With that thought firmly lodged in his mind, Kael stripped off his clothes until only his underwear remained before throwing himself onto the bed. The moment his head touched the pillow, the exhaustion accumulated throughout the day finally caught up with him.
He fell asleep almost instantly.
---
Time passed quietly.
By the time Kael opened his eyes again, darkness had already swallowed the outside world. The faint glow of the city seeped through the curtains, illuminating portions of his room as he reached for his phone.
The screen lit up.
1:00 AM.
Kael stared at the time for a moment before noticing the notification waiting on his phone. Judging from the timing, it was probably from Ferris.
He considered checking it.
Then decided against it.
Whatever Ferris sent could wait.
Tonight wasn’t the time for distractions. He had a rift to run.
Kael climbed out of bed and began preparing himself. Within a short while, his combat suit had replaced his ordinary clothes, the familiar equipment settling around his body as he made his final preparations.
Once he was ready, Kael closed his eyes and willed himself toward the Tower.
The world around him distorted.
A strange sensation passed through his body, and when his surroundings stabilized, Kael was standing inside his familiar start room once again.
He glanced around.
Compared to a few weeks ago, the room had changed.
Over the past few weeks, Aiona had finally finished digesting the benefits she had obtained from his previous trials, and as a result, her authority had increased slightly.
That increase had allowed her to expand the starting room.
It was now roughly half again as large as it had originally been.
Kael’s gaze shifted toward the small house resting in one corner of the room.
The tiny door opened.
A small figure emerged from within.
Aiona’s tiny fairy body floated into the air, her delicate wings flapping as she flew toward him. Her expression brightened the moment she saw him.
"Welcome back, Kael."
Over the past few weeks, Kael had spent a considerable amount of time cultivating inside the start room. During that period, he and Aiona had also spent quite a bit of time together.
Their relationship had gradually become less formal.
At some point, Kael had simply told her to stop calling him Challenger and use his real name instead.
Aiona had agreed.
"Hey there, Aiona." Kael smiled slightly. "How are you doing today?"
"Thanks. I’m doing fine."
Aiona hovered in front of him for a moment before tilting her head.
"So, why are you here? Are you going to cultivate again?"
"That, and I also plan on completing a few floor trials."
Aiona nodded.
"Okay. I’ll get out of your head, then."
"Sure."
The tiny fairy flew back toward her little home. Once she reached it, her figure disappeared inside, leaving Kael alone in the start room.
Kael looked around once before lowering himself to the ground.
He crossed his legs and closed his eyes.
He didn’t immediately begin cultivating the Primordial Genesis Sutra.
Instead, he entered a state of meditation and began sorting through today’s experience.
Every fragment of combat experience that had accumulated from the spar with the Sword Saint was slowly brought together in his mind.
Kael had been developing the new combat style for some time now, but until today, the path had remained incomplete. He had possessed the pieces, but not the complete picture.
Now, after absorbing today’s experience, those scattered pieces finally began connecting.
It took time.
Kael remained perfectly still as countless movements and principles passed through his mind, his consciousness repeatedly analyzing them and discarding anything that didn’t belong.
Gradually, the vague outline became clearer.
Then clearer still.
Until, eventually, a distinct path appeared before him.
A complete path.
Kael opened his eyes.
His gaze carried a strange sharpness.
He finally understood what he wanted the technique to become.
Now that the combat style had reached a point where it’s beginning to take shape, there was only one thing left to do.
Give it a name.
Kael considered several possibilities before finally settling on one.
"Eternal Divine Armament True Body."
The name perfectly represented the foundation of the art.
His body was the weapon.
Not a sword.
Not a spear.
Not some external artifact.
His entire body would serve as the core of his armament, while the combat technique would transform every movement, every part of his body, and every attack into an extension of that weapon.
The techniques’ path was now set up.
With that, Kael closed his eyes again.
There was no reason to waste any more time.
He began cultivating the Primordial Genesis Sutra.
The moment the technique circulated, the dense mana within the starting room began flowing toward him. It entered his body and was refined through the Primordial Genesis Sutra before being converted into the strange energy required to transform his cells.
One cell after another began changing.
Then dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
The process continued.
After more than a month of cultivation, combined with the astonishing density of mana within the Tower’s start room, Kael’s cultivation speed had improved considerably.
A single cultivation session could now transform tons of cells into Planetary Fetus.
That number sounded ridiculous, yet Kael knew better than anyone that it was still nowhere near enough.
The human body contained trillions of cells.
Even with his current cultivation speed, converting every single one of them into Planetary Fetus remained an incredibly distant goal.
But Kael wasn’t discouraged.
Progress was still progress.
As long as he continued moving forward, the distance would eventually disappear.
Hours passed.
The flow of mana eventually slowed as Kael brought his cultivation to an end.
He opened his eyes.
A faint sharpness flashed through them.
It was finally time for the Tower trial.
Kael rose from the ground and stretched his body before willing himself toward the next floor trial.
A notification screen immediately appeared before him.
[Do you wish to proceed to the next Trial?]
[YES / NO]
Kael didn’t need to think.
He selected YES.
The instant his choice was made, the start room disappeared.
Kael felt his surroundings shift.
Space seemed to twist around him before suddenly settling into place.
When his vision cleared, he was standing in a forest.
Trees stretched in every direction, their branches forming a dense canopy overhead. The air carried the scent of soil and vegetation, while the distant sounds of nature filled the surroundings.
Kael slowly turned around.
Behind him stood what appeared to be a caravan.
Several horses were attached to carriages, while a few featureless humanoid figures stood around the area.
Kael stared at the scene.
His expression gradually changed.
Dread began creeping into his mind.
He already had a terrible idea of what kind of trial this might be.
Please.
Let it not be what he thought it was.
A notification appeared before his eyes.
The moment Kael read it, whatever small hope he had left vanished.
[FLOOR 11 — HELL DIFFICULTY]
[Mission: The Shepherd’s Burden]
[Objective: Protection.]
[Trial Rule: Protect the designated targets from all threats they face.]
[Warning: There are enemies hidden even where your eyes cannot see. You must be careful to observe your surroundings.]