Chapter 90 - Forest of Iron

That night, after finishing dinner with Levian, Yuto returned to the dormitory early. His excuse was that he needed to prepare for his first academy classes tomorrow, but his real reason was to enter the Tower of the Void.

He got ready for bed and lay down. This would be his first visit since clearing Floor 0. He closed his eyes and fell asleep with entering the tower in mind. Before long, he opened his eyes somewhere other than his real-world dormitory room.

“You insufferable brat.”

Seated on a plush sofa, Elun glared at Yuto with a thoroughly displeased expression. It was seven in the evening. Looking puzzled, Yuto asked her a question.

“Are you allowed to be here?”

“What a foolish question. This is your dream.”

“I mean, is it all right for you to be asleep instead of attending to the princess?”

“My real-world self is attending to that woman.”

Elun heaved a sigh and shook her head.

“Besides, she doesn't demand much service from me. She seems content to have me around to keep her company.”

“Hmm. How considerate of Her Highness. Well, I suppose she wouldn't ask too much of you when you've had no formal training. If anything, I should be apologizing to her.”

Yuto murmured the words with a wry smile.

“Still, you can't be too careless about it. The reason you got into the academy...”

“Was her consideration for you and me. All under Shiro Ristal's sinister agenda.”

Elun's brow furrowed as she muttered.

“That woman... Shirin Ristal has some inkling of his intentions, too. Perhaps that's why she makes a point of asking me almost no personal questions.”

“Then you should take the initiative and strike up a conversation. Mix in a few lies where appropriate.”

“I'm already doing that without you telling me to. I've been letting slip little things about you that Shiro would like to hear.”

Elun snorted and shrugged.

“In fact, there's no need to mix in any lies. So long as I leave out your thirst for revenge, your very nature is one Shiro cannot help but like.”

Resentment and anger toward the constellations. Yuto had yet to determine Shiro's precise objective, but he was certain the man rejected their system of rule.

That was why Shiro would be drawn to him and want him as an ally. Though Shiro had yet to openly reveal his goal and extend a hand, he was gradually approaching Yuto—no, he was doing so faster than Yuto had expected.

“Any advice for Floor 1?”

“I don't know much about this tower myself.”

Elun gave a short sigh and propped her chin on her hand. Her sulkily puffed cheeks suggested she resented the Void for keeping so many secrets even from its own agent.

“All I know... is that this tower is a gift from the Void, prepared for you and the beast. As for the trials I must overcome, ultimately you have no choice but to face them yourself, experience them, and learn. The same goes for this tower.”

Whatever the case, he could only try tackling it head-on. Yuto nodded and headed for the closed door.

The moment he opened it, he saw a forest. His eyes narrowed at the sight beyond the doorway.

It was a forest, but utterly unlike any he knew. In shape, the trees looked like ordinary trees one might find anywhere, but everything that composed them was iron.

Their trunks were pillars of black iron. Even the rough, barklike surfaces were entirely metal on closer inspection. Iron branches stretched out in every direction.

Whenever the wind blew, the branches swayed and collided with a screech of scraping metal. The sound echoed throughout the forest, a chilling noise like thousands of blades being sharpened at once.

Yuto looked up at the branches. Their collisions were not the only source of that chilling, unpleasant sound; the leaves were striking one another, too. Thin, flat, sharp pieces of metal resembling iron scales hung thickly from every branch.

As the leaves swayed and clashed, they made a piercing noise like blades scraping together. He felt that simply listening to it long enough might drive him mad.

His gaze lowered to the dense grass covering the ground. That, too, was all iron. Sharp-tipped iron blades rose close together from the earth. Rather than grass, it looked like a dense bed of needles and awls.

Not just the grass, but the soil was iron as well: sharp, coarse metal fragments. Yuto could only give a dry chuckle. Floor 1 of the Tower of the Void. If he walked through it unprepared, the iron soil and grass would cut and puncture his feet. On top of that, the wind blew at unpredictable intervals, raising that maddening noise, and iron leaves would fall like slashing attacks whenever he walked beneath a tree.

“What a nasty trial.”

Murmuring, Yuto summoned his aether. He would have to protect his body with it merely to walk through the forest. Beside him, Flokiro wrinkled his nose and summoned his own aether.

CRUNCH.

He stepped onto the aether-protected grass and soil. He felt and heard iron crumble beneath his feet.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

The sound accompanied every step he and Flokiro took.

When he looked back, the door leading to the room had already vanished.

'What happens if I leave the tower here and come back in?'

[“You start again from the first room.”]

Elun answered his unspoken question, mischief in her voice.

'So it's more efficient to clear a floor before leaving.'

Yuto thought with a dry chuckle. Here, every single step required aether. He kept moving and surveyed his surroundings.

There was no end to the iron forest in sight. Gray trees stood packed together, obstructing his view. Looking up, he found the sky covered in iron leaves. Even the light filtering through them reflected off the metal foliage, bathing the entire forest in a hazy gray glow.

The wind blew again, and the forest howled eerily.

SCREEECH. SCRAAAPE. CLANG. CLANG.

Branches collided, leaves scraped, and trunks vibrated in a horrible cacophony. The metal forest's screams gnawed at his mind.

“Ugh...”

Flokiro covered his ears and wrinkled his nose. It was an utterly unpleasant place. Simply moving consumed aether, and the noise wore away at their minds.

CLANG!

Yuto drew and swung Gloria, cutting through the falling leaves. They kept coming, sharp enough to slice into flesh. There was far too much to watch out for.

As they traveled, Yuto's keen senses detected something, though he heard nothing. Something was approaching from beyond the gray trees.

FWOOSH!

Flokiro also readied himself for battle, summoning the Void Claw on his right hand and conjuring flames in his left.

'Something adapted to this forest.'

Yuto reached that conclusion immediately. It was approaching, yet he could hear no iron crunching underfoot.

“Grrr...”

A beast's growl, mingled with a metallic rasp. A wolf emerged from between the trees.

It was no ordinary wolf. Instead of bone and hide, it was made of the same iron as the forest. It had a black iron body and an iron mane covering its back and nape. Its claws and fangs were sharp metal, just like the fragments covering the ground.

Yuto studied the approaching, growling wolf's feet. The iron grass and soil did not pierce them. The grass bent naturally beneath its weight, as though it were real grass and soil.

It was not alone. A second wolf appeared behind the first, then a third. More eyes gleamed eerily between the trees. Four, five, six.

The pack surrounded Yuto. As they growled threateningly, Flokiro bristled and radiated hostility in return.

SHIIING...!

Claws extended from Flokiro's gauntlet. Yuto raised his sword and glared at the wolves.

“Not a favorable battlefield.”

Yuto murmured. He would have to fight the wolves while maintaining the aether beneath his feet and watching for falling leaves. The slightest lapse in his aether control would leave his feet punctured, slowing him down and making it difficult to respond to attacks.

The wolves, on the other hand, faced no such restrictions.

'I have a fair amount of aether... but I don't know where this forest ends. I'll have to use my Void Skills efficiently.'

With that decision, Yuto summoned just one Void Touch. The pitch-black hand spread open as though threatening the wolves.

The wolves were not frightened. Instead, they let out loud barks and sprang off the ground. As if responding to their cries, a gust of wind shook the forest.

This tower was a place for Yuto and Flokiro to grow, but it was far from kind. If anything, it seemed determined to kill them. As the wolves attacked, leaves showered down from above.

CRAAASH!

Void Touch swept over Yuto and Flokiro's heads, pulverizing the leaves. At the same time, a fireball Flokiro hurled struck the wolf charging at the front.

FWOOSH!

The flames scattered uselessly with a single shake of the wolf's body. Flokiro's eyes widened. Ordinary fire could not even stop it from closing in. Quickly assessing the situation, he summoned flames again. This time they were born of Void aether. Black fire engulfed his left hand.

CLAAANG!

Meanwhile, Gloria collided with the wolf that had closed in right before him. A jarring weight traveled through his hand. Even coated in aether, his slash had failed to cut the wolf's body.

'It's tough.'

Ordinary slashes would not even scratch them. That collision was enough for Yuto to assess the situation, too.

FWOOSH!

The Void Skill, Void Blade, enveloped his sword.

Void Blade ignored defenses and cut through existence itself.

SLASH!

The wolf lunged again, and Void Blade cleaved it in two. Blood spurted out—startled, Yuto activated Void Step.

HISSS!

The blood pouring from the wolf was molten iron boiling at a tremendous heat. Yuto couldn't help grimacing. The battlefield was troublesome enough already, yet he had to stay wary even after cutting an enemy down. Touching that molten iron would do far more than merely feel hot.

“Be careful.”

After warning Flokiro, Yuto immediately summoned another Void Touch. If he focused solely on conserving aether, he would end up expending more by dragging the fight out too long.

BOOM! BOOM!

One hand pulverized the leaves falling overhead. The other attacked the wolves circling at a distance. Meanwhile, Yuto himself charged a nearby wolf.

Flokiro evolved without hesitation as well. Flokai burst from the flames enveloping his body and pounced on a wolf.

CRASH!

Void Blade coated his gauntlet's claws, and they tore a long gash through the wolf's body. Molten blood erupted. Flokai leaped clear of the spray, opened his jaws wide, and breathed fire.

It was fire of the Void. Pitch-black flames swallowed another wolf whole. Unlike before, the wolf could not shake them off. It howled in agony amid the raging flames, its iron body glowing red-hot.

Then—it exploded.

BOOOOM!

As the wolf burst apart, the iron pieces composing its body shot in every direction. Yuto immediately extended Void Touch to shield Flokai.

“What the hell is wrong with these things?!”

Flokai cried indignantly. Cutting them down up close unleashed molten iron, and trying to melt them with fire made them explode in a shower of metal fragments.

CLINK, CLINK.

The dead wolves dissolved into mist, leaving pitch-black coins where their bodies had been. Yuto noted this but kept moving. There were still wolves left to deal with before he could examine the coins.

Before long, the remaining wolves had all been dispatched. Yuto steadied his breathing and dismissed Void Blade. Flokai remained evolved, looking dejected.

“They were a kind of enemy we'd never seen before. Of course we weren't going to handle them perfectly. Don't let it get you down.”

“Next time I'll blow them up from a distance.”

Flokai grumbled. Leaving him to keep watch, Yuto picked up the coins one by one.

Each wolf had dropped two coins, for a total of twelve. Yuto looked down at the unmarked black coins, then tried putting them into Void Storage.

[Void Coin.]

[Obtained by killing Beasts that appear in the Tower of the Void.]

[Coins are the tower's only currency. Collect them to purchase something.]

'Void Coins?'

Yuto tilted his head.

'Can I use these coins to buy something from you?'

[“I don't... know.”]

Elun hesitated as she answered his question. Her voice was wavering.