Tower of Fate - Chapter 12: Concern for My Fellow Man (Patreon)

The elevator played music as we descended down to the next floor. It was some upbeat pop song that had been all over the radio a few months ago. It was annoying to listen to at the best of times, but hearing it now only made me think about how much music had survived the System’s takeover. All of it? Bits and pieces? How much of what humanity had built would still be around by the time I reached the ground floor and escaped the tower?

But there was another, more personal reason for why I hated this particular song. It was playing in the coffee shop when I’d last spoken to Alice, my ex-girlfriend. We’d been friends since college and about a year ago, after she’d broken up with her boyfriend, I’d asked her out. She’d said yes, and it was the happiest I’d ever been. At the time I thought that I’d found the one, but the whole relationship was strange. We’d go on dates, but we never really grew intimate. Any time I broached the idea of taking that next step, she would rebuff me and tell me she needed to take things slow after her bad breakup. I accepted that and tried to let her take the lead, but all that amounted to was me paying for endless dinners and other dates. At the end of those nights, she’d hug me and say that she had a great time before going back inside her apartment. I was never invited in there and there were several periods where she’d just ghost me for days or sometimes even as long as a week. As stupid as it sounds now, at the time, I thought she just liked her space.

On her birthday, I tried to surprise her by showing up at her place unannounced with a present. I knocked on the door and one of my other friends Jason opened it. He was in his underwear with a dumb, surprised look on his face that probably matched my own. I froze, and it was only when Alice came out of her bedroom with a towel wrapped around her asking, “honey who is it?” that everything clicked into place.

I left and didn’t speak to either of them for a few weeks. It was only when I’d started hearing that Jason and Alice were telling multiple friends behind my back about how weird I was being that I agreed to see Alice in the coffee shop. I told her to stop bad-mouthing me, but she played dumb and said that it was my fault for freaking out and that we’d never had a conversation about being exclusive. I told her that I didn’t want to see her again. Thats I was angry and hurt, but I didn’t discover the worst part until later that day, which was that most of our mutual friends had ended up taking her side. I stopped talking to all of them after that, which led to a lot of time alone in the apartment, wallowing in self-pity.

I tightened my grip on my sword. Why the hell am I thinking about that now?

The elevator suddenly stopped and there was a characteristic ding before the doors were about to open. Hugo and I prepared as best as we could. What was next? Another challenge room with traps, more goblins or another tentacle monster? It turns out none of my guesses were even close.

[Now opening to floor 98]

The doors opened out into a forest.

I stepped out, confused. The sun was shining, a gentle wind was blowing through the trees, and there was a pleasant earthy smell in the air. I knelt down and touched the ground. It all felt real.

I turned around and saw the elevator door was still there, but there was nothing above it or behind it. It was like some kind of spatial warp. A moment later, the golden doors closed, but it didn’t disappear. It wouldn’t until the doors reopened and took people down to the next floor.

“Are we back in the real world?” Hugo asked.

I shook my head. “No, the Officiator had been quite clear on the part about being trapped in the tower. I think this is just a really big floor with magic being used to simulate the environment. On the bright side, it gives us the chance for some fake fresh air.”

Hugo stretched out his wings and flapped his way up onto a nearby tree branch.

“It’s nice to have some space for once,” he agreed.

“Can you go higher and see what we’re working with?”

The crow nodded and flew up above the tree’s circling a small area before gliding back down.

“It’s massive,” he said. “I just saw more forest in every direction.”

That was interesting. Until now, the System had funneled us in very specific directions against specific threats. Was it trying to go more open world or was the size of the floor the threat? What if the secret to clearing this floor was hidden in a giant space? Suddenly our new outdoor freedom didn’t feel so good, and with no new quests popping up, I hadn’t the faintest idea where to go next other than to pick a direction at random.

What I could really do with was more information. Which made me decide to try the party chat feature again to contact Earnest. Floor ninety-nine had been too small to bother with an attempt. He’d either been killed trying the challenge or had moved on to floor ninety-eight. Considering the size of this floor and the fact that the gold elevator had closed, there’s no way he’d be anywhere else but here if he was still alive.

[Party chat unavailable. Party has been disbanded]

I frowned. It didn’t necessarily mean that he was dead. He could have found others and joined their party instead or disbanded for other reasons. But given how close I’d come to death recently, it didn’t seem likely. Which was a shame. He seemed like a good man.

“Hey, should we open our loot boxes now?” Hugo asked.

We probably should have done it in the challenge room after we’d cleared it, but after the last joke item, I wasn’t in a hurry to get another gag gift from the System that had forced me into this dungeon. Still, Hugo had a point. We should get them done and out of the way now before exploring further. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get an anime bedspread to sleep with if we don’t find a silver elevator before nightfall.

Suddenly, I heard a man scream.

I couldn’t see him, but the voice sounded close. I ran towards it with my dark cloak swirling around me. Hugo followed from up above. Which was good. He wasn’t a direct fighter, but this time he’d be able to help by summoning Norris and directing him from the trees where he’d be safe.

Both of us moved faster than we ever had before. It was exhilarating. The wind rushed past my face, and I delighted in feeling how my upgraded body was more honed and balanced. I’d gone from an average schlub who’d get winded trying to run a mile to peak human ability in less than a day. In that moment, despite the death and danger, I loved it. The power, the speed. I didn’t just feel stronger. I felt like I could take on the whole world.

As we got closer, I took a cue from Hugo and used my new found power to climb a tree. With my enhanced strength, my body felt like it weighed half of what it used to. But I guess the more accurate answer was that my strength had doubled from what it had been. Using my acrobatics ability, I then hopped seamlessly from branch to branch. It wasn’t as fast as running on the ground, but it was quieter and the shadows were thick up here.

Soon enough, we found the screaming man. He was pale, with a trendy short beard, and in his early thirties. He wore a grey suit that had become dirty and tattered but still looked like it might have been quite fashionable in its original state. That wasn’t why he was screaming though. There was a deep gash in his leg that was bleeding a lot. He pressed one hand to the wound to try and slow the bleeding, while the other hand held a double-headed axe. Despite the pain, he didn’t take his eyes off of the bush in front of him.

A snarling boar jumped out from the tree behind the suited man and charged at him. I surmised that it must have retreated and gone around to surprise him, which spoke to the creature's intelligence. Its sharp elongated tusks and red eyes also suggested this was more than an ordinary boar.

The creature took the suited man by surprise and slammed into his side. He was knocked over and sent sprawling several feet back, but he kept the axe in his hand as he bounced along the ground. The boar snorted and scraped at the floor with a hoof. Preparing itself for a final charge. The suited man didn’t look like he was getting up in time to meet it.

“Should we help him?” Hugo asked.

I wasn’t sure. Of the two others I’d encountered since this had started, one had helped me and one had tried to kill me. I shrugged. What the hell. Fifty-fifty were good enough odds to save another person. And besides, who knows how many of us are even left at this point? He might be the only other person alive in the tower.

I casually slipped off of the tree branch and fell silently to the ground behind the man and the boar.