The next day, the captain brought Alaric and his group to the far end of the town, several abandoned stalls lined to the side.
Dusty, rusty, and collapsed, vines and fungi making them their homes.
"Young master, it's up ahead." The captain pointed to a strange-looking hill up ahead.
"An ant hill?!" From where he stood, he couldn't make out the structure.
They closed in, Alaric rubbing his eyes as he still couldn't make out what it was.
His vision seemed unfocused, not blurred, the hill-like structure translucent, glitching like a bug in a game.
"Is this it?" he turned to the captain, who nodded in confirmation.
Alaric turned back to it, trying his best to make out what it actually was.
An ant hill larger than any he had seen in both worlds, ten stories high, a translucent pale red structure that flickered between realities.
"Is that normal?" he wondered.
"No, it doesn't glitch like that..." the captain explained.
"It's because of the war. The gods have paused their games..." Raika interjected.
"To them the war is more interesting. There is no need to continue their games," she added.
Alaric was a bit confused.
The towers were the domains of the gods.
Trials, no, more like games that they used to elevate their boredom, the players the inhabitants of Chroma.
Though the inhabitants were aware of this, they hurried to explore such towers.
Why?
The rewards of the games were greater than their ego of being someone's plaything.
The rewards of the towers were artifacts that could not be found on their planet.
It could be said that about 90% of artifacts came from the towers, the rest artisans who could only try to replicate the things of the gods, most failing miserably, a very few rising over the artifacts the gods called their best.
But even these artisans used materials from the artifacts.
Playing God with the tools of God.
Alaric knew nothing of this as he stared at the tower, his thoughts calm.
He could barely contain his curiosity.
"So can I enter...?" he wondered aloud.
"It shouldn't be possible... The towers across the continent are closed," the captain said.
"Ok, but I can at least touch it."
Mariah did say she would meet him in a tower.
Experiencing what they were was a must.
"It should be safe..."
"Ok..." Alaric walked closer to the translucent red tower, his steps confident without an ounce of fear.
He didn't know what it was, but didn't feel any hostility from it.
Not to mention his mother was around.
To him, his mother was like a gun; when you have one, you can walk in the dark alleys without any fear.
He touched it.
From its glitching nature he expected his arm to pass through it, but the next moment the scenery changed.
Moments ago he was in the woodlands, arm outstretched.
Now his arm remained outstretched, not in a woodland but in a shallow pond spanning as far as the eye could see.
Covering the entirety of the water's surface was what looked like red water lilies, blanketing the mass of water.
"Hmmm..." He didn't panic, his arm still outstretched, eyes darting around, searching his surroundings.
And that is when he noticed his view had been significantly elevated.
It felt like he had become taller.
He turned his attention to his body, and truly he had become taller.
No, more like he had the appearance he had back on Earth.
"They didn't say anything about this," he thought to himself, feeling his body.
His well-built physique back, a smile unconsciously forming on his lips.
He liked his body. He had painstakingly built it from the ground up, not to mention the gruesome training of the navy that further tempered it.
"Let's see how I look..." He cleared the lilies.
"Oh, lotus," he thought, noticing the feel of the flower.
Lilies are more thick and leathery, while lotus were thin and papery.
From the feel he was sure they were lotus.
"No wonder they are called Red Lotus Tower," he thought of the name. It never crossed his mind it meant literal red lotus, but from the scenery it was evident it was named after this.
He only thought of it for a few moments, his attention back to his body.
"Red eyes, blue hair..." he commented as he stared at his reflection.
"It's been six years, but sometimes it's still hard to believe..."
"What are you?" a voice echoed in the vast expanse, reverberating in his mind.
He was slightly surprised but kept his calm.
"I am Alaric Vulcan of the Vulcan Kingdom..." he answered politely, straightening up.
He knew nothing of the tower. All that they had explained couldn't register.
He was sure they had spoken about it, but for some reason couldn't remember.
The words were clear but seemingly intangible, heard but disappearing like the song of the wind.
He had wondered what it was but then forgot what he was even wondering about.
And thus, for the first time in many years, he was in an area he knew nothing about.
Without prior knowledge he had to calmly assess the situation himself.
"I ask what you are, not your name," the voice echoed once again, irritated.
"What do you mean, what?..." Alaric wanted to curse out but kept his cool.
"I am a human as you can clearly see..."
"How is there so much water energy in you though you are birthed from a fire lineage... You don't seem to be part of the Dominus clan either," the voice inquired, curious.
"Oh..." Alaric understood what he meant.
It seemed the owner of the voice could see beyond the physical.
Throughout his six years, he had been told his existence was unnatural.
For a body meant for fire to hold the mana heart of water.
A balance that should be impossible, not even for the Dominus clan, as they possess more than one element, their clan blessed with the Chaos Body.
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A/N
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