(Strive 1:3)
"Oh dear," Hilbert said. "Oh dear, oh dear. This isn't supposed to happen at all." He was looking down at the slime residue coating the inside of the men's room toilet. It had started to eat away at the formerly pristine porcelain, dotting it with ugly pockmarks.
"Those blasted slimes." Hilbert shook his head. "Stay on the second floor, I told them. Keep away from the sewers, I said. I should've known, they've always been terrible at taking instructions. Cute as a button though."
"Um," I said, wondering if we were thinking of the same snot-colored acid blob.
"I really do apologize," said Hilbert. He adjusted his bowtie nervously, his face red. "Monsters aren't supposed to be encountered until the second floor. Our friend here got a little overexcited and decided to do some exploring. He didn't get you anywhere, did he?"
"Not at all," I lied, acutely aware of the skin missing from my right butt cheek.
"Splendid, splendid." He clapped me on the shoulder. "Wait for me a minute where we were before, and then we’ll continue."
I returned to the Room of First Principles, where El was still perusing the magic slots.
"So," she said. "Heard you ran into some issues dropping the kids off at the pool."
"Don't be gross. I was fighting for my life in there."
"I’ve got a gastroenterologist I can refer you to." The raccoon made a chittering sound, which I took to be laughter. “Oh, check this one out. It lets you smell really well. Probably the opposite of what you want after what just happened, though.”
Aspect of Nostrum
This aspect is the basis of potion-crafting and alchemy. This aspect grants passive poison resistance.
You currently have 0/2—
“Nostrum,” I said, retrieving my hand. “Not nostril. It’s two different things entirely.”
“Is that right?” said El, already moving on to the next slot.
There were so many that it was impossible to pick, especially when I didn’t know how we’d be tested. The Aspect of Tempest allowed the user to create raging storms. That sounded badass, but was it better than the more practical Aspect of Gastronomy? For all I knew, this tower could be a fantasy version of Iron Chef.
Before long, Hilbert returned, smelling slightly of toilet bowl cleaner.
“Right,” he said, gesturing to a group of plush chairs. “Thank you for your patience. Let me attempt to explain.” He waited till we all took our seats, cleared his throat, and began to speak.
“On your journey here, you may have noticed a whole plethora of towers out there in the world. A tower is a bastion of order within chaos, of reality within non-reality, held together by sheer strength of conviction. Without the towers, all would be shadows and anarchy. You are currently in the first floor of the tower named Strive, and the figure at its helm is known as the First Sender.
“As the name suggests, the conviction that holds this tower together is the principle of Progress; that is to say, the climb to the next floor. Because of this, our time together is regrettably limited. Shortly after you select your first spell, we will say our adieus, and you will be sent up to begin your trial.
“The first nine floors, including this one, are instanced— it will be you two and nobody else. In addition, there will be no way to return to a previous floor. You may think of these as the tutorial levels, and myself as your friendly guide. There’s also a rest area midway through.
“At floor ten, everything changes. Return to previous floors becomes possible, although you will never be able to return to floors nine and below. It’s also at this point you will meet your fellow climbers for the first time—”
I couldn't hold myself back anymore. “What kind of trials are they?”
Something odd came over Hilbert. He opened his mouth as if to respond, then it snapped shut like a technical glitch. “I’m sorry, as the doorman of the Tower Strive, I’m unable to answer that question,” he said simply.
“Who’s the First Sender?”
In the same flat tone, he replied, “I don’t have access to secret or confidential information. My purpose is to be helpful and informative based on the knowledge I’ve been trained with.”
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El twitched her whiskers. “This man’s not human. I could bite him as hard as I could, and I bet he wouldn’t bleed a drop.”
“Don’t be rude, El.”
Hilbert shook his head. “El’s correct in her suspicions. I’m more like what you would call an advanced, adaptive NPC, although this is not a game world. In the interest of fairness, there are limits to what I’m allowed to share.”
If he was an NPC, it was a more realistic one than I'd ever seen. He looked fully human and seemed more intelligent than half the people I'd ever met.
“Okay…” I said. “So what can you tell us about the trials?”
“Essentially nothing more than what I’ve said. I’m sorry.”
“Fuck me.” I scratched my head. “What if I refuse to leave the first floor?”
“Look at the corner of your display,” said Hilbert.
Oh, shit. A timer rolled down in transparent numerals. There was just under an hour remaining on it.
“If that hits zero, you’ll be booted out. You know what that means.” Hilbert gestured at a window to the orange-sky outside where hungry black waves roiled in the air.
I did. It meant certain doom at the hands of some nightmare creature.
“Best get to picking a spell then,” I muttered, casting an eye around the room. Another thought crossed my mind. “The slime came from the second floor, you said. So there are creatures like that in the tower that we’d need to fight. Combat encounters.”
Hilbert’s face froze. “I’m unable to confirm or deny that information.”
“Got ‘em,” said El.
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Thirty minutes remained on the timer as I stared at the hand-sized slot in front of me.
Aspect of Corpus
This aspect is the basis of spells that empower the body beyond its natural limits. This aspect grants a small passive bonus to physicality and athleticism.
You currently have 0/2 basic slots filled.
Accept this aspect (Y/N)?
“Flexible,” Hilbert said from next to me. He’d been a bit distant since I called him out about the slime. “If rather basic.”
“This is the one,” I said firmly, and extended my thumb and pinky into a letter Y.
“I should warn you—” Hilbert started.
My kada bracelet burned fiery red on my wrist, and half my field of view reddened as well. I gasped and tried to jerk my hand out of the slot, but it was fixed there by an invisible force.
Downloading…
Do not remove the bracelet from the slot…
Downloading…
I swore and levered myself against the wall, but my wrist stuck fast. I put both feet up against the wall and pushed, as hard as I could.
Download complete.
The suction disappeared, and my whole body launched back from the slot, slamming into the opposing wall and rebounding onto the floor in a crumpled heap. “Ergh,” I said, rubbing my head.
My wrist still burned, but when I looked, there was no sign of damage, only the gray stone bracelet with a slight residual heat remaining. “I don’t feel any different.”
“It might be some time before it takes,” Hilbert said. “And my apologies; it’s not the most comfortable experience. I meant to warn you.”
“Don’t be sorry,” El replied. “That was great.”
I gave the raccoon a sidelong glance. “I’ll be sure to enjoy your turn too. Have you even picked one yet? Time’s wasting.”
“This one.” El pointed at a slot, and I stuck my ringed hand in to read the description.
Aspect of Prestidigitation
This aspect is the basis of spells of trickery and sleight of hand (or paw.) It provides a boost to manual dexterity.
You currently have 1/2 basic slots filled.
You may not accept another aspect currently.
“Hmm,” I said. “Doesn’t it feel a bit underwhelming?”
“Are you kidding?” The raccoon’s eyes practically shone. “It’s perfect for me. Even if I can’t pronounce ‘press-titty-fication.’”
“Prestidigitation.”
“Whatever.”
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Ten minutes remained on our timers as we stood by the elevator in the hotel lobby.
“I’m giving you both these sign language cheat sheets, in case you forget.” Hilbert handed each of us a scroll of paper. “There are more sequences listed there that you may find useful. Remember, the kada reads all your hand movements as potential inputs. So use your other hand if you’re planning to play rock paper scissors or something.” He mimed finger guns. “Accidents happen.”
I glanced over the page, which had a short list of commands as well as hand positions for each letter of ASL. There was way too much to learn at a glance, so I put it away for later with the Stow Item command. El did the same, using her mouth to hold the scroll of paper while she signed with both hands. I had to hold back a laugh. She looked like a ninja from Naruto.
“One more thing,” Hilbert said, turning to me. “I owe you for that bathroom snafu. Trespass by a monster into this safe zone is highly inappropriate. So I'd like to bestow upon you a small gift, which I believe you've very much earned the right to.”
His fingers danced, and suddenly he was holding the plunger I’d used against the slime. It was encrusted with gems, sparkling and reflective and utterly ridiculous. But it was a gift, so I received it with both hands.
“Thanks, Hilbert,” I said. “See you when I see you.”
“Don’t mention it.” Hilbert smiled. He poured three shots of Fernet, paused for a second, and then poured one mostly back into the bottle. "Here’s to you, El Bandito. And to you, Xavier Shaw, slayer of slimes." He raised a glass to each of us.
"Unclogger of drains," El said, snickering, and lapped up her half shot of herbal liqueur.
I clinked my glass with Hilbert, and at that moment, there was a matching ding! as the elevator arrived.