Evelyn considered her life ruined. The days of living without worrying about food and money were over, as everything Evelyn was left with were the few clothes Valeria had given her over the past years for her sacrifice, and her small hut in the village, that Evelyn's parents left her. Evelyn might even have to sell those few things she owned if she wanted money for food.
Audrey of course had been understanding, offering Evelyn a place to eat if she ever needed it, since as a teacher Michelle made enough money for food. But Evelyn knew that she wouldn't be happy living under the guilt she'd feel, so she was out searching for a job. Problem was, Evelyn hadn't really worked a day in her life. The only things that made her special, was her lack of skills and the magic tattoo she had so recently obtained. Evelyn couldn't conceive working as anything other than a helper, where she could destroy some large rocks for farmers and kill the occasional predator with her tattoo. But that wasn't something she wanted to do, and Evelyn doubted she'd ever be hired for anything else.
The sun rose from behind the trees, right next to where the damned spirit's tower could be seen reaching high above the trees, and for the first time, Evelyn was curious. What was inside the tower? The children had gone inside it, and received the same tattoo she had. All of their parents had complained about the very same problem that seemingly ruined Evelyn's life. None of them could enter the city. The clerics even refused to repair the poor boy who had lost his arm.
Everything bad that had happened over the past days, was the spirit's fault. But even so, Evelyn doubted that the spirit was evil. It had given more power to those who asked for it, likely ignorant of the repercussions. Other than that, it had been defending itself and what belonged to it. Maybe Evelyn could find help from it, since her goddess had abandoned her.
Evelyn made her decision, and decided to see if the spirit in the tower had anything more to give.
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The perfectly smooth tower soared high above the trees surrounding it, casting an intimidating sight in Evelyn's eyes. She felt so very small standing in front of the spirit, and that almost made her retreat. But Evelyn hardened her mind, walked under the odd ancient writing and stepped through the tower's entrance.
It was dark inside the tower, but Evelyn could make out walls and corridors stretching in random patterns all around her. Cautiously, Evelyn walked around the tower, most of the time in circles. When Evelyn unwillingly walked past the entrance for the third time, she decided to go outside, and take a handful of grass to mark her path with.
Armed with the knowledge of past paths, Evelyn made it deeper into the near pitch black labyrinth. Then the front half of her foot stepped into empty air, and Evelyn nearly fell into a deep hole in the ground, a hole filled with spikes. It filled Evelyn's heart with dread. She could die in the tower, but then again, all the stories of deadly spirits usually included tales of vast treasure. Evelyn wouldn't mind having vast treasure, and if simple traps were all that could kill her, then the spirit wasn't all that dangerous.
Evelyn started to doubt her thoughts soon enough, as she realized that she couldn't even see her hand infront of her. She needed light to see, so Evelyn backtracked out of the tower to find a candle and lantern.
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"What do you need a lantern for?" Michelle asked Evelyn when she came asking for one.
"I decided to go in the spirit's tower, but it's too dark to see in there." Evelyn answered matter of factly.
"Huh, you sure it's safe?"
"There are a few simple traps, but if I had light to see them with, then they're no problem."
"In that case, do you mind if I come with? I still want a tattoo, even if the goddess abandons me because of one."
"Why?" Evelyn asked, slightly puzzled. She couldn't fathom why someone would want a useless tattoo in turn of never being able to step foot in the city.
"I never used the goddess's boons anyways, and I have a feeling that the tattoos are more amazing than just being able to shoot stuff faster than any mana user ever could."
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Well, if Michelle was sure, Evelyn couldn't think of a reason why Michelle shouldn't come with her. "You want to pack some food, I'm not sure how long we'll be in the tower. And maybe tell Audrey."
Fifteen minutes later, the three of them were standing outside the tower entrance. Audrey had decided to come along with Evelyn and Michelle. After briefly wondering what the writing was about, they stepped inside the tower together.
With the light, it was much easier to traverse the labyrinth safely. Every single trap so far had at least some visible signs, so the small group could easily watch out for any open falls to spikes, or trap doors. But the labyrinth was still a labyrinth. It took the group over an hour to reach something other than more walls.
It was a large semi-circular room, with what looked like a circular table in its center. The walls of the room were full with dozens of carvings of rings within rings, each filled with small intricate shapes. Some had more or less rings than others, along with different shapes in them. On the opposite side of the room, there was a closed door.
Evelyn decided to do the obvious thing first. She walked to the opposite side of the room, and tried to open the door. Only it wouldn't budge.
"I think it's a puzzle." Audrey said from beside the table. "The table is made from four spinning rings with symbols on them, they look similar to the ones carved on the walls. I think we have to match the table with one of the carvings by spinning it to open the door."
Both Michelle and Evelyn agreed that it sounded logical enough, so they went to search the walls for a carving with the same symbols and amount of rings as the table. Fifteen minutes and a few wrong symbols later, Evelyn found what she thought was the right symbol. Together, they spun the table rings to match the symbols to the positions the wall had, and with a loud grind, the door slid open.
After a brief celebration, the group stepped to the next room.
In it, there was a simple pedestal, and an open doorway through which a spiral staircase could be seen.
"This is it," Michelle said, "this is where the children said they got the tattoos. Though I have no idea how they got through the labyrinth in such a short time. Just place your hand on the pedestal, and get a tattoo."
Michelle cautiously reached towards the top of the pedestal, where there was a clear hand shaped indent. As her hand neared the pedestal, it seemed to stretch towards it, though Michelle claimed her hand felt as normal as ever, until the hand touched the cold obsidian.
It was rather anticlimactic. Nothing had seemingly happened, but as Michelle lifted her hand from the pedestal, there was the same inch wide black circle in Michelle's palm. She pointed it upwards, and pushed her mana through the new tattoo, blasting air upwards.
Michelle started to laugh.
"What's the laugh for?" Audrey asked, slightly nervous.
"The mana," Michelle said after she took a few seconds to calm down "I can feel it become the spirit's as it goes in the tattoo. The spirit then uses it to do one specific thing. Do you know what that means?"
Audrey nodded, becoming even more nervous than he was before, but Evelyn shook her head.
"You know how priests and clerics and citizens of Valessa give their mana to the goddess in turn for the goddess's help. Well the tattoos do the same exact thing, but it works anywhere. This spirit isn't just a spirit, it's a god. And we, through the tattoos, can get the gods help literally anywhere, not just in its domain." Audrey explained, before he too placed his palm on the pedestal.
Now Evelyn too started to understand what was so exciting. The tattoos could theoretically enable them to do the same things the clerics of Valessa could do, things like creating food from thin air, constructing buildings in a matter of hours, and even healing the sick and injured. But with the tattoo, they might be able to do it literally anywhere in the world.
"But why would the god make this potentially lethal labyrinth?" Evelyn asked.
"I think it's like a test for those who wish for the god's help." Michelle said.
"What about the staircase leading higher? What is the rest of the tower for?" Evelyn asked, only to immediately realize a potential answer. "Do you think there might be more tests, harder ones, to see who deserves even more power?"
"Maybe, climb higher in the tower, pass through more and more deadly trials, and in turn, the god will give you more and more help and attention. It sort of makes sense." Michelle said, and a brief moment of silence later, "We need to figure out the god's name, or give it one. But for now, you want to climb up the stairs after a brief lunch?"
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I would have been dancing in excitement if I had a body. Three people had just gone through the first floor, and two of them were completely new. They even seemed really happy to get the tattoos. My plan to gain more magic was slowly coming to fruition. But as the small group of three ate their food, I came to a realization.
I wasn't entirely sure that they could read English, which meant that the explanations for my different runes might not be understood. As a solution to the problem, I came up with the idea of using them to make a few traps, and my first magic items. I made a few flamethrowers, by combining the button rune, the force rune and the fire rune, to push fire away from it when magic was pushed through the button rune. As for the magic item, I made a few stone shields, with ice runes. The perfect protection from the flamethrower traps.
With that final preparation done, I felt comfortable in the group figuring out how the runes worked, and was ready for them to enter the second floor. I mentally prepared to control the multiple golems I'd made earlier, as the group finished eating and started walking up the stairs to the second floor.