The Tower King

"Is that all you can say, kid?" Jarek replied before Nerris had even time to react. "You could at least thank us for bringing you back from there alive."

Sora blinked, trying to put his thoughts in order, between the discovery of a lock of Nymeus' hair, the awakening of Kael'Zir and finally his crushing defeat. His whole body was screaming in pain, but it was surprisingly bearable. "Thank you." He replied weakly.

A slight smile passed over Jarek's lips, quickly concealed behind his eternal casualness. He crouches down near Sora, placing an elbow on his knee. "That's better."

Nerris, still kneeling next to him, let out a small sigh of relief. She handed Sora a water bottle, which he grabbed with a trembling hand.

" Drink slowly, you need it." she murmured, the soft voice.

He complied, the cool water instantly soothing his burning throat. Once quenched, he let his head fall back against the ground, staring at the cracked ceiling of the temple.

"What happened... after I..." He couldn't even finish his sentence, as the exhaustion made his thoughts heavy.

"After you fell like a stone?" Jarek chuckled. "Well, I took care of our stone friend, while Nerris did his best to avoid having your corpse picked up with a spoon."

Nerris gave Jarek a dark look, but he just shrugged.

" Anyway, in any case we got what we wanted, that's all that matters." he continued while taking out the small black box.

Sora looked at her attentively and realized that he had risked his life for a simple lock of hair. According to Jarek, it would have a purpose, but for the moment it was nothing more than normal hair.

"That's true, but I couldn't beat the guardian." Sora retorted, slowly lifting himself up.

Jarek sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "Yeah I know, but to be honest, I didn't expect you to beat him, I just wanted to see if you could have improved a bit during this week."

"You could have at least warned him before he fought." Intervened Nerris, who was also getting up again.

"Warn him?" Jarek raised an eyebrow, mocking. "And spoil his opportunity to learn a good lesson? No thank you. Sometimes the best way to learn is to get run over."

Nerris crossed her arms, visibly unconvinced. "You still have this twisted idea that pain is formative."

"Because she is." Replied Jarek without the slightest hesitation. He turned to Sora. "And you? What are you going to do now? Moan over your defeat or rise up and use it to move forward?"

Sora, still sitting, looked at him for a moment without responding. The failure weighed on his chest, heavy as a stone. But deep down, he knew that Jarek was not wrong. He had fought with all his strength, and it hadn't been enough. He couldn't deny it. But that didn't mean it would end there.

He clenched his fists, his fingers still trembling.

"I will continue. I will become stronger."

Jarek sketched a smile. Not mocking this time, but almost... proud. "There you go. That's what I wanted to hear."

A silence settled, only disturbed by the rustling of the wind in the cracks of the temple. Then Nerris broke the mood with a lighter voice.

"Well, otherwise, are you finally going to explain to us why you sent us here for a month?"

"Yeah, I think it's the right time." Jarek sat down and invited Nerris and Sora to do the same. "I can't explain everything to you in detail, but simply put, it's starting to stir loudly on this floor."

Sora, who didn't really understand what it meant, drew a head that Jarek noticed directly.

"Given that we have a kid here who doesn't get it, I'll have to explain a little more in detail anyway. But first of all, let me ask you a question. What do you know about this floor, Sora?" He asked while looking at Sora with a serious look.

Taking a few seconds to think, Sora scratched his temple and looked up towards the ceiling. "Honestly, not much. I know the city of Grimpoint, a little bit about the surroundings and a small village too, I think it's called Legmore. Apart from that, I think that's all."

With his eyes wide open, Jarek could not believe that a person could be so ignorant about the floor on which he lived. "Well, you really have to start from the beginning again then. Well, simply put, there is a hierarchy ranking the 10 strongest on this floor. And currently, a killer is hunting for this famous top 10."

"And how is that supposed to concern me, this story?" Sora continued, who really didn't see what he was getting at.

"So, given that I am ranked 3rd, I think you are now concerned."

Sora stood still. His eyes widened as Jarek's words echoed in his mind. "What?!"

He stepped back a notch, as if the revelation had just slapped him in the face. "Wait, wait... You mean that, you, Jarek, are number 3 in the ranking of this floor?!"

Jarek burst out laughing, obviously amused by the boy's reaction. "I thought you guessed a long time ago, kid. Honestly, you're slow to relax."

"But..." Sora stammered, searching for his words. "You don't look at all like I imagined of a guy so highly ranked."

"That's nice." Jarek replied with a wink. "I make sure not to look like what is expected of me. It's more convenient to avoid unnecessary hassle."

Nerris, she, did not seem surprised. She observed Sora with a small smile, as if she was amused by his astonishment.

"You know, there are many things that you still don't know on this floor."

Sora shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts. "So... a killer is going after the ten most powerful... And you, are you the next target?"

Jarek resumed his seriousness. He slowly nodded.

"That's what we think, yeah. He's already eliminated number 10, 5 and 1. All in less than a month. And no one knows what it looks like. Even if there are spectators, he permanently hides his face."

The silence that followed was heavy.

"And you plan to let him come to you?" asked Sora, his voice a little more raucous.

" Not exactly." replied Jarek. "I gave him a little message, we are supposed to meet in two and a half months.

Sora furrowed his brows. He was about to find himself entangled in a fight far beyond his capabilities.

"And me, in all this? "What am I going to be used for?"

Jarek stared at him, seriously. "You will have your role to play once the time comes, but that I cannot tell you yet."

Not being really surprised by Jarek's enigmatic response, Sora felt a slight pressure create in his chest. He was going to have an important role, but he didn't know which one; both he was eager to find out, but at the same time he was terrified of not being up to it. "And are we going to fight with this guy?"

"So, first of all, he is not alone, they act as a group, even if we do not know how many they are. And secondly, we are not just the two of us. Do you remember Aden and Aria?" Jarek asked.

Reflecting for a few seconds, Sora briefly recalled their faces. If these memories were good, Aden was a fairly old man with a long scar on his face. As for Aria, she was a Silver rank of the Order with intense purple eyes.

"Yes, I remember them, we ran into them at the Silver Horn."

Smiling slightly, Jarek replied more beautifully. "Well... To put it simply, Aden is currently number 7 on this floor. And he offered me an alliance to beat this guy we don't know anything about. Aden and Aria are allied with two other mercenaries coming from another city, and with the two of us, we will now be 6 to face this guy."

Storing all the information he had just heard, Sora quickly realized one thing. "And Nerris in this story?"

The young hostess who had not missed a crumb of what had just been told did not seem so surprised.

"Given her job as a hostess to the Order of Mercenaries, it is surely preferable that she should not be associated with any murder or at least a fight between members of the top 10." Replied Jarek who seemed to have thought of everything.

Looking at Sora who didn't really know what to answer, Nerris got up and stepped aside a little. "Indeed, if I were involved in all this and it was spread in the Order, I would surely lose my job..."

"However." she replied. "If you took me to this forest to train Sora, it's probably because you were hoping that I would offer to help you."

Slightly blowing with the nose, as if his plan had been discovered, Jarek remained mute for a few moments. "You are right. I wished to have the help of a member of the Order, and I knew that you would be the one who would have the best chance of agreeing to help us."

Nerris looked away, crossing his arms. A shadow passed over his face, between hesitation and determination.

"It wouldn't be the first time I've gone around the rules to help someone..." she muttered.

Sora stared at her, intrigued. She had always been smiling, almost careless in her way of acting at the counter of the Order, but, at that moment, he perceived something deeper. A weight she had been carrying for a long time. A silent desire to act beyond her simple role as a hostess.

She resumed, more firmly this time:

"I cannot officially help you to take part in the fight... However, I could bring you some information about this famous killer."

Jarek slowly nodded his head with a clever smile. "I knew that I hadn't mistaken the person..."

Sora, still sitting, struggled to assimilate everything he had just learned. An unknown killer, secret alliances, an inevitable future fight... And him, in the middle of all that, without Ushi, without a real place, but more and more involved.

He looked down at his hands, covered in scars still fresh. "All your plans are fine, but currently I am only a burden for you."

Jarek observed him for a moment in silence, before responding:

"For now, yes, you are." Then, seeing Sora's frown, he added with a smile: "But that's exactly what this training is for, making you stronger so that you are no longer a burden. Two and a half months. That's the time you have left to train."

Nerris knelt down again next to Sora, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We will make sure that you are ready."

He looked up at her. A spark of hope shot through his gaze. "Don't worry, I will be."

Jarek straightened up, crossing his arms, satisfied.

"Perfect. Because the next step is going to be a hell of a piece."

Sora blinked. "What's the next step?"

A smirk stretched Jarek's lips. "Given the recent turn of events, your training in this forest is over. Finally only for Nerris."

Jarek took a few steps, deliberately leaving a heavy silence, as if to create an artificial tension. He ends up turning sharply, his gaze hard, more serious than usual.

"You, Sora... You will stay here. Alone. For two and a half months."

The silence fell back like a stone in a well. Even the wind seemed to stop blowing between the sturdy stones of the temple.

Sora opened his mouth, then closed it again, unable to formulate the slightest sentence. Nerris stood up immediately, visibly shocked.

"What?! Do you want to leave him alone here? Are you kidding, I hope?"

Jarek did not look away. "No. He must learn to survive. To fight. To think without help."

Sora, stunned, balbutia:

"But... I have barely recovered from my wounds... I... I don't even know how to treat myself alone!"

"You will learn." said Jarek, relentlessly. "It's the only way for you to truly progress. We won't always be behind you to catch up when you fall. Do you want to climb the Tower? Do you want to fight against those who crush you without even sweating? So it's time to shape yourself."

Nerris clenched his fists, his eyes glistening with restrained anger. "It's dangerous, Jarek. Too dangerous. Do you want to train him or kill him?"

"It's precisely because it's dangerous that it will work." He replied coldly. "This forest is alive. It is unpredictable. If he survives here, he can survive anywhere."

Sora, his gaze still blurred, tried to get up completely. His legs were wobbling, but he held on. He stared at Jarek, his throat knotted.

"Do you really believe... that I can make it?"

A long silence followed. Then Jarek sketched a sincere, rare smile.

"No. I don't think so." he said.

Sora almost strangled in surprise.

But Jarek continued, looking straight into his:

"I know you can."

This time, it was not mocking. There was neither irony nor lightness in his voice. Just a raw truth, thrown around as a challenge.

Sora clenched his fists. A strange heat rose in his chest, a mix of anguish and fierce will.

" And me?" asked Nerris, still tense. "Do you want me to go back to Grimpoint as if nothing had happened?"

Jarek nodded. "You have a role to play there. You will be our eyes and ears. Find out what you can about the group that is helping this killer. Gain their trust if you can. Discreetly."

She swallowed slowly, accepting the responsibility. Then, she placed one last hand on Sora's shoulder.

"If you really need... I'll be back. No matter the consequences."

Sora looked at her, touched.

"Thank you. But I want to do it. I have to do it."

Jarek took out a small bag of leather and threw it at Sora, who caught it just in time.

"Enough to survive a few days. After that, it's up to you to manage. I will come get you in two and a half months. Not one more day."

Sora nodded slowly, a lump in his stomach. Then, as they both walked away and left the temple... Jarek turned towards Sora. "By the way, you'd probably better get out of this temple before daybreak. Given the amount of Ushi I used, I'm afraid you'll meet a few visitors who are quite unhappy."

Then they left, leaving Sora alone in this immense cold temple.