CHAPTER 82: A CIVILIZATION DIFFERENT FROM OURS

The relic of the old times hovering above the ground in the middle of the glowing cave covered completely in luminescent stones resembled a crab.

It had mechanical legs, some thick and armored in the metal of old times, while some were thin and resembled mechanical tentacles.

This was an industrial arachnid with two main arms that resembled the claws of a draconic species. Technical elements like flashing lights, a shining body, and a hollow space that seemed to be the head and face made it look as dangerous as a floor boss.

"Long, long ago when the faraway stars were being born and when some of the first civilizations were being born on the lower floors of the tower, the tower is said to have invaded a land far more advanced than our own," KiRA spoke in a low voice, remembering a certain old mage as he sipped on his coffee.

"If our world is technologically ahead, they are many centuries ahead of us. While they may not have civilizations like the current day Dwarven or Elven civilizations, they were, back then, people who found the existence of the tower most logical."

The two of them observed the relic, thought about how dangerous it actually was, and then thought about how old this thing actually was.

"Until that point, it is mentioned in the [Ancient scriptures] that one could find on various floors of the tower, the tower wasn’t as tech-friendly as it is today."

Izzy did not know much about the higher floors, so sharing information about the higher floors was restricted, but if it was simply a story that aligned with the elements that both parties knew about, some restrictions could be overcome.

KiRA knew how to play with the tower’s restrictions well, so he was telling her a tea-time story. One that she was finding fascinating as well.

"The elves were mainly focused on nature and their connection with nature; the Bio-artifacts weren’t around back then. Same with the dwarves who worked only with steel and focused their skills on normal, formal, and traditional items.

For them, a weapon was a sword or shield. While the current mainstream dwarves are fathers of magic-engineering tech that might make this ancient artifact seem like a toy, they weren’t always like that."

Back when he first discovered this place, KiRA wasn’t hoping for anything.

The existence of the special fungi in this cave was an amazing discovery in itself, but when he moved deeper into the cave in search of the end of that long, dark path, he was not expecting to encounter a relic of ancient times.

"Before the dwarves forged flying fortresses or the dragons were interested in the mortal creations, before the elven civilization was known for their impeccable architectural skills, or before the Titans had centralized floors all to themselves, there were (#$%@&) [Ermisters], the civilization that the tower’s ancient records call the most prominent of the [Trailblazers]."

They came from a world that was different from what the tower’s lower floors knew about. The adventurers that explored these lower floors, either changed them completely or planted their roots which later gave birth to the current foundations of various floors.

"That relic used to be from their world, that’s why it is one of the few things present in the tower that still retains the unique runes of that forgotten civilization."

One would have to look closely to notice the dull, almost eroded script present around the various parts of the crab.

Just like many ’Scripts’ that were categorized as a [{(Rune)}] within the tower, if one looked at the runes present on this relic for long enough, they would feel dizzy and mentally exhausted.

The runes, by nature, were words that possessed a power of their own.

Though not at the level of the [Dragon tongue] or [True Voice] of the divinities, the various runes that existed within the tower possessed a power of their own, making each and every one of the rune characters in existence a precious object that people pay hundreds of thousands of coins for.

Even in its current state, if they sold a single cut-out piece of the rune on this relic, they would still get somewhere around a few hundred thousand IX, making it pure profit.

However, this relic was worth far more than a few coins.

"You told me that someone left this thing here, right?"

"Yes, at least that’s what I know," KiRA answered truthfully, taking the empty coffee cup from her hands and giving her a little kiss before standing up to stretch a little.

"Unlike our world where the tower appeared all around the world, for them, the tower was only present where the various civilizations were thriving.

The first major party that entered the tower under the orders of the monarch of the civilization were people who quickly became aware of the uniqueness of the tower.

As time passed and they understood the tower, they realized they weren’t yet strong enough to clear the tower, and their world was bound to perish.

Even with their advanced technology and the powerful people that they had, they were still not yet eligible to see the end of the tower."

Some of them from this ancient civilization chose to continue climbing the tower while those who had reached high floors decided to parish alongside their fallen world.

However, before they did that, those who had pioneered their way within the tower’s higher floors decided to leave behind a few things for those who would climb the tower after them with the hope that there would be someone among the future challenges of the tower with the abilities to reach the true end of the tower.

"This thing here on the second floor, the special dungeon on the 12th floor, the hidden piece of the 18th floor, they left their relics up to the 60th floor, which indicates their people might have only been able to climb that high within the tower."

It’s purely speculation by the scholars of the tower who have dedicated their lives to the Truths of the tower.

Not even they know what the tower is, what the actual past is, or how everything that’s present right now came to be.

’History is never bound by certainty.’

Just like the cause and effect that defines the ’now’ and ’then’, it is not possible to know the past for certain without concrete evidence.

And within this withering tower, there is hardly ever any concrete evidence for something that has become ancient history.

"I really wanna go and fight it, Izzy. Are we done resting now?" KiRA wanted to fight the crab. He was twitching to have a proper fight in a long while.

The demoness was too restricted for him to test his true limits but with this thing, he could finally have a good release.

"You almost seem restless, you know? It’s kinda funny, hehe." Seeing him like that only brought a smile to her face.

But she also understood his excitement.

"Sure. Let’s have a go then."

This opponent wasn’t like anything they had faced until now.

Unlike the demoness, it wasn’t restricted by any tower restrictions. It wasn’t a mortal but a higher artificial intelligence that was made for ’helping’ through a ’test’. It was a powerful entity without a doubt, however, it was still not a simple being.

"Finally! Let’s go~!"

He was excited because he knew the opponent was comically strong.

There were many things he wanted to test out, and having an opponent that he knew he could not kill even if he tried to was the best way to test out the powers that he had accumulated until now.