Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

Chapter 130 – Floor 11: Part 14

Objective Updated: Grasp the Heart of the Anti-Life Nest and return it to the World Tree.

Summary: The World Tree is unable to penetrate the walls of the Nest with its roots. The gods have ordered you to claim the Heart from the Anti-Life and return it to the World Tree, empowering its roots to claim this land and strengthen its growth.

Reward: A Blessing as determined by the Patron Deity of the Eleventh Floor. The Blessing is guaranteed to be suitable for your Discipline.

Mathew scoffed at the reward. The Aether within that Heart was worth millions of units of Aether, if not more. Although some of the Blessings available were valuable, it was barely anything when compared to the Heart.

But orders were orders, and the gods were never fair. They were tasked with returning the Heart to the World Tree, something that the Players would have done anyway for their own protection.

“At least we’ll receive something for it.” Mathew muttered as he lowered his wrist, hiding the burning words of the notification and returned his gaze to the Heart. He was surprised it was so defenceless. They had walked into the depths of the Nest and could pluck it as easily as picking an apple from a tree.

“I’ll give you a boost and you snatch-” Mathew was interrupted by another loud ‘Ding’ from his wristband. Curiously, this one sounded different. The first notification was similar to a chime, and the sound was clear and crisp. This second notification was muffled and it warbled, dipping and surging in tone.

That wasn’t the only oddity of the notification. The fiery letters, normally mostly orange and red, were black and crimson and they left an oily haze on the air as they burned.

Objective Updated: Do You Want To Leave This Floor?

Summary: I Can Offer You A Way Out.

The words were slowly being filled in, as if whatever entity was still in the process of writing the message. Mathew had never seen a notification from whatever being run the Tower of Avarice look like this, nor had he ever seen a message from anything else filtered through their wristbands.

“A way out of this Floor? Do you think it's serious?” Allen asked, his voice filled with hope. Progressing through the Tower was a dream of every Player, and to be offered a way out of a horrible and dangerous Floor like this one was a lifeline that Allen wasn’t willing to lose.

REWARD: A WAY OUT. THE MEANS TO LEAVE THIS FLOOR IS WITHIN YOUR GRASP AND THE PRICE TO DO SO IS A PITTANCE!

“And what is the price for such a reward?” Allen asked eagerly, ready to pay it. He wanted out of this tunnel, out of this stone tomb and the Anti-Life creatures that sought to kill him. If the gods were offering a way out, he would take it.

NOTE: THE REWARD CAN ONLY BE GIVEN TO ONE PERSON.

As he read those words, Allen snuck a look at Mathew who merely shrugged. Seeing that Mathew wasn’t really concerned about the limit, Allen returned to reading the message.

OBJECTIVE: TAKE THE HEART AND DO NOT OFFER IT SUBVERSIVE WORLD TREE. CONSUME THE HEART AND ITS POWER WILL BE YOURS. DO SO, AND THE PATH TO THE NEXT FLOOR WILL BE OPEN. ALL YOU DESIRE WILL BE WITHIN YOUR GRASP, AND NOTHING WILL STAND IN YOUR WAY. NOT THE FALSE GODS NOR THEIR DEMON APOSTLES. THE TRUE POWER WILL RESIDE-.

“Enough of that.” Mathew said, forcefully closing the notification. Seeing that Allen was still reading, Mathew stepped towards him and placed his hand around the other man’s silver wristband, blocking the fiery words.

As if awakening from a trance, Allen started slightly and blinked his eyes in a daze.

“Are you alright? I don’t know how it did it, but whatever is corrupting our inventories and other services from the Tower has a way to communicate. I think it would be best if we ignore any more notifications.” Mathew said, making sure that Allen was alright before releasing the other man’s arm.

“You…you don’t believe what it said was true?” Allen asked tentatively, and Mathew shook his head.

“I don’t know. True or not, I have no doubt that consuming that Heart comes with side effects that neither of us will want, even if it can get someone to the next Floor. This is too similar to another entity that made an enticing offer that a lot of people couldn’t refuse.” Mathew said as he walked toward the center of the chamber.

“What happened to them?” Allen asked as his thoughts kept spinning around the mysterious offer. His eyes were locked onto the Heart and the possibilities it offered.

“They all died.” Mathew stated, his tone flat and heavy. Observing the chamber, Mathew looked for the best way to grab the Heart.

“Come here and give me a boost to reach it.” Mathew said, waving Allen over to him. The pair were directly under the crimson Heart of Aether as it continued to pulsate with power. It was about 8 or 9 feet up in the air, floating in place at the center of the chamber.

“Right.” Allen said, half in a daze. Leaning forward, he cupped his hands and boosted Mathew up toward the Heart. Straining his arms to their limits, Mathew grabbed both sides of the crystal and pulled. He expected some resistance from the Heart or some barrier to block him. To his surprise, it came loose without any fuss.

Landing on the ground softly, Mathew looked at the Heart in his hands. It felt warm, and the mana within was almost electric against his skin. The crimson light gave a final pulse of intense light before dimming to a dull glow that was contained deep within the Heart.

‘Ding!’

Two notifications rang out simultaneously in two separate tones, indicating that both the normal message and the strange one from the mysterious entity had come into their wristbands as soon as Mathew grasped the heart.

“Ignore them. Let’s get out of-” Mathew was interrupted by the deafening sound of a rifle discharge. Like a crack of thunder, the noise of the weapon firing echoed off the walls of the chamber. But Mathew hardly noticed the noise; it was the magical bullet that struck him in the shoulder that caught his attention.

The bullet was a streak of light as it fired from the rifle in Allen’s hands and shot toward Mathew. Even distracted by the Heart, Mathew’s instincts were honed to danger. When Allen shot, Mathew was already moving. Even with his high body stat, Mathew couldn’t move fast enough to avoid the bullet.

Time slowed as Mathew’s perception of his environment increased. A side effect of his high ‘Mind’ attribute, Mathew was aware of everything around him. The warmth of the Heart in his hands and its smooth exterior, the dust in the air the swirled and moved in the light from the small movement of air from the passage behind him.

Allen had a fierce and hungry look on his face as he stared at Mathew and the Heart in his hands. His eyes were wide and filled with desire as the rifle in his hands was still red from the heat of its firing.

Turning a little, the bullet that was meant to strike Mathew in the chest, directly over his heart, missed and struck his shoulder instead. An agony instantly erupted in Mathew’s body as the bullet carved its way through flesh and bone before exiting the other side to impact against the stone wall.

Not giving into the pain, Mathew didn’t hesitate to retaliate. He exhaled immediately, the mana within him already boiling.

“Breath of Dragons.” Mathew shouted, his words igniting his breath as he spat flames toward Allen. With a cry, the Sharpshooter shielded his face with his arms and stumbled backwards. Not giving the man a chance to recover, Mathew leapt forward and slammed into Allen, knocking him onto the ground.

Ripping the rifle from Allen’s hands, Mathew balled his hand into a fist and slammed it into Allen’s face. But Allen was a combat veteran who had been through hell in the Tower of Avarice. The first blow struck Allen on the cheek, but he gripped Mathew’s arm on the second and pushed him off.

Falling onto the ground, Mathew lost his grip on the heart, and Allen lunged forward to grab it. Scrambling to his feet, Allen ignored his fallen rifle as he dashed to the chamber's far end. Laughing wildly in triumph, he raised the Heart to his mouth.

“Stop you idiot!” Mathew shouted as he regained his feet. But he was too late to stop him.

The Heart seemed to shrink as if it were eager to be consumed. Popping it into his mouth, Allen felt the crystallized Aether Heart melt into an energy more pure and powerful than anything he had ever experienced.

It was at that moment that another notification came through. Unconcerned about what Mathew might do, Allen checked the message.

OBJECTIVE UPDATED: YOU HAVE CONSUMED THE HEART AND ITS POWER IS NOW YOURS.

REWARD: WHATEVER YOU DESIRE IS WITHIN REACH. RETURN TO THE TOWER AND DESTROY THE FALSE GODS THAT RESIDE THERE AND COVET WHAT IS OURS!!!

With the message came an agony beyond anything Allen had ever experienced. The corrupted mana of the Heart surged through him, and with it came changes to his body. Falling forward, Allen felt his flesh writhe and transform.