What is this?
Woken from his daze, Luther silently observed his surroundings. It was a room composed of white metal sheets. They appeared to be welded together with a light blue energy that pumped repeatedly like the veins of a heart - as if it were alive. Before Luther could identify anything else, he grasped the side of his head as he expelled the contents of his stomach onto the white floor. The nausea and dizziness from what Luther assumed to be the efforts of the teleportation and alcohol brought him to his knees. His head throbbed as he tried hard to calm his breathing.
Jesus, I don’t feel so good…
Before he could get ahold of his bearing’s, his vision was warped as the sight of words - no, more like the scripted code for a computer flashed before his eyes. At first, it appeared to be some runic language. What surprised him however, was that within mere moments, his comprehension of the language was slowly unravelled to him. Something he had never seen before, nor even heard of before - he understood it? How?
[...]
[Assimilation complete.]
[Initiation of assistance protocol 631 - operative.]
[...]
[The Tower will now commence the operation of the 1st floor.]
[Floor #1]
Clear conditions: Kill the Amarog.
Time limit: 5 minutes.
Rewards upon completion: 200 credits and restrictions on system lifted.
Rewards upon failure: Death.
Luther looked on in disbelief as he skimmed through the information compiled before him.
Clear conditions? Time limit? Rewards? Death? What?
This event was beyond surreal for him, what did this mean? Abruptly, the words left his vision as they blurred out of sight. It left him alone to his own thoughts before the sight of something materialized before him. Within the white room stood Luther, known drunkard and gambler. And opposite to him? A small dark blue skinned creature a metre tall with stumpy limbs faced him. Its eyes were devoid of emotion and were like black pools of water. But that didn’t worry Luther in the slightest, instead, it was the razor sharp teeth it bared in its mouth. Like an arsenal of tiny daggers they looked sharp to the touch. Luther assumed this to be the ‘Amarog’ as stated by the Tower.
An A-amarog? How am I supposed to fight that? I don’t even have a weapon, yet it has those sharp fucking teeth! It’ll rip me to shreds!
The Amarog without warning lunged towards Luther, its teeth bared in all their glory as it closed the distance in a matter of seconds. Luther had no time to prepare as he evaded to the left. The Amarog had skid past him as it pivoted on its feet, gnashing its teeth as it charged once more. Luther couldn’t think straight. He had just been thrust into a situation of life or death without warning nor preparation! He was scared out of his wits as he barely evaded once again.
Come on, think! What do I do?
As he was being strapped for ideas, the Amarog with a burst of speed lunged towards Luther’s neck. At such close range, there was no time to evade as it closed in with teeth bared. Within at least hands reach, the Amarog grew restless in anticipation of the tasty sight of flesh after so long in captivity - its hopes were soon short lived. The abrupt sight of a forearm obstructed the path of the Amarog as it latched its teeth onto the flesh. Crimson blood splattered against the Amarog and dyed Luther’s shirt red. With just that one movement, the Amarog was caught off-guard. Luther had expended the minimal amount of movement to protect his vitals - something impossible for a new recruit of the Tower. The Amarog’s eyes met Luther’s as it shrunk back in terror. They were eyes of a battle hardened veteran, but that’s not what made the Amarog terrified - it was the devastating amount of killing intent that had began to envelop him. It was scared.
Luther brought his forearm to the ground with all his weight as the head of the blue beast was slammed against the white - now dyed blue - floor. Navy blue blood had begun to paint the white canvas of the floor as Luther painted an art beyond words and beauty. The Amarog’s teeth had dug into his forearm but the pain was drowned out by the adrenaline that coursed through him. It gradually slipped its teeth from the forearm in the midst of the agony as Luther’s hands stretched towards the Amarog.
Disoriented, it opened its eyes to be greeted by Luther, wrapping his hands around its neck like a noose. The Amarogs expression became contorted in surprise and fear as it brought its hand forward in an attempt to free itself. His arms shrugged it off as Luther’s nails like small knives dug themselves into its skin. Abruptly, torrents of pain burst out from its lungs and neck as it gasped for air in between it’s deafened screams. Its lungs burnt beyond control as it tried to breathe the air it desperately needed.
In a desperate fit of terror it clawed at Luther’s forearms in an attempt to free its airways as its hands were dyed in crimson blood. Saliva and blood dribbled forth from its mouth as its struggle slowly but surely died down. Its eyes had became cold and lifeless as its corpse laid bare against the floor, and just faintly, a light blue surged into Luther from the body - similar in colour to those strains of energy in the walls.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
[Floor #1 - Kill, or be killed.]
Floor cleared/Awarded credits: 200
Amarog killed/Awarded credits: 0
[Congratulations! Upon completion of the 1st floor you’ve been allowed access to the use of the Tower’s intermediary Federation assistance system - or simply said, the ‘System’. You may access the system through thinking ‘Status’. 4 minutes of rest have additionally been allocated to the user. If need be, inquiries will be answered by the System during these 4 minutes.]
The notification broke Luther from his reverie as he lifted his head up from the floor to the ceiling. He was dazed as he brought his hand to his face to only stop inches away. He stared at his hand, stupefied by the cold blue blood that coated his hands and ran in between his fingers. The uncomfortable pieces of dark blue skin that were under his nails brought forth unease as he his face contorted in confusion.
Wait… what happened…? My head… Is this blood?
Luther was soon brought back to reality as his eyes were blinded by the sweat dripping from his forehead. The pain then began to emerge from his hands and forearm as the effects of the adrenaline died off. His hands trembled as they stung from the touch of the cold air. Then, the realisation of clearing the floor caught his attention. He swiftly turned to the notification before glancing down towards the dark blue monster underneath his body. Bile threatened to resurface from his throat but with great resolve he swallowed it back. He had killed something. Although it wasn’t human, he had killed something… so why didn’t he feel any guilt? Why was he so calm? Why was he so… relieved?
Luther lifted himself off the floor and distanced himself from the corpse of mute flesh. This sensation of killing something… he didn’t know why he was so calm, but he had an idea. Perhaps he was okay with it because it was for survival. Since it had tried to kill him, it should’ve known it could’ve been killed all the same - it was fair, it didn’t need his guilt. Luther then remembered the notifications that had lined his vision as he averted his gaze from the corpse.
Credits… and I can use the system?
Luther observed the notification before he thought ‘Status’ as a series of words and numbers filtered his vision.
[Luther Starr]
Status: Healthy
Age: 16
Alignment/Sponsor: Pending...
Energy affinity: Pending… Awaiting user…
[Attributes]
Muscle Strength: 7.2
Muscle Density: 9.7
Muscle Velocity: 8.5
Muscle Elasticity: 7.3
Bone/Organ Durability: 10.7
Neural Reaction: 13.4
Cerebral Capacity: 12.6
Memory: 11.8
Energy Strength: 15.7
Energy Concentration: 8.9
[Shop]
Credits: 200
[Enhancements (Skills & Traits)]
None
[Stigma]
None
Luther was astonished as he browsed through the attributes. From a glance, it seemed that these were numerical representations of a person's ability to use their muscles or mind. The latter 2 however confused him, Energy Strength was his highest attribute, yet what did it do exactly? Luther was then drawn to the appearance of the Shop.
Hm… System, what is the shop?
[It is your foundation. Through the shop, you can use credits to grow beyond the restraints of what makes you human. You can purchase enhancements, attributes, armour, and weapons - it is all up to the user as to how the credits are used. Similarly, you can bring out the shop layout with just a thought.]
Interesting… Shop…
{Shop}
[Attributes]
[Enhancements]
[Equipment]
It was just as how the System had said. However, as Luther glanced through all the items and enhancements available for purchase he realised one thing. It all cost so fucking much! The attributes themselves went for 20 credits a piece. With that, he could get at least 10 attributes, but that didn’t seem to be much nor what he really needed. The equipment however was fortunately smaller in price, with some pieces being 10 credits. Of course there were some that cost 1000s of credits, but they were far and few - he didn’t need to concern himself with them as of now either. Enhancements were similar to the equipment in that they had high price ranges, but the minimum was around 500 credits or so.
Luther pondered over the options as he browsed through the available weapons; from war scythes to bows, there were so many choices! However, in contrast to the astounding weapons he could chose from, he opted for a simple short sword that cost 30 credits. It appeared to be made from steel and somewhat durable. Yes, it was bland, but it were as if it were calling to him. To Luther, the shortsword felt far more familiar than the other weapons as it materialized within his hand. In this alienated tower, it was something he thought he could put his trust in. Afterwards, he used his 60 credits to purchase some leather armour for his chest and forearms which he strapped on when it materialized.
Left with 110 credits, he invested them into his attributes, putting all 5 points into Muscle Velocity. Luther had thought that he needed more speed since the last fight. Although he got rather swept up in the fight, he remembered how he had wished to do some movements earlier yet was not fast enough to execute them. He believed this was due to his Neural Reaction being high and allowing him to perceive the Amarog’s moves, yet his Muscle Velocity being too low for him too actually react how he wanted to. Similarly, he bought the leather armour keeping in mind of his movement for using his shortsword.
Wait… Now that I think about it… why do I keep thinking I can actually use this thing? This sword?
Sure, the sword had felt familiar to him - but had Luther actually ever used a sword in his life? Ever? He unsheathed the sword from his waist and looked it over. What was so special about it… it was as if he had this connection with it… it was vague… but he had an idea of how to use basic swordsmanship. He got into a basic stance and thrusted outward.
Wait…?! This speed… it made me faster like I thought... even the swordsmanship feels so… so weird...
Luther was left perplexed as he experimented with his speed. It wasn’t a dramatic increase, but it was noticeable - majorly so. It made him flinch as he got back into a stance. The other thing that confused him was his swordsmanship, again, he had never used a sword in his life, so how come it came to him as if it were basic knowledge? It was a myster- in fact, no it wasn’t. Perhaps it was related to that dream… of being able to change - to become something better… Was this the reason of the tower? To give a second chance for those to become better? Luther smiled at the thought as he was interrupted by the system.
[Next Floor will commence]
[Floor #2- Survive]
Clear conditions: Survive a week within the jungle.
Time limit: 7 days.
Rewards upon completion: 200 credits, additional 50 credits upon each kill, and credits based upon hidden achievements.