The Rust-Eater's Dirge
By @john1208
After the Shattering fused Earth with the Obolith, a hostile, ever-climbing tower, only those 'Marked' by the System stand a chance. For Tevos, a shameless scavenger picking through the ruins of the past, his Marking ceremony is a final, cruel joke delivered at the grave of the only man who ever believed in him. He is branded with [Minor Appraisal], a skill so worthless it’s a death sentence. But Tevos built a life on seeing value where others saw trash. His unique perception doesn't just identify items; it reveals their 'Primal Need'. For a rusty gear, it’s a desire to turn. For the Skittermites, the tower’s weakest vermin, it's a desperate, gnawing hunger. By feeding that hunger, he finds he can command them. One becomes a thousand, then a million, a tide of chitin and rust under his control. Now, hunted by the monolithic Guilds who want to shackle his power and tormented by a brilliant, ruthless rival, Tevos must climb. He'll use his army of forgotten things to claw his way to the top, not for glory, but for answers. But what if the promised reward for reaching the Spire's apex isn't a prize, but a final, devastating trap?
3
The Gilded Leech
By @john1208
When the Echo descended, the world was fractured and remade into the Umbral Spire, a treacherous tower ruled by a cold, unforgiving System. Istvan Marek, a reclusive archivist with crippling social anxiety, receives a cryptic package containing a single, withered seed and the System's cruelest joke: the [Lesser Husbandry] skill. While elite Awokened with god-like combat abilities fight for glory, Istvan is relegated to tending the Spire's dying hydroponic bays. But when a high-ranking Climber is brought to him, riddled with an incurable entropic curse, Istvan makes a desperate discovery. His 'useless' skill doesn't just grow plants - it can draw out and transplant afflictions, turning curses into inert, beautiful blossoms. Now, hunted by those who want to control his power and guided by a mysterious elder with a hidden agenda, Istvan must climb the Spire. He believes he's cultivating a cure, but the System's rules are not what they seem, and the 'pests' he's weeding out may be the only things holding reality together. Can a man who's afraid of his own shadow cultivate the strength to face the Spire's silent, non-violent apex, or will his unique cure become the world's final poison?
2