Ininise's soft hands ran across my face, focusing specifically on my ears—they seemed to be what fascinated her the most.
"Get away from Ininise, ASSHOLE!"
Malach shouted as if possessed by fury. At that moment he looked genuinely shocked; honestly, so was I.
"But I'm not even doing anything!" I tried to make my logic heard, though I was certain it wouldn't be well received by this guy anyway.
Amid all the shouting, Ininise finally stepped back, realizing she had been a little discourteous.
"I'm sorry. It's just that I've never seen ears like yours before."
That seemed strange to me.
"But weren't you supposed to have met other people like me when you arrived at the tower?"
"Hahh…"
The tall woman sighed. She still seemed to be struggling with the idea of revealing information about her group to me.
"We tried… to travel discreetly, so we didn't approach any of the other groups that arrived with us."
Something told me it had to do with this young lady named Ininise.
"That's about us, but you… Ralzire, where did you find him? You were only supposed to lure a few corpses, and you ended up bringing this person instead."
Ralzire seemed surprised at being judged so suddenly, but she quickly composed herself.
"Yeah… about that, uh… I screwed up a little while trying to lure a few of them, and in the end about a dozen started chasing me. I'm still not used to this strange city. After that, while I was running away, I ran into Uriel. Like I said, if it weren't for him, the corpses would've caught me."
Ralzire paused for a moment to look at me.
"Thanks for that, and sorry for being a bit rude earlier."
It was true she yelled at me a little while we were running and didn't tell me her group was waiting for her, but considering the situation, I'll accept her apology.
"It's nothing. It wasn't a situation where we could afford to trust each other."
Although I did trust her—well, actually, I just hoped I wouldn't run into a bunch of psychopaths, though that was leaving quite a lot to luck for my own taste.
"Thank you for helping Ralzire. She's like my little sister."
The tall woman looked straight into my eyes as if trying to uncover something.
"Hah… fine. I don't think you'll cause us trouble. You can go back to your group—but let me make one thing clear: if I find out you talked about any of us to other people, I won't be so tolerant."
"What? You can't just let him go like that! He saw Ininise—what if—"
"Malach, I swear that if you interrupt again, I'll make sure your mouth ends up without any teeth."
Malach lowered his head angrily, covering his mouth with his hand.
Uriel had the impression that "not so tolerant" meant something like strangling him with his own intestines—or at least that was the feeling her gaze gave him. But the fact that they were letting him go meant these people were at least somewhat decent, and that was exactly what Uriel needed to survive in this place.
Now a difficult decision presented itself. He could tell the truth or lie. On one hand, if he told the truth he would have to explain a lot of things. But while lying would avoid all those problems, when they eventually discovered it, any trust he built now would shatter.
Uriel took a breath. He had already made his decision. He preferred the bitterness of today for the peace of tomorrow.
"Excuse me, but I have a request…"
All four of them looked at me with curiosity. After all, they had already allowed me to leave, and yet here I still was.
"The truth is, I don't have a group, and I know very little about the tower compared to the others. If I travel alone, I won't last long. Please allow me to accompany you."
Malach looked at me furiously, but the threat he'd received seemed to have worked because he stayed silent, waiting for the tall woman to speak. Ralzire and Ininise didn't look negatively surprised—especially the latter, who even seemed a little happy.
The tall woman had a gaze that seemed to be evaluating every possible pro and con of the suggestion I had just made.
"That's hard to believe. The system informed all of us that we had to form a group of five people or we would certainly die. What you're saying goes against that. Besides, how can you not know about the tower? The system has been sending information for the entire year."
Those were actually good points.
Uriel slightly shook his head, trying to find the right words.
"It's a bit complicated. I was chosen by the tower just a few minutes after I came of age. After that, I was transported to the tower, where they explained they would make an exception for me. They even gave me a title."
"Wow."
The tall woman slammed her fist into her palm and smiled.
"Well, that settles everything. Just show me your title and I'll believe you. Don't worry—just show me that specific part. I won't force you to show anything else."
However, Uriel certainly didn't know how to do that. Still, he had a slight hunch. Just like when he had summoned his weapons out of nowhere, maybe if he wished for it, it would appear.
At that moment, a panel appeared in front of Uriel.
[Name: Uriel – The Last of the First.]
Race: Human
Level: 1
Stored Power: 3.15
Status: Alive
[Titles]
The Last of the First. (By bad or good luck, you are the last to enter the tower among the first brave ones to accept the challenge): Grants 5% more power until leveling with the average of the other climbers.
The tall woman stared at the panel in astonishment for a moment, only to suddenly burst into laughter.
"HAHAHA! Damn it!"
Uriel couldn't help but blush a little. Okay, it wasn't the best title in the world, but it was his—and a 5% increase wasn't bad, right?
"My stomach, hah… that was good… hah… okay, look, I believe you. I heard that some exceptional individuals could obtain titles, but this is the first time I've seen someone get one for arriving late."
The tall woman glanced mischievously at Ralzire.
"Hey, you don't happen to have a title like this and just didn't want to tell us, do you?" she said with an exaggerated grin.
"Aghj."
A grimace of annoyance was the only response she received, though she now seemed in a much better mood than before.
"Well, you saved our Ralzire, so I suppose we owe you one. But I can't decide everything myself, so how about we vote, guys?"
"Sounds good to me."
"I agree too."
Malach was the only one who didn't speak.
"Good, that settles it. Vykir, come here. Stop acting mysterious and get down here."
Vykir—that was the name of the last member of their team.
Vykir immediately appeared in a dark corner through a hole that led to the second floor. His skin was more purple than that of his companions, along with violet eyes. His hair was slicked back, and his horns were similar to Ininise's but neither adorned nor golden—however, they were much wider.
It must be complicated walking around with that much weight on your head, right?
That was the impression Uriel got. He also definitely looked like the kind of guy who didn't enjoy making many friends, since he simply arrived, stood beside the tall woman, and said nothing.
The first to speak was the tall woman.
"Well, I certainly understand your situation, and we definitely owe you one for helping Ralzire. Because of that, I can offer you a few supplies—but that's all. I won't risk my group's safety or share the power that monsters drop. That would only slow us down."
She shrugged and said nothing more.
Honestly, that surprised me. I had the feeling she would support me. Still, far from being angry, Uriel felt that it was normal—after all, he was a stranger. But the emphasis on the power granted by monsters caught his attention.
The next to raise her hand was Ralzire.
"Look, guys, I owe him one, alright? Even in our city people rarely help each other, and you know it. I say he deserves it."
Then Ininise followed.
"I'd also like to help him. He doesn't look like a bad person. But most of all, abandoning him means we'd be sending him to die anyway—and I refuse to do that."
Ininise said that, and I really appreciated the help, but the argument that I would definitely die was a little harsh, wasn't it? Okay, I'm slow as hell, but I still have some pride.
Then it was Malach's turn. The bastard didn't even try to hide his smile.
"I agree with the boss. Let's give him some supplies and send him on his way."
The situation looked bad. It was two against two, and the final word would belong to this guy, Vykir…
Well, that was it. I'd have to think about what to do. In the meantime, maybe if I hid long enough, I'd run into another group.
"Let him stay."
Everyone's faces dropped to the floor. For a moment they were clearly shocked—even me. This gloomy and mysterious guy had simply supported me without hesitation.
"But Vykir, we don't know anything about him."
Malach complained.
"We know enough. He jumped to defend your sister without hesitation, and he didn't lie to us at any moment. Like Ralzire said, we owe him a favor. Let him stay."
After that, he climbed back up.
Despite losing the vote, the tall woman smiled faintly.
"Hahh… well, that settles everything."
She walked up to me and raised her fist, which I bumped with mine.
"My name's Kaelira. Don't worry, Uriel—we'll take you to your people."