《The Primordial Tower》Chapter 8- Namby Pamby
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"Tut-Tut. Kids these days, so damn impatient. Before I answer that, let me ask you one question. Think carefully before answering, or I'll be disappointed. What do you think the tower's intention is behind the design of this floor?" Liam asked in a slightly serious tone.
Noah took a minute to consider the question and then replied with the best answer he could muster " A test to see if humanity will succumb to its greed or put aside their differences and work together for the greater good."
Liam nodded as he heard Noah's response, shutting his pizza box and letting it vaporize into nothingness as he opened his mouth to respond.
"Wrong" he stated plainly.
Noah looked at Liam with visible confusion in his eyes, his pride suffering a slight blow as he had believed himself to have answered perfectly earlier.
"Whether the challengers in each grid manage to cooperate and slay the goblin lord or wait for the timer to out is completely and utterly inconsequential in the bigger picture. Do not take a two-dimensional approach when trying to ascertain the Tower's objectives. I'm not reprimanding you lad, but I need you to develop this skill. Question everything. There are certain things I will never be able to see from my perspective but may be as clear as day to you. An elephant can never look at life from the perspective of an ant, despite an earnest wish to do so" Liam explained as if he were compounding a scientific theory instead of being an insufferable prick.
Noah didn't mind it at all, too interested in what the actual objective behind this floor was to care about trivial details like being reminded of his own insignificance.
"The people on this floor are those who chose to be here. Whether they'd been dinged up in real life to the point where they had no chips left to lose, were tired of simply going through the motions and wanted to throw themselves into a pit of insanity for stimulation, or just wanted to be a degenerate demi-god like me don't matter one whit. The moment you step into Gridlocked, a certain aspect of you is fundamentally transformed. When you step out of the Tower of Glory, having survived countless brushes with death, killed both monsters and men alike to survive, and taken the first step towards divinity...... How would you feel when you reached the main tower and saw a bunch of people eating and sleeping in comfort as if nothing had changed from their days on Earth?" Liam asked, in a confident tone, as if he already knew what the answer would be.
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Noah visualized the scene Liam had so vividly painted for him, staring at Liam as if he were in a trance. The usually calm and rational Noah felt blood rush to his head as he felt.... anger as he imagined the scenario playing out in his mind.
"Cowards" Noah softly whispered. A moment later, he snapped out of the trance and felt horrified at his own words. Not choosing the Tower of Glory was the most logical and safest option, yet.... he felt an instinctive revulsion to those who chose to hide away in ivory towers while they carved out a bloody path to divinity. He had already killed two humanoid creatures and had one close brush with death, and the challenge had barely even started. While he had Liam's assistance, one could only imagine how challenging a journey it'll be for others who weren't as fortunate.
"Weaklings. Trash. Rats. Scuffed challengers. Inferior. Dregs of society. Milksops. Namby-pamby. Okay, maybe scratch out the last two. But kid, I'm sure you get the idea. The tower was messing with us right from the beginning, but most of us had our heads far too up our arses to notice. Its intention was never to drive a wedge within the participants of the Tower of Glory, but make them feel revulsion and disgust for those who didn't participate instead." Liam finished the explanation calmly.
Noah slightly shuddered as he realized why the tower had forced them to make a choice so early on. What frightened him more, however, was that for an instant he could sympathize with those twisted sentiments.
"Well, that's enough of the downer stuff," said Liam, as he waved his hand with an eloquent flourish. An ornate tray with 2 piping hot dishes and some sort of flatbread materialized right into Liam's lap.
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"Chicken Tikka Masala, Kadhai Paneer along with some Garlic Naan. I swear mate, this stuff is fit for the Gods." Liam exclaimed in delight, as he tore some of the flatbread and dipped it into the curry.
"You know, instead of glaring at me like that," said Liam as he stuffed another mouthful of naan, "you could order it too. The tower can replicate any cuisine as long as you think about it, though it'll only be enough for one meal. But for now, we've got ourselves some trees to climb!" Liam said with a hearty laugh.
"....." Noah gave Liam a death glare until he finally relented.
"Gridlocked doesn't have any combat arts available on the floor, but there are loads of unclaimed weapons and armor just waiting to be plundered. Since we're currently in a forest that has ginormous trees, even someone with half a brain can figure out where most of them would be stashed away." Liam explained quickly, more out of a want for getting back to eating than an urgent need to help Noah.
"But I don't feel much of a difference after putting points in dexterity...." Noah protested.
Liam's face twitched. "Do you trust me?" he asked Noah.
"Do I have a choice?" Noah snapped back in protest.
"No. Shut up and climb, lad. And stop whining." Liam said, making a shooing gesture with his hands, even though he was the armchair ghost that flew after Noah without his consent.
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Old Riding Author Lunatic Asylum
Just off the A19, in the dark, incomprehensible lands known as Yorkshire, there lies a town. A town where shadow-silent alleys glint with the secret hunger of knives. Where blood soaks the chipboard window shutters of forsaken terraces stretching off into the night. Where the smog-choked air rattles with the depraved laughter echoing out from clubs that can only generously be described as post-apocalyptic. Well, that’s Middlesbrough. But down the A19 a bit (an impossibly long way down, actually) there lies another town: Raughnen, in the ancient, forgotten Old Riding. It is an equal match in muggery and thuggery alike. It also has magic spells and pointy wizard hats. And now, across the miles and across all sensibilities, a pretty nasty power (a magic one) calls out for its pretty nasty counterpart (a decidedly unmagic one): a proper sound Boro lad. Nothing good can come of it. This is a collection of one novella and four connected short stories: I. A Yorkshire Summoning II. Old Riding Day Trip (the novella) III. Heaven is a Parmo IV. Death on the 66 V. Death on the 257 In total, this comprises 34 chapters totalling around 35,000 words, so try not to worry. It will be over relatively quickly. There are three more short stories with more tenuous links to the core collection: Rush, Paper Round and Scenario 79: Sausage Fingers, all of which can be found in my collection Short Records of Misadventure. Reading these may allow you to make more sense of certain parts of the story, if any sense is to be made at all. NOTE: There are instances of prejudice and discrimination within these stories, including elements of sexism and ageism, which are purely the thoughts and actions of the characters involved and which certainly do not reflect my own views on these matters. ANOTHER NOTE; A WARNING, PERHAPS: This can get a bit weird. In less than 150 pages, we have four viewpoints, first and third person narratives, and a completely disjointed plot with lots of gaps, dead ends and no real resolution. Also ZERO lunatic asylums. It's all a bit odd. If that sort of thing isn't your cup of tea, which it most likely isn't, it might be best to move on now.
8 190Second Chances
Given a chance for reincarnation and tasked by the System, I picked the Sidhe for this second life. A world of Seelie, Unseelie, Kelpie, Redcaps, and Slaugh. The Gods of the Tuantha de Danann forced into sleep, the people forced to remain locked on their home planet. In this latest Book, Teigh Mac de Beleros y Cyronax has saved his people from stagnation and ruin. His denouncement of Olympus and Asgard before the Universal Senate has allowed the Sidhe to break the ties that constrained them, and the chains that kept them rooted to their home world. But the Sidhe and the Tuatha de Danann are unique across all multi-verses and all Pantheons. They have the unique ability to travel anywhere and anywhen. But this ability comes at a cost. The Tuatha de Danann do not have incarnations seeded across each Universe. There is only one Tuatha de Danann, and when Athena and Loki come to Teigh with the tales of a plot that will destroy not only the Tuatha de Danann but the multi-verse, he removes his crown to once more face off against Zeus and Odin and save his people. Second Chances has been taken down for editing and a major rewrite...
8 138The Choices We Make
The Moldy Donut is a derelict gateway through space that links two distance solar systems. It has been made obsolte by cheaper jump drive technology and is mostly abandoned. But a change in resource availability has made ring gates such as the Moldy Donut relevant again. A crew of technicians must battle the Donut's risks in order to bring just one of her segments back online.
8 80To Be Cursed
Scourcers wouldn't be scourcers without chi. The Zagrans wouldn't be Zagrans without scourcers. And Karma, well she wouldn't be Karma without without her father. After King Karmic proposes that he sends his youngest daughter, Karma's kid sister, off to assassinate the Zagran prince, Karma can't keep herself from stepping up. She uses this moment not only to save her sister from certain death, but to gain an understanding of the creatures that everyone keeps calling beasts. She has six weeks to kill the prince, six weeks to explore things unknown, six weeks to figure out why King Karmic really wants the Zagran lands.
8 223Flatlander
A sell-sword struggles to find meaning in a world filled with pain, violence, and loss. Noble Houses rule from Hoverstones that loom over the Flatlands and the Highlands; they act in their own interests, playing politics and more. Tribesmen roam free, a true terror to all they prey upon. Elves scour the lands for objects of great power. And there are rumors of dragons, reemerging at the beckon call of new masters.... Written in a style similar to Game of Thrones, though different and unique, Flatlander is a serial novel filled with uncertainty, peril, and, for the bold, fortune. Enjoy!
8 167Bloody Angel
A youth, who died to a heart disease gets reincarnated in a world of Immortals. However, his reincarnation dosen't end up being as good as he imagined. Being born with a special bodily constitution, gets him shunned from the clan. Living a tough life on his own, with no one to rely on, except for his Yeti, he climbs the lowest levels to the top. Follow him and his Yeti on his yourney on becoming an Immortal himself.*Contains cursing and complete prick attitudes later on.*If you find typos, let mek now so i can fix them.I may rewrite the previous chapters as the story goes along to make it more in line with the later chapters. Think of it like this, I just had a better idea how to progress the story.
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