by Prax Venter
“Yeah, thanks.” Jack gave his sparring opponent a smile. “That really helped me out a lot.”
“Hey, no problem there.” She waved the shield still attached to her wrist and walked out of the sparring area.
“Jack,” Kron began, “why don’t you head back to the inn and wait for Lex to come out. It’s nearly time.”
The horned man squinted as he looked towards the tall forest of pine trees in the distance, and Jack noticed that a light mist had started to gather in the growing shadows. Kron continued.
“She has been running the first few floors every day for years. Ask her your questions about the Tower. Now that you are armed and armored, I’m sure she’ll be able to take you more seriously.”
“Thanks? Hey, why don’t you go in with her? You seem like you could take it and/or dish it out pretty good.”
Kron looked down at Jack, his normally emotionless face clouding over like a summer storm.
“I would, Jack, but we’ve already lost too many.” He waved a massive arm over the few men and women standing watch out over the fields beyond the crumbling, stone brick wall.
“These people are Townsfolk. Some have a degree of aptitude, and some just don’t. If both Lex and I were locked in the Tower, there would be no Heroes in Town for seven hours. A single wave of demons would wipe out everyone, quickly.” Kron shook his head and straightened, regaining his normal composure. He looked back out over the forest like he was looking at something very far away. “And if she remained in the Town to help me protect these people, the corruption would creep even closer.”
Kron sighed and turned back to Jack. Looking into his dark eyes, Jack saw a brief glimpse of a man shuddering under the weight of all that plate armor.
“You and Lex have a lot of work ahead. Now go.”
Jack nodded, “Thanks, Kron, I won’t let you down.”
As Jack turned to leave, he saw a group of Townsfolk guards were heading back on the path toward Town. He noticed Ryea was one of them and jogged a bit to catch up with her.
“Hey-” Jack said to catch her attention.
“Oh, hi!” Her thick ponytail flipped around behind her head as she turned to look at him.
“Ryea, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Jack, I’m new here.”
“I see that you are! You aren’t supposed to be here. It’s so crazy to see another Hero arrive at our Town level.” She smiled a big toothy grin. “Oh, and it’s great to meet you too, Jack. Lex told me all about you. So… I gotta know-” She reached out and put her hand on his arm. “You really don’t know anything?” Her eyebrows arched up near the top of her forehead as she waited for him to answer.
Jack winced. “I’m learning... Hey, you hit pretty dang hard back there. Are you training to become a guard?”
“I’m training to be just above useless.” She grew serious. “I know I’m not fit to be a real guard- just not built for it. I used to work the stable at the inn. But there ain’t no stable anymore- as I’m sure you saw. It was okay, kept me in meat pies. I miss meat pies.”
“Why no meat pies?”
“Fish. All there is, is fish and seaweed,” she said, a small snarl appearing on her lips. She looked over at Jack. “You’ll see soon enough.”
“Okay.” Jack didn’t know what to say to that, so they walked in silence for a bit. Ryea’s feet clomped heavily on the well-worn trail when she walked, as if perpetually surprised that the ground was as close as it was. His own “fished-up” boots were still remarkably free of dirt, considering all the activity today. Then something that Kron had told him bubbled up to the front of his mind.
“Ryea, speaking of me not knowing things- why did Kron say people were locked in the Tower for seven hours?”
She looked over at him again as a lopsided grin reappeared on her freckled face.
“You poor thing,” she said, her face seeming more excited than feeling pity. “The Tower always returns the Climbers at the same time, every evening, at Exit. One Floor or fifty, they always pop out just in time for dinner.”
“Wow, so time flows at a different rate inside the Tower? How long does it take to clear a Floor?”
“It really depends on how strong you are, I guess. Lex would know more about that.”
Jack thought about what she had said for a moment as they walked along the soft dirt path.
“So, there must be a time limit- a window for entry. Someone couldn’t just go in right before the exit time, you know, to cheat the system and only be gone a minute- right?”
“Oh, maybe this tree will bear fruit after all? Yes, be inside by late morning, or the door won’t open ‘til the next day.”
“Ryea, all this vague late morning, dinner time stuff... How do you tell what time it really is? Do I just-?” Jack tried to open an interface that told him the time.
One of the familiar, black-lacquered panels appeared before him. On the left was etched a red painted icon of a door, with a red ‘x’ below it. On the right was a counter that read ‘00:03:14’ and it was counting down.
“Ah, never mind. I think I answered my own question,” Jack said as they approached the square stone building that was the Inn.
“You want to come wait by the fountain with me?” Ryea asked, stopping in the crossroad, pointing a thumb over her shoulder at the Tower rising into the sky behind her.
“Sure, I’d love to see how this works.”
Ryea took a moment to exchange mundane pleasantries with some of the Townsfolk who had walked from the gate with them and then waved for Jack to follow her toward the Tower.
As they approached the grand structure, Jack felt a mix of excitement and fear stir inside of him. Below it all, he felt this barely perceptible drive to go in there.
When they got closer, he examined the simplistic fountain positioned directly in front of the Tower that he had only seen from a distance before. It consisted of a simple stone disk with a hole in the center. Water barely burbled out from the hole, like a drinking fountain with no pressure. The stone disk sat in a moat of sorts, surrounded by a knee-high, rough stone wall. There was just enough water leaking out to evenly coat the top of the disk, and it ran down the sides in drips, landing in the mossy base of the fountain, but he couldn’t find where the water emptied. The whole thing looked hundreds of years old.
He followed her around the fountain to the side that faced the Tower, and Jack noticed a wooden chest resting up against the outer wall of the ancient stone fountain.
“You walked out of this door, huh? In the middle of the night?” Ryea asked, pointing at the iron-banded, wooden door at the base of the Tower.
Jack took a few steps toward the door and inspected it closely. It resembled a classic arched wooden door he had seen in fantasy art or in games. An iron ring was bolted to the right side, and iron hinges on the left attached it to the Tower. The door didn’t look particularly strong or even all that well-made. Jack turned back to face the doughy woman in overalls.
“More like tossed out. I was naked, bleeding and freezing when Lex found me- and healed me. It was a good thing she was out in the rain last night, I guess.”
“She spends a lot of nights out here... waiting,” Ryea responded. There was a note of sadness in her normally boisterous tone.
Jack was about to ask her for more information about Lex when a ball of blue light began to glow off to his left. The ball quickly expanded into a shape of a woman, and the shining figure blazed so bright that Jack had to shield his eyes with his hand.
Then it was gone- and in its place stood Lex. She took the scene in around her and noticed the two of them standing by the fountain.
He took a step toward Lex, his new boots displacing a few smooth pebbles that covered the area. He put his hands on his hips, thrusting out his chest so she couldn’t miss the leather armor and sword that was now in his scabbard.
“So, that’s how you dismount a mystical Tower full of loot and monsters. I see my mistake now.” He smirked at the shorter blonde woman in black le
ather armor.
Lex looked Jack up and down- one eyebrow raising as she did so.
“And I see you have some upgrades.”
Ryea chimed in behind him. “Yeah, I gave him some lumps in The Yard. He needs a lotta work though.”
Lex walked over to the chest by the fountain Jack had noticed a moment ago.
“Oh yeah?” she asked, holding out her hand over it. She seemed to be concentrating on something, and Jack realized she must be accessing some menu only she could see. A slight wind coming off the sea blew a shock of perfectly straight, golden hair forward as she looked down at the chest.
Jack heard the water dripping in the fountain slowly rise in volume. He took a few steps closer and noticed that the water was bubbling up just half-an-inch or so higher than before.
“How quickly did Kron knock him on his ass?” Lex asked, absentmindedly running two fingers behind her ear, tucking the errant hair back in its place. Jack got a good look at the small, pointed ear through her shoulder-length hair. He had only seen normal ears so far, and wondered what her deal was. It struck him for the first time that Lex might be an elf, or a half-elf, if there were such creatures here. He’d have to find a way to ask about that.
Ryea gave Lex a big grin. “Gotta be record time, truly. To be honest though, Lex... This here Hero Jack has a serious ray o’ flames in his tool belt.” The cheerful woman gave Lex an exaggerated wink.
Jack crossed his arms over the leather straps on his chest. “Yeah, and I can’t wait till tomorrow when I can use it to help fill this box with treasure from the Tower.”
Lex pulled her hand back and locked her golden eyes on Jack. A smile appeared on her stunning face and in that moment, it felt like the warmth of the sun spilling through parting clouds on a chilly autumn day.
“Seems like you are adjusting pretty well, Jack,” Lex said.
“Thanks goes to Demi for this sword-” he indicated the weapon at his hip- “Garl for some fishy boots. To Kron, and even Ryea.” He looked over to the wide, freckled woman. “There are a lot of pretty great people here.”
Lex was beaming. Her eyes flicked over to Ryea, and they exchanged an assortment of non-verbal communications he couldn’t clearly decipher but was pretty sure it was about him.
Uncomfortable, Jack broke the silence. “So- uh, how was your day in the Tower?”
“The same,” she said, the light in her eyes dimming a little. “Come on, let’s get some food. I did get a little extra coin today. Dinner is on me.” She gave him a half smile, spun on her heel and took a step toward the Eye o’ the Storm.
Jack and Ryea followed Lex first around the fountain and then onto the path that led to the crossroads in the center of Town. Jack could see a few Townsfolk walking the dirt path up from the fishing wharf, the setting orange sun casting long shadows in front of them.
Jack pulled up the interface showing the door timer. The arrow was pointing down and away from the door icon, and both were white now. To the right, the countdown read, “6:57:23”. He wondered what happened in seven hours, but it seemed like the door probably opened again after the countdown.
When they got close to the inn, he could smell burning wood and smoked fish. Jack entered behind Lex and Ryea and followed them to a table. About a dozen people were sitting at the tables all talking to each other, but most of the conversation turned to quiet murmurs when Jack walked in. He did his best to ignore them. Jack swung his leg over the bench and took a seat across from the two women just as Demi approached them.
“Kron can be a bit stubborn, but your new armor means he thinks you are a worthy investment,” the tall proprietor said, smiling down on him.
“Thanks again for all your help. I’m practically itching to get into that Tower and get some loot,” Jack responded with a grin. Now that he thought about it, he did feel an unnaturally strong urge to get into that Tower. The fact that none of this was real and his body was trapped in an underground spaceship came rushing to the front of his mind again, and it startled him. His smile faltered, but no one seemed to notice.
“I was worried when I brought him in, but I’m glad you were able to straighten him out,” Lex said, looking up at Demi.
“Hey, I’m the one that did all the hammering!” Ryea said and then massaged her right shoulder with one of her oversized hands.
Lex held out her hand, palm up. “Demi, here. This is for our three meals and for two rooms tonight,” she said, and then looked him in the eye. “Jack has a big day tomorrow; he’ll need all the help he can get.”
Demi tapped a finger in the air and nodded. “I’ll be back soon.” The silver-haired woman turned and walked back toward the kitchen.
“Aw thanks, Lex, but you really didn’t need to buy my supper,” Ryea said.
“Yeah, thanks!” Jack added. “I owe you one. I owe everyone one. But what was that about a room here tonight? What about the cabin I was in last night?”
Ryea and Lex shared a glance. Ryea began to grin, a wild look alight in her eyes, but Lex looked slightly concerned.
The taller, freckled woman let out a short, obnoxious chuckle when she saw Lex’s face.
“Oh, he’ll be fine. Don’t worry!”
“Jack,” Lex said. “Do you know what Rest Bonus is?”
Before Jack could answer, Demi was back with their food. Placed before him was the same plate of grilled fish he had earlier in the day. Then, she produced three wooden bowls filled with some sort of soup and placed them down. Lastly, she placed three wooden cups filled with water in front of them.
“Breakfast is at Two to Close. Try not to keep him up all night.” Demi looked at Lex with a raised eyebrow and then glided back behind the curtain at the back of the bar.
Ryea wasted no time spooning soup into her mouth. Jack smelled the steam coming off the piping broth under his nose, and he thought it might be a kind of seaweed broth- but then a small tentacle floated to the surface. It was dark red and coiled, covered with tiny suction cups.
He looked up at Lex to find her golden eyes studying him.
“I don’t know what a rest bonus is specifically, but I’ve… I think I have the general idea. I have no idea what ‘Two to Close’ means, though. And I don’t even want to know what this soup is all about.” Jack looked down into the questionable broth as he stirred it with his wooden spoon.
The door to the Inn opened again, and Jack turned to look. More Townsfolk were walking in and sitting at benches around the Inn. He noticed familiar faces among them. Bushy-browed Garl and gangly Wyben walked in. Jack waved, and Garl nodded. It seemed like everyone from the Town came to eat at the same time. Then an idea struck him. Everyone must be following the timer for the Tower. It probably switched states throughout the day. Exiting in the evening, closing late-morning and... open at midnight?
He looked up at Lex quietly eating her fish. He took his spoon and dipped it in to catch some of the broth around the spiraling tentacle.
Without looking up, he spoke. “I think a rest bonus must be a kind of stat boost for meeting some specific conditions before going into the Tower... and it probably wears off.” He quickly stuck the spoon in his face, like ripping off a Band-Aid. It was surprisingly good. Salty and very savory. Jack’s mouth immediately wanted more. He dipped his spoon back in and continued. “I may have just worked out what ‘two to close’ means. Maybe that breakfast is served two hours before the door in the Tower closes for the day?” He looked up from his soup to find Lex and Ryea were watching him. “I’m still working on that one. And, this soup-” He interrupted himself by shoving the spoon in his mouth again, upending its hot contents onto his tongue. After a moment he swallowed the delicious broth. “…is amazing!”
- 9 -
As they ate, Jack told them about the day’s adventures. Lex seemed very interested in the part about the old, rusty sword joining with the scabbard. Jack thought it was a good idea to leave out the booming voice that only he heard. Then the conversation turned to Blackmoor gossi
p. Jack learned that the girl in the dress he had seen in the boat was Sol’s daughter, Haylee. She was always running away and hiding, and most people thought that it was dangerous for the girl to be wandering off on her own. Eventually, Ryea said it was getting late and time for Lex and Jack to talk business. She thanked Lex and left to go and continue gossip with other Townsfolk sitting at the bar.
“So...” Jack started awkwardly, “what’s it like in there, really? I need to know what to expect.”
She took a moment to consider. “It’s different every time. Sometimes a Floor is... beautiful. Mostly it’s a nightmare. Your first time tomorrow, you’ll want to stop after the first Boss- but don’t feel like you have to finish the first Floor on your first time. And the moment you lose half your health, run. Run as fast as you can for an Exit Orb.”
“Exit Orb?
“You’ll see. You start next to one, and there is another in the Boss chamber. Touch it, and you Exit.”
“How many Floors do you clear per day?” he asked.
“I can reliably defeat the Floor 5 Boss. I could probably do another few Floors, but I don’t dare take the risk of advancing only to have to turn back.” She looked at her hands in her lap. “Losing a whole day would be disastrous.”
“Why would turning back lose you a whole day?” he asked. He was glad she was finally answering his questions without judgment.
“Well, okay.” She let out a long breath and continued. “Every Floor has a Boss monster to find and defeat. If you do, you will be presented with a door and a gold chest. You’ll want to loot the chest. It usually has a few valuable items. Then you must decide. You can touch the Orb and leave with the items you gained, or risk it all by walking through the door to the next Floor up. Because, if you are on a Floor with an undefeated Boss and you touch an orb... you Exit the Tower carrying out only what you had before you entered.”
“Ah. So, you lose all your loot and the whole day would be wasted. That would mean the corruption would come closer, right?”
Lex gave him a weak smile. “Yes. I’m very glad you are understanding the situation you are in- we all are in. I would be one day behind with no real way to make it up.” Her eyes unfocused before she continued. “I’ve tried to force Kron to make a run once or twice- just to give us some breathing room. But he’s too stubborn. And also, he’s right. If something were to happen while we were both inside...”