Chapter 235: Self-Progenitor

"Strong." The word came out of Jacob’s mouth with a light echo, full of conviction and assurance, but Drammond just brushed it off with a shrug of his shoulders and continued his silent training. He wasn’t really doing much, and he didn’t particularly look stressed. Jacob could already tell that this dark-haired young man in front of him already believed that he could clear the tower. In fact, it made him feel a certain way because he had doubted himself for a moment.

"Drammond, tell me, how long have you been here? I can tell you’re from a different world than I am, but it’s not so different that time works differently." Jacob inquired. According to Uga, he could take as much time as he needed before proceeding to the next fight, and by his calculations, only a few hours had gone by since he got pulled into this dimension.

"I just completed the tenth floor," Drammond said casually, not wavering from his near-perfect stance. There was still a hint of uncertainty and distrust in his tone, as he hadn’t even bothered to look at Jacob when talking to him.

Drammond Grayborn belonged to a long line of Dukes in a world called Arondale. His family was wiped out by a usurper born within the clan two years after his birth, and he was taken in by a maiden and raised on the streets like a pauper.

Drammond was not without power, though, as his affinity for chaos and death allowed him to skyrocket rather quickly in the community and regain his throne as the Duke of Arondale.

His reason for coming to the Tower of Sun was as good as any other. Love. His wife had been kidnapped by an unkillable entity that lurked in Arondale, and since then, every resource that he threw into finding her was deemed futile. That was all until he was visited by a god and given the chance to achieve conquest and save his love at the same time.

"Kill two birds with one stone, why not?" These were Drammond’s words as the offer was presented to him on a platter. Even though the offer still seemed a tad shady, the evolutionary possibilities were surprising enough. He would clear the tower, and he would be the strongest.

Jacob had compressed Drammond’s entire life story into a short exposition in his mind and smiled wryly at the advantage that the young man had possessed from a very young age.

"How about you spar with me when you have the chance? We could help each other reach the top." Jacob smiled at the young man, who now stood straight with a confused expression on his face.

"What exactly will this prove?" Drammond asked Jacob after turning his gaze away.

"I bet you’re also wondering what lies beyond the later floors of the tower. Spar with me and we’ll help each other grow and clear this fucking thing." Jacob rarely cursed, but the moment just felt appropriate. Coupled with the speech that Uga had given him, and finally finding someone who was strong, he suddenly felt a strong wave of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

"I should let you know, then... that if you are weaker than me, then I will kill you." Drammond didn’t hesitate, neither did he stutter. He wasn’t the same type of person that Jacob was, which meant that all the opponents he had faced so far would not be able to make it back to their world.

That was just the level of cruelty that was tolerated in the tower. Weakness was heavily frowned upon, but neither the Meereens, nor the constellations, or even members of the crowd would kill anyone themselves. The contestants always managed to unalive one another.

Jacob’s lips curved into a playful smile as he patted Drammond’s shoulder. "Well, we’ll just have to see, haha." He laughed as he walked off casually.

He could feel Drammond shooting him a pair of confused but somewhat intrigued eyes from behind him as he casually, gracefully walked away. Uga leaned off to the side, looking like an android that had been previously shut down, but then booted up almost as instantly as it saw Jacob coming back towards its direction.

"Welcome back, Jacob. Was your conversation with Drammond Grayborn satisfactory?" Uga leaned off the wall and looked down at Jacob with an inviting expression, even though its face still had that eerie, smile-wearing structure.

"You know his name?"

"Yes, Jacob. The moment a competitor steps into the Tower of Sun, every Meereen is alerted of their presence, and one is assigned by the Grand Regent to be their guardian." Uga paused, but just like the other times, Jacob had the feeling that it was not done talking yet, so he would give it some time and space to finish its lecture. "Since you came here, an innumerous amount of competitors have been brought to this place. And all the available Meereens have been assigned to them."

Jacob thought for a moment. Then he said, "Since there are an infinite amount of people here, that must mean there are an infinite number of Meereens as well."

"Precisely, and as such, the Grand Regent is able to assign one for every fighter."

"How does your race procreate? I-I mean, how are you able to create an infinite number of one single race?" The more Jacob spoke, the more he realized that this was the life of the Meereens. They had no lifespan that he could tell of. They also possessed no genders, which meant that copulation in the normal way of living beings was impossible.

"We are self-progenitors. A biological system with the capacity for self-renewal. We are spawned into existence by whatever power governs this tower, and from the moment we arrive, we self-renew for the rest of eternity, or at least until the power decides that we are no longer useful," Uga responded, its voice still sounding like a soft symphony of all tones.

’Self-progenitor.’ Jacob thought about these two words over and over again, and even though Uga did not really go into detail, and it didn’t really have to... Jacob knew that those words were undoubtedly powerful.

With that, he had only one more question for Uga...