Chapter 119 - Pangea
[One Month Later]
[Hannah]
[The Tower, First Floor.]
“Are there any more questions?” The old, wizened wizard stood on the stage of the room’s amphitheater, his gaze taking in the entire room of students. Hannah studied the man, curious what part of reality the Tower had dug him up from. He wore puffy blue robes and had a wizard's stereotypical long white beard. His dated glasses were too big and too round for his piquant face. A look made even more comical with his pointy hat and a wand that he flailed around wildly when he got too excited about a topic. He was so much the stereotype that you read about in fairytales, Hannah couldn’t be sure the Tower didn’t pull him straight out of a fantasy book from Earth.
Hannah let out a yawn and sent her hand up into the air, letting slip a small amount of mana so that her raised hand was more of a bright orange signal flare alerting everyone in the class. Several hands fell down as soon as she raised hers. She had earned herself a bit of a reputation in this particular class.
“Ms. Lawrence, I must thank you for showing restraint and not setting the class on fire this time.” The wizard—Cornelius—let out a long sigh and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “Does your question at least pertain to the lesson at hand today?”
“Yes, actually.” Hannah fixed the man with a sharp glare.
“Oh, this should be interesting,” he said, perking up. “Please, continue. What about mana cores would you like to know?”
“How do you fix a broken mana core?”
“What is the state of your core exactly? I just saw your little display so I know yours isn’t broken. Is it cracked maybe? Then my answer would be time. Mana cores are resilient and will pull from the mana you feed into them to heal any damage done.”
“My core is fine. And I’m not talking about some little crack. I’m talking about a completely shattered, destroyed, blown up core. How long does that take to heal?”
Cornelius stared back at her with a hard look of consideration.
“You don’t,” was all he offered after a long moment of silence.
Hannah tapped her finger impatiently on the desk, waiting for the wizard to expand.
“Are there any other questions-“
“What do you mean, you don’t? You can’t tell me this hasn’t been looked into. Hasn’t been researched. We’re at the wizarding college for fuck’s sake. You professors don’t shut up about the new cutting edge magics that you're developing. You mean to tell me no one is studying how to fix-“
“ENOUGH!” Cornelious shouted, slamming his fists into the podium. Hannah raised a reevaluating eyebrow. She didn’t think the wizard was capable of such an outburst.
“The mana core is the domain of the gods. A gift from them. We may question it, study it, improve upon it even. But to try and make one is to announce to the heavens that we see ourselves as gods. As equals.” Cornelius was speaking in a strained whisper and throwing several nervous glances upwards.
“Not sense Andur-” The Wizard stopped himself, his eyes shifting around the room in suspicion.. “I will not speak further on this subject of how to make a new core. Do not ask me again. Class dismissed.”
With that, he stormed off the stage. The room sat in silent shock from the sudden outburst, and then, as if nothing happened, everyone got up and began to shuffle out of the room.
Hannah’s eyes lingered on the crowd of would-be Tower climbers slinking from the classroom. Most were wearing full sets of armor, either leather or plate, with weapons sheathed at the side or strapped on their back. Hannah stood up from her seat and let out a stretch. She was wearing an oversized red hoodie and yoga pants. The Tower store selection had pleasantly expanded with even more creature comforts from Earth after the first floor received its upgrade. Hannah now opted for comfort over utility. Plus, her clothing was sort of a warning sign to others.
People still hadn’t quite gotten over the trauma of being integrated into the Tower. Everyone was scared to take off their armor and relax. Wearing plain clothes more often than not meant you had long since grown comfortable with the dangers the Tower had to offer. It meant you were so confident in your abilities that you didn’t feel the need to always wear armor and sport weapons to be considered dangerous. Hannah was sure to pay extra close attention to the others in the class wearing casual clothes. A pair of jeans here, or someone sporting a tank top. There was even one psychopath in a sweater vest. He seemed the most dangerous.
The crowd quickly parted to make way for Hannah as she left the class. She rolled her eyes at the hushed whispers and fanfare she had been getting. It wasn’t just the fact that she was… assertive, when it came to asking questions in class. She had attained a certain degree of fame, or notoriety depending on who you asked, largely in part to the Tower’s machinations.
Immediately after killing Xinnolath, or Rodeo, or Bart, or whoever the fuck that demon actually was, life began to move fast. Everyone on Earth's first floor got a notification that the floor would be upgraded in twenty-four hours. No one had any idea what to expect. That asshole Gideon had been insistent that life would get better, but given his perfidy, Hannah no longer trusted anything he had said. Devin tried to gather as many people as he could to take refuge in the capital city in preparation for whatever the Tower had prepared for them.
Jack, that incredible fucking cockroach from the pits of hell, refused to die. The level up helped restore him a bit, but ripping out your own core was apparently something you weren’t supposed to live through. Leave it to Jack to give the finger to the odds. It took an entire cabal of healers casting spells on him in rotation, shoving health potions down his throat every thirty minutes for around twenty hours to stabilize him. Hannah had to hand it to Devin. The man was at least capable of recognizing his fuck ups and spared nothing when it came to saving Jack.
Just as Jack started to stabilize, the floor upgrade launched.
Hannah found herself transported, from a homely healer's quarters to standing in a large room of marbled columns and ornate gold trim. Devin appeared next to her side. In front of them were twenty or so unwelcoming faces with their weapons leveled at the pair.
“I knew this was a fucking trap,” Hannah snarled as she started weaving her [Rain of Destruction] to form a fiery orb above. Devin’s sword began to glow white hot as he fell into a stance of his own.
“I’ll have none of that in my halls,” boomed a voice that echoed throughout the room.
Atop a throne sat a large man, nearly eight feet tall. His arms and legs were thick, and his gut was barely contained by the large leather belt bound tightly around his waist. His clothing was a deep velvet purple with a gold trim to match the room around him. Curly hair, wild and untamed framed his face and his beard was pulled into a loose braid adorned with several golden bands. A simple golden crown encircled his forehead and blue eyes pierced through the room from beneath his coppery brow. The man stood up from his throne, towering over the room like giant, his lumbering steps shaking the room slightly.
“This is a place of peace. You’ve all done enough fighting. Now is time for celebration.” In his hand he held a scepter adorned with an enormous emerald jewel. He waved it casually in the air, and Hannah’s growing ball of fire dispersed. Next, he clapped his hand, sending a small shockwave through the room.
Several servants dressed in black and white uniforms filed into the room, each with platters of food filled to the brim. Chicken, pig, and a third animal Hannah couldn’t identify were set on the table, each dripping in herbs and spices, and roasted to perfection. Exotic fruits in a spectrum of neon colors spilled off the plates, and the table was liberally sprinkled with large fluffy loaves of bread. A large cauldron of soup with a smattering of vegetables and large chunks of meat boiled in the hearth at one end of the table. The smell was inviting, intoxicating even. Hannah felt her mouth salivate as the scents of the feast filled her nose. Bottles of purple wine and jugs of ale were placed throughout the table. Hannah grinned at that and went to elbow Jack only to realize he wasn’t there.
“Where’s Jack?” Hannah said, drawing the attention of the room. “And Sammy? Where’s my team?” She leveled a dangerous gaze at the overly large man. He stared back, his large blue eyes betraying nothing.
“He is safe,” the man said. “Neither he, nor your friend Samuel were in any condition to attend the feast. They have both been sent to the infirmary and are under the care of my healers,” he finished, giving something that could be interpreted as a smile underneath his beard.
“Now, if you’ll allow me to introduce myself. I am King Thadius Phillip, ruler of the seven empires.”
“What exactly is going on?” A tall and lanky man with gold rimmed glasses asked.
Hannah eyed the newcomer curiously. He looked like he might have been a literature professor at some private college back on Earth. He wore a brown vest and pants with a simple linen shirt that had the sleeves rolled up. Despite his bookish appearance, he radiated a danger that put Hannah on edge.
“Please, sit. Eat. I shall reveal all.” The king took his seat at the head of the table and several servants in the room began to pluck and pull pieces of food off the platters that lined the table, setting it in front of him.
Hannah shrugged her shoulders and followed suit, making sure to take a seat next to the king. The bookish man watched her, then smiled doing the same, sitting opposite of her. Soon the entire table was full as everyone took seats and began to fill their plates and glasses with food and wine.
“It would be best,” the king started, “if you thought of me as a liaison of sorts. I exist to help facilitate the good people of Earth in the changes and upgrades the first floor has gone through.”
“What about the Calbora Empire? What happened to them?” The bookish man asked.
“They are gone, Cristopher. In fact, all the kingdoms and empires you worked alongside during your integration are now gone,” he finished, addressing the entire table.
“And our people? Why are we the only ones who remain?” A woman stood up from the middle of the table to ask. She wore an ornate yellow robe, a spear tucked in next to her at the table. She was one of seven women, all Chinese, each in a different colored robe, each with an identical spear.
“Your people are safe. They all have been relocated to the safety of my cities and towns spread out among my empire. They are each receiving a feast similar to this one.”
No one at the table seemed happy with that answer.
“I understand you’re all on edge. The Tower has put you through much. I understand your frustrations. You were just starting to rebuild the framework for your society, only to have your delicate scaffolding kicked out from under you. If not for a certain party taking such a roundabout manner to complete their secret quest, we would have been having this conversation much sooner,” the king finished with a chuckle. Everyone glared at Devin and Hannah. Everyone except for the bookish man—Cristopher.
“Tell me,” Cristopher finally said from behind steepled fingers, “you seem far more, how should I put this, aware of your situation then the other constructs of the Tower.”
“Part of the upgrade. You’ll find all of us Tower creations far more aware this time around, if not exponentially more helpful. Like I said—I may be king, but it would be better to think of me as a liaison. The Tower created me to help you.”
“Hmm. So that means-“
“Enough questions for now. We are feasting, and feasting is a time for stories. I would like to hear the details of your secret quests. Regale me with your tails of glory.”
“You just said you were going to help us? Shouldn’t you already know what happened anyways?” Hannah was already annoyed with the king. Vague answers and deflection never did bode well.
“Having your head filled with knowledge is entirely different than being told a story,” the king smiled. “Tell me your stories. Let us all get to know each other over delicious food and fine wine. After that I will answer your questions.”
“Then allow me to start,” a large bald man with a claymore strapped to his back declared.
Pieces slowly fell into place as groups shared their stories, the wine no doubt helping people to relax and open up.
Much like Earth there had been seven different continents that humanity was spread across on the first floor. This much Hannah was aware of. What surprised her was each continent had a secret quest of their own. Each quest followed a similar sort of formula. Seven people, seven items, combine them all to kill or save something.
One group had been the Swiss Guard. Unsurprisingly, they were all either paladin or clerics. Their continent had a zombie problem that required them to gather up seven unique ingredients to break the zombie curse.
The seven Chinese women had to gather up the seven fragments of a long dead dragon’s soul and use that to kill an evil dragon that rampaged across their continent. Each one of their spears contained a piece of the dragon’s soul.
The last full group of seven was a tribe of Tanzanian hunters. They had to restore a corrupted druid's grove. The next two groups were only three or four people strong. Either some of their group moved on to the second floor, or they had suffered several casualties.
“I completed the quest myself.” Christopher answered when asked about his group. Everyone stared at him in disbelief. “What? It wasn’t that hard. I imagine every one of the secret quests had a pacifist approach you could take to completing it, right?” He finished with a look towards the king, who smiled and gave him a simple nod.
“What I’m truly curious about is you.” Cristopher turned his head and stared directly at Hannah.
“It took you so long to complete yours,” one of the paladins added. “We started building ships to sail across the oceans and do it for you.” Several people in the room nodded at this.
One thing Hannah had noticed is everyone at least had some sort of familiarity with each other. When two continents completed their secret quest, it opened up traveling. They had all completed their quests within the first six months and had since been integrated with each other. She could understand why everyone was kind of annoyed with them. It sounded as if they had really been rebuilding society, but the Tower had other plans of course.
“You can tell ‘em.” Hannah said, punching Devin in the shoulder. “I’m going to find Jack.”
Hannah grabbed one of the full wine bottles and left Devin to fend for himself.
That had more or less concluded their first night of the floor transformation. The days that followed had been chaotic, if not a little exciting.
The seven continents had been seemingly merged into one giant supercontinent which everyone referred to as Pangea as a homage to Earth. The city they had been moved to was large, roughly the size of New York City. It was referred to as Pendragon’s Hope and was the seat of power among the seven now combined empires.
There were two other cities that were supposedly just as large, as well as a smattering of smaller towns and settlements throughout the lands. Even in this new world, some people just needed land outside the city.
The king had guaranteed everyone’s safety inside of the city walls, and that much seemed to be true at least. The second you left the safety of the city you were assaulted by animals, monsters, bandits, and more. Quest boards were packed to the brim wherever you went.
The new cities reminded Hannah of the tutorial villages they had gone through when they first arrived. Only this new city was bigger and better in every way. That was how Hannah had ended up at the mage college within the city. She had been searching for answers to Jack’s new problem and decided to enroll.
As she made her way out of the school and into the city streets, she bumped into one of the local kids.
“Oh no! It’s the demon queen Hannah! RUN!” A group of nearby kids began laughing hysterically as they took off down the street.
That was probably the biggest revelation of the floor upgrade. Kids had returned to the Tower. Their absence had been a major concern to many of Tower inhabitants. A lot of people thought they were left back on Earth. As it turns out, they had been transported to some sort of Tower academy waiting for the moment they could be safely reintegrated.
From what she could gather, even the Tower had somewhat of a conscience and didn’t want to kill kids. So, it sent them to the Tower Academy, a place where all the children could learn magic and grow stronger without the constant threat of death hanging over their heads.
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Another shocker was the fact they weren’t exactly alone there. The academy was open to all the different races and species that climbed the Tower. So long as their society considered them children, they would be allowed in. Unfortunately, this meant that teenagers were the ones who had the inside scoop on the political makeup of the Tower.
The children are our future took on a whole new meaning as the kids tumbled out of the academy and back into society. They came back wielding magic like bona-fide pro’s and all primed for adventure. If anything, they seemed more open and welcoming to the idea of their new magical world.
Hannah watched as the kids trailed off and made their way through the bustling city streets. She walked down the cobblestone paths that were lined with timber framed houses and stone walls. Towering arches acted as portals that could send you to different parts of the city. Spires dotted the skyline marking the fantastical architecture of the king’s castle. Hannah kept moving towards the center of the city casually monitoring her surroundings despite its apparent safety. One could never be too careful.
There was an open circus here for people to gather, complete with a park and a large circular platform with ancient indecipherable symbols carved on its base. She found a free bench that dotted the modest gardens surrounding the platform and watched as people began to appear and disappear on the platform.
The platform, it turned out, was a traveling waypoint you could use to move between the first and second floors. Before floor one had been upgraded, anyone who had gone to the second floor had been stuck up there.
Hannah was primarily interested in observing the arrivals. The second floor was pretty bad from what she could gather, and most people did everything in their power to get back as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the Tower Geas prevented her from finding out any helpful information. So, she watched, tried to spy on anyone returning and glean any information from their appearance that she could. It had been a wholly pointless endeavor, but it also wasn’t her only reason.
Sammy had gone to the second floor.
He had been in a coma for about a week after his stunt in the dungeon. The corrupted blood had gotten into his system and rampaged through him. That, in conjunction with him using his special time jumping ability, had nearly been the end of him. He had been touch and go for a while but managed to pull through thanks to the healers in this new utopia. When he woke up, neither Hannah nor Jack had been there to greet him, and he took that opportunity to slip out to the second floor.
I’m sorry, it’s my fault we trusted Gideon. I’ll make this right. I promise. That was all his note had said.
Hannah had almost burned the infirmary to the ground when she found out they just let him leave. She had been furious that Sammy just left without saying anything. She didn’t even know who he left with. She didn’t think he was dumb enough to go by himself, but after the events of the past few weeks she honestly couldn’t be sure. The guilt was obviously eating away at him and that was making him do stupid things.
She stayed for an hour longer watching as people slowly appeared on the platform before she gave up. She still had another problem child to deal with.
Hannah made her way towards the craftsman district of the city. Another perk of the floor upgrade was the unlocking of craftsman classes. This part of the city was by far and away the busiest place in the entire city. Once people found out you could upgrade your class to a craftsman class, people flocked to masters and teachers in droves. The Tower had provided teachers for professions ranging from blacksmithing, leatherworking, woodworking, cooking, alchemy, and more. Finally, there was an alternative to fighting monsters for those who didn’t fashion themselves as adventurers or Tower climbers. Unsurprisingly, the trade district blew up overnight.
Hannah had wondered why any of this was necessary when the Tower store could provide everything, only to find out that the Tower store existed in an extremely limited capacity on the upper floors. She wasn’t able to find out more beyond that, the Geas deeming any more information too much to share.
This was where she had started her search for Sammy when he first went missing. She figured he wouldn’t be able to stay away from this area. He had constantly complained about the lack of crafting options.
With a sigh, she made her way towards the weaponsmith she had been working with over the past few weeks.
“Fiego, they ready?” She called out over the clashing of hammers pounding metal. A short fat man with a pot belly and a pair of arms the size of tree trunks was asleep near one of the forges. He stumbled awake, eyes bleary. His skin was leathery, and his black hair was slicked back out of his eyes. His eyebrows had long since been burned off and his goatee was patchy and singed. This was one of the master weaponsmiths the Tower had conjured up.
“Ms. Lawrence, I thought we agreed next week, did we not?” His voice was gruff, his accent odd, and vaguely French.
“Sorry Fiego, I’ve got stuff to do. They ready or not?”
“It’s just that they came out quite beautiful, and I was hoping to use them to showcase my skill for a short time.”
“So they are ready. Let’s see them, then.”
“One moment.” Fiego gave a big grin as he ran back to a small shed.
Aside from the level they received for completing the dungeon quest, there wasn’t much else in the way of rewards with everything pending until they moved onto the next floor. Jack, however, did get one little surprise. Two giant red horns popped into reality right next to him while he was busy almost dying.
When he woke up a few days later, he chucked them into a yet-to-be-named river wanting nothing to do with them. Luckily Hannah had been in the vicinity to recover them. Instead of letting them rot at the bottom of the river, likely corrupting any wildlife they came in touch with, she gave them to the weaponsmith.
Fiego came out of his little shack with a bundle wrapped in a thick black cloth.
“Careful not to touch them. I sent the priest home already. If it cuts you… let’s just say you’ll need to find a priest. Fast.” Fiego offered as he plopped the bundle onto the table.
He untied the tassels binding the freshly crafted weapons to reveal two blades.
“Are these daggers or swords?”
“Eh.” Fiego shrugged. “Long enough to be considered short swords but short enough to be considered large daggers. I consider it a matter of perspective really. There was a lot of material, and I didn’t want to waste it.”
Hannah inspected the weapons.
The Corruptor
Type: Weapon
Tier: Rare
Enchantment Slots: 4/4
[Corrupting Blood – Natural Enchant]
Sets the blood ablaze with corruption, stopping all regenerative effects and slowly burning its way through the body.
[Blood Drinker – Natural Enchant]
This weapon feeds off the blood of its enemies, growing stronger the more it drinks.
[+4 Sharpness – 4 Slots]
Greatly increases the weapon’s sharpness, creating a slight aura around the weapon.
*****
Forged from the twisted essence of a Saintess' blood and the seething corruption of Xinnolath. The Corruptor hungers for virtuous hearts, its malevolence a chilling reminder of forbidden pacts.
The Nightmare
Type: Weapon
Tier: Rare
Enchantment Slots: 4/4
[Dread – Natural Enchant]
Chance to inflict the enemy with dread, overpowering one’s will and making them suffer immense despair as their mind falls into madness.
[Blood Drinker – Natural Enchant]
This weapon feeds off the blood of its enemies, growing stronger the more it drinks.
[+4 Sharpness – 4 Slots]
Greatly increases the weapons sharpness, creating a slight aura around the weapon.
*****
In the forging of The Nightmare, the lifeblood of a Saintess, the corruption of Xinnolath, and the malevolent essence of an evil unnamed heart converged. Its malefic form radiates an aura of dread, a chilling testament to the unholy trinity that brought forth its sinister power.
The demonic horns were shaped into a matching set of gently curved blades. One was a deep crimson red with black marbling, the other a deep black with crimson marbling. The handles were simple, lacking any sort of proper hilt and wrapped neatly in black leather. At the pommel sat a sharpened diamond shape as lethal as the blade itself.
Hannah reached down and picked one up to test its balance. Immediately It filled her with a sense of primal dread, like she was weighed down by an oppressive force of pure fear.
“Careful now, those blades will drive you crazy if you wield them too long. Something evil about them. I’ve had nightmares for weeks now working on these.”
“Don’t worry,” Hannah smirked, “their owner is already plenty crazy. What’s the damage?”
“I know we agreed on ten million, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to take less than twenty.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Fiego.” Hannah stared at the man, slowly pulling mana from her core.
“I’m not, I'm not!” He stepped back nervously, “It’s just, I had to go to the temple and hire a priest every morning to shadow me the entire day. Every nick or cut from the blades either drove me crazy or threatened to burn up my blood.”
“I have to pay extra because you were clumsy?”
“I wasn’t clumsy. I’m a master craftsman,” he said, growing angry. “The blades have a life of their own. They would jump out at me. These things might actually be possessed. The priest didn't detect any spirits within the material, but you never can be sure if some devilish little sprite is hiding inside.”
Hannah nodded slowly at the new information. To be honest, Fiego wasn’t her first choice. He was just the first one to accept the job. The first two master weaponsmiths assumed Hannah was insane. One even chased her out of his store with a weapon he pulled from the fire, still glowing red hot.
“I could maybe come down in price if you agree to let me keep them for a little longer like we had originally agreed-“
“I’ll give you fifteen million and take them right now.”
“But!”
“I’m done negotiating.” Hannah began to bundle the blades back up. Fiego protested but he never actually stopped her. She transferred the weaponsmith his AP and sighed as her funds further dwindled. She was going to make Jack cough up every penny he had.
If she could find him, that is.
Jack had woken up before Sam, and much like Sam, left immediately. Apparently the men in her life were dickbags.
He, however, at least did give Hannah the courtesy of telling her where he was going.
“I’m going to the mountains to train,” he said, his face stoic.
Hannah thought Jack might have some residual brain damage from the fight, because she had never willingly seen him submit himself to training. Curiosity got the better of her, so she followed him and watched as he stepped into a portal that took him to the wild planes, an area she learned was famous for its flat scenic landscapes and complete lack of mountains.
Bundle in hand, Hannah made her way across town back towards the waypoint. In addition to it being a launchpad to the second floor, it also served as a fast travel across Pangea. As soon as she stepped foot onto the large stone platform, a menu appeared.
She selected Lakeland Fortress, a small town deep in the heart of the wild planes. Her vision flashed a bright blue and she found herself standing on a much smaller stone platform. Two guards stumbled out of their chairs as she appeared.
She glanced down at the town guards. They were a far cry from the city guards that patrolled the capitol in their shining silver plate. These guards wore simple leather gambesons belted at the waist, shoddy iron bucket helmets, and were armed only with spears.
“Welcome to Lakeland, M’lady.” One of the guards stuttered out, unsure of what to make of Hannah. She realized she was still wearing a hoodie and yoga pants. Not that it mattered. There wasn’t anything on the first floor that was really a threat to her. She narrowed her eyes at the surroundings.
Lakeland fortress was a small, simple fortress from what she could tell. The walls were composed of spiked wooden beams held together with mud and rough rope. There were a few small houses, a blacksmith hammering away at horseshoes, and a large building she hoped was the tavern.
“That the tavern?” Hannah pointed at the largest building in the area.
“Yes, the quest board is posted just out front,” The guard said with an angry look.
What was he mad about? Hannah wondered.
Hannah began to make her way through the ‘fortress’. It seemed shoddy and run down, like the wild lands were getting the best of it. This was a town on the furthest edges of the “known territories” within the seven kingdoms. That meant everything was far more dangerous. Essentially, this was a high-level town on the first floor likely meant for anyone around level ten.
Hannah pushed her way into the tavern. Inside she discovered it was completely empty outside of the one barkeep with an enormous mustache and an angry look on his face.
“Have you seen-“
“Shipment hasn’t arrived yet. We’re still dry.” The innkeeper cut her off almost instantly.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re an adventurer, right? You’re at the tavern so I assume you want a drink? Well we don’t have anything.”
His tone was both practiced and curt, like he had this same exact conversation a hundred times over already.
“Why don’t you have anything to drink?” Hannah squinted at the man.
“Some bastard came in and tricked me. Bought me out of everything I had!” he complained.
“How did he trick you exactly?”
“Made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Offered me handfuls of precious gems for my entire store. I would have been a fool not to take it. Now everyone in this town hates me. Guards curse me out, my friends curse my name. I’m the town's enemy now. I was tricked, I tell ya!”
“So, you sold your entire stock without keeping in mind the rest of the town, and you haven’t been able to get a resupply.”
“Took every last drop. This is a plot by that bastard Garth. He’s been trying to take over my tavern for years now. Looks like he finally found a way to turn everyone against me.” The tavern keeper was more grumbling to himself at this point, spiraling in his own conspiracies.
“Hey,” Hannah snapped at the man, bringing his attention back to her. “Where did this trickster go?”
“What? I don’t know. Took off with my alcohol, haven’t seen him since. He stared at the quest board for a long time though.”
Hannah nodded and went out to the quest board.
Taking stock, the board must have had thirty or so quests posted up on it. Hannah couldn’t take any of the quests. She had long since out leveled the first floor and the Tower wouldn’t allow her to accept any of them. That didn’t mean she couldn’t still do them. She could still hunt down the monsters and kill them. She just wouldn’t have any assistance from the Tower, nor would she get a reward. It would also be considered a dick move, taking resources from other adventurers who could actually use it.
Jack however, likely didn’t care about any of that. Since he had also long outleveled this floor, the only reason she could think that he would look at the quest board was he wanted something strong to fight.
Her eyes ran through the quest slips, looking for whatever seemed the most dangerous.
Quest: King of the Lake
Objective: Slay the Lakeland Kraken
Description:
Legends tell of the Lakeland Kraken, a monstrous Leviathan lurking in the depths of Silverthorn Lake, terrorizing the nearby settlements. Journey forth, armed with the hopes of a kingdom, to challenge this ancient horror, securing the safety of the wild planes.
Reward:
+1 Level
+1,500,000AP
As far as Hannah could tell, that was the strongest quest on the board. She glanced over at a nearby guard.
“Where is Silverthorn Lake?”
“Due North,” he said, a scowl on his face that Hannah now recognized as an angry guard who can’t get a drink at the tavern.
“That’s it?”
“It’s a big lake. Hard to miss.”
Hannah nodded, orienting herself towards the northern gate. She quickly changed into something more suitable for travel, simple leather armor and a pair of boots leaving the guard a little scandalized when she stripped down in front of him.
She pulled out her crystalline bow and set off down the road, deeper into the Wild Planes. She wasn’t expecting much trouble, but the world had become far more deadly. In exchange for the cities and kingdoms getting a massive upgrade, everywhere outside the safety of the city walls seemed more aggressive, if not outright dangerous to the new adventurers. In addition, she was traveling by herself in a relatively high-level area.
It took her several hours of walking a beaten path to reach the lake. The monster makeup of the area seemed to be gnolls and some sort of dangerous big cat they had tamed. The ugly creatures would ride around on lion-like cats in large packs and jump out from the tall grass that surrounded the path. Hannah had taken to launching an explosive arrow into any large overgrown patches of grass she came across, more often than not earning her kill confirmation in the form of pained yelps and barks.
As she came up on the lake, she realized now what the guard had meant by it being hard to miss. If she wasn’t sure it was a Lake she might have thought it an Ocean for how large it was, spreading for miles in any direction.
She inspected the shoreline, narrowing her eyes against the sun for any sign of Jack and sighed when she didn’t see anything.
“Guess we gotta do this the long way,” she sighed to herself, and picked a random direction as she began to walk the sandy shores of the lake.
It took another hour before she found signs of any sort of life. Or death she should say.
There were signs of gnoll encampments all along the banks of the lakes, but never any actual gnolls. The first corpse she found almost made her want to turn around. Grotesque would have been describing it politely. It had the body of a gnoll, but its head had been entirely consumed by some sort of cephalopod. Upon an unwilling closer inspection she found the signs she was looking for. Someone had stabbed this monstrosity multiple times.
With a renewed vigor she pushed forward. The corpses increased, all possessing the same weird squid heads and all victims of knife wounds.
As the sun began to set, Hannah finally reached what looked to be the end of the lake. It had the telltale signs of a boss arena. It was too rounded, and the blue waters turned a deep dark, an unseen depth to them. She narrowed her eyes as she traced to the shoreline.
A lone man was standing at the edge of the water, a pair of bloody daggers in his hands.
Jack.
She watched as he gave a few test stretches and then popped his neck on either side. He fell into a deep stance and launched himself not into, but across the water. He was moving surprisingly fast, so much so that he was able to run across the surface. He made it about fifteen steps before his foot broke the surface tension of the water. He immediately lost his balance and dropped into the water like a log.
Hannah stared at the bubbling surface and then watched as Jack was launched out of the water nearly fifty feet into the air, a slender tentacle in close pursuit. Jack tried to kick off the tentacle, lashing out with his daggers but he couldn’t get a good footing in the air. Another, much larger tentacle burst from the surface of the water and slammed into him from the back. Jack was barely able to rotate in the air and defend against the blow that sent him flying across the lake towards Hannah’s side of the shore. Three more tentacles shot out of the water, batting Jack back to the ground like a tennis ball. Hannah grimaced as she watched half a dozen tentacles climb out of the water and slam into the ground repeatedly.
They slowly pulled themselves back into the water, satisfied that they had killed the intruder. Hannah looked into the deep lake water, trying to scout the monster, but even her vision couldn’t pierce the depths. All she saw were massive tentacles.
With a sigh, Hannah walked over to where Jack had been pummeled.
A man-shaped divot was imprinted into the shoreline, Jack having been hammered several feet into the ground.
Hannah peered into the Jack-sized divot in the sand to see Jack, bleeding and broken. His eyes shot open, and he peered at Hannah.
“Potion…” he groaned.