Somnus V - Chapter 13

Crystals zipped past Kat, leaving trails of bubbles as they seemed to drill through the water. Kat felt like she was moving in slow motion as she twisted her body to the side. One glass dagger after another passed by her, moving ever slower as the water robbed them of momentum.

 Pseudopod swung through the water, moving much more gracefully than Kat herself as it knocked the last two blades off course. One final glance confirmed that there weren’t any more attacks coming, and Kat kicked off the floor of the chamber. A second later her head broke the surface and she began treading water.

 The second her head and face hit the air, it felt like they were buried in sand. She didn’t have any idea how strong the gravity was, but moving outside of the water was difficult. At least when she was mostly submerged, her natural buoyancy helped Kat resist the worst of it, but that didn’t change the fact that she still needed to surface to breathe.

 Her feet pumped back and forth as she looked up at the ceiling, barely a pace or two above her. Kat wasn’t even sure how many rounds of the crystal daggers she’d survived, but her body bore witness to at least a half dozen waves of attacks.

 The water around Kat was pink with her blood, and her new tunic had any number of holes and burn marks in it, but outside of some lingering numbness and pain, Kat was more or less whole. She didn’t have any real idea how many times the room’s attacks had hit her, but Kat could tell that despite the steadily increasing hazards she was getting better and better at avoiding their passing.

 By now, she had to squint her eyes against the increasing glare from the pillars of light and her legs were sore from constantly treading water, but at last the end was in sight.

 Once again, the portal opened above her, only real warning that Kat would get before the crystals were fired from the walls once more. She reached up trying to touch the glowing portal, but it was just out of reach.

 “One more time,” she muttered to herself grudgingly before taking a deep breath and diving below the surface.

 Crystals jetted through the water, and Kat pumped both of her legs once, pushing herself to the side as a blade floated past. Pseudopod broke the surface, slapping into the ceiling and pushing Kat rapidly downward just in time to miss another attack.

 Prismatic shards flashed rainbows of pain that spun and glittered across the room, but even when a patch of red light hit Kat, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as before. Apparently, being submerged took most of the force out of the burning light.

 Kat pushed against the water with both of her hands, half turning her body so another crystal and an accompanying spray of light could pass harmlessly over her.

 Then her Pseudopod dove back into the water, knocking the last two crystals aside with contemptuous ease, signaling the end of the barrage.

 She swam to the surface, struggling to keep her mouth shut against the pain. It felt like every inch of her body was either gashed by a crystal or afflicted with some sort of painful damage from the multicolored light that was thrown off by one of the spikes interacting with a pillar of light.

 Almost worse than the direct attacks was Kat’s exhaustion. She had been exerting herself for at least ten minutes, and breathing was difficult. Even when Kat tried her hardest, she could only suck in about a quarter lungful of air, leaving her hamstrings and arms to scream as she pushed them far past their limits.

 One way or another, she was almost done. If Kat couldn’t escape the rising water soon, she was done. If there was a physical challenge in the next room, she was done. There were so many scenarios where her survival was held on by a razor’s edge, but she didn’t let that worry her.

 Kat was focused on the spot on the ceiling where the portal would appear with laser focus. There wasn’t any mental time or space for her to worry about things like that. It took every bit of her attention to keep her fatigued muscles moving against the building pull of the gravity.

 The circle of light appeared above her, and Kat didn’t hesitate. Even with Levitation active, she could barely lift her arms above the water and grab onto either side of the portal. It didn’t instantly transport her anywhere, but Kat could feel a steady warm prease across the tops of her fingers.

 Whatever was on the other side of the portal, it certainly wasn’t here.

 She strained, an uncontrollable groan tearing itself from her mouth as Kat barely managed to pull her body halfway out of the water. Her arms were trembling and sweat was pouring down the sides of her face as her head peaked through the portal into a space that seemed to be nothing but blinding light.

 Without any conscious thought, her Pseudopod snaked upward grabbing hold of the lip of the portal and pulling her upward. Kat could feel her bones creaking as the world tried to push her back down into the water.

 Slivers of crystal began launching themselves from the walls toward the pillars of light. She only had an eyeblink before the room was filled with a kaleidoscope of colorful destruction.

 Kat closed her eyes, ignoring the blinding light as she pulled with all of her strength. For a second nothing happened. Then her shoulders pushed up into the other room.

 She leaned forward, wedging her elbows against the floor of the upper chamber as she used her torso to pull her legs up and out of the water. Gravity in the light room was normal, meaning that her struggle grew easier as she wormed her way upward.

 Finally, the pressure from the extra gravity disappeared as Kat’s feet cleared the portal. She rolled to the side, laying on her back as she gasped for breath. Opening her eyes didn’t help, the room was still filled with blinding light that prevented her from seeing anything.

 Kat blinked her eyes against the glare. She could already feel them watering up. There wasn’t any purpose in squinting upward without any meaning. Kat closed her eyes.

“Interesting.” The voice seemed to come from nowhere, deep and as heavy as a mountain.

“Isn’t it though?” Kat asked, eyes still clenched shut. “I don’t suppose that you’re some sort of guardian that’s about to eat me?”

A dry chuckle filled the room, echoing off of unseen walls

“That depends upon you Katherine Debs,” the voice replied. “A class evolution trial traditionally has three parts. You have completed two of them in exemplary fashion. I am the third.”

Kat shifted slightly, her eyes still closed as she adjusted her back against the floor of the chamber. She wasn’t sure if it was stone, clay, or some sort of man-made creation.

“So what’s next?” Kat responded. “Am I supposed to vanquish you like this is a dungeon? If so, it sure seems a bit weird. I don’t think the dungeon has thrown me up against anything that could speak before. That’s usually the fault of bandits or political enemies.”

The entity laughed a second time. “Kill me? I was old before life on your world managed to crawl out of the ocean. It would be a victory of the highest order for you to land a single finger on me.”

“No,” it continued. “This is an interview and a test. You have shown yourself to be tenacious and resourceful. You are not the strongest or the cleverest that the Tower has seen, but you are amongst their numbers. More than that, your performance is actually the best of anyone from a newcomer race. Given how expansive and old our records are, that is actually quite impressive.”

Kat stood up, wincing from pain as she stretched her aching back and limbs. There was a gentle breeze passing through the impossibly bright room. Even if she couldn’t see anything, the wind was refreshing after the constant physical exertion from her previous trial.

“So what’s the test?” Kat asked. “Is it math? I’m pretty good at math.”

“You are good at math for your planet,” it responded dryly. “I doubt you would be prepared to handle thaum dimensional transfer calculations or the fifth order geometry that is needed to calculate even the shortest of interstellar jumps. It would be unfair to quiz you on those topics, at least until your planet is fully incorporated into the Galactic Consensus.”

Kat began walking toward where the voice was coming from. It was hard to move with her eyes closed, the floor was uniform and level so it wasn’t like she was at risk of tripping, but at the same time, it was disorienting for her not to see where the ground was. Moreover, the entity’s voice seemed to echo around her. It felt like it was coming from everywhere at once, even though that couldn’t be true.

Probably.

Mentally she chalked it up to more of the same. The trial stripped her abilities from her. It introduced unexpected variables and tension to try and throw off her focus and concentration. Now, it was robbing her of her senses while introducing a mysterious person that seemed to hold sway over her fate.

They were trying to keep her off balanced. Awed and confused so that she couldn’t process what was happening to her. It was a common tactic in corporate settings during negotiations and interrogations, albeit not to this degree.

“So Katherine,” the voice intoned. A shiver went down her spine. “Are you ready to answer my questions and decide your fate?”

She nodded. After listening to the creature talk, she thought she had a better idea where it was hiding. That belief wasn’t based on anything concrete, just a feeling in her gut that guided her through the blinding light.

 “If.” The voice dragged the word out causing Kat to squirm despite herself. “You could be any animal on Earth, what animal would you be and why?”

 “What?” Kat choked out. “Excuse me?”

 “Answer the question,” the voice replied. “Intentional delays will count against your final score.”

 “Myself,” Kat said, barely even thinking about her answer. The speaker seemed to be moving, sliding to her left even as they conversed.

 “Katherine,” the voice continued. “Name a time when you made a mistake that caused you to face adversity and state what you did to overcome it.”

 “Are you just reading questions from a sample list of standard human job interview questions?” She asked, incredulous.

 “Yes,” it replied, its tone somewhat short, almost miffed. “Now answer the question. Remember, the fate of yourself and by extension your entire planet rides on your answer.”

 “When I first came into the tower, I had an unreliable ally.” Kat responded, dredging her memory for the exact details of her time with Arnold. “I thought he was a friend, but he overestimated himself and landed both of us in a dungeon that we were wholly unprepared for. Before I knew it, he was dead. I had to dig deep and adapt new abilities on the fly in order to fight back against monsters that outclassed me. It was a difficult and painful experience, but it taught me a lot about myself both in and outside the Tower. If I could do everything all over again, I would absolutely repeat that dungeon. It helped me explore what I was capable of and who I wanted to be. I can say with complete certainty that I wouldn’t be the woman I am today without that doomed fight.”

 “Interesting,” the voice responded. “I am rewatching that fight now. You’re obviously weak and poorly trained in this battle, but you show a commendable amount of mental fortitude and flexibility.”

 Kat froze, one foot still hovering in the air. Her forehead scrunched.

 “Wait,” she said hesitantly. “You have access to video footage of everything that happened in the Tower? Just who are you? Does anyone else know that everything in the dreamscape is being recorded.”

 “Very interesting,” it continued, ignoring Kat’s questions. “Now Katherine. You’ve already earned a variant class evolution. The question is just what it will look like. Hypothetically, if I were to upgrade one of the schools of elemental magic that you have access to, which field of magic would you like improved?”

 She cocked her head to the side, thinking over the question. The voice had stopped moving again. Kat still couldn’t put her finger on how she knew it had stopped, but the closer she walked to it, the more sure she was of the entity’s location.

 “Gravity,” Kat finally replied. Light and water were both useful against specific types of foes. Light could blind and distract, and water provided a number of effective spells that she could use against living beings. Gravity was the only constant. It allowed her to interact with her surroundings, and it was effective against any enemy.

 A wave of vertigo passed over Kat and she stumbled, dropping to one knee. About ten seconds later, the room stopped spinning and she returned shakily to her feet.

 Something was different. No, she was different.

 Gravity wasn’t just something she cast spells to control. She could feel it. Its gentle pull was like a fifth limb, something she could instinctively feel and interact with. The sensation should have been alien and jarring, but Kat felt like she was born with it. The understanding was just as much a part of her as her eyes, nose, or ears.

 “Wish granted,” the voice replied. Kat might have been imagining something, but she could swear she heard something smug in its tone. More than that, it had moved another fifty or so paces to her right.

 Suddenly, “down” changed directions, and Kat found herself being thrown to the side.

 “Now Katherine,” her interrogator continued. “For the most important question.”

 She cast Levitation, but the second the spell went into place, gravity flipped a second time. Now, Kat found herself falling upward, Levitation’s magic hurting rather than helping.

 “Why do you climb the Tower?” The voice asked as Kat cut her spell. “Every ascendant has their own reasons, and ultimately, that is what we truly wish to know. What is it that forms the core of your being? What is it that makes you struggle through pain and the threat of dismemberment just to become slightly more powerful?”

 Kat opened her mouth to reply, but the world swam around her again, throwing her toward the ground with bone bruising force. She bounced once only for the gravity to change directions a second time, throwing her away from the speaker even as she gasped for breath.

“Stop stalling and answer.”

Maybe it was for the best that Kat couldn’t reply, she probably would have had some undiplomatic and poorly thought out comments for the entity that kept tossing her back and forth like a rag doll.

Gravity flipped again, but this time Kat almost expected it. Her new gravity sense tingled. Without really thinking about it, she pushed back.

The world wobbled, and for a half second, down became down again. Then, the downward pull grew out of her control, slamming Kat into the ground and dropping her to her knees.

“Oh?” The voice mused. “You learned how to use your new ability fairly quickly, but don’t let yourself think that you can avoid answering my questions just because of that.”

“Can you at least tell me what my new ability is?” Kat asked, willing gravity around her back to normal. It was like she was using Levitation, but there wasn’t the tell tale tingle of mana being drawn from her core.

“Telling you is hardly any fun,” it replied, “but now that you’re getting the hang of it, I suppose I should increase the frequency of the changes. Can’t have you getting too comfortable. Now answer the question. Why are you climbing the Tower? What do you hope to reach at the top?”

Up and down spun like a top, jerking Kat to the left and then the right. She tried her hardest to fight back, switching her personal gravity to counteract the rapid changes thrown at her by the strange voice. Kat was beginning to get the feel for the new ability. It didn’t cost her any mana, but the effect was fairly limited. She couldn’t change gravity by much more than one G, and her control didn’t extend more than a handspan from her body, but for a situation like this, it was the perfect skill.

“I want to protect my friends and myself,” Kat half shouted, redirecting gravity to aim herself toward the origin of the echoing voice.

“Is that all?” The strange entity pressed. “A noble sentiment, but surely there must be something more to you. Duty and honor are fine, but on their own they aren’t enough fuel to drive someone like you. There’s always something more. A lever or an edge. Something to keep you desperate and aggressive, always challenging the next dungeon rather than hesitating.”

Gravity yanked Kat up and to the side, but she canceled it out in an eyeblink. She wanted to argue with the speaker

A million and one answers flashed through her mind. She could make something up or lie, but somehow, Kat knew that the entity would know if she tried to pull something. Instead, she just let her mouth run free, saying the first thing that came to mine.

“I like it.” The world swirled and spun around her as gravity changed yet again. Kat had already lost count of the number of times the strange voice had flipped reality on her.

“The climb itself is the goal,” she forced the words out through gritted teeth. The voice was moving, but she could feel its presence just like the gravity itself around her. “Every night I get to push myself to the limit and test myself. The strength itself barely matters. Growing alongside friends I like and trust is reason itself.”

“A good answer!” The voice replied. “As years and centuries pass, loyalty and passions can fade and twist, but a love of the challenge in and of itself? That is a motive that will take you the distance.”

Kat ran face first into what felt like a wall of concentrated gravity. Her weak control over her immediate surroundings could weaken it slightly, but it was far from enough for her to actually penetrate it.

The voice was right there, just beyond the barrier. She could feel it.

“And a valiant effort to reach me,” it continued, but Kat wasn’t really listening.

If her new ability couldn’t push Kat through the barrier, maybe her older skills could help.

She flipped her internal sense of up and down so that the wall was above her. Kat’s personal gravity began pulling her away from the voice as it lauded her. Then Levitation snapped into place. A second later, she cast it again.

 Kat accelerated ‘upward’ crossing her arms in front of her face as she hit the wall. It wasn’t anywhere near as solid now. It slowed her down and tried to push her backward, but two or three Gs worth of force wasn’t enough to stop her momentum.

 “What,” the voice sputtered, “how-”

 For the first time since entering the floor, Kat opened her eyes. It was bright. Unbelievably and blindingly bright, but she could barely make out a shape in front of her as she extended an arm toward it.

 There wasn’t much, it was impossible to make out precise details through, but she got an impression of massive size and scales.

 Her hand touched something cool and hard. Then, Kat’s entire world froze as a huge eye, yellow and with a vertical pupil, peered out of the glaring light at her.

 “A victory of the highest order,” the voice said softly, and even if she couldn’t see it, Kat swore she could hear it smiling.

 Then everything blurred around her, the bright white light replaced with a much duller rainbow that seemed to shift and twist as Kat moved at impossible speeds. A moment later, she appeared outside the temple that served as the entrance to the class evolution trials

 She fell to the ground, her eyes streaming tears from the brief moment she had forced them open in the intense light of the final room, but without any of the other injuries she had earned in her test.

 “Katherine?” That was Jaalin’s voice. Kat’s once again hyper accurate hearing tracked the lokkel’s footsteps as she approached.

Despite her blurry vision, Kat could see the dialogue box floating in the air in front of her with perfect clarity, and she couldn’t help but grin like a madwoman.

-----

Congratulations Katherine Debs!

You have have successfully evolved from an Elementalist Initiate into an Elite Gravity Adept

Remember, not all gardeners wait for their flowers to bloom. Some like to inspect the stems of their plants while they are still growing.

For evolving into an Elite Gravity Adept, you have gained the following

Gravity Domain | Enhanced Gravity Potency | +1 Simultaneous Casting

+6 Mind | +6 Spirit | +24 Mana

Keep climbing! New challenges await!
------

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
<-Previous<-

Index

->Next->