Aaron followed the pitch dark tunnel by simply keeping one hand on the wall and walking slowly into the darkness.
He slightly dragged his feet to not stumble over some debris that might lay in this dark hole. But nothing was in his way. The tunnel was empty and the floor smoothly cut stone. He had deactivated Wind Steps, simply because it was still slightly difficult to walk with it active.
But he knew if this dark tunnel went on for much longer he would probably try to speed things along with Wind Steps. Although on second thought, not being able to see or control well where he went with his new movement technique might be more trouble than it was worth. So Aaron continued through the darkness for what seemed to be an eternity.
The first sign that he was close to the end of the tunnel were voices echoing indistinctly in the distance.
Aaron breathed out a sigh of relief and his steps sped up until he could see light and the tunnel more and more came into focus. Bright daylight flooded through the end of the tunnel. It looked like an intersection and the light came from his right. He turned into that direction and the voices grew louder.
Blinking he stepped out into the light and the cold. He shivered slightly, while his eyes adapted to the bright light.
"Greetings, fellow Aspirant." a man said from the entrance of the tunnel and Aaron froze. He blinked and then blinked again as he stared at the man that looked like he came straight from a medieval fair.
He was a head taller than Aaron, wore a quilted Gambeson and Chainmail that covered him halfway to his knees. He was armed with a sword, sheathed at his side and a shield, carried on his back. The man smiled and held up a bundle of clothing towards Aaron.
"Thank you." Aaron said and took the rough woolen pants and shirt.
He saw now that he stood in a big entrance and beyond was the open sky and in the distance he could see a forest. The trees swaying in the wind. Next to the man stood a woman, similarly armed.
She looked pointedly past Aaron into the darkness, her gleaming breastplate made out of what looked like silvered steel and she was armed with a Rapier instead of a conventional longsword. She would have fit quite well into a medieval festival as well, although as the main attraction instead of just one of the soldiers.
Aaron quickly got into the pants and pulled the shirt over his head for everyone’s comfort really, not just his own.
"I assume I am not the only new arrival?" he asked while he buttoned up his shirt properly and slipped into the offered leather shoes.
The armed man smiled and pointed over his shoulder.
"Nope, you are one of the last. We have been camping out here for three days waiting for you guys. Just head on over towards the tents and the fire. There will be food there and we will answer all question you might have later or in the Town of Beginnings."
Aaron had listened intently until the word food washed away his focus and replaced it with ravenous hunger.
"Thanks, I am starving." Aaron said and quickly walked past the two into the open.
The air was crisp and cool, like a late winter day. It reminded him uncomfortably of the day his mother had died, but not even that thought could replace the overwhelming need for sustenance.
With large steps he walked over open snowy ground towards a group of tents and an open fire a few hundred meters away. His feet wading through mud and snow.
Aaron took one quick look around and froze.
Behind him was the tunnel he had exited, but it was only one of many. The third from the left actually and one of 12.
The tunnel itself emerged from a wall of smooth stone that reached to the heavens. Literally.
Aaron felt like he stood at the bottom of a dam made to keep an Ocean at bay not a river as he stared in awe upwards into infinity where the gray rock seemed to melt into a gray sky, that seemed to mimic a dull winter day.
There was no sun, the light seemed to come equally from above. But there was soil underneath his feet and Aaron could hear the rustling of the wind through evergreen pines in the distance.
He looked to the side and his eyes followed the gigantic wall stretching beyond the horizon. It was surreal, alien and beyond anything Aaron had ever seen in his life.
The rock wall was smooth and unadorned besides a giant slightly glowing symbol above the 12 openings.
The Symbol was high up the wall, hundreds of meters upwards and consisted of three rings, a slim outer ring, a slightly thicker inner ring and a dot in the middle. The outer rings looked like dull steel, while the dot in the middle was softly glowing with white light.
It was so high up it looked like it would be able to be seen for miles.
All of this made it crystal clear, that this was not earth, or even a planet at all, but an artificially created environment. The lack of a sun, or a true sky and a giant heaven encompassing wall was proof enough.
Finally after gawking at it for a full minute, Aaron’s stomach protested again and he continued on to the camp.
There he found himself in what looked like a mix of a medieval army camp and a refugee camp.
Young men and women, who all looked to be around their late teens sat around in small groups or alone around fires or in front of tents, their beige uncolored woolen clothing clearly marking them as his fellow new arrivals.
Aaron could hear them talk excitedly about classes and skills and magic. They were surrounded by armed men and women who seemed to be guarding them? Or maybe that was just Aaron’s cynical mind speaking.
The armed men and women seemed to be more concerned about the forest than the Aspirants.
And they also gave them food and water and he could see something like latrines in the distance as well.
Aaron ignored all of the curious gazes he got and walked through the camp towards a big kitchen with multiple open fires, pots and heavenly smells. He could smell roasting meat, the aroma of spices and freshly baked bread.
It smelled like heaven to Aaron.
Half a dozen cooks were working on different stations, filling an open table that vaguely looked like a buffet continuously with food.
Aaron swallowed his saliva and asked one of the cooks:
"Is this food free?"
The cook laughed and nodded.
"Of course, you are new Aspirants, treat this as our welcome party for you in your new lives. Existential dread and death can be stomached much better, if said stomach is full." The cook said with an affable grin.
But Aaron barely listened to the man, he grabbed what looked like a drumstick and tore into the juicy meat.
It tasted like bliss.
A few bites into the drumstick he recognized that this was not chicken, but tasted more like duck. The skin was crispy and the meat juicy and it was everything Aaron had ever wanted in his life.
With both hands he tore through four drumsticks as quick as his jaw could chew and then grabbed one of the golden loafs of bread nearby. It was still warm and it tasted so good it made him tear up. It was hands down the best bread he had ever tasted.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The cook laughed at his ravenous carnage of this section of the Buffet and brought him a big helping of Soup.
Aaron thanked the man in between bites and dunked the bread into the soup.
The flavor was not from this world. It tasted like Indian curry, it was as spicy and fragrant as curry, but it had also a deeply beefy flavor like beef stew. It was hands down the best thing he had ever eaten in his life.
But it did not stop there. The buffet was small, but every single item tasted simply divine to him.
He tried a dish that vaguely reminded him of rice and beans in a spicy sauce, a noodle dish that reminded him of Ramen and last but not least a big chunk of a roast that he identified as deer or Moose.
The cook, who had brought him the soup laughed and shook his head as he handed him a spoon.
"Slow down man, nobody is going to steal your food. Enjoy it and eat slowly. Your body is new, don't overtax it.
Here drink some water."
He handed him a waterskin and Aaron gratefully drank almost half of it before he burped and apologized.
"Sorry, its just so damn tasty and I haven't eaten anything since I fought in the Hall of Illusions and I think that was all not real either."
"Its not, just slow down, your body is not used to so much calorie intake. Usually we start you guys off with a mild broth."
"Don't worry about me, I have a quick metabolism, I can take it." Aaron said, but he did slow down nonetheless.
His unusual appetite had garnered him a small crowd of onlookers and Aaron very much did not want to stand out.
He did not stop eating though, but he took more time and as such drew much less attention to him.
Aaron ate his third bowl of the curry, much to the surprise of the cook, when he spotted a whole deer roasting over a nearby fire. He really wanted to try that. But for now he continued to assault the other meaty parts of the Buffet.
"How do you make it taste this good?" Aaron said in disbelief and the cook grinned.
"We have the cook class, its more or less a sub class of the alchemist. Largely useless for climbers, but once you reach level 30, you get a free journey to Ambition or Climbers Rest."
"Ambition, Climbers Rest? Are those the cities on higher floors?"
"Yes, Ambition is the on the 10th floor and Climbers Rest is on the twentieth."
"Huh" Aaron grunted between bites, but the cook continued, more than happy that someone enjoyed his food that much.
"Yeah, crafting classes go a bit of a different route in the tower. Those who reach real high levels and achievements are set for life and as such get options to climb the tower through their craft and not fighting.
But few actually are talented enough to manage that. Most just get sent a high level party down to escort them. Dangerous, but worth it. I hear the prices in Ambition are insane compared to down here on the first floor."
"Hmm, so you are all Vessels too?"
The cook nodded and scoffed slightly.
"No Mage would ever lower themselves to become a cook. They are like Nobility man."
"I don't know, I have seen a fire mage roast fish to absolute perfection before. But that was on an expedition." Another cook interrupted, this one with a prodigious mustache he twirled thoughtfully.
"You and your tales Brian, that is still not a cook. Although I would like to learn fire control at some point. Its super useful. Senior Mu has it and its the reason he was able to level up that fast."
"Michael you adore Senior Mu way too much, he isn't even that great of a cook."
"Hey guys, any idea how long that deer is going to take? I'd like a chunk?" Aaron interrupted the brewing discussion and the cooks looked back to him. Aaron was making a literal pile of empty plates next to him on the Buffet table and both cooks blinked in surprise.
"Sure, no problem, we'll get you some ribs. You sure can pack it away."
For the next hour or so, Aaron and the cooks were in a constant contest who could empty or fill the buffet table quicker than the other. Aaron’s stomach felt bottomless and he devoured almost half of the roasted deer over the fire.
Only after eating more than a dozen hungry men, he slowed down and felt the hunger pangs recede. He still continued to eat, since he was not sure when he would have the opportunity again to eat this much good food.
The cooks told him a bit about how the Town of Beginnings worked. There was a common currency, Shards.
They were splinters of Mana stones and could be absorbed by Vessels to gain XP and level them, but were also useful for mages as they could use the mana contained in them to cast spells or replenish their mana.
He also learned that most of the cooks were running street stalls, restaurants and the one who was cranking out bread from an oven nearby was running a Bakery. It seemed that the Town of Beginnings was actually a real town.
"Yeah, we have a pretty decent population. Around 50.000 to maybe 100.000?" Micheal said and another cook nodded.
"Nothing compared to Ambition of course. That is a true Metropolis. A million people at least."
"Climbers Rest is actually smaller, although its on level 20. Never been there though." Brian said wistfully, while putting another roast on a tray and carving it up for the Aspirants, who were soon lining up to take plates with steaming meat with them.
Aaron sat at the end of the Buffet table, so he did not have to walk every minute or so after demolishing his plate.
"I have never seen anyone eat this much. How does this even physically work?" Michael wondered.
"It just does." Aaron answered, without answering.
"And besides, I don't know if I will be able to afford such good meals in the future.
Where do you get Shards from anyways?"
"Well, if you are a climber, you usually get shards for guild missions, that double as actual Quests to give you XP. But actually gathering is the most profitable. Meat, vegetables, herbs for Alchemists. But don't worry you will learn about all that stuff when you get to the Town."
"Interesting, but what I meant was, where do Mana Stones come from?"
"Ah, that’s what you mean. Well there is usually a mana mine once every 10 levels. But don't get your hopes up. The one for the first levels is in Ambition, so yeah. But I heard there is a mine on the 17th floor that anyone can harvest at. Said to be hella dangerous though."
"Huh, interesting, how much is a monster core in Mana stones or Shards?"
"Depends on type, grade and about a million other Factors I do not know about. We barely deal with any of those down here. Usually people sell them in Ambition I hear, better prices compared to selling them to the guild and since you basically have be to strong enough to go beyond the 5th floor to find beasts with cores, most people go up."
Brian shrugged.
"What do those Shards look like? They are used to pay for stuff right?" A woman asked from Aaron’s left and he studied her for a moment. She was a new Arrival as well, as she was clad in the colorless gray garments they gave out. She had pale skin and curly brown locks falling around her face. The woman looked a bit fragile with her long spindly arms and fingers. She blushed when the two cooks and Aaron regarded her.
"I...am sorry if that’s a rude question."
"Not at all Miss, here they look like that." Michael fished a Shard out of his pocket. It looked vaguely like a miniature pyramid with equal sides and had a soft blue glow to it.
"If you combine two Shards they fuse together, usually 10 Shards make a stone. We use a cutter like this to cut the stones apart." The contraption he meant looked vaguely like a wire cutter for eggs just that it was pyramid shaped like the Mana stones themselves.
The woman marveled at the glowing shard and just asked Micheal to show them how two fused together when one of the guards shouted excitedly.
"Last Light!"
Everyone in the camp looked up, first the guards and cooks, then the Aspirants.
Above them all towered the massive wall of the Tower, its smooth unblemished walls as even as ever. At first Aaron did not see what they meant, but then he saw the Symbol flicker and slowly the light in the central part of the emblem dimmed until it vanished.
"What does that mean?" Aaron asked curiously.
"The Symbol is a timer more or less, each Ring represents a day. They only light up when new Aspirants are summoned to the Tower."
"Huh, so everyone finished their tests and stuff?" Aaron asked and Micheal nodded.
"Yeah, now we just gonna wait for the Mayor and then we are gonna go back to the Town of Beginnings."
Micheal turned to the other cooks and shouted.
"Lets pack it up guys."
Aaron sighed in disappointment and snatched a few more meaty treats from the Buffet while the entire camp broke out into frantic activity. Tents were broken down, wagons loaded and beasts of burden strapped in front of them.
To Aaron’s surprise instead of Horses or oxen, they strapped giant beetles in front of the Wagons. It was so far one of the weirdest things Aaron had seen in this world and he and the other new Arrivals gaped at the differently colored beetles, while they were spanned in front of the wagons.
"So cool. Do you think we can pet them?" The same woman who had asked about the shards asked Aaron, who just shrugged and pointed to one of the wagon drivers who fed the Beetle a piece of...wood?
"No idea, but you can just ask one of the drivers you know."
"Ah, yeah, good idea!" the woman strode off, radiating happiness.
Aaron finished his meal, while the camp vanished and most of the other new Aspirants were standing around quite listlessly. It did not take long, barely 20 minutes and they could hear shouts and Aaron spotted another group of armed men and women approach them.
One of those men was a bald, fat, massive man with piercing eyes and a sneer on his face.
He stood out because he was carried by 8 men on some sort of Pedestal? It looked super weird to Aaron, but then again, maybe this was custom in this world and not really unusual.
"Hey look, its Vitalstatistix." The fragile looking woman had returned from her short petting session with the giant beetles and snickered to herself now.
She gave Aaron a questioning gaze and he just looked back uncomprehending.