by Paul Bellow
“They’re coming,” I said. “Make it quick.”
I ran in front of the Four Wizards to give them a bit more time as their evil counterparts ran toward us. The crowd continued chanting my name as they got closer.
“Out of the way!” Thom shouted.
I dropped to the dirt on my stomach and stared ahead. A brilliant green beam shot through the air toward the evil Four Wizards. When it hit them, they stopped, wilted, then blew away like dust. The roar from the audience was at least double anything I had heard before.
As Monky and the Four Wizards walked over to me, I stood. Wiley shrunk to his normal size but not before blasting a huge fireball into the air high above the coliseum. I glanced over at the section behind us where the announcer and dignitaries sat to enjoy the shows.
“We have a winner!” Artemis said, his voice amplified.
Monky walked up and put her arm around my waist, squeezing tight as I looked over at one of the owners of the coliseum. Artemis smiled and lifted a hand in the air.
“Please remember all bets must be paid before you leave the coliseum. Failure to do so will result in your imprisonment,” he said.
I turned to Monky and smiled.
“We did it,” I said.
She removed her hand and stepped back before saying, “You helped.”
Artemis went on to announce a month-long party for the entire city to celebrate the return of the genuine Four Wizards to civilized society.
“Good thinking on that last gem,” Sherlock said.
I grinned, trying not to let the praise go to my head.
“Can you teleport me back to the lower levels?” I asked.
Before the Four Wizards could answer, Monky asked, “You’re not staying for the celebration?”
“I can stay for a day, I guess, but I’m getting close to the one-year penalty,” I said.
Aaron nodded his head.
“He’s right,” he said. “We need to get him back before that timer’s up. I’m not sure what would happen between him not having a PIN and defying a penalty of the gamemaster by escaping to the higher levels.”
The party in the crowd continued as the Four Wizards teleported us back to the evil Four Wizards’ tower complex. I wouldn’t miss all the slavery and hatred I had encountered in Midgaard, but I would miss others—Monky and Wiley the most.
Would she come with me back to the lower levels?
36
Big City, Bright Lights
Josh
After appearing in a room at the base of the Four Wizards’ connected towers, I walked over to Ferris. He smiled as I approached. The others formed a group a few feet away.
“Great job today,” he said. “Excellent use of your brain over brawn.”
“Thanks, but I really need to get back to find my friends,” I said.
Ferris nodded, his black, curly hair bouncing as he moved.
“There’s only one way we can get you back to the Tower of Gates and the lower levels safely,” he said. “Lucky for you, it’s been something we’ve been meaning to do for a while.”
What now? I wondered.
Monky glanced up at me.
I shrugged, unsure of anything.
“Station?” Ferris called out.
The other three wizards turned.
“Station!” they shouted in unison.
All four of them ran toward each other. They hit at full speed. Instead of toppling over and falling to the floor, a bright light flashed. As I regained my sight, I saw a single, tall figure. He turned, wearing a multi-colored robe, and smiled.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “My name is Viz. Thank you both for all your help.”
“Okay,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“Yeah,” Monky added. “What did we just see?”
Viz chuckled then sat on the floor with his legs crossed.
“Come here,” he said, motioning for us with a giant hand.
Monky and I glanced at each other before going over to Viz.
He smiled and said, “My experiment is finally finished thanks to you two.”
“Experiment?” I asked.
“As you know, many of us are still striving to escape the Tower of Gates and enter the physical world,” Viz said. “Many years ago, I split myself into four separate characters in order to explore ways to get out of the game. My four selves worked tirelessly to find a solution, but they ended up going down the wrong road and created four evil versions of themselves. With my personality so split up, I forgot who I was in the beginning.”
I nodded as if I understood what he was saying.
“You’re him,” Monky said with a small gasp.
Viz and I both turned to her.
“I’ve heard rumors about you,” she said, nodding.
“Only good ones, I hope,” he said.
His smile mesmerized me.
“Can you still get me back to the Tower of Gates?” I asked.
Viz nodded.
“That’s why I needed to reform myself into a single character,” he said. “After we killed the other four wizards, I remembered who I was in the beginning. I’m more powerful now than I was before. Teleporting you past the Warp Zone is not a problem for me.”
I smiled and looked over at Monky.
“We’re going back,” I said.
She pursed her lips together.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“She wants to stay,” Viz said.
Monky nodded.
“I can’t go back there with this body,” she said. “And I want to keep it.”
“No worries,” I said, slapping on a smile. “You do you.”
I turned back to Viz. He had somehow taken on the attributes of the Four Wizards.
“Getting you back is important,” he said. “I’m one of the original players, and I’ve logged over a thousand years in the game. After that long, time becomes somehow less aggressive. Does that make sense?”
I shook my head. He laughed like a friendly father.
Monky leaned forward and asked, “Are you one of the original six?”
Viz nodded.
“I split myself a long time ago. That’s why I’m no longer sure how long I’ve been inside the game. Everything I’ve tried during that time has never worked.” He turned to me. “You not having a prisoner identification number is not unique, but there’s something else special about you.”
“I’m not special,” I said.
Nearly a years’ worth of captivity had taught me a bit of humility.
“You’re more special than you think,” Viz said.
“Did some of the original six escape?” Monky asked. “Are the rumors true?”
“Not that I know of,” Viz said. “I would know if one of them got out.”
“This is all so nuts,” I said, the reality of the situation hitting me.
“It can be overwhelming, but you need to remember there’s a world outside of this,” Viz said. “The Tower of Gates wants you to forget the real world, wants you to more fully accept this generated world as reality. You’re only experiencing the very outer levels.”
“How far up the tower have you been?” Monky asked.
Viz tilted his head back a bit and observed her before answering.
“High enough,” he said then turned back to me. “You returning before your one-year penalty is up is essential. I’m not sure what would happen if you didn’t go.”
I clapped my hands together then said, “That’s great. Let’s do this.”
Viz untangled his legs then stood.
“We can’t go just yet,” he said. “There’s one more thing we need to do. You can’t go back with a clear memory of what happened on level one-nine. In fact, you shouldn’t recall any of your year-long penalty clearly. With your having no PIN, the gamemaster might decide to punish you. That wouldn’t be good. If you allow me to erase your memory, you’ll have plausible deniability. All your adventures after you spawned will be like fadin
g dreams. You’ll keep your current level and skills, but you’ll have no knowledge of how you got them.”
“That’s a lot to digest,” I said.
“Brains over brawn,” Viz said then smiled. “And treat others in here as you’d like to be treated. Beyond the numbers and levels and statistics, the gamemaster watches how you play your role in the Tower of Gates. Are you a villain or a hero?”
“I’m neither,” I said.
Viz’s smile deepened.
“You’re learning,” he said. “If we send you back without erasing most of your memory, there’s a chance you’d be isolated by yourself and tormented by the gamemaster until you’re taught your lesson.”
“Are the rumors about the game glitching true?” Monky asked.
“You have a lot of questions, little one,” Viz said then smiled. “I’ll answer them after our young friend is returned to his proper place.”
His words gave me a sense of peace somehow. I wasn’t sure if it was the tone of his voice or his vocabulary, but something about him made me feel it would all be okay in the end.
“Look into this light,” Viz said.
It flashed once brightly.
My vision faded.
I appeared in the Tower of Gates with a faint recollection of something. Was it all a dream? Had I fallen asleep inside the tower? If so, how had I gained levels? As questions piled up in my mind, I wandered down the long, curved hallway.
The only two portals activated were for the first two levels. Should I wait for the gamemaster or go into one of the portals? And which one? I glanced down and noticed a piece of paper attached to a string tied around my wrist. I carefully pulled it off then read the note which told me to go to the second level and look for Sarah in a town called Esterhollow. At the sight of her name, my heart beat faster. Could I find her? After all this time? How much time had passed?
A stinging pain in my temples flared up as I stared at the hand drawn map on the back side of the note. The line from an X on the map led to a building labeled ‘garrison.’ Was that where I would find Sarah? And would Eric be with her? The paper got hot all a sudden then burned. I dropped it to the stone floor of the hallway, watching it turn into ashes that floated away. Could I remember the directions on the map? Did Sarah need my help badly?
I pushed all the thoughts that didn’t make sense—like how long I had been asleep and why I couldn’t remember anything solidly—to the back of my mind. The only thing that mattered was finding the other two and escaping the game.
Nothing else mattered.
Epilogue
MAGI INYONTOO
Why haven’t I heard from that blasted half-orc barbarian? I wondered as I paced back and forth in my study at the top of the Tower of Sherlock. Even worse than my anger at the new player named Josh, I missed my father. Why had the game taken him away from me? I had so many questions to ask him about the Tower of Gates and more.
The stupid barbarian had found the others, but he hadn’t killed them. Sarah still died thanks to the brownies, but she didn’t give me any useful information. Eric was the new player I needed to talk to the most, and I still hadn’t been able to kill him. I needed his character dead so I could find out what he knew about the game and getting out.
As the possible son of one of the developers, he could be very useful in finding a way out of the Tower of Gates prison. If nothing else, I would make him explain how he hacked into the game. All I needed was to kill him—a newbie—but I had not been able to get it done. Was the gamemaster AI working against me? I wondered as I stopped pacing.
Outside the window of the tower, I saw the mountains stretching in the distance. According to the last report I received, my undead hordes were spreading on multiple levels. With a little more time, my plan to flood the game might work. I had no idea what would happen, but any chink in the gamemaster AI’s armor would help.
“Hello?” a voice asked behind me.
I turned and saw Terrance standing with his hands behind his back.
“What?” I asked in an irritated tone.
“I’ve been looking for information on the new player, but the game’s hiding her somehow,” he said. “What do you want me to do?”
“Find her,” I said. “No matter what it takes.”
“Yes, sir,” he said then scurried down the ladder in the center of the room.
I sighed, wishing I had kept Eddie around longer. While a pain, he usually got results. The few remaining players blindly following me were bottom-of-the-barrel material at best. I turned back around to look out the window. The sky darkened with clouds in the distance. I enjoyed the calm before the storm as I dreamed of finally escaping the game.
Glossary
1dx - Random number between 1 and x. For example, 1d4 would be one to four damage, and 1d20 would be a number between one and twenty.
* * *
AC (Armor Class) - This is a way to show how well armored a player or creature/monster/mob is in the game. 0 = Naked and 100+ = Very Well Armored.
* * *
Alignment – A character’s alignment score runs from -100 (very evil) to +100 (very good). Some actions in the game may affect alignment negatively or positively.
* * *
Currency - The currency system on this level of the Tower of Gates series is as follows.
* * *
1 Platinum Piece (pp) = 20 Gold Pieces (gp)
1 Gold Piece (gp) = 20 Silver Pieces (sp)
1 Silver Piece (sp) = 20 Bronze Pieces (bp)
1 Bronze Piece (bp) = 50 Copper Pieces (cp)
* * *
DPS - Damage Per Second
* * *
Experience Points - Numerical representation of progression through various levels. Different classes need a variable amount of experience points (xp) in order to level-up and improve their character in the game.
* * *
Health Points – When a character’s health points dip below zero, they die in the game. Resting and magic can restore health.
* * *
Stats / Statistics - Strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, charisma, and constitution are the basic statistics of a character. A score of one in any stat is considered very low while a score of a hundred (or more) is god-like.
* * *
Levels - Numerical representation of progression. For example, a level one character is very new and inexperienced. As they gain xp (experience points), they gain in level and become more powerful.
* * *
Mana / Magic Points – Each spell cast costs a certain number of magic points. A spellcaster regains all their magic points after a full night of sleep. Mana can also be restored via magical means.
* * *
Mindspeak / Mindspeech - Telepathic communication between characters. Signified in this novel with italics in quotes, Example: … “Can you hear me,” I asked. A character’s internal thoughts are signified with italics and no quotes. Example: Wow. That was close!
* * *
MOB / Mobile – A non-intelligent NPC or monster in the game.
* * *
NPC - Non-Player Characters in Tower of Gates might be controlled by the AI or players that were killed in the game.
* * *
PK - Player Killer - A character who kills other players for one reason or another.
* * *
PvP - Player vs Player; a mode of gameplay where players can attack each other.
* * *
XP - (See Experience Points.)
Tower of Gates Saga
Book 1 - HACK
Book 2 - HATE
Book 3 - HERO
Book 4 - BRUTE
Book 5 - BOOST
Book 6 - BLITZ
Book 7 - LUCK
Book 8 - LOCK
Book 9 - LOST
Book 10 - ENIGMA
Book 11 - ECHOES
Book 12 - ESCAPE
Tower of Gates Supplemental Adventures
ROGUELIKE
BATTLES
>
MAGI
RETURN
Want More LitRPG Books?
Visit these LitRPG Lands…
* * *
LitRPG Reads
* * *
LitRPG Forum
* * *
