When Lith returned to his family’s home, he found everyone but Fayde relaxing in the living room, eating from a tray of snacks. They had all changed out of their armor and were now in more loose shirts and drawstring pants. They were still covered in grime and dried blood, but they were all wearing new clean clothes. Lith wondered where they came from.

  “Welcome home Master Lith.” Said Anthropo. It was holding a bundle of black clothes. “Perhaps you would like to change into something more comfortable while you wait for the bath to become available?”

  “Yes. Thank you, Anthropo.” He said as he took the clothes. He walked into the living room towards the stairs but noticed six shining objects on the kitchen island. “Are those the reward chests?”

  “Yes. Master Fayde has requested that they be opened when everyone is done washing and resting.” It answered.

  “Fair enough.” Lith answered as he continued upstairs.

  Several hours passed as everyone washed up one at a time, then quickly retired to their rooms for rest. The next morning, Lith and Anthropo made breakfast after moving the reward chests to the coffee table in the living room. The chests were small, able to easily be carried in the palm of the hand. It didn’t make Lith excited at the prospects of what waited for them inside the bronze chests.

  Almost as an exact replaying of last week’s breakfast before they went to the first floor of the tower’s combat levels, the family filed down for breakfast. Lith and Anthropo had prepared breakfast sandwiches for everyone. Thick cuts of something resembling bacon with other similar vegetables like spinach, tomatoes, and avocado, plus an egg. It was essentially a breakfast BLT, and every part had its purpose. Meats to replace lost blood. Veggies and eggs help promote healthy skin, so their scars fade well. Lith’s healing had done a good job keeping them together, and he felt like their bodies replenished their resources quicker and more efficiently. Still, he thought it best to ensure their bodies had the nutrients necessary for healthy functions.

  “Everyone ready to open their boxes?” Fayde asked as they finished their meal.

  “Hell yeah!” Guidry shouted as he raised his arms in excitement.

  Lith and Anthropo picked up the dishes before Lith joined his family around the coffee table, Anthropo staying at the sink to wash them.

  “Thanks, Anthropo.”

  “Of course, Master Lith.”

  “So,” Lith said as he sat down at the chest, they all had designated as his. “Everyone ready? Are we doing this all at once or taking turns?”

  “We can go one at a time.” Fayde said as she looked to her grandson. “Let’s start with the youngest.”

  “Yes!” Guidry said as he opened his chest. Laying in the chest on a red bed of cloth were two small discs. One was alabaster white with a wolf motif. The other was gold with what looked like the roman numeral one on it. He picked them both up, looking them over. “What the heck are these?”

  Gears, Guidry’s Allum, moved forward. “The white disc is an upgrade token. Upgrade Tokens will be rewarded upon the completion of each level. Each token bestows an attunement to your gear based upon the primary element from the floor level. Upgrade tokens have rarity ratings from common to uncommon, rare, legendary, mystic, arcane, and finally unique. This one is common.”

  “So, this token can be used to upgrade my clothes? And what about the other one?” Guidry asked.

  “That is correct Master Guidry. The other one is a skill token. It can be used to gain one skill. It is of common rarity, so the skill rarity will be of the same.”

  “And how do I use them?”

  “The Upgrade Token can be used by placing it to the desired equipment and infusing it with your mental energy. The same is done with the skill token by placing it to your class card.”

  “I see.” Guidry said as he set the Upgrade Token back in the box. Holding the Skill Token in his left hand, Guidry manifested his class card into his right hand and tapped the token to the card while infusing mental energy into it. The token shattered into motes of light that condensed into three more cards. They hovered over Guidry’s class card. The first card depicted a floating, multi-pupiled eye surrounded by various items. Blade, scroll, shield, armor, plants, and rocks. Each pupil was looking at one item. While the image was slightly confusing the name at the top of the card clarified its purpose. Identify. The second card showed a man holding his hand up, several objects floating above him connected by ephemeral wisps of energy. Above the floating objects was the self-explanatory name of the skill, Telekinesis. The third and final card showed a man standing over an anvil, one hand holing a heated piece of metal with tongs and the other a hammer raised high above his head. Rather obviously, this skill was called Smithing. Guidry turned the cards around and showed them to his family.

  “What do you guys think I should get?” Guidry asked his family.

  They took a moment to look over his cards, some of them focusing more intently on specific cards than others. They were about to start a discussion about which skill Guidry should choose before a familiar voice started speaking in Fayde’s head.

  “Hey, do you think you’ll get a skill token too?” the ring she had named Noesis asked in a voice that was similar but distinct from her own.

  “I think so, why?”

  “I’ve felt kinda useless since you all got your classes. While combining them was draining, it was still fun. Combining skills should be easier and less draining and I can be useful again. I wanna see what you all can do in the tower, so boosting any skills you get is gonna make for great entertainment.” It answered.

  “Glad we could be a form of entertainment for you.” Fayde though with a bit of condescension.

  “Not ‘a’ form. My only form. If you guys die on one of the floors then I’ll be stuck here forever and who knows if or when someone will come to the same floor as you all again. Your survival is my top priority. Don’t get mad if I gain a little something in return.”

  “Fair enough.” Fayde said as a small smile crept onto her lips. “What do you think you can combine those three skills into?”

  “Well, the Smithing Skill is going to remain the focus while Identify and Telekinesis act as secondary features.” It paused and Fayde got the sense that it was running into a problem.

  “Something wrong?” Fayde asked.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “It’s just that he doesn’t have a fire attuned skill and you all currently lack a forge of any kind.”

  The both thought for a moment before Fayde made a suggestion.

  “If one of the issues is a source of heat then Guidry already has a solution for that. He has his Electrokinesis skill which can be used for induction heating, although I’m not familiar with the specifics of how that works. Can you effect the floors that we are sent to?”

  “The floors seem to be randomly generated. Didn’t Sum say something about God’s not using it because it was too far from their paths?”

  “I believe so.”

  “So, it’s an open book of unlimited potential. Assuming the sentient AI overseeing the Tower doesn’t mind me tinkering with what floors you go to, I can probably generate a floor that will give Guidry something he can use with his skill.”

  The mention of the sentient AI overseeing the tower didn’t faze Fayde. She and her family had already “You’re a real life cheat code, you know that right?”

  “Nicest thing you said so far. Worth providing me with entertainment yet?”

  “Definitely.” Fayde thought before offering her hand to Guidry. “Baby boy, hold my hand for a moment.”

  The debate from Lith and Enki on what skill Guidry should take paused as Guidry took his grandmother’s hand. As soon as their hands made contact the three cards turned to motes of light that began to swirl together. Two small motes of electric blue light emerged from his chest and joined the rest before a new skill card formed. On the card was a man holding his hands out towards a mechanical device, electricity flowing from his fingers as they fed into rings of metal. Holographic displays showed a sword, a shield, and a breastplate as a metal ingot floated between the metal rings. The wording above the image said Tech Forge.

  “Woah!” Guidry exclaimed as he looked over his new card. “This is awesome! Thanks Grandma!” He immediately infused the card with mental energy, once more turning it into motes of light that drifted into Guidry and his class card. The skill took root in his right forearm and told him all he needed to know about itself as it finished forming. He immediately picked up the upgrade token and used the identification portion of his new skill. At his will a small semitransparent blue screen appeared.

  Item: Upgrade Token

  Rarity: Common

  Theme: Alabaster Wolf

  Description: An Upgrade Token used for weapons, armor, or clothing. It can be used to attune an item with a special affinity. Affinity of this token is that of the Alabaster Wolf, and earth based affinity. Multiple tokens may be infused into an item, strengthening the item further and increasing its rarity. Caution: Mixing too many affinities can lead to a weakened and unstable item.

  “Here aunty.” Guidry said handing the token to Matia after looking over the screen. “I think you should use this.”

  “Are you sure?” She asked. “I probably have one of my own in my box.”

  “They stack, so the more of the same kind you use on your gear the stronger it will get.” He explained. “It has an earth type affinity, which should pair well with your class.”

  Matia smiled and gave her nephew a hug as she took the token and set it on the table next to her box. The opening of the bronze chests continued, each of them receiving an Upgrade Token and a skill token. Like with their classes and Guidry’s skill cards, Fayde and Noesis combined their skill cards. Matia’s new skill was named Gaze of the Winter Survivalist, combined from Identify, Foraging, and Glare skills, combined with a part of her Cryokinesis skill. Its primary function was similar to Identify, with a specialization in finding opportunities for survival as the name suggested. It also had the unique ability to act as an intimidation skill if she used it one someone she did not consider friendly. Enki was next. He combined Identify, Mana Vision, and Behavioral Analysis into Eye of Truth. It was an impressive ocular skill. It told him what something or someone was, able to bypass skills that would otherwise obscure what something actually was, as well as see the inherent energy type of an object or person. With people, or other sentient beings, he would also be able to discern their intention, given enough time to observe them. Trevor followed him up, combining Identify, Weak Spot Detection, and Warrior’s Intuition into Revealing Gaze. It allowed her to analyze her target, their gear, and where she could best strike to deal the most damage. Lith was next. He combined Identify, Paralyzing Gaze, and Intimidating Glare into Predatory Eye. The effects of this skill was very much in line with the skills that went into it. Aside from the ability to identify objects, it also allowed him to inflict a target with a paralyzing fear. Last was Fayde’s skill. It combined Identify, Domineering Presence, and Aura Discernment into Dominion’s Eye. Fayde’s skill was primarily an ocular skill, but also acted like a pseudo aura skill, able to both see through them and create one of her own, within the limit of what she could see.

  After using their skill tokens, the all decided to look at the new skill on their class cards only to discover the new addition to be joined by a second. After killing the Alabaster King, they had all felt a wave of energy inside of them as they broke the ninth threshold, however they were too caught up with the ensuing chaos around Matia and the Alabaster Cores and far too exhausted after a week of near constant fighting to pay attention to the skills as they formed within their weary bodies.

  Fayde had gained Blood Echo, which, from her understanding, operated as a movement skill. She could fall into something as small as a drop of blood and reappear in any other source of exposed blood. The key word was exposed, as she could not appear inside the body of another, within their own blood. While potentially useful, the limitation existed because one’s body was under the influence of their own physical and mental energies at all times, making infiltration difficult for outside skills, at least for her at her current power. Who knew exactly what the future would hold.

  Lith’s new skill leaned back into the single sourced healing aspect of his class. Tranquil Mind was a skill he could use on himself primarily, but also extend the effects to others. He had a skill that could heal the body, purge it of toxins, and now a skill to cleanse the mind. It was a trifecta, but left Lith wondering what other forms of inflictions could be imposed, if something could go deeper than body and mind to effect the soul. He was aware of his own soul after their encounter with Sum and could feel his skills as they sat inside of it, influencing him in ways he didn’t fully understand yet. If one’s skills could affect their own souls, who’s to say that another’s couldn’t also. It left him in a state of deep contemplation as he looked at his class card.

  Trevor’s skill was called Black-Flame Cloak. The name was clear and direct in what the skill did. It covered her body in a flowing cloak of black fire. The cloak was multipurposed, contrary to the simplicity of the name. It worked with both her Umbrakinesis and Pyrokinesis, acting as a medium for those two skills to exert more influence. She could use the cloak to obscure her and blend better into darkness while unleashing tendrils of black flames to burn unsuspecting victims. It wasn’t limited to working in shadows however as also acted as an additional defensive layer.

  Blinding Flash was the skill Enki got after breaking the ninth threshold. It allowed him to create a ball of light that would explode outward, hopefully blinding anyone that got too close to his position. A flash bang without the bang. He could do this naturally, but the skill took out the guess work and automated the desired effect. He could alter the intensity for greater affect at a distance, but if someone got close enough to strike at him with their own weapons having the ability to use on the fly would be of great use.

  Matia got a surprising skill. Frozen-Stone Golem summoned exactly that. A golem made of frozen stones. It consumed a great deal of mental energy, but having a second front line tank would assuredly become a great boon to their family. She had a second, larger, but arguably less flexible Defender of Pluto. Each time they broke through a threshold, they could feel their bodies grow stronger, faster, more durable. Their minds grew sharper and worked more efficiently. More than that, their body and mind’s abilities to exert the reserves of energy grew in fathoms as they progressed. Matia was thankful for that as the skills they were gaining were becoming progressively more tolling on said reserves. If she had her summoning skill before her first breakthrough she wouldn’t be able to use the skill at all. Even now she knew that she would only be able to summon a single golem, leaving her with roughly a third of her reserves for her remaining skills. Pacing was going to be important moving forward.

  Guidry, sometimes first and sometimes last, had gained the skill Volt jump. It was a mobility skill, allowing him to turn his body into pure lightning momentarily as it arced from the position he was currently in, to the place he wanted to go within view. It would allow him to get into and out of combat quickly, appearing in a flash to release a devastating blow only to be gone the next fraction of a second. Slowly but surely their classes were showing their ability to form into a cohesive whole.