M27

Thank you, Patrons! Happy New Year!

In the daylight, Morgan’s tower was quite a sight to behold. It was like a dark gray finger pointing up out of the purple grass. It had lost the bronze-colored runes that had swum in the polyhedron, and Morgan wondered if they had been responsible for the tower being packaged into such a small container. The metal was smooth and free of any rust, and it had a density and weight to it that belied the hollow interior. He walked around the circumference, finding that the only door was the main entrance. Starting about thirty feet up, he could see shuttered windows and even a balcony at about the halfway mark. He briefly contemplated trying to scale the sides and see what he could see through those windows, but he had no grapple, and he also didn’t think the metal shutters would be trivial to circumvent. Instead, he walked through the front door, mentally preparing for the promised confrontation.

He was immediately greeted by Tiladia, “Morgan, welcome home. Has it been long since you were here? I lose track of the passage of time when I’m alone.”

“No, no. I’ve only been gone an hour or so.” Morgan walked in, closing the door, and he noted that it locked as soon as he removed his hand from the handle. “Tiladia, what’s on the second floor?”

“The second-floor houses a music room, a reception hall, and an atrium.”

“An atrium? I didn’t see any windows or balconies low enough to be on the second floor.” Morgan began striding toward the central stair.

“The atrium is quite extensive and is warmed and lit with a sunstone. Lord, be careful if you intend to climb those stairs; space moves differently on them - two or three steps, and you’ll be at the second floor.”

“Oh,” Morgan stopped in his tracks, “that’s quite handy. Thanks for the warning. So, you think I have a good chance against the next guardian?”

“Yes, I believe your raw stats and power to be a match.” Tiladia’s lights bobbed up and down in a way that made Morgan think of a nod.

“What about the third?”

“I’m not as confident, Morgan. I think you’d be in grave peril.”

“Alright. I had another thought. You said you have keen evaluation abilities. Can you identify items? Items made by an Artificer, for instance?”

“Yes, Morgan! Unless something is beyond the Advanced stage, I should be able to discern its properties.” Tiladia spun around him in an upward spiral.

“That’s great! Speaking of Advanced stage, I’d love to pick your brain about different aspects of the way the System categorizes things like race, and classes, and skills.” Morgan said as he reached into his dimensional pouch an0d pulled out the necklace he’d taken from the Yeksa shaman. The silver chain glinted dully in the chandelier’s light, but the red gem pulsed with a deep ruby glow of its own.

“Oh, that’s a power-stone. I can see it’s infused with fire attuned Energy.”

“A power-stone?” Morgan held the necklace up, noting the warmth emanating from the gem.

“Yes, you should be able to store a certain amount of Energy within it and draw upon that Energy to power skills or spells, even if your own Energy is spent.”

“So it’s like a battery. Do I have to bond with it or something? Will I have trouble with the fire attuned Energy? I don’t have a fire affinity.”

“Yes, you should bond with it; that will allow you to sense how much Energy is within and access it. As far as your affinity goes, you simply will feel some heat as you access this Energy, but it will work just like any other Energy for you. To take advantage of its fire properties, you would need a fire affinity.” Morgan nodded and bonded with the necklace - he was immediately aware of the Energy within and knew that he could pull it out or even spend time adding more of his Energy to it. It felt like it held enough to activate his Guard Ally skill once with a little leftover. He slipped the chain over his head.

“Thanks, Tiladia. I hadn’t wanted to mess with that necklace because I got it from a rather nasty fellow, and it looked kind of ominous to me.”

“Caution is always well advised when dealing with strange artifacts, Morgan,” Tiladia replied with her usual tinkling voice.

“Yeah, I suppose. I sure wish this tower had some items in it. The rooms seem pretty bare, at least on this floor.”

“Vormendion has sealed most of the belongings he left behind in his reliquary. It’s a large vault on the eighth floor. Most of his library is contained therein, which is why your shelves are bare.”

“It doesn’t seem like there’d be enough space for a vault up that high - the tower narrows. I suppose dimensional magic is at play?” Morgan arched an eyebrow.

“That’s correct, Morgan.”

“Alright, well, here goes,” Morgan called forth his spear, lowered his center of gravity, and started to climb the steps, ready for anything. Or so he thought - he took one step, then two, then a third, and his stomach lurched a little, and he was stumbling onto the second floor’s landing. As his senses oriented, a chandelier much like the one below flared to life. He heard a sibilant shriek and a dark, lean form came flying out of the shadows at him.

Morgan had just enough time to twist and push the haft of his spear between him and the attacker. As he halted its forward momentum, it shrieked again, this time in Morgan’s face, and he got a good look at it: the only way he could describe it was to call it a lizard-man. Tall, wiry, covered in dark-green scales. It had yellow eyes slit vertically and a snout full of pointy teeth in at least two rows. As it shrieked, it clawed viciously, adding to the shredded and frayed look of Morgan’s robes. He felt a few claws strike home, giving him long, deep gashes on his shoulders and upper ribs.

Morgan kicked out while pushing on the horizontal spear and managed to dislodge the creature. He swung the sharp end of the spear around, keeping it between him and the attacker. “Can you speak?” He asked sharply, anger tinting the words. The creature hissed again, lunging to swing a clawed hand at him. Morgan struck with the spear, punching a deep wound in the lizard-man’s stomach. It screamed, twisted, and launched itself at him. The sudden leap caught Morgan unprepared, and while he tried to bring the spear-tip up, he was a hair too slow. The lizard-man landed on him, feet first, and its long sharp toe-claws raked his chest from breast to navel, only stopping because his thick leather girdle caught the claws. The creature’s weight pushed Morgan to his knees, and he nearly toppled backward.

Agony flared, and Morgan’s vision went red with pain and rage, adrenaline flooding his system. He let go of his spear, grabbed hold of the lizard’s waist, and hurled it to the side, stumbling to his feet. His inner robes were utterly shredded and soaked in blood, and he knew his skin wasn’t in much better shape. He tried to lean over to pick up his spear, but the lizard-man was back on its feet and hissed, darting forward to rake at him as he reached down. Morgan winced in pain, backing up a step. He reached into his pouch, frantically calling forth his spare spear. It came into his hand just in time for him to jab it forward, fending off another swipe of claws.

Each move Morgan took was agony. His pectorals were a mess, and he knew the creature’s claws had torn deep into his abdomen. He was leaving a broad swatch of blood everywhere he moved. He cursed himself for not going for the kill with his first stab of the spear. He’d half-assed the shot, trying to talk to the fucking lizard-man. Now he was bleeding out, scrambling for an opening while feeling weaker with each second. The creature was also clearly hurting, blood running freely from the stab wound in its abdomen.

The landing was well-lit now, and the dark smears of blood drew Morgan’s peripheral attention to the patterned marble floor. It was really quite lovely, he thought. Another swipe jerked his attention back to the fight, and he realized he was losing it. He tightened his grip on the spear and urged himself into an offensive stance, taking several quick feints at the lizard-man. He kept jabbing, using his spear’s length like he knew he should have from the beginning. He pushed and feinted, all the while waiting for the lizard-man to grow frustrated and leap again. Mogan started to worry that his opponent wouldn’t do it, that it knew he was running out of blood and strength, and that it would wear him down. He tried one last ploy, faking a stumble and dropping the spear’s tip. The lizard-man pounced on the opportunity, literally; it jumped, but Morgan was ready this time, and the spear was waiting. The creature’s weight pushed the spearhead deep into its chest, and Morgan drove it to the ground while he activated Energy Drain.

A blood-curdling shriek accompanied the Energy that flooded into Morgan, binding his wounds and adding to the long list of scars he’d earned since his arrival in this world. The Energy wasn’t enough to fully heal him, but he could live with being stiff and sore while the scabs held him together.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 13 Hollow Guard. You have gained 5 Strength, 5 Will, 4 Vitality, 4 Intelligence, and 3 Agility.***

“Congratulations, Morgan, on mastering the tower’s second floor.” Tiladia’s voice came from the landing, near the stairs. Morgan turned to her and smiled, sketching a bow, though it made his head rush, and he felt faint afterward.

“It was closer than would've wanted it to be.”

“I admit that I grew worried for a moment as your life’s blood was being used to wash the floors.”

“Was that joke, Tiladia? At my expense, no less?” Morgan had to smile; he was coming off a post-victory high, and the rush of Energy always put him in a good mood.

“No, Morgan, I was being serious! Such a blood-letting usually signals imminent defeat! I was quite relieved to see you begin to take the battle seriously. In the future, I think you should be ferocious like a dragon from the beginning!”

“Noted,” Morgan said as he called up his status sheet:

Status

Name: Morgan Hall

Race: Human - Base 4

Class: Hollow Guard - Advanced

Level: 13

Core: Vortex Class - Base 2

Energy Affinity: 9.2

Energy: 547/740

Strength: 30

Vitality: 32 (34)

Dexterity: 8

Agility: 24

Intelligence: 40

Will: 30

Points Available: 0

Titles & Feats: Human Champion, First Hollow Guard, Ardeni Friend, Mark of Loyalty

Skills: System Language Integration - Not Upgradeable, Spear Mastery - Basic, Dagger Mastery - Basic, Stealthy Maneuvers - Basic, Backstab - Basic, Energy Drain - Improved, Guard Ally - Basic, Vortex Core Cultivation Drill - Basic

Morgan was happy at his improvements, but he was starting to get worried about his dexterity. Would it matter that he had one stat lagging so far behind his others? “Hey, Tiladia, I want to explore this floor, but first, can you answer me a question? I have an advanced class that gives me quite a few stat points at level, but my dexterity is falling behind all my other stats. Is that going to be a problem for me?”

“It could be a problem for you, yes. If you continue to push forward your other physical attributes and have a deficit in dexterity, you will find that you will be unable to take advantage of the full potential of your strength or agility. This wouldn’t be such a factor if you were focusing more on spell casting. Some wizards only ever improve their intelligence and their will. There are as many theories about the best way to improve yourself as there are people, though. I’m sorry I’m not more help, Morgan.”

“Well, if that’s the case, why would the System create this class that pumps up my physical stats, but not dexterity?”

“There are ways to improve ability scores other than leveling. You might want to seek methods to increase your dexterity. Another thing to remember is that as you gain levels within the System, there will be opportunities to refine or change your class. You might open different doors at those times.”

“Alright, yeah, I kinda knew that was coming, but it’s good to get confirmation.” Morgan looked around the landing. Aside from the blood-smeared floor, he hadn’t taken in his surroundings. It was a large circular room, the stairs in the middle. Sets of wooden doors led off the room to the left and straight on from the stairs. On the right-hand side, windows and glass-paneled French doors opened onto a brightly lit room overgrown with plant life. “That’s the atrium, I guess.”

“Yes, Morgan.” Tiladia whirled in the air, briefly taking on her dragon form and flitting back and forth before the glass leading to the atrium.

“Tiladia! I just had a thought; why do I know what a dragon is? They were creatures from fantasy stories in my home-world, but when you change your shape, you look like dragons from our stories. The only thing is, there’s no Energy or System there.”

Tiladia flashed over to him before answering, “Morgan, Energy isn’t always present in an ocean, like around this world. Sometimes it’s a river, a stream, or even just a trickle. Perhaps Energy touched your world at some point, and some elder beings like dragons visited. The flow of Energy in the universe, especially where the System hasn’t exerted an influence, can shift.”

“What? The System isn’t everywhere that Energy is?”

“No, Morgan. The System is ever-expanding its influence, but it hasn’t spread over more than a fraction of this universe, let alone the myriad others.” Tiladia’s pulsing lights slowed for a long moment, and then she continued, “I forget myself, Morgan. I’m giving you information that might be terribly outdated. Time moves differently for me when I’m alone in this tower, and I don’t know how accurate what I just said was.”

“It’s still good information, Tiladia. Thank you.” Morgan moved over to the doors on the left side of the landing. He pushed them open, trusting that the only threat on the second floor had been dealt with. They opened smoothly like the hinges had been oiled regularly, and light fixtures flared to life around a large, empty gallery room. The ceiling had to be twenty feet high and was plastered with filigreed crown molding. The walls were a matching plaster, and the floor was covered in marble tiles with a pattern just like on the landing outside. Overall, it was a big, empty room that echoed as Morgan stepped around. He could imagine balls or parties taking place in this room. He stepped out and opened the next doors.

The second room was similarly designed, but it was smaller in scale, and the walls were lined with empty, glass-doored cabinets. However, one item remained in the room, a beautiful black piano-like instrument. Morgan whistled and walked over to it. “Is this a piano?”

“I believe Vormendion called it an Angeliphone, but perhaps it’s known by other names.” Tiladia performed a loop over and under the piano. Morgan had decided he’d call it a piano. He smiled, running a finger along the silky black wood of the instrument, then made his way out and over to the atrium.

When he opened the doors to the atrium, he found his path blocked by verdant plant life. The plants within had grown unchecked for a very long time. “Tiladia, how are they still alive? Did you water them?”

“No, Morgan, the Atrium has a stream flowing through that keeps the soil enriched. As you can see, the sunstone provides plenty of light and warmth.”

“Are there any valuable plants growing in there?”

“Oh, most definitely! Vormendion was quite an alchemist, and he grew many of his own reagents. I’m sure that, if enough time has passed, many of the plants within this atrium will have developed into natural treasures.”

“I don’t feel like fighting my way through these plants at the moment. Is there any chance you could catalog what’s in there, and I can get to it a bit later?”

“Of course, Morgan. I’ll be happy to do that.”

“Thanks; right now, I want to head into the colony and see about getting some clean, unripped clothes.” Morgan gestured to his shredded, blood-soaked black robes.

“An excellent idea, Morgan! I think you should try to get some armor to protect your vitals, as well! I’m glad to see you value your limbs, but your body is important too!” The lights flared quickly, and Morgan was starting to think Tiladia was laughing at him.