by Ivan Kal
Ves took her new shield and looked at it. It wasn’t as large as her tower shield, but it was large enough. It was diamond shaped and reflective, almost like a mirror. She put it on and moved her arm a bit, getting used to the weight. Morgan turned to his purchases and put his potions in the storage. Then he picked up the trinket that he purchased. It was a set of two dice. They were a bit larger than ordinary dice, the two of them filling the palm of his hand. Each had a distinct symbol on each of its sides. He didn’t recognize the symbols, but they were nice looking, one black and the other white.
He pulled up the items description and read through it again.
Dice of Return LVL 54 (requires wisdom 30, intellect 40, will 50) — The dice of a lost adventurer. The two dice are inescapably linked, and allow the wielder of one die to teleport to the other die’s location, to a distance up to 500 meters. Cooldown per dice 24 hours.
The effect wasn’t all that impressive, but it could be helpful in some situations. It allowed him to basically set a home area where he could teleport back to whenever he wanted within a radius of half a kilometer—and they were cheap, as well.
Ta’elara noticed him looking at the dice and walked over.
“You bought the dice,” she said matter-of-factly.
“They seem incredibly powerful for their price,” Morgan said.
“Oh, they are, most people who go through the floors get them eventually. Even if just so that they can have fun with them. It is an easy way to avoid gates and such—just throw one dice over and teleport. But if you’ve reached the levels that we are on now, you have enough wealth that you probably have some kind of an item or power like that anyway. So it isn’t as useful later on.”
Morgan felt a bit disappointed in his purchase when he heard that, but he still put them in his satchel. Even with his phasing ability, he was still confident that they would prove useful in the future.
CHAPTER THREE
The raid group spent another several days resting and getting more supplies for their climb beyond the third floor. The people who had left in order to get supplies brought with them extra storage items, filled with food, water, camping gear, any and all kinds of resources that they could think of that they might need. They then spread the extra storage items to everyone in the group, since they didn’t know what they might encounter beyond the portal.
That morning the entire raid group assembled, all thirty-two people—some of the most powerful people in the World. At their head stood Ragnor Raam, wearing his brilliant blue armor. He would’ve likely out-leveled that armor, if it weren’t a special item. It was one of the most expensive items in the third floor shop, and Ragnor Raam had bought it on his last climb to the third floor. His armor could be upgraded by feeding it ascension crystals, and the man had been spending an incredible amount of them.
Morgan understood why—he had gained enough ascension crystals from finishing the trial on the first floor that he could basically live for several hundred years without fighting another monster again. He could see how people who finished a couple of the floors would start stagnating on the outside.
Ragnor Raam’s armor was half-plate, with a winged helmet now resting on his head. Two swords rested sheathed on his hips, the gems set into their pommels glowing faintly. He was an impressive man; a Shara Daim, one of the cousin races of humans, like elves, Nel, dwarfs, and orcs. That made him taller than most people, almost as tall as one of the giants. His skin was as dark as obsidian, the signature color of his race. His eyes were different as well, with even the whites being black, but he also had secondary eyelids that looked like he had several pupils that constantly moved. It was a strange sight.
Morgan had gotten to know their leader more than others in the raid group. He was not only a great leader, but also a great person. He was someone who had a dream, who wanted to do more than what people on the outside of the Tower counted as success. He was…inspiring, and a monster in a fight.
“My friends, I thank you all for staying with me, for following me,” Ragnor Raam spoke. Morgan had noticed that no one had left the raid group—all who had climbed the first three floors were here to continue. He wasn’t surprised at that; all of them had been chosen carefully.
“We are about to do something that few ever try. To climb beyond this floor,” Ragnor continued. “We don’t know what awaits us, but I am confident that I could not have assembled a better group to attempt it with. I would trust anyone here with my life, and have many times during our climb. I cannot promise you success—no one knows what waits on the other floors—but I know that we can do it. Thank you for sharing my dream.”
Ragnor looked over the people assembled there, all of their gear ready and waiting.
“We will go through in teams,” Ragnor said. “Red Team first.”
Red Team was Ragnor Raam’s group, comprised of the Call’s Hammers, which was led by Richard the Bone Splitter, Ragnor Raam’s right-hand man, and Fjordstar, the winners of the Grand Tournament.
“Behind us, the Green and Black Teams.”
Both Green and Black were the teams from Erthirium Riders Guild, led by Evermou and Kalrak, respectively.
“Followed by the Blue Team.”
Which was the team led by Ta’elara, including Morgan’s Sky Force and Borodar’s Last Vanguard. The order made sense; the Red Team had most of their front-line fighters and the most powerful tank, with Nesseya from the Call’s Hammers. Team Fjordstar had two giants and Sumion who could cast powerful barriers. The Green and Black Teams were mostly a mix of front-line and long-range damage dealers, and his own team had probably their highest damage dealers. Morgan, Ta’elara, Gravough, and Hexna could dish out some pretty insane damage from long range.
“Get ready—we don’t know what awaits us on the other side!” Ragnor said.
Everyone gripped their weapons tighter. Morgan used his Whispering Spirit Bow Form and his left hand turned into a bow. He pulled out an arrow from the pocket spatial storage that hung from his tunic to rest on his hips and nocked it. He glanced around, seeing his friends and family. Ves stood at the front of their team, alongside Borodar. Vallsorim and Lucius had returned from the Guild, having made arrangements in case they didn’t return, and stood just behind them. Vallsorim had his guandao ready in his hands, and his new armor was covered in embers, looking like it was made out of cooling melt. Lucius held his two newly purchased swords from the shop, slightly curved and single-edged, a departure from his previous gladius-type swords.
Next came Grav and Morgan, with Hexna and Ta’elara just behind them. At the back of their formation were Clara and Jelara, their supports.
Morgan glanced at Clara and raised his eyebrow.
“You ready bestest buddy?” He smiled at her.
“Always,” Clara smiled back at him.
These people were his family, his closest friends. Growing up as he had on Earth, almost always alone, he hadn’t even dreamed that being close to people could feel this way. Everyone looked around as the other teams entered the portal, a quiet anticipation building in all of them. Morgan could see fear in them as well, but they were together, and no matter what they faced on the other side, that wouldn’t change. And then they were moving.
The other teams disappeared through the red portal, and then it was their turn. No one said anything—they just stepped through.
And when it was Morgan’s turn, he closed his eyes and took a step.
***
The blinding light consumed him, and just as quickly it was gone, and was standing someplace else. He blinked his eyes as sounds assaulted him. Yelling, and a thundering rumble in the distance. He shook his head, but then a notification appeared in front of his eyes.
TOWER QUEST! THE BATTLEFIELD FLOOR — REACH THE PORTAL TO THE FIFTH FLOOR.
Morgan blinked the notification away as Ragnor Raam’s voice reached him.
“Everyone forward! Charge them, head for the portal! Tanks, surround our formation. Long-range DPS,
fire at will!”
Morgan barely had a moment to gather himself as everyone sprang into motion. He looked around, seeing people around him with pale faces and horror on their faces. And then the rumbling in the distance became a roar. The skies above them were murky and gray, and the land was dried dirt.
But as he looked for the source of the noise he found it.
In the distance ahead of them he saw the glowing red portal blazing on a hill. He couldn’t tell how far away it was. A kilometer? Two, three? It didn’t matter, though, because of what was in front of the hill. An army of monstrous forms, almost goblin-like except they were as tall as any human—twisted black shapes with spikes growing out of them.
An army that was charging at them.
Morgan looked to the side, and saw the army stretch all the way in a circle around them. They were surrounded, an army charging at them from every direction.
Immediately, he moved. His Mass Exchange started pulling mass from his Bracelet of Mass Storage, pushing it into his arrow as he ran forward along with everybody else. Ta’elara spun her staff and flew up into the air, and fire blazed around her before bolts of fire started flying at the army in front of them. The other ascended capable of flight joined her and started firing as aerial fighters flew out of the army all around them.
Morgan looked around, looking for his friends. He saw Clara and Jelara behind him, with some fighter from Evermou’s teams behind them. Grav was next to him aiming his launcher to the side and firing over their heads at the army coming at them from the left. Lucius was up in the air, sending wind blades at the flyers coming at the others in the air. A flash of fire to the right draw his attention and he saw Vall using his fire-blink ability to reach the other side of their formation and get ready for the army charge.
A roar announced Ves at the head of the formation, her shield looking like a frozen slab as she climbed on the back of her bear that she was infusing with her Imbue Summon, turning it into a white monstrosity as she also triggered her Eldritch Abomination. Its maw unhinged and it grew larger, tentacles covered in ice growing out of its neck and ice covered its claws. It roared and charged forward with the other tanks.
Their entire formation was running forward at the charging army, and at the portal in the distance.
“We must punch through them!” Ragnor yelled, and Morgan waited. They had already killed hundreds, perhaps a thousand of the charging monstrosities, but there were more still, an ocean that didn’t seem to have an end.
Ragnor spotted him, and dashed over stopping next to Morgan as they all ran forward. “I need you—”
“Already on it!” Morgan pulled his string back as he put an enormous amount of mass into his arrow.
“As soon as you are able, at the center of those in front of us!” Ragnor said.
“Understood,” Morgan shot back.
A moment later, Ragnor Raam dashed to someone else, giving them instructions.
They were close to the charging army now, and Morgan saw Lucius clash with the aerial fighters that had already reached them. The air above them turned into a battlefield as their fliers started fighting for their lives. The corpse of a monster fell down and nearly hit Morgan in the head, but a dome of yellow light appeared above him. He glanced to the side and saw Clara using her shields to protect the people from the attacks from above, as she used her Double Cast ability to buff up as many people around her as she could.
Morgan felt himself draw all the mass from his Bracelet of Mass Storage and felt like he had pulled enough from the ground as he ran. He bent his knees and jumped up, then immediately activated his Phase Dash. All his senses went black and he flew upward on his previous momentum. Then the ability ran out and he was in the air, among the fliers and the enemy. He saw one of them up close as he aimed his bow in the distance. A black twisted form that resembled a gargoyle of some kind wearing ragged armor beat its wings and lunged at him.
But Lucius smashed into it and stabbed his swords into its side. Morgan saw lightning flash and the monster get electrocuted as Lucius carried it away. Morgan felt his momentum bleed off and his body start to fall, so he let his Phase Shot fly. The arrow shot away, phased until it was no longer touching his body. Then, as it phased back in, a shockwave exploded around it and a whining sound roared from its passage through the air. Even before the arrow reached its destination, Morgan grabbed the launcher on his thigh and shot it along with all the fire the rest of the raid group was sending forward. His fire grenade launched out just as his arrow hit the middle of the charging line. The mass of the arrow smashed into the ground. It had been one of his special arrows, made out of dark iron and with a rounded tip. The ground cracked and the shockwave spread all around it as earth was ripped out. The monsters’ line was shattered and their bodies thrown in all directions.
Morgan felt himself falling and activated his Phase Dash again, to get himself closer to the ground without gaining more speed. The ability ended and he dropped the last few meters to the ground, his body easily absorbing the fall. He had dropped to the back of the line, and he rushed forward to catch up. He changed his hand to its Basic Form, and it became an ordinary arm. Immediately he started reloading his launcher and firing it over the heads of the others.
And then he saw the front line smash into the disoriented enemies. Ves charged in with her bear, her hammer smashing monsters that were almost as tall as she was on the bear. Her summon roared and sent the enemies flying. Nesseya, running next to Ves with her spike-covered armor, round shield, and flail, shouted, sending a blast of red energy ahead that opened up a path. The monsters wearing ragged and nearly broken armor started to surround them, and the fight narrowed down to the front and their sides as they fought through.
Morgan launched his grenades ahead, in front of the tanks on the front, and kept his eyes on their back seeing the army close their rear and start chasing after them. He heard a scream and turned around just in time to see someone in the front lose their head to a massive monster. His heart skipped as someone turned into blue particles and died—he didn’t even know who.
That moment of distraction nearly cost him his own life as one of the fliers from above dove at him. But Morgan noticed it in time and lashed out with his arm, touching the monster and activating Momentum Shift. He couldn’t use it on living things, but he got around that by touching the monster’s armor. The gargoyle-looking creature changed direction as its armor’s momentum was changed and it smashed into the ground. A moment later a massive foot smashed its head and Morgan nodded at Oraa, the giant woman from Fjordstar.
He caught another flash of blue and knew that someone else had died. He tried to look and see where his friends were, but there was chaos everywhere. Up above them, people were still fighting in the air as they tried to cover those on the ground. He caught glimpse of Ta’elara twisting her new staff and battering one of the gargoyles away before sending a beam of white light at the ground ahead of the ground group. Morgan holstered his launcher and started pulling out his hand grenades, lighting them and throwing them behind and to the side. Their melee fighters fought around them even as they ran forward, abilities shaking the ground and thunder filling the air.
Morgan saw Ragnor Raam flash in their rear, his two swords glowing as he cut at the air and sending two crescents of light to cut down the monsters that had nearly caught up to them. Grav ran on his short legs, barely keeping up with the weight of the cannon on his back. Morgan saw him mount it and fire to the side awkwardly as he ran. The beam of red energy cut down dozens of monsters that had nearly overwhelmed their left flank.
Hexna threw her black fire from her hands, never stopping, incinerating the right flank and keeping them safe. Borodar lingered near her at the back, keeping the supporters safe.
Morgan found himself jumping over the still non-disintegrated corpses of the monsters, trying not to get tripped up. He grabbed one of his plant containers and threw it to the side, then used Accelerated Growth and Plant Prison in c
ombination. A dozen monsters were tangled up in the vines that exploded out of the small container, burrowing in their bodies and feeding from them to grow stronger faster. Then Morgan saw Vall flash in with his fire blink ability and spin his guandao. Fire enveloped them and they burned along with the vines.
Morgan was thankful to see that Vall was still alive, but then he flashed away again. Before Morgan could get a chance to look for anyone else, a group of four-legged monsters crashed into their line from the other side, taking down one of their protectors on that side. He saw the elf get piled on by monsters and then something flashed blue underneath them as the elf died.
The rest headed straight for their supporters. Grav didn’t see them as he fired his launcher at the back, and the supporters couldn’t protect themselves against so many. Morgan used Phased Dash, and phased through his allies even as he triggered his Sword of Dawning Form. Coming out of the phase, he was pushed forward, which told him that his ability had ended when his body had been inside someone else, pushing them both away from each other.
But he had no time to worry about the person behind him. A monster leapt at him, its terrible maw open and filled with jagged teeth.
Morgan triggered his Iron Skin and then jumped forward into the monster as he stabbed with his weapon. The monster hadn’t expected him to cut its leap short and was impaled on his sword, the wound starting to burn as the scorching damage of the sword worked. Morgan could feel the drain on his energy, but he saw more Monsters around him. He triggered the form’s ability, Moderate Might, and his strength increased by 40%. He pulled his sword hand back as the monster started to disintegrate and sidestepped another.
He knew that he couldn’t get drawn into a prolonged battle. Their group was running forward and he would get left behind. He stabbed the monster as he pulled out another plant canister and threw it at his feet. He started running back as he used Accelerate Growth and Plant Prison again. He caught up and saw Grav fire his back-mounted cannon again at the monsters coming from the rear.
