The Ascent Begins

Fifteen-year-old Riju gradually returns to consciousness, the cold stone a stark contrast to the searing flames that still burn behind his eyes. His body was a map of lingering burns, and his mind a tapestry of horror.

He remembers the fire that turned day into night, the screams, and the faces of his parents, gone in the blink of an eye.

He finds himself in a bizarre stone chamber, the only survivor of a massacre that erased his world. As he tries to lift himself up, a creature of shimmering light and unsettling calm appears, offering a cryptic welcome to "the Tower" and hinting at a destiny Riju never wanted.

Is the Tower a refuge, a prison, or something far more sinister? And can a boy who has lost everything be reborn as something more?