When the group arrived at the tower, it was already late afternoon.
"Whatever is up there is strong... can't you two feel it? It presses down on me like a boulder. It hurts to even think of it, and we are this deep beneath it... whatever, i will search for an entrance. Can you go hunting? I think I am not in a hunting shape right now..."
Goron offered, his pained expression and visible struggle to stand holding back any comments that Norman would normally throw his way.
As the two departed, Goron began by simply walking around the structure and knocking on the wall to search for any unusual sounds.
----------------------------------------
Hunting party:
Norman and Frostbite were carefully scanning the ground, searching for every sign of prey when Frostbite finally found a trail, Norman followed the Bol and whispered to her.
"You know, if Goron didn't trust you this much, I'd just recommend eating you. You beasts are not really known for your loyalty... but he always had a talent for not being killed, so I guess we'll just just have to work together till you betray us... and thanks for your help hunting, beast."
Frostbite, not understanding a word, just barked happily and continued searching her environment for traces of their prey.
"Wait..." Norman said, holding his breath as he recognised the paw prints.
"This is a Nailbear. Those bastards are dangerous. How do you plan to kill it when it's an absolute apex predator? And predator meat doesn't even taste good... can't we just hunt for some stag or a similar creature?"
But his questions were left unanswered as they pressed further into the wilderness, a cavern on the side of a small hill finally revealing the creatures burrow.
The size was small for the Njord, though it was big enough for Frostbite to slip into.
As the Bol stood before the hole, Norman instinctively understood its plan, a gaze, a low grumble and its sudden disappearance enough for the seasoned hunter to stand by the side of the burrow, his favourite weapon so far, the improvised spear, ready to be pushed into whatever dared to enter the cave after Frostbite.
He waited a few seconds for something to happen, and then, it did.
It happened so fast that only his years of training allowed him to catch the small window of opportunity it offered. Frostbite dashed out, followed by a white mix of bone spikes and fur.
Norman pushed his spear into the creatures neck, leaving it inside as the Nailbear ran beside him, the new wound unbalancing it.
Next, he took his knife and sword, a longsword and a meat cleaver to others, a dagger and a shortsword to the Njord as he got ready for the beasts charge.
As it turned to him, he saw a wound in the ursine that could only stem from a Bols bone shattering bite.
Norman knew his friend had to have some secrets from him, especially as a bit of a thicker hide would not protect ones bones from a Bols bite.
But he had secrets too, and thus, he simply appreciated the Bols simple and honest nature, even as he did not trust it much more than absolutely necessary.
As the Nailbear was almost upon him, he dodged by merely a centimetre to rip the spear from its throat and run about five meters to prepare for the part of a Nailbear fight his father had warned him from, before he started hsi journey.
At the bears confusion, Frostbite took the opportunity to get a bite into its legs, crippling the creature and escaping to the backline once again.
And like before, Norman stood before it, taunting and trying not to shiver.
This would be the ultimate test, his strength and weapons against a creature fabled for its speed and the damage they could inflict by just moving.
He expected to be gored should the mission fail, but his determination and pride did not let him run away. And, if the songs were true, this creature would be much faster than he was.
As the beast ran towards him, he cursed every god that would listen. He cursed their kins demise and stemmed with full power on the weapon his people used to celebrate before they lost their way.
He still remembered how he died the first time, his rebirth in these times the worlds attempt at breaking the gods cycle.
As the bears blood splattered over his face. He jumped over it, just barely escaping the beasts goring rush, and definitely losing his speer in the bears intestines.
"That's why you don't mess with the chosen of the Nas'ri. May your soul return to a better life as your meat serves this evenings meal."
He could not use the ancient ritual on it, as his best friend was now one of the cursed. A tool in the gods plan.
"Hail Nas'ri, may her purity prevail..."
He grinned, the system offered its power once more, and like the ancient traditions demanded, he rejected it. The world provided and the world took, while the system forced people to take and take.
As he dragged the corpse back to the creature inhabiting his friends body, he sighed before putting on the slight smile he normally wore to escape any doubt.
----------------------------------------
At the tower in the meantime:
Goron hated it. This damn tower did not have an entrance. His magic did not work on it, there where no doors, and there was no way to scale the walls.
It was only after what felt like an eternity that he began digging, his hands perfect to excavate the snow that covered the ground beneath him. At first, it was pretty simple. Grab an arm full of snow, throw it to the side, and be done. But the deeper he got, the harder it was for him to get excavate in the snow.
Only his determination kept him going, as tightly packed ice resisted his punches, and splinters began to pierce ever deeper into his skin. It was only after what felt like an eternity that he had enough of the snow excavated that he saw what was at the ground.
His digging was done in a circle around the tower, digging ever deeper at one point and meving it around the slope he throwing it to the side.
He must have burrowed at least fifteen meters deep when he finally began to meet stone underneath him. As he brought that structure upwards, his feet stepped onto stairs on every step of his journey.
He shouted in exhilaration when he reached the top. Now he only needed to reach the bottom of the structure, and as his hands began to swell from the excessive cold, labour and millions of icy splinters that slowly melted in his skin, he reached the bottom.
He thought he would see some grand gate, maybe a shrine or teleportation cycle. He did not expect to see a door with a head above it.
He did not expect that head to start speaking.
And the worst moment of all was when kicking the door didn't solve his problems.
"Hey, slow down there. To pass into these hallowed halls, you need to prove yourself worthy of our lords attention.
Once you are inside, you will be challenged by guardians in each of the rooms.
May thou prove thyself strong enough to overcome this tower, thou shall be rewarded handsomely. Should thou die on this sacred quest, pride and deceit shall not be permitted, and thus, your honesty shall be the only thing that counts.
Thus answer mine ancient questions three, and thou shall know what the first challenge will be."
At first, Goron kicked the door, then he hit it with his full power, and at last, he attempted to use magic on it, only for the feeling of something much more ancient to press against his attempts.
And as every measure failed, he ginally faced the head again and finally continued what he attributed to be an unskippable cutscene.
"Sure... tell me those riddles of yours, ancient magical door."
Goron sighed.
"Are we really going to use those standard riddles? I used them in DnD campaigns whenever I needed to busy my players when I forgot to plan the next encounter..."
The Njord chuckled, though he did not expect the heads next words.
The door oblieged, seemingly ignoring his frustration.
"What is it that you hope to achieve by visiting this tower, parasite?"
At that, he pondered for a second before answering quickly.
"I'm not sure why you are calling me a parasite, but I am here to see whether we can drive the monsters out of our home that once pushed against our peaceful lifestyle."
The head chuckled.
"This will be fun... the warden will absolutely love meeting someone as unknowing as you, especially when you don't know the sins you commit just to keep living. Even a lich would be a peaceful creature compared to the Monstrosity standing before me... so answer me, how do you think the bodies you wear come into existence?"
That brought a halt to Gorons thoughts, his face twisting in confusion.
"I never really thought about that..."
He answered, pondering the question for a while.
"I thought the system created these bodies for me... but Goron here had a background before we became one."
The head just nodded.
"You are close. Just ask yourself how you keep gaining power when you inhabit a new body. Ponder why you take a while to take their memories."
And Goron did just that, sitting down and pondering, the solution seemingly slipping from his mind whenever he came close to it.
"I thought so... you always had a connection to the puppeteer, didn't you? You played his game, chased his prizes... how did he call himself to you?"
Goron immediately answered, feeling the information slip his mind.
"He calls himself True G0d... just why is it so hard for me to answer your questions?"
The face sighed.
"My last question is simple, and should probably help you along further... ho are you when the system is stripped from you? Are you ready to challenge the powers that existed before it? Willing to glimpse at the gods' machinations? We will have to do some major tweaks on you, but you could be a hero in the future, not just a gods tool."
Then, the head went silent and left Goron to ponder the conversations they just had. When he returned to the top of the stairs, the system immediately contacted him.
Warning: low mana area found. Please beware. System access is weak inside and might be broken on higher levels. A strong being is residing at the top, which you will be forced to confront and might prrmanently kill you.
Should you value your life, it is recommended not to scale a tower of the ancients without administrator access to the system.
"Tell me, do you have anything to do with my thoughts derailing? Is that what's happening? Once I meet up with Norman and Frostbite, I'll have to ask them of their opinions... or maybe I shouldn't... maybe I can somehow ward my mind? Maybe I should just... what was I talking about again?"
Goron felt it, his thoughts dismantling as he tried to think about the systems nature.
He hated it already, the way it intruded his mind and messed with him.
But as he focussed on that deep part of him, the aspect of his existence, he felt himself as three orbs held together by something.
He was spammed with miscellaneous messages right after, drawing his attention from that part and fighting his every thought on the matter.
"You made me into a mosnter, didn't you? I will go inside there. Let's see how you take control of my mind when I am inside a tower that is outside your domain."
He had to stop then, the headache growing ever stronger and his friends returning with a large, spike covered creature.
"Thanks, I excavated this area. There was a riddle door down there, but I managed to get past. I haven't gone inside yet, but I think that should be the first thing we do tomorrow. And don't listen to the systems warnign, I'm sure it's just an automize message to keep us from progressing in this, maybe it's dlc or endgame content, but that never stopped me before, and you should not be stopped by that either."
His answer was a confused grunt from Norman, and as they made a fire for the night, they soon slipped into their dreams.
Recommending immediate reconnection. Previous actions have weakened your connection to your God and might result in your permanent death.
"Just tell me how many died today, and give me a view of my character sheet..."
Identity Race Name Level Class Title Rank Token N/ Njord Goron 3 (1000/1600) Astralist Champion 1
0
Stats Strength Agility Dexterity Intelligence Wisdom Willpower Intuition N/ 10 5 5 5 5 10 5 Skills Respawn(¤) Blizzard aura N/ 0 3 Handicap
Bulky tendencies.
Large. Overweight (3). Perk Magus ¤ Thick bones. Muscles of steel. Blubber. Thick skin. Description Height Hair colour Eye colour Skin tone Age Weight Gender N/ 5.28m white green Blue 17 411 Kg Male
There have been no deaths today, and there have been no differences in the ranking.
"Turns out that not dancing to your tune kind of halts the progress that is entirely dependant on you, isn't it? You won't upgrade your tools when they are this busy rejecting your help... I guess I understand why you wouldn't support me now."
The system is a tool to help everyone achieve their destiny.
"You know system, true G0d, and every divinity out there... what part of my career makes you think that I respect fate or destiny? It's my job to stand against rules and find loopholes, but you try to railroad me while pretending to run an open world... there is no way I'm going to follow the teachings of someone who does."
Initiating champion retrieval, please prepare for the arrival of an enforcer to help cure the negative mental effects currently working against you.
Unlocked Skills
Spoiler
Respawn (Skill) (Unique): When you die, your soul is pulled back to the character creation screen with half your levels. Once here, you can build a new character and try again.
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Once you press the create button on the character creator, you will be spawned at a place appropriate for your character.
Grounding (skill)(ground): While activated, this skill infuses the targets body with ground mana and forces it to remain on a surface below it.
Dash (skill)(air): Your movement speed increases by (move*skill level).
Tag stomp (skill)(Gravity): Target a creature and accelerate towards it at (lvl) times your normal speed. Cannot be used for the amount of time needed to accelerate before impact.
Restfull petrification. (ground): Your body is petrified for the duration you sleep. While you are petrified in this way, you are considered hidden.
You will restore (lvl) times the energy you would by sleeping the same amount of time.
Jet legs [1] (air) (skill): Air mana will concentrate in your entire body and focus on your legs. Once you activate this skill, you can gather ambient air mana for up to (lvl) seconds and release it at a later time explosively. One second worth of air mana can move you (lvl) meters in any direction and push everything else away.
Groundbound [1] (ground) (skill): an area of (lvl) meters around you is flooded by ground mana, making everything within heavier and actively driving out other types of mana.
Blizzard aura (ice) (skill): Raise your surrounding ice and turn it into a shield of projectiles. Born from memories of a fallen goblin, this skill has been optimized to spare the user any colloteral.
Unlocked perks
Spoiler
Fairy wings (Perk) Reduces weight by 1 kg and gives the user a magical flying speed of 10km/h.
-10 token
Magical body (perk): Your body is held together by magic. Your body cannot be dispersed by non magical means, and everything you do counts as magical. Dispersing magic will deactivate this perk for the duration. Your natural lifespan will now be extended by 10% for every point you have in Willpower.
-5 token
Magus ¤ : This Perk allows a person to directly interact with mana
Thick bones (Perk): Your bones are two times denser than is normal for your race, making it harder for your body to be moved in any direction.
-5 Token
Thick skin (perk): Your skin is thicker than that of most members of your species.
-5 Token
Blubber (Perk): You hold a layer of fad under your skin. Increases your weight by 5kg for every meter of height you have, but allows you to thrive in much colder climates.
-5
Muscles of steel (Perk): Your muscles are naturally harder and more effective at movement. Your muscles are much more resilient than they would normally be.
-10
Unlocked Handycaps
Spoiler
Slim: reduce the amount a creature weights by 5% per level of this handycap chosen, can be stacked up to three times.
+1 Token
Small: Reduces the height of a creatur by 20%.
+5 Token
Heavenbound (handycap): should you ever disconnect from the ground, gravitation will reverse for you. Any kinetic force excerted on you will be 100% more effective at moving you.
+8 Token
One armed (handycap): You only have one useable arm.
+30 Token
Bulky tendencies (Handycap): Your weight cannot be reduced by more than 10%, increases to your weight that hold for more than a day are permanent.
+15 Token.
Large (Handycap): Increases the height of a creatur by 20%.
+5 Token
Overweight (handycap): you weight 10% more than your race normally does. (Can be equipped up to three times)
+5 Token