The courtyard had finally gone quiet.
Four bodies lay scattered across the cracked stone floor. The fight that had raged for nearly twenty minutes had ended in only a few seconds once Gun learned Flash Step.
Gun stretched his shoulders and exhaled slowly.
"…Man."
He glanced at the corpses.
"That was exhausting."
His arms still felt heavy from the constant parrying. Even someone who spent thousands of hours reacting to attacks in Deepwoken couldn't parry three people forever.
Then he remembered.
"…Right."
Gun turned around.
The girl was still sitting near the broken pillar.
Her eyes were wide.
She had clearly watched everything.
Gun scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Uh… you good?"
For a moment she didn't respond.
Then suddenly—
She ran toward him.
Gun blinked.
"Wait—"
Before he could react, she threw her arms around him.
"THANK YOU!!"
Gun froze.
His brain shut down for a second.
She hugged him tightly, almost shaking him while talking.
"I thought they were seriously going to kill me!"
Gun turned bright red instantly.
His body stiffened like a statue.
Her head was against his chest and she kept talking rapidly.
"You literally saved my life!"
Gun awkwardly lifted his hands, unsure what to do.
"…Uh…"
Then he suddenly noticed something.
Because of how she was hugging him—
There was… contact.
Gun's face turned even redder.
His brain started overheating.
What is happening.
He awkwardly tapped her shoulder.
"U-Uh…"
"Maybe we should… have some distance."
The girl blinked.
Then she realized.
Her face instantly turned red too.
"O-OH!"
She jumped backwards quickly.
"S-Sorry!"
Gun cleared his throat and looked away awkwardly.
"…It's fine."
There was a few seconds of very awkward silence.
Then Gun pointed toward the staircase.
"So uh…"
"You climbing the tower too?"
She nodded quickly.
"Yes!"
Then she stood up properly and brushed dust off her clothes.
"My name is Luna."
Gun nodded.
"Gun."
She looked at the battlefield again.
"…You're insanely strong."
Gun shrugged.
"I just react fast."
Then she tilted her head curiously.
"…What's your nexus?"
Gun paused.
"…I don't have one."
Luna blinked.
"Wait… seriously?"
"Yeah."
"And you still did all that?"
Gun shrugged again.
"I just parry a lot."
Luna stared at him for a few seconds.
Then she suddenly smiled.
"Well… I guess that works."
She raised her hand slightly.
"My nexus is Ignivar."
A faint red glow flickered around her wrist.
Gun recognized the symbol immediately.
Fire.
"Your class?" he asked.
"Support."
Gun raised an eyebrow.
"Support with fire?"
She laughed.
"Not exactly."
Then she lifted her hand again.
A faint smoke-like aura appeared around her palm.
"My main ability is called [Ashen Veil]."
Gun tilted his head.
"What does it do?"
Luna explained excitedly.
"It creates a huge area around me filled with ash and smoke."
"People outside the area can only see smoke."
"But people inside the veil…"
She smiled proudly.
"…heal extremely fast."
Gun blinked.
"…That sounds broken."
She laughed again.
"It's really strong in team fights."
Then she crossed her arms confidently.
"So if you're fighting something dangerous…"
"I can support you."
Gun looked at her for a moment.
Then nodded.
"…Alright."
Having a healer in a tower filled with monsters was definitely not a bad thing.
They started walking toward the staircase together.
While walking, Luna suddenly started talking again.
"Oh right, do you know how the tower works?"
Gun shook his head.
"Not really."
"I just climb."
She nodded.
"Okay so basically…"
She pointed upward.
"Each floor gets bigger."
Gun frowned slightly.
"Bigger how?"
"Like… way bigger."
She started explaining while walking.
"Floor 1 was tiny, right? About the size of a big room."
Gun nodded.
"Floor 2 had multiple rooms connected by a hallway."
"Floor 3 is already the size of a village."
Gun stopped walking.
"…Wait what?"
She nodded casually.
"Yeah."
"Floor 4 will be about the size of an island."
Gun stared at her.
"And it keeps increasing."
"Every single floor."
"By the time you reach Floor 10…"
She raised one finger.
"It's literally the size of a continent."
Gun blinked slowly.
"…You're joking."
"Nope."
She shrugged.
"The tower expands infinitely."
"Each floor is bigger than the last."
Gun looked toward the staircase again.
"…So eventually these floors become entire worlds."
"Basically."
Gun smiled slightly.
"…Good."
Luna blinked.
"Good?"
Gun rested his greatsword on his shoulder again.
"If the tower is infinite…"
"…that just means there's more stuff to fight."
Luna laughed.
"You're insane."
Gun shrugged.
"Probably."
They finally reached the staircase.
The entrance to Floor 3.
The air around it felt different.
Heavier.
Stronger.
Gun could already tell the enemies ahead would be much more dangerous.
He stepped forward.
Then paused.
"…Ready?"
Luna nodded.
She stood beside him.
"Ready."
Gun placed one foot on the staircase.
Light began to gather around them.
The next floor awaited.
The Third Floor
The staircase glowed brighter as Gun and Luna stepped onto it.
For a moment, everything dissolved into white light.
Gun felt the familiar sensation of the tower's teleportation—like gravity disappearing for half a second.
Then the light vanished.
A warm breeze brushed against his face.
Gun opened his eyes.
"…Whoa."
They were standing on a rocky cliff overlooking a huge island landscape. The sky was bright, almost tropical. Palm-like trees covered the terrain below, and a blue ocean stretched out toward the horizon.
Small hills, patches of forest, and ruined stone structures were scattered across the island.
Luna looked around in amazement.
"So this is Floor 3…"
Gun nodded slowly.
"Village-sized floor, huh."
He stepped forward cautiously.
"Feels bigger already."
As they descended the slope toward the jungle-like area, Gun suddenly stopped.
"…Movement."
A faint squishy sound came from the grass.
Then another.
Something bounced forward from behind a rock.
It was a small green blob, about the size of a basketball. Its translucent body wobbled as it hopped toward them.
Then another appeared.
And another.
Within seconds, five of them surrounded the path.
Luna tilted her head.
"Slimes?"
Gun drew his dagger and greatsword.
"Looks like it."
One of the slimes jumped toward him.
Gun casually swung his dagger.
Slice.
The slime split in half instantly, its body collapsing into green liquid.
"…Easy."
But then something strange happened.
The puddle started moving again.
The liquid slowly pulled itself back together.
Gun raised an eyebrow.
"…Regeneration?"
Luna nodded.
"Yeah. Slimes usually do that."
The slime reformed and hopped toward him again.
Gun sighed.
"Alright."
His greatsword flashed.
SLASH.
This time the slime exploded completely, green particles scattering into the air.
The creature didn't reform.
Gun smirked.
"Guess you just need to hit harder."
More slimes bounced toward them from the bushes.
Gun spun his sword lightly.
"Good warm-up."
Luna stepped beside him, preparing her support abilities.
And somewhere deeper within the island jungle…
Stronger creatures were already beginning to notice the new climbers.