Chapter Text
It was always dark in her world.
The cave she woke up to and slept in every time, the cold pool of water she drank from, the dark tunnels she ran through.
This great hall with shadowy ceilings and carved pictures on the walls of beings she doesn’t recognize.
“Welcome to the Tower, young lady Baam.” Said a white creature with a gleam in its eyes as sharp as its teeth. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
“I am Headon,” It continued. “The Guardian of the first floor of this Tower.”
‘I don’t care,’ She thought back. “Did a blond-haired boy go past here?” She asked instead.
The creature hummed thoughtfully and Baam repeated her question with increased urgency. “Please, I have to find him!”
“Well, all answers are up there—” It swung its staff to point upwards. “Whether you’re looking for wealth, immortality, absolute power or your man... All truth, glory and happiness of the world can be found on the top of the Tower.”
‘I couldn’t care less about what I can obtain up there, but if he’s there... if my light is up there—' Baam clenched her fist, “How do I reach the top?”
The predator smiled with a full set of sharpened teeth at her. “By taking my test and passing it, you can move on to the next floor.”
“It will be a hard and painful journey to embark on,” It moved closer and Baam can see what looked like eyes on the corners of its mouth. “Will you still brave through it?”
“I would take any risk just to see him.”
When the creature swung its staff to the side and her vision is awash with a color she can’t name, Baam quietly tucked away the budding dread that she just shook hands with the devil, in favor of the driving fear that she can’t see her most precious person ever again.
✵✵✵
There was a monster swimming in a cage. Beyond it, a black ball floated in the unknown color.
‘Avoid the monster and pop the ball,’ Baam gripped the handle of her cleaver in her hands. ‘That’s all I need to do.’
Headon is saying something to her and the polite thing is to listen to what he says but all she could think of is I want to see him right now.
"...I think you should forget about all this, and move on with your life—” She dropped the pretense of listening and ran past him towards the cage.
Unknowingly to her, the Guardian smiled widely and his eye focused on a dark corner of the hall.
‘You couldn’t do this.’
✵✵✵
‘What a weak-looking, scrawny little girl,’ Surmised Ha Yuri Zahard. ‘She’s an Irregular? She looks too plain to be one.’
And yet. That skinny little girl is running headfirst towards her death.
“Why is she running?!” Evan yelled next to her. “Is she taking the test?! Is she nuts?!”
Yuri whooped loudly and changed her mind about the girl. “I knew she wouldn’t disappoint me!”
She jumped down to the first floor to the loud protests of her guide and aimed her foot towards the Irregular’s face.
‘Gotta control my strength.’ Even as Yuri thought that, the Irregular still flew back a considerable distance. ‘Too light, she needs to eat more.’
“Hey new girl—” She fixed her skirt and then pointed at the downed Irregular with all the authority of a Zahard Princess. “You got a deathwish, huh?!”
✵✵✵
There was an older woman standing in front of Baam. After cradling her face and wiping the involuntary tears from her eyes, Baam took in the sight of a dark-haired lady yelling at her.
‘She must be what he calls a ‘beautiful woman’.’ Sitting up and gingerly patting her back, Baam can only stare back at her. The lady is still talking but there wasn’t a word in her sentences that Baam could understand.
The lady similarly looks confused as Baam, before her brows furrowed and she turned back towards Headon and began talking to him. Interestingly, Baam couldn’t understand what Headon is replying to the woman. ‘Just a few moments ago I could understand him and now...’
That train of thought died when the mysterious lady began yelling at the ceiling. Baam looked on in fascination when a man dropped down from the heavens to land lightly on the floor.
✵✵✵
“For you, new girl.” Evan held up the unused Pocket up to the Irregular. “An A-rank Pocket is too good for a newbie like you but this is all I’ve got on me right now.”
The girl stared at the Pocket for a little longer before carefully reaching out for it. As soon as her fingertips grazed it, the Pocket activated and began its identification process.
“How is it? You can understand me now, right?” The girl turned towards him suddenly with surprise. Before she could get a word in, his princess butted in. “That Pocket is ranked way too high for you! Say thank you kid!”
‘There’s got to be something wrong here.’ Evan mused even as he began to instruct the girl of the Pocket’s functions. ‘I don’t sense any extraordinary ‘strength’ from her, and she doesn’t look like the type that can transform.’
In the background, he could hear his princess begin to bargain with Headon. ‘Why does she insist on helping this kid? Even if she’s weak, Irregulars are still bad news!’
“What is an Irregular?” The girl asked Lady Yuri and Evan would bet his entire fortune that even a blind man can tell how naïve this girl is.
“It’s the name for those who open the gate and enter the Tower on their own. They’re the unchosen ones.”
‘Is that really the truth? Irregulars are feared because of their immense power and their heretical ability to control shinsu without contracts.‘
“But look, Headon! She’s too scrawny and doesn’t have any special abilities. Even Evan said she’s just an ‘ordinary girl’! Well, maybe she’ll grow prettier in the future but she’s like a baby compared to the other Irregulars!”
‘And yet... once upon a time the King and his Ten Great Warriors came into this Tower by opening its gates on their own.’
‘Why are those who come from outside this Tower immensely powerful if they’re truly unchosen by the Tower?’
✵✵✵
The Black March is a thin, long needle with the color of its namesake. The weight of the weapon in her hands is both literal and figurative.
“The Black March is the greatest of the needles. One of the 13th Months series created by Ashul Edwaru.”
“My Lady, you mustn’t! If the King finds out, you’ll be executed!”
‘Executed— meaning that Ms. Yuri will die.’ Baam has never witnessed death before but, from what he had taught her about death... It is not something she wishes would happen to Ms. Yuri.
She didn’t want to be the cause of someone’s death, especially to people who are nice to her. But Ms. Yuri hadn’t budged despite her protests.
“Take it.” Her voice had been firm as she pushed the needle further. “Didn’t you want to go up no matter what?”
She is going to go up no matter what stood in her way.
The white-steel eel roars a challenge and the shinsu rushes towards her from the sheer vibration. Her legs tremble and she feels her grip getting loose. The eel is as ferocious as it is majestic and the sight of it diving straight towards her with its maw wide open sends her heartbeat rocketing.
Every part of her being screams That’s death! Run, run, run, run—!
In the face of death, memories flashes in her mind, unbidden.
“What is it like to die?”
“I wouldn’t know about that silly, no one ever came back from the afterlife to tell the story after they died.” He flicked a finger at her forehead. “What a disturbing thing to ask.”
“I’m sorry... I still don’t quite understand.”
“It’s just like I told you Baam, death is when someone stops breathing and moving. When their life ends and their bodies begin to rot.” He moved a pawn piece forward, trying to launch an offensive against Baam’s pieces. “Death is a terrifying reality we all, unfortunately, must face.”
But that’s exactly the problem, she had thought while she watched him move his pieces. How is death—
“You might die.” Ms. Yuri leaned in close and Baam could feel the weight of her gaze and words pricking into her skin. “There’s a high possibility that you’ll die before you find what you seek. Even so...
You still wanna go?”
— How is death scarier when I fear losing you the most?
I am going to find you no matter what.
Before the eel sinks its teeth into her body, she jumps towards its open maw. The sound of the monster’s jaws snapping closed reverberates in her skull.
And her world is dark once again.
✵✵✵
“That’s the answer my Lady!” The guide struggled with containing his princess. “Don’t go!”
“How is getting eaten the answer, huh?!” She shot back at him. Evan only stood his ground even firmer than before. “That’s not it! Look!”
As soon as he said that, the white-steel eel let out a pained screech and—
— Out comes the Irregular.
“She stabbed it?! From the inside?!”
‘Yes, that’s what she needed to do.’ The girl stumbled on the landing but quickly stood up and began running in the dense shinsu towards the ball. ‘She needed to have courage and determination in order to pass this test.’
‘But I don’t believe it was courage nor determination that drives her forward.
That girl... she must fear losing the one she’s looking for so much that it has swallowed any other fears.’
✵✵✵
The ball did not pop. She stabbed it with the Black March but it remains unscathed. She switched to her cleaver and aimed at the ball with a great swing.
The cleaver shattered upon contact. She swung it again and again until only its wooden handle remained.
‘No, no, no, no, no!’
The eel is stirring awake, once it’s up it will come after her and then she would truly die.
‘I can’t die here! Not yet, I haven’t found him yet—!’
“Hey newbie!” Mr. Evan’s voice cut through the haze of panic. “Talk to the Black March! Ask her for help!”
“Ask her to ignite her power!”
‘The needle? Ask for its help? Ridiculous.’ But she can’t possibly lose anything else by trying. The eel is already up and lunging towards her again.
Please! Please help me make it up to the Tower. There’s someone I have to find no matter what! Please lend me your power—!
“Please help me!”
✵✵✵
“JUMP TO THE SIDE BAAM!” It was a desperate cry, but it was all Yuri could do right now. Even though she wanted to do nothing more but to storm in that cage and fish out Baam from that rigged test, with Headon blocking and threatening to fail Baam and Evan yapping at her ear, she couldn’t even make that desire come true.
The eel crashes into the ball and blocks her view of Baam.
“God damn it, I knew that bratty Black March wouldn’t listen to her!”
Black March had not responded to Baam’s pleas. Even though Baam had begged and begged, the needle remained inert. Uncaring.
Out of the corner of her eye, Yuri could see Evan sweating bullets and begin making excuses. “Shut it! What’s important right now is getting Baam out of there!”
“Might I remind you that if you interfere any further, princess, I will consider young lady Baam’s test a failure.”
Yuri’s eyes thunder red with rage. “Like I give a shit! You want me to do nothing and watch her die?! Even if it’s you Headon, I won’t—”
“She’s alive!” Evan cries out in relief and Yuri snaps her gaze back towards the cage. There, a little away from the ball and getting up from the ground was Baam. Alive, but Yuri could see red blood wafting in the dense shinsu. ‘She’s hurt but I don’t see any missing limbs. There’s still a chance to save her!’
Yuri calls upon her Arms Inventory again, snagging a different black-colored needle with none of the Black March’s insolence into her left hand. “Princess! No!” Ignoring Evan, Yuri dashes forward and raises her empty right fist and makes a swing towards the bars of the cage.
Shinsu is sucked in with the force of her swing and is fired in an explosive blast when her fist rockets forward to deliver the punch. Not many things or people can survive a hit from her super-powered punch. ‘Flimsy cage bars like this is nothing—!’
The resulting explosion rocks and craters the ground while the thunderous blast made the eel inside the cage skitter away from it. The dust settles and Yuri prepares to run forward when—
“It’s intact?!” the cry of disbelief from Evan took the words from her mouth. “It withstood the princess’s punch?”
‘Impossible,’ There was no way those metal bars can resist a serious punch from her. Yet, it stands strong in the aftermath, despite the ground cracking into rubble in front of her. ‘Unless—’
“That’s enough from you, Princess Yuri.” Comes a dignified growl.
Yuri’s breath hitches in her chest and she feels the shinsu around her grow heavier. Evan chokes and freezes where he stands.
“I will not allow any more of your tantrum.” Headon has not moved from where he stands on the side but his voice echoes powerfully.
The Guardian swings his staff in a lazy arc and Yuri could do nothing but watch the action from the corner of her eye. She couldn’t turn her body to face Headon. Her feet are planted on the ground but Yuri feels like she’s free-falling. The pit of her stomach swoops and feels uncomfortably empty, yet her body is rooted forcefully to the ground from the heavy weight of shinsu pressing down on her.
The first floor is Headon’s domain. He is the caretaker, guardian, and the First Floor Administrator. The shinsu in this floor are all supplied by him. The dense shinsu the eel is swimming in are given by Headon. The shinsu she uses to launch her attack are borrowed from Headon. The shinsu they breathe in are Headon’s. Just as easily as he offers his shinsu, he can revoke it without batting an eye.
He is the God of this floor.
“Although you are one of King Zahard’s princesses and I serve the royal family faithfully,” Begins one of the gods of this Tower. “If you cause a ruckus in my floor, I reserve the right to forcefully eject you from here.”
Yuri grits her teeth and her eyes promises swift retaliation. Her intuition tells her of the sound of a bear trap opening.
“Remember your position princess, I am not the one who is breaking the law here.” The god smiles wickedly. “Trespassing into the first floor, fraternizing with an Irregular, giving your Black March to said Irregular...
Why, you wouldn’t want me to report all those transgressions to the King would you?”
Yuri feels the proverbial bear trap snapping closed around her leg.
“You... Did you set me up?” Indignation cuts through the blanch of fear and fury colors her voice. Rage proves to be an excellent motivator and Yuri powers through the mounting shinsu pressure to turn her vicious glare on Headon.
“Princess Yuri, please...” Comes a reverent plea from Evan. “You cannot go against an Administrator.”
Yuri has half a mind to go beat up Evan for even daring to suggest she take this humiliation lying down. “You should listen to your guide, princess.” Headon cuts in, smug. “He is trying to keep you alive.”
Evan begs her again and it does nothing to cool her flaring temper. But a carefully cultivated strand of reason trained to remain unbending in spite of her boiling ire tugs away the curtain of red that covers her eyes.
It will be suicidal to cause a bigger scene here. She still has too much things she wants to achieve to die uselessly on the fucking first floor.
“Fine.” She spits out with no less animosity; the fires of her anger having cooled down enough to let her be reasonable. “I’ll stay put.” Her acquiescence is given with the same difficulty as pulling teeth.
Headon smiles slow, with all the smug contentment of a well-fed cat. “A wise decision, princess.”
She won’t give him any further satisfaction and mulishly holds fast on her needle.
✵✵✵
The moment Ms. Yuri’s shout settles in her ears, she follows her advice. Not a moment too soon, the eel collides on the ground where she stood just seconds ago. Baam let out a strangled scream when the razor teeth of the eel manage to graze her. She hit the ground heavily, but thankfully not on the bleeding left arm.
Don’t stay still! Keep going! Her instincts blare out. Run!
‘There’s nowhere to go.’ The eel is massive and covers a lot of ground, it’s a fast swimmer and Baam doubts she can dodge its lunging attack a second time.
A loud sound rattles the cage and her eardrums, she shrieks involuntarily and covers her head with her arms. The eel screeches too and she can feel the rush of shinsu as it swims away from the vicinity.
‘What was that?!’ She whips her head towards the sound, finding the cage bars covered with smoke. ‘Did something happen to Ms. Yuri?’
Now is not the time! Self-preservation instincts kicks in but instead of running away, she runs straight to the ball again.
‘The test isn’t over, I have to pop the ball, hurry, hurry—'
She seizes Black March’s handle in a frenzy, and with all her might, attempts to pull it out of the ball. She heaves but the needle is not budging. She tries from a different angle and pulls but the needle is still jammed tight in the ball. Baam grabs the ‘blade’ of the needle to pull it closer from the root but the needle remains anchored. All the while, she pleads to the Black March for her assistance. She heaves and pulls and begs and begs.
The Black March remains as silent as the first time she beseeched to it.
The eel chooses this moment to make itself known again. With another earsplitting roar, it dives down to finally end her life. Her field of vision is encompassed with the terrifying visage of death coming to maul her. Her knees locks and she freezes in her tracks. The Black March is unusable, her cleaver has shattered into pieces.
Her pitiful, short and lonely life flashes before her eyes and like slow-motion, her time of death stretches out to prolong her anguish. As if a phantom, his voice reaches her ears for the last time.
“Listen closely,” He held her shoulders and bore a serious gaze down at her. “If you ever find yourself in danger...”
His grip tightened and his voice took on a solemn note. “I want you to fight back with all your might, Baam.”
“Fight back with your life on the line and survive. Promise me that.”
I promised you I’d fight back. I can’t break my promises. I don’t want to die here. Not to a stupid eel and a cruel white devil. I have to find you; I have to find you—
Why did you leave? Why did you run away from me? Am I not good enough? Did I do something wrong?
I have to find you. There are so many things I want to ask, so many things I want to say to you.
Why can’t I go with you? You never let me follow you—not to where you return to after gracing me with your presence; not to this Tower you dream of.
Why must I stay in that dark cave? Why can’t I reach into the light? Why won’t you let me come with you—
If I’m not allowed to live in the light then please, at the very least, let me bask in your radiance.
I have to see you again; I have to find you again. I’ll follow you; I’ll follow you till the end of this world;
Are the stars you fantasize so much about better than staying with me? If the stars are as bright as you say, then I cannot live in your ideal world for I can only exist in the dark—
— Unless I become bright enough, good enough, radiant enough to be your illumination;
I want to be your star.
In those final moments, as if answering her dying wish, a star is born.
It is a bright, small thing but nonetheless beautiful in its shine. In front of the girl’s eyes, the light coalesces into a luminous crystallization of her desire. She watches in mute fascination as the star expands before—
Shooting straight into the eel’s open mouth.
There is a great boom and the eel is knocked back ruthlessly from the momentum. Green-colored blood bursts forth from the open wound followed by a grotesque gurgling sound. The eel smashes into the ground, skidding and scraping before coming to a limp stop.
The world is silent except for her short gasps of air.
✵✵✵
Evan stands dumbstruck at the scene that just played out in front of him. The eel is wounded and incapacitated but not from any blow dealt by the Black March. ‘Did she just... did she just—?!’
“Was that... shinsu just now...?” His princess asks quietly; The astonishment renders her question into a meek one.
Unbelievable, truly unbelievable. Yet this kind of thing... Casually breaking the laws of this Tower and common sense are what an Irregular does, doesn’t it?
A shiver runs down Evan’s spine, a foreboding premonition weighs heavily on his shoulders.
‘We’ve let a monster inside the Tower.’
✵✵✵
‘Yes, just like that.’ Headon tries to contain his glee, to some success. He couldn’t help the shinsu vibrating in excitement around him. ‘Show me what you can do—
Prove to me that you’re the one this Tower has been waiting for a very long time, O Chosen One.’
✵✵✵
‘The eel isn’t dead,’ Baam realizes belatedly. The shock from the unexpected blast and the leftover fear of almost dying turns her thought processes sluggish. ‘This goddamn test is still ongoing.’ She thinks next.
With renewed vigor and adrenaline, she tries to pop the ball again. ‘One last time... I’ll ask you for help one last time!’
“Please, help me pass this test. Please lend me your power Ms. Black March!”
She didn’t have much confidence that it will actually work this time because all other attempts have ended in failure, but that’s why she’s asking for the final time. ‘I don’t know what I’ll do if it doesn’t work but I don’t know how to recreate that miracle again.’
Please, I want to see him again. She closes her eyes and grips Black March with both hands as though in a prayer.
Light blooms from beyond her closed eyelids and she hears a feminine laughter ring in the air. Her eyes fly open and she stares in awe at the beautiful blond-haired woman materializing before her.
“Well, well, well...” Begins the ethereal lady. “That was quite the impressive show.”
“Are you... The spirit of Black March?” Baam feels like floating, the menacing aura of the eel is overtaken by the graceful presence of the woman.
“Correct.” Black March replies, her beguiling smile deepening. “You have something to ask of me, yes?”
The remark snaps Baam from her daze, and she hurriedly replies. “Yes! Please, please lend me your power in order to pass this test! I couldn’t pop the ball on my own.”
Black March hums and looks appraisingly at Baam. “Before I make my decision... Tell me, why do you want to go up the Tower so badly?”
“Is it the precious gold and jewels, magical fruits and heavenly beauties, or the taste of power and glory? What is it amongst all these that drives you upwards?”
“None.” Baam replies resolutely. Black March looks at her in confusion. “I just want to find my most precious person.”
“His name is Cain, and... While he’s not as marvelous as jewels or as powerful as legendary warriors, he’s very important to me.
If I could find him again... I don’t need to go until the top of the Tower.” She finishes and stares unwaveringly at Black March. Black March’s eyes narrow and she reaches out slowly towards Baam.
“My, what a dedicated girl.” She strokes Baam’s cheek gently. “I don’t normally humor any sort of requests from a woman but...” Her gold eyes turn fond. “I can respect your devotion. And well, if you’re this desperate... I’d be a heartless woman not to answer your pleas.”
She smiles and this time, the edges are less sharp than before. “Very well, I’ll help you.”
“Thank you.” Baam whispers in relief. “Thank you so much.” Her voice is thick with emotion.
Black March opens her arms in a grand gesture. “Once again, girl. Call upon my name and ignite me.”
Baam takes a deep breath and fixes her hold on the black needle’s handle. With all the determination she can muster, she reverently speaks. “Black March... Ignite!”
The ignition of the illustrious Black March is as beautiful as it is powerful. Black lightning streaks and thunders and swallows the ball whole. Against such powerful blast, the ball pops with a satisfying sound.
This time, a gentle darkness envelops her world.
✵✵✵
“Where did she go?!” Yuri searches the cage for any presence of the Irregular but aside from the downed eel, there was nothing in sight.
“She has moved on to the next floor, princess.” Headon informs her with a hint of mischief. “She passed the test after all.”
Yuri clicks her tongue irritably. “Shouldn’t you follow her, Princess Yuri? She took the Black March with her.” Yuri shoots him a look that said ‘And whose fault is that?’.
“Let’s go Evan, guide me the way.” Yuri decides to cut her losses here and pursue Baam immediately. Ignoring the requests of her guide to ‘slow down’, the Black Snakehead and the Fast Ship exits the first floor.
✵✵✵
“Well, that was quite the eventful test.” Languidly, the shockwave from his staff ends the eel’s misery.
“Children these days... They can get so rebellious.” Green blood clouds the once blue shinsu. He twirls his staff and the mangled carcass of the eel is swept away for the bottom feeders to feast on.
Headon turns towards the side.
“Did you see? The girl went up.” Putting the appropriate note of awe in his voice, he continues. “She was truly something wasn’t she? I’m looking forward to see what kind of story she’ll lead.”
The devil shows his wide-toothed smile unreservedly. “What will you do now, lad?”