A mortal who pities me? My eye wasn’t lost in battle—I traded it. A being in the Void required it, and I needed a god killed. I killed a powerful war god with one bargain. Remember mortal, never cross a cunning opponent unless you can end them in one breath. How about it—do I deserve your pity now?

~Cailleach, the Veiled Hag of Winter

It was night, not that it mattered much in Oiche. Night or day, the only difference was the brightness of the floating lanterns. Not wanting others to see him, he’d chosen to walk the darker alleys, which was the most noticeable difference between night and day. Here, in the shadows of the City of Shadows, Crow found another world worth hunting.

Gangs and thugs prowled the alleys, but all of them used blunt weapons and refused to kill. There were underground gambling establishments and fighting rings. Places ordinary people refused to prowl, but the only thing Crow found odd about it was how they’d entered the inner city. He was sure there was a secret there, but those who knew the answers had pummeled him for being too nosy. Uncle Luthais never commented on Crow’s injuries, but that didn’t stop the frowns.

Today was different. Crow didn’t intend to prowl the streets, and he’d spent the day in the Sacred Grove talking to Mugna. It’d been almost a month since his father left, and everyone looked at him with some pity, not even willing to give him chores or ask him to do anything.

Officially, he became a resident of the Maddox Manor within Oiche. Had his own room in the main lodge’s western wing next to Otto. He wasn’t a prisoner, but Mugna had strongly recommended that he didn’t leave the city. Crow had no rebuttal to that and knew it was not safe to leave.

In the most recent conversation, Mugna let him know that Barnes was about to head out on a mission for a few years. Crow was about to get a new teacher, and his idle days of training and nights of fighting were ending. Not wanting to think about it, he pulled the hood forward, putting his face deeper into the shadows of the cloak.

“Hold that, bitch. I’m going to cut that foreign demon’s face with her own knife.”

Crow almost ignored the group ahead, but he had a sinking feeling in his stomach the moment he heard them call her a demon. Not that he was indifferent to the plight of the person ahead, but if they were here, they probably weren’t good people.

Sighing, he stepped into the shadows of the buildings, using his hunting and stalking skills he’d learned in the forests. It took him a few weeks to adjust and acclimate to the changes between forest and city, but it was similar. Both used shadows and a bit of deception to remain undetected.

Drawing his bow, he pulled out an arrow he’d designed with Barnes’s help. He called it the Banshee. They developed it to deter criminals, and he’d blunted the end of it so it would maim and not kill.

Errhheeeeeee!

The arrow screamed as it struck the fattest man in the crowd. Usually, he shot the arrows into guts or butts—it’d bruise like hell, but was not life-threatening. Two more followed and several of the weaker gang members fled. Crow recognized this bunch as the Feral Gang by the logo carved into their arms. Supposedly they claimed ownership of the underground on the eastern side of the inner city.

“Damn! Damn. Damn. Why ya gotta mess wit’ us?” One boy called out. It wasn’t the first time Crow had attacked this group, and the arrows instantly put fear into them.

Crow muffled his voice with a piece of cloth. “Release the girl, or it’ll be worse than an arrow to your ass.”

The men holding the raven-haired beauty’s arms released her right away. At first, she stared into the shadows, trying to see who her benefactor was. Realizing it was futile, she grabbed the fallen knives on the ground, making them disappear. However, when Crow thought she was about to leave, and everyone had let their guard down, she struck. Her knifed sliced down their leader’s face, and based on the sound, Crow knew she’d taken his eye.

Before the guy could cry out, she’d disappeared. Crow took off, not wanting to take the brunt of their wrath. He’d have to be more careful about them in the future.

Damn you, Song Xue! Crow cursed inwardly, not understanding that girl’s temperament. Now that he’d returned to the city, he’d see her occasionally when Song Lin came to the House of Danu to work. She was cold and aloof, knives appearing and reappearing in her hands. It left him unsure what to say to her.

It only took about a week to understand that the last eight years hadn’t been kind to her. She attended the local academy, but they treated her like a foreign oddity. The only reason boys talked to her was her beauty, but their words made it sounds as if she was an object they wanted to own—a potential concubine.

The girls wanted to see her beautiful pale face cut to ribbons. Because of that, she’d had to fight the other students daily. Knives became the deterrent. After cutting more than a few people, they stopped confronting her openly, but it left her without friends. Made her cold and hard.

She wasn’t the sweet girl he remembered.

Time was cruel. Crow remembered the vows he made after his father left. Sometimes a mystery was more devastating than raw power. The most dangerous opponent was the one that remained unfathomable, like Song Xue. He promised he’d be the vigilant one, striking when needed and using his intelligence to destroy them when required.

Awakening his Source came with a lot of introspection in that dark abyss. Despite falling into unconsciousness, awakening the Source needed a path, one that Crow had to provide. Most of his thoughts felt incoherent, but one thing stood firm during his awakening—he’d embody the attributes of an oak tree.

After that thought entered his mind, his Source solidified around the concept. He wanted to stand tall, unbending—powerful enough to stand against a tornado. Not only that, but he wanted to be noble and wise. Shelter those that deserved it.

Looking inward, his Source resembled that of a sapling. He had no idea if that was normal or not, and for some odd reason, he felt compelled to remain silent about it. The more he practiced the cultivation methods Mugna and his father provided him, the more that sapling grew.

Either way, he vowed he’d be the opponent others feared. He’d use his cunning and intelligence to inspire fear in those that crossed him and domineering power to strike down those that stood in his way.

A source of some of his most recent insights, oddly, was that of Elder Dryad. He claimed that power was a lot of things, but the wielder of that power determined its use.

All that led to one thought… The path a cultivator walked was theirs and theirs alone. Anyone that tried to interfere with his path could only be one thing—an enemy.

If the heavens want to stop him, he’ll destroy the heavens. If foes wish to stand in his way, then he’ll chop off their legs. If death wants him, he’ll have to wait in line. It was his only way forward. If he folded even a little, he’d fail, so he’d fight until the very end.

Arriving back at the manor, he walked towards his room only to find an elder waiting for him. Crow recognized him as the man who ran the Sweet Onion and possibly the man in charge of the entire manor while grandpa Niall was at the ancestral grounds.

“Crow?”

“Yes, Elder?” Crow asked and put his hand to his chest.

“No need for that. Not yet.” Gavin chuckled. “I’m sure you’ve realized that Mugna sent me to be your new teacher. Luthais will continue to work with you on your combat skills during the day because he might not have your father’s strength, but his combat ability is one of the best in the clan.”

“This one understands, do I—is there a ceremony?”

“Nope, by Maddox standards, I’m not allowed to be your teacher, but since Mugna asked, I will be your teacher in name only. Come with me. We can’t talk out here. Remember, from this day forward, assume you are under watch at all times.”

Crow nodded and followed the elder into the Sweet Onion. Once they reached the second floor, he opened the door to a small office. Pushing aside the bookshelf, he revealed a spiral staircase.

“In the future, at an hour past dinner, you will come here. These stairs go deeper than you realize. You may call me Elder, or Elder Gavin, or even Uncle Gavin while on the surface, but down below—we are equals, and you may refer to me as Gavin. I guard this room with quite a few formations that prevent snooping, not that it matters too much with what you are.”

“You know? What do you know?” Crow stumbled over his words, trying not to give anything away and get information too.

“I know everything. Unfated. Source is open. The reason your father left. Should I go on?”

“No…”

“Do not worry. Clan head, your uncle, and Mugna all know about this, and we are keeping silent. Until your powers reveal themselves, you are to remain quiet about it too. We are afraid if others find out, you’ll be schemed against immediately. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Sit and listen well. Consider this your first lesson. In most lessons, I will require you to read—a lot. Afterward, we will talk. I do not doubt your intelligence, so I won’t treat you like other kids. But… I expect you to know this stuff and form your own thoughts. I might lecture, but those will primarily be based on my own experiences.

All of this is important because you will soon face a calamity. This is unavoidable. It is impossible to glimpse this tribulation, so all the books and knowledge I will impart to you will help you cope with it when it arrives. This may be your only path to survival.”

“What do I need to do?” Crow asked, sitting on a padded wooden chair that was surprisingly comfortable.

“Absorb everything we teach you. Pretty easy for a Bard. Let’s talk about Shields.” Gavin undid the strings at the top of his shirt and exposed the Shield embedded into his chest. It glittered a golden yellow color, and other than having only two shining stars, it looked like his father’s. “Are you aware of what these stars mean?”

Crow did but shook his head no. Not that he mistrusted the things his father had taught him, but an additional viewpoint was helpful.

“Each star represents a floor. It doesn’t light up until you complete that floor and ascend. Every zero floor, so zero, ten, twenty, and so forth, is a shield upgrade and is usually ten times harder than the previous ten floors. Anyone can enter the bottommost floor. Druids even have a massive stronghold there, protecting our Portal of Ascension from that side.”

“And the trial is on this bottom floor?”

“It is. There is a forbidden zone that only opens every other year. It is both one of the easiest and hardest trials you’ll experience. Every ninth floor has a trial, and to get the next Shield, you must cross it before ascending. Once you’ve reached the first floor, you’ll gain a Wood Shield with zero stars. Ascending to the second floor will open one star. That all make sense?”

“It does, and what is on these floors?”

“Each floor is its own world, with some variations. This might be hard to wrap your head around, but the floors wrap in a spiral, climbing ever upward. The problem is to the north of every floor is the Plunge where you can escape danger and plummet back to the bottommost floor. You could land on your head and remain unharmed.”

“Always to the north? How?”

“Again, you just need to accept somethings as true. Not even I have that level of understanding between space, gravity, time, and void. Regardless, the higher your Shield, the slower you fall. Meaning if you and someone with a lower Shield than you jump into the Plunge, they’ll arrive on the ground before you and in a random location within fifty kilometers of the center of the floor.”

“Alright, so mostly used for escape and to get out of the tower faster. What else?”

Gavin nodded his head at the boy’s understanding. “South is the wall of the tower, which is nearly indestructible. The Stairs of Ascension are always to the east, and to the west, you can climb back down to the previous floor. Never try to shortcut them. You must walk up the steps to the top. Once you’ve cleared the stairs once, you can go over it any way you like, even jumping off the massive wall that divides the two floors.”

“And that is without exception?”

“Those things are, yes. The world itself might have its own bizarre rules, but I won’t spoil that for you. In the center of each floor is usually a massive city that surrounds a portal. Most of those central cities have guardians protecting the portal, making it taboo to kill there. Then again, power trumps all rules.”

“Where does this portal go?”

“The portals are like a massive travel array with hundreds of hubs. The key to reaching any of those hubs is your Shield. Should you reach a portal with your own efforts, it will allow you to attune it to your Shield.”

“So all I have to do is reach a portal on my own, attune it to my Shield, and I can return to it at any time?”

“Yes, that’s a pretty concise summary.”

“The trial I’ll face, what is that like?”

“It’s hard to say. The current theory is that the tower is going to challenge your weaknesses. Are you familiar with the Spiritual Path?”

“I am.” Crow felt he might have already started on his.

“Good. A Spiritual Path isn’t necessarily about right or wrong; it’s about perseverance. Should one of your thoughts on your path end up wrong, you rethink it, take what you know, and reform it. The tower is going to test that. It’s going to challenge your path, and you need to be ready to defend it. By being a cultivator, you already are defying heaven’s will, and the only way forward is to navigate the ins and outs of your Spiritual Path—protect yourself with the Truths of the universe. Without that protection, it is only a matter of time before the heavens are angered enough to kill you.”

“What if the heavens can’t see me?” Crow asked with a grin.

“That…” Gavin found himself at a loss for words for the first time in a long time. Technically, the boy was Unfated, so the heavens had no path for him.

“This student understands,” Crow trusted Gavin, the old man shared his knowledge without hesitation, and when he didn’t know, he didn’t come up with some nonsense.

Gavin broke out of his stupor and beamed, excited for the first time in centuries. This kid was practically a gift from the heavens, and during this conversation, he confirmed one more thing. Crow’s bloodline was definitely more potent than any Bard he’d trained in the past. The amount of intelligence, wisdom, and bearing the boy displayed, especially at this age, could not be achieved otherwise. He wasn’t just memorizing things but comprehending them as well.

“Heh, you little brat. After morning training, you need to help in one of the two businesses out front. I’d recommend alternating because there is a lot you can learn from both the medics and the grocers. After all, we mostly sell rare herbs and plants which are useful in healing. Your afternoons are free to do whatever you like, but you will meet with me in the evenings. You already know how to read and write, the sciences, math, and history, so we’ll expand on that, and you’ll learn more about your bloodline.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I have one rule, you are not to learn any technique or ability that uses your Source without my permission. First, you learn how to cultivate properly, build your foundation, and grow more in tune with the surrounding mana. Next, you’ll learn what a technique is and how they work. After you master that, we can talk about your first technique. The fastest student I’ve ever had managed all that in one year. Can you do better?”

Crow opened his mouth to protest but saw Gavin’s raised eyebrow as if daring him to protest.

“Yes, sir,” Crow said respectfully. Thoughts of rebelling died, but only because he remembered the promise he made to himself. Patience was something to hone, and the reward dangled in front of him was the perfect way to do this. Having a three-year head start on other kids meant he had more time to build a firm foundation. This was an opportunity he dared not squander.

“Alright, off to bed,” Gavin said, disable the formations that kept their conversation private. Crow trudged down the stairs and back to his room.

Mugna appeared moments later.

“You sure about this? It feels wrong putting this on that boy.”

“I’m sure. Crow is the only one capable of getting past the trials.”

“Why is that?”

“Because all the formations and traps are so deadly because they tap into fate lines. An Unfated wouldn’t even set off a single trap.”

“The traps aren’t the worst thing there,” Gavin snapped.

“I’m aware, but it’ll be years before the boy is ready, so we have to make sure he is ready. Push him harder than the others.”

Gavin nodded his head, and both men went silent.