Opening his eyes, all he saw was nothingness. Drifting and floating through it. The darkness was everything in this lightless space. He couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. He was fighting the grogginess that came after oversleeping.

As his brain began to thaw, he noticed something pulling his body through the emptiness. He couldn’t tell where he was being taken, staring into the void for an answer. Unknown to him, he was traveling towards the smallest pinprick of light in the distance, a barely perceivable dot.

He strained against invisible shackles and found he could still turn his head. As he did, he spotted the now-growing circle of light in the far-off distance, still looking like barely more than a star.

Staring in awe as the light grew progressively larger, it became a blinding beacon in the darkness. What started as a trickle of light was now a flood, overwhelming his vision. Unable to move his hands, the boy twisted his head away from the light and closed his eyes. “Like this’ll do any good…” he thought to himself while trying to hold that position, the fatigue in his neck growing more intense with every second.

Something about this space was wrong. Time didn’t feel like it was passing normally, seeming both slower and faster than he was used to. With that thought, he realized just a moment ago he’d been falling asleep to the gentle sound of rain. How and when did he end up here, in this endless void? And what kind of place would this be anyway?

“This has to be a dream, right? I’ll just will myself awake! Easy enough. Anddd… wake up! Anddd… wake up!!”

Straining against the void, he found his efforts futile as he floated towards the light at breakneck speeds. And worse than that, the light had begun to hurt him. He felt heat emanating off of it, stabbing at his skin like a swarm of wasps.

“A dream shouldn’t hurt like this… what is this? And if I’m this lucid, why can’t I control this dream? What is going on here!?” he screamed out mentally. His mouth might not have worked, but his thoughts flowed like an endless stream.

He thought back to the articles he had read online about lucid dreaming… All he needed to do was look at his hands, pinch himself, realize he was dreaming, and then coax the world to his will… right? Or was this a nightmare that resisted his control?

Realizing it might not be a dream, terror filled his heart as the burning feeling intensified. It felt like his skin wanted to melt off his body, and the light was so blinding he could still feel it even with his head turned away. He knew one look was all it would take and his eyes would be seared from his skull.

He tried to hold himself together and resist turning his head back towards the light, even though his neck begged for release. His vision mattered more than a few sore muscles.

Flying toward the ball of light for what felt like an eternity, he resigned himself to his fate. “My life wasn’t much good anyway… My short, pitiful life is finally coming to an end — from this hell, surprisingly, and not from being drowned in a toilet. What a surprise… [Me: 0, Sun: 1] and I probably won’t get a rematch. Maybe this is for the better…”

Thinking about his life, could he ever really call any part of it “living”? At best, he was flopping around like a beached whale, begging for people to judge him for his uselessness. But… it still was his life, and shouldn’t he make it better with his own two hands? Of course, he still wanted to live. There were still too many shows left to watch!

“Fine. Come for me. I won’t back down just because I’m trapped here, I won’t let you melt me to dust. My pitiful life might mean nothing here, but I won’t toss it away for nothing.“

Suddenly the heat dissipated and before he could think, he glanced toward the light. In front of him rose a massive sphere of light. It was now dimmer than it had been earlier, and his skin no longer felt like he was being torched alive.

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Looking down at his body, he saw his skin and clothes were still intact. Oddly enough, all of the acne on his arms vanished. Is this a dream after all? Wait… oh.

With that thought, he smashed into the sphere. Floating in the blinding whiteness, his body began to dissolve in its fiery embrace. A warm soothing feeling crawled up his arms and legs and into his torso as his skin and bones began to dissolve. It was gruesome, yet it had a calming effect on his mind.

His thoughts of dying were miles away now as he melted into the sun’s embrace. Soon after, he lost consciousness and the world became dark again.

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As the boy came to, he opened his eyes and found himself lying on a dimly lit stone floor. As he scrambled to his feet, an old and deep male voice echoed in his head.

“Welcome to the tower. You must prove your worth, challenger. Choose your weapons from this room and survive the trials I’ve put in front of you. If you do that, you will be granted the blessings of the tower. We look forward to your performance, young Sam.”

As the words left his mind, Sam shivered and tried to shake the uneasy feeling they gave him. “What tower? What trials? And blessings? Why do I need blessings? And how did it know my name?”

A moment later, the room brightened as he looked around and showed off every inch of the walls, covered with weapons of various types. Swords, shields, knives, and other things he didn’t even know the words for. There was even an elaborate-looking scythe of all things! It was an armory from hell, or… from the tower?

Walking closer, he reached out to the handle of one of the short swords and felt the rough leather grip beneath his fingers. Grabbing it, he hefted the sword and found himself strong enough to both hold it up and slash the air with it. Breathing a sigh of relief, he started reaching to put it back when the voice echoed in his head once more.

“You may choose more than one if you so choose but, as a lowly human, you only have two hands. Speak the words ‘Inventory open’ to discover the first of the tower’s blessings.”

“What is this, a video game?” Sam grumbled to himself. Rubbing his temples, he sighed and spoke the words, “Inventory open.” With a flash of light, a menu appeared in front of him on a transparent screen. It showed an inventory with UI like a video game, showing that he has 200 inventory slots.

With a devious look, Sam glanced around the room once more. “The voice did say I could take multiple weapons, right? I wonder if there’s a limit.” With that, Sam waltzed around the room and placed everything in sight in his inventory except a medium-sized one-arm shield and a mace. He had decided on a mace because it seemed like the most beginner-friendly weapon, given he didn’t have experience with most of them. He figured it’d be better to have something he could figure out how to use than prioritize something he thought was better based on a gut feeling.

Equipping them, he looked around the now-empty room and smiled to himself before the voice broke his concentration again. “It seems you’ve made your decision, the tower honors your weapon choice of the shield and mace. The second blessing is now yours, speak the words ‘Inspect item.’ When done, proceed to the next room.”

Deciding at this point the voice must be his tutorial guide, Sam gave in to its wishes and spoke the words. Immediately after, two smaller screens popped up showing the shield and mace.

Medium Shield (Uncommon)

A normal-looking starter shield that was granted to the challenger by the tower. This shield, as a starter weapon, has unlimited durability but no proficiency bonus and a low blocking bonus.

+70% less dmg when: lands on shield

+15% less dmg of type(s): Slashing, Piercing, Arcane

+5% less dmg of type(s): Bludgeoning

+12 constitution while equipped

Balanced Mace (Uncommon)

A normal-looking starter mace that was granted to the challenger by the tower. This mace, as a starter weapon, has unlimited durability but no proficiency bonus and a low attack bonus.

15 dmg of type(s): Bludgeoning

5 dmg of type(s): Piercing

+12% dmg to weak points

Content with his decision, especially given the unlimited durability, Sam waved for the menus to go away and waited to see if the voice would have any more advice. After a moment of silence, Sam headed towards the only doorway out of the room. He didn’t have any other options, so it was time to see what this tower had in store for him.