Everything was a pure, blinding white, like staring into the sun.
There were no walls, and even though he was standing, there seemed to be no floor either.
The only thing in the pure white space was floating words written in black ink.
[Choose Your Weapon.]
Beside the text was a list with just the names of weapons.
"Is this the choice Kiel was talking about? Interesting."
Sitting down, Adrian began the slow process of scrolling down the list.
Rather than getting something as useless as a battle spoon, as ordered, it would be better to get a weapon that he could use to defend himself from whatever this place held, as well as other people.
A dagger looked promising and could be hidden on his body.
Although he would like a sword or spear, Adrian was realistic about his strength and skill set, which didn't include being exceptionally adept in battle.
Besides, there were plenty of weapons more useful than the spoon that he was assigned, which made Adrian begin to think.
Why did Kiel want him to pick that particular weapon?
As a matter of fact, why did each person have to choose the weapon they were told to?
Was there a pattern in the order or some trick?
Thinking back to the interaction where Kiel had made him wait, that there might be, he scrolled to the top and began to count.
Including the four robed mages, he was the 900th person to enter the wall.
However, the battle spoon weapon he was assigned was number 888 on the list.
There were 1024 weapon entries in total.
If he assumed that 7 people had revolted and gotten killed, then the numbers matched up, meaning 1024 was the required number of people for whatever they planned.
And that they could communicate with each other and adjust when somebody was killed.
With those two pieces of information, Adrian relaxed.
If his conjecture was correct, then he could just wait it out.
There had been more than enough people to meet the 1024-person quota, so if he never showed up, they would continue assigning others and hopefully forget about him.
Then he could leave.
And even without the quota, it didn't seem like they cared about the overflow of people.
More importantly, he was here, completely alone, with none of the people who had gone ahead of him in sight, which meant this was a private space that couldn't be accessed by them.
Good.
Lying back on the white ground, Adrian prepared to sleep before remembering the cuffs.
"Oh yeah. I should probably take these off, huh?"
Sitting back up, Adrian slipped the slim metal lock pick he had removed from Kiel's shoes when he fell and began picking the locks on his feet while whistling a merry tune.
CLANK!
One cuff came off, and then he began working on the other.
Once his feet were released, he began quickly working on freeing his hands, expertly moving the pick around with his tongue until-
Click.
It snapped open.
CLANG!
As the final cuff fell to the ground, Adrian spat out the disgusting taste of metal and stinky feet in his mouth before putting the lock pick inside his shoes, beneath the soles of his feet.
"This is why I told you to keep them inside your shoes, dummy. Once you know where to look, it's too easy to steal. Still…thanks for keeping your old habits, Kiel. I'll continue to use them well and properly hit you in the back of the head for dragging me into this mess."
Checking the unchanged list once more, Adrian lay back down and went to sleep.
And when he woke up, the floating words had changed.
Instead of
[Choose Your Weapon]
It now said,
[By Not Choosing A Single Weapon, You Have Made The Greedy Choice.]
[Welcome to the Tower of Avaritia]
[Touch The Physical Representation Of Greed]
And beside it, instead of a list, there was now a faint outline of a human body.
Staring at the outline, Adrian got up and circled it curiously.
There wasn't anything behind it, but as his hand got closer, parts of the body outline began to glow.
Interesting.
What kind of magic was this?
Since there was no answer, Adrian thought over the prompt.
Representation of greed?
Eyes?
Head?
Heart?
They could all work, but personally, he thought there was something better.
Greed was best represented by the hands.
After all, to be greedy, you had to take.
And the greediest people were those who constantly took and took and took despite not needing more.
They took because they could not because they needed more.
They took because they couldn't be stopped.
And in the faces of those they took from, they laughed and took even more.
Greed to him was the hands…but also… the eyes.
After all, to covet, you had to see.
But you could also covet by hearing, right?
Hmmm…
Did he have to choose only one part?
But what if there was a penalty for choosing too much?
Briefly weighing the decision and remembering the words that said he had gotten a different screen by making a greedy choice, Adrian continued to do the same thing.
Cracking his fingers and staring at the unchanged space expectantly, Adrian carefully touched his eyes and hands simultaneously.
And once he touched the body parts, the image immediately disappeared, and the text changed.
[You have Chosen - Eyes]
[You Have Chosen - Hands.]
[You Have Gained The Ability - Greedy Hand]
[You Have Gained The Ability - Envious Eyes.]
As he read the words, Adrian felt something enter his body through his finger tips.
Like the warmth of fire followed by a chilling wind, it traversed through all of his limbs before settling in his chest, then disappearing.
And before he could process it, new words appeared before him.
[Your Journey To Acquire Avaritia, The Greedy Grimoire, Has Begun.]
[May Your Greed Never Be Sated.]
[Your Status Is Being Displayed.]
"My Status?" as Adrian muttered curiously, a new screen appeared.
[Adrian ]
[Age: 17]
[Trait: Pragmatist]
[Strength: 3 ]
[Dexterity: 12 ]
[Health: 4 ]
[Magic Power: 0]
[Skills: Greedy Hand, Envious Eyes]
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