Forest of Thorns

Hundreds of Towers of Babel sprang up across the world of Aland.

Some stood in large cities, others near small villages or in remote regions.

They all appeared identical, their height impossible to measure accurately with the technology of the time, and each led into a single Tower of Babel.

However, after ten years, it became clear that each entrance led to a different location on the first floor.

In most cases, these entrances were so far apart that they exceeded the actual distances between the towers in Aland by two or three times.

To explain this, the chief priests of the Church of the Golden Halo claimed it was a divine act by God, meant to prevent merchants from using the Tower of Babel as a trade route.

Still, it was believed that after a certain level, the Tower of Babel would take on the shape of a funnel rather than a tower, making it easier to encounter people from other cities, regions, or even nations.

That time had not yet come, but I knew it eventually would.

In the near future, when Hunter Ruse began to make his fortune by selling the routes he had memorized — paths that made climbing each floor easier — disputes over control of entire floors between guilds from different nations would become common.

Though this was not yet happening on the upper floors, the lower levels were already subject to territorial control — not by guilds, but by criminal groups.

The Forest of Thorns was one of their favorite areas, which made me wonder:

"Why would the Church send two high-status individuals on such a dangerous first expedition?"

It would make sense if it were just me, Kyle Barlow, and two other random rookies—but we were joined by Anton Wilxes, a relative of the founders of the Brotherhood of Fire Guild—one of the twenty largest guilds in the Kingdom of Durtch — and Rosella Tynes, the most talented swordswoman of her generation and heir to the Beutynes commercial empire.

Could someone be plotting an accident — or even a kidnapping? I considered the possibility but quickly shook my head. Maybe I was overthinking it.

While I analyzed the situation, my group was captivated by the beauty of a small village to the east, nestled at the foot of the mountain.

To the west lay the Forest of Thorns, and directly where we stood was an empty doorway — the portal we had just stepped through, which had been glowing moments earlier.

"What an interesting object," Kyle, the wizard, remarked as he examined the door frame.

"They say these portals only activate every ten minutes. Is that why the doors in Lovikalen take ten minutes to reopen?"

"That's what you're worried about? There's an entire village down there," I said, trying not to laugh — Kyle was the only one not leaning over to admire the city.

He shook his head. "Honestly, I don't care much about the Star Shelter. And if I were you, I'd stay far away from it. They say only criminals who can't return to Lovikalen end up in those shelters."

Kyle didn't need to remind me of the Star Shelter's reputation. Almost every portal had a "Shelter" nearby.

These "Shelters" typically had about ten streets and offered most of the amenities of a small town — inns, bathhouses, restaurants, shops, and more.

The nearest one to the Star Shelter was the Tortuous Shelter, which was larger and more organized thanks to the Church's presence of knights there — mainly due to its proximity to the Holy Shelter, better known as the Aurelian Shelter, located in the capital of the Kingdom of Durtch, Aurelian.

In other words, the farther away from the capital, the less intervention the Golden Halo Church had in the shelters. That was why, among the shelters in the large cities of the Kingdom of Durtch, the Star Shelter was the most despised by all. It was said that famous criminals from the capital hid in the Star Shelter and carried out various types of services there.

"You don't need to worry so much about the Star Shelter for now, guys. Let's focus on our mission," said Hawklight as he crouched down.

He then took a yellowed, rolled-up piece of paper from inside his tunic. Spreading it out on the grass of the ridge, it revealed a map of the area. It was exactly as we had seen it, with the Star Shelter on the east side of the mountain, which was centered on the map, and the Forest of Thorns to the west. To the south was a region of steeper terrain called Moonlight Valley, and to the north was the Great Plain.

"Pay attention, young ones. We are currently here." Hawklight pointed to the center of the map. "And the Angelica Roots can be found here." He traced an invisible line with his finger to a central point in the Forest of Thorns.

"There are a few routes we can take to reach our goal, but none of them are easier than the others. I will stay at the forefront to guide and protect you, but I ask that you protect yourselves and stay alert for any danger. The monsters in the Forest of Thorns are mostly Rank-F and E, but we must remain vigilant in case Rank-D monsters appear."

The ranks of monsters were defined as a way to measure their lethality, and the Climber ranks were used as a basis for this. Of course, Rank-F was also added, which did not exist in the Climbers' measurement scale.

Rank-F monsters were those considered potential dangers to ordinary humans, so they were classified as monsters. But for any Blessed One, it was common to detect them before the creature posed any real danger. A good example was the Shadow Spiders I faced in the library dungeon.

Rank-E monsters were potentially more dangerous, as they usually didn't die with just one hit and had all the traits of Rank-F monsters. However, it was from Rank-D onwards that a monster began to have deadly potential — even for Rank-D Climbers like me and Rank-C Climbers like Rosella Tynes.

The lethality of monsters should not be underestimated by any rank, because inside the Tower of Babel, even a butterfly could carry deadly poison. It was like facing animals from a rainforest that had been isolated from Earth for millions of years. That was the feeling most of us had when we started descending the mountain and heading for the Forest of Thorns.

Luckily, the schedule for the first floor coincided somewhat with the time of day in Lovikalen. It was late morning, so if we were lucky, we could make our way to the Angelica Roots and return home.

Our group was organized so that we could maximize each other's chances of survival.

Hawklight was in the vanguard, guiding us. Anton Wilxes and his bodyguard, Sun, were right behind the instructor. Then there was Kyle, who was a wizard and needed to stay in the middle of the formation during a hike, me, because I was also a wizard in their eyes, and finally Rosella.

At Rosella's waist was a sheath with a small one-handed sword. This type of sword was her trademark, and it suited Rosella perfectly because she wasn't that strong physically.

"What are you looking at?" Rosella asked as I looked at her over my right shoulder. Her tone wasn't one of irritation, but rather curiosity.

"Your sword... It was forged by Paul Songsteel, The Confused," I said.

Rosella frowned and placed her left hand on the hilt of the sword. Not even she knew who had forged her sword, and she had always wanted to know because it was an inheritance from her older sister.

"How... how can you be so sure?" Rosella asked, her voice faltering slightly.

"I'm not that sure, but I've seen some of his swords being transported at the port where I used to work. The design at the base of the hilt reminds me a lot of the swords I saw that day."

The story I was telling was partly true. In fact, her sword had been forged by the famous and experienced craftsman Paul Songstell, The Confused. He earned this name because he always seemed to lose his train of thought when presenting his new forges to the world.

Despite his strange title, Paul Songstell was still one of the most respected craftsmen in the Kingdom of Durtch.

As for the alleged weapons at the port, I had never seen them myself.

However, I remembered perfectly well from Brandon's memories that my father had been talking about a heavy and important shipment of weapons forged by Paul Songstell that was arriving in Lovikalen.

Rosella's serious expression softened slightly as she looked fondly at the sword.

"Attention, everyone! We are now officially entering the Forest of Thorns!" Hawklight shouted.

At that moment, I was certain that Hawklight had never set foot in this forest, because if there was one place where shouting was forbidden, it was the Forest of Thorns.

After Hawklight's voice echoed hollowly around us, we began to hear the trees rustling, and the ground started to tremble.

"Above you, sir!" I exclaimed, trying to warn Hawklight.

When he looked up, he saw half a dozen vines descending from the trees like arms reaching to grab him. 

He tried to draw his sword from its sheath immediately, but a vine that sprang from a bush to his left quickly coiled around his forearm and the sheath, preventing him from moving.