Intermission: Iris' retrospection (part 1)

I'm not sure how I felt when I first saw that man. He is so young, so stupid, so... childish. He reminds me of Giordi a lot. Seriously, I shouldn't even have to explain why that fucker likes him so much. Wasn't there a saying, 'yours pull to yours', or something similar?

Youngwoo Lee. His power... he's a very special being. His skill of resurrection is the second SSS-ranked skill I've ever witnessed, and its power is absurd. If it were an attack skill, even with my full power I'd have problems with withstanding it. In a way, it's a good thing it's a passive skill. Its power would be off the scales completely otherwise. Honestly, it almost feels like the Tower had to dump a shitload of power somewhere, and he just came around. But of course, that's not what happened.

He got his skill after he accepted that his essence of being was broken, filled with lies and twisted truths. He pushed through years of what suffering he received because of his only skill. In the meantime, despite showing proficiency with sword a thousand times over, the Tower never gave him ONE skill for swordsmanship. Truly, it seemed as if it planned to give that skill to him right there and then.

Che. I put my hair back as I floated, and fixed it into a ponytail. I was staring at that Ieva for nearly 5 minutes now, and I honestly felt bored out of my mind. There's not even anything to do while I'm in my subspace. All the things I can create are material to me, but that's only because they're bound in my subspace. There isn't much, either: my 3 favorite wands, my best robe, a few magic stones, a runic chalk (unfortunately, only the normal one, the golden one is lost for good), almost 50 magical cameras (I'm 100% sure it was Giordi's doing), a TON of alchemical ingredients, and I even found a rat (dead obviously). Seriously, was my storage always this cluttered? I know I couldn't take much into my Wardstones, so this seems like a little much.

That woman doesn't move much. Actually, she'll be out cold for the entire night. I'm sure of it. Human psyche is too weak to handle news we dropped on her without a skill. Then, what am I doing in one place?

I flew slowly through the apartment. It didn't seem too shabby. There were magical units here and there, some pieces of technology I couldn't recognize, some other things like that. To be honest, I'm not sure why I even looked around. Maybe I should've just taken my time and organized by stuff?

Then I heard that girl's voice. Hilda, was her name? She yelled in ecstasy. It was momentary, but it did pick my attention. I mean, I obviously knew what they were doing. Che. Dirty, dirty acts. I never understood them, neither my body's reactions to seeing them. Does it really feel as good as they say?

I decided to check it out. Of course, I kept myself hidden. I know that Youngwoo wouldn't do shit if he found me, but I don't want to make him my enemy. With a power like his, getting **** on Giordi is actually plausible. Yes, I need to be on his good side, and regain my full power first. That meant, I had to babysit him for now.

I looked into the room through the ajar door. That Hilda was sitting on her bed, and he was just beside her, both of them pleasuring one another. He fondled her breasts with a certain amount of finesse, but there was also clear **** used, as that woman visibly wanted to scream her mind out.

My body started reacting quickly. Before I knew it, I felt something warm spread within me. My right hand was subconsciously moving downwards. Che. Why did it always happen?! This damn body and its reactions. I did hear it's natural for some people to react like this seeing others, but... I didn't want to. I didn't want this feeling, this mentality. They were broken parts about me. And I intended on fixing them.

Still, there's little I can do now. Che, even in my prime I could only muffle those feelings. I was never a good psionic mage. I excelled in attack magic, not support. Sure, I was excellent in alchemy as well, but I only ever looked for ways to hurt my opponents. I still remember that time when I accidentally stacked one too many Meteors and destroyed the items together with the boss of 50th floor. Oops, mistakes of youth, one would say.

While I was caught in my little retrospection, my other hand made it under the robe and started caressing my... what was it called again? Uretha? No, wait, the other one. Labia? Yeah, that one... no, wait!

I reflexively took my hand away, but that didn't mean I stopped hearing the sounds from the room. Hilda was doing her best to keep it down, but there were limits to what could her hand block. And in the meantime, as I watched them both, the warmth in me was only growing stronger. Fuck.

As Hilda and Youngwoo finished, she took her hand and walked towards me. Just before she could open the door, I bolted towards the main room, avoiding her. Only when I reached the place did I realize that I'm invisible to her. Che. Subspace magic is really tricky in understanding. It's only visible to selected people, not all of them.

But, my momentary fear did help me. The warmth, it started diminishing. I breathed a sigh of relief. Slowly, I moved about, and entered Ieva's room. There she was still, sleeping sound. She was an interesting specimen, too.

She was a powerful person, I knew it. Tinkerers were very versatile in my Tower. Their machinations were eons past what civilization could create, so long they put time and effort into making what they wanted. I had a look at her skills, and in fact, if she continued the trend, she'd be able to evolve her tinkering into S-rank in within 2 years. Maybe, just maybe, she could do it in 1. Considering she regresses with us, it is possible.

But that's when I started thinking about this situation. It was... quite unusual. A magician having bond with 2 students at once was only theoretically possible. Try as I might, even when I bested the Tower and gained just that fraction of power, I couldn't **** 2 bonds. Of course, this damnable Tower did that effortlessly.

Bonds are magical contracts between a master (me) and my pupil/student (Ieva). With the bond in place, there is a line of connection between master and pupil. If both sides are willing, it's also possible to teach skills to the student. That was the reason for 90% of my life I always had a bond with someone. 1 year contracts or 3 year ones, that didn't matter. People were ready to sacrifice fortunes to learn from me. Well, can't say I'm surprised.

Just having 2 SS-rank skills was huge. 11 S-ranks, 20 A-ranks, 17 B-ranks, 14 C-ranks, 11 D-ranks, and 15 E and F-ranks for a grand total of 90 skills. 'As expected of 7th generation' They said. Che. Damnable people. If only they knew what I've been through to achieve what I got.

Trials, training, near-**** experiences. I had them all in my memories. I can't honestly count how many times I've brushed against ****. How many times I almost killed myself by accident. How many times I couldn't sleep because of drawbacks from my skills or the things I've done.

My teachers didn't help me much. Out of all 13, only my father was understanding enough to let me have some days off. That's probably the reason he was kicked out of the Academy. 'He wasn't good enough' They tried to slur it. 'He couldn't hold his position.' 'He was old and decided to retire.' 'He couldn't meet expectations of the Elders.'

I kept on training, of course. My father kept encouraging me to. He said that if I train enough, I'll be able to stand on my own. So I pushed on. Over and over. When I fell down, I got up. When I faced a trial, I fought with all I have. And I managed to do it, time and time again. I can't count how many times I've broken my fingers or shattered my elbows, how many times I had my legs decapitated or burned. Pain, pain, and pain again, so strong and vivid that even now I can feel it.

'He didn't put enough effort into creating the Weapon.' Those were the only true words I ever heard about him. And about myself, too. I spent 15 years of my life to train, learned so many spells that I couldn't count them properly, and that was what I was rewarded with.

'Iris Pionstrife, the strongest weapon we created yet.' They thought I didn't hear them. They thought they could control me. To them, I was only a weapon. A means of terrifying others into submission. The Elders have long since forgotten about the true meaning behind the Academy. It wasn't created to make weapons. It wasn't created to rule over countries. It was created to help people conquer the Tower. It was created by my ancestors to finish what they couldn't.

I hated them. I really, really did. But... I couldn't just kill them. I knew that it would break my father's heart, to see our ancestor's work gone, reduced to ashes. Time and time again, I suffered and pushed through, only to be rewarded with more suffering.

I followed their will, and enforced law in distant cities. I bid to their whims, and tortured countless. But... I never liked it. Even if I laughed, it was laughter that covered up my tears. Even if I smiled, it was a smile that hid away my tortured heart.

But everything has its limits. And I am no different. I was **** to enforce law once again. I did it, just like a hundred times before. But this time... I saw him. A hero.

He was alone. He stood valiantly, and wasn't afraid of me. He bared his fangs at me, and swung his sword. Maybe it was his SSS-rank talent, or his attitude that shocked me, but I couldn't block nor dodge. I was almost killed that night. And, back then, I made my decision. All the suffering of people, all the things I've done, weighing on me. No... I couldn't take it anymore. I was prepared to die at his hand...

...but he helped me up. He, a complete stranger, saw right through my laughter and saw my tears. He smiled at my smile, and felt my heart. That was the time I knew I met my savior. His name... Giordi Fallstrife. I was his first companion in our conquest for Tower. And he was my first and only love. Well... it was proper to call it one-sided love.

He helped me soothe my pains. With his words, his guidance, I managed to get rid of my past. Just a week after I met him, I razed the Academy to the ground, Elders with it. My father, hearing the news, begged me to conquer the Tower. He said it simply.

"Iris, sweetheart. You shouldn't suffer anymore. Please, conquer the Tower. Fulfill your destiny. Bring peace to your ancestor's dreams." - His last words I've ever heard. His plead towards me. He didn't want me to live in this place. He wanted me to be free. His wish, albeit I couldn't notice it at the time, carried the will of all of my ancestors.

Me and Giordi set off soon enough. Over the years, we became great friends, and met more amazing people that we kept on helping and receiving help from. Outlaws, heroes, princes and peasants - our group knew nothing of those titles. We all had only one goal, and we were all equal in wanting to complete it.

The goal was to conquer the Tower.