“Got destroyed? That’s a strange way of saying it,” his father remarked.
Jason fell silent. He glanced at his father’s frail legs out of the corner of his eye and grew solemn. His dad noticed the change in atmosphere. “What’s up? Have you gotten into trouble?”
Jason waved his hand. The fireball spell book appeared with a flash of light. He handed the book over. “Open this book.”
“Huh?” When his father saw the book appear out of thin air, he instantly thought of an inventory ring. Even though he wasn’t an ascender, even a normal person knew a bit about the tower. It had been twenty years, after all. That was why he was profoundly shocked when he saw the ancient book that Jason shoved into his hands. He struggled to speak. “Is this a- a skill book?”
“A fireball spell book, actually,” Jason corrected.
His father struggled inwardly for a moment before he pushed the book back. “I can’t take this. I know how expensive these things are.”
Jason thought up a quick lie. “Dad, to be honest, I’ve been an ascender for about a year now. I don’t make much, but I’ve been saving to get you this. You better accept it.”
“You what?” His father found it hard to believe what he heard. Being an ascender was incredibly dangerous. He ignored the spell book and berated angrily. “How could you take such a risky job? I thought you were doing just fine with construction?”
“Don’t worry, Dad. I joined a guild and they’ve been of great help to me. They taught me how to fight and survive. Plus, I only stick to the lower floors. I stay within my limits,” Jason quickly explained to try to alleviate his father’s anger.
“Well…” His father struggled inwardly before he fell silent.
Jason changed the topic. “Dad, open the book. Please?”
His father glanced down at the spell book in his lap. His hands shook as he picked it up. Ever so slowly, he flipped it open. As if expecting it, he read the transparent screen that appeared before him.
Do you want to learn the fireball spell?
Yes / No
His eyes turned red as he raised his finger and pushed ‘yes’. In response, the spell book dispersed into light and flowed into his body. He read the following notifications, informing him that his body had been fundamentally changed and so on.
Jason quickly said. “Check your status screen. Do you have any status effects?”
His father spoke the words he thought he’d never say. “Status screen.”
Name: Austin
Title: None
Age: 54
Race: Human
Level: 1
Stat Points: 0
Health: 100/100
Health Regeneration: .40/s
Stamina: 90/90
Stamina Regeneration: .36/s
Mana: 50/50
Mana Regeneration: .20/s
Strength: 12
Vitality: 20
Agility: 4
Endurance: 18
Intelligence: 10
Tenacity: 15
Fortitude: 10
Debuffs:
Disabled (3 minutes remaining)
“Is this what I think it means?” Austin pointed with a quivering finger.
Jason nodded with a warm smile. “Yep.”
The following three minutes were the longest three minutes of Austin’s life. His eyes were glued to the timer. The closer the debuff was to wearing off, the tighter his chest clenched. As soon as the three minutes passed, a tingling sensation rose from his legs. He gasped. “I can feel my legs!”
Austin hastily rose to his feet before promptly falling forward. It had been a few years since he could move his legs, so he had forgotten how to. Jason caught him before he could hit the ground and helped him stand. “Take your time. Slowly now.”
Austin was a military man through and through. He’d spent ten years of his life in the Marines. He could count the number of times he’d cried on one hand. Most of them were when he was a child. Now, though, tears fell like a waterfall. He turned and embraced Jason. “Thank you. Thank you.”
Jason hugged his father as he thought back to the future-past. It had taken much longer then until he could afford an ability book. His father went nearly a decade without the ability to feel his legs due to an unfortunate construction accident. Now though, he’d accomplished the task within a month of entering the tower. His father didn’t have to suffer as much this time around.
Unfortunately, not everyone was allowed to enter the tower. There were various rules and regulations that had to be followed, otherwise every sick and disabled person would be miraculously cured. This artificial barrier was not created by accident, but put in place by the top guilds. The tower couldn’t hold everyone; it was already overcrowded as it was. To prevent more competition, the top guilds threatened the governments of the world, preventing most people from entering the tower. One side effect was driving up the cost of ability books, which would be bought by disabled people at a sky-high price. Those without money were put onto a long waiting list.
For the next few hours, Jason helped his father learn to walk again. This was his second time doing so, but it didn’t matter. When he saw how happy and excited his father was, he felt that it was all worth it. Jason clenched his hands. I won’t let you die this time. I promise!
Chapter 16
Jason left deep in the night. His father stood at the door and reminded, “Don’t forget to buy another cellphone. You remember my number?”
“Yeah. See you later.” Jason got into the taxi that he had called for a while ago. After arriving at the airport, he took a plane back to the tower and found a hotel to sleep in. When he woke up, he meandered through the city and slowly made his way to the tower. He was getting a feel for the atmosphere. Everyone was happy and expectant for the future. No longer was he in a world consumed by destruction, evil, death, fear, and cynicism. The change took some getting used to.
A few hours later, he gathered his thoughts and started heading towards the tower. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a youth sitting on a bench. The youth stared aimlessly at the tower, his eyes unfocused. When Jason saw the kid, he froze, his mouth agape. Blond hair, green eyes, a small frame. He looks exactly like…
Jason calmed his beating heart as he walked up to the youth. He sat down next to the teenage boy and stared at him. The boy didn’t seem to notice. He continued to stare up at the tower. Jason leaned back on the bench, his thoughts a mess. Time passed slowly, and soon a half hour had gone by.
Suddenly, the boy noticed he had a companion. He inspected Jason’s leather equipment before he asked, “Why are you an ascender?”
Jason chuckled inwardly. Something seemed off. Who would ask such a deep question to a stranger? Jason turned to face the boy, his expression solemn. “To save humanity!”
The boy blinked. “Are you serious?”
Jason nodded slowly. “Of course.”
The boy chuckled hoarsely. “What are you protecting humanity from?”
Jason raised his hand and pointed at a red siren attached to a nearby building. “Monsters.”
The boy took a closer look at Jason. He could tell from Jason’s eyes and confident speech that Jason was telling the truth. He smiled bitterly. “You believe that eventually the monster waves will overrun humanity?”
“Oh?” Jason didn’t expect that the boy would know what he meant. Even after twenty years, only a very small minority was concerned with how the monster attacks were getting more powerful over time. Jason nodded. “That’s right. We have around five years left before the balance tips in the monsters’ favor.”
“Five years, huh?” The boy found this familiar, it wasn’t the first time he’d heard this. He looked up at the tower. “Don’t tell me you’re like one of those selfless heroes from a comic book, right?”
“Of course not!” Jason said without hesitation. His eyes lit up. “I want to be rich and surrounded by beauties! But most importantly, I want the world to know till th
e end of time that it was me, Jason Woltz, that saved the world from destruction!”
The boy was stunned silly. He didn’t expect this answer at all and thought Jason was joking until he noticed the light shining from Jason’s eyes.
Jason turned to the boy with a smirk. “What?”
The boy recovered a moment later and remarked, “You’re strange.”
“Oh? How so?”
The boy looked down at the ground. “If you want to save humanity, you’d have to climb to the upper floors and beyond. Aren’t you afraid for your life?”
“Of course I am.” Jason rolled his eyes. “I want to be alive when I’m famous, not dead.”
The boy looked defeated as he sighed heavily. “You’re going to die.”
Jason was starting to get angry. Was he always like this? This wasn’t the person he had admired and respected. He snorted. “It sounds like you’re afraid.”
Unexpectedly, the boy met Jason’s eyes. “I’m not afraid of death. I’m just afraid that it will be meaningless. Trying to save humanity? That’s impossible.”
“I can do it.” Jason stared back.
“To what end? How many waves will there be? No one knows.” The boy shook his head.
Jason hesitated briefly before deciding to say it. “There’s another way.”
“Another way?” The boy paused
“If you clear the top floor of the tower, the monster waves will stop.” Jason said quietly.
It was like the boy was struck by lightning. He stood up in shock and exclaimed. “Is that true? Where did you hear that?”
Jason hadn’t expected this reaction. It was like the boy had been waiting to hear such words. Jason couldn’t reveal the truth, so he told a lie. “I heard it from a god.”
“What? You’ve talked to a god? Which one?” The boy looked at Jason in a new light.
Jason sneered. “Are you serious?”
“Oh, right. Sorry,” the boy apologized. If Jason talked to a god, that meant he was a champion. Such individuals were highly secretive about their status.
The boy sat back down and clenched his hands. “So it’s true. Humanity can be saved!”
Jason stood up and reached his hand out to the boy. “How about it? Want to save humanity with me?”
The boy looked up at Jason. It was like there was a halo of light surrounding Jason, making him blinding to the eyes. The boy gritted his teeth and shook Jason’s hand. “Okay!”
Jason laughed. “Good. My name is Jason. What’s yours?”
“Roy!” Roy smiled brightly, as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had been wallowing in despair and sadness, but now he had been given a new goal.
All of a sudden, a blaring noise rang out. The hundreds of red sirens located throughout the city activated simultaneous, sending out a warning. “Monster portals have arrived! Monster portals have arrived!”
To the north, a bright red flare shot into the sky. More could be seen to the south, west, and east. They were set off by ascenders who just so happened to be near a portal when it spawned. Almost instantly, Jason and Roy kicked off the ground. They headed towards the closest flare.
To Jason’s surprise, Roy was even faster than he was. What level is he? Jason was currently level 15, but he had bonus stats thanks to being a champion of Aros, so Roy must be even higher than that. A flash of light covered Roy, and a moment later he was covered in a set of beautiful white leather adorned with complex red patterns. In his hand was a pure white sword. Jason was shocked. Heritage equipment? Why does he have that? What exactly is Roy’s background? The Roy in Jason’s past never talked about it.
With the generous stats granted by the heritage armor, Jason was left in Roy’s dust. Thankfully, a portal could be seen up ahead, or Jason would have been left behind. The portal hovered a foot off the ground. Monsters could be seen exiting it, only to be attacked by nearby ascenders. A chaotic battle was underway.
High Orc - Level 50
Health: 10,000/10,000
High Orc Shaman - Level 50
Health: 9,000/9,000
Jason ground to a halt. The monsters were way too strong for him to handle at the moment, so he would have to leave everything to the other ascenders. He could only stand there, frustrated at his weakness. Is Roy stronger than I thought? Isn’t he only fifteen years old this year? Even after seeing the monster’s levels, Roy continued to close the gap between him and the nearest monster.
A barrage of spells and skills assaulted a high orc, causing it to stagger forward and lose a chunk of its health. It recovered and saw a small human running towards it. The high orc was angered. It was a high and mighty orc, yet a weak-looking human was challenging it. Roaring with fury, it swung its large axe and attempted to cleave the puny human in half.
“Ugh.” Roy awkwardly attempted to parry the axe with his sword, only to miss. The axe smacked into his side, causing him to be knocked up and sent flying through the air. A trail of blood was left in his wake.
Jason watched all this happen from a short distance away. Thankfully, the high orc was assaulted by another wave of spells and couldn’t follow up, so he took this chance to run up to Roy. “Are you all right?”
Roy grabbed Jason’s hand and was pulled to his feet. “Yeah, sorry. It was stronger than I thought.”
Jason helped Roy to safety. “What level are you?”
Roy hesitated, but after remembering that Jason said he was a champion, his reticence disappeared. “1.”
“What?” Jason nearly dropped Roy to the ground in surprise. “You wanted to fight a level 50 high orc at level 1?”
Roy was ashamed. “Well, I didn’t think they’d be so strong.”
Jason quickly reprimanded. “Are you stupid? Even a level 1 natural-born wouldn’t be so stupid as to fight a level 50 high orc, even if they had heritage equipment!”
“Really?” Roy’s cheeks turned red as he laughed. Looks like I overestimated my strength.
“Wait.” Jason suddenly put two and two together. He looked at Roy in shock. “Are you a natural-born?”
He had known Roy for a good many years, yet he never knew that Roy was a natural-born. That would explain why he was able to run so fast and have heritage equipment at level 1. Roy nodded, confirming Jason’s thoughts.
Roy was severely wounded, so Jason kept him a safe distance away from the portal. By the time he recovered, the monsters were all killed by the nearby ascenders. After running out of monsters to spawn, the portal disappeared in a flash of light. The sirens turned off and the city grew calm. The monster waves across the city were taken care of.
Roy stored his equipment away before looking at Jason in confusion. “Didn’t you say you would save humanity? Why are you so weak?”
Jason nearly fainted from embarrassment. He quickly defended himself. “I entered the tower around a month ago.”
“What? And you said you’d defend humanity?” Roy suddenly felt faint at heart. He had just agreed to work together with Jason and was already beginning to regret it.
Jason noticed Roy looking hesitant, so he quickly snorted. “I’m incredibly strong! I’m just lacking stats and skills.”
Roy snapped back. “Being strong IS having stats and skills.”
“There is no one more talented than me in the world!” Jason corrected. In the past, there were plenty of people more talented than Jason, but as of right now, he could be said to be the most technically skilled human alive. He was just lacking stats and skills.
Roy was exasperated. How do you argue with people like this? He felt that Jason was incredibly arrogant. Was it really best to work with someone like this?
Jason realized that he was sounding a bit crazy. He needed Roy at his side without question, so he needed to prove his value, and there was one way to do that. He smirked. “Have you heard of the colosseum on the thirtieth floor?”
“Yeah.” Roy furrowed his brows. “I believe the record is the twelfth challenge, right?”
“Oh, yeah?” Roy didn’t take Jason seriously. “What level have you gotten to?”
Jason raised his chin. “I haven’t taken it yet!”
Roy promptly turned around and began to walk away. Jason quickly blocked his path. “Wait, wait, wait. Let’s have a competition. If you reach a higher level than me, then you can save humanity on your own, but if I reach a higher level than you, you have to join me.”
Towers of Heaven Page 9