54 – Leisurely Climbing

2 years later in Tower of God

"The tests are just too easy…it's getting boring to deal with all these weak Regulars," said Androssi, back in casual clothes, bending down in a ready pose to hit the next ball at the pool table.

"Everything before the 20th Floor will be easy, and even then we'd probably still be at the top of the hierarchy for a while," I said, while watching her play and score several more times.

"Why don't they just schedule tests more often? Then we could just blow past all of this," said Androssi with a sigh, straightening back up after a missed ball.

"If I had to guess, the problem is that there aren't enough Regulars that get stuck on these early Floors, so they don't bother to run as many tests, and it takes longer to get a good size group of contestants registered," I said, taking my turn.

I had also swapped for more casual clothes, though I still wore the Armoriont in a smaller form underneath. More than once I'd wished that there was a way to avoid the bulk of having multiple layers stacked on me and being able to go around less conspicuously, but I couldn't reduce the Armoriont's thickness too much lest the protection become weaker.

On the other hand, the physical strength and speed boosts that the Armoriont provided were no longer as meaningful as they once were. It had only ever been about thirty to fifty percent stronger and faster than my body itself after Amelia's internal upgrades, and the gap was narrowing thanks to Shinsoo strengthening my body, but my body's durability and regenerative speed still lagged far behind.

"I win again," said Androssi with a smirk, then I transferred some points to her as per our little wager.

Our game finished, then I excused myself to find somewhere quiet to continue working on my own personal development, while Androssi went to find other players to shake down and I left the billiard section of the hotel's entertainment area.

Compared to me, the Armoriont hadn't benefited as much from Shinsoo. It was hard to say why, but maybe having a conscious intelligence and learning how to manipulate Shinsoo, together with the water spirits' refinement of Shinsoo and spreading around my body, had made the difference.

Perhaps that last part was the biggest factor, because I seemed to be getting stronger at a rate that was abnormal compared to other Regulars around me. Even Androssi's physique hadn't improved as quickly, though that might just be because she started at a higher base.

Even where the Armoriont did improve, it wasn't to increase our combined strength, but instead very slight increases to its own speed and shapeshifting. This was because the Armoriont didn't stack with my own strength and speed as an exoskeleton—and that was already at its limit.

From this, it was obvious that my body would soon outclass the Armoriont's basic parameters, but a new problem arose. The Armoriont was good for more than just enhancing my basic physical stats, and most of those other features could not be easily replicated in my body, because the biological processes involved were too complex, took up too much space, and if separated into constituent parts, wouldn't work well inside a human body that was already packed full of its own organs.

There were features that did not really need to be in my body—like being able to produce nanocrystalline cellulose to craft other things, or the chemicals and viruses. Such features would still be usable even if I no longer wore the Armoriont as a full body suit, and just equipped it like I did with the wings.

But defense and regeneration were vital, and they were a dilemma because they worked better the greater the size of the Armoriont was relative to me. Thicker armor was harder to get through, and having a larger biomass meant more could be used for regeneration, as well as for hiding pre-prepared redundant human tissue that could be deployed quickly instead of trying to regenerate from scratch.

Part of the reason I didn't want to wear the Armoriont as a body suit was because it made the Omni-Flight spell much harder to cast due to the extra bulk and volume it added to my body. The higher we went up the Tower, the more important the speed granted by that spell would be. It would also become a similar drag on me as my body's parameters rose.

Another was that I didn't want to be forced to go around always armored or look huge all the time out of an abundance of caution. I did not want to be vulnerable to a sudden high level attack, and it wasn't practical for the Armoriont to regrow from a much smaller mass quickly in active combat. But that, in turn, meant that I was too conspicuous and might draw exactly the type of attention I didn't want. Even if the Armoriont could camouflage as a few different types of materials, that ability was only good for a limited number of effects. It couldn't camouflage as actual human skin, for example, while retaining its defense capability.

Without wearing the Armoriont, I still had softer and more flexible nanocrystal cellulose subdermal meshes, organ sacks, arterial sheaths, etc, internally, but this material was both extremely slow to regenerate inside my body without the Armoriont, and couldn't be compared to the defensive power of a thick layer of Armoriont.

This dilemma was why I'd spent a great deal of my free time outside of the tests working on healing magic with the water spirits.

I shut the door to my room, then took off all my clothes, and had the Armoriont retreat from my belly area.

Then I unsheathed Derflinger, and unsheathed the Endbringer blade within.

"We're doing that again? Oh boy," said the sword, but he lit up with a sword aura and grew barbs on himself.

I stabbed myself through the gut with a pained grunt, before pulling it out.

Blood splattered and I fell to my knees,

"…no pain, no gain…" I said.

Then I concentrated.

The water spirits reacted immediately, their mana surged and the wound began to seal, the blood returning into my body.

In a few minutes, I was back to normal as if the wound never happened.

Then I did it again.

And again, with other parts of my body.

My connection with the water spirits continued to improve, and their refined Shinsoo-mana suffused every part of me now. Their presence had similarly spread all over my body to the point where I had once tried to remove the water stone but still felt their presence in my body, and it easily returned to me with a thought.

Passing the tests themselves conferred little benefit to me, but the time I'd spent in the Tower had been well worth it in several ways.

The enemies were nothing special—few Regulars were as talented as those of the canon crew from the Floor of Tests, but the experience of combat had still been useful to me.

Androssi and Derflinger were less impressed with it all and had gotten bored long before I did, but despite my ability to punch far above my weight class with Derflinger, the water spirits, and Agate's overpowered Omniflight spell, I was happy to limit myself from using them against weaker opponents to develop my own core skills.

I had already spent far more time in the Tower than on any other plane, yet I planned to spend even more, because aside from the benefits of growth and collecting creation dust, I had discovered what seemed to be a useful property of interplanar time.

After the massive time differential I'd experienced with the first return to Worm, I had waited much longer before returning to test and observe the time difference again, and also to make sure I had a net gain of creation dust first.

And in those trips I'd made, what I'd found was the time that'd passed in Worm roughly corresponded to the time I'd used to collect creation dust with an additional differential. So far, 1 week of continuously active grain collection in ToG corresponded to about 2-2.5 days in Worm.

After the plane generated enough grain, I could finish collecting a unit in about two weeks of intermittent, buffered collection attempts, corresponding to about one week of actual active collecting. It wasn't possible to collect any grain at all while the plane had the barest of reactions to me—which meant that even while under an invitation, the plane would jealously guard its grain, then I'd have to lay low until it went away, before doing it again, thereby lengthening the overall time it took grab a whole unit. And this tug of war, along with the speed of recovery, was more efficient while the plane had multiple units of excess above its equilibrium, rather than trying to take it when there were fewer units.

I waited 8 months after the 2nd Floor's final test and collected 4 grain units before returning to Worm again, but only 10 days passed in Worm. This didn't match the 15:1 time ratio that I'd observed during my first return to Worm just after the Hide and Seek test when I was testing the threshold invitation, but it did roughly correspond to the same factor of grain units collected. I collected 4 times the grain, and 4x the time had passed.

So at that point I decided to do a key experiment, and when I came back to ToG, I simply didn't collect any grain for a year, choosing to observe what would happen. The excess grain piled up, some of it even got reabsorbed, demonstrating that there was an equilibrium effect here. If there was too much grain the plane wouldn't continue to stockpile more excess, though I didn't know what it did with it. Maybe it was sent via the Corridors to other planes. And the Builder had told me way back the first time that if there wasn't enough, the plane would hoard grain and take a very long time to recover any excess. So there was a sort of sweet spot of letting the plane stockpile some units then just skimming off the top.

Anyways, more importantly, the resulting time differential had seemed to confirm it—when I wasn't collecting, it was as if time nearly stood still on Worm. I'd collected 2 grain units at the end of the year just to refill and keep my stores the same, and less than 5 days passed in Worm.

Not only that, but every trip I'd made back to Worm seem to make time move even slower when I wasn't there yet collecting creation dust, and incredibly, the reverse was also true, with every trip back to Tower of God seemingly shortening the time that passed in the Tower while I was away in Worm!

Unfortunately I hadn't been able to extensively test this second effect because my sample size was a little too small along with the randomness component.

It was also possible that this increasing time dilation effect was due to the new physical Waypoint I'd established, inside a parked satellite at the far side Lagrange point of the Earth-Moon system. It served as an anchor for me in real space to strengthen the Waypoint's tie to the material world so I could not rule out the possibility it acted as a time anchor as well.

But regardless, it appeared that I could potentially deliberately use the time when I was not collecting grain to stretch out my stay on a plane without having time pass much elsewhere.

With the Regulars' areas being protected from Rankers for the most part, the many uses of Shinsoo, and the opportunity to stockpile creation dust, I had good reason to stick around in this plane for much longer.

Since I could only carry a limited amount of Shinsoo to other planes that would easily evaporate if not kept under control in its raw form, and the higher tiers of Shinsoo powers used ludicrous amounts of it, it wasn't something that could scale to an extremely high level for me, but it did provide a very good base to work with and assisted with my magic in some ways too.

After finishing the training, I meditated with the water spirits to absorb Shinsoo and restore the lost mana.

Eventually, I received a message on my Pocket and stopped.

O O O

Hwa Ryun waited for me on a bench in an empty area of a nearby park. We exchanged greetings and then I sat down beside her.

"When you said you'd find me later, I didn't expect it to be over two years later. Have you been getting overworked?" I asked.

"I told you I'd be busy. In FUG there's always something that needs to be done, and it's not that easy to travel through the Tower either. I may know the quickest paths but I still have to walk through them," she said.

"Thanks for taking the time to come see me then," I said. "How's Baam?"

"He's learning quickly. He will be much stronger the next time you meet," she said. "I hope you haven't been slacking either, or he'll catch up to you soon."

"Of course not. But it's not that easy, without that kind of talent, you know?"

Then she materialized the Shinsoo cannon that Ren used, and handed it to me. "Here you go, it's ready. Flow your own Shinsoo into it over here like this…"

She explained to me how to attune the item to my Shinsoo. My own mastery of Shinsoo was still weak, so it would take multiple sessions over time to do it on my own, but it would be good practice all the same.

"Leaving already?" I asked when she got up to go.

"Sorry, I was just passing by, have to head to my next mission," she said.

"Hey, about that Zygaena flower. I haven't figured out how to get the real one yet, but I made a replica. Do you want it?" I asked, bringing out the replica I'd made in Worm using images of the flower I'd found in the Tower's public network.

She took it from my hand and examined it. "Not bad, it could be convincing to somebody who didn't look too closely."

Then she handed it back to me with an amused expression. "But I was just joking. Don't stress over it. I don't need the flower for anything."

"You helped me a lot, if there's something you want, I wouldn't mind helping to get it," I said.

"Maybe in a few years I might ask you for something. See you later," she said.

O O O

"How about this one?" Androssi asked after getting out of the changing room in a different dress.

I glanced over it, noting the open shoulder and hanging sleeves.

"You look like a celebrity," I said.

"I am a celebrity," she said. "So, it's good?"

"Good for a party," I said. "Your fans will go crazy."

"Perfect, then," she said, walking over. "Now it's your turn. You need something more fashionable than just wearing armor all the time."

"Armor is practical," I said, shaking my head.

"Nonsense, you're my escort so you need to match my style," she said, before taking me over to the men's section and picking out various outfits for me to try.

I relented and began trying them on. This was what I'd been training for, after all.

O O O

[Interlude]

"In other news, the elusive and newest princess Androssi Zahard was spotted at the Sizzling Crab Gala…"

Leesoo switched the channel automatically with a bored face, then made a surprised expression, and switched it back.

The channel showed Androssi in a pink open shoulder dress with black highlights sitting at a round table beside Axion who was in a glossy silver open suit jacket with a black dress shirt underneath, eating some huge crabs and other gourmet foods.

"Spooky-eyes…" Anak said after taking notice of the TV. She sat at a table with several other members of their team, Aleksai, Hatsu, and Rak, who all turned towards the TV.

"…what do we know about her so far?" Asked one of the news hosts.

"Well, after beginning her climb about two years ago, she has gone up at one of the fastest speeds in recent history, but has rarely been seen in public. Rumor has it that she often disguises herself in tests," said the other host.

Khun walked in casually, "Hey, Leesoo, we need to buy—huh?" He called towards Leesoo before stopping to look at the TV as well.

"…her companion this evening is the mysterious Regular Axion who frequently appears with her, and is thought to be her sole teammate," the host continued.

"That's incredible, Mike, climbing at this rate with only a single teammate. But they are only two floors away from the 20th Floor, where many Regulars are known to succumb to the 20th Floor Syndrome. Will their pace continue, or will they finally begin looking for more teammates?"

"I think that's unlikely, Pavel. There's a good chance that they will continue to dominate within the E-Rank segment."

"What makes you say that, Mike?"

"According to some sources, this pair fought against Rankers during some mishandled tests on the Floor of Tests, causing several test administrators to quit or be fired. One test administrator is even rumored to have died under mysterious circumstances."

"Is that really possible, fighting against Rankers seems a bit far-fetched, is it not? Isn't that just a conspiracy theory?"

"Oh but an admission from a recent interview with Mr. Quant Blitz, the popular model for many Regulars' products, suggests that at least some of the rumors might be based on elements of truth. While refusing to disclose whether he actually fought the pair during his stint as a test administrator on the 2nd Floor, he says that he only made a small mistake while claiming his termination was unfair, promising revenge for his 'humiliation'."

"Judging by the way the princess is viciously crumpling that soda can with Mr. Blitz' face on it, she doesn't seem bothered by the prospect."

The two news hosts laughed while the camera zoomed in for a close up of Androssi.

"Looks like they're having fun," said Khun.

"She's even more beautiful than before," said Leesoo with a look of awe.

"Who cares about them," said Anak while grabbing the remote from Leesoo, who fought to get it back.

"Speaking of rumors, Mike, I've also heard a rumor about the two that's a bit more scandalous…"

"You mean the one about them being lovers, Pavel? That can't be possible, everyone knows that the princesses are forbidden from taking lovers and surely the royal family would have done something already if there were any truth to it."

"No, no, it's even more scandalous than that!"

"What could possibly be more scandalous?"

"Some say that when in disguise, they are secretly the increasingly notorious Andora and Chromatic, self-proclaimed witch and knight of calamity!"

"Is this a news channel or gossip channel?" Khun asked.

"It says celebrity news," Aleksai said helpfully, pointing towards a corner of the screen.

The channel was forcefully switched by Anak, followed by a sigh by Leesoo.

"Oh come on, I wanted to watch that!" Leesoo complained but gave up and sat back down on the couch.

"I was watching that too! We should keep tabs on our prey!" Rak shouted and rushed for the remote.

While Anak and Rak fought over the remote and ran out the door, Khun took Rak's seat and sat down beside Hatsu.

"They've slowed down a bit. We might be able to catch up soon," said Hatsu.

"Unless we slow down too. The 20th Floor might still be a breeze for them, but we'll have to be careful," said Khun.

"Climbing up fast is nice but going too fast risks undertraining ourselves," said Leesoo. "We shouldn't just chase after them, we need to keep our team strength in mind. Especially since Sunwoo and Chunhwa went off on their own."

"You thinking of recruiting another Anima?" Khun asked.

"Ahaha, you got me Khun. But Animas are rare…we might not be able to find a good one until after we become E-Rank ourselves," said Leesoo.

"And they'd have to be okay with Rachel," said Khun with a bored expression.

"Yeah there's that too…" said Leesoo, leaning forward and clasping his hands contemplatively with his elbows resting on his knees.

"Well, I just came to tell you that we need to buy food again," said Khun, standing up to leave.

"What? Already? But we just did…" Hatsu said.

"Yeah but it's almost gone. Seems like some green-skinned idiot has been selling it to pocket the money himself and some other green-skinned idiot had a fight that destroyed the fridge's cooling system," said Khun.

Leesoo facepalmed and groaned.

O O O

A few months later

[Kaleidus]

"What are you buying those for?" Androssi asked, watching me play around with a bunch of Shinsoo bombs and a Bowl that I bought from the 20th Floor workshop branch. "Can't you do stronger attacks by yourself? And I didn't know you had any talent for being an Anima."

"I do, actually. Or rather, I have some ways of doing it, but it'll just take time to figure out how to use it on Shinheuh. As for the bombs…" I chuckled. "They're just some fun toys, but I have to collect them or I can't consider myself a proper adventurer…these are an icon of perhaps one of the greatest adventure stories of all time."

"Greatest adventure story of all time? What are you talking about?"

I had the water spirits make the magic anti-scrying bubble. I doubted that anyone would understand what we were talking about or that anyone was actually watching us but I did it anyway. There were people in the Tower with the capability to see and know things from unlimited range, possessing nigh omniscience. People like Zahard and others that could see fate, or the owners of the godly Lighthouses. There were probably more that I didn't even know about, and I didn't know if this bubble would even work against them, but I had to at least try to defend against it, even if this would by itself cause attention from the Guardians due to the way it disrupted the Shinsoo flows that they administrated.

"It's called Pocket Monsters, or Pokémon for short, where Anima go on adventures capturing the Pocket Monsters and these," I said, tossing up the blue and white ball, "are probably a homage to the blue Dive Balls, which are specialized for capturing water types. Everything in the Tower lives off Shinsoo after all. It would be fun if that story was a world I could enter someday."

"What do you mean, enter that story? Is this one of those things to do with other planes? I thought it was just a metaphor when you said you were something imaginary that became real," said Androssi, noticing the bubble.

"It was, but I suppose it depends on your perspective. Every plane is its own story, and every story might be its own plane that can turn real somewhere out there. From my perspective, this world wasn't real until I entered it. From your perspective, I was the one that wasn't real. Maybe the design of these bombs is just a coincidence…or maybe the true god, the author of this story, included it for a reason."

"That's crazy," she said, shaking her head. "That doesn't even make any sense. Isn't that just wishful thinking? Even if you do find it one day, rather than the story becoming real, isn't it just that that world was always real, and there happened to be stories about it here? The Workshop existed Outside before they came into the Tower, so they brought a lot of weapon designs from there. This is probably one of them, that story probably exists Outside so somebody got inspired to make it in the Workshop. Just because it's impossible to go between the Outside and the Tower now doesn't mean they're not real for anyone that's not an Irregular. It's like saying I didn't see it so it doesn't exist. That's stupid."

"Ignore me then, I'm just a tourist taking a souvenir," I said.

"If you like stories so much, let's go watch a movie when you're done with that stuff," she said.

O O O