“Recruits, rise!” the voice startled Rhen awake.

He sat up in a room so bright he had to shield his face at first. With slow blinks and squinted eyes, he took in his surroundings. Many beds flanked his own, and people—as well as some things he’d consider monsters—sat among the other cots looking just as confused as he.

The clopping of boots brought Rhen’s attention to the foot of his cot. There stood a tall, dark-skinned man in a blue and white robe trimmed in gold looking back at him. A pale green cloak adorned his shoulders and crisscrossed over his chest, connected by a metal insignia of a bird with a colorful tail above three numbers [4/9/3]. Rhen was surprised to notice that despite having never seen those symbols in his life, he knew they were numbers.

“Well, recruit? Rise!” the man with an extra wide mouth and razor-sharp teeth barked again.

Rhen climbed out of the cot and stood. The cold floor sent a shiver up his spine, one that sent flickers of pain where the raptor had scratched his back. So, he wasn’t dead. This was it. He’d made it to the Deathless Realm.

Rhen had been in the guard for a stint back in Shin’Bara—his refuge realm—and knew when he was being addressed by a superior officer. He assumed the best “attention” position he could muster.

The dark man’s skin shimmered a luminescent green and blue. “That’s good. Real neat. But where’s your suit, recruit?”

Rhen looked down to see he was completely naked, not just barefoot. The reflexive instinct to cover his manhood took over and he pulled the bed sheet from the cot to wrap himself with.

The furry beast with too many eyes and bulging muscles next to him snorted in what sounded like amusement. Rhen glanced at it out of the corner of his eye. Its apparent, uh, manhood, also hung out for all to see. Rhen looked back to his, assumed, commanding officer.

The rest of the recruits stood, taking similar attention poses as Rhen, and the office spoke again. “I am Zedis. I will be your handler for the next however-long-it-takes you ga brezet to conquer your first tower—if you can.”

Rhen wiggled a finger in his ear. All of what Zedis had spoken was foreign words, but suddenly his understanding dropped at “ga brezet,” whatever that was. Given the context, Rhen was certain it wasn’t something good.

“But we already beat a tower,” someone said from somewhere in the line of naked bodies Rhen was doing his best not to look at.

Zedis seemed to know exactly who it was, because he marched up to them with zero percent swagger, and a hundred percent pissed off. “You survived your initial trial. Congratulations,” he said with a slow clap and a stern face that belied his words. “That was the easy part. The hard part started after you touched that stone.”

“You are not Deathless yet! You are a know-nothing recruit who better listen close and fast right now or I’ll be signing your one-way ticket back to your home realm!”

Rhen’s body tensed at the news. So, the test wasn’t over yet. Of course not. Rhen could wield many weapons, but not the most important weapon of the Deathless: anima magic. And if he couldn’t figure it out, he couldn’t become a Deathless.

Zedis turned and paced. “You will be assigned a pair based on compatibility markers identified in your anima. Your team will get to pick the tower to overcome. You will battle and destroy Kavga. You will absorb Kavga energy, and cleanse it to grow stronger. You will use the Anima Mirror to develop your power and advance your magic.

“Don’t Die. Reach the top of your tower in the eightieth percentile of your group. Form your Death Bond. Then, you are Deathless.”

Rhen lifted his hand. “A question, please?”

Zedis marched toward Rhen with the same pissed-off glare. Maybe that was just his face? He stared Rhen down. “I wasn’t finished, Recruit, but go on, it must be important.”

Rhen felt this was a trap, but proceeded anyway. “How can I understand you? I spent two years learning Shin’Bari when I got to the realm, but I understand you as clearly as if you were speaking my native tongue.”

Zedis grinned. “Not an idiot. Watch out for this one, Recruits, he’s your competition.”

“To answer the question—” Zedis slapped Rhen’s chest, sending a zapping jolt of pain through his ribs.

Rhen bent over reflexively and gasped but brought himself back to attention after one breath. He was used to this kind of treatment from the Shin’Bara, and it wouldn’t scare him away from becoming a Deathless. True power lies on the other side of suffering.

Zedis tipped his head at Rhen’s chest and pointed. “When you were asleep, we etched your first Prima Syntial; anima, and an Ancilla Syntial; cebrum.”

Rhen looked down to see a teal glowing ring on his left pec with a zig-zag designed rune inside. There was a single hash at the bottom that pulsed gently. Below that was a tear-drop shaped off-shoot with another rune in it, and another single hash at the bottom of that.

Zedis paced again. “The anima syntial will allow you to absorb defeated Kavga anima, Mongel anima, and even Shin’Bara anima,” Zedis paused, pinning Rhen with malicious leer.

“This syntial will allow you to cleanse foreign anima and make it useable for your channels. One of the many functions of the cebrum Syntial—when placed in the correct orientation—is innate understanding. You speak every language, now. Among other abilities you can review at the Anima Mirror.

“Now, back to what I was saying. You’ll be given starter packs that you’ll repay with your mined earnings. The walls of the towers are lined with ores rich in different powers which you can use to enhance your own anima, your weapons, armor, and bases. You will be entirely responsible for the upkeep and growth of your personal base within the tower you select.

“The library is down the south hall. There you can learn more about mining and what things are good for what. The weapon smith is in the anterior building to the east, they will craft a starter weapon for you. The Anima Mirror can be found outside the Alchemy lab to the north, where you’ll enhance your syntial. Your temporary barracks are right here.”

Rhen looked around at the sparse, white room. The walls and ceiling were frosted glass, the white light seeming to come from behind them. The only things touching the floor other than the bare feet of the recruits, were the cots. It was far better than a pitch-black hole in the wall at the top of the Shin’Bara guardian tower, but not a room Rhen planned on living in long.

Zedis pointed in quick succession. “Showers are there, and a banker down next to the library is where you’ll store your gear, of which you have none, and earnings. For now, you will get the standard issue starter gear from the banker, along with your starter pack—”

“Oh my, are you still going on?” A slender, androgynous creature with pale skin and black leather armor interrupted Zedis. They strode into the room with overacted sympathy. “I apologize, I thought you’d be done by now.”

“Elevated One, Dua, I was just finishing.”

Dua smiled, clasping long-fingered hands in front of them with a smile. “Don’t let me stop you.” Their armor flickered and pulsed with orange embers, reminding Rhen of a campfire on a moonless night.

Zedis snapped his fingers and—like magic—a projection of light beamed up from his fingertips. The light took shape in the very accurate portraits of the recruits around the room. “These are your matches, those we’ve determined will be your best partner for the Death Bond, which you can read about in the library later since Dua is so impatient.”

There on the second row was Rhen’s face, and next to it was… was that a squid? He leaned back and looked down the row of bare or sheet-covered butts until he spotted a suspiciously watery-bottom. It was a tall blob of water shaped like a bi-pedal body, and inside floated not a squid, but a three-foot-long cuttlefish.

Rhen had seen stranger creatures in Zo’eKa, the epicenter of the Shin’Bara realm where thousands of refugees from dozens of realms had fled to, and so the pairing didn’t bother him much at all. Communication might be a problem. No matter how many languages he spoke now, Rhen doubted he’d understand garbled water-talk. A problem for later.

“Find each other, quickly!” Zedis shouted when no one moved.

Rhen broke from the line of recruits and head toward his pair. The cuttlefish seemed to know Rhen was his match, meeting him halfway. That was good, at least his pair’s power of perception was effective.

The cuttlefish snapped its tentacles, and the water body vibrated. “My power of communication is also effective.” The words drifted off the water surrounding the creature and lapped against Rhen’s ears like waves on the beach.

Rhen squinted. Had that tower messed with his mind? Had he said those thoughts out loud?

“You don’t have to,” the cuttlefish replied to his thoughts again. “Likewise, this psionic message can only be heard by you, over great distances, between barriers, and nearly instantaneously. It is how my species the Jotep—not Cuddling Fish—communicate.”

Rhen blew out his cheeks. Well, he was flubbing up this first meeting up pretty bad. “What’s this Jotep’s name so I can stop offending?”

“Before your anxious thoughts overwhelm you, I’m not offended. As for a name, designators in my culture are much more complex than a single word, which will be much too complicated.”

“Hm, how about Cuddles?”

Orange light pulsed under his skin. “That is not a warrior’s name.”

“Are you a warrior?” Rhen asked, genuinely curious.

The orange shifted to red. “Yes.”

“I, uh, yeah. Of course you are. You made it to the top of your tower, too.”

Cuddles was silent, his skin roiling like embers.

Rhen blew out his cheeks again. “I’ll call you whatever you like.”

“Do you have no other ideas?”

“Tsu’Aki was a great sage from my realm. I could call you Aki.”

The orange pulsing under his skin subsided. “This will do. To answer your next burgeoning question, no I cannot see in your mind. Your active, conscious thoughts project on electrical wavelengths I can detect. Unlike your spoken voice, which is clear and understandable, I can hear your monolog like a choppy whisper. However, I can train you to speak louder, or quieter, with your mind.”

“Silent communication will give us a tactical advantage for stealth attacks.” Rhen nodded appreciatively. “I want to learn every magic I can.”

“It’s not magic, just physics. What may I call you?”

“I’m Kai’Rhen, but everyone calls me Rhen.” He reached out for a handshake, then sighed, feeling like an idiot going for a handful of water. But Aki surprised him, swimming to the edge of his bubble body to stick out a long, sucker-lined tentacle.

“I’m honored to fight beside you, Rhen.”

Rhen grasped the tentacle with a grin. “Likewise.”

Zedis clapped his hands, sending a ripple of silencing magics over the crowd of chattering recruits. “Follow Dua for your starter pack and tower selection!”

The recruits clustered toward the exit where Dua waited. Rhen kept his gaze roving, but picked up what he could. The furry muscle monstrosity that’d been next to him was paired with a two-foot fairy creature that flittered beside him, leaving a trail of pink dust in its wake. Another human, maybe even some refuge from Rhen’s home realm, was matched with an insectoid woman, and there was another human-ish creature at the front with something that walked on all six of its slender limbs.

The Death Bond matching must’ve gone much deeper than their species, then.

Aki hummed. “Astute observation, and something I had also noticed. Moreover, there seems to be a balance of physical and mental prowess.”

“Which are you?”

“Both.”

They followed Dua out into the hall, a similarly lit space that was much more alive with decorations and interesting objects Rhen would no doubt lose sleep inspecting. There were windows hinting at a rich world outside filled with high towers and massive cities, but it was too dark to see much more than sparkling silhouettes.

A chuckle rippled off Aki.

Rhen scowled. “What?”

“Booooth.” He let the word linger.

“Wait. Was that a joke?”

“My best attempt, yes. I am most certainly the mental prowess of this duo.”

Rhen grinned. “I like you. I seriously thought you hiding some muscles in that water blob.”

“This blob is my necessary ecosystem. I can maintain it, shape it, heat or cool it, and much more with my psionic abilities.”

“That sounds pretty magical to me.”

They arrived at their destination and Dua turned to face them. “Welcome to the Bank.”

They stepped through a tall archway into a room lined with vault doors. A custodian in a plain white robe and a badge with two arrows approached Dua. “Recruits?”

“No, a field trip from Morsis City.”

The custodian rolled his eyes. “Lovely sarcasm, miss Dua. You’re getting better at it every day.”

The custodian approached the wall and tapped his finger on the vault door. Slivery strands of magic flowed from his hand through the valleys carved on the vault surface, then etched an intricate symbol on the handle. He turned the knob and the door opened, revealing twenty packs of various shapes and sizes to accommodate the numerous species of the recruits.

“Inside your pack you’ll find various essential supplies and two tower options. You will select your own trials from among the four options, report the selection to me, and then be on your way.” Dua said, then joined the custodian at the back of the room where a comfortable lounge sat amid the towering vault doors.

Rhen looked at Aki. “Should I just… Can you carry a pack?

“I’m sure there’s space inside my ecosystem for the tools within.”

“Hopefully they’re waterproof.” Rhen stepped forward and grabbed an average sized pack with two straps. He and Aki moved to their own corner of the room to look at their choices.

Rhen unbuckled the flap holding the contents in and looked inside. It was deceptively massive in the bag, and he inspected the outside of it. There on the bottom was a symbol carved into the leather, surrounded by lines of orange magic that radiated out in rings. Rhen raised his hand, looking to Dua. He caught her eye, though she was avidly chatting with the custodian. Rhen pointed to the symbol on the bottom of the bag.

Dua stood, sighing. “Oh yes, that’s a rank one Enon Syntial on the bottom of your pack. You’ll have to power it with your anima. If you don’t keep it powered, your bag will rupture. The rings indicate how much power is left. It’s one of the simplest Enon Syntials, so if you can’t figure it out, you don’t deserve to be Deathless.”

Rhen gritted his teeth. So many accusations of what their worth was already, despite them all having passed their own tower trials in their home realm. Had he made a mistake in trying to become Deathless?

No. Power was on the other side of suffering. Hazing was part of the suffering, he knew this from guard training in Shin’Bara. The guardians were testing their mettle.

Rhen looked in the pack again and quickly identified a few of the objects. A mining pick, rope, a bottle full of water, and a short knife. Then there were a few he couldn’t identify. A box with buttons on it and a black bar that looked like glass through the middle, a metal pin the length of his forearm and width of his index finger, and a glass orb.

He doubted he was going to get anymore help from Dua, so he reached for the orb to inspect it. When his fingers grasped the smooth object, a tingling spread through his hand. Then, there was the sensation of blood draining from his fingertips. White light inked out of his hand and into the orb.

Rhen held it up in his palm and from it sprang the image of a tall, black spire. The image flipped to a shorter, thicker, blue spire, then back to the black one. Text appeared next to it listing the information.

It was called the Caulder Tower, and it was estimated to have between seven and nine levels and a power rating of sixteen. It flipped to the blue again which read, Posus Tower. It had an estimated eight to eleven levels with a power rating of eighteen.

He focused on the power rating text and additional information scrawled out next to it. The power rating calculated the presence of hostile creatures and Kavga based on Anima readings. A lower power rating meant fewer enemies.

Aki had found his orb and had followed Rhen’s lead. He had a green and white tower, Zwea–nine to ten levels and power of eleven, or an orange tower, Illuth–ten to twelve levels and power of thirteen.

“What do you think?” Aki asked.

Rhen’s gaze flickered between the options. “If I’m understanding this right, a taller tower with a lower power rating would likely have a weaker spread of enemies per level. It may not make us very strong at first, fighting fewer enemies, but we’ll clear our levels faster and get to the ore in the walls that’s necessary for everything else.”

“But we’ll be racing the other recruits. If they select shorter towers…”

“That’s true, but shorter towers with similar or greater power levels will have more difficult encounters to clear. It will take them longer to mine the level. For those who get shorter towers and lower power ratings, there isn’t much we can do about and will likely lose to them anyway. But we only have to beat two other teams to make it.”

“Sound. I agree. Illuth Tower then?”

“Yep.”

Rhen and Aki brought their sphere to Dua.

She stood. “Decided already? That was quick.”

Aki held up his sphere. “Illuth is our choice.”

She held out her hand and Aki dropped the orb into her palm. Her own white magic leaked into the sphere, and she uttered a word to it, her eyes transfixed. The orb flashed brightly, then the surface turned black, hardening.

“This will teleport you to your tower one time. Place your hands on the door and speak its name and it will let you enter.” Dua transferred the blackened sphere to Rhen, then held out her hand expectantly.

“What happens after the one-time teleport? How do we get back?” Rhen asked, handing in the other orb.

“You walk—or surf, whatever you do—until you can afford faster transport. Best of luck out there.”

“Wait,” Rhen said, griping the sheet around his waist. “Starter gear?”

“In your bag. The needle. It’ll craft basic gear suitable for your physiology. Just tap it to your anima syntial to allow it to extract your anima.”

They returned to the wall and Rhen did as Dua had said. White light slipped out through the glowing tattoo on his peck and into the needle until it was glowing gold. Then, as if held by the hand of a giant, the needle pulled from his grip and traced his body. The bed sheet was sliced away as the needle traced everything.

Everything.

Rhen held very still, not wanting to interrupt the process.

Finally, the needle was drained of its energy and dropped to the ground. Rhen looked down to find a tight-fitting, brown leather jerkin over a black, long-sleeved shirt, black cloth pants, and simple black boots with little sole. Very plain gear indeed. Those boots were item number one to fix.

Aki inspected Rhen. “Not horrible. But now you need a weapon—I assume.”

“You don’t?”

Aki tapped at tentacle to his elongated head-body. “It’s right here. So, I’ll need to visit the Anima Mirror next.”

Rhen nodded agreement. “You’re not going to use the needle thing?”

“Unlike you, I am not ashamed of my natural form.”

Rhen picked up his bag. “But what if you can inscribe it with syntial to make yourself more powerful?”

Aki’s fins fluttered along his body, as if annoyed. “Yes, well, I suppose that is a good reason.”

The needle traced Aki inside his water body, but it did very little. When it was finished, a metallic ring adorned each tentacle, and a little band strapped at the top of his body, away from his fins.

“Pleased now?”

“You bet, prince.” Rhen grinned and turned for what he hoped was the way to the weapon smith.

“Why do you call me prince?”

“You have a little crown and a bunch of rings. Kings and princes on Shin’Bara always wore crowns and rings filled with stones as if it would grant them power.” Rhen paused, realizing that the primary source of income for them would be the stones and metals inside the towers. “I guess it did.”

They walked quietly for a moment, then Aki hummed, his body pulsing with yellow light. “I understand. It was a joke.”

“My best attempt at one.”

Aki hummed. “I like you too, Rhen.”