I stay calm.

I don't know if I can beat the human—if I can even call him that—in front of me. But… I like to think the Tower wouldn't place us in an unwinnable situation. Either we fight and have a chance, however slim, or we don't fight at all… if we play this right.

Either way, I can't screw this up.

I study him more closely now. He's short—maybe 5'5", possibly less. The others behind him are built the same. Compact, solid. Is it an adaptation to the gravity here?

His face is sharp, weathered—deep lines carved by sun and wind. Bronze-toned skin, tight over high cheekbones. His eyes don't blink.

Armor wraps his body in interlocking layers—obsidian-black plates across the chest, etched with jaguar markings worn smooth at the edges. Silver coils snake down his arms, looping around sinew and muscle, buried partially beneath a sleeveless mantle stitched with dull copper thread.

A thick, dark belt grips his waist, anchoring tassels of woven metallic fibers that shift faintly with his movements. His greaves are a dark alloy, molded tight to his legs, with segments cut for range and flexibility. The joints are meshed, the toes bare—pressing into the earth like it belongs to him.

Two metallic rods cross his back in a clean X.

I study him quickly—several thoughts flashing through my mind. But on the outside, I stay still. Steady. No fear, no aggression.

We close the last of the distance. Two meters between us.

I notice the pattern of his breathing, the pulse of blood along his veins. He seems human, alright.

The man raises his hand again—this time lifting it to his head, then pointing toward me.

A greeting gesture? Formal, maybe? Ritualistic?

I give a simple nod, keeping my stance respectful and calm. Better not to mimic something I don't understand—last thing I want is to offend him by accident and start a fight.

He pauses for a moment, then speaks.

"B'alam Tun."

The tone is level, but the effect is clear. The others behind him react with stillness. Focus. Respect.

So… that's either his name, his rank, or both.

"Alonso," I say, keeping it short and avoiding any gesture at all.

Then his eyes sharpen. Another pulse follows.

Not hostile—just... direct.

I receive it cleanly: a body schematic. Multiple points marked. Then a second wave. The mind. Neural paths, anchoring routes.

I blink once. Got it.

The Body State. The Pillar too. They know them. Or at least, their version of them. Full node mapping, optimized distribution patterns... the parallels are unmistakable.

I hold steady. No surprise on my face.

Then I send a wave of my own.

I don't show my actual node distribution—just in case. I alter it a bit, but keep the complexity the same. I also share the general path toward it, the basics of how I reached it.

The message is simple: yes, I know this. And yes, I've reached it. I have a feeling this might give me some leverage.

The man's eyes narrow—not in suspicion. In recognition.

A moment of silence.

Then—he speaks again. Voice calmer this time.

"Chak'Aj."

I don't know the word, but the others behind him shift. A subtle change. Not awe, not even respect. Something closer to… acceptance?

Not a bad start, I guess.

The man remains still for a moment. Observing.

His expression shifts slightly—neutral, but focused. While my helmet is down, I can feel their eyes on me. They must find our gear strange. Or maybe not.

Then the man shifts.

A small breath. A slight narrowing of his gaze.

He sends another pulse.

This one—different.

My body stiffens.

Eyes widen before I even register the full content. I can't hide my reaction.

Images surge through my mind.

That thing.

The seventh boss from the last stage.

The same scaled silhouette. The weird cannon tails. The bladed arms.

Except now… it's not alone.

Dozens of them.

Moving in perfect sync.

Snapping jaws. Blades slicing stone. Sparks bursting where wave-forged steel meets scaled hide.

The creatures move like nightmares sculpted for war—almost teleporting between ledges, bodies coiled with impossible speed. Their tails sweep through formations like wrecking balls, tearing through armor and bone with sheer momentum—each strike coupled with rapid-fire bursts.

But they aren't identical.

I spot variations—some with one tail, others with two, and in rarer cases… three. Thicker. Barbed. Whipping around like serpents with minds of their own. Their skin shifts too—some pale and mottled, others dark and iridescent with a sheen that catches the light in hues of cold blue.

And their limbs—

Some end in blades, like the one we fought before. But others wield spike-driven hammers, curved scythes fused to the elbow, even serrated spears that extend and retract from sheaths embedded in flesh. I see one raise an axe-like forearm—just as it cleaves a warrior clean in two. The sound doesn't come, but I feel the impact.

But all of that pales to the carnage.

The hatred the man is clearly transmitting in these visuals.

The emotion layered beneath it.

Unfiltered rage.

It drips through the visuals like static in the signal. Cold. Controlled. Ancient. But underneath—something deeper. Fury shaped over years of bloodshed. Over names lost. Families broken. Not grief.

Vengeance.

And still, the fighting continues.

Humans like him fill the screen—short, dense, precise. Their footwork carves perfect arcs, wave energy bursting at the soles as they twist and leap. Every dodge, every counterstrike comes with the discipline of thousands of hours trained and drilled. Weapons crackle mid-swing, slicing into plated hides—ripping apart joints, detonating flesh with timed pulses of stored charge.

One surges forward—his rod spinning in a blur before it collapses into a blade. The swing is clean. Neck to hip. The creature stumbles, bisected, black blood spraying out in a thick curtain.

Another warrior dives beneath a tail swipe, rolls up the creature's back, and plunges a glowing spike into its spine. A burst. The thing spasms, then collapses in a twitching heap.

But it's not a perfect fight.

Some fall.

One is yanked from the frontlines—dragged screaming by the throat, then crushed under foot. Another is flung against a stone wall with such force that the body folds in half, spine visibly snapping. Blood pools beneath her armor. No one turns to help. They can't.

Every loss is accepted.

Every death… accounted for.

No hesitation.

No mercy.

Just… war.

Then the final image hits.

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A high ridge—above the chaos. Fire scorches the battlefield, smoke curling around stone pyramids shattered by tail strikes and cuts.

Then stillness.

The series of images ends.

I exhale—slow. But inside, I feel the burn of it.

The truth behind his gaze. The deep hatred between both species.

They've been fighting a war long before we arrived.

But it also makes me realize something—cold creeping under my skin.

To take the seventh boss down, we had to work together. Even then, it nearly cost us lives. And now, seeing this? Seeing so many of them—some even stronger…

Even with the gains from the Body and Pillar states, if all twenty-five of us were thrown into that war—the squads would be wiped out instantly.

As for the seven of us… sure, we'd put up a fight. Take some down.

But eventually—we'd fall too.

So this is the new stage, huh?

I stare at the man in front of me, then raise my hand slightly.

I send him visuals—our fight against the seventh boss. Not in full detail, but enough. I shape the images with tension, the desperation, the fear. The blood.

And I add something else.

Hatred.

Not directed at them of course—but at those things.

I make it clear: we share a mutual enemy.

There's a glint in the man's eyes. The silence stretches longer this time.

Then, he sends a wave.

It shows us following him.

I nod.

He pauses, then sends another.

This one shows us unsheathing our weapons—followed instantly by them attacking.

I keep my nod calm, steady. I transmit back the idea—we won't cause problems.

Especially not after what I've seen. If it came to a fight… we'd probably lose.

The man seems to understand. His stance eases slightly.

I take a slow step back and return to the group.

"So?" Arjun sends.

"We can talk normally," I say aloud. "Honestly, we probably have more privacy like this than using waves."

I scan the group. "Long story short—these people seem to be on the good side. They're part of a large civilization, and they've been fighting a war against something that looks… very close to the seventh boss. Not just one or two. Hundreds. Maybe thousands."

Gasps ripple through the group. A few stiffen.

"And if what I saw is accurate, we wouldn't last long out there. Not alone. Even with everything we've gained, we're not ready. Which makes me think… The Tower doesn't intend for us to survive this stage, or perhaps I can call it world, alone. I think we're supposed to fight beside them. Maybe even learn from them."

I let out a breath. "So for now, I think it's smart to follow. See where this goes. What do you think?"

Imani nods. "I think it wise."

"Alright then." I nod once. "Everyone stay calm. Keep weapons sheathed. Avoid sudden gestures. We know nothing about their customs or culture, so stay alert and observe. And let me do the talking for now."

They all nod.

"Let's go."

"Node 12-B... phase drift detected... adjust oscillation envelope by 0.635%..."

"Local QRS pattern's pulling too far right... cortex-to-core latency mismatch... compensate through parietal shunt..."

"Redirecting... subnode series 3F through 3J… coherence map stabilising... partial lock achieved..."

"Amplitude too sharp at junction point 8-A… flatten the peak... layer 2 waveform needs dampening or we'll overload basal resonance..."

"Baseline pulse is harmonised… but not recursive enough… needs feedback integrity... bring in counterwaves from Node 4C..."

"Wavefront looping through occipital lattice... now riding harmonics across sensory grid… adjust rotation angle... 14.3165 degrees clockwise..."

"Frontal override… not yet clean… pulse echo from Mind-2's routing sequence is lagging..."

"Switching Mind-3 to assist... compensating phase error by threading loop across corpus callosum... now relinking..."

"Bioelectric threshold rising... current density near upper safety bounds… 2.0167008 microjoules per mm³... should hold..."

"Inject narrow-band EM sheath around core bundle... preserve integrity while reinforcing edge nodes... go slow..."

"...Pulse curve across thalamus arch stabilised... peak sharpness within ideal margins..."

"Resonance is still mismatched… try sync delay... align node 43G with loop 5AC..."

"Done… signal symmetry returning… node 6 re-established… 6.1 and 6.2 firing in-phase…"

"...Cerebellum map is noisy… stochastic interference detected... likely from external ambient EM... initiate shielding spiral..."

"Field compression spiral initiated… counterspin holds… should give us 5.13352 seconds of clean flow..."

"...Mind-1 preparing main Pillar projection... releasing anchor now..."

"Slow the release... we'll overshoot and breach critical phase if the tether unravels too fast..."

"Release moderated… Pillar imprint pushing through neural substrate now… stabilize decoherence signature..."

"Adjusting for interference... charge bleed from zero-point fluctuations within expected deviation..."

"...Beginning internal node fusion... sequences merging… optimized patterns embedding... each contact point linking via shared harmonic frequency..."

"Core loop has reached minimum entropy state... beautiful symmetry…"

"...Full triangulation confirmed. Phase lock achieved. Network aligned..."

"All three minds are in perfect coherence... no drift... no delay... no contradiction..."

"Pillar output channel stabilised... structure formed... neural QED map locked..."

"... … …"

"...We are ready..."

"Initiate cascade..."

"Now."

"Node 19B firing..."

"32T loop catching it..."

"Transfer holding... amplification surge passing through key arrays... rising..."

"Gamma bands tightening—1.8224... 1.8725... 1.9676 Hz..."

"Rhythm modulated... synchronised with Pillar burst... no delay..."

"Resonance field growing... layering stable... second harmonic forming…"

"Heat spike in hypothalamus... expected… continue... sync uncompromised..."

"Mind-2 rerouting excess energy through loop spine 7-A… absorption complete..."

"Core spiral climbing... 83%... 89%..."

"Begin vertical loopback to central array... unify node charge... no desync..."

"EM braid forming... triple helix node wrapping confirmed..."

"Boosting feedback... increasing loop pressure... stretch it... hold it..."

"Initiating molecular charge sinks..."

"Neuron-level resonance established... electron cloud drift... controlled..."

"Mind-3 isolating noise... neural backscatter cleared..."

"Locking zero-point convergence... holding light-bounded control..."

"All three minds stable... coherence at 99.99999987%..."

"Start full compression cycle."

"Clocking spin-field... .998 the speed of natural pulse... containment achieved..."

"Begin orbital pulse cycling."

"Ready."

"Go."

"Charge surging through major node junctions…"

"Conscious boundary thinning... field bleed into extrasensory layers…"

"All pulses synchronized... amplitude maxed... frequency matched... no loss..."

"Resonance critical."

"Maintain…"

"Maintain…"

"Maintain—"

Then silence.

No data. No noise. No thoughts.

Five hours, sixteen minutes, and forty-two seconds later, her mind folds open.

Equilibrium—reached.

The EM field breathes with her.

––

"Second Pillar State achieved," the three voices overlap—merging into one.

Chiara opened her eyes.

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