The Phoenix [Cultivation, Reincarnation, Tower Climber]

In the northern sparring hall, Handel Axian was wiping sweat off his brow after the 12th challenger that morning alone. Word seemed to have spread around the Floor about how he had lost to a 1 star from the newly integrated world, and now people were lining up to fight him to improve their rank, thinking he was weak. He thought they were idiots. Everyone who had been present knew that girl was a monster, and anyone not present could just look at his rank and see that it had actually gone up after losing that sparring match, not down.

Unfortunately, it was the idiots that spread the rumors, and he had a reputation to uphold. So, for three days after his loss, he was accepting anyone who wanted to challenge him with the same rules that the false Phoenix had used. It was the second day and he had taken on more than forty challengers, and not once had he lost. The line of challengers was starting to get shorter, and he expected it to be nearly gone by the day afterward.

He took a short rest on the steps into the arena as the challengers argued amongst themselves over who would be next. Before they came to a resolution though, someone else jumped down. A few people shouted angrily, but their companions shushed them. While not quite as infamous as the young Phoenix, this man was building up a similar reputation.

It was Yuri Filippov, the other rising star from Earth. It was already public knowledge that he was sponsored by the Shin family, and that they were sparing no expense in his development. They had given him the top tier foundation pill that had only been rumored to exist, and he allegedly spent most of his days alone in the room of his mentor, Nadia Shin, receiving private instruction. In just 2 weeks, he had already reached Middle 1 star, and the day before, he had even managed to defeat a Late 1 star in a spar.

Of course, that didn't mean he would be able to defeat Handel, but it did mean that Handel wouldn't be taking him lightly.

"I am Yuri Filippov," said the other man. "I accept your challenge."

"I look forward to sparring with you," said Handel, bowing respectfully.

"I have a small request," said Yuri.

"Yes?"

"No weapons. No shields."

The same thing she requested, thought Handel.

"Fine," said Handel, tossing his sword aside.

Yuri never had a sword in the first place, so he just raised his fists and readied himself. The construct announced the change in rules, then counted down, and the match began.

Unlike the Phoenix, Yuri did not waste any time fighting defensively. From the moment the construct allowed it, he charged forward, straight at Handel. Handel was a bit surprised at the aggression, but reacted well, dodging or blocking every strike, and returning with a few counters of his own. Neither side did any real damage with their attacks, but from an outside perspective, it seemed as though they were almost evenly matched. From Handel's perspective, it was different.

Yuri was most definitely very skilled and very talented. Every strike was precise, aimed at the places that Handel would have the most trouble defending. He reacted almost instantly to Handel's own attacks, minimizing damage as much as possible. His eyes were clear and calculating as he fought, and he had an air of confidence that only the supremely talented could have. But despite all this, Handel found himself… disappointed.

He was confident, yes, but it was a different kind of confidence than the Phoenix had. While he looked as though he thought everyone would be beneath him, she had acted as though they already were. As though her own victory was a foregone conclusion.

He was clearly experienced, but not to the point where he could have fought with his eyes closed. He had probably been training nearly his entire life, but compared to her, he felt like a child.

He was talented, and throughout the fight, he improved rapidly, adapting to Handel's style, and experimenting with new types of attacks, but Handel was talented too and adapted back. It wasn't like the other fight where it felt as though talent was meaningless.

In the end, Handel won, and though Yuri was a good opponent, at no point did he ever feel like he would lose. He knocked the other man out without needing to push himself too far.

With Yuri down, the rest of the spectators somewhat lost their enthusiasm. It had already been waning, and now one of the only Middle 1 stars to have defeated a Late 1 star was lying unconscious on the ground. Very few of the rest maintained any delusions of being able to defeat Handel. A few stuck around, hoping to use the spar as a learning experience, but the rest began to disperse.

Yuri stirred on the ground, so Handel walked over to him, prepared to give him a hand back to his feet, but when he did so, Yuri slapped the hand away and got up on his own.

"I lost?" he asked.

"It was a good match," said Handel.

Yuri stormed off without another word.

It was 12 days after they entered the Tower that Vanessa finally formed her core. She was a bit disappointed with its quality, because she knew it was possible to do better, but she accepted Bella's words that it would be impossible to do in just a few weeks, and simply bore with it. She did briefly consider staying on the Floor for longer to form the perfect core, but quickly shot it down. If she wanted any chance of being able to climb the Tower with Bella, she needed her core sooner than later.

When she emerged from her room, it was around dinner time, and Jacob and Kat approached her almost immediately, having been waiting in the lounge after they heard what she would be doing.

"Congratulations!" said Jacob. "How does it feel?"

"Good," said Vanessa, holding her arms out as she circulated some oum.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

She felt stronger than before. More durable. Like she could jump off the roof and be fine. Like she could run 10 miles without breaking a sweat. Like she could punch a brick wall, and that the wall would break before she did.

"Pretty cool, huh," said Kat, circulating her own oum. "Now we're all superheroes!"

Jacob had formed his own core three days prior, becoming the second in their Batch to finish behind only Kat. Four others had done it before Vanessa managed to, all of them having ranked higher than her in the first two trials, but with Bella's help, she was still outperforming her rank. In fact, forming her core had shot her straight to fifth place in their Batch.

"Yup," agreed Vanessa with a faint smile.

"I'm hungry, let's eat," said Kat, turning to walk away.

"Same," said Jacob.

Vanessa followed gladly, her own stomach feeling completely empty after meditating for nearly six hours straight without rest. They loaded their plates, then sat in their usual spot, soon joined by Timmy and Jenny. Jacob called it a "celebratory feast" and they ate a bit more than usual, but the longer it went on, the more Vanessa felt herself retreating inward.

At the time, she had been happy when she formed her core, but now she felt even worse for some reason. Having a core felt far better than not having one, but she didn't feel any closer to Bella. If anything, she felt she was only getting further.

After the meal, Kat suggested that they go for a walk around the city, but Vanessa politely declined and instead went to visit Ganyu's office.

"Congratulations," he said when she entered.

"Thank you," she said.

"I assume you're here for the affinity test?"

Vanessa nodded.

"Come and sit down. I'll have it right out."

Vanessa sat down across from the gaunt, gray-skinned man as he reached into his desk for the orb. This was Vanessa's first time seeing it up close, and it felt… anticlimactic. It was no bigger than a cantaloupe, and its only features were two clusters of five dots on either side.

"Place your palm here," said Ganyu, pointing to one of the dot clusters. "And channel your oum into your hand. The five dots are entrances to pathways within the orb. Most will be difficult to push your oum into, but one or two will be less resistant, and those will represent your affinities."

Vanessa nervously raised her hand and did as he asked, and as soon as she did so, she was shocked. As soon as her oum reached the orb, she was able to sense within it an impossibly complex set of pathways. It reminded her a little of the knot of oum pathways that had been replaced by her own core. As Ganyu had said three were difficult, while two were much easier. After a few seconds, she managed to push her oum all the way through to the other side of each of these pathways, and Ganyu gestured for her to take her hand away.

"Connection and Life," he said. "Slightly stronger affinity toward Connection, but not by much."

Vanessa nodded in acknowledgement. She had no idea what to think about that. Bella had offhandedly mentioned that she also had a Life affinity, so Vanessa was happy with that, but even with the help of Ganyu's lectures, she still struggled to understand exactly what was possible with a Connection affinity.

"Do you have any interest in beast taming?" Ganyu asked.

"Beast taming? I'm not sure…"

"I recommend looking into it. Life and Connection are the two most desired affinities for beast tamers, and you have both. Perhaps do some research into the Menagerie, as they are the most powerful and well-known beast tamer force."

"Okay…"

Vanessa wasn't entirely against being a beast tamer, but it didn't really jump out at her as something that she really wanted to do.

"You may also try looking into the Hateps." Vanessa perked up. "The Hateps focus mainly on Life, but I suppose you could call Connection their second most common affinity. You could gain some useful insight from there."

"What kind of Connection techniques do the Hateps use?" asked Vanessa.

"Generally support-type techniques." Ganyu sounded just a bit disdainful as he said that. "Providing oum to others, healing them from a distance, marking enemies to interfere with their healing… Things like that."

That… sounds like exactly what I want!

Vanessa might not have been able to match Bella in terms of technique or combat ability, but with those powers, she could make herself useful. Even as strong as Bella was, she could always use a bit of extra healing, or a bit of debuffing on her enemies. It was the perfect way to stay useful.

The excitement must have been visible on her face, because as she though, Ganyu began to frown.

"I saw that Organa visited you the other day," he said. "I assume she tried to recruit you."

"She did," said Vanessa.

"I'm sure that my feelings toward the Hateps are no secret, so you may not fully trust my words on that woman, but please at least listen to me."

Vanessa nodded.

"Do you know what Floor of the Tower Organa made it to before coming here?"

"No."

"The 125th."

"Isn't that… 3 floors from the top?"

"It is," he said, nodding. "It's the furthest that any Hatep has made it since their last Ascendent, which was more than 100,000 years ago. Many believed that she would make it all the way to the top. Then, she got stuck. She has been trying for nearly four hundred years now, and has yet to complete the 125th Floor's trial. Still, a few centuries isn't much at her level. Many still believe she will eventually reach the top, given time. She is perhaps the third most important person in the entire Hatep family.

"All that is to say that while you are talented, you are not at the level that someone like Organa would be personally recruiting you. Make no mistake, that woman doesn't care at all about you. She just wants to use you to get to Bella."

"...I know," said Vanessa.

Organa hadn't done the best job at hiding her intentions, and reading intentions was one thing that Vanessa could proudly say she was good at. Just as she knew that Ganyu was quite a bit more selfless and generous than he pretended to be, she knew that Organa was quite a bit less, and was instead cold and calculating. And yet…

If it's the only way I can stay with Bella…

"I don't know what your attachment to Bella is, but I personally don't think it's worth becoming a tool like that to be with her."

Vanessa looked down, avoiding eye contact.

"...I see that you don't entirely agree with me," he continued. "I can't change your mind, but I believe you should at least take it into consideration."

"Okay."

"...Well, if you have no other questions, you may leave."

"Thank you," Vanessa stood up, and bowed her head toward Ganyu, then left the office.

She took the lift back upstairs and went straight to her room, flopping down on her bed. She wasn't sure what to do. She knew Ganyu was right. She knew that he actually was acting in her best interest. And yet, the temptation to take Organa's offer was still strong. She and Bella had been practically sisters for half a decade now. Bella was the only reason Vanessa was alive. If she let Bella go right now… What if they never saw each other again?

She wrestled with herself for a bit longer before slapping her cheeks with both hands and taking a deep breath.

"I'm overthinking things," she told herself. "I'll just go talk with Organa tomorrow and see what she says."

There was no point in panicking and getting irrational. Her goal was to Climb with Bella. She would weigh her options, and pick the one most likely to let her accomplish that goal. It was that simple.

"Even if it means being a tool…"