Return of the Woodcutter

7th Floor, nighttime. 

Segolene appeared out of nowhere on top of the stone wall. She whistled in amazement, "Ooooh, you sure worked hard, cutie!" 

The damaged stone wall had been repaired. A trench deep enough to impede berserkers surrounded Aito's camp at the foot of the wall, creating another line of defense. Inside the trench were spikes meant to impale whatever living being that would fall in it.

Sitting by the fire camp, absorbing orc soul cores the normal way in rapid succession, Aito remained oblivious to the moderator. The flame's light danced about his face, reflecting his anxiousness, anger, determination but also his fears and doubts. 

Segolene's figure flashed, only to appear next to him. Seeing his expression, her behavior returned to normal. She sat calmly and silently gazed into the fire. 

Aito didn't know what she was doing, nor did he care. His mind was focused on a problem called Belmand, hoping the god had honored his oath. Then there was Sheyla, Ogoro and George waiting for him to join them. 

Since he had been the one to suggest ascending the Tower together, he felt he had the heavy responsibility to keep them alive until the end. They had followed him of their own free will.

They had believed in him. 

As he braved trials after trials with his companions, particularly the siblings, he came to acknowledge them as friends, as his people. 

Would it have been different if he hadn't met them? Would they have been safe on the 2nd floor if it weren't for him?

His comrades' lives weighed heavily on his shoulders. Aito didn't want someone to die because of him. Not someone he cared about.

Despite his poor social skills and his previous trust issues, he came to care a great deal about his comrades' lives. Because they were there for him. Because they had shown kindness and trust. Because they had proved worthy of trust. 

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Even George who had only joined recently, was trustworthy. 

A past belief, a long-forgotten behavioral trait surged back from a dusty corner of his mind, blowing the dust Time had left untouched for so long it felt foreign yet strangely familiar. 

The desire to protect those he cared about. 

For that, he would not hesitate to kill. 

Killing humans or any living being that blocked his path was… surprisingly easy on his consciousness. There was no guilt, no remorse because he deemed they had all deserved to die. He had never provoked anyone or started a fight without being attacked first. 

That's the only reason he has allowed himself to remain unfeeling about the death of people he had killed. People might say he was a murderer, to which he would agree. 

However, he would never disrespect the corpses of people he had killed nor kill an innocent.

Not because of any virtuous or honorable reason. It was because, to him, innocents were the ones who never wronged him in the first place. 

There was simply no reason to punish or kill innocents. 

That was the logic that had kept himself sane all this time and probably will still be the case in the future. And now, another logic, a new goal started to appear in front of him.

A new desire. 

A desire he… rejected. But it kept coming back no matter what he did. It kept coming back! He feared that once again, it would lead him to a catastrophe. 

His desire to protect people important to him had only caused trouble for others on Earth. If he ever tried to welcome this desire again… he feared something bad would happen... again.

He feared harming those he loved instead of protecting them. 

Aito feared—

A beautiful voice interrupted his thoughts.

He gazed to the side. There, close to the fire's warmth, a serene Segolene was singing a song unknown to him. The melody was so beautiful it eased his tense nerves and started nursing his tormented thoughts.

"Why do we fall if it isn't to rise again? 

Yes, just as It will rise once more. 

In the darkest days, and the darkest nights, 

Like fire scares shadows, It will light the path." 

Aito relaxed. For some reason, her voice was hypnotic. Pleasant to his ears.

"Distant or close, you can feel it, you can sense it.

Strong at first, then soothing, warm, sincere, and loving.

Embrace it, ignite your inner flame, ignite the ambers of courage,

And strike fear into Fear itself." 

Aito stared into the fire, entering a trance of sort. 

"Rise! Oh, Bravery, maker of miracle, maker of hero.

What was once fragmented shall be whole again.

What was once lost shall be retrieved.

What was once forgotten shall be remembered." 

Segolene's song finished in a long note that resounded in the camp, soon to be replaced by silence. 

Aito opened his eyes. Although calmer, there were still doubts and fear in his eyes. But that did not matter because the path was straightforward. 

"What was... that?" Aito asked. "It was beautiful." 

"'The Return of Bravery,' a song about the return of bravers. Real, genuine bravers. My take on it, though, is this song tells us that bravery isn't found in someone other than yourself. That the braver is not a class, but a state of mind." 

"I see. Thank you, for the song, Segolene," he said. "I don't know if you used a skill or not but… it helped me straighten my thoughts." 

"It's all about talent cutie. All about talent, not skills, hehe," Segolene replied. "I've got good news, by the way. Your friends are doing great and they know you're on the 7th floor. Soon they'll reach the 9th floor." 

"I'm glad," he paused. His eyes then widened awake, "wait, the 9th floor? Don't tell me they are not allowed to stay on the 8th floor after clearing the quest." 

"That…, hum, it's not that staying on the 8th floor is impossible," Segolene said. "It's just that… it's difficult. Usually, challengers would prefer to go to the next floor. To put it simply, it's really cold up there compared to here. So cold you could freeze to death if you're not careful. It's not an appropriate environment for living beings. Moreover, you wouldn't be able to reach the 8th if they are still there." 

"Filona's tits!" Aito stood up, seemingly angry and in a hurry. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" 

Gwen's memories were blurrier than usual. A detail he noticed as he went up the Tower. He could vaguely recall a few things about the 7th and 8th floor, but nothing helpful. Only when the moderator talked about the 8th floor did Gwen's memories become clear. 

The 8th floor was a frozen field where the average temperature was -60 °C on warm days. Moreover, the temperature dropped every hour. Turning it into a living hell. At some point, challengers would have to move out if they wanted to survive. 

It was a system originally designed to force challengers to ascend. Because when a team occupied the 8th floor, no other team could join them. Once the occupying team left, the floor would reset to welcome a new team of challengers. 

The same went for the 7th floor. 

Segolene looked at him weirdly, partly because of his choice of curse words. "Hum, what difference would it have made?" 

"I wouldn't have taken my time," he started donning his armor, "there are things worse than berserkers in the Tower. If they choose to ascend, they will die. You, of all people, should know this." 

"Maybe… nothing is certain. Death isn't certain on the 9th floor, only on the 10th floor," the moderator said. "I'd advise you to take your time to prepare. Even if you start now, there is no way you'll reach them in time. It takes two days to clear the 7th floor stage and two more days for the 8th floor. Well... maybe could…" 

Segolene paused, seemingly hesitating to voice out her next sentence. 

"I could what?" Aito asked, "If there is another way for me to speed things up, please tell me now, Segolene. I need to know." 

"But… you might die from it. You're not ready for this," she said. 

"Please." 

"Your Destiny sure is playful...," Segolene sighed, then smiled. "How can I say 'no' when you look so desperate and cute? Fine. There is one way you could reach the 9th floor faster. In the era before the goddess of bravery's fall, there was one event moderators would trigger that would shorten the time challengers took to clear the 7th and 8th floor's quest.. We call it the Flood."