Tower Story -- Chapter 7

(This chapter took a while with notifications, calculations, and stats -- oh, my!)

Chapter 7

The transition from unconsciousness to full wakefulness was nearly instant as Bax abruptly sat up from the hard floor and looked around, confused for a second at why he wasn’t in his bed.  Unfortunately, his memories were triggered by the stench of the dead that seemed to linger in his very skin, as well as by the flat piece of black material that he reached out and involuntarily touched next to him as he steadied himself.

At least, he remembered what had happened with the Guides and the Keeper recruits throughout the Co-op, but he was still confused by as to why he was on the floor of the massive hallway.  He somewhat remembered collapsing, though the reason behind it was a mystery.

Fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on how one looked at it – he quickly had most of his questions answered as his notifications seemed to push and shove to be the focus of his attention.

You have killed an unidentified Gnome – Level 1!

For this feat, you have received 5 Experience!

Class Threshold earned… Error!  No Class selected… Class Threshold lost!

You have killed an unidentified Elf – Level 1!

For this feat, you have received 5 Experience!

Class Threshold earned… Error!  No Class selected… Class Threshold lost!

}}}}}}}}}}

His mind was overwhelmed almost immediately and he felt himself falling backwards as the list of notifications regarding killing a bunch of unidentified Level 1s seemed to go on forever.  Eventually, the kill notifications began to change after a few thousand Level 1s passed by his vision.

You have killed an unidentified Dwarf – Level 482!

For killing a target 20 Levels above your own, you have received extra—

For killing a target 50 Levels above your own, you have received extra—

For killing a target 100 Levels above your own, you have received extra—

For killing a target 200 Levels above your own, you have received extra—

For killing a target 300 Levels above your own, you have received extra—

For killing a target 400 Levels above your own, you have received extra Experience!

For this feat, you have received 729,486 Experience!

Class Threshold earned… Error!  No Class selected… Class Threshold lost!

Level 482!  I can only assume that this was one of the Guides.

For as bad as he felt accidentally killing the Keeper recruits, the fact that the illness he brought had killed even the powerful Guides was like a physical blow that just kept coming with how many there were. 

You have killed an unidentified Vaneshta – Level 416!

For killing a target 400 Levels above your own, you have received extra Experience!

For this feat, you have received 630,420 Experience!

Class Threshold earned… Error!  No Class selected… Class Threshold lost!

You have killed an unidentified Dwinaii – Level 454!

For killing a target 400 Levels above your own, you have received extra Experience!

For this feat, you have received 687,458 Experience!

Class Threshold earned… Error!  No Class selected… Class Threshold lost!

}}}}}}}}}}

You have killed an unidentified Anjelou – Level 598!

For killing a target 500 Levels above your own, you have received extra Experience!

For this feat, you have received 1,505,602 Experience!

Class Threshold earned… Error!  No Class selected… Class Threshold lost!

Finally, he came to the end of the kill notifications, noticing that the last one was likely Harvin who had died – and that he had been Level 598!  It seemed as though it was impossible that such a strong figure had been killed by something like a virus, but the proof was in front of his face. 

These weren’t the last notifications, however, as there were more after that – and they were even more significant to him personally.

Final Experience Total: 2,328,062,940

You have acquired enough Experience to reach Level 2!

You are now Level 2!

You have acquired enough Experience to reach Level 3!

You are now Level 3!

}}}}}}}}}}

You have acquired enough Experience to reach Level 1302!

You are now Level 1302!

Leveling process pending.  Accept? Yes/No

The sheer amount of Experience and Levels he received was frankly ridiculous, but he also didn’t feel like anything had changed.  He opened his APPS and didn’t see anything different, either, as it didn’t seem like his Levels had been applied quite yet.  It seemed as though the entire process wasn’t automatic and had to be initiated by him.  He wondered why that type of thing would be necessary as he instinctively hit accept, only for the reason to occur to him immediately afterwards.

“Oh, sh—!”

He didn’t get his expletive out of his mouth as it felt like an entire world’s full of energy coalesced around him in less than a second, before it pressed down on him with a force that he imagined felt like being at the bottom of the ocean without any protection from the pressure around him.  After the first second, he hoped that it would be enough pain to knock him out, but there was no such luck as he was knocked on his back and stomped on by the energy flooding him, as if he was a tiny ant being squished by the foot of a giant.  His bones cracked before being obliterated, and all of his skin felt like it was being flayed and burned off at the same time, followed by the muscles underneath being excruciatingly pulled apart, cell by cell.  His vision went dark, which only forced him to focus on the agony of the experience, until at some point he became so numb to it that he couldn’t even process what was happening anymore.

After an indeterminate amount of time, which could’ve been seconds of years to his current skewed perception of time, the pain flared up one more time – which grabbed his attention away from the fugue state his consciousness had been floating within.  As if he was watching from up above, he could see his body being rebuilt at an extremely quick rate from the inside out, which was a harrowing experience, to say the least; after less than a minute, he finally reconnected to his body completely, and he opened his eyes to find himself staring up at the ceiling of the hallway far above, which he could see so clearly that it was as if he was only a few feet away from it.

Sitting up, he felt slightly nauseous as his vision seemed to want to focus on everything around him all at once, with his focus moving from one thing to another with quick flits between them, and he was able to see everything with a clarity that he’d never had before.  After a few seconds, he felt his mind adjusting to the changes, calming his stomach significantly, but he knew that it was going to take a little more time to fully adapt to his new body.

And it really was a new body, as when he looked down at himself – and the spreading pool of blood and unidentifiable body parts surrounding him – it was more than obvious that he had changed significantly.  While he wasn’t as large and muscled as the angels, devils, and orcs that he’d seen in the Co-op, there was a definition to his body that he’d never had before.  It was as if he’d instantly gained a body that had gone to the gym religiously 4 times a day for the last 5 years, and he could feel the strength beneath the surface just wanting to break free.

But it was more than just some well-defined muscles covering his body.  There was a density to his skin and bones that made him feel like he was made of steel, but he could move and flex his body with a dexterity that felt effortless, as if his body was weightless and even the hardest material would bend or break if he simply applied enough force to it. 

In short, it was amazing.  Before he could spend too much time admiring his new body, his notifications interrupted his thought processes again.

You have obtained energy equivalent to 1,301 Levels!

Due to the significant quantity of energy entering your body, it has been rebuilt entirely to contain your new stats!

Level up!  Strength has increased by 1,301!

Strength {2} -> {1,303}

Level up!  Endurance has increased by 2,602!

Endurance {7} -> {2,609}

Level up!  Dexterity has increased by 2,602!

Dexterity {3} -> {2,605}

Level up!  Intellect has increased by 3,903!

Intellect {7} -> {3,910}

For some reason, his Level-ups hadn’t increased his Unity stat, but he quickly assumed it was because it was something that would only improve either with his Class or through some other means – such as the exercises he’d performed while he was sick.

That wasn’t the end of the notifications, however.

Due to your recent actions, you have obtained some Notable Exploits!

Elite Killer: Kill a target 20 Levels above your own (Reward: +10 to Strength)

Mammoth Killer: Kill a target 50 Levels above your own (Reward: +20 to Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity)

Giant Killer: Kill a target 100 Levels above your own (Reward: Giant Killer Trait)

Leviathan Killer: Kill a target 200 Levels above your own (Reward: +100 to Strength and Intellect)

World Reaper: Kill a target 300+ Levels above your own (Reward: World Reaper Trait)

Accidental Murderer: Inadvertently kill a member of a sapient race (Penalty: -10 to Intellect)

Silent Serial Killer: Inadvertently kill 10 members of a sapient race (Penalty: -100 to Intellect)

Unintentional Genocide: Inadvertently kill all sapient people in a geographic location (Penalty: -100 to Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, and Intellect)

Unlikely: Solo kill 50 targets at or above your Level without losing a single point of Health or using a single point of Mana (Reward: +50 Endurance and Intellect)

Impossible: Solo kill 1,000+ targets at or above your Level without losing a single point of Health or using a single point of Mana (Reward: +500 Endurance and Intellect)

Prodigy: Gain 2 Levels after a battle (Reward: +10 Strength)

Savant: Gain 10 Levels after a battle (Reward: +100 Endurance)

Deity: Gain 100+ Levels after a battle (Reward: Divine Strength Trait)

Bax stared in shock at the Notable Exploits that were listed on his notifications, as well as the way his stats seemed to yo-yo in response to them.  Originally, he thought that the category was only for positive things that he’d done, but apparently it kept track of things he did wrong – such as Unintentional Genocide.  He had a feeling that if this whole thing hadn’t been unintentional, the penalty would’ve been much more severe than just losing a few stat points. 

As it was, he didn’t feel any changes actually come over his body at this point, so he could only assume that the reconstruction had already taken the Notable Exploit rewards and penalties into account. 

The only thing that he didn’t know yet was what his 3 new Traits did, so he concentrated on them in his APPS and was amazed at what they provided – especially Divine Strength.

Giant Killer – When engaged in a battle against a target 100+ Levels above your own, your Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity will all increase by 10%.  This increase will last until the battle is over or for 60 minutes – whichever comes first. After such an increase, there is a cooldown period of 48 hours before this effect can trigger again.  This trait cannot be upgraded.

World Reaper – When engaged in any battle against a target at a higher Level than your own, all of your stats will increase as if your Level matched your target.  This increase will last until the battle is over or for 120 minutes – whichever comes first. After such an increase, there is a cooldown period of 72 hours before this effect can trigger again.  This trait cannot be upgraded.

Divine Strength – With the power of the Divine, this trait doubles your base Strength stat. This trait cannot be upgraded.

It doubles my Strength?

With that thought in mind, he looked at his full APPS again, looking at all the changes.

Advancement Progress and Performance Sheet (APPS)

Name: Baxtonille (Bax)

Race: Human

Overall Level: 1,302

Experience: 287,990/15,200,000

Health: 31,790/31,790

Health Regeneration: 2,625/min

Mana: 60/60

Mana Regeneration: 4,343/min

Strength {2,682}

Endurance {3,179}

Dexterity {2,525}

Intellect {4,343}

Unity {6}

Class: —

Class Level: —

Threshold: 0/5

Notable Exploits:

Elite Killer

Mammoth Killer

Giant Killer

Leviathan Killer

World Reaper

Accidental Murderer

Silent Serial Killer

Unintentional Genocide

Unlikely

Impossible

Prodigy

Savant

Deity

Applicable Traits:

Quick Learner

Language Translation

Giant Killer

World Reaper

Divine Strength

Available Spells: —

Available Abilities: —

Special Equipment:

None Detected

Current Tasks:

Keeper Training – [0/7 Classes Complete] (See more)

Keeper Tower Completion – [0/50 Floors Cleared]

What stood out to him the most was his incredibly high Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, and Intellect stats – as well as his pitiful Unity stat.  The result was a Mana pool of only 60, and while he hoped to get his Unity up to 10 and therefore a Mana pool up to 100 with a little more work with the exercises he had been given to practice, he wasn’t sure if 100 was a large amount of Mana or not.  Given that he could regenerate more than his current Mana pool every second thanks to his high Intellect, he thought it might be alright, but he didn’t really have a good frame of reference. 

After distractedly looking through his entire APPS for a little while, seeing if there were any other changes he hadn’t noticed, he finally shook his head and closed it so that he could finally get up out of the pool of cooling blood around him.  As he stood up – which he immediately knew what going to take some getting used to, as he launched himself nearly 50 feet into the air when he pushed off the floor – he looked down at his blood-soaked pants and picked up his shirt where he’d dropped it earlier.  It had some blood splattered on it from the process his body had undergone, but its main issue – along with the rest of his body – was that it smelled like the death he’d waded through looking for any survivors throughout the Co-op. 

His mind worked in overdrive as he started making plans, his Intellect not necessarily making him smarter, but he was able to process information and make decisions much faster than he had before.  The first thing he needed to do was take a shower and clean his clothes, which would immediately be followed up by looking for any extra sets of clothing that might fit him all throughout the massive stone building, and then he needed to eat again.  While he wasn’t starving, he could feel that hunger would start affecting him quit soon unless he did something about it.

After that, he had to make some hard decisions.  At the moment, he his survival wasn’t necessarily at risk, as he was now at a high-enough Level that he was—supposedly, if the Guides were to be believed—immortal now, and wouldn’t die by getting older.  He had two choices, but even as he thought about them, there was only one that he was planning on making.

First, Bax could wait around to see if help might arrive at some point or simply do nothing until the cycle ended, when it was likely that more Keeper recruits would be teleported inside the Co-op.  Or, secondly, he could attempt to finish his Keeper (and Guide) training by himself, clear all 50 Levels of the Keepers’ Tower, and then have the Retrogression System send him to a world, where he could see about protecting the people there until the Portal Connection phase occurred.  At that point, he could travel back to Earth to see what he could do to salvage the disaster that had most likely befallen them after the System took over. 

Again, it was one of the easiest choices he’d likely ever make in his life – because there was no way he was just going to sit around for thousands of years waiting for something to happen.

Decision made, he ran back to his room and arrived so quickly that he might have as well have teleported to anyone observing from afar, though in reality he was fully aware of his body running quickly because he was easily able to process it in his head.  In fact, his mind was moving fast enough that it simply felt normal moving at what he thought was fairly close to the speed of light, though he probably wasn’t quite that quick; though the world darkened around him a little as he moved at his top speed, it wasn’t enough to convince him that he was moving faster than lightspeed.

Moments later, he was in his shower, relishing the water as it rinsed away all the blood and filth that had practically covered him from head to toe.  His clothes couldn’t be completely salvaged, unfortunately, so he left them to dry after washing them as best as he could.  He was sure there was some sort of spell or magical device that could help with washing clothing, but he didn’t know about it; he added it to the list of things he needed to learn about while he was in the Co-op.

Therefore, half-naked and only wearing a pair of boxers that had seen better days, Bax set out to replace the food he’d lost earlier that day and to explore the enormous building for anything that might help him achieve his goal of getting out of there.