The campfire danced and crackled. Deep shadows danced around the surrounding boulders and tents. The tall grass surrounding the camp rustled eerily in the night wind.

“Thanks for making the fire pit, dude,” Jin said in between mouth fulls of heated rat jerky.

“Yeah, no problem,” Zeirdin replied as he attempted to form an ice needle. A wet spot had formed by his feet from all the failed melted ice needles. Lumia sat on the log to Zeirdin’s left, watching him struggle, half interested. Taeya was busy sparring the twins two-on-one in the dark. It never failed to surprise Zeirdin how much energy the three of them had. After walking all day, sparring was the last thing he wanted to do. Zeirdin finally got bored of making failed ice needles and turned to Lumia.

“Hey, Lumia, can you give me some pointers for Lovac?” Zeirdin asked. The beginning of the gap between his strength and Lumia’s was the fact that he didn’t even know how she was so much stronger than he was.

“Oh, yeah, sure. I don’t know if I’m a very great teacher though.” Lumia replied, slightly surprised. Zeirdin finally figured it out. She had a slight accent when she spoke Vilmek. Most people had a local dialect or accent, but he had never heard her accent before. “Uh, first show me how fast you can channel,” she said with a hint of shyness in her voice.

“Alright,” Zeirdin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, he began to gather mana from the atmosphere and circulate it within him. Gradually, it swirled faster and faster. Heat began to blossom underneath his skin, his back emanating warmth. He had not tested his limit in a while. He could go even faster.

The flow continued to speed up. He could hear a light buzzing in his ears now. His thoughts began to slow to a crawl as he entered a trance. His skin burned hot. Short-lived, Zeirdin’s trance, and concentration were broken by a sudden burst of vertigo. He flicked his eyes open. Lumia’s eyebrows were slightly raised.

“That’s a little ridiculous. I’ve never seen anyone channel that fast,” Lumia said.

“Huh.”

Lumia looked at the dirt near the fire while she contemplated, “Hmmm, you have a ton of innate talent. Oh, I remember now. My uncle told me this a while ago. With Lovac, less is more. You’ll get higher output from the efficient use of a small quantity of mana, compared to the sloppy circulation of more mana than you can handle. Speed isn’t everything either.”

“Thanks. I think you’ve just saved me a ton of time,” Zeirdin said, genuinely grateful.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Just the least I can do after you guys gave me a hand and let me tag along,” Lumia replied humbly. Zeirdin made a mental effort to burn her advice into his brain so he wouldn’t forget.

“After that, I wouldn’t know what to tell you. It looks like you’ve got everything else figured out for a while.”

Jin shuffled off to his tent, stumbling on the uneven ground obscured by the shadows. After a minute of shuffling and an “Aha” later, he returned holding a brown leather pouch. Out of breath, Taeya and the twins also came back to sit around the fire.

“I hate to feel like a bad influence. Buuuuuut,” Opening the drawstring pouch, Jin took out a pipe and a small metal container. “I finally found a guy in Lestag with the good shit,” He opened the metal container and took out a small circular black flower. Stuffing the flower into the pipe, Jin lit it with a small pocket lighter. Zeirdin’s eyes lit up in recognition.

“Heyy! how come you never told me about this? And is that a traditional pipe?” Zeirdin asked.

Jin laughed, “You bet your ass it’s a traditional Toxda-made calivod wood pipe! I sorta forgot you were Toxda, and that you guys kinda invented smokin’ soot.”

Taeya looked over at Jin, “Hey, I didn’t know you were a soothead.”

“How did you not know?” Jin asked, taking a drag from the lit pipe.

“Gimme gimme gimme,” Zeirdin said with an exaggerated grasping of his hand. Jin passed the pipe to Zeirdin and he took a long drag. He exhaled, lungs burning slightly. The distinct nostalgic scent of suholi filled the air. “Man, It’s been a while.” Zeirdin passed the pipe to Taeya.

“I’ve, uh, never smoked before. Is it safe? I don’t want to do drugs...” Taeya voiced her concerns. Jin’s eyes lit up, taking Taeya’s concerns as his queue. Zeirdin could see from his reaction that Jin was quite experienced in turning people.

“Heh. It’s just a plant. The indigenous people of Northern Laurentia have been smoking Suholi flower for thousands of years. The Toxda figured out a while ago that you could neutralize the toxins in the flower by smoking it through a calivod pipe,” Jin said.

“Spoken like a true soothead,” Zeirdin said, fist-bumping Jin. Taeya took a huge drag on the pipe before breaking out into a coughing fit. “Also, smoking suholi improves mana circulation. My parents kept me high as lendril nuts during especially intense training days.”

Taeya handed the pipe to Lumia. Surprisingly, Lumia didn’t hesitate and took a drag. Exhaling, she expertly blew a smoke ring.

“You’re a soothead too?!” Taeya exclaimed. Lumia smiled a little bashfully.

“No comment.”

Everyone broke out into laughter. Willem and Doryan both joined the rotation.

Jin leaned in closer to the fire, slightly intoxicated, “Alright, let me tell you the story of how I got this pipe.”

“Do tell,” Willem said. Everyone leaned in closer to the fire, their eyes on Jin. When he got around to it, Jin had a lot of interesting stories to share.

“Ok, first a bit of backstory, dad’s rich, founded LunaCorp, blah blah blah, anyway. So, I must’ve been, hmmm, say around 12. My dad decided it was time for me to learn how to be a fuckin’ snake. Let’s see, age 12, hmmm,” Jin paused while he thought, firelight exaggerating the crease on his brow. “That was almost four years ago now, so we were in Bendica then. Right, so if you don’t know much about Bendica, it’s a small trading hub country underneath the empire. The entire place is super progressive in every way because all sorts of people travel through there. Anyway, about a decade ago, they really began to push to modernize the old legislation back from the post-apocalypse days, after the Cataclysm.” Zeirdin could see Taeya’s eyelids drooping.

“I didn’t know before I went to Bendica with my dad, but LunaCorp is tied in deep with the black market drug trade all over Central Laurentia. Around this time, there was a law in the works to legalize the farming and distribution of the Suholi flower. Basically, if this law was passed, it would destroy the monopoly of Suholi which my dad was invested in. So, he took me all over Bendica to bribe and threaten like half of the Democratic Council members. Good times,” Jin yawned.

“One night, my dad went out drinking with the mayor or something. He left his coat on the table in our hotel suite I think. And you know, I went through his pockets looking for cash to blow on booze and candy like a normal 12-year-old would. Anyway, I found a fat wad in there, but also a calivod wood pipe! I laughed my ass off so hard. That hard ass actually smoked soot WHILE he tried, and, by the way, succeeded to keep it illegal. I swiped it without hesitating. I think he eventually noticed but couldn’t be bothered to scold me.” Jin concluded his story. There were a couple of laughs here and there. Overall, everyone was thoroughly amused.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

***

The gate hummed to life. Instantly, a window through space formed within the arches of the metal structure. The disconcerting sense of discontinuity and reality-bending wrongness was something he thought he would never get used to. Or it would at least take a few dozen floor gates of getting used to. Zeirdin didn’t think it was possible to make reality warping any more anticlimactic. Feeling oddly sentimental as he stepped through the gate first, he looked back over his shoulder at the flat green expanse. I won’t miss it much.

“Wahooo, floooor three!” Jin shouted. Willem high-fived him.

Zeirdin shielded his eyes from the much harsher artificial sunlight. Each breath he took slightly burned his nose. Each lungful of air he took in was hot. A flat tan canvas dotted with withered desert shrubs stretched beyond the gate.

“Fuck,” Zeirdin said, his chest filled with a complex mix of dread, despair, and sadness.

“Fuck,” Jin agreed after following Zeirdin out.

“Fuck indeed,” Taeya added.

The motley crew of six teenagers trudged wearily under the unyielding scorching sunlight. Each had been as ill-equipped for the weather as the last. During the first hour of walking, Zeirdin had been adamant about keeping on his body armor. However, it quickly became unbearable and he joined everyone else, wearing nothing but a thin cotton shirt.

The rust-colored dust of the ground they walked on coated everyone’s legs up to their knees. On their left lay the pit and its jagged dusty cliffs of red stone. The pit was much bigger than expected. According to the Tower Manual, the pit had a diameter of around 78 kilometers. The flat bottom of the crater was covered in a lush jungle.

“We really should research more than the bare minimum for each floor,” Zeirdin sighed as he wiped the sweat off his brow. All he got were a few grunts in response. The group managed to stay well hydrated under Zeirdin’s periodic nagging. Dehydration was about as dangerous as the threat of neofauna and androids combined, at least during daylight hours.

Water wasn’t going to be a problem yet, but it would tomorrow, Zeirdin thought. They brought a relatively conservative amount of water, Lumia excluded. While he and Jin possessed various means of water filtration and accumulation, either only worked if moisture was already present in the environment. Pulling water out of the atmosphere would probably be a highly inefficient waste of time. They needed to find a water source or reach the next floor first. Both were unlikely to happen it seemed.

“So, why isn’t there a town here?” Doryan asked. It was a valid question since both previous floors had one. While crabby, Jin was the first person to respond, and probably the only person who knew.

“This place is a dry shit hole, also the pit.”

“The pit?”

“This is all just from my observation, but judging from the lack of water, coupled with a giant pit with steep jagged cliffs filled by monsters, robots, and other shit, the lack of a settlement makes sense. The pit is big enough that you probably can’t make a town far enough away from it due to the floor border, but it’s also probably super difficult and expensive to keep portions of the pit threat free.” Usually, Jin’s tone held an iota of sarcasm when he explained complex ideas, pointing to the fact that he was aware it didn’t fit his usual carefree attitude. This time Jin’s tone was spiteful. Zeirdin chuckled inwardly. Jin didn’t like the heat.

Gunfire lit up the night sky in rapid bursts. Thunderous cracks and yelling rang throughout the entirety of the small camp. The moon watched, illuminating the battlefield below.

“HOW MANY ARE THERE!” Willem shouted while he loaded another magazine into his assault rifle.

“They keep coming!” Taeya yelled back.

“GET YOUR SHIT. GET TO THE BOULDER! GET OUT OF EACH OTHER’S FIRE LINES”, Zeirdin bellowed at the top of his lungs. His heart pounded in his head like hoof beats as he sprinted toward the large boulder. Not properly fastened, his backpack bounced up and down with each stride he took. Zeirdin avoided the low desert shrubs as best he could under the moonlight but still received some scrapes.

One minute prior, Lumia had sounded the alarm, waking everyone up. Being a light sleeper, Zeirdin had immediately grabbed his pack and rifle, ditching his tent before anyone else. Not everyone else slept as lightly as he did. Thirty seconds later, the yemlins were upon them. They were hairless monkey-like creatures with no eyes, roughly the size of a toddler.

Zeirdin was terrified. This was his first time encountering neofauna within The Tower. The cackling they made struck pure terror into his heart. Reaching the boulder, Zeirdin immediately swung around, rifle raised. Four yemlins were dashing towards him with bone-chilling enthusiasm. Blood full of adrenaline, heart full of anxiety, Zeirdin’s hands shook too much to take precision shots quickly. Instead he held the trigger down, rifle bucking against his shoulder. He gunned down all four yemlins in a nauseating display of blood and meat chunks.

His ears rang. Lumia was the first to join Zeirdin at the boulder. Covered in blood, her flux blade was drawn and on, its blue glow illuminating her face. It looked like Lumia had also thought quickly and grabbed her pack.

“You alright?” Zeirdin asked in between breaths.

Lumia wiped the blood splatters off her face, “Yeah. I was gonna try to help the others. It’s too dangerous, I have no idea where they’re shooting in the dark.”

“Good call. Taeya’s got a shotgun.”

Jin and the twins came sprinting into view. Zeirdin’s heart lightened a bit. They were being chased by five yemlins, all cackling uncontrollably. Revealed by the moon, their eyeless faces and pink bodies were ghastly. Zeirdin felt no remorse for the carnage he was about to participate in. Calming himself down and steeling his heart, Zeirdin took four precise shots at the yemlins pursuing the three boys. Each bullet connected, creating four headless yemlins. The three boys reached the rock and grunted their thanks while they caught their breath.

“Where’s Taeya?” Lumia asked. Horror spread across Doryan’s face.

“She was following me. I don’t know why she stopped. Maybe for ammo.”

“Fuck,” Zeirdin grunted. “Twins, Jin, stay here, watch our flank. Lumia, we go get Taeya!” Zeirdin said, already running. Lumia followed. Taeya was by the campfire in the middle of their tents. At her feet lay at least a dozen dead yemlins. Taeya grunted as two yemlins sank their teeth into her back. She swatted at another two in front of her with her shotgun. She must’ve run out of shells. Lumia’s eyes lit up teal briefly and she shot forward ahead of Zeirdin at an inhuman speed.

Zeirdin loaded a fresh magazine from his belt, “Get them off her, I’ll try to keep ‘em away.”

“Roger.”

Zeirdin began to fire at the closest yemlins he could without risking friendly fire. One. Four. Six dead. Meanwhile, Lumia quickly did her job, bisecting both yemlins on Taeya’s back in two elegant swings. Taeya was now covered in blood, both her own and neofauna blood. Finally finding an opening, Taeya quickly brought the butt of the shotgun down on the head of the yemlin in front of her with a wet crack.

Lumia quickly grabbed Taeya’s shoulder and shoved her towards the boulder. Taeya caught on and they both began running. Zeirdin joined them as more yemlins began to arrive. Their slits for noses opened and closed as they sniffed the air. Jin and the twins provided ample cover fire while they ran to the boulder.

“We gotta run!” He yelled. There was no time, they had to ditch camp.

“OK!” Jin replied. The group of six began their night escape, guided only by moonlight. The yemlins took chase.

Zeirdin looked behind, “Does anyone have a scent pouch?”

“I only have a couple of jammers,” Jin said. His voice shook slightly.

“Fuck, we are so unprepared for this place,” Zeirdin groaned. The low shrubs scratched at his legs, penetrating his pants and leaving thorns embedded in both fabric and skin. Suddenly a flash of blue light illuminated the entire sky, revealing a small android hiding in the brush 30 meters away to the left. It was a quadrupedal type. Covered by a mess of wires, tubes, and metal protrusions, the barrel on its back was still smoking. Out of nowhere, Zeirdin felt odd. And weak. Each breath made a wheezing noise inside his chest.

All strength left his legs and he slowed to a stop. It took all his strength and will to stay standing. Zeirdin looked down at his chest to see a gaping hole surrounded by charred flesh and fabric the size of his fist. The intense burning began. Jin and Lumia quickly noticed that Zeirdin had fallen behind.

“Zeirdin! Are you ok?” Jin shouted.

“No,” Zeirdin barely wheezed as he fell to the ground. All the strength in his body left him at once. Lumia turned around.

“Oh my god.”

“Wha- NOO!” Jin shouted as he turned around. The yemlin horde was 20 meters away and was closing in quickly.

Zeirdin waved weakly from the ground and quietly mouthed, “Go.” Jin ignored it but Lumia understood. Grabbing Jin by the shoulder, she wrenched him with the strength of three men and dragged him away.

“NO. STOP. WE CAN’T LEAVE HIM!” Jin screamed as he struggled against Lumia. She turned her head and gave Zeirdin one last sad look. Then the yemlins were upon him.