Tower of Souls

At 9:55am, the ceremonial guards arrived and took their places around the edge of the Star- just like Davis said. The old man had been right about everything so far... and Cam hoped he would be right about one more thing: when other climbers would begin to arrive.

Everyone was taught that the Tower opened at 10am everyday, and would continue to allow entry until noon exactly- not a second before or after for either time, that’s the way it had always been. At exactly 6pm, the Tower would close and all the climbers would leave, one after the other- of course, that was time relative to Foundation City; for climbers, what they experienced inside could feel like weeks or months, depending on what Floor they reached.

There were a lot of theories about whether that time actually passed for them or not, though that wasn’t something taught at school... if anything, there was a distinct lack of information on the subject...

But that wasn’t what mattered to Cam in the moment; what truly mattered was what Davis had told him: even though the Tower opened at 10am, most groups didn’t start their climbs until the last possible second if they could. Most rationalized that, if the time inside felt so different, those extra few minutes outside the Tower didn’t matter... or could be used for extra prep, or sleeping off a hangover...

And if none of them showed up until later, Cam had plenty of time alone to hopefully enter the Tower unseen- which, according to Davis (once again) should be easy.

He just had to touch the door and confirm that he wanted to enter.

As the time ticked over, Cam’s hand crept out around the massive doorframe- he regretted not being able to stand proudly before the forty foot wide double doors of the Tower as he began his first climb, but knew that couldn’t happen if his plan was to work. Inch by inch, he stretched out until his entire arm, then his shoulder and part of his head and chest, were exposed...

And the tip of his finger touched the door.

Tower Floor 1 Entry: Party size- 1(max 5)

Confirm?

Y/N

Cam confirmed his entry, a victorious smile on his face as no outcry came... and disappeared from his hiding spot...

... and entered the First Floor.

First Floor: Kobold Mine

Seeing the new prompt, he wanted to curse. Of all the possible enemies he could encounter at the start, Kobolds were possibly the worst. Sure, rats would be far more numerous, and spiders would have webs to possibly restrain him... even Goblins wouldn’t be as bad!

While Kobolds would have the fewest numbers... they could not only work together, they would sometimes have shamans... and even set traps on occasion.

With a sigh, Cameron formed his clone.

”We’ve got Kobolds.” He muttered softly, despite them still being in the safe room- every floor had one, and it provided a place for groups to plan and prepare for whatever they had to face... though only for a few hours. Then it would no longer stop enemies from entering. ”Which sucks; we’ll have to be extra careful clearing this floor.”

”You do remember that I’m you, right?” His clone smirked. ”Same thoughts and feelings- you’re basically talking to yourself.”

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”Yeah yeah.” Cam huffed, shaking his head. ”And we both will feel better by talking out a plan... and, even if you are me, it doesn’t hurt to make sure we’re on the same page. I already have ideas for how to approach this, but what if two ideas are equally good and we somehow split our decision?”

”I mean... whatever, yeah. Talking right now doesn’t hurt anything anyway.” The clone nodded his acceptance. ”So, I’m guessing that, since it hasn’t even been a minute, we’re still set on me wielding the dagger and you the sword?”

”That does somewhat even out the damage while giving me better reach- and thus, less risk.” Cam snorted, amused at talking to himself- even if it did calm his nerves a bit. ”We still need to settle on what to call you. Yelling out ’hey, clone!’ feels kinda dumb...”

”We’re the only ones here; it’s not like we really have to specify who we are talking to... But I’m kinda partial to ’Eron’. It has a nice ring to it... and, come one, ’Cameron’ being split into ’Cam’ and ’Eron’? It sounds cool.”

”Yeah, it does.” Cam smiled at Eron- it may have been a bit crazy, treating his clone like another person, but it also felt rude treating what was essentially himself as lesser somehow... That and it really did sound cool.

”The bright side of it being Kobolds-” Eron began...

...only for Cam to finish the thought. ”is there is a chance we can find a shaman, which means a chance at an Ability... I think.”

”I’m pretty sure it will work that way too.” Eron nodded thoughtfully. ”I mean, maybe Tower monsters have a soul... or maybe ’Soul Harvest’ is more of a metaphor? It wouldn’t really make sense for the Tower to grant us a useless Ability, right?”

”No Ability is useless,” Cam quoted the lesson from school. ”but it is up to the person to figure out how to use it. Yeah, we are kinda depending on it working... if we want to survive.”

”So we follow the plan.” Eron shrugged. ”I scout first, then we move... and if we find a chance to grab a useful Ability, we take it.”

”Follow the plan.” Cam confirmed, as he opened his Inventory and pulled out the two pieces of equipment they had: a dagger and a sword. The dagger was the same one that Davis had given him, the Rusty Iron Dagger of Bleeding- while it wasn’t much to look at, it was a legitimate Tower drop... and their better weapon.

The sword, on the other hand, was a crafted iron short sword that Davis had picked up while gathering supplies- playing it off as wanting something with a little more reach ’in case any more trouble came his way’. As a crafted item, rather than a Tower drop, it actually did less damage to Tower monsters than the dagger- though, with Cam’s Stats being higher than his clone’s, the damage was roughly the same...

At least they were both armed; and, if they played it right, they should be able to handle a kobold or two... and hopefully get some more drops.

”Ready when you are.” Eron said, hefting the dagger.

Cam adjusted his grip on the sword before nodding. ”Lead the way.”

Eron stepped up to the only exit from the safe room, a simple door that looked to be made of rough wooden planks, and cautiously eased it open. Rough rock walls with thick, cracked support beams extended out in front of them, dust and dirt littering the stone floor. Dim light shone down from seemingly nowhere- a feature of the Tower, most Floors had some form of ambient light... except for some incredibly rare Anomalous Floors that were truly pitch black, though those were more rumor than anything.

No one actually knew where the light came from, simply calling it a ’gift of the Tower’, allowing them to see as they explored the Floor... at least somewhat.

Twenty feet down the hall, and only vaguely seen in the haze, the tunnel split in two at an angle. Ignoring the stale air, Eron shuffled across the cold, smooth stone floor to gaze down both branches.

After several of tense seconds, he motioned to indicate they were clear before heading down the left branch.

Following along behind his clone, Cam held his sword loosely in one hand and pulled a piece of chalk from his Inventory with the other- and indispensable tool for Climbers, as far as he was concerned, and one of several items he carried for marking their route as they progressed through different Floors.

Making one of the standard marks he had studied- thanks largely to Davis- his heart beat with excitement and a hint of trepidation: no matter what came next, he was a climber now!

And no one could take that away from him.