The inside of the fortress was just as ruined as the town below. Picking his way through rubble Kelford couldn’t help but look around at the destruction. Light came from cracks in the stonework. Walls and ceiling tiles let snow rush through, piles of the stuff already growing on the floor. The stone was dark and rough, whether from the years of neglect or by design Kelford couldn’t tell. Walls held unlit torches, comically large like most things on this world. Kelford grabbed one and found it was close in height to a short staff. He used it to lean on as the pain from the earlier fight finally started to take its toll. Sweat and blood made his clothing stick to his skin and with the exertion of fighting was now beginning to freeze. A deep cut in his calf made him limp slightly, Enhanced Fortitude turning a crippling injury into something that would heal. Hopefully. Sword in one hand and makeshift crutch in the other, Kelford followed the path.

Paths broke off from the one he was following, his eyes cutting through the dark to see collapsed passageways or piles of twisted metal. Some paths illuminated entire sections of the maze that made the entranceway, opening up into the yawning white of the blizzard. Kelford kept away from those unsteady sections as all he could do was keep walking deeper. Each step was like moving a mountain. His thoughts moved like sludge as the cold and pain warred for his attention. He only kept moving forward for the promise of the next room. Long minutes in the ruins finally ended at large double doors. Twin creatures resembling rhinos decorated the stone. The beasts stared at each other as if in challenge, dark impressions marred their lifelike faces. It was masterfully done but Kelford’s mind couldn’t be bothered to notice as he dropped his torch and shoved against the ancient material. Hinges groaned as they yielded inch by inch to Kelford’s strength before they opened to a very familiar scene.

A feasting hall reminiscent of the safe room five floors below greeted Kelford eyes. Great brazier in the corners held no fire, and the ruins of a great table much too large for him dominated the center. Instead of a door leading to the Tower there was more rubble, most of the doors were blocked by similar collapses. The door he usually considered leading to his room was open and as he limped over to it he saw the actual safe room he’d been looking for. Instead of a bedroom he had long become familiar with or some ruined storage, he saw a large pool of glowing red liquid. Kelford sighed as he stepped into it.

Congratulations!

You have entered a special room!

Healing Room

Any injury or condition can be cured here. Yet the potency of this blessing will only

work for a limited time!

Usually Kelford would be disappointed by the lack of Karma or Relics but the warmth suffusing the room pushed those thoughts away. Kelford turned only to see a new door blocking his way out. He couldn’t even muster up the energy to sigh. Kelford just needed the break.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Hours later the sound of a crackling fire filled the room. Comforting flame kept the cold of the stone at bay, lighting the room with a soft orange glow. Across from it was Furs of the Warlord and Kelford's fur lined clothing. Both bore the marks of Kelford’s run, though the relic held up much better than the normal clothing. Next to the drying clothing lay Kelford's sword. It still gleamed in the light but at closer expectation it was clear it had seen better days. Dry blood still coated much of the blade. Notches ran up its length from the repeated battles and essence enhanced blows it had taken. Still it carried an edge. All the rest of the relics lay nearby, alongside the rest of Kelford's camping gear. Kelford sat in the middle of the controlled chaos, chewing on some Ram meat. He wore a change of clothes, not covered in blood like that last. Even in the ruins of this civilization Kelford found the tension ease as he relaxed by his campsite.

The Healing Rooms water had been like a hot spring and Kelford had made the executive decision to enjoy it before drying himself by his fire. Taking himself out of his semi frozen clothing had been unpleasant with his wounds but the final result had been worth it. He felt like a new man. Warm, healed, and well rested. Yet as he stared into the fires depths he didn’t know why he felt so empty. In many ways he felt relieved. He’d passed the room and was deeper into the floor than he’d ever been. He felt like he’d proven that he was more than up to the task for this floor. Just his sword skills were enough to defeat the gnoblars, once he’d used the full range of his skills he’d soundly beaten them. He’d clearly progressed but felt as if something wasn’t right. Three more rooms until he could talk to other people. Other humans who could understand all that he’d gone through. Had they changed just as drastically as he had? Would they understand what he had just done to those monsters?

Kelford tore into the meat as for once he allowed himself to think about the Tower. He didn’t know when it started but he had been acting callous towards the creatures here. Especially the gnoblars. The last fight had simply been his wake up call. T.U.I had explained that they weren’t real, more like projections or really good copies. Still… they felt real. Their laughs had been real. Their screams and the terror in their eyes had felt real. The skeleton on the fourth had been a real, sapient creature at one point. The ruins had belonged to a real civilization and the experience had been real. At some point Kelford had stopped caring. He’d grown to enjoy this. It was simple and rewarding in a strange way. Rewarding enough not to think of the pain or the suffering he’d experienced. Was that the real problem? The actual reason he felt lost. The thrill of progress couldn’t always hide the pain he was feeling? The terror of this entire situation?

Light bloomed next to Kelford interrupting his thoughts as T.U.I appeared.

“ Congratulations Kelford! I knew you could do it! All that training paid off!!!” T.U.I’s voice filled the space with her excitement. If she had a body Kelford would swear she would be dancing right now.

Kelford smiled, “ Thanks T.U.I. Only three more rooms to go and it’s all thanks to your training.”

“ There is no need to share credit ,Kelford. You did all of this, this is your victory!”

Smiling Kelford nodded but couldn’t muster the same level of enthusiasm. T.U.I paused and seemed to stare at him for a few moments.

“ I thought you would be happier Kelford? You have a powerful new class, you have passed up the floors in record time and best of all you crossed into the 5th floor proper. What made you so upset?”

Kelford struggled to find the words, “ I feel empty after all of this. It eventually became fun simply because of all the magic and progress I felt I was making. I mean look at me, I’d have done almost anything to look like this just months before I came here!”

Kelford gestured at himself. He had barely recognized himself when he had started this run. What did he look like now under all the relics and skills? What would happen when the 10th floor inevitably came around? Would anyone recognize him then? Would he want them to?

“ I feel powerful. Like I could do almost anything, maybe if I keep climbing more floors I really will. I felt like I won but I’m empty. That last fight made me think of everything.” He fell silent, gazing back at the flames. “ I’ve died so many times I haven’t thought of everything that has happened. Almost as if I’ve been pretending for so long I forgot how I’m actually feeling. Just how scared I am of all of this.”

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“Perhaps it is not that complicated.” T.U.I’s words brought Kelford’s attention away from the fire, “ What is there to be afraid of Kelford? What is going on that weighs on you so that you can not appreciate how far you have come?”

“ T.U.I weren’t you…”

“Nothing.” She said cutting right through his voice, “ There is nothing that is happening right now that you can not handle. The Myriad Index has crafted this entire space, down to every detail with all of you in mind. So what is there to be afraid of? You are rising to the challenge are you not?”

Silence stretched between them for a few moments before Kelford slowly nodded his head.

“ Could you have said the same before you came here?”

“...No,” Kelford said, though it hurt to admit it. “ But that’s besides the point. I’m saying that there is an unimaginable amount of pressure and suffering here. Much less on what’s to come. I died over and over, and what I did to those gnoblars… “

“ Was something the past you couldn’t even hope to achieve.” T.U.I said quietly, “ Now look at you, almost unrecognizable.”

“ I mean… yea” Kelford felt confused as his words were thrown back in his face. She did have a point he was much different then when he first came in here.

“ You suffered here.” T.U.I continued, “ Suffering is a part of growth. Before here you would not have pushed yourself so hard, found out just how strong you can become.You worked hard to get this far, did you not”

A hesitant nod was all Kelford could muster as he thought back to the numerous runs. The exercise between attempts on the Tower, when he laid there covered in his own sweat. Pushing himself even as he was devoured by monsters, slaughtered by Sabretooths, or just crushed in the darkness. Yet, he got better didn’t he. The progress that revealed itself in T.U.I’s meticulous notes, in the ease he began to experience with the floors. When he finally pushed past the entrance of the 5th floor.

“ The gnoblars are obstacles, examples of the type of creature that could not survive in the outer multiverse. They have had their time and are now examples for your people to learn from. They died long a go and all that remains are their remnants.” T.U.I explained as Kelford ruminated, “ The only thing that actually matters is the power you can take from here , and how strong it can make you. Your people still have a chance but they need people like you like you to lead them.”

“ Lead them?”

“ Lead. Them,” T.U.I said as she floated right before Kelford’s bewildered eyes. “ The first wave into the Tower can dictate the fate of the entire planet. Millions of you have been chosen, do you think something like that is a mistake? You are worried about all you have suffered but what was the alternative?”

Light left T.U.I in streams as before Kelford’s eye’s a figure appeared. It was him but different. Only a few months and the differences were stark. Starker then Kelford actually remembered. In so little time he had become so different he almost felt bad for his past self. Kelford from the past clearly didn’t take care of himself, clothes slightly wrinkled, hair unkempt. His eyes held dark rings from lack of sleep and didn’t have the vibrancy they now held. It was a man who had given up, a man who had not seen his friends and family for a year. He had stopped striving long ago and all that had been left was the faint hope he’d crawl back to some semblance of a livelihood. It hurt to look at himself. To see what the world had seen for however long he had been like that.

“ Do you want to go back to this? Back to how you were before you earned your place here?”

“No,” Kelford said, he wouldn’t go back to being that person. Couldn’t go back to that.

“ Perhaps you are feeling empty not because of the suffering you have gone through. You were strong enough to push your way here after all, “ T.U.I floated around the old version of Kelford, “You need a goal! It makes perfect sense. You focused on surpassing the entrance to the 5th floor that now you feel aimless. Perhaps we can grant you focus so that you will feel better.”

“ I can focus on passing the entire floor.”

“ Then we would be back to where we are now in only a few rooms and you can do much better than that.” T.U.I paused, “ Perhaps we can aim for the 10th floor? The Winter King waits at the top and this will give you plenty of time to investigate the origins of your class. Plenty of challenges that you can overcome. Plenty of Relics you can gather.”

Kelford nodded before he even consciously realized it. The worries seemed so far away again, so easy to manage. Pass the 10th floor and then he’d be stronger. Better at dealing with the entire situation. Plus that was the point of all of this right? To climb the Tower, get out of here to… he didn’t quite remember why.

“ You just have to get past these next floors and then you will be halfway there. You will see other climbers and this entire experience will be less lonely with others who suffered just as you have. There are many who have already made it to the 8th floor in your group.”

Kelford started, “ How?! Did they skip the quests or something? At the very least they’re missing an incredible level of potential power right? Most of my Karma comes from constantly rerunning these floors so they couldn’t have good relics.” So how? How could they get so far ahead of him?

“ You do not know all the benefits of the Tower Kelford and I am sure you understand what it would take for someone to make it so far. Especially without the Relics to assist them that far ahead.” T.U.I said.

“ They’re just that good.” Kelford leaned back as the thought slammed into him. “ They picked everything up so fast that the basic relics were all they needed. Even if they got lucky with a Rare relics they had to have pushed through the 5th in record time. Each floor is longer than the last, with the difficulty increasing. Which means…” They were better than him. They were the people the Tower was looking for, the ones that were going to save humanity. They were heroes and something in Kelford raged at it.

He looked up at his own face, the one that had stumbled into the Tower. He hated it. How much time had been wasted when he first came here. While he had been stuck down in the dark how many had trivialized the floors he had bled in for weeks?!

Fear forgotten ,Kelford grounded his teeth, “ What was the point in me DOING all of this then? I could have been up there pushing myself with them? Was all of this even necessary? “

“ According to my projections you would not have made it past the 6th floor if you hadn’t done the quest. Many of those who did not listen to their interfaces are now stuck on the safe floor, doomed never to progress. Is that what you would have wanted?”

“ No, but I need to know that this was all worth it. That I’m not falling behind.” That he wouldn’t end up like the old him, left behind to waste away . Not talented or driven enough to keep up.

“ It will be worth it Kelford, some small issues notwithstanding, your new class has great potential. If you keep going in this trajectory I found that you have great enough potential to catch up. You could surpass them all.” T.U.I drifted to the side and the illusion dissipated to reveal Kelford’s sword. “ You just have to keep climbing to the top no matter the cost. You can handle that, right Kelford?”

Kelford kneeled and picked up the weapon. It felt comfortable, reliable. With this he would cut his way through to the safe room. Fight his way to the 10th and higher.

“ I can handle it T.U.I, I can handle it.”

“That is good to hear.”

Kelford nodded as he went around gathering his equipment. Essence ran through his body as he donned his relics, the power stoking the determination that filled him. Bloody clothes were left on the stone as they had outlived their usefulness and soon Kelford was ready to go. With a breath he released Radiance of the Black Sun . Shadows crawled from his feet and the flame seemed to grow weaker, it’s light no longer the comforting glow that filled the space. Rolling his shoulders Kelford turned back towards T.U.I as he stood upon the entrance to the next room.

“ Thanks T.U.I , I couldn’t do this without you. You’ve been a good friend to have through all of this.”

“Of course Kelford, I am here to help as always.” Her voice was back to it’s normal bubbly self, none of the seriousness from before evident, “ Though I would say you could have pushed through even without my guidance. “

Kelford chuckled as he pushed through the entryway. T.U.I disappeared in a flash of light leaving him alone in the dark. Three more rooms and then the 5th floor would be over. It was time to really prove just how strong he could become.