Arc_Ownslan

Chapters are being heavily edited. 



The Tower appeared without warning, a spire of impossible scale, tearing through reality like a knife through flesh. 

Its arrival rewrote the rules of existence. Inside: a hundred floors, each holding horrors deadlier than the last. At it’s  summit? Godhood. True, unfettered dominion over reality itself. The power to unmake laws, break causality, and sculpt the universe to your will.  

Most who enter die screaming in terror. 

Caleb isn’t most people. As a former black-ops ghost with a mind like a scalpel and a soul stained by war, he doesn’t flinch when the Tower claims him. He adapts, calculates and thrives. 

In this ruthless ecosystem of shifting alliances, rogues, and rules that twisted like vines, there is only one key to survival: 

Climb.


This work was originally authored under the pen name Arc_Ownslan, and will continue on R0YAL R0AD under the author’s new alias, xzsaint1.


Contact me at: xzsaint1@proton.me

The Hundred Floors

They moved through the woods like smoke, Caleb in front, the others close behind. The forest floor was slick with last night's rain, the roots twisted like veins. No wind. Just the sound of breathing and boots shifting mud.

The goblins were scattered, a group hurddled near a rotting log where something had been slaughtered. Maybe a deer. Their backs were turned.

Caleb raised a hand and the others stopped.

Soren was already crouched low, eyeing a thick branch on the ground. Dina had a rock in each palm, her expression unreadable. Marek held the rusted knife he'd picked up earlier. Ellen carried a broken spearhead tied to a stick with frayed cloth.

They quickly compelled with his command.

Caleb counted the seconds, let tension coil tight and then he struck.

Caleb's Fast Step swept a goblin's legs, ramming his knee into its face. It's bone cracked, the goblin didn't get to scream. It just twitched once and went limp.

The others reacted, screeching. Two turned toward Caleb, too slow. Soren's Vanguard strength barreled in from the side, crushing one's arm with a branch, then driving the thick wood down on its skull.

Caleb's Tactical Recognition revealed:

Dina's Savant precision aimed her rocks at another's neck. It staggered, choking, eyes wild. Ellen's Veilcaller shadows steadied her lunge, her makeshift spear slicing a deep line across its chest.

Marek's Binder chains guided his blade into the gut of one fleeing. The goblin shrieked, lurching forward, only to trip and slam its head against a root. It didn't get back up.

The group stood in silence, panting. Soren wiped his face. Ellen was slightly trembling. Dina bent down, heaving once before she managed to spit bile into the dirt.

"I didn't think it'd look like that," she muttered.

Caleb didn't speak. He scanned the bodies.

"Gear up," he said. "Take what you can."

They moved fast. The goblin's weapons were crude. Jagged knives, chipped bone spears, and short clubs wrapped in wire.

[Experience Distributed Based on Contribution]

[Hidden Achievement Unlocked: First Bloodshed as a Unit]

Reward: STR: +1 (Caleb, Soren, Marek), AGI: +1 (Caleb, Dina, Ellen), END: +1 (All)

[Objective Update: Skraelings Eliminated – 13/50, Progress: 26%]

A ripple of warmth passed through Caleb's limbs.

Status windows shifted. His stats ticked upward.

Then a faint hum echoed through the trees. Artificial. A system sound.

[Equipment Synchronization Enabled]

The items they took now glimmered faintly.

Dina still hadn't moved from where she knelt.

"I didn't even kill it this time," she said, voice quiet. "I just threw a rock. Why does that feel worse?"

No one answered. No one had an answer, even Caleb.

Because it looked human, because it screamed and felt fear.

"Let's go," Caleb said. "We're still behind enemy lines."

Above them, the trees swayed in silence. Watching and waiting in silence.

Chapter Ten: Synchronization