"Do you need another practical example?"

Baam … Viole … looked at his latest acquaintance. Ha Jinsung had been assigned as his martial arts instructor and if the Ranker had any qualms with his new student he did not show it (unlike Jinsu who did – loudly). He smiled, or at least the boy think he did, whenever he looked at him, a slim line that cut across the man's face.

"No, I'm good." He still remembered the last time he had a "practical example". He didn't need to be hit by another Flare Wave Explosion.

"Alright, take a stance."

Viole took a back stance. He transferred his weight onto his back leg, and kept his front leg light, barely touching the ground. Viole put his hands up in a guard – open palm.

Then Jinsung struck – at a speed that cracked the air like a thunderpeal.

He flooded his body with shinsoo, he felt it reinforce his body, his limbs. He dove to the side, right arm tucked under his left, and felt the impact, the shockwave, in Jinsung's passing. Viole hurried to his feet, righting himself and putting up a guard.

Then he froze.

Ha Jinsung didn't just have that slight smile anymore, but a full fledge smile had broken across his face. "You dodged," he said with no little amount of wonder, "Last time you didn't. And you even used Shinsoo Reinforcement."

"That's good?"

"It's incredible, 'Ole." Then he amended, "Well, not so much so for monsters like Urek, but Regulars from the Ten Families and Zahard Princesses can do it when they enter the Floor of Test, but they definitely didn't learn after one try!"

After one time of being hit.

"Even Karaka didn't learn that quickly."

"Who's Karaka?"

Just like that his excitement deflated, the smile leaving his face, "Nevermind, Viole. As of right now I'm going to try to hit you, try to focus everything on dodging."

"What? But – "

And he moved.

….

After the "training" Ba-Viole entered into his room… of sorts. He hadn't been expecting that day when he was healed by Jinsu that it would be the start of a weeklong stay in the tiny room but it had been. When Viole found himself alone he had tried the other doors but as always they remained locked, otherwise he slept in the room, trained in the circular chamber and ate when he could.

When he opened the door he found Hwa Ryun waiting for him.

She sat in one of the plush chairs in the corner of the room. Another sat right opposite of it that hadn't been there before. Hwa Ryun must have moved it over when she entered. Viole took the offered seat and as he did he could feel her gaze scan over him, looking at his bruised and battered form.

"I see that that Bargain Bin didn't go easy on you."

He must look as bad as he felt, but Viole latched onto something else, "Bargain Bin?"

"It's just a nickname of sorts I gave him. Ha Jinsung always buys the nicest but cheapest clothes, and his perm looks like it was taken out of some B-rated film."

"Uh, are you sure you should be saying that? He's a High Ranker."

"The truth's the truth."

Viole had the distinct impression that he didn't want to piss this woman off.

"…So should we begin?" Viole asked.

This all started yesterday when, after a brief talk with Jinsung, it became clear that the boy literally knew nothing of the Tower. His martial arts instructor had too much on his plate to teach him the basics of the Tower as well so that duty went to the red-haired guide. After all, guide duties or no, she would be much freer than the other Rankers in FUG.

How did she get into FUG anyway?

He didn't have long to think about it.

"First off, who rules the Tower?"

"Zahard."

"And?"

He didn't snap this one out immediately and had to think about it. But only for a moment, "The Ten Families."

He smiled. Baam had only heard that term a couple times but he still –

"Who are they?"

His smile dropped.

"I want to tell you now – I don't know all of them."

"That's fine. Tell me what you do know."

The faces flash into his mind's eye, and as he does he says them. "Ha," Baam says remembering the Princess of Zahard that came crashing into him upon entering the Tower, "Eurasia," was the next and that brought to mind Jinsu and her scarier twin brother, "and – "

He pauses, eyes glancing down to the carpeted floor, staring at the elaborate designs, becoming half-lidded. "And Koon."

Hwa Ryun made a humming noise … then leaned over and flicked him on the forehead.

Baam wheeled back, clutching at his head and pouting at her. "What was that for?"

She might as well have been blind in both eyes and deaf as well. "Alright, get comfortable, this is going to be a long session."

So he did. So she started.

"Before we begin, you must understand that all of the Ten Great Families are "blessed" with a different ability. In fact, you can say that the Tower itself is made up of those who are blessed, who are chosen, and those who are not." There was something … odd … in her tone as she said that, as if there was some greater meaning to that which only Hwa Ryun herself knew. "Of the three you've mentioned, the Ha family is renowned for their immense physical strength, the Eurasias for their exceptional Shinsoo control and the Koon family for its cunning intelligence."

That made Baam crack a smile. Yeah, that sounds about right.

"The other seven are the Bidau family, which runs the Research Association and is in a longstanding feud with the Eurasia family, they are also the sole clan able to produce Wonsulas, the Tu Perie family who are well known as Light Bearers, the Ari family who are well known scouts, the Yeon family who are skilled fire-users, the Bok-dol family who are exceptional Spearbearers and the Hendo family who have great defenses and shinsoo resistance … did you get all that?"

Baam smiled. "No."

Hwa Ryun sighed.

…..

Viole once again joined Ha Jinsung. The mood from the earlier lesson had dissipated, dispersed, just shattered and left him grim as he rejoined his martial arts instructor. For his part, Jinsung just nodded as Viole rejoined before snapping his head over to the side.

There stood another golem. It seemed similar to the one he had trained against before but slimmer. The blue steel core in the center of its chest hummed with vibrant energy, to his eyes the young boy saw a glimmer of a white aura seeping out of the gem and over the mass of earth. In many ways it reminded Viole of the aura that surrounded that Lizard from the 2nd Floor, Anak Zahard.

Does that mean it's as strong as her?

"This test is fairly simple. You need to dodge all of its blows and hit it with Shinsoo Reinforced punches and the Flare Wave Explosion technique. When I believe you've done enough damage I'll stop it and you'll win. You lose if you take too many hits. Any questions?"

"No, seonsaeng."

Viole walked away from the pillar where Ha Jinsung stood – leaning against it and watching. The golem itself whirled to life the moment he got in range. Viole sent shinsoo bubbling out of his baang, to circulate through his body, to flow, to ebb.

The golem swiped.

Viole ducked, throwing a hook into its knee.

His fist smacked into the rock with a flash and bang of sound, but when the smoke cleared not even a scratch could be seen on it. The golem rose its knee to kick him and Viole spun out of the way, getting behind the golem. He felt that same sensation as before when he fought the Bull, that energy coursing up his arm then darting out – splashing against the golem's back. Outside of some singed marks it didn't look as if it did much damage but the sound the golem made next proved otherwise. It groaned out, a sound of rumbling boulders, and twisted its shoulders to strike at him. Viole dodged, once again stopping in front of it.

As Viole looked on, the damage he had done to its knee vanished. Its back also reshaped and shifted around. As long as that core remains it'll keep coming after me, Viole thought, it animates…of course.

The golem went after him again, but Viole twisted out of the way and shot a hand up – slapping the core on its shiny blue surface. The moment he touched it he resonated the shinsoo in and around it, creating a vibration that blew through the golem entirely. The backlash happened immediately and Viole had just enough time to circulate the flow, feeling the power course through him before vanishing.

A trickle of blood still clung to his lip.

Ha Jinsung stepped over the new pile of rubble that had once been the golem before bending down to pick something up from the field of earth. As Viole neared he saw that it was the core – the blue circle that made up the heart of it completely blown out and blackened. "Good work," he said as Viole approached. "I saw that you didn't use martial arts for one of your strikes."

He winced, "That … wasn't intentional."

"No, it was good. Interspersing shinsoo blasts with your martial arts is a privilege for powerhouses. Wave Controller isn't my primary position but I can teach you some basics. How much did you learn in your position class?"

Baam glanced over to the side. "You know, the basics."

And Ha Jinsung's smile died. "How do you make use of the Flare Wave Explosion? What are the steps?"

"I … uh."

The man sighed, shoulders slumping, "You don't know, do you? You do it all by instinct."

"I mean, that's – "

"Alright. I'll teach you."

Just like that, his stutter, his uncertainty, it all fell aside as Viole locked his gaze on the Ranker. He took a breath then took a seat, taking a seiza, sitting on the back of his legs. Ha Jingsung took a seat opposite of him, sitting crossed-legged on a rock.

"We'll start with the basic of the basics. There are three aspects involved when you manipulate shinsoo. The basic unit of shinsoo manipulation, Baang, the size of the Baang, Myun, and the density of the Baang, Soo. While the general rule of thumb is the more Baangs the better having larger Baangs which you can fit more shinsoo inside of is also beneficial."

"I knew all of that already," Well, heard of it.

"Then what do you know of Flow Control and Reverse Flow Control techniques?"

This he could answer. "Shinsoo exists inside of us as it does in the rest of the world. It has an inherent flow that circulates power throughout the body. Controlling the flow inside of you is called Flow Control and forcing an opponent's flow to change is called Reverse Flow Control".

"Yes, and the Flare Wave Explosion is a technique that makes use of both controls simultaneously."

"I thought you could only make use of one technique at a time."

"No, you can combine techniques. It's difficult but doable. The Wave Explosion requires for you to make physical contact with an enemy, they you vibrate their shinsoo in their body creating an explosion. This creates a backlash on the user so you must use Flow Control to nullify the aftermath. Done correctly it will leave destruction in your wave but you, yourself, untouched. It's FUG signature technique."

"I see," he said.

"You sound unsure. We can – "

"No, I don't need an overview or anything. It just seems that the Flare Wave Explosion technique can get fairly … bloody."

That made the man snort a laugh. "Most techniques are. Take Body Reinforcement. Your right in that each living organism has its own internal flow of shinsoo. You can manipulate the flow to heal … but you can also accelerate it to such a degree that it exceeds their limit and pops them like a water balloon." Viole's eyes widened, but his mind went blank at the man's next words, "Eurasia Blossom, the head of the Eurasia family, once proved this could be done by accelerating the shinsoo in a Floor and killing 99% of its population."

Baam jumped to his feet. "What?" He exclaimed, "Why!"

"Who knows? Maybe she did it for sport."

"I don't believe it. There has to be a reason."

"There likely is. I don't know much of what happened outside of the rumors. Would that excuse it?"

Baam glanced down, eyes falling half closed, the floor of the circular chamber becoming a brown-grey blur. He didn't know. He just –

He heard the sigh a second before he felt Ha Jinsung flop a hand onto his head, "Think about it some more later, alright, 'Ole?"

Viole must have agreed but he didn't hear the words.

…

Later that night Viole lay in the bed, staring up at the ceiling, unable to go asleep. The Eurasia family destroying a branch family and Blossom Eurasia killing a whole Floor, which were the size of continents, Hendo Bloodmadder stealing the lifespans of his children and their children, Jinsung and the woman he had loved and how she had been enslaved.

But then Ha Jinsung's question sounded in his mind, with its meaning twisted.

Would that excuse it? He had asked.

Would that excuse what FUG had done?

Viole flung the sheets to the side before easing himself to his feet. A window hung on one of the side walls of the room. He walked to it. He looked. A vast reservoir of water, part of the testing arena from before, lay on the other side of the glass – so that he could look into it. Dozens, hundreds, of fish shinhueh swam in the water – climbing ever higher. Up above, Viole could make out the distorted reflection of the moon … of the Light Ball … that glimmered with a pale light.

Once more words came to him unbidden, his, from another time, when Viole still went by another name.

But not to me. If Rachel isn't there, that place is nothing more than a pile of garbage. No matter what's up there, it won't change. You told me that a being like I am is strange, but to me, you are a person that can't even find a single thing that's precious within that huge pile of garbage. I don't care what others say. I will climb the Tower. And if all of you aren't a bunch of liars, you better prepare what I want up there.

"Can't go to sleep?"

He turned around to see Hwa Ryun leaning against the doorframe. She must have opened the door as he was lost in his thoughts. He nodded at the eyepatched Guide. "Did you want something?"

"Just wanted to tell you that I'd be gone for the next few days we'll have to continue our lessons after."

Why let me know? You always seem to go where you want, when you want. It wouldn't be the first time you vanished on me. But instead he just smiled, a soft smile, "Thanks."

"So, what were you thinking of?"

He could have said nothing, he could have lied, and a part of Viole still did want to, but the words came out as he looked at her. "I've made a decision," he said, then nodding, he said it again, "I've made a decision."

"And?"

"I'm going to climb the Tower. Not for FUG and their wishes but for myself."

"For yourself or for her?"

"Both."