Tower Climber 4 (A LitRPG Adventure), page 1
Tower Climber 4
Jakob Tanner
Contents
Newsletter
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
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Dedicated:
To my mom and dad, who have encouraged and supported me in everything that I’ve done.
Special Thanks to:
Angela Marshall for assistance in so many things.
Nik Grantham for letting me be his “most read” author.
Andrew Smith for sage wisdom.
Thanks to my beta readers and their amazing feedback:
Josh Cothran
Ben Graff
Sean Hall
Jo Hoffacker
Denny Johnson
Josh Robinson
This book wouldn’t be what it is today without you guys!
Prologue
Minh disposed of the body before disappearing into the night.
No one saw the killer as he moved through the streets of the dark city.
He was a ghost.
Nothing more than a shadow haunting the alleyways.
No one took any notice, for murderers were a dime a dozen in this place.
Floor-60 of the tower.
Nightmare City—the meeting spot of criminals, fugitives, and rogue climbers.
Minh eventually emerged outside the headquarters of one of the most powerful gangs in the dangerous metropolis.
The Faceless Association.
None of the guards even noticed him at first, for he was just a puddle on the ground.
That was Minh’s trait.
Not that flashy.
But it did the job an assassin like him needed it for.
Both guards flinched when he materialized in front of them.
“Damn, Minh,” said one. “I hate it when you do that.”
“Is the boss in?”
The other guard gestured for the man to come on through.
Minh entered the building and took the elevator to the top floor.
The elevator doors opened up to a beautiful penthouse apartment.
Classical music played from a nearby speaker.
The place was empty except for its sole occupant, who stood facing out against the large window to the massive city lit up before them in the night.
The man’s name was Ren.
The leader of The Faceless Association.
“Is the job done?” he asked.
Minh took a step towards Ren.
“Yes sir,” he said. “I even obtained the special item you requested.”
The man turned around at those words and stared Minh in the eyes.
The assassin always felt strange when he was this close to the leader of the association.
The man’s face made him feel uncomfortable.
Perhaps it was the intensity of Ren’s steely blue eyes. Or maybe it was his black and white suit. Or maybe it was the white bandages he always kept wrapped around his forehead, the bangs of his black hair gently covering the white strips.
Then Ren did something that Minh had never seen him do before.
He smiled.
Minh had no idea what Ren was trying to achieve with the different missions he had assigned him, but even still, he felt a terror in his heart as if the gears of destiny had just clicked into place and the fate of millions was now suddenly on the line.
1
Max lay on the bed in the hospital wing of the Caesarian capital on floor-30.
He listened to birds chirping outside his window to distract himself from the annoying beep of the crystal manatech heart monitor attached to him.
Just one more day, he thought to himself.
He’d been in the hospital wing for over a week now, the doctors tracking his vital signs and recovery closely.
He’d been severely injured in the final moments of The United Floors Alliance Tournament and he had a feeling the Caesarian’s—the official host of the tournament games—felt partially responsible.
They would not let him leave until they were absolutely certain he had fully recovered.
And so Max found himself becoming greatly acquainted with the ceiling that he stared at, day after day.
Nurses would pass by and give him odd looks.
Even now, he could tell, in the back of the hospital staff’s minds that they were considering extending his stay because he was now losing his sanity.
Perhaps if this entire time he had been just staring at the ceiling, they might have had true cause for concern.
But he wasn’t just counting the dots on the wall above him.
No.
He was staring at his profile and the most recent message waiting for him there.
Would you like to add ‘Demon-mode’ to your arsenal of attacks? Yes/No?
Max winced at the words.
They floated above him for only him to see.
He couldn’t believe it.
Not now, nor when he first noticed the message in his profile a few days prior.
It was the last move he had been hit with, triggering his mimic ability.
It had caught him by surprise, as he would have expected the message to be asking him if he wanted to add some form of healing ability to his arsenal of attacks—but it turned out the Caesarians didn’t have conventional healers, relying instead on advanced manatech made by their technicians as their primary form of medicinal practice.
And so, even days later after being severely injured, he still had the option of acquiring the very ability that had landed him in the hospital in the first place.
Demon-mode.
And the vicious ability belonged to none other
Elle.
He grimaced as he recalled their last meeting.
Elle had used demon-mode and its haemokinetic blood manipulation to mutate her arm into a demonic battle-axe.
The ability was horrifying.
It was also incredibly powerful.
Max shivered, remembering it all.
I’d finally found her, he thought.
But it wasn’t the Elle I’d remembered.
It was someone else entirely.
That girl—that member of the inter-tower terrorist cell known as The Fallen Angels—wielded immense power.
Even at B-rank, she was one of the most powerful climbers he knew and it all came down to her trait.
An ability that he could acquire himself if he wanted to.
Knock, knock!
Max’s thoughts were interrupted by a nurse passing by.
“How are you doing, hon?” she smiled.
It was an oddly disconcerting question to hear from a Caesarian with their devilish horns and bright golden eyes, even if the woman was a nurse.
Max’s judgment was clearly clouded by his own preconceptions of devils from human mythology, monsters who weren’t quite as benevolent as the Caesarians continuously proved themselves to be.
“I’m alright, thank you,” said Max.
“Just give us a shout if you need anything,” smiled the nurse and continued on her way, doing the rounds.
Max sighed and returned to the question literally hovering before him.
It all came down to this one yes or no question.
Should he acquire Elle’s ability?
Yes or no?
On the one hand, the answer seemed obvious.
Take the ability, you dolt, he said to himself.
It certainly would give him a leg up the next time he came to blows with his sister.
But at the same time, he found himself hesitating.
Elle had changed so much.
Was it purely her experience or did her monstrous ability have some role to play in that change?
He didn’t want to become like her, driven by so much hatred.
Would this demon-mode ability do that to him?
He shook his head.
A cloud briefly covered the sun, darkening the entirety of Max’s hospital room.
He needed to accept that there was still so much he didn’t know.
About Elle. About her past.
He thought about the words he exchanged with his sister, the horrible memory unlocking illusions he’d experienced when fighting the former leader of the Fallen Angels, Mother.
It isn’t just Elle’s past that I don’t understand, Max thought. But my own as well.
This brought new sensations bubbling up within him.
Anger.
Frustration.
He had been lied to.
One more day in this hospital, he told himself. One more day and then I’m going to go find out the truth.
The only way Max was going to get his sister back was if he could understand what happened to her.
What happened to both of them.
He knew some of his companions couldn’t fully understand why he would still want to chase after his sister after she had injured him so badly at the tournament.
Maybe she was lost for good.
Maybe some people couldn’t be saved.
But Max wasn’t ready to give up hope on his little sister just yet.
She was seeking revenge against a man—that somewhat reasonably, Max should want to kill as well.
A man known as Nicolas Adler.
A rogue human climber. An S-ranker.
The murderer of his parents.
And yet that’s where he knew he and his sister differed.
Of course, Max had no good feelings towards this man who had caused him so much pain and suffering, but he wanted Elle to see that chasing after him was only prolonging their anguish.
This man had ripped their family apart.
Couldn’t Elle see that seeking revenge against him now, would only destroy what little they still had left?
Max felt this so deeply in his heart that he knew he had to stop Elle from going deeper down this path of darkness.
He would do anything.
Even if it meant utilizing her destructive climber trait to his own advantage.
He looked at the message in his profile once more.
Would you like to add ‘Demon-mode’ to your arsenal of attacks? Yes/no?
He selected yes.
2
The following day, Max stepped out of the hospital and into the open sunny streets of the Caesarian capital.
Casey was waiting outside with her pet gerbil, Toto, perched in his usual spot on her left shoulder.
The girl was wearing a cute blue denim jacket and black pants. She had her brown hair tied in a playful ponytail that accentuated her gorgeous green eyes.
She looked slightly out of place amongst the Caesarians who were wearing much more airy and baggy fashions more suited to their climate and culture; but the two of them were going to be returning to their own home of Zestiris that day, so it made sense to dress appropriately for where they were headed.
She beamed a beautiful smile at him as he approached.
“Congrats on a full recovery,” she cheered and handed him a paper cup. “Here try this delicious Caesarian apple cider!”
Max accepted Casey’s treat graciously and took a sip.
Everyone else who had come to Caesaria with them for the tournament had already departed back to Zestiris.
Casey was the only one who had stayed around to see Max through his full recovery.
She’d also been researching their next unofficial mission.
“Is the plan ready?” Max asked.
“If you’re ready, I’m ready,” Casey replied.
They hurried across the Caesarian capital until they were in front of the arrival teleporter.
Before they descended down the tower, Max took one final look around the city with its marble columns, statues, and fountains.
It felt like ages since they first arrived here for the start of The United Floors Alliance Tournament, roughly three months ago.
It felt slightly weird to be saying goodbye to the place after all that he’d been through here.
But he had new missions and goals elsewhere in the tower now.
He and Casey stepped into the glowing light of the teleporter and started their descent down to their home floor.
