The Tower's Price: A LitRPG Adventure (Tower of Power Book 5) Read online

  CHAPTER TWO

  Morgan woke up as the sun slipped through the curtains and hit his face. He grimaced and then realized that Vestella was snuggled close to him. Slowly he pulled his hand back and, leaving her to sleep, stood up. It had been a day since they had defeated the boss, and the portal to the fourth floor had been opened. Most of the raid had left the Tower, going back to the outside world to resupply and make final arrangements. Lucius and Vallsorim had themselves left for Skyreach to take care of things and leave the latest of their gains with the Guild.

  Ragnor Raam had scheduled a meeting set to take place in a few days, where presumably all of them would make a final decision to climb to the fourth floor. Of course, that would be mostly a formality. Everyone here had been picked because they wanted to make the climb, and losing even one person would be a hit to their numbers, since they couldn’t add someone new to the raid group.

  Morgan dressed and left his room slowly, making sure not to wake up Ves. As one of their tanks, she had been exhausted after the boss fight. Even with healing potions and spells, she was still not back to 100%. There wasn’t only a physical drain, but a mental one as well.

  He walked down into the common room of the inn that they were staying, one run by the natives. Morgan had given up trying to get one of the Children of the Mountain to reveal something more about their lives. He had wondered what they did when there were no other people from outside the Tower present. Who did the inn cater to then? But the answer was impossible to obtain. And then there was the fact even if two teams entered the Tower at the same time, they couldn’t see each other. It almost made Morgan’s head hurt to think about. Was this just one of the Towns available? Or was there some timey-wimey shenanigans going on? It didn’t really matter in the end, especially since getting information out of the Children of the Mountain was impossible.

  Once down in the common room, he saw a table with a couple of his friends already occupied and headed there.

  “Good morning,” Morgan said as he took a seat next to a human with bright blue hair and piercing silver eyes.

  “Good morning to you, too, Morgan,” Ta’elara said, her silver eyes twinkling.

  “Mornin’,” Gravough added as he tried to stuff a large piece of steak into his mouth and managed to somehow smear half of his black bushy beard with grease.

  Jelara rolled her reptilian eyes next to the dwarf and nodded her head in greeting to Morgan. The Sassakra Shaman had her usual headdress on and Morgan wondered, not for the first time, how she could manage to get it up on top of her head every morning.

  Morgan yawned just as a server brought a plate for him. He thanked the native, even though she didn’t seem to even acknowledge what he said. They really do act more like NPCs than real people. He shook his head as he started to eat.

  “So, Morgan,” Jelara started. “We were just talking about going to the shop after breakfast. You want to come?”

  Morgan blinked as he chewed. “Hm… Sure. I’ll need to get Ves, though.”

  “We can wait a bit,” Jelara said.

  The shop they were talking about was part of the town—or, rather, the floor. Enemies on this floor didn’t drop equipment, but instead dropped tokens that a person could turn in for rewards in the shop. Morgan’s understanding was that the most powerful gear available in the World came from the shop, but that things there were also quite expensive. It took more than one clear of the third floor for people to get enough tokens to buy the most expensive items. Morgan himself didn’t have a lot tokens, only 9350. Ta’elara had almost a hundred thousand, and that was with her having already bought things in the past. Not only did she contribute more to the raid, she had gone through this floor more than once.

  “There are some very interesting things available,” Ta’elara said. “You might consider buying some of the consumables. It would be best if we are all as prepared as possible for the next floor.”

  Everyone nodded, considering her advice. Ta’elara was one of the most powerful people in the World. She was known as the Grand Mage, which was both her class and the name she was known by. She ran a magical academy on the outside which was one of the most influential factions outside of the Tower.

  She hadn’t needed to come to the Tower with them, and initially she had refused Ragnor Raam’s invitation to join. She had everything that she could ever want on the outside: wealth, power, influence. It wasn’t until she spoke with Morgan that she’d changed her mind. She did want one thing that no one outside of the Tower could give her—and that was answers to her questions. Why was the World created, and what did the Great Lord want from them? Morgan knew the answers because his best friend, Clara, had told him. Clara was an orc, and her people had a longer history with Oxylus. She’d told him that this world was meant to produce warriors, an army for the Great Lord. Of course he wasn’t supposed to share that fact freely, as it was apparently a secret.

  But he had told Ta’elara his personal reasons for the climbing the Tower: to see what was at the end and to stand before the Great Lord having accomplished something great. That had sparked something in the Grand Mage, and ever since then, Morgan and Ta’elara had become friends. It was kind of weird for him to think about, since she was over a hundred years old and extremely powerful—but knowing that your dad is some kind of god with a little g made you look past such things. And, of course, her being so old made her advice that much more valuable.

  Morgan finished his breakfast and then went up to wake Ves up. He didn’t want to, since she did need rest, but in the end his desire to visit the shop won out and he decided that it was worth it. After some grumbling and a short battle over the blanket, Morgan was proven victorious and angry-looking Ves accepted her defeat by putting her clothes on and following him downstairs.

  She greeted the rest with a single grumpy word and then they were off.

  The streets of the town were simple, paved stone covered most of the ground and buildings rose all around them. There were few of the natives out on the streets, some guards who watched over the ascended carefully, even though they tried to appear as if they weren’t keeping an eye on them.

  “Any idea what you might buy?” Morgan asked the group.

  “I saw some interesting totems. I might buy one of those,” Jelara said. She was a Spirit Shaman, or rather had become as much once she had evolved her class. She mostly used spirits to heal and provide small buffs, as well as craft alchemical poultices and remedies to help outside of combat.

  “What about you, Grav?” Morgan said, turning to the dwarf.

  Gravough glanced up at Morgan with a mad twinkle in his eye. “I saw this wild cannon contraption. You can strap it on your back and then have it fire this powerful beam of light at your opponents. Completely crazy!”

  Morgan blinked at his friend. His choice somehow fit the dwarf and his crazy disposition. Grav was an Artificer, or rather a Fireborn Artificer now. He excelled in creating explosives and launching them from his launchers. It didn’t surprise Morgan at all that he was interested in a giant back-mounted cannon.

  “Ta’elara?” Ves asked.

  “I’ve bought a lot of things from this store over the years, all top-tier gear. But I do have quite a few tokens saved up… I might go for the staff,” she said.

  Morgan nodded in understanding. There was a lot of gear and general items available at the store, but there were a couple of items that cost a truly incredible amount, like the staff that she mentioned. Morgan didn’t know how powerful it was in reality, but if it cost so much it had to be something special.

  “And what about you two?” Ta’elara waved her hand at Ves and Morgan.

  Ves glanced at Ta’elara tiredly and Morgan almost regretted not letting her rest. But then a spark fluttered in her eyes and she spoke. “I’m going to look through some of the shields available. I’m in for an upgrade.”

  Morgan nodded, both at what she said and her sudden enthusiasm. She had been using a large tower shield for a w
hile now, and had significantly out-leveled it .

  “Well, I have no idea what I need,” Morgan said, and when everyone turned to look at him, he frowned. “What? It’s the truth.”

  He really had no idea what he was going to buy. With Klyn, his symbiont that had now become a part of his body, he was very versatile. He could consume any type of matter, including items and then have his arm assume the form of whatever he had consumed. He had limited slots for his forms, true, but he could have his arm take the form of literally anything, although if it wasn’t a form it would take more time to accomplish. At times he felt weird for having an arm that was something akin to an eldritch shape-shifting horror, but then he remembered how useful his hand was. In any case, since his class evolution, Klyn had become more an extension of him than just a symbiont. He no longer felt like it had any will of its own. It was just…a strange part of his body that he could control at will.

  And with it, he already had two weapon forms: those of the Sword of Dawning and the Whispering Spirit Bow. Both were incredibly powerful, and the forms seemed to increase in power the more he used them. His Shimmering Cloak was still a good item—it could change colors to blend into the environment, and he could have it glow brightly enough to blind his opponents with its ability. His Raiment of the Grand Alchemist was excellent, too, giving him a modest resistance to poisons and acidic effects, but more importantly it had two special storage pockets that were in fact spatial storages. Each allowed him to pull something out without having to concentrate on what he wanted, which was priceless in battle. He was limited to having only the same types of items inside, if he wanted to guarantee what he would pull out, but that was a small price to pay.

  There wasn’t really all that much that he needed. Their climb had supplied him with a lot of consumables and special arrows, but he figured that he might find something better than what he already had. Although he didn’t know if he had enough tokens.

  “Well, you can always buy something to replace that cloak of yours,” Grav said.

  Morgan rolled his eyes. His cloak was truly useful, but the downside was that when he wasn’t actively focusing on it and using it, it glittered, which was only somewhat embarrassing.

  They made their way to the store, which was a building that looked almost the same as all the others around it except that it had a big sign above the doors which said Token Store. Not the best name for a store, but, well…it worked.

  Their group entered and were immediately greeted by the owner, or most likely the native who had been assigned there.

  “Welcome! Browse the wares and buy. Climbing the Great Lord’s Tower is dangerous!”

  Morgan rolled his eyes at the greeting, which was the same every time. Doing very little to make yourself look non-NPC like, Morgan thought to himself.

  They approached the several catalogs and started looking through them. They were just white stones that projected the items above them. To Morgan it looked very much like a hologram, but for the others it was just standard illusionary magic. The group separated as they started looking through, with Morgan and Ves sharing one.

  They started by looking at shields for her. There were quite a few, but many were a bit too expensive, so they focused on what was inside their budget. Morgan was ready to add his tokens to hers if they found something useful. After a while they narrowed their choices down to two shields.

  “So, what do you think?” Ves asked.

  (8000 tokens) Absorbing Shield of Aspects LVL 52 (requires 50 strength, 50 constitution, 35 will) — The Absorbing Shield of Aspects can absorb the aspects given to it by the wielder and gains bonuses and changes shape based on what kind of an aspect it had absorbed. You can activate Unleash Power to release an elemental attack based on what aspect the shield has absorbed. +10 to strength, +10 to constitution, +5 to will.

  Morgan looked at what the shield could do. It was interesting and could be adaptable. Ves’s aspects were water and air, with a bit more focus on ice and blood for water and spirit for air.

  “I think that it might be a good choice,” Morgan said. “Although it is a bit smaller than your current shield.”

  “I know, but it’s versatile. Here, look.” She swiped her hand through the illusion to display the properties it would have depending on different aspects.

  He looked through it, trying to imagine how and what each effect would add to their team. “What was the other choice?” Morgan asked once he read through everything.

  She swiped her hand again and another shield appeared.

  (13000 tokens) Shield of Mirroring LVL 55 (requires 55 strength, 50 constitution) — The Shield of Mirroring sends back 10% of the force generated by any physical attack it blocks to the attacker. The wielder can activate Light Barrier to create a dome around themselves and any allies nearby that will protect them from damage. The wielder can also activate Mirror Spell, which will block and redirect any aspect-based abilities in the direction the shield is pointed in. +15 to strength, +10 to constitution.

  The second shield was excellent as well, and it gave more defensive options as well as an ability that could be used offensively. It was also much more expensive, and would require Morgan giving her some of his own tokens. Not that he had any problem with that.

  “Which one do you like more?” Morgan asked.

  “Both of them?” she answered. “I’m sorry, I know that I’m being annoying. I just can’t seem to make up my mind. One gives me more defensive abilities, whereas the other can give me some versatility. They are both good.”

  “I know, I’m the same way.” Morgan smiled. “I mean, you already have some offensive options with your summon, and your tentacle thingies.” Morgan wiggled his fingers at her, and Ves rolled her eyes.

  Her abilities were kind of freaky—which was to be expected from a class that was called the Eldritch Warden. She could summon some pretty horrible-looking things with her abilities. Of course, she didn’t really think of them being so freaky, which was probably why she was okay with his arm being a shape-shifting monstrosity as well. He only wasn’t sure if everyone in this world would accept their lover having some kind of weird plant-fungus-parasite arm, or if Ves was unique. Although she had asked Morgan to do some…freaky things with his arm in bed. By that logic, and her choice of class, it would stand to reason that she was unique.

  Which means I lucked out. Morgan just grinned at her.

  She didn’t even ask what he why he was grinning, but just shook her head and turned back to the illusion.

  “You’re right,” Ves sighed. “The Shield of Mirroring is the better choice. It is also more expensive.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m really fine with giving you my tokens. I mean, we are family after all.”

  She leaned into him and closed her eyes. “Yeah, we are.”

  They made their selection for her, and Morgan pulled out his tokens from his storage. She had almost eleven thousand tokens, and Morgan made up the difference.

  Then he started looking through the catalog for something to buy for himself. He didn’t even look through weapons and armor—what he had was powerful and he didn’t have enough tokens left to buy anything that was more powerful than his own gear, so he looked through consumables and miscellaneous items. He and Ves talked a bit and in the end they decided on buying a few health potions, since they always came in handy. Morgan also found another item that seemed incredibly powerful, but was somehow priced low enough for him to be able to get it. So he decided on taking it. Once they had made their choices, they walked over to the counter, only to see Gravough and Jelara standing there.

  Grav grinned at Morgan and then turned to show him his back. Morgan blinked at the contraption on the dwarvar’s back.

  “You bought it,” Morgan said as he looked at what could only be described as a sizeable cannon strapped to his back.

  “Fuck yeah I did. Look how awesome it is! I can probably level a building with this!” Grav seemed far too proud of his new purchase
, and even Jelara could barely keep her face straight. Morgan noticed a lever sticking out around his kidneys that would probably let him pull the cannon over his shoulder to fire.

  “How heavy is it?” Ves asked.

  “Fairly,” Grav admitted with a nod. “I probably can’t run as fast as I could before with it, but I don’t generally get close to monsters. I can afford to be a bit slower.”

  Morgan nodded at his reasoning, then turned at Jelara as he saw a new totem hanging from her hip. “I see that you got something as well.”

  “Yes, it can make my spirits lasts for longer. It’s not as flashy as Grav’s cannon here, but it is useful,” Jelara said.

  “And what about you two, did you decide on something?” Grav asked.

  “Yes, a shield for Ves and a few little potions and a trinket for me,” Morgan answered.

  Before anyone could speak, Morgan noticed the shop owner coming back from a back room with a long staff. He reached the counter and gave it to Ta’elara.

  It was as long as she was tall, and white, with a glowing golden crystal set at the top where a large crescent grew out of the staff. It looked like the image of a crescent moon, and had a star in the center. Morgan approached and looked at it.

  “So you did get it,” he said.

  Ta’elara nodded. “I don’t think that anyone in the World has ever purchased one of these,” she said.

  Morgan already knew about it; he had read through what the most expensive items could do. What she was holding was called the Staff of True Magic. It apparently allowed the wielder to see the secrets behind spells, to store any spell that was cast in its vicinity to be used later, and gave the wielder a large bonus to stats.

  “Well, congratulations,” Morgan said.

  Ta’elara nodded distractedly as she looked at her new item. Morgan shook his head and turned to the shop owner. Ves and he told him what they wanted and paid with their tokens. The owner went to the back room, and then came out a while later with their items.