Burt was nervous, though he was still not fully adapted to his muted emotions that were part of his new existence.
Given how much he had used of the core’s Concepts and mana to develop his tower, Burt was worried that there might be dire consequences if his dungeon did not meet expectations.
Burt understood how Concepts allowed for things to happen that could not be done with magic and mana, and while he was as giddy as a boy with a new puppy to finally be able to use magic, he did not understand much of what he was doing.
The core had suggested that, as a dungeon core, Burt should be capable of using mana without using it. Instead somehow cycling mana and affinities together in some manner that allowed for absolutely nothing to go to waste.
Burt had absolutely no idea how to go about that at all.
Every time he used mana, it felt like he was completely consuming it with nothing left over, and that had caused him to take much, much longer with his project than he had hoped.
With Jackie entering the tower, Burt could finally test out his ideas.
Where dungeons were places to challenge and strengthen people, Burt wanted to educate and test them. His years in the army and with the northern youths had shown him just how valuable an education could be, provided that people were being taught things that were relevant to their lives.
The army had been a mixed bag with the training that recruits received. Some aspects of the training had been literally life-saving, while other details helped to ensure that soldiers followed orders, but actually placed their lives in danger.
Burt was not wanting to raise an army, but to create a place of knowledge and experience where those who qualified to enter would be able to gain what they sought, rather than what they randomly received from the core.
Burt’s goal was to allow people to choose a path that they could follow towards a future goal, whether it was strength, magic, knowledge, or something else.
Years had been spent gathering the knowledge and skills that the core had available. Fortunately, the core’s ability to process memories and knowledge allowed Burt to organize the knowledge and offer guidance to those who would climb his tower.
He had prepared the first floor of the tower to both evaluate Ascendants and to demonstrate the paths that could be followed.
Jackie was the first Ascendant to enter the tower, but she was far from the first person to enter the tower. Guides and teachers were needed, and so people had been entering the tower for years. Some were granted knowledge and abilities, while others were used more as caretakers.
Upon entering the tower, Jackie found herself in a foyer of a massive building. The ceiling was taller than anything she had ever seen, and there were arches and doorways. As she looked around, a bit scared and confused at the sudden change.
A woman stepped out from an archway and walked towards the young girl. Jackie thought the woman looked a bit familiar, but Jackie could not place the middle-aged face.
As the woman drew closer, her steps faltered. “Jackie? Is that you? You finally came in?”
The voice was Bren’s, but the woman was far too old to be Jackie’s big sister. After all, Bren was only a few years older than Jackie, not older than their mother. “Who are yeh? How do yeh know my name?”
The woman nearly stumbled, clearly taken aback by Jackie’s questions. “Jackie? It’s me, Bren. I was brought into the tower to become a guide.”
“Bren’s not old.”
“I’m not old! I’m only… only… How long has it been? I can’t even remember.”
“Bren didn’t come home yesterday.”
“Yesterday? But I came here so long ago…”
Jackie stared at the liar as the woman looked increasingly confused. After a moment, her eyes glazed over, and then she gasped sharply.
Her eyes filled with tears, and several spilled out before she refocused on Jackie. “Jackie, it’s, it’s me. I really am Bren. I’ve just been here a lot longer than I’ve been gone from home, but it’s really me. Remember… Remember when you playing with ma’s scarf? You tripped on the chair and ripped a bit of it, but said that I tripped you? And ma believed you and I got in trouble? Or before pa got hurt how he used to tell us stories while doing the funny voices? Or how after Ellen was born, you stained a spot on her leg with berries, but ma thought you hurt her and bruised her? Or…”
The woman continued to share stories of Jackie’s life with her family. Stories that no one should know about other than Jackie and her siblings. Slowly, Jackie was convinced that the older woman really was her sister, even if that did not make any sense. When the woman showed a scar on her arm, Jacke was finally satisfied, and she ran over and hugged Bren.
Too much had changed in the last day, and Jackie was overwhelmed by it all. For a few minutes, she just clung to her sister, feeling a bit of safety in the strange place.
After a bit of time, Jackie felt calm enough to ask some questions. “What happened to yeh, Bren? How’d yeh get so old? Is this really inside the tower?”
Bren cleaned her tears from her face, and then led her sister across the foyer by the hand. “Most of that I can’t explain to you yet, as it just won’t make sense. What I can tell you is that we are in the tower, and I’ve been here for a very long time, even if it was just yesterday to you. You might leave this place the same moment you entered, or decades later. I really can’t say.
“However, you can learn just about anything here. Magic, healing, fighting, crafting, it’s all here, and you can pick up any of it, if you do well. There are tests and puzzles to move on, and if you get to the top, you can wish for almost anything. The only thing is, nothing here is free. You have to work for it all, and you have to prove yourself.”
Jackie just nodded along, despite not understanding too much of what she was hearing. What was clear was that the tower was magic, and she could get some of that magic for herself.
“First, you need to be evaluated, and then you’ll be able to choose a path upwards. You don’t have to choose a path that fits you best, but doing so will help you to progress upwards.”
Again, Jackie did not really understand, but she did understand that she needed to do some things, and Bren would show her what needed to happen.
They passed through an empty hallway and entered a room with several posts scattered around it. There was a circle at the center, and Bren led Jackie to the circle, and then stepped back.
Nothing happened for some time, but then Jackie saw another message in the air in front of her.
Jackie
Age: 10
Level: N/A
Intelligence: 7
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 5
Vitality: 6
Affinity: Life
Concepts: N/A
Authority: N/A
Bren looked at the air in front of her, as though seeing a message box as well. After a moment, she started talking, “Well, your measurements are rather low, but that’s only to be expected given your age. However, you already have a Life affinity, which not only means you can become a mage, you can even become a healer.
“I’ve heard that there are other measurements out there, but this is the one here in the tower. The average for adults is ten for each measurement, but it can vary pretty widely. Your strength is relatively low, but your intelligence and vitality are both high.
“Actually, I wonder if your vitality is up because of your affinity…”
Again, Bren started rattling on about things that Jackie really did not understand. What she did understand was that she could become a healer. “Bren... Bren. BREN!”
The woman flinched and looked away from the air in front of her to refocus on Jackie, seemingly confused. “Bren, if I become a healer, can I give pa back his legs?”
Bren looked rather stunned for a moment, but then walked over and picked up Jackie and squeezed her tight. “If that’s possible, this would be the place for you to learn how. I just can’t answer that, as I’m a guide, not a teacher. I can show you through the tower, but not tell you what you’ll find.”
Jackie was ready, as this was an easy decision. “Alright, then I want to become a healer. How do I do that?”
For the second time since seeing her little sister, Bren needed to clean the tears from her face. “Come with me. I’ll show you where to get started.”
***
By the time they arrived at their destination, Jackie was completely lost. They had gone up and down multiple flights of stairs, as well as through more tangled hallways than she could remember.
Finally, they entered a large room. It had tables and chairs strewn about, and the walls were lined with shelves that were filled with books and tools.
The tables themselves were bare, and while there was no one in the room when Jackie and Bren entered it, they had not taken two steps in before someone came rushing in one of the entrances on the opposite side of the room.
“Bren! Is this her? Our first Ascendant? She looks a little young. Have you tested her yet? Has she chosen a path? What should we start her on-”
“Maggie! Take a breath. Take a moment. Slow down so I can start to answer some of your questions.”
The older woman sucked in such a deep breath that Jackie thought she should have swelled up. As she started to let her breath back out slowly, Bren continued talking, “This is Jackie, and she is our first Ascendant, as well as the one who’s here because of me.
“She has been tested, and her results will be shared with her teachers, when appropriate.
Stolen novel; please report.
“She’s also chosen a path: Healer.”
Maggie’s gray hair bobbed as she nodded. She reminded Jackie of an old tree; gnarled and rough, but still straight and strong.
The woman turned around and walked to the books on the shelves, muttering to herself the whole way, “Healer, well, in that case, she’ll need to learn about the body and its energies, as well as mana manipulation. Hmmm… If that’s the case, then the Galeen’s Four Humors and the Nine Hysterias would be the best place to start. As she studies that, she should also learn and practice some mana manipulation techniques, but that is more of a practical study…”
Jackie had no idea what the woman was talking about as she proceeded to pull out several books and scrolls from the shelves, all of which she ended up dumping sloppily on one of the tables.
Maggie paused and looked around, seemingly confused and searching for something. “Well, girl? Why are you still over there? We’re getting started.”
Bren gave her sister a gentle push on the back, and Jackie walked up to the table. It was covered with at least five books, which was more than Jackie had ever seen before, and the three scrolls had already been opened to show the most detailed pictures she had ever laid eyes on. They were gruesome, yet somehow beautiful, showing the inside of a person’s body.
“Alright, girl. You need to start by going through these books and learning all of the parts labeled in these images. You’ll do that in the mornings, and in the afternoons, I’ll be teaching you mana manipulation. If you come across something you don’t understand, you can write down your question, and we’ll review them at the end of the day. Understand?”
Jackie nodded, and Maggie pushed one of the thick tomes forward before turning and starting to walk away, only for a small hand to snap out and grab the woman’s blouse.
She turned around and looked down at the girl. “I told you, questions will be answered at the end of the day, so just start studying.”
Jackie just stared up at the woman, unfazed by the mild reprimand. “Can’t you teach me to read first?”
***
After that, Jackie’s life became very, very busy. She was given puzzles to solve and tasks to accomplish. After completing those, she was rewarded with skills or spells. Following that, she was placed in illusions or given teachers which helped her to learn how to better use what she had acquired.
All along, Bren either accompanied Jackie, or led her to her next destination.
Time passed, and Jackie started to gain levels as she started to master her skills. Apparently, this was only one way of gaining levels, but was not particularly common.
When certain thresholds were reached, Jackie was rewarded. While she never fully mastered any of her spells, which she learned meant learning them so well that absolutely no mana was wasted, she did manage to reach level 70 in multiple skills, and every ten levels after level 50 granted her a reward.
Every ten levels that Jackie herself gained, she was made to face a puzzle or a challenge that would test all that she had learned and push her to surpass that. If she failed, she would be given a second chance, but after two failures, she would be sent away from the tower.
Higher and higher she climbed. She met teachers and other guides, though Bren remained her primary guide. There were no other Ascendants, though Jackie learned from Bren that that was simply because Jackie had been the first, and others entered the tower later.
At first, she only needed a year to pass a floor of the tower, but as she gained levels, skills, and spells, her progress slowed and she needed more and more time to gain the levels necessary to qualify to take the test for the next floor.
After passing the fifteenth floor, Jackie was informed that she would need to complete the floor within eight years, or she would be kicked out of the tower.
It was at that floor that several other Ascendants caught up to her, and they started training together. They went out and would challenge monsters in the tower, as well as challenge the tests and puzzles that Jackie had previously faced on her own. Sometimes they had to simply defeat a monster or a group of monsters, other times they would need to escort a guide and keep them safe. The challenges grew more and more complicated.
This was also the time that Bren parted ways with Jackie, returning to the bottom of the tower to guide new Ascendants. Instead, Jackie and the others were met by someone each time they arrived on a new floor, and then given a list of goals, as well as a partial map of the floor of the tower.
Learning to navigate the tower on their own was just one more challenge the Ascendants were given.
After reaching the seventeenth floor, the first member of Jackie’s climb team dropped out, unable to keep up with the floor’s requirements.
On the eighteenth floor, two more left, returned to the world.
On the nineteenth floor, Jackie had only one companion remaining, which greatly complicated the difficulty of the challenges they faced, but the Warrior and the Healer worked well together, and eventually faced the final test to reach the twentieth floor of the tower.
The test was both similar and different to all of the two women’s previous tests.
Tests always took the entire team into account, challenging each of them individually, and as a team. With only two people remaining, things were a bit simpler, but certainly more difficult.
Their task was simple: protect a village that was under attack, saving as many of the people as possible.
Ilene rushed around, defending the villagers and driving the attacking orcs back, but there was only one of her and fifty villagers and more than double that in orcs. No matter how strong Ilene had become, she could not be everywhere at once.
That was where Jackie’s test came into play.
Her task was to prevent any of the villagers from dying, though she knew enough about the tower to know that dismemberment would result in a much lower score, and might even cause her to fail.
It was frustrating that, unlike a few types of beastkin, humans could not grow back body parts once they were lost. Sure, Jackie could reattach them, but there was something innate to human bodies that prevented them from regrowing anything.
Well, except the liver, which was just way too strange. She had never been able to find an answer for why that one organ would always grow back.
Jackie shook her head as she refocused on the villager before her. The woman had an arrow in her stomach, as well as one in her back. Without help, she would slowly, painfully die.
Mana surged as Jackie used multiple skills and spells in a familiar harmony. Her Numb Pain skill allowed her to pull the arrows out without plunging the woman into absolute agony, while Staunch Blood and Knit Flesh were both cast to allow the wounds to recover, ultimately leaving the smallest of silver scars to show where the woman had been impaled.
There was no time for Jackie to take a break to recover her mana, or even to take a moment to catch her breath. She rushed over to where her next patients were lined up, some of the villagers having been assigned with carrying the injured to Jackie while Ilene led the defensive efforts.
A quick glance at the five wounded had Jackie gritting her teeth. One fool was there because the idiot had no idea how to use an ax, and had simply decided it would make a useful weapon.
He was the one in the worst shape, as his ax was embedded in his left shin. His blood loss was so severe that Jackie could see he was fading in and out of consciousness.
The four others sported rather minor cuts and bruises. Sure, such wounds would fester and eventually kill the people without treatment, but such things would take days, if not weeks.
With the same combination as when removing the arrows, Jackie removed the ax, and then used a rather interesting spell that worked over the course of days. Supplement Blood was an interesting spell in that it promoted the body’s ability to replace bloodloss. What was special was how cheap the mana cost was. Instead, the spell required the person it was used on to eat much greater amounts for several days, particularly meat, as their body worked to fully recover.
That done, and the recovery instructions left with a friend or brother, not the idiot himself, as he could not be trusted, Jackie moved on to the other four.
Just a few minutes, and they were all fully recovered. Right as Jackie was finishing with the second patient, Ilene ran over and took up a protective stance behind Jackie.
The warrior always did this, as soon as a battle was over. It was a bit embarrassing, but Jackie was escorted everywhere by the overprotective Ilene.
Moments later, Jackie was enveloped by a flare of light that erased all that surrounded her, but when her vision returned, she and Ilene found themselves beneath the stars. There was nothing at all around them in any direction.
They were on a grassy lawn that was about two-hundred paces across. When they went towards the edge of the lawn, they realized that they were at the very top of the tower. They looked out at the world below them, and could see how it curved away.
It was impossible to determine just how tall the tower was, as they could see mountains and clouds down below, far, far away.
“Cough, cough.”
Ilene’s spear pointed forward as she and Jackie whirled around. There had been no one else on the top of the tower, and there had been no visible way to reach the place.
When they looked back at the center of the tower, they saw a man standing there. He had cat ears and a tail, but no hair on his head.
However, the ears and the tail kept appearing and disappearing from sight. It was as though the man’s body could not quite decide what it was supposed to be.
An additional oddity was the fact that the man looked solid one moment, and then Jackie would see the grass and the stars behind him the next moment.
“Congratulations, both of yeh, on reachin’ the top of the tower. As yeh heard, yeh get to ask fer one wish. If I can grant it, I’ll give it to yeh.”
“Who are you?” Ilene demanded, but Jackie already understood that this man was the master of the tower.
“Thank you, sir, for allowing us to climb your tower. I know we’ve gained more here than we could have hoped anywhere else, including the dungeons we’ve learned about.
“I do have one request, as none of my spells or skills have allowed me the one ability I’ve been seeking. I wish to be able to regrow my father’s legs for him.” Jackie knelt before the master of the tower as she spoke her wish. She had already realized that she was simply seeing a projection of the man, but even so, there was no reason not to show proper respect to the man.
Ilene looked from the man to Jackie several times before she finally lowered her spear. When she did, she followed Jackie onto her knees. “I ask for but one thing: the strength to protect the one I love.”
The man looked at the two women. Neither was young any longer, though they both looked it. After a moment, he spoke again, “The first wish is easily granted, though yeh'll need to explore what it can do an yer own. However, the second requires bein’ able to see the future ‘n know what threats could show up. I can’t do that, but I can give yeh a new skill called Guardian. It’ll move yeh to stand between yer target and any threat, no matter where yeh are.”
Ilene quivered briefly as Jackie tried to make sense of the man’s odd accent. It reminded her of her father, but she had not heard his voice for so long that it was a struggle to interpret the man’s words.
““Thank you, sir!”” Both woman bowed their heads as they thanked the man, but he was still not finished.
“Additionally, yeh’ll be granted a Title, for being the first Ascendants to reach the top of the tower. Yeh’ll see what those do when yeh leave.”
The next moment, there was another flash of light, and the two women appeared at the gates of the tower, just as a number of soldiers were running up. The sudden arrival of two people out of nowhere startled the soldiers, and weapons were drawn.
However, Ilene and Jackie ignored the men, as their senses were honed enough to know that none of the men were any threat at all.
In fact, the men would be incapable of harming either woman, even if the women did nothing at all. At this moment, Jackie and her companion were both focused on their new statuses:
Jackie
Age: 72
Title: First Ascendant (plus 5% to all stats)
Level: 201
Intelligence: 2,814 (+140)
Strength: 1,461 (+73)
Dexterity: 1,827 (+91)
Vitality: 2,192 (+109)
Affinity: Life
Concepts: Life
Authority: N/A
***
The core was quite satisfied with the results of the tower. The first Ascendants had reached the top of the tower, and the time dilation meant that only a few minutes had passed. Both of the females were clearly far more prepared for delving into dungeons or doing whatever they decided to pursue with their lives.
The tower was an interesting way of accelerating growth further than anything the core had attempted before. People could only gain entry by being chosen, and even then, they were guided along a path, rather than blindly finding their way while taking advantage of whatever they were given.
It was an intriguing method of preparing creatures to grow stronger, and the core was already considering the possibility of offering greater guidance. The women considered themselves to be a Healer and a Warrior thought of themselves as those roles. Their roles defined them on a fundamental level, and that somehow seemed to further strengthen them when acting within the bounds of their defined role.
Could that same mentality be triggered in others? Should the core grant roles to people before they gained levels? Should they be given choices?
Also, what was that “Title” that Burt had given the two Ascendants? That had some very interesting implications of how to reward mortals for achievements. With so many of their limits being mental limitations, by expanding that mentality, could the core further expand the creatures’ potential?
Testing this would be interesting…