The tower hesitated. That alone was unprecedented.
Kael stood at the edge of the central signal spire's plaza eyes fixed on the faintly pulsing structure. The air felt compressed as though reality itself was holding its breath.
Then---
[ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR]
Kael blinked.
"...Huh?".
The system text flickered violently lines of code phasing in and out overlapping each other like corrupted reflections.
Shen Yao's expression darkened. The tower doesn't seem to be lagging nor delay but its correcting its failure for the rewards distribution.
[Main Mission: Floor 6 - Reward Allocation Failed]
[Reason: Parameter Conflict]
[Main Mission Rewards: Cancelled]
Kael's eyes widened "....What?".
He turned sharply with disbelief cutting through the earlier tension.
"Cancelled?" Kael repeated "What do you mean cancelled?".
When it needs to be corrected why does it need to cancel the rewards, this is daylight robbery.
No answer.
Another window forced itself open.
[Side Quest Rewards - Recalculation Required]
[Reputation Modifiers: Voided]
[Consumables: Cancelled]
[Skill Boosts: Cancelled]
Kael's breath stuttered.
"Hey what the hell? Not even this" His voice rose despite himself "You don't just--"
Another flashed.
[Hidden Quest: Echo of Authority]
[Reward Status: Cancelled]
The world seemed to tilt. Kael's face went pale.
"Even that????" The hidden quest, the one no one else had ever cleared, the one that felt important more than the main mission quest.
But now its gone.
The interfaces vanished. No compensation notice, there is fallback reward.
Just nothing.
The tower felt silent. Complete oppressive silence.
Kael stood frozen heart pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears. His mind raced trying to reconcile what he was seeing with the everything he knew about the system.
"This doesn't make sense" Kael said hoarsely "The tower doesn't take rewards back"
Shen Yao said "That's why I said don't trust the tower every time, Even I don't know what is happening right now".
But something unexpected was happening.
Kael turned.
Shen Yao was staring at his own hands.
They were glowing faintly.
It did not look like mana but something different like light particles.
"Master?" Kael asked slowly.
Shen Yao exhaled long and tired.
"So, it has finally decided".
Kael's chest tightened "Decided what?".
Shen Yao looked at him then truly looked at him and for the first time since they met the easy confidence was gone.
"Let me tell you a story" Shen Yao said quietly "Before it no longer matters whether I do".
The floor started to vibrate, it started to tremor rolling through the city like a deep ancient heartbeat.
Building groaned, cracks spider-ed through the plaza stone.
Somewhere far away the players screamed.
Kael felt it dozens of presences suddenly dragged into instability their paths forcibly rerouted, exists sealed transitions aborted mid transfer.
"They're being pulled in" Kael realized "Other players are being pulled in inside the floor 6".
"Yes, the tower is using them as a energy".
Kael stared at him "Energy for what?"
"For us"
No that was dangerous, Kael immediately used his full power which was filled with authority to repel all the players towards the edge as much as possible
"Come on ughh--- repel everyoneeeeeeee"
After 5 mins all the players around the 6th floor was suddenly repelled to the edge of the 6th floor and suddenly was transferred to outside of the tower to their own countries.
The tremor intensified.
Shen Yao began walking toward the spire, Kael after using all his power was already exhausted but still followed his master instinctively.
"Fifty years ago, floor 6 was not broken"
Kael listened.
"As I said to you that I was trapped here in 6th floor, I was climbing like everyone else stronger than most and faster than many and arrogant enough to believe understanding meant ownership".
They stopped beneath the spire.
Its surface now shined violently, symbols appearing and erasing themselves in rapid succession.
"I encountered something somewhere out there something like a contradiction to my power and not a monster, not a boss, a rule that conflicted with itself.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
Shen Yao continued "It was cruder and louder and I tried to resolve it".
"What happened after that?"
"The tower accepted my solution and then punished me for it".
The glow around Shen Yao intensified.
"I stabilized Floor 6 by becoming part of it"
Kael's stomach dropped "You....anchored yourself???".
"Yes, I became the cost of correction. The living boundary that prevented the floor from collapsing completely".
Kael clenched his fists "That's insane why would the tower---"
"Because it could and because I allowed it to happen"
The tremor reached a for some conclusion.
Then---
{System Notice]
[Reward Convergence Protocol Initiated]
Kael's head snapped up.
"What now???".
The sir exploded with light. Every defeated Echo Stalker, Every unresolved fragment, Every incomplete definition.
They all began to glow.
Streams of energy which was conceptual ripped free from the city itself spiraling toward a single point.
Kael's inventory burned.
Something forced its way out.
The Manual, the once blank incomplete cultivation manual tore free from Kael's storage space floating between them.
It shined and then pulled.
Kael staggered as the pressure surged.
"Masterrrrr" he shouted.
Shen Yao laughed softly.
"So this is how it ends" he said strangely calm.
The light wrapped around him.
"No-----!" Kael stepped forward instinctively.
Shen Yao raised a hand "Stop, this is not punishment, imagine this is like an inheritance".
The manual drank deeper and the city screamed, the spire cracked.
Shen Yao's form began to blur edges dissolving into lines concepts stripping away layer by layer.
"You taught me" Kael said desperately "You said there was more".
"There is, just not with me beside you".
His gaze sharpened.
"Kael" he said voice steady even as his body unraveled "Do not become a weapon".
Kael's throat tightened.
"Become the answer" Shen Yao finished.
With a final surge Shen Yao vanished.
The light collapsed inward and the manual dropped.
Kael caught it automatically hands shaking.
Silence absolute silence.
The tower did not speak.
Kael stared at the book in his hands, its black gold covers and white veined edges, the surface felt warm and alive.
His vision blurred.
Kael's hands were shaking "Master" he whispered.
There was no response, there was no presence, no lingering authority, just nothing.
The tower did not speak.
For several seconds Kael simply stood there staring at the manual his mind refusing to process what just happened.
His master , no, the man who had dragged him forward, corrected him, broken him and rebuilt him and he was gone absorbed into the manual.
"You Bastard" Kael whispered hoarsely.
His fingers trembled as he raised his finger and he hesitated and then tapped it.
The world shattered into text.
[Error - Unauthorized Access Detected]
[Error- Authority Mismatch]
[Error- Architect Record Override Accepted]
Kael's pupils shrank.
"What and why?"
Kael staggered back as flood of something slammed into him. Images that weren't images. Concepts that weren't thoughts, boundaries folding, unfolding, collapsing, redefining themselves endlessly.
His vision fractured, the city vanished.
For an instant Kael saw-
-Lines across nothing.
-Structures breaking because no one defined where they ended.
-A tower that corrected itself by sacrificing pieces of reality.
Kael screamed inside.
The sensation vanished just as suddenly.
Kael collapsed to one knee gasping sweat pouring down his face.
The manual lay in his hands again.
Now it was closed and silent as if nothing had happened.
Kael stared at it and his breathing ragged.
"What the hell are you?".
No answer.
The tower remained silent. Kael did not understand anything this time it didn't show what rewards, penalties and no proper explanation.
Kael understood something deeply instinctively and with absolute certainty.
This floor had never been about rewards.
It had never been about missions.
It had been about selection.
About choosing who would remain, who would correct, who would bear the cost.
Kael tightened his grip around the manual. His hands still trembled.
Whatever this thing was, whatever Master had become.
It was not meant to be understood yet and the tower....
The tower was waiting to see if Kael would survive learning the truth.