Chapter 1 - Powerless

Scattered blades of grass flew through the air as a warm wind brushed across the landscape. It was one of the few times the Tower gave such happiness to those who entered.

The Tower is separated into ‘Floors’ where the landscape and monsters change. The area I was in was located on floor one, the lowest and weakest floor of the Tower.

I was surrounded by grassy plains and open fields with large white trees nearly twice my size. Their silvery leaves rustled occasionally which created a sharp sound, like knives gliding against one another.

Over two weeks ago I turned 16 and became eligible to start entering the Tower, finally making me a full-fledged Adventurer!

My name is Rei Alos, I live in the lively city of Istoria and have grown up there since before I could remember. My dream was partly fulfilled when I took my first steps into Adventurehood, leaving only one part left to accomplish.

Become the most popular adventurer the land has ever known!

I can’t say I have too many great memories growing up but I was never bored, how could I be when I was in the city of Adventurers?! A simple stroll down the street was instantly livened up by a group of warriors and mages heading into danger, spreading their lively stories and tales of the Tower.

For most people who grew up in Istoria, it’s been their dream to follow those warriors and become an adventurer. I was no exception.

I had always pressed my dad further on late nights to read just one more chapter from books about them. It made him pretty mad after a while but those are some of my fondest memories.

Since before I could remember I had wanted to know what it truly meant to be an adventurer, the best the world had ever seen.

However, that future… seems impossible for me.

A fluffy tail perked up from under the large patch of grass ahead of me, as I took a step closer to it, it popped up with a pair of floppy ears hanging over its face. The small furry creature observed me from the grass with its black button-shaped eyes.

Its long fluffy body had a hazel coat with small patches of white scattered across its body. It was cute in every sense of the word.

They’re known as Funk’s, the weakest monster in the Tower. It may be a monster of the Tower but something like that is pretty useless in combat. Besides running away really fast, they don’t do anything but graze the opening field of the First Floor.

Just keep standing there, I can’t risk you running away. It should be jumping in 3, 2, 1…

I counted down in my head as I walked over but after stepping one step too close, the hairs on its tail stood on edge.

I reached over to the rusty sword hanging from my waist, but the tube of fluff reacted a second faster. It jolted out of the grass and cleared the distance between us in the blink of an eye.

I couldn’t have been more than a couple of breaths away from it, no matter how many times I fought those things, it always frightened me.

My stance widened out of reflex and with all my strength, I pivoted myself towards it. The sword was at my side, aimed forward at an uncomfortable angle.

It was rusted and in terrible condition but heavy nonetheless.

My eyes scrunched closed as I threw my weight forward, the sword knocked against its fluffy exterior and a moment later, the tube of fluff fell to the ground.

Thud

“That didn’t feel solid at all, did I even cut it?”

I hesitantly walked over to it. The creature wriggled through the grass and stained its lush green blades with a dark coat of red. It was still alive but couldn’t do much more than writhe in pain.

That was the most a skill-less runt like me could manage, without any strong abilities I was left with fighting small fries and dealing pathetic damage.

The Funk rolled around in place with crazy erratic movements. The adventurers around me passed by, they made judging murmurs and remarks to one another as soon as they took one look at the situation.

I didn’t need to hear them to know what they were saying. Anyone could tell that I was a complete noob after all. To put it simply, I was weak.

It’s not like I wasn't trying my best those last two weeks, I just hadn’t grown any stronger. Other adventurers that started when I did had already made it to floors two and three, while I…I could barely swing my sword properly.

I wanted more than anything to grow stronger but no matter how much I tried, no matter how many hours I poured into it, I saw no progress.

The Gift that humans gain when entering the Tower allows us to grow stronger, which happens when we kill monsters. The strength of the monsters increases respective to the height of the Floor they venture to.

A pretty easy system to understand. Fight monsters to get stronger, the monsters get stronger the higher you go. Pretty simple, right?

Too bad my body never got the memo.

I’d heard about some slow beginnings but it felt like my progression was unrivalled…two weeks in and I couldn’t kill the weakest monster in the Tower.

The monster squirmed, it left a blood pool with every toss and turn. I gritted my teeth at the sight of it and raised my sword over my head.

The tip of the sword sunk into its body, it offered a lot of resistance but I got the blade through. It was by no means a clean kill but I couldn't let it suffer any longer. I already felt bad that I couldn’t get it in one hit but dragging it out felt cruel.

“If only I had some strength of my own. I’ve heard of people able to summon lightning or pillars of fire…If only I had a skill of my own.” I muttered bitterly.

My sword was in terrible condition, coated with layers upon layers of dried blood. Even if I had the money to clean it up, it wouldn’t do much good against the chips and scratches scattered over the blade.

“The weapon matches the warrior I guess. What am I going to do, this thing looks like it’s going to fall apart any second now?”

It may not have looked like much but that thing cost me an arm and a leg from my savings…I had to use pretty much everything in my allowance just to get it but even then, it felt like I got scammed.

The sword was second hand but it was all I could afford, a regular one would have cost me nearly five times the amount.

Even if it isn't the highest quality, a weapon is a necessity for adventurers. That and…monster drops.

“Uuughh!”

I moaned louder by the second, knowing what the next step was. It was the worst part of being an adventurer and by far, the grossest!

I hesitantly tried reaching into the cut so that I could pull out the meat but at the last second, I pulled my hand away. Seeing as I hadn’t managed to kill too many Funks since starting, I didn’t have too much experience in that part.

I ended up using the tip of my sword and made a complete mess stabbing the clumps of meat and storing them into the pouch along my waist. If I wasn’t growing stronger, selling the meat and fangs was the most important part of hunting them.

It may seem gross but that was a vital step to growing stronger too. With stronger monsters like dragons, the scales could be sold and used for making armour and weapons, not that I was close to ever reaching those feats.

“I doubt I could even get 50 Rhan for this, Funk meat is barely selling these days. Sigh...”

Suddenly an ominous beat flooded my ears, it repeated softly over and over like a pair of drums far off in the distance.

Since I hadn’t progressed any further in the Tower, I knew that entire field like the back of my hand.

I knew everything from the number of people that passed through, the spots where Funks would graze, even the direction of the wind.

My eyes focused on the figures in front of me, I couldn’t pry my eyes away from them.

“Where did those trees come from?”

Thin trees with crisp white bark and silver leaves, no taller than an adult stood opposite me. They stood upright perfectly symmetrical, side by side. It seemed a little too perfect to be natural, even for the Tower’s standards.

I was ready to turn away but the subtle sound of beating echoed through my ears again. It grew louder the closer I stepped towards the trees.

My eyes were locked on the twin figures, after another step I noticed a snow-coloured leaf fall from the branches. It brushed against the air between the trees and a ripple effect pulsed out in the space between them. The leaf vanished behind it as if it floated behind the air somehow.

It was a distortion in the air, like invisible water.

I gingerly held out my hand to the space between the trees and watched it disappear into the ripple just as the leaf had.

“Wh-what is this… is it magic or something?”

I wanted to turn back and run but…the beating sound grew louder and louder. I wanted to know what was making such a powerful sound, I needed to find out.

I walked through the rippling wall until the last inch of my heel passed through. I was greeted by a dim room covered with moss and vines from every direction. I felt like I was trapped under a bowl that had been left there for centuries.

Ba-dump Ba-dump Ba-dump Ba-dump

“…A heartbeat?”

In front of me was no longer a peaceful view of open plains and rustic nature but rather a closed-off dreary dome. It resembled the grim tales of the Tower I always heard in stories, the closer I looked around me the more it fit the descriptions perfectly.

The vines wrapped over the walls were a dark shade of brown, they hugged the curved walls tightly. The only source of light in that leafy death trap was the small cracks and gaps between the greenery that light shone through.

I wasn’t sure how it was possible until I recalled the stories I heard growing up. Tales of a space inside the Tower where other worlds resided, ones so terrifying that most adventurers never dreamed of entering them.

No matter how I look at this, I’ve stumbled into a Dungeon.

Dungeons can range from labyrinths, mazes or rooms that are closed off from the rest of the Tower. They have monsters crawling around just like the Tower but the strength of those beasts is often far greater. The one common factor is that all Dungeons have a Boss waiting at the end of them.

The only reason adventures bothered entering them was because of the hefty rewards.

Cough Cough

“A human has found me first, I might be saved after all.”

My eyes raced across the room to the origin of the ethereal voice. To my surprise, it was an old man dressed in long red and white robes that looked to be expert-level equipment.

He was lying against the wall with a hand over his chest and another pointing towards the side of the room. He was well into his years and displayed a mature masculine face. Most of his features were hidden from the dim lighting but I could tell that much at least.

His crimson eyes cut through the darkness, it glowed like beams of light from his eyes. I had never seen anything like it in person, it didn’t seem real. I blinked my eyes just to make sure I was seeing it right but it remained the same.

My eyes followed his fingers to where they were pointing and my awe fell into panic.

Standing at the opposite end of the room was a large humanoid figure, taller than a great oak tree. It was made completely of wood, with mossy clumps growing over its body.

It squirmed under the massive amounts of restraints holding it against the wall. Glowing red chains linked from the ground and wall kept it from rushing over and killing us.

“Is that magic? I’ve never seen it used like that before, so this is what a mage can do…” I observed.

The sharp sound of rattling chains smashed against every end of the room as the monster flailed around in its constraints. It jolted its arms in every direction and caused the chains to stretch to their limits. No matter how far it pulled though, it never managed to break them.

I’ve never seen that monster before…he looks huge! Something that big shouldn’t be on the first floor, should it? This has to be some sort of irregular…so why is it here?!!

Cough Cough

The repeating bloodied coughs snapped me out of my panicked thoughts, I quickly ran over to him sticking close to the wall as I ran. Even with that thing in chains, I wasn’t able to convince my body not to be on alert. My legs wouldn’t stop shaking.

The closer I got to him, the clearer he became. The most important feature was that his skin was as grey as ash. As he coughed again, a splatter of purple liquids stained his hand.

Blood.

I followed the purple splatters and stains under his hand and noticed a pool of violet blood at his side.

The old man lifted his hand from his chest and the constant beating of drums came to a halt.

So it was him making that noise, did he do it to lure me here?

The cracked corners of the old man’s mouth straightened out as his face turned stern.

“I know that my eyes haven’t grown so weak as to imagine it…an empty vessel within the Tower?”