by I. Felix
"I didn't!" he exclaimed. "When I saw that he was running away from the danger, I jumped off his back and he immediately disappeared."
"I told him to run so he could protect you!"
"You're so nice," Blake said, got up, and went to hug May, who didn't have time to scream for him to stop, for when he saw it, he was upside down once again. He had stepped on the wrong tile.
"DAMN IT!" he screamed, and Arche and May laughed.
They spent a long time walking inside the tower, killing all the mimics they found. Besides the mimics, they found another monster called Plesme, which was a lightning ball. It was also easy to kill with Arche’s new skill, Cart Revolution, and the Large Blow, while Blake used Double Attack and Shadow Hiding. Oliver and Dark only attacked when they were told to, and the boys were still adequating their dynamic to incorporate the homunculus. However, by the time they had explored almost all of the first floor, being extra careful for not stepping on any different-colored tile, Oliver and Dark were attacking the mimics before the boys could even try, which saved them some energy and time.
When they went back to the swirling portal that they had started, they had leveled up to level 15 and gathered a bunch of loot. The homunculus were level 30 already, as they leveled up faster. Both Oliver and Dark looked bigger now and stronger. They had collected all of the scrolls, so they left the Arcedy Tower.
"It was pretty fun," Blake said, enjoying the great weather outside. "Do you think we're strong enough to go grab those jackalopes? Not that I need one. I love Oliver," he said, getting his cat to his lap while they walked.
They walked till where they had to hand the quest. It provided them with one more level and coins.
"Well, now I'll see you two later because I'm ready to go eat as many filet-o-fishes as I can," Blake said, sitting down on one table.
"Hey, May," Arche said. "Look at this," he pointed at a pamphlet on the wall. It read:
"Do you want to become the strongest adventurer there is? Come to the Endless Tower Contest. The group that gets to the top of the Tower will be able to create the next big Clan and compete in the Clan War."
"What's all that about?" Arche asked. May widened her eyes.
"This is one of the only things that I've never done in this game. I've never been to the Endless Tower, I never had a group that wanted to go there. So, I've never been in the Clan War either," she said with sparkling eyes. She hadn't sounded so excited since they met.
"Let's do it? What's this Endless Tower business about?" Arche asked.
"It's, like the name says, a tower with one hundred floors. Every 5 floors there's a boss monster. It's pretty hard and it's almost impossible to get to the 100th floor. The Clan War is, like, where the players that are almost like Gods are. They’re the players that have reincarnated many times and have nothing else to do but to battle in an infinite war."
"Almost like you, then," Arche said. May looked nodded and smiled.
"Yes. Well, some people there have reincarnated much more times than I did. But, even so, I'd love to try that."
"So, let's do it," Arche said. "I think one of the biggest problems we are facing right now is that we are randomly doing quests and leveling up. We need a goal. And this could be your chance to finally get out of this boredom. I know how bored you are with life here."
"Yep," May said and Arche could see that she had tears in her eyes. "But, first, we need to equip you and find a healer for our party, otherwise we won't last there."
"Okay. So we have a new goal. Let's sell our loot to see if we can make any money."
"Those rainbow vegetables that Blake has. They're worth a lot. That farmer quest is not easy. Thief is not one of the common classes, so people don't usually think about stealing the vegetables. We could get cool equips with it," May said, smiling. Arche nodded. "I wanted to get one jackalope for my private collection but I have the eternity to do that anyway..." she said, sounding miserable again. Arche put his hand on her shoulder.
"Isn't there a way that we could quit the game?" he asked, staring into her eyes.
"That would mean dying on Earth," she whispered. "They don't give our bodies back... it’s too late, the bodies are too weak without food, living only with the IV serum. Also, they don't want to lose the income. So, if you quit, they simply discard your body, we wouldn’t be able to live with it again. I learned this after seeing many of my friends that came in here with me. Most of them didn't stand the eternity in here... they are dead now. I prefer to stay here, for, at least I can have fun. Outside, we don't know what happens. Maybe we'll live eternity somewhere else, in heavens. I prefer it here. At least I have my fans."
"What do you mean with fans?"
"You can see how your broadcast is going right here," she said and opened one tab that Arche could also see.
It was like one info tab but they could see themselves. It looked like a normal video player website, like Youtube, but it was like if a camera was showing their every movement. It had a live chat beside the box and they could see people commenting on it. They could also see how many followers they had.
May had 2.1 million followers.
"That’s absolutely insane," Arche said, looking at her with widened eyes.
"I told you, I've been here longer than most. And my fans are getting bored, I'm sure. When you're not making enough money for the company, they discard your body too."
"What the hell?" Arche asked. "So... if I'm not being cool enough... then, they will kick me out of the game and I'll die?"
"Yes. And I've been losing followers, getting dislikes, and comments about my performance. I thought about ending it all. But I guess I wasn't brave enough... then, I met you guys..."
"Don’t worry. We'll show those stupid fans how to be cool. Well, I suck at this but I bet Blake is bringing a great audience as he's eating this tenth filet-o-fish of the day."
"They like that. They like crazy things, killing, smart decisions, and unusual stuff. I've gathered many fans by collecting homunculus. That's why I needed the jackalope so bad."
"I get it."
"Also, look at that," May said and clicked on a recording button. A transparent camera appeared in front of her face. "We can do live streams and talk to our fans like that."
"Don't turn it oooon!" Arche exclaimed but May didn't listen.
"Hi, guys! Long time since I came here, right? I have new friends here. Go follow them! Say hi, Arche! Their channels aren't working yet but soon they will have leveled up enough."
Arche got absolutely paralyzed and red in the face but managed to smile. May squeezed his cheeks and giggled.
"He's so cute, isn't he? We're going to the Endless Tower. Yeah, that is right! So, stay tuned!" and then May pressed stop recording. "Some people do ANYTHING for the audience. We aren't allowed to do anything sexual though, the broadcasting will stop and that will have the opposite effect. They want it to hit the general audience, so they get more views. But, that's it, you have to have a strategy."
"And why no one told us that yet? No NPC or something like that?" Arche asked.
"Your broadcasting only starts after you reach level 50. They need to focus the fan's attention on people that are invested in the game already. Many people come here thinking that it would be fun but end up killing themselves after a week or two."
“We did basically kill ourselves coming here..." Arche said. May nodded but smiled after that.
"But the Endless Tower will be so fun! You'll see! Finally a new adventure!"
"Okay. Let's go," Arche said, worried, getting near Blake. He hadn't heard any of the talks but he was eating a filet-o-fish again and looked absolutely pleased with himself. Oliver was also eating one filet-o-fish, but, in the case, only the filet, as he was like a cat-monster.
"What?!" Blake asked but Arche had made him get up.
"I'll explain it later."
"We'll teleport to Pruntire," May said. "We'll equip you two, get potions, get a homunculus for me, and look
for some kind of healer for our party. Then, we're ready to go!"
"Where? What? When?!" Blake asked but May opened her hand and opened a swirling portal in the middle of the restaurant. Arche entered it, May pointed at it for Blake to go, who shrugged and entered too, and May went in after, closing the portal behind her.
Chapter 10 – Getting Ready for Adventure
Everything went white and they were back in Pruntire, right next to the center of the town, beside the big water fountain. Right away, Blake noticed how loud it could be there. It also looked like the middle of New York, in comparison to a calmer place in the fields. He much preferred how Gastery felt but he was excited about starting his new adventure.
“So, you’re saying that we’ll enter a 100th floors tower called ENDLESS Tower? I mean... ENDLESS!” Blake exclaimed. Arche and May were telling him their plans, while they were walking to the busiest part of town. “Whatever. Let’s do it.”
May chuckled, loudly.
“That was easy!”
“I have nothing to lose!”
They found Kefri, the NPC, and May opened her storage again.
“So, I have some equipment here for you. They aren’t the best because I’ve never played as one of your classes but sometimes a monster will drop something that doesn’t equip in your own class, so I put it here.”
She handed each of them a pair of boots, a manteau for Arche, and two cute hats, just like the one she was wearing. Blake’s one was a little plush cat that he was supposed to wear on top of his head. Arche’s one was two small golden wings that he could wear next to his ears.
“That’s so silly!” Blake said but laughed. He opened its information.
“The sleeping cat loves to take a powerful nap. He’ll protect his ‘bed’ at all costs with a bonus of +1 in all attributes.”
“It’s silly but absurdly cool,” Blake said and equipped it. “Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome,” May smiled. Arche equipped the wings that covered his ears.
“Mine gives a +3 bonus!” he exclaimed, shocked.
“You’re welcome,” May repeated, laughing. She also turned to the storage, got some potions for buffs, and she chose one of the eggs that lay there. “I’ll get this homunculus to help me,” she announced and closed the storage, that disappeared back into the guard of Kefri.
May held the egg on her open palm and it started glowing. It was completely golden and it looked like it pulsed energy. May used her hatching egg skill and an enormous gryphon appeared in front of them. The gryphon was totally golden and it looked menacing with its beak, lion body, and wings. It was as big as a mount. Blake and Arche took a step back instinctively.
But the gryphon thought it was a golden retriever, as it jumped on May, taking her to the ground while licking her face.
“Stop it, Bella!” she screamed while laughing.
“Oh, so it’s not a ‘he’, it’s a ‘she’,” Blake remarked.
“Will any of you help me?” May cried out as Bella continued to lick her and skip around her, like an overly excited puppy.
“I don’t know... it’s still a gryphon that could bite my head off!” Blake exclaimed. Arche smiled but rolled his eyes.
He tried to touch the gryphon to see if it was safe to take it away from May but as soon as he did that, Bella turned around and changed targets, this time attacking Arche with licks and lots of love.
“Ughhhhh,” Arche said, trying not to fall down.
“She loves you,” May said, getting up, trying to clean the droll that was on her face.
“Told ya this thing was dangerous,” Blake said while giggling.
May was able to calm her down after a while and with the reward of many treats that she took from her inventory. Her favorite one was some lizards on a stick, which Bella seemed to find delightful as she devoured one after the other, almost like popcorn.
“Now, let’s buy some strong dagger and hammer for you two, we can’t enter the Tower with the novice’s dagger and hammer,” she said.
They started to explore the city, looking at the stores and the items placed in the handcarts and its vendor by its sides, sitting down, chatting, or screaming for them to buy something.
It took a while but they were able to localize a cool hammer. It was big, purple, and big. It looked extremely powerful.
“This one is good,” May said, taking the lead. The vendor was a girl that got up, smiling.
“The hammer?” she asked. She looked like a real player because she had the Mage’s outfit and a cool hat on top of her head.
“Yes, please. Hey, would you happen to know where we can find a Shadow Dagger?”
“Open a request chat box, so if someone has it and wants to sell, they can find you,” she said, handing them the hammer while May handed her a bag full of golden coins.
“Good idea, thanks,” May said, while she gave Arche the hammer.
“You paid for it for me!” he exclaimed, holding it and realizing how different it felt. Even though it was much bigger than the one he was using, it also felt lighter, easier to carry.
“It’s okay. You can pay me back later,” she smiled in that cute way, with her eyes.
“May, I don’t know to thank you for everything you’re doing for us,” Blake said.
“You’re doing enough already. Just to have someone to talk to is something great already,” May said, smiling. “I’ll open a request box. You have to go to your chat symbol and go to ‘world’. There is where people announce what they want to buy or sell. I’ll also sell your rainbow vegetables if you don’t mind. They are worth a lot.”
“No problem,” Blake said. “We are basically owing you a million coins already, the vegetables are the least I can do for you.”
Blake handed her the vegetables that he had on his inventory.
“You two go find a trader NPC so we can sell your loot. Arche, use your overcharge skill, so you can make more money.”
They nodded and followed to one of the stores around the central plaza of the city. May stayed there, busy with the chat. Blake and Arche entered one of the stores, that sold potions and defensive items.
The inside had wooden floors, stone walls, and a lit fireplace, with some couches that looked very comfortable. Blake gave Arche all his loot and Arche activated the skill before talking to one of the NPCs.
“So, we want to sell all of this,” he said, coming closer to an NPC that was behind a wooden counter. The NPC frowned, looking at all the items he had put on top of the table, including some very useless things like patches of fur and ripped mimic teeth.
The NPC was a big hairy guy that looked like he was having one of the worst days of his life. But the skill worked its magic and he opened up a huge smile.
“Right away! I love your items so much that I’ll pay triple,” he said while counting all the items and, then, his own coins.
Blake and Arche looked at each other with their mouths open.
“I should have put this skill to 10x. Imagine what he would pay then,” Arche said, while they were leaving the places with two bags full of coins.
They left the store and went back to the place where May was. She was finishing handing another swordsman a bag full of rainbow vegetables. Blake and Arche got near them but the swordsman just gave them a smile and left with his newly acquired bag.
“Here you go,” May said, handing Blake one of the coolest things he’d ever seen so far in the game.
It was a black dagger. It irradiated waves of power. When Blake held it, it started shaking and heating a little in his hands with all the power.
“Shadow Dagger. It provides attack power to all the Shadow users. +5 bonus if the user is one of the Dark Users, as Thieves and Tricksters.”
“This... is... unbelievably... good...” Blake said, dropping his mouth. “That’s incredible.”
“Thank you,” May said, smiling.
“No, THANK YOU!” Blake said and hugged May. He realized it was the first t
ime he did that in the game. May blushed and froze, without knowing what to do, but hugged him back after some seconds.
When they stopped hugging, she had tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s been so long... since anybody hugged me...” she said, controlling herself not to cry.
“Oh! I’m a hugger!” Blake exclaimed and hugged her again. “Come, Arche, come, group hug!”
Arche didn’t go, but this time May hugged Blake back with a firm grip and buried her face on his neck. They stayed like that for some seconds, till May got away, smiling.
“You two have to understand that all these items mean nothing to me. But I’d been lonely for so long... my friends... they are... they’re all dead. And I thought about being dead too. Then, I met you two...”
“What?” Blake asked, whispering.
“I don’t want to talk about this now,” May said and turned around so the boys wouldn’t see her crying. “We need to try to find a healer so we can go on our mission,” she said, recovering the smile. Still, Blake looked worried at Arche, who shrugged.
“Let’s go,” Arche said. Blake looked at him confused, like if he wanted to continue the conversation but both of them started walking, so he didn’t say anything else.
“Now my stats are incredibly powerful,” Arche said, trying to change the attention from the conversation. He opened the stats box and shared it with them.
It looked like that:
Level 16
- Discount: 3
- Overcharge: 3
- Vending: 1
- Large Blow: 1
- Cart Revolution: 1
- Armor Creation: 1
- Potion Creation: 5
- Weapon Creation: 1
- Strength: 9+10
- Agility: 2+10
- Vitality: 2+10
- 1ntelligence: 2+10
- Dexterity: 5+10
- Luck: 2+10
“All the equips I got gave me a permanent bonus of +10. This is incredible!” Arche said. May smiled.
“Glad you liked it, honey.”
“Now, mine!” Blake said and opened his tab.