The Tower of Babel.
A colossal structure.
Majestic and sky floating.
Garbed in thick clouds.
Crowned by the sun in the day.
Adorned with the stars at night.
Its peak is hidden in the clouds of Alderix.
And its foundations also unseen.
Stretching across immeasurable widths and heights.
Crafted from iron, obsidian glass and stone — in their purest form and with their rarest types.
Floors stacked on each other like coins with narrow spiralling stairs curling around its walls like a great snake making a climb.
Glorious. Exquisite.
A true and grandiose example of magnificence.
That was the Tower of Babel — an edifice whose end at the bottom and peak at the top were unseen and reaching beyond inconceivable extents.
...
...
...
The journey to the Tower of Babel did not favour personal travelling. The grandiose edifice was within the sight of any player that wished to see it but stood unreachable.
Even using the map tool of Alderix would not help a player reach the tower on their own.
That was the reason behind the creation of the Doors of Babel — different pathways that led to a common destination, the inside of the Tower of Babel.
Sethryn had brought up his map and locked in on his desired location of travel. The maps across all four categories came with a unique skill — Skill: Teleport — that greatly favoured players but not without a cost.
Such magical things like the skill to carry out unnatural tasks or unbelievable deeds came with their prices.
In this case, the 'Teleport' skill that was activated via his basic map was going to cost him a little of his mana core points.
Sethryn sighed at the thought of losing mana core points, regardless of how small it was. MCP was among the parameters that required consistent efforts to build up and that made it tasking.
"Synapse, activate 'Teleport' skill to Tower of Babel."
<< Skill: Teleport Activated >>
<< 'Skill: Teleport' Costs 40 MCP. 40 MCP Deducted >>
<< Location: Door Of Babel >>
"Huh?"
"Door of Babel? What the hell is that?"
Sethryn was baffled.
He did not ask Synapse to send him elsewhere, having specifically requested to be taken to the Tower of Babel.
"Seems like no form of direct travel is allowed."
Sethryn knew what the Doors of Babel were but still felt it would have been faster for him if there was a direct way of getting inside the tower.
A pillar of light suddenly engulfed him and transported him to the nearest Door of Babel from his previous location.
Sethryn wasted no time and walked into the glowing pathway to reach his true destination.
Once he had accessed the Door of Babel, it collapsed into a straight horizontal line and disappeared, pending when the recharging time elapsed for it to come up again.
...
...
...
In the blink of an eye, a pillar of light crashed down and disappeared almost in an instant.
Sethryn walked out.
In less than a second, the Door of Babel had brought him to his desired location.
1st Floor, Tower of Babel.
A floor with an ancient interior.
Far-reaching roof with high-hanging chandeliers.
Ancient runic letters were carved deep into the walls of this room. Unknown stories etched on its stones.
A part of it darkened and a part of it bright. All revolving around itself.
Sethryn had appeared inside this eldern room.
A bewildered visitor. Uninvited and yet to be received.
Empty space and creeping suspense.
Sethryn stood in one place turning only his head around to get different views of this unusual floor.
However strange it looked, Sethryn willed himself to be unbothered about the new location. That was until a voice crept up on him that set him into fight mode.
"Welcome," said the deep voice, "... to the 1st Floor of the Tower of Babel."
Sethryn stepped back from the direction he heard the voice loudest, believing it to be the source.
He raised the shield that he already created in front of him in case of any surprise attacks.
Sethryn turned around again and again yet saw nothing each time.
He continued to turn and turn until it appeared like the room spun.
Was he feeling dizzy?
What exactly was going on?
Sethryn was tired from completing the Pinana Village storyline before journeying into the Tower of Babel but the orcs from those quests were not strong enough to make him so weary.
It had to be something else.
Something that was beyond him.
Something he could neither control nor figure out.
But in reality, Sethryn was not dizzy neither was he feeling weak.
The room was, in fact, spinning. It spun subtly but a keen sense of observation would be of great help in noticing such quiet motion.
"Welcome," a voice said again. It was the deep voice from earlier.
"... To the 1st Floor of the Tower of Babel," another voice added. This time it was a different voice with a much more feminine tone to it.
Between the contrasting dark and bright hues of the high-reaching space bounded by walls, Sethryn noticed a figure that moved between them before finally, appearing right in front of him.
She stood so close to him that he could feel her warm breath on his hair. His nose and mouth nearly sank into her luxuriously big breasts.
Sethryn blinked a few times.
His mind went blank for minutes.
He stood still with his face almost shoved into her cleavage.
He blinked again, this time reflexively before realising himself.
Sethryn glanced up, his gaze was sluggish as it travelled from her buxom chest up to her face.
It was a woman.
She was tall like a man should be. Blonde with long hair that slightly extended past the level of her bosoms.
Her face was tender with a narrow slit of eyes.
She was overall attractive but the shock from the unusual situation that Sethryn found himself in did not allow him to take in and process her physical attributes.
He merely gave her a hurried blank gaze before jumping back from the chest that bounced in front of him.
Sethryn coughed.
He was nervous and his face shone red.
It was not his fault. It was only nature failing him.
Sethryn had never been that close to a woman's breast before now.
However, that was not his problem at the moment.
Something was off and he knew it. He had heard two voices with different tones.
Their voices were interwoven but he could still make a clear distinction of the voices he heard.
A male and a female had welcomed him.
"Hello, Sethryn."
Sethryn was shocked once again. She knew his name.
How?
They had not done any form of introductions.
How then did she know his name?
"Who the hell is she?" Sethryn wondered.
One thing was certain as a new day. The feminine figure standing in front of him was not ordinary.
Sethryn became wary and moved his forearm slightly forward in the sideways direction so that it was better gripped by the enarmes of his shield.
"I am Nara."
"Do you wish to proceed with the quest of the 1st floor?" she asked.
"Is she a non-playable character (NPC)?" Sethryn wondered, drowning in the sea of uncertainties.
"She does not talk or behave like one."
Sethryn was used to the NPCs he knew in the real world where he lived as Seth Snow.
They were characters that are not controlled by the player.
Unlike the NPCs from his real-world games, Nara was not making any repetitive speeches or actions and this left Sethryn confused.
"She is sentient."
Sethryn nodded his head to her question, making up his mind to progress in Alderix.
<< Sethryn Has Accepted The 1st Keeper's [1st Floor] Challenge >>
"Keeper?"
"Synapse, what's a Keeper?"
Sethryn's eyes widened from what he read from Synapse's info prompt.
He started to doubt his decision.
Had he taken up the wrong challenge?
"They are keepers of the floors..." he muttered under his subtly shaking breath.
Before Sethryn's doubtful eyes laid one of the worst things he was not to experience — a Keeper, also called Foremen/Forewomen
And Nara was the 1st Keeper.