Zenith’s Tower - Chapter 13

“Who are you?”

Ellis immediately moved into a defensive stance. The hooded dark figure ignored him and continued into his apartment stepping into the light. The hooded figured had their hands in concealed in their pockets and was a little taller than Ellis. The figured took a hand out of their pocket and pulled off their hood, revealing an attractive looking young man around the same age as Ellis. The guy returned his hand to his pockets as Ellis studied him. He had long blond hair that fell into his face on the right side and was tucked behind his ear on the left. His piercing eyes seemed to glow an almost catlike yellow. The unknown person ignored him and kept walking closer toward Ellis with an expression of contempt.

“Why are you here?”

Ellis clenched his fists. He had to be prepared to fight. He couldn’t use any anima attacks without harming his apartment, so he needed a weapon. Using his peripheral vision, he located his halberd leaning against the wall to the right of him. Depending on what the intruder’s response was to Ellis’s questions he prepared a game plan. The halberd was about 5 steps away. Once he had the weapon, with its length all he had to do was step forward and swing the halberd to kill the intruder. Ellis readied himself as the intruder opened his mouth to speak.

“I followed the trail of blood from the warehouse here, but you look rather well, don’t you?”

The intruder snickered and stopped after he was nearly halfway through the room.

He must be related to the arms trafficking going on at the warehouse. I can’t believe I didn’t realize I left a trail of blood. I’m so stupid. I’m lucky Solara isn’t home.

Ellis cursed to himself and didn’t bother responding to the guy’s question as he leapt toward his halberd. He figured anyone who barged into his house unannounced was probably not a good guy especially one who knew what happened at the warehouse. He had to finish this quickly before Solara got home so she wouldn’t get caught up in it. Ellis deftly grabbed the halberd and dashed toward the intruder with his weapon pulled to the side. He swung it with all the power he could muster at the intruder’s neck as he watched him preparing for any concealed weapons. The blonde boy stared at Ellis emotionless and didn’t show any signs of moving.

He’s not even going to try to dodge it? This is going to be easier than I thought.

TING!

Suddenly, one of the guy’s hands flashed out of his pockets revealing a small dagger that collided with the halberd, stopping it in its tracks before it could reach the boy’s neck. He then swiftly extended his leg out and kicked the halberd out of Ellis’s hands, sending it flying into the air before catching it on the way down.

What the hell was that?

Ellis’s eyes widened in shock as he saw what happened. This guy wasn’t normal.

“You’re just full of smart ideas, aren’t you? I honestly have no clue how you survived in the Tower.”

The boy mocked as he twirled Ellis’s halberd around in the air effortlessly with one hand still in his pocket before he pointed it directly at Ellis.

“You should be thanking me, you know. I cleaned up your little mess you left at the warehouse. You left one of the guys alive and he made it out of the building before it completely collapsed. Don’t worry though. I took care of him for you. As well as cleaned up your bloody tracks all the way home.”

He mocked him more.

“What do you want from me?”

Ellis clenched his teeth as he spoke to him.

“Oh, calm down. I don’t want anything from you. There aren’t many of us who made it out alive, you know. I just thought we Tower Walkers should stick together what with the government rounding us up and stuff. You can consider it a favor.”

The guy smiled mischievously as he stopped pointing the halberd at Ellis’s face and tossed it back to him.

“My name is Belial. What’s your name?”

Ellis caught the halberd and stared at him, not knowing whether or not to trust him.

“…Ellis.”

Ellis said, not breaking eye contact.

“You know, Ellis, you really ought to get your head out of your ass and start thinking before you act if you don’t want the government to pick you up. With how dumb you are right now; you wouldn’t stand a chance against them. And then where would your mom and sister be?”

Belial made a pouty face as he finished his sentence before he tilted his head and grinned sharply at Ellis.

“How did you know?”

Ellis asked, feeling both violated and dumb.

“Well, since I saw you prancing around town in your cute little handmade armor suit it was pretty clear. I did think it was a hilariously clever idea to say that you were in a reenactment group.”

Belial said expressionlessly as he yawned and stretched his arms out over his head while he looked around Ellis’s shoddy apartment.

Ellis wrinkled his eyebrows; he didn’t think he stood out that much. But then again, he had only been home for two days and already killed three people as well as caught the attention of this freakshow.

“How many people have made it out of the Tower?”

Ellis asked assuming he was probably keeping tabs on other people as well as him.

“There are ten people, not including us, that I know of in this area. Six of them are being forced to fight monsters and are most likely being experimented on.”

Belial claimed as he plopped down at the kitchen table. Ellis made his way over to the table and sat down across from him.

“Why are you so much stronger than I am? Eliora said that I achieved a lot more than most people do on floor one. So, I don’t understand why you’re so much stronger.”

Ellis curiously asked, showing a slight hint of jealousy.

“It took me three months in the Tower to finish two levels. Plus, I actually use the stats that I’m given.”

Belial said condescendingly as if he could see Ellis’s TowerCard.

Ellis stared at him in shock. It took him over four months in the tower to clear one level and this guy cleared two in three months.

Actually, use all the stats I’m given? I have used all my points though?

Ellis thought to himself in confusion before asking another question.

“Has everyone else who’s gotten out of the Tower made it to floor three?”

“No, from what I’ve heard, everyone who cleared the first floor wanted to get back into the real world. They never want to climb higher.”

Belial said, almost disappointed.

“So, why did you?”

Maybe he had a dying family member too and wanted to get a cure-all potion to heal them? Why else would anyone want to go back there?

“I dunno, I thought it was pretty fun.”

Belial said as he exhaled, seeming bored with the conversation.

This guy is a psychopath.

Belial looked at Ellis, who’s jaw was practically touching the kitchen table.

“Anyway, I just wanted to drop in to give you some advice.”

Belial said as he got up from the table and headed for the door.

“Oh, before I forget.”

Belial turned around and tossed a card to Ellis.

“This guy has been buying up anything related to monsters and the Tower. You know, if you need to pay some medical bills. Or get your sister out of some trouble.”

Belial winked and grinned playfully at Ellis before skipping out the door.

“Fortune awaits!”

Belial sang as the door closed behind him.

What the hell just happened.

Ellis looked down at the business card. Droven Auction House was written across the top of it in shiny gold lettering and below it, there was a number and address.

Wait, what did he mean get my sister out of trouble? Is she in trouble? What else does he know? Why does this crazy person want to help me? He does not seem like the type of person to give a helping hand to a complete stranger if there’s nothing in it for him. Maybe he works for this company and is trying to gather as much stuff from the tower as possible so that he can be stronger?

Ellis was thoroughly creeped out by Belial and was trying to piece together everything he had just learned when the door to the apartment creaked open once again. Ellis jumped to his feet still holding the halberd in his hands. It was Solara. Ellis put the halberd down when he saw it was her. She came into the apartment quietly with her head down. As soon as Solara turned her head, Ellis saw that her right eye was a shiny purple and swollen shut.

Ellis’s demeanor turned serious as his mind flashed back to what Belial had said.

“What happened.”

“Uh, it was nothing. I just ran into a pole. I’m so clumsy.”

Solara laughed quietly as she brought her hand up to her eye blocking it from his view and tried to walk past him.

Ellis grabbed her shoulder, stopping her, and spun her around.

“Who did that to you.”

Anger fumed from Ellis’s body as his face got red hot. He had been beaten enough to know what her black eye was from. It was no accident.

“Let go of me Ellis, you’re hurting me.”

Solara whined as she tried to get out of his grasp.

Ellis let go of her shoulder but blocked her path.

“Stop lying Solara, what happened?”

“It’s nothing, honestly. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.”

Solara said, trying to brush it off.

“Solara, what happened?”

Ellis said raising his voice.

Solara pushed past him.

“Leave it alone, it’s nothing.”

Solara said as she made her way to the kitchen.

Ellis tried to grab her arm again, but she jerked it out of his reach.

“Seriously, Ellis stop treating me like I’m a child. You left and I had to do everything on my own. I figured it out. I don’t need your help.”

Solara said angrily.

Ellis knew she was hiding something, but he didn’t want to start a fight with his sister. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

“You’re right. I’m sorry that I left you alone. I won’t pressure you to tell me.”

Ellis said, stepping back a couple of steps. He was gonna find out what happened one way or another there was no reason to upset his sister further.

Solara’s expression changed slightly as her shoulders seemed to relax, and her eyes fell soft.

Ellis went and grabbed the half-empty potion. Solara saw the potion and looked up at Ellis shaking her head.

“No, I don’t need any of that. We need to save that for mo-”

She stopped suddenly when she noticed the scar on his cheek.

“What the hell happened to you??”

She asked as she ran to him to inspect his cheek.

“I tried to get my old job back, it didn’t go so well.”

Ellis looked away as his expression darkened.

Solara was annoyed by the half-assed answer but didn’t bother digging for any more context.

Ellis popped off the cork of the potion to pour a few drops over Solara’s eye. She protested at first but reluctantly complied when Ellis almost spilled some onto the ground.

As her eye began to heal, she looked down and saw that the potion was half empty. She let out a heavy sigh.

“Do you think there’s still enough left in there to help mom?”

“I don’t know. I went to the hospital today and poured some more in her mouth, but so far nothing has changed.”

They both looked down at the potion.

Ellis took it and put it in his backpack. They ate leftovers silently at the table before going to bed.

Ellis woke up at noon again, it was amazing to be able to sleep so much. Solara had left for school hours ago. Ellis sat up and thought of what his plan was going to be for the day.

He first peeled up the floorboard and took out the cash, jewelry, and anima gems, then put them in his backpack before getting dressed and heading out the door with the business card in his pocket.

As he made his way toward the hospital, he noticed that the city was looking visibly better.

Wow, they must have people working all day and night to clean all this up.

Ellis thought to himself during his jog to the hospital.

When he arrived at the hospital, it was still packed with people. He went through the same routine he had for the last two days before he made his way up to the 7th floor and looked for Dr. Medicus. He saw that he was talking to another patient in the hall, so he waited until Dr. Medicus was done before getting his attention. Ellis unzipped his backpack and pulled out the $5,000.

“I’ll have the rest to you soon, I promise.”

Ellis said as he handed the doctor the roll of cash.

Dr. Medicus looked at Ellis suspiciously and opened his mouth as if to question Ellis, but decided that it wasn’t his place.

“You be careful, young man.”

Dr. Medicus said as he turned to go to his office and put the money into Ellis’s account.

Ellis then went into his mom’s room and closed the door before he took out the potion. He slightly opened his moms’ mouth to pour in the potion but stopped when he saw the tube distributing fluids into her body.

What if I inject the potion straight into her IV? It should make the potion work even more effectively.

Ellis searched the drawers in the room and found an empty sterile syringe. He injected a small amount of the potion into her IV to be delivered directly to her bloodstream.

Ellis stood there, anxiously, watching the vitals screen by the bedside to see if anything changed. After ten minutes, nothing had changed. Ellis’s shoulders slumped over.

Dammit.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, please get better.”

He kissed his mom’s forehead and left the room. As Ellis exited the hospital, he pulled out the business card that Belial had given him and looked at the address. Luckily, it was only about a ten-minute jog from where he was now.

When he got to the auction house, he pushed the doors open and entered. It was a nice-looking place with glass containers showing off various items. Most of them were old looking artifacts, probably worth tons of money. After looking around for a second Ellis walked up to the front desk.

“Hello! How can I help you?”

A woman asked, popping her head above her computer. Her hair was pulled back into a simple bun and she had on a floral blouse.

“Uh hi, I have some stuff that I’d like to sell.”

Ellis said as he took off his backpack.

“Okay, if you would like to follow me into this room and I can evaluate the price of your items.”

She said as she began to get up and head to a room in the left of the counter near a set of stairs.

Ellis followed her in, and she closed the door behind them. He sets his backpack down on the desk and unzipped it. He took out the jewelry and set it on the counter. She picked up each one and looked at for about 30 seconds before she moved on to the next one.

“These are nice pieces. We can give you $500 for all of them.”

Ellis looked down at the jewelry, a bit disappointed. He was hoping that they would be worth more than that. But they weren’t his, so he couldn’t complain. He agreed and she put the jewelry into a drawer before she pulled out a small stack of money.

“Anything else?”

The lady asked as she handed him the cash for the jewelry.

Ellis then pulled out the anima gems and set them onto the desk. The clerk’s eyes widened.

“One second, sir.”

She picked up a phone on the desk and hit a number. She stepped off to the side and spoke quietly on the phone for a minute, not taking her eyes off the anima gems.

Ellis stood there, ready to grab the gems and run if something went wrong.

She hung up the phone and walked back to the counter.

“Mr. Droven would like to assess these items personally, as they are very rare finds. Please follow me and I can take you to him.”

She said as she gestured for Ellis to pick the gems up from the table and follow her out the door.

She took him to an elevator, swiped a card, and selected floor three. After taking the elevator up, she walked Ellis through a pair of double doors into a massive room, filled with various things that had obviously come from the Tower, including preserved monster corpses. Ellis looked around and saw an anima gem not even the size of a fingernail in a glass case.

The clerk led him to a desk and motioned for him to sit down.

“Mr. Droven will be with you shortly.”

She said as she turned and left the room, closing the doors behind her.

Ellis looked around a bit more and saw another anima gem, only slightly smaller than the Imp King’s gem he had, a thick glass display case enclosed it.

A man probably in his late 50’s with slicked-back silver hair walked into the room and shook Ellis’s hand. Ellis grasped his hand firmly as the man introduced himself.

“Hello. Let me introduce myself, I’m Droven.”

Droven said as he sat down across from Ellis.

“I’m Ellis. Nice to meet you.”

Ellis replied hesitantly.

“So, I was told that you have some monster related items for me?”

Droven said as he put his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together.

“Yeah, I do.”

Ellis put the two gems he had on the table.

Droven’s eyes sparkled in surprise as he looked at the large gem Ellis placed on the table.

“Wow! She told me you had a monster gem, but she didn’t tell me you had this big of a monster gem! How did you get one this large?” Wuxiaworld for visiting.

Droven asked curiously as he inspected the gem.

“I found it in the street after all the monsters were killed.”

Ellis lied.

“Well, that is extremely lucky!”

Droven continued inspecting the gems before he looked back up at Ellis.

“I’ll give you $1000 for the small gem and $50,000 for the big gem.”

Ellis tried not to drop his jaw.

“Uh…”

“I assure you; these are great prices.”

Droven beamed Ellis down with a business-like smile.

“Yeah, yeah that sounds good.”

Ellis thought they would be worth something, but he never thought that they would be worth that much.

His legs shook with anticipation as Droven left to go prepare the money.