Kelford stepped over the last of the spent traps before looking behind him. The room looked as if multiple bombs had gone off as large gouges and giant slabs of ice left the floor ruined. With a few well placed Shadow Bolts and countless times passing the floor , Kelford had triggered enough to forge a path for himself. With a few minutes to allow the ritual orb to absorb more shadow essence Kelford took the path up to the surface.

As always the sight of sunlight stole his breath, as the tight confines of the cave gave way to the rustling of trees. The awe inspiring mountain stood in the distance, lording over the forest and waterfront. Taking a moment to feel the wind on his skin Kelford began to prepare a spot to make a camp for a few minutes. Pulling the chair of the [Mountain Camping Set] he had purchased from the Shop, Kelford began setting what he liked to refer to as his 4th floor celebration. Minutes later a chair, a steaming bowl of Ram Stew , a cup of clear water, and a change of clothes stood ready as he bathed in the water. The sabertooths in the area liked to avoid this place unless he spent longer than an hour messing around. So, Kelford had turned this opening to the fourth floor into a break of sorts. Most of the time it took a few tries to get this far, as either mistakes or monsters tore him apart. The cold would only increase the farther he went so this was the most comfortable spot in the entire floor. With the sights and the relative safety. Kelford had decided to enjoy his time in this place after the darkness of the previous floors. Blood and grime had built up on him and the feeling of washing them off was like a second wind to his mental state.

Pulling himself from the water he quickly toweled himself off as he slipped on his new clothing for this floor.

Fur Lined Leather Set

Unranked

Description:

Made to keep the wear warm and combat ready.

Low grade enchantments keep the leather clean and pristine.

It had cost a decent chunk of karma but with T.U.I’s advice he had bought it. For this part of the floor it had been a lifesaver. His wounds could be bandaged but the damaged clothing would let the cold seep in, slowing him down if not eventually killing him. He slowly ate the stew as he enjoyed a nice moment to enjoy the view and his food. Still, he had one worry.

“ T.U.I what’s going on?” The answer was mostly to the air, as T.U.I couldn’t materialize themself until the sabertooths were dealt with. The guide hadn’t spoken in awhile and Kelford was starting to get concerned. T.U.I hadn’t even appeared through the majority of the third, only speaking about a question he had about the ruins he had seen.

Kelford sighed, maybe T.U.I would speak to him when she was ready? He’d been thrown off when she hadn’t known the answer, how must she be feeling? Having known the entire answer her entire life only to not know something that this Myriad Index hadn’t thought to let her know about? It must be disorienting. Kelford took a stand and swiftly collected all of his gear. This run was going too well for him to lose focus now. T.U.I would talk when she was ready, he just needed to focus on passing the next few rooms.Then the quest would be done and he would be that much closer to going home. He reaffirmed his will and began to pull a bolt together.

It was harder than it should have been. Kelford flared his attunement and that the normally bountiful clouds of shadow essence were almost nonexistent around him. He held his ritual orb and pulled a weak bolt together before eyeing the magical repository. It wasn’t an exact science but he considered that the orb was roughly 80% percent full. It was still trying to absorb shadow essence but with the sparsity of the essence it wasn’t collecting much.

“Great” The momentum Kelford had been building seemed to have stalled just as it had gotten started, “ I’ll just have to be careful with the amount I use from here on out”

He made his way to the forest pulling on his ritual orb to create 4 small partially completed bolts of shadow. With the minimum amount of orbs needed he walked into the forest, keeping to the path for a solid 20 minutes until the clearing and mountain sights were swallowed by the alien evergreens. Pulling from his Inventory a cooked flank of Ram meat he threw it to the side before dodging into a nearby bush. He held his breath as he waited for the stalking sabertooth to smell the bait. He did not have to wait long as soon the sound of ripping began and Kelford’s moment had come. He jumped from the bush to see the feasting cat before blasting it with all four of the weak Shadow Bolts! It screamed as the shadowy projectiles tore into its flesh as flesh was torn asunder. Kelford pulled from his orb again only to see that the mewing creature was in no condition to fight. It was still alive and with ease he blasted it’s head.

Kelford checked his orb to see that the fight had cost him a full fifth of his orbs max. The orb tried to absorb more shadow essence from the surroundings but so far the amount of shadow essence was not even an eighth of the density found in the earlier floors. Cursing he kept moving forward, until he could see more of the lounging cats in front of the decrepit cottage in the middle of the forest. With a few empowered Shadow Bolts the Sabertooth Younglings died before they even knew they were in danger. Stepping over their corpses Kelford could only sigh in relief. If he hadn’t killed them this quickly or if they were aware of his shadow essence, much like the floor below. He would have been in trouble. This run was an old fashioned glass cannon and he needed to blast everything before they could touch him.

Making his way into the building he made his way to the relic room in the basement.

Congratulations!

You have the option of Unlocking a Relic subvault

Free Unlock: Uncommon

100 Karma: Rare

1000 Karma: Very Rare

10000 Karma: Legendary

100000 Karma: Mythic

Available Karma: 4780

T.U.I didn’t appear and so Kelford simply defaulted to saving his points as he and T.U.I had agreed he should do. The uncommon vault wasn’t too exciting but he was able to gain another relic.

Ring of Force

Uncommon

Description:

This ring allows the bearer to discharge a wave of force three times.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Charges come back within 24 hours of use.

Added to the relics he had gained from completing the second and third floors he was up to two uncommon relics. He had received a common belt that increased his strength, and his reward for the third was a pair of boots that decreased the sound his footsteps made. Both weren’t too shabby but nothing that he particularly thought much of. He turned towards the steps, making his way to the second room of the fourth floor . The chill of the mountain air as he exited the abandoned hall didn’t cut as deeply with his clothing keeping him warm. He pulled the essence he needed from his orb and soon 2 bolts were prepped.

One more battle and the 5th floor was his.

The sound of the storm raging below created a strangely peaceful atmosphere. Usually T.U.I would fill this stretch with her normally positive rhetoric or Kelford would be so injured he found little peace in the scene. Now, with all his preparations and the success of this run it was almost impossible not to enjoy the walk. The storm below covered the landscape in impenetrable storm clouds, even the alien trees below were covered from view. Yet the mountain was so huge that the wrath of the storm seemed too far away to even feel a tinge of fear. Mixed with the smell of pine and snow, he really did feel as if he was in another world. A grand adventure where he explored a new world. His feet slowed to a stop as he allowed himself to get lost in the feeling for a few moments longer. His eyes opened and before them was the ruins of a destroyed village. The sheep were loitering around as always, with the few rams either sleeping or wandering at the edge of the group.

Kelford pumped power into the bolts before splitting them into four empowered projectiles. The Ice-Horned Sheep were powerful creatures in a way that the sabertooths weren’t. High constitution and powerful horns made fighting them hard for any of the warrior classes to defeat them in an upfront battle. For the Ranged Warrior, Kelford had to spend a large amount of his arrows to kill the sheep and even then he had still been surprised more than once by their sheer numbers. With the Apprentice class he had found that there was a different but costlier way of defeating the monsters. Kelford poured more essence into his bolts stressing his control. His heart was pumping as he began to feel his limits. Every other room had been blown away by the sheer strength of the Acolyte’s spells. So why not this one? The sheep didn’t remain idle as they began to notice the climber in their midst. The rams bleeted in rage as they all charged. Kelford’s attunement spiked as he began to pour more power into his bolts and to his sight his bolts were small stars of purple essence. The essence around them began to change, more purple clouds beginning to form when there had been none before. Almost as if … Kelford wrenched his strained mind back as he threw the first of his Shadow Bolts!

The bleeding edge of the charge met the tip of the sheeps charge and absolutely decimated them! The coats of the sheep had protected them from most physical strikes, but essence empowered hits cut through them like butter.

Shadow Bolt

The wild chaos of the charge being blunted had sent all of the remaining sheep, and most importantly the rams, stumbling. Now they were bunched up and unprepared. The bolts fell upon the monsters and Kelford watched as a full two thirds of the sheep met their end, with the rest in no condition to fight. Another bolt formed and with the last of his ritual orb's essence he blasted them to death. Kelford gasped as he fell to his knees. A headache blasted at his temples and the effort of channeling of that power at once. Still he couldn’t help but smile. For just a moment he had felt alive again. To feel as if the monotony was no longer pressing down upon him.

“ I wonder when this place lost its spark” The words fell from his lips as he collected himself. The ram meat wasn’t salvageable but what he lost in resources he’d made up with success. This was a perfect run. He’d gone through so much and finally made it, the 5th floor was open to him.

“ A very good job Kelford” Kelford whirled as he saw the floating orb of T.U.I.

“ Hey, you’re back!”

Her glowing dimned slightly, “ Yes, I feel much better now. I am so sorry for abandoning you during your climb. That is not what a Interface should do but I -”

“ There is nothing to apologize for.” Kelford said firmly, “ I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”

There was nothing left to be said, whatever feelings she had been feeling he wouldn’t have been able to understand. Kelford could be there for her though, even if he couldn’t directly help.

“ Once you return to the safe floor there will be much to speak about” T.U.I said, “ Your time training has paid off Kelford and your talent with the Acolyte class has only made your growth all the more apparent. I will see you on the safe floor and learn as much as you can.” With that T.U.I dematerialized.

“ Learn as much as I can?” Kelford said to the cold, “ What does that even mean?”

There had been a few occasions where T.U.I had given hints to deeper truths of the Tower, one’s that she either couldn’t tell him or he hadn’t unlocked yet. Considering that the last fact they had spoken about was the gnoblars and shadow essence…

“ I guess I’ll just have to ask them.”

Kelford stood and made his way to the end of the floor. The ruins of the city only seemed starker every time he came here. The altar with its powerful creature still stood above the wreckage of homes and city life. The jagged crystal that made its heart glowed in the air as once again the choice came.

Choose

Sacrifice An Uncommon Relic or greater

Or

Defeat the Guardian

Kelford sacrificed his Ring of Force as he hadn’t needed it on this run and the glowing heart dulled. The way to the fifth floor was clear. He was out of external power and no matter how much he flared his attunement skill he could only see small dots of shadow essence even as he walked within the shadow of the massive fort before him. He wasn’t passing the next room if he had a chance. He ignored the relic orb that appeared and moved up the stairs to the broken gates. The bitter wind grew but he didn’t feel it. He’d prepared and trained until the previous floors were nothing but a training exercise. Now, all that was left before he could finally leave this section of the Tower was this death. Whatever waited behind these gnoblars would have to contend with him giving it his all.

Kelford stepped onto the last step and saw all of the gnoblars waiting for him. There was no snarling and posturing. They stared at him with bloody promise in their eyes. Sabertooths laid flat on their belly keeping their eyes fixed on him. One of them stepped forward, the leader if their increased size was any indication. It stood taller than Kelford, with a robe of furs and leather wrapped around its frame. An orb glowed icy blue in its left hand.

“ You… abomination come to corrupt us” It’s tone brokered no argument.

“ I don’t, if you do not attack me I will not attack you.” Kelford's voice was pitched directly to the lead gnoblar. He had dealt with them enough to notice there was little point trying to persuade the others. They refused to even entertain his words unless they came through their leader.

The gnoblar leader snorted, “ Liar, you abominations corrupt family…corrupt father! Winter King say all touched by black sun are to be kill killed! All who escape storm of ice no longer need live! Black Sun corrupt all…we only ones not fall.”

Kelford looked at the faces of the gnoblars as the last statement was made. Anger and fury. Most of all there was a hurt there. Kelford’s eyes went back to the leader who even now was charging some kind of spell. It had been monologuing simply to buy time to complete some powerful spell. Kelford was honestly impressed. He couldn’t see the essence it was specifically pulling on but he could feel the change in the air, like feeling the wind move rather than to it. He was learning too much to not reach for just a little bit more.

“ Your father… he is the winter king?”

All the gnoblars froze at once.

“You insult the King!” The gnoblar leader roared, “ King top of mountain and you think he sit on bottom! Your corruption rot your brain and I kill you!! “ Ice and cold descended on Kelford as frost raced along his clothing. Ice stabbed up from the ground and speared his torso. He coughed blood as the pain stabbed through him but he held onto consciousness.

Enhanced Willpower

Despite himself he smiled. “ I’ll see you losers soon.” Shadows licked along Kelfords frame as he pulled a Shadow Bolt empowered by all of his internal essence. He’d learned what he needed.

“ And when I do, you’re all going to die!” Even as he spoke he could see the fear in their eyes as he pulled shadow essence into an orb of destruction. “ Then I’m coming for your king next!”

Shadow Bolt

Kelford didn’t get to see the results of his spell but as life left his lips he knew he’d see it next time.