《The Tower of the Magi》 Birth of the Tower: Prologue "Good afternoon passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles. We are now inviting passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you." Just a few hours more till warm weather, sunny beaches, and all the women I can oogle at. Glad my wife isn''t coming. I hope it isn''t a noisy flight. I want to get there without a migraine. I absolutely can''t wait. I''m in seat 31G and the first group to board the plane. The minutes pass by quickly. It isn''t too long before it''s time for regular passengers to board and I''m getting cozy in my chair. There isn''t anyone directly next to me and I can do whatever I need with the space. Bliss. I feel a jolt and look out the window. The plane is taking off finally. A few minutes after take offI hear a few shoutscoming from the front of the plane. Probably some rich asshole complaining about the warmth of his nuts. Hehe. I ignore it as do most sensible people. Some people are trying to see whats going on. I just wanted to relax. I hate noisy flights. "We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you''ll be O.K. We are returning to the airport." What the hell does that mean? We have some planes? Duh. You''re a goddamn airline. Why the hell are we going back to the airport? We just took off. Is something wrong with the plane? Wait wait wait... Stay quiet? The fuck is going on? "Nobody move. Everything will be okay. If you try to make any moves, you''ll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet."If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Everyone froze. All confusion stopped. A slow murmer built up in the crowd. Then all hell broke lose. My wife. I have to call her. To tell her I love her. To tell her something. Shit where is my phone. Shit shit shit I can''t think straight here. My hands are shaking. I''m absolutley terrified. I''m seeing stars and I don''t know what to do. People are getting through to there families. A lot of women are crying. I don''t know whats going to happen. "Nobody move, please. We are going back to the airport. Don''t try to make any stupid moves." We are totally going to die. We would have landed by now if we were going back. The airport isn''t even out the window. I don''t know what to do. The minutes are ticking by increasingly slower. Snot is on my shirt and I''m one of the better looking ones right now. Nobody knows how this is going to play out. Then something unexpected happened. Everything stopped. The plane wasn''t moving. Nobody else was moving. Hell I wasn''t moving. I wasn''t even breathing. I could think but that was it. Then I heard a voice in the deepest parts of my soul. "My dearest sentients, you all are so very far apart. It is all so dreary. How about we play a game?" That was the last thing I ever heard.
The tower rose up from the bottom of the ocean right in the middle of the pacific. The entire world shook and the oceans froze. People were dying in droves. The only safe haven was the tower. Everyone who could, flocked to it. Everyone who could, entered it, Everyone who couldn''t, died. The only thing ushering them in. Were the same words they heard before, followed by: "Welcome to The Tower of the Magi." White tower by Linum7, found on pinterest. Coming of an Age: One "Hey! Wait up!" Shouts ajogging dwarf. "Haha, you''ll never make it on time with those slow legs of yours!" An elf says, effortlessly gliding along the ground. "She''s right. This is what you get for not doing the nightly strength and stamina trainings." A lumbering orc spits out. "I''m a dwarf! We run slow! Bahhh... Just wait... for like... 30 seconds... Oh I''m gonna die. I told you I wanted to be mage!" "Mages have big staffs. Can you even carry that?" A nearby human says. Both the elf and dwarf burst out laughing. I couldn''t take it anymore. I took an alley and got away from all that nonsense. I''ll take the side streets to school. There''s only 3 more days until final class selection and we''re finally going to learn all the requirements for whatever class we choose. I don''t know why they make it such a big deal. All the most famous climbers are either Spellswords, Dark Knights, or Templars of the Night. Spellswords are pretty self explanatory. Take your classic fighter. Give him buffs to make him run faster, make him a bit stronger. Put his sword on fire. Bam. Spellsword. Dark Knights are a bit of a different ball game. These guys love armor. The heavier and bulkier, the better. Tower shields. Giant swords. Strength and armor is their jam. They can definitely take a punch or two though. Plus with the dark stat they can phase in and out of shadows to dodge attacks, keep bosses focused on them with taunts and use shadow chains to lock them down. Pretty neat ability. Templars of the Night. Now when I first heard that. I thought shiny black armor. Nope. Not even close. These guys are assassins. Through and through. They love to stab all the beasties that get in our way. Most of the blood thirsty people go for them. They don''t have magic though. Use internal energy and stuff to make their weapons stronger and do all kinds of weird stuff. Almost like martial artists. Another popular one. Magic takes on many forms here in the tower. Enchantments, fireballs, lamps, runes, internal energy, yaddah yaddah. All that stuff is magic. Though most of the pure magic classes die young. The warriors and such are all fighting beasties up close with the caster and healer in the back right? What about the beasts that like to hide for a bit? Free mage meal. Yum yum. Happens all the time from what I hear. Healers not so much. Need those to survive so people watch em a bit more. Not that any of those matter to me. I have absolutely no idea what class I''m gonna end up choosing. There are hundreds of choices. Each specialized to do just about anything. All are usefull in at least one scenario or three. Although that could be as much as you''ll ever get used. In a tower filled with endless scenarios. Everyone has a shot at the big time right? If only. I''m not that naive. With an audible sigh I keep trudging on to school. Not much else to worry about until they give us more information. Only a few more blocks to go. I turn onto a new street. My world is about to turn upside down in a few days. Seems so calm right now. I pass by the Lighthouse. The Lighthouse offers us a way to travel between floors we''ve beaten the boss at before. We can go to any floor that''s been cleared at least once as long as those who''ve cleared it take people with them but no one can leave the town. The only exception to that rule to that is the classless. We are stuck on floor one until age 18 when we pick a class. Only adults climb the tower. Although the age is different for every race. Elves don''t get to climb till 60. A few types of beastman climb at age 5. Scary right? I''m already 18 and just waiting to graduate with the current group of students. Maybe one or two of us will make it past floor 50. Unfortunately, it rarely happens. We''ve spent the past 850 years in this tower. Learning everything we possibly could. And we''ve only made it to floor 62. Officially it''s 854 Tower Years. Everyone''s suns revolved at different paces so it''s only 300 days though. All languages were unified into a single one all those years ago. It''d be hell to try and remember 30 something languages. Old human ones, Elven, the gutteral tounges, Orcish, Dwarven, whatever the reptiles used to speak in if you consider that a language. So much easier now. The Great Magi was immensely powerful. I take shortcut through an alley. Another two blocks on the other side and I''m at school. Plenty ahead of schedule.There''s an old man wrapped in blankets in the corner. I hope he doesn''t bother me. "Pssst, hey there little one. Where might you be going on such roads?" The old mans voice whispers. Uh oh. Not good. I know I our school isn''t in the best part of the floor but I really can''t do this now. "Listen I don''t have any money. I''m just on my way to school. Please, just let me go." I say frantically.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "Now where did you come up with the idea that I wanted money?" The old mansteps out from the shadows. "The tower has plenty available to those who climb. You don''t climb. Not yet anyway." I can''t argue. He''s right. We are only provided the most minimal of funds by those chosen to teach us. We don''t even get to stay with our parents on whatever floor they birth us on past age 6. Then we''re teleport butt naked into the Lighthouse on floor one. Not that I ever knew my parents. I was an orphan. The only human in my orphanage too. "What is your name boy?" Relieved I say, "Cole. My name is Cole." "No last name huh? Well you see Cole, I have something for you." A blanket covering the bottom of the old mans face shifts slightly. Revealing a wrinkly, toothy grin. "A gift. Something that will change everything for you, but there is a catch. As with all good things." I don''t know whether to run or actually hear him out. I have to admit I am somewhat interested. "What i-is it?" I barely utter. He grins once more. "The tower gives us weapons and armor. Beasts are aplenty for food. Trees can be cut for fire and houses. Money is given for completing floors."His smile darkens and he takes on an aggressive tone. "Yet one more resource eludes us. Just one that we can never gain more of. Do you know what that is,boy?" He nearly spits out at me. I barely manage to shake my head. His voice takes on a musical quality and deepens impossibly. "Time. It''s time, and now I offer it to you. Take this mantle from me, for I grow weary." Confused and scared, I only manage to nod in fear. "Good. You''ve accepted. Now my dearest sentient. Embrace Eternity." The last thing I remember was his smile. A sadone.
I sit up with a jolt, my head pounding and vision blurring. "Where am I?" I ask to the darkness and trash littering the alley. No one is around me anymore. I can hear the sounds of life on the streets. The markets calling out wares nearby. Wait... markets? The markets don''t open till Midday. I was on my way to school way before then. "Ah shit! How long was I out!?" I get up and start running. At least I attempt to anyway. I immediately fall right back down. These are the 3 most important days of school and I can''t miss them! I try to move again and that''s when I notice I have a blinking icon at the bottom right corner of my vision. I''m not suppose to gain access to the interface until I pick a class, 3 days from now on graduation day. Yet there it is. We are taught to use voice commands to navigate the interface until I change it in my settings. What was the notification one again? Ah yes. I''m dumb. "Notifications!" My vision swam one again.
Warning! Someone is forcibly changing your race and class! Race Human removed. New race: Eternal Class added. New class: Voidwalker
Access to interface granted. Updating settings. Named updated: Cole Koufax Congratulations. Have a good climb!
Recieved new buff: Touched by the Void. (Permanent) -Void abilities are increased by 100% Recieved new buff: Timeless. (Permanent) -Will only age whenAge setting is toggled on. Default is off. Recieved new buff: Open ended. (Permanent) -Offers additional choices for rewads and paths to new floors. Recieved new buff: Experience Boon. (Permanent) -Experience recieved increased by 5% Recieved new stat: Void -Grants access to Void magic. Higher levels grant more powerful magics. -Grants access to Void energy. Higher levels grant more powerful bonuses. -Can only learn void based magic skills and energy skills. Recieved new magic skill: Void Blast -Sends out a blast of void damage (Magic Affinity + Void stat) -If used on self or party member heals proportionate amount of damage. Received new enchantment skill: Void Infusion -Adds void damage to current weapon. (Half Void stat) -Adds void touch to current tool. -Equipment crafted with void touched tools grant Touched by the Void buff for the wearer. This is a stackable effect. Received new energy skill: Void Palm -Adds void damage to martial arts (Half Void stat) Recieved new passive: Battle Affinity -Increases resistance to mind altering affects. -Keeps the mind clear in stressful situations. Received new passive: Voidwalker -Grants an additional 2 Void per level. -Grants an additional 2 stat points per level. -Grants an additional 10 Mana per level. -Grants an additional 10 Energy per level. -Grants increased bodily regeneration.
Holy shit. What just happend to me? It looks like I just become the best class ever. I doubt any of the others I''ll look at will have these bonuses. I could become anything with these abilties. Magic, martial arts, healer, hell even a crafter. I could do anything with this. I don''t even have time to think over everythingbefore I hear the noon bell. I am astronomically late and I have to burst out running toward class. I''ll have missed the exit speech and probably the first few workshops. I stop right before I leave the alley. Wait. I already have a class right? That means I could leave the floor right now. Never going back to school sounds so tempting. There is still the bonuses from the workshops though. Skills and magic spells. Not to mention armor and a weapon. Alright I''m going brain, I''m going. I make my way toward the final few days of classes still. No idea what excuse to use. I''ll just wing it. Usually works. School House Rock: Two I can see the school building from here. Just need another minute to get there. I need to check my settings to work with mental commands before I get there or I''ll go insane not being able to figure out what I want to do with these workshops. I can gain actual skills for free! If they find out I somehow have a class already I''ll get locked away and questioned for eternity. That''s actually a possibility now too! "Settings." I whisper and a box that takes up a good chunk of my vision appears.
Settings Visual Settings Interface Settings Character Settings Inventory Settings Specialty Settings Select a setting to view additional information.
Uhh. Interface settings maybe? I don''t have time to explore it all. "Interface settings."
Settings Visual Settings Interface Settings Character Settings Inventory Settings Specialty Settings Voice Commands: Yes Mental Commands: No Physical Commands: None set
There we go! I don''t remember how to activate it. Let''s see. I think I just say yes instead of no? "Mental commands. Yes."
Command not recognized. Do you need help? Yes / no
"Yes." That''s a relief at least. The system isn''t incompetant! I''m sure my bad memory has nothing to do with it.
To change a setting. Simply say or think "Change" followed by the setting. If the setting is a toggle, it will change for you automatically. If the setting requires something to be set, it will then ask you to specify what is to be set, then a message asking for confirmation once set.
Well that''s fairly straightforward. "Change mental commands. Change voice commands."
Settings updated.
Alright now to continue on to school. I can figure out the rest of them later in my workshops.
I notice as soon as I get close to the school that the yards are full of other students visiting workshops and being taught about skills. Students can''t perform them yet but we can get an idea about it for when we pick our class. Well, most students can''t perform them. I already have a 3 skills I can perfom. Speaking of skills. Let me check my character sheet now. Oh look there it is in my vision.
Name: Cole Koufax Race: Eternal Class: Voidwalker
Level: 1 Age: 18 (18) Experience: 0/1000
Energies Health: 110 Power:140 Mana (Void): 110 Energy (Void): 110
Stats Strength: 12 Dexterity: 13 Physique: 11 Wisdom: 14 Intelligence: 12 Stamina: 14 Magic Affinity: 10 Energy Affinity: 10 Void: 20
Magic skills: Void Blast
??Energy Skills Void Palm
Enchantement Skills Void Infusion
Crafting Skills None
Passive Skills Battle Affinity Voidwalker
Buffs Experience boon (5%) Touched by the Void x1 (100%) Open Ended Timeless (On)
This damnable interface is gonna get on my nerves with all this vision blurring as it appears. I hope I get used to it. Or better yet, it appears as a box in front of me instead of in my vision. The box immediately vanished and reapeared floating in front of me. "Oh that''s convenient." Why didn''t it mention that sooner?
You didn''t ask.
I''m just gonna ignore that now and move on. My character sheet! I feel so... average... but those skills! I don''t know what void is but I definitely can''t wait to try them all out! My energies and stats are a bit weird though. Strength obviously determines how strong I am and how much I can carry in my inventory. Lots of items have requirements. Dexterity makes me move faster and attack faster. Physique is how healthy I am. My Health energy is physique times ten! Wisdom affects my ability to understand skills I''m trying to learn for the first time. Intelligence affects how much information I can gather about different things and how much I can remember. Stamina is basically how long I can go till I run out of steam. Magic affinity is how much mana I have times ten as well as how easy it is for me to learn magic based skills and enchantements. It also determines magic damage. Energy affinity is the same as magic but with internal energy. Void is changes both my magic and energy to void based. I can also now only learn void skills. That''s gonna make things difficult but I guess the stat also grants me new abilities as I level it. I guess I''ll be focusing on that stat every level. *Whack* "Cole. What in the name of the tower are you doing here so late!?" I know that voice. I hate that voice. I''ve heard that voice too many times in my 12 years here. "Answer me now or I''ll make you stay here till graduation next year!" It''s my teacher. Talla. She is especially angry at me today. I have no idea why...Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Talla! I was.. umm.. I was just... you know... overslept?" I say that about as coherently as a Dwarf downing a 6 pint. "Cole, this is day one of the workshops. You haven''t missed much. You only get 3 days of these before you pick a class and we ship you off to fight the boss, that would wipe the floor squeaky clean with you. An 8 year old child would have an easier time winning than you would." Harsh rebukes and degredation. Just the loveliest thing to wake up to every day. Isn''t she the sweetest? "Now I suggest you hurry up and finish a few workshops before you have to leave for the day. Get moving Cole! 3 workshops before the day is out! 3!" She yells at me as I rush through the crowd. There are 3 ways to get skills in the tower. One is through skill books. These skills are ones like fireball, ice spear, or rain. There''s no weather in the tower so we have to create rain through magic. Everything uses magic to survive. The second way to get skills is to discover them. Such as survival. I don''t know exactly how to get it yet but it mostly involves doing a lot of nature stuff over time and eventually you gain the skill. Useful for the ranger type classes. Not really my cup of tea. Finally the last way, and the way I plan to take full advantage of today. Is to be taught by a teacher of high enough level. The only place that so many of them gather in the tower is right here in the floor one school for the classless. You''d think that we would work together to clear the tower, but it''s still every party for themselves. Help no one more than is required if at all. Many people in the tower are quite evil and will kill you for an edge up if they think you can give them one. There''s no law here but the strong survive and the weak provide. I need to get a few basics done if I want to maximize my benefits from these workshops. Easy to get skills or ones I can get on my own should be avoided. They are the most popular to visit right now though. The teacher will show you how to aquire the skill. You follow the steps. In a few days after we get the class. We have to find a place on our own to get the skill. They say it builds character. Bullshit. I''ll take the easy way. Free skills woot! First of all. A weapon. I need to learn how to use a weapon. 12 years here and they only teach us about the tower. How to interact with it, how to avoid dying in it, and why we are climbing. Nothing useful to survive. Can''t do that. One of these kids could grow up and surpass you. That would be awful. I''ll surpass everyone though. I''ll live long enough to outlive everyone..... Damn. I didn''t think of that before. With this new Timeless thing, I''ll literally see everyone I love die and not age a day. Well it''s a good thing I don''t love anyone! I''ll worry about a weapon tomorrow. Let''s learn some skills! What do I want first... let''s see. Cooking? Survival? Blacksmithing? That would be a good one to learn. I would be able to craft weapons and armor as soon as I leave today. Minus materials of course. Speaking of crafting. There''s also tanner, tailor, magic crafter, jeweler, and woodworker. Maybe I''ll grab magic crafter. Make my own magical items. I need another crafting skill along with that though. I should grab something crafting related, I need to make good use of these void abilities. Let''s go with wood worker. I could make a staff or a wand, even a bow! I could make just about anything out of wood really. Some of those elf weirdo''s even have wooden armor and shields. Like that could do more than stop a flying walnut. I make my way toward the crafting section and find the wood worker waving goodbye to a single student. A woad, a type of woodland race. They have treelike qualities. Branches on the elbows, leafy hair. Stuff like that. I can perfectly understand it''s desire to be a wood worker. Other than the woad, there is no one else next to him. Score! Perfect for me to get a skill at! I walk up to him and tap him on the shoulder and in my most polite voice. "Excuse me! Can you please show me how to acquire the wood working skill?" I then bow to show respect. "Hmmm. That is my job, but you are an unlikely candidate. Why is it a hum-... hmmm. Not quite human but nothing I am familiar with. Interesting. Boy I shall teach you what you want to know." I had started sweating halfway through him speaking. I don''t know how he knows I''m no longer human but he does. That means out of everyone here, he is likely the most powerful. Maybe I should just back away now. "Nonsense my boy. Wood working is far more valuable than any of the other crafting skills." For the second time today I''m caught completely off guard by someone far more powerful than me. "What do you think happens when the healer or the mage dies? How do people survive. What about when mana or energy runs out? Wands! They hold whatever spells you have the ability to carve into them! You shall learn them how to make them. I will also teach you magic crafting!" I don''t even want to guess how he knows what I was thinking. Maybe he can read my mind, but that''s not a skill we''re taught exists. My large amounts of sweat could be the answer too but the world doesn''t need to know that. "Please teach me well then...?" I grasp for a name. "My name is Thrum. My level and class you don''t need to know, but I am a magic crafter and woodworker of the highest caliber. Consider yourself lucky boy." He says in an upbeat sentance that speaks of ability not of arrogance. "Then please teach me well Thrum! My name is Cole." I''m excited now. Two of the skills I wanted from one teacher. This is working out great! "What is your last name Cole?" He stares at me. Confusedly I say "I don''t have a last name. I was an orphan." Some orphans do and some don''t. Depends how you ended up an orphan. I was there since day one. The owner gave me my name. "Now, that is where I''m sure you''re quite wrong, but I won''t push you. Onwards to teaching!" He turns and goes to collect his tools and materials. I stand there wide eyed. Completely confused. I certainly don''t have a la... Wait. I do have a last name. That old man in the alley. I had a last name on my character sheet and I didn''t even see it! Quietly I mutter, "Cole Koufax. I''m Cole Koufax now." "Well then Mr. Koufax. You are certainly destined for great things. Be they good or bad." He smiles at me. It''s a sad smile. "On to the lessons now! Wood working is in itself a simple thing to begin with. To gain the skill. You merely need a wood workers knife, some wood, and time. This is only the base of the skill though. Wood working gain branch out into many different areas. Building houses, cutting down trees, making sculptures, all kinds of things. You will learn how to craft a simple wand today." He says in a few long breaths. I didn''t know all of that fell under wood working. All skills are truly extensive afterall, and we are just beginning to learn about them. "Go ahead and take this wood workers knife. It is extremely sharp. I will be giving you this one for free. You need it much more than I do."
Wood Workers Knife Crafting tool +5% carving speed Deals 5 damage Basic quality
That''s my first tool! First weapon too really, but I don''t wanna risk breaking it. He then hands me a relatively straight stick. It''s not stuper thing but not thick either. He beings to guide my hands. "Now slowly remove the bark and keep the blade moving away from you. Wouldn''t want to gut yourself would you? Nice and slow." After about a minute he lets go and let''s me continue on my own. I get a bit worse and mess up a few times. It takes me about 15 minutes before I''ve all the bark off and a good wooden stick in my hand. "How''s this Thrum?" Holding out the soon to be wand. He inspects it for a moment before sighing. "Truly not the work of a master but then again, you aren''t one. It will do. The next step is to shape it. Begin carving the wood once more but along the grain of the wood. Make it shorter and give it a clear hilt. This will be your first wand and you want it to be useable. Whittle it down slowly. Taking small pieces. Small mistakes are easier to fix." He really is a good teacher. Going slow and making sure I know how to do it. "When you do this on your own later. Finding a good piece of wood will be one of the most difficult parts. Drying a random stick from the woods could take several days or weeks. Plus getting rid of any accessories the branch may come with." The piece of wood he gave me was phenomenal too. Already dried and the perfect size. Likely brought just for this task. It takes a good while. I spent the better part of an hour on this step. Being guided and truly having a good bit of fun. Finally as I was about to finish. I got the long awaited message I had been eager to get. I almost broke my wand in half when it happened.
Received new crafting skill: Woodworking Basic -Able to craft basic items out of wood, such as wands or sharp sticks. +10 Experience
Eureka! I have done it! My first free skill! I didn''t even have to dry out any sticks for it. Although my little jump was not unnnoticed. "Interesting Cole. Very interesting. Now that you have a suitable wand. Let us move toward the easiest step of all. Making the wand cast magic! Unfortunately I can only tell you how to gain it and now show you. Since you have to have a class to learn skills." He slows down the last sentance and eyes me very carefully. As if he knows I can learn it here and now. Probably the first person ever to be able to since the laws changed. "All you have to do is hold the wand with both hands, and using a skill from your list by whatever means of commands you prefer. Cast it on the wand. The magic of the tower takes care of the rest. The only requirement is that you had to have crafted whatever you are putting the spell in. Otherwise the item is destroyed." After he finishes saying this, he suspiciously turns around and begins to go through his materials. I suspect he knows exactly what I''m about to do as well. So I do it anyway. Using my mental commands. I cast Void blast on it. It glows with a deep purple energy for a brief moment. It fades just as fast as it appeared. Two new notifications appeared in front of me.
Recieved new crafting skill: Magic Crafter -Adds any spell casted on an item created by the caster to the item, thus creating a magic item. +10 Experience
Void Blast Wand Activating Void Blast with the wand in hand uses a charge instead of Mana. (5/5) Charges left Not reusable Basic quality
My very first wand. The start of many I feel like. Two skills for free and I''m well on my way to becoming a force not to be trifled with! Hahaha! "Now boy, I have taught you all that you may learn from me. Go seek other teachers here. There are many here that would benefit you. Let''s see if you can find them." He says and laughs at me with his jeer. "Thank you Thrum. I will do as you say. I hope to see you again some day!" I turn and leave. It''s time to find a few more skills. I just don''t know what I want to focus on yet. Something that will make full use of my void abilities. Let''s see what this place offers and then I''ll make a gameplan.
Thrum smiles as the boy leaves. Although he is distraught in his heart. He has discovered something he didn''t want anything to do with. A new great one has been forged. The tower is going to change again. Major players will fall and new will arise. He has been here for a long time. It is once again time to watch the chaos ensue.