That night, Elijah went to bed a little disappointed, and for a couple of reasons. Obviously, he would’ve preferred it if Jess had joined him; her company had only hammered home just how lonely he’d been since washing ashore on his island. And while he could ignore it most of the time, the connection he’d forged with the former medical student was just electric enough to send his imagination running wild with possibilities.

The other reason for his ill attitude was the inn room itself. Despite the fact that he’d been camping in the wilderness for the past couple of months, he still remembered his mossy bed back on the island, and the inn’s mattress just couldn’t measure up to Nerthus’s work. Still, he was exhausted enough that it was only mildly disappointing, and, what’s more, he’d slept in worse.

So, even though he wasn’t as comfortable – or satisfied – as he might’ve hoped, Elijah spent a restful enough night, and, the next morning, he felt reenergized. When he awoke, he pushed himself upright and looked around. The room was spartan, with only a bed, a utilitarian nightstand, and a bathroom. However, Norcastle had running water – apparently, Plumber was an actual class, and the city had a couple who’d managed to supply it with water via their creations – so he quickly jumped in the shower, then changed into one of his spare outfits.

As always, he had no shoes. Most of the time, Elijah barely noticed, but in the city, his unshod feet were noteworthy enough that other people definitely did. It didn’t matter, though. If everything went according to plan, he wouldn’t be staying much longer.

So, after dressing, Elijah gathered his things and left the room behind. His bare feet slapped against the wooden floor as he traversed the short hallway and entered the stairwell before descending a couple of flights of stairs and exiting into the hotel’s common room. There, he found the proprietor standing behind a bar, where she was manning a griddle.

The heavyset woman glanced over her shoulder and asked, “What can I get for you?”

“Whatever’s easiest,” Elijah said. “Just so long as it’s hot.”

“Got sausage and pancakes. Even some real maple syrup.”

“That sounds great.”

He watched as the woman got to work, and he sensed a barely-noticeable swirl of Ethera accompanying her actions. Clearly, she had some sort of technique associated with cooking; perhaps she even had the Chef class. If that was the case, Elijah was truly looking forward to breakfast.

After all, he hadn’t forgotten the meal he’d enjoyed back in Ironshore. While the woman cooked, Elijah took a look at his status:

Name

Elijah Hart

Level

34

Archetype

Druid

Class

Animist

Specialization

N/A

Alignment

N/A

Strength

35

Dexterity

34

Constitution

35

Ethera

43

Regeneration

37

Attunement

Nature

Cultivation Stage: Cultivator

Body

Core

Mind

Soul

Wood

Hatchling

Opal

Neophyte

During his time healing the plague-stricken patients back in the hospital, Elijah had gained two more levels. Distressingly, though, he still hadn’t been awarded another spell. The last one he’d gotten was at level thirty, and that was Shape of the Guardian. If he hadn’t read guides that said that he would, indeed, get more spells going forward, he might’ve been even more worried. However, he knew it was only a matter of time before he acquired some new tools for his tool kit.

Still, he had high hopes for level thirty-five. In the beginning, he’d gained spells every level, but after reaching the tenth, the frequency had been reduced by half. After he hadn’t gotten a spell at thirty-two, he’d hoped the pattern would continue, and he’d get one at thirty-four. But now that that hadn’t happened, he could only hope that it would happen at level thirty-five.

For now, though, his attributes had continued to rise by one point each level. As the innkeeper continued to cook, a few other guests descended from their rooms above and took seats around the common room. Whoever had built the hotel had clearly taken inspiration from old school inns rather than modern hotels, because the business was clearly as much a tavern and restaurant as it was a lodging.

As he waited, Elijah cast Essence of the Boar, increasing his Constitution attribute by ten points. The same for Essence of the Monkey, though it increased Dexterity instead. Finally, he topped it all off with Aura of Renewal, then Essence of the Wolf. He already had One with Nature active as well. Once he was fully enhanced, he looked at his status again, and he was pleased to see the state of his attributes.

Elijah couldn’t quantify the effect of each point, but after having reached such lofty heights, he knew he was approaching superhuman levels of strength, coordination, and durability. Still, he had no real context for how he might stack up against more focused individuals. Given that, according to the guides he’d read, each class gave attribute bonuses according to its nature, there was every chance that others might be quite a bit more powerful than him.

As he saw it, that was the source of his greatest strength as well as his biggest weakness. On the one hand, he had the versatility to respond well to a wide variety of situations. However, on the other, he lacked specialization, so he would be at a disadvantage against more focused classes. Still, he hoped that his cultivation and Dragon Core might prove the difference if it ever came down to that.

Soon enough, the innkeeper served him, and Elijah proceeded to eat what felt like a mountain of pancakes and sausage before paying her a copper etherium and excusing himself. After that, he left the hotel – or inn, really – and headed toward the hospital where he was supposed to meet Jess.

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He arrived a little earlier than anticipated, so he spent the next half hour focusing on his Mind cultivation. It was still stubbornly resistant to his attempts at advancement, which served to solidify his certainty that he was missing something important. However, none of the guides he’d bought from the Branch back in Ironshore had specified any viable cultivation techniques.

“What are you doing?” came Jess’s voice.

Elijah opened his eyes to see that she was, once again, wearing her purple scrubs and sneakers, and she looked just as good as she had the night before.

“Cultivating.”

“What? How?”

Elijah explained what he knew, which was precious little, really. His own advancement had been contingent on a series of strange events, the unmatched Ethera density on his island, and Nerthus’s help. However, he told Jess what he could, ending with, “I’m still trying to figure it all out. There might be some guides available at your Branch’s Knowledge Base. I don’t know how that works, though, because the only one I’ve used was transplanted here from somewhere else. So, it was probably more advanced than yours.”

“I wouldn’t know anything about that. Branch access is very tightly regulated. Only the mayor’s inner circle really use it, except to access the Bank,” she said. “Not even Captain Essex and his people get to, so I’m pretty sure someone like me has no chance.”

“Huh.”

That definitely threw a monkey wrench in Elijah’s plans. He’d intended to at least access the Regional Map in the hopes of finding the next closest settlement, but now, he realized that that might not be possible.

After that, Jess insisted on taking him to the barracks where Captain Essex and his people were housed. She wanted to get back to the hospital as soon as possible – even if the plague had been taken care of for the time being, people got injured all the time, and she took her job very seriously. So, neither of them really spoke on the way.

Which was fine with Elijah, because he quickly lost himself in thought. He didn’t like the idea of Branch access being restricted. The Knowledge Base alone held the keys to survival, and that wasn’t even considering the things that could be bought in the Branch Market. That regular people couldn’t use those functions was more than a little troubling.

But Elijah couldn’t really do anything to change that. For now, he had more than enough on his plate, what with finding the source of the plague and searching out any hints as to the whereabouts of his sister. So, he had little interest in getting distracted trying to interfere in something he didn’t really understand. For all he knew, the mayor had good reasons to restrict access to the Branch.

Still, he didn’t like it, and that wasn’t going to change just because he didn’t want to dive into the deep end of Norcastle’s problems.

After about fifteen minutes of walking through the city – during which time, Elijah confirmed his first impressions of the city and its population – they reached a large building attached to the wall. The gate was only a few hundred yards away, so the barracks were close enough that they could respond to any developing situations.

“Follow me. And don’t say anything weird, okay? Captain Essex doesn’t really put up with disrespect.”

“I never say anything weird. And stop looking at me like that. There, that raised eyebrow thing. Super disrespectful.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes, muttering something that, to Elijah, sounded curiously like, “This is a huge mistake.”

But Elijah was certain that couldn’t be the case.

He followed her inside, and she spoke to a receptionist who, in turn, told them to wait while she presumably went to speak to the captain. A couple of minutes later, the plump woman returned and told Jess to go ahead. Elijah followed in her wake, looking around as they passed through a bare hall. He also paid attention to One with Nature, though he felt nothing out of the ordinary.

Not until the captain’s office came within his range. At that moment, he felt the swirl of Ethera that suggested a powerful person was on the other side of that door. The feeling wasn’t as powerful as he’d felt from Ramik back in Ironshore, but it was potent enough to give Elijah pause.

In any case, he stood to the side as Jess knocked on the door. A moment later, a rough voice bade her enter, which she did. Elijah followed into the office, and was unsurprised to see a pale, broad-shouldered man sitting behind an old metal desk reminiscent of the one his fourth-grade teacher had used.

Elijah stood to the side as Jess introduced him, making certain to mention his efforts at healing the plague victims.

“Which is why I agreed to this meeting. Thank you, Mr. Hart. You saved a lot of lives over the past few days.”

Elijah shrugged, leaning on his staff as he said, “Least I could do. But I don’t want it to all be for nothing. So, I’ve decided to see if I can figure out the source.”

“You think you can?” Essex asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

“I believe so, yes. But I need you to answer a couple of questions for me, if you can. It’ll help me narrow things down.”

Essex gestured for him to go on.

Elijah asked, “Have you or your people been in contact with the Voxx?”

Even without One with Nature, Elijah couldn’t have missed the sudden tension in the man’s face. Or the fact that he glanced at Jess, then said, “Miss Roy, if you would please give us some privacy…”

Jess said, “What is the Voxx?”

“Please, Miss Roy. This is need-to-know information. I promise you will receive an explanation when appropriate.”

“I’m just going to tell her the moment I leave,” Elijah stated. “So, you may as well let her stay.”

Essex ground his teeth so hard that Elijah could hear it. Or maybe he’d simply sensed it via One with Nature. Sometimes, it was difficult to tell the difference. In any case, the man didn’t look happy to be pushed against a wall. He almost growled, “And if I tell you that the consequences for doing so could be very detrimental to your health?”

Elijah looked the man in the eye and said, “I’m unconcerned with what you deem dangerous.”

For a long moment, the pair of men stared at one another, neither willing to back down. Finally, Essex deflated and said, “Fine. On your head be it, then. Just know that you’re putting her in danger as well. Some knowledge is –”

“Dangerous, sure,” Elijah stated. Then, he turned to Jess and said, “The Voxx are interdimensional lizards who invade our world in one of three ways. Sometimes, they simply manifest as singular entities. Those are the least deadly. Basically pests. Most of the time. But they have the chance, albeit a small one, to manifest something much, much stronger. The most powerful creature I’ve ever seen came from one of those. I think.”

Essex seemed to take issue with that assessment, and he said, “I beg to differ on that account. They are dangerous creatures who can –”

“Sure, they’re dangerous. But nothing compared to the next ones. Those come from dimensional rifts. Those are temporary rips in the fabric of our reality. If you can go in and defeat the monster inside, you’ll close them. And get a reward. But the Voxxian creature inside can be pretty strong,” Elijah explained. “If you don’t close them, they corrupt the environment and drive the local wildlife crazy. I’ve also read that they can burst, creating a mini-surge.”

“And where did you read this?”

“A guide I bought from the Branch Knowledge Base,” Elijah lied. In reality, it had been explained to him by Nerthus. “Anyway, the third type is worse. If you’ve got a tower around here, which is what I suspect, then it’ll go a long way to explaining things. So, please – tell me the truth, Captain Essex – are we dealing with a tower? Or is it just a dimensional rift?”

“What is a tower? I mean, I know what a tower is. But I feel like I’m missing some context.”

“A tower is like a dimensional rift on steroids,” Elijah said. “The system erects a tower around them which drains the Ethera by creating a complex environment that can be challenged by –”

“Is it like a video game dungeon?” she asked, interrupting him.

“Uh…I guess? I was never much of a video game guy,” Elijah said. “But the problem is that if those towers are left unattended, they will eventually burst into a surge. And they’ll keep spilling more Voxxian monsters out until someone goes in, challenges the tower, and conquers it. That drains the Ethera – at least for a while – and keeps the Voxx from passing over.” He turned to the captain and asked, “That about the shape of things?”

Essex nodded. “It is,” he said tersely.

“Tower or rift?”

“Tower,” he said. “We’ve sent three teams inside. None have come back out.”

Elijah groaned. “And you’ve been dealing with the surges, right? I’m guessing some of your people got injured, and that’s how they got infected with the plague, huh?” he guessed. Given what he knew, it was the only thing that made sense. Or rather, it was the only problem with a potential solution. If the Voxx weren’t responsible, then the plague could’ve almost literally been caused by anything. In that case, he’d have to chalk it up as a loss and move on; at the same time, he’d advise anyone healthy to do the same.

But then Essex said, “It only happened one time. Just a single injured warrior. Since then, we’ve been careful. We don’t get close to the monsters. But the plague keeps coming back.”

Elijah shook his head. There were a host of potential explanations, but it probably came down to magic. The Voxx spread corruption wherever they went, and this particular tower seemed to house a particular virulent version.

“Alright, then. I guess I know what I need to do.”

“What?” asked Essex as Elijah turned to leave.

Elijah glanced back at the man and said, “Well, I’m going to conquer the tower. Obviously.”

He didn’t wait for a response before he left the office and turned down the hall, his mind already whirling with potential plans for defeating the tower. It was only after he’d gone a few steps when he realized that the downside of what he hoped was a cool exit meant that he’d never actually gotten directions to the tower. He was just about turn around and sheepishly return to the captain’s office when Jess caught up to him.

Then, the captain followed soon after. “Wait!” the man said, reaching out to grab Elijah’s arm.

Elijah didn’t react well to that, and he quickly jerked away. In only a second, he had his staff in the man’s face. “Please don’t grab me. I get jumpy,” he said.

Essex backed away, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m not a threat to you.”

“Sure you’re not,” Elijah said. “But you know what? I don’t care. Just tell me where to find this tower. I’ll run on over, conquer it, then be on my way. The good thing is that it won’t surge while I’m inside, and after I beat it, you’ll need to use that break to get stronger.”

“Why?”

“Because even if I conquer it, it’s not going to stop. It’ll be a while before it comes back, but you’ll be right in this same situation in a few months. Maybe a year. But it’s not a bad thing. Towers are great for levels. I’ve read that, in other parts of the universe, they’re seen as strategic resources.”

Indeed, ever since Elijah had recovered from his previous tower run, he’d thought about revisiting the challenge. He had expected that foray into another tower to be the one near his island, but the thought process remained the same. In the last tower, he’d gained ten levels. If he could repeat that feat in this current challenge, he’d put himself at the top of the power ladder. That was enough of a reason on its own, but couple that with a good cause, and Elijah’s decision was easy enough.

“We can send someone with you. There are a few talented –”

“No, thanks. They’ll just slow me down. All I need from you is some supplies and a map. Oh, and when I get back, I want access to your Branch.”

“I can’t –”

“Non-negotiable, Cap’n.”

“Please don’t call me that. It’s Captain Essex.”

“That’s what I said. Cap’n Essex.”

The man groaned, massaging his forehead. “Fine. I’m skeptical you’ll even survive, but if you happen to surprise me, I’ll make sure you get access. In the meantime, if you’ll wait here, I’ll get you everything else you’ll need.”

“Sounds like we have a deal, Cap’n.”

Essex didn’t respond. Aside from another groan, at least. But that surely had nothing to do with Elijah. Once Essex left, Elijah and Jess went back to the man’s office, where they waited for him to make good on his promises.

Once they were there, Jess remarked, “Is that what you call respectful?”

“Sure. Why? Did it not come off as respectful?”