Chapters (122)
- Tower Climber
- Jakob Tanner
- Contents
- Newsletter
- Dedication
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 100
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
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- Author’s Note
- A.K.O Book 1 Sample
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She leaned back on the couch and continued talking.
“So, Max,” she said, “What exactly is your plan then? You’ve entered a whole new place. You can’t go back to where you came from. What’s your next step?”
Max didn’t hesitate.
“To climb the tower and find my sister!” he declared.
He may have been shyer to share that goal in the past, but he was in the tower-zone now. He could walk. He had a powerful ability. He could pursue his goal full steam ahead and that’s exactly what he would do.
Sakura laughed. “Slow down there, mister. You’re far off from entering the tower. You’re not even an official climber yet.”
Max’s shoulders slumped. “I’m not?”
“No,” said Sakura. “To become a climber you need to complete one term—that’s two semesters—at the climber academy. Then you’ll be officially a climber, at which point, you’ll have to choose which type of climber you want to be.”
“I thought all climbers were the same,” said Max.
“Wrong again,” said Sakura, shaking her head. “In the tower-zone, climbers are divided into five sub-groups: tower climbers, defense climbers, healer climbers, police climbers, and city climbers.”
“It’s pretty obvious from their names,” Sakura continued. “But I’ll outline them for you. Tower climbers explore and complete missions within the tower. Defense climbers focus primarily on defending the city from the monster waves. Police climbers focus on anything the regular tower-zone police can’t handle, including rogue climbers. Healer climbers focus on healing the citizens of the tower-zone, citizens and climbers alike. And, lastly, city climbers deal with important climber infrastructure within the tower-zone.”
“So I guess I want to be a tower climber then,” said Max.
“Correct,” said Sakura. “Which also happens to be the most difficult climber branch to qualify for. You’ll have to graduate in the top-tier of your class to be able to register as a tower climber.”
Max sighed. Only moments ago, his goal of exploring the tower and seeing his sister again felt within reach. Now it felt just as far away as ever.
Sakura stood up and petted Max’s hair affectionately.
“Don’t look so glum, mister,” she said. “We’re taking it one step at a time. Right now we’re going to go to bed. Your room is over there. And tomorrow I’ll show you the climber academy and get you signed up. Sound good?”
Max nodded excitedly.
Tomorrow he was going to take his first step towards becoming a tower climber.
12
Max woke up to the sound of voices.
For a second, he thought he heard Mr. Grimes speaking to the other orphans, but then he remembered he hadn’t slept at the group home last night. In fact, he was never going to sleep there again.
“C’mon in,” said Sakura. “If you see a dopey ginger kid walking around, don’t mind him.”