Chapter 84 – Beyond What Humans Reached

The thirty-seventh floor marked a boundary.
Not a physical one.
Not a magical wall that stopped climbers from moving higher.
It was something far more simple.
Humanity had stopped there.

For years, perhaps decades, no confirmed climber had gone beyond it and returned alive.
The thirty-seventh floor had become a limit.
A symbol.
A warning.

And now Team Snail stood beyond that warning.

The realization settled over them slowly.
Not dramatically.
Not with celebration.
Just quiet understanding.

The next floor test took them nearly two days to clear.
Not because it was difficult.
Because it was strange.

The Tower demanded that they cross an enormous canyon using only the resources found within it.
No monsters.
No fighting.
No shortcuts.

Just problem solving.

Aerin wanted to jump.
Mira told him he was an idiot.
The mysterious man agreed with Mira.

For once all three argued while Kael sat on a rock drawing plans in her notebook.

Three hours later they crossed safely using a bridge they built themselves.

Aerin still insisted jumping would have worked.

“It would’ve.”

“You would’ve died.”
Mira replied.

“We don’t know that.”

“We absolutely know that.”

The mysterious man looked at Kael.

“Do they always do this?”

“Yes.”

“I can hear you.”
Aerin complained.

“Good.”
Kael answered.

And for some reason everyone laughed.

The higher they climbed, the more moments like these appeared.

Perhaps because the danger never disappeared.
Perhaps because people naturally treasured small things when surrounded by uncertainty.

Or perhaps because they had become comfortable around one another.

Whatever the reason, the journey felt lighter than before.

Floor thirty-eight.
Then thirty-nine.

The environment changed again.

The lower floors had often resembled places from the real world.
Forests.
Mountains.
Lakes.
Grasslands.

Now?

The Tower stopped pretending.

The landscapes became impossible.

Floating islands drifted across the sky.
Waterfalls flowed upward.
Forests grew upside down beneath cliffs.
Entire rivers moved through the air like giant silver snakes.

Even Mira eventually stopped asking questions.

That alone proved how strange things had become.

One afternoon they stood beneath a floating mountain.

Aerin stared upward.

“How is that staying up there?”

Nobody answered.

The mysterious man finally spoke.

“Maybe the same way this Tower exists.”

Aerin considered that.
Then nodded.

“Fair enough.”

Kael quietly sketched the floating mountain.

By now she had filled multiple notebooks.
Maps.
Observations.
Monster behavior.
Symbols.
Everything.

The habit had become part of her.

A record of their journey.

A record of who they had become.

Several days later something unusual happened.

Not dangerous.
Not mysterious.

Unexpected.

They found another human.

A climber.

Alive.

The man sat beside a campfire on the thirty-ninth floor.
Alone.

The moment he saw them, he froze.

Then slowly stood.

Then sat back down.

Then stood again.

Mira frowned.

“Is he okay?”

“No.”
The man answered immediately.

His eyes remained fixed on Team Snail.

“You people are real?”

Silence.

Aerin blinked.

“Yes?”

The man pointed dramatically.

“I thought you were a rumor.”

Now it was Team Snail’s turn to stare.

“A rumor?”
Mira repeated.

The climber laughed.

“A terrible one.”

He approached cautiously.
Still looking shocked.

“You people are Team Snail, right?”

Aerin immediately smiled.

“We are.”

The man’s expression became even stranger.

“I owe someone money.”

“…What?”

“I bet you’d never reach floor twenty.”

Mira started laughing so hard she nearly fell over.

Even Kael looked away to hide the small smile threatening to appear.

The climber spent the evening sharing information.

His name was Harlan.
A solo climber.
One of the few people who had managed to survive above the thirtieth floor.

Most importantly—
He knew things.

Not everything.
But enough.

According to him, the floors above forty changed.
Dramatically.

“The Tower stops testing strength.”
Harlan explained.

Aerin frowned.

“What does it test then?”

Harlan stared into the fire.

“Everything else.”

The answer stayed with them.

Before leaving the next morning, Harlan gave them a final warning.

“If you reach forty…”
He hesitated.

“…don’t trust the floor.”

Mira immediately hated that advice.

“What does that even mean?”

Harlan shrugged.

“That’s the problem.”

Then he left.

Disappearing into the vast landscape.

The encounter left Team Snail thoughtful.

Especially Kael.

Because something about his warning felt genuine.

Not dramatic.
Not exaggerated.

Real.

And real warnings were often the most dangerous.

Several weeks later they stood before the entrance to the fortieth floor.

The crystal sphere glowed faintly inside Kael’s pack.
The final shard remained somewhere above.
Waiting.

Riven remained somewhere above.
Waiting.

The truth remained somewhere above.
Waiting.

Everything seemed to point upward.

Toward the floors nobody truly understood.

Toward the place where human knowledge ended.

Toward the place where the Tower’s secrets began.

Kael looked at the massive gate leading to the fortieth floor.

For a moment she thought about the shop.
The shabby house.
Lera.
Dain.
The old stall owner.
The guild.

The world below felt impossibly distant now.

Almost like another life.

Then Mira nudged her shoulder.

“What are you thinking about?”

Kael looked forward.
Toward the gate.

Then answered honestly.

“How far we’ve come.”

For a moment nobody spoke.

Then Aerin smiled.

“Not far enough.”

The gate slowly began opening.

And for the first time in a very long while—
Kael agreed.