Kim Hajun stared at the shattered gate in front of him. He understood the tower made exceptions for those who were strong. The tower created temples for lords and placed them on the first floor. If the lords weren’t strong, would they have been treated as such, as goals for newcomers to strive towards? Obviously, since the tower promoted the lords, it’d be tough to destroy the temples the tower had erected for them. For the gate of the Wind Lord’s temple to be broken so easily, didn’t that mean the tower valued Vur as much as—or more than—the lords? If Kim Hajun could convince the dragon to help the lords fight against the Oebu Sin, then the chances of him saving the tower from the fate he had seen in his prophetic dream would drastically increase.

Kim Hajun clenched his fist and nodded to himself as he stepped over the shattered pieces of the gate. He had been unsure about Vur since the dragon was a variable unseen in the prophetic dream, but after spending a few hours with Vur’s group, Kim Hajun felt like he had a clear grasp on the dragon’s personality. As long as he understood what made the dragon tick, then he’d be able to manipulate it to his will just like how he had controlled everyone else in his life prior to entering the tower.

“Should we smash it? Maybe there’s something hidden inside.”

The first words Kim Hajun heard belonged to the fairy queen, the weirdly aggressive little creature living inside of Vur. There must’ve been a story as to how that had happened, but Kim Hajun knew a lot of people; if he had to learn about all their backgrounds, there’d be no time to do anything else.

“If this temple is anything like the others, the most conspicuous object should hold the hidden piece,” Tafel said. She was standing in front of a grand piano with the rest of the group. She reached out and touched the keys, pressing down on one. A note rang out, and it echoed through the temple despite the holes in the temple’s walls. “It’s an instrument?”

Kim Hajun intertwined his fingers together and took a step forward. It was his time to shine. He flipped his hands such that his palms faced outwards and pushed, stretching his interlocked fingers, causing cracking sounds to ring out. “I—”

“Mr. Skelly would like this trial,” Vur said. He went up to the piano and stomped on the ground. The piano’s legs had been anchored to the floor of the temple, but thanks to the floor tiles shattering, Vur easily lifted the piano with one hand. He turned his head towards Tafel before shifting his gaze onto Lindyss. He nodded, and before Lindyss could protest, Vur shoved the piano into her dress pocket.

Kim Hajun’s face stiffened as he freed his fingers and lowered his arms. Although studying music might not have been too important when it came to preventing the tower’s destruction, he had still set aside half an hour every day to practice; after all, Yeol loved music.

“You’re not going to smash it for the hidden piece?” Stella asked, flying close to Lindyss’ pocket before looking up at Vur.

Vur shook his head. He pointed towards the ceiling where row upon row of wind chimes hung. “There’s a hidden piece in one of the chimes.”

Kim Hajun furrowed his brow, his usual poker face breaking. He smoothed out his expression before approaching Vur and looking up, following the humanoid dragon’s finger. All the wind chimes looked exactly the same. As a dragon, perhaps Vur had an organ that was highly sensitive to mana similar to how sharks could detect electric currents generated from the movements of the muscles inside fish. “How can you tell?”

“You can’t hear it?” Vur asked and tilted his head. “It sounds different from the rest.”

Kim Hajun, in fact, could not hear it. With the melody coming from the wind blowing through the tunnels in the temple walls combined with the ringing of the wind chimes, it was near impossible for him to pick out a specific sound.

“Can you hear it?” Tafel asked, turning towards Lindyss.

The cursed elf shook her head. “This place is giving me a headache from all the noise. It’s as bad as the skeletons when they sing.”

“I can hear it,” Zilphy said, materializing in the space in front of Vur. Hey rocky body hovered before she flew up towards the ceiling. “You just have to follow the wind, and you’ll find it’s partly blocked.” Zilphy zipped towards a wind chime and gave it a whack with her sticklike arm, causing a green orb to tumble out and towards the ground. A gust of wind pushed it, causing the green sphere to land in Vur’s palm.

“Sonic Note,” Vur said. “Through the power of music, you can attack your opponent.” He looked around. “Who wants it?”

No one spoke up, so Tafel cleared her throat. “Jeffery?” she asked. “These are supposed to be good skills. If you learn it, you might be able to climb higher than the first floor.”

The wilderness guide shook his head. “Honestly, I like my life the way it is. I get paid to live how I like living, and when I need a break, I can wind down in a bar and get drunk whenever I want. Some people struggle their whole lives to become as content as myself; I don’t need any excitement to ruin what I have.” The old man chuckled. “And quite frankly, the upper floors terrify me. It’s supposed to be filled with people like yourselves. I can’t compete with that.”

Kim Hajun cleared his throat. “If—"

“Can Kax have?”

Tafel blinked and turned her head. Before she could say anything, Vur had already tossed the orb in the red-haired man’s direction. Kax caught the orb and looked around. Lindyss gave him an encouraging nod, so he pressed the orb against his root bracelet, and it dissolved into motes of silver-green light that entered his body through his nostrils and mouth.

Kim Hajun stared at Kax. “You know how to play an instrument?”

Kax nodded, and his root bracelet glowed amber, a small object appearing on his left palm. It was a harmonica made of bone and wood that was almost the same size as his pinky finger. “Kax play for son, Rex. Makes Rex happy.” He lifted the instrument to his mouth and blew, causing a happy, upbeat ditty to ring out as he manipulated the harmonica.

“Wow!” Stella said and clapped her hands repeatedly once Kax was done. “I thought you were just an oaf, but here you are solving riddles and playing instruments. What else can you do?”

“Kax, uh….” Kax scratched his head. “Kax animal doctor too. Neighbors give good reviews.”