Tower Defense World, Kindling Platform #3318

"I'm so beat. I could totally kill for a boba right now!"

Orion grunted, impaling a monster scaling the ramparts with his trident. He kicked the corpse off the wall and finally had a moment to glance at the little girl sitting in the safe zone behind him. She was panting dramatically while slurping from an oversized cup of bubble tea.

That's right. A little girl.

She was the first friend Orion had made in the Tower Defense World, a kid named Aina.

Aina was the kind of gremlin who would stand on the battlements, screaming her lungs out—"biubiubiu!"—while brutally picking off monsters with her crossbow. When they got too close, she was also the kind of gremlin who'd use that same crossbow as a club, yelling about how she was going to bash their brains in.

Orion had stumbled upon her during one defense, saving her as she was being chased and screaming her head off. Since then, Aina had become his little shadow.

She was a smart kid; she'd quickly synchronized her combat and rest schedules with his. Her official reason was that she needed to repay her debt to him. In reality, she was treating his goodwill as a free bodyguard service.

Eventually, Orion had just accepted the weird little girl's presence.

He suspected Aina was one of the Awakened, a fellow Survivor. After all, not many people would choose a name like Aina, and fewer still were addicted to the boba.

But since she never brought it up, he didn't either. In this kill-or-be-killed Tower Defense World, having someone to talk to, even a chatterbox like her, was a welcome break from the monotony.

"How many more Kindling Points do you need for your materials?" Orion asked. He planted his left foot, sinking into a lunge, and hurled his trident at a distant target.

"Hehe, almost there, big guy !" Aina giggled. She put down the buff-granting boba she'd redeemed from the Will of Light and pulled several materials Orion had never seen before from her inventory, laying them out in a neat row.

Then, with a completely unhinged shriek, she slammed her hands down. The materials fused into a blinding light.

"ARISE! MY RADIANT CELESTIAL DRAGON-GUARDIAN GOLEM!"

Orion watched, completely deadpan, as he witnessed the birth of a Kindling Platform Guardian for the first time. It resembled a wingless Demon, but its aura wasn't evil. Instead, it felt… neutral. Like a mindless puppet, completely subservient to its summoner's will.

These things were rare. Orion had been here for a while, killed countless monsters, and hadn't seen a single recipe drop for a Kindling Guardian. You had a chance to get them from chests dropped by dark monsters. The synthesis materials could then be exchanged for Kindling Points at the Kindling Platform. Orion had figured out that much already.

"How strong is it?" he asked, his eyes back on the approaching horde.

"Heehee, only about level three!" Aina said casually, but her eyes were crinkled into crescents, a grin stretching from ear to ear. It was a smile of pure, unadulterated triumph.

"Not bad," Orion admitted. A level-three Kindling Guardian was nothing to scoff at. It was the highest level of power obtainable in the current zone of Platform #3318. More importantly, the appearance of her "Radiant Celestial Dragon-Guardian Golem" solved Aina's biggest weakness: melee combat. She might have the guts to charge in with her crossbow, but a weakness was still a weakness.

"It's nothing compared to you, big guy! In the grand scheme of the twelve guardian tiers, level three is practically a scrub."

Orion just shook his head, not dignifying that with a response. The purpose of a Kindling Guardian wasn't just to protect its master. It could remain on the walls indefinitely, farming Kindling Points for its summoner around the clock. The summoner just had to use the Kindling Platform to buy it enough energy to keep going. This meant that even when Aina was sleeping, her new golem would be out there, earning for her.

He wouldn't deny that he wanted one for himself, but recipes were impossible to come by. No one was selling. Every other commander on this platform was just as desperate to survive as he was. A Kindling Guardian was a ticket to a snowball effect—more guardians meant faster point generation, which in turn made you stronger.

Still, Orion wasn't consumed by envy. He'd been using his own accumulated Kindling Points to buy body enhancement potions and better gear, and to upgrade his trident. He knew that as long as he focused on his own strength, a guardian—and eventually, his own tower defense castle—would come in time.

"You're super jealous, aren't you, big guy?" Aina drained the last of her boba and sidled up next to him, casually firing her crossbow at the monsters below. "Don't worry," she whispered conspiratorially. "When I get a second recipe, I'll give it to you. Hmm… maybe I'll sell it to you. For a super cheap price! I won't rip you off, promise!"

Orion ignored the chatterbox. If he didn't suspect she was a Survivor, he would have ditched the little psycho ages ago.

"You know, big guy, we're both Reincarnators. There's no getting out of here," she prattled on. "From now on, we're battle-buddies for life! We have to stick together… fight together… never leave each other behind…"

Aina was a little girl, but she was also a nonstop talker. Her constant chirping had become the strange background seasoning to Orion's endless slaughter.

***

The Abyss, First Layer. Starglow Peak.

"This is the place." Orion gently patted the Abyssal Dragon's back, bringing him to a halt before the mountain.

Starglow Peak was majestic, its summit wreathed in a swirling mist the color of Lorelia's moon. Critically, it had no sheer cliffs, only gentle slopes on all sides—perfect for mustering a large force.

"Master, we're raising the banner here?" Vex asked.

"Yes."

Vex held the banner with both hands, the pole perfectly straight. The flaming flag at the tip of the spear snapped and crackled in the wind. Sparks occasionally flew from it, landing on Vex's skin as if trying to set him ablaze.

For Vex, it was pure ecstasy. Every spark made his body shudder with pleasure.

More, his mind screamed in delirious desire. Give me more!

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