The Interim
"No, no, no, no! Not me!"
"God, please, why!?"
"My boy, my boy, has anyone seen my boy!?"
A symphony of wails and laments rose up all around Kai. All the people that had been taken in this wave – the second wave.
Some cries, he understood. Others were spoken in different tongues he knew nothing about.
Some voices were old, some were young, some deep, some high – in the end, there was just one common truth that everyone here faced: they had to scale the Tower.
The insurmountable, indomitable Tower that promised humanity's extinction.
Ten years ago, the Tower took the first wave of people.
In just a snap, one million humans, all of them able-bodied and young, were gone, snatched away in brilliant flashes of light.
As if to flex its godly power even further, the Administrator then showed up above Earth's atmosphere as a colossal three-lobed crimson eye, proclaiming that it would now subject humanity to the 'Test of the Tower'.
Its horrible, inhuman voice rang through the minds of every single human that could comprehend it.
The terms of the said test were simple: clear all 100 floors of the Tower or face extinction.
Kai's memories of earth were hazy, worn away by the grinding stone of struggle, but surprisingly, they were clear now. Most likely, he figured it was because there was a mental as well as physical component to returning to his old body.
He remembered his day at work yesterday packing up boxes in a warehouse. He could still feel the ache on his lower back from lifting boxes up and down ad infinitum for ten-hour shifts to feed his little brother and sister. He remembered saying goodbye to them as they slept on two tiny mattresses on creaky, cracked wooden flooring.
It was a struggle to put Ren and Lin through high school after Kai took them from their alcohol-addled deadbeat of a dad, and that struggle showed.
It showed in their tiny apartment, in their worn and tattered clothes that Kai learned to sow to patch up.
On hungry nights when Kai gave up his portion of dinner even when his tired body ached for more.
Mostly painful memories scattered by the occasional pinpricks of light when Kai saw either of his siblings' smiles.
'I promise you both that you two will never have to struggle through this damned Tower,' Kai resolved himself, closing his eyes and taking in a steady breath. 'I'll clear it. All its floors and tricks. I'll give you the happy lives you deserve to live out.'
"Welcome to the Interim!" A voice boomed out from above, though in reality, it was being telepathically projected.
Kai and everyone else around him stared up at the voice's owner.
A three-lobed red eye floating in blank white space.
The Administrator.
The eye narrowed a bit, scrutinizing a black notebook that hovered in front of it.
"Let's see here…ah, this is the second wave of you lot, yes. Now that was awfully quick – it took just a hundred years for 90% of your first wave to get eliminated." The eye swiveled from side to side, mimicking a shaking, disappointing head. "And here I thought I took the most capable specimen among your species!
Not even the elves or dwarves were this bad!
Earth really is quite disappointing, but I do consider myself an optimist, so I'll continue to hold out hope for your kind."
"Please! Help me! Take me away! I can't do this!" someone shouted up at the Administrator.
Like opening a dam, that single begging cry unleashed a flood of desperation.
"I have a kid back at home! If you can just make an exception for me-!"
"I've got to take care of my dad – he's got cancer!"
The Administrator hovered its black book to the side and gazed down at everyone.
There is something about the eye that can be remarkably expressive, and the Administrator, in spite of its inhuman ocular structure, really could channel emotion in its single eye.
Now, it showed pity.
And as people recognized that familiar emotion, they found hope. They shouted louder. More of them joined in.
Kai stayed completely silent. He shook his head.
Herd mentality – that was why everyone was joining in on this. That, and desperation. He did not blame them.
It was only natural to want to live.
If he could have stopped them, he might have. He knew nothing good could have come from appealing to the Administrator. But his single lonesome voice was like the drop of a pin compared to the din of everyone here.
"My apologies, humans, but there is simply nothing I can do about this," said the Administrator.
"No, you're lying! You took us here, you can get us out!" someone retorted.
A wave of human voices joined in raucous agreement.
In a terrifying flash, the Administrator's eye switched from pity to wide rage.
"Silence."
In an instant, Kai saw people around him yell in agony before light engulfed them. The loudest of the screamers were gone, thinning out the dense crowd around him considerably.
From what Kai recalled, the Administrator separated each wave of people into many groups, each group having a variable number of people.
The groups were isolated into separate dimensional spaces where the Administrator addressed and prepped them for the incoming Tutorial level.
"My deepest apologies, humans." The Administrator showed remorse, but Kai knew that all of it meant nothing. The entity could seemingly show and convey emotion, but it was not genuine.
It was an affectation of the human experience as conjured by something unfathomably inhuman.
In other words: a mockery.
"But I cannot be afforded any disruptions. It is my hope that sending one hundred of you into a cold wasteland filled with ravenous nightmare creatures will enforce some semblance of quiet and civility here," the Administrator continued.
This time, nobody spoke out against it, their lips sealed tight with fear.
The Administrator nodded in satisfaction. "Now then, let's see here…"
The Administrator brought its book in front of its eye again and flipped a few pages with telekinesis.
"Two hundred of you, no, wait, one hundred now, have been gathered here with the honor of challenging the Tower.
The first floor you will challenge is no real floor at all – it is the Tutorial and will not count towards the Tower's official floors.
It will, however, get you all acquainted with my beautifully crafted Tower." The Administrator flipped another page, taking a moment to nod at it. "I will now grant you all the power of the System.
It is an interface that merges with your very existence, allowing you to measure your strength and grow it."
As promised, Kai saw a screen flicker in front of his face. It looked like a rectangular, light blue hologram, and on it was his status.
<Status>
Epithet: N/A
True Name: Kai Lee
Titles: None
Age: 21
Stats:
Strength - 15
Vitality - 18
Agility - 14
Mystic - 5
Mana – 5
Class:
NONE
Subclasses:
NONE
Skills:
NONE
Spells:
NONE
Battle Arts:
NONE
Equipment:
-Plain Clothes (Full Set)
Rank: Scrap
Description: A set of plain clothes from Earth. They provide no discernible benefit other than minimal protection against the elements and preserving one's modesty. In case you came here naked, you will be provided a pair of generic clothing modeled in the most typical fashion that humans have been observed wearing.
Storage:
NONE
<>
'It's the exact same. Just the way it was at the beginning.' Kai palmed over the screen, eyes lightly widened in surprise. That surprise quickly narrowed down into determination. 'But this reminds me of how weak I am. Especially compared to the future.
No, with the knowledge I have now, I need to surpass who I will be. Who I was when I failed.'
Kai might have been the weakest he had ever been in decades, but he had one thing that made him stand head and shoulders above anyone here.
Potentially above anyone in the Tower.
And that was knowledge.
Knowledge of where things were and how things would be.
"You can fiddle around with the System as you want. It should be bound to your minds, so you can easily interface with it," said the Administrator. "Anyways, this introductory stuff is all quite boring – maybe during this wave, I can broadcast some of it to the rest of the earthlings so they are a little more prepared next time.
If there is a next time.
Anyways, I do digress.
As you all can see, your status is quite empty and your stats quite miserable, though I do suppose none of you really have a frame of reference for what power is like.
Soon enough, you will. The Tutorial will give you a small taste of that.
Now then, here we go-,"
The Administrator blinked. In response, Kai saw another screen appear beside his status. This one was marked as <Quest>.
A message appeared in a smaller dialogue box beneath it.
[You have received the quest: Choose a Class]
The quest was located within the <Quest> screen as a line with an exclamation mark beside it.
Kai mentally opened it, revealing its details in another dialogue box.
The text rapidly phased in and out of existence for him because he mentally skipped everything, just lingering on the messages long enough to make sure he was not missing anything potentially new.
[Quest: Choose a Class opened]
[Choose a Class]
[Difficulty: 0]
[Description: You will be prompted to choose a class. Successfully choose one to clear this quest. This quest is mandatory and cannot be denied or skipped at this time.]
[Rewards: +10 Stat Points (SP). Skill: Allspeak.]
So far, everything was the exact same.
[Quest: (Choose a Class) automatically activated…]
[Congratulations, human, you have been selected by the Administrator to take part in glorious Ascension! Your meager species and you, one of its equally meager representatives, may soon begin your ascent into the Tower.
However, before that all beings, you must choose a class.
Be warned that this class cannot be changed throughout the Tutorial.]
A new box opened and here, Kai saw six options to choose from, each decorated with their own theme and color scheme.
Warrior. Lettered in powerful red. A symbol of a sword wrapped in flames floated beneath it. It projected power. Raw, primal strength.
[Starting Bonuses: +3 Strength, +3 Vitality]
[Starting Equipment: Basic Chainmail Armor (Set), Small Buckler, and a choice between the Short Sword, Spear, and Hand Axe]
[Starting Combat Arts: Strong Slash, Dash]
Ranger. Lettered in light green. It held a symbol of a bow wreathed in wispy, windy light green floated beneath it. It projected agility. Fluid, aerial speed.
[Starting Bonuses: +3 Strength, +3 Agility]
[Starting Equipment: Basic Leather Armor (Set), Dagger, and a choice between the Bow and Sling]
[Starting Combat Arts: Snipe, Tracking]
Shadow. Lettered in black. It held a symbol of a curved dagger wrapped in, as the title of the class suggested, shadows. It felt like it belonged to the night, to things that were meant to be hidden.
[Starting Bonuses: +3 Strength, +3 Agility]
[Starting Equipment: Basic Leather Armor (Set), Poisoned Dagger, and a choice between a Smoke Bomb, Concealing Cloak, and Blowgun]
Mage. Lettered in blue. It held a symbol of a staff over an open tome, both items shimmering with arcane cerulean light. It positively exuded mysticality, of magic that humans once knew nothing about.
[Starting Bonuses: +3 Magic, +3 Mana]
[Starting Equipment: Basic Leather Armor (Set), Staff, and a choice between a Mana Crystal, Crystal Bomb, and Barrier Stone]
Creator. Lettered in steely grey. It held a symbol of a hammer that shone with an aura of white. It called upon images of blacksmithing, of creation by fire and steel, though as Kai knew from experience, the Creator class had much more versatility than simple smithing.
[Starting Bonuses: +3 Vitality, +3 Mana]
[Starting Equipment: Basic Leather Armor (Set), Hammer, and a choice between a Crystal Ingot, Steel Ingot, and Gold Ingot]
[Starting Spells: Repair, Mine Material]
Healer. Lettered in pink. It held the symbol of a floating red heart, calling upon long familiar imagery of hearts associated with mending though, as many who had gone through love knew, hearts could just as easily be broken as well.
[Starting Bonuses: +3 Vitality, +3 Magic]
[Starting Equipment: Basic White Robes (Set), Staff, and a choice between a Healing Crystal, Mana Crystal, and Luck Charm]
[Starting Spells: Lesser Heal, Lesser Strengthening]
Kai knew that Healers were not to underestimated in combat. The power to knit together life could just as easily be reversed to unravel it as well. He inadvertently touched his face, where his old scar ran through.
A powerful healer, a priestess of Ishtar, had put that on Kai in the past, and with Ishtar's penchant for divine curses, that wound was incurable on top of causing eternal pain. He had long since adjusted to dealing with the pain, but he definitely got quite a bit less attention from women afterwards.
[Take upon a class, human, and become officially recognized as an Ascender. Form a party with others of your ilk if you so desire.
But be warned, once you choose your class, you will automatically be sent to the Tutorial, the very first taste of the almighty Tower which you will climb to greatness or fall from into oblivion.]