The Phoenix [Cultivation, Reincarnation, Tower Climber]

"Come in," says Ganyu.

I push the door open and walk inside. His office is about what I expected. It's very similar to Nadia's, but even more bare. There are no decorations on the walls, the furniture is all simple wood, and the only other thing in the room is his wooden staff, which is leaning up against the wall in the corner of the room. It's a strange staff, now that I think about it. It's clearly important to Ganyu, but I can't sense any ki–oum– from it, and it looks completely ordinary.

"You've caused a bit of a commotion since we last spoke."

He must be referring to my nickname change. It must be a big deal if he thought it was important enough to bring up.

"Have I?" I ask, hoping he'll elaborate.

"Yes," he confirms. "Are you trying to draw as much attention as possible?"

"I figured I'd be drawing that attention regardless, so I might as well do it in style."

"That's quite arrogant of you to say that."

"Maybe."

We sit in silence for a few seconds before I speak again.

"How big of a commotion did I cause, exactly?"

"For now, it's limited to the first Floor."

Uh oh.

"If you continue to draw as much attention as you arrogantly believe you will, it will spread throughout the Tower."

"Why?"

"If you had waited a week to change your nickname, you would never have chosen that name."

"Why not?"

"In a few days, I'll be teaching you more about the history of the Tower, and in that lesson, you will learn about The Phoenix, one of the first Ascendants, and a legendary figure in the Tower."

"...Oh."

"Yes. While copying the name of an Ascendant is not against any rules, it is possibly the most arrogant thing you could have done. Many have tried similar things in the past. All have failed. You will have a target on your back for daring to compare yourself to such a powerful figure."

"What about the actual Phoenix?" I ask. "How will they react?"

"Fortunately, you got lucky with your choice of Ascendant. She has not been seen in nearly a million years. It is one of the reasons she is so legendary. She had a meteoric rise, climbing through the Tower faster than anyone before or after, and then went into seclusion on the 55th Floor. Even when others impersonated her, or climbed the Tower using her name, she has never made a move. Her domain is well-hidden, and even if you manage to find it, it's almost completely inaccessible. Very few have even been able to meet her since her retirement. Because of this though, she also has no faction, meaning you have not actually offended anyone."

"Well, that's good at least."

"I'd still recommend changing it. You are new to the Tower, so you can claim ignorance."

I think about that for a moment. This is definitely a bit more trouble than I was aiming for, but it's not necessarily bad. As Ganyu said, I didn't directly offend anyone–Not to the point of throwing their own lives away, at least–so I won't have anyone after my life. At worst, I'll have some challengers as I climb, hoping to usurp the wannabe Ascendant. I can handle challengers. In fact, it will probably be good for me. Iron sharpens iron and all that.

Plus, this name alone did far more for my desired public image than I ever could. It's by far the most arrogant name I could have chosen, bar none. As long as I live up to it, and maybe beat up a few powerful and well-known people, I'll be able to keep most of the undesirables away. Plus, I like the name. It suits me. Just because some old monster also had it doesn't mean I can't make it mine.

"I think I'll keep it," I say.

"As I mentioned, you'll be targeted."

"Well, I'll just have to live up to the name then."

He gives me a long, unblinking stare.

"Your arrogance is astounding," he finally says.

I respond with a shrug. Is it arrogant to think I can live up to such a name? Yeah, probably. In the worst case scenario where I catch up to my old cultivation and slow down to a more normal, non-monstrous pace, I can probably shed the nickname. It will be a bit shameful, but it won't kill me. Until then though, I'll be able to enjoy the solitude that comes with arrogance.

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"So, about those affinities…" I prompt.

"Right," he says shifting in his chair. "That is why you're here. Well, 'affinities' derived from the different categories of oum usage defined by the first Ascendant, the Great Sage. There are 5 main categories, and countless subcategories, but the 5 main categories are what the affinities are tied to. These categories are Augmentation, Transmutation, Connection, Creation, and Life.

"Augmentation is the most simple of the affinities. It is about using oum to augment existing characteristics, most commonly things such as strength, endurance, and speed. Those with Augmentation affinities, also known as Augmenters, are, more often than not, melee fighters whose main tactics are empowering their own bodies and using their superior physical prowess to defeat their opponents. The Jin family and the Iron Temple are the most prominent organizations that focus primarily on Augmentation, both of whom fall into the category of powerful melee fighters.

"Transmutation is about changing the properties of oum. The most common form of this is elemental changes, such as fire, or water, or wind. Changing the properties to reflect the elements can have many benefits, with fire being the most obvious in that it can burn your opponents. The most famous force that specializes in transmutation is the Elemental Academy, a group that trains Transmuters in the ways of elemental oum.

"Connection is about using oum to form connections. This affinity is one of the odder ones, and is harder to define, but generally, it allows you to control things using oum from a distance. It also allows for things like teleportation, telepathy, and telekinesis. Most powerful oum users know at least a few Connector tricks. Many beast tamers are also Connectors. The most famous Connector forces are the Menagerie, a beast tamer force, and the Factory, which makes various tools for middle and upper-Floor Climbers.

"Creation is about creating things with oum. This is simple on the surface, but is quite complicated to actually make functional, and you'll find that the abilities of Creators are usually strange and unpredictable. I can go over it in more detail if you wish, but for now, I'll leave it at that. The most famous Creator forces are the Axian family and the Orian family. These families were started by a pair of twin Ascendants, and are among the more mysterious forces of the Tower.

"Finally, there is the Life affinity. Those with Life affinities have a strong connection to living things, and their abilities often are related to healing or nature. The most famous Life specialist forces are the Hatep family, of course, and the Shin family. The Hateps generally try to present as benevolent healers, though they have many members with other specialties covering all aspects of the Life affinity. The Shin family are almost exclusively self-healers with an inclination for bloody combat. The Menagerie can be called a Life affinity force in some ways, as many of their tamers have Life affinities, and most of them use at least a few Life affinity tricks. There is also the Garden, a place where those who prefer to work with plants, congregate, but it is not a true force of the Tower.

"Now, that was a lot, and I'd be happy to tell you more about each if you have questions, but before we do…"

He leans back, pulling out a stone ball. On either side of it, there are 5 dots, and I can sense that there are pathways for oum within.

"This is a common tool used to test affinities," Ganyu explains. "We will be using them in my lessons once the others start forming their own cores. As you can see, there are 5 points on each side of the ball. Each corresponds to one of the affinities, and each side is connected to the other through a convoluted path. Each path is identical in length and navigational difficulty, but they are tuned to be easier for certain affinities than others.

"To use it, place your palm on one of the clusters of dots and start channeling your oum. Try to push it through the pathways. Whichever pathway is easiest is the one you have an affinity for. Why don't you give it a try?"

I place my hand on the ball as he directed, and start channeling my oum. I take a moment to feel out each path. Two of them feel much more accommodating than the others, but none of them are actually difficult. Those two are probably my affinities, but I wonder what he'll do if…

Ganyu stares blankly at me as my oum pours out of all five of the opposite side dots.

"I guess I have all the affinities."

"Stop messing around," he says. "Which one was easiest?"

Ah, I forgot he could probably sense what I did in there.

"These two," I say, retracting my oum from all but the two easiest ones.

"A dual affinity," he says. "Life and Transmutation."

"Is that rare?"

"Not particularly. I have a dual affinity as well. But it's not common either, and it's a somewhat interesting combination."

"I see."

I pull my hand back and retract my oum. Honestly, I'm feeling a little disappointed. The categorization of oum is interesting and all, and the way they test for affinities seems useful, but it's not actually anything too new. We had something similar back on Earth, just by a different name. We mostly just called it "talent." An "Augmentation affinity" would have just been called "talent for body arts" or something like that. "Life affinity" just meant faster recovery and a talent for healing arts.

I am a bit interested in the Creation affinity though. We had people making ki- oum constructs back on Earth, but none of them ever made it very far. There were no "Creators" among the top martial masters. Clearly there are aspects I'm missing out on based on the receptionist in the Hall of Records though. I didn't know that such lifelike humanoid constructs were possible.

As for my own affinities though, I don't think this revelation will change anything at all about my plans. Healing and fire were my specialties on Earth. They align with my affinities. I'll experiment with other things, but I see no reason to make any major changes to my main staples.

Ganyu starts talking more about the specifics of the Life and Transmutation affinities, and my disappointment grows. It's almost all things I already know. He brings up a few interesting ideas, but nothing I couldn't have thought of on my own. At least, that's how it is until about half an hour in.

"Wait, what was that?" I say, interrupting him before he can move on.

"Self-imposed limitations?" he says, looking confused. "Are you not aware of those either?"

"No?" I say. "Unless you mean imposing limitations for training purposes, but I don't think that's right."

"Definitely not," he says. "Self-imposed limitations are a set of rules that you bind yourself to in order to increase your power. For many Climbers, they are the core of our power, and through them, anything is possible."