The solar cage is a gravitationally stable set of solar systems and planets spanning a radius of four hundred thousand light years, all appearing in the age of chaos when worlds and dimensions converged. Though the space the solar cage has may seem small due to the abundance of empires within it, the amount of pocket realms and extra-spatial dungeon towers that go on endlessly more than make up for the ever growing ambitions of those who dwell within it.

The cage is covered by a layered wall of creeping primal ice made by the lich emperor of Necra Mazoul. Many empires throughout history have declared war, yet none have managed to pierce the walls or establish livable colonies past the 7th ring.

The empire of Bukor Hantas is one founded on blood and sacrifice. It is one of the countless number of empires attempting to pierce the wall of ice. It contains a mere five planets in the 4th solar system of the solar cage, yet it boasts eight full dungeon towers that have up to a hundred to a thousand floors, many of the floors are still uncleared. Each of the floors being a world of it’s own, which would be enough to make any fledgling empire to establish it’s footholds. To this day, only 10% of the floors have been conquered.

It would be fine if the dungeons were all that barred them from progress, unfortunately towers are resources that are coveted by many, even to those who allied themselves to them. Many would go to such lengths as to start a wars that span hundreds of years just to claim ownership of such a thing.

To protect themselves and to extract wealth from the dungeons, the empire devised a plan to take hold of the unique property of the dimension and perform a ritual many have viciously kept the secrets to. That would be Hero summoning. Heroes, despite being valuable in the empire, are souls who have very little attachment to their worlds, essentially beings abandoned by their own. It is said that almost all heroes have histories of tragedy and sorrow, a trait that the empire would make full use of.

The empire of Bukor Hantas may not have the best military fleets, or resources to push their weight around, or even divine support, but they do have a soft power that makes them avoid most conflicts. They have heavily invested in their culture, making them a hub for heroes who were abandoned by their own worlds and those who sought their version of paradise. It is through such divisive ways that they have managed to last this long in the middle of warring worlds.

Nikolai Argine Acedia was a sixteen year old boy with no prospects in life. When he was young he originally wanted to be a tower climber like his great grandparents. They were both people from other worlds, summons if you will, refugees that sought a better life. It was his birthday today and he would receive a system just like his parents, and his parent’s parents.

He laid in bed contemplating on what to do. He didn’t actually yearn for riches, pleasures, or fame. He was pretty contented just watching life go by. He doesn’t really want anything too much, just a peaceful life really.

They were moderately wealthy, at least he’s never gone hungry before. He used to play in the port by the bakery that his uncle owned, but even that was getting dull. He was growing up and he had no idea what he wanted to be.

“Nikolai!” A knock came from the floorboards below his room. “Nikolai breakfast!”

Nikolai took a deep breath peeling himself out of the bed sheets.

“Coming ma!”

He got up and dragged his feet down the stairs to see his twelve siblings and parents surrounding the table. A large cake was taken out of the kitchen by his uncle and his cousins.

“Happy Birthday Nikolai!” They said in unison, which made him crack a smile.

His smaller siblings came and hugged him with sticky hands and wet noses. His older siblings ruffled his hair, making it messier than a mop head.

They took the time to lay down the huge cake in a table struggling to keep it’s weight. His parent’s put candles in the cake, a tradition his great grandparents passed on. It was said to be a ritual that signified the years a person was alive. He had fifteen candles, some bigger than the others and some thinner than the cutlery, they were missing one so they had the last one be an oil lamp placed on a plate instead.

“Nikolai, make a wish!” His eldest sister said.

I wish for a peaceful life.

He blew the flames away. Suddenly a thrum of power was felt all round him, the signal of a system activation. The air crackled as a screen formed in front of Nikolai. Four glowing borders that separated the physical world from the unknowable machinations of the system reached out to reality and presented itself to him.

WELCOME TO THE SYSTEM

USER: NIKOLAI ARGINE ACEDIA

INITIALIZING 40%

He grinned as everyone else saw the soft glow that surrounded him. It settled and faded as Nikolai finished reading the luminous script. It couldn’t be seen by anyone else but him however, so he had to exercise caution not to seem like a crazy person.

INITIALIZING 55%

“So what class did you get?” His parents asked, their breath bated in anticipation. Everyone else was giddy, curious about what class one of their own could have.

“Still says initializing 55%”

INITIALIZING 80%

“80%”

They held their breaths. He knew what he had to do next, use a word that his meemaw taught him, ‘status’.

INITIALIZING 100%

LOADING STATUS

“It’s done! It says it’s loading status.”

“Quick open your window!” With a thought he opened his status window and read it’s contents. He would have been fine with being a warrior, guard, artisan, or baker. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans.

Nikolai looked back at his status screen with a bead of sweat running down his forehead.

NAME: NIKOLAI ARGINE ACEDIA

CLASS: LORD OF MORTAL SIN, SLOTH (MYTHICAL) - Lvl. 1

“Welcome Sin lord, I have selected you as the heir to my authority. You have the potential to bring a new age as many have done before you. I expect great things from you.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Remember we’re watching

- Belpha, The Demon God of Sloth

HP: 20,000/20,000

MP: 8,000/8,000

STA: 18/300

STATS

STR -450

END-650

INT-550

RES-650

PER-650

SPD-900

SKILLS

HESITATION Lvl 1 -SPECIAL- (10MP/SEC):

Sometimes the world is just too fast, slow it down for a while. Activate a field that slows down any object that enters. If the object is partially inside the field, the difference in speed and velocity will cause it to separate on a molecular level. Use with caution!

RELUCTANCE Lvl 1 -SPECIAL-(PASSIVE):

Have you ever wanted access to a soundless, formless, lightless void? Well now you can. You have access to a void where you can rest and spend as much time inside of, completely cut off from time in the outside world. Now you can rest as much as you like. Warning! Any object that is not the user will enter stasis inside the space.

APATHY Lvl 1 -SPECIAL -(PASSIVE):

Don’t you find prying eyes annoying? Well now you don’t have to worry. No one and no object can detect you if you don’t allow it. You are unseen and no one will concern themselves in paying attention to you if you don’t want them to. Constantly uses STA, MP, then HP and shifts depending on remaining points.

--Good luck dear Lord of Mortal Sin, you’ll need it.--

His heart was pumping and he was sweating profusely. His hands were getting clammy and his legs jittery.

Then he collapsed in front of everyone.

“Nikolai..Nikolai!”

“Big brother!”

“Nikki”

He heard panicked voices around him as his head hit the floor. His view was tunneling. Then everything went black.

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Inside the fourteenth floor of one of the towers of the empire lay two mages, one dwarven and another an elf. They were unkempt and tired for traveling for four whole months. Despite both of them being scholars from one of the mage academies, they were ill equipped in dealing with the logistics of being climbers. Sure they managed to breeze through the first few levels, but due to their hubris, they now had to move through the muck of an endless swamp floor.

They were planning to go to the twentieth floor to acquire their own systems, but now they were hungry, naked, and afraid.

“God’s damn it Erhud, I can’t do this anymore.” The naked dwarf said, still maintaining the air shield they had that instantly killed all the dog sized insects flying to their direction.

“Just..just a bit longer Gald. We’re almost at the fifteenth floor. There’s a safe zone there.” The naked elf was weaving earth and ice spells to make a safe path for them to walk through.

They lost their bags, staffs, and clothes from a flood of acid ants. With their supplies gone, they had to subsist on bog yams for food and frozen swamp ice for water for three entire weeks. They were hoping to withdraw some cash from their account and earn a bit of coin in the fifteenth floor before continuing their trek.

“I should have taken the necromancy course instead. Those guys could just mail their dead body and phylactery to the twentieth floor and be done with this God’s damned swamp!” Gald said.

“Nah, it wouldn’t be as fun. My nana said they get super intense mental health issues when they hook you up to a phylactery.” Erhud ducked avoiding a branch.

“You’d think after all these years, those rot hea-”

“Gald! We don’t use that term. It’s called Necro Sapient now!”

“Right sorry. You’d think they’d have found a way to lessen the suicide rate of Necro Sapients now, despite the unsuccessful suicide rate.”

“Yeah, but even if they solved it, a phylactery costs a ton of cash. With that much coin, I could’ve just moved a dozen times and back to the twentieth floor. Even my heartless nana wouldn’t part with her old one in the family will when we buried her with it. Rest in peace nana.”

They traveled, ducking and jumping through rocks and trees that blocked their path, until a bright column of light was shining in the horizon.

“The entrance! We’re saved Erhud! We’re saved!” They both jumped for joy at the sight of the glowing portal out of the dreaded swamp level.

They ran with abandon, casting spells that propelled them forward. They ignored all the drops that the monsters produced upon death. True, the monster drops could have been artifacts, rare objects of varying power, but the temptation of a bath and a good night’s sleep was greater than their greed.

They crossed the threshold and were engulfed by a blinding light before reaching the portal hub. A tired worker was stationed by the entrance, sitting on a desk and filling out paperwork.

“Hello welcome to the fifteenth floor…*sigh*” The worker said in an entirely monotone voice that sounded like shattered dreams and lonely nights. They didn’t even look shocked at the sight of two nude and filthy climbers.

“Food! Lodging! BATH!” Erhud and Gald said in unison, thumping the table as if their life depended on it.

“.. May I get your spell signatures please..” The worker held out an orb, where both of them fed their energy to. It hummed and gave them their identification.

“Thank you please enjoy your stay” The worker said in such a soul crushing manner that anyone could feel the pain in their heart. Unfortunately the nude duo simply didn’t have the capacity for empathy at the moment.

They ran past the worker and headed straight for the bathhouse and inn, still fully nude, which elicited a disgusted response from most of the climbers that passed by. After being escorted out of the premises and made to purchase clothes, they went to their shared room while guzzling in plates of mounted food.

“So did you find out any jobs we could take while we’re here?” Erhud said, face filled with boiled corn and crawfish.

“Yeah I think we could probably work in one of the trade banks just east of here, I’m pretty sure I still have eight years on my workers contract before I can renew it. And there’s also a hiring for an actuary job in the adventurer’s guild.” Gald said, eating a bowl of shellroot stew.

“Great so it’s settled, we could stay here maybe four-five months?”

Suddenly both of them felt it. An ominous growl that broke their minds. Pain that jolted them and bent them to it’s unholy will.

Their stomachs ache, and they needed to shit real bad.

Erhud, with eyes sunken and brows furrowed, met the eyes of Gald, a morose, twisted frown that told him of physical pain beyond description.

They both recalled images of them sucking on swamp ice and eating semi-squishy bog yams, which were probably infected with the red blight now that they think about it.

They both held each others shoulders, supporting each other in this insurmountable trial. Thay felt the food that they guzzled start to move back up, and their sphincters pucker, desperately barring the brown flood that would flow if they let go.

They slowly shuffled, moving to the door and dragged themselves to the bathroom across the hall. Just before they reached it however, they noticed that it was a single person bathroom.

“Erhud…Erhud, save yourself. Leave me. It’s too late for me.” Gald said in a soft voice, his eyes sunken and forehead wet with sweat, looking like someone who was ready to face certain death.

“No, don’t say that Gald! Look maybe if we can both fit our asses inside..” Erhud bit his lips till it bled, knowing that this was a hopeless situation.

“Go”

“But..”

“Go, I’ll be alright” Gald made a salute, trying to seem cool despite the morose state of his body.

Erhud had tears fill his eyes. He wiped it and put his hands on the wall. He turned back and made sure the sacrifice would not be in vain.

“I’ll never forget your sacrifice Gald”

Gald made a thumbs up, despite him feeling certain doom reach him.

Erhud slowly creeped the side of the wall, dragging himself closer to the bathroom.

I’m close. I’m close!

Just before he reached the door however, a kid from the hall went in and locked the door.

Both of them fell to their knees. Their hopes shattered to pieces as their souls sunk to a pit of despair they’ve never reached before. Tears flowed out of their eyes as something else was slowly flowing out of their sphincters.

“NOO!!!!!” Erhud wailed so deep that three whole floors could hear his anguish, while Gald had already collapsed, embracing the inevitable.

That night red and brown streams flowed out of a valley of two peaks, and a song of wet chunks flowed out from the mouths of two blood brothers. They fell and accepted the pool of their own sorrow, sullying their hands in the process.

That night the floor would be quarantined, and rumors of a tragedy would fill the floor the next morning.