Chapter 70 – The Thirtieth Floor

The twenty-ninth floor took longer than expected.
Not because the monsters were powerful.
Not because the tests were difficult.
The mountains themselves were the challenge.
Every path seemed designed to waste time.
A trail would appear safe only to end at a cliff. A valley would look like a shortcut only to lead them in circles. Even Kael’s maps required constant corrections because the terrain seemed different depending on where it was viewed from.
By the fifth day, Mira was sitting on a rock with an expression that suggested she was personally offended by the existence of mountains.
“I hate this floor.”
Aerin laughed.
“You’ve said that every day.”
“Because every day I hate it more.”
The mysterious man sat nearby, quietly repairing a damaged strap on his pack.
“At least you’re consistent.”
Mira pointed at him.
“Don’t encourage the mountain.”
“The mountain doesn’t need encouragement.”
“It clearly does.”
Kael ignored all of them and continued studying her map.
Aerin leaned over her shoulder.
“Did you figure it out?”
“No.”
“That’s worrying.”
“Very.”
Aerin immediately stepped back.
Whenever Kael admitted something was worrying, it usually meant the situation was actually bad.

Two days later they discovered why.
They were traveling through a narrow pass when they reached a crossroads.
Four paths.
Each looked identical.
Same rocks.
Same slope.
Same distance.
Kael checked her map.
Then frowned.
She checked again.
Then a third time.
The mysterious man noticed.
“What is it?”
“My map says there should only be three paths.”
The group immediately became alert.
Mira moved closer.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
The answer came instantly.
Kael rarely sounded certain.
This time she did.
They spent nearly an hour investigating.
Eventually Aerin discovered something strange.
One of the paths had no footprints.
None.
Not even animal tracks.
Nothing.
The ground was completely untouched.
Mira looked uneasy.
“That seems suspicious.”
“Everything seems suspicious to you.”
“Because everything in the Tower is suspicious.”
Unfortunately, she wasn’t wrong.
After a brief discussion, they chose a different route.
Later that evening they learned the untouched path had vanished completely.
Simply disappeared.
Even the mysterious man looked unsettled by that.

The entrance test for the thirtieth floor appeared three days later.
This time there was no arch.
No puzzle.
No guardian.
Only a circular platform made of white stone.
The moment they stepped onto it, the world disappeared.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Mira immediately grabbed Aerin’s sleeve.
“What happened?”
“No idea.”
The darkness slowly faded.
A vast hall appeared around them.
Rows and rows of mirrors stretched endlessly in every direction.
Thousands of them.
Maybe more.
Each mirror reflected a different version of the person standing before it.
Aerin stared at one.
In the reflection he looked older.
Stronger.
More confident.
Another showed him injured.
Another showed him alone.
Mira immediately turned away from hers.
“I hate this.”
Kael couldn’t blame her.
Her own mirrors were worse.
One showed her running a shop.
One showed her climbing alone.
One showed her standing beside Riven.
One showed her standing before a massive throne she had never seen before.
She looked away immediately.
The image disturbed her.
Not because of the throne.
Because it felt familiar.
The mysterious man was staring at one particular mirror.
For the first time since joining them, his expression cracked.
Pain flashed across his face.
Then disappeared.
So quickly that nobody else seemed to notice.
Except Kael.

A voice echoed through the hall.
Choose one future.
Reject the rest.
Silence followed.
Aerin frowned.
“What does that even mean?”
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
Eventually Kael approached one of her mirrors.
The one showing her shop.
A simple life.
Quiet.
Safe.
Normal.
The life she once wanted.
Or thought she wanted.
She stared at it for a long time.
Then shook her head.
“No.”
The mirror shattered.
The sound echoed throughout the hall.
A second mirror showed her alone.
She rejected that one too.
Another shattered.
One by one, she destroyed every reflection.
Until only one remained.
The throne.
The strange throne she didn’t recognize.
She stared at it.
Confused.
Then frowned.
“I don’t choose this either.”
The final mirror shattered.
The hall trembled.
The voice returned.
Accepted.
Kael blinked.
“What?”
She hadn’t chosen anything.
The hall vanished before she could ask.

Moments later the four of them stood outside again.
The path to the thirtieth floor had opened.
Mira immediately sat down.
“I officially hate psychological floors.”
Aerin nodded.
“Agreed.”
The mysterious man actually looked relieved to be outside.
Which was perhaps the strangest thing Kael had seen all week.

The thirtieth floor itself was beautiful.
Dangerously beautiful.
Golden grass stretched across endless plains.
Crystal rivers reflected the sky.
Ancient ruins stood scattered throughout the landscape.
For a moment it didn’t even feel like the Tower.
Then a monster burst out of the ground and tried to bite Aerin.
The feeling vanished immediately.

They spent nearly two weeks exploring the floor.
The monsters were stronger.
Smarter.
More coordinated.
Yet Team Snail had changed too.
Aerin had become a true front-line fighter.
His movements carried confidence now.
Not arrogance.
Confidence.
Mira’s healing had become reliable enough that she could keep both Aerin and herself fighting through injuries that would have ended battles months ago.
And Kael…
Kael had become something strange.
Not the strongest.
Not the fastest.
Not the toughest.
Yet somehow she was becoming the most dangerous.
Because every floor taught her something.
Every monster revealed a pattern.
Every mistake became a lesson.
And she never forgot lessons.

One evening, while exploring ancient ruins, they found something unexpected.
Not a shard.
Not a clue.
A message.
Carved into stone.
Old enough that most of the words had faded.
Only a few remained visible.
Aerin brushed dirt away.
“What does it say?”
The mysterious man stepped closer.
His eyes narrowed.
Then widened.
For the first time, genuine surprise appeared on his face.
Kael immediately noticed.
“You can read it.”
The man remained silent.
“Can you?”
A long pause followed.
Then he nodded.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As if choosing his words.
“It says…”
His voice became quieter.
“…the Tower remembers.”
Nobody spoke.
Even the wind seemed to disappear.
Mira frowned.
“What does that mean?”
The man looked at the ancient inscription again.
Then toward Kael.
For some reason.
Only Kael.
“I don’t know.”
But for the first time since meeting him—
He sounded like he was lying.
And Kael knew it.
The chapter ended with Team Snail making camp among the ruins, unaware that reaching the thirtieth floor had crossed an invisible line.
Below this point, people climbed the Tower.
Above this point—
The Tower started noticing who was climbing it.