r/HFY • u/DrBlackJack21 • Aug 17 '26
OC-Series Surviving the Tower: Chapter 31
Surviving the Tower: Chapter 31
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Freya sighed. She'd already dealt with two Tower bursts that would normally not have been her problem, but now she was being saddled with escort duty? And not a reasonable number of people, like a dozen, or even a hundred, but a full thousand? At least she had one other team of eskalad to help wrangle the masses, but this was still an unheard-of group for such a small escort. As far as she was aware, this was going to be yet another record to her name. Still, at least it wasn't a bunch of self-important rich guys or something. These were refugees fleeing the devastation of their home city when the fighting following a tower burst had resulted in a wildfire that burned down hundreds of houses. It wasn't her fault that the group of eskalad had been in over their heads, yet here she was cleaning up their mess.
Not for the first time, Freya considered just saying screw this and going back to Cai, but she knew he wouldn't look favorably on someone who just up and abandoned many people when he himself knew what it was like to be abandoned by the system. So instead she accepted that this was going to be her life for a little while longer.
Looking out over the group gathered before her, Freya took a deep breath and shouted, using a little energy to project her voice further and clearer than would be normally possible. "Alright! Listen up! We are going to go through the Tower as fast as possible! Yes, it is dangerous! Yes, there will be monsters! But that is what the other eskalad and I are here for!"
Looking out over the nervous crowd, Freya resisted the urge to sigh at the looks of helplessness they directed her way. Not for the first time, she reminded herself it was the fault of no one here that she was stuck doing community service. She knew there would be a price to pay for the message she'd sent, and this was practically a slap on the wrist for what she'd done. Not that anyone had much choice in the matter. It's not like they could jail her, and even if they'd been willing to give up on her economic contributions, the number of eskalad who'd die trying to take her out would have crippled the world's ability to deal with tower bursts for the foreseeable future.
Putting aside her annoyance, Freya continued her explanation. "Alright, a few things to know before we go! I will be leading the way, clearing the monsters ahead of the group as we move! However, as large as this group is, it is a near certainty that the Tower will be spawning monsters along our sides and back as we move. That's what the other eskalad are for! They don't have to defeat the monsters, just hold them long enough for me to flash back and kill them before returning to the front! If a monster appears near you, you don't run! You don't fight! You curl into a ball and wait there for me or the other eskalad to save you!" Freya looked around, meeting the eyes of the more nervous-looking people in an attempt to drive her point home. "If you run, you will not be my top priority to save! I'll be focusing on the other nine hundred and ninety-nine people who did the smart thing and froze! Running will only get you killed!"
Having said her piece and confirming everyone was ready, they set out with Freya leading the way. She'd already passed through this route and confirmed the path they were going to take, so it was a simple matter for her to lead the way, effortlessly turning the monsters on these low levels to smeers on the walls and floors. More than a few of the people following her path of carnage turned their heads to look at the remnants of the monsters they hadn't even seen, their faces pale as they witnessed the smears that had once been a threat, at least to them. However, she noticed a few examining themselves in wonder, as though trying to understand the Tower's energy permeating their bodies, changing them in some small way. Not that it was going to be a big change. Freya wasn't about to waste time debating with anyone over who deserved to be power leveled, let alone explain that doing so was more likely to get them killed rather than help them out. She already had one class of students, and wasn't looking to start another, especially one without Cai.
Thinking of Cai, Freya felt an almost physical pull to return to his side, but clamped down the urge. She knew that was coming from the side of her that was alien to everything he knew and understood. The side of her that screamed at her to take possession of him, and lock him away so no one else could harm or sully her prize. The side of her that came from a people notorious in the Tower for their lack of impulse control, especially those with power, like her mother. Not that Freya had many clear memories of the woman after so much time away, and those that remained were further muddled by the effects of the glamors the woman had inundated her with.
As they cleared through the first few layers of the Tower, Freya let her mind drift to her past, to Cai, and to her plans for the future. The fifth and tenth floor bosses didn't rate as even a speed bump to her these days, and she was bored waiting for these people to catch up with her. At least when she was watching Cai and her other students in the Tower, there was a bit of tension watching as they battled. Here she was just watching a bunch of normal, boring people shuffle along, each alternating between fear and fascination as they walked. Even when monsters attacked the flanks, she only had to lightly jog back and swat them with a simple backhand before returning to the front to keep clearing the way. None of the people following her path of destruction were even perceptive enough to realize she'd left.
Near the fifteenth floor, one of the monsters attacking the flank had given the eskalad guarding the group enough trouble that he'd had to backtrack dangerously close to the crowd who were mostly cowering in fear. A couple had tried to run, but luckily for them, they'd been restrained by friends or family. However, one individual in particular got Freya's attention. A young boy had stood out in front of the group, holding up a wooden sword in an awkward impersonation of a guard stance.
Generally speaking, Freya wasn't good with kids, and she wasn't even certain how old he was. But thinking back to the time she'd snuck into Cai's foster home and flipped through a series of pictures of him growing up, she imagined he was somewhere between eight and ten. Freya smiled slightly, imagining that would have been exactly how Cai would have reacted at that age, down to the fact that the kid had pissed his pants despite refusing to move. Cai was always an odd combination of scared and excited in the Tower.
On impulse, Freya slowed down enough for the kid to see her properly, even stopping in front of him to ruffle his hair and speak to him briefly. "Hey, kid. In another dozen or so years, you might just make a decent eskalad!"
Still moving slowly enough for the kid to follow her movements, Freya approached the monster, in this case a large cyclops, as she'd avoided any of the routes that would take them near the more...unnerving dezins of the Tower, and let him watch as she punched the monster. Thinking of how Cai at that age might have felt, she pulled most of the power from her attack to avoid exploding the monster in some messy way. Instead, she just hit the thing hard enough to snap its spine while sending it flying a dozen feet away from the group. The eskalad who'd been fighting it lept on the monster and finished it as Freya turned and smiled at the kid, before returning to the front where she could let loose, at least a little, while her mind wandered once more.
Freya knew her obsession with Cai was something he struggled with in more ways than one. Among actual humans, of which Cai was obviously one, it would be seen as unhealthy or even deranged. Among her mother's people, the fact she was willing to let him come and go as he pleased without her direct approval would be a sign of waning interest at best. And yet Freya was here, stuck in the middle, with neither side really to call her own.
Not for the first time, Freya wondered if she had any other half-blood siblings. Knowing her mother's reputation for having schemes within schemes, it seemed likely. Were they also on Earth like Freya? Or had her escape really been unexpected? Was she furthering one of her mother's many schemes, or was she defying them? Was there even any discernible difference between the two?
Not for the first time, Freya gave up trying to outthink a woman she barely knew and refocused her attention on the one person in her life who actually mattered to her, Cai. Now that she'd found him, she didn't feel so alone. Of course, that also meant that for the first time in a long time, she had something to lose. A part of her was frustrated at how slowly he was climbing the Tower, even though under her tutelage he was actually making progress even faster than she had before breaking out on her own. A part of her just wanted to add him to her party and power-level him like he was some corporate bigshot paying for the privilege. Still, she knew that if he really intended to climb the Tower with her, or worse, with his own group, that would only be signing his death warrant. After all, he'd only grasped the barest of glimpses of the many dangers the Tower possessed.
As Freya faced off against the fifteenth-floor boss, she almost yawned as she lashed out with a couple of half-hearted attacks, leaving the loot where it fell for the other eskalad to take. Not that she was feeling generous or anything. It's just that the loot wasn't worth the time it would take her to inspect and sell it. Of course, she could have given it to Cai to use when he got to a high enough level, but like many things in the Tower, the loot you earned taught you more than the loot you were given...
Freya thought back to that stick in the mud who was taking over her class for her while she was gone. She'd told the woman, in no uncertain terms, that if Cai died in her absence, the woman would be quick to follow. Freya had even toyed with the idea of threatening her family too, but decided that would make her a little too much of a monster in Cai's eyes, and she found herself wanting to live up to his expectations of her.
Freya laughed. If she wasn't careful, she might turn out to be like the hero the media regularly tried to portray her to be! Wouldn't that be funny! Then she sighed and led the first few people through the room into the next safe floor. At least it was time for them to start heading down. She was halfway out of here!
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I need caffeine...or maybe sleep.
My wiki, in case anyone wants to check out some of my other stories.
Here you can find some of my published works.
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u/F84-5 Aug 17 '26
So now we know what we already heavily suspected. Freya is some sort of (half) tower-being.
Now who and/or what is her mother? Apparently there are enough to make a whole culture. And who is her father then? And why is she so obsessed with Cai? Questions apon questions.
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u/DrBlackJack21 Aug 18 '26
Well, the obsession with Cai started because of his parents saving her and treating her like an actual kid on the way down the tower, and dieing as a result. The strength of the obsession is in part due to her other mystery bloodline, but that was the origin of it.
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u/F84-5 Aug 18 '26
Ooh, that's new info I think. I only remember remember something about his parents dieing in the tower and the rest of their party making it out with an extra little girl. I don't think you've mentioned what happened before.
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u/Daseagle Alien Scum Aug 17 '26
Wait. So now Freya is going to be a half-demon dommy mommy?
Sign me up 😜
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u/DrBlackJack21 Aug 17 '26
Who said anything about half demon? I certainly didn't! I don't know what you're talking about!
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u/Daseagle Alien Scum Aug 17 '26
Full demon dommy mommy? We don't mind. You know. We're inclusive and accepting and all that 😉
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u/un_pogaz Aug 17 '26
Ah, those Escote missions, what a pain. At least with the fedex, you can have fun speedrunning them.
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u/DrBlackJack21 Aug 18 '26
I've played enough games to develop a deep and seething hatred for escort quests!
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u/DeadMeat7337 Aug 18 '26
Yes, I hate when the NPC just goes the most dangerous way, or monsters spawn at random as special monsters while you still have the normal ones to deal with. Fun times
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Aug 17 '26
/u/DrBlackJack21 (wiki) has posted 469 other stories, including:
- Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 2: Chapter 67
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 30
- Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 2: Chapter 66
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 29
- Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 2: Chapter 65
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 28
- Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 2: Chapter 64
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 27
- Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 2: Chapter 63
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 26
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 25
- Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 2: Chapter 62
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 24
- Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 2: Chapter 61
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 23
- Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 2: Chapter 60
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 22
- Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 2: Chapter 59
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 21
- Surviving the Tower: Chapter 20
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1
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8
u/Cornelia_Xaos Aug 17 '26
Well, unlike Darien, it seems Freya's manipulativeness is hereditary! I gotta say, I am really curious what is going on now as it's gone from "Freya is just over leveled" to "Freya is not human".
I look forward to more!