Tower Climber (A LitRPG Adventure, Book 1) Jakob Tanner (reading comprehension books TXT) 📖

“Ow!” he shouted.

“It looks like we found the magic ward we were worried about,” sighed Casey.

Max took a step back and placed his hand forward.

A powerful energy reverberated against his palm, sending him backwards.

He looked up to the sewer’s ceiling.

So the wall that separated the two zones of the city must linger high above them here.

He materialized the knife he’d temporarily rented from the artifacts merchant in Hawker’s Alley.

He stabbed the knife into the invisible wall of energy.

CRACK!

There was the sound of glass shattering without there being any glass in sight.

“Did it work?” asked Casey.

Max placed his hand forward and felt no pushback from the space ahead of him.

“Looks like it,” he said.

He took a step forward, leaving the tower-zone behind and illegally entering the outer-rim.

70

Max and Casey continued through the sewers after breaking through the mana ward separating the two zones of the city.

Ostensibly, nothing had changed after the ward. The sewer was a sewer just like it had been prior to the magic ward they had broken through, and yet, Max felt his heart beat a little faster.

“I can’t believe I’ve crossed over the wall,” said Casey, biting her nails as they walked through the underground passage.

Max expected Casey to become more nervous once they crossed the wall, but he was surprised at his own rising anxiety. He was someone who had now lived on both sides of the wall, in both areas of the city that made up Zestiris, but even as someone who had crossed the boundaries between the zones more than once, he still felt the gravity of doing so once more.

They continued further until they found another set of ladders leading up top.

The librarian girl had known a lot more specifics of the subterranean world of the tower-zone than that of the outer-rim, so it was up to them to guess when to emerge in the other zone of the city.

“It’s going to be a risk wherever we emerge,” said Max, “so we might as well try here.”

“Lead the way,” said Casey.

Max grabbed hold of the ladder and pulled himself up.

He eventually got to a sewer grate and had to twist a handle to loosen it so he could push it up.

Max quickly peeked up into the streets and sighed with relief when he saw the tunnel emerged in a random empty alleyway.

He quickly pulled himself into the alley and then helped Casey by grabbing her hand and pulling her up.

He put the sewer grate back where it was.

“We have to remember this alley,” said Max. “It’s our route back to the tower-zone.”

Casey nodded and looked around.

“This is the outer-rim, huh?” said Casey. “Looks pretty similar to the tower-zone.”

“It’s pretty much identical,” said Max. “Well, except for all the magic, but that’s pretty much it.”

They stepped out of the alleyway into broad daylight. The giant wall of Zestiris loomed in front of them.

“This is so weird,” said Casey.

“Stop saying stuff like that,” said Max. “You’ll blow our cover.”

They grabbed an outdoor table by a café and ordered two coffees.

The next phase of the plan was to hang out near the wall and wait until one of the tower-zone garbage trucks emerged and then to follow it to see where it went.

A waiter brought them two mugs of coffee.

Casey and Max thanked the man and each took a sip, keeping an eye on the wall ahead of them.

“I know you told me to stop saying this,” said Casey. “But it’s so weird. I’ve seen this wall all my life and yet I’ve never seen what it looks like on the other side?”

“And?”

“It looks exactly same,” she said with a smile.

Growing up, Max had always been so fearful about the world beyond the wall. It was a world of mystery, where magical beings and demons lived. No one fully understood it completely, but it was a place walled off from the rest of the world, because it was simply too dangerous. The monsters and even the climbers were a threat to the balance of the world order.

“I was always taught to be fearful of the tower-zone,” laughed Max.

“Interesting,” said Casey. “We were taught the opposite, about all the brilliant advancements that existed in the tower-zone that the rest of the world lacked. Manatech, healing magic, and more. We were meant to feel bad for those who weren’t allowed to live on our side of the wall, but part of me always thought that was hogwash, you know? So what if we had manatech and magic? Everyone else beyond the wall could go on a holiday to Hawaii or Paris and explore the world. Meanwhile, those in the tower-zone were not allowed to leave. Or, at least, not easily.”

“I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, wherever that may be,” said Max. “All I wanted was to get closer to the tower-zone and the tower itself. To its magic. To its power.”

“Well, you’ve really taken in the tower-zone Kool-Aid haven’t you then?” said Casey. “This might be the furthest vacation I ever get in this world, so don’t ruin it while it lasts.”

Max couldn’t ruin it, even if he tried, for at that very moment, an armored garbage truck emerged from the tower gates.

They no longer had any time to waste.

Max put some money down on the table, probably more than the coffees actually were, but they had to move quickly.

The cash was the same money he’d brought in with him on his first day in the tower-zone.

Casey hailed a yellow cab and the two student climbers jumped in the back seat.

“Will you follow that truck, mister?” asked Max.

The cab driver took in the fact that it was coming from the tower-zone.

“I don’t want any trouble,” he said.

Max materialized a gold coin from his pouch. “This is rare tower-zone currency, which will fetch you a very high price from black market collectors. This could potentially feed you and your family for years. What do you say? Will you help