The Daig'digaia Saga: Fifty Adventurers Come Together!

S1E3: The Two Towers / Trickle of Allies

With Gershwin alongside me, I spot two tall towers in this continent of Dillingtonlandia.

These towers are connected to the fantasy Dillington High School by a dirt road.

The walls look worn out, possibly due to the sometimes menacing weather over the years.

“Man. We just entered this world, and we dunno the whole of it,” Gershwin worries.

“Maybe you should've played more RPGs like I do.”

“Like I have the time to do that.”

“Oh, never mind. Let's just inspect the sign over there.”

And we do so. The sign says, below the artist's conception of the towers:

PBM Steel

Jalousies by JALWINDOR

PERMANENT Concrete Blocks

Plumbing by AMAYA

The Future PADRONAS TWIN TOWERS

Architectural Design: T. S. Obes & Associates

“Looks like this building's never finished,” Gershwin states.

“And with that, it's possibly haunted with monsters. So be careful. We might find a way to defeat the threat the nurse is talking about.”

“OK, let's go.”

Once we get inside the first floor of the towers, we immediately spot an elevator on the left tower and a stairway on the right one.

I inspect the elevator, noticing something.

“Hmm... This elevator seems to be defective... I shouldn't bother with it.”

And thus, we have no choice but to use the stairway...

...until we unknowingly set off an alarm.

“WARNING! SECURITY BREACH!”

I know it. The alarm summons some monsters, namely a spider and a snake.

With our physical attacks, we easily dispose of them, deactivating the alarm entirely and clearing the way towards the stairway.

Now we're on the second floor.

We spot a treasure chest, and it can trigger a trap, so we proceed with caution.

The chest thankfully isn't rigged, and we can see a pair of sports shoes.

[You got Adidulas.]

As expected, once we get to the next stairway, we set off another alarm.

This time, we encounter a revenant, a will-o'-the-wisp, and a weird M-shaped monster.

We have no difficulty dispatching them.

Upon reaching the third floor, we just need to take a break from all the walking and fighting.

While searching for a safe resting spot, I bump into a caped girl wearing women's office clothing and a wide-brimmed witch's hat.

Yeah, that is pretty dumb of me, and Gershwin can only smirk.

I exclaim... “Hey! Watch it! I'm gonna... What the heck?! Are... you...”

The girl responds, “Are you guys Benoit and Gershwin?”

Gershwin and I answer, “Yes we are! And are you, um, Jurina? Jurina Kawamura?”

“Right on!”

***

Jurina Kawamura. Age: 18.

As if her name didn't give it away, she's of Japanese descent.

Despite her roots, she has quickly adapted to American culture – and many other cultures that comprise Seattle.

One time, she treated me to some samgyeopsal at a Korean restaurant.

Normally, I'm a loner, but who would turn down an offer from a trusted classmate?

“The reason why I treated you in the first place is that I know of your poor eating habits,” she commented as we began to feast on the “three-layered meat”.

“W-What? How'd you know it? Did you spy on me or something?”

“Nope. As a fitness advocate, I believe it's in my best interest to encourage everyone to eat healthy. You don't need to pay too much for it, and especially you should not pay too little for it.”

“OK, you got me. I admit I'm eating ramen and chow mein in these past few days just to save up for a figure I've wanted to get.”

“Ah-ah-ah. That's called wrong priorities.”

“Yeah, I know, I admit I'm wrong.”

“And until you've straightened out your priorities, I'll treat you to this restaurant every time, whether you like it or not! Just to let you know, my family's quite loaded, so I'll treat you many times as much as I want!”

“Aw, come on!”

Come to think of it, her frank yet friendly approach to interacting with other people makes me think she's best suited as a secretary to some CEO or something.

Heck, her outfit, minus the staff and the hat, makes it all the more obvious.

***

“Yeah! Now that's three of us,” I enunciate with joy. “So, how did you land up in this old building?”

Jurina explains, “Hm... I just watched a telenovela on TV. The TV flashed for a second. And I woke up in this dingy old 

building. Then a voice commanded me to search for a mysterious chair that is located on the top floor. And someone else, who is also one of us, is also on that floor.”

Gershwin concludes, “Now, let's get going.”

“And...” I apologize appropriately, “sorry for bumping into you.”

“Accepted. No sweat.”

And also, on that note, the third floor has absolutely no traps at all.

Now on to the fourth floor.

There's another treasure chest here, and it contains...

[You got 4 Attack Spheres.]

From the name alone, Attack Spheres should enhance one's attack power, and are consumable.

And yes, the chest isn't rigged, either.

Yup, and the same-old alarm sounds off when we three try to get to the next floor.

Besides two revenants and two will-o'-the-wisps, there's also a man wielding a dagger, and the crest on his chest armor looks kinda suspicious.

Most likely, that crest is the symbol of the so-called “The Movement”.

The plot thickens.

So, I just have to call the dagger-wielder “Terrorist Type B”.

With the help of Jurina's first-tier fire spell, Apoy, we easily eliminate the enemies.

We're now on the fifth floor.

We spot another treasure chest, and we expect it to not be rigged.

Indeed, it's not rigged.

[You got 5 bottles of Hi-Potion.]

And yup, there's another monster-summoning alarm here.

This time, a group of skeletons, a kraken who is named “Phosphorous Gobu”, for some reason, and a group of zombies with the more sensible and poetic name of “Preserved Dead”, all try to charge at us.

Jurina knows what to do with those fiends.

She roasts the skeletons and the zombies with her Apoy spell and zaps the kraken with her first-tier thunder spell, Kidlat.

Thus, it's a safe passage.

We're now in the sixth floor.

We expect both a not-rigged treasure chest and a monster-summoning alarm here, and we're not mistaken.

[You got 2 Tents.]

As for the monster encounters, there's a group of treants called “Old Man Willow”, a group of hydras called simply “Big Snake”, a ghost, a will-o'-the-wisp, and a group of armored man wielding dual katanas.

Like in the case of the dagger-wielder, the katana-wielders' armor has the same suspicious crest.

Therefore, I'll just call them “Terrorist Type A”.

Because it's a gauntlet battle, we have to pour out all our special attacks, which are called “Innate Skills”, until the fiends are no more.

And about tents.

They replenish the entire party's HP and MP to full, as well as heal all status abnormalities.

The only condition: It must be used at a Kamalayan Crystal, which is conveniently located next to a working elevator.

Thus, we all use a tent after that exhausting gauntlet battle.

And now, we three reach the seventh and topmost floor.

There, we spot a man in shining armor fighting a mechanical monstrosity.

I ponder, “Hmm... Jurina's right.”

We just watch him in action.

The man quips, “Prepare to meet God's wrath, you force of evil! Hyahhh!!!” and performs a downward s***h on the mech.

But the mech retaliates with a violent swipe of its robot arm.

And the man simply faints.

“No! We mustn't let him die!” Jurina exclaims.

We then run up to him and talk to him.

And I see his face full of anguish.

Thank goodness, it's not a deadly attack. But we still need to be on our toes.

I inquire, "Are... you... Nolan? Nolan Iverson?"

The man just recovers, as if he's just shaking off that critical strike like it's nothing.

He pauses for a while and gives his thanks.

“Thank God you are here to help me. Are you Benoit, Gershwin, and Jurina?”

Gershwin responds, “Yes, we are.”

***

Nolan Iverson. Age: 17.

As expected of the only son of two preachers who belong to the same denomination, he sports a simple, unblemished faith in God.

But unlike those other so-called “megachurches” that proclaim some sort of exclusionism in terms of “do not relate yourself to someone who doesn't share your beliefs”, the denomination openly declares love, trust, and compassion to all people regardless of their race, status, or origins – because, in his own words, “this is what Jesus Christ would do if He lived today.”

One time, he and his parents readily accepted my planned visit to their residence, which also houses their humble little church.

They immediately noticed my hoarse throat, so they prepared some simple rice porridge with lemon juice, spring onions, and croutons in short order.

When I received the porridge, I wasted no time thanking them.

Nolan responded, “As Hebrews 13:16 says, 'And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.' And we as a denomination do not toot our horns about it. It is just the case of 'we have to do what we have to do'.”

I just said “Good.” right before I dug into the porridge.

And in no time, I was not just full, but also had the hoarseness and itchiness in my throat dissipate gradually.

“Alright! Now I know you are one of my trusted classmates and friends,” I declared.

“Indeed. If there's such a thing as 'The family that prays together stays together', the same can be said of friends. No matter how far we may scatter after graduation, those cherished memories we would be having would be used to face the trials of tomorrow.”

And one such trial would be this “stuck in a game” thing.

***

“Well, just like you, I also landed in this unknown world. The reason was that I was just using my friend's smartphone – because mine ran out of batteries – and then the screen 'absorbed' me! I then gained my consciousness right in this building. And that thing over there... It may look like an unassuming school chair. The sign behind it says, 'The Castrator'. But when I closely inspected it, it turned into a vicious robot. I fought it with my sword and shield up to now.”

"Good thing we're here to eliminate this robot. C'mon, let's fight it together,” I conclude.

All four of us then approach the robot.

Nolan bravely declares, “Now, with the help of my friends, your time's up!”

***

[Boss Battle: ODR-735B “The Castrator”]

An experimental robot created by The Movement, disguised as an ordinary school chair. It oversees all security aspects of Padronas Twin Towers.

Robot Controller

Level 5 | HP: 847 | MP: 430

Wire

Level 5 | HP: 107 | MP: 0

Robot Base

Level 5 | HP: 431 | MP: 0

Robot Axis A

Level 5 | HP: 256 | MP: 0

Robot Axis B

Level 5 | HP: 255 | MP: 0

Robot Axis C

Level 5 | HP: 254 | MP: 0

Tool Flange

Level 5 | HP: 312 | MP: 0

Party: Benoit, Gershwin, Jurina, Nolan

Nolan advises, “Here is what I have learned from the robot! Attack only the robot controller! Because if you attack the other parts in the hopes of destroying it altogether, the robot will heal itself!”

Benoit chooses to perform his Innate Skill, Single Sinawali, on the Robot Controller.

Gershwin chooses to attack the Robot Controller.

Jurina chooses to cast her Innate Skill spell, Kidlat, on the Robot Controller.

Nolan chooses to attack the Robot Controller.

Benoit performs his Innate Skill, Single Sinawali, on the Robot Controller, dealing it 4 hits for a total of 312 damage.

Gershwin attacks the Robot Controller, dealing it 8 damage.

Jurina casts her Innate Skill spell, Kidlat, on the Robot Controller, dealing it 115 damage.

Nolan attacks the Robot Controller, dealing it 6 damage.

The robot axes draw the tool flange closer to a specified target.

Benoit chooses to perform his Innate Skill, Single Sinawali, on the Robot Controller.

Gershwin chooses to attack the Robot Controller.

Jurina chooses to cast her Innate Skill spell, Kidlat, on the Robot Controller.

Nolan chooses to attack the Robot Controller.

Gershwin attacks the Robot Controller, dealing it 26 damage. A critical hit!

Jurina casts her Innate Skill spell, Kidlat, on the Robot Controller, dealing it 116 damage.

Benoit performs his Innate Skill, Single Sinawali, on the Robot Controller, dealing it 4 hits for a total of 348 damage.

The Robot Controller is knocked out, taking down the rest of “The Castrator” with it.

The counter-terrorists win! That's us.

1476 EXP and 1476 Double Pesos acquired.

Borloloy Ring acquired.

Benoit leveled up, from Level 12 to Level 14!

Gershwin leveled up, from Level 12 to Level 14!

Jurina leveled up, from Level 11 to Level 13!

Jurina learned Apoywa.

Jurina learned Yelowa.

Jurina learned Kidlatwa.

Nolan leveled up, from Level 9 to Level 12!

***

“Whew... It was one heckuva battle...” I state with relief.

The next second, I gasp when I spot a strange sign on the destroyed robot – with the same crest on the armors of the Type A and Type B Terrorists.

“What's this... The sign says, 'Owned by The Movement'. Could this be the big threat?”

At least my hypothesis is confirmed.

The plot thickens even more.

“Hey, Ben,” Gershwin interrupts, “This is just a piece of evidence. Once we explore more, we're steps closer to what the threat is.”

And we hear a sound of running electricity.

Jurina exclaims, “Hey look! The elevator over there is working! Now we can go down to the bottom!”

We all then approach the elevator, descend to the first floor, and walk out of the building.