The sixteenth floor bloomed like a dream, or a hallucination induced by venom.
Veyne stepped into a realm that pulsed with unnatural beauty. Crimson vines spiraled up silver-barked trees, each bearing fruit that hummed softly, almost like a lullaby. A mist clung low to the ground, pale violet and thick with scent—honeysuckle and rust. The air was too still, too sweet.
Revelation Dominion activated.
[Floor Type: Hallucination Trial – Cognitive Dissonance Zone]
[Objective: Reach the Tower's Heart without succumbing to delusion.]
As the mist parted, he saw it: a path of shattered glass, winding through thorn-covered flora. At the center of the forest stood a towering spire, half-alive, its roots pulsing like veins beneath the earth. The "Heart." It beat visibly, like a massive core of flesh encased in stone and vine.
The moment he stepped onto the path, the hallucinations began.
A hand brushed his shoulder. He turned. No one.
Then—
"Veyne?"
A voice.
Familiar.
He turned again. She stood there. Thalia.
She had died on Floor 9, crushed under the shifting maze walls. Veyne had watched it happen. He had screamed her name until his voice shredded.
But here she was—whole, smiling, holding out her hand.
"It's really me," she said.
His body trembled.
Revelation Instinct resisted the illusion.
[Warning: Illusion too emotionally anchored. Reality distortion in effect.]
He took a breath.
"You're not her," he said.
She tilted her head. "Then why do I feel more real than you?"
He didn't answer.
The path beneath him cracked. Roots rose and pulled the glass away. Suddenly he was walking on blood-soaked wood. The mist twisted into faces. Some wept. Others screamed.
[Trial Difficulty Increased – Personal Regression Engaged]
The Tower was done playing fair.
His mind splintered again. A memory played—not his own.
A child curled in a cellar. Rats swarming. A voice overhead yelling, "We only feed survivors!"
He blinked.
Another memory.
He held a knife. A man begged. Behind him, flames devoured a village. The man's face turned into Veyne's.
"What are you?" Veyne hissed.
The path opened into a clearing. At the center: a garden of mirrors, each one reflecting a different Veyne. In some, he was a tyrant. In others, a corpse. In one, a god.
Each mirror spoke.
"You are not chosen."
"You are not strong."
"You are not worthy."
"You are just another scream in the Tower."
He unsheathed Echo Blade.
The mirrors cracked but didn't shatter.
From the ground rose thorned guardians—giants of bramble and bone. They attacked without form, without thought, as if the Tower was angry he'd made it this far.
He fought through them like a man ablaze.
Each strike echoed memory. Each parry carved pain into motion. His blade danced, heavy with guilt and love and regret. The guardians bled golden sap that hissed when it hit the ground.
He roared.
They fell.
And the spire at the center opened.
Inside, the Heart pulsed faster.
He stepped closer.
A voice thundered from inside:
"If you continue, you will remember everything. Even the things you begged to forget."
"I'm not here to forget," Veyne said. "I'm here to become."
He plunged his hand into the Heart.
Pain.
Like razors made of memory. They flayed him. Thoughts, truths, echoes—all burst free.
You let your brother die.
You killed the only innocent who ever trusted you.
You swore you'd never climb the Tower. And here you are.
He screamed.
And the Heart beat in rhythm.
It accepted his pain.
[Trial Complete – Cognitive Dissonance Neutralized]
[Trait Unlocked: Heartbound – Immune to illusion-based manipulation.]
[New Active Skill: Thorns of Self – Summon manifestations of memory as weaponized constructs. Power scales with emotional intensity.]
The garden wilted.
The spire dissolved.
The mist cleared.
And Veyne emerged—bloodied, but no longer afraid of the thoughts that hunted him.
He turned to the staircase leading to Floor 17.
It was carved in living bone.
And as he began to ascend, the Tower whispered, softer this time:
"Very few choose to remember."