The next week passed by in a blur. The pair worked to help stabilize the neighborhood, defeating packs of monsters before there were too many to slay. Mr. Rockford kept the neighborhood protected while Mrs. Rockford provided healing when they'd return from their hunts.

It was on the seventh day while carving a figurine with Mr. Rockford that an excited Alice burst into their shed. She thrust her phone forward, on which a stream was active.

Upon receiving perplexed looks from both Michael and Mr. Rockford, she quickly explained. "Remember the streamer that disappeared into the tower last week?"

Michael slowly nodded while Mr. Rockford looked on in bewilderment.

"Well, I followed him." She turned up the volume. "The stream just went live again."

The pair set down their tools and huddled close to Alice's screen. The visual was still dark, but they heard a voice on the other side.

"Is it on?" A grand, gravely voice mused. A few taps, and a moment later the camera started streaming visuals.

"Hmm, interesting." The camera turned this way and that.

Finally, a golden eye with a slit pupil came into focus.

Cough "Well that's enough studying this tool. I believe it will suit my purposes." A moment later the voice's figure came into frame.

On screen stood a being of myth and legends. The air above its scales rippled with heat. Corded muscles stood out against an imposing frame with bony protrusions all across its body. Its hands displayed vicious claws while wickedly sharp horns gave the creature only hard angles.

It was a dragon, but in a humanoid form.

The dragon's posture was grand. He stood- unmovable- hot air billowing from his nostrils.

Finally, he spoke.

"I am the tower keeper." The pocked stone walls behind him pulsed with his words.

"Defeat me, or all your people will perish." He clenched his fist while smoke curled from the edge of his lips.

"This is an absolute truth." He stared intently at the screen. "Prepare yourselves and do not challenge the tower lightly."

The camera turned and took in the mangled remains of the streamers who had entered the tower the week before.

"These two entered the tower to satisfy the whims of their- viewers." The camera panned around, taking in the scene of the slaughter until the keeper returned to view.

His face held a fierce-some expression. "Do not be careless as these ones were."

The dragon held up a finger. "Your world has been inundated with mana, filled to the brim with this new-" He paused. "Fundamental force."

He glanced at his left hand. "It is both the harbinger of doom," Then his right hand. "And your vessel of salvation."

"Wield it well or be consumed."

He closed his eyes and he grew still as a statue.

A minute passed before he opened one eye. "It seems many of your- comments- are confused. Perhaps I wasn't clear."

"You must ascend the tower and defeat me." He closed his eye and resumed his statue pose.

A minute later. "What do you mean that isn't clear?"

"Oh. You want to know why."

The dragon sighed. "Over time, the waves of monsters- which pour forth from the tower to unleash hell upon this world- will grow stronger and stronger."

"Each wave, even if suppressed will raise the ambient levels of mana on your planet, resulting in stronger and stronger beasts appearing."

"Therefore, you must grow strong enough, fast enough, to defeat me. Otherwise, you will perish."

"How strong am I? That's a rather personal question." The dragon narrowed its eyes. "Very well, I shall show you."

The dragon's eyes glowed with a radiant fire and Michael felt all the hairs on his body stand on end.

Michael stood amongst the wealth of a planet. Precious stones adorned everything, endless tomes of knowledge rested upon marble shelves. Medicines containing untold power sat within glass containers placed all about the room. In the middle of it all a dragon rested on a dazzling throne.

"I am a dragon and understand the breadth and depths of Greed." The dragon's voice rang out. "The tower is my dominion, and the treasures found within are mine."

"But that is not all that I am."

Michael's mind was whisked from the chamber, past the walls of the dragon's palace, to the space above. Michael marveled at the scene below him. Dozens of truths had been brought close together to form a city. A dominion where even souls dwelled. A cathedral represented sanctity, the courthouse- righteousness. The gardens, life.

The dragon waved at the bustle of the city. "These are my people and this is my domain. They strengthen my ego, and my ability to influence mana. Once you have formed a domain, you will even produce mana yourself."

The keeper dismissed Michael with a wave of his hand, and Michael was watching the stream once again.

"Learn to use the mana, strengthen your body with mana, and grow who you are as a being so that you might defeat me."

With that, the stream cut off.

Michael looked around the room, seeing a dazed Alice and shocked Mr. Rockford.

Mr. Rockford chuckled nervously. "I'm too old for this stuff."

A short time later the four of them were sitting at the dinner table, discussing the contents of the stream.

Ms. Rockford huffed. "Well I certainly don't see myself defeating that lizard." Mr. Rockford patted her leg.

"What he said about those waves is worrisome." He moved to turn on the news. "I wonder how the government is handling all this."

For once, it seemed like the over-the-top fear mongering of the media wasn't entirely misplaced. Dozens of people had already disappeared inside the towers and not one had returned. The government was warning citizens against entering and had the towers present in the United States on lock down.

Even the special operations teams hadn't returned yet. Or if they had, the government wasn't telling the public. Despite that, the government stated that they would be opening up applications for entrance into the tower within the week.

The rest of the news detailed monster spawns and the deaths they caused. Unsurprisingly, those numbers were high. The casters recommended sticking to large groups of people and to not go anywhere alone.

"So what's your guys' plan?" Mr. Rockford asked.

Michael shared a look with Alice. "Once the neighborhood is safe enough, I'd like to enter the tower." Michael said.

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Sounds crazy to me."

Michael held up his hands defensively. "Well, the dragon did say we had to beat him. Otherwise the waves won't stop."

"To be fair, we haven't had a 'wave' yet." Alice responded.

"Hmm, true." Michael's brow was furrowed. "So do you think that guy was lying?"

"Hah, no." Alice gave a dark chuckle. "Don't you think that beating him might be a better job for the military?"

"Well, maybe." Michael responded, trailing off.

Mr. Rockford sighed. "Our military isn't omnipotent." He drummed his fingers on the table. "Airplanes, ships, tanks, helicopters, none of those will matter inside that tower." He shrugged. "They'll need people."

Alice and Michael sat pondering his words. A moment later Ms. Rockford stood up to prepare some coffee and bring out dessert.

"I say if you feel the need to climb that tower, you should climb that tower." Mr. Rockford said.

Michael nodded while Alice sighed.

When Ms. Rockford returned with the coffee and dessert, the conversation gradually turned to lighter topics. They discussed the results of the last week's efforts, the monsters they'd defeated, and plans for the future. Mr. Rockford's experiments with his shielding magic had gotten him closer to making a shielding totem, but he was still a bit away from creating it.

By the time supper finished, Michael had decided that he'd be leaving for the tower in Chicago within the week.

Later that night while preparing a list of needed items, Michael heard a light knock on his door.

"It's open." He said while sitting over a notebook.

A moment later the door opened and Alice entered. She glanced around the room, surprised at how orderly the room was. The only messy part of the room was a whiteboard plastered with sticky notes.

Michael blinked, realizing that this was the first time Alice had been in his room. "So what's up, Alice?"

She leaned against his door frame. "You're planning on climbing the tower, right?"

Michael pursed his lips, then nodded.

"I think it's a bad idea, personally."

Michael chuckled. "Yeah I got that impression."

"Alright, convince me." Alice strode into the room and plopped down on his bed.

"What?" Michael raised an eyebrow.

Alice raised her hands. "Tell me how it's not suicide. Tell me your plan."

Michael leaned back in his seat and took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Well here's the thing. There's virtually no information on the towers."

Alice nodded. "Yep."

"However, I've been rewatching the VOD1 of the dragon's stream and realized a few things."

Alice leaned in at this.

"First, though the streamers died horrendously, I think they had died recently."

"Uh huh, so?"

"Well I think that means there's either a time dilation effect in the tower or that pair managed to survive a full week. However, I don't think theres a time dilation in effect since that dragon didn't really understand how the camera worked but also managed to stream the feed. The stream would've been wonky if a dilation effect was in place." Michael had begun speaking rapidly by this point.

"Okay, yeah. No time dilation. So?"

"Well since there wasn't a time dilation effect, those two streamers, who went in with no supplies survived a week in the tower."

"Huh, interesting."

"Yeah. So, first off we need to be better equipped than those two." He tapped his pencil on his notebook. "I'd like to get some body armor."

"Maybe you could ask Mr. Rockford?"

"Oh that's a good idea, he might still have his old gear." He turned the page of his notebook. "The next problem. Why haven't people come back out yet?"

"The tower is a deathtrap?" Alice said with a bit of a 'duh'.

"Probably, but I think there might be a physical reason why. Perhaps a trial of some kind?" He pondered for a moment. "Anyways, I think being trapped in the tower is temporary, primarily because of the waves."

Alice gave him a quizzical look.

"Well think about it, who's supposed to defeat the waves? If we're all stuck inside the tower, how could we kill the monsters bursting forth in the wave?"

"Hmm fair point."

"So with that in mind. I think the tower is keeping people trapped for the time being for some reason."

"And so you want to go be trapped with them?"

"Uh. Yes?" He shrugged. "If stronger monsters are inside the tower, then mana levels should also be higher inside. Higher mana levels means quicker growth. Dragon-man mentioned that we needed to grow stronger, fast enough."

"So what you're saying is that we need to enter the tower to grow strong enough to beat the waves, and eventually beat that dragon?"

Michael nodded. "Exactly." He looked at his notebook. "I also think we could survive the tower."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "We?"

Michael opened his mouth before closing it. "My point was, the other bodies around the streamers were goblins. We've had good success killing those things, not just on the first day but throughout the past week."

Alice shrugged. "Sure enough."

Michael glanced at Alice. Bit his lip and asked, "Would you climb the tower with me?"

Alice gave him an amused smile. "You're learning." With that, she stood and left the room.

Meanwhile, Michael was left confused. Does that mean she'll go with me? Or was it just her saying that she's glad I decided to ask for her help this time? Sighing, Michael turned back to his notebook. He'd clarify with her in the morning.

VOD stands for Video On Demand and is often what recordings of streams are called after the fact (if they're still available).1