Location: Earth – Rohtak District, India
Time: 3 days after Floor 2 clearance
The return from the Tower was always surreal.
One moment, Ankit had been bathing in the fading light of a dead Guardian's soul core.
The next—he stood on the rooftop of his childhood home in Haryana, under the burning Indian sun, with his mother crying into his shoulder and the old neighborhood kids staring up at him like he was some reincarnated god.
But peace didn't feel right.
Not anymore.
"Thirty days," he reminded himself.
"And then I climb again. Floor 3 won't wait."
But this time, it wouldn't just be him.
🌑 Day 1 – Whisper of a Guild
Ankit sat cross-legged in a clearing near the Yamuna canal, beneath a pipal tree carved with old lover's initials and forgotten schoolboy names. On his lap, he held a scroll inscribed with Tower-forged ink.
[Soul-Guild Charter Authorization – Pending Signature]
[Guild Name: BLACKHUNT]
[Status: Unregistered]
[Requirements for Earth Registry:]
– 5 Members minimum
– At least 1 Tower Climber with Floor 2 Clearance
– Preliminary Combat Trial Pending
– Earth-Based Operations HQ (Provisional or Permanent)
He dipped his finger in blood, marked the scroll, and whispered:
"We hunt in shadow, strike in silence."
The wind stirred.
And somewhere in the Tower's echo, the first ripple of Blackhunt was felt.
🔍 Day 3 – Target: Raghav Sinha
Location: Old City – Delhi Slums
Raghav was a legend—for the wrong reasons.
A Tower dropout. Survivor of Floor 2. Left arm missing from the elbow down. The man had escaped mid-trial using a soul-warp scroll, something only deserters and the desperate used.
People said he'd lost his will.
Ankit found him in a backroom of a black-market spirit-stone vendor's den.
"You're wasting your breath," Raghav muttered without turning. "I don't join wannabe factions."
Ankit dropped a pouch on the table—full of grade-2 beast cores.
"I'm not building a faction," Ankit said. "I'm building a future."
Raghav raised a brow.
"Blackhunt. You'll be my tactician."
"And if I say no?"
"You'll keep rotting in that fake arm and wondering why you didn't say yes."
Raghav laughed.
It sounded like something had returned to his lungs for the first time in years.
🔥 Day 5 – Target: Asha Mehra
Location: Himachal Mountains – Abandoned Assassin Monastery
The climb to Asha's hideout was steep and treacherous. Snow cracked beneath Ankit's boots as he scaled the outer trail. They said she used to belong to the "Whisperscar," a rogue Tower faction with bloodlines tied to forbidden abilities.
She emerged from the fog like a ghost.
Eyes cold.
Twin blades drawn.
"You're not from the Tower Authority," she said.
"No."
"You're not from the Whispers anymore."
"No."
"Then you're a dead man."
Ankit didn't flinch. Instead, he tossed her a medallion—one her little brother had worn before dying in the Tower.
"I was there when he fell," Ankit said. "I carried him to rest. And I remember the name he whispered."
"What name?"
"Yours."
A pause. Long enough for the frost to bite.
Then Asha sheathed her blades.
"Where are we headed?"
"To make the Tower fear us."
🐺 Day 8 – Target: Kaido Verma
Location: Mumbai Underground Colosseum
Kaido was a monster in the arena—literally. His ogre bloodline gave him inhuman strength, but most thought he was just a brute.
Ankit watched from the stands as Kaido suplexed a 400kg scaled wolf mutant into the concrete floor.
The crowd roared.
After the match, Ankit slipped past security and found Kaido chewing mango candy beside a pile of bones.
"I need a frontliner," Ankit said.
"I'm busy. Fighting stuff."
"There'll be bigger fights. Better candy. And people who won't abandon you after you lose."
Kaido blinked.
"...Can I get blue raspberry flavor?"
Ankit smirked.
"Done."
⚡ Day 10 – Target: Riya "Stormhand" Singh
Location: Kolkata Dockyard – Stormborn Dojo
Riya was fierce. Fast. Arrogant. Rumored to have passed Floor 2 solo and then declined all offers from the top 3 Indian guilds.
Ankit challenged her to a duel.
The first five seconds? She pinned him with a shockwave.
But in the next ten? He adapted, countered, and locked her in with an illusion technique he'd picked up during Floor 2's shrine puzzle.
She grinned.
"You're not bad, Talwar boy."
"Join me," he said. "You'll be my second."
"I don't follow."
"You won't. You'll lead beside me."
She considered it for a long time.
Then nodded.
🐍 Blackhunt: 5 Members Strong
Back in Rohtak, Ankit watched as his new companions entered the Blackhunt Base—a reclaimed cold war bunker with tech Ankit had looted from an old Tower Authority warehouse.
It wasn't much.
But it was theirs.
And it would grow.
📜 System Notification – Earth Registry Accepted
[Guild: Blackhunt]
[Leader: Ankit Kumar]
[Vice-Leader: (Slot Empty)]
[Status: Registered]
[Guild Trial: Scheduled in 3 Days]
[Perk Unlocked: Guild Communication Thread – Active in Tower]
[Bonus Unlocked: +5% EXP gain when hunting as a party]
As night fell, Ankit stood on the balcony, his talwar sheathed at his back.
His reflection stared back from the glass: not just a climber anymore, but a leader.
The Tower would never be the same.
"Next time… we climb together."