《The Void Tower》 Prologue Prologue In a giant board room a few dozen or so shadowy figures silently watched a screen for a few moments. On the screen could be seen all of earth. images shifting from a mother pushing two young boys in a stroller in some suburban neighborhood to a couple walking together down a crowded European outdoor market. Images continually flickered displaying all different aspects of human life. Soldiers in green camouflage wandering through forests and workers in a factory producing vehicles. After a few moments, the screen dimmed and faded out and after another moment of silence the figure seated at the head of the mahogany table spoke up. "It seems there''s nothing more to be learned from race 412XK by simply observing them anymore. Include them with the newest batch. We''ll be moving ahead into phase 2 now that we have garnered all the information possible from observation alone on the lower dimension races. We will be moving the last of the races into the Void and purging this dimension. Everyone should have your dossier in front you. Those are your assigned sectors. Let''s make sure this goes smoothly this time.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. All around the world a massive disembodied head appeared over every populated area on the planet. An earthshaking voice could be heard and the world practically shook. The massive head had dark red hair the color of blood hanging down to the shoulders and porcelain pale skin. The masculine face had an otherworldly beauty to it. The hair flowed down slightly wavy and swayed as the figure spoke. ¡°Greetings humans. This is a courtesy to let you know that we no longer have a need for observing your species anymore and that we¡¯ll be transporting you and the rest of your world into the Void Dimension. As a caution I would warn you that during the move we recommend you don¡¯t panic and try to maintain calm. We still need a few things from your race and many of you are going to be weeded out in the initial phases anyways, so let¡¯s not lose more than is necessary. Ah, and one last word of advice. Not everything arrives all in one place, or piece for that matter. Have a nice trip!¡± As soon as the disembodied head ceased speaking the entire earth began to quake. Screams could be heard everywhere and people were jumping over one another trying to find shelter from the earth shattering vibrations rocking the whole world. After a bit more than a minute everything went black simultaneously for everyone one on the planet. Everything ceased its movement and everyone and everything suddenly went completely silent. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Sitting up, or trying to at least, seeing as how my brain felt like it was going to burst through my skull I tried to take stock in my surroundings. Tons of bodies started to stir around me. Ignoring the ringing in my ears I try to find out if anyone else might know what¡¯s going on. ¡°Hey do you have any idea what happened?¡± I honestly don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen such a blank stare. Then it hit me like a truck. I remembered the giant hermaphrodite looking guy speaking and then all of a sudden the whole earth seemed to shake and everything went dark. I could hear people screaming and the fear was almost palpable. I was enjoying a beer with a few friends when half the roof of the bar caved in. The next thing I know I¡¯m waking up here. Finishing that thought I hear the sounds of what seem to be half dead people getting up like this was some sort of morning after a huge frat party. ¡®I need to figure out where I¡¯m at and what¡¯s going on.¡¯ Struggling to my feet I started exploring my new surroundings. There seem to be about a thousand of us inside what appears to be some old castle ruin that are so dilapidated you can see straight through the roof. My mouth begun to hang open as I looked through the ceiling though, because hanging in the sky was a moon almost twice as large and three times as blue as I have ever seen. The entire Northeastern hemisphere on it seemed completely blown off. Colossal chunks of rock strewn about as if decorating the night sky, with stars in every direction. The night sky so clear you can see a giant purple and green nebula spread across the sky. Some of the stars completely blocked out by what seem to be giant landmasses floating around. I could see six or seven just floating up there in the upper troposphere. Other than that however, the castle walls on this lower level are pretty sturdy and there¡¯s only one other entry point where some of the wall has fallen down on one side. Pretty close to where I was standing directly in the back there was a typical medieval throne and on each side there were rafters where advisors and public officials would sit. Opposite the throne was the main entrance leading directly to a drawbridge and on each side of the main entrance was a spiral tower. I started up the left side tower as it seemd the least dilapidated of the two, very slowly. The last thing I want is to die by staircase after surviving whatever-the-hell earth shattering thing just happened to all of us. Even though half of the tower I climbed was missing its walls the staircase itself seemed pretty sturdy and I quickly made my way to the top. ¡°Oh thank god.¡± With a breath of relief I noticed a small village in the distance. It was hard to make out but it looked like the buildings were made out of some pretty solid wood and a pretty sturdy fence wrapped around the whole area. Around the rest of the area below the castle, jungle stretched out as far as I could see and at the very borders along one side were towering mountains. ¡®Now for how to get to that town¡¯. It looks to be about 10 kilometers away and it¡¯ll be pretty hard to make my way there without some kind of mark to follow. ¡°Ah, I know! Just like back on earth I can use a star.¡± Feeling pretty clever with myself I proceed to locate the brightest star I can find directly above the town in the distance. [ Intelligence + 1 ] [ Skill gained Navigation(Basic) ] ¡°Oh you have got to be kidding me?!¡± I must be losing my grip. A blue window box popped up right in front of me informing me that, apparently, I was just as clever as I thought I was. Shaking my head I began to descend back down the stairs. I¡¯m going to need to do a lot of experimenting now. It seems wherever we were taken works completely different than our old world. Just before I passed back down into the main castle from the tower I noticed the tree line begin to shake. ¡°Uh, oh.¡± That¡¯s not a ¡®wind in the trees kind of shake. [ Perception + 1] Swiping away at another popup I make my way back down to warn everybody. ¡°Everyone, something is coming through the forest!¡± Just as I burst into the main room so does a giant panther looking creature followed closely by another 3-5 smaller versions. ¡°RUN! I saw a village not too far from here!¡± I shout as I see the creature rear up on its hind legs and roar as it swipes at the nearest person to the crumbled outer wall section its coming through. They almost all look exactly like normal panthers except they have an additional set of legs close to the forelegs. At the giant ones roar the others seem to have taken that as a signal and begin to pounce on the people closest to them. Each swipe contains enough strength to fully cave in a person¡¯s chest and break there neck. At this point everyone finally seems to realize the gravity of the situation and my shout helps them snap out of their stupor. Everyone begins to panic and run out the main entrance to the castle opposite the panther looking creatures. ¡°The place I saw was this way everyone follow me!¡± With nothing to go on, in a strange place, and in danger it amazing what people will latch onto. I could visibly see the relief on their faces when I mentioned there might be safety nearby. I guess since I¡¯m the only who¡¯s offering any sign of hope everyone begins to fall behind me. Unfortunately, that relief wouldn¡¯t last long. Almost as soon as we got outside of the castles main entrance and across the drawbridge there was a rustle in the trees ahead of us. I could see the creatures yellow slanted eyes bounding forward in darkness toward us. It looked like this was an ambush and they were just rounding us up. This time it seemed much easier to locate them among the trees. Possibly because of my enhanced perception or possibly because I know what they look like now but it seems I was the only one who noticed there presence. I noticed another three of them crouched down waiting for us. ¡°There¡¯s another three of those things ahead of in the trees! Grab some of the rubble our only hope is to knock them down quick enough to get away before the big one catches us!¡± I knew most of them would run away in another direction and sure enough, that¡¯s exactly what happened, however the half of us that didn¡¯t run grabbed some of the rocks lying around and began to charge at the beast. As we neared, it swiped at us just missing with the first claw and barely grazing someone with the second. At the same time catching someone by the arm with its powerful jaws and lifting him up. While he was busy with that a few us made it past his guard and started wailing on it with the rubble we had picked up. Noticing us get in close to him, he threw the mans now lifeless corpse into the sky and it hit the ground with a sickening thud. Right at this point, I got in a good smash to the side of its head as it stumbled over from the impact. It started to flail about but it was too late by this point. The strength of numbers we had overwhelmed it. I just kept smashing its head with my rock turned hammer. I didn¡¯t stop until its body stopped twitching. [ Level Up! ] [ Level Up! ]If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. [ Level Up! ] [ Level Up! ] [ Congratulations you are now level 5! ] [ Base stats increased by 4! ] Looking over I noticed the other groups were wrapping up there kills too. No time to wait here we need to get away from the big one. ¡°Alright everyone follow me!¡± [ Charisma +1 ] [ Skill gained Natural Born Leader ] Just as we started to head out, we all heard death curdling shrieks coming from another direction and I got a sinking feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. Ah, those are the people that ran away in every direction earlier. I guess sticking with a large group of people is better after all. It seems they had more waiting to chase us down if we ran out of their perimeter. I continually lead everyone through the forest toward that little village in the distance. I¡¯d wondered why they had that wall up. I originally assumed it was for defense against other villages but now I knew better. It was for these creatures. Luckily though it seems the walls and buildings had been constructed a long time ago so whatever was out here I was sure they could defend against. Assuming they would let us in at all. Not more than 20 minutes later coming from behind I could hear the pattering of footsteps across the ground. It was much faster than a humans. ¡®Can¡¯t I catch a fucking break?!¡¯ I turned around just in time to see one of the panther creatures snatch one of the slower stragglers out of our pack. I guess they had already eaten their fill and were coming back for more. Screams started sounding out one after another, as we were picked off one by one. ¡®We¡¯ll never make it at this rate!¡¯ We can¡¯t have gone more than halfway toward the town. Shit! After ten more people or so were scooped up, all of a sudden the sounds stopped. I guess they were too busy eating again. [ Stamina +1 ] Alright this tactic is only going to work for another 20 minutes when there not eating anymore. If we hurry that actually might be enough time to make it there with everyone. Well, everyone left. Ducking under a fallen tree ahead I urge everyone forward again. [ Stamina + 1 ] [ Stamina + 1 ] [ Stamina + 1 ] At this point, some of us are starting to give out. Most people in the modern world can¡¯t run at near full speed for half an hour straight, but it¡¯s amazing what adrenaline and fear will do for a persons athleticism. I¡¯m pretty sure that world is gone now though. I hope that not everyone from our world was transported somewhere crazy like this. Just maybe, my friends were having an easier time. My dad, the only one in my family who ever really gave a damn about me in my family, passed away a few years ago from heart attack when I was just 17. I¡¯m turning 25 this year. ¡°I can see light through the trees up ahead!¡± Someone yelled out snapping me out of my reverie. ¡®Yes! We made it!¡¯ Just as I was about to relax a bit I could hear the footsteps coming back again. ¡°Don¡¯t slow down there trying to catch us before we make it to the village!¡± ¡®Fuck, Just how smart are these guys!¡¯ This time though I was used to the sound their footsteps make. I could only hear one set of footsteps and they sounded heavier. They made a much larger thud sound. It wouldn¡¯t be long before it caught up to us. ¡°Oh¡­Shit¡± [ Perception + 1 ] ¡°What¡¯s wrong the village is right there!¡± One of the other people in the group who were able to keep pace with me spoke up. A mid-twenties athletic man with brown hair and eyes green enough to see in the middle of this dark ass night. He had a face that made him look like he played professional hockey. Beat to hell and back, with a build like a football lineman. ¡°I only hear one set of footsteps and it¡¯s the big guys. The smaller ones must¡¯ve eaten there fill already. He¡¯s coming up fast.¡± ¡°James¡¯ is the name. Is there anything we can do? We¡¯re almost to the village. What if we can distract him, would that give these guys enough time to make it?¡± ¡°Zack, and I don¡¯t know man. The only thing he seems to want is us. So unless you¡¯re volunteering our best bet is to just run fast and pray.¡± He seemed to take my advice after that, but it didn¡¯t matter I couldn¡¯t keep up anymore. I already pushed my body past its limit with sheer adrenaline. I started to fall back. My body wasn¡¯t going to be able to handle this speed the next few hundred yards to the finish. Just as we broke through the trees, my feet grew too tired and I tripped falling face first into the dirt sliding to the edge of a puddle. Panting I looked into the puddle and saw myself staring back at me. Deep brown eyes, light brown hair, sharp jawline and a beard that looked like I¡¯d been in this wilderness for a few years let alone less than a day. ¡°I can¡¯t lay here like this. I gotta get up.¡± [ Skill gained Perseverance ] [ Constitution + 1 ] [ Skill gained Iron Will ] [ Constitution + 1 ] I wobbled to my feet on unsteady shaking legs and started forward but just at that moment, the proximity of a loud roar informed me I wouldn¡¯t be making it very far. Still, I got up and started making myself run that last bit to the village. I made it into the lit area around the village when I noticed the rest of my group frantically entering in the large wooden gate ahead into the village. ¡®Good, there going to let us in.¡¯ I sighed in relief. I guess that was my first mistake, seeing as how everyone was getting into the village I must¡¯ve subconsciously started slowing down. The second mistake was not paying attention because this time I didn¡¯t notice until the beast was almost right on top of me, barely a few yards behind me. There was no way I was going to make it all the way there. The beast got close enough to swipe at me like a lion hunting a gazelle. I knew it was coming. Everything was in slow-mo. I was just barely able to shift out of the way of the first one but before I could even take a breath came another. This one grazed my back and I could feel the massive claws sliding through meat and flesh throughout my whole back. ¡°AHHHHHHHHH!!!¡± I screamed out in pain. Gritting my teeth, I kept running. I knew if I slowed down for a second I wouldn¡¯t even have a chance. I didn¡¯t think I did even now but I wasn¡¯t going to go down without giving it everything I had. At some point during this interchange James must¡¯ve come running back to help me because in the next moment I see him barreling past me straight into the beasts chest as he was about to take the next swipe at me. The next thing I know I hear a thunderous sound like when two cars get into a wreck or when football players slam into each other when running across the whole field with all their momentum. James is sent tumbling back toward me the way he came and surprisingly the beast staggers and stumbles a bit. ¡®Yeah good luck tackling that much weight when you¡¯re barely half its size,¡¯ The beast more pissed off than anything roars loudly as it gets up and steadies itself. It¡¯s not hurt much but it does seem like a few hundred pounds barreling into you at full speed might make just about anything pause for a bit. James seems banged up from it but he¡¯s still able to leap to his feet not too worse for wear. Wincing from the pain in my back as he wraps his arm around me and starts helping me to the village, we make it a few more yards before the beast is finally back up on its feet again and heading towards us. Right now, I can see armored guards heading out of the village and start heading our way. I can¡¯t spare enough of my faculties at this point to turn around to see if he¡¯s on our tail anymore or not but I just keep hobbling along trying my best to make it. Right as we make it past the guards I feel safe enough to turn around now and notice the beast had stopped chasing us. It seems like he feels were more trouble than were worth at this point since he stopped right before the guards could get to him. With my eyes blurring and my consciousness fading I stumble through the gate where the guards are herding us through. Just before I make it all the way inside I can hear something. ¡°It¡¯s been fun creature. I hope next time you can provide me with just as much entertainment again.¡± It trailed off with a growl at the end and it sounded like it was right next to my ear. I turn around and notice the beast is staring right at me. His eyes are locked dead into mine. An effervescent yellow, that strikes fear into me. A very long second later, he breaks contact and bounds into the forest as I pass out. Everything growing quiet and dark. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 I awoke in a straw bed covered in an itchy hemp blanket. I jolted up as if my life was in danger since I didn¡¯t know where I was, but I immediately calmed down realizing that I made it into the village. I¡¯m a morning person most of the time but after last night I¡¯m having a hard time getting myself up. ¡°Ah!¡± Remembering what happened with the weird panther boss I tried to turn and look at the spot on my back where he had scraped across. ¡°Eh? Just a large scar?¡± That¡¯s alarming. I must¡¯ve been in a coma for who knows how long for it to heal to this extent. At this point, I realized I don¡¯t have any clothes on save for the few bandages wrapped around my chest and I¡¯ve just been standing and staring at myself for the past few minutes in the middle of someone¡¯s room. A bit embarrassed I search around to find that someone has neatly folded and placed my clothes on a wooden desk in the corner. After dressing myself in what¡¯s left of my shabby torn up clothes from running through a forest in the middle of the night, I start making my way outside the house. Just as I make my way outside the room, I hear some voices. There not quite loud enough to hear but by the tone you can definitely tell that one of them is angry and one of them is apologetic. I inch my way a bit closer trying not to make my presence known. I try to muffle my footsteps and stay behind cover. [ Skill gained Stealth(Basic) ] ¡®I¡¯m really going to have to check out this system when I get out of here.¡¯ Turning my focus back to the matter at hand, I notice that these aren¡¯t humans. There a bit taller than an average human and they¡¯re lightly furred everywhere except the head. They don¡¯t have cat ears but normal human like ones. These two at least have fairly powerful builds. Not like body builders but more like a martial artist. At any rate I can hear their voices much more clearly now, but I have no idea what they¡¯re saying. I try to remember some of the words but it¡¯s in a weird guttural sound that¡¯s really hard to produce. The risks of getting caught listening to them here and the fact that there¡¯s nothing to gain even if I do moves me outside. The air outside is rather chilly and it seems the sun has just barely risen. I¡¯m amazed that I can see my breath in the air even though the surrounding forest has such a tropical feel to it. The sun is a red color and quite a bit bigger in the sky than back on Earth but apart from that it¡¯s pretty similar. There is a bunch of other wooden houses around this area too. Making my way through the village, I saw a few of these furred creatures and apart from a few curious looks most of them seemed to want to avoid me as if I might start attacking them randomly. ¡®I guess the communication barrier is making this situation much more tense than it needs to be.¡¯ Just then, I start some kind of delicious smelling meat reminiscent of a philly cheesesteak and I make my way over to its source. It turns out to be a food vendor and he looks at me questionably and says something in the same sounding language I heard earlier holding up a skewer of meat and some kind of vegetable while holding out his other hand as if to shake mine. My stomach starts growling in anticipation and I start salivating. I don¡¯t know what he wants for the skewer but I have to eat. I must not have eaten in a very long time. I go to grab for the skewer and he scowls at me and pushes his other hand out like he¡¯s trying to shake my hand again. I tentatively grab his hand and a message pops up. [ Trade 10 points with ??? for ??? ] Judging by the pop-up about classes earlier and the message now I guess the system won¡¯t tell me something I don¡¯t know or that im not qualified to know and what¡¯s the deal with these ¡®Points¡¯? Either way I shake his hand. I can¡¯t resist the smell of whatever this is anymore. I just hope it tastes as good as it smells. [ Trade successful ] [ Points remaining - 90 ] This is by far the best tasting food I¡¯ve ever eaten, but then again who knows how long it¡¯s been since I¡¯ve had anything and I¡¯m completely starving at this point. The food thoroughly exceeded my expectations as the delicious meat quickly made its way into my belly. I just stood there dumbly in front of the vendor chewing. That can¡¯t have been a flattering sight and it seems some more furred creatures have come up behind me and I was holding them up so the vendor made to shoo me away.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. [ Skill gained Repli(Basic) ] ¡°Stop¡­line¡± I could suddenly hear him call out. ¡®That should be pretty useful. I guess that makes there race Repli¡¯s?¡¯ Making my way back to the house I originally came out of I realized it was much bigger than the surrounding houses. ¡®Must be the village chiefs¡¯ house.¡¯ The pair of Repli¡¯s that I saw arguing with each other earlier are now standing outside. It looks like they just recently noticed that I was gone. ¡°Was¡­fun¡­wander¡­.village?¡± I could hear with a scowl. Almost on instinct I tried to reply, ¡°Yes, it was.¡± even though I could tell the one who had spoken was being sarcastic. The only thing that came out however was ¡°Yes¡± and some unintelligible sounds. With shock, they both widened their eyes, and so did I. I hadn¡¯t been trying to say yes in their language but apparently I had. ¡°You¡­speak¡­?¡± I couldn¡¯t catch the latter half of that sentence but I knew he was asking me if I could speak their language. ¡°¡­much¡­little.¡± Is what ended up coming out of my mouth after trying a few different combinations of words. After an hour or so of relatively unsuccessful attempts at talking to each other, since I couldn¡¯t understand anything relatively complicated at all¡­ [ Skill Repli(Basic) has been upgraded to Repli(Intermediate) ] ¡°Finally¡­It looks like my Repli¡­skill has increased to a¡­level.¡± I tried to say ¡®conversational level¡¯ but I guess the more complicated words haven¡¯t been learned yet. Either way their eyes once again looked like saucers. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Ah, sorry we¡¯re just¡­ that you¡¯re able to learn the skill so fast. Some of the others like you have¡­ the same skill but they took a bit longer. Well that might also be because we didn¡¯t let them talk with so many people. We were told that you were their leader so we wanted to wait for you to recover before any¡­were made.¡± ¡°Anyway, to try and start again my name is Lossa. I¡¯m the chief in this village and this is my general Amlin.¡± ¡°How have you been feeling since you¡¯ve woken up? I sent some of the villages best healers to work on you.¡± The village chief had a broad chest and an upright posture befitting a typical leader. He carried himself well and had lots of ornamentation on him. The general, Amlin, next to him was quite the opposite. He had the same broad barrel shaped chest but was dressed much more simplistic and had a very rugged look to him. Clearly, someone used to combat. ¡°Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Zach. I¡¯ve been feeling incredibly well since I woke up, almost better than normal even. I¡¯d like to thank you for taking care of me while I was injured. I wish there was more I could do to repay you.¡± The village chief looked concerned. ¡°Yeah, we almost thought you wouldn¡¯t make it, but I¡¯m glad to see you¡¯re alive and well.¡± ¡°Anyways, we¡¯re aware that your lot is new to the Void Realm so you¡¯d better get used to things quickly or you¡¯ll end up food for something else. This brings us to the meat of the matter. First, I would like to explain. As you may or may not know the Void Realm is where everything goes once it reaches its end, not just sentient beings but everything, from stone, to air, and even dimensions. Once here it is absorbed into the Void Tower. No one knows why, or if they do, it might only be information passed around only on the upper layers of the Void Tower. Regardless everything comes here to the bottom layer 1st. In order to keep everything in the multiverse from piling up and becoming an endless pile of trash, all of the Player controlled areas move on to the next floor and anything left over dissipates. This happens every 28 days.¡± Alarm seeps into my voice. ¡°So unless we move on we die? Damn¡­I thought we¡¯d escaped the worst of it once we got away from those panther creatures.¡± [ Quest ¨C Escape the 1st Floor ] [ Time remaining ¨C ??? ] [ Reward ¨C Area Water Stone(Basic) ] ¡°Many of your people already asked me if they could stay here with us but, unfortunately, that¡¯s impossible. We are the appointed Guardians of this zone. We are the only things that remain behind once the Tower destroys what¡¯s left over after Ascension. We¡¯re only here to provide those new to the tower with some basic understanding. Any more than that and we¡¯ll lose our status and have to climb the Tower ourselves.¡± ¡°So I¡¯m going to have to establish my own area then. How do I go about doing so? Is it all those floating rocks in the sky?¡± ¡°In order to establish an area of your own you simply go to one of the appointed monuments and activate it. Each one has its own individual requirement to fulfill. As for the floating masses in the sky, those are also someone¡¯s area. They¡¯ve already met the requirements and are just waiting for the end of the cycle. After wards it¡¯s onto the next zone.¡± ¡°How long do we have until Ascension? If it¡¯s every 28 days then we should have quite a bit of time left.¡± ¡°Ehhh, not quite. Sorry to say but you only have another 3 days. You were asleep most of the cycle so if you want to make it you¡¯ll need to hurry.¡± ¡°Three days?! Shit I¡¯m going to have to get moving. Where are the rest of the people who came with me?¡± ¡°For the ones that chose to wait this long for you, we¡¯ve been having them stay in some quickly made huts just outside our outer perimeter. Let¡¯s hurry. I¡¯ll take you to them.¡±