Life offers many paths. You can walk all of them and reach a mediocre distance along it, or you can choose a few and excel well beyond the ordinary.

~Dagda, the All-Father, Chief of the Gods

Niall spat out some old blood. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been unconscious, but that globule of blood had dried. Sitting up, he checked his body to find most of his wounds were minor. He rubbed at his ringing ears and wiped away flakes of dried blood.

“Sir! You are awake.” Alys Iceni rushed over after seeing Niall sit up. Her broad shoulders and muscular body didn’t take away from her feminine qualities in the slightest. She had discarded the hooded cloak that most Druids wore, which revealed her pale shoulders sticking out from her sleeveless leather jerkin. Scarification tattoos decorated her shoulders and upper arms. The triskelion symbol was the most recognizable. Other than the Awen, it might be the most prominent symbol of the Druid people.

Alys quickly flipped over unconscious bodies and tossed away the lifeless undead until she reached Niall’s side. Seeing that he was mostly unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief. She’d spent the last hour searching for him, but there were just too many bodies on the ground. Half of them were alive but unconscious.

“What happened?” Niall asked when he could focus again. His ears were still ringing slightly, but there was no permanent damage.

“The Clocktower’s bell rang as the trial ended—that’s what the town guard said. The first chime put the undead down for good, and not even the Hex Vodun could raise them back up. The second one blasted everyone off their feet. I’m not sure how many more chimes happened after that, as I was knocked unconscious. Those with higher Spirit recovered fairly fast.”

“So the Vodun recovered first?” Niall knew that most of the Hex practitioners had Spirit-based cultivation methods.

“Based on what I heard, it killed or severely damaged some of them with higher sensitivity, and some didn’t look like it affected them at all. Those who recovered first went out in numbers to kill off the Witch Doctors but only killed a few dozen. After that, their numbers were superior to ours as their people recovered faster, but they fled shortly after.”

“The Clocktower is closed then? Did you see my grandson?”

“No. But Crow is fine. This trial actually awards the top five with a special Shield trial, so as long as he succeeds, he’ll end up with a mutated Shield.”

“How do you know this?” Niall asked, not doubting this woman’s information network. Even he couldn’t fathom how she could gain this time of information so quickly.

“Torcail. He came by looking for you earlier, and when I told him we couldn’t find you, he laughed. Said something like ‘that old bastard won’t die, he’s like a damned fungus—good luck getting rid of it.’” Alys mimicked Torcail’s stance and voice, causing Niall to laugh and cough at the same time.

“That little kid still wants a beating. Guess last time I didn’t hurt him enough to teach him a lesson,” Niall growled but was still laughing.

“Anyway, he said Mara was also one of the top five, and she mentioned Crow ranked first in the trial. Mara claimed the item Torcail wanted. Is it really okay to let him have that thing?”

“If he can claim the spear Gae Assail, Lugh’s masterpiece, then that is his fate. We won’t interfere. Torcail and his parents are a mercantile family and opportunists, but they aren’t evil. You can just look at Torcail and see that he is Lugh’s descendant. Besides, he is Crow’s master, even if he is a lazy one. Did he say anything else about Crow?”

“No. After the test, the tower’s guardian dropped Mara on the first floor of the tower randomly. Crow will go through the same thing when he completes his test, so they aren’t together at the moment.”

“Alright, enough about him for the moment. Have the Hex retreated completely?”

“No. While their undead armies were wiped out here, this place has no strategic value. Since the trial is over, they’ve retreated. Also, the Trial of Ascension is still ongoing, so we believe they are sending a bunch of their young ones into the tower.”

“Alright. I’ll inform the people in charge of this town that we are withdrawing. Let our people know we leave first thing in the morning. Time shore up our defenses around our keystone. The rest of the war has nothing to do with us, and Gavin already arranged things on our end.”

“We aren’t going to help the other keystones?”

“No. Those bastards refused to unite and stop the Hex Vodun, so we can honorably refuse to aid them. There are at least three keystones they won’t be able to claim, one of which is ours. The Beastlords have already settled in with us, and we’ve formed an alliance, so they have made the northern continent their home.”

“That is good news and the Vodou?”

“They’ve taken over the Beastlords’ old territory. They’ve also formed an alliance with the people currently in control of the western continent’s keystone. After they got what they wanted, they refused to discuss anything further with us. Even refusing to help with the Hex. While I have a good impression of them for saving my life and won’t make things hard for them, we will not form any agreements with them either.”

“Hmph. They may have saved your life, but we gave them a path to survival. They should never repay kindness this way,” Alys said, her voice cold as winter.

“It is fine. As long as they don’t create enmity with us, we won’t bother them either. We have benefitted from their interference. Not only have we secured our keystone, we owe no one any favors, and it could be said they all owe us. The alliance with the Beastlords has huge economic and military benefits for our people. Even the eastern continent wouldn’t dare cause trouble with us now.”

“This is all Crow’s doing?” Alys asked, curious about how all this came into play. She knew some of what happened, but not all of it. Information gathering was her specialty, but some secrets the Druid Council kept close. Niall had already told her about Crow’s unfated status, which is why she asked.

“It is. Our people’s fate is now tied to him. Whether we can reach the upper realm and reclaim what was once our will depend on his actions. We’ve not told him this because we don’t want to put more pressure on him, but it might be the annihilation of our order if he fails.”

“Understood. We’ll do as you say, and I’ll make sure our men are ready to leave by morning. Is there anything else you need me to do?” Alys asked. Time was wasting, and while she had more questions, she knew she shouldn’t push her luck.

Niall thought about his options and stared hard at Alys, trying to decide. Gavin had essentially retired and had no inclination to enter the tower anymore. Niall wanted to appoint him leader of the Maddox clan because he was the only one he trusted to ensure the rise of the Maddox clan.

With Gavin handling things, Niall could take his son Luthais and go after his eldest son. On the way, maybe monitor Crow. Not that he didn’t believe in his grandson’s capabilities, but he was anxious because of the boy’s unfated status. There were some real hidden monsters in the tower. While most would choose to get to the highest floors because of the mana density, some of the most sinister bastards were less predictable.

Plus, after talking with Gavin and understanding Conall’s thoughts on the tower, he felt that reaching the upper realms really might be within their reach. Niall’s uncles were all worthless, and he had little hope of them accomplishing anything. His brothers had long disappeared into the tower and were probably dead. With the death of his wife many years ago, the only thing that kept him at the ancestral grounds were his own children and Gavin.

“Sir?”

“Hmm?”

“Any other orders?”

“How do you feel about climbing the tower?” Niall asked Alys. The Iceni clan wasn’t one that Niall had ever thought of creating an alliance with but admitted that this woman beside him was beyond competent.

“Y-you want me to climb with you?”

“And my son Luthais.”

“But... the Maddox clan?”

“I’ll leave it in Gavin’s hands. Don’t tell me you can’t feel it, the change? That grandson of mine...” Niall shook his head. “I feel like a sleeping beast inside me is awakening and craving mayhem and power. How about it? I feel you have a lot of talent, and that’s just based on what you haven’t hidden from me.”

“You knew that too?”

“Lass, I’ve been around a lot longer than you, but I won’t pry into your secrets. If you stick with me, just now that a son of Maddox returns kindness tenfold.”

“And enmity?”

“It’ll be returned a hundredfold.”

“You sure know how to brag, old man. But if you’ll have me, I’ll join you.”

“Good. I’ll show that damned grandson of mine that he isn’t the only one that can win over beauties.” Niall’s loud laughter caught many people’s attention, and Alys’s red face made him laugh even harder.

***

“Sir, we have news.”

“Oh?” Xu Chen perked up. Ever since Song Lin escaped, no one knew of her whereabouts. No one was even sure who helped her or how she got away. “And do we know who protected her all these years?”

“No. At the time, Song Lin was living alone and running her own shop. No one came looking for her after we kidnapped her. We found where the rescue happened, but they turned all the people that abducted her into meat paste. Their deaths were brutal.”

“High ranked Shield?” Xu Chen furrowed his brow, not liking when things he couldn’t control interfered with his plans.

“We really don’t know, but your uncle doesn’t think so. Those men had still had their bodies intact, even if their bones were pulverized. His reasoning is that a high-ranked Shield would have turned them into blood mist with one blow and wouldn’t have left an intact corpse.”

“Alright, we’ll trust my uncle. I’m assuming this isn’t the news...?”

“Right! Your people spotted Song Lin in Sunstar.”

“That’s reliable?”

“It is. She is back in the tower.”

“What rank is her Shield?”

“That...” The chamberlain hesitated to speak.

“Spit it out.”

“Our spy said she was a Wood Shield.”

“How is that possible?” Xu Chen’s eyes narrowed, staring at his chamberlain. He’d never heard of anyone being able to reset their Shield, and if that was possible, it was monumental news. It’d allow those with broken Shields or weak foundations to restart. Xu Chen didn’t know who helped her accomplish something like that, but he wasn’t happy. His little rabbit climbed the tower so fast that it scared him. The reason he stopped his chase was that his own foundation was on the verge of becoming unstable. Song Lin needed to be broken so that she was helpless in front of him when he finally caught her. If she climbed the tower properly this time...

“Find her. She absolutely cannot be allowed to climb. I want her captured or crippled. Once she bears my child, we’ll kill her.”

“Sir, maybe you should dangle her as bait.”

Xu Chen paused, and his lips turned upward in a cruel smile. It was a look that only his chamberlain and father had ever seen. The sinister face of a true psychopath who cared nothing for human life. The chamberlain said nothing, knowing that his life would end if he showed any displeasure or a cross look. Still, he couldn’t stop his body from shivering in fear.

Xu Chen chose the chamberlain from slaves among the Xu clan’s conquests. Song Shan was selected because of his Shield level, and Xu Chen hadn’t realized that his chamberlain was Song Lin’s uncle. They placed some sort of treasure device on his Shield, and it forced a slave’s bond on him. The sinister device linked to a controlling device that Song Shan had only seen once. The activation of the slave bond was passive, and all Xu Chen needed to do was store it inside his Shield.

The device on his Shield punished any thoughts of rebellion, disobeying, suicide, or escape. Had Crow experienced it, he’d recognize that it was like his Soul Burn curse, a fate worse than death. The fundamental difference was he had a choice to end his life if the pain became too unbearable.

Song Shan dreamed daily about being able to draw his knife and stab the devil in his face. Even now, he had to bite back his rage and endure. Over the years, his Mind, Body, and Spirit had become highly refined from this device. He knew if he could escape, he wouldn’t run into any bottlenecks in the near future. It solidified his foundations to an unprecedented level, and it was the one thing that kept hope alive.

It sounded like he was betraying Song Lin, but she only lived this long because he interfered from the shadows. He paid the price every time he interfered, and the price he paid was worth it. Using Song Lin as bait would buy her time, and if his brother still lived, he hoped he rescued little Lin’er. She was the only hope for the Song clan’s longevity. Even if he couldn’t escape, Song Shan would die peacefully, knowing that his bloodline lived on.

The other reason he prompted using her as bait was to test Xu Chen. The psychopath never outright claimed he killed the Song clan’s patriarch, so there was a chance his brother still lived. The fact that Xu Chen entertained this thought already soothed Song Shan’s mind.

“Yes. I like this idea. Go with it. Also, buy the supplies needed to climb. I’ve fully recovered, and it’s time for me to enter the tower once more.”

“I will do as you say,” Song Shan said with a placid face and calm demeanor. Inwardly, he cheered.

Neither Xu Chen nor Song Shan knew of Song Xue’s existence. It was a piece of knowledge that would have influenced both their decisions. Now that they cast the dice, they could only wait for the pips to be revealed.