Chicago by Wyatt Savage

Author:Wyatt Savage [Savage, Wyatt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-23T16:00:00+00:00

11

The First Trial

When Kurtis passed through the archway, a cold chill struck him, and his body shivered. The air smelled of rank biological decay and was charged, causing the hairs on the back of his head to stand at attention.

“Congratulations,” Nadine said. “You have reached the Black Spire.”

His eyes panned left to right, up and down, as he observed the innards of the spire, awed at the incredible otherworldly feeling the strange space filled him with. The interior was significantly larger than it appeared from the outside. Shadows clung to the walls like mold, but even in the low light, Kurtis spotted two avenues to access the spire: one, a wide, gravity-defying staircase spiraling upward, and the other, a broad pathway that led forward.

“How big is this place, Nadine?”

“Its size cannot be quantified.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Impossible things happen every day, Kurtis.”

A schematic appeared on his HUD, three-dimensional representations of spaces and rooms of varying dimensions. There were ramps, staircases, ladders, catwalks, gantries, and even ropes and poles inside the spire. It appeared to Kurtis that there were levels within the spire and each was populated by red and yellow dots.

“I thought we were already in Level 1,” Kurtis said.

“This is all Level 1, but within the spire there are various sublevels,” Nadine answered.

“How many?”

“More than ten. You will receive an additional 100 experience points for each sublevel you reach.”

“How about points for reaching the black spire? We get anything extra for getting here?”

“I’m sorry, but no, Kurtis.”

“Cheap-ass aliens,” he muttered to himself. Tae looked over. “You checking this place out?”

He nodded. “Sublevels within levels, a thousand participants, eighty-two monsters, traps, and treasure galore.”

She batted her eyelashes. “Don’t get no gooder than this, Kurtis.”

“I thought there was a shortcut, Nadine.”

“There is a quickening in the spire, a secret portal that provides access to the other side of the wall.”

“I don’t suppose you’re going to point us in the right direction.”

“That I cannot do. You must quest and find it and if you do, you may be able to circumvent the majority of the sublevels within the spire. Be aware that this place will try to deceive you.”

“What does that mean?”

“The spire affects different people differently. Some come to find themselves within these walls.”

Kurtis didn’t fully understand what that meant.

“How do we make it out?”

“You must discover that for yourself. But be aware, sacrifices will need to be made if you hope to make it eventually to Level 2.”

Kurtis took a mental snapshot of the schematic and powered down the HUD. He and Tae inched forward and Kurtis had the strangest sensation, as if he belonged in the spire, that this had always been his destiny. At the same time, he knew better, and that the spire was likely causing the sensation as a way to draw him in deeper with the sole intent of capturing would-be treasure hunters only to devour them without mercy. If anything, he had a hunch that the spire was an alien incarnation of a dungeon core. He just hoped he hadn’t already doomed himself to its whims.

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