Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

Chapter 9 – Floor 1: Part 1

The elevator doors opened with a loud ‘ding,’ sliding soundlessly to the side and revealing the first floor of the Tower of Avarice to Mathew’s eyes. It was bright, so blinding that he was forced to hold up a hand to block it from harming his eyes.

Mathew stepped forward, his shoes left the tiled floor of the elevator and sank into soft grass. The light faded with his exit, and he could see again.

He was in a field of grass on the edge of a forest. The clearing in front of him showed a field of green grass that led to the walls of a small town that could have been plucked from medieval Europe. With a wooden log wall and a trench surrounding it, the town was more fortified than Mathew would have expected to find in a modern world.

It reminded him of the second test with the bridge, with a rustic aesthetic that was too real to be faked.

The air smelled of woodsmoke, and he could hear voices in the distance from the town. There were less than a hundred buildings, all made of stone and wood with clay tile roofs. He didn’t see a single automobile, and none of the roads were paved.

“Where the hell am I now?” Mathew muttered aloud.

He moved to close his jacket against the chill air when his fingers touched soft cloth instead of the expected leather of his coat. Looking down, he was surprised to see he had changed clothing since leaving the Elevator.

His jeans, white shirt and black leather jacket, had been replaced with soft black pants, a high-collared white button-up shirt and a black cloak like the one that he had seen in the painting of his Discipline. He was wearing a mirror-matching outfit of the Charlatan.

The silver wristband was still around his right wrist, but his Rolex watch was gone. Checking his pockets, he found they were also empty. Aside from the clothes on his back, he had nothing to his name. Before he could look around further at his situation, the silver bangle began to heat up and vibrate.

Lifting his arm in surprise, the burning letters from the test reappeared, this time occupying the full holographic screen of his wristband.

Floor: 1

Summary: The continent of Thassa had once been peaceful. Worshipping the gods of both the domain of Life and Death, the cycle of mortality and rebirth was interrupted. The balance of the world tilted, and the dead began to live while the living died. The Last Temple called to the gods for mercy, and they sent their champions.

Goal: As a summoned champion to this world, it is your responsibility to free the city of August from the undead. Once the city is cleansed, the path to the next floor will be revealed.

“Wait, undead? Like zombies?” Mathew asked, shaking the wristband to try to get more information, but nothing happened. After he had finished reading, the image faded, leaving the status, inventory and Blessing screen like it usually was.

Lowering his arm, Mathew looked around fearfully for a horde of undead to attack him.

But things seemed peaceful here. He could even see people standing on the walls of the town, staring at him and pointing. The small village in front of him didn’t seem much like a city; perhaps August was further away, and this was a stopping point?

Shaking his head, he began to walk across the grass field toward a dirt path that ran toward the town's gates. He was attracting more attention now. There were at least a half dozen people standing atop the wall, observing him as he approached.

A voice called out to him when he was about twenty feet away from the gates.

“That’s close enough, Firstie. We have to go over the rules before you enter.” A woman spoke, and Mathew shielded his eyes with his hand as he tilted his head back to look up at the wall. At only around ten feet high, it wasn’t a massive wall, but enough that he couldn’t see the town's interior from where he was standing.

The woman was leaning over the top of the wall, wedged between two sharpened points of logs that protruded past it. Blond looked to be in her forties and wearing what Mathew could only assume was a padded jacket layered with thick wool or linen. A spear was resting beside her, the sharp metal of the tip catching the light.

“Hey! I’m here for the first floor of the Tower. Could you let me in?” Mathew replied, and the woman scoffed.

“Of course you are, Firstie. We’re all here for the tower. Like I said, gotta go over the rules before we let you in.” The woman said.

“Why do you keep calling me ‘Firstie?’ Name’s Mathew.”

“Don’t care. What level are you?” She called out.

“One. Oh.” Mathew realized where the name came from now.

“Yeah, everyone coming here is a Firstie until you level up. Until then, don’t expect anyone to learn your name. Now, the rules are simple. There is no stealing, no fighting inside the town, and everyone serves their shift on the walls. If you want supplies, you pay in Aether just like everyone else. Temple services are in the stone building at the center of town. You got all that, Firstie?” She finished, sounding slightly bored now that she had gotten a good look at Mathew.

“Yeah, you the boss or something?” Mathew responded, earning himself another scoff and a barked laugh.

“Yeah, this shift. Like I said, we’re all here for the Tower. Stay out of everyone else’s way, keep your mouth shut and your ears open, and you’ll do fine. Open it up!” She called, and the gates began to open with a creaking noise.

The woman met Mathew on the ground inside the gate. Hefting her spear over her shoulder casually, Mathew frowned as he approached her. There was something off-putting about her, like a warning inside his mind that she was dangerous.

But of course, she was. She was carrying a spear, for Christ's sake. But it wasn’t the weapon that gave Mathew the feeling. It was coming from her. It was as if she were bigger than him, somehow, even though he was taller. A prickling sensation was at the nape of his neck, and his stomach clenched.

The woman immediately noticed his discomfort. Coming forward, she slapped him roughly on the shoulder.

“Feeling ‘the buzz,’ are you? Always a laugh when we get a Firstie. One of them pissed themselves in the street when they felt it. I thought they were going to pass out in their piss puddle. You’re not going to do that, are you?” The woman joked, eyeing him carefully for signs of wetness.

“What? No! What’s ‘the buzz’?” Mathew stammered slightly before he recovered. The feeling faded somewhat as he tried to get it under control using deep breaths.

“That feeling you’re getting, like you’re trapped in a cage with a tiger, and you have nothing to fight it off but your bare hands? That tells you someone of a higher level than you are around. It’ll drive you crazy at first until you get a few more of your own under your belt. Sucks at first, but it gets damn useful. Come on, I’ll show you around.” The woman offered.

“Thanks. You got a name?” Mathew asked as they walked down the main dirt path of the small village. It had a worn-down and abandoned feel to it. Most of the house windows were boarded up, with weeds along the walkways and moss growing on the stone and clay tiles.

Mathew counted at least a hundred people wandering around the town with them, moving from building to building on errands or hanging out chatting on the front steps of homes. There was a large structure to their right, where Mathew could hear a lot of voices shouting and laughing.

In the center of the town, a stone church rose above all the other houses, the spire visible from where Mathew was walking.

“Maria. Spearmaiden.” Maria replied, waving hello to people as they passed.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Mathew.” Mathew replied politely. It didn’t hurt to try and make friends, especially if this place was as dangerous as he expected.

“That it? What’s your Discipline, Firstie? Introductions here always include them.” Maria explained.

“Oh. Charlatan.” Mathew replied. Maria looked at him for a moment, judging before shaking her head.

“Never heard that one before. It must be rare, but it’s not a very trustworthy Discipline name. Was Snake-Oil Salesman taken?” Maria joked, laughing at herself as she walked. Mathew smiled.

“Alright, here’s the ins and outs. You can stay in any home that isn’t already taken. There are a few on the west side that are free. August is about two miles down the road; the undead stay inside until nightfall, and then we get busy grinding.

“Someone will find you when it’s your turn on the wall, but we don’t lean on the Firsties too hard. You guys break too easily. When the sun goes down, find me on the wall and watch, no heroic shit. Last Firstie got himself eaten, and I don’t want to have to watch that again.” Maria said, pointing at the empty houses near the wall's far side.

“How long have you been here? We’re all doing the same thing, clearing August City?” Mathew asked. The Towers had only opened for maybe an hour before he entered, but it seemed like people had been here for weeks, if not months. People seemed settled in what they were doing.

“Yup, we’re all doing the same thing. I’ve been here for two months, but a couple of people have been here for three. They found the town and the wall and hunkered down, or they died.” Maria explained with a shrug.

“Wait, three months? The Tower only opened an hour ago.” Mathew asked his guess about their time here having been confirmed. But it was longer than he expected.

“Your Tower opened an hour ago. Mine’s been open since last June. Every Earth is different, Firstie. Don’t worry, you’ll learn. See you on the wall, sun’s setting in a couple hours.”