The three backed off, slightly concerned about the change in Enkidu's appearance, but there was a sense of understanding... that this had started with Enkidu, and Enkidu should be the one to settle it.
Even though both their powers ran wild and inflicted pressure upon one another, the three couldn't feel an iota of baric pressure more than they had before.
Enkidu disappeared out of everyone's line of sight in the smallest window of time, reforming right in front of Reinhardt, as if mist had gained consciousness.
The next thing Reinhardt saw was a clawed hand with glowing blue claws, covered in pitch-black obsidian scales. The prana that hand radiated was enough to dwarf the creature at the end of the first floor. His mere presence transcended humanity, turning that scornful glare Enkidu gave him into the glare of a predator, licking it's prey all over with it's eyes.
The pressure on his face was as if a mountain had grew hands and was currently gripping his skull with all it's might.
He was his body being lifted into the air effortlessly, that tight grasp on his skull swiftly switching to his neck. His body moved in the air as if Enkidu had grabbed a small piece of paper. He flung him against the wall, creating cracks into... actual space.
The glances of the four immediately raced towards the crack made into the wall. From behind those cracks shone rays of light. From that crack mist fell through...
"Looks like you're good for at least something." Enkidu said as he willed the surrounding prana to envelop Reinhardt's body and elevate it above ground.
Reinhardt called forth prana from his core. It was as if rays of sunshine were poking through the blue curtain of prana holding him hostage.
Enkidu threw him into that same crack once more, as if he was some sort of common rock he'd taken off the ground, breaking through the stage they had just been exploring. The rest of the victorian style building crumbled into glass-like shards, revealing a dream-like landscape.
The ground beneath was soft and the sky above was all clear but a prevalent mist seemed to expand into the horizon. A faint blue glow was seated neatly into the sky above.
The battle resumed, now their movements hindered by the soft terrain. With each and every single stride, a large amount of dirt was displaced. They felt like their legs had turned into lead, sluggish and somewhat unresponsive.
Reinhardt swung his sword with full intent to kill, illuminating the misty night with golden light. As they got more accustomed to the terrain and began to move faster, his sword became nothing more than a small orb of light, changing positions every other second.
His sword of light was nothing more than a chunk of iron as it clashed with the nearly indestructible scales covering Enkidu's hand like armor. It left no trace of a clash of prana as the scales themselves were not conductive to foreign prana, creating a sound similar to iron striking iron.
The blue light of Enkidu's prana grew denser and brighter as he channeled prana into his right arm, forcing the scales to morph and cover his entire arm. The leftover prana that couldn't be packed into his arm was evenly distributed within his body, enhancing his speed and strength.
One second Reinhardt was working at chipping away at Enkidu's armor, the next Enkidu disappeared once again, only to reappear right behind him. The presence behind him was as large as the sun and before he could react, Enkidu's fist sunk in Reinhardt's back, delivering a powerful surge of lightning.
Reinhardt flew, lightning still viciously arching off his body, consciousness nearly gone. It took a while for his body to naturally slow down as it flew in midair.
"Tell me, why are you acting out like this?" Enkidu said as he dashed all the way up to Reinhardt's location. "You are clearly in the wrong here, and all of the things you said to her were unwarranted. You're a smart guy. You know that."
Enkidu looked down at him with compassion and understanding, willing to get their issues resolved before they ascended further.
"I..." Reinhardt said, his voice coarse and weak.
"Do you hate me?" Enkidu said.
"I don't... I just..."
❖═══════⛰ Heir of the Heights ⛰═══════❖
A flash of light as blinding as a thousand suns inundated the world and stunned Enkidu for the smallest of moments. A streak of golden light danced around in front of him, from corner to corner... those... they were insanely fast and smooth cuts. Blood sprayed around as Reinhardt's blade actually broke through the scale armor.
With renewed power and insistent vigor, Enkidu had to go on the defensive, barely able to dodge Reinhardt's painfully precise slashes.
Reinhardt moved like a robot. One programmed to do a single thing. Every single slash, cut and even change in stances were executed so perfectly, it wouldn't have been strange to think that his body was controlled by strings by a unbelievably skilled puppet master.
The blade made a high pitched sound as it cut through the air itself, creating currents of wind as his swings became faster and stronger.
The look on Reinhardt's face was completely relaxed. It was almost droopy. His eyes danced around in his eye sockets as he tracked every single slash and movement Enkidu performed, accurately detailing his future actions within his mind.
Reinhardt swung down, letting loose the rotational energy and prana he had gathered over time in an earth rending attack meant to single-mindedly cutting his enemy down.
"If only you put up this kind of fight on the first floor..." Enkidu said in a mocking tone.
"Shut up!" Reinhardt said as the serenity on his face was wiped down by frustration.
"Look... I don't mind if you hate me. I don't care what your reasons are." Enkidu said as he angled his armored hand in such a way that every swing led to Reinhardt's blade sliding off. A fluid parry so to speak. "I will try my best to atone for my actions, but you shouldn't have involved Reina!" Enkidu added as he flexed the muscles in his arm, turning it into a blunt object.
Enkidu swung his arm to the right with a force much higher than Reinhardt was applying to his armored arm, knocking his arm backwards.
Within that single moment, with every single movement of his bones and muscles, it seemed like Enkidu was becoming faster and faster, gathering prana from within his body and from outside his body, coating his entire hand in a thick sheet of prana.
Noticing his intent, Reinhardt launched a flurry of slashes at a speed much faster than any of the two were moving at. They only appeared as lines of golden light suspended in space right in front of him. Reinhardt's body became nothing more than a blur as he launched his last slash attack.
The world around the two became as still as death. It was as if time itself slowed down to allow the two to savor the sensation right before their attacks clashed. As Reinhardt slowed down out of necessity, the slightest hint of a familiar grin briefly appeared on his face.
"You're not so different after all." Enkidu said, feeling as if he had established some faint connection with Reinhardt.
The suspended cuts and Enkidu's fist clashed, letting of a torrent of gold and blue lightning, traveling through each other's bodies, their prana attempting to wreck as much chaos within each other's bodies as possible in the hopes of a knock-out victory.
As lightning hit the ground, it was so incredibly hot and full of energy that it excited the particles they touched to their breaking points, creating explosions all around.
Something was wrong however. Both of them felt it. Even though they had unleashed attacks containing a lethal amount of power, none of them felt like there was a good impact. That colossal amount of energy dispersed way before the smoke cleared.
In between the two appeared an orb of light. It was the same color as the prana Enkidu utilized. Reinhardt was completely puzzled, while a maelstrom of emotions took over Enkidu's psyche.
That was because what was actually there resembled the creature they fought on the first floor.
"What the hell is that? Is that you?!" Reinhardt shouted, ready to get back into the fight.
"Don't make a god damn move." Enkidu said, his words wistful without any sign of hiding the fear that was gripping his insides.
Luna and Luca as children were far more sensitive than adults and swiftly brought out their weapons and upped their prana consumption rates dramatically. Even though they had taken combat stances, their bodies were shivering violently.
"Ho? You can see me...? I don't think you kids can... not quite anyway..." A voice that sounded like a thousand others overlapping all at the same time echoed within the misty landscape.
It didn't take long for Reinhardt and Reina to catch on that nobody had any sort of idea as to what was happening. Reina had jumped in front of the two children, intent to shield them from whatever might happen while Reinhardt dashed to Enkidu's side.
"Heh... So you trust me..." Enkidu said breathlessly.
"What the fuck are you on about? This is definitely not normal." Reinhardt said in the quietest whisper he could let out of his throat.
"That's right. None of this has been normal." The being said as it crossed it's arms. "You are identical to an emissary... and yet you are not a native of the tower, nor were you born of someone who was born inside the tower. That's likely why you had to face such perilous trials."
Reinhardt gave Enkidu a glance while Enkidu returned that glance to Reinhardt.
Reinhardt's hands began to bleed as the grip on his sword became tighter and tighter without him noticing. The blood sunk into the dirt, the overflow sinking deep within the mud beneath. His heart beat so loud, the sound of the wind blowing became entirely muted. He had clenched his jaw shut as the being before him started to gain the vaguest outline of a human shape.
"You people... you're strong. You have proven yourselves. I should reward your for that..."
Reinhardt stepped back, allowing Enkidu to be face to face with that god-like being.
"Who are you exactly? Are you a part of the challenge to clear this floor?"
The angel-like being cupped his chin with his hand as he thought of a good answer.
"Well... I could be. I could assign myself as such if I wanted to, even though there would be some consequences... but no matter how fun it may sound, it would go against one of the tower's edicts. To properly answer your question... you could call me a gate-keeper... the tower's gate keeper. But I am so much more than that... Yes... The best way I can put is that I am the administrator of this grand tower."
At the same time, the hearts of all five seemed to have stopped flat within their rib-cages.
"It's not that I don't believe you... nor do I think you care about whether we believe you or not."
Even though it's face was concave, there was the slightest sign that it had started to grin.
"I don't think you are meant to be the last monster that would allow us to go up. The tower adjusts it's degree of difficulty based on those that enter it... that's probably why even though so many others entered at the same time we did, there are only five of us here..."
"That's correct! Although that fellow hiding deep within your soul must have been the one to have confirmed that suspicion for you."
Enkidu gulped as he stepped back, undoing his transformation, returning his arm and head to it's normal state. In the deepest corners of his soul, he could feel what the being inside him felt. There wasn't any reverence nor were there any negative emotions. It felt more like it had met an acquiantance it had long lost contact with.
"You shouldn't be shocked that I knew of him. It would have been much more dangerous if I didn't. But well, to be fair, you are not meant to take on these floors at this point in time. No matter the strength of those that pass through those gates, the Tower has never blundered like this... Hmm... Just giving you these tidbits of information would be a disgrace to my status as administrator!" The being said, almost grand-standing as he spoke.
"I'll send you to the third floor where those that you spoke of are residing. On top of that I will give each and every one of you a gift that will help you develop your powers in a major way... as long as you handle those gifts well..."
Without any prior sign or warning, the being snapped it's fingers and as it did, time on that floor seemed to crawl to a halt as the world around them turned pitch black, as if a large wave of darkness took over the second floor.
Right before all color washed away from the world a ring made of an unknown blue metal with golden inscriptions materialized itself on his finger. At that moment, the idea of the god-like being they had just met being some sort of administrator started to look feasible.
What Enkidu saw through his prana sense as the transportation happened... those words would never leave his mouth for the entire reminder of his life.