Jace extended his palm in the middle of the wagon. A golden flame came to life, dancing in his hands.
'This isn't the first time they've asked me to do this. It's like a humiliation ritual by now.'
But he had the only known Blessing in the squad. Just so happened to be the worst ones the Tower could ever give.
"Blessings, a gift from god," Klav rubbed his stubble. "And it gives bread. I remember the last time wasn't so bad."
"Yeah, it was a sweet bun," Heather snickered. "Could you do that again, Jace, we all thoroughly enjoyed sharing that."
Jace grimaced. "Do you honestly think I could control what type of bread comes out?"
Heather shrugged with a slight chuckle. At least these people could keep their sense of humor after becoming a Climber.
"Why…don't you destroy it?" Brita reluctantly asked. "If you hate it so much, you could remove it from your Soul."
Jace stared into the golden flame. He could crush the flame in his hands, extinguishing its life and discard it into the Void, thus freeing him from this pathetic Blessing.
'Of the many times I've considered that, I never had the courage to do so.'
Blessings and Curses couldn't be replicated, neither traded away, that's the reason why each of them were uniquely special. Climbers, from every region, always hoped to obtain one during their expedition. It was power. Direct, unfiltered, raw power given by the Tower.
And for Jace, his power was to fashion bread from the dissolving corpses of slain monsters.
But (Blessing of Starch) was, by far, the most valuable thing he had in his Soul. He had slain hundreds of monsters, gained experience, and reached level five in spite of everyone's guesses.
What would it all be for, casting away his reward into the Void just because he greedily wished for something better?
'You and me, friend, we're all jokes by the Tower.'
Jace waved his hand away, dismissing the golden flame of his Blessing through the air.
"I'll keep it." he said. "If we ever run out of our ration supply, then we all know who we should count on, right?"
Heather chuckled again, nodding as he smiled. "That's right."
Jace turned his attention away, absorbing the sight of Arcadia around them. Grasslands were always a relief to see, especially after the harrowing climb they had to endure yesterday. After they had spent today's early morning visiting Heather's family, it was protocol for their squad to report right back to new expeditions.
Their stay in Arcadia was nothing short of temporary. Due to the first few decades since the Towers had appeared, the world had been ruined to chaos. Humans had lived in a reign of terror, in fear of monsters lurking around their homes and security.
Luckily, Jace was born after that wave of Revolution. But who was to say his life had been bliss from the start?
People would think every famous hero should have a tragic upbringing. Jace wasn't a hero, though, he was a survivor.
He was raised through a crowded orphanage with other children, chasing the same lofty ambition as him. To climb the Tower.
A few hours later, they had reached the Tower of West Arcadia. There had been a total of four Towers around the world, allowing Climbers to venture into their expedition.
Though the towns residing under them were usually quiet, low with life because humanity had greatly diminished since then.
And for Climbers, they had devoted their life to the Tower. It was rare for any of them to stay around Arcadia, which was the world everyone was born in. They were all originally human, no matter whether they wanted to decline that fact.
'People had gotten tired of this world already. Seems like they had preferred life inside the Tower, even if it was spelling out their doom.'
No matter how far a person could hide in Arcadia, at least one Tower would forever loom in the distance as if it was beckoning for them to return. This was their reality now.
This was their new world.
As the squad reached closer to the tower, Jace would never get used to how titanic the thing really was. Humans could have built around it, housing returning Climbers, or granting simple services, the Tower would forever stretch infinitely to the skies.
The tower was made purely of stone, like a god had come down from the heavens and carved intricate designs by hand. Tall columns and wide arches were swirled around the dark architecture in each and every level. It was impossible to even think any human could have touched this accursed magnificence.
Maybe this really was their reckoning from the heavens above, sent to punish humans and their sins.
After the squad had turned in their horses at the local stables, there wasn't much of an issue of stepping inside the Tower. Normally, Climbers would need authority or bypass to access each floor but since they were in Arcadia, anyone had the freedom to cross that line.
And once they walked through one of the vast archways, it was a whole different story.
Because there was nothing. Instead of the lifeless grass below their boots, it was utterly empty. The tower could have measured around a hundred meters wide and tall along this desolate space. With only the infinite and hollow levels above them, the supposed skies could welcome their wits.
At exactly every noon and midnight, the tower would open for the worlds inside. Climbers had to be present, standing inside the tower, so their bodies could transfer over.
"Just in time," Heather glanced at the other Climbers. "Never thought I would see other people come back home from the Tower. I thought we all lived inside."
Jace straightened his leather armor. It was always a mandatory caution to make sure everything was in place before being sent above.
Then the Soul spoke, echoing in everyone's ears.
[Soul detected.]
[Beginning ascent into West Tower.]
The tower groaned awake, in a deafening shake as if the entire thing had come alive.
'Why am I always so nervous? I've done this countless times already.'
A few moments later, the groans had quieted down, finally submerging into the sounds of shimmering light revolving around the Climber's body.
Jace closed his eyes, letting his Soul take over him.
[Process successful.]
[ClimberJace has ascended into the 2nd floor, Pensula.]
***
The light finally dissolved into his body, refreshing the new view of a much more developed town than before.
Jace and his squad had arrived in Pensula, the second floor, a whole new and different world.
Standing over a platform of crystalized glass, over the century, humans were able to construct safe travels inside the Tower.
Pensula was almost identical to their original world of Arcadia. But as for Pensula, given the tower's grace, it was livelier than ever instead of the gray and depressing setting back home.
It was most likely afternoon on the second floor, judging by the faint rays of sunlight bouncing off the clay roofs of nearby buildings. Times were always different between floors.
The Port Town was bustling with Climbers or even humans that had acquired the Soul, but didn't wish for a life of hardship.
'Because the Tower could offer a magnitude of possibilities! What you could do before, do even better here! Scrub shoes? Scrub shoes with a little more speed if you invest your Soul Points into AGL!'
Heather stepped off the crystal pedestal, ushering his squad to move through the Port Town.
Although they had the freedom to transport through the first and second floor, the Tower wouldn't have been that easy to traverse.
When there is a start, there is always an end.
If the squad wanted to reach the next floor, they would need to find another Port specified for that. Luckily, with human advancement over the century, people had already constructed manual Gates for Climbers to use.
And like before, they need authority or bypass.
'Basically permission like a law-abiding citizen. No Climbers could jump into the twenty-second floor because they felt like it.'
As they walked to the other side of the Port Town, Jace couldn't help but notice how normal these people were. They were treating Pensula as if it was their own world, completely forgetting where everyone had come from.
'I'm being envious. Maybe I should be grateful that I wasn't born during the Revolution.'
Jace and his squad were heading to the ninth floor, continuing their fight for experience to become stronger. If he wanted to stay in Pensula and slay the monsters here, it wouldn't have given him anything.
Slaying monsters below a Climber's level wouldn't grant any more experience. It was like the Tower was forcing them to climb, fueling their desire to gain power.
Even so, Pensula was practically cleared from all of evil. It was one of the few floors that was completely safe for human life.
'Some of them would even think this was their new world. Arcadia was nothing but a memory of the past.'
When they finally arrived, a small line was already waiting for them. Other Climbers, taking their own squads through the Gate.
Jace stood behind the towering shadow of Klav. The only benefit of this barbarian was his pleasant shade.
With some time to spare, Jace opened his Soul.
[Name: Jace]
[Rank: Climber]
[Level: 5]
[HP: 112/112]
[MP: 5/20]
[STR: 2]
[END: 1]
[AGL: 2]
[INT: 0]
[WIS: 0]
Was it strange for him, thinking that he would somehow gain a level from doing absolutely nothing?
'Please, this Tower and Soul has joked around with me enough, the least you guys can do is grant me something in return.'
But the Soul said nothing in response, only with the subtle hum of the blue and transparent window.
Jace frustratingly stared at his level. It was already a huge pain gaining experience, especially when the Soul knew how to distribute it towards the right Climbers.
'Why was that ever a feature? I'm a part of the squad too, you know, they even admitted I'm just like them.'
And with every level, the Soul gives the person one Soul Point for them to allocate it into any stat. That was the most ruthless part of the Soul.
'What if…from the rest of my time in the Tower, I would just invest all of my Soul Points into AGL?'