The next morning came, yet Worthy hadn't departed for Aciago Tower.
Instead of the three-hour long walk to the tower, this morning, Worthy was subjected to a much-needed conversation with his father.
Coward undeniably had grievances, but he also wasn't cruel enough to let his son continue enduring this lifestyle if he did not want to. Never would he say "you should kill yourself" to his child, but if the boy had the ambition to set out and try and achieve something within a land far from home, then he couldn't stop him. Life in the tower is a lot different than it is in Malas Town, that's for sure.
"...So… are you going to say something? It's been quiet for a while." Worthy looks to his father.
Though the tower blocked much of the sun during these early hours of the morning, he could make out his father's mature features. His beard was unkempt, but packed with such quantity that you couldn't deny the testosterone flooding his veins. The crimson eyes he possessed were not natural, according to him. They were once brown, transformed to a blood-hue by an event he didn't dare speak on.
Worthy got the impression today, he'd find out what the truth behind it was.
"I was waiting for you to ask, that's all." The man gives a lighthearted, bittersweet grin to his sun. His knuckle bumps into the boy's chest, just enough to nudge him back.
Finally, Coward begins speaking. "Years ago, after I failed to become a knight, I went into Aciago Tower myself."
"You… Really? You actually tried to climb the tower before Mom?" Worthy was stunned, so starstruck that they might've needed to find a new name to describe how he felt.
"I did. If not for my attempt to climb, I'd have gone in instead of your mother six years ago. But just as the towers are all exceedingly rewarding, they are also strict."
The boy heard something like this from a climber living in their town. He'd only made it to Floor 2, but had such debilitating mental damage from the climb that he was viewed as nothing more than a nutcase. Crazy Viper is what they called the old-timer. It's because his Reward from reaching Floor 2 made his urine quite poisonous. They found out after he killed his caretaker by… well… Yeah.
"Crazy Viper used to talk about how the tower's rules were unfair. He claimed that he could've 'made it big' if they weren't so cruel."
Coward, admittedly, has many humorous memories of Crazy Viper from his own youth. The man was a bit of a nutcase well before he went into the tower, truthfully. Yet, not so insane that he'd murder innocent people. "Yeah, he's a perfect example. Granted, he didn't have the makings of a climber at all. To put it simply, one of the most important rules you'll need to know about the tower before entering: [You cannot enter a new Tower without clearing your first.] This rule continues extending from thereon."
"...Okay, I'm understanding that much, well before now. It's a fair rule, it means you have to dedicate yourself to your tower. No biggie."
Coward laughs, "You're not wrong. That rule has been around for ages. However, what people tend not to tell you about, is that the rule fluctuates depending on the tower. For Malas Town's dearest Aciago Tower, the rule is a little different: [All climbers must reach the highest floor.] In short, everyone who takes a gateway out of the tower has already broken a rule. The punishment for it varies, but…"
Worthy finishes for his father, "...If you're unlucky, you might end up like Crazy Viper."
The bearded man nods before continuing, "Yep. But, the universal punishment for the rule-breakers is the same. Once you've stopped climbing Aciago Tower, you may never climb a Tower again, not even that one."
A shiver rushes up Worthy's spine, thinking back to the night before. "Then… could one of the reasons that Mom—"
Placing a hand on his son's shoulder, Coward stops him. "Don't think about that. I'm not finished either." It's better if Worthy's resolve doesn't change.
"Usually, in the other towers that span a couple dozen to hundred floors, you acquire a Reward based on the milestones you've achieved. You already know this, but in Aciago Tower, every floor is a milestone. I made it to Floor 3 before I ended my climb."
Excitedly, Worthy starts wondering what kind of abilities his father got from the tower.
Maybe his crimson eyes were capable of seeing the future… His old man did catch him sneaking out of the house a few times, when he wasn't permitted to.
The Jade-Jeweled Knight from the capital is said to have an ability that lets his sword cut anything in front of it! Maybe he has something like that!
"I know what you're thinking, and yes, I do have some cool abilities. No, I can't use practically any of them."
Worthy visibly deflates.
"Floor 1 gave me [Carnivorous Eye]. It's why my eyes are red. I can see the severity of injuries, as long as the person's bleeding. That's also why I've never been too worried whenever you come home beaten. I know how much you can handle. Floor 2 rewarded me with [Sword Sovereign]. It's probably the best thing I got from the tower, and I thought about leaving through a gateway on that floor, but was compelled not to. By the way, Sword Sovereign ensures that I can control any sword, knife, or dagger around me with my mind… or willpower. I didn't get to use it enough to make out a difference. Finally, once I reached Floor 3, I got [Keymaster] and jumped through the first gateway I found. I'd figured I lucked out and could go home and try getting into the knights again. Had I been able to, I'd have surely passed. But…"
"..." Coward is hesitant to continue. Worthy was not tone-deaf. He knew how the song and dance went, because he was living in the aftermath. Coward was too ambitious, and the tower rewarded the rulebreaker accordingly.
"I received a penalty as soon as I left: [Worthless]. It stopped me from using any of my Rewards beyond mundane tasks like cutting food or maybe becoming a doctor. At first, I tried circumventing it. Even though I couldn't use my abilities for battle, I could at least work as a chef… That's what I thought. Yet, the tower accounted for that too. It wouldn't be 'Worthless' if I could make a living off of it, right? When I went in and tried to use Sword Sovereign on the knives, I damn-near had my brain fried by a sudden surge of pain. The towers are strict with their rules."
So, eventually, he met Evangelica… They got married and had kids together. Coward spent his entire life working non-stop, trying to provide for his family through a struggle in the slums.
Soon enough, Evangelica decided that enough was enough. Her husband failed, but she could use the information he had to ascend and reach the top for her family.
This was Worthy's line of reasoning, at least.
"I think I get what you're trying to tell me. If I enter the tower, I need to climb as high as I can. If I go through a gateway, I might get unlucky and receive a penalty that turns me into a homicidal lunatic or makes my abilities practically useless."
Coward lets out a sound of assent, then nods. "Right. If you can make it to a gateway, you should think about whether you want to cross it. Think about what you might lose from going through it."
Worthy moves on to a concern of his. Since his father understood the layout of the tower to a degree, he must have information about how he can ascend quickly. "You said you made it to Floor 3. Tell me about the floors you reached." Although he'd heard some tidbits about the different floors in passing, information about the tower was very convoluted. Different people had different experiences since each floor was so different, yet equally as vast. Some locations were the size of cities while others were the size of whole countries. Therefore, it was common for some people's testimonies to end up thousands of miles away from another's.
"It's difficult to explain, but I'll try telling you the important tidbits. First off, the First Floor was the most hellish, it's the one that wipes most people out. It smells horrible, like death. Fortunately, I grew up in this trash town, so I had the advantage of not minding that pungent scent. The entire place was made of carnage. Something there was messing with my [Carnivorous Eye], so it was practically useless most of the time. Worst of all, there were monsters made of flesh creeping around every corner. Scrimmages took place among them—those mindless fuckers—to see who could absorb the other and become stronger. To tell you the truth, Worthy… Try to avoid fighting anything in the tower, if you can. A kid like you'll get hurt or worse quicker than you can imagine."
The boy can tell his old man wasn't just trying to scare him. There was a subtle tremble in the back of his throat, terror in his crimson eyes as he reminisced about the past. No, reminiscing implied there might've been some fond memories back then. He was reflecting on the past horrors he'd been forced to endure.
Ultimately, Worthy would come to find out what his father meant, in due time.
"I got lucky. There were others near me and a few of them had pretty useful Rewards. As a group, we fought through that wasteland for several days, scavenging for whatever items we could find… It was difficult to, since the monsters absorbed the things they killed. Even if we got lucky and found something left behind by a knight, there wouldn't be anything valuable left besides a few scraps of a breastplate that flew off."
'...'
"The most important thing you should know, kid, is that we found a gateway. However, it wasn't a hidden gateway or an easy one to find. No, Floor 1 doesn't have any easy ways out. We had to go into the belly of a monster, which had an even worse monster inside of it. We went in and lost half our group, but managed to defeat it and open the gate to Floor 2. Remember, all of that happened in our region. There's no tellin' where you may wound up."
Truthfully, after hearing about his father's experience, there were more doubts blooming in Worthy's mind.
'So a lot of the things in that tower are based on luck. You can get unlucky and get dropped right beside a giant, carnivorous mound of flesh.'
He has to push these thoughts into the back of his mind, however. Nothing good will come from second guessing himself, not after everything he said last night. This is his chance, the opportunity he pleaded for. His dad was preparing him for the tower and unlike the night before, it was now his turn to listen to the veteran.
The next hour was spent recounting many of Coward's findings and experiences leading up to his eventual exit from the Third Floor.
On the Second Floor, he found himself inside of a frozen city. It was similar to the urban towns found in the capital, with much more advanced architecture than what their poor town had. Spray-painted walls were glazed over by ice, making it easy to slip even while trying to relax on a surface. Being able to light fires is paramount to surviving there, unless you're fine with freezing to death or having the coldness of your body attract the [Ice Leeches]. Thanks to their Rewards, Coward and his group didn't have many complications, especially because there were now more gateways to be found.
What makes the Second Floor dangerous is the terrain, environment, and its monsters that are a step above the flesh monsters on the First Floor.
Whereas the previous enemies are described to be mindless and acting on instinct, the various foes on the Second Floor have intelligence, enough intelligence to know working together is imperative. Getting arrogant can lead to you getting dragged into the darkness of an alleyway before your teammates know what's happening. It happened to quite a few people in Coward's party who went missing, never to be seen again.
There were other things of note, but none of them were of immediate concern for Worthy, so he pushed them to the back of his mind to save for later.
Coward's information ended on the Third Floor. That's as far as he made it before leaving.
Funnily enough, they reached a gateway as soon as they reached the Third Floor. When the group opened their eyes, they were transported together and wound up in front of an exit. It was beckoning, calling out to them. The tower offered them an opportunity to return home to their families… Some refused, but Coward wasn't one of them. The man merrily agreed, believing he'd accomplished enough.
Worthy can only imagine how quickly that join turned to despair upon leaving the tower. When he thought he'd received enough Rewards to make a difference in life, only for the penalty to strike him in a targeted fashion. Maybe the tower had a sense of sadistic humor, because nothing about it was close to amusing.
"This is… a lot…" Worthy knew he'd need to learn and adapt to survive in the tower, but it sounded close to impossible. The fact that his father managed to make it as far as he did was all thanks to a series of fortunate circumstances. On the First Floor, he joined a party skilled and powerful enough to go through the carnage the tower cast him into. The Second Floor proved more lucky, as it was where he received his [Sword Sovereign] ability. Fighting through hordes of intelligent enemies ought to be easy when you have a fighting style that's unpredictable. On the final floor, his father hadn't even gotten the opportunity to fully learn what it was like. He was given a chance to leave and he took it.
That's when his streak of luck ran out.
"Well, you've got time to think about it. That's everything I know. Do some stretches and be ready in 10 minutes. We're going to go get you some equipment."
He looks at his father with a shocked expression. "Equipment from where?"
The mischievous grin on his old man's face doesn't make him feel any safer. "From Freight, obviously. That guy owes me a favor."
Freight is the kingpin of the local gangs in Malas Town. Any drugs being pedaled or underground organizations being run are held in his iron fist. The same is said about much of the illegal equipment the thugs in the town use.
>>><<<
It only took three hours to reach Freight and negotiate. Coward was a favor after helping the man escape knights when they were younger. It's funny how your youthful antics can come back around.
'It took 3 hours to get to Freight's place and talk. Now, it's going to take 2 hours to get from there to the tower. That was a pretty convenient favor dad owed him. I wonder why he never called it in before…' Worthy subconsciously knew the answer, though. His father was a man that worked an honest life. Only in his youth did he resort to questionable deeds, but in these slums, he was a noble as they came.
His name was unbefitting of him. He was the furthest thing from a Coward, yet it was the name his parents gave him.
Worthy never met his grandparents, but he assumed that they were quite the sorrowful batch.
As they walk, Coward asks his son a question he's reiterated several times across their journey to the tower. "You're sure you don't want to say goodbye to your sister?"
"I've never said bye when I've gone out at night, Pops. This isn't anything different." He tried to look more brave than he really was, but deep down, he was scared and regretful. These emotions wouldn't help him where he's going, though. "I'll be back soon enough. Give me a year and I'll have reached the 10th Floor myself."
From the sheer absurdity of the statement, both Worthy and his father burst into a shared fit of laughter.
After 2 hours passed, just as Worthy suspected, an imposing shadow was cast over them. In the mornings, it swallowed the world, but in the afternoon, it was slightly less threatening to see it. The tower which blocks the sun that rises in the east.
Vehicles, wagons, and chatter can be heard from the distance the two are at. Hundreds of people already gathered there at the allotted time to register as a climber. Of course, it was possible to sneak in, but that'd leave you as another missing person when you inevitably die. At least by registering, people know what to tell your family if you don't come out after a while.
With the sun sitting over their heads, shining a bright light down over the reaches of the town, everywhere except beneath the massive tower, the father and son arrive at their final destination.
For a second, Worthy stops in his tracks. He'd never seen the titanic structure in person before, only from their rooftop where—while still overwhelmingly large—it didn't seem quite as extraordinary. Now that he was in the embrace of its shade, he finally understood the sheer scale of what he must do.
Miles high, well beyond the clouds, is the peak of Aciago Tower. Both the smallest and largest tower in the world… and Worthy must be the first to reach its summit.