The Guide was waiting for us.
One by one, he led us into his dome.
At every step, a black glow brushed against us… and our wounds vanished on the spot.
Automatic healing. Cold. Clinical.
That was his specialty.
Or at least… the one we still knew.
At first glance, we were no longer on the 5th floor.
But not yet on the 6th either.
A between-space.
An in-between, hanging in the void.
If the Guide had gathered all of us here, it wasn't meaningless.
An announcement?
A warning?
Or worse… a sentence?
The wait was becoming unbearable.
Voices echoed around me.
Whispers. Nervous laughter.
Some compared their trials.
Their stories, in broad strokes, were similar to mine.
Especially the first floor.
But after that…
No.
Nothing alike.
As if each test had been custom-made.
As if the Tower itself were writing a script for each of us.
What the hell is it waiting for from us…
Then suddenly—
a clap.
Sharp. Powerful. Resonant.
The echo crossed the hall like a wave.
There was nothing human in that sound.
Just a vibration that imposed itself, crushing our breathing, commanding silence.
Most people buckled under the pressure.
Only a few held their ground.
No surprise: the ones I'd already seen survive the latest trials.
They knew.
They had brushed against the edge of death.
The Guide appeared.
Not in light. Not in shadow.
Just there.
As if he had always been there.
After the total silence… he spoke.
And his first words were not a threat.
Not a verdict.
But congratulations.
A ripple ran through the crowd.
Stunned. Disbelieving.
Never—never—had anyone imagined hearing a compliment from this being.
He, the cold incarnation of a system without empathy.
He, whose every word sounded like a rule.
And yet…
He was almost smiling.
A marble smile.
— Fifty apprentice Conquerors.
— Twenty-seven survived.
A murmur ran through the hall.
Almost half, erased.
— Few… some will say.
— Enough… I will say.
His voice rang out like a paradoxical sentence.
— Because this level… was infernal.
Rarely opened. Rarely cleared.
And you have passed through it.
He paused.
Slowly.
Then went on, in a tone that almost sounded joyful:
— Be proud of yourselves.
— Know this:
These first five floors were not difficult for nothing.
They were there to beat the iron.
To forge.
To sharpen.
To polish.
And to slowly, surely, start shaping the first fragments… of Conquerors.
Of course, to me… you are still only insects.
But at least, you have become that much.
Because before… you were beneath them.
— Things change now.
From the 6th floor onward… the trials will no longer necessarily be individual.
If you wish to keep going alone, so be it.
But from now on, you will have the choice to join others.
To support each other.
To merge your strength.
— And at the end of that path… you will no longer be insects.
You will become Conquerors.
Still weak, certainly.
But solid enough to bear the pride of those who survived the Infernal Tutorial.
And this Tutorial… very few in this Tower can boast of clearing it…
And fewer still of surviving it.
A sharp clap rang out again.
And at once, black windows appeared in front of each of us.
Thousands of luminous squares hung in the air, like frozen rain.
⟡ [ Interface – Cycle Update ] ⟡
— Mandatory reading.
His voice resonated in our bones.
Every word carved itself into our minds.
[ Statistics – First Cycle ]
Apprentice Conquerors: 50Survivors: 27Mortality rate: 46 %Status: Infernal Tutorial completed.
[ New Directive – Floors 6 to 8 ]
Mode: ConsolidationObjectives: stabilize your gains, reinforce your foundations.Cooperation now permitted.
Murmurs burst through the room.
Some were already thrilled at the idea of forming alliances.
Others snickered, as if the possibility of betrayal opened up a playground.
The Guide, himself, did not move.
— The first part of the Tutorial is over.
— The second part begins.
— The rules change.
— Those who adapt… will survive.
The others… will join the ashes.
Then silence fell again.
A heavy, brutal silence.
As the hall sank once more into quiet,
my window glitched.
A black veil, crossed by scarlet lines.
A message appeared.
Short.
Unsigned.
⟡ [ ??? ] ⟡
— Death awaits you at the end.
— Grow stronger… if you want to escape this fate.
Then everything disappeared.
No sound.
No echo.
As if nothing had ever existed.
Except that chill stuck in my neck like an invisible blade.
Startled, another clap rang out.
This time, it was the Guide who started it.
And at once, all our equipment was restored.
Weapons reforged.
Armor polished.
Even our scars seemed to have vanished.
Around me, groups had already formed.
Two main blocks stood out.
The first orbited around Narcisse.
She hadn't needed to say a word: the boys had gathered by themselves, devoted to each of her gestures, each of her looks.
A harem of misplaced loyalties.
Not my problem.
The second…
gathered the majority of the survivors.
A compact, pragmatic core.
Strength in numbers.
Gravyor, as for him, remained alone.
True to himself.
As for Veda, she had moved closer to Kiyoshi.
A strange alliance, but judging by their seriousness, there was nothing superficial about it.
Once the groups finished forming, silence fell anew.
The Guide, expressionless, watched without a word.
As if he were weighing our choices.
Or our mistakes.
Then his voice rang out one last time, sharp:
— The Assembly is over.
— Your steps will decide whether you remain insects… or whether you finally become Conquerors.
A rumble crossed the hall.
The floor trembled under our feet.
Black fissures spread, crawling like frozen lightning.
I looked up.
Too late.
The ground gave way.
A gaping chasm swallowed the entire crowd.
Screams tangled with echoes, freshly sealed alliances already shattering in panic.
And just before the darkness swallowed me…
a final window appeared.
In front of me alone.
⟡ [ ??? ] ⟡
— Death awaits you at the end.
— Grow stronger… if you want to escape this fate.
Then it all vanished.
And I fell.
For a long time.
Or maybe only a second.
Impossible to say.
The void swallowed me, devouring my senses one by one.
Sight.
Hearing.
Even pain faded.
Then, suddenly—
impact.
I reopened my eyes in a thick, almost liquid mist.
My breath formed faint clouds in front of me.
The silence… was absolute.
For a moment, I thought I was alone.
But a presence detached itself from the fog.
Massive.
Motionless.
Gravyor.
He stared at me, just as surprised as I was.
No Veda.
No Kiyoshi.
No Narcisse or her followers.
Just him.
And me.
Coincidence?
Or another trick of the Tower…
What they meant by "group"…
wasn't something we chose.
It was something they chose.
The Tower.
The Guide.
Always them.
I clenched my teeth.
Another illusion of freedom.
— They really played us well, huh?
Gravyor's deep voice rolled through the mist.
His mocking smile bared his fangs.
I couldn't help a dry, humorless chuckle.
Yeah. I'd been fooled too.
Beside me, Thana stayed silent.
But I felt her discreet relief.
She was pleased.
Pleased that, for once, I'd found someone…
who resembled me a bit.
Not in loyalty.
Not in gentleness.
But in that shared contempt for invisible chains.
Oversized vegetation surrounded us.
Each leaf wider than a shield, each vine sturdier than a chain.
Impossible to see more than a few dozen meters ahead.
We eventually managed to push through that suffocating jungle.
And in front of us…
a wall.
Huge.
Ten meters high, maybe more.
A living rampart, covered in roots and moss.
Then that familiar vibration stirred.
A window opened in front of our eyes.
⟡ [ Interface – Objectives ] ⟡
• Main Objective: Find the exit of the labyrinth.
• Secondary Objective: Never retrace your steps.
• Hidden Objective: Obtain the labyrinth's core.
I sighed.
Of course…
— A labyrinth… obviously, Gravyor grumbled.
He punched the wall, just to test it.
The stone vibrated, but didn't give.
His lips curled into a savage grin.
— Doesn't matter. We go straight. If we have to break it, we break it.
I couldn't help smiling back.
Simple, brutal, but efficient.
A human bulldozer.
And this time… that worked for me.
— That good with you? he asked, raising an eyebrow.
I shrugged.
— As long as we get out…
Our gazes crossed for a second.
No sworn alliance.
No solemn oath.
Just a tacit agreement.
Thana, curled up in the shadows of my thoughts, stayed silent.
But I could feel her quiet approval.
Yeah. This was good.
A partner whose mind wasn't too far from mine.
Then, without another word, we moved forward.
While Gravyor was already smashing through the vegetation to clear the way, I discreetly sent Umbra ahead.
His shadow detached from my feet, fluid, silent.
It slipped between the roots, dissolved into the fog.
— The core…
He knew what he had to look for.
A double approach.
Us, with brute force.
Him, in the shadows.
Gravyor didn't notice.
Or maybe he just didn't care.
He'd rather hit things than ask questions.
And me… that suited me fine.
The mist closed behind Umbra, swallowing his shape.
I kept quiet, focused on the faint echo he might send back.
A few heartbeats later… a vibration rose in my shadow.
A message.
Short. Direct.
⟡ [ Umbra ] ⟡
— Entrance to the local labyrinth located.
I lifted my head.
A smile slipped out despite myself.
Perfect.
The real game could begin.