Jin gingerly dragged Zeirdin into his room. It was clear that he hadn’t gone to sleep yet, as all the lights were still on and Jin was still wearing most of his gear.
“I’m mostly ok, no important broken bones. Just exhausted,” Zeirdin said as he lay on the floor, looking at the ceiling eyes half closed.
Jin’s forehead creased in a way uncharacteristic of someone who was barely 16. “That’s not very reassuring, what’s all this blood?”
“Not mine.” Jin looked visibly relieved at that. “I’ll tell you what happened… Tomorrow,” Zeirdin groaned. Pent-up tension began to relax as he began to leave panic mode. Bodily necessities returned.
“Shit. Help me get up quick,” Zeirdin said urgently. Jin quickly helped Zeirdin get to his feet, doing much of the work himself. Zeirdin hurriedly stumbled towards the bathroom, “I have to piss so bad.” The corner of Jin’s mouth curled up in amusement. Zeirdin had been so busy trying not to die that his body had put everything else on hold, his bladder included. Now that he was out of immediate danger, it was all coming back. Zeirdin came out of the bathroom feeling lighter than ever before chugging the entirety of Jin’s water bottle. He then collapsed face-first on Jin’s bed without warning, out cold.
Zeirdin retold the events of the night before in between mouthfuls of food. He had Jin sneak Taeya and the twins into the guest-only inn dining hall because he didn’t want to repeat himself. Zeirdin was still shaken by the events of last night but tried not to show it.
“You killed TWO level 1s with your bare hands?” Taeya blurted out. The ease at which she could say kill was something Zeirdin was not used to. It was normal in The Tower.
Zeirdin took a large gulp of coffee before speaking again. “I had the element of surprise, and it was my elbow. Also, the second guy I used Galma.”
Zeirdin continued his story. With Taeya, Jin, and Willem asking questions and making comments, it took a good 45 minutes for him to finish. Doryan mostly just listened, eyes filled with silent admiration.
“You’re a beast, Zeirdin. I don’t think any of us could have done that,” Jin said earnestly.
Zeirdin replied honestly, “I appreciate it, but I only am alive thanks to Bandir right now.”
“I wish we could have done something. I’m sorry it took me so long to notice. I tracked down my biotablet and found my backpack, but it was too late,” Jin looked down at the mug in his hand.
“There wasn’t anything you could do in this situation, we just have to be more careful in the future. Especially now we know that they know that you’re a rich kid from an important family,” Zeirdin emphasized the last part playfully. Jin rolled his eyes and sighed lightly. A thought crossed Zeirdin’s mind, “I wonder how the night raid went. The City Watch raided the place as I was escaping.”
Jin thought for a second, “We might see it in the Lestag paper if it went well. I think these things are pretty covert, though.” Zeirdin nodded.
Zeirdin spent the next week recovering and processing everything that had happened to him in The Tower, something he had been avoiding. However, he knew that recovering mentally was just as important as recovering physically. He wished he could say the faces of the people he had slain haunted him, but they didn’t. He couldn’t remember them at all anymore. Occasionally, their undulating terrible shadows would greet him in his sleep, invading his dreams and dancing across the walls, flickering like firelight.
Zeirdin made sure to consistently practice his mana circulation. It had been one of the deciding factors in his survival during the kidnapping. He made a little improvement, but he could never reach the level of concentration he did while his life depended on it. It also wasn’t a good time to learn new material like spells. His mind was distant and he was still more affected by the kidnapping than he wished to believe.
The feeling of complete powerlessness against the strong was something that he never wished to experience, but it was carved into his psyche by previous events of his life. After getting checked up at the hospital, they found out that Zeirdin had two cracked ribs. He had even been surprised himself when he had first taken his shirt off in front of the doctor. Severe bruising covered his torso, like a speckled deep crimson spider. It still hurt, sometimes even more than the night he received it. He had failed to mention that there had been a bit of blood in his urine. It would go away soon and it would only serve to worry everyone more. He was healing quickly, even for his standards.
Seven days had gone by since Zeirdin had been kidnapped. He was nearly back to normal, his bruising much better, and his mind much clearer. Jin and the twins left Lestag’s borders to practice hoverbike riding in the grasslands. Taeya opted to stick with Zeirdin and bug him while he sat on a wooden bench in the center of Lestag Park. She sat slumped next to him on the bench, chest-length golden hair draped over the back of the bench. She wore a bored expression that contrasted her delicate features.
Unlike Zeirdin, she wasn’t content to sit on the bench in contemplation while gnawing on rat jerky. Zeirdin had found the park earlier that week while he was recovering. The park was primarily covered in white oak trees. Each tree still held its leaves, providing a canopy of deep green against the sun.
Taeya’s face lit up as she thought of an idea, “Hey. Wanna spar?” Zeirdin mumbled unintelligibly, mouth full of jerky. He didn’t even understand what he said himself. “Ok, ok get up.”, she said as she grabbed Zeirdin’s arm and pulled. Zeirdin groaned.
“Wait a sec. Uuuuh, I suck. I don’t remember a whole lot,” Zeirdin said after rapidly chewing and swallowing the remainder of his jerky. He had a feeling that Taeya could beat the snot out of him quite easily. After dragging Zeirdin to his feet, Taeya gave him a shove.
“Rules. Hmm… There are two rules. No Cerulean Arts, you murdered two Leveled people using Lovac and Galma, I wouldn’t stand a chance in hand-to-hand combat. Other rule, no holding back because I’m a girl- OK GO!”, Taeya sprung towards Zeirdin who was completely unprepared. She held her hands up just below her cheeks and took an elongated stance. Zeirdin stumbled backward before getting his bearings. He began to shuffle around her while getting his rhythm. Guessing from her stance, she probably practiced a style that use a lot of kicking. Taeya quickly closed the distance again and made a few probing jabs, trying to gauge Zeirdin.
Stolen story; please report.
He kept his hands up higher than Taeya, closer to his brow, and ignored her probes. Her guard was a little loose, he decided. Her midsection wasn’t well guarded by her elbows. That was where he would strike. Zeirdin made a few probing jabs, taking space back. Taeya patted his jabs with good finesse and reflexes. Whatever her style was, she was experienced. She went on the offensive again, however this time, Zeirdin noticed her back heel was up. Taeya threw a jab and a heavy cross.
Is she trying to maim me? Any thoughts of restraint soon left Zeirdin. Instead of swatting it, Zeirdin slipped to the side. Zeirdin took advantage of the opening her cross made as she rechambered, using it as an opportunity to get through her guard. Zeirdin threw a light jab to get her attention. She patted. In quick succession, he threw a cross to her face. She slipped to the side. Her guard was now focused on her head. Continuing the combo, Zeirdin stepped outside to her left and threw a nasty hook to her abdomen.
It connected with a satisfying thop. Zeirdin quickly realized he had forgotten to factor in all the weapons she had. Her heel, SHIT. Taeya tanked the shot to her gut and delivered a powerful rear leg thrust kick. Zeirdin saw it coming barely too late and attempted to dodge it with all he had, but she was too fast. Her foot connected flat against his stomach, directly on his bruise, and pushed him backward. Zeirdin wheezed while he stumbled but kept his balance. His entire torso ached terribly again.
Zeirdin raised his hands, “I surrender! I don’t want the shit kicked out of me.” he chuckled in pain. Taeya laughed.
“Alright, you’re actually good. That gut shot was great,” Taeya nodded in approval. “Who taught you?”
“Mostly my dad when he was teaching me Lovac,” Zeirdin answered
***
The jovial buzz of cheerful conversation added to the charming evening atmosphere of the dimly lit tavern. The five teenagers sat around a round metal table constructed out of an old industrial wire spool. This was supposed to be an official meeting, but it wasn’t going to be any different from any other time they got together. Taeya ordered everyone beer before they could stop her. There wasn’t a minimum drinking age in most countries in Laurentia, but sometimes there was on a county level. There was no minimum drinking age in The Tower. Everyone was at least somewhat of an alcoholic if they wanted to stay sane.
“Is the beer here even any good?” Doryan wondered as he ran his fingers through his dark hair.
Jin picked at a screw on the table, “Gosh, I hope so. Otherwise, Taeya, you’re drinking all of ours too.”
“Yeah, I ain’t drinking rat piss again,” Zeirdin chimed in.
Taeya snickered, “You don’t have to tell me twice.” The last few times they had gone out, Taeya’s alcohol consumption ability had left everyone astonished. It wasn’t her tolerance that was remarkable, rather, it was her sheer undying resolve to consume as much liquor as humanly possible.
“Oh, no, don’t...” Willem said pleading, “I had to clean up so much puke last time,” Everyone burst into laughter as their drinks arrived.
“Well, let’s see if it’s worth drinking,” Jin said taking a swig from the large mug. The five of them were teenagers and would drink rat piss if it got them drunk, but it was common for Lestag beer to be even too foul for them. The bar for the quality of alcohol in Lestag was so incredibly low, yet it still managed to disappoint, time and time again. Jin’s face lit up. This wasn’t one of those times. “This stuff is actually almost drinkable!”
“Cheers!” everyone brought their glasses together above the center of the table.
“Wait a second. We’re supposed to talk about climbing The Tower first,” Zeridin said as he put his mug back down. Everyone groaned inwardly. “We just have to finish deciding a couple of things, then we can resume violently punishing our livers.”
“Ugh, good point,” Jin agreed.
“To get to the meat of things, what is our next move? The Grand Caravan that starts in Lestag doesn’t begin for another four months. The advantage of joining the caravan is safety. We’ll get guaranteed passage through the barren floors before floor 5, but that’s about it,” Zeirdin said as he picked at a pimple on his elbow.
“Four months is a long time. Now that money isn’t such a problem, I want to get stronger,” Doryan said. Everyone agreed with him. Four months was quite a long time, far too long to stay stagnant this low in The Tower.
Jin laced his fingers and rested his elbows on the table, “How about we just say ‘fuck it' and try to get to floor 5 as fast as possible?” Everyone nodded.
“That is a great idea!” Taeya said enthusiastically.
“We’ll need to prepare and plan more carefully, but I agre-,” Zeirdin was cut off by everyone picking up their drinks. And so, the mass consumption of alcohol at an ungodly rate began.
It was past 1 AM when the five teenagers staggered out of the tavern. Jin had his arm around Zeirdin’s shoulder, and could barely walk as he giggled uncontrollably. The twins were “elbow fighting”, a game they invented half an hour ago that involved “poking the other person in the belly button with an elbow”. Taeya took the lead, staggering forward the fastest.
No one remembered who, but someone had suggested they all go to the terminal and compare their Combat Scores. Zeirdin was the least intoxicated and remembered the way to the terminal. The world swam and his feet kept moving while he tried to walk. Eventually, they made it. The sky was dark purple and this part of the city was quiet. The five terminals together each formed a pentagon with a spire that rose 10 meters into the sky.
“Let me see your knee Zeirdin, I’ve never seeeeeeeeen it before,” Taeya pleaded, completely drunk.
“Which one?” He asked.
“Left.”
“Naaaaaaah, that one you can’t see,” Zeirdin said barely keeping his balance. They both broke out into uncontrollable laughter at the sheer absurdity of their exchange.
“Alrighht, everyone, let’s comppaare our funny numbers!” Jin roared. There were just enough terminals for everyone.
Zeirdin
SERAPH INDUSTRIES
Tower ID: #17538237423
Anomaly detected
Age: 15, Weight: 150 Height: 5’7” Eyes: Red, Male
CS: 61, HIGHEST FLOOR: 2, LV: 0
Jin
SERAPH INDUSTRIES
Tower ID: #17538237495
Age: 16, Weight: 158 Height: 5’8” Eyes: Blue, Male
CS: 35, HIGHEST FLOOR: 2, LV: 0
Taeya
SERAPH INDUSTRIES
Tower ID: #17538234532
Age: 17, Weight: 146 Height: 5’7” Eyes: Blue, Female
CS: 48, HIGHEST FLOOR: 2, LV: 0
Willem
SERAPH INDUSTRIES
Tower ID: #17538234533
Age: 15, Weight: 173 Height: 5’9” Eyes: Green, Male
CS: 34, HIGHEST FLOOR: 2, LV: 0
Doryan
SERAPH INDUSTRIES
Tower ID: #17538234534
Age: 15, Weight: 176 Height: 5’9” Eyes: Green, Male
CS: 31, HIGHEST FLOOR: 2, LV: 0
To his surprise, Zeirdin’s Combat Score had gone up from 47 to 61. It was no doubt thanks to his improvement in Lovac from the kidnapping event. Zeirdin once again thanked his parents’ rigorous training that they forced him to undergo as a child.
“No way, Zeirdin has 61? No wonder he can fuck shhiiit upp,” Taeya said as she burped.
“Damn dude, that’s pretty high for someone on floor 2,” Jin agreed.
“Alright next,” Zeirdin said, eager to see everyone else’s score. Jin’s score had only gone up 4 points from 31. Everyone else’s score was about what Zeirdin expected.