" A sublime sensation washes over me... I have claimed the zenith of the elements. A deluge of a thousand incantations—the secrets of ember, gale, tide, and stone—floods my mind. Yet, strangely, my soul gravitates toward the Earth and the Water; they feel like an old resonance I cannot fully name."
'Eir, which of these do you favor?'
'Master... I do not know.' Her voice is a fragile whisper, laced with a sudden, crushing realization. 'I do not know magic at all...'
Leon looked at her, the weight of his own ambition having blinded to his silence.
'I forgot... you were never taught.'
'Eir, stop. Do not weep. Tears are for the finished, and we have only just begun. There is still time. Look there—the Fire Wyvern, the last vestige of this floor's malice. All the lesser beasts have fallen to my shadow. Now, reach into your spirit. Unleash the Fairy Magic dormant within your blood. Try it. Perhaps the knowledge is there, waiting for a spark."
'I will try, Master... Eir will try! Just watch!' She cries out, her small hands trembling. 'Fairy Magic! Shu... shi... shu!'
But the air remains still. No light breaks the gloom. Her wings droop in defeat. 'Master, it will not come. What do I do?'
A pang of guilt strikes Leon. " I have mastered the forbidden, yet I neglected the one beside me." 'I know much of the world's power, but perhaps not enough of yours. We will seek the Dragon Master; he will have the answers.
Also It was my fault, Eir. I did not consider your path.'
'Master? Did you say something?'
'Nothing. Only this: stop your crying. If the will is iron, the answer will forge itself. We shall learn, and we shall conquer, side by side.'"
[The Divine Decree Resonates]...
"The Ordeal is Concluded. The Quest is Bound in Blood and Triumph."
"The Chains of Restriction are Shattered; the Shackles of the Soul Disintegrate."
"The Ancient Runes Pulse with Forbidden Vitality; they Gorge upon your Ascension."
"Prepare Yourself, Pathfinder.
" Your Flesh shall Burn as the Essence Refines.....
"The Floor is Purged...
" The Ascent Continues.....
" The Tower Beckons You Upward..."
The sensation of displacement takes hold as the world blurs—Floor 163 is drawing in.....
[ The Void is curious...]
"The Void God... why is his gaze so persistent? Don't tell me he's some cosmic stalker. Even the most famous celebrities can find a moment of peace away from the cameras. Why do I feel as though my every move is being broadcast live to the heavens, leaving me exposed under an invisible spotlight?"
Leon looked down at the garments he wore, a gift from that silent observer. When he first inherited Stigmas, he were stripped of everything, left vulnerable in the darkness. It was the Void God who draped him in these—a set of Red and White Murim-style robes. They are striking, cut from a fabric that feels like woven shadow and starlight, and identified as a Rare-Grade artifact.
They suit him well, but the weight of them feels like a debt.
"Is this the price? By accepting his gift, am I expected to perform like some interdimensional streamer for his amusement? I don't know... perhaps all gods are perverts, voyeurs of the struggle they force upon us. I just want to finish this, to find my way home. I'm tired of being a spectacle for an audience I can't even see."
The robes fluttered as the transition to the next floor intensified. Despite the frustration, the Rare-Grade defensive properties of the silks hummed with a protective energy, a silent reminder that in this cruel tower, even a "stalker's" favor might be the difference between life and death.
"Master... Master... Master..."
Leon's voice was a low, confused whisper as the familiar architecture of the hidden sanctum materialized around him. "Must I truly endure this cycle again? The same performance, the same script?"
Suddenly, a booming voice shattered the silence. "Ha! Finally! You've returned! It feels as though an eternity has passed since you last stood before me. Why, boy, when I was your age, I possessed such catastrophic power that I could—"
Leon sighed, mentally completing the sentence. It was the same grandiose dialogue the Dragon God recited every time, a recorded history of a legend that never tired of its own glory.
Leon began to mouth the words in perfect synchronicity with the deity, a silent mockery the Dragon God was too absorbed in his own bravado to notice.
The Dragon God finally cleared his throat, his golden eyes narrowing. "So... tell me. Did you merely 'learn' magic, or did you acquire something... beyond the mundane?"
"He knows," Leon thought, a dull headache thumping behind his eyes. " He's pretending to be ignorant of the Stigmas I've carved into my soul. What a tiresome game."
"Yes, Master," Leon replied, bowing with practiced humility.
"I have begun to grasp the fundamental threads of magic, though I remain a mere novice in the grand design. I crave your further guidance." He paused, then added with a sharp edge to his voice, "I also survived the Trial of Godhood. The Stigmas are mine."
The Dragon God's roar of laughter shook the very foundations of the floor. "Leon! Magnificent! Exactly what I expected from my greatest disciple!
Hahaha!" The laughter went on, loud and boisterous, echoing off the crystalline walls until the deity abruptly cut it short with a sharp, dry cough.
"And what of the Book of Valish?" the Dragon God asked, a sly glint in his eye. "Quite a useful tool for a budding Archmage, wouldn't you say?"
"Master... are you mocking me?" Leon's eyes flattened.
"Me? Mock you? Never!" the Dragon God huffed, though his smirk betrayed him.
"You will understand its true purpose soon enough. However... the Book of Valish is not for you. It must be passed to your First Apostle."
Leon blinked, his confusion genuine this time. "To her?
"That tiny thing?" - Dragon God
He looked down at Eir, who was hovering nervously by his shoulder.
"To Eir," the Dragon God confirmed.
Leon hesitated, then turned to the small fairy. "Eir... this is my Master. He is the one who forged my path. Pay your respects as I taught you."
Startled, Eir immediately performed a perfect, graceful bow, mimicking Leon's disciplined posture with earnest devotion. With a slow, deliberate movement, Leon reached out and placed the ancient, pulsing weight of the Book of Valish into Eir's small, trembling hands.
The air shudders as the Book of Valish ignites, its pages turning with a sound like thunder.
[The Divine Voice of the Tower descends, absolute and terrifying ]:
"HEARKEN, SOULS OF THE ASCENT.....
THE SACRED TRANSMUTATION BEGINS.
The Book of Valish... Evolves...
The Ancient Covenants have been Recognized:.....
**** the First Apostle of the [REDACTED] God.....
The Blessed by the Divinity of Healing....
The Scion of a Fallen Deity, the Last of thy Blood...
The Final Vessel of the Fairy Arts.....
Every Prerequisite is Fulfilled...
Every Shackle is Forged...
The Book of Valish shall now be imprinted into the Soul of the **** First Apostle!"
As the light blinds the world, the book dissolves into Eir's chest, binding her destiny to a power that even the Void fears to name.