Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

Chapter 10: The Tower

It was only a few blocks down that they arrived before the mysterious structure.

Finn stood at the edge of a perfect crater that led down to the base of the cloud-reaching tower. It seemed to have completely eliminated what laid there before; any cars or asphalt, even previous buildings.

"Woah, do you feel that?" Damian asked.

"Yeah," Finn responded.

Around the crater, there was a subtle fluctuation to the wind, like a heatwave distant in the summertime.

He carefully descended into the bowl imposed in the middle of the city, looking towards the base of the enigmatic structure.

The tower of pearlescent marble presented an entrance that was hardly welcoming. Just staring at that ominous entrance sent a shiver down his spine.

"Are we doing this?" Damian asked, seeming somewhat hesitant about entering the structure.

"We should at least scout it out, right? If it seems too dangerous, we'll just leave," Finn suggested.

"Right, right...Yeah, we can do that," Damian obliged.

The closer they came to the entrance, the more intense the fluctuations became; a once subtle hum was now intense right before the entrance.

Finn looked into the opening of the tower, only seeing darkness at its forefront.

"It's dark in there, isn't it?" Damian observed.

"I think it's a veil—something like that," Finn said, stepping closer as he reached his hand towards the entrance.

As he outstretched his hand, his fingers sank into the darkness as it rippled like a pool of water. It felt like a cold liquid, cool to the touch before—it faded away.

"Woah, look at that," Damian observed, leaning closer.

As the dark layer vanished from the tall entrance, what presented itself was a pristine interior of exuberant, marble tiles. Finn led the way in with cautious steps, stepping through the threshold as upon entering, there was an immediate sensation noticed.

The wind felt slightly colder inside, and the humming from around the crater was completely gone, replaced by silence within the mysterious structure. Along the lavish walls were paintings of colorful sceneries and vibrant figures; heroes among monsters, gods among beasts.

In the center of it all, there was a single, spiraling staircase that led up to another level of the tower.

"This place...it's out of this world," Damian remarked, looking around.

As he stood there, Finn felt that observation from his companion firsthand; there was something different about the air within the tower. There was a light scent of candle wax, though no such objects in sight.

"Should we go up?" Damian asked.

"Yeah," Finn said, taking the initial first step on the staircase. "Let's just see what this place is about."

He could tell that the warrior was somewhat hesitant about delving further into the odd structure, not that he could blame him. There was something unnerving about it, yet he found himself curious about what it held.

'Above all else right now, the most important thing is becoming stronger. If you can't level up, you'll just be killed–that's how the world is now,' he thought.

At the summit of the staircase, he stepped onto a new floor with Damian right behind him, discovering what awaited. It was a chamber that housed a countertop on the other end of the room, and a door beside it that led deeper into the structure.

"What's this about?" Damian asked.

"Dunno," Finn responded, stepping over towards the mysterious counter.

Atop the velvet-draped table that was closed off like that of a vendor, he found a golden bell. He pressed his index finger against it lightly–DING.

As soon as the chime of the bell echoed, a small plume of fragrant smoke appeared behind the counter. It gave way to a figure, though non-human.

What manifested was a bipedal figure dressed in loose, white-and-purple robes. Of sleek, red skin covered with black polka dots, it had a bulbous head resembling that of a squid, yet the physique of a human man.

"Woah—" Damian reacted, backing up.

Finn remained in the spot he stood, knowing that what stood behind the counter was not an enemy.

"Welcome to the Bazaar, travelers," the inhuman shopkeeper spoke with a sophisticated, but gravelly voice. "Interested in any wares?"

"A shop?" Damian realized.

An assortment of valuables appeared within the vendor: colorful flasks containing concoctions of unknown purpose, weapons of mystical enchantments, and magical trinkets beyond this world.

"This must be where we use those Anarch Coins that we've gotten from monsters," Finn presumed, putting his hand to his chin in thought.

As he mentioned that, a prompt appeared in his view, displaying his current amount of the currency:

[Anarch Coins: 140]

'I see. So, this is where we use these coins...That's great to know,' he thought, browsing the wares on display.

The inhuman shopkeeper stood there, watching, "Is there anything that catches your eye? Perhaps a particular weapon?"

"Are there any healing potions?" Finn asked.

It was the most fundamental aspect of combat, primarily with the existence of magic and monsters: the ability to heal.

The shopkeeper paused for a moment before answering, reaching behind the counter before a vial containing vibrant, golden liquid was retrieved, "There is the Divine Ambrosia, capable of healing all wounds upon consumption."

"Something like that really exists? Gotta be some kind of snake oil, right?" Damian remarked.

Finn asked another question to the inhuman merchant, "Is there a limit? Can it heal any wound? Like a disease, or even a lost limb?"

"Oh, yes, anything considered a wound can be recovered with this potion," the shopkeeper assured him.

"And the price?" Finn finally asked.

"Three thousand Anarch coins," the red-skinned figure calmly answered.

The steep price brought upon a reaction from both men, not expecting it to be quite that high.

"Three thousand?!" Damian reacted.

"...Together, we probably have just shy of three hundred. I guess it makes sense," Finn said. "They wouldn't make it that easy."

"Shit, yeah, you're right. A world this damn messed up wouldn't be nice enough to give us a discount," Damian exhaled sharply, ruffling his own hair.

It seemed that most wares were out of their price range, even simple trinkets.

The shopkeeper laughed heartily at the young men's indecision at the prices, "I take it you both are strapped for coins, yes?"

"Yeah, can't lie there," Finn confirmed."

The squid-faced being pointed to the side towards the corridor that led deeper into the tower.

"Venture into the Tower, if you're confident enough in your abilities. You can find trinkets and jewels there, even weapons of magnificent power. I'll buy whatever you don't need, of course," the shopkeeper explained.

"So, it's a dungeon then? I guessed that much," Finn said, looking towards the corridor.

The shopkeeper raised a finger as if remembering one last piece of information, "On the first floor, just above this one, there is a being named Dysdaimon–quite the nefarious one. It is said he possesses a treasure box containing a divine ambrosia."

"That's the "boss", I'm guessing," Finn said, looking over at his companion.

Damian understood what was being asked by that one glance, letting out a sigh, "I mean, gotta try, right?"

"Exactly," Finn responded.

The decision led them down the corridor by the Bazaar. It was narrow, only sparsely lit by a pair of blue-flamed torches, guiding the curious men towards a single, small room.

It housed only a simple staircase, leading upward to an unknown, higher level of the mysterious Tower.

"Up we go, I suppose," Damian said.

"Up we go, indeed," Finn confirmed, leading the way.

Traversing the staircase led into what felt like a different realm entirely; a world apart from the lavish interior of marble presented a peculiar dungeon of ivory walls and abnormal statues.

"What the hell is this place? This doesn't make any sense," Damian remarked, looking around.

Only seemingly connected by the shared stairwell, the jarring interior held a completely different atmosphere; a stench akin to that of bleach as well as rotted tissue.

"It's a dungeon. I imagine the Tower connects a lot of different sorts of these," Finn said, using some knowledge from Avalon.

There were statues of humans in odd poses, looking frightened or outright screaming, as if frozen in the middle of fleeing. Each seemed made of different material; some of gold, others of a crimson mineral, and even those of steel.

The floor itself was of tan tiles with a light layer of ivory dust, though the true material was unknown to Finn even as he knelt over to touch it with his hands.

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