#Chapter Fifteen: A Secret in a Cup, and a Scream in Ice
Whispers in Café Light
The "Tower Sages Café" was experiencing a rare moment of tranquility, different from the usual hustle and bustle of rush hours. The sounds of silver spoons dancing on ceramic cups in calm rhythm, and the gentle rustling of soft papers rising from scattered corners where few customers sat immersed in their readings. These simple sounds formed a soft musical backdrop for a conversation that carried within it ancient mystery, like an echo of secrets buried since distant times.
Around a circular wooden table near the wide window, three people sat connected by complex threads of shared history and secrets. The slanted sunlight crept through the partially dimmed window glass, drawing golden lines on the table surface like a theatrical curtain announcing the beginning of an important scene.
Asia, with a calm and calculated movement, was stirring her small spoon inside her cup in regular rhythm, her eyes fixed on the rising swirls of steam. She broke the silence with her deep voice carrying a tone of cautious inquiry:
"After you finally saw Saman... what's your real opinion of him, Leila?"
Leila raised her eyes from her coffee cup, contemplated the dancing steam in the air for moments as if reading hidden answers in it, then her eyes met Asia's and she said with a tone full of contemplation and confusion:
"Every secret I tried to uncover about him was surrounded by thick fog... as if an invisible barrier prevented me from analyzing his reality. Even my abilities that I trust couldn't penetrate his defenses."
She paused for a moment, took a small sip of her coffee, then continued with a lower voice:
"What increases my amazement is that he doesn't seem fully aware of his special capabilities... as if there's a part of him that's asleep."
She fell silent again, her eyes moving between Rashad and Asia, then added with strange certainty:
"What I know for certain... is that he's no less significant than Iyas. In fact, I feel as if they're from the same fabric, the same source. Or perhaps... they're two faces of one thing."
A sad, half-complete smile appeared on Asia's face, and she said with a voice carrying the weight of memories:
"Since Saman was a small child, he's been hiding something deep behind his innocent smile... and recently he's changed a lot, as if he's no longer the same person we knew."
She sighed deeply and looked at her reflection in the coffee surface:
"Truth is like a sharp knife... the further you advance to know it, the deeper it wounds you."
Rashad intervened with a hoarse voice, as if the words weighed on him physically:
"Sometimes a secret is like a tree growing in the depths of darkness... its roots devour everything around it, absorbing light and life."
He stopped, interlaced his fingers forcefully, then continued with renewed determination:
"Either we bring light to this darkness, or we get out of it before it swallows us all."
Asia looked at her untouched cup, steam still rising from it, and murmured in a voice barely audible:
"What scares me more than anything else... is that he lost his parents at a very early age. I don't want him to feel deadly loneliness... or destructive isolation."
Leila replied with a soft voice, a sad gleam dancing in her eyes:
"We must tell him about his parents' will... we can't hide the truth from him any longer."
Heavy silence engulfed the place, as if the air itself stopped moving. Even the café's background sounds seemed to have dimmed in respect for the seriousness of the moment.
After long moments of contemplation, Asia broke the charged silence with a forced smile:
"Well! It's been a long time since we talked like this... this reminds me of our beautiful old days."
Rashad laughed a light laugh, the first cheerful sound in the conversation:
"And do you know what we're missing here more than anything else?"
Both Leila and Asia raised their heads with genuine curiosity, their eyes waiting for the answer.
Rashad leaned forward with a theatrical movement and said with a cunning smile:
"That old dwarf's grumbling."
All three's eyes lit up at the same time, and warm smiles spread across their faces without need for words... as if they shared a beautiful secret memory, each knowing exactly who Rashad meant.
---
Storm in the Heart of Ice
At exactly the same moment, in the remote depths of the eighth floor...
Saman was sitting in meditation position on a flat icy surface, like a frozen reflective mirror. Around him danced glittering fragments of magical energy that he gathered with deep concentration, like silver threads weaving around him a web of power. The cold blue light of the giant ice whirlpool in which he had trapped his enemies was slowly cracking, like an eggshell about to explode.
The sound came suddenly and violently:
**BOOOOM!**
The thick ice shell exploded with destructive force, and its sharp fragments flew into the air like metallic stars launched toward the black sky. In the next moment, a deep and powerful roar echoed, shaking the foundations of the earth... a sound deeper and more terrifying than anything Saman had heard in his entire life.
Saman's reaction was instinctive and trained. He immediately raised his arms and mobilized all the protective magic within his body - defensive layers around his eyes, ears, and vital internal organs. He knew that any delay, however short, could mean certain death.
He opened his eyes with lightning speed, only to face a scene he hadn't expected. The goblin leader had freed himself from his icy prison, and beside him stood another goblin of the same high rank... but the second was severely wounded, barely able to stand on his feet, leaning on his companion to remain upright.
The goblin leader began strange warming-up rituals. He moved his neck in slow circular motions, stretched his hands and feet regularly, and his body made disturbing sounds - the sound of bones breaking and returning to their proper place, as if he were reshaping himself anew. He was preparing for battle, while Saman watched every movement in complete silence, recharging his defenses and preparing for what was coming.
Extreme tension and caution completely overtook Saman when he realized the nature of the unexpected threat he was facing.
The black aura surrounding the goblin wasn't ordinary at all. It pulsed with dark energy and malicious intelligence that didn't befit a monster of this level.
Then what Saman never expected happened. The goblin leader stared at him with completely black eyes, no trace of white in them... he was analyzing Saman, studying every detail in his body and movements, like a scientist deciphering a complex code.
And suddenly, without any warning:
**BOOOOM!**
The goblin leader appeared directly in front of Saman like a specter, and a devastating punch pierced the air with a frightening sound, hitting Saman with terrifying force in the middle of his chest. Saman's body flew dozens of meters through the air, crashed into several massive trees that were completely destroyed with him in an explosion of wood and leaves. Red blood slowly trickled from his mouth, and his body disappeared amid the white storm of snow and debris.
The most terrifying thing was that the sound of the blow arrived a full second after it occurred. The goblin's speed had surpassed the sound barrier itself.
Saman was lying on the cold ground, rising slowly and painfully, his body trembling from pain. He whispered through his broken teeth in a choked voice:
"What horror is this?... This... is completely unnatural."
And before he could comprehend what happened, the deadly blow was repeated with the same terrifying pattern. In slow, interrupted shots, as if he were watching a nightmare in slow motion, Saman saw the deadly sequence: sudden appearance, devastating punch, flight through the air, then the sound arriving late.
Saman realized his energy was decreasing at a frightening rate, and he no longer had enough power to use heavy protective magic. He made a quick and calculated decision: he would invest all his remaining energy in smart and fast escape.
He activated a dangerous and complex mixture between wind magic for acceleration and darkness magic for concealment, lightened his body weight to the maximum possible. He ran at a speed invisible to the naked eye, launching between the dense trees like a torn shadow fleeing from light.
But the shocking surprise came quickly...
He found the goblin leader in front of him again!
The intelligent monster appeared before the fleeing Saman with a terrifying mocking smile, as if he was doing nothing more than playing with a poor little prey.
A real shock struck Saman: "Ah... how did this happen...?"
Saman realized that hiding and concealment were useless with this exceptional enemy, so he made a desperate decision. He poured all his remaining wind magic directly into his muscles and tendons, and exploded with maximum speed - like a human rocket launched, leaving behind a trail of dust and flying debris.
In this frantic escape, he sought to achieve two vital goals:
First: Finding a clue or thread to help him finish the floor and escape from this hell.
Second: Wasting the remaining time until the punishment imposed on him ended.
But even this hope quickly dissipated...
Time after time, the goblin would appear in front of him in different places, in a strange and confusing pattern. But he wouldn't strike, just stand there and smile that suspicious smile, as if waiting for something specific, or enjoying watching the panic in his prey's eyes.
Saman asked himself with increasing confusion and fear: "This level of power and intelligence doesn't befit an ordinary goblin... he must be much higher than normal commander level. So what exactly is he?"
---
The Moment of Truth
**[Hour twenty-one out of twenty-four]**
Saman had not a single particle of energy left. His exhausted body was dripping with cold sweat like rain, his breathing heavy and broken like a dying man's breath, and his trembling legs finally stopped moving.
Saman stopped... and at the same moment the goblin stopped too.
While Saman was panting like a hunted dog, he heard a deep and frightening voice coming from directly behind him:
"Are you finished running and fleeing, little mouse?"
Saman slowly raised his heavy head painfully, and his eyes widened with absolute amazement.
The goblin leader was standing before him in full majesty, his hands folded on his broad chest, looking at him with frightening steadiness and calm.
Saman's eyes shook deeply - this wasn't the first goblin to speak to him, but the second! But this time he spoke in understandable language... this was a strange and disturbing phenomenon that shouldn't happen in the early floors of the tower.
Saman was greatly puzzled by this strange phenomenon that challenged everything he knew about the tower's laws and monster progression.
The goblin laughed a short, sarcastic laugh:
"What's wrong with you? You look as if this is the first time you've talked to a goblin of this level?"
Saman slowly shook his head left and right, as a clear objection to the goblin's words.
The goblin's features suddenly froze, and he began asking his questions with real and intelligent curiosity:
"How did that happen so early? Tell me."
In a moment of final despair, Saman brought out the mysterious words he had heard before... with extreme hesitation and obvious fear:
**Ввдрожу)#&+##фшхцш вас^=€™}**
*"Even the air in this place tastes of betrayal."*
*"The earth remembers our footsteps more than we ourselves remember."*
*"The light is not pure here... it's tainted with secrets."*
A strange and charged silence filled the place, as if the atmosphere itself had changed and become denser.
And suddenly, the goblin leader disappeared from in front of him!
In less than a second, he appeared again... but this time he was carrying the wounded and dying goblin in his hand.
Saman, completely exhausted and unable to move, watched the next scene with wide eyes of terror.
The goblin leader closed his eyes in deep concentration, placed his hands on his companion's wounded body. Then he began a terrifying absorption process - he drew all the energy from the other goblin: pulsing life energy, physical strength, hidden magic... everything without exception.
The poor goblin's body gradually turned to gray ash, then vanished into the cold air as if it had never existed.
The goblin leader opened his eyes again... and they had returned to their nature, no evil aura, no dark energy, just deadly and lethal calm.
He approached Saman with slow and calculated steps, sat directly in front of him, and said with absolute seriousness and a deep voice:
"Very well then... little human. Sit comfortably, let's talk frankly."
A real and deep shock.
**[Time remaining: one and a half hours out of twenty-four hours]**
The countdown approaches its inevitable end...
But what exactly does the mysterious goblin leader want? And why did he choose this specific moment to talk? And what secrets will this fateful encounter reveal?
---
**[End of Chapter Fifteen]**