BOOK III

CROWN OF THE USURPER

Chapter 255

Changes (I)

Loud yells and screams cradled the darkness, brief flashes of light almost blinding. Crunching sounds echoed alongside the screams, like there was someone gnawing at and eating the bones. Otherwise, all was eerily silent, with no word spoken... as though someone had shut down the reality outside of those screams.

“Jesus, dad, it’s already afternoon,” a bitter voice cried out as the sound of the footsteps intermingled abruptly, light illuminating the darkness as the curtains were drawn open.

“Nooo, not the light, not the light~~” Cain cried out exaggeratedly, causing Lana to sigh and roll her eyes.

“What movie are you watching now?” she asked, walking over and sitting down, stealing some chips.

“Lethal Weapon,” Cain replied. “A classic.”

“Ah, yes, a movie twice your age,” she said, glancing at him. “You’re both classics by now.”

“... this is all your sister’s doing!” Cain complained. “Before she wrung your mind, you were all ‘daddy carry me, daddy I love you, daddy you’re the greatest!’ and now... and now... my little angel is calling me old... in my face...”

“What’s my fault now?” another voice joined in suddenly, causing Cain to look over Lana and past her flushed cheeks toward the approaching woman-- she was almost six feet by now and had let her hair go freely, donning a simple summer dress as she sat on the couch’s side, looking at him playfully with a pair of sky-blue eyes. “Go on.”

“Humph, don’t pretend to be stupid-- you corrupted your younger sister!”

“What are you talking about?” Senna looked at him oddly. “Don’t you know Lana has a huge crush on Taima? She’s clearly not--”

“SENNA!!!”

“Eh? That’s not what I meant, you dummy,” Cain said. “Aah, despite the fact that you look thirty, your brain is still lacking. Tsk, tsk, looks like we’ll have to chat a bi-----you like TAIMA?!! What?! Who says?!”

“Oh, pipe down,” Emma suddenly called out, yawning loudly, having just woken up.

“Ah, here comes the other half of the sloth...” Senna sighed.

“You finally told daddy you like that boy?” Emma asked, walking over to the kitchen and quickly brewing a cup of coffee.

“No, Senna did! You traitor!” Lana turned angrily toward the snickering Senna. By now, the sixteen-year-old girl had completely changed; she herself was five-feet-six, having grown her hair out just as Senna had. On the surface, the two really did look like sisters, startlingly so-- but it was largely because Lana went out of her way to copy Senna in the broad appearance, down to how the the two even did makeup... which they copied from Emma.

“Oh, what’s the big deal,” Senna shrugged. “He’s gotten so lazy he can’t even pretend to care. Look at him.”

“... dad?” Lana turned toward Cain who really looked like an embodiment of sloth.

“Scoot,” Emma joined, pushing Lana further back as she snuggled next to Cain, coffee cup in hand. “You girls planning on going to the Tower today?” she quizzed.

“Yup,” Senna nodded. “It’s Anna’s birthday, so the whole gang is going. You guys should come too.”

“... eh.” Emma and Cain shrugged indifferently, the former dipping fingers for some chips as well.

“A’right,” Senna shrugged. “Relax here like blobs that you’ve become.”

“Hey!” Cain suddenly cried out. “While it’s true that your mom gained some weight, that’s no reason to call her a blob!”

“Oh, go dig a hole, you shit!” Emma cried out. “Who gained weight, huh?! Can’t you see the balloon that your stomach has become?”

“Hey, hey, hey, this is... this is daddy weight! It’s a point of pride!”

“It’s a point of laziness! And what weight?! At least I run the thread once a day and so some basic workout! Have you even lifted anything heavier than your own ass for years now?!”

“Ah, it’s one of their ‘fights’ again,” Lana sighed as she stood up, Senna joining her right after as they headed toward the doors. “I’m starting to think all those stories about how cool the two were are just... lies.”

“Yeah...” Senna glanced back, an odd expression on her face. “I wouldn’t worry. Mom’s already becoming restless and will probably join us within a few months.”

“And dad?”

“Ah, I don’t know,” Senna scratched her head in frustration. “I keep trying to bring up his past glories or how people are clearing floors left and right or how new ‘strongest people’ are being shoved onto us but he...”

“No reaction?”

“None! How’s that possible?! It’s like he really wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his life glued to that goddamned couch, watching old movies and laughing at stupid dad jokes.”

“By the way,” Lana said, looking oddly at Senna for a moment.

“Hm?”

“What’s with the dress?”

“H-huh? What... what do you mean?”

“Since the day I met you... I have never seen you wearing a dress.”

“... nonsense.”

“Oooh~~ Sera’s finally back?” Lana elbowed Senna gently, her lips curling up into a smirk. “My, my, this birthday party for sure will have some fireworks~~”

In the meantime, having not realized that they were loud enough to be heard, Emma and Cain had stopped fighting and were staring strangely at the two’s backs, their lips curling up into wry smiles.

“Isn’t it a bit scary just how similar they are?” Cain quizzed.

“Eh,” Emma shrugged. “They’re not that similar, actually. The only time they are is when they interact with you.”

“... nonsense. They’re both super outspoken yet paradoxically shy--”

“What?” Emma interrupted immediately. “Lana? Shy? Are you out of your fuckin’ mind?”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s... she’s you, dude,” Emma said. “Through and through, she’s you. There’s literally nothing in the world that scares her. Just the other week, some reporter was harassing Senna and asking her whether the party’s disbanded, and Lana literally cursed out eighteen generations of his ancestors on live, national TV. Ricky’s been dealing with the aftermath ever since. Didn’t you hear me talking to him two nights ago?”

“Huh?”

“I could have sworn you were awake,” Emma shook her head. “Anyway, the dude calls me up at 3 A.M., in literal tears, begging me to ‘reign that little devil in before she costs me my life’. She is you. Senna’s mellowed out a lot, though. She’s far shier and withdrawn. The only time she’s actually that sassy and outspoken is with you.”

“... well damn,” something finally awoke inside of Cain as he sucked in a cold breath. “Those two keep lying to my face every single day, huh?!”

“That’s your takeaway? Jesus, you really might be beyond all our help.”

“... they really did grow up, huh?” Cain mumbled with a sigh, a reminiscent look in his eyes. “And we’ve gotten old. As in, almost 40 old. Holy shit...”

“Ha ha, yeah,” Emma laughed; despite the fact that they were almost 40, Cain just a few months away, actually, they still looked to be in their early thirties... aside from Cain’s slight belly. “Damn, time flies like crazy. It feels just like yesterday the man I fell in love with abruptly came back to life.”

“Ouch. Ah, I just realized-- we never actually got married.”

“You just realized it?”

“Khm...”

“Ha ha, but yea, it’s true. Oh well. Whatever. We’ve been too busy lazing about. By the way, you know what’s the highest level?”

“Hmm... 67-68?”

“Oi, how’d you know?” Emma quizzed, shocked.

“Eh,” Cain scoffed. “How can I not?”

“Even if he hadn’t set a foot into the Tower for six years... they’re barely ahead. Apparently, leveling slows down a lot.”

“Na, it’s not that it slows down-- this was the normal,” Cain elaborated. “It’s just that I may have skewed people’s idea of just how easy/hard the Tower was. In essence, all of us--or, well, you-- were taking a bus all the way to the top. And now people are forced to walk, so it feels all that much harder.”

“Oh,” Emma exclaimed softly. “So that’s why you look so unconcerned.”

“It’s irrelevant,” Cain shrugged. “Even if they could speed-level, I’d still be able to speed-level their speed-leveling. It’s a big ‘ole cat-and-mouse game. But, to be fair, leveling will probably speed up a bit from hereon.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Because we’re a bit too much behind the curve,” Cain explained. “We’re on the 8th floor right now, right?”

“Yea,” Emma nodded. “Why?”

“In my previous life, by the time we hit the 8th floor, a good chunk of people have broken into 70s, with two having reached level 80. The leveling is fairly normal until 50th floor, where it essentially stops.”

“Stops?”

“Hm,” Cain nodded. “Killing anything no longer grants you experience, nor does clearing quests. The only way to level is to either find items or quests that directly increase your level. If the leveling was possible normally past the 50th floor, by the 70th, people would have been 500th level and upward, and not stuck in low 300s. As such, there will be an upswing soon, and then it will equalize, before plummeting when we reach 50th floor. By then, I suspect we’ll be in mid 200s, at best, while the rest may just barely crack 200 due to the 2nd Awakening requirement.”

“Any plans on coming out of retirement?” she quizzed with a smile.

“Why? You itching for some action?” he asked back, smiling slyly.

“Eh, a bit.”

“Soon,” he said. “There’s something on the 9th floor that I must get. And, besides, Lana’s spending more time in the City than here. It’s kinda pitiable, really.”

“I heard that they’d discovered the Guardian of the 8th floor and have been begging Senna and others to help them again ever since. But, aside from Senna who occasionally goes to the Tower, the rest have practically become a second you... hidden somewhere like hermits.”

“Guardian... is it that wheel-looking thingy with a bunch of eyes?”

“Yup.”

“Oof, an annoying bastard. Leak into the public that they need a minimum 10% Mind Resistance in order to fight it, with their tanks and healers needing a minimum of 15%. Otherwise, they’ll just be tossing their lives away. Oh, and it’d be good if they had at least one support that’s focused on preemptive shielding rather than reactionary healing.”

“Damn, look at him, carin’ about people~~ how cute~~”

“Ugh, not now, I’m kinda bloated...”

“Tsk, you brain is bloated. Anyway, I’mma go visit Ricky and let him handle the gossip. What about you?”

“I was thinking of taking a nap,” Cain yawn as he stretched.

“...”

“What’s with the look? Fuck off. You literally took two naps yesterday. Two.”

“...” having no retort, Emma humphed and walked away. Cain lazily extended his arm out and closed the curtains, reclining further into the couch, sinking into the beautiful laziness that had become his life.