Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

With the Guardians’ Tests offering no real challenge, Vahn’s ascent had become relatively peaceful since his departure from the 44th Floor. Even pacing himself, however, resulted in him reaching the 49th in only two months. This brought him to a region in the Tower known as the Endless Sandsea, a massive desert that covered the entirety of the Floor, sans a few dungeon-like ruins and oases.

Being one of the Floors with the sparsest population densities, Vahn chose the Endless Sandsea as the place where he would deposit Eduan. To his surprise, however, the man was promptly ejected to the Middle Tower by the Floor Guardian. As for the reason, it was apparently due to the fact that the ’real’ Eduan still existed as one of the ruling powers within the Tower. Because of this, the Guardian refused to acknowledge the candidacy of the former data construct as a Regular. Thus, if he wanted to climb the Tower, he would need to start from the Floor of Tests, just like everyone else.

Fortunately, Headon had been paying close attention to Vahn’s progress, so, shortly after the blue-haired man had been expelled from the Inner Tower, the enigmatic rabbit extended an invitation for him to open the gate. This annoyed Eduan quite a bit, but, as it was also an opportunity for him to experience the Tower’s changes in the most direct manner, he ultimately accepted after confirming that his status as an Irregular would remain unchanged. As for how Vahn knew of these happenings, it was largely due to his ability to share senses with his subordinates, and, as was often the case, the Law of Identity’s ability to transform into persons of interest to reveal their thoughts and intentions.

Since he could always recall Eduan through his Unit Management, Vahn decided to leave the man to his own devices to see how he would react to the changes introduced to the Tower following his initial climb. This would provide a retrospective account of the changes that had occurred over the last ten-thousand-years, and, most importantly, it would provide him the opportunity to experience his ’legacy’ first-hand. After all, even in the Lower Floors, the corruption of the Ten ran rampant and without reservations...

A stark contrast to the majority of missions he had received from the Floor Guardian’s, the Test of the 49th Floor had Vahn eliminate a hundred colossal Shinheuh known as Sandworms. These were omnivorous creatures that rarely appeared within the Endless Sandsea, but, when they did, disaster was the only thing left in their wake. They were also directly responsible for the perpetuation of the floor-wide desert, so, while it wouldn’t solve the underlying problem, killing a few of the mountain-sized creatures made living on the Floor much safer than it otherwise would have been.

Though he wasn’t particularly fond of kill missions, Vahn and Co ultimately hunted far more than the required amount of Sandworms. It had only taken a single encounter with the nine-kilometer-long beasts to understand the danger they posed to the average resident of the Floor. They were also as close to mindless beasts as you could get, as, rather than having a centralized brain, their bodies were lines with several cerebral nodules that formed an intricate network reminiscent of a collection of creatures comprising a single super-organism. Their only purpose in life seemed to be tracking down and devouring rich sources of Shinsu, so, while there was nothing inherently evil with fulfilling their biological purpose, the destruction they were capable of simply couldn’t be ignored.

In the end, Vahn’s hunting party ended up tracking down and eliminating a total of 338 Sandworms over the course of a twenty-three-day period. They only stopped because they were unable to find any additional Sandworms, not because the population had been wiped out, but because those that remained were either in hibernation or had fled to the depths of the Sandsea.

As a result of their efforts, several additional oases began to pop up throughout the Sandsea as the average concentration of Shinsu qualitatively increased. There was even Shinsu-infused rain for the first time in several hundred years, an event that was perceived as both a pleasant surprise and an ill omen by those who had become accustomed to the inhospitality of the Floor. Fortunately, while a bit of flooding couldn’t be avoided, none of the ’great disasters’ prophesied by any of the Floor’s would-be soothsayers came to pass...at least not in the manner they had predicted...

Though he would have liked to immediately head for the gigantic Floating Fortress known as The Nest, there were a number of matters Vahn needed to attend to before making contact with the Lo Po Bia Family. It was also rumored that the artifact used to access ’The Frozen Waterfall’, one of the largest pieces of Suspendium ever discovered, took upwards of a year just to prepare. This made it exceptionally difficult to steal anything from the infamous ’Vault of Jahad’, as, the moment you tried to forcibly access the interior storage, failsafes built into the system would ensure the destruction of everything inside.

Fortunately, due to the influence that Suspendium had on the surrounding Space, it was remarkably difficult to approach The Frozen Waterfall, much less damage it. Even High Rankers required special equipment to get anywhere near it, and, even then, there was always a chance that wayward spatial fluctuations could rip them apart without affording them the opportunity to defend themselves. For this reason, The Frozen Waterfall was one of the most secure storage facilities within the entirety of the Tower, so much so that Jahad had entrusted countless priceless artifacts to the Lo Po Bia Family for safekeeping.

Though he was confident in his ability to circumvent both The Nest’s and The Frozen Waterfall’s defenses, Vahn had already decided to try and settle things in an above-board manner. This meant negotiating with the Lo Po Bia Family directly, and, depending on the circumstances, confronting Lo Po Bia himself. The man was known to spend a significant amount of time within The Nest itself, so, with the device used to activate The Frozen Waterfall taking up to a year just to charge, there were ample opportunities for their paths to cross. Before that, however, there were a few other important matters he needed to attend to, so, at the behest of Ryun and Ai, Vahn eventually found himself on the outskirts of a place known as the Wall of Peaceful Coexistence.

As the name implied, the Wall of Peaceful Coexistence was built near the end of the Era of Genesis as a symbol of peace and compromise between the Jahad Empire and the various forces that had opposed Jahad proclaiming himself King.

In the beginning, there were walls located on every Floor between the 50th and 100th Floors, but, with the passage of nearly ten-thousand-years, only three remained to this day. Because of this, it was rumored that once the remaining three walls fell war would, once again, return to the Tower...

Staring up at the massive stone wall supported by pillars of Suspendium that dwarfed skyscrapers, Vahn could feel an oppressive atmosphere radiating from within. It was like the people inside had completely lost their hope, and, even without seeing them directly, he could feel the melancholy that had pervaded the majority of their beings. This gave him the urge to avoid entering the wall, but, with Ryun urging him inside, he ultimately ascended the hazardous stone steps leading to its interior. There, after bypassing a number of security checkpoints, he followed Ryun through streets lined with people who emitted a depressive yet remarkably hostile aura.

Noticing the desperation in the eyes of nearly every person they passed, Vahn couldn’t help shaking his head. The people living within the wall reminded him of those he had encountered on the Floor of Death, yet, unlike the aforementioned immortals, the residents of the wall could leave whenever they wanted. Instead, the majority chose to stay for fear of being persecuted by those affiliated with the Jahad Empire, and, as a result, fear, paranoia, and self-preservation had become the foundation upon which society within the wall was built. This led to an extreme aversion towards foreigners and refugees, as, more than anything else, the people living within the wall feared change.

Sensing her Master’s frustration, Ryun decided to stick a little closer to him so that he wouldn’t feel alone within the ocean of resentment. She had come to understand that he was heavily influenced by the sentiments of those around him, so, despite feeling more than a little embarrassed, she did her best to counteract his diminishing mood by sticking close to him and willfully waggling her tail.

Understanding Ryun’s intentions, Vahn did his best to ignore the looks directed their way until they reached the back entrance of what appeared to be a tavern. There, dressed in contrasting blue and pink robes decorated with yellow ribbons, two young women, one with dark blue hair and the other with bright-pink, synchronously bowed as they said, "Welcome. Our Master has been awaiting your arrival. Please, come inside."

With the Law of Identity hovering behind him, Vahn promptly became aware of the fact that their Master was none other than Sophia Tan, one of the most influential Elders in the entirety of FUG. This left a slightly sour taste in his mouth, as, despite being the benefactor of various organizations protecting and promoting females within the Tower, Sophia’s other titles included Chief-Mistress of the Pleasure District and Grand Matchmaker of the Noble Families. In other words, her organization sponsored nearly every successful whorehouse and prostitution ring within the Tower, and, for the sake of expanding her information network, she trained women to serve as courtesans, spies, and assassins within the ranks of the Ten Great Families.

Though she rarely forced them to comply, the structure of the Tower left most women with very few options if they wanted to avoid a tragic fate during and after their ascent. Thus, with the exception of a few rare talents and those belonging to the Ten Great Families, most female Regulars ended up joining one of the various female-only organizations, the majority of which were backed by Sophia and a few other influential and opportunistic women within the Tower. This was the only way many of them could avoid becoming victims, so, while it might be true that Sophia didn’t force anyone to join her organizations, she also hadn’t done much to solve the underlying issues that forced nearly 70% of female Regulars to join her organizations and sex-trafficking rings...

Noticing the look in her Master’s eyes, Ryun tightly gripped his hand, whispering, "Please hear them out before you make a decision..." in a pleading tone. This left Vahn feeling exasperated, but, having already promised he would do just that, he ultimately nodded his head and said, "Don’t worry...even if I don’t appreciate these types of organizations, I learned long ago that they are an intrinsic part of most societies. I’m not going to hold those at the bottom accountable for a system necessitated by circumstance...besides, this isn’t all that different from what the Great Families have done to try and earn my favor..."

Exhaling a sigh of relief, Ryun gripped her Master’s hand a little more firmly before resting her head against his shoulder and muttering, "Thank you..." with as much sincerity as she could manage. This caused the two girls standing at the entrance to give her scrutinizing and slightly incredulous looks, but, as they had already performed their duty, neither said anything until after Vahn and Ryun had disappeared into the tavern’s interior. Then, with a slightly excited expression, the pink-haired girl turned to her blue-haired counterpart, green-eyes glistening as she mused, "He is a lot cuter than I expected. What do you think, Namo?"

Showing very little change in expression, the girl named Namo looked towards her counterpart with a slightly contemptuous glimmer in her dandelion-yellow eyes, monotonously replying, "I would be happier if you weren’t here..." before immediately returning her attention to the alleyway they were tasked to guard. This caused the brow of the pink-haired girl to twitch quite a bit, but, knowing she wouldn’t be able to get a rise out of the former, she ultimately just snorted through her nose before pulling out a tablet-like device to complete her ’dailies’ on one of the Tower’s more popular gaming apps...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’I feel bad for the Regulars who have to test alongside Eduan...’,’A beginning is a very delicate time...’,’Endless Politics : Infinite Concubines’)