Alexander didn't stay behind for long. He picked himself up and walked in after her.
The moment he stepped through the gate, the atmosphere shifted. It felt like he was underwater, the pressure trying to crush him from all sides.
Luckily, it was still bearable.
The next moment, he made it to the other side.
Alexander was greeted by a foggy space, he couldn't see beyond ten feet.
In front of him was the girl. She seemed relaxed and less in pain now.
She turned around and faced Alexander, but still didn't say a word. Alexander could understand if she didn't want to speak to strangers.
He wasn't the most social either, although, for him, it was mostly because the people in the city hated and treated him like the plague.
Alexander took a step away from the gate, but the next moment, he slumped to the ground. An ear-splitting scream escaped from his mouth as he clutched his head.
The murmuring he heard earlier had somehow multiplied exponentially. It felt like millions of people screaming and arguing in his head. It felt like an axe was being used to split something open inside his skull.
Alexander didn't know what, but it didn't feel good, and he wanted it to stop.
The girl took a wobbly step back, clearly surprised by Alexander's sudden scream. His body was still twitching even after his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
The girl was taken aback. Nobody told her people fainted immediately after entering the Tower, at least, judging from the pain he experienced.
It was clearly the Calling that affected him, but why was it so strong? He looked fine just a moment ago. And the Calling was supposed to end after entering the Tower, not intensify.
The girl looked away from the unconscious Alexander. The fog was still thin, although some mysterious power seemed to prevent her from seeing beyond ten feet.
The first mystery hadn't begun yet, otherwise, they wouldn't still be in the same space. She needed to find the way out of here. But then.
"Hmm."
She seemed to have made up her mind. She walked back to the gate and poked at Alexander. He still didn't move.
Trust is a useless commodity in the Tower, she knew that. But Alexander's reaction was too real to be fake.
She squatted. Alexander's eyes were still partially open, and the crimson hue was visible to her.
She tilted her head to the side, as if doing so could explain the eerie similarity Alexander's eyes had with that of the Vile Spawn.
Not only were his eyes blood red, but they also had a crimson hue around them. It was beautiful, but also nerve-racking.
She picked Alexander up and moved him to a nearby rock, leaning him against it. She even used her handkerchief to wipe the blood and saliva off his face.
"Pretty..."
She said before going silent again. A moment later, she added:
"Why does he smell like urine and fish?"
The girl didn't stay long. She rose to her feet and walked further into the thin fog.
The place looked safe, and she had already done more than enough for a stranger in the Tower.
A few hours later...
Alexander's eyes slowly opened. He groaned and twisted his neck to the side.
"What the hell was that about?"
The pain was gone, but he still felt as if a hole, or a space had been forcibly opened in his head. And that space was still there.
He looked around. Clearly, he had been moved away from the gate, and it didn't take a genius to know that it was the only other person in the vicinity who helped him.
Now, Alexander was more than a little curious, because his smeared face was now clean.
"How adorable, she even took her time to clean me up."
Alexander chuckled darkly before rising to his feet. He inspected his body thoroughly, and after making sure there were no complications, he walked further into the thin, dark fog.
He didn't know where he was going, and the fog seemed endless.
"Old man Jerry never mentioned how a person is supposed to get to their first Mystery... but he did explain a lot about how the world of the Tower works...
I'm not sure how strong of a Pathseeker Old man Jerry is, but I have seen him rip a fully grown tree, roots and all out of the ground like it was a common weed.
I should be able to rely on the drunken bullshit he told me... at least some of it.
For example, the Mysteries solved within the Tower always relate to a point in time within our world. The Tower takes a Seeker to that time period and places them as replacements for random individuals.
A person's looks don't really change, but somehow they assume a different identity.
He also mentioned how unfair the Tower can be with its judgments. Apparently, it judges a Seeker based on how much of an impact they make to the original timeline.
If they change it enough, they can be rewarded even more than their peers.
But there's no peer to talk about, the first Mystery is so crucial that the Tower grants each person a separate one to solve.
And oh, if a Seeker dies, they stay dead."
Alexander's feet suddenly paused.
He felt the pressure disappear, and not just that, but the thin dark fog was gone as well.
Instead, Alexander found himself standing within what appeared to be a castle.
He quickly turned around, but the only thing behind him was the lit torches and the far end of the corridor.
Alexander glanced down at himself. He was clothed in full body armor, holding a long spear.
At this point, it was clear to him that his first Mystery had officially begun.
Alexander straightened his back. He didn't let it show that his existence in whatever timeline this was could be out of the ordinary.
Jerry made it very clear: you have to act like a normal person in your first Mystery, or you could get killed by a random dog.
The Tower might have, or might not have existed yet, but humanity already had knowledge that allowed them to achieve strength beyond mortal limits.