First Tower Climb (3)
The first thought that struck me upon entering the tower was how alien the atmosphere felt. This place was unmistakably different from the Earth we knew.
The statues carved into or affixed to the walls bore none of the letters, patterns, or forms one would find on Earth, and the crackling of the torches—snap, snap—along with their flickering light only heightened that sense of otherness.
"So, what do we do from here? Just open that big door and walk through?"
I asked, looking at Kang Hyeonseok and Yeonseo.
"Let me see… There's no other stele or switch nearby, so we probably just open the door and clear whatever room comes next."
Kang Hyeonseok answered after scanning the surroundings and running a hand along the walls.
"Yeah, I think so too. After clearing a few rooms, we'll probably reach wherever the tower's master is."
So this tower's gimmick was simply clearing rooms a few times and then taking down the boss?
"Then we should be able to clear it pretty fast, right? Considering those goblins outside, it shouldn't be that hard."
"True, it probably will be. As long as nothing goes wrong."
What's with that? He sounds like he's expecting something to go wrong.
Kang Hyeonseok's loaded remark kept nagging at me, so I sidled up to Yeonseo and whispered.
"Why's he so worried? Honestly, from earlier, he could've handled everything by himself and still had energy to spare."
Yeonseo smiled softly and whispered back,
"What, you've already been watching him fight? Our little fox just can't take her eyes off him, can she?"
She was teasing me again.
"What?! No, I wasn't! I only glanced over when we were catching our breath mid-fight. And it wasn't just him—I watched you fight too, you know?! You were smashing heads with that hammer just fine! And stop calling me 'little fox'! I already told you my name!"
She laughed—a bright little kyaruk—and suddenly pulled me into a hug.
"Has that been bothering you this whole time? But every time I look, our Charlotte just keeps acting like a fox."
"What are you talking about…!"
Kang Hyeonseok, who had been watching our exchange, prepared to open the door.
"Done talking? We should hurry and catch up with the uncles."
"Yeah, we're done. Let's go."
Yeonseo released her arms from around me and walked toward the door, and I followed after her.
"Ugh, fine!"
It had been nothing important, but the thought that Kang Hyeonseok might have overheard made my heart race. Imagining what he would think if he had heard left me hanging my head.
I had no idea why I felt this way.
When Kang Hyeonseok opened the door, another room of the same style appeared. The only difference was a strange stele standing in the center of the room—just that one thing.
"What's the gimmick in a case like this? Do we just activate that?"
I approached the stele and looked it over from every angle.
"So this is what showed up…"
Kang Hyeonseok wiped a hand down his face with a troubled expression and came over to the stele.
"Shall we get ready quickly, then? We're already here—nothing we can do about it."
Yeonseo immediately pulled out her grimoire and began channeling mana.
"What on earth is this? Don't just talk between yourselves—tell me."
I tilted my head and asked them. Kang Hyeonseok turned to face me.
"Well, this is a Guardian Stele. Just like the name says, we have to protect this stele while we fight."
"Really? So that means monsters will come pouring in?"
"Exactly. The good news is this tower hasn't been around long, so nothing too strong should show up. Lower Grade monsters will come in waves, and only later will a boss lead a pack in."
Hearing that, I understood why he'd looked so troubled. Even if they were only Lower Grade, the sheer numbers would scatter our focus. If there was no rest time, we'd face continuous battles, and the boss would almost certainly appear when we were at our most exhausted.
"How many will come? Do we get time to catch our breath?"
"Well, Yeonseo and I have only run into this gimmick once, so I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but based on the intel we had and that experience… about five waves. And before the boss appears, they'll give us a very brief moment to rest."
"So roughly how many monsters do we have to kill? Fifty per wave? Do we need to take down that many?"
"Hmm. If this were a higher-difficulty tower, maybe not, but the Lower Grade ones like this push with sheer numbers, so yeah—probably around that."
"I think we've explained enough. How about we get started?"
Yeonseo, watching us, had already produced ice statues of a different shape than before.
"Whoa! What are those called?"
On either side of Yeonseo stood massive statues shaped like bears. What made them special was that one held a greatsword while the other held a large shield.
"The one with the sword is Septen Trion, and the one with the shield is Big Dipper."
"Do you have more besides these? Huh? Huh?!"
"Plenty. I'll show you later, so calm down for now."
Yeonseo told me to calm down, but how could I? Even if I was a woman now, as a former man, how was I supposed to hold back after seeing something so full of pure cool-factor romance?!
"You promise? You absolutely have to show me!"
"Okay, okay. Now get off me a little."
She pushed me away with one hand and took her position facing one direction. Kang Hyeonseok looked at me and said,
"Haha, Charlotte really does react just like a little boy. Well, I get it, though."
Whether it was the big laugh or the way he treated me like a child, embarrassment flooded over me and I couldn't look at him.
But what am I supposed to do… How am I supposed to stay calm after seeing robot-like statues that cool…!
"Alright, everyone seems ready, so shall we begin? We can't keep the uncles waiting. There's nothing more to explain, and someone like Charlotte will get the hang of it in no time."
"Riiight? Well, you only know by experiencing it, so let's just start and find out."
I rubbed my flushed face and drew Durandal, preparing myself.
But why does this headache keep getting worse? And the pain in my lower abdomen still hasn't fully gone away—it's still bothering me a little…
But I couldn't back out now claiming I was in pain, so I resolved to clear this as fast as possible and rest, gripping my sword tightly as I waited for Kang Hyeonseok to touch the stele.
"Alright, starting now!"
The stele glowed, and a circular blue dimensional gate began to form before us.
By the time the third wave ended, Yeonseo and I were starting to get quite exhausted. I'd thought it was Lower Grade difficulty, but it was different from what I'd expected.
The number of monsters per wave was several times more than the fifty I'd anticipated—somewhere around two to three hundred, it seemed. And it wasn't just the goblin warriors we'd seen outside the tower. Mages, archers, and goblins of various classes came in packs.
If you let your guard down, even weak goblins could become a raging tide strong enough to swallow us whole… Of course, the three of us having taken down this many already meant we were doing more than well enough.
"Hah… hah… Yeonseo, are you okay?"
I asked, but the summons Yeonseo had called forth were nearly shattered, and she looked at me while gasping for breath.
"Haa… I'm fine. I can just summon the broken ones again."
She brushed her sweat-dampened hair behind her ear as she spoke, but I still felt that if we didn't rest properly after this wave, it could get dangerous.
"Are you really okay? Once we get through this wave we can rest, so hang in there."
"Yeah… More importantly, what about Charlotte?"
At those words I looked over at Charlotte, who tilted her head as if to ask what the matter was.
"Charlotte, are you okay? If you're tired, you can rest a bit with Yeonseo."
"No, I'm fine. I can hold on. How about Yeonseo?"
"Honestly, this wave is my limit. I might collapse soon."
"Really?"
Saying that, Charlotte approached Yeonseo.
"Let me see."
"I'm fine, so… huh?"
She wrapped Yeonseo once in flame, and the wounds that had marked Yeonseo's body could no longer be seen.
"Our little fox… you can heal, too?"
"Hm? Ah~ Did I not mention it? Looks aside, I'm an Inquisitor—or, put simply, think of me as a holy knight. I can manage a certain amount of healing."
"Is that so? Thank you."
"What, for something this small? More importantly, let me check you too."
"Huh? Me too?"
Charlotte sent flames flowing out to wrap around me as well, and the wounds that had been on my body vanished. I even felt a little more energized.
"Does this restore stamina, too?"
"Hm? Ah, that just reinforces the body, so it doesn't return you to how you were before you got tired. It just lets you hold out a little longer."
"I see. Anyway, thank you. In a lot of ways, it would have been rough without you, Charlotte."
Charlotte scratched her cheek with a finger, looking embarrassed.
"No, it's really nothing… Well, I'll gratefully accept the thanks."
I had confidently declared that I would protect her, yet here I was receiving help from her instead, and it left me a little ashamed of myself. After the accident in the place I'd been before, I had trained hard and built up experience, but it seemed I was still lacking.
Just as I was thinking I would have to push myself even harder from now on, a humming ziiing sounded, and once more a dimensional gate announcing the next wave appeared before us.
"Once we get through this one we can rest, so let's hang in there!"
Honestly, the headache that had been pounding through my skull since earlier made it hard to move properly. On top of that, my period still hadn't ended, so the stabbing pain in my lower abdomen—jab, jab—had started rising again.
"Hah… Still, if I just finish this one…"
I surged forward and loosed several of the flame swords I'd forged from Holy Fire at a goblin warrior, toppling it, then stomped on its head and fired the remaining flame swords into the heads of the archers and mages behind it, snuffing out their lives. After that I closed on a goblin priest and took its head, and with that the wave was over.
"Haa, I'm exhausted for real. Even so, wasn't that way too many?"
When I called that out, Kang Hyeonseok came over.
"Still, with this wave we get to rest, so that's something. Come on—Yeonseo's resting over there, so let's go sit for a bit too."
"Yeah, we should."
The moment he turned to go, I heard the sound of a dimensional gate opening behind me.
At that humming ziiing, I spun around in a rush—only to find a massive blade already descending toward me.
Damn it—I let my guard down thinking we could rest for a second, and now my body won't move fast enough…!
I had no choice but to shut my eyes. Then a voice called my name—Charlotte—and the next thing I knew, someone had scooped me up. When I opened my eyes, Kang Hyeonseok was holding me, and behind him a fountain of blood erupted with a sound that should never have been heard.