensure she doesn’t die?” she asked.

  Frei shook her head. “I dunno, considering how eccentric those damn lamps are, it's a fifty-fifty chance.”

  She bit her lip.

  “I can’t go back to having nothing, I can’t…”

  “Right.”

  Just like that there was silence, right now there was nothing to console her. The whole situation sucked ass. Not only had one of the most important places in the Republic of Mercenaries had gone up in flames ?— figuratively ?— but also the whole encampment that had been surrounding the place was almost gone.

  Everyone was too afraid that staying around would be the equivalent of tempting death, and maybe it was, but for her at least. If Amber didn’t survive then she didn’t care too much whether she lived, so she had no choice but to stay around. As for Aveline? Frei had no idea what she was staying around, but it’s not like she hadn’t tried to tell her to leave a day ago.

  The surroundings were barren with only three or so tents remaining and one of them was theirs. As for Remmel? He hadn’t been seen around, but it didn’t exactly matter to Frei right now. She was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to worry about anything else.

  She took out her notebook ?— it was magically linked to a twin one that she had given to Amber ?— then, she flipped through the pages ignoring the pages upon pages of bone rune carving schematics. Instead, she went to the last entry, where there were dozens upon dozens of short messages of Frei asking for an update and her condition.

  She understood that the time inside the tower was different, but that also made her worry even more. Considering the lack of reply it was incredibly worrisome; normally Amber would’ve replied by now.

  With shaking hands, she closed the notebook and finally turned back to the Shattered Tower.

  Is this it? Where my dreams end for good? She bit her lip. I even… kind of wanted to see how far she went…

  Amber was extraordinary by all measures, and being part of her story even in a small way for Frei was becoming a bit of an honor. She had slightly daydreamed of the day Amber became undoubtedly stronger and dwarfed her; the girl had that level of talent. But now…

  Her heart sank as she looked ahead.

  It was unlikely.

  I?—

  And the tower stopped shaking, and this time it didn’t resume, causing Frei’s heart to chill.

  Whatever had happened, was now over…

  * * *

  Amber took a long moment to register the words of the god before her. How couldn’t she? She had been in flow state, she had been ready to truly see where her limits lied, this was supposed to be the mere beginning, yet?— it was ending? That… that simply was… It was hard for her brain to parse at first, to realize that everything she had resolved herself for suddenly didn’t matter. It almost didn’t feel real.

  However, she had no choice but to accept it as she watched the spirit in silence. He met her gaze, with an almost defeated and resigned look. It almost felt… alien to her. And finally, as if to confirm this indeed had come to an end, the sword she had been wielding?—the Dragon Slayer Sword: Ar’kri?—disintegrated; the enchantments that had been put in place by the Primordial Spirit vanishing.

  Indeed, this whole ordeal was over. It didn’t make her depressed, but it did feel disappointing. Finally, she opened her mouth, not hiding her expression.

  “Aren’t you… a god?” she asked, her tone sad. “I thought… you… you know?— it hasn’t really been that long since this all started…”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  She hesitated as the Primordial Spirit lightly shook his head.

  “Do gods give up this easily?”

  A wry smile appeared on his face as he replied. “Amber, it’s been almost six months since you decided to attack me.”

  She blinked.

  What? Six months? But?—

  “Don’t worry, the time inside the tower is even more skewed. It hasn’t even been two days for the outside world,” he said simply. “And no, normally I wouldn’t give up in six months, but…”

  “But?”

  He looked at her. “You just are…”

  It almost looked as if he was hesitating if whether to speak or not, but finally he sighed; it was a very long sigh, a tired one.

  “You just are insane. Not only are you capable of producing combat strength of over two-hundred levels above you, but your rate of improvement is terrifying… if I kept you?— if I allowed you to keep this going…”

  He bit his lip and didn’t finish his sentence. Then, he shook his head, refreshing his thoughts.

  “Anyway, you win. You will not be a vessel, and I won’t ask anything of you.”

  He sat down as a formation of light came to be to serve him as a throne, he leaned back evidently tired.

  “I just don’t… want you to attack me anymore, you’re free to do as you please, for as long as you please…” He placed a hand on his forehead. “Just don’t use that accursed contract on me anymore.”

  “Right…”

  Once more, the situation didn’t feel real. Was this really the same spirit that had tried to deceive her into an Essence contract, and the very same spirit that had plotted to make her run out of lifespan to achieve his goals? It almost… almost… seemed…

  Pathetic?

  “Are you… serious?”

  He nodded. “Absolutely, besides the contract I’m under specifically tells me I cannot lie to you either. Which, by the way, I still don’t understand how you even became aware of the contract. But I don’t care anymore.”

  “I just read the lines between your words?” Amber hesitated. “Since you said he made you promise to not lay a finger on me it was worth trying…”

  “You just guessed?” his voice raised in disbelief, but soon took the previously depressed tone. “Well, should I say as expected of a future god? Why am I even surprised anymore,” he trailed off into a murmur.

  Amber stared at the god and hesitated. Wondering a very obvious question: what now? Was she just free to leave the tower? Probably. Should she leave right away? Probably not. There was something for her to still take care of?— she had a feeling of that at least.

  And as she stared at the Primordial Spirit before her she realized what it was. She couldn’t exactly leave empty handed?— at least she was sure if she left right now everything she stole would be taken back. And while she could exploit the contract to keep them, it just wasn’t her style. So at the very least, she had to have a somewhat amicable relationship with him.

  Somewhat.

  “I want to ask…” She hesitated. Was this even the right thing to ask? “Your contract… wasn’t it made a long time ago? How come I am included?”

  “It was mended,” he said simply.

  She blinked. “Did he come visit?”

  There was some silence before he shook his head, meeting her gaze.

  “I don’t know if you just don’t know or are asking to irritate me, but when a contract is so one-sided it’s possible to mend it remotely,” he explained. “It is not easy, far from it, but it is possible. Especially because my contract was done to two spirits, not just one.”

  “Right.”

  She didn’t necessarily understand why it wasn’t easy, or how difficult it was, but she supposed it wasn’t relevant to her, and it was obviously a topic the god didn’t want to continue, so she just let it go. However, she didn’t really know what to say, or what to do, so once more, just like earlier, there was silence.

  Amber sat on the ground to observe the spirit, and just like that literal hours passed. It wasn’t until a day in till the spirit finally opened his mouth.

  “You do realize you’re free to go, right?”

  She nodded slowly. “But it doesn’t feel right.”

  “Doesn’t feel right…” he muttered but she heard him, and a sigh left him. “In some ways, you’re human and in others you’re a monster…”

  “Thank you?”

  Was that supposed to be a compliment? She wasn’t actually sure. But after thinking about it, she supposed it wasn’t an insult either, just a passing comment.

  “You are a strange one. Out with it, what do you want?” he asked. “Surely you are seeking to gain something.”

  “I want to keep the All-powerful Pendant of Arkara,” Amber finally said.

  “Even if you asked to keep everything I wouldn’t have objected, but you can keep it,” he said, almost as if it was a matter of fact. “What else do you want to leave me alone? For the record I will not be using the hydra off-spring as my vessel.”

  “Right, then can I keep the egg too?”

  “If you are okay with it knowing you were the one to kill its progenitor, sure.”

  There’s something like that? Her face twisted in confusion, something the spirit obviously sensed as he elaborated.

  “Hydras, pass down the knowledge of their own bloodline to their progeny, to ensure that they don’t meet the same downfall twice?— well that’s just a theory. Which means every hydra has access to their ancestor’s knowledge. Which means that, yes, this newborn will have his progenitor’s experiences and make its own choices based on that.”

  He waved his hand dismissively.

  “Of course, if it’s hostile you can just kill it as a baby, or take the gamble to see if it betrays you. Whatever tickles your fancy.”

  “Okay…”

  That sounded… okay to her. She didn’t know how she felt about killing a baby hydra with sentience, but she supposed the gamble was okay. If she could recruit a companion that would become as strong as the hydra she fought then it would be worth it; at least that’s what she thought.

  Or maybe it was a bad idea, regardless there was still time till her departure.

  “Is there anything else you want?” the Primordial Spirit asked, evidently resigned for potential endless demands.

  Amber pursed her lips at that.

  While she could ask the Primordial Spirit numerous things and even find out why he was sealed, she had a feeling that it really wouldn’t change anything. It still didn’t feel right to leave, but she also realized that it didn’t feel right to stay either.

  This Primordial Spirit wasn’t exactly someone she wanted to befriend, and it wasn’t like he wanted to befriend her either. Indeed, maybe things between the two of them were just meant to be like this. Awkward. The god had tried to swindle her for his own goals, and she had beaten him for months on end for her own goals.

  That was the extent of her relationship with him.

  “There isn’t,” she finally said as she took out the teleportation rod she received.

  “Alright, then I hope this is our last encounter.” He nodded.

  Amber nodded back and turned.

  Finally, after god knows how long, it was time for her to depart from the Shattered Tower. It was clear to her that she wasn’t going to gain anything else here, no more levels, no more rewards. Even if she could’ve asked the spirit for more monsters to kill, she wasn’t one to take the easy path. Not now, nor ever.

  She glanced back. “You know, I don’t hate you.”

  Following her words, she heard a chuckle. “I don’t hate you either, you’re an extraordinary human after all. I look forward to your achievements Amber.”

  She nodded and gripped the rod.

  “You’re the first mortal to win out against me in anything, do not disappoint the weight of that achievement.”

  With that, Amber teleported, but not out of the tower. No, she just teleported to a different floor, one of the first few floors within it. One that seemed empty and devoid of monsters. It was floor number 7.

  It wasn’t like the floor was particularly special to her, but it did have a very specific use for her. It was a quiet space, a space that was perfect for her to finish her business in and finally leave once and for all.

  It was something she had neglected to do after her hydra fight from months ago. And it was something she could do at any moment, but ideally she should have done it before her scuffle with the Primordial Spirit because it was related to Essence. It was related to strength. It was after all something important.

  With a mere thought, a voice appeared in her head. A prompt.

  Do you wish to complete your Ascension now?

  But now, she was finally going to do it, completing her Ascension.

  She smiled. “I do.”

  And her surroundings changed.

  discord.

  NOTE: Also let me know if i missed an important detail in world building.