Chapter 4

Fifty people limped down the greyish, dimly lit hallway. It looked like a cave but human-made. He'd seen animals make caves before but the walls were not made to this precision.

That hallway led to a giant room with high ceilings, bright lights, and dozens of tables and chairs neatly placed around. At the wall, giant letters announced: DINING HALL. Underneath it was the timer that counted down until the next trial.

And in that same wall were people cooking and serving food in uniform. They wore yellow overalls that covered their entire body. They wore gloves, boots, and a black mask that masked their entire face.

They placed the pots and pans, and of them gestured the climbers over. People filtered in and headed straight for the food.

A female voice announced: To those who require medical attention, please proceed to your right. To those who wishes to rest, your individual rooms will be on your left.

Another voice crackled. This time, it was the Lord of Trials. "Welcome to the Dining Hall, Tower Climbers. Unlike those soft Lords, I stayed true to the path of climbing this tower. This is a buffet. Eat as much as you like, as many as you like. I may be a harsh test-giver, but the food I provide emphasizes a small part of what you can have the more you climb. Everything, anytime, anywhere, as much as want, as much as you need, immediately. Fill your bellies. This may be your last supper."

A door to the right said: MEDICAL CENTER. August nudged Seven there. She nodded and together, they entered through the hall. Others followed after them. The medical staff wore white jackets and pants and the same black masks. They sounded monotonous and he couldn't tell if they were human or an automaton like Seven.

He was guided by a staff to a room, while Seven was stopped by a staff. "Automatons are unauthorized. We must inform you to return to the dining hall."

Before he could say something, he was ushered inside.

Two nurses operated arcane-powered automatons to scan his legs. They told him he would have to prevent himself from running before the next trial to accelerate the healing process. They sprayed the bottom of his feet, gave him pills to drink, all while an automaton massaged his legs and applied injections.

This healing process was novelty. He asked a bunch of questions, like what the injections were, how the sprays worked, and if these little pills were actually effective at treating him. He told them he would have preferred steak. He swore he heard a nurse giggle.

"There is steak," a female nurse said. "There's pretty much every type of food you can think of. But the great ones are hidden from the public view. You have to ask for them. August, is it? The 2nd rank. Let me give you some advice because you've been one of the good ones so far. Hide your strengths. Emphasize your weaknesses."

His foot was dressed in what they called a medical plaster. He wasn't given shoes. August went to the dining hall, and when he couldn't find Seven, he walked toward the left side of the room, outlined: CLIMBER ROOMS.

Upon passing through the door, the translucent window appeared again.

{ You are now inside the Climber Rooms. Your assigned room is designated by your rank, which is marked at the door. }

He saw the number 50 first. As he walked further, he saw more people going in and out. When he approached the end of the hall, he entered the door marked No. 2.

{ Analyzing Tower Climber Rank 2 August. Approved. }

There was a click.

August went inside. He only briefly admired the view. He jumped straight to the bed and forgot about everything else around him. It was the softest bed he ever experienced, and it frightened him how comforting it had been. He'd fallen asleep right after.

When he woke up, the translucent window announced: { Time before 1v1 Deathmatch: 13hrs, 02min }

He'd fallen asleep for ten hours. And as he got back up on his feet, he entertained himself by asking this translucent window about where water came from, or where the tub was so he could wash himself.

He was instructed to turn knobs, and he did, and it amazed him how much water burst out. He turned the knob in the shower, and water sprayed out. He made it hot and then cold and then freezing cold and boiling hot.

As instructed, he removed his plaster before stepping into the shower.

Clothes were given to him. A simple, black-tight fitting shirt and pants that felt familiar to Seven. They were powered by arcane, and they stuck to his body and stretched until he was comfortable. He wore their shoes, and that did the same trick.

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Half an hour later, he found himself in the dining hall craving for deer and rabbit meat. But when he was given a plate, he was distracted by all the different kinds of food and he took a little piece of each of them and filled his entire plate to a mountain.

August looked for a place to sit down. People were starting to populate the hall. They seemed to have formed groups while Seven wasn't here yet. He found a corner spot and sat there instead.

The meat were all tender and the juices spilled out of his lips. He bit onto the fat, drank the soup, crunched on the deep-fried shrimps coated in bread. Then he ate some more. He thought back to Lord Meneesh's emphasis on climbers and the luxury they could afford. August didn't mind eating a different kind of food every meal.

His contemplation led to master Visentii. What did he want for August? Why bring him here to the Tower at all? Was it to experience this? All he had ever wanted was to train himself in the arcane. To push past his own limits and strive to be better the week before. But now that he experienced this luxury, he found himself in a field of wants and was paralyzed from everything he could have.

A single thought came to mind: Seven's eye. He wanted to study it. He had been analyzing it in his mind, so he conjured the eye in the form of arcane. But he hadn't memorized it yet and he would have to ask Seven questions about how it worked and what made the arcane flow from one place to another.

Several people arrived at his table. "Can we sit here?"

August looked up. The tables were all filled. The person asking him that question was fat. "Sure," he said. The person looked slightly older than him. "You're fat."

The people around that person spun to him. They looked confused, offended, and some of them snickered and made comments.

"Oh yeah?" the person replied.

"It's just--" he breathed in. "I've never seen a fat person before."

"Never?"

He shook his head.

"Where are you from?"

That rolled the conversation. August told him about himself while hiding many other things that coudl give him a disadvantage in combat. He remembered the nurse's advice yesterday: Hide your strengths. Emphasize your weaknesses. So he told them stories about how he ran from bears and hunted deer.

They asked many things about combat. Did he hurt a person before? Did he meet anyone besides his master? They seemed to ask them in a way that would identify him as a threat or not. At the same time, he learned more about them too. But most notably, the fat person in front of him was Einrich. He came from a well-off family and he seemed most interested in what he called August's Hermit Life.

It was a stark contrast to how they both lived and they ended up talking to each other the most. He told August that everything he'd experienced up until now was nothing compared to the luxury he'd lived with his parents, and they weren't that well off unlike the true climbers at the higher floors.

"Once all this is over," Einrich gestured around with a fork. "I'll take you to my estate. You'll love it."

August already considered the man his friend. Eventually, their conversation shifted to more serious topics, like who the top 10 were. It had been so dark then, and they didn't have any indications in their body unless someone had seen them leaving out from their door.

So far, no one had seen August leave or enter Room 2.

They talked about this Judah, the Rank 1 climber. And when they talked about Seven, many of them dismissed her as a competitor.

"She's not real," one of them said.

Einrich argued against that. "But she made it to the tower What matters is that we climb up to the upper floors. Using automatons or being one doesn't matter."

"What do you all think of Rank 2 August?" A voice said.

August listened rapt with attention.

"He ran past everyone blind." Another person said, "How did he use his arcane?" Another person pointed out, "The automaton's helping him. She might've been his helper. But it's weird how she's registered as a tower climber."

"Have you seen him run past obstacles?" Another person argued. "No one could get a good look because he was so fast!"

"He's not fast," Einrich said. "We're just tired and exhausted. And it's not just him we have to watch out for. It's the people in the top ten who noticed he was running blind. I'm 11th but I can't even see in the dark. I had to feel my way around me." He turned to August. "You be careful in the deathmatch too. Your lack of offensive spells means you'll be whittled down to pieces."

August nodded. And it wasn't like hunting wildlife was anything to brag about, so he left that entire part of his life out.

He saw the timer on the wall hit the 12-hour mark. Then it buzzed, alerting everyone. The female announcer spoke.

{ Tower climbers, please return back to your respective rooms. Once your name is announced, a staff will guide you to the Ranking Hall where your ranks will be revealed in public. }

August licked his lips. That could get a little dangerous. He didn't expect that at all. Part of a wall next to the Climbers Room sunk in, revealing a hallway that stretched all the way to another door.

Einrich invited them to go inside. August said he'd stay behind to grab more food to take to his room. They laughed, and they themselves grabbed a plate full of food too. He pretended to inspect what he wanted. When the last of them left, he returned to his room, placed the tray of food, and waited.

When his name was announced, a staff took him to a different door that led to a small, enclosed room. It confused him. The staff also told him to "look sharp." He didn't what that meant. But the "don't smile" was good enough of a hint. And "Make yourself intimidating," made him imagine going down on all fours and snarling like a wolf. He was tempted.

He put his hands behind his back. Smoke gushed into the room, but it didn't suffocate him. Eventually, the floor he had stood on slowly raised, and the roof opened, revealing a cacophany of voices.

When the platform stopped, he found himself staring at a group of people. The female announcer's voice echoed throughout the room: { Rank 2--August. The boy who ran blind. }

He saw Einrich's eyes widen. He saw the people he observed at the Dining Hall. He was standing on elevated platform now. Next to him was Seven and the rest of the top 10.

Seven turned to him and nodded. He smiled painfully. Now everyone knew he was Rank 2. That wasn't good. The platform next to him opened. He thought of the name first: Amaraak. Suddenly, everyone's attention shifted from him to the Rank 1.

When the platform revealed the person behind 420 laps, August lost his breath.