Each of Clement’s heavy breathes carried with them a million copies of the virus that had bedridden him. His head hurt, his throat really hurt and his nose was more blocked than a city high street at rush hour. With a knock his mother opened up the bedroom door and poked her head inside to see the condition of her son. She didn’t need to hear him talk to know he was still ill so quietly closed the door again and continued prepping for work. To Clement her normal morning routine sounded like a marching band was having a party in his house until finally, after what felt like hours but was really only fifteen minutes, the front door closed and silence return to the small home. Almost immediately Clement slid out of the duvet and staggered over to his laptop. He could hear Marty’s words in his head telling him to stop spending time in Carria and let his real body recover but in truth Clement didn’t want to get better. He hated school and being ill meant he could take as much time off as he wanted so he was intentionally giving his real body as little rest as he could. He fired up Marty’s program and in a single flash of white light the headache vanished, his nose cleared and his throat felt smooth again.
“Much better.” Clement took in a deep breath of Carria’s fresh air and exhaled again. This world was by far superior to earth and while his friends were locked away in school he was free to live a second life as a beautiful elf mage. What Clement didn’t know was that one of his friends had also opted to take a day off school and it was the one he would have least expected to be tardy.
* * * * *
Emma stepped into the Burning Sun Warrior’s guild not as a potential recruit but a full member. She had been working towards this goal ever since setting foot in this world and with her official guild card in her hand she knew she had achieved it. A guild card wasn’t the only thing she had been supplied with, all members of the guild got a uniform and set of armour tailor made for them. Emma was no exception so instead of ragged clothes and salvaged armour she now wore vivid red and white clothing protected by shining steel. Her new steel kite shield had the emblem of the guild painted onto it which offered far more protection than her cheap wooden shield. Emma headed into the meeting hall as she had been told last night she would be required to attend a mission briefing. Not wanting to disappoint she had skipped school to attend it. She lined up with a group of fellow guild members wearing the same colours as her. She felt a sense of pride in being a member of a respected group. She had pretended to have a bad headache to get out of going to school and hoped her parents didn’t suspect she was lying.
“Burning Sun Warriors,” Captain Davy directed. The silver haired captain had the attention of the ten warriors who would be embarking with him on this mission. “Today’s mission is a search and rescue. One of the lesser guilds reported some of its members have gone missing attempting to breach the mysterious dark tower that appeared recently near Cakl’dor. We are to attempt to find them or at least recover their bodies. At minimum we need confirmation they perished in the tower.” Captain Davy had been with the Sun Warriors for a long time. He knew that missions like these rarely ended with the party they were searching for being found alive. His eyes kept on moving from person to person, checking each of them was in peak condition.
“You there.” He approached Emma but stopped opposite the man next to her. “You look tired.” The warrior knew better than to lie so came clean to Davy.
“Sorry sir, I haven’t been sleeping well recently. My young son has been crying a lot during the night.”
“Then you shouldn’t be here. Sloppiness is not permitted while on duty. If you are tired you won’t be alert and if you aren’t alert in a dungeon then you are already dead. Get some rest and report when you feel better.”
“Yes sir.” The man wanted to help but wouldn’t go against orders. He left the line reducing the number by one but Davy was satisfied with everyone else and gave the order to move out. Emma was a bit worried about heading into the tower dungeon. The tower wasn’t part of the default game. She had never installed the mod herself so had no idea what was inside other than that it was some kind of arena designed to test max level players. She hoped that the size of her large group could make up for what they lacked in individual strength. As she marched out of the city she was reminded why she had joined this group. People who saw them coming got out of the way and watched them with respect. She felt like she was part of a movement that really meant something and even in the forests the goblins kept well away from the band of disciplined warriors. She felt even more pride seeing this; she doubted she would be able to feel this kind of pride anywhere in her own country.
The group of ten arrived at the dark doors at the base of the tower dungeon. The circular tower stretched high into the sky and had a radius the length of a tennis court.
“It’s massive…” One of the warriors whispered looking up. The tower had to have been the largest free standing structure any of them had ever seen.
“For such a thing to appear out of thin air. One fears what its purpose is.” Those words caught Emma’s attention. Marty had theorised that the people of this world would believe the tower had always been there. Evidently they all were fully aware that it had only appeared recently. Captain Davy pushed open the large doors ignoring the words of warning written across them. The door had been locked but a master thief working with a skilled mage had managed to break it allowing everyone that followed access. The Sun Warriors moved into formation behind Davy and they marched forward into a room illuminated by a circle of floating green flames.
“Smells better than any dungeon I’ve ever been in,” one of the men commented. They saw a staircase leading upwards at the far side of the room so slowly moved towards it keeping an eye out for traps. They reached the stairs without problem and ascended to find an almost identical looking circular stone chamber with another set of stairs at the opposite end. Cautiously Davy led the way across the room but as he reached the centre the floating flames overhead all suddenly turned red and black clouds formed around the edge of the room. Both sets of stairs vanished and from the black clouds orcs emerged brandishing heavy weapons.
“Group together in ring formation!” Davy ordered and as a unit the warriors pulled together and moved into the centre as the orcs attacked. There were eight orcs giving the Sun Warriors a slight numeral advantage that they put to good use. They each could mark an orc while the two warriors who weren’t engaged flanked. Davy blocked an orc’s battle axe with his shield and then the man behind him swept around and struck the orc in the jugular with his rapier. Unfortunately it would take more than that to bring down an orc. With co-ordinated movements and each warrior covering one another they inflicted massive damage to the orcs while suffering little injuries in return gradually defeating them. As the last monster fell the red flames turned green as the dark smoke returned to claim the bodies of the slain orcs leaving nothing behind. As the smoke vanished the stairs reappeared reopening the path further and the path back out.
“When the monsters appear the path out disappears. This place is a death trap. Those adventurers couldn’t have gotten far, let’s continue.” They ascended the stairs and found another identical looking chamber.
“Reaching the top is the goal of a madman. No safe way out, no way to know how far you have left and no way to know what you’ll be fighting until you’re fighting it. Those fools should have turned back the moment they realised the nature of this place,” Davy muttered.
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“You know what they say, the greater the guard the greater the treasure behind it,” Emma joked but Davy wasn’t amused.
“You’d be wise to stop believing in things like that.” Davy ordered the group upwards to the next floor. As he neared the centre the flames once again turned red and this time dark clouds unleashed a group of floating fire elementals upon them. The fire elementals attacked primarily with magic using hit and run techniques to circle them. Their bodies were balls of fire with two detached armed all made from orange flames.
“Break formation, attack at will!” Davy knew how best to handle a group like this. Moving as a unit was too slow and would get them all killed in this scenario. Immediately everyone broke from their defensive circle and spread out, dodging and blocking the bolts of fire shot at them. Again only eight enemies had spawned giving them the numeral advantage. The fire elementals’ way of attacking made them much less likely to kill someone but far more likely to injure.
“Ahh!” A man cried out as he was hit in the check was a bolt of fire burning the right half of his face. He was temporarily blinded so Emma quickly jumped between him and the monster that had attacked him to block the next fire bolt with her shield. As she did so another warrior closed in and slew the monster freeing both of them to aid someone else. The battle was swift but in the end three people had suffered minor burns and the man who had been hit in the face a major one. The injured man lay on his back taking deep breathes as Davy inspected the injury.
“Magic based fire; this will be difficult to treat.” Davy looked at the stairs. “Beauty & Vycan, ascend to the top stair then report back with what you can see. Do not step onto the floor.” As instructed, Emma and another headed up the stairs to look at the next floor.
“It’s the same as the previous two levels,” Emma called back. “No sign of anyone.”
“Then we are retreating. Whether it’s seeking treasure or seeking others, ascending this tower without any idea of how far you must ascend is suicide.” Davy helped the injured man back to his feet.
“Sorry sir,” he whispered.
“Don’t worry warrior. Fight enough battles and you will get hurt eventually.” The group descended the stairs and kept away from the centre of the floor as passed through the room they had fought the orcs. It was possible they could get to the next floor by avoiding the centre but it was a risk that Davy didn’t want to take. The only lives at risk were their own so there was no reason to go any further. They returned to the city to report that the missing group were almost certainly dead.
* * * * *
James looked up at the new sign outside the general store which read ‘Silver Discounts’. He was fresh home from school and was pleased to see what the owner had followed his instruction while away. He had instructed the owner, Steven Oliver, to give the store a name so it would have some brand recognition. The name was chosen to make people associate it with both wealth and low prices and upon stepping through the door James saw immediately the impact the change had had. The shop was booming, so much so he struggled to get through the doorway. Fortunately his small agile body was able to easily squeeze between the patrons who were patiently waiting to be served by the lone store owner.
“I think you might to starting employing store assistants… and probably get a bigger store.” James had to practically shout that for Steven to hear.
“I’ll be fine now that you’re here,” he called back. There were several issues with that statement but James decided to wait until later to tell him. He quickly got behind his counter to put a dent in the backlog of customers standing in the shop waiting. He didn’t want anyone to leave unhappy so did his best for every customer he served another joined the line. He didn’t hate it though, it was weird because he had once gotten a part-time retail job at a local petrol station and absolutely despised it. He had quit, or rather stormed out, after just a few days due to constant arguments with the manager who seemed to enjoy causing problems.
“Here you go sir,” James said with a genuine smile. He enjoyed this. He wasn’t sure what was so different but he really liked working here. The people here seemed more energetic and he was beginning to feel people respect him which had been lacking when he first started.
“Hello sir how can I help you?” He greeted the next customer without realizing just who he was speaking with. Everyone in the shop had stopped what they were doing and were watching the exchange between the man dressed in a fat fur robe and a young cat girl. James quickly guessed this man was some kind of noble and probably very rich. Previously the upper class would have steered clear of this shabby shop but it seemed even they had grown curious.
“I must say dear girl I am a man impressed.” This man whoever he was had two town guards with him. “Not by your clothes of course, those are appalling.”
“Are you looking for anything specific or just browsing?” James remained professional and ignored the insult as his eyes scanned for hints of who this man might be. Fortunately Steven came to the rescue.
“Lily, this man is Mayor Logir.” That explained the fancy clothes and personal guards.
“Yes, that I am. So you’ve named this shabby establishment Silver Discounts?” It was only natural a nobleman like him would pretend to have no interest in a shop common folk shopped it. It presented a danger as if the mayor left unhappy other customers would spread rumours. At the same time if he bought something then other nobles would flock to visit the shop because if it is good enough for the mayor then it’s good enough for them. Fortunately something caught the mayor’s eye and he stepped over and looked at painting hanging from the wall.
“Hmm.” The mayor had some interest in it but not a lot, fortunately that was all the opportunity James needed.
“A young woman sold us that painting not two days ago. She said it deserved a better home and hoped we could find one for her.” James paused pretending to think but he had already made his mind up. The mayor examined it for another few seconds and just as his interest was fading James spoke up again.
“Why don’t you take it? As a gift to commemorate your first visit to our store.” The mayor’s noble pride would make it very hard to sell anything to him but accepting a gift was another matter.
“Yes, this painting is much more deserving to be hung in my hall than here.” He beckoned for one of his guards to remove the painting from the wall. Steven remained silent as James allowed the mayor to walk away with not just a painting but also a smile. He had succeeded in ensuring the mayor left happy which in turn would ensure no negative rumours being spread by him. In addition the Mayor hadn’t left empty handed. He hadn’t paid for it, but he had acknowledged that what was sold here was worthy to be put on decoration in his house. People were still stunned by the Mayor’s appearance so James took the chance to speak with Steven.
“Did those adventurers from yesterday ever come back?” They had said they’d return this morning but James had school so had left the transaction in the shop keeper’s hands.
“No, I haven’t seen them. Their items are still in the box round back.” That was odd. The jewels and trinkets they had left behind were worth a hefty sum. They must have gotten preoccupied with other things. As business picked up again James started to pay attention to what people were wearing. All his customers were cleanly dressed and the mayor’s word about James’s own attire stuck with him. He didn’t want to spend a lot on clothes due to them being ruined by his adventuring but if more nobles were to visit the shop he would definitely need to look fancier. He had told the shop keeper to splash out to look nice so it would be hypocritical to not do the same. He decided that when he was done he’d go visit the tailors for some new clothing.