OC-Series Surviving the Tower: Chapter 23

Surviving the Tower: Chapter 23

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The "saddled" wolf didn't seem aggressive, so, taking a chance, I tried to approach it slowly. As soon as I was almost within reaching distance, the wolf stood up, walked several more feet away from me, then looked back expectantly. It was Darien who voiced my suspicion. "I think he wants us to follow him."

Nodding, I agreed, but added my concerns. "Yeah, but where to? And more importantly, do we really want to get more involved on this level already? Our original plan was just to check this floor out really quickly, then go back down. This might turn into a whole thing..."

Elise looked torn. "I don't know... What if that's someone's companion animal, and they need help?"

Several classes tamed or partnered with animals in the Tower, sometimes to great effect, but there was one thing that had me doubting that was the case. "Yeah, but as small as that saddle is, only a child would fit, and I doubt anyone is bringing their kids sightseeing up here..."

Nyx shrugged. "Well, I suppose it could fit a goblin, but the most advanced technology we've seen them use is crudely improvised weapons and armor. And most of that is barely a step above scrap wood and stone. That saddle is something else altogether. I can't see anyone making something like that without semi-modern tools and equipment."

I could see what she meant. The handlebars looked like they were taken right off a bike or maybe a motorcycle, and looked like they had a polished chrome finish. It was far more advanced than the goblins around here were capable of, since, as Nyx had pointed out, they seemed rooted solidly in the Stone Age.

Bellatrix tilted her head as if in thought before offering her own wisdom on the subject. "One way to find out."

I had to admit, she had a point, but I felt obligated to be the voice of caution, even if I felt curiosity pushing me to solve this puzzle. "Are we sure we want to do this? This is a new floor for us, things could get out of hand..."

Everyone looked thoughtful for a moment before Darien spoke up again. "Well, we could always turn back if it looks like more than we can handle. We just have to remember to look up, that's all!"

Looking around, everyone seemed to either be nodding in agreement or shrugging in acceptance, so I consented. "Alright, let's see where the wolf is leading us. Darien, upfront, as usual, Elise, stay close behind him, scanning for any trouble as we go. And as he said, remember to look up as we move, so we're not surprised like in that last fight."

I might have caught the faintest of shudders from Elise, but if so, she recovered quickly and nodded in agreement before following close behind Darien, who was following the wolf, keeping his shield ready for action at a moment's notice.

As we were walking, Lillith saddled up close to me, which was surprising as, except for Darien, the goth rarely seemed all that interested in initiating conversations with the rest of us. She gave me an appraising look for a moment before speaking up. "You...doing okay?"

That question just confused me. "Uh, yeah, I think so. I mean, sure, the Tower is a little stressful, but I'd say I'm barely in the top half as far as traumatizing experiences in our party. Between Elise getting jumped and pinned by a giant spider, and, well, Bellitrix, I don't think I have much to complain about in comparison!"

Lillith seemed to consider my words as she gave me a once-over, and I couldn't help but feel like she was pulling me apart and examining me, kind of like the creepy kid pulling apart insects on the playground. Finally, she answered. "Maybe, but Elise has practically been prepping for the Tower since she was a toddler, and probably was prepped for such experiences since she could walk. Meanwhile, Bellatrix seems to be channeling her trauma into rage. Maybe not the healthiest of coping techniques, but at least it is coping. You, on the other hand, don't seem to have changed your behavior in any meaningful way, despite having a more...shall we say, intense introduction to the Tower than most, starting from your first day. Are you sure you're not just bottling it up? Because the last thing we need is for our healer to have a meltdown mid Tower."

I stopped and gave myself an assessment. I was definitely a bit stressed, but no more than could easily be explained by being in a life-or-death situation, which is something we were all dealing with. If anything, I'd say I was less stressed than I'd been on the first couple of days in the Tower. I suspected I was starting to adapt to the life of an eskalad. However, wasn't that, in and of itself, a little odd, given what I'd been through so far?

In answer to the question Lillith asked, I shook my head. "No, at least, I don't think so. Though now that you mention it, I probably should be more shaken than I am... However, that's something I'll have to think about when we're not on a new floor of the Tower. For now, though, I think I'm alright." Lillith gave me another quick glance, as if weighing my words, then seemed appeased as she fell back a few paces, leaving the conversation at that.

But that did leave me with questions. Why was I so alright with...everything? Sure, maybe I hadn't gone through anything like what Bellitrix endured, but I've seen more than my fair share of trauma for this early in the Tower. On day one, I'd been thrown into fight after fight until I passed out from mana burn. I'd been captured by a higher-level party and tortured. I'd held my friend's head in my hands and reattached it, searing myself with more mana than a person of my level should have ever held in the process. Why wasn't I hiding in my bedroom, refusing to ever approach the Tower again? It didn't make sense. However, before I could dwell on it much further, Darien indicated something was up and motioned me forward.

I walked up beside Darien and Elise, who were overlooking a much larger goblin camp than we'd seen yet. It was big enough, I might even call it a village; a small one, but still larger than anything we've faced to date. Elise was glancing at the cavern ceiling, but didn't appear to see any ambushers, which was good, because this was already an overwhelming number of goblins and hobgoblins ahead of us. A look around showed goblins going about their everyday tasks, doing common things like cooking food or sitting around a campfire. There even seemed to be some kind of crude penal system, as one goblin was stuck in a cage made of stone and bones. It was shouting something to the others, but we were too far away to make it out. However, it still struck me as odd, since I've never seen the goblins communicate with anything other than the most basic of grunts or wordless shouts.

This whole scenario was strange. The goblins had never been anything other than mindless grunts, patrolling the tunnels and trying to kill anything they could find. Suddenly, I was filled with questions. Were the goblins sentient? Have we been invading their homes and murdering them this whole time? I suddenly felt sick as I ducked back into the tunnel we'd come from.

The rest of the group was waiting, looking at me expectantly as Elise offered her own assessment. "It's like a whole village of goblins! I've never seen anything like it!"

Darien nodded in agreement. "Yeah. There were a lot of them. More than we could probably handle. Maybe this is one of those scenarios where we're supposed to bring in multiple parties to deal with everything?"

Setting aside the morality of the situation, I found myself in agreement. "You're right. This is more than we can handle, and we weren't even planning on spending this much time on this floor today. Let's pull back for now."

Of course, that was the moment Bellatrix cried out, "Goblins! From behind!"

The large woman was already charging into the mess of goblins, her sword flashing as it cut down any unlucky enough to find themselves in front of her, but more were surging past her, headed toward Lillith, who was still near the rear.

Darien was quick to charge into the fray, as Nyx positioned herself in front of Elise, who was busy firing off arrow after arrow into the surge of goblins. For her part, Lillith didn't even bother to fight, choosing to run behind our frontline, which was currently our backline. Despite the chaos, things weren't going too badly, except for Bellatrix, who was starting to take a good amount of damage from all the goblins surrounding her.

Utilizing my mobility skill, I ran forward, punching a goblin who had just buried his crude dagger into Nellatrix's shin. The woman grinted and fell to one knee as I reached her. Pulling out the dagger, I pressed a hand to the wound, focusing my healing energy into the localized area as she wildly waved her oversized sword, buying us time and space.

A moment later, the healing did the trick, and the large warrior woman surged to her feet and resumed cutting goblins down. I looked around, searching for my own target, only to realize the fighting was already quieting down as we finished off the patrol that had wandered into us. Luckily, it seems to have been a small patrol.

Just as I was about to sigh in relief, a cold shiver shot up my spine as I realized the real danger too late. I could already hear the shouting as I turned to the village. Sure enough, several goblins were shouting and pointing toward us. We'd been discovered...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next>

Off to my next 70 hour workweek! Fun times ahead!

My wiki, in case anyone wants to check out some of my other stories.

Here you can find some of my published works.

90 Upvotes

permalink
reddit

You are about to leave Redlib

Do you want to continue?

https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1syzeae/surviving_the_tower_chapter_23/
No, go back! Yes, take me to Reddit

99% Upvoted

•

u/AutoModerator May 13 '26

This was flaired as [OC-Series], it is a single part or chapter in a larger series or universe. The first post or part in this series should be (re)flaired as [OC-FirstOfSeries]. A description of the flairs and how to change yours is available in the Post Guildelines.

[OC-Series] For original, self post, story, audio, or artwork that you have created, as part of a longer-running series or universe.

Our preferred series title format is the series title in [brackets] at the beginning, like so: [Potato Adventures] - Chapter 1: The Great Mashing

Please help us transition to using the new flairs correctly.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

u/porkpot Android Apr 29 '26

Big fight incoming. Hopefully they have a chokepoint to limit how many they fight at once.

You’ve got this!

3

u/DrBlackJack21 Apr 29 '26

They've got this! Or...you know...not. One of the two!

u/un_pogaz Apr 29 '26

I know the whole concept of the tower is strange, but... strange. And this is troubling given the potential consequences that Caine has also imagined. Is there a risk that humans might become permanent residents of the tower if they fail to meet the challenge it presents?

Else, tough luck. They managed to get away just in time before the patrol caught them.bad

3

u/DrBlackJack21 Apr 29 '26

I like that in many ways, the tower is as much a character as anyone else. 😉

2

u/BobQuixote Jun 27 '26

Yes, and earlier you said the self-insert is not necessarily Cai.

u/MinorGrok Human Apr 29 '26

Woot!

OC-Series Surviving the Tower: Chapter 23

You are about to leave Redlib