Chapter 71 – The Line Between Below and Above

The ruins stayed in Kael’s thoughts long after they left them behind.
The Tower remembers.
Four simple words.
Nothing more.
Yet they felt heavier than entire books.
The mysterious man had clearly recognized the language. More importantly, he had recognized the meaning.
Kael noticed it.
She noticed many things.
She simply chose not to speak about them immediately.
Instead, she watched.
And waited.
People revealed more when they thought they were no longer being observed.

The thirtieth floor became the longest floor Team Snail had explored in a long time.
Partly because it was enormous.
Partly because the ancient ruins scattered throughout the landscape attracted Kael’s attention.
Every few hours she would stop to sketch symbols into her notebook.
Most were meaningless.
Some appeared repeatedly.
A few made her uncomfortable.
The same circular symbol kept appearing in different locations.
A circle surrounded by three smaller circles.
The design looked strangely familiar.
Yet she couldn’t remember where she had seen it before.

One evening they camped inside the remains of an ancient stone building.
Only half the walls remained standing.
The roof had collapsed centuries ago.
Still, it provided enough shelter from the wind.
Aerin was cooking.
Mira was sorting herbs.
The mysterious man sat quietly near the entrance.
Kael was drawing.
As usual.
Eventually Mira looked up.
“You know, we’re weird.”
Aerin laughed.
“Only now you realized?”
“No, I always knew.”
“Then what’s new?”
Mira pointed at all of them.
“Look at us.”
Nobody understood.
She sighed dramatically.
“We’ve been inside the Tower for months.”
“Yes.”
“We sleep on rocks.”
“Usually.”
“We eat monsters.”
“Sometimes.”
“We fight things trying to kill us every day.”
“That’s accurate.”
“And somehow this feels normal now.”
The silence that followed made her point stronger than she intended.
Because nobody could disagree.
Aerin eventually smiled.
“I think that’s called adapting.”
“I think that’s called becoming insane.”
The mysterious man spoke without looking up.
“Both are possible.”
Mira groaned.
“Why does everyone here enjoy proving me wrong?”
“Because it’s easy.”
Mira threw a piece of dried herb at Kael.
Kael caught it without looking.
Which somehow annoyed Mira even more.

Later that night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Kael remained awake.
The habit had become natural.
Someone always needed to stay alert.
Most nights it was her.
She sat near the dying fire, staring into the flames.
The shard rested in her hand.
Now larger than before.
Closer to becoming complete.
The faint glow pulsed rhythmically.
Almost like breathing.
Kael rubbed the surface thoughtfully.
“What are you?”
The shard didn’t answer.
Which was expected.
It was a crystal.
Not a person.
Yet somehow she still found herself asking questions.
A faint vibration traveled through the crystal.
Then stopped.
Kael frowned.
For a brief second she thought she had seen something reflected inside it.
A shadow.
A room.
A person.
The image vanished too quickly to identify.
She stared at the shard for another minute before eventually putting it away.
Maybe she was simply tired.

The next morning brought trouble.
Not monsters.
People.
A group of climbers appeared near one of the ruined structures.
Three teams.
Nearly fifteen climbers.
All higher-ranked than Team Snail.
At least officially.
The moment they recognized Team Snail, whispers immediately spread.
Aerin sighed.
“Here we go.”
Mira rolled her eyes.
“Maybe they’ll surprise us.”
They didn’t.
Within five minutes someone was already asking questions.
“So the famous snails finally reached thirty.”
Another laughed.
“Took them long enough.”
A third climber crossed his arms.
“I heard they got carried by luck.”
The mysterious man glanced toward Kael.
Curious.
Kael’s reaction was exactly what he expected.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
She continued examining a map.
Ignoring them entirely.
Eventually one of the climbers became irritated.
“Are you deaf?”
“No.”
Kael didn’t even look up.
The answer surprised him.
“So you can hear.”
“Unfortunately.”
Aerin covered his face.
Mira nearly started laughing.
The climber’s friends struggled not to laugh as well.
Which only made him angrier.

The situation might have escalated.
Except something interrupted everyone.
A roar.
Not close.
Not far.
Somewhere in between.
Every climber immediately became alert.
The sound echoed across the plains.
Then came a second roar.
And a third.
The experienced climbers instantly recognized the problem.
A monster migration.
A large one.
One of the higher-ranked climbers cursed.
“We need to move.”
The joking disappeared immediately.
Everyone began preparing.
Because migrations weren’t battles.
They were disasters.
Even strong teams avoided them whenever possible.

For nearly two hours everyone traveled together.
Temporary allies.
Temporary safety.
The migration eventually passed without reaching them.
Only distant shadows could be seen crossing the horizon.
Thousands of monsters moving together.
Enough to wipe out entire teams.
After witnessing it, even Mira remained quiet for a while.
Eventually she looked toward the mysterious man.
“Have you seen one before?”
“Several.”
“And?”
“They get worse.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
Mira groaned.
Again.

That evening, something strange happened.
Not obvious.
Not dramatic.
Just strange.
The group had separated again after escaping the migration.
Team Snail was alone.
They were crossing a field covered with silver grass when Kael suddenly stopped.
Aerin nearly walked into her.
“What happened?”
Kael looked around.
Confused.
For a moment she thought she had heard someone call her name.
Not with sound.
Something else.
The feeling vanished immediately.
Leaving only uncertainty.
Mira noticed her expression.
“What is it?”
Kael hesitated.
Then shook her head.
“Nothing.”
The answer came too quickly.
Mira didn’t believe it.
Neither did Aerin.
The mysterious man definitely didn’t.
But nobody pushed further.

The next three days passed peacefully.
Almost suspiciously peacefully.
No major fights.
No disasters.
No strange creatures.
Which was exactly why Kael remained cautious.
The Tower never stayed quiet for long.
She had learned that much.
And on the fourth day—
The Tower reminded her why.
Team Snail discovered another ruin.
Much older than the others.
Most of it had collapsed into the earth.
Only a single underground chamber remained intact.
A hidden room.
Buried beneath centuries of stone.
Naturally, Mira wanted to leave immediately.
Naturally, Aerin wanted to explore it.
Naturally, Kael went inside.
And naturally—
The mysterious man followed.
At the center of the chamber stood a single stone pedestal.
Nothing else.
No treasure.
No weapon.
No monster.
Only a pedestal.
Kael approached carefully.
Then froze.
Something was carved into the surface.
A name.
One word.
A single name written in the same ancient language.
The mysterious man stared.
For the first time since joining Team Snail—
His calm expression completely disappeared.
Shock.
Genuine shock.
The kind that couldn’t be hidden.
Aerin noticed.
Mira noticed.
Even Kael noticed.
Slowly, she looked toward him.
Then toward the name.
Then back toward him.
And finally asked the question she had been holding back for weeks.
“Who are you?”
The chamber fell silent.
And for the first time—
The mysterious man didn’t immediately have an answer.