“What’s wrong?” Stoffel asked.

“That’s the Red Tower?” Matt replied. Stoffel nodded, then Matt shrugged and sighed. “I just thought it would... you know...”

“Actually be red?” Stoffel guessed.

“Right. I mean, why call it the Red Tower if it’s just the same kind of stone color as everything else I’ve seen? The roof isn’t even red. Not even a set of flags along the walls surrounding it or anything.”

“They’ll get into all that with the back story stuff when you first arrive,” Stoffel said. “But, basically they say that the tower was built with the blood of dragons mixed into the mortar to enhance the magic done within.” Stoffel grinned. “So, it’s kind of like how you and I are red on the inside with our blood.”

Matt snorted. “Unoxygenated blood is blue,” he said. “So we aren’t really all red on the inside.”

“Yeah well, no one likes it when science ruins a game, so just focus on the cool and mysterious dragon blood.”

“The blood that we’re about to blow up with a dragon shard,” Matt added.

Stoffel rubbed his leathery hands together. “It’s going to be great. Just remember, we can’t walk in, set the shard down, and run. We have to find the right spot, and that means we’ll need to get deeper into the tower. So we’ll likely need to do a low level quest or two, then sneak around a bit until we find what we need.”

“I got it,” Matt said.

“Oh, and from here on out, remember you can’t use your real name at all. Always introduce yourself as Gryl.”

“I remember,” Matt said. “Don’t worry about this. I got it.”

“And, I’m your familiar. So you’ll have to play along with looking like you summon me or dispel me at certain times.”

Matt nodded and started walking down the grassy hill overlooking the couple hundred meters of valley outside of the citadel walls that surrounded the central tower. It may not have been red, but at least the structure was large and imposing. It was as big around as a small castle keep might be, tapering off the higher it rose into the sky, with several offshoot towers sprouting from the sides and reaching upward. Those, he’d been told the night before, were the sleeping quarters and offices for higher level wizards and the auditors. He imagined the chaos the dragon shard would produce and then smiled as his mind’s eye conjured an image of roasting auditors. He especially relished the idea of disintegrating the auditor that had tortured him, and frankly he hoped it would knock the real person out. It wasn’t enough to just hit them in the game, he wanted them to feel it in the real world too.

He continued imagining his revenge as they approached a few small clusters of houses on the west side of the valley. Matt surveyed the modest homes with workers out front tending to various household chores as their farm animals grazed in the pasture beyond. “Are those players or NPCs?” Matt asked.

Stoffel glanced left and then grunted. “NPCs. It looks like they’re all digital too. No employees from what I can see.”

Matt nodded. Though he liked the idea of blasting auditors, he hadn’t considered the effects this plan might have on other employees that were like him. As he watched the NPCs go about their chores, he found himself wondering just how many people there might be like him. “Stoffel, are there many employees roped into bad contracts, like me?”

Stoffel shrugged. “Never really gave that much thought,” he said. “I mostly stick to the shadows, so I haven’t dealt with too many people like you.”

“But there could be?” Matt pressed.

Stoffel shrugged. “I suppose so,” he said.

Matt let the thought go and turned his attention to the structure’s main gates. The bronze doors were open, with a single guard standing in the opening, screening people as they entered and exited the citadel. Matt inspected the character and found he was a level sixty NPC.

“That’s an employee,” Stoffel whispered. “A decent enough fellow though, so just act natural.”

Matt took in a steadying breath and suddenly felt very aware of, and grateful for, his soul mask which prevented the guard from seeing his eyes. Matt knew that it wasn’t quite the same as real life, but the game was still realistic enough that a shifty pair of eyes could make guards suspicious.

“State your name and purpose,” the guard said as Matt approached within a few meters.

“I am Gryl, the Enchanter,” Matt said. “I have come to study within the Red Tower.”

The guard eyed him up and down for a moment and then gave a short nod. “I’ll escort you to the main office. Your familiar cannot go in until you’ve been given clearance.”

Stoffel went slightly rigid and flew just in front of Matt, hovering for a second and waiting for Matt. Matt gestured with his left hand and a series of gold and silver sparkles flashed in the air where Stoffel had just been hovering. Matt knew that Stoffel was likely just going invisible, but he couldn’t help but feel more vulnerable once Stoffel vanished from sight.

“This way,” the guard said. The two went through the open gateway and then turned immediately to the right where a small stone office building joined against the inner wall. The guard opened the door and announced “Gryl the Enchanter to interview for initiation.”

Matt entered the office and found a tall man with a well-trimmed beard sitting behind a large cherry wood desk. The man looked up, smiled, and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Before the man had said a single word, Matt’s heart started thumping and his fingers twitched. This was the same prick that had been in the employer lobby. The very same punk who’d tricked Matt into believing he was headed through a doorway to sort things out with HR.

“Name and intended field of study,” the man said as he grabbed a ledger and looked up expectantly at Matt.

“I know you,” Matt said.

The man frowned and arched a brow. “Oh, I don’t think so. I only arrived at this post just yesterday, but I have one of those faces,” he said with a grin.

“No, I know you!” Matt insisted. “You used to work in the employer lobby.”

The man’s frown deepened and he tilted his head to the side. “How would you know that?”

Matt opened his mouth and then suddenly realized his error. Gryl was a player avatar, not an employee, and this man had only previously been working with employees. Maybe he could say he was a former employee? No, that likely wouldn’t work. Only higher level people came to the Red Tower. Matt tried to do some quick and dirty calculations. Was it even possible to reach level forty five or fifty within a couple days?

“You’re him, aren’t you?” the man said.

Matt froze as the man rose from his chair. “I see it now. You might be hiding behind a mask, and you’ve entirely changed your look, but you’re that same sad sap who Carie enlisted for ten years right?” The man flicked his wrist and Matt heard the metal lock slide into place on the door behind him. “I’m going to get quite the bonus for capturing you. Rogue employees make for fat bank accounts for people like me.”

Matt prepared to summon his mythic dagger. He wasn’t about to let this man get the better of him a second time.

“I just have one question before I turn you over to the auditors,” the man said. “Why didn’t you choose librarian?”

Matt frowned. “What?”

“Back when I read off the available classes to you. Librarian was by far the best available choice. Access to knowledge and tomes of lore, possibly even skill books and magical artifacts, and yet you would be fairly independent. A scholar has access to knowledge, but is most often tasked with assigning quests to initiates. A librarian, on the other hand, would have nearly endless freedom to study. With a ten year contract you could have essentially worked your way to becoming a demi god if you’d played your cards right.”

“I’m going to enjoy this,” Matt said, forcing a bit of confidence into his voice. “It isn’t just my appearance that’s changed. I’ve leveled up a bit.”

The man behind the desk laughed. “Right. Based on how long you were in prison before you escaped, I’m guessing you’re somewhere around level three or four at most, am I close?”

Matt closed his eyes and silently cursed himself.

“You know, I have the same powers as your previous compliance manager. So, I suggest you make this easy. Though, if you prefer a fight I am certainly up for a lightning battle.” The man’s lips stretched into a wicked sneer as a bolt of silvery blue leapt from his right hand and blasted Matt in the shoulder. It knocked him back and stung a bit, but it wasn’t a heavy blow. Still, Matt could tell there was a lot more power behind the threat. This was simply the warning shot across the bow. He’d have to time his strike perfectly if he wanted a chance of defeating the man.

But then what?Matt asked himself. If I kill him, he can exit the game and work in the real world against me. He’ll tell everyone what I look like and where I am. Everyone will be hunting Gryl the Enchanter. Matt figured the company might even offer a bounty reward to other players and make it an all-out manhunt.

“How did you escape the prison, by the way?” the man asked as he stepped around the desk and generated a large ball of lightning in his left hand. “I’ve been dying to know how you pulled that off.”

“I outsmarted the guards,” Matt said,

The man laughed. “You? You’re the kid who knocked himself out in the lobby before you even had a character picked out. You expect me to believe you outsmarted anyone?” The man shook his head and wagged his right index finger. “No, I think not. In fact, I think you had help. Tell me, did you make a deal with a player? Did you promise them those soul siphon crystals you found early on?”

How did this guy know so much?!

“Or...” the man paused and narrowed his eyes. “Did you make a deal with the hacker you were supposed to interrogate?”

Matt glanced around with his eyes, hoping he could see some sign of Stoffel moving into position to strike. Had Stoffel come in with him? Had he remained outside? There was no way of knowing where the little imp was, and now that Matt had blundered the whole operation, it was quite possible that Stoffel had aborted the mission and escaped. There would be no explosion now.

Wait! That was it! Matt had the dragon shard in his inventory. Why not blow it up right here? Sure, it might not blow the whole place up, depending on the flow of the tower’s magic, but it might be enough to send a message, and to get Matt out of this jam. He might need to change his appearance again after respawning, but that was better than capture.

“I traded the soul crystals to a player,” Matt said as he opened his inventory menu and started inspecting the dragon shard for clues on how to rig it to explode. I wish Stoffel had told me how to blow it up.

“Crystals in exchange for your freedom?” the man said. “I don’t believe you.”

Matt shrugged. “I mean, you can’t prove otherwise so--”

Searing pain ripped through his chest and his feet left the floor. A moment later he slammed into the stone wall behind him and slowly slid down to fall on his butt.

“I warned you,” the man said.

Matt nodded and coughed in response to the spasms in his chest. Smoke rose from his avatar, but his HP was unaffected. Yup. This was exactly like the manager and auditor. Lots of pain, no release of death.

“Let’s try this again, shall we?” The man gathered a larger lightning ball and took a step closer. “Who helped you escape?”

Matt smiled and said, “Your mother did.”

The man titled his head to the other side. “Really, we’re going to go grade-school now with the insults?”

Matt chuckled. “You know, they used to call trampolines jump-o-lines until your mom tried one.”

WHAM! Matt’s body locked up as the next wave of lightning pummeled him into the wall.

“Tell me what I want to know and I will end your suffering!” The man stopped the lightning attack and let Matt catch his breath.

“Your momma’s so fat, when she skips a meal the stock market crashes.”

The man snarled and came in hard, but Matt had prepared for this one. He’d remembered Stoffel’s reaction when he’d tried to open the dragon shard with blunt force, so he was more than willing to end this encounter with a quick lightning blast to the shard.

Matt whipped the shard from his inventory and put it into the lightning’s path as the bolts streaked across the room. The silver and blue hues crackled and hissed as they snaked through the air and toward the silver box.

The box trembled as the lightning struck it, then began to glow like a magnesium flash, blinding Matt as light flooded the office. There was a loud popping sound, like thunder after a close lightning strike, but there was no pain. The lightning never reached Matt, and he suddenly found himself able to stand.

As the light died down, he saw the bearded man covered in lightning bolts and writhing on the floor. The dragon shard, though emitting a pulsing glow, was still intact too.

“Wow, I guess my luck is holding out,” Matt said.

Stoffel materialized and slapped Matt across the face. “You idiot! I thought you said you could handle this subtly?!”

Matt gestured to the screaming employee. “He’s the one that trapped me!”

“I don’t give a soggy rat’s behind who he is! He’s seen you, heard you, and now he knows you have a dragon shard!”

Matt glanced back and summoned his mythic dagger. “So I’ll kill him.”

“No, if you kill him he’ll just respawn or alert the others in person. We need to leave him like this. You got lucky in the sense that his spell was meant to bind you for a while without killing you. The dragon shard reflected it in a way that his avatar was unable to dodge or dispel. I’d say we have five or ten minutes judging by the intensity.”

“See, told you I was lucky.”

“No, you dolt! That shard is now active, and we have maybe one or two minutes before it explodes. We have to force our way into the tower, find the right spot, and then run away, and we have to hope he doesn’t wake up in the meantime.”

Matt glanced to the man and then to the pulsing shard. “We can’t just leave the shard here?”

Stoffel shook his head. “It will flatten everything outside of the Red Tower, but the tower itself is enchanted and protected with wards. We need to blast it from the inside to be effective.”

Matt glanced to the door and put the shard away. “What about my ring?”

Stoffel frowned. “Your wishing ring?”

Matt nodded. “Can I make a wish to hold this guy in his spell longer, and then use the other wish to get us inside the Red Tower?”

Stoffel shook his head. “I dunno, but it’s worth a shot.”

Matt equipped the ring and pointed at the lightning-encapsuled man. “I wish for him to be trapped in this spell forever!”

There was a golden flash of light and the bearded man disappeared.

“Where’d he go?” Matt asked.

“No time for that, let’s get inside,” Stoffel shouted. “Wish to be sent into the Red Tower Inner Arcanum. Once inside, we need to set the shard underneath the arcane stone, it’s a big globe-like thing with lots of bright colors and it hovers in the air in the room.”

Matt nodded and looked at his ring. There was only one wish left, so whatever had happened to the other man, the wishing ring had used its power. “Got it. And the lightning already armed the shard, right?”

“Yeah, so let’s move!” Stoffel cried.

Matt smiled. “Fly as fast as you can,” Matt said. “I wish to be transported to the Red Tower Inner Arcanum next to the arcane stone!”

“What, no, what about me?!” Stoffel shouted.

There was a golden flash and Matt found himself flying through darkness for a moment before falling through a portal to land in a strange room buzzing with energy.

Matt turned to see a massive stone the size of an old VW Beetle. It hovered a foot off the ground, spinning on some unseen axis and pulsing with power that made Matt’s hairs stand on end. The myriad colors threw shades and hues all over the room, rotating with the ball and making for a quite grand sight to behold.

Matt took out the dragon shard and placed it under the arcane stone. “Fly fast Stoffel, I’ve got this.”