The Phoenix [Cultivation, Reincarnation, Tower Climber]

Everyone turns to stare at Al. I keep eating my snake meat as if I didn't hear anything. I don't like this question, but responding to it will draw more attention.

"What do you mean?" asks Jacob.

"I mean, none of us were forced in here, right?" Al says. "When the voice asked us if we wanted to answer, we could have said 'no,' but we didn't. So why're you all here?"

"You first," says June.

"Alright," says Al immediately. I suspect that he started this conversation because he wanted someone to ask him. "I'm here for my daughter."

He pauses, waiting for someone to prompt him, which Vanessa does.

"Your daughter?"

"Yes," he says. "You might not believe it, but I was actually married back on Earth. Had a lovely wife and daughter. Unfortunately, in my line of work, I made a few enemies. I'm sure you've already guessed, but back on Earth, I worked in organized crime. My nickname was 'Plan B' because… well, I'm sure you already know.

"So, my work caught up to me, and long story short… my wife and daughter are no longer… around."

He looks down at the ground with a melancholy smile, and Kat leans over to pat him on the back to comfort him. Meanwhile, Vanessa and I exchange a glance. He's lying. I'm not sure if there's more to the story, or less, but either way, he's not being honest. His sadness seems half genuine, and half played-up.

"When the voice asked me if I wanted to enter, I asked if it could bring back the dead. It said that the Tower could grant anything. So now I'm here."

That part at least is true. There's definitely someone he wants to bring back. Whether that's his wife and daughter or someone else, I can't tell. Regardless of the truth, one thing is clear: he's trying to drum up some sympathy from the others, since it's clear that he's the one they trust the least.

It seems to be largely working. It's working on Kat, Jenny, and Jacob at least. June still seems suspicious, Vanessa has noticed he's lying, and Timmy doesn't care. Wait, no, does he? Timmy is frowning, and he's not even fidgeting with any plants right now. Interesting.

"Well, my reason isn't very specific," says Kat. "I just came because it sounded fun. A magical new place where everyone is striving to reach one goal. It's just like that show One Part, y'know. Have you guys ever watched One Part?"

"I started it, but I didn't get very far in," says Jacob.

"How far?"

"I dunno, like 20 episodes?"

"Oh, you didn't watch far enough. It's kinda meh in the beginning, but it starts to get really good around episode 150."

"...I see. Maybe I'll give it another chance when we get back to Earth."

"What about you, Jacob?" asks Al. "Why did you enter the Tower?"

"I dunno," says Jacob with a shrug. "It was something to do. I was pretty bored in life before the Tower came, but when I saw the pillars come down, I just knew I had to get a closer look, and when the voice asked me if I wanted to enter, I didn't even hesitate."

"Dude, same!" says Kat. "Twinning!"

A moment of silence follows, and everyone turns to Jenny, who is sitting on Jacob's other side from Kat. She looks around, hesitant, until Vanessa nods for her to continue.

"I… wanted to make a name for myself," she says quietly. "But I think I was a bit over-ambitious. Compared to you all…"

"You're doing fine," says Jacob.

No one else comments, which says more than any other words could. Jenny looks like she's about to cry, but thankfully, before she does, Timmy decides it's his turn to share.

"I'm here to see my mom," he announces.

"Your mom?" asks Kat. "Is she from the Tower?"

"My mom went away when I was a baby," he said. "But my dad said I would meet her someday."

"Oh…"

"The voice in the pillar said that I could meet her if I went to the top of the Tower, so I said 'okay' and went into the Tower."

Honestly, I was expecting something a bit less serious from him. That's good to know, I guess. He's the second one who's here to bring back the dead though. Is that possible? I mean, I exist, so clearly there is some way for the dead to come back, but is it retroactive. I'm pretty sure I was always this way. Can the Tower bring back those who died long ago? And if it can, could I bring back people from my lives?

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"That's nice, Timmy," says Al, bringing my attention back to the conversation. "June, what about you?"

"Fuck off."

"You said you would if I did."

"I didn't. I just told you to go first."

"But-"

"Give up. I'm not saying shit."

"Vanessa then."

"...Family."

"You're here for your family too?" asks Al.

"No… Just family…"

I guess that makes sense. As far as I know, Vanessa is an orphan. She wasn't always, but her father died in high school, and she was mostly on her own after that. And from what little I've gathered about her past life, her father wasn't the best of fathers even while alive. I don't know much beyond that, but I guess with me as her best friend, she was probably pretty lonely.

"Bella?" says Al.

"I was bored," I say immediately.

I mean, it's not entirely false. I was bored. Permanent death aside, the Tower has been a welcome change of pace compared to Earth.

"You must still be a little bored then, haha," says Al, clearly trying to make a flattering joke.

"Less bored than I was," I reply.

"That's good then."

More silence follows before Jacob thankfully changes the subject and we start discussing our plans for tomorrow. It will already be the third day by then, meaning we'll have one day after tomorrow before we need to head back if we want to make it to the northern region.

Honestly, at this point, I don't think there's a point in heading back. Sure, the Floor Lord said if we changed regions, we'd get bonus points on all trophies from the new region, but is that worth the loss of time? We're already a good way into the southern region, and the animals are stronger and the trophies more valuable. If we headed back, we'd be back in weaker animal territory, and we'd be stuck there for days. As much as I hate this heat, unless the bonus is extreme, I don't think it's worth it to head back until the end of the Quest.

I listen as the others discuss their plans over a map that Jacob packed, and jump in with my thoughts when they start on the topic of heading back.

"That makes sense," says Jacob after I finish explaining my reasoning. "Are you sure though? You seemed like you wanted to go back to the north."

"I can go back later. If we want to win, we should probably just stay here."

"Do we have to?" whines Kat. "It's so hot here."

"I agree with Bella," says Vanessa. "It took us two whole days to get this far, and we're only just now encountering 2 star spirit beasts. We'll have to turn back before we get much good stuff at this rate."

"What do we do with all our warm weather clothes then?" asks Al. "Dump them?"

"Dump them," I agree. "They're dead weight now."

"So the day after tomorrow, we just stay at the camp and keep hunting?"

"Yes," I say. "I don't think you guys will be able to make it on your own much further than we are right now. The next oasis will probably be your limit. We'll camp there and hunt around until it's time to head back. We might make a final push deeper on the last few days to see if we can get something really good. We'll figure it out when we get to it."

"Alright," says Jacob, nodding. "Then tomorrow…"

"Yes, we'll be splitting up. You've done well on your own so far, but I won't be around to bail you out anymore after we get to the next oasis. Also, I'm taking Timmy. You won't have to worry about him."

I can keep one person safe. Plus, he'll be good for helping me locate herbs as I go in deeper.

"Got it. In that case, we should probably go over the team tactics again…"

The others spend another hour or so going over their plans for how they're going to act without me. It's less about combat, and more about how they're going to move and scout and otherwise function without me. Mostly, Jacob just emphasizes the need to be careful, and warns against a dozen different flavors of recklessness. I zone out a bit, but I nod along to some of his better points. He's a pretty good leader. He's not particularly inspiring, but he's very cognitive, and he at least logically knows what he needs to do to keep the group alive.

Once they're done, we all spread out a bit to do some cultivation before bed, then start our sleep rotation. The night is uneventful, and after my watch, I sleep soundly until the morning.

The hike today passes about the same as yesterday's. We walk, we kill spirit beasts as we come across them, and then we walk some more. It's a pretty miserable existence. If not for the fact that the most valuable creatures here are reptilian, and therefore only active during the day, I would absolutely flip our group to be nocturnal while we're here. But whatever. It's good character-building for the others.

The guardians at the next oasis are a group of giant gila monster-like lizards. Four of them are Early 2 star, so my own group can't handle them all, but they can take on one while I occupy the others, so that's what we do. On the bright side, the fact that they were here means that everything in the immediate vicinity should be weaker than them, so while it will still be a challenge, it should all be within the group's capabilities, even without me. They'll have to be smart about it, but so far, Jacob has been good at being smart, so I'll just have to trust him to keep doing so.

It's not quite sunset yet, so we do a quick test run of splitting up which ends up entirely fruitless. Neither of us find anything to hunt, but it was a good exercise in independence, I guess. The night is as uneventful as the last, and in the morning, we all say some quick goodbyes, and Jacob's group wishes us luck, and then we split up.

Time for some treasure hunting with Timmy.

***

The day after his run-in with Bella, Ivan found himself combing the shore of a different oasis. He tried to ignore the growing stench of the tortoise carcasses as he kept his eyes pointed at the sand. It wasn't until he was about halfway around the water that he spotted it. It was just a glint in the corner of his eye, but he zeroed in on it and ran excitedly toward the glass bead lying half-buried in the sand. A few feet away, there was a cactus rib stabbed into the ground, which Ivan dug beneath until his hands found a piece of paper. He unfurled it to find a brief note in hastily scribbled handwriting.

Plan change. No northern tundra. Camping at next oasis. Splitting up. Phoenix separate from group.

It was simple, but it had everything that Ivan needed to know. He rushed toward the largest tent on the opposite shore and burst in to find Yuri cultivating, as usual. He waited patiently for his boss to finish, then practically shoved the note into his hand the moment he opened his eyes.

Yuri read it quickly, then nodded tersely and stood up.

"Get ready," he said. "We will move in the night."