TTMF 2. A Day on Floor One

Nico perched at the peak of the manor, looking down on the city below. The manor stood atop a hill, so from the manor’s peak, the city became a jumble of lights and glass, all tangled together amidst the vastness of the first floor’s dark expanses. Putting his hands behind him, he let out a sigh.

“What is it, sir?” Luka asked quietly. He barely resembled the straw-haired, wide-eyed farmboy who’d tumbled into the Tower six years ago. His hair had darkened, and his face had matured. The suit he wore fit him perfectly, down to the white cotton gloves on his hands. A haze of exhaustion hovered in his gaze as he looked at Nico’s back.

“Luka, you know I was born in the Tower. I’ve never seen the world beyond,” Nico said mournfully. His gaze pierced to the distance, where the white walls met black sky, and he let out another sigh.

“Yes, sir,” Luka agreed.

“Unlike you, I will never experience the true world. I’ll never learn what it is that we’re protecting, fighting monsters inside here day in and day out,” Nico continued, shaking his head.

“When was the last time sir fought a monster?” Luka murmured.

Ignoring him, Nico continued. He threw his arms out, baring his chest to the cold night air. “The pain! The pain of bearing all the responsibility, yet reaping none of the benefits… it’s more than my heart can take!”

“Sir Nico lives in a manor with dozens of servants,” Luka pointed out.

“But that’s inside the Tower. Outside of the Tower, what do I have? Nothing. Those measly peasants outside haven’t given me a thing, and yet I continue to work hard every day to keep them safe,” Nico said, shaking his head with regret.

“Keep them safe by doing…what?” Luka asked.

Nico turned. His eyes flashed.

“Doing what, sir?” Luka repeated, unfazed.

“Killing monsters. I killed some sewer rats the other day, you know. And keeping the peace. How many disputes have I handled? Disputes that might have affected the outside world! Why, even yesterday, I prevailed mightily!” Nico continued dramatically.

Luka coughed. “I doubt settling sir’s bar tab was an earth-shaking event for the outside world.”

“And what has the outside world given me? Given us? Us, blessed with the System, who fight every day in the Tower to keep their peace? Nothing. Nothing!” Nico shook his fist at the heavens.

“That is true, sir,” Luka allowed.

“That changes tonight. No longer will the outside world ignore and revile us!” Nico raged.

“Actually, the outside world is quite grateful for the Heroes inside the Tower. They’ve even deified some of them,” Luka pointed out.

“But have they deified me?” Nico returned.

“No, sir,” Luka replied.

“Precisely. I’m going to conquer this Tower. I’ll be the first to climb to the top and break out. And when I do, I’ll make sure the entire world feels this pain!” Nico howled.

“What pain, sir?”

Nico looked at Luka. “Stop questioning me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Continuing as if nothing had happened, Nico declared, “Once I break out, I’ll smash down the Tower’s walls and rally the Chosen. With all the Chosen inside the Tower at my side, I’ll steamroll the continent and install myself as emperor. But first—”

“Nico, get down from there before you fall,” Marie, one of the head maids, called. Hands on her hips, she glared up at Nico and shook her head.

Nico waved his finger. “My AGL score is—”

“I don’t care if you have five hundred agility, get down!” Marie demanded.

Luka stepped forward, reaching under his jacket. “My liege, I brought a ladder.”

Ignoring Luka, Nico stepped out into the air. He plunged toward the ground, his coat fluttering around him. An inch from the ground, his body came to a gentle stop, and he stepped down to the ground.

[Stylish Descent] +1 EXP

Descend stylishly from any altitude and take no damage. If your descent is not stylish enough, take damage equal to the gap between the stylishness of your descent and the height of the fall, mitigated by DEF.

Nico dusted off his shoulders and grinned up at Luka. “What’s taking you so long?”

Luka sighed. He pulled out a ladder from an impossibly flat jacket and gave it a shake. It extended, poles growing and new prongs emerging one after another until it reached the ground. Grabbing ahold, Luka climbed down to Nico’s side. At the bottom, he shook the ladder again. It retracted, and he stuck it under his jacket once more.

[Large Pockets] +1 EXP

Almost anything fits into your pockets! A good [Attendant] is always ready to serve, no matter the situation, and you always have the right gear on hand. Make sure to buy good gear, so you’re always ready to support your [Lord]. If you aren’t using the gear to support your [Lord], small chance of skill failure.

Marie shook her head at both of them. “Honestly, making a [Cook] like me worry. Hurry on inside. Dinner is getting cold.”

Nico twisted his lips. He looked out at the city, all the glittering lights and glowing windows, even this late at night. “Is Father home?”

Marie looked at the ground. She shook her head.

Sighing deeply, Nico walked for the door. “It can’t be helped. Luka, let’s—”

“Please! You have to help!”

Nico turned.

A woman staggered up the hill, her hair tousled and her dress torn. Panting, she reached out for Nico. “Please, my, my shop, we always pay—”

“What is it?” Nico asked, taking her hand.

“Bandits! Raiders, barbarians, I, I’m not sure what they are, but they’re, they’re attacking our shop! Angela’s Bar,” she managed, between gasped breath.

“Luka!” Nico called.

“Sir,” Luka replied, hurrying to his side.

“Summon the men,” Nico declared, putting his hands on his hips.

Luka put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

[Mook Call] MAX

Whistle for your mooks! This skill can be performed for you by a [Servant] class, subclass, or promo if the [Servant] is within ten feet of you. Note: This skill does not create Mooks. It only calls existing Mooks.

Without waiting for the men to arrive, Nico took off at a sprint. “We’ll go ahead!”

“Sir!” Luka responded, chasing after him.

Coming to the edge of the hill where it fell off into a cliff, Nico leaped into the air, and Luka leaped after him. They barely dropped a dozen feet before they landed on the roofs below. Feet clattering over the rooftops, they darted across the city, chasing from roof to roof.

In the hundreds of years since humans had first entered the Tower, the first floor’s city had grown and grown. Buildings climbed on top of buildings. Rickety shacks perched atop solidly built structures. In places, the architecture floated, stood on its head, or otherwise accomplished unlikely feats, supported by enchantments. Without any planning or official government to lay out the town, everything mixed together. Shacks stood beside manors. Enormous, stuffy mage libraries glittering with enchantments bumped elbows with rowdy dive bars. The red light district mostly kept to itself, glittering away in a distant corner of the city, but here and there signs lured patrons to shabby establishments with lurid images of half-naked women and men.

Nico laughed aloud, dark eyes alight with the night’s glow. He sped over a transparent glass paneled ceiling and leaped over a narrow alley to land on a roof pieced together from bits of bone. Scrambling for a moment as his shiny shoes searched for purchase on the bone roof, he latched his fingers onto a piece of bone and threw himself forward, zipping into the night.

Luka followed behind him, never too far or too close. Although he didn’t laugh aloud, the wide-eyed gaze he’d had all those years ago appeared once more. No matter how long he remained in the city, it still overwhelmed him. All the sights. The sounds. Even the smells, everything from trash and human excrement to exotic spices and strange new meats. Does a place like this exist outside? A place where everyone lives in harmony, more or less, with magic so ordinary that you don’t even blink to see it and the bounty of the Tower freely available?

Sometimes, I wonder if I wasn’t pushed into a bloody, monster-overrun hell, but paradise.

“This way,” Nico called, gesturing Luka on.

Luka nodded, spinning to follow him. They rounded a crumbling marble rotunda and came to the edge of town. Here, everything became uniformly shabby. Wooden buildings leaned against one another for support, not a single one properly upright. Tents and lean-tos clustered in the narrow alleys, growing particularly thick wherever the leaning buildings created a sort of ceiling to protect against the rain. Luka pressed his lips together, suddenly a bit nervous. If not for Nico, that could have been me. And then… then, I think, my view of the Tower would be much different.

Nico dropped down to the ground floor, bouncing from building to building to slow his fall. Luka opted to use his ladder instead, climbing down beside Nico.

“Angela’s Bar…” Nico murmured half to himself, looking around. I swear it was right around here.

“Are you lost, sir?” Luka asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Of course not,” Nico declared, slowly turning in a circle, his brows furrowed.

Luka shook his head and threw out his hand. A glowing map materialized in the air between them.

[Map] MAX

Any good [Attendant] knows precisely where they are and where they’re going at all times. Passively enhances sense of direction and landmark recognition.

“So? Where are we?” Nico asked.

“Give me a moment,” Luka muttered, distracted. Hand to his chin, he glanced between the map and the streets around them.

A loud crash echoed down the alleys, followed by shouting. Nico perked up and pointed. “Oh! It’s this way.”

Luka reached out and adjusted his finger to point slightly to the left. “Yes. Shall we?”

Nico took off again, Luka on his heels. They rounded a stack of ramshackle buildings and came to a dead-end street. It rounded at the end, opening into a sort of plaza, where the scraps of vendors and hawkers remained, abandoned stalls and forgotten blankets. At the far end of the street, a squat bar stretched wide, double-doors half-open, magical lights glowing brightly inside. Angela’s Bar was written in plain block letters over its doors, along with a hanging picture of a beer glass.

A man hurtled out of the double doors, rolling over the dusty road and coming to a halt at Nico’s feet. Dressed in rags and furs, he half-rose, caught sight of the richly-dressed Nico, and jolted to a half-rise.  Eyes wide with greed, he yanked out a dagger carved from a monster’s canine tooth and shouted, “You! Gimme all your—”

Luka reached into his coat and drew out a cricket bat. Swinging with all his might, he smacked the man upside the head. The man’s head popped back, eyes showing whites, and he fell backward, limp as a doll.

“Sorry about that, sir,” Luka said, putting the bat on his shoulder.

Nico stepped over the man dismissively. “Never mind. Make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Together, the two marched to the door. Nico put his hands in his pants pockets, raised his foot, and kicked the doors wide. His jacket flared around him, his hair flying from the wind of the doors. “Nicolo Ambrosio has arrived!”

[Dramatic Entrance]

Enter a room dramatically! With a sufficiently dramatic entrance, [Stun] any hostiles inside the room.

Two groups froze mid-battle. Dressed in rags, furs, and scraps, men and women with tangled hair and wild eyes clutched bone and wood weapons. Far outnumbered by the wild-eyed group, people in suits and dresses holding metal weapons, leather-bound tomes, and bar stools stood opposite them. Behind the bar, a buxom lady in trousers, a vest, and a low-cut blouse bent over a man bleeding from his head. Ignoring Nico, she murmured a few words. Green sparks drifted from her palm, and the gash in the man’s head closed.

“Luka,” Nico said calmly.

“Sir,” Luka said, bowing as he stepped up beside Nico.

“Let’s end this, shall we?”