World Filter

Mark squinted at the gold dust that rose from the city in columns and drifted up towards the spire. Any Corrupted that had been in the direct vicinity of the spire when it went off had been vapourised. From the looks of the localized destruction, the Corrupted had done minimal damage to the infrastructure. Hell, from the looks of things, not even many people were injured.

Unfortunately, there were a few deaths, but those had come from the new, unknown Corrupted. Of course, Mark would assist in healing those who had been hurt, but the numbers were heavily in their favour.

It seemed that their only goal had been to disrupt the unbound, and if it weren't for Sam and Jonathan, they would have succeeded.

Now that the two of them had to step in, Mark was not sure what was going to happen.

Because they had been the ones to complete the first rite, they were able to stand in for the unbound. However, they had decided against it for a number of reasons.

The main one being brought up by Ethel. If they did indeed sign up as tenders of the spire, she was worried that their duties there would interfere with their responsibilities on the frontline. They had just graduated from all the work within their faction. If there was the potential that they could be drawn in again, she recommended against it, if only so that they had room to maneuver in the future.

Another reason was that the system expressly chose thirty individuals. If it wasn't necessary, then they hadn't wanted to interfere.

They knew binding any of them to the structure could mean huge problems down the line, but it seemed like the Corrupted humans had forced their hands yet again.

Sadly, there was nothing to be done at this point.

Mark was just thinkinghow to best salvage the situation when the world shuddered.

Metal groaned, and a resounding click echoed from the spire. Ever so slowly, the gates on either side began to yawn open.

Mark immediately separated his construct from the gate and moved them backwards. He also inspected everyone, but no one was showing signs of any changes or feeling ill.

Landing them on the street below, they all looked up to watch as sunlight tried to pierce the veil inside.

The chamber was pitch black, but he could just make out a distant sliver of light widening on the other side. Mark quickly realized it was the other gate, as they were directly opposite one another.

As the doors continued to open, Mark took a hesitant step towards the gap. He could feel his Prana and Mana being held back by some kind of threshold. Almost like the tower had a will of its own. And for all he knew, it did.

He could feel Sam and Jonathan also waiting on the perimeter. If no one took a step forward, though, they would all just wait out here indefinitely. His hesitation left him when Shelby stepped up next to him. His gaze was filled with that reverent light as he stared at the titanic door frame.

He shot Mark a look as if to say, 'Can we?'

And Mark couldn't find a single reason to deny him. Well, he could, but none of them were convincing.

So with a quick thought to the others, Mark and Shelby took the plunge. He felt Sam and Jonathan entering at the same time. The four of them stepped forward into their respective portals, and yet nothing changed as they crossed the threshold.

The air remained strained with suspense as the others watched them.

Mark was heavily on guard and had his construct up, but even now, he could sense no danger. His Mana was able to expand once he had crossed through, and other than an enormous amount of ambient energies, nothing jumped out at them.

At first, he frowned and looked around, but there was not much to see. The spire was gargantuan, and it covered a huge amount of space, but the chamber he had stepped into was completely bare. The perfectly polished ivory floors stretched out ahead to the opposite gate. After measuring the spire's circumference, they calculated its diameter to be half a mile wide. Now that he was inside, Mark could see that the ceiling was only about sixty feet up, so about five stories. But he knew from outside the structure, just about touched the clouds, so the only conclusion was that there were more floors to the spire, but they weren't able to reach them yet..

All of a sudden, Mark felt something pass over his body, watching him. It was like a beast was eyeing its prey, and Mark hardened his construct in response. Though after a brief pause, the presence faded, and a message appeared.

Mark's eye narrowed as their names arrived on the list. He sent what he was seeing through the link and got a feeling of confusion from them. Sam then sent what she and Jonathan were seeing.

When they expanded the list, Mark could see his name appear.

However, before they could test anything, more people began to arrive, their names appearing in the list. Lisa and Nathan were first, followed shortly by Jason and then dozens of curious people.

Mark felt the unbound –now referred to as 'bound' by the system– enter behind him. Karter had arrived with their fighters, but he turned and formed a perimeter to hold out the general public for now, but he wouldn't be able to hold them for long.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Mark glanced back and decided that, as empty as this place was, it still needed to be explored in case of hidden dangers.

Deciding to meet up with Jonathan, Sam, and Ethel, he began to walk further in. It didn't take long to meet up with his fellow pillars. Nothing had stuck out to him yet, but they decided to take a loop around the perimeter.

"This is kind of anti-climactic after all we did to get here," Jonathan said, crossing his arms thoughtfully. Mark couldn't help but agree. He'd hoped that some answers were lying in wait, but the spire was unnervingly quiet.

There was, however, one thing they were certain would give them more answers, and that was the next step.

To pair each bound user with a 'Protector'.

Though Mark was assuming that it would be harder than anticipated, as every task given by the system was. He turned to look back at the entrance, and by this time, curious people were all craning their necks to get a look inside.

"Alright, shall we give this a test and get out of here? I'm kind of getting the creeps," Mark said. The vast emptiness around them carried an unsettling quality, not to mention the periodic feeling of being watched.

The three of them nodded, and Mark refocused on his system and experimentally tapped Jonathan's name. Jonathan got a message on his end right away.

Mark blinked in surprise. service? What's more, Jon could see the stats of anyone applying to him. Jonathan shrugged and hit 'yes'.

On Mark's end, he simply saw an accepted notification. But on Jonathan's, there was another message.

Mark snorted. The idea that Jonathan needed a Protector was funny, but he could see why the mechanic existed.

Again, Jonathan shrugged and hit 'yes'. This time, Mark got another message denoting his 'promotion', but that was it.

Frowning amongst themselves, they looked at one another. Sam had been watching, but her attention had veered to the ceiling curiously.

She looked like she wanted to go check it out, and Mark was just about to suggest it when she spoke.

"I wish I could get some gear up there to test the thickness of the stone," she muttered, squinting up at the towering curve of the spire's interior. "Our instruments couldn't pierce its protections, but maybe from inside it'll work better. If only there were stairs or somethi—"

She didn't get to finish.

A subtle tremor rippled beneath their feet. Mark froze, every muscle tensed, and the others reacted the same. But what followed wasn't danger, it was transformation.

The wall before them shifted, groaned, and then unfolded.

Horizontal columns of steel shot out from the curved inner wall, rotating as they spiraled upward, forming the skeleton of a staircase. A moment later, concrete surged along the structure like water poured from a jug, hardening instantly into smooth, solid steps that reached all the way to the spire's distant roof. Though no opening made itself known.

Silence fell, and for a long moment, no one dared speak.

Then Sam whispered, "No way…"

Her eyes gleamed—not with fear, but understanding. Mark saw the moment of realization flicker across her face. She turned to the spire and called out, half in wonder, half in challenge:

"Hey, spire. Build a house—in Dutch construction style."

Another tremor.

The ground just ahead of them burst open. Wooden beams sprang from the stone like roots growing in fast-forward. Brick and plaster flowed upward, filling the framework in smooth, even lines. A roof of dried thatch unfurled itself overhead, each reed neatly aligned like it had been placed by a careful hand.

In less than ten seconds, a perfectly formed Dutch-style cottage stood before them, complete with shutters and a chimney.

Mark blinked.

The spire was listening.

That would explain the feeling of being watched right now. The question then came: was it alive, or just some magical intelligence?

"Incredible," Sam exclaimed. "It built the house exactly as I imagined it."

With a swipe of her hand, the building crumpled into a cloud of dust. Leaving nothing but clean white tiles behind.

Mark's eyes were wide. The benefits of being able to create structures on demand could not be understated. Whatever they needed, they could make in seconds.

Sam's next test was to see if it could create items like weapons and bullets, which it could, but the moment Ethel had Boe take it outside, they melted. Meaning they could only use them inside the spire.

By now, all the bound individuals were inside, and they began testing their limits, which quickly changed the entire landscape inside space. As buildings shot up all over the place.

At some point, one of their tenders, Callum, created stadium lights near the corners of the roof. The explosion of brilliance chased the shadows within the tower away and bathed them all in a fluorescent glow.

If things had been able to continue, Mark was certain they would have built a city in a day, but a lot of their projects halted halfway through, as there was a gentle hum that came from the spire. Mark looked at Jonathan and Sam, and they shrugged. It seemed all the bound got a message telling them that they had used up the daily quota of energy for transmutation.

Sam noted that once something was created, destroying it was just as easy. Unless it were made by another tender. Then they needed to get permission from the creator to erase it.

While all this was happening, the people outside were growing restless. The braver ones were already demanding entry into the spire. While Karter could keep them out for now, it wouldn't last.

"We should head out." Jonathan started. "Now that this place is open, people are going to want to explore. We can always come back a few hours later when the excitement has died down."

They all nodded, and Ethel gathered up everyone from their faction and headed for the door leading to her territory. They could see the Loyalists and NAS were still interested in experimentation, but unlike them, they didn't have the manpower to be out of their territory for so long. Mark also noted the way Lieutenant Colonel Liam glared at them with hostility. Which was nothing new, but he probably saw this event as interference. Because of this event, the number of tenders was now heavily skewed in their favour. Never mind that this was not their intention.

Either way, now with the spire open, they would have to take the next step. As Ethel led them out to their people, Mark noted their wounds, but luckily, no one was all that hurt. The healers had done a good job so far.

Mark stepped out of the structure, and a strange film briefly scanned his person. There was the briefest of tugs from his chest, and he was out. Stopping at the threshold, Mark pursed his lips and turned back just in time to hear a grunt of surprise.

Ethel had been leading them out, and Mark had been just in front of Sam and Jonathan, so when he turned around. He saw the moment that Sam bumped into a screen of transparent energy.

Taking a step back, she frowned, and Mark suddenly got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Jonathan's brows came together, and he reached forward, but the threshold hardened as his palm came into contact with a pane of energy that prevented him from leaving. Jose, Sarah, Lile, and Bernard had been bringing up the rear, and when they tried to leave, the same thing happened. Yet others could walk out freely.

Eyes widening, Mark realized what was going on. They couldn't leave. All the tenders were trapped in the spire.