Silence filled the air as they walked, and after over an hour of that, Lukas exhaled, craving conversation.
He turned to look at Melody who was walking beside him, her breath misting in the cold air as her eyes scanned the dark desert ahead on instinct.
"I've been thinking about something," he said.
She glanced at him. "What?"
"Businesses." He kept his voice low, making sure it was not loud enough to carry to the front pair. "I was thinking that we could have multiple businesses that we could build over time into something larger."
Melody was quiet for a moment, thinking about it. "Like an empire?"
"Exactly like that." He kept walking, a short silence between them. "From what we can already see, it's more likely that the higher we climb in this Tower, the more opposition we're going to face."
"With the one wish waiting at the top, I'm sure there are some powerful Climbers already way ahead of us, looking back and curating who would be allowed to climb up behind them."
