“How is that possible?”

  Zeke asked aloud, unable to hold back his shock. What they saw as they entered into the forbidden area of the quarry was the tower that they were looking for.

  The forbidden area was made by the guild when the monsters became a problem that not even their adventurers can handle with ease. That also included sightings of the tower that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

  Zeke was fully expecting to see the large tower that was just a single stone building that could pierce the sky with how tall it was. It might as well have led directly to the heavens where the gods lived, the ones responsible for sending them to those hell holes in the first place.

  But the tower that showed in front of them was nothing like the past towers. If anything, they were the exact opposite in appearance. This tower floated in the air, spinning slowly as the normally cylindrical tower was now shaped like a diamond with two of its tapered ends pointing up and down. The entire ‘tower’ could be seen in its entirety, but now Zeke can barely tell whether it was truly the same one, or perhaps someone had made a mistake.

  It wasn’t even made with the same stone-like texture of the past towers. It certainly was built like a tower, with each brick being seen if you look hard enough. However, the color was a deep purple and black, with some blue mixed in like a random swirl of gas that puffs in and out of existence from within the purplish void of the walls.

  But considering their past experiences–if mysterious buildings showed up out of nowhere, those had to be the towers.

  “Zeke, I’m not imagining this, right? That’s literally a tower just floating there?” Mikella asked, obviously having the same issue of believing the building’s entire existence.

  “Mmh? Isn’t this the tower you guys know?” Saang asked, clearly confused.

  When Zeke looked at her in surprise, he realized that the three adventurers partied up with them were clearly new to the towers, and never actually entered inside. That meant that once the idea of ‘towers’ entered their minds, they expected the tower to be this floating diamond-shaped building.

  “It is…” Zeke muttered. “But also it isn’t.”

  “...Explain.” Hamil asked, his brow raising. “Is this not the tower you guys usually clear?”

  “Not… not really?” Mikella answered, her brows furrowed in confusion. “The towers we cleared were just literal towers–buildings that were so high you can barely see the top. Oh, and they were also placed on the ground, like normal buildings.”

  She made sure to emphasize the part where the two clearly had an issue with, causing the seasoned adventurers to widen their eyes.

  “Seriously?” Saang asked, reasonably shocked. “And you guys said you took on more towers, right? Did they all look like that?”

  “So far, yeah,” Zeke nodded. “All three towers we’ve been to looked like what she described. This is the first time we saw one that looks… like that.”

  Zeke gestured at the floating tower, which even now filled him with a strange emotion. It was like finding an abstract statue and giving a sense of dread that he can’t explain. It might look mystical, but his senses told him something was amiss.

  “Well, we certainly weren't told of this,” Hamil said, his hands rubbing his chin in thought. “If that’s the case, we might have to retreat and try to gather more information.”

  “Why?” Mikella asked. “It only looks different. It should be the same thing inside. Maybe just a bit more different than normal.”

  “Besides, the more time we waste, the worst it’ll get, right?” Zeke added, nodding to Mikella’s answer. “It only just looks different–maybe it is different. But in the end, every tower is dangerous no matter how… weirdly shaped it is.”

  “I agree,” Kote added, talking for the first time. “These towers were always defined as mysterious. These two are the only experts we can find too. If they say it’s different, there’s nothing we can do about it. We still gotta see if we can get rid of it.”

  “I see…” Hamil nodded slowly. Zeke knew that it wasn’t as though he turned cowardly. He was only making sure he got their bearings before entering into dangerous grounds. With that said, Hamil stared at the two. “Then let’s head in. You two are able to bring us with you inside, right?”

  “I mean, it’s floating and everything,” Saang butted in. “And not a single entrance in sight. And I’m guessing there’s no point in attacking it with skills and spells, right?”

  “Definitely not a good idea,” Zeke said. “I don’t know the details, but if this thing is messing with the mana around here, then bombarding it with attacks is bound to be trouble. Also, it might have the tendency to explode on us too.”

  The veterans looked at Zeke with widened eyes, not realizing that it could blow up as he said. Considering the giant size, it wasn’t something they wanted to do. Zeke was sure Cronus knew that as well, otherwise, if they had found it, they would have already tried using different types of attacks to get rid of it.

  “Then let’s not waste anymore time,” Mikella answered, turning to her partner. “You ready, Zeke?”

  “Ready,” Zeke nodded. “Come with us, and stay close to us.”

  The adventurers did as they say, since at this moment they became the leaders of the expedition. The otherworlders closed in towards the tower, expanding their senses to notice anything amiss.

  With that in mind, the two approached near the tower where its shadow nearly took on an entire expanse. Despite the appearance up front, the tower was quite wider compared to the original design, so it was enough to possibly cover a whole block from the capital city.

  However, just as they predicted, they couldn’t touch anywhere near it since it floated around several meters up high, but that never stopped the otherworlders before.

  Zeke closed his eyes and willed the tower to his demand. For a moment, he thought it didn’t work, but as he broadened his senses, he found out just how incredible the tower truly was.

  Back then, it was only during his Intermediate and Expert stages, but now as a Journeymen, the tower’s entire existence was piled on top of complete mystery. It had no energy to speak of, not even the system energy that Zeke was vaguely aware of. It did have, however, a will of its own.

  And it soon met his own will. As though it synchronized, the will reacted positively to his existence, even more so including Mikella’s own existence that he felt joining together with his own. He made sure to include his senses to the three behind him, recognizing them as their ‘guests’.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  A portal appeared right in front of them, not caring at all that it didn’t connect with the tower like the last ones. Zeke looked back at the group, their eyes focused entirely on the portal with a nod. With his word, the group followed the two as they entered into the portal, letting the white void cover their senses and making their insides suffer whiplash at the sudden shift.

  …..

  It took Zeke an entire minute to truly take control of his senses after that strange teleportation. It wasn’t anything different from before, but it was still as jarring as one would expect. It wasn’t like an ordinary dungeon where one casually enters. It was quite literally a jump into another dimension that shouldn’t have been made naturally.

  When he gathered his awareness, he opened his eyes to find a lot of greenery that really shouldn’t have been there. The moist atmosphere along with the bristling sounds of leaves and the scent of soil and perhaps rot filled his nose.

  Another moment of clarity revealed that he was, in fact, inside a swamp of sorts. However, there was no hint of water around his surroundings. If anything, it was the opposite.

  That scent of rot he caught earlier was definitely not part of the swamp’s habitat, or at least that’s what he believed. However, he put aside the strange habitat and called out for anyone else.

  “Roll call!” Zeke shouted. “Who’s here!?”

  “I’m here!” Mikella shouted, which shocked him since she was standing so close. He turned to find none other than the just as shocked Mikella who answered the moment he shouted.

  “Oh, uhh, sorry…” Zeke said, but Mikella waved it off.

  “It’s fine, I’m just glad we’re not separated,” Mikella smirked, which Zeke can easily agree with.

  “I’m fine…” Kote said, finally walking up to the two. He looked so mesmerized that he probably didn’t even believe there were other people around. “This place is…”

  “This is part of the tower?” Hamil said, showing himself along with Kote. Just like him, he was just admiring the scenery and stayed in awe. “It’s… way bigger than I expected.

  “Saang!” Mikella shouted. “Are you here?”

  “Way over here!”

  Zeke and Mikella spun around to find Saang already standing near what looked like a large riverbank. She was crouching down, her feet still planted on the soil as she waved her hand up in the air to show herself.

  “You guys gotta see this! I don’t think this is water!”

  The four quickly approached Saang to which Hamil already started grumbling about her suddenly going off on her own. Still, Zeke can’t blame anyone for being overwhelmed. Even Cloud, Val, and Zacharia were amazed at the sudden scenery.

  But when they approached the riverbank to notice the water beneath them, each of them gasped in surprise.

  The liquid flowing through the river looked clear, but it was clearly not water. There was that pungent scent of rot and… acidity that Zeke can’t comprehend. It was certainly nasty, like intense vinegar straight up to the nostrils.

  “Don’t touch it,” Hamil stated almost autonomously.

  “Genius call there,” Saang rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you tell me not to use my axe’s blade to get a haircut while you’re at it?”

  “What is this… I have never seen this sort of liquid before.”

  Kote crouched down as well while Hamil and Saang were already having a tussle about whatever came to mind, but the otherworlders were left stumped.

  After all, there was no hint of rooms or direction to go by.

  “This is… troubling,” Mikella said. “I have no idea where to go from here.”

  “I think we just gotta wander around and try not to get lost,” Zeke said. “Before, we went in directions where we either went up or down the stairs. But in this place, I’m not sure where to go to get to the end of the dungeon.”

  “That’s simple, just keep walking northward,” Saang suddenly mentioned, getting out of fighting with Hamil over seemingly nothing. “We’re bound to hit something if we do that.”

  “Is… that really the best advice from one of the top adventurers of the guild?” Mikella had to ask, more than a little doubt worming into her voice.

  “It sucks, but her intuition is scary good. Plus, she never seems to get lost, and I’m pretty sure it’s because of an Acquired skill or weird item that she’s keeping from us.”

  “It’s called woman’s intuition, dumbass,” Saang barked back at Hamil.

  “Isn’t that supposed to work on drama or something?” Hamil mentioned off-handed, but he still had a smile despite the tense situation.

  “Guys, shut up,” Kote suddenly said, getting the two to do exactly that. “I’m gonna test something, and you’re only gonna distract me.”

  Right when Zeke was curious as to what he’s gonna test, Kote held out his hand and a disturbing crack echoed from his arm. From the top of his exposed forearm, bone pierced through the skin in a jarring way, as though his mind willingly broke his arm for the bone to come out.

  Worst yet, that single piece of bone kept extending forward, as though connected by bit by bit interconnectedly. It was a truly disturbing sight, especially when Kote just looked on as though nothing was really happening. He then stopped the growth of the bone, and easily broke off the hanging tip that easily surpassed several inches out of his arm.

  The broken bone in hand, the rest of the ‘bone arm’ quickly dissipated in a vast of smoke, leaving the open wound behind to close up immediately.

  “What the actual fuck…?” Mikella had to mutter, her face paling at the sight.

  “Oh… sorry,” Kote noticed her plight and actually apologized, his tone showing regret. “Forgot you guys weren’t used to this.”

  “His attunement is fucking gross as always, but it’s pretty damn handy in situations like this,” Saang said, though that still got a glare from the aformentioned bone user.

  “That’s your attunement? Bone manipulation?” Zeke asked, more curious than disturbed. That also appeased Mikella a little, though she’s in the camp that bones were always supposed to stay inside the body rather than out.

  “In a sense,” Kote nodded. “Mostly bone, but I also control muscle tissue and the like. That’s why my body regenerates easily from my wounds. Anyways, I need some room, so please step back a little.”

  Zeke easily agreed as he realized that Kote is testing the liquid coursing through the river. Everyone else did the same, now a lot more curious as Kote slowly approached the liquid with the broken bone in hand.

  The tip of the bone slowly dipped into the surging liquid, and the moment it did, the bone started to sizzle, smoke rising like dipping in hot oil. Kote quickly let go of the bone, realizing that just by touching the liquid, the rest of the bone had easily been taken over and evaporated on the spot.

  What was left was a trail of smoke that was once the bone only after dipping into the liquid for a second or two.

  “Well… that answers that,” Kote said in a dry tone. “That’s some pretty potent stuff. Unless you got a lot of Endurance and Vitality, I don’t suggest touching this stuff.”

  “And it looks like there’s plenty more of that everywhere around us,” Hamil said, taking a gander at his surroundings.

  Zeke didn’t even have to see to know what Hamil was talking about. It wasn’t just this river bank that they were close to–nearly every area that they can see or sense has the liquid flowing through one way or another, truly making this place a hazardous location.

  Just one step into the strangely acidic liquid can easily lead to one’s death. Though Zeke wasn’t sure exactly how long it would take. It was just a simple bone, which has less resistance compared to the rest of their bodies. Still, he’s definitely not going to test out how durable he can be, and doesn’t plan on letting anyone else try either.

  “So don’t touch the liquid and keep heading north,” Saang said eventually. “Easy enough. What else do we gotta look out for?”

  “Monsters, and tons of them,” Mikella said. “And they might come out of nowhere. Maybe even places we didn’t think they would come from.”

  “So a location that has dangerous hazards and monsters that seemingly come from nowhere… Didn’t think that the dungeon here would be classified as Class A in difficulty, but I should’ve figured Cronus wouldn’t give us an easy job.”

  “Uhh, Class A?” Zeke asked Hamil, who was still in his data-collecting phase of sorts.

  “Oh, those are classifications used to describe how difficult a dungeon or biodome is. That also equates to the level of the monsters, what skills they can use, and of course the environment as a whole. According to what you said so far, and the acidic qualities of nearly everything around here, this place is definitely Class A or less.”

  “Come on, Hamil,” Saang said, her fists placed on her hips. “It’s definitely more than Class A. Look at this place.”

  “We still don’t know the level of the monsters yet, so it’s undefined,” Hamil relayed with ease. “But… you just had to say it like it’s natural, don’t you?”

  “That means according to Saang, this place is as difficult as she surmised…” Kote said, shaking his head ruefully.

  Apparently that intuition of hers goes both ways, including the bad news of what they might face today.