Chapter 121 – New Beginnings
[Jack Atlas]
[1 Year Later]
Jack spun his thick wooden mug in slow, lazy circles on the bar top. He peered cautiously at the black contents swirling inside the cup and grimaced. Normally, he would be down to drink anything, but the black viscous liquid that pulsated inside his cup was giving him more than seconds thoughts.
“Well, bottoms up I guess…” he tapped the mug once on the bar before throwing it back and swallowing the contents back.
Oil and tar filled his mouth, and he coughed between each gulp of the disgusting, goopy substance.
He almost vomited up the contents of the mug, fighting desperately to swallow it down as his body fought just as hard to reject it. He slammed the mug back onto the bar and wiped at his mouth, a dissatisfied look on his face as the contents of the mug tried to find a home in his stomach.
I feel nothing.
“How was it?”
As if summoned from his thoughts, Jack glanced at the end of the bar at the homely barkeep. She had a bent and broken several times over nose. Her brown graying hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She was twice the size of anyone in the bar and carried an iron cudgel over her shoulder that she used on anyone who lacked “proper manners” as she put it. Jack had found that last bit out the hard way.
“Your worst concoction yet, Mags.” Jack grimaced at the unpleasant rumbling in his stomach.
“Well yea, it wasn’t supposed to taste good. How do you feel though? Tipsy? Buzzed? Drunk?” She had walked over to him and pulled a notepad out from her apron. Mags had unlocked a profession class, brewer, and she took it very seriously.
“Nothing at all. I might be sick though. It feels like there’s tar in my stomach.”
“Hmmm…” she gnawed on the end of her pencil, chewing off pieces and spitting it out onto the ground. “Maybe it needs time? Ya know, dissolve and circulate into your system?”
He frowned at her. He honestly didn’t think he would be able to keep this down long enough to get to that point.
Jack had a serious problem. He had long since grown far too powerful for the first floor, but that wasn’t the real problem. He was too strong. So strong in fact that his body no longer responded to alcohol. It happened sometime after he had pushed his mastery levels in both Endurance and Vitality to Adept. That paired with his rare human class, he was more or less immune to the effects of alcohol. At least here on the first floor. Jack pulled up his status page and went through the changes for the millionth time this year.
Statistics / Quests / Tower Store / Achievements / Blessings
Name: Jack Atlas
Race: Human Ascendent [Rare]
Floor: 1st Floor
Level: 14
Class: Hitman [Rare] [+1 Str +3 Dex +1 Foc per level]
Core Type: [Error: No Core detected]
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Stats —
Strength: 25 - [Adept - High]
Endurance: 20 - [Adept - High]
Vitality: 15 - [Adept - High]
Dexterity: 103 – [Adept - High]
Focus: 23 - [Adept - High]
Willpower: 53 - [Novice - Low]
Free Skill Points: 0
Achievement Points [AP]: 2,550,705
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Abilities [5/5] —
Lightning Centipedes Bite [Uncommon, Novice - Low] [Error: No Core detected]
Storm Step [Rare, Novice - Low] [Error: No Core detected]
Lightning Engine [Legendary Rare, Journeyman - Low] [Error: No Core detected]
Chain Lightning [Rare, Novice – Low] [Error: No Core detected]
Core Self Destruct [Rare, Prodigy – High] [Error: No Core detected]
----------------------------------------
Passives —
Multiverse Common Tongue [Non-Upgradable]
Storm Stance of the Lightning Centipede [Rare, Adept - High]
Sneak [Uncommon, Novice-Low]
Mana Condenser [Rare] [Incomplete]
Mana Channels of the Transcendent Berserker [Epic] [Rare]
Throwing Weapons [Common, Adept – High]
His status page was a hot mess ever since he lost his core. He couldn’t train any of his abilities thanks to his complete lack of mana. His passives were still accessible which gave him some respite, but most of them were stuck at common or uncommon. Turns out mana would be integral to upgrading them as well, and again, he didn’t have access to any.
Jack did manage to earn himself at least one new passive. Throwing weapons. He glanced down at the void ring on his index finger and pulled out a throwing knife, twirling it between his fingers with a satisfied smile. He had to come up with some new tricks since losing his mana, and luckily it seemed people still hadn’t come up with a good solution for having a knife thrown at their face.
“How many times do I have to tell you Jack? NO WEAPONS IN THE BAR.” Mags gave Jack an accusing glare and pulled out a hand cannon of her own from underneath the bar. It was basically just a large tube she loaded baseball size spellshots into. Jack has seen her blow out the side of her bar on at least three separate occasions dealing with unwelcome patrons to her saloon.
“Sorry sorry.” Jack put the knife back into his void ring and flashed her an innocent smile.
He gave the void ring a satisfied spin. He had a matching one on his other index finger. The rings had been the result of another secret quest that had been completed about three months after the first floor had been combined. They were much smaller than void sacks, only about the size of a floor length locker. They were a tool of convenience really. No more reaching for your void sack. You could just stuff your rings with weapons, and they would appear instantly in your hand.
Jack's rings were stuffed to the brim with ammunition for his flintlock pistol and a wide variety of throwing weapons.
His eyes followed the hand cannon that Mags had pulled out from underneath the bar. She didn’t put it back in its place. Instead, she opted to pace around menacingly with it resting on the shoulder opposite her iron cudgel.
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Guns had been the next thing the Tower was flooded with. They had been warned that a lot of the more… traditional mages within the Tower didn’t like flintlock weapons, but no one seemed to really heed or care about that kind of warning.
Guns had been at the top of pretty much every human's list in terms of what kind of weapon they wanted to use going forward, so those who unlocked crafting classes set to puzzling out how to make them.
Single shot pistols of varying size were about all they could manage. There had been quite a lot of guns that had made it into the Tower originally so there was hope for something automatic, or at least a wheel gun of sorts. Jack had even been shot at seconds after arriving into the Tower, he remembered rather unfondly. However, all those guns quickly broke down due to some sort of unfixable mechanical error. Apparently mana didn’t like when things got too mechanical or too technical, and started causing all sorts of problems. Both scientists and crafters were adamantly trying to figure out the new laws of physics they operated under so they could inevitably create deadlier weapons.
Jack glanced back at his status page. With no mana core he was left with his stats and his masteries. Over the last year he had pushed himself to the absolute limits of what should be achievable on the first floor. There wasn’t anything that could come close to him in power, leaving him to his own devices to figure out how to train. Unfortunately, that meant his training had hit a brick wall. Combat appeared to be the primal driving force for improving his masteries and there was sadly no one worth fighting. At least not yet.
The masteries ranked from Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Journeyman, Elite, and Prodigy. His goal was to reach Prodigy in everything, but he was quickly advised he would be down here for the next thousand years if he wanted to achieve that. He needed to climb if he wanted to reach those levels. He had at least managed to push all of his masteries to the level of Adept before any and all progress came to a grinding halt. He also started to understand the value of masteries. Cumberlin had given him a vague, last minute crash course, but Jack had never really stopped to smell the roses so to speak. Best he could tell, masteries controlled output, and how fast you could reach your maximum output. Whereas the numbers themselves seemed to raise the skill ceiling of what was possible. It helped to explain how he could always seemingly move faster the harder he tried. It wasn’t that he was actually gaining more speed, just reaching his maximum potential. Armed with that knowledge, he was able to find ways to improve each and every mastery that wasn’t tied to mana, or his lack of core.
His eyes landed on his Willpower stat and he snarled in frustration, drawing several concerned looks from other patrons lined up next to him at the bar. Mags even cocked her gun.
Fifty three points. The number stared at him. Taunting him.
He pulled up the reason his Willpower had skyrocketed. It was an achievement of sorts for reaching the Prodigy rank for his core self destruct. Apparently surviving a spell that was meant to blow himself up was all that was required to completely master the spell.
Achievement: Idiot Savant
When you combine raw talent the likes the Tower has never witnessed with an unrivaled stupidity that the Tower has also never witnessed, you get the Idiot Savant. Through pure effort, skill, and idiocy, you pierced the veil and ripped free your core – after turning it into a bomb meant to blow you up. Perhaps this boost will help you make smarter decisions?
****
+50 Willpower.
Jack hadn’t exactly been quiet or reserved about his misgivings with the Tower, and he was starting to believe the Tower was taking it personally. Why else would it reward him with fifty points in a stat that was effectively dead for him?
The only real bonus he could discern he was getting from a higher willpower was clarity and focus. A normal person might consider this a good thing, but for Jack, it was a curse. The last thing he wanted to do was think. It felt like if he stopped moving for five seconds and let his thoughts run free he was going to go crazy all over again. He had been able to lose himself in his training, but that wasn’t really an option anymore.
So, he turned to the bars. Specifically, Mag’s and her special concoctions that she would brew up. Unfortunately, she was yet unable to make anything that could get him properly wasted. So now he was sitting here with sludge in his stomach, wanting to throw up.
At this rate, he was going to have to leave for the second floor sooner than intended. Neither him nor Hannah had been in a real hurry to move on to the next level. Jack needed time to learn how to fight without a core, and Hannah was in the midst of reforming networks, gathering intel, and learning as much about the Tower as she could. Plus, he was all but positive a band of asshole assassins was waiting to kill him the second he stepped foot on the floor.
The door to the bar swung open, letting sunlight into the poorly lit room. A tall man with golden round framed glasses, a simple linen shirt, and brown pants walked into the bar. He had a large book tucked under his arm that looked both old, and extremely worn through. The man’s eyes scanned the patrons of the bar, landing on Jack after they had cleared the room. He smiled at Jack. Jack frowned at the man.
Christopher.
He took a seat next to Jack. He went to place his book on the wooden bar but gave it a disgusted look after a quick inspection, opting to place the book on his lap.
“You always find the most… unique places,” Christopher offered, glancing around at the bar.
“What do you want?” Jack asked Christopher.
The man had been the newest addition to the group. And the newest addition to Hannah’s life to be more specific. He had an impressive resume. Apparently, he solved his secret quest without the help of anyone, somehow managing to charm and negotiate his way to a peaceful solution. His class was literally just ‘Diplomat’.
On earth, the man held doctorates in law, history, economics, and philosophy. In the Tower he held doctorates in being incredibly annoying. The number of times he had asked Jack “was killing that person really necessary?” was another factor driving him to the point of insanity. The only reason Jack hadn’t tried killing him yet was because Hannah seemed head over heels for the guy.
“I think Hannah has gone to the second floor.” he said matter of fact.
“What?” Jack stood up, staring at Christopher in confusion. “What the hell happened?”
“A clever trap on the enemies' part I’m afraid. She found herself surrounded by several battalions of soldiers. Rather than lay waste to everyone, she simply left for the second floor. At least that’s what my spies tell me. Do you know if she had a contingency in place for this sort of thing?”
“Hanna definitely did have a plan for something like this happening,” Jack nodded.
Christopher looked at Jack with expectancy.
“Well? What was the plan?” He asked after Jack offered up nothing.
“I don’t remember. I’m sure it was a good plan though.”
Christopher let out a frustrated sigh.
After the dust had settled from the aftermath of killing Xinnolath and the combining of the first floor, it was straight back to everyone killing each other. The U.F.E. had disbanded pretty shortly after, happy to let the Tower generated NPCs take control of things. By all accounts, the King and the Monarchy generated by the Tower existed to serve and enable humanity. Unfortunately, politics got in the way of a good thing and humans immediately began to reform their own armies in order to take back control and overthrow the monarchy that was doing nothing but help them.
Jack, Hannah, and Christopher all agreed that it was the height of idiocy, and instead offered their services to the current King Thadius Phillip. He was a practical man, and had no issue employing assassins to take out key figures. So Jack and Hannah had spent the better part of the year sowing chaos throughout the ranks of these newly formed paramilitary groups in an attempt to take the wind out of their sails before they could gain any real momentum. Meanwhile Christopher used his skills as a Diplomat to mend fences and unite everyone. Reminding them we were supposed to be climbing the Tower. Not killing each other on the first floor.
It was sort of working. Jack and Hannah were ‘shackled’ by the fact that they couldn’t just recklessly kill anyone who didn’t agree with them, instead having to choose their targets carefully. One, they didn’t want to shit where they ate; despite all that had happened, they had formed some sort of a life here on the first floor. And two, they needed as many humans as possible climbing the Tower, not dead at their hands–lest their floor get purged due to inactivity. So Hannah getting ambushed meant her only option was to run away, lest she get branded some sort of murderous monster.
“Alright. I’ll go rescue your girlfriend.” Jack stood up and gave a few tentative stretches. He glanced down at his clothes. Gym shorts, flip flops, and the closest thing he could find to a Tommy Bahama. With a mental thought to his shadowy companion, darkness seeped out from underneath his clothes, solidifying into simple black pants,a black shirt, leather boots, bracers, and a chest piece. This represented the collected works of feeding the shadow mimic millions upon millions of AP worth of armor. A basic ass set of leather armor.
“We both know Hannah doesn’t need rescuing. I’ll join you two as soon as things get settled down here. Try not to cause too much trouble on the second floor.” Christopher smiled, inspecting Jack’s armor. “Does that actually protect you?”
“Not really,” Jack shrugged, giving the bracers a tentative poke. “But it sure looks cool.” The shadow armor pulsated at Jack, seemingly annoyed by the comment.
Jack let out an annoyed sigh. His stomach was still grumbling, and all of this generally seemed like a pain in the ass to deal with. But, it’s not like he wasn’t thinking about leaving for the second floor anyways. His time on the first floor had finally come to an end.
Jack pulled up his quest log.
Quest: Climb the First Floor
Quest Tier: N/A
Quest Sponsor: The Tower
Objective:
Complete 20 Quests
Reach level 5
Raise two mastery levels to the rank of Apprentice
Reward:
Access to the second floor of The Tower.
Further rewards determined by The Tower based upon individual performance on the floor.
All objectives complete for [Quest: Climb the First Floor]. Advance to the second floor? [Y/N]
Jack glanced at Christopher.
“Good luck,” he offered.
Jack selected yes, and the world went black.
…
…
He stood there for several long moments in the void. Then another notification appeared.
[Floor one Complete. Evaluating progress and achievements.]
Jack stared hard at the notification. The words were fuzzy, blurred, coming in and out of focus. He felt dizzy, and a little floaty.
“What’s… happening…” He stumbled a bit to his right.
Then he remembered what he had been doing before he was forced to advance. Drinking Mag’s concoction.
He blinked rapidly and fell to his ass. He was so incredibly drunk right now.
“Shit.”