"Are you the Monarch?"
The question hung in the chilly night air like a bruise as the silence stretched.
Caedren squinted at the silhouette, trying and failing to glean anything to help his case.
What sort of being existed as simply a shadow?
Not even shadow. A shadow had essence, more potency than what stood in front of him.
Caedren inhaled a deep breath, his beating heart calming just a fraction.
If the being had wanted him dead then he'd have remained dead after the apocalypse.
There'd also been the chance to be rid of him at the execution and while submerged in the Disos Well.
Caedren felt it was safe to conclude that the being appreciated him more alive and scared than dead and festering.
He decided to push his luck a little further.
Squaring his shoulders, he assumed a confidence he did not have at all.
"There's only one reason why you let me live through all my misadventures."
He paused, choosing to choose his words nicely from here.
"You're obviously a powerful being, but you need me for something. You can tell me. Maybe…just maybe I'll agree to help you if you ask nicely."
He finished off with a smirk to complete the whole carefree, holier-than-thee persona.
For a moment nothing happened. The breeze was soothing and all remained happy with the world.
Then the silhouette moved.
With long strides and an intimidating swagger, it loomed over Caedren before he could flinch.
An icy shiver rushed down Caedren's face as invisible eyes glared down at him.
He stuttered. "Eh…sorry?"
The silhouette remained stoic.
"You have no idea what I am."
Caedren couldn't help a shudder. He hated being belittled like this but the culprit was an enigma beyond his understand.
"A shadow sent by the devil to torment me?"
It sniggered. "Devil?"
Caedren nodded, gulping. "Yeah. Ruler of hell and all. You know, the underworld? Abyss? Pool of unquenchable flames for the damned and dejected?"
Steel clamped around his wrist to spread numbness up his right arm.
He looked down to find a shadowed palm gripping him there.
His knees wobbled as the numbness spread like crackling corruption through his veins and blood.
He grinded his teeth and tried to speak but couldn't form words. He could hardly even breath.
The silhouette leaned in, crowding Caedren's senses with the darkness of its being.
"You'll find out exactly what I am soon. One failure at a time."
The fist released Caedren and blood rushed back into his body.
Dizziness ceased him and he staggered, barely keeping from toppling to the ground.
The silhouette whipped past him, sending his skin crawling with its foreboding aura.
Livid, Caedren growled.
How dare that waste of space bully him like that?
He wasn't the worthless and trampled Zukko anymore.
He was Caedren fucking Valerian and he wouldn't let anyone treat him like a sissy.
Flooded with rage, he whirled around and…
Well, he'd meant to charge at the godforsaken shadow jerk.
To do that he would've needed to run full throttle. And to do that there would have to be ground under his feet to serve as reaction force.
But the ground was gone.
No street. No night. Just an dark emptiness where something should be. Just like the Disos Well.
Caedren got a moment to gasp before tumbling into the void.
He screamed.
Like a sissy. His pride died a second death.
He was going to die. Again.
He lost all sense of direction and space.
Nothing made sense but the dread wrapped around his heart like a wrench.
Caedren blinked…
Rocky earth rushed to meet him.
"What the…"
Thud!
Ooof!
Fuck!
"Aaaah…my butt! I think I broke my tailbone…"
Bruised and throbbing everywhere, he sat up to take in the even stranger world around him.
Hard, jutting rocks for ledge stretched far across a pool of googling black water that spread around the most defying edifice Caedren had ever seen.
A tower. It couldn't be anything less.
Silver marble walls engraved with ancient runes and symbols as old as time itself.
Glowing rubies of various shapes and dark shades of colors fused all over it, pulsing with a thrumming energy.
Ivies and thorns creeped up the sturdy pillars and walls, crackling through them like a million poisonous snakes.
The ground floor sprawled as vast as a football stadium, the floor above it a tad smaller, and it went on like that.
Caedren's wide eyes lifted, neck craning to take in the massive tower.
Fifty floors…sixty….a hundred?
The tower speared into the heavy clouds and lightning crackles of the stormy night sky.
Two bloodred moons hovered above everything. Like the vengeful eyes of a formidable being.
The ancient tower had a presence about it. Stretched taut as a string, sharpened to shame a celestial blade and diabolic enough to scare the devil.
Caedren gasped at it. "What…what is that?"
For once the silhouette answered his question directly.
"The Monarch's abode."
"Wait a minute."
Caedren shut his eyes tight as he tried to gather his thoughts.
Things were spilling out of his control fast.
"The Monarch is an actual person?"
The silhouette started across the stone bridge and Caedren hurried to keep up.
He didn't want to be alone, and somehow the silhouette felt comforting compared to the tower.
The black pool rippled in places, releasing globes of bubbles here and there.
He imagined grotesque monstrous shapes, vile beasts forbidden from living eyes, creatures of the dark puffing and waiting for prey inside the murk.
"I taste like spoilt sandwich."
He offered in a trembling whisper. Hopefully that'd tame their cravings of him.
Ahead of him and ambling on at a steady stride, the silhouette spoke.
"The Court of Chaos is the world of the monarch. Created and enforced by the monarch."
A mocking chuckle for effect.
"Since you're possessed by the Monarch, you belong to the tower and the tower is your Core Dimension."
Caedren considered the tower again. Larger than life. All consuming.
"Shouldn't it be a lot less smaller?"
Core Dimensions served as the spatial space for every Spirit Walker.
Each Spirit Walker had a spatial space specifically toned to their Eidos paths, unique abilities and strengths.
They could store weapons, inventories, skills and special artifacts within the space.
Nothing of life could exist here, though. It was a dimension beyond space and time.
The size of the spatial space determined their powers and cultivation potentials.
A vast core dimension meant more advanced elevation prospects while small ones offered just as much as they could contain.
The Court of Chaos was beyond vast and extremely tall. That meant superior leveling, supreme cultivation potentials, broader scale of abilities and so much more
It meant unfathomable power. And Caedren wasn't feeling powerful right now.
The silhouette stopped just before the polished stone steps rising up to the massive double doors of the tower.
"You have it all wrong, Zukko."
Caedren cleared his throat. "Caedren. I go by Caedren now."
The silhouette's head cocked. "One snap of my fingers and you'll be someone else."
A pause. "How do you like your cellmate Dirren?"
Caedren shuddered in disgust. Anyone but the smelly old crude.
"My companions call me Zukko, so carry on."
The silhouette went on as if it had never been interrupted.
"You have it all wrong, Zukko." The Zukko was stretched to within an inch of its life.
Caedren didn't follow. "Like how wrong are we talking about?"
"Terribly so."
Caedren didn't like the sound of that. Nothing had gone right since the moment he awakened in this treacherous world.
Ha! Who was he kidding? Nothing had gone right with him since the day he gained life!
"Care to enlighten me, Mr. Silhouette?"
The silhouette paid no mind to his little jib.
"Contrary to what you assumed, whatever goes on outside here doesn't matter. This is where your actual cultivation and elevation takes place."
Caedren considered his words and came off short of meaning. "Okay?"
The silhouette chuckled, amused by his daftness and clearly enjoying making him squirm.
"Each floor of this tower represents a different level of beasts, cultivation paths, upliftment and tribulation. Their intensity and impossibility increases the higher you go."
It pointed at the sky. "You have to reach the top one battle after another, conquering one floor after the other."
Caedren imagined the silhouette's face twisting into a smirk even as chill ran down his spine.
"In summary, out there you do as the Monarch of Misery demands to gain power and return in here to fight for your life. Failure on either side comes with unwelcomed repercussions."
The silhouette leaned in.
"Do you finally get why I say you're marked for misery, Zukko Caedren Valerian?"