Tower of Heaven

It started with a great fall. All of them had various perceptive abilities, but none of them saw it coming. All of a sudden, the floor dropped out from below them and they fell an unknown distance through the darkness.

Luckily, their landing was secured. They landed quite softly, which was surprising since it felt like they'd fallen a decently long distance.

That was when their adventure began.

"This ruin is different from the rest. What did the window call it again?" Horus asked as he looked around.

"A dungeon," Atlas responded.

"Unlike an ordinary ruin, this was made with the sole purpose of containing a large number of beasts in a small area. Once they were allowed to breed, fester, and create their ecosystem, this place became something like a training ground."

Artemia didn't say anything. To a human-like Atlas, it could be seen through such a separated lens, but Artemia was also a beast. Divine Beasts were treated differently by the world, but the Divine Sanctuary existed because the four Guardian Beast Clans didn't want to feed that thought process.

All beasts had the potential to develop sentience, so all beasts had to be considered equal. They couldn't be regarded as mere fodder to be killed in order to improve one's cultivation.

Her fists were gripped tightly as Atlas explained the concept of a dungeon. Noticing it, Atlas put his hand on her shoulder.

"These are not the same beasts that you are familiar with. If it helps you feel better, then regard them as monsters instead. Their bloodlines are extremely different from the beasts you are aware of, and sentience is simply not a possibility for them. I know how you feel, but put it aside. Not everything can be seen in such a black-and-white manner."

It was genuinely impossible for beasts in a dungeon to be compared to beasts in the outside world.

"This kind of monster exists in the outside world as well. You have come across them before. Even when we first met, were we not killing beasts? You have seen more as you've climbed the Tower, but you must separate cruelty from the natural order of the world. Only then can you truly stand up for what is right."

Artemia nodded slowly.

He was correct in his assumptions. She had killed many beasts who never had the chance to develop sentience, so it was right to call her a hypocrite for feeling empathy towards the ones in the dungeon.

However, she had seen so much cruelty. She had seen so many beasts being tortured and abused despite having sentience. As a member of the Divine Dragon Clan, it was her duty to stand up for those people.

But, she also couldn't interfere with the natural order. It was correct that she had to differentiate, because if she caused problems where problems were unnecessary, her cause would lose meaning. Others would start to oppose her simply because she persecuted people without trying to understand them.

It was important for her to learn these lessons, but that didn't make it any easier to accept that a place like the dungeon existed.

At the point where they'd fallen, the environment was volcanic. The air was a shade of crimson, the ground was made of a dark-grey, almost black rock, and the roars and growls of beasts could be heard through the haze.

There wasn't a particular direction for them to follow. Even the trial for this floor was different from the rest.

"Find a way out of the dungeon."

That was the essence of this floor.

"Our goal is to go up. This is a relatively flat plane, so the most we can do is walk in one direction until we find something like a clue," Atlas said.

"Do either of you sense anything?"

Horus' eyes were already glowing golden, while Artemia's draconic pupils were narrowed and piercing through the haze.

"My eyes cannot completely penetrate the fog, but I can at least tell which direction has the most activity. If we want to follow the signatures of beasts, then we should move that way," Horus said as he pointed to his left.

"Either that, or we go that way. Over there, there isn't even a single life aura. The be– monsters have to be avoiding it for a reason." Stay tuned to empire

[Intrinsic Foresight]

Atlas joined them in the discerning.

'As they said, north and west are the two directions that have the most probability of leading us somewhere.'

"To pick between them…"

There wasn't a need to think too hard about it. Atlas took a piece of gold and flipped it in the air. When it landed, it rolled north.

"So, let us go north."

They moved without hesitation. All three of them were fast on their feet.

Even without Artemia's worries, they wouldn't have focused on the beasts around them, but Atlas made sure that they avoided confrontation as much as possible. After all, this trial wasn't about killing. Even if he wanted Artemia to learn, he didn't have to force her into a troubling situation.

They didn't stop running until they reached an obstruction in their path. To be specific, it was a river made of pure lava that was at least several dozens of meters wide. Even if they jumped across it, they would only find themselves confronted with a wall.

"So, this is the first step of our trial?" Horus asked, not really looking for an answer.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Artemia chimed in, her attitude somewhat better.

"Yes, but I didn't think we'd be doing something like this again. Not this soon, at least."

Atlas sighed. Once again, they were faced with platforms. Only, this time was more complicated than just jumping from place to place.

There were four different stages of platforms that were stacked on top of each other. The fourth bordered a hole in the ceiling that looked to be the entrance to the next part of the trial.

Each stage was colored differently. Their structures were also different. Strangely enough, none of them connected to each other properly, but if one looked carefully, one could spot the points where they aligned.

'Only, those points are nowhere near each other.'

Some were flipped on their heads, while others had been rotated horizontally to face a different direction.

'Then, while we climb, do we have to find a way to connect the platforms to each other?'

It was one thing if that was the end of it.

However, when the three of them made the first jump and arrived at the edge of the lowest platform, they all frowned at once.

The board under them was glowing faintly.

"It's glowing like it's going to disappear when we move, isn't it?"

"It is absolutely glowing like it's going to disappear."

"Haa…it's always like this. Why is it always like this?"

They sighed in unison. Compared to this, the hidden piece on the 27th Floor was just practice.

'But, the consequences here aren't nearly as severe.'

If they fell, they'd be dropped into boiling lava, but they wouldn't die instantly. They'd still have time to save themselves and return to shore.

Of course, the further they progressed, the more difficult it would be for them to make back the progress, but…

'...this will be fun.'

After this long, were any of them going to sit down and give up?

They had their own misgivings and worries, but that didn't change the facts.

This was merely the 39th Floor of a Tower that they planned to conquer fully.

They weren't going to fall because of some little test.