What now? Rowan wandered the streets, half-stunned. I don’t have a home. I’m homeless. Should I… should I just challenge the Tower? Just jump in, today?

He glanced down at his feet. Flipflops. Bare toes. He rolled his eyes at himself. Flipflops? What was I thinking?

The Tower loomed above him. Startled, Rowan gazed up. At some point, he’d wandered to the Tower without realizing it.

Ah, oh well. I’ll buy shoes after I register. Maybe beg Jude for a place to stay while I’m at it. N. Kaidu… even if he let me stay, I’m not sure I’d want to. He’s a bit haughty for my tastes.

What’s his first name, anyways? Does he seriously go by N.? Or is that just his… stage name?

Shaking his head, Rowan banished his stray thoughts. He squatted against the Tower’s smooth exterior wall and waited, using the time to readjust a few things in his bag. His hands shook. He set down his bag and bowed his head, curled up tight, hands over his head. Mom kicked me out. I got kicked out. All because I wanted to climb the Tower, I… I have nowhere to go.

No options, either. I can’t earn EXP, except through… whatever it is that I do that glitches the System. I can’t go be a Gardener. Not that I want to be one, but… He raked his hands through his unruly mop of dark hair and grimaced, gritting his teeth at the world. Dammit! Argh. What am I supposed to do?

“Your hair is a mess,” N. Kaidu informed him from beside him.

“Thanks. I know.” Rowan stood, pretending not to be startled by the man's sudden arrival. He glared at N. Kaidu, then he took a deep breath. No. Don’t take it out on him. It’s not his fault.

Another breath. He closed his eyes and buried his emotions as he let it out, locking them somewhere deep down inside himself. Later. There'll be time to regret this later. After I climb the Tower. Pasting a smile on his face, he brushed his hands on his shorts and stood.

Unaware of Rowan's internal strife, N. Kaidu turned, cutting a noble profile as he stared down the street. His long ponytail caught on the wind and streamed out behind him. His long coat snapped, billowing perfectly. “Where’s Jude?”

A passing girl pulled up her cellphone and snapped a picture of N. Kaidu. She stared at it, then him, then it, then him, then held her cellphone to her chest and sprinted away, giggling.

Must be nice to be hot and famous. Rowan sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Call him.”

“I can’t. I don’t have his number.”

N. Kaidu frowned at him.

Rowan put his hands out, pleading. “Cut me a break! I literally ran into him yesterday. I barely know the guy.”

“He acts like he knows you.”

“That’s on him, not me,” Rowan said.

“Hey! Over here!”

Instinctively, Rowan darted backward, eyes squeezed shut. When no liquid sloshed over him, he peeked an eye open.

Jude frowned at him. He adjusted his puffy blue jacket and ran a hand through his curls. “Awful rude of you.”

“You poured venom on me the last time we met! I think it’s warranted,” Rowan replied.

“It was an accident!” Jude protested.

Rowan shook his head and sighed. He glanced through the glass doors beside him into the Tower. Dwarfed by the Tower’s gigantic proportions, the doors looked like toys, even this close to the Tower.

Within, the registration office awaited them. Two female guards flanked the doors. Those aren't the same guards. Then, the receptionist… hopeful, he turned to her, then winced. Dark hair tucked into a bun, thick-rimmed black glasses, a black suit and manicured red nails… That’s definitely the same lady. I hope she doesn’t remember me.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go,” N. Kaidu declared.

Rowan cast one last glance at the receptionist, then nodded. “Right. Let’s go.” He opened the door and gestured for N. Kaidu to go first.

“Party leader, why don’t you do the honor?” Jude asked, smiling.

Halfway through the door, N. Kaidu paused. He stepped aside to let Rowan through and took the door from him instead.

“I… er…” Rowan hesitated, but no excuses came to mind. He swallowed. Guess I’d better bite the bullet. Squaring his shoulders, he stepped over the threshold.

The receptionist looked up. Recognition flashed through her eyes, and she raised a hand to her ear.

“Wait, wait, wait. I’m here to register this time. I’m registering for a Tower Climb,” Rowan said, waving his hands.

She hesitated. Looking him up and down, her brows furrowed. She lifted her hand again. “Security?”

From the featureless back wall, the outlines of two doors appeared, black cracks in the featureless white walls. The cracks deepened and separated from the walls with a hiss, pushing out from the Tower. They swung open, revealing the pair of guards who had confronted Rowan the previous night.

A slice of pizza halfway to his mouth, the man looked up and sighed. “You again?”

The female Guard gestured, and a pair of short dagger-like blades materialized in her hands.

From behind them, the pair of Guards manning the doors today stepped forward. The taller one, easily taller than even Jude, drew a sword from a sheath at her hip, while the other produced a club from over her shoulder.

Rowan backed away, hands up. He bumped into N. Kaidu and Jude, who stared at him, lost. “No, no, listen. I’m just here to register, just here to register!”

“James,” the female guard snapped.

The male Guard pointed. “Restraint.”

Rowan’s body stiffened. He struggled, but the spell held him as tight at level nine as it had at one.

The female Guard nodded. “Search him for weapons.”

One of today’s female Guards stepped forward. Businesslike, she patted him down. “Nothing. Just… er… these?” She pointed at the rake and the hand tools, dangling off Rowan’s pack.

“Those aren’t weapons. He’s clean.” James dropped his finger.

The stiffness left Rowan’s body. He stretched, limbs uncomfortable. “I told you, I came to register.”

James sighed. “It’s no good. You’re a support class.”

“Regulations state that anyone can climb the Tower, regardless of class, stats, or physical ability,” the female Guard from the day before stated, raising an eyebrow at James.

“Thank you, Lisa. I just don’t want to help a kid commit suicide,” James snapped.

“He isn’t committing suicide. It’s just a short jaunt to the first floor and out,” Jude spoke up, stepping forward.

“And you are?” James asked.

Jude smiled. “Jude. Medic. Ah, it’s a combat class, I promise. I'm here to guide these two through the first floor.”

Lisa narrowed her eyes. “The Tower isn’t a tourist destination.”

“Well, the regulations do state…” James started.

Lisa narrowed her eyes. He smirked at her.

The receptionist sat up and cleared her throat. “Thank you, Security. The situation is under control.”

James saluted sloppily with his pizza slice. “Back to lunch it is!”

Lisa glanced at the female Guards by the door. She gestured again, and the daggers vanished. “If he pulls a weapon, do not hesitate to use deadly force.”

Lisa and James stepped back into the doors that had opened out of the wall. The doors shut behind them and sealed shut, the walls healing so Rowan couldn’t tell they’d ever been there at all.

He smiled awkwardly at the receptionist. "See? I really just came to register."

She returned an icy stare.

Jude leaned in toward Rowan. "What did you do to piss off the Tower staff like that?"

Rowan grimaced. "Made a mistake. Don't worry about it."

"Hell of a mistake," the receptionist muttered under her breath.