"I am Temur, and this is Litha," the big man said.
Temur had a stocky build, high cheekbones, and slanted eyes. His dark hair was gathered thickly behind his head. When we shook hands, his grip nearly swallowed mine as his hands were easily twice the size of mine, his skin tinged with a reddish hue. He wore black trousers and a brown shirt, but over them hung a cloak made from the skin of some massive white-furred animal or monster.
"Torvan," I said. "I'm Torvan."
Temur beamed. "Nice to meet you, Torvan. You have beautiful eyes. They're like the great green sky of my land."
"Is that so? Ah ah ah." I scratched the back of my head, embarrassed. Temur struck me as the kind of person who laughed easily, a friendly bear of a man.
Litha, on the other hand, reminded me of a soldier ant. The kind that existed only to sting people. Her blue eyes weren't cold, they burned with coldness.
"I am Litha. Thank you for saving me. Now tell me, what do you want?"
She was human, about my height, with an oval face and a lean, muscular build. She wore a baggy black shirt that did nothing to hide how tightly coiled she seemed.
I was baffled. What did I want? All I had done was bend the cages. It wasn't anything spectacular. The cuffs were clearly limiting our strength anyway. "Huh… nothing?"
Her eyes narrowed immediately, as if I were mocking her. "What do you mean, nothing? You didn't just save us for nothing. You are not Temur."
"Hey!" Temur protested.
"I didn't expect anything from saving you. I just did it because it felt like the right thing to...." I stopped when I saw the look on Litha's face and quickly changed direction. "Okay. Then tell me about this place. Where am I? How did I get here?"
She exchanged a look with Temur before asking slowly, deliberately, "What exactly do you mean where you are, and how you got here?"
I swallowed. "I was somewhere else. Then suddenly I was here. I woke up in the cage."
Her confusion quickly turned into suspicion, but before she could speak again, voices echoed from deep within the tunnel. Litha snapped into motion instantly.
"Quick! We have to get out of here before the ritualists come back."
"The ritualists?" I asked. "They're ritualists?"
We scanned the area, but there was no other exit, only the tunnel.
"If only we could get the cuffs off…" Temur muttered, his gaze falling on the only body left nearby. He crouched and searched through its pockets until he found a ring of keys.
"Lucky."
He unlocked the cuff around his wrist and exhaled sharply, like someone breathing for the first time. Then he tossed the keys to Litha so she could free herself.
I had never been around Iron ranks before, but now I understood the difference between Bronze and Iron, between Half-Awakened and Fully Awakened.
I could feel it in how they moved. Their presence was like standing close to a roaring fire, restrained violence coiled just beneath the surface.
'Is that how I feel too?' I wondered.
"I wish I had my spatial ring for my weapons," Temur growled, flexing his hands.
"We'll have to work with what we have," Litha said. "They're ritualists. They're not always powerful in fights they aren't prepared for." She nodded toward the cage. "Why don't you use the bars as weapons?"
Temur studied it for a moment, then nodded. "Good idea." He tore one free with a grunt.
My confusion only deepened. "Who are the ritualists? Why are they after us? Where am I? And why aren't they strong when they're unprepared?"
There was a brief pause.
"That's a lot of questions," Temur said with a snort.
The voices were close now. Litha shifted toward the entrance.
"I'll explain quickly. The ritualists are the ones who captured us. They use people for rituals. You were brought here for the same reason. As for where you are, this is the one-hundred-and-second floor of the Dungeon Tower."
It felt like something exploded inside my head. "The Dungeon Tower?"
"Hush! They're here."
The footsteps slowed, then stopped. A woman stepped into view, accompanied by the Iron rank who had left earlier. They froze when they saw us standing free.
"How did you let them escape?" the woman snapped, her voice sharp beneath her mask.
The Iron rank recoiled from her, despite them being the same rank. "High Priestess, I don't know. When I went to call you, they were still locked up."
"Priestess?" Litha said coldly. "So you're the one in charge. Good. I've wanted to meet you ever since I woke up in a cage meant for animals."
She started forward.
"Wait," Temur said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We should be cautious. They caught us once already."
She brushed his hand away but stopped. "They didn't catch us. We were knocked out because you decided to help a wounded, helpless little girl."
I watched them argue like siblings fighting over control of a remote, even as I struggled to make sense of everything. My Grimoire remained silent within me, no response and no information. Whatever rules governed this place, I didn't understand them yet.
"Enough," the High Priestess said. "We will return them to their cages, by force if necessary. The ritual must continue. I must summon the Devourer. Nothing will stand in my way."
I tensed, expecting an attack.
Instead, she turned, her movement smooth, almost elegant and lifted her heel like a dancer finishing a step.
There was a flash.
The Iron rank's head spun through the air before hitting the ground with a dull thud.
The Priestess lowered her leg slowly. A blade gleamed beneath her heel as she turned her masked gaze toward me.
"Well then," she said calmly. "Let's see what you're useful for."