Tower Climber

by Jakob Tanner

  106

  “The climber president’s back and kicking!” cheered Casey.

  Max smiled.

  He knew the climber president wouldn’t give up that easily.

  Max steered the drake so that they were close enough to the main dragon that they could taunt it towards the area where they had taken out the buffer.

  The dragon took the bait and started flying towards them.

  “Um, Max,” said Casey. “What exactly is the plan if the dragon gets to us before the climber president?”

  Max shrugged. “We die, I guess.”

  At that moment, the climber president got to the top of a skyscraper and leapt at the dragon once more, grappling onto it with renewed vigor.

  The dragon hissed and began shooting another long breath of fire at the werewolf.

  “Not this time,” said Max, triggering shadow blink.

  He was on the dragon once more and climbed onto the top of its head. Max planted his hands on the creature and triggered cellular manipulation.

  The dragon screamed in pain as Max messed around with the creature’s brain cells.

  The very act of doing so was enough to distract the dragon from shooting any more flame blasts at the climber president.

  It also gave the werewolf an opening to completely start tearing the monster to shreds.

  Dragon flesh and bone began to rain down on the streets below.

  The climber president climbed up the creature’s stomach and swiped a mana-imbued claw into its neck, ripping off the monster’s head entirely.

  Blood filled the sky.

  “Woooahhh!” shouted Max, falling through the air on the newly decapitated dragon head.

  He quickly shadow blinked back onto the drake with Casey.

  The climber president fell towards the ground once more, holding onto the dragon corpse as a landing pillow.

  SMASH!

  The climber president’s wolf mode began to disappear, his hair reversed back beneath his skin, and he morphed back into his normal human body.

  Max and Casey flew down to the ground to check on him.

  Healer climbers surrounded him.

  “He’s dying,” shouted one.

  “We need to use our highest level mending skills quickly,” shouted another.

  “He’s sustained injuries all over,” shouted one more. “He’s not going to make it. The move he used. Wolf’s Rage. It’s incredibly deadly to the user.”

  Max ran up to the climber president.

  He couldn’t die. There was so much left for the man to tell him. They had their meeting arranged for after the tournament.

  The climber president grabbed Max’s hand.

  “The fight isn’t over yet, Mr. Rainhart,” said the president, coughing up blood. “Don’t waste my sacrifice.”

  The old man then smiled oddly at him. “Only your unique ability might be able to save us now. Go!”

  Max ran back to the drake, hopped onto it, and hurried across the city towards the arena.

  Sakura, he thought to himself. Please hang in there.

  107

  Sakura lay on the ground, dying.

  Blood was leaking out of her stomach. Her whole body ached.

  “Any minute now,” said Samuel. “Bye bye Sakura and farewell to the tower-zone as you know it.”

  Sakura squirmed. How was this man still alive after all her attacks? He barely had a scratch.

  He walked up to her and kicked Sakura in the gut.

  “Did you honestly think you could beat me?” asked Samuel. “I’m A-rank. You’re B-rank. There is a huge gulf between us in terms of power. You never stood a chance.”

  He imbued mana into his feet and kicked her in her bleeding stomach once more.

  She croaked and coughed out a huge gob of blood onto the dirt of the arena.

  “I’m so sick of this city and its rules,” said Samuel. “I’m ushering in a new age where I make the rules and the first rule will be: the powerful can do whatever they like, including killing you.”

  Max flew over the walls of the arena on the back of the drake.

  Below him, he could see two figures. Samuel standing over Sakura. His mentor was dying on the ground.

  Oh no, he thought. Am I too late?

  Sakura squirmed on the ground. She moved her fingers gently in the dirt.

  Good, she thought. She still had control over her hands. She was dying but she was not dead yet.

  Samuel Archer looked down at her and laughed. “What? You saved one last slice attack to surprise me with? What’s that going to do that the countless others failed at. At best, your attacks leave a little sting, but they can’t break through my skin. My endurance stat is too powerful against your ability.”

  “Screw...you...” said Sakura with one last breath, before triggering one last slice attack.

  A beam of golden energy shot forth, just missing Samuel and going over his shoulder.

  His whole face widened in a grin.

  “You even wasted your last futile shot,” he said. “You truly are pathetic.”

  Sakura’s slice attack shot over Samuel’s shoulder.

  Max lifted his left hand and reached out for the energy blade like he was catching a baseball.

  He gritted his teeth and held back the pain as the powerful attack ripped a hole right through the palm of his hand.

  Sakura had thrown them both a lifeline. A trump card like nothing else.

  It was now or never.

  “It’s time to end this,” said Samuel. “See ya la—”

  A blade of golden energy stabbed right through his stomach. Blood and guts shot forward to the ground in front of him.

  Samuel coughed blood out of his mouth.

  “But how...?” said Samuel, looking down at the fatal attack.

  Max stood behind the man, his left palm had a hole in it from Sakura’s slice attack. His right hand had then triggered and commanded the second energy slice.

  “Max can more than just copy powers, he doubles their power,” said Sakura. “So my B-rank power levels doubled, hitting strength stats even unknown to S-rankers. Power levels that can rip through your flesh with ease, you smug bastard. How does it feel to die at the hands of a common trait?”

  “No, this isn’t it,” said Samuel, triggering cellular manipulation on himself. His own body began to mend, until Max raised the slice attack upwards, slicing Samuel into two pieces.

  The left and right side of the man’s body fell to the ground on top of each other.

  Samuel Archer was dead.

  The attack on Zestiris was over.

  The city had been saved.

  108

  Max opened his eyes and found himself in a hospital bed.

  He instantly began to panic. What was going on? Where was the climber president? Sakura? Casey? Toto!?

  “Ah, you’re awake,” said a voice.

  He looked up and saw Sakura.

  She was all patched up. She had no bruises or marks like she had when he had found her at the arena.

  Also, on her green leather jacket was a badge, it was different from before. It was made of diamond and had the letter A engraved on it.

  “You ranked up?” said Max.

  She nodded and smiled at him. “There’s a lot to catch you up on. You’ve been out for a couple of days.”

  “How’s Casey?”

  “Everyone is fine,” she said.

  “And the climber president?” he asked.

  “You’re now looking right at her,” she grinned.

  Max blinked. “You? You’re the climber president now? Does that mean—?”

  “The previous climber president took a lot of hits in that battle, but he ended up surviving. He’s currently resting, but he’s accepted that now is the time to retire and he’s named me as the successor. He gave me numerous diamond monster cores which helped me rank up.”

  Max nodded.

  “We also had a meeting a few weeks back,” said Sakura. “W
hen you went on your little incognito mission to the outer-rim.”

  Max blushed.

  Sakura smiled. “You thought I didn’t know about that, huh?”

  “What was your meeting about?” said Max, trying to change the subject. “The president told me a lot about the state of Zestiris and the world at large already.”

  “He told me he was going to tell you all of that,” said Sakura. “What he wanted to share with me was information that pertained to your family, most significantly, your sister.”

  Max blinked. The information about his sister wasn’t lost after all.

  “When I first met you, I thought I saw a resemblance between you and her,” she said. “But I wasn’t sure and I didn’t want to get your hopes up. Also, I didn’t know much about her either. You see, there’s a secret recruitment and training program that takes kids right after they’ve unlocked their traits and trains them to be elite climber operatives. Prime candidates for the program are orphans, kids with no background whatsoever. Your sister was one of the best students to ever enter the elite program,” Sakura explained.

  “From what I understand she was an incredibly gifted fighter and rose in power very quickly. So quickly that the program began to fear her. They eventually tried to arrest her and she resisted, killing the climbers who had come after her. She then ran away into the tower and was never seen again. She became infamously known as the Scarlet Demon.”

  Max gulped. So that was why he couldn’t find out anything about her in the library when he had done his research. His sister was, as the librarian had suggested she might be, a rogue climber.

  The Elle that he knew was sweet and innocent. Could their years apart have really changed her so much? This information was both heartbreaking and significant. The Elle he knew may no longer exist, but whoever Elle had become, she was still his sister and she had asked for his help.

  He wouldn’t break his promise to her.

  I’ll always protect you little sis.

  “That’s all he shared with me,” said Sakura. “That’s not a lot to go on, but I’m sure it will help you in your quest to find her. I now have a present for you.”

  She pulled out of her pocket a shiny copper badge with the letter E engraved on it.

  She walked over to him and handed him the metal badge.

  “Your sister went deep into the tower years ago. There’s no telling which floor she made it too, or if she’s still climbing higher and higher. The best thing you can do is continue your training, continue climbing in service of the climber’s guild and all of Zestiris. We need new members more than ever now, Max. Humanity needs saving. Our original world was lost to the monster waves of the tower. We need people like you to fight on all of our behalves. Are you ready?”

  Max nodded his head and clutched his copper badge with satisfaction.

  He would do what the climber’s guild asked of him.

  He’d take on missions.

  He’d search for his sister.

  He’d save humanity.

  Because it was now official.

  He was a tower climber.

  109

  Somewhere in the tower, many floors above...

  Two figures stood near a glowing goblet. They wore cloaks made out of black feathers. They looked into the goblet and saw Samuel Archer get sliced in half.

  “It looks like our plans to create chaos in Zestiris,” said one of the figures, “didn’t work out as planned.”

  “Very upsetting,” said the other figure. “Our little mouse, Samuel, failed us. Now the mice will mobilize and start ascending the tower with a renewed vigor.”

  “And there’s one very interesting little mouse,” said the other, fiddling with a pair of dice in his hands. “Red hair. Blue eyes. He might be fun to play with.”

  “Poor mouse,” sighed the other. “I always feel sorry for your playthings.”

  The figure gestured to the pile of bodies in front of them. They all had bloodstained metal badges with letters on them.

  “Yes,” said the figure, grinning with a menacing smile. “I can’t wait to play with this one. Climb little mouse, climb. We’ll be waiting...”

  The End Of Book One

  WANT A FREE EBOOK?

  If you’re curious to read about the very first person to enter the tower, you gotta read the prequel short story: Tower Climber: The First Climber! It’s exclusively available as a bonus to subscribers of my newsletter.

  Get my free ebook short story!

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading my book from start to finish! I hope you enjoyed Max’s adventure. If you did, please consider leaving a review. As an indie author, reviews go a long way to achieving success, so please leave one if you can!

  If you’re not sure what to read next while I’m still writing Tower Climber 2, maybe check out my first series, Arcane Kingdom Online. It’s a seven book complete series with loads of LitRPG/GameLit/Progression Fantasy goodness. If you’re interested, check out a free sample on the next page…

  Thanks again for reading and see you soon!

  -Jakob Tanner

  www.jakobtanner.com

  Arcane Kingdom Online: The Chosen (Book 1) (Preview)

  Chapter One

  It wasn’t easy waiting to see if you’d live or die.

  It was why the old man at the front of the line took his sweet precious time. He waddled forward, lifting his cane then placing it down again. Step by step. The echo of the cane on the terminal floor was like the ticking of a clock, each excruciating beat bringing me one second closer to my turn. My dance with fate.

  The soldier managing the line barked through the air purifier tusks of his gas mask: “Hurry up or I’ll throw you into quarantine.”

  The man stopped dawdling and stepped into the bioscan. He slouched his shoulders and muttered a quiet prayer to himself. A few seconds passed and a green light appeared above the machine, followed by a single shrill beep.

  The passenger was free to go. The old man hurried away towards baggage claim.

  The armed soldier yelled, “Next!” and the line shuffled forward.

  Four people stood ahead of me. Four more turns until my own.

  A little boy in front of me tugged at his mother’s arm.

  “I don’t want to go through there mommy,” he said. “Please.”

  The woman’s face was pale and she had bags under her eyes. She gripped her son’s hand tightly and said, “Shh. It will be over soon.”

  But the little boy was far from comforted: tears forming in his eyes.

  I crouched down and smiled at the kid. “Why are you crying little guy?”

  The boy sniffled and wiped his eyes. “Cause… I don’t want to walk in there…”

  “It’s scary, huh?”

  He nodded.

  “But think about this: you had to go through the same scan before you got on the plane, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah…”

  “And you must’ve been cleared—healthy as ever—otherwise you wouldn’t have been allowed to even get on the plane, right?”

  The boy nodded his head again.

  “So do you really think you would’ve gotten sick between now and the last scan?”

  “I don’t know,” said the kid.

  “Well, did you eat the veggie option?”

  The boy shook his head emphatically. Of course not.

  I smiled at him. “Then you’re fine.”

  The kid laughed, vindicated for his dislike of vegetables.

  “You’re almost through,” I said, “Don’t worry.”

  I stood back up and the woman smiled at me. “Your mother must be so proud of you.”

  I shrugged awkwardly, not wanting to disappoint her with the truth.

  The guard ended our conversation abruptly, yelling, “Next!”

  The woman bent down and kissed her son on the forehead. “Wait here and join me on the other side in a minute.”

  The woman walked through the two met
al walls of the bioscan. The device scanned her body, searching for any signs of the virus. The machine buzzed and a green light flashed. The woman stepped forth onto the other side.

  “Your turn buddy,” I said to the kid.

  He took a few hesitant steps before rushing between the detector’s walls. As the scan commenced, the boy shivered. His whole body trembled. It was horrible to watch. The shrill beep went off and the green light flashed.

  The boy ran to his mother, jumping into her arms. They hugged and kissed before grabbing their things and hurrying towards the exit. They had made it. They were free to enter the country. The boy turned around, smiled at me, and waved.

  “Next!”

  I stepped forward, passing between the two armed guards, and entered the scanner. The process was no different from going through a metal detector. The only thing you felt were your nerves. I stood there as the machine scanned my body for bacteria and deadly cells. I closed my eyes and counted the seconds. There was nothing to be worried about. Just as I had told the kid: I’d gone through the exact same scan only a few hours ago. Nothing had changed.

  I waited for the beep. Silence. I lifted my head to see if a green light flashed. Nothing. I turned around to get confirmation from one of the guards. Instead I found an assault rifle pointed at my chest.

  “Stay right where you are,” said the guard from behind his gas mask. He had a rough voice with a slight country twang. “Don’t move.”

  “What’s going on?” I said. “This must be a mistake.”

  I whipped round and another guard was already there, semi-automatic ready in hand to blow my brains out.

  “If you do not calm down, we’ll be forced by law to subdue you.”

  I didn’t move. I didn’t open my mouth. Anything I did would be taken as a threat from these guys. All I wanted to do was elbow them in the face and run for it. But somehow I knew if I did, I would be begging them to shoot me.