Jarad hops off the caravan and stretches his back. Sitting in the bumpy and small ride for so long has stiffened his body such that even just the simple action of bending down and inhaling outside air feels like a huge relief.

  As he straightens up, the marvelous structure of the Tower unfolds before him. Jarad spends a few minutes simply admiring it, as the others in the caravan disperse around him. The caravan master’s voice could be heard in the distance. Jarad only focuses on the voice with a fraction of his attention, merely noting the information.

  After spending years in the Tower for so long, one tends to forget the magnanimity and strength of the Tower. Even for someone working in the Church.

  Living in the Tower becomes normal. You get used to the amazingness of the Tower, settling in a single floor for months or even years.

  Only when you come out and look at it from the outside, do you realise how small a person really is in front of an existence like that. As big as the Tower looks from the outside, from the inside it’s much much more vast.

  Space expanded to such a degree that a whole world seems to live inside the upper floors.

  Jarad has never been above the 8th floor, much less above the 10th floors–the minimal qualification for someone to be referred to as a High Ranker–but he has heard enough, and from what he knows, civilisation and space transforms. They transcend time itself, living for an eternity in a world as vast as the universe.

  Jarad used to dream of reaching that place someday. To someday be able to stand in an eternal civilisation as an eternal being, but the dreams crashed very soon.

  He came to terms with his own lack of talent, connections, opportunities, and overtime, the lack of ambition.

  Now Jarad is more than happy working for the Church in making the Tower a better place.

  And what better way to make the Tower a better place, than to rid it of all of its pests?

  “How long are you gonna look at it?” Liam, his companion, and bodyguard walks up to him, grounds his huge sword in the dirt, and then leans on it.

  “How can someone ever get tired of looking at it? I will continue to do so as long as it continues to soothe my heart.”

  “It’s already been a month since we departed. I just hope the mission won’t take any longer than you paid me for, because of your sight seeing hobbies,” Liam shrugs.

  “It’s close. It’s the next city after it. And you are paid for at least another month, so we’ll have a lot of time sight-seeing,” Jarad smiles at the man, and goes back to admiring the Tower.

  “What’s so important in this place again? What was it called? Org? Ok-rug?” Liam questions.

  “I don’t think knowing that is part of your assignment,” Jarad raises an eyebrow at the man, “So let’s stay in our lines, and get through this month amicably.”

  “Yes boss. Not like I’m completely clueless, you know,” Liam yawns as he says, “It must be related to the kid you sent the Purple Ghost after. Are you expecting the kid to prevail?”

  “It doesn’t matter if he prevails or not. There’s answers I require, any they don’t need him alive or dead. Although it would prick my consciousness a bit if I sent an innocent man to his death, this was the only way to move.

  “If I had used the Church’s forces, and it came up that we killed an innocent, then the church would lose face. But this way no one would ever know why he died. Climbers often have enemies, so it’s not really that strange anyway.

  “Meanwhile if my investigation bears fruit, we can apprehend him legally and with full force.” Jarad explains. Perhaps it’s just boredom which makes him reveal his thoughts, or a sense of his own superiority for coming up with all this.

  “Considering he’s alive,” Liam points.

  “Yes, considering he’s alive.” Jarad says, finally looking away from the Tower and at the city in the shadow of the Tower. It’s a quite shabby place, with many trees growing in the spaces between buildings.

  If he remembers correctly, then this city is known for its wood export.

  Just a few more cities. Just a few more days.

  Suddenly the voice of the caravan master booms towards him and his companion. “Don’t dig into the caravan path you moron!”

  They both look at each other, and then at the place Liam’s sword digs into the ground. He awkwardly removes his sword, and apologises to the caravan master.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  The caravan master grumbles something about lacking common sense before sending someone to fix the pavement.

  “Will you be covering this cost too?” Liam asks. Jarad simply walks away to the city, not bothering to answer the bodyguard. Liam, sighs, puts the longsword on his shoulder, and follows him.

  #

  As Ji-a reaches Amara's cabin, she knows something is wrong before she even enters. If not for her senses which have been honed over the past months by upgrading her level and getting to a higher Mystic level, then the mere noise of struggling inside makes it clear that something’s gone wrong.

  Even then, she cannot help but breathe a sigh of relief. At least he’s alive.

  Ji-a opens the door and walks in, only to find a bed ridden drunk Adrian trying to stand up, while Amara easily pushes him back on bed.

  “Ji-a, darling do you think you can control your friend here? He insists on going out in his condition.” Amara says, her demeanour now icy cold. Ji-a feels a shiver pass through her back. She really is angry.

  “Do you think you can give us a few minutes alone? I’ll try and make him understand,” She says.

  Amara pushes him on the bed one last time, a little bit more forcefully. Ji-a for a second fears that the shock might harm him even more, but then she notices the green mark of her skill on his body, and relaxes, knowing that he’s being healed of any damage he’s doing to himself.

  Amara walks out, and Ad quickly begins talking in hushed voices. “You have to help me get out!”

  “Why am I your accomplice now? And what? No hellos, thank-yous, nothing?” Ji-a teases him with a smile.

  Adrian looks taken aback for a second, and then he says, “I’ll thank you as much as you want, but I need to get out of here. I need to reach the 5th floor. That is my only way to survive!”

  “Honestly from what I’ve heard of your report, it seems like your only way to survive is to sit still and rest for a month. Why are you being so impatient about it?” She asks, sensing something odd in his behaviour.

  “No no no! I don’t have a month. If I waste too much time, I will surely die!”

  “Calm down first,” Ji-a says, taking his hand in her own as she tries to calm him down. His hands are cold and shivering, “Why are you so scared? What are you scared of?”

  Adrian takes deep breaths, massaging his temples with the other hand as he begins his tale. About the upgraded ability, his forecasted death, and the dream which he has already told her about, but he doesn’t seem to remember it correctly.

  Ji-a sits there listening to his story, and she can feel her own face falling at it.

  She knows about fate. Much better than anyone perhaps. If he says that he’s fated to die in under a month, then there’s a very high probability then the fated death will come, until offset by a high amount of energy, luck, or intervention by the Tower itself.

  She curses internally. The timing is bad. Suspiciously bad. First the attack on his life, and now this. It’s like someone is closing in on him from all sides, making sure that he ends up dead in the end.

  In all the time she has been with him, she cannot remember him having made many enemies, only relations with two fearsome groups. The revolution and the Church.

  Although the revolution has stayed quiet for a while, only contacting her intermittently, she knows that they still intend to use him till he can find the treasure, or dies. Which leaves only the damn Church.

  Although sending assassins is not their usual style, she cannot discount it being an individual attack, and the only face she can think of right now is Jarad. What is that bronze bastard up to right now?

  She cannot help but curse out loud. If she was at her peak, then such trivialities would have not even been important enough to gather her attention. And now the same things are becoming a thorn in her side.

  She sighs and looks at Adrian. “A month you say? Even though I wish to take you away right now, it won’t do you any good. You’ll just end up dead in your current condition. Can you even walk straight? Can you even see straight? I know you are hurting as you are right now.”

  Adrian falls silent, but she can sense his mind churning for ways to convince her. She can see his anxiety clearly written over his face. So desperate to survive.

  “Don’t say anything. It won’t work. But… I promise you. Stay here for 2 weeks. Two weeks you focus on just recovering, and as soon as you can reach the ground from this place all on your own, I’ll kidnap you if I have to. Okay?”

  The anxiety remains, yet she can feel it subsiding a little.

  She can feel his trust in her overcoming the smell of death. It honestly makes her a bit emotional. Perhaps this weird trust between them is the reason why she doesn’t mind hanging out with him. Why she doesn’t mind finding a friend in him.

  “You rest well now. I’ll come back later with some fruits and stuff later. See ya,” She bids him goodbye, and Adrian waves back, before falling asleep. Perhaps he’s just tired, or really motivated to heal himself through sleeping.

  “2 weeks is stretching it. By a lot. And you know it,” Amara says as she walks out of the cabin.

  “You can keep him in there for a month, and see him die through some other way. Your choice really. Not like I’ll be able to handle you with my current strength,” Ji-a shrugs.

  Amara sighs, “Such poor fate at such a young age.”

  “Fate has never been fair. You and I know it very well.”

  “There’s no us in this story anymore. We’re just vestiges surviving because we cannot die. What are you doing interfering in someone’s story again?” Amara asks, looking at Ji-a with a critical eye.

  “Perhaps this is my fate too.”

  “Heh! Quite convenient, isn’t it? Well, I don’t care. Do what you wanna do, my work will be over in 2 weeks.”

  Ji-a watches Amara walk back inside the cabin, the small place that she has decided to spend her time in, taking care of patients sometimes, and busy in her own work the other times.

  She’s free, no burdens, no connections to weigh her soul with. Ji-a feels a momentary jealousy over it, but then she shakes her head. She had a choice, and she chose this. She has no one to blame but herself for her circumstances.

  And she’s not going to blame herself.

  She has spent enough time doing that. It is time for her to finally take action. To get rid of this curse. And if it doesn’t work?

  Well then not like she’s gonna die anyway, so who gives a shit. It’ll just be a pity that someone like him would die peacefully, leaving her behind in her lonely little world again.

  #