The Tower's Price: A LitRPG Adventure (Tower of Power Book 5) Page 8

  “So, what is it?” Morgan asked finally when he saw that Lucius wouldn’t speak.

  The Roman looked startled for a moment, as if he had forgotten that Morgan was there. He shook his head and sighed.

  “I’m sorry Morgan, I just don’t know with whom to speak about this. And I feel like I can’t keep it all inside.”

  “Of course, you know that you can tell me anything,” Morgan said.

  “I... I can’t get the fourth floor out of my mind,” Lucius whispered.

  “None of us can, and that is okay,” Morgan said. “We lost a lot of people.”

  “No, I... I could have done more. I failed.”

  “I know that you feel that way Lucius, we all do. But it wasn’t your fault.”

  “You don’t understand,” Lucius said again, his eyes looking at Morgan with a pained expression. “I got them killed.”

  “Lucius...”

  “Listen to me,” the man insisted. “Before we entered the Tower, while Vall and I were back home... Karissa and I...”

  He trailed off, and Morgan didn’t press, seeing that he had something important to say. Finally Lucius seemed to gather himself, and he took a deep breath before speaking.

  “Karissa is pregnant,” Lucius said.

  Morgan blinked, when their conversation started he hadn’t expected it to lead there.

  “Uh... congratulations?” Morgan asked. Karissa was Lucius’ partner, as well as the administrator of their Guild. She ran basically their entire territory back in their valley. And she was the one that had been left in charge of everything while they were climbing the Tower. Lucius and Karissa had been together for years, ever since her town decided to join the Sky Reach Guild. She hadn’t been ascended then, but since then she had become one of them. She wasn’t like the others, meaning she didn’t hunt monsters a lot. Morgan wondered how she could’ve gotten pregnant in the short time Lucius was there, but then he remembered that there were items that could tell a lot sooner than anything on Earth could. Still, he didn’t get what one thing had to do with the other.

  “I almost didn’t come back to the raid group, maybe I should’ve stayed out.”

  “Lucius, what is it really?”

  “I was so afraid,” Lucius whispered. “When everything started happening on the fourth floor I was terrified of dying.”

  “We all were,” Morgan added.

  “No, I knew that I couldn’t die, I couldn’t leave Karissa alone with our child. So I... I hesitated, and people died. I fought, but I tried to keep myself alive first. Other died because I hadn’t been focused enough, because I was afraid of dying.”

  Morgan realized what he meant, and his expression softened. “Lucius, no one could’ve known what was going to happen. And you can’t know if things would’ve turned out differently if you had made different choices. I know that it feels like it was your fault, the same way like I feel at fault for not saving Grav,” Morgan stepped closer to his friend and put his hands on both of the Roman’s shoulders. “Lucius, it was not your fault that you survived and they didn’t. You could’ve done everything different and maybe nothing would’ve changed.”

  “Maybe everything would’ve changed,” Lucius whispered.

  “We are ascended, we don’t deal in what ifs. You did the best that you could in that moment. We are not responsible, do you understand?”

  Lucius met his eyes, he took a deep breath and then nodded.

  “Good,” Morgan said.

  “Thank you Morgan,” Lucius said.

  “No problem, I’m always here if you need to talk.”

  The Roman nodded and turned, walking away.

  Morgan knew that every one of them had their own demons and regrets. They lost so many people, it was understandable that they would feel guilty. But Morgan knew that they couldn’t afford to feel that way.

  He shook his head and returned to what he had been doing previously: trying to find Ta’elara. He walked over to where the excavation was taking place and looked around.

  She was standing next to Nesseya as they looked down in the hole that she had collapsed and was observing as Borodar, Ragnor, and Vallsorim cleared the rubble—gently this time. Ta’elara could probably rip the stone and earth out, but that might risk them creating more problems. They didn’t know what was actually down there.

  “Ta’elara,” Morgan called as he approached.

  She turned around, her bright blue hair pulled back in a tail swaying to the other side. She didn’t speak, but just raised an eyebrow over her silver eye.

  “Do you have a minute?”

  “No one can possess time, Morgan, but if you are asking if I can speak with you for a moment, then yes, I can.”

  Morgan rolled his eyes at her and she waved at Nesseya and followed. Morgan led her to the center of camp since no one seemed to be around at the moment. Ves, Lucius, and a few others had gone exploring and hunting for nearby monsters like the spider who attacked them, while those not in the tunnel kept watch around the oasis.

  “What is it, Morgan?” Ta’elara asked in a cheerful tone, but he knew her enough to know that she wasn’t all right.

  He hadn’t really had a chance to talk with her since they’d escaped the fourth floor, so he took a moment to really look at her. She seemed calm and collected, but her silver eyes betrayed her.

  “How are you, really?” Morgan asked.

  She opened her mouth to speak, but then saw the look in his eyes, and closed it. She looked to the side and then finally spoke. “I came along with this raid because I felt like I could get answers to the questions I had been asking for most of my life.”

  “Not because I convinced you?” Morgan added with a weak smile.

  She chuckled. “I know you think that the world dances to your tune, but sadly you were not the cause. Not the only one, at any rate.” She shook her head. “No, I was tempted when Ragnor asked, you just reminded me of the real reason why I climbed so high. And I always knew that going beyond the third floor was a risk, that we all might die. And yet, seeing something like that floor… I have always had suspicions about why the Great Lord created the Tower, and I feel like that floor supported all of them.”

  Morgan frowned. “How so?”

  “From history, we know that the Tower is a test. But what is a test but something to prepare you for the future? A learning tool. The first three floors were easy compared to the fourth. They were there to help people level and to become strong, they were the equivalent of a helping hand.”

  “And the fourth?” Morgan asked when she paused.

  She met his eyes and answered. “The fourth was reality: it was there to show us that everything we thought about the Tower was wrong. To prepare us for the losses of life, for seeing those closest to us die. And I fear that it tells us much about what the Great Lord wants from us in the end.”

  Morgan blinked. He hadn’t thought about it that way. He knew why the Great Lord had created the World and the Tower, knew that Oxylus was trying to create an army, but if the Tower was supposed to prepare them for the war that he waged, then it painted a bleak picture of the conflict that Oxylus was in.

  “What do you think that he wants?” Morgan asked.

  “I believe that is clear,” Ta’elara said. “He gave us a way of gaining power, and made a world that allows us opportunities to gain more of it. He clearly needs powerful people. Why else does he bring over people from other worlds like you? Why does everything in our world exist to show us that we can become stronger? And if his bar for what powerful means is the Tower…then I fear that we might all come up short to his expectations.”

  Morgan pondered on that a bit. She was very close to the real reason everything around them existed. Morgan had been so conflicted about Oxylus, and seemed to be moving from hating him and thinking him evil to trying to justify Oxylus’s actions, but the truth was that Morgan just didn’t know, couldn’t know, until he saw with his own eyes what his father was fighting against, and why.r />
  “And what do you feel about that?” Morgan asked.

  “I feel… I feel sad, and angry at seeing our teammates die. I feel fearful that I will meet the same fate. But at the same time, I want to finish the Tower and make the Great Lord acknowledge my power.”

  It was so similar to what Morgan himself wanted: to make his father look at him and be proud. He realized that in a way, everyone in the World was the Great Lord’s child. All of them were there because of something that he had done.

  “I understand that,” Morgan said, and then shook his head. “But I wanted to talk with you about something else.”

  “Of course, Morgan,” she said.

  “Klyn has unlocked two more form slots, and I am thinking about improving another part of myself,” Morgan said.

  “Not just the arm?” Ta’elara asked, surprised.

  “No,” Morgan said. “The three forms that I already have cover most of what I need. But I was thinking on doing something else.”

  “Any ideas?”

  “That is what I came to you for,” Morgan answered.

  Ta’elara turned pensive. “Well, if you can have a form of some item that gives you a good effect, that might be useful? Maybe something that you can keep inside your body always and that will make you passively stronger?”

  Morgan thought about it, but then shook his head. “I don’t have any items that would be useful like that, and that I can just destroy for Klyn to consume. But maybe…” Morgan trailed off as he remembered his conversation with Evermou.

  “What?”

  Morgan snapped back to reality and looked at her. “I have consumed many monster corpses over the years. I mean, I can recreate their body parts pretty easily.” Morgan put his arm up and focused. Claws tipped with metallic tips grew over his fingers and his hand bulged as the muscles changed. He knew that Klyn’s stats would change depending on what he had it recreate. The transformation was quick, but nowhere near as quick as his forms. Even with how skilled he had gotten at manipulating his energy to change Klyn, he was still not fast enough. It took more than ten seconds for it to change fully, which wasn’t as useful in combat.

  “What, you want a claw-hand form?” Ta’elara quipped.

  But Morgan shook his head and then focused, forcing Klyn to remember what it had consumed. His hand melted down into a blob and then slowly something else appeared, something round.

  And then its lids opened and a round, golden eye stared at Ta’elara.

  “Morgan, that is gross.” Ta’elara grimaced in distaste.

  “Yeah, but what do you think?” Morgan asked.

  “You want to have an eye on your hand?” she asked.

  “What? Of course not, that would be silly,” he said, but then it occurred to him that it might be useful for looking around corners.

  “Can you even see out of it?” she asked.

  “Of course I can’t! I don’t have the optical nerves connected to my brain. But I was thinking that perhaps I could replace my ordinary one, you know? I have two slots, so I could keep one for my basic eye, and have the other be this one.”

  “What is it, even?” Ta’elara asked.

  “You don’t remember? You fed me the monster,” Morgan reminded her.

  Ta’elara glared at him. “I had you consume a lot of monsters, Morgan.”

  He shook his head and answered. “It is the Midnight Fire Owl’s eye. I think it would be great for night vision, and if I remember correctly the monster could see heat signatures as well. It would be perfect for exploring down beneath the ground.”

  “Huh. That’s actually not a bad idea,” Ta’elara said.

  “Why are you surprised? I have awesome ideas all the time,” he said with a grin.

  Ta’elara rolled her eyes. “It is a good idea, and it might be exactly what we need down there. Especially if you go exploring with a smaller team first.”

  Morgan nodded firmly. “I think I’m going to do it, then.”

  “Although,” Ta’elara added, “it is a bit large for your head.”

  Morgan looked down and saw that she was right—the eye was as large as his fist. “I’ll scale it down.”

  I do not look forward to the pain.

  ***

  That evening, Morgan sat with Ves in their tent.

  “You can do this!” Ves cheered, trying to psych him up.

  “Yeah, I can do this. I can just eat my eye with the crazy other part of my body and then replace it, sure, no problem. Or—just a thought—it’s completely bonkers and I shouldn’t be doing this!”

  Morgan could admit, at least inside his head, that he was very close to chickening out.

  “You have already changed your arm and half of your chest. An eye is nothing,” Ves told him.

  “Why am I listening to you, you perverted harlot? You just want me to use it to make you—”

  A hand smacked him on the head.

  “Ouch!” Morgan cried.

  “Focus on the task at hand,” Ves said, but he could see her blushing.

  If people knew the things she’s asked me to do…

  “Fine,” Morgan said and then focused. He reached to Klyn and then slowly had it spread and consume. A part of Klyn resided inside his shoulder, since he had to have his hand and heart linked. Klyn couldn’t be in two places that didn’t touch, so it made things a bit tricky. He had it start eating his flesh and replacing it, starting from his shoulder up his neck and beneath his face. He tried to keep it just surface deep, as he didn’t want to really consume everything. The pain was…intense, but manageable. Once he consumed something, he had Klyn move in and replicate what it had consumed, attaching to the nerves and surrounding flesh. The pain would stop immediately, but he could still feel a phantom of it inside his head. Finally, he reached his eye.

  He looked at Ves and took a deep breath. “Here I go.”

  Consume.

  Klyn grew over his eye and Morgan saw his vision in it dim before winking out. The pain was not as bad as he feared, actually; the first thing that he did was cut off the optical nerve, and taking over the eyeball itself was almost easy in comparison. Then, he recreated his ordinary eye. It took him a bit as he was going slowly, but finally his vision snapped back into place, the same as it always was. He blinked and looked around then before settling on Ves, who had stayed sitting in front of him.

  “Does it look good?” Morgan asked.

  “Yes, just like it did before,” Ves answered.

  “Good,” Morgan said, and then saved the form as his Basic Eye Form, so that he could switch to it quickly. “Now comes the hard part.”

  He started changing the eye again. His vision in that eye winked out and he felt something changing and growing inside his eye socket.

  Ves looked at it with fascination in her eyes, and Morgan wasn’t sure if he would ever get used to her being so casual with his shifting body parts.

  Finally, he finished and then his vision returned. At the start he nearly got dizzy as his brain received such a different type of information. Then he closed his normal eye, and immediately the image from his eyes stabilized and he saw. The tent had only a small gem-lantern as a source of light, and most of it was covered in shadows. Or at least it was to his ordinary eye. Now he could see everything. He couldn’t see colors, but he saw things far sharper than before. It was almost like if he focused on something that it zoomed in. And then he turned his eye to Ves and saw her face shaded in reddish hue that seemed to imply heat. As soon as he saw that he realized that everything was tinted in red, that he was seeing heat from the desert air inside their tent.

  “Well, this is freaky,” Morgan said as he saved the new form as his Night Eye Form.

  “It’s kinda cute,” Ves said as she looked at it.

  Morgan blinked at her. “Yeah, you would say that, perv.”

  Her eyes narrowed and her hand rose, but he laughed and apologized.

  He couldn’t wait to test out his new eye in a different environment.r />
  ***

  The raid group gathered the next day, as the sun rose high up into the sky and the temperature started to rise.

  “Stupid-ass deserts. If I ever find out who invented them…” Clara was murmuring from next to him, and Morgan only sighed in defeat. They were all sitting around the center of the camp, aside from Lucius, who was up in the sky on patrol, making sure that nothing attacked the camp.

  “We’ve cleared the tunnel entrance,” Ragnor said. “I think that we should send a scouting party to take a look where it leads. We aren’t sure yet if this is the entrance to the underground city that we are looking for.”

  “And I guess I’m the one to go?” Morgan said.

  “You have the skills to detect monsters before you run into them. Hopefully that will let you avoid any trouble down there and retreat as soon as you find out enough,” Ragnor said.

  “Yeah, I know.” Morgan sighed and Ves hit him with her shoulder—gently this time.

  “You should assemble a team as quickly as possible,” Ragnor said.

  Morgan nodded. It surprised him just how much trust he had earned in the raid group. He had become familiar with everyone in the raid group to varying degrees—some more, some less—but he was never a part of the leadership, nor would he have been the first choice for this kind of mission if some of the others were still alive. The reality was that there were only a few of them left, and he was the best suited for the task. Besides, with such a small group they all had to stick together if they were to survive.

  “While they are exploring down there, I want another team exploring our surroundings. We need to see what else is out there, and maybe find other entrances,” Ragnor said.