"Don't stay long!" The voice of a young boy echoed out from the small cottage in the middle of a forest.
"I won't!" A voice replied, a bit deeper than the first one. Walking through the door, the figure paused in his steps before heading back to the doorstep.
"Promise you'll come back early." The young boy stepped forward from the entrance of the cottage staring at his face.
Squatting down, Blake ruffled the hair of his younger brother and, with a smile, assured him once more. "Of course. Once I'm done, I'll be back before you know it."
"Okay," Lucian said before heading inside the house.
"Hey! Take care of Mum."
"Will do that!" Heading inside, he locked the door before heading into one of the rooms in the house.
"Mum, Blake has gone out to fetch money for us, I'm worried about him," he said, rubbing the hands of the lady who sat on a wooden chair. "I hope he comes back safely."
...
Blake walked through the muddy terrain before finally making it to dry ground. Walking out of the forest, he made his way towards the large city that stood tall from afar. "Alright, where was the place again?" he thought, scratching his head.
"Virtual map!" he called out. "I'm pretty sure they shared the area of the meeting and placed it on the map for those present the last time."
An ethereal like screen with floating words appeared before him. Clicking on the tab displaying [map], the interface changed, revealing a little map with a blue dot blinking softly.
"That would be it." Clicking on the blinking light, a holographic image of an old building appeared with the name floating above. 'The abandoned national bank vault,' he thought, scratching his head.
"That won't have been picked if it was still functioning." Heading towards the appointed place. He couldn't help but wander back. The peaceful world that went through a sudden change when a blue wave of substance evaded the earth atmosphere. The chaos that was enshewed along with the deaths.
The deaths, shaking his head, he decided to focus on his journey. "Today, I'll be entering a tower for the first time!" He thought in excitement.
The towers, strange constructs which began appearing on earth after the descent of mana. The structure always amazed him, but sadly, he couldn't summon the courage in entering one, knowing from what he heard from others, the towers were filled with dangers.
To some it granted unimaginable powers while to others—the unlucky ones—quick death. He wasn't ready, especially when he was the breadwinner of his family.
He couldn't take the chance! Some could call it cowardice but he was just being careful. "Man! The world is truly an unfair place." He remembered a book he had read, and with a sigh, he was beginning to understand what the guy was trying to say.
"The only thing granted fair to all is unfair reality, huh? Thnking about it, I'm coming to understand what he meant." Walking through the bustling street, which was filled with people dressed in classy armours and welding various weapons, he couldn't help but let out a sigh. 'Probably preparing for another raid.'
Checking the map once more, he continued onward, passing through the various streets he finally arrived at a lonely street with a rundown building standing at the centre with the entrance door probably destroyed during the 'Pandemic' as they would call it.
"Is this the place? It's a bit dark." Gulping down spit, he entered the building in slow, steady steps. "Hello! Anyone here!"
Creak!
"Ahhh!!" Jumping in fright, he tripped over a loosed board, and quickly he threw his hands over his head in protection. "Huh?" Dropping his hands, he saw the floor board, with his face just hanging inches away from it.
"Hahaha, such a scaredy cat." A deep voice echoed behind him.
Rasing his head upwards, he felt his head connecting with cold hands, which held his collar, and then, with a little pull, was pulled back to his feet.
"Are you part of the miners?" The figure asked, taking a step backwards.
"Huh... no... yes! I'm Blake Allsworth," he said, bowing deeply before the man.
"Hahaha! No need for that," the towering man before him said, slapping him across the back. "I'm Grandi, the leader of the party. Well, it seems we are the only ones here. The rest are yet to arrive." He said, walking towards a broken table and then settled down on the raised platform.
"You can sit over here while we wait," Grandi said with a smile.
'I came a bit early,' he thought with a sigh. Walking towards the opposite end of the room, he settled on one of the metal craters littering around the room.
"Are you scared, kiddo?" Grandi said with a short bark of laugh.
"N-no. Just... I think here is comfortable." Dropping his head down, he closed his eyes for a brief moment before raising his head up. Letting out a sigh, he leaned against the wall, and soon, the minutes passed by.
A few minutes later, the rest of the group began filing in, and soon, they were complete. "Alright, everyone's here now, I guess it's time I fully brief you all about the mission."
"We are going to clear the first to fifth floor of the tower close to the border," he said, pausing in his words while staring at the people gathered.
"Hold on, the tower at the border? Isn't that the cursed tower?" One of the few miners muttered in shock.
'I see... That's why the pay was high, and with the rule of no opting back once signed. He truly played us right into it.' Blake thought. Surprisingly, those who were to fight just nodded their head along, waiting for him to continue.
'So it seems it was withheld only from us,' Blake thought, clenching his fist tightly.
"Hey! Th-this... I didn't sign up for this man! We were told we were to act as mining team for the new tower, which opened up a few miles away." One of the miners, a guy with a muscular build and a skin cut style, said in rage.
Stepping forward, he was now standing before Grandi who had a smile on his face. A large smile that was quite menacing if studied closely.
BOOM!
A little explosion occurred, causing dust to rise.
"What the hell happened?"
"Dammit, I can't see a thing!"
The dust soon died down, revealing a scene that sent chills down the spines of the miners.
"What the hell! What did you do?"
Before them, the bald man lay with blood dripping from a large cut on his head that was embedded onto the ground.
"Does anyone have anything to say?" He said with raised eyebrows.
"W-what... what did you do that for! This wasn't part of what we agreed."
"Huh?" Walking forward, he stomped on the guy's head, causing the head to explode with brain matter and blood splashing over the area, staining a few.
'What have I gotten into?' Blake thought, staring down at his shaky hands, which was stained in blood.
"Pheeww! One out," he said casually, walking towards them. "At least his share can be distributed fairly around, isn't that right?"
"He just killed him.... within the settlement also!"
The warriors watched from the back with grins etched on their faces, clearly enjoying the show. "C'mon, let's get on with it, Brother Grandi."
"Yeah, sure. Hope your equipment is all set. With one man down, it means you have to work twice as hard to earn your share." With a smile, he walked towards his group. "Get on with the circle, Marcus."
With none of them uttering a word, they watched in silence as Marcus, a guy with blonde spiked hair squatted and began drawing a circle with a strange glowing chalk.
"All set," he said and then staring at Grandi, who nodded at him. A blue crystal appeared on his palms and was placed at the centre of the circle. The crystal lit up, spreading over the lines, and slowly, a dazzling portal was beginning to form above it.
"Let's move," Grandi said, walking forward. The rest entered the portal, with Grandi being the last to pass through the portal.
Blake eyes were forcefully shut from the intense lights, and after being zapped out, he felt a bit lightheaded. Getting his bearing back, he stood in awe staring at the large grey tower emitting an ethereal like glow from afar.
'This... I'm going to enter this,'he thought in excitement before remembering what had transpired moments ago.
"This certainly won't be as fun as I thought," he muttered staring at Grandi with the corner of his eyes.