Soul Nexus: A Fantasy Tower Ascension LitRPG

My energy bar was barely above half, but after hearing that I owed Layith two thousand shards, I had to beg Killa to cover for me again. Before we left, Bark ensured Layith wouldn’t tell anyone about me. While I was grateful, it would have been nicer if he didn’t threaten him and anyone he loved. He went to collect our stuff while Killa and I stood outside.

I watched Killa sneak several glances my way. “What’s wrong?”

She gave me an obviously fake smile. “Are you sure you’re alright? You’ve had a, uh, let’s say, rough couple of days.”

I stared up at the sky. The sun was still warming up the city, but I knew today was going to be really hot. “Just like everyone else, I’ll survive. I’m a little jealous that things are simpler for you two, and I’m hoping this Gary can give me some answers too.”

The slime woman brushed a stray hair behind my ear. “Your eyes—are they, you know, comfortable?”

I blinked. “They feel like my eyes. Everything looks sharper. I can even see little, tiny bubbles in your body now.”

“Those aren’t bubbles, kiddo,” Killa laughed. “Those are pockets of condensed mana. I store them for longer fights.” Her smile turned upside down. “But after that guy shot me with those strange bullets, I lost half of my reserves.”

“About that.” I shuffled my feet as I looked the slime woman up and down, looking for any signs of permanent damage. “What happened to you? I thought he killed you.”

Killa hugged me. “Oh. Kiddo, I’m a lot harder to kill than that. Maybe not as difficult as you, but pretty difficult. I simply lost the ability to hold my shape anymore. Those bullets hurt.”

I hugged her back for a moment and pushed her back. “I thought you said you don’t feel pain like I do.”

“I don’t,” Killa started as she slumped her shoulders. “But when something destroys as much of my body as those bullets did, it taxes my mind. Slimes like me are extremely susceptible to elemental attacks.”

“You know, you kind of remind me of a jellyfish.” My comment earned me a smile from the slime woman.

“That’s a way to look at it.” She waved me over. “Let’s get your clothes fixed up, shall we? While those holes aren’t too big, the blood needs to be cleaned out too.”

I looked down and shrugged. “Do you have something I could wear while they are cleaned and fixed?”

Killa gave me a playful grin. “Oh, of course I do. I’ll let Bark know to meet us back at my place. We’ll need to pack before we leave. I don’t think we’re taking the safe route anymore.”

I looked at the door. “What is he still doing? Why is he taking so long to get our weapons?”

Killa shrugged. “It’s probably better if you don’t know.”

That’s a worrying statement if I’ve ever heard one. “And why aren’t we taking the safe route?”

“Bark! Meet back at my place!” Killa shouted into the building after cracking the door open. She then turned to me and wrapped an arm around me. “Because you, kiddo, are going to need to level up.”

Oh. I let Killa guide me through the streets back to her place.

We walked into Killa’s house, and she guided me to the bathroom. “Go and get yourself cleaned up. I’ll have something ready for you to wear and get your clothes soaking.”

I removed my clothes, placed them outside the bathroom door, and climbed into the metal tub. It’s kind of nice to see they have some form of plumbing. Running water in a desert? Where do they get it? A well?

I had spent almost an hour soaking in the warm water. The soap and shampoo Killa lent me smelled nice and helped smooth and straighten my hair. I wonder why she has those. It doesn’t look like she needs to ever take a bath. You know, there’s a lot about that slime that doesn’t make sense. But she’s been a good friend—far too good. I’ve got to make it up to her. But how?

I got out of the bath and started drying myself off. On that note, why does it seem like people are noticing me more? I used to be invisible to everyone, so long as I didn’t draw attention to myself. Now? Everyone sees me as a regular person. Any ideas, Orange?

There was no reaction from the nanites. The lack of a message likely meant that they didn’t have any answers. I saw a mirror hanging on the wall. I’ve yet to see what my eyes look like. Nobody’s said anything about them.

I looked in a mirror to see what my new eyes looked like. For the most part, they looked like regular eyes. If you ignore how white they were. Or how perfectly circular the emerald iris was. Green? My eyes weren’t just green. They looked like they could have been made from a cut gem. I could see how my pupils looked like overlapping plates that opened wider as I took a step back from the mirror. My eyes changed color? What? Why didn’t anyone say anything? Orange!

The difference in the host’s eye color is a direct result of the increased influx of mana. The host’s eye color would have changed subtly over time. Purchasing the synthetic eye augmentation expedited the process.

Mana? Right, there is a bar of mana on my HUD. How do I use mana?

Insufficient information.

Is there anything else I need to know about?

The host’s hair and skin pigmentation can also be altered if the host is subjected to sufficient quantities of mana. This can be mitigated if the host’s body is augmented prior to exposure to handle high levels of mana.

So mana can dye a person’s skin, eyes, and hair. Good to know. Although, can I customize the color of my eyes? It doesn’t seem like it would be a difficult adjustment.

The host can customize certain augmentations.

Eye color customization: 1,000 shards.

Insufficient funds.

On second thought, green eyes look lovely on me. I’m not just saying that because I’m broke.

“Rina, is everything okay in there?” Killa’s muffled voice made me jump. “You’ve been in there an entire hour.”

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine,” I responded as I grabbed the door handle. “I was just looking at my eyes. Why didn’t you tell me that they changed color?”

There was a long moment of silence. “Because you seemed to be freaking out over enough. It just didn’t feel like I should make you worry about something like that at the time.” Killa placed something on the ground by the bathroom door. “Your clothes are ready, and I’ll be in the living room if you want to talk. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. Bark’s itching to leave, anyway.”

I couldn’t hear her walking away, but a small pang of guilt gripped my heart. I sighed before I opened the door and saw a basket with my clothes in it. I brought them into the bathroom and put them on.

My reflection caught my attention one more time. My eyes seemed unnaturally bright. Fitting since they were unnatural eyes. I leaned closer to the mirror and touched a finger to my eye. I couldn’t feel anything with my eyes, but my finger felt like it was touching steel, warm steel.

Is this really what I wanted? Where does it go from here?

The questions hung in the back of my mind as I trudged out towards the living room. Bark paced back and forth while Killa lined up three packs. She turned to me and opened her mouth.

I held up a hand to stop her. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I can change them back later if I want. Besides, I think the color is starting to grow on me.” That should put her at ease.

“You done?” Bark didn’t stand still. “Let’s get going before the sun sets. The stronger monsters come out at night.”

My heart skipped a beat. Stronger monsters?

“Don’t worry,” Killa said as she handed a pack to Bark and extended another towards my direction. “We can set up a hidden camp to stay warm and recover.”

Was my concern that obvious? “It’s kind of surprising that you are going along with this.” I looked at Bark. “I figured you’d want to get to Gary to get answers as soon as possible.”

Bark scowled at me. “I do. But if you get stronger, maybe you’ll find a way to share your nanites on your own. Maybe you need to control your nanites more. Either way, while it is the more dangerous path, it is the shorter path too.”

I grabbed the pack and put it on my back. It was heavier than I expected, but that could be just because I wasn’t all that strong. But it was like a regular backpack that I was used to, just made of a coarser fabric.

Killa threw her backpack over her back like it was weightless. “So, shall we get going? There should be enough food for Bark to eat plenty for the entire trip.” She gave me an apologetic look. “Sorry, but I don’t think there is ever enough food packed for you. You’ll just have to put up with eating a finger or two a day.”

I hung my head. Fantastic. That is just my luck. But I guess that I could eat enough for a small army.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find some edible monsters to cook and eat for you.” Killa smiled and elbowed my side before skipping off ahead.

Bark shook his head and followed her. Did she really suggest that I eat monsters? I followed after the shaylip.

The hood on my jacket helped keep the burning sun from frying my brain. But the air was so hot that I struggled to breathe. I fell to my knees. “Stop. Please, can we stop?”

My two companions looked at me. “We’ve only just walked out of the gate.” Bark pointed at the gate with three shaylip guards, all armed with spears, bows, and shields. There was also a weird-looking dog thing that had no fur and six legs, but it left us alone, so I wasn’t worried about it.

“It’s so hot. I need water.” I threw the pack off my shoulders and dug through the pack Killa had prepared for me.

Inside, I saw several rolls of paper and what looked like a sleeping bag. Eventually, I found a canister that felt like it had some liquid inside. I opened it and drank it, really enjoying the cool feeling of water rushing down my throat.

“Take it easy on that stuff.” Bark pulled the canteen from my hand. “That’s got to last you at least three days.”

“But it’s so hot. We’re in a desert.” My sweat soaked into my clothes, causing them to stick to me.

Bark rolled his eyes as he handed me the canteen again. “First it was too cold. Now it’s too hot. Didn’t you get points for killing that guy who attacked you? Did you put them in resistance?”

I held the canteen to my lips for a moment. No. I’ve got to make the water last. Slowly, I replaced the cover and put it back in my pack. “Yes. I got ten points, but I put them all in my toughness. Those bullets hurt.”

Killa pulled Bark back. “And this is why we’re going to hunt some monsters. So she can get some more levels. She’s got a lot of catching up to do. How she got on the second floor to start doesn’t matter now that she’s here.”

Right. Another mystery for the back burner. At this rate, it’ll fill up, and I’ll have to start dealing with some of these things. This Gary really had better have some answers.

I struggled to my feet and trudged through the sand to catch up with my companions. “Please tell me we aren’t walking blindly through the desert for three days.”

Bark wiped his face with his hand. “Right. I forgot you’re a newbie who never got the tutorial. No, we’ll be going through a dungeon.” He didn’t even bother to stop or turn to face me as he continued. “Traveling through the Nexus requires you to only think about where you want to go and reach the edge of the zone. The less specific you are, the more the Nexus will add some randomness to where you go. But if you reach the edge of the zone after someone is close enough, you’ll follow them, regardless of your thoughts. So we can travel together.”

“So if travel is instantaneous, why do we need three days of water and supplies?” I asked as I wiped the sweat from my face.

“Because Gary is at the bottom of the dungeon.” Killa turned just her head around to face me as she kept walking. That’s not right. Well, she doesn’t have joints or bones, so she can do that. “Each floor will take us about a day to clear since you need the levels.”

I shuddered. “Could you not twist your head like that? It’s kind of creepy.” Killa tilted her head and shrugged before righting her head to a more normal orientation. “But you said there was a safer way. How is that possible?”

“I know where a back door is,” Bark said nonchalantly. “It connects to the abandoned sewers of an abandoned town. After that, we’d only have to work our way through the third floor.”

Bark and Killa blinked out of existence in front of me. Oh, wait. I’ve got to follow them. I sprinted forward, and everything around me flashed.

My foot sank into a small pit of sand, causing me to trip. I barely caught myself before I face-planted. Killa extended a hand to me and helped me up. “Yeah, that first step can catch you off guard if you aren’t expecting it.”

I looked around and saw more desert. But the town was nowhere to be found. Instead, a large stone obelisk confronted me. It wasn’t just any stone; it was a black-and-white marble that was easily thirty, if not forty, feet tall. The obelisk sat on a platform of more of the same marble. There’s no way that this is all one solid piece. But at the base of the obelisk sat a stairway that led down into a tunnel.

Bark strode towards the monument and stood at the entrance. “Well, ladies first.” He motioned towards the stairs. Anything to get out of this heat.

Killa frowned. “A real gentleman would step in front of the women and handle all the dangers.” Dangers?

Bark laughed. “You two are far more durable than me. I’m still recovering from our last little fight. Rina can heal from anything, and most physical attacks are useless against you. So, you still should go first.”

Killa let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine.”

I followed Killa to the steps, but as I looked down the steps, I didn’t see anything but more steps. But when I went to take my first step, I hesitated. “It’s going to be full of monsters down there, isn’t it?”

Bark grinned. “You better believe it.”

I swallowed hard as Killa laughed as she led the way, summoning a small glowing tentacle to wrap around her left arm. Now isn’t the time to chicken out. I took my first step into my first dungeon. I’ve already survived being killed three times now. What’s the worst that could happen?