CHAPTER 67: A TALK WITH AKINA

Two chairs appear out of nowhere and she gestures for me to take a seat. "I’m sure you have lots that you are curious about." Akina says while taking a seat.

I took a seat myself and try not to look her directly in the eyes. "Of course I do... But I didn’t earn any answers from you." I reply with a bit of nervousness.

Something about this was making me really nervous and I couldn’t really figure out what it is that’s causing it. Maybe it is her presence alone that is causing me to feel this way out of nowhere.

She crosses her legs and takes a closer look at me. "You’re probably wondering why her rid of the tower now, why accompany you. That’s probably what you are thinking." Akina says with confidence as she smiles.

"I am quite curious about both of those things actually, but I’m also confused about the purpose of these towers rising too." I respond honestly.

"Of course, it is only natural to be curious about it. Shall I explain some of this? I’ll give you a small bit of information." Akina speaks before crossing her arms as well.

(Akina begins speaking.)

Towers serve as a way to help a world grow for the most part since there is a limit to every world. Dungeons only hold so much potential while the tower gives multiple opportunities to grow before getting a wish at the top.

Not every tower grants a wish but some will still help with giving someone enough power to make a difference.

I scaled the first ever tower and made a wish to rule over the towers, to take over so that I could help make a difference in these worlds. The previous ruler over the towers granted my wish and everything has been great since then.

I’ve always loved looking out for people who want to get stronger and who really want to make a difference. Not everyone is capable of putting their selfish needs to the side and only want the power for themselves.

For hundreds of years I’ve waited for the right person to climb the tower so that I can finally give it a rest. You came to the tower in search of a strength to help you save the world from the chaos caused by this "star" so it caught my attention.

Someone wanted to actually stop the being behind all the chaos so why would I stand in your way, why wouldn’t I see where this goes.

"So it is a being after all?" I interrupt with a bit of confusion in my voice.

"Of course. It wasn’t just something randomly thrown here to make your life difficult." Akina answers without hesitation.

A person with the potential to become one of the strongest beings in this world, if anyone has a chance of fighting the chaotic being, it would be you.

(She stops talking.)

A being that’s completely devoted to chaos? That makes a lot of sense with why it would bring such a shitty change to our world.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to truly stop it but I’m going to give it my all, no matter how hard it is. Akina was willing to leave this tower behind to see what I can accomplish after all these years.

All those years spent inside of a tower watching, waiting, granting wishes, not granting wishes, just for this day to arrive.

I can’t guarantee that she’s telling me the truth since I’ve just met her for the first time today... But I can give it a chance.

"Does that mean you’ll also be watching us fight instead of helping at all?" I ask with a bit of curiosity.

An even bigger grin forms on her face after my question lingers in the air a moment. "I’ll be helping of course. I would get bored otherwise." Akina responds with the same carefree tone as earlier.

Someone this powerful joining us reeks of trouble but it doesn’t seem like it is a choice.

I couldn’t agree more... Just it is easier to have her as an ally instead of an enemy during these impossibly difficult times.

Monsters roam through the streets, hunters with ill intent exist, people with strong technology from before the collapse are also hiding.

There’s no telling what awaits us in the world anymore so I definitely want some strong allies to help us get through it all. This will be the best way for me to get all the way to Elyndra.

Elyndra is where I hope to find someone with some sort of answer to the questions that Akina won’t answer. Someone has to have something about the damn star.

There’s so many powerful hunters up there that it shouldn’t be hard to find one with information.

You forget that the star hasn’t really shown itself in a long time. Even Seraphine talks with you occasionally so what’s the difference at this point? Whether it’s Akina, Seraphine, or even some hunter from Elyndra?

The difference is that they don’t have any reason to hide anything from me unless they are working with something related to the star. I’d say that some of the hunters up there might want the same exact thing as me.

Akina and Seraphine won’t give me answers to some of my questions because it won’t benefit them much. Akina is more of the worry than Seraphine though since I can’t read her intentions all that well.

At least with Seraphine it wasn’t that bad and she actually seems to be a decent being to some degree.

"Always lost in thought huh. Here I thought you were listening to me talking about the pain and agony of running this tower." Akina teases as she leans back in her chair.

"It’s not intentional, I just tend to think about the important facts at hand." I assure her while bringing my focus back to her.

"I don’t mind it all that much but we shouldn’t keep your friends waiting any longer." Akina says while standing up.

She glares at me once more before walking past me. "I should introduce myself after all." Akina continues on.

This is definitely going to be an interesting conversation between everyone.