With a wild roar, a bare-chested man had lunged himself into the air, stretching his leg into a perfectly straight line. His muscular body was all tensed, while his fierce face was showing a hungry expression. Hungry for a battle, for a clash of steel, or, in his case, the competition in strength and agility. The test of willpower. The martial skills comparison. Everything that he craved for was in the Tower. The real test of abilities, where the primal power was everything, and he finally didn’t need to limit himself. The life-threatening fights made his blood boil with energy, giving the way to the true himself.
He always knew that he was born in the wrong era, and only now he was placed into his natural environment. Straightforward, maybe primitive, it didn’t have the impurities that the rise of technology had brought to society. No politicians, who could get everything just from declaring some false promises or lies. No huge corporations, could bend any rules to their wishes and destroy any family business that might obstruct their constant spread. No multiple regulations, rules, or laws that restricted him, turning him into a sheep in the pen. The Tower appeared exactly the answer to it. And the power which he could get from this godly sent place might help him to change the whole world, to wipe all unnecessary complications, to return it to the roots. Moreover, it gave him the ability to fight.
“You will become my stepping stone on my way to…,” his loud shout was interrupted when the enemy, who was facing him, made a step to the side and slammed a shield right into his face. The sheer force was so huge that threw him backward. Still, the years of training in martial arts were enough to turn the motion into a somersault. Firmly planting his both feet, he stopped into a starting stance for a long set of devastating blows that were enough to crush even a stone wall. However, before he even made the first one, he felt a metal grip around his ankle.
In the next moment, he was pulled by the odd steel strip that seemed to be shortening its length. Attached to the foot of the enemy, it looked like alive. Dropping on the back, he tried to release himself from the metal hook that anchored his head, but his bare hands, despite all inhuman strength after the System's appearance, were not enough to rip the steel apart. Overwhelmed with panic, he raised his head.
“Wait, let’s…,” his words were cut off when the hammer fell down, splashing a disgusting mixture of red liquid and brains on the floor. Still, the fight wasn’t over. The lunatic, who wanted to have a fair duel with Robert, wasn’t the only one to enter the chamber. Other idiots were already readying their weapons and skills. Rob couldn’t describe them differently as they were stupid enough to agree not to intervene in the fight. They might do it out of respect to the dead combatant, influenced by his enormous confidence which he radiated to the surroundings. Robert didn’t care as he would exploit any mistake from the enemies he saw.
Ducking under the hastily conjured fireball, Rob summoned the shield to cover him from the following arrow. He was already in motion, charging at the pair of survivors. And it seemed to have an intimidating effect as the archer simply dropped his arrow, failing to put it correctly. Torment of choice between picking it, taking another or even abandoning the bow for the dagger gave enough time for Robert to close the distance. Covering his face from the second fireball and seeing how the flaming projectile almost burned the hole in the steel shield, he rammed into the mage.
Smacking a melted part right into the face of the man, making the latter scream from the pain, Rob crushed his enemy against the wall. Seeing the motion with the periphery of his sight, he willed the steel to move. The metal followed the command instantly. Hugging the half-conscious mage, it created a small cage around him. In the next moment, Robert turned his newly created improvised shield, catching the arrow with a flesh. The loud bang from the fall of the heavy construct onto the floor coincidently resounded right when the man was yelling after getting another wound. The shouts were cut off after a small dagger had penetrated the neck of the mage. Dropping down the corpse, Robert only made a first step forward when the archer, with wide open eyes from overwhelming fear, had slit his own throat in a single swift motion, putting the fight to the end on his terms.
Well, I didn’t expect that.
Exhaling, Robert closed his eyes and focused on calming his mind. The quickness of the battle made his body pump enough adrenaline to crave an action, but everything was already over. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last for long. This group wasn’t the first to come in, and definitely not the last. On average, Rob had to fight once per hour. This fact led to an assumption that something was wrong with the time itself inside the Tower. If each batch was summoned at the same time, then it was simply impossible for them to find his hidden floor with so strict periodicity.
If it is true, then those unlucky guys can even be from different batches, thus decreasing my death toll… Not that it matters as the number is already too big.
When Rob opened his eyes again, the chamber was already deprived of the signs of the recent battle. Only a bow, a dagger, and a staff were lying on the floor. Picking the ownerless weapons, Robert looked around before leaving the place. Going through the short door frame, he followed the corridor only to stop at the first door. Checking again the descriptions of the items, he threw them inside without any care. The room was already filled with tens of weapons, chaotically scattered around. Having a similar quality, they all lacked one thing – magic properties.
Up to this point, Rob managed to find only several artifacts that had runes engraved on them. Others were all good, but nothing special, making them completely useless to him. That was the reason why he shoved them in a self-made storage room. Three more were ready to be used for the same purpose, while the last two Robert were different. One was his place of rest, where he had put four beds together to create one long enough to fit his huge frame. The last one was his own laboratory. The laboratory inside a laboratory, no matter how funny it sounded. The reason was simple – despite long stay, he couldn’t progress properly.
His own physique and constant training managed to increase his stats, but it was so slow and inefficient in comparison to the possible power-up using the System that at some point Robert decided to research another way. All his experience points couldn’t be used as he didn’t have a class. The way to obtain the skills was also unknown. Therefore, Rob started to study the artifacts. Precisely speaking, not them but their runes that made them work. He didn’t pose many objects to study. Except for Fetters of Burden, he had seven more.
Amulet of Meditation
Blessed by an unknown entity, this can put a wielder into a state of tranquility, which weakens the border between the inner being and the outer world, giving the ability to catch more ambient mana. The activation command for inscribed runes is “Meditation”. Increases the mana regeneration speed by 100%, while putting the user in an immobilized state.
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At first, it sounded like a great deal for Robert. However, after using the item he felt he was frozen, completely unable to move. Moreover, Rob was barely able to perceive the surroundings through the odd haze that covered them. After a few tests, he managed to get that it was mana as it felt very similar to what he experienced inside his body. It was useful to train in such sensitivity, but nothing more. He didn’t have any storage for mana to regenerate it quickly, while an inability to move crossed out a possibility of using it in combat. The situation with other artifacts was no different.
Flaming Sword
Made by an experienced but not talented blacksmith, it was given a set of fire runes by a skillful enchanter. The latter tried to bypass the limitation of the metal and partly succeeded, in exchange for sacrificing the frequency of usage to avoid permanent damage to the blade. The activation command for inscribed runes is “Set Ablaze”. Uses 30 points of mana to create a flame over the blade for a minute. The cooldown of the ability is 3 minutes.
Luckily for Robert, the owner of the thing was taught by movies how to use the weapon. The moment the man noticed Rob’s shield, he started to bash it with his sword, in an attempt to penetrate the defense. The melting steel showed its efficiency, only intensifying his efforts. Robert was constantly recovering the shield while in the process of adjusting its thickness to know what exactly needed to protect himself. Therefore, when Rob got the needed answer, he simply deflected the sword to the side, opening the surprised opponent to the following deadly hit. Even dying, the man was struck by the realization that he didn’t need to aim at the shield, but the person behind it.
Still, the reward from this “epic fight” was another useless item as Robert simply didn’t have enough mana to support the inbuilt spell, no matter how hard he tried. It appeared that he needed to have all mana at once, but with his 5 mana points per second, he lacked a lot. The same situation was a few magic staves that he got as trophies. It seemed even the most basic spell demanded much more energy than he had.
Staff of a Firebolt
The common staff of the mage’s apprentice has an engraved rank 1 offensive spell to compensate for their lack of combat abilities. The material of the staff won’t withhold a lot of casts before breaking apart, but the amount is still enough for its wielder to have time to learn stronger spells on their own. The activation command for inscribed runes is “Firebolt”. Uses 10 points of mana to create a fast-moving bolt made from flame.
Overall, Robert had two more staves with fire spells – one with a Fire arrow and cost of 15 mana, and the other with a Fireball with 20 mana per cast. There was another copy with an Ice shard and even touch-based Lightning shock. However, all of them were out of his reach to use it. The biggest irony of the situation was that from the fights Robert figured out that challengers had a quite small pool of mana, easily spending it all in a short time frame. They didn’t have fast regeneration to recover the energy during the battle, effectively crippling their battle power in such a situation. He, on the other hand, couldn’t run out at all. Still, it made the usage of such items simply impossible. Almost any of them, except the Fetters of Burden.
That was the reason why focused on it. Completely disregarding the binding rune, he concentrated his attention on the “Heavy” aspect. Each time he used the item, it was shining with a set of inscriptions, deeply engraved on its surface. That gave Rober an obvious idea – to copy the effect. He didn’t see any usefulness in the chain as his skill to conjure steel gave him more versatility in fighting. However, if he could imprint an ability to increase weight at will, it would literally add more to his instruments.
This was his latest idea of how to progress further. The message from the System directly spoke about the need to power up to go to higher floors. The constant fights didn’t give me enough time to focus on the task properly. Fortunately, with the decreased need for rest, Robert didn’t feel any exhaustion. So, after each battle, Rob returned to his laboratory, took the chain, and activated it. Looking at the shining runes, he conjured a plain metal plate and tried to recreate the same engravings on its surface. The complexity of the task was quite challenging, but after his long training sessions with a coin, it was doable. The only problem was in memorizing. To Rob’s eyes, the symbols looked like a mixture of hieroglyphs and the attempts of a two-year child to write something on top of them. Moreover, after an additional examination, he found out that there was a difference in the deepness of each rune, making it even harder.
Still, I can do it. What is it? My fifth cycle of attempts? I have plenty of time… Only the periodic distractions are preventing me from achieving it earlier.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Robert felt the gaseous matter that was filling his body with energy. Then a mental command followed. Focusing on his senses, he noted how simultaneously the steel and mana moved while creating a mental construct. It felt like his mana couldn’t leave his body and was using a summoned container to do it. Using itself as a matter for creation, it hardened and turned into steel only to fill a newly made object with energy again. The connection with his own being was never broken. It seemed that mana treated his conjured constructs as a part of his body, equally distributing the energy everywhere. Exact this observation gave him the idea to copy the runes, as his steel was not only the place to hold the inscriptions but also a means to charge them with mana.
Spending more time on this feeling, Robert tried to grasp the all-mana thing, how it worked, and how he could control it. This ethereal energy was literally everything to him, as his life depended on it. The torn connection with Wepwakor finally released the haze on this fascinating sensation, opening a whole new world for him. He still didn’t know how to manipulate it directly, but Rob was sure it was just a matter of time. He would get there at some point. No doubts. Therefore, opening his eyes, he concentrated on the task.
Checking the inscriptions, Robert started to replicate them on the surface of the steel plate. Under his will, the symbols were appearing not slowly, one by one, but in spurts, covering another part. He treated these rune words not like letters, but as an image, which he had to memorize perfectly. It wasn’t huge, so in just ten seconds the runes were ready. Like in previous tests, there was no need for an activation command. The magic text started to work by itself the moment it was done, shining with light. However, it soon turned into flickering before the runes melted away.
Another fail. But this one was close – I managed to start the process. Finally, I am doing something magical. Robert the Great Wizard. Yep, maybe I can do it… but first, let’s finish the rune.
By the end of his training session, Rob was very close to achieving the desired result. However, he had to interrupt himself when the System message appeared in front of his eyes. He guessed the content even before reading as the loud anxious voices of new visitors were already resounding from the chamber. Not finding the boss, without the ability to leave the place or to enter the inner rooms, they thought they were trapped and were currently in search of a secret trigger, not knowing that the only trigger they needed just didn’t want to stop his attempts one step before the success.
Attention! System warning – proceed with following the dedicated scenario.
You have one minute, or you will automatically fail, facing the penalty.
Friendly reminder: the current set penalty is death.
Okay, okay. I got! Damn, just give me a break… And those idiots, who are hurrying into their graves, could be slightly quieter. No need to shout about a room being a puzzle and count each fucking stone aloud. Even two closed doors were not enough to muffle their heated debate.