Return of the Woodcutter

Aito got back on his feet, cautiously eyeing the newcomer. The stairs' blue lights lit her delicate face. Her big eyes seemed to glimmer with questions and interests toward him. 

According to Gwen's knowledge, from the 7th floor onward, there was only one moderator monitoring challengers, Segolene Chuarzkov. 

Why? Because there were usually a little less than a dozen challengers who managed to reach the 7th floor each batch. Even fewer, if none at all, reached the 8th floor. However, no one who ever dared challenge the 9th floor came back. 

With so few people to manage and usually no one going past the 8th floor, it has been decided that only one moderator would be monitoring everything from the 7th floor onward. 

The requirement for the job was, of course, to be strong.

Segolene served at the fourth deadliest front of Iris, Vai, the sea fortress. She was one of its most praised fighters. By accumulating achievements, she usually was amongst the moderators when a new batch of challengers entered the Tower. 

Aito didn't know much about her personality, albeit the fact she was kind of an easy going woman—while being authoritative at times—who liked challenges and a good fight. 

Like most moderators, she would come to the Tower to recruit promising challengers and take a break from the never ending war. 

"Thanks for the help, moderator Segolene," Aito said. Even though he knew she wasn't hostile, it was preferable to remain calm despite his hurry to get on the 7th floor.

He cared little about getting on Behir's bad side because the probability of seeing him again was close to none and also because he was an asshole for unleashing the Sacred Event on challengers.

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However, Aito didn't want to get on Segolene's bad side. She was, after all, the moderator of not one floor but of the remaining four floors. Moreover, she hadn't wronged him in any way… yet. 

So for now, he would stay polite. Well, as polite as he could be.

"Ow, look at you! Polite, promising and most importantly…," she reappeared in front of him instantaneously, giving him no time to react, "exactly my type of men. Crispy and firm, hehe." 

Aito gulped. Why were the women who took an interest in him nowadays were either crazy or way too strong?

Most men would find her voice cute and enchanting. He… found it annoying. His gaze shifted behind her where she had left an afterimage that finally vanished. Either that was a skill or it meant she moved so fast that light couldn't follow her. 

If that was the case, it meant that it was at a level of speed far superior to what he was used to. It was beyond anything he had ever seen. Beyond ridiculous. 

"Don't worry, with me around, bad boy Behir won't touch a hair on you, pinky promise!" She grabbed his gauntlet, seizing his pinky with hers, then shook it to seal a deal he hadn't agreed to. 

Segolene leaned on his torso.

He could feel her warm breath through his armor. Done on purpose? Maybe. Comfortable? Yes, but that wasn't the point. Flattered but also flustered by her behavior and apparent superior capabilities, he remained oblivious to her sentences on purpose.

There were more urgent matters at hand. 

"How are the challengers on the 7th floor doing?" Aito asked. If someone knew how his comrades were doing, it would be her. 

"No way…," she said, taking two rapid back steps, "are you trying… to ignore my previous attempts at seducing you because… y, y, you want me to give you more attention! You little attention seeker!" 

Segolene shook her butt in a weird way, appearing to draw pleasure from such a childish act. Well, maybe not so childish considering no child Aito had seen has ever done such… lewd gestures. 

Weighting heavily on his patience, he pushed out a heavy sigh. "Please. I need to know if they are still alive." 

At those words, the moderator stopped fooling around and stared at him with a calm, easygoing look, both arms grabbing the back of her head. "Worried for them, I see. Yes, they are still alive. Although there was… a little situation. Nothing major." 

Worry washed over Aito like a cold bucket of water. "What do you mean?" 

"Follow me," Segolene started walking up the stairs. At least it looked like walking, but Aito barely kept up with her speed by sprinting behind her. 

"They came to the 7th floor five days ago. All battered, wounded and bruised," the moderator said. "They took the first day to rest, recover from the ordeal they've been through on the 6th floor. I know Behir is proud and dutiful, a dutiful asshole, one could say. Never would I have thought he would unleash the Sacred Duels on such a small amount of challengers. 

"Things have been happening around you, black challenger. Things that had not happened for a very long time. The challenges you faced until now have long stayed dormant, since the fall of the Valinar, bless be her divine rest." 

"What are you trying to say?" Aito asked in between two breaths as he ran behind her. "The ordeals I went through were the moderators' fault. Not mine."

Segolene's lips arced up into a small grin, "Have you heard about Destiny, black challenger? Do you know what your destiny stat is? What it does?" 

Aito had asked himself that question since the very beginning. Other stats spoke for themselves, but the "destiny" stat was difficult to give a definition to. Gwen hadn't been willing to disclose what it did. For what reason? That remained a mystery. 

"No, I don't." 

Segolene turned towards him with a bright smile, "Well, neither do I! Hehe!" 

Aito felt his patience run thin, thinking that moderator was pulling his leg. How come such a powerful figure as her didn't know what the Destiny stat was? 

"Don't make this face black challenger. I was just kidding. No one but the gods can really give a proper definition to Destiny," Segolene said. "However, it is a well-known fact that it gives you the ability to influence the events happening around you. While it isn't entirely true, you could say the Destiny stat is akin to a luck stat." 

"No entirely true?" 

"Yes, it is… much more complicated than that. But for your current self, it should suffice," Segolene declared. "Hum, we've arrived." 

The dark scenery of the stair light by seafoam color lights changed into a forest area. There was a central space devoid of trees where defensive stone walls shaping a square stood tall. 

However, the walls were broken. The soil burned to a crisp, as if thunder had struck the earth not long ago. Traces of battle were everywhere. 

"What happened here?"