Joe shielded his eyes, tears welling up as the world around him exploded in a blinding brightness. His heart thundered in his chest like that heart-stopping moment right before the roller coaster plunges from the top. With a sudden whoosh, the wind lashed against him, forcing his eyes shut. The sensation of falling vanished almost as quickly as it had arrived, leaving Joe hunched over, hands on his knees.
As the dizziness faded, Joe straightened up slowly, blinking as the brightness dimmed. He found himself in a huge hall that seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction. Above him, the high vaulted ceiling was lit by a dim, pulsating red light, with dark tubules sprawling across it like a vast web. Just like in the Induction room, the floor beneath his feet felt unsettlingly alive, moving slightly as if he were standing on a giant waterbed. He cautiously tested its stability with one foot, feeling it slosh softly beneath him.
Whispers and faint murmurings drew Joe's attention as figures began to materialize around him. Initially, one person in a gray hoodie and cargo pants appeared, soon followed by another. Within minutes, the space was filled with many more ascenders, each blinking away their confusion.
Joe swallowed hard, suppressing his fears, he put on the friendliest smile he could muster. He didn’t want to come across as intimidating or uncertain.
"It's time to make some new friends," he muttered to himself, bolstering his courage.
He approached the nearest person, whose back was turned to him, just as a giant screen unfurled from the vaulted ceiling. The massive, paper-thin display reminded him of the oversized TVs from sports bars back home.
Words scrolled across its dark blue surface, and a deep voice boomed out, sounding as if it were straight out of a WWE match:
“Welcome ascenders, one and all!” The announcement was accompanied by those annoying party horns, while colored streamers burst forth from thin air, showering down around them. “You have now entered tutorial mode and are free to explore. If you have questions, ask Poppy.”
"Those decorations must be the Lich Master's handiwork." Joe chuckled in amusement. "Looks like he's taken a few cues from my world."
Before Joe could introduce himself, the man with his back to him scratched his backside and growled, "Thank fuck it’s not glitter. That stuff gets everywhere, every hard to reach nook and cranny."
Joe's laughter spun the man around. Despite appearing human, the fierce intensity of his hazel eyes suggested he was anything but friendly.
Joe’s smile faltered slightly but remained in place. Best not to ruffle feathers right off the bat, he thought, aiming to keep things polite before finding someone less intimidating to talk to—someone who didn’t give off the vibe they ate live chickens for breakfast.
The man looked as if he'd been chiseled from stone, with sharp features and a square jaw set in a stern line. Draped in streamers, he still cut an imposing silhouette."Hey, smiley," His fingers easily snapped away the streamers that clung to his broad shoulders.. "What's got you all happy clappy?"
Joe hesitated, momentarily caught off guard. He wasn't typically at a loss for words, but the sheer size of the guy before him—a real mountain of muscle with an aura that screamed 'keep your distance' —was enough to make anyone pause. Plus, the guy seemed to have a total disregard for personal space, his breath hot on Joe's face. Yet, Joe stood his ground, a stubborn part of him unwilling to show any sign of retreat. After all, in this guy's world, maybe invading personal space was like offering a friendly handshake.
"I'm Joe." He injected a note of cheer into his voice. "Just happy I'm not dead anymore, you know? What about you?"
Without warning, the man's hands clamped down on Joe's arms, pinning them firmly at his sides. He leaned in, lowering his head, as if preparing to deliver a headbutt. "I'm Terrorclaw Jadescale Mufiforanlexo of the Deep Defenders and Revered Brotherhood clan from the Kingdoms of Cragmire. Dying sucked balls. I was about to inherit a fortune, then bam, a damn dragon had me for dinner. Hope I gave that filthy beast indigestion."
"Nice to meet you, Terrorclaw Jadescale…Muh, Muh…." Joe internally winced, not wanting to mangle the guy's name—it wasn't the way to make a good first impression. "Mind if I call you TJ? It's what we do with friends back home."
"TJ's fine. You want me to call you J?"
Joe fought back a smirk. "Joe's short enough, don't you think?"
"Sure thing, smiley." TJ’s booming laugh bounced around the hall, turning heads as he delivered a hearty slap on Joe's back. "So, how’d you kick the bucket?"
Where the heck do I even start? Joe thought, grinning nervously.
“No wait, let me guess,” TJ continued, his eyebrows performing an exaggerated dance. “Given that grin, I'd say you died in a tragic yet passionately acrobatic encounter with your lover.”
“What the hell, man, no! Not even close.” Joe’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. “Long story short, I got hit by a truck.” His gaze wandered to other Ascenders who were beginning to scatter and delve into the corners of the tutorial world. Joe's curiosity rose, making him itch to get moving so he could venture beyond the vast hall and see what mysteries lay beyond.
TJ gave Joe’s shoulder a firm prod. “What’s a truck?”
Joe winced like he’d been jabbed with a metal bar. “Have you got steel rods in your fingers?” he asked half-jokingly, massaging the sore spot on his shoulder. “A truck is one of many types of wheeled transport in my world. They usually carry trade goods like food, drink, furniture, and clothing. If you hadn’t mentioned your name, I would’ve thought you were from Earth because you look and sound human.”
TJ scowled. “Didn’t have a choice about being human. I told that grave prancer, Lich, I wanted to remain a kobold, but the cold bastard laughed and told me I should count myself lucky I was now human—they’re more time-rich than kobolds by forty-five years. Bigger and stronger too. I’m still getting used to this new body.” He eyed Joe up and down with renewed interest. “So, you didn’t change races. Lucky you.”
Joe felt anything but lucky. “I asked to change race, but…” His words were cut short by a blare of a party horn, the sound echoing off the high ceilings, causing a knot of tension in his chest to unravel, only to be replaced by a new one as he tuned into the next announcement.
"Ascenders, please follow the arrows to the exit and explore the tutorial world outside this grand hall. This is your time to shine; opportunities are all around you to prepare for the first floor and earn time currency. Enter the Battlebox, but beware, it is not for the faint-hearted. Will you take the risk to gamble time, your most precious resource?"
Arrows flickered into existence across the rippling floor, their ghostly glow pulling Joe's attention. A stern voice echoed in his mind, the blue flame of guidance flickering with impatience. “Well, don’t just stand there like a fool. Time waits for no man; get a move on Joe and find a Battlebox to enter. I will be most annoyed if you end up in the red zone.”
TJ seemed deep in thought, oblivious to the commanding voice. “Hey, look over there,” he said, pointing to a bright light that marked an exit. A steady stream of Ascenders flowed towards the path. “We should check it out. It’s a case of ‘dig fast or stay buried,’ that’s what we kobolds say in my world.”
Joe had hoped to have time to meet other Ascenders who might want to team up to form an adventure party, but that moment wasn’t now. “We say something similar back on Earth,” Joe said, the resolve firm in his voice, “let’s go find ourselves a Battlebox and score some time.”
With determined strides, they moved across the vast hall. Those in their path quickly stepped aside to avoid TJ’s imposing frame as he barreled towards the exit. For such a big guy, he moved with surprising speed. Joe, grateful for his own fit physique, easily kept pace despite his shorter legs.
Exiting the great hall, the temperature dramatically rose as they found themselves in an alien sub-tropical rainforest. The air was thick and humid, wrapping around Joe like a wet blanket as he entered what felt like a steam room at a gym, fully clothed. Sweat beaded on his upper lip, the taste of salt lingering as he wiped it away. But his thirst was quickly forgotten when screens dropped from the sky and embedded themselves in the bark of coconut trees adorned with strange, billowing purple fronds—retro gaming tech that looked like Atari joysticks.
TJ tugged at Joe’s arm, his grip like a vise. “Look at that,” he said, pointing upward where banners scrolled across a hovering screen:
MadOrbz collection point this way.
The decagon next to Joe’s thigh vibrated. He scratched his chin as TJ nodded towards a pulsating glow beyond a small thicket of vines and lush fronds. TJ’s machete slashed through the thick vines with ease.
“Nice weapon.” Joe parted the jungle overgrowth, forcing his way through beside TJ. Looking at the size of his own blade, he’d tried not to have weapon envy. But his butterfly knife would be duller than a broken toothpick if he tried to cut through the plants.
“Yeah, everyone should have a B.K. machete.” TJ slashed through another thick purple frond.
“Well hello there!” a loud booming voice echoed up ahead near the source of the light.
Joe cleared his throat as the speaker came into view. A giant of a man, nearly seven foot tall and broad shouldered grinned from ear to ear. The glow from a metal rack holding silver orbs the size of a baseball, highlighted the sheen of sweat on his temples.
Joe smiled back. “Quite welcoming of a couple of slashers aren’t we?”
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The giant’s laughter thundered, shaking the leaves on the lush purple foliage surrounding them. “Don’t think we need to fear each other when we’re surrounded by a living jungle. At least that’s what this guy says.” He stepped to the side, revealing the narrow backside of a crouched person.
Joe blinked again at the jumpsuit. A long skinny, hairless tail protruded, swishing around as the ascender pivoted to look up at them, his face more like that of a rat than human.
He waved a hairy hand and held out a wriggling caterpillar on his other. “It’s more than fascinating! So many plant species and insects that thrive within this ecosystem.” He lifted his narrow, pointed nose to the air, sniffing. “Ah, I detect another Ascender approaching...no, my apologies, there are two of them.”
The giant followed his gaze and raised his chin. “There they are. The more the merrier!”
The two figures that emerged, didn’t seem to share his enthusiasm.
An athletic woman groaned, yanking the vines to the side as a tall thin man with black hair covering one eye ducked his head underneath parting vines. The man narrowed his eyes and turned toward the female. “They’re not like us.”
Her scowl deepened while she took in her new surroundings.
TJ tilted his head. “Us, what the hell are you then?”
The man smirked. “Not human like you, thankfully.” His eyes scanned to the ratman. “Nor a scavenging ratfolk.”
The woman’s gaze remained sharp. “Don’t associate me with you, emo elf.”
Although she looked mostly human, Joe noticed subtle differences that set her apart. Her fiery red hair, tied in a loose ponytail, cascaded into sun-kissed gold, alive like embers stirred by a breeze. As she turned her piercing green, almost catlike eyes towards Joe, he shivered. She looked at him with the detached curiosity of a child studying an ant through a magnifying glass.
"Changelings are so peculiar and rude," the elf with the floppy fringe muttered. “I suppose it’s something I’ll just have to get used to while I’m here.” He made his irritation clear as he shifted his head, allowing a pointed ear to peek through his long hair.
The female changeling’s sudden movement caught the elf man by surprise but not as much as the slap across his face did. Activating Quick Wit Joe saw everything, the icy shimmer on her skin as it caught the light and the writhing, twisting movement of her shadow that didn’t quite match her confident stride.
“Hold your tongue you pointy eared freak or next time I’ll cut it off.” She lowered her hand but her stance remained threatening.
The elf’s arrogance visibly wilted under her gaze.
Joe scanned the odd group, mentally assigned roles: the mysterious changeling woman and TJ as damage dealers, the giant as a tank, and himself in stealth. The elf, likely skilled in magic, seemed suited for a support role as a healer. They were an unlikely adventure party, but potential allies in this strange world. “We’re all here, whether we like it or not," Joe said, trying to diffuse the tension. "Fighting with each other only wastes energy. We should focus on working together to figure out how to leave this tower eventually.”
Another banner scrolled across a screen embedded in the tree’s bark. Equip your decagons.
The giant chuckled. “Didn’t you hear? The only way out of this tower is up. While you lot were busy having a hot moment, I asked Poppy to explain the basics of MadOrbz use in the Battlebox.” He reached for a glowing orb on the metal rack, its shape morphing into liquid metal before it disappeared into one of the glass windows of his decagon. “Nice batterer.”
Joe’s gaze locked onto the remaining glowing orbs laid out on the rack while Poppy’s voice echoed into his ears.
“Yip-yip, better choose if you doing Battlebox.”
“Can you explain more about this Battlebox?” Joe raised a brow at the giant as he grasped another silver orb that morphed into liquid metal. A small screen appeared in his upper field of vision like a personal banner.
[3/10 Spots available for Battlebox Tutorial Mode. Select your MadOrbz for containment.]
“So once I choose one, I can keep it.” He picked up the silver orb, and under the warmth of his hands, it began to transform. The smooth metal softened like melted butter, contorting into a foam face with wild, cartoon eyes and a twisted grin. Coarse, curly strands sprouted around it, encircling the face like a nest of unruly armpit hair.
Grimacing, Joe squeezed the foam orb and water oozed out, reeking of day-old body odor that reminded him of the gym he stopped visiting.
Poppy’s face leapt onto his HUD. “Focus on the MadOrbz core and then you can identify it.”
Tilting his head, Joe’s eyes widened with the startle of a sudden pull from his abdomen to the orb. “Identify.”
[Name: Stench.
Elemental Affinity: Water.
Tier: Starter Orb.
Core-MP: 5
HP: 100/100
Damage: +10
Time: 30”
Cool Down: Round.
Ability: Action-Disrupt. Force your opponent into a 5” time debuff, delaying their attack by dousing them in the putrid smelling slosh from the gym’s shower drain.
Weakness: Insult by Wind.]
Joe shuddered and set the smelly ball with a cartoon face back on the metal rack. “What are these? Yours don’t look like mine.” It returned to its original size and shape. He glanced at the giant whose grinning reflection stared back from his larger liquid metal orb.
“They suit me quite well.” He rolled the orb in his sizable hand. “Before I died and arrived here, I was a dwarf, mining deep into the dark and dangerous Ironside Mountains.”
Joe returned his gaze to the remaining orbs, then back to the big friendly guy, wondering how he’d died and whether he’d been more like a Snow White or Lord of the Rings dwarf in his last life.
The giant stroked his magnificent goatee. “Some considered me a dwarf nerd inventor. My father used to say ‘Brian, only you can find 101 ways not to do something’…he was a difficult man to please. I only caused a couple of explosions, and it’s not like anyone died…” He trailed off as if lost in a memory.
Joe chuckled. “Well Brian, it sounds like they didn’t recognize your genius.”
“Exactly!” The giant’s voice boomed, shaking the leaves of a nearby tree. “Better pick you some orbs before time runs out. Sure we’ll find out soon enough how to use them.”
"Thanks." Joe extended his hand, then let it drop when Brian simply stood there. Of course, Joe thought, handshakes aren’t universal, not even back on Earth. "Sorry, I didn’t mention it before, I’m Joe and this here is TJ.”
Joe felt like a sardine sandwiched between Brian, who offered a smile in return, and TJ, who was too engrossed in weighing orbs in both hands to notice the introduction.
A couple of the other ascenders reached for orbs on the rack, each one morphing into a different shape. Joe grabbed another, the brief warmth surrounding another foam orb as it took on the shape of a spiky ice ball with glistening eyes and sharp teeth. He sighed at the sight, memories flashed in his mind of his father’s 80s MadBalls toy collection that graced the shelves of the study stared up at him in waiting.
This time he allowed the tug on his abdomen, and his focus didn’t require him to speak the word identify.
[Name: Slimer.
Elemental Affinity: Water.
Tier: Starter Orb.
Core-MP: 5
Damage: +10
Time: 30”
Cool Down: Round.
Ability: Action-Disrupt. Force your opponent into a 5” time debuff, delaying their attack by flinging sticky-gooey slime on them from head to toe.
Weakness: Insult by Wind.]
“If Joe like, put in decagon.” Poppy’s voice urged.
He pulled it in closer, considering the orb but dropped it back onto the rack. If he was collecting these orbs, he needed to understand why they were so important “Poppy, how many do we keep?”
Poppy’s eyes widened. “Only three for the tutorial. Many, many more after, you wait, you see soon, so exciting!”
“Are there more than attack orbs?” Joe scratched his chin, wondering if there were any defense orbs like something he’d have seen when playing Pokemon cards with his granddad and sister.
“Yip-yip, Joe, each MadOrbz acquired has its own purpose. But only once the summoner connects to its core will it reveal.”
He glanced at the others whose eyes lit as their orbs shifted to various forms. “Each one of these orbs will work only for their summoner.”
Joe picked up the last three orbs available. Each held the same elemental affinity for water, but carried different names and abilities. With the exception of the defensive and function orbs, their damage, time, and cool downs were the same.
[Name: Drooler.
Elemental Affinity: Water.
Tier: Starter Orb.
Core-MP: 5
…
Anti-Damage: +5
Ability: Action-Defense. Protect your orb with a +5 damage buff, reducing their attack by drenching them with saliva from last night’s dinner.
Weakness: Insult by Wind.]
Joe scratched his jaw and moved on to examine the next one.
[Name: Frostbite Chill.
Elemental Affinity: Water.
Tier: Starter Orb.
Core-MP: 5
…
Ability: Action-Attack. Ensure damage to your opponent by the breath of crisp air.
Weakness: Insult by Wind.]
Finally, he turned his attention to the orb that looked like an iridescent bubble, much like childhood, but this one was covered with popping pustules as though it were going through a bad stage of puberty.
[Name: Bubbler
Elemental Affinity: Water.
Tier: Starter Orb.
Core-MP: 5
Cool Down: Single Use Consumable.
Ability: Function-Trash. Rid yourself of one MadOrbz of your choosing while inside the common room.]
Another vibration of the decagon tapped against his leg.
“Time to join is almost gone.” Poppy’s chirpy voice echoed.
He pulled on his sweater’s hoodie string, the chewed end rubbing his lips as it fell free from his hand. All of the MadOrbz he identified aligned with Water affinity, optimal for his Rogue class. As intriguing as the descriptions of the attack orbs were, he didn’t know how the battlebox worked. The trash MadOrbz seemed like it’d be helpful, but not useful for this tutorial. “Two attacks and one defense.” He touched the Drooler and his decagon jolted, humming with electricity, the slobbering face appeared as a reflection behind the glass.
He grabbed two of the attack MadOrbz, collecting them in his storage device. A notification appeared across his HUD.
[Battlebox ready! Summon a MadOrbz by focusing on its core. If you have enough mana particles, the MadOrbz will appear in your hand.]
“What do we win in the Battlebox?”
“Time-time, Joe!” Poppy’s tail swished onto his HUD. “Most important to climb. It begins, go-go!”
[To enter the Battlebox Tutorial, place your bet. Do you wish to enter?]
Joe glanced at the others, their eyes focused in front of them as though they were reading their own set of notifications. “I assume we’re all going. Anyone want to team up,...if we can?”
He couldn’t lose the opportunity to take it easy. Like any of the adventure games he’d played in his past life, this would be his chance to get ahead and learn more about what the Lich-Master had crafted.
The Ratfolk waved his hairy hands. “Not me! There’s so much more in this jungle I want to explore. Why waste time on some battle?”
Brian patted the Ratfolk on the back, causing him to stumble forward. “Are you sure you won’t join? Time is money here, it’s your chance to get ahead.”
“I wasn’t called Lucky by taking risks. I’ll wait until I enter the common room to train with the system. Measure everything first, that's my motto.”
Joe glanced at the elf, and changeling woman who shook her head and disappeared into the battlebox without a word.
The emo elf groaned. “Oh, I don’t know if I should join or stay back with Lucky. I’m only a bard.”
Joe shrugged. “Both of you make good points, but we’re all in this together whether we like it or not. I’m going to join. You should too.”
TJ elbowed Joe and spoke in a low voice. “He’s not going to last long.”
“We don’t even know what the Battlebox is…”
TJ clapped his hands on Joe and the giant’s back. “Let's toast those fuckers. Place your bet.” He disappeared with a crooked smile.
“I'm battle ready, Poppy.”