CHAPTER 3: DEATH IS NOT THE END: Supreme Adaptation
"There are talents.
Then there are Origin Talents.
And then there is what was never meant to awaken again".
The fog crept thicker now.
Liora had gone. Whether she left out of fear or knowledge, Eli didn't know. She'd given him a warning. He hadn't taken it.
He was alone again
" There are moments when the Tower tests more than strength. It tests the right to exist.
Eli didn't rest long after Liora left. Something in her words lingered. Something in the Tower watched. The moment of silence was short-lived. The trial might have ended, but the Tower was never still.
A sharp tremor ran through the floor. The fog, which had begun to fade, surged back in like a crashing tide. Eli's muscles tensed.
"Another wave?"
No notification appeared.
No warnings.
Just the grinding of unseen gears and the smell of sulfur and ozone in the air.
He turned toward the archway that had appeared to lead upward, but it was gone. In its place: nothing. Blackness.
" A second test?
Then the sky—or what passed for a sky on this floor—fractured like black glass splitting across heaven. Something roared without voice.
He dropped to his knees. Pain lanced through his skull.A long, silent crack ripped across the space above, and something… stepped through.
"What is that he whispered„
It wasn't a Riftborn.
It was worse.
It had no true form, only a silhouette of pulsing darkness with too many eyes and a slow, dragging presence that felt like gravity itself had gained sentience. It pulsed with hunger, yet did not move quickly.
The Riftborn screamed in response to it movement— not in hunger. In fear.
And then they charged.
Eli stood and summoned the arc-blade again. Its light was unstable, flickering like a dying flame. His vision blurred.
The first Riftborn lunged. He ducked — barely. The second raked claws across his back. Blood sprayed.
The third tackled him into a cracked stone. His ribs snapped. His blade shattered.
" Too fast. Too strong. Can't breathe—
He tried to move. The fourth Riftborn pounced.
Eli ran.
But the Tower did not let him flee.
He fought. He shouted. He tried to call the blade of light again—but nothing came.
His Level was only 1 as it meant no edge. An edge. A second wind.
But this was not part of the ordinary path. This was something else.
"You've seen and heard what no mortal should,Something seemed to whisper from the shadows.
Now prove you're worthy to remain.Oh you mortal "
The creature caught him. One tendril lashed through his side. Another gripped his chest and lifted him off the ground. His ribs shattered. Blood burst from his mouth.
> "N-No—!"
It dragged him into the air. His limbs went limp.
He tried to scream. Couldn't.
His vision began to fade. Breath failed.
"This is death, he realized.
So this… is it? I die here? On Floor One?
No it can't be I've not gotten my revenge on the tower for my family.
I haven't found out why the tower came and destroyed my life
I refuse to die here as those thought kept coming
The silhouette leaned closer. It tilted its head. Studying him. Savoring the end.
Then… it paused.
So did time.
And it was.
Everything stopped. There was no floor. No pain. No light. No time.
Just stillness. And one final breath that refused to leave.
Then, a whisper:
A voice unlike any he had heard — ancient, cold, and impossibly old — echoed inside him.
"You are dead."
"But death is a rule."
"And rules can be adapted."
" [CONDITION MET: DEATH STATUS CONFIRMED]
[TALENT UNLOCKED – SUPREME ADAPTATION]
[CLASS: ORIGIN – HIDDEN]
[TRIGGER: ADAPT OR DIE]
A soundless boom echoed inside his chest.
His body, suspended in that timeless darkness, began to change.
Not heal.
Adapt.
Bones grew denser. Muscles coiled tighter. His lungs restructured to absorb even stagnant air. His brain rewired to process pain, threat, and data more quickly. Something beyond biology snapped into place.
Then his heart beat again.
Once.
Twice.
And Eli opened his eyes.
The darkness was gone. The monster was gone.
But his body lay on the floor, twitching, then rising.
He gasped, sucking in air as if breathing for the first time. Color returned to his skin. His eyes glowed faintly for a second, the color of shifting gold.
The Tower chimed:
"[AWAKENING COMPLETE]
[SUPREME ADAPTATION – ACTIVE]
"You have conquered death. You did not survive it—you adapted to it.
Your path has diverged from all others.
The Tower watches. Others feel it".
He stood slowly. The pain was gone, but a dull memory of it lingered, imprinted in muscle. He looked at his arm—and flexed. His bones had slightly realigned, hardened.
He didn't just heal. He evolved.
And it was just beginning.
Somewhere unseen
Far above the floor—beyond the reach of new climbers—a light blinked in an ancient part of the Tower. Dormant guardians stirred. Records changed.
A name was added where none should be:
[Eli Varnuinos – Supreme Adaptation – Origin]
An old voice whispered from behind celestial bars:
"One awakens what should have been extinct."
Somewhere else, a throne cracked.
A voice ranged out from the darkness,
"Find him"„The Bearer of lost origin "
And someone began to descend.
As Eli stood, the archway reappeared. But it shimmered strangely, as if unsure whether to let him go.
"You broke the rule, the Tower seemed to say. You did not survive death. You cheated it.
And now, the Tower would adapt too.
> [NEW OBJECTIVE UNLOCKED: ???]
[ACCESS TO LEVEL– GRANTED]
[WARNING: Your awakening has been detected by higher entities.]
Eli looked up. The crack in the sky hadn't fully closed. It pulsed once.
Something was watching.
He stepped toward the archway, but didn't cross.
"Adapt," he whispered. "If that's what it takes… then so be it."
He smiled. Not because he won. But because he changed.
The sky began to clear. The fog receded.
But the crack in the sky remained for one moment longer — pulsing.
Far, far above, in a place no climber could yet reach… something ancient opened its eyes.
"Another bearer…" it said in a language long lost.
"The last flame has returned."
And the Tower would never forget it.
[END OF CHAPTER 3]