If you have ever wondered what a person feels when they pass out, wonder no more. I felt nothing. Well... Maybe I did feel something, but I cannot remember anything.
I woke up in the same spot where I had fainted. Tulip was cradling my head and was crying. Seeing that, I childishly decided to do nothing. But someone, or something, named Pangu, had other plans.
"Hey, lad!" he said, cutting Tulip's crying, "Can you stop fainting from time to time? You have made a habit out of it, you know that?"
I sighed and lifted myself from my companion's embrace, although I noticed my body was still weak. And as you have probably guessed, she slapped me quite hard. But with my body being immensely resilient, due to me being a dragon, she was the one who got hurt.
Still, I did deserve the slap. I should have alerted her the moment I woke up. What's done is done, so I faked a reaction with a cry of pain, "That hurt."
She raised an eyebrow and prepared to slap again. I quickly stopped her and said, "Easy there, you don't want to end up with a broken arm. And I can't keep faking the pain."
Tulip's face eased up, and she let out a small chuckle. Pangu mumbled something that I couldn't make out, but knowing him, he was most likely imitating me. Once I confirmed she calmed down, I finally asked, "It's not the first time I lost consciousness, so why the tears?"
She took a deep breath and replied, her voice still trembling, "You have been lying here for five days. Your heart stopped beating yesterday. We thought you were dead!"
"The poison did do most of its job in my body. I suppose my heart was slowed to the brink of death," I replied. A grunt escaped my lips as I scanned through my injuries. She looked at me, clearly concerned about my condition. I smiled and reassured her that the Phoenix blood in my body had begun the healing process.
We camped in this area as I couldn't go on until my strength returned. To my disappointment, I still haven't broken through to the Sovereign state. I hoped my fight with the Great Wood Serpent would break the bottleneck. Alas, if your hopes soar to the sky, you are bound to crash into the ground.
Tulip has stored the white beast core and gave it to me when we settled. Despite my extreme desire to consume the core, I insisted that she should have it. But in the end, she continued to refuse.
When I was about to start absorbing the benefits stored inside it, Richard suddenly said through our mental link, "I suggest keeping the core until you get the next blade shard."
"But..." I started, my hesitation was apparent in my voice.
"I know that you are anxious to break through, but my suggestion remains the same. The next test might even help you do it without the need for the core. Even if it doesn't, your foundation would be stronger than it is now."
His words made sense, so I stored the core and called Tulip to prepare to continue on our journey. We have wasted enough time already.
The march went on for another few days. This time, we started encountering more monsters and beasts in the Divinity stage, although none posed a challenge. Finally, one day, Pangu suddenly said, "Here we are, the central part of Mount Evergreen."
The only difference between the central part and the peripheral mountains was the density of the snow, and the air was surprisingly colder here. The lack of powerful creatures still bothered me, but I focused my attention on the long tower that was around a thousand meters away from us. I could see from here that it had ten levels, with each one being covered with intricate decorations and statues.
We made our way through the thick layers of snow towards it. While we were challenged by creatures on our way to the central part, none approached us here, and soon we were at the base of the tower, where we met someone that I didn't expect to see.
The Greek-style armor on Farbauti did a poor job of hiding his bulkiness and muscles. His pale white skin, second only to mine, blended quite well with the snowy area. Due to the extreme cold, frost spread on his bald head. Curiously enough, he looked younger than we last saw him in the Mansion, and he had a goatee instead of his grizzly beard, albeit it was frozen.
In his right hand, he held a spear, and in the other a round shield with the delta symbol engraved in its center, and both were bronze in color. His posture didn't change as we approached him, and he only spared us a glance when we greeted him, "Senior brother."
His head turned slightly towards us. The difficulty in moving his head made me wonder how much time he spent guarding this tower. But even if I wanted to know, he wouldn't tell me; he is someone who doesn't like talking more than necessary.
He slowly nodded his head and said, "The Pangu blade shard is at the tenth level. Defeat the enemies on each level to proceed. Failing is certain death."
I nodded and hugged Tulip as a farewell. Whatever I was going to face in there, I had a feeling it was going to take a while. We stayed like that for a moment that felt like eternity, until I said, "Return to the Mansion, I will let you know when I am out."
She nodded and watched as I entered the tower. While I was at the doorstep, Fárbuati caught my arm and said, "Be careful."
I was trying not to be afraid, but those two words coming from him meant that I would have a hard time in the tower. He released me, and I carefully entered the tower through the small door at the base.
The ground level had nothing but the start of a round staircase lit by torches on the sides of the stone walls. One step at a time, I reached the first level. The first thing I encountered was a wooden door that was exactly my height and my width. There were words engraved on its surface that read, "Blade Tower: First Level. Enter, and there thine first test will be. Three attempts are bestowed upon ye. If on the third thou do not succeed, thy fate death shall be."
Despite the poetic way these words were portrayed, I took a deep breath, braced myself for danger, and opened the door. The room was a boundless landscape filled with gray fog. Suddenly, the fog condensed in one spot and slowly became an exact replica of me.
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. The first level required me to defeat myself. It even had a replica of my sword, although I do not know if it has the same properties as well.
As soon as it stopped condensing, it immediately unsheathed the sword and attacked me. I took out my sword and tried to defend. The swords connected, and I could feel its strength.
My strength.
It moved and attacked at varying speeds. Some of its attacks came as a shock to me; I never even considered that I could do these things. Fifteen minutes passed, and I hadn't even managed to land a single hit. In fact, most of the time I was busy defending myself.
Suddenly, it used a new attack, one that I wasn't able to defend against. In the blink of an eye, I found myself outside the room's door. So, I have failed my first attempt. I was in no hurry to enter, and I started remembering every attack that the mimic did.
Resolve glowed in my eyes, and I entered the room again. This time, I lasted for half an hour, although my focus was on reading all the mimic's moves. Then on the third try, I managed to defeat it easily.
Upon its death, the mimic dispersed back into the fog, and the staircase to the next level appeared. However, I made sure to learn that special attack, and I did.
The remaining levels, reaching the ninth, all had mimics in them, and each was progressively harder than the last. The special moves changed with each mimic, and I made sure to learn them all. Still, the difficulty was increasing as I went through the levels. I nearly died on the ninth level after spending all attempts.
The process took a total of three years. Once the enemy on the ninth level was killed, I healed my injuries over four months. When I was back in good form, I went up the staircase to the tenth level.
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Updated on 19/7/2025
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