NOVEL NEXT [45] The Tower
The streak of an unknown light shined upon her face as the strum of a guitar rang in her ears. Claire opened her eyes to a ceiling of crystal, which hung a chandelier , tangled with golden lines. It took a moment for her to realize those lines were nothing more than strands of hair blocking her vision and that Alicia laid on top of her, head upon her chest and her expression of bliss.
". . .well."
'Nothing happened. We merely slept upon the same bed.' Claire nodded, or about as much as she could manage, reaching over the bedside and turning off a modern alarm. 'We've slept together a lot before. Hmm, hold on, that sounds a bit. . .'
She sighed. Like always, Alicia had managed to maneuver her way into a cuddled dreamworld.
'Well.' She mused as she stroked the vampire's head, watching her shift. 'These types of memories are good, I suppose."
It was impossible for her to have something like this on earth. Here, in this world, it was only uncommon. She looked at the soundly sleeping girl as her crimson eyes softened.
'She's been sucking my blood so much, I wonder. . .' She thought and her lips moved.
"<Fairy Eyes>."
[Name: Alicia Fraught
Race: Ancient Vampire
Strength: A+
Speed: A+
Mana: A+
Skills: Eyes of Death (U), Blood Magic (U), Ancient Healing Arts (U), Bat Transformation (U)
Overall: S]
". . .what a powerful puppy," Her eyes widened slightly.
It really was true, she figured, her blood did release the girl's power. Last she had checked, Alicia's stats had been straight As, now, they were all A+.
'Really, she's the broken one, isn't she?' Claire thought, realizing she would probably have a hard time fighting her partner unless she pulled her into the snowy Glacial World. And, even then, she wasn't sure which of them would win as, although she was certain she would be stronger purely in stats there, she was also certain that Alicia, the battle-maniac, was clearly the better fighter of the two.
She looked at the wall to her left, noticed a modern clock with the time 10 AM. Glancing back at the girl, whose fangs showed innocently, Claire poked her cheek with her finger as a thin smile played on her lips.
"Hey, get up, let's start our day."
The squirming came and golden eyelashes fluttered. Soon, crimson eyes deeper than ruby opened and looked up at Claire's own.
"Oh, good morning," Alicia smiled brightly after awareness came. "You smell good."
"Me or my blood?"
"Both. The latter is deeper, however." Immediately, there was hunger in her eyes.
"How needy," Claire muttered, reaching and bringing the girl's head down to the base of her neck. "Fine, just suck me dry."
The fangs pierced into her.
Like always, Alicia's saliva healed the two wounds after it was over.
———
A tower floated atop the middle of the river. It was made of iron and gleamed beneath the early morning's sun. At the bank of that river stood three figures, facing a gleaming, white circle.
"What are you two doing here. . .?" Via asked, arms crossed, eyes looking at the tower.
Claire shrugged, "I thought we should see the tower, at the very least."
"I came with her." Alicia said.
"You do you then."
The three stared ahead at the tower for a moment. A few seconds passed and, finally, Claire opened her lips.
"Say, what even is the tower?" She asked.
". . .you guys don't know what it is?"
They shook their heads.
". . ."
". . .what? Just tell us, okay?"
Via rolled her eyes, then sighed.
"The Tower is basically a dungeon inside of a dungeon. It has 10 floors. With each floor you beat, your possible rewards increase, but as soon as you stop, you can never go back and start again. Ever. Basically, you get one shot, and only one shot."
"What kind of rewards?"
She shrugged, "Who knows. Some people have gotten trash, others have gotten legendary equipment. Erza Lamillion, the first person to slash through the Tower in under 1 hour, was rewarded with the Fire Seed—now that shocked everyone. No one even knew one of the ancient old farts had placed their seed in Aclair's dungeon, much less the tower."
'That girl again,' Claire thought, then questioned, "Why don't you just get an army and clear it?"
"Please, you think we haven't tried that before?" Via scoffed. "The more people you take with you, the harder the tower gets. And it's not a 1+1=2 scenario, it's a multiplication of harshness. It's like the designer wants you to solo it."
The bunny stopped, stared at the two, and asked, "Are you guys gonna enter it?"
"Oh I'm not going to try it, I already have my own tower to conquer, and that's sufficient enough for me." Claire shook her head.
"I'll try it," Alicia's eyes shined. The thought of fighting alone had already claimed her attention.
"Be my guest, let's see how long it takes you," Via shrugged.
A white light shined as Alicia hopped onto the sandy magic circle. She disappeared.
"She'll take less than an hour."
"You're funny."
Twenty minutes later and Claire smiled as Alicia appeared back upon the circle. Via, who stood by her side, stared dumbfounded, lips opening and closing.
"You're kidding me!" The bunny shouted.
"You're bloody," Claire said.
From head to toe, the vampire was covered in the red of blood. There wasn't a speck of her that lacked red, and her eyes shined its usual crimson luster, though she appeared more haggard than normal.
"There were a lot of monsters," Alicia said, breathing roughly. There was a frown upon her face.
"Are you alright?"
"I am."
The Ice Queen walked forward, a finger touched the blood. They crystallized and soon, drifted away as red snow, revealing a perfectly alright Alicia and the still dangling necklace at her neck.
"That's good," She nodded, and continued, "What did you get, then?"
"I received nothing," Alicia tilted her head in confusion. "Nothing more than a voice which said I was unwelcomed."
"Strange, that's a first," Via murmured, finally falling out of her stupor to join the conversation.
Claire raised a brow, "What exactly did it say?"
"It said the tower was made to choose people to fight my type, not for me to climb it."
"Interesting. . ." She muttered, then turned to Via, "Do you know anything about this?"
The bunny momentarily made to shake her head, then stopped halfway with a sudden jolt of her ears.
"Well, the tower does have another name. . .its actual name. . ." Via said, eyes widened, staring down at the vampire, a sudden interest matched with a twisted smile.
"Trial of the Hero is its official name. Anyone that completes it has the capability to accompany heroes on their journey and join in defeating the Demon Lord. Its been known to reject heroes before but, if you guys claim you're not heroes, then. . ."
Claire's mind ventured to the darkened place she had found Alicia. The chains. The god's lock. Igris's rejection of breaking her free. Her mind wandered and she happened upon a conclusion.
". . .then she's a Demon Lord?" She said.
"That would be a conjecture, yes."
As Via solemnly nodded, and Alicia looked at her, Claire left a thought unsaid. 'Say, wait a moment, my partner wouldn't happen to be the villain of this novel, would she?'