Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

Chapter 17 – Floor 1: Part 9

“How much grain alcohol do we have in stock?” Mathew asked Greg immediately on his return from August City. The afternoon sun was hanging in the sky to the west, casting long shadows across the ground.

“A couple of barrels, plus whatever people have in bottles kicking around. Why?” Greg replied. The poacher was still sitting outside the Temple, and Mathew wasn’t sure if the man had even slept that day.

As the ‘Body’ stat improved, it increased a person’s stamina and endurance. Mathew had no doubt Greg could stay awake for an entire day and night and not feel the effects much.

“We’re going to need to dilute it. Not a lot, just enough so we can extend it further while still letting it burn. If we wait for a windy day, we might be able to use the draft to spread it. That guy…the weird one who laughs like a hyena, do you know if he’s improved that wind Blessing of his, the one that lets him knock an undead down?”

“Patrick? Yeah, I think he got it to tier two. Why? What are you planning?” Greg asked warily. He hadn’t seen Mathew worked up like this before. It was apparent that he had something big planned.

“We’re going to burn the city to the ground. We won’t need to fight the undead. We’ll drive them out of their holes and let the sun do the work for us. It hasn’t rained in months, and the place is a tinderbox. Half of it is already char, and we just need to finish it off.” Mathew clarified.

“You’re talking about what… making Molotov cocktails? I don’t know if we have enough for that, even if we dilute it. And aren’t those buildings made of stone?” Gerg replied doubtfully.

“The exteriors are, but there’s still a lot of timber there. If we get it going and plan it right, we should be able to set a few good fires. Then, we just tend to them and let nature take its course. We do it early in the morning, right after the sun rises, so we have the whole day. At worse, we pick off a few stragglers after the sun sets.” Mathew described.

“We’ll need to do an inventory of what we have, and I want to take a look at the city as well. I’m not saying ‘no,’ I’m just not agreeing to anything yet. Let’s talk to the others first.” Greg asked.

Page Break

They had found a wagon in one of the outlying farms, still in good condition despite being left outside for a while. After scouring the town and a few farmsteads nearby, they had come with three barrels of strong grain alcohol that the ‘Players’ had been making over the last year or so, long before Mathew had arrived.

They had even found a few buckets of pitch resin that the locals had been using for weatherproofing their homes and boats that they sailed in the nearby river. They had been using it to make torches around the walls, and it was one of the few crafting materials that the Temple ‘Store’ also had for sale at level one.

No one had bought it in bulk since there were much more economical and pressing needs for the Aether instead of buying bucketsful of black tar. But when Mathew suggested to the group that they burn August City to clear it, someone had brought forward the proposal.

A week after Mathew had first laid eyes on August City, nearly thirty people began marching up the dirt path toward the city again. Ranging from Level two to Level five, collectively, they were much weaker than the expedition Maria had joined a month previously.

But they weren’t planning on fighting. With the wagon loaded down with diluted grain alcohol, buckets of pitch and hundreds of torches made from tree branches and cloth torn from bedsheets, they were going to set a fire that would put the city to flame.

“Do you think they’ll come back? After we burn the city, I mean. If there isn’t anything left of August City, will that mean the floor will clear for everyone?” Greg mused, his feet kicking up puffs of dirt as he walked beside Mathew.

“I’m not sure. I suppose it depends on what was creating them in the first place. Maybe there’s something deep below the city that brings them back? We’ve seen Maria and the others return even when there was nothing left of their bodies.” Mathew replied, frowning at the thought.

“Like a boss or something? If this is similar to a game, then there would have to be a boss. A king undead beneath the city that is making more?” Greg contemplated.

“You’re thinking of a Lich. I doubt there is a Lich beneath August City.” Someone else interrupted from the other side of the wagon.

“Whatever it is, it’ll burn just like all the rest. If we destroy all the buildings and still can’t clear this floor, then we’ll just need to plan again. Besides, I doubt clearing a single city will solve everything. This entire floor is dead, and maybe they’ll just shift the goal for the others.” Mathew replied.

They were silent for a moment before Amanda spoke up. She had reached level 2, and her animal companion had grown in size. ‘Mavis’ was still too small for her to feel comfortable sending him against the undead, but she didn’t want to stay behind.

“What do you figure is the point of all this? Even if we clear the city, there’s still another one after that, like Mathew said. Do you think this floor is an entire world? And if it is, are there people here who are hiding, waiting until we rescue them or is everyone gone? How do you fix an entire planet?” Amanda inquired, her questions coming one after another.

“I have no idea. We don’t even know if this is ‘real.’” Mathew responded.

“It’s real. It has to be. It’s too messed up to be fake.” Greg added, and there was a murmur of agreement from a few others around them.

“Whatever the point is, it doesn’t matter right now. We’ve got a job to do, and once it's done, maybe we’ll get some answers on the next floor.” Mathew cut in, putting an end to the conversation.

Page Break

The creaking of the wagon’s wooden wheels echoed off the abandoned buildings of August City. The entire place had a desolate and neglected feeling. This had once been home to thousands of people and still was if the undead could be considered as still inhabiting it.

The wind was coming off the water, channelled through the narrow streets before rushing out the broad open plain that bordered the city.

The plan was to start the fire on the boats and buildings that lined the river and work their way inland. With the noon sun directly overhead, they had more than six hours to start an inferno before they had to retreat. If they weren’t successful at destroying the city, then they would fight the undead, provided there wasn’t an overwhelming number of them.

Worst case scenario, they would retreat and start again tomorrow.

Offloading the wagon by the docks, Mathew picked up a half dozen clear glass bottles of diluted alcohol with rags sticking out of the tops and a few torches. He would use his magic to start the fires, with the materials giving it an extra hand to burn bright and strong.

Walking down an alley, careful to keep in the sunlight, Mathew peered into every building, looking for a sign of the undead within. But there was nothing. Perhaps they were clustered deep inside, cautious of even a hint of the sun’s grace contacting their defiled bodies.

Whatever the reason was he couldn’t find them, Mathew didn’t care. He would be happy if he could clear the city without ever spotting a single one.

Walking a few streets over from where they had left the wagon, he found his target.

It looked to have once been a stable or an animal pen. There were no horses or animals to be seen, but plenty of piles of dry hay were inside. Some had drifted into the street, forming mounds by some of the nearby houses.

It was attached to a large building, an inn or an apartment complex, if Mathew was correct. Made of stone with wooden timber to hold it together, its doors and windows were closed tightly.

Perfect.

Not bothering to use anything he was carrying, Mathew focused on a large hay pile right in the stable's center. With a snap of his fingers and a loud ‘whoosh,’ a bonfire exploded into existence. Crackling merrily, it burned brightly with the amount of mana he was pumping into it.

The warm feeling in his chest that he associated with his magic began to cool, warning him he was reaching his limits for his Blessing before he needed to stop and take a break. Cutting off the flow of mana, the fire calmed slightly before catching onto another nearby haypile.

Launching a glass bottle, he watched it sail through the air, spinning slightly as it caught the light. With a loud smashing sound of broken glass, it shattered on the stone of the stable. Instantly igniting from the fire, it quickly spread throughout the entire interior.

Lighting another one, Mathew picked a new target and got to work.