Book 1: Epilogue

SIXTY-THREE (EPILOGUE?)

The chamberlain of the Thirteenth Tower limped through the heart of the infirmary. Seventy-nine mana intensive machines worked in harmony keeping the sole patient inside of the infirmary alive. Stasis fields hummed as the tower master’s slumbering form rested inside a moment frozen in time.

“I knew I’d find you here,” Hana’s voice reached him and he turned to see his great-great-granddaughter marching up to him, her eyes narrowed in anger. He waved at her as he turned to look at his master. The wounds that lined his still form still boiled with infection, but there was less now than there had been. Another century or two and his master would rise healthy.

“Hana, are you not watching your little village?” he asked. It had been days since he’d spoken, not since he’d talked to that little human. The one who had asked questions instead of taking an item. A strange one, but all of his bloodline were strange.

“A hobgoblin! On the first day! What are you doing?” Hana hissed as she came to a halt next to him. She was taller than him, he noticed even if her aura was thinner. Physically stronger now, but nowhere near the master he was with their bloodline and his own mana cultivation.

“The A.I of the tower is quite specific in its calculations. We’ve unleashed more powerful rewards, they must suffer greater challenges,” the chamberlain said. He even managed to not curse the A.I as he did so.

“That thing is half insane!” Hana objected. The chamberlain sighed and rubbed at his eyes as the artificial intelligence spun to life in a wave of golden light. It took the master’s form, as it should, but in miniature, hardly taller than they were.

“It is not my fault!” The A.I said. While holding the master’s form, it held none of the gravitas their master had. It sounded like a whiny teenager as it crossed its four arms across its wide chest.

“We know. The prisoner has been difficult,” the chamberlain soothed the A.I. Hana just glared at it, her foot tapping the ground at nearly supersonic speeds.

“I released many powerful skills to the climbers and some of them even took them! I have to match the difficulty with the power I offer. It is a LAW,” the A.I complained.

“We know. We are all frustrated by our inability to deal with the corruption. That a single thread of it managed to reach the first level is disturbing,” the chamberlain admitted.

“All of the tenth and ninth floor are beyond my reach, now. It’s starting to work on the eighth, too. I don’t know how much longer I can keep it back, it feasts on the mana we collect, just as you do,” the A.I said. Hana gasped next to him, turning to look at him as if he’d betrayed her.

“You have not informed the rest of the den of this!” She shouted.

“The elders know and it is our decision not to spread panic. We can not leave without lifting the quarantine protocol. There is nothing we can do,” the chamberlain said. He was tired. An exhaustion that wore on his soul as he looked upon his master. He’d been young when they’d started their expeditions. Only reaching his maturity when the prisoner had been captured. When the master had been injured.

He was old now. Mana cultivation could extend a life well-beyond what it was originally slated for, but his had stalled. All of theirs had stalled as the denser mana density at the upper levels had been consumed by the prisoner or the master as they both tried to heal themselves.

It frustrated him to no end that the prisoner was recovering faster.

“Will this class be strong enough?” Hana asked turning to the A.I. It was their gamble, their only hope. To produce a climber strong enough to destroy the weakened prisoner. So many restrictions had been laid upon those who could enter so they could be rewarded lavishly and none had managed to do it so far. The gatekeeper between the seventh and eighth floors was too powerful for them to defeat.

“They are growing well, but it is too early to tell. Several of the base skills needed to grow at the estimated rate have been taken,” the A.I said.

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“Yes, and your hobgoblin nearly killed one!” Hana said, glaring at the A.I.

“The boy?” The chamberlain asked. Hana was always fascinated by them. Those suicidal crusaders who entered as if drawn by magic. He’d have to investigate one day when he wasn’t so occupied by the corruption spreading through the tower.

“Roan. He took Learn. And your hobgoblin nearly split him in half after he wiped out a squad of ogres by himself. Their healer was able to stabilize him with some of the Life Fungus he’d acquired. He’ll be fine, but it was close. How many remain now after the first night?” She asked the A.I.

“Total survivors across all instances of the second level total at forty-six thousand.”

“How many entered this time?” Hana whispered.