The World Tree, Yggdrasil, appeared in the world of Gaia hundreds of generations ago. It was first seen as a tiny sprout, yet its size was comparable to that of a living tree. Then, it spurted, its roots piercing through the land. It anchored itself with enormously thick roots, and despite its catastrophic effects on the population, attempting to cut the Tree proved in vain as it healed itself with every wound.
This event is the World Resurgence, and it marked the height of a new era of humanity and the horrors that come within. With the appearance of the World Tree, massive beings of horror began to appear from the far oceans of Gaia.
These cosmic entities caused destruction and torment among the current population. Even with humanity's unity and arsenal combined, weapons of mass destruction were useless against these beings. Humanity was defeated, and whatever was left of them retreated underground, where the evil's gaze did not fall.
When all hope seemed lost, the Seven Architects rose to the surface. They acquired and held the power of the World Tree, pushing back these monsters and defeating them. With their triumph, humanity was saved.
To protect humanity from such a threat in case they return, the Architects built a massive wall around Yggdrasil, protecting its roots and ensuring that all of their kind could live inside the walls. Similarly, they built an enormous and indestructible tower encircling the trunk of the Tree as a means of protection. Then, in an act of heroism and moral wisdom, the Seven returned their power to the Tree.
The Tower of Yggdrasil gave humanity a new hope to fulfill their frail lives. Even if their world was condensed inside the walls, it propagated a common desire amongst their hearts: to ascend the Tower and grasp everything they have ever wanted.
The Architects never revealed how they channeled the power of Yggdrasil with nothing but their mortal vessels. They only left one message to future generations before they disappeared:
"Would you throw away your life to discover our secret, to possess the power one was never meant to wield? Ascend the Tower. There are secrets we left undiscovered, the unknown unknowns lingering under the very feet of this world. Prepare your souls, steel your heart, and let the drive of desire run wild with your greatest ambitions!"
"What an exaggerated story."
That's what Tenno believed when he first heard of that story. I mean, could you believe it yourself? A giant tree spurting, massive monsters, and a group of humans possessing the power to kill such monsters? To him, it was all a bunch of bullcrap.
But he also couldn't deny the story's legitimacy. After all, he was lying on top of his roof, staring awestruck at the very Tree depicted in it. Whether the story he was told was true or not, Tenno didn't care. His only wish was to escape this godforsaken place.
Under the night sky, Yggdrasil's glowing, bluish-silver foliage dimly illuminated the place. Its massive size reflected the branches and leaves, almost carpeting the whole sky when looking from beneath the Tree. It gave him the only comfort he received, offsetting his horrible experiences on this Floor. It was barely visible under the night, but he could make out the small artificial windows around Yggdrasil. There was no trunk visible--only the Tower's walls and its smooth, cylindrical figure with branches protruding from it.
Tenno was a dweller on Floor 1. It was written to be a lush utopia with a dazzling view of the Tower, but reality doesn't often align with expectations. The true filth of Floor 1, which they call "The Slums," is revealed even under the night sky.
It was an open, squalid place located outside of the Tower. It was dwelled by those who failed the Entry Test or were too young to be eligible to do so. They lived in houses built from decaying wood and metal scrap. The whole place reeked of rotten waste and burnt plastic.
As for Tenno, he lived in a similarly described house, as evidenced by the metal-scrapped roof from which he was resting. His possessions came from the trash, and even his dirty white shirt, ragged black pants, and intact slippers were most likely owned by someone living on the Tower.
"It must be nice to live in peace." He stared longingly at the flat, bricked walls of the Tower. He heard all kinds of positive rumors about the upper floors from the people who failed to ascend the tower. Food and water were free, and peace was enforced.
"But it's fine. I'll turn 18 tomorrow. I'll leave this shitty place first thing in the morning," he mumbled.
Then, there were the giant, 500-meter walls bordering Floor 1 and the roots of the World tree to its whole extend. There were no animals on this floor. No trees, no plants as well.
"If the legend is true, I wonder if the people outside the walls are having a better life than us." It was a question that made him ponder, albeit with a slight hint of envy. Sighing, he dropped from an open hole in his roof. His dark blue hair glinted slightly in the light from the World Tree, and as he tried to lay comfortably on his cushionless bed, he gripped the brown, hollow-circled bracelet on his wrist.
"Just one more day," he mumbled. He remembered the words of his friend who climbed the tower before him.
"The world is truly unfair, but we humans are condemned to live upon it. It wouldn't hurt to dream for once, Tenno?" Her warm smile comforted him, and even after two years, their habit of staring at the leaves of the World Tree remained within him.
"Don't know, Kiara..." Tenno said as he drifted off to sleep.
---
THUD THUD THUD!
"Wake up, it's us!" A loud banging outside his house awoke Tenno. He stood quickly on guard, until he realized the banging sound came from the other house outside.
He peeked between the moist wooden planks on the wall as Tenno's eyes started to widen.
"Manro? This early in the morning?" He was a burly man, standing on the door with his two slightly smaller men. His neighbor's door opened, showing an elderly lady covered in dirt and wearing a white cowl. The lady then handed him nine gold coins.
"You're one coin short, gramma," He raised his voice.
"I'm sorry... I'll get it back, I promise," The old lady responded, her scawny arms shaking as she gripped her cowl. "Ever since my daughter disappeared. it's been hard getting coins for each week..."
Manro huffed, "Not my problem. Give me fifteen gold coins next week, and I will let this slide again."
Tenno heard his elderly neighbor burst into tears. It was evident that the old lady had no capacity to help herself, yet he showed no sympathy for her. He clenched his teeth with an angered utter, "Fucking scum."
As his neighbor's door closed, the three men started to walk to his house. Tenno rushed back to his bed and hid the pouch full of gold coins beneath the creaking floor, making a slight clink sound as he did. He opened his dresser, revealing ten gold coins that was just enough for the payment.
"Tenno! Ten coins!" Manro shouted as he banged on his door.
"I got it!" Tenno inaudibly cursed under his breath. He only had to pay them one last time and after they were done with their rounds in Tenno's place, he can safely go to the Tower and leave Floor 1.
As Tenno opened the door, Manro's shirtless body showing the full extent of his brawn and muscle, as if to intimidate those he was collecting money from. While it never intimidated Tenno at all, he had give in to his gang's extortion to avoid putting any more work than needed.
"Here," Tenno put ten gold coins in Manro's palm. A single gold coin bore some weight and was known to be indestructible. They were only gotten when they fall from the sky, which can be exchanged for goods at the shopping area near the base of the World Tree. It was a luxury that only people like Manro can afford to do so because of his act.
He exhaled a small sigh of relief once he gave it to Manro. He started to close door... until one of Manro's men put his foot on the door way.
"Hey, Tenno," Manro smirked, "Happy birthday."
Manro slammed the door open and grabbed Tenno by the neck, lifting him off the ground. The height and strength difference between the two meant Tenno couldn't budge through the man's fingers, despite his struggling.
"Tenno, Tenno... You really think we wouldn't remember? You really think we wouldn't hear you rambling about how much you wanted to leave this shithole?" Manro threatened before he threw Tenno aside, his back hitting the wall.
"Search everywhere he could be hiding money from." Two other men entered Tenno's house at Manro's instruction. They rummaged through everything he owned and left no corner unchecked. From the two beds, the cabinet, and the dresser, they made a stormy mess out of everything.
"You can't do this..." Tenno pleaded as he coughed and gasped for air. His eyes shot straight to the money beneath the floor, but his gaze caught Manro's attention. The man flipped a fragment of the floor, revealing a small shallow hole that contained his leathered coin pouch. All 100 gold coins he was saving up for the Entry Test.
"Just as expected, you were going to take the Entry Test today." Manro bounced the pouch on his hand, making audible clinks of coins as he did. He cackled at him, "You know, Tenno, you're better off being our slave than a Seeker."
"Let's go, we got what we need," he instructed them. Manro and his men sauntered off the house, mockingly grinning at their stolen money. As angry as Tenno was, he remained on the broken bed, defeated.
Stolen money. Scattered clothes. His home remained so trashed that one might even mistake his house as part of the hill of piled-up trash behind his house.
He didn't have the energy to clean everything up. He lost months of savings, collecting each coin he came by that regularly fell from the sky or the trash chute near the Tower. All while hiding the money from Manro.
Tenno wanted to leave this floor, but if he got caught again, he might get a worse punishment than getting beaten up or their belongings stolen. The thought of losing everything and getting trapped on this Floor made Tenno almost give up. He just began thinking about submitting himself to those thieves, despite how it would contradict his utmost desire to leave this Floor.
"Maybe I'll just try next time," He blankly stared at the roof.
"I'm telling you, man, that boy is a pushover! All young people are!" Manro laughed with his lackeys, "This is why we should take extra care that they won't take the Entry Test. There's no way we'll lose a slave!"
Manro added, "I didn't even know Tenno was just like all the other youngsters until that bitch with him disappeared one day."
At the mention of Tenno's friend, he slowly sat up as if the pain from earlier had already disappeared. His senses dulled, focused only on the thieves' conversation that fainted in volume as they walked further.
"The two brats who kept raiding the bases? It was Tenno and that girl?" asked one of his lackeys.
"She must've been from the upper floors. Bitch just fell through the trash chute, and her parents didn't even try to fetch her!"
"Gahahahahahaha! She's thrown away to die here! An unwanted little brat!"
Even hearing it from afar, he could see their derisive, mocking smiles as they insulted Kiara. Tenno's eyes became blank as if something had siphoned his soul out of him. His devoid expression, matched with a serene and calm demeanor, contrasted a storm of thoughts spinning in his head.
Tenno grabbed his only weapon underneath the other unbroken bed. A simple metal pole, which he nicked out of the trash when he first started collecting coins with Kiara. He walked towards the walking thieves. They were laughing in glee as if nothing was wrong in the world, and that infuriated him.
"Why am I getting beaten up? Why did they steal from me? Do they need the money more than me? I'm young, so should I give way to those old men and simply submit to them? Do I deserve this? Did I do something wrong, and this is the punishment I deserved? Why was I born in this place just to become tormented by these people? Why was I not born on the upper floors? Why was I not born outside the walls?"
"If they weren't here, would Kiara still be on my side?"
"No... It's because they are what's wrong in the world. They laugh like everything is in peace. They choke on their bountiful food as if they themselves are kings that rule over this floor. They sleep in peace, while those around them are surrounded by death, uncertain if they can wake up alive or if they have food to eat for the day. Unfair. Unfair. Unfair. Unfair. Unfair---"
Such thoughts clouded his mind, but overshadowing all those was a resounding solution to his problem:
"I will kill those bastards."
