The owl trembled. As the boss of the entrance exam, what kind of person hadn’t it seen before? There were brave contestants, cowardly contestants, fierce contestants, even mentally deranged contestants, but it had never encountered one like the armored woman! No one had ever attacked it before! Wasn’t she worried about offending authority? A fierce light glinted in the owl’s eyes, and electricity surged out of its body, white and blue lightning coating every single one of its feathers.

Mary’s eyes widened, and a rune flashed on her head. The aura of a turtle wrapped around her body, shielding her from the arcs of lightning. She grabbed a fistful of the feathers on the owl’s head, yanked her arm upwards, and slammed the poor bird’s face into the stone platform. With a squawk, its feathers stopped emitting electricity, and its struggles came to a halt.

“I’ll speak,” the owl said, its voice sounding a bit stuffed, probably due to the blood running out of its nostrils. “Can you let me stand, please?”

“No,” Mary said. “You should be grateful I’m not tearing into you after the stunt you pulled. Speak or be eaten.”

The owl stiffened and trembled before relaxing. It spoke with its face planted in the ground. “The Tower is a place where wishes and dreams come true, where the impossible becomes possible. Strength beyond your wildest fantasies, the power to trample all beneath your feet, these can be achieved within the Tower.”

Mary frowned. “Wishes and dreams? Genies live in this tower?”

“Certainly,” the owl said. “Genies do live inside the Tower along with a myriad of other races. The Tower has many roots, each one digging through dimensions to find worlds with lifeforms to populate its interior. You came into this testing ground by entering an opening left behind by one of the Tower’s roots.”

“Roots? Is the Tower a tree?” Mary asked.

“Yes, yes,” the owl said. “It is a tree, but it is more commonly referred to as a tower because the interior is hollow. There are many floors within, and if you can ascend all the way to the top of the Tower, there is nothing in the myriad dimensions that you can’t have.”

Mary relaxed her grip on the bird, but she kept her sword close to its neck. “How do I leave the Tower?” she asked. After she had entered the red portal, it had disappeared behind her, leaving her in a dead end with only one way forward that led straight to the arena. If this way was to enter the Tower, then where was the exit?

“As long as you complete the entrance exam, you will be given two options: you can claim your reward and enter the Tower, or you can go back to where you came from,” the owl said. “After you enter the Tower, you can leave the Tower through an exit token. Those are granted when you accomplish a special feat, or you can purchase them from people who have them. However, if you leave the Tower, you may not have the chance to come back unless you have an entry token.”

Mary furrowed her brow. “If I enter the Tower, can I gain the power to slay a dragon?”

“Yes,” the owl said, still speaking into the ground. “If you can reach the top of the Tower, slaying a dragon will be no problem for you. There are quite a few dragon clans that reside on the upper floors of the Tower. Naturally, to get to the top, you’ll have to defeat them. As you pass each floor, you’ll be given rewards, and your strength will increase; even if you can’t defeat a dragon now, by the time you reach them, it’ll certainly be possible.”

The furrow on Mary’s brow deepened. “There’s a saying,” she said, “if something’s too good to be true, then it probably isn’t true. What’s the catch? Why is the Tower going around granting wishes and strength to people?”

The owl took in a deep breath. “That involves a secret of the Tower. If I answer that question”—

Mary grabbed the owl’s scalp feathers once more and slammed it into the ground. “It sounds like you know the answer. Speak.”

Stars circled around the owl’s head as it stared at the ground with blank eyes. After a moment, it shook itself awake. In most fantasy stories, the main characters within novels were always kept in the dark, meant to uncover secrets later on as the plot progressed. Why was it so easy for the side characters in those stories to keep their secrets a secret? What other character had been abused like the owl during a main character’s pursuit of knowledge? “I really can’t tell”—

Bang!

Mary ruthlessly slammed the bird’s head into the ground.

The bird gasped. “If you climb up the tower, you’ll find out the answer soon enough! If I tell you now, I’ll lose my qualifications as an examiner, and that’s much worse than you eating me alive.”

Mary tilted her head. “You’d rather be dead than not be an examiner?”

“Yes,” the owl said. “So, no matter what you do to me, I won’t answer that question.”

Bang!

“Answer?” Mary asked.

“I won’t!”

Bang!

“Answer?”

“No!”

Bang!

“Answer?”

“I really can’t.”

Bang!

“Still resisting?”

“…”

Bang!

“I didn’t even say anything that time!” the owl said. “You didn’t even give me a chance to speak!”

Mary raised an eyebrow. “Were you going to answer?”

“…No.”

Bang!

“Is your life really more important than some qualification?” Mary asked. “As long as you’re alive, you can requalify for this position after you lose it.”

“I might be an owl, but I have the heart of a lion,” the owl said. “You’re simply wasting your time by doing this to me!”

“Nonsense,” Mary said. “I used to think spending time on anything other than practice was a waste, but my best friend taught me otherwise. Time spent on enjoyment and relaxation is very important; it isn’t a waste, and it might even help you get stronger.”

The owl stiffened. “Bashing my head against the ground is relaxing and enjoyable to you?”

“Yes,” Mary said. “It makes a nice sound. I’ve never made music before, but I’m starting to see why some people dedicate their life to it.”

Bang!

The owl’s face cramped. Weren’t they having a peaceful conversation? Why did the woman slam its face into the ground again? “Okay, okay! I’ll speak! Just, please, no more pain.”