“How long is it going to take again?” Riza asked, climbing back into the driving seat now that the wagon was full of both equipment and people, the sun high in the sky after taking time levelling skills and general training at the inn.

“Like, a day? I think?” Meren supplied an answer.

“Day and a half, more like; it’s nearly midday,” Daven interjected.

Riza frowned at both answers; travelling took so much longer than she was used to. This was only a neighbouring village and it was already taking so long.

“I hope we make it there today. I want to sleep in a bed again,” Lefie commented from the seat beside Riza, having situated herself up front again.

“Then let’s get going. Everyone ready?” Riza asked, receiving murmurs of affirmation. She gave the orders to the horses to start moving, finally leaving the inn they had taken refuge in for the night and the morning.

The road was quiet, the journey uneventful. Every now and then, the group stopped for a break, looking to stretch and exercise their cramped-up bodies. Riza took this time to refill everyone’s hunger and thirst, as well as a bit of stamina and essence while she was at it.

Importantly, everyone was levelling their skills. With their higher levels, Daven and Sanders now had access to [Maximise Mastery]. [Well of Spirit] levelled passively so the pair focused on using [Meditate] with [Maximise Mastery] to level both of them up.

They both complained and only very reluctantly obliged with some explicit orders from Riza. As for Lefie, she managed to finish levelling up [Meditate] in around an hour. Much faster than the boys, which Riza blamed on having an upgraded [Maximise Mastery] or higher spirit value, an accusation which led to a startling realisation.

“Your total spirit is 286?” Riza asked, not believing she heard correctly. Lefie nodded to confirm.

“But that’s so low!” Riza exclaimed, double-checking Sanders’ stats.

Name Sanders Level 8 Health 100/100 Stamina 100/100 Essence

357/357 Power 5 (5) Constitution 6 (6) Endurance 5 (5) Vim 4 (4) Essence

2 (4) Spirit

3 (311) Health Regeneration

120/day Stamina Regeneration

100/day Essence Regeneration

25/minute

“Sanders’ is already 25 higher than yours, and he hasn’t even finished levelling up [Well of Spirit].”

“Seriously?” Lefie asked, sounding a tad disgruntled.

“Yeah.”

Why is there so little difference?

“What’s your base spirit? With no modifications?”

“Er… I don’t know. How do I find out?” Lefie asked.

“Doesn’t matter. You’re spending stat points equally between spirit and essence, right?” A nod. “You’re level 24 so that’s 75 up to level 15 and then 100 up to 24, which is 175 total. Half of that is 87.5, so 88 into spirit.

“Sanders only has 43, so half your spirit value.” And that’s when it clicked for Riza. “[Source of Spirit]. You have the same skills but none of your boons affect your spirit value.”

“Wow. Thanks,” Lefie said sarcastically.

Just because levelling was slow didn’t mean it wasn’t happening at all. Since Lefie finished and purchased [Meditate+], the boys had managed to bring their [Meditate] up to level 3. Even with the little bit of experience when they first took the skill, both levels took a bit over an hour each.

Which meant, there was likely five more hours left for both of them, perhaps more.

Meren also levelled up to level 8 which meant she had three more skill points to spend, which she promptly did so.

Apparently, there was far less variety in spear skills than general essence skills and there was even a skill that increased the effectiveness of other spear skills for each spear skill you had, incentivising someone to stick with only spear skills.

Levelling them up was also a bit different as well. Since so many of them were passive upgrades to spear attacks, like increased damage or a chance to bleed (Meren didn’t know the numbers of how bleeding worked, much to Riza’s dismay), they didn’t level up passively like [Well of Spirit] did.

As it turned out, the vast majority of martial skills only levelled up when used in combat. Luckily, sparring seemed to qualify as combat so when everyone woke up, Meren took aside Daven and Sanders for a bit of practice.

Both the men seemed happy to help, and also incredibly frustrated at not even being able to land a hit on her. Daven seemed quietly annoyed by that while Sanders refused to speak to Riza at all. It seems the loss of stats and skills didn’t quite sink in until now.

As for Riza herself, she carried on with killing whatever her flying critters managed to pick up for her. Some of the larger birds managed to obtain rabbits or squirrels, plopping them down in Riza’s hand so she could use [Essential Leech].

That got her some nice stat points but no level ups.

Every now and then, she’d see a bird in the sky that was within distance of [Leech] and drained it on the off-chance it’d be raised as a zombie to add to her army. With [Way of Life], that brought the chance of that happening all the way to 40%, vastly increasing her conversion rate.

At this point, she had so many animals under her control she had lost count. A few dozen birds flew around in the sky, always remaining within distance of her, but the rest struggled to keep up with the wagon. The rabbits, squirrels, mice, or whatever else she had inadvertently raised were all somewhere, she just didn’t know where.

In addition to all that, Riza also implanted a few more parasites into her birds. [Way of Life] halved the cost which massively sped up how many parasites she could have. 50 was now her current total, more than enough to survive practically any encounter.

That was about it for all the progress that they made for the rest of the journey that day. Night fell and they still hadn’t made it to the next village yet, and with no demon incursions to alleviate the boredom, Riza was beginning to feel a little restless.

At least Daven and Sanders now had [Meditate] (passive) and [Maximise Mastery] at level 10. Riza had to do a little fiddling to adjust her entity manager to account for that but managed to get it working.

Entity Manager Excess Essence 2.23 es/sec

Entity Name Skill Level Health Stamina Essence Cost (es/sec) Daven Raise Dead 8 120/120 120/120 64/64 3.94 Sanders Raise Dead 8 100/100 100/100 65/65 3.94 Horse 1 Reanimate 4 200/200 200/200 20/20 1.55 Horse 1 Reanimate 4 200/200 200/200 20/20 1.55

While she was at it as well, since she had so much time and so little to do, she quickly bodged together a critter manager, of sorts It relied on manual input and so the numbers weren’t perfect but it’d do.

Critter Manager

Number of Critters Number of Parasites Total Regen (es/sec)

100 50 0.01

Pretty simple currently, it relied on an approximation of how many critters she had. The number of parasites was accurate and the total regeneration was how much essence she received per second based on [Essence Monarch] with all of her critters.

The main purpose wasn’t the critter manager itself but, rather, she could now tie it into her entity manager so her excess essence there took into account all of her critters.

Apart from all of this, there wasn’t much else for Riza to do. She spent most of the journey just talking to Meren and Lefie.

Which was nice. It reminded her of before the storm. No Dominion or demons to worry about. No zombies or undead to be concerned with.

With both Sanders and Daven shut up by [Meditate], and with the sun cresting low, blanketing the horizon in an orange glow, a sense of calm and peace settled over the group as they talked.

“So why did you join the patrol?” Lefie asked Meren. Riza had clambered into the wagon itself by this point, content to let the horses guide themselves along the road.

“It’s a long story,” Meren said, slightly dismissively and with a shake of her head.

“We’ve got time,” Riza added, genuinely curious to know.

“Really?” A couple of nods. “Okay,” Meren said, settling in a little. “I suppose it began when I was young. Really young. It might’ve been my first storm, actually. Not that long ago, the Chosen passed through and swept up most of the patrol officers, quite like the last storm, in fact,” She said with a hollow chuckle.

“I had a nightmare. I must’ve been screaming because when I woke up, my mum was there, hovering over me. She had lit a candle. The whole room was shaking, the shutters on the window banging loudly like a monster trying to get in.

“I was scared but she kept reassuring me, kept saying ‘it’s okay’ and ‘I’m here, it’s fine’. Actually managed to calm me down, she did.” A brief pause.

“It-it was…” She took a deep breath, steadying herself. “All of a sudden, bang!” Meren’s fist slammed against the wagon wall with a heavy thud, all her power going into it. Lefie jumped slightly. Riza was used to it. “The shutters were torn apart as a demon leapt through the window.”

A few seconds of silence as Meren visibly struggled to compose herself. Her breathing was erratic and she wiped at her eyes a little.

“Landed right on my mum. Dad, uh, he heard and came rushing in. Hit the guy over the head with his hammer and didn’t stop hitting until he smashed the head into a bloody pulp. It was all over in only a few seconds.”

Her breathing gradually returned to normal.

“That was that. People died and the Chosen weren’t there and we didn’t have enough people to defend us. It was a little bit after that I was determined to learn to fight, to be able to protect my home.”

“Demons appeared even without there being a crater nearby?” Riza asked, latching onto that specific piece of information.

“Er, yeah. Someone took a horse to the quarry and then, a few days later, we had a small group of Dominion in Litchendorf. They said they were there to look around. Apparently, they found a tunnel in the…” She trailed off, looking up at Riza.

“They found a tunnel in the forest. Said the demons came from there, and then sealed it up. Do you think it was like the tunnel you found yesterday?”

“Sounds like it. But why would they attack the village?”

“Because all they do is kill and destroy,” Meren huffed coldly.

“No, the tunnels serve a different purpose. They’re for beasts. The craters are for humans. Something must’ve forced them into the village.”

“It was years ago, now. Forget it.”

During all of that, Lefie had shifted over towards Meren’s side and now wrapped herself around the woman in a tight hug.

“Sorry about your mum.”

“Thanks,” Meren replied, squeezing Lefie back gently.

No one said anything for a good few minutes, content to dwell in the atmosphere.

“I’m sorry for everything I said to you, you know, on that day,” Meren broke the silence, looking up from the embracing form of Lefie to meet Riza’s eyes. As always, Riza bore an impassive face, failing to reflect her own emotions.

“I was angry, I was emotional, I was fucked up. I said things I didn’t mean and I’m genuinely, truly, sorry. Thank you for saving my home. I can’t thank you enough and… I’m indebted to you. You didn’t have to do anything but you did anyway. That means more than you can imagine.”

Gratitude.

Riza didn’t respond right away, her mind struggling for words. The first thing out of her mouth wasn’t a sentence but a sniffle, followed by another and another, and then quickly wiping her face as her eyes moistened up.

She held herself down, fought for control over her tear ducts, as her emotions threatened to get away from her.

Lefie reacted to the sound quickly, reaching out for Riza as well and pulling her into the hug. It was awkward, now with three people, and Riza didn’t return it instantly but eventually, she managed to bring up her arms to embrace the others, albeit weakly.

Words failed to form as she struggled to keep her deteriorating composure.

Meren’s strong arm wrapped around her tightly.

“Thank you,” She whispered as Riza did everything she could to just breathe normally.

She failed for what felt like hours, her mind going numb and inarticulate as she lost herself to the comforting embrace. Tears fought their way out as her vision blurred and her friends just hugged her harder.

Riza did, eventually, come to, not leaving Meren’s and Lefie’s arms but had gathered her wits enough to talk.

“Th-thank you,” She said, voice hoarse. “It means a lot.” Meren’s arms loosened as Riza sat back, making a bit of space between them, but not as much as there was initially.

She struggled for words, stopping and starting, before finally saying:

“I don’t regret it.”

The crackling fire did little to warmth the group. Huddled around it like dying peasants in a blizzard, they soaked up the heat in the frosty air.

Off to the side of what could generously be called a road, a small patch of low-cut grass housed the fire, along with Riza, Lefie, and Meren huddled together on one side with Daven and Sanders on the other.

Even with their alleged undead nature, the two men felt the full effects of chill.

“So, er, what’s the plan when we arrive?” Daven asked, slowly rubbing his forearms.

“Well, just in case, we should see if there’s been any demons recently. Things could have changed since the last time the two of you have heard about the situation.

“If not…” Riza shrugged, “Then we’ll stay for like a day, find out a bit about other villages, and look for where demons will be.”

A murmur of grunts drifted over from that side of the fire, followed by silence, everyone too tired to talk.

A few minutes lapsed comfortably before Riza spoke up, prefacing her words with a yawn.

“Do you ever wonder about what the demons are?” She asked no one in particular.

“Fucking pests,” Daven quickly commented.

“But, like, what are they? They’re not animals, not monsters. Did you ever think about where they came from or what they wanted?”

Sanders answered ‘no’ unsurprisingly, but the others took a little time to ponder.

“What is there to think about? They come from the fog and want to kill anything that lives,” Meren said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Seems simple to me.”

“But why? Why kill humans as well?” Riza was revving up as an unfurling array of connections were articulated in her mind. “Like, like, think of animals. Do they attack humans?”

“Every now and then, sure.”

“But never to eat. All animals are… designed to reproduce. That’s their goal in life. Auxiliary to that is to survive as that’s necessary to reproduce.

“If they can eat, drink, and mate, they’ve completed their evolutionary goal. None of those three require killing humans–they can get by with killing other animals instead. They only kill humans when attacked or threatened, defending themselves, their territory, or their families.

“Demons are the only ones that hunt humans. They’re our natural predator, in a way. Top of the food chain.”

“Food chain?”

“Don’t focus on that.”

Riza spoke quickly, and with purpose. She wanted to get the jumbled-up mess in her mind out into the open.

“Now that you say it, demons do sound odd.”

“Yes! But also, humans. We hunt animals other than for food. We even farm animals. We can hunt for materials, like the tusks on a boar. We’ve surpassed the need to fulfil our most base needs and have higher goals in mind when we hunt.

“The demons hunt for bodies. For parasites. In a way, it’s reproduction and so is nothing out of the ordinary but then why not stick to beasts? They’re less dangerous and generally reproduce faster. Why go after humans?” Riza took a breath.

“Humans are strong and smart. Humanoid demons retain intelligence. They’re smarter than the beast or greater demon equivalents. Hunting humans is fulfilling a higher calling for demons, like humans hunting animals to create coats.”

“So, demons are like humans?” Meren asked from Riza’s side. Everyone was kept rapt by her ramblings.

“Errr… not exactly. They’re like humanity–a civilisation–I think. They used tactics, strategies, and reacted to what was happening. There’s a stratified society to demons. Humanoid demons command beast and greater demons. Something bigger commands humanoid demons, and I don’t think that’s the colossal demon.”

“Colossal demon?”

“That’s what I’ve been calling the massive fucker that got up out of the hole. Do any of you have any other names for it?” Riza asked, looking each person over individually.

There were agreements on the name with the only alternative being ‘doom’ provided by Sanders.

“So, think of it like an army. Beast demons are foot soldiers. Cannon fodder. Humanoid demons give orders on the field but report back to the main base where the leader of the army decides on the strategy for the war.”

“War? What’s that?” Daven asked, struggling with the English word somewhat.

“Fuck. I don’t know the translation for it. Like, two countries fight each other for something other than survival?”

“Countries?” More confusion.

“You don’t even have a word for country! Fuck me…” Riza trailed off, wondering how to define a basic word as country.

Damn. I never liked English.

“You mean like the Empire and nolitos?” Lefie piped up from beside Riza, Riza’s brain taking a few, slow seconds to recall where she heard that word from.

“That’s your people?”

“Like, kind of? The Empire isn’t very friendly to us whenever they find out where we live. That’s why we have to move around so often.”

“Nolitos?” Meren had to ask.

“Yep! As it turns out, we don’t call ourselves ‘tarny’,” Lefie said with undisguised contempt for the word.

“Right. Nolitos,” Meren said carefully as Riza watched her.

“Basically, that’s what you meant, right? That the Empire didn’t fight us to survive?” Lefie said, bringing the conversation back around.

“Well, yeah. Is there a word for that? When two groups fight each other for something other than food, drink, territory, or survival?”

“Something,” Sanders answered quickly.

“What’s that?”

“‘Bringing the presence of Skaldur to their lives’,” Daven explained mechanically, like he was repeating something.

Sounds like proselytism to me. They’d probably call it ‘enlightenment’. Give it a positive spin.

“Well, not entirely what I meant,” Riza said, coming to the conclusion that they actually didn’t have a word for ‘war’. How very strange.

“Is there anything other than the Empire? Like, on the same scale?”

The three of them had noticeable confusion over the question as Riza rubbed her head.

“Looks like the answer is no,” And as she said that, the reason suddenly occurred to her.

We’re on a fucking flying island! The entire island is the Empire. There’s no war because there’s literally nothing else here. No other nations, or other flying islands.

Riza sank backwards, leaning on her hands.

“Wow. You fuckers know nothing."

“He-”

“Doesn’t matter,” Riza interrupted Daven. “I don’t even remember what my original point was anymore. The Empire is at war with the demons and I want to know why.” Her gaze drifted down to Daven and Sanders. Her undead. “I’m going to find out why.”

I’m going to rip the secrets out of this world whether it likes it or not.

It didn’t take very much travelling for the tall, grassy plains that covered the vastness beyond the world to convert to seas of golden wheat.

For as far as the eye could see, an ocean of yellow stared back at them as the cart trudged up a hill, the zombie horses pulling the wagon diligently behind them, the expanse unfurled before them.

Acres upon acres of farmland surrounded a quaint village with a decidedly-not quaint, giant metal structure sitting within it.

Taller than a multi-story car park, it’d had a rectangular bottom with boxy rooms climbing up a central, cylindrical tower like scaffolding.

Cylindrical and with a bulbous head, it was like someone placed an observatory atop a nuclear power plant.

The walls were smooth metal, rusted with age but bearing the technology of the ancients. Holes cut through the metallic structure, sunlight shining through in places. Streaks of blue painted the grey surface, lines tracing all over like a complex circuit.

The base was wider, with a collection of box-like rooms made from the old metal from the original structure, with its respective, haphazard dangling walkways, as well as a large number of wooden and stone attachments, clearly constructed at a far more recent age.

The holes punched throughout weren’t the only signs of age; creeping vines climbed all up the tower, with moss and grass covering any flat surface in sight. A few small trees topped buildings, with only the top of the circular tower being free from foliage.

As they drew closer, Riza could see that the closer to the base you go, the more it was overtaken by moss.

Woah.

“Woah,” Lefie commented in awe, turning to look at her companions. “What is that?”

“The stories didn’t do it justice,” Daven commented.

Sanders just stared in silent amazement.

“A relic from the Ancients,” Meren murmured in awe.

Riza grunted in annoyance. No concrete answers. The group was enraptured as the wagon pulled up into the perimeter of the village, only finally being shaken free once the horses came to a stop with a single command from Riza.

“Right, you fuckers, we’ve got a job to do here,” She said somewhat forcefully, standing on the driving seat and facing the group. Hands on her hip, she tried to exude confidence and leadership.

“We’re here for information. Numero uno, Dominion. Is there anyone from the Dominion, or the Chosen, here in this village right now. This is the most important piece of information. If there is, we skedaddle. Anyone who finds anything, report to me or Lefie. Send me a [Message] if you hear about it,” Riza said the last part to Lefie.

“Numero dos, demons. Any demons nearby? If not, have any neighbouring village had a problem with demons or demon holes at all? This information is not urgent so save it for when we meet up later.

“Numero trois,” Riza said, never caring much for her language lessons, “What the fuck is that thing?” She pointed behind. “Again, not urgent, but good to know. Everybody understands?”

Nods and murmurs fang out.

“Good. We’ll split up. Daven and Sanders, you’re together. Lefie and Meren, you two as well. Both of you head into the village and ask around. Use your intelligence. I’ll head to that thing,” Again, pointing at the large structure,” And see if the Ancients left behind anything useful. Let’s go.”

The village was quite lively. Even on the outskirts, there was an abundance of people milling around, each doing their own thing. There was a pulse of life to the place, much different from the other places Riza had visited.

However, they each had their roles to play so Riza scarpered on over to the hill where the gigantic structure resided.

The confusing, maze-like network of roads and houses was tough to navigate, forcing Riza round in circles and back on herself before she pushed past it all with the incidental, right path, the cobble ground and stone brick houses letting go to a grassy field and dirt path, leading up to the mound of the building.

As she neared, wooden shacks popped up, small and makeshift, heavily battered by the weather but still standing. Each one was overtaken with greenery; some had trees growing through the roof, others a mossy, carpeted floor. They were each clearly old and abandoned.

The wood gradually started to shift to stone and a kind of plaster the closer to the structure they were. Holes punched through walls were fewer and farther between, and the trees were distinctly outside.

The last few steps were steep, requiring carved steps made out of not stone but concrete, it felt like. They ran all the way up to the structure, with the remains of a rusted, partially destroyed metal railing lining the edges.

The stairs twisted and turned, following the natural slope of the ground, before terminating at a large, dusty, blue door. It was a washed-out cobalt blue, with specks of white and yellow suggesting decals long disappeared, wiped away by time and age.

The wall was cool to the touch, gritty and as hard as concrete, not metal. A rap with her knuckles gave off a very shallow sound, the texture rough and pockmarked dirt and inch-deep holes. It looked battered and bruised.

Lifting her head, the concrete gradually gave away to a grey, sheet metal. Smooth and circular, it shone with the white glow of midday sunlight. A hazardous collection of walkways lined the column. Only when the concrete transitioned to metal was it a dirty, brownish colour, struggling to reflect light and with a veritable novel of messages written in the dirt.

Riza chuckled. Like writing ‘clean me’ on a car.

Blanketing this large doorway, hermetically sealed shut, she presumed, were two small pill boxes. Windows covered a wide periphery, with glass covering them up. A bland, grey concrete, they each had a rectangular, human-sized door made out of the same blue metal.

Riza tried the handle. Nothing. Maybe it was just rusted? She pushed down with all her might but it failed to turn.

Damn. You must be this high to ride the ride.

Looking for another approach, Riza left the very clear entrance alone, trailing around the circumference of the structure. There were plenty more concrete structures around the base, cut off with the same, blue doors.

In addition, however, were numerous wooden shacks, sitting on top and between those original rooms. Riza tried the door to the first one she saw. Locked, but with a metal padlock from the outside.

I probably have enough power to bust through, She contemplated for a moment, before leaving it alone. Don’t want to make a bad first impression. She carried on with her walking.

The boxes varied in shape and size. Much like the pill-boxes, some were small and singular but others reached a couple floors tall while others were wider. There was no consistency to them. It felt like they were all built to purpose, including the wooden ones.

As well as the different shapes, they were a variety of heights as well. Some were ground-level while others required Riza to walk up concrete steps to a raised foundation, climb a precarious, metal ladder she didn’t trust, or walk up equally precarious wooden stairs which had clearly replaced the original method of getting to the room.

Of course, she did all of these things, trying out each and every door and finding a few of them were actually open! They weren’t very interesting, however.

The interior of the rooms varied. Many were actually empty, which probably explained why they were unlocked. A few held some chests and shelves with a collection of tools but they were few and far between and felt more like someone just forgot to empty the rooms in their entirety.

One room did contain something interesting, however. A toilet.

Under regular circumstances, Riza would probably be not that excited to see a broken, smashed up toilet but she very nearly jumped with joy when she turned to the sink in the room.

With a gentle hand, she reached out and fondled the faucet, the metal cool in her hand. Turning it ever so gently, a slow trickle of water dripped into the metallic sink. Twisting even further, the trickle developed into a stream.

She lapped at it like a dog, the water refreshing and revitalising. Twisting in the opposite direction, it closed up without a problem.

Riza was vibrating with excitement. Running. Fucking. Water.

The implications were massive. She had encountered such back in the bunker, but that was abandoned and taken over by demons. This place was right on the edge of a village, able to be accessed by civilisation.

Backing out of the room, Riza looked around herself. She was elevated from the village itself, a bit of a distance away. Leaning out over a railing, she squinted, focusing on the small people milling about.

She watched one person, dressed in bright green. They left their little building carrying something. Walking up the street, they stopped occasionally to talk to other, brightly coloured people, before continuing.

They didn’t walk very far before turning a corner and finally arriving at their destination. It was a small, wooden shack that stood out, quite ugly looking. They opened a door and vanished from sight for around a minute before returning, now clearly struggling to carry what they had.

They bobbled back down to the building they first left from and entered inside.

Not that much information but it was something. Maybe if she could get higher…

Turning back and looking up at the massive building before her, anticipation burbled inside of Riza.

Blue walkways lined the tall column, with stairs leading to different levels, ladders hanging down, and doors leading inside.

Hopping down, Riza began to jog, looking for the lowest point to begin her ascent. Eventually, she found a section where a ladder dropped down through the roof of a concrete box.

Running up stairs and jumping over railings, Riza climbed up to the door of the room which housed the ladder.

Locked. Of course.

Not to be perturbed, she looked over the boxy room itself. It wasn’t that tall, the ceiling only about a foot above the door. Definitely climbable.

Stretching out her arm and legs, Riza warmed up her muscles. It had been ages since she had climbed anything and the mere prospect was invigorating.

Calming down her breathing and steadying herself, she decided she was ready to go for it.

Running at the wall, she got a firm footing and pushed herself upwards, her hands gripping the edge of the roof. She kicked back with her foot, pushing her arms up and straight as she popped herself up and over the edge with far more ease than she was used to.

Fuck yeah! I’m loving this new power.

A metal hatch blocked access to the inside of the room and the bottom of the ladder where it met the roof was closed off with a wire cage, preventing you from climbing the ladder traditionally.

This was barely an issue for Riza. Most ladders she had come across were a bit like this. All it required was a bit of effort and a decent bit of strength as Riza clambered up the cage, taking her time to be careful before finally summiting it and feeling her hand wrap around the blue rung of the ladder itself.

Success!

Climbing a little higher, her other hand and then legs quickly followed, finally now climbing the ladder properly.

Hard part over, Riza carefully ascended, making sure whatever she touched was stable enough to climb on.

She pulled herself up onto the walkway, a good few metres off the raised ground now and with many more to go.

What followed was a gradual traversal upwards, and sometimes downwards. Not all ladders were in good condition, and a few of the stairs were a bit hazardous. One time, she even needed to awkwardly use the edge of the door to provide leverage to climb with.

Higher and higher she ascended, her muscles beginning to burn with the energy she expended. Riza’s heart was revving like an engine, simplistic joy filling her mind as she climbed like a spider.

The world below grew further away as the bustling noise of the village, of life below, quietened and was replaced by wind and the creaking of metal.

And then, she was there. A few metres above her was the very top of the tower, and many metres below, the village.

The fields of wheat were massive and striking to the eye. A bit further away, nestled right in the middle of the fields, was a tower. A windmill, in fact, tall and wooden in make.

A few more dotted the landscape, circling the perimeter of the village.

From such a vantage spot, Riza looked beyond the village. The wheat eventually ended, leading to roads or dirt trailing towards other villages, she noticed, and something much larger than a village.

Further away and requiring multiple days’ worth of travel, it was only what could be described as a city.

Metal and concrete towers sprang up from the ground, a thick, stone wall containing it from the endless fields of crops on its doorstep. A mountain range ran along the back, connecting and wrapping away.

The most striking visage was a thick, black tower reaching up to the sky, taller than any other structure, the top obscured by clouds.

The wind was strong up here, whipping her short hair viciously. Even with the jumper and coat, it cut straight to her bone, chilling her enough that she knew she had to go down eventually.

The sky was cloudy but not dark or stormy. The sun peeked out, shining down on the world.

Needless to say, Riza took her time appreciating the view.

“I’m actually starting to like it here.”