Mik walked intently down the dirt road toward the hovering crystal. People came and went by touching it briefly, vanishing in a burst of sparkling light.

  Getting close, he nervously began stretching out a hand. He had never traveled via teleporting crystal before.

  “You gonna hurry up there kid. We got shit to do.”

  Someone from behind him irritatingly grumbled for him to hurry up.

  Mik fell forward slightly startled by the voice, his hand slipping against the crystal.

  The next moment the scenery changed and he was in a vastly different pce.

  Around him rge brick id walls, more hovering crystals of different sizes and colors lined up next to one another with varying degrees of foot traffic coming and going from them.

  The people walking back and forth from the crystals were a plethora of diversity. Humans, elves, dwarves. Beastkin varying from lizardmen all the way to lionmen and fishmen. There were men and women in full-pte armor cnging as they went, rge swords, crossbows, gives, and spears on their backs. People with leather clothing, robes and various other garments he had never seen.

  Some carried dubious looking pets on their shoulders, some having massive beasts at their sides. While others obviously in Family parties walked in rge groups from the more intimidating crystals down the brick streets past the enormous archways into the bustling city.

  And that was when Mik id his eyes on the gargantuan tower for the first time. A ivry white tower stretching from the ground into the sky and past the clouds. The structure seemingly went on forever as it towered over the world.

  Suddenly someone bumped into him from behind, pushing him forward.

  “Kid! Are you going to be in my way all day?! Keep it moving, you're clogging up the whole works here!”

  Mik rubbed the back of his head and got back up from stumbling, “Sorry…asshole…” he mumbled.

  Another passerby snickered, “Never seen the capital city of Mare huh?”

  He began walking out towards the arches, ready to get to the tower as quickly as possible.

  As he did, he began seeing small stalls pop up as he went. People hawking for customers for this thing or that, items, weapons, bits and bobs. There were also people offering services. Dwarves sitting next to anvils, others with rge rucksacks holding signs for baggage services as well as other races holding up simir signs without the apparent need for physical bags.

  There were also recruiters shouting at every stretch of the way to the archway. Some even called for mages like Mik.

  But he kept to himself, not only overwhelmed by the new surroundings but acutely aware of just how out of pce he was.

  Mik was wearing beggard clothing. A linen shirt and pants, held together by a flimsy strap of cloth at the waist, the chains from the church library wrapped around his arms. He didn’t even want to think about how his dirty face and hair looked to the other people around him.

  This wasn’t the only thing on Mik’s mind.

  He could see now clearly that he was living in a fantasy that he could join a Family, even if he was to get a healing css. He had no equipment to speak of and was definitely not presentable. He had no standing, no references, he had no leverage to speak of.

  I’ll have to work my way from the ground up… He thought. I’d like to ask some of these recruiters, but I know I’d just get taken advantage of right now. I’ll head to the tower, I’m already in enough debt as it is.

  Mik sighed, his shoulders slumping for a moment before he righted himself and ran off in the direction of the Tower.

  Each step toward the Tower Mik was beginning to lose confidence, each step feeling heavier on his shoulders as he thought of James, Mary, and the children. He couldn’t fail, he didn’t have the option.

  And before he knew it, he was there.

  The massive gates leading to the entrance of the tower. Small booths in comparison to the gates lined up in rows, allowing Climbers in and out of them as they seemed to exchange something or other as they went.

  Mik got in line and began walking up to a booth.

  Eventually he made it up the line to the window of the booth, a woman with a white uniform trimmed in gold and a ruby red leaf pin on her shoulder greeted him.

  “Good day, guild card please.”

  “Hello… Oh yeah, here you are,” Mik said, scrambling for his card and handing it to her.

  “First time entering the tower. Will you be going with a group?” she asked.

  “No, I’m alone.”

  “I see… How long do you believe you will be inside the Tower?”

  Mik hesitated, not sure how to answer that. He hadn’t prepared anything for an extended stay. No water, food, or camping equipment.

  “Not long?” he answered in more of a question than a statement.

  The woman in the booth let a brief fsh of concern overcome her face then quickly went back to a business-like demeanor.

  “I wish you the best of luck. Please do be safe.”

  Mik thanked her and walked forward, following the crowd of people.

  He could hear people talking in a jumbled cacophony as he went, unable to discern any real conversation as he entered the tower through the rge gate. The sounds suddenly began to echo, the conversations, the armor and weapons cnging against each other, as well as the footsteps of the crowd.

  Eventually the crowd began to thin before a massive pink crystal in what Mik guessed was the center of the Tower’s base. He had read about it in many of the guild logs of the church as well as journals of Climbers. However seeing it for the first time was awe inspiring.

  Around the crystal people were coming and going, just like the smaller ones leading to towns and cities away from the Capital.

  But what was more interesting to Mik were the things he didn’t read in the books. Shouting and holding signs near the crystal were people. Some called out again for baggage services. Others called out for services Mik hadn’t heard of before.

  “Teleportation to floors two through thirty!”

  “Guides and carries to the F-Rank floors!”

  “Experienced help to level 25!”

  The st call out caught his attention. He didn’t have any money to pay for the service right now but perhaps it was something he could ter on. Reaching level 25 was a key hurdle after all.

  At level 25 you received your first job change, cementing you for your F-Rank upgrade. So long as you had a Family by that point and a patron willing to let you.

  Mik sighed at the service that was out of reach for now, noticing that a small group of people moved to the man. Their equipment told him that even after he had gathered some money he would most likely still be unable to pay for the service.

  The group had shiny, unused armor, and what looked like freshly made weapons, even to Mik’s untrained eye. There wasn’t a mark on them or their equipment.

  “Guess you need a silver spoon to get that kind of service…” Mik scoffed under his breath.

  He had used up enough time and daylight getting here. Mik ceased checking the surroundings and moved to the rge crystal, readying to pce his hand on it.

  “Here goes nothing.”

  —-------------------------------------------------------------

  Mik was immediately assailed with dry heat and forced to cover his eyes from a sun that didn’t make sense to be there.

  “Aren’t we supposed to be inside…?” he questioned, “I knew the first level was a desert but this is…”

  Looking around he saw other Climbers walking out into the desert like it was nothing but a mild sunny day, the heat not bothering them in the slightest even with full pte armor on.

  He could hear the sounds of animals crying out and baying in the distance, even seeing some being taken down by parties close to the entry point.

  Others were walking past the monsters scurrying around, ignoring them completely. The monsters surprisingly did the same to those that did.

  I wonder if that’s the monsters knowing those people aren’t being aggressive or is it something else? Mik wondered.

  He looked around again trying to find a notion of where to begin.

  I better find a pce away from everyone else for a start. I don’t want people seeing my skill. If they find out I’m a mage alone, it probably won’t end well.

  Mik ran off, keeping his distance from everyone as he could. However his breath ran out and became ragged quickly. He simply wasn’t prepared or used to the heat he was now in.

  Sweat began to bead across his face but he pressed on. He was running out of stamina but the surroundings continued to keep him in awe.

  The sheer size of the first floor was immense. Shattering any conception he had of what the dungeon tower would look like in his mind.

  He checked the chains on his arms, making sure they were secure for now despite them beginning to grow hot from the beating sun above.

  Mik checked his surroundings, seeing that there were far fewer Climbers in the vicinity but that he was picking up interested monsters the further he went.

  Two Laurel Foxes? He thought, seeing the small tan foxes with green vegetation on their heads.

  The Laurel Fox was basically a normal fox. Their only differentiating feature was the small cactus leaves on top of their head in the form of a urel crown. The cactuses held water for the fox to survive in the desert but were also their weak point.

  Taking a deep breath Mik skidded to a stop, turning around and loosening the chains in each of his hands.

  The chains were a few feet long, giving him some distance from the foxes. But he wasn’t familiar with them, only grabbing them in desperation earlier at the library.

  Mik took in another deep breath, trying to focus and use his spell.

  I can do this. I’ve been training to fight for this day, studying everything I could.

  He had never used magic before, but he had read about it. The books told him it was simir to activating the divining orb and he had to bank on those descriptions.

  Focusing he readied himself for the incoming foxes. They stayed low to the ground and moved quickly to close in on him. Clearly unafraid and unintimidated by his rger stature.

  The first fox to reach him lunged for his legs, opening its mouth wide to tear a chunk out of him.

  Mik slipped his leg backwards, winding back and smming down with the chain in his right arm.

  The chain made an audible crack as it smmed against the back of the fox and sand, the fox yelping in pain.

  But Mik hadn’t had the result he desired.

  He was still unfamiliar with the chains and had aimed unsuccessfully to wrap them around the first fox. The feeling of the chain hitting flesh feeling grotesque in his hand.

  He cursed, jumping to the side. Mik was unable to kill the first fox in one blow, but had at least wounded it enough that it would either retreat or take some time to reach him again.

  The second fox charged at him with speed, lunging for his other foot.

  This time Mik changed the direction he swung the chains, opting to swing from below.

  And the results were as desired this time. The chains cracked again and smacked the fox in the underbelling, the end of the chains wrapping around its body.

  Mik cheered internally, the rush of the fight and adrenaline taking over, but quickly focused, trying to activate his Static Shock spell.

  Focusing intensely as the fox struggled and filed against the chain, Mik felt something pull from his body. Almost like losing a piece of himself, or a rge portion of energy, putting him nearly on his ass.

  But in return he heard the small cracklings of something coming from his hands.

  In the split second he saw yellow circles form on his hands, then suddenly small sparks of yellow ran up them and attached to the chains, running up them like water flowing down a stream.

  In the blink of an eye he saw and heard the fox yelp and shudder, a dull voice echoing in his head.

  [You have killed Laurel Fox Level 1] [Experience Earned]

  Mik shook away the voice, instead spotting the previous fox limping a few feet away.

  He bit his bottom lip but ran after it, the spell still active and charged in his left hand chain.

  Mik ran as fast as his legs would carry him until he was right above the fox. Then smmed his left hand against the back of the monster, the fox yelped for a brief moment before going still, a second notification of his kill whispered to him in his head accompanied with a second notification.

  [You have killed Laurel Fox Level 1] [Experience Earned]

  [You have reached Lightning Mage Level 2] [+1 FP, +1 SP, +2 MAG]