It was dark when I was transported to the location of the second task. The first task wasn't bright exactly, there wasn't any source of natural light anywhere, it just seemed like the maze existed in an area where it was constantly daytime. Even though I knew that we were technically still in the tower, it felt like we had been transported outside where it was now nighttime.
I saw the others and made my way towards them.
Saizo noticed me first. His question made Kat look up at me as she sat down next to Mobito, who still didn't look well.
"What happened?"
I shrugged and kept my eyes on the ground.
Saizo grabbed hold of my shoulders and asked again as he looked into my eyes. I could feel his gaze even in the darkness of our surroundings, "what happened?"
"She didn't make it," I started, "I don't know exactly what she was talking about near the end, she wasn't making any sense. But the monster got to her."
Saizo studied me for a bit before he nodded and let go of my shoulders, "I'm glad you're okay," he said.
As I knelt down on the other side of Mobito to take a closer look at him, Kat leaned back away to keep some distance from me. She was still uncomfortable with me.
Of course, she would be, I thought to myself. Nobody in their right mind would be okay after what she saw.
"How's Mobito doing?" I asked.
"Not too good, but certainly better after the extra health potions you shared," Saizo said.
"You said that he was cursed?" I pivoted to face Saizo.
"Yeah, and since we don't have a dedicated healer in our party or someone with a 'Holy' attribute, he'll stay cursed till we get him back to Shinobu City."
Mobito suddenly started coughing up some blood which took me by surprise. I jumped up and made sure that none of the blood touched my left arm. Who knows what would happen if the arm and the blood touched? I already knew that the Arm's Completion Quest had accepted Mobito's blood as the third sacrifice, but it wasn't the time to fulfill that Quest yet. We still had to survive the Tower, and I didn't know how Saizo would react. Saizo quickly swapped places with me and grabbed a health potion and started slowly feeding Mobito the liquid.
"Do you know where we are?" I asked Saizo as I looked at our surroundings.
Mobito was currently leaning against a semi-collapsed wall of what used to be a brick building. Remnants of other ruined buildings were scattered roughly around us in a layout that seemed similar to Ohda, though the buildings were slightly more advanced and sturdier than those in my hometown.
Though there were no visible light sources around — no torches or candles — there was an odd, dark blue light that permeated everything, almost like obstructed moonlight on an overcast night. All our eyes had to adjust to the lowlight to almost not trip over smashed bricks and piles of rubble.
"Mobito and Nato are the only ones who've done the Crimson Tower quest before, so they would probably know where we are," Saizo mumbled, "but Mobito's incapacitated and Nato's…"
His voice trailed off at the mention of his other friend. I looked down on the ground.
"Seeing as how the first task didn't turn out the way Mobito and Nato explained, I have a really strong hunch that the other tasks might not turn out the way we expected either," I said.
"I feel the same," Saizo said.
"What did they say the second task was? 'Fight'?" I asked.
"Yes. Waves of zombies if I remember correctly."
"And find the spawner!" I remembered.
I was going to speculate on what the task could change to, but a Window popped up in front all of us.
[CONGRATULATIONS!
YOU HAVE PASSED THE FIRST TASK IN THE CRIMSON TOWER!
150EXP REWARDED FOR COMPLETING THE FIRST TASK!]
"Uh…" Kat mumbled in confusion.
"What's wrong?" Saizo asked as we both approached her.
"I have a Window that says that I've been Registered?" Kat mumbled.
"You weren't Registered?" Saizo said with his mouth open wide.
"In our camp, we were told that we don't get Registered till we turn sixteen years old…" Kat explained in a trembling voice.
"What do you do if you haven't turned sixteen?" I asked.
"We're supposed to just learn the Scriptures and pray to the One Creator." Kat said in a matter-of-fact voice. It was so genuine and innocent that my heart nearly broke at the realisation that all that she had known in life were completely sheltered and skewed around her and her community's religion.
"Share your screen with us," Saizo suggested, "I'll help you start out."
Saizo looked at me as if to ask if I had any input, and I stepped back to allow the man to sit near Kat as he started to explain what Registration meant.
Saizo's explanation wasn't too in-depth as he didn't want to overwhelm Kat with too much information, but he made sure that she understood what her Status screen signified and how she could use Stat Points to her advantage.
She was only LEVEL two, but surprisingly she had higher Vitality points than both Saizo and I expected, at 7 points. She explained that the community she lived in promoted a lot of physical exercise for the children and that they didn't rely on technology or specific skills.
It seemed like the Religion of the One Creator promoted as little use of the System as the Church of the Demon did. Which was oddly curious.
I noted that like all the other people that I asked before, Kat only had five attributes. I studied my mysterious sixth attribute that sat under Wisdom and glared at the "Level One" that sat next to the line of redacted characters. What did this mean? I tried to recall everything that had happened since we started the Crimson Tower Quest, and even before that when I had returned to the orphanage. Nothing seemed to explain the sixth attribute.
Saizo's quick lesson on Status Screens and Attributes was cut short when a new Window popped up again.
In the dark, I could see the blob of dark colours I associated with Saizo in the distance move and I knew that he was looking at me when we both saw what the Window said:
[TASK TWO: FIGHT—
~\\WARNING! —dž
DUE TO THE DETECTION OF A FOREIGN ELEMENT, THE SYSTEM HAS MODIFIED THE PARAMETERS OF THE CRIMSON TOWER QUEST LINE.
TASK TWO: ANCHORS AND WATCHTOWERS
A BELOVED GAME OF CHILDREN IN THE ███████ ERA, CHOOSE ONE USER TO BE THE "ANCHOR", AND ONE USER TO BE THE "WATCHTOWER".
"ANCHORS", YOU ARE THE ONE THAT ANCHORS YOUR ALLIES' BASE. YOU ARE THE FINAL LIFELINE OF ALL USERS IN THE TASK. YOU WILL GAIN A HP BOOST, BUT YOU CANNOT MOVE FROM THE POSITION THAT YOU'RE STATIONED AT. YOUR OPPONENT'S UNITS ARE AUTOMATICALLY DRAWN TO YOU.
"WATCHTOWERS", YOU ARE THE EYE IN THE SKY THAT PROVIDES YOUR ALLIES WITH THE INFORMATION THEY NEED TO DEFEAT THE OPPONENTS. YOU GAIN THE "DETECT" SKILL. THIS ALLOWS YOU TO TRACK AND DETECT A PLACE OF INTEREST FOR YOUR ALLIES TO HUNT IN. HOWEVER, YOU CAN ALSO BE DETECTED BY THE OPPONENTS WHO WILL HUNT YOU DOWN. YOU GAIN EXTRA AGILITY AND NEAR-INFINITE STAMINA.
THE REST OF THE USERS WILL BE "SOLDIERS", YOU WILL GAIN NO EXTRA STATS OTHER THAN YOUR OWN. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE TO KEEP YOUR ANCHOR AND WATCHTOWER SAFE AS WELL AS HUNTING DOWN THE OPPONENT'S ANCHOR AND WATCHTOWER.
YOU HAVE THIRTY MINUTES TO DESIGNATE A POSITION FOR YOUR ANCHOR.
YOUR TIME STARTS NOW.]
Kat started to lose control of her emotions when she saw the Window, as she looked at Saizo and for the first time since the clearing in task one, at me.
"What's happening?" she sobbed.
"Shit." Saizo cursed as he started to pace near her.
I stood still as I continued to read and reread the Window that explained the rules in the Window. Then things started to click into place and made total sense to me.
I looked at Saizo who obviously felt like he was way over his head. Not only did he feel the pressure to ensure I was safe, but Kat was now here and part of our Party and his two closest friends were either dead or useless. He wasn't as tanky, as Nato was or light on his feet like Mobito was. But he was a well-rounded User in terms of stats from my understanding. The three men had worked together for a long time, and the fact that they were all still alive until only recently is a testament to the fact that they were no pushovers when it came to Adventuring.
I watched Kat as she cried. So much had happened to her and in her life that I was surprised that she had lasted this long without breaking down more severely. She was a tough girl, who seemed to be able to keep her head straight if she had the right encouragement.
Finally, I looked at Mobito, who was slumped over on the ground in constant pain as his health continually worsened over time because of the curse that was placed on him. We couldn't expect him to move around in that state, could we?
"Guys…" I mumbled but was too quiet as Kat and Saizo were still in their own spiralling worlds as the countdown continued unaffected by their panic.
"Guys!" I said louder and harsher.
Saizo stopped in his pacing and looked at me. Kat's sobbing abruptly cut short with a sharp intake of breath. She continued to whimper, but she was focused on me at least.
"I've got a plan," I said as confidently as I could.