The saddest people are those that measure life by numbers. Life should be measured by shared experiences so you can face death with a smile when you stand at the precipice of your demise. Devils be damned—no one can take a life full of rich experiences away from me!

~Manannan, God of the Sea & Weather

“Still pining over that brat?”

“You are hard on him, but you don’t understand what he’s suffered.”

“My mom died when I was young…”

“Died. Not to sound callous, but that’s far easier to handle than watching your mom get stolen away and knowing she’s still alive. He lacked the power to do anything, affecting his life greatly. He… saw what happened to my mother and me when I was a child. Lived it. He carries burdens like—”

“Enough, woman. I’m not unaware of what he has suffered, but by the oak, look at him! The heavens are fair. He has women flocking to him, all wanting to protect him. Don’t cry foul to me. That bastard is living a good life!”

Niall chuckled and turned away, unable to watch these two argue about Crow again. There was no malice in it, and both loved their son.

“Cia… I may not be a good man, but I am a proud one. I didn’t neglect my duty raising our son. I was hard on him unfairly sometimes because I, too, had to suffer knowing better than that brat what you were going through.”

Cia’s eyes watered as she caressed her husband’s face before lightly kissing him on the lips.

“You are a good man.”

“Damn, get a room. You are killing us single men,” Niall growled and slapped Luth’s shoulder. “Right, son?”

“Are you saying you are single?” Alys asked. “I can grant that wish.”

Burble snickered from nearby, watching the old man struggle. The old bastard often forgot about his young wife.

“No, no, sweet angel. You are my sunrise!” Niall groveled, spewing some random nonsense.

“See,” Conall said while pointing at his father. “That’s where Crow gets it. Look at him smooth talking his little wife.”

“I’m not single,” Luthais said and was met with silence. Every head turned to face him, and even the blood dragon had his jaw open.

“Right. Right,” Niall chuckled awkwardly. “We forgot, you have that long-distance talisman and met a woman from tower seven. You don’t even know which tower that is, but I’m sure she exists,” Niall said and didn’t bother hiding his laughter or rolling eyes. He knew there were twelve main towers, but he’d never heard them numbered, so the story sounded bogus. The others tried not to laugh, but this situation was awkward. At night they could hear him talking to that thing but felt that he was trying to seduce an item spirit and not a real person.

“How much longer until we reach the next the next floor?” Luthais coughed, changing the subject.

“It’s there,” Niall said, pointing into the surrounding darkness. No matter how dark this realm was, some things couldn’t remain hidden. The ascension stairs glowed brightly, and once spotted, they were hard to miss. Out of the darkness, they ascended, giving the entire setting a dream-like quality.

All of them went silent as they stared at their goal. Since they were on the sixty-ninth floor, those stairs would bring them to a zero floor. Every zero floor contained a Shield trial which they had already realized were Soul trials. The Shield could only transform if the Soul underwent a qualitative change. Since Body was part of the three supportive functions of the Soul, it, too, would undergo a change.

“Has an Amethyst Shield ever existed in the past thousand years?” Cia asked. They were about to enter the seventieth floor, and the stairs were a welcome sight after surviving the last few months on the Hoarfrost Flatlands.

These flatlands, and the previous floors, were comprised primarily of ice. Massive structures like mountains and buildings were all shaped from ice. The trees were the most unique because they were made of living ice—they were legitimate plants.

The only upside was the floor wasn’t large. In its entirety, it was maybe as big as the northern continent on Litavis. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were just one floor like this. However, there were nine floors with various types of ice and low light that wore on their mood.

“I don’t mean to ruin your thoughts,” Conall said. “But the Amethyst floors use laws of dark, space, and the void with the theme of emptiness. If you are hoping for sunshine, we aren’t going to find it there.”

Cia sighed and slapped the back of her husband’s head. Sadly, he knew her too well and guessed her thoughts.

“We need a break,” Niall said. As the elder of the group, he knew they were all struggling with their thoughts. “We’ll complete this and meet up on the other side. Once we find the keystone, we’ll take a break.”

“Old man… don’t tell me you are thinking of returning to Rumfire Hills?” Conall sighed, and seeing the ruddy look on his father’s face, Conall knew he guessed correctly.

“What? You disagree? These old bones have been frozen through because of this place. I need sun, warmth, and a fiery liquid to help this old man feel alive again.”

“I’ll drink with you, father!” Cia agreed instantly. She wanted sun and life, and the rum was a bonus.

“You dare corrupt my wife?” Conall growled but chuckled, seeing his wife’s little face flushed with excitement. She was like a fairy, and he knew Crow took after her in many ways. It wasn’t surprising that he attracted many women, just as his wife attracted many men, giving him no end of headaches.

“Shh!” Luthais quickly ended the conversation because his hand pointed at something on the ground. They all looked and suddenly shivered. It was a boot print. It had to be said that they rarely saw any humans from the fiftieth floor and up. Once they reached the ice floors, that dropped off even more drastically because only cultivators could survive this harsh cold. They hadn’t seen another soul by the time they reached this floor.

Conall’s knuckles clenched so tightly that their cracking could be heard over the noise of the crackling hoarfrost.

“Gideon…” Cia whispered.