Chapter 15: Among the strong



With Hermit now in his body, Jael's hearing is sharper than even Iron ranks. His senses heightened. He shook his head as he caught what the Elf said through the closed door. Litha and Temur were waiting for him beneath the iron tent spread around different areas of the registration area.

"So how did it go?" Litha asked.

"Just as you described. He tried to get my Codex measured."

Litha shrugged in an an an 'I told you so', way and they began to walk away from the area. Temur was telling them about a restaurant he wanted to go to because their food was too good when someone ran into Jael from behind.

He turned, expecting an apology, but then he saw who it was. "Mopi!" Now Jael was even more confused because the 'running into' was intentional.

And Mopi wasn't a good actor because he scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. "Ah...Jael! I don't know you are here. See me running into you...ah ah ah."

Jael looked down at the shorter boy with his brows raised. "You ran into me."

"Well, yes, sorry. It's a mistake, my foot slipped."

"That's strange. Why would an Iron rank be clumsy?" Litha looked at him with narrowed eyes and Mopi shrunk back, looking down and using his booted toes to scuff the ground. "Are you following us?"

Then she lowered her voice. "Do you snitch?"

He jumped back and pulled his hand in the air. "No! Of course not! I'll also get into trouble if I say anything!" He sounded offended.

"Now come on, Litha. I'm sure Mopi just wanted familiar faces with all that happened. He got the worst of it, remember?" Temur said.

Litha snorted, opened her mouth to say something, then saw the look on Temur's face. "Alright. Alright, big guy."

"Thayer?" Jael asked.

Litha hissed, she looked around and as she expected, she saw a small drone flying above them. "Thayer Argent. He's a legacy Climber, a rich brat....."

"A powerful rich brat," Temur added.

"Yes, unfortunately. He's going around trying to recruit those who are strong to create a team to climb the Tower together. We haven't even started the first test but he's already doing something like that." Litha explained.

"So he had asked you two?"

"Of course. We turned him down."

Jael didn't know how to feel about that. On one hand, he doesn't want to draw attention or make enemies, and on the other hand, he feels pride that on his second day in the Tower, he is already being counted as one of the among the strong.

'But do I have just start fighting? I don't even know how to fight properly. I've not trained. What if I make a mistake and....'

"Jael!" Temur rumble. "It's a free fight. I'll advise you to do it."

"But.." Litha began but Temur shook his head. She kept quiet. They both knew that in Tower, fighting can't be avoided; it is a must, and if you don't want to be stepped on, then let them know you can fight. "It's your choice." She said.

Tim waited. 'Jael. They call him. This was who Thayer said he should fight to prove his worth. Him? I'll fold him quickly and then I'll bend the other two'

Jael stepped forward. That's right. This is the Tower here, and if he wants to climb to the top, then it would be better to start showing it now. "My name is Jael. Do you want to fight me? Lucky me, I've not tested this body yet.

Not to talk of Hermit."