Tying up the Nouem

Stasis Field, Chronomancy, Tier 2, Rank 1

Below is the sigil for the Tier 2 spell Stasis Field of the Chronomancy school. This spell is cast with the basic casting procedure targeting the caster. Upon casting the spell you and a 10 foot radius area surrounding you drops out of the main timestream for 30 subjective seconds from your point of view. While inside the stasis field, you and any other creatures in the field with you are unable to take any action that would produce any effect outside the field. While inside the stasis field, you and any other creatures, objects or effects are unable to leave the area. Once the duration ends, you are returned to the main timestream where no time has passed. You age for the duration of the spell. This spell does counter and mutually cancel out with other chronomancy spells in range, but as the range is much shorter than usual for chronomancy spells, this only affects others in the area of effect.

Requirements to upgrade the spell to Rank 2:

Trap and defeat 3 creatures of your level or higher at the same time inside a stasis field

The power of the spell wasn't entirely obvious, but I came up with several ideas immediately. One of the nastiest would be to trap enemies in with me, block them off from reaching me with a barrier spell, then burn them to a crisp with greasefire. It would be a modification on my most effective use of the barrier spell, except it wouldn't need nearly as much in the way of positioning and environmental effects.

As I thought about it more, I came up with more ideas- I could effectively teleport a short range, changing places with allies instantly from the perspective of the enemies. I could buy time to disarm a trap or solve a puzzle right under enemy noses. I could take an item without anyone having any chance to notice me taking it. It was a very useful spell, and I'd definitely store at least one charge of it in my staff.

There was only one last piece of bookkeeping left before I could go on with my day. I could have sworn that the first time a spell ranked up, I was automatically assigned an option after it timed out after less than fifteen minutes, but now hours after killing Simulacrum Xem, here it was. It felt like some of the rules of the Tower were changing in small, subtle ways here and there, and this was not the first time it had felt like it.

Spells

Mind Worm: Psyche, Tier 2, Rank 2 (choice pending) Below is the sigil for the Mind Worm spell of the Psyche school. This spell conjures an incorporeal, parasitic mental construct in the form of a carnivorous and congnivorous worm. The worm will do ongoing damage to the mana, hitpoints and the soul of the target, for as long as the target doesn't pay direct attention to it. Most intelligent creatures are capable of destroying a mind worm once aware of it.

Requirements to upgrade the spell to Rank 2: Kill 1/1 Creatures with Mind of 3 or higher with this spell

The spell Mind Worm has reached Rank 2. Choose one of the following upgrade options.

Mind Probe: When casting the spell you may choose to cast it as a probe instead of a ravenous worm. If chosen, instead of dealing damage the worm slowly infects the targets mind over a duration based on the targets hit points and mana. If the target notices the Mind Worm, the spell immediately ends, as with the normal casting of the spell. If the target does not notice it, you may perceive the world through the targets senses for 5 minutes. The 5 minutes do not need to be consecutive. After the 5 minutes are up, the target immediately notices the spell and recognizes you as its caster.

Requirements to upgrade the spell to Rank 3: Spend 0/1 hours in the body of a different creature by using this spell

Insidious Worm: When casting the spell you may choose to cast a slower-acting version of the worm that is much harder to detect. The spell works in the same way as usual, with the following changes: the spell deals damage at 10% the rate. The spell ignores non-magical self-healing abilities. The target must be made aware of the spell by an outside entity in order to have a chance to notice and destroy it. The spell variation has no effect on targets with superhuman Arcana for reasons that shall become obvious upon reaching Arcana 7.

Requirements to upgrade the spell to Rank 3: Have 0/10 Mind Worm spells running simultaneously

I was starting to get used to how awesome these rank-ups for spells were, and kind of regretted not picking up the higher rank for Abjuration for a minute. Ultimately, I had enough ways to kill people. I picked the probe version.

Then we got to researching. I hadn't had the chance to read any of the books I'd taken with me from the library, nor did I have a chance to talk to Chum about what we'd discovered after him dying. For a while I was still jumpy and ready for everything to go wrong, but as time went on and we were discussing the details of the demiplane, I managed to focus on the work and felt a lot more like normal than I had been.

"Is it finally happening?" I asked Chum. "What are we talking about, Boss?" Chum said. "These abilities, they seem sort of overpowered. Like I'm finally getting that isekai protagonist power-level creep," I said. "I don't know what one of them isekais is, but your power level is getting to be pretty decent for your level. I bet Hannah has some sick abilities, and Artemis is like five levels above you, so most of your spells wouldn't stop her," Chum said. "What is the top though? How high do these spells go?" I said. "The top is creating the Tower, ya dunce. Look, I know your world didn't have magic, and a lot of the more obvious spells are things like fireballs and magical healing. Useful, sure, but a proper wizard at a high level of power should neither be getting into a fight nor get injured. A good level 50 is someone who makes it so that the monsters they were going to fight decided to never go into the room where they found them. Or opened up a portal in the monsters den while they were sleeping and filled it with acid gas," Chum said. "So is the Xem guy right? Is wizard magic really the most powerful class here?" I said.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Hardly. A really good fighter of that level will be nearly immune to magic, or move so quickly that you'll never see them coming. Some of the rare classes like Hannah's Death Knight will get even weirder abilities, some of which you may just never have a counter to," "So, what should I focus on?" I said. "Focus is not your strength as a wizard. Learn fucking everything, Boss. Your strength will come in two parts- being able to get the tools for any situation you understand going into it, and having the knowledge and abilities to always understand it. But we're talking on Demiplane of Heroism terms. By the time you're getting close to your maximum potential all of you will be demigods. I just don't know if you'll live that long," Chum said. "Wait, wouldn't all of us dying be a failure for this archmage guy? Like, shouldn't he want as many of us to stay alive?" I said. Chum jumped up on my table and drew with a pencil like it was a walking stick.

"Look, kid, a demiplane of heroism is like a funnel. You jam it full of people and mana, and you squeeze people through it, like a sieve. The magic attracts and/or creates monsters, which get their mana added to yours as you kill them. By the end of it, whoever of you survives will have killed the vast majority of monsters in the Tower. It won't matter if he gets 50 level 100s, or one level 200, the concentration of magic will be the same. Judging by the intensity of this demiplane, my guess is that he's going for quality instead of quantity. Just a handful of survivors, of cosmic power levels," Chum said. "Why? It's not like we'll work for him," I said. "Boss, with these people that have Mind stats in the hundreds, you don't think of them like people. It could be that he expects that once you get there you'll have changed your mind, or learned something that will lead you to doing what he wants. Maybe even if you manage to kill him. He's crazy, not stupid, don't forget that," Chum said. "I guess," I said.

We spent the rest of the night researching and going over arcane theory and theorized about what the Tower's purpose might have been. It was clear that it was stretching Chums knowledge to the limit, which told us that this was no usual demiplane of heroism in and of itself. By the time the clock showed 06:00, I was ready to leave to explore the hotel more and get some breakfast when it became available. I took another shower, threw my clothes into the washing machine, which was clearly magical, as my ridiculous outfit came out perfectly clean, dry and smelling of not quite lavender less than a minute later, and left my room.

I made my way down to the banquet hall, though breakfast still wasn't for a few hours. I was absolutely certain that I wasn't the only one who wouldn't have slept according to this new Tower based clock, and I just wanted to find people. The halls were empty and had that liminal feeling that empty hotel hallways always do.

I reached the banquet hall and it was wide awake with activity. Hundreds of people, most of whom I didn't recognize were talking, yelling and a couple even singing at each other. I looked across the room and saw shades of joy and relief everywhere I looked. Nobody was thinking of the next challenge. We were all just happy to be alive. As I was thinking this, I saw Zack waving around a pitcher of some sparkling drink and telling a story to a good half of the Guild loud enough to be heard even over the din of the hall. The English contingent were there, along with Hannah and people I had only a passing familiarity with. I was surprised to see Mrs. Xiang here too, though she was looking down at a cup with a neutral expression on her face and lips tight.

"-and I said I've got your Rick and Morty right here, asshole," he exclaimed, and several people laughed as I walked over. "The hero of the Tower!" Arnold called in my direction. I looked behind me, which was also, apparently, hilarious. "Yeah, Boss, they're clearly talking about me," Chum said. "I literally have no idea what you're talking about," I said. "We were counting who's saved the most people in the first challenge," Hannah said. "Artemis doesn't count, too abstract," Zack said. "Yeah she does. Look to your right, look to your left, you and the people on your either side would be dead without her," I said. "Boo! No dead people talk," a fit young man, Kidlat, I think said.

But it was too late, I'd soured the mood, and as I sat down everyone sort of quieted down. The woman with the frizzy hair I'd met when I first woke up in the Guild- I'd since learned her name was Rita- joined us with a strange copper and glass contraption that reminded me of nothing as much as a still- which started steaming and whistling, and produced spouts of coffee from several nozzles before anyone had had the thought of putting their cups down.

"Oh god, oh fuck, sorry, sorry, I just thought- coffee," she said. "Coffee's great, everyone, steal cups from our neighbors!" Zack said.

We sourced some cups and got some coffee in them. It was good, but tasted just a little of motor oil.

"So are we just going to pretend like we didn't leave a bunch of people for dead?" Mrs. Hoxley said. "We are for now," Brooke said. "I don't know. Maybe we should say a few words," I said. "No one does a funeral the next day after someone dying. We've got to get used to it and shit," Emma said. "I'm more worried about the living," Mrs. Xiang said. Her voice was dry and rough, like she had cried a lot and not spoken in the meantime. "We'll be fine," Hannah said. "Not us," Mrs. Xiang said.

Our thoughts turned to Clarence and the Lounge. Thank god there had been a bathroom adjoining the Lounge, and I hoped it was a part of it as far as the Tower was concerned, but they would still be stuck in there, two hundred people in a space just big enough for half as many.

"I'll work on it," I said. "What the hell are you saying, boy?" Mrs. Hoxley said. "I am learning magical theory, I have some spells related to portals and teleportation. If it can be found, I'll find it," I said. "Pah, promises, what use are you now?" she said. "Show some respect you damn crone, none of us would be here without Alex," Emma said. "Respect!? I'll tell you about respect," Mrs. Hoxley said. "It's alright, Emma. Look. You all had the right idea. We still have two days of safety and rest, and we should use them. Whatever comes next will be tough enough without us squandering our chance for R&R," I said. "Wanna get drunk in my bedroom? I have a minibar, except it's all full-sized bottles," Zack said. "So, just a bar?" Hannah said. "Maybe after breakfast," I said.

The two days of peace passed in a flash. Most of us had never stayed in a place as nice as this one, and trauma had made a lot of us very close indeed. I plotted and planned with Artemis, drank with Zack, reminisced of Earth with Anna and played card games with Chum. Most of the time, someone else walked in and joined us, in each of those activities. I was having the sort of fun I couldn't remember since middle school. And just like those days an eternity ago, they passed in an instant and hardly left a mark on my memory.

On the morning of the third day I woke up early. I'd managed to sleep through the night on my bed, though I'd been drinking with Zack last night, so maybe that wasn't really the sign of mental health that it seemed. On the upside, no hangovers. I didn't know if it was something about the room, or my healing ability, but I was fresh and rested.

We'd all agreed to meet up in the lobby at 8 AM. The card we'd each gotten on our first day of rest had said that some staff would arrive on our third day here, and we all needed to know what it meant. It also said that we would be safe so long as we stayed in the hotel, but I still took my staff and book with me.

In the lobby I was met with a mass of people, all looking in the same direction. Everybody was transfixed to the large windows across the room. I followed their gaze, and I too couldn't stop staring.

I was looking at open sky. We seemed to be in woods of some sort, dense, drooping and moss-covered. We were a top a hill, and a dirt road wound up the hillside towards the lodge. Two figures were carrying large travel cases up the incline. These must be the staff we had been warned of.

But, just like everybody else, I couldn't look away from the broad leaves, the soft moss and the orange sun rising deep behind the trunks of a thousand trees and on the horizon, a tower, black as obsidian and reaching for the heavens themselves.

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