Chapter 15 – Floor 1: Part 7
A woman appeared in a forest clearing beside a dirt path. She wore a pair of blue jeans, a grey T-shirt and a black windbreaker. Middle-aged, she was thin and looked unhealthy, as if she had been ill for quite a long time and had only recently begun to recover.
Coughing into her hand from the cold air, she looked around at the new place she found herself in.
Amanda had entered the Tower of Avarice as soon as it had opened, like many of the people in the long-term hospice facility she had been staying in. Years of smoking had caught up to her, and the doctors only gave her a few months to live. She had been taking care of things, putting her affairs in order for her inevitable death, when a miracle had occurred.
A man had appeared on television and offered her a chance to live. All she had to do was enter the Tower and obtain the cure.
The entire experience had been strange and terrifying. The test where she interacted with puppets frightened her to the point where she had to quit without even attempting to find the secret.
Amanda had been too tired and ill to cross the bridge, forcing her to give up without trying that one either. The only test she had felt she passed was the last one. She had begged the statue to please let her pass, and it had!
Her reward had been a drink that would soothe her throat and lungs, letting her actually walk without having a coughing fit and a Discipline that let her summon an animal to help her.
The silver bangle on her left wrist began to heat up and vibrate, revealing words for her.
Floor: 1
Summary: The continent of Thassa had once been peaceful. Worshipping the gods of both the domain of Life and Death, the cycle of mortality and rebirth was interrupted. The balance of the world tilted, and the dead began to live while the living died. The Last Temple called to the gods for mercy, and they sent their champions.
Goal: As a summoned champion to this world, it is your responsibility to free the city of August from the undead. Once the city is cleansed, the path to the next floor will be revealed.
“Undead?” Amanda whispered, unsure of what that meant. Was it going to be something like the walking skeletons she had seen the kids wear on Halloween?
Closing the screen, she began to walk down the path. After only a few minutes, she cleared a cluster of trees and could see a town in the distance. There were fewer than a hundred houses, and smoke was coming out of some of their chimneys, making greyish-white puffs in the chilly air.
She could hear people talking and spotted several people on the walls pointing and waving at her. The sun was nearly setting when she reached a tall, wooden gate that blocked the dirt path.
“Hold it, we’ve got to go over the rules with you, Firstie!” A man shouted, and she could hear stomping and the scuffling of feet. A man climbed up from behind the wall, leaning over the top with one foot braced against the side.
He was handsome, and his hair was longer in length and wild-looking. He had a smile on his face that Amanda felt was unnerving for some reason. He didn’t seem entirely trustworthy, and she got the impression that he was dangerous.
Unlike her regular clothes, the man was wearing black pants and an immaculate white shirt with a long, black cloak that made him look like a street magician she had seen perform in Las Vegas once.
“Alright! Rules are simple. There’s no stealing or fighting the other players in town. Once nightfall comes, everyone stays inside the gate. If you cause any trouble for anyone else, we’ll toss you out the gate and let the undead get you. Clear?”
The man asked as if he didn’t care if she agreed. His smile didn’t reach his eyes, and Amanda wondered if the first person she would meet in the Tower was a psychopath.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Mathew, you could try to put a little effort into your speech. The woman is clearly terrified.” Another man interrupted, leaning over the wall. He gave her a much friendlier feeling than the other one. But she was still unsure about him. He looked rough, like he had been having a tough time, and his smile was forced.
Amanda felt a prickling sensation at the back of her neck, and she had trouble catching her breath as the two men stared at her.
“It’s alright. Follow what we do, and you’ll be fine. Come on in. The sun's almost down. I’m Greg, Poacher, and this is Mathew, Charlatan.” Greg explained as the gate opened with a groan.
“Poacher, Charlatan? What strange last names.” Amanda said, walking in through the gate before it closed behind her. The pair of men were waiting. Greg wore a hunter’s camouflage outfit with a plain, wooden bow strapped to his back.
“Not our last names. Those are our Disciplines. It’s a bit of a tradition around here to add it to your name so people know what you can do. What’s yours?” Greg replied, stepping forward and offering her his hand to shake.
“Oh! Amanda. I’m a Caller.” She replied, and Mathew gave her a curious look. She took a step backwards at the stare. The prickling sensation grew worse, and her stomach started to feel queasy as she stepped forward to shake Greg’s hand.
“Caller?”
“I can summon an animal to help me. I’ve never done it, but that’s what the painting said.” Amanda explained, trying to take deep breaths to settle her stomach. Greg looked at her with concern while Mathew smiled like it was funny.
“You alright there?” Greg asked, stepping back as Amanda’s face went white, and she placed a hand over her mouth.
“It’s okay. It’s just ‘the buzz’. It happens when you’re around people who are at a higher level than you. Mathew and I are the two of the highest in the town, so it's no surprise that you’re going to-” Greg was cut off as she leaned over and vomited on the street.
She felt a bit better when the two men stepped back, eyeing her warily for any more sudden vomiting.
“You take this one.” Mathew stated while patting his friend on the back and returning to the wall. Greg watched him depart before turning back to the new arrival.
“You’ll get used to it. Mathew and I are both Level 4, just shy of 5. It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but you'll fit right in once you gain a couple of levels. Let’s go get you settled, and I’ll give you a tour.” Greg offered.
Now that it was just the two of them, the feeling of fear and panic subsided, and her stomach settled. They walked around for nearly an hour, with Greg showing her all the facilities and the house where she could stay. The Temple had been a revelation, with its ‘shop’ and Blessings for purchase.
“Can I ask you a question? What’s the deal with your friend…he seems kind of strange.” Amanda asked, and Greg barked out a laugh at the question.
“You can say that. We all get a little loopy here after a while. It hits people differently.” Greg explained, but it only left her more confused.
“What hits differently?” Amanda replied, but Greg only shook his head.
“You’ll see, the sun is almost set. Just don’t freak out too much. You’re safe inside the walls. Just take your time. No one expects you to fight them all on your first night.”
“Are you talking about the ‘undead?’ What are they like?” She was interrupted by a horrible sound coming from outside the walls. The sun was only a tiny crescent to the west, and someone had started to light torches around the top of the wall, inside the buildings and along some of the roads.
“Come on.” Greg said.
He brought her back to the wall, where it seemed like a hundred people had gathered to look at something near the trees where she had come from. Whatever was making the noise was getting louder, and she could hear it echoing off the buildings behind her.
It sounded like moans mixed with screams. The feeling of danger that came when she met Greg and Mathew grew worse until she was shaking. At least her stomach wasn’t bothering her, but she could barely stand.
At the top of the wall, she leaned on the railing next to Greg as something came out of the trees. Glowing red dots started approaching the town, and when she saw what they were, she screamed.
It was hundreds of dead bodies walking in a group toward them. The horrible sound was coming from them, and she could see that even though they were deceased and rotting, they had expressions and seemed alive.
“Oh my god. Deliver us from evil...” Amanda began to pray, which only elicited a scoff from Mathew who was standing a little way down from them.
“Praying won’t do you any good. Who do you think created them and brought you here? We’re doing all this for the gods, and they’re trying to kill us.” Mathew stated before his face split into a grin.
“Let’s start the show.” He shouted. With a leap, he landed on top of the wall. His black cloak caught in the wind, and it trailed behind him. He reminded her more than ever of that Las Vegas Magician, putting on an act even with those awful things down below.
“Bang!” Mathew shouted, snapping his fingers at the end of his sentence. With a loud ‘Whoosh,’ a massive fire erupted in the distance. She could see nearly twenty of those undead clustered together, and he burned them all.
Again and again, he would shout, snapping his fingers each time to create a fire. Amanda lasted for nearly ten minutes before the sickly smell of burning flesh sent her running toward her house.
She had heard later that Mathew had stayed there all night, lighting fires one after another. She understood now why he was so strange. Doing that night after night, it would drive anyone insane.