When my vision clears, I’m standing in a grassy meadow surrounded by rolling hills. A hundred or so people are already there, with more appearing every second. The sky above our heads is blue with the occasional wispy cloud drifting by, and in the middle, the sun shines down, too bright to look at, just like Earth’s. It doesn’t feel like the inside of a tower at all.
While everyone else looks around marveling at their surroundings, and a few talking to their neighbors, I find my attention drawn by something else: the ki density. It has been a long time since the ki on Earth faded to almost nothing. I spent one of my lives looking into it, but I never found the reason why. Here though, it’s denser than it was even in my first life. Any denser and it would start having negative effects on ordinary people.
“The air is so thin here,” I hear one man say.
He is wrong. If anything, it’s thick. He simply isn’t used to the amount of ki, and it’s affecting his breathing. He’ll get used to it soon.
I hold out my hand, feeling the ki gently flowing over it. I nudge it a little, making it swirl in my palm for a moment, but stop when I feel someone’s gaze on me. A few dozen feet away, a young man with light hair and dark eyes is watching me. Or more accurately, watching my hand. Quite sensitive. He could have been a prodigy in the past. Maybe he will have a chance to be now.
However, that also makes him dangerous. As much as I would love to control the ki more right now, I shouldn’t let on how much I know. Controlling it at all was already a mistake. I have no idea what this Tower thing is, but it’s never good to stand out too much in unfamiliar situations.
People keep appearing at random intervals, but each one that appears does so in a spot that seems to be filling out a grid. Even with some of the earlier arrivals moving about, it’s still clear that people are being placed in a sort of pattern. Assuming it’s going to form a square, my row, the tenth row, is about halfway back. Since I’ve arrived, two more full rows have filled in behind me.
I look around, trying not to look too calm as I pick out notable people. There’s the dark-eyed boy from earlier, now holding his own hand out, trying to imitate me. A few people over, a gray-haired man with a powerful frame wearing jeans and flannel is standing with his arms crossed doing the same things as me. Our eyes meet for a moment, but I turn mine away quickly, pretending to be intimidated. In the front row, a girl who can’t be older than eighteen wearing tight jeans and a crop top is looking around with a wide smile. Her eyes are bright and energetic, and when we make eye contact, she waves.
I give a timid wave back, and turn my attention left. The woman next to me is a police officer, though her belt seems to be gone, and with it, all her weapons. Now that I’ve noticed that, I notice that no one else seems to have any weapons either. Even belts are gone, to the dismay of one young man a few spaces further down who is now holding his pants up by putting his thumbs through the belt loops. He smiles in embarrassment when he sees me looking at him.
I turn away to look at the people appearing behind me. A homeless man is crouching down, eyes unfocused as he picks blades of grass from the ground one by one. However, despite his seemingly wandering mind, the ki around him is moving erratically. Once he sobers up, he will be someone to keep an eye on. Next to him is a firefighter with soot on his jacket and face. His helmet is gone, and I suspect he had it on when he entered, since his hair is still matted to his head by sweat with no signs of being disturbed.
A new person appears right behind the firefighter and to the left. It’s a young man, probably college age, with sweatpants and no shirt on. His upper body is glistening with sweat, and his hair is messy, indicating he was probably out on a run when he entered the tower. Next to him appears another disarmed police officer, and next to him, appears-
“Vanessa?”
Upon hearing my voice, her head whips to the side, and her gaze meets mine. Immediately, she runs to meet me, and I take a few steps forward to meet her halfway.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
“Bella!” she says.
“What are you doing here?” I demand. “I told you not to follow me. You were supposed to tell my parents.”
My outburst draws curious glances from a few nearby, but I ignore them.
“I called your dad,” says Vanessa. “I told him what you did and what I was going to do, and then I came here.”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I say.
“That’s too bad. I’m here now, and I’m going to keep you safe.”
I almost laugh out loud at the absurdity.
As of now, there’s not really anything to do about it though. I assume something will happen when the meadow is full, and once that happens, I’ll figure out what to do. If possible, I’ll send Vanessa back outside. I doubt this will be a good place for a gentle soul like her.
“Whatever,” I say, turning around.
I return to facing the way I and everyone else was facing when we arrived. Whatever’s going to happen when the last person arrives will probably happen up there. A few of the more level-headed people do the same, probably having made the same observations as me. This does not include the dark-eyed boy, who is still trying to control the ki by his hand. It’s faint, but I can feel it quivering ever so slightly. Frightening progress for no more than a minute.
Vanessa looked like she wanted to say something before I turned around, but apparently decided against it. She was always quick to catch on. It’s one of the reasons I like her.
The rate at which people appear accelerates, and the final two rows behind fill up within half a minute, and then, for a moment, nothing happens. There’s a palpable tension in the air as even the clueless people sense the mood of the observant ones. Then, one final person appears at the front of the group, facing us all.
It’s not really a person, but it’s nothing I’ve ever seen either. It’s humanoid, but all wrong. Its legs are long and unnaturally thin, looking like little more than bluish-gray, skin-covered bones. Its arms are the same, but they’re not proportionate, stretching all the way down to the creature’s shins. Its face looks like that of a frozen, dehydrated corpse with pure black eyes and too many teeth. It’s wearing nothing but a white loincloth, and one hand holds a wooden staff. A few people scream when it appears, and almost everyone takes a step back.
“Welcome to the Tower,” it says in a deep, smooth voice that doesn’t match its appearance at all. “I am Ganyu, one of the Administrators of this floor, and it is my job to determine whether you qualify to advance to the next floor, as well as teach you important lessons that you will need to continue your climb beyond.”
“What kinds of lessons?” asks the excited girl in the front row.
“First lesson: do not interrupt me if you wish to survive.”
“Yes, sir!” she replies, saluting.
The terrifying man stares at her for what feels like an eternity before turning his gaze upward once more and looking at the whole group.
“The Tower is a place of great opportunity,” he says. “Wealth and power beyond your wildest dreams can be earned, even if you do not make it all the way to the top. If you do reach the top, you will be granted a wish which can be anything. And I do mean anything.
“Do not think that it will be easy. Reaching the top of the Tower is a feat that few can manage. It is more likely that every single one of you will die before the fifth floor than that even a single one of you will reach the top. In the entire history of the tower, there have been less than 100 successful climbers. But do not despair. Success is possible. You simply need to not make any mistakes.
“Now, before your lessons begin in earnest, we must hold a couple small trials. An entrance exam of sorts. You are one of 2500 groups currently being initiated into the Tower. After these trials, you will be brought to a facility where you will be taught about the Tower and your futures. However, the facility is not quite large enough for everyone. We already have ten million, and adding another million will overflow the dorms.
“There are currently 400 of you in this group. You are to reduce that number to 200. You have 30 minutes. You may begin.”
Everyone glances around nervously, but nobody moves. After a few seconds, one man starts shouting.
“If you think we’re all going to start killing each other just because some demon-!”
He never gets the chance to finish his sentence. I didn’t see what happened. One second he’s speaking, and the next, his head is in Ganyu’s hand and his body is falling to the ground.
“Lesson two,” says Ganyu. “Never use the word ‘demon’ to refer to a Krovak. There are currently 399 of you in this group. You are to reduce that number to 200. You have 29 minutes and 28 seconds. You may begin.”