“Heya Tomato,” Bon said to the orange haired girl that was standing in the thirty third floor waiting room.

“What? No tomato joke this time?” she asked, putting her hand on her mouth to feign incredulity.

“I’ve got one. Wasn’t sure if you were in the mood to hear it. A tomato, a potato and a carrot walk into a bar.”

“Stop,” she yelled. “Just stop. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Okay, okay,” Bon said gently. “Calm down. How’s Ben?”

“You called him by his actual name this time,” Tomato was very surprised. “What’s gotten into you?”

“A person’s name must be respected,” Bon stood up straight, striking a noble pose.

“You change your mind a lot, don’t you? Things are good with Ben,” she smiled. “He finally got the courage to meet my father, and demand my release so that we may marry. My father refused, of course, but not just anyone can stand up to my father. Ben tried, which shows that he really loves me,” Tomato hugged herself and had a faraway look on her face.

“What happened next?” asked Bon. “Did your father string Ben up by his shoulders?”

“Not quite. He made Ben enlist in the army. He said he’d be damned if he let his daughter marry outside the military. Once Ben becomes captain, my father will bless our marriage. Isn’t that great?” Tomato asked.

“And you don’t think that your father will sabotage Ben’s promotions?”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Tomato said with a determined expression. “What do you want to eat this time?”

“Ramen,” Bon replied without hesitation. “One each, as usual.”

Two bowls of ramen magically appeared on the waiting room table. Bon began eating without a second wasted.

“There’s a good side quest on the thirty fifth floor,” Tomato said, with her mouth full of noodles. “I’ll tell you about it if you pay the price.”

“How come Steve doesn’t have to pay for this information?” Bon asked, disgruntled.

“Is he the prince charming everyone is talking about?”

“Must be. How many employees does the Tower have anyway? If each player has a guide, there must be millions.”

“More than a billion,” said Tomato. “The headquarters is an entire world. We guides are a tiny fraction of the total workforce.”

“The Tower is rich then? How does it make its money?”

Tomato shrugged, “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask one of the higher ups. Do you want the side quest information or not?”

“I’m not interested,” Bon put his bowl of ramen away and got up to leave.

“The reward is really nice,” Tomato tried her best to get him interested.

“Still not interested,” said Bon. “See you on the thirty sixth floor.” He entered the door and arrived at the thirty third floor’s mini world. It was a land of trees and tree houses. All the trees were huge, but there was one tree that made the others seem tiny. As most big structures were, it was at the center of the tree city.

Eliminate the Lightning Revenant

In this arboreal paradise, not everything is as peaceful as it seems. A lightning revenant walks the land, bringing destruction to the forest and its caretakers. Gather a group of players and eliminate this threat.

(Quests requires a party of at least three members)

Completion of this quest will give players access to the 34th floor

Rewards: 1 Epic Armor, 500 Gold, 40,000EXP

Bon made his way to the great tree, gazing at the crowd around him in fascination. The people here were mostly elves, with pointed ears, and tall and lithe builds. There were tree houses above, both big and small, and wooden bridges connecting one to the other. He could see blocks of mana hovering in the air, supporting the houses and bridges. This was a magical city. The trees themselves had mana flowing in their trunks, circulating it, transforming it into something else and releasing it through their leaves. Whatever that substance was, it shone in the air with light sparkles. There were other players wandering about in the city. He put on his helm so that he wouldn’t be recognized. He didn’t feel like chatting to people at the moment.

There was a slight hollow in the great tree, within which were placed many trays of garlands and colored liquids. The hollow was a tiny crack when compared to the size of the tree, but it could comfortably fit ten people within. An elf, dressed in a blue robe embroidered with mysterious sigils, was chanting something in front of the tree hollow, while many elves knelt behind him. The priest spoke in a strange sounding language which the Tower did not translate. The language had a musical sound to it, that was very pleasant to listen to.

Bon stood listening to the elven priest, as though in a trance. Then, all of a sudden, the priest exclaimed and a green sphere formed on top of his cupped hands. The green sphere spun, spraying out little tendrils of light that entered the foreheads of the kneeling elves. The kneeling elves were overjoyed, with looks of ecstasy beaming from their faces. A strange new substance began filling up every cell in their bodies. He used qi with Mana Sense to investigate even deeper. It looked like pure energy was flooding their cells, renewing and invigorating them in a healthy way. What was this strange ritual?

“What’s going on?” he asked one of the passers-by. The passer-by was an elf. The elf looked at Bon and frowned.

“It’s nothing to do with you human heroes.” The elf walked on. Bon got the feeling that the elves did not much care for players. He had been getting strange looks from them ever since he entered.

Bon caught another passer-by. This time it was a human. “What’s happening over here?”

“That’s the Ritual of Renewal,” said the man. “The Mother Tree blesses her children with eternal spring. It takes place every day. All the elves go through it at least once a year, when they come of age.”

“Thanks, and you wouldn’t happen to know where the Lightning Revenant is?”

“That’s easy. Head east towards the rising sun, and after a day’s journey look for the Mad Wizard’s Tower.”

“Mad wizard? Got it.” The man seemed to be in a rush to go, so Bon didn’t ask him anything more. Maybe he didn’t want to be seen talking to him. A day’s journey could easily be covered by his Mana Sense. He used it, and spotted the Boss. Its mana signature was way stronger than most other entities. It was nothing compared to the strength of his own mana signature, of course, if he let it show. There was something weird about this boss though. Its mana signature was strange, as though its energy was being sucked away into a container. Bon looked more closely and found all starts of mana strings joining the Boss with another object. Energy was flowing from one to the other.

Bon’s friends eventually arrived, each full from their meal.

“What did you eat?” Bon asked.

“Lasagna,” sighed Phil. “It was so good.”

“Banana split,” said Bojana.

“Shawarma,” said Toby.

“Oatmeal,” said Siobhan. She became a little flustered when everyone looked at her in surprise. “What? I missed it, okay. It tasted just the way my mom used to make it.”

“Did you find out where the boss is?” asked Phil.

“Yes,” said Bon. “Let’s go, before the others get there. Forget about training. We’ll try the boss first. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll go grind some monster mobs.”

“Okay,” everyone said.

They headed eastwards. Just as they were about to leave the city, an elf ran up to them.

“Heroes,” he said. “You’re going to kill the boss? Please take me with you.”

“You want to kill the boss too?” Bon asked, looking at the elf from head to toe. The elf was a head taller than Bon, with blue eyes and blond hair that fell to his neck. He was thin, but looked strong.

“I want to be a hero too,” the elf replied.

“What’s your name?” asked Bojana.

“Errel.”

“Why do you want to be a hero, Errel?” asked Bon. “You should know that it’s not possible. Only the Tower can make you a hero.”

“There is a legend,” said Errel, “of a non-hero becoming a hero after he killed a boss. If the Mother Tree wills it then the Tower might relent. I do not want to stay in this place anymore. I want to travel and have adventures.”

“You might not be able to come back home,” said Phil. “The portals seem to only go one way—up.”

“I have nothing tying me down here,” Errel grinned. “I’ve been an orphan since birth, and my friends won’t miss me. I was born to be a hero. All the people here are bigots too. They don’t much care for half breeds like me."

“You can come with us,” said Bon. He didn’t trust Errel yet. Trust had to be earned. There was nothing Errel could actually do to harm them though, so he allowed him to join them. “Whether the Tower lets you become a hero or not depends entirely on your own luck.”

“You won’t regret your choice,” said Errel. A golden light erupted from his fingers and entered Bon. “I’m an accomplished healer. I have been learning this branch of magic for the past century.”

Errel had given Bon the Blessing of the Sun, which added additional light damage to his attacks.

“Century?” gasped Siobhan. “You look younger than me. How old are you?”

“Two hundred and three,” Errel replied with a smile.

He was a young whippersnapper compared to Bon. “Alright,” he said. “Let’s go.”

The road that they took was filled with twists and turns, but the scenery was beautiful. They passed many lakes, and had to cross a small river by walking a narrow and very unstable rope bridge. Errel skipped ahead as though it was nothing. Weighed down in armor, Toby and Phil had some trouble. They had to unequip most of their items before crossing. Their equipment faded away from their bodies, leaving behind a white shirt and pants. They decided not to equip their armor again until reaching the boss. The pace increased substantially. They walked up a mountain, marveling at the view, and rested on a rocky outcrop when it was sunset. They had all bought tents from the Tower Store, that were easy to set up. The tents were well insulated, and Bon got a campfire going. He didn’t bother gathering firewood. He just mana crafted a sphere of fire that he set in the middle of a circle of rocks. He had given it enough power to last eight hours. Errel had his own tent too, which he had rolled up and attached to the sack on his back, since he had no inventory space.

Bon tapped Phil on the shoulder, “In those prophetic stories you read, what happens once everyone leaves the Tower?”

“The Earth gets invaded by monsters,” Phil answered. “Dungeons appear all across the world, that have to be destroyed. If they aren’t destroyed in time, monsters leave it and cause widespread carnage.”

Everyone looked worried. They had been living one day at a time, not thinking about what would come after.

“How do you destroy the dungeons?” Bon asked, as he played a tune on his guitar.

“Some stories said by killing the boss, and others by destroying the dungeon core. I don’t think we need to worry about this just yet. By my calculations it will take about a year to beat the Tower.”

“You’re right,” said Bon. “We’ll let all the bigwigs like Steve and Yuri worry about it.”

If there were a million players there must have been thousands of leaders. It would be their job to see Earth through. While Bon had enough power to destroy a planet given enough time, even he wouldn’t be able to do a thing if tens of thousands of dungeons appeared all across the world, not unless he constantly teleported from one to another and didn’t take any rest breaks. Bon was not so noble, to sacrifice everything to be Earth’s defender. He was no hero. He would do what he could for Earth, but he wouldn’t neglect his family. If Earth was destroyed, his family would be affected too, but as long as he created a safety zone big enough to be fully self sufficient it would be enough. That would be his goal. The other players could manage the rest.

They all went to sleep, while Bon pondered on the responsibility of having great power. He couldn’t sleep a wink, not that he needed to. Instead, he meditated, clearing his mind of all his doubts. He circulated his qi to nourish his nascent soul. Without any new wonder pills, it would be a long time before his cultivation made a breakthrough.

At dawn the next morning, they ate their breakfast of cheese sandwiches and coffee, which Siobhan had bought from the Tower Store. The road traveled downwards. After a few hours they could see a wizard’s tower in the distance. It was made of white brick, and was only a sixty feet or so tall. The windows were all blue stained glass and the top of the tower had a crystal device that was constantly revolving. There were cables connecting the wizard’s tower to something in the distance, and Bon could hear the whir of machinery from within.

They found a strange area in the distance where the cables were leading. There was a constant thunderstorm over that area, lightning crashing down on the ground in frequent bursts. They could hear its roar even from so far away.

“I think we’ve found our Boss,” Bon said. “Let’s go.”

“What about the mad wizard?” Errel asked.

“Hopefully we won’t encounter him.”

They walked to the area and found a giant human shaped creature made of lightning standing in the middle of a square made of pylons. The pylons seemed to be absorbing the creature’s lightning. It was trembling as it stood in the center, unable to move. Bon felt a little sorry for the boss. What was the mad wizard doing to it?

“Identify.”

BOSS Zatar the Lightning Revenant HP 10,000/10,000 MP 2,374/7,000

Zatar was once an elf who dreamed of uniting the clans. Many leaders became jealous as Zatar’s power grew. They tied him to a lightning rod during a storm and allowed Nature to do its work. Facing death, Zatar vowed vengeance on all elves. Transformed into an undead Lightning Revenant, he became obsessed with only one thing, destroying the elven race.

Powers Chain Lightning Attacks up to five targets with lightning. Damage increases with each branch Call of the Lightning God Infuses the air with particles that attracts lightning from the sky dealing heavy damage Lightning Flash Moves in any direction at the speed of lightning Lightning Orbs Orbs of lightning float around Zatar, dealing damage to anyone who comes near Level Playing Field Increase in level depending on the number of foes faced

This Boss had lower HP than Bon had expected, but it was probably able to dodge most normal attacks. It would probably go for the weakest targets first. Right now, it didn’t seem like it could go anywhere though. The pylons were holding it in place, perma-stunning it.

“Attack it with all your ranged attacks,” said Bon.

“Stop!” A man with a big gray beard flew towards them from the sky. “Don’t you dare attack. I can’t believe another batch of players came already. So annoying. I just need another five years.”

“You must be the Mad Wizard,” said Bon. He looked at the mark of light above the Mad Wizard’s head and chortled. “You’re a player. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Of course I’m a player, you nincompoop,” the wizard said.

“So, you’re a mage.”

“I’m no mage. I’m a wizard.”

“What’s the difference?” asked Bon. “Do you pull rabbits out of hats or something?”

“I can pull hats out of rabbits. What kind of a weird fetish do you have anyway? Rabbits and hats! Hmph!”

Bon raised his hand, “We need to kill the Boss to get out of here. If you try to stop us we’ll have to fight.”

“I need the Boss to stay put for another five years. It’s all yours after that.”

“Old man,” said Toby, “We can’t wait another five years. Don’t be so stubborn. The Boss will respawn and you can continue doing whatever it is you’re doing.”

“A single interruption will destroy everything I have accomplished,” said the wizard. “I have stayed in this Tower for five hundred years. The notification says I have another forty years to climb a floor, or else I will become one of its ordinary inhabitants. Have mercy on this old man and leave the Boss be.”

“Even if we did,” said Bon, “The ones coming after us wouldn’t. There’s nothing you can do. If you want to climb the Tower with us you are welcome.”

“What’s the point,” sighed the wizard. “My world has already been destroyed. The Tower told me.”

“You have met the Tower, personally?”

“It sent an emissary. This is the only way I can save my world. With enough energy I can turn back time and teleport myself back to my world. Everything is ready. All I need is the energy. Jut five more years,” the wizard begged. “Please.”

“No,” said Bon, “But if you need energy I’ll give you energy.” Bon grabbed the cables and pulled them out of the pylons.

“What are you doing?” the wizard screeched. “Stop that. Ruined! All ruined.

Before the old man could continue, Bon transformed mana into lightning and directed it to the cables. “Tell me when you have enough,” Bon grinned.

“This much energy,” the wizard said, aghast. “Impossible. What are you?”

“Everything is possible for our Bon,” Phil smiled.

Bon converted even more mana into energy. His mana was draining quickly, but the amount of energy he was releasing was increasing exponentially.

“Enough,” shouted the wizard ecstatically. “More than enough.” Bon’s mana had drained to five digits. Bon wiped the sweat off his face. A few more minutes and he would have been sucked dry. “Goodbye benefactors, I hope I see you again,” the wizard laughed and flew back to his tower. The wizard tower whistled, and rainbow colored light shone down upon it. There was an earthquake and then the wizard tower vanished.

“He really did it,” Phil said. “Time travel. I didn’t think it was possible.”

“We don’t know if he succeeded,” said Bon. “Let’s kill the Boss.”

Bon instructed them, standing back as the rest of his party began fighting the boss. The Lightning Revenant was fast, but the party coordinated so well that it didn’t matter. Errel was doing well, despite being brand new. Every time the Boss used chain lightning they separated from each other so that it wouldn’t branch out from one player to another. When it used its Lightning Flash and flew around the area in a flash of light, Toby and Phil always ran back to protect the others, while Bojana hid using Stealth, looking for an opportunity to Backstab as soon as the Revenant came to a standstill. Siobhan’s attacks were spot on. Bon didn’t have to instruct them much, apart from a few times their positioning was off.

Errel healed everyone at just the right time, and his heals and blessings were far more effective than a normal priest’s. There was a big difference between learning and using a skill on your own, compared to using the Tower’s skill function. The Boss however, seemed to have a special hatred for Errel. It kept going after him, but the elf was quick and nimble, able to keep out of the reach of the boss’ skills. The only problem was when it used Lightning Flash, but Errel was surprisingly sturdy and could take quite a few hits. The party protected him as best as they could. If he died here it would be for real. He was very brave and determined, and more importantly, he never panicked. Bon wondered what Errel had gone through, to make him turn out like this.

You have killed (Boss) Lightning Revenant Quest ‘Eliminate the Lightning Revenant' completed Reward: 1x Belt of the Agile Knight, 500 Gold, 40,000 EXP

The Lightning Revenant only dropped some gold.

“I did it,” Errel shouted suddenly. “I’m a hero. All my prayers to the Mother Tree are answered.”

Indeed, there was a light shining above Errel’s head.

“Congratulations,” Bon grinned. “Now you can go up to the thirty fourth floor. Good work. Everyone, let’s meet up in front of the tallest building as usual.” Another floor conquered. This time it had only taken a little more than a day.