Chapter 77 – The Floor of Echoes

The thirty-third floor welcomed them with silence.
Not ordinary silence.
Not the peaceful kind they sometimes found deep inside forests.
This silence felt unnatural.
Heavy.
As if the entire floor was holding its breath.
After weeks of endless rain, the sudden stillness felt almost unsettling.
Even Mira noticed it immediately.
“I don’t like this.”
Aerin looked around.
“You say that about every floor.”
“Because every floor gives me new reasons.”
For once, even Kael agreed.
Something about this place felt wrong.

The landscape itself appeared normal enough.
Rolling hills stretched into the distance.
Forests covered large portions of the floor.
Rivers crossed the land.
Animals existed.
Plants existed.
Nothing seemed unusual.
And yet—
No wind.
No insects.
No distant monster calls.
Nothing.
The entire floor remained strangely quiet.

For the first two days they explored carefully.
The silence never changed.
Even their own voices seemed softer.
As if the floor absorbed sound.
The longer they stayed, the more uncomfortable it became.
Aerin eventually noticed himself speaking less.
Mira became quieter too.
Even Kael felt affected.
Not physically.
Mentally.
The silence seemed to settle inside people’s thoughts.

On the third day, they encountered the first monster.
Or rather—
They heard it first.
A sound.
A familiar sound.

“Help!”
A woman’s voice echoed through the forest.
Clear.
Desperate.
Close.

Aerin immediately stood.
Mira grabbed her knife.
The mysterious man narrowed his eyes.
Only Kael remained still.

The voice came again.
“Please!”

Aerin frowned.
“Someone’s in trouble.”
“No.”
Kael answered immediately.
The certainty in her voice stopped everyone.

The cry repeated.
Exactly the same.
Every word.
Every pause.
Every tone.
Perfectly identical.

The group fell silent.
Then Mira slowly lowered her weapon.
“…that’s creepy.”

They followed the sound anyway.
Carefully.
Prepared for danger.
The voice continued leading them deeper into the forest.
Again and again.
Repeating the same plea.
Never changing.
Never responding.

Eventually they found the source.
A creature perched atop a tree.
Thin.
Gray.
Almost human.
Its chest expanded unnaturally before releasing another cry.
“Please help me!”

Then it laughed.
A horrible sound.
Half scream.
Half imitation.

The creature immediately attacked.

The fight wasn’t particularly difficult.
The monster wasn’t very strong.
What made it dangerous was confusion.
Throughout the battle it copied voices.
Different voices.
Human voices.
Monster sounds.
Even Mira’s voice.
At one point it perfectly imitated Aerin.

After the creature finally died, Mira looked genuinely disturbed.
“I hate this floor.”
Nobody disagreed.

That night, they sat around a fire.
The atmosphere felt heavier than usual.
Even the flames seemed quieter.
The silence of the floor affected everything.

To fight the strange mood, Aerin deliberately started conversations.
Mostly random ones.
“What’s everyone’s favorite food?”
Mira immediately answered.
“Anything free.”
Aerin laughed.
“That isn’t a food.”
“It is if you’re poor.”

The mysterious man thought for a moment.
Then shrugged.
“I don’t remember.”
The answer surprised nobody anymore.

Eventually they all looked toward Kael.
She immediately regretted participating.
“What?”
“You have to answer too.”
Mira pointed accusingly.
“Those are the rules.”
“There are no rules.”
“There are now.”

Kael stared into the fire.
Thinking.
A surprisingly difficult question.
Then—
“Soup.”
Silence.

Mira blinked.
Aerin blinked.
Even the mysterious man looked confused.

“Soup?”
Kael frowned.
“What?”
“That’s your favorite food?”
“It tastes good.”
“That’s such a boring answer.”

For some reason everyone started laughing.
Even Kael.
Slightly.
The atmosphere immediately became lighter.
The oppressive silence lost some of its weight.

Later that night, while everyone slept, Kael remained awake.
A habit she seemed incapable of breaking.

The forest stretched endlessly around their camp.
Dark.
Silent.
Watching.

The three joined shards rested in her hand.
Their faint glow illuminated her fingers.
She studied them absentmindedly.
The next shard waited on the thirty-fifth floor.
Only two pieces remained after that.
The closer she came, the more questions returned.

What exactly was the crystal supposed to do?
Why did it lead her?
Why did the Tower react to her?
Why did strange creatures keep appearing?
And most importantly—
Why did all of it somehow connect to Riven?

She still remembered the first time she met him.
A quiet supplier.
Annoying.
Persistent.
Always talking.
Always smiling.

A friend.
The word no longer felt strange.
Not anymore.

The thought made her stare toward the sky.
Or whatever passed for a sky inside the Tower.

“You better be alive.”
The words escaped quietly.
Almost too quietly to hear.

A voice suddenly answered.
“That’s rude.”
Kael nearly reached for her weapon.

The mysterious man sat several meters away.
Awake.
Watching the fire.

“You scared me.”
The words left Kael before she realized it.
The mysterious man immediately looked surprised.
“That might be the most emotional sentence you’ve ever spoken.”
Kael regretted speaking again.

A faint smile appeared on his face.
Then disappeared.

For several minutes neither spoke.
Comfortable silence.
Unlike the floor’s silence.
This one felt normal.

Eventually the man looked toward the sky.
“You’re worried.”
Kael didn’t answer.
Because denying it would be pointless.

“You’ll find him.”
Kael frowned.
“How do you know?”
“I don’t.”
A pause.
“Just a feeling.”

Kael stared at him.
Then surprisingly nodded.
Not because she believed him.
Because she wanted to.

The conversation ended there.
No dramatic speeches.
No promises.
Just quiet understanding.

The next morning they resumed exploration.
By midday they discovered something unexpected.
Footprints.
Human footprints.
Fresh.

All four immediately stopped.

Climbers?
Maybe.
Monsters?
Unlikely.

The prints led north.
Toward a region of the floor they hadn’t explored yet.

Kael crouched beside them.
Studying.
Observing.
Thinking.

The footprints were strange.
Not because of where they went.
Because of how they moved.

The person hadn’t wandered.
Hadn’t searched.
Hadn’t hesitated.

Whoever made them knew exactly where they were going.

Kael slowly stood.
A familiar feeling settled into her chest.
The same feeling she always got when something important was nearby.

The same feeling she had experienced before finding previous clues.
Before finding shards.
Before discovering traces connected to Riven.

She looked toward the distant forest.

Then spoke only two words.
“Let’s follow.”

And for the first time in many weeks—
The path ahead felt less like exploration.
And more like pursuit.