Ideas are like a coin where hope and despair can be decided with a simple flip. It is best to stack the odds to gain the most favorable outcome because fate favors the house in the casino of life.

~Morrigan, The Mysterious Goddess of Fate

An ash-like cocoon broke apart the moment he moved. In his muddled state, he hadn’t realized that the cocoon was once his burned flesh. What emerged from within was unblemished flesh that was so pure it was almost pink.

Crow rubbed his scalp and what remained of his hair cracked and fell away, too. The lightning had burned away everything, even the impurities in his body he hadn’t yet cleared. Hair wasn’t so worrisome because he could use mana to force it to grow back, but his supple flesh would need to rebuild callouses.

He wouldn’t say what happened was worth it. That was foolish talk. The wrath of the Heavens was terrifying to such a degree that he felt his heartbeat turning erratic just thinking about it. Although he felt great, learned his ability, and escaped calamity after calamity, it unsettled him.

*Please, please, please let me out!* Lily sobbed when she realized Crow was finally awake.

“Huh?” Crow thought she could escape whenever she wanted.

*After your Soulscape’s transformation, its pull is stronger. Once I finish condensing all this lightning, I’ll have the strength, but I can’t get out on my own for now. Please?*

“Why do you sound like that?” Crow felt something was off. Lily sounded exhausted.

*Those fucking hussies! You gave them control of the Soul Butlers, and those evil jerks commanded them to serenade me with limericks. Day and night, they’ve been bombarding me with random limericks they come up with. I’m losing my mind!*

Crow’s jaw dropped. No wonder they claimed they drove people insane. And this method was just… evil. A small giggle escaped his mouth, but he clamped his hand over it.

*Are you laughing at me?*

“No—” Crow tried to maintain his calm, but he kept seeing the Soul Butlers chasing after Lily and spouting off some random prose, and he lost it. He laughed so hard he couldn’t breathe.

*Jerk! Are you letting me out?*

Still laughing, he let Lily out. What he hadn’t expected was that she’d already grown to a height of one meter. When she arrived, she stomped on Crow, who was still lying on the ground, and the jolt of electricity through his body silenced his laughter. Based on his trauma from his recent escape from death, he overreacted a little, which made Lily chuckle.

“Limericks, eh? That’s evil and clever.”

“Nymphs are always evil!” Lily’s tiny voice echoed in his ears. It was soft and alluring, almost ethereal sounding.

“You can talk?”

“For the moment. I’m bloated with Lightning Mana, so I have some to spare. I speak by manipulating mana and creating vibrations. Which depletes my mana, so it is best if I don’t use this method until I reach adult size.”

“You have a beautiful voice.”

“Hmph! You should apologize for how you tortured me for nearly a month.”

“I’ve been sleeping for a month?”

“Dummy. Time dilation, remember? It’s been three days out here, but for me, it’s been nearly thirty. Those evil bitches! I won’t let them off.” Lily growled and shuddered just thinking about those damned Soul Butlers.

Crow hadn’t seen Lily this big before and admired her facial features. She had a triangular face with highly defined features, which gave her an exotic look. Her lithe body exuded a feminity that was unnatural but alluring. Her hair color looked like it had changed too. It was darker and coiled on top of her head, looking as if it had sentience. Crow stroked it, and while he could feel the humming of electricity, it was incredibly soft. Lily’s eyes closed, and she shivered in pleasure as he touched her.

“Alright, relax. I’ll make sure your commands rank higher than theirs.”

“Really?” Lily’s icy grin and dark gaze made him realize she was out for some serious revenge. He almost pitied those poor nymphs.

“Really. You’ll be the queen of fae in my Soulscape. Does that get me off the hook?”

“Fine, apology accepted, but… keep stroking my hair.”

Crow chuckled and continued for a few more minutes before entering his Soulscape and setting the chain of command. The wood nymphs approached him and looked a little sheepish, but they did not fool him. Wolves. They were all wolves hiding behind pretty faces. However, Crow wasn’t bothered by that because he was secretly amused by their antics.

Once he was done, he found some loose pants from his Vortex Pin and donned them. He was trying to decide which way to leave this place. Now that he was inside the secret tunnel, he could choose to exit that way. Or he could use the Myriad of Beasts and fly out.

“What do you think?” Crow asked Lily after he explained his situation. She just shrugged. “By the way, where is Nin?”

“Left her at Rosdoe and told her to wait. The ripple of karma and fate was strong when you called down the lightning. In fact, you should probably fly out of here. Thinking about it, we need to go, and quickly.”

“Why?”

“There are a lot of hidden powers on this floor. Sects are always looking for talents and do not fear taking them forcibly if needed. Your stunt here will most likely draw their attention.”

It was about what Crow expected. He’d already learned about the sects’ actions, but it was still surprising. Gavin and the other elders had never mentioned this danger, which was the worst kept secret on this floor. It could be a newer development, but he worried some people would get taken away. Getting drafted into a sect wasn’t bad for most, but he didn’t want to be restricted in that way. Crow doubted a sect would limit a cultivator’s climb because that would harm them more than the individual. Forcibly conscripting members seemed silly from his perspective, but things were never as simple as they appeared to be.

Academies were different since they were more about teaching and the pursuit of knowledge than power. There were unspoken rules about going after academies, but there is no greater law than power. Nevertheless, while sects might be safer and provide better benefits, Crow preferred schools.

Crow had given little thought to the politics inside the tower. If a sect like Blood Ember could spread itself across many floors, other sects could do the same. It wouldn’t surprise him if other powers existed to rival, or surpass, the Blood Ember sect.

A thought for another day. Crow inspected his Shield and found one of the nine grommets had changed its coloring. The golden purple shimmered in a way that made it look like lightning across a night sky, but it wasn’t nearly as clear as the one for fire. Sliding his finger across it, he could feel the volatility of a raging storm inside. Shuddering, he realized that he’d have to find ways to increase this resistance in the future. If his speculation was correct, he survived because he was on a floor furthest from the upper realms and the thirteenth tower. The distance weakened the wrath, and the higher he climbed, the more deadly the lightning would be. Every chance he could find, he needed to prepare to fight the heavens.

“Time to go!” Lily said upon seeing Crow absently rubbing his Shield. She could feel his dark thoughts and decided it was time to get him moving.

Crow nodded and activated his Bestial Aura and transformed. Now that he’d established the technique, it was considered as having reached the small success stage. A crude way of describing it would be to say that it was now branded into his bones. Therefore, activating this time didn’t have the same dramatic effect as creating it. He realized immediately why the Heavens found him, and it had to do with his new ability. It recognized the ancient Draoidh spell. Even with Crow’s adaptation, it was built on Beast Aspect. Crow suddenly felt he was in a rush against time because once the upper realms discovered it surfaced once more, there would be trouble.

While transforming, Crow observed his changes closely to help understand what the spell was actually doing. It was enlightening, but it would take time to understand and process it all. From the little he did comprehend, he already had ideas for the other stages of the ability. An idea started brewing within his mind that he felt may be the crowning achievement of the technique. His thinking wasn’t wrong, but it was naïve. Crow had no idea that his current ruminations would one day shake the foundations of the upper realm. To the extent that the old monsters would do anything to tame him, and if that failed…kill him.

Caw-caw! Crow hopped toward the edge and then jumped off. Gravity pulled him down but expanding his wings arrested his plunge, and after a few pumps of his wings, he gained altitude.