"Some floors test your strength. Others test your soul. But the worst test your debt."— Etching on a rusted coin found on Floor 44
They expected mist when they entered Floor 44.
Instead, there was water. Endless, still water reflecting stars that didn't exist. The kind of stars you only see in dreams—or nightmares.
A thin boat waited at the edge of a ghostly dock. There were no oars, no sails. Just a hooded figure sitting in silence, hand resting on a ledger of bone.
The Ferryman.
Kael stepped forward.
Tower Notification:Floor 44 – The Ferryman's Wake
To proceed, pay your debt.The Tower remembers all you have taken. And all you left behind.
Boarding Conditions:
1 Memory Core
1 Unburied Past
1 Willing Witness
Kael winced.
"I only have one Memory Core."
Tirien touched his arm. "I'll be the witness."
He looked at her. "You don't even know what that means."
"Don't care. You're not doing this alone."
He gave the Ferryman the Memory Core—earned back on Floor 41 when he confronted his cult self.
The Ferryman nodded. No words. Just an outstretched skeletal hand waiting for the Unburied Past.
Kael hesitated.
Flashback – The Day He Left the Cult
It had been raining. The kind of storm that makes the sky feel hollow.
Kael had stolen a ceremonial dagger, blood-soaked and carved with root-script. He ran barefoot through the old Veil sanctuary, trailing blood and breath.
Behind him: screams, chants, the shattering of bone lamps.
Ahead: a half-broken gate, rumored to be cursed. They said no one who entered the Tower uninvited ever returned.
But Kael wasn't invited. He forced the gate open.
Lightning struck as he stepped into the spiral of glass and sky.
Kael breathed in. Back on the dock, he reached into his cloak.
He pulled out a charm. A small spiral of dried vine wrapped in wire—the last token of the Veil-Mother, the cult leader who raised him.
He threw it into the water.
The Ferryman nodded again.
The boat began to move.
Silently. Across a sea of memory.
They passed images in the water—Kael as a boy, Tirien as a thief, cities burned and forgotten, a hand reaching toward them from the depths.
Tirien whispered: "You ever wonder what happens if we fail?"
Kael shook his head. "No."
But he had.
Every day.
Midway across the sea, a figure rose from the water.
A Wight of Debt. Tall, gray-skinned, eyes filled with lightless void. It carried a chain made of Kael's broken promises.
"You owe. You always owe."
Kael stood on the boat's prow.
He didn't draw a weapon.
He unclasped his cloak—the old one stitched from cult fabric.
And let it fall into the sea.
The Wight howled—and dissolved.
Tower Notification:
Trial Cleared – The Ferryman's Wake
+350 XP
+Rare Title Gained: One Who Pays His Own Price
You may ignore the material cost of one system skill per day.
This effect resets daily. Willpower must be above 25 to activate.
The boat reached a shore of black sand.
The Ferryman raised his head for the first time.
Eyes made of molten regret. Mouth stitched shut.
He bowed.
And faded.
Kael and Tirien stepped onto the shore.
Before them rose a gate of blood-colored crystal.
Above it, a name carved in jagged tower-script:
Floor 45: The Forgemind Crucible
Kael's Status – End of Chapter 17
Level: 24
XP: 440 / 1250
New Title:One Who Pays His Own Price
Grants one daily system skill use without material cost.
Memory Core: 0 (Spent)
Mental State: Balanced
Tirien Bond: Strengthened – now shares passive link during non-lethal trials