Congratulations, you have completed event: Chaos, the Lost

You have received [Wings of Salvation].

You have found this floor’s hidden key.

You have activated complimentary ability, [Key Storage].

“I knew it was for a key!” Koren cried in triumph.

I looked around. “No portal? Isn’t there supposed to be a portal back to town when you get a key?”

“It seems not for the hidden one,” Koren said, wings suddenly appearing on his back.

I examined my own pair.

Wings of Salvation

Fly free from the depths of The Swamp and enter into the light once more.

Useable only on first floor of [Whitehall Tower].

As far as rewards went, it was great, though it seemed only temporary. Then again, if this tower was only three floors, we might be spending a lot more time on the first than anticipated.

“What are you two waiting for?” Koren asked, now floating several feet off the ground thanks to his new wings. He motioned at the face of the giant, moss-covered stone hill. “There’s runes here. I say we follow them. Want to bet they lead to the exit?”

“No,” Vyrania said, wings appearing on her back. “You’re worse than Sarixia.” She joined him in the air, looking at me. “Ready to get out of here?”

“What about the egg? I can’t move it.”

“The event’s over,” Koren said. “We don’t need it anymore.”

I studied it, reluctant to leave it behind.

The Egg

(fed, once-hatched)

A mysterious artifact of great power.

Now I really didn’t want to leave it behind. But I couldn’t move it.

Maybe I wasn’t supposed to take it?

I frowned, considering my options. The egg itself wouldn’t move, but was there some other way to take it? Some hidden step? Was this a puzzle to solve? A bonus event or something like it?

“Come on,” Vyrania urged. “These wings are burning up mana.”

“I barely notice,” Koren said.

“Not a lot,” she allowed. “But I’d rather not waste any.”

I wasn’t listening, instead thinking about how to take the egg. I tried picking up the entire shrine, but it was firmly anchored and digging at its base revealed it went deep into the earth.

Getting an idea, I opened up my artifact storage and mentally moved it over the egg.

To my surprise it worked, and the egg popped into my storage. I tried removing it, but couldn’t.

I shrugged, closing the storage grid, egg tucked safely inside, then summoned my own wings.

It was time to fly.

‌

∎ ∎ ∎

“This is amazing!” I cried in joy.

“Try to keep up,” Vyrania called back. She was pulling away quickly.

We followed the series of runes etched onto the vertical face of the towering, moss-covered stone wall, which led us to a hole that without the runes we never would have noticed.

Inside was a vertical tunnel that seemed to have been carved out by the roots of the towering trees on the floor above.

A gentle flow of water sheeted down from the edges of the tunnel, creating a cool draft. The water gathered in a pool at the bottom, which trickled out, feeding the swampland.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I wondered at the marvel of it, the ecosystem. I imagined the system was powerful enough to just create things, and yet it formed them naturally. Organically.

“See you on the other side,” Koren said, then took off into the tunnel.

Vyrania grinned at me and followed after him.

I put on a burst of speed, my stomach lurching pleasantly, and flew through the sheet of water, entering into the tunnel.

The darkness enveloped me like a suffocating blanket, dampening my enthusiasm for my aeronautic experience. Above me, I saw that it widened considerably, which was a relief.

I’m not saying I’m claustrophobic, but… I’m kinda claustrophobic.

The tunnel wasn’t dark, but lit by a bioluminescent glow emanating from gnarled roots and hanging vines which occasionally brushed against my face. I wasn’t worried about injury with my Copper body, so I ignored them.

That was until one grabbed me.

I was jerked to a halt, the vine twisting in, spinning me as it pulled me toward what looked like—in the glimpses I caught as my world spun wildly—a giant, tooth-filled mouth.

I quickly activated Avatar of the Sentinel, and a moment later teeth slammed into my neck hard enough to decapitate me.

Well, if I were still Copper. Which I wasn’t. I wasn’t Gold by any means, but I was strong enough to resist this.

It still hurt though, which was quite worrying. Were Koren and Vyrania okay?

I struggled against the mouth, forcing it open, which actually took a lot of effort.

Finally I managed it and tore free of the vine. Luckily my wings still worked while in the Sentinel form so I took off, careful now to avoid the edges.

Rushing to warn Koren and Vyrania about the danger, I pushed hard. But this also drained my mana at an alarming rate, so I was forced to drop the avatar form. At least it made me smaller.

The air became cooler and fresher as I flew, and when I finally caught up we were almost to the surface.

“Monster!” I called to them.

“I am fast,” Koren agreed.

“No,” I began, but then we burst out into open air, a sprawling forest laid before us.

It took my breath away. Literally, the shock of the freezing cold stunned me to silence.

We landed on a ground blanketed in a thick layer of snow and I fell to my knees, panting, not sure if it was from fear or exhaustion, the snow-covered trees around me like skeletal undead giants not helping matters.

“Monster,” I panted.

Vyrania snapped her head around. “Where? I don’t sense any life.”

“Undead?” Koren asked.

I shook my head, pointed at the tunnel. “Down there.” Pause to take a few more icy breaths. “Didn’t you see?”

“No. What was it?”

“Did it have any loot?” Koren asked.

“Vine— Carnivore— Tried to eat— Me—”

“Are you quite okay?” she asked. “You sound in ill health.”

I waved her off, getting to my feet. “Need more cardio.”

“You need to push mana,” Koren corrected.

I nodded dismissively.

“No, now. Push it into your lungs.”

“Exploding?”

“You won’t explode. You’re Copper now.”

Hesitantly, I tried it. To my relief, it worked. “Wow.” I took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. That single breath felt like it extracted more oxygen than a hundred regular ones. “That’s amazing.”

“Yes,” he agreed.

“The monster. It attacked me. None attacked you guys?”

“Perhaps it targeted you because it sensed your weakness,” Koren suggested.

“I don’t know. It was pretty strong. I didn’t get a chance to inspect it or check it out with my manasight, but I used Avatar and I still think it nearly killed me.”

“You had trouble with it as the avatar?” Vyrania asked.

I nodded.

The two exchanged a glance.

Vyrania raised an eyebrow. “Reconsidering the tower being Colossus?”

“Perhaps Behemoth,” Koren allowed. “It’s a good thing we earned these wings. It will make getting Noah the key we already found much faster. Aren’t you glad I made you do the event? I told you it would be worth it.” He grinned at her. “You owe me bounty points.”

“I never bet you.”

“Of course, you’re smart, and knew I was correct.”

I was about to ask what bounty points were, then wondered if the system would tell me, and it did. I didn’t even have to buy another powerpack.

Bounty Points

Current Balance: 0

Can be used for certain system purchases, as well as to purchase advertisements for any prospector within a broadcast area.

“I don’t get it. Bounty points are used to buy ads? How’s that useful?”

“The more people watching you,” Vyrania answered, “the larger the share of earnings you get.”

“And you have to use bounty points for that?”

“No, you can use other currencies. But the system can make or destroy as many bounty points as needed, so it’s easier to control than something like shards or fragments.”

“Can’t it just create cards?”

“Yes, but that would only push the problem down the path. It still needs mana.”

“Which it can’t create?”

She nodded.

“Huh. Well, I don’t have any bounty points. How do you earn them?”

“Lots of ways,” Koren answered. “I’m actually surprised we didn’t get any for completing the event.”

“You can worry about points later,” Vyrania said. “Let’s focus on completing this floor and getting out of the tower alive.”

I opened my map. “We’re not actually that far from where we fell in.”

“We can see that.” Koren pointed off in the distance.

“All I see are trees.”

“It’s the frozen lake,” Vyrania said, looking where Koren pointed.

I squinted, trying to see it. “Are you guys messing with me?”

“No.” She smiled. “Don’t worry, at this rate you’ll reach Iron before Koren reaches Steel.”

“Only due to my superior tutelage,” Koren said. “I’d be Gold by now if I had me as a teacher.”

“You do have you as a teacher,” Vyrania pointed out.

I activated Avatar, startling Koren.

“Give us a warning, would you?” he complained.

In the distance, I could now clearly make out the frozen lake. “Wow,” I said, voice deeper and distorted, “I can see it now. It’s so obvious. How could I not see it before?” It didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t like looking through binoculars, I could just simply see the lake. It took up almost no space in my vision, less than the width of my pinky in human form, yet I could resolve all the details. I could even see the drifts of snow, and the scratches and divots from where I fought the undead ice giant.

“The benefits of rank,” Vyrania said.

“Can you see what rank I am like this?” I asked. “I tried, but couldn’t.”

Vyrania focused on me, then shook her head. “I’m not getting anything.”

“Didn’t even feel the tingle.” I looked questioningly at Koren.

“I can’t inspect you either. I tried when you first showed us. But, you’re not as powerful as before.”

“Yeah, that much I can tell,” I said.

“Going by your mana, I’d say high Steel. Maybe even Silver. It’s odd though, it’s somewhere between a person’s rank and a monster’s class.”

“Makes sense,” I said. “I don’t have the special power needed to reach Silver rank. I don’t think. I don’t have any abilities in this form, anyway.”

“You definitely don’t have a Silvermark.”

“That’s what it’s called? A Silvermark?”

He nodded. “It’s quite strange you can’t be inspected. Even your mana seems different. Unrecognizable.”

“I noticed that too,” I said, dropping the avatar form. “It feels like hunger.”

He pursed his lips.

Item [Gambler’s Redoubt] has granted card [Deckmaster]. 1 of 3 items distributed.

Card [Deckmaster] has been added to your [Card Storage].

“Oh hey, my item just finished. It’s a card.”

His pursed lips flattened. “Mine hasn’t progressed at all.”

“Mine either,” Vyrania said. “Still only at twenty-one percent.”

I shrugged, pulling the card from my storage to examine it.