The streets were soon filled with screams and shouts, a chaotic symphony of terror that clawed at Kael's ears. Howls of beasts intermingled with the panicked cries of the unfortunate humans who had crossed paths with them.
The air was thick with the stench of smoke and the faint, acrid tang of blood drifting up from the street below. Kael's heart pounded in his chest, and he could feel the sweat trickling down the back of his neck despite the chill in the night air. Slowly, he gathered what courage he had left and edged toward the window, his fingers gripping the cold metal frame. Peering down, he could see a young woman sprinting desperately across the cobblestones, her long hair whipping behind her in the wind like dark flames.
She was being pursued by a pack of short, humanoid creatures. Their skin was a sickly green, and the only thing clinging to them beyond loincloths were crude scraps of leather and cloth. Their long, hooked noses and sharp, pointed ears betrayed their identity before Kael could even process it
Years of reading every survival guide, monster manual, and Tower bestiary while working as a construction worker suddenly paid off. He knew exactly what these were: the weakest, most numerous denizens of the Tower, yet by sheer numbers and ferocity, responsible for the majority of climber deaths in the first year.
A Goblin.
The woman's movements were frantic, each step fueled by fear and pain. A long crooked arrow jutted grotesquely from her left shoulder, her arm swinging awkwardly with every desperate stride. Her face was pale, eyes wide with terror, and her mouth opened in a silent scream Kael could almost hear in the room above. But the street corner betrayed her. Another cluster of goblins emerged, surrounding her from all sides. The last moment of her awareness met Kael's gaze, the instant their eyes locked, and she let out a hoarse, terrified cry: "HELP!"
Then the axe struck.
The impact was horrifyingly precise. A rough stone axe, clutched by a goblin barely taller than her knee, smashed against her skull. Her body went limp instantly, collapsing in a heap of blood and broken hair.
With a grotesque wrench of finality, the goblin tore the axe out of her broken skull, sputtering blood and brain matter everywhere. As if that very act was a catalyst for what is to come, the rest of the goblins wasted no time. They leapt onto the corpse, tearing through flesh and clothing with mechanical efficiency, their shrieks and snarls mixing with the wet, grotesque sounds of their feeding.
Kael's stomach churned violently. He pressed a hand to his mouth to stifle the urge to vomit. Even from his elevated perch, the scent of iron and decay was heavy in the air, mingling with the faint smoky aroma from the city's ruined buildings.
But then something caught his eye. One of the goblins had pulled an object from within the woman's torn body. A small, glowing orb rolled across the cobblestones, catching the pale moonlight. The creature studied it for a moment, lifting it close to its crooked face. Kael held his breath, expecting the worst. But the goblin did the unexpected: it simply dropped the orb on the ground, as if dismissing its value.
"Shit… even people drop those?" Kael muttered under his breath, eyes wide.
The realization struck him cold. The Orbs, precious and the only mean to survive the first floor, could come not only from monsters but from other climbers as well. That simple fact sent a shiver crawling up his spine. Survival was no longer just about skill or strength, it was about cunning, timing, and the willingness to watch the world burn for a chance at reward. Killing other climbers might be the fastest path to collecting fifty orbs, yet it carried its own risk.
"…This is going to get hectic fast," Kael thought. The logic of the Tower pressed down on him with terrifying clarity. Avoiding groups might keep him alive for now, but isolation meant vulnerability. One mistake, one misstep, and he would meet the same gruesome fate as the young woman below surrounded and eaten by monsters. Yet with groups came uncertainty; a single untrustworthy climber could turn friend into assassin without warning.
He shifted backward instinctively, only to hit the base of his makeshift desk. The thud, though faint, seemed to echo in the silence like a cannon shot. His pulse leapt violently. The goblins paused, noses twitching, heads swiveling as if they could scent his location. For a heartbeat, Kael froze, paralyzed by the fear of discovery. Luckily, the creatures could not locate him, and after a tense moment, their attention returned to the next scream echoing from another street.
Kael swallowed hard, trying to steady his trembling hands and shallow breaths. He gathered whatever courage he had left to go back to check from the window. His gaze flicked back to the orb on the street below. Its faint glow shimmered, beckoning him, promising survival and danger in equal measure. The thought of leaving it behind gnawed at him, but so did the memory of the woman's death. A choice loomed. But the thought of obtaining it was also corroding his mind. That's one orb off his list, one out of fifty, but an easy one to obtain, he could make it. A quick run toward the street grab the orb and go back to his hiding.
Just as the plan was formulating in his mind, movement caught his eye. Around the opposite street corner, a middle-aged man moved stealthily, weaving between shadows, eyes darting nervously from left to right. Kael's heart sank as the man approached the orb, a mixture of desperation and cunning on his face.
Before Kael could even react, the man snatched it from the street. Relief and jealousy warred inside Kael. The man had won and Kael had lost an easy to obtain orb.
Until the realization of how cruel this world truly was.
After all, goblins aren't mindless monsters.
A hidden group of goblins, previously unseen, lunged from the shadows at the man. Screams tore through the street, his however lasted far less than the woman's and so did his struggles. Kael's stomach knotted, and his hands shook violently. When the struggle ended, another orb lay on the ground. One of the goblins nudged it casually aside, placing it next to the first, bit for another fool to take…
Kael's chest tightened. This world, this Tower, was cruel, precise, and unforgiving. Every opportunity carried danger; every reward came at a price. Survival required not just strength or skill, but observation, cunning, and an understanding of the merciless rhythm of life and death that governed the streets below.
Kael drew back from the window, every sense taut with tension. He realized that in this Tower, nothing was safe.
And alone, and powerless, his future looked grim as death itself.