One week.

Stab.

That’s seven days.

Stab.

Or one hundred and sixty hours, if you don’t account for sleep.

Stab.

That’s how long I’ve been here for. The goddess Samara told me that it would only be a couple of days, and now I’ve almost spent more time here than I have in the tower.

I’m told that the countdown continues even if somebody gets out of the tower by unconventional methods. Which means that if I don’t get back there and descend the remaining 94 floors in the next 50 weeks, then the tower will kill me regardless of where I am in the universe.

This is hopeless. It took me a week to clear six floors. How am I supposed to make up for all this lost time?

I was standing in a large grassy field about to stab a beetle like creature the size of a cow in the neck when it turned at the last second. The point of my red sword harmlessly bounced off of its hardened head. Rather than being hurt, the creature moved around to look at me with curiosity.

“Your focus is slipping,” Persephone said.

I glanced back to see her in her cat form lounging on the grass.

How can she tell? Her eyes aren’t even open?

I reoriented myself and killed the harmless herbivore in one swift strike. It was annoying. I preferred killing things that actually posed a danger to me, but the cat said that I wasn’t ready for that.

*DING! You have slain [Summer Spark Beetle (Common)] Level: 55.

I hated these messages. It was just another reminder that I wasn’t gaining any experience points for killing them. Samara had explained that it was one of the restrictions put in place by the System to prevent cheating. Otherwise, gods would be constantly whisking their tower champions away to deliver the death blow on some injured level 1000 creature and jump hundreds of levels.

I sighed. As long as I’m marked by the tower, levelling up is impossible outside of it. Which makes what I’m doing now feel like a huge waste of time.

The area was littered with the corpses of beetles as I continued training to use my blood sword. A crimson blade I’d created with the blood of the first creature I’d killed that morning. Practicing my Sanguine Projection ability, I’d quickly gone from molding the blood into a sharp stick to an elegant bastard sword that was capable of being wielded in one hand or with both.

To me, it had been an impressive advancement in my abilities, but to my shapeshifting feline teacher, it was merely adequate.

I had not seen Samara since the first I’d arrived here. She told me that I was being left in the capable paws of Persephone before disappearing through another portal. Any attempts I made to make contact with her since then had been refused.

My movements were not restricted except for off-world travel. For my own safety, the transit people I’d spoken to had said apologetically that they couldn’t grant me access to a ship. I didn’t consider myself a prisoner, but I was getting frustrated with how long I’d been here.

Meanwhile, Persephone didn’t seem to care whether I followed her instructions or not. It was like she expected me to fail, which was probably part of the reason why I followed her teachings so diligently. Despite having an entire planet to explore, I stayed relatively close to my quarters and focused on training.

I killed another Beetle. The area around the manor house was teeming with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of them and while they posed little threat, I was told that their hardened exterior made for good focusing practice as there was only one precise point in the neck where killing them was easy. Hitting anywhere else was pointless. It was ideal practice that had required my full attention a week ago to hold the blood sword in shape.

Now it was easy. Now I desperately wanted to move on.

“That’s enough for today,” Persephone said.

The cat stood and stretched her legs before hopping on top of the first Beetle body. She then hopped over to the next one just as the first disappeared. She continued to repeat this process until she’d looted all the corpses I’d killed that day.

“What’s the point in looting them? Aren’t they too low level for you?” I asked.

“This is still her garden. I am in charge until she gets back and therefore I will keep things clean and tidy. I will not have her return to a mess.”

“Any ideas on when she’s getting back?”

Persephone sighed. “For the last time, no. She’ll return when she’s ready.”

“She also said that the tower has marked me and that it always calls someone who’s marked back. It took me a week to clear six floors and after spending a week here, I only have fifty weeks to clear the remaining floors. If each descending floor is tougher than the last, then how am I supposed to pull it off?”

The cat licked one of its paws, looking bored. “By paying attention to your instructor and getting stronger.”

All my contained anger and frustration inside me exploded. “But that’s the problem. I’m not getting stronger!” I yelled.

The cat fixed me with its calm gaze. “There is more to power than levels and stats. Was it your levels and stats that allowed you to kill Anders in your duel? Was it your strength that allowed you to survive in the frozen wasteland while Martin perished?”

That was true. I’d fought people and things that were higher level than me and won. Usually, it had come down to my unique abilities and how I’d applied them. Often, it meant taking a huge risk by throwing myself into danger until the other side was overwhelmed or I’d discovered their weakness.

“Okay, I get your point,” I said.

“No, I don’t think you do. Ever since you’ve gotten here, you’ve been distracted. Even with a potential death sentence hanging over your head, it still hasn’t helped you focus.”

She was referring to the god Yakeshi, the Heaven’s Blade, who’d sworn to kill those that drink the blood of intelligent creatures. He’d told me to face my face he’d kill me if I did the same. I’d promised not to and broke that promise in order to survive. Samara had told me that I could learn to conceal this fact from him by shrouding my aura. That way, if we met again, he would be unable to read my memories. It was the whole reason I’d agreed to come here in the first place and so far, progress in teaching me this ability had been almost non-existent.

“It would be easier to focus if I knew how my friends were doing,” I countered.

“And as I’ve also explained, it not possible for me to peer into the tower from a distance.”

“But you could go there,” I reasoned. “You’ve done it before.”

“Leaving here would run counter to my mistress’s instructions to train you. Besides, it’s the tower,” she snorted. “What do you want to hear? That they’re perfectly safe on the residential floor waiting for your inevitable return, or that they’re in constant danger as they keep descending? Even if you could get a message to them, what good would knowing that you’re alive do for them? What good would it do you?”

I didn’t respond. She’d made a good point, as much as it hurt to hear.

“Focus on your training so that you can reunite with them in person as an asset instead of a liability. Anything less will just distract all of you and increase the chance of getting your friends killed.”

I gritted my teeth. “Fine, let’s move on to shrouding.”

“Domain first,” she insisted.

I suppressed an angry retort and sat on the grass with my legs crossed.

“Shrouding will be easier within your domain,” she explained. “Unlocking the sight to see auras is not something that can just be handed to you through rote repetition. A part of your mind has to change the way you perceive things.”

This was not the first time she’d told me this and so I could surmise that Persephone either loved to repeat herself, or she thought I was an idiot.

I’m still fifty fifty on which one it is.

I closed my eyes before she could tell me to. It was a little petty of me, but so was repeating these basic instructions like I was a small child.

Personally, I would have preferred to keep my eyes open. Whenever I activated Crimson Domain, blood and darkness would pool around me and then spread out. It would expand by around two feet in every direction and then falter and fail. Once it did, the blood and darkness would fade away without leaving any trace. I liked to keep my eyes open so that I can measure the distance that the domain had reached and try to increase it. But Persephone said that it’s not about distance or reach. It’s about the depth of belief. To truly activate a domain, one must feel the connection deep within their bones. It is a vital, core part of themselves that they tap into and make manifest.

“I want you to meditate on the blood and shadow before you try to activate the ability,” said Persephone. “Be patient and let these feelings fill you up inside. Discard everything that is not blood and shadow. Do not rush or try to force it. Instead, open yourself up and let those feelings flow in naturally.”

I tried to do as she said. Taking slow, deep breaths to slow my heartrate and my racing thoughts. It was difficult not to worry about the others. Especially Hugo who wouldn’t have access to my blood healing from this great distance. Of course, I told myself that he’d be okay with the others looking out for him, but there were only so many times I could say that until it started to lose its meaning.

Still, I did my best to push those concerns aside. Breathwork helped. It’s hard to feel anxious when your body becomes so comfortably relaxed.

At this part Persephone remained silent as any sound could disrupt my focus at this crucial stage. When I felt ready, I activated Crimson Domain. This time, I felt the blood and darkness pour out of me. It wasn’t a smooth process. It felt clunky, like there were hidden obstacles blocking the way that needed to be forced away. I had to mentally push the blood and darkness, but eventually it reached a point of becoming self sustaining and held its form.

In a way it was like a more complex form of Sanguine Projection.

“Good,” she said. “Now open your eyes.”

We were in a dark void where the ground was covered in blood. It seemed to stretch on forever in every direction, but I could feel that the actual size of the place was only ten feet by ten feet. Persephone was there, but also not. I could see her with my eyes, but not sense her. The only thing I could was the ripples she made in the blood as she paced around.

“Now for aura shrouding,” she said.

There were no congratulations for making new progress. It was always treated as if I should have figured it out ages ago.

“First, you need to see auras. It’s easiest to start with perceiving your own and then you can work on seeing others. In this place of yours, it should magnify your focus and powers to make unlocking Aura Sense easier. Turn your focus inwards again, but this time imagine your mind is outside of your body looking back at you.”

I did as she said, but couldn’t imagine seeing anything different about myself. To me, I looked the same as I always did.

I kept concentrating until a loud engine roared overheard. I jumped as it went past me and my domain collapsed. I looked up at the sky in time to catch a glimpse of the sleek red and gold spaceship. It was flying towards Samara’s residence and it carried her colors.

She’s returned.

I jumped to my feet, excited. This means I can convince her to put me back in the tower. As long as I stayed away from Yakeshi, he’d never read my aura and learn of what I’d done. Therefore, there was no reason that I couldn’t keep training and descend the tower at the same time.

This was it. I could finally go back to my friends.

“It’s her, isn’t it? She’s back,” I said.

I looked around and saw that the cat had vanished.