by Prax Venter
“Now I will tell you a story,” she said, looking down at him.
“My son became a Hero in this very Town, in this very establishment. This was a time when my Inn was three stories tall and almost always filled with thirsty Climbers. A time when the Fountain’s clear waters touched the sky. He was peeling potatoes when it happened. One moment he was a Cook and the next he was a Hero. It had always been his dream. After he spent some time leveling and unlocking his Path, the high-damage fire abilities he’d acquired were sought after by other parties going on deep item runs within the Tower. My son had such fine control of the flames that he could create intricate and dazzling displays in the midnight sky. Only on the stillest of nights, when the sea was quiet would he put on a grand spectacle for all of Blackmoor. A rare event in our stormy cove.”
The silver-haired innkeeper gazed over Jack’s shoulder without focus for a moment, then locked her eyes back on his.
“My son helped to feed the Town such powerful items that the low-value trash ones, like this sword, were kept for the Townsfolk. Back when my beautiful Inn was a destination and not just a stone husk, the creeping corruption was pushed miles back. These days, you never know when a few wandering demon spawn could stroll in the front door, just in time for dinner.
“Eliss, my son, was not content with his remote home Town. I couldn’t blame him, I did the same thing when I was young. He traveled out into the world to see other Towns and other Towers.” She paused and looked down at the rusty blade she had placed on the bar. “It happened slowly and for no one reason… but the Town began to receive fewer items than it had before. Some Heroes left with Eliss. A party here and there went in to climb the Tower but never came out. The Town slipped a level, and we lost the stable, first. It took a long time, but the corruption crept in, advancing closer as the Town lost levels. It’s at Level 1 now, and Blackmoor Cove has been isolated for a long time. The Town should not have been able to spawn new Townsfolk, much less a Hero.” Demi reached out and put her slender hand on his forearm before continuing.
“This is important- Jack, if you want to get out of this place and back to the madness that you described, then you need to feed the Town.” She pushed the sword toward him, its dented iron hilt scrapping against the wooden counter. “You are a bonus. Even if you must put this trash sword in your Off-Hand and struggle on the first Floor doing minimal damage, you will go into the Tower and bring back items. You will do this until the Town levels up enough to push back the corruption. Only then can you think about leaving.”
Jack sat there blinking at her. There was a lot to unpack here. She seemed to understand that he needed a moment and just leaned back again, her arms crossed on her chest, watching him.
“Feed the... Town? People go into the Tower to get items to feed the Town, how?” he asked.
“You’ll figure it out. Try equipping that sword.” She nodded her head at the blade on the counter. “Maybe you’ll have an unusually high dual-wield skill- what with all of your other... uniqueness.”
Never one to turn down a free sword, Jack reached out for it. As he touched it with his right hand with the intent to wield it, he felt that same awful discordant feeling reverberating through his body as he had before, in the cabin with Lex. He pulled his hand away like the sword was a hot stove. A familiar panel appeared.
You cannot remove this item. Please increase complexity s%(null) for more options.
Jack looked up at Demi to see her usually straight, silver eyebrows arched slightly.
“You really did just fall from the sky, didn’t you? Lex told me as much-” She stopped herself. “Try the other one. Your Off-Hand.”
Jack braced himself as he reached out with his left hand, expecting anything to happen. His fingers closed on its grip and had no trouble picking it up, but it felt awkwardly heavy.
Jack stood up and waved it around a few times with his “off-hand”, moving away from the bar to get some room. The weapon felt unbalanced, and he had a hard time controlling where it went. Perhaps now he could deal some damage, at least. He pulled up his Character screen to check for changes.
[Off-Hand Damage: 1]
Jack smiled as he thrust the rusty iron sword up over his head and almost dropped it. It felt like a pressure was lifted when he realized he wasn’t completely useless. He reflected for a moment with a little unease at how... normal this place was quickly becoming to him. He shook it off and swung the sword around in front of him trying to get a handle on taming its moments.
“Be prepared to take it slow in there,” Demi said with a grave tone. “Using basic attacks with your off-hand won’t be easy until you find and hold onto better equipment.” She pointed one of her long fingers at him. “And the way you are flopping that thing around you’ll be lucky to hit anything. What’s your chance to hit?”
Jack reopened his interface.
[Hit Chance: 23%]
“It’s not good,” he said, frowning.
He pulled up his inventory menu, and as an experiment, he unequipped the rusty iron sword Demi had given him. He was worried for a moment, but it popped right out and into his Inventory. Jack looked back over to his Character panel.
[Hit Chance: 85%]
“But I can punch things pretty reliably for no damage…”
She shrugged. “Not good at much, then- for now.”
Jack re-equipped the sword from his menu and waved it around a few more times, not quite able to direct its wild flailing. He must have looked ridiculous. The memory of Lex sheathing her sword behind her back without looking popped into his mind, and her elegance was a stark contrast to his pathetic floundering.
Jack grabbed his scabbard with his free hand and peeked into its dark, leathery depths. It appeared as if the dull blade he was holding would fit- might as well use it for something, after all. He carefully shoved his new sword into his useless scabbard, but it was awkward to do with his left hand.
A sudden flash of light filled his vision and blinded him. He heard Demi gasp by the bar, so he knew it wasn’t just in his mind. After a few seconds of blinking, their sight returned. Jack looked down to see the iron sword inside the scabbard.
“What the hell was that?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but you were as bright as the sun,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “Come show me that sword, Jack.”
He reached over, pulled it out of its scabbard and started walking back to the bar.
“Jack…” she repeated.
“Yeah, I’m like three steps away, hold your horses.” He wondered if she would even know what that meant, but was proud of himself for using a phrase that was probably safe.
“No- look how you are holding that.” She pointed, her bright blue eyes wide as she regarded him. “Check your Main Hand slot, Jack.”
Jack opened his menu and looked at the leather scabbard and belt item that was still there, but the image was different. There was now a sword in the scabbard. He focused on the item equipped in his Main Hand slot.
ARV Alternis [Sword | Value: 1/10]
| Dmg: 1 |
It had transformed into a sword-type item, and a smile spread across Jack’s face as he realized what this meant, but he only got to enjoy it for a moment before a booming voice echoed in his ears.
“MORE. TOWER.”
- 6 -
“What are you doing?” Demi asked Jack as he stood in the middle of the Inn with his hands covering his ears.
“What was that deafening voice about?” he asked. The look on her face told him that she didn’t hear anything. “You didn’t hear it, did-”
“What did the voices say, Jack?” she interrupted, her eyes holding him evenly.
“More Tower!” Jack shouted in his deepest voice.
She raised her eyebrows and then shook her head. “Well, at least the voices are pointing you in the right direction.”
“It’s just the one voice…” Jack said. He was starting to get the sinking feeling in his stomach again. He was in
some strange virtual world, and now he was hearing voices. It occurred to him it might have something to do with his new weapon. He opened his Character panel and gazed at his Main Hand Slot again, hesitantly. The last time he tried to look at this, he almost pissed himself when that impossibly loud voice hit him from all sides. A stray line of thought derailed Jack for a moment as he realized it had been a while since he had needed to empty his bladder, and he wondered just how realistic this world was. He’d find out soon enough, he told himself with a shrug.
With a preemptive wince, Jack focused on his new weapon, and the panel opened.
ARV Alternis - [Sword | Value: 1/10]
| Dmg: 1 |
No booming voice this time. It still had a crazy name, but at least now the item in his equipment slot was a sword type. And that meant he could use his combat skills.
He looked over at his other combat-related stats.
[Main Hand Damage: 1]
[Hit Chance: 87%]
More good news.
“You sure are a strange one, Jack,” Demi said. “The likes of which I have never seen… Let’s put you to good use. First-watch will be coming to eat in a little while. I’ll get some cleaning done early while you go and get the morning catch from Sol, the Wharfmaster, down by the cove. Some sea air will do you good.” She was appraising him again, Jack could feel it. He also felt like he was just given a quest.
Was he going to play along with this simulation? He entertained the idea of just running to the tiny door at the base of the massive Tower out there. That might be all he needed to do to get back to the real world.
There was also part of him that felt like it was a bad idea that he might not be able to take back. Whatever it was that had infected him before had been spreading with sickening speed. Maybe he was being held in a type of hibernation and waking up early would be bad? Jack decided that he wanted more information. Right now, following along, exploring and learning more about this place seemed like a good idea.
“Sure thing. How do I get there?” he asked.
“Head out and take a left. Follow the winding path down to the beach. You’ll see it. Tell Sol you want 15 fish for me. When you get back, and after the Guards leave, I’ll take you to the barracks and introduce you to Kron. Maybe he can outfit you with a bit better than cloth for your first Tower climb.” She waved a hand at his bare feet. “Here is the payment for the fish,” the innkeeper said as she extended her arm out to Jack above the bar. He padded across the stone slabs over to her, and when he got close enough, a trade window opened.
Trade Offered - Demi: 30 Coins
Jack selected the emerald gemstone below the word “Accept”.
“Don’t go spending all that coin in the sweet shop on the way.” Demi wagged her finger back and forth, a serious look on her face. “Now go,” she said, dismissing him with a wave. “And come back soon. Don’t want to be to blame for hungry guardsmen.”
Jack nodded and walked out of the Eye o’ the Storm and into the sunlight. The stone slab stairs outside had soaked in the sun’s energy and warmed his feet. The clouds had broken up a bit during his chat with Demi, and strong winds now blew endless piles of white cotton over his head. Above the racing clouds, a deep cobalt blue filled the sky, and Jack got his first glimpse of the burnt-orange sun above. It was more orange than he remembered the sun being, and its stark contrast against the vividly dark blue felt alien and surreal.
But not as surreal as the impossible structure ahead. Between the clouds rushing inland, Jack was able to see that the Tower continued into the sky in a straight, irrational line up as far as he could see. He watched mesmerized as a thick bank of clouds struck the distant stones and spilled around it, swirling and dissipating in the stiff ocean breeze.
Forcing his feet to move, he headed down the warm dirt trail and took a left turn at the intersection. Ahead of him, he could see a handful of smaller stone buildings grouped along the path. As he got closer, he noticed the long dark shadow of the Tower dividing the land between the inn and the group of buildings down the path. He wondered if the shadow would line up with the inn right at noon. That would be convenient. He gazed at the Tower again as he passed into its shadow. If he looked up at the dark, stone blocks long enough, it seemed to be falling on top of him. Jack quickened his pace until he got out from under its shadow and felt the warm sun again.
The crumbling stone buildings spread out along the trail appeared to be houses. They sat quietly as fleeting shadows from the clouds above moved over their weathered stone walls and gray thatch roofs. Some looked relatively whole, others seemed abandoned, and all of them looked very old. Jack heard a low howling made by the wind passing through the ancient structures.
As he put the mournful wailing of the mossy stone homes behind him, he turned to look out over the waist-high, lush grass growing everywhere. In the distance ahead of him, the land curved right and downward in front of a dirt embankment. Black rocks jutted out of the rich earth and rose higher as the path sloped down, bending towards the ocean on his right. Between the abandoned farm, the inn, and the sad stone houses, there wasn’t much Town to speak of. Everything was spread out and seemed to have been built a long time ago.
“Sweet shop- my ass,” Jack said to himself.
He came to the part of the path that curved to the right and led downward to a stretch of beach with the vast indigo ocean just beyond. Like the sky, the water seemed much darker than it should be.
Jack stopped and took a moment to get a sense of his surroundings before heading down to the beach. Directly ahead of him, the path ran straight into the ten-foot slope of dirt and black stones. To his left were fields of thick grass on rolling hills that seemed to go on forever. He wondered what was beyond the natural wall ahead and saw that if he walked about a hundred yards out into the grass, he could get to a point where two elevations converged to be the same height.
The unknown places of this strange world urged Jack to ignore his quest and find his own way, but a few reasons came to mind as to why he shouldn’t go exploring- just yet. With a sigh, he turned toward the ocean on his right and headed down to the beach.
Near the raising embankment to his left, the ground was more mud than dirt as a trickle of a vanishing river traveled downward and he realized the angled path carved into the land must be a natural formation caused by rainwater trying to find its way to the sea. Jack’s bare feet were saved from the muck by smooth black stones that served as convenient steps as he climbed down to the beach.
Jack neared the bottom of the narrow path, and with his view no longer obstructed by dirt walls to either side, he finally beheld the cove that gave Blackmoor Cove its name.
The huge, black boulders that had started emerging from the earthen wall to his left continued straight into the sea and made a natural breakwater, protecting most of the beach from destructive, deep ocean waves. Violent, white explosions of frothy water could be seen crashing against the slick, black rocks as they rose out of the ocean. The gigantic boulders became smaller as they curved around the bay, cradling it as would a mother’s arm hold her child. Off the beach and parallel with the Tower, he noticed a wooden structure sitting on the edge of the sand with a sprawling network of docks stretching away from it out into the dark waters of the cove.
Having assumed he had found the wharf, Jack padded his feet along the beach. To his right was the bottom of the sheer cliffside he had seen from Town. It had to be a good fifty-foot drop. The Tower could easily be seen extending into space even from this low angle, and Jack wondered if there was any place where he couldn’t see it.
Beyond the dock and out in the cove were tiny rowboats with men gathering up nets from the water. Giant white birds circled above them, while others were scattered on the beach along the coast picking at hidden morsels in the sand or sleeping in the warm sun. Jack thought they looked and sounded like seagulls, only these were much, much larger.
He walked near a group that followed him with their black e
yes as he passed. One humongous bird, in particular, found Jack interesting for longer than the others, and it felt like he was losing his sense of perspective- the birds appeared to be as big as minivans. Eventually, the massive bird staring him down lost interest as Jack moved away, and it cried out into the ocean breeze.
As Jack approached the wharf, he started to hear someone yelling. There was a long, weather-beaten wooden building blocking his view of the angry person, and Jack paused before climbing the few sun-bleached steps leading up onto the docks ahead of him. He turned his ear to catch their words, but the gentle waves that lapped against the logs holding the wharf above the water washed out most of what was being said. He caught something about incompetence and foolishness.
Jack heaved a sigh. He had some fish to buy and had a bad feeling that the guy sounding like an asshole was the person he was looking for.
When he moved past the rickety wooden building, Jack saw three men standing on the central part of the dock. The one shouting appeared to be wearing black, silky judge’s robes, and he was shaking his fist in the air. The other two were wearing rolled-up pants and loose-fitting, gray cotton shirts. Their heads hung as the vitriol crashed down on them from the other man. As Jack walked along the wooden slats, his eyes shot downward, feeling a fiercely painful jab from a splinter pierce into his soft, exposed foot.
He rested his ankle into his knee and removed the small shard of wood from his heel, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed a small girl in a deep burgundy dress lying on her back in one of the rowboats bobbing in the water, tied to one of the posts. She had a doll wedged into the crook of her elbow and her wide gray eyes locked on Jack. He paused, wondering if she needed help.
“Hey! You! Get over here!”
Jack looked to see if he was the one being addressed, and sure enough, all three men were looking at him now. He looked back down at the girl, and she had a finger on her lips making the universal sign of keep your mouth shut.
“Hey stupid! I’m talking to you!” called the man in robes again.