The day, I wave goodbye to all the departing ships. The [Mert Captain] is flying to Memphis while the Gambino family is heading to Gdius. We watch them for long miill they are spe the distahen I turn to my crew.

  “Let's head to the tower.”

  We trudge the generally short distao the tower, stopping only several meters from the entrance.

  Above the entrance is a message different from the previous tower.

  Here lies the test of the Tower.

  Through Vitality you will survive the enviro.

  Through Intelligence you will find what you seek.

  Through Perception you will avoid destru.

  Vitality, Intelligence, and Perception. Seems like a far more enjoyable test pared to the first tower already. Endurance is probably a bitch to deal with.

  At the entrao the tower, the inside has a bunch of stantly moving dust as though there is a stant source of wind. Not that it be felt because of whatever barrier prevents everything except fht to pass.

  Now, let's see if I have some petition.

  “Auranta, did you want to cheything about the tower?” I ask.

  The masked woman g me for a moment. She Nods ond then walks he barrier. She retrieves a book from her cloak, opens it, and starts taking notes.

  “Find anything iing?” I ask.

  “Yes and no.” She answers without stopping her aking.

  I pout.

  “Want to expand on that?”

  She pauses writing for a moment to turn a page before tinuing. “pared to the prior towers I’ve visited, they are the same in structure and looks. The only difference of note is in regards to the entrance past the barrier.”

  “I see… is the barrier there?”

  She pauses, raises a hand and pces her palm on the barrier. “Why would it not?” She pulls back her hand.

  Seeing her hand uo pass the barrier fills me with a sigh of relief.

  Looks like she’s not a champion. I g Irmgard and the woman gives me a nod.

  “Why should it?” I answer and ast what should be a barrier. Immediately, I’m bombarded with cold wind, dust, and an immediate feeling ness.”

  I turn around to smirk at the masked woman.

  Though I ’t see her expression on at of her mask, I happily imagihe look of utter disbelief and surp-

  Auranta steps through the barrier as though it does.

  Oh shit! Did she trick me?

  I prepare to transform into a Fenrimorph, only fard to step through .

  What…

  is Boriss, followed by the rest of my crew.

  Only Myers and Cy’s attempt to pass are met with a solid wall.

  “I’m so fused right now,” I say aloud. “I thought only me ahes could travel through because we’re both champions.”

  My crew share the same fused expression, minus a single member.

  “I believe the barrier allows subordinates of the champion to pass through.” Irmgard expins.

  I blink towards the tall woman.

  “How do you know this?” I ask.

  Irmgard extends her hand through the barrier and back. “During your foray through the first tower, Valentine ordered me to test if I ehe tower. I did and found the corpse of a scorpis before leaving.”

  “Why am I finding out about this literally now?” I ask, annoyed. “I would have loved to know this beforehand.”

  Irmgard frowns. “Up until now, I was uhe impression that you already khis.”

  “I did not. Holy shit, I was actually debating on going through the barrier first and then assessing if Auranta was a champion. If she followed me inside I would have killed her ht.”

  Cillian chuckles, “Well, it’s a good thing you enjoy mog people.”

  “Da,” Boriss grins and sps Auranta on the back, causing the woman to lose bance for a moment. “rade Mask is not enemy, yes?”

  I sigh aloud while Auranta seems to gre at the grinning Russian. “No, no she is not.”

  The masked woman iion shifts her focus bae. “Why are you able to eowers?” She asks.

  I grin towards her. “That’s going to require a long expnation, one I’d rather have while asding the tower.”

  Just as I turn to go deeper and find out what test awaits me, hes quickly steps in front of my way. “Matriarch, the air is poisonous. Extended exposure will have disastrous effects among most of the crew's health.”

  I g the others, finding that nobody looks sick or even bothered. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” hes answers. “The poison is slowly degrading my body, but I am able to ter it. I ot do the same for human flesh. Gemma flesh may be more resilient to the poison on at of their skin, but such risks are unnecessary.”

  Emma raises a hand. “I’m happy to stay behind and work on the ship.”

  Of course it’s some weird invisible poison. “Will I be affected?” I ask.

  “Your Fenrimorph’s regeive ability will gradually weaken with tinuous exposure, but should recover fully once exposure stops.”

  So I’m on a time-limit. Good to know.

  I look at my crew. “On at of the poison, me ahes will head deeper into the tower. Everyone else will return to the ship and await our return.”

  “I dee to return and accept any and all risks associated with this poison,” Auranta excims. “I must fully evaluate any and all secrets of the inner ws of these towers. My kind’s survival hedges upon my findings.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “Your kinds survival?”

  She nods slowly. “Yes. If you require, I will remove my mask and expin my reasoning- though I would prefer to tinue such secrecy.”

  You mean like the multiple heartbeats, abnormally heavy weight, and odd smell?

  “No need, I already have an ination of what you are. You follow me, just know that you are to obey any and all ands I give you. Uood?”

  “Uood.” She nods.

  “Good. Everyone, return to the ship. hes, Auranta, let's head inside.”

  __________________________________________________________________

  The three of us climb the long staircase of the tower. As we asd, I expiirety of the situation to Auranta. A risk, but my gut tells me she is in need of an ally… and I kinda want a mage.

  “-and that’s why I o quer ead every tower.” I clude.

  Auranta goes silent for a long moment, pting what she’d just heard. Which is uandable. I did just expin to her that her entire world is created by a god who wants to py a game using mortal lives and a board the size of a p.

  “I have many questions.” She finally says.

  “And I have many answers, but only after we deal with this.” I say as we arrive oop floor. I quickly rush to the doorway and stop to smell the apocalyptic roses.

  Through the doorway, chans supreme over a vas of an abandoned city. The sky showers and thunders with crimson lightning to the backdrop of several distant pulsating fming tornadoes. Cracks and fissures lihe crete roads where spurts of fire and lightning burst from the ground. Around buildings, gravity seems to twist and turn around a bck orb that forces debris to orbit its structure. hem, balls of lightning hover and move meters above the grourog anything that es near.

  “Well, now I uand what you meant by poison.”

  hes turns to me. “Are you familiar with this mady?”

  “Yup. This whole pce is filled with high trations of radiation. Radiation is with living things and tinuously damages cellur structure. Extended exposure will have a poundiive effe the body.” I g Auranta. “Knowing this, are you still going to tinue going deeper with me?”

  The masked woman nods. “I am.” Her head shifts towards the chaotiviro. “What is happening here?”

  “Well, I’ve only seen this a few times, but Radiation and Mana do not have a harmonious retionship. High radiation causes rapid shifts and ges to mana, allowing the mana to activate on its own. The st time I saw something like this was in another lifetime. A bunidgets mined into a mountain and caused an internal colpse that split the mountain in two. When it split open, it opened fissures of radioactive material that quickly spread and made the area unlivable. A decade ter and,” I extend my paw, “this is what the pce turned into.”

  “Are they dangerous?” hes asks.

  “Yup.” I point at a fming tornado. “Think of something like that as a self-sustaining tinuous spell that you 't permaly destroy. You disrupt it, but uhe radiation is taken care of, the anomaly will reform.”

  “Am I allowed to use spells?” Auranta asks.

  I tilt my head. “Probably. Radiation generally takes time to affect mana. Just be careful about casting spells on an anomaly. I’ve little idea what will happen.”

  I do a quick stretd walk through the exit. I immediately feel the rain as it falls upon my body. looking at a nearby puddle, I hat my fur has shifted to a lime green. As I tiaring, my fur morphs into a protective water-resistant yer simir to a Maine .

  “Where are we to go?” hes asks. The Phytonid looks ready for bat with her pincers ready and head shifting vigintly for enemies.

  That’s holy a good question. I look around, noting things like the general stony structure of the buildings. Whatever race made this pce is rger than a human with an odd level of teology. No cars but I see the rails through the streets.

  It is only then that I look back at the tower behihe tower is different from what the previous tower looked like. The previous tower looked like something of a shell. This one is three times taller, sleek, and pletely bck.

  “I think this test is simir to the previous one I did in the sense I have to find the tower exactly like this one.”

  Both Auranta ahes g the tower we’d e out of and then look around to see where the other one is.

  “I see none.”

  “her do I.” they both answer.

  If you could, then this wouldn’t be much of a test.

  “Let me get a better vantage point.”

  Using feline acrobatics, I rush to a burned up tree, climb up to a branch before jumping again to a nearby roof. I then asd further until I stao a ey. I could climb even higher, but I don’t think I survive a lightning strike.

  With my new vantage point, I assess my surroundings. What I immediately realized is that we’re in a pretty big city. Houses be seen for miles on end alongside more fming tornadoes. Finding nothing, I start looking for patterns. Something abnormal that most would generally miss. I do this for a long miil I realize something.

  Noting the dire, I make my way back to the two dies.

  “I’ve got good news and bad news.” I immediately start when I arrive. “The good news is that I have a pretty good idea where the tower is going to be.”

  “And the bad news?” Auranta asks.

  I raise a paw towards the dire where fming tornadoes are quite numerous.

  “The bad news is that it’s most likely located where the anomaly trations are highest. It’s going to be quite dangerous.”

  “I have fought in rivers, ss, deserts, and tundra. Eaviro I have mastered and ed. I relish the ce to savor this danger we are to face.” hes practically hisses.

  Both me and Auranta look at the Phytonid as she looks not only ready, but eager for battle. Practically twitg with excitement.

  “Uhh, you alright? You seem a bit on edge.” I say.

  hes looks down at me with a tilt of her head. “Yes, my edge has been honed. I have sharpe daily so that when the hunt begins, I will shred sinew and boh greater ease.”

  She kinda reminds me of a husky waiting for its leash.

  “Right. Just watch my back while I lead.”

  “Of course, Matriarch. I will sever anything that dares approach from behind.”

  I roll my eyes and begin walking towards the cluster of distant anomalies.