《Towers Rise》 Chapter 1 - The Beginning of the End The smell of blood fills the air ahead of him, the metallic smell mixes with the dust and smoke in the air, making him taste the death ahead of him, he knows that this, this may be Humanity''s fall. But still there is some hope, their strongest heroes have not yet joined the fray, just maybe they can turn this around, find a way to continue to progress. He can¡¯t see the battle yet, no one near him could, they had yet to take those last few steps needed to pass through the arch to the next floor, but soon he knows he will see the cause of the ruin he knows to be ahead. Trystan¡¯s legs feel about ready to give way as the increased gravity of this floor hits him for the first time. Marching near the middle of the army he can see multiple others who are now stumbling as they step through the massive archway gaining entrance to this floor. Grimacing he can already hear the calls for help, the sound of battle up ahead, and as he looks forward he can see his premonition was correct. Smoke, dust, and fire fills the air ahead of him, giant flaming boulder¡¯s come crashing down into the middle of the groups ahead, dozens perishing in an instant, with other¡¯s rolling, trying to smother the flames now engulfing them. ¡®Status.¡¯ Trystan thinks quickly, trying to understand what new debuffs this location would apply to him before he engages in the battle ahead.
Name Trystan Hunter Race Human
Age 28 Tier Generic - 1
New Points 0 Banked Points 1280
Stats Abilities
Strength 268 (1583) Enhanced Strength
Agility 146 (575) Enhanced Endurance
Endurance 248 (1465) Troll Regeneration
Intelligence 15 (22) Ki Cultivation (Disciple)
Wisdom 15 (22) Telekinesis (Initiate)
Charisma 17 (25) Shield Mastery (Adept)
Willpower 17 (25) Sword Mastery (Master)
Luck 15 Sword Grandmaster (Apprentice)
Physical Perfection
Armor Mastery (Adept)
Elemental Item Imbuement (Wind)
Trystan reaches for and draws the sword at his side, raising his shield in his other hand and setting it in place, and then begins his mad rush forward towards the sound of battle, towards the sounds of his friends. Glancing to the side he sees that Henry is doing the same. Humanity¡¯s heroes had called for their warriors, all of them, young, old, weak, strong, every last soul was going to be needed if humanity was to survive, but...it does appear like that dream was doomed for failure today. ¡°We¡¯ve...lost.¡± Henry whisper¡¯s, seeing the damage ahead of them, humanity¡¯s warriors being decimated by the boulder¡¯s and long ranged abilities raining from the sky. ¡°Not yet.¡± Trystan grunts, as he continues his dash forward and finds himself facing against one of the golden skinned humanoids that represented their opponent on this floor. His sword dances in an intricate pattern, playing across his opponent¡¯s defense until it finds its way through, and he quickly slashes across the throat of his opponent. It takes a moment for him to register what happens, as he instinctively begins his turn towards the nearest opponent and really it¡¯s almost humorous, all of the points he spent, all the training he had accomplished, he may not be one of humanity¡¯s heroes, but he was definitely not a weakling, yet...even as his sword flashes across the intervening space and strikes hard into his opponent he sees only the smallest shimmer of gold blood as the barest hint of a line appears to mark where he struck his opponent.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Trystan almost can¡¯t help but to cry as he sees the limit of his strength appear as a simple line, a papercut on the weakest of the opponent¡¯s in front of him. But he steadies and steels himself, they have to make it, they must, or everything, everyone that has passed away in these last few years...well it will have meant they died for nothing. All they have to do now is hold out, hold out long enough for the heroes to arrive. Trystan snarls as he continues his dance against his opponent, each of his hits drawing only the slightest of wounds from his body, and each of his opponents hits nearly bringing him to his knees before his own health regeneration kicks in, one of the few abilities that he has that is actually listed in the top rankings. Well, he thinks for a moment, ¡®There was always the joke about death by a thousand papercuts back in old earth¡¯s offices, maybe he can see whether that actually works here.¡¯ He continues his dance with his opponent, ever so slowly gaining ground as his opponents endurance and health continues to be chipped away, fraction by fraction, by Trystan¡¯s endlessly dancing blade. He can hear the shouts behind him turn to joy, and his hopes rise. Perhaps one of the heroes have finally managed to make it through the archway. If they are to join the battle then perhaps humanity won¡¯t fall today. A line of fire burns a path across the field, catching his opponent in it and proving his hopes reality. The Red Dragon stepping confidently through the parting army, in his human form the red sheen of scales coating his skin giving some semblance to the reasoning behind his name. Trystan turns just soon enough to catch him breathing out once more a line of destructive flame into the air, catching one of the boulders before it comes crashing down and turning it into a rain of pebbles and rocks instead, saving the group below it. ¡°We may actually make it, the Ice Queen and Sword Saint are coming up behind him.¡± Henry yells to Trystan. Sure enough both of them walked in behind Red Dragon, along with Merlin, Night Blade, Earthquake, and Phoenix. All of the surviving heroes in one place, for this one battle. Trystan blinks a few times, trying to make sure that he can capture their victory in his mind, something to propel himself forward in the future. Or at least that was what he was planning to do when a bright light slammed down in front of them. Runes glowing softly on the gold humanoid''s skin, he stands from his crouched position, and faces the assembled humans. He speaks without effort yet his voice carries across every inch of the battlefield. ¡°Welcome to the 50th floor. You have done well in making it this far and for that you deserve congratulations, but you will only receive death.¡± The gold skinned humanoid looks down on those heroes in front of him with pity and disdain. A single hand of his is raised and the incoming boulder¡¯s and abilities stop, those already launched are intercepted by a strong bright line of light expelling from his palm and cease to exist. ¡°I am General Crag of the Hikarin...¡± The General is interrupted as the Red Dragon transforms instantly from his human form to a massive and towering Red Dragon, a line of flame the width of a skyscraper engulfs the General and incinerates everything in its path. A moment passes as nearby individuals try to blink the residual purple lines in their vision away, only to see the General standing there, unharmed. With a sigh the General looks at the Red Dragon, ¡°If I could, I would allow some of you to live, but it is your race or mine, and I cannot allow mine to fall.¡± He slowly brings up a single finger, pointing it at the Red Dragon. A beam of blinding white light races from his finger tip and appears to effortless pierce through the scale and leathery hide of the red Dragon, leaving a large gaping whole through his chest. The hole seems to pulse for a moment and then starts to devour the rest of his body, turning his remains to a fine white ash. Gasps of horror rise from the troops as they see one of their mightiest heroes fall so easily. The Ice Queen and the Sword Saint move in unison towards the Hikarin General. The Queen draws in her breath and wings and armor of what looks to be ice the color of blue diamond surrounds her, blades materializing from the humidity in the air begin to twirl around her, creating a nigh impenetrable barrier. The Sword Saint draws his single black sword from his side. The killing intent rising from the blade in his hand sends scores of the men behind them falling to the ground. Once again the Hikarin general raises a finger and a beam of light slashes out towards the Ice Queen. Only this time the Sword Saint moves quickly, his sword slashing through the beam of light, diverting it from it¡¯s path. The soldier¡¯s still on their feet cheering for a moment before utter shock and disbelief sweeps through those present. As the Sword Saint''s blade completes it¡¯s ark downward and only remnants of the ruined blade drip to the ground, the molten metal sizzling as it hits the dirt and stone below. The gasps of horror quickly turn to screams as the Hikarin moves once more, a single effortless step appearing to bring him instantly across the vast distance between him and the Sword Saint. His hand forms a quick fist and flicker¡¯s forward. The Sword Saint twists quickly attempting to avoid the blow, but as the air pressure of the strike cuts through him he merely ends up distancing the two halves of his body from one another as his upper half continues to twist and his lower half is blown away. The Ice Queen looks on, her mouth dropping open, but no sound coming through. She merely looks down and tries to grasp closed the hole that the strike also put through her, to no avail she drops to her knees, eyes already glazing over as the ice armor and blades surrounding her shatter into a cloud of sparkling motes. The stammering cries of ¡°Retreat.¡± start sounding off through the soldier¡¯s on the battlefield, yet even Trystan can tell it is already too late. The Hikarin General is going through their strongest heroes like a hot knife through butter, and the Hikarin Soldier¡¯s have begun to move closer. Trystan glances over towards Earthquake, Merlin, Night Blade and Phoenix, it looks like Merlin is chanting something while the other three attempt to hold off the General. Trystan looks at Henry for a moment and then rushes towards the General, maybe, just maybe, he can do enough to let Merlin finish whatever he was casting. Before he can even finish crossing the first few yards, and Earthquake has already fallen, his massive rock encrusted form falling to the ground causing a small temor to quake the battlefield. Night Blade falls as Trystan comes across the next 10 yards, his blade of shadow actually managing to draw the smallest drops of blood from the General before his own lifeblood comes pouring from his body. Phoenix tries her hardest to make a stand, but her flame and generaritive capabilities seem insufficient to the task, and her eyes go lifeless as the General¡¯s punch disperses the flaming form that is her body. The General is a mere step from Merlin when Trystan finally manages to make the distance, his shield rising to deflect the next attack from the General. He feels the jarring power of the attack as his shield goes flying backwards. He staggers for a moment and he looks over to the shield lying on the ground dozens of yards away, his arm lying next to it, still strapped on. His vision begins to narrow as he starts crumbling down to the ground. As he glances to his shoulder he sees that most of the left shoulder was gone, removed presumably at the same time as his arm. As his vision continues to narrow he turns his gaze back to the General. Merlin¡¯s voice reaches a crescendo as his spell completed. A bolt of black lightning sizzles through the air, striking the General, then dozens more start raining from the sky striking all across the battlefield. Through the pain Trystan can feel his face contorting into a soft smile, ¡®At least I managed to do something, to help some of them.¡¯ he thinks as the world continues to slowly grow darker. When the lightning storm ends there is silence, as the smoke and dust settles. The Hikarin army is revealed to be badly injured, not many dead, but enough that perhaps humanity still has some slight chance. Then, that hope is shattered, as a low chuckle fills the air. ¡°You actually managed to injure me, how intriguing Mage, but I fear that this is the end.¡± The General stands revealed from amidst the smoke and ruin that was the battlefield. His armor scorched and small burn marks running down along his left arm. Merlin¡¯s eyes go wide as he starts retreating backwards, his voice rising in a quick chant, preparing the next spell to be cast. The General merely shakes his head. ¡°Too late I¡¯m afraid.¡± He says simply as he raises his right hand to the sky and brings it down again quickly, and with it beams of light start raining down. Merlin is disintegrated almost instantly as the first beam falls across him. Trystan looks up to see one coming his way and turns his head, tear¡¯s coming down his face as he realizes the truth of what has happened today. He sees his friend running towards him in slow motion, shouting something at him. And as the world turns to light Trystan can only wish that humanity would have another chance. Chapter 2 - A New Beginning The feeling of warm sunlight caresses Trystan''s cheek as he lays with his eyes closed. The sound of battle and conflict had faded away completely, which is a little confusing, but perhaps that¡¯s just what happens when your body loses too much blood. It¡¯s only when he hears a familiar voice that he suddenly tries to jump up, it was a voice that he hadn¡¯t heard in years. ¡°Bro, it¡¯s breakfast! Are you coming down or do I get to eat your pancakes too?¡± Comes the familiar voice of his sister, he had lost her during the 2nd floor, How could she possibly be here now. As Trystan opens his eyes and feels his feet hit the floor he realizes that he is back in his old bedroom, from before everything had happened, and yet...there was a familiar blue box hanging in front of his eyes.
%Error% Trophy Information not found Accessing System Information¡­ %Error% Locating System ¡­ Not Found Accessing Host Memories ¡­ Located Determining %Error% Cause ¡­ Determination Made Full Reset Required ¡­ Starting 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­
The blue box disappeared as it ticked down. Trystan quickly thought, ¡®Status¡¯ again to try and summon his information, but nothing appeared. He squints down to his laptop where he sees the date and time floating on his screen and blinks a few times. It really was before everything happened, before the world lost over 75% of its population, before he lost his family, before everyone¡¯s death. He drops to his knees for a moment, overwhelmed by the emotions flooding through him. ¡°Honey, are you in there?¡± His mother calls in through the door. Trystan scrambles to his feet, wiping the tears from his face he calls out as calmly as he could, ¡°Yes Mom, I¡¯m here, just give me a second I¡¯m just about ready.¡± He quickly throws on a shirt to go with his pajama bottoms and comes downstairs, preparing himself mentally as he does. The sight of his mother, Gloria, his father,John, and sister, Morgan, sitting at the table was both a welcome one and a heart wrenching one. He had thought them lost forever, but for whatever reason he had another chance now, another chance to make things right, and maybe this time, to keep his family alive. ¡°Morning.¡± He says after a moment, his father nods and goes back to reading the newspaper while his sister groans, ¡°I guess you can have your pancakes.¡± His mother¡¯s laugh¡¯s, ¡°There¡¯s more than enough for everyone.¡± she says with a smile. Trystan reaches out and pulls a couple of pancakes onto his plate, not quite sure what to say, just soaking in this moment, one that he was remembering now. This was a week before everything had started, before the first notifications had been received. When the first blue box had appeared everyone had thought that it was some kind of joke when the boxes had first appeared. Maybe some sort of promotion for a new game using breaking-edge technology that was being released via the game. Who could have possibly imagined that a box asking for volunteers to defend Earth¡¯s sovereignty in the Tower could actually be real. How wrong they were. It was when the first of the acceptor¡¯s vanished that people started realizing something was wrong, when the second notification came out there was panic. It noted that 90% of Earth¡¯s forces had been destroyed and that there would be a mandatory draft if there weren¡¯t enough volunteers. There was just a week between each notification, and while the panic had begun to rise there really wasn¡¯t enough time between each notice and each wave of people going missing for it to truly reach a peak. At least it hadn¡¯t before he and his family were a part of the 3rd draft. There was only one more draft afterwards, but from what he had heard from those who had come in that final draft the world had been in near chaos, over half of the world¡¯s population had been sent by the end of the 3rd draft, and estimates had shown perhaps three quarters of the world population had been sent upon the completion of the final draft. He reaches out and grabs the plastic woman filled with maple syrup, pouring a generous amount onto his pancakes before he starts eating. ¡°Mom, why is he ruining good pancakes with syrup again?¡± His sisters asked in a playful tone, his mother just sighed, ¡°He¡¯s like his father that way, they both enjoy ruining them with syrup.¡± His father just looks up from the paper with a grin and raises an eyebrow before going back to the paper, stating simply, ¡°Hey, they taste better that way.¡± Trystan laughs, the first real laugh he thinks he¡¯s managed to summon in years. But they don¡¯t know that yet. He puts a finger on his nose when his dad speaks, ¡°What Dad said.¡± as he begins to shovel the panakes into his face, simply enjoying the flavor of the drowned buttery syrup pancakes. ¡®What can I possibly say to convince them on what needs to be done?¡¯ Trystan thinks as he eats. ¡®Is there anything that I can do to change anything, I mean...maybe?¡¯ Trystan starts thinking back on how the events started last time, how he learned that time passes far differently in the Tower, how the Test determined your starting points, and how some of the purchases and tracks seemed to be traps. It wasn¡¯t until Humans had nearly reached the 50th floor that they had come to realize that learned and self-improved skills were stronger than the ones purchased directly from the system. He quickly thinks, ''Status¡¯ again to see if anything happens, nothing. ¡®Okay, so if I want to try and help my family and friends I have to find a way to convince them on what¡¯s going to happen, to prepare them, and to ensure that we all select yes and join the first wave of volunteers, it¡¯s the wave that failed the hardest, but they were also the ones that had the greatest amount of chance, and points assigned.¡¯This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. He had learned later on that there seemed to be a points multiplier for that first wave, and each wave after it got less and less points. By the time he was forcibly enlisted he had only managed to get around 10,000 points, whereas people who had started off on that first wave had managed to achieve potentially up to 50,000 points, but only one person had known that for sure, and Merlin hadn¡¯t given anyone exact number¡¯s on what he had managed to gain. He looks up from his plate to see his mother looking at his a little strangely, ¡°Is everything okay dear?¡± she asks in a concerned tone. ¡°Yeah mom, everything¡¯s fine, just trying to think some stuff out.¡± Trystan responds quickly. She nods briefly, ¡°Okay, well you know me and your father are always here for you if you want to talk, we¡¯ve got plenty of time.¡± His father glances up again at this point and set¡¯s the paper aside, ¡°Hey buddy, you know that even if I seem busy, I¡¯ll always make time for you, right?¡± Trystan nods and then sighs, ¡°Really it¡¯s nothing like that, just trying to figure some things out.¡± His mother nods again, ¡°Okay, well don¡¯t forget you¡¯re friend, Henry I think, is supposed to be coming over today to help get you started with your college applications. Trystan smiles, ¡°I¡¯ll be ready.¡± He shovels a few more bites into his mouth and then jumps up. ¡°Thanks mom.¡± he shouts as he puts his dish in the sink and dashes back upstairs. He had forgotten how young he had actually been when everything had started, but years passed in the Tower for every week that passed out here, so it made some sense that he felt decades older than he actually was, and that¡¯s not even including the time travel. ¡°Okay, first steps, getting someone to believe me, next steps, teaching everyone what they will need to know in order to survive.¡± he mutters to himself as he takes his shower quickly and gets dressed. Henry may not immediately believe him, but it was very likely that he would at least give him the benefit of the doubt, and help him come up with different methods of teaching other people, at least until the first blue box appeared he wouldn¡¯t be able to do much more than that. The first blue box had given people almost 12 hours to select a choice, the boxes afterwards were only around for maybe 2 hours before disappearing. Maybe if he planned everything out correctly he would be able to ensure that those 12 hours of time were enough to get everyone ready, at the bare minimum he might be able to set up where they could get together and survive inside of the Tower, that was one of the biggest problems, everyone wasn¡¯t deposited in the same place, but rather their starting positions were determined by their starting point amounts as well as how they passed that initial test. Trystan just finishes getting dressed when a knock on the door is heard and the familiar voice of Henry is heard, ¡°Hey man, just got here, cool to come in?¡± ¡°Sure, come on in.¡± Trystan says as he settles himself in front of his computer. ¡°How have you been?¡± Henry asks as he takes a seat on the bed next to the desk. Trystan chuckles wryly, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe me if I told you.¡± He says with a bit of a grin. ¡°Try me.¡± Henry says simply. Trystan shakes his head slowly and then shrugs, ¡°Well I¡¯d have to try some time. Okay, so first things first, there¡¯s no need to turn in any college applications, they¡¯re just not going to matter. In less than a week¡¯s time, one of the things that we¡¯d always joked about as being awesome is going to happen and it¡¯s going to suck. People are going to start being sucked into a really messed up game, and that game is going to give people magic, martial arts, ki, psychic powers, all of the cool stuff, but it¡¯s also going to be a fight for survival. And we¡¯re not looking that promising in the long run.¡± Henry blinks a few times before opening his mouth, closing it, and starting over again, ¡°What? Like, really, what the hell man, whatever your on right now, we need to make sure to flush it fast, or you need to make sure to let me try it too.¡± He finishes, obviously thinking that Trystan started him off on a joke. Trystan shakes his head, ¡°No, no, this is unfortunately not a joke. I can¡¯t exactly prove it to you until the week is up, but I have already lived through this the first time. Somehow, still trying to figure out how, I got sent back here, as I was dying, as all of us were dying. And I¡¯ll be damned if I let that happen again this time around.¡± Henry stands there stunned for a moment before he finally responds, ¡°Okay, so let¡¯s say that this happened, and you¡¯ve got insight on what¡¯s going to happen in the future. Tell me about it, and what do you think you can do to help change things?¡± Trystan stands up and starts pacing, ¡°That¡¯s the problem. I don¡¯t know exactly what I can do. I¡¯ve got knowledge that people didn¡¯t have to begin with, I¡¯d pass that along if I could, at least to some people. I already know how other people are going to be acting, who needs to be stopped, some people who need to be helped. But, just by me being here and saying this, who knows how much of that future that I know that I will end up altering. Will the heroes from the first time through actually be the same people? Will the changes I enact cause differences, cause alterations in the chances that they had? Not that they were much help at that last level, but they did save more people than I can count before we lost.¡± Henry thinks for a moment, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start off by writing down at least some of what you know. If this is really something that is going to happen, then we are going to want to prepare our families as much as possible, get them the information they need to survive. If we can get a cheat sheet made for them, who knows, maybe we can even distribute it enough to make a large difference.¡± Trystan shakes his head slowly, ¡°Something for our family and friends would be good. But...there were some people who made some really bad decisions, people who found out that PvP points can exceed the Floor Point limits, people who grew to like the feeling of it. They had to be stopped and it was hard the first time. I can¡¯t imagine how hard it would be if they actually managed to gain the knowledge I have now ahead of time.¡± Trystan shudders for a moment, ¡°I can just imagine if one of them had gained some of the Legendary pieces before everyone else, or worse yet, unlocked some of the Legendary bloodlines. They may be unstoppable.¡± Henry looks to him for a moment, ¡°But with your knowledge won¡¯t you be able to game the system, get all of these items first?¡± Trystan shakes his head, ¡®No, where people end up depends on how they pass the Test. How many starting Points they get also depend on that. I¡¯d heard rumors that there may actually be a Class leveling system that could be enacted under the right circumstances, but no one I knew ever actually managed to prove its existence. Humanity''s strongest point was our flexibility, some of the other Races, like the Hikarin, they have some very specific racial powers and abilities, and limited ability to grow and gain new powers. Humans start off far weaker, but our racial power seemed to be under customization. We could literally become anything that we wanted to, with enough points to spend at least. If we give all of this knowledge to the PvP ¡®players¡¯¡±, as he says players he air quotes it, ¡°Then we could be very well giving them the chance to become more powerful than they ever were in the past. And who knows if anyone will actually choose the right abilities this time around to stop them.¡± Trystan sighs, ¡°I think, I think it may be best to just focus on our friends and family, and then bring in other people that we can trust as we find them.¡± Henry slowly nods, ¡°Well that makes sense, granted, I still think you might be looney toons right now. But hey, this is crazier than anything we¡¯ve ever come up with, so I¡¯ll give you the benefit of the doubt until next week.¡± Trystan grins, ¡°Thanks for the stellar support there.¡± He turns to his computer and starts typing things out as he speaks, ¡°Okay, so here is what I know and what I remember.¡± Chapter 3 - The First Blue Box Trystan and Henry spend the rest of the week preparing for what is about to come down, since Trystan knows exactly when the first blue box appears he works with Henry to plan a party of both of their families and most of their friends. ¡°I figure, if I tell them all of the information with just a few minutes before the boxes appear they¡¯ll be much more likely to actually accept the information.¡± Trystan confides to his friend as they start wrapping up the small document that they¡¯d been working on. Henry nods, ¡°That would probably be the best time to actually tell them. Long enough for them to get over the shock of you being crazy, but short enough that if the boxes actually appear that they¡¯ll be willing to listen to you and hopefully not quite as shocked about them showing up out of nowhere.¡± Henry pauses for a moment, ¡°So is there any other information we need to add in?¡± Trystan reads through the small google doc he¡¯s created once more, ¡°I don¡¯t think so, I have information about the Test, information about the first floor, how to get skills, what skills are useless, how increasing skills is more important than using the shop to increase them.¡± He shakes his head, ¡°No, I think that this is going to be the best we can do. I¡¯m hoping that if everything goes well that we can all meet up at Riverside, marked it in the document in a very rough map form, so hopefully people can find it.¡± Henry nods, ¡°Well, it''s just about time, should we¡­¡± he trails off and gestures down the stairs. Trystan nods and hits the print button to print off a few copies, once they are finished he makes is way down the stairs, where the party is already going on. Mostly just their family doing a game night together, though a couple of their other friends are also present, Ashley and Ben seem to be kicking some butt in some Smash Brothers. The parents appear to be playing a game of Spades, and he catches his sister apparently helping his dad to cheat. He shakes his head slowly as he takes a deep calming breath to start preparing himself. ¡°Mom, Dad¡­¡± He tries to speak up but his voice catches in his throat and seizes up for a moment. Swallowing and pushing down his fear he tries again. ¡°Everyone. What I¡¯m about to tell you is going to sound crazy, and in any other circumstances, I would say that I¡¯m nuts. But I¡¯m also going to be proved correct in about 5 minutes, so please try and wait at least that long before calling an ambulance for me.¡± His voice rings out loudly and the general sound in the room slowly stops as people turn to pay attention to him, well except for the friends which seem to be ignoring him for the most part. ¡°In 5 minutes, we will all begin seeing blue boxes appearing in front of us, asking us to volunteer to go to the Tower. With this happening a game of domination and survival will be started, with us, versus multiple other races from across the Universe.¡± All sound stops as he continues his speech, even his friends pause the TV looking at him in shock. His parents get a look of great concern on their faces as he continues to speak. Looking at him as if he is completely off the deep end. ¡°I¡¯ve taken the liberty to print off most of the information that I know, so that we can be part of the first wave. This is my second time through this, the first time I died before we finished getting halfway up the Tower. But the first time we all also got drafted in the 3rd week, we didn¡¯t volunteer. The information is in the paper¡¯s that Henry is passing out, but we really do need to volunteer. It unlocks special abilities and gives more points during the test then being drafted. And since I know what happened last time I know that we will all be drafted.¡± His mom starts to step up to him, ¡°Honey, I think...I think that you need to sit down¡­¡± she trails off as she reaches out to feel his forehead with the back of her hand. Trystan steps slightly away, ¡°No mom, I know that this sounds crazy, but please, please just trust me for a few more minutes, then everything will come out, and either I¡¯m completely crazy and I¡¯ll go willingly to the hospital, or you¡¯ll see that I am telling the truth. I don¡¯t know how I ended up back here, but for me years have passed since this day. Each week out here is over a year in the Tower, and by the time that we wound up being drafted we were already too far behind to do anything but to struggle to survive. This time, this time if we follow the information that we have now maybe we will be better off. More capable, stronger, and maybe we can make changes in the future, to keep us from becoming enslaved by the Tower.¡± As Trystan ends his speech to his mother an audible bell tone dings. And in front of each person, visible only to them, a blue box fades into existence.
Congratulations! Your species: ¡®Human¡¯ have been selected to compete in the Tower. Battle for Resources, Power, and Freedom in the Tower. Many will enter, but only one species may be allowed to keep their place within the Universe. Reach and claim the 100th floor of the Tower as your own, defending it against all-comer¡¯s and be rewarded with freedom, technology, and power. Failure will result in the enslaving of your race as a new NPC of the Tower. Volunteer¡¯s are now being accepted and will receive an accelerated starter pack upon completion of the Test. Select [Yes] to being the Test. [Yes] ---- [No]
The party goes completely silent now, even Henry, who knew that this might actually be true and had had a week to prepare looked to be in shock. Everyone else just stood or sat where they were, with their mouths hanging completely open. ¡°No one select No!¡± Trystan shouts as he starts to see a few people start to move their hands. ¡°We have 12 hours to actually make our decision, and we can talk it out to try and make sure that everyone makes the right one for them. I know that the first time around everyone in this room was drafted, either in the 3rd wave or the 4th and final wave. So it would be better if we join willingly rather than being forced, they even gave a bonus for the first wave of volunteers.¡± His dad finally closes his mouth and looks to his son, ¡°I¡¯m still not sure that I don¡¯t believe that this is some sort of huge Senior prank that you¡¯re pulling on all of us. Though I¡¯d be damned if I knew how you were pulling it. But tell us what we need to know, what are you hoping for?¡± Trystan nods slowly, ¡°I¡¯m hoping to get all of us in on the first wave of volunteers, I¡¯m hoping to be able to keep everyone alive, and I¡¯m hoping that by doing this, and by hopefully getting the right support, that we will all be able to remain free. The first time I lived through this the combined forces of Humanity died on the 50th floor facing the Hikarin. A race that has specializations in light based abilities and ki cultivation. But they weren¡¯t the only other race, and we need to be so much stronger if we are going to survive.¡± Trystan¡¯s dad nods and then looks over to the other parents in the room and motions off to the side. They all nod and then walk off into a side room, his dad grabbing one of the paper packets before they do so. Trystan¡¯s friends come up to him and Henry and begin asking a ton of questions, so many that Trystan has to hold up a hand, ¡°Look, I can¡¯t hear the questions to answer them, one at a time.¡± That quiets them down for a second and then Ashley speaks up, ¡°This looks and sounds like a game, what System are they using?¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Trystan looks to Ashley, ¡°Thanks for the question, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s any specific System that we know of. It¡¯s a point buy System, allows you to purchase abilities, skills, and attributes. One of the first things that everyone needs to know, and it is in the writeup, is that skills that you learn and grow naturally become far stronger than the ones that you just by from the System. How well you do on the Test will determine how many points you end up with for your starting purchases as well as where you end up starting in the Tower. There is one major choice that needs to be made early on, I didn¡¯t last time and I would up underpowered for most of the time. Like in many books that we¡¯ve read they have Ki Cultivation, but they also have Mana Manipulation, and Psychic Disciplines. Some abilities aren¡¯t able to be purchased with other¡¯s. Like if you get Ki Cultivation, the System locks you out form purchasing Mana Manipulation, or if you activate a Draconic Bloodline the System will then keep you from activating a Vampire Bloodline. Ki Cultivation focuses on the body, Mana Manipulation focuses on manipulating external energies, and Psionic Discipline focuses on enhancing the mind.¡± Ashley nods, ¡°Okay, so what would you recommend? What kinds of abilities are available, what kinds of bloodlines?¡± Trystan shrugs, ¡°Not sure if I have any specific recommendations, depends on what you want to do. Last time through I used Ki Cultivation, this time I¡¯m going to be doing Mana Manipulation if I can earn enough points. There was an almost limitless number of abilities, from generic overarching abilities, like Ki Cultivation, to specific targeted abilities, like Pyrokinesis. The only limit is based on how many points you have to spend on them. Bloodlines aren¡¯t quite as diverse, but there¡¯s still a ton of them. If you imagine that there is a bloodline for each supernatural type we have in our legends you¡¯d be fairly correct. Fae, Vampire, Werewolf, Demi-God, Draconic, etc. I never managed to save up enough points to activate a bloodline the first run through, not sure what I would aim for, some of them were just so expensive that it¡¯d be unlikely to be able to get anything other than that until you were almost half-way through the Tower, which isn¡¯t the safest choice in the world.¡± Ben looks over to Trystan, ¡°So what¡¯s the OP build to keep us alive?¡± Trystan grimaces, ¡°Really it¡¯s what feels best to you all. I would strongly recommend getting one of the 3 bases as soon as possible. Beyond that it¡¯ll be based on what you are most comfortable with, and what you can do to bring out the full effectiveness of the power¡¯s being chosen.¡± Ben nods, ¡°Any classes?¡± Trystan shakes is head, ¡°Not that we ever found, it seems like a classless System, but there were rumors of classes existing, so it may be more of a prestige class deal that you have to find just the right things in order to unlock. Honestly I¡¯d probably suggest that Ashley pick up power¡¯s in the psionic arena, she¡¯s got the brainpower and willpower to dominate in that area, and as much as you hate to hear it...Ben, you may want to focus on stealth and healing, since I know you don¡¯t actually like confrontation. That said, ¡° he pauses and looks at Ashley, ¡°I could see you rocking a dual sword wielding build fairly well.¡± Trystan grins over to her and she smiles back. Ben looks over Trystan¡¯s side and motions to Trystan who looks over his shoulder and sees that the parents are standing to the side listening in. His dad motions for the room to quiet down a little. ¡°We¡¯ve all talked it over and read through the information provided to us. Trystan, we¡¯re going to suggest that everyone hit yes, just like you want, but before we do that, we want a solid plan to get everyone to the same place, we stick together and we keep everyone alive. If this has all already happened, then staying and waiting for the drafts to start is obviously going to go wrong. But before we do that. I noticed that there seems to be some information missing from the paperwork, what is it that you aren¡¯t telling us, and what can we bring with us on the test?¡± Trystan looks aside away from his father¡¯s gaze. ¡°There¡¯s a few things I haven¡¯t said, some that I won¡¯t, I can¡¯t risk changing too many of the good things. But the biggest thing that should be known. PvP is, by the System, allowed and even encouraged. Killing another human grants you their saved available points, which is a much larger chunk than what you can get by killing monsters and finishing quests.¡± Trystan sighs and meets his father¡¯s gaze, ¡°During the first time through the killing of other humans became a very large thing, with an organization created to make money and encourage it even further. That¡¯s because they found out about the second secret.¡± Trystan pauses for a moment and then continues, ¡°Once you arrive in the Tower you are safe and free from influences outside of the Tower, you can theoretically live out a full life inside of the Tower, and losing the game portion of the Tower doesn¡¯t do anything to you. It¡¯s Earth and those that remain on earth that will end up getting screwed over, as well as any future progeny. People born inside of the Tower become marked as NPC¡¯s and cannot leave the floor of their birth unless their race wins the game, people still on earth will get transported into the Tower as NPC¡¯s upon the loss of the game. That¡¯s why it¡¯s so important to win, because if we don''t ...if we don¡¯t then humanity will get enslaved until the end of time, it¡¯s where many of the current NPC¡¯s came from in the Tower, previous games.¡± Trystan swallows and then continues, ¡°As for what can be brought, anything you can carry with you can be brought, but things work different there, without being a part of the System things just don¡¯t work the same. It is possible to add objects to the System, and to craft things to be a part of the System, but it¡¯s difficult.¡± He looks to the Henry¡¯s father, Charles, ¡°For example, if you brought your rifle with you, as a part of the system and as a common rarity item it might do 25-50 points of damage, more or less then adjusted by skill, luck, and location hit. But a common sword would likely have a damage rating of 35-75, there was an attempt to bring guns in through the first time, and they even managed to get them connected to the system, but gunpowder wasn¡¯t readily available, it had to be purchased with points from the System, and in the end they just didn¡¯t scale well with the other weapons. That said, I do know of at least one person who managed to improve and engage the system in creating some rather spectacular guns, unfortunately he died on the 30th Floor and his gun¡¯s were all soulbound to him, so when he died so did they. What I would suggest bringing is a backpack full of food and any other supplies you might want, you can get almost anything from the System¡¯s store with points, but then you are delaying increasing abilities and attributes for those instead. That stated, it will happen, some of the Floor¡¯s you can only survive on by purchasing food and water through the system. Along with a few floors where medicine and antidotes are all but mandatory for survival.¡± Charles nods slowly and so does his father, his father glances over to Charles, ¡°Well we¡¯ll bring what we can, and do a pit stop at a few stores...doesn¡¯t really matter how much we spend now does it? How long from when we click yes till we get transported?¡± Trystan shakes his head, ¡°Not really, just remember, we have to be able to carry it, I¡¯d recommend nothing larger than a hiking bag, and even that might get caught and damaged through the Test. The last time through people didn¡¯t get transported until about four days after the initial blue box, so Wednesday, but I never did find out exactly what time. So as long as we¡¯re ready by then we should be fine.¡± His father nods and then visibly presses something in the air, shortly thereafter so does everyone else, including Trystan, his mother takes another moment before she too presses the air, but she looks worried the entire time. Once everyone has pushed their acceptance they gather around Trystan as he further explains some of the items in the paperwork, specifically drawing a map to ensure that people can try and meet up at Riverside after completing the Test. ¡°Unfortunately the Test is different for each individual, all we know is that there is always a conflict and puzzle that needs to be solved, and how you solve it and how long it takes directly impacts how many points you receive.¡± Trystan explains when questions start coming in about the specifics of the Test. Trystan¡¯s father looks to Charles and they nod to one another, ¡°Okay, we¡¯re going to make a trip to Military Surplus store, pick up food, supplies, and some other equipment. We¡¯ll be back shortly.¡± Charles looks over to Susan, Henry¡¯s mother, ¡°Honey, can you go to the house and pick up anything we might need? I think we¡¯re going to be sticking together until the transfer happens, that way we can be as prepared as possible.¡± Susan nods, grabs her keys and heads out. Trystan looks to his father, ¡°Hey Dad, can I go with, there¡¯s a few things I¡¯d like to pick up as well...plus something I would like to experiment on if possible.¡± John nods, ¡°Sure son.¡± He grabs his keys and they all walk out to the car and start driving to the nearest Military Surplus store. As they drive they see all around the city multiple people standing around the street, looking at one another and gesturing at the empty air. Already on the radio was the news of the mysterious blue boxes appearing. Guesses were flying in from all over on who exactly was responsible. Whether it was the Russians, the Chinese, or the Japanese, or if it was some massive marketing scheme for a revolutionary gaming system that was about to be released. Only one person called into the station with something close to the truth, that aliens were responsible for the blue boxes and that the world was being turned into a large game for them. He was laughed off the air by the hosts. Trystan just shakes his head, they were laughing at the person who was closest to reality, and if only they actually knew it. Unfortunately it would be something that was discovered over the next week, and by then it would be too late for far too many. For now, all that can be done is preparing his friends and family, ensuring that all of the supplies necessary were purchased, and that everyone had the tools necessary to survive. Chapter 4 - The Test Begins Trystan stares at the grey fog encompassing the area ahead of him. They had all been gathered in the living room, awaiting the beginning of the Test. Trystan hadn¡¯t gone through the very first Test, he¡¯d only heard a few stories about the rare survivors of that first Test. Those who had gained extra points to begin the Tower with, those who had managed to claw their way up the Tower, only to be killed before the 2nd wave could even make it in. And so, because he only had rumors to go on, he attempted to give them all the information he did have on the Test he went through. The Maze, the creatures, and the prize, but it appears that the first Test was indeed different from the ones that followed. Trystan was hoping that everyone else was doing better. They had at least been prepared for the next blue box, for transportation into the Test. But he wasn¡¯t sure that they would do as well as they were hoping. Luckily, the Test was actually just a test, and so you wouldn''t actually die during it, but the points received were based on how you completed the Test, how long you took, and whether you managed to actually complete it. Everyone only had so much time to pass the test, and the points received would be pitiful if the Test ended immediately because you ¡®died¡¯. Trystan shudders as he hears once again the hungry moans, grunts, and scratching coming from nearly everywhere inside of the fog. The nails scraping on the wood of the small shack he had found during his brief wandering through the fog. He had heard these moans before, but it was on later levels of the Tower, who would have thought that Zombies would be the Test for the first volunteers. Maybe that was the reason why they had gained more points, more abilities that were unlocked. Not that it really did all that much to help them survive, but they were not prepared. Trystan thinks back to the blue box that appeared in front of them all before being transported to the Test. If he remembered correctly, the last time the maximum points able to be gained was 15000 total, 2000 from each additional reward area, and 5000 from the base completion. Beyond that, the Optional objectives were never available, which must be something related to the first volunteer¡¯s only. Which means that there are additional rewards beyond the accelerated starter pack. This wasn¡¯t something that had been mentioned in the rumors, so it is possible that no one ever actually managed to gain access to the additional rewards.
Congratulations! You have chosen to participate in the First Test. As a reward for being amongst the first Volunteer, you will be eligible for an accelerated starter pack upon completion of the Test. The System is now in the process of being initiated. First Test Objectives:
  1. Survive the Horde
  2. Navigate through the Maze
  3. Find the Exit
  4. Optional: Discover the hidden treasure. **Only Available in the First Test**
*Reward* Hidden Legendary Item
  1. Optional: Discover the hidden Inheritance. **Only Available in the First Test**
*Reward* Hidden Ability
  1. Optional: Defeat Hordemaster
*Reward* 10000 Bonus Points Base Rewards: 5000 Points Additional Rewards Can be Awarded up to Maximum based on actions in stated Category: Max: 4000 Points *Survival* Max: 4000 Points *Navigation* Max: 4000 Points *Exit* Max: 4000 Points *Style* Max: 4000 Points *Combat* Beginning Test in¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­
Trystan thinks ¡®Stats¡¯ to pull up his Character Sheet.
**Warning** The System has not yet been initiated. Please wait for complete system integration before accessing the System.
¡®Crap¡¯ he thinks quickly, first things first, he had managed to find a small safe place, but he would have to start looking around for something to use as a weapon. He could try and use some of the equipment that he brought from the military surplus store, but without system integration, it was unlikely that it would actually manage to do any real damage to the creatures outside. Glancing towards the back he spots an old rusted shovel leaning against the back wall of the shed, shrugging he grabs it and adjusts his grip taking a few practice swings. Until the System managed to completely integrate he wouldn¡¯t be able to actually tell the stats of the weapons being picked up, but at least they would be a part of the System and be able to be used inside of the Test to their full effectiveness. He shakes his head for a moment, ¡®I¡¯m overthinking this. I can¡¯t just ride out my time here, I could get some survival points, but I¡¯ve got to think larger than that.¡¯ With that thought, he opens the door and prepares to step outside of his little hidey-hole. Only to find himself face to slobbery face with a slow-moving zombie that had been standing there till just a moment ago. But the sound of a door opening and the first step forward causes the zombie¡¯s head to slowly turn towards Trystan. Its arms going up to grab him and it¡¯s head going forwards for the bite. Trystan swings the shovel quickly at the zombie, managing to hit its shoulder, a large clang ringing out, he just knows that other zombies have turned their head towards the noise, towards the commotion that can now be heard. He has to finish this quickly, he rapidly starts wailing on the zombie with the shovel, the wide blade of the shovel just ringing again and again against the zombies giving flesh.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Why...won¡¯t...you...drop!¡± Trystan shouts as he hits the zombie over and over again, each blow driving the zombie backward a step, but not far enough, the zombie manages to grab onto Trystan, pushing them both to the ground as it continues to try and bite Trystan. Putting the shovel to the side he manages to place the handle into the zombie¡¯s mouth, keeping it from biting him, as he rolls the zombie over. Finally, pulling the shovel free and kneeling over the zombie, Trystan turns the shovel and tries stabbing the shovel¡¯s head through the neck of the zombie. It deals more visible damage and makes it partway through, repeating the same trick a few more times in rapid succession the zombie finally falls to his blows. He quickly checks the decaying corpse, which doesn¡¯t have much on it besides the rags that it is wearing, and stumbles to his feet. Already the sound of dragging feet and moans start approaching his location. He takes off into the gray fog. He has to find his way to the maze, survive the zombies, and attempt to cash in as much of the bonus points as possible. Last time through he started with a little over 6000 points the first time, only gaining a few of the bonus points available. Now armed with a shovel, and knowing how to use it, he navigates through the gray fog, using the blade of the shovel to separate the head from the body of any zombie he comes across, he thinks ¡®Stats¡¯ again but receives the same error message. It would be great if he could actually see what bonus points he was earning in real-time, but apparently, that wasn¡¯t available yet. The zombies appear to thin out a bit as he reaches the edge of the fog, instead, he sees a massive wall of green leaves in front of him. ¡®A Hedge maze, just great.¡¯ Trystan thinks and he works to find his way into the maze. He knows that inside of the hedge maze there are bound to be more zombies, and with less time to see and react, and with limited space to try and outrun them...well it could get very messy. The hedge doorway opens out, dried blood staining the ground in front of it. He sees an arm, partially gnawed on, grasping onto a pair of hedge clippers, obviously something that did not help the previous owner. He grabs onto them, keeping the shovel and using the belt around his waist to create a sheath of sorts for the shovel. Walking through the opening he can already hear the shambling dragging feet throughout the maze. Reaching out with his left hand he starts his way through the maze, following the maze with his left hand always touching the wall. It may take more time to find his way through but at least it¡¯s a sure-fire way to find the exit. While walking he reaches back into his backpack and rummages for a bit, finally pulling out a multi-tool, which he uses to slowly undo the hedge clippers, separating the combined tool into two separate handles with blades. While not swords, maybe they¡¯ll at least be usable enough to make fighting the zombies a little easier. Besides, if they¡¯re looking for style points the only thing better would be a chainsaw and a shotgun. Trystan chuckles as he thinks about how he looks, some teenager walking through a maze with a pulled apart pair of hedge clippers as swords and a large camo backpack on his back. Hissing softly he stops his chuckle as he realizes that his voice will start calling the zombies over to himself again. Gripping each blade tightly by the handle in each hand he continues his way through the maze. The left blade trailing against the leaves, the slightest rustling sound caused by this, soft, but present. As he progresses the moans and rustling of zombie movement begins to get louder. As he enters into the intersection of a pathway he can hear that if he continues down the left-handed path he will start walking away from the noise, but if he takes the right-hand path it sounds like it will take him right into the middle of a ton of zombies. He takes a deep breath and turns down the right path. The only way he can succeed this time around is if he actually manages to gain the points necessary to train and grow, to grow strong enough to overcome the obstacles in his future. He briefly thinks back to his friends and family and hopes that they are making a similar decision, better to try and gain the points and fail, than to just remain stagnant, either way, the based points would be gained. His walk becomes slower as he tries to hide his presence in the maze, trying to sneak up on the zombies that would pull him apart if they got the chance to. He wasn¡¯t particularly good at it, never had been, but it was better to try and be as safe as possible, especially when he was hunting a hordemaster. From what he recalled of the hordemaster, it could summon a large number of zombies to itself, to raise their combat capabilities, and to increase their speed. Perhaps the most dangerous factor of the hordemaster was that they were far more intelligent than their regular counterparts. This meant that for all he knew he could be walking into a trap right now. Trystan gulps slightly as he considers that possibility, the sweat on his hands gripping the handles of his blades suddenly far more apparent. The soft crunching of the dying grass underneath of his feat louder than everything but his breathing as he becomes acutely aware of each and every sound, the moaning and scuffing noise just around the corner becoming scarier than it was before. He quickly looks over his shoulder behind him, his paranoia beginning to imagine breath upon his neck, but nothing is there. Taking a steadying breath he begins his slow walk forward again. In front of him, the maze opens up he had reached the center of the large maze, but not the exit. Over a hundred zombies seem to mill about endlessly in front of him, a large marble building stands in the center of the area. Gold and Marble dog statues stand at each corner of the building, their cracked visages seeming to be long dead guardians against the ever-present evil entities. Inside of the marble building he can see through the window a lone figure''s shadow appearing to be walking in front of the window. That was the most likely object to be the hordemaster. While incredibly intelligent, the hordemaster were not particularly known for their direct combat strength, but rather for their use of zerg like tactics, just sending out wave upon wave to wash across the defenses of their target. If he could find his way into the building, without alerting the other zombies, he would stand a good chance of taking out the hordemaster. Trystan starts to look around the clearing, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any path directly to the center where the entire mass of zombies wouldn¡¯t immediately find him, and alert all of the others. There was no way that, without even a single active point, he would be capable of taking all of the zombies at once. But perhaps he could draw them out, he would need to find a way to make a narrow point, somewhere where he could face one of them at a time, if he could do that perhaps, he could take them all at once. He moves slowly back towards the corridor again, thinking of what he could do to actually make a narrowed opening. Thinking about what¡¯s in his pack he can¡¯t think of much, he might be able to dig a ditch, but the noise involved in that would be just as bad as yelling for them to come over himself. He had a few pieces of thick and durable, tarp, as well as some rope, but it was unlikely that that would hold to stop them for too long. He pauses for a moment, and thinks to himself, ¡®Actually, that might work.¡¯. If he could use his heavy-duty tarp, folded a few times, tie it up with the rope and set it so that the rope tying it taught was out of the zombies reach, and pinning the ground corners down with a stake, well that might make them think that there was a wall in there way. That could force them across into a single access point, one that he could be prepared for, reducing their numbers quickly and efficiently. Trystan smiles, happy that he has a way to deal with the zombies and to make his way to the hordemaster. It may take some time, but it would be possible, and if he did it right he wouldn¡¯t even need to face all of the zombies, just enough to make a stealthy entrance into the center building. He pulls out his rope and the tarp from his backpack and quietly begins setting up the faux wall. Tying the upper corner to the branches in the bushes of the hedge wall itself he tests the strength by pulling steadily against the rope, it gives slightly but remains steady enough to be used for his wall. Suddenly he feels the eyes upon him again, a breeze on the back of his arms, and goosebumps rise along his body. Jumping to the side and rolling out of the way in the corridor he hears the snapping of jaws right where he had been. Looking back, he finds himself face to face with what can only be the hordemaster and a small pack of six zombie dogs by his side. A hordemaster who had come up from behind him...not from the center building. Eyes widening Trystan can only mutter, ¡°Well fuck¡­¡±. Chapter 5 - The First Objective Trystan thinks frantically as he stands face to face with six zombified dogs and the hordemaster, while his back faces hundreds of undead that are as of yet unaware of him. It is just a matter of time though before the hordemaster begins its call for them. Reaching out to grip his blades he realizes as his hands come up empty that they are laying there on the ground, next to the wall. He had dropped them when he was setting up the wall, luckily they weren¡¯t quite next to the dogs or the hordemaster, so he may, just may, be able to grab them in time. Slowly shifting over to the opposite hedge wall he waits for the dogs and the hordemaster to respond, the only shot he had was to bait them onto the opposite wall and then dive for his blades. It should earn him a few style points, and this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. At least it could be if he didn¡¯t fail in any part of this improvised plan. He saw the dogs'' legs start tensing as they darted towards him, dodging to the right he rolls on the ground and jumps toward the other hedge wall. He manages to place his hands on the improvised blades before feelings the jaws of the dogs trying to break through his jeans. The pain was immediate and horrible, but he fought through it as he swung with one of the blades backward over his leg, he could feel it connect with the flesh of the dog that was biting him, and a cold liquid pouring down over him. As he rolls over to get to his feet he sees the dog down, the blade having cleaved through its neck, and black ichor blood draining out of the wound. He shudders brieflygiving thanks silently that this was just a test, and that he wouldn¡®t have to worry about the infection. Another piercing pain starts radiating from his shoulder as he feels another dog clamping its jaws down. He staggers to his feet, trying to shake the dog off as he sees the other four dogs surrounding him and the hordemaster moving slowly towards the center area¡¯s opening. The dog on his shoulder is shaken off between his movements and the blades he swings up and across his shoulder. Not dead, but injured would be the right statement to say for both of them he thinks with a bit of dark humor. As the next two dogs jump at him he tries to fall back into his old training. He may not have started off with knowledge of the blade, but he did at least remember some of the techniques that the system taught him, and he definitely remembered the ones that he perfected from there. Sidestepping out of the way of one of the dogs he flicks the blade forward, removing head and neck from the rest of the body. But, lacking the agility of his former self the second dog manages to take a chunk out of his leg. The pain is almost unbearable and all he can think is ¡®This will all be healed after the test. I will just have to be far more careful in the future.¡¯ Trystan swings the blade down at the dog at his leg, killing it easily and faces off towards the remaining three dogs. He wished that he could instill some fear in them, but there is nothing left to instill emotions into, just hunger and instinct. As they rush him, he once again attempts the dancing blades maneuver he had perfected so long ago, adjusting for his lacking agility he begins to dodge their attacks and make his way closer and closer to the hordemaster. There was no way that he could take the hordemaster if it managed to summon the other zombies, these dogs alone were too much, too strong, and it was only the luck of him having fought these things in later levels that let him be able to fight against them now. The hordemaster screams out as Trystan gets close, ¡®Shit¡¯ he thinks quickly as he starts a full-blown assault on the hordemaster, ¡®I¡¯ve got maybe a minute before the other zombies make it over here, less if it manages to get off another scream. The hordemasters¡¯ speed allows it to dodge his swings, maybe not with ease, but he needed to get back into the habit of fighting intelligent creatures or to be more accurate, he needed his body to get used to doing that again. He could feel the lagging muscles, the slowness of the strikes, how he was off-balance without any way to correct it because his body now was completely different than the body he had had before. He continues his furious assault, ¡®Must...finish...this¡¯ is the mantra being chanted in his mind as he counts down the seconds he may have left. But as his blows continue to be dodged he realizes that it¡¯s just not possible right now, the hordemaster was still too fast, the dog¡¯s too dangerous, and the hordemaster hasn¡¯t even activated any of its abilities yet. As if it realizes what Trystan is thinking the hordemaster¡¯s face turns into a wretched grin of blood, rotten flesh, and teeth. It lets out a bloodcurdling scream, and black and red mist starts to seem to rise from the bodies of the remaining zombified dogs. ¡®Shit.¡¯ Trystan thinks as he realizes that the hordemaster just activated one of the very abilities that could very well spell his downfall. The dogs¡¯ jaws and claws extend slightly, blackish ooze shimmering onto them. They¡¯re movements gain triple the speed that they had before, their flashing teeth and claws ripping through his clothing, blood now flowing freely from the wounds on his body.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. One of the dogs leaps towards his face while the other towards his legs, he stabs one of the blades downwards to try and intercept it¡¯s head while it crosses the distance, and the other goes slashing upwards. The first blow misses completely, and he can feel his leg starting to give way as it bites deeply in and starts to try and shake his leg like a chew toy. The other however manages to hit, thrusting straight through the throat and jaws of the dog as it leaps towards him, it¡¯s black ichor blood spraying across him and the hedge walls. ¡®Two left¡¯ he thinks, but he knows that that¡¯s not enough. Using both blades he impales the dog on his leg through the head, killing it instantly, but the damage has already been done, if he¡¯s lucky he¡¯ll be able to limp, if he¡¯s not lucky...well at least it is just a test. Circling slowly around the remaining dog and the hordemaster he attempts to put them between him, and the self-created wall. Maybe if he can restrict their movements more, then he would have a chance. If he doesn¡¯t have to rely on speed and movement, but just on arm strength, maybe then he could actually still finish this. The hordemaster follows Trystan¡¯s movements and stumbles as his movements place him in the path of the last dog. Taking the momentary opportunity of the hordemaster being off-balance Trystan strikes out quickly, damaging the hordemaster¡¯s legs, slowing him down considerably. Next, he dodges the remaining dog¡¯s attacks and strikes out again towards the arms, the more damage he adds, the more he can slow down and disable the hordemaster¡¯s ability to dodge and defend himself, the better chance he has of actually surviving this. He can almost feel the presence of the hundred¡¯s of zombies getting closer and closer, he may havefifteen seconds at most until he was going to be surrounded, that¡¯s if his guess on the timing was correct, they could be very well about to turn the corner now. Charging forward and ignoring the dog completely he stabs the improvised blades forward, managing barely to impale one of them through the hordemaster¡¯s chest. His strength falters as the zombie move forward onto him, it¡¯s slavering jaws and ragged claws reaching out towards him. He just isn¡¯t strong enough yet to keep the zombie still, part of the plan that he hadn¡¯t realized how much he had changed since the last time he had done this maneuver. The remaining dog takes this opportunity to unleash even more damage on him, his flesh being torn off of him with every bite that lands while he is unable to move. The hordemaster continues to inch forward, pulling itself along the makeshift blade until it¡¯s able to reach him. Its claws begin to dig into Trystan¡¯s flesh, the pain and apparent paralytic agent beginning to flow from the wounds created on his face from the claws through his system, he can feel his movement becoming even more sluggish. But, this would be just enough, Trystan brings the other blade down and across the hordemaster¡¯s neck with all the force he can muster. The hordemaster being pinned to him, in part by its own efforts, is unable to dodge, and its head separates quickly from the body. Trystan almost breathes a sigh of relief as the hordemaster¡¯s body falls to the ground, but now is not the time, he dismisses the blue box as soon as it appears, having not even a moment to be distracted by its message.
Congratulations! You are the first to have defeated a Hordemaster and gained the title Horde Slayer. You have completed an *Optional* Objective and have gained its reward of 10,000 Bonus Points. Continue to struggle towards Freedom and Glory by completing additional Objectives.
The last dog manages to grab his hand, shaking it hard, it¡¯s jagged teeth tearing through and his hand going limp within its jaws, ruined and useless. Taking his other blade he thrusts it down quick and hard through the dog¡¯s skull, before ripping his hand from its now still jaws. He lets the blade that was in that hand fall to the ground. His labored breath starts to catch up with him, his wheezing loud not only himself but the surrounding area as well. There were many more zombies about to make it to him, he didn¡¯t think that he would be able to face them all with a single hand and an injured leg. The original plan had him using the wall to narrow it down, using both blades and his speed to confuse them, to hit them hard, and to gradually wear them out completely. But now, with the scent of his blood everywhere, it would lead them directly to him. He glances around briefly, seeing if there was anything he missed, no, just the massive hedge walls covered in a mixture of his darkening red blood and the zombie''s black ichor. No, now his only chance was to hope that there weren¡¯t any evolved zombies in that clearing, that none of them were fast, and that he could attempt to make a break for it to that center building, seal it off, and get a brief amount of safety so that he could heal a little, and recoup. He limps his way over to the canvas wall he created and peaks around the corner, only to find himself face to face with zombies, zombies whose skin is radiating red and black mist, zombies looking right at him. Chapter 6 - Painting the Roses...Black? The zombies moved, for once, first, before he could even think of an action to take to save himself from the undead monstrosities about to reach him. With a spring action far faster than they should have the first few zombies grabbed a hold of him with their hands radiating with red and black mist. Their clawed bone fingers digging into his shoulders and arms as they start to pull him towards them, their mouths opening as his flesh draws closer and closer. Trystan¡¯s mind suddenly catches up with what is happening and he quickly tries to start shaking his arm free, gathering just enough room to move to end one of the zombies holding him with a quick strike of the hedge clipper blade. Using the momentum of the first zombies'' death he throws himself to the side, attempting to rip himself from the other zombies'' grips, trying to make it to behind his canvas wall. He can feel the wounds ripping open from the zombie claws across his arms and open skin, but their grip is broken momentarily. Drawing his blade in front of him he steadies himself and once again strikes out against the nearest zombie, removing its head from the body; a flood of black blood flows out. He stumbles backward away from the wall, away from the opening as more and more zombies start filing their way in. The narrowing of the opening though does help him, instead of 4-5 zombies entering every moment only one or two manage to squeeze in. And one or two, even speedy zombies, he is able to deal with, barely, as he continues to retreat. The blood of the zombies begins to splatter the hedge walls with every step he takes. The inexorable flood of zombies continues to make its way towards him. Seemingly unending in numbers the ground and walls blacken with their blood, the grass becoming slick and slippery and Trystan''s steps become more and more measured in order to keep himself from falling to the wave of bodies in front of him. Occasionally one of the zombies, mixing its speed with the attacks of another zombie will manage to get close enough to hit him, bite him, and draw him closer to death¡¯s door. But with the hordemaster out of the way they don¡¯t have any sort of intelligence directing their actions, just a raw and unending need to devour the flesh of the living that they find in front of him. Not that they truly need the intelligence, they have the numbers and a complete lack of pain. Even dismembering them does little but buy him a few more seconds of time before they start finding another way to crawl their way to him. As the minutes pass he can start to feel his working arm starting to get tired, there were just far too many of them, and he was a normal human, no enhancements, no gifts, no powers. This would not end well unless he could find a way to resolve this. But...it also looked like the enhancement that the hordemaster had activated was slowly starting to fade, and that enhancement¡¯s removal might be exactly what he needed. The red and black mist rising from the zombies coming at him was slowly reducing in size, and while the zombie movement was slowed yet, soon, soon it would be. His arm falters as he cleaves through the next zombie in front of him, the blade becoming stuck in it as he doesn¡¯t have the strength remaining to finish pulling through. Letting go of the blade he darts to the right, ignoring the tearing pain occurring in his leg and then sprints forward, directly into the line of zombies streaming in from the center area. If he had to make a guess, maybe he had slimmed down the numbers by a third, but he didn¡¯t really have the time to count and check for certain. What he did know was that he had to make it to that center building, there was no other way that he could survive. He couldn¡¯t outrun the zombies long term, not with the damage to his leg that he had, but if he was willing to endure the pain, and endure increasing the damage, well maybe he could outrun and dodge them just long enough to make it. As he starts weaving through the line of zombies and dodging their clawing hands he can see the red mist rising from them vanish, their movements slowing down drastically as they are no longer buffed by the dead hordemaster¡¯s ability. While this wouldn¡¯t keep the pain and damage from increasing, it would allow him a better chance at actually making it. He continues his dash forward through the zombies, their outstretched hands grasping for him and barely missing as he dodges. The blackened wet grass squelches under his feet as he drives forward, his footing almost giving way a few times as he has to juke left and right. He muses mildly for a moment that the walls of the hedge almost appear to have been drenched, painted, in a thick black paint, the same as the ground under his feet, but that¡¯s a side thought of his as he finally makes his way past the wall of his own construction. The zombies get less thick here, and he can see that maybe a third of them are actually left inside of the center of the area. Enough to cause him trouble, but not enough, he hoped, to stop him. He starts a full out sprint towards the center marble building. The cracked statues at each corner appearing to him as ancient guardians waiting for his presence, not that they would actually move, but the safety they conveyed would be appreciated. He darts through the open doors of the marble building and closes it behind him. Quickly he tries to find some sort of lock or something he can use to bar the door, finding only a simple deadbolt he quickly turns the knob and then turns to view the rest of the room.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. This is when he remembers that he had seen a lone figure¡¯s shadow moving through the building¡¯s window when he had first spied the location. A shadow that he could now see was indeed something that was in this building. The dark and ghastly hands of a wight reach out and into him as he finally comprehends that the shadow that he saw in the window wasn¡¯t being cast from any specific creature, it was the creature itself. ¡®Shit¡¯ he thinks, Shadow Wights were nominally related to the undead, but more often than not they appeared in the higher magical layers of the Tower. They were almost completely immune to physical damage, their touch spreading cold numbness throughout his body. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that it was literally consuming his life force from him he may have actually thanked it for removing the pain that his body was suffering through. How...how could he fight something that he couldn¡¯t even touch. The Shadow Wight continues to draw closer to him, a shadowed grey light drawing forth from his body to its hands. The drain would be slow for now, it would want to savor his life force, but as more of its body touched him, more of his would be lost, a slow but steady growing slowball of life force loss that would culminate in his end. How could this possibly be a fair test, no one had ever mentioned anything about facing a challenge of this rating during any of the Tests. Trystan start to stumble away from the Wight, not that it would do much good, he couldn¡¯t move fast enough to get away completely, and there was a complete lack of any ability to actually damage the Wight. ¡®Think! Think!¡¯ he thinks frantically. What is it that could possibly be done to the Wight, what damages them outside of special ability, enchanted items, magic...what could possibly save him now. He continues to stumble into the room ahead of him. Shelves and shelves of books stand in front of him, many of them damaged or destroyed, but the majority of them still in good condition. This must have been a library before the zombie apocalypse occurred. Not that it would be of much use to him right now. The Wight¡¯s dark energy would soon overtake his life force, and there just wasn¡¯t anything that he could do about it. He could see the world starting to dim as his energy continued to fall, the blood that had been dripping from his many wounds slowing as it started to congeal. He murmurs with the last bit of humor that he can manage, ¡°Hello darkness my old friend. I¡¯ve come to talk with you again.¡± A rasping chuckle escapes him as he sees his breath as a mist in the air in front of him. The cold and the darkness would take him now and there wasn¡¯t...wait¡­darkness. He fumbles behind him into his backpack, it was slick with blood and closed, his finger¡¯s sliding off of its latch as he tries to claw his way into its interior. The latch finally gives way as the darkness continues to envelop his vision, the numbness coursing through his body now, he can barely feel his fingers as they make their way into his bag. Finally, he grasps the object he was aiming for. Grasping it in his hand he pulls it out, flipping a switch as he does so. Thirty thousand lumens of light floods the room as one of the most powerful flashlights in the world clears the lip of his backpack and starts streaming through the Wight directly. The Wight screams in agony as it¡¯s shadowy form immediately begins to boil away into nothing, the light of the flashlight removing it¡¯s darkness completely. The flashlight may not be a good weapon as it¡¯s not a part of the system, but the light was light, and beings of darkness could generally not remain living within the light. Trystan grins slightly as he realizes just how lucky he was, but that didn¡¯t stop the darkness from continuing its encroachment upon his vision. The damage had already been done, the Wight had drained the majority of his life force, and it would take time for it to recover, time he perhaps didn¡¯t have. Dragging himself further into what appeared to be a library he tried to find a nice and quiet corner, one that he could fall onto without being hurt too much. Between the lack of blood and the Wights damage, it wouldn¡¯t be much longer before he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep his consciousness through simple force of will. Spotting a full oak desk he drags himself to it, and falling slightly pulls himself underneath it. With luck, the Wight would not have allowed anything else to have lived here with it, and that would mean his safety would be assured, but he didn¡¯t know for sure that that was the case. For all he knew, there were a few more of the undead just waiting in the stacks, or worse yet, a few more of the Wights searching for a meal to devour. As his vision and consciousness gives way completely he feels the walls and surrounding of the desk that he can barely see, trying to manipulate his body so that the least amount of him as possible was visible to the rest of the room. A clicking sound is barely heard as what feels to be a small ornamental design gives way to his finger, and a hissing popping sound is heard as he feels something strike his head. Through the closing darkness, he can see the blue box of a system announcement come into existence, a box he is unable to read as the world fades away completely to darkness, and his consciousness with it. Chapter 7 - Integrated Trystan yawns as he slowly opens his eyes, ¡®Waffles would be good.¡¯ he thinks as he stretches out only to have his limbs hit a solid surface on either side of him and keep him from fully stretching. His eyes pop open quickly as he remembers exactly what situation he is in. A bright blue system box fills most of his view as he looks around, and not seeing any movement, tries to hear as hard as he can, stilling his breath and hoping that the sound of his own suddenly racing heartbeat doesn¡¯t drown out the sound of anything else moving. After a moment he lets out a sigh of relief. Of course, had anything been there he¡¯d likely have already been killed, but what should be wasn¡¯t always what was. Finally, he turns his attention fully to the system notification in front of him.
Congratulations! The System is now fully integrated into the Host¡¯s body. Please note that access to Character Status and to the Store will be refused until the Test has been completed.
Trystan groans in frustration, of course, it still wasn¡¯t available, that would make things too easy wouldn¡¯t it. He dismisses the blue box with a grimace as he rubs the back of his head. A large bump on the back of his head stands out tender to his fingers. Turning and looking behind him he can see a small drawer opened, pulling it out more he can see that it appeared to be spring-loaded, obviously what nailed him in the back of his head before he had passed out. Reaching into the drawer he finds a small brass key with what looked to be some fancy looping artwork at the end. It looked like maybe an old fashioned desk or chest key. Odd, but something he could look into later after he finished getting his direction again. Slowly getting to his feet as he climbs out from under the desk he is more able to see what type of room he is actually in. This was most definitely a library, one dedicated to having a wide variety of topics from the titles of the few books that he can see on the shelves and the floor around him. The desk he had crawled under was the primary librarians, or so he assumed from the setup of the library and the plaque on top of the desk. With clear sight, he breathes a sigh of relief, the lack of damage to the surrounding bookcases, to the room in general, which means that it was very likely that only the Wight was actually inside this building. With the knowledge that he had at least a few moments of safety, he pulls out the first aid kit he packed in his backpack. It wouldn¡¯t help fix his hand, healing just didn¡¯t work that way without special abilities or magic, but it could keep additional harm from happening and could help get him at least somewhat more mobile in the meanwhile. Taking the time to disinfect before wrapping, splinting, and cushioning the wounds across his entire body he feels a bit more capable of movement and feels a little better as the Tylenol starts taking effect. It wouldn¡¯t remove the pain, but it could at least reduce it to a dull roar. Trystan starts walking through the stacks, paying attention to the books and shelves, who knew what could be hidden inside of this Library, and what points he might be able to gain. The building was surprisingly clean, all things considered. The smell of old musty books filling the air. The humidity in the air had probably some of the damage, but overall the books were in good condition, just not ventilated very well. Trystan thinks for a moment and heads over to the card catalog, while the electricity may not be working, the Dewey Decimal system always works. Searching through the cards he finds what he is looking for and goes over to the identified shelving. Catching the title he was looking for, ¡®Astrophysics for People in a Hurry¡¯ he grabs the book with a grin, if he remembered right there would be a guy collecting books like this later on, and he ended up paying fairly well for it. Sticking it into his backpack he continues down through the stacks towards the rear. As he walks, he thinks to himself and brings back up the blue box to review, Character Status and Store access would be refused, but what about the other portions of the system. On a whim, he calls out in his mind, ¡®Test Status¡¯, and is pleasantly surprised to see the System¡¯s blue box appear in front of him.
Test Completion Status Objectives: Survive the Horde --- 35% Navigate through the Maze --- 50% Find the Exit --- 0% Optional Objectives: Discover the hidden Treasure --- Incomplete Discover the hidden Inheritance --- Incomplete Defeat Hordemaster --- Completed Base Rewards: 5000 Points Current Category Rewards: 2000 Points *Survival* 1000 Points *Navigation* 0 Points *Exit* 2500 Points *Style* 3000 Points *Combat* Total Point Reward on Completion: 23,500
Trystan grins, he may not be able to actually look at his personal status, but being able to see the Test Status would at least help guide him through the rest of the test. At bare minimum, it looked like he had made it halfway through the maze, and that there were a ton more zombies still out there available to ambush him if he got too clumsy. Reaching the back door he spots the keyhole and tests out the old key found from the desk with no success. The door, however, opens anyways as he jiggles the handle a little, not the securest room in the world, but hey, who was he to argue with success.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Walking into the back he sees what looks to be some sort of restoration station. Maybe this was less of a library and some sort of private museum. Not sure exactly what a museum was doing in the middle of a hedge maze, but the Tests didn¡¯t always make sense. Heck the Test the first time around for him was a romp through a mall, while fighting disease-ridden animals and animated plants. There was one theory later on that the Tests were actually occurring in a real physical realm, somewhere tied to the Tower, but not actually within the Tower. But not being within the Tower meant that there was no way to ever verify whether these locations were real or just a simulation created for each individual. Looking around the restoration station he spots something inside of the station, and attempting to open the station he finds that it is obviously locked. Checking around for the lock he tries the key found earlier and finds that it actually opens the case. Air rushes into the plastic enclosure as it is open and Trystan blinks in shock as he sees the book inside start to wilt ever so slightly. Without even thinking about it he grabs the book out of shock, looking around as he does so to try and find a sealable bag or something, maybe if it could remove the air again he could save the book. A dark black light flashes as his fingers touch the book, and he watches as the book disintegrates into dust as it is lifted out of the restoration container. Knowledge floods his mind for a moment as he glimpses the cover of the book, artwork of a blackhole that almost appears to be moving, but no readable title. A blue system box appears shortly afterward.
Congratulations! The Hidden Inheritance has been located. Information and Access to the ability granted will be restricted until the Test has been completed. The Hidden Treasure item has been lost and can no longer be completed.
Trystan frowns for a moment before shrugging. On the plus side he got a new ability, it may not be immediately available, but any advantage he could gain would be useful, hell, that was why he wanted to go through the Test earlier this time, the first comer¡¯s had more luck and more access to things that the later participants missed out on. On the negative, apparently he did not think things through enough and he just lost a Legendary item of some sort, given that items like these could turn the tide of entire battles it was not something that he was happy with. But better to be happy with what he had then to regret something he could no longer change. With the last of the bonus objectives out of the way though, now all he had to do was focus on actually leaving the maze, finding the exit, and getting out as quickly as possible. The time he spent doing that, and more specifically how he went about doing that would likely determine how many bonus points he would receive. As the tally was still running he could gain or lose more points from any of the identified areas. Trystan tests out his legs for a moment, making sure that he has enough range of movement to actually start running when he needs to. He thinks for a moment and realizes that he¡¯ll have to use the shovel again since the blades are gone. Looking around the room he sighs as he does not see anything that he can use as a true weapon, clubs or improvised spears sure, but nothing that could be utilized to ensure he could keep on swinging through the zombies. Plus he was fairly sure none of his memories would help him wield either of them any more effectively than the shovel he was taking into his hands now. Preparing himself, he goes to the front door of the building and listens for a moment. There was the shuffling sound of zombie feet outside, but not too nearby. Going to each window he looks out briefly, peeking out from corners to try and reduce the chance of him being spotted by one of the undead. All it would take, at least until he found a weapon again, was another horde like the one he went against earlier and his time in the Test would end before he had a chance to earn the maximum number of points available. Going between each window Trystan is able to identify the entrance that he came in from and luckily, the one exit that exists on the opposite side of the clearing. Slowly he slides the window on the backside of the building open, taking extreme care during the initial few inches that there is minimal sound. The window does make a slight scraping sound, but no major sound and so he finishes opening the window, taking off his backpack and getting it out first so that he¡¯ll be able to fit through the window himself. Crawling out of the window he grabs his backpack and puts it back on as quietly as possible. The metal buckles jingle for a moment before he stops them, but looking around it doesn¡¯t seem to have attracted any attention. He then slowly makes his way across the open clearing area, the outside section near the exit of the center didn¡¯t seem to have any zombies there, most of them having been drawn to the opening he came in from as well as the door of the building. As he enters into the hedge maze proper he breathes a sigh of relief, while a lot of zombies could still come at him, walls were helpful to keep them from surrounding him completely. He starts making his way through the maze again, his left bandaged hand just barely not scraping against the leaves of the hedge maze as he uses the trick to get through the maze once again. Following the left side of the hedge maze wall he comes across a solo zombie, he quickly dispatches it, attempting for as much style for the style points, but focusing on ensuring that he survives the encounters. As he does so he hears a loud screaming sound. ¡®Another hordemaster?¡¯ he thinks, well...there goes the slow and steady plan. He pushes himself forward, the feeling of pain rushing through his body as he starts running forward, following the wall, and focusing solely on getting out now. He just wasn¡¯t in the proper state to be able to fight another hordemaster, let alone the actual horde that it would be bringing with it. His breath starts getting labored as he continues the run, here and there a zombie pops up and he quickly dispatches it, but he can hear the sound of many many more zombie feet somewhere in the maze behind him. This propels him to try and run faster and faster, he¡¯s got to find the way out soon, especially since the method he was using to get out was a slow one, a sure one, but a slow one. Trystan keeps glancing behind him as he runs, ensuring that there weren¡¯t more dogs, or red and black mist filled zombies inches behind him. His movement stops abruptly, as he runs face-first into a large metal gate, a clanging sound ringing out through the air and clearly identifying his current location. On the gate he can see a numeric lock on the door, holding the bolt keeping the gate shut. He desperately tries to remember if there were any numbers in the library, any writing, he looks around to see if there is any clue or hint nearby. The sound of movement continues to get closer and seems to be moving a bit faster now too. He spots some items laying around in the nearby area, a newspaper with one of the numbers circled, and a section of text highlighted. ¡°A mother-effing escape room.¡± the words escape his lips without him even thinking about it, they had an escape room, in the middle of the maze. What kind of new hell was this? Looking at the shovel in his hand he shrugs and starts bashing away at the lock, he didn¡¯t have the time to solve some puzzle and riddle, the zombies would be catching up to him soon. The sound of metal bashing on metal rings out through the air repeatedly, the metal head of the shovel slowly starting to dent at the lock. After a few more hits something breaks inside of the lock and the lock swings slightly open. He grabs at the lock, twisting it and removing it from the gate and opening the gate. He turns and sees a horde of undead starting to stream in from around the corner. Grabbing at the gate¡¯s bolt he pushes it open and quickly steps through, just as he feels the first of many hands start grasping at him. A bright blue light fills his vision as the hands, and the area, vanish from sight.
First Test Completed Scoring Results...
Chapter 8 - Character Creation As the bright blue light begins to fade Trystan sees the blue box of test results floating in his vision in front of him.
Test Results Objectives: Survive the Horde --- 100% Navigate through the Maze --- 100% Find the Exit --- 100% Optional Objectives: Discover the hidden Treasure --- Incomplete Discover the hidden Inheritance --- Completed Defeat Hordemaster --- Completed Base Rewards: 5000 Points Current Category Rewards: 4000 Points *Survival* 3000 Points *Navigation* 4000 Points *Exit* 1500 Points *Style* 2500 Points *Combat* First Test Increase: 50% Total Point Reward on Completion: 45,000
It looked like he had lost some Style points for how he completed the Test, as well as some combat points for not actually fighting all of the Zombies. But still, all said and done he was still ending up with over four times the points he had originally started with. This would definitely help him for his first visit to the store, which, unless he was completely misremembering, was about to happen in 3, 2, 1. The world around him started shimmering into existence, a wooden room filled with shelves, glass display cases, and a counter with a strange-looking female standing behind it was revealed. She was one of the NPC races, one that had been forced into the Tower earlier and had lost it all. They weren¡¯t all the same, and unfortunately, the Store wasn¡¯t something you could summon at will, no they were actual physical stores inside of the Tower that had to be found and entered in order to spend the hard-earned points. It wasn¡¯t just that each Store carried different items than the others, but the Stores were safe places, no combat could take place, no theft could occur, the System just would not allow it to happen. That stated, outside of the Stores were sometimes the most dangerous areas in each of the levels of the Tower. Not just because the worst of humanity would often reveal themselves by attempting to claim points from people before they entered, or claim items after they left, but because once you started getting into the levels of the Tower where multiple races were fighting they were locations where you could wind up coming face to face with the enemy before realizing it. The woman speaks up immediately as she watches him become aware of his location. ¡°Sir, I am pleased to inform you that you have entered the System Store for the first time. From this location, as well as the various others within the Tower, you may spend your Points. Points may be exchanged for Equipment, Abilities, or Stat increases. The cost of each of these items is available for perusal at your convenience.¡± She smiles softly and blinks up at him shyly, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me saying so sir, it looks like you may have come out ahead in your Test, you should be able to afford plenty of good items with that. As a first time customer, might I recommend that you also look into purchasing food, as well as the other essentials. I should warn you that this Store contains full stocks of all items, other Store¡¯s visited in the future will have a restricted list based on their location, availability of Stock, and purchased items.¡± It was said, though never confirmed, that the Store merchants gained a small portion of the points from the items that they sold, something that they could save up to eventually earn themselves some level of freedom. It was certainly true that you rarely saw a storekeeper outside of the Store, and they always seemed to be available, no matter what time you entered. Trystan wasn¡¯t even sure what their actual purpose in the Store was, sure, they made recommendations to the people who entered the store, and they provided the physical items, but most of the time when a person purchased something they would find what the wanted from the System lists and prompts that were automatically generated. Trystan smiles at the woman, ¡°Thank you. I know I¡¯ll only see you this once, but my name is Trystan, I was hoping I could get your name?¡± The woman tilts her head for a moment, her blue hair cascading over her shoulder as she blinks confused for a moment, ¡°My name is Maria.¡± Trystan nods and gives her a smile, ¡°Well, first thing Maria is I¡¯d like to take a look at the available abilities, I¡¯ll filter them with the System once the screen comes up.¡± Maria nods again, her large blue and green eyes blinking for a moment, ¡°Of course, sir, let me send that over your way now.¡± She looks at him as if trying to pry secrets from him but shrugs and after a few seconds, the Store¡¯s blue screen appears in front of him. He quickly reduces the list down to ones focus first on the baseline ability list, he already knew what he was going to choose, but he did want to review one last time before purchase.
Abilities - Filtered
~~Starting Baseline List~~ (Only a Single Baseline may ever be purchased)
Name Cost
Ki Cultivator (Initiate) 5,000
Mana Manipulator (Initiate) 5,000
Psionic Disciple (Initiate) 5,000
He looked over the short list, technically he actually had the points to immediately purchase above the Initiate level, but it was far more powerful if he actually trained it up himself. Trystan steels himself for a moment and makes his selection. He knew and understood Ki Cultivation already, he knew he could raise it faster, become stronger, but...that might not be enough. If he wanted to survive, he would have to change things up completely, those who don¡¯t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Store Purchase Mana Manipulation Purchased. Inherited Ability ¡°Mana Affinity¡± automatically applied. 42,500 points remaining.
Trystan reads the prompt and blinks for a moment before his eyes go wide and he nearly shouts with joy. He takes a calming breath and, not trusting an internal thought to activate the System this time, says softly, ¡°Show Mana Affinity Details.¡±
Mana Affinity Those blessed with Mana Affinity are capable of learning Mana related abilities faster and easier. They have an innate tie to the Mana of the Tower and can utilize it to a greater degree. This increased affinity reduces their ability to utilize the power¡¯s inherently tied solely to the Mind. This Ability was created by the First of the Tower. Description: Reduces Point costs of the Mana Manipulation ability by 50%. Increases Mana regeneration by 25% after all other regeneration effects. Increases Mana Pool by 25% after all other pool increasing effects. Increases Spell Power by 25% after all other power increasing effects. Reduces Psi Regeneration by 50%. Reduces Psi Pool by 50%. Reduces Psi Power by 50%.
Trystan reads over the ability and gasps in astonishment. If he had changed his mind last minute he¡¯d have been screwed, but as it was he was definitely in a better place. Though this new restriction would mean he would have to rethink his initial idea of picking up a few Psionic abilities to add flexibility to his magic. He¡¯d also have to figure out a new way to defend himself from the Psionic abilities of others, Psi Power not only enhanced the power of Psi abilities used but also had an impact on how well you could defend against other¡¯s Psi abilities. He¡¯d have to spend more points raising the base Stats that resisted Psi abilities if he wanted to actually try and negate the penalty this ability provided.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Maria, do you happen to know who the First is?¡± Trystan asks as he dismisses the ability box. Maria¡¯s eyes go wide and her mouth starts to open when a brief layer of blue light surrounds her and then fades, leaving her eyes glowing with System blue. Then in a robotic voice, she speaks. ¡°Information regarding the First is restricted. If you believe you are receiving this notice in error please contact your local Tower Administrator.¡± Maria blinks a few times as the blue light from her eyes fade and a slightly worried look appears on her face.
New Quest Found - Mysteries of the First Follow the First: You have found an Inheritance of the First. Follow their path and discover the full Inheritance. The mysteries of the Tower stand before you, are you up to the challenge? Completion Requirements: Unknown Reward: The Inheritance of the First
Trystan looks at the quest and nods slowly before dismissing it, long term quests weren¡¯t common, most of them were focused on a single floor, but there were a few he had heard of that spanned multiple floors. Shaking his head he focuses back on the task at hand, he didn¡¯t have forever to stay in this room, and every minute that he was in here rather than out in the Tower, was a minute that he was losing out on changing the future. He quickly looks back to the list and filters out to Bloodline Abilities. Not that he would be purchasing any of them, but it was a good reminder of what he might be working toward later.
~~Starting Bloodline List~~
Name Cost
Werewolf Bloodline (Lesser) 50,000
Vampire Bloodline (Lesser) 50,000
Dragon Bloodline (Wyrmling) 50,000
Elemental Bloodline (Small) 50,000
Demonic Bloodline (Imp) 75,000
Angelic Bloodline (Cherub) 75,000
Demigod Bloodline (Lesser) 100,000
Primordial Bloodline (Lesser) 100,000
Trystan filters the list after reviewing the bloodlines for a moment, nothing he could get right now, but a few he definitely wanted to keep an eye on later. With the new filter, he keeps solely to items Mana Affinity will correspond to as well as a few of the abilities he used from his first time through that may still be worth it now. He would keep the base Stat increase items for later, but still keep on the Enhancements. You could always actually work hard to increase your base stats in the beginning, it was later on, when after your stats broke through a certain point that you would need to actually start purchasing them. That was another lesson learned too late, and one that he had made sure that everyone was aware of. But the Stat Enhancements worked differently, increasing your effective stat by applying a percentile bonus to the base stat. As a long list of spells starts appearing on the screen he quickly reduces it down to the two basic spells that he knew would be immediately useful.
~~Standard Abilities List~~ (* Inherited Ability Discount Applies.)
Name Cost
Armor Mastery (Initiate) 5,000
Elemental Item Imbuement (May be Selected Multiple Times) 5,000
Enhanced Attribute (May be Selected Multiple Times) 5,000
Meditation (Initiate) 5,000
Mental Magnificence 10,000
Physical Perfection 10,000
Shield Mastery (Initiate) 5,000
Sword Mastery (Initiate) 5,000
Troll Regeneration 10,000
Elemental Affinity (May be Selected Multiple Times) 10,000
Enhanced Mana Capacity 10,000
Enhanced Mana Regeneration 10,000
Spell - Manabolt 5,000
Spell - Mana Shield 5,000
Finally, Trystan filters to review the Unique Abilities List. He¡¯d have to pay some special attention to the Unique abilities list though, they had a limited number of times that they could be purchased, sure it seemed like a lot, but when billions of people came over it ended up being a very small number of available Unique Abilities slots. He tried to ensure that the filter removed all the Psionic and Ki based Unique abilities, neither of those who serve him here.
~~Unique Abilities List~~ (* Inherited Ability Discount Applies.)
Name Cost
Gravity manipulation (0/1000) 25,000
Light Manipulation (0/1000) 25,000
Temporal Manipulation (0/1000) 25,000
Life Energy Manipulation (0/1000) 25,000
Soul Manipulation (0/1000) 25,000
Spell Creation (0/100) 50,000
Enchantment (0/1000) 25,000
Trystan takes a moment, on seeing Spell Creation, to review what it actually does. It cost a lot, more points than he could spend right now, but it could be worth it later once he had saved enough points.
Unique Ability - Spell Creation Mastery of Magic and spell formation, a user of Spell Creation can, as per its name, create new spells whole cloth. Description: Allows for the creation of new Spells as well as the ability to copy Spells that a Spell Creation user has studied. Both effects require a commitment of time and effort based on the spell¡¯s difficulty and Point value. Unique Spells will still require Point expenditures.
Trystan is stunned for a moment, suddenly realizing what ability Merlin must have picked up on the first run through. Nodding to himself, he takes mental note to make sure to purchase Spell Creation in the future. Going through the list quickly Trystan purchases Enhanced Mana Regeneration, Enhanced Mana Pool, Meditation (Initiate), Mana Bolt, and Mana Shield, leaving him with 7500 points left. Enough points to start purchasing some of the cheaper equipment items, but not much else. He settles on getting a cheap five hundred point sword and armor and then banks the remaining 6,500 points for later. Not only would it help to have enough padding to purchase a smaller ability or skill later, but it could always be possible that his MRE¡¯s run out before he starts being able to make food in the Tower, in which case at a point per day the expenses would start adding up. As he makes his purchase Maria goes into the back of the store and returns with a package of his wrapped equipment. Handing over the copper equipment purchased, the metal jingling lightly through the paper wrapping in her hands. The armor would only give a very small amount of damage reduction, and only against lower-powered abilities and equipment, but it would be better than nothing at all. Nodding to himself, he brings up his Character Sheet by thinking ¡®Status¡¯, making sure to filter out Psi and Ki stats, he just didn¡¯t want to be discouraged this early and include the Mana traits he never pulled up in the past.
Name Trystan Hunter Race Human
Age 18 Tier None
New Points 0 Banked Points 6500
Stats Abilities
Strength 10 Mana Manipulation (Initiate)
Agility 10 Mana Affinity*
Endurance 10 Meditation (Initiate)
Intelligence 10 Enhanced Mana Regeneration
Wisdom 10 Enhanced Mana Pool
Charisma 10 Mana Bolt
Willpower 10 Mana Shield
Luck --
Derived Traits Equipment
Mana 156 Copper Sword
Mana Regeneration 3.1 Copper Chain Shirt
Spell Power 12.5
Trystan freezes as he reads his sheet, what do you mean no Luck? Chapter 9 - The Luckless Trystan¡¯s mouth slams shut as he takes in his Luck score. Sure, Luck wasn¡¯t quite as standardized as the other stats as to what it did. Unlike Strength, where you could tell how much you could lift based on its score, Luck was more fluid. Granting a small increase to anything that could be based on luck, scoring critical hits, stumbling in the right area in order to find something you might have overlooked, getting extra points, or equipment from kills. Luck just about impacted everything for good or ill, and in ways people never could quite understand. Having a complete lack of Luck was unheard of, and something that was greatly concerning. Trystan looks over to Maria, ¡°Hey Maria, quick question for you before I head out...have you ever heard of anyone that is completely lacking a Luck stat?¡± Maria looks utterly confused and shakes her head, ¡°No, that shouldn¡¯t be possible. Everyone, even us NPC¡¯s have a luck stat.¡± Her eyes go wide as the second sentence slips out of her mouth and she puts her hands over her mouth quickly looking around scared. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Trystan asks in a concerned voice. Maria just shakes her head quickly, waiting for a moment before sighing with relief. Then, speaking softly, ¡°We¡¯re not allowed to speak on some subjects, we¡¯re just NPC¡¯s and it wouldn¡¯t do for certain subjects to be discussed. But, I guess this wasn¡¯t over the line.¡± Trystan nods slowly, filing away this information for the future. It made some sense, the Store Keeper¡¯s never really seemed to talk to or open up to the ¡®Players¡¯ of the Tower. If they had restrictions in place, things they couldn¡¯t talk about. Trystan stops himself from going down that line of thought too much further. He wouldn¡¯t be able to ask them about it anyway, not without risking whatever punishment the Tower enacted on those who broke its rules. Given the way she had responded, whatever the punishment, it was obviously one that they would go through some lengths to avoid. Turning his thoughts back to his missing Luck stat he tries asking the System directly, seeing what it stated. ¡®Status, Luck¡¯ he thinks, trying to get a more detailed examination of his stat.
Status - Luck Base: %Error% Bonuses: %Error% Debuffs: #$##%^@@$% Total: -- Luck Stat removed due to #$##%^@@$%.
Trystan studies the error message received carefully, trying to remember where he had seen that string of symbols before. Pulling up all of his System messages he finds that he has nothing in his log since the System was initialized during the Test. Cursing softly under his breath he closes out his logs, there just wasn¡¯t much that could be done now but to move forward. He turns and smiles softly to Maria, ¡°Thank you for your help. I suppose I should head out now. I hope that you don¡¯t get in too much trouble for helping me.¡± he gives her a roguish smile as he looks for the door in the room. Maria¡¯s cheeks dimple and she smiles with a light blush appearing, ¡°No trouble at all sir. I hope you find your climb better than ours.¡± As she finishes her sentence a door appears on the far side of the room. Trystan nods his thanks over to Maria again and opens the door, stepping through the field of light and into the Tower for his second first time. *** Trystan¡¯s stumbles as he steps through the doorway and onto what he was expecting to be solid ground, but instead, his foot drops another foot before it finds purchase. Already he can feel the water pouring into his shoes as he sees where his starting point is for the first time. A curse escapes his lips as he realizes he is on the exact opposite side of the Tower that he was expecting to be, and inside a disease-ridden swamp to boot. -1 hp Trystan feels a small bite on the back of his neck and smacks at it quickly, pulling away a hand that has a large smear of a mosquito, a mosquito almost the size of his palm. His health ticks down again as another mosquito bites him. He would have to do something about this and quickly. He had been expecting to show up near Riverside, at least the last time he had, only about a day travel out from it. That would have allowed him to meet up with the rest of the group quickly and plan for a way to get through the Tower, instead he was in the swamp. There was a nearby town, one that he would likely have to go to instead, but Opiales was not exactly known to be the most inviting of towns. Another health tick has him searching through his abilities for anything that could help. He already knew that magic bolt would be close to useless here, sure it would kill any one of them, but there would be just far too many mosquitos to kill with the limited amount of mana he had, plus he wasn¡¯t sure he could kill them all before his life ticked away. He pulls up the status for Mana Shield.
Mana Shield - Initiate The most basic of Mana based defenses Mana shield encompasses the body and provides a shielding aura capable of absorbing a small amount of damage. Description: Shield with a base value of 10 points, value modified by Spellpower. Cost: 10 manaThis story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Trystan nods to himself as he starts to visualize the spell and then says ¡°Mana Shield¡± activating the spell, a shimmering force of mana surrounds his body. It wouldn¡¯t reduce much damage,but since it was only a single point of damage it would end up helping a lot in this instance, plus every little bit would help later. Trystan waits for a moment to see the actual impact of the ability and finds no further damage notifications. Sighing with relief he nods to himself, the ticks were happening almost every five to ten seconds or so, so he would have to recast Mana Shield often, but it might be enough. He quickly runs some numbers through his head, three mana regenerated every minute, ten mana used every two to three minutes, looking at an approximate deficit of one to four mana. Assuming the worst, losing four mana every two minutes with his current mana pool he was looking at around two and a half hours of shielding before he would run out of Mana. Trystan frowns slightly, it would really depend on where in the swamp he landed, as well as what other creatures he encountered. He had never gone to the swamplands on his first run, but he did hear about the other animals that dwelt either in the patches of muddy land or within the water itself. If he was smack dab in the middle, the difficulty of traveling through the muck could be enough to take the entire day to get out. He glances up at the sky looking for the sun. Some of the levels of the Tower didn¡¯t have a natural-seeming light source, but this first one did. Its sun was definitely something that you could navigate by at least. It was currently rising in the Tower¡¯s ¡®east¡¯, and if he recalled correctly Opiales was set to the east of the swamp, so he¡¯d start by heading in that direction, using his shadow to make sure he continued to follow the right direction. Then, with a smile he reaches into his backpack and pulls out a compass, only to have the smile quickly fade. The needle of the compass just spins and spins without stopping. Of course, that would be far too easy to have worked. The shadow it is he thinks to himself as he takes out the paper packaging holding his armor and sword and unwraps it so that he can get dressed as quickly as possible. While the armor may do nothing against the bugs, it will likely be required later on when dealing with the other wild-life in the area. As he gets the chainmail shirt put on a piece of paper flutters out and down into the murky water he is standing in. Trystan quickly picks it up and sees a short hastily jotted note, ¡°The first step to the First is knowledge.¡± Trystan looks at the note for a moment, confusion on his face. He must have made a good impression on the storekeeper, or else she wouldn¡¯t have risked passing a note his way. But couldn¡¯t she have been a bit more direct about what information she was giving him? He shrugs and puts the note away into his backpack, he¡¯d have more time to investigate it later. For now, it was time to start sloshing his way through the swamp, hopefully in the direction of Opiales. After two refreshes of the shield, he feels a sharp stinging bite on his leg. -15 hp Luckily, he had already regenerated from the initial mosquito bites, but this was just unreal, and that¡¯s when he saw the next notice and started to feel the numbness climbing up his leg.
*You have been Poisoned*
Looking down he sees the jaws of a large black snake closed around his lower leg, it¡¯s body starting to wrap around his leg as it continues to pump its poison into his bloodstream. -5 hp The first tick of the poison¡¯s damage occurs and he realizes that his Mana shield must have come crashing down from the original bite. He had been letting the Mana shield run down to the very last tick of damage to try and extend how long he could live in this area, but that may have been a mistake. He quickly lashes out with the Copper sword, trying to cut the snake off of his leg before it managed to constrict around it completely. His first swing misses completely, he takes a steadying breath and remembering all of his previous experience swings again. The sword slices into the snake and he is rewarded with a brief system message that his damage was applied to the snake, but it wasn¡¯t enough to kill it or to get it to let go of his leg. Pointing downwards with an open hand he calls back to the knowledge of Mana Bolt and recites its name as well to activate it. A bolt of crackling mana flashes down at the snake and strikes it solidly on the head. The snake shudders for a moment and then falls off his leg dead. Another system message flashes across his vision, the damage notification for the snake and a point awarded to him for the killing of a mob. -5 hp The poison damage continues, however, to tick away on him. He hadn¡¯t thought about bringing any anti-poison or purchasing them through the store. That may have helped, and he didn¡¯t have any healing spells or healing potions, not that he could have afforded the first, but the second he may have been able to, had he thought about it. For all of his planning, he had done for the rest of his friends and family, including what items to purchase and what to focus on in the beginning, he had completely forgotten to follow his own advice and to stock up on the life-saving items he would need. Instead, he would need to try and make his way out of here and into Opiales with only the gear that he had in his backpack. Trystan sucks in his breath as he feels his health starting to slip away from him, casting Mana Shield he quickly realizes that it does nothing to alleviate the damage from the poison flowing through his system. Generally speaking, though poisons weren¡¯t forever, eventually it¡¯s timer would run out, the real question was whether it would run out before his health did or not. Movement, he needed to reduce his movement, if he could reduce how fast his blood was flowing through his system it was likely that he could increase the time between poison ticks, the Tower may be a game-like system, but it kept some realism as well. It didn¡¯t matter how much health you had if your head was cut off and you didn¡¯t have a special ability for that then you would die. Similar principles could be applied to the slow of poison spreading through a person¡¯s body. Spotting a small island of muddy earth to the left he wades through the muck and looks at it closely, ensuring it was clear of wildlife before he climbs up onto the muddy grass and vegetation. Going into the middle of this small piece of land he sits down and begins to attempt to meditate. The ticks of poison damage caused him to lose his focus but with about nineteen hp left he manages grasp onto the meditative mind state. His breathing slows and his blood stops racing through his body. The poison stops ticking every ten seconds and slows down to once every twenty, then forty, then a minute. A couple of minutes later and the poison stops ticking away. Trystan thinks for a moment, realizing that the poison was applied for almost 6 minutes before it stopped. At every ten seconds that was a killer of anything with a hp score of less than around two hundred health. That was absolutely terrifying to think about. Trystan checks his health level and can only blink with relief. Two hit points left, with a regeneration of two health per minute he was looking at around an hour before he would be fully healed up, and he was going to wait for the full hour, there was no way that he was going to risk going out again without a full health bar and a full shield, that poison was just too damned dangerous. It was just his luck that he would start out in one of the most inhospitable of locations, or perhaps, as he glances once more at his Luck stat, it was just his lack of luck. Chapter 10 - Swampland Blues Looking at the sky Trystan estimates around an hour had passed, his health bar was full again and he was pleasantly surprised to learn that while he was actively meditating his mana regeneration rate had doubled, which was allowing his to actually regain his mana even while keeping the Mana Shield up and running. As an additional surprise, it seemed that surviving and suffering through the poison had actually left him with another small gift, both his Endurance and Willpower rating had increased by one through the ordeal. Trystan had known that it was possible to increase your stats, to grind them up without spending points, but by the time humans as a whole had learned about this system advantage they had already, for the most part, purchased up to levels that made it take months in order to increase it further. He would need to experiment with it, but it did seem like there was some sort of formula that was utilized to determine how much work was required in order to increase a stat. Regardless, for now, it was just good to see his health, regeneration, and magical abilities increase, if only ever so slightly. Groaning he stands up from his sitting position. While meditation definitely helped him to survive, and to increase his mana regeneration, it wasn¡¯t the most comfortable position to sit for a long time. As he feels the caked mud on the back of his pants he also notes that perhaps it was more the location than the position. He puts up another Mana shield and then looks at the sun to gauge the direction he needs to go. Ahead to the east and he should find his way to Opiales, well eventually. With the Mana Shield up and running, the Mosquitos minor damage had been dealt with, but the experience with the snake made sure he didn¡¯t let his guard down. There were too many other dangers within the swamp that he had heard about, and the snake was the least of them all. As he continued trudging through the murky water he realizes that there are fewer and fewer mosquito attacks occurring, so he had to renew his shielding less often. Not that that was a bad thing, but it did mean that something was either naturally keeping them away, or thinning out their numbers. Trystan looks around at the water, looking for hints of movement dwelling within it, movement other than his own. He spots a couple of areas where the ripples seem to be moving towards him rather than away from him, but they are far enough away that he shouldn¡¯t need to worry about it. Then he hears the cry of birds, more than one. He sees a large hawk-like bird getting dragged into the water by an elongated leathery jaw, and then two more, jumping up off of the little patch of land that they were standing on. Trystan ducks quickly as one of the birds, fly directly at him, talons stretched out as if his presence was the cause of its former flockmates death. His reaction speed isn¡¯t quite quick enough for a swooping hawk, and his shielding takes the brunt of the damage, but the red lettering of damage still comes across his vision as it strikes. -12 hp Damn, he had just refreshed the shield and it still had gotten through it, a single swooping strike from a hawk would remove almost a third of his health without shielding. He quickly recast Mana Shield as he rushed towards the nearest landmass. He wouldn¡¯t be able to roll and dodge in the water, especially since there was still that alligator-like animal in the water somewhere nearby. As his feet touch the muddy edge of the land he slips slightly and feels another swooping strike from a hawk across his back, his backpack, and chain shirt reduces the damage slightly, but mainly the bird¡¯s attack was thrown off slightly by his unexpected movement. -10 hp Trystan scrambles up the muddy edge of the swamps island and then looks quickly for the birds attacking him. He sees the two birds wheeling around and coming at him again. The birds wouldn¡¯t have that much health, but he wasn¡¯t sure if a single strike from a Mana Bolt would actually be able to kill one.
Mana Bolt - Initiate The most basic of Mana based attacks, Mana bolt allows the user to generate a bolt of mana that strikes out at the target for a small amount of damage. Description: Bolt attack with a base value of 10 points, value modified by Spellpower. Cost: 10 mana
Trystan shakes his head as he dives to the side, barely dodging out of the way of the swooping hawks. It would take time, and mana, but the bolts would likely eventually kill the hawks. The question was whether or not they could get him before he got them, and how weakened he would be by that point. Later on even the most basic of spells would be powerful enough, but this zone wasn¡¯t one that many people looked into. It was one of the most dangerous areas on the first level, and that was just considering the local wild-life. Outside of the wild-life, the actual mob¡¯s in the area had evolved to be able to survive easily within the swamps. He would hopefully bypass them completely, there were a few things that he absolutely needed to purchase back in one of the Shops, things that he had forgotten, and after that, he needed to try and meet up with his family and friends. He may not be able to keep them safe from everything, but being together and supporting one another would bring about a kind of strength in all of them that would hopefully change the future this time around. Trystan keeps his gaze on the hawk, at the bare minimum he could try and use the hawks as a practice to increase his understanding of Mana Bolt. Reaching out a hand he gathers the mana into his hand, forming the bolt but not releasing it yet. The energy coalesces around his hand and he can see the dancing blue-white light that it forms. It was different than Ki, not internal energy, but a manipulation of the external one. Maybe if he had stayed with Ki he would have been able to instantly raise his levels of understanding, but he knew he had to try something different this time. But maybe, maybe it wasn¡¯t as different as he thought it was. He feels the energy with his mind, the pulse of energy from the Tower, the power that he is channeling to this bolt spell. There were some familiarity with it and Ki, after all, some pieces of it still originated from the same source, whether it was internally created or externally manipulated the true source was still the Tower.Stolen novel; please report. Trystan tries to push more mana into the spell, it was something he was capable of doing with his Ki based weapon attacks, channeling extra energy into the ability in order to increase its effects. It wasn¡¯t a very energy-efficient method, but sometimes it was more important to take out an enemy quickly rather than to be able to use your abilities more. -5 hp The energy forms thicker around his hand and starts burning his skin as it gains a denser form. This wouldn¡¯t do at all, he couldn¡¯t take damage in order to do more damage. He quickly raises his hand finding the hawk as it comes swooping down at him. Aiming down his arm he wills the bolt to strike out from his hand, maybe he could go for a critical strike, hit the bird directly on the head, either stunning it momentarily or causing enough damage to kill it directly. Unfortunately without a Luck stat, it would be completely up to his skill and aiming as to whether he could enact a critical strike. The bolt crackles out from his upraised arm and strikes the hawk, missing the head and hitting its chest. The hawk screes in pain and jolts to the right circling around again. He reads his status messages quickly and see¡¯s that the spell took double the mana and did around fifty percent more damage than what it should after adjusting for Spellpower. Not bad, but definitely not something that he can do often, not with the backlash from overcharging, that wasn¡¯t something that he had to deal with when using Ki. -10 hp He feels the flaring pain of claws across his face as the second hawk strikes at him again. Striking out with his sword he realizes the bird has already left before the sword came anywhere near it. This would have to be a ranged battle if he was to survive. Keeping his eyes locked on the hawks he gathers another strike of energy and aiming carefully releases it as the first hawk comes circling around to face him head-on again. It strikes it squarely on the chest, but it doesn¡¯t seem deterred this time, instead it tucks its wings and begins it¡¯s swooping attack. He gathers more energy again for another Mana Bolt spell, trying to feel the energy coursing through the air, trying to direct it and guide it to form before the hawk reaches in, it finally forms and releases out as the hawk reaches out towards his face with its talons. The hawk is struck again and tumbles to the side, dying as the bolt struck it. Turning his attention to the final hawk he watches with a careful eye, once again forming the bolt of energy and just holding it to him, trying desperately to feel every molecule of the bolt before it¡¯s released. Only by understanding the ability would he ever be able to truly increase its level. Unlike the video games of the past, merely using an ability wasn¡¯t a guarantee of raising it¡¯s level, knowledge, understanding, hard work, all of these things played a part. Usage of the ability was just the way that most people, later on in the Tower, came to understand the ability and thus started raising their ability levels. The mana bolt flashes out towards the hawk, striking its head as it comes diving down at him, stunned the hawk has no chance to react as he sidesteps the bird and it comes crashing down to the ground. He strikes out with his sword finishing the hawk as it stays stunned and damaged from crashing to the ground. More statuses of point gains occur as this happens. He would need those points, he could only gain so many points from each Floor on the Tower. Points spent on equipment and goods generally didn¡¯t count towards that limit, only the final points that could be banked when advancing to the next level. This meant that generally speaking people didn¡¯t gain any new abilities on the first couple of levels, well the ones that didn¡¯t engage in PvP actions didn¡¯t at least, that was one of the allures of PvP action, you could gain all of the points that the other player had gained. Looking around he saw the leathery snout of the animal that had dragged down one of the hawks poking out of the water near the land he was standing on. He would need to wait till later to actually experiment more with his abilities, already he was under half of his mana pool available to him, and while his health was a little better off, it wasn¡¯t by much. He would need to kill the creature before he could take a moment to rest, experiment, and try to continue leaving this swamp. Readying a Mana bolt he waits until he can see a little more of the animal. It reaches the alligator and strikes its snout directly, but his jaw drops open as he reads the damage output. Way too low, the alligator must have a version of natural armor that reduces the damage taken, almost half of what he was expecting to do was taken away. This shit right here was why he had never done the swamp in the past, the creatures were resilient, often poisonous, and always deadly. The alligator rushes out from the water, going directly at the puny thing that had attempted to sting it. Trystan backs away firing mana bolt after mana bolt at it, two, three, four, five mana bolts and it just keeps on coming, much slower out of the water Trystan manages to keep out of its way until his feet hit the edge of the water at the opposite side of the small island. ¡®Shit¡¯ he thinks. Quickly he casts a Mana Shield and readies his sword as it comes at him. He strikes down with his sword as it approaches within range, but again it ignores the damage. It¡¯s head moves slightly and then it jumps forward, it¡¯s jaws clamping down on his leg. -25 hp Trystan roars in pain as he can feel his bones wanting to give way under the alligator¡¯s clamping jaws. He starts striking out of the sword furiously, ignoring the damage and just trying to hit it as many times as possible before it deals more damage. The alligator responds by just pressing down with more pressure again. -47 hp Trystan screams in pain as his health drops perilously low. Striking out one final time the blade finally cleaves through the skin and the alligator lets go as it¡¯s health finally drops down to zero. He pants as he realizes that not only his mana but his endurance is also at zero. He has no more energy to give. Collapsing to the ground he tries to find a center to start meditation so that he can recover enough mana to recast mana shield and keep himself alive. Chapter 11 - Farming the Swamp Trystan breathes a sigh of relief as he finally manages to cast Mana Shield again. The annoying, and very dangerous mosquito bites finally stop as he does so. His health, hovering around 3 hp remaining by the time he gets his protective shield up and running. He sits, with his eyes open, wondering how he was going to do this. What kind of mistake did he make with his choice? Ki, he could understand, he had the knowledge needed to raise his understanding, his skill, and its level almost immediately. He could have doubled down on his knowledge rather than go off to a new thing. But no, he saw Merlin, saw him actually damage the Hikarin General, and had decided that that obviously was the way to go. So stupid. Continuing his meditation he calms his mind more, taking a mental step back and thinking. He had noticed that some of the energy was the same. Maybe he could try and apply some similar concepts, from Ki Cultivation to Mana manipulation, or at least some of those concepts to the spells he had learned. The initial spells didn¡¯t seem too different from the Ki abilities, the primary difference being that it relied on externally directed energy, not internal. First things first, he needed a much better mana regeneration, he couldn¡¯t afford to run low on mana during any fight, maybe he could experiment with Meditation, get it to work all the time, or work stronger, anything could help him here. Keeping the deep breathing in and out he tries to start to stand, and immediately his internal balance is broken and the meditation effects go away. For the next hour this is his life, rinse and repeat, trying to get a hold of understanding how exactly Meditation was impacting his mana regeneration, why it was helping him, and how he can understand it most effectively. Meditate, stand, lose meditation, over and over again. There was something about the mental balance that was missing, it couldn¡¯t be a purely physical thing now, could it. It was sort of like cultivating for Ki, you could, with skill, learn to cultivate with every step that you took, turn the motion into internal energy. This method of cultivation was tough, but worth it as it increased the amount of time that could be spent cultivating. Maybe he could apply a version of that here. The balance was the key, finding the mental balance while not physically balanced. Wait, no, that wasn¡¯t it, finding the Balance mentally and keeping it in tune with the body, that would. Trystan finds his meditative state once again, and stands slowly, not listening to his heartbeat or the meditation, but keeping his mental balance in tune with the world around him as he stood. The sitting position was to reduce the number of changes, it helped make meditation easier, but yes, it could be done at any time. He smiles as he is rewarded with a system message as his meditation is maintained even as he stands up and takes a step forward.
Congratulations! Meditation is now understood to the Apprentice level. 100 Bonus Points have been awarded as a Tower First. +1 Willpower +1 Wisdom
Trystan blinks a few times, he¡¯d never heard of the Tower Firsts before. But maybe that was the point, who knows how many firsts were gained and lost by that first wave of volunteers into the Tower. He had thought that he would be an expert on the Tower, but how much did he actually not know, because it was lost by those Firsts. This time though he was one of them, and he would make sure that he didn¡¯t fall. Shaking his head he brings up his Meditation ability.
Meditation - Apprentice A method of balancing one¡¯s mind and body with the world around them. Entering a state of meditation increases mana regeneration rates. Description: Meditation increases Mana Regeneration rates by 100% Apprentice Effect: May maintain Meditation while moving, Combat may still break Meditation.
Trystan whistles softly, ¡°Very nice.¡± Then he notices a few flashing boxes in the corner of his eye, System boxes that he had pushed to the side during combat. An increase to Strength and Endurance due to exertion and damage that he had taken, that would definitely help out. Looking around he walks over to the fallen ¡®bodies¡¯ of the animals he had killed. The System granted a small inventory, that was another thing he had forgotten, he hadn¡¯t picked up an inventory bag, or the smaller ring, instead he used his non-System backpack to pick up the loot drops from the Hawks and the Alligator. They wouldn¡¯t be worth much, but trade items, and crafting items would be good to be stocked up on later, they would help not only with the other players but eventually he would start looking at crafting himself, maybe tie it in with his mana usage in order to increase his capabilities. He nods slightly as he gets to that thought and thinks to himself, ¡®I need to increase my skill levels, and quickly if doing so gives points and stats then so much the better. There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be able to keep up with some of the others if I don¡¯t get myself moving, and this place, well it may just end up being a blessing in disguise.¡¯ Trystan smiles, if there were ever a perfect place to farm for skills and points, this would be it. It would stress his body and his mind, allowing him to quickly increase his stats, and skill levels. Constant pressure, constant damage, constant usage of the skills, it would be dangerous as all hell, but hopefully worth it. Trystan calls up a new Mana Shield, this time feeling it as he casts it, feeling it as he summons up the layer of mana surrounding him. As he pulls up the energy he tries to see if he can¡¯t see the tie between the meditation, the energy, and balance of the world and the energy being supplied into the shield itself. He does all of this as he starts his walking through the muck again. Allowing the bugs to bite him while attempting to keep an eye out for anything a bit more dangerous. As time and refreshes pass he starts to gain a glimpse as to the interaction between the energy being supplied and how it was actually stopping the damage. Much the way that the Mana Bolts have some physical form, the Mana Shield was altering the world to provide a slight buffer, a resistance against effects that would be causing damage to him. He is rewarded with another ding as the system gives him a notice, but he doesn¡¯t even stop to look at that, there was something about that thought process, the understanding. What if the first two spells really were tied together with one another more than he had thought. Mana bolt might be physical, but more energy-based, Mana shield was potentially more of an energy nullification, two sides of the same coin. He spots a bird in the distance activates Mana Shield and then begins to spin up a Mana Bolt, wrapping in more and more energy, he can see the air around his hand steaming but the Mana Shield seemed to be keeping the Damage from overflowing onto him, pouring more and more energy into it, he could feel the Mana Shield about to break when he let loose the massive streak of energy at the bird. The bird explodes into a spray of feathers and blood before disintegrating into loot to be picked up later. A flood of system notices fill his vision as he smiles, it was different than Ki, but not by too much, he could use his former knowledge to increase his new skills, and that meant he might actually be able to succeed.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Congratulations! Mana Shield is now understood to the Apprentice level. 100 Bonus Points have been awarded as a Tower First. +1 Willpower +1 Intelligence
Congratulations! Mana Bolt is now understood to the Apprentice level. 100 Bonus Points have been awarded as a Tower First. +1 Intellect +1 Wisdom
Quickly checking both abilities he sees that both abilities now take twice the amount of mana, but also provide twice the effect that they did before. It meant that he was going to really have to look into how to increase his mana capacity soon, especially if he wanted to be able to use his mana on long fights. Looking at the other system alerts he sees that his intuition and drive to succeed had some positive and negative results. He had actually lost half of his life during that last second as the Mana Shield failed, but in return, he also gained a few points in Endurance, Willpower, and Intelligence. Trystan shakes his head slightly, again and again, he sees how much faster he could actually move forward with the knowledge that he had available to him, even if he didn¡¯t know everything. He spares a moment''s thought for his family, hoping that they too are doing okay, that they were able to use the guide that was written to help themselves get stronger faster as well. Trystan maintaining the meditation starts walking towards the fallen bird, picking up its loot as well and putting it in his backpack before getting a gauge from the Sun again as to what direction to head towards. He could farm the swamp for points as he moved towards Opiales now. No one was known to have increased abilities past Initiate level on the First Floor last time. No one learned about that until far later in the Tower, and almost no one ever had cause to come back down to this floor, there was just nothing in here of importance. But maybe, maybe that¡¯s why humanity had had so much trouble, we never took the time to try and actually learn everything on the few safe floors we had, instead we had to rush forward, always forward, and in the end, we rushed right into our own destruction. Trystan straightens his back out and flashes out a bolt towards the snout of an alligator heading his way, he is rewarded with a reduced, but significant amount of damage flashing in his vision. Smiling he powers up another mana bolt, keeping it down low enough to not cause himself direct damage and smiles as he sees the points start flowing in. In the end, it wouldn¡¯t matter how many points he acquired, capping out on points was capping out, but the knowledge and experience using the ability would help him in the future. Continuing to trudge through the much for he follows the guidance of the sun to direct himself hopefully towards Opiales, spending a few moments to kill any animal or creature he comes across as he does so. He stops for a moment when he sees a towering spider the size of a bear and goes quickly, and silently, around that area, no need to mess with a thing that would likely kill him easily, but the smaller things, the things he could try and one shot with a powered-up bolt, those would fall under his assault. By the time he reaches the edge of the Swamp, he finds his back absolutely packed with loot dropping and another five hundred points in his pool definitely wouldn¡¯t hurt him when he went in to purchase all of the initial equipment and support abilities that he had completely forgotten about. Trystan smiles and pulls up his status as he steps onto dry land for the first time all day.
Name Trystan Hunter Race Human
Age 18 Tier None
New Points 0 Banked Points 6500
Stats Abilities
Strength 11 Mana Manipulation (Initiate)
Agility 10 Mana Affinity*
Endurance 14 Meditation (Apprentice)
Intelligence 14 Enhanced Mana Regeneration
Wisdom 12 Enhanced Mana Pool
Charisma 10 Mana Bolt (Apprentice)
Willpower 15 Mana Shield (Apprentice)
Luck --
Derived Traits Equipment
Mana 218 Copper Sword
Mana Regeneration 4.2 Copper Chain Shirt
Spell Power 18.1
HP 140
HP Regen. 2.5
Chapter 12 - Entering Opiales The sun was starting to set as he set out on the dry land. He¡¯d still have to walk for a little bit longer, but there was no way that he would be able to continue onwards throughout the entire night, not without some very real chance of being caught by the things that stalk the night. Which meant he was going to have to try and find a spot to camp, preferably far enough from the edge of the swamplands that he wouldn¡¯t have to worry too hard about those creatures coming out and finding him. Beyond that, he would need time to set up the camp, set up some form of a warning system, sleeping along in the middle of the wilderness could be dangerous, but unfortunately he had no way of knowing exactly how close he was to Opiales, and from what he remembered of Opiales he really didn¡¯t want to be trying to get into the village in the middle of the night, that was a sure-fire way of being killed. Keeping his eyes out, and trying to see clearly in the dying light he head¡¯s out walking in what he hopes is the direction of Opiales. As the hour stretches on the land starts to become spotted with more and more bushes and trees until he finally spots a small area that seems not only defensible but far enough away from the swamp to be safer. Getting into the clearing he pulls out the tent that he had purchased from the surplus store. When he got back into the Store he may need to look at alternative tents available, almost everything from Earth was available in the Store, heck some stuff not available on Earth was available in the Store, he¡¯d need to try and find a safe method of sleeping alone if this sort of thing was going to continue happening. For now, though, he would set up camp, sleep the night, and then hopefully find Opiales early tomorrow. From what he recalled it shouldn¡¯t be too much further along the way. Setting up some small strings with bells around the camp area he tries to get himself to go to sleep. The sounds of animal life keep him awake for a good portion of the night, but eventually, he falls asleep, his dreams filling with nightmares of being assaulted in the middle of the night. *** The sounds of birds chirping wake him in the morning, followed shortly thereafter by the soft sound of branches rustling in the distance. The sun¡¯s light peeking over the horizon to the east and starting to warm the sunlit areas. Opening his eyes he takes in the view of a brighter, non-swamp day. Stretching slightly he gets to his feet and does a once over on the surrounding area, ensuring that he is alone, or at the bare minimum, safe for now. Once ensuring that it was just the wind moving the branches he begins packing up the tent before getting an MRE out of his backpack and tearing it open to eat. He looks at the MRE''s flameless magnesium heater and separates it from the meal putting it back into his backpack alone. He wouldn¡¯t be able to use the heater right now, primarily because he didn¡¯t know how much water he would need to save, but later on, once he was near a town, being able to eat hot meals in the wild without creating a fire would be a very good thing. Finishing packing up Trystan heads once more in the direction of what he hopes to be Opiales, after a few hours of walking he spots the walls of a town in the distance. The walls grow larger as he continues making his way to the town until he can see the gates of the town and the guards in front of it. Opiales wasn¡¯t an inviting town to the Players, they were one of the seedier locations, and one that had a reputation for hard quests with very little reward, mainly hard labor. Trystan smiles slightly, as he comes up to one of the guards, starting to open his mouth to speak only to be interrupted before he can even begin. The guard spits to the side and squints his eyes at Trystan, ¡°What brings you to Opiales?¡± ¡°Just came into the area and wanted to visit the Store, perhaps help out with a few quests in the area while here.¡± The guard nods slowly, ¡°Any trouble and you¡¯ll not get a second chance to cause more. The Store is near the center square, and you¡¯ll find quests a plenty most places. If you end up traveling through the Wandering Inn bring me back one of their pot pies with a beer and I¡¯ll make it worth your while.¡±
New Quest Offered - Feeding the guard Feeding the Guard: The Gate Captain of Opiales has requested a warm meal during his watch. Go to the Wandering Inn, purchase a pot pie with a beer, and return to the Captain for your reward. Completion Requirements: Deliver the Wandering Inn¡¯s pot pie and beer to the Gate Captain. Reward: 10 silver. 20 points. Increased Favor with the Guards.
Trystan nods, ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can help out. Thank you.¡± The guard nods and motions for the gate to open, the gate opens just wide enough for Trystan to squeeze through before closing again behind him as he enters Opiales. Opiales itself while not a bustling hub of civilization, was definitely a decently sized town. Individuals moving about on the streets, vendor¡¯s hawking wares alongside the road, and children occasionally running across open areas. Trystan does a double-take as he sees one of the children steal from a nearby adult and then running off to join a group of nearby children. He starts to open his mouth to say something and then stops himself, he definitely doesn¡¯t want to draw any attention to himself yet, especially since he still needed to make it to the shop. Thinking for a moment, he decides to visit the Inn first, try to see how much the pot pie and beer will cost and maybe try to pick up a quest in order to pay for it. If could be worth it to pick up some more points and coin before he goes to the Store, especially if he can manage to grind up some more of his stats in the meantime. The Wandering Inn lies to the right of the main square, the wooden building seems to be about three stories in height and the sound of music and conversations whisper out from the closed-door even this early in the afternoon. As he opens the wooden door his ears are assaulted by the lively string music, a woman''s voice singing about some ancient battle, and people¡¯s conversations combining into a wall of sound.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He spots some of the local denizens of the Tower milling about, eating, talking, and gambling at the tables. In addition, there seem to be some human¡¯s already sitting down at the tables as well. He would need to greet them later he supposed, but for now, he still had some quests to focus on. They appeared to have been here for a little bit already, perhaps they failed out of their Tests earlier, or completed them faster. It was a known fact that people who left the Test earlier wound up entering the Tower earlier than those that spent more time, but he had no way to tell exactly how long he was put behind in the Test when he passed out during his Test. He could be a day behind, or it could have been longer, but he was guessing it couldn¡¯t have been too much longer than a day, two at the max, but that did mean that anyone who had spawned in this area could potentially be up to three days ahead of him. Walking up to the bar he smiles winningly to the barmaid behind the counter, ¡°Good afternoon. I was sent here by the Gate Captain for a pot pie and a beer, but alas, I have only just arrived, I don¡¯t suppose you have any odd jobs that I might be able to help out with so I can return to the gate with his food do you?¡± The barmaid looks at him for a moment, her blue lips pursing for a moment before speaking, ¡°I suppose, as a favor to the Captain, we can find an odd job or two for you to work on. You aren¡¯t opposed to some hard work are you?¡± Trystan shakes his head, ¡°No ma¡¯am.¡± The barmaid nods and calls out to the kitchen, ¡°Bob, there¡¯s a guy here wanting to help out in the back, wants to deliver a meal to the captain.¡± A large burly man steps out from the back. His blue skin almost seems completely hidden by the hair covering most of his body. ¡°Yeah yeah, they always say they''re willing to help out at first, but the first sign of hard work and you¡¯ll be just like those bums out there.¡± He gestures to the players sitting out on the floor. One of them hearing him flips him off but goes immediately back to drinking and gambling. ¡°Come on along to the back and we¡¯ll get you started if you actually finish the work I¡¯ll not only give you a meal for the Captain, but I¡¯ll give you one for free as well.¡± The man looks Trystan up and down and shakes his head before going back into the back, obviously not expecting much. As Trystan enters the back, Bob turns to him and speaks and gestures to the sink area. ¡°I¡¯ve got about 2 days worth of backlogged dishes that need to be washed since those wastrels have done exactly jack all to help out. After that the stove¡¯s gotta be cleaned, the firepit cleaned out, and then.¡± Bob pauses for a moment, ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you actually know how to cook anything?¡± Trystan nods, ¡°I do, at least some of the basics.¡± Bob nods, ¡°Then once that¡¯s done you¡¯ll help out with some of the meals, I can walk you through it if you need, but I imagine by the time this evening hits you¡¯ll have worked up an appetite and earned the right to bring the guard his food.¡±
New Quest Offered - Working for a Living Feeding the Guard: Bob, the owner of the Wandering Inn, has offered you to complete various chores and tasks to earn food and money. Completion Requirements: Complete all assigned chores. Reward: Two free pot pies and beer. 10 points. Increased Favor from Bob.
Trystan nods and gets to work on the dishes. After the first hour of washing Trystan realizes that there was no way that this was just a couple of days of dishes, and after the third hour, of constantly washing the dishes with hard tallow soap, going out to get fresh water from the well, rinsing and repeating he understands exactly why no one else was willing to actually do the work. Slowly but surely though he goes through the pile of dishes until he finishes and begins working on scrubbing down the oven and baking area and then cleaning out the fire pit. He is sweating, sore, and tired by the time he finishes up all of the work. On the plus side though, several of his stats receive an increase due to the hard work and effort being put into the chores being done. Bob notices his work completion and nods, ¡°Good job and just in time for the dinner rush too. Help me out here and then I¡¯ll send you along your way.¡± Trystan nods as he begins to help bob with the dinner rush, leg of lamb, pot pies, some braised beef, not too many different types of meals, but enough of them being ordered, what felt like every second, keeping Trystan busy for the next hour. But he persists in the work, the hot kitchen drawing out more and more fatigue from him as he works his already tired muscles to assist Bob with every aspect of the dining service. By the time Trystan finishes all he wants to do is collapse into a nearby chair. Bob grabs him as he almost collapses and sets him to the side of the bar with a beer and a pot pie. ¡°You¡¯re not too bad. You ever want more work come on by, I could use a helping hand. I¡¯ll get the guard¡¯s food set up in a package to carry but eat and rest for a few minutes before going over. Don¡¯t wait too long though, I figure the Captain might get a bit hangry if he has to go too long without food.¡±
Quest Completed - Working for a Living Reward: Two free pot pies and beer. 10 points. Increased Favor from Bob.
Trystan nods tiredly and eats the pot pie. The chicken almost melts in his mouth and the vegetables and gravy taste delicious, definitely better than the MRE he had eaten earlier in the day. Looking over to the barmaid, ¡°How much for a room for the night?¡± ¡°5 silver a night.¡± Trystan nods to himself, the silver gained from the Captain should be enough to cover two nights, assuming he eats the MRE¡¯s instead of eating at the inn. As he finishes the pot pie he grabs the packaged food next to him and looks back to the barmaid, ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit for a room tonight if that¡¯s okay?¡± She nods to him and motions him out the door. Leaving the Inn with more weariness than he had when he entered the town he heads back to the gate where the Captain is waiting. He can see the Captain looking out across the road while scowling, butas he sees Trystan coming up to the gate with the package in his hands his face changes to one of a slightly warm smile. ¡°Smells delicious, thank you, son, for your help.¡± The captain says with a smile. Trystan hands over the package and the Captain hands him a small pouch of silver.
Quest Completed - Feeding the guard Reward: 10 silver. 20 points. Increased Favor with the Guards.
¡°Now get along, we¡¯ve got a gate to watch and a wall to defend, but if you ever need a hand let one of my men know. You¡¯re a good lad.¡± Trystan nods and starts his way back towards the center of the town once more. There was still some daylight left and while he was tired, he was sure he¡¯d get more returns on his attempts to increase his stats if he didn¡¯t just collapse in exhaustion now. Chapter 13 - Encountering the Chosen Trystan spends the next few hours of daylight running around the town, completing odd-jobs for points and more importantly stat increases. With the last few jobs completed, it looked like he was nearing the point cap for this level of the Tower. There was a theory that the point cap was implemented on each level in order to keep people from just farming the first safe level of the Tower until they were nearly invincible. Given that that was exactly what people had tried to do the first time he imagined that it was likely a correct theory. This meant that while the points would be good, especially to buy equipment, the actual gains that he looked forward to on this level were the stat gains. Last time he had spent far too many points on increasing his stats directly, this time he would get a few stat-boosting abilities, but primarily rely on hard work to increase his base abilities. As Trystan ran from one store to another completing fetch quests he realizes that the most important thing would likely be increasing his Mana Manipulation ability. He wasn¡¯t sure if it worked the same as Ki Cultivation, but if it did then it would likely jump up his base stats as well as providing a general boost as he trained in it. But that would take time, time he couldn¡¯t waste while he was still trying to get back to his family and friends. He would need to spend some time training, gaining points, and increasing his skills again since otherwise, he wouldn''t have the power to protect them, but it would be a balancing act, weighing out time spent increasing his personal skills and time spent traveling out to them. At the bare minimum, he could likely spend the week or so it would taketraveling to Riverside by foot training, but he didn''t know how much that would slow him down. A day here, maybe two would be fine, it may even allow him to buy a horse to decrease the time the trip would take, but after that, he would need to start traveling again, unless something far outside of his expectations occurred they would be safe, but he would feel better if he were nearby. As he finishes off another quest, marking off yet more points, and silver, he spots a couple of other humans, on the side of the road. They seem to be approaching any human that they see and talking to them. Trystan smiles softly, ¡®I guess that the first guilds are starting to be created.¡¯ he thinks to himself. Most of the guilds were good ones, some less so, and some were simply abominations. As he had warned his friends, some people found PvP to be just too enticing. The ability to break the Level caps for points, and to gain a large number of points in a single swoop was very tempting. The two men spot him and approach quickly with large smiles on their faces. ¡°Good evening sir. You look like your new in town, not that we all aren¡¯t new, but we¡¯ve been trying to make sure that we keep track of the fresh faces. Better for us to all work together to survive isn¡¯t it?¡± Trystan looks over the man speaking to him, trying to get a sense of who the person is. He has dirty blonde hair, green eyes, and was wearing some fairly expensive steel armor with weapons, but nothing enchanted. As far as he could tell it was just a normal guy. He nods slowly, ¡°True, I mean it is sorta crazy that we¡¯re all here now, almost like a game.¡± The second man shakes his head, ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s most definitely not a game, you die here and you¡¯re permanently dead, unlike that Test that everyone took.¡± The man looks to the side, as if remembering something sad, ¡°We¡¯ve learned that first hand.¡± Trystan nods again slowly, ¡°I guess so. So who are you guys, have you all started up a support group or something?¡± The first man, his smile widening, ¡°Yes, we are a support group.¡± He stretches an arm casually around Trystan while talking to him. Guiding the group to walk as they talk. ¡°We¡¯ve recently decided on the name of The Chosen.¡± The man sees Trystan''s face drop slightly and misinterpreting it continues, ¡°Yeah, I know that it¡¯s a little preachy and a little arrogant. But we figured that we¡¯re likely to be the first to create a group per the Tower rules, and we might as well choose something flashy that can be remembered. Besides, did we all choose to take the Test, and in doing so we were chosen to be a part of this Tower, and this war if you actually believe that.¡± Trystan struggles to keep his face neutral. Internally screaming he glances out of the side of his eyes to make sure he is keeping track of the second man as well. The Chosen was the only group known to have been formed during, and survived, the First Wave. This was in no small part due to the way that they operated. On the face of it, they were a very good and humanitarian, group. A group that assisted with the clearing of Tower levels, helping people farm for points, and lending out equipment and items as needed. But unfortunately, it was a front, this was a fact that was discovered by later Waves, and far too late for many who had fallen to them. There were, of course, a few people that were good-intentioned in the group, but as it was determined the first time through, the group¡¯s leadership was comprised of prisoners who had selected yes to the test because they figured they had nothing left to lose. The rumor was that most of them were in for lifetime sentences, but really no one knew for sure. What was found out for a fact later, was that they would locate people, help them max out their point cap for the current level, and then, if they felt that there was no risk, they would kill them to take in all of their points.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°That makes a lot of sense. How long have you guys been helping people in this area?¡± Trystan asks, trying to keep his voice as level as possible. This could also give him the information on how much time he lost on the Test in comparison to other people. The second man, smiling, ¡°I¡¯ve been here for a week. Joe,¡± pointing at the first man, ¡°there has been there for almost two weeks.¡± He leans over and in a stage whisper, which now that Trystan is paying attention is definitely well-rehearsed, ¡°He died almost immediately in the test, something about man-eating plants, he doesn¡¯t like to talk about it.¡± Joe fake swats at the second man and then turning to Trystan shrugs, ¡°I wasn¡¯t as lucky as others, from what the Chosen have managed to gather together so far, it appears that the people who successfully pass the test end up taking longer to make it to the Tower than those that don¡¯t, though a few of our members got really lucky and managed to clear their test and make it to the Tower early on, we are very lucky to have them among us.¡± Trystan nods to Joe¡¯s statement. ¡°Sounds like you all have a strong grasp on what is needed. What would be your first advice for me?¡± Joe smiles as he continues to guide the group, walking down the streets. ¡°Well now, that depends on how many points you managed to get. If you still have any remaining, we would recommend outfitting you with much better equipment. Once you get that we can bring it back to our smith, who picked up some crafting abilities that let him upgrade the items that are purchased. We wouldn¡¯t recommend it for your current gear, it¡¯s just far too low a level to actually make a difference.¡± Trystan nods, and curses internally again, ¡°I don¡¯t have all too many points available right now, I didn¡¯t do too well on the Test, managed to survive for a while, but didn¡¯t really finish much.¡± Trystan hopes that they buy that line. It wouldn¡¯t matter too much to them once they got him maxed points for this level, but if he had enough points to make it worth it to them, they may end up jumping him now rather than later, before he got the experience to actually fight back. If they didn¡¯t buy it, well he would know shortly, based on where they ended up trying to take him. He really couldn¡¯t afford to start a fight with the Chosen yet, they had been here for a bit already, and while he knew that he was theoretically stronger than they were, there were a ton of them from what he remembered. Though he thinks for a moment, maybe they hadn¡¯t managed to gain that many members yet, it was still early on. The second man looks at him for a moment beforelooking at Joe and tilting his head slightly in one direction. Joe nods slowly, ¡°Alright kid, how about we help you out with some quests first then. I¡¯m sure you already saw that you can get quests from just about anyone, a small amount of pay, a small number of points, but safe work for the most part. We¡¯ve been fairly lucky though, and have discovered a secret quest chain. Gives far more points and should help you get the equipment that you need really fast.¡± Joe starts guiding them away from the center of the town, out towards the outskirts. Trystan glances behind him back towards the center of the Town, he quickly stammers out, "I mean, that''s nice and all, but maybe tomorrow? I have a timed quest with the Gate Guard to try and get him some food." Joe puts a hand around Trystan''s shoulder, his grip still appearing friendly, but unyielding as steel when Trystan tries to pull away slightly. Joe shakes his head, "No, no, that''s piddly stuff there, what you really want is down this way, we''ll make sure you get back in time to get his food, and heck, we can cover the cost of it if needed, but what''s twenty points in comparison to three or four times that number." ¡°You see,¡± says Joe as they walk, ¡°We discovered this place a while back, the guards in the area don¡¯t come down this way so the quest that gets generated here is a bit more dangerous, but also continues to grow in reward for every day that it goes uncompleted. Waves upon waves of rats will start swarming out of the grates near the back of the alley, each small rodent is actually worth a point in and of itself, but it auto-triggers a quest to ¡®Clean the Streets¡¯ which is also worth another fifty points. Should be able to get you all the points you need and real fast.¡±With the sun slowly setting the shadows seem deeper and darker, and the entire trip begins to feel far more ominous. As they reach what Trystan can only imagine is the slums of the town they turn down into an alleyway. Trystan nods, those kinds of quests were actually real. But, if he was guessing correctly they would be using him to gain points, and then, once the waves were completed they would likely jump him while he was tired. There wasn¡¯t too much that he could do about it, maybe try and fake them out, use them the way that they were planning on using him, and then, if they jumped him then he would be in good enough shape to at least escape. Joe continues to motion for Trystan to follow down the dark alleyway. Trystan hesitates for a moment and then shrugs and follows. There was no way that they would just be letting him go right now, and it would be better to try and wear them out during the following battle with the rats than it would be to take them fully rested. Trystan nods as he sees the blue box opens up in front of him and hits ¡®yes¡¯ mentally to accept the quest.
New Quest Offered - Clean the Streets Clean the Streets: These back streets are away from the crowded city and often go untended. Being unafraid of the dark you have continued forth and been granted the option to clean these dark areas of the vermin thriving within. Completion Requirements: Destroy all waves of vermin. Reward: 50 points. 10 Silver. Increased reputation in Opiales. 1 piece of starter equipment.
Joe¡¯s eyes brighten as he sees the first beady red eyes glowing from out of the back of the alley. ¡°Here we go.¡± Chapter 14 - The Rat Swarm The horde of gleaming red eyes from the dark shadow reveal themselves as hundreds of rats of various sizes rushing out from the sewer grates at the end of the alley. They seem to devour everything in front of them as the flood out of the shadows, a wave of fur, flesh, and teeth. Joe and the other man step backward motioning for Trystan to begin his work, ¡°We¡¯ll cover for you if things get too bad, but we don¡¯t want to steal your points kid.¡± Says the one who¡¯s been fairly silent so far. Trystan nods slowly as he draws his sword. He would need to be careful about this, not reveal too much of his abilities, keep with just using the sword and the Mana Shield, saving the Mana Bolt for if it was indeed the trap that he was assuming it was. He casts Mana Shield quickly, hoping that they would miss the activation as he advances towards the swarm. His blade flashes through the rats with ease, their main danger seemingly coming from their numbers, not from them being incredibly resilient or damaging. As the rats begin to eat through his Mana Shield he can see his armor¡¯s effectiveness actually coming into play for once, as the rats'' teeth try to big into him and the chain shirt negating a small portion of that damage. Still, the amount of damage coming through would overwhelm him eventually, and it would happen well before he would manage to kill the swarm. No, if he wanted to actually take the swarm he would need to start opening up with Mana bolt, but that would leave him far too vulnerable. Maybe now it was time to start trying to use this other group as well. Slowly he starts pulling back, he stammers out as if already completely overwhelmed and scared, ¡°There¡¯s just too many of them, I, I don¡¯t know how much longer I can keep this up.¡± Joe and the other man exchanging looks and nod as they step towards the swarm as well. The one who has remained mostly silent starts chanting, a shimmering red bead beginning to form in front of him as Joe pulls out a massive sword that he begins to swing through entire swaths of the swarm. Joe speaks as he swings the sword seemingly effortlessly, ¡°Its alright kid, we¡¯ll keep a portion of them off ya, just remember to keep killing them to gain those points, we¡¯re already maxed out so we don¡¯t really need these points as much.¡± The man chanting finishes and the bead flies from his hands to the center of the horde, a wave of flame washing out over the incoming rats, many of them falling as the fire burns them away. The rat horde pauses for a moment and then from the rear comes rushing larger rats, rats of unusual size. ¡°Here they come, Bill.¡± Shouts Joe as he swings his blade again, but these new rats nimbly dodge the blade and begin to pile onto him and Bill. Trystan continues to fight with the pair, killing rats and watching as everyone¡¯s health begins to drop further and further. His Mana Shield though seemed to be making a difference, at least for him, saving him far more health than the other two were losing. The appearance of his lost health was still happening though, tiny cits, bites, and scratches, along with the blood of the slain rats causing him to appear to be bloody and battered. Bill and Joe fought off the larger rats, eventually slaying the larger ones along with help from Trystan. Trystan spots them each swigging from bottles occasionally, likely health potions that they had kept on them, hopefully, they didn¡¯t have too many of those if it ended up going too badly. As the battle continues Trystan¡¯s Stamina reserves start dipping low, checking his level¡¯s fairly quickly he can see that while he has been successful in conserving Mana, his Stamina, which has not been developed as much, is dipping dangerously low. He takes a step back from the front lines, allowing Bill and Joe to continue fighting as he Stamina recovers. From a quick check of his character sheet, it looks like he¡¯s already nearing the maximum points for this level, which is just as well since he¡¯ll be spending some of these newfound points on better equipment, items which won¡¯t count towards the maximum number of points that he can earn here. On the plus side, he mused, the stat increases he had undergone during his small town quests had really paid off wonders, even for his unoptimized Stamina.
Name Trystan Hunter Race Human
Age 18 Tier None
New Points 951 Banked Points 6500
Stats
Strength 14 Wisdom 12
Agility 13 Charisma 13
Endurance 19 Willpower 19
Intelligence 14 Luck --
Derived Traits
Mana 218 HP 190
Mana Regeneration 4.8 HP Regen.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. 3.4
Spell Power 20.6 Stamina 160
Accuracy 27 Stamina Regeneration 3.8
Defense 32 Awareness 26
Abilities
Mana Manipulation (Initiate)
Mana Affinity*
Meditation (Initiate)
Enhanced Mana Regeneration
Enhanced Mana Pool
Mana Bolt
Mana Shield
Equipment
Copper Sword
Copper Chain Shirt
Trystan watches as the two work together, there¡¯s some conflict between them, they definitely haven¡¯t been working together for more than a week. With the power that Bill was displaying it wouldn¡¯t be surprising to Trystan that he had managed to pass through a bit of the Test before failing out, he also likely jumped straight to some of the more advanced spells, which meant his base was likely weaker, but the power displayed was still fairly impressive. As the last large rat fell there is a lull in the swarm, as they seem to hold themselves back for a moment. Then a greater surge forward occurs as a massive manlike rat starts coming out from the back. Joe and Bill look at one another and curse, Joe a bit more emphatically, ¡°Okay kid, we¡¯re going to need your help here. We¡¯ve seen this only happen once before, lost a guy during that battle, so be quick on your feet.¡± Trystan nods as he sees the new blue box information pop open. Rare encounters occurred sometimes, especially when the System felt that the encounter was getting too easy, and the worst of it was that it normally didn¡¯t give much better of a reward.
Quest Update - Clean the Streets - The Final Wave Clean the Streets: A Rat King has come up to see what is causing the death of so many of his people. With the King out of the way the streets will be clean again...for a time. Completion Requirements: Destroy the final wave and defeat the Rat King. Reward: 50 points. 10 Silver. Increased reputation in Opiales. 1 piece of starter equipment.
The three of them set their feet and prepare for the swarm as it approaches. Bill¡¯s fireballs flash out across the horde, thinning them out slightly, as the huge blade swung by Joe reduces more of the swarm. Trystan¡¯s blade flashes out killing singular rats that make it through the devastation, for a time it looks like they have it handled, then the manlike rat and his assortment of large rats of unusual size hit that front line. Their claws and bites drawing blood and the three men¡¯s health starts dropping quickly. Trystan dodges the best he can, his health already down below half. His blade continuously flashing out and his Stamina was dangerously low, soon he¡¯d either be completely unable to move or have to start drawing on his mana to attack instead. Bill curses again as the Rat King manages to land a solid blow on his, his arm dangling uselessly from the damage just received. Joe releases a battle cry which seems to stun the surrounding rats for a moment and strikes down with his blade, causing the Rat King significant damage, enough to give it pause. Trystan raises and hand, gathering mana and starting to shape the Mana Bolt spell in his mind. It was a single target spell, so not much good against swarms, but with just the King and the few large rats to go after not, it might make the difference. It will give away one of the cards he was keeping up his sleeve, but they seemed more dedicated to protecting him than he had imagined, maybe he was completely wrong about them. Trystan releases the charged mana bolt into the side of a large rat right as it was about to bite through Bill¡¯s other arm. The rat flies off to the side with the force of the impact of the bolt and Bill spares a quick glance towards Trystan, giving a grateful nod as he continues his fight with the other rats. Slowly between Bill¡¯s magic, Joe¡¯s sword, and Trystan¡¯s mana bolts, the larger rats are put down leaving only the Rat King. It looks at the three and growls something that Trystan cannot understand before his size grows in front of them. His already large teeth growing and becoming serrated, his claws enhancing, and his fur seeming to take on a rusting metallic color. With a roar, it comes down attacking all three of them at once. His claws striking towards Bill, his teeth at Joe, and then his long tail coming down quickly at Trystan like a whip. Trystan stumbles away as a large chunk of his remaining health is drained quickly. Then the rat curls up for a moment and its hair seems to quiver for a moment before it¡¯s hair start shooting out like metal needles around the surrounding area. The stone of the walls and street chip and smoke fills the air as the impact of the raining needles hit everywhere, a few hit Trystan dropping his health to critical levels, while both Bill and Joe seem to struggle with the impacting needles as well. Bill thrusts a hand forward and a fountain of flame erupts into the body of the Rat King, it screams in agony as Joe slices off one of its arms, and finally a charged Mana Bolt from Trystan puts it down.
Quest Completed - Clean the Streets - The Final Wave Reward: 50 points. 10 Silver. Increased reputation in Opiales. 1 piece of starter equipment.
Trystan stands trying to regain his breath, Stamina, and Mana when Joe looks over to him with an unnerving smile. ¡°Good job boy, good job. Now that that¡¯s over, you should be nearly maxed out, right?¡± He says with a widening grin. ¡°We should be good to go then.¡± Joe starts walking towards him, his blade out, and that unnerving smile just staying on his face. ¡°What equipment did you end up getting?¡± He asks, his eyes never leaving Trystan¡¯s body, then he shrugs slightly, ¡°Nevermind, don¡¯t answer that, I like surprises.¡± He says as he draws closer to Trystan. ¡°I¡¯d say sorry, but..you don¡¯t really need apologies where you¡¯re going, so instead, thanks for the points.¡± Joe¡¯s smile widens as he raises his blade and takes the last step needed to get into the range of Trystan. ¡°No!¡± a surprising voice calls out, Bill¡¯s voice Trystan realizes. ¡°Dammit Joe, he saved me, and I told you I didn¡¯t want to do this shit anymore.¡± Trystan blinks for a moment as Joe pauses, and then Trystan scrambles back away from Joe. Joe raises a hand towards Bill and waves him away, ¡°Then go on out of here, I ain¡¯t letting any of those points get away.¡± Bill shakes his head, ¡°I told you I wouldn¡¯t be involved, and you know that. The only reason I had told you he was lying about his points was because you had promised me that from now on we¡¯d actually just help them.¡± Joe looks with disgust to Bill, ¡°You can shut up, or you can also be one of them, don¡¯t think that us being grouped up by the main man means that you¡¯re gonna be safe out here.¡± Joe then tilts his head the side and shrugs, ¡°Ya know what, that¡¯s actually a good idea, your lucky day boy,¡± he says to Trystan as he quickly pivots on Bill, bringing his sword slashing across his chest, ¡°Looks like you murdered my partner for the points and I got revenge for the guild, that story will sell itself.¡± He grins as his blade digs into Bill¡¯s flesh and Bill goes flying off to the side, a shower of blood from his wound spraying the alley. Trystan starts charging up a Mana Bolt when his eyes widen and he sees Bill staggering back to his feet, an empty bottle falling to the ground and shattering as he stands, ¡°Consider our partnership done then.¡± He says simply as a roar of flame washes out and over Joe. Raising the massive blade in front of him like a shield Joe charges forward and the two begin exchanging sword blow for fire blast, damage slowly building upon both of them. Trystan finishing charging up the bolt releases it and nails Joe in the back, staggering him as he swings the blade into Bill again. Bill on his knees releases another flaming gout into Joe''s face blinding him and Trystan follows up with another mana bolt. Then rushing forward as he realizes that his mana is nearly empty Trystan aims his sword and thrusts the blade through Joe¡¯s neck as a bolt of fire erupts into Joe''s face again from Bill. Dropping to the ground panting Trystan looks at the fallen body of Joe and then over to Bill, his clothing bloody and torn. Bill returns the look, ¡°You saved my life kid, now we¡¯re even. Get out of here, while you can, this is no place for a kid like you.¡± Then Bill slowly drags himself over to the side of the alley and taking out two bottles rolls one over to Trystan and starts drinking the other bottle. ¡°Thank you,¡± Trystan says quietly as he starts drinking the healing potion and his regeneration rate increases drastically. ¡°You know,¡± he starts slowly, ¡°You could come with me? You don¡¯t have to stay here.¡± Bill lets out a rasping chuckle, ¡°Nah kid, I knew what I was getting into, and there¡¯s no other place for me now. Now get outta here before anyone else shows up.¡± Trystan nods, and getting to his feet slowly, he starts the long walk towards the Store, determined now more than ever to get out of here. Chapter 15 - RE:Store Trystan limps his way all the way back to the center of town. While his innate regeneration would eventually heal himself up fully, thanks to the System and its mechanics, the damage was still there for now and he was still feeling every bit of it. He¡¯d have to check and see what healing spells, or regeneration effects he could afford. Trystan grimaces as he thinks, ¡®Been keeping way too focused on getting my magic abilities up there that I¡¯ve completely forgotten to work on rounding out my strengths, ensuring that I am capable of surviving the times to come.¡¯ He shakes his head at himself disappointedly. He had spent so much time planning for his friends and family, thinking about what he wanted to try and do, that he had completely ignored the basics, this would be something he would need to fix immediately. Murmuring to himself as he walks, spotting the store on the corner of the town square, ¡°Okay, so I need an inventory ring, healing potions or abilities, basic support abilities, maybe a System integration item for my more mundane equipment, but it may be cheaper to just purchase each item individually from the System. Definitely needs to pick up Sword Mastery and Armor mastery, even if I¡¯m going magic, I can supplement my magic with physical abilities, round myself out a bit.¡± Trystan checks his event logs, checking to see where he¡¯d end up with his points, he nods to himself a couple of times as he starts skimming through the point rewards, a few points from the big rats, a few from the small rats, and then he pauses and does a double-take, ¡°That can¡¯t be right.¡± He says to himself as he reviews the line for a second time.
Rat King Defeated: 5 points awarded. Total Points: 1001
Then his eyes go wide as he sees the total increases further past the current Floor limit to 1051 when the quest went through. That can¡¯t be possible, there was a hard limit to the points you could gain on each Floor. He thinks furiously, no, he didn¡¯t have any items or abilities that let him bypass that restriction, not that he had heard of anything that would do that. He continues to think about it as he walks towards the Store. There had to have been something that would let the System break a fundamental rule like that. As he steps through the door to the Store and into its¡¯ dimensional pocket he wonders if maybe the Store Keeper will know the answer to the question, not that they normally answered many questions, but hey, he could always try, the worst they could do was say nothing. He then pulls up his current point total, he knew he had to have gotten some points from Joe, he just didn¡¯t know how much got split between the two of them. He whistles slowly as he sees the result, Joe must have taken down a few people so far, total, he had 21,341 points available to him. With the 1,051 he had from the Floor, and the 6,500 banked points, meant that he had gained almost 14,000 from Joe, now, he didn¡¯t know exactly how the points he had were split, generally, it was a damage based split, bit still, that meant he had either kept a ton of points banked, or had gained quite a few points from others during his time in Opiales. He spots the man standing behind the counter, one of his blue-skinned hands seems to be idly tapping on the side of the counter as he waits for Trystan to approach the counter. Glancing around the Store as he approaches, he sees that the Store seems to be well-stocked, which was helpful, likely one of the reasons that the Chosen had set up shop in Opiales. Later on, they would move on, or at least he assumed they would, he had never known that they had ever been set up in Opiales. He shakes his head wryly, so many things that he wished he had paid attention to the first time around, things he would have had he known what was going to happen. Stepping up to the counter he smiles to the Store Keeper, ¡°Good evening,¡± he reaches out a hand in greeting, ¡°Trystan, you are?¡± The Store Keeper slowly takes the hand and shakes it while answering, ¡°You may call me Scott. What is it that I can show you today?¡± Trystan smiles again, ¡°I¡¯ve got a need to purchase some equipment, looking to see your inventory rings, healing abilities, regeneration abilities, and healing items. I¡¯d like to take a look at how much a System Integration cube will cost. Finally, I¡¯d like to take a look at available Support Abilities and Sword Mastery.¡± Scott nods while and a pre-filtered Blue list appears in front of Trystan.
~~Standard Items List~~ (* Inherited Ability Discount Applies.)
Name Cost
Inventory Ring (Small) 500
Inventory Ring (Medium) 5,000
Inventory Ring (Large) 10,000
Healing Potion (Light) 50
Healing Potion (Moderate) 300
Healing Potion (Serious) 750
Regeneration Potion (Minor) 500
Regeneration Potion (Major) 1,500
Ring of Regeneration (Minor) 10,000
System Integration Cube 1,000
Trystan looks over the list and makes a mental note that it¡¯ll probably be a couple of Light healing potions and a small Inventory ring. He then moves that list to the side to look at the pre-filtered Abilities list.
~~Standard Abilities List~~ (* Inherited Ability Discount Applies.)
Name Cost
Armor Mastery (Initiate) 5,000
Elemental Item Imbuement (May be Selected Multiple Times) 5,000
Mental Magnificence 10,000
Physical Perfection 10,000
Sword Mastery (Initiate) 5,000
Troll Regeneration 10,000
Elemental Affinity (May be Selected Multiple Times) 10,000
Spellstrike (Initiate) 5,000
Nightvision (Initiate) 1,000
Spatial Awareness (Initiate) 5,000
Lie Detection (Initiate) 2,500
Armor Crafting (Initiate) 5,000
Weapon Crafting (Initiate) 5,000Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Enchantment (Initiate) 25,000
Cooking (Initiate) 5,000
Spell - Alarming Ward (Initiate) 5,000
Spell - Burning Hands (Initiate) 5,000
Spell - Cure Light Wounds (Initiate) 5,000
Spell - Detect Living (Initiate) 5,000
Spell - Detect Magic (Initiate) 500
Spell - Fast Healing (Initiate) 5,000
Spell - Fireball (Initiate) 15,000
Spell - Mage hand (Initiate) 500
Spell - Magic Circle of Warding (Initiate) 15,000
Spell - Mending (Initiate) 500
Spell - Message (Initiate) 500
Spell - Mirror Strike (Initiate) 5,000
Spell - Prestidigitation (Initiate) 500
Spell - Shocking Grasp (Initiate) 5,000
Trystan looks at it, either Troll Regeneration, or the Regeneration Spell and the Healing Surge Spell, as well as Sword Mastery. He had just enough points to afford those. Well and still leaving some points available for other items, shaking his head he resolves to not purchase anything until he has reviewed everything and made the best choices possible. Thinking for a moment Trystan starts to pull up the detailed information on the abilities available to him and then stops and looks to the Store Keeper. Given that he was likely to spend most of his points now, and the normal maximum he could have stored on the First Level of the Tower was a thousand points, it was imperative that he understood why he was able to gain more points than the maximum he had on the first run through. ¡°Excuse me, Scott? I was wondering something, would you know of any reason why an individual would be able to bypass the normal restrictions on Point gain based on Tower level?¡± Scott looks at Trystan for a moment and then nods slowly, ¡°I might have that information. Though,¡± and he gestures with a hand as if waiting for something, ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much I actually remember.¡± Trystan thinks for a moment and then puts a couple of silver into Scott¡¯s hand. Scott takes the coins and slides them deftly into his pocket. ¡°Oh yes, the Point limitation can be overcome by the murder of your fellow Adventurers, as well as gaining Tower First achievements and the inheriting of certain Tower legacies. Though you wouldn¡¯t be able to access even the foyer of the Tower¡¯s library at this level so it is likely one of the first two situations which would cause it to occur.¡± Trystan smiles and nods to himself, so the Tower''s First bonus points were assigned as over the normal Tower cap. In the long-term, it actually may be best for him to save up all of his points and focus on the Tower First achievements, but that would take longer than he wanted, and as was proven today, he really couldn¡¯t count on being able to survive with just his knowledge, he would need to spend his points and gain abilities to actually be able to protect himself and his family and friends. Focusing back on what Scott had said he tilts his head and focuses on the Library comment, ¡°Wait, where is the Library, and what does it have to do with inheritances?¡± Scott winces for a moment and waits as if expecting something and then slowly responds, as if tasting each word before it is spoken, ¡°The first entrance to the Library can be found on the 2nd level. It is the most common way to gain more knowledge about inheriting Tower legacies.¡± Scott, seemingly to feel as if he was safer to speak begins speaking in a far more normal tone, ¡°There are of course other ways, but generally you don¡¯t see those until later levels in the Tower. Common is, of course, relative, very few people ever actually come into contact with an inheritance, and fewer yet ever actually pursue them. There is always a danger associated with them and what they stand for, far too many have...¡± Suddenly Scott stops speaking, a blue sparking jolt seemingly to cover his body and his eyes glow with the System blue for a moment before returning to his natural color. ¡°That is all the information I can provide for you at the moment valued customer. Please continue your purchase.¡± his words come out with a wisp of pain laced through them. Trystan winces and says softly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± but Scott doesn¡¯t seem to respond other than gesturing to the translucent blue screens in front of him. Trystan turns to the lists in front of him he decides to take a closer look at Troll Regeneration and Fast Healing, try and gauge the differences between the two.
Troll Regeneration - Initiate The most effective of healing abilities, Troll Regeneration decreases your base healing time and increases hit points recovery. This ability also generates a passive defense against most natural causes of damage that occur over time. IE: Bleed, poison, etc. Description: Increase Hitpoint recovery by 100%. Increase the rate of recovery by 50%.
Fast Healing - Initiate A basic healing ability, this spell infuses the target¡¯s body with positive energies encouraging healing speed to increase with a slight increase to healing amount. Description: Increase the rate of recovery by 50%, modified by spell power. Increase Hitpoint recovery by 25%, modified by spell power. Duration: 1 hour Cost: 10 Mana
Trystan muses for a moment, Troll Regeneration would likely be the better pick, but Fast Healing could definitely still hold a candle to it. Ultimately, Troll Regeneration would be better, but the point value being saved by going with Fast healing would allow him to pick up more abilities, which would give him a greater chance of having the versatility required to survive the coming nights. With a sigh, he puts away the Troll Regeneration he had come to love in his first life. Maybe in the future, he would pick it up, when he had more free points, but for now, he would go with Fast healing. He mentally clicks to purchase Fast Healing, and then a Small Inventory Ring. Next, he picks up Sword Mastery, he knew that there was no way he was going to continue along without that. Then he pauses again. He should pick up another couple of higher-level abilities, the max for this level being a thousand means that he would be unlikely to pick them up later. Okay, so he had a ranged attack, and with the Sword Mastery he would have a close-range attack, but if he was going to go spell and sword he should do it correctly, which means Spellstrike and a touch spell. But if he wanted the versatility he would need to get more support based abilities instead. Musing for a moment he finally shakes his head, better to be decisive than not. He would get Spellstrike and some touch spells in later levels, for now, he would focus on being able to hand more areas. Mirror Strike for dealing with multiple enemies at once, Mage Hand for remotely manipulating items without being directly in harm''s way, and Spacial Awareness so that his perception abilities would get a large increase.
Spatial Awareness - Initiate To be caught unawares is to be caught dead. An individual with Spacial Awareness gains a general sense of everything within an area around them, this information increases as their skill within this ability does. This can clash with Stealth-based abilities and spells causing the greater power to win. Description: Gain knowledge of objects and people within a 1m radius.
Mage Hand - Initiate A rudimentary spell allowing for the manipulation of the environment around the caster. It creates a semi-translucent hand capable of manipulating items as if with the caster¡¯s own hands. Description: Generate a force-based hand capable of applying up to 5 pounds of pressure and lifting the same. The range of this spell starts at 10m. Both values are modified by Spell Power. Duration: 10 minutes Cost: 5 Mana
Mirror Strike - Initiate This spell allows the caster to generate consecutive blades of force that strike alongside the wielded weapon at additional enemies within range. Description: Generate 1 additional blade comprised of force energy that will strike 1 nearby enemy with the same damage rating as the wielded weapon. The number of blades and targets increases with Spell Power. Duration: 10 Seconds Cost: 10 Mana
Finally, he looks back at the equipment and purchases three healing potions, leaving him with a measly 191 points remaining. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but he couldn¡¯t do perfect, there were just too many factors that he couldn¡¯t even begin to consider. Instead, it would definitely allow him to survive and react to more situations, which means he would be better able to help others in the future. Trystan sighs, only so much to be done. ¡°Thank you again for your help.¡± Scott simply nods back and hands Trystan over the ring of the three potions. Trystan slips on the inventory ring and stores the potions in the ring quickly before starting to move over the small items into the ring from his backpack, the less weight he had to directly carry the better. Finally, once everything was ready he walks over to the front door and exits, heading back to the Inn. he had enough silver to spend a night in Town before deciding how exactly he was going to make the trek all the way to Riverside. Trystan smiles as he enters the Wandering Inn, the wonderful smell of food and the sound of music filling the air. He hears a short gasp from the barmaid and realizes that his clothing was still fairly messed up from the earlier fight, maybe he should have picked up Prestidigitation instead, or Mending, but he only had so many points. Going over the counter he pushes over a few silver, ¡°I¡¯d like a room for the night and some food if that¡¯s okay. And if you happen to have a laundering service,¡± he pushes over a couple more coins, ¡°I¡¯d love to have my clothes cleaned and potentially repaired.¡± The barmaid nods, ¡°Of course sir. I¡¯ll get you your room key right away, would you like to eat up there or down here?¡± Trystan glances around the room and sees a couple of humans sitting down giving him a discerning look, ¡°I¡¯ll take it upstairs if that¡¯s okay, been a long day.¡± The barmaid nods and hands him the key, ¡°Second floor, two doors down on the left, room 23. If you put your clothes in the basket next to the door we¡¯ll have them cleaned, we may be able to have them repaired, but I won¡¯t know until we get them off of you.¡± She says it matter of factly and then blushes when she realizes what she just said. Trystan just chuckles lightly, ¡°Of course, thank you so much.¡± Heading up the stairs he goes into his room, a smallish room, wooden floors with a small rug, the bed not nearly as comfortable as the one at home, but serviceable enough, and far better than a sleeping bag. It was lit by what appeared to be a small magical light source, and the wicker basket by the door was definitely the one for his clothes. He strips out of his clothes and putting them in the basket and grabbing a fresh pair from his backpack. Not that they were better than the System clothes, but they were comfortable and free, which was the best he could ask for when he was low on points. The food arrives shortly after and his clothes are picked up. He gives a small greeting before digging into the roasted lamb and vegetables in front of him. Once finished, he locks the door and turns to the bed, laying down and ready for sleep at least he drifts slowly into slumber. Chapter 16 - Leaving for Glenfer Trystan yawns and idly rubs away some of the grit in the corner of his eyes as he slowly steps down the stairs towards the main room of the Inn. He had actually gotten a decent night¡¯s rest last night, not having to worry too much about keeping safe while he was sleeping, but he feared this might be the last good night¡¯s rest he got for quite some time. His clothes were cleaned but didn¡¯t seem to be fully repaired, just a few of the smaller tears and cuts, but that wasn¡¯t too much of an issue, he could always get more clothes, or pull them from his bag later. The room below was fairly empty, at least of other humans, apparently, not many people wanted to get up at sunrise anymore. He shrugs mentally, which means he¡¯d get the fresher food at least. Reaching the counter he places down some silver and looks to the barmaid, ¡°Whatever you have available for breakfast would be great.¡± He gives her a smile as she brings out a large plate full of eggs, bread, cheese, and some slices of grilled ham. ¡°Looks delicious, thank you.¡± He says as he takes a large bite out of the warm fresh bread, before devouring the rest of the food. ¡®So much better than rations.¡¯ he thinks to himself as he finishes up the plate. Looking to the Barmaid again he motions her a bit closer, ¡°So, I¡¯m looking to do some traveling out to Riverside. Would you happen to know of anyone who has some quests needed for out that way? Travel missions or whatnot?¡± The Barmaid thinks for a moment, ¡°I think that the local blacksmith is looking for protection going out to the village of Glenfer out in the mountains along the route to Riverside. You do realize that that is a long trip though, it¡¯s about a week just to get to Glenfer on foot, maybe less if you have a horse, but not by much. Riverside is almost a month away.¡± She says this with a concerned look on her face, ¡°The Tower isn¡¯t a safe place and even the safest way, the road has numerous dangers along the way. Don¡¯t you think maybe you should wait a bit, maybe gain some strength before heading out?¡± Trystan smiles at the Barmaid, ¡°Afraid I can¡¯t do that, have to meet up with some people out that way. Though you do have a point about the horse, I might need to see what¡¯s available there. But if Glenfer is along the way, and the Blacksmith is spending coin, well that might be helpful.¡± She smiles and nods back, ¡°Well then, head to the smith and talk to Jo, tell her that Steph sent you to help with her iron request.¡± Trystan nods, wipes his face on the napkin provided, and stands up. He hands her a silver, ¡°Thank you for the help Steph.¡± Trystan stands up as he finishes his meal, and taking one last look around him heads out the door. The Blacksmith wasn¡¯t too far away from here, and she¡¯d likely have a map for sale, one far more thorough and better drawn than the rough one he had managed to get together for the group before the Test had occurred. As he steps out on the street, he begins walking towards the Blacksmith¡¯s building, as they sold their items it was near the town center, but about as far as the buildings could be due to the noise, smoke, and heat that their forging caused at nearly all hours. Trystan follows the tell-tale sound of hammering on metal until he arrives at the front door of the shop. The sign above the door was almost unnecessary when he viewed the massive full plate and greatswords displayed in the window. The price being shown on the tag reminded him why so many people purchased System equipment, System equipment was about ten times cheaper than what you could pick up in any of the non-system stores, but the non-system stores charged in gold or silver, which did change up their costs a little, but still, even his copper chain shirt would have cost over five thousand silver from a blacksmith, more if it was forged by someone whose talents let them apply additional effects on it. As Trystan opens the front door he can see piles of expensive equipment, bins and boxes off to the side with less than perfect pieces, and the few excellent pieces being held up in display above the front counter. The door rings a bell as it closes behind him and the ringing sound of metal on metal stops as a woman wearing a thick leather apron and gloves comes out holding a fairly large hammer. Her hair is hidden by a thick scarf and the scar on her face stands out clearly, one made from a blade, not fire. Trystan glances over her features as he reaches out with a hand with a smile, ¡°Morning Jo, Steph sent me on your way to help out with your iron request.¡± Jo looks down to his hand and then to hers, the thick leather gloves radiating heat and small embers of metal scattered across them still slowly cooling from their red hot state. ¡°¡®Fraid I can¡¯t exactly shake hands right now. But I could always use some extra help.¡± She slowly takes off her gloves placing them on the wooden counter before walking up to him and taking an arm in her hands, gauging the size of his muscles as she glances over him briefly, ¡°Not sure how much help you¡¯ll be though. Seem to be lacking a bit, unless yer one of those casting sorts, then you might be okay.¡± Trystan grins, ¡°I am indeed a casting sort, but I also have some skills in sword work as well. I was told that it might be an escort job?¡± Jo nods as she let¡¯s go of his arm and goes back behind the counter, ¡°Yep. Need some protection getting out to Glenfer, shipments haven¡¯t been coming in and I¡¯ve started to run out of most of the basic ores.Normally I wouldn¡¯t worry about hiring one of ya¡¯ll, but with the missing shipments I gotta be cautious. Payment will be 10 silver a day, so 70 silver, plus 20 silver if we run into anything dangerous. Should only be a week to get out there, I won¡¯t pay more if you drag your feet and slow me down, but the base pay will be 70 even if you manage to reduce how long it takes us. Sound good to you?¡± Trystan nods, ¡°Sounds good to me, I¡¯ve got an itch to start traveling as soon as possible, when would we start?¡± Jo eyes him again, ¡°Running from trouble or to trouble?¡± She shakes her head, ¡°Doesn¡¯t really matter now does it. We can leave off in an hour, I¡¯ll get the boy to take over the shop front and go get everything packed. You can wait here, or come back in an hour.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. With that, she turns and walks back out towards the forge yelling as she does, ¡°Boy, ya got work that needs doing!¡± Trystan smiles as he hears the sound of movement in the back, likely metal ingots hitting a bench and tools being hastily put away as a disheveled young man stumbles out of the back. The smell of burnt hair accompanies him and Trystan can see the wisps of smoke rising from the back of his head. Clearing his throat Trystan points to the back of his head while looking at the young man. The young man blinks a few times and then proceeds to pat out the small embers from his head before looking sheepishly at Jo. ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t yes Ma¡¯am me!¡± She nearly yells back at him, with what seems to be practiced amusement. ¡°I¡¯m going to be heading out to check out our supply run. This fella is going to be giving me protection, if I don¡¯t come back hire someone to track him down, if I do come back I expect the store to be in complete working order,¡± She pauses for a moment, ¡°And no fires to have happened. Don¡¯t repeat mistakes and make sure that everyone pays, no loans, no credit.¡± She motions him towards the storage room on the side of the store, ¡°Let¡¯s review real fast, then you¡¯re going to help me get my stuff packed.¡± Trystan shakes his head slightly seeing their interplay and steps outside so as to not cause any embarrassment. He busies himself over the next hour getting supplies for the trip from the local general store, basic foodstuffs, things that would last for a bit, and the few pieces of camping gear that he hadn¡¯t managed to stuff into his backpack. Once completed he heads back over to the blacksmiths, to find her waiting on him, a small cart with a donkey at it¡¯s head and a small pile of supplies in the back. ¡°Took you long enough, you done dragging your heels, or do we need to wait for your beauty sleep?¡± Jo snaps off with humor in her voice. Trystan grins, ¡°I should be ready, I had been looking for a nice face peel, but alas all you¡¯ve got around here is swamp mud.¡± He looks down at the ground as he says this and chuckles lightly. Jo grins and shakes her head, ¡°Smartass. Okay, well I got the cart packed, let¡¯s head on out, going to take time to get there and the spot I¡¯d like to stop at today will take us to the edge of traveling time.¡± Trystan nods and they both start walking out towards the town gates. As they approach the gates he sees Bill standing together with a large group of humans, they appear to be arguing and then they start walking towards the center of the town again. Trystan ducks to the other side of the cart quickly, keeping it between them as he overhears snippets of their conversation. ¡°Damn bastard got Joe, his last message let us know who the mark was, and we know he was seen at the Wandering Inn earlier.¡± Bill looks depressed as he responds, ¡°Just leave him be guys, I already told you what happened, besides, even if he was involved with Joe¡¯s death it would be because Joe took a risk he shouldn¡¯t have right?¡± The other men spit onto the ground, ¡°Shaddup Bill, we all know what you did, and the only reason you¡¯re still breathing is cause the Boss still needs you around for your particular talents. So get in line or we¡¯ll show you what can be done without jeopardizing your abilities.¡± Bill grimaces as they continue down the road and the group passes the cart. Bill¡¯s eyes widen for a moment as he and Trystan catch each other¡¯s eyes for a moment, but then he look away and continues walking, ¡°Fine, let¡¯s just get this over with, he¡¯s probably still sleeping off yesterday at the Inn.¡± Trystan breathes out a sigh of relief as they continue away from him and he and Jo make it out through the Town gates. Jo looks at him sideways, ¡°So definitely running from trouble, well as long as you don¡¯t bring it down on me who am I to care about such things.¡± Trystan nods slowly as they start down the path towards Glenfer, there¡¯s a bit of silence for a while before Jo speaks up again, ¡°Got a safe camping spot about 6 hours out, if we take a break for lunch, water, and necessities but otherwise keep moving we should be able to make it prior to lights going out. Not that anywhere is completely safe, but I¡¯ve used it on occasion and it¡¯s fairly defensible, and hidden from the main road, so one doesn¡¯t have to worry as much about any of the threats on the road.¡± Trystan nods, ¡°I¡¯ve got a few pieces of equipment to help out with that as well. But always good to have a prepared spot to rest. I¡¯ll make sure to not drag my feet on getting there.¡± Jo nods as they continue down the road, only stopping a few times for food, water, and necessities, before finally arriving, right as the light started to die from the sky, at the camping spot of Jo¡¯s choice. The spot was apparently a small cave off to the side of the road, behind a small grove of trees and large bushes, very easy to overlook if one wasn¡¯t looking for it and didn¡¯t know that it was right there. Tell-tale remnants of old campfires show that it wasn¡¯t completely out of use, but nothing that appeared to be too recent. Trystan immediately begins setting up his early warning traps around the entrance to the small cave, and looks around for a good spot to set up his tent. There wasn¡¯t too much that could be done to keep them from being seen if anything smelled them out, or poked their head into the case itself, but he would still try to be as prepared as possible. Finally, once everything is finished being set up he sits down to enjoy a small meal of the fresh food that he has picked up. Jo, who has remained fairly quiet up until this point finally starts speaking to him, in between mouthfuls of food she had prepared for the trip. ¡°So, I know yer running, but do you know where to yet?¡± Trystan nods, ¡°Having to make it out to Riverside, have family and friends who should be meeting me there and I don¡¯t want to disappoint.¡± Jo blinks at him for a moment and then slowly shakes her head, ¡°That¡¯s a mighty bit of traveling to be done, clear across on the other side of the country. Plenty of danger and mysteries in between here and there, you considered hiring out onto a larger traveling group to try and get there safely?¡± Trystan nods, ¡°Yeah, but bigger groups also mean larger targets, I expect a smaller group, even just me by myself, will draw far less attention than going out with a large caravan, the extra protection of the additional people doesn¡¯t outweigh the security concerns caused by that same thing.¡± Jo nods, ¡°That might be right, so what made you decide to do an escort mission with me then?¡± Trystan ponders for a moment, ¡°Well, Steph sent me your way, smaller group, local and more likely to be trustworthy, and I do still need to earn my keep while I make my way over, I¡¯m just going to try and be careful about what jobs I take.¡± Jo smiles, ¡°Well sounds like you have something of a plan then boy, not quite what I was expecting, but good enough answers.¡± She finishes off her meal, ¡°I¡¯ll take first watch and wake you when it¡¯s time to switch. She ensures that the cart and donkey are properly stowed and settled and sends Trystan off into his tent to sleep. Trystan slips into his tent and closes his eyes, falling to sleep quickly to the sound of the crackling fire and the donkey chewing on its own meal.