A tower

Why push on? Revana was made that question on a daily basis ever since she was little. The world is about to collapse, so her parents failed to understand why she would pursue a degree in complex casting and artifact mastery instead of inheriting the family business of pumpkin harvesting.

Why seek excellency? Even if she had the advantage of being one of the rare solar casters, her classmates didn't lag behind in any regard, making the task of excelling a tad too difficult for her. No matter how much she pushed herself to the limit, her rivals always stepped their game up to hers, if irritatingly.

Why face adversity when clearly outnumbered and overpowered?

The face of that same classmate who ridiculed Renova countless times by outperforming solar spells with mere fire runes personified her answer. Regardless of the many prejudges he held for her race or his obvious lack of sportsmanship, Dennis clearly wanted to be rescued.

Every act of improvement is meant to be reflected on a future result. That was a moment to show such growth.

"We need to evacuate! The Spineriches mess up with our magic field and disrupt our runes before we even cast them! We need to retreat and regroup!"

Her normally cool and collected lizard senior yelled at the top of her lungs.

"But Dennis is in danger!" Renova pointed out, her eyes trembling at the sight of three predator birds surrounding the fallen human.

"If we could do something for him, we would had done so already!" The lizard insisted, grabbing the whitehaired beastgirl by the shoulder and staring her down with resolved eyes. "The best we can do for him now is to get the teacher's help."

Renova swiped her arm to be released from her stern classmate and returned the glare.

"The best? Your 'best' is just not good enough!"

Biting her lips, Renova once more gazed at the despairing scene before her. Three of her classmates had already ran away, confused by the Devil Bird screeches. The three of them managed to slay a couple of Sabertooths, but by the time they found a chance to retreat safely, the Spineriches made their way downstairs and ruined things for them. For magicians, who heavily relied on their spells, fighting monsters that nullified their strengths caused them to panic, which in turn causes a plethora of mistakes and fear-born careless actions.

The end result: Dennis got surrounded by a bunch of monstrous thunder-channeling ostriches that clearly made him their target. The monsters attacked the human boy with thunder charges, eating away at their prey's barrier, which waned with each passing second.

Renova clutched her magic staff in her hand and tried to simulate her rescue attempt. Her disastrous lack of possibilities made her impatient, which was only worsened by the pressuring rupture of Dennis' magic barrier and his shriek of pain.

Her classmates had always outdone her in many tests and lessons. Why were they backing off, then? Where did they lose their initiative? Renova had every intention to jump in and rescue her classmate, but… for the first time in forever, she was alone. Nobody dared to step further into the tower to save Dennis. No one.

The three-ring-shaped staff channeled small solar orbs, but her trembling armored arm never got to unleash the spell. Hesitation.

Before her, a wall stood unbeatable.

Arrows flew past the wall.

"I've got you, buddy!"

While an aged man moved in to retrieve the unconscious Dennis, a human swordswoman quickly sliced one of the thunder birds, pushing the rest back. More arrows flew over her blond head, sticking into the targets and making the Spineriches screech in anger. Some Devil Bats flew towards the group of newcomers, but another barrage of arrows kept them at bay. A sneaky Toothsaber crept its way towards the human archer, but she had a guardian watching her back: a whitehaired beastgirl who wielded a bone-made scythe. She was clearly not used to battle, which explained why she mainly defended her teammate. After the priest rescued Dennis and retreated to the rearguard, he knocked his staff against the back of the predator that focused their newest partner.

"Good job guarding Grace, Bajanna! Here's your reward!" He sang as he casted a healing spell, wiping away the scratches and the injuries of the grateful beastgirl.

Pondering who those people could possibly be, Renova and her classmate received the fainted Dennis. The students could only admire the well-coordinated efforts of the huntress and the mercenary. They were simply four fighters, but they complemented their strengths so effectively that they beat the many waves of predators that descended to gnaw at them.

"See? That's the 'best' we had to aim for!"

Tossing Dennis to the lizard's arms, Renova jumped into the fray and unleashed her own solar spells to support the adventurers. After yelling her intention to assist, the group welcomed her and asked her to support their archer with the unending cascades of Devil Bats.

"Sunlight!"

The spell grew upwards from the staff, building a huge column of pure heat that burnt the bats away and scattered the rest. The Spineriches aimed their lightning beams at her to retaliate, but the priest shielded her with his own magic barrier. The magic waves pushed them back, but they pair of fighters stood their ground.

"More Gorfs! Grace, get rid of their healers!" The mercenary in the vanguard commanded, parring claw and fang with her dark blade.

"I can't right now! There are Horned Slugs raining from above!"

"Damn these pests!" The priest groaned.

"Eeek!"

The scythe wielding beastgirl got tackled by the slugs, who quickly focused their attacks on the fallen. A rule of these predators was to always prey on the weak. A doubting adventurer couldn't possibly measure up to them.

"Damn it! They're too many! Bajanna!"

Each one of them were too busy clashing against the monsters to be able to rescue their newest recruit. All… but one. The solar mage shrunk her magic staff and returned it to the ring of the thigh-belt where other keys hanged. In exchange for the staff numbered X, she pivoted to the V model. A quick cast later, it retrieved its original size and she aimed it towards the group of slugs. A diamond area of fiery heat surrounded the monsters and Bajanna. It was so intense that the scramble was forced to halt for a moment.

After the spell dispersed, only the stunned figure of the beastgirl remained; the slugs were reduced to ash and burnt goop.

A satisfied smile grew on Renova's lips. Working her ass off to improve her magic control did pay off!

It didn't take long for the remaining monsters to realize how the tables had turned. Those who still wanted to feast on the newcomers quickly meet their end, while the rest simply turned tail and fled from the tower.

The fight was over.

"Phew! That was quite intense! Are you okay, Bajanna?"

"Aye. Al' thanks to that mage gal." The rescued beastgirl approached the other and bowed. "Thank ya very much!"

Renova scratched her short white hair with her black gauntleted hand and shrugged.

"It was you guys that saved us first. My classmates would have been thrashed to death if not for you."

When was the last time since someone actually thanked her for anything? The solar mage couldn't help blushing and averting her pinkish red eyes away.

"Don't sell yourself short, lass. Your magic was out of this world!" Kuscah complimented, reminiscing in the solar spell that saved his younger partner.

"It was nothing… really… I wouldn't have been able to do anything if those two hadn't suppressed the Spineriches back." Renova was really not used to receiving praise. "Um… By the way, who are you people? What are you doing at the Tower of Temptation?"

The old priest scratched his hairy jaw and rose a brow.

"We could make you the same exact question, couldn't we?"

"Yer group seems to be made of magic students, so ya should probly know already that to enter this place's taboo." Bajanna pointed out, sliding a look at the scholars gathering at the entrance.

"Well, our teacher is a bit… extravagant. It was decided that we would make our field session at the tower. Our task was to put theory into practice in a real world setting. We believed this trip would demand of us to extract the knowledge from the murals of this place, but nobody warned us about the dangers inside. That goof of a pervert could have at least spared a warning or two…"

"Who?"

"An old jerk with nefarious intentions towards any female. Hadn't he joined that other group, he would surely be prowling around you by now."

Kuscah and Bajanna exchanged a look of perplexity. The latter squinted her eyes accusingly: she knew of an old man with a tendency to flirt in taverns.

"Hey, I may enjoy hitting on pretty ladies, but I wouldn't make myself a nuisance!"

The huntress overheard their conversation and hung an arm over her companion's neck, denoting the big difference between her slim frame and his generous bulk.

"That's right. The old man might be a little easy on the alcohol, but he's a pretty decent guy to be around."

"Nothing but corny jokes." The cool mercenary added, cleaning the blood on her sword with a rag.

Renova called her tutors over in order to let them know what transpired. Stepping back and bowing, the entire group of magic students thanked the party for their heroic intervention. When questioned about what they would do next, the adventurers explained their intentions to go higher into the tower.

Exchanging farewells, the magicians saw them off the spiraling stairs, led on by the light of a torch and the sparkly determination in their eyes. Renova took a step forward, reaching out to them in the distance.

"Go." Her tutor told her. "It's obvious you want to go with them."

"Teacher…"

"As you have recently experienced, there is a gap between school learnings and challenges encountered in practice. Your classmates' talents shine mostly in scholar settings with controlled environments. You, however, want more than just fantasy, don't you? If someone goes further than you, you follow through, no matter what."

"You already scolded me for that… I singlehandedly gained the animosity of the college for being too brazen about things and talking out of turn."

The teacher looked over his shoulder and let out a sigh. The other professors were debating whether to continue the session or return to the capital, led by the head teacher. That old lady couldn't get any sterner even if she tried…

"Magic is a shape of faith, Renova. You don't need to stay in class to learn your magic. Go after them. Chase your desires. Maybe you will find that something that keeps us old folks from growing any further."

"What will the head teacher say?"

"Knowing her and her particular obsession with you, 'good riddance'."

"Hahaha…"

Her tutor placed a hand on her shoulder and reached inside one of his pockets. He gave her a pendant in the shape of a key.

"If you ever get into trouble, I trust you can wield this model. It's not been tested yet, so it doesn't even have any assigned number, but you are a resourceful girl, Renova. You will find a use for it, I'm sure."

The pupil gave her teacher a hug.

"Thank you… for everything."

One push on the back later, the beastgirl was already chasing after the party of adventurers. Her heart beat to the rhythm of her white boots.

"The Maker? You mean, the divine being rumored to slumber inside the tower?"

"Aye. You must believe we're fools…"

To Renova, religion was more like a fairy tale. However, her tutor's last words gave her some things to consider: magic is a shape of faith. If a divine entity is the culmination of faith, could magic be better understood by meeting such a god?

"Ya said ya wanted to join our group to further yer magic studies, but are ya really sure that's okay?" Bajanna meekly asked, scared of accidentally encouraging her to go back. However, she was so good-natured she couldn't help worrying for the magician's interests.

"Well, having her around puts me at ease."

"Does it? I believed you were going to find the Maker even if you had to do it on your own, teenybopper."

"Enough of my age, old man! I'm going to find the Maker, yes, but being the only ranged fighter in the group puts a lot of pressure on my shots. You know, the 'if I miss this, the others will pay the consequences'-kind-of-thing."

"Thank you so much for saving me over and over again." Bajanna bowed again, reminding the countless times she got rescued by her teammates before reaching the tower. "I promise I'll grow stronger to repay you!"

"Take it ease, girl. If we're lucky, we'll find the Maker at the top of the tower and fix things, so you won't have to level up too much."

"Haha, 'level up'? You're really old enough to be my father!"

"Sod off, teenybopper! I love me a good rpg if I see one!"

Bajanna tilted her beast ears, expressing her ignorance of the term 'rpg'. Bahl mumbled something to herself, but made no effort to be heard. Kuscah grumbled and shook his head.

"Kids these days… Anyway, let's get back on topic. As you already know, we seek the Maker. Best case scenario, we find it in this tower and save the world. Worst case scenario, our goal is much further than that. We agreed to you joining us because we could really use your magic talents against the bats, but we might we going for a journey much longer than you could expect."

"We decided to make a 'pact of faith' to reinforce our commitment." Grace added.

"Pact of faith?" Renova asked, glancing at the murals they passed through during their slow ascent.

"Yup! Look!"

Grace reached inside her dress and picked up a crumpled paper. On it, the names of the seekers were listed and signed. Everyone was willing to go as far as they had to in order to find the Maker and save the world. When the mage held the paper, the seekers expressions changed. It was a promise they were proud to make. A will they would see through to the very end.

Below Bajanna's name, Renova wrote hers with a tiny solar spell.

"Whether the Maker exists or not, I can see you are serious about your quest. I'm not one to fall behind anyone, so I'll walk with you on this path to salvation."

"Welcome aboard!"

"We're glad to have you!"

"And thus, Kuscah's harem grew one member bigger." Grace narrated mockingly.

The last time they got drunk, the priest complained about being the only man of the party. An adventure with beautiful companions was great, especially if he could get to befriend them in the process, but he also desired some companions with which he could be completely relaxed around. He liked women, but 'sometimes too much boob can be straining', as he put it. Grace found that so funny she continued to mock the old man until exhaustion got her dizzy. Bajanna was not used to drunk people, so she simply tried not to get swept by their craziness and follow Bahl's cool example.

As the original three members studied a mural where bees swarmed into a big thing in the middle, the two new beastgirls lagged behind.

"Um, Bajanna, wasn't it?"

"Y-Yeah."

"This… is a little awkward to ask, but is the blond human mute or something?"

"Oh, Bahl? I wasn't sure myself, but I saw her speak up once or twice." Whenever the drunk duo bothered her, mostly, but she wouldn't tell her that. "I believe she's just… um… how to express it?"

"A loner?"

"W-Well… It feels as if she's emotionless most of the time, which is why she doesn't bother bonding like the other two."

"Huh. That's odd. Why did she decide to seek the Maker if she has no emotions?"

"I-I didn't say she has no emotions. I'm sure… there must be something that makes her happy."

After all, when she approached the swordswoman with the same curiosity, she received a single answer.

"…something to protect…"

"What was that?"

"N-Nothing! Let's go join them. Those murals seem really odd, don't they?"

Renova frowned. Their new companions had just arrived and had not studied the inscriptions and murals as long as she had. There was something terribly unsettling about the entire tower. A forbidden truth. A tragic story that happened in the past… or… perhaps… a prophecy of what was to come.

All who ventured into the tower had one thing in common: they lose their memory. That only happened, however, to those who went too far into its depths. The murals of the entrance allowed the previous researchers to determine the existence of a link between the Maker and the Tower, but none could go further than that without losing their ability to speak about the tower itself.

As a new member of the group, she considered it was worth mentioning to the others. The curiosity only pushed them to ascend faster. The predators may have decided to leave them alone… but the tower didn't house just monsters…

A dark shadow crept behind them.