Tower of Fate - Chapter 9: Risks and Follies (Patreon)

I took out my sword and descended quietly. The stone walls carried sound quickly, and I wanted as much warning as possible if another monster was coming for me. Hugo was uncharacteristically quiet too, which I was grateful for. Even he seemed to recognize the dangerous position we were in and remained perched on my shoulder, looking for threats.

The lit torch I’d thrown away earlier was still on the stairs and continued to burn. I left it where it was. The rest of the Stairwell was well lit, and I’d rather keep both hands free for fighting.

As we returned down to floor one hundred, I silently looted the body of the goblin houndsman I’d killed. It was mostly the same old story with the armor, though he also carried a belt with a sheath to go along with the knife he’d carried. I stopped to put it on and took the knife as a replacement for the one I’d left behind.

*Item Identified!* [Goblin Steel Combat Knife, common: F-Grade] – Seven inches of goblin pressed metal. It ain’t the size that counts but how you use it (Current state: Good).

The two of us continued warily down the stairs. It was several flights more than normal before we reached floor ninety-nine, where the exit door with the crystal handle was waiting for us. It looked the same as the floor above, only without a squad of murderous goblins. I almost went straight for the door, but something stopped me.

The System had said that this was a high-risk area and while things had gotten a little dicey, I’d say the two of us came out of it ahead and better leveled for our trouble. What would happen if we just stuck to the stairs and kept going? Leveling up and killing the monsters we found here? Considering how long the golden elevator stays locked for, the stairs were definitely the faster option. And then there was the one year time limit. How long could any of us afford to wait?

I turned away from the door and started down the stairs to level ninety-eight.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Hugo whispered.

“Testing an idea,” I whispered back.

We got halfway down the stairs before a large reddish-pink tentacle lazily stretched out from around the corner. The end of it stopped a few feet shy of us and was covered in spikes.

*Beast Identified* [Ostorox (Rare)] Level 18 – A creature from the dark void that is capable of unfathomable cruelty and malice. It likes to drape its victims on its spikes and keep them alive for as long as possible by excreting a substance that is part healing salve and part anti-coagulant. It’s asleep right now, but if you want to wake it up to skip waiting for the elevator, then give it your best shot, champ.

On second thoughts, let’s see what floor ninety-nine has to offer. Hugo’s beak hung open in shock as he read the same message that I did. Slowly, I backed away up the stairs while keeping my eyes on the tentacle. Blood was rushing to my ears and everything fell away except for the stairs and that tentacle.

Nothing else mattered but retreating.

Each soft footstep was careful and measured. It felt like a lifetime, but eventually we made it back up to the next floor.

Eager to get out of there, I grasped the door handle and turned. It let a loud creak and both of us froze.

An aching groan rumbled up from the staircase down below. It was so strong that I felt it vibrate through me. With no time to wait, I finished turning the handle and threw the door open just as the tentacle shot up the stairs with incredible speed. Hugo and I dove through onto floor ninety-nine and scrambled back on the carpet. The tentacle came through after us, but then grew still. The creature screamed and the two of us watched in fascination as the part of the tentacle that had crossed the boundary disintegrated. What remained of the tentacle was a burning stump that retreated down the stairs with a series of ear-splitting cries. As soon as I’d closed the door, the room fell silent.

*DING!* Quest Completed – Congratulations! You survived your first time using the Stairwell. In addition to the no doubt valuable lessons and life experience gleaned from there, you have also received a Common Loot Box.

Considering how worthless the last loot box had been, I wasn’t in a hurry to open the other two and doubly so on an unsafe floor. The System would just have to wait a little while longer before bestowing whatever new nonsense it had planned for me.

The design of the hallway here was similar to the floor my apartment had been on. The same electric lights on the walls, cream-colored walls, and rich red carpeting. However, the hallway had narrowed considerably and there was only a single door at the end of it.

“One of the things I was told was that every floor had the elevators,” I said to Hugo. “This floor must be broken up into rooms. Be ready for anything once we open that door.”

The crow gave a little salute with his wing and leaned forward on my shoulder. More than likely to be ready to fly away and escape the next danger. But with his lack of combat skills, I guess I couldn’t blame him.

With my sword in one hand, I opened the next door while half expecting another monster. Instead, the next room was a large circular stone chamber with ceilings that had to be over a hundred feet high. In the center was a curved stone console with a blue gem on it, and to the left were the gold and silver elevators. As soon as we entered, a new System message appeared.

[Welcome to your first challenge room where puzzles, traps, and prizes abound! Now you have a choice to make. You can either take the elevator right now to floor ninety-eight or place your hand on the activation panel and begin the challenge. Once begun, you cannot escape or survive without beating it. If you succeed, each participant will get to select from a pool of rare items. You have two minutes to decide]

“What do you think?” I asked Hugo.

The crow kept throwing glances at the gold elevator. “I suck at puzzles,” he said finally.

I know that the System had made him more, but coming from someone who was just a regular bird yesterday, the argument seemed silly.

“How do you know?” I asked. “Have you ever even tried a puzzle before? You’ve only been you for less than a day.”

“It’s hard to explain, but the core of it is that I don’t feel like a puzzle person and I have all of my memories from before. Including all those times I saw Mrs. Zebowski do a Sudoku puzzle on her balcony. It sucked to watch her then, and it sucks to think about doing one now. We should just move on.”

I found the idea of leaving rare items behind frustrating but especially so after encountering that void creature on the stairs.

“I understand your concerns, but this could be a big opportunity. The other floors are going to get tougher, so we need to take every advantage we can get. I think we should do the challenge. Besides, it might be more focused on avoiding traps anyway. With your flying ability, they’d be no problem.”

Hugo flew off of my shoulder and onto the ground, where he paced around in a little circle. He seemed younger when he was afraid but trying to hide it. Hard to determine what his age was too. Is he one day old or several years? He clearly wasn’t comfortable going forward with the challenge, so I tried to give him an out.

“It’s okay,” I said. “You can just take the elevator without me and I’ll meet you down on the next floor after I’m done here.”

Hugo’s voice got quieter and more desperate. “But… I don’t want to go down there alone.”

I was at a loss. Leaving behind a rare item seemed like a huge mistake, even though quietly, I could admit to myself that I too hated puzzles. But what else was there to do? One of us wanted to stay while the other wanted us both to leave. Hugo was scared. It was written all over his tiny face. While I was loath to do it, it was clear that he needed a pep talk.

“I know that last fight was scary,” I began. “But this room won’t represent the only time that we face uncertain odds. Bravery isn’t about tackling a situation that you already know that you can handle. It’s about when you don’t know. When you feel that fear and uncertainty pounding inside of you but you press forward and try anyway. Because in the end, all we can do is try.”

He hopped a little closer towards me. “But will it be enough?” he asked in a soft voice.

I held out my hand. “We can find out together. What would Chase Storm do?”

Hugo’s eyes lit up. “He’d kick ass and chew bubblegum and he’s all out of bubblegum!” He exclaimed before letting out an excited whoop. I decided it wasn’t worth dampening his spirits by pointing out that he’d made a mistake and gotten his favorite character mixed up with Roddy Piper. Hugo flew over to the console and tapped the blue gem with his claw. “Whew, let’s do this!”

The elevator's doors suddenly slammed shut, and I heard the door behind us lock.

[Challenge Commencing]