10 years later
A 19-year-old boy from Christchurch, New Zealand is making a living using the tower, going up and coming back on a fortnightly basis, living in the Loki faction, due to his behavior. Even then, he alone can make 9 floors up the Main Tower and floor 47 on the School Tower.
Leon, the loner of the Loki faction, mostly goes up the towers alone, but for once, his faction needs him.
"A faction war, what the fuck did you do!" Leon asked Loki. The red haired woman pretended to look offended.
"What are you talking about, I didn't do anything," Loki said while looking away.
"Am I supposed to believe that Nike is just being competitive again? Of course, she'd do that." Leon sighed, wiping his black hair off his face. "When is this gonna take place..."
"2 weeks, if things don't screw up. Plenty of time to gain allies." Loki laughed.
"Do you have any information about who her allies are?" Leon tapped his shoe on the ground.
"No, I'm going to though, anyway, you go and ascend the tower again. I'll be infiltrating other headquarters for information. Oh, by the way, someone from the Hecate faction wants to join you." Loki turned around.
"Who in the Hecate faction would want to...unless…" He shook his head, fixing his trenchcoat.
Burnside High School, some students go there even after the government has collapsed to learn strategies on how to kill monsters and how to use items. The best part is that you don't have to wear a school uniform anymore. There is a minor tower in the school field that everyone is competing to get to the top, but no one has ever made it to the top, everyone decides to go in with a max party of 20. But, Christchurch ascenders are too cautious and call for an extraction when only one of their members is at critical HP. This is why Leon is the number 1 rank so far because he made it to floor 47 alone and doesn't worry about it. The reason he can go so far on his own is due to his Dark Magic attributes, which anger and sadness control. The more angry or sad you are, the more powerful your moves get. If the user is angry enough, they will enter Rage1, which will give them new moves, increased stats, and more power. However, if you seriously fuck them up, they'll enter Rage2, which will make them almost unstoppable, but uncontrollable. Sometimes, reminding the user of a traumatic event will instantly put them in Rage1. The main tower though, is much more difficult, which is why he and most other ascenders choose to avoid it.
"Wait, you are the one who wanted to see me? I thought you were factionless." Leon said in surprise.
"Yeah, I lie all the time, I thought you knew that," Giana said. She is a quiet 18 year old girl who often tries to go unnoticed and doesn't see any good in her but is overall a nice person and a powerful mage that is intelligent and is currently dating Leon "And besides, as someone from the Hecate faction, I can support you with buffs of all kind, making you able to go further."
"For fuck sakes...who can I trust!" He muttered to himself.
"Your girlfriend perhaps? I haven't backstabbed you, have I? Hey, your eye is turning purple again..." She hugged his arm.
"You know what they say, people don't like Hecate or her faction because of some dumb rumor," he pulled his arm off her.
"I know, but what's at floor 48 again?" She leaned forwards, looking up at him.
"A class 3 boss that is way out of my league, I cleared all the class 1 and 2 bosses, until then." He looked away.
"What kind of boss is on floor 48, monster type-wise?" She said, twirling her ginger hair.
"A fully matured phoenix, we could get some phoenix feathers if we win, but still the fire in there is ridiculous, shouldn't you know about this, it is a big deal that I have found my limit..." he glared at her with his dark eyes.
"Sorry, but, I can give us the fireproof status, which makes us essentially immune to heat damage." She giggled, but when she stopped she looked at him with a sinister glare. "Or...I can drown it."
The two went to the entrance to the tower, where there are multiple parties ready to ascend. The entrance is almost like a station, everyone is registered into a system where they use their tower pass to get in. The tower pass is a card, more so like a phone, that is an identification that bonds to the owner. If it's lost, it always teleports back into the owner's pocket, it shows how high one has been up a tower and records all their data: levels, abilities, stats, weapon, faction, amount of money, and tower experience time. Also records general information as well of course.
"Now, we need to buy some food and other items before we climb," Leon said.
"I may not have ascended before, but I'm not stupid!" Giana shouted.
The tower station is full of stores that sell items, food, throwables, getaway tools, and distractions. The two are buying the necessities before going to the quest board to see what there is, from slaying a certain amount of monsters, rescue missions, gathering items...
"Hey look, there is a quest for slaying the Phoenix, by the looks of it, no one wants to do it," Giana said, jumping up to reach it.
"Probably for the best, because they normally wouldn't make it past floor 32 with all the poison" Leon casually grabbed the quest.
"Wait, there is a floor entirely covered in poison gas, how did you get through all that?"
"I held my breath...and made sure to eat food that made me immune to poison."
"Oh, you had me for a second!" She punched him. "Why is it so bad for other ascenders then?"
"Because they are in large parties!" Leon turned around.
"Ah...shit…" Giana held onto her sleeves.
The two made some final payments before going to the gates, which is when they encountered a certain ascender.
"Ahh, if it isn't Leon, the edge lord of the Loki faction that is always alone!"
"Ahh, if it isn't Lucas, the douchebag asshole from the Nike faction and lives in a stadium and can't get past floor 17 in this dungeon because he can't take a hit," Leon replied calmly, "and besides, I'm not going up alone today."
"Oh, it's Giana, she's an ascender?" Lucas said, whipping his blonde hair.
"Yeah, I'm an ascender, are you?" Giana replied with a giggle."
"Oh screw you, I heard about the Loki faction making an ascent up the main tower in 2 weeks, you have competition and your factions are small, how are you going to make it up?!." Lucas said, his blue eyes narrowing.
"How many factions are there trying to compete against my faction?!" Leon shouted instantly.
"Oh, let's see: Nike, Ares, Athena, Zeus, and Apollo faction. Those 5 factions are going up the same day as you are and are going to go higher because all 5 have full 20 parties!" Lucas said smugly.
"Well, you must be cocky enough to think that your team can defeat our team," Leon said calmly, twirling a black ring around his finger. "Anywho, we're gonna go to Caitlin and ascend the tower, later."
"Hold up, I'm not done just yet!" Lucas summoned his spear, Stormrider, and pirouette swing to Leon's neck and stopped right before slashing him. Leon didn't even react in time. "I've gotten stronger last time we met." Stormrider is a spear that can summon multiple tornadoes at a time, it's best used for team combos, but Lucas...
"You sound ridiculous, you know that?" Leon said as he brought out his sword, The Cutlass Pistol, and poked Lucas's spear away. The Cutlass Pistol is a unique weapon, combining a gunslinger and a swordsman class. The weapon can shoot like a gun, without going into a certain stance.
"Hmm...so you have Simon, Diane, Rebecca, and Michael with you, ok..." Giana chimed in.
"Heh, we all know you like her, everyone in your faction, her faction, and every second in command knows that." Leon laughed, laying his sword on his shoulder.
"Nngh, you don't know shit!" Lucas went in for the attack! Leon pushed Giana away and kept dodging backward to avoid the rapid jabs. Fast damage, slow movement. Leon waited for an opening and rolled down and sliced Lucas's ankles, tripping him.
"You really shouldn't do that next time," Leon said while shaking his head while pointing his blade at Lucas's face with the tip glowing. Lucas countered by blasting wind at Leon, sending him flying backward, forcing him to stab the ground to slow down across the field. Leon recovered and charged at Lucas, and immediately went for a block, predicting Lucas's next action to attack! Lucas attempted to blast wind from the tip of his spear, but Leon tilted his head just in time, however, he lost hearing in one ear temporarily. Leon grabbed the spear and pulled it towards him, bringing Lucas in range for a stab.
"Not gonna be ascending anytime soon, hmm?" Leon said.
"I've got healing items!" Lucas shouted
"Hey, Giana! A bit of help please!" Leon said after dropping Lucas.
Giana cast "Freeze" on Lucas, keeping his body in place until the ice breaks.
"ENJOY YOUR DATE!" Lucas shouted. The duo just kept walking while pointing the finger behind them.
"Oi! What team do you mean! There are only 2 of us and 5 of them!" Giana whispered.
"You'll see, remember, we are the Loki faction. Hephaestus and Roland will be on our side," Leon replied as he pulled out his tower pass to make a call.
"Oi Loki, I've figured out what factions we are against!" Leon spoke into his tower pass.
"Really? Who is it, how did you find out?" Loki replied.
"Her dumbass second in command told me." Leon sighed.
"Oh, of course..."
"They have Ares, Athena, Zeus, and Apollo on their side, you think we can gather enough allies to take them on?" He questioned.
"Maybe...I'm going to infiltrate Zeus's headquarters now!" She cheered.
"But why?! I told you who it is!"
"Ehh. just want to get some information on their plans."
"God dammit, I can't control you." Leon hung up.
Leon and Giana turned around to enter the tower, but first, they had to register their entrances. Caitlin is a small 17 year old girl wearing office attire who assembles parties when they ascend towers, she is factionless. Assembling parties are important as this will record information and will allow quest rewards to split equally for each member with proof.
"Hello Leon, going up again?" Caitlin said as if she's used to seeing Leon fail over and over.
"Yes I am, and I brought a friend for once," he replied.
"Wait, Giana? You are in a faction?" Caitlin asked.
"Yes I am, sorry for lying to you, please don't let this spread," Giana said sincerely
"Why not, being in a faction is amazing" Leon laughed.
"Not really, compared to the rest of the world, in ratio, you ascenders are a minority." Caitlin lectured. "Actually, don't activists outnumber you ascenders?"
"Can you just sign us in!" Leon said
"So...it's a date?" Caitlin leaned on her desk.
"NO!" they both said.