The stairs to the second floor were covered in termites scurrying in circles, which lead me to believe that the first challenge would be some sort of hive. To my surprise I found decaying wooden puppets spread across the floor instead. With warning whatsoever, they lunged towards me with tiny makeshift knives. Fortunately for me, they were useless against my amour and I destroyed my attackers with ease.
They were just distractions, as my true opponent stabbed my hip from behind. Like me it too was wearing samurai amour, though his seemed to be far older and painted bright red.
"You should have stayed in your room and starved to death while you still had the chance Yoshimatu!" My enemy shouted as it swung its blade.
"And perhaps you should have stayed hidden!"
As the fight continued, it became abundantly clear that my enemy was not in control of his actions. Even disregarding his amour, his attacks were far ineffective and slow. I managed to take advantage of this by attacking only when he was recovering from his inefficient swings. Yet no matter how many times I pierced him with my katana, he brushed it off as if it were a paper cut.
Through sheer luck I discovered that he was being controlled by nearly invisible strings entering his body after a failed strike. So I focused my attention to the strings instead, cutting every single one I saw until my enemy collapsed to the ground.
"Is this it?! Are you too much of a coward to face me on your own puppeteer?!" I insulted my unseen foe.
"I prefer the term puppetmaster..."
Before I could react, she stuck her blade into my shoulder from behind and pushed me to the ground. Even with my blurred vision I could see her; a woman with wooden skin and painted on face, dressed in a long red dress.
"Like I said before samurai, you should have stayed in your safe haven. If the towers pets don't kill you..." She said as she placed her blade into my stomach. "Then your wounds certainty will. Now if you excuse me, I have other thing to attend to my dear..."
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
The Past
Before I was taken from my proper place in time, I was a member of Koyangi clan, the greatest Samurai clan in all of Japan. Or at least I was, before the demon came. He arrived shortly after the death of our clan leader, my grandfather, died of old age. Being the eldest, my brother was next in line and become our leader in the following month.
He was a honorable and highly respected man, making him the perfect target for the demon. At first the signs of its existence were so small I barely noticed, but it started becoming more and more clear. My brothers voice became more raspy and rough, his movements became slower with each day, and his hair started falling.
I was willing to dismiss it as a combination of stress and aging, but my ignorance was finally shattered when he commanded the deaths of our neighboring enemies without any warning. Under the demons orders, every single one of them was slaughtered, even the children who posed no threat. Such atrocities would never be committed by my brother, making it obvious that he had been taken over by an outside force.
I challenged the demon for control and ultimately lost due to its dishonorable tactics and my hesitation to kill my brother, even when I knew his mind was long gone. The demon was so cruel it even denied me a proper death, stating that having my head chopped off by his blade would be far too kind for such a traitor. So instead I was banished from my clan and was forced to move to a far off land.
If there is one good thing that came out of, its the fact that the mysterious being that brought me to this tower has given me purpose.
He was a honorable and highly respected man, making him the perfect target for the demon. At first the signs of its existence were so small I barely noticed, but it started becoming more and more clear. My brothers voice became more raspy and rough, his movements became slower with each day, and his hair started falling.
I was willing to dismiss it as a combination of stress and aging, but my ignorance was finally shattered when he commanded the deaths of our neighboring enemies without any warning. Under the demons orders, every single one of them was slaughtered, even the children who posed no threat. Such atrocities would never be committed by my brother, making it obvious that he had been taken over by an outside force.
I challenged the demon for control and ultimately lost due to its dishonorable tactics and my hesitation to kill my brother, even when I knew his mind was long gone. The demon was so cruel it even denied me a proper death, stating that having my head chopped off by his blade would be far too kind for such a traitor. So instead I was banished from my clan and was forced to move to a far off land.
If there is one good thing that came out of, its the fact that the mysterious being that brought me to this tower has given me purpose.
The Bottom
Have you ever wanted to travel into the future? Well, that wish was certainly granted for me.
Imagine sleeping in your home in 1214 and waking up in 2014 in something called "a hotel room." It was a very startling discovery to say the least, but not as much as the note at the end of my bed:
"Dear Yoshimatu Koyanagi,
You're probably asking yourself what this place is, but I can assure you that is not important. All you need to know is that the only way to escape back to your life is to make your way to the 35th floor of this grand tower. For each floor you climb you shall be tested, and if you are deemed unworthy, the cost will be far worse than anything you can possibly imagine. But you are not alone in your endeavor. There are many more constants that you can join and fight alongside, but be careful. You can never truly trust a stranger.
Oh and if you wish to document your journey like the others, you can find instructions on the back of this note."
Before I started writing this down, I took the liberty to search information on just about everything about this time period. The changes my homeland has gone through the centuries are both magnificent and terrifying at the same time. As much as I am proud of the advancements in knowledge and technology Japan has achieved, I can not help but feel ashamed and disgusted by many of the actions they have taken in order to get to where it is today.
The rest of the world is equally as interesting, but I can not waste anymore time here.
I must escape this tower.
Imagine sleeping in your home in 1214 and waking up in 2014 in something called "a hotel room." It was a very startling discovery to say the least, but not as much as the note at the end of my bed:
"Dear Yoshimatu Koyanagi,
You're probably asking yourself what this place is, but I can assure you that is not important. All you need to know is that the only way to escape back to your life is to make your way to the 35th floor of this grand tower. For each floor you climb you shall be tested, and if you are deemed unworthy, the cost will be far worse than anything you can possibly imagine. But you are not alone in your endeavor. There are many more constants that you can join and fight alongside, but be careful. You can never truly trust a stranger.
Oh and if you wish to document your journey like the others, you can find instructions on the back of this note."
Before I started writing this down, I took the liberty to search information on just about everything about this time period. The changes my homeland has gone through the centuries are both magnificent and terrifying at the same time. As much as I am proud of the advancements in knowledge and technology Japan has achieved, I can not help but feel ashamed and disgusted by many of the actions they have taken in order to get to where it is today.
The rest of the world is equally as interesting, but I can not waste anymore time here.
I must escape this tower.
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