Chapter 256

Changes (II)

Cain yawned as he unfurled the curtains, stepping out onto the balcony overseeing the now-recovered skyline of L.A. Despite it being the dead of the night, the entire city was alight, music likely blaring across. As far as he knew, Ricky wasn’t able to maintain a complete monopoly on the land around the Tower, subsequently selling quite a few plots for quite a lot of money. As such, dozens of new buildings had been erected in the past six years, most skyscrapers that almost looked like fingers reaching toward the Tower.

Scratching his slightly protruding belly, he glanced down and groaned, shaking his head. He really had let himself go a bit, but it wasn’t anything irreversible. At least, that’s what he kept saying to himself whenever he’d accidentally pass by a mirror.

Taking another swig of the beer, he walked back toward the couch, turning down the TV’s volume. In the past six years, he’d heard a lot of awful takes and had seen the hundreds of thousands of stories spin. With him out of the picture, despite all the initial, core changes he’d made due to his presence, the world seemed to have reverted to the ‘default’ state. Ups and downs, almost like mood swings, occurred at least once every half a year. Countries continued to threaten war, some others even went to war, and more and more Conquerors came on TV to profess themselves the strongest.

The world had entirely forgotten about him, even if others from his party were still relatively recognized, especially Senna, Jamal, and Kramer. Even if he had appeared to completely shut off from the news from within the Tower, he was hardly deaf. The trio had spent almost two years of the six entirely within the Towers, but rather than pushing for the higher floors or farming levels, they’d devoted themselves entirely to saving people.

As such, they’d gotten quite a decent level of fame and recognition for their strength, whereupon most believed that the three were within top fifty. Part of the reason why nobody ranked them higher was because they spent so little time in the Tower. Most of the top ‘Rankers’ as they’ve come to be known leave the Towers perhaps once a year, if even that, spending all-day-every-day grinding away for levels and items.

It was the same old fascination, the ever-present one, that ghouled the entire world. Who was the strongest? The smartest? Who had the best items? The coolest class? Who had the best Awakened class? Who had the highest stats? Who defeated the hardest boss? It wasn’t all that strange to see and, if anything, Cain actually felt more comfortable in this reality.

“I should prepare, too,” he mumbled lowly. He’d actually overstayed his vacation in many ways, but that was largely because he hadn’t expected people to progress so quickly. He expected that, within six-seven years, at most the Fifth Floor would have been cleared, if even that. And yet, they were on the cusps of opening the Ninth.

As such, it was time he made a return. Besides the fact that everyone else had essentially moved back into the city, especially since Ernie had discovered how to get the modern technology to partially work within the Tower with the help of his research team, there was also the fact that there were fewer and fewer reasons to stick around, and Cain suspected that even the only reason Rick was hanging around was him, since the old man had long since bought out dozens of plots of lands within the City of Mirrors that he likely wanted to develop and get some use of.

But, even more than that, he really feared he might just become a hermit of sorts and want to never return to the Tower. The last six years were too comfortable, as he wasted every single day. He’d wake up whenever, drink whatever, eat whatever, and watch TV or play games or read books. Not only did he not go into the Tower, he actually hadn’t used his Mana in six years, not even to heat a cup of noodles. Instead, he chowed it down cold.

The fear that this might be his new reality had begun to appear two years ago, when he learned that Senna and Emma had taken Lana secretly into the Tower to get her classified. When he learned that Lana had chosen to become an Elementalist, like him, his first thought was ‘oh? Maybe I could train her to replace me?’, upon which he subsequently kicked a can of beer and broke two walls in the process.

Sighing, he put away the can of beer and stretched. It’s been quite some time since he last left the apartment, so he did. Stepping out onto the streets of L.A., a swell of nostalgia washed over him. The city... had changed. It wasn’t just in the make, in the hundreds of new high-rises that have been erected since the day the Towers fell, but in the atmosphere as well.

He left the Tower’s immediate vicinity and landed near the outer regions, near the outgoing hillsides. There was loud music blaring on all ends, lights flashing into the night sky, and many-a-drunk toppling over and falling onto the street. The air was, however, fresh. But it wasn’t strange-- the air was fresh everywhere. After all, in the six years since, the world had largely figured out how to use Mana as the source of power and energy even outside of the magical combat. And with using the Mana came having essentially zero waste, clearing many-a-skyline and many-a-sky in the process.

Finding a nearby bar, he dipped in and ordered himself a bottle of beer, sitting in a corner. It was relatively lively, with twenty or so souls populating its solitary floor, most engaged in casual conversations about whatever new hip thing was in relation to the Tower.

Like Cain predicted, despite the fact that the ‘head party’ had reached the 8th Floor’s Guardian, most of the people still stuck around the First and the Second Floor, with the Fifth being the most populous ones right after due to the First Awakenings.

“I heard that Trevor’s Party actually managed to clear the entire Graveyard!”

“Damn, no way? The loot musta been amazing!”

“Yea, they’re actually going to the second floor already!”

“Shit, I’m so jealous man. I haven’t gotten a good drop in months...”

“That’s because you just stick around the entrance?”

“Shit, it’s scary! I once saw a freakin’ six-eyed eagle rip a man apart with its claws!”

“...”

Listening around to the conversation, Cain smiled faintly, shaking his head. It reminded him of his first time around, after getting classified. He’d frequent bars like this-- though, admittedly, they were virtually all inside the Towers by that point-- and say the same things and pray the same prayers and hope the same hopes. Worrying about the tomorrow’s raid or a specific item dropping or the safety over exploring some unknown region...

All of this talked seemed to have rekindled the fire within him. He had been out for too long, but he had never truly forgotten. There was always a part of him that wanted to be in the Tower, even if it was minimal. And... it was safe. With Lana, Senna, Emma, and virtually everyone moving inside the Tower they would, ironically, be safer than on the outside.

By now, the tensions were rising and the nerves were taut in the world. Mana had spread far enough outside the Towers that it made invasions through Conquerors possible. Armies had already begun to form and Cain suspected an actual, third world war wasn’t that far into the future. No matter what he did... he couldn’t prevent it. He delayed the conflict, made the nations clamp up for a while until they developed an army, but now... even if he stepped back into the limelight, he couldn’t change much.

He wasn’t a god, no matter his strength. Even if there were no one or two or even a hundred Conquerors that could defeat him... what about a thousand? Or ten thousand? Or an entire army of a hundred thousand souls? Forfeiting the fact that he wouldn’t even fight that large of a force due to the sheer scale of horror he would have to commit to, there was a number he’d eventually lose to. Besides, he knew that others wouldn’t just stand by the side and let him mantle the burden himself. With them by his side, they could stand for far larger armies... but then, they too would have to carry the horrors of executing a large-scale genocide.

All of it was pointless, as was struggling against the raging waves. The conflicts that were to erupt had long since been coming, even before the Towers fell. In his previous life, it took all but a two-year period for a string of major wars to break out. This time, the world held out for six long years but, in many ways, it wasn’t better for it. While the wars did break out mere two years into the Towers’ existence, that also meant that they were on a much smaller scale, with far fewer Conquerors.

In this reality... Cain outright rejected to try and comprehend the eventual casualties. The makeup of the entire world would shift in the coming years and the figures that would emerge from the horrific wars...

Shaking his head, he finished off the beer and paid the bill, leaving. If the world listens to the rumors he had Emma spread, they should defeat the False God within a month. By then, all his preparations should be complete. Ninth Floor was the first true curveball in the Tower. While all other floors had the feeling of simply being an ‘alternate world’, the Ninth Floor was... different.