“Are you excited?” The lanky man pushed his black framed glasses back up on his nose as they walked through down the sterile looking hallway. Doors lined the white hall every few feet, the only break in the stark whiteness. The fumes of a powerful cleaner burned Ethan’s nostrils.

“Uhhh… yeah,” Ethan answered nervously as he tried to remember what the man’s name was. Brian? Jake? Why am I so bad with names?

“That’s pretty much the answer I’ve gotten from everyone,” Brian, or Jake, laughed as he pushed his glasses back again. “Plenty of people are nervous too, which is to be expected. Nothing like this has ever been done before.”

You got that right, he thought to himself, acutely aware of the squeak his plastic shoes were making on the pristine tile floor. Jake, or Brian, wore similar shoes, Ethan assumed it was just protocol to keep this section of Tilest Games massive Immersion Dormitory clean.

He felt awkward walking around in the black, skin tight spandex body suit he’d been issued. Several ports and monitors were attached to the suit, he was told they were meant to help keep an eye on his vital signs while he was in the game. The man walking next to him was wearing much more casual clothing, jeans and a shirt emblazoned with the logo of The Tower.

“Here we are!” Brian, or Jake, stooped in front of one of the black doorways. He pulled a card from his belt, pressed it against a sensor and the door slid open. The card whizzed back to his belt with a clatter but Ethan was finally able to see the man’s name badge.

Jake Murphy. Where the hell did I get Brian from? he wondered as he hesitantly stepped into the room.

Four large monitors had been mounted to the walls of the tiny room, at the moment only one had any text or information displayed.

Awaiting Player: Ethan Holliwell

Time until Launch: 00:28:32

The majority of the room was taken up by a large chair that looked like a dentist’s chair. Wires were draped over the armrests and a delicate, spider web looking headset was attached to a hook on the wall.

“This is it?” Ethan asked, as he stared at the simple chair in awe.

“Everything you need for a completely immersive gaming experience,” Jake grinned and gestured for him to take his seat. “Without ever leaving your seat.”

His heart was racing in both excitement and nervousness as he sat on the vinyl chair. Jake quickly squeezed into the tiny gap between the wall and the chair and began attaching wires to the various monitors on Ethan’s suit.

“Was it explained to you how this is going to work?” He asked as he worked.

“Kind of, but I was also kind of distracted by everything going on,” Ethan blushed as he admitted he’d only been half paying attention during orientation.

“Most people have been,” Jake grinned at him as he stood up. “So everything I just attached is used to monitor your health,” he pointed to the tightly bundled wires that were now pulling gently on his limbs and resting on his chest. “If you have a seizure or anything serious, we can use that information to pull you out of the game.”

In his orientation process, it had been explained to Ethan that he was allowed to stay in the game for as long as he liked, up to one month. His body would be taken care of in the real world, so long as he ate and rested in game. At any point he’d be free to log out and take a break, but after a month the game would log him out immediately.

“This,” Jake removed the clear plastic headset from the hook next to him, “allows you to interact. Everything is controlled through your thoughts. You think it, the game does it, essentially.”

“How does that work though?” Ethan hadn’t ever been really clear on how it actually functioned as a control device. Just that the head set worked.

“Think of it kind of like hypnosis,” Jake explained patiently in a rehearsed voice. “The system essentially tricks your brain into believing you're actually somewhere and someone else.” He paused, “I won’t lie, from what I’ve heard it can be a little disorienting when you log in or out, so be careful.”

“So if I’m, say, swinging a sword, will my arms actually move out here, in the real world?” Ethan asked, he couldn’t see or feel any haptic sensors on the black bodysuit.

“No,” Jake shook his head, ”when I attach the nutrient IV, there will be a mild paralytic agent that’ll keep your body from jerking around while you’re playing. Exactly like you’re sleeping.”

“Alright,” Ethan nodded as he looked around the room, “so what happens next? Can I log in?” He strained to keep the excitement from his voice as he asked that question, this was the moment he’d been waiting for for over a year. The chance to finally log in and play The Tower.

“Sure, all I’ve got to do is get the headset in place and I can activate the log in sequence.” Jake lifted the headpiece up in the air as he spoke. “You won’t be able to do anything in game for another, uh, twenty six minutes when the servers go online, but you can at least do your character creation.”

“Excellent,” Ethan grinned. He couldn’t hide his excitement any longer.

Jake meticulously placed the delicate contraption on Ethan’s head. He could feel the tiny, rounded ends of the latticework headpiece delicately touching various points around his head as Jake attached a loose strap under his jaw.

“All set,” The attendant stood up and smiled after he finished adjusting the strap. Ethan was sure he looked completely ridiculous in the get up, but he was past the point of caring. I’m finally going to fucking play!

“I’ll attach the nutrient IV once you’re in,” Jake explained. “That way you don’t even feel the needle.”

“Uh-huh,” Ethan agreed, not even bothering to pay attention. He was so elated.

“Best of luck in The Tower,” was the last thing Ethan heard as his world went black.

Flowery script in golden letters filled his vision before fading away like dust blown by the wind as Ethan stood alone in darkness.

Welcome to The Tower

He could feel the hard floor beneath his feet and when he thought about moving his hands he was surprised when it actually happened. Tentatively, he tried moving his feet into a jog.

His body complied.

“Holy shit,” he whispered. Even in the inky blackness, he felt no difference in his body now as he had merely seconds ago in the chair in the “real world.”

A massive wall of text followed, big bold letters taking up nearly all of his view.

TERMS OF SERVICE:

(Please read carefully)

Ethan raised his hand and swiped down, the seemingly endless pages of legal jargon he completely ignored in his excitement to play.

Finally, after several minutes of scrolling, he reached the bottom and a confirmation window popped in his view.

Do you accept the Terms and Conditions?

Yes/No

Perhaps too forcefully for the immaterial icon, Ethan jabbed his hand on the yes.

Instantly, a bright spotlight illuminated him. He could see his own body for the first time. As he examined himself, he saw he had the exact same body as he did outside of the game. He was even wearing the same black bodysuit. I guess I’ll get some real clothes when I actually log on. He mused to himself, not at all concerned about his lack of change in appearance. Wonder what I have to do to choose my archetype?

Almost on that thought, a single line of seven square icons appeared in front of him. Each icon displayed a different image, representing the archetypes available to choose from.

Fighter. Paladin. Cleric. Ranger. Mage. Rogue. Druid.

Ethan didn’t bother to read the description for each one, he’d read them countless times waiting for The Tower to release. He knew them all nearly by heart. And he knew which one he was going to pick first.

His hand hovered over the very last icon and text appeared in his vision.

Archetype: Druid

Masters of the Wild, Druids have a unique connection to the natural world. Though they usually use their gifts to benefit others and heal, in combat, Druids can command the fiersom aspects of Nature itself. Wildkin Druids use lightning and the very plants of the world to damage their foes from afar, while increasing the capabilities of their allies. The Spirit of Life grants gifts of renewal to Fey Blessed, allowing them to restore and heal. Even the power and ferocity of the animals is open to Druids, Shapeshifters have the ability to take the form of dangerous beasts.

A description of each of the classes available to Druids followed, but Ethan once again ignored it. He wouldn’t be able to choose one until he reached level 15, but he already was leaning towards Shapeshifter. He’d seen videos from the beta of testers ravaging monsters in the forms of massive bears and lions.

Archetype: Druid

Confirm: Yes/No?

Ethan hit yes, and green light encompassed him. As he blinked to clear his eyes from the sudden burst of light, he could immediately feel something different.

He looked down at his body and saw that his clothing had completely changed. Gone was the black bodysuit, replaced with a rustic leather vest and pants. He held a gnarled wooden staff in one hand and he could see swirling patterns of green and brown circling his bare forearm.

As he stood on the bare floor, a sense of unease washed over him. He felt like something was missing, out of touch. He looked around, the inky darkness oppressive outside of his circle of light trying to figure out what was missing.

Finally, it hit him.

There’s nothing here. No plants, no animals, it’s just empty.

He was shocked by both the realization and what it meant for immersion in The Tower. As a Druid, a being in touch with nature, to be so far away from it, was almost a heartbreaking feeling.

Game launches in 30 seconds. Prepare yourself, Adventurer!

Brilliant gold letter appeared in his vision with the sound of trumpets. This is it, I’m so ready for this! He couldn’t help but grin as he began mentally preparing himself for what was to come.

Seconds later, the light surrounding him vanished, leaving him once again in total darkness.

Ethan blinked, trying to adjust his eyes to the sudden dark, hoping he hadn’t messed up already. But before he could move or do anything else, the entire area he was in lit up in daylight.

Welcome to The Tower, a gentle, feminine voice began narrating. This strange world is full of different races, just trying to live their lives.

As the voice spoke, Ethan suddenly found himself soaring through the air. He flew over mountains, desserts, lakes and oceans.

But, throughout the sometimes peaceful, sometimes bloody history of this world, there has been one constant: The Tower.

A massive stone building zoomed into his view. He could see unlit torches circling the round structure, he knew that those torches signified the world’s progression into the Tower.

As an Adventurer, you already feel the ancient call of the mysterious tower. It is up to you how you will answer it. Will you fight your way to the top, becoming one of the first to brave it’s 100 floors? Or do you seek not fame and fortune, but peace and tranquility? In The Tower, the choice is yours.

Ethan felt himself pulled backwards, the still massive building shrinking in the distance as he flew over more hills and planes. He thought he saw a small city not far from the Tower, but he couldn’t make out any inhabitants.

With a jerk that shook his entire body, he stopped suddenly. He was facing down a slight slope of a grassy plane. He could see packs of animals moving far in the distance and further still was a small village. The smell of the ocean filled his nose and he could hear seagulls. The hollow feeling he’d had in the dark was replaced by ease as he felt the grass beneath his bare feet.

When he turned around, Ethan saw he was standing at the edge of a cliff. Hundreds of feet below him was an endless ocean, blue and green waves rolled and broke against the stony cliff face.

“Holy shit!” Ethan screamed at the top of his lungs, his arms raised triumphantly. He didn’t care at all if there were any other players near him to hear his exuberant shouting.

He stood for several minutes simply absorbing the sights, sounds and feeling of this new artificial world. If he felt more at home because of his class choice or because he was so excited to finally be in the game, he wasn’t sure. At this moment, he was beyond elated.

It took him nearly an hour to make it to the small town he’d seen from the cliff side. In that time, he hadn’t stumbled upon any quests or killed anything. He’d passed several other players busy killing the dozens of tan wolves that roamed around the area, but Ethan’s first priority was to find a pair of shoes.

A guard woman in shiny metal armor holding a spear stood by the gate as he approached. Ethan gave her a small wave as he made his way down the path.

“Excuse me, sir!” The guard’s shrill voice called after him, causing him to stop in his tracks. He turned and saw her walking briskly towards him.

“Umm… yes?” He answered, unsure of how exactly to respond to the heavily armored NPC.

“Are you trying to enter the town of Grassmere?” A transparent nameplate above her head informed him her name was Lenore.

Ethan looked into the town and then back at Lenore.

“Oh, yeah, I guess I am,” he blinked and shrugged.

“Thought so,” she nodded and adjusted her grip on her spear. “Seen a lot of people today trying to do the same as you.”

"That’s, um, cool, I guess,” he said, unsure of what he was supposed to be doing. “Is that a problem?”

“Well no, not usually,” she frowned as she appraised him. “But recently we’ve been having a lot of problems.”

“What kind of problems?”

“Theft mostly,” she said sadly, “so many new people seem to think they can take whatever they want.”

“That’s awful,” Ethan scowled. The game has been live for all of an hour, are people really this big of assholes? He wondered to himself.

“It really is!” She practically shouted at him, clearly frustrated at the situation. “And on top of that, we’ve got a badger problem!”

“A badger problem?” Ethan asked, confused by her sudden topic change.

“Aye! They’re eating all our crops!” She slammed the butt of her spear into the ground in annoyance.

“Yeah, that does sound bad,” Ethan commiserated with her.

“But I’ll tell you what,” Lenore crossed her arms over her chest. “You bring me 10 badger claws, and I’ll let you pass into our town.”

A new window flashed into Ethan’s vision, his very first quest.

Quest: Proving Yourself!

To enter the village of grassmere, you must provide an offering. Guard Lenore has asked that you slay 10 badgers and bring back their claws as proof of your deeds.

Progress:

0/10 Badger Claws

Reward:

50 Experience

10 Copper

Entrance to Grassmere

“Oh,” recognition of what was happening finally dawned on Ethan, “Oh! Yeah, I can easily do that!” He said excitedly, accepting his very first quest.

“Great,” she saluted him with her spear. “Better get to it, the faster you get it done, the faster you can go into town.” Lenore smiled at him.

“Um, one question though,” he paused before starting off. “Where would be the best place to find these badgers?”

“Oh that’s easy enough,” Lenore pointed off to her right, “they have warrens all over the area over there. Take care not to fall into any.”

“Thanks, Lenore!” Ethan said with a friendly wave as he left.

“How did that man know my name?” He was able to hear Lenore wonder to herself as he jogged away from the walls of Grassmere.

Oops… probably need to be careful with calling NPCs by their names before they introduce themselves… he mentally chastised himself.

Okay, killing some badgers. Now I just have to figure out how to do that. Ethan thought as he hurried off in the direction Lenore had indicated.

With an awkward swipe downward, as he’d been instructed in the orientation seminar, Ethan managed to bring up his player menu. He scanned through all the options until he found the one labeled “Character Information”. I bet this is it. He tapped on the words and immediately a pane of information appeared in his vision.

Player: Ethan Holliwell

Level 1: (0/100 XP to next level)

Archetype: Druid

Class: (None)

Health: 18/18

Mana: 75/75

Stamina: 100/100

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 14

Constitution: 10

Intellect: 16

Wisdom: 11

Charisma: 11

Thorn Whip

Summon a thorny vine that extends from your hand to attack your target dealing moderate damage that lasts for 5 seconds. 3 second cast time. Range 15 feet. 18 mana.

Beast Shape (Lion)

Assume the form of a massive lion. Increases damage done by 15% and movement speed by 25%. 3 second cast time. 25 mana. (Note: Spells are unable to be cast in any Beast Shape form.)

Static Discharge

Release a shock of electrical energy at your target, dealing a small amount of damage. 1.5 second cast time. Range 35 feet. 10 mana

“Okay, three abilities at start, including Beast Shape,” he nodded approvingly. “Cool cool. Now, how do I use them?”

I think I’ll do Beast Shape first, he thought to himself. He closed his eyes and focused on the spell, unsure of how to proceed. In his orientation seminar, they’d roughly explained that casting spells required channeling the latent mana in the player’s body, focusing on the spell, and then releasing it.

Immediately, he felt a warmth of energy flow through his entire body. When he opened his eyes, he saw his tattoos were emitting a faint, green light.

Awesome, he continued concentrating, closing his eyes again. His skin began to burn and when he opened them, he saw tan fur had erupted from his skin. His fingernails were slowly warping into claws and he could feel himself growing.

A second later, he fell forward as his feet morphed into the padded feet of a lion. Ethan only barely managed to catch himself on his hands, now paws with retracted claws. He turned his head to see the change and saw his entire body had lengthened and a cordlike tail with a brush of black and brown hair had sprouted from his back.

“Holy shit!” He tried to say, but all that came out was a low rumble of a growl.

When he tried to turn his massive head, he found he could flex his neck to see nearly his entire leonid body. Light amber fur covered his entire body, except for around his neck which was covered in a thick, black mane.

This is so fucking cool! He thought energetically. His eyes flicked around his surroundings, the colors seemed more vibrant through the eyes of a lion. An unfamiliar scent carried faintly on the slight breeze, These senses are amazing! I wonder what that is?

He tried moving, and immediately fell over. The change from two legs to four was more dramatic than he realized.

After a moment of jerky movements as he acclimated, he took off at a sprint, following the musky smell he caught on the wind.

It didn’t take him long to find his quarry, a black and white striped head, the size of a cow’s tentatively looked out of a large hole in the ground before the badger clambered out.

That is the biggest fucking badger I’ve ever seen, his thoughts raced as he skidded to a stop.

The giant badger turned and looked at him, it’s brown eyes did not seem bothered by the sudden appearance of an apex predator, and the animal continued its business.

Okay, I’ve got claws and teeth, let’s see what I can do. He pumped himself up for his very first combat encounter in the game.

Slowly, he crept towards his prey, keeping his body low to the ground. His muscles felt like coiled springs, taunt and ready to spring forward.

Instinctively, he let out a deep, bellow of a roar and charged forward at his target.

The massive badger turned to look at the incoming attacker, but then continued ignoring it.

In a flash, Ethan barreled into the black and white furred animal. His claws shot forward from their sheaths and dug deep into the beast’s flesh. Only when it felt the first pain of his attack, did the badger make any noise.

“SKREEEE!” It howled in pain as Ethan slashed it with his claws. Blood poured from the cuts on its back and it raised a massive clawed paw and swiped at Ethan’s head.

The force of the heavy blow caught him in the face, momentarily dazing him. Shit, that actually hurt! He hadn’t realized just how realistic pain was in The Tower.

With a snarl, he lunged forward, attempting to lock his powerful jaws into the throat of his prey. He felt his fangs puncture the skin with a slight popping feeling. He could feel as his jaws clamped down on the windpipe of the badger. He tasted the hot, coppery blood. The badger went limp in his jaws and died.

Horrified, Ethan released the dead animal and released it. He immediately focused on his own body, the same warm energy flowed through him and he felt the changes reverse.

Seconds later, he was human again.

He retched painfully, the taste of badger blood still lingering on his tongue.

“Nope, nope, don’t like that,” he spat on the ground in disgust, trying to clear his mouth. If that’s how it’s going to be all the time, I guess I’ll just get used to it… he thought to himself, more than a little disappointed at the level of realism of the gore. I think I’ll try Static Discharge next.

He looked around for another badger and saw that there were several around him. His laser-like focus on his first kill had distracted him from the rest of his targets.

Ethan raised his hand and pointed at the closest one. He concentrated on the electric spell and felt the same warmth through his body as his tattoos glowed again. Unlike his Beast Shape ability, the warm energy changed into a tingling surge of electricity as sparks danced along his finger tips. In a flash, the sparks shot forward, the smell of ozone permeating his body.

When the discharge hit the black fur of the badger, it turned and faced him. This time, the beast growled and began charging at him, baring its fangs.

Rapidly, Ethan began casting the same spell repeatedly. Each shock sizzling against the angry badger, not slowing it down at all.

“Oh fuck,” Ethan felt the blood drain from his face as the bull sized badger raced closer.

A warning flashed dangerously into his vision, the translucent box slightly obscuring his view momentarily.

You are out of mana. You must rest or drink to replenish your mana.

“Oh shit,” Ethan panicked as the massive badger lunged at him, clamping its jaws onto his arm and knocking him to the ground.

Ethan screamed as pain landed through his arm, jagged teeth digging into his unprotected skin. He swung wildly, hoping that a blow would land with enough force to make his attacker release him.

The angry badger growled and began shaking his head furiously, jerking Ethan’s arm nearly out of its socket. Have to think. Can’t cast spells. There has to be something else? My staff is trapped under me, do I have anything else?

Ethan fumbled as best he could with his belt,while he attempted to hold the badger at bay. He hadn’t thoroughly looked at his inventory, he was just praying there was something he could use. His hand landed on something heavy and rough, the hilt of a knife

Ethan ripped the weapon free from its scabbard and began stabbing frantically.

Warning: 6/18 Health Remaining

A warning of his dwindling hit points flared into his view. Shit fuck. I’m going to die to the second mob!

With a desperate jab, he managed to find the badger’s eye with the point of his blade. Soft tissue gave way easily to the metal and he felt the pressure on his arm release as his foe died.

Feebly, he pushed the carcass off his body and lay on the ground panting.

Warning: 1/18 Health Remaining

Fuck, I’ve got to figure out to how heal myself. He swiped his hand again, hoping beyond hope that something in his inventory would restore any amount of hit points.

There were only two square icons in the grid view of his inventory:

Hard tack x5: Spend 30 seconds eating to restore 15 health

Spring Water x5: Spend 35 seconds drinking to restore 25 mana.

Oh perfect! His fear lessened as he saw exactly what he needed to replenish both his health and his mana. When he selected the items, a large, beige cracker and a water skin appeared in his hands.

Ethan nearly chipped a tooth as he bit into the dense hard tack, the salty dough tasted terrible. He continued laying on the ground while he crunched and chewed through the awful food, but he could already feel his health returning. The wounds on his arm from the badger’s teeth rapidly knit themselves back together. He was surprised to see that they scarred over instead of healing completely to new skin.

That’s actually kind of cool, he thought while examining the pink scars before sitting up and lifting the water skin to his lips.

A few moments later, he was back on his feet and feeling much better. It’s just like any other game, you always start out sucking.

Ethan examined the closer of the two badger corpses, trying to figure out the best way to remove the claws to fulfill his quest requirements. They didn’t seem to pull out easily so he resorted to the knife he’d used to slay the beast.

The handle of the small blade was made from the antler of a deer, giving it a rough brown look while the blade had been chipped from a sturdy piece of grey flint. The prehistoric looking tool was truly a thing of beauty in his hands.

He quickly removed two of the claws with his stone knife, but was surprised to see he only got credit for one on his quest tracker.

“Guess the game won’t let me cheat through killing as few badgers as possible,” he said aloud, not especially disappointed. Most games featured similar gating, especially on early quests that were designed to give as much experience as possible to help with leveling.

Before he went back to the first badger he’d slain, Ethan took a moment to examine the corpse in front of him.

“I wonder…” he said, looking pensively at the black furred animal, twisting his knife between his fingers.

Outside of the game, he was a chef. He had years of experience breaking down entire animals into their different muscle groups. In other games, meat and skins could usually be harvested from dead mobs, he had no reason to doubt this one would be any different. Maybe there was a vendor in town who he could sell whatever scraps he managed to get from the badger to make a little coin.

It didn’t take him long to harvest several large hunks of meat from the animal, they weren’t the prettiest cuts he’d ever made, but he’d never worked with a flint knife before. He also managed to salvage some of the black furred hide, earning him another system notification.

Congratulations! You have learned the Trade Skill Skinning. Leather and hide can be removed from all manner of creatures and then either sold, or used to create armor or other accessories.

“Well alright then,” he said happily, wiping sweat from his brow with a bloody hand. “Don’t know any Leatherworkers yet, but hey, it’s a start.”

Previews for The Tower had said there was an extensive crafting system in the game, but had otherwise been rather unclear about it. He assumed it was a profession, like Skinning, but he would have to wait to find out until he reached a larger town and encountered more players. For now, he decided he’d just sell the scraps to a vendor, his need for currency more important than higher level armor at the moment.

“Okay, seven more,” he said with a grimace, the actual physical pain from the previous two encounters fresh in his mind. “Got to figure out a better way of doing this.”

He spent a moment watching the badgers wandering around in front of him. They had only aggroed onto him when he’d attacked them first, otherwise they’d all simply gone about their business and ignored him.

“I wonder if they only turn aggressive after they’re attacked,” he mused aloud, continuing to watch the cow sized animals. “Guess I’m testing it, worst case scenario I die.” He shrugged and walked slowly towards the badgers.

His heart raced as he cautiously approached the animals, hoping they wouldn’t attack. Ethan stopped ten feet away when one of them stopped digging and looked directly at him.

Fear gripped his soul. He knew exactly how much those claws and teeth hurt and he wasn't especially looking forward to repeating the experience. He was close enough that he wouldn’t have time to cast any spell or change to a lion in the time it would take for the animal to reach him.

After a long few seconds, the badger turned around and went back to digging random holes. Ethan breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

“Alright,” he said after backing up several feet, “time to try Thorn Whip.”

He concentrated once again on the spell, the warmth flowed through his body as his tattoos glowed green. Unlike the two other spells he’d used, this time the energy seemed to come from his feet, as if pulled from the ground.

Ethan felt a tendril begin growing in his hand, rapidly increasing from the size of a pea tendril to a thick rope. He swung his arm forward, and a long, whiplike shot forward at the badger he’d been looking at.

The thorny brown vine lashed across the white muzzle of the beast, drawing blood. The badger growled low and dangerously, and began charging toward him.

To his surprise, the vine didn’t instantly disappear from his hand. Frantically, he swung his arm again, the vine sliced through the air and whipped into the side of the badger, prompting a howl of pain and anger.

He tried to swing again, but the vine withered and died in mid air.

“Oh shit,” he swore as he began to run away from the charging animal.

He turned his head quickly as he ran, trying to see if he was outrunning his foe and was happy to see he’d put a small amount of distance between them.

Skidding to a stop, he tried to channel his quick cast lightning spell. The electricity surged through his body, erupting in sparks from his fingers that flew at his attacker.

He managed to cast two Static Discharge spells before he feared the badger was getting too close for comfort and took off running again.

Seconds later, he looked behind him again. The badger had stopped chasing him. It had stopped moving all together and was slumped over in a heap on the ground.

“Oh, hell yes!” He shouted exuberantly, pumping his fist in the air before jogging back to his kill. He quickly removed one of the claws and skinned what he could of the badger. “Just seven more to go!

Five minutes later, Ethan had killed two more badgers before ending to sit down to drink water again. His passive mana regen had helped enough between the kills that he’d been able to use his Thorn Whip and two Static Discharges to kill both of the oversized weasels.

“This feels really slow,” he lamented between sips of the tepid water. “Lion form was faster, but the taste of blood…”

“Screw it,” he said standing up and dusting himself off. “I’m just going to have to get used to it.”

Ethan focused on his Beast Shape ability and found himself once again in the body of the massive feline. Okay, I can do this. He thought as he prowled through the grass of the planes.

Following the musky scent of badger, he quickly found another target to kill rooting through the ground. Do it quickly, go straight for the throat. He planned the attack carefully.

“ROAR!” His call carried across the flat planes as he sprinted towards the badger, who raised its head at the sudden sound.

In a flash, Ethan was on it. His jaws clamped down hard on it’s thick windpipe and his claws dug into flesh. He used his momentum to pull the creature to the ground before releasing his death grip on the badger’s throat.

The black furred animal whined pitifully, red frothy air escaping from the holes in its neck. Ethan bit down again and finished it off.

He could smell the badger’s blood on his muzzle, taste it on his tongue. Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up. He forced down the urge to vomit as he inspected the kill, as a lion he wasn’t sure how well he’d do trying to skin a badger. His claws were made for slashing through skin, not delicately removing it. He debated transitioning back to human, but then he’d lose more time as he waited to transform again.

Screw it, I’m not in a huge hurry. He focused on his own body and felt the changes begin immediately.

Once he was back in his own body, he removed his flint knife from his belt and quickly began the grisly work of removing the useful parts of the dead badger. He was slightly confused by the lack of skill gains from the skinning as he removed strips of blood matted fur. In other games that he’d played, repeated usage of any particular skill would increase it’s level, allowing for advancement. But so far, he hadn’t gained a single skill point in Skinning after he initially earned the skill.

Whatever, he thought as he stored the scarps of badger skin in his inventory, not like I don’t have time to figure out exactly how crafting works in this game.

He used the same tactic to take down the rest of the badgers needed to complete his quest much faster as a lion than he had when he’d been casting spells at range. The taste of blood grew less abhorrent with every time he bit into the throat of one of the large badgers. With the last claws needed in his inventory, Ethan began the walk back towards the town of Grassmere.

“Greetings!” Lenore, the guard from before, waved to him but did not release her grip on her spear. “I’m sure you have acquired the badger claws I sent you out for?”

“I have, thank you,” Ethan nodded and removed the quest items from his inventory. As he passed them to the guard, another notification popped into his view.

Quest: Proving Yourself! - Complete!

To enter the village of grassmere, you must provide an offering. Guard Lenore has asked that you slay 10 badgers and bring back their claws as proof of your deeds.

Progress:

10/10 Badger Claws

Reward:

50 Experience

10 Copper

Entrance to Grassmere

Golden light flooded him as soon as he closed the completed quest window, followed by more text in his vision.

Congratulations! You have reached Level 2! You have 2 unspent stat points to spend.

Holy crap, I hadn’t even realized I was that close to leveling! The thrill of gaining a level so quickly was a rush of excitement. He had neglected to keep an eye on his current experience gains, mostly because he wasn’t sure exactly how to. There wasn’t a user manual for The Tower, and the orientation seminar had been mostly focused just on movement and adjusting to the change in reality. I’m going to have to sit down and go through every menu option tonight before I crash.

“Everything checks out,” Lenore nodded as she counted the grisly trophies she’d requested. “If you’re interested in more work, there is a large board where people have requested help in the center of town.”

“Uhh, thanks!” Ethan said cheerily, she’d answered his unasked question about how to find more quests before he’d even thought to ask her. “Are there any other places I should know about?”

“Of course,” she nodded, “we have smiths for both armor and weapons, a tanner, a weaver, general store and a very nice inn.”

“Thank you very much,” Ethan waved as he left Lenore and approached the gates of Grassmere, ready to see the very first town in the world of The Tower. This is so freaking epic!

To be continued….