The Manaverse

Slatewell Town Hall

Granite City

"I guess I can wait to find out what happened to Kit for a little while longer." Jut said, awestruck. The Town Hall rose up before him.

Granite City was known for its namesake granite stone deposits. So, it was used in a lot of buildings around the city. This new building was no exception.

The modern castle with four high rise hotel towers was still just that. Only now, the building actually looked defensible now. The entire structure was made of granite, or at least it was made to look like it was. The modern decor, windows, courtyard,and parking lot didn't clash with the new fortification style of the building nearly as bad as Jut thought it would.

The center tower that was the Town Hall building was a bit shorter than before but larger overall. The roof sported new battlements and the windows that covered its walls were arched. Every fourth or fifth floor was tiered with their own battlements. The whole building looked more like a castle than ever before.

Starting at the second tier from the bottom, their were decorative sky bridges reaching out from the corners of the Town Hall, connecting it to the Residential Towers.

The Residential Towers weren't nearly as massive as the Town Hall, but they were true towers in their own right. The base of each tower had an archway three stories high that cut through the center of the building in both directions, giving each tower four feet. The towers were impossibly tall now, at least one hundred stories.

Every ten floors there were open areas that were encased in glass and indoor parks could be seen. Once the towers shot past the second to last floor of the Town Hall, the sky bridges between them and the center building stopped. After that, more sky bridges connected the towers to one another every ten floors instead. The flat roof of each tower was just barely visible from where they stood.

Brick elbowed Jut. "And to think. We get one of the penthouses."

Jut went from being in awe to flabbergasted which faded to a simmering anger. He nearly fell over.

"What the Hell? Now we get a real defense? After we're safe?" Jut didn't even process the feeling until he'd said the words out loud.

"Better late than never. Maybe we can prevent a repeat of last night now." Brick said.

After they both stared at the building some more, Jut stewing and letting his rage build, Brick nudged him again, breaking the spell.

"Let's check it out. I don't really want to have to wait in line for too long before I can shower."

Brick held out his arms. He was covered in gore and awful. Jut knew he probably was too. Brick was right and Jut realized getting angry could wait, if it would do any good at all.

They didn't see anyone until they passed under the nearest sky bridge. Staff members were stationed like security. A few patrolled the grounds, which were still as elegantly decorated as before. There were fountains and topiaries, bushes flowering with many colors, and open spaces with benches.

The front doors were glass and slid open as Brick, Jut and the dogs approached them. The interior was laid out similarly to before with a reception desk on both sides with Safe Zone staff behind each. A small set of stairs just past the desks lead to a familiar food court. Only, the stores were now plain stands and the dining area was made of the same grey stone as the building. Color was introduced by decorations that popped against the grey.

Jut recognized the nearest blonde woman with short hair and huge glasses right away and they moved over to her station.

Both Nox and Gunther sat patiently nearby. Another clerk their group saw regularly came around the other desk and approached Gunther. The Rottweiler eagerly accepted pets from the man. Nox sat sadly, but perked up a bit when the clerk reached in and scratched the shepherd too.

"Wendy, hey. We're here to get our new room keys." Brick said, grinning at the blonde staff member.

Wendy smiled as she looked up. As soon as she looked them over, her face paled.

"You two need to go get cleaned up. Please, touch the pad." Wendy gestured to a familiar glass square in front of her. She also backed up as they approached.

Jut forced a smile for the clerk. "You seem well. How was your wave night?"

Wendy shrugged. "I went from my post here upstairs." Then she gave them both a reassuring look. "How are you two? I heard we lost a lot of hunters."

Both men gave the same fake, shallow grin and nodded.

"We're fine. Just want to get into our rooms." Brick said. He placed his hand on the glass square.

Jut leaned in a bit and tried to speak just loud enough for Wendy to hear him. "What happened with the bunker?"

Wendy paled worse than before as she put her hand to her mouth. "You haven't read your System Notifications?"

They both shook their heads.

"Why?" Jut asked.

"Just... Read them. Do it in your room. It's not good." Wendy said, shaking her head. She wouldn't say anything more about anything else after that.

Jut shrugged and stepped over to another glass panel on the desk.

Unlike in the Shop, when his hand landed on the panel, it lit up. No window opened for a long moment. Jut was about to pull his hand away when one finally did appear.

Scanning Complete. Lore Confirmed.

Name: Jut Zoak

Position: Hunter

Registered Room: North Eastern Penthouse. Bio-metric Key, Engaged

The window then changed to a list menu. The options were all greyed out.

Safe Zone Quests

Supply Turn In

Place Request

Lodge Complaint

Jut shrugged and closed the window. Brick finished just before he did and they left, waving to Wendy as they went. They didn't speak until they were outside once more.

"I don't want to read the Notifications." Jut said.

"Me neither. That sounds like a tomorrow problem." Brick said flatly.

Might be worth getting it over with, right?

Alex popped up and didn't disappear for once.

Jut responded to them both. "I want to complete my quests. Probably have to wade through the bad to get there."

"Fuck. True. Damn it." Brick cursed as they walked towards their tower.

I didn't say it before as I didn't want to intrude, but I'm sorry for your loss.

Jut couldn't help but smile. He thought to Alex. Thank you for your condolences. I didn't expect you to worry about that kind of stuff.

I am alive, Jut.

Their window disappeared from sight before he could respond. Jut thought to them anyway. Right. My apologies. Thank you again. I'm sorry for your loss, too. I know you enjoyed when I spoke to Randy.

Whenever Jut and Randy would talk, Alex would pop up and commentate to Jut. He never relayed their words, but he did notice the odd behavior.

The chat window didn't pop back up.

Jut and Brick passed under the arch of the North East Tower. The dogs were alert and kept close to Jut. Each foot of the tower had an elevator and a set of doors that led to stairs. They waited for an elevator.

They both blinked when the door opened. The car was wider inside that should be possible by a wide margin. They stepped in and looked back and forth. The elevator car could comfortably hold at least five hundred people, or more. The dogs had no reaction. They just sat at the men's feet.

There was only one button, so Jut pressed it. A short ride later, they stepped out onto the "first floor" of the Tower. They left the elevator access room and could go three directions. Left and right were hallways with rooms on each side. A lot of rooms. In fact, the doors were so close together, it didn't make sense.

Jut and Brick exchanged a glance and both walked over to an open door. It was being held open by a random man with dark hair.

"Excuse me, but how big is that room?" Jut asked bluntly.

The man looked up and smiled. He was dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans. He looked like he had been unkempt until recently, his hair still a bit greasy and his beard still patchy and growing in.

"Oh, come look. Are you guys in this room, too?"

Too? How could we be in the room, too...? It has to be the size of a closet at best... Jut's thoughts stalled.

The room opened up into a large barracks style room. There were many bunks, three beds tall, that filled the area. At first glance, the room had to house at least five or six hundred people already, with many more beds available.

It was Brick's turn to be blunt. "How the fuck?"

The man who had been at the door laughed.

"Yep. That's what I thought too. The explanation should be in your notifications. Have you read them yet?"

Jut shook his head. "No. We haven't. We've been...helping out at the Graveyard."

"Ah, I see. Well, the way I understand it is, the Towers have enough space magic to house everyone in the Safe Zone for a year. So, we will all have to find something else by then. The majority of people have been assigned to these rooms on the first three floors. Then the hunters get the rooms above that. Almost makes me want to give it a shot. Not that these rooms are bad, mind you."

Brick interjected. "That's crazy. Are you saying each room is like this on this floor? How do we go further up?"

"Oh, yes. Every room is just like this. Makes it a pain to get in and out, but it's better than a tent. To go further up, you just need to go down the center hall by the exits. They lead to more elevators and stairs."

Jut jumped in to stop another tirade of information. He was too tired to people anymore.

"Thank you, sir. We really need to get clean. If you'd excuse us."

"Sir was my father. Call me Truman." The older man said.

"Thank you, Truman. If you really want to be a hunter, go to the shop and get you battle skill. It's a copper coin. Ask the attendant which one to get." Jut said, handing the man a copper coin.

Truman looked at his palm and back at Jut, smiling. "Thank you kindly. I might just do that."

Jut and Brick left the room and headed down the hallway Truman had directed them to. The dogs had waited for them in the hall. Again they waited for an elevator. This car was much closer to normal, however. It was still wider inside than out.

Instead if a button, there was a glass panel. Jut put his hand on it. Then the elevator started up. Jut was surprised because he hadn't selected a floor. He touched the panel again. This time, a window opened.

Enter new floor destination

Current destination: 100.

Jut removed his hand and the window disappeared.

"I know yesterday was the worst yet...but I still love this." Brick said cheerily.

Jut looked at him askance. "I...."

"Don't give me that look. Despite the blood, death, and Hell we're in, the initialization has been awesome, admit it. It's still hella cool." Brick said, cutting Jut off.

To their surprise, they arrived just then. It hadn't felt like they had moved that fast. As the doors opened, they heard a robotic voice.

"Access approved. Welcome home."

Jut cocked an eyebrow as he stepped out into the large room.

Unlike below, there was no elevator room. The elevator let out right into their penthouse suite. Suite, however, wasn't the right word. Luxury apartment was more correct.

The elevator first revealed a living room with a large wrap around couch that at least ten people could sit on. There was a huge coffee table in front of the couch. On the left was a full kitchen and dining room. An island hid where the fridge and stove were. There was a hallway opening on the wall between the kitchen and giant dinning table. It lead to a hallway with a few closed doors.

On the right of the living room was three doors with a set of stairs leading up to two more.

The decor was modern, with steel hand rails and marble flooring. The couch was granite grey and looked very soft.

What took their breath away, however, was the view. It made them both gasp and Jut felt his fists clench so hard he was surprised he wasn't bleeding.

The could only see blue from wall to wall because their walls were windows. A glass door let off onto a large balcony with a pool and hot tub next to a grilling area and more furniture. It was the city beyond that captivated them. They had a perfect view of where the flood came from.

Jut could see the orphanage if he looked hard enough, the distinct building being sliced nearly in half by the barrier was hard to miss. It was taller than it's neighbors, being an apartment complex. Jut stared at the building. He got lost in thought, wondering how Kit got off that roof and if she was okay. It was the first time he had allowed himself to indulge in thoughts of her.

They had danced around each other for a very long time, always too busy or shy to do more than flirt. Just when he had taken the initiative, which was hard since his last nasty breakup, Jut lost her again.

"Jut!" Brick said loudly. It was clear he had called to him multiple times. When Jut startled and look up, Brick chuckled. "My bad. I'm going to pick this room. Let's meet up in a bit and do our rituals after we explore this place."

Brick waited for Jut to nod before he turned and entered the right most door on the bottom.

Jut decided to look into a room up the stairs. He chose the left door. From the door placement, he expected enough space for a queen sized bed, a desk and closet. What he found made him sigh. Maybe the rewards for his hard work over the last week would be better than he expected.

The room was larger on the inside than out. The bed was bigger than a king with a fat, fluffy mattress. There was a desk too. Off to the left was a short hallway that was a closet. That hallway lead to a personal bathroom with a shower and toilet.

Jut's clothes could only have hit the ground faster if there had been a naked girl in the shower waiting for him. He was in paradise even without. A nice, hot shower is exactly what he needed at that moment.