Chapter 4

"Shinsu, aka Divine Water, Blood of the Tower, and quite a few other different names. It is possible to say that Shinsu is the whole world, thanks to it we live and breathe, and this energy is capable of becoming both fire and water or even air. It has no clear boundaries or limits." Lero Ro spoke from the pulpit for the two Adepts of Light. Rachel could barely keep from yawning, and it wasn't because she was bored. Not at all. It was just that the girl was not used to getting up this early. "Shinsu is striking and dangerous at the same time, which is why it requires the permission of the Floor Administrator to manage this energy without any special tools. It is usually called the "Contract with the Administrator" and must be renegotiated on each floor or else your powers will be blocked when you try to use Shinsu. As far as I understand, none of you have entered into a contract and that's what we're going to do now. Set your watches to visible mode. The watch you've been given is ranked E, and it allows you to contract with administrators up to the fortieth floor, but after that you'll need more expensive models and that may cost some money."

While the explanation was going on, Rachel noticed several times the gaze of the other regular who had come to the class with her. Moreover, he did not try to sit as far away from the girl as possible, but instead was literally across the seat. The only thing is that Rachel somehow did not remember the name of this regular, and in general of the other participants, rightly thinking that during the test with her or her group those are unlikely to try to talk or what is less likely: to make friends.

"Close your eyes and put your hands on your watch," Lero Ro, meanwhile, continued. "And say: "Contract with the Administrator"."

As soon as Rachel uttered these words, she was abruptly thrown into the depths beneath the water column. Probably. At least according to her senses, the girl was sinking slowly, though that didn't stop her from breathing calmly. Rachel was more concerned about the darkness around her, not allowing her to see beyond her own body.

"I am the Floor Administrator," a booming voice made Rachel turn sharply, and then freeze, unable to utter a word. A gray, snake-like fish (or yeel?), and to call it huge would be an obvious understatement, since the girl herself was barely larger than the creature's pupil. "What are you staring at? Are you going to sign the contract or not?"

"Ah...ah...y-yes," with great difficulty Rachel managed to squeeze out a semblance of agreement. She knew that the Administrators were huge, but it was one thing to understand it in theory, another to see it by own eyes.

"Great, now let's see if you're worthy of using a Shinsu," the creature swam closer, and the girl held her breath. "Hmm, you insipid. Let's make a contract. But remember, Tower climber, this is not your power, but your chains. Always remember that!"

Rachel opened her eyes abruptly and it took her a second to realize her "return." Looking down, in front of her gaze was a clock that read "2F. Contract with the Administrator concluded." Rachel exhaled relaxedly, ignoring the weakness in her body and at the same time trying to come to terms with the fact that this sort of thing would have to be done on every floor. After a few seconds, a fellow student appeared with a sigh.

"I see that went well, today we will stick to basic theory, but from the next class we will focus on practice." Lero Ro nodded his thoughts and then continued. "Lighthouses are the main tool and weapon of the Light Bearers and their functionality includes as different ways to gather and analyze information, the ability to create barriers or strengthen their own or others' weapons. However, this is not all, but more about this we will talk in more detail in other classes."

The Ranker stepped aside and summoned a cube, which in a moment grew to a size that would allow Lero Ro to enter it in peace.

"Lighthouse, you might say, is the command center of the Light Bearer. Inside it, all the information received from the other lightshouses comes in, and the commands are issued from there as well. The cubes hovering inside the Lighthouse's Shinsu can be used to receive additional data," Lero Ro's yellow Lighthouse opened slightly and there were indeed several translucent cubes hovering inside. "Each Lighthouse is connected to a common database, so you can get all the information you need here. Lighthouse, even those made of cheap suspension, are very strong, but at the same time they can be unreliable: a strong enough blow may not penetrate the shell of the Lighthouse, but it is quite capable of de-energizing it..."

The lecture went on for about half an hour, and towards the end Rachel's head began to buzz with an overload of information. She honestly tried to memorize everything, for every detail was important and would be useful in climbing the Tower, but there was SO much data. At some point Ranker clearly got carried away and began to rush terms, only he understands. Regulars were saved by a signal from Lero's Lighthouse, after which the blond announced the end of the lesson and left the room at a brisk pace.

"Bwah-agh, this is making me dizzy," said other regular that was in classroom after the Ranker had left the room. It was only now that Rachel noticed regular's appearance: entirely green skin with a face somewhere between a chameleon and a human. Not the most unusual; after all, the girl had seen stranger ones during her first test, but still. "And why do we have to learn so much?! Right... Rachel, isn't it?"

"Huh? Y-yeah..." the girl smiled awkwardly. Until this moment, no regulars had even attempted to have even a semblance of dialogue with her, preferring to avoid her and whether she was alone or with Androssi and Hizu.

"My name is Juga, in case you forgot, ha-ha," the boy stood up from his seat and approached Rachel, extending his three-fingered palm for a handshake. With some doubt and not quite understanding the reasons for such a sudden change in attitude, Rachel shook the soft hand. "Well... here we are, ha-ha. How about a little talk and a bite to eat at the same time?"

"I don't mind," there was a palpable sense of awkwardness in the air on both sides. Rachel didn't mind talking to anyone but Androssi, for Hizu was not much of a conversationalist, to put it mildly. And in the case of the princess, there was another little problem...

"All right!" They left the room at a leisurely pace.

At first their conversation was rather awkward. Juga could not think of a suitable topic of conversation, while Rachel was simply suspicious of regular. However, the chameleon found some way out of the situation by simply telling stories from his life, which was very rich. Something hiding, something exaggerating and actively gesticulating he managed to captivate Rachel and if at first the girl just nodded or smiled, after that she herself began to ask and complement the Juga's stories.

"...well, this how I got this knife," Juga sighed and put the finka back to his belt. Chameleon had more than one story with this knife, but for some cursed reason, each of them had either a sad ending or just plain unpleasant in one way or another. The only exception was the one in which he got the weapon.

"Well, not too bad," Rachel smiled and looked down at her half-empty plate. They had reached the dining room a long time ago and had even managed to eat by now. Vegetable rice without meat was actually more or less acceptable food, albeit close to tasteless. There was a reason for that, though. "Can I ask you something personal?"

"Hmm? No problem!" The chameleon chuckled, though inwardly he was a little tense. He was reluctant to bring up certain aspects of his past.

"Why are you climbing up to the Tower?" Rachel smiled softly and looked at the boy.

"Well... I'm a little ashamed, hehe," said Juga, looking away and scratching the back of his head. "But I don't have any particular reason. I had to make a choice: either to accept the offer and start climbing, or simply to die. Well, I still wanted to live, so here I am. If I pass the test, maybe I'll find a reason, but for now I'm don't have one."

"I don't know whether to sympathize or envy you," the girl lowered her gaze again. "I wish to find one boy, that followed me..."

There was clearly a "but" in the air, but Rachel did not continue, and Juga did not ask, preferring to cheer up her companion:

"Fear not! The Tower may be big, but I'm sure you can meet. And Lero Ro said you could get information about the other regulars and Rankers by using Lighthouse. Well, anyway I'll help if I can, "the chameleon smiled encouragingly.

"Thank you, mister Juga," the girl stood up from the table and bowed, ignoring the boy's mute question about the treatment. "I have to go now; I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ah... um... see you later?" Juga muttered a little surprised. He hadn't quite expected such an abrupt exit, but maybe the girl had just hurt herself already and didn't want to show weakness in front of him? Even though they were having a pretty good time now, they were still rivals in this trial.

Rachel, meanwhile, left the dining room, exhaled heavily, and said with only her lips:

"I hope I will never see you again, Baam," and she headed toward her room, not noticing that her bodyguard, who had heard every word spoken by the participants from the moment they left the auditorium, was following her at some distance..