A sudden, terrible sound slammed against Alexander’s ears. He saw Spencer jump backwards, his rat-like eyes turning glossy. Despite his yellow teeth, pointy gray nose, and large ears, the man managed to look adorable.

The loud crack came from behind the white haired man. There, five jagged lines tore through the air like the cracks of broken glass. And a pounding noise came from that spot. Something in another realm was pounding against that spot, trying to make a hole in reality to come through. More cracks appeared until they were so thick against each other that it seemed the air had been painted white. Suddenly, it shattered. The air bending outwards, creating a hole.

The space beyond the hole seemed like the void. No light shining through. There was a darkness so dark that it seemed endless and flat at the same time. A harsh, cold air flooded into the room. It bit and nibbled on Alexander’s skin and filled him with dread. It wasn’t like normal air. That’s not to say that it was magical either. It was air in every sense of the word, except that there was no life to it. No air lived, but most wind was gentle and comfortable against the skin. This one was not.

Alexander hadn’t noticed it at first, but a creature was exiting out of the hole. A pitch black hand clenched at the edge of what seemed like reality itself. First one hand, and then another appeared across it. Its fingers were thick and almost a foot long. Slowly, the creature pulled itself out, its head slowly coming into view. It had no hair, and its eyes were black, like that of a spider. Alexander could see its shark-like jaw from the back. It looked like it could wolf down anything. It came with a terrifying aura, making each muscle in Alexander’s body clench. A voice arose within him, screaming at him to get away.

Something crept out of Morticous’s shadow. Soft, white hands latched onto the edge, and then the head came then quickly the body. The creature crawled across the floor until it was in front of the monster the white haired man had summoned. It straightened itself into a standing position.

Its skin was white and it had the consistency of a marshmallow. It wore some sort of stone armor and its face was completely expressionless, if you could say that it was a face. It had no mouth or nose or ears or anything for that matter. It was as if the neck never stopped.

“Hey!” Spencer shouted. “If you’re going to fight. Do it outside! You’re going to ruin all of my wares.”

Morticous glanced towards him, but the merchant didn’t back down, if anything, growing taller. It seemed he valued his items more than he did his life. Merchants were like that. Their head got stupid when money was involved.

“Lucas summoning a dark creature. That’s something new. Mimicking your little brother now eh?”

“Nobody would mimic a disgrace. You’ve always been one, and you always will be.”

“Disgrace? And what does selling out your own mother make you.”

“She earned it herself by studying such foul arts.”

“That’s at least true. Taking care of you should be punishable with death.”

Before they had a chance to speak more, the door to the store opened and two figures entered. It was the tower admins. Two women in white robes, and they both stared at Morticous, seemingly ignoring the white haired man. Morticous didn’t look shocked by their arrival, as if he’d expected it. They cast a spell, which formed two white chains. The chains shot out towards Morticous but before they could touch him, they turned to dust.

“The admins are as impartial as ever,” Morticous snickered. If things got down to a fight, Morticous could kill the two admins. Easily. It wasn’t them that could tell him what to do, but the power they stood for. These were low ranked officials of the tower, but fighting them would piss off stronger entities. Entities that would waste a lot of Morticous’s time.

“Are you fighting against tower admins?” The girl asked, but it was more of a statement. Stand down. Anything other than obligeance would result in her summoning a higher ranked official.

“Still too afraid to stand against your brother without calling for help?” Morticous said to Lucas. The large ghastly creature walked back to his shadow and crawled down into it. It was a very disturbing image, solidifying the thought that it could crawl out at any moment.

“Take him away from my sight,” Lucas spat to the admins. “Immediately.”

Admins weren’t supposed to be influenced by any party other than the tower. Such were the rules, but rules could always be subverted. Lucas managed to buy their loyalty with cold hard cash. Immense amounts of it. That was one of the advantages of being filthy rich.

“What should we do with him,” the admins said, having successfully cast the chains around Morticous. They tightened, pulling his arms closer into his chest. He didn’t wince however, he looked apathetic. As if this was something he had to do, a chore which was forced into him.

“Throw him out of the tower,” Lucas said. “And make sure he doesn’t get in again.”

“Will do.”

They pushed and dragged Morticous out of the store, leaving Alexander alone. The creature Lucas had summoned disappeared, vanishing into smoke. It went back to the realm it had come from.

“That,” Lucas said to William, the kid he was training, “is what influence can do.”

William smiled. He thought it was nice to be on the winning side. It was more than that though. It was crucial. His father had told him that winning was the only important thing in life. Anything else was just a delusion losers told themselves to handle their humiliation.

It was his destiny to stand above the world. To be a leader. That’s what his mother had told him, and he was forced to act like one. Anything which wasn’t excellence was punished. William thought his trainer had seen it in him, and in return he had seen it in Lucas. This was the order of things. He was on top.

And it was the responsibility of the people on top to push down on the others, and remind them of their spot in the hierarchy. That was how order was upheld. William slowly turned around, and sneered at Alexander. If he had lost his ability to walk, he’d simply coimmit suicide.

“Merchant,” Lucas said. “The item?”

“Of course sir,” Spencer said. “It’s ten silver.”

“Ten silver?” Lucas said. “For that?”

“Yes sir,” Spencer said as the man’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Ten silver for a wand that only gives mana regeneration. What a waste,” William said, mainly because Alexander had wanted to buy it.

“Don’t buy it William, I’ll purchase it,” Lucas said to Spencer.

“The kid here wants to buy it too sir,” Spencer said.

“Are you deaf?” The white haired man said. “I said I’ll purchase it.”

“Of course sir,” Spencer said. He didn’t have a choice in the matter. If he didn’t sell it to Lucas he’d anger the man and that, at best, lead to him being relegated from the tower.

A moment passed. Spencer sent out a trade offer to Lucas who immediately accepted it. He grabbed the wand, turned to Alexander, and snapped it in two, effectively destroying it.

“Know your place, child.”

“Fuck you,” Alexander spat out. Lucas frowned, and Spencer’s face turned white. The cold aura crept back into the air, but suddenly it stopped. He gave an ugly smile and walked out of the store. William tagged along behind him.

“What a prick,” Spencer muttered. “Sadly I don’t have another wand.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Alexander said. “Do you know what’s going to happen to Morticous?”

“The same thing that’s happened ten times already. They’re going to relegate him from the tower and he’ll break in again. Nobody quite knows how he does it, but he’s even managed to snatch a role as a trainer.”

“How long is that going to take?”

“Maybe an hour.”

“So what do I do in that time?”

Spencer glanced around. It seemed his attitude completely changed. He checked the store, which he knew was empty, but it seemed he checked it again, scoured through the air for anything. Then, slowly he leaned closer to Alexander.

“Listen kid,” Spencer whispered. “You need mana right? What if I told you, you could directly purchase mana.”

“You mean like purchasing stats?” Alexander whispered, remembering the store’s he’d seen in the void. The price tags he’d seen there were really high, and he didn’t think he had enough to spend on it.

“No. Nothing like that. They’re temporary either way. I’m talking about the real stuff,” Spencer leaned in even closer, his voice growing even quieter. “Magical tattoos.”

He jerked backward, as if he was escaping from the word itself. Alexander thought he might crouch and hide beneath the counter. He couldn’t understand why the word was so powerful, although he could admit that it was. It had that tinge to it.

“No, no, no,” Spencer said, shaking his head. “We can’t talk here. It wouldn’t be right. Follow me kid.”

He walked behind the counter, opened a door and nodded for Alexander to go through. Alexander had an odd feeling in his gut, a part of him telling him not to enter. It was the rational decision. He didn’t know Spencer, yet another part of him wanted to know what Spencer had to say. Also, he knew that Spencer was terrified by Morticous, so he doubted that any harm was going to come to him. He decided he would enter.

He put his hands on the wheels and pushed himself forward. The wood floor creaked as Alexander rolled towards the door, and passed through. Immediately, he noticed a difference in the space.

The air was cooler, and the room was much, much larger than it had any right to be. He saw crates on crates filled with different items. It was as if he stared at the warehouse. He saw strange, wooden frog creatures crawling among the boxes.

“This is my inventory,” Spencer said and shut the door behind him. “We’re in a different dimension here. It’s much safer.”

“Listen kid, I like you. I don’t know what it’s about you. Maybe it’s that half of your limbs don’t work, or that you cursed at arguably one of the most powerful creatures within the tower. Here’s the thing though. There’s things Morticous doesn’t know about.”

Alexander was silent, not quite sure how to take the information. Spencer’s voice was grave, and he looked serious.

“Admittedly, not much. And he knows a lot of things I don’t have a clue about, but as a merchant, I can tell you that there’s some things I know about, that he doesn’t.” Spencer took a deep breath. “I know about the other merchant’s operating here, even the ones going under the radar.”

“Are you talking about the underworld, or the abyss market?”

“Nononono. I mean the merchants that don’t set up stores and signs. I mean the ones that sell things on the downlow, like drug dealers. There’s one… And just so we’re clear, you didn’t hear this from me? Alright?”

“Okay.”

“There’s a devil on the main floor,” Spencer said in a burst, pressing the words together as tightly as he could.

“...”

“You don’t seem to understand how crazy that is, but that’s for the better.

“I’ve never gotten a good read of the man. He doesn’t show any emotion when he’s talking, and I can’t quite figure him out.I don’t know what ends he serves. I don’t think it’s money. It’s certainly something else.”

“For ten silvers, kid, he’ll sell you a tattoo capable of regenerating mana. They’re powerful, and if you’re really planning on winning you’re going to need them. But they’re also permanent, and they come with side effects. The tower will notify you of them when he sets up the deal. Make sure to read it.”

“A devil? Isn’t it better if I go and buy average gear?”

“Average people die. This is the tower. Either you excel or you die. There’s no middle ground. That’s just a lie. Get something worthwhile and try to excel.”

“Don’t you have anything?”

“The wand was the cheapest thing I had. Although, when you get more coin, come back to me. I have some pretty interesting wares. Anyway kid, what do you say?”

Alexander thought about it. He was already at a disadvantage coming into the tower as handicapped as he was. That was a fact that had been made crystal clear when he got to fight against the fake goblins Morticous controlled. Without his skeletons he was defenseless. He needed to take a risk. This was his chance to pull ahead.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Morticous to come back?” Alexander asked, on the verge of being convinced.

“He won’t let you in if Morticous is around. I’m sure of that. This guy avoids powerful people like the plague. If you don’t go alone, he’ll never see you. This might be your only chance.”

“It sounds fishy.”

“I promise he’s the real deal. I wouldn’t be saying this to you if I didn’t think you’d need it.”

“I’ll go check it out,” Alexander gave in.. “It’s something to do. What’s his name?”

“Luca Di Primo.”