I Need to Get Stronger

"The Tower of Tribulations…" Biting his thumb, Lance looked back to the TV. "I know that name."

Lauri looked out the window, he hadn't noticed, but the honking of car horns and the sounds of birds had stopped. "Where is it? The Tower?"

Lance motioned to the other side of the room away from the window. "The park is in that direction." Lance put his phone back to his ear. "Yeah yeah, okay, Nona I'm coming in, yeah, yeah stop talking." 

As Lance was about to leave the room, Lauri called his name, "Lance!" Throwing the covers off of him, Lauri jumped out of bed, but as his feet came into contact with the floor, Lauri's legs gave way unable to support him

Collapsing, Lauri fell into the chair Lance had been sitting on, causing a loud bang as it fell against the floor.

Quickly turning around, Lance stepped over to Lauri to help him up. "Lauri no, you shouldn't get out of bed. Mana-exhaustion isn't something you can just walk off. It will be months until you're able to be walking about."

Grabbing onto Lance's arm, Lauri grit his teeth as Lance helped him back onto the bed.

The door to the room was flung open as Elza ran into the room. "Lauri!"

Seeing Lance holding Lauri's arm, she put herself between Lauri and Lance. "Stay away from him!" Pushing Lance away from her big brother. "My brother is hurt as is, leave him alone!"

Resting a hand on Elza's head, Lauri ruffled her hair. "Relax you firecracker, Lance helped me up after I fell over. Don't jump to conclusions."

The woman on the other side of Lance's phone began speaking, raising the phone to his ear, Lance spoke. "Nona, I'll call you back when I'm en route to headquarters." The woman on the other side of the phone kept talking, Lance rolled his eyes and ended the call. "So, what's up, Lauri?" 

Breathing in, Lauri wrapped his arms around his sister's head, holding her close to him, Lauri sighed. "I know I won't be out of hospital for some time, and I can't take care of Elza… I can't work to provide for her. Can you, find- find somewhere for her to stay."

Lance squinted for a moment, lost in thought, before smiling. "Ha, sure. I can do that."

Hearing this, Elza reacted, waving her arms in the air as she stomped her foot. "No, no, no, I'm not leaving you."

Keeping a calm demeanour, Lauri reached out to his sister, about to pat her on the head, Lauri flicked her brow. "Don't give me that. You're far too old for temper tantrums."

"Don't worry, kiddo," Ruffling Elza's hair, Lance opened the photos app on his phone. Showing it to Elza. Lance's phone showed a picture of him, two little girls and a woman.

Elza, "Oh, you're married-"

"That's my sister." Lance corrected. "She has two little girls about your age, I'd say. Their father… Passed away from a Dungeon break."

Lauri frowned, "Dungeon breaks… Why does it feel like they are getting more and more common." Shaking his head, Lauri patted Elza again. "See, that's not so bad. You'll be able to spend some time with girls your age, maybe make a new friend. That doesn't sound too bad, right, Elza?"

Sniffling, Elza hugged her brother. "I'll come and visit you every chance I get." She mumbled.

Lauri hugged his sister in turn, "I'm sure. Now." Pushing his sister back slightly, Lauri gestured to Lance. "You should go with him, he's a busy man. Best not to slow him down too much." Wiping her eyes with his sleeve, Lauri smiled. "Do whatever he needs you to, okay? I love you, Elza."

Nodding, Elza got off of the bed.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of her to the best of my ability." Crouching down to her level, Lance offered Elza his hand. "Would you like to come and see your temporary home?"

Silently, Elza nodded, taking Lance's hand.

Watching them go, Lauri felt something in his heart, like a hole had opened.

It had always been the two of them, no one else was ever enough to rely on.

And now they were separated, Lance was a part of the Awakened Association, he's a busy man, no way would he be able to bring Elza every day.

'I need to get stronger so that something like this could never happen-'

Elza pushed the door open, poking her head into the room, she shouted at him. "I love you too, dumbie!" Sending Lauri into a shocked state as she ran out of the room and back to Lance.

Laughing, Lauri held his head. "That's right, that's rightttt, she's not gone, she's safe, protected and provided for by the Association. Clenching his fist, Lauri's resolve strengthened. "So I can get stronger without having to be worried about my baby sister."

"Such a pretty confirmation of your resolve." A familiar voice drew Lauri's attention to the window.

A black cat sat on the window sill, the cat's eyes a sparkling reflection of the surrounding light.

"You," Lauri squinted as if the thing in front of him would disappear the moment he blinked.

"Me," The cat responded.

"I, you, you're the cat from the dungeon." Lauri pointed at the cat, "You're a hallucination."

"A hallucination?" Walking behind a flower pot, the cat disappeared. "I am very much real, thank you."

Lauri turned to the left, the cat appearing on the foot of his hospital bed.

Reaching forward, Lauri poked the cat. 

The cat swatted his hand away. "Do not just poke me, mortal."

Lauri couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "What gives you the right to call me a mortal, when you're just a little cat."

"I am no cat, I am the Mirror Lord Odraz, Master of the Seventy-third floor of the Tower of Tribulations," Odraz grumbled, at least I was until I was exiled.

"Of the Tower of Tribulations?" Lauri pointed at the TV, although muted, it still showed the news broadcast talking about the Tower's recent appearance. "That tower?"

Odraz rolled his eyes, "Yes, yes, that tower."

"Well, if you're," Lauri made quotation marks with his fingers. "The 'Master of the Seventy-third floor' why are you here, and not over there? Also, why do you look like a little cat."

Annoyed, Odraz exhaled. "Because when I was exiled from the tower after I tried to destroy it, they shattered my soul and put the pieces into that mirror you freed me from, but that's beside the point!"

Lauri watched Odraz, not really taking him seriously. "So, what's that got to do with me?"

Odraz flexed a paw. "I have appeared before you to convene. As we have much to discuss. I am hiding within your body so that my fellows, the other Masters of all the floors of the Tower of Tribulation do not detect me, and finish the job they started. Anyway! I do not have much time to speak with you, I am using what is left of my power to maintain this form."

"Your power? Where'd it all go, I would have assumed that the Master of an entire floor would be practically all powerful."

"We are, but having your very soul shattered like the mirrors I command tends to have negative implications for my health. Only by forming a contract with you and inhabiting one percent of your soul am I able to live."

Lauri blinked, "You're, inhabiting my soul?"

Odraz nodded. "I made a contract with you, I had wanted to take all of your soul, but in your stupor I was only able to get you to agree to giving me one-percent of your soul, and due to this deal I am only able to emit one-percent of my overall power. I'm burning more power than I am generating just talking to you."

Biting his thumb, Lauri tried to process this. 'This cat, Odraz, claims to be a powerful creature from the Tower of Tribulations... He could give me information on it, I could get a jump start on any and all who want to traverse it... Wait.' A thought crossed Lauri's mind. "You, are you the reason why my skills have advanced so much? My Sub-space Inventory was B-Rank last time I checked, now it's S-Rank and my other skills are now B-Ranked."

Smirking, Odraz sat up to his tallest height. The tallest height, your average black cat can get to, that is. "That was me, I needed to increase the rank of your skills, so I could sit down for longer."

Odraz' body began to grow transparent.

"Um, Odraz." Lauri cocked his head to the side. "You're fading?"

Looking at himself, Odraz rolled his eyes. "I've run out of time. I should have just jumped from the window sill. Oh well, be seeing you mortal."

Lauri watched as Odraz disappeared.

Lying back in bed, Lauri stared up at the ceiling.

Letting out a slow, long breath, Lauri held his hand up. "So my skills aren't completely shit any more." Without making a motion, a swirling hole appeared, reaching inside, Lauri pulled out the remains of Elbert's sword.

"Well, I'll be, I can summon my inventory just by thinking about it." Staring at the sword, Lauri held it against his chest as he continued to stare at the ceiling. Tears formed around his eyes, "For you guys, I'll make it big. One day, everybody will know the name, the Funny Crusaders."