***POV Change***

Ketlia sat up abruptly, immediately conscious of her isolation. Predator was gone. Laying next to her was a neatly folded bit of bear pelt that he had used to cover his shoulders with, and the 3 throwing knives that they had recovered from the body of the Three eyed frog. Ketlia couldn’t decide if he just couldn’t take anything with him, or that he had really left these for her.

But the short sword they had taken from the frog massacre of the camp wasn’t there, as well as the bear claws that he had been fiddling with. On purpose then.

She pictured his shocked look as she sat up, covered in the blood of the black bear.

His easy grace as he killed a dozen frogs at once.

The grimace on his face as he hobbled forward, a mango sized hole ripped in his abdomen.

Waking up to find him cradling his wrist, but alive after facing the frog creature head on.

She remembered that brief flare of pressure in his mind when she had said “Don’t die.” Last night.

Sighing, Ketlia gathered the items, twisting the piece of bear pelt into a belt and storing the throwing knives in it. She spread her senses, encountering the confused minds new arrives. Even as she examined those nearby, several flickered out of existence, killed.

Idly, the part of her that had learned the most from Predator marked those locations, putting a little note to go to the area and see if they could recover a weapon from the bodies. Then she homed in on a group of two minds, fearful, but rational, struggling to figure out what happened.

Ketlia licked her lips “Fresh meat.”

***POV Change***

The pig faced man who sent me into that world for a week looked me up and down. “I see you’ve leveled a bit. Already to 11? Not such a worthless race after all, haha. And your skill? Lesser Air Affinity? What level is it at now?”

I coughed lightly. “Well…”

The pig faced man's eyes bulged at me ominously.

*****

Due to earning the administrator’s ire, I was placed at the bottom of the “pyramid” that made up the first floor. If he had thought I had potential, or would make an interesting storyline, I would apparently have been put on a special path, all but guaranteeing I would make it to the second floor. Alas, it was not to be.

-Should have leveled up the skill. Too busy flirting

-Shut up, other me.

It turned out that first floor of the tower was made up of a series of levels, complete with a choice of multiple paths. The bottom level held 128 paths, each leading through a zone protected by an employee of the Tower. They were apparently salaried, but barely so, a pitiful existence.

Yea, it was really awkward when the administrator started complaining about the work benefits of this place…

Just so. Anyways, the first level had 128, the second 64, etc., until the 8th level had but a single path, that lead to the next floor of the tower. Hence, pyramid. So I was sent to a random path, and likely one that had a low chance of survival. In fact, anyone could enter the tower the way I did currently, and this was how it was mostly done. The poor and the desperate started from floor one, and attempted to climb.

I found myself on a dirt road, leading up a hill. I followed it. After about 10 minutes, I reached the summit, which consisted of a small wooden hut, and a gallows. A group of 4 individuals were standing around. A bald one with a large club and blue skin stepped forward to meet me.

“Ah, another challenger! Perfect, I was getting a bit bored. Cousin, if you would do the honors?”

A robed figure, leaning against the gallows, stepped forward, gesturing. An unimaginably dreadful sense of crisis rose in my heart, and I crouched, ready to roll to the side. But…

I couldn’t move. I was held still. The man with the club walked up to me and smashed me directly in the chest, caving in chest cavity and shattering most of my rib cage.

*****

I lay there for a long time a lot closer to dead than I would like to admit. I realized that there were several similarly shattered bodies laying around me, but I made no effort to examine them too closely.

It took around 46 minutes for my lungs to function enough that I wasn’t suffocating myself by remaining quiet.

Around the two hour mark some other challenger appeared, and was smashed just as I was. He toppled over my legs, obscuring my head from view. I blinked furiously, relieved. My eyes were so dry.

At around 4 hours, I felt most of my ribs click back into place, and the pain settled to a dull burning.

After 8 hours, and around 14 challengers later, I heard an unsettling voice that I immediately associated with the cloaked figure which froze me. “With this, my debt is paid. You have made it through your first day without a single challenger passing. You will be given an official offer to be a Tower employee if you remain. Do not contact me again.”

A terrible howling filled the air, as if all the air was being sucked out of the area, and then there was silence.

Someone with an annoying laugh asked the bald one how he got a favor from such a powerful figure.

“Family man, the only thing you can count on is family.”

I pushed the body off me, sitting up and coughing. I winced. Not quite as healed as I had hoped. The three remaining blue skinned creatures looked at me in shock. They seemed vaguely humanoid, just with larger ears and colored like a robin’s egg.

“You… You’re alive?”

“Heh,” The bald one stepped up to me. “Well then, I get to savor the experience of killing you twice.” With practiced ease, he swung the club at me.

I stepped smartly backwards, out of the range of his swing. My left had had already flicked two of the modified bear claws towards the lackeys, and my right hand gripped the short sword as I stepped forward, stabbing it upward through the bottom of his chin, through the roof of his mouth, and into his brain. His eyes dimmed immediately.

Glancing at the other two, I was pleased to find them satisfactorily dead. Then, an idea struck me.

“Heheh… Raise Lesser Dead!”

You have used the skill “Raise Lesser Dead”. This skill can be used to summon certain undead from a darker realm, or reanimate recently deceased corpses. You can currently summon “Skeleton Drudges”. Which would you like to use?

I clicked on reanimate.

Please indicate the selected corpses.

I concentrated on the three I had just killed.

Congratulations! You have discovered the attribute mana. Mana allows you to make use of magic in the system. Base maximum mana set to 10. Mana increased by the Wis stat. Calculating increases…Mana increased to 445.

I whistled, impressed. Then I hesitated. I had no idea whether that was a good amount of mana or not.

150 mana used to revive the corpses. Because of the level of the skill and the freshness of the corpse, they each possess 70% of their stats from life. Fineness of control over the reanimated corpses determined by Memory. Potential for growth and independent thought of the reanimated corpses determined by Processing Power.

Before my eyes, the corpses twitched and pushed themselves upward, struggling to their feet. I stepped back, and manipulated them all to stand before me in a line. I sighed, pleased with myself. So this is the joy of raising children~

With a small puff of gas, a small satyr appeared next to me. He pressed his glasses farther up his nose. “Which of you is in charge here?”

The three reanimated corpses all pointed at me, then studiously avoided my glare. Damn, my Processing Power is high enough that they are already throwing me under the bus! When I finished with this Satyr…

The creature nodded, and held out a black square with a strange sigil on it towards me. “Very well. You have successfully completed your probationary period as a guardian of the first floor, and allowed no challenger through. We are happy to offer you a permanent position here in The Great Tower.”

*****

The satyr teleported me away from wherever I was, taking me to a strange place resembling a tavern. It was filled with various monsters and creatures laughing and drinking. At the far side of the room was a counter, behind which there were a number of signs in strange languages. I followed the satyr towards the counter.

“Compensation is simple; the salary will go to the bank account you indicated previously. There is also a currency “Towers” That you will be rewarded based on your performance. For a worker on the first level, your base will be 10 Towers per day. But of course, each challenger you let past will decrease that by 1. Additionally, sometimes there will be special, more powerful challengers who will you earn bonus Towers for preventing from passing. And in extremely rare cases, if you lose, but provide an entertaining show for a challenger who is being featured… you may also receive bonus Towers.”

“And here,” He continued, gesturing at the counter, “Is where you spend your towers.”

As we had moved closer to the counter, the letter had imperceptibly shifted until it settled on something I could read. They were labels, followed by a number, apparently in Towers.

Minions: 50. Traps 50. Puzzles: 50: Environments: 100. Buildings: 50. Skills: 1000. System Assistance: 200. Miscellaneous: 50.

“What sorta stuff can you buy?”

The satyr looked at me with an odd expression. “The prices you see are so you can find that out, boy. Once you pay those, you can see our wares, and the specific prices. Don’t get too ahead of yourself. Now, here are your 10 Towers. You may amuse yourself here, or return to your path, whichever you wish. Remember to be up, bright and early, to stop the challengers.

*****

I sat in the darkness of the dim wooden hut, brooding.

Should I stay?

I thought I was strong, and it definitely surprised these fools that I survived an unprotected club swing to the chest, but that other, hooded figure… The way he could immobilize me with a gesture… with a skill.

I thought, too, about how furious the pig administrator was when he learned I hadn’t improved my skills. Well, perhaps a break to increase my skill levels wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Up to this point, everything around me was trying to kill me. Now I had a brief respite, even if my job was now to be the killer.

I smiled in the darkness, closing my eyes.