Prometheus nodded before leading the Allum and the family across the massive room. The doors on the opposite side of the hall swung open at their approach. Beyond the doorway was a gargantuan flat of land made from segmented metal sheets. They had been wondering why the previous room looked like it could hold a city’s worth of people. Now the answer was clear. This room was the size of a city. In the center, seemingly miles away, as a glowing blue whirlpool floating in the air, just above the ground. The family admired the view. It was incredibly…empty.
“Where are the houses?” Asked Lith. Anthropo was quick to answer.
“Houses will be established by the participants as they claim a lot. Participants that wish to share housing can join another willing participant’s home if there is enough room for expansion.”
“Where would the Masters like to make their home?” Asked Prometheus.
“Is that swirl of blue a portal to the first combat zone?” Fayde interjected.
“Yes. Very astute Master Fayde.” Prometheus responded.
“Should we make our home close to the portal?” She asked her family. They all responded with nods and agreements. “Prometheus, is there a faster way of getting closer to the portal, or do we have to walk all the way there?”
“Access to vehicles is generally restricted in First City, but for this purpose and circumstance, we are allowed access to a platform to the center of the city, if that is where you wish to establish your home.” Prometheus explained.
“Let’s do that then.” Said Fayde, curious as to what ‘platform’ the Allum would call upon.
All the Allum except Prometheus moved away for a moment and started tapping into the air. From between them, a section of the floor rose and released itself. It began levitating. A waist high wall encapsulated the platform, leaving a section open for them to walk onto the floating metal board. Small slats of floating metal created stairs. One by one the family stepped onto the platform, guided by their Allum who climbed abord shortly after. There were no seats, but protruding poles with handles on them in twelve places on the platform arranged three across and four deep, enough for the family and the Allum. The front center position had controls that reminded Lith of the pilot’s stick of aircraft. Prometheus took that position, flanked by Fayde and Lith, the others taking random positions onboard at their leisure, Guidry making sure to grab a ‘window seat’ on the floating craft. The Allum instructed them to hold onto the handles. They found that while their hands contacted the handles their feet were firmly rooted to the floor of the platform. With everyone secure on the platform, Prometheus manipulated the controls, and everyone felt their hands lock into place on the handles, is if gravity would refuse to let their hands let go. The open side of the platform closed while whole thing lifted upwards before moving forward at a pace they could not have matched at a full sprint. It brought to Lith’s mind VTOL aircraft in how it moved upwards then forwards, although this devise was certainly lacking the rotors or jet engines typically associated with such machines.
“Why is this place called First City?” Asked Fayde as they traveled closer to the blue whirlpool.
“It is named so because this is the first city participants will have access to. Second City will be accessible once an individual has conquered the tenth floor.”
“And each city is named in sequence?”
“Yes Master Fayde.”
“Which city will let us use these platforms again?”
“Third City enables Allum to use the platforms for traversal with their Masters. Fifth City allows participants to apply for personal craft. It should be noted that use of platforms is restricted to the safe zones of the Tower and will not remain with participants when they leave the tower or enter a combat floor.”
“Are you allowed to tell us this information?”
“The information is to incentivize the participants to climb higher in the tower, so yes, it is allowed.” Prometheus said as it began to slow the platform.
They had already reached the center of the city. Before them was the swirling blue portal leading to the other floors of the tower. It was surrounded by silver fences, marking it as the only current semblance of civilization in the currently barren First City.
“Would the Masters Like to make their home here?” Prometheus asked as the platform came to a stop, still hovering in the air just above the ground.
“This should be close enough to the portal.” Fayde said.
Prometheus opened the side of the platform again, unlocking their hand restraints as the Allum started tapping the air again. They had to be communicating with some kind of internal system interface with the tower. None of them could see what the Allum were typing on, but things generally started happening rather quickly when they started tapping the air. A green outline the size of a studio apartment appeared on the ground. As each of the Allum finished tapping in the air the green outline grew, doubling a first before the expansion of the lines became fractions of the previous addition. The metal floor began shifting upwards, forming a metal angled roof. The structure continued to grow from just a roof to a three-story home before coming to a hissing halt. A silvery gate similar to the one that was around the portal surrounded their home.
“Welcome to your new home.” The Allum said in unison as they bowed deeply.
The family took a moment to look at each other, marveling at one another at the impressiveness of the technology present in the tower before walking through the gate to their new home. As they crossed the threshold the scenery changed. Inside of their gate it seemed to be late afternoon or early morning as the two suns sat upon the horizon. Instead of cold metal, the ground was lush and vibrant grass. Flower beds surrounded the porch of their house. The house itself was still three-stories tall and had distinct French and Spanish influences in the architecture, reminding them of homes in New Orleans, where they had all once lived before moving to Michigan. The air was comfortably humid and warm in their yard, which suited them well.
“Prometheus, how did the tower decide to make this our home?” Fayde asked.
“The Bond Pendants you all wear read your surface thoughts. As you thought of what home meant to you, the tower took notes of what you desired and created what you desired. You will find that the tower will regularly present things you desire and in increased effect as you ascend.”
“Great.” Said Matia. “More mind reading. As if Sum’s knowing our entire life history wasn’t enough.”
“The best counter to mind reading, mind controlling, or other mind altering affects is to increase your Will or gain an appropriate skill.” Maria informed.
“Will?” Lith asked curiously. “How common are mental based classes?”
“We are unaware of how common mental based classes are Master Lith.” Answered Anthropo. “We have no experience in the outside and you are the first to enter the Tower of Tumult since its creation. To answer your one word question, Will is one of the nine status attributes depicted on your class card. It is the topmost circle of the head.”
“What are the other eight?.” Lith continued in his questioning.
“In descending order; Intelligence, Perception, Toughness, Endurance on the right, Vitality on the left, Dexterity, Strength, and Agility.” Prometheus said as it pointed to each place where the circles were located on its own body. Although Prometheus was the one making the demonstrated explanation, the voice of their own Allum came into their minds, echoing what was said.
“And how do we increase these stats?” Matia asked.
“Your class will automatically allocate energy into certain stats, as you call them, and you breakthrough minor thresholds. Otherwise, exercising in relevant ways, using skills and directing energy you cultivate towards those points will gradually increase them over time. It should feel like a diluted version of a minor breakthrough when enough energy has been acclimated. It should be noted that after each breakthrough in this manner will become difficult to advance the related stat.”
“You’ll have to give us advise on how to do that later. Thank you.” Lith said with a stretch and yawn.
“It is of no concern Master Lith. We have a purpose and serve it gladly.”
“Shall we head inside?” offered Enki. “I’m not sure about all of you, but I am exhausted.”
A growl came from Guidry’s stomach. They all suddenly realized that they had not eaten dinner because of Sum’s interruption of their special evening. One by one, all of their stomachs echoed in agreement. They needed to eat.
“Do you require help with preparing food Master Lith?” Asked Anthropo.
“Does your mind scanning allow you to predict what I need done while cooking?”
“Yes, and you will find that I am able to keep pace with you as well Master Lith.”
“Then let’s get started. Tonight is a special night after all.”
“Congratulations on your engagement Masters Fayde and Lith.” The Allum said in unison again, bowing deep to the newly engaged couple.
The interior of the house was nice. The bottom floor had a combined kitchen and dining room with an island large enough to seat the entire family. The living room was also on the bottom floor. There was no TV or game system. There were, however, seats and a coffee table with board games: chess, shogi, backgammon, go. The theme of the games was clear. They were all meant to train a mind to be more tactical and flexible. Fayde took the others to the living room and started teaching those that didn’t know how to play the games the rules of each before their Allums joined her in explanation. Before long all of them were playing against their bonded Allum.
Meanwhile, Lith and Anthropo took to the kitchen. The fridge, cabinets, and pantry were all well stocked with food stuffs, fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, dairy, herbs, and spices. Lith immediately fell in love with the Tower. True to its word, Anthropo was adept at keeping up with Lith in the kitchen as they made sweet and sour chicken katsu, chicken fried steak, roasted vegetables, and riced potatoes. When they had finished cooking, the family all joined around the island while the Allum picked up the living room, Anthropo cleaning the used cookware. They ate and talked about home, school, fond memories that they wished to hold onto. The peace that came before the system. This was their last night to enjoy life together before starting their journey to the top of the Tower of Tumult, and they would be damned if they weren’t going to enjoy the night.
In the morning, or what passed for morning in the tower, the family found themselves feeling well rested, surprising those of drinking age as they had forsaken their practice of abstaining from alcohol. Even the eldest and most susceptible to hangovers found they woke with a clear mind and unbothered stomach. One by one they made their way downstairs, the exceptions being Lith and Fayde who came down together from their shared room. To their surprise, the Allum had made them breakfast. A decent spread of toast with butter and jams, eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, and pancakes. Fayde found that a cup of coffee was waiting for her where she had sat the night before, perfectly made just the way she liked it.
After breakfast, they let their stomachs settle before heading out to the yard to begin practicing their skills before going into the tower. They spent equal time practicing with their Mastery skills, manipulation skills, and other useable skills. Unfortunately for Fayde, Lith, and Guidry, they had no pact companions to practice with. And while Lith could practice with his Mastery and Rake skill, being the only one with an alternate attack skill, he was unable to utilize his other skills. At some point, they decided to start sparing with each other, which let Lith get used to his Mending Touch skill before they entered the combat floors. They practiced until about noon under their miniature artificial sky before breaking for lunch.
“Are the Masters ready journey to the first floor of the tower?” Their Allum asked when they finished eating.
“Yes.” Fayde said as she looked over her family. For better or worse, they were as prepared as they could be. The tower wouldn’t wait on them forever to start climbing the floors, and nothing beat actual experience. They could train more during their downtime after clearing a few floors.
“We eagerly await your return.” The Allum said as they bowed deeply.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The family left their gated front yard and were once again greeted by the vast and empty city around them and the blue whirling portal. Walking to one of the many gates of the portal’s pavilion, it opened as they approached. Their nerves heightened as they drew closer to the blue swirl and the air cooled as they got closer to the portal. With determination, Fayde was the first to enter the portal. It was seemingly wet and cold as she stepped into a black void of space, somehow different from the one they experienced with Sum. She was quickly joined by the rest of her family, Lith being the second to enter, followed in descending order of age. A dais raised from the floor in front of them where a semitransparent screen flickered to life.
Welcome to the Tower of Tumult
Last Floor Cleared: --
Next Floor: 1
…
The three dots at the bottom of the screen were flashing, brining to mind a loading icon for computers. It made sense at a surface level. The Tower and the Allum were robotic an all, even if they didn’t understand all of the technology that made what it did possible. It did however raise a few questions in Fayde’s mind. Why did it need time to think of where to send them? Was it random or personalized? Just how many options did the tower have for the first floor, or floors in general? The three dots on the screen continued to flash for a few more seconds before revealing a new line of text and another card.
Destination: Alabaster Fields
Quest: Slay 100 Alabaster Wolves
One hundred wolves? They had to kill a hundred wolves to complete the first floor? Fayde and Lith had no idea what they should be expecting, but being thrown so far into the fire that it was more of a crucible was a more than they had anticipated. Maybe they should have stayed in the yard and trained with the Allum for a few more days. The Tower didn’t give them an option to decline, so Fayde grabbed the card from the dais. As she did so the void quivered and space shifted around them. Tall translucent white grass materialized around them that reached to their hips. In the distance, hills covered in the alabaster grass rose in waves.
“Everyone on alert.” Said Lith as he ushed the kids into positions. He knew that only Matia and Guidry were the only actual kids in the group, but Trevor and Enki were never part of the military or similar outfits like he and Fayde. They were green as grass, and so they were kids who needed a firm guiding hand if they were going to survive this. “Enki, you and Guidry are in the center of the formation. Focus on taking the wolves down at range. That’s your specialty. Be aware of lines of fire. Do not shoot your sisters, mother, aunt, or grandmother respectively, or me for that matter.” Lith put a hand on the shoulder of both Enki and Guidry. “Take a breath. Take your time. You got this.” He said to them in a soft but serious tone. Guidry beamed at his grandfather nervously while Enki gave him a sardonic look. Before either of them could say a word in response, Lith turned around and addressed his partner and daughters. “Ladies! Time to protect the menfolk. Remember that they do have physical training too, but let’s not give many of the beasts a chance. Matia, Take the lead. I’ll bring up the rear. The wolves should be well adapted to the habitat. Look for any movement and make the group aware of it immediately. Fayde, give us direction.”
Fayde took the right side of the formation, leaving Trevor to cover the left. Fayde had to think fast. It had been years since she was in any kind of armed unit, but she found her mind calming as she looked around and considered their options. High ground would make them a target but would also make defense easier. There was a distinct lack of trees in the area, so using foliage as cover would only leave them open to attack. If they could hold their ground on a hill and avoid being flanked on their way up, they would be able to survive, hopefully.
“We’re going to take that hill.” Fayde commanded as she pointed to the nearest one, her hand pointing with all fingers in the standard military ‘knife hand’ fashion. “Matia, you’re on point so take the lead.”
With everyone in position and orders given, they started making their way towards the closest hill. Matia had formed her frozen stone spear, shield, and some light armor on top of her clothes. Everyone else who had weapons had them a drawn and ready, their heads already swiveling around. Weather attracted by there mere presence or by their talking, it didn’t take long before something in the distance started moving.
“Movement, right!” Enki shouted, bringing the party to a momentary halt. With his recently practiced focus, Enki raised one of his crossbows in the direction of the movement. Kate had taught him that Archer’s Eye was essential the moments before he pulled the trigger. Through the thick grass, Enki’s vision focused on the movement. Rushing towards them was a waist high white wolf. Enki activated his ocular skill, which focused on the form approaching beast. He could see that the wolf had noticed their attention focusing on it, and that it would soon adjust its movement to begin circling around them. It was coming from the side where his mother stood guard, but its head was turned slightly to the rear of their formation. Was it smart enough to realize that Lith might be the weakest point without a weapon? Enki raise his other crossbow and aimed for the wolf, one for where it would be if it continued rushing directly at them, the other where it would be if it moved to circle them was he fired. Two motes of feint blue light fired off from his weapons as he pulled their triggers, both sets or arms quickly pulling back and releasing as the trigger compressed. One mote struck the ground, while the other slammed into the wolf’s head, causing it to fall to the ground with a cut off yelp. Enki felt an endowment of energy enter his body.
The Allum had told them that they would feel a rush if energy whenever they killed something. Something about the vital energy every life form had would be relinquished to whatever killed it while the rest was dispersed to the universe itself. Some circle of life bullshit he thought. The energy flowing into him felt inverted from the red wisps that left their bodies when they had undergone refinement, like it had a pure and refined quality. It felt like his very cells were greedily drinking it up, although most of the energy flowing into cores located in his head and lower abdomen. None of them were satisfied yet, and he wondered what it would take to break a threshold.
Kate had informed him that Archer’s Eye drew on his stamina while it was active and having to claim the lives of a hundred wolves, he knew that he would have to conserve his stamina. Deactivating his skill, he noticed two more movements approaching from either side of the felled beast.
“Two more, right side.” He said before firing off again.
“Three on the left.” Trevor called out.
“Guidry, focus left and help your mom at range.” Lith said knowing that Fayde was focused on tracking targets on her side of the formation.
Guidry focused his mental energy into his hand and a sparking ball of lightning formed. He stretched his hand out, being careful that his mother was not within his aim and released the energy forward. Being a bit shorter than the rest, he couldn’t make out the wolf’s figure well through the grass, and there was a distinct lack of a yelp as dirt and gras exploded from the ground where his bolt impacted.
“Damn.” He said as he created another bolt in his hand.
“Take your time baby. Momma will keep you safe.” Trevor said as she readied her weapons.
Howls sounded from the fields around them. There were a lot of them.
“Movement, front.” Matia called out as she readied her spear and shield.
“We need to get to the hill.” Fayde said as she took out the wolf that had gotten close enough for her to strike at with her swords. The wolves were fast, more than a typical wolf would be. They really needed to move to the high ground.
“You heard her. Stop standing around and advance on the hill.” Lith commanded.
Matia moved forward as she stabbed into a wolf, leading the formation’s advance. She used gravity manipulation to slow the wolf right before she thrusted forward, catching the creature off guard before it could dodge. Lith used Rake as a few wolves started circling to the rear. Semitransparent claws covered his fingertips as he swiped his hands through the air, deeply lacerating the hide of the opportunistic wolves. Motes of light and bolts of lightning were loosed and blades and spectral claws met fangs, claws, and flesh. Howls and growls continued to be let out by the alabaster wolves as they moved towards the hill. Thankfully, none of them seemed to be hurt yet, but all it took was one mistake or one lucky wolf to change that. Seconds stretched into minutes as they made their way from the flat ground to their side of the hill. A couple of the wolves were making their way around them, rushing along their line of approach to get to halt their approach while other kept them encircled. Just like that, they were trapped.
“Matia. Guidry.” Fayde called as her blade sliced through the neck of another wolf. “Hit that line with gravity storm. We need to get up that hill.”
Following their mother and grandmother’s order, Guidry came to stand just behind his aunt. He brought his hands together as lightning began to completely envelop them. Matia stabbed her spear through the neck of another wolf while bashing another to the side with her shield. It yelped as it came away with frozen rocky shards stuck in its face and neck.
“Ready Gid?” Matia asked as she draw her spear out of the wolf corpse.
“Ready.” He answered with a nod.
Matia pointed her spear towards the line of wolves that blocked their way as she channeled her mental energy into the skill for gravity manipulation. Power flowed back out and down her arm to the tip of her spear. She swung it in a wide arc, releasing her energy and intent. Around the line of wolves, small purple motes appeared in the air before they sank down. The wolves and grass caught within the affected area all bent downward. The grass flattened while the wolves struggled to remain standing. Immediately after, Guidry stepped forward and pushed his arms out. Waves of billowing lighting erupted from his hands as he pushed mental energy into his manipulation skill. Arcs of lightning coursed from his arms as he maintained the channeling, sweeping his hands from one side of the gravity restricted line to the other. When he stopped pouring energy into the skill, all that was left was charred grass and wolf corpses.
“Not bad.” Matia said as she continued moving up the hill.
Guidry was about to follow her before he heard someone cry out in pain.
“Argh!” Trevor cried as a wolf managed to bite her ankle. She quickly retaliated, stabbing it in the throat and kicking it off her. Another wolf took advantage of the momentary lapse in their defense, rushing through the opening between and Matia. It was going right for Guidry. It pounced at him before Trevor could or Matia could swing around to stab or slash it. As it leaped through the air, Guidry could only watch as the terrifying animal came at him, only for his uncle, Enki to tackle it to the ground. Dropping one of his crossbows, Enki grabbed the dagger from his belt and stabbed it through the wolf’s neck. It yelped and whined before it stopped moving. Enki quickly sheathed his dagger and grabbed his weapon off the ground.
“Thanks Uncle Enki.” Guidry said with a shaky voice.
“Thank me later. Keep fighting for now.” Enki responded before returning to face the wolves coming from around them.
Guidry returned to his mother’s side, charging and releasing another lightning bolt. He could feel his mental energy beginning to wane. Matia and his combined attack they had came up with earlier in the day was effective at dealing with large crowds, but it ate a lot of their reserves. The needed to finish climbing the hill and dealing with these wolves soon or he would be limited to his fledgling martial arts skills.
“Incoming!” Matia cried.
From atop the hill, a group of wolves jumped onto them. They were larger than the ones they had been fighting until now. The first leaped straight for Matia who planted her feet and angled her shield to deflect the wolf to her right. Enki used the opportunity to fire another mote from his crossbows into its chest. A rush of energy confirmed his tenth kill and signified a change to her body as he felt some form of threshold breaking. His mind sharpened, and some of the fatigue from the fighting and wielding of his weapons and constantly activating his Archer’s Eye wore off of her. It was like catching a second wind.
However, as the other two wolves came down the hill, they completely avoided Matia as the front line of defense. Fayde and Trevor were firmly in their crosshairs. Fayde was already dealing with two wolves on her own side, just finishing cutting one down when the one from the hill pounced and bit her left shoulder. She let out a yell of pain but drew one of her swords along the belly of the beast, cutting it open deep. It fell to the ground as it released a yelp of deep pain. It tried to stand back up using just its front paws but quickly fell to blood loss. Fayde felt the seventh and eighth flows of energy be absorbed by her body as she carved the neck of another wolf open. She felt a pressure build inside of her body. It was not painful like the buildup of red from her body, but an empowering pressure, as if the anticipation of something good was just around the corner.
Trevor was anticipating an attack from the hill. She was ready for the incoming wolf, determined not to get bit again. She thrust both of her flaming swords up into the chest of the wolf and maneuvered the momentum, so the wolf fell on top of one of its comrades. With a quickness, she removed one of the swords and stabbed into the other wolf, claiming her ninth kill. The pressure from the energy inside of her was reaching a breaking point. Just a little more and Trevor felt like she would burst. Not that she would explode, but that something inside of her would be unleashed.
Two more wolves, larger than any that came before, jumped down from on top the hill. They were clearly experienced hunters as they had timed their jump just as Matia was distracted with the wolf that leaped at her. The two wolves jumped over her aiming for Guidry and Enki. Fayde and Trevor were busy dealing with wolves on their flanks, and Lith was busy clawing wolved to death with rake. A trail of lupine bodies was forming behind them, some still rolling down the hill. Enki and Guidry would once again have to defend themselves.
Thankfully, they had been expecting an attack from above. Guidry, already holding a charged ball of lightning, released it at the wolf coming straight for him, exploding its head as the currents entered its hungry mouth. Enki, with only moments to react, once gain dropped one of his crossbows before grabbing his knife from his belt. He turned and let the incoming wolf bite into his right forearm, hot blood beginning to run from his body. He stabbed into the neck of the wolf as they fell to the ground. The wolf maintained its grip on Enki’s arm, now trying to pull away from the knife in its neck, further mangling Enki’s wound as well as its own. Enki stabbed it a few more times, both in the neck and body, as the left slowly drained from its eyes. Enki shoved the body of the wolf off of him before looking back up to the battle around him. Many of the wolves that were once encircling them were now dispersing.
“Need a hand bud?” Lith said as he stood above Enki, offering his stepson his left hand.
There was a palpable energy coming from Lith’s hand. Hesitant at first, Enki took Lith’s hand as he was helped back to his feet. A gentle warm energy flowed into Enki’s body from Lith’s grasp. It meandered around for a moment before rushing to his injured right arm. Before his eyes, the deep jagged bite from the wolf healed itself leaving only freshly spelled blood and foul smelling saliva.
“Did you already take care of Mom and Trevor’s wounds?” Enki asked.
“She worried about her babies before herself.” Lith responded before putting a hand on his shoulder. “You sister is fine now. How are you?”
“Good. A bit tired, but I think I broke a threshold.” Enki added.
Lith smiled. “Good. I think we all did, just about. I’m gonna go tend to your mom. Wolves are backing off for now. Catch your breath.”
Lith walked over to where Fayde was sitting along the hill, Matia, Trevor, and Guidry already tending to her, keeping pressure on the wound. Lith squatted down, channeling his mental energy into mending touch as he put his left hand on her uninjured right shoulder. He felt her body take in the energy, mixing with her own as it moved towards her wound. Moments later, the bleeding stopped as her wounds closed. She looked up at him as the pain subsided.
“How’s Enki?” She asked.
“I’m fine mom.” Enki answered as he joined their group huddle.
“Good. That could have gone worse.” She said as she looked out on the white grass coved hills around them. She watched at the retreating wolves shifted the blades while they ran. The wolves were retreating. She could hear a feint but deep growling coming from the top of the hill they sat upon, but nothing was approaching them. It was strange. Why did the wolves stop once they crossed the line of wolves Matia and Guidry killed with their gravity storm? And what was waiting for them at the top of the hill?
