Adventurers left the Tower in a flood. They wore their gear and had their weapons at their sides. Alex was further back so he didn’t hear the start of the conversations until some raised their voices. Once the outpour of Tower climbers left the portal they spread out and he was able to get a better understanding of who they were.
According to their stories, they were adventurers who had been in the Tower at the time that the second floor was challenged. They received the same notification that Alex and the others had received except they could not leave. Only travel within the Tower was permitted until the monsters released from the Tower were cleared.
This left their only option at waiting for the Tower to open up from the Earth side or return to regular Tower activities.
“We haven’t heard from those that attempted to enter the second floor. I’m not even sure who they are. But if they succeed I suspect that they will announce their accomplishments to the world. I doubt it would stay a secret forever anyway,” said one of the returning climbers.
“While we were stuck and waiting we were able to speak to the natives about the announcement and they gave us some information that they could not up until this point give us,” said another. At those words, some of the other conversations quieted down and the focus turned to him. “This will recur for each subsequent floor. Once someone from Earth enters the next floor after completing the necessary challenges, the exits will be blocked, and those remaining will face new challenges. The difficulty will only grow, and we will need to be better prepared for the next time so that it isn’t a surprise. We will have to announce our attempt at the next floor if you are in the first group to clear the floor. If it isn’t done then our climbing of the Tower will endanger more lives than necessary.”
He paused at that statement and let his audience soak it in and consider it. Alex found the statements made sense and fit into everything he knew so far about the Tower. The first message the tower gave said ‘If humanity does not successfully grow and progress, then it will be consumed for resources to feed other species’ growth.’ This was clearly part of that plan. If they could not fight against the Tower’s monsters on Earth and protect it, then the Tower would consume the world they lived in.
The speaker unequipped his gear and returned to an exercise clothing set meant for jogging. “You can of course return to the Tower or return home. I don’t care about your decision, but I would hope that you consider this third option. I can already tell that you all have grown in power and maybe some levels too. I sadly missed out on that opportunity but there are other Tower beacons a drive away. So, if you want to join me I will be driving around hunting for those high-level monsters. And don’t forget to update and keep watch on the Tower forums.”
“Are we re-entering the Tower or something else?” asked Kai.
“I’m gonna head back home,” said Rich. “Getting the chance to fight the high-level enemies would be nice for the XP but will we even get to it? The nearest beacon is 2 hours away and will probably be cleared soon if it isn’t already. We don’t live close enough to them to make it worth it. Even if there were more enemies nearby I’m done for the day. Today is supposed to be our rest day and that fight was dangerous. We were lucky not to lose any teammates personally but not every group and soloist was so fortunate. It has shown us the danger of the next floor for better or worse and we better be ready to make it there.”
“Should we reenter the Tower today if we aren’t chasing escaped monsters?” asked Alex.
“I want to take a shower and then take my nap,” said Rich. “If you want to go text me in three hours and I’ll probably join you all if we can all go. Besides night hunting might be a nice change of pace.”
“I can go at night if everyone else is down,” said Taylor.
“I’ll go,” said Eric and Kai.
With the fighting over and people dispersing into the Tower or elsewhere they also decided to split up. Alex took his familiar path down the streets to his apartment leaving everything else behind.
Alex found himself surfing the web and doing some relaxed researching while he counted down until his return to the Tower. He first checked the Tower forum. The forum website popped up in the week after the Tower had appeared and quickly became a vital source of information for all things related to the Tower.
It initially became a place to consolidate news stories and updates about the Tower before expanding into individual theories and discussions. The discussions covered everything from basic survival tips to combat techniques that had been learned. The forums started to serve as a vital resource for climbers, allowing them to stay up-to-date on the latest discoveries and dangers within the tower. Though the collection of the most important knowledge had not leaked into the public forums yet and was more often held by individuals or by guilds.
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Members of powerful guilds would also use the forums to recruit new members and promote accomplishments and goals. Aspiring climbers could find opportunities to join a guild or team up with other adventurers for better chances of success.
The Tower forums would also be a platform for climbers to share their experiences and stories. Whether the stories were real or not had become regular topics for debate. But by far the most important subsection on the Tower forums was the trading section. Much like online selling platforms of the rest of the internet, the site would take a small fee in the transaction of goods to upkeep the website. Any item from the Tower could be listed including armor, weapons, and consumables. The store page even included information packets covering a variety of things.
The site itself was managed by the now infamous guild the Seekers. Their growth had skyrocketed due to the forum though not much was publicly available about its members. Currently, among the active discussions, speculations abound about which group could have entered the second floor first. Many were suggesting the Seekers due to their ability to collect and then sell information that was well verified.
Alex himself had considered buying an information packet on mages and lighting mages specifically but he hadn’t been able to get much money from the Tower yet. Over the past month after quitting his job, he had been running off his savings and a few sales of items he had collected but the margins so far were razor thin. He had many things to consider while climbing such as food, repairs, and item purchases to consider. All of which was split between his teammates as well.
He switched to the store section and filtered by daggers. Alex’s dagger was still the same one he always had. The blade of the starter knife had been repaired and sharpened several times by the village’s blacksmiths. So far it had always held up to Alex’s lack of abilities and against the various monsters they had fought so far. But he knew he needed to get something else soon. He had seen as they attempted to tackle the level ten enemies that his stabs and cuts weren’t doing the same amount of damage and weren’t going in as deep as he needed them to be.
Alex scrolled through the list of daggers, looking for one that would be more suitable for his current level and the tougher enemies he was now facing. The crafter’s guilds and independent types started growing with their levels tied to the number, type, and level of gear they produced. He had some Tower Points marked as his own for a decent upgrade, but he wanted to make sure he was making the right choice. Buying the dagger meant delaying other purchases including training with his magic.
As he looked at the various options, Alex couldn't help but feel a sense of anxiety. What if he picked the wrong dagger? What if it didn't live up to his expectations? Having invested so much time and effort into leveling up in the Tower and acquiring essentials like his current armor set, he didn't want to make a mistake now. He didn’t want to mess up for the sake of his teammates. But at the same time, he knew he couldn't keep relying on his old, worn-out dagger. He needed to take the risk and invest in a better weapon if he wanted to continue progressing through the Tower.
He sorted the store options but still felt a sense of dread at picking a choice. Alex checked the time and put a pause on his shopping doom scroll. He had other things to look at. Things that would hopefully be happier and more positive and would not make him choose between anything life-altering.
Alex swiped to the news section and at the top a discussion of the second-floor climb was pinned to the top. He clicked on it and scanned through. Written near the top was the announcement from the tower before statements by various climbers.
Anonymous_213: I fought against the undead and we cleared the Northern New York Tower Beacon.
Anonymous_533: My group helped clear the Istanbul Tower Beacon.
User_766: I can confirm that the Vancouver Tower Beacon has been cleared.
User745: The beacon in Okinawa has been cleared.
The messages continued in a similar fashion with some people giving status updates on various cities. As he scrolled he saw one mentioning his own city and it’s cleared status. The number of cleared beacons made Alex smile. Their efforts allowed for cities to be cleared and people to return to their daily lives. It seems as though there were a few locations that were struggling with the undead and the number of adventurers to fight them.
Alex stopped scrolling and automatically searched for the neighboring city. He jumped to their messages and smiled when he read the good news. The city had been cleared of the undead and was open once again. He switched to text messages from his mom and read more about the actions of the adventurers in the city.
For better or worse the Tower Beacon two hours away from himself was directly connected to a large office building. It had seemingly warped reality as it was placed right in the way of the building but did not topple it. Due to people being in the building at the time of the announcement adventurers were called to the scene very quickly. The ensuing battle had damaged the building and caused some sections to become unstable. Currently, it was being considered whether or not the building should be demolished or if it could fill another purpose. With the possibility of more monsters and the high-traffic of adventurers, there were also considerations for selling it to one of the guilds.
Alex set his phone down and set an alarm for thirty minutes before his planned Tower entry. He knew they were probably going to stay up all night hunting for monsters. Luckily for them, the Tower ran on an almost 24-hour cycle and had connected them with a location that matched a time zone similar to their own. By the time they entered the Tower at sundown, the wilderness would be covered in darkness.