"So what you're actually saying is that you know fuck all, right?" Sarah was holding back her rising frustration at the uninformative door.

"I'm terribly sorry, Master. I was never privy to the conversations held in the previous master's room. Nor have I ever been in any other location than this. It pains me to say so, but I don't even know what resides past the corridor. I can only answer your last question." Solus perks up at the end trying to be of use.

'I suppose that was the most important one after all. We can't have people coming to kill me because of rumors like - everybody that enters the tower dies, can we?' Settling down, Sarah waited with baited breath to hear what the death rate would be.

"It is whatever you deem it to be, Master." Solus smiled for the first time since their conversation had started.

'I should have guessed that one really. Being tin charge means I set the rules. The second time Solus used that lightning on me was a lot more intense. If I specified a voltage, or percentage in this case, then the murder door wouldn't be able to kill anyone that attempted the final challenge. That's not right though?'

Casting a frown, Sarah remembered that she still had souls to spend. Two of her own and six from the Book of Souls, reminding her that she had been extremely lucky in her stupidity.

'I don't even have a first challenge yet so I shouldn't worry too much about Solus for now. I need to spend these babies... Oh, I really hope they're not babies.'

As a tear ran down her cheek, Sarah brought up the tower's information and chose to confirm on the ground floor.

'Status screens are amazing.'

The master room began to rumble, indicating that the tower was undergoing alteration of sorts. It reminded Sarah of a short tremor and after her world had settled down, she moved on to the last feature.

Hitting confirm on the last option, a door, the tower began to rumble once again. With her fingers crossed, Sarah was brimming with anticipation and hoped that the doorway would be the feature that finally made travel between floors possible. Once it had subsided, she received a new notification.

[Tower of Death has become Level 3 - New features are available.]

[Tower of Death - Level 3]

- Since the passing of the last Master, a new one has taken their place. Over time the tower has regressed back to its original state, but is now slowly being rebuilt. Unlock new features by performing sacrifices and offering souls to the Tower of Death.

Current floors: 2

Sacrificial souls: 6

Features need to advance: 4

Features available: 4

- Entrance (1)

- First Floor (2)

- Immortal Receptionist (1)

- Ground floor furnishings (2)

'Entrance!'

"Right! I'm going out. Don't wait up babe." Sarah's words were lost on the guardian. The only thing it wanted to know was whether she would return or not. "Yes. I'll be back soon. I'm just going to see how the tower has changed and take a quick look outside. Don't worry."

Leaving the gloomy-looking door behind, Sarah tapped the staff on the stone floor as she made her way down the corridor towards the fountain. The room that housed the waters of sin had undergone a slight alteration and Sarah couldn't hide her delight. In the space where she had previously pried the magic crystal from the wall, was a new door.

'Hopefully this should lead down to the ground floor. There's still no option for stairs at the minute so maybe I won't get an option them. Whatever, her we go.'

As she opened the door with baited breath, Sarah's prayers were finally answered. Wasting no time, she immediately began the descent down the stairwell. The stone steps made no noise as she moved from one to the next. Each one fuelling the growing desire inside. The lack of sound was due to Sarah's footwear and she didn't intend to take the Shoes of the Necromancer.

'So comfy. Wait a minute... How am I already at the bottom?'

In what had taken her less than twenty steps, Sarah had arrived at another door. It went unknown to her at that time, but the reasoning behind that strange matter was just another feature of the Tower of Death.

'My fall was much further than that, so how have I reached the bottom so soon?'

Opening the door, Sarah was greeted by a familiar yet different room. It was identical to the three, empty rooms upstairs, but it was new. Untouched by the passage of time. The door itself looked like it had only just been crafted and attached, compared to the rot and damage found upstairs.

'This is the ground floor then.'

The room was bare, but illuminated by the light of two mana crystals. The same black stone, tinted with green, kept the tower's theme running.

'Is the whole tower going to be that colour? And why are necromancers so fond of green and black anyway? Well, black I can kind of get behind, but green? Really?'

Ignoring her own trivial questions, Sarah headed directly towards the wall opposite the stairwell. Her heart was pounding. Finally. Finally. She would be free. It had only been a little over two days since Sarah had found herself far away from everything she knew, but her experiences in the tower had made time seem longer and drawn out.

'Ok, Tower. No fucking about this time. It's time to show me my entrance... My entrance? The entrance! That's what I meant. Show me the entrance.'

For the cost of a single soul, Sarah's nightmare came to an end. An exquisite door, one almost on par with Solus, forced its way into being between the tower's stone wall. Sarah couldn't contain her joy as she hugged the door welcomly.

'I'm so glad your here.'

Beautiful craftsmanship, the door was a deep red and had a golden knob. Pulsing across its center in neon green and on a continuous cycle, words burst in view before slowly fading away.

'Tower of Death, huh? Yeah, I don't think I want to advertise the name yet. Thank you anyway,' she thought as the words blinked out and didn't return again.

'That's better.'

Even though Sarah hadn't been unsure whether she was able to make the words stay gone, the feeling she had gotten from tower was a positive one. She would be hard pressed to explain the link they shared, but she knew it was there.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

'Is it because I've built the first floor now? Or the entrance? I don't remember feeling a connection before that.'

Sarah reached out, her hands were trembling, and she turned the golden knob of freedom.

'I'll think about it later. After I get some fresh air.'

Brimming with glee, Sarah pushed the door open and emerged into freedom she was more than shocked, however, to find herself in the middle of a packed street.

"What the hell?" Watching the people scurry past, Sarah closed the door and put her back against it as her heart pounded away furiously.

'Wasn't I supposed to be in a forest?'

An elongated mouth, with more teeth inside it than Sarah could count, drew her attention as a monster dressed in a fine outfit casually strolled by.

'Why the hell is there an alligator walking down the street? And why are it's clothes better than mine?' As the civilians of her new world made their way passed, a large majority of them turned out not to be the human variety. Sarah also noted that everybody seemed to be giving her doorway a larger berth than it deserved.

She watched as reptiles, canines, and even a few poultry, made their way about their daily lives among the human inhabitants of the city. It was almost as though they were purposely ignoring Sarah and her tower. The dumbstruck woman took the scene in with mixed emotions as they continued to pass by.

'Can't they see me?'

Sarah thought that it must be something to do with the tower. The magical object was more than likely the reason people were avoiding it. 'It's probably got skeletons and spikes protruding out of it, or some crazy shit like that,' she imagined.

Turning around though, Sarah found that wasn't the case at all. The aptly named Tower of Death looked more on the lines of the Cottage of Early Retirement.

"What the fuck is that!" Forgetting her place in the crowded street, Sarah immediately clamped her free hand over her mouth. She was still holding her staff in the other and had forgotten to leave it in the master room. The staff's appearance alone would be enough to label her as evil and she looked round it panic.

'It's a good job they can't see me. I'm fucking stupid.' Looking over her shoulder, Sarah relaxed slightly as the people and non-people didn't seem to interested in the small, yet-loud woman holding onto the wicked piece of wood. 'Whatever stops them from seeing me probably keeps them from hearing my bullshit too.' She looked back at the white-bricked cottage behind her with its lovely little red roof and door. Ivy was hanging from trellises giving the cottage the appearance of a quaint little home.

'Seriously? My tower can look like this, but Solus can't morph into a ring? Was he bullshitting me? No, I don't think he'd do that. Still, this illusion is definitely up there with the world's strangest shit. Not that everything else I've seen so far isn't also fighting for the top spot.'

Sarah looked at the floor in front of her tower. 'If I moved away from the tower now, would I not be able to see it?' She didn't attempt to move, but that was the feeling she was receiving through her connection with the tower. Knowing that, Sarah quickly re-entered the larger-on-the-inside building and went straight to her room.

"Master? That was quite fast. Was it perhaps not what you were expecting?" Solus' words caused Sarah to stop.

"What do you mean?" She asked, curious to see if he knew more than he was letting on and if he knew where they were all along.

"You've been gone for less than five minutes, Master. I thought we were isolated somewhere and that you would be gone for a lot longer than you were." The murder door added.

'I see. He's just lonely as fuck and was anticipating missing me. I get that.' Sarah placed her free hand on the Slous' wood, not knowing if the sentient object would appreciate the sentiment, before she decided to make its day.

"Well, you don't need to worry about me running off to go travelling. Turns out the maps in those books on the shelf are way outdated. By like a millennia or two. Serious," she chuckled while using her staff to point at the bookcase beside the chair.

"I don't understand, Master? Are they closer than you thought?" Sarah smiled again as she placed the staff next to the chair and took a seat.

"Extremely. You could even say they're right on our doorstep." Solus' expression became that of puzzlement and then shock before the door realised what Sarah's meant.

"Right outside?" It's voice was almost quivering, a whisper of its previous self. "Why do you sound so nervous? This was your plan. Convince people to take the test and get my blessing. Not that I made any headway on that front, but don't you be backing out on me!"

"I'm not, Master. I just did not realise we we're so close to civilisation. I was just... caught of guard and a little flustered, but it will not happen again."

'Since when do doors get flustered? Not that I mind. I nearly soiled myself when I saw everyone outside and on more than one occasion too. I still can't believe we're in the middle of a city, one that has honest to God animal people in no less. Seriously... Where the actual fuck have I found myself?'

Sarah stood up and took half of the preserved meat from the runed shelf. 'I need to learn how to read these squiggles at some point. Or maybe I could just copy them? That could work. I could actually do with making myself another shelf. This one doesn't hold nearly enough food.'

She sat back down in her comfy chair and swung her legs over the arm. The heat from the fire was continously warming the room and Sarah enjoyed the flavourful cuttings as she basked in the warmth.

'I really need to know what this meat is.'

[Hiro Boar - An extinct species that once roamed the forest surrounding the Tower of Death. Known for its soft meat and unique taste.

[Identify has reached Level 2]

'Thank you, universe. Or should I say Identify. I vaguely remember reading its description, but to be honest I think I forgot that it was one of my skills. I mean, I have been thanking the universe this whole time after all. I'll definitely use Identify more often now though. Especially when I head back outside where I basically know nothing. I also want to get stronger through my own means. I've already much better than I was before I arrived, but it's not like any of that was my own doing. Unless you take dying and earning stat points into consideration that is.'

Name: Sarah-Jane Kemp

Unspent Points: 5

Class: Necromancer - Level 2

- Create Undead Level 1

- Eyes of Death Level 1

- Necrotic Body Level 1

- Necrotic Soul Level 3

- Form of the Necromancer Level 3

Title: What Death?

Skills:

- Cirian Language MAX

- Identify Level 2

- Fear Resistance Level 3

- Lightning Resistance Level 2

- Pain Resistance Level 3

Specialised Skills:

- Immortality

- Second Chance

- Indomitable Will

- Breathless

Status:

- Vitality: 80

- Strength: 26

- Endurance: 31

- Dexterity: 20

- Intelligence: 30

- Wisdom: 50

Health: 900/900

Mana: 600/600

Stamina: 410/410

'This world is bat-shit crazy and the level cap just keeps on rising. I need to find a way to get stronger that doesn't involve dying. The extra stats that my titles grant are appreciated, but what would I do without them? I'd be almost as weak as I was when I arrived.'

A shocking thought to say the least. Sarah remembered when decided to dig through the top floor by punching and then stomping her way through. A large undertaking accompanied by many broken bones and time spent recovering. A feat that would be impossible to accomplish by a regular human being. Nobody would have continued after their bones had ripped through the flesh that covered them.

'Skills really are something. Maybe one day I'll be able to punch through a wall like a superhero.'

"Master. Seeing as how we are surrounded by many people, what are you going to do now?" Solus' question pulled Sarah out of her daydream.

"First, I'll spend what souls I have left to level up the tower. After that, I'll have to head out to either collect more souls or get killed for being the dark one." Her sarcasm was lost on the door and Solus gasped like a teenager cheerleader who had just been kicked from the team.

"Did you really just do that? Creaking. Gasping. Becoming flustered. Are you sure there's something you're not telling me?" Sarah inquired. "Master. Your death is no joke to me. Without you, I would be..."

"You would be what?" She knew the answer, but waited patiently for the Solus to find the right words.

"It is rather... lonely here and a state of eternal sleep is not something I consider to be peaceful." Sarah was proud of the murder door for being honest and embracing it's feelings.

"Don't worry buddy. I'm not planning on dying today, tomorrow, or the day after that. And even if I do, I don't plan on staying dead. This room is my respawn point and aslong as it stays that way, I should be fine," she smiled. Standing up, Sarah grabbed her staff, the purple jewel shone beautifully in the light of the eternal fireplace.

"You can't get rid of me that easily you know? Besides, this is my tower now. I need to pimp this baby up. Especially since I don't have anywhere else to live." Not wasting any more time, Sarah purchased all the tower's remaining features in one go. She began laughing as the tower began to tremble with change.