Soul Nexus: A Fantasy Tower Ascension LitRPG

I held out my hand. “Wait, Killa.” She stopped and turned to me. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea anymore.”

Killa gave a wry smile. “Rina, we will have to go through this eventually if we want to reach the top. Just stay with Shadara while she recovers. I’ll be fine. Based on what I saw with Shadara, mine will be the simplest.”

Shadara smiled. “Trust her. Yeah, that was rough, but she’ll get through it. You will too, I know it. Besides, I doubled my shard total, so it’s not for nothing.”

Killa walked up to the mirror. Green slime flooded from the mirror like a dam breaking. The sphinx even took several steps back towards us. “Do not panic. While you’re forbidden from interfering, I will keep the effects of her trial from harming you in return.”

That’s both terrifying and relieving. But what could scare this sphinx? What is Killa facing?

More and more of the slime poured from the mirror. The slime began pooling into a lake that was quickly filling up. Killa stood still. The ground rose up with Shadara, the sphinx, and me until we were ten feet in the air.

Killa stood motionless until she was submerged in the green slime that was supposed to be her doppelganger. There was no sign of an enemy, just the slime. It seemed like her enemy wasn’t a person; instead, it was a natural catastrophe.

What decision could have led to this being an alternative for her?

I gasped as more slime spilled below us. It was starting to spill out of the ruins and encompass it. Killa? How is this the simplest? There’s just so much.

Everything was dead silent. The mirror, everything was submerged. Killa’s clothes were suspended, the walls were beginning to dissolve, and even the pillar on which we rested began crumbling.

“Get on my back.” The sphinx’s voice broke through the silence. Before I could ask why, he continued. “To keep my duty to ensure your safety, we must fly. Unless you have the means yourselves, climb on my back and hold on.”

Making sure Shadara was safe first, I helped her up first. While she was moving better, it was clear from her wincing, she was still in pain. With Shadara holding on with two fists full of the sphinx’s mane, I hopped on and hung on.

The sphinx jumped off the pillar and flapped his wings hard. I leaned forward and held myself closer to his body as the wind howled around us. I turned to see the sphinx flying us in circles around the ruins. The tide of the slime had stopped and even started to recede. I lost sight of Killa’s clothes as all the slime shimmered below us.

The slime went from simmering to glowing. There was a flash, and the slime went up in flames.

“Killa!” Shadara and I screamed simultaneously.

Out of the front of the ruins walked Killa. She walked away from the blinding, burning pyre of the ruins. She grinned as she flipped the facsimile of her hair. The sphinx landed in front of her. I could feel the heat, but I expected it to be hotter than it was.

I jumped off and hugged her. “You’re alright. What was that?”

Killa giggled. “That—that was me being right.”

Shadara joined us. “What were you right about?”

Killa waved at the still-burning mass of slime behind her. “Shadara faced a version of herself where a major decision diverged from her past. My greatest life decision was to stay with my mentor and hang onto my sentience.”

I pointed to the flames. “And that?”

“That was me burning all the mana that collected in the ooze,” Killa answered dismissively. “Believe it or not, that was trivial for me to absorb all that mass and ignite the mana. One side effect of having such large quantities of mass is losing my sense of self. There was no consciousness left in that.”

The sphinx bowed. “For such a splendid victory, you’re free to pass or stay with the other two while the final one looks through the mirror.”

If I had blood, it would’ve drained from my face. “Oh, right.”

Shadara put a hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, I know you know you’re up next.” She leaned in close. “You can do this. What’s the greatest life decision you made?”

I looked down at my hands. “I don’t know. Not knowing what I’m going to face is the most terrifying part.”

The sphinx flapped his wings, dispelling the flames and clearing the way. “You must stand before the mirror, Rina.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t think I want to now.”

The sphinx loomed over me. “You are free to stay, but the other two must continue since they have completed the trial. Their time on this floor is over.”

I looked to my sworn sisters. “So the only way I can stay with them is to pass the trial?”

“Correct.”

I took a deep breath as I stared into the ruin’s entrance. The sphinx flew into the ruin. “This’ll hurt, won’t it?”

Killa followed after the sphinx. “Each floor is a greater challenge than the last. It’s never going to be easy.”

Dragging my feet, I trudged my way to the mirror. Shadara stayed by my side every step she could. I had to make the final twenty feet alone. So very alone. There was no sign of damage from the slime. Eventually, I stood before the mirror like Killa and Shadara before me.

The image reflected an image of myself. But then the image slid as it moved, while I didn’t. It wasn’t me anymore. A black-furred werewolf with metal arms crawled out of the mirror.

The moment you decided between your mana battery integration and lycanthropy integration, that’s the moment the mirror selected. This is you if you had decided to become a werewolf.

“I’m sure you’re already aware,” my evil twin started. Her voice held a consistent growl to it. “They already told you. Mine already told me.”

I held my hands out. “So, do we have to fight?”

My twin shook her head. “Honestly, I’d love to. Well, actually, I’d just enjoy ripping you apart. But killing you feels like suicide, and I don’t need to tell you how much that’s a turn-off for me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What then?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. You wanna sit and chat? I have questions about magic, and I’m sure you’re itching to ask about being a werewolf.” She giggled. “Heh, itching. Yeah, it can get itchy.”

There was a slightly raised ledge that we walked to. My werewolf double was taller than I was. Her fur was full and glossy. Honestly, she looked quite beautiful and heroic in a feral, deadly monster kind of way.

“So, you enjoy killing?” I asked.

My doppelganger stared upwards with a twinkle in her eye. “Yeah, killing’s pretty fun for me. It’s like a thrilling rush and an addicting dopamine hit.”

I hung my head. “Yeah, I don’t have that same feeling. Does being a werewolf really make me a killer?”

She hummed. “Yes, and no. The natural mental cocktail of chemicals my brain produces makes it easy, and enjoyable. You’re capable of killing, it just comes easier to me.”

I turned to see her tail wagging lazily behind her. “What’s it like having a tail?”

Her tail wagged more vigorously. “It took a little getting used to. And honestly, there’s no controlling it completely. It has a mind of its own most times. But my balance has never been better. What’s it like having a massive bomb in your chest?”

I placed my hand over my mana battery. “Well, it makes using my gun way easier. I’ve also had to add extra protection over it with more plates and my armor. Learning magic isn’t easy, but I’m slowly getting the hang of it.”

My lycan-double’s eyes bulged. “Can you cast any cool spells?”

I shook my head. “Not really. The best trick I have is creating a field of darkness around me that only I can see through. It’s great for a fight, but there's still so much I could do, if I could learn it.”

She laughed. “That would be really useful for a melee combatant such as myself. But it sounds like you decided the ranged route.”

I held my hand up to my doppelganger’s hair. “Is it alright if I touch it? It looks so soft.”

She grinned, revealing large, sharp teeth. “Please, help yourself. It’s softer than it looks. I enjoy it when people I trust run their fingers through it. And trusting myself is second nature.”

I ran my hand through the fur and found that it was as soft as it looked. She was right. It was very relaxing. My fingers swept through her silky, soft fur. The texture of her fur was blissful, like running my fingers through a cloud. It was so incredibly smooth and velvety, gliding effortlessly beneath my touch.

Lost in the sensation, I admired the beauty of her transformation. As I ran my hand through her fur, I couldn’t help but smile. I could have chosen this. It wouldn’t have been so bad. What was I afraid of?

She tilted her head. “So, why aren’t you a werewolf?”

I pulled my hand away. “Because I was afraid. I saw the monster Tasha was, and I didn’t want to become that. Also, at the time, I was still attached to the hopeless attempt to keep my humanity.”

“Ah, that.” She wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “It sounds like you finally let go of that too, am I right?”

I nodded slowly. “But I’ve become more android now than human. My heart’s pointless now.”

She winked. “I thought something sounded a little off with you. Are you happy with your choice?”

I stared blankly at the ground in front of us. “I don’t know. Why did you become a werewolf?”

The lycanthrope held up her arms and flexed them. “I asked which one would make me stronger the fastest. It was integrating the lycanthrope DNA.” She wiggled her ears. “There are some serious perks to it. So I have adrenaline running through my body at all times and have cravings to actually eat raw meat on a regular basis. It’s only minor compared to everything I gained.”

“That sounds useful. But raw meat cravings—that sounds disgusting.” I shuddered.

She grinned. “The change in taste buds makes it intoxicatingly tasty. But I can still eat anything.”

I leaned back and stared at the sky. “Do you wonder if there’s a possibility I could’ve chosen both magic and lycanthropy?”

She shrugged. “Probably. But I’m guessing I was brought around because I was more probable. But you know, you could still choose both now.”

I looked at her. “What? Are you serious?”

She held out her hands as if they were scales. “You have a unique opportunity here. You can stay as you are now. Or you could become me and choose to become a werewolf. Even stranger, I could infect you now, and you purchase the lycanthrope integration the moment you have enough shards. You’ll have plenty of time now to collect them. And if you ask, Killa and Shadara would happily loan them to you right now.”

I turned to where the sphinx, Killa, and Shadara were waiting for me. “I—I can become you? Would that work? Will I be the same as you are now?”

She stood up and extended a hand to help me up. “The mirror picks the decision you chose, and it does so in a manner of how you would’ve done it. You’d have all your memories and mine, but your soul will inhabit this body.”

I blinked several times. Would that be a good thing? Is that something I want? Being able to kill—no—wanting to kill would make things easier for me to travel with Shadara and Killa. They’ll accept me either choice I make; I know that. I see now that it is safe to become a werewolf. Do I regret my decision?

I took her hand. “I…”