Chapter 68 – The First Enemy

The twenty-eighth floor proved to be far larger than any of them had expected.
Days passed.
Then a week.
Then more.
As always, Team Snail refused to rush.
They mapped paths, marked dangerous areas, recorded monster behavior, gathered materials, and trained whenever they found time. The mysterious man remained with them, neither trying to lead nor dominate the group. He simply walked beside them as if he had always belonged there.
That alone made Kael suspicious.
Nobody stayed this long without wanting something.
Yet every day passed without him asking for anything.
No money.
No materials.
No secrets.
Nothing.
Which somehow made him even more suspicious.
Mira had eventually grown comfortable enough to tease him.
Aerin treated him like an older brother.
Kael simply observed.
And waited.
Because eventually everyone revealed something.
Sooner or later.

On the ninth day, they encountered another climbing team.
It was the first team they had seen in nearly two weeks.
The encounter happened near a mineral canyon.
A group of six climbers was harvesting crystal ore from the canyon walls when Team Snail arrived.
The moment they saw Team Snail, their expressions changed.
Not hostile.
Amused.
One of them laughed.
“Look.”
“The famous snails.”
Another climber grinned.
“I thought they died.”
Mira immediately frowned.
“Unfortunately for you, we’re alive.”
The man laughed harder.
“Still talking big, little girl?”
Aerin sighed.
Here we go again.
The mysterious man remained silent.
Kael ignored them completely and continued studying the canyon.
That seemed to irritate the climbers more.
One of them stepped forward.
“You’re Kael, right?”
No answer.
“People talk about you.”
Still no answer.
Now the man’s smile disappeared.
“Didn’t your parents teach manners?”
Kael finally looked at him.
“My parents were busy dying.”
The climber froze.
So did everyone else.
Even Mira.
The answer came so calmly that nobody knew how to react.
The man’s face turned red.
Aerin looked away to hide his laughter.
The mysterious man coughed suspiciously.
Mira nearly exploded.
The climber glared at Kael.
Then turned away.
The conversation ended there.

Unfortunately, the matter didn’t.
That evening, while Team Snail was preparing camp, Mira returned from gathering herbs with an annoyed expression.
“They followed me.”
Kael immediately looked up.
“Who?”
“The crystal canyon idiots.”
Aerin frowned.
“What happened?”
“They kept asking questions.”
“What questions?”
Mira sat down heavily.
“How strong we are.”
“Which floor we actually reached.”
“Why we take so long.”
She rolled her eyes.
“They’re annoying.”
The mysterious man quietly stirred the cooking pot.
“They’re curious.”
“They’re stupid.”
“That too.”
Mira pointed at him.
“See? You understand me.”
“No.”
“You agreed with me.”
“That’s different.”
Mira looked offended.
Aerin laughed.
Kael simply listened.
Because the questions themselves didn’t bother her.
The timing did.
People were becoming more interested in Team Snail.
Far more interested than before.
And attention was dangerous.

The next morning, that danger arrived.
Team Snail was exploring a dense forest when a scream echoed through the trees.
Everyone stopped.
Aerin was already moving before anyone spoke.
The others followed.
Several minutes later they reached a clearing.
The crystal canyon team.
All six of them.
And they were losing.
Badly.
A massive creature stood in the center of the clearing.
Eight legs.
Gray armor.
Two enormous claws.
A body resembling some horrifying mix between a spider and a scorpion.
The creature was nearly four meters tall.
One climber was already unconscious.
Another was bleeding heavily.
The monster attacked again.
A claw slammed down.
The ground exploded.
The climbers scattered.
The mysterious man’s eyes narrowed.
For the first time since joining Team Snail, he looked serious.
Very serious.
“That’s not supposed to be here.”
Kael heard him.
Immediately.
Not supposed to be here.
That sentence mattered.
“What is it?”
The man kept watching the creature.
“A Rift Beast.”
Aerin blinked.
“A what?”
The man didn’t answer immediately.
Because even he looked confused.
“It shouldn’t exist on this floor.”
The monster suddenly roared.
The sound shook the trees.
Kael felt it.
That familiar sensation.
The same one she had felt with the strange creatures before.
Not normal.
Different.
Wrong.
The Tower reacted again.
Her grip tightened around her weapon.
The creature turned.
And looked directly at her.
Not at the injured climbers.
Not at Aerin.
Not at Mira.
At her.
Only her.
Her stomach sank.
The creature moved.
Instantly.
Ignoring everyone else.
Charging straight toward Kael.
“Move!” Aerin shouted.
The battle erupted.

The fight was brutal.
Far worse than the creatures they usually faced.
Aerin activated his skill immediately.
His body surged forward.
Sword colliding against claw.
The impact nearly threw him backward.
Mira’s eyes widened.
“That strong?!”
Aerin gritted his teeth.
“Very!”
The mysterious man joined next.
For the first time.
Really joined.
His movements blurred.
One strike.
Then another.
The creature staggered.
But recovered immediately.
Kael noticed everything.
Every movement.
Every pattern.
Every reaction.
And yet—
Nothing made sense.
The creature had no rhythm.
No predictable sequence.
No repeating behavior.
It adapted.
Changed.
Evolved during battle.
The longer it fought, the smarter it became.
Kael hated that.
Because patterns were her strength.
And this thing kept creating new ones.
The fight dragged on.
Minutes felt like hours.
Mira supported everyone while desperately healing injuries.
Aerin’s stamina dropped rapidly.
The mysterious man finally stopped hiding his strength completely.
His attacks became frightening.
Each strike carried enough force to crack stone.
Yet even then, the creature refused to die.
Kael’s breathing grew heavier.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
Then she noticed it.
Not the creature.
The ground.
Small glowing symbols.
Appearing beneath the monster’s feet.
Vanishing.
Appearing again.
Nobody else seemed to notice them.
Only her.
The symbols formed a path.
A route.
Almost like instructions.
Kael stared.
Confused.
Why could she see them?
The symbols flashed again.
A different location.
The creature shifted.
Exposing its side.
For less than a second.
Kael moved.
Pure instinct.
Her blade struck exactly where the symbols had guided her.
The creature froze.
Everyone stared.
A crack spread across its armored body.
Then another.
Then dozens.
The monster collapsed.
Dead.
Silence followed.
Complete silence.
Even the forest seemed quiet.
Mira blinked.
“What just happened?”
Aerin looked equally confused.
“You killed it.”
“I know that.”
“No, I mean…”
He pointed at the corpse.
“How?”
Kael stared at the monster.
Then at the place where the symbols had appeared.
Nothing remained.
No evidence.
No answers.
Only confusion.
“I got lucky.”
The mysterious man looked at her.
For a long moment.
Too long.
As if he didn’t believe that answer at all.
But he said nothing.

The crystal canyon team survived.
Barely.
After receiving treatment, they sat around the campfire with Team Snail.
Their attitude had changed completely.
The man who had mocked Mira lowered his head.
“Thank you.”
Mira nearly choked.
Aerin looked shocked.
Kael remained expressionless.
The climber scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“I was a jerk.”
“Yes.”
The answer came instantly from Mira.
Everyone laughed.
Even the injured climber.
For the first time, there was no mockery.
No teasing.
No jokes about snails.
Only respect.

That night, long after everyone had fallen asleep, Kael sat awake beside the dying fire.
Her thoughts kept returning to those glowing symbols.
She had never seen them before.
Yet somehow she understood them.
Instinctively.
Naturally.
As if they belonged to her.
Or perhaps—
As if she belonged to them.
The thought sent a chill through her.
She rubbed the crystal shards hidden beneath her clothes.
The merged fragments glowed softly.
Almost warmly.
And for a brief moment—
The glow answered.
Not from the shard.
But from somewhere much higher in the Tower.
Far above.
Waiting.
Watching.
Calling.