Lemigas felt rays of gentle light piercing through his eyelids. He slowly began to regain consciousness, feeling a sensation he could only describe as an oddly soothing wash over him.
He opened his eyes.
Sprawled in front of him was an enchanted space, below the marble steps that led to the podium he was standing on was a ground made of something mystical. It looked like hardened blue gel, holding glistening stars within.
This magical floor stretched as long as his eyes could see. But not only that, beside, in front and possibly behind him, there were also other podiums.
Behind the podiums were large doors that had a white swirling light glowing beyond it. And on top of the podiums were humans, standing before floating creatures.
Exactly as he was.
Glancing at his fellow survivors, Marion and Amnet, Lemigas quickly realized what this was.
This was the gacha. This was the magical space where the units who survived the tutorial floor were presented as the rewards for the gacha pull.
Those floating creatures were Architects; all with customized avatars. Lemigas wondered if these people, playing right now at home, knew exactly what the units like him went through just to get here.
He stared at his own Architect. And that was when he realized the first bad news.
His Architect was still wearing the default skin given to all players when they started the game. That skin — the generic angel with a shadowed face — was so hated that everyone changed it when they got the chance.
This meant Lemigas's Architect, regrettably so, was a noob.
[ Wow! I really got lucky. ] NoobLord61 declared. [ An Arcane Mage is really powerful. And a Cleric is definitely going to come in handy. ]
Studying its units, it paused when its angel eyes reached Lemigas.
[ But what is a Spirit Streamer? ]
Lemigas's eyes widened. He remembered everything that had happened on the tutorial floor. The battle with the unrelenting goblin, the horrible wounds that had now magically healed, and more importantly, the voice of the game that had echoed in his chest just before he fainted.
[ Please receive your blessings from the World Lords! ]
[ You have awakened a unique Class. ]
[ Even the dead deserve to be entertained. And if you put on a good show, you shall be rewarded with powerful Skills and Items. ]
[ Unit, Lemigas, you have awakened the Class, Spirit Streamer! ]
A Spirit Streamer. What kind of Class was that?
Lemigas knew almost all of the Classes in the game. He also knew that on rare occasions, units awakened completely new Classes, adding into the ones already in circulation.
Classes usually fell into two categories: Combat/Physical or Support/Abstract. Usually, one could easily presume what category a Class fell under just by the name alone. But this Class he'd been assigned, Spirit Streamer, Lemigas had no clue what it meant.
Was it somehow connected to him being a streamer back on Earth?
His thoughts were interrupted once he heard the Architect say something that made his heart sink into his stomach.
[ Only a 2 Star Bronze too. I guess I'll just salvage you to strengthen Marion. She's a 3 Star Silver ]
The implications of that almost got Lemigas to jump in fear. Salvaging a unit was basically killing it and recycling the mana from their cores to empower another unit. If that happened to Lemigas, that meant he would be dead.
He didn't suffer as much as he did inside the tutorial floor just to die from being salvaged.
"Hold on! Don't do it!" he shouted at the Architect.
NoobLord61's avatar paused and looked up at Lemigas. The other units, Marion and Amnet, turned and stared at him with unbelieving eyes. How could he raise his voice like that at an Architect?
[ Unit, Lemigas, what's the matter? ] NoobLord61 asked.
Lemigas calmed himself, ignoring the pair staring beside him. "Don't salvage me," he said, giving off the assumption that he knew what he was saying. "If you do, you will end up regretting it."
[ Hmm. Is it normal for units to be this way or are you just trying to save your skin? ]
Lemigas frowned, then his brows creased sternly. "Think about it? Don't you at least want to find out what this Spirit Streamer Class is? If you salvage me now, you'll never know. You could be wasting a potentially useful ability."
[ Hmmmm... ]
"Besides, you'll be sending us into the first floor of the Tower of Genesis, right?" Lemigas continued. "Rather than sending just two units, what's the harm in sending three?"
[ That makes sense, ] NoobLord61 agreed. [ But what if you end up costing the others and we lose? ]
"It's only the first floor of the Tower of Genesis," Lemigas intoned. "From what I know, it's the easiest floor in the entire five Towers. We'll survive it no matter what."
[ You sound very sure of yourself. How can I trust you? ]
Lemigas's brows creased tighter, his blue eyes filled with conviction. "You don't have to trust me. Let's just make a deal. If I prove my worth on the first floor, you let me stay."
[ And if you don't? ]
Lemigas took a second to reply. "Then you salvage me immediately."
NoobLord61 was silent for a while. The other two units, stupefied by Lemigas's character, couldn't take their astonished eyes off him. After a moment of thinking it over, the Architect replied:
[ Alright then. I agree to your terms. Your fate is in your hands ]
Lemigas nodded curtly. "Thanks."
With that settled, NoobLord61 turned its shadowed face to the other two units. "Alright, as my units, you all must prepare for us to challenge the first floor of the Tower of Genesis pretty soon. My name is NoobLord61. I am an agent of the World Lords."
Marion and Amnet bowed their heads. "Thank you for choosing us, glorious Architect," Marion said.
"We will do our utmost best," Amnet, who was quite squeamish, added, "to help rid the world of the malevolent Towers."
Lemigas didn't do a courtesy but NoobLord61 didn't particularly care.
[ I'll call on you when it's time to challenge first floor ]
A white light quickly engulfed their vision. Once it receded, the trio found themselves standing twenty feet before a tall, marble castle.
Lemigas gazed up at the building in reverence. 'The Heroes' Citadel,' he described in his mind. 'So I really am inside Towers of Asturias.'
Transmigration was one of those tropes he'd always thought was ridiculous. But who would have thought it would end up happening to him?
And of all places he could transmigrate into, why did he have to end up in the deadliest survival game to ever hit the screen?
"Hey."
A voice pulled him back to the physical world. Marion and Amnet were staring at him.
Marion was dark skinned with long white hair that fell down her shoulders and brilliant blue eyes like ocean balls. Amnet was freakishly tall with a mop of rugged blond hair on his head and tender green eyes warming his otherwise weary face.
"Are you..." Marion hesitated, studying Lemigas's face. "Are you from the Scholar Villages?"
Lemigas paused. He remembered the geography of Asturias from the game lore. The Scholar Villages were located in Estusia, known for producing tacticians and mages.
"Yes," Lemigas lied smoothly. "I'm from Estusia."
"I knew it!" Marion nodded, looking validated. "That explains your knowledge. And your self confidence."
"I'm from the Farmer Villages," Amnet piped up, his voice as soft as Lemigas expected. " The province of Crupia. I've never been far from home before."
"And I am from the Hunter Villages," Marion said, standing tall. "From Demgarth."
Lemigas raised an eyebrow. "Demgarth? You're an Arcanist from a Hunter Village? That's pretty rare. Usually, the Hunters produce Archers, Barbarians or Rogues. I would have expected you to be from the Sorcerer Villages."
He gave her a pointed look. "Unless you're lying because the Sorcerer Villagers are commonly hated for their dark history."
Marion flinched, but she held his gaze. "I swear on the Towers, I'm not the type of person to lie at all. I was born in Demgarth. My magic... it just manifested differently."
Lemigas shrugged. "Okay."
"And you?" Marion countered, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Are you being truthful about being a Scholar?"
Lemigas hesitated for a split second. "Of course."
Marion studied him for a moment longer, then nodded. "Then it is important that we work together," she said, her voice serious. "We are under each other's care now. Since we are the Heroes of the Architect NoobLord61, it is our duty to work in unity and represent him as we destroy the Towers."
"I agree," Amnet said, eager for everyone to just get along. He looked at Lemigas and Marion followed, both expecting his own declaration of unity.
Lemigas looked at their faces and sighed. "I'm in as well. We all need each other if we're going to survive."
Marion smiled. "That's great to hear." She turned, noticing other parties that appeared around them and headed into the Heroes' Citadel.
"Come on," she motioned on Amnet and Lemigas. "Let us join the others in the Citadel."
Amnet briskly followed suit while Lemigas trailed behind him. Lemigas's focus had already shifted to something else — the floating bright blue screen in front of him.
He had summoned his interface so he could find out just exactly what the powers and rules of his Class were. His survival in this game world depended on it.
-----
A/N: If you've enjoyed the start of this novel so far, please add to your collections and support with power stones.