Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

Mathew and the others spent their days basking in the serenity of the island. It was like a paradise untouched by time. The golden sands stretched endlessly, warm beneath their feet, while the crystal-clear waves lapped at the shore.

The towering palm trees swayed lazily, offering shade as they rested against their trunks and ate the exotic fruits from the jungle behind them.

For weeks, Mathew slowly recovered. His wounds were severe, and even a deluge of potions and other items from the Shop couldn't speed it up. Enhancements to his body and careful use of his mana helped, but it still required time.

The others were more than happy to wait. The trails of their journey through the Tower had left them weary. But amongst the lush greenery and cascading waterfalls, they found peace. They swam in the ocean and dived through coral reefs teeming with rainbow-coloured fish. They lay beneath the stars at night and told stories of their adventures by the crackling fire.

Yet, as the days passed and Mathew's wounds healed, a quiet knowing settled among them. The island was a haven, but it wasn't their final destination. The Tower Elevator stood where they had left it, gleaming like a silent guardian amongst the jungle.

It was impossible to ignore, and none of them wished to stop their journey through the Tower. Each of them had a reason for going forward.

With the salty breeze still clinging to their skin and the warmth of the island sun lingering on their back, Mathew and the others approached the magical elevator in silence. Their footsteps were slow, almost hesitant, as if some part of them wished to turn back and remain in paradise a little longer.

As the doors slid shut with a soft chime, the island faded from view, and the party braced themselves for what awaited them next.

Floor 71: Amassing Aether.

In this world, the flow of Aether to the gods has been disrupted. A confluence of Aether, a storm of energy and magic, has swept through the land, transforming the people and creatures into abominations.

Kill them and gather Aether for the Tower. Only when you have met your quota will you be allowed to leave.

Current Quota: 100,000,000 units of Aether.

When the elevator's doors opened, Mathew and the others were greeted with a sight that made their stomachs churn.

The world in front of them was a ruin of shattered stone and screaming winds. It was a battlefield consumed by the wrath of Aether storm. The sky burned with an eerie, otherworldly fire, casting the land below in a hellish glow.

Jagged bolts of lightning created from the uncontrolled energy slashed through the heavens. It twisted anything it touched: creatures, the terrain, even reality itself. What emerged from the lightning strikes were grotesque abominations.

Hulking beasts roamed the land, their bodies writing with unnatural growths. They lumbered across the wasteland, shrieking in agony as they clashed with the thousands of warriors who had come from the Tower of Avarice. The adventurers fought in desperate, unyielding waves. Their weapons and magic flashed amidst the chaos, and their battle cries were drowned out by the endless cacophony of war.

Explosions rocked the land, opening chasms of roiling energy that swallowed both humans and horror alike. The earth was scorched and broken, littered with the remains of once-great cities that were now reduced to rubble.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Even the moon overhead was shattered, its fragments drifting across the fiery sky like silent omens of doom, lit by the glow of the burning earth below. Every moment here was a struggle for survival, a desperate fight against the corrupting influence of uncontrolled and unpredictable Aether.

Mathew and his companions stepped onto a crumbling plateau, and the world before them stole the breath from their lungs. Mathew's expression hardened as he took it all in.

"This is worse than anything I could have imagined." Rehn stated softly; her tone had a slight edge of fear and sadness as her eyes swept across the battlefield.

"Worse? Rehn, this is madness! The moon is in pieces, and the sky is on fire! What are we even looking at?" Greg muttered, shaking his head from side to side as his eyes filled with disbelief.

Alivia let out a nervous chuckle, though her usual bravado wavered as she kicked a loose rock over the edge of the plateau.

"I'll tell you what we're looking at: a really bad vacation spot. Zero stars, terrible weather. I'd rather we went back to the island." Alivia let out a nervous chuckle as she attempted to mask her unease.

Mathew barely seemed to hear them. His gaze was locked onto the battlefield, watching as the grotesque abominations shrieked and thrashed, their twisted forms barely recognizable as things that had once been alive.

"Let's get to it." Mathew stated grimly. He reached out with his hand and gripped the hilt of the Godslaying Blade of Wrath. The familiar surge of mana entered his hand from the weapon, and he could feel it vibrating with eager excitement at the coming slaughter.

Alivia let out a hollow laugh.

"We're so dead."

Page Break

The battlefield roared around them as the four plunged into the chaos; the ground beneath their feet cracked and scorched from the relentless Aether storms.

Mathew led the charge, his Godslaying Blade of Wrath gleaming with a fiery glow as he swung it through the air. With each strike, waves of searing energy cleaved through the abominations, their grotesque bodies splitting apart in bursts of molten flesh and dark ichor.

As they moved forward, one of the monsters lunged at him, its many-eyed face stretching open into a maw of writhing tendrils, but Mathew simply thrust his blade forward, and the sword flared with divine wrath. The creature disintegrated into ash and was blown away by the wind.

Greg stayed near the rear of the group, his magical rifle humming with power as he took precise shots. He used his eyes, enhanced with his 'Sharpshooter' abilities provided by his Discipline to take precise shots at enemy weak points in the twisted masses of flesh and bone.

A hulking beast with too many limbs and jagged, crystalline growths on its back came barrelling toward them with a screech that split the air. Greg exhaled sharp and steadied his grip before firing a single, blinding beam of energy that lanced through the creature's skull, vaporizing it in an instant.

Greg pivoted, unloading more shots into the horde as the rifle's recoil shook his arms. Beams of light cut down more of the monstrous creatures as they tried to get near to their group.

"There's too many!" Greg shouted over the chaos. He ducked as an explosion rocked the ground nearby, sending fragments of stone flying in all directions.

Alivia danced between the carnage as she flicked glowing spell cards from her enchanted deck.

"We just need to even the odds!" She quipped as she hurled a card into the air. It flashed with golden light before splitting into dozens of copies that rained meteors upon the creatures below. Fiery explosions consumed the abominations, causing them to shriek as they died.

Another creature jumped at her, a twisted, insect-like horror with serrated claws, but Alivia grinned and drew a different card from her deck. Confident that her deck wouldn't let her down, she flipped it with a flourish.

The air in front of her shimmered suddenly, and the creature was yanked upward, vanishing into a swirling void.

"Hope you like falling for eternity!" She called out after it before drawing another card.

While Mathew, Greg and Alivia drew the most attention, then it was Rehn who moved like a ghost through the battlefield. With a flick of her wrist, she lifted a monstrous brute off the ground. It flailed helplessly before the Psion clenched her fist. Bones shattered, and the creature was crushed into a bloody pulp.

Another monstrosity came charging, but Rehn's eyes flashed with psionic power, and the abomination froze mid-stride, its limbs jerking unnaturally as if fighting against invisible strings. With a flick of her fingers, she sent it flying into a jagged outcrop of stone, impaling it with a sickening crunch.

Rehn wiped a trail of blood from her nose caused by the strain on her abilities before pushing forward.

The battle raged on and they were soon joined by others from the Tower of Avarice. The sky burned, and the ground split open beneath the weight of the battle raging across it. When days turned to weeks and weeks into months, they finally heard the long-awaited 'ding' that announced their success.

It was unfortunate that one of their party was unable to hear it.