《The Legend of William Oh》 Chapter 1: He who has no Class ¡°Slow down. You¡¯re going to give yourself a stomach ache,¡± Gertrude admonished as Will devoured another entire loaf of bread. ¡°You¡¯ll throw up the moment you have to run.¡± ¡°Untrue,¡± Will mouthed past the wad of stew-soaked bread in his mouth, causing the old woman to wince and avert her eyes. ¡°The walk to the Hunting Grounds is over an hour, so I¡¯ll be fine by the time I get there.¡± ¡°If you can afford to walk slow, then you can slow,¡± Gertrude said, pulling the next loaf of bread away from his reaching hand. ¡°Awww...¡± ¡°You¡¯ll thank me when you¡¯re not reeling in pain from a busted stomach,¡± Gertrude said, nose raised. ¡°I am¡­ not reeling in pain,¡± Will sassed. Gertrude smacked him over the head with the loaf, the black bread¡¯s hard crust making a dull ¡®as it delivered its force into his cranium. ¡°How ¡®bout now?¡± the ancient priestess asked. ¡°Ow. I think there was a rock in there,¡± Will said, holding his scalp and checking for bleeding. ¡°Nonsense,¡± Gertrude said, prying open the rough-milled bread over her wooden plate. A fingernail-sized pebble dropped out of the bread and onto her plate, causing her weathered face to freeze in surprise. ¡°Just¡­eat slow, alright?¡± ¡°Mm,¡± Will grunted, nodding as he began to masticate much slower. It seemed the miller¡¯s new apprentice needed a bit more practice. Or perhaps a good caning. ¡°Seems like there might be a job opening at the mill,¡± Gertrude mused as Dana took the pebble and stared at it with wide eyes. The little girl looked like she was going to put the pebble in her mouth, before Gertrude snatched it out of her hand. ¡°I am not going to hunt a wheat gremlin,¡± Will said. ¡°How would that even combine with an¡­¡± Will lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. ¡°...Uru Drake?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t know. Make twice the flour from half the grain, perhaps? Don¡¯t act as though milling grain is beneath you. It¡¯s a lifetime of good, honest work.¡± ¡°Drudgery,¡± Will countered. ¡°Drudgery you can support a family with. Your parents¡ª¡± ¡°Are awesome,¡± Will interrupted. Perhaps reading Will¡¯s mood, Gertrude changed tactics. ¡°I¡¯m just saying it would be good for you to have a grounded life, raise children. Be happy. Many Climbers are not happy. I know. Perhaps you could even take Marissa as your bride? It¡¯d be one less mouth to feed here.¡± Will glanced over at where Marissa was picking her nose. The little girl glanced back at the mention of her name, nostril distended with her index finger. ¡°I¡¯m not sure we¡¯re a good fit,¡± Will said. ¡°Sink into the Abyss,¡± Marissa said, flicking a booger at him. ¡°Already there, Abyss-spawn,¡± Will said, flicking the booger off. Marissa turned red, climbed over the table and leaped on him, sending the two of them tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs. ¡°Children!¡± Gertrude hollered over the two of them before Will could get Marissa in a headlock. ¡°Sit. Down.¡± The promise of violence in the old nun¡¯s voice sent them scrambling back to their seats. ¡°I¡¯ve got one piece of advice for you, William¡ªsomething the Gods know I¡¯ve tried to teach you,¡± Gertrude said, pointing an old wooden spoon at him. ¡°Take your time. Don¡¯t leap into the Class Trial with the first three Sacrifices you can get your hands on. You¡¯ve got all summer to hunt. Shop around. Sell some of the Sacrifices you hunt, buy some gear. Check the market; other Aspirants might pass on something perfect for you. You don¡¯t even have to take your Class this There¡¯s no time limit. ¡°Don¡¯t start The Trial until you¡¯re you have what you .¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Will muttered, ducking his head at Gertrude¡¯s intensity. ¡°Good.¡± ¡°Sooo¡­¡± Will glanced around the breakfast table at the other children, who watched him curiously. ¡°Yes, you can go join The Hunt.¡± Will shot to his feet and marched towards the door. Towards his Class, and by extension, his family. The door slammed before he got halfway across the room. ¡° you clean your mess,¡± Gertrude said, her Relic of The Host glowing faintly as she pointed to his bowl and crumb-covered plate. Will took a deep breath and grabbed the dishes, walking over to the sink, where he used the morning water to clean off the plate before setting it back in its proper place. In a matter of seconds, Will was standing back in front of the door, practically vibrating with eagerness. Gertrude looked like she wanted to say something else, but simply sighed and motioned to the door, her Relic faintly glowing again. The door unlocked and swung open. Will could see it already: With the myriad potent Abilities granted by the Uru Drake Sacrifice, he would be able to acquire Relics and become a Climber, carving out a massive range on one of the upper floors, making him a Lord. In his benevolence, Lord William would deign to send supplies and money to the poor unfortunates forced to suffer through the old woman¡¯s sermons. Will burst into the early morning light, his calloused feet trotting down the compacted earth trail that led from the orphanage to the town proper. The sun itself was a bit weak this morning, barely radiating heat as the glow bloomed from the top of The Tower, illuminating the land. Still, the heat was fairly substantial, since the orphanage was parked in the undesirable arid land baked by proximity to The Tower, and by extension, the heat of the sun. Some people took days or even weeks to travel from the outskirts to earn their Classes. Even for the maniacs who lived in the frigid wastes at the very edges of civilization¡­if you could call living in ice-houses and eating raw gonku meat ¡®civilization.¡¯ Will only had to walk an hour, but he had to get some supplies first. ¡°One sling, two dozen bullets, two pounds of pemmican, and a waterskin!¡± Will called as he strode through the door to the general store. His plan to triumphantly slap the copper coins he¡¯d been saving up on Leon¡¯s countertop was somewhat muddled as he realized the way was blocked. The shop was packed wall-to-wall with others, ranging from aspirants his age getting hunting weapons to full-blooded Climbers grabbing last-minute toiletries or food. A group of Climbers currently crowding the countertop glanced over at him. Two women and three men, their Relics hinting at their roles in the party. One of the men sported a simple cuirass and a smooth wooden bow that practically hummed with power, while one of the women bore a wand that crackled faintly with energy. She wore a ring that exuded ominous energy, while the other woman had a wooden symbol of Grevash in her belt that radiated an aura of calm, not unlike Gertrude. Another man wore a ring on either hand, a helmet, and a waterproof smock. The leader, a man wearing heavy armor, with a close-shaved head and scars near his eyes, glanced over at Will, his gaze skimming over him in an instant before he dismissed him entirely, turning back to Leon. ¡°Hey Will,¡± Leon said, peering over his clients to catch sight of him. ¡°Catch!¡± Leon reached under the countertop, then threw a leather bundle over the heads of the store¡¯s many patrons, landing it in William¡¯s hands. ¡°Thanks!¡± Will said, tossing his handful of coins across the room at Leon. ¡°ACK!¡± The black-haired merchant ducked the flying metal, which clattered off the display pieces behind him, much to the amusement of his customers. ¡°Gertrude already paid, brat!¡± ¡°Oh. Then can I get my coins back?¡± Will asked, holding out his hand. Leon gave him a blistering stare. ¡°You know what? I¡¯ll check back later. Start a tab!¡± Leon gave him a good-natured rude gesture as Will waved his way back out of the store. He stopped in the shade of the store as the heat from The Tower began to build, opening up the satchel and peering inside. Not only was there everything he asked for, there were bandages and a tiny dagger more suited for cutting cheese than braving the wilds inside The Tower. But¡­orphans can¡¯t be choosers, and it was far better than nothing. ¡°¡¯Sup, Will?¡± A familiar voice dragged him out of his musing. Will peered up at Ben, his partner for today¡¯s outing, one of the local boys who could keep up with Will. If Ben would tell it, it would be Will keeping up with him, but they both knew who was in charge. ¡°I got my stuff,¡± Will said, hoisting his leather sack of supplies. ¡°You got yours?¡± Ben raised a brow and wordlessly thumbed over his shoulder, where a fine wooden bow was slung. On his thigh was a machete for both setting up camp and defending himself if some of the monsters got a bit too friendly. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He was wearing a leather cuirass and what looked like pants treated with Gollak glue, making them extra durable while maintaining flexibility. Will¡¯s gaze drifted farther down to the expensive shoes the boy was wearing that looked supremely comfortable. Will wiggled his bare toes. ¡°Try-hard.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t hate the hunter, hate The Hunt,¡± Ben said with a shrug. ¡°So my dad said we should pick off some of the easier prey and cash them in at the bazaar, shop around while we give some of the more experienced hunters time to soften up the more dangerous locations before we go in¡ªmaybe after a week or so.¡± ¡°Do you do your dad tells you to?¡± Will said mockingly. ¡°Hmm, let me think about that,¡± Ben said, glancing off to the side before returning his gaze to Will. ¡°Yes. Yes, I do. Because my dad is a smart man with my best interests in mind. What did Gertrude tell you to do?¡± Will heaved a sigh. ¡°Basically the exact same thing. . Let¡¯s do things the ¡®smart way,¡¯¡± Will said, making air quotes. Together, the two of them followed the path to The Tower, joining a steady stream of men and women marching along underneath the sweltering heat of The Tower. Only the top third or so glowed white-hot where it connected to the sky above, a mile or so above them. The massive, arching entrance in the base that opened during the summer was only slightly warm to the touch. Or so Will had heard. ¡°C¡¯mon,¡± Will said, nudging Ben to the side. ¡°Let¡¯s enter on the edge. I wanna touch the entrance.¡± Ben sighed, but didn¡¯t protest, and the two of them dragged their fingers along the skin-warm stone as the gargantuan archway swallowed them whole. The two of them broke off from the stream of Climbers and Aspirants as they passed the threshold, gawking up at the sky. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the sky?¡± Will asked, staring up at the strange monochrome blue fa?ade with wisps of white traveling across it. ¡°I¡¯unno.¡± ¡°What are those white things?¡± Will asked. ¡°I¡¯unno,¡± Ben grunted again. ¡°Why is the sun¡ªOW!¡± Will blinked tears out of his eyes as he shielded his eyes. ¡°Why is the sun so bright?¡± ¡°How many times I gotta tell you?¡± Ben asked, glancing down at him. ¡°Newbies, huh?¡± A voice drew their attention away from the sky. Will glanced down and spotted the group that¡¯d been in the general store with Leon earlier that day. ¡°How can you tell?¡± Will asked defensively. If he was wearing a sign around his neck that read ¡®newbie,¡¯ he wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. Wordlessly, the Climber gestured around the entry field, pointing out several groups of young Aspirants shielding their eyes as they stared at the sky in amazement. ¡°¡­Fair,¡± Will admitted, resolving not to gawk. ¡°Also¡­you¡¯re children,¡± he said. ¡°¡­Also fair,¡± Will admitted, resolving to grow a foot taller and pack on forty pounds of muscle overnight. ¡°There¡¯s a good hunting ground that way. I used it when I was getting started out,¡± the scarred man said, pointing off to the right of the entrance. ¡°About three miles that way. There¡¯s a large boulder at the edge of a meadow with lots of wheat gremlins. Use the boulder and the entrance as your landmarks. Don¡¯t navigate with the sun, it moves.¡± ¡°The sun ?!¡± Will demanded, glancing up at the sun and burning his eyes again. ¡°Ow, crap.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind him. He has no Class,¡± Ben said, offering his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Ben, he¡¯s Will. Thanks for the advice.¡± ¡°You can call me Mr. Fontaine,¡± the leader said, before turning and motioning to the rest of his group. ¡°That¡¯s Bess, Amy, Mark, and Roger.¡± ¡°And he¡¯s Kyle,¡± Amy said, pointing at ¡®Mr. Fontaine.¡¯ ¡°Listen, we¡¯ve gotta be off, but if we meet up again, tell us how you did and we¡¯ll give you some pointers. It¡¯s always valuable to know if a hunting spot is still good or not from year to year.¡± ¡°Will do!¡± Ben said, waving them off. ¡°They seem nice.¡± Will wasn¡¯t so sure. Kindness from strangers usually was accompanied by a catch of some kind, or an offer that was far too good to be true. But...they hadn¡¯t offered the duo much of anything aside from a location that didn¡¯t hold any value to the experienced Climbers. Will thought for a moment, before he spotted Heath, a rather infamous bully about town. ¡°Heath, Heath!¡± Will shouted, flagging him down out of the flow of Aspirants. The young man with the extra foot of height Will so desperately wanted, and the squinty, confused expression that he so loathed, turned at the sound of his name, locking in on the two of them. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Ben hissed. ¡°There¡¯s a good hunting spot for wheat gremlins about three miles that way: a meadow with a boulder on the edge of it. Can¡¯t miss it.¡± Ben pinched him, but Will ignored it. Heath squinted harder, confusion plain across his face. ¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡± he finally asked. ¡°There¡¯s a chance you might get kidnapped and sold into slavery,¡± Will admitted. ¡°what this is about?¡± Ben asked, rolling his eyes. ¡°Not everyone is out to get you, Will.¡± ¡°It sounds to me like you¡¯re too much of a pussy to handle it on your own,¡± Heath said. ¡°Sure.¡± Will shrugged. ¡°Whatever.¡± ¡°Thanks for the heads-up, pussy.¡± With a malicious chuckle, Heath lumbered off in the direction they¡¯d pointed out. ¡°I admire his confidence,¡± Will mused as the overgrown slab walked away, long sword over his shoulder. Even if Heath were smart enough to suspect they might try to ambush him, he would never in a million years believe they could get the better of him. ¡°You just gave up a hunting spot on a whim.¡± ¡°A prime hunting spot out in the middle of nowhere, where only we and they know where we went?¡± Will asked. Ben opened his mouth and considered it for a moment before shrugging. ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go somewhere else, and check up on Heath in a few hours,¡± Will said, motioning out into the wilderness. ¡°A¡¯ight.¡± They followed the stream of Aspirants for a while, until the stream thinned to nearly nothing before finally breaking off the path to delve into the forest. They ran into other Aspirants every now and then as they stalked through the forest, heading their separate ways. Thankfully, nobody got shot. About half an hour into the hunt, Ben tugged on his shirt, catching Will¡¯s attention. ¡°Jumper,¡± he whispered, pointing. The creature had short, tawny fur, scaly feet with strong grippers, sharp forelimbs, and absolutely MASSIVE thighs. Will recalled the information he¡¯d researched about using the Jumper as a Sacrifice. The monster was seemingly unaware of them, its attention directed off into the distance, its view obscured by the foliage. It was a long shot for a sling, but for a bow¡­ ¡°You first,¡± Will whispered, plucking a bullet from his pouch and dropping it in the sling before pulling out his tiny dagger in the off hand. Ben nodded and quietly nocked an arrow, drawing it back while crouched in a hunter¡¯s stance. He loosed. The arrow hit some of the foliage between them and made copious amounts of noise as it dropped about two feet below the intended target. They both winced. The Jumper flinched, glancing over at them before it hissed, and in the manner of all monsters, charged them with reckless fury. ¡°Oh crap, it¡¯s fast!¡± Ben started as the Jumper began leaping from branch to branch, a blur of tawny fur and glittering claws. Will whipped the sling forward and the bullet hissed out, bouncing off the monster¡¯s hip as it shot through the air towards them. It let out a strangled cry of pain, but it was already¡ª ¡°Fu¡ª¡± Will stumbled backwards as it slammed into his chest, impaling itself on Will¡¯s tiny dagger. That held it at an awkward angle, so it wasn¡¯t able to bring its claws fully to bear, but it didn¡¯t take the fight out of it completely, scratching and snarling ferociously. Time seemed to slow as Ben dropped the bow and hefted the machete, eyeballing the mad creature scrambling to find purchase on Will¡¯s chest. There was no way Ben wouldn¡¯t catch him with the machete, and Will didn¡¯t think he was in a state to listen calmly. The boy¡¯s eyes were white all the way around. ¡°Gah!¡± Will shoved the Jumper aside and rolled out of the way as the machete came down. Will got to his feet and glanced down at the beheaded Jumper, then Ben, and then remembered that some monsters come in packs, turning his attention back to the forest and their situation. ¡°That¡­was¡­it?¡± Ben panted. ¡°That was it, I guess,¡± Will said, looking down at his scratched-up chest. The pain that had been shoved aside in the moment was starting to soak back into his perception. ¡°Ow.¡± S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They took a break, eating pemmican and drinking water after cleaning and bandaging Will¡¯s wounds. Even low-level monsters were dangerous without Resistance. ¡°Let¡¯s go find that arrow,¡± Ben said once they¡¯d caught their breath. ¡°Why don¡¯t you stand in front of the monster next time?¡± Will whispered as they crept through the forest. ¡°You¡¯ve got armor. Better yet, don¡¯t miss the first shot.¡± ¡°How ¡®bout you don¡¯t stand there like an idiot while it charges?¡± Ben whispered back. ¡°I could say the same about¡ª¡± Will stopped and tapped Ben¡¯s shoulder. Will heard the faint trickle of water. After a moment of quiet listening, Ben nodded, indicating he could hear it too. The two of them crept toward the sound of running water, discovering a tiny creek that fed into a pond that either of them could probably jump across. There was even a part where the land rose up in the center of the pond, sporting a bit of water-grass. Will scanned the edge of the pond, but didn¡¯t see any prey out. ¡°Wait,¡± Ben whispered, grabbing Will¡¯s shoulder and pointing. ¡°What?¡± ¡°There. A foot.¡± Not willing to make any more sound, Will tried locating this ¡®foot¡¯ Ben had mentioned, without much success. Ben must¡¯ve seen the confusion on his face, because he clarified. ¡°Under the water,¡± Ben said, holding his hands apart to indicate its size. Will¡¯s eyes widened at that indication of size, adjusting his expectations. There it was. A frog foot about a foot across. Will traced the orientation of the foot¡­back to the lump of land in the center of the pond. He realized what they were dealing with. Judging by its size¡­ ¡°That¡¯s a wetlands gulper, and it¡¯s ¡± Ben¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°We could trade that for a good Sacrifice, easy. Or maybe a Relic.¡± ¡°A cheap one, maybe,¡± Will mused, but the obvious question was: How would they kill it without getting dragged into a watery grave and eaten? ¡°Keep shooting, keep shooting!¡± Will urged Ben, his voice more shrill than he planned. The wetlands gulper didn¡¯t have much in the way of sharp claws or teeth, and instead preferred to drag its prey underwater with its powerful, sticky tongue and drown it. So naturally, Will lashed himself to the top of a tree with his sling and began thrashing to get its attention. The stupid monster burst out of the water and shot its 20-foot-long tongue out, instantly ensnaring Will and dragging him down to the water¡­until the tree bent back and dangled the confused monster above the water¡¯s edge by its own tongue, whereupon Ben began using it for some much-needed target practice. The only thing Will failed to account for in his master plan: five hundred pounds of pressure on the sling rope looped around his waist, crushing his guts and threatening to tear him in half. It was an agonizing three minutes before the enormous toad stopped twitching and Ben deemed it safe enough to run up and slash the tongue with his machete. ¡°And that¡¯s how you make a good eighty silver,¡± Ben said, admiring the trophy as Will climbed down. ¡°You could buy half a dozen Sacrifices from this one tongue, easily.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m gonna throw up,¡± Will muttered, holding his bruised waist. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Ben gave him a side-glance. ¡°You seem like you¡¯re done for the day.¡± Will was about to respond when a flicker of light caught their attention. A pale yellow sliver of light opened out of thin air and formed a glowing archway. It was like nothing either of them had ever seen, but they¡¯d heard of it. The Trial presented itself to those who had acquired all the Sacrifices they needed. Ben¡¯s gaze flickered down to the satchel that housed Will¡¯s dried Uru Drake¡ªthe third piece that had summoned The Trial. ¡°Did you want a jump-y¡­tongue-y, frog-y Class?¡± he asked. ¡°Obviously not,¡± Will said, straightening. ¡°Then why bring the Uru Drake with you?¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t know what we were gonna find,¡± Will said. ¡°It could¡¯a been something cool.¡± ¡°It something cool,¡± Ben said, lifting the tongue. ¡°Let¡¯s go check the bazaar. With the amount this sells for, we might be able to buy something a bit more¡­exotic for our Classes.¡± Chapter 2: Life Goals ¡°Well, that¡¯s more exotic, for sure,¡± Ben mused as they looked down at the hunk of Lava Beetle. The carefully preserved hunk of flesh must¡¯ve come from climbers on the third floor. The Trial didn¡¯t care that no aspirant could possibly get to the third floor and back. ¡°Whaddya think?¡± Ben asked. ¡°Fire and Earth. Two of the most useful abilities for a spellslinger.¡± ¡°Also the most hotly contested Relics,¡± Will mused, rubbing his chin. ¡°For the love of¡ª¡± ¡°Anything that grants full magic growth?¡± he asked, glancing up at the merchant. ¡°?¡± the merchant asked, motioning to the bazaar in general. ¡°Nothing with strong growth or good abilities, anyways.¡± ¡°What about Uru Drake?¡± Will asked. ¡°Where could I get¡ª¡± The leathery-faced traveler laughed in Will¡¯s face. ¡°If I had Uru Drake, I would sell it to a Lord¡¯s son and live the rest of my life in ease.¡± ¡°That rare, huh?¡± Will asked, feigning disappointment. ¡°It¡¯s not guaranteed, but a climber could get the ability from it. And even without that, it¡¯s got strong growth and it blends seamlessly with nearly any Class, providing more powerful abilities than they might¡¯ve otherwise gained. It¡¯s worth more than everything and everyone else in this Bazaar ¡± Will blinked. He hadn¡¯t heard Ben gave him a sidelong glance. ¡°Well, whaddya got anyway?¡± Will asked. ¡°You wanna be a Climber, eh? Charge focus? That¡¯s a hard path, but you seem like the type that likes to aim high,¡± the leathery man asked, opening up a chest of preserved meat, usually retaining a portion of shell or distinctive feature of the monster¡¯s original body, to prevent counterfeiting. ¡°Here¡¯s what I got for Charge,¡± the merchant said as he peeled away a layer of waxed paper to reveal what he had on offer. Will¡¯s eyes scanned through the hand-painted tags, confirming what he already knew. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will gasped, reaching out only for the merchant¡¯s pipe to smack the back of his hand. ¡°This may be the most expensive piece I have, but the turtle¡¯s a better choice for you,¡± the weathered man said, shifting his posture as he sat back again. ¡°But¡­¡± Will pointed at the Dreamcatcher, which grew magic stats Resistance. Plus, sleeping support abilities made one extremely valuable on the Climb, for both crowd control and morale, while Plant abilities were excellent logistics and utility. It would bolster the strength of abilities and the usage he could get from the Uru Drake, while adding resistance. ¡°Listen, kid, the one thing that every climber who becomes a Lord has in common, is that they are when they do it. You hear stories about the likes of Baron Akul, or Lord Bakton, or the Rotwitch. You don¡¯t hear stories about so-and-so who died ignominiously on the First Floor because they went all-in on offense with their build.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Will asked, squinting. ¡°It¡¯s about surviving long enough to¡ª¡± ¡°No, what does ¡®ignoramously¡¯ mean?¡± Will clarified. ¡°He¡¯s right, you know.¡± A familiar voice sounded behind Will and Ben. They turned and saw the adventuring party from before. ¡°You¡¯re not gonna find any Climbers above the Fifth Floor who don¡¯t have a strong defense. It gives you the leeway to make mistakes and learn from them,¡± Kyle said, pointing to one of the scars over his eye. ¡°Dropped my sword. Now I keep it on a lanyard.¡± He traced a wicked scar just under his jaw. ¡°Used to skimp on armor fittings. Exposed a bit of neck. Now I stand still for as long as the fitter tells me to.¡± He lifted his shirt, revealing a jagged seam of puckered flesh across his midsection. ¡°Shield strap broke. Bad luck.¡± ¡°Welp, I¡¯m sold,¡± Will said, turning back to the merchant. ¡°One spirit turtle Sacrifice, please.¡± ¡°Twenty silver,¡± the merchant said, holding out an expectant palm. Will felt physically ill as he handed the cash over. It was more than half of what he¡¯d earned from selling the tongue. Turned out you can¡¯t get retail price unless you preserve it yourself and set up a shop to find people willing to pay. Will thought as he tucked the Sacrifice away in his satchel. ¡°We stopped by on the way back from setting up base camp and were surprised to find someone else farming the wheat goblins,¡± Kyle said as Will turned away from the merchant. Ben took Will¡¯s spot, jingling his share of the silver in his hands as he scanned the preserved Sacrifices expectantly. ¡°He thought you were gonna kidnap us and sell us into slavery,¡± Ben called over his shoulder before returning to peruse the selection. ¡°Well, how do we know they didn¡¯t kidnap ?¡± Will turned back to ask Ben. ¡°Hey, thanks for the advice, you guys,¡± Heath said as he lumbered by, clasping hands with Kyle for a quick shake. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°¡­How do we know that¡¯s not someone using a Disguise Ability to make us lower our guards?¡± Will demanded as soon as he recovered from Heath¡¯s sudden appearance. ¡°Later, pussy,¡± Heath directed at Will before lumbering on, his coin purse jingling with copious copper pieces from all the wheat gremlins he¡¯d hunted, his giant two-hander slung over his shoulder. The five stoic Climbers broke into gales of laughter as soon as Heath was out of earshot. ¡°I like the way your head works, kid. Paranoia serves a Climber well. Just not in this case,¡± Kyle said, wiping a tear out of his eye. ¡°But relax. Just the ring on my finger is worth a dozen of you. With all the brutal honesty I can muster: Kid, you¡¯re simply not worth the effort of taking advantage of.¡± ¡°Wow, that makes me feel better!¡± Will sassed. ¡°Good,¡± Kyle said, patting him on the shoulder with a calloused hand that felt hard as rock. ¡°C¡¯mon guys, let¡¯s get a drink. Maybe there¡¯s some Ganishans in town for The Hunt.¡± ¡°They know how to party,¡± the bow-wielding man murmured as he followed. The Climbers filed off, with the wand-wielding woman stopping to pinch his cheeks as she passed by. Will tried to dislodge her, but her Strength made that a futile endeavor, and he was forced to endure the indignity. It must¡¯ve only been a couple seconds, but it felt like an eternity before she let go and faded into the throngs of people among the bazaar. ¡°Check this out!¡± Ben said, showing him a copper ring with malachite studs. Will¡¯s nose wrinkled as he caught a whiff of an acrid scent that evaporated into nothing. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°My first Relic!¡± Ben said. ¡°The Sting Ring.¡± ¡°You realize you don¡¯t have a Class yet?¡± Will asked. ¡°Also, a Relic you can buy for silver isn¡¯t gonna be a game-changer.¡± ¡°Dad already got me the Sacrifices. I¡¯m just hunting to ¡®get an idea what the first peoples went through,¡¯ buy some of my own equipment in the process.¡± Ben gazed at the malachite-studded ring covetously. ¡°This, here¡­I earned this myself.¡± He seemed to come to, glancing up and shaking Will by the shoulders. ¡°Let¡¯s go test it!¡± ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± ¡°It adds a tiny amount of acid damage to attacks, and when I get Charge, it has an Ability that can launch an unerring acid bolt.¡± Will thought about it for a moment. If it was for sale for twenty silver, the effects could not be particularly potent. Not to mention, any self-respecting Climber with a direct damage Ability would use their own, rather than that of a middling ring. A Climber measured Charge regeneration by the week, so every point counted. ¡°They didn¡¯t have any rings of Accuracy?¡± Will asked. ¡°Because I¡¯m more worried about you missing.¡± ¡°The cheapest one was three gold pieces for a 1.2% correction.¡± Will winced. That was so far out of his price range for such a tiny increase in accuracy that it boggled the mind. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go test it out.¡± Together, the two of them headed back through The Gate, and Ben put on the ring, firing his bow into a nearby tree. They were a bit disappointed until they spotted thin tendrils of smoke rising out of the narrow wounds inflicted by the arrows. That got them excited for a few minutes, but the acid damage was never worse than a few wisps of smoke that quickly dwindled to nothing. Will had cautioned himself not to get emotionally invested in the ring, but he was still a little bummed at his first close encounter with a Relic. ¡°Maybe the acid will cause extra pain?¡± Ben hazarded. ¡°You could do the same by dipping them in lemon juice,¡± Will pointed out. ¡°Damnit, you¡¯re right,¡± Ben mused, looking at his ring. ¡°Look, it¡¯s gonna be a long time before you manage to find a better ring for that slot, and something is better than nothing,¡± Will said. ¡°And it¡¯s easier than carrying around a lemon with you everywhere you go.¡± ¡°Yeah, fair enough. I¡¯ll use it till I find something better, then put it up on the mantel.¡± Ben went back to rubbing the Relic manically, hunching over the ring protectively. ¡°My first Relic¡­it¡¯s precious to me.¡± Will rolled his eyes. ¡°Look, I gotta go home and sleep these bruises off. Gertrude¡¯s gonna probably keep me busy for a while to stop me from going out before I heal, too...¡± He glanced at the bandages over the scratches on his arms and torso. ¡°Next week?¡± Will asked, offering his hand. ¡°Alright, sounds good,¡± Ben said, shaking it. ¡°I¡¯ll probably do a little hunting on the edges during the week. Wheat gremlins and the like. When you get back, I might have Relics.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Will said, waving as he left. Will and Ben broke up, and Will trudged all the way back to Saint Gertrude¡¯s, up one good Sacrifice and down a bunch of minor wounds. As predicted, Gertrude gave him an earful for using up half the bandages on the first day, and forbade him from leaving the house until next week. Which was fine, because once the pain set in, Will didn¡¯t really to leave the orphanage for another week, even with the malicious gremlins haunting the halls and Marissa constantly trying to pick a fight. That night, Gertrude visited his room. Will had the rare honor of having his own room, being the only young man old enough to join The Hunt. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting until you¡¯re in a good position to talk,¡± Gertrude said, sitting on the edge of his bed. ¡°About your parents,¡± she clarified. Will glanced down at his wound-covered body, which had stiffened once he cooled down and the wounds began to scab. Now, between the cuts and the massive bruise around his torso, moving even the slightest bit caused intense pain. ¡°You waited for me to be too wounded to avoid this conversation?¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± Gertrude gave him a fatalistic smile that gave him chills. It was disturbingly unlike the Saintly expression she wore in front of the others. ¡°Will, it¡¯s been five years. Your parents are most likely dead.¡± ¡°You said they were gone three years before that. Maybe they just went further up The Tower this time.¡± ¡°Nobody has climbed The Tower higher than the¡ª¡± ¡°Then where are my servants? Scratch that, where are my !?¡± Will demanded as a bit of the old simmering emotion leaked past the seal he kept around his heart. Gertrude let his words flow past her, showing no reaction to his anger as he desperately stuffed it back down where it belonged. ¡°I used to Climb, you know. Got to the twelfth floor.¡± Will¡¯s brows rose. He figured she¡¯d been a Climber at some point, to afford that Relic, but¡­the ? ¡°I met all kinds of people,¡± Gertrude said, her gaze going distant as she spoke. ¡°Saw a lot of good people die, and a lot of bad people prosper. Eventually, when Ian¡ª¡± Her throat constricted. ¡°Eventually, I¡¯d had enough of the life, but your parents continued on. I realized that there are two different kinds of Climbers. ¡°There are those who are after money and power. They always stop somewhere between floor eight and fifteen, having carved out a little kingdom for themselves.¡± ¡°So, Mom and Dad¡­¡± ¡°They were the second kind: the people who¡¯ve become addicted to the challenge, to uncovering the mystery of The Tower.¡± ¡°Mystery?¡± Will asked. ¡°There¡¯s things up there, vestiges of an unknown past that cast doubt on everything we think we know.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± Gertrude pursed her lips for a moment. ¡°On the tenth floor, we found the ruins of a town. We made camp in it for the night. One of our members was half asleep in the morning and wandered off before he started screaming. When we arrived, he wasn¡¯t injured or attacked, but scared out of his mind. ¡°He had realized that the outline of the ruins matched the layout of his hometown precisely, right down to where his father¡¯s bakery was.¡± Will¡¯s hair stood on end. ¡°That¡¯s a coincidence¡­or an illusion¡­right?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen far too many strange ¡®coincidences¡¯ to believe that,¡± Gertrude mused. ¡°In any case, that mystery, those nagging questions that build up and haunt you¡­they drove your parents onward. ¡°If they ever come back, they could shed more light on the mystery of The Tower than any other Climber, live or dead¡­but I wouldn¡¯t hold out hope.¡± Will frowned, but didn¡¯t argue with her. ¡°Which kind of Climber do you want to be?¡± Gertrude asked. ¡°I want money,¡± Will said. ¡°If you want money, I can sell the Uru Drake for you¡ª¡± ¡°Fine. I want power. Enough to decide the course of my life. I want my parents. I wanna track them down and give them both a good thrashing for their irresponsibility.¡± ¡°And what if that¡¯s not possible? What if you can never reach them, because they¡¯ve already passed from this world? Are you going to dedicate your life to pain, struggle, and death chasing a hopeless goal?¡± ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is¡­I should adopt an achievable goal that will include punching my dad in the face as a byproduct of the journey, and not the destination.¡± ¡°I¡­well, yes, that¡¯s actually quite wise, but...¡± ¡°Then my goal will be to make it to the tenth floor and carve out a Lordship there,¡± Will said. ¡°Then I will push further up, funneling money and Relics back down to my demesne, until the entire floor is pacified. Then I will do it again. And again, until the entire Tower is mine.¡± Chapter 3: Hype Man ¡°Pleaaase let me go with you,¡± Jason begged for the umpteenth time as Will unwound the bandages, revealing the fresh scabs. The scrawny twelve year old was on his knees, palms clasped together. ¡°This look like fun to you?¡± Will asked, motioning to himself. ¡°It looks like a way out of this craphole,¡± Jason said without missing a beat. ¡°I could do anything you want me to do. I¡¯ll dig latrines, I¡¯ll set up the tent. I¡¯ll take night watch, I¡¯ll taste food for poison. You can¡¯t leave me here, man. When you¡¯re gone, I¡¯ll be the only boy here.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Thomas, an eight-year-old boy protested. ¡°The oldest boy,¡± Jason hastily corrected. ¡°Come on, man, I¡¯ll do anything. I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll be your hype man.¡± ¡°My what?¡± ¡°You know, . When you talk about how great someone is whenever they¡¯re not around so that they have an easier time conning the target or scoring with ladies.¡± ¡°Where¡¯d you learn that?!¡± Will demanded. ¡°My dad.¡± ¡°Was this before he dropped you in an orphanage because he was being chased by the mob, or after?¡± ¡°Before, obviously.¡± Will thought about it for a moment. ¡°Alright, here¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do,¡± he said. ¡°Everyone has to go through The Trial by themselves before they can start Climbing. They don¡¯t let twelve year olds in there because it¡¯s pretty dangerous. They don¡¯t let scrawny thirteen year olds in either.¡± He could see Jason¡¯s lip trembling in that calculated half-cry meant to evoke pity. ¡°And you are scrawny as shit,¡± Will said, poking Jason¡¯s ribs. ¡°So here¡¯s the deal.¡± Will flashed his remaining five silver coins, causing Jason¡¯s eyes to glitter with awe. ¡°You are going to make an investment in yourself. You are going to go to town and order the ¡®Will Special¡¯ at Brenda¡¯s.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the Will Special?¡± ¡°Stew scraped off the bottom of the inn¡¯s cookpot at the end of the night.¡± Jason¡¯s face lit up with understanding. ¡°You are going to pay for a year in advance. You are going to stuff yourself every night, and dedicate yourself to adding as much height and muscle as you possibly can to your frame in the next year.¡± ¡°Is that what you did?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Why you think they call it the ¡®Will Special¡¯?¡± Will asked with a shrug, holding out the coins. Jason lunged for them. ¡°Ah ah,¡± Will said, pulling the silver back out of the boy¡¯s grasp. ¡°I wanna see five inches of extra height by the next Hunt, and you better talk me up to anyone who¡¯ll listen. That¡¯s your job until you join my party next year. If you do that, I¡¯ll help you get your Sacrifices.¡± Jason¡¯s eyes widened with awe as Will pressed the coins into his hand. Will lowered his voice. ¡°And if I find out you spent them on something stupid like toys, fancy clothes, or candy, I will you into a .¡± Jason nodded enthusiastically. Or perhaps he was simply terrified. ¡°Alright, get outta here.¡± Will dismissed him, and Jason sprinted out of the room, nearly hyperventilating. He gave it a 20% chance that Jason would actually follow through and spend the money on growing up big and strong, but that was a 20% chance of finding a reliable team member. Plus, who couldn¡¯t use a good hype man? Jason was good with words. He¡¯d gotten five silver out of his fellow orphan, after all. Hopefully he didn¡¯t take too strongly after his father and simply disappear. A week had gone by and Will¡¯s wounds were still stiff, but it was manageable. He wanted to get back out there, and Ben was already a week ahead of him. The boy might¡¯ve decided to do his Trial already, which would put Will on the back foot, with the lack of a hunting partner. Will thought, wincing as he poked some of the scabs. The satchel that bore the Uru Drake scale caught his attention as the candle in his bedroom flickered. The leather appeared as new as the day it had arrived at the orphanage bearing the Uru Drake scale, with nothing but his name and address on it. Whoever had created it knew what they were doing. The satchel itself was unassuming and plain, but Will had long suspected a subtle enchantment bound into the leather, as it always fit, was never off-balance, and seemed to weigh just a tiny bit less than it should. And inside the satchel¡­ Will reached inside and pulled out the glittering scale, holding it up to the candlelight. There were subtle variations in the reflection off the polished grey scale, as the natural powers caused the light to bend and shift around it. It caused a faint rainbow to spawn wherever the light hit it. The Uru Drake, like many other dragon-spawn, had a breath weapon. Many drakes breathed fire, or acid, or poison, or a choking necrotic miasma, but the Uru Drake¡¯s was particularly nasty. It would warp the space inside and around its victim, crumpling and twisting them up into ghoulish statues before they succumbed to their wounds. The scale was about as big as his two palms held together, and weighed several pounds. Will¡¯s breath hitched as he imagined his parents fighting something with scales big. Something that could wring you out like a dirty dishrag with its Will shook the daydreams off and bent to return the scale to its home. A jolt of pain through his wounds caused him to hiss and wince. He glanced down at the scale in his hand, a thought occurring to him. ¡­ Will finished getting ready for The Hunt, put his ragged, ill-fitting clothes back on and headed out the door, satchel slung over his shoulder. ¡°Good luck, William!¡± Gertrude said, kissing him on the cheek. ¡°Why¡¯re you being so nice?¡± Will asked. ¡°You sound like you think I¡¯m gonna die.¡± ¡°You will, if you don¡¯t come back and tell me before you take The Trial,¡± Gertrude promised with a wrinkly smile. ¡°¡­I love you too,¡± Will muttered, giving the ancient priestess a hug before setting out for his second day of Hunting. Will thought as he walked. It would take dozens of the gremlins to pay for the Dreamcatcher, but the little creatures were too slow and stupid to add to Will¡¯s wounds, and that was important because he wanted to be in top shape when he took The Trial. Will hadn¡¯t considered that aiming high and getting injured might slow him down more than playing it safe. That was when Will¡¯s thoughts turned back to the Wetlands Gulper. With the right bait, those things were mind-bogglingly easy to hunt, and lucrative. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Will refined the plan and half a dozen others as he walked out to the town, aiming for Leon¡¯s General, their usual meet-up spot. Ben wasn¡¯t there when he arrived, so he went inside Leon¡¯s. It was much less crowded after the crowd of Climbers had died down, and the inventory had swelled drastically as Leon had been fleecing the out-of-town merchants for everything he could, buying up unsold inventory from merchants making the trip back home for coppers on the silver. ¡°Hey, Leon, you still got those six copper?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Leon said. The black-haired shopkeep leaned against his countertop. ¡°Spent it.¡± Will blinked. ¡°What did you spend it ?¡± Leon smiled and leaned under the counter and came back with a pair of fine boots that couldn¡¯t have cost less than a couple silver. ¡°A kid got an unarmed Class and a Relic to go with it: boots that increase fall damage. Turned out he didn¡¯t need his old boots anymore, so he liquidated them.¡± ¡°For ?¡± Will asked, approaching the boots and breathing in their scent. Smelled like luxury and foot odor. ¡°I didn¡¯t say he was very bright. Thought you¡¯d like a new pair of boots more than six measly copper.¡± ¡°You thought correctly,¡± Will said, taking them off the counter and angling to put his feet in them. ¡°Socks!¡± Leon said, tossing them over. ¡°Unless you want rot-foot. No charge.¡± ¡°You are a saint among mortals,¡± Will said, slipping on the socks and then the boots. They were the tiniest bit too big, but the socks helped with that, and Will figured his feet would grow a bit over the next few years anyway. ¡°I feel like a human,¡± Will said, wiggling his toes inside the hardened leather boots. ¡°Almost look like one too. Just gotta do something about¡­¡± Leon gestured to Will¡¯s ragged clothes and face. ¡°All of that.¡± ¡°Thanks, Leon.¡± ¡°Anytime, Will. Tell Gertrude ¡®hi¡¯ for me. I can tell that woman¡¯s falling for my charms. She¡¯s ripe for the¡ª¡± ¡°Not listening!¡± Will said, clapping his hands over his ears and marching out of the general store, his new boots making satisfying ¡®clunk¡¯s he could hear even through his palms. Once Will had safely escaped from Leon¡¯s deranged fantasies, he paused and glanced up at the sky. The blank grey ceiling was studded with glittering reflective surfaces set up there by Climbers thousands of years ago to catch the light of the sun and reflect it back down to the surface. Maybe Gertrude was right; he could feel the question nagging at him. ¡°Sup?¡± Will heard Ben¡¯s voice calling out, strangely tinny. He turned and found himself face-to-steel with a full helmet, faceplate drawn down. ¡°Uhh¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s me, dude,¡± Ben said, pulling off the helmet to reveal a bloody bandage covering one eye. ¡°Holy cra¡ªdid you¡ª¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s just my eyebrow,¡± Ben said. ¡°I¡¯ll get to keep the eye. But ever since this happened, I¡¯ve developed an appreciation for helmets.¡± ¡°No shit,¡± Will mused, glancing down at the solid steel helmet. It wasn¡¯t just that: his friend¡¯s cuirass now had sleeves made of chain, and he was wearing some new leather gloves. The pristine armor he was wearing before now had some scuffs on it that a good cleaning couldn¡¯t completely erase. He¡¯d seen some action. Will felt that old caustic fire of envy burning inside him, but he stomped it out before it could make him say or do something stupid. Even his new boots couldn¡¯t make the sting completely go away. ¡°So hey, I¡¯ve been hunting with Kyle¡¯s team,¡± Ben said, pointing off to the side, where the group of five Climbers were chatting with each other. Will thought, noting that the priestess with the symbol of Granesh and the man with the mud-covered smock were absent. ¡°Two of their members are injured, so they¡¯re slumming it in the Hunting Grounds until they recover. They¡¯ve been giving me advice and helping me get some pretty sweet kills. I want you to get in on this for as long as it lasts.¡± Will thought for a moment. ¡°Alright.¡± He didn¡¯t trust them completely, but the wheat gremlins hadn¡¯t been a setup, Ben was still fine after being alone with them, and if they were willing to help a couple newbies out, Will needed all the forward momentum he could get. ¡°Excellent,¡± Ben said, beaming a smile as he put the helmet back over his head. Will walked with Ben back to the group. ¡°Mr. Fontaine, Bess, Roger,¡± Will said as he reached out and shook their hands. He was calling Kyle ¡®Mr. Fontaine¡¯ because he wasn¡¯t interested in earning the ire of the party leader this early in their working relationship. ¡°Will. We¡¯ve heard a lot about you from your friend. Some of it was pretty good,¡± Mr. Fontaine said as they shook hands. ¡°Hah, I imagine,¡± Will said as he released the stonelike grip. ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can¡¯t get you a head start. Maybe one of these days, you can fight arkul side by side with us on the eighth floor. So, Aspirant, what archetype are you aiming for?¡± ¡°Charge Focus,¡± Will replied. ¡°High risk, high reward, huh?¡± Kyle said, stroking his chin. ¡°Not many magical monsters in the Hunting Grounds, but¡­¡± He snapped his fingers. ¡°Will-o-wisp. I know where we can get some. Bess can bottle them, too.¡± The wand-wielding sorceress nodded. ¡°That would be¡­fantastic.¡± Will-o-wisps weren¡¯t generally considered an option by Aspirants, because while they exist in the Hunting Grounds, the bottleneck was how insanely difficult it was to preserve a Sacrifice after defeating one. You needed to have a magician with the right build on hand at the exact moment they died. Someone able to stuff their essence inside a bottle. Otherwise, they simply evaporated into nothing. That being said, they were an choice for someone planning on going with a Mage archetype, as those two Focus per level stacked up to quite a lot of magical endurance, and meta abilities were excellent for casters. Meta abilities were add-ons to typical Abilities added by a Class, whereby a caster could add effects by spending extra Charge. Make a fireball bigger, make it quieter, add a hypnotic effect to a shield Ability. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The possibilities were literally endless. Meta abilities on those granted by the Uru Drake would be phenomenal. ¡°It¡¯s a long hike to their spawn. We¡¯re also gonna have to pull an all-nighter. They only show at dawn and dusk. Think you can handle that?¡± Kyle asked Will. ¡°Absolutely,¡± Will said. He had no idea if he could handle it, but he was to, because that was what needed to happen. ¡°Excellent.¡± Will told Leon to let Gertrude know he was heading off with some complete strangers to go on an overnight hunting trip, then they set off. They arrived at the Hunting Ground just as the sun was ¡®setting.¡¯ Rather than simply dim down like it should, the sun sank below the horizon, making the shadows grow long and ominous. They spent the next hour stalking the shadowy woods for sign of the elusive monster, but didn¡¯t catch sight of it. They bedded down for the night once it was too dark to see, and Kyle took first watch. Will didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be able to sleep with heavily armed strangers milling around him, but his healing wounds and the all-day trek to reach the hunting spot knocked him out. The next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake by Ben. Will pried his eyes open and spotted Ben above him. His friend held a finger over his mouth before pointing. Blinking, Will glanced that way, and spotted a glowing light drifting through the pre-dawn shadows, weaving around the trees. A strange, tinkling sound seemed to emanate from the light that made him want to follow it¡­allow it to guide him wherever it led. Something inside Will knew it would be wonderful when he arrived at the destination. He even began pushing himself to his feet, when a wicked pinch assaulted his side, scattering the Will-o-wisp¡¯s illusion. Will clenched his teeth and choked back the hiss of pain. Ben mouthed. Will nodded, slowly pushing himself up, trying to make as little noise as possible. He spotted the others, all awake and watching the drifting orb with the silent intensity of professional hunters. Kyle caught Will¡¯s eye and motioned him over, holding out Will¡¯s sling, already loaded with a bullet. he mouthed. The group¡¯s archer readied his bow, ready to take a follow-up shot if Will missed. Will nodded, taking the sling. He studied the ethereal monster¡¯s speed for a moment. Its distance. The orb went behind a tree. The sling made a low whistle as he made a single rotation before he whipped the bullet forward, aiming just on the other side of the tree. The Will-o-wisp appeared on the other side of the obscuring tree trunk, before it jerked and began spinning wildly in place, sinking towards the ground. ¡°He got it!¡± Roger said, lowering his bow, jaw slack. Will was almost as surprised as he was. The sorceress stepped forward, and with a frown of concentration, an invisible plane of force wrapped around the rapidly dissolving Will-o-wisp, crushing it into a cube the size of Will¡¯s fist. She cautiously approached and retrieved an empty glass bottle from her belt. She placed the neck of the bottle against one of the corners of the cube. The corner of the invisible cube opened up, shooting the glowing essence of the monster into the glass bottle. Bess whipped out a cork and forced it into the neck of the bottle, turning to display the glowing wisp inside with a triumphant grin, trotting back and placing it in Mr. Fontaine¡¯s hand. ¡°Nice shot, kid,¡± Mr. Fontaine said, handing over the bottle. Will¡¯s hands trembled as he studied the magical swirling mist inside the bottle. Will knelt beside his satchel and began looking for a way to secure the bottle so it didn¡¯t rattle around or crack against something in there. Will thought to himself a moment before a thin beam of yellow light expanded into an opaque doorway of pure yellow light, looming directly in front of him. ¡°Alright, time to head back?¡± Will asked, slinging his satchel over his shoulder and turning towards the other four. ¡°Actually, you¡¯re probably gonna want to take your Trial now,¡± Mr. Fontaine said, nodding towards the glowing Door. Will frowned. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have the proper tools to preserve a Will-o-wisp Sacrifice indefinitely. It¡¯s seeping past the cork as we speak. The stuff is devilishly hard to contain. Probably won¡¯t even last until we get back to town.¡± Will frowned, his guts twisting. He wasn¡¯t in the best shape to take The Trial, but Will-o-wisp was insanely difficult to acquire. It would be foolish to pass on this opportunity¡­wouldn¡¯t it? Something about this felt wrong, but Will couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. ¡°Look, you¡¯ve got your Sacrifices on you,¡± Ben said, walking up to him. ¡°You¡¯re ready to go. We were lucky to find the Will-o-Wisp we find. Who knows if we could find another¡­and it¡¯s not gonna last the day. You gotta do it now.¡± He placed a hand on Will¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Wha¡ª¡± Ben¡¯s hand grabbed the strap of his satchel while his foot lashed out, kicking Will backwards, towards The Trial. In that weightless instant of falling, Will reached out and caught the strap of the satchel bearing his Sacrifices, yanking on it with every fiber of muscle he could bring to bear. The last thing he saw before the yellow doorway swallowed him up was the satchel splitting open, scattering its contents across the forest floor. Chapter 4: Escape Room ¡°William Oh is the smartest, most talented, badass, stoic individual that this town has produced, bar none,¡± Jason announced. ¡°Really?¡± the priestess asked, leaning forward and putting her elbows on the table, staring directly at him. She bore a symbol of Granesh on her waist, and honestly, a questionable choice of clothes. ¡°Have you heard about William Oh?¡± Jason asked between scooping the thick stew into his mouth. The stuff on the bottom was the tiniest bit burnt-tasting, and it was rare to get a piece of meat or veggies, but it was a damn sight better than the orphanage¡¯s bread and gruel. ¡°I sure haven¡¯t. Do tell.¡± Jason lowered his voice and leaned forward conspiratorially, prompting the pretty priestess to do the same. ¡°Some say he¡¯s a descendant of the very gods themselves. Nothing human could possibly have accomplished the same feats,¡± Jason whispered. ¡°I personally saw him kill three men¡­with a writing quill.¡± ¡°Oh my,¡± the priestess said, resting her chin on her palm, completely unconvinced. ¡°Indeed. People say he was on the top floor of The Tower. They say he was steeped in its lethal miasma from giving him strange and unnatural powers.¡± ¡°They say that, huh?¡± the priestess asked with a smirk. ¡°How come I¡¯ve never heard of him, then?¡± ¡°You will,¡± Jason said, pointing his greasy spoon at the woman. ¡°Keep your ear to the ground and you¡¯ll soon hear whispers of his prowess. William is a master of both blade and women. A man of Focus, Commitment, and sheer Will. ¡°He¡¯s indomitable, he¡¯s un he¡¯s unstoppable, he¡¯s unflappable, he¡¯s¡ª¡± ***Will*** ¡°Totally fucked,¡± Will said, pacing back and forth in a panic as the hyperventilation began to kick in. ¡°I¡¯m gonna die. This is me, dead.¡± Will was in a plain white room with three Altars, and no exit. A white cube from which there was no escape. People had tried. The walls were seemingly immune to any force an Aspirant could bring to bear, and that included Relic weapons gifted to them by high-level Climbers. Why the creators of The Trial would design it in such a way that bad luck could trap you in the Class Creation Room until you starved to death spoke to a, quite frankly, criminally negligent oversight. The only way to open the Door to The Trial and avoid a protracted death by dehydration was to offer three Sacrifices. Typically, this was not a problem, because the Door only opened when a person had three Sacrifices in their possession. Will did not have three Sacrifices in his possession. Will unwound his bandages and retrieved the Uru Drake scale, which had been bound tightly to his midsection. Will thought, rubbing his thumb along the smooth surface of the scale before setting it down. The only way he would¡¯ve been able to avoid this fate would¡¯ve been if he had left it home, guessed their intentions and acted on the hunch, hiking several days to a different town, with another entrance to the Hunting Grounds. He wouldn¡¯t have done that. Will was paranoid, but not particularly perceptive. He would¡¯ve retrieved the Uru Drake and come back through the same entrance, and gotten ambushed when he tried to take his Trial. This was one of the best possible outcomes without advance knowledge. Or at least, the more spitefully gratifying one. Will grabbed the tattered leather satchel and shook it inside out in a vain attempt to make the Will-o-wisp and spirit turtle Sacrifices fall out. No such luck. The other two keys to open The Trial remained on the other side of a nonexistent door. There were, however, several crumbs of pemmican trapped in the interior folds. Will let out a primal scream and threw the satchel across the pure white room, the simmering anger coming to a boil. ¡°Having everything given to you wasn¡¯t enough?! You had to take mine, too, Ben?!¡± Eventually, Will realized he was pacing again, thinking about things that had no bearing on his immediate survival. Not that anything would really help with that. Will took a deep breath and slowed his walk, coming to a stand. Will took off his shirt, folded it, and set it on the floor. He rolled up his bandages and set them beside the scale, followed by his pants, boots, and socks. He stalked across the room and grabbed the satchel, placing it in his line of ¡®supplies.¡¯ Uru Scale, clothes, bandages, boots, bootlaces, pemmican crumbs¡­ Will squished them into a thumb-sized bite of food and was about to pop them in his mouth, when it occurred to him. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Will didn¡¯t care if he got a ¡®spacetime cow-rancher¡¯ or ¡®mystic berry¡¯ Class, as long as it allowed him to leave the room alive. He stood and approached the Altars, heart hammering in his chest. He placed the thumb-sized chunk of pemmican on the Altar and stood back. As soon as the pemmican touched the Altar, a beam of light descended on it, gradually growing in brightness until it suddenly flashed, leaving nothing behind. A voice spoke directly into his mind. Will thought to himself, glancing back at his supplies. His gaze settled on the ruined satchel. It was leather. Monster leather of some type, most likely. Will went over to the satchel and tore the fabric lining out of the inside, then gnawed the metal studs away from the leather. He tore the seams apart and pulled the stitches out with his teeth, isolating the leather of the satchel to the best of his ability. Hours later, he had a frayed stack of pure leather with nary a stitch, stud, or seam. A bit of William spit, but he patted that off with his shirt. Once the taste of leather faded from his mouth and the hide fully dried, he picked it up. Will thought, heart hammering in his ears as he approached the Altar. With trembling hands, he put the stack of leather on the Altar. The Altar blazed with light, and the leather was gone. Will¡¯s brows rose, and he shook his head. ¡°They sent me two Sacrifices in one. Huh.¡± The beam of light remained above the Altar, indicating that it had been used, leaving the two on the sides. Will grabbed the Uru Drake scale, contemplating the sheer amount of trouble it had caused him, holding something so valuable without the strength to protect it. If he hadn¡¯t had it, he¡¯d be just a nobody not worth the effort of robbing. He might even have been friends with the Climbers. They seemed friendly enough, before they knew he had something they wanted. His Class would¡¯ve been less powerful, but at least he¡¯d be able to pick what he wanted without constantly looking over his shoulder for betrayal. Will thought, placing the scale in the center of the rightmost Altar. Will processed that for a moment before he shrugged. ¡°Okay. It was even more valuable than everyone thought. Whatever. It¡¯s gone now.¡± S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will stared at the two lit-up Altars for a moment before his belly began to rumble. He hadn¡¯t had breakfast. He turned to stare at his brand-new leather boots. Will thought, stretching his aching jaw, warming up his leather-cutters. Over the next five hours, Will learned more about the taste of shoe polish and old foot than he thought he ever would. Finally, he¡¯d disassembled the boots, taking out anything that wasn¡¯t pure leather, assembling the rest into a pile of leather scraps. Gums bleeding, Will shuffled forward and deposited the leather scraps on the Altar. The beam of light descended, grew in strength¡­ Having gotten the hang of it, Will closed his eyes an instant before the flash of light washed across the Altar, heralding the disappearance of the leather scraps. ¡°NO!¡± Will shouted over the voice in his mind as it continued to emotionlessly deliver its pointless message. ¡°I would if I could!¡± Will shouted, kicking the Altar with his calloused foot, having about as much effect on the solid stone as an aggressive cough. Will¡¯s head turned, almost as if someone had seized his head and forced him to . Metal studs, bandages, clothes, bootstrings. Will¡¯s brain realized. His body, however, wanted to live. With the burning urgency of a man swimming to the surface before he drowned, he leapt forward and seized his shirt, crumpling it up and placing it on the Altar. Without bothering to listen to the follow-up, Will grabbed his pants, socks, underwear, the bandages, and threw them all on the Altar, one at a time. When he got the last ¡®Failed,¡¯ he slumped down against the wall. ¡°Heath always told me I would die naked and afraid,¡± Will mused. This probably wasn¡¯t what he was talking about, but it sure fit the situation. 36 hours later, Will was considering the best way to kill himself. The thirst was starting to get to him, and he wasn¡¯t particularly enthusiastic about the next two days of agonizing pain before he finally expired. The only problem was, there was no good way of killing himself available. The only metal he had left was a collection of metal studs from the satchel and boots. The bootstrings were long enough to strangle himself, but there was nothing to use as leverage. It was times like this, woozy from dehydration and hopelessness, that he considered what the future held for this extradimensional room that would exist in perpetuity, waiting for a mold-covered corpse to get off its ass and place a Sacrifice on the Altar. Will blinked. He stood up, staring at the final unlit Altar. His heart leapt in his chest, rattled back into action by the sliver of hope he¡¯d uncovered. If this didn¡¯t work, he wouldn¡¯t have to suffer another two days of agonizing dehydration. If it did work¡­he might still die. Either way, slowly wasting away was no longer on the menu. Will picked up one of the bootstrings and tied it around his left forearm. He grabbed one side with his bloody teeth, and the other with his right hand. He cinched the string tight around his forearm, until it was painful. Then he pulled it tighter, knotting it firmly to keep it closed. Before he could lose his nerve, Will slapped his left hand down on the Altar, his stomach sinking with nausea as the enormity of this decision tried to catch up with him. The pure adrenaline flowing through his veins made time seem to slow, made it feel like the light took ages to come down, to gain strength, until finally¡ª A flash of light accompanied a burst of searing pain. ¡°HAH!¡± Will crowed in victory moments before he passed out. *** ¡°They say he was born on the hundredth floor, bathed in its lethal miasma, which granted him abilities beyond human comprehension,¡± Jason said over his bowl of soup, doing his job, as per their agreement. Across from him was a scar-faced tanker with a faintly amused expression, picking at a shepherd¡¯s pie. ¡°How could he be born on the hundredth floor? Nobody¡¯s ever been there, especially not a pregnant woman. The only people who could¡¯ve come close¡­¡± The Climber frowned. ¡°What were this William character¡¯s parents¡¯ names, again?¡± ¡°Mary and Thomas Oh, I think. Why?¡± The scar-face paled as he stood, his chair clattering to the ground behind him. Jason watched him march out the door, grabbing the arm of one of his teammates as he moved, hauling them out of Brenda¡¯s Inn. Jason shrugged, sliding the man¡¯s food over to himself and devouring it before he scanned the room for another out-of-towner. One who hadn¡¯t heard him out yet. Jason locked on a short figure cloaked in leather, scraping bits of food from his plate into a barrel of soil beside him. ¡°Have you heard of William Oh?¡± Jason asked, whispering conspiratorially as he slid into the empty bench in front of the figure. ¡°I can¡¯t say that I have,¡± a raspy voice emanated from the confines of the Climber¡¯s leather hood. Chapter 5: Resourceful Climber est - . .. ¡­ Will¡¯s eyes creaked open, which was, frankly, a surprise. He was still in the white room, but there was A DOOR! Ignoring the voice, Will pushed himself to his feet, hissing in pain as he lightly nudged the scabbing edge of his arm against the floor. Once he was standing¡­he went back down. Will had never been faint before, but he¡¯d never had this much blood loss, either. Will turned it into a process. Once he was confident he wouldn¡¯t falter again, Will pushed himself to his feet. He needed to see his Trial before he decided on his Abilities. Oftentimes, people could pick whatever Abilities they wanted for their future Class, breeze through The Trial, then move on, but if Will didn¡¯t choose the best primaries suited for finishing The Trial, then he might just die. Will took a deep breath and stepped through the glowing yellow portal. His eyes adjusted. He was standing on a narrow ridge in a canyon of some kind, with rugged terrain in every direction. There were cactuses, scrub brush, and the unnaturally strong sun beat down on his dehydrated frame like he owed it money. Above him, sheer cliffs trapped him inside the Trial. Below: jagged crags, narrow footholds, and the occasional patch of flat ground which was completely dominated by plant life. ¡°Huh.¡± Will thought, sitting down. ¡°Sta¡ª¡± *COUGH* Not having spoken except to scream or cry in a couple days, Will¡¯s voice was gunked up. ¡°Status.¡± Will¡¯s stat sheet began to print itself in the air in front of his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s a Resourceful Climber?¡± Will mused, interrupting the display of his primaries to go back and study his Class. Again, he needed to know the context of his Class to have a better inkling of how his abilities might develop. The orphanage did have basic instruction in how to pick your Primaries, and what Classes did what. ¡°Oh, like a climber? Not a Climber? One who climbs? Shit.¡± That sounded like the sort of thing that having hands would be fantastic for. It sounded like a scout archetype, which wasn¡¯t the worst. The Focus per level was better than a scout should¡¯ve expected, too. The resistance, as well... 5 from the Uru Drake, 3 from the gravity goat, and¡­4 from his hand? That was 3 points per level more than a typical Climber. That was the kind of stat growth that could give birth to a Lord. Will thought. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Everyone started with two Primaries. The first two abilities a Climber picked gained the most upgrades over time, which meant that whatever he picked would grow and change and become more powerful as his Class advanced, forming the core of their style. Every ten levels, he could pick a new Ability, but of course it would be 10, 20, even 30 levels of growth behind the Primaries. Will only had 2 Charge at the moment. Not enough to take out or bypass an entire camp of maksu twenty feet at a time. Will¡¯s eyebrows rose. Will mentally marked it down as a possible choice. If the portal was guarded, then sneak up to it and cover the last thirty feet or so in a single leap, bypassing the fight entirely. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It help with survival, definitely, but since it didn¡¯t help with actually anything, that assistance was limited. ? That seemed like an Alchemist archetype minor ability. If it was strengthened enough, it would probably allow someone to grow consumables in batches, like¡­sourdough. Upgrades might expand this ability to include equipment maintenance, or food-creating abilities. It gave Will the impression that it was pretty useful for a Climber. Or a climber, for that matter. Abyss, if he raised it high enough to produce more than he used, he could make a living off of selling batch-grown Healing Potions. But it didn¡¯t help survive He didn¡¯t have any Relics to hand. Will took it. He¡¯d never heard of Phantom Hand. It wasn¡¯t a rational decision, he just wanted his hand back. Will took a deep breath and rationalized his decision. If he continued raising it as his Primary, there was a good chance it would unlock an upgrade that allowed it to touch real things and substitute for his lost hand. Which would be just¡­really, really great. Will went back through the other Abilities, and settled on Aspect of the Goat. It was just too helpful in a survival situation to pass. And, like everyone was telling him: Gotta be alive to make it to the top. Will thought. There was a saying: ¡®Magic is a wonderful, glorious thing that can be doom or savior¡­but it takes a week off. Strength is Strength.¡¯ If Will was going to be climbing cliffs with one hand, he needed every bit he could get. A tingling sensation prompted a shudder as it felt like an ephemeral force moved him, locking in his selections. A semi-transparent left hand appeared on the end of his truncated wrist, glowing a faint blue. He clenched it. Unclenched it. Wiggled the fingers. If anything, the hand had more dexterity to it than the one he¡¯d been born with, responding with unnatural smoothness and precision. Heart pounding, Will reached out and poked a nearby bush. The hand went right through it, living up to its ¡®phantom¡¯ moniker. Will sighed, crouching down before leaning back, allowing his legs to splay out in front of him. ¡°Yeah, I figured.¡± It wouldn¡¯t be useful for some time. No sense crying and wasting some of the little remaining moisture he had. Will reached out with his good hand and carefully plucked a cactus out of the soil, and began munching on it. Will thought, spitting out thorns as he went, amazing himself at the sheer toughness of his mouth. There was no time limit to this Trial, and if the Aspect of the Goat Ability told the truth, a whole cornucopia of food had just opened up to him. So Will resolved to recover his condition as much as possible before he sought out the tribe of maksu. Will crushed the thick cactus flesh between his teeth, drinking in the doubtlessly poisonous moisture as it flowed down his throat, spitting out the spines. Whatever else Aspect of the Goat did, it kept the food down, and the unnatural moving sun of The Tower that had been scorching hot against his unprotected skin now felt like the gentle warmth of the real sun. Will mused to himself as he tucked the scabbing stub against his chest, lying down on the tiny ledge and trying to make himself comfortable. Will thought as the gentle rustle of the wind through the nearby bushes lulled him to sleep, despite the rocks and thorns and insects making their presence known against his unprotected flesh. Will grabbed a branch from the bush, snapped it off and started chewing on the tough, sun-baked leaves, falling asleep with the branch half-eaten. When he woke up in the morning, Will was again surprised, having expected either the sweet release of death or an acute case of food poisoning in the night, which, in his current condition, would also mean death. he wondered, sitting up to scan his surroundings. There was lingering coolness in the stone, despite the sun baking the surroundings. It had felt like noon when he passed out, although Will couldn¡¯t be sure, with the unfamiliar sun. Will felt surprisingly good. Sure, his skin was red and peeling, and his left hand was missing¡­but he felt better. Like he¡¯d gotten a big dinner and a full night¡¯s sleep¡­which he supposed he had. Will thought, patting his stomach. Further down the cliffside was more food and water: a bit of brush and another cactus. Will¡¯s mouth started watering involuntarily. The plants were over fifteen feet below him, with only tiny ridges sticking out of the rock between here and there. Will tucked his wounded arm in and began carefully setting his feet on the tiny variations in the stone that he could barely snag a toenail on¡­ And found a solid surface. Will pulled his foot back and glanced down, spotting the tiny lip. There was no way he had managed to fit his whole toe on that vestigial outcropping. Watching the entire process, Will carefully lowered his foot to the toehold. It subtly grew as his toe came down on it, extending outward an extra inch to meet his foot. Will deeply suspected the Uru Drake¡¯s spacetime abilities had enhanced Aspect of the Goat to make it go beyond simply being good at climbing, altering the size, sturdiness, and orientation of his foot- and handholds. Will took another step down and a tiny protrusion jutted out to meet his foot. Will thought, letting go with his hand. The tiny ridges he balanced on supported him. The whole process was almost as simple as walking down a staircase. Will grabbed a tiny outcropping, which smoothly jutted outward, conforming to his fingers in an ideal grip. He let go with his feet, then unscrunched his body, catching unseen footholds several feet lower. In a matter of seconds, Will was at the bottom of the cliff, with less effort than he would¡¯ve spent if he¡¯d had both hands and no Class. Will thought, surveying the surroundings as he munched on cactus and scrub brush.He had entered this canyon with a frame of mind that the steep cliffs and boulders were nearly impassable terrain, and that he would have to carefully pick his way down to the bottom in order to reach the portal over the course of several hours. But this place was his playground, wasn¡¯t it? It wasn¡¯t a disadvantage for a Resourceful Climber. He was on his home turf, even missing a hand. In the far distance, Will saw a tendril of smoke wafting up above the canyon. Chapter 6: Attrition - ¡°That¡­is not going to work,¡± Will whispered to himself, peering down at the village of maksu milling around the portal. The sheer numbers alone made the idea of sprinting past them to dive through the portal laughable. They had set up some kind of shrine around the portal, seemingly worshiping it as a divine object. The only hint that it was there was the faint yellow glow leaking from the shoddily assembled seams of the building. Maksu were small, angry, and blue, with extended muzzles and canines that would make a cat jealous. They carried short spears and slings. They were also capable climbers. So much so that Will was no longer sure he had the home-field advantage. Will shook the thought off, tapping his phantom fingers through the nearby terrain. It had almost become a habit at this point to poke things with his Phantom Hand, looking for anything that he could touch with it. It was common sense to explore the use of your Abilities as much as possible. The ¡®tiny dimensional storage¡¯ the hand offered seemed to be enough to store a couple pebbles¡¯ worth of material. Not exactly build-defining. Just not enough to help Will right this instant. now Will knew that their leader, one Sezz¡¯kenal, was a vicious raider of caravans who had acquired a taste for human flesh. In the latter case, Will just needed to wait until their leader left again, but he had no idea how long that might be. Months, perhaps? Gertrude¡¯s voice seemed to echo in his ears as Will lay in the dirt, overlooking his target. There was no time limit, and to lose if they spotted him before he was ready. There were lizards and cactuses aplenty to keep him going as long as he had to. It took three days of observing the camp before he caught his break. A lone maksu out hunting by itself wandered directly below his vantage point. Whispering a silent prayer, Will dropped a head-sized rock off the ledge. He gave a quiet whistle, and the maksu stopped in its tracks, glancing up an instant before the rock caved in its skull. Will watched for several minutes to see if any of the others had seen or heard anything, but they went about their day as usual. Maksu were smart¡­ish. If they found their wayward hunter missing their weapons, they would be alerted to the fact that there was another sapient creature in the area hunting them. On the other hand¡­if a bit of their leather tunic was gnawed at by an animal, well, that¡¯s just what happens when wild animals get to your corpse. And even if it was a bit odd, it didn¡¯t scream ¡®sapient¡¯ like taking valuable tools did. Once he was sure there were no maksu coming, Will climbed down the cliff face, coming to crouch on the narrow path the hunter had been treading, keeping his head down to ensure his burned skin didn¡¯t act as a signal fire and give away his position. Will¡¯s nose wrinkled at the scent of blood, but he did what he had to do. He took one of the hunter¡¯s spare stone spearheads and used the razor-sharp tip to cut a chunk off the hunter¡¯s tunic. He poked a hole on either side of the oblong piece of leather, and a little slit down the center to allow some bend. It was a pain with one hand, but he managed to secure the leather between his foot and the ground. Will thought, putting his bootlace string through the hole and tying the scrap of leather around his neck, putting the spare spearhead back where it came from. Maybe they knew how many spearheads this fellow had on him, maybe not, but it was too soon to tip his hand. Will left as quickly as he arrived, climbing up into the harsh upper cliffs of the canyon and trekking far away from the kill site before he found a spot to watch the fallout as he carefully assembled a sling from the leather and bootlaces. The maksu found their brethren, skull crushed beneath a rock. He watched as they craned their necks and inspected the cliffside above. They climbed up and located the cliff he¡¯d dropped the rock from. Will¡¯s breath caught, holding as he tried in vain to study every moment of their reaction. If he¡¯d left some sign of his presence, and they found it, he was screwed. He watched as they milled around for a bit, conferring with each other for a moment before they took the hunter¡¯s gear and left the body behind for the scavengers. If anyone noticed their hunter¡¯s tunic was missing a patch, they didn¡¯t seem to make a big deal out of it. The true test was their response over the next few hours. If they were crawling all over the site, then he had roused their suspicion, and would have to adjust his strategy. If not, he was in the clear. In the maksu camp, life went on as usual. Will thought as he completed the sling, creating the loop and knot, using his teeth to anchor the bootstring where tension was necessary. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The next opportunity came nearly a week later, when the maksu formed a war party and went caravan hunting. Overlooking that blue snake of maksu stacked three deep winding its way up the side of the canyon, Will was faced with a choice. The absence of the majority of their combat-ready troops should give him plenty of opportunity to sneak in at night and walk through the portal, finishing his Trial. There was no reward for going above and beyond during a Trial, other than bragging rights, and the inherent benefits like levels and Relics¡­ And if Will wanted the experience and Relics from defeating the maksu, there was no better option than pulling a reverse-ambush. From Will¡¯s secondhand knowledge of The Trials, once you passed, you were returned to exactly where you entered. Or, the campsite where they¡¯d been hunting Will-o-wisps. So, if the adventuring party wanted to kill him the moment he came back, they knew exactly where he¡¯d arrive. Even the longest Trials Will had ever heard of only lasted a handful of days. All logic Will knew of spoke to him being dead. Still¡­perhaps Will could loot the dead maksu warriors and/or barter with the assisted caravan for some gear, and head back to the Hunting Grounds with a level or two under his belt, and some measure of self-defense. Even if he failed to save the caravan, he could probably get a few kills and retreat. An extra level would help pass The Trial, for sure. Decision made, Will began climbing the canyon wall. He stalked behind the maksu raiding party, following the trail they¡¯d pounded into the dusty desert floor with their sheer numbers. Will made sure to stay far behind and out of sight. Eventually, he arrived at their ambush site. From his perspective as he crested the hill, he could see every single one of the blue warriors, but from the road below, they would all be concealed behind boulders and dips in the land. In the far distance, Will could make out a plume of dust slowly approaching, following a road seemingly cut into the arid wasteland that brought the caravan right beneath the maksu-dotted hillside. Will saw the maksu limber up their arms, setting their spears down in a row, ready to throw one after the next. Some of them had man-made weapons, shortswords and steel spearheads clearly made for a larger species. An idea occurred to Will, and he began climbing down the side of the hill, his heart hammering in his chest. This was the most dangerous portion of his ¡®clever¡¯ plan. If he caught the maksu¡¯s attention before the caravan arrived, they would all just chase , and the caravan would turtle up, leaving him to his fate. But, if he wanted to have a distinct advantage, this was the way to do it. Will targeted the maksu farthest away from his brethren, climbing behind it with every ounce of quiet he could manage. Aspect of the Goat helped tremendously in that respect, as the crunchy ground seemed to flatten and solidify beneath his feet, quieting his steps as a side effect of enhancing his footing. When he was close enough, Will picked up a big rock and bashed the maksu in the back of the head. The raider dropped to the ground, twitching. Will dropped down beside it, out of sight of its brethren, in case one of them glanced up at the sound. If they were curious about what had just happened, they didn¡¯t move. The creeping stalk had taken nearly an hour, and the caravan was much closer now than before, when it¡¯d been a smear on the horizon. Too close for the maksu to move without giving themselves away. Will searched the raider and found a steel dagger with a half-polished surface, pitted with rust and neglect, but still shiny in places. Will thought, taking the dagger and cautiously scooting forward around the concealing boulder, body pressed into the dirt. None of the other maksu were coming, but they were all within a stone¡¯s throw. He hear it if they approached. As the caravan approached, Will faced the shiniest portion of the dagger towards the caravan, trying to catch the light of the sun. The response was immediate. The caravan¡¯s guards began shouting, pointing at his location, arranging themselves in a defensive line. Their ambush blown, the maksu began throwing their spears a few seconds too late. Defensive Abilities were employed, and the rain of spears did far less than the maksu would¡¯ve preferred, leaving the caravan largely unscathed. The blue raiders leapt to their feet and began streaming down the hillside, waving their weapons and baring their impressive fangs in a stunning display of ferocity. Will leapt to his feet, grabbing a nearby rock and laboriously loading it into his sling one-handed, setting the pouch on the ground, placing the rock inside, and then picking up the whole thing. Will thought, scanning the maksu. At the back of the assault was the maksu leader, wearing an ornate headdress and chanting, a wobbling haze of energy forming around him. He was outside the range of return fire from the caravan, seemingly warming up an Ability that would help turn the tide of the battle. The rock flung out and caught Sezz¡¯kenal in the back of the head. The haze of energy dissipated as the maksu leader sank bonelessly to the ground. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Whatever Ability the maksu were expecting to descend from the hillside didn¡¯t manifest. Instead, a hail of rocks picked off a handful of their rearmost warriors before they realized they couldn¡¯t win. By then, it was already too late. Will didn¡¯t have anything white, but while the caravan finished off the remaining maksu, he put one of their tunics on a spear and waved it above his head. It must¡¯ve worked, because nobody shot him as he approached. Once he was within speaking distance of the caravan, the dialogue between the grateful caravaneers and their savior began. ¡°Son, where in the Abyss are your clothes?¡± the lead guard demanded as Will approached. He was a sour-looking older man with ancient acne scars pitting his jowls. ¡°You look like shit.¡± ¡°Long story,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°I was hoping I might be able to help out and barter for some clothes.¡± Will raised his stolen dagger and caught the sun with it. ¡°That was you, huh?¡± ¡°Yessir.¡± ¡°How many did you kill?¡± he demanded. ¡°The one with the headdress and four more.¡± The guard chewed his lip for a moment before opening his purse and tossing Will a gold coin and four silver. Will dropped the knife to snatch them out of midair. ¡°For the help. And whatever¡¯s on Headdress is yours. Merchants are cowering on the other side. Talk to them about spending your money. We¡¯re gonna make camp and take stock of the situation.¡± ¡°Yessir, thank you, sir!¡± Will said, nodding. ¡°You on your Trial, kid?¡± ¡°Yep. Just hit level two.¡± ¡°I suggest you give up on being a Climber.¡± He pointed at Will¡¯s missing hand. ¡°Missing a hand means you¡¯re missing a Relic slot, and means you¡¯ll always be one step behind everyone else.¡± Will frowned. ¡°Anyway, go get some pants,¡± the guard said, pointing toward the other side of the caravan. ¡°I¡¯m tired of seeing your cock.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t look at it,¡± Will retorted, walking around to the other side of the wagon. A gaggle of old women glanced up at his approach¡ªno less than sixteen merchants with sun-weathered faces. Normally, old ladies were unflappable, but seeing a one-armed young man appear in the middle of the desert with no clothes seemed to be too much for them. They stared at him silently. Will cleared his throat, holding money in front of his junk. It was insufficient. ¡°I¡¯d like to buy some clothes?¡± he said into the silence. ¡°Son, where the Abyss are your clothes?!¡± the nearest matron demanded. ¡°I don¡¯t know the answer to that question,¡± Will said with a shrug. Chapter 7: Casualties sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will thought, enjoying the heavenly soft feel of sturdy burlap cloth cinched around his waist, with suspenders over the roughspun shirt, keeping the whole outfit extra secure, adding support for its massive pockets. The fabric itself was focused primarily on sturdiness, but they were truly the first tailored clothes he¡¯d ever had. Thick socks, real shoes, a belt with nice loops to carry weapons and tools, an itchy wool cloak that shed the heat of the sun and retained warmth at night. Will deeply suspected the aged seamstresses were giving him the ¡®Random Teen Wandering Naked Through the Desert¡¯ discount, but he wasn¡¯t going to say anything while benefiting from it. It was too soon to fit him for a prosthesis, they said, since it hadn¡¯t finished healing yet, but they gave him the name of a talented crafter who lived on the bottom floor near the base of the tower, servicing injured Climbers retiring from the life. Just a couple days¡¯ walk from Will¡¯s village, actually. The old women fussed over him and offered to take him as far as The Pit. They were passing by the way down to the bottom floor on their way up to a kingdom on the second floor, which didn¡¯t have the land mass for agriculture. They¡¯d trade bulk fabrics (including a few magical ones) in exchange for the second floor¡¯s unique Sacrifices, salt, and other exports, before heading back to The Pit to change it all out for coin outside the Hunting Grounds, then going back to their farms on the first floor and doing it all over again. ¡°You selling rope there too?¡± Will had asked, seeing an entire wagon full of the stuff. ¡°The second floor is¡­difficult to navigate without a lot of good rope,¡± Tyson said, the guard leader pulling up the rope to reveal steel hooks and pulleys. ¡°They¡¯ve got their own infrastructure there, but you can never be totally sure. We may sell a bit, and for a good price, but not all of it.¡± Will gently refused the offer of a ride back to The Pit. He¡¯d never heard of anyone coming back from their Trial the long way ¡®round, but he was pretty confident he wouldn¡¯t finish The Trial that way. Will thought, clapping his hand over his new pockets. Now that he could actually carry things, it was time to get to the looting. He climbed back up the hillside, the ground treating his new boots with much the same grace as they treated his bare feet. Will had been afraid he¡¯d be stuck barefoot for the entirety of his career as a Climber solely based on his Aspect of the Goat ability, but it seemed to be more universal than that. Sure, it wouldn¡¯t happen anytime soon, but such ridiculous feats were the staple of tales of Lords, and Will had no reason to doubt the possibility, especially since it was his Primary Ability. Meanwhile, Will was rocking 3 growth in no less than three stats. The future was looking up. Will thought, scanning the surroundings as the sun went down. Another fifteen minutes searching the boulder-strewn hillside, and Will came to a horrifying conclusion: The level he got could¡¯ve easily been for the first maksu he killed during the raid, or after he nailed a few further down the hill. He¡¯d been too pumped full of adrenaline to note the exact timing. The moment Will came to that conclusion, he dropped to the ground, getting his precious skull out of line of sight. Will surmised. The caravan was probably safe. The leader wouldn¡¯t attack it again with troops. Will, on the other hand, was significantly less safe. The maksu leader had a massive lump on the back of his head that there had been a third party attending the caravan raid, and maksu were definitely clever enough to realize that the dead hunter back home hadn¡¯t been an accident. The survivors would be waiting for him. Will made his hasty farewells to the old ladies and their retired Climber husbands, and started sprinting. The sun sank below the horizon and a weird pale sun rose in its place, significantly dimmer, casting the world in a pale shadow of its former appearance. Light became shadow and shadow became fathomless blackness. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Yet, no matter how fast Will ran, the ground never betrayed him. He fully expected to slip and fall or perhaps roll an ankle, but the ground felt as flat as the orphanage¡¯s hard-packed earth floors. He made good time. Will ran by the light of the dimmer sun, following the edge of the canyon for a good hour before he began climbing back down into it, deliberately avoiding following the same path he and the maksu had taken on the way out. That seemed like an excellent way to get speared. Once he got to the bottom of the canyon, Will crossed the river and made it to the other side of the canyon, then climbed By the time the morning sun broke on the side of the horizon, Will overlooked the village from up high, opposite the trail the maksu had used to attack the caravan. Sure enough, that side of the canyon was crawling with the blue-skinned humanoids, watching the easy trail into the canyon, slings ready to unleash a hail of stones on Will¡¯s face should he try to sneak back in that way. The vast majority of their warriors, including their reserve units, were up in the rough terrain on the opposite side of the river. The sun was coming from behind him, and his side of the canyon was cloaked in shadow, while the warriors were lit up. The village was still bathed in shadow and would be for another hour or so. There was no sign of movement. Will limbered up, then started sprinting down the cliffside, straight for the village. What might¡¯ve been a suicidal freefall was slowed just enough to prevent broken bones as Will hurtled downhill, covering ground in the blink of an eye, the terrain morphing to conform to his feet as he ran. Will hit the ground with a spine-jarring slam and kept running, sprinting faster than he ever had in his life. He thought maybe one of the warriors on the opposite side had seen him by the time he hit the village proper, but it was already too late. Will arrived at the shrine built around his Trial¡¯s exit portal and ducked to enter the undersized entrance as quietly as possible. A flicker of firelight on steel out of the corner of his eye was the only warning. A faintly glowing, straight-handled hatchet nicked his forearm as Will caught the wood shaft on his truncated wrist. The maksu leader lunged forward, fangs pointing outward as it attempted to chomp down on Will¡¯s arm. He punched it in the snout, snapping one of the slender teeth off and propelling the maksu leader backwards even as Will sustained a gash along his knuckles. The maksu recovered in midair and bounced off the far wall like a child¡¯s ball, bounding back at Will¡¯s face, the tomahawk whipping forward. Will caught it with his good hand, and the maksu gave him a bloody grin as it raised its free hand and began summoning a sickly green energy, aiming directly at Will¡¯s chest. Acting on instinct, Will slapped the burgeoning spell out of the maksu¡¯s hand with his Phantom Hand, scattering it against the wall of the shrine. The wall began to smolder and pit. They both froze, stunned at what had transpired. Will recovered first, slamming the maksu leader with the elbow of his wounded arm while wrenching the tomahawk out of his opponent¡¯s hand. The maksu reeled back in pain and glanced up just in time for the tomahawk to bury itself in the creature¡¯s skull. The maksu leader collapsed to the ground, the hatchet slipping out of its skull with a wet seemingly reluctant to leave Will¡¯s hand. Will could hear harsh maksu shouting and urgent footsteps outside the shrine. Will thought, diving through the glowing yellow portal. Will hit a strangely yielding surface as the world shifted around him. The temperature dropped, the humidity bumped up, and the smell of forest and rot assailed his senses. Will blinked, climbing to his feet as text obscured his vision, scrolling past nearly too quickly for him to process it. A spark of awareness came back to him, and Will crouched low, looking for any sign that Kyle¡¯s party was waiting for him. There was a week-old-looking fire pit, some scuffs on the ground where they¡¯d set up camp, but other than that¡­nothing. They were gone. Will took a cautious step, his foot coming down on something strangely soft. Directly underneath him was Ben¡¯s corpse. Will thought, his face scrunching up as the smell of week-old Ben caught up with him. The boy¡¯s skin was mottled like blue cheese, and the smell was beyond awful. Ben still wore all of his expensive gear. The chainmail sleeves were beginning to rust, and his satchel was soggy and strewn across the campsite, as if someone had dug through it furiously, looking for their promised payment. Ben¡¯s pockets were also turned inside out, spilling their contents across the forest floor. Will thought, silently studying the ring on the bloated finger. The Climbers wouldn¡¯t even bother to take the time to pluck a ring worth 20 silver off a corpse¡¯s hand. Will thought sourly. ¡°Well, Ben, this is gonna suck for both of us,¡± Will mused, slipping his new tomahawk in his belt loop before grabbing one of Ben¡¯s less-soggy bandages and wrapping up his wounds. Once he was done, he stripped off Ben¡¯s heavy armor and hauled Ben¡¯s remains over his shoulder. Three points of strength was a flat fifteen percent boost to his actual strength. This was enough to make it possible to carry a limp corpse across his shoulders. If only just barely. Will caught a lot of looks from Aspirants just arriving from the outskirts as he marched down the road, but they didn¡¯t question it. People died on The Hunt all the time. Will trudged all the way to Ben¡¯s house, dropped the corpse on his father¡¯s doorstep, and knocked on the door. He then proceeded to spend the night in jail, which wasn¡¯t unexpected given the circumstances. Sleeping in an actual bed was fantastic. The following morning, the magistrate interviewed him, asking Will a lot of pointed questions about how he came by Ben¡¯s body. Will gave him the truth. Turned out, the Climbers claimed the two had gone into their Trials and not returned. The easiest explanation without any need of proof. They had then spent three days in town before leaving abruptly. The magistrate seemed satisfied with Will¡¯s story, and Will was released later that afternoon, as the town printer began putting up wanted posters. Will mused as he walked into Brenda¡¯s Inn and ordered a full bowl of the stew, using some of the coppers he¡¯d gotten from selling the maksu¡¯s rusty dagger. ¡°Have you heard of William Oh?¡± a voice asked as Jason Salazar slid into the seat across from him. Will smiled. ¡°No, I honestly haven¡¯t,¡± he said as he began eating his stew. Chapter 8: Establishing Quest - ¡°Can you put a lanyard on this?¡± Will asked, putting his new weapon on Leon¡¯s countertop. Despite wanting to kill Kyle - Will wasn¡¯t calling him Mr. Fontaine - on sight, the lanyard advice was sound. Especially for a guy with one hand. ¡°Is it a Relic?¡± Leon asked, inspecting the tomahawk. It had a straight, wooden handle slightly longer than his forearm, the grip was carved to resemble a rattlesnake¡¯s tail, and the hammer on the backside had a cup with a hole that lead into the interior, while a decoration of a snake with an unhinged jaw formed the base of the blade. There were strange holes on the sides of the blade where it appeared there¡¯d been fangs before they were torn out. ¡°I think so,¡± Will said, recalling the vaguely ominous light it¡¯d been shedding earlier, when the maksu had been swinging it at him. ¡°Do you know what it does?¡± Leon asked. ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Then yes, I can, but you probably don¡¯t want me to drill any holes in this thing,¡± Leon mused, looking it over. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You see the hole in the hammer on the back?¡± Leon asked, pointing it out. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s a hole in the bottom for you to inhale,¡± Leon said, turning the axe over and showing Will a small hole in the bottom of the handle. ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°Additionally, these two holes look like they do something,¡± Leon mused, looking at the fang-holes in the side of the blade. ¡°One sec.¡± Leon pulled out a metal tool with a tiny hook on the end and plunged it into the fang-hole, prying out a chunk of rotting meat with a scowl before switching to a swab and cleaning out a plug of crusted-up blood and dirt. Leon turned the axe right side up and shook it, causing dirt and dried blood to fall out of the mouthpiece. ¡°I think you¡¯ll figure out what it does ,¡± he said, handing it back to Will. ¡°think I got lucky,¡± Will mused, hefting the tomahawk. If it hadn¡¯t been gunked up, the maksu would¡¯ve probably killed him with it. He lifted the weapon. ¡°Not in here!¡± Leon said, dropping down behind the desk. ¡°Oh. Right.¡± Will let the handle slide through his fingers until his knuckles were under the steel, then he slipped the tomahawk through a belt loop. ¡°Anyway, I can tie a tight lanyard around the bottom, but the Relic seems to have an ability that does something with airflow, so it¡¯d be best not to poke holes in it until you know what it does,¡± Leon said. ¡°Alright,¡± Will said, nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll test it and we¡¯ll revisit the lanyard idea.¡± ¡°So, Gertrude¡¯s been looking for you,¡± Leon said, changing the subject. ¡°Almost a week now.¡± Will sucked in a breath through his teeth. ¡°You¡¯re lucky you got so much sun and lost, what, twenty pounds over the last ten days? You¡¯re almost completely unrecognizable. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s the only thing that saved your skin. Thus far.¡± ¡°I was a victim of attempted ,¡± Will said, pointing to himself. ¡°I was going to go back and talk to her before The Trial. They shoved me through the Door.¡± ¡° believe you,¡± Leon said with a shrug. ¡°I just don¡¯t think Gertrude cares about whether or not it was your fault.¡± Leon glanced to the side. Suspiciously. With the supernatural speed given to him by his Class, Will dropped and twisted out of range of the old woman¡¯s¡ª ¡°OW, ow, ow, ow!¡± Will said as Gertrude caught his ear between her gnarled fingers. ¡°There you are!¡± Gertrude shouted, hauling Will out of Leon¡¯s shop. ¡°How are you so fa¡ªow ow!¡± ¡°How you disappear without a word to anyone!¡± ¡°Well, you know it wasn¡¯t really my idea¡ª¡± ¡°¡®Gone on an overnight hunting trip with a bunch of total strangers¡¯?! Seems like you had plenty of time to think things through. Enough to craft a message specifically designed to worry me.¡± ¡°Heh¡­ Fine, I took a risk, and it didn¡¯t work out well for me, but I¡¯m still alive.¡± ¡°Ben isn¡¯t!¡± Gertrude retorted. Will felt his expression cool. ¡°Ben committed suicide through sheer stupidity. It wasn¡¯t even the fault of the Climbers who killed him, really. If he had just kept. His. Mouth. Shut¡­we could¡¯ve been good friends with those people.¡± Gertrude released his ear and took a step back, searching his face. ¡°Is that what you believe?¡± she asked. ¡°There¡¯s no sin greater than being an easy meal,¡± Will replied. ¡°¡­I can see you¡¯ve had some time to think about things, but you obviously need a little more,¡± Gertrude said, shaking her head as she turned away. ¡°And if I hear about taking ¡®easy meals,¡¯ I swear to all the gods that I will climb to whatever floor you¡¯re on and put you out of your misguided misery.¡± She shook her head as she walked away. Will watched the ancient priestess tromp down the dirt main street of their village, down the path that would eventually lead her back to her orphanage. Will couldn¡¯t quite grasp her logic there, so he put it in the back of his mind and turned back to the general store. ¡°You¡¯re more alive than I was expecting,¡± Leon said. ¡°Same,¡± Will said. ¡°Come by any Relics recently that you could part with for one gold?¡± Will asked, revealing the tooth-dented gold coin he¡¯d received from the caravan. ¡°Mm.¡± Leon rubbed his chin and ducked behind the counter, and returned with three pieces of gear. ¡°Boots of Moisture Wicking, Eyepatch of Darkening, Amulet of Environmental Resistance.¡± ¡°Boots of Moisture Wicking? Seriously?¡± Will asked. ¡°What do you expect for one gold?¡± Leon asked back. ¡°Anything that¡¯ll save a life or win a fight is WAY more expensive.¡± ¡°This is the most money I¡¯ve ever had,¡± Will responded, brandishing his gold coin. ¡°Good for you.¡± Leon shrugged. ¡°Tell you what. Come back when you¡¯ve got fifteen gold or the equivalent,¡± Leon said. ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out for Relics that suit your build.¡± ¡°That would be¡­¡± Will shook his head. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°I do it for all the Climbers who come out of Ashwood.¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t!¡± Leon¡¯s portly wife ducked out from the storage room to undercut him before vanishing again. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Leon¡¯s expression soured, glancing over his shoulder at the empty doorway behind him. ¡°Anyway¡ª¡± ¡°Whoa,¡± Will said, blinking. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°What¡¯s a kaith?¡± ¡°Hive-mind creature, lives on the second floor. They build huge bridges out of their own spit and whatever material they have available. Nasty one-on-one, deadly in groups.¡± ¡°What¡¯s an Establishing Quest?¡± Will asked. ¡°About the right time for you. What¡¯s the time limit?¡± ¡°Fourteen minutes,¡± Will responded. ¡°That¡¯s how long you have to decide whether you wanna go on it or not, so take your time,¡± Leon said. ¡°Generally, Establishing Quests are called that because they¡¯re an easy mission given to newbies, with an outsized reward for completion. ¡°They¡¯re also a great way to find teammates,¡± Leon continued. ¡°Since they¡¯re primarily composed of young newbies without parties. ¡°And ¡­¡± Leon said, wiggling his eyebrows. ¡°...you meet cute single girls that you get to pair up with¡­if you know what I mean¡­¡± He glanced over his shoulder at the empty doorway. ¡°For the rest of your life.¡± Leon¡¯s expression turned haunted, and he let out a sigh. ¡°Anyway, you can¡¯t take them after level five or if you are in a party, so now¡¯s the time to meet some cute girls and make a good impression.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take that under advisement,¡± Will said. ¡°Anything else I should know?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get killed?¡± Leon offered. ¡°How wise,¡± Will said. ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t accept it in ,¡±Leon said, shooing him away. ¡°I don¡¯t need an interdimensional doorway taking a chunk out of my floor, nor do I need you tumbling back through, all bloody in the middle of the night and dirtying up my shop. Accept it out¡± Bemused, Will walked outside and a ways away from Leon¡¯s shop. Silently, a doorway opened in front of Will, identical to the one that had trapped him in a featureless box for two days. The featureless box that his corpse could be growing mushrooms in this very instant, if he hadn¡¯t gotten lucky. Will strode forward. And stopped a couple inches away from the Door as his entire body flooded with adrenaline. Will took a step back, and his heart settled down almost immediately. Will¡¯s feet unconsciously swerved around the Door. When he opened his eyes, he was way off the mark, the glowing Door behind him and to his right. Will came up with a solution. ¡°Hey Leon, could I get a hand out here?¡± ¡°Eh, whaddya need me for?¡± the gruff shopkeep demanded, already heading out from behind the counter. ¡°I need you to give me a little push,¡± Will said as he arrived in front of the Door, miming the action. ¡°Nah. Ain¡¯t gonna do it.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯ve seen this before. A couple times. Heard about it even more,¡± Leon said. ¡°Oftentimes people have real bad experiences on the other side of those Doors.¡± He glanced at Will¡¯s missing hand. ¡°Sometimes they can¡¯t bear to go through the Door anymore. I¡¯ve seen people try to get others to give them the nudge they need to make it through. It always escalates until they¡¯re kicking and screaming every time, and they wash out. Or die.¡± S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°But I feel fine!¡± Will protested. ¡°Yeah, the way you and what¡¯s really going on up here¡ª¡± he tapped his head, ¡°¡ªain¡¯t always the same.¡± ¡°So what am I supposed to do?¡± Will demanded, his heart sinking. ¡°You¡¯ve got two options: Give up on Climbing and start a life out here, or figure out a way to get yourself through that Door entirely under your own power, in the next thirteen minutes.¡± Over the next ten minutes, Will tried running at it, jumping at it, but each time, one of his legs would give out, leaving him sprawled out in the dirt. Several of those minutes were simply forcing himself to march through on sheer willpower, and they failed miserably. As the timer was ticking down on the last two minutes, Leon scoffed and walked back to his shop. ¡°I¡¯ll see if the local hunter¡¯ll apprentice ya,¡± he said, turning towards Will and giving him a salute before rocking back on his heels and allowing himself to fall most of the way through his doorway before he caught himself. Will¡¯s eyes widened. Will stood with his back to the Door, as close to the brilliant yellow death-portal as he could stomach, then closed his eyes and rocked back on his heels. There was a fleeting sensation of weightlessness and mind-bending dread, and an instant later, Will slammed into a floor that was much rockier than the hard-packed earth street outside Leon¡¯s shop. Will opened his eyes and above him was that godsforsaken blue sky. In the center of it was a grizzled veteran, looming directly over him. ¡°Nice of you to join us. Entamaphobia?¡± The older Climber asked what sounded like a question made of a jumble of syllables, while offering him a hand. ¡°I have no idea what that means,¡± Will said, taking the hand and coming to a stand, his ears catching whispers and feminine giggles. Will thought as he scanned the crowd. Leon was right. There were a of girls his age here. ¡°Fear of Doors,¡± the veteran said, dusting Will¡¯s shoulders off. ¡°Oh, then yes.¡± ¡°You make it through on your own?¡± he asked. His tone was neutral, but Will felt a menacing energy carried through beneath it. ¡°Yessir. Closed my eyes and fell backwards.¡± ¡°Good! Means you might recover. NOW GET YOUR ASS IN THAT LINE!¡± He shoved Will over towards the rest of the new Climbers, who were assembled into a rough line. ¡°We¡¯re short on time, so I¡¯ll make it quick. My name is Nathan. I¡¯m your babysitter on this Quest. ¡°Now, just a few hundred feet that way is a big hole in the ground. That hole in the ground leads to an extensive cave system that the kaith are using to move food to the front lines, where they are battling higher-level climbers. ¡°Our quest is to find and destroy their supply lines. It is to get into a direct fight with the kaith. If you¡¯re here to advance a civilian Class, step forward.¡± A dozen or so Climbers stepped forward. ¡°Set up camp. Bake bread. Whatever you do, do it,¡± he said, waving for them to get to work. The young men and women broke apart and began surveying the land, leaving the scrappier-looking Climbers behind. Will was glad to count himself among them. ¡°You, what¡¯s your archetype?¡± ¡°Tanker,¡± a large boy said. ¡°You?¡± he asked, moving on. ¡°Striker,¡± a young woman with lean muscles said. ¡°You?¡± he asked, pointing at a short figure in a leather cloak, a barrel resting beside it, nearly the same size as the figure itself. ¡°Saboteur,¡± a raspy voice responded. ¡°Lift that hood.¡± Taloned hands reached up and lifted the deep hood, revealing a ruddy, scaled muzzle with eyes like emerald gemstones. ¡°A kobold. The hell did you get mixed in here? Don¡¯t your people have their own land on the side of the tower?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a story,¡± the kobold responded. ¡°Don¡¯t care. I hear your people like traps.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t just ¡®like¡¯ traps. We live them,¡± the kobold said with a genteel nod. Nathan grunted, moving on. ¡°You?¡± ¡°Nuker,¡± a young man said, pridefully raising his chin. Will bit down on the instant envy. Nathan went down a dozen or so before he got to Will. ¡°You?¡± ¡°Scout/Infiltrator,¡± Will responded. ¡°Was that before or after this?¡± he asked, pointing at Will¡¯s missing hand. ¡°After.¡± ¡°Huh. Good on you.¡± Nathan moved down the line until he reached the end. ¡°Alright, break into teams, no less than two, no more than five. I don¡¯t really care what your logic is, just be aware that a poor choice in teammates get you killed.¡± Will approached some people he thought could complement his style, but by and large, they ignored him after one look at his missing hand. In a matter of minutes, half a dozen knots of young men and women had formed, leaving Will standing by himself. Well, not by himself. ¡°Care for a grub?¡± the kobold asked, reaching up to offer him a wriggling larva. Will shrugged and ate it. It tasted¡­not bad, all things considered. Probably would be better if cooked and spiced, but one simply did not turn down free food. ¡°My name is Loth,¡± Loth said. ¡°You are the first human who accepted my gift of friendship. I believe the human custom is to¡­clasp hands, correct?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Will said, taking the oddly pebbled hand and giving it a firm shake. ¡°My name¡¯s William Oh.¡± ¡°Ah, then our victory is assured,¡± Loth said with a sharp-toothed grin. ¡°Whaddya mean?¡± Will asked, before realizing that the knots of chatting teens had turned silent. ¡° William Oh?¡± one of the nearby teen Climbers asked. Will scanned the surrounding Climbers, staring at him with a mixture of burgeoning awe and envy. shit ¡°¡­That¡¯s me.¡± ¡°He¡¯s on my team!¡± a girl shouted, grabbing Will¡¯s arm, which unleashed a flood of noise and motion as everyone crowded around him. Chapter 9: Spelunking - Jason Salazar Will sat against the cold stone, staring straight ahead at the blank cave wall, lit by the faint light of Loth¡¯s glowbugs. ¡°Why did I do that?¡± he asked aloud. ¡°Why did I that?¡± ¡°You said it was because you didn¡¯t want them to grow accustomed to your greatness and then suffer in its absence,¡± Loth replied, sitting beside him. ¡°Yeah, but why did I that?!¡± Will demanded. ¡°I could¡¯ve had girls in my party. Four¡­ We could¡¯ve had¡­adventures.¡± ¡°In my admittedly short experience, one cannot change their nature at the first crack of shell.¡± Loth looked up at him. ¡°Do you perhaps not have much experience with multiple women fighting over you?¡± ¡°That would be the understatement of the century,¡± Will replied. ¡°Then it would follow that your tolerance for those situations would be limited. If it happens more, then you will be able to respond with consideration, rather than panic.¡± ¡°Yeah, like that¡¯ll ever happen again,¡± Will muttered. Then he recalled how the girls made those weird sighing noises at his reflexively made-up bullshit to escape their attention. He also recalled Jason¡¯s over-achieving manner of handling his end of the bargain. It had been amusing when he¡¯d heard the stories firsthand, when Jason couldn¡¯t recognize him due to the sunburns and weight loss, but now¡­ Will didn¡¯t really know how to deal with them, though. A girl older than him had left the orphanage six years prior, and the closest one in age to him was Marissa, and she was three years younger. Pretty much a complete brat. There were a handful of girls in the village about his age, but they didn¡¯t really¡­interact much. ¡°How do kobolds deal with women?¡± Will asked idly. ¡°Well, there are many courtship rituals among our people, so there¡¯s no way of doing it, but I¡¯m quite partial to the method whereby the man grabs the woman by the horns¡ª¡± He tapped the rear-facing horns jutting out of the back of his skull, before miming the action. ¡°¡ªwrestles her upper body to the ground, and¡ª¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll work,¡± Will said, shaking his head. ¡°You know what? Let¡¯s move on. It feels like this conversation isn¡¯t going to bear fruit.¡± ¡°As you wish,¡± Loth said with a nod. ¡°Also, in what manner can a conversation bear fruit?¡± ¡°It means ¡®nothing good will come of it.¡¯¡± ¡°Ah. Idioms. Those are difficult.¡± ¡°Mm,¡± Will said, pushing himself to his feet and surveying the stone walls. They¡¯d split into seven groups and begun scouting out the caverns, looking for the kaith supply line. It was a branching web of tunnels that plunged into pitch blackness, causing them to split up rather quickly. Thankfully before Will ran out of his severely limited supply of smooth one-liners. In theory, all the kaith warriors should be at the front line, where higher-level Climbers were dealing with them. The workers themselves were much more in line with what one could expect on the first floor of The Tower. The barrel of soil topped with food scraps turned out to house dozens of insect species, which Loth manipulated with ease. Every time they came to a branch in the cave system, Loth left an arrow pointing back the way they came, marked with the luminescent juices of glowbugs squished against the wall. ¡°How many different bugs do you have, anyway?¡± Will asked, stepping carefully as they walked down the tunnel. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve got feeders,¡± Loth said, pulling out one of the wiggling grubs he¡¯d offered Will. ¡°They¡¯ll eat anything and store food scraps as more of themselves. Good field rations. They feed the others, too. I¡¯ve got silkstriders, wood-worms, venomous Gnatters, Pics, ticks. These ones coagulate blood, these make it flow freely. These barbs house flesh-eating bacteria. Squash some bleeders and barbs on a blade, and a tiny nick becomes a wound requiring a healer to intervene. And fast. ¡°I¡¯ve got binders: they glue things together. A fungus for feeding the ones that prefer plants. Stinkers, Seekers¡­ Use them together to mark a target and track it down later. ¡°Gillies, sweeteners, masks, firestarters, poppers, glowbugs, of course, and umm¡­I think that¡¯s about it. Probably.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like a microcosm of Death,¡± Will said, leaning over the innocuous barrel of soil, watching the tiny flashes of light as shiny chitin moved about just under the surface. ¡°Isn¡¯t it fantastic?!¡± Loth asked, looking up at him with a sharp-toothed grin. ¡°It was a challenge and a half to get them all living together, and half of my Class is dedicated to simply keeping them in balance and under control.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the other half dedicated to?¡± Will asked. ¡°Traps.¡± ¡°I see. ACK!¡± Will nearly tumbled into the afterlife as the bottom of the tunnel fell out from under him. What he assumed to be a small shadow between one ridge in the floor and the next was actually a pitch-black drop into nothingness, only about three feet wide, but immeasurably deep. Will plummeted down for a fraction of a second before his body caught up with what was happening, and his good hand whipped out, catching the far edge. Will kicked off the stone and whipped himself back up into the ¡®safety¡¯ of the pitch-black tunnel through enemy territory they¡¯d been spelunking. ¡°Well done,¡± Loth said, kneeling beside the hole in the floor. A handful of glowing worms climbed up to the edge of his barrel, and Loth scooped them up, placing them in a dish of polished silver. He turned the dish upside down, and Will blinked when he realized that it focused their light into a beam. Despite the beam of pale blue light, they couldn¡¯t see the bottom. ¡°Looks like this may be another path,¡± Loth mused. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°¡­We shouldn¡¯t give something the opportunity to come up behind us,¡± Will said, eyeing the hole in the floor. It needed to be explored otherwise there would be a possibility of being ambushed from behind. ¡°Which direction would you like to go?¡± Loth asked, pointing down at the hole, then the continuation of the tunnel. Will heaved a sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s go down. I¡¯m better suited for climbing than the others, so I should do it.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Loth held up a finger, and placed the barrel down beside the hole. The kobold¡¯s silk-striders marched out of the barrel and began crawling up to the far tunnel. ¡°Aren¡¯t those just spiders?¡± Will asked. ¡°A special breed of them. They¡¯re a domesticated variety that has a hard time hunting for themselves, but they make several excellent varieties of silk on command,¡± Loth said. Will watched as the spiders strung an invisible strand of silk from the top of the far tunnel before Loth reached into his pouch and retrieved a tiny bell, hanging it up. It seemed as though it was hanging in midair, in the shadow of an overhang, nearly entirely out of sight. Loth plucked the vertical strand of silk, which gave off a clear tinkling sound. He nodded in satisfaction. All told, it took the kobold maybe five seconds to set up an imperceptible alarm trap. Loth squished a glow bug between his fingers, then drew symbols explaining to any follow-up crews that they¡¯d gone down the hole and the tunnel in front of them was unexplored. Hopefully, those symbols would prevent anyone else mindlessly stumbling into the pit like Will had. ¡°Alright, here we go,¡± Will said, dropping down into the pit and beginning to climb down. As Will got started, a line of glow-bugs began marching down the wall alongside him, providing dim illumination as he went. About three minutes into the downward climb, Will was beginning to accept that this was an actual path, and they weren¡¯t going to hit a dead end and come back again. Shortly afterward, something lunged out of the dark and grabbed his foot. ¡°SHIT!¡± Will shouted as a ring of predatory teeth latched around his ankle, poking through the tough leather of his boots. It yanked his foot off the wall and tried to yank him back into a hole where it would begin the process of feasting. ¡°Damnit!¡± Will only had two contact points on the wall, which was less than ideal when being ragdolled around by¡­ Will caught a glance of it, and wished he hadn¡¯t. It was a wormlike appendage with a ring of fanglike protrusions that convulsed in sync with each other, with the sole purpose of drawing his foot down its gullet. Will hissed in pain as he set his body weight on his left elbow and slipped the tomahawk out of his belt. An instant later, his elbow slipped and he was in freefall, held up only by the monstrous creature reeling him into its coffin-like lair. Will whipped the tomahawk forward and buried it in the maggot-white neck just beyond where he knew his foot was. The creature pulled harder. Will went into a frenzy, slamming the blade into the creature¡¯s neck over and over, a faint hum building up behind his eyes as he did so. Finally, Will slammed the ax through the creature¡¯s neck, severing its hold on him completely. Will¡¯s weight ripped the last threads of muscle, causing the monster¡¯s jaws to detach with a sickly Unfortunately, that put him into freefall again. Will hit his head on , sending stars shooting across his vision. He dropped the tomahawk and flailed around for any purchase he could find. The stone conformed to his grip, and he wrenched to a stop, nearly pulling his arm out of its socket as his weapon kept tumbling. Desperate not to lose his Relic, Will swung forward and caught the tomahawk between his thighs, nearly unmanning himself in the process. ¡°Well,¡± Will muttered to himself, dangling by a single hand in complete darkness above an unknowable drop, potentially surrounded by an entire hive of those flesh-eating creatures. ¡°This could¡¯ve gone better.¡± Through a monumental effort, Will crunched up and passed the head of his weapon into the crook of his elbow, then carefully guided it into a belt loop. ¡°William, are you still alive?¡± Loth asked as he rappelled down on spider silk rope. ¡°Technically,¡± Will muttered. Once his weapon was secured, he got to work setting his feet¡­except there was nothing to set them on. ¡°¡­I think I¡¯m hanging from the ceiling of a thousand-foot drop¡­with one hand,¡± Will said. ¡°Allow me to confirm,¡± Loth said, setting his feet and tugging on the rope. The silk-striders above him chewed through the rope and rejoined their master, where they reset the silk rope at his current position. The glow-bugs marched down in tandem with their master until the walls of the tunnel suddenly gave way, leaving the kobold suspended over nothing. Without losing a beat, Loth put glowbugs in his silver dish and scanned the surrounding emptiness. ¡°There¡¯s a ledge there,¡± he said, pointing. Will craned his neck to see, and spotted a ledge about twenty feet out and twenty down, lit up by the pale blue light. ¡°Can you keep the light on it?¡± Will asked. ¡°Surely.¡± Will bunched up his body and put his legs on the lip of the tunnel, praying that his tomahawk didn¡¯t slip out of the belt-loop. His right arm was twisted nearly one hundred and eighty degrees moments before he pushed off with every fiber of his being, leaping across the empty chasm toward the ledge below. Will had all the wind crushed out of his lungs as he hit the ledge. For a brief, hair-raising instant, Will thought he would slip off and tumble into the emptiness beneath. His hand found a good grip less than a heartbeat later, and he hauled himself up onto the ledge, groaning as he rubbed what would surely become an impressive bruise by tomorrow morning. ¡°Catch!¡± Loth called, moments before a rope sailed across the gap and landed in Will¡¯s hand. ¡°Hold it to the wall for a moment,¡± Loth¡¯s voice called from the empty blackness in the distance, punctuated by the single blue light in his hand. Will did so. Dozens of silk-striders crawled down the rope and began webbing it to the wall. ¡°You can let go now,¡± Loth said as the rope went tight. A moment later, Loth slid down the rope, landing on the ledge, unhooking a metal hook with a latch on a spring as he settled. ¡°You¡¯re quite good at climbing, despite being a one-handed human.¡± ¡°Half of my Class is dedicated to it,¡± Will said. ¡°What¡¯s the other half dedicated to?¡± Loth asked, referencing their earlier conversation with a wry look. ¡°Magic,¡± Will said, releasing the Sting Ring from dimensional storage into his palm. Loth¡¯s scaly brows rose. ¡°Interesting.¡± Now that they were out of sight of anyone who might be from Ashwood, and likely to run into further trouble, Will figured this was a good time to equip it. He¡¯d gotten the opportunity to sacrifice it to his Phantom Hand when he¡¯d first taken it into the storage, hiding it from inconvenient questions by the magistrate. Will hadn¡¯t sacrificed the ring to Phantom Hand because there was no need to just yet. He only had one ring, and his ring slot was empty. Once he started having multiple Relics fighting over the same slot, he could worry about which one he wanted to destroy. Will realized that his Phantom Hand was ridiculously powerful. There were several slots that could only have one Relic, like helmets, boots (in pairs), amulets, two-handed primary weapons, etc. Typically, if someone found two helmets that would have had a synergistic effect between them, they could never combine those effects, because their wearer only had one head. As its dimensional storage grew, he would eventually be able to use it as something like a Universal Slot, which vastly outweighed the utility of the Ring slot he¡¯d lost to get it. With his mouth, he pushed the Sting Ring onto the finger of his right hand, feeling the faint buzzing sensation signaling that it had activated and added its effects to his character sheet. They took a break. Will bandaged up the scrapes and shallow punctures on his foot while Loth sat on the edge of the ledge, idly swinging his legs over the abyss with the ease of a boy sitting in a tree branch ten steps from home, munching on grubs and drinking from a flask of water. ¡°Want some?¡± Loth asked, holding out a handful of grubs like trail rations. ¡°Nah, I got my own,¡± Will muttered, prying the creature¡¯s fangs out of the leather of his boot, forcing the hardened hide to relinquish his snack. He sat beside Loth, turned the creature¡¯s mouth around backwards and started chewing on the neck-meat. There were a couple pounds of it attached to the jaw, after all. ¡°How is it?¡± Loth asked. Wordlessly, Will seized some with his teeth and ripped the piece in half, offering it to Loth. The kobold took a ginger bite and nodded appreciatively before continuing on to devour the rest of it. The two of them took an hour to recover from the climb, sitting side by side, feet dangling over Death, leaning against the stone wall. Chapter 10: First Impressions - Jason Salazar ***Mason Lanover*** ¡°Are you sure they came this way?¡± Reggie asked. The young Tanker was having trouble squeezing through the tunnels with his armor intact. Tankers were an interesting archetype. Nobody with any sense wanted to be one, and nobody without a significant amount of money and resources could create and equip one, but they were doubtlessly useful, so most Tankers wound up being sponsored by their village or by rich families to bodyguard their young heirs through their more vulnerable first dozen or so levels. Reggie being a case in point. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure,¡± Mason replied, covering the lantern with his hand. As soon as the light of the lantern vanished, the walls lit up with bioluminescent marks from the trap-rat¡¯s insects. ¡°Hold up,¡± June, their scout, said as she held up a hand, peering ahead of them cautiously. ¡°Cover the lantern again?¡± Mason covered the lantern, revealing a bar of kobold gibberish scribbled on the floor in glowing ink. ¡°How considerate. They marked the pit for anyone who came behind them.¡± ¡°Like actually considerate, or sarcastic considerate?¡± Reggie clarified. ¡°The former,¡± June said, hopping across the pit. A tiny bell suspended from above began tinkling, sending a clear note through the caverns. For an instant, Mason¡¯s heart seized, aware of the lethal traps the kobolds were known for. Thankfully, nothing followed. ¡°It¡¯s just an alert,¡± June said, pocketing the bell. ¡°We should assume they know we¡¯re coming.¡± She crept ahead of them into the dark for a minute before returning. ¡°They went down there,¡± she said, pointing down the hole. ¡°Like, down down there?¡± Reggie asked. ¡°Yes. , down there.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can fit down there,¡± Reggie said, peering down into the bottomless hole. ¡°Where did all your anger about that William Oh acting all high and mighty go?¡± Mason demanded. ¡°I thought you wanted to give him a little chin music now that he¡¯s not being mother-henned by that insufferable Nathan fellow.¡± ¡°I think that was mostly you,¡± Reggie replied. ¡°I thought he was pretty cool.¡± ¡°Yeah, he was cute. I¡¯ll still send him a beating for the right price, though. Hand me the lantern,¡± June said, motioning with her hand as she leaned over the pit. June was planning on being a career Climber, and had taken Sacrifices to match that ambition, which made her odd, because women were averse to lifestyles with such a high mortality rate. Most of them were back in camp, putting up defenses, ovens, water filters, and places to sleep. There were always a few, though¡­and for some reason, most of them had jumped at the chance to get William Oh on their team, ignoring the heir of the Lanover fortune. A future Lord, relegated to everyone¡¯s second choice. Laughable. Except, Mason wasn¡¯t laughing. ¡°You guys don¡¯t get it,¡± Mason said, handing over the lantern. ¡°He made up rumors about himself before his Establishing Quest to get girls, and the way they were eating up his spurious words¡­¡± A cold fury burned inside Mason¡¯s stomach. ¡°Jealous you didn¡¯t think of it first?¡± June asked with a wry smile as she attached the lantern to the rope and began lowering it down. ¡°NO!¡± Mason protested. ¡°It¡¯s the principle of the thing. I am real. He is not. Girls shouldn¡¯t be fawning over an obvious faker.¡± ¡°They should be fawning over you?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± She raised a brow. ¡°No?¡± ¡°Some advice?¡± June said, looking down into the pit as the sides were lit by the lowering lantern. ¡°You are never going to be able to control who girls fawn over, and the mere act of trying to do so makes you look like an ass.¡± ¡°Well, what about ?!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think he started those rumors,¡± June said. ¡°He was super nervous being the center of attention. We could tell. That¡¯s why we let him off the hook. It was pretty cute.¡± ¡°Oh, , you don¡¯t get to pull feminine hive-mind ¡®we all decided to mob him¡­as a joke, then we could tell he was nervous, and then we decided to let him off the hook without any communication to that effect¡¯ bullshit,¡± Mason griped at his friend. ¡°Women are either individuals, or they are a brain-linked hive-mind. You don¡¯t get to play both sides.¡± June shrugged and glanced at Reggie. ¡°Nah, pass,¡± Reggie said, waving his hand. ¡°We did communicate. You didn¡¯t see me make this face at Sasha?¡± Her face twitched indiscernibly. ¡°Sasha said this.¡± June¡¯s brows subtly shifted. ¡°Then Mary said this.¡± The corner of June¡¯s mouth twitched upward. ¡°Then Nancy joined in on the joke.¡± The other corner of June¡¯s mouth twitched upward. ¡°Are you messing with me?¡± Mason asked. Did girls really have some kind of face sign language? He was fairly sure June was exaggerating to make him feel stupid, but it felt like there might be a kernel of truth in there somewhere. ¡°Who knows? You certainly don¡¯t. ¡°Peggy was clueless, though. She just wanted an excuse to fangirl over someone,¡± June finished with a sigh before glancing back up at Reggie. ¡°I think we can fit you through here.¡± ¡°Fantastic. I totally wanted to climb down a claustrophobic, bottomless hole,¡± Reggie said with a sarcastic drawl. ¡°Tell me how you really feel,¡± June teased. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Do we have enough rope?¡± Mason asked. June glanced down at the lantern illuminating the pit fifty feet below them, with no bottom in sight. ¡°Maybe,¡± June said with a shrug. ¡°How did William Oh get down there with one hand?¡± Reggie asked. ¡°Using the kobold¡¯s help, obviously,¡± Mason said. ¡°Also, call him William or Will from now on.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know we were on a first-name basis,¡± Reggie said. ¡°We¡¯re not, I just don¡¯t want you to get in the habit of calling him by his first and last name like some kind of celebrity.¡± ***William*** ¡°You hear that?¡± Will asked as a faint tinkling sound caught his ear. ¡°Yes, it appears as though someone or something has come behind us,¡± Loth replied, glancing over his shoulder. In the stillness of the underground, sound traveled far. They shared a look. ¡°Ambush?¡± Will asked. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Better to trap your neighbor and the klinnoth than neither,¡± Loth replied. ¡°Idioms!¡± Will said as they headed back. Half an hour later, a rather large, sweaty young man began climbing down Loth¡¯s rope to land on the ledge. From his sheer bulk, he barely fit on the ledge, and his oversized armor didn¡¯t help either. Once he had solid ground under his feet, the oversized boy sat down, panting from exertion, unscrewing the cap of a flask and taking a swig of water. Will recognized him from the gathering outside the cave system. The Tanker. ¡°Are the other tunnels scouted, then?¡± Will asked, dropping down from above to land beside the Tanker, who proceeded to spit a mouthful of water into the abyss. ¡°Gods!¡± the Tanker cried, staring at him with round eyes. ¡°The Abyss did you come from?¡± Will pointed at the stone wall above them with a shrug. ¡°Heard you coming.¡± ¡°Right. Anyway, we hit dead ends and are backtracking.¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you take the branch we didn¡¯t?¡± Will asked, frowning. ¡°Cuz of him,¡± the big guy said, pointing off into the distance at the Nuker, who was struggling to hand-over-hand down the rope to the ledge. ¡°Is that him?! Keep him there!¡± the mage shouted as he struggled along. ¡°I¡¯m on my way!¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Reggie,¡± the big kid said, offering his hand. ¡°If you try to keep me here, I¡¯ll throw you off the ledge,¡± Will said. Reggie¡¯s brows rose. ¡°Just a handshake, man.¡± ¡°Will.¡± Will grasped his hand, gave a solid shake and released, pleased to discover that Reggie wasn¡¯t going to try anything. ¡°You! You spurious cad!¡± the nuker said as he arrived, poking Will aggressively in the chest, which was awkward as he had to clamber over the tanker¡¯s legs to reach him. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Will asked. ¡°What do I mean? That well of pernicious lies you¡¯ve dug for yourself. The taste might be sweet right now, but it¡¯ll poison you, I¡¯ll make sure of that! I¡¯ll be the instrument of Karma that ensures you get your just desserts!¡± ¡°No, what does ¡®spurious¡¯ mean?¡± Will asked. ¡°You ignorant¡ª¡± The nuker fumed helplessly, unable to fully gesticulate his frustration on a narrow ledge. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m June,¡± the last person across the rope said as she arrived, swinging across the gap with significantly more skill than the first two. Will immediately hid behind the nuker in case she decided to attack him. And for no other reason. ¡°We decided to come reinforce you down here. It¡¯s slim pickings up there,¡± she said, pointing toward the tunnel in the ceiling. ¡°He says if we mess with him, he¡¯ll throw us off the cliff,¡± Reggie said, leaning against the wall. ¡°Wow, hardcore,¡± June said, slipping a backpack off and fishing through it for snacks. ¡°He is hardcore!¡± the nuker said, pouting. ¡°So, to be clear, you guys aren¡¯t trying to kill me, steal my stuff, and leave me at the bottom of the abyss?¡± Will asked, peeking around the fuming noble¡¯s son. ¡°We are here to that you are a charlatan, a fraud, a festering boil on the ass of society,¡± the nuker said, turning back to Will. ¡°But not actually going to try to kill me?¡± Will asked. ¡°¡­No. We¡¯re not going to kill you, you coward,¡± the nuker said, rolling his eyes. ¡°But I¡¯m going to witness your fraud firsthand and warn others. You will be known among the highest circles for the¡ª¡± ¡°Cool. Looks like we¡¯re clear, Loth,¡± Will said, interrupting¡­whatever that was. ¡°Excellent.¡± Loth¡¯s voice came from beneath them. A moment later, the kobold climbed up from underneath the ledge. He pulled some taut silk up from the floor with a single claw and cut it with a belt knife. The severed silk released a massive amount of energy as it snapped, whipping down into the darkness. Reggie¡¯s eyes traced the remains of the silk rope to where it joined the false wall behind him. ¡°You were gonna us?!¡± Reggie cried. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t know what you wanted with us, so¡­¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°What kind of irredeemable criminal assumes that everyone¡ª¡± ¡°Whatever. Loth and I are going to be the front scouts. J-June, would you mind watching our backs?¡± ¡°No problem,¡± June said, giving him a flippant salute. ¡°Sounds fine,¡± Reggie said. ¡°Okay, then we¡¯ll be heading out that way. Follow when you¡¯re ready,¡± Will said, joining Loth on the walk back out into the darkness. ¡°Hardcore,¡± Reggie whispered. ¡°Hardcore,¡± June replied. ¡°He is NOT. HARDCORE!¡± the nuker shouted as the other group faded into the distance. ¡°I never got his name,¡± Will mused once they were out of earshot. ¡°I am sure you will,¡± Loth replied. ¡°He seems the type to say his own name aloud.¡± ¡°I am Mason Lanover, and I will be ignored!¡± The nuker¡¯s voice turned shrill, piercing the darkness behind them. ¡°Wow,¡± Will whispered, craning his neck to peer behind them. ¡°Spot on.¡± He glanced down at Loth. ¡°Do you know what ¡®spurious¡¯ means?¡± ¡°Disingenuous, inauthentic, false, phony, or fraudulent,¡± Loth replied. At Will¡¯s stare, Loth shrugged. ¡°I learned English from a dictionary.¡± ¡°Huh. Are you, perhaps¡­unusual for a kobold?¡± Loth didn¡¯t answer and instead gave him a sharp-toothed grin. ¡°Pray tell, what is usual for a kobold?¡± Loth asked innocently. ¡°That¡¯s a trap, you trap-laying sonofabitch,¡± Will said, grinding his knuckles on Loth¡¯s skull. ¡°You¡¯ve stumbled across the closest thing to a compliment our species has,¡± Loth replied, brushing Will¡¯s hand away from his skull. They let the matter drop as they reached the point they hadn¡¯t scouted yet, falling silent and creeping along, ears open for any miniscule movement that might indicate a monster sneaking up on them. Now that they knew they had guests, they put a little more care into creating a navigable path behind them as they followed the narrow ledge, especially given the Tanker¡¯s overbearing size. Sometimes the ledge disappeared entirely, sometimes it moved up or down a couple body lengths, and rarely, it continued on straight for hundreds of feet only to crumble out from beneath the first person to walk across it. Will was almost ready to call it for the night, when they caught the first scent of trouble. Literally. ¡°Ugh, what¡¯s that?¡± Will whispered, scrunching up his nose as he came to a halt. ¡°Rotten meat,¡± Loth replied. They glanced at each other. ¡°Kaith supply line, maybe?¡± Will whispered. They went totally silent, sneaking forward, guided by the light of Loth¡¯s glowbugs. Eventually, the bridge came into sight. And what a sight it was: a ruddy brown material that seemed to be regurgitated stone mixed with rust, with a sort of organic latticework that arched out into the emptiness of the chasm, seemingly stretching into the distance without end. Kaith traveled across it at full speeds, their rotund yet insectoid bodies gliding past each other silently as one stream carried the rotting corpses of First Floor fauna and the occasional human, while the other was empty-handed. Will and Loth quietly backed up and waited for the others to catch up. Once Reggie arrived, panting and sweaty from the modest amount of climbing he¡¯d been doing, followed shortly by Mason and June, they conferred. ¡°There¡¯s a kaith bridge a couple hundred feet in front of us,¡± Will said, pointing over his shoulder. ¡°We should get reinforcements,¡± Mason said. ¡°Agreed,¡± Will said. ¡°Aye,¡± June said. ¡°Indeed,¡± Loth said. ¡°Yup.¡± They all glanced around at each other, as if in disbelief that none of them volunteered to be The Idiot That Gets Climbers Killed?. Nathan, the veteran in charge, was supposed to be the spearhead that held the bridge while they figured out how to destroy it. Their job now was to return to the surface and bring him back here tomorrow, along with the rest of the parties, so everyone was nice and rested and ready to go. ¡°Alright then,¡± Will said. ¡°Since we¡¯re all on the same page, let¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°INCOMING!¡± Loth shouted, tossing a handful of glowbugs down the ledge, where the light glinted off of smooth, rotund chitin marching straight up the side of the wall. Chapter 11: Fighting Retreat ¡°RUN!¡± They all knew they didn¡¯t have a chance if the kaith bogged them down. They would be dragged down one by one, their biomass added to the ¡®supplies¡¯ the kaith were transporting to their central hive. June bolted down the narrow ledge back the way they came, bounding out in front of them like a startled deer. Mason followed shortly after, all pretense of noble bearing lost as he scrambled forward, dipping down to his hands and knees where he needed extra grip, without losing any of the desperate speed. Reggie tried to follow close behind, his ostentatious heavy armor causing more harm than help as his oversized pauldrons caught a jutting piece of rock, sending him teetering over the edge. Will set his feet, reached out and slammed Reggie back up against the wall as hard as he could, barely righting the Tanker. ¡°Keep moving!¡± Loth shouted, climbing over the both of them and hopping across the tanker¡¯s shoulders to continue on ahead, flinging sticky glowbugs in every direction like confetti to bring the battle into focus, heedless of the risk of being seen now that they had already engaged. Meanwhile, buzzing insects with wicked stingers swarmed from the bottom of Loth¡¯s barrel and began flinging themselves at the kaith¡¯s eyes, causing the monsters to flinch and scrape their forelimbs across their strangely mammalian eyes. ¡°You good?¡± Will asked. Reggie nodded, seizing his left pauldron and snapping the leather straps, tearing it away from his shoulder with one hand in a stunning display of strength, flinging it behind them before he continued running, leaving Will bringing up the rear. ¡°Fire to the rear-guard!¡± Mason¡¯s voice called out. Will leapt up and clung to the rock face as a mote of fire screamed past, cutting a thin line through his night-vision before it detonated behind him, sending a dozen or more of the closest monsters tumbling into the chasm. In the brief instant of light, Will saw a unit of kaith climbing the wall beneath and in front of Mason, about to form a wedge between their vanguard and their nuker. Will pulled out his tomahawk and sprinted along the side of the cliff, trusting Aspect of the Goat to provide footing as he ran across the sheer wall above Reggie and Mason, arcing high over their heads before jumping off. The nuker¡¯s slack jaw was worth probable death as Will sailed through the air over him, aiming to remedy the outflank. As the air flowed through the fang holes in his tomahawk, an unsettling chord began to float through the air, rising to a crescendo as Will came down feet-first on the lead kaith and buried the blade between the things mammalian eyes. Some unspoken feeling prompted Will to dump a Charge into the axe as it swept down. The haunting chord thrummed outward from the tomahawk with a physical force, causing the surrounding kaith to flinch backwards before they began writhing in pain, dropping off the wall, trailing smoke from their eyes and mandibles. ¡°Crap.¡± Will muttered as the kaith he¡¯d struck fell, bringing him with it. Will leapt off the kaith, getting two steps up the side of the wall before his momentum began to push him away from the wall. Unwilling to drop his weapon again, Will caught the ledge with the blade of the axe, pulling himself back towards the stone wall before letting his feet do the rest of the work, pushing him up and onto the ledge. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Go, go, go!¡± Will said, climbing out of their way and ushering the mobility-impaired past. ¡°Will, catch!¡± Loth threw him a silk rope as the other two ran by them, attempting to catch up with June, who led the pack. Knowing the drill by now, Will secured the rope while Loth pulled the stretchy silk tight, adding a metal trigger from his pouch with a swiftness of claw he wouldn¡¯t have believed if he wasn¡¯t watching it. Loth took a leather box of some kind off his belt and slid it across the rope, and suddenly the stretchy silk was studded with poisoned blades, like an artist creating a detailed mountain vista out of paint with a single scrape of the knife. ¡°Good, let¡¯s go!¡± Loth said, and the two of them sprinted to catch up with the other party as they barreled towards the rope stretching across the Abyss. ¡°WAIT! TURN AROUND!¡± Loth shouted, tugging on Will¡¯s shirt, nearly spinning him off his feet. ¡°What!?¡± Will asked as he spun around, trotting backwards on an unstable cliff face over a lethal drop, tomahawk ready to cut the encroaching enemy down. A clump of kaith flowing past the trap they¡¯d just set were sent tumbling into the darkness as the stretchy silk whipped forward, some of them twitching from septic shock as glittering bits of metal stuck out of them. ¡°Fabulous.¡± Loth¡¯s raspy voice turned into a satisfied purr. ¡°That was almost an even dozen from a simple five-second trap. Mn. How many did you count?¡± Loth asked, peering up at him. Will shoved the tomahawk handle between his teeth and picked the kobold up, spinning around and sprinting forward, making up for lost time. He was heavier than Will expected due to the sheer amount of gear Loth wore, but Will was able to manage anyway. ¡°UA E A¡¯S WA AE OU!?¡± Will snarled. (What the Abyss was that about!?) Or perhaps (What the Abyss¡¯s wrong with you!?) ¡°Sometimes you just gotta watch it go off!¡± Loth said defensively, arms crossed over his chest as Will carried him like luggage, rapidly catching up with the three ahead. ¡°HE UH!¡± (Heads up!) Will shouted as he approached, tossing the kobold ahead. Loth flailed as he sailed through the air for a moment before he caught the rope suspended in midair and began scrambling up it, keeping pace with June. A moment later, the scout and the saboteur were up in the ceiling, paving the way for their retreat. ¡°Alright,¡± Mason said, rolling up his sleeves as he prepared to hand-over-hand the rope. ¡°Sorry, dude, we don¡¯t have time.¡± Reggie apologized and grabbed the nuker and threw him over his shoulder, wrenching a shriek of indignation out of the noble. A moment later, Reggie was huffing up the rope, showing no visible strain carrying two and full armor. ¡°Fire to the Rear!¡± Mason shouted, aiming from Reggie¡¯s shoulder. Will ducked down an instant before explosion sounded above him. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. A moment later, a cluster of kaith dropped from where they¡¯d been flanking on the wall above, their limbs twitching in shock as they tumbled past. One snagged his belt and nearly pulled him off the ledge before Will hacked the leg off with his axe. Slipping the tomahawk back into his beltloop, Will assessed the forty-five degree rope that stretched up about thirty feet into the hole in the ceiling lit by glowbugs. ***Mason*** ¡°Take ¡®im!¡± Reggie said, handing Mason up and into the hole with all the ceremony of a dockworker with a sack of flour, his face red from exertion. June took his hand and set Mason¡¯s foot into a loop placed on the side of the wall in silk by the kobold. Even now, the kobold saboteur was climbing above them, creating a well-lit path of handholds to follow. ¡°I¡¯ll cover,¡± Mason said, allowing Reggie to climb up past him. The Tanker¡¯s crimson face and huffing looked like he might have a heart attack. ¡°Do you have the Charge?¡± Reggie asked. ¡°Seven left.¡± Mason replied, squinting as he saw William Oh study the rope, looking down at his hand in consternation. ¡°How¡¯s he going to climb that with one hand?¡± Mason asked aloud. June slid down past Reggie to stop beside him and peeked down. ¡°We can haul him up. Burn it behind him.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± Mason said, aiming his Conflagration Ability at the rope. ¡°Wait, what is he- ACK!¡± Like some kind of disgusting three-legged spider, William Oh sprinted up the side of the stone wall until he hit the ceiling, then bunched up like a spring and leapt, catching the rope with his hand two thirds of the way up, before using the rebound of the rope to fling himself the rest of the way up, catching the edge of the tunnel with his hand. William twisted upside down, still clinging with one hand and somehow got one of his feet above him, and through some black magic, wound up flipping around and clinging to the wall face-to-face with Mason. ¡°Boy doesn¡¯t skimp on his Kinesthetics. All I¡¯mma say about that.¡± June said with a shrug before scampering up the rope ladder the kobold had laid down for them. ¡°After you,¡± William said, motioning to the ladder. ¡°R-right.¡± Despite Mason climbing a ladder rope as fast as he could, the three-armed scout made it to the top before he did using nothing but the rough stone walls ¡°Come ¡± Reggie shouted, offering Mason a hand. ¡°Movement behind you!¡± With an adrenaline-fueled surge of strength, Mason leapt up and grabbed Reggie¡¯s hand. The Tanker was pulling Mason out of the hole with one hand when something caught Mason¡¯s boot, eliciting an undignified shriek. ¡°Piece of-¡° Will muttered, pulling out that odd axe of his and chopping off the barbed forelimb attached to Mason¡¯s heel. ¡°Did it get any venom in me? Am I bleeding?¡± Mason demanded, hopping on one foot to inspect himself. Sometimes you didn¡¯t feel the wound until too late. Especially with numbing agents. ¡°Venom?¡± Will asked, glancing up at Mason with a furrowed brow. A moment later a stinger emerged from the darkness of the tunnel opposite the hole and caught Will in the shoulder. ¡°You didn¡¯t hang the bell back up?¡± William Oh asked before his body stiffened, tumbling freefall into the kaith-swarming pit. Kaith soldiers, their stingers raised, approached with shield-like forelimbs at the ready from the other side of the pit, while the smaller workers boiled up from the hole. ¡°GODSDAMNIT!¡± Mason shouted, rushing forward. He¡¯d be damned if his legend started with some mentally challenged cripple dying because lost composure. Everyone¡¯s ear¡¯s popped as the suddenly narrower tunnel system focused far more of the force of the explosion back on them than Mason had intended. ¡°Mason, cool it, it¡¯s my turn!¡± Reggie said, picking up his tower shield from where he¡¯d left it on the floor beside the tunnel. ¡°But he-¡° ¡°We are going to survive running into ¡± June said, tugging Mason backwards. ¡°But I-¡° ¡°Everybody knows what they signed up for, let¡¯s GO!¡± ¡°Where is my teammate?¡± The kobold asked as they ran past him. ¡°I-¡° ¡°He was stung and fell back into the hole!¡± June shouted. ¡°Reggie is giving us some breathing room for as long as his shield covers the whole tunnel, but your teammate is dead! We need to make sure the way back is clear and prep it for Reggie!¡± ¡°Kaith venom only paralyzes!¡± Mason shouted as they ran. ¡°If we get to Nathan fast enough, he might be able to retrieve Will!¡± The kobold looked past Reggie at the tunnel filled top to bottom with shiny chiton armor and thrusting stingers, with no sign of William. ¡°We will discuss this later.¡± The kobold said, turning and running after them. ***William Oh*** Will thought as the kaith forelimbs almost gingerly carried him across the ceiling. Level four was respectable. A lot of people jumped off The Climb around there. The ride would¡¯ve had an interesting view if he hadn¡¯t been clutched in such a way that 85% of his field of vision were kaith mandibles poised to bifurcate his face. The other 15% of his view wasn¡¯t great. Mostly legs, empty void and a little bit of rock. Despite the kaith carrying him having the to end him at any moment, Will had the dreadful realization that living food didn¡¯t spoil, and so the Kaith would most likely leave him alive and paralyzed for a day or two until the moment he was devoured alive. Maybe by larvae bursting out of his skin. Who knew with these things? also Will tried to move but the only things he could move were his left pinkie toe, his eyes (a little), his lungs (a bit) and his Phantom Hand (as much as he wanted) Will thought, trying to use the Phantom Hand to scratch the kaith carrying him along, but his arms were tucked against his chest so he couldn¡¯t really- With a sickening mental that was uncomfortable, his Phantom hand separated from his wrist and reached up to swipe at his carrier¡¯s leg. Will demanded internally. He would¡¯ve been agog if the paralytic allowed for it. As if it¡¯d been chastised, his hand retreated back to his wrist. Will thought soothing thoughts towards his Phantom hand. With another mental pop that would¡¯ve raised the hairs on his spine if he could feel them, his Phantom Hand separated from his wrist, bouncing in front of his face. Still completely under his control, the Phantom Hand waved in front of his eyes, then flipped him off. Will absolutely tell it to do that, he just wasn¡¯t sure he thought sourly. Will tried to grab his tomahawk. No luck. He tried draining the very soul of the kaith carrying him. Nothing. If Will¡¯s meat-finger wasn¡¯t jammed into his chest, he could at least fire the Sting Ring off randomly¡­ Will moved his Phantom Hand over to his other hand and mentally selected the Sting Ring. Charge was based on Focus, it fueled Abilities, and everyone¡¯s Charge took a solid seven days to recover from zero, without exception, so crossing the 7 Charge point was a landmark moment for most Climbers. Hitting 1st Daily at level 4 was good for anyone but a dedicated caster, who might¡¯ve hit it at level 2 by spending their free points. Will felt a shiver run along the phantom hand as its appearance took on a greenish, mottled copper hue, matching that of the ring. In the dim light of Loth¡¯s glow-worms, Will could see that the kaith holding him was rapidly approaching the bridge, aiming to rejoin that stream of meat heading for the kaith frontlines. Some of whom must¡¯ve just been paralyzed. Will briefly considered trying to take out the bridge, but that was simply beyond the firepower of the Sting Ring. Not with just two shots, anyway. Will considered shooting it in the face, arms or torso, but that didn¡¯t guarantee a drop. have Will thought. Will timed the shot to the best of his abilities, having the Phantom Hand hover near the creature¡¯s feet. Once two of its deceptively slender feet were lined up, Will took his shot. 1/8 Charges Remaining. The bolt lodged itself in one foot, not carrying through like he¡¯d hoped, but the acid in it carried on under its own momentum, wrapped around and sprayed the other foot. The kaith¡¯s mandible gnashed reflexively, missing Will¡¯s face by a hair¡¯s breadth. Will moved the Phantom Hand and fired again, hitting another two legs. Without fanfare, they were in freefall, hurtling down into the chasm. Will thought as they tumbled into the darkness. Chapter 12: Kingly Repose Will thought, his face pressed into a pool of Kaith blood. As they had been tumbling down into the emptiness, Will had spent all the Free Points he¡¯d been saving on Resistance. Resistance offered marginal protection from every kind of physical damage, and would also dictate how quickly he recovered from being paralyzed. Hurtling through the void without any ability to slow himself down, damage reduction had seemed like a priority. Luckily a tangle of barbed kaith limbs slowed his fall. Their fighting retreat above had left literal piles of dead kaith, and Will hit one straight on, his downward momentum was arrested and translated to an uncontrolled slide as the corpses gave way. A minute later, Will was laying on his side, cheek pressed into a shallow pool of possibly greenish ichor. It was hard to tell. The only light he could see by was the faint illumination of the glow-worms above. Sure, Gertrude preached it religiously during their government-mandated weekly ¡®How to be a Climber for Orphans¡¯ class, but Will kind of let a lot of it go in one ear and out the other, and now he would like some more light. Being paralyzed at the bottom of a pit really gave Will the opportunity he needed to examine his life, the goals thereof, and how he planned on making them happen. Approximately fifteen minutes of build-contemplation later, Will twitched his pinkie finger. His knee gave a little twitch. ¡°Erk.¡± Will exclaimed in glorious victory. His tongue and lips weren¡¯t quite back to normal, yet. Will¡¯s eyes widened as he heard the pile of kaith corpses shift. Will spun his eyes around in the socket, limbs twitching uselessly as he tried to push himself up. He felt like he¡¯d woken in the middle of the night, all his limbs made of lead and unresponsive to his demands. Will froze as he heard the sound again. It was ahead of him, but too far to make out in the dark. It came into view in the dim blue light. The kaith worker that¡¯d been carrying him. It was broken, part of its rounded exoskeleton cracked open from the fall, exposing its innards to the cave air. Its legs were a ruin, forcing it to drag itself forward on ruined nubs. It was not long for this world. But those mammalian eyes above the insectoid mandibles were full of malice as it dragged itself towards him. Will thought, lying still, eyes staring straight ahead. It dragged itself closer, gaze unwavering. Will¡¯s limbs twitched as he tried to move. To stand. To protect himself. Will¡¯s arm twitched uselessly. It was a little better than it was a moment ago. Will was regaining the use of his limbs rapidly, but not quite fast enough to save himself. He still had the phantom hand with the sling bullets in the storage. Will wondered, eyes widening. Picturing it as a sling cradle, Will whipped the Phantom Hand in a circle above him and released one of the sling bullets. The bullet came out with the right trajectory, but it didn¡¯t have nearly the velocity Will was hoping for, arcing forward with little more speed than a hand-thrown lead marble, impacting against the approaching creature¡¯s eye socket before bouncing off without inflicting any tangible damage. The eye socket started to smoke, and the kaith began writhing in place and shrieking weakly. Before Will could finish following through on his plan, A maggot pale neck descended from high above and latched onto the shrieking Kaith¡¯s limbs, latching on with the circular jaw and beginning to engulf it. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Then another. And another. In a matter of minutes, dozens of the pale tube-mouths were extending down from the walls, fighting over the kaith¡¯s body until the monster was torn apart, sliding down those maggot-white throats. Sensing more food, the teeth-on-a-tube creatures began feasting on the pile of dead kaith surrounding him. Eventually one would land on him. Will thought, putting a weak hand underneath himself. In the time they¡¯d spent subduing the struggling Kaith, Will had regained a small fraction of his strength. As quietly as he could, Will pushed himself to his feet, wincing in pain as the numbness began wearing off, revealing scrapes and bruises across his entire body. An eyeless, circular mouth began questing his direction, perhaps sensing his movement, or his smell. Will silently danced around it, avoiding touching it. The mouth-on-a-tube seemed a bit confused, whipping around a bit until it touched a kaith corpse, then began happily engulfing it. Will glanced across the forest of white necks descending form the cave walls, bits and pieces of raw meat creating bulges in the necks as they drew them back to the creature¡¯s main body. Will thought. If one of them caught his right arm, he was He needed to scale the wall at full speed if he was going to make it past them. Will knelt down and grabbed one of Loth¡¯s glow-worms, collecting another and another as he crept along, searching for an overhang or an alcove that would offer shelter from the man-eating mouths¡­ Without having one of the creatures in it. Will spotted a shadow that grew deeper the closer he got to it. His heart hammered in his chest as he limped his way toward the alcove, avoiding the feasting mouths as he moved. There were only scant feet between them, and there wasn¡¯t a single joint in his body that didn¡¯t ache, but somehow, Will managed to slip between the creatures and make it to the alcove. Will was ready to switch to his axe at a moment¡¯s notice, but the alcove was empty. He nearly tripped as he entered as something caught his foot. Will whirled silently and passed the glow-worm over it. There was some kind of perfectly straight lip in the floor. Will tapped the tomahawk against the floor, making a quiet chime of steel on steel. Sweeping the glow-worm across the floor, Will thought he might be able to make out some white paint forming lettering of some kind. Unfortunately the entire message couldn¡¯t be read, as it disappeared beneath seamless stone that composed the cave system. How could there be steel with paint on it beneath solid stone? Will raised his gaze and crept forward, keeping his head on a swivel for one of those mouths that might try and grab him from behind. The alcove turned into a tunnel, and in the distance, a faint red light began to outcompete the handful of glow-worms in his hand. As he arrived, he saw a single strange egg of some kind radiating red light into the small room. It was placed high above, near the ceiling, and it seemed to be protected by two metal wires looped around it. The walls seemed to be made partially of steel, and partially of stone that had coated it like some kind of creeping growth over centuries. In the corner of the room was a skeleton. It was about Will¡¯s size, wearing deteriorated roughspun clothes, a wool cloak and leather boots. There was a flawless archery arm-guard on its left wrist, while everything below seemed to have been gnawed off and carried away by a wild animal. The other hand was empty: No hope for another ring. Beside the skeleton there was a sling and a crumbling pouch of seemingly glass marbles Everyone knew when you found a corpse with perfectly preserved gear on it, the gear was probably a Relic. They did not seem to deteriorate. It wasn¡¯t entirely unheard of to pry a perfectly preserved Relic out of a pile of corrosion and rust buried by a landside and weathered by decades of water damage. ¡°I¡¯ll carry it forward,¡± Will murmured, gently sliding the wrist-guard off the skeleton¡¯s arm, and slipping it over his own handless wrist. It also reminded Will that he never got the description for his axe. He was too busy not dying. Will pulled out his axe and focused on it. ¡°That¡¯s not bad at all,¡± Will mused, flipping the blade over to inspect the hole in the bowl-shaped back. It was obviously a pipe now that he looked at it. Not just a weapon or a tool, but also a negotiation guarantor? He was fairly sure its value would be assessed somewhere in the 1000 gold or higher range, solely for the third ability. Which was too bad, because Will had no intention of selling it. Much like Ben had been, Will was rather fond of his first Relic, even if it would be a better idea to sell the thing and outfit himself in cheaper Relics that gave him a complete build. Will sat down beside the skeleton and lifted the bony right arm it held over its stomach, revealing a man-made arrow rattling around in its pelvis. ¡°You got stabbed in the back too, huh?¡± Will said, throwing his arm over the skeleton¡¯s shoulder in a perhaps too familiar way. Will studied the arrow. It was finely made. Expensive. ¡°looks we¡¯ve both had our share of run-ins with rich kids. Whaddya think we should do about Mason? He didn¡¯t actively try to sabotage anything, he just got a little panicky and that distracted me. During the fight he covered my six pretty good.¡± The change in posture made the skeleton¡¯s head tilt towards him at a rakish angle, the posture someone would adopt if they were giving someone an ¡®are you serious?¡¯ look. ¡°I serious. He didn¡¯t do anything wrong, just yelled at me a bit before things went down, andnot a crime. And I can see him having years of guilt about leaving me behind. ¡°Years of guilt that I can monetize.¡± Will said, with a devious grin. ¡°¡­No, that doesn¡¯t make the bad guy, does it?¡± ¡°I I said he didn¡¯t do anything wrong, but he¡¯s . He¡¯ll be fine parting with some cash.¡± The skeleton¡¯s head popped off and fell into Will¡¯s lap. ¡°Alright, , I won¡¯t monetize it, I¡¯ll settle for winning every argument and free drinks for life. Happy?¡± Will asked, holding the skull up. The skull nodded. ¡°Yeah, that seems fair,¡± Will mused, setting the skull back where it belonged as he rose to his feet and studied the room. There was a hatch on the roof, clearly labeled ¡®EMERGENCY ESCAPE¡¯ in immaculate white paint. Against the wall was a ruddy stain where an iron ladder had dissolved into nothing. Will thought. Will bounded up and caught a bit of the rock growing out of the wall and clambered up to the ceiling, awkwardly balancing on two feet against the corner of the room as he swung himself out and grabbed the hatch¡¯s handle. It took a feat of sheer determination to open the hatch and swing it up, revealing a narrow tunnel that led straight up, nearly choked with stone growing from the outside in. Will started climbing. Two hours of sweaty, claustrophobic climbing later, Will was face-to-face with a solid stone wall. The last thing he wanted to do was wriggle his way back through that claustrophobic mess, praying he didn¡¯t get stuck. With a grunt, Will grabbed the tomahawk out of his belt. There wasn¡¯t enough room to get a full swing, so he held it by the head and slammed it against what seemed like the thinnest portion of stone covering the wall. Will¡¯s breath grew faster and faster as the air in the tiny tunnel turned stale and humid. Bright little worms began to dance across his vision. my Will thought. A burst of fresh air flooded over him as the stone cracked away along the blade of his axe. And though it was the faintest suggestion¡­Will smelled bread. He redoubled his efforts, carving out a palm-sized piece of wall, peering out. He recalled what he was looking at: Far down below him was one of the first chambers the other adventurers branched off into, Will recognized the triple stalagmite formation. He was literally paces away from the entrance, which was in turn only a few hundred feet from civilization! FOOD! Will began furiously hacked away at the thin stone, but soon discovered it was easier to break off larger chunks by setting his feet against the thin wall, shoulders against the opposite side and pushing with every muscle in his body, breaking off head-sized slabs and sending them tumbling below. After two head-size chunks were dislodged, Will was able to squirm his way through the hole, and even the scrapes and bruises couldn¡¯t slow him down as he sprinted for the entrance. Will came to a sliding halt as he came face to face with the Quest Babysitter, standing above the outer rim of the cavern, making sure any Kaith backsplash didn¡¯t reach the civilians in camp. ¡°You look like shit. Something to report?¡± Nathan asked with a cocked brow. ¡°¡­Yessir,¡± Will said. ***Mason*** ¡°Are they still following us?¡± Reggie asked, glancing over his shoulder. They¡¯d been chased through the tunnels for what felt like an eternity at this point, and only recently did they begin to see landmarks that were familiar to them. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Mason said, listening closely. He and June had some of the highest Acuity, which made them the eyes and ears of the group. June¡¯s class would probably develop some enhancements that would eventually place her ahead of him in that respect, but for now, they were evenly matched. ¡°That just means they¡¯ll begin sealing off the entrance.¡± Mason mused. ¡°We need to get Nathon there as soon as possible and guide him to the tunnel so he can cut through while it¡¯s still setting.¡± The sight of sunlight was both most welcome and extremely painful to Mason¡¯s dark-adjusted eyes as they stepped up into the evening-reddened sky. ¡°Where¡¯s Nathan?¡± June asked aloud as she arrived at the edge, helping Mason and Reggie up. The Tanker was well and truly spent, slumping down on the ground as soon as they were above-ground. Loth refused the hand and climbed up alone, peering back down at the cavernous hole below them with a contemplative frown. Mason¡¯s heart began hammering in his chest as he heard distant screaming. Was the camp under attack? The three of them glanced at each other before the began sprinting towards the camp, weapons and Abilities at the ready. Reggie caught his breath long enough to stumble to his feet and started trotting after them, burdened by his armor. ¡°GET ON THAT LINE!¡± ¡°FIX THAT HARNESS, THAT¡¯S GONNA CHOKE YOU OUT! WHERE¡¯S YOUR WATER!? IS THAT DIRT ON YOUR BLADE!? I SWEAR TO ZALKIR I MUST¡¯VE KICKED ALL THE PUPPIES IN A PREVIOUS LIFE TO DESERVE YOU GREEN CLIMBERS!¡± Their pace slowed as they arrived to find the camp in total chaos, but a constructive one, as Climbers were quickly assembling for an excursion under Nathan¡¯s ¡®guidance¡¯. The steel-haired Climber glanced up at them approaching and grunted. ¡°Good to see you four alive. You¡¯ll be guarding the camp. We¡¯ve got word of where the Kaish supply lines are. The fresh Climbers are coming with me. Get some rest, but don¡¯t let down your guard.¡± ¡°Got word !?¡± Mason asked before he could school his reaction. Nathan grunted and gestured deeper in the camp, where a single figure sat in kingly repose on a camp chair, his clothes artfully torn and bloodied, with no less than five young women fussing over him as he sat. The two bakers stuffed his mouth with golden-brown buns while the seamstresses cleaned and stitched myriad cuts and punctures all over his body, from his scalp to his feet. ¡°Oh hey. Mason.¡± William Oh said around the bun he was doing his best effort to inhale. He took a moment to swallow. ¡°You guys caught up. Yes, another, please.¡± Chapter 13: Guy’s Shopping Trip Ability Upgrade Available! ¡°GAH!¡± Will sat up in a familiar bed. ¡°Dear gods no.¡± Will muttered, taking in the orphanage¡¯s plain walls. He was back He checked his Charge. Four out of ten. 40% of a week, or roughly three days unconscious. He remembered up until the point they started stitching the wounds on his back. That poppy milk packed a ¡°Feeling better?¡± Gertrude asked from where she loomed in the corner. ¡°It hurts to breathe,¡± Will said. ¡°So much for constantly not writhing in pain.¡± Gertrude said. ¡°You¡¯re still on about that?¡± Will asked, wincing as he carefully slid his legs out of bed, moving with all the speed of a drunken tortoise. ¡°You were brought back here by your friends.¡± ¡°I have friends?¡± Will asked, locating a crutch in the corner of the room that had been conveniently modified to be used without a hand. there was a leather loop to slip his wrist through instead. He leaned forward and grabbed it, biting back a cry of pain as the stitches all across his body pulled tight. ¡°Four of them. A large boy, a noble, a young woman and a kobold.¡± ¡°Oh Will mused as he climbed to his feet. ¡°I thought the poppy-milk made them up. Like the talking skeleton.¡± ¡°No, they¡¯re real. Although it is very strange to see a kobold this far outside their typical haunts. Very well-spoken, too.¡± ¡°Neat. I hope Loth is still in town. I want him in my party.¡± Will began tottering towards the door. ¡°Now where are you going?¡± Gertrude demanded, arms crossed. ¡°To the Exchange Hall.¡± Will said. ¡°Gotta get that Quest Money.¡± Will pantomimed rubbing together two gold coins. Not that he¡¯d ever done that before in his life. Hopefully after this. Gertrude sighed. ¡°Just¡­don¡¯t spend it all on booze and women, alright?¡± ¡°Alcohol is gross, and girls don¡¯t like me.¡± Will said, aiming for the doorway. Gertrude put a hand in front of him. ¡°I¡¯m not talking about girls. I¡¯m talking about the kind who prey on na?ve young men exiting the Exchange Hall with large sacks of gold. Understood?¡± Will blinked twice, then nodded. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Good. Enjoy your first quest reward.¡± She said, pulling the arm out of the way. ¡°Oh, I ,¡± Will said with a barely suppressed chuckle. He was gonna buy the gear. Maybe get fitted for a prosthetic that could help with climbing or holding more than one thing at a time. Will tottered out of the orphanage, cutting through the sea of grabby-fingered children like the prow of a ship. With great effort, he managed to mantle down the two steps leading to the orphanage¡¯s door, leaving him staring down the long and winding dirt path to the road itself. back?Will was already having second thoughts. ¡°If you¡¯re not up for it, you can always rest another day,¡± Gertrude said from the doorway. Will thought. ¡°No, I can manage!¡± Will protested, beginning his long, painful hobble down the dirt path. An excruciating experience later, Will arrived at the bottom of the hill, the village road revealing itself as he turned a corner. Not only that¡­ ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Will asked Loth, who was standing beside a wheelchair facing the path. ¡°I surmised you would have trouble walking all the way to the Exchange Hall. They have lots of wheelchairs to borrow. As it turns out, you¡¯re not the first Climber to come back wounded.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­how did you know I¡¯d be here, ¡± Will asked. ¡°I trapped your bed with a pressure-release trigger.¡± Loth said, pointing up the hill. From their vantage point they could see the very roof of the orphanage, upon which a shiny piece of metal spun in place, creating a blinking flash of reflected light. ¡°Huh. And Gertrude didn¡¯t notice you trapping my bed?¡± ¡°Not to my knowledge. We were talking about what you were like as a baby while my insects set the trap.¡± To Will¡¯s knowledge, Gertrude was at least level 40, which meant she should¡¯ve noticed. ¡°Smooth. You are the best Saboteur I know.¡± Loth could¡¯ve 100% assassinated him under the watch of a level 40 if the kobold had the desire. That was a skill Will wanted. ¡°I am likely the Saboteur you know.¡± Loth said, motioning toward the chair. ¡°It¡¯s a rare archetype among humans.¡± With a tremendous cry of pain, Will turned around and lowered himself into the wheelchair. ¡°I¡¯ve been in the market for a human lackey to both lubricate social interactions with other humans, and serve as a reliable scout. I¡¯m wondering if you¡¯d be interested in joining my Party.¡± Loth said as Will settled himself and put the crutch away. ¡°Nah man, you should join Party.¡± Will responded, trying to steer the wheelchair before realizing he only had one hand, and resigning himself to being pushed. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Mine¡¯s better, as it is run by a kobold.¡± Loth replied, reaching up to take the handles and turning him around. ¡°Your Party is inferior simply because it is not ¡®Party¡¯.¡± ¡°¡­You make a strong argument. Say I join your party, would I get the role of party leader?¡± Loth asked. ¡°I would take on that burden.¡± Will said with faux arrogance. ¡°Would you? If taking me on created some messy trouble that you had to deal with, would you take on burden?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t blindly answer ¡®yes¡¯ to that. We don¡¯t know each other well¡­yet.¡± Will replied. Loth went silent for a moment. ¡°What if we know each other that well?¡± ¡°Then yes. If we knew each other well enough, I would eliminate who or whatever was causing you...¡± Will went silent as he thought of the adventuring party who had killed Ben, who had become Messy Trouble himself. They cruised down the packed-earth street in silence. Loth quietly pushed him down the road, peering out from behind, as his height did not allow him to look over Will, even with the latter sitting down. ¡°That¡¯s gotta be awkward,¡± Will said, changing the subject. ¡°I¡¯ll manage. Unless you would prefer me to steer from your lap?¡± Will briefly considered. ¡°Hop on,¡± Will said, scooting over. The wheelchair was made to accommodate even the bulkiest wounded adventurers, and Will was fairly thin, so there was no issue with space. Loth hopped up in the space next to him and put his taloned hands on the left wheel, while Will gripped the right-hand side. ¡°Ready?¡± He asked. Loth thought for a moment, then seemed to come to a firm decision as he nodded. Minutes later, they were hurtling down the hardpacked roads, navigating the throngs of passerby at speeds that could only be described as ¡®unsafe¡¯. ¡°WHOOO!¡± They whooped as Will hit the handbrake, skidding to a drifting halt outside the Exchange Hall. ¡°Is that him?¡± Somebody whispered. ¡°No way, too short.¡± ¡°Does have one hand, though.¡± Will ignored the people milling around the entrance and pulled the crutch out of the wheelchair¡¯s holster to tackle the stairs while Loth lifted the wheelchair itself up the staircase. The Exchange Hall was the biggest building in the Podunk town of Ashwood, regulation-size in an undersized mudhole, with regulation-sized marble pillars that could crush the nearby inn. They saw a kiosk with a blackboard above, reading: In the line were dozens of people Will recognized, signalling that he was truly in the right place. ¡°An excellent showing for Mason Lanover,¡± The receptionist said, opening up a box and handing over a sack of ¨C presumably ¨C gold. Will¡¯s mouth was watering already. ¡°William!¡± Mason said as he turned around and spotted the two of them wheeling into the line to receive quest rewards. ¡°Mason, how¡¯s it going?¡± Will shook the noble¡¯s hand as he approached. ¡°I¡¯m well. This is an excellent start to my career, and even still, I think your contribution may eclipse my own,¡± Mason said before shaking Loth¡¯s. ¡°I would offer to hire you as a Scout, but June-¡° ¡°HEY!¡± June said from where she waited near the front of the line, casting a dirty look at the mention of ¡®hiring a scout¡¯. ¡°Could definitely use a saboteur on my team, though.¡± Mason continued, unbothered. ¡°I never really thought about how advantageous it could be to have someone who can give their Party the home-field¡­advantage.¡± ¡°How much are you paying?¡± Loth asked, perking up. ¡°Hey!¡± Will said. ¡°One Hundred gold a Quest, fifty gold per floor advancement. Special missions are negotiable. Pay increases on higher floors.¡± Will¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°Bu-but, we¡­but¡­¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t resist. Loth said with an apologetic smile before turning back to Mason. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mister Lanover, but I¡¯ve decided to Join William Oh¡¯s Party.¡± ¡°May I ask why?¡± ¡°He ate the grub. You did not.¡± Mason¡¯s face paled for a moment. ¡°Yes, I¡­suppose that¡¯s true. Well, the offer remains open.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll teach him he should eat strange food from strange people.¡± Will said as Mason disappeared into the distance, seemingly shellshocked. ¡°I can only imagine what he¡¯ll be convinced to eat in the name of diplomacy in the future.¡± Loth said, following Mason with his gaze. Once the noble was out of eyeshot, they turned their attention back to the line, slowly inching forward. As they made their way to the front, the density of Climbers seemed to subtly increase as those who got their reward hung around. ¡°What are they waiting for?¡± Will asked the clerk as they arrived at the front. ¡°They¡¯re waiting to see who the MVP is.¡± The clerk said. ¡°Names?¡± ¡°William Oh.¡± ¡°Really?¡± She asked with a cocked brow, glancing up at him. ¡°You¡¯re the Sixth William Oh to show up, but you¡­¡± She flipped up a sheet on her clipboard and compared him to it, her eyes glowing faintly. ¡°Seem to be the right one. Let¡¯s get you your quest reward.¡± ¡° people tried to steal my quest reward!?¡± Will asked, but the clerk continued on as if he hadn¡¯t said anything. ¡°The system has rated your performance as ¡®exceptional¡¯. Well done. Here¡¯s your reward.¡± She pulled out a bag of gold, roughly equivalent to Mason¡¯s. ¡°What about me?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Oh, you speak?¡± the clerk asked, a bit taken aback. ¡°I thought you were a Tamer or something¡­¡± She murmured. ¡°Loth, if you please, miss.¡± Loth said, tapping the roster with a single black talon. ¡°I see. Loth. The System has rated your performance as ¡®Critical to Quest Success.¡¯¡± She consulted the paper, flipped it up, glanced at Loth, frowned and did it all again. ¡°¡­You were the MVP,¡± she said. ¡°here¡¯s¡­ummm¡­Your reward. You may wish to visit a money changer.¡± The clerk pulled out a much smaller bag and gave it to Loth, who accepted it graciously. ¡°You have my gratitude, miss.¡± Loth said with a deep nod, still shorter than her despite standing on the seat of the wheelchair. ¡°Score!¡± Will said, clinking his bag of coin against Loth¡¯s as they headed for the exit. Then Will saw the hungry eyes following them towards the exit, and thought about the first major lesson he¡¯d learned: Never be an easy meal. Before he could stew on the thoughts any further, a massive hand clapped down over his shoulder. ¡°Hey dude,¡± Reggie said. ¡°How¡¯d you do?¡± ¡°Hey, Reggie, how¡¯s it going?¡± Will said, glancing up at Reggie. ¡°I got ¡®exceptional¡¯ and Loth won the MVP.¡± ¡°Yeah, he pretty much singlehandedly defended the camp from a kaith raid while you were passed out. By the time we got to any of them they were already messed up by his traps. We just mopped up.¡± ¡°Where you guys heading after this?¡± Reggie asked. ¡°I¡¯m gonna blow a bunch of my cash at Leon¡¯s.¡± Will said. ¡°Then hit the Bazaar. See what kind of Sacrifices they have.¡± He had a Primary Ability upgrade available, and now was the time to shop around for the Sacrifice for it. ¡°I need to replace many of my lost triggers and blades. I¡¯ll be visiting a smith. Then the Bazaar.¡± ¡°A smith, then Leon¡¯s, then the bazaar.¡± Will summarized. He considered a moment. ¡°Would you be willing to hang around us and look menacing until we¡¯ve spent enough of our cash that we no longer look like an easy meal?¡± Reggie gave a belly laugh. ¡°Sure, man. You saved my life, and my game plan doesn¡¯t look too much different for the rest of the night.¡± ¡°Guys shopping trip!¡± Will said, fist-bumping Reggie. Everyone knew how much guys liked shopping¡­for sharp pointy things. They waited for Reggie to pick up his cash and the three of them started their tour of the tiny town. Greg, the local blacksmith, didn¡¯t seem to have any issue when Loth slapped a single Ivory coin on the table and requesting a frankly ridiculous number of copies of a handful of simple trigger mechanisms and blades. ¡°Would you rather have change or have me apply my Abilities to these?¡± Greg asked, inspecting the pale, opalescent coin before glancing up at Will. ¡°The latter, of course.¡± Loth said. Greg kept looking at Will. ¡°The latter, of course.¡± ¡°Right, then,¡± Greg said, turning to get to work. The three of them glanced at each other before leaving. ¡°What just happened?¡± Will asked as they stepped back out into the open. ¡°You begin to see why I need a human lackey?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Yeah¡­that was weird.¡± Reggie said. ¡°There¡¯s no shortage of humans who know someone who¡¯s been killed by a kobold trap,¡± Loth said with a shrug as they headed to their next location. ¡°Especially older humans. Many don¡¯t think of Kobolds as anything but monsters who can talk.¡± ¡°Is that what you were warning me about?¡± Will asked. ¡°That you¡¯re more trouble than you¡¯re worth?¡± ¡°I¡¯m worth¡­a of trouble.¡± Loth preened. ¡°That¡¯s right, you¡¯re the MVP,¡± Reggie said, reaching down to give Loth a noogie, which the kobold deftly avoided. ¡°Next stop, Leon¡¯s!¡± Will said, pointing. Reggie grabbed the handles and began pushing them at maximum speed. When they arrived, Reggie seemed fine. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you out of breath?¡± Will asked. ¡°Two levels higher and not wearing a hundred pounds of steel.¡± Reggie explained. ¡°I¡¯m not in bad shape, no matter what you saw on during the last quest.¡± ¡°Did you want to join my party?¡± Will asked as they entered. ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t. I¡¯m under contract to bodyguard Mason until he hits level 30, or work for his father ten years after he dies.¡± ¡°You¡¯re one the hook even if he dies?¡± ¡°Yeah. Makes it so I don¡¯t have any incentive to let him die on a climb.¡± S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Oh. Yeah, I suppose that tracks.¡± ¡°Ask me again if you¡¯re still alive after Mason is level thirty,¡± Reggie said, slapping Will on the shoulder and nearly bowling him over. ¡°Or better yet, if by some miracle you can get Mason to join Party, I¡¯m contractually obligated to come along. But he wouldn¡¯t do that, because it would make Mr. Lanover furious for his son to be in someone else¡¯s Party.¡± ¡°But¡­Mason isn¡¯t the leader of your Party, is he?¡± It seemed to Will like it¡¯d been June making most of the decisions in the heat of the moment. ¡°On paper, he is. Which is all his dad cares about.¡± Reggie said with a shrug. ¡°William Oh!¡± Leon exclaimed as he noticed Will hobbling out from behind Reggie¡¯s bulk. ¡°Why my full name?¡± Will asked, frowning. ¡°Because you¡¯re getting famous! You¡¯ve already had three impersonators trying to get credit in my shop.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Will asked. ¡°Seems like you¡¯ve got your own share of messy trouble.¡± Loth opined. ¡°Indeed¡­I¡¯m going to need to see your I.D., young man.¡± Leon said with an ominous frown. ¡°You know damn well I don¡¯t have an I.D., Leon. But I could inform your wife about your dissatisfaction with how your life turned out.¡± Will said. ¡°Good enough,¡± Leon said, clapping his hands together before heading into the back and wheeling out a hand-kart filled with gear. ¡°I have here, a curated selection of Relics from the Bazaar that may help with your build, purchased at ¡®Leaving-town¡¯ clearance prices.¡± Leon began unloading one Relic after another onto the countertop while Will felt his eyes pop out of his head. Chapter 14: Promote Synergy! 1 Charge: The cloak explodes into a 30-ft cloud of fog, concealing the user¡¯s movements. Takes 30 minutes for the cloak to reform. ¡°This one¡¯s good for the third floor.¡± Leon said. ¡°Fifteen gold.¡± ¡°Next.¡± Will said. He only had fifty gold, and he wanted to see everything Leon had available before he made a decision. ¡°Before you move on, I¡¯ve got something right here,¡± Leon said, pulling out a blackened pair of boots that seemed to have magpie wings stitched along the sides. ¡°Boots of Outflanking. During a combat situation, if you break line of sight with all enemies, you get a five-second triple boost to your movement speed. Fifteen gold.¡± ¡°Now right here, you¡¯ve got a guaranteed way to break line of sight, and here you¡¯ve got a guaranteed benefit from doing so.¡± ¡°You sound like a Setter,¡± Will said. Setters were con-men who sold ¡®sets¡¯ of two or more items that they claimed had synergistic effects that would provide explosive power. That begged the question: If it was such a good synergy, why didn¡¯t they use it themselves? Typically it was because there was a restrictive caviat that they failed to mention, such as ¡®while bleeding¡¯ or an unmentioned third item that they used as a catalyst. Of course, this was Leon. ¡°I¡¯m not looking to con you, it¡¯s a 2-part soft-set. No tricks.¡± ¡°Alright, put them together, what else we got?¡± Will asked. ¡°Pants.¡± Leon said, taking out the next. ¡°Two-point bonus to Strength. I hear tell it¡¯s your weakest Attribute. Ten gold.¡± ¡°Next.¡± ¡°Now this is an interesting one I thought would be good for you,¡± Leon said, pulling out what appeared to be the finest sling Will had ever seen. Frankly a bit fine for such a simple weapon. It had scales embossed into its cords, which were thicker than Will was used to, and the cradle depicted a shake eating its own tail. ¡°The Self-Loading Sling.¡± Leon said, putting a similarly decorated pouch beside it. ¡°Anything you put in this pouch will be loaded into the sling ¨C one at a time, of course ¨C should you wield it with the intention of using it. Since most people have two hands to load with, and this weapon doesn¡¯t have any damage boosts, I got it for a steal.¡± Will motioned Leon to come closer. ¡°I¡¯ve got a way to load my sling fast,¡± Will whispered, ¡°Can¡¯t tell you what it is, but¡­ ¡°Does it cost Charge?¡± Leon asked. It did, actually. Loading his Phantom Hand took 1 Charge to fill up if everything was there at the same time, and it¡¯s current volume was¡­not much. This was a way to save Charge and reserve his Phantom Hand for more interesting interactions. ¡°¡­Fair point. How much?¡± ¡°Two gold. It¡¯s not particularly popular, but thought you might want a ranged option you can use one-handed. ¡°I¡¯ll take it. By the way, do you have any cubes? I wanna measure the volume of an Ability before we continue.¡± Will asked. ¡°Is the Ability gonna destroy the cubes?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then help yourself.¡± Leon said, grabbing a bucket from the back filled with wooden cubes stamped with different volumes before turning to Loth. The cubes had lots of splotchy discoloration and singe marks as various Climbers before him had tried different abilities on them. Will found himself some privacy while he dug through the bucket until he assembled twenty-five cubic inches, and used Dimensional Storage on the little stack. 3/10 Charges Remaining. Fifteen cubes vanished in one go. Will released them, then spent his Free Point on Acuity. Sixteen cubes vanished. Will thought. Or three cubic inches per level. That didn¡¯t like a lot, but by level 40, he could store¡­maybe half a gallon. A thought occurred to Will, and he stood up, bringing the bucket of cubes back to Leon, who was suffering Loth¡¯s displeasure with the stoic demeanor of a professional salesman. ¡°It¡¯s sacrilege, is what it is!¡± Loth said, wagging a black-taloned finger at Leon. ¡°This cad tried to sell me a ring of Trap Detection. Even if it weren¡¯t insulting to my people, do you think I¡¯m not wearing any traps? What would it do, just glow all the time!?¡± ¡°Alright, calm down, my apologies. I¡¯ve never sold to a kobold before.¡± Leon said, raising his hands. ¡°I accept discounted wares as a form of apology for insulting the rich history of my people.¡± Loth said, haughtily. ¡°Absolutely not.¡± ¡°Foo.¡± ¡°What can I get for you instead?¡± Leon said with a shrug, putting the insistently flashing ring back behind the counter. ¡°Passive boosts to allies or minions, the kind a Beastmaster might use. Small flat boosts would be better than percentages, anything that grants control of, or increases the strength of, rope or thread, boosts to Resistance, trap-laying, and debuffs. Horn and scale polish¡­¡± ¡°¡­Also, do you happen to have any Bullet Wasp larva?¡± Loth asked, peering up at Leon with a cocked head. ¡°Those live on level 8,¡± Leon explained, putting a can of polish on the counter along with a buffing rag, a pair of gloves, three rings and an amulet made of coarse rope. ¡°And?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t have any Bullet Wasp Larva.¡± ¡°Some general store.¡± Loth groused. ¡°Leon, do you have any stiff wire?¡± Will asked as he came back. ¡°How long?¡± Leon asked, pivoting seamlessly from customer to customer. Will motioned with his hand. ¡°Here you go.¡± Leon threw him a length of wire roughly three feet in length. Far longer than sixteen inches, but much thinner. Will ducked into a corner of the shop where nobody was watching and used Dimensional Storage. The wire vanished into storage. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. That meant that rounded, yet hollow objects like helmets, would be far easier to store than they might¡¯ve been if the storage had been rigid, because the interior of the helmet didn¡¯t count. Only the amount of water it would displace if he dipped it in a bucket. On a whim, Will spun his Phantom Hand when he released the wire, noting that the wire had the same spin as it dropped into his hand. This required more experimentation, but Will was already nearing empty on his Charges. ¡°Sorry for wandering off in the middle of your demonstration,¡± Will said as he came back. ¡°No need. I know how it is when you¡¯re young. Constantly finding new ways to use your Abilities. Sudden epiphanies, burning questions that NEED answers. Shall we continue?¡± Loth was wearing the coarse rope amulet, a piece of rope creating complicated knots in his hand as he watched with a sharp-toothed grin. ¡°I¡¯ll take these three,¡± Loth said, sliding all the gear save for two rings and the rope amulet that looked suspiciously like a noose. Leon slid the Relics behind the counter and caught the ivory coin, making change without missing a beat. ¡°Boots of the Pathfinder,¡± Leon said, switching to Will as he pulled out another pair of boots. ¡°These will highlight your route to any party members, so they can see where you went and follow if necessary.¡± ¡°Next.¡± ¡°Ring of accuracy, one degree and two degree correction on ranged attacks.¡± Leon said, pulling out two rings, each seemingly cold steel studded with emerald. ¡°Three gold for this one, one hundred and fifty for this one.¡± Will¡¯s brows raised. ¡°Why show me both if you know I can¡¯t afford that one?¡± ¡°To show you the difference in price between one degree,¡± Leon said, tapping the more expensive ring. ¡°These rings cause ranged projectiles to bend in the direction of the intended target. The rate at which this happens is expressed by the degree. Let¡¯s say you had a target a hundred miles away and shot an arrow with enough force to reach.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Well, the rate of change is 1 degree of correction every thirty feet. How many yards in a hundred miles?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, you¡¯d pass three hundred and sixty degrees after thirty six hundred yards.¡± Will replied, not quite smart enough to multiply thirty feet by three sixty off the top of his head. A hair over ten thousand. ¡­ ¡°Exactly.¡± Leon nodded. ¡°Rings of Accuracy have a human-defined statistic known as ¡®the range of total accuracy¡¯, which you just calculated, after which point it is guaranteed to hit the intended target, regardless of the direction you fire, provided sufficient propulsion and nothing in the way, of course. ¡°That¡¯s really only possible with rings of accuracy with 30 degrees of correction or higher, which aren¡¯t the sort of thing you can buy with money, but price jump extraordinarily quick with these rings.¡± ¡°Can I get the two degree one as a congratulatory gift for finishing my Establishing Quest?¡± Will asked. ¡°Did you get MVP?¡± Leon asked. ¡°I did!¡± Loth said. ¡°You still have to pay,¡± Leon said, glancing at Loth. ¡°Foo.¡± ¡°Any other rings that increase damage dealt?¡± Will asked. ¡°I had a twenty- silver Sting Ring, but it got destroyed during the Establishing Quest.¡± ¡°Lowest level Sting Ring? Why not just squirt lemon juice in their eyes?¡± Leon asked, bringing several cases up onto the countertop. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know it was literally life-saving on multiple occasions. ¡°Here¡¯s what I got for rings. These add damage, these add stats, these are a bit of both. ¡°Anything that adds or boosts psychic damage?¡± ¡°HAH!¡± Leon barked, giving Will all the answer he needed. ¡°Anything that boosts debuffs?¡± Will asked, thinking of his axe. ¡°No. Like rings of accuracy, those things spiral rapidly out of the price range of plebs like us. They can be used as the catalyst for powerful synergies, so even weak ones go for absurd amounts of money. If you go high enough in the tower, they begin to be rather common, though,¡± Leon said with a shrug. ¡°May I make a suggestion?¡± Leon said as Will was perusing the rings. ¡°sure.¡± ¡°The Sting Ring you took off Ben¡¯s corpse was the ideal damage type for the first three floors. Your best bet would be to take a more expensive Sting Ring and then trade it in for a different damage type when you hit the fourth-floor swamps.¡± ¡°Oh right¡­you sold it to Ben,¡± Will mused. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t believe you killed him for it, any more than I believe a party of high-level adventurers would bother to take it off him.¡± ¡°Could you maybe¡­not tell his dad about me keeping it?¡± ¡°What happens in the Tower...¡± Leon said with a shrug. ¡°Anyway, if that Sting Ring suited you, we¡¯ve got a fifteen-gold version that boosts Kinesthetics by one and provides a ¡®moderate¡¯ amount of bonus acid damage, and a hundred gold version that grants two Strength and ¡®Great¡¯ amount of acid damage. ¡°You know I can¡¯t afford that,¡± Will said, even as he drooled over the possibilities. ¡°Shopkeep!¡± Loth said, sliding another ivory coin across the table. ¡°The greater Sting Ring, please. My scout¡¯s Strength is pitiful.¡± Leon shrugged and handed the ring over to Loth, who in turn offered it to Will. ¡°¡­Thanks.¡± Will said, taking the ring and slipping it on, feeling the tingles spread through his body. ¡°¡­I own you now.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how it works.¡± Will said, shaking his head. ¡°Foo. At least my party is well equipped.¡± ¡°What else you got?¡± ¡°The Earthslide Cloak,¡± Leon said, pulling down the rings and pulling out a cloak. ¡°When you¡¯re knocked down by an enemy attack, you gain Earthslide for a few seconds, which causes you to bob under the surface of the earth, then re-emerge somewhere else based on your momentum. Makes you incredibly hard to coup de grace. Fifteen gold.¡± ¡°Interesting¡­¡± ¡°I also have the cudchew amulet, which¡­ After over two hours of shopping and comparing, Will limped out with the soft-set that Leon had recommended, the Cloak of Misty Escape, and the Boots of Outflanking. He also had the Self-loading Sling, the Greater Sting Ring, and the Pants of Strength, leaving Will with eight gold after all was said and done. ¡°Check this out!¡± Loth exclaimed, setting his barrel down. A moment later, the barrel began to scoot across the ground alongside him as he walked. ¡°This ring raises the carrying capacity of all my allies by five pounds. This one boosts their movement speed by two feet per second.¡± Five pounds multiplied by thousands of insects¡­ sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°I see.¡± Will said, nodding. It was good synergy. ¡°In fact¡­¡± Loth held his arms out and fell backwards onto a few dozen or so insects, so few as to be nearly invisible against the hard-packed earth. A moment later, he began to slide across the ground, held aloft by an unfeasibly small amount of insects, moving incredibly fast for an insect¡¯s pace. Two feet per second faster, obviously. ¡°This will save so much weight on my back!¡± Loth said, giggling manically as he began to slide up the side of a building, causing several pedestrians to do a double-take. ¡°You may wish to buy some large crates for supplies, because you¡¯re a one-kobold caravan now.¡± Reggie said as he exited the shop, adjusting the fit on some new bracers. ¡°I could that!¡± Loth said with a gasp. ¡°Will, we have to buy some supply crates and fill them with necessities. Trap components!¡± Shaking his head, Will sat down in his wheelchair and was about to try to steer it toward the bazaar one-handed when it began sliding across the street by itself, setting a walking pace beside Loth. ¡°You know this won¡¯t work for the third floor when your bugs are burning to a crisp just by touching the ground?¡± Will asked. ¡°¡­Foo. Maybe there¡¯s an Environmental Resistance upgrade in Master of the Vivarium?¡± Loth mused. That reminded Will¡­he¡¯d reached level 5 and needed to see what kind of upgrades were available for his Primary Abilities. He turned his attention toward his abilities. Ability Upgrade Available! Of course, if Will took Aspect of the Immortal Serpent, there might be another Upgrade later that upgraded it to regenerate missing limbs. One could always hope. Will made a mental note to keep an eye open for it. Getting a piece of Immortal Serpent to sacrifice wasn¡¯t going to be easy or cheap. Will hadn¡¯t even heard of them before now, so the chances were that he¡¯d have to go get one himself, and if someone have a sacrifice, it¡¯d most likely be incredibly expensive. Will kept reading down the list of viable sacrifices, but they were largely uninteresting. By and large, they were less powerful, and none of them were ¡®Aspects¡¯, like the first three. The earliest one he could hope to get was the Gravity Goat on floor 2. There were Gravity goats there. Will cruised through, finding sacrifices that increased the hand¡¯s speed, dimensional Storage, added passive buffs, and a few minor abilities. Nothing that allowed it to manipulate physical objects. That seemed to be a non-starter in the Ability¡¯s progression, much to Will¡¯s frustration. Eventually he landed on one that made his skin break out in a cold sweat. If Will was interpreting this correctly, he could boost a Relic¡¯s effect by his Acuity? All stats worked on a 5% basis. Each point made the corresponding aspect of one¡¯s abilities raise by 5% So if a Climber had 20 points in Acuity, their vision, hearing, taste, smell, and attention to detail were doubled. Simple. If this Ability Upgrade worked the way it like it did, a ring of accuracy that provided a 2% boost would rise to a 4% boost at an Acuity of twenty. Now, as a hypothetical, if Will found a helmet that gave him the ability to see through obstacles, and another helmet that allowed him to deal a tiny amount of fire damage to anything in line of sight¡­he could feed the fire damage helmet to the Phantom Hand, and keep the obstacle-piercing helmet on his head. The Sacrificed helmet¡¯s effect would be doubled, or tripled, or quadrupled, scaling with his Acuity as he leveled, giving him the absolutely insane ability to disintegrate anything he laid eyes on¡­through obstacles. Hypothetically. It was the kind of thing that could create an absolutely unfair synergy if he used it right. Will had never heard of a Relic Worm, but he knew where to get that information. ¡°To the Bazaar!¡± he declared, pointing the way. ¡°To the Bazaar!¡± Loth echoed, riding atop his insect barrel. ¡°I¡¯m tapped out, so I¡¯m gonna go¡­¡± Reggie said, watching them sliding away at slightly faster than walking speed on a bed of insects. Chapter 15: Camel Abuse -Jason Salazar As it turned out, Relic Worms were bad business, occupying a special place in local infamy. They were technically floor four monsters, but were notoriously difficult to hunt due to a combination of environment and their penchant for infesting a Climber¡¯s relics, disabling them and making a ¡®normal¡¯ fight suddenly life-or-death without warning. They were a palm¡¯s length, thin as a few hairs, and liked to burrow through flesh and Relics with equal voracity. They attacked in swarms of tens of thousands, swimming through the murky, concealing swamps of floor four to attack Climber¡¯s legs as they waded through the water. Low level Climbers died, and high level ones weren¡¯t interested in risking extremely valuable Relics while hunting them, as one could easily lose more than the value of the worms themselves if they ate your boots or weapon. Not to mention the sudden loss of power might actually pose a risk to the high-level Climber¡¯s life. The only people who might safely hunt Relic Worms were Climbers who were so high level that they could safely subdue them entirely without Relics. But their relatively modest value prevented that from being an attractive option for Climbers who by all rights should have a Demesne in the upper Floors. No, if Will wanted the obscene power promised by the Relic Worm upgrade to his Phantom Hand, he would have to go get it himself from the swamps of the fourth floor. His spending done, Will gave his remaining eight gold coins to Gertrude, on the condition that she earmark half of them for Jason¡¯s Sacrifices. Despite Jason going above and beyond following through on his promises, Will wasn¡¯t about to trust a twelve-year-old with enough money to get a Class which is what he would inevitably do with it. In a week, Will was Charged, his stitches were out, and he was eager to get back to the Climb. ¡°One thousand fifty-third out of ¡± Will asked aloud, but was met with silence from The System. Will knew he didn¡¯t do since his quest reward had been ¡®exceptional¡¯, but below thousandth place? How many people joined The Climb every year? Will set those thoughts aside and waited to accept the quest until Loth was with him, opening up the orange door that their party could share. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Loth asked as Will backed up to the glowing door hanging in empty air outside the orphanage, getting as close as his body would allow him. ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Will said, tucking in his arms and legs and falling backwards. Will¡¯s back slammed into the dusty arid land of the 1st Floor. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Camels, seriously?¡± Will asked, sitting up as Loth stepped gingerly past him. ¡°That¡¯s what I read,¡± Loth said, ¡°Where¡¯s the Key Point?¡± Will mused, rising to his feet, glancing around. Wordlessly, Loth pointed off to the side, where a beam of light shone straight up into the unnatural blue sky. ¡°Yeah¡­that¡¯d probably do it.¡± Together, the two of them crouched and began trotting in the direction of the light. Only a few minutes later, they arrived at the hill. The Key Point was an unnaturally round, pointed hill that resembled an enormous stalagmite. The only thing ¡®natural¡¯ about it was the scrub brush growing off its sides. Resting camels dotted the hill, some with their long limbs folded up beneath them while others simply slept standing up. At the top was a beam of solid light piercing high into the sky. A single camel stood at the top of the hill, rubbing its long neck against the beam of solid light and shuddering in a way that made Will feel¡­icky. Its coloring was darker and redder than the others, and it seemed to be at least half again larger than the next largest camel. ¡°I think that¡¯s probably our target right there,¡± Will said, pointing at the creature standing on top of the hill. ¡°What is it doing?¡± Loth asked, cocking his head in confusion. Will shrugged. ¡°Something aberrant, I guess?¡± ¡°Well, how do you want to handle this, Party leader?¡± Loth asked, looking up at him expectantly. Will squinted at the camel in the distance making love to the beam of light, squinting in thought before he glanced back at Loth. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°I wanna drop a rock on it.¡± Fifteen minutes later, several hundred of Loth¡¯s seekers released their payload, sending a man-sized stone hurtling downward, gaining an alarming amount of inertia as it plummeted to the ground. The camel-lord never stood a chance, vanishing in a plume of dust as its long neck was driven into the ground like a tent stake. This explosion did half the work for Will and Loth, as every Camel immediately fled at top speed with their gangly, awkward gait. Every camel began scanning the surroundings before locking on the two of them, immediately breaking into a gangly charge that Will simply couldn¡¯t take seriously. ¡°Ahahahah!¡± Will broke into laughter as the braying animals descended the hill, charging toward them, looking for all the world like fools from the fair on stilts. Then their mouths opened to reveal the mutated tubelike tongue pulsing with ichor, the distinctly carnivorous teeth. ¡°Yikes.¡± The creatures began to spit as they charged, sending remarkably accurate streams of nastiness in their direction. The two of them turned and fled. No sense hanging around to get spat on by whatever pre-digestive fluids those monsters were trying to slime them with. By the time they stopped running, every single one of the aberrant camels was dead or disabled by Loth¡¯s traps. ¡°What did I need you for again?¡± Loth asked as the two of them surveyed the carnage. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Will said, taking aim at one of the wounded camels and whipping his sling around. The magical sling grew a mote heavier as a lead bullet filled it from the feeder pouch, then Will released. The bullet flew out, creating a scintillating curtain of orange and green that came to an abrupt halt against the wounded camel¡¯s skull. The gangly monster dropped like a rock, its mutated tongue twitching until the very end, seemingly still seeking out something to spit at or latch on to. Together the two of them retraced their steps, putting any survivors of the monstrous camels out of their misery. ¡°I wonder what causes them to mutate like this,¡± Loth said as they walked, recovering trap components as they did so. ¡°It¡¯s gotta have something to do with the Key Point, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Will asked, pointing at the pillar of light they worked their way back towards it. ¡°That seems to be the case, but the of it escapes me. Did the Key point make these camels into monsters? If so, were they deliberately lured in or attracted by a byproduct of some other process? The fact that The System sends people like you and me to cull them suggests that it is not deliberate. Would you and I mutate into some awful creature if we spent too much time here, or do our Classes protect us from this effect?¡± Loth asked. ¡°What¡¯s it like, asking questions no one has the answers to all the time?¡± Will asked. ¡°It¡¯s awful.¡± Loth said with a sigh. ¡°Sounds like you might get along well with my parents,¡± Will said, patting Loth on the head. ¡°You¡¯re a type-two Climber if I¡¯ve ever seen one. Destined to find the answers or die trying.¡± ¡°What type are you?¡± Loth asked, looking up at him. ¡°I make it a point not to think too hard about the weird shit that I¡¯ve seen,¡± Will said, tapping his temple. ¡°But I¡¯m also not going to rest on my laurels once I reach a high level. I¡¯m the William Oh type of Climber.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna conquer the Tower,¡± Will said, clenching his fist. ¡°Once and for all.¡± The distinctive sound of a camel spitting was their only warning. An explosion of cloud cover shot out in every direction as Will felt his body grow lighter than air, his limbs filled with a singular purpose. To MOVE. He scooped up Loth and ran, nearly shitting himself as he underestimated triple speed and as a result of that overconfidence, nearly broke his neck. Triple speed for five seconds doesn¡¯t sound like a lot until you are running blind across rocky desert at roughly the speed of insanity. ¡°Dear Gods!¡± Will gulped out as the Boots of Outflanking did their job, sending him tripping over a rock so quickly that he flipped in midair twice before his feet hit the ground again. He kept running. Will burst out of the thirty feet of could cover at about the time he heard the camel spit hit the ground where they¡¯d just been a second ago. Will didn¡¯t have the leeway to look over his shoulder, but Loth did. ¡°Left!¡± Will juked to the left, narrowly avoiding another stream of the camel spit flying over his shoulder, despite running at the speed of light. Will wondered, until the rock he passed by dissolved like cotton candy. ¡°The Boss is still alive!¡± Loth said. ¡°REALLY!?¡± Will finally risked a glance over his shoulder, and spotted the dark red camel. It looked significantly worse for wear, with a broken leg and a not-insignificant amount of missing flesh from it¡¯s neck. But it still hobbled along on the remaining three legs, it¡¯s wound-covered head tracking them with the single-minded murderous intent only Monsters could harbor. Will tripped again, tumbling through the air, his feet touching down an instant before the effect of the Boots of Outflanking vanished, returning gravity and inertia to normal. They skidded to a halt, Will¡¯s heels cutting deep furrows in the ground as he desperately tried to stop. When they finally came to a halt, they looked back at the creature charging at them. They¡¯d left it in the dust, but it was charging at a rapid, if painful-looking pace. ¡°Can you set up something to defend us?¡± Will asked, sizing up the range. ¡°Indubitably.¡± ¡°Does that mean yes or no?¡± Will asked, winding up the sling. ¡°Means ¡®yes¡¯.¡± Loth said, pulling his trap supplies out of the satchels around his waist. The first shot went wide because of the creature¡¯s awkward, lurching, three-legged gait which caused its head to flail wildly as it charged. The shot missed, but the camel¡¯s neck bumped into the orange-and-green tracer that lingered along the projectile¡¯s trail. The creature gave a nerve-rattling shriek that didn¡¯t belong in the throat of a terrestrial animal as an additional layer of fur and skin was carved away by the tracer of fire and acid hanging in midair. The camel stumbled in it¡¯s charge and was forced to step to the side to avoid running directly into the deadly scintillating curtain stretching between them. This lost the creature time. Time that Will used to line up another shot. The bullet whizzed out into the distance, carrying a curtain of acid and fire along behind it. Will missed again, but it was a close thing, forcing the monster to take more precious time to weave around the curtain of burning death. The next shot hit. The camel reeled back as a bullet struck its cheek, turning part of the monster¡¯s long snout into a bloody mess. It shrieked in pain and frustration, reeling back to spit at him again with it¡¯s wormlike tongue. Will took a step to the left, interposing the curtain of fire between himself and the creature. The camel¡¯s vision was partially blocked by the curtain, and it¡¯s spit went wide while Will lined up another shot. This one flew a bit lower, catching the creature in its oversized neck, causing a great gout of blood to splatter against the scrub brush beneath it. ¡°It¡¯s set up,¡± Loth said, tugging his shirt. On Loth¡¯s signal, the two of them began backing up. ¡°Those two boulders,¡± Loth said, pointing to a pair of rocks slightly ahead of them, one medium sized, the other massive. Will could barely make out a tripline stretching between them. He nodded, keeping one eye out for further spit from the mutated camel. He sent his Phantom Hand out beside the larger boulder, and when the camel came into the right distance, he had the hand accelerate as fast as it could, releasing a handful of bullet stones as it did so. Much to Will¡¯s delight, the Armguard of Tracers applied to ranged attacks made by his Phantom Hand. The bullets flew out in front of the Boss, creating a curtain of fire directly in front of the creature. The camel attempted to stop, but ran directly into half a dozen curtains of fire, burning and melting the majority of its upper body to the bone as it did so. An instant later, it must¡¯ve hit the tripline, because the smaller boulder leapt forward as if it¡¯d been kicked by a giant, slamming into the larger one in an explosion of stone shrapnel¡­with the camel directly in between them. Will didn¡¯t have to wait long for the confirmation of the kill: The two of them looted the monsters as they dissolved into foul-smelling gunk with wisps of pale blue light escaping from their skeletal remains. They found a Tap of Plenty, Still-Boots, a nonmagical flamberge that neither of them wanted, and fifteen gold. ¡°Not bad for an hour¡¯s work,¡± Will mused. Sure, the possibility of death was there, but still¡­ ¡°How did that camel have a giant piece of finely worked inside it?¡± Loth demanded. ¡°There is a story among my people,¡± Will said solemnly ¡°That when the gods created The Tower, they knew they must bind the miasma in monsters into Relics so that it might be put to better use and not poison the land, but they could never know the perfect things to give Climbers, so they created¡­the Loot Table, which automagically assigns Relics and loot, weighted by the creature slain, the slayer¡¯s class, and a dash of randomizer on top, so that no one class/monster combination can be guaranteed to produce a certain item, for that would lead to a stagnation of society.¡± ¡°That¡¯s stupid.¡± Loth said. ¡°You¡¯re stupid.¡± Will shot back. ¡°I¡¯m a genius.¡± ¡°That pretty smart of you, choosing me to lead,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°That remains to be seen,¡± Loth replied, motioning for Will to open the Door to the 2nd Floor. Will did so, and a moment later, a brilliant orange Party door opened beside them. Will psyched himself up before standing in front of the door and allowing himself to fall backwards through it while Loth watched on, a single scaly brow raised. Will fell through the Door. And fell. And fell. Tap of Plenty: Insert the Tap of Plenty into an object to extract water or other liquids. Magically boosts the extraction efficiency beyond what might normally be possible with static internal pressure Still-Boots: +2 Resistance these boots distill water from the environment into pouches on the side. Part of the Still-suit set. Chapter 16: Ants on a Log To his credit, Will didn¡¯t start flailing until after he¡¯d gone horizontal and shown no signs of slowing down. A world of sun, stone and clouds flashed around him as he felt his heels begin to scrape against the ground, drawn further off the cliff by his sheer momentum. Panic springing forth in his guts, Will rocked his foot forward and dug his heels into the stone while his hand flung out, seeking purchase on anything he could find. His hand seized on something with leaves, while his heels found miraculous purchase on the edge of the cliff, Aspect of The Goat exaggerating the footing and saving him from a sheer drop. Will was, however, dangling upside down from a cliff face, with his back to the cliff, looking out and down at the miles of empty air below him. This was not ideal. ¡°Bahahaha!¡± Loth guffawed as soon as he stepped out onto the cliff-face, looking down at Will and pointing as he did so. ¡°Rope please?¡± Will asked. ¡°I thought this was some kind of human custom you were doing.¡± Loth said as he unwound some rope from his pack, securing it to the cliff before tossing it down to Will. ¡°But I never saw anyone else doing it.¡± ¡°No, just me dealing with some stuff,¡± Will muttered, grabbing the rope and beginning to pull himself up one-handed. ¡°¡­You wanna talk about it?¡± ¡°Maybe sometime when I¡¯m not dangling above certain death.¡± Will replied, grunting with effort as he pulled his whole body up with one hand then released, reaching up to snatch the next handful of rope before gravity could take over. ¡°Fair enough¡­Gods, it¡¯s chilly up here.¡± Loth muttered, disappearing above the cliff face. ¡°I always wondered why it took years for my parents to make the trip,¡± Will mused as he hauled himself back up onto the cliffside. ¡°I guess I never knew that you had to take the same amount of time to go down too¡­¡± Will frowned as he arrived at the top of the cliff, spotting Loth, with his hood up, drawn tight around his face until nothing was visible but the end of his muzzle. He was wearing a coat drawn from his supplies, and the kobold was tending a tiny fire on a round metal sheet while some of his hardier beetles brought bits and pieces of wood from nearby scrub and trees. ¡°Cold?¡± Will asked. ¡°Not good with it,¡± Loth admitted, adding some pre-made coals and folding a second dish of steel overtop, forming an almost flask-like shape before shoving the whole thing in his coat pocket, causing smoke to begin floating up from the kobold¡¯s coat and over his shoulder. Will tested the air with his finger. ¡°Can¡¯t be colder than fifty degrees out here.¡± ¡°And that doesn¡¯t bother you?¡± Loth asked, glancing over his shoulder at Will, who was still wearing his Cloak of Misty Escape which did little to warm him up, made of solidified vapor as it was. Will shrugged. Aspect of The Goat made him adaptable. Grumbling, Loth ushered his insects back into their barrel, then slipped a barrel cozy around it before picking up the entire thing and beginning to trudge towards the North. That didn¡¯t last long, as the land ended suddenly in a sheer cliff, separating them from their destination by hundreds of feet of open air. They tried to find a way around, circling the edge of their mountain peak, only to find that they were cut off from any other land by at least a solid fifty feet. After Will climbed down to investigate, he realized that they weren¡¯t on a mountain peak, they were on a floating mountain in the sky, completely disconnected from their surroundings, so far above the ground as to call into question the very existence of ¡®the ground¡¯. ¡°Starting to understand why they can¡¯t grow their own wheat on this floor,¡± Will mused to himself. ¡°Which one?¡± Loth asked, scanning the surrounding floating mountains. ¡°That one looks like it abuts several others,¡± Will said, pointing to the Northeast It. was a little off-course from the stronghold, but it was in close proximity with several others, looking like it offered several paths to travel from. Loth nodded and took his scaled hand out of his smouldering coat and fished out the head of a silk rope from his supplies. His insects carried the rope across the gap, and the noose around Loth¡¯s neck glowed faintly a moment before the spidersilk rope knotted itself around a thick pine. They made their way across the bridge, the rope unknotting itself behind them with an application of Loth¡¯s amulet before rolling up on its own. They made it about fifteen minutes without incident before they saw the first sign of kaith. The second floor was their home, after all, so this wasn¡¯t entirely unexpected. It was, however, a pain in the ass. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°So that¡¯s what the bridges look like in daylight,¡± Will mused as they two of them crouched below the nearby ridge, peeking out only far enough to see. The bridge seemed to be made of regurgitated wood pulp laced into an intricate organic latticework that stretched between the two floating mountians. It appeared as though the kaith had somehow pushed two closer together and then secured them using their bridges as fasteners, effectively joining the range of the two mountains. ¡°What¡¯s the plan, fearless leader?¡± Loth asked. Will shrugged, glancing down at Loth. ¡°Drop a rock on it?¡± ¡°Do you think we should secure a retreat route before we commit to an engagement with a swarm creature?¡± Loth asked. ¡°¡­Yes. I do think that.¡± Will said with a nod. ¡°Let¡¯s set up that bridge back the way we came, then see if we can¡¯t pick a fight. Even if we can¡¯t come this way, maybe we can get some grinding done.¡± Now that they were on the 2nd Floor, their XP wasn¡¯t being nerfed. Probably. Following the tactics they had begun refining on the first floor, they created a path of retreat and lined it with traps before dropping a big rock on the bridge. Rather than destroying the delicate-seeming bridge made of wood pulp, the boulder bounced off of it, causing a shudder to spread across the construction for a moment as the force dissipated through the arch. If anything, it seemed to just piss the kaith off. Dozens of workers seemed to materialize out of nowhere, charging toward the two of them. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will used the trick he¡¯d first discovered against the camel Boss, using his Phantom Hand to shoot tracers across their path, forcing the kaith to push their way through the curtains of fire and acid provided by the wristguard and his ring. The good news was that they cut the kaith down like wheat, each wave dropping as they were pushed into the lines of fire and deadly traps, pushed by the one behind them. The bad news was that there was always another wave, pushing with mindless ferocity to reach them, climbing over the bodies of their brethren with no regard for their losses. Then the soldiers showed up, head and shoulders above the other bizarre insectoid monsters, with chitin armor and stingers to match. ¡°Maybe we should-¡° ¡°Right,¡± Will nodded, and the two of them turned and ran. The traps left behind by Loth slowed the kaith enough to allow them to retreat back across the rope. Minutes after they cut the rope, the opposite cliffside was boiling with kaith. Ability Upgrade Available! ¡°Level,¡± Will said aloud. ¡°Same.¡± Loth agreed. ¡°What¡¯s the recommended level for fighting Kaith with a party of two without a combat class?¡± Will asked. ¡°What makes you think I know?¡± ¡°You ?¡± Will asked. ¡°For total safety, the recommended level for a direct confrontation is twenty-five, but many can and do fight them at lower levels, albeit in guerilla engagements.¡± Loth said with a sigh. ¡°That sounds about right,¡± Will mused. ¡°In other news, I¡¯m about to hit my double-dailies.¡± ¡°What should we do about that?¡± Loth asked, motioning to where the boiling mass of mutant insects was growing closer at a nearly imperceptible rate. ¡°They¡¯re building another bridge!¡± Will exclaimed. ¡°Seems that way.¡± ¡°Bastards. Well¡­we don¡¯t want to be here when they arrive, but we also don¡¯t want to pass on easy XP. Let¡¯s secure another path of retreat and then milk that bridge for every kaith soul it¡¯s worth. They found a less¡­insect-y path north, ¡®bridged¡¯ it, then doubled back and set up a shooting gallery while the Kaith continued mindlessly building their bridge towards them. Will emptied out his good sling-bullets from the self-loading pouch and made due with the jagged half-fist sized stones that Loth¡¯s insects dropped into the pouch. Without having to worry about loading the sling or the pouch itself, Will was able to fling rocks at the kaith at a rate that most slingers could only dream of. Since the rocks were uneven messes, Will¡¯s aim was way off, but that didn¡¯t matter so much, as the entire surface of the opposite bank was boiling with them. The Greater Sting Ring caused each stone to melt several inches through the monster¡¯s chitin, causing intense pain, and in some cases, instant death, if it landed near the spine or brain. For a good hour, Will slung rocks at the kaith bridge-builders while Loth dropped huge rocks on them. Due to the bridge still being new and uncured, without the support of an opposite bank, Loth was able to smash large portions of the bridge away, along with the kaith holding onto them. ¡°My insects can¡¯t keep going.¡± Loth said as the unnatural sun began to dip below the cloud-covered horizon, casting them in shade. ¡°It¡¯s getting too cold for them.¡± Loth shivered. ¡°Too cold for ¡± ¡°Can¡¯t be colder than¡­¡± Will licked his finger and felt his spit freeze on it. ¡°Several degrees below freezing. Wow, I didn¡¯t realize.¡± ¡°This rock is really comfortable¡­¡± Loth said, curling up around a lichen-covered rock, one arm around his barrel. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t go to sleep!¡± Will shouted. It would only take a couple hours for the Kaith to finish their bridge unhindered. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I trapped my bed,¡± Loth mumbled. ¡°Shai-Lazu can¡¯t get to me.¡± ¡°Godsdamnit,¡± Will muttered, packing up his gear before awkwardly picking up Loth and gear and carrying him toward their path of retreat. He wasn¡¯t na?ve enough to think that the Kaith couldn¡¯t track them if they crossed over onto another mountain, but if they did, that would be another two hours for Will to figure out a solution to their situation. When Will arrived at the rope bridge they¡¯d left behind, He skidded to a halt upon spotting the rope dangling slack, and across the gap was a fire with three Climbers sitting around it. One of them noticed him, a man wearing hardboiled leather armor with a fur undercoat keeping him warm. ¡°Ho, the other side!¡± he shouted, waving, while the other three Climbers turned to look at them. ¡°Why¡¯d you cut my bridge!?¡± Will demanded. ¡°Can¡¯t make it easier on Kaith to take new territory, can we?¡± His words sounded rational, but Will could hear the smile in his voice. ¡°I¡¯ve got Kaith coming in behind me. Toss me a rope or something!¡± Will shouted. ¡°Toss us your weapons first! We can¡¯t exactly trust a stranger in camp. ¡®Specially not one with a Kobold companion!¡± As far as Will knew, it was Climbers against The Tower, and anything less than total cooperation meant they intended to rob him. He would become an easy meal. ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how you wanna play!?¡± Will demanded, inspecting the distance between them. About fifty feet across and maybe a ten-foot drop. ¡°That¡¯s the rules if you want to cross, boy!¡± Will shifted Loth to his other shoulder. Will thought. Will whipped out a bullet, catching the fastest looking one of them on the leg. ¡°AGH!¡± The Climber doubled over as his leg began to smoke. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± A more lightly dressed Climber stood up and began to weave a glowing bead of flame between his fingers, gaze fixated on the two of them. Will broke line of sight with his targets, zipped to the side a bit and then made a harsh turn towards his target. A ball of fire exploded, carving out a large chunk of the obscuring mist where they had just been. Will got to full speed and jumped, the Boots of Outflanking living up to their Namesake as he crossed the fifty-foot gap and landed beside the Nuker. The lightly armored Climber¡¯s eyes widened as Will skidded to a halt behind him. Will flung Loth¡¯s limp body toward the fire while Will capitalized on the remaining time on the Boots, charging toward the nuker at triple speed. ¡°Fu-¡° The nuker held up a flat palm and a shield of shimmering light interposed itself between the two of them, deflecting the Serpent¡¯s Axe. The nuker¡¯s other hand reached forward with a nasty-looking spell growing between his fingers. Will slapped it with his Phantom Hand, causing a gout of flame to erupt over the cliffs and out into the thin mountain air. Will kicked the nuker in the knee, causing it to fold over backwards. The nuker went down with a scream until Will kicked him in the head. ¡°Try and rob !?¡± Will demanded, spit flying from his mouth as he rounded on the last unwounded Climber, The Serpent¡¯s Axe rattling in his hand as it begged to be used. ¡°I oughta gut the lot of you and hang you from the side of the mountain by your own entrails!¡± The Climber glanced down to where his weapons lay beside the fire, his wounded companions, then at Will¡¯s truncated hand. He raised his hands in surrender. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to be¡­William Oh, would you?¡± Chapter 17: Stoking The Fire After a couple hours in front of the fire, Loth woke up, giving a razor-toothed yawn as he sat up, rubbing bleary eyes and inspecting the surroundings. ¡°Guess you finally figured out what you needed me for, huh?¡± Will asked. ¡°We¡¯re still alive. Fantastic. What did I miss?¡± ¡°Met some other climbers and they told us where to go to make it to Skyhold.¡± Will pointed at a rough map of the floating mountains scratched into the dirt. They did so under duress, so the map was suspect, but Will was fairly sure it matched up with what he saw from the higher vantage point they¡¯d had earlier in the day. ¡°How much longer will it stay cold?¡± Loth asked, scootching closer to the fire. ¡°Five hours, maybe?¡± Will said, glancing up at the black sky with its odd pinpoints of light. Loth began picking at the fire, taking coals and putting them in his personal heater, dumping out the previous day¡¯s ash. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to get moving soon, I¡¯m not sure how long we have before the Kaith figure out which way we went. Loth nodded, and after an hour or so getting as warm as they could, they started heading to the northwest, trudging along the mountainside in search of another easy crossing. Halfway through the trek to the other side of the floating mountain, the sun was rising and they were passing underneath a massive stone overhang when a clattering noise caught their attention. They tensed, but no danger reared its head. Above was a goat, chewing on its cud as it watched them suspiciously with it¡¯s odd flat eyes¡­standing upside down, directly above them on the underside of the overhang, casual as can be, as if it weren¡¯t directly spitting in the eye of physics. Will kill it and sacrifice it to his Aspect of the Goat Ability¡­but upgrade slots were limited by the quality of the Ability, and Aspect of the Immortal Serpent and Aspect of the Uru drake both seemed like qualitatively better upgrades than Aspect of the gravity goat. They would be almost surely be able to house more upgrades than a goat from level 2. Not to mention, further upgrades would be influenced by each upgrade before it. If he got The Immortal Serpent, there was a chance he could push it further towards healing and regeneration. Specifically regenerating limbs. And while that wasn¡¯t a cohesive build by any stretch of the imagination, Will wanted his hand back. Will hissed and made a ¡®get outta here¡¯ shooing gesture at the Gravity Goat. It startled, hopping along the underside of the cliff before disappearing above. ¡°Gravity goat.¡± Will said. ¡°Yes, they make good Scout Archetype Sacrifices.¡± ¡°One of mine, actually.¡± ¡°That explains the climbing.¡± Loth mused as they continued on their way. Once the sun was fully up, Loth gained some speed, and they made it to the other side of the mountain a little after midday. In the distance three mountains over, Will could see the faintest plume of smoke. That was their destination. They used their usual tactic to cross the mountains, but as they got closer to the stronghold, they saw more and more signs of humans, ranging from abandoned campsites to permanent bridges. They were rickety rope constructions that made Will question how the caravans could traverse this kind of terrain without breaking the damn things and spiralling down into the abyss. Will thought as he and Loth cautiously traversed the rickety bridge. As they got closer to the stronghold, they began to encounter other Climbers, passing each other with a nod and a hand gently resting on the pommel of their weapons. Will noticed their gazes lingering longer on Loth before they carried on with their business. ¡°It seems like the camaraderie among Climbers does not cross the barrier of species,¡± Loth said as they passed the most recent group of Climbers. ¡°Well, they¡¯re not killing you on sight. That counts for something, I suppose?¡± Will asked. ¡°I believe it¡¯s because you are obviously in my employ, they understand me to be a reasonable employer of the handicapped.¡± Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s not because they think you¡¯re in employ¡± Will asked. ¡°Until proven otherwise, I¡¯ll believe what I wish,¡± Loth said airily. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Will chuckled and took in the sights as they rounded the corner and the stronghold was suddenly laid out before them. The stronghold appeared to be a mine. There was no wall, since the edge of the floating mountain could do anything a wall could do, and better. Instead a series of ballista dotted the edge of the mountain, while soldiers patrolled the edges, keeping their eyes opened to kaith invasion forces or flying threats. The ¡®mine¡¯ portion of the stronghold appeared to be where part of the mountain had been sheered away in onion-like layers, revealing solid quartz¡­ Will recalled the caravan mention something about salt. Salt wasn¡¯t easy to get ahold of, and as far as spices went, it was one of the most popular. Everything tasted a little better with some salt. He¡¯d gotten to sprinkle some on his soup once last year. It made the whole thing taste divine. Will wondered, rubbing his chin. If it was cheaper here than outside The Tower, then he could get a sack of it here for only a few gold. Will smacked himself in the forehead. ¡°That¡¯s just a merchant caravan with extra steps!¡± Will admonished himself, gaining a curious glance from Loth. That wasn¡¯t to say they couldn¡¯t do it. ¡°You wanna snag some salt and resell it for a profit on the way back down?¡± Will asked. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be opposed, but gold isn¡¯t at a premium in the second floor, given that gold is one of the principal Loot rewards in The Tower. It¡¯s mostly fabrics, fruits and grains that can¡¯t be looted or grown here that would buy the most salt. Our profit margin wouldn¡¯t be as high. Although, salt worth slightly more than gold by mass outside The Tower. If salt is worth any fraction less by mass inside the mine, with my insect¡¯s ability to move several tons effortlessly, we would make a tidy profit from sheer volume. This is all assuming we could buy enough to strain their carrying capacity¡­which I doubt we could afford to do in the first place.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve put a lot of thought into this, huh?¡± Will asked. Loth gave him a curious gaze. ¡°No, why?¡± Will glanced back at the road. ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°CLEAR A PATH!¡± Loth and Will glanced behind them and stepped aside as a dozen or so Climbers charged towards them, carrying a palanquin on their shoulders made of solid steel. Each climber bore the wounds of years of battle, and looked like they could slap the two of them aside with contemptuous ease. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Loth asked. ¡°A bus,¡± Will said as the group passed by. ¡°First time seeing one in person, though.¡± ¡°a bus?¡± Loth frowned. ¡°Yeah, so sometimes people enter contracts with a Lord. It goes something along the lines of ¡®I¡¯ll provide you these rare Sacrifices that will get you this really valuable non-combat class, and when you come out of your Trial, I have veteran climbers ¡®bus¡¯ you up to the level my stronghold is on and then you work for me for ten, fifteen, twenty years or so.¡± ¡°Sounds like indentured servitude.¡± Loth said, watching the bus disappear into the distance. Will thought he could see silhouettes through the tiny eye-slits on the side of the palanquin. ¡°Well, it Will said with a shrug. ¡°But generally once their term elapses, they¡¯ve got very high-demand skills and can effectively charge independent strongholds whatever they want. There¡¯s probably a handful of them milking SKyhold for whatever it¡¯s worth. The salt-mine isn¡¯t on a high enough floor to require a Lord, really.¡± ¡°¡­Generally?¡± ¡°They¡¯re non-combat classes way outside their recommended Floor.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°So¡­¡± Will waggled his hand. ¡°Sometimes they get squished. You know I hear that the stream of powerful non-combat classes taking over the leadership of lower-floor strongholds so Lords can go higher is what¡¯ll allow humans to keep pushing further up the Tower.¡± ¡°Sounds like propaganda perpetuated by those who would have slaves eager to pledge themselves to their service.¡± Loth said. ¡°I¡¯m assuming that these non-combat classes have a difficult time leaving the strongholds they find themselves in even after their term of service elapses, simply because they are unsuited for Climbing back down. This inability to leave creates an unfavorable bargaining position for them.¡± ¡°¡­What¡¯s propaganda?¡± Will asked. ¡°Propaganda. Noun. Information, especially of a biased, or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political point of view.¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­¡± ¡°Like that boy you paid to tell stories about you.¡± ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Clever that you did that. It attracted my attention. A reputation can be as good as armor in some situations.¡± Will thought back to the group that had surrendered after learning his name. ¡°¡­That was his idea, though?¡± Will said. ¡°How precocious.¡± ¡°What¡¯s precocious mean?¡± Will asked. ¡°Precocious. Adjective (Of a child): Having developed certain abilities or proclivities at an earlier age¡­ The two of them continued chatting, relaxing as the stream of Climbers became so thick that there was no chance of an ambush by monsters. They found that sacks full of personal use salt were available for sale, but without a contract with Skyhold, one couldn¡¯t purchase more than a small amount at once. Roc down, harvested from their nests, was sold in street vendor stalls, woven into remarkably warm cloaks. They bought one for Loth and a cozy for his barrel, despite the jaw-dropping price tag. Afterwards they visited an Inn for some food and sleep. ¡°I shit you not, William Oh can turn into lightning. He¡¯s got some kind of Ability that creates a thundercloud and turns him into lightning.¡± A man said, waving his beer stein emphatically. ¡°Bang, POW! And he¡¯s on top of you!¡± ¡°I heard he¡¯s only got one hand, because a witch cast a curse with it. Turned it into a talisman that brings his enemies ill fortune. It roams the world and acts against those who would act against him.¡± Another man said. ¡°I heard a Nuker shot him in the face and he it!¡± Another replied. ¡°I saw it myself! William Oh was riding the dawnglow as it descended from the sky like a godsdamned Seraph!¡± ¡°You old coots are just making shit up to outdo each other!¡± a younger Climber exclaimed. ¡°If William Oh were here right now, I¡¯d kick the shit out of him if only to shut you up!¡± ¡°Ooh, careful what you say, kiddo,¡± One of the old salts ¨C he was literally covered in salt powder ¨C said menacingly, wiggling his fingers. ¡°Or else William Oh¡¯s disembodied hand will kill you while you sleep!¡± ¡°Horseshit!¡± The younger Climber said, teetering back in his chair. Will couldn¡¯t help but notice he had a small dagger in his belt with a distinctive pattern on the handle. He couldn¡¯t help himself. ¡°He¡¯s just some bullshit story you idiots made up to make yourselves feel better about being unremarkable. He¡¯s not even real.¡± The young Climber said, teetering back in his seat, using a hand to stabilize himself while the other downed a pint of beer. The young Climber¡¯s dagger shot down from the ceiling and landed point-first into the wood of the table, inches away from the Climber¡¯s hand. The group of men stared silently at the dagger embedded in the table for a moment before, as one, they looked up at the empty ceiling above them. Will¡¯s Phantom Hand was hovering in the air above, waving at them, but none of them could see it. ¡°Is that dagger?¡± the younger climber asked, patting the empty sheath on his waist, eyes widening. ¡°Umm¡­I didn¡¯t mean nothing by the story about you being born of an unholy union between man and monster, Mr. Oh, sir,¡± one of the old salts said, glancing around the room. ¡°Just a bit of tall tales, is all.¡± Will snagged some air with Dimensional Storage, accelerated it, then released a bit at a time, creating an errant breeze where there should be none, directly into the man¡¯s ear. ¡°Nope! Nope, nope, nope, nope!¡± The old salt said, leaping out of his chair and running for the exit, Will faded into the background as the man passed by, mumbling to himself, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. ¡°Welllp, I¡¯m out.¡± Another Climber said, downing his drink before scurrying out, followed by the rest, leaving the young Climber sitting alone, silently inspecting his own dagger. Chapter 18: Run boy Run something When morning came, Will and Loth packed their stuff up and headed out into the wilds to the east. The roc-feather cloak kept Loth toasty warm against the frost-tinged morning, and warded off the heat of the sun once it began to beat down on them in earnest. Will was unaffected by temperature extremes, and made sure to tease Loth about it to the best of his abilities. Today their plan was to head east and rub elbows with some other Grinders. Grinding was a phenomena where hundreds or even thousands of Climbers would spontaneously form a rough line around the edge of a specific monster¡¯s territory, each group trying their hand at luring some close in order to kill them for loot and XP. Sharing a border with another camp of climbers lowered the amount of XP and loot you got, but it provided a safety net, since monsters were unlikely to hit your camp from the sides or behind, and even if they did, there were hundreds of other Climbers eager to ¡®rescue¡¯ you. It was a safe and boring way to earn XP, yet competitive and stressful¡­Or so Will had heard. He¡¯d never actually joined in on one before. Supposedly other Climbers were camping out on the edge of kaith territory, luring the homicidal bugs in and reaping huge rewards from slaughtering them en masse. Hopefully Will and Loth could get a good spot as it was being vacated by a team that had reached their quota. Since they still had a day of Acclimation remaining, they needed to spend it on something. Might as well make a little cash, maybe get some new Relics, levels, and prepare themselves for the 3rd Floor. The two of them were a few miles outside the city, walking through a secluded mountain path on their way east when - Will blinked his eyes blearily, finding a lot more gunk in them than usual. The last thing he remembered they were going to bed. His head swam as his mind caught up. The thing he remembered was heading out to the East for some grinding, since he and Loth still had to acclimate for a day, they figured they should get some levels before they attempted to hit the 3rd floor, if they could. He remembered them watching wistfully as a bus headed out to the south, aiming for the next floor. The absolute way to make it to the next floor was to run in the wake of a bus and assist in clearing the Key Point. The rules were pretty lenient. As long as you were there and weren¡¯t actively sabotaging the other climbers, you got a pass. Sadly, they were still Acclimating, and he remembered¡­ He remembered Loth pointing out that going to a higher Floor with less than the maximum level allowed for the current Floor would be foolish, even if they could follow in the wake of a bus. So they shrugged and decided to head East and see if they couldn¡¯t set up a camp and do some grinding before moving on. It was what ¡®smart¡¯ Climbers did. Later, in the higher floors, when the Acclimation could last for months, then they would have to do it every time, especially after there were no strongholds to retreat to. Might as well get used to it now. Will thought, opening his eyes. He was hanging upside down by a meat hook. His legs were bound together by thick rope that was slipped through the hook. The ropes would be painfully tight around his ankles¡­if he could feel them. It seemed as though the ropes were cutting off circulation. Will hadn¡¯t been around a long time, and he considered himself a bit green as a Climber, but it was probably a safe assumption¡­ that regaining consciousness hanging upside down by a meat hook was considered a Bad Sign?. What really bothered him though, was the hollowed out human torsos on the meat hooks surrounding him. Like a butchered animal, the head and entrails had been carved out, leaving just the tasty meat, missing bits and pieces that the Eaters must have been snacking on. A hand here, a rib there. Will had heard stories about Eaters in the upper floors. Heard about how there was nothing even resembling a natural creature in the upper floors, so everything that died dissolved into Miasma. There were no vegetables or game meat on the upper floors, so sometimes¡­sometimes when a Party got trapped on an upper floor for months at a time with no Key Site in range, and growing hunger¡­they resorted to eating their weakest members first. These people who threw away the last shred of their humanity finally succumb to The Miasma, and become monsters themselves, hunting humans for food forevermore. Or at least, that was the story. Will thought with a frown. There were goats and birds and regular shipments of wheat from the lower Floors. In any case, Will was not in a good situation, and it was time to take steps to correct that. He looked up ¨Cdown in this case¨C and saw that his hands were bound together as well. There was some kind of barbed metal clamp on his stump to prevent him from simply slipping out of the manacles on his wrists. His mouth was gagged, rough rope digging painfully into his cheeks. His belt loops was empty. None of his gear was at hand. Will mused, looking back up at his legs. He wasn¡¯t wearing anything at all, save for a bell attached to the rope around his feet. Will¡¯s breathing began to grow rapid, his skin crawling, heart hammering, vision going blurry as he lost focus, picturing himself, a slightly different William Oh, stumbling upon this slaughterhouse and discovering a one-armed, hollowed-out corpse. Will¡¯s vision snapped back into focus. Will directed his Phantom Hand towards the bell and the rope around his legs. It seemed oddly sluggish, to match his oddly sluggish awakening. When it arrived, he didn¡¯t waste any time and scooped up the bell. A lance of pain shot through Will¡¯s entire body and nearly jolted him hard enough to cause him to ring the bell. Which would¡¯ve alerted his captor. Which would¡¯ve been a problem. The shackle around his stump glowed momentarily, betraying itself as the culprit behind interrupting his Ability. Will took a deep breath, steadying breath and crunched his body up, his entire body straining as he slowly and smoothly lifted his arms up to his feet. He stuck a finger in the bell, securing the ringer against the brass wall of the bell. It made a quiet scraping sound, and Will¡¯s heart leapt in his chest, but nothing arrived to stop him. Holding the bell, he heaved himself up momentarily, just long enough to shove his legs up and over the curve of the hook, detatching himself from the ceiling without releasing the bell. There was a moment of weightlessness as he fell before hitting the blood-sticky floor of the slaughterhouse. ¡°MFF!¡± Will grunted as the wind was knocked out of him, the gag keeping him quieter than he would¡¯ve been otherwise. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. He lay there for a moment, blinking the stars out of his eyes as he considered his life choices, and how they might¡¯ve led him to his current situation. Slowly, carefully¡­Will released the bell and reached down with his stump, placing the clamp between his bound feet. Before Will could get cold feet, he tensed all the muscles in his core and yanked the stump out of the clamp keeping the manacle on. He was thankful he had a gag. When he stopped crying, Will tried releasing himself again. The barbs had taken some skin with them, but it was nothing permanent, and this time, he was able to suck up the bell and rope around his ankles. Panicked, Will scanned the meatlocker for a black, scaly carcass, but found nothing. Will wrapped the manacle chain around his arm to prevent it from making noise. Sadly it was too voluminous to store in his hand. Silently freed of his impediments, Will began creeping through the dimly lit room looking for an escape. The first place to look was naturally the course of the light: A doorway with flickering candlelight streaming through the rough planks that composed the door itself, and a pool of illumination near the bottom. the door itself didn¡¯t have bars or a convenient window to look through, so Will laid down on the floor and peered through the gap. He saw an empty stone hall, with torchlight and deep shadows. Not much else, from this angle. A pair of feet arrived, then another. Then the most Abyssal voice spoke in a hair-raising, guttural language that meant nothing to him, other than to demonstrate that the speaker was human. The demon-speech was answered by another, then the two pairs of feet turned away from each other and walked away from Will¡¯s door. Hair standing on end, Will backed away from the door. Will startled and nearly lost his footing as a sound reverberated through the meat locker. The sound of steel struggling to contain¡­something. Will ducked down and hid behind some poor bastard, heart hammering in his chest as he expected the demons to come to the door immediately to check out the noise. Nothing. Still nothing. Frowning, Will glanced back at where he¡¯d heard the noise come from. He crept deeper into the dimly lit meatlocker and just as the shadows were about to become impenetrable, he came across a heavy steel door. door had bars around eye level, but Will couldn¡¯t see anything matter how close he leaned¡­ He something move inside, the air shifting as something rushed towards him, causing him to reflexively lunge backwards. The entire door shuddered and glowed with warding magic, launching Will backward moments before clawed limbs swiped out from between the bars, missing his face by inches. Will thought, heart hammering in his chest. angry. Will glanced around at the butchered human corpses. Will glanced at the empty hook that had once held him aloft. His absence would immediately betray the fact that he¡¯d escaped. He needed to buy himself some extra time to run. And he would run. These things had seemingly subdued him with little to no effort, which meant his only option was to remove himself from the situation. There would be no heroic fight if Will could help it. Will took a moment to catch his breath and steel his nerve, finding the best hiding spot he could close to the door. Once he was in position, he used Phantom Hand to throw the bell into the monster¡¯s cage. His thinking was, if they heard the bell ringing like crazy as the feral monster savaged it, they would investigate and assume he¡¯d wandered close and been grabbed. That wouldn¡¯t last forever, maybe giving him an extra fifteen seconds to run. But every second counted. The bell began ringing furiously as it impacted against the wall of the monster¡¯s cell and tumbled to the ground. Thankfully whatever magic was placed on the door only made it durable. It took longer than Will expected. In fact, no one came at all. There wasn¡¯t a chance in The Abyss that Will was going to retrieve the bell and try to lure them in again. Will¡¯s hair raised on end as he glanced back at the cell. A shadow-clad arm, nearly invisible in the darkness, extended from the bars, ringing the bell with precise, almost delicate deliberation, eliciting a single clear ring from the bell, pausing, then doing it again. Will realized, eyes widening. Minutes of ringing later, the door opened with a metallic screech as a seven-foot tall demon stepped into the meat locker. It had a humanoid shape, with obscenely bulging muscles covering the hulking frame. It held a torch in one hand and bore a cleaver on its leather belt, beside a keyring. It¡¯s face was- Will¡¯s attention snapped back to the keyring. That seemed like something he might need. Will had no guarantee that they couldn¡¯t see the Phantom Hand, so he guided the invisible hand around and behind the creature, avoiding it¡¯s peripheral gaze. Thankfully, it¡¯s face was covered in a mask of a snarling boar. Will faded behind the hanging meat as the creature strode past him, heading for the ringing bell. The monster behind the door had faded further back into its cell, making the ringing bell sound more animated, like whoever was wearing it was being killed. The demon began shouting in the guttural demon-speech, stomping towards the cage. As if answering his prayers, another demon arrived. This one was a bit more slender, with blood-stained weapons of every sort hanging from it¡¯s belt, and well-worn armor covering its vitals. It wore a mask of a snarling red man with canines that curved and extended beyond its mouth It rushed past him to join the one peering into the cage, his guttural speech echoing the first one¡¯s Will thought, aiming for the door. ¡­just as Demon #3 turned the corner. It was a lithe thing, every bit as tall as the others, but gaunt and skeletal, with a single wicked-looking scythe over its shoulder that radiated malignant power. This one¡¯s mask was a void of blackest black. ¡°Shit,¡± Will grumbled as the creature let out a harsh shriek, reaching for the weapon on its back. Will rushed forward and attempted to dive between the creature¡¯s legs, only to receive a kick to the face that felt like he¡¯d insulted a mule¡¯s heritage. Will tumbled back into the meat locker as the creature readied its weapon, shouting all the while in that inhuman speech. Will cursed as he scrambled to his feet. With an effortless swing, the reaper cut the corpses above him down, forcing Will to scramble backwards to avoid being bisected. ¡°GRABUGALATHOR! EGROTH SANNUK GAM!¡± it shouted as Will turned and ran. He dodged, ducked and dived, scrambling faster than he¡¯d ever run before, with every intention of outflanking the reaper, but the DAMN THING stayed by the door, it¡¯s scythe raised defensively. Mere seconds of terror-fueled scrambling around the meat locker later a ham-fist clamped down around Will¡¯s neck, encircling it entirely. ¡°Urk!¡± Will croaked as he was lifted ¡°UDERGAAR VIK BEN CLOTH HAGAR!?¡± The boar-faced one screamed in his face as he lifted Will by the neck, brandishing his cleaver. Through the terror and the sudden loss of air, Will realized that he was about to die. Will had always been petty. As the three demons closed around him, his Phantom Hand tossed the keyring into their captive monster¡¯s cell. The three creatures presumably argued about how they were going to kill him, holding him aloft as their guttural speech reached new volumes, taking hostile stances against each other. None of them were facing the cell door, which was lit by a fallen torch. A single pale arm reached through the bars, slender and beautiful, as though it belonged to a mermaid in a fairy tale. It bore the key ring. As Will¡¯s vision began to fade, he watched the delicate arm quietly and carefully reach down, insert the proper key, and turn it. Seeing one last chance at freedom, Will patted the boar-masked demon on the arm under his chin and pointed at the cell door, which swung open, revealing the vacant interior of the cell. The reaper looked first, uttering a booming exclamation of surprise. As the monster swept down from the ceiling of its cell with the speed of a lunging snake, heading straight for them. The others were a bit too late. The hand clamped around his neck released as a horrifying tangle of limbs barreled through the open door and smashed into the three demons, sending two of them slamming into the wall while the third readied his scythe. Will ran for the door. Demon # 4¡¯s hulking shape filled the doorway as he arrived to investigate the noise. This time, Will managed to slide between the demon¡¯s legs as it stared at its bretheren being tossed around the room by the wild tangle of limbs seemingly without end. Will didn¡¯t get a good look at the creature, but he could it, speaking with the same voice that seemed to emanate from thousands of mouths along every point of the tangle of limbs: Will¡¯s feet hit the far wall of the hallway, and he didn¡¯t bother to slow down for the turn. The wall offered his bare feet a solid grip as he ran, covering half the rough-stone hallway literally sprinting across the wall. At the end of the hall was a somewhat grungy living room, with cots and a simple cook pot, along with four set of crude wooden bowls, filled with a suspicious gravylike substance. On a nearby table, Will saw his gear. Will glanced behind him and saw that the four demons were busy battling the creature, which was pushing the four of them out of the meat locker and further into the hall. But gradually. Will thought, possibly setting a world record for one-handed dressing as he slipped on his ring, his bracer and whipped the cloak of Misty Escape over his shoulders, pulled on his pants and cinched the cord tight while simultaneously slipping on his shoes. A bellowing roar caught his attention, and Will glanced over, noticing the demons, who¡¯d been pushed back nearly to the room he currently occupied. They looked at him. He looked at them. Will bolted, snagging his tomahawk and sling as he ran, kicking open the door and blinking against the light that stabbed his eyes. He was outside. The Reaper began chasing him, moving like greased lightning. Will began sprinting downhill, sure the reaper would catch him, as the demon flowed like air over the obstacles in his way, but the reaper¡¯s fingers fell a hair short of Will when he tripped over a protrusion that had previously cupped Will¡¯s heel to provide extra grip. Will thought, too desperate to stop and dissect how it¡¯d happened. Without the fourth member pushing the creature back, their formation buckled, and the other three demons broke away, deciding to chase after Will instead. Together, the four of them erupted from the plain shack in the hidden dip in the mountainside, limbs pumping as they attempted to catch up with Will. The limb-monster followed suit, screaming and crying with the same voice in a thousand flavors of agony. Will whipped around and shot a bullet at the reaper¡¯s shin as it stood up. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The reaper flowed around his attack and effortlessly avoided the tracer, seemingly turning to smoke. If they¡¯d kidnapped him effortlessly the first time, there was no way he could win a fight. The reaper pushed off the ground, flying towards him, his entire body smoke save for the strangely shimmering void-mask and the scythe cocked back and ready to kill. Will exploded out of the way of the attack, rapidly gaining ground as he began sprinting at triple speed downhill, the demons and monster hot on his heels. He thought he might¡¯ve passed somebody, but he couldn¡¯t be sure. Chapter 19: 7th Time’s the Charm Will ran like hell, looking up at the surrounding mountains in confusion. There was no landmark which he could orient on and judge his location. He was completely lost. If he could just find some modicum of civilization, he could scrape off his pursuers. None of them were mindless beasts, so they¡¯d back off as soon as they saw numbers stacked against them. Probably. Will spotted smoke on the horizon, a thin sheet of it. He didn¡¯t know where was, but as long as he found civilization¡­ Will turned, tweaking his muscles as he changed direction, swerving out of the way of a hissing blade that cut through the air where he¡¯d just been. The five second timer on his boots ran out just as Will threw himself prone, diving behind a rock formation. Will thought as he scrambled back to his feet, sending up a wave of earth as he propelled himself further forward. The Boots of Outflanking didn¡¯t have a cooldown on their activation, so all he had to do was duck behind something that completely obscured himself, and he would reset the five-second timer. Will began to sprint from rock to tree to dip in the ground, each time breaking line of sight, resetting the boots and gaining further ground. As long as all his enemies were him, the boots were unstoppable. Boar fell behind first, breaking off and away from the tangle of limbs hounding him, unwittingly dragging the monster away from Will and the other three. The one with the array of weapons floating behind him fell behind next, sending a handful of blades spinning out at him, but Will juked, and the demon¡¯s telekinetic control didn¡¯t extend far enough out to change their course. The hulking demon paused atop a ridge, watching Will blaze into the chilly mountainside before glancing up at where Boar was running from the monster. He turned and ran towards his teammate. Finally it was just down to Will and Reaper, flowing across the landscape in a nearly ecstatic expression of pure speed. Rocks, ridges and trees whipped by at the speed of thought. Will would¡¯ve been having a great time if not for the threat of death. When Will broke the ridgeline and saw what was making the line of smoke, his heart sank, but he didn¡¯t stop running. They were on the wrong side of the line of grinders and kaith. The disturbing insectoid creatures were sending wave after wave of soldiers along the line of grinders, unheeding of their losses. The grinders, for their part, seemed like they were having a great time. Will was fairly sure he saw a few of the Climbers in the back of the line manning a barbecue, while others drank beer, looking for all the world like uncles catching up at a fishing hole. The ones near the front of the line were stepping in, dispatching kaith and then dragging the corpses back to let another Climber take their place. Spirits were high and Loot was flowing. And Will was on the wrong side. The entire field between him and the front line was crawling with Kaith, who streamed in from nearly every direction, emerging from small holes in the ground, eager to repel the ¡®invaders¡¯, unaware that they were being systematically slaughtered. But it was either that or become a Will Sandwich for some Eaters. Honestly, escaping from kaith was the easier proposition. Willl put his head down and sprinted. The kaith locked onto him immediately, but he was far too fast for them to snap at. When his boots were about to expire, Will jumped as hard as he could, gaining a respectable three seconds of air time, sailing through the air and maintaining his momentum. When he hit the ground, he tumbled, sky, earth and insect whipping past his vision as he did so. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. When he caught his balance, he whipped out his tomahawk and whipped it back the way he¡¯d come, causing it to whistle it¡¯s venomous chord. The reaper caught the attack on his scythe, appearing like Death himself in front of Will. Will simultaneously triggered the Tomahawk of the Serpent and both Sting Rings. The surrounding kaith began writhing in pain, bursting into smoke as the two Sting rings stacked their Acid damage buff on top of the Tomahawk¡¯s Psychic damage AOE, killing over a dozen of the monsters with a single swing. Reaper seemed to be unbothered by the AOE, dodged the point-blank Greater Sting Ring, but grunted in pain when the last attack launched from the Phantom Hand directly behind him hit him in the achilles tendon. Reaper shoved Will back, but Will dug his feet in, and the earth supported him, allowing him to match the shove, swinging with his Tomahawk as swiftly as he could, desperately trying to stay inside thex ¡®kill¡¯ range of the scythe. As long as Will stayed on the offensive, he could keep things even¡­somehow. Reaper seemed to understand this, and was having none of it. He let out a guttural shout that carried physical weight, lifting Will up and sending him tumbling backwards. The Scythe in Reapers hand shone a sickly color before he unleashed a massive swipe across the battlefield. A hundred kaith around them fell silent, a torrent of Miasma sucked out of their bodies and whirling around Reaper. ¡°You gotta be-¡° With a guttural shout, a wave of Miasma erupted from the reaper¡¯s scythe. Will dropped to the ground, barely avoiding it, but the kaith weren¡¯t so lucky. Even more of the insectoid creatures dropped to the ground, only to get back up, their corpses forming a disciplined circle around the two of them, blocking any avenue of escape. The reaper appeared standing above Will, his chest heaving as he looked down at him. It said something in its strange language, holding out its hand. Will thought with a frown as he stared at the offered hand. He knew if he didn¡¯t take it, Reaper would kill him... ¡°Hey kid! Duck¡¯n¡¯Cover!¡± Will had only enough presence of mind to cover his eyes as an explosion of stone sent shrapnel along the encirclement of corpses. He glanced over and through the skittering legs of the kaith surrounding them, he saw a contingent of Climbers pushing a wedge through the kaith line towards the two of them. Reaper looked up at the advancing Climbers and growled in frustration. He raised his Scythe and Will raised his tomahawk. They both watched each other expectantly. After a heartbeat, Reaper turned and dashed off into the distance. A moment later, hands clasped on Will¡¯s shoulders and began dragging him back towards the line of grinders. ¡°What kind of damn fool goes and gets himself lost behind-¡° Will tuned out the scolding by the older climbers, watching the Eater streak back up the hill, nearly as fast as Will at a dead sprint, speed tripled by his boots and running downhill. Will walked through a haze of Climbers patting him on the back, punching his shoulder, congratulating and reprimanding him in equal measure. Will was guided to a shady stone and leaned up against it, a blanket thrown over his shoulders, something hot and meaty shoved into one hand, a mug of something frothy placed beside him. Will thought through the haze, taking a bite. He was still replaying the entire ordeal in his mind, unable to fully let go of the fear. ¡°Hey there, kiddo, that was a mighty fine run,¡± A voice said as yet another Climber squatted down beside him and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°What¡¯s your level?¡± ¡°Six,¡± Will said, still glancing up at the unremarkable Climber before looking back out over the line of grinders who¡¯d gone back to their business of slaughtering kaith now that he was safe. ¡°Six!?, by the gods, you fight like you¡¯re level nine, and you run like you¡¯re level forty.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°What kind of class did you get?¡± ¡°Resourceful Climber,¡± Will answered, frowning. It wasn¡¯t a super special Class, so telling him about it was fine. ¡°Interesting. Doesn¡¯t sound like a combat Class, though, so the talent must be all up in here.¡± The man tapped Will¡¯s skull. ¡°We recognized the Gravity Goat abilities, and we know your parents gave you Uru Drake, but we can¡¯t place the traces of your third Sacrifice. What was it?¡± ¡°Me.¡± Will answered, raising his left arm a moment before a cold sweat broke out across his skin. This was information he wasn¡¯t supposed to be sharing. That wasn¡¯t information he was He looked up at the unremarkable man again¡­and saw he had no face. The mask tightened around his skull was a featureless ball of skin-colored putty¡­and none of the surrounding Climbers noticed it. Will hadn¡¯t even noticed it. Will thought. ¡°That¡¯s¡­not a thing you can do,¡± No-face replied to his statement, seemingly as stunned as Will himself. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Well, it ¡± Will grunted as he swung his tomahawk around from beside him, directly into the demon¡¯s neck, whistling it¡¯s venomous chord as it did. Well, that¡¯s what he intended to happen. No-face reached out and caught Will¡¯s hand before he¡¯d even made it halfway to the tomahawk, his other hand pressing a needle to Will¡¯s neck. A sudden numbness spread across his body. ¡°You are testing my patience, boy. And that¡¯s a good thing. I¡¯ve never erased someone¡¯s memory so many times in a single day. You¡¯ll make a fine addition to our number¡­once you¡¯re properly inducted.¡± Behind No-face, a tree began bending down. Then another. And another. ¡°Who are you?¡± Will asked, struggling to form the words. ¡°Someone just like you,¡± No-face said, standing. ¡°Someone who had a lot of potential, someone who could¡¯ve been a Lord, if the gods were kinder. Now hold still, you¡¯re expected at your new owner¡¯s.¡± Will glared at him, slipping bonelessly to the ground in the only act of defiance he could muster, determined to be dead-weight. No-face sighed, putting his hands on his hips. ¡°Tell you what: Since you¡¯re not going to remember any of this, how about you fight me on the way back, and I can you gave me the toughest fight I¡¯ve ever had? How does that sound, hmmm?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± No-face turned around as the nearby trees were released, jerking upright and sending a whip of thick steel wire hissing out, making an explosive noise as it broke the sound barrier against No-face¡¯s neck. No-face¡¯s body fell backwards, his head spinning in midair a moment before it fell onto his chest. ¡°Gods I love pulleys,¡± Loth said as he arrived. ¡°Are you all right?¡± ¡°Good aim,¡± Will wheezed through the rapidly fading paralytic. ¡°Of course,¡± Loth said with a nod as he knelt down beside Will and began checking him for wounds. ¡°Apologies. My seekers had followed your trail to that cabin, but I knew I couldn¡¯t beat them so I-¡° ¡°You¡¯re fine,¡± Will said, then frowned. ¡°Wait, you had your bugs put their stink on me for tracking?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you, I just¡­don¡¯t want anything bad to happen to you,¡± Loth admitted, his eyes shifting away from Will¡¯s face. ¡°I totally agree. I don¡¯t want anything bad to happen to me.¡± Will said, struggling to sit up as the paralytic wore off. Will thought, looking at No-face¡¯s mask, the seams clearly visible now that he was no longer among the living. Everyone knew about but Will knew next to nothing about¡­ ¡°I swear to the gods, this unearned fame has been the bane of my existence,¡± Will muttered, leaning forward and tugging off the mask. The mask tumbled off the man¡¯s face, revealing a normal human¡¯s face. Blue eyes, brown hair, a somewhat startled expression. Not an Eater. Not a demon. A human. ¡°Well, looks like you just got some more ¡®unearned fame¡¯,¡± Loth said with a smirk. ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that!?¡± Will demanded as the surrounding Climbers began to crowd around the two of them, gawking at the corpse and cheering. Ability Upgrades Available! Chapter 20: Rent-a-miracle ¡°Congratulations¡­gentlemen,¡± The Exchange Hall clerk said, glancing at Loth as he handed the two bags of delicious gold to the two of them. ¡°Feels light,¡± Will muttered. ¡°Amounts over five hundred gold are paid in Ivory, to save weight,¡± The clerk said with a tired expression. ¡°Now if you don¡¯t mind¡­¡± he waved them off. Will was halfway to the door when he made the stunning realization, stopping in his tracks. Will opened up the sack and pulled out a single ivory coin. That alone was worth a large portion of the orphanage itself. Suddenly, with the option of an easy life laid out in front of him, his declaration of conquering the tower seemed a bit¡­misguided. Will shook the impulse away. tempting Will arranged for four coins to make their way down on a bus in exchange for a fifth. The mail in the first four floors was still fairly reliable. The other ten coins he went on a spending spree with. ¡°Endless bag of salt.¡± Will mused at the label, turning the fist-sized bag this way and that before glancing up at the merchant, then over at the mine at the top of the mountain, busily stripping away the rapidly regenerating salt layer. ¡°How much salt does it make?¡± ¡°About a quarter cup per Charge, to a maximum of four charges a day.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a lot. how much do you want for it?¡± Will asked. ¡°Five hundred.¡± Will nearly spat out his bread. ¡°What!? I could purchase a man¡¯s weight in salt, go outside the tower, sell it and be back in a week.¡± ¡°Ah, you misunderstand, young master. The Endless Bag of Salt is not to make profits, but to pickle and preserve food in the floors above,¡± The merchant pointed upward. ¡°The further up one goes, the more¡­eh¡­Logistics must be accounted for. A cunning Climber has a plan for how to use their dailies, you know.¡± Either that hadn¡¯t been covered in the orphanage¡¯s classes, or Will had been asleep, but what the merchant said make sense. A man¡¯s dailies were simply wasted if they weren¡¯t used. ¡°I¡¯ll give you fifty.¡± ¡°Three hundred.¡± ¡°Pass,¡± Will said, handing the bag back. ¡°I¡¯m not going to the upper floors just yet anyway.¡± ¡°You do seem a bit young.¡± The man said, placing the bag back where it¡¯d been. ¡°Wazzat?¡± Will asked, pointing at a satchel. ¡°Traveller¡¯s Chemistry Set.¡± The merchant said, opening up the leather satchel to reveal tightly packed glassware. ¡°Everything inside the satchel is protected from damage and it includes the tools needed to refine or distill several different alchemical ingredients. ¡°On the back is a heating pad, which will set itself to whatever temperature the user desires, while simultaneously stirring the concoction. And lastly, when glass is placed back inside the satchel, it is thoroughly cleaned.¡± ¡°MINE!¡± Loth said, jostling will out of the way. Will met his eyes, cocking a brow. ¡°I make a lot of poisons.¡± Loth said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to pick up explosives, but I haven¡¯t had a good chemistry set to do it with.¡± ¡°Since milord is so passionate, I¡¯d be willing to part with it for a mere eight hundred ¨C¡° ¡°Pass,¡± Loth said, waving him off. The merchant gave the two of them a sour look. ¡°wazzat?¡± Will asked, pointing at an amulet with a little glass capsule. ¡°Amulet of the Home Field Advantage.¡± The merchant said, turning the amulet over in his hand. ¡°¡¯Load¡¯ it with a terrain and for a Charge, you can change a small area around yourself to match the terrain you loaded for thirty seconds. Eighty gold.¡± Perhaps pre-haggled by Will¡¯s earlier unwillingness to negotiate, the merchant gave him a price he was willing to snap at. ¡°Deal. Do you have change for Ivory?¡± Will asked, offering him a coin. The merchant¡¯s eyes bugged out for a moment before he nodded and counted out twenty gold coins. ¡°Got any helmet slots?¡± Will asked, putting on the amulet. ¡°Night vision, concussion protection, ramming, audio-enhancing.¡± Will mused to himself, shaking his head to indicate he wasn¡¯t interested The instant he had picked up No-face¡¯s mask, it had shifted form to resemble a goat. Will had shoved it into his new backpack along with most of the rest of his gear, rather than put it on to learn its Abilities. Because putting on a shapeshifting mask you get off a guy named No-Face seemed like a great way to wind up Cursed with a capital C. Later in the day they could take it to the temple of¡­ The priests of Andover were generally willing to do anything for coin, so that was probably where they would end up going to check if the mask was cursed. There was a strange thingy that drained blood from it¡¯s victims to make arrowheads, and a wand that boosted cold Abilities. No Space-boosting wands. Those were much rarer. Will practically salivated at the idea of one day getting a wand that boosted Space-based abilities, making his Phantom Hand carry more, move with more speed, enhance it¡¯s boosts, or, gods-willing¡­ things. There were no debuff-boosting items to synergize with his tomahawk: those were about as hard to find as Leon had said. Slim pickings on the 2nd Floor. Although Will did find a pair of gauntlets that boosted Strength by 2 and Attack Speed by 8% for a reasonable price. He snatched those up. The salesman glanced at his missing hand. ¡°You realize you need to wear the gauntlets for them to be effective?¡± the gap-toothed man asked. ¡°They¡¯re for a friend.¡± Will lied. The man shrugged, selling Will the pair anyway. Will shoved them in his back pack. If he decided it was worth it, he could switch out his Sting Ring for the gauntlets, and enjoy a tangible boost to his attack speed. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Since the Tomahawk of the Serpent applied one layer of debuff per attack, in theory¡­if he could attack 33 times in 3 seconds, he could debuff someone¡¯s stats by 99%...before resistances or other factors. Will¡¯s Kinesthetics was going to be high enough to handle processing that kind of speed in a dozen levels or so, but his Class lacked the Strength to pull it off unaided. So the strength-cum-speed boost of the gauntlets was a key booster for bigger stacks of the debuff from the Tomahawk of the Serpent, especially if he couldn¡¯t find anything to make the debuff last longer or increase its potency. Plus it was hard to go wrong boosting Attack speed and strength. Another thing to test later when nobody was watching. People already knew too much about William Oh. Once they¡¯d cruised through the Skyhold bazaar, they stopped at a sandwich shop on the street-corner. It was only when the vendor turned to the wall next to her, carved off a piece of it and placed that slice on some meager rye bread before handing it to Will, did Will understand what he was looking at. The wall, and even the roof itself, was all part of a single piece of breast meat, so thoroughly steeped in salt that it was spontaneously growing crystals in places. ¡°That¡¯ll be two gold!¡± The woman said, cheerfully extending her hand. ¡°Two ¡± Will demanded, fishing out two coins and passing them over before continuing to devour the Roc-sandwich. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Everything¡¯s more expensive in The Tower.¡± She said with a shrug. ¡°How¡¯d you come by this?¡± Will asked, pointing at the salty meat the woman was ensconced in. ¡°Oh this? My grandfather won the bid for a roc¡¯s carcass after it¡¯d all been plucked and gutted, and we¡¯ve been selling it ever since.¡± ¡°Oh, how long?¡± ¡°About forty years now,¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°We started selling the second breast when my son was born.¡± Will coughed mid swallow. Whether it was from the sheer saltiness or the fact that he was eating 40-year-old bird meat, he couldn¡¯t be sure. ¡°..Neat!¡± Will said when he finally managed to swallow. ¡°When my boy grows up and gets his Class¡­Well, by then we¡¯ll have to consider another line of work, but by then we should have a decent amount saved up.¡± Will thought, nodding along. ¡°Maybe he¡¯ll buy another Roc, continue the family business. Maybe he¡¯ll get a good Class and become a Lord. Could you imagine?¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am, I don¡¯t know your son, but I know he¡¯s in good hands.¡± Will said through the overpowering flavor of fermented salt-bird. ¡°Oh, aren¡¯t you sweet? Have another slice, on the house,¡± She said, cutting off a slice and handing it to Will, who pinched the salt-crystal laden meat nearly triple his age between thumb and forefinger before rolling it up. ¡°MMm.¡± Will nodded and saluted with the roll of Ostensibly Meat? before he and Loth excused themselves politely and walked out of line of sight, where they could finish devouring the ambrosia of the gods without fear of judgement or ridicule. ¡°Gods!¡± Will groaned when the extra slice of roc cleared his vocal cords. ¡°So ¡®ood!¡± Loth said around his food. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s it. I¡¯ve decided.¡± Will declared, holding his finger meaningfully to the sky. ¡°We¡¯re going to defeat a roc and brine it!¡± Loth declared. ¡°What, no, we¡¯re going to get a cook!¡± Will said. ¡°A battle cook. Preferably a cute one my age¡­¡± Will rubbed his chin. ¡°Brining our own roc isn¡¯t entirely out of the question though, because that was ¡± ¡°You know they¡¯re a raid boss, right?¡± ¡°Eh, I think we could take one.¡± ¡°Cute, huh?¡± Loth asked, rubbing his chin too. ¡°Male or female?¡± ¡°Guys are not ¡®cute¡¯.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­human girls are all¡­fatty.¡± Loth said, making an hourglass shape with his hands. ¡°kinda weird.¡± ¡°Agree to disagree. The merchant did say logistics became more important the higher you go, and I¡¯ve heard about parties numbering in the dozens or even the hundreds for the top floors. If we¡¯re going to make it to the top, we¡¯re going to need a cook eventually.¡± ¡°Not just yet, though,¡± Loth said, tugging on Will¡¯s empty sleeve and pointing up. A garish gilded sign hung over the temple of Andover. Will and Loth steered their feet towards the temple, walking under the gilded archway as they arrived, glancing around at the dimply lit interior. There was a single priest at the front desk, hands clasped calmly, waiting for Will to balk at the prices and bail out. ¡°Yo, can you fix this?¡± Will asked, lifting his stump and pointing at it. ¡°Absolutely. Fifteen hundred gold.¡± The priest said. ¡°Shit,¡± Will muttered. He only had six Ivory left after the shopping spree. ¡°It says one hundred gold for healing. ¡°Healing and regeneration are two different things.¡± The priest of Andover said, folding his hands together. Will¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°We have that much.¡± Loth said, glancing, gesturing to his pouch. ¡°You sure?¡± Will asked. ¡°I¡¯ll fill in the rest. You¡¯ll owe me.¡± ¡°This is the second time, you know. I already owe you.¡± Will said, dumping out his six ivory while Loth counted out nine and placed them on the counter. ¡°Indeed. If you see some Mankeran Burrowers on the fourth floor, be sure to grab some for me. I wish to domesticate them.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°Careful not to let them reach your bones. They¡¯re very hard to remove once that happens.¡± Loth said. Will was still staring at his Saboteur when the priest finished counting and cleared his throat. ¡°This is indeed fifteen hundred gold. Do all parties agree to this sacrifice for the restoration of this one¡¯s limb?¡± he gestured at Will. The word ¡®sacrifice¡¯ sent goosebumps up Will¡¯s neck. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Loth echoed him. ¡°Very well,¡± the priest held his hand over the ivory coins. A moment later, an ethereal glow descended from his hand to the coins, and Will felt a brief surge of¡­indignation? An irrational urge to slap the priest so hard that his deity felt it. His right arm twitched before he got it back under control. The coins dissolved, and the priest gestured for him to hold out his hand, hand glowing with the light of Andover¡¯s miracle. Will put his stump on the counter, heart hammering in his chest. Will was going to do so much cool stuff with his left hand back. Climb without using his feet, hold things at the same time. Will¡¯s clothing choices had all adapted to be one-handed. ¡°Why am I still missing my hand?¡± Will asked the Priest, who met his gaze with a bead of sweat forming on his brow. ¡°What Andover is saying doesn¡¯t make sense¡­Wait here, I¡¯m going to fetch the deacon.¡± The priest turned and practically dove through the curtains behind his desk, leaving Loth and Will there to stare at each other. ¡°You think we can get a refund?¡± Loth asked. Wordlessly, Will pointed at a sign on the wall. A moment later, the priest returned, guiding a saggy old relic. ¡°Hand,¡± He growled, yanking Will¡¯s stump over the counter, nearly making Will fall. ¡°Journeymen these days, it¡¯s like they can¡¯t handle a simple regeneration¡­¡± The old man went silent as the scintilating light of Andover emerged from his palm, bathing Will¡¯s stump in light. A moment later, he released Will¡¯s hand to him with a craggy scowl. ¡°Andover tells me that your hand belongs to The Tower now,¡± He said, peering up at Will through a single bushy eyebrow. ¡°None of my business what mysteries you¡¯ve stuck your hand into. That¡¯s the Tower¡¯s nature, after all. If we all went chasing those mysteries, there¡¯d be none of us left to keep the lights on¡­ ¡°You¡¯re not getting your hand back unless you grow a new one yourself,¡± The priest gave him the brutal news with callous disregard. ¡°However, since we already took your coin, and we don¡¯t do refunds¡­ ¡°Come around the counter,¡± he said, opening up the bar and motioning for them to follow. Confused, Will and Loth followed, ducking through the lush velvet curtains. The dim light of the interior of the temple revealed dozens upon dozens of people, ranging in age from his age to mid-thirties, each of them dressed in the ornate robes of an Andover priest¡­and each of them was locked up in a sturdy steel cage. Will¡¯s brows rose precipitously. ¡°Behold, the Debtors.¡± The priest said, his voice scratchy with phlegm. ¡°Those who have not yet bought their way into Andover¡¯s good graces.¡± ¡°Pick one.¡± The Journeyman priest put his fingers in his ears. ¡°Pick me, young man!¡± A woman with her robes parted just enough to enhance her cleavage panted, squishing up against the bars. ¡°I¡¯ll take such care of you!¡± A moment later, another priestess did the same, followed by a priest, and another. Soon enough, all of the captive clergy, young and old, were begging to be picked, turning the silence upside down as the hall devolved into raucous screams. ¡°That one.¡± Will pointed at a pretty girl about his age. ¡°That one,¡± Loth said at the same time, pointing out a rather large man with a hint of grey in his beard. ¡°What, why?¡± Will demanded as the shouting died down. ¡°We¡¯ll get more for our money if we get someone who knows what they¡¯re doing. Experience is worth more than gold when we hit the next couple floors.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right!¡± the older man said, his eyes wide. ¡°I¡¯ve been all the way to the fifth floor! I can help you Climb! Warn you of the dangers! Not only that, I can cook and make camp! You¡¯ve got a very smart companion.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Will rubbed his chin. ¡°Plus, since he¡¯s an older human male, the mores of human society dictate that when he inevitably dies, we won¡¯t feel sad, since human males, especially older ones without family, are disposable.¡± Loth pointed out. "Think of him as a Training Priest we can learn to keep alive." ¡°Ummm.¡± The priest paled, taking a step back from the bars. ¡°Excuse me, sirs, since the money came from both of you, you must reach a consensus on which Debtor to purchase.¡± The younger priest said, sweat beading on his brow. Will and Loth glanced at each other and nodded. ¡°That one.¡± The two of them said as one, pointing at the disposable priest with the salt-and-pepper hair. Chapter 21: No Refunds Steve Holland -Jason Salazar. ¡°Huh,¡± Will grunted, his hands on his hips. ¡°Yep.¡± Loth nodded, arms crossed. ¡°Is his head supposed to be¡­bent, like that?¡± Will asked as they stared down at their healer. Steve Holland, their brand-new Healer¡­was lying at the bottom of a twelve-foot drop, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle, face purple, eyes wide and staring. ¡°You know it¡¯s not!¡± Loth snapped. ¡°It¡¯s a twelve-foot rise! It¡¯s not even that steep. I could that!¡± Will said, pointing at the rise. ¡°I could fall straight onto my neck from that far and be fine!¡± ¡°Apparently¡­he can¡¯t.¡± Loth said. ¡°He could¡¯ve said something!¡± Will cried. ¡°He¡¯s old! He said he¡¯d been to the fifth Floor! He should be at least level twenty! Even with a noncombat class, he should¡¯ve had Resistance. Enough to not die from a fall!¡± ¡°If he¡¯d accepted the party invite, we would know.¡± Loth mused. ¡°Something¡¯s off.¡± ¡°You think he wasn¡¯t actually a healer?¡± Will asked. That would explain the unwillingness to join the Party. They would be able to see his Class. Perhaps the Andover temple had simply foisted off an debtor, and not a Debtor. ¡°¡­Maybe¡­¡± ¡°Well, whatever, let¡¯s go get a refund. priest was obviously defective,¡± Will said, turning his feet away from the corpse a mere hundred yards outside the walls of Skyhold. ¡°You know they don¡¯t do refunds, right?¡± Loth asked. ¡°I don¡¯t care, they¡¯ve screwed us times!¡± Will said, shaking his fist as he walked away. ¡°That fifteen hundred gold could¡¯ve bought us some shiny gear that could save our lives and instead we¡¯re dealing with bullshit! To the Abyss with Andover!¡± Loth twitched at a distant thunderclap, but Will kept marching on, straight back into the city, straight back to the temple of Andover, where the exact same journeyman priest looked up at Will with a tired expression. ¡°How can I help you?¡± He asked, his voice strained. ¡°Steve¡¯s dead. I want a better healer. One that¡¯s not going to fall and break his neck on the first rise.¡± ¡°Are you sure he¡¯s dead?¡± ¡°Yeah, I checked his pulse and everything,¡± Will said. ¡°Very well, I will cross him off the roster¡­¡± The priest muttered, opening up a massive book and striking out a name with his quill before adding a note beside it. ¡°¡­Very well, we would be happy to arrange a replacement, given that you¡¯ve returned within our half-hour replacement policy.¡± the priest said, pulling out some paperwork. ¡°There¡¯s just the very small matter of bringing back Steve¡¯s corpse.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°You see, this line on the paperwork you signed granting you guardianship? It states that should your priest of Andover die in the course of their duties, that you are responsible for returning their corpse to a temple of Andover in a timely manner ¨C in this case thirty days ¨C or you will be held liable, and required to pay a fee commensurate with their value.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Will asked. ¡°It means-¡° ¡°Commensurate means ¡®of equal value or importance,¡¯¡± Loth said. ¡°Ah. Wait, you¡¯re going to have us pay fifteen hundred gold if we don¡¯t bring you his !?¡± Will asked. ¡°Ah, actually, we were giving you a large discount on the purchase of a priest, given the nature of our mishap earlier. Steve¡¯s actual retail value is¡­¡± He opened the ledger up again and dragged his finger down until he stopped on Steve¡¯s crossed out name. ¡°Fifteen thousand gold, as he is level thirty-five.¡± ¡°WHAT!?¡± Will demanded. ¡°How on Earth is he still a Debtor if he¡¯s level thirty-five!?¡± Will demanded. ¡°Steve Holland was in the Debtor¡¯s prison for¡­let¡¯s see¡­¡± The priest mused, flipping through pages of the ledger. ¡°Ah, here. Multiple counts of insurance fraud.¡± Will¡¯s eyes widened as a sudden realization began to cool his guts. He looked at Loth. Loth looked at him curiously. ¡°You don¡¯t mind if his corpse is full of stab wounds, do you?¡± Will asked looking back at the priest. ¡°What happens to his corpse after he is declared dead is no concern of ours,¡± the priest said, nodding to Will, that he understood their situation and they had full permission from the Temple of Andover. ¡°As long as it is returned to us.¡± ¡°Excellent. Excuse us,¡± Will said, tapping Loth on the shoulder and running for the door. Together the two of them sprinted back to the bluff where Steve had dramatically tumbled down the low cliff and landed with an unsettling . Will stood at the top of the cliff, hands on his hips. Loth¡¯s arms were crossed. ¡°Huh,¡± Will grunted. ¡°Yep,¡± Loth replied. ¡°There¡¯s no corpse, Loth.¡± Will said, scowling down at the bottom of the cliff. There was, however, a broken tree-branch to provide that unsettling noise. ¡°Maybe a scavenger came¡­¡± Loth offered. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°We got scammed. It¡¯s not smart to try and escape from it.¡± Will said, eyes narrowed. ¡°¡­I see. Do humans pull elaborate scams like this¡­often?¡± ¡°Yeah. More than I¡¯d like.¡± ¡°I see. So what are we going to do?¡± ¡°We are going to deliver Steve¡¯s corpse back to his temple, full of stab wounds, if necessary.¡± ¡°Ah. I see. That¡¯s what that exchange meant.¡± Loth¡¯s brilliant yellow eyes narrowed. ¡°This priest fucker thinks I¡¯m young and na?ve. I¡¯m going to carve the latter thought out of him,¡± Will muttered, pulling out his tomahawk. ¡°You know how you figure out who committed a crime, and why?¡± Will asked, turning away from the bluff and stalking back to town. Loth smiled, looking up at him as they walked, seemingly eager to learn more about human society. ¡°How?¡± ¡°You gotta ask yourself who stands to gain from the crime, and how much.¡± Will said. ¡°I see¡­Cui Bono.¡± Loth said, nodding. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Latin for ¡®who benefits?¡¯ used in legal considerations.¡± ¡°The Abyss is Latin?¡± Will asked, looking down at him. ¡°The language of ancient Rome and it¡¯s empire, widely used historically as a language of scholarship and administration¡­according to the dictionary I memorized.¡± Loth looked up at him expectantly. Will shrugged, indicating he had no idea what Loth was talking about. Loth shrugged, dropping the subject. ¡°So where do you want to look first?¡± Loth asked. ¡°The last place a na?ve young man driven to desperation by a sudden debt would check,¡± Will said, marching through the gates into Skyhold. ¡°Ooh, do tell. This is all fascinatingly human.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see here in a moment,¡± Will said, setting down his backpack and fishing the goat mask out of No-face¡¯s loot. ¡°Foo.¡± Loth pouted. Food for thought though:¡± Will said before he put it on. ¡°If we fail to catch this guy¡­Cui bono?¡± The goat mask clamped down around Will¡¯s face without the need for straps, tightening for a moment before it seemed to disappear, leaving his view as clear as it¡¯d been before. A minute later, Will swept through the door to the Temple of Andover. ¡°Greetings, how can I-¡° The priest gave a strangled yelp as Will kicked open the panel separating their side of the room from Retribution and marched through. ¡°Sir, you can¡¯t-¡± Will beat the journeyman with the back of his tomahawk before he could raise the alarm, causing the non-combat class to crumple to the ground. ¡°!?¡± Loth whispered, eyes wide. Will marched through the curtain, through the hall of cages, who watched them as they passed, until he arrived at a small room, where the ancient master of the temple was eating lunch with Steve Holland, the pair of them chuckling heartily at a certain Party¡¯s naivete until a goat faced, one-armed man with a tomahawk stomped into the room. ¡°You should¡¯ve seen the looks on their fa-¡° Steve froze as he met the mask¡¯s dead, square eyes. ¡°Oh, look, it¡¯s Steve¡¯s Corpse!¡± Will said, pointing at the salt-and-pepper priest. Of course, since the encoding function of the mask was switched on, it sounded like: ¡°GNA BOKAR GRUBASH SAR GAA!¡± ¡°Steve¡­I think you should run.¡± The ancient leader of their order said before sipping his tea. The pastry fell out of Steve¡¯s hand as he bolted for the back door, sending his chair flying. ¡°WHOOOO!¡± Will couldn¡¯t help but let out a cry of pure joy as he relaxed his body and simply fell towards Steve, his prey became the new and there was only one way to go. Even after Steve turned the corner, he remained the center of Will¡¯s world, pulling Will in. Will landed on the doorframe, stood sideways on it, and peered down the hallway Steve was fleeing through, which appeared to descend straight into the earth according to Will¡¯s inner ear. He stooped to climb through the sideways doorframe and hopped off, falling effortlessly towards the figure sprinting down the hallway. Will caught Steve in the back with a headbutt, sending the priest sprawling to the ground, Will atop him. ¡°Now, Steve, we¡¯re going to-¡° Steve backhanded him with enough force to send Will skittering across the wall before leaping to his feet and sprinting away. Steve might have basic stat progression, might not be wearing any Relics, and he might not be a combat class, but it was hard to argue with thirty-five levels. Will¡¯s Resistance was roughly on par with Steve¡¯s Strength, which was why he wasn¡¯t dead from the slap¡­but this complicated things. In essence, the priest had bet his life that he could run and hide from Will long enough for Will to assume his Debt to Andover, allowing him to move on with his life free from the church¡¯s influence. Once Steve had been declared dead, the path of honest work had been shut. Will crossed his arms in contemplation as Gravity Charge had him sliding across the floor after Steve. Will dug his heels in for an instant, straightening himself out so he was falling straight down at Steve instead of sliding. Steve looked over his shoulder and squawked in alarm at the goat-faced creature floating after him at ever-increasing speed, arms crossed, legs still, following him in total stillness. The priest sprinted out onto the street, Will falling out of the temple after him. Steve juked right hard, and Will¡¯s momentum swung him wide, forcing the Climber to gallop sideways along the buildings as he absorbed the sideways momentum before his new Down reasserted itself, tugging Will effortlessly along. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Hey Steve!¡± one of the local salters shouted, waving. ¡°Your past is catching up with you!¡± ¡°Fuck you, Frank!¡± Steve shouted back before diving past a display full of weapons, standing directly behind them, using Will¡¯s inexorable fall against him. Will¡¯s eyes widened, and he canceled Gravity Charge, causing a brief moment of nausea as down became sideways. Will¡¯s momentum was still there, though, and as soon as he touched the ground, he jumped up and over the display. The priest was already trying to run, but Will wasn¡¯t having any of it, bouncing off the soot-covered ceiling and aiming straight for the priest¡¯s back. Steve whipped around and put up a divine shield that glittered in the colors of Andover. Will struck it with his Phantom hand, causing cracks to appear, then followed it with the Tomahawk of the Serpent in one of the cracks, shattering the defenses and placing the blade under Steve¡¯s chin. ¡°Listen!¡± Will said without encoding his speech as he caught the priest in a grapple. ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill you¡­well, I to kill you, but I¡¯m only going to do it if you me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± Steve said, panting with exertion. ¡°Where¡¯s your stash?¡± Will asked. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know what you mean.¡± ¡°Would you rather be ¡± Will demanded, pressing the blade against Steve¡¯s throat. ¡°The Temple of Andover gave me a month to hunt you down. I did it in two minutes.¡± ¡°Yeah, I noticed that.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t get as old as you are without considering backup plans. Where. Is. Your stash? The money you were saving to pay off your Debt in case I caught you.¡± If Will got his hands on that, he could pay the fine for not returning with the priest¡¯s corpse and simply wash his hands of the whole situation. The prospect of switching out for another priest of Andover had long since soured. ¡°Well reasoned, young man, but have you considered what life might be like¡­as an aardvark!?¡± Will slapped the magic out of Steve¡¯s hand and drew blood with the tomahawk. ¡°Ow, ow, fine, fine, I¡¯ll stop, gods! How did you do that!?¡± ¡°The stash. Now.¡± Will said as Loth arrived beside them. Steve¡¯s expression crumpled as Loth began securing all the exits. ¡°I can¡¯t! You¡¯ll just kill me and take it!¡± he bawled. ¡°I gave my life for Andover¡¯s blessing and still¡­and still¡­.boooooohoooohoooooo.¡± The blubbering middle-aged man in Will¡¯s grip threw him off guard, especially when snot started dripping out of the priest¡¯s nose¡­which allowed Steve to elbow him in the ribs hard enough to send Will through the nearby wall, creating a hole for the aging priest to dive through. A short and violent chase later, Steve was wrapped up in Loth¡¯s silk ropes, wiggling in place, firing off Abilities left and right in a desperate attempt to save his skin, but Will disrupted every one of them. ¡°How are you that!?¡± The priest demanded, his tone completely shifted from fear and despair to righteous fury. ¡°You¡¯ll be inviting the curse of Andover if you kill me! Fire and brimstone will rain down on you! Milk will sour in your presence and food will spoil before you eat it! I have friends! Powerful friends who¡¯ll stop at nothing to see you dead!¡± Will shrugged and raised the tomahawk, aiming at the priest¡¯s neck. ¡°Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! I¡¯ll tell you where my stash is! I just need some kind of guarantee you won¡¯t kill me!¡± Will glanced at the Tomahawk of the Serpent. ¡°I have an idea,¡± Will said. Chapter 22: An Expert Opinion ¡°Say it ¡± Will said, prompting Loth to prod their priest with something sharp. ¡°Gods, I¡¯ll say it-¡° Steve was interrupted by a hacking cough. ¡°I can barely . How are people supposed to hold this pipe without cutting themselv-ow!¡± After another poke, he caught his breath and read the script. ¡°I will tell the truth to William Oh¡¯s party. I will not attack, abandon, nor endeavor to mislead them into danger. I will not deceive them with half-truths or misrepresented facts. I will support them to the best of my ability, and guide them to my most monetarily valuable assets that I have hidden away. I will allow them to leverage these assets. ¡°In return, William Oh¡¯s Party will refrain from killing Steve, and leverage his assets with the express purpose of paying his Corpse Fine. We will attempt to pay this fine in a timely manner, and only kill Steve should we be blatantly unlikely to succeed at raising the capital required within thirty days.¡± ¡°Should my assets not prove to be valuable enough, I will ¨C do I have to say this part?- ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Should my assets not prove valuable enough, I will willingly submit myself to death at the hands of William Oh¡¯s Party.¡± ¡°This agreement will elapse in thirty-two days.¡± Will put the endcap on the agreement. ¡°I agree to these terms.¡± Will said, a tendril of smoke escaping from his mouth, the words drawn involuntarily out of him by the Ability. ¡°I agree to these terms.¡± Steve said, his face contorted into a deep scowl. The two streams of smoke mingled in the air before returning to them, sealing the contract. The twelfth one. ¡°There,¡± Will said, standing. ¡°Now, if you break the contract, you will literally keel over and die.¡± ¡°Thanks for that¡­¡± Steve said sourly. They¡¯d had Steve agree to the exact same thing twelve times as soon as Will had realized that a person could have more than one contract active. Meanwhile, Will had only agreed to not kill Steve six times, as had Loth. So they wouldn¡¯t die if they tried to kill him prematurely, but they definitely wouldn¡¯t succeed, losing more than half their stats. ¡°You could¡¯ve told me you were William Oh,¡± Steve said pouting. ¡°I didn¡¯t think it was important,¡± Will said, motioning for their priest to lead them to his stash. ¡°Ugh, fine.¡± Steve said, turning and walking away. ¡°He seems quite petulant when driven into a corner.¡± Loth said, falling into step behind the priest ¡°I heard that!¡± Steve said, glaring back at them. ¡°Yes, you did.¡± Loth said with a shrug. A few hours later, Steve stopped at a nondescript cliffside, kicked over a rock and found a coin. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± He said. ¡°Where is here?¡± Will asked, glancing around the rocky hillside. ¡°This is where I incurred most of my Debt, abandoning a group of noblesons, covered head-to-toe in expensive relics bought and paid for by Daddy Dearest.¡± Will¡¯s brow raised. ¡°And their gear is your stash?¡± ¡°Their gear is the icing on the cake,¡± Steve said. ¡°Metaphorically.¡± He hastily corrected. ¡°Well, you¡¯re not dead, so it seems like the contract to tell the truth is more intent-based than literal.¡± Loth said. ¡°Which is good for our purposes.¡± Will narrowed his eyes. ¡°Less wiggle room for you. Plus you still get to complain.¡± Steve grunted, peering over the edge. ¡°The ¡®cake¡¯ in this instance is a route down through the side of the mountain that leads to a Spawning Ground. One that isn¡¯t on anyone¡¯s map.¡± ¡°Yetis. Lots of ¡®em. Enough to surround and kill a party of half a dozen over-equipped noobs. They had fancy gear, but they were stupid as hell, bickering, fraternizing, treating me like a porter and chef, as if The Tower was a leisure walk.¡± He glanced up at Will and Loth. ¡°I think you two would fare much better than a bunch of noobs did, and since you don¡¯t have to share the spot with others, fifteen thousand gold is only a matter of time. Maybe two weeks? After we pay off my Corpse Fine, we could get rich down there in a matter months.¡± ¡°Do we look like we¡¯re not noobs?¡± Will asked, gesturing between the two of them. ¡°You guys¡­are level thirty-ish, right? Late twenties? Gearing up for the 6th Floor¡­At least?¡± Steve asked, his voice becoming faint at their expressions. ¡°Join our party.¡± Will said. Grumbling, Steve did so. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°You¡¯re level EIGHT!?¡± Steve exclaimed. ¡°How are your stats so high!? You don¡¯t have a counterspell ability at all, so how¡­¡± The priest clapped his hand over his mouth until he could regain his composure. He cleared his throat, shifting in place, his posture and tone becoming instantly obsequious. ¡°None of us are even close to full on Charge, so I diligently recommend that we return to Skyhold for a week of rest and attempt the descent while topped off, Milord.¡± Steve gave a flowery bow. ¡°And if you wish to continue to employ me after all is said and done, I charge a very modest fee of one percent.¡± Will was tempted to laugh in Steve¡¯s face at the sheer speed of Steve¡¯s attitude change, but his paranoia was beginning to cry bloody murder. ¡°Explain your thought process just now, in full.¡± Will demanded. Steve was contractually obligated to tell the truth, in or die, and Will was more than willing to take advantage of it. ¡°I think you¡¯re going to be a successful Climber, and I want to benefit by association.¡± Steve admitted. ¡°Why do you think that?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re earning three extra stat points per level! ¡­I¡¯m assuming you¡¯ve been using that Phantom Hand effectively as a Counterspell, with no Charge cost? That¡¯s how you countered my Confusion Ability¡­ That ability is¡­¡± Steve shook his head. ¡°Climbers would give a lot more than a hand for that. You¡¯re going to be a Lord, William Oh, as long as another Lord doesn¡¯t find you first.¡± Will frowned. ¡°What do you mean about another Lord finding me?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Steve rubbed the back of his neck. ¡°New Lords are very rare.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Will said, nodding along. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°There¡¯s no direct evidence for this, but believe me, I¡¯ve been hanging around the first five floors for a time,¡± Steve said. ¡°And promising noobs are always disappearing or dying. ones without the backing of a powerful family. You¡¯d think talented Climbers would die often than untalented ones, because, ya know, talent, but for some reason being exceptional is exceptionally hazardous.¡± ¡°Now, I people, and it would not surprise me if Lords have their Vassals stationed on the lower Floors, keeping an eye out for ¡®talent¡¯. Steve made a ¡®snatching¡¯ motion. ¡°They drag these talented young men and women up to their Stronghold and force them to agree to become their Vassals, effectively ending any possibility of Lordship. Or kill them.¡± ¡°Or at least, that¡¯s my theory.¡± Steve said with a shrug. ¡°You can just force someone to become a Vassal?¡± Will asked. Steve glanced down at Will¡¯s tomahawk, which they¡¯d just used to force a somewhat lopsided arrangement with the Healer. ¡°Point taken,¡± Will said. ¡°The Tower is very¡­loose about ¡®fairness¡¯.¡± Steve said, waggling his hand. ¡°Anyway, once you become a Vassal, that¡¯s it. You can switch Lords under the right circumstances, but you can never become one yourself.¡± ¡°What do you get from being a Lord?¡± Will asked. ¡°Other than land and money¡­I¡¯m not sure.¡± Steve said with a shrug. ¡°They¡¯re not exactly the sharing type, and I don¡¯t know any of them personally, either.¡± ¡°I can however, make a few guesses.¡± Steve said. ¡°It¡¯s thought that the Lordship system was meant to propel a select few up to the top of the Tower, by gathering the powerful beneath them and focusing that power into individuals who can then punch above their weight class and tackle and claim the upper floors, with a solid supply chain behind them.¡± ¡°This is supported by the fact that the most powerful Lords seem to have the most Vassals. Although whether this is because more people are attracted to the powerful, or because more Vassals equates to more power¡­nobody knows for sure, except the Lords, and again¡­they¡¯re not telling. ¡°Huh.¡± Will grunted. ¡°Anway, as long as you haven¡¯t caught the attention of a Lord or their Vassals, you should be fine¡­you should probably quit with those rumors about you that¡¯ve been going around the taverns and stuff, though.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t stop that if I wanted to at this point,¡± Will said. ¡°It¡¯s taken on a life of its own.¡± Will thought for a moment about what question he should ask next, given that Steve was sworn to assist them faithfully for the next month. ¡°Hey, Steve.¡± Will asked as they were heading back to Skyhold. ¡°Hypothetically, what if I was kidnapped earlier by four high level veterans and just barely managed to escape by the skin of my teeth?¡± ¡°Oh, well then you would want to lay really freakin¡¯ low, because their boss is going to want you dead.¡± Will nodded, continuing to walk, but Steve caught his shoulder. ¡°Like, not returning to Skyhold and camping out on the underside of a troll¡¯s asscheek low. Tell me that was just a hypothetical.¡± Will relayed the story of his kidnapping. ¡°Right! The bounty the other day!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°That was you! There were three more, and they got away!?¡± ¡°If by ¡®they got away¡¯, you mean ¡®decided not to finish me off because I was surrounded by other Climbers¡¯, then yes.¡± ¡°Dear gods! You¡¯ve already got one¡¯s attention and you one of his vassals!¡± Steve said, clutching his head, eyes wide. ¡°I didn¡¯t see any Lord¡¯s insignia. Honestly I thought they were Eaters until we killed one. He did say something about my ¡®new owner¡¯, but I thought he was talking about selling me at an auction or something.¡± ¡°Oh, of course! I¡¯m a Lord doing highly illegal bullshit, let me just put my on it! Of course they looked like Eaters!¡± Steve said mockingly, throwing his hands up in the air. ¡°By the gods, you¡¯re in more trouble than , and I¡¯m stuck with you for another ¡± Steve gasped, clutching his heart. ¡°I can¡¯t leave. I can¡¯t leave without dying! Your blasted ¡®deal¡¯ has killed me! Dear Andover, whom I¡¯ve always been faithful to, why must you test me so?¡± ¡°Your Blessing of Andover is a Secondary Ability,¡± Will pointed out. No one would have passed up undeniably lucrative healing abilities offered as a primary, therefore¡­ ¡°Faithful since I found religion, anyway.¡± Steve clarified. ¡°I may have¡­shopped around a bit for a religion with¡­eh¡­low barrier to entry.¡± Will raised a brow. ¡°No, really?¡± ¡°Do you realize how hard it is to get gigs as a ¡®charlatan?¡¯¡± Steve demanded. ¡°If I couldn¡¯t heal, I¡¯d be long since cast out of the Tower, committing petty fraud to get by.¡± ¡°And faking your own death to saddle us with your Corpse Fine isn¡¯t petty fraud?¡± ¡°Anything above ten gold is Greater Fraud, and anything above ten thousand is Grand fraud.¡± Steve pointed out. ¡°Right. Of course. Good to know.¡± ¡°Ooh¡­I¡¯m gonna die, I¡¯m gonna die¡­¡± Steve crouched down beside a boulder and bemoaned his fate. ¡°If I¡¯m already dead and it looks like they¡¯re gonna kill you too, you¡¯ve got my permission to trip and break your neck again,¡± Will said. Steve looked contemplative. Will gave a sharp inhale of breath as a thought occurred to him. ¡°Actually, can the Feign Death Ability work on other people?¡± He asked. Steve looked up at him, then glanced at Loth, then back to him. A moment later a hint of understanding glinted in his eye. ¡°Indeed it can.¡± Will took out The Serpent¡¯s Tomahawk and twirled it like a baton. ¡°Would you be interested in adding some terms to our agreement?¡± Will asked. Steve¡¯s posture filled with confidence. ¡°My rates just went u-¡° Steve¡¯s eyes bulged, and he sank to his knees. ¡°Aww, is raising your prices not ¡®supporting my party to the best of your abilities¡¯?¡± Will asked, squatting beside the priest as Steve gave up on the scam and drew a ragged breath instead. ¡°This thing even gives warning nudges,¡± Will said, marvelling at his weapon. ¡°Neat.¡± ¡°Oftentimes things have effects that don¡¯t show in the description,¡± Steve gasped. ¡°Why don¡¯t we sell that weapon? It¡¯s worth as much as me, at least.¡± ¡°No thanks,¡± Will said. ¡°I¡¯m not selling my first Relic to settle debt. We either get the money we need from your secret stash of dead rich kids and yetis, or you die. There is no in between.¡± ¡°Then I won¡¯t-¡° Steve began strangling again as the weight of twelve identical pacts began weighing down on him, for a grand total of 108% stat reduction. Negative stats weren¡¯t a thing, and typically if someone¡¯s stats dropped to zero, they would just die. Some people thought it was because the body had fully integrated with the system, others that stats reduced to zero de-acclimated a Climber. Whatever the cause, it was often lethal. ¡°How much time do we have?¡± Will thought aloud. ¡°If it takes a messenger an increasing amount of time to stay on one level, before moving on to the next, and the exact same amount of time on the way back, we should have¡­like a month? At least?¡± Steve shook his head and cleared his throat. ¡°There are teams who specialized in moving mail quickly. They have manned stations on every floor, where they pass the mail from one person to the next. A letter can get to the fifth floor in a day, for the right price.¡± ¡°A day up and a day back?¡± Will mused. Steve nodded. ¡°So word could get back to the men who tried to kidnap me about what to do as early as¡­tonight?¡± Steve nodded. ¡°They¡¯re definitely going to be ordered to kill you.¡± ¡°Steve, I need your help faking my death.¡± Will said. Chapter 23: Ice Cave Message attached to a Windrider¡¯s leg. ¡°Good morning Sunshine.¡± A hideous voice echoed in Will¡¯s ears. Will gave a sharp inhale that instantly turned into a full-blown cough as he inhaled dirt and dust that had settled in his outlandishly dry mouth and throat. He coughed so hard that he couldn¡¯t see. The tears streaming from his eyes caught the dirt in his eyes and carried them out, turning his world into a glob of blurry lantern-light. Something heavy and sloshing was shoved into his hand. Will mastered the coughs for just long enough to take a swig of lukewarm water, swallowing half and coughing the other half in Steve¡¯s face. ¡°Ugh,¡± Will gasped, his voice hoarse as the liquid finally started moving things in his throat, allowing him to take a ragged breath and ask a question. ¡°Did it work?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe?¡± Steve said, wiping his face. ¡°The people who gawked at your ¡®corpse¡¯ weren¡¯t wearing signs saying ¡®Informant¡¯. News will spread, though, so it should at least buy you little time. At best, a of time.¡± ¡°As long as we fill the grave back in, that is,¡± Loth said, motioning for them to stand aside. Steve pulled Will out of the coffin and Loth¡¯s insects carried a handless corpse into the coffin before they began hastily pushing the dirt back into the hole, doing their best to re-pack the earth to the same consistency it¡¯d had before. Loth even went out of his way to individual replant all the sprouts that had been beginning to grow on the surface of Will¡¯s grave. ¡°So, umm¡­¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t kill anybody,¡± Steve whispered. ¡°We just got lucky. Kid got killed a couple days ago, and I told his Party I¡¯d bury him for free, long as they didn¡¯t ask questions.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Will whispered back. ¡°How was my funeral?¡± ¡°There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.¡± Loth said. ¡°We paid some professional mourners to really sell the bit,¡± Steve whispered. In a matter of minutes, the grave looked completely undisturbed. Even then, Loth¡¯s insects swarmed the site, picking up bits of soil and smudges of dirt they¡¯d missed and packing them back over the coffin. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°How long was I out?¡± Will asked. ¡°A week, as planned.¡± ¡°It felt like nothing,¡± Will marvelled. ¡°A week¡¯s the longest I¡¯ve ever tested, I¡¯m not sure when or how the effect expires if I don¡¯t dismiss it, so maybe we could¡¯ve gone longer, I just didn¡¯t want to risk you waking up in the box and suffocating.¡± ¡°Huh, have you ever considered using that ability as a personnel storage technique?¡± Will asked. If it could keep someone fresh in an airless box for a week or longer, there might be some utility there¡­ ¡°Yeah, that might be valuable in the upper floors, where food is at a premium. Good thinking, Boss.¡± ¡°Glove,¡± Loth said, retrieving Will¡¯s gauntlet and strapping it onto his wrist. ¡°Cloak.¡± Will settled the vaporous fabric over his shoulders, then put his mask over his face. ¡°Amulet.¡± Steve said, dropping it over his head. ¡°Pants.¡± ¡°Boots.¡± ¡°Wristguard.¡± ¡°Belt.¡± ¡°Axe.¡± Will stood still and allowed them to put on his equipment, making the process almost instantaneous, and much faster than what a man with one hand could accomplish. It was a little weird having people help him put on his pants, though. Will checked his Charges. They were completely topped off. He glanced back at his gravestone, hewn from the salt of the mines and destined to gradually wear away in the rain as new Climbers came and took his place, fading as rapidly as new Climbers streamed in, creating their own legends. ¡°let¡¯s go,¡± he whispered. Sneaking out of a graveyard in the middle of the night was child¡¯s play, and there were no town walls to speak of, since they were on a floating island. Steve showed them how to assemble a temporary bridge by luring the barnacles on the side of the wall into extending their feeding apparatus, tangling together into a walkable surface. In the middle of the night, they fled Skyhold, aiming for the final resting place of a bunch of rich kids. They still needed to pay off Steve¡¯s Corpse Fine or the church would send a debt collector after them, which was something none of them wanted to happen. They arrived at the spot and spent the rest of the night resting before they headed down in the morning. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. It was a hidden path, concealed beneath an outcropping of stone. One simply had to hang from it and swing themselves down onto the narrow passageway below. ¡°How did you get back up that?¡± Will asked, looking up at the stone overhang above them. It was no trouble for Will and Loth, but Steve was rather inept at climbing, and Loth¡¯s insects had to carry him over the ledge. Something the priest was entirely uncomfortable with. ¡°There was a rope.¡± Steve said, brushing the heeby-jeebies off, despite every insect being accounted for. ¡°Did you cut the rope?¡± ¡°No. I left the rope there for several nights until it became obvious that no one was coming back. I considered telling the authorities what happened, but then I realized how much loot they had on them, and that it was worth more than the debt for breach of contract.¡± ¡°Cold.¡± Will said. ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Hey, wasn¡¯t the one that got ¡®em killed, despite what the official records and their parents claim. Their special babies bit off more than they could chew and I barely escaped with my life. You think I can heal a head that got hit so hard that it Or someone who got torn in half? Nuh-uh.¡± Will paused on the narrow switchback, Loth nearly bumping into him. ¡°Loth, prep us an emergency exit. One even Steve can use.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Loth nodded and went back up to start creating a rope ladder. ¡°Steve. Tell me everything you know about the spawning ground and its inhabitants. Especially where exactly it starts.¡± Steve did so. The spawning ground for the yetis was a few switchbacks further down, when the trail turned inward and led to a cavernous entrance to an extensive cave network, formed largely of the ice. The underside of the mountain was extra cold, never feeling the warmth of the sun, and as clouds passed by the underside of these ranges, ice grew faster than it sublimated, creating a solid layer of ice in some places. This place being one of them. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s kinda cold in here,¡± Will whispered as they made it to the entrance. It was a massive hole in the ice layer leading further into pitch-black nothingness, with a deceptively smooth bottom to walk on, as it the inside of the cave had partially metled time and again, filling the bottom of the cavern with a flat sheet of ice. cold?¡± Steve demanded, arms wrapped around himself, shivering despite the cold-weather gear he¡¯d packed. ¡°Do your thing,¡± Will said to Loth, who began trapping the way back to their exit against anything taller than seven feet, smoke rising from his roc-down jacket. Will tentatively stepped through the ominous entrance onto the smooth frozen floor. Aspect of the Goat caused the perfectly smooth ice to rise up and fill in the treads of his shoes, like inverse ice-gear. Steve waited at the entrance as Will walked down the hall massive hall. The noise seemed to be swallowed by the hoarfrost glittering in the faint light of the entrance. Will knelt down and pressed his hand to the immaculate ice floor. Inside the glass vial at the end of the amulet, a small ice cube appeared and began lazily spinning. It probably wouldn¡¯t serve any purpose against the creatures who lived here, but back up on the surface, a sheet of slippery ice on command might work rather well. Especially if Will was able to treat it like normal stone. Will had considered loading some ankle-turning rocky terrain, but he hadn¡¯t seen anything nearly as aggressively spiky as he¡¯d wanted yet, so he would go for slippery instead. Will pulled out several of Loth¡¯s glowbugs and threw them into the distance, beyond the reach of the dim light of the entrance, revealing an endless expanse of ice and darkness that seemed to go on forever. In the distance the floor had a lump of ice, partially covered in hoarfrost . Will walked over, continuing to scan the walls, not seeing any sign of the creatures. He knelt beside the lump of hoarfrost marring the perfect floor and wiped the growing ice crystals off of it. Will squinted, still unable to quite make out what he was looking at through the ice. He looked around and then pulled out his weapon, hacking a bit of the ice away. The ice sloughed off, revealing a boot. A boot with a foot in it. Will mused. Faint evidence that a party of six Climbers with Floor-inappropriate gear had died here, where Steve had said they did. Will glanced up again. Will lunged backwards as a patch of the wall whipped out with clawed hands nearly the size of his torso. Something Steve had forgot to mention: Yeti fur and hoarfrost looked nearly identical. He¡¯d been surrounded this entire time. The creature¡¯s red face split open, revealing massive canines as it¡¯s roar caused other ice patches on the walls to wake from their slumber. In front of, and behind Will. Especially behind him, the available light grew dimmer as a wall of fur and claws formed, blocking his exit. Or perhaps they knew he was here all along and were baiting him with the boot. Will picked a point on the ceiling halfway between himself and the exit, jumping as the Ability kicked in. The yeti was too feral to be surprised by Will¡¯s sudden ups, charging forward and grabbing Will¡¯s leg. The world went white for and instant as Will¡¯s back and neck was slammed against the floor. Thankfully, gravity was pulling him the other direction and his spine was reinforced by Gravity Charge, so the monster¡¯s tactic of slamming its prey¡¯s upper body into the ground wasn¡¯t nearly as effective as it would normally be. Will whipped out his axe and chopped off one of the creature¡¯s fingers. It screeched, releasing him. Will kicked off its other hand before it could get a grip on him and shot upwards at a forty-five degree angle, putting him face to face with another Yeti, whose eyes widened as he sailed towards it¡¯s face. Will headbutted it. Typically, headbutting things that were at least two feet taller than oneself was ill-advised, but Gravity Charge made that a viable means of attack. The yeti staggered backwards as Gravity Charge carried Will up and over, his momentum not stopping like any sane creature would expect. Will drove the tomahawk into the creature¡¯s skull, flipping his body around and riding it¡¯s twitching corpse back to the ground. Will¡¯s full weight was resting on his tomahawk in the creature¡¯s skull, springloaded to fall towards the exit. He set his feet on the creature¡¯s shoulders and pulled the tomahawk free, leaping further into the cave system, away from his set point. The wounded yeti reached out to snatch Will out of midair, but missed as Will¡¯s momentum died just in front of it¡¯s hand. Will hooked his tomahawk into the creature¡¯s arm, yanking himself forward against the pull of Gravity Charge as the creature flinched backwards. A hand closed down around his leg from behind, followed by another around his chest. A sudden image of being ripped in half made Will break out in a cold sweat. He whipped the tomahawk around and triggered its Active. A mind-shredding chord sounded around him as Will buried the axe in the monster¡¯s wrists. The Yetis around Will backed away as the psychic attack was boosted by the Sting Ring, causing them to smoke faintly from the acid damage. ¡°Whoops!¡± Will fell upwards as he was let go, missing a hold on a nearby thrashing wall of fur. He tumbled out of their reach and landed on the ceiling, dislodging a rain of hoarfrost as he smashed into the ice. Groaning, Will stood up, looking up at the yetis. From his perspective, they seemed to be standing on a perfectly smooth ceiling, snarling and jumping at him, trying to reach him so they could tear him to pieces. Will thought, turning and running deeper into the cave, the orientation of gravity instantly changing as he got away from the point he¡¯d marked with Gravity charge. When it felt like gravity was pulling him straight down the ceiling, as if it were a cliff he were climbing, Will jumped off and let Gravity charge slingshot him back towards the entrance. He dipped low for an instant before he began falling forward and up again. Will flew past the point he¡¯d marked, momentum carrying him on a shallow arc over the heads of the snarling yetis and their grasping claws. Will landed at the entrance and immediately began sprinting out and up the switchbacks. The first yeti that came through had a snare tighten around it¡¯s neck, lifting it off the ground and strangling it. And the next. And the next. The following yetis shoved past the strangling yeti-curtain at the entrance and began scrambling up the switchback after Will. One was decapitated, another lost their hands. A third was stuck in place and crushed, the fourth was perforated by dozens of poisoned blades. The fifth and sixth got another snare. Will glanced at Loth. ¡°I ran out of ideas, okay!¡± Loth said defensively. ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything!¡± Will said, raising his hands. ¡°They don¡¯t look like they¡¯re slowing down. One second. Don¡¯t move.¡± Steve said, pulling out a mannequin on a rope before lifting his hand, forming a whorl of dense magic. He shoved it forward in a conical wave of magic that rippled through the line of charging yetis. As one, they faltered, seemingly confused about where they were and what they were doing. ¡°I¡¯m a big bad adventurer!¡± Steve said in a high-pitched voice, holding the mannequin in front of himself and wiggling it to give it a semblance of motion. ¡°Can¡¯t catch me!¡± Steve threw the mannequin off the side of the cliff. The yetis shook off the confusion and locked onto the target, diving off the cliff to pounce on the decoy. ¡­inadvertently tossing themselves off the edge of the floating island in the process. They probably wouldn¡¯t get XP for those, and definitely not loot, but it was better to have the numbers under control. Will approved. ¡°Any more?¡± Loth asked. ¡°I think we got the biggest chunk of them,¡± Will mused. ¡°it¡¯s probably ones and twos now.¡± ¡°¡­Let¡¯s go mop up.¡± Chapter 24: Fancy Meeting You Here It was ones and twos. It was a veritable yeti-buffet. Ability Upgrade Available! Will sat on top of a mound of Yetis, panting for breath. ¡°How are you still alive?¡± Steve demanded. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know. Good clean living and always expecting an ambush?¡± The Yetis had demonstrated basic intelligence, setting up an ambush around just about every piece of expensive gear the previous group had been wearing. But it grew predictable, and after a while, Loth and Will fell into a rhythm: Trap a location, push deeper, empty it out, trap location, then press deeper, always making sure to Yeti-proof their tail. There were a few yeti corpses hanging from snares that hadn¡¯t been there before, slowly decomposing into pale blue Miasma. Will and Steve¡¯s attention was drawn to where one of the older corpses had evaporated enough to drop its loot onto the ice. Followed by another, and another. The party shifted gears, looting and cataloging while Loth kept them safe. Ice cleats, cloak, a warhammer made of Yeti tusk, a nonmagical sword, a sickle made of ice, boots of grounding, a helmet covered in a layer of frost that grew back every time they tried to get rid of it, a wicked-looking dagger, a couple rings with flat stat boosts, a ring of fire resistance¡­and the loot continued to pour in. The cloak provided a better resistance to hot and cold than nonmagical roc down, so Loth took it. Steve took the cleats and was more effective inside the caves from then on, being able to actually run on the slippery floors. The warhammer was a single tusk on a crude bone shaft that nevertheless felt good in his hand. The whole thing only weighed a few pounds but it looked like it would be effective. Will gave it some experimental swings to give The System a chance to I.D. it. ¡°Boo.¡± Melee archetype was Tanker, Frontliner, etc. Scout and Infiltrator weren¡¯t on the list. He handed it off to Steve. It suited none of them. ¡°Not bad, definitely worth a few hundred to the right person.¡± Steve said, adding it to the growing pile. ¡°You¡¯re gonna want to keep the fire resistance ring for the next Floor.¡± Will tossed the ring to Loth, who secured it in one of his satchels. Will picked up the curved blade made of clear ice that looked as though it had been carved into a razor-sharp edge. ¡°ooh, bad luck,¡± Steve said as he handled the magic sickle. ¡°If it were a bludgeoning weapon it would sell for a pretty penny, but it¡¯s debuff actively makes the victim stronger against its damage output. It works against itself. Still worth a bit, though. Maybe a hundred? Life drain is usually more valuable, but since all damage after the first hit is nerfed, it won¡¯t sell well.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep it.¡± Will said, inspecting the blade and pondering how many cubic inches of volume it was. If he could strip the enchantment and put on his phantom hand, maybe he could apply the effect while he used the back of his tomahawk. There was no hard and fast rule that he had to use the Tomahawk of the Serpent for the rest of his life. If he could stack the sickle¡¯s effect on a nice one-handed bludgeoning weapon using his Phantom Hand, Will would gain a significant amount of attack power. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will added it to the ¡®sell¡¯ pile. ¡°Yeah, you don¡¯t want this one,¡± Steve said, handling the helmet. ¡°Bonus cold damage has an unintended side effect of weakening acid and fire. Cold slows down chemical reactions. Good Focus boost, though. Noobs are always trying to get every ounce they can. Hundred and fifty to the right person.¡± ¡°Cold doesn¡¯t play well with other damage types, does it?¡± Will asked. ¡°Not really,¡± Steve shook his head. ¡°In exchange it usually has the best debuff, a large penalty to movement and attack speed. A lot of Climbers will cuss out someone who busts out the frost damage in the middle of a raid, though, because half of them will suddenly have penalties.¡± Will marked that down as ¡®rude¡¯ in his head. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Steve glanced at Will¡¯s axe. ¡°Psychic damage is the only type that doesn¡¯t have any kind of interaction with other damage types. It also completely disregards physical defenses, which makes it¡­kinda valuable. Where did you say you found that tomahawk again?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± Will said. ¡°Well you sure as Abyss didn¡¯t find it on the first floor.¡± Will shrugged. ¡°Because that would be insane.¡± Will shrugged. ¡°Bah, fine. Let¡¯s go make some more money. We¡¯ve already got nearly two grand in a couple hours. Imagine what we can do in a week.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got a few hours left in the day,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°Let¡¯s get rich.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± ¡°Perhaps we can purchase a better priest with the proceeds.¡± Loth said. ¡°¡­That¡¯s fair.¡± Steve shrugged. ¡°Eh, let¡¯s try a different Temple next time. Andover is skeevy.¡± Will said. Together they pushed deeper into the ice caves, each of them dealing with the slippery floor in their own way. Will by being Will, Steve by using his cleats, and Loth by fashioning makeshift footing of his own. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you use your umm¡­toe claws?¡± Will asked. ¡°Yes, but it wouldn¡¯t be comfortable.¡± Loth replied. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°We got a payday over here.¡± Steve said, drawing their attention to him. The priest was holding up a handful of glowbugs to the wall, where the faintest shadow in the wall rested. ¡°Can I get some heat on here?¡± he asked. ¡°I got no fire abilities.¡± Will said, shaking his head. ¡°One moment.¡± Loth said, starting another one of his personal heaters before hanging it form a chain next to the lump. As the hoarfrost melted away by Loth¡¯s heater, a crystal-clear surface of pure ice was revealed¡­bearing the perfectly preserved corpse of a young woman, wearing obvious Ranger gear. A bow was suspended in the ice beside her, and she bore obvious Relics on every part of her body¡­except her head, because that was missing. ¡°Alicia Zodiac.¡± Steve said. ¡°Daughter of the famed Lord Zodiac.¡± He clicked his tongue. ¡°It¡¯s like I always say. Women got no place dying in The Tower. A shame. Just a damn shame¡­¡± He glanced up at Will, wiggling his brows. ¡°I¡¯m of the opinion that if dies while Climbing, it¡¯s their own fault, gender notwithstanding.¡± Will said while Loth looked on. ¡°Oh well, let¡¯s take her shit! Boss, if you would,¡± Steve said, motioning to the ice. ¡°You got more Strength than me.¡± Will said, handing him the Feral Warhammer. ¡°I¡¯ll watch your back.¡± ¡°¡­Damnit.¡± They spent the next half hour watching for encroaching Yetis while Steve grunted with effort, chipping away at the unnaturally sturdy ice. To be fair, he was doing a good job, but there was just of it, and the bow suspended a few yards away made the total area much wider than they originally planned, and¡­ ¡°Hey, I think I see her head!¡± Loth said, pointing. He was standing at an angle, peering past the beheaded corpse. ¡°It¡¯s about three meters past her body. And it¡¯s got a Relic!¡± Steve groaned in exhaustion, but kept picking at the ice using the spike of the warhammer. When he had cut through enough space, Will joined in beside him, cutting away at the ice in tandem. They split around the corpse, cutting away the ice on either side. ¡°Yeah, she had a Ranger build.¡± Steve said conversationally. ¡°Every shot she made, something died. But her synergy was good. You see, normal Rangers go into The Tower and build their kit a little bit at a time. They figure out what works, what doesn¡¯t, what their weaknesses are. What jobs they should avoid.¡± ¡°This woman, she did so much damage that nothing ever got close to her. Maybe her father trained her poorly, maybe she got complacent. She went into a claustrophobic Spawning Ground full of of tough bastards. She got separated from the Tanker, shot a yeti in the heart, and while that was enough to kill it, it only took one swipe from the doomed monster to remove her head.¡± Will¡¯s hair stood on end, recalling the fraction of a second a Yeti had both hands on him. ¡°You won¡¯t get your head knocked off, Boss. You¡¯ve got great Resistance for your level. She did not.¡± The merchant¡¯s wise words echoed in Will¡¯s mind. The common factor that all Lords have is that they are ¡°Anyway, my point is, she¡¯s going to have a full set of items dedicated to min-maxing ranged damage. This should cover the vast majority of the Corpse Fee, even if we have to fence it.¡± ¡°Why would we have to fence it?¡± Will asked. It was common knowledge that Finders Keepers was the rule of The Tower. ¡°Because her old man will be pissed if we sell her keepsakes instead of giving them back to him?¡± Steve said. ¡°Why not just give them back to him, then? He¡¯ll probably pay a reward.¡± ¡°A couple problems with that.¡± Steve said between grunts as he chipped through the ice. ¡°First one: I¡¯m in your party, and he thinks I abandoned his daughter to her death.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Second problem. If, say, Loth delivers her corpse instead of me, or you ¨C who is , by the way ¨C then Loth will have to tell him where he found her, negating our monopoly on this hunting ground.¡± ¡°Ah. I¡¯m gonna do it anyway.¡± Will said. ¡°I just told you why it would be a bad idea.¡± Steve said. ¡°You also mentioned how promising noobs without families backing them disappear at a staggering rate. I want Zodiac to owe me a favor. That¡¯ll retain it¡¯s value long after I move past the 2nd floor.¡± ¡°What if he¡¯s the Lord that sicced his Vassals on you?¡± Steve asked. ¡°Then it¡¯ll be funny when I mail his daughter¡¯s corpse back to him.¡± Will said with a shrug. Steve gave him an incredulous look, holding it for an awkwardly long time. ¡°¡­Fine. We¡¯re gonna have to use a service to deliver it, though, and it won¡¯t be cheap.¡± Steve turned away, muttering. ¡°Can¡¯t believe we¡¯re working for free here¡­¡± A distant rumble caused them both to pause. Then six more rumbles, back-to-back, then silence. ¡°Nuker¡¯s having a good day above us,¡± Steve said, pointing up above them. ***Mason Lanover*** ¡°Back under control?¡± Mason asked, scanning the smoking remains. ¡°Yessir,¡± The mercenary Warrior said, echoed by the others as they reformed their line, pushing the kaith back to the choke-point, re-establishing the line and cutting them down in droves. ¡°Thanks, Mason!¡± Reggie said, his voice rising above the others. He hadn¡¯t been the one to fold, but one person¡¯s problem was . The duty of a Nuker was to¡­observe. To do nothing for extended periods of time, until it was time to rain fire. Similar to a Healer, a Nuker must always be observant and able to read the larger battle. They must not waste Charge where the warriors were going to win, unless softening up the enemies would save the Warriors a significant amount of time they could use putting their muscle to work somewhere better. They must judge this in an instant and guide the progress of battle. Mason felt like a conductor in one of those fancy orchestras his father had taken him to. It was beautiful. He checked his Charges. ¡°I¡¯m about hallway spent, prepare to pull back!¡± ¡°Halfway spent ?¡± Mason heard one of the mercenaries grumble. His face grew hot, but he didn¡¯t lose his cool. That was unbecoming of a Nuker. His father had advised him not to spend any of his spare Ability points into Focus despite the temptation, saying that while at low levels, Focus was important for Charge, at higher levels, it became less of a critical issue. Three per level was plenty for Nukers. By level 35, The difference between 105 and 140 Focus was minimal in anything except for the longest engagements, and if a Nuker was required to carry an engagement that long, something had gone very wrong. They might grumble about it, but everyone knew that without the safety blanket a Nuker offered, they might be overrun, and it was a stupid idea to push a Nuker to the limit of their Charges. ¡°Fallback point set!¡± June shouted, standing at the next chokepoint. ¡°¡­Move!¡± ¡°Fire to the Van!¡± On her signal, Mason dropped three Conflagrations into the tunnels, roasting the kaith and giving his army the opportunity to break away and pull back. The warriors broke away and sprinted back towards them, while June picked off anything that moved to follow. A moment later, they assembled a line at the new choke point. ¡°Barely got any loot,¡± one of the mercenaries muttered. ¡°This is roc shit.¡± Mason¡¯s eye twitched. A lot of people forgot that a Nuker¡¯s Acuity was one of their primary Stats, which meant they had excellent hearing, on par with a scout without any sense enhancements. ¡°We did get pretty deep,¡± one of the mercenaries replied quietly as they braced themselves and slammed into the wave of kaith. ¡°We could¡¯ve got deeper and actually hit a kaith depot. The lordling¡¯s just throwing his weight around like a bull Hokk in a glasser¡¯s, wasting his Charge.¡± Mason¡¯s eye twitched. Mason turned to tell the uppity merc that, when he noticed a crack in the wall, moments before a telltale claw penetrated the fa?ade. ¡°BREACH!¡± Mason shouted. ***William Oh*** A mind-numbing amount of chipping later, they disconnected the main corpse, dragging the stiff block of ice away from the wall. Loth slid her out into the sun and got started on the detail work while the two of them split up, Will chipping toward the head while Steve went for the bow. Will got to the head shortly after Steve came back with the bow. The left side was horrifically crushed, but the right side was a young woman, no older than him, with a surprised expression. Will examined the leather headband that came with the head. Whenever a Ranged Archetype activates a Ranged Ability, split the resulting missile into three, which go on to seek out their own targets. ¡°Dear Gods!¡± Will shouted at the simple leather headband that was worth more than he was. now, ¡°You still wanna give ¡®em back!?¡± Steve asked from where he and Loth were inspecting the bow, which was surely amazing in its own right. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe!¡± Will shouted back. ¡°Shit!¡± Will was tempted to just keep it. Decency be damned. He had never felt so cheap in his life. A rumble shook the cave system. Will mused. The floor beneath him let out a musical as a crack propogated from their tunnel through the ice beneath him. Will saw the crack spreading underneath him, and dove back toward the main room. A section of the ice wall, weakened by their excavation and the quakes, sloughed off, leaving Will lying in the main ice cavern, his feet hanging over a sheer drop. Will pulled himself away from the drop and peered down at where the ice on the underside of the floating mountain had cleaved away from the stone. In the distance a massive chunk of ice was shrinking rapidly into nothing as it fell. ¡°Kinda forgot we were on the underside of the mountain,¡± Will mused, glancing up at the stone that the ice had been attached to. The stone exploded outward, revealing a half-dozen kaith facing off against an isolated Nuker in his traditional evening gown. ¡°Mason!?¡± Will asked, peering incredulously at the familiar Nuker warding off the onslaught of kaith, his team struggling to reach him. ¡°Will!?¡± Mason said, frowning. With a seismic rumble, a massive chunk of stone fell out from beneath Mason¡¯s feet, sending the wide-eyed Nuker plummeting straight down with a girlish shriek. Chapter 25: Off-Build Relics experienced Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. - Will sprinted forward and dove. Will thought to himself a moment after he¡¯d already committed to the plan. Will locked on the Nuker and began falling faster, tucking in his arms and legs. Mason, for his part, shrieked in alarm as a goat-faced, one-armed man with massive glowing horns shot through the air towards him. Mason reflexively created a burning mote of light in his palm at Will approached. Mason must¡¯ve remembered who he was at the last second, because the glowing magic in his palm was sent off to the side an instant before Will slammed into him, and they began tumbling midair. Through the wind and the whipping robes, Will desperately searched for the floating mountain above them, but all he saw was vapor. He was tumbling with Mason in a tangle of limbs, and since he was still using Gravity Charge, he couldn¡¯t tell which way was up. Something smoking whizzed past them, and Will realized they¡¯d been moving sideways as normal gravity reasserted itself. Re-orienting, Will looked up at the rock above them, orienting on the highest point he could see. Mason grunted as Will¡¯s inertia began to drag the opposite direction, causing him to roll towards the top, Mason downward. Mason¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Fire to the rear.¡± He said, words clipped with a sense of urgency. A massive explosion sounded behind them and a smoking harpy tumbled through the air, falling past them. Will thought. ¡°Any behind me?¡± Mason asked, scanning over Will¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re clear.¡± Will craned his neck to see above them. They were slowly regaining altitude. ¡°How are you lighter than an orphan raised on black bread and burnt stew?¡± Will asked. ¡°Do you need more food? I¡¯ve got some dried meat in my belt-pouch you can have.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still growing!¡± Mason shouted, turning red. ¡°Mhmm.¡± When the time ran out on Gravity Charge, Will did it again, allowing them to continue floating upward until he spotted the silk rope descending towards then, squirming like a living thing as it approached. The rope wound around them, knotted itself to cradle the two of them, and suddenly they were ascending much faster. A minute later, Reggie was giving Mason a hand back up onto the stone side of the cavern system. Loth had wound a rope bridge between the two openings, linking the yeti ice cave to the kaith tunnels, and they had decided to use the better footing provided by the stone to haul them in. Behind Reggie were a dozen or so Climbers that Will didn¡¯t recognize, along with June. ¡°Thanks for the save,¡± Mason said, clapping his shoulder. ¡°Gentlemen, this is-¡° ¡°They call me¡­Billy Goat.¡± Will said through his mask. ¡°¡­Riiight.¡± Mason said, brows furrowed. ¡°Gentlemen this is¡­Billy Goat. He¡¯s helped me out before. Mr. Billy Goat, this is my party, The Lanover Expedition.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that you got over there?¡± One of the Climbers asked, peering into the darkness of the ice caves, where the corpse of Alicia Zodiac ¨C a significant payday ¨C lay. ¡°It¡¯s the corpse of Alicia Zodiac, and tens of thousands of gold worth of loot!¡± Steve said, stepping forward. ¡°And I¡¯m telling you this, I¡¯m telling you the truth, because there¡¯s not a godsdamned thing you can do to take it from us, so stand there and bite your pillowcases in frustration, because it¡¯s !¡± ¡°Tall words, old man.¡± One of the younger Climbers said, stepping forward. ¡°Gentlemen ¨C¡° Mason said, trying to de-escalate. ¡°I¡¯m level Thirty-five, brat!¡± Steve bellowed. ¡°I¡¯ve got fuckin¡¯ Deca-dailies, and I¡¯m the member of my party! Do you want to know what level the Goat is? No, do you want to what level he is? Do you want to test yourselves against the traps of The Shadow?¡± Loth looked down at his black scales and shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re all still green behind the ears! The Goat is over level forty, and with decades of experience slaughtering for fun and profit, and he¡¯s only on Lord Zodiac¡¯s behalf, so by all means¡­try something¡­We might just make it back to Skyhold with a little more loot than we intended.¡± Sensing a bluff, Will puffed himself up, looking as imposing as possible, while Mason glanced back and forth between them in total confusion. Because Will was wearing a mask and Loth was a kobold, they had no way of determining the age and potential level of the people standing before them. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. There was a tense moment before the young Climber scoffed and shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re not worth our time, old man.¡± He said, walking away, at least half the Climbers following him. ¡°Mercenaries,¡± Steve scoffed as soon as they were out of earshot. ¡°Never interested in a hard fight. Not if they can help it. Judging by their faces, they¡¯re last year¡¯s Aspirants washouts, capped at level ten and saving up their cash to tackle the Third Floor. We should get the Abyss outta here before their greed overwhelms their sense of self-preservation and they start testing us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Will, right?¡± Reggie whispered to Mason, pointing with his thumb. ¡°He¡¯s got the tomahawk and everything.¡± Mason rubbed his temples. ¡°He¡¯s got something going on¡­I guess? Just leave ¡®em be.¡± ¡°HOLD!¡± Will shouted, artificially deepening his voice, reaching the back of the retreating mercenaries, causing them to turn back, looking at him curiously. ¡°Our pack animals were lost by your Party leader¡¯s incompetence.¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± Steve whispered. ¡°We were only paid to retrieve three of the six corpses and their effects,¡± Will said, nudging Steve with his elbow. Steve¡¯s eye twitched as he caught Will¡¯s intentions. ¡°¡­.Yes!¡± Steve said, disdainfully throwing Alicia¡¯s bow across the gap to Mason¡¯s crew. ¡°We were called down from the sixth floor to retrieve the bodies and effects of Alicia Zodiac, Mark Wyrd, and Ramone Flash.¡± Will assumed these three were the ones with the richest parents. ¡°The other three had comparable equipment. Carry them, and receive a cut.¡± ¡°Dear gods!¡± the young man who¡¯d caught the bow began sweating as he reviewed the stats. ¡°I-I¡¯m in!¡± the kid said, passing it to the next person. ¡°What do you ¨C ai!¡± the man reflexively tossed the bow to the next in line, as if gear of that quality might get him killed for holding it. Which, to be fair¡­ It might. One by one the mercs ditched Mason and joined up with them. ¡°Um, Mr. Goat?¡± June said sourly, the scout arriving beside Mason. ¡°Speak.¡± Will said, arms crossed in what he hoped was Supreme Confidence. ¡°We need those men to get back to the surface. We can¡¯t cut our way through a quarter mile of kaith-infested tunnels with just three people.¡± ¡°Guess you¡¯re coming with us, then.¡± Will said, turning and leading them into the ice caves. ¡°I know why you did it, but you¡¯ve got some balls, kid,¡± Steve whispered as they led the way. Will had it to keep word of the ice caves from reaching the surface before they had what they wanted and were gone. Before word of a one-handed tomahawk wielder reached anyone. He mentioned being contracted to retrieve three corpses in order to have a pre-established claim on enough gear to pay the damned Corpse Fee for their priest, and string them along with the promise of another three, each bearing Relics of great value. Pretending to be level forty was but Will was able to fake it, only fighting sparingly, Steve lending a hand with Confusion where necessary, making Will look more agile and effortless where he might¡¯ve otherwise struggled. Mostly they relied on Loth. Saboteur was a rare class for humans, who didn¡¯t have the trap-lust that kobolds were born with. Thus it was hard for them to judge exactly how powerful a Saboteur was. So when they saw Loth set up half a dozen traps in the space of a few breaths, and those traps annihilated their intended targets, they shrugged and attributed it to Loth being higher level. There were a few rumblings here and there when one of the mercs got nearly bisected, but after they found another half-eaten corpse dripping with wealth, those quieted down. Plus he got a cool scar. While they cut the corpse out of the ice, Will inspected the rest of Alicia Zodiac¡¯s kit. Boots of the high Ground: Ascending and descending terrain is 30% faster. Shooting from high ground inflicts Confusion on the target. Leather* Pants of Tightness + 4 Focus +2 Strength These leather* pants lift and accentuate the lower body, drawing the attention of the opposite sex without forsaking comfort. Charm archetypes benefit from 20% increased potency of their Abilities when used against those who enjoy the view. ¡°Got some pants for you, Steve,¡± Will said, offering them to Steve. ¡°Screw you.¡± Will thought, leaving the pants where they were. ¡°Aliiiiiciiaaaa¡­¡± Will groaned. That might be amazing for someone with a Charm archetype, but going off-build for secret night-time liaisons or trying to get the attention of the boy/girl you liked¡­ ¡­ Will¡¯s resolution crumbled as one of the mercenaries held up a ring from the newly released corpse and shouted: ¡°This ring makes you better at sex!¡± he cried, holding the flesh-toned band high in the air. ¡°Whooo!¡± The surrounding mercs whooped. ¡°Oh come , it¡¯s like they to die!¡± Will shouted to no one in particular. ¡°I told you they were treating it like a leisure walk.¡± Steve said with a shrug. ¡°And I can¡¯t lie to you.¡± ¡°Tell me that Alicia was at least doing some kind of power play.¡± Will said. He needed to believe that she hadn¡¯t been completely stupid now that he was invested in her story. ¡°You know, come to think of it, she was always hanging around that Mark Wyrd character. He was tall, handsome and had curly hair, so I never thought twice about it, but their fathers aren¡¯t exactly on the best terms. Not a blood feud, but not great either. I thought it was some kind of¡­Forbidden Fruit thing at the time¡­¡± Steve stroked his chin a moment before he shrugged. ¡°Who knows? None of them are alive to tell us what their drama was.¡± ¡°Who was that?¡± Will asked, pointing at the corpse their new porters had pulled out of the ice. ¡°Jason Bakton.¡± ¡°Lord Bakton¡¯s son?¡± Will asked. ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°How are you not dead?¡± Will asked. Bakton was a demon with the blade, but sadly his build wasn¡¯t unique enough to get a Mononym. Despite being somewhat plain, there were plenty of stories about those who crossed him not living to regret it. ¡°The church interceded on my behalf.¡± Steve said. ¡°Why did one of the Lords not buy you, kill you, then pay the Corpse Fine? They could afford it, and the church doesn¡¯t seem to care, long as they get paid.¡± Will asked. Steve¡¯s mouth opened, and a bead of sweat formed on his brow. ¡°Because none of them thought of it?¡± ¡°I thought of it in five seconds.¡± ¡°I can only think that they deterred each other. If one came to the second floor to acquire me, another might seize their demesne.¡± ¡°Not exactly friends, these people.¡± Will mused. ¡°Then why did a group of their kids get together in the same Party instead of each of them ¡®leading¡¯ their own Party, like Mason here?¡± ¡°Connections. Make friends with potential Lords. That¡¯s usually the only reason the rich congregate. They build a safety net that prevents their children from failing too spectacularly. If one is horrible at Climbing and washes out early, at least they¡¯ll have friends who go on to become Lords. These friends then drop lucrative breadcrumbs on these washouts who they remember fondly.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say was a pretty spectacular failure,¡± Will said, motioning to the frozen corpse. ¡°Without a doubt.¡± Steve said. ¡°How are you still alive?¡± Will asked. ¡°I don¡¯t I should be dead a thousand times over, but someone or something swept it under the rug!¡± Steve said. ¡°Who had the power to do that, among the Lords represented here?¡± ¡°Well, only four Lord¡¯s children were here, two just came from very rich families, like Lanover over there. Of the four Lords, only Wyrd had the sway to make the others drop the subject of a lost child. Zodiac was a close second.¡± ¡°Hmm..¡± Will mused, his brain picking at details and sorting things out. Something felt weird about the whole situation, but he didn¡¯t have the whole story, and likely never would. Will shelved it and continued on with the Ice Caves. Several hours later, they had four of the six corpses on their list, and they headed back. With Loth securing the route back, it was a fast and simple task to take the Ice Cave route back to the surface. Mason and June, who had been anxious about the amount of Charge necessary to fight their way back to the surface, boggled at the smoothness of their departure, as most yetis they encountered on the way out were dead or severely injured. Mason tried to scalp Loth again, at a higher price than before, but the kobold turned him down. Once they reached the surface, they divvied up the loot, taking the two bodies that had been on Steve¡¯s list and leaving the other two for Mason¡¯s party to distribute amongst themselves. Mark Wyrd¡¯s corpse was nowhere to be found. Chapter 26: Cling-ons ¡°Fourteen nine, Fifteen¡­thousand,¡± Loth said, sliding the last Ivory coin across the counter. ¡°Thank you for paying the Corpse Fine,¡± the bruised priest said, bowing. ¡°The Temple of Andover appreciates your custom.¡± His face was still a bit swollen from where Will had bashed it with the back of his axe. ¡°I¡¯m sure you do.¡± Loth said sourly. ¡°You realize he¡¯s standing right behind me, alive and well?¡± ¡°As far as I¡¯m aware, party is the one that reported Steve Holland expired. Are you admitting to committing fraud?¡± Steve giggled. Will reached for his tomahawk, causing the healer to flinch. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you healed that bruise yet, Nate?¡± Steve asked. ¡°Did the old man not give you permission to use your own powers?¡± Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Until my dailies exceed-¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, you¡¯re the FNG, I gotcha.¡± Steve waved off the young man and turned back to them. ¡°So whaddya wanna- Will and Loth were already heading out. ¡°Hey, wait!¡± Steve jolted before running after them. ¡°What about me?¡± ¡°What you?¡± Will asked. ¡°You are free of your debt to the church in its totality, and we all walked away with more wealth than we had before. You are still alive. Perhaps you should quit while you¡¯re ahead.¡± Loth added. ¡°Look, Boss, I can see this Party is going somewhere, and I want in on it.¡± Will eyed Steve up and down, the Charlatan holding his arms out, presenting himself in his entirety. ¡°¡­No.¡± ¡°No!?¡± Steve demanded. ¡°You¡¯re a level thirty five, an extremely sub-par one at that, such that a pair of level tens could cause you trouble. Your class is ill-suited for battle, and your healing ability is a secondary, which means it¡¯ll grow incredibly slowly, if at all. You only have one debuff, no buffs, and no offensive abilities. You won¡¯t gain any levels until we pass the 7th Floor, and by that point you will have become extremely weak compared to the native monsters, the difference between us only growing with time.¡± ¡°Well¡­shit.¡± Steve deflated for a moment before he seemed to think of something and brighten. ¡°Listen, I¡¯ve bounced around the first six floors as a rental for two decades. I know the places, I know the people. I¡¯ve got ¡± ¡°What if I write you a dossier on the next four floors, follow you to each floor, and be your liaison in town while you¡¯re out and about?¡± Will narrowed his eyes with suspicion. ¡°You¡¯re making those words up.¡± Loth cleared his throat, tugging on Will¡¯s sleeve. ¡°A collection of documents on a specific subject is called a ¡®dossier¡¯, and a person who acts as a middle-man between parties is a ¡®liaison¡¯. He¡¯s offering to handle logistics in town, buy and sell for us, bid on jobs, deflect suspicion, keep abreast of the news. Whatever we need done in town while we go Climbing.¡± He advised when Will turned to look at him. Will frowned. That wasn¡¯t¡­a bad offer. He understood object permanence. Things happened, and they, by default, continued happening even if they weren¡¯t in town to see them happen. Information on the Floors was often valuable and difficult to come by, since anyone who found something new kept it to themselves in order to gain an advantage. Their recent adventure to the ice caves were a case in point. ¡°Alright. you said One percent?¡± ¡°I did indeed.¡± They shook on it. ¡°Money for giving advice, staying in the safety of town and keeping my ears open? I could get used to that.¡± Steve said with a grin. ¡°We¡¯ll formalize it at some point,¡± Will said, gesturing to his tomahawk. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to stack any more deals on you until the current ones expire.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Steve said. ¡°Here. Down payment.¡± Will said, handing Steve some of the ivory coins. ¡°It¡¯ll help pay for your costs.¡± ¡°Costs? What costs?¡± ¡°Oh, supplies for writing guides to the next few levels, paying buses to bring you to higher floors. Food. Those come out of pocket.¡± ¡°You monster!¡± Steve said with a gasp. ¡°Eh.¡± Will shrugged. ¡°Fine. But you guys better strike it rich.¡± ¡°Richer than what we just did?¡± Will asked. ¡°It¡¯ll be gone in a month. Things get expensive the higher you go. I¡¯m talkin¡¯ ivory for a bed at an Inn. Maybe there isn¡¯t even an Inn. In which case you¡¯re paying Ivory for a tent you could¡¯ve bought for a copper outside the tower.¡± ¡°Any other advice?¡± ¡°It is going to be important to find a way to deal with extreme heat on the Third floor. If you can buy good fire resistance for yourself, do so, even if it cripples your Build.¡± He turned to Loth. ¡°Your insects are going to have to hole up in your barrel with a block of ice, unless you can find a way to give them all heat resistance.¡± Loth rubbed his chin in thought. ¡°And you guys might want to consider hiring an actual healer, nuker, and warrior: balance your party out so you don¡¯t run into something that you have no way of dealing with.¡± ¡°And visit home before you tackle the Fourth Floor,¡± Steve said, clapping Will on the shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s where a lot of people die.¡± Steve gave him a thumbs up, then began walking away, muttering to himself. ¡°Where in the Abyss am I supposed to find a stationary shop around here? Maybe it would be cheaper to go back down¡­I can solo the 2nd floor anyway¡­¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Well, now what?¡± Loth asked. Will jingled their bag of ivory. After sending Ms. Zodiac back to her Father, they still had a decent amount of cash to burn. And why not? Better to be alive and tapped out than dead and rich. ¡°Now, we find some Fire resistance equipment.¡± They cruised the bazaar for hours, discovering that the equipment necessary to climb to the next level was permanently in short supply for obvious reasons. Eventually they found an amulet and a pair of boots that offered good resistance to Fire. They weren¡¯t great, especially compared to the loot they¡¯d just retrieved from the ice caves, but more importantly, they weren¡¯t going to get them in trouble. Loth took the boots, and Will took the amulet. Between the ring and the boots, Loth was up to 22.5% Fire resistance. A respectable amount for 2nd Floor gear. They prioritized him because he had low Resistance. Will could probably skate by with just one item. Now he had a decision to make: sacrifice the new amulet and re-slot it into the phantom hand, or sacrifice the amulet of the Homefield Advantage? Will inspected it, allowing the System to fill his mind with it¡¯s details. Will decided to sacrifice the new amulet. He would probably outgrow both of them, but he felt like the would outlast his need for fire damage resistance. Into the Phantom Hand the item went. Will shuddered as a strange sensation ran through his body, as if he¡¯d become suddenly hollow, before something else took its place. ¡°Bleh,¡± Will shuddered. ¡°I hate how¡­physical the Phantom Hand¡¯s feedback is sometimes.¡± He opened up his backpack and inspected the Sickle of Cold Harvest and the Gauntlets of Speed. He could¡¯ve sold them for a healthy profit, but he¡¯d decided to keep them around in case he found a way to use them with Phantom Hand. Their acclimation timer was long since expired, and they were a hair¡¯s breadth from level 10. It was time to knuckle down and try their hand at clearing a Key Site and hitting level 3. They would have to pit their very lives against the worst the tower had to offer and come out of it stronger than befo- ¡°MOVE ASIDE!¡± A steel palanquin marched down the road, carried by men in their forties. Loth and Will watched the bus go by. ¡°You wanna just follow a bus?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Oh gods, yes,¡± Will groaned. ¡°I need a break from nearly dying.¡± ¡°You jinxed it,¡± Loth said, shaking his head as the two of them began jogging along behind the bus, joining the dozen or so Climbers of the same level as them. As it turned out, following in the wake of a bus wasn¡¯t nearly as easy or safe as the common perception of simply hitching a ride to the next level. The high-level porters didn¡¯t bother to kill any monsters except those that were directly between themselves and their destination. Nor did they slow down, easily outpacing some of the slower level 10¡¯s over the course of several hours of running. Those who got left behind were left by themselves to contend with all the pissed-off monsters that had been riled up by the nearly twenty climbers sprinting through their domain. Will personally witnessed Climbers fall behind only to be buried under kaith and harpies. Realizing if they fell behind they would die, Will picked Loth up and began running , seeking out the rough terrain beside the path, sprinting up the side of the switchback, taking shortcuts through impassable terrain to keep pace with the bus. By the time they made it to the Key Site, Will was absolutely exhausted, bent over and heaving for breath. The veterans set down the steel palanquin just outside the key site, their gaze lingering on Will a bit longer than the others. Of the dozen who¡¯d set out to follow the bus, only six remained, not including Will and Loth. ¡°Bit more cling-ons than usual,¡± one of the veterans said with a scowl. ¡°Listen up, because I¡¯m only gonna say this once! You will wait to engage the monsters until after we¡¯ve secured our package¡¯s contribution to the clear. After which, you¡¯re welcome to assist with clearing¡­If you can.¡± After his short speech the veteran Climber opened the steel door on the side of the palanquin and gestured for it¡¯s occupants to step outside. A dozen young men and women, all in civilian dress, about Will¡¯s age, stepped out of the bus, scanning their surroundings with wide eyes. In the distance, Will could see the pillar of light indicating the Key Site, and their eventual target. ¡°Stay here.¡± The leader said, motioning to their passengers before turning to address theClimbers. ¡°That goes for you too.¡± A moment later, three quarters of the veterans began sprinting towards the gigantic stalagmite with a beam of light emerging from it, while the remaining ones took positions around the perimeter, watching for any trouble that might rear its head in the next few minutes. No longer having to listen, Will went back to panting desperately to regain his stamina. ¡°¡­Are you okay?¡± A girl about Will¡¯s age asked. She was fair skinned, blue-eyed and black-haired, wearing a posy-covered dress. It was a riot of faded colors a poor mother might buy for her daughter¡¯s birthday and then carefully patch and let out the seams as she grew. The hem was too high for a sundress, just under her knees, indicating she¡¯d been much smaller when she first got it. The faded stains it was covered in disappeared into the tumultuous flower design, which was the original intent of the fabric. It was the nicest thing she owned, and it couldn¡¯t have cost more than a few silver. ¡°Me? Fine. I¡¯m fine.¡± Will said, mastering his breathing and standing up straight in front of the girl. ¡°Why were you carrying a Kobold?¡± ¡°¡¯Cuz he¡¯s got short legs, obviously.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°Why are you wearing a goat mask?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s got a good Ability.¡± ¡°Are you older?¡± ¡°No.¡± Will flipped up the mask to show her. ¡°My name¡¯s Brianna. You can call me Bri, Brianna, or Anna.¡± She said, sticking out her hand, elbow fully extended in the awkward, going-to-force-you-to-shake-my-hand pose. ¡°¡­William. You can call me Will.¡± Will said, reluctantly shaking her hand. ¡°So what are you Climbing for?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a baker, and-¡± ¡°?¡± Will asked, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, causing Brianna to take a half-step back. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Sorry, go on.¡± Will motioned for her to continue. ¡°Well, I was granted the Sacrifices to get a Class that¡¯s supposed to allow me to duplicate and modify bread. Put one bun in the oven, pull out two, make hardtack take on some of the characteristics of a soft potato bread while maintaining its shelf-stability. That sort of thing. I¡¯m told the higher floors need exactly that kind of Ability to keep everyone fed.¡± ¡°What class?¡± Will asked, drooling at the thought. Brianna¡¯s eyes widened and she winced. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not allowed to talk about it. I shouldn¡¯t have even told you . I say that the work is going to give my family a leg up.¡± ¡°Ah well,¡± Will said with a shrug, dropping the subject of her Class. ¡°What about you? Why are Climbing?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m gonna make it to the top.¡± Will said, pointing up. Brianna¡¯s expression changed, just slightly more closed off than it had been before. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re one of those people that¡¯s going to .¡± ¡°What!? No!¡± Will denied vehemently. ¡°I have literally never done that before and I¡¯m not gonna start now.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­you¡¯re gonna die. I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± She patted him on the shoulder, expression consolatory. ¡°I can¡¯t be friends with someone who¡¯s gonna die.¡± ¡°Bah, You¡¯ll see¡­ I¡¯ll pull up on Floor¡­¡± Will frowned. ¡°What Floor are you going to? ¡°7th.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pull up on the 7th floor, and I¡¯ll be all like ¡®Look at me, breathing and everything. Gimme some bread.¡¯¡± ¡°And I¡­will charge you several Ivory per loaf, because there will be no one else with bread on that Floor.¡± ¡°Dang. That¡¯s cold,¡± Will muttered. ¡°That¡¯s business.¡± Brianna said with a smirk and a shrug. Will was about to respond when they were interrupted by the bussers. ¡°Look alive, brats!¡± One of the veterans shouted, pointing out his team returning with their hands full of near-dead hares. ¡°Alright, passengers, line up and each of you give one of these rodents a good stabbing.¡± The boss said, twirling a knife in his hands. ¡°Cling-ons, you¡¯ve got twenty seconds to do your thing before we¡¯re wiping them out. Get to it.¡± As one, Will and the other Climbers broke into a sprint towards the Key site. Out of the shrubbery, a wave of Sky Hares dashed, chasing the veterans with mindless fury, their mouths unnaturally¡­fang-y. One jumped toward Will, but an arrow from a nearby Climber knocked it aside, sending it twitching to the ground. ¡°Sorry!¡± The archer said, giving him a mock salute before turning and running away. Another one raced towards him when an explosion flung it far over Will¡¯s shoulder, killing that one and another half dozen as a Nuker let out a single blast that annihilated them. ¡°Sorry!¡± The Nuker shrugged, disengaging. In the distance, he could see the passengers each squeamishly stabbing one of the subdued mutated hares, adding their ¡®contribution¡¯, which would allow them to go up a floor. Will slipped his tomahawk back in his belt and whipped out the sling, whipping it around once, feeding a bullet from the sack on his belt into the cradle before releasing it. The bullet whirred out and caught a white hare in the side of the head, creating a curtain of greenish fire hanging in midair. ¡°Watch it!¡± A nearby warrior said, diverting his course moments before he ran into the curtain of fire. ¡°Oh. Sorry!¡± Will said, taking his turn to mock-salute and leave. That was when the white hare he¡¯d nailed turned around and leapt at the warrior with a snarl, the side of its head smoking. Will¡¯s eyes widened as he noticed it¡¯s coloration was different than the others. White instead of tan. The warrior reached out to seize the Hare in midair as it leapt for him. The Hare bounded off a wisp of cloud it created near its feet, changing course in midair before exhaling an arctic storm across the warrior¡¯s side, lining the Climber¡¯s body with hoarfrost before rebounding off the man¡¯s head, causing it to shatter. ¡°Oh Gods! That¡¯s the boss!¡± Will shouted, more to himself than anyone else. Everyone it was the Boss. Chapter 27: Fame Attracts Crazy the Naturally, Will was the next closest target. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Boss rebounded off vapor and rocketed towards him at a speed that defied comprehension. Will shoved the flat blade of the tomahawk towards the hare¡¯s mouth, causing the blast of unnaturally cold ice vapor to skew off to the side. It still got some of his arm, causing shooting pain before a worrying numbness spread from the rapidly growing ice crystals. He was still limber enough to duck low, allowing the hare to fly over him, its feet passing through the spot where Will¡¯s head had been. An annoying jingle sounded directly behind Will as someone stepped between him and the hare on the rebound. Will rolled and turned to see a Climber wielding what looked like a riding crop mixed with a sword-catcher in one hand, and a short sword in the other. ¡°Look at this, a bouncing baby bunny.¡± The Climber said, waggling the colorful tassels and bells at the end of the whip in the Sky hare¡¯s face. ¡°You wanna play, little guy?¡± Will could feel a Charge emanating from the Climber as he provoked the Sky Hare. The boss snarled and switched targets, giving Will the opportunity to regain his stance. The Climber performed a delicate move, trying to use the tassels on his off-hand to conceal a stab, sliding the sword fluidly past the tip of the whip as the boss charged him. The move was graceful and deadly, almost dancing, but unfortunately the boss was faster than the Climber had bargained for, dodging around the strike and covering half the Climber¡¯s body in hoarfrost. Will lunged forward and kicked the back of the Climber¡¯s knee, dropping his head out of the way of the Sky hare¡¯s trajectory, whipping the Tomahawk through the spot at the same time. The Boss caught the strike on a hind limb, nearly severing it entirely. Will turned to catch the Boss with a coup de grace when another hare jumped up into his face, forcing him to abandon his plan and decapitate the flying rodent instead. ¡°Mine!¡± A girl about Will¡¯s age dove forward, fiery claws springing from her ring, swinging them down at the Boss. The Boss dodged aside, still quick despite one of its legs being ruined, blasting the girl in the face with a blast of superchilled air. Will saw a flicker of something form in front of her face in the instant before she began reeling backwards, flailing wildly, her flaming claws blinking out. Will lunged forward and struck at the boss Sky Hare with his tomahawk before it could finish the job. The boss struck the blade with its foreclaws, turning the weapon sideways at the last instant, causing the attack to hit with the flat of the blade, sending the boss creature tumbling. ¡°heeeere, bunny, bunny, bunny,¡± The one with the annoying weapon said, jangling the bells irritatingly. Will wanted to walk up and shove the idiot the more he looked at him, until he realized it was an Ability. Some kind of Taunt effect. Will averted his gaze, and the desire to punch the guy¡¯s face was drastically lessened. Almost completely gone. ¡°Two steps back, Jangles,¡± Loth said, tapping the taunter on the back. The taunter took two steps back as the Boss charged, and a snare whipped up into the air in front of him, snagging the flightly creature out of the air and dragging it to the ground with explosive force. The taunter and the claw-girl lunged forward and stabbed the hare in unison, putting the boss out of the fight. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re really fast,¡± The Taunter said to¡­the claw girl? ¡°You too,¡± she said, looking up at him with round eyes. ¡°Are you in a Party yet?¡± ¡°I¡¯m between Parties. You?¡± ¡°Did you me saving both of you?¡± Will asked as they sank into their own little world. Half of him was irritated his contribution was being ignored, and the other half was irritated the Taunter somehow had the girl¡¯s complete attention despite being a screw-up. It wasn¡¯t logical. ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re old, so it doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re fast.¡± Taunter said. ¡°Say that to my face,¡± Will said, tilting up his mask. The girl¡¯s eyes widened and she glanced down to the gauntlet hanging slack on his left arm. ¡°Wait a second. Are you William Oh? William Oh?¡± She asked. ¡°Shit.¡± Will slapped the mask back down. ¡°No. I¡¯m old. Just a level thirty slumming it on the second Floor.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s William Oh?¡± The Taunter asked. ¡°He¡¯s this famous noob with one hand and a tomahawk. There¡¯re stories about him in every inn and rest stop all around the tower.¡± ¡°Oh! I never heard his name, but I hear some stories about a one-armed noob.¡± The Taunter said as he approached. He had black hair shorn close to his scalp, brown eyes, and a crooked nose. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Carrie,¡± she said, grabbing his hand and shaking it over-enthusiastically. She had short, frizzy brown hair and crooked teeth. ¡°Is it true you don¡¯t blink? What¡¯s your build that lets you fight with one hand? You¡¯re missing out on slots!¡± ¡°Well, I mean, how can you be sure he only has one hand? What if I do this-¡° Taunter lazily whipped his sword forward. Will tugged his hand out of Carrie¡¯s Grip, but the girl didn¡¯t let go. Will caught a mischievous grin as she anchored him in place. Will lunged toward Taunter, coming inside the man¡¯s range and headbutting his wrist before lashing out with his leg, causing the Taunter to topple to the ground. A blur of motion caught his eye as Carrie had released his hand and pulled out her claws out again, aiming for his leg while he was completely off balance. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Will released a stored bullet from the Phantom Hand in front of her attack, causing her to reel backwards before she burned herself on the tracer of fire hanging in front of his leg. Will swerved the Phantom Hand and released another bullet at her side while he regained his balance. He saw her claws flicker out, dimming before moved at lightning speed over to her chest piece, causing the Relic to glow before a tiny patch of iridescent black armor appeared directly in front of the bullet. ¡°Ah! Where did that-¡° She stumbled sideways, her footwork suffering as she tried to dodge around the glowing curtain between the two of them. Will shot another round at her chest while swinging a punch at her face. The tiny piece of armor shifted to block the more deadly projectile and Will¡¯s punch sailed through, causing Carrie to stumble backwards, blood shooting out of her nose. ¡°Poor William Oh. Wanted a hand, but no.¡± Something clicked in Will, and he knew he to punch this guy. Will turned and charged. Taunter was in a peculiar stance with the length of his short sword tucked directly underneath the riding crop, tip hidden in the tassels like a predator hiding from its prey in long grass. The ground under the two of them became a perfectly smooth sheet of ice. Will was pleased to note that the altered landscape moved with him as the center of the effect. Taunter shifted his weight to perform a perfect counter-attack to Will¡¯s charge, when his feet slipped out from under him. For an instant, the taunter was horizontal, his eyes as big as those doilies old ladies use to hold their drinks as he fell. Will punched him in the face. Or, he tried. The tassels and bells filled his entire world as the Taunter thrust the whip into his face. Will couldn¡¯t see or hear anything else. On instinct, he swept the gauntlet through the spot where he¡¯d last seen the shortsword. There was a sensation of metal on metal as the nonmagical gauntlet strapped to his stump deflected a stab away from his leg. Will guessed where Taunter¡¯s face would be. Since he was still falling, he couldn¡¯t dodge, so he¡¯d be¡­Will lunged forward with an extended knee. Will¡¯s knee met something distinctly skull-like with a satisfying impact. The tassels stopped flooding his senses as Taunter hit the ground and went spinning into the distance, sliding away on the zero-friction surface. ¡°Did you two want to keep going?¡± Will asked as the two Climbers rose to their feet, groaning. ¡°Because I can always tag in the rest of my Party.¡± Loth nodded, his hand near his satchel of trap supplies. ¡°That was awesome!¡± Carrie said, holding her nose shut. ¡°Where did those shots even come from?¡± ¡°How many Abilities do you ¡± Taunter asked, holding a piece of ice to his eye. ¡°A few,¡± Will admitted. Sure, most of them were from his equipment, but that went for everyone. ¡°I¡¯m Travis.¡± The Taunter said, putting away his weapons and gingerly crossing the ice before offering Will his hand. Will cocked his head, looking down at the offered hand suspiciously. ¡°What?¡± Travis asked, glancing down at his hand. ¡°We¡¯re done. I¡¯m not going to attack you any more, I just wanted to see how good you were.¡± ¡°And attacking people without warning is¡­normal?¡± Loth asked. ¡°What? That was just a spar. Spaaar. Totally normal.¡± Carrie said, waving off the kobold¡¯s concern. Will and Loth¡¯s gaze met. Will shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m a Master Decoy.¡± Travis said, drawing Will¡¯s attention back to him. ¡°I¡¯ve got taunts and a passive based on the number of enemies I¡¯m fighting. This here¡¯s The Irritating Whip. Tilts people and boosts Charm abilities.¡± He motioned to the colorful riding crop. ¡°I¡¯ve got an attack speed ring and an amulet that boosts my off-hand strength. Makes it easier to block and disarm with the whip.¡± ¡°You need better footing.¡± Will said. ¡°Yes, I just noticed that.¡± Travis admitted. ¡°I¡¯m an Eldritch Fashionista.¡± Carrie said, arriving beside them and raising her hand. ¡°This is Summer. Say hi, Summer.¡± The Relic on Carrie¡¯s hand glowed for a moment as the black thing flitted over to it. Then the iridescent black glob emerged from the ring and wiggled at them. It was covered in burning red lines that seemed to extend from the ring itself, almost like roots extending into the ring. ¡°She adopts the properties of the Relic she¡¯s parasitizing. This ring adds fire damage to attacks, so she can turn into burning claws.¡± ¡°And she can defend autonomously.¡± Loth mused. ¡°¡­means ¡®by itself¡¯,¡± He said before Will could ask. ¡°Well just say that, then.¡± Will muttered. ¡°Wow!¡± Travis said, eyes wide. ¡°That¡¯s gotta be a Rare Class.¡± Decoy was a rare Class too, as far as Will knew, but only because they usually died real quick. ¡°You betcha.¡± Carrie said, looking pleased with herself. ¡°She¡¯s just a baby right now. One day I¡¯ll ride around. I¡¯ve got a fire ring, some enhanced armor, a fire resist amulet, resistance pants, charging boots.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you charge?¡± Will asked. He didn¡¯t remember her using any enhanced speed or anything. Her eyes widened. ¡°I need more Kinesthetics.¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± Will nodded in agreement. Kinesthetics helped use Abilities fluidly. ¡°Anyway, my primaries gave me Summer, and a Teamwork passive. No active Abilities yet.¡± Carrie said. ¡°¡­So what¡¯s your Class?¡± Travis asked. Will nearly recoiled at the wide-eyed pair looking at him with innocent awe. ¡°Resourceful Climber.¡± Will admitted. ¡°I climb good. My primaries are a passive that improves footing, and an Ability that lets me shoot items directly from anything I¡¯m carrying.¡± Will omitted a few details, patting the bag of bullets on his hip. No reason to tell them everything when they attacked people for fun. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s why you¡¯re Resourceful. You don¡¯t even need the hand to attack. That¡¯s cool! And the synergy with that sheet of ice was just MM!¡± Carrie smiled through the sheet of blood running down her chin. ¡°You just kneed him right in the face! BAM!¡± ¡°Yes, I was there,¡± Travis said, his eye already swelling from the aforementioned kneeing. ¡°So you basically just pull your opponents into disadvantageous terrain and capitalize on it? ¡°Basically.¡± Will said. ¡°Effective.¡± Will grunted in agreement. ¡°So, do you need any more Party members?¡± Carrie asked, pursing her lips. While Will need more Party members, he didn¡¯t really want to add people who randomly attacked him because he was getting famous, even if it was a misguided attempt at an audition. ¡°Nope.¡± Will said. ¡°Yes.¡± Loth said at the same time. Will glanced over at Loth, who shrugged. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not going to invite you to my Party right this moment because you attacked without warning, which for me is a bit of a red flag. People don¡¯t just attack each other where I¡¯m from. But stick around for a while and prove you¡¯re not crazy and I¡¯ll consider it.¡± ¡°Awesome,¡± Carrie said, giving a blood-soaked grin and pumping her fist. ¡°Totally not crazy, so I¡¯ve got this in the bag.¡± She punctuated that statement by spitting out some blood. ¡°Nice.¡± Travis said, nodding. ¡°Also, what kind of city did you live in where Climbers don¡¯t fight to confirm who¡¯s stronger?¡± ¡°Ashwood.¡± ¡°Never heard of it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s small.¡± Will admitted. ¡°Well, in the city, if you meet someone you don¡¯t know, and you wanna make a good impression, you gotta fight ¡®em.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Will met Travis¡¯s eye and held his gaze for a long moment. ¡°¡­I¡¯m not gonna do that.¡± Will said. ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Travis said with a shrug. Will glanced up and noticed that the remaining Sky Hares had long since been mopped up. He glanced at Loth, who nodded, indicating that he¡¯d gotten the message as well. An extra-large Door appeared to accommodate their large group, and the bus was already heading through it. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go,¡± Will said, heading towards the door. ¡°But¡­Loot?¡± Travis said, pointing at the Boss they¡¯d defeated, which was still decomposing into neon blue Miasma that rose from its corpse. ¡°The bus is going to hand off their package to another bus waiting on the other side of the door. The second bus will have secured the hand-off area against monsters, but they¡¯re going to leave as soon as they get their passengers. If we want to keep trailing the bus to a stronghold on the 3rd floor, we need to go ¡± Will explained. ¡°But¡­loot?¡± Travis repeated, his voice nearly a whimper. ¡°You can stay if you want, you¡¯re not technically under my command,¡± Will said with a shrug, jogging towards the Door. ¡°Damn,¡± Will heard the Decoy mutter before running to catch up, joining the other three. Will screeched to a halt in front of the Door, his heartbeat spiking dramatically. Will logic-ed his way through the problem, disassociating with the moment, watching himself act, as though he were viewing everything from the end of a long tunnel. He could keep falling backwards through the Doors, not when more and more dangerous monsters and terrain waited on the other end. ¡°You good?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Yep,¡± Will said, swallowing the animalistic terror in his throat and stepping through. Will¡¯s face was slammed by a wave of hot air, nearly making him stagger in place. Ash crunched under his feet, the smell of ash and caustic fumes was thick, and the sun was dim, hanging blood red in the sky, casting everything in a reddish shade. It wasn¡¯t just the sun that looked bloody. Will thought he could smell it through the caustic fumes. Then he heard the screaming. Chapter 28: Why Baker Girls Specifically Will zeroed in on the noise, eyes widening. The veterans running the bus, people who were vastly overleveled for the Floor, were under attack by¡­other Climbers? Will¡¯s blood ran cold as he saw one of the men get bisected in a flash of light, only for his killer to be destroyed by a torrent of raging green fire. And on and on it went as the bandits and veterans tore each other apart. Will could see where the palanquin carried by the group that was supposed to meet them here had toppled over, it¡¯s flame-retardant exterior jutting into the ash. Men didn¡¯t fight to the death for a busload of noncombat classes¡­even if that could allow a Lord to write them off as dead while establishing a secret Stronghold on the floor from which he could stage an attack on a rival. A girl¡¯s shriek caused Will¡¯s legs to twitch with urgency. In the distance, Brianna was being dragged out of the iron palanquin, kicking, scratching, and biting. She was hauled out by a scruffy climber with an iron grip on her wrist, a furrowed brow and what looked like bad teeth. Will started running. ¡°OW! Calm down, you little cunt!¡± The Climber¡¯s voice came into earshot as Will came closer. Will wanted to hit him with his sling, but at this range¡­it wasn¡¯t a sure thing that he wouldn¡¯t hit Brianna, as the two were struggling violently less than an arm¡¯s length away from each other. There was a hissing of torn air as one of the veterans ran past and swung his blade at the kidnapper, who was forced to defend. The attack glanced off his blade and Will saw flashes of neon blue Miasma crackling through the air where their Active Abilities struggled against each other. The kidnapper lost his footing and was sent tumbling backwards, spinning into the distance, but unharmed. ¡°Stay in the palanquin!¡± The veteran ordered, his meaty hand shoving Bri back into the Iron cage before chasing after the kidnapper. Will thought, continuing to run towards her. There were only three veterans left, fending off more than a dozen men of nearly equal strength. It was only a matter of time. ¡°Where are you going!?¡± Loth demanded, his voice rising as Will charged into danger. ¡°Cute baker girl!¡± Will hollered over his shoulder ¡°Secure escape!¡± ¡°They don¡¯t even want us! Why are you¡­¡± Loth¡¯s voice faded into the distance as Will arrived next to the Palanquin, peering in through the empty iron door. A shriek locked up his joints, and a blast of makeup caught him full in the face, only missing his eyes by virtue of his mask¡¯s supernatural clarity. ¡°Hey,¡± Will said, scanning the sideways palanquin. The other passengers were unconscious, bleeding from the head where they¡¯d slammed into the side of the transport unexpectedly. Brianna¡¯s own hair was matted with blood, but she seemed lucid enough to try to blind him. Brianna had a bag of face powder in one hand and a crocheting needle in the other, regarding him with a feral expression, her arm cocked back to deliver a vicious stab. Her expression shifted when she saw his goat mask. ¡°This isn¡¯t looking good,¡± Will said, glancing to either side, trying to keep his eyes open for that bisecting flash of light. ¡°You wanna get out of here, Bri?¡± ¡°He said to stay in the bus.¡± Bri said. ¡°Well, he just died,¡± Will said, watching the veteran get pinned to the ground by a massive spear, then beheaded by the spear-wielder¡¯s teammate. ¡°I¡¯ll die too if I stay longer. Now or never, Brianna.¡± Will said, offering his hand. Will thought. It only took one. Bri took his hand and he hauled her out of the palanquin. ¡°Piggy back ride.¡± Will said, taking off his backpack and kneeling, grabbing Cold Harvest and looping it through the other side of his belt. Losing the Gauntlets of speed was a shame, but they were basic equipment he could replace, obtaining a Baker Girl was always going to be Will¡¯s higher priority. Will grunted as the slender girl locked her arms around his neck. ¡°Try not to choke me,¡± Will rasped. ¡°Okay, what now?¡± Brianna asked, adjusting her grip as the last Veteran went down. The surrounding bandits turned to face the two of them with hungry expressions. ¡°What NOW!?¡± Brianna demanded. Will whipped out a bullet with his sling, aiming at the attackers, careful not to hit the girl peering over his shoulder, officially engaging the other Climbers in combat. He didn¡¯t hang around to see if it had hit: he knew it hadn¡¯t. No veteran who saw a low power bullet like that coming at them would allow it to hit them. That wasn¡¯t what Will had been aiming for. He just wanted his boots to acknowledge it as a combat encounter. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Close your eyes and hold on tight,¡± Will said as he ducked down behind the palanquin, cutting off line of sight between himself and the enemy. ¡°Okay, but ¡± Brianna¡¯s question turned into a shriek as they blasted off at triple speed. 5. Will got halfway to Loth in the first second. 4. Will arrived at the escape zone and saw that Carrie and Travis had already gained a significant amount of distance while Loth set up their escape route. ¡°STEP HERE!¡± Loth shouted, pointing at a spot on the ground before raising his arms for pickup. Will stepped on it on the way past, picking up Loth as he did. 3. BOOM! An explosion sounded behind them as a curtain of ash cut off line of sight, resetting Will¡¯s boots and hiding Loth¡¯s other traps. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to have a talk about your fixation on bakers.¡± Loth said, arms crossed, glancing at Brianna, whose legs were threatening to cut off the blood supply to his lower body as she shrieked. At least she wasn¡¯t choking him. ¡°Later!¡± Will shouted as he ran. Will heard cries of pain behind him as their pursuers ran into Loth¡¯s traps. ¡°Use your Amulet.¡± Loth said. Will didn¡¯t see anyone nearby, but Loth was probably seeing something he wasn¡¯t. Will did so. ¡°That way,¡± Loth said, pointing off to the side, across the softest stretch of ash, towards what looked like a stream-bed. Will didn¡¯t think about it and just They came across a wide stream of lava burbling merrily along, cracks of orange-hot stone peeking out from underneath the solid black coating on the surface. It was singing the hairs on Will¡¯s arm even from a stone¡¯s throw away, but thanks to Loth¡¯s coaching, the stream turned to ice as Will passed over it, saving them from severe burns as he sprinted over it. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Hide here, cancel the effect.¡± Loth said, pointing Will dove behind the raised ledge of baked rock, cancelling the ability. The heat of the 3rd floor beat down on them again as the comforting ice faded out of existence. Will dropped to the ground, panting, dropping Brianna into the ash with a squawk. ¡°Excellent.¡± Loth said, peering over the edge of their concealment with a tiny polished mirror. ¡°Look.¡± He handed the mirror to Will, who peered over the edge of the rock with it. The explosion of ash settled, revealing the confused bandits.. ¡°What happened to us against the Tower?¡± Will muttered quietly to himself. ¡°As long as resource scarcity dictates our behavior, that will never be the case.¡± Loth replied. ¡°Do you see what I¡¯ve done?¡± Will scanned the confused Climbers for another second before he noticed. ¡°I didn¡¯t leave any footprints on the ice,¡± Will said. Indeed, the soft ash that had turned into hard ice as he ran by had turned back into soft ash, none the worse for wear. It was as if Will had never come this direction, and no one in their right mind would expect a low-level like him to have crossed that lava flow without dying. The high-level veterans were scratching their heads and scanning the surrounding, looking for any hint of where Brianna had been taken. They seemed to sniff around after Carrie and Travis¡¯s tracks for a moment before shaking their heads. However temporarily, they¡¯d slipped away from Climbers. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you the party leader?¡± Will whispered. ¡°Because you wanted it more than I did.¡± Loth said with a shrug. ¡°Makes no difference to me as long as you¡¯re willing to do as I ask when it matters. That being said, help me set up this tarp.¡± He said, unfolding a tightly packed piece of waxed cloth. ¡°And it goes without saying, but I¡¯ll go ahead and say it: don¡¯t stand up.¡± ¡°Noted.¡± Will said, and together they unfolded the tarp and began covering it with ash. ¡°Can I help?¡± Brianna asked as the two of them worked. ¡°Make the edges of the ash look undisturbed, if you can,¡± Loth said, sending Brianna busily to work. ¡°Don¡¯t stray from behind the rock, though. A minute later, the three of them were huddled under the stiffened tarp, which had taken the color and consistency of the surrounding wasteland. None too soon, either, as the surrounding ash began to crunch and shift under someone¡¯s feet. ¡°Thought I heard something out this way.¡± The voice said, coming around the rock they were hiding behind and standing in front of them. For a dreadful moment, they held their collective breath, praying that the Climbers didn¡¯t try to stand on their hiding spot, revealing it as flimsy fabric. ¡°See anything?¡± Another voice asked. ¡°¡­Nah, no sign of ¡®em. Let¡¯s keep following the river.¡± The sound of footsteps through the ash faded into the distance. Will was tempted to let out a sigh of relief, but he couldn¡¯t believe they got away that easily. They continued waiting and listening, the sound of footsteps coming and going several times as the blood red sun, faintly visible through the fabric, began to set on the third Floor. The temperature under the tarp was sweltering, even before cramming three individuals together in a space the size of a poor man¡¯s bathtub. Will and Bri were sweating profusely, gradually becoming fused together as their clothes became sodden. Loth wasn¡¯t doing much better, panting quietly out of his mouth, tongue hanging out like a tired dog. Even with Will¡¯s cloak providing faint whisps of cool vapor, it seemed as though the environment confiscated them with prejudice, as they only lasted long enough to highlight how uncomfortable they really were. ¡°You¡¯re smearing your scent-ooze on me.¡± Loth said at a nearly sub-audible whisper. ¡°Ugh, humans are disgusting! Quit it!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t shut it off!¡± Will whispered back. ¡°Why don¡¯t you stop panting like a do-¡° Will felt a faint pinch on his ribs as Bri held a finger to her lips. They froze in place, listening quietly, but no sounds approached. Still, the message had been received. Eventually the sun sank into the earth granting them a slight reprieve from the oppressive heat. Despite being dim, the sun seemed to provide more heat than on other floors. Will had no idea why that was, he was only thankful it was gone. Several minutes after the sun had fallen, Loth poked a tiny hole in the tarp and used his mirror to do a full scan of their surroundings. ¡°Looks clear,¡± He whispered. ¡°Their search pattern has expanded far enough that we may safely travel inside it.¡± ¡°Actually, Loth, can I get some glowbugs?¡± Will asked, patting the side of Bri¡¯s head, where blood had matted her hair into a stiff knot. ¡°We need to make sure that head wound isn¡¯t going to get worse.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not my blood,¡± Bri said, pushing his hand away, groaning in disgust as they unstuck themselves from each other, sweat-fused fibers reluctantly releasing. They emerged from the camouflage tarp cocoon, newly hatched denizens of the 3rd Floor. Sticky, and barely alive. ¡°Ugh,¡± Will groaned, taking off his shirt and it off to the side, leaving just the Cloak of Misty Escape over his shoulders. Will drew the Relic tight around him, shuddering at the cooling sensation. ¡°Must be nice to be able to take your shirt off whenever you want,¡± Brianna said, wistfully glancing at his shirt, her own patterned dress clinging to her form. ¡°Oh. Uh¡­Uh¡­¡± Will¡¯s brain tried and failed to come up with a reasonable solution. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Bri said, waving him off. ¡°I¡¯m okay, it¡¯s just really gross.¡± ¡°Gotcha,¡± Will said with a nod. ¡°Oh, by the way.¡± He pulled out and offered her the Sickle of Cold Harvest. ¡°This is a bad weapon. It raises the resistances against it¡¯s own damage type¡­but it¡¯s better than a rock. Use it if we come up against something mean.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡­I¡¯ve¡­never had any training.¡± Bri said, holding the weapon at arm¡¯s length like it might bite her. ¡°The pointy end goes into the other man.¡± Will said, tapping the tip of the sickle. ¡°There. Now you¡¯ve got the same amount of weapons training that I do.¡± ¡°William, I believe you¡¯re underestimating how much of a natural talent you are at dispensing violence.¡± Loth said. ¡°Also, can I talk to you over there?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Will followed Loth out of immediate earshot. ¡°Alright, what¡¯s your deal with bread and baker girls? You got us into a hole for a noncombat class that we do not have the infrastructure to utilize right now.¡± Will opened his mouth and shut it again. ¡°I never really thought about it.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m asking.¡± ¡°If you know, when I was about ten, there was this older girl in the orphanage who would bake every morning before everyone woke up¡­¡± Will briefly remembered the morning he¡¯d woken up early, seeing Muse standing in front of the window, the morning sun rendering her in silhouette as she carried her buns in front of the window¡­ ¡°So you imprinted on a baker girl when you were young and she¡¯s the yardstick by which you measure all potential mates?¡± ¡°You make it sound so reductive.¡± Will said sourly. ¡°But yeah, probably. Never thought about it.¡± ¡°You understand how deep our problems are right now?¡± Loth asked. Will nodded. ¡°What do you think is the best way to survive?¡± ¡°They¡¯re going to concentrate their search on the stronghold to the east,¡± Loth said, musing. ¡°The best chance of us surviving lies on making it to the Stronghold, so they¡¯ll inevitably try and block it off.¡± ¡°So what are you thinking?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking we need to find a source of water, and if we can do that¡­we can stay in one spot, camp out within sight of a Key Site, grind XP, and once the Acclimation is over, we can jump in on a bus as it¡¯s heading up to the 4th Floor. Bypass this mess entirely. ¡°You wanna just rawdog all of the 3rd Floor!?¡± Will asked, eyes wide. ¡°It¡¯s got about the same odds as trying to sneak past a determined search party of high-level Climbers, with the added benefit of allowing us to gain levels and expire on our own terms.¡± ¡°You mean succeed on our own terms?¡± Will asked. ¡°I know what I said.¡± Loth responded. ¡°EEEEK!¡± The two of them jumped at a shriek from Bri¡¯s direction. Bri was standing over a giant snail, about the size of a man. It¡¯s head was lying on the ground, severed by Cold Harvest. Hundreds of thumb-length crystals had emerged from the creature¡¯s skin. The body itself was slowly writhing as it died. ¡°Are you okay!?¡± Will asked as he arrived. ¡°Y-yeah,¡± Bri said, nodding. ¡°Just surprised when I turned around and saw it oozing towards me. Menacingly.¡± ¡°Drink this now,¡± Loth said, shoving his waterskin in Will¡¯s hand. ¡°Okay.¡± Will drank about half and handed the rest to Bri while Loth pulled out a pair of metal tongs from his toolkit and began prying the ice crystals off. ¡°If this is real ice, we could be looking at our solution,¡± Loth said, taking the mouthpiece out of his waterskin once Bri was done with it and dropping the crystals in, continuing to pry them off one at a time. ¡°¡­Here,¡± Bri said, kneeling down with Cold Harvest, putting down a napkin from her dress and setting the edge of the sickle against the monster¡¯s skin. With a smooth sawing motion, she freed hundreds of crystals from the snail¡¯s head, dropping them into the napkin before bundling them up. The cloth rapidly turned moist from the ambient temperature and began dripping. ¡°In the waterskin,¡± Loth said, prompting Bri to pour her ice crystal harvest into the waterproof leather pouch. Loth regarded Bri with a weighing gaze as she stood up. ¡°Good thinking,¡± Loth admitted, shaking his bag of ice, which was condensing water on the outside. He ran his finger through the condensed water and tasted it, his expression thoughtful. ¡°Sometimes a weapon¡¯s description doesn¡¯t cover everything.¡± She said with a shrug. ¡°It just seemed like the right way to use it.¡± ¡°Maybe you¡¯re a natural Climber too,¡± Loth mused, glancing over at the severed head of the giant snail. The monster had begun to break down, it¡¯s soft rubbery flesh dissolving into flickers of blue miasma as it shrank, leaving behind an empty metallic shell. . A sound came from inside the shell, prompting them to tip the heavy armor over, revealing a breastplate and a handful of gold coins. ¡°Want some armor?¡± Will asked. Bri considered a moment before nodding. ¡°Yes, but if it¡¯s really heavy, I¡¯ll have to leave it.¡± She took the breastplate and put it over her head. In the manner of Relics, it changed itself to match her body, shrinking in size. ¡°Hey, this isn¡¯t really heavy at all! And it¡¯s got Strength and Resistance boosts.¡± ¡°Awesome,¡± Will said, giving a thumb¡¯s up and trying not to laugh at the image of a plate cuirass secured over a faded floral dress. ¡°How do I look?¡± Bri asked, flexing. ¡°Like you¡¯re wearing a cuirass.¡± Loth said with a shrug. ¡°Let¡¯s get started North. Half the night into their trek, they came across Carrie and Travis, cooking a giant beetle in its own shell. ¡°We thought you two were dead,¡± Carrie said, her gaze lingering on Bri for a moment. ¡°What a great idea. Skip the loot, dive straight into a free-for all.¡± Travis added with a bit more sass than Will liked. ¡°You and I both know no one could¡¯ve predicted that,¡± Will said, sitting in the ash across the fire from from them, Loth and Bri following . ¡°I can¡¯t help but notice you¡¯re heading North as well.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, the closest Stronghold is East, but there¡¯s another past the Key Site north of us.¡± Travis said, pulling out a map. ¡°You wanna join our Party for the trip?¡± Carrie and Travis glanced at each other. ¡°Look, we¡¯re willing to travel with you for safety, but we¡¯re not going to join your Party right this moment¡­ because you ran into a suicidal fight within minutes of meeting you, which for us is a bit of a red flag. People don¡¯t just try to get themselves killed where we¡¯re from. But if you make a good impression over the next few days, we¡¯ll consider it.¡± Travis said. ¡°Been saving that one up, huh?¡± Will asked. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve been working on it the whole way here.¡± Travis admitted with an annoying smirk. ¡°How about you?¡± Will asked Brianna. ¡°Me? Oh, I¡¯m not allowed to join any Parties until I make it to my destination. It¡¯s part of my Contract.¡± Bri said, shaking her head. Being in a Party made it easier to coordinate based on their Classes, and easier for The System to calculate contribution and what rewards should be assigned to a group of Climbers, but it wasn¡¯t absolutely necessary, so Will dropped the subject. ¡°I didn¡¯t know about the northern Stronghold. I guess we¡¯ll be travelling together for the next few days,¡± Loth said. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll trade you some water for some beetle.¡± He held out the waterskin and shook it a bit, sloshing the liquid inside. ¡°Deal,¡± Carrie said, snapping off a leg of beetle and trading it for Loth¡¯s waterskin. ¡°AH!¡± Carrie gasped in satisfaction after taking a long drink. ¡®¡­Safe to drink¡¯ Loth mouthed at Will, his face hidden from the others by the leg of beetle. Will patted Loth on the back. Chapter 29: Boot Swap The snails were actually harder to kill than Bri had made it seem, due to their mace-like eyeballs laden with metal deposits from a lifetime spent sucking on metal-laden rocks. These eyeballs were the size of a man¡¯s fist, with natural protrusions made to crumple armor, whipping around fast enough to them. ¡°Hold it still!¡± Loth said, riding on the snail¡¯s extended neck, wielding Cold Harvest. ¡°Whaddya think I¡¯m- agh!- doing!¡± Carrie demanded, the whipping eyeball dragging her feet through the soft ashen floor. ¡°I could help?¡± Bri asked. ¡°You¡¯re helping by watching for more of them,¡± Will said, ¡°Plus, you¡¯re a noncombat class, so-Oh, Crap ¨C So you¡¯re not really cut out for it.¡± ¡°Good job you guys.¡± Travis said, stifling a yawn as he idly jingled his whip in the snail¡¯s face, keeping it fixated on the same target and not doing anything unexpected. ¡°Keep it up.¡± His was the most important job, but it was also the easiest. Loth nicked the snail¡¯s neck, creating a massive patch of hoarfrost. It seemed as though the amount of hoarfrost created was unrelated to the amount of damage dealt¡­which meant they could game it quite a bit. Real bad day for the snail. ¡°Hold the bag, Bri.¡± Loth said, motioning to the side of the snail. Bri hustled to stand on that side with the water bag. Loth scraped the edge of the sickle across the hoarfrost, sending a rain of tiny crystals down into the maxed bag. Loth made a series of minor cuts along the length of the snail¡¯s neck, harvesting each patch of hoarfrost in between. This went on for several minutes before the bag was full, and they needed to dispose of the monster. With the snail¡¯s neck stretched out, Loth raised Cold Harvest high and brought it down with all his might¡­ Getting the blade stuck a couple inches into the creature¡¯s neck as ice kept filling the wound. ¡°Could I get some-¡° ¡°Here, lemme help,¡± Travis said, moving to help now that keeping the snail fixated was no longer necessary. Will and Carrie grunted with effort as they got violently dragged around the ash while Travis and Loth sawed their way through the neck until the head finally fell off. The mace-like eyeball he was holding onto went glassy and stopped trying to whip him, and Will finally was able to take a step back, rubbing the cramps out of his arms. Panting, Loth glanced down at the severed head, then up at Will, meeting his gaze for a heartbeat before he glanced at Brianna. ¡°Well, looks like water has been acquired.¡± Will said, approaching the dissolving snail and waiting for it to dispense their prize. They tipped over the shell to reveal a mace shaped like an eyeball on the end of a stalk and a few gold pieces. ¡°I should¡¯ve seen that coming,¡± Will mused, picking up the weapon. Active Ability: 1 Charge. Second sight. The wielder may see further into the infrared spectrum allowing them to see things they may otherwise have not perceived. Lasts 1 hour. ¡°What¡¯s the infrared spectrum?¡± Will mused. ¡°Of electromagnetic radiation: having a wavelength just greater than that of the red end of the visible light spectrum but less than that of microwaves. Infrared radiation has a wavelength from about 800 nm to 1 mm, and is emitted particularly by heated objects.¡± ¡°And¡­what does that mean?¡± ¡°I know the definition of almost all of the words contained in that sentence, but I still¡­¡± Loth shrugged, shaking his head. ¡°It sounds like you can see¡­hot things?¡± It sounded like an interesting ability, but no one had the Charge required to keep it up and running indefinitely, so the Active was only applicable in specific circumstances. They wound up giving it to Bri, who was beginning to look snail-like herself, gradually acquiring a collection of snail-related plate armor over her floral dress. All of it shared the same organic smoothness and hue of the snail¡¯s shell. She had become ¡®The Snail Knight¡¯. ¡°We need to get you some pants.¡± Carrie mused, looking at Bri¡¯s sabatons peeking out from under the hem of her faded floral dress. ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡± Bri admitted, shouldering the man-sized sack of ice. ¡°I have a tap in my kit for getting sap from trees, but I might be able to sew it into the bag and turn it into a faucet,¡± Loth mused, running his clawed hands over the bag of ice. ¡°Best not risk putting holes in our biggest watertight container.¡± Carrie said. ¡°Tight seals in fabric are not easily created in the field.¡± ¡°Mm,¡± Loth nodded, turning his attention back to packing up, getting the pitons he¡¯d used to keep the snail in place dug out of the ground. ¡°Is this what leading a larger Party feels like?¡± Will asked, standing on top of a nearby rock with his hand on his hip, overseeing the group preparing to head out. Travis looked like he wanted to say something, but Will was already packed up and ready to go, so there wasn¡¯t really much he could complain about. Which was exactly the way Will preferred it. They trekked to the north, carefully avoiding combat as much as possible. It made no sense to seek out combat when they didn¡¯t have a safe place to retreat to. Even if gaining levels would make the trip safer on average, every encounter always ran the possibility of pulling way more aggro than your team could handle¡­ And then you died. The only time they stopped to fight something was when they started running low on water and could find a relatively slow or weak monster, like the snails. They skirted around an ominously bubbling pond of inky black tar. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. After Loth nearly fell into a sloping ash-pit with a menacing grasper-faced creature in the center, Will always took the lead. He guided them around a hill that felt suspiciously hollow under his enhanced footing, avoided the dried-up spoor of flammenwulf, took them across a lava flow with an application of Home Field Advantage and a rope to tug them along, and created a manageable path up a cliff, standing at the top and helping them up one by one. ¡°Your class¡­¡± Travis panted between swigs of water as they rested at the top. ¡°Is really good¡­at travelling. Have you considered being a messenger?¡± S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°I suppose it is, but no, never considered it.¡± Will said, snacking on a carbon-covered shrub that pretended to be burnt to avoid being snacked on. He¡¯d peeled the charred bark and underneath It tasted pleasantly astringent. Mildly poisonous. Best of all there was a little water inside it. He hadn¡¯t drunk any water since Carrie and Travis had seen him arrive. Will noticed them giving him odd looks now and again. It was hot, sure, but Aspect of the Goat cut it down from dangerously hot to uncomfortably hot, and the Cloak of Misty escape lowered that even further. Not to mention his high Resistance for his level. Once he got used to the sensation of the blistering heat on his face¡­it wasn¡¯t that bad. He also got plenty of water from the local plant life. Especially their roots, where they seemed to store what little moisture they could eke out of the environment. This possibly led their temporary members to believe he didn¡¯t need to drink at Perceived superhuman endurance suited Will just fine when dealing with those two city-slickers. They traveled slow, backtracking several times when a particular area was impassable to everyone save Will, or filled with monsters that they stood no chance against. After two days, they caught sight of the Key Site, blasting the neon blue light into the sky, visible for miles in every direction. According to Travis¡¯s fancy, expensive map, there was a Stronghold a couple days further north past the Key Site. ¡°Ooh, that¡¯s pretty!¡± Bri said, drawing Will¡¯s attention towards her. She was standing in the middle of the group, pointing at a curtain of tiny motes of swirling light, ranging in color from amber to crimson, gently drifting towards them¡­against the wind. ¡°¡­We should run. Run¡­RUN, NOW!¡± Will shouted as they sat there staring at the motes of pretty light like a bunch of lobotomized. The cloud moved deceptively fast. A single mote leading the pack alighted on Bri¡¯s shoulder and burned a thumb-sized hole through the heavy plate armor she was wearing, eliciting a cry of pain and the faint hiss of boiling blood. That got the Party moving. As one, the five of them began to sprint northwest, aiming away from¡­whatever the Abyss that was. Whatever organism it was, it had them in its sights, and it followed them at a dead sprint, flowing gracefully across the land, almost as if the motes were suspended in some kind of liquid. About a minute into the run, Carrie ran out of breath first. ¡°I can¡¯t, I can¡¯t!¡± she gasped, her breathing ragged. They hadn¡¯t gotten much distance between themselves and the mote swarm. If she slowed down now, she was dead. ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to!¡± Will said, turning to Loth. ¡°Loth, give me a rope with four handholds!¡± Loth nodded and pulled out one of his spidersilk ropes. His rope amulet glimmered as he activated it, causing the rope to instantly form the knots necessary to create the four loops. ¡°Stop, stop!¡± Will said, waving for them to halt. They¡¯d gained a few scant seconds on the creature, but they needed more speed. A lot more. ¡°Arms through,¡± Will said, grabbing Carrie¡¯s arm and shoving it through the loop, crooking her elbow over it and clasping the arm with her other, making it nearly impossible to let go. Travis and Brianna nodded, following suit. Loth looked down at Will¡¯s boots, his eyes widening before he wrapped the rope around his arm several times and held on for dear life. When everyone was on board the Will Bus, he got them underway. Will wrapped the rope around his waist, where it tied itself into a comfortable harness thanks to Loth. A thick cloud erupted from Will and obscured all five of them. The ground under Will turned into a perfect surface of frictionless ice, and Will started The ice rose up to fill the tread of his shoes, curling around his heel and providing perfect grip despite being nearly frictionless. Despite moving at triple speed, it was almost impossible for Will to immediately get up to max speed while dragging three and a half people across a flat plane of ice. It was a problem of Inertia more than anything else. Will heard screaming from behind him, and was pleased to note that none of the screams were falling behind, indicating that the plan was working. He reached max speed just as the Boots of Outflanking cut out, diving to the ground. ¡°Whaddya think?¡± Will asked as they slid across the ice at frankly dangerous speeds, gaining tons of distance on the voracious motes of light. ¡°I think I want your boots and cloak. How much?¡± Travis said, sliding close behind him. ¡°Five hundred Ivory,¡± Will said, fifty thousand gold was a price no one in their right mind would- ¡°Deal.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Will asked. ¡°Here,¡± Travis began counting out ivory ten-pieces as the hot wind whipped past them, while the ice under their butts threatened to freeze their nuts off. Once the coin was jingling in front of his face, Will had to make the snap decision: give up the soft-set that had saved his life on more than one occasion in exchange for a huge amount of money, or pass the offer. Will asked himself. The cloak couldn¡¯t be used for another half an hour, and while the boots were great, Will knew he would eventually get better gear. Gravity Charge could allow him to stand on the ceiling or fall away from danger pretty much as far as he wanted. That settled Will¡¯s mind. Climbing was all about risk versus reward. ¡°Alright, Deal,¡± Will said, accepting the cash and taking off his boots and cloak, handing them over and accepting Travis¡¯s boots in return. This was all done as they slid across ice at mind-boggling speed. ¡°It looks like it didn¡¯t go very deep,¡± Loth was saying, inspecting Bri¡¯s shoulder. ¡°That cuirass absorbed most of the heat. You¡¯ll have a nice scar, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have any permanent damage.¡± ¡°Whew,¡± Bri sighed, relaxing against the ice she was currently hurtling across at break-neck speed. ¡°You want these boots?¡± Will asked, offering them to the Kobold. ¡°Lemme see.¡± Loth said, taking the boots. ¡°Hmm¡­yes, I want these boots.¡± Loth said. ¡°Will you be okay with the loss of Fire resistance?¡± Will asked. ¡°I believe I¡¯ve grown accustomed to it.¡± Loth said, taking his boots off and passing them to Will. ¡°Why do you have leadership boots anyway?¡± Will asked Travis. ¡°Your Class has no use for those.¡± ¡°You ever have your parents refuse to give up on their plan for you?¡± Travis asked. ¡°Who try to fit you in their little mold regardless of how they have to force it?¡± ¡°Yes and no,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°What do boots do?¡± Carrie asked, pointing at the Ashwalkers. ¡°Better grip on ash and fire-related surfaces, and fire resistance.¡± Will said, handing them to her. ¡°I¡¯ll trade you for mine,¡± She said. ¡°Part of the reason I couldn¡¯t keep running was because that ash is so tiring to run on.¡± ¡°What do yours do?¡± Will asked. ¡°They¡¯re¡­weighted combat platforms,¡± She said, pulling them off to reveal that the sole was several inches thicker than Will had thought. This also meant Carrie was several inches shorter than he¡¯d been led to believe. ¡°Well, there¡¯s your problem right there,¡± Will said, trading the shoes. ¡°I¡¯ll loan you the Ashwalkers until we arrive in town or one of us dies.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± She said with a grateful nod as they switched boots. ¡°This is gonna be a life-saver.¡± Will inspected the boots he¡¯d wound up with. When Will put them on his feet, they altered their size to match his feet, the polished black exterior turning dark brown and slightly¡­cloven. ¡°Seriously? Oops, momentum is dying,¡± Will said, strapping the platforms on. ¡°Get ready to run again!¡± They tensed, and a moment later, Will canceled the Homefield Advantage. The five of them leapt to their feet and kept running, each of them showing different reactions to their new footwear. Carrie looked like a weight had been lifted, which it obviously had, because now each of Will¡¯s feet felt like it weighed an extra ten pounds. Loth was moving just a bit slower, but he seemed determined to power through in exchange for the bonus to his insects. And Travis was giggling with barely restrained glee, anxious to put his new boots to work. Will was anxious to buy some sweet gear with the frankly ridiculous amount of pocket money Travis¡¯s parents had obviously given him. They were halfway past the Key Site when the curtain of hungry motes decided they weren¡¯t worth pursuing, instead turning its attention on the monsters surrounding the Key site. In the distance, they watched as the monsters squirmed violently and died, bursting into flames as the veil of fire settled over them, which spoke volumes about the extreme heat the motes were generating. Creatures on the 3rd floor were generally fire-tolerant, at the very least. ¡°I hope that doesn¡¯t get the next Party to visit the Key Site killed,¡± Will said. It probably would, but maybe not. ¡°We can report it to the Exchange Hall if we get to the Stronghold fast enough,¡± Travis said, pulling out his map and checking it. He oriented north northeast. ¡°We¡¯re about here¡­so maybe one more day and we¡¯ll hit the Stronghold.¡± Travis said, pointing outward. ¡°How much for that map?¡± Will asked. ¡°One million gold.¡± Travis said, tucking it back in his vest pocket. ¡°Boo.¡± They set off again, returning to their relaxed pace, slow and cautious of the brutal environment. ¡°I feel like an idiot in these things,¡± Will muttered, clomping along, three inches taller than he was used to. Chapter 30: The Dead City Jason Salazar. Will trudged along, acclimating to the platforms. ¡°People wear these? Willingly?¡± Will asked, resolving to buy a sweet pair of boots at the next possible opportunity. ¡°Mostly young women and male actors who need to appear taller on stage,¡± Carrie admitted. Will¡¯s paranoia began measuring him up against their travelling companions, entirely without his consent. His paranoia at least mildly satisfied, Will refocused on their mission: Make it to the Stronghold, then start pushing into the 3rd floor from a position of safety. And to do that¡­he just needed to put one clomping foot in front of another. Unfortunately, they were trudging through the middle of the wilderness, at about half Charge, and there was no telling when a fight would take all his Charge to win or escape from, so there was no sense playing around with his Abilities. anything? Of course, to Will, it was the gut-twisting experience of free-fall, intensified by the extra gravity, but to everyone else? It was flight. And Gravity Charge lasted for seconds equal to his Resistance. That was thirty seconds of falling, which could cover a pretty vast distance, not even including inertia carrying him through after the Ability cut out. What if he held something in his hand and used it as the target? Would he then fly towards the object while simultaneously pushing it forward in his hand? Something about that didn¡¯t feel right, like he was going to run into some weirdness if he tried, but Will couldn¡¯t try it out until he had the leeway to experiment. ¡°There it is!¡± Travis said, pointing out the distant Stronghold. The optics of the 3rd floor weren¡¯t good for viewing things from a distance, and all any of them could make out was a smudge on the horizon. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll be impressed when you see my family¡¯s Stronghold,¡± Travis said. ¡°I¡¯m told the entire city is built around a giant corkscrew that pumps oil straight out of the ground using steam power.¡± ¡°Where do they get the water?¡± Will asked. ¡°Abilities, mostly.¡± Travis said with a shrug. ¡°The third floor pays Climbers with water-creating Abilities rather well. My family especially.¡± ¡°¡­Have you ever been there?¡± Will asked, wondering how on earth someone could be proud of a screw, let alone build a city around a screw. ¡°This is going to be my first visit. Unannounced, of course.¡± Travis preened annoyingly. ¡°I find it¡¯s best to catch the commoners unawares so you can get an accurate evaluation of their work ethic.¡± Pretty much everything Travis did was annoying, but Will tried not to hold it against him, he was starting to suspect it was a Passive Ability. ¡°This is the same family whose plan you want nothing to do with?¡± Will asked. ¡°Its¡­complicated.¡± Travis admitted. ¡°They¡¯ve got other children better suited to Leadership Classes, though. I won¡¯t be missed.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bet.¡± Carrie said with a shrug. ¡°Anyway! I can see the road from here, let¡¯s get on it.¡± Travis said, tucking away his map and pointing. Will could see a winding brown line drifting through the ash-cloaked valleys below heading towards the smudge. Roads weren¡¯t perfectly safe, but it was well understood that if there was enough traffic to make a road, then the risk of travel was evenly split by all of the Climbers on that road, lowering the danger when taken as a whole. It was as good a plan as any. They made it to the road and followed its winding path north, the Key Site fading into the distance behind them. The road itself was covered with a thin coating of ash from the drifts that were occasionally pushed around by the wind. The wind was dead still, though. Will frowned as something nagged at him. About half an hour into their trek along the road, Will realized what was giving him the bad feeling. ¡°How come there aren¡¯t any people on the road?¡± Will asked. Their prints in the ash were the only sign of anyone passing through. Travis looked at him, then up and down the road, his gaze finally settling on their lonely footprints in the thin layer of ash. The group settled into foreboding silence. Loth held a finger up to his lips and pointing up the side of the hill they¡¯d been winding around. Will and the other three nodded Silently, the five of them left the road, climbing up the nearby hill to perch at the top, peering down at the road ahead of them, concealed in the heat-cracked boulders. There were no travellers on the road. Seemingly no monsters either. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± Travis whispered. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re under attack? I can¡¯t think of any other reason for the roads to be empty. Merchants with big tankers full of oil follow these roads day and night¡­or so I¡¯m told.¡± ¡°Should we avoid it?¡± Brianna asked. ¡°We¡¯re on the Stronghold¡¯s doorstep already,¡± Will said, as much to himself as everyone else. ¡°We should at least verify what¡¯s going on with our own eyes, in case it¡¯s something we can handle. Because the alternative is another dangerous trek, while also trying to dodge those bandits.¡± Stolen novel; please report. The others nodded, and they set off. They didn¡¯t follow the road exactly anymore, instead skipping from hilltop to hilltop. It was much more effort than simply following the road, but it allowed them to get a good view of their path before they committed to it. No ambushes, no monsters, no people. They finally reached the top of the last hill, cautiously crawling to the summit and peering over. In the distance, the stronghold loomed large, a massive plume of steam rising above the city. Will could pick of the faintest sound of grinding at an ultra-low pitch, as if the very earth itself was sliding against itself. ¡°Looks like the pump is still working,¡± Travis mused. ¡°That¡¯s gotta be a good sign. The lights too.¡± Man-sized flames burned bright on the walls, shedding light on the area around the stronghold¡¯s walls. They must¡¯ve been fed by the endless oil that was being pumped out of the earth. ¡°Nobody on the walls.¡± Loth said. ¡­ ¡­¡­ There weren¡¯t. The hairs on Will¡¯s neck stood on end. The swirling paranoia in his stomach was telling him that this could be very dangerous¡­and very lucrative. ¡°Bad air, maybe?¡± Carrie asked. ¡°Sometimes people suffocate when they keep fires going inside a contained environment?¡± ¡°But some people would¡¯ve gotten out and warned others about it.¡± Travis pointed out. ¡°Besides, they¡¯ve got tons of safety features in place. You see those towers?¡± He pointed. ¡°Those harvest fresh air from up high, concentrate it and funnel it down into the earth, where it flows across the water supply for the boiler, cooling it down and pre-heating the water. There shouldn¡¯t be any issue with bad air.¡± ¡°We¡¯re just going to have to see.¡± Will said, scanning the silent stronghold. ¡°Well, no time like the present-¡° Travis said, aiming to rise to his feet. Loth caught his elbow. ¡°Let¡¯s wait until nightfall.¡± Loth said, looking up at him. ¡°If something did this, it might be nocturnal. We might be able to spot it before it sees us. And if the stronghold is occupied, night may well conceal our approach.¡± ¡°Like I¡¯ll take a command from-¡° ¡°From what?¡± Will interjected before Travis could finish his ill-advised sentence. ¡°S-Someone who isn¡¯t my party leader.¡± Travis finished, stumbling over the words at Will¡¯s expression. Will¡¯s shoulders relaxed, Carrie let out a breath, and Bri glanced between them curiously. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°When I work with Loth, we like to put his skill with traps to good use. Do you think you could set up that hill over there as a fall-back point?¡± Will asked, pointing to a hill off to the east, a little to the right of the city and somewhat close to its walls. ¡°Mm,¡± Loth said, nodding. ¡°Over the wall?¡± he pointed a single talon at the nearby stone wall, seemingly eyeing the distance between it and the fallback point. ¡°Why on earth would I go through the front door?¡± Will asked before turning back to their guests. ¡°You three are more than welcome to go the front door right now. Loth and I are going to wait until night.¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming with you guys,¡± Bri said, shuffling over to Will. ¡°Seconded.¡± Carrie said. ¡°¡­Fine.¡± Travis muttered, his gaze lingering on the lifeless Stronghold. The five of them circled around to the side of the Stronghold, setting up a camp on the opposite side of the hill, resting and drinking as necessary, watching the sun pass over their heads to fall on the opposite side. No matter how many times Will saw it, a sun that moved was unnatural. The dark closed in around the stronghold, pressing in against it until only tiny pools of light at the very edge of the walls remained, kept alive by the man-sized beacons burning on the walls. There were a few pools of darkness here and there. In particular, there was a spot nearby where a small portion of the wall was cast in shadow at the base. At the top it was well lit, but an enterprising individual could at least make it to the base and start climbing without being spotted. Loth pulled out a scrap of paper and jotted down a note with a piece of charcoal. ¡°Adding a spyglass to my shopping list,¡± he said upon seeing Will¡¯s curious gaze. ¡°Right after fire-beetle larvae.¡± After he put the paper away, he closed one eye and used his fingers to block out the light from the beacons on the wall. ¡°I don¡¯t see any activity, neither on the wall nor inside the city. If there something in there, it¡¯s not moving overtly.¡± ¡°Great, we wasted our time, can we ¡± Travis demanded. Carrie and Will shared a glance at the Decoy¡¯s eagerness to put his head on the chopping block. ¡°It¡¯s his family,¡± She said with a shrug. ¡°And he wanna punch them?¡± Will asked. ¡°Sometimes, but right now, I just ¡± Travis said, beginning to march towards the wall. ¡°Knotted rope,¡± Loth said, handing it over to Will. ¡°Much obliged.¡± ¡°Take this too. If there¡¯s danger, throw this in the fire.¡± Loth said, handing him a pack of what felt like sand. Will frowned. ¡°It burns green.¡± ¡°Ah. Will you be swooping in to our rescue?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll warn me not to. Anything you can¡¯t escape, can¡¯t escape.¡± Loth pointed out. ¡°Fair enough.¡± Will said, shouldering the rope. ¡°I¡¯ll stay.¡± Carrie said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯m curious, but I¡¯m not ¡®Enter-a-dead-city-in-the-middle-of-the-night¡¯ curious.¡± Brianna hesitantly raised her hand. ¡°Yes, you can stay too.¡± Will said. With his boots and cloak, Travis was nearly as good at getting out of tight spots as Will. Will and Loth had their misgivings about Bri¡¯s ¡®baker¡¯ Class, but she seemed normal enough, and though she took to Climbing well, it was fairly obvious that she hadn¡¯t been raised to it. The girl was an enigma, but at least she was sane, with a healthy respect for the danger involved. ¡°No, I want to go,¡± Bri said, shaking her head. ¡°Bwah?¡± Will asked eloquently. ¡°I haven¡¯t cleaned my clothes since I started getting bussed two weeks ago.¡± Carrie winced in sympathetic pain. Loth and Will just glanced at each other and shrugged. Clothes felt greasy and itchy and hardened in place by oils and dead skin, didn¡¯t they? ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten anything except grubs in three days, and I to eat something else or I will literally break down crying. No offense Loth.¡± She said, glancing down at the kobold. ¡°They¡¯re emergency rations, not the ¡®dish of my people¡¯. I don¡¯t care.¡± Loth said with a shrug. ¡°Right, so to summarize: I would kill every last one of you for a bar of soap, and brave a dead Stronghold for just a pinch of salt.¡± Will thought. ¡°Okay, but I want to make sure you¡¯ll be able to get away if we run into trouble,¡± Will said. ¡°Jump as high as you can.¡± Brianna jumped nine feet in the air. While wearing armor. She obviously hadn¡¯t expected to go that high, as she let out a little squeak and began flailing as she went back down, only barely managing to stick the landing. She slammed back down to the ground, creating a puff of ash around her landing point. ¡°Was that high enough?¡± She asked as she straightened, innocent of the fact that she¡¯d just revealed her Strength. ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± Will said, nodding. She just got to the third floor, so unless she was secretly a veteran from a higher floor ¨C unlikely, given her clothing, age, and inexperience ¨C, her Strength growth was four. Which was prime warrior material. Neither Carrie nor Travis had that kind of muscle. Will thought, frowning. ¡°So are we going now¡­or?¡± She asked, fidgeting awkwardly. ¡°Mm, yep,¡± Will nodded, motioning for her to follow. Together, they caught up with Travis and walked through the shadows to the base of the city wall. ¡°When we get in there, remember to always, always, keep your mind on your path of retreat.¡± Will said, mostly for Brianna¡¯s benefit. Brianna nodded with a serious expression, but Travis just crossed his arms and waited impatiently. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go find Travis¡¯s dead family.¡± Will said. ¡°They¡¯re not dead!¡± ¡°They¡¯re one hundred percent dead,¡± Will said, grabbing Travis¡¯s collar and hauling him in close. ¡°And no amount of magical thinking or suicidal bravado is going to change that. You know what you do for your family? Don¡¯t fuck up William Oh¡¯s day by forcing him to rescue your ass.¡± ¡°I got it,¡± Travis shoved Will away. ¡°Just climb the damned wall, Climber.¡± ¡°Can do,¡± Will said before scampering up the side of the wall. It was rough-hewn stone quarried from the third floor. The imperfections jutted out to support Will¡¯s hands and feet, allowing him to make it to the top in a matter of seconds. When he arrived, he was bathed in the light of the beacons. Will froze at the top of the wall, waiting for any sign that he¡¯d been noticed. Nothing. In either direction, the wall was empty save for the massive fires. Will grabbed hold of the end of the rope and tossed the rest down, holding it in place as Travis and Brianna climbed up. Together, they crept towards the inner edge of the wall and peered down into the stronghold. Will didn¡¯t know what he was expecting. Maybe an empty void, or the ghosts of all the previous inhabitants carrying about their business. Fungal zombies chasing a young woman and an older man? Instead, corpses. Lots and lots of corpses. The streets were lined with bodies, all of whom appeared to have suffered various levels of physical damage. No indication that whatever had done it had used weapons of any kind. There were smashed in heads, twisted spines, and missing chunks of flesh, but no stab or slash marks. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a relief,¡± Will said with a sigh. Will didn¡¯t turn to look as he heard the telltale sound of vomit hitting stone. Once it ended, Brianna arrived behind him. ¡°Why is that a relief?¡± Brianna said, her voice trembling. ¡°Because they died through physical violence, that means it¡¯s something with a form. Something you can run from. Something that isn¡¯t here right now. Can you imagine how much scarier it would be if the bodies had no damage or we didn¡¯t find any bodies at all?¡± ¡°That really doesn¡¯t make me feel any better,¡± Bri muttered. ¡°Well, it¡¯s good news.¡± Will said. ¡°I think that¡¯s the Lord¡¯s castle,¡± Travis said, pointing at a taller building near the center of the city. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°One second.¡± Will said, pulling out his sling and sending a bullet into the alleyway in the distance, striking the metal sign of a shop. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± Travis hissed, ducking down. ¡°Because I¡¯d rather see whatever did this before it sees us,¡± Will whispered back. ¡°Even if it means we have to turn back now because we kicked the hornet¡¯s nest. I would rather know that there a hornet¡¯s nest. Right now we have the luxury of running but once we get inside that wall¡­¡± ¡°Fine¡­¡± Travis said, hunkering down. A minute went by, but nothing came sniffing around the alleyway. ¡°Okay,¡± Will said, nodding. ¡°Let¡¯s go check out the Lord¡¯s castle.¡± Chapter 31: Score of a Lifetime Carrie watched the black kobold as he meticulously organized his belongings, finally pulling out a stubby spade and slowly digging through the ash, pouring each spoonful through some kind of metal grate. Everything about the creature ran counter to what she¡¯d been taught about Kobolds. That they were barbaric and bloodthirsty, blessed with cunning when it came to creating traps, but little else. Loth was the picture of deliberation in every action and every word. ¡°What are you doing?¡± She asked. ¡°Looking for insects,¡± Loth said, feeding another trowel of ash through the grate. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°My vivarium has been rendered useless by the extreme heat, only useful as emergency rations. The heat has been slowly cooking them. I¡¯m operating at less than half my capacity without the support of my insects.¡± ¡°You really think you¡¯ll find insects in the ash?¡± ¡°Insects are incredibly adaptive,¡± Loth said, feeding another trowel through the grate. ¡°despite their relative weakness, they are able to expand to fill any niche.¡± ¡°But will some random insect you pull out of the ground be able to help?¡± Carrie clarified. ¡°Every living species has some method, some tool or tactic by which it defends itself, secures it¡¯s food and mates, whether that be the swarming proliferation of an ant, the stink of a stinkbug or the web of a spider. ¡°Every insect has some utility that an enlightened mind can bend towards their own ends.¡± Loth said. ¡°Ends that their minds couldn¡¯t possibly comprehend, yet quite simple to higher beings like you and me.¡± With a little burst of ash, some kind of insect was revealed as its surroundings were sifted through the grate. Loth snatched it up, and begin inspecting it as it skittered along his palm. It looked a bit like a chip of shiny black volcanic glass. ¡°Imagine, a being of unimaginable power and intelligence snatches you out of your world and sets you on a course that makes every action you take, everything that comes naturally to you, benefit them.¡± Loth put the insect inside a barrel filled with ash and fungus carefully prepared from the nearby environment. A miniature world of Loth¡¯s creation. ¡°Not unlike the gods themselves.¡± Carries brows rose. ¡°¡­Do you have a god complex?¡± Loth froze, his clawed hand hovering over the top of the barrel, glowing with an Ability. ¡°¡­Possibly.¡± ***William Oh*** ¡°Hup,¡± Will grunted as he jumped to the next rooftop, the roof tiles catching his feet without too much fuss. Bri jumped next, trying not to scream as she covered the twenty-foot gap, Will stabilizing her landing. Travis followed, and the two of them caught him. They crossed the city like that, leaping from roof to roof, staying off the streets where the corpses stretched in every direction. The last thing Will wanted to do was be down in those tight streets and alleys, unable to see any further than the next bend in the labyrinthine passages. Maybe when the sun came up, if there was still no danger, they would head down to the bazaar and steal everything they could carry. Climbers had a strong culture of ¡®Finders Keepers¡¯. There had to be millions of gold worth of Relics and Sacrifices down there, just waiting for someone to take it. But¡­the best stuff was sure to be in the Lord¡¯s mansion. And if the Lord was still alive, just holed up in his castle, then looting the city was illegal anyway¡­or at least, it would piss off a Lord. So common sense dictated they knocked on the door first before they started their shopping spree. It took about two hours to cross the city on the rooftops, always dropping down and waiting for the unexpected after every jump. Nothing. Finally they got to the roof of the building closest to the castle. The Lord¡¯s castle had sustained significantly more damage than the rest of the city. it was covered in telltale scorch marks, melting stone, and damage from weapons. Will¡¯s appraisal of the situation was becoming more and more clear. Another Lord had transported an unknown species of monster into the city and had assaulted the Lord¡¯s castle while the monsters mopped up everything else. Will scowled, inspecting the shattered shield generators on the walls of the castle and the melted shut front gate. They would have to go over the wall and none of them could jump that far. ¡°Hold this,¡± Will said, handing Bri the other end of his rope as he took the opportunity to try something. Gravity Charge. Will¡¯s breath was torn from his body as he fell towards the castle tower beyond the outer wall. He passed where the shield would¡¯ve been and impacted against the tower, smashing through the wall. Will¡¯s new boots made the landing ¨C which should¡¯ve shattered his legs and spine ¨C feel like a dream. Once his target ¨C the wall ¨C was shattered into a thousand pieces, Gravity Charge cut out, leaving only the momentum carrying him across the floor of the room he¡¯d smashed into, sliding across the floor until his feet hit the inner wall. It must¡¯ve been someone¡¯s bathroom once upon a time, because there was soap, mirrors, and a giant brass tub that must¡¯ve weighed a dozen Wills. Will tied the rope to the tub and limped over to the Will-shaped hole in the wall, giving Bri and Travis a thumb¡¯s up. They pulled the rope tight and began climbing, swinging over to the outer wall before scaling it. While they climbed, Will turned around and inspected the room he was in with a closer eye. This had been a woman¡¯s bathroom, if he had to judge by the soap and bathtub, fluffy towels, razors, etc. Will thought, looking for the door. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. It was on the opposite wall, slightly splintered where his feet had slammed into them on his first landing. Will pressed his ear to the door, listening for the telltale signs of alarms being raised. Nothing. Will¡¯s entrance had been quiet. He opened the door and peered in the hall. Faint blood splotches and weapon damage, suggesting the fighting had gotten all the way inside the castle. Will opened the door and crept into the hall, looking both ways before he went towards the dead end, intent on clearing every room behind him before he pushed deeper into the castle. Will paused by a window in his methodical clearing of the hall. In the distance, he could barely make out the edge of something moving. Some enormous thing seemed to be rotating. Will could only catch the metallic edge of it because of the darkness, but judging by the curve he could make out, it had to be at least as big around as his entire village. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will studied the rotating screw for another couple minutes before shaking his head and getting back to work. He checked the next room and found another office. A fancier one this time. There were trophies on the walls, bits and pieces from high-floor monsters, relics that had been collecting dust for years. A desk made of expensive-looking wood, and a chair with a pretentiously high back. Will went to the shelf full of Relics and did Climbers everywhere proud. He started looting. Will went through about half the shelf before he noticed one of the Relics was missing. There was a conspicuous rod-shaped patch of clean shelf. Will thought, clicking his tongue. Will craned his neck, scanning the surroundings for any sign of other looted Relics. That implied that it hadn¡¯t been a simple robbery for the sake of making money. Whoever had smashed this castle had wanted this specific Relic, likely to complete a Build that granted unimaginable power. In the meantime, might as well grab the rest of Travis¡¯s dad¡¯s stuff. Will grabbed a display of six rings, then two amulets, a bangle and a small dagger, dumping out all the bullets in his Phantom Hand before shoving the loot inside in one go, then turning back towards the hall. Will froze in place, his eyes landing on an odd trophy on a high shelf near the door. It was a glass dome with a wood foot, with something pale floating inside. It was a gigantic larva suspended in preserving fluid, about the size of two fists pressed together. The plaque helpfully read. Will knew for a that Loth wanted that. He got up on his tippy-toes, pulling the ornate fluid-filled glass stand down and inspecting it. The larva was curled in on itself in death, showing no outward sign of why Loth wanted it so badly. The larva was bulky, and Will didn¡¯t have that kind of space in his Phantom Hand. But Loth wanted it, and Will owed him gear twice over now, so he tucked it under his arm, even though he knew Travis was going to cause a stink about robbing his dead parents. Will thought, creeping back into the hall, where Travis was peering out from the bathroom. ¡°SOAP!¡± Will heard Bri¡¯s astonished whisper from behind him. ¡°What were you doing in there?¡± Travis asked, glancing down at the trophy under Will¡¯s arm, his eyes narrowing. ¡°That belongs to my father.¡± ¡°If he¡¯s still alive, I¡¯ll give it back to him,¡± Will said. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s likely, though, because quite a bit of his stuff has already been looted.¡± Travis frowned stalking past Will to peer into the office, scanning the partially emptied shelves. ¡°Put it back.¡± ¡°It¡¯s got a Sacrifice that will help my Party with their Build.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°Unless you want a giant dead bug for sentimental reasons?¡± Travis scanned Will up and down, his gaze lingering on Will¡¯s pockets and pouches. ¡°Fine. If he¡¯s alive, you give everything back.¡± ¡°This is all I got,¡± Will lied, raising the bug. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you, but I¡¯ve never been here before, so I have no idea what was here originally.¡± Me neither, most of it¡¯s gone,¡± Will said with a shrug. Will had learned his priorities. If Travis had been in his Party, he might¡¯ve gone about things differently. They checked the other doors and cleared the hall before opening the door to the main hall. It had been shattered by the foot of a high-level climber. Brianna was grinning like a maniac, a pillowcase stuffed with all sorts of toiletries slung over her shoulder. ¡°Gonna brush my teeth, gonna clean my clothes, oh yeah¡­¡± She half whispered, half-sung to herself as they stalked down the stairs. The throne hall was a slaughter. High-level Climbers and parts of High-level Climbers were strewn about the throne room, including a richly dressed one near the center of the room, surrounded by a sphere of destruction. He hadn¡¯t gone down easy. Travis knelt down, inspecting the corpse. ¡°I hadn¡¯t spent much time with my father,¡± he mused, standing back up. ¡°Every once in a while he¡¯d ¡®visit¡¯ us. His children would be lined up for inspection, and he¡¯d stalk past, not giving any of us a second glance before disappearing into his bedroom. He spent more time with the older kids, but I don¡¯t think they really knew him that well, either,¡± Travis said. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure he wrote the letter condemning me for my choice of Sacrifices himself. I think it was probably a secretary, one of my older siblings, maybe. I don¡¯t know if me acting out even reached his ears.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s his loot?¡± Will asked. Travis turned on him with a snarl. ¡°You-¡° ¡°Where¡¯s their loot?¡± Will interrupted, gesturing at the surrounding Climbers, who had been relieved of their valuable gear. ¡°Obviously the people who attacked took-¡° ¡°Then why didn¡¯t they clear out the upper floor?¡± Will mused. He didn¡¯t have to muse for very long as a glint of light caught his eye. A spear emerged from the darkness, carried by a pink, shiny hand about half the size of a man¡¯s. ¡°Hold it right there, humans.¡± The Jibleya said as more of them emerged from the edges of the room. Jibleya had somewhat distended translucent pink flesh with shiny skin stretched tight like a grape. They were industrious folk whose skin and flesh was naturally resistant to poisons and acids, so they tended to steer towards alchemy. From the other side of the throne room, a half-dozen kobolds emerged from beneath the tufted stools that, in retrospect, had been far too neatly arranged given the amount of battle damage that had filled the room. Bri clutched her pillowcase full of toiletries to her chest protectively as they circled around them. ¡°Why you no wait for humies to touch body!?¡± The closest Kobold hissed at the Jibleya. ¡°They were about to figure out we were here,¡± The Jibleya said. ¡°We decided to move while we still have the element of surprise.¡± ¡°You good trap!¡± The kobold spat, hunched over it¡¯s spear and eagerly jabbing it in Will¡¯s direction. Will and Travis took a half-step away from the Lord¡¯s body. The kobolds run the gamut of colors: Red, rust colored, metallic, brown, green¡­No black though, and they moved with an odd twitchiness that spoke of barely formed thoughts constantly being interrupted by new sensory information. Like an animal. ¡°Who are you people and what do you want!?¡± The lead Jibleya said, gesturing towards them with their spears. He was wearing fine Relics that Will could only assume came from the nearby corpses. ¡°We¡¯re Looters.¡± Will said with a shrug. Will figured Travis¡¯s relation to the Lord of the city would only serve to complicate things. He could have played the game of claiming to be the people who had destroyed the city, but it seemed like it might backfire if they didn¡¯t buy it. As fellow looters, they were at least starting on neutral footing. ¡°This find!¡± the kobold leader said aggressively. ¡°It¡¯s true, we got here first,¡± The Jibleya said. ¡°By Tower Law, loot belongs to those who discover it.¡± ¡°Well, we discovered the upper floors first, so everything we took from there is ours by law, then.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°I know you guys haven¡¯t been up there yet.¡± ¡°¡¯Law¡¯ not stronger than pokey spears! How you not get stopped by traps, Looter?¡± The nearest Kobold, a creature slightly shorter than Loth asked, poking Will in the armor with his spear for emphasis. ¡°We came across the rooftops.¡± Will said, brushing the spear away from him. ¡°Hah. Haha. HAHAHAHA!¡± The surrounding Kobolds broke into uproarious laughter. ¡°You lucky! Lucky humie! Streets trapped good. good, to catch the Tangled.¡± ¡°¡­The what now?¡± Will asked. ¡°Did you not see the bodies on the way in?¡± the Jibleya leader asked, cocking a shiny eyebrow. ¡°No, I saw them. I just didn¡¯t know what caused them. Was it these Tangled you¡¯re talking about?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say that normally, Jibleya and Kobold don¡¯t get along¡­¡± the jibleya leader said. ¡°But there¡¯s a lot less of us than there were a week ago, so we can¡¯t exactly afford the luxury of fighting each other for loot anymore.¡± ¡°This is everyone?¡± Will asked, scanning the two dozen or so individuals. ¡°Used to be a lot more.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything I¡¯d describe as Tangled on the way in.¡± Will said. ¡°They sleep at night,¡± The Jibleya leader said, pointing towards the center of the city. ¡°They like to sleep near the water storage. It¡¯s cooler there. During the day they spread out and fill the city. Every day it seems like there are more of them and less of us¡­no matter how many we kill.¡± ¡°You could just leave?¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°And abandon the score of a lifetime!?¡± The jibleya leader demanded. ¡°We be gods among kin, even¡­ with berry-people.¡± The kobold leader said, growling out ¡®sharing¡¯ with a level of disgust reserved for people who dislike traps. ¡°It sounds to me like you¡¯re in need of extra hands.¡± The kobolds and Jibleya glanced at each other then back up to him, seeming to contemplate Will¡¯s words. ¡°¡­Perhaps even some leadership.¡± Chapter 32: Leadership ¡°Absolutely not.¡± Loth said, making a chopping motion with his hand. ¡°Kobolds are vile, dirty, nasty creatures with room-temperature IQ. Their only saving grace is their appreciation of a good trap.¡± Carrie¡¯s brows rose as Loth laid into his own species. ¡°What if I asked¡­¡¯nicely¡¯?¡± Will asked, pulling out the Bullet Wasp Larva from underneath his shirt. Loth gasped, his hand half-reaching out towards the bullet wasp sample before reaching up to stroke his scaly chin. ¡°A bribe, eh? What clan did you say they were from?¡± ¡°I forgot to ask.¡± ¡°What color?¡± ¡°Mixed.¡± Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Really? Must be outcasts. Can we euthanize them once we¡¯re done? No one will ever know I was here.¡± ¡°What¡¯s Youth-a-nize mean?¡± Will asked. ¡°Make them younger?¡± ¡°It¡¯s where you put down a particularly sick, or in this case, stupid animal.¡± ¡°I¡¯d¡­rather not?¡± Will said. Killing people after leading them sounded¡­not good. ¡°You will by the time we¡¯re done with them, I guarantee it.¡± ¡°Is that a yes?¡± Will asked. Loth sighed. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a yes. Give me the bug.¡± Willl handed it over, and Loth promptly unscrewed the glass and plucked out the larva. He held it up to the Tower, almost as if it were a toast to the gods. An instant later, there was a flash of light and the Bullet Wasp was gone. ¡°So what did you get!?¡± Will asked, eager to see his Party member¡¯s enhanced Ability. ¡°You see that boulder?¡± Loth asked, pointing. ¡°Yeah?¡± Loth reached out towards his second barrel and imperiously crooked a single black claw. A black beetle that looked like a chip of obsidian flew up and out of the barrel, and a moment later Loth pointed at the boulder. Will felt the fluctuation in the Miasma around them as some sort of buff suffused the beetle. The insect¡¯s wings subtly lengthened, its shiny black body armor seemingly becoming thicker an instant before it blasted forward, creating a gust of air that Will could ¡°Holy-¡° The boulder split in half around a coin-sized hole in the center. The beetle flew back to Loth¡¯s finger, its buffs fading. ¡°My class was always lacking a direct damage option. The bullet wasp sacrifice was able to tilt Master of the Vivarium in a more aggressive direction without losing any of its previous abilities.¡± He glanced up at Will, the beetle jumping off the tip of his claw to return to its ashen home. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. I was gonna give you the bug either way.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°I figured. For my next Sacrifice, we¡¯ll need to keep an eye open for Ripleys.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what those are,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°They have a stinger which lays eggs in your chest. The eggs proceed to hatch, eat their way out and consume your corpse.¡± ¡°Good gods!¡± Will shouted, while Carrie looked a bit green. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s-¡° Loth began to apologize, but Will cut him off. ¡°That is an amazing Build! You, Loth, are a genius! How will it work?¡± Will asked, setting aside the monsters and the time limit to geek out about cool Abilities. Something he¡¯d been wanting to do since he was twelve. ¡°If my hunch is right, it will upgrade my current direct damage attack to proliferate the insect I shot the target, bursting out and consuming them.¡± ¡°I love it. No notes.¡± Will said. ¡°It sounds like the most awful, disgusting, inhumane thing you could possibly think of,¡± Carrie interjected, finally speaking up. ¡°Which is why¡­no one will ever make me use it on them.¡± Loth said, his expression flat. ¡°, dude,¡± Carrie said, backing away from the kobold. ¡°Alright, keep that¡­aura of menace,¡± Will said, motioning around Loth¡¯s general vicinity. ¡°Because we¡¯re about to introduce you to the kobolds.¡± Will pointed to the wall. ¡°We¡¯ve only got a few hours before daylight.¡± Loth heaved a sigh. ¡°I did say yes, I suppose. Fine. Let¡¯s get this over with.¡± Having traveled the path before and knowing it was safe, Will was able to guide the other two back to the lord¡¯s castle in a matter of minutes. ¡°Great one!¡± The lead Kobold, Grak, said, grovelling down in front of Loth, swiftly followed by the rest of the kobolds. The Jibleya looked around, confused by the attitude of their kobold allies turning on a dime. Their leader had a look in his eye, though, he knew that Will had seized control of half their group instantly, and if he wanted to avoid conflict he would have to follow. Loth rolled his eyes at the grovelling. ¡°Stand up.¡± Grak leapt to his feet, but hunched over obsequiously, avoiding eye contact with Loth. ¡°How did you know I could wrangle them?¡± Loth asked. ¡°You¡¯re like three inches taller than the tallest one, an unusual color, and highly educated.¡± Will shrugged. ¡°You constantly talk about Fil-ah-so-fee while I¡¯m trying to sleep, and these guys have a vocabulary worse than mine. It¡¯s fairly obvious you¡¯re special.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Loth grunted. ¡°Please, Great One! Grant us the honor of forming a new clan!¡± Grak begged at Loth¡¯s feet. the other dozen kobolds shuffled forward, seemingly trying to get closer as well. ¡°Not on your life.¡± ¡°I gladly die for it!¡± ¡°I know. Which is why I said, ¡®not on your life¡¯ two seconds ago. Were you not listening?¡± ¡°No, Great one! I stunned by Great One¡¯s beauty and strength! Great One¡¯s color, Great One¡¯s sheer size!¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m aware of my height and color.¡± ¡°Still seem pretty short to me,¡± Will said, patting Loth on the head. Grak¡¯s tail went straight, his lips peeling back into a feral hiss that revealed a mouth lined with meat-cutting teeth. This was mirrored by the dozen or so kobolds present. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You don¡¯t !¡± He snarled. Loth held out a single hand, causing the kobolds to fall silent, waiting for his words with bated breath. Loth sighed and made a sour face before he began speaking in kobold¡¯s half-speak. ¡°Stupid humie doesn¡¯t know what he does. For humies, head-pats are like-like. Won¡¯t do again.¡± ¡°Us make sure he never does again. TAKE HAND!¡± Grak shouted, the surrounding kobolds joining in a cheer, shaking their spears. ¡°No.¡± Loth said with a flat expression. ¡°Kill?¡± Grak whimpered. ¡°No.¡± Loth reiterated. ¡°It¡¯s fine, you guys. You already took the hand I touched him with. This all happened last week. Remember?¡± Will asked, revealing his missing hand. ¡°No, but¡­did we? Hand missing¡­¡± Graks brow furrowed in confusion. The kobolds gathered into a huddle, discussing whether or not they had already cut off Will¡¯s hand. ¡°Good evening.¡± The Jibleya leader said, offering his hand. ¡°My name¡¯s Fond.¡± ¡°Ah, a Jibleya. I¡¯ve always admired your people¡¯s intelligence and natural talent at alchemy. You know, I¡¯ve always dreamed, in my heart of hearts, that if our species could cooperate, we could make beautiful and deadly things together.¡± Loth said, shaking the man¡¯s rotund hand. ¡°That¡­might just be possible.¡± Fond said, looking Loth up and down. ¡°¡­Great One?¡± ¡°Psssh, that¡¯s just what kobolds call me, my is Loth the Luminary.¡± ¡°The Loth who published the treatise on mechanical force?¡± Fond asked, eyes widening. ¡°And the distortion that Abilities play on the Laws of physics, yes.¡± Loth said. ¡°Figured it out when I was designing a trap.¡± Fond dropped Loth¡¯s hand and began to bow deeply. ¡°The Jibleya would be glad to work with you, Loth the Luminary!¡± ¡°The pleasure will be all mine, I¡¯m sure,¡± Loth said graciously. ¡°We remembered! We take hand, and if Humie touch Great One again, Take of him!¡± Grak said, returning to wave a spear in Will¡¯s general direction. ¡°Understood.¡± Will said with a shrug, not remotely threatened. ¡°Gentlemen¡­kin,¡± Loth said, addressing both the jibleya and kobolds. ¡°Show me what we¡¯re fighting.¡± The surrounding looters nodding enthusiastically, falling over themselves to do Loth¡¯s bidding. ¡°Sorry about calling you a ¡®stupid humie¡¯,¡± Loth whispered as Loth¡¯s minions scurried around, discussing the best observation spot for ¡®the Great One¡¯. ¡°Sorry about touching your head so often,¡± Will replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was a kobold thing.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± Loth said slightly too quickly, with a shrug that was slightly too casual. Will raised a brow. Loth glanced up at him, and began stammering. ¡°I-I better go keep them under control b-before they try to stick us in some over-engineered deathtrap.¡± Loth marched away, his shoulders stiff. ¡°Hmmm.¡± Will stroked his chin. ¡°Maybe he¡¯s sick?¡± ¡°He¡¯s got a crush on you, you moron,¡± Carrie said, smacking Will in the back of the head. It took a moment for Will¡¯s brain to process that, and in the end, he realized that he had no frame of reference, so he defaulted to repressing it with jokes. ¡°I¡¯ve never dated a kobold before,¡± Will said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. ¡°You¡¯ve never dated before.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know me!¡± Will exclaimed. Carrie cocked her head and waited. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ve never dated anyone.¡± Will admitted. ¡°But that was an easy guess.¡± ¡°I would advise against you dating anyone.¡± Travis interjected. ¡°For their sake.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know me either,¡± Will said. ¡°I don¡¯t know, he kinda out of your league,¡± Brianna said, dropping out of her silence to opine on the situation. ¡°Really? You too, Bri?¡± Will asked. ¡°It¡¯s not that much of an insult. Seems like he¡¯s out of everyone¡¯s league.¡± Carrie said, watching Loth organizing the non-humans. ¡°¡­He¡¯s kinda cute, actually.¡± That reminded Will that the humans needed to get to work before morning too. ¡°Bri, can you take Travis and find something to bake before morning? I¡¯m sure in a city this big there¡¯s gotta be thousands of pounds of flour somewhere. We need real food. Start with the castle¡¯s kitchen. Take a kobold with you to avoid traps.¡± ¡°I can do that.¡± Bri nodded. Travis grunted and followed her over to where the kobolds were discussing adding traps to Loth¡¯s observation deck. ¡°What are we doing?¡± Carrie asked. ¡°We¡¯re looting Travis¡¯s dad¡¯s castle while he¡¯s not looking.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Carrie nodded. ¡°Smart.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start with the Lord¡¯s office.¡± Will said, ¡°And work our way back down.¡± They grabbed a bag and started filling it with priceless Relics without constraining oversight. Other than the handful of items that remained on the shelf, there wasn¡¯t much. Will rifled through the Lord¡¯s desk, hoping to find powerful Rings he might¡¯ve squirreled away for emergencies. No, all he found was dumb letters detailing the hottest gossip between Lords. Who was planning on invading who, why the price of gold was going down and how to fix it. Dumb stuff like that. Will thought, scoffing as he continued shamelessly reading the letters. The next one was even more interesting. Will grabbed a fountain pen and wrote on his arm, followed by and . Several hours of looting later, the sun was beginning to rise, and the kobolds ushered them to an abandoned building whose entrances had been boarded up, leaving the only way to enter a hole in the roof. The rafters of the building provided an excellent view of the street, given the disconnect between the wall and the roof, originally meant for ventilation, but equally good for spying on the street. The street turned gradually brighter and more orange as the smoke-reddened sun rose above. They sat there in the rafters of their abandoned house, none of them daring to move, much less breathe as the Tangled came out to play. ¡± Grak whispered, pointing with a claw, his voice barely audible. Will waited with bated breath for the new monster to show its hideous face, but a moment later, the creature came into sight, and it was¡­A naked young man about Will¡¯s age, stumbling through the street with a vacant expression on his face. Will thought, frowning. ¡°Is it a shapeshifter?¡± Loth whispered. A pair of Kobolds jumped out from the alley in front of the dazed-looking young man. The dazed look evaporated in an instant, followed by an expression of pure hate that seemed to wriggle from the kid¡¯s eyebrows across his whole body and- Will had to clench his jaw to prevent from gasping in surprise as limbs and torsos exploded from every square inch of the young man¡¯s body, seeming to extend up to ten feet in every direction, creating a¡­tangle of limbs that began sprinting after the two kobolds with outlandish speed, the hundreds of limbs clawing the surroundings for traction as it passed. Will thought. A series of thick wires whipped out of the nearby walls, cutting dozens of limbs off entirely, but more importantly, they held it in place. The amputated limbs sprouted new ones as the monster bellowed in a roar that sounded like a hundred young men being strangled simultaneously. The walls around the creature popped open, revealing murder holes filled with kobolds and Jibleya, who proceeded to stab the creature as one. Dozens of spears penetrated the creature, but it was nearly impossible to get past the thicket of flailing limbs, and any damage healed in a matter of seconds. The creature finally went down when one of the Jibleya dumped a bucketful of bubbling acid on the creature¡¯s torso, which seemed to put an end to its struggles. ¡°Sound will draw more. We must go.¡± Grak said. They nodded and went back up to the roof and relocated as quickly and quietly as possible, re-entering the Lord¡¯s castle, which was inaccessible from the ground floor. Once they were safe to talk, Will spilled the beans. ¡°I¡¯ve seen these things before,¡± Will admitted. ¡°There was one on the Second Floor, in a cage, guarded by a handful of Climbers.¡± There was also the letter in Reggie¡¯s desk. There was something going on here. ¡°On the floor? These things are tough enough to belong on the seve-¡° Travis was cut off as something more important happened. Discussing plans and plots was important, no doubt, but some things were just more important. Like baker girls with their hair tied back, covered in flour and wearing an apron. ¡°Food¡¯s on!¡± Bri announced, marching out into the throne room with an enormous platter filled to the brim with steaming bread. But it didn¡¯t stop there. Each loaf was hollowed out and filled with some kind of thick stew, spreading the mouthwatering aroma of fat, salt, potatoes and carrots around the room. Will offered a quick prayer before heading for the food. He shouldn¡¯t have bothered praying, because nobody else did, instead mobbing the baker and snatching up bread bowls at an alarming rate. Now concerned that he might not get one, Will shoved his way into the pile and snatched up a bread bowl, scuttling off with his prize, bowl tucked to his chest with his good hand, elbows out to ward off any competition. Will¡¯s tactics that he¡¯d learned from the orphanage were rather more similar to the kobolds than Travis and Carrie, who watched with concern as he retreated with his bowl. They waited politely, and received their bread bowl once they reached the impromptu line that had sprung up, consisting of the humans and Jibleya. Will glanced around for a place to sit and eat. Carrie and Travis had settled into a conversation at the side of the room, and Will didn¡¯t feel like intruding. The kobolds were trying to force Loth to eat their food, while Loth was ordering them to eat their fill first. The jibleya had formed their own little knot in the opposite corner, chatting merrily as they ate. Bri grabbed her own bowl and joined Carrie and Travis. Will looked around for somewhere he could sit. He didn¡¯t really belong with any of those groups, and more importantly, there wasn¡¯t a good spot for a man with one arm to sit and eat his food. No tables. Will climbed up the stairs and sat down, unhinging his jaw and proceeding to stuff the entire loaf into his mouth. Metaphorically. About halfway through inhaling his food, he noticed that the room had gone silent. ¡°WA?¡± Will asked around the bread bowl in his mouth. ¡°You¡¯re sitting on the throne.¡± Travis said. Will glanced down and saw that he was on a raised dais, in an extremely ornamented chair with brocade velvet hanging above him, framing everything he did in pomp and circumstance. Will held up a finger and swallowed the massive chunk of bread and stew before clearing his throat. ¡°I¡¯m William Oh.¡± Chapter 33: Splitting the Loot Cole Hunter, Level 20 Climber The five of them sat in a circle around the Loot they¡¯d pulled from the Lord¡¯s castle, doing a round robin draw from the pile. Bri had opted out, saying that she was fine just baking until they left the castle. Normally, Travis might¡¯ve been upset that they had looted his father¡¯s castle, but they were surrounded by thousands of monsters that each took a dozen Climbers at their level to subdue. He no longer had the luxury of being offended. ¡°I¡¯ll take this one,¡± Travis said, taking the Ring of The Martyr. It was a good choice for him. The stats alone made it a worthwhile pick, and restoring his stamina when a taunt landed made sure he was always able to lead the enemy on a merry chase. ¡°I¡¯ll take this one,¡± Carrie said, plucking a helmet out of the pile. No special Abilities, but it had good stats. ¡°This,¡± Loth said, picking up the ornate monocle from the pile. ¡°If this actually makes my insects and kobolds a little smarter, then it¡¯s good enough to make me learn how to wear a monocle.¡± Loth mused, setting the lens against his cheek, humming in surprise as the monocle secured itself in place magically. ¡°I¡¯ll take these,¡± Will said, pulling the unassuming burlap pants out of the pile. Will already had magic pants, but pants were way better than what he had on currently, and he was willing to bet nobody would snipe all the torso items before it came back around to him. Travis clicked his tongue but didn¡¯t argue, instead taking his turn. ¡°This,¡± He said, grabbing the sword. +5 Strength +5 Acuity +5 Kinesthetics A second blade floats along beside the first, making additional strikes as the user attacks. These extra attacks benefit from any Abilities the wielder might have. 1 Charge: The second blade switches from offence to defense, warding off blows autonomously. Lasts until a charge is spent to switch it back. Carrie looked a little peeved, and Will was a bit sad he wouldn¡¯t get a cool new weapon, but they kept going. ¡°This.¡± Carrie said, grabbing the gauntlets out of the pile. ¡°I¡¯ll take this.¡± Loth said, plucking a silk torso piece out of the pile. ¡°Dang,¡± Will muttered, shaking his head, studying the remaining items. ¡°I¡¯ll take this, then.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Travis said. ¡°What? It¡¯s the only chestpiece that¡¯s left.¡± Will said. ¡°You don¡¯t have any Charm abilities.¡± Travis said, pointing an accusatory finger at him. ¡°True, but Strength is Strength,¡± Will said with a shrug, adding the chestpiece to his pile. ¡°Unless you wanted to give my cloak back?¡± Travis grunted and picked out a pair of pants, then Carrie grabbed a physical boosting ring, Loth grabbed some leather riding chaps. +5 resistance +5 kinesthetics ¡°You don¡¯t anything,¡±Will said. ¡°Stats are stats, and who knows? I might be riding giant insects someday.¡± Loth said with a shrug. They all paused, looking at Will as he regarded the much-diminished pile of loot, carefully weighing what he might be able to use. ¡°I¡¯ll take this,¡± Will mused, taking a ring with better stats than the Amulet of the Hearth-keeper If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. They went around like that for one more revolution before nobody could find anything they wanted. Loth got some fingerless gloves that boosted Claw Abilities. He didn¡¯t have any, but they made his natural claws sharper, and the physical stat boosts were good: Once they had pulled everything out of the pile that they wanted, Will equipped everything and checked his stats. Ability Upgrade Available! Once all the Relics were on, Will tested his new Strength, hopping in place. ¡°Whoah!¡± Will let out an involuntary shout as he sprang into the air, nearly bashing his head on the high ceilings above. The Ranger pants and the Gladiator torso had tripled his Strength. Will thought as he began practicing his jumping, the floor catching him effortlessly as he landed. The others were also doing small exercises to figure out their new baseline. The gear was outlandishly good for their level, but so was the enemy they had to take down. ¡°There. We¡¯re each wearing a Lord¡¯s ransom in Relics.¡± Loth said before glancing at Travis. ¡°How attached to this city are you?¡± ¡°Why do you say it like that?¡± Travis asked. ¡°I was considering rigging the city to self-destruct.¡± Loth admitted. ¡°You can Will asked. ¡°Great one!¡± Grak said, grovelling ¡°I would give my life to see such-¡° ¡°Shut up.¡± Loth said, baring his teeth in a less-than-amiable manner. Grak shut up. ¡°I¡¯d rather we didn¡¯t,¡± Travis said. ¡°My older siblings are underrepresented among the dead. I believe they¡¯ll arrive here within a few weeks to reclaim the city. It¡¯s a rather critical piece of infrastructure that can make millions of gold each month selling crude oil to the other floors.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s call blowing everything up plan B¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°Then we truly have our work cut out for us,¡± Loth said, musing. ¡°According to the Jibleya, there are thirteen thousand Tangled stalking the city, and this number was just below nine thousand three days ago.¡± ¡°Looking at the data they have provided, the population of Tangled seems to grow by 14.28 percent .¡± Loth looked around at them meaningfully. ¡°Okay?¡± Will asked. ¡°That is an exponential growth rate.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± Will asked. ¡°We have to kill no less than¡­eighteen hundred and fifty-six Tangled by the end of the day in order to keep their numbers stable.¡± Loth said, jotting down math on the Lord¡¯s stationary. ¡°And then we would have to do it again, and again, for many days, in order to actually make their numbers go down to a manageable level.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to revisit blowing everything up,¡± Carrie said, raising her hand. ¡°What about that curtain of death we ran from to get here?¡± Will asked. ¡°Last we saw it was at the Key Site just south of here. It can¡¯t have gone far.¡± ¡°It might have the proper amount of firepower, but getting it here would be a challenge¡­¡± Loth said, his yellow eyes drifting towards Travis. ¡°Yeah, we would need someone able to keep its attention for an extended period of time,¡± Will mused, his gaze also drifting towards Travis. ¡°Someone with high speed¡­and a taunt Ability.¡± Soon all four of them were staring at the Master Decoy. ¡°How in the name of the gods would you plan on killing the swarm afterwards?¡± Travis demanded. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we just be trading one problem for another?¡± Loth motioned for them to follow him and guided them to a window overlooking the massive screw in the center of the city, a plume of steam the size of several city blocks rising from it. ¡°What do you think would happen to that swarm of motes if they got doused by a sudden burst of steam?¡± Loth asked. ¡°I¡¯m starting to see where you¡¯re going with this,¡± Will mused. ¡°Let¡¯s talk details.¡± Loth said, motioning for them to sit down. After a quick round of planning, they decided to send Travis out to lure in the swarm of fire-motes, while the other three went down into the bowels of the water-tanks and rigged them to explode. The water tanks where the Tangled like to sleep at night. Thankfully it was still early morning. Will thought to himself as the three of them quietly crossed the rooftops, at the head of a raiding party of a dozen kobolds. ¡°There tanks.¡± Grak said, pointing into the distance at a couple squat, round buildings in the distance, halfway around the city from the giant screw that even now spun in the center of the city, pumping oil¡­somewhere. ¡°They don¡¯t really seem that big¡­they go underground?¡± Will asked. Loth nodded. ¡°They would have to, to continue holding water for a week after everyone who supplied it died.¡± ¡°How do you plan on making an explosion of steam?¡± Carrie asked. ¡°There have to be flow controls.¡± Loth said. ¡°If we restrict the flow, the natural heat will build up again, then we can unleash the water all at once when the curtain of fire gets where we want it to be.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll need some fireproof rope,¡± Loth muttered to himself, pulling wire and springs out of his satchel and eyeing them critically. ¡°These will do.¡± They hunched down and snuck along the rooftops, evading the notice of the Tangled wandering around in their human forms. ¡°Do all these Tangled look like the same person to you?¡± Will whispered as they ran past. Loth peered down and frowned. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Will asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Loth said with a shrug. ¡°Perhaps that¡¯s just what the species looks like. Can you tell two giant snails apart?¡± ¡°No, but they have differences. These Tangled do not,¡± Will squinted at the young man stumbling down the street with a vacant expression before glancing back up at Loth ¡±I¡¯m just wondering if-¡° ¡°Hey.¡± Carrie whispered, tugging Will¡¯s shirt and pointing. ¡°Eh?¡± Will grunted, looking down. The Tangled had collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. A moment later, a head and torso budded off the writhing Tangled, groaning in pain as it pulled itself¡­out of itself. In a matter of seconds, there were two Tangled wandering aimlessly. ¡°Well,¡± Loth whispered, ¡°That explains why they look the same, and why their numbers grow so quickly. Off we go.¡± ¡°I have even more questions now.¡± Will grumbled to himself as they got back on track. In minutes, they had made it to the water tanks, which were surrounded by steel cages in caravan wagons, disguised as merchants. Will already figured they¡¯d been planted by an outside force, but seeing tangible proof that someone had doomed an entire city to death, likely to cover the theft of a single Relic¡­Kinda pissed him off. ¡°Would you mind checking the inside?¡± Loth asked, nodding toward the squat buildings. ¡°I the Scout,¡± Will said with a shrug. Will thought, crouching down and leaping off the tiled roof. Typically, a jump that strong would¡¯ve shattered the roof tiles and sent him sprawling, but Aspect of the Goat kept them in one piece, allowing him to get the best possible jump. Will clenched his mouth shut as he sailed through the air and landed on the side of the water tanks. They only squat from several miles away. They were actually taller than everything around them. The sheer volume of water was comparable to a massive lake. Will arrested his fall on the uneven rust peppering the side of the building. Using rust and rivets as handholds, he scampered down to the ground, peering into the massive double doors that hung open and ominous. Will¡¯s eyes adjusted to the dim light in a matter of seconds, then widened. There were three Tangled in the room, seemingly still asleep. One of them was covered head to toes in restraints and cruelly bound to the floor in a painful-looking position. It clicked in Will¡¯s head. That was a human. The Tangled were the result of an Ability. They slept here because this was where their Originator was. Will crept forward, his heart pounding in his ears as he went. ¡°What are you doing!?¡± Will heard Loth¡¯s whisper. He heard it, but he needed to know. Will crept up to the restrained figure and scanned the young man¡¯s body. It was riddled with the bright white scars of torture, most especially the semi-circle white scar on his cranium, which was just beginning to grow hair back in. Will¡¯s hair stood on end, and his stomach turned, but he knew what needed done. ¡°Sorry about this,¡± Will whispered, sliding the Serpents Tomahawk out of his belt. The restrained Climber¡¯s eyes opened, meeting his for a second. Will might¡¯ve imagined some kind of recognition, but the boy¡¯s expression went slack as Will buried the Tomahawk in his skull, pulling it out and severing his spine for good measure. Will¡¯s grip caused the wood of his tomahawk to creak in pain. Will dismissed the prompt and scanned the surroundings. The other two Tangled were silent, laying completely still. Will couldn¡¯t even hear breathing. Taking a gamble, Will cautiously walked up and poked one with his axe. Nothing. It was dead. The Tangled began leaking Miasma, like a normal monster would upon death. All of them except the one human he¡¯d murdered. The Original. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will was starting to think he might¡¯ve gotten off easy just losing a hand. Will scanned the surroundings for any surprises, then ducked his head back in and motioned for the others to join him. When Loth arrived, he took one look at the restrained human, then glanced at the deceased dopplegangers surrounding him, his sharp mind coming to the same conclusion as Will. ¡°Grak, take the others and check if the Tangled are still alive.¡± ¡°Yes, Great One!¡± Grak said, scuttling away. ¡°So it was an Ability. One capable of destroying a city,¡± Loth mused, rubbing his chin. Carrie gasped as she spotted the tortured corpse bolted to the center of the room. She turned a bit green and shook her head before stepping back out. ¡°Oh crap, Travis!¡± Will shouted. ¡°We don¡¯t need the swarm of fire, we should-¡° ¡°We still need to lay a trap,¡± Loth said, catching his elbow. ¡°We¡¯re just changing the target.¡± ¡°The deliberate weakness of having all the Tangled die with the originator means that this city can be reclaimed by a single assassin. Very convenient for a Lord looking to make a show of reclaiming a pristine city from mysterious monsters and earn quite a bit of glory. The perpetrator of this monstrous crime will be coming with an army to ¡®reclaim¡¯ the city very soon, now that the Tangled have proliferated to an impressive number.¡± Loth glanced up at Will. ¡°Would you like to hunt some monsters?¡± Will really did want someone to be punished for this, but his duty as the Party Leader weighed down on him. He couldn¡¯t pick a fight with a Lord. Not yet. But someone had to be punished. ¡°¡­I have some conditions.¡± Will said. Chapter 34: Thorns Mark Wyrd leaned forward on his mount and studied the city in the distance. Oilton. What a creative name for a place that produces oil from the inexhaustible landscape of the tower. He¡¯d always expected his first Lordship to be something¡­grander, in one sense or another. He¡¯d always pictured staking a claim on hostile wilderness on the eleventh Floor, fighting tooth and nail to advance civilization¡­or a golden city that gleamed in the morning sun, with very little in between. A quaint little oil-city in the meager third floor wasn¡¯t exactly breaking ground in new exciting frontiers. Nor was it a river-spanning, gleaming center of civilization, like on the fifth Floor. Mark knew better than to complain, though. He had the required number of people, he had an empty plot. Like it or not, he¡¯d be a Lord before the sun went down. There was just thing nagging him. ¡°Where¡¯s Ferole?¡± Mark asked after the assassin his father had sent to clear the way for him. ¡°He should be back by now.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Young Master.¡± Old Bron said. ¡°I¡¯m sure he has his reasons.¡± Mark shrugged. ¡°Set a course for the water tanks. We may have to fight our way toward the objective.¡± Mark shifted in his saddle, his heart beat beginning to sound like a drum. He knew it was unlikely, but the possibility of actually having to for his Lordship had a certain charm. A certain sense of satisfaction that eluded him in his daily life. ¡°As you wish,¡± Bron nodded, before turning back to the army following behind and organizing the assault. They organized their ash-striders into a line. Ash-striders were large lizards whose widely splayed feet were able to gain purchase on the omnipresent ash inside the third floor, as their namesake implied. Mark always found their gait to be incredibly silly, and riding them was an exercise in nausea. ¡°Charge!¡± Bron shouted, and the Ash-striders began running, their limbs flopping out to the side, sending up sprays of ash and forcing their riders to sway violently side to side as they ran. But that speed made all the discomfort worth it. Some of the riders went through the gate, but others just had their mounts climb the walls, flowing straight over them like a conquering tide. Mark sent his own ash-strider over the wall for the sheer joy of it, holding tight to the reins as his weight settled into the saddle¡¯s restraints. A moment later, he joined the others at the top of the wall, primed to combat thousands of Tangled. They were disappointed. There were human corpses lining the streets, like they¡¯d been briefed, but the flood of Tangled that they¡¯d been expecting failed to manifest. In fact, there were Tangled corpses strewn about the city, their distinctive features corrupted by Miasmatic Putrefaction. In a matter of minutes, they confirmed that not a single Tangled remained alive. Mark stifled a sigh before it happened. It seemed that Father¡¯s personal assassin had come, done his job and then left on more important matters. ¡°Thank goodness,¡± Old Bron said, wiping sweat from his forehead as they rode through the streets. In light of the circumstances, they had changed their destination from the water tanks to the Lord¡¯s castle, where Mark would gain his first real command. The castle was silent and foreboding, the gate was barred and they were forced to ride over thw wall and tear apart the makeshift barricade. The barricade itself was torn apart where a Tangled had pushed through it, but it was still a nuisance. That was a good thing, because Mark needed the city to be completely empty to stake a claim on it. Mark noted as they rode in the main entrance hall. There was even a hole in the side of the castle tower where someone or something had broken it in the battle. They stabled their mounts and made their way the throne hall, and right away, something was off. ¡°Where are all the bodies?¡± Mark asked, scanning the room. ¡°Survivors?¡± ¡°Looters, more like,¡± Old Bron said, studying the environment and pointing to where empty sockets in the furniture presumably bore gold and gems. He sniffed. ¡°Kobolds. Be cautious of traps.¡± Mark clicked his tongue as his humble beginnings became even humble. That meant that there were probably some doors with rusty blades rigged to pop out and skewer your foot, or other petty nonsense. The last thing Mark wanted was to get a finger chopped off when he was opening up his new desk. ¡°Gentlemen,¡± Mark said, turning to the twelve young CLimbers who had been selected to become his first Vassals. ¡°Swear your fealty to me.¡± Old Bron looked like he wanted to say something, as Mark had skipped a large portion of the grandstanding and speech that had been laid out for him, but the old man held his tongue. As one, the climbers went down on one knee. ¡°We pledge our life to your service as Vassals, as witnessed by The Tower.¡± They said as one. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Mark thought, striding up the stairs to the throne and taking the throne overlooking his new responsibility. Mark thought, eyeballing the throne¡¯s arm as he sat down ***William Oh*** ¡°You were right,¡± Travis said, his face morphed into a scowl. ¡°I often am,¡± Loth replied. ¡°Those are the standards of the Wyrd family,¡± Travis pointed out the green and cream standards with the weird symbol. ¡°Is that why their standard is Weird?¡± Will asked. Everyone looked at him. ¡°Get it? The Wyrd¡¯s family crest is we-¡° ¡°Yes, we got it,¡± Loth interjected. ¡°There¡¯s only one way they could have an army here within a week of the city falling: And that¡¯s if they already had one ready to go before the city fell. They orchestrated this.¡± Travis said. ¡°It¡¯s complicated isn¡¯t it?¡± Will asked. ¡°You¡¯re pissed they took your family from you and grateful you¡¯ll never have to deal with them again.¡± For an instant, Travis looked like he was going to lose it, but he sighed. ¡°Yeah¡­it¡¯s complicated. Still gonna kill as many of them as I can, though, and¡­¡± He glanced down at his boots. ¡°I predict some financial distress from this situation. Can I trade the boots and cloak. back for the cash?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Will replied, perfectly happy with his five hundred Ivory. ¡°Damnit.¡± Travis grumbled. ¡°Now sit back and watch how Loth handles these bastards.¡± Will said, taking a seat on the rugged mountaintop overlooking the city. A few minutes later, a light began to blink on the top of the water tower. ¡°Looks like the trap there caught someone,¡± Will mused, watching the amount of steam billowing off the engines begin gradually increasing, subtly raising the pressure in the oil lines. About half an hour later, Will and Loth were discussing Build strategy when Oilton exploded. It started with the castle, which erupted with burning oil as the over-pressured main line ruptured directly underneath it. The castle shattered, boulders of flaming rock going every direction as a fireball that dwarfed the mountain they sat on rose into the sky. Will could feel the heat. Then it spread to the rest of the town as those flaming boulders landed in the streets, rupturing more and more oil lines, flooding the streets with flaming oil, engulfing the entire city in choking smoke and hellfire, a scene straight out of a nightmare. ¡°Great One¡­¡± Grak said, his eyes white all the way around. A loud noise right beside Will made him flinch. The small army of humans, Kobolds, and Jibleya started at the explosion in their midst. Will looked over and saw Loth teetering backwards, his clothes burned away and his scales on fire. Will lunged forward and caught him before he hit the ground, ignoring the fire crawling up his arm. Loth¡¯s scales were burning away, as if being subjected to a monstrous heat that seemed to radiate directly from his skin. ¡°Loth, what happened!?¡± Will asked, but Loth was unresponsive. ¡°HEALTH POTION!¡± he snapped at Travis. Rich kids could afford Health Potions. Travis reached into his satchel and whipped a red ampule through the air to Will. Will caught it and snapped off the top before dumping it on Loth¡¯s body. The healing happened first where you put the potion, and the damage was- ¡°Get it in his mouth! He needs to breathe!¡± Carrie said, kneeling down beside Loth and dumping one of her own in his mouth. Loth let out a harsh cough filled with smoke and the stench of burning meat, followed by a gasp for air. ¡°What happened!?¡± Will demanded, standing. ¡°Thorn effect!¡± Travis said. ¡°The Wyrd family is known for it.¡± ¡°And you didn¡¯t us!?¡± Will shouted. ¡°I have never in my heard of Thorns triggering from indirect damage!¡± Travis shouted back. ¡°Well, you just it!¡± ¡°Hey, umm¡­¡± Brianna interrupted them. ¡°Is that a problem?¡± In the distance, a single flaming figure had stepped outside the burning city and was sprinting at ungodly speed towards their mountaintop lookout. Will came to a decision. ¡°You want that money back?¡± Will said, grabbing his sack of Ivory and offering it to Travis. ¡°Give me the rest of your health potions and do your Class proud.¡± He nodded toward the streak of fire headed towards them. ¡°¡­Deal,¡± Travis said, snagging the bag out of Will¡¯s hand before reaching into his satchel and tossing another three red ampules his direction. Travis began to sprint downhill, and Will made to break the rest of the ampules, when Carrie stopped him. ¡°You need to stagger them. He¡¯s still burning. If the effect runs out before stops taking damage,¡± She nodded towards the flaming figure below them, ¡°Loth will die.¡± ¡°Even then, he¡¯ll need a healer, the damage is far too extensive for a simple healing potion.¡± Will had a healer on tap to the southeast, where Steve was supposed to meet them at their original destination. ¡°Hey, you giant cunt!¡± Will faintly heard Travis¡¯s voice in the distance, followed by the jingle-jangle of his annoying whip. ¡°My name is Travis Oilton, and I just ruined your day! Whaddyagonna do about it!?¡± Will glanced up from Loth and saw the massive explosion of fog from the Cloak of Misty Escape. An instant later, Travis shot out of the side of the cloud like a bolt of lightning. ¡°That cloud is blocking his view of us too,¡± Will said, lifting his burning teammate in the crook of his left arm, ignoring the pain as his clothes began to singe. ¡°We need to move.¡± Carrie and Bri nodded, following him as he began to sprint down the side of the mountain. Loth gasped and caught on fire. Will broke an ampule and poured it down Loth¡¯s throat as he ran, attempting to smother the fire as best as he could without slowing down. Even sprinting at his top speed the entire time, Will didn¡¯t think he could get Loth to the Stronghold any sooner than an hour. Will tried targeting the distant stronghold with his Gravity Charge, but it fizzled. Whether it was out of range, out of sight, or just because he didn¡¯t know exactly where it was or what it looked like, it didn¡¯t matter. Will didn¡¯t have a free hand, holding the remaining health potions in his hand, so he shot a bullet out of his Phantom Hand at the next mountain and targeted it with Gravity Charge. Will lifted off the ground, Loth¡¯s weight providing only meager resistance as he began falling towards the bullet flying into the distance. He drew a long arc through the air, following the bullet¡¯s arc until finally landing on the opposite mountain some thirty seconds later, a tremendous shock travelling up his knees, dampened from painful to tolerable by the Combat Platforms. He¡¯d gone maybe half a mile by cutting across the valley. Bri and Cassie sprinted along behind him, desperately trying to keep up. A bolt of inspiration struck him. ¡°Why, did, you, stop?¡± Carrie asked, panting as she reached the top of the mountain. ¡°I think I can get Loth to the Stronghold fast, but I¡¯m going to have to leave you behind to do it,¡± Will said. ¡°Do what you gotta do,¡± Carrie gasped. ¡°I¡¯ll keep Bri safe.¡± Brianna nodded, giving Will a push forward. Will nodded, then targeted Phantom Hand with Gravity Charge. Will¡¯s feet left the ground as he angled the Phantom hand forward and up about fifteen degrees¡­and kept it there. The faster he went, the faster Phantom Hand went to keep pace as he and Loth fell into the sky, never slowing down or arcing, instead drawing a perfectly straight line through the sky. In retrospect, he should¡¯ve juked a bit. Will reached the speed of a falling stone, then kept speeding up far beyond that as the wildly more potent draw of Gravity Charge tried to catch up with the Phantom Hand, which could never tire. Will¡¯s primary Ability was acting like the mechanical hare in those dog races in the capital he¡¯d heard of. He had no idea how fast he was going, but the landscape slid by underneath him, and the wind was so strong that his clothes whipped painfully against his skin, as if lashing him to go faster. It was only thanks to his goat mask that Will was able to keep his eyes open at all. He could do this forty-seven seconds at a time, far, faster than a man had any right to move, faster than stone falling from a clear sky. Something pulled tight around his ankle and nearly pulled his leg off, whipping him straight down to smash into the ashen ground, creating an impact crater around where he¡¯d cradled Loth¡¯s body. ¡°Looks like we got the right one,¡± The Climber bandits said, looming over him as he rolled away from Loth¡¯s fire-ravaged body. Will looked up at the blood-red sun, and the two ugly faces peering down at him. His entire body was a blossoming bruise, and moving seemed ill-advised. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There was a single unbroken Health Potion in his hand. ¡°Where¡¯s the girl you stole, goat-boy?¡± The bandit said, kneeling down beside Will¡¯s supine form. Chapter 35: Don’t Forget The Kobold ¡°Let me give my Party member this health potion and I¡¯ll tell you,¡± Will said, gesturing to the health potion. The two Climbers glanced at Loth¡¯s smoldering body. It was distressingly still. ¡°Odd company you keep.¡± The bandit said, plucking the health potion out of Will¡¯s hand. ¡°Tell us where the girl is and we¡¯ll heal your friend.¡± Will thought at a blistering pace as the ugly mug stared down at him. If he told the truth, they would get Brianna, then they honor their promise and heal Loth. (unlikely) If he lied, they wouldn¡¯t get Bri, and they honor their promise and heal Loth. (also unlikely) If he bought time, Loth was going to die, if he hadn¡¯t already. The flames across Loth¡¯s body had ceased, so maybe the Wyrd had stopped burning, and Loth had the chance to stabilize. Or maybe he was already dead. On top of this, there was a real good chance of them killing Will once he told them what they wanted to hear. About 99%. ¡°Alright,¡± Will said, keeping his hand up and open, deciding to mix the best of ¡®lying¡¯ and ¡®delaying¡¯. ¡°She got caught by a Wyrd army that came through and attacked the stronghold to our northwest.¡± The bandit¡¯s eyebrows rose, while the other one spat. ¡°Son of a !¡± the second bandit shouted, kicking the dirt. ¡°Hey, if you want her that much, you might still have a chance,¡± Will said quickly before they decided to kill him. ¡°That Wyrd army got wrecked by some weird arm-thingies that sprang up in the middle of the city. They lit the place on fire to burn them out as they retreated. They took staggering losses, though.¡± The two bandits shared meaningful glances. ¡°Were you there when it happened?¡± The first asked. ¡°No, I was watching from the mountaintop.¡± Will said. ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say is, If she¡¯s still alive, they¡¯ve only got a handful of people left to watch her.¡± ¡°Nah, she¡¯s gone,¡± The first, skinnier bandit said, scowling. ¡°Then can you heal my Party member?¡± Will asked. ¡°Waste a Health Potion on a ?¡± The second one asked, pocketing the red ampule. ¡°After you screwed us out of a payday?¡± ¡°Kid¡¯s wearing some nice gear,¡± the first said, scanning Will head to toe. ¡°Not only that, he¡¯s kitted.¡± ¡°Would take a bit of the sting out of-¡° ¡°You can have it if you heal my friend,¡± Will said, tensing. They laughed uproariously as Will scanned the horizon, hoping that Carrie and Bri, and Loth¡¯s minions would arrive soon. No such luck. Will had been ¡°Sorry kid, but-¡° At that point, Will knew there was nothing to be gained from further discussion. They intended to let Loth die and rob him at the very Unacceptable. The instant the Charge left Will¡¯s body, Bandit#1 struck, unsheathing his sword in a blast of light that dug a massive furrow into the sheet of ice beneath them. Will rose into the air, avoiding the attack by falling up towards his Phantom Hand, which he then swung to the right. Will¡¯s stomach did summersaults as down rapidly shifted. Bandit #1 slipped after making the attack, but Bandit #2 was standing on a piece of rope that seemed to stabilize his footing. Will was caught by a knot of rope against his shoulder, which sent him spinning off to the side. Will scrambled to adjust Phantom Hand¡¯s orientation relative to himself to catch his breath as another blast of white light brushed past him, missing only because of his uncanny trajectory. Finally he just decided on the ground, sending the Phantom Hand deep into the earth. With ¡®normal¡¯ gravity recreated, Will hit the ice feet first, sending shocks through his entire body, which reminded him of the bruising it was working on¡­But especially the sprained hip where Bandit #2 had lassoed him. ¡°GAH!¡± Will clutched his hip and spotted Bandit #2 tensing for another attack. Without shifting his stance, Will moved Phantom Hand below ground, causing him to flow across the ice like water on a tilted table, sliding to the left. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! A knot of rope missed his ear by a couple inches. ¡°How are you moving like that!?¡± Will thought, drawing his Tomahawk. ¡°I¡¯m Willliam Oh,¡± Will growled, Sliding forward with Gravity Charge. ¡°Wait, William- OH!¡± Will slid Phantom hand beneath and behind the rope bearer, moving the ephemeral hand through the solid ice, Gravity Charge accelerating him forward across the ice to chase it. Directly towards his enemy. He couldn¡¯t walk, or run. He could barely stand, but Gravity Charge didn¡¯t give a shit. He could slide. Rope Guy Whipped out the rope and Will shifted the phantom hand to the side causing him to wobble out of the way of the attack. Then he whipped Phantom hand around behind his opponent and released a bullet, striking the enemy in the lower back. ¡°Gah!¡± the bandit groaned in pain. A knot of rope whizzed by Will¡¯s ear from behind, the attack seemingly thrown off-course by Will¡¯s backstab landing first. Rope Bandit still managed to raise his arm to block. It was covered in loop after loop of writhing rope, which coiled around his arm and acted as a shield, blocking the Serpent¡¯s tomahawk. If Will could apply enough stacks of the debuff, he could make this fight far more even. The bandit¡¯s arm weakened by a near-imperceptible amount as Will¡¯s debuff landed. Will might not¡¯ve even noticed the difference if hadn¡¯t been wearing so much Strength-boosting gear. Will thought in a split second of optimism. Unfortunately the bandit realized the same thing, and he had two hands. The ropes around the bandit¡¯s arm exploded outward, tangling up Will¡¯s weapon while he unsheathed a dagger with his other hand, whipping it forward. Will threw his stump in the way, taking the stab on his useless arm and responding with an attack of his own, landing the Combat Platforms in the center of his opponent¡¯s chest. The kick wasn¡¯t nearly as strong as it should¡¯ve been because of the pain in his hip, and the bandit merely stumbled backwards, coughing air rather than blood. Will tried to bring the tomahawk to bear to block, but the tangling ropes tore it out of his hand. Sword Bandit had waited until Will disengaged with his buddy to unleash one of those bisecting sword-strikes. Will turtled up, orienting Phantom hand to pull him away from the attack, gritting his teeth as his body exploded in pain. The strike was shallower than it could¡¯ve been, but it still left a deep laceration along his arm and torso. Will thought, struggling to think of a way out. It could¡¯ve been anywhere between zero and fifty, which didn¡¯t really give Will a lot of hope. Will slid further back, aiming for Rope Bandit while keeping an eye out for another attack from Sword Bandit.¡± A loop of rope cinched down around Will¡¯s midsection. ¡°Checkmate, you little-¡° The Rope Bandit growled as his hands began to glow. Desperate, Will interposed the Phantom Hand in the center of the rope. The Ability traveled down the rope like lightning, faster than any of them could perceive it. The rope exploded right at the point where the phantom hand interrupted the flow of the Ability, knocking both Will and Rope Bandit on their asses. Will wiggled in midair, keeping his gaze on Rope Bandit¡¯s pocket the entire time. Will plucked the ampule out of Rope Bandit¡¯s pocket, with them none the wiser. He immediately whipped the Phantom Hand over to Loth, emptying the red liquid into Loth¡¯s mouth. For a brief instant he was resisted by something, but when he targeted the empty space above Loth¡¯s open mouth, it worked. Will dove under another sword strike, then did a head-fake for the next one, not rising into the air as the bandit expected. Will thought, backing away from Loth, arranging his positioning so that they didn¡¯t see Loth¡¯s wounds heal. ¡°Hey, fellas, why don¡¯t you just walk away? This obviously isn¡¯t going as easily for you as you expected.¡± Will said. ¡°You look like twice-trod shit, and one of us has a scratch.¡± Sword bandit said, pointing at him. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Scratch? You try getting hit in the spine,¡± Rope Bandit muttered, rubbing his back, but not taking his eyes off Will. ¡°He¡¯s got some kind of Counterspell,¡± Rope Bandit warned his buddy, whirling his knotted rope as the two of them crept towards him. ¡°And he can fly.¡± Sword bandit added. ¡°And some kind of Dimensional attack-from-behind-ability. I didn¡¯t see anything.¡± Rope bandit said. The two of them glanced at each other, an unspoken question passing between the two of them. Will puffed up his chest, trying to look as intimidating as possible. If he could scare these guys off, that would be ide- Unfortunately, that was when Homefield Advantage expired, just as Will wobbled in place, his balance suffering from a tortured inner ear and sudden blood loss. They glanced at each other and grinned, charging forward. Sword Bandit took the front while Rope Bandit made long-range attacks, forcing Will to blow another Charge on Homefield Advantage. Sword Bandit slipped, but he didn¡¯t let Will take advantage of it, warding him off with ranged slashes while Rope Bandit tried to catch him again. What felt like an eternity later ¨C but must¡¯ve been twenty seconds ¨C Gravity charge expired, leaving Will lurching in place, hissing in pain as his weight settled on his wounded leg. Will blocked an attack, blinking through the pain before the man¡¯s other hand caught him in the jaw, sending him sprawling. ¡°You fought good, William Oh.¡± Sword Bandit said, winding up for a killing blow. Sword Bandit leaned aside, deflecting a bullet he¡¯d heard coming a mile away. On the nearby hill, a swarm of half a dozen Kobolds charged their position, their mouths frothing with rage as they whipped their slings over their head. ¡°FOR THE GREAT ONE!¡± Grak shouted, waving his spear as he charged. They were running like the wind, having been officially recognized by The Tower as Loth¡¯s minions, and enjoying the multiple stacking speed benefits thereof. Will seized the moment and fell towards Rope Bandit. The man raised his rope-covered arm defensively, ready to ward off whatever attack Will had to offer. Will grabbed the man¡¯s fist with his own and wrenched it down with all his might, finally using Gravity Charge for exactly what it was meant for: Headbutts. The ethereal horns jutting from Will¡¯s mask slammed into Rope Bandit¡¯s face, sending him reeling backwards. Hey you-damnit!¡± Sword Bandit shouted, forced to ward off a hail of attacks as more kobolds came in range. ¡°Enough!¡± Sword Bandit unleashed a blaze of fire from his sword that created a wall of fire, effectively blocking the Kobolds from interfering before turning back to Will. He stood over his teammate, blocking Will¡¯s follow-up kick. He seized Will¡¯s leg with one hand and wrenched it up, causing Will to crumble to his knees with a cry of pain. ¡°You don¡¯t understand who you¡¯re messing with you little- Sword Bandit¡¯s eyes went wide as a coin-sized hole opened up in his chest. ¡°Shiiiit.¡± He groaned as he toppled over into the ash of the third Floor. Will glanced over at where Loth sat upright, his claws covered in ash from where he¡¯d been desperately sifting through the ash for a bug. The black kobold was about half scar-tissue, half fresh burns that¡¯d fused with his clothes and Relics. His scales had been largely burned away, leaving an almost mangy appearance. Loth met Will¡¯s gaze. ¡°Level fifteen.¡± He said moments before his eyes rolled back in his head, and he dropped back down into the ash. Will glanced back at Rope Bandit. The man glanced at his dead partner, then the guttering flames that Kobolds were already beginning to jump over, flooding into their little arena. With a cry, Rope Bandit¡¯s ropes exploded into a blinding confetti of string, ensnaring everyone present at the expense of all of Rope Bandit¡¯s rope. By the time Will could see and move freely, Rope Bandit was already gone. Chapter 36: Fancy Inn Jason Salazar ¡°Ah, this is the life,¡± Steve Holland said, relaxing in his bed, eating some Ashvine grapes, specially grown in the ash-covered vineyards that surrounded Coleton. Growing them was a major pain in the ass, but the By all accounts, this is where he be meeting Will¡¯s party. He¡¯d already made inroads on over a dozen lucrative contracts that he knew were within his team¡¯s capabilities. He knew only one or two would pan out, but it was a good start. William Oh¡¯s name was starting to have Brand Value. There were only two downsides: First, the Lord he¡¯d pissed off on the 2nd Floor who was probably looking for him, and second, the growing number of copycats. The second problem actually made the first problem less worrisome, although it made it difficult to convince people that his team included the actual William Oh, or failing that, William Oh levels of quality. People liked getting high-quality knock-offs: They felt like they were getting a good deal. A job where all he had to do was lounge around and talk to people? Perfect. He¡¯d even been making good money on the side healing parties drifting through town. Steve mused to himself. He¡¯d been here for several and it really didn¡¯t take that long for people to travel from the nearby Key Site to Coalton, which was the closest city to where they¡¯d arrived. He¡¯d picked up distressing rumors about busses getting attacked and Oilton going silent. If Will got swept up in the middle of all that and had died out there on the third floor¡­Well, that would be a bummer. End of the gravy train already in sight. At least Will¡¯s corpse would mummify in the heat, so the chances of it being brought in by scavengers and identified was pretty good. Steve thought, popping another grape in his mouth. The ceiling of Steve¡¯s room at the inn collapsed inward as a figure covered in ash-caked blood fell through it. ¡°HEAL, NOW!¡± William Oh said, an ash-caked line across his chest and arm. ¡°Right!¡± Steve shouted, throwing the covers and debris off himself. Candy shrieked and tugged the covers back, but Steve was already halfway across the room, his hands glowing with divine power as he reached toward Will. ¡°Not me, Will said, unwrapping Loth from a cloth swaddling he¡¯d wrapped around his chest. The black kobold was covered from head to toe in oozing burns, and likely holding on by a thread. If he wasn¡¯t dead already. In a matter of hours, those wounds would get infected and things would get bad. It was way beyond what a simple Health Potion could do. ¡°On it,¡± Steve said, rolling up his sleeves and warming up the 20 Charge Full Heal Loth¡¯s body was suffused with Andover¡¯s grace, and the burns across his entire body began to fade. ¡°Oh, thank the gods,¡± Will said before he slumped down in the pile of ash-covered roof-debris and fell asleep. ¡°I¡¯m just gonna¡­go.¡± Candy said, wrapping the blanket around herself and tiptoeing out the door, which was currently laying on the floor. ¡°HEEEY! WHO¡¯S GONNA PAY FOR THIS!?¡± the Madame demanded, glaring through the empty doorway. Steve thought sourly. ***William Oh*** Will woke up in a soft bed with minimal ash covering. He tried to sit up, but his entire body was stiff as the Abyss. ¡°Gah,¡± He groaned, rubbing the soreness out of his arm as best he could. There was the faintest hint of a scar, but it appeared that their healer had fixed them up nicely. Will wondered, his eyes adjusting to the dim candlelight. As it turned out, Loth was sleeping beside him, large patches of his scales had been burned away, leaving the dark skin underneath. ¡°Well, for only getting into one actual fight, we sure got wrecked,¡±Will mused. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Ability Upgrade Available! (X2) Secondary Ability Available! All of Will¡¯s gear save for his amulet and rings were missing. Will thought, leaning back against the headboard with a sigh as he spotted his gear against the wall. Will thought. He¡¯d hit the magical level 10 in Oilton, which gave him the option to select a secondary Ability, as well as another Primary Ability upgrade slot. Will thought, thinking back to Loth¡¯s attack that absolutely wrecked the Climber he¡¯d been fighting. Will thought to himself as he perused the Secondary Ability options, momentarily forgetting about his resolve to be cool and calculating towards his next ability. Will frowned. It had a (minor) tag which was the universal sign that he could upgrade it at level 20. But¡­did he really want to spend all of level 11-20 with what was essentially an expensive debuff cone? Will thought, inspecting the effect. It probably wouldn¡¯t be anything he took, but it was interesting he was being offered it. Passive The User¡¯s field of vision widens, as well as minor improvements to their hearing and smell. Scales with Acuity. Just from a cursory glance at its effects, Will figured it would allow him to wield Two-handed weapons one-handed. Two-handed weapons had better stats and damage. There were also edge-case uses, like did it synergize with Phantom Hand¡¯s ability to touch magic, or a vastly expanded selection of Improvised weapons. Will thought, even though he was pretty sure he wouldn¡¯t take it. Further Was it implying there was some affinity there already? It said ¡®progenitor, like the Progenitor Uru Drake. A fringe benefit, perhaps? Debuffs as defined by The Tower included things like poison, burning, bleeding, mind-control, fear, curses, and stat drains like the one Serpent¡¯s Tomahawk did. But did Will want to divert his entire Build towards debuff Synergy? Not really. If anything, Will gravitated towards two options: Sourdough and Titan¡¯s Grasp. The former because of the Relic synergies that were already at play with Phantom Hand, and that he was planning on improving once he got a Relic Worm Sacrifice, giving him a strong, unfair synergy that he might be able to loop Sourdough in on eventually, as the Ability specifically worked with Relics. The Latter attracted him because it partially offset his disability, and there were possible sacrifices in the future he could possibly use to link Titan¡¯s Grasp passive with Phantom hand. maybe even one day make it interact with the physical world. If he could get his ability give him a left hand again¡­ Will took a deep breath and set aside the choices for now. Will got out from under the silk covers and paused. He paused and studied the expensive fabric, his gaze turning towards the oversized bedframe with opulent padding. The down pillows. The soft mattress. The rich rug that was heavenly smooth against his feet, which sank deep into the weave. The red walls, and fake gold on every surface¡­ Will thought as he slipped on his shirt and pants, looping the suspenders up over his shoulders. The door creaked open and Steve ducked his head in. Will he perceived a flash of someone running in the hall behind him, but he couldn¡¯t process exactly what he was seeing. ¡°Oh, good, you¡¯re awake!¡± Steve said, steering a cart into the room with a wide grin. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, I took some of the Ivory you hid in your socks to pay for the damages to the ceiling. Will had squirreled some away as soon as he had a moment of time away from prying eyes in case Travis double-crossed him. The young Master Decoy had not gotten the full amount back. Still, it hadn¡¯t been explicitly stated that the whole amount was in the bag when Will offered it to him to lead the Wyrd away from the rest of them. His paranoia had come in handy just now, it seemed. At the mention of the money in his socks, Will idly thumbed his belt, checking that the coin in the band of his underwear was still there. ¡°I brought you guys some meat, wine, cheeses.¡± Steve said. ¡°Not many vegetables here. The Ashvine grapes are delicious, but they¡¯re expensive and not exactly the filling. No, you two will need plenty of meat, to help restore some of your reserves.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t magical healing¡­Magical?¡± Will asked. ¡°Well, yes, and no,¡± Steve said, reaching under the cart and pulling out a pitcher of wine and cups. ¡°All healing drains the body¡¯s resources to some extent, and this extent varies wildly based on the power of the healer, their skill, the god, the extent of the damage, the Resistance of the person being healed.¡± ¡°And I am the most powerful or skilled healer,¡± Steve said, shaking his head and chuckling. ¡°Not by a long shot.¡± ¡°Should we find someone better?¡± Will asked. ¡°Tough talk for someone whose life I saved.¡± Steve said, taking a sip of his cup before offering it to Will. Will eyed it suspiciously. ¡°It¡¯s watered down,¡± Steve said with a shrug. Will tried it, tasting the faintest hint of wine. After the first sip, his body realized exactly how thirsty he was, and he knocked the entire thing back, devolving into a coughing spree near the end as he partially inhaled some of the wine-flavored water. ¡°Haven¡¯t drunk anything except for cooled ice crystals and tuber-juice for days.¡± Will gasped once he was done coughing. ¡°Sounds like a good way to get scurvy,¡± Steve said, pulling Will¡¯s cup back down and refilling it, squeezing half a lime into it. ¡°Drink that.¡± Watered down Lime-wine was¡­an experience. Almost good. Tolerable, even. ¡°Here, have some stew,¡± Steve said, revealing two massive bowls of brown goop filled with massive chunks of meat. ¡°Made with salt from the second Floor and flamenwulf from this Floor. A regional specialty.¡± ¡°By the gods, I missed salt!¡± Will said, inhaling the stew. He¡¯d gotten some when Brianna cooked her bread bowl stew, but- ¡°Where¡¯s Brianna and Carrie!?¡± Will asked. ¡°They¡¯re resting in an Inn a few streets down.¡± Steve said. ¡°They arrived a few hours after you did, asking around town for you and Loth,¡± Steve said, pointing at the Kobold, who seemed to be rousing now that the noisy healer had barged in. ¡°Smell food,¡± Loth growled, uncharacteristically blunt. He tried to get up, but made an inhuman whine and went limp, panting in pain as he stared at the ceiling. ¡°I can move my arm,¡± Loth said, waggling his right arm for emphasis. ¡°Sit me up!¡± Will went and sat Loth up against the headboard and set the bowl in his lap. Over the next handful of seconds, Loth downed the contents of the bowl followed by the entire remainder of the pitcher. Will thought, studying the waist-high kobold. Surely his stomach had to be smaller than Will¡¯s¡­surely. Loth set down the pitcher and glanced between the two humans staring at him. ¡°My apologies. That was rude of me. I was very hungry.¡± ¡°Oh, no problem! That was food, so how you eat it is no concern of mine,¡± Steve said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ll go get another serving in case she¡¯s still hungry.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Will asked as Steve disappeared through the doorway. Will glanced back at Loth, who drew the covers up over himself, watching him cautiously. ¡°Who was he¡­¡± Will cocked his head. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°You¡­never really said anything one way or another, huh?¡± Will said, rubbing his chin. ¡°No, I did not.¡± Loth said. ¡°I don¡¯t even bother to hide it. It might not surprise you to know that humans have a great deal of difficulty telling apart kobold sexes. I typically don¡¯t bother to correct them. Being assigned male has social benefits.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Will looked around the room, eager to find some other topic of conversation. ¡°So! how about this Inn? Weird, right?¡± Will asked. ¡°Kinda fancy, but uses a lot of red and gold for some reason?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a brothel, Will.¡± ¡°So! Level fifteen, huh!?¡± Will desperately shifted topics. Loth laughed. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 37: Knowledge is Pain, Power, and Purpose ¡°What¡¯s that on your face?¡± Brianna asked, cocking her head. ¡°Lipstick,¡± Will replied. ¡°The ladies of The Flotilla sensed weakness and swarmed me. Like Genshur fish smelling blood.¡± ¡°That is true,¡± Loth said, nodding. ¡°Black lipstick?¡± Bri asked, bemused. ¡°I thought you dove into a pile of coal or something.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a Floor specialty, actually,¡± Carrie said. ¡°They sell a bunch in town for cheap, if you wanna check it out later.¡± Brianna nodded, lips pursed in consideration. ¡°So, what are your plans?¡± Will asked. ¡°There¡¯s an office of the bussing agency in town,¡± Brianna said. ¡°I¡¯m going to hitch a ride up to the Seventh Floor, since they¡¯re still under contract to get me there.¡± Will¡¯s brows rose. ¡°I would¡¯ve thought that, since you¡¯re basically declared dead, you could just¡­¡± Will made a ¡®wind¡¯ sound and waved his hand. ¡°I¡­can¡¯t, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Bri said, shaking her head. ¡°Contract.¡± ¡°Oh, like a Contract with a capital ¡®C,¡¯ Contract?¡± Carrie asked, blinking. Contract-with-a-capital-C implied there was an Ability enforcing it. Like Will¡¯s tomahawk, but probably meaner. ¡°Then I will see you on the Seventh Floor,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°In a few months, anyway.¡± ¡°If it makes you feel any better, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re going to die before you get there anymore,¡± Bri offered. ¡°That make me feel better,¡± Will said. ¡°What about you?¡± Loth asked, addressing Carrie. The Eldritch Fashionista shrugged, her little black thing riding her shoulder like a parrot. ¡°I think I¡¯ll join some grinders, then go back down to the Second Floor and feed Summer Relics until she grows a size or two. Then we¡¯re ready to advance to the Fourth Floor. I was less useful than I¡¯d like¡­pretty much that entire time. ¡°Also, you can ?¡± Carrie asked, shifting her gaze to Will. ¡°Eh.¡± Will waggled his hand. ¡°The duration is nothing to write home about, but yes. More or less.¡± ¡°What about you two?¡± Brianna asked, putting her palms under her chin and leaning forward. ¡°As you can see, Loth needs some time to regrow scales,¡± Will said, motioning to the Saboteur. ¡°My entire body is hypersensitive, and it hurts to move,¡± Loth said from her rental wheelchair. ¡°Loth already maxed out her level for this floor when she¡­¡± Will lowered his voice, glancing around. ¡°...blew up Oilton, so I¡¯m going to grind while she recovers. Then we¡¯re going back down to the Hunting Grounds to visit family before we try the 4th Floor.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Carrie said, holding up her hand. ¡°Eh?¡± Will grunted. ¡°¡®She¡¯?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Will said. Carrie glanced at Loth. Loth nodded. A superhuman squeal emerged from Carrie¡¯s mouth before she clapped her hands over it. ¡°We have to update your wardrobe,¡± Carrie said, pointing at Loth¡¯s baggy burlap robe that she hid all of her trapmaking tools in. ¡°No, we do not,¡± Loth said. ¡°Unless you can find something that can carry all of my tools.¡± ¡°Challenge fuckin¡¯ accepted,¡± Carrie said, grabbing Loth¡¯s wheelchair and steering her away from the table in spite of her protests. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s why she doesn¡¯t want people thinking she¡¯s a girl,¡± Will mused, watching them leave. ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be fine with it, if Carrie pays,¡± Bri said. ¡°True.¡± Will rubbed his chin for a moment before he realized that he was alone with Bri. The black-haired Baker girl was looking at him expectantly. ¡°Ah, I, um, do you know what Stronghold you¡¯ll be stationed at on the 7th Floor?¡± Will asked. ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to say,¡± Bri said apologetically. Will frowned, his nervousness at being alone with a Baker girl swept aside as his paranoia caught up with the situation. ¡°Why can¡¯t you say?¡± Will asked. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a high-level infinite Baker on the Seventh Floor be a draw? Your Lord would crow about it constantly.¡± ¡°Well, first, because I don¡¯t know where I¡¯m going, and second, because I¡¯m not allowed to say even if I did know,¡± Bri said, shrugging too casually, a bit of sweat beading on her forehead. Will studied Bri, a black serpent of dread coiling in his guts. didn¡¯t add up. ¡°Do you still think you¡¯re going to be a Baker when you get where you¡¯re going?¡± Will asked. ¡°Of course,¡± Bri said, her knuckles turning white around a butter knife. Her expression said ¡®absolutely not¡¯ and her body language said ¡®keep talking and I¡¯ll have to cut you.¡¯ Pretty similar to the behavior she showed when she thought he was one of the bandits trying to kidnap her. Will chewed his lip as he thought of his next step. ¡°¡­Are you allowed to receive gifts?¡± Will asked. ¡°I guess? There¡¯s nothing in the Contract that says I can¡¯t.¡± Will closed his hand, overlaid his Phantom Hand over his regular one, and let one of the rings he¡¯d stolen out, revealing it in his palm with a flourish. ¡°A gift for you, then,¡± Will said, offering it to Brianna. ¡°I¡¯d feel a lot better if you wore this.¡± Brianna¡¯s eyes slowly widened as she read the description. ¡°This Relic has to be worth more than I am.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I stole it,¡± Will said. ¡°Nobody else will know you have it. Besides, I don¡¯t exactly have the slots to burn on edge-case Relics.¡± ¡°¡­If you¡¯re sure¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Will said. ¡°Your Contract expires when you get where you¡¯re going, right?¡± She nodded. ¡°Then maybe that Relic will help if you decide to quit.¡± ¡°You really think they¡¯re gonna tie me up?¡± she asked, expression wry. A flash entered Will¡¯s mind: the Tangled, a young Climber about their age, his tortured body covered in restraints from head to toe. Will inhaled sharply. ¡°What?¡± Bri asked. ¡°Just thought of something I need to buy before we head out,¡± Will lied. ¡°Wear the damn ring.¡± ¡°Fine. Gods,¡± she sighed, slipping it onto her finger. The band faded into her skin, disguising itself. ¡°Wow, fifteen Focus. That¡¯s double-dailies.¡± ¡°¡­Let¡¯s go save Loth from Carrie.¡± Will offered his hand as he stood up. Brianna took it, her soft hand smaller than his own. ¡°Sounds fun,¡± she said with a mischievous smile. A few minutes later, they tracked Carrie down to where she was holding different leathers in front of Loth, testing their look as Loth stared at the ceiling, seemingly desperately trying to lapse into a coma. ¡°Sorry to interrupt,¡± Will said, grabbing the handles of Loth¡¯s chair. ¡°We need to go shopping for barrels.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Loth said, sitting up. ¡°I need a new barrel!¡± The last one had been left behind when Loth caught fire. ¡°I it¡¯s fine,¡± Carrie said, almost pouting. ¡°I¡¯ve already picked out the design and the leather, so I suppose¡­¡± ¡°Excellent,¡± Will said before leaning down beside Loth and whispering, ¡°Let¡¯s get you out of here.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Please, by the gods. Save me,¡± Loth whispered back. Carrie didn¡¯t stay behind at the tailor like they¡¯d planned, instead handing off the design to the shopkeep before chasing after them. The four of them spent an inordinate amount of time shopping for barrels and replacements for some of the tools that Loth had lost when they¡¯d fled Oilton. Due to her higher Strength, Loth wanted a slightly bigger barrel, which would allow her to partition off the inside into several different biomes. It looked like a pain in the ass to carry, though, because the barrel was soon to be bigger than she was. After their shopping, they found Travis staring into the distance at a restaurant table, looking pale, bruised, and utterly exhausted. Will was surprised the Master Decoy was still alive. When asked how he¡¯d managed to escape, Travis just grunted and drank his water, continuing to stare into the distance. ¡°Speed boost based on the number of enemies,¡± he muttered into his mug. Travis hadn¡¯t been fast enough to escape by himself, but by running into the territory of several different kinds of monsters and pissing them off as he tried to lose the Wyrd, he¡¯d been able to boost his natural speed high enough to get away from all of them. Travis was truly safer the more people were trying to kill him. After a few hours, they all said their goodbyes. Will and Carrie agreed to go grinding together the next day while Loth healed, and Travis said he would see if he could get in contact with his family. They all waved off Brianna as she headed off to the bussing agency, then went their separate ways, with Will pushing Loth along back to The Flotilla, only to find that they rented rooms by the hour, and Will and Loth¡¯s room was already given away and ¡®in use.¡¯ They got an inn on the other side of town and settled in for the evening. Now that they finally had privacy and there was nothing trying to kill them, Will and Loth could talk about a subject that was a little more¡­sensitive. ¡°So I stole a of Relics out of Travis¡¯s dad¡¯s office,¡± Will said, his Phantom Hand dumping the five rings, two amulets, a bangle, and a tiny dagger out onto a table. ¡°So, you waited until we could get some distance from Oilton and some plausible deniability before we started wearing these?¡± Loth asked, spreading the pile of jewelry out on their rough wooden table. ¡°I think so. If ¡®possible deniability¡¯ is what it sounds like.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Loth said, inspecting the rings by the light of the candle. ¡°The Ring of Arcane Endurance,¡± Loth said, twirling the simple golden band between her fingers. ¡°I¡¯m tempted, but it¡¯s just good, not synergistic with my Build.¡± ¡°We could probably sell it to Mason for good money,¡± Will said. Nukers were constantly starved for Charge, and taking one Charge off of every encounter could make a long excursion in the higher Floors much more manageable, especially if the Nuker was comfortable just blowing up everything that attacked before the situation got too serious. It could seriously lubricate a long Climb. ¡°Mmm.¡± Loth nodded, checking the next ring. ¡°Oh, interesting, a daily Charge penalty,¡± Loth mused, wincing in pain as she tore off her Ring of the Wolf Pack, which had some scar tissue around it where the heat had seared the previous ring into the skin before it had been hastily healed. ¡°Ow,¡± Will said for his Party member, as she mostly seemed unaffected. Let no one say that kobolds had low pain tolerance. ¡°I¡¯ll have to do the other one later,¡± Loth said, slipping the Ring of Regeneration on a different finger before pocketing the Wolf Pack. A moment later, she was looking at the next ring. ¡°Huh.¡± Loth studied the Ring of Accuracy. ¡°A mutated Ring of Accuracy.¡± Its stats weren¡¯t quite as good as the one Alicia Zodiac had had on her, and no sane Scout wanted their target to get closer, so Will hadn¡¯t put much thought into it. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t this draw enemies directly onto your tracers?¡± Loth asked, turning back to him. Will¡¯s eyes widened as he imagined an enemy being drawn along the path of his sling¡¯s projectile, being hollowed out by the curtain of fire hanging in midair. The curtain of fire, which also dealt acid damage because of the Sting Ring. ¡°Gimmie,¡± Will said, snatching the ring out of the air and pocketing it as Loth moved on to the next. ¡°Try this one,¡± Will said, sitting down across from Loth and pushing the amulet shaped like a bolt of lightning frozen in silver towards her. ¡°A little garish,¡± Loth mused, inspecting the amulet. ¡°Oooh,¡± Loth crooned over the amulet. ¡°Edge-case usage, but I it¡­¡± ¡°I figured you might want it, since your rope Relic got burnt up.¡± ¡°I love it,¡± Loth said, putting the amulet over her head and tucking the amulet under her clothes. ¡°What else do we have?¡± she asked, rubbing her fire-scarred hands together. Will looked somewhere else. ¡°Last two rings.¡± ¡°Awesome,¡± Will mused. ¡°Those two synergize. Might even cause people¡¯s hearts to stop from fear.¡± ¡°Do you want to make a Thorns Build and get yourself wounded constantly?¡± Loth asked. Will¡¯s expression soured. In order to truly maximize their effect, he¡¯d have to enemies hit him, which wasn¡¯t really his style¡­at all. Will was not fond of pain, and those who inflicted wounds on themselves for a modest benefit were, quite frankly, idiots. ¡°Maybe we can sell it to Mason for Reggie,¡± Will said with a shrug. The guy was a Tank, so he¡¯d be getting hit plenty as a side effect of always being up front. ¡°Maybe,¡± Loth said, sliding the rings across the table, where Will scooped them up and pocketed them. The rings were off-Build for both of them, but they were valuable. Loth inspected the second amulet, a gaudy lump of gold. ¡°And we¡¯ll give this to Steve for pre-payment,¡± Loth said, while Will nodded. Last but not least, a tiny dagger and bangle. ¡°Oh, this is quite good,¡± Loth mused, tapping her lips. ¡°How so?¡± Will asked. ¡°The wording is vague enough that it doesn¡¯t specify that the person who banks the Ability and the person who is wearing it currently have to be the same. It¡¯s possible we could get Steve to load a heal into it with a passphrase. And even if that didn¡¯t work, I could always load it with a Chained Bullet Wasp, set to trigger if we¡¯re ever ambushed by three or more people.¡± ¡°¡­It can be used as a trap.¡± Will nodded in understanding. ¡°EXACTLY!¡± Loth said, giving him a sharp-toothed grin before slipping the bangle onto her wrist. ¡°You may sell the Gloves of Ferocity. They weren¡¯t my style anyway,¡± Loth said, inspecting the five black pearls studding the gold of the bangle. The gloves were a little singed, but they still kept their Relic status, so Will would probably do that. Finally, they looked over the small dagger. ¡°Should we sell this to Travis, or just keep it?¡± Will asked. Loth shrugged. ¡°I could be persuaded either way.¡± ¡°I guess it depends on whether or not I can equip it in my off-hand slot,¡± Will said. If he could put the small dagger on his hip and benefit from the enhancements even while it wasn¡¯t drawn, then it would be worth keeping for himself. Only way to find out would be to equip it and see what happened. Will took off all his Relics except the dagger, slipping that into his belt. He noted the bonus to Kinesthetics and Resistance, then pulled out his Tomahawk of the Serpent. The bonuses were still there. The dagger was still in his off-hand slot, even though he could never actually wield it as an off-hand weapon. Will thought, sagging in relief. ¡°We¡¯re keeping it,¡± Will said. ¡°So¡­about that Brianna girl. How did your talk with her go once Carrie and I left? We made a little bet about what you would say to the Baker girl once we were gone.¡± S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Oh, Bri?¡± Will asked. ¡°She¡¯s a Tangled.¡± Loth froze. ¡°¡­That was not covered by the bet. Explain.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a poor girl offered a powerful, experimental Class by a Lord, who she either doesn¡¯t know the identity of, or is prohibited from revealing. When I first dragged her out of the palanquin, she had a big bloody clump of hair on the side of her head, which she told me was from someone else. ¡°It wasn¡¯t from someone else. It¡¯d already healed. I noticed the Tangled in Oilton were able to regrow entire limbs in a matter of seconds, so a little cut on the scalp was probably no big deal. She also has an insane amount of Strength. ¡°When we got stopped by those ¡®bandits,¡¯ they were strangely fixated on Brianna specifically, called her a ¡®payday,¡¯ and when I told them a Tangled had gone wild in the center of the city and caused trouble, they didn¡¯t ask any followup questions, and instead said ¡®she¡¯s gone.¡¯ They thought was the one who went insane and started destroying the city. A miscommunication on our part, but it worked out well for us.¡± Loth nodded. ¡°Judging by the previous Tangled that we killed, she¡¯s not yet been tortured to the point of insanity. We should do something,¡± Loth said. ¡°No.¡± Will shook his head. ¡°If I¡¯m right, she¡¯s under Contract to fight back to the best of her ability if someone tries to stop her from going to the Lord. We¡¯d have to kill her, and she¡¯d very likely spawn another Tangled mess in the process.¡± ¡°Then what do we do?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Nothing,¡± Will said, his stomach sinking as he sat down. ¡°We do nothing. My sole responsibility is to my Party, and we don¡¯t have the power to sprint up to the Seventh Floor and rescue her once her Contract expires. Not in any shape or form. We would die.¡± Loth silently processed that. ¡°I gave her a chance,¡± Will said quietly. ¡°That was all I could do.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think her Contract will extend beyond her arrival on the Seventh Floor? Perhaps a term of servitude?¡± Will shook his head. ¡°She said it would expire. A normal Contract might have a term of servitude, but it would also include a clause where the Lord would be responsible for her well-being during that time.¡± ¡°Ah. The Contract would end as soon as she arrived, so they could immediately begin torturing her into a Tangled without the Lord breaking his end of the bargain.¡± Will nodded, staring at the floor. ¡°And you didn¡¯t tell her any of this?¡± Loth asked. ¡°I think she might suspect already, and mentioning it to her might trigger the Contract and force her to try and kill us. Keep the secret, you know? ¡°I really wish I hadn¡¯t figured this out,¡± Will muttered into his palms. ¡°Would¡¯ve preferred to imagine her happy and baking nonstop on the Seventh Floor.¡± Loth stood beside him, and a moment later, he felt her hand on his back. ¡°Being intelligent¡­knowing things¡­can be painful, but it can also provide direction in a directionless existence.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Will asked, glancing up at Loth. ¡°Let¡¯s kill the Wyrd family.¡± Chapter 38: The Immediate Plan They discussed Will¡¯s Build, where he was going with it, and what the possibilities might be. In the end, Will admitted that, while less exciting , Sourdough could be upgraded to provide really interesting interactions with Relics, which was a cornerstone of his Build that he wanted to lean on. Once Will added Sourdough to his Build, he needed to go out and buy consumables. Before now, Will could barely afford the equipment he wore, and consumables were expensive and single-use, so the idea of buying some never crossed his mind. But, now that he was kitted, starting to make a lot more money at the Climbing game, he could stop a moment and buy solutions to specific problems. He sold the gloves of ferocity for fifteen ivory and went shopping. The other Relics he put back in his Phantom Hand for safekeeping, since they¡¯d already been earmarked to sell to rich kids who could give Will their actual value rather than haggle him down to what he knew was a fraction of their real value. Will stepped into a dinky little Consumable shop in Coalton, not particularly surprised to find a Jibleya manning the bar. It was a cute little rotund girl with skin shining like a berry. ¡°Welcome!¡± She said as Will entered, gesturing to the shelves lined with bottles of every color along with odd-looking Relics of every shape and size. Will saw a totem made with raven¡¯s skull and bones, another that was a heavy-looking cube with unsettling writing on the surface, and what sounded like faint screams resonating through his eyeballs rather than his ears. There was a piece of clay depicting a snake eating its tail that gave Will an odd feeling in his gut, along with a minitature set of dolls depicting two medics carrying a cot. There were tiny trees, a piece of chalk, a strangely durable soap bubble just sitting on the shelf, a barrel full of some kind of meat-pellets with a scoop and waxed bags next to it, a bag of elemental blasts a giant monster staring at him- As he scanned the wares, his gaze landed on an honest-to-gods troll, a humanoid creature at least eight feet tall with a reach that covered half the shop. Will thought to himself, but he wondered how the troll enforced security when it looked like any movement on it¡¯s part might shatter thousands of gold worth of consumables. He barely fit in the shop. Will met the Troll¡¯s gaze, and the creature started drooling. Instead, Will found the Health Potion section, having decided to grab one of them before anything else, because the ability to recover after a deadly mistake had proven it¡¯s worth. There were more expensive ones, but Will didn¡¯t bother to look at them, since he couldn¡¯t afford them yet, and it would be cruel to wave something that could restore his hand in his face. If Andover couldn¡¯t do it, what were the chances a potion could? Will went up to the cheery Jibleya and put all his cash on the counter. ¡°One greater healing potion,¡± he said. ¡°Sure! Anything else?¡± She asked. ¡°Gonna look around,¡± Will said, turning back to the display cases. He started with the performance enhancing potions, picking out a Combat Enhancement potion Potion of Fury: 20 Gold. There were more, many more, but Will was already running low on cash, and decided to check out the consumeable non-potions closer to the troll. The Jibleya must¡¯ve noticed that he was nervous standing within arm-length of the drooling creature, and spoke up: ¡°Willard, move to the other side of the shop, you¡¯re making our customer nervous.¡± Will gave a grateful nod as the troll lumbered past him. He could feel the very floor bow under his outrageous weight as ¡®Willard¡¯ stepped past him. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Will leaned forward and inspected what looked like an icicle of opaque blue. Even as he looked at it, waves of chilled vapor rolled off of it and off the side of the shelf. ¡°Wow,¡± Will mused, moving on, inspecting items rapid-fire. The tiny trees grew into bigger trees. There was a bottle of lightning, smoke bombs, seering stones, soft-body gum, a sonic attack bell that made a cone of sonic damage upon striking it. On the next shelf was a tiny paper tent that created a larger one, useful on other Floors. Next to it were tokens seemingly made carved out of ivory coins that cleaned and maintained your gear for you. There was a soul crystal that summoned a copy of whatever you could kill and put inside it. Will was tempted to get that one for a moment, but upon thinking about it for a while, he realized he¡¯d have to fill it, then get one summon of a creature he was weak enough to kill, and then he¡¯d have to spend a month or so feeding the remains of the crystal with Relic dust. Then risk his life to fill it again. Sure, he could probably pay someone else to kill a powerful creature to fill the crystal, but wasn¡¯t the point to spend money, and be reliant on others? It would probably be less time consuming to just buy a pre-set summoning consumable each time. There were edge case uses, but Will didn¡¯t think they would be a major issue. He moved on, landing on the shelf that he¡¯d originally spotted with the creepy metal cube. Will averted his eyes when the whispering in his eyes got too real. Whatever the cube did, it was mind-based, and Will didn¡¯t want any part of it. The bird-skull totem beside it summoned a murder of crows to assault your enemies and peck out their eyes. The two dolls bearing a cot were medic golems that would carry the bearer to safety to the best of their abilities, should the bearer be severely wounded. Will¡¯s gaze landed on the clay figurine of the snake biting its own tail. Will went back to the counter. ¡°Did you make the clay circle-snake thingy?¡± Will asked, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. ¡°It¡¯s called an ouroboros.¡± The shopkeeper said. ¡°And no, I didn¡¯t make it, my grandpappy did.¡± ¡°Did he use Immortal Serpent Sacrifices to do it?¡± Will asked. ¡°Maybe. We don¡¯t keep any Sacrifices in the store.¡± She clarified before Will could ask. ¡°Ah. I was just wondering where I could get one. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve caught sight of any information about where to get them. She chewed her lip in thought. ¡°I¡¯ll grab my grandpappy. One moment.¡± Will tapped his feet and tried not to look scared that he was being left alone in the shop with the troll, who seemed really eager for Will to make a suspicious move and justify eating him. Will stopped tapping his feet, standing stock still. The troll gave a disappointed groan and rocked back on his heels. A minute later a wrinkled, no longer taut-skinned Jibleya clattered down from above. The man¡¯s shiny skin was covered in faded scars, and he was missing an eye and part of his ear. He smelled like a tidal wave of old. ¡°Whaddya want?¡± ¡°I wanted to ask about Immortal serpent.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you do. What makes you think I wanted to answer stupid questions?¡± The old man demanded. Will put the three remaining Ivory on the countertop and slid it over to the old man. ¡°Whaddya wanna know, youngin?¡± The jibleya asked, his bruised skin stretching over a wide, gap-toothed smile as he pocketed the cash. ¡°What are Immortal serpents, do you have any Sacrifices left I can buy, and if not, where can I find one?¡± ¡°Immortal Serpents¡­¡± The old man mused, his gaze flickering to the clay circle on the shelf. ¡°They¡¯re powerful demons with a stunning amount of life-force. They like snakes, but they¡¯re huge, sapient, pissy, have magical Abilities, and they¡¯re damned near impossible to kill. I¡¯ve heard some of the more powerful ones on the highest Floors can even shapeshift and pretend to be human.¡± Will¡¯s brows rose. ¡°Can they regenerate limbs?¡± ¡°Well, they don¡¯t have limbs, per se, the ones who shapeshift are only faking it. But yes, they do regenerate just about any damage you deal to them in a matter of minutes. They do have some cousins that can regenerate like the hydra and axolotl.¡± ¡°Cousins?¡± ¡°They¡¯re rumored to descend from the same stock. One landed in the water, one in the jungle, one the desert, when the blood of Ouroboros battling Granesh seeded the lands with scaled creatures.¡± ¡°And do you have any Sacrifices?¡± Will asked. ¡°No sir. Used the last one on that trinket over there.¡± ¡°Where can I find them?¡± ¡°You can find Immortal Serpents as Boss monsters on the seventh floor, and they presumably become more common above that Floor, but of course I¡¯ve never been.¡± ¡°How far did you get?¡± Will asked. The old Jibleya tapped the socket next to his missing eye. ¡°Seventh floor.¡± ¡°That¡¯s respectable,¡± Will said. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re still Climbing with that missing hand.¡± ¡°Looking for a way to grow it back,¡± Will said. ¡°Respect. But wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just pay a Healer to do it for you? I¡¯ll have enough saved up for my eye by the end of the year.¡± ¡°No.¡± Will said, thinking back to the high priest of Andover telling him that Andover couldn¡¯t give him his hand back because it belonged to the Tower now. If restoring his old hand was out of the question, then Will needed to grow a new one. And that meant get Aspect of the Immortal Serpent, then side-step to one of its cousins, like a Hydra or whatever the Abyss an axe-o-lot-er was. Just like Loth was trying to build on top of his Bullet Wasp Ability by adding a Ripley sacrifice, Will was going to build up his Aspect until he could grow back his hand. Or kill a lot of Hydras trying. ¡°Alright, you¡¯re young, plenty of time to make stupid decisions,¡± The old Jibleya said, holding up his hands with a shrug. ¡°Anything else you needed?¡± Will scanned the surrounding eye-candy, none of which he could afford now that he¡¯d paid for information. ¡°More money.¡± he muttered. The old Jibleya broke into a chortle, tossing Will back two of his three ivory coins. ¡°For the laugh.¡± ¡°Much obliged.¡± Will said before slapping the two coins back down on the counter. ¡°I want the Clay Idol, the smoke bombs, one tiny tree, a bottle of lightning, a pound of the monster-attracting stink-pellets, three fireball beads, the Crawling Tar, Troll Glue, a rasp and a non-magical keg.¡± The Jibleya hopped to it. On his way back from the shop, Will spotted Travis, still at the same table he¡¯d been sitting at the last time they¡¯d seen him, just staring into the distance, a full mug of flat beer beside him. Will thought¡­though it didn¡¯t seem like it. Deciding to take a chance, Will went to sit down in front of Travis. The Master Decoy¡¯s gaze looked straight past Will for a few seconds before they seemed to focus on Will. ¡°Whaddya want?¡± He asked. ¡°I want you in my Party,¡± Will said. ¡°Pass,¡± Travis¡¯s gaze unfocused, looking past Will again. ¡°Loth and I want to kill the Wyrd Lord on the seventh Floor.¡± Travis¡¯s eyes brightened and he re-engaged. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because he deserves to die?¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°What we¡¯ve seen suggests he¡¯s behind the deaths of tens of thousands, horrific human experimentation and the destabilization of the entire economy.¡± S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Travis waited. ¡°Plus if we kill him, we¡¯ll get lots of loot.¡± Will admitted. ¡°There it is. How do you think two noobs like you are going to kill a Lord from the Upper Floors? Rumor has it the man¡¯s been to the twelfth Floor and back.¡± ¡°How? By forming a powerful Party and making it to the top of The Tower. Should be able to snuff out Wyrd like a candle on the way back down.¡± Travis barked with laughter then sobered up a moment later. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re serious.¡± ¡°Sure am.¡± Will said. ¡°So your plan is¡­get strong enough to kill him?¡± ¡°What¡¯s yours, wait until he dies of old age?¡± Will asked. ¡°What¡¯s your plan?¡± Travis asked. ¡°Carrie and I are going to do some Grinding until Loth is fully recovered, then my Party is going back to the bottom to say goodbye to our families before we tackle the Fourth Floor.¡± Travis¡¯s expression came alive as he began idly twirling a fork between his fingers, frowning contemplatively. ¡°That might work. I need to contact family outside The Tower. Back me up when I go to meet them, and I¡¯ll join your Party, for as long as your goal remains the accumulation of strength. If you decide to rest on your laurels before we are capable of killing Wyrd, I will quit.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Will said, offering his hand. ¡°Deal.¡± Travis said, shaking it. Chapter 39: Meet the Family praises Grinding on the 3rd floor consisted of Flammenwulf hunting. One of the few spawns on the floor that retained its meat after the Miasma left its body. That and the Lava Beetles. Will, Travis and Carrie spent a couple days hunting the crispy critters. At first, it was a bit surprising dealing with wolves that popped and squealed like burning wood, and had a tendency to burp up fire on you, but once they got used to the creatures pack tactics, they quickly got the hang of things, turning a tidy profit on Flammenwulf meat. Loth¡¯s kobold minions acted as the flushers, waving big sticks with brightly colored fronds on them to startle the flammenwulf towards the three of them, at which point Travis would gain their attention long enough for Carrie and Will to execute them. They managed to get to level 13 in the two days it took for Loth to become fully healed. The relics dropped by the Flammenwulf were largely spent filling the keg full of Relic dust. Very little of what those creatures dropped even came close to the power of the Relics they¡¯d looted from Travis¡¯s ancestral home. Which was still on fire, judging by the smog to the northwest. So, into the keg the Relics went. Will spent two nights using the steel rasp to file down a single Relic into the keg, removing inch by painstaking inch of the sword¡¯s handguard, until in a moment that he didn¡¯t expect, the magic of the Relic unraveled. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The relic instantly turned into a powdery, ash-like substance. A flask of Miasma left the Relic, but the ash itself gave off an iridescent blue miasma-like color with faint flashes of blue as it crumbled. There was still a little bit in there. Frowning, Will reached down under the relic dust and found the metal shavings from when he¡¯d been using the rasp. Will dumped out the ash, cleaned the metal shavings out of the barrel, then went and bought himself a bolt-cutter and brought it back. With a single snip, - made somewhat awkward with only one hand ¨C the next Relic collapsed into dust, filling the bottom of the keg. ¡°There we go.¡± Will fed the Relics no one wanted to¡­The Keg. Once he was done, Will threw a smoke bomb during one of their hunts, using Sourdough as he did so. When the smoke cleared, Will found a hard nodule with the same texture as the smoke bombs, lying where the smoke bomb had detonated. The remaining 20%. As he held it, Will was granted an inherent understanding of how Sourdough worked. He had three options: #1: Use the nodule again to receive roughly 22% the effect of a smoke bomb. A little puff of smoke. #2: Use Sourdough again as he used the nodule to receive 28% of a smoke bomb¡¯s effect, with no nodule remaining. A slightly bigger puff of smoke. #3: Bury the nodule in Relic dust to allow it to grow into a new smoke bomb, finishing in about 29? days. Will buried the nodule in the Relic dust and watched as it began glowing. He held his hand over it and detected faint heat, like what might radiate off someone with a fever. ¡°It¡¯s working!¡± ¡°Congratulations, you¡¯re going to recreate a one-gold smoke bomb using several hundred gold worth of Relics over the course of a month.¡± Travis said. ¡°It¡¯s to restore critical consumables on the highest floors where there are no shops, Travis. You know this.¡± Loth chided. ¡°¡­Fine. I know that. It¡¯s just not that exciting.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t have to be,¡± Will said with a shrug, putting the top of the keg on before Loth¡¯s bugs picked it up and stacked it along the rest of their luggage. Loth took the Ring of Regeneration off and slipped the Wolf Pack back on, causing their luggage to go from a jog to a sprinting pace. She still had patches of scales that weren¡¯t the same texture as the rest of it, but internally she was completely recovered. They hadn¡¯t reached level 15 yet, but they would have to come back through the 3rd Floor on the way up, so there was no reason to stay until they capped out. The four of them followed a bus going to the nearest Key Site, helped with the clear, and declared their intent to go down a Floor. Will had a bit of an issue stepping through the Door, but he muscled through it, not interested in toppling off the side of a cliff again. They landed in a clearing on the mountainside this time, proof that The Tower enjoyed messing with him, specifically. They cut their way through some harpies, skyhare and kaith to the nearest Stronghold, then said their goodbyes to Carrie. Two days later they dropped down to the 1st Floor, and a day after that, they were back in the Hunting Grounds. After a brief proof-of-life visit with Gertrude where he ensured that she wasn¡¯t spending his hard-earned ivory on gold-embossed habits, Will and the rest of his Party headed to the big city, further away from The Tower, in the temperate ring where the population was much more dense, attracted by the mild weather that allowed crops to grow in abundance. They didn¡¯t see Jason on the way out. Apparently he¡¯d been scouted as a crier for a popular printing press in The Ring and had started a career in propaganda. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Will hoped to the gods the tale was legitimate and his younger prot¨¦g¨¦ at the orphanage hadn¡¯t been snapped up by predatory lords ever-so-eager to give disposable children valuable classes out of the goodness of their hearts. Hopefully his con-artist father had made him wary of promises that were too good to be true. Will stretched out on the crates of supplies and watched the world slide by. Given Loth¡¯s massive bonuses to speed and carrying capacity for any of her minions, they were able to pack up all their belongings in crates and have bugs carry them. Loth¡¯s newest barrel was bigger than she was, wide as a man spreading his arms, and nearly as tall. The squat barrel was subdivided by biome, each layer stacked on top of the one beneath it, just like The Tower itself. There was space for new insects up to the fifth floor. Once they got past that, Loth might have to get another barrel. Less than an hour into their trek from Ashwood, Will had the brilliant idea to relax on top of the crates as they traveled. Sure, the crates were uncomfortable, splintery and jostled around a bit under him as the insects navigated uneven terrain, but with an application of his bedroll and several nails to pin it down, Will was able to make them relatively comfortable. Loth immediately outdid him with a silk hammock stretched between the crates, cooled by the breeze as they glided across the scenic landscape. Will abandoned his amateurish design for a hammock, and the two of them watched in fascination as the familiar desert landscape ever-so gradually faded into farmland and cows. Cows and the occasional merchant caravan gawking at their self-moving pile of luggage supporting three hammocks. Travis was not watching in fascination. His interest seemed to fade the further they got from The Tower. A few days later, they lazed their way through the thickest of the farmland, and farms began giving way to a more urban environment. It was Will¡¯s first experience with a three-story building. ¡°look at that,¡± Will said, tapping Loth¡¯s shoulder and pointing at the massive structure. ¡°That is a post office,¡± Travis said, rolling his eyes. ¡°A post office¡­¡± Will said, staring. ¡°Coool¡­¡± Loth said. ¡°You guys wanna see a big building?¡± Travis asked. ¡°Obviously,¡± Will said. ¡°Turn left here,¡± Travis said, pointing. Their hammocks swerved on the street, weaving around pedestrians and large wagons of goods drawn by enormous draft horses that took equally enormous dumps. Travis kept directing them for a half hour, the surrounding buildings gradually growing more and more gilt as they went. They came to a halt in front of a massive wrought iron gate barring entry from a mansion that looked honestly¡­a little much. There were little statues of water-monsters spitting water into pools of water, a garden¡­tittering young women wearing robes playing tag with each other on the grass. ¡°Lady and Gentleman, this is the Oilton manor. It previously belonged to my father, Henry Oilton, but since his death, it will most likely pass on to-¡° ¡°Travis.¡± A voice called from the other side of the fence. It was a hollow-cheeked man of middle age. He would look like a scarecrow if he weren¡¯t also short. ¡°Harold Oilton,¡± Travis said, motioning to the small, but angry-looking man. ¡°What do you want?¡± Harold asked, his voice clipped. ¡°I want to know where I stand with the family now that Father is dead.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that!¡± ¡°I know that. I saw it with my own eyes.¡± Harold let out a half-dozen muttered expletives. ¡°Come in, Thea and Roger are in town. We have much to talk about.¡± Harold unlatched the gate, stepping out of the way. ¡°Your friend and his creature can wait here.¡± ¡°No thanks,¡± Will said, brushing past Harold into the courtyard, scanning the beautiful environs, mentally calculating the amount of wealth he would have to have to acquire this sort of luxury. The numbers just kept going up, until they lost their meaning entirely. Harold sputtered at Will¡¯s brazen entrance but Loth and Travis didn¡¯t give him time to formulate a response. ¡°Brother, may I introduce William Oh, and Loth the Luminary.¡± Travis said. ¡°Wait¡­ Loth the Luminary?¡± Harold asked, glancing over at Will. ¡°That¡¯s Loth,¡± Travis said, pointing at Loth, who performed a genteel nod. ¡°I refuse to believe that mindless trap-lizard is a Luminary.¡± ¡°Believe as you wish sir, but you may regret it.¡± Loth said. ¡°And this kid is¡­William Oh? Never heard of him.¡± Will heaved a sigh of relief. Apparently Harold didn¡¯t spend much time drinking in taverns, where making up exaggerated stories about him had become something of a drinking-game. ¡°You have no idea how glad I am to hear that,¡± Will said. ¡°Let¡¯s go talk to Thea and Roger.¡± Travis said, leaving his middle-aged brother behind as he power-walked through the mansion, giving the rest of his party barely enough time to gawk at everything. Will gawked as fast and hard as he could before they were swept into a room that looked somehow wetter than any room he¡¯d ever been in before, but wasn¡¯t wet. ¡°It¡¯s lacquer,¡± Loth said, seemingly reading his mind as he ran his hand over the shiny wooden furniture. ¡°What¡¯s lacker?¡± ¡°Sap or bug excretions, mostly,¡± Loth replied. ¡°Ah.¡± Will took his hand off the smooth furniture at ¡®excretions¡¯, recategorizing ¡®lacquer¡¯ as ¡®shiny bug poop that rich people like¡¯. ¡°Travis, so good to see you little brother!¡± A burly man with a Climber¡¯s scars stepped around the side of the table dominating the center of the shiny room, wrapping the Master Decoy up in a hug. ¡°And who are these?¡± He asked, dropping the bug-eyed Travis to the floor. ¡°Loth the Luminary, and William Oh,¡± Will said, pointing at Loth and then himself. ¡° Wiliam Oh?¡± the man presumably known as ¡®Roger¡¯ asked with a twinkle in his eye, revealing himself to be nearly seven feet tall as he stepped forward. He loomed over Will as he engulfed Will¡¯s hand with one of his own ham-hands and proceeded to shake Will¡¯s whole arm vigorously. ¡°My name¡¯s Roger. You¡¯ve got a nice firm grip. Strength Build?¡± ¡°It¡¯s my lowest stat actually, so I compensate with Strength Relics.¡± ¡°Smart. A lot of people overspecialize and it gets them killed when something unexpected happens.¡± ¡°Yes. I find dying unpleasant,¡± Will joked. ¡°This guy gets it!¡± ¡°Roger, we¡¯re discussing serious business here,¡± A woman just starting to show signs of aging ¨C presumably Thea ¨C said from the other side of the table. ¡°Two shipments are overdue. Any more and we might go into default.¡± ¡°Oh, we¡¯re going into default,¡± Travis said, gaining the attention of everyone there. ¡°Oilton is and our investments in other areas simply aren¡¯t enough to prevent the family from collapsing.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡± Roger asked. ¡°Grab a seat.¡± Travis said, taking his own advice and pulling a shiny bug-shit chair away from the wall and sitting down. Over the next hour, he told his siblings who ran the family about what he¡¯d seen and done in the 3rd Floor, giving them time to digest their new status as common merchants rather than a Lord¡¯s Family. ¡°Which is why I want to ask you for your support. Money and manpower, specifically.¡± Travis concluded. ¡°What? You want to loot a sinking ship!?¡± Harold said. ¡°Actually, that¡¯s exactly it. It¡¯s only our family and the Wyrd Lord that know Oilton is gone. Let¡¯s loot the ancestral family home before our creditors can and use it to fund our sibling¡¯s Climb. Treat them like seeds for the family¡¯s future prosperity. ¡°And yours too, of course.¡± Thea said, thumbing her chin. ¡°Of course,¡± Travis said. ¡°That is an absolutely batshit insane plan that only a child with a fundamentally flawed view of how society works could conjure.¡± Roger said. ¡°¡­I love it. I could go to the fourth floor and give the more delicate ones a piggy-back ride through the disease-infested waters.¡± ¡°I could act as Liaison on the fifth floor,¡± Thea mused. ¡°I always liked it better there, anyway.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not seriously considering such drastic measures, are you?¡± Harold asked, his skeletal jaw quivering with¡­some form of emotion. ¡°If he¡¯s telling the truth, drastic measures are upon us. The Oilton family needs to change tack. Hard. If we¡¯re to survive.¡± Thea said. ¡°You think that¡­ is telling the truth!? He¡¯s been disowned!¡± ¡°I believe him. Except for the part where they weren¡¯t responsible for Oilton lighting on fire. My guess is that seeing Mark Wyrd swooping in to take our birthright pissed him off so much he lit the city on fire in protest. Probably a trap set by this one here.¡± Roger said, pointing at Loth. ¡°No comment,¡± Loth said. ¡°Besides, they¡¯re wearing some of the Relics from Father¡¯s office. He¡¯s definitely dead, and couldn¡¯t¡¯ve done it. Story lines up.¡± Roger didn¡¯t seem to care they were wearing his dead father¡¯s property though. ¡°So you¡¯ll fund our Climb!?¡± Travis asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t say that,¡± Roger said, rubbing his chin. ¡°Even with your insane proposal as inspiration, we¡¯re still going to heavily meddle in our sibling¡¯s party composition to make sure they have the best chance of success as they Climb. We want to make sure our money doesn¡¯t go to waste. If want our money too, you¡¯re going to have to provide solid evidence that your Party has what it takes.¡± ¡°Oh, crap,¡± Travis groaned. ¡°Add me to your Party so I can confirm your stats.¡± Will glanced at Travis, who nodded. Roger pursed his lips, scanning their stats. ¡°Oh my¡­you¡¯re high performers, aren¡¯t you?¡± He asked, his gaze lingering on Will. ¡°From a pure numbers perspective, you¡¯ve got what it takes¡­Especially Mr. Oh. points per level? Fantastic...¡± Travis groaned, burying his head in his hands. As did his older sister. ¡°But numbers aren¡¯t everything! I need to see how you perform in a fight!¡± ¡°And there¡¯s only one way to see how you fight¡­¡±As he spoke, Roger leaned down, his ham-fingers closing around a piece of bug-shit-covered furniture. ¡°OUTSIDE!¡± Thea screamed, pointing towards the door. Chapter 40: Sparring Ability Upgrade Available! (X2) Will thought, staring down the massive brute that had challenged him to a fight to prove his worthiness. Will wasn¡¯t buying that crap. He was fairly certain the guy just liked fighting. Will didn¡¯t plan on wearing platforms and a goat mask forever, regardless of how awesome it was to be able to fly on command. Roger Oilton was slightly better than him in every stat save Strength, which he had twice as much as Will. This was including stat bonuses from Relics. With no gear on, Will didn¡¯t even stand a chance. ¡°You ready?¡± Roger Oilton asked, rubbing the dirt of the courtyard between his hands like chalk. The tittering young women who had been playing tag earlier were now assembled around them, watching in fascination as their big brother was about to lay down some newbie punk. The words ¡®level twelve¡¯ and ¡®doomed¡¯ were being bandied about. ¡°I¡¯m not sure why this is a one-on-one, isn¡¯t this supposed to be a test of our Party?¡± Will asked. ¡°A Party is only as strong as it¡¯s leader, William Oh,¡± Roger said. ¡°Plus it¡¯ll give the kobold time to prepare his traps.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± Loth lied from where she stood in the circle of spectators. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t miss this.¡± Will was absolutely sure her insects were setting up traps even as he spoke. ¡°So. Are you ready?¡± Will sighed. ¡°Sur-¡° Roger launched forward at a speed that defied his sheer bulk. Will started running. He broke through the circle of onlookers and sprinted straight for the mansion, his speed barely keeping even with Roger¡¯s thanks to his Relics. Will grabbed a tiny crack in the paint and hauled himself up to the overhang, kicking off a pane of glass before flipping up and over, onto the roof. Will thought as he ran along the tiles. Roger landed on the tiles in front of him, forcing Will to skid to a halt. The sloped roof turned into ice and Roger¡¯s feet flew out from underneath him. The Rustic Brawler¡¯s eyes went wide for a moment before his arm flickered down and stabbed his fingers into the ice, regaining his stability long enough to yank his boots off with his other hand. The Rustic Brawler¡¯s gross toenails bit down into the ice and secured his footing, and the chase was back on. Will did gain some ground with that, though. He sprinted up onto the frozen chimney, nimbly scaling the sheer ice-surface. Will thought, leaping up and off the chimney, directing his fall towards the Rusting Brawler, boot first. Roger grinned, and tensed his legs beneath him, launching himself straight up to meet Will in mid-air, arm cocked for a knock-out punch. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Will targeted the Phantom Hand floating directly above him. Roger¡¯s eyes widened as Will began falling up, drawing him out of the Brawler¡¯s reach. Will Snatched the Clay Idol off his waist and smashed it against his knee. Because the Miasma outside The Tower was so thin, all he got was an eight-foot-long snake with a malicious awareness to its gaze. ¡°Distract him,¡± Will said, throwing the snake down at Roger. ¡°Gah!¡± Roger shouted in surprise as the snake bit down into his shoulder and deliberately wrapped its bulk around his face. A bloom of pain shot through Will¡¯s body as Roger caught a piece of clay midair and threw it Will¡¯s torso. Will¡¯s hand shook as he retrieved the Potion of Greater Healing and downed it while simultaneously moving the Phantom hand, causing him to fall to the side. Three more pieces of clay cut the air where he¡¯d just been as Roger threw them, completely blinded by the snake wrapped around his face. Will thought sourly, pulling out the Potion of Fury and yanking the cap off with his teeth. Will felt a surge of white-hot strength flood his body as he downed the potion, boosting all of his physical stats by ten and raising the speed of his Charge Ability significantly. Will slipped the starter back in his pocket along with the others before reorienting on the Rustic Brawler, who had just hit the roof and was tumbling down the slope, nearly out of control, the intelligent snake deliberately foiling any attempt at gaining a foothold. Will swooped back down towards the edge of the roof, and through some unspoken agreement, the Immortal Serpent oriented Roger so that he was falling head-first. ¡°Godsdamned snake, You-¡° Roger grunted as his calloused fingers tore massive chunks out of the snake which proceeded to heal in a matter of seconds. Will straightened his body like a javelin. The Immortal serpent moved out of the way the instant before he hit the Brawler in the jaw with his feet, just as aforementioned jaw was completely free-floating above the air. Will rode Roger¡¯s face all the way down into the marble courtyard, cracking the pristine stone outside the mansion as they slammed into it. A moment later, Amulet of the Homefield Advantage caught up and the floor turned to ice, causing many of the spectators to fall to the ground, flailing. Loth gave him a thumbs-up among the slipping and sliding onlookers. Will thought, pulling out his Tomahawk. ¡°I give up!¡± Roger shouted, raising a hand, his face a beaming, bloody mess. Will briefly considered not accepting Roger¡¯s surrender. Not when he¡¯d come that close to accidentally killing him. If one of those chunks of clay had hit the wrong spot¡­it could¡¯ve been lights-out. Will¡¯s hand tightened around the handle. ¡°Well done, Will!¡± Loth interrupted Will¡¯s murderous thoughts, patting him on the back. ¡°You¡¯re a slick son of a bitch who doesn¡¯t fight fair and I love it,¡± Roger said, grinning annoyingly through the blood covering his face. ¡°You owe me a Potion of Greater Healing,¡± Will growled as he dismissed Homefield Advantage. ¡°Oh,¡± Roger said with false concern as he inspected the holes in Will¡¯s shirt and the puckered wound beneath them. ¡°Oh my. Sorry, you surprised me and it kind of slipped out. I¡¯ll give you three.¡± ¡°Also, you¡¯re gonna wanna take those tiles out of you, relax, take it easy and listen to some soothing music¡­you are doped to the right now.¡± Roger said, irritatingly peering into Will¡¯s eyes. ¡°When did that happen?¡± ¡°After you put a hole through me.¡± ¡°May, can you play him something? He¡¯s on some performance enhancing drugs.¡± One of the nearby girls nodded and fetched some kind of stupid guitar, strumming relaxing chords beside him that were almost as irritating as they were soothing. Almost. Will dimly caught up with the beginning of Roger¡¯s sentence and glanced down, spotting a piece of roof tile embedded in his shoulder. Will thought, trying to reach up and remove it, but it was in his right shoulder, making it awkward. Some of the surrounding spectators shooed him away from the tile, instead plucking it out themselves. Strangely it didn¡¯t hurt one bit, despite going several inches into his shoulder. It barely even bled. Will felt like he was thinking through a fog. ¡°Raise your leg, Mr. Oh.¡± One of Travis¡¯s young siblings said, a moment before there was a weird scraping sensation as they tugged another roof tile out of his leg. Again, it didn¡¯t hurt. The only thing that really hurt was watching them pour expensive healing potions over the wounds without Will using Sourdough to potentially get them back in the future. He only thought of it moments after they¡¯d already done the deed, his thoughts swimming through syrup. The eight-foot Immortal Serpent slithered up beside him, staring at him with those malicious eyes. The serpent seemed to ask. ¡°Can you get me the Relic fermentation keg?¡±Will asked, fishing the starter nodules out of his pocket. The snake glanced down at the nodules then nodded and retrieved the keg from their luggage. Will leaned over, popped the top off the keg and poked each of the starters into the iridescent Relic dust, spacing them as evenly as he could. He was pleased to note that the smoke bomb had regained roughly a fourth of its size over the week of travel. Meanwhile, Roger got a heal from an on-call priest, which restored the state of his jaw and teeth. Then the Brawler took a warm towel and wiped the blood off his face before facing off against Loth. He spotted Loth watching him poke his starters into the Relic dust like a farmer with his seeds. Will gave the kobold a thumbs-up and a grin through the haze of the Potion of Fury. ¡°I¡¯m afraid this will be unpleasant for you,¡± Loth said turning back to Roger. ¡°I hope that the brutalizing that you are about to receive does not color your perception of my character.¡± S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Bahahaha!¡± Roger laughed merrily. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Big Brother, it didn¡¯t set up any traps! We were watching it this entire time.¡± One of the more foolish youths shouted. Loth stood with her hands clasped behind her back. ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready.¡± she said. Roger took one step forward and the paper-thin, insect-hollowed marble crumbled under him, allowing his foot to plummet into the inward facing spikes on a hinge, designed to lock his foot in place. Roger¡¯s eyes widened a moment before a spider-silk snare whipped out from the surrounding tiles, cleverly concealed in the seams of the marble. The snare cinched around his head and wrist, then flung him up high, the punji trap tearing away most of Roger¡¯s foot. Will averted his eyes for the rest of the ¡®fight¡¯, but it sounded like a big brawler getting dragged all around the confines of the mansion, the clattering of concealed steel against marble, and lots of bugs boring holes through flesh. Long story short: Roger¡¯s heart stopped for two minutes, he racked up quite the debt to Andover for a ¡®spar¡¯¡­And he gained an irrational fear of Loth. Which made no sense, because she was a sweetheart. ¡°Oh my,¡± Loth said shortly after the spar had been called, leaning over the wide-eyed Brawler as the irritating glow of Andover¡¯s light brought his foot back. ¡°You surprised me, and the traps just¡­slipped out.¡± ¡°She¡¯s mad.¡± Travis said, nodding, arms crossed. ¡°He made her mad.¡± ¡°No shit,¡± Will said. ¡°Nobody step on the tiles filled with insects,¡± Loth said, turning to address the onlookers. ¡°Or you die. I am currently filling most of them back in, but better safe than sorry.¡± Will scanned the grounds, finding a dozen or so marble tiles black with swarming insects from the 3rd floor, and nearly fifty young men and women scared to move a single step. Roger tested his restored foot, forced a strained laugh and gave Loth a wide berth as he approached Travis and Will, carefully testing the ground as he moved. ¡°Well, Travis,¡± Roger said, nervously glancing back at Loth. ¡°I can honestly say that you are way out of your league and if anything, you¡¯re not good enough for ¡± ¡°So¡­¡± Travis said, head cocked. ¡°So you¡¯ve got our support. I think your Party is gonna go¡­¡± He glanced back again, keeping an eye on Loth. ¡°Far. Really, really far.¡± They went inside to discuss terms. The Oilton family¡¯s ¡®support¡¯ amounted to: 1: Roger¡¯s guidance through the fourth Floor 2: Thea¡¯s assistance on the fifth Floor. 3: Lots and lots of money. A war chest large enough to fund a small army once it became necessary. The older Oiltons didn¡¯t have any Climbers around their level that they thought wouldn¡¯t get killed trying to keep up, so they didn¡¯t bother to suggest any blood-related support staff, but they did imply that after the 5th Floor, support staff would become much more necessary. Thea promised to go up to the 5th floor ahead of them and arrange for some assistance of that nature. All that was left was for the three of them to actually do the Climb. The three of them said their goodbyes and headed to a nearby inn. It caused Will physical pain seeing Travis pay an ivory coin for their room in the fancy inn, but Travis pointed out that they could stay in the lush inn for several years before they even made a dent in the war-chest the Oilton family had provided them. Then Will tried the bed and all his reservations vanished as he sank into the down mattress. He was so comfortable, so relaxed, they had such a successful negotiation with Travis¡¯s family¡­That it made him highly paranoid. Will thought, eyes popping open. He scanned the lush room, filled with weird thick fabrics with bright colors and soft rugs that felt heavenly on his bare toes. It was all foreign to him. The luxury that should¡¯ve comforted him instead filled him with unease. Will grabbed a pillow and climbed under the bed, much more comfortable once he was out of line of sight. Chapter 41: Blue-fire Eyes Will¡¯s eyes snapped open to the sound of an explosion. In the dim starlight that filtered through the ornate windows, Will saw a steel blade sink through the mattress above directly in front of his face. ¡°Traps!¡± ¡°He¡¯s not here!¡± The hiss of drawn blades and flashes of light from Abilities filled the room as Will struggled to catch up with what was going on. The bed bucked in place as someone was slammed violently into it. Will thought, cursing himself for not sleeping in full gear. He peeked out from under the bed and spotted Loth facing off against no less than five men wrapped in black clothes. Will grabbed the tomahawk under his pillow and slammed it into the heel of one of the enemies. The man let out a bloodcurdling shriek and Loth took the opportunity to send an attack in his direction. The beetle bored a hole through the man¡¯s shoulder before it split into five, targeting everyone who remained. One it killed, while the others managed to avoid it. One of them seemed to turn into some kind of liquid metal, causing the attack to bounce off, another simply resisted it, while another slapped the bug out of the air with their hand. They were already looking at where his axe had emerged from his hidey-hole. Will pushed his feet up against the frame of the bed and thrust, sliding himself out from under the massive four-poster as quickly as he could. The bed exploded into a cloud of down as three attacks eviscerated the mattress. Will thought, sending his Phantom hand toward the wounded one while he danced backwards, trying to prevent them from surrounding him while giving Loth the opportunity to shoot one or more in the back. The wounded one fished out a potion, as one does when they¡¯ve been wounded. Will stole it out of the man¡¯s grip with the phantom hand as he ducked the liquid metal attacker¡¯s arm-blade. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A burst of pain traveled through Will as the speedy one unleashed a series of thrown weapons, half of which buried themselves in Will¡¯s left leg. The wounded one, staring at his now-empty hand, was struck in the head by Travis, dropping him twitching to the floor. The decoy¡¯s distinctive tassel-covered whip drew their enemy¡¯s attention against their will, allowing William to slide out of the way of the follow-up Coup de Grace. ¡°Oh look, amateur assassins.¡± Travis said, his voice grating, demanding that they punch him. The liquid metal one swooped toward Travis, his body turning into a streamlined spike. The fast one¡¯s bangle glowed with Charge and the weird, star-shaped bits of metal tugged themselves out of Will¡¯s leg and flew back into his attacker¡¯s hand. Will gasped with pain, vision going wonky and skin turning cold as his leg started leaking like a sieve. Will¡¯s vision of the fast one was blocked as the bulkiest one stepped in front of him, reaching down with a ham-fist. Will thought, releasing the stolen potion from his Phantom Hand directly into his mouth. The stolen healing potion must¡¯ve had a little something extra to it, because Will felt like he was flung from a slumped sitting position into a feral, battering-at-your-face-with-an-axe attack before he even knew what was happening. ¡°You little-¡° Bulk grunted, his eyes widening at the sudden turnaround. Bulk flung Will off his face, the flurry of hits from the tomahawk bouncing off of him¡­except for the last few that nicked Bulk a little. ¡°He¡¯s debuffing us!¡± Fasty said, pointing at the axe. Will was too busy worrying about whether the dresser had broken his spine to stop Bulk from grabbing his hand and wrenching the Tomahawk out of it. Will used the leverage to lunge up and kicked Bulk right in his masked face. It didn¡¯t do much, since Will wasn¡¯t wearing shoes. Will¡¯s vision went white for an instant as a massive fist snapped his head to the side, the other locked around his wrist. Will tried to bite the man¡¯s finger¡¯s off, but just wound up getting punched and kicked around the midsection. He turtled up and tried to shield his face with his truncated arm, but without the actual there wasn¡¯t much he could do to break out of the hold. Will thought he¡¯d turned the tables when he managed to deliver a solid kick to Bulk¡¯s crotch, but the man ¨C presumably a Tank Archetype ¨C simply grunted and continued delivering brutal strikes to any portion Will was unable to block. Will caught a moment between fists and launched a sling bullet directly into the man¡¯s eye from his Phantom Hand. The eye started smoking merrily as the Greater Sting Ring did its job, but Bulk didn¡¯t even seem to register it, instead slipping his fist past Will¡¯s elbow and knees to deliver a brutal punch to the side of Will¡¯s ribs. His ribs didn¡¯t break because if anything, Resourceful Climber was a tough bastard of a Class, but Will was fairly sure the bruise would be impressive. Bulk staggered forward violently as a thunderclap shoved him forward. In the dim light, Will could see an arrowhead emerge from Bulk¡¯s shoulder. Bulk released Will as he was knocked around the room by arrows had had no right to cause that much stagger, the second and third arrow lighting him on fire. ¡°What happened to Seven?¡± Fast asked, ducking behind some furniture while Will got some distance, sprinting towards his mask, which he¡¯d set on a cabinet rather than wear to sleep, like an idiot. ¡°They¡¯re gone!¡± Mercury said peering out the shattered window, mouth momentarily turning back to human to speak. Will had never seen anyone get shot in the jaw by exploding arrows before, nor did he want to again. Bulk was down, Mercury was trying to hold his jaw together, and Fast was huddled behind some furniture. Will thought, slapping the goat mask down over his face. Loth caught Will¡¯s attention with a wave and pointed to Fast, then the door leading to the main hall. she seemed to be saying. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. 23/29 Charges Remaining. Will targeted The Phantom hand and began falling through the room at a zig-zag, both to avoid arrows and to hopefully avoid any thrown weapons from Mr. retrieve-my-thrown-weapons-bangle. A cluster of those metal stars flew past Will as he charged toward Fast, barely able to avoid them by narrowing his profile. Fast was forced out from behind the cover of the furniture by Travis, who attacked with his dual-striking shortsword, which was currently switched to offence. Fast ducked out of the way of the obligatory arrow from the shattered window, holding out a hand towards Will while holding off Travis with the other. Will only put it together Fast¡¯s aim at the last second, metal stars grazing his back as he swerved out of the way. Fast lunged towards Travis, who had overcommitted to offense. Travis reeled back desperately, parried one attack with his whip while his phantom shortsword parried the one he didn¡¯t see coming from Fast¡¯s hidden weapon in his foot. Will barreled forward, and simply took a throwing star to his left arm to get where he wanted to be: pushing Fast towards the door to the main hall. Fast caught Will¡¯s attacks, but his wrist wobbled a bit as the Serpent¡¯s axe began wearing away at his strength. He danced backwards as Travis lunged forward with a stab, then swerved out of the way of another arrow from the window. Fast surveyed the ruined room and bolted for the main hall. A trap went off as Fast tried to leave the room, a simple rope whipping across the hall and shattering Fast¡¯s kneecaps. Will pursued, eager to take advantage of Fast¡¯s injury. Fast tumbled, but managed to whip out a healing potion and down it before he even touched the ground, leaping back to his feet without losing a beat. Will thought, flying into the hall and beginning to chase Fast, who was sprinting past the other rooms at full speed. An arrow shot through the wall and caught Fast in the side, shoving him violently into the wall as it exploded with thunder damage. Three more arrows perforated Fast, and he burst into flames, corpse smouldering. ¡°¡­Well, okay then,¡± Will said, aiming to slide his axe back in his belt-loop before he realized he was in his underwear. Will ran back to his room, where Mercury was already dead, perforated by Loth¡¯s bugs. As he scanned the destruction, Will asked the obvious question. ¡°So¡­what was that about?¡± Will asked, plucking the throwing star out of his arm while Loth went out into the hallway. ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Travis said, eyeballing the shattered window and the rooftops beyond it. They were on the third floor so whoever had supported them had to have been up there. ¡°But hey, I know a great place in the Ring to get custom underwear,¡± Travis said, pointing down at Will¡¯s homespun undies. ¡°Soft as a mother¡¯s love, perfect fit, and best of all¡­no lint.¡± ¡°Sold,¡± Will said, stepping out from behind the obstructing wall and giving the surroundings a wave and a thumb¡¯s up. He didn¡¯t know if the mystery archer would take the opportunity to kill him, but it had to be better than listening to Travis criticize his underwear. Part of him would rather die, while the other part knew he should take every advantage where he could get it, even if it was underwear. It was just his Party member¡¯s that made Will wanna smack ¡®em, and that was probably a side-effect of his Class¡­probably. Will saw a distant shape begin moving towards them from the rooftops. It was lightly armored, with a familiar bow over its shoulder. The figure jumped from the nearest rooftop, up and into the room. ¡°William Oh?¡± Alicia Zodiac asked, scanning Will and the rest of the room, gaze lingering on the perforated corpses with a hint of satisfaction. The archer had piercing blue eyes that seemed to glow with an internal light, and brilliant blonde hair in a bob-cut that nearly reached her shoulders. ¡°That¡¯s me.¡± She scanned him with a critical eye that made Will feel like a bug pinned to the wall. ¡°You¡¯ll do. I¡¯m joining your Party.¡± She said. Will remembered the price the temple of Andover quoted with a wince. She stared at him. He stared at her. ¡°Send me an invite.¡± She said, as one might speak to a child. ¡°¡­Why are you joining my Party?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve fallen hopelessly in love with the man who saved me,¡± She said in monotone. ¡°That¡¯s a lie,¡± Will said. ¡°Father said that would work,¡± Alicia mused, staring at the ground, burning a hole in the fancy rug with her blue-flame eyes. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to say it out loud.¡± Travis chimed in. ¡°Ah.¡± Alicia said, glancing up as Loth re-entered the room from the hallway. ¡°Drink this.¡± Loth said, offering Will a vial. Will uncorked it and drank. ¡°What did I just drink?¡± Will asked, grimacing at the acrid flavor. ¡°The antidote to the poison on the throwing stars,¡± Loth said, glancing up at Alicia¡¯s blue-flame eyes. ¡°Ah, Alicia Zodiac.¡± Loth said. Travis gasped, his eyes widening. ¡°Kobold.¡± ¡°Loth.¡± Loth said, tapping herself. ¡°Loth,¡± Alicia repeated quietly, her unnerving gaze lingering on Loth for a moment before returning to Will¡¯s face. ¡°Send me an invite.¡± She repeated. ¡°I¡¯ll ask again: Why?¡± Will asked. ¡°Why? ¡± Travis demanded. ¡°One does not ask a Zodiac Just do what she tells you!¡± Will didn¡¯t budge. Just waited. ¡°Because I died, I can no longer be a Lord, drastically diminishing my value to Father. To avoid being pushed into a political marriage, I decided to act as a liaison to William Oh¡¯s Party, seeing as many of our goals align. Including but not limited to the eradication of the Wyrd Family.¡± ¡°How do you know we¡¯re opposed to the Wyrd family?¡± Will asked. ¡°They¡¯re responsible for the Tangled. In your letter stapled to my coffin, you said, ¡®If yur the Lord who tried to have his Vasals feed me to yur wyrd secret arm-monster, better luck next time. If yur not¡­Were you aware another lord has wyrd arm-monster pets heer? on 2nd floor? Fud for thot¡¯ Loth winced as Alicia spoke the letter from memory, the poor spelling somehow reflected in her speech. ¡°You¡¯ve already been marked for death by the Wyrd family, and given his natural inclination to oppose them, Father found it amusing to allow me to assist you in continuing to be a thorn in their side, and I found to be preferable to being retired from Climbing.¡± ¡°Was the Wyrd Family?¡± Will asked, gesturing to the assassins scattered around the room. Assassins who hadn¡¯t snapped his neck when they¡¯d had the opportunity. Will thought. It didn¡¯t fit the ¡®marked for death¡¯ statement made by the archer, though. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Alicia said with a shrug before her blue-flame gaze rose back to his face. ¡°Send me an invite.¡± Will shrugged and did so. ¡°Why is your Resistance so low?¡± Will asked. ¡°Taking hits isn¡¯t my job.¡± Alicia said with a shrug. ¡°You died,¡± Will pointed out. ¡°The Tank was bought off by Mark Wyrd. That never should¡¯ve happened.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­what if you get into a situation where you don¡¯t have a Tank?¡± Will asked. ¡°No rational person would Climb without a Tank,¡± Alicia said, Travis nodding enthusiastically along with her. ¡°¡­Right, but what if the Tank falls off a cliff, or gets thrown out of reach or¡­someone buys them off¡­as a random, nonspecific example?¡± Alicia¡¯s eye twitched, her lips twisting into a frown as she stared at the floor. Will thought. ¡°Also, we don¡¯t have a Tank.¡± Will said, drawing that intense gaze back to him. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m not rich?¡± Will said. ¡°Or at least I wasn¡¯t until recently. Normal people can¡¯t afford to pay others to get wounded them.¡± Alicia went silent, staring at him. ¡°Out of curiosity, what does Penetrating Gaze do?¡± Loth changed the subject. ¡°I can see through walls.¡± Alicia said, her blue-fire eyes glowing in the dim light. ¡°All of you look like skeletons surrounded by ghostly flesh,¡± Alicia continued, her gaze wandering back down to the floor. Will¡¯s brows rose. ¡°More importantly, if you want to learn what these people were up to, I subdued their fire-support over there,¡± she said, pointing off towards the dim city rooftops. ¡°They¡¯re still tied up, but they seem to be trying to escape.¡± Will couldn¡¯t see anything through the dark and distance. ¡°Can you bring them here?¡± Will asked. ¡°I need to put on some clothes.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not wearing clothes!?¡± Alicia asked, her glowing eyes widening. ¡°Does it matter to you?¡± Will asked, cocking his head. ¡°He¡¯s wearing underwear, if that helps.¡± Loth offered. ¡°R-right. Be right back.¡± Alicia said turning away, shoulders tight. ¡°Travis, go help her,¡± Will said. ¡°She could die to a stiff breeze.¡± ¡°On it!¡± Travis said, jumping through the window after the archer. As soon as they were out of earshot, Will turned back to Loth. ¡°What do you think?¡± he asked. ¡°I think the benefits outweigh the costs. I believe her father truly sent her to Climb with us in order to break her bad habits, more than he believes we pose any threat to the Wyrd family.¡± ¡°Mhmm,¡± Will nodded along. ¡°Seeing how Travis leaps to kowtow to her every whim and you don¡¯t, I believe it¡¯s not simply male instinct, but drilled into him by his social status, which is apparently dwarfed by hers. There are likely myriad ways to leverage her presence in your Party to our advantage. Association with a powerful family foremost among them.¡± ¡°¡­And barring everything else, her damage output is nothing to scoff at. Having her in the party would allow me to spend less Charge on direct damage and focus on my primary role of command and control.¡± Will snapped his fingers as a bolt of inspiration shot through him. ¡°I¡¯ve already thought of a way to use her.¡± A moment later, Travis and Alicia returned with a squirming kidnapper in black, tied up with arrows through each of their limbs. ¡°Hi there,¡± Will said, tugging the kidnapper¡¯s mask off to reveal a plain looking man with short hair and brown eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you could tell me why you attacked me in the middle of the night?¡± Will asked. ¡°Even if I wanted to I wouldn¡¯t, you ¡± The man said with a surprising amount of vitriol. ¡°So, which church are you with?¡± Will asked, squatting down beside the man. The man¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°You see, you¡¯re too mad at me to be a mercenary. Too emotionally invested to be the vassal to some Lord with a grudge against me. It was personal for you, acquired through the transitive property of brainwashing¡­did I use that one right?¡± Will asked Loth, who waggled a hand with a shrug. ¡°Since you¡¯re not a mercenary or a Vassal, but you were sent by an organization that can fund half a dozen Climbers to kidnap one person, you must be from an organized religion. The question is, which one?¡± ¡°Since you¡¯re not trying to scam me, it can¡¯t be Andover, Lumesh priests don¡¯t pick sides, so that leaves Holdna and Granesh.¡± At ¡®Granesh¡¯ the man¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°Okay, so what does the church of Granesh want with me?¡± Will asked, hefting his tomahawk. ¡°I can arrange for you to make it out of this alive.¡± ¡°To the Abyss with you,¡± the black-clothed kidnapper spat before his eyes rolled back in his head and he died. Will poked the body a couple times. ¡°Huh. That was odd. We should get out of here before the staff starts asking questions.¡± ¡°This Inn is very discreet, actually.¡± Travis said. ¡°They don¡¯t ask questions.¡± ¡°Oh. Huh.¡± Will shrugged. ¡°Still, we¡¯re on a time-crunch. Where¡¯s the nearest major military arm of Granesh? Where they might¡¯ve launched a kidnapping attempt from?¡± ¡°What are you planning on doing?¡± Loth asked with a frown. ¡°Infiltrating.¡± Will said with a shrug before turning back to Travis and Alicia. ¡°I¡¯ve got a job for you two.¡± Will grabbed a piece of paper and pen from the nearby toppled over table, jotting down his instructions for them while he and Loth figured out what was behind the attack. ¡°There, take care of that, and meet us on the 2nd Floor.¡± Will said, handing Alicia the paper. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t read this,¡± Alicia said. ¡°Because you can¡¯t see the ink?¡± Will asked. ¡°¡­No.¡± Chapter 42: Infiltrator and Saboteur go for a Walk ¡°Hey, check this out,¡± Will said, pushing his foot against the surface of the water, which seemed to bend under his foot like he¡¯d stepped on a gelatinous sweet. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°It seems like your Ability affects surface tension,¡± Loth mused as Will pressed nearly six inches into the water before it broke and surrounded his foot. ¡°Does that mean I can walk on water someday?¡± Will asked. Loth shrugged. Will¡¯s amusement with the newfound ability to wiggle water with his feet didn¡¯t last long once the smell truly engulfed them. ¡°It¡¯s times like this I regret not getting the phantom eye,¡± Will said, trying not to gag. With the phantom eye he could¡¯ve done all of this with significantly less crawling through shit. They¡¯d briefly considered the Confidence Man technique where he simply bluffed his way into the temple, but Will wasn¡¯t exactly the smoothest, and his missing hand was a dead giveaway. Will wasn¡¯t kind of Infiltrator. No, he was the kind of Infiltrator that got to wade through the city sewers, then squirm his way through a shit-pipe, then wait while Loth used her insects to carefully remove the toilet above them. Will held his arms out while Loth¡¯s insects removed the waxed onesie. Loth did the same, and they tossed the suits into the pipe before Loth¡¯s insects set the toilet back exactly where it had been before. The two of them were inside the Temple of Granesh, and clean to boot. ¡°Okay, the waxed suits were a good choice,¡± Will whispered as the two of them crept into the main hall. ¡°Of course they were,¡± Loth whispered back. It was currently the dead of night in the temple of Order. All good priests and priestesses were in bed, dreaming of fire and brimstone¡­or whatever they dreamt of. Will paused in the hall as a glint of green caught his eye. He glanced to the left, where the public would gather to join the clergy in prayer. There was a green pattern on the ground, presumably from stained glass art lit by the street lights outside. ¡°This way,¡± Loth whispered, tugging his sleeve. Will turned and followed as Loth stalked down the halls. They discovered the barracks, with dozens of priests sleeping off the hard work of spreading the word of Granesh and smiting whoever disagreed with them. They crept past it. The next room was a solid wooden door warded by some kind of knot of magical energy that glowed as they approached. Will was tempted to try his hand at disabling it, but he didn¡¯t want to try until they explored the rest of the temple. No sense triggering an alarm before they got all their options. Loth tugged at his shirt and pointed to a door at the far end of the hall, marked ¡®Storage¡¯ Will nodded and the two of them crept down the hall to the door. The door wasn¡¯t warded magically, but it was locked. Loth fed some insects into the lock, which turned a second later. They crept in and Loth held out a glowbug to scan their surroundings. At the front of the room was normal stuff. Cleaning supplies, brooms, nails, wood, tools, etc. The further back the shelves went, the more esoteric things got, until the room was subdivided by a towering shelf with a ¡®Sacrifices¡¯ sign on it. Will and Loth glanced at each other and shrugged. Might as well grab something valuable while they were risking their hide like this. They went past the shelf and saw the other half of the room was dedicated to shelf after shelf of Sacrifices wrapped in preservatives. Will thought, heading for the shelf labeled ¡®4th floor¡¯. Will carefully rifled through the shelf. Will turned and held out the jar of preserved insects to Loth. Loth shook his head. ¡°I want to domesticate them, not add them as Sacrifices.¡± Will thought with a shrug, turning back to the shelf. Just based on the Sacrifices it offered, Will could already tell that the 4th floor was going to be an inhospitable place. ¡­ Will¡¯s eyes widened. In the glass jar were hundreds of dead worms snarled into a disgusting mess. They were segmented, pale things with strangely glimmering mouthpieces, as if the worms had metallic mandibles. Will set the jar in the crook of his elbow and popped it open, setting the top aside before he plunged his hand into the slimy snarl of worms. Mimicking what he¡¯d seen Loth do, Will held the fistful of dead worms up high, offering them to the Tower. There was a flash of light and the relic worms were gone. Gain the use of an ethereal Phantom Hand. Access a tiny amount of dimensional storage with a Charge. Sacrifice a stored Relic to gain its effect. Relic effect and Phantom Hand¡¯s abilities scale with Acuity. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°What was that?¡± Loth whispered, blinking her eyes. ¡°Found my relic worms.¡± Will said. ¡°Sacrificed them.¡± ¡°Warn me next time, I¡¯m seeing the shelf every time I close my eyes.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Will whispered back. ¡°By the way, if something goes from twenty to twenty-seven, what percentage is that?¡± ¡°Thirty-five percent.¡± Will had assumed the scaling would match Stat scaling, boosting the effectiveness of items by 5% per point in Acuity, but The Tower had decreed that wouldn¡¯t be so. It was still incredibly powerful with the right item, though, and in theory, if Will got to level 50, that would be an extra 154%, which was nothing to scoff at. Will dropped three free points into his Acuity, bringing it up to 40, then checked the Relic currently sacrificed to his Phantom Hand. Vindication followed a moment later: They kept searching through the floors, paying special attention to the 7th Floor shelf, but they didn¡¯t find any Immortal Serpent, which was a bummer, but not unexpected. One of the boxes on the floor up against the back of the wall was labeled strangely. Will thought to himself, frowning as he scanned the other two boxes on the floor. Will motioned Loth over, and the kobold picked the lock on the Saint chest for him, and together they pried it open. ¡°Huh,¡± Loth whispered. ¡°The corpse fee makes sense now.¡± Will dug out a preserved human eyeball with careful writing on the outside of the jar. ¡°Well, that¡¯s creepy,¡± Will muttered. ¡°This is how they grow.¡± Loth whispered. ¡°Eh?¡± Will grunted. ¡°Healing Abilities that can target others are rare bordering on unheard of outside of the churches. Then why do so many priests have healing abilities? Because they Sacrifice a piece of someone who which gets their foot in the door. Then when they eventually die, their body is divided up among the new recruits, and the cycle continues. That¡¯s why they¡¯re so desperate to get the bodies of their priests back.¡± ¡°Huh. You think they¡¯ll be upset if some of their ¡®saints¡¯ go missing?¡± Will asked. ¡°Undoubtedly. I assume these powerful ¡®saints¡¯ are earmarked for nepotism.¡± Will clicked his tongue in disappointment. ¡°Wait,¡± he whispered. ¡°What¡¯s nepotism?¡± ¡°Favoritism based on familial relation. High-ranking members in the organization give Saint-quality Sacrifices to their sons and daughters, who go on to become very powerful and secure high ranks inside the organization, which then repeats itself ad nauseam.¡± ¡°At least, that¡¯s my best guess for how it plays out,¡± Loth said with a shrug. ¡°Every organization has its dynasties.¡± ¡°I¡¯m taking a couple,¡± Will said, grabbing a mummified hand. ¡°I could use a backscratcher. And if it turns out that I was wrong and the Temple of Granesh wasn¡¯t after me, we¡¯ll give them back.¡± ¡°And if they are after you already?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Then it can¡¯t get much worse than assassin teams attacking in the middle of the night, can it?¡± Will whispered, slipping the mummified hand into one of his empty belt-holsters, the eyeball into a pouch. ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll find out. And how are you going to use them?¡± ¡°Sell them to Alicia¡¯s dad, probably.¡± Will said with a shrug. Loth nodded. ¡°I suppose he¡¯s the only person we have any sort of connection with for whom the benefits might outweigh the costs.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Will whispered, scanning the room. ¡°Now let¡¯s go search that warded room.¡± Loth checked their exits and secured the barracks door shut while Will waited for her to finish. Once the kobold saboteur came back, he slashed the phantom hand through the glowing symbols on the door. Will let out a sigh when the wards didn¡¯t explode, summon a demon or raise an alarm, instead the magic simply ripped apart like cobwebs as his Phantom Hand tore through them. ¡°I love this thing,¡± Will whispered as Loth stepped forward and ¡®picked¡¯ the lock. ¡°Not as much as my left hand, but it¡¯s growing on me.¡± A moment later they were past the door, in a well-appointed office that reminded Will of the one he¡¯d seen in the Oilton castle. Shiny wooden desk, lots of letters, big, fancy chair. No shelves of powerful Relics and Sacrifices, but mostly the same. ¡°Watch the door.¡± Loth said, climbing up on the desk and rifling through the letters. She read faster than Will did. Significantly faster. ¡°Huh.¡± Loth grunted after skimming a handful of letters. ¡°What?¡± ¡°They keep referring to this person called ¡®the prophet¡¯, something about the end of the world, and how our ¡®ancient enemy¡¯ is sending monsters in human form to set the stage for the final battle between good and evil. You know. Crazy person stuff.¡± Loth cocked her head as she read the next one. ¡°They also mention offhand about nonhumans being unclean and eliminating them being the next phase in reclaiming The Tower, right after finding The Deceivers. With a capital D.¡± ¡°Dicks,¡± Will whispered, turning his gaze back to the hall. ¡°Indeed,¡± Loth whispered, climbing off the desk and peering under it. ¡°Ooh.¡± Loth¡¯s voice was muffled under the desk. Will tensed at the sound, scanning the hallway. Nothing. ¡°What was that?¡± Will whispered, turning back to find a portion of the rug propped up. ¡°Secret door,¡± Loth said, emerging from beneath the desk to kick aside the rug and pry open the hatch, revealing a staircase descending further into the bowels of the earth. They closed the door to the hall, and the two of them snuck down into the darkness, navigating by the light of the glowbug. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if my nose is still burnt from the sewers, but are you smelling that?¡± Will asked as they descended. It smelled like death. ¡°I¡¯m that,¡± Loth said, panning the glowbug over the floor, which seemed to be caked in old blood. In the center of the room was a corpse tied to a man-sized X suspended high in the air, seemingly tortured to death. A young man, about Will¡¯s age, height, eye and hair color, with a missing left hand that had healed a long time ago. Looked pretty similar too, under all the bruising. Will¡¯s hair rose, breathing spiked, stomach churned as he imagined the amount of suffering this¡­boy must¡¯ve gone through because of a simple case of mistaken identity. He could faintly feel every cut and burn, the rough rope against his wrists, the stickiness of his own blood drying between flesh and wood. Will¡¯s vision went blurry, doubling as his eyes crossed and he faintly felt like he was looking down at himself from an elevated position¡­imagining himself as the corpse strung from the ceiling, watching this slightly more fortunate echo of himself have a panic attack. Will doubled over, the content of his stomach that had been threatening to rebel ever since the sewers finally escaping confinement. ¡°I ¡­they might be after me,¡± Will gasped, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty safe bet,¡± Loth said, nodding. ¡°Intruders!¡± A shrill voice echoed faintly from the staircase above them. ¡°Wake up! Wake UP!¡± Will thought, glancing up at the staircase. If they had got caught in the hallway, they would be able to make a break for it, but since they were down here un the secret basement, the only way out was to make it up the stairs, through the office, past the barracks, which would no doubt be vomiting priests into the hallway. Will had no confidence that he could cut his way through those odds. Will thought, glancing around until he located the toilet room in his mental map. Then he traced the shit-pipe to the sewer, then the main sewer itself¡­ ¡°The sewer is right there,¡± Will pointed at the wall. ¡°Break through and we¡¯re out.¡± ¡°But we don¡¯t have our wading gear.¡± Loth whined. ¡°Tough.¡± ¡°Easy for you to say, it¡¯s not up to your eyeballs.¡± Loth said, crossing her arms. ¡°They broke into the Bishop¡¯s office!¡± A faint voice called. Loth had re-concealed the hidden hatch, but the bishop would surely check it in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. ¡°¡­Fine, but I ride on your shoulders.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± Loth pointed at the wall and one of her bugs grew massive and armored before it shot through the wall, punching a hole into the sewers. Four more in rapid succession and a solid kick made a hole big enough for both of them to climb through, allowing the exotic smells of the sewer to flood the church¡¯s secret torture-room. ¡°¡­What are you doing?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Giving them the finger.¡± Will said, posing his dead doppleganger¡¯s hand in a clear middle-finger. ¡°I thought about taking him with us to creep them out but I wasn¡¯t sure we could get away while carrying him. ¡°Ah, you forget,¡± Loth said, and Loths¡¯ insects began to swarm towards the corpse. ¡°Nice,¡± Will said, cutting Dead Will¡¯s restraints before patting his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re coming with us, buddy.¡± Dead Will gave him a grateful middle finger and a rictus grin. Will climbed out the hole in the wall first, landing waist deep in muck, then grabbed Loth and placed her on his shoulders. Dead Will followed through, suspended in midair by Loth¡¯s flying insects. Will glanced back and saw the bits and pieces of the busted wall floating back in place, re-sealed by Loth¡¯s swarm gluing them back together with their secretions until there was no sign the wall had ever been broken. ¡°Hah, that¡¯s gonna mess with their heads,¡± Will said as he waded as fast as he possibly could without splashing poop-water in his mouth. ¡°¡­Wait, why can¡¯t you just get your bugs to carry you!?¡± Will demanded. ¡°Hiyah!¡± Loth said, kicking her heels against his ribs. Chapter 43: Build Tweaking The air was quiet in Bishop Gilder¡¯s temple. The acolytes and priests tiptoed around him as he sat in the main hall, contemplating the nature of the war they were waging. Order against chaos. Progress against collapse. ¡°It seems as though we were visited by Deceivers last night.¡± Bron Gilder mused to whoever was listening. His aide was always listening, and well-trained at agreeing with everything his Bishop had to say. ¡°It appears that way, Bishop,¡± The aide, a young man with a scraggly beard said, nodding. ¡°Why do you think they took the body of their comrade?¡± Bron mused. ¡°You¡¯re asking me, sir?¡± ¡°Yeah, why not?¡± Bron asked with a faint smile. ¡°to gain forbidden power by Sacrificing-¡° ¡°Nope, try again.¡± ¡°¡­To honor-¡° ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°¡­To strike fear into-¡± ¡°Almost. Listen.¡± Bron pointed to where several acolytes were clustered together, pretending to sweep the floors as they gossiped. Low-level youngsters never did understand exactly how good Acuity made a higher level¡¯s hearing, and Bron did nothing to convince them otherwise for moments such as these, when he wanted unfiltered gossip. ¡°The Deceiver came back to life in the dead of night, when its patron¡¯s profane power is strongest and slipped away like a will-o-wisp in the night!¡± His aide frowned. ¡°But they¡¯re ignoring the two wax-suits we found in the toilet. There were obviously two people who intruded from the outside, and they were surely the ones who took the corpse. It didn¡¯t just get up and walk away.¡± ¡°But it doesn¡¯t make as good a story, does it?¡± Bron asked. ¡°Oftentimes, once a good story has been born, it doesn¡¯t matter how much evidence to the contrary comes out days or weeks later. The good story will outlive and outspread the truth. Because the truth is boring. Five years from now, the commonly understood ¡®truth¡¯ will be that a corpse came back to life and escaped, and only the most pedantic scholars will bother to check the church records where we will record what happened.¡± ¡°Misinformation, then? They intended to muddy the waters?¡± his aide asked. ¡°A side benefit, to be sure,¡± Bron said, looking up at the stained-glass mural, where Granesh battled Ouroboros in the sky above The Tower, the manifold worlds pictured beneath them. The legend went that Orouboros¡¯s coils eventually grew so large and wound so tight that it forced The Tower to grow a Floor simply to contain it, and humanity suffered a major upheaval as more powerful creatures were pushed down into the lower floors. One day, full-blooded demons would roam the hunting ground, and the thick miasma would corrupt every living thing, causing deformities, still-birth, and painful diseases. Completing The Trial would become impossible, and humanity would just¡­end. It had become noticeably harder to complete the Trial since Bron had been a young Acolyte. Nobody else noticed it, but Bron had dug through the register of Acolytes and simply counted those who survived their Trial each year and those who had not. The percentage of those who died had been creeping up ever-so gradually for centuries. Since the oldest register he could find. He thought. That should¡¯ve brought the casualties down, but they continued to creep slowly up, implying the challenge was rising faster than the numbers would convey. It might not be this year, or a thousand years hence¡­but it was coming, as slowly and inexorably as Ouroboros wound its way around The Tower. The proliferation of half-demon Deceivers, and Unclean half-men was just another sign that the prophesied end was marching towards them. High-level Climbers were replaced by shape-shifting demons on the higher floors. They would then breed with hapless humans and deliver their low-miasma-tolerant brood to orphanages before mysteriously disappearing. Orphans with high-level parents were the perfect cover for Deceivers, and therefore watched the most closely by the church of Granesh. By the church of Granesh¡¯s estimation, either Mary or Thomas Oh had long been replaced by a demon, delivering their spawn to an orphanage before the demon killed the human and disappeared into The Tower, ready to do it again. ¡°¡­Sir?¡± the scraggly-bearded young man asked, jolting Bron out of his musing. ¡°I believe whoever broke in took the body because they thought it was funny. These actions unintentionally spawned legends. I know of one Deceiver who leaves innumerable legends in his wake.¡± ¡°Who would that be?¡± his aide asked. ¡°William Oh.¡± His aide went quiet. ¡°Now I¡¯m not sure if William Oh is still alive and stole his doppleganger as a joke, or if William Oh¡¯s corpse simply had one last legend to spawn.¡± ¡°I would prefer to believe we didn¡¯t kill an innocent boy.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we all?¡± Bron said. ¡°Sadly, wishful thinking isn¡¯t what The Church is founded on.¡± ***William Oh*** Leaving The Ring after their ¡®adventure¡¯ seemed prudent. Naturally they couldn¡¯t haul a slowly decomposing corpse with them everywhere they went, so they buried Dead Will on a scenic hilltop with a nice view of The Tower, then got the Abyss out of town, because the militant arm of Granesh was out in droves, spilling out of the many temples like wasps from a kicked nest. Standing on every corner. Watching. It made the normal populace nervous, and it made Will and Loth They slipped out of town in the dead of night and travelled off-road back to The Hunting Grounds, watching their backs for any sign of pursuit. They made good time thanks to Loth¡¯s insects carrying them when they tired, but for the most part they just After they arrived, Will and Loth cleared a Key Site, and a day later, cleared another to land themselves on the 2nd Floor. From there, they travelled to Skyhold, cutting through Kaith and harpies on their way. The extra levels and the outlandishly powerful gear they wore made it a simple task. There was a brief Roc sighting, as the mountain-sized raid boss flew with its wings highlighted by the setting sun, but thankfully for everyone involved, it was miles distant, and didn¡¯t come any closer. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Will and Loth met Travis and Alicia in a Skyhold inn. There was some confusion at first until they went to the very most expensive one, which offered creature comforts nearly as luxurious as the one in The Ring, finally finding the rest of their Party. ¡°Did you guys get what I asked for?¡± Will asked after greetings had been exchanged. ¡°Sure did. When Allen Lanover found out his son could have the opportunity to be in Alicia Zodiac¡¯s Party, he actually to take Reggie¡¯s Contract.¡± Travis said, pulling out an envelope. Will opened it up and was immediately assaulted by dense legalese that he couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of, but at the bottom was ¡®Reginald¡¯ and a brown spot of long-dried blood. ¡°Excellent. Wait. He paid ? With what?¡± ¡°A few relics, mostly for Mason, but you might like this one,¡± Travis said, holding out a cloak made of dark material that seemed to eat up the light. Will compared it to his current torso Relic: Will hissed through his teeth. Infiltrator fell under the Rogue Archetype umbrella, and Phantom Hand was definitely an Infiltrator Ability. ¡°Let me try it on,¡± Will said, unsnapping his chestpiece and throwing the cloak over his shoulders. Once it was on, Will tested his Phantom Hand, and saw that it was moving noticeably faster. He checked his imprinted item. ¡°Well?¡± Travis asked as Will mused. ¡°It would push me more in a rogue build direction. It synergizes really well with the Phantom Hand, which is my cornerstone, but¡­ ¡°The stats?¡± Travis asked. ¡°The stats!¡± Will whined. ¡°The chestpiece alone accounts for a quarter of my total Strength! I wouldn¡¯t be able to solo things as well at all.¡± ¡°You¡¯re in a Party now.¡± Travis pointed out. ¡°You don¡¯t to solo things?¡± ¡°You just want to steal my clothes again,¡± Will accused. ¡°Just because I¡¯m immediately going to snatch up the Gladiator¡¯s Chestpiece if you choose to keep the cloak, doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m trying to pressure you.¡± ¡°He is.¡± Alicia said. Will¡¯s face screwed up in thought for a moment. ¡°I need to go outside the city and test something out.¡± They travelled out into the ash lands, searching for a flammenwulf. It didn¡¯t take long until one of the snarling monsters caught their scent and closed in. Will swapped out the Greater Sting Ring on his real hand for his mutated Ring of Accuracy, tucking the sting ring away in his pocket. His sling bullets made nearly inaudible hissing sounds as they cut through the air, released from the Phantom Hand as it travelled at full speed, far faster than he¡¯d ever been able to physically launch a bullet himself. The flammenwulf snarled in pain as it was slammed in the side of the ribs, then its limbs flailed as it was tugged through the air a solid five feet before the Manhunter passive from the Ring of Accuracy let go of it. It didn¡¯t take any damage from the tracer of fire hanging in midair that it¡¯d been drawn through, but that was because the wolf was made of flames and charcoal. As the flammenwulf was climbing to his feet, Will released another bullet straight down from above. The flammenwulf yelped as it flew up into the air. Will released another ten shots, causing the flammenwulf to be yanked roughly thirty feet straight up. The manhunter did not specify that the target was drawn along the ground, rather that they were drawn along the path of the projectile, which meant Will could use this to move monsters whatever direction he wanted them to move. To the spectators, it simply looked like the flamenwulf started getting yanked around by an invisible force. Keen-eyed observers probably noticed the bullets shooting out of thin air, but it was difficult at this distance¡­ ¡°What the Abyss are you doing?¡± Travis asked, jaw slack as he watched the Flammenwulf get yanked around in midair, as if it were being juggled by a mad giant. ¡°Establishing a baseline,¡± Will said. Moments later, the flammenwulf crumbled to ash, and Will took a deep breath and said goodbye to the Ring of Insulation. Will shoved down the shudder as the new item slotted into the Phantom Hand, then he checked it¡¯s effect: Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will dropped his last four Free Points into Acuity. He was confident that this was the path he was going to follow. Once the Ring of Accuracy was consumed, Will fished the Greater Sting Ring back out of his pocket and equipped it on his real hand then checked his new stats. Ability Upgrade Available! Will had Resistance to spare, but the lower daily charges stung a bit. Still, it was nice that he was basically as melee-effective as he¡¯d been before. Now that the ring had been slotted into Phantom Hand, Will needed to try another Flammenwulf. They stalked across the ash-covered landscape, and finally found another flammenwulf of similar stature. Will shot it with the Phantom Hand The monster reacted like it¡¯d been punted by a giant, flying more than eleven feet through the air along the path of the projectile before hitting the ground and rolling in a violent tangle of limbs and spraying ash, it¡¯s midsection hollowed out by acid, due to the Greater Sting Ring¡¯s effect on the tracer. ¡°Huh.¡± Travis grunted. ¡°Does it take any effort for you to accelerate those sling bullets with Phantom Hand?¡± Loth asked. ¡°No,¡± Will said, shaking his head. ¡°So why not a chakram¡­or a cannonball?¡± Loth asked. ¡°¡­Mostly because it didn¡¯t fit in Phantom Hand until recently.¡± Will said, his eyes widening as the possibilities began flooding his mind. He had been limiting himself to sling-bullets to save on volume, but his storage was starting to grow large enough to accommodate more options. ¡°Are you trying to take my role in the Party?¡± Alicia whispered, staring at him with those piercing blue eyes. ¡°No?¡± Will said. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± Alicia turned away and shot her bow straight upwards with a flicker of spent Charge. In midair, the arrow split into several dozen, then each individual arrow split into three, creating a cloud of Death directly above them. Alicia looked back down at Will, expressionless, as the cloud of arrows began to fall. Will crossed his arms and met her gaze. So, William Oh and Alicia Zodiac had a staring contest while death descended from above. Loth and Travis wisely moved outside the area of the volley of arrows. Above, the cloud of arrows seemed to coalesce into a dozen or so tight clusters as they descended. Will was pretty sure he didn¡¯t flinch when the arrows rained down around the two of them. Alicia didn¡¯t give any hint of emotion as she turned away and walked over to one of the clusters of arrows thrust into the ash. She grabbed several of the arrows in the center of the cluster and yanked, pulling a dead Ash-skimmer out of the ground, where it had been hiding from them. Will scanned the surroundings and the other dozen clusters of arrows, realizing that each of the stands of arrows was a target. Ash-skimmers weren¡¯t particularly dangerous, but that hadn¡¯t been the point. She was demonstrating overwhelming accuracy and firepower. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to take your role,¡± Will said, hands up in surrender. ¡°Oh, thank goodness.¡± Alicia said in monotone, heaving a deep breath. Chapter 44: Floor 4 ¡°This would probably work better with a rapier,¡± Will mused to himself as he buried the blade of the Serpent¡¯s Tomahawk in the salamander. The Boss of the Key Site was fifteen feet long, flaming, and peppered with arrows. When he swung his tomahawk, the entire blade turned partially see-through thanks to his new cloak, and the sound of it whistling through the air was muffled, for the eerie debuffing chord, which sounded even creepier when not obscured by grunts and the hiss of slicing air. Still, an invisible rapier would be better because it had a longer reach and a more unpredictable attack pattern at the tip, which would lean into the partial invisibility. Will assumed that beyond 100 Acuity, his attacks would turn completely invisible, but that was still a ways off. The Salamander seemed to disagree, thrashing his direction, opening it¡¯s gaping maw to reveal a white-hot furnace inside its mouth, which drove Will to leap backwards. Travis took his turn jumping in, hacking at the monster¡¯s legs. When it turned to him, dozens of arrows peppered its side, causing it to flinch, giving him the freedom to escape while opening an opportunity for Will to jump in again. Around them were dozens of dead salamanders, slaughtered where they had been lazing around the Key Site, absorbing the Miasma as it was pumped up into the upper floors. Alicia Zodiac made things easy, which was a double-edged sword. Easier fights meant more safety for the Party, which Will was totally on board for, but on the other hand, if they got to easy and wound up biting off more than they could chew¡­ Will remembered the state of the rest of her Party, frozen into the ice of the 2nd Floor. Total wipe save for Mark Wyrd, who was apparently indestructible and had thorn Abilities for days, the freakin¡¯ wyrdo. Will still had a grudge against that guy for nearly killing Loth¡­all she did was try to kill him. On the other lordling front, Will had tried to have a conversation with Alicia about why her torso, amulet, and pants slots were all filled with Charm-based Relics, but every time he meant to lecture her, those eyes and that flat expression made him beat a hasty retreat. ¡°Pulling back!¡± Will said as the Salamander turned back towards him. ¡°Five seconds!¡± Travis said, fumbling through his pouch. Alicia killed the Salamander, but Will decided they needed practice on their teamwork. And now he was facing down a charging salamander with backup coming five seconds later than he wanted. Will sent Phantom Hand out and launched a bullet up into the salamander¡¯s jaw. Manhunter triggered and pulled the steel-melting maw down into the ground. The salamander¡¯s flaming tail rose into the air as the giant creature nearly flipped over entirely. ¡°Ready!¡± Travis said ¡°Tee it up!¡± Loth shouted, motioning to herself. Their Master Decoy shook his jangly whip and gave a mocking laugh, causing the Salamander to rear up in indignation, orienting on the source of the laugh and charge it. Travis sprinted towards Loth, causing the Salamander chasing him to trigger one of the kobold¡¯s traps. A boulder whipped into the side of the fifteen-foot Boss¡¯s head. A moment later it crumpled to the ground, dead. Ability Upgrade Available! (x2) Will thought, exhaling. ¡°Everybody level fifteen?¡± he asked. Travis, Loth and Alicia nodded. Will set aside the prompt to summon the Door to the 4th floor and joined the others in looting. Anything that didn¡¯t get put on was set aside for the Sourdough barrel. The extra Potions of greater healing he¡¯d received from Roger meant they could consume one a week. The more people he had in his party, the more he had to deal with averages, stuff like average food, bandages and pro-fil-ak-ticks per day, which Loth told him would eventually necessitate a ¡®logistics officer¡¯, or ¡®quartermaster¡¯. Not quite yet, though, with only four people, but once they found Mason¡¯s Party on the 4th Floor and subsumed it into their own, thing would start getting much more complex. Will mentally patted himself on the back for his use of ¡®subsumed¡¯ as he looted the dissolving salamanders. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Will thought as he pulled a whip made of salamander skin coiled around a glowing core. It was merely warm to the touch, but the core of the whip visible through the straps of hide glowed like hot coals suspended in glass. Will didn¡¯t have any ranged Abilities, so it was a moot point for him, but maybe Alicia would like a melee weapon that could be used with Rain of Arrows. ¡°Hey Will,¡± Travis motioned him over to where the boss was dissolving into miasma, leaving behind a crumbling skeleton. Travis leaned over and reached into the massive monster¡¯s chest cavity and pulled out a cloak seemingly made of red and black salamander skin. ¡°What does that even mean?¡± Will asked. Travis shrugged. Will took off his Cloak of the Fade, and put the Mantle on over his shoulder. He staggered in place as the drain on his Focus dropped his Charge drastically, but straightened a moment later. A massive hand made of pure flames appeared around Will, unwrapping itself as though it had been clenched tight around him until just now. Will discovered that he could control it, and it even had a bit of tangible form, although it mostly just burned things when he tried to touch them. Will took the mantle off and handed it to Travis, who burst into flames, flickers of Travis-lookalikes floating in every direction, making it very hard to tell exactly where he was standing or even what direction he was moving. Decoys. When Loth tried it on, the flame aura took on a less aggressive look, instead of raging fire, it had the calm feeling of a night by the hearth at the orphanage. Will just wanted to stuff himself with bread and nap by the fire, breed freely, coexist with people he normally wouldn¡¯t, and do whatever Loth told him t- ¡°You know what, That¡¯s not really a good fit.¡± Will said, tugging the mantle over Loth¡¯s horns. ¡°What was it doing?¡± Loth asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t feel anything.¡± ¡°It drugged everyone with chill-out vibes and the urge to do whatever you tell them to do.¡± Travis said. ¡°I fail to see a downside.¡± Loth said, reaching for the mantle. ¡°I could definitely think of some uses for that.¡± ¡°I know you could,¡± Will said, keeping the mantle out of her reach. ¡°I almost missed the time people underestimated me constantly,¡± Loth said with a huff. Will glanced over at Alicia, who was silently looting dead salamanders, face expressionless as usual. Travis met his gaze and nodded towards her. Will took a deep breath. ¡°Alicia, do you wanna try this Mantle on?¡± Alicia¡¯s burning blue eyes turned over to him. ¡°No, that¡¯s okay, you can have it,¡± she said, her voice barely audible to his enhanced senses. ¡° you try it on?¡± he clarified. ¡°We¡¯re curious to see whose build it synergizes the best with. ¡°¡­what does it look like?¡± She asked. ¡°Back and red¡­it kind of looks like the coals in a campfire.¡± ¡°¡­have a shirt?¡± She asked. ¡°Eh?¡± Alicia¡¯s face remained blank. ¡°Do you have a shirt I can use under?¡± Will realized that Alicia¡¯s current frilled shirt was a Relic, and in order to wear the mantle, she¡¯d have to take it off. Will gave her his shirt and turned his back. ¡°Is wearing shirts this scratchy some kind of Resistance training?¡± Alicia asked as she switched. ¡°Nope, I¡¯m just poor,¡± Will said, facing away. ¡°I see. I¡¯m done.¡± Will turned back around and watched as Alicia put on the Mantle of the Yawning forge. A cloud of tiny arrows made of fire sprung into existence around her, making her surroundings appear dotted with flames. ¡°Can you control the arrows?¡± Will asked. He¡¯d been in control of the hand, but maybe that was only because being in control of Phantom Hand was part and parcel with the Ability. ¡°No,¡± Alicia shook her head. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t like how much Focus it costs.¡± On a hunch, Will took them out hunting, and as soon as a monster got within twenty feet of her, the nearest four arrows in the cloud streaked across the distance and perforated the creature, pinning it to the ground. With a bit more experimenting, they discovered that the arrows didn¡¯t even need her to be consciously aware of the creature for them to destroy it. In exchange for 14 Focus. ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± Alicia said after taking it off. ¡°Why?¡± Will asked. ¡°It raises your Resistance, which you sorely need, and it gives you a passive defense based on your overwhelming attack power, which will go a long way towards keeping you from dying again.¡± ¡°Because it replaces my shirt. I need¡­Charm clothes to¡­talk to¡­people.¡± Will cocked his head. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not¡­good with people,¡± Alicia said, her voice so quiet that Will almost couldn¡¯t make it out with his superhuman hearing. ¡°Charm Relics make me better at¡­it.¡± Will opened his mouth to tell her that was ridiculous, because Charm relics only enhance Charm abilities, of which Alicia has none, so they don¡¯t do for herthen he closed his mouth. Then he opened it. Then closed it again. ¡°I tell you what¡­¡± Will said, his Leader Brain activating. ¡°You¡¯ve been talking to just fine this afternoon with just the pants and amulet, right?¡± Alicia hesitated for a moment, her eyes widening fractionally before she nodded, clutching the amulet hanging around her neck like a protective totem. ¡°Well, the 4th Floor is just with biting insects of every shape and size. Do you like getting bit by disease-carrying mosquitos?¡± Alicia shook her head. ¡°And the nearest Stronghold on the 4th floor is going to be miles and ofhiking through bug infested swamps. If you wear that Mantle, it will shoot all the biting insects before they get the opportunity to bite you. ¡°And then once we get to the stronghold with people, you can put your Charm Relic back on. What do you think?¡± Will asked. ¡°¡­okay.¡± Alicia said quietly. ¡°Are you mad at me? For being difficult? Your shoulder blades are tensed.¡± ¡°Just trying to learn how to be a Party Leader.¡± Will said, deliberately relaxing his shoulders. ¡°You¡¯re curling your toes,¡± She whispered. ¡°Do you know how to play poker?¡± Will asked, deliberately changing the subject for both of their sakes. Alicia shook her head. ¡°Well, maybe when we get to the 4th Floor Stronghold, we can teach you how to play. Pretty sure you¡¯d clean up. In the meantime, let¡¯s go buy some supplies for the 4th Floor and get our Charge topped off.¡± Will thought, before glancing over at Alicia, who was absentmindedly itching where his roughspun shirt hung on her shoulders. They went back to the nearest Stronghold and got rested and resupplied. They bought Will and Alicia new undershirts, spending two days to top off everyone¡¯s Charges before they accepted the Door up to the 4th Floor. Will stared down the glowing yellow door standing in the middle of the desolate ashlands. It still filled him with unease, but it was a manageable amount. He took a deep breath, and marched through. The change in temperature alone nearly put Will in shock, but it wasn¡¯t the only change. The ashlands were quiet, with the occasional distance roar or explosion from a volcano, but the ash that blanketed the ground seemed to absorb any quieter sounds, leading the 3rd floor to have a somewhat peaceful soundscape. Not so with the 4th floor. The sound of life and insects pressed in against Will¡¯s eardrums, each individual hum and whine fighting for his attention as thousands of bloodsucking insects detected his presence at the same time and began swarming closer. The temperature was so much cooler that Will thought he might be freezing, but the knee-deep water he was standing in didn¡¯t seem to be frozen. It was just the sudden shift from boiling-hot to body-temperature that threw him off. There was water everywhere. Not only was Will standing in the stuff, but it was thick in the air, invading his lungs, condensing and dripping from every branch of the surrounding trees. Then Alicia stepped through a Door beside him, and flaming arrows hovering around her began slicing through the air at mind-boggling speeds. A moment later, the sounds of insects swarming towards them had somewhat diminished, and Will had hope that they might get through the fourth floor without dying from insect-borne disease. Will shifted in place to check if Loth and Travis had arrived when he felt a tugging sensation on his shin. Will lifted his leg to reveal an inky black worm-like creature attached to his skin, seemingly doing its best to burrow its way into his leg. Will thought, wielding his tomahawk. Chapter 45: Ambush Ethics After Will discovered ¡®leeches¡¯, he decided to learn how to walk on water, because that was the only way he was going to willingly step foot in the swamps ever again. After a bit of planning, the team broke into two groups. The trailblazers were Will and Loth, while Travis and Alicia followed as soon as they created a path that the two of them could follow without becoming waterlogged or being assaulted by bloodsucking insects¡­ Which were in the air, too, by the way. Mostly their ¡®trailblazing¡¯ was testing half-sunken logs for sturdiness, tossing them onto the path they had taken and lashing them together with spidersilk to create tiny bridges between pockets of land where the brush grew up to a man¡¯s eye-level, fighting for space so fiercely that Will got real good at cutting brush with his tomahawk and tossing it into the stagnant water in front of and behind him. The first day was the worst, with the most bug-bites per person and general misery: Their tent was enhanced by a dome consisting of a massive spiderweb manned by hundreds of spiders. Half their food started growing mold because the damned vendor who promised it was 4th Floor stable? was lying his ass off, and a large portion of the people he scammed wouldn¡¯t live to kick his teeth in. Alicia didn¡¯t get any bug bites at all, because any biting insect that got within twenty feet was annihilated, and while it was a superb blessing to simply stand next to their archer for extended periods of time and enjoy the lack of awfulness¡­life finds a way to make you leave your comfort zone. The second day was better in some ways: Loth tamed thousands of dragonflies overnight and deployed them to clear the path ahead of flying insects. The leeches still lurked in the waters below, but their Party had gotten pretty good at avoiding stepping in the water. Alicia was able to reliably shoot fish out of the water, which Loth¡¯s dragonflies retrieved for lunch and dinner. The first couple attempts were amusing, when her damage boosting Relics caused the fish to explode, drenching her and Travis in leeches, fish guts and muck. As a Party Leader, Will knew he probably shouldn¡¯t laugh at the rich kid¡¯s frozen bodies and dumbstruck faces¡­but he couldn¡¯t help it. Will learned his lesson, because it took many hours of cajoling by Loth to convince her to try again without the Gloves of Thunder Strike. ¡°Hunting food¡¯s not my job,¡± Alicia muttered, staring at the water as if it might leap up and bite her. ¡°Alicia, look at me.¡± Loth said, drawing the archer¡¯s attention to her. ¡°That stuff you were told about Jobs and Roles is bullshit. While some people might take on the brunt of a specific role, everyone should be able to do to a bare minimum level of competency, or your Party is incredibly brittle and likely to die when something unexpected happens¡­and if you do something to help the Party, then you. I can hunt, and Will can hunt, but we can¡¯t hunt and clear a trail at the same time.¡± They probably could, but Will wasn¡¯t going to argue with Loth¡¯s point. ¡°Now we know it was the gloves that caused ¡®the incident¡¯, so let¡¯s try it one more time without, okay?¡± Alicia glanced away from Loth, back at the water. ¡°¡­okay.¡± Alicia nocked an arrow, pulled back and loosed, sending an arrow deep into the water, the feathers barely rising above the surface of the shallow water. Half a dozen dragonflies converged on the fletching and grabbed the shaft, lifting the arrow out of the water. On the end of the arrow was a fish, already dead and limp as the arrow had severed it¡¯s spine. Alicia glanced at Will, who grinned back. Then he realized there was no way she could actually see him smile, so he gave a thumbs-up. Alicia¡¯s shoulder¡¯s relaxed. ¡°Excellent job, Miss Zodiac, that was the most fantastic shot I¡¯ve ever seen!¡± Travis said, ruining everything with his brown-nosing. ¡°Why I think Holdna herself couldn¡¯t compare to-¡° ¡°Travis, get over here.¡± Will said, pointing to the tiny patch of roots and grass he was standing on. ¡°Umm¡­There¡¯s no bridge yet.¡± ¡°Then jump. Or wade.¡± Will said. Once Will had Travis away from the other two, he informed the Master Decoy that his constant praise for the easiest tasks was undermining their attempt to train Alicia to be a well-rounded Climber. ¡°She can tell that every word out of your mouth is total shit. I imagine she¡¯s heard people like you say things like that her entire life. So all you¡¯re doing is proving to her that she can¡¯t trust you because you¡¯re lying to her face constantly,¡± Will said. Tavis paled, eyes swimming as his brain caught up with his behavior. ¡°Now if she does something truly exceptional, feel free to gush, but I swear to Granesh, if you act like that after she shoots something ten feet away again, I will you, and these shoes are literally built for it.¡± Will tilted his mask up so Travis could see his expression. ¡°Understood?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What did I ask you to do?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t lie to Ms Zodiac, and maintain a professional demeanor.¡± ¡°Close enough,¡± Will said, putting the mask back down. The next few hours were much more subdued as Travis visibly restrained himself from speaking on multiple occasions while Alicia brought in another eight fish for lunch. He obviously couldn¡¯t find anything to say that wasn¡¯t drivel, so he defaulted to silence, which persisted through the rest of the afternoon. The second day ended with them camping on a relatively dry spot, watching the stars through the bug net Loth had made for them. While they bedded down for the night and Loth trapped their camp, Will stared at the strange dots in the strange black sky, wondering what contributed to their team. Travis wasn¡¯t a good ¡®tank¡¯ per se, but he could attract the enemy¡¯s attention at the snap of his fingers, which was half the job. All Will could do was¡­go places other people had a hard time going, subsist on weeds and bark, and Will was confident he was consistently not a burden, but what did he Will turned on his side and spotted his Sourdough barrel. He got up and pulled the lid off the barrel, studying the faintly glowing starters slowly absorbing the Relic dust around them as they fermented new consumables. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Will pulled the clay Idol out of the pile of Relic dust it was submerged in, revealing that the bit of clay had grown nearly half of its original form back. Will sat and thought. Will could easily fill the barrel with 1000 gold worth of low-quality Relics from the Hunting Grounds and submerge dozens of used-up greater healing potions for an insane profit. Will¡¯s head felt foggy and tired trying to pay attention to everything everyone said and did, everything said and did, but he wanted to be a good leader. What did ¡®a good leader¡¯ even look like? Will put the half-restored clay Idol back and sat down on the barrel. Even though he tried to distract himself with Build-candy, his mind kept drifting back to Leadership, or his lack thereof. Will finally decided that he could deal with occasionally being the bad guy if it allowed Alicia and Travis to work together better. Because right now Travis wouldn¡¯t disagree with Alicia to save his life, and Alicia didn¡¯t trust a word that came out of Travis¡¯s mouth, a combination which was less than ideal. ¡°What¡¯cha thinking about?¡± Loth asked, appearing out of the darkness, spiders spinning a line of traps in her wake. ¡°What a good leader is.¡± ¡°¡­A good leader is someone who humbly works to line up every advantage for their team such that they appear to succeed with minimal effort.¡± ¡°Not a guy with shining armor defending a stronghold, bravely leading the charge against a horde of slavering monsters?¡± ¡°A good leader would¡¯ve culled the monster population in the years leading up to the horde, preventing it entirely.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s boring,¡± Will said. ¡°Yes. Yes it is.¡± ¡°So your advice is to be as boring as possible?¡± Will asked. Loth pinched his side. ¡°ow.¡± ¡°Think about the future. The consequences of your actions. Think about how to line up every possible advantage for your team, such that they can accomplish the goals you set out for them with the absolute minimum amount of effort.¡± ¡°I been.¡± Will said quietly. ¡°I¡¯m terrible at it, and it¡¯s exhausting.¡± ¡°It¡¯s exhausting because you¡¯ve never thought in this way before. It¡¯s difficult, and you¡¯re learning¡­but you¡¯ll get used to it.¡± Loth said. ¡°By any measurement, you¡¯ve been doing quite well for yourself, gaining the Oilton family¡¯s support, and stealing Mason¡¯s Tank out from under him with Alicia¡¯s influence.¡± ¡°But they did that, not me.¡± ¡° sold our potential to Roger Oilton, which convinced him to fund us, and instructed Alicia to meet the Lanover family, fully aware that they would bend over backwards for her.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I couldn¡¯t¡¯ve done it without them.¡± ¡°¡­What do you think leadership , exactly?¡± Loth asked, cocking her head. ¡°It does not exist in a vacuum.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Will asked. Loth shook her head. ¡°It means that you have to have to use the talents of others to-¡° ¡°No, what does ¡®vac-yoom¡¯ mean?¡± Loth punched him in the shoulder. ¡°Mutiny!¡± Will stage-whispered. Loth grinned and opened her mouth to say something, but instead broke into a hacking cough. ¡°did you inhale one of your-¡° Loth continued coughing, dropping down to her knees and gasping for breath between coughs. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got something in my lungs,¡± She gasped. Day three was a shakeup. Loth had acquired some kind of infection in her lungs. No idea what it was, but to be safe, they put the ring of Regeneration on her and paid close attention. She stayed back with Travis, watching their rear and resting, carried by her insects while Alicia came up to scout the front with Will. The sheltered Devastating Artillery nearly fell into the leech-infested water multiple times until Will convinced her that it didn¡¯t look weird when she used her full range of motion to jump from dry patch to dry patch. They weren¡¯t able to pave a path quite as easily as Loth could, but Alicia¡¯s Penetrating Gaze made picking out threats before they surfaced incredibly simple. ¡°Have you considered scouting full-time?¡± Will asked as she landed on a gnarled tree root beside him. Alicia shook her head. ¡°Food for thought. You could be pretty good at it.¡± ¡°Ambush.¡± She whispered. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°There¡¯s five people waiting in ambush ahead of us.¡± Will followed her gaze and saw¡­grass. ¡°Do they know we know?¡± Alicia shrugged. ¡°You want me to kill them?¡± she asked, shrugging her bow off her shoulder. Will considered. If they were truly after Will¡¯s Party, then killing them instantly without a fight was a much better solution than any half-assed plan Will might think of to save his feelings. If they were after Will and he told her to wound them, they were still in for a fight. If he told his team to avoid the ambush, they would know their cover had been blown and find a better way to ambush them next time. If they were after him. If they were just out hunting monsters¡­that would make Will a murderer. Will decided to err on the side of believing his team and pursuing the most advantageous choice for them, regardless of morals. ¡°Hold on,¡± Will whispered, taking off the Cloak of the Fade, and handing it over to Alicia. If she could hit them quietly enough, they wouldn¡¯t see it coming. She nodded silently and switched cloaks. ¡°Kill ¡®em,¡± Will whispered, donning the Mantle of The Yawning Forge, using the massive flaming hand to motion for the rest of his team to catch up, making the sign for an emergency. Alicia aimed straight up and released an arrow with barely a whisper of sound, the Cloak of the Fade dampening its sight and sound. The arrow split into six dozen silent, partially see-through arrows at the top of its arc, the individual arrows forming clusters that gave away the enemy position as they descended. Alicia sent three more volleys into the air before the first one was even halfway down. Then she held a fifth shot, aiming low through the grass. All hell broke loose. The first volley of arrows shattered on an invisible dome in the distance, and the shouting started. The invisible dome shattered, and the rain of arrows continued on through, clustering in five distinct spots. Will was not prepared for a twelve-foot, heavily armored bear with a similarly armored rider to burst out of the grass, absolutely peppered with arrows. Alicia released her fifth shot straight ahead, at the rider¡¯s face. The rider covered his face with the blade of his axe, but Alicia¡¯s arrow split into dozens again and riddled the man¡¯s shoulders and upper chest. He didn¡¯t seem to care. ¡°Get behind Travis.¡± Will said, standing in front of Alicia. A mass of biting insects swarmed the man¡¯s helmet as Will climbed a nearby gnarled tree, getting himself a slight height advantage. A pulse was emitted from the grass behind the rider, and Will watched as the dragonflies began to turn on each other, biting each other¡¯s heads off with their sharp mandibles. White-hot rage flooded Will¡¯s body, and nothing in the world mattered so much as punishing the first thing he laid eyes on. In this case, the puny rider on his puny bear. It was only a few dozen times heavier than him. Will launched himself off the tree straight towards the man¡¯s face, covering his approach with the flaming hand. The rider¡¯s axe cut through the flaming hand, barely missing Will¡¯s face as he tackled the rider, raining strikes down on the stupid man¡¯s stupid head. Bear-fucker must¡¯ve gotten a dose of the same thing, because he roared with fury, grabbing Will by the neck and shaking him like a ragdoll before throwing him tumbling through the air to land in the swamp. The bear lunged toward Alicia, seemingly following the bigger threat. Will sent the Phantom Hand out and shot the bear in the ass with half a dozen sling bullets. The bear¡¯s eyes widened in surprise as it was yanked violently back, sending it tumbling through Will¡¯s tracer lines and back into the grass from whence it came. Will leapt out of the water, following the creature. He found himself in a clearing, where another three humans were hiding. One had an arrow in his brain, while another was busily pulling one of Alicia¡¯s arrows out of his compatriot¡¯s heart, seemingly healing the wound as he went. Will went for the two Squishies, but Bear-fucker and his girlfriend leapt in Will¡¯s way, hitting him with about half the force of one of Gertrude¡¯s slaps, sending Will tumbling violently backwards twenty feet or so. He tried to send his flaming hand forward in his stead as he tumbled backwards, but Arrowheart held up a shaky palm and the massive flaming hand splashed against an invisible barrier. Will¡¯s view devolved into grass, sky and murky water, then the cold water of the swamp hit his whole body, jolting him out of his violent stupor. Will flung himself out of the water with a gasp, clinging to the side of a tree as he scanned the situation. Loth¡¯s bugs had dropped her into the swamp in their rush to kill each other, where she was struggling to swim while coughing. The little kobold wasn¡¯t tall enough to just stand. Travis and Alicia were trying to kill each other, but thankfully hadn¡¯t succeeded yet. Will launched himself off the tree and landed in the waist-deep water beside Alicia and Travis. Travis seemed to snap out of it, but Will was forced to scoop up some leech-infested water and fling it directly into Alicia¡¯s mouth before she blinked and started coughing violently. Will snapped to get their attention and pointed towards the stand of grass where their enemies were healing. Alicia nodded and started shooting while Travis charged. Will grabbed Loth and dragged her up onto land. ¡°My build is¡± ¨C Loth coughed violently ¨C ¡°Weak to mass debuffs, it seems.¡± ¡°They¡¯re gone!¡± Travis said, sticking his head out of the stand of grass. Willl glanced at Alicia, who nodded, her piercing gaze following something no one else could see. ¡°They¡¯re going west, the bear and rider are carrying the rest of their Party away from us.¡± She drew her bow and aimed high, releasing three more volleys before clicking her tongue. ¡°Their barrier user isn¡¯t going to slip up again.¡± ¡®Do you think we should go after-¡° Travis began coughing violently, dropping down to his knees as he tried to hack up a lung. ¡°When did it get so cold?¡± Alicia asked, clutching herself, paler than usual. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think we should go after them,¡± Will said, attending to their archer¡¯s leeches, then his own. When she felt cold, Will checked her temperature and realized that she had a fever. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°We can¡¯t be-¡° Loth paused to cough. ¡°Far from the Stronghold.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s make a break for it, then,¡± Will said. ¡°I¡¯m not feeling so great. I¡¯m giving my remaining insects instructions to carry us behind you. Just don¡¯t take off my monocle.¡± Loth said, tapping the lens before she passed out. ¡°Alicia, keep your eyes open for any monsters or ambushes. I¡¯ll get us the rest of the way to the Stronghold. She nodded, shivering. Loth¡¯s flying insects picked the three of them up and began following Will as he leapt forward. Will only stopped to loot the dead ambusher before he continued on at full speed, heading North. Chapter 46: Three For the Price of One Jason Salazar ¡°Yep, that¡¯s rot-lung,¡± Steve said, listening to Travis¡¯s breathing. ¡°It¡¯s known as baptismal rot-lung. Most Climbers get it when they arrive, and if they survive, they don¡¯t get it again.¡± ¡°And how likely is survival?¡± Will asked. ¡°With me here? Hundred percent,¡± Steve said, his hand glowing with the blessing of Andover over Travis. He lifted his head and pointed at where Alicia was shivering on top of the cot. ¡° is a badly infected wound¡­rot-lung.¡± He said, moving over to the archer and listening to her breathing before he began healing her. ¡°Why am I fine?¡± Will asked. ¡°Because you have freakishly high Resistance.¡± Roger said, the brawler¡¯s arms crossed from where he leaned against the wall, watching the proceedings with interest. ¡°What he said,¡± Steve said, pointing at Roger without looking away from where he was healing the infected scrape on Alicia¡¯s leg. ¡°Once these three get a few more levels under their belts, they won¡¯t get sick quite as fast, and eventually they¡¯ll be functionally immune to everything on the 4th Floor, like you.¡± Steve moved on to Loth whose labored breathing eased greatly as he laid his glowing hand on her chest. ¡°I expect they¡¯ll be ready to get back out there in about three days.¡± ¡°Three days!?¡± Will demanded. ¡°I thought you were magically healing them. With magic.¡± ¡°I am, but the sickness in their lungs is still there, and it¡¯s well-known among healers that rot-lung tends to flare back up if you don¡¯t keep on it for a few days. I have to knock it out a handful of times in a row before their body figures out the trick to fighting it off. Three days.¡± ¡°Stupid magic having stupid limitations,¡± Will muttered. ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry, are you dissatisfied with the ¡± Steve demanded. ¡°You¡¯re getting paid: one percent.¡± sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°And where¡¯s my one percent!?¡± Will flicked a couple ivory across the room, where Steve snatched them out of the air. ¡°If you want a more precise number, talk to Loth, she keeps better track of our cash.¡± Will said. ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re going to need a quartermaster soon,¡± Roger said. ¡°Probably,¡± Will admitted. ¡°Maybe when we have enough spare power to babysit a beancounter.¡± ¡°I knew a logistics specialist on the seventh floor that could spend Charges to retroactively change what supplies had been brought with us, just by changing it in her ledger. Beans to bandages, bandages to shaving cream. As long as the cost to acquire it stayed the same.¡± Roger said. Will¡¯s brows rose. ¡°She could even turn gold bars into food¡­She¡¯s dead, sadly.¡± ¡°And¡­what Sacrifices did she use to make her Class?¡± Will asked. ¡°I¡¯unno.¡± Roger shrugged. Will thought sourly, turning back to his Party, who were laid out in critical condition, just from the in the 4th Floor. ¡°You look like you¡¯re trying to figure out what to do while they¡¯re on the mend,¡± Roger said, clapping Will on the shoulder. Will¡¯s paranoia wanted him to shrug off the hand and tell the Brawler he wasn¡¯t interested in his help, so he could go suck an egg. But that was silly. Roger was there to guide them through the 4th Floor. He¡¯d given them a of money, and his little brother was on the team. The odds he didn¡¯t have Will¡¯s best interest at heart were¡­slim. ¡°Matter of fact, I know what to do while we wait. Got any suggestions?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go hunting. I¡¯ll introduce you to the local wildlife, we can get some Loot and once the others are vertical, you can share your newfound knowledge with them.¡± Roger glanced back at his resting Party. ¡°The 4th floor is also where you can get some of the better ranger-class gear, as well as the best poison and disease resisting items until the thirteenth floor.¡± ¡°There¡¯s another disease floor?¡± Will asked, exasperated. He was already tired of one. ¡°So I hear.¡± Roger said. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go hunting with you. But first I gotta check some loot we got off a guy who tried to assassinate us on the way in. ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± Will asked. ¡°Is it normal for a newbie team to get attacked randomly?¡± ¡°Its¡­more common than I¡¯d like.¡± Roger said with a shrug. ¡°The environment of the 4th floor makes a perfect dumping ground for bodies, and newbs are almost universally afflicted with rot-lung, making them easy pickings. Some veteran Climbers say it¡¯s a waste to just let them die and lose their Relics in the swamp, so they kind of¡­speed the process along.¡± ¡°They¡¯re in the minority, right?¡± Will asked. ¡°Officially, yes.¡± Roger said, nodding. ¡°Unofficially?¡± ¡°Still in the minority, but some Parties will kill other Parties claiming that their victims were noobs hunting. Verifying is difficult, and usually falls to the Party¡¯s reputation.¡± ¡°The Tower keeps track of who does what,¡± Roger said, pointing up. ¡°It gives people a practically criminal amount of leeway, but if a certain crime is repeated often and egregiously enough, they¡¯ll be given a bounty that reports to everyone what floor they¡¯re on, at which point they¡¯re basically dead meat. That¡¯s why it¡¯s not total anarchy. Nobody quite knows how many strikes they have left.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit stupid though, since you can hide from The Tower with just a mask.¡± Roger said, motioning to Will¡¯s goat mask. Will frowned. ¡°What¡¯s egregiously mean?¡± ¡°In a really, shockingly bad way,¡± Roger said. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Will grunted acknowledgement and went to inspect the Relics he¡¯d pried off their assailant. Just the boots, helmet, amulet and rings, because Will had been on a time-crunch and wasn¡¯t interested in doing a full strip while his Party¡¯s lungs were actively rotting. Will thought, inspecting the item. It was a diadem seemingly made of carved ice and moonstone. Will rummaged through their luggage until he found Cold Harvest Will thought, putting them together. If he was reading this right, the sickle would no longer create shards of ice that made slashing damage less effective, and the debuff would last fifteen seconds rather than five. Fifteen seconds was a huge amount of time in a fight. Will pulled another ring out of his dimensional Storage. Fifteen seconds was frankly more than enough time. If it got whittled back down to ten, or eight, or even 6, if the slow debuff was similarly improved it would be a net win. There were only two problems: Will¡¯s Focus wasn¡¯t the best. It wasn¡¯t bad, but it certainly wasn¡¯t great, so the ring of Curse Concentration¡¯s effect probably wouldn¡¯t be extraordinary. And second, he would have to throw away the mutated Ring of Accuracy, never to return again, along with the possibility of ever using the sickle of Cold Harvest, he¡¯d have to find a different arm-slot item, because tracer fire would probably undo the cold debuff¡­ Will realized. A complete shift in his Build design, in exchange for applying an insane slow effect and life-drain to attack he made. It was very tempting, but Will decided to hold off until he checked the other items. The next item he checked were the boots. Will checked the amulet. Sure, Will always wanted better footing, but he only had one ring slot, and the ring of Mud Hardening wouldn¡¯t make the cut. It seemed like its active would be very, very good for a potter or a golemancer. Imagine being able to drop a fireball right on your friend¡¯s heads without them catching on fire. That was the sort of thing a Nuker might like to have. How close they¡¯d come to being slaughtered sank in. Alicia If he hadn¡¯t told Alicia to take the shot, they would be dead. There was no doubt in Will¡¯s mind. ¡°Roger, can you join my party so I can punch you real quick?¡± Will asked, taking off his sting ring. ¡°Knock yourself out.¡± Roger said, joining the Party. Will punched the lumbering Rustic Brawler in the stomach. ¡°Three out of ten.¡± The giant opined on the damage. Will donned the Ring of Consideration and punched him again, feeling a faint sensation, as though something was pulling his strike. ¡°one out of ten.¡± Roger said. ¡°Very cool,¡± Will said, pocketing the ring. The umbrella term ¡®negative effects¡¯ seemed to apply to both damaging effects and debuffs. If it was bad, it would help your Party resist it. Maybe he could give it to Mason, or maybe Alicia could use it to safely rain arrows down around them, only bruising her party members rather than skewering them. A very good ring for massively damaging, indiscriminate Abilities¡­ Will sighed. No matter how much experience Will got with the realities of Climbing, and how excellent his Class really was, he¡¯d always be jealous of those who could simply rain fire. Will rummaged through their luggage again for Reggie¡¯s Contract. There was only one Stronghold on the Fourth floor, because absolutely no one wanted to live here. So the chances were good that Mason¡¯s Party was in the same mud-covered, mosquito-infested town built on stilts so as not to sink into the swamp. ¡°Can I take care of one thing before we go hunting?¡± Will asked, twirling Reggie¡¯s contract in his fingers. Roger shrugged. ¡°Sure.¡± In less than half an hour, Will had tracked Mason¡¯s party down to a mid-range inn with only gaps in the walls for mosquitos to find their way in. Then he went for the kill. ¡°Absolutely ¡± Mason said, his face turning red. ¡°You see your dad¡¯s signature at the bottom here?¡± Will said, pointing. ¡°Where it says he¡¯s giving the leaders of Alicia Zodiac¡¯s Party ¨C that¡¯s me ¨C ownership of Reginald Thatcher¡¯s Tank contract.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­umm¡­that¡¯s the paper I signed,¡± Reggie said, his eyes wide. ¡°I will believe you¡¯re Alicia Zodiac¡¯s party leader when Lumesh brings the Abyss up out of the ground and Ouroboros swallows The Tower.¡± ¡°Join my Party and you¡¯ll know.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± June, Mason¡¯s scout said. ¡°Umm¡­wow.¡± June said, eyes wide as she read the roster of Will¡¯s Party. ¡°Wow what?¡± Mason asked. ¡°Yeah, Alicia Zodiac is in his Party. Their stats are¡­¡± June shook her head. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Well, where is she, then?¡± Mason demanded. ¡°Laid up with rotlung,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°Until the rest of our Party gets up and running, Roger Oilton here is going to give us a tour of the 4th Floor.¡± ¡°Tour¡­That is true.¡± Roger said, a faint smile at the corner of his lips. ¡°What do you mean ¡®our¡¯ party?¡± Mason demanded. ¡°Well, since Reggie is joining my Party, I figured you would¡­wanna come with.¡± Will said with an innocent shrug. ¡°Think of it as an opportunity to become friends with Alicia Zodiac. Your dad did.¡± Mason¡¯s eye twitched and he glanced at Reggie. The large straw-haired Tank gave a guilty shrug. ¡°I can feel the Contract nudging me. It¡¯s real. I have to join Will¡¯s Party. And soon.¡± Mason gave Will a long, weighing look. They both knew that Mason¡¯s life expectancy depended on a Tank, especially at the lower levels. That meant that wherever Reggie went, Mason had to go. Steal Reggie, steal Mason. Steal Mason, and June had to follow suit to avoid being stranded alone on the 4th floor. ¡°I don¡¯t want to create bad blood. If anything, I want you to be happy about this, so I¡¯ve got a signing bonus to sweeten the deal,¡± Will said, putting his hand on the table and releasing Relics from the Phantom Hand beneath his palm as he swiped it across the wood in a simple magic trick. He released the ring of Arcane endurance, The Ring of Consideration, the Amulet of the Frozen Heart, and the ring of Haunting Blood. Mason picked up the Ring of Arcane Endurance, and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. ¡°How did you¡­nevermind, not important.¡± After a minute of silence, Mason reached across the table and offered his hand. ¡°I will accept on the condition that we get to keep these Relics, and when we reach level thirty and Reggie¡¯s contract expires, we renegotiate a more equitable relationship, else we go our separate ways.¡± ¡°Deal,¡± Will said, shaking Mason¡¯s hand. ¡°Dude, William Oh just stole your whole Party,¡± June said. ¡°Don¡¯t remind me,¡± Mason groaned, sitting back in his seat. ¡°We just recovered from our rot-lung, too. Damnit.¡± Chapter 47: Chain of Command Reggie was by all accounts, weak-willed, blind, deaf, and clumsy, but he could take a punch. Any punch. Any time. Will didn¡¯t know exactly how best to utilize their abilities, so he decided not to flail about blindly. ¡°What¡¯s up, boss?¡± June asked once he got her away from the others. ¡°So, my understanding is that you¡¯re the Party leader?¡± Will asked. ¡°Mason¡¯s the Party leader.¡± June said, a faint smile peeking through the scout¡¯s stoic expression. ¡°On paper.¡± Will said. June¡¯s eyes narrowed, scanning him up and down. ¡°Fine, I call the shots. What do you want?¡± ¡°You good at it?¡± Will asked. ¡°Out of three people? Yeah, I¡¯m the best at it.¡± June said. ¡°I want to create a chain of command. I want to put you in charge of Travis and Alicia, in addition to your regular Party. You¡¯ve got experience herding rich kids.¡± He glanced off toward Mason meaningfully. ¡°How are you going to get them to agree to it?¡± June asked. ¡°Alicia isn¡¯t particularly headstrong, just shy and withdrawn, and Travis will blindly go along with anything she does. Get her to agree to follow your lead in front of him, and you¡¯re set.¡± ¡°I see.¡± June said, chewing her lip. He could see the coins glittering in her gaze. June was similar to Will in that she did not enjoy a particularly wealthy upbringing, and had developed a somewhat mercenary attitude towards money and life in general. She understood that rubbing elbows with three rich scions on a regular basis could be quite lucrative in the future, so the offer he was making her was very attractive. ¡°Here¡¯s the kicker. You¡¯re going to have to take orders from Loth. Can you do that?¡± ¡°The little black one from the Establishing Quest?¡± ¡°She¡¯s actually really big for a kobold. But yes, that one.¡± June seemed to consider a moment before glancing back up at him. ¡°She good?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s some kind of freak of nature. She makes smart humans look stupid and smart kobolds look like animals. Loth is responsible for damn near of my success.¡± Will said. ¡°Alright.¡± June nodded, offering him her hand. ¡°I¡¯ll wrangle the rich kids, and I¡¯ll take orders from you and Loth.¡± Will took it. ¡°Much obliged. Now let¡¯s go hunt some swamp monsters.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± June said, giving him a mock salute. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Don¡¯t make me regret this.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± They rejoined the others, and Will explained to Mason and Reggie that their current command structure wouldn¡¯t change, and when the rest of Will¡¯s Party were back on their feet, they would shuffle Alicia and Travis into their squad. Roger was nearing the end of his patience when they finally had the group organized, with June leading the group, Will ranging, Mason and Reggie tucked in close together behind the scout. Will switched out the Combat Platforms for the Swampstompers, and suddenly he was a lightning bolt. The layered bonuses to his footing and Aspect of the Goat literally allowed him to walk on water and pond scum, and faster than he had any right to do. Will delighted in the sheer speed for a while, until he noticed that Reggie was having a great amount of difficulty keeping up with the others, so he gave the Tank the Swampstompers, bringing Reggie up to speed. Will¡¯s reasoning was: A Tank that isn¡¯t maneuverable enough to get between his ward and the danger, was a useless Tank. Reggie didn¡¯t have any Ranger passives, but his Resistance was enormous, boosting the boot¡¯s effectiveness. The change in equipment brought Reggie from the slowest to the second fastest after Will. Will put on Reggie¡¯s boots until he could get back to town and grab his combat platforms again. ¡°Hold up!¡± Roger said, holding up his hand before pointing into one of the swampy ponds, identical to every other swampy pond they¡¯d ever seen. ¡°Clearwater Slime.¡± Roger said, pointing at the water. ¡°Eh?¡± Will frowned, looking at the pond, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. ¡°You can identify them by the defined edge of scummy swamp water floating with all sorts of gunk, and then a circle of perfectly clear water.¡± Roger said, motioning with his hand. Will¡¯s eyes adjusted now that he knew what he was looking for. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. There a line where the water turned perfectly clear, without any of the floating bits he¡¯d taken for granted. A massive circle, eight feet across. ¡°If you jumped into the water right there, it would wrap around you and start digesting your feet.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the best way to fight them?¡± June asked. Roger grunted. ¡°Typically, I jump in there and beat them to death before my legs are completely gone, but you kids might want to try a different approach. Heat works well on just about everything on the 4th floor.¡± ¡°Your time to shine.¡± June said to Mason. Mason stepped forward and a moment later, the pond erupted with scalding hot water, the slime turned milky white by the heat. The creature shuddered and died, and a moment later, began releasing Miasma into the air as it died. ¡°Fantastic,¡± Mason said, kissing the Ring of Arcane Endurance. ¡°Get a room you two,¡± Reggie said. ¡°You-¡° ¡°Ey, ring of the carpenter!¡± Roger said, fishing a wooden ring out of the slime¡¯s rapidly decaying corpse. ¡°Gives the ability to dry out wood. These don¡¯t sell for a lot, but they¡¯re real good for the people running Waystation.¡± ¡°Moving on,¡± Roger said, hauling himself out of the water and brushing off the leeches fruitlessly trying to attach to him. ¡°That there¡¯s a gator. It¡¯s a real animal so you can treat them like trail rations.¡± A few minutes later, Roger grabbed a plant out of the ground, revealing roots shaped like a human. Will started feeling¡­weird. The moment evaporated with an audible as Roger callously broke the creature¡¯s neck with a twist of his hands before crushing it between his fingers. ¡°Mandrake root is the only creature that does psychic damage on this floor.¡± Roger said, rubbing the pulp all over himself. ¡°Interestingly enough, when you pulp it, the psychic damage remains at just a high enough level to kill any biting insects that get close, but not high enough to actually cause any harm to someone with a Class.¡± To demonstrate, Roger held out his arms and waited¡­Will was surprised to notice that insects were now actively the Rustic Brawler. ¡°Note that this only works for natural insects and the very weakest monsters. Bloodsuckers will still make a play for you. Speaking of,¡± Roger pointed. ¡°Dear gods!¡± Mason shouted as a dog-sized mosquito streaked through the air towards Mason, flying at full speed now that it¡¯s cover had been blown. Reggie stepped forward using his new speed to get in front of Mason and squish the creature on his tower shield, acting like a giant fly-swatter. ¡°Bloodsuckers like to creep up on you until they¡¯re too close to stop them.¡± He picked up one of the mangled bloodsucker¡¯s legs and showed how it looked like the same deadwood sticks that littered the swamp. ¡°Another thing to be cautious of: The sound from their wings only travels to the sides, not straight ahead. Some weird sound trick, I assume, but if the swamp suddenly goes quiet from a specific direction, you¡¯re probably being charged by a bloodsucker.¡± ¡°They also tend to hunt in packs,¡± Roger said, pointing at a bunch of sticks scattered across the swamp. ¡°light ¡®em up.¡± June said, drawing her bow. Mason nodded and dropped a Conflagration in the center of their densest cluster. About six bloodsuckers rose from the chaos, their cover blown. One went down with an arrow through its head, another two got slapped out of the air by Reggie¡¯s shield. Will shot the remaining three from beneath with the Phantom Hand, causing them to crash violently into the ground one after the other, massive holes bored through their torsos where they¡¯d been drawn through the tracer. June, Mason and Reggie paused, glancing between Will, Roger, and the three mysteriously deceased bloodsuckers. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Who did that?¡± June asked, looking more curious than anything else. Will raised his hand. ¡°Did you spend charge on it?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Phantom Hand?¡± June asked. ¡°It lets me steal things, mostly, but it also lets me release them wherever, and at whatever speed I want. Mostly I use it to shoot things with sling bullets from unexpected angles. I can shoot another thirty or so times before I need to spend a charge to reload.¡± They were in his Party now, so Will was willing to share the rough outline of what the Phantom Hand was capable of. Definitely wasn¡¯t going to tell them about the Relic slot exploit, though. That was between Will and Loth. ¡°Dimensional storage?¡± Mason asked, eyes wide. ¡°About a third of a gallon,¡± Will approximated with his hands. ¡°I got a couple healing potions, rings, and about three dozen bullets. Will hadn¡¯t had time to get custom ammunition created yet, and his current build didn¡¯t really need it yet either. Maybe when they hit the fifth floor. ¡°And Aspect of the Goat?¡± June asked. ¡°It¡¯s a passive. Better footing, environmental resistance, and I can eat pretty much anything organic.¡± June nodded, seemingly considering for a moment before opening up. ¡°Hunter¡¯s Patience increases the potency of shots the longer I hold them, and it¡¯s got a surprising amount of knock-on effects with non-shooting actions. Trailblazer is enhanced movement, endurance and senses in the wild, and also allows others who follow behind me to benefit from a fraction of its effects.¡± Will thought. ¡°Fletching is fletching?¡± Will asked. June nodded. ¡°I¡¯m hoping it will lead to making magical arrows.¡± ¡°It can,¡± Roger said, nodding. ¡°Take One for the Team lets me mark a Party member, and whenever they get hit, I take the damage instead.¡± Reggie offered, jumping in now that they were introducing their builds to each other. ¡°Does that damage bypass your Resistance?¡± will asked. ¡°Be pretty awful if it did. No, I get hit with the raw force, not the actual damage, so I might just get scratched by something that would tear Mason in half.¡± ¡°Second Wind is an active that gives me stamina back. I¡¯ve upgraded it twice, so now it gives me health and draws aggro as well.¡± Will nodded. ¡°Heavily Armored makes heavy armor lighter, and currently grants plus two Kinesthetics for each heavy armor Relic I¡¯m wearing,¡± ¡°Conflagration makes an explosion, Feedback Shielding gives me shields based on the amount of damage I deal, and Phase Shift lets me change damage types where necessary.¡± Mason said. Will thought to himself. Once they were done introducing their builds and talking strategy, they turned to looting the giant mosquitos. The bloodsuckers didn¡¯t have any good loot. A few gold spawned, along with bags of blood, nonmagical items and a torso relic that looked like a pair of bloodsucker wings that reduced the sound one made when chasing a target, but none of them wanted or needed it. Will wasn¡¯t disappointed, because Roger Oilton seemed determined to run them smack dab into the worst the 4th floor had to offer. ¡°F¡¯ckin¡¯ adders,¡± Roger muttered, tugging the deathly poisonous snake¡¯s fangs out of his bare leg and tossing it off into the swamps. ¡°Oh, you see that brown patch over there?¡± he said, pointing. ¡°There¡¯s a fungal bloom. Don¡¯t go over there unless you enjoy getting strapped into a table and having mycelium physically removed from your body. And that¡¯s for Will and Reggie. The rest of you kids probably wouldn¡¯t make it back.¡± Roger frowned, thumbing his chin. ¡°Am I forgetting something?¡± Dozens of mycelium-streaked corpses of various creatures lurched out of the water around them, creating a semi-circle designed to push them towards the Bloom. ¡°Right, the ambush.¡± Roger nodded knowingly as the undead began lurching towards them. June glanced at Will. He nodded to the right flank of the semicircle. It led away from the bloom, towards more dry-ish land than the middle or left flank. ¡°Mason, clear a path,¡± June said, pointing. ¡°Reggie, lead the way.¡± The encircling zombies were scattered by the explosion, and Reggie charged through with a deep roar while the rest of them followed. Will and June shot enemies as they closed in, while Roger just jogged alongside Mason with a bemused expression, like someone telling new people their favorite story. They arrived at the tiny patch of dry land, the fungal zombies slowly chasing them stretched into a more manageable line rather than an encirclement. ¡°They¡¯ll try to pull you back towards the bloom, but fortunately, it¡¯s a lot easier to fend them off from this angle. fortunately,¡± Roger said, glancing over his shoulder at a nearby gnarled stump. ¡°You drew us into another encounter.¡± As if it¡¯d been waiting for his words, the lump of gnarled wood, moss and gunk began to move, creating a twelve-foot tall, vaguely humanoid shape dripping with muck. ¡°Mason, clear our backside asap. We¡¯ll keep the Lumberer busy.¡± Mason nodded and turned away. Will liked the directions June gave. It was best not to be flanked while fighting, and Mason could burn some of his prodigious Charge to clear behind them, making sure they were only fighting one thing in one direction. ¡°Fire to the rear!¡± Mason shouted before going mad on the shambling corpses following them, his explosions coming so fast together that they sounding like a frantic heartbeat that shook the earth itself. Will detected a sound underneath the explosions. A strange droning that seemed to ¨C Some of the moss covering the lumberer sloughed off, revealing a wasp¡¯s nest that interlaced through a large portion of the plant-monster¡¯s body. The insects poured out of their nests, forming a cloud of angry insects, wondering what had disturbed their home. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a lumbering hive.¡± Roger said, nodding. ¡°Those are tough.¡± Will leapt off the ground and sailed through the air toward the lumbering hive. ¡°What are you doing!?¡± ¡°Crowd Control!¡± Will shouted an instant before he hit the cloud of wasps surrounding their aggressive home. He¡¯d gotten the idea when Roger had pointed out how weak insects were to psychic damage. As he felt angry wasps flood his world, Will directed a Charge through the Tomahawk of the Serpent. A haunting chord played through the tomahawk, and the insects surrounding him burst into smoking ruins and tumbled to the ground as the greater Sting Ring piggybacked on the 20ft AOE of psychic damage, killing the vast majority of the swarm in one hit. Will¡¯s feet hit slimy wood, nearly slipping for a heartbeat before he caught himself He stood on top of the lumberer and scanned the battlefield. group of monsters had joined the fun. They were pale, swamp-dwelling humanoids with brilliant red arm-width tongues that extended up to ten feet out of their emaciated, naked bodies. The tip of the tongue seemed to have three rows of shark-like teeth that all faced inward, designed to saw into their victim¡¯s flesh and extract as much blood as possible. ¡°Swamp Vamps are smart enough to follow a Party for miles to catch them at their most vulnerable! When a Party accidentally catches two encounters simultaneously, that¡¯s their favorite time to strike!¡± Roger bellowed above the din, roaring with laughter. The lumberer didn¡¯t seem to realize that Will was on top of it, seemingly focused on Reggie, who was preparing to receive a strike on his massive tower shield. ¡°leave this to me!¡± Will shouted, pointing at Mason, who was fending off vamps with his stick-arms, pale blue shimmers of shielding protecting him for the moment. Will¡¯s first thought was to shoot the lumberer a few dozen times and remove it from combat entirely, but he decided against it. It was, as it¡¯s name suggested, rather slow, and Reggie was able to get out from under its strike with plenty of time to spare. This gave Will an idea. From the back of the lumberer, Will used the Phantom Hand to shoot two swamp vamps , drawing them directly beneath the lumberer¡¯s massive fist. If being drawn through Will¡¯s tracer-fire hadn¡¯t killed them, the lumberer¡¯s earth-shaking strike definitely did. Will shot another vampire, kicking it up into the air and flinging it straight into the lumberer¡¯s face. The vampire, in agonizing pain, clawed the slimy wooden creature as it struggled to right itself. Will¡¯s footing bucked as the lumberer smacked the vampire on itself like someone might slap a (non-monster) mosquito, creating a splotch of blood where the vampire¡¯s engorged tongue exploded The lumberer seemed to stare at the squished vampire for a moment as if processing this new turn of events. It turned slightly to the side, away from Reggie and company and towards the thickest knot of the pale human corpses, raising its fists to squish these new annoyances. Will gave the vampires a jaunty wave from atop the lumberer¡¯s back. In a matter of seconds, the vampires who survived the lumberer¡¯s wrath retreated, slinking back under the water and disappearing into the muck. Once the four of them could switch their attention to just the lumberer it was only a matter of time before the hulking monster was destroyed. ¡°Nothing gets the blood pumping like a good ambush, eh, kids?¡± Roger asked, hands on his hips in the center of a pile of dead vamps. ¡°You¡¯ve got something wrong with your brain,¡± June said what they were all thinking. ¡°They cut some mycelium out of it a few years back,¡± Roger said, taking a deep breath. ¡°Gods I love the 4th Floor!¡± Chapter 48: Grand…ish Strategy invented ¡°Hold on a second,¡± Roger said, cocking his head to the side for a moment before he turned and dove into the murky water just beside them. A moment later, the oversized Rustic Brawler emerged from the water, struggling with an eel larger than a man. It looked¡­pissed. ¡°Dragon Eel!¡± Roger shouted over the thrashing of water. Will detected a shift in the creature¡¯s throat an instant before Roger yanked it¡¯s head to the side. A torrent of acid erupted from its mouth and sailed off into the distance, landing among the weeds of the swamp, which immediately began to smoke. ¡°These things make some of the best leather Relics this side of the seventh floor! Most of your Party are lightweights so it¡¯s worth seeing what this guy drops.¡± Roger snapped the monster¡¯s neck and threw it up on the dry path, climbing out of the waist-deep water, idly brushing off leeches. Miasma began to flicker and unravel, rising from the corpse of the monster in a way that almost looked like smoke, if the smoke had been alive. The corpse¡¯s finely scaled leather mummified before evaporating, leaving nothing but bones in a matter of seconds. Inside the dragon eel¡¯s torso were dark brown, nearly black leather leggings. Only on very close inspection was one able to see the tiny scales of the eel embedded in the leather, lending it extra strength. Will liked the ranger archetype ability potency, but his current leggings gave much stronger stat bonuses. ¡°I¡¯ll take it,¡± June said, raising her hand. ¡°How do we find Dragon Eels?¡± Will asked. ¡°Sometimes you can catch their fins sticking out of the water. They look kind of like a branch leaning sideways out of the water, but there¡¯s always a piece of scum or something obscuring where the fin extends down into the water. They also have a faint hissing sound when they breathe through their gills. I¡¯ll point it out next time I hear one.¡± Roger guided them through the swamp for a solid three days, until Mason hit half Charge, then they followed the shortest possible route back to Way Station. It took longer than they¡¯d expected, between the Ring of Arcane Endurance and Mason¡¯s natural regeneration. Most encounters ended with one application of Mason¡¯s conflagration, which was paid for by the Ring of Arcane Endurance. Those that didn¡¯t end in a single explosion usually involved Will and June picking off stragglers while Reggie stood there looking tough. It was only when everything went wrong at once and needed a hasty correction to prevent death or injury, that Mason unleashed more than a single explosion. They quickly learned to hate swamp vampires, as the intelligent worms that animated the corpses of dead adventurers retained a bit of the host corpse¡¯s intelligence, and would arrange simple ambushes that aimed to cut party members off from the group, or drown them in enemies, so they couldn¡¯t protect their weakest members from the sheer numbers. Or both at the same time. The most egregious example of this was when a tentacle monster plant emerged, splitting a narrow dry path in two, separating Mason and June from Will and Reggie temporarily. By the time Will and Reggie got around to the other side again (about five seconds) the Nuker and Scout were already fending off half a dozen swamp Vamps with more emerging from the murky water every moment. One of the vamps even managed to land a hit on Mason¡¯s arm before he got off any explosions, which gave Reggie a circle-shaped scrape in the same spot. Will had mixed feelings about Tanks. They were useful, and they reduced the aggregate amount of damage taken by the party, unless they were abused. But the people who signed up for it were buying in to the Climbing game with their body¡­and mind. Decoys like Travis just died, but if a Tank didn¡¯t die, they usually retired with crippling wounds. Often mental ones. Resistance didn¡¯t help resist psychic damage. When Will and Reggie joined the fight, they scattered the vamps to the wind and turned to kill the tentacle monster that was trying to draw them into a gaping maw in the swamp lined with teeth. With the proper application of arrows and explosions, the creature¡¯s tendrils went limp, and they looted it¡¯s corpse. One of the vamps dropped a ring with inward facing barbs that granted lifesteal, which went in the emergency pile, since nobody wanted to wear it, but it might prove useful in an emergency. The tentacle plant dropped a bow seemingly made of gnarled vines tightly woven together. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. +3 Acuity Projectiles fired from this bow cause vines to erupt from the ground and restrain their target. Scales with Acuity. June switched out her current nonmagical bow for the new Relic, since any bonus was better than none, and the effect wasn¡¯t half bad. ¡°Draw¡¯s a little high, but that¡¯s good. I¡¯ll get stronger,¡± June mused as she tested the bow. They made it back to the Inn at the end of the third day, and Will checked in on the rest of his Party. Loth, Alicia and Travis looked about ready to chew their way out of the room that Steve had locked them in, which was good. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The next morning, the seven of them got together and Will made introductions. ¡°Alright, everybody, introductions,¡± Will said, gesturing to each person as he explained how they were going to operate. ¡°I¡¯m William Oh, the Party Leader. This is Loth, She¡¯s my second in command. June Ferrier will be squad leader, Mason is her second, and the rest of you guys are under them.¡± ¡°¡¯Kay,¡± Reggie said with a shrug while Travis sputtered. ¡°You¡¯re going to put a kobold and a commoner in command of Alicia Zodiac!?¡± he said, his face red with what Will could only assume was second-hand indignant outrage. Alicia Zodiac didn¡¯t really show any response. ¡°I like Loth,¡± Alicia said, with her trademark expressionlessness. ¡°I mean, if miss Zodiac feels that¡¯s the best choice of action-¡° Will met Travis¡¯s gaze, and widened his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Travis hastily course corrected his ass-kissing. ¡°I have to say, it¡¯s an honor to meet you, miss Zodiac¡± Mason said, offering his hand to the blonde archer. ¡°¡­You have very slender bones. Are you a boy?¡± She asked, her voice barely audible. ¡°¡­right.¡± Mason said, withdrawing his hand while June and Reggie chuckled. ¡°He¡¯s a boy, I had to change his clothes when-¡° Reggie began. ¡°We don¡¯t have to go into it!¡± Mason interrupted. ¡°He passed out and pissed himself,¡± Reggie whispered. ¡°I see.¡± Alicia said, nodding. ¡°You say that like there weren¡¯t extenuating circumstances! I was literally crushed under a boulder!¡± Mason cried, rounding on his Tank. ¡°Anyway!¡± Will interrupted them before Mason could get any more red in the face. ¡°Introduce yourself and your Abilities and what we can generally expect from you in combat.¡± ¡°My name is Mason Lanover, I¡¯m a Nuker, and my Ability, Conflagration, allows me to deal a large amount of damage in a very small amount of time. I¡¯m good at clearing encounters that turned out to be harder than expected, softening up overlarge groups, or ending fights before they drain the resources of the rest of my Party.¡± ¡°Are you trying to steal my job?¡± Alicia asked quietly, her eyes glowing blue flames. Mason backed away from her and stammered. ¡°Alicia, you¡¯re just going to have to learn to share the Nuker role. You¡¯re better at detection and long-range ambushes, he¡¯s better at mowing them down during the thick of a fight. There¡¯s a lot of overlap, but it¡¯s not a bad thing.¡± Loth said. ¡°¡­Father said if a Party brings on someone with the same role, they¡¯re going to replace you¡­¡± Alicia said, looking at the ground. ¡°Has it occurred to you that your father may not always be right?¡± Will asked, going out on a limb so Loth didn¡¯t have to burn any bridges¡­or mix any metaphors. Alicia glanced up at him, her glowing blue eyes widening minutely. ¡°¡­no?¡± ¡°Two Nukers is better than one. We¡¯ll be able to venture out for a long time before either of you run out of Charge. Now shake Mason¡¯s hand and tell him you look forward to working together.¡± Loth said. ¡°¡­Okay.¡± Alicia marched toward Mason, who stood stock still. She jutted out a hand, still looking at the ground. ¡°¡­forward to working¡­¡± She whispered, her hand trembling. ¡°Ah, likewise, Miss Zodiac¡± Mason said. ¡°..Licia,¡± she whispered. ¡°Likewise, Alicia,¡± Mason said, relaxing and giving her hand a firm shake. Once they were done, Reggie picked up the introductions, followed by Travis, June, and finally Loth and Will. ¡°Now before we head out, Mason should put on some clothes.¡± Will said, shaking his head in exaggerated disgust. ¡°He¡¯s not wearing clothes!?¡± Alicia demanded, drawing the confused gazes of Mason, Reggie and June. Loth pinched him. ¡°Ow. Sorry, I couldn¡¯t help it.¡± Will said, rubbing his arm. ¡°¡­I¡¯m being razzed,¡± Alicia whispered, staring at the ground, her face red. ¡°¡­Just like Father said would happen¡­¡± ¡°Alright, we¡¯re all together, what¡¯s the plan, boss?¡± June asked, looking at Will. Loth tugged on Will¡¯s shirt prompting him to bend his ear closer to her. ¡°The way the chain of command works is you give a vague direction of what you want to get done, and June and I decide the specifics.¡± Loth whispered in his ear. Will nodded and stood up straight. ¡°I want our party to get some practice working together now that Roger isn¡¯t babysitting us. I also want to make it a productive outing for Ranger gear for our three Ranger subclasses,¡± Will said, pointing at himself, Alicia and June, hopefully displaying more authority than he felt. This whole thing felt odd. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s massacre dragon eels, vine pits, tangleweed and muck-drowners. They have the best ranger drops. The southwest side of the Way Station has the easiest land to navigate and a low population of swamp vamps, making encounters safer and more predictable. Let¡¯s start there and work our way outwards. I¡¯d also like to get Travis an extra pair of Swamp Stompers because his maneuverability in the swamps simply isn¡¯t high enough to take full advantage of the Boots of outflanking.¡± Loth said, glancing at June, nonverbally passing the torch to her. ¡°When did you learn all that?¡± Will whispered to his second in command. ¡°Steve¡¯s dossier.¡± ¡°I knew there was something I was forgetting,¡± Will muttered, snapping his fingers. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have read his handwriting anyway.¡± Loth whispered back. ¡°Alicia, you can see through water?¡± June asked, picking up the planning where Loth left off. ¡°I can see through .¡± Alicia whispered in an eerie tone, causing Reggie to reflexively put his hands in front of himself. ¡°Alicia and I are going to run point, Alicia will point out anything with bones before it gets a chance to ambush us.¡± June said. Will thought approvingly. With Alicia around those pesky ambushes would be countered every time. ¡°We¡¯ll focus on using Alicia¡¯s ability to see through water to grind Dragon Eels until we get some more Swamp Stompers, then we can use our Master Decoy as bait, leading enemies straight into the hammer and anvil that is Mason and Reggie, which should increase our hunting speed greatly.¡± ¡°Reggie, grab our pack from the inn. There should be enough supplies in there for a weeklong trip. Alicia, how many arrows do you have? Alicia whispered an answer. ¡°That¡¯s not going to last a week.¡± ¡°My carry weight is pretty good,¡± Will offered. June added that to the calculation without missing a beat. ¡°Will gets another pack, so we can add a bit of¡­and if I¡­.¡± June began muttering to herself for a few moments before handing out orders that sent everyone scrambling to prepare their gear for a long outing. Will tried not to look impatient as the process of preparing the Party to leave took nearly half an hour when it felt like it should¡¯ve been a simple matter of putting a backpack on and heading out. He understood logically that more moving parts to a Party meant more things that had to line up for the Party to move. He understood that, but it burned his very soul when Travis had to stop for a bathroom break, and Alicia needed a cobbler to waterproof her boots better to avoid foot-rot, and Reggie had a metal joint in his armor that had begun rusting in the damp air, causing an audible squeaking, which he had to take apart, polish, and then oil. But, just like Loth had said, a good leader lines up every possible advantage to make success as easy for their team as possible. Will didn¡¯t want Alicia getting foot-rot, or Reggie¡¯s joints locking up with rust at an inopportune time. Oddly enough, Mason was the try-hard that seemed to have everything organized and ready to go at all times. It made sense given the slender young man¡¯s discipline and Climber training that seemed to have been drilled into him from youth, but it didn¡¯t quite fit Will¡¯s Young Master mental image. He must¡¯ve been born to young money Climbers who passed on some of their serious attitude. Also, he didn¡¯t carry much actual gear, given his stature and role. That helped. Finally, after what felt like an interminable amount of time, they set out to the southwest, where the patches of dry land were somewhat larger, and interconnected. Will must be a good leader, because honestly, it was easy. Chapter 49: Herding Cats ¡°How many fingers am I holding up?¡± Reggie asked, hand behind his back. ¡°Two¡± Alicia whispered. ¡°Wow, right again!¡± their Tank said with a beaming smile. ¡°Are you smiling?¡± Alicia whispered. ¡°Here, feel it.¡± Reggie said, bending down so their blue-eyed archer could reach his face more easily. Alicia tentatively reached up and tapped Reggie¡¯s face with her slender fingers. ¡°Wow, I forget¡­people have skin.¡± ¡°Well -¡± Will cleared his throat. ¡°- Of course we do,¡± Reggie said, standing back up straight. Will cocked a brow and glanced at Alicia and then back at Reggie. ¡®In town.¡¯ Will mouthed. Reggie gave a stiff nod and clomped away, his heavy weight causing the marshy land to give way under his feet. Shouting from the other side of the camp drew Will¡¯s attention. ¡°And saying, maybe if your family wasn¡¯t so you wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve lost your only Stronghold!¡± Mason said, shoving Travis away from him with his stick-thin arms. Naturally Travis ignored it with his far higher Strength. ¡°The Lanovers never even had a Lord!¡± Travis shouted, putting his finger directly under Mason¡¯s nose. ¡°Get that finger out of my face before I burn it off!¡± Mason shouted. ¡°Make me!¡± Travis shouted back. ¡°It was implied when I said ¡®Burn it off!¡¯¡± ¡°Children!¡± June shouted over the two of them, her voice just shrill enough to cut through their conversation, but not so shrill as to fail to convey her wrath. ¡°What is this about?¡± June demanded. ¡°The twink is using incense. It smells weird, and it¡¯s probably attracting monsters. ¡± Travis said, thumbing at Mason, who glowered, fire dancing on his fingertips. ¡°This all feels familiar,¡± Will mused, standing next to Loth as they watched June handle the issue. ¡°Mason is using the bug repellant incense I him to carry,¡± June said. ¡°That Loth picked out because it attract monsters. It in fact, actively repels a few types that we are not hunting, making the ones that we hunting more common by relative scarcity.¡± ¡°Oh. Well, now I know that.¡± Travis said, crossing his arms. ¡°I change my complaint to ¡®Mason is hogging the bug repellant¡¯.¡± Mason nearly took a swing at Travis before June stepped between them and smacked Travis in the back of the head. ¡°You know, maybe you should start a journal,¡± Loth suggested. The most valuable skill a leader can cultivate is-¡° ¡°Introspection,¡± Will finished for her. ¡°Exactly. And starting a journal will help facilitate that.¡± ¡°Cool,¡± Will said, nodding as he watched June gradually de-escalate the situation without their Decoy turning into a charred corpse, an icy chill running down his spine. ¡°A record of the mental state of your past self is an excellent way to gauge your current progress as-¡° ¡°What¡¯s introspection mean?¡± Will interrupted. Loth looked up at him, her jaw slowly dropping. ¡°¡­What?¡± Will asked, glancing down at her, the strange familiarity drifting away again. ¡°¡­The examination or observation of one¡¯s own mental and emotional processes.¡± Loth said. ¡°Ah, should¡¯ve guessed that from context.¡± Will replied, eyeing June. ¡°¡­Make sure June¡¯s financial incentives line up with the success of our Party, we can¡¯t afford to have her bought out from under us.¡± ¡°What makes you say that?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Just¡­a bad feeling. Our Party has many weaknesses, but the only one with a price tag.¡± Will nodded towards where June was wrangling the others into getting prepped for the day of Climbing. ¡°If there was someone with a lot of money and a grudge against us, that would be the first, easiest thing to exploit. I can think of two groups capable of it off the top of my head.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Loth said, rubbing her chin contemplatively. ¡°I¡¯ll address it discretely.¡± ¡°Much obliged,¡± Will said. A few minutes later, Loth pulled June aside to discuss the Party¡¯s ¡®pay structure¡¯. While that happened, a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of Will¡¯s eye caught his attention and he glanced over to see Reggie and Alicia flirting again. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s bigger than my head,¡± Alicia whispered, touching Reggie¡¯s bicep on the other side of the camp. ¡°And you can¡¯t see it at all?¡± Reggie asked incredulously. ¡°Reggie!¡± Will snapped. Things got under way quickly after that as June cracked down on the Party, dragging Reggie away from Alicia by his ear and saddling him with a pack that must¡¯ve weighed more than the entire crew. Once they determined an ideal travel weight, Loth took over with her bugs, but they made sure not to bring more than could be carried without her assistance, just in case she was killed or injured beyond the ability to command her insects. With just four people, they had handled the swamps of the 4th Floor admirably, but with seven, it was a task so easy that it¡¯s sheer ease began causing problems. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. They got practice working together as a team at first, but it quickly turned sour as boredom and a lack of stimulation began to mount. Every encounter was quickly detected by Alicia or June, and then dealt with via a swift application of force from either Alicia or Mason. Which caused Travis and Reggie to grow bored, and start bickering, which caused June and Loth to waste mental energy babysitting them. Until it was basically just Mason and Alicia who were sharp. Even Will couldn¡¯t consider himself sharp, because he was consumed with navigating the murky waters of interpersonal conflict. To Will¡¯s eyes, it seemed as though a Party¡¯s efficacy dropped to match the challenge they perceived they were under. ¡°Are you William Oh?¡± An unfamiliar voice caught Will¡¯s attention, making him turn to discover a slender messenger wearing swamp stompers, all eel-leather clothes and bearing a satchel of mail. The man was probably at least level 25 with a specialty in rough travel, because he was literally standing on the water, triggering Will¡¯s envy. ¡°letter for you.¡± The messenger said, handing Will a letter before leaping away at blazing speed across the swamps, vanishing without a trace. Will frowned and opened the letter, scanning its contents. I¡¯ve muddied the waters in ways that can¡¯t be traced back to me, but he¡¯ll find your trail eventually. He¡¯s got nearly two full Parties worth of swamp-hardened mercenaries with him. One of whom said you guys attacked them on the way in? Attached to the back of the letter is their full Party composition. I recommend avoiding going back to Way Station for the forseeable future. In fact, you should probably just pick a direction and start running. Best of luck! I¡¯ll head on up to the 5th Floor. The bathhouses on the 5th floor are something else. If my quest must end, Let it be there. Steve P.S. getting this delivered Express by a high-level Messenger was ten Ivory, which nearly bankrupted my personal funding, so if you could have Loth earmark a bit of treasure to pay me back, that would be swell. Will thought sourly, asking for his commanders to gather together. ¡°What do you need?¡± Loth asked as she arrived next to him. Will handed her the letter while he read the attached list of archetypes that Steve had gleaned. Druid, Rider, CC-Healer, Barrier, TrackerX2, Diviner, Sniper, TankX2, Nuker, and of course, Mark Wyrd, a Thorns-Tank. ¡°Oh. Oh my.¡± Loth said as she read the letter. ¡°What?¡± June asked. ¡°We have pissed off Mark Wyrd on the 3rd floor,¡± Will said. ¡°And he have followed us here to track us down and kill us. We¡¯re going to need to change our approach to stress speed. I¡¯d like to emphasize grinding out some levels and searching for Swamp Stompers for everyone.¡± Will glanced up into the sky. ¡°How high can your insects fly?¡± He asked, glancing back down at Loth. ¡°High enough.¡± ***Mark Wyrd*** ¡°So, they stopped here¡­¡± Mark said, crossing his arms ¡°Yes, sir,¡± The Tracker said. ¡°Then they rose straight into the air,¡± Mark finished. ¡°Yes sir,¡± the Tracker nodded, before clarifying. ¡°There was another person who arrived here before dashing off at high speed. Likely a messenger.¡± ¡°So he had an informant in town.¡± Mark surmised. ¡°Probably that Healer that cured Milo¡¯s foot-rot.¡± The Tracker said, glancing at their Tank, who shrugged. ¡°Should we go kill him?¡± The sniper asked, thumbing the knife on his belt. ¡°No, if he¡¯s any good, he¡¯ll be long gone by the time we get back.¡± Mark said, fuming. He turned to his Diviner. ¡°Which way did they go?¡± The slender woman closed her eyes, then pointed off and to the right, nearly directly south, through the wettest, least traversable section of swamp. ¡°¡­Of course they did. how in the Abyss did a whole party fly?¡± ***William Oh*** Will hummed a jaunty tune as he picked through the pile of bones for Loot, standing on a slowly expanding platform made of driftwood and spidersilk. Even as he worked, flying insects brought sturdy driftwood off the swamp floor and set it down, where spiders began lashing it together with the rest of the platform, with a surprising level of craftsmanship. Will thought as he worked. ¡°Why haven¡¯t we been doing this the entire time!?¡± Travis demanded leaning over the edge of the platform and peering down to the swamps sliding below in the distance. ¡°This is absolutely an exploit!¡± They were a hundred feet high, above nearly every possible monster encounter moving at roughly the speed of a man sprinting, crossing treacherous terrain without an iota of effort. Even the insects carrying them weren¡¯t particularly taxed, because there were thousands, and they took turns resting in the barrels, subsisting off of scraps of alligator meat. ¡°Because, how is anyone who isn¡¯t Alicia supposed to get practice and levels from doing this?¡± Reggie asked. ¡°June, lend me your bow. I can take pot shots at stuff.¡± Travis said, turning to the scout. ¡°I¡¯m not letting you waste arrows on that.¡± June replied. ¡°Dragon Eel,¡± Alicia said. Reggie held onto her belt as she leaned over the edge of the platform, her bow bending ominously as she lined up her shot. She released, and a moment later, a swarm of Loth¡¯s flying insects arrived to deposit the rapidly decaying Dragon Eel on the pile of dragon Eels decomposing into Loot. So far they¡¯d found 2 pairs of pants, an archery wristguard, (pin in that) gloves, a leather jacket, and one pair of boots. All eelskin leather, and many of them with Ranger buffs. Will thought, retrieving the boots from the monster¡¯s ribcage and tossing the rest of it off the slowly expanding platform to make room for more. ¡°Come this is the worst. I have to do ¡± Travis whined. ¡°¡­?¡± Loth asked, turning her attention to Travis. ¡°¡­Yesss?¡± Travis said hesitantly. ¡°I could arrange something. If Reggie and Mason are willing to assist.¡± Loth said, turning to Reggie. ¡°XP?¡± Reggie asked, glancing at Mason. Mason nodded. ¡°Loads of it.¡± Loth said. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re on board.¡± Will shook his head, perfectly happy where he was digging through decaying dragon eel guts and not the subject of Loth¡¯s ¡®optimization¡¯. As Will predicted, in a matter of minutes, Travis was dangling from a metal chain mere feet above the surface of the swamp. The Master Decoy¡¯s shrill shrieks combined with his passive Aggro Draw caused monsters to lunge out of the water to find the source of the screaming and snuff it out, drawn to him like a moth to a flame. ¡°This is going to lower my damage a little bit, but I understand the necessity.¡± Mason said, switching the ring of Consideration out on his off-hand. ¡°Even if I¡¯d rather roast him.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve marked him for , so you¡¯d be roasting ¡± Reggie said, punching Mason¡¯s shoulder before glancing down at Travis. ¡°Hang in there Travis, you¡¯ll be fine! I¡¯ll take any incidental damage!¡± ¡°Screw you!¡± Travis shot back moments before a huge mouth emerged from the swamp and clamped down around their Master Decoy. Reggie winced as tiny cuts opened up on his face, quickly sealing due to the Ring of Regeneration, but not before tiny wraiths emerged from his wounds and descended to the swamp to harry the swamp creatures flooding in around their engulfed bait, sending them scurrying away in fear. ¡°Mmm, looks like the haunting ring will scatter the enemy and make Mason¡¯s explosions less effective for this particular strategy. Take it off.¡± June said. ¡°And Mason, if you wouldn¡¯t mind¡­¡± An explosion rocked the swamp below them and the gulper let go of Travis, sinking back into the swamp, steaming in death, allowing their floating platform to continue on it¡¯s merry way, stringing ¡®bait¡¯ through the roughest terrain the 4th Floor had to offer. June, Alicia and Loth made a few paltry ranged attacks to make sure they were included as part of the ¡®fight¡¯. ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t want to do this anymore!¡± Travis shouted up at them. ¡°I was just something¡¯s mouth! I didn¡¯t even see what it was! PULL ME BACK UP!¡± ¡°No, awesome!¡± Mason said with a grin, giving Travis a thumb¡¯s-up. Bloodsuckers swarmed around Travis. Dozens of them landed on their Decoy¡¯s body and attempted to drill into his flesh. ¡°Mason.¡± June said after the rest of them had taken shots. The flaming remains of thebloodsuckers tumbled away from travis, leaving him singed and coughing, but completely unharmed. ¡°How was that?¡± Mason asked, glancing up at Reggie. ¡°Barely felt anything,¡± Reggie shrugged. ¡°The bloodsuckers pinched a bit, but didn¡¯t break the skin, and the conflagration felt like sitting in front of a warm hearth.¡± ¡°Excellent.¡± Mason said. ¡°I haven¡¯t even used a Charge yet.¡± ¡°Mason.¡± June said, pointing to where swamp monsters were once again crowding around their Master Decoy. ¡°Right.¡± Mason said, crouching down and preparing to drop a Conflagration directly on top of their howling bait. ¡°Dragon Eel,¡± Alicia said, spotting another of their Swamp Stomper generators under the water, lining up a shot. A moment later, it was decomposing on the platform. Will scanned his Party. Every one of them was paying close attention to their role, not bickering or bored, and as a side-effect, they were currently grinding the monsters of the 4th Floor at an unbelievable rate. Primary Ability Upgrade Available! (x2) S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 50: Do Your Thing saw Will thought, taking it off and adding it to the ¡®keep¡¯ pile, jotting down it¡¯s effects in Loth¡¯s ledger and then putting the Armguard of Tracers back on. Overall the Swampstalker was better, but it wasn¡¯t a cornerstone of the build like the tracers were, so Will couldn¡¯t switch them out without losing half his damage. They¡¯d gotten new pants for Alicia, and everyone had assured her she looked fine in them. Reggie had gone so far as to say he liked her face and eyes more than anything, before June pinched him. Admittedly they didn¡¯t actually look as good on her, but they were Ranger pants and not Charm pants, so there wasn¡¯t really anything anyone could do about that. Will had gotten Travis, June, Alicia and himself some Swamp Stompers which made Will basically able to walk on water¡­.basically. As long as there was a bit of muck, leaves, or algae in it. Which covered a lot. Now that everyone save Loth had Swamp Stompers, they could return to the ground and travel the old-fashioned way¡­assuming they were no longer being hunted by a peeved lordling. Will thought. Running down would lower the danger in aggregate, but it would stop their growth. Gaining levels was the surest way to earn safety. Running up would spike the danger drastically, since they would be caught between an unfamiliar land and the people hunting them- From what Will had heard from Steve¡¯s dossier, the danger of the fifth floor was pretty low¡­on average. The floor was a quiet, peaceful plains where you could see for miles in every direction and monsters rarely prowled. The only downside was that when they did show up, they were several stories tall. Huge monstrosities that each individually was a raid boss in it¡¯s own right. They were somewhat infrequent, and Will and company could easily spot them and steer around. The 5th floor was a game of weaving between Party-crushing encounters, and it wasn¡¯t that hard for a Party with decent mobility. Not to mention they had contacts on the fifth floor, namely Thea Oilton, who would be waiting in the city with a mercenary army meant to help them grind Kaijuu and crack the 6th floor. As Will was thinking this, a glowing arrow descended from above and slammed into Alicia, driving her into the floor of the floating platform with a surprised squeak. The entire platform wobbled violently causing them to all grab hold for dear life, as all that existed below was water and mucky reeds. ¡°Agh,¡± Reggie gave a pained grunt and spat up a bit of blood before the glow of Second Wind enveloped him. ¡°We¡¯re under attack!¡± June said, scanning the horizon. ¡°Over there,¡± Alicia said, pointing. Will saw a smudge that looked like humans, sprinting after them across the dangerous terrain. ¡°We may have cleared a path for our pursuers through overhunting.¡± Loth mused as Alicia pulled the arrow out of her shirt and returned it to sender. ¡°Reggie, Pull Travis in and put the haunting ring back on. Loth, make it harder to hit us. Everybody hold on.¡± June said. ¡°Alicia. Can you hit them from that distance?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Use this,¡± June said, handing Alicia an arrow made of what looked like driftwood and dragon eel fang. Alicia nodded and her bow bent to a tortured degree before snapping straight again. June¡¯s homemade arrow flew up in a massive arc before splitting into dozens and raining back down on the approaching party of¡­ The arrows wobbled in flight like a school of fish swarming towards their prey, spreading out and swooping back in to hit the enemy Party from every angle, following unpredictable patterns. ¡°Agh!¡± Reggie cursed as puncture wounds opened up across his body. ¡°Looks like Mark Wyrd is in there, and he¡¯s not being protected from damage.¡± Which made sense. Will could barely make out the flicker of barriers being penetrated, but it didn¡¯t look like any major harm had come to their pursuers. None of them keeled over in their tracks. That confirmed it: It was the same Party that had tried to attack them the first time. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. now. The blood wraiths that emerged from Reggie¡¯s wounds disappeared halfway to the enemy Party, their time-limit expired before they could even reach the distant Party. Above their heads, Loth¡¯s insects caught one of the sniper¡¯s shots on Reggie¡¯s tower shield. ¡°Everyone be prepared for a rough landing!¡± Loth said. ¡°If they get within range, they can berserk my insect and we all go into the swamp. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°What¡¯s going on!?¡± Travis asked, getting a hand onto the platform from Reggie. ¡°We¡¯re being attacked, don¡¯t unhook that harness yet,¡± Will said, motioning to the rope around Travis¡¯s torso. ¡°You think we can use him to muck up the path?¡± Will asked, pointing at Travis. ¡°¡­Yes. Travis, your job is to flood our path with angry monsters.¡± Loth said, stepping forward and kicking Travis back off the platform. Travis screamed all the way back down, ending in a pained grunt as he hit the end of the chain. The platform rose to keep him out of range of most of the monsters while still getting their attention. ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± Mason asked. ¡°Keep an eye on them, and warn me when they¡¯re about to enter your maximum range. Their debuffer and nukers likely have similar ranges, so that¡¯s when we¡¯ll abandon the platform. ¡°Screen,¡± June said, pointing towards a copse of withered swamp trees in the distance. ¡°Right. If we can make it.¡± Their luggage began to spread out and move independently of the rest of the platform confusing their enemy¡¯s eyes while obscuring nets formed between them. ¡°WHOO! DINNERBELL, DINNERBELL, RING, RING, RING!¡± Travis shouted at the end of his chain, causing all kinds of monsters to rise out of the swamp and converge on his location moments before Loth lifted him out of their path, leaving the monsters angry and swarming, rapidly falling behind them. This time they weren¡¯t killing them. Just pissing them off. Will¡¯s ears stabbed with pain as Reggie¡¯s shield caught another arrow inches away from Will¡¯s head. ¡°Copse is fifty seconds away.¡± June said. ¡°How soon do you think they¡¯ll be inside your range?¡± Loth asked Mason. ¡°Minute. Maybe two?¡± Mason said. ¡°This¡¯ll be close. Okay, listen up, We¡¯re going to do a magic trick once we leave their sight on the other side of trees,¡± Loth said, pointing. ¡°We¡¯re going to jump ship and it¡¯ll keep going for several minutes while I prepare a ground to fight these enemies. ¡°What about Mark Wyrd?¡± Travis asked. ¡°Last time you left a trap for him, you almost died. ¡°Reggie, remove the haunting ring and hold out your arm.¡± Reggie did so, and Loth pulled out a dagger and stabbed him. Reggie hissed in pain and flinched back. ¡°What was that for?¡± He demanded, clutching the rapidly healing wound. ¡°To figure out the maximum amount of force you can sustain without breaking your skin. I¡¯m going to leave some traps that will cripple or disable their weaker members. They should hit about this hard.¡± Loth stabbed Reggie just a bit more lightly, the tip not quite penetrating his skin. ¡°I can take that.¡± Reggie said, nodding, the first stab wound already closing up. It was a tense fifty second as they sped towards the treeline, but the cluster of monsters they¡¯d riled up behind them made the difference, slowing down the pursuing Party just long enough for Will¡¯s group to swoop past the copse of trees. They all jumped out of the platform as soon as they broke line of sight, landing on the other side of the trees, beside a large pond filled with fallen wood spotted with mushrooms. The platform continued on, its vision-blocking nets continuing to spin as it flew into the distance. ¡±Quiet.¡± Loth whispered as her insects boiled out of her barrel, spreading out in force, some of them burrowing into the ground while others laid silk tripwires across the unassuming swampland. ¡°Let¡¯s set up an ambush over there,¡± June said, pointing to the other side of the pond, the approach was covered by brush, allowing the rest of the Party to crouch down and sneak to the opposite side of the pond without being spotted. ¡°What should I do?¡± Will whispered, feeling a bit useless compared to everyone who had a well-established role and a way to act on it. Will had¡­good traction and a sneaky hand. ¡°¡­Do your thing.¡± Loth said, throwing dozens of sharp and blunt metal odds and ends from her pack into the surrounding marsh. They sank into the ground, rapidly expanding outward from Loth to cover the surrounding area in traps designed to catch the enemy team¡¯s Healer, CC, and Nuker. It would have to work, and perfectly, otherwise they were going to die here. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll do my ,¡± Will said, eyeing the pond. It looked deep, save for the decaying logs floating around the edges. The water itself had scum and bits of weeds floating on top, which was enough for Aspect of the Goat. ***Mark Wyrd*** ¡°Hold on,¡± Mitsie, their diviner said, grabbing Mark¡¯s shoulder. ¡°They¡¯re not on the platform anymore.¡± ¡°They must¡¯ve ducked behind those trees to set up an ambush.¡± Abe, their tracker said, pointing. ¡°Mmm, yes¡­it feels like¡­a trap¡­¡± Mitsie¡¯s eyes gradually widened. Mark watched goosebumps rise on her arm. ¡°I¡¯m not going in there.¡± Mitsie said, shaking her head. ¡°If I go in there, I have a strong feeling that I¡¯ll die.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a combatant anyway,¡± Mark said, plucking her hand off his shoulder. ¡°I don¡¯t really care if you stay here.¡± Heather switched from bear-form to human, eyeing the copse of trees in the distance. ¡°Their trap-maker is among the best, yah?¡± she asked. ¡°Loth the Luminary is widely considered the most dangerous kobold this side of the tenth floor.¡± Abe replied. ¡°It¡¯s why the price on his skin is so high.¡± ¡°So he¡¯s filling the other side of those trees with traps meant to disable our weakest members?¡± Heather posited. ¡°Just strong enough to snap their ankles but not kill, just in case Mark here stumbles on one of them.¡± ¡°So?¡± Kline, their Nuker asked. ¡°So what if I do this?¡± Their druid replied, taking a step forward, her foot shifting to that of a bear¡¯s as she brought it down on the marshy surface of the swamp. A wave of earth and water began churning forward, turning the topsoil upside down as it roiled forward only gaining strength as it turned the land upside down before compressing it into a walkable surface. ¡°That¡¯ll disable the traps! Follow it, go, go go!¡± Mark launched into action following the churning wave of dirt through the copse of trees. He glanced over his shoulder to spot Mitsie sprinting the other direction, splashing through the knee-deep water, all pretense of a calm, all-knowing Diviner abandoned. me, The old retainer had been the closest thing to a father-figure that Mark had ever known. His actual father was a force of nature that handed out terse orders and expected others to accomplish them or die trying. The other ten mercenaries were right behind him, their faces ranging from bloodlust to grim determination. The wave of earth knocked over the copse of trees, causing traps to fire off randomly, flinging spikes in every direction and clearing the path for the rest of his Party to plow through without suffering any damage. In the center of the clearing beyond was a pond with rotting logs around the edges, and in the center of the pond was a single figure standing on the water, wearing a stylized mask of a goat. As the churning wave of earth spread around the pond, disabling hundreds of traps, Mark came to a halt and sized up his prey. Never said why, but that wasn¡¯t unusual for Father. ¡°Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,¡± the masked figure said, raising his arms as he spoke, the wave from Heather¡¯s Ability lapping past his ankles and the logs surrounding him. ¡°Welcome to my ambush.¡± Mark thought, tensing his body for a fight. It would be a short one, but deeply satisfying. The mushroom-studded logs around Will jerked, like someone that had been kicked awake, revealing themselves to be the necks of a hydra as the dragonoid heads lifted out of the water, their milky white eyes clouded by mycelium. The central body rose out of the water, directly underneath William Oh¡¯s feet, lifting him high above them. Chapter 51: Relic Theft face Will thought as the ground rose up beneath him in the middle of his power-pose, six massive necks rearing up around him, revealing half-rotten frilled draconic heads that emerged from the swamp, dripping with muck. Then things got rough, Mark Wyrd launched himself up at Will, shooting through the air by virtue of overwhelming Strength. Will thought, triggering Gravity Charge and targeting his Phantom Hand, causing himself to slide backwards out of the way of a feral punch. If there was one thing Will could be confident of, it was that so much of Mark Wyrd¡¯s build was dedicated to optimizing Thorns that it was unlikely he had any spare Abilities dedicated to movement or attack. So, despite being twice the level¡­he wasn¡¯t as fast as Will. Will thought, weaving around the six fungus-dotted necks the size of massive tree-trucks while an irrationally angry young man chased Will around them for It took an agonizing fifteen seconds of playing keepaway around the massive necks while all hell broke loose outside their little dance, until Will spotted an opportunity. Will dodged out of the way just as one of the hut-sized maws came down at him, leading Mark Wyrd directly into the path of the creature¡¯s attack. Will thought, crossing his fingers. The entire Hydra jerked as its head slammed down into its back, snatching up Mark Wyrd like a bird with a fish. The lordling was clamped between the hydra¡¯s razor-sharp teeth bigger than Will¡¯s palm. With an odd tearing sound, The hydra¡¯s stomach burst open as tooth-marks savaged it¡¯s side, caused by Mark Wyrd¡¯s damage reflection. Will watched in horror as the massive cut along the hydra¡¯s side released an explosion of spores, catching the enemy Nuker in the face. The Nuker went stiff and toppled over backwards, his eyes beginning to fill with Mycelium. Will thought, glancing back up at Mark Wyrd, clutched between two rows of teeth. ¡°Hey, maybe we should find a better-¡° Mark Wyrd gave a vicious elbow strike to the hydra¡¯s jaw, shattering the teeth and bone keeping him in place and dropping back down to the hydra¡¯s back, where he rose to his feet, not looking away from Will. Will was so distracted by the feat that he didn¡¯t react in time as the lordling charged him, landing a good haymaker in Will¡¯s liver. Will folded around the strike and slammed into one of the many necks creating the bounds of their arena. Will had just enough presence of mind to angle Gravity Charge to slip out of the way of the follow up punch aimed at his face. ¡°You can fly?¡± Mark Wyrd demanded, the tiny cuts on his sides closing rapidly. . Will thought, shaking the pain out of his hand, where it felt like he¡¯d punched his own liver over and over again until it was bloody. If Will was correct, his dance partner had a Thorns Primary Ability, and a Lifesteal Primary Ability, both of which were incredibly rare, but Insane¡­ly cool. Mark Wyrd took the actual damage, reflected it, then healed based on the amount of damage he reflected, keeping him in fighting shape while the other guy withered away. Unlike a traditional Tank, he didn¡¯t have any Taunt or teammate protection abilities, which meant he actually didn¡¯t fill the Tank role, despite having a stat block nearly identical to one. Will thought, shaking the pain out of his bleeding hand. There was no way a class would ever give someone anywhere near 100% Thorns and 100% Lifesteal, not without a full suite of Relics dedicated to boosting them. If Will could steal some of them¡­ Will scanned his opponent¡¯s body until he landed on the circlet around the lordling¡¯s brow with what looked like a drop of blood in the center. The lordling¡¯s rings had spikey motifs, making Will wonder if they faced inward too. And of course the amulet was rather hefty, with some kind of skull and bones cast in silver. Will didn¡¯t have much more time to think about it as the lordling pursued the advantage, rushing in to close the distance. Will flew backwards, keeping pace with the slowpoke. ¡°Is this your father¡¯s build?¡± Will asked, running his mouth while he did some thinking. ¡°Because you¡¯re kinda slow, makes me wonder how he¡¯s a Lord.¡± ¡°GAH!¡± Mark Wyrd pulled a small sphere out of his pocket and threw it at Will. Will desperately flew sideways, allowing the object to rip through the air past him. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The sphere exploded against the Hydra¡¯s neck behind Will, causing shrapnel laden with deadly mycelium spores to pepper the side of Will¡¯s body. Will¡¯s skin went cold as he felt an itching begin to spread outward from a handful of points of pain on his body, but there was no time for horror, as the Lordling was already in range with another punch. Will turtled up, putting his bad arm in the way as the Phantom Hand swooped in. Will was going to have to take the hit to even the playing field. The Phantom Hand swooped past, landing on Mark Wyrd¡¯s fists and finding themselves unable to pass This was something Will already knew through testing. Whatever Tower-magic created a Climber¡¯s Class also warded off intrusion from the Phantom Hand. But he wasn¡¯t trying to store a chunk of his opponent¡¯s heart or unleash acid in their brain, he was trying to snatch two rings and an Amulet, worn externally. There was a strange¡­cobwebby feeling as the Relics were plucked off and stored into his Phantom Hand, if he was stretching some ephemeral bonds between the lordling and his relics before they finally snapped. The punch got through his guard and caught him in the ribs again, causing Will to tumble to the side and slam up against a hydra neck, barely avoiding getting snatched up by one of the angry-looking zombified heads. Will felt a pain in his right hand, as the damage feedback from Mark punching him was fed back into his own hand, but it was less than before. Mark seemed to not have noticed that he was a few ounces lighter as he pursued the advantage, charging straight toward Will. Will switched the orientation of Gravity Charge, boosting his jump with gravity, flying straight towards his opponent. Mark¡¯s eyes widened minutely, but he didn¡¯t bother to block, instead going for a vicious right hook, expecting his Build to do the heavy lifting for his defense. Will caught the lordling¡¯s face with his knee, putting his whole body weight and all his falling speed into the strike. Will recoiled as a phantom kneecap broke his nose. The lordling staggered backwards, clutching his bloody nose in disbelief as it refused to heal. ¡°Wha-¡° Will didn¡¯t want to give him time to realize he¡¯d been robbed, so he whipped out his tomahawk and aimed for Mark Wyrd¡¯s chest. If Will caught Mark in the heart, Will bet he could drink a potion of Greater Healing in the handful of seconds before he died. The spine might be a bit too much, though. Instead of getting stabbed in the heart like a good sport, Mark seamlessly went on the defensive, taking wide a stance and blocking Will¡¯s attack with his forearm, driving a palm into Will¡¯s chest, causing his ribs to creak in protest before he went tumbling backwards. The itching from where the mycelium had planted itself in his side was gradually getting worse. On the ground, the enemy team¡¯s Nuker was convulsing violently and frothing from the mouth, showing where Will was headed. The group¡¯s healer was attending to him, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do without an operating room. Their trackers had already run away, leaving the Sniper, the Tanks, the Barrier caster, and the druid/Bear and her¡­husband/rider? It seemed as though Loth or June had ordered the rest of the Party to stay low and hidden, allowing the enemy party to take the brunt of the Raid Boss¡¯s ire. It was a perfect decision, tactically, and Will was 100% on board with it, even though it left their Party Leader out in the cold. Will used the Phantom Hand to gently shoot the lordling in the exact same spot that he needed to cauterize the wound and burn out the mycelium. Mark¡¯s eyes widened as he was kicked violently to the side by the Manhunter effect, the wound drawn through the tracer fire. Will gasped in pain as the Lordling¡¯s thorns kicked in, causing his skin to catch fire, burning out the deepest invasion of mycelium. Will thought as he released a Potion of Greater Healing from the Phantom Hand, downing it as he stood. The skin renewed itself, and a burst of energy flowed through him as he went back on the offens- Will dove out of the way as one of the hydra heads slammed down right where he¡¯d been standing. A moment later, another hydra head lunged down, and Will assumed it was going for a bite, but then a roiling mass of fetid brown gas emerged from its gaping mouth, slamming down on the creature¡¯s back and spreading every direction. Will thought, barely able to lift himself out of the cloud of fungal spores before they engulfed him. Apparently this one did, though. Mark Wyrd shot out of the cloud of spores and caught Will¡¯s ankle, climbing up him until the two were face to face. ¡°Where are my Relics!?¡± He demanded, locking both hands around Will¡¯s neck and squeezing. It seemed counter-productive to ask someone a question and then strangle them, but Will couldn¡¯t say anything about it. Since Will only had the one hand, there was no way he could pry both of Mark¡¯s hands away from his neck, so he didn¡¯t even try. Instead, Will reached out and plucked the circlet off Mark¡¯s head and tossed it into the distance. The lordling released his neck and tried to catch it, but Will grabbed the lordling¡¯s hand and drew him back in for a headbutt, the ephemeral horns on his mask making the damage much more significant. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to Will¡¯s face, but the lordling got an even worse deal, his head snapping back, eyes fluttering as he struggled to retain consciousness. Four hissing sounds were followed by four meaty as four arrows buried themselves in Mark Wyrd¡¯s body, one for each shoulder and leg. In the distance, Will could see Reggie keeling over in pain as the rest of his Party burst out of the dense shrubs. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They rushed forward, engaging the beleaguered enemy Party and the hydra-fungus abomination. Will decided to let them do their work and focus on job. The job that he was best at ¨C apparently ¨C was dueling Climbers. Will turned his flight away from the side where Mark¡¯s Party could help him, aiming for the pond on the opposite side of the Hydra¡¯s body. He rode the lordling¡¯s body into the water, pushing his stupid face under the stupid water. Will¡¯s lungs began filling up with water almost immediately, but he was able to cough it out, while Mark was busy drowning, stuck under the surface of ¨C Will was thrown clear of the lordling, nearly impaling himself on some scraggly trees. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Mark Wyrd shouted, pointing at Will as he drew a wiggly-looking knife out from a sheath at his side. Will felt ominoussettle over him. Will thought, pushing himself to his feet, ready to fight off whatever attack the lordling was about to launch. Before Will could react, Mark Wyrd drew the knife across his own leg. A line of pain drew itself across Will¡¯s leg, matching the cut that the lordling had inflicted on himself. the cut that was already healing. Will was forced to drop to his knees as the muscle refused to support him any longer. Will leapt up with his good leg and began falling towards his enemy, winding up for a good strike with his tomahawk. The lordling moved the knife to his other hand and sliced his right palm. Will¡¯s right hand burst into pain, forcing him to drop the tomahawk. ¡°You¡¯re just a pathetic-¡° Will used Phantom Hand to shoot his enemy straight on in the chest. Mark Wyrd¡¯s eyes widened as he was drawn straight towards Will, who was already approaching at terminal velocity. Will slammed horns-first into Mark Wyrd¡¯s face at an unholy speed, delivering a headbutt the gods themselves would be envious of. Will¡¯s head jerked back, and he was assaulted by a migraine that threatened to shatter his very soul, but he was able to retain his consciousness thanks to Gravity Charge reinforcing his skull, brain, and spine. The same could not be said of the living voodoo doll, who crumpled bonelessly to the ground. Will lifted up his mask and spat out some blood on his opponent¡¯s face. Will thought, his mind a bit foggy from the multiple self-inflicted blows to the head. He groggily turned to find his Party battling the hydra. Travis was keeping the thing¡¯s attention while June, Loth, and Alicia whittled it down. Mason was hanging back and using his Conflagrations sparingly, only vaporizing parts that had been cut off the raid boss before they rooted or regrew. Will thought, stumbling to the nearest tree and slumping down against it. Will¡¯s eyes drifted closed, idly itching at the mycelium growing from his shoulder. Chapter 52: build Theorizing ¡°Not many parties defeat a raid boss. Even less do it while below the floor level cap.¡± Loth¡¯s voice brought Will swimming up out of the depths of sleep. ¡°I don¡¯t think of them have done it while simultaneously fighting off a higher-level Party.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be surprised,¡± Will said, his voice raspy¡­from screaming or dehydration? Both? Will blinked the last of the sleep out of his eyes and focused on his situation. He was in a small room, in a Way Station inn. Linen sheets. Soft pillows. Swanky. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°We beat the Hydra and brought you back for an operation to remove the mycelium. You were unconscious during most of it.¡± ¡°They have a lot of practice at it here,¡± Loth said with a shrug. ¡°So it was fast and effective. It cost a significant portion of your cut of the boss¡¯s bounty, though, given how extensive it was. It didn¡¯t reach your nervous system though, so you don¡¯t have to worry about being like Roger. ¡°Thank the gods,¡± Will sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the money though, I¡¯d much rather be alive, and besides¡­I already got my payday,¡± Will said, releasing Mark Wyrd¡¯s rings and amulet from the Phantom Hand onto the nearby end table. ¡°Are those¡­Mark Wyrd¡¯s Relics?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Yeah¡­probably gonna need to find a fence,¡± Will said. ¡°Probably. Maybe keep those under wraps until then,¡± Loth suggested. Will swept them back into the Phantom Hand with a shrug. ¡°We get any Sacrifices?¡± Will asked. Fungal hydra seemed like it might have some applications. ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s a damn good sacrifice for a Baker. You know how much they like yeast.¡± Will winced as he thought of Brianna. ¡°According to the experts, if you open your Ability upgrades while holding a Sacrifice, if it is compatible, it¡¯s upgrade branch will be at the top of the list.¡± Loth said, rummaging through their luggage before handing Will a chunk of mummified flesh. Will held the fungal hydra in his hand and checked his upgrades. The Phantom Hand gains 5 slots to store the effects of Relics sacrificed to it. Only one can be active at a time, and when the active slot is switched, the previous one will become inactive for 24 hours. If a slot is overwritten, it will be inactive for a week. Will¡¯s brows rose, but he switched to Aspect of the Goat to see what that had available. Will wasn¡¯t going to add anything to Aspect of the Goat until he could transform it into a higher tier Ability, namely Aspect of the Immortal Serpent, or Aspect of the Uru Drake, which would increase the overall power and the number of upgrades he could give the Ability. Will¡¯s eye twitched as he realized that he had another Secondary Ability upgrade, which meant they had passed level 20. Will thought, checking how the Fungal Hydra interacted with Sourdough. Sure, it would be nice to recover valuable consumables in a week instead of a month, but Will was going to continue gradually wearing away at the speed problem by raising his stats, and more than anything, he wanted to make Sourdough into something that simply couldn¡¯t be replicated by spending more money. Will wanted to alter the way the Ability behaved. ¡°How many of these do we have?¡± Will asked, motioning to the chunk of mummified hydra and mycelium. ¡°Plenty,¡± Loth said. Will held the Fungal Hydra up high. There was a flash of light and the chunk of mummified flesh was gone. Gain the use of an ethereal Phantom Hand. Access a tiny amount of dimensional storage with a Charge. Sacrifice a stored Relic to apply its effect to one of five slots. Only one slot can be active at a time. Switching to another slot causes the previous one to be inactive for 24 hours, and overwriting a slot causes the slot to be inactive for a week. Relic effect and Phantom Hand¡¯s abilities scale with Acuity. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Will felt like rubbing his hands together in glee. The ability to store more than one item was desireable. Even with the cooldown in place, it still meant he could add new things and change his build without losing powerful Relics that he still might use later. There was even wiggle-room for experimentation, one-offs, and ¡®trash¡¯ Relics. That was incredibly valuable. Will checked his stats. Primary Ability Upgrade Available! (x2) Secondary Ability Upgrade Available! Will thought, assigning his free stats to Acuity. Like his previous opponent, Will had forgotten base stats were a thing. And also that he was naked. Suddenly aware of it, Will tucked his sheets up to his collarbone. Loth chuckled and shook her head, turning to lock the door, causing Will¡¯s skin to turn cold. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for an opportunity to talk to you alone, actually,¡± Loth said, turning back to him. ¡°The more people we add to the Party, the harder and harder it¡¯s been to find the time.¡± Loth came back from the door. ¡°I wanted to tell you¡­that I like you.¡± Will¡¯s mind went blank. ¡°I have a¡­thing for intelligence.¡± Loth said, sitting beside him on the bed. ¡°I¡¯m not smart,¡± Will blurted. ¡°I¡¯m barely literate.¡± ¡°Literacy notwithstanding, you¡¯re the smartest human I¡¯ve come across.¡± Loth kicked her feet against the bed and huffed, looking at the far wall. ¡°But something tells me you¡¯re not physically attracted to kobolds.¡± Will opened his mouth. Then closed it. It didn¡¯t seem like lies or reassuring platitudes were what was called for. ¡°¡­Not really, no.¡± sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°It would be stranger if you were,¡± Loth said before cocking her head to the side and tapping a black talon against her chin. ¡°Although paraphilia a side effect of rapid ascension or descension, so there¡¯s always a glimmer of hope I suppose.¡± ¡°What¡¯s ¡®paraphilia¡¯?¡± Will asked. ¡°You don¡¯t need to know.¡± Loth said, refusing to define a word the first time since he¡¯d met her. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°I just wanted to let you know that I have a crush on you, and probably will for quite some time. I understand you aren¡¯t interested in a physical relationship, and I¡¯ve already made my peace with you choosing females of your species. I just¡­saw you almost die, and it made me realize that I needed to tell you.¡± ¡°¡­Thank you?¡± Will hazarded, making Loth laugh and shake her head. ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say, is that I¡¯d like to continue to be friends and partners.¡± Loth said, offering him a hand. ¡°Absolutely.¡± Will said, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake. ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to continue being friends and partners. You¡¯re awesome.¡± ¡°Yes, I know,¡± Loth said, releasing his hand with a smirk and standing up, eye level with him as he reclined in bed. ¡°The others are flooding the markets with Ivory, looking for Relics and Sacrifices, or just drinking all the top-shelf booze at the inn. Was there anything you¡¯d like me to get for you while you recover?¡± Will scrolled through his potential upgrades to Sourdough until he found the one he¡¯d been imagining. ¡°Erosion golem or Immortal Serpent sacrifices,¡± Will said. ¡°I know about your plans for Immortal Serpent, but Erosion golem?¡± Loth asked. ¡°What for?¡± ¡°It would allow Sourdough to target permanent Relics for repair.¡± Will said. ¡°Useful but a bit of a fringe issue. I would like to repair my rope amulet, but it¡¯s likely not worth pivoting your entire Build to make it happen. You¡¯ve got something more interesting in mind for it?¡± Will glanced around to make sure no one else was listening. ¡°Once Sourdough can target permanent Relics, I¡¯m going to look for another upgrade that will allow me to steep those permanent Relics in the dust of others with specific attributes in order to ¡®ferment¡¯ them on those Relics.¡± Loth¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°For example, grab a bunch of lifesteal Relics off a young lord, turn them into dust, and then infuse a tomahawk with the ability to drain health. As a random, non-specific example.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ll have to wait until level thirty at the soonest, but I can feel it in my bones that this will be worth the upgrade slots.¡± ¡°¡­You intend to create a single, powerful Relic with a wide array of stat boosts and Abilities by sacrificing dozens, or even hundreds of other Relics to a single base that was already powerful, then feeding the resulting artifact to your Phantom Hand, greatly magnifying it¡¯s already mind-boggling potency into a passive boost that no one could hope to surpass or remove.¡± ¡°Oh. That¡¯s a good idea, let¡¯s do that instead,¡± Will said. ¡°I know you already thought of it.¡± Loth said with half-lidded eyes. ¡°I like it. It¡¯s brutally effective.¡± ¡°As brutally effective as causing wasps to erupt from people and eat them?¡± Will asked. ¡°Perhaps more so.¡± Loth said, considering for a moment. ¡°William, you are already a nightmare for other Climbers to battle, given your ability to disrupt their Builds by snatching Relics off their body. If you manage to develop Sourdough in the manner you described, you will become equally powerful against the monsters of The Tower¡­in short, you will become a Lord.¡± ¡°That was always the plan.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°Yes, but now I can it.¡± ¡°You couldn¡¯t before!?¡± Will asked, aghast, motioning to his sheet-covered body. The motion caused the scars on his right side to twinge, but at least he got a laugh. ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can find either of the Sacrifices you mentioned,¡± Loth said, shaking her head. ¡°You just rest. Magical healing is never one hundred percent efficient, so you need bed rest and food to recover.¡± ¡°Not my first time being bed-ridden, thank you very much,¡± Will said, crossing his arms petulantly. ¡°Yes, and I wish it would happen less often,¡± Loth said, patting him on the head before retreating through the door. Will thought as the silence pressed in around him. It only took two days to completely recover. Once Will had eaten and gotten some sleep, he took the final Potion of Greater Healing, which removed the soreness from the web of operation scars on his side. Once he could move, he went over to the luggage and dug through the Sourdough barrel full of Relic Dust and pulled out a fully-formed smoke bomb, the Clay Idol, the potion of Fury, and another Potion of Greater Healing, putting the potions in his Phantom Hand, and the Clay Idol on his belt. Lastly, Will pulled out Cold Harvest, inspecting the sickle. If Will absorbed it, and it work the way he was hoping it would, then there was no point in keeping it around forever. There were other ways to create hoarfrost to survive the 3rd Floor. Will checked its stats. Will switched to slot two, and there was a strange organic that resounded through his mind, like a lizard that had shed a tail, and an odd pain that radiated through the Phantom Hand as its index finger blackened in front of Will¡¯s gaze. It was odd, but not completely unexpected. Will was too excited to head outside and test it on a monster, he needed to know if it¡¯d worked so he pulled out his tomahawk and drew a tentative cut across the back of his arm. Instantly, it felt like someone had shoved him into a bath of ice-water as his entire body erupted with hoarfrost, radiating outward from his left arm. The sheer amount of hoarfrost dwarfed the amount they¡¯d created when they used the Relic to create water, and Will could barely move. He tried to brush the hoarfrost off, but his joints were stiff and weak, causing him to move drastically slower. Will thought wryly. After ten excruciating seconds, the ice faded away, allowing him to move at full speed again. Chapter 53: the Enemy of my Enemy is a Distraction Will and Loth ventured out of their modest inn together on the third day, walking along the boardwalk that was cobbled together out of twisted swamp-wood, winding between the raised buildings of Way Station. Will thought as he wandered along, enjoying the omnipresent smell of smoke that drove off the biting insects. Or at least¡­discouraged them slightly. There was a rustic simplicity in the way everyone approached life and each other. There wasn¡¯t enough time, money, or safety, for people to play politics with each other. Everyone minded their own business¡­ And when your level was high enough, the ambience of the floor shifted from ominous swamp filled with horrors to liberating natural wonder. Will thought, their feet along the wet boardwalk. Their first stop was to the local blacksmith to see if he could get a chakram (whatever that was) and/or a cannonball a little smaller than his fist. Given how fast he was shooting the sling bullets, something even slightly heavier would be absolutely devastating. The blacksmith knew what a chakram was, essentially a metal throwing disk with a blade all the way around the edge. Most people didn¡¯t use it because there was no safe way to handle and throw it without years of training and/or a chain gauntlet. Will could simply release it at full speed right next to someone¡¯s neck and decapitate them in the blink of an eye. Will frowned, his gaze landing on Mark Wyrd sitting at an outdoor restaurant that served barbeque alligator. The lordling glared back at them, but didn¡¯t stand up. To be fair, there wasn¡¯t actually much in the Swamps that posed a threat to the young man. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°¡­Why is he not trying to kill us right now?¡± Will asked as Mark took a sip of his beer, gaze never leaving the two of them. Not even to blink. ¡°We¡¯re in town. Too many witnesses The Tower can draw from.¡± Loth said. ¡°So¡­we can¡¯t attack him either?¡± will asked. ¡°Not in public, anyway,¡± Loth said. A deviously paranoid realization struck Will between the eyes. ¡°Do you think he told his father what happened in Oilton?¡± Will asked, his mind racing. Loth cocked her head. ¡°I think it¡¯s possible in his desire not to return home empty-handed, he has avoided telling his father the details of the debacle. The Lord probably knows Oilton was destroyed, but not who did it and how.¡± ¡°So he¡¯s desperate for a scapegoat because if he goes back empty-handed, it¡¯s the belt for him.¡± Will mused. ¡°Or whatever the equivalent for an adult Thorns-tank would be,¡± Loth pointed out. ¡°Loth, I have an idea. It¡¯s either really good, or bad.¡± Will went back to the inn and grabbed some props for his gamble. Will hustled back to the outdoor restaurant and was pleased to discover the young lordling was still sitting there, watching Will as he approached. ¡°You¡¯ve got some balls.¡± Mark said as Will slid into the bench seat across from him. Will could pick out a handful of the surviving members of the lordling¡¯s Party tense up as he sat down. ¡°I thought we could talk about this situation we find ourselves in like adults and come to an agreement,¡± Will said. ¡°Your face¡­you couldn¡¯t possibly be an adult, what are you, fourteen?¡± ¡°Not sure,¡± Will said with a shrug. At the orphanage they celebrated the day he was dropped off as his birthday, but it was anyone¡¯s guess how old he had been at the time. Malnutrition can shave years off of someone¡¯s development, and Will had been a child. Hence the Will Special at the inn. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Mark waved his hands in front of Will¡¯s face. ¡°Eh?¡± Will asked, refocusing on the lordling who wanted him dead. ¡°Speak.¡± Mark said. ¡°Does the rest of your Party know why you¡¯re hunting me?¡± Will asked. ¡°What does it matter to you?¡± Mark asked. ¡°Ask them to give us some privacy, and I¡¯ll tell you.¡± Mark glanced at his Party members. ¡°Give us a minute.¡± One by one, they stood up and shuffled off to the boardwalk to speak amongst each other and send Will mean looks. Once they were far, out of earshot, Will asked the question that had burning in his mind. ¡°How long is your father going to live? A hundred, hundred and sixty years? Maybe longer?¡± Will asked. ¡°Body that high surely means a long life.¡± ¡°What are you getting at?¡± Mark asked. ¡°Do you like your dad?¡± Will asked. ¡°I¡¯m not going to answer that.¡± ¡°Do you want to spend the next hundred and sixty years working for him?¡± Will asked bluntly. Will saw that he¡¯d penetrated Mark¡¯ s mask of indifference as the lordling¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°You haven¡¯t told anyone about Oilton yet, have you? At least not exactly who did it. You wanted to show up triumphantly with our heads on a pike, having already dispensed punishment. Because if you came back empty-handed, be the one severely punished. No one can physically harm you, so I have to assume he has hostages. Whipping boy? Girlfriend? Both?¡± Mark¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°I want you to understand that the real story of a handful of teenage level twelves sabotaging your entire Lordship and turning Oilton into a ball of fire isn¡¯t going to avoid punishment, even if you have our heads on pikes. It¡¯s just not the kind of story that your father wants to hear. ¡°He wants to hear that other powerful forces are jealous of his success and hatching schemes against him, and he would be delighted to know which one to be on guard against.¡± Will said. ¡°Other powerful forces hatching schemes against him.¡± Mark said with a shrug. ¡°Why not ?¡± Will asked. Mark¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Do you want to be under his thumb for the next¡­One. Hundred. And. Sixty. ? ¡°I¡¯ve got my own Lordship.¡± ¡°Technically.¡± Will interjected. ¡°I can surpass him now.¡± Mark said, his desperation to believe the words leaking through. ¡°Start my own independent Stronghold. ¡°Is he the sort of person to allow that?¡± Will asked. ¡°Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but your job in Oilton was just to funnel money back to your father, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been groomed for leadership from birth,¡± Mark hissed quietly, glaring at Will. ¡°What is leadership?¡± Will asked. ¡°The duty of a leader?¡± ¡°To guide lesser men with the strong hand of a father, teaching them their place to ensure your demesne runs smoothly.¡± ¡°hmm¡­¡± Will absorbed that. It was a wildly different leadership philosophy than Loth¡¯s ¡®line up every advantage¡¯.¡± Will was fairly sure Loth¡¯s was better. ¡°¡­If you go back and tell your father who is actually responsible for Oilton, he will kill my Party, and punish your hypothetical whipping boy.¡± ¡°Imagine, a hundred years from now, you¡¯re still working for Fredrick Wyrd, the chain around your neck growing shorter and shorter the more minute the difference in strength between yourself and your father becomes.¡± ¡°Or imagine¡­thirty years from now, your father is dead, and you and I are bitter enemies, but Lords in our own right, each holding a rather large swath of The Tower¡­I know which one sounds better for both of us.¡± ¡°How in the name of all the gods, could me assigning blame somewhere else possibly lead to Father being killed?¡± Mark asked sourly. ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked,¡± Will said, pulling out the bag with the mummified hand from under the restaurant¡¯s rough-hewn table. ¡°This is the mummified hand of Saint Jerry of Ingleton,¡± Will said, pulling it out and reading the tag. ¡°One of the Graneshian operatives who attacked you in Oilton had it on their person. They were going to hit level 30 soon, and were saving it to upgrade one of their Primaries.¡± ¡°It turns out, the church of Granesh has caught wind of your father¡¯s experiments with Tangled, and has used the moral outrage to justify humbling him a bit. When you beat the church operatives back, they committed suicide and completed their mission by detonating the main oil pipeline running through the city. This pack and the hand within is all you managed to save from the fire.¡± Mark Wyrd, sat there, tapping his finger on the rough-hewn table, the rest of his body completely still and expressionless. Mark hadn¡¯t given much response one way or another. ¡°Before I agree to this¡­¡± Mark said. ¡°I want to tell you about someone you killed named Bron.¡± Over the next few minutes, Mark spun him the tale of Old Bron the retired Climber who had served the Wyrd family for two decades, teaching Mark how to read and write, how to fight, how to survive in The Tower, raising the young man to be a fine Climber in his own right, only to meet his end in a ball of fire at his proudest moment, burnt to death in an oil explosion the instant his ward had become a Lord. ¡°I¡¯m going to go along with your plan to set my father and the church of Granesh against each other, because it truly does fit the narrative he would believe, as well as open the best opportunities for me¡­but I don¡¯t want you to get the impression that I won¡¯t kill you at the earliest opportunity. We are not, and never will be, allies.¡± ¡°Fair enough, although pursuing a vendetta against me after blaming oilton on someone else would be suspicious.¡± Will said, handing the mummified hand over along with one of the bags the operatives had been carrying. For authenticity. ¡°Granted.¡± Mark said through gritted teeth. ¡°Now allow me to describe the ¡®operatives¡¯ who attacked you in fine detail,¡± Will said before describing the deceased party of Granesh operatives that had attempted to kidnap him in The Ring. It was a team that had actually existed, and was dead now¡­ . In either case, since they actually existed, that lent credence to the lie. The church would deny any wrongdoing, because of course they would whether they had done it or not. They also wouldn¡¯t have detailed records showing that their operatives had gone after a handful of teenagers and died in the process, and they certainly wouldn¡¯t reveal such a humiliating defeat even if they did. It would do more for their reputation if everyone thought that team died prying Frederick Wyrd¡¯s talons off the third Floor. They would then ally with the Zodiac Family to wipe out the Wyrd Family. But would the Zodiac family side with the church and double cross Will, or side with Will and triple cross the church of Granesh? In order to have the coin land on his side, he needed to simply line up the incentives to make siding with more desireable. Which was a tall order, given the money and influence the church had. Will thought, steepling his right-hand fingers together with those of his Phantom hand. The church would definitely have less money and power after a protracted scuffle with the Wyrd family. ¡°Excuse me, are you William Oh?¡± their matronly serving wench asked as she stopped by their table. ¡°I am.¡± Will said, tensing in case she was an assassin. ¡°Alligator skewers, on the house! My son is a huge fan,¡± she said, dropping a plate full of BBQ alligator on the table. ¡°Oh, fantastic! Bless you, miss!¡± Will said, inhaling the skewer¡¯s aroma with gusto. The woman pinched his cheek and moved on before Will stuffed six entire skewers in his mouth. ¡°Were you raised by wolves?¡± Mark Wyrd asked. Will couldn¡¯t respond, he was too busy trying to get the meat past his windpipe. Chapter 54: Akul, Metropolis of the 5th Floor ¡°Ugh, stomach feels a bit off,¡± Will muttered, rubbing his stomach and frowning. ¡°Probably because you were poisoned.¡± Loth said. ¡°The aftertaste on the meat odd, but in a good, spicy way¡­and sweet old ladies don¡¯t poison people.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty much exclusively the demographic that poisons people.¡± Loth said. ¡°Males just beat each other to death.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Will grunted. ¡°Well, either I¡¯ll get over it or I¡¯m already dead. No sense worrying about it.¡± Will had more important things to do, which included debriefing his Party, seeing what everyone got for their Ability Upgrades, (if anything) and informing them that they would be trying for the fifth floor, since their levels were capped out for the floor. Two levels over the cap, actually, because they¡¯d fought a raid boss, whose rewards weren¡¯t under any kind of restriction. June gathered everyone together, and Will took stock of his Party. Reggie, the enormous Tank, capable of soaking up damage meant for others. Mason, the Nuker, who had a balanced build, but a narrow frame. Alicia, the Artillery, an archer with the ability to see through anything and launch devastating attacks from beyond the range of traditional weapons. Travis, the Master Decoy, who could direct the attention of the enemy wherever they wanted it to be. June, the Scout with a knack for leading small teams, who could cobble together her own arrows on the fly and set devastating ambushes. And Loth, the Saboteur, Will¡¯s second in command, some kind of Kobold demigod of intellect, who focused on the intersection of traps and insects. ¡°Alright, before we make plans to challenge the Key Site, what changes if any, did you guys make to your Builds?¡± ¡°I added the fungal Hydra to my Second Wind, It¡¯s now a passive that heals and restores my stamina, but I can still use a Charge to boost it.¡± Reggie said. ¡°Found a better shield with an effect that absorbs a bit of damage, which works to mitigate damage from toft. I¡¯m currently looking for a Sacrifice that can let me protect more than one person at a time. I upgraded Heavily Armored.¡± ¡°I found a Sacrifice that expands Hunter¡¯s Patience to apply to pretty much anything I do.¡± June said. ¡°Along with a nice quiver that poisons arrows inside it.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t find anything,¡± Alicia whispered. ¡°I upgraded Feedback Shielding to be more potent.¡± Mason said. ¡°I need a piece of Spirit Turtle from the Fifth Floor to give it a permanent passive effect.¡± ¡°I made out like a bandit and found an upgrade for Taunt that allows me to target multiple opponents with it, as well as one for Center of Attention that increases it¡¯s effectiveness.¡± ¡°I found a sacrifice for Trap Savant that lets my Abilities bypass a small amount of the opponent¡¯s Resistance. I didn¡¯t find any Ripley Sacrifices on offer, so I upgraded Master of the Vivarium with a chimera Sacrifice that will allow me to interbreed and modify my insects.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you already breeding them?¡± Will asked, recalling a long night where Loth explained how she had identified a strain of glowworms that produced more light, and had been breeding them to be even brighter. ¡° breeding. Prepare yourself for spider-mosquitoes.¡± Will shuddered. ¡°Sounds like everyone except Alicia found some good stuff,¡± Will said fishing through their luggage until he retrieved the preserved eyeball. ¡°What will this do for Penetrating Gaze?¡± Will asked, offering Alicia the eyeball, tag first. ¡°I can¡¯t read that,¡± she whispered. ¡°Oh, right,¡± Will muttered, handing her the Sacrifice so she could hold it in her hand to see what The System would say. ¡°Vitality Sight.¡± She whispered. ¡°The functionality of Penetrating Gaze expands to include critical weak points, such as hearts, brains, nerve clusters, major arteries, and so on, as well as revealing whether something is dead, alive, or undead.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure you would want to be looking at Will¡¯s brain,¡± Travis chimed in. ¡°Wow.¡± Alicia glanced back at Will with a pleading gaze. ¡°Can I?¡± ¡° you?¡± Mason asked. ¡°that¡¯s a Sacrifice, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t gonna tell anybody,¡± Reggie said with a shrug. ¡°I know it¡¯s dangerous, but¡­¡± Alicia¡¯s voice diminished until none of them could make it out, even with superhuman hearing. ¡°But?¡± June prompted her to continue. ¡°Once this sacrifice is added to my Class¡­I might get offered a healing secondary. Everyone loves healers.¡± Will mused. ¡°Do you want to be a healer or do you want to be loved by all?¡± Will asked. ¡°Because those two aren¡¯t necessarily linked.¡± ¡°¡­Both, I guess?¡± Alicia whispered. ¡°Alright, go ahead, if you want the option, it¡¯s all yours,¡± Will said, motioning to the preserved eye. Alicia nodded, and the eyeball disappeared in a flash of light a moment later. She glanced back up at them and yelped, scrambling backwards and hyperventilating as she glanced around frantically. ¡°You all look so different.¡± She whispered, slowly relaxing, like someone might around a spider that hadn¡¯t moved in an hour. ¡°Who is who?¡± Alicia asked, her voice barely audible. ¡°I¡¯m Reggie,¡± Reggie said, tapping his chest. ¡°You¡¯re five inches taller than everyone else,¡± Mason said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re the most obvious out of all of us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Will,¡± Travis said, waving to Alicia. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I¡¯m June,¡± June said, glaring at Travis. Loth didn¡¯t say anything, but she was several feet shorter than any of them with a completely different body shape. was the most obvious. ¡°So that must be Will,¡± Alicia whispered, turning her gaze back to Will. ¡°Did you know you¡¯re poisoned?¡± she whispered, glancing at his stomach. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Will said with a dismissive wave as his Party¡¯s collective gaze settled on him. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Despite painting a Tower-sized target on his back for Fate to skewer him, she held back her javelin of Cruel Irony. Will wound up having no worse than an upset stomach, which cleared up by the end of the night. The old lady was nowhere to be found, which strengthened the case that it¡¯d been a deliberate poisoning. Odd that anyone would want to kill him, though. William Oh was beloved by all. Except the church of Granesh, and the Wyrd family. It was a pretty short list of people that didn¡¯t like him. Most likely? Mark Wyrd paid a local to try and poison him should he come by again. It was unlikely the church knew where he was and went with something as tepid as poisoning¡­not after sending an entire Party to kidnap him. Least likely? The woman had been jealous that was her son¡¯s hero and had punitively poisoned him. In any case, Will didn¡¯t want to waste time chasing down someone who had given him free food. Once they were sure that Mark Wyrd¡¯s Party wasn¡¯t hanging around the outskirts of Way Station to ambush them, they headed out to the nearest key Site in need of clearing in exchange for a Door to the next Floor. The Key Site was populated by water beetles the size of cows. They had spear-like proboscis and armor thicker than a man¡¯s palm, and from what they observed in the distance, could charge forward across hundreds of feet in the blink of an eye to impale/crush their prey. The boss was nearly the size of a house, his proboscis bathing in the stream of miasma flowing up into the Floor above. They were all dead in a matter of seconds beneath Alicia¡¯s rain of arrows. Each one struck dead center in a critical nerve cluster that dropped it lifelessly to the ground. The men in the Party glanced at each other and shrugged. The only reason they got the option to advance was because they were Party members. Normally they would have to contribute somewhat to the clear, but The Tower was taking pity on them. ¡°You could be a one-person bus,¡± Reggie said, tousling Alicia¡¯s hair. ¡°Nooo, those people are rude,¡± Alicia said, wiggling away. Reggie kept at it until Alicia poked him in the shoulder and his arm switched off, fixing her hair while Reggie stared at his numb limb. ¡°Hah.¡± Mason allowed himself a sardonic bray laughter at Reggie¡¯s expense, while Travis was strangely silent. June cleared her throat, getting their attention. ¡°Are we ready?¡± She asked, glancing to Will and Loth. They nodded, and as one, the Party moved up to the fifth Floor. Will swallowed the rising panic as he approached that glowing yellow doorway, stepping through before his stupid nerves could catch up with him. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Fifth Floor was¡­ Pretty much the best place ever. The air was sweetened by the smell of wildflowers, carried by a gentle breeze that tempered the warm sun. Will did a scan of the entire floor, looking for a kaiju or an ambush from another Party, and finding neither. The surroundings were covered in knee-length grass, stretching across rolling hills and low mountains, with streams cutting through the idyllic landscape. Will thought, flabbergasted at the idea of farming under constant threat of monster attacks, regardless of how infrequent those monster attacks were. Farms covered the land opposite a river in the distance, their irrigation drawing water straight out of the river to create a checker-grid-like pattern that covered the horizon¡­ Will squinted, just barely making out the pale smudge in the distance. Will couldn¡¯t see the edges of the city. All he could make out was an ivory wall seemed to dominate the horizon, fading into the distance rather than ending. ¡°I guess we¡¯re going that way,¡± Will said, pointing. Thea said that she¡¯d arrange for a mercenary company to help them take down some kaiju and get their levels before they moved on. They could probably find their other liaison in the bathhouses, which, now that Will had more context from the 3rd Floor, were probably brothels. They spotted a road and followed it through the dense farmland, getting smiles and waves from the locals in a bizarre display of good cheer, as if living in the 5th Floor was some kind of blessing and not a belated death sentence. ¡°That guy has parasites,¡± Alicia whispered, pointing at a smiling man waving at them¡­Oddly skinny for a farmer. ¡°Go see a healer! You have parasites!¡± Will shouted at the man as they walked down the smooth cobbled road. ¡°Thanks, you too!¡± the farmer said, waving back. Will thought, giving the man a smile and a thumbs-up. They realized that the city was more distant than they¡¯d first thought as they stopped for the night on top of a hill overlooking the road that winded into the distance. The distant ivory smudge had gotten a lot more defined, and much bigger, but it was still a long, long way away. If they rushed in the morning, and moved at a sprint¡­they could probably make it by¡­early afternoon? They bedded down, Loth trapped the hill against any nighttime ambushes, and Reggie took watch. It was an uneventful night, but in the morning, while Will was eating trail rations and watching the sunrise, he spotted a lumbering figure in the distance. It looked like the silhouette of an octopus riding a goat against the horizon¡­ Will thought, lunging to his feet and staring. How many feet tall did such a creature have to be to be visible this clearly from this distance? Will didn¡¯t know the exact answer, but he knew it was more than enough to crush a small village underfoot, let alone a Climbing Party. That was when a streak of fire descended from the sky and smashed into the side of the towering monster, bursting out the other side in an explosion of light and viscera. The malformed creature staggered, then slowly collapsed to the side, sinking below the height of the walls as it did. But Will felt the shockwave of its fall. Tremors shook his legs a few breaths later as a nearly inaudible shudder passed through the earth itself. ¡°That was Baron Akul.¡± Mason said from beside Will, squinting into the distance. ¡°Since there is only a bare handful of kaiju spawns each month, and the baron can detect and destroy them in a matter of seconds, Akul is one of the safest Strongholds in the entire tower. You know, my parents modelled my Build after him?¡± ¡°What if he has an off day?¡± Will asked, eyeballing the spot where a city-sized monster had been. It seemed like the average danger was low, but could wildly spin out of control if things went wrong. ¡°There are back-ups, of course.¡± Mason said. ¡°The Kaiju Guard might have a tougher time, but they would keep the city running smoothly. The man travel from time to time.¡± The closer they got to the ivory city in the distance, the more crowded the road became, until they were nearly shoulder to shoulder with other rough-and-tumble types and wagons full of grain. The packed road crunched down into a slow-moving line that processed a deceptively large amount of people each second. Deceptive, because while the volume of people that Will saw getting into the city was high, the line still took an eternity for their party to reach the front gate. ¡°Take off any helmets or masks, and state your names.¡± A tired-looking garrison guard said, a glimmer of blue in his eye as he scanned their Party. ¡°Alicia Zodiac,¡± Alicia said, her voice barely rising above a whisper as she took off her headband. ¡°Yeah, right, and I¡¯m-¡° The guard swallowed the rest of his retort, seemingly scanning the air in front of him. ¡°Deeply sorry to make you wait in line, Miss Zodiac, you and your Party can head on through.¡± ¡°Do you need my name?¡± Will asked as he walked past the guard. ¡°Nobody cares.¡± The tired man said, waving him past. Will shrugged and just enjoyed the¡­lack of recognition? ¡°What¡¯s it called when nobody knows who you are?¡± Will asked loth as they entered the city. ¡°Anonymity.¡± Loth replied. Will enjoyed the anonymity. ¡°So there¡¯s William Oh, buck naked, wrestling the dragon¡¯s head into the mud so it¡¯s fire breath won¡¯t destroy the princesses evening gown any more than it already has¡­¡± Alerted by his own name in the sea of voices, Will glanced up to see street performers recreating That Time he Totally Saved A Princess From A Dragon. A massive, loincloth-wearing man whose muscles were easily five times the size and definition of Will¡¯s own, was wearing a goat mask and his left hand was painted black, wrestling two men in a dragon costume while a scantily-clad young woman tied to a pole stage-screamed quietly enough that the narrator could be heard over her. The young woman was very dark-skinned, causing Will to have an epiphany. ¡°I think that¡¯s supposed to be you.¡± Will said, nudging Loth and pointing at the woman. ¡°I think that is supposed to be me,¡± Loth said, pointing at the black dragon the muscular ¡®Will¡¯ was wrestling. ¡°Huh,¡± Will said, straightening. ¡°I think you¡¯re right.¡± Chapter 55: Bureaucratic Bullshit ***Mark Wyrd*** ¡°Say that again,¡± Father said, his voice crashing down on Mark and forcing him to his knees. Frederick Wyrd wore a vibrant blue silk robe concealing his Torso Relic, as well as arm-length black leather gloves, concealing his Rings. The only thing Mark saw on top of his head was a circlet with a drop of blood-colored gemstone in the center, reminding him of the one he¡¯d lost in the swamps of the 4th floor. This one was likely far more powerful. The lord of the Wyrd house could be fully armed for battle, and no one would ever know until they exploded in a shower of viscera. In his gloved hand, Father was twirling an unfamiliar rod and tapping it on his knee unconsciously. It was an oddly ornate bone rod seemingly cut from a femur, about a foot and a half in length with ornate gold caps with gem inlay. Mark had never seen in before in his life, and made him nervous. ¡°The destruction of Oilton was perpetrated by a Party that serves the church of Granesh.¡± Mark lied, keeping his face downturned. ¡°That¡¯s preposterous. We¡¯ve had an excellent relationship with them for decades.¡± ¡°One of them carried this.¡± Mark said, pulling the Sacrifice out of it¡¯s bag, artfully singed to sell the lie. Father frowned, drumming on his knee with the rod before going still. ¡°Is that¡­¡± ¡°A sacrifice from a Saint of the church. One of their members carried it.¡± ¡°Ridiculous. The church gives their members Sacrifices at the time and place they wish for their members to use them. They do not let them ¡®carry them around¡¯ until they have reached the appropriate level.¡± Father said, tapping his knee with increased fervor. ¡°Unless¡­¡± Frederick Wyrd thumbed his chin, expression thoughtful for a moment before he glanced back up at Mark. ¡°Continue.¡± ¡°The Tangled had already been dispatched by the operatives by the time we arrived,¡± Mark said, mixing a bit of realism into the story. ¡°They ambushed us in the throne room, and dispatched the others before I had the chance to drive them back. When they realized they would lose, they detonated the primary oil line that travelled under the castle.¡± ¡°Uh huh. And where are your Relics?¡± ¡°One of them was a Rogue archetype with an Ability that allowed them to remove Relics without my knowledge. I nearly died.¡± More lies cloaked in truth. ¡°¡­Right. You realize that an Ability that allows one to steal Relics is very rare and it would be unusual that they would send an operative with this Ability on a suicide mission?¡± Father asked, tapping the rod against his knee. ¡°I do not speculate on the reasons,¡± Mark said, head lowered. ¡°I only tell you what I saw and wait for your decision.¡± ¡°Lies and deceit!¡± Father said, his expression murderous, causing Mark to break into a cold sweat. He said nothing. ¡°The Church of Granesh is always playing these games, thinking they can nudge me off my path and send a tasty treat my direction to appease me. Obviously, they send the rogue to his death before he turned this ability against his superiors, and they sent the Sacrifice with him as a gift to me, to quell my wrath at the loss of such valuable land.¡± Mark didn¡¯t sigh as his father¡¯s paranoia filled in the details on its own. That would be a mistake. Father descended from his throne and snatched the mummified hand out of Mark¡¯s hand, staring at it as he walked back up the staircase. ¡°But they¡¯ve made a grievous mistake. They¡¯ve given me the exact thing I needed to become unstoppable, and I won¡¯t forget to ¡®thank¡¯ them for it.¡± ¡°¡­U-Unstoppable?¡± Mark asked, unable to hide the hitch in his voice. The Sacrifice disappeared in a flash of light, as his father used an Upgrade slot. On what, Mark had no clue, but the malicious glee in his father¡¯s eyes was all he needed to see to feel a wave of dread and pray it wasn¡¯t directed at him. ¡°Julius,¡± Father called, getting the attention of one of the many servants standing by to tend to any of their Lord¡¯s needs. ¡°Yes, sire?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s rearrange my schedule a bit. Bring the prisoner in.¡± The servant bowed deeply, then scurried off at top speed, seemingly gliding across the opulent floor of the castle. Mark spent a long, silent minute contemplating ¡®unstoppable¡¯, until the prisoner arrived. He was a rather large man with brown hair and a flat face, his hands tied behind his back. Father motioned for Mark to step aside to join the courtiers, and the prisoner took center stage. ¡°Name?¡± Father asked. ¡°Eat a dick.¡± the rough man spat. ¡°So, Mr. Dick, you stand accused of trying to steal my property, how do you plead?¡± ¡°Asshole.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Father mused, rubbing his chin and drumming his knee with the bone rod. ¡°I tell you what, Mr. Dick. Aside from costing me a little extra money, your poorly executed attempt at robbery had basically no effect. As the kids say, ¡®no harm, no foul.¡¯ That¡¯s why I¡¯m willing to give you clemency.¡± Frederick Wyrd¡¯s expression turned icy cold. ¡°Kneel, and tell me who hired you to steal my property. And you will go free. Alive, and unharmed.¡± The rope binding the bandit¡¯s wrists together exploded outward before whipping through the air towards his father, followed by the bandit, wielding a stiffened length of rope like a shiv. ¡°Your hired m-.¡± With no sign of an attack being launched, the bandit exploded, showering Mark and the onlookers in viscera. Mark muscled down a flinch, but many of the other courtiers were unprepared for the sudden violence, and many took several steps back, desperately wiped blood out of their eyes, hyperventilated, wretched, or simply turned to run away. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The guards were so agog that they didn¡¯t bother to stop them. ¡°¡­AAAHH, by the gods, that works better than I thought it would,¡± Father said, closing his eyes and relaxing back into his throne. Mark glanced back up from the bloody mess and paused in horror. His father looked¡­younger. Father¡¯s blue eyes snapped back open and he directed his gaze back down at Mark. ¡°Yes. Unstoppable. For all your bumbling and half-truths, you¡¯ve done well, Mark. Pick yourself out some new Relics from the vault, and feel free to visit Amanda. I will call you when I have decided your next assignment. Dismissed.¡± Mark frowned. have Mark was now fully committed to the gambit of playing the church against his father, which meant he needed to find a way to discretely inform them of his father¡¯s new stolen power. Mark¡¯s eye twitched. *** William Oh *** ¡° long?¡± Will asked, hoping he¡¯d misheard her. ¡°About two months for your Party to reach the front of the queue.¡± Thea said. ¡°Buuh¡­¡± Will was at a loss for words. ¡°Only a handful of kaiju spawn each month, and a significant fraction of them spawn close enough to Akul that the baron has to kill them immediately or risk loss of life and property. The spawning locations outside the city for people who wish to grind average about one to three kaiju per month. Massive armies of Climbers and mercenaries gather to fight them. ¡°These armies are so large that they require a certain level of organization in order to prevent serious mishaps due to overcrowding. Hence the queue. I¡¯ve had your Party signed up since I arrived here a month ago, so be grateful, it could¡¯ve been a three month wait.¡± ¡°Are there any¡­faster alternatives?¡± Will asked, unable to stop thinking about Brianna being tortured into a Tangled on the seventh floor. ¡°Well, you attempt a Key site. The ones on the fifth floor aren¡¯t particularly difficult, but you would be dropping into the sixth floor at a disadvantage. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Any way to get a kaiju kill without waiting in line?¡± ¡°Well, you could travel a month outside city limits and pray you run into one during the daytime rather than having it appear at night and crush you all while you sleep. Also, since the mercenaries we hire for these sorts of things would need to be hired for the entire two months rather than the day it takes to kill a kaiju, the price would be astronomically higher.¡± ¡°Could¡¯ve just said ¡®no¡¯,¡± Will said, frowning as a thought occurred to him. ¡°How is it you only need to hire the mercenaries for a day?¡± ¡°The mercenaries make their homes at the spawn points, so while there¡¯s no kaiju, they¡¯re not on the job. Several Parties pool their money and pay them a retainer to assist with the kill. When the kaiju shows up in their zone, they keep it busy until the parties who paid for the slot show up and together they kill it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s some bureaucratic bullshit.¡± Will muttered. ¡°Well, yes, but when dealing with city-destroying monstrosities, a certain amount of organization is necessary.¡± ¡°Can we reserve a place in several spawn zones?¡± Will asked. ¡°That would at least give us a better chance of-¡° ¡°Sadly no. It used to be allowed, but there was an incident where the same group of parties was called up to two places on the same day, and some people got hurt.¡± ¡°Damnit,¡± Will sighed, unclenching his jaw. He felt bad about Brianna, he really did, but he couldn¡¯t justify rushing his Party though without getting their levels. An idea occurred to Will. ¡°Can we join a mercenary company?¡± ¡°They have Contracts with six-month terms to prevent that exact thing.¡± Thea said with an amused smile. ¡°Clever idea, you¡¯re just not the first person to think of it.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°Can I give you some advice?¡± Thea asked. ¡°Sure,¡± Will said. That was the reason why he¡¯d chosen to align himself with the Oilton family: taking advantage the experience of Travis¡¯s higher-level siblings. That and the money. ¡°You¡¯re in the biggest city in the world. The Ring doesn¡¯t even compare to the things you can find and do here.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And you¡¯re still flush with cash after that raid boss aren¡¯t you? There¡¯s no way you could¡¯ve spent it all in Way Station. Not even close.¡± ¡°True.¡± Will admitted. ¡°This is the biggest city with the biggest Sacrifice market in the world, due to its height in The Tower. There are agents in Akul who work on commission, whose only job is to find specific Sacrifices and deliver them to their customers for a price.¡± Will was interested. ¡°Erosion Golem? Immortal Serpent? Axolotl?¡± Will asked, his heart fluttering. ¡°There is a saying,¡± The white-robed mage said, holding up a slender finger. ¡°¡¯If you can¡¯t find it in Akul, you¡¯re gonna have to get it yourself.¡¯ The chances are better here than anywhere else in the world, save for staring one of those creatures down in person.¡± ¡°Uru drake scale?¡± Will asked out of curiousity. ¡°Something like that? You¡¯re probably gonna have to get it yourself.¡± That gave Will plenty to think about, and he returned to the inn and shared the news with the rest of the Party, who took it with varying levels of maturity. Reggie seemed grateful for the opportunity to take a break from being a professional pincushion. Travis seemed as eager as Will to keep going, scowling and pacing at the news. Loth accepted it with her typical stoicism, while June simply shrugged and headed off to shop for better gear to prepare for Kaiju hunting, Mason trailing behind her. Will wrote down a list of all the Sacrifices that the party needed for the highly specific upgrades to their build, then marched off to find his liaison. He wasn¡¯t paying him for nothing. Will tracked Steve Holland to one of the cheaper bathhouses in the city. ¡®cheap¡¯ was relative, because the entire thing looked like it belonged in a palace, coated in marble and gold, filled with steam. There was a bouncer out front with a large curved sword who looked like he chopped people up for a living. looks Will tossed the bouncer an ivory coin and the man waved him inside, keeping his gaze fixed on the cobbled road outside. ¡°Welcome, how may I cleanse you?¡± A woman in a sheer bathrobe asked, before cocking her head curiously at Will¡¯s mask. ¡°Do you¡­umm¡­have an appointment?¡± she asked, her voice nearly as soft as Alicia¡¯s. ¡°I¡¯m looking for Steve Holland.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t use names here, as we are all one within the embrace of water,¡± the hostess said with a graceful dismissive gesture, an ephemeral smile sweeping across her features. ¡°Salt and pepper hair, beard, brown eyes, likes to pretend to break his own neck as a party trick.¡± ¡°Oh him.¡± The woman¡¯s expression went flat, her shoulders sagging before she made a crude ¡®follow me¡¯ gesture. ¡°Right this way.¡± She led him through a main lobby where dozens of men and women relaxed in pools that lined either side of the main walkway, swimming, talking and drinking. Entirely nude. Will kept his eye straight ahead, until he realized that the light from the lamps was shining through the hostess¡¯s bathrobe. Then he just stared at the ground. ¡°He¡¯s in there,¡± She said, thumbing toward a door to a ¡®private¡¯ bathing room ¡°Much obliged,¡± Will said before kicking the door open. ¡°GAH!¡± Steve Holland dove behind a rack of bottles, while the woman in the bubbling pool set in the floor casually gathered up some bubbles in front of herself, significantly less rattled at the sudden intrusion than her client. ¡°Is this a bad time?¡± Will asked. ¡°Good a time as any I suppose, what¡¯s up?¡± Steve asked, wrapping a towel around himself before moving out from behind the wine rack. ¡°I¡¯ve got your pay,¡± Will said, tossing Steve his cut. Steve peered into the bag, eyes widening at the amount of ten-piece ivory. ¡°This is one percent!?¡± he asked. ¡°You want more?¡± Will asked. ¡°Always,¡± the charlatan said with a nod. ¡°I heard there¡¯s a huge market for Sacrifices on this floor. These are the ones I want you to find,¡± Will said, handing the list to Steve. ¡°Thea Oilton has the war chest, so coordinate any purchases with her.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got something for you, too,¡± Steve said, picking through the pile of clothes on the floor until he revealed a folded envelope. ¡°Whazzat?¡± Will asked. ¡°Job offers.¡± Steve said, handing it to Will. ¡°As you¡¯ve probably been informed, the 5th Floor is difficult to level up¡­unless you fight other Climbers.¡± ¡°These are¡­¡± ¡°Investigations, bounties, bodyguard gigs,¡± ¨C Steve lowered his voice ¨C ¡°Kneecapping¡­a few of these are in a legal grey area, if you¡¯re interested in higher pay and more combat.¡± He held his hands up. ¡°I didn¡¯t know what you would be interested in, so I got a little bit of everything. Will opened the envelope, revealing a bundle of fliers tightly folded together. He scanned the first. Under the pay was an artist rendition of a fat man with thick, rubbery lips. Will put the first flier in his pocket before moving on to the next one. The next one wasn¡¯t a flier, so much as it was a note scribbled in Steve¡¯s handwriting. Will¡¯s brows rose as he continued thumbing through. Chapter 56: Ear Collector -Ria Smith, level 32 City Guard ***Reggie*** "Well, looks like we¡¯ve got nothing going on while the ¡®leaders¡¯ figure out what we¡¯re doing next,¡± Reggie said, suddenly nervous now that he was alone with the blonde-haired vision of beauty. In need of something to do, Reggie awkwardly put his hand on his hip¡­then dropped it, waiting for Alicia to respond. ¡°¡­I guess.¡± She whispered. ¡°How about lunch?¡± He asked. ¡°I hungry.¡± She mused, pursing her lips in thought. ¡°How about somewhere fancy? My treat.¡± Her face twitched into a frown. ¡°Something wrong with fancy?¡± He asked. ¡°Tiny portion sizes and people always asking me about my father.¡± ¡°Say no more,¡± Reggie said, taking her hand and leading her through the bustling streets of Akul. He didn¡¯t really know where he was going, but all he needed to do was find a nice restaurant to take a girl to that wasn¡¯t too fancy, but still fancy enough for it to be a date. ¡°There¡¯s a restaurant around the corner over there.¡± She said, pointing at a grey stone wall. ¡°Ooh, they serve beef stew and baked potato! And there¡¯s a dance stage! And live music!¡± Reggie thought Alicia took Reggie¡¯s hand and pulled him forward, navigating down the street with that natural grace that he found impossible to replicate as people bounced off his chest like marbles, usually sending him mean looks afterwards. ¡°Hey, watch it!¡± The older Climber said, shaking his fist as they turned the corner. ¡°Sorry!¡± Reggie called over his shoulder at the man, watching him roll his eyes and go about his business. When Reggie turned his gaze back forward, he stumbled in sheer horror. The building had a sign out front with the silhouette of a woman dancing on a pole, that Alicia obviously could not see. ¡°Oh wow, their food is good,¡± Alicia said, taking a deep whiff. ¡°Whoever is cooking in the back there has a Class for it. I mean, look at him go!¡± ¡°I mean, maybe we should-¡° ¡°C¡¯mon!¡± Alicia said, dragging him forward with a surprising amount of strength before he had a chance to formulate a reason why they shouldn¡¯t go in¡­aside from the obvious. The entrance spilled raucous laughter and music out into the street, and the two of them walked inside, the atmosphere engulfing them. ¡°Wow, this place is so lively,¡± Alicia said as they took a seat at a table, glancing around with wide-eyed wonder. ¡°Mmhmm,¡± Reggie said, staring at the menu in front of him. ¡°What can I get for you two?¡± A cheery young woman asked, approaching from the side. ¡°¡­Can I get the beef stew!?¡± Alicia asked, raising her voice above the music with a bit of difficulty. ¡°It smells amazing.¡± ¡°And you, handsome?¡± The woman asked, turning toward him. ¡°S-same,¡± Reggie said, shielding his line of sight with the menu until the waitress plucked it out of his hand. Then he just stared at the table. ¡°Your boyfriend is cute.¡± The waitresses said before sauntering off. It was Alicia¡¯s turn to blush and stare at the ground. ¡°Boyf-¡­is this a ?¡± She asked, glancing back up at him. That prompted Reggie to look back up to meet her gaze. With every fiber of his being, he attempted to keep his full focus on her face. ¡°I was¡­kind of hoping?¡± he admitted. ¡°Oh. Wow.¡± Alicia said, her face turning even brighter red than before, taking a long pause to start speaking again. ¡°Well¡­I like the restaurant, at least. The ones my father always took me to were so quiet and intense, and everybody always stared at us the whole time.¡± ¡°Well¡­nobody¡¯s staring at you,¡± Reggie admitted. They were all staring at how flexible Candi was. ¡°Isn¡¯t it great?¡± Alicia said with a blinding smile. ¡°This is the best date I¡¯ve ever been on.¡± Reggie thought, his stomach assaulted by butterflies. ¡°¡­Is it also the date you¡¯ve ever been on?¡± Reggie hazarded. Alicia frowned. ¡°¡­Not telling.¡± She said, barely audible over the music and shouting. ¡°Here you go dears!¡± the waitress said, dropping two enormous bowls of hearty stew in front of the two of them. ¡°Mm, amazing.¡± Alicia said, her glowing blue eyes rolling in pleasure after taking a bite of the stew. Reggie cocked a brow and tried some of his own, eyes widening in surprise as it turned out to be beyond excellent. ¡°We have to come here again.¡± Alicia said in perhaps the most assertive statement Reggie had ever personally witnessed her make. ¡°¡­Sure.¡± ¡°Would you two like a dancer once you finish your food?¡± A waitress asked, stopping by to refill their water. ¡°No, that¡¯s-¡° ¡°That¡¯s an option? Wow! Yes, please!¡± Alicia said, pulling a few ivory out of her purse before glancing at Reggie. ¡°You know what, make it two. One for each of us.¡± The waitress gave Reggie and Alicia an appraising glance as she slid most of the money back. ¡°For a couple as pretty as you two it¡¯s our pleasure.¡± ¡°Wow, thanks!¡± Reggie buried his head in his hands. ¡°Just remember: No touching without asking first.¡± Alicia glanced back at Reggie with an inquisitive frown. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Why would we touch them?¡± Reggie felt his face heat up even further as he shook it, staring straight down at the table. ***William Oh*** ¡°Bahahahahah!¡± June and Alicia were laughing uproariously when Will and Loth arrived at the Party meeting. ¡°That was so ¡± June shouted. ¡°Reggie¡¯s never even done the ¡®clothes¡¯ prank on you before! Turning it against him¡­that¡¯s like kicking a puppy. You are some kind of evil genius. Remind me not to piss you off. Or even be nearby when somebody else pisses you off.¡± ¡°Mean!?¡± Alicia gasped, her body language collapsing in on itself as she began to whisper. ¡°I was just ¡®razzing¡¯ him back like you said¡­At least before it turned into a date¡­should¡­should I apologize? Did I hurt his feelings?¡± ¡°Nah, he got a date and a good story out of it, so I¡¯m sure he¡¯s happy. Plus he got to see some-¡± ¡°Melons!¡± Travis shouted as he burst into the room, bearing a pair of massive melons in his arms. ¡°You can literally get food you want here! They can grow anything on this Floor! Meat! Soy sauce! Fish! Melons!¡± ¡°Bread?¡± Will asked. ¡°The freshest bread you could imagine. With any extras you want! Rosemary. Garlic. Cheeeeeeese!¡± Travis said, wiggling his fingers dramatically. Will swallowed drool. Several weeks of climbing The Tower eating ration bars, weeds, and the occasional alligator gave him a deep-seated need for real food. In this case bread. Or pastries. Or rolls. Buns. Soft, squishy bread. Preferably without rocks. Will was starting to regret spending all his time figuring out their jobs while the rest of his Party was, by all accounts, enjoying their time shopping, relaxing, and in Alicia¡¯s case, hazing Reggie. Will thought, watching Reggie enter the room and sit down across the room from Alicia, staring at the floor with a hollow expression. Once Mason arrived, He and Loth went through the job offers while Travis cut up melons and passed them out. ¡°Okay, first up, we have sewer cleanin-¡° ¡°PASS!¡± Mason shouted, echoed by everyone else. ¡°Loth and I can probably handle that,¡± Will mused, flipping to the next one. ¡°Three offers to track down and maim various Climbers. The offers are high, but Steve tells me there¡¯s a chance they could be traps designed to attract free XP to the ¡®target¡¯ of the beating. Can¡¯t exactly go to the authorities if the ¡®victim¡¯ of our illegal kneecapping turns the tables on us¡­should we hire people to attack us? No, that¡¯s silly.¡± Will glanced around, finding most of the rest of the party staring at him over wedges of melon. ¡°We¡¯ll put the kneecapping jobs down as a ¡®maybe¡¯.¡± Will said, making a note on the page. ¡°Underground fight tourney. Hundred Ivory just to fight. Ten thousand if you win.¡± ¡°Unarmed?¡± Reggie asked, finally waking from his stupor and joining the conversation. ¡°¡­With weapons and Abilities.¡± Will said reviewing the job offer. ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t wanna die,¡± Reggie said, waving it off. ¡°Several pieces of art from rich houses have disappeared recently¡­¡± Nobody looked interested. ¡°Drug smuggling¡­¡± Will memorized the details then threw the incriminating note in the fire. ¡°Guard and rebuild a damaged bridge in the far east side of the city¡­¡± ¡°Picking fruit at the-¡° ¡°That one!¡± Travis said, slapping his palm down, the other hand shoving melon into his mouth. ¡°¡­Carnivorous gardens.¡± Will finished. ¡°Oh.¡± Travis sat back down. ¡°Do we have to do this?¡± Will wordlessly leaned over and grabbed the Inn¡¯s bill off the nearby countertop and passed it over to the Master Decoy, who paled as he read. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll take the bridge.¡± He said. Once they were done discussing the pros and cons, June, Mason and Travis took the bridge, Alicia and Reggie took the man-eating garden, While Will and Loth took the sewers. Will didn¡¯t mind the smell if it paid well enough. Plus it paired nicely with the drug smuggling. They paired up and headed out, with Loth and Will stopping by a bakery to get something to eat before they became walking biohazards. ¡°Come on in!¡± A young woman¡¯s voice called as the bell above the door announced their presence. She stepped out from the back, lifting a massive tray of bread and effortlessly depositing them behind the glass divider. ¡°What can I get for you?¡± She was about Will¡¯s age, pudgy, with flour-sprinkled blonde hair, brown eyes and freckles over pale skin. But most importantly, she was wearing an apron and offering him bread, which made her perfect. ¡°Could I get two of those rolls, six raspberry tarts and a garlic bread?¡± Will said, pointing them all out. ¡°Sure!¡± she said with a smile, her hands moving deftly to bag up Will¡¯s order while also turning to Loth. ¡°And you Mr¡­¡± ¡°Loth,¡± Loth said. ¡°Hi, Loth! I¡¯m Anna, what can I get for you?¡± ¡°Couple of those flatbreads, and cheese. Lots of cheese.¡± ¡°Right away!¡± She said, handing Will his bag and swiftly filling Loth¡¯s order. ¡°That¡¯ll be two ivory.¡± Will sighed and handed the money over. ¡°Mister, you look young to be on this Floor, if that¡¯s not too rude to say,¡± she said depositing the money into the till. ¡°You must be very talented.¡± ¡°I could say the same about you,¡± Will said. ¡°Nah, I got bussed up when I was younger.¡± She said, waving it off ¡°I¡¯ve never even been outside the city since.¡± ¡°Bussed up for a bakery job?¡± Will asked. Not even a job in a stronghold that needed a specialized baker, but like...just a normal bakery? ¡°No, it was for my dad¡¯s job, but it kind of fell through. I just recently found a job, though, and I am surprised at how much I like baking! It¡¯s like I¡¯ve been doing it all my life.¡± She lowered her voice and leaned over the glass counter, standing on her tippy toes. ¡°And Jean, my boss, is the best.¡± ¡°Are you flirting with the customer¡¯s again!?¡± An older woman¡¯s voice barked from the back. ¡°¡­NO!¡± Anna said, her shoulders stiffening. ¡°Then get back here and help me like I¡¯m paying you for, girl!¡± ¡°Come back soon!¡± Anna said, waving as she disappeared into the back. ¡°Raspberry tart?¡± Will asked, offering Loth a tart as they walked down the street. ¡°Sweet foods don¡¯t taste very good to me.¡± Loth said, gnawing on some cheese-covered flatbread. ¡°Fair enough,¡± Will said, shoving the overpriced sweets into his face. ¡°You¡¯re gonna go back to that bakery aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°She said to ¡®come back soon¡¯.¡± Will said defensively. ¡°It would be rude not to.¡± Loth rolled her eyes as they turned off the main street and began winding through ever-narrowing alleys. ¡°You and bakers.¡± ¡°As far as having a type, I think ¡®baker girl¡¯ is pretty inoffensive.¡± ¡°Common though.¡± Loth replied. ¡°like it would be a good thing if I had a type that is to find?¡± Will demanded as they approached the three hard-bitten men waiting in the alleyway. ¡°What if I never find love?¡± ¡°Cry me a river,¡± Loth replied. ¡°Hey, we¡¯re with Steve.¡± Will said as they arrived. ¡°You seem pretty young.¡± The lead drug runner said. ¡°Which is a good thing, isn¡¯t it?¡± Will asked, spreading his arms. ¡°Who¡¯s gonna stop me?¡± The lead thug frowned for a second, then nodded to one of the men beside him, who pulled out a package nearly the size of Will¡¯s head, coated in wax. ¡°I¡¯ve been in need of a new courier, and Steve said you were good. Deliver this to the Johan mansion in the upper district, directly into the butler¡¯s hands. If you lose it, get caught, or fail to deliver, I¡¯ll add you to my belt,¡± the thug pointed down at the human ears studded to his belt. Two of which were fresh. ¡°Yeah, sure,¡± Will said, tucking the package under his truncated arm as he and Loth turned away, continuing their conversation about romance. The instant he turned the corner, Will stowed the package in the Phantom Hand. ¡°Stop there, criminal scum!¡± A young woman wearing a breastplate and the livery of Baron Akul leapt into the alleyway from her hiding place, lowering a halberd towards them. She was athletic, easily six feet tall with brown hair and a fierce look in her eyes. But since she wasn¡¯t wearing an apron, Will had little interest. ¡°Who, me?¡± Will asked. ¡°Who else!? lift up that mask!¡± Will raised his mask. ¡°You¡¯re so young.¡± She scowled. ¡°It disgusts me that the Ear Collector would turn children to a life of crime. Come clean and the sentence will be light.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Will said, loud enough for the Ear Collector to hear. ¡°We just got lost and that guy threatened to gut us if we didn¡¯t leave! That¡¯s all that happened!¡± ¡°Likely story,¡± She said, poking at them with her halberd. ¡°Turn around, let¡¯s join your friends, but first, hands on your heads. Let¡¯s find what you¡¯re smuggling.¡± She checked their pockets, her gaze rapidly growing more and more panicked. ¡°What, but. What- She desperately patted both of them down, spilling Will¡¯s uneaten rolls out into the mucky alleyway and checking the bag. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°H-Hands on your heads!¡± She said, flustered. ¡°Maybe you stashed it between here and there.¡± Will and Loth marched back around the corner where the Ear Collector and his men were being held at sword-point by half a dozen men in the Duke¡¯s livery. ¡°Alright Ria, where¡¯s the drugs?¡± the oldest guard asked, glancing away from the Ear Collector. ¡°I already told you, there wasn¡¯t no drugs,¡± The Ear Collector said, hands on his head. ¡°We just scared off those twerps ¡®cause they were in the wrong neighborhood.¡± ¡°I umm¡­.can¡¯t find them?¡± Ria, presumably, admitted, her voice wavering. ¡°What!?¡± Her superior demanded. We heard the deal go down. Check the sewer grates!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t believe we trusted a total noob to guard the exit,¡± One of the guards muttered, shaking his head as Ria deflated. ¡°This is going to put a huge dent in our schedule for the day,¡± Loth mused, hands on her head beside him. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The next two and a half hours were a tedious exercise in bureaucracy, but it ended with Loth and Will going free. The next three hours were spent scouring the sewers long after they lost the natural light, which, while annoying, wasn¡¯t a dealbreaker, given that Loth had managed to breed the glowing trait into many of her faster crawlers, who swarmed through the sewers, cleaning them while the two of them killed the slimes that budded off of the slime kaiju trapped underground that purified sewage and prevented the drinking water from being contaminated. Will thought as the two of them climbed out of the manhole, just a block away from the Johan mansion. They located the servant¡¯s entrance and handed off the drugs to the butler who slipped them a small bag full of ten-pieces, which was about ten times what the sewer job paid. Will had no ethical complaints about a rich dandy frying his own brain, so he was happy enough to take the money. The butler wrinkled his nose at the sewage smell and insisted they leave as soon as possible, until a shrill scream from one of the maids echoed through the halls. ¡°T-The Erland Tapestry is gone!¡± ¡°Nice doing business with you,¡± Will waved and the two of them turned and left the mansion before things got complicated. They were just getting past the gate when one of the upper windows of the mansion shattered, a figure in shiny black leather diving through with an unnaturally powerful leap, twirling through the air before landing on the street beside them, a massive tapestry over her shoulder. ¡°HAHAH! None can catch the Phantom Thief!¡± she said moments before jumping up, nearly fifteen feet into the air, landing gracefully atop the rooftops and sprinting away as the sounds of alarm from the upper district¡¯s overzealous guard began to close in around them. ¡°Back into the sewer?¡± Will asked. ¡°We won¡¯t get back to the inn before midnight otherwise,¡± Loth said, ushering him back into the manhole. Chapter 57: One Trick Pony The bridge they¡¯d been contracted to assist with the repairs was one of three main thoroughfares to transport food into the city from the east side. There were three bridges because you never could tell when a kaiju might get a lucky kick in or fall in the wrong direction, and it wouldn¡¯t do to have the whole city begin to starve just because a single bridge was down. So they had backups. The city itself was nestled between two oversized rivers that combined together into one enormous river a few miles downstream. Even further beyond¡­ Except Will knew there couldn¡¯t be an ocean, because they were in The Tower and there was only one biome per floor. Common wisdom was that the rivers on the 5th Floor came from the 6th Floor¡­but that was stupid, because the 6th Floor was salt water. Will thought, frowning. ¡°HUP!¡± one of the groundworkers threw Will a massive iron cable. Will caught it, struggling for a moment to secure a grip with his one hand before securing it under his elbow and hauling it up. The workers with the ability to avoid or survive a fall had been sent up to the top of the bridge¡¯s new pillars, which were being grown straight out of the riverbed by a team of geomancers. Since he didn¡¯t have any specialized skills that allowed him to modify stone or steel cable, Will just settled into the role of porter, climbing up and down the precarious slope of previously secured cables, his Aspect of the Goat making it look easy. As it turned out, putting a bridge back together was a multiple-day affair, so Will and Loth were able to help Travis and June with their work. Will thought sourly. ¡°Heads up!¡± Loth called, a faint buzzing sounding along with her voice. Will glanced up and saw the rest of the steel cables ¨C all sixteen of them ¨C being hauled by thousands of insects, towards the waiting arms of the craftsmen ready to fuse them into place. Will thought to himself, grunting as he hauled the cable the rest of the way and passed it off. ¡°Try not to turn the bridge into a trap, lizard!¡± one of the engineers, a jovial man driving steel cable into stone with his bare hands, said as Loth delivered her portion of the cables. Will bristled for a moment, but Loth took it in stride. ¡°Now that you mention it, I have been thinking about ways to make the bridges designed to break the ankles of kaiju that step on them while remaining functional bridges the rest of the time.¡± ????¦Â????? The engineer squinted. ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°It would be a simple hinge and counterweight punji trap,¡± Loth said, flipping over the engineer¡¯s papers and drawing a quick sketch that looked like it¡¯d been drawn by a professional. ¡°If you did this¡­it would be more resilient from the top and sides while also allowing the bridge to reset itself into a bridge after the kaiju foot was removed.¡± Loth made notes at the sides of the drawing. ¡°Resetting itself, huh,¡± The engineer mused, stroking his chin. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in a kaiju trap.¡± Loth scowled at the idea of someone not wanting more traps in their lives. ¡°Baron Akul and the Kaiju Squad can handle them in a timely manner. But this resetting gimmick¡­let¡¯s discuss what that would cost.¡± Will and the other porters were dismissed while Loth and the head engineer began bandying ideas back and forth. Will jogged back down the steel cables swaying in the wind, hopping back down to the ground where June and Travis were watching out for kaiju or human raiders. There was no practical benefit for other Climbers to disrupt the bridge, but richer Lords might fund them to do so just to manipulate the market or weaken the city as a whole. Lordship was a cutthroat world. ¡°Where¡¯s Mason at?¡± Will asked as he arrived beside June and Travis, who were drinking cucumber water under a parasol. ¡°Oh, he went to do those underground pit fights.¡± June said. ¡°WHAT!?¡± ¡°I think he said something about proving he doesn¡¯t have a tiny penis?¡± Travis said. ¡°He said he wanted to test his Build, get XP and new ideas.¡± June said, rolling her eyes. It made sense. Whereas other classes were a little bit more flexible, Nukers, and Mason specifically had dedicated every Ability to direct combat. Outside that, they were likely to feel¡­under-utilized. ¡°Does Reggie know about this?¡± Will asked. ¡°No, because if Reggie knew he would try to stop Mason.¡± June said. ¡°What with the whole ¡®ten years of indentured servitude¡¯ thing hanging over his head.¡± ¡°What are Reggie and Alicia doing?¡± Will asked. ¡°Making out, probably,¡± June said, to which Travis scowled. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will thought, studying Travis¡¯s glower. Across the city, in the carnivorous gardens, Alicia and Reggie were having a walk in the park. Both figuratively, and literally. ¡°Behind you.¡± Alicia whispered, throwing a knife at the base of the branch looming over Reggie. The knife must¡¯ve hit something critical because the branch slumped over without striking at his back. ¡°Thanks,¡± Reggie said, plucking another of the oddly savory smelling lumpy fruit off the trunk of the tree and depositing it in the basket. Reggie was a Plucker and Alicia was a Pruner, keeping an eye on the surroundings and taking care of problems before they arose. ¡°How can you see plants trying to attack?¡± Reggie asked. ¡°They don¡¯t have any bones, so I would assume they would be hard to see.¡± ¡°Yes, their flesh is pretty faint, but plants have weak spots too¡­at least these moving ones do,¡± Alicia said with a shrug. ¡°And if you see disembodied weak spots moving up behind your friend, that¡¯s pretty obvious.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Reggie said before thinking a moment. ¡°You have a hard time seeing wood? Have you ever walked straight into a wall?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t wanna talk about it,¡± Alicia whispered, her shoulders hunched. ¡°If you think bad, I got kicked in the balls a ball once,¡± Reggie said, aiming to curb her embarrassment with a much juicier story. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s worse¡­¡± ¡°Yep, so it was right after we got our Classes. I was getting the hang of the toft Ability. That¡¯s what we call Take One For the Team. Just faster to say. Anyway, I was learning it¡¯s limits, how long I could have it up, what kind of damage it would cover, and so on. I joined Mason when he got an invite to a ball hosted by another rich family in the ring. ¡°I always hated balls.¡± ¡°Not as much as I do,¡± Reggie said with a chuckle. ¡°So the girl whose parents were throwing the party was a real terror, exercising control over who could do what, eat what, dance with who, et cetera. A little tyrant in the making.¡± ¡°So over the course of the night she got on Mason¡¯s nerves until Mason told her off in front of everyone, loud and embarrassing. Just laid into her. She then proceeded to kick him in the balls.¡± ¡°And by extention, you.¡± Alicia said. ¡°Yep! I was standing there talking to some girls from out of town when it felt like roots of pure pain had planted themselves in my crotch and began growing up and into my lungs. I toppled over and started crying for no apparent reason, and then the girls I was with started laughing at me.¡± ¡°That sounds awful. I know they¡¯re one of a boy¡¯s weak spots, but I¡¯ve never heard it described before.¡± ¡°Yeah, pretty much my worst experience, but the silver lining is that everything after that has pretty much been a bree¡­wait a moment.¡± Reggie frowned, thinking back to the way she¡¯d said ¡®weak spots¡¯. ¡°Can you see my junk at ?¡± Reggie asked, covering himself with his hands. Alicia averted her eyes and started walking away. ¡°Hey, answer me! Hey!¡± ¡°Oh look, more fruits to harvest over here.¡± She whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t change the subject!¡± ¡°I can only see nerve clusters and blood vessels, so it¡¯s fine.¡± Alicia finally admitted after he¡¯d pestered her for a while. ¡°Oh,¡± Reggie said, relaxing. ¡°I guess that¡¯s not-¡° ¡°They do take a certain¡­shape, though.¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°So you ¡± Reggie said, clasping his hands in front of himself, nearly dropping the basket of fruits, prompting Alicia to giggle and prance away until she tripped over a tree root and went sprawling face-first into the grass. In the center of the city, in an abandoned warehouse that had been remodeled to accommodate superhuman brawls, Mason was warming up for his fourth fight. Mason¡¯s Acuity was high enough to perceive any tricks his opponents might try, while Mason¡¯s tactic was brutally simple, and therefore brutally difficult to counter. #1 Light them on fire. #2 Use Feedback Shielding to ward off their panicked flailing. Repeat as necessary. The first fight had been over before it started. The second fight had been another Nuker, and Mason had been able to eke out a victory by launching his attack a fraction of a second before the other guy. The third fight was against some kind of tank/warrior hybrid. That one took a long time to finish, because of the man¡¯s sheer Resistance. He¡¯d walked right through Conflagration and gotten few good hits on Mason, barely covered by the Feedback Shielding. His body was covered in bruises and small cuts where just a bit of damage had gotten through. If the warrior¡¯s damage output had been any higher, Mason would¡¯ve been out of the tourney with some serious wounds. Now it was time for number four. Mason thought, stretching his shoulders. His ¡®weapons¡¯ such as they were, were a buckler and saber, giving him the ability to ward off the occasional blow. It was a bad habit to rely solely on his shielding feedback to protect himself. The sounds of the crowd crested as his opponent stepped down into the steel-lined pit. It was a thin, shirtless young man with dusky skin and a cocky grin. he wasn¡¯t wearing a Relic on his head or torso, which Mason found strange for the 5th floor. His opponent was wielding a dagger, and as the announcer began to count down to the start, he crouched down deep in an explosive stance. Better to allow himself a small error because of the bluff than get shivved. Mason crouched down, ready to dodge if his opponent got to him too quickly. Mason dropped a Conflagrate halfway between the two of them, aiming at making a speed dash disastrous for his opponent. This blocked the view, but it also pushed his opponent back, hopefully neutralizing his spe- A strange popping noise behind him was all the warning he got, prompting Mason to whip around, bringing his buckler up. A line of pain bloomed on his elbow and forearm until the buckler caught the dagger and shoved it aside, staring into the eyes of his opponent. The air between the two of them exploded, but the Ring of Consideration reduced it from flesh-searing to merely painful. Mason counted as one of his own Party Members, after all. This gave him short-range options that he¡¯d never really had access to before. Mason felt a rush of power course over him as the damage to his opponent was converted to shielding, and he knew he¡¯d gotten a hit in. The sound went off behind him, and Mason whipped around with the saber, with the intention of using its reach to score a hit against the dagger-wielder. His opponent caught the saber with a previously sheathed swordcatcher, twisting the blade while simultaneously stepping in to jam his dagger straight into Mason¡¯s exposed armpit, skewering his vital organs. Mason tried to drop the saber and move away, but he wasn¡¯t as fast or strong as his opponent, and a simple half step brought the stab up and into his armpit, only for it to be barely absorbed by his shield. Mason thought, his skin breaking out into a cold sweat at the near-death experience. While his singed opponent was frowning at the resistance from the shield, Mason dropped a Conflagration behind himself, not bothering to resist the shove of the explosion, instead using it to gain acceleration above and beyond anything he¡¯d demonstrated so far, propelling him straight into the man¡¯s chest, bashing away his dagger with the shield and forcing him off-balance. A rush of shielding told him he¡¯d made a solid hit. Mason heard the sound behind him again and dropped low, aiming for a leg-sweep. Nobody there. A burst of pain filled his shoulder as his opponent dove through the fireball between them and drove a stiletto into his unprotected back, piercing through his shielding to bury itself in his shoulder. Mason muscled back a cry of pain and lashed out with an awkward kick behind himself. He must¡¯ve caught the man¡¯s knee because his opponent reeled backwards, giving Mason enough time to stand, twisting to face his opponent. The two of them stood there for a moment, panting. Mason thought, edging closer to his saber without looking at it, not wanting to give his intentions away. Masons¡¯ fireball was so big, bright, and loud, that his opponent was able to continue using it to mask his own Ability, preventing Mason from figuring out how it worked. Basically handing him the element of surprise over and over again. His opponent finally glanced down at the saber between them, prompting Mason to lunge forward. The burnt young man did the same, aiming to stab Mason as he reached for the sword. At the last second, Mason lunged upward, putting his other hand and all his weight behind his buckler, colliding directly with his opponent¡¯s weapon. There was a faint as the opponent¡¯s wrist broke, and the rogue attempted to leap backwards. Mason bluffed. He danced the seed of a Conflagration on his fingertip, then shot it at his opponent. The bead of fire shot forward, and his opponent covered his eyes, tensing his legs and leaping backwards with all his might. Then it continued shooting far past his opponent, detonating against the far wall, leaving Mason¡¯s field of view clear as the rogue carried on as if he¡¯d been hit by Conflagration, seemingly unable to cancel his Ability midway. A web of lightning caught his opponent and rebounded him up and over Mason, launching him back down before catching directly behind Mason with a distinctive The two of them shared a glance, his seared opponent giving him a sheepish shrug now that Mason had finally caught on. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with, I need a healer.¡± His opponent said, raising a dagger with his off-hand, his broken wrist hanging limp by his side. ¡°You and me both,¡± Mason said, readying his buckler, propped up by his good hand. The two of them charged towards each other, and Mason now saw lightning streaming off his opponent as he ran, fluttering like ribbons on a windy day as he ran. They were gradually getting longer. Mason was much closer to the saber now. In the middle of the charge, Mason caught the saber with his foot and flung it forward. The rogue flinched and unleashed a blast of lightning which singed Mason¡¯s side, but didn¡¯t stop him from lunging forward and smashing the buckler into his opponent¡¯s skull, dropping defense entirely. A shock went through Mason¡¯s spine as their weight collided against each other, neither interested in backing down. A moment later, the pressure was gone, and Mason staggered back, inspecting the dagger buried in his stomach. His opponent on the other hand, was splayed out on the steel arena, unconscious, making Mason the victor despite his wounds being more critical. The crowd of Climbers swarmed down from the stands above and caught Mason before he collapsed, lifting him up on their shoulders and carrying him and his opponent to the on-site Healers, patting his un-perforated shoulder and shouting words of encouragement. Mason thought, shaking hands and smiling before leaning back into the bleacher as the Healer on call got to work putting him back together. It was a priest of Andover, which should¡¯ve been obvious given the amount of money changing hands. priest of Andover was a bit surprising. ¡°You did good kid.¡± Steve Holland said, bracing a glowing hand on Mason¡¯s shoulder before yanking out the stiletto. ¡°You¡¯re a bit of a one-trick pony, but it¡¯s a good trick.¡± Mason¡¯s shoulder erupted into itching as the wound closed. ¡°Souvenir?¡± Steve asked, offering Mason the rag he¡¯d used to mop up Mason¡¯s blood. ¡°No thanks,¡± Mason said. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°How do you think I afford to live on this Floor?¡± Steve asked, pulling his hand away from Mason¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Try moving your arm and rolling your shoulder. Go through your whole range of motion.¡± Mason did so and hissed in pain as a certain angle caused extreme pain. ¡°Ah, bone splinters. I¡¯ll deal with it.¡± A minute later, Mason could move his arm through the full range of motion with only a hint of stiffness, and Steve moved on to the dusky lightning-rogue. Mason leaned back in his seat and grabbed a bit of food from the hawker, aiming to replenish himself while watching his future opponents for exploitable weaknesses and ideas for how he could improve. Mason had gained a lot of insight into his own weaknesses in that last match, which was exactly why he¡¯d joined the tournament. A Lord wasn¡¯t just proof against monsters, they had to have a Build that didn¡¯t allow other Climbers to question their authority. Mason wasn¡¯t there yet, but he was learning. Mason thought, downing some bread as the arena broke into quiet whispers. The massive man wearing a goat mask who jumped down into the arena was William Oh. he was at least a foot taller and looked like he had a hundred pounds on their Party Leader, at least. His skin was wrapped tight around muscles upon muscles that heaved as he growl/breathed. His left hand was concealed by a gaudy brass-colored gauntlet studded with fake gemstones. Everything about him was fake. People loved it. The crowd went wild as ¡®William Oh¡¯ flexed. ¡°HOLD ON!¡± a familiar voice shouted over the crowd. Mason thought, sighing and leaning on his palm as he masticated. ¡° William OH!¡± The William Oh said, pushing his way to the edge of the arena, thumbing his chest. You could hear a pin drop for a second before the crowd broke into gales of laughter. Mason thought. The announcer shouted, his Ability making his voice cut through the crowd. Mason could hear the delight in his voice. ¡°I could crush you between my fingers!¡± ¡®William Oh¡¯ bellowed in an outrageously deep voice. ¡°I could beat you without a finger!¡± Will shouted back. ¡°Ringmaster! Let me teach this boy the error of his ways before I face Gerald! It won¡¯t take a minute!¡± the imposter said, turning to address the announcer standing in his box. ¡°This is highly unusual. But I¡¯ll be damned if it¡¯s not entertaining! I approve! Ronny, put the bets up on the board! Mason sensed an opportunity and leapt to his feet, joining the crowd of gamblers placing their bets ¡°Five ten-pieces on the boy!¡± Mason shouted over the rush of people betting on the giant, tossing his cash to the overloaded bookies. He glanced over and spotted Steve doing the same thing. The atmosphere changed as ethereal horns erupted from the mask moments before Will flew down into the arena. True flight was¡­uncommon. Will hadn¡¯t even told anyone in the Party save Loth how he did it, and Loth was tight-lipped. It obviously had something to do with the mask, though. ¡°Start the fight ringmaster. I¡¯m eager to stomp this child¡¯s fancy tricks.¡± The imposter said. Will waited with his arms behind his back, his tomahawk resting in his belt-loop. His opponent clenched a massive war-axe so tightly that the audience could hear the handle creaking. ¡°Both fighters ready? BEGIN!¡± The imposter flew backwards and slammed into the back wall, then the side wall, then the ceiling, then the floor, then the floor, then the wall, etc. Mason knew how Will was doing He was releasing tiny pellets from his Phantom Hand, and the man-hunter mutation on his ring of accuracy was yanking his opponent around wildly, slamming him into the solid-steel backdrop of the arena. Mason crossed his arms as the imposter was ground into a pulp. The imposter provided him possible answer as he bellowed with rage and a wave of raw power shoved outward in every direction, his muscles swelling as he dropped to the ground, shrugging off Will¡¯s pull effect. The metal floor squeaked in protest as the imposter lunged forward, charging with his axe raised. The imposter¡¯s skin exploded with ice crystals the instant before he made contact with Will. Will sidestepped as his opponent¡¯s stiffened body tumbled past him to slam into the wall, shoving hundreds of sharp ice shards directly into his own skin. He tried to get up, but he was moving with the speed of a snail. Will moved to kick the imposter as he struggled to rise, but the Ringmaster called the fight, leaving the imposter battered on the cold steel floor. that. ¡°Now that kid is a one-trick pony.¡± Steve said from beside him. The priest nudged him with a huge sack of the ten-pieces he¡¯d won. ¡°Souvenir?¡± Chapter 58: Cheaper by The Dozen what ***William Oh*** ¡°And that¡¯s your down payment,¡± Will said, sliding the last ivory coin across the table. ¡°It was nice working with you again, Mr. The Tank.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry about it. Anybody who knocks me around like that on the regular can call me Frank.¡± The mountain of muscle rumbled, ¡°The ¡®Real William Oh¡¯ bit really gets the crowd fired up. Means more money for all of us.¡± ¡°And here¡¯s your cut from the pot,¡± Steve said, using a flat blade to separate the massive pile of ivory coins into three equal sizes before pushing one over to Frank, and another to the Ringmaster. ¡°You know, kid,¡± Frank said, pointing a single beefy finger at Will. ¡°There¡¯s a tournament hosted by the Baron every year for those level twenty-five and below. It¡¯s happening next month, and I¡¯m guessing you qualify since you just got to the Fifth Floor?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Will said, nodding. ¡°You got some slick moves. I don¡¯t even have to sell that tumble at the end there too hard, and I think if we weren¡¯t in a box I might have a hard time getting my hands on you in the first place.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯d do pretty good in your own weight class. Your damage output isn¡¯t astounding but it¡¯s enough to be a credible threat to most other level twenty-fives, at least. The reason I mention this is because semifinalists get tickets to attend an exclusive auction for the elite, and a bit of spending money to play with while they¡¯re there.¡± Will shared a glance with Steve. Without stealing other Climber¡¯s Relics mid-fight, there was little chance he could win a tournament, and that ability was something he¡¯d rather not reveal to the public at large. He could always try and fail,though. ¡°Any kind of penalty for losing?¡± Will asked. ¡°Other than the small possibility of death and the humiliation of losing? Not really.¡± Will¡¯s Resistance was very high for his level, so the odds of outright dying to an overzealous attack before he could be dragged out of the arena and healed were vanishingly slim. The risk/reward tipped in his favor. ¡°¡­I¡¯m interested.¡± Will said. He could approach this with the same attitude Mason had. If he won, great, and if he lost, he would at least know more about how he could improve. Plus Mason would probably be interested, he seemed to really enjoy getting the stuffing beat out of him over the last week or so, and more opportunities to get their Party¡¯s foot in the door¡­ Will frowned, thinking of Thea Oilton, Mason Lanover, and Alicia Zodiac. If it was a high-society auction, then did he actually need to win a tournament at all to get his Party¡¯s foot in the door? ¡°When was that auction again?¡± Will asked. ¡°What¡¯s all this?¡± Mason asked as he arrived beside the private booth, scowling at Will chatting with Frank the Tank, The Ringmaster, and Steve the Itinerant Charlatan, with a massive pile of money split between them. ¡°¡­What does it look like?¡± Will asked. ¡°It looks like you conspired with Frank the Tank, Steve and the Ringmaster to fix a exhibition matches and walk away with a cool half-mil in gold!¡± ¡°Well then it¡¯s exactly what it looks like,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°But this money is going into our war chest, to buy new Relics and Sacrifices for the Party. I¡¯m not embezzling it. This is an honest grift. What would I even spend this much on if not upgrades to our Builds?¡± ¡°Well-¡° Steve was about to offer some ideas, but Will gestured for him to not spoil his argument. Mason frowned, his expression complicated as he stared at the pile of cash. ¡°I saw your fight.¡± Will said, changing the subject. ¡°Fourth win in a row. That¡¯s real good. Did you know there¡¯s an official tournament that rewards tickets to an exclusive auction to the semifinalists? Might find something good there.¡± Mason nodded thoughtfully as the others gathered up their money and bid hasty farewells. He slid into the now-empty seat across from where Will was shoveling coins into a sack. ¡°Couldn¡¯t we just use Alicia to get in? Or Travis¡¯s sister?¡± ¡°Probably. But I¡¯ve been thinking¡­¡± He met Mason¡¯s gaze. ¡°You and me want to be Lords, yah?¡± Mason nodded. ¡°The defining feature of a Lord is that they¡¯re good at fighting other Climbers. And that they¡¯re still alive. I think we could only benefit from getting some experience fighting others in our bracket.¡± Will scooped up the last of the cash into the sack and slung it over his shoulder. ¡°I was thinking about registering for it once I drop this off with Thea. Wanna come?¡± Mason shook his head. ¡°Can¡¯t. I¡¯ve got one more fight to go against Frank today.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Mr. The Tank to you,¡± Frank said from the other side of the sleazy restaurant. ¡°I¡¯ve got one more fight to go against Mr. The Tank.¡± Mason said with a shrug. ¡°Try not to kill him alright?¡± Will asked as he stood. ¡°No promises,¡± Frank grunted. A moment later, Will left the restaurant, whereupon he spotted a shadow withdraw into the nearby alley overlooking the restaurant. Will raised a brow. That was weird, but it wasn¡¯t charging after him right this second, and he needed to get his legally grey cash laundered by Ms. Oilton. It wasn¡¯t worth chasing someone across rooftops gods knew where with a giant sack of coins over his shoulder. It was worth chasing though. He currently represented an easy meal for anyone who might¡¯ve seen through their little play and had some muscle to throw around. And that was the first lesson he¡¯d learned: Never be an easy meal. Will¡¯s paranoia sprung to the forefront of his mind. Without wasting any time, he sprinted up the side of the building and began dashing across rooftops straight towards Thea¡¯s office in uptown. He faintly heard the sound of a girl cursing as Will left the scene, Aspect of the Goat keeping him sprinting across loose rooftiles without missing a beat. There was no pursuit afterwards that Will could detect afterwards. He sent the Phantom Hand out behind him in a tight zigzag pattern to see if it might run into an illusion or an invisible pursuer but it didn¡¯t bump into anything. He was pretty sure someone yelled at him for running on the roof tiles, but he passed them by too quickly for them to do anything about it. Once he arrived at Thea¡¯s, he waited outside her home for a moment, seeing if there was some kind of delayed arrival. After a minute, he shrugged and went inside. If they were good enough to follow him, then Thea would have to do something about it, not Will. She was a veteran of the 8th floor and the patron of their Party. Will handed the dirty cash off, much to Thea¡¯s bemusement, before heading towards the city hall, where he could sign up for the tourney¡­ Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Will¡¯s feet guided him to a tiny bakery situated on a quiet side street with overpriced pastries. ¡°Welcome!¡± Will¡¯s feet came to a halt as the overzealous city guard greeted him cheerfully, her expression turning to stone the instant she made eye contact. ¡°Hi, what can I get for you?¡± Ria asked, her smile stretched tight across her face as she put her hands on the counter and leaned forward in a way Will was sure she thought was flirty and provocative, but the intensity of her gaze and the tense way she held her shoulders ready for violence just made it¡­intimidating. ¡°Is um¡­Anna here?¡± Will asked, approaching the counter cautiously. The wood underneath Ria¡¯s hands creaked in protest. ¡°I¡¯m sure I can get whatever you need.¡± She said through clenched teeth. Will glanced at the empty doorway leading into the back of the bakery, not seeing any sign of Anna save for some busy-sounding clattering of tools. ¡°¡­I guess I¡¯ll have my usual then,¡± Will mused. ¡°And what¡¯s your usual?¡± Ria asked hungrily. ¡°Six raspberry tarts, two rolls and a loaf of garlic bread.¡± ¡°Six, two¡­one¡­¡± Ria mused, writing the numbers down on her wrist. ¡°Is that Will!?¡± Anna¡¯s head emerged from the doorway, brightening as she spotted him. ¡°Here, Anna, he asked for you specifically,¡± Ria said, dancing around the much shorter girl as she pranced up to the counter. ¡°What brings you here!?¡± Anna asked, but Will was busy watching Ria rubbing her chin as she walked away, muttering to herself. Ria muttered under her breath, but Will¡¯s Acuity was exceptional. Will thought, turning his attention back to Anna, who had followed his gaze to the statuesque ¡®undercover¡¯ city guard, and was now frowning. ¡°You¡¯re not gonna leave me for another baker, are you?¡± she said with a pout, turning her gaze back to him. Will was sure she was kidding, but he still didn¡¯t know how to respond to that. After a moment his brain caught up, and he uttered the only rational response he could think of. ¡°Technically I don¡¯t think she¡¯s a baker,¡± Will said. ¡°Nonsense, Ria¡¯s a natural. She made an entire shelf of the fluffiest rolls you could imagine on her first try. Jean¡¯s been trying to convince her to quit the guard and work here full time.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me that.¡± Will said. ¡°Anyway, just here for my usual, then I was gonna go sign up for the baron¡¯s twenty-five and under tournament.¡± Anna¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I was hoping I could get beat up and someone would nurse me back to health with raspberry tarts. That¡¯s pretty much my only reason for going.¡± ¡°That¡¯s dumb!¡± Will¡¯s heart sank. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡° knows you nurse men back to health with meat pie.¡± She said with a mischievous grin, letting Will¡¯s heart off the hook. ¡°What-¡° ¡°-day is the tournament?¡± Ria said, her voice overlapping and overtaking Anna¡¯s as she returned to the counter, her eyes intense. ¡°Next month sometime? I¡¯m about to go sign up for it, so I¡¯ll get the exact day then.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come with you!¡± Ria said eagerly. ¡°I know city hall like the back of my hand.¡± Anna frowned for a moment before her expression grew determined. ¡°I¡¯ll come too!¡± she said, reaching behind herself and untying her apron. Ria quickly followed suit, diving into the back room. ¡°Where do you two think you¡¯re going!?¡± an older woman¡¯s voice cried. ¡°Official Guard business!¡± Ria¡¯s voice called. ¡°What she said!¡± Anna¡¯s voice followed. ¡°Love you, Jean! Thanks for covering us!¡± ¡°Hey¡­what about my order!?¡± Will asked, pointing at the delicious pastries protected by the glass window. Anna hustled back into the front, slipped his order in a couple baggies and took the payment before ducking under the bar and sprinting outside the building, leaving Will standing there flummoxed, holding two bags of dense bread. ¡°You girls better-¡° An old woman with deep wrinkles, scars across her entire body, and a faded floral apron stormed out of the back, wielding a flour-covered rolling pin with the intent to crack some skulls. The old woman¡¯s gaze landed on Will. Will hadn¡¯t done anything wrong, but the sheer weight of being stared down by an old woman made him feel guilty, as her gaze dissected him. ¡°Ah. I see.¡± she said with a scowl that was greatly magnified by the lines in her face. ¡°That¡¯ll be fifteen ivory for the inconvenience,¡± She said, holding out a gnarled hand. The sheer weight of her gaze shut down any argument Will might¡¯ve made, and he fished through his pocket pulling out two ten-pieces. ¡°Keep the change,¡± Will said before retreating, the old woman¡¯s gaze burning a hole in the back of his neck. Outside the bakery, Ria and Anna met him. Ria took his arm and dragged him away. Will glanced over his shoulder and spotted the old woman watching them through the window like a gargoyle. ¡°I love bathhouses. My favorite is Lillian¡¯s. How about you?¡± Ria asked. ¡°Huh?¡± Will grunted, turning his attention back to the girl towering over him. ¡°What¡¯s favorite bathhouse?¡± she asked. ¡°I don¡¯t really go to them.¡± ¡°Gym?¡± ¡°Nah.¡± ¡°flophouse?¡± ¡°Nah.¡± ¡°Underground fight club?¡± Ria asked, cocking her head before muttering under her breath: ¡°do those have lockers?¡± ¡°Ringmaster¡¯s.¡± Will said. ¡°Favorite bakery?¡± Anna asked from his other side. ¡°Jean¡¯s Bakery!¡± She and Will said together. ¡°You know Anna, your presence isn¡¯t really required for this.¡± Ria said, scowling at the shorter girl. ¡°If I go back now, Jean will hit me. Might as well wait for her to calm down,¡± Anna said, latching onto Will¡¯s other arm. Ria was trying to ¡®investigate¡¯ him in the most ham-fisted way that Will could possibly imagine, while Anna had dropped everything to go with him to register for a tournament because¡­why, exactly? After a long and stressful trip into the center of the city, he¡¯d registered for the tournament and they¡¯d said their goodbyes, Ria scribbling notes on her arm while Anna just waved cheerfully. Will thought as he walked past Thea¡¯s lavish home. He wasn¡¯t really equipped to deal with them on a regular basis and this development was stressing him out, even though his feet guided him to Jean¡¯s bakery nearly every day. Will¡¯s head whipped around, spotting a leather-clad figure bursting out of Thea¡¯s second-story window, twirling as she landed on the cobbled street, a leather satchel over her shoulder, stuffed with crumpled papers. ¡°AHAHAH! None can stop the Phantom Thief!¡± Will thought sourly. ¡°Stop her!¡± Thea shouted from the broken window, a torrent of water emerging from her fingers, creating tentacles to wrap around the leather-clad figure, only for the target to slip out of it¡¯s hold and leap up to the rooftops. ¡°Will! She¡¯s got all our money!¡± Thea shouted, pointing. Will paused, frowning. There was no way a satchel that small could possibly hold all the money he¡¯d been saving the last few days. Sacks full of ivory had been deposited with Thea for nearly a week now, and surely they were too bulky to carry in a single- ¡°They¡¯re bearer bonds! I don¡¯t have time to- Just get her!¡± Thea shouted, causing Will to bolt into action. Because he¡¯d put on his act with Frank the Tank just today, his Man-hunter ring was still unusable, leaving him with just the Sickle of Cold Harvest, which was plenty for his purposes. Will sprinted up the side of the wall and dashed after the figure. They were leaving foot prints pressed into the tiles as each stride pushed them faster and faster. Will thought, shooting a bullet into his prey¡¯s back. The sprinting figure erupted with ice crystals and began tumbling haphazardly, smashing into the side of a wall before tumbling down into an alleyway. Will pursued down into the alley and oriented himself on the human-shaped mass of ice, stooping down beside it. ¡°Alright,¡± Will said reaching for the frost-encrusted satchel. ¡°Where¡¯s the-¡° The frost coating the outside of the satchel collapsed inward, revealing that there was nothing inside the hollow sheet of ice. The rest of the ice-covered figure did the same, scattering into tinkling crystals of pure ice. There was no one inside. Will heard the sound of a girl¡¯s laughter growing distant. Will rose above the rooftops and flew in the direction he¡¯d heard the laughter coming from, spotting an overweight man with rubbery lips and a balding head carrying a satchel. Will didn¡¯t bother to stop and demand answers, simply whistling through the air and hitting the man square in the side with both feet. The man burst into ice and tumbled away from him. For a fraction of a second, Will thought he might¡¯ve guessed wrong and committed murder, but a figure clad in black leather squeezed their way out of the layer of ice cocooning the heavyset man, becoming unnaturally narrow as they slipped out of a fist-sized hole in the ice. The Phantom Thief tugged the satchel out last, some of the transformation seemingly shared with the objects she carried. Then she was back to cackling and sprinting away, and Will was back to chasing her. ¡°Gotcha!¡± Will grabbed the girl in a headlock, which she proceeded to slip out of and kick him in the side for good measure. Will could only imagine it was some kind of Ability allowing her to be so elusive. He would have tried to cripple her Build by taking her Relics, but he didn¡¯t see any on her hands, neck or head. Will thought, aiming for a tackle. The girl slipped around the tackle as though she were made of air, causing Will to nearly hit a wall at full speed. He rebounded off and sped up into the sky, matching her leap as she hit the rooftops again. ¡°You¡¯re getting kind of annoying!¡± she shouted over her shoulder as Will caught up to her again, his speed only growing with time. ¡°Drop my money and we don¡¯t have a problem!¡± ¡°Make me!¡± ¡°Gladly!¡± Will shouted, pulling out his tomahawk and taking a swing as he caught up. At the brandishing of lethal weapons, the thief gave him her undivided attention, slipping around the attack with unnatural grace and twisting herself around his arm like the constrictor snakes on the seventh floor. The thief had outlandish strength, overpowering Will¡¯s natural Resistance to break his arm with a swift . Will hissed in pain, staggering backwards as the thief flowed away from him, taking his tomahawk with her. Will thought sourly, cradling his broken arm with his stump. ¡°Thanks for the souvenir!¡± She crowed, waggling his hand-axe at him. ¡°NONE CAN STOP THE PHANTOM THIEF!¡± Will didn¡¯t pursue as she sped away. Only having one broken arm available to him was less than ideal. What would he do if he caught her? Kick her to death? More likely she¡¯d break his leg. Besides, there was more in life than winning. Will thought, flying back to Thea¡¯s place. ¡°Did you get her?¡± Thea asked, stepping out on her front porch. ¡°No but I hollowed out the satchel while we were fighting.¡± Will said, dropping the contents of the satchel from his Phantom Hand into Thea¡¯s waiting hands. These ¡®bearer bonds¡¯ had exceptionally low volume, which worked out well for him. ¡°Oh, thank the gods,¡± Thea sighed, clutching the fancy-looking papers that represented their entire fortune to her chest. ¡°Have you considered a bank?¡± Will asked, to which Thea gave him a sour look. ¡°Also you owe me a new weapon.¡± ***The Phantom Thief*** Bee thought, spinning the tomahawk between her fingers like a baton as she arrived at her hideout. ¡°But unfortunately for him, none can stop the Phantom Thief!¡± Bee declared to her trophies, scattered across the dilapidated warehouse. Priceless tapestries, gems, statues, and paintings collecting dust and rainwater from the leaky roof. If her interest had been to preserve or re-sell them, she might have taken pains to prevent their degradation, but she was only after the thrill of acquiring. The powerful rush of imposing her will on the status quo. Proving that she had the power to take things away from the powerful, and the other way around. Bee¡¯s thoughts danced around that particular sinkhole with practiced ease. ¡°let¡¯s see what we got,¡± she said, burying the tomahawk in a priceless antique and collapsing into an ancient throne to peer into the satchel. It was empty. Bee closed the satchel. Bee opened it again. Still empty. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°But¡­ none can stop the Phantom Thief?¡± She asked the empty room full of priceless treasures. There was no response. Bee didn¡¯t like that. Bee didn¡¯t like that at all. It made her feel small and weak. Helpless. She glanced up and right was a marble bust of her pursuer staring back at her, with that same self-assured smirk. Something about him felt It reminded her of Bee from before the Phantom Thief. She leapt up and wrenched the tomahawk out of the painting and began chopping away at the marble bust of the schmuck. Bee paused mid-hack. The more Bee thought about it, the more her head hurt, until she finally gave up, tossing the axe aside, where it embedded itself in an ancient vase. Try as she might though, she couldn¡¯t stop thinking about it, her mind constantly turning it¡¯s attention back to her pursuer even as she tried to distract herself with counting gems or reading old yellowed manuscripts about the gods of old. Chapter 59: Akul has Everything Clark Fiddle twiddled his thumbs, scanning the surroundings for any sign of kaiju or rebel activity from his station, despite being near the center of the city. He was currently guarding a ¡®correctional facility¡¯ with a fearsome reputation, known as ¡®The Pit¡¯. None of that was true. There were no prisoners, only more guards who lived on-site, wearing prisoner outfits for the sake of the ruse. No one wanted to break to a prison, and the average citizen was happy enough ducking their heads and thanking their lucky stars they hadn¡¯t been sent to The Pit, never really questioning why they didn¡¯t know anyone who¡¯d been housed there. What they had was a kaiju, restrained smack dab in the middle of the city. Clark had watched the outer fences for two years before they had trusted him enough to take a rotation on the inside, and what he saw horrified him. A team of mages with strong CC Abilities keeping the monster asleep and restrained at all times. There was a team of excavators and masons constantly working to make the pit the kaiju was in deeper, strengthening its prison around it. That made him feel a little better, but if those crowd control mages ever missed a day¡­ It answered some questions about how the city was so unblemished by kaiju spawns, typically spawning outside the city and in fewer numbers, making a city a workable concept. The Tower must¡¯ve had a hard limit on the distance kaiju could spawn from each other and how many could be active at a time, allowing Baron Akul to restrain some exceptionally slow or weak kaiju to create a ¡®safe zone¡¯ upon which a city could be built. ¡®Exceptionally slow and weak¡¯ was a relative term, as the beast that slumbered underneath the prison could still cause untold destruction if it were ever roused. Clark knocked on the wood post beside him. It never hurt to be a superstitious with these things. In the distance, Clark could make out a wagon train coming down the road that ran adjacent to the faux prison exterior, causing his heart to skip for joy. Since it housed hundreds of guards who had limited contact with the world just beyond the range of the fence, supplies were shipped in on large wagon trains, from flour and beans to metal utensils, salt, cloth, toilet paper¡­ Everything the prison needed to keep running. The guards who played at being prisoners were the ones with higher clearance, and not allowed to leave the facility until their term of service was over, at which point they were under Contract to lie about their time there, accepting the stigma of being a ¡®former criminal¡¯ in exchange for a generous stipend paid by the Baron. It was a devil¡¯s bargain, but there were always men willing to accept it. Clark was not one of them. He could freely come and go to his wife and home in the city, and as a result earned a commensurately small amount for his work, as well as not being privy to certain classified secrets. Which was fine with Clark, who had discovered that knowing more did not always make him feel better. In fact, the opposite was true, as he¡¯d been having nightmares about the earth erupting as the sleeping giant buried under the city woke and unleashed death and destruction. The wagon train took a left at the gate, the guards at the outer gate waving them in, prompting Clark to stiffen and ready himself at the second gate, putting his game face on. The inspector halted the wagon before it came through the second gate, peering inside the lead wagon. The inspector peered inside the first wagon, nodded, then waved them through, proceeding to the second and third. Clark and his partner, Jacob, who was an enormous tool, got on either side of the second gate and opened it for the wagon. The man driving the wagon was gaunt, almost skeletal, with sunken cheeks and an amiable grin. Like a happy corpse. He was wearing an oversized straw hat and overalls. On the bench beside him was a wicked looking scythe that radiated ominous energy. ¡°Excuse me sir, that weapon¡­¡± Clark said, pointing it out. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing but a family heirloom,¡± the skeletal man said, reaching up to tip his hat. ¡°but I understand and I¡¯d be happy to leave it here at the gate should you-¡° The man did tip his hat, instead grabbing hold of something hidden under his straw hat and slipping it down over his face. A mask of purest Abyss. On the other side of town, Will was eating breakfast while he walked, pondering his Build. Will only had two of the five fingers of Phantom Hand slotted with any kind of item. In the first slot was his ring of accuracy, with the mancatcher mutation, which increased his Strength by a drastic amount and allowed him to tug enemies around the battlefield. In the second slot was Cold Harvest, which added modest lifesteal and strong frost debuff to every attack. Will had already confirmed that the frost debuff applied when used with- Will¡¯s eye twitched as his hand dropped to his waist, where The Tomahawk of the Serpent used to rest. The weapon¡¯s psychic AOE was an excellent way to piggyback status effects past a monster¡¯s ¨C or person¡¯ ¨C defenses, and he was already missing it dearly. That was something they would work on later. For right now, it was time to finally visit the legendary marketplace of the 5th Floor. The marketplace sprawled out onto one of the main streets, with trinkets and consumables and less valuable Relics lining the streets. There was food, too, with stalls of baked goods and street meats cleverly sandwiched between far more expensive Relic stalls, which made the inflated price of their wares sound reasonable by comparison. Will bought some ¡®french toast¡¯ as they strolled through the market, almost unable to hear each other over the crowds. ¡°Rings, got rings for all ¡®types here, I got fire rings, water rings, poison rings. Rings that blow up when you get hit! Rings that hypnotize, pulverize, womanize, you name it, I got it!¡± A hawker shouted right into Will¡¯s ear as they passed by. He gave the stall a glance but the rings weren¡¯t even behind a case, which implied they weren¡¯t valuable enough to steal. ¡°You¡¯ve got rings that blow up when you get hit?¡± Will asked, asking between bites of fluffy goodness as he stopped to look. ¡°That¡¯s right, try this one on for size, kid,¡± the merchant said, pulling a chunky-looking ring out of the display for Will to appraise. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Does it protect you from the explosion damage?¡± Will asked. ¡°Obviously, it raises your resistance. Just imagine, a jumper hits you in the back and BAM! Flings that little shit right off of you.¡± ¡°But it says damage, so if an attack is stopped stopped by your armor, it won¡¯t count, will it? And if it¡¯s a ranged attack from beyond nine feet, it still triggers the explosion.¡± Will said. ¡°Meaning someone could pelt you with little darts and you would just keep exploding for more damage than the darts themselves, right?¡± Will asked. ¡°You know what? Move on, I got real customers to worry about.¡± The merchant said, waving him off. Will shrugged and moved on, grabbing another piece of french toast out of his bag and dipping it in his syrup cup as he walked ¡°You probably aren¡¯t going to find anything amazing in the street stalls.¡± Loth said. ¡°You¡¯re also going to get fat.¡± ¡°Nah, I got another five years before my body gives up on me,¡± Will said, rolling up the delicious fluffy egg-bread and shoving it in his face. ¡°If you even live that long.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Loth nodded. ¡°I guess that¡¯s fair. Ooh, there it is.¡± She tugged his sleeve and pointed at a store. Will nodded, swallowed his meal, rolled up his bag and dipping cup, tossing them in a nearby trash can before heading over to the store, navigating the river of people streaming through the streets. Will had seen streets almost this crowded once, during a festival in a larger town, but It didn¡¯t even seem possible. Finally the two of them arrived in the store. ¡°Welcome, welcome!¡± the man behind the counter said, waving them in. Everything on display was protected behind thick glass that shimmered with some kind of enchantment. Will was curious to see if his Phantom Hand could get through it, but not enough to risk starting a fight with the bouncers. ¡®Bouncers¡¯ plural. Will thought, approaching the man behind the counter and opening his mouth to speak. ¡°You¡¯re William Oh, correct?¡± The merchant said before Will could open his mouth. He had a wild mane of black hair and broken front teeth, looking far more wild than Will would¡¯ve expected from such a high-security place. ¡°Steve told me about your Party¡¯s needs. Here¡¯s what I have.¡± He reached down under the countertop and pulled out a shallow box, with nearly a dozen Sacrifices on display, each on their own individual silk pillow. ¡°May I?¡± Will asked. ¡°Of course, but if you Sacrifice it, you¡¯ve bought it. And if you don¡¯t have the money, Mo and Edmund here will be more than happy to beat it back out of you.¡± Will reached out and touched the solid bar of metal as he read the description. Will confirmed that it an erosion golem by checking that his first upgrade choice while holding the chunk of solid metal. It was. ¡°That¡¯s a yes,¡± Will said, taking his hand off it before turning to the other. He glanced over at the next item. A preserved pale arm, about a foot long. The flesh was opaque, but it seemed as though the flesh might¡¯ve been somewhat transluscent before it had been dried. Will checked what it would add to Aspect of the Goat. ¡°I can see why you¡¯d want that,¡± the merchant said, glancing at Will¡¯s stump as he teared up. ¡°Yeah. Definitely want this one,¡± Will croaked, restraining himself from immediately adding it to Aspect of the Goat. He reluctantly moved on to the next, a chunk of preserved flesh with a scaly green exterior. Will frowned and re-read that last sentence. Will touched it and checked what it would do to Aspect of the Goat. Now that he was actually touching it, he could see more information. Will didn¡¯t know that Aspect of the Goat only had one slot for upgrades, but he always suspected, ever since he¡¯d seen Aspect of the Gravity Goat listed as a potential upgrade. Why would that be an option if he¡¯d sacrificed Gravity Goat originally? He figured that the Gravity Goat leather had been in such poor condition that it had given him a degraded version. Will decided to ask to make sure. ¡°Excuse me, do you know what a qualitative upgrade is?¡± ¡°Ah, you must¡¯ve sacrificed a piece of poorly preserved Immortal Serpent leather or something, right?¡± the merchant asked, winking. ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± Will said, frowning. ¡°This is a rare phenomenon, but not completely unheard of,¡± The merchant said. ¡°Sometimes, when someone Sacrifices a poorly preserved Sacrifice during Class creation that doesn¡¯t meet the minimum requirements, The System compensated by giving you a degraded version of the Abilities you would¡¯ve gotten otherwise.¡± ¡°Uhuh,¡± Will nodded. ¡°But The Tower is nothing if not fair, if you come across one of the three sacrifices you used during Class generation you can perform a Qualitative Upgrade to bring it up to where it was supposed to be. It uses up one of the upgrades you get every five levels, but it doesn¡¯t use a slot, it upgrades the Ability, and it typically expands the maximum limit of upgrade slots the Ability can take.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t go into that much detail in my school,¡± Will mused. ¡°It a rare occurrence. People used to do it more often because a Qualitative Upgrade could often outperform a normal Ability in the long term.¡± That perked Will up. ¡°But¡­the early survival rate was noticeably lower, and the Aspirants often didn¡¯t survive The Trial.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t even it to the Trial.¡± Will muttered, shaking his head, imagining moldy bones trapped in their own extradimensional tomb. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Nothing. So, is there a way to determine how many upgrades an Ability can have?¡± Will asked. ¡°They didn¡¯t go over that in school either.¡± ¡°Understandable, they don¡¯t expect commoners to need the information. There a way, though. Well, not per se, aside from a Qualitative Upgrade telling you,¡± The merchant said. ¡°But there is a pyramid,¡± He said, turning to the back shelves. Will was tempted to grab the chunk of Immortal Serpent and Axolotl and run, but muscled it back. A moment later the wild-haired shopkeep turned back with a book and flipped through until he revealed a massive illustrated pyramid of Sacrifice Rarity. S A B C D ¡°Now, keep in mind,¡± The merchant said, motioning to Will. ¡°This pyramid is a human construct, so there are exceptions, but basically, anything up here in the S category -¡± He held the book up and tapped the pointy top of the pyramid. ¡°-can support between six and nine upgrades to an Ability generated that Sacrifice, and provide up to five Stat Growth. ¡°A Rank supports four to six upgrades, and four stat growth,¡± ¡°B supports two to four upgrades, and three stat growth.¡± ¡°C Supports up to three upgrades and three stat growth.¡± ¡°And D supports one or two upgrades and three or less Stat growth.¡± ¡°So, Uru Drake?¡± Will asked. ¡°Right up at the top,¡± the merchant said, tapping the pyramid again before setting the book down. ¡°Which is why I couldn¡¯t get my hands on any. Apologies.¡± ¡°No worries, so I¡¯m guessing¡­Immortal serpent is A rank?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s good stuff. Rare and valuable, but not to acquire, same with most of your requests. Would you like to inspect the rest of them?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The next items were Scavenger Crone, Infuser Demon and Poison Frog Sacrifices that June had requested, alongside samples of Ripley, Ticking Beetle, and Stone Shark for Loth. Travis, Mason and Reggie hadn¡¯t settled on an exact request yet. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. All of the Sacrifices were legitimate and looked well-preserved, so Will gave all of them the okay. When Will saw the price tag, his eyes nearly fell out of his head, but this was the reason they¡¯d allied themselves with the Oilton family in the first place, as well as why he¡¯d been doing so much work performing at the underground fight clubs. They could afford it, which was even more startling to him. Will spent the next half hour signing papers authorizing the transfer of funds. He felt very grown-up. ¡°Once payment processes, you can come back into the shop and take possession of your new purchases.¡± The Merchant said as he put the Sacrifices back behind the countertop. ¡°Give it three days.¡± Will nodded. Three days seemed like an eternity this close to getting what he needed to get his hand back, but he would do what he had to do. Once they stepped back outside, Will tapped Loth¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Can you have your bugs hit those sacrifices with tracking scent? Knowing our luck, the Phantom Thief will try and steal them before we can get them just to spite me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re being paranoid, but¡­okay.¡± Loth shrugged. A small shape ducked out of sight into an alleyway as Will looked up. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m being paranoid.¡± ¡°Where to next?¡± Loth asked. ¡°There.¡± Will said, pointing at a sign. Chapter 60: Willliam (Not a necromancer) Oh Jason Salazar S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Welcome to Rings and things!¡± a cheery voice called as Will and Loth entered. Will froze mid-step as he spotted the ¡®person¡¯ behind the desk, an enormous insectoid creature that looked something like a mantis, if a mantis had stubby fingers growing off their wrist where their arm folded into a serrated killing machine. Nobody else in the shop was running or screaming, so Will relaxed and went with the flow. ¡°Good afternoon,¡± Will said, approaching the counter. ¡°I¡¯m participating in a tournament in a few days and I¡¯d like to find some new options for my Build?¡± ¡°What is your Build, Sir, if you don¡¯t mind my asking?¡± The necklace around the creature¡¯s neck glowed and emanated with a sweet young womans¡¯ voice while the creature stared at him unblinkingly. ¡°Summoner? Light warrior, heavy warrior, Scout, Tank, Nuker, Necromancer, Buffer, Healer, Logistics, Crafter, Crowd Control?¡± ¡°¡­Flexible, actually.¡± Will cocked his head. ¡°Did you say necromancer? I thought those were illegal.¡± ¡°Not illegal in and of itself, just difficult to pull the archetype off and prohibited by the government.¡± ¡°Prohibited by the government illegality.¡± Loth said. The mantis-creature didn¡¯t move an inch, showing no reaction to Loth¡¯s statement. In fact it hadn¡¯t stirred this entire conversation. It¡¯s was another thing. ¡°Oh my, a kobold! How cute! I could just eat you up! Ah, it¡¯s so nice to meet a fellow world-traveller outside our ancestral homes in these parts. As for illegality, the Xeju believe that if the Tower allows it, it is legal. There is no higher authority.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Will grunted. ¡°So you have any necromancer Relics?¡± ¡°Oh, my, no, that would be Illegal. Wink.¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming you can¡¯t wink,¡± Will said. ¡°That would be a fair assumption. I do not have any necromancer Relics, but I do have a few - summoner Relics that might satisfy your needs. Wink.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a necromancer, but I¡¯d still like to look at them,¡± Will said. ¡°¡­Wink.¡± He actually wasn¡¯t, but despite the illegality there was no young man that didn¡¯t enjoy the concept of raising the dead to serve them. Being cool, and badass, girls thinking you were fixable, wearing all black leather and being stick thin¡­ It actually reminded him of that mask wearing outlaw that nearly captured him on the 2nd Floor. learning more about the kinds of relics the man wore might give him insight into how to analyze and disassemble his Build, should he ever come across him again. Will knocked on the wooden countertop, but he knew he¡¯d already jinxed himself. ¡°Right away!¡± the Xeju moved with alarming swiftness, going from completely motionless to flickering into the back, flickering back through the back door, climbing sideways along the doorframe to control her momentum until she stopped in front of Will, setting a collection of items on the countertop in front of him. Will picked up the bone ring and inspected it. Will frowned. So necromancers needed high Focus, to allow them to keep lots of undead running simultaneously. They also had less available Charge based on the number of undead you could visually confirm, which the ring of the Undead Horde helped with. Will didn¡¯t know the ring helped, but if he had to guess, it was likely that the Focus drain for maintaining undead was related to their power, so this ring could allow someone to cut down the maintenance cost on 3 Focus undead to 1, allowing the wearer to triple their number of worthless staggering meat-shield zombies, but, say, a Death Knight might take 40 Focus to keep in play, and a reduction of 2 apiece wasn¡¯t actually that much of a game-changer. Will checked the next item, a gnarled wand with a velvet handle that seemed to blur the line between driftwood and bone. ¡°Oh, this one is a good choice, young necromancer.¡± The Xeju said as will inspected the weapon. ¡°Not a necromancer,¡± Will said, but she continued as if he hadn¡¯t spoken. ¡°Many necromancer Archetypes gain life-drain and sacrifice mechanics with their Abilities. Having a disposable undead retainer on-hand to sacrifice in an emergency is quite the powerful benefit, and makes Party members much less nervous about winding up on the chopping block, so to speak. Having it available to clean house, cook, and set up camp, and the ability to heal one¡¯s minions is also a blessing.¡± A single low-power undead was basically nothing. Most of its utility was derived from the ability to target it with other Necromancer abilities that might require a living sacrifice, or the Ability to have it stand there and let you cut it¡¯s head off to heal a critical wound. Plus the wand could allow you to patch up your other undead, something a necromancer might not want to waste a whole Ability on. The wand wasn¡¯t the primary strength of a necromancer, merely filling gaps in their Build. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. This did make Will stop and think, though. A single low-power undead was basically nothing, but if he fed the wand to his Phantom Hand, and it doubled the power of the ability¡­ Would Low-powered become Medium-powered, and could the hard limit of one undead become Two? While Will was wearing his Cloak of the Fade, he was raising the power of Phantom Hand by 25%, which pushed it¡¯s multiplier just over 100%, effectively doubling all effects the slotted item had. If one medium-powered undead was significantly stronger than a Low-powered one, and if he could raise two instead of one, the power was effectively quadrupled. The potential damage output of the Undead retainer was no longer an afterthought to the utility of having a convenient sacrifice. Instead, combat power could become the primary draw of the Ability. Will put it back down, but couldn¡¯t help lingering on it for a moment. Will flinched as the Xeju flickered away, soundlessly darting into the back before returning with a polished steel ring, which it placed beside the wand. ¡°You seem interested in the wand,¡± She said. ¡°And I remembered possessing a synergistic item.¡± Will picked up the ring and inspected it. ¡°What¡¯s an eidolon?¡± Will asked the obvious question. ¡°Any non-physical, spirit-type summon. Ghosts, elementals, avatars¡­that sort of thing.¡± ¡°So the undead Retainer would qualify?¡± Will asked. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Hmm..¡± Will mused for a moment before moving on to the next one, picking up the wavy blade with a skull carved into the pommel and fingerbones forming the wristguard. Will thought. Done with his internal complaints, Will inspected the dagger. Will sat and thought about that one for a moment. There was the upside of not needing to pay Charge to create the undead. There was the downside of needing to kill something to trigger it. The bone maksu had a higher starting combat potential than the Undead Retainer, geared for combat rather than making beds and setting up camp, what with them being purely physical, and will remembered the maksu being fast and vicious. Still low-power undead, but with a focus on physical combat rather than utility. Will could set up his own camp. ¡°Can the wielder kill with this to create a bone maksu?¡± will asked, thinking of Loth¡¯s hundreds of thousands of insects. If Will could squish a handful of them and throw half a dozen overpowered bone maksu in his enemy¡¯s face, that would be phenomenal. ¡°Only monsters and other Climbers. The way on-kill effects pay for themselves is by utilizing the miasma inside the body of the target to fund their effect, so typically they don¡¯t work with plain animals or un-Classed humans.¡± The Xeju said¡­still motionless. ¡°Ah, darn,¡± Will mused for a moment before turning to Loth. ¡°do you think you could-¡° ¡°Breed a species of insect solely designed to hold onto a large amount of Miasma, so it can be used as the target of on-kill Relic effects?¡± Loth asked. ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said with a shrug. ¡°Sounds like a real exploitable Build idea for me, though. I¡¯ll start on it when we get back.¡± ¡°Can you hold onto the ring and wand for me, and then bring some on-kill effects, on-charge effects, as well as wands that grant decent Abilities, be they CC, Direct Damage, or utility, as well as Ranger and Rogue boosting Relics?¡± Will asked. ¡°And I¡¯d like to see if you have any interesting Amulets with odd effects.¡± ¡°Oh, you flexible.¡± The Xeju said before flickering into the back with that eerie speed before she began returning with piles of Relics for Will to sort through. Will would hate to give up his extra movement speed, but the ability to fly be extra durable while flying? That was hard to pass up. Will went through the wands while Loth inspected a dagger with an on-kill healing effect that would synergize well with both the Undead Retainer and her proposed Miasma bugs. ¡°In theory,¡± Loth said, ¡°This dagger could be used to turn five Charges through that wand into a moderate heal. It¡¯s a bit clunky and indirect, though, since you would need to pass the dagger to the wounded ally, who would have to at least be conscious enough to use it. You likely couldn¡¯t use it in the heat of combat, but outside of combat it could be a handy way to patch up the party without an official Healer or wasting a consumable.¡± ¡°Add it to the pile.¡± Will said, reading the wand¡¯s details. Will thought, moving on. Sure it was modestly handy for a Nuker who might want attack options that saved power for big booms, but it wasn¡¯t synergistic or build-changing, it was just a little safety blanket. Will thought. The movement/attack speed was excellent, especially if he fed it to his Hand, and having three stats it boosted was nice too. And the chance to paralyze? Also good. Will was somewhat neutral on the actual damaging Ability itself. Why shoot a lightning bolt when you can launch a cannonball at someone? ¡°Do you have any more Relics that effect both attack and movement speed?¡± Will asked, pointing at the wand. ¡°Of course.¡± She ducked aside and returned with a handful of relics, clearing away the ones Will had already looked at. ¡°attack movement speed are often associated with lightning abilities, and they are often weaker than attack or movement,¡± She said as Will picked up a pair of gauntlets. ¡° paralyze?¡± Will asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have an exact chance?¡± ¡°The System does not know exactly what you will be using it on. A fleshy meat sack like you? Chances are good, but against a stone golem? The shell of a mountain-sized spirit turtle? Not happening.¡± ¡°I suppose,¡± Will said, trying not to let himself get too excited. These gauntlets were an excellent choice for his Phantom hand, as they boosted all of his physical stats, and granted an excellent boost to movement speed damage, as well as a solid chance to add extra damage to his attacks¡­paralyze? And if he doubled all those stats? ¡°Add these to the pile,¡± Will said, handing them back to the Xeju. Her stubby insectoid picked them up with surprising deftness and added them to a growing pile behind her. Will went through the rest of the wands and didn¡¯t find anything that sparked his interest quite like the sparkforce and the undead retainer wands. Mostly they were designed with Nukers in mind, and either plugged into the Nukers damage boosts, or offered cost-saving elemental attacks, or simply a different element in order to cover a weakness. None of that was what Will wanted. Will turned his attention to the Xeju¡¯s ¡®rogue¡¯ selection and noticed a wand shaped like an ornate skeleton key, albeit far too big to ever fit in a lock, with a leather-wrapped handle and a chisel-like edge that looked designed to do some light stabbing. He picked it up and inspected it. 1 Charge: Wand of the trespasser changes size and shape to match any lock. Alternatively, can become a pry-bar. Stabby Stab: This Wand has mutated to function as a melee weapon in addition to it¡¯s normal functions. Reinforces it¡¯s durability to direct damage. Will thought, inspecting his current off-hand weapon. That would be a noticeable drop of seven Resistance if he switched, but it would be an additional 20% boost to Phantom Hand and whatever he put into it. Plus, nearly was something¡¯s territory, so the +30% bonus to sneak would work anywhere except Will¡¯s bedroom. Will added it to the pile. ¡°How much for all of that so far?¡± Will asked. ¡°One hundred ten-pieces,¡± the Xelu said. Will did some mental math. ¡°¡­Let¡¯s add the On-kill bone maksu dagger to the pile,¡± Will said before turning back to the ¡®rogue¡¯ pile. Chapter 61: New Loadout ¡°Well, that¡¯s definitely a rogue item,¡± Will muttered. It didn¡¯t fill a slot, so it didn¡¯t have stat boosts, but it could in theory be useful for a quick escape.Will looked at the tag and whistled at the price, but didn¡¯t balk. Not after the cost of everything else. Will thought turning back to the selection the giant bug-lady had laid out for him. In the ¡®Interesting Amulet¡¯ section was a strange amulet made of interconnected rings of brass, seemingly connected at odd angles, yet connected with a bolt that ran through all of them. When Will¡¯s hand touched it, the inner circles began to spin lazily. Gyroscopic Stabilizer -7 focus +3 Kinesthetics Passive: User has more direct control over their inertia, orientation, and to a much lesser extent, gravity. ¡°What does this mean?¡± Will asked. ¡°Try it on,¡± The Xeju said. Will took off the Homefield Advantage and put on the Gyroscopic Stabilizer The bug lady reached out with the back of a single massive talon and gave Will a brutal shove. Normally that amount of force should¡¯ve sent Will flying, but instead his body seemed to resist being shoved before immediately righting itself. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s cool,¡± Will mused, trying the ¡®gravity¡¯ portion of the amulet, orienting his desired direction ¡®up¡¯. He got what felt like twenty or thirty pounds lighter, but did not fly, which was a shame. ¡°Try running up the wall,¡± The bug woman said motionlessly. Will ran up the side of the wall, able to seamlessly sprint upwards by controlling his momentum and getting that extra ~20 pounds of force keeping him pushed against the wall instead of just dropping him to the ground. Will liked it a lot, but he didn¡¯t really it for anything specific, so he put it back, pulling a pair of Boots out of the Rogue selection. If Will didn¡¯t have more powerful boots by level sixty, he would quit Climbing. Still, Will did have pretty strong Kinesthetics, so he¡¯d tolerate the downside much better than most. It wasn¡¯t as much of a boost as the Boots of Outflanking, but they lasted a lot longer, and the requirement to trigger them wasn¡¯t nearly as finicky. Will didn¡¯t really need speed boosts, though. Not when he had the mask and terminal velocity on his side, and with the sixth floor coming up, will was hoping to find some boots with ranger boosts that could make him able to walk on water. Technically Will had been walking on pond-scum and the occasional piece of grass. While that was impressive, Will wanted to hit unaided water-walking by the time they reached the Ocean floor¡­for obvious reasons. ¡°I¡¯m looking for ranger boots that boost the effectiveness of Ranger Abilities and footing at the same time,¡± Will said. ¡°Speed boost?¡± She asked. ¡°Not necessary.¡± Will said, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I have.¡± She said before flickering into action, opening drawer after drawer behind the countertop until she came back with a pair of familiar boots. ¡°A mutated Relic from a mutated eel on the 4th floor. Is this the sort of thing you¡¯re looking for?¡± She asked. ¡°Where have these boots been my whole life?¡± Will asked before glancing back up at the insectoid shopkeep. They were an upgrade in every stat over the Swamp Stompers they¡¯d farmed on the previous floor, and they added an Ability as well. ¡°Do you have somewhere I could test these?¡± Five minutes later, Will was bobbing on the surface of a giant tub of crystal clear water. Stolen story; please report. From what he could see, the water around him was stabilized out over two feet in every direction, bowing slightly down under his feet, but supporting him. As if he were walking on a puddle of congealed syrup. ¡°That¡¯s gotta be over a thousand pounds of water you¡¯re stabilizing,¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Will glanced up at Loth. ¡°Do you have a tape measure?¡± She asked the shopkeep, getting one in a matter of seconds as the other patrons of the shop gathered around to watch Will stand on water. ¡°Looks like someone¡¯s gonna have an easy time on the Sixth Floor.¡± Someone joked. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see, the radius is¡­twenty eight and three quarters inches¡­¡± Loth¡¯s eyes flickered as she calculated. ¡°Seventeen hundred and ninety-eight pounds¡­and a bit extra, assuming a perfect hemisphere. No wonder you can stand on water.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°Well, what¡¯s happening with you isn¡¯t exactly the same as buoyancy, but it¡¯s close, so I¡¯ll use buoyancy as a stand-in.¡± S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°What¡¯s buoyancy?¡± Will asked. ¡°It¡¯s the amount of water weight an object displaces in the water. If the object¡¯s weight is less than that of the displaced water, it floats.¡± ¡°So if I displace more than my own weight of water, I float?¡± Will asked. ¡°Yes, but you¡¯re not displacing it, you¡¯re stabilizing it,¡± Loth said, pointing at his feet, which had been ever-so gradually sinking, stretching the surface of the water, which bowed underneath him. As if on command, the surface tension broke, and Will jerked for an instant as he fell straight down into the water, soaking himself up to his knees. ¡°Did anyone get a time on that?¡± Loth asked. The surrounding patrons shook their heads. ¡°We have a couple more things we need to test,¡± Loth said, a crazed look in her eyes as she pulled out a small hourglass. Will knew he was doomed. Loth ran him through exhaustive testing to make sure the boots were a viable purchase, and as it turned out, Will could only stand in place for just under a minute without falling through the surface of water, but if he paced in a small circle in the center of the tub, there was no limit. Something about the magical synergy between his Class Abilities and the boots refreshed itself every step he took. Rarely if ever did he expect to need to stand still on the surface of water for extended periods of time. The point of walking on water was to ¡°I¡¯ll take it,¡± Will said, climbing out of the tub and taking the boots off, handing them back to the shopkeep. ¡°How much?¡± ¡°Well, originally, they were sixty tenpieces.¡± The shopkeep said. Will coughed. ¡°But your water-walking tests sold every other swamp stomper I have, so let¡¯s call it one ten-piece in gratitude for the free advertising.¡± Will sighed in relief. ¡°¡­I¡¯m thinking about commissioning a brand logo with a goat boy walking on water.¡± The Xeju said thoughtfully. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to respond to that,¡± Will said, shaking his head. ¡°But I appreciate the discount.¡± ¡°My pleasure, William Oh,¡± The xeju said. Will froze. ¡°Either you¡¯re William Oh, or you¡¯re emulating him. We shall see.¡± Will nodded and kept going through the rogue items, finding a hood that raised the potency of his rogue abilities. He didn¡¯t want to give up the mask, so he passed. There was a forestry hat that gave half a dozen passives to navigating the wilderness and boosted his Ranger Abilities, but¡­same issue as the rogue hood. It would boost his water-walking and trim half a week off the time it took for a Sourdough¡¯d item to regenerate, but Will wasn¡¯t willing to give up flight just yet. There was a ring that stored notes from everyone who¡¯d worn it before, which popped up where they became relevant, but it didn¡¯t provide much in the way of combat bonuses. Will thought, his gaze landing on a single glove made of thick leather that seemed to extend to the elbow. ¡°Is the hawk an eidolon?¡± Will asked, pointing at the glove. ¡°¡­I¡¯m not sure.¡± the Xeju said. ¡°¡­Can I test it?¡± Will asked. A few minutes later the glove was on the ¡®keep¡¯ pile, along with a bow they¡¯d discovered that June would like, and a couple extra gold to cover the scratches the hawk had made on the shopkeep¡¯s counter. ¡°All of these, please,¡± Will said, pulling out bearer bonds from his breast pocket and thumbing through them. A few minutes later, the bonds were authenticated, and Will geared up: Will switched out his Greater Sting Ring with the Ring of the Eidolon, then changed his armguard of Tracers with the Glove of the Aetherhawk, then he upgraded his boots. He swapped the Holdout Dagger for the Wand of Trespassing, then fed the Wand of the Undead Retainer and Stormfists to his Phantom Hand, passing off the Dagger of Eternal Servitude to Loth to experiment on her insects with. Once everything was where it was supposed to be, Will checked his Status. Primary Ability Upgrade Available! (x2) Secondary Ability Upgrade Available! Will thought as he reviewed his stats on the way back to their Inn. The boost from his regular items was ten Strength from his pants, which left nineteen attributed to the Ring of Accuracy in the Phantom Hand slot. Will¡¯s current Acuity was 99, which, when multiplied by 1.45, had to be somewhere close to 143% add 1 for the base amount¡­ 2.43 x 7 = 17¡­ Will took the ring off and his Strength dropped by 2. Will put the ring back on and reached out with the Phantom Hand and flicked a pebble on the ground in front of him, focusing on using the ring to make it interact with the physical world. The pebble jumped, rocketing off into the distance. That¡­was unfair. And of course, it used up his ring slot, which had an opportunity cost, but Will was more than happy to pay. It didn¡¯t make sense to his gut, because no part of anyone¡¯s body could be used to exert force on themselves, because it was all part of the same closed system, but Phantom Hand wasn¡¯t actually connected to him, so¡­maybe it could? Will concentrated on the sensation of physicality the ring granted, and shoved himself from behind. Loth spat out a scrap of turkey leg as Will suddenly flew forward, tumbling violently in midair, plowing through the crowd before landing in a tangle of limbs. ¡°Will, are you okay!?¡± She demanded, dragging him off of a stunned citizen. ¡°What happened? Where are they!?¡± she scanned the gawking crowd and the rooftops, looking for the mysterious attacker. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine,¡± Will said, reaching out and grabbing the Phantom Hand, pulling himself to his feet. ¡°I was testing an Ability. It has a little more zip than I thought it did.¡± Loth frowned, watching him rise in an unnatural way, putting his weight on nothing at all. ¡°It¡¯s the Ring of the Eidolon interacting with the Phantom Hand, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°¡­Maybe?¡± Will was always a little impressed/intimidated at how quickly Loth picked things up. ¡°We need to run some tests,¡± Loth said before glancing around at the angry passerby Will had knocked over like bowling pins. ¡°But not here.¡± Chapter 62: Would the Real Phantom Thief Please Stand Up? Micheal Francis mopped sweat off his brow.How had things gone so wrong? Five years as a Climber, slowly and carefully working his way up to the land of plenty, a lucky break with an administrative job, then thirty years of diligent service, and he¡¯d finally made it. He was one of the wealthy decision-makers in the city of his lord, Akul. He¡¯d lived in a mansion, with But now he was dead. Because the coffin was Baron Akul, like most Lords, was highly paranoid, never telling everyone everything, burying secrets across the city, so many that none saw the complete scope of his machinations. The only secrets Micheal knew of was the kaiju hidden under the City Records office and the coffin. But the records office wasn¡¯t his responsibility. The Coffin was. It was made of solid onyx, inlaid with thick gold, and was basically too heavy to steal. You would need a dozen high-level warriors with outlandish strength, and they certainly wouldn¡¯t be able to disappear with it. There was a single footprint in the floor where the thief had shifted their weight wrong, causing them to sink partially into the floor, leaving a crisp footprint embedded in the marble. The thing was, Micheal didn¡¯t want to lose his status or get splattered by the baron in a fit of rage. Micheal sank to his knees. Micheal chuckled. Not without anyone with two brain cells to rub together figuring out what he was doing. Micheal was staring into the void of his broken dreams when a small foot appeared in front of him. ¡°Master, are you alright?¡± Rosa asked. The young maid knelt down to give him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. She was always kind to him. ¡°Not really, Rosa.¡± Micheal said, leaning back against the wall and letting his legs flop out in front of him. He wasn¡¯t up to the task of standing right now. ¡°I regret to inform you that your tenure here may be coming to an end. No fault of yours, I assure you. the one on the way out.¡± Micheal said, glancing up at her concerned brown eyes. ¡°Would you like a letter of recommendation to some of my colleagues before it loses any value?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a bad person.¡± she said¡­almost a question. Odd thing for his mistress to say. ¡°I¡¯m¡­normal.¡± Micheal said with a shrug. He always tried to pay his staff fairly and be discrete about his affairs. No bastards, no lives ruined. That sort of thing. ? ¡°Was that box really that important?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m probably going to be killed when the Baron finds out,¡± Micheal admitted, beyond bluster at this point. ¡°What would you do to get it back?¡± Rosa asked. Micheal cocked his head, glancing up at her, his scattered wits sharpening. ¡°You¡¯re not Rosa.¡± ¡°I never said I was,¡± ¡®Rosa¡¯ said, taking a graceful step backwards, her foot sinking perfectly into the single footprint embedded in the marble flooring. ¡°Had to spread my weight out,¡± She said, her feet widening dramatically until they were roughly the size and shape of snowshoes. His first instinct was to lunge forward and try to subdue the slight woman¡­But if she was a shapeshifter and could lift the coffin¡­any physical altercation would resolve in her favor. Micheal¡¯s decades of well-honed self-preservation instinct kicked in. This wasn¡¯t a situation best solved by force. This was a situation best solved by total capitulation. ¡°What do you want for it?¡± Micheal asked. ¡°I want you¡­to throw me a party,¡± She said. ¡°¡­That¡¯s it?¡± Micheal asked, frowining up at the person who held his life in their hands. A party was¡­kind of a small ask. ¡°¡­I have some specific requests,¡± she said with a mischievous grin unlike anything he¡¯d ever seen on Rosa¡¯s face. ¡°Before you start, Is Rosa okay?¡± Micheal asked, holding up a hand. ¡°Why would you ¨C¡° her expression soured. ¡°Ew¡­¡± her body rippled and shifted into a slender black-haired girl, even shorter than Rosa. ¡°Blech,¡± She wiped herself off as if she¡¯d gotten something icky on her, shuddering from head to toe. ¡°The maid? ? What a clich¨¦.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­normal.¡± Micheal shrugged. ***William Oh*** Three days after arranging their purchase, the money went through and Will got his hands on the Sacrifices he¡¯d ordered from the shop. It was altogether¡­uneventful. ¡°Really?¡± Will asked, glancing around. ¡°No dramatic attack or last-minute reversal?¡± He asked. The room remained silent. ¡°Why would you expect that?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Because I beat a phantom thief at stealing. They typically hold grudges for a long time about this sort of thing.¡± ¡°What would know about the behavior of phantom thieves?¡± ¡°I stole a kid¡¯s toy in the middle of the night once because he wouldn¡¯t pass the bread.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°This Phantom Thief seems to have the same level of maturity.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Uhuh, just take your Upgrade.¡± Loth said, shaking her head. Will thought, holding up the chunk of Immortal Serpent. There was a flash of light and the chunk of mummified flesh was gone. A tingle went down Will¡¯s spine as some flooded his entire body, prompting a shudder. Will inspected the Ability. The word ¡®minor¡¯ had been cut from in front of ¡®passives¡¯, and the description of the Immortal Serpent Sacrifice had been shoehorned into the end of the ability. Will glanced around, but there was still no phantom thief popping out of the floorboards to assert dominance. ¡°Huh. Maybe I was just being paranoid.¡± Will admitted. ¡°You pretty good at it.¡± Loth said as they left the Sacrifice shop. ¡°No, I¡¯m good at being ¡± Will corrected her. ¡°Paranoia outside The Tower is common sense inside.¡± ¡°Ehh¡­¡± Loth waggled her scaled hand. ¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± Will mused as they walked. ¡°The of being a Phantom thief, which is basically the sport of being petty, dictate that she focus her ire on me. That she steals that which I most desire.¡± ¡°Obviously is what I most desire,¡± Will said, motioning to his missing hand. ¡°There¡¯s nothing else I like more than having two hands¡­I¡¯m gonna stop for a raspberry tart.¡± Will¡¯s feet had stopped in front of Jean¡¯s Bakery. ¡°Really?¡± Loth asked, scaly brow raised. ¡°Obviously I would give up on raspberry tart for my hand, if I could.¡± ¡°What about baking tarts entirely?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Pff. You can¡¯t that. That¡¯s like half the food groups right there,¡± Will said as he pushed the door open. ¡°Wait a minute, are you talking about tarts or baking ¡°Welcome!¡± A masculine voice called out as Will entered, causing him to stop in his tracks and re-evaluate the situation. Behind the counter was an adonis. A vision of male perfection so immaculate that it could¡¯ve only been created by a woman at a drafting board. Perfectly aligned white teeth, lean but not veiny, lithe, strong jaw but not too strong, curly golden hair bordering on red. Stunning green eyes. ¡­Knowing smirk. ¡°Welcome to Jean¡¯s bakery, I¡¯m Kyle, what can I get for you?¡± the ¡®man¡¯ said as Will approached. ¡°Where¡¯s Anna?¡± Will demanded. ¡®Kyle¡¯ gave an apologetic shrug. ¡°Some rich guy commissioned a huge catering order, so they¡¯re expanding their production capacity, and that means they¡¯re super- busy. It¡¯s just me manning the front counter nowadays. Can I get you anything?¡± Will cocked his head and listened. He could hear Anna, Ria, and their boss from the back, calling out instructions and requests to each other as they struggled to meet the catering order that the Phantom Thief had surely instigated. ¡°Listen here you little shit,¡± Will growled. ¡°I know exactly who you are. You¡¯re not a baker, you¡¯re not even a man. You¡¯re the Phantom Thief, and you think you can get under my skin by stealing bakers.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t I?¡± ¡®Kyle¡¯ asked, leaning an elbow on the display. ¡°Oh sure, maybe you can, but what happens next?¡± Will asked. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡®Kyle¡¯ blinked. ¡°Say you use this ridiculous costume¡± ¨C Will gestured to all of ¡®kyle¡¯ ¨C ¡°to make Anna fall in love with you, what happens next?¡± ¡°Then I break her heart.¡± ¡°Then what?¡± Will asked. ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± ¡°What if I hang around, try to win her back?¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll stay.¡± ¡°Then what? You gonna get married to Anna, raise some kids, pretend to be a man for the rest of your natural life? Just to spite me?¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­¡± ¡®Kyle¡¯ began visibly shrinking as Will continued poking holes in his revenge plan. ¡°You didn¡¯t really think this through, you?¡± Will asked, righteous anger coursing through him as he got the upper-hand in the conversation. ¡°You¡¯re just a bumbling-¡° ¡°Will, it¡¯s a set-up.¡± Loth said, throwing cold water on Will¡¯s temper. In the space of a heartbeat, ¡®Kyle¡¯ lost two feet of height and turned into a petite, black-haired girl a hand¡¯s length shorter than Anna, and began bawling out loud. Warned by Loth, Will switched tracks instantly. ¡°Oh my, are you okay!?¡± Will said performatively, leaping over the counter to ¡®hug¡¯ the bawling young woman. ¡°Will, are you being mean to Bee?¡± Anna asked, the chubby blonde poking her head out of the back of the shop. ¡°He-¡° ¡®Bee¡¯ began to speak, but Will cut her off. ¡°Just helping her to her feet.¡± He said, lifting ¡®Bee¡¯. ¡°She stubbed her toe bad.¡± His Phantom hand released a blade from its storage before catching it midair and pressing it into the shapeshifter¡¯s spine, out of Anna¡¯s line of sight. ¡®Bee¡¯ stiffened at the sharp sensation digging into her back. ¡°Ow¡­I think I¡¯m okay. I¡¯m sorry, stubbing my toe just¡­reminds me of my daaaad¡­¡± ¡®Bee¡¯ continued bawling. ¡°Oh¡­there, there,¡± Anna said, wrapping an arm around the shorter girl¡¯s shoulders and escorting her away. ¡°Let¡¯s get some sweets in you and take a little break. Okay?¡± ¡°¡­Okay,¡± Bee said between sniffles. She peeked over Anna¡¯s arm and stuck her tongue out as the baker girl escorted her to the back room. Beyond them, Will spotted Ria watching from the darkness. The ¡®undercover¡¯ guardswoman motioned to her eyes, then pointed at Will. Will responded with a rude gesture only Ria could see, given the other two were facing the opposite direction. ¡°Thanks for the warning.¡± Will said as Anna and Bee left. Getting him mad and then changing the game would¡¯ve caught him flat-footed if he¡¯d been alone. At least this way it¡¯d been a stalemate. ¡°I¡¯d like to take this opportunity to remind you that there are bakeries in Akul,¡± Loth said. ¡°¡­Less contentious ones.¡± ¡°Maybe, but would be admitting defeat,¡± Will said, grabbing an order of pastries and leaving payment on the counter. ¡°And you say the Phantom Thief is petty,¡± Loth sighed as they exited. ¡°Seems like you¡¯ve got all the right ingredients to be one yourself.¡± Will chuckled. ¡°I do, don¡¯t I?¡± he paused, tart halfway to his mouth. ¡°I don¡¯t I!? put some tracking scent on my palm.¡± Will said, shoving the tart in his mouth and holding out his hand. ¡°Bit of a tone shift, but sure,¡± Loth said, bemused at Will¡¯s sudden change in attitude. A moment later a bug landed on his palm before flying off. Even with his heightened senses, Will barely felt it. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°If it were highly noticeable it wouldn¡¯t be any good for tracking you.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°People.¡± Will poured the bag of tarts into his mouth before spinning on his heel and re-entering the bakery a few minutes later, catching Bee just as she came back to the front counter. ¡°I just realized why you¡¯re doing this. You¡¯re threatened by me. Somewhere in the back of your head, you think I might be a better thief than you.¡± Will said, leaning close and lowering his voice so the others in the back wouldn¡¯t hear him. ¡°So how about this? Pick an object. We compete to see who can steal it, and the winner is, for all times, the superior Phantom Thief, uncontestably. The loser admits they couldn¡¯t hack it and doesn¡¯t bother the winner ever again.¡± ¡°Obviously the superior phantom thief!¡± Bee whispered back. ¡°Prove it.¡± Will said. Her brown eyes narrowed. ¡°...fine. The party the girls are prepping for, happens tomorrow night. The host owns a gilded coffin. It¡¯ll be on display in the center of the party. It¡¯s bulky, heavy, and valuable. moving it, let alone stealing it, is a challenge in and of itself.¡± ¡°First one to steal it is the real Phantom Thief?¡± Will asked. ¡°Deal,¡± Bee said. ¡°Deal.¡± Will said, reaching over the display. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m not tall enough.¡± The girl said after trying and failing to reach over the display glass. ¡°You¡¯re a shapeshifter, damnit.¡± Will whispered. ¡°Oh, right.¡± Her limbs lengthened and a moment later, her palm clasped his. ¡°Deal,¡± Both of them whispered simultaneously, neither of them intending to stick to it, and both of them aware of it. ¡°A spur of the moment phantom thief competition?¡± Loth said, shaking her head as they left. ¡°Will, I thought better of you.¡± S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°All we have to do is believably withstand a bit of gloating, and she¡¯ll lose interest in us?¡± Will said. ¡°Her bruised ego was the root of the problem, and therefore it¡¯s the solution.¡± ¡°A wise, holistic approach. But doomed to failure if you follow her back to her lair and steal your tomahawk back while she¡¯s distracted with the coffin heist, like you¡¯re obviously planning.¡± Loth pointed out. Will chewed his lip. ¡°Oh. Right. Well, I¡¯m not giving up on the tomahawk. That¡¯s tomahawk. She cannot have¡­ tomahawk.¡± Will couldn¡¯t give two shits about a fancy coffin, but his first acquired at great risk to his own life and marking the beginning of his career as a Climber? That was unacceptable. ¡°You and her are on same wavelength.¡± Loth said. ¡°We are, aren¡¯t we?¡± Will said, thinking as they walked. ¡°Then¡­If it were me, I would¡¯ve picked something I already stole, that way there was no chance of losing.¡± Chapter 63: Patience Will was alone in his room, twirling the Axolotl arm in his hand. it was a shrivelled limb about the size of his forearm. It appeared to have once been somewhat transparent, but the preserving process had made it into an opaque chunk of flesh with the consistency of a piece of smoky quartz.He¡¯d wanted to be alone when he Sacrificed the arm. Something about this felt personal. Private. A moment between Will, himself, and no one else. Mostly because he wasn¡¯t sure if he would cry or not. He held it up, offering it to The Tower. Will¡¯s body shuddered as his Ability was rewritten. Will glanced over at his stump. It¡­tingled a bit? Maybe? Will took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Will peered down at his wrist, half-hoping that might be the case. When nothing happened, he let out the breath that he¡¯d been holding. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I was expecting,¡± Will muttered to himself. He leaned back and studied his arm. Will thought, thinking back to Loth¡¯s reading of the church¡¯s missives telling of ¡®deceivers in human skin¡¯. The rules of the ¡®qualitative upgrade¡¯ as told to him by the merchant said that when someone had low-quality sacrifices, they could upgrade their skills with a better sample from one of the three original sacrifices. The System thought he¡¯d Sacrificed a sample of Immortal serpent. It had been his hand. The idea that one or both of his parents might¡¯ve gotten busy with a giant snake monster, or simply been one¡­was not too surprising, actually. You don¡¯t get to be legendary Climbers without a secret or two. Will had seen all kinds of races since he¡¯d started Climbing, and even more in Akul just walking down the street. So what if he wasn¡¯t entirely human? He was just another face in the crowd. Aside from the church of Granesh seeming to have a grudge against him specifically. Thoughts of the wizened crone, her quick hand and sharp tongue made him a bit misty-eyed. ¡°Will?¡± Loth¡¯s voice emanated from his door. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± Will leaned over to grab his mask from the nearby shelf with the intention of hiding his tears and recoiled as it shifted under his fingers, becoming something altogether¡­scalier. Will picked it up and saw the spitting image of an Uru drake looking back at him, the dragonoid¡¯s mouth half-open in a snarl. Will thought. The only explanation could conjure was that after upgrading Aspect of the Goat, the Mask of Manifestation registered him as a new wearer and randomly re-rolled its form based on his sacrifices, without assigning more weight to any given Sacrifice. Will mused as he put the mask over his face. Will thought as Loth ducked her head into the room. ¡°New mask?¡± She asked with a frown. ¡°Nope.¡± Will said, tapping the external features. ¡°Let¡¯s do some Phantom Thieving.¡± The party that Bee had challenged them to steal from was happening tomorrow night, but rather than do rational things like case the location and draw up plans, they were going to use tracking insects to follow Bee back to her lair and get what they actually wanted: Sure it didn¡¯t have any stat boosts, but the psychic attack, the passive debuff and the Contract Ability made it a valuable weapon, which Will wasn¡¯t willing to give up on. Plus selling a dozen rich people their art back seemed like a great way to refill the war chest. Will stood and marched out the door, heading downstairs before going out the back of the inn and jumping up on the rooftops, his body fading slightly to match the dim lighting as the Wand of the Trespasser made him ever-so-slightly transparent. It wasn¡¯t his territory. Loth followed from up high, her insects carrying her up in the darkened sky, high enough that no one could see or hear her among the featureless black expanse that loomed above the city. Will could¡¯ve hitched a ride with Loth, but he was badly in need of practice with his new loadout, so he peered up and gave Loth a salute. Will had gotten used to The Tower¡¯s strange shifting stars, but strangely he couldn¡¯t see them above the city. That was fine, because it made it harder to spot Loth. In front of Will, a single insect began flying, and he followed. As he swept across the rooftops like a quiet breeze, the scenery gradually changed around him, from residential neighborhoods for the wealthy guests of the likes of the Oiltons, to merchants buildings, middle class residential neighborhoods, slums with roofs creaking from years of neglect, dozens of people sandwiched below, praying that it didn¡¯t rain¡­and finally the buildings began to spread out as he hit the industrial area. Warehouses, tanners, canners, paper mills, and any other business that either required loads of bulk goods that might choke a narrow city street, or simply produced obnoxious odors. The buildings had dozens to hundreds of feet between each of them, causing Will to have to scamper down before leaping over high fences designed to keep level 25 trespassers out. Everyone in the city was at least level 20, the only thing that gave Will an edge was his class was built for just this sort of behavior. Will thought sourly as the realization dawned on him that he might never fly again. Will jumped up, grabbed his Phantom Hand and launched himself further up the fence, silently surmounting it to land in a puff of dust on the other side. He leapt up onto the cannery and muscled past the smell of fish, scampering silently past it, always following the bug that was tracing the marking scent he¡¯d long since scoured away from his own hand. When he came to the next gap between buildings, Will froze and ducked down, spotting half a dozen workers loading a wagon full of cans of fish, preparing them for distribution around the city. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. It was always amusing to note that the common laborers he saw below were, outside The Tower, functionally demigods. Any Climber who made it to the fifth floor was level 20 at least, and most rational people had at least 2 growth in strength, so these men and women were somewhere around triple the strength of a normal person, and the massive crates of jars they hauled around confirmed that. On the other hand, Acuity was often neglected by common climbers who only had so many points to spend and felt that better Acuity did not save one¡¯s life with the same frequency of say¡­high Resistance and Strength. Which was generally true, although, it could be argued that a high acuity stat helped avoid trouble entirely, but if one didn¡¯t have the strength to outrun it¡­it didn¡¯t really matter. In any case, odds were many of them had Acuity and focus as dump stats. Still, Will didn¡¯t think he could jump down, sneak past, then climb back up without alerting . There was still a good chance that one of them had put a few points into Acuity. Will was tempted to pick himself up and throw himself across with the Phantom Hand, but he ruled that out. It wasn¡¯t that the Ability lacked the power: It was surprisingly strong, actually, able to rag-doll him fairly well. The problem was a lack of fine control. He didn¡¯t have any convenient places to grab himself and little-to-no practice at it either. Meaning that while he theoretically fling himself over, he would be flailing the entire way and there was no guarantee he would hit the spot he wanted rather than going through a window. Will thought, glancing at the distant roof. Will was suddenly tempted to solve the issue of an untested Ability by replacing it with untested ability¡­ So he compromised. Will ignored the insect urging him to go straight though the laborers to the next building over and instead took a sharp left turn, finding a side of the building no one could see. Will selected the edge of the roof his foot was resting on, and the edge of the other roof. His eyes hurt as they told him that , the two points got closer, the world outside distorting around a man-sized tunnel of space. From Will¡¯s perspective, the distance between the two had shrunk to only about six feet. A little hop, and Will was on the other roof. He turned and looked back, seeing the same distortion lingering behind him. When he dismissed the Ability, space seemed to back to the way it was supposed to be, the distance between the two returning to it¡¯s previous state with only a slight ripple. wild.Will thought to himself before crouching down and scampering to the next roof over. Will switched the Phantom Hand slot from the ring of accuracy, to the wand, feeling his body suddenly become sluggish as he shed nineteen Strength. There was a wail more felt than heard (but definitely heard) as a pinhole in reality opened up and a spirit was shot out like it¡¯d been under pressure. Will thought, crouching down low and praying that the nearby laborers didn¡¯t come investigate. He needn¡¯t have bothered, because they were rational adults that weren¡¯t getting paid to investigate spooky noises happening in someone else¡¯s warehouse. Will thought as the blast of ectoplasm formed a semi-solid, resolving into a shape upon hitting reality like raw egg dropped into boiling water. The spirit resolved into a well-dressed, aged butler with no legs, who gave a genteel bow. ¡°Good evening, young necromancer, how can I-¡° ¡°Get down,¡± Will whispered, motioning for the spirit to duck before someone saw him. ¡°How can I serve you?¡± the spirit asked, crouching down to join Will. ¡°Are we under attack?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m trespassing.¡± Will said. ¡°Oh. You¡¯re a The spirit said with a tangible disappointment. Will cocked his head. ¡°I did not summon you to be ¡± ¡°Did you summon me to pick ?¡± the spirit sassed. ¡°No.¡± Will said, peering over the edge of the roof. None of the laborers had bothered to investigate the sound. ¡°Can you fly?¡± he asked, turning back to the spirit. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Can you pass through solid objects?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you have a name?¡± ¡°I am an amalgam of retainers, and as such I do not have a name.¡± ¡°That explains the elitism,¡± Will scoffed. The undead retainer did not deign to respond to that. ¡°If you¡¯re dismissed and re-summoned, will it be you again?¡± ¡°I experience continuity, in order to better serve my master, yes.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Will peeked back over the wall and connected two points. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Try and keep up.¡± Will leapt to the next roof, spotting the bug he was supposed to be following. Another soul-scream later, and a second butler stood in front of him, eyeballing the approaching butler. ¡°Good evening young necromancer, how can I serve you?¡± There were some slight differences between the two, but they were largely identical, as if they¡¯d both been squirted into reality from the same slurry of raw butler. Which was a fair analogy, Will supposed. Will could feel that he¡¯d reached the limit on butlers, and if he tried to summon another, it would fizzle. Which was to be expected because his scaling hadn¡¯t passed triple power yet. Still, two intangible butlers were better than one¡­save for their attitude. ¡°Don¡¯t bother, he¡¯s a rogue,¡± the first butler said as he arrived, floating across the gulf between the two buildings. ¡°I see. I suppose it¡¯s unlocking doors from the other side, picking pockets and scamming tourists with Ouija boards for us.¡± The new spirit sighed. ¡°Those are all really good ideas,¡± Will said, ¡°But first we¡¯re going to do a heist.¡± ¡°Gods preserve,¡± the butlers said as one, rolling their eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t roll your eyes!¡± Will whispered. ¡°This girl stole my tomahawk and a bunch of other stuff, so I¡¯m getting it back¡­and maybe ransoming some of it back to it¡¯s previous owners¡­you guys could actually help with that last part.¡± ¡°As you , master,¡± Both of them said with the exact same amount of barely-allowable sarcasm. ¡°Alright, Names: You¡¯re Stevie, and you¡¯re Billy-bob, if you wanted classy names like Magnon or Alistair, you should¡¯ve acted classier,¡± Will whispered, pointing at the two of them. ¡°I will not be saddled with unprofessional jackasses.¡± ¡°Touche,¡± the ghosts muttered. ¡°Stevie, follow us underground, look for any situation that might require your intervention, like distracting someone who is about to find me or flanking my opponent if I come under direct attack. You¡¯re my safety net. I expect critical thinking and decisive action.¡± ¡°Yes, Master,¡± Stevie said, sinking into the ground. ¡°Billy-bob, I wasted ten charges on you and your dimwit brother, I need you to save me Charges by going over to that roof over there and catching me. ¡°I do not have the strength required to-¡° ¡°You¡¯re stronger than you think,¡± Will said, pointing at a nearby barrel. ¡°Lift that.¡± The spirit gave a long-suffering sigh before bending and putting his arms around the barrel¡­then lifting it into the air with a confused expression. ¡°You can put it down now.¡± ¡°¡­are you some kind of necromancer/rogue hybrid?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m just that good,¡± Will said. ¡°Now get over there.¡± Billy-bob nodded and flew silently over to the next roof. Once he was in place, Will considered the best way to make this happen, first putting the Phantom Hand against his back, then under his feet before he finally settled on simply grasping his own hand. Phantom Hand was a little bit finicky. Its tangibility wasn¡¯t 100% and had a tendency to fade and flicker, mirroring Will¡¯s concentration. It often started out strong those first couple seconds, but quickly exhausted itself¡­much like Will¡¯s attention span. Which was why it made more sense (at the moment) to fling himself with a single concentrated burst of energy rather than pick himself up and float over the gap, because he was more likely to lose focus over time. Will jumped and felt a harsh tug on his arm as Phantom Hand launched him up and over the fence. Then he was on his way back down, falling rapidly towards the warehouse roof. To his credit, Will didn¡¯t scream, but he was flailing as he fell. Will caught his own shirt and hauled himself backwards, but it was too much force and he wound up tumbling backwards, towards the chain-link fence that bordered the two buildings. Stevie rose out of the earth beneath him and caught Will before he crashed into the fence, slowing him and directing his fall towards hard-packed earth rather than loud surfaces like chain-link and glass bottles. An instant later the spirit faded back into the ground. Will thought, climbing to his feet. He could probably have one of the butlers fly him around, but he needed to get the hang of maneuvering with the Phantom Hand. It was an option. Although wearing a handle on your body was just people to grab it. Will thought, extending his hand and hauling himself up with Phantom Hand. In a matter of minutes, Will arrived at Bee¡¯s hideout, a dilapidated warehouse that had seemingly slipped into disrepair. Abandoned. Will knew which one he preferred. He sent Billy-bob to scout for Bee before unlatching the window from the inside. The spirit butler gave him the signal and he shortened the distance between the roof and the window, silently stepping through. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, William¡¯s eyes went wide at the staggering amount of loot¡­much of it ruined. ***Ria¡¯s perspective*** Since Anna and Jean were throwing Bee a welcome party, this was Ria¡¯s perfect opportunity to leave them to their own devices and get the real dirt on William Oh. She¡¯d ¡®borrowed¡¯ a Relic from her superiors that allowed her to track a selected target and conceal her presence. Now was the perfect opportunity to catch him in the act. Ria thought as she stalked after him. She thought he had caught her on multiple occasions, but he seemed to be having a heated conversation with¡­himself? She¡¯d backed off after that, and nearly lost him half a dozen times as he swept from rooftop to rooftop with a silent grace only possible with an unlawful class. Thankfully he seemed to be heading in a straight line, so all she had to do was keep heading forward and eventually she re-acquired him. She nearly walked into line-of-sight, but managed to spot him first and reel herself back into an alley before he tuned his head. She peeked back out and studied her prey. William oh was standing like a phantom on the edge of the roof, looking down at a distant warehouse. With criminal intent. In front of her eyes, the window unlatched and opened itself, causing Ria to blink. What followed next was even stranger. William Oh¡¯s partially invisible body over the distance to the window, his body lengthening for a fraction of a second, shooting forward and diving through the window in the blink of an eye, invading the unclaimed space like a dread spirit. Ria began creeping forward, intent on finding out what William Oh was so keen on concealing inside that warehouse. ¡°Excuse me, miss guardswoman?¡± the voice of an older man called from an alleyway beside her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t have time to-¡° Ria froze as she glanced into the alleyway, spotting nothing. ¡°Why is it so¡­cold?¡± The same voice spoke from behind her, causing Ria to whip around, her heart hammering in her chest, all the hairs on her neck standing on end. There was a soft brush of wind against her skin and the sound of footsteps behind her. Ria turned. Nothing. ¡°This one is still warm.¡± The voice whispered directly into her ear. so close she could feel it¡¯s breath. Cold breath. Ria choked back a shriek and swung wildly, her arm tearing through the air, but otherwise impacting nothing. She glanced at the distant Warehouse that William Oh had disappeared into. There was a figure in the window¡­a little girl¡­motioning her to come forward. To join her. Suddenly the dark buildings looming overhead hid any number of horrors in every deepening shadow. Waiting for her. ¡°Nope. Nope, nope, nope.¡± Ria said, shaking her head and turning on her heel. ***Willliam Oh¡¯s perspective.*** ¡°You were being followed,¡± Stevie said, rising up from the floor, his body shifting from a little girl¡¯s back to his standard butler appearance. ¡°I convinced her to leave.¡± A moment later the spirit was gone. ¡°Really? Wow.¡± Given Will¡¯s prodigious Acuity, he must¡¯ve gotten complacent, or his pursuer had a Relic that¡¯d helped her to stay hidden. Perhaps some combination of both. Will had a strong suspicion which ¡®her¡¯ Stevie was talking about. ¡°Now what are we going to do with this?¡± Will mused, eyeing the massive black and gold coffin placed conspicuously in the center of the warehouse. ¡°I think I can help with that,¡± Loth said, descending from the skylight. A moment later, tens of thousands of insects beat their wings in unison, and the immovable stone coffin began to ascend. Will spotted his tomahawk buried in a wooden sculpture, and tugged it out, slipping it back into his belt. It felt like getting his hand back. Well, not quite good, but good. Will itched his stump. Chapter 64: Party Crashers ¡°And saying, there¡¯s gotta be a way to tailor the collar such that it isn¡¯t strangling me,¡± Will croaked, struggling to breathe.¡°Master, the current trend is tight collars emphasizing a slender neck. Do you wish to breathe or do you wish to impress?¡± Stevie said, taking the strip of cloth away from his neck. ¡°Breathe, obviously,¡± Will said. ¡°Look, let¡¯s just go the other direction, make the collar way bigger, give it some space for gold embroidery and pop it out.¡± Will motioned with his hand. ¡°You want to do¡­the opposite of the current fashion?¡± the undeadbutler asked. ¡°How do you think new fashion happens?¡± Will demanded. ¡°It¡¯s Mostly so I can breathe, but if I just loosen the collar I look like I¡¯m half-assing it. Make it Make it say ¡®look at me, I did this on purpose.¡¯¡± ¡°It¡¯s image.¡± Billy-bob said with a sigh from where he was tailoring the pants. ¡°Did anyone accomplish anything by not standing out?¡± Will asked. ¡°Frank Argyle survived as an advisor during the rise and fall of four bloodthirsty Lords who purged previous administrations and killed for perceived slights. During this time, he managed to introduce several reforms that eased the suffering of the common people.¡± Billy-bob said from his stitchwork. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s try this.¡± Stevie said, placing an oversized piece of test fabric around Will¡¯s neck and pinning it in place before standing back. It was maybe a half-inch bigger. ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand, I want this thing to block my like I¡¯m too important to see people who don¡¯t interest me.¡± Will said. ¡°Like a villain from a Saturday morning melodrama.¡± Stevie¡¯s brow raised. ¡°As you wish, Master,¡± he said, shaking his head as he stepped away to cut a bigger piece of test fabric. ¡°Pants,¡± Billy-bob said, stepping away from his stitchwork and helping Will into his new pants. They fit better than any nonmagical clothes he¡¯d ever worn before. ¡°Gods-be-damned.¡± Will mused, shifting his weight and lifting his legs. ¡°How are you so good at this?¡± ¡°What makes a competent retainer valuable is that he possesses a wide range of skills.¡± Stevie said. ¡°Accounting, law, tailoring. We dabble in many things.¡± After another hour, the two ghosts had dressed Will to his satisfaction, and he presented himself to the rest of his Party. ¡°It¡¯s awful,¡± Travis said. ¡°You look like a clown,¡± June said, nodding. ¡°I don¡¯t know nothing about fashion¡­but it looks more expensive than anything I¡¯ve ever worn?¡± Reggie said hesitantly, trying to be nice. ¡°You should drink some water,¡± Alicia whispered. ¡°You¡¯re a little dehydrated.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the best judge of human fashion,¡± Loth said with a shrug. ¡°It¡¯s pretty bad, Will,¡± Mason said. ¡°Why not just go with what¡¯s in fashion?¡± ¡°Because I hated it and would rather look like an idiot than strangle myself in order to fit in.¡± Will replied with a shrug, popping his collar with his Phantom Hand. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m going to be a walking, talking lure to attract my prey.¡± ? ¡°not sure what¡¯ll bite on but good¡­good luck,¡± June said, clapping him on the shoulder. The Phantom thief would take one look at him and realize that he was a distraction¡­which was exactly what he wanted. ¡°Oh my god,¡± Travis said. ¡°What is up with that collar!?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like to know?¡± Will asked. ¡°If anything ever said ¡®I have a big purse and a small dick¡¯, it would be that collar.¡± ¡°Excellent.¡± Will said, leaving the rest of his Party flabbergasted, save Loth. Will scanned the rest of his Party. They were all wearing nice clothes that had been tailored to fit them perfectly, but none of them had been designed from the ground up to be ostentatious, like Will¡¯s outfit. None of them were wearing their Relics, either. It was a strict Non-Combat dress-code. Many rich people didn¡¯t like stepping on trailing AOE¡¯s of sticky muck, or getting too close to someone and receiving a Slow debuff because they weren¡¯t in the same Party. That gradually led to a custom where only the host and the Lord of the city were allowed to wear their Relics to any sufficiently fancy party. The Lord was unlikely to attend a party hosted by some random mid-tier administrator throwing a last-second party. In fact, most of the highest-level nobles in the city would probably pass, leaving only the dregs of upper society. Rich, but not influential. This meant a low-power scene, with only a single person with a non-combat class and non-combat Relics as the only one allowed to wear them. And meant the party was a hostage situation waiting to happen. Bee could walk right in, subdue the host and walk out with the prize without much resistance from anyone. Will thought. Not if Loth¡¯s traps had anything to say about it. Mr.Francis had been very grateful for the return of his coffin. So much so that he¡¯d been willing to assist with the ¡®heist¡¯. Loth had trapped the out of the coffin, and anyone who tried to move or open it would get viciously nailed. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will was pretty sure Bee would survive. The girl had outlandish Strength and Resistance. Will frowned. Will put his ring, tomahawk, mask and amulet into the Phantom Hand, just in case. There wasn¡¯t enough space for his torso, legs and boots, but he would have to make due with half his kit. That was more than everyone else got. Once everyone had taken their last bathroom break, they all piled into a carriage provided by Michael Francis. The carriage itself was somewhat plain with simple gold inlays that pleased the eye without being overwhelming. The thing that really stuck out like a sore thumb was the fact the carriage was being pulled along by a giant¡¯s disembodied hand. Will spent half the trip sticking his head out the window and staring at the mummified kaiju fingers used as private transportation. ¡°Where can I get one of those!?¡± Will asked Alicia, pulling his head back into the carriage. ¡°You need to know a necromancer and kill a humanoid Kaiju. My father took a hunting trip down to Akul two years ago and got one stuffed as a trophy.¡± Alicia whispered. ¡°It¡¯s on our front lawn going through tai-chi poses.¡± ¡°Neat.¡± As they approached the city administrator¡¯s mansion, Will quizzed them on their roles for the party. Which was simple, because they weren¡¯t expected to do anything except for spread the word that Alicia Zodiac was in Will¡¯s Party, and keep an eye out for the Phantom Thief. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Will had considered asking Micheal to allow them to bring their relics, but he also thought that would put them in a vulnerable position¡­legally. Michael could have them arrested, point out their weapons as evidence they were attempting a robbery, and then, having found his scapegoat, quietly sweep the entire situation under the rug. So it was just Will and Loth sneaking their Relics into the party, and the others were kept blissfully ignorant of the back-and-forth going on behind the scenes. Alicia was the most important part. She was social armor, in a sense. It made it a lot harder to arrest Will while she was in his Party. She honestly thought they were just going to a fancy party, and she was actually kind of excited to go to a party with friends rather than to ¡®be paraded around and stared at like a prized horse¡¯, which made Will feel a little bad about using her like that. and Will thought. The carriage rolled to a stop in front of the same mansion Will and Loth had delivered the coffin to the night before, and the giant mummified hand came to rest, prompting the six of them to pile out, stretching their legs and sighing in relief. ¡°Alright,¡± Will said, staring up at the crowd of people filtering through the oversized double doors. ¡°Let¡¯s make an impression.¡± He popped his collar. Mason looked like he wanted to say something, but just sighed and kept his peace, while Alicia took Reggie¡¯s hand and dragged the Tank toward the stream of people entering the main hall. June shrugged and took Mason¡¯s hand, and Travis shrugged and followed. Will followed shortly after, climbing up the stairs behind them and giving his invitation to the crier, who announced ¡®Alicia Zodiac, William Oh, and company.¡¯ The chatter died to nearly nothing as the words ¡®William Oh¡¯ were uttered, their gazes landing on Alicia Zodiac and Reggie. Most gazes flickered away from Will as soon as they landed on him, as if he were painful to look at, none of them even getting a good look at the man wearing the amazing outfit. Will thought as he stalked through the party invisibly thanks to his retina-burning outfit, looking for Bee. ¡°Did you lose a bet, young man?¡± An older gentleman with sagging jowels asked with a wry smile as Will walked past. He was wearing a subdued outfit with gold embroidery, and had a very bored looking young man with similar features standing beside him. ¡°No, I need to catch a shapeshifter, so my best bet is to draw them to me with an outlandish wardrobe.¡± Will said, shaking the man¡¯s hand. ¡°¡­Plus I was hoping to start a new fashion trend and maybe get some attention from the ladies as a side-benefit.¡± Women were also avoiding looking at him. Will has partly happy to have such excellent social camouflage, but it was a bit painful. ¡°I know how that goes,¡± the older man said, nodding. ¡°It¡¯s not a bad idea, but you need to tap into human¡¯s herd instinct in order to pull it off. Get someone with authority to publicly endorse the outfit, and you can lead the crowd by the nose.¡± ¡°Wow, there¡¯s layers to this, huh.¡± Will mused. He hadn¡¯t considered that aspect of it at all. He kind of just assumed people that started new fashion crazes just showed up in outlandish outfits and everyone just followed suit¡­but what the old man was saying made perfect ¨C if a bit depressing ¨C sense. ¡°I for one, think it looks fantastic! Reminds me of the block prints of Lord-Quest I read when I was a young boy. Do you read comics?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know what those are.¡± ¡°They are a bit of a wealthy pastime.¡± The older gentleman mused, looking Will up and down. ¡°Your accent is from the Center. Age is very low to have reached the fifth floor. Climbing orphan?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Will murmured as out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a seven-and-a-half foot tall woman with long black hair, an hourglass figure and tight gown towering over the rest of the party, undeniably the center of attention as she waded through the shorter population. ¡°Excuse me, do you know who that is?¡± Will asked, pointing. ¡°No idea,¡± The older fellow said his eyes widening fractionally before taking a sip from his cup to hide his reaction. ¡°But If I were twenty years younger, I would climb that woman like a tree.¡± ¡°Try five,¡± His son interjected. The older man grunted into his cup. Will tracked the giantess with his gaze as the party shifted around her. The chances were low. ¡°Ah, forgot to introduce myself. William Oh.¡± Will said, turning back to the older man, offering his hand again. The jowled man reluctantly tore his gaze away from the giantess in the white dress and shook Will¡¯s hand. ¡°Louis.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Louis, but I have to go interrogate that giant lady.¡± ¡°Good luck, young man,¡± Louis said, chuckling. Will stopped to lean up against one of the pillars supporting the expansive ceiling above the main hall, keeping his gaze on the suspect. Stevie emerged from the pillar right next to his ear. ¡°No one I¡¯ve eavesdropped on knows who the giantess is. Odds are good she either is the shapeshifter, or has been hired by the shapeshifter as a distraction.¡± ¡°Any other suspects?¡± ¡°None of them stand out quite as much as the giantess.¡± ¡°Which is the point, I suppose,¡± Will said with a shrug. Will thought, heading for the towering woman. The crowd parted for him in much the same way they did for the giantess, but it was more out of a desire to not be seen talking to him rather than awe. ¡°Nice body.¡± Will said as he arrived in front of the giantess. ¡°Excuse me?¡± she said in a husky voice, staring down at him from what felt like miles above. ¡°What are the odds that there exists an actual seven-foot-tall woman interested in attending this party, Bee?¡± The giantess smirked. ¡°Not great, admittedly. I noticed you stole the coffin back last night, which means our little competition has a chance of being an actual challenge for me.¡± ¡°So what are you, a distraction?¡± Will asked. ¡°I could say the same about you,¡± Bee replied, gesturing to Will¡¯s clothes. ¡°But no, I¡¯m not the distraction. They are.¡± She pointed into the distance. Will didn¡¯t fall for it until he heard the voices. ¡°Piping hot pastries from Jean¡¯s Bakery!¡± Anna¡¯s voice carried over the party, prompting him to turn and look. The chubby blonde was wearing a white shirt, black pants, flour-dusted apron and comically oversized chef hat as she navigated the crowd, effortlessly carrying a tower of pastries nearly as big as she was. Ria, the ¡®undercover¡¯ guardswoman was wearing a similar outfit, emerging from the kitchen with an identical tower of pastries, offering them to guests as they passed. Will whipped his head around, looking for Bee, but the shapeshifter was already gone, changing her shape and vanishing in the moment the entire party was distracted by baker girls. Stevie caught Will¡¯s attention, waving from the ceiling. The ghost-butler pointed down beneath him at a dark-haired man with a combover, tucked away in a somewhat concealed nook created by a pillar and a small corridor leading to what Will could only assume were servant¡¯s quarters. Will thought, signalling to Stevie that he¡¯d seen before he began marching towards the shapeshifter. ¡°What? Nooo¡­¡± Bee groaned as Will arrived directly in front of her. ¡°Do you have eyes in the back of your head or something?¡± She demanded. ¡°Or something.¡± ¡°Wow Will, I didn¡¯t except to see you here! Your outfit is awesome!¡± Anna said, arriving beside him and grabbing two pastries off her tray before passing them to Will. ¡°Here. We got to use some real nice ingredients for today¡¯s party, so I know you¡¯re going to want seconds.¡± She lowered her voice and winked. ¡°Kaiju milk. From a giant cow.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Will said, a bit taken aback. Anna wiped her hand on her apron and gave him a cheeky smile, cocking her head and putting her hand on her hip. ¡°So this weekend, I was thinking-¡° ¡°Do not be seduced by cool clothes, you¡¯ve got a job to do.¡± Ria said, holding the massive tower of pastries with one hand and grabbing Anna by the ear with the other, pushing her to go mingle. ¡°¡­At least thinks my clothes are cool.¡± Will said, watching them go as he inhaled the pastries. Something was wrong here, but Will couldn¡¯t put his finger on exactly what was bothering him. ¡°Are they not?¡± The shapeshifter asked, scanning his clothes. ¡°Objectively?¡± Will asked, glancing down at his glittering sleeve. ¡°No. They suck. That was kind of the point.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Bee mused. ¡°So, we could call this a draw,¡± Will offered. ¡°I¡¯ve got you locked down, you¡¯ve got me locked down. We could just shake hands and let this go. This really seems like a lot of effort to prove you¡¯re better than me. Or maybe I could just admit you¡¯re the better Phantom Thief. I¡¯d be comfortable with that.¡± ¡°Okay¡­If you give me my tomahawk back. I was just getting used to it.¡± Bee said airily. ¡°That¡¯s tomahawk, and you dulled the edge on what, stone!?¡± Will said. ¡°Then I think I¡¯ll keep the bet going,¡± Bee said with a languid smile that was unsettling on a middle-aged man. ¡°You may have locked me down, but you haven¡¯t locked of me down.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Will asked with a frown. ¡°ATTENTION, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THIS IS A ROBBERY. ANY ATTEMPT TO LEAVE THE PREMISES WILL BE MET WITH SWIFT VIOLENCE. YOU ARE UNARMED, UNEQUIPPED. DO NOT FOOL YOURSELF INTO THINKING THAT YOU CAN RESIST. WE DON¡¯T WANT TO KILL, BUT WE WILL NOT HESITATE TO SET EXAMPLES.¡± They both glanced back towards the main hall, where shouting was beginning to rise from the entrance before Will looked over at Bee, who gave him a confused shrug. ¡°That ain¡¯t me.¡± ¡°AB GRA KUL BALNASH BAGU-¡± Will¡¯s eyes widened with recognition of the familiar gibberish, and he pulled his mask out of his Phantom hand and slapped it down over his face. ¡°-them in the west hall, away from the coffin. Don¡¯t forget the servant¡¯s quarters and kitchens. Arms, Round up their jewelry. I want them face-to-face with your arsenal so they don¡¯t get any ideas. Boar, escort our safecracker. Will glanced around the pillar they were ensconced behind and spotted three masks that haunted some of his worst nightmares. A red humanoid face with fangs that curved outwards. A stylized boar And a pitch-black void. They were the mercs who¡¯d tried to kidnap him on the 2nd floor. They worked for the Wyrd family, which was situated on the 7th floor, so they were likely to be level 35 at Running away from them? Maybe at triple speed it was possible. Catching a single one by surprise with a trap? Possible. One-against three fight? No chance. ..am The mercenaries stood at the center of a swarm of masked minions, all five feet tall, same height, same build, wearing identical featureless white masks to conceal their faces as they began spreading through the main hall, rounding up the guests. Anna shrieked, hanging on to her tower of pastries for dear life as the faceless minions shoved her toward the west, into a growing cluster of guests which included the rest of his Party. Will¡¯s eyes narrowed as the fear was washed away by something colder. some ¡°I have an idea,¡± Bee said, her gaze lingering on Anna as the baker disappeared into the crowd. ¡°Speak,¡± Will said. ¡°Whoever takes the most out wins the bet,¡± Bee said, offering her hand. ¡°¡­Deal.¡± Chapter 65: Psychic Chain Lightning Bee¡¯s fingers turned spiderlike and she latched onto the pillar they hid behind and scampered up, turning a vibrant shade of red to match the ceiling.Will hastily equipped his ring, tomahawk and amulet, while considering the situation he found himself in. His Relics equipped, Will followed suit and climbed the pillar in a heartbeat, Will checked his Charge. ¡°Billy-bob. Stevie.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± the spirits asked, emerging from the pillar beside him. ¡°I want you to scout out how tough those faceless minions are. Billy-bob, you lure one away from the rest and try and take him out with a sucker-punch to the back of the head. I¡¯m going to the kitchen to get some supplies.¡± ¡°Yes Master.¡± ¡°And Stevie, make a distraction to draw attention away from the kitchen, then make a nuisance of yourself. Lock doors behind bad guys, hide their tools, move furniture around. Go nuts.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± The spirits said, sinking back into the stone. ¡°Who were you talking to?¡± Bee whispered, hanging upside down above him. ¡°Ghost butlers.¡± ¡°Oooh, I¡¯d love to have one.¡± ¡°They¡¯ve got an attitude,¡± Will muttered, eyeballing the kitchen entrance, which hadn¡¯t been taken by the invaders yet, since they were still rounding people up near the front of the mansion. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will peered around the corner and waited. One of the chandeliers near the entrance collapsed, magical glowing crystals shattering on impact with the marble floor, causing everyone to stare at it for a fraction of a second. Which was all he needed to make it to the kitchen. Will jumped off the pillar and through the door to the kitchen, the two spaces so close they might as well have been kissing. Will dismissed the effect instantly and began sprinting for the kitchen, screeching to a halt at the sight of the bakery¡¯s scarred and withered proprietor wielding a cleaver. ¡°Ack!¡± Willl ducked under a swing from the cleaver and pulled his mask up. ¡°It¡¯s me, It¡¯s me!¡± Will said, pointing to his face. ¡°William, huh?¡± The withered baker said, expression hardening. ¡°What¡¯s going on out there?¡± ¡°The party is under attack by some mercenaries from the Wyrd famil-¡° The antler handle of the cleaver cracked under Jean¡¯s grip. ¡°How many of them?¡± she asked, her voice icy. ¡°Like, a ¡± Will said, leaping past the island in the middle of the kitchen to grab the chef¡¯s knives on the far wall, along with another cleaver. Will briefly thought of having Stevie transport weapons to the hostages, but that¡­didn¡¯t seem like it would end well. Having a non-relic weapon was better than having weapon, but it wouldn¡¯t bridge the gap, that was for sure. ¡°They¡¯re after me,¡± Jean said, her face paling, the cleaver in her hand trembling as she began shivering. ¡°Huh?¡± Will glanced up at the old woman. ¡°It sounded like they¡¯re after the coffin that¡¯s the centerpiece of the main hall. You weren¡¯t even mentioned. But if it makes you feel any better, me and Bee are gonna take care of them,¡± Will said as he used dimensional storage on the knives. The only way he would have a chance against the mercs is if he could steal their Relics. If it worked for Mark Wyrd, it could work for these guys. ¡°No!¡± Jean said, grabbing Will¡¯s shoulder with bone-crushing force as he tried to leave. ¡°Ow.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t let my girls fight them.¡± Jean said, her eyes wild as she spun Will around to face her. ¡°Bee and Ria aren¡¯t actually-¡° ¡°You letthem¡± ¡°Why-¡° Will¡¯s question died on the vine as one of the masked minions entered the kitchen, creeping towards them with empty hands, like one might approach a wild animal. ¡°Alright, you two. Weapons down and make your way to the-¡° The slender minion rocked forward for a moment as Billy-bob sucker punched him in the back of the head with everything he had. The minion straightened up and glanced behind him curiously. ¡°Master, they¡¯re rather tough,¡± The butler said. ¡°Noted.¡± Will switched the slotted Relic effect from the Wand of the Undead Retainer to Stormfists, and Billy-bob vanished. Every physical stat went up by 7. The entire world slowed down, and the burden of air resistance seemed to evaporate. Will leapt over the island, watching the enemy glance back towards him and freeze for that crucial fraction of a second as he brought the Tomahawk of the Serpent down on his neck. Will¡¯s eyes widened as he took in the fact that he¡¯d buried the tomahawk all of perhaps a hair¡¯s breadth into the minion¡¯s neck. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Will kicked away a fraction of a second before the minion¡¯s hand closed down around the space where his wrist had been. Will scanned the minion¡¯s body for a Relic that could account for his near-immunity to damage. Even as Will did so, the paper-cut sealed itself, healing nearly instantly. While the small figure was wearing full-body leather concealing all their skin, they didn¡¯t have any tell-tale lumps around any of their fingers, no necklaces, no weapons, no boots, and no ambient aura from the presence of a Relic. Will kicked back and clambered over the island, barely keeping out of reach of the minion who followed him with implacable determination. Pots and pans scattered everywhere, making an unholy racket as the minion jumped over the island after him, and the two played a quick game of keep-away. Will was winning, obviously, as he was faster, and the pots and pans conspired to slip under his opponent while Will had no such problem. Will was able to get three more hits in as his opponent slipped across the floor, draining his stats by 9% for the next few seconds. Will wound up for the coup-de-grace and hit the minion in the back of the neck with the blade of the tomahawk. It should¡¯ve severed his opponent¡¯s spine, but Will got no more than a paper-cut. Will danced back out of range of a retaliatory strike, but he wasn¡¯t expecting another minion to burst out of the back of the one he was fighting, grabbing hold of his arms with unnatural strength. ¡°AIIII!¡± a young man¡¯s face, covered in scars, screamed at him with inhuman fury as arms began drawing him in, more and more hands latching on to his body, rendering him immobile with inhuman strength. Will thought, strangely calm under the sheer terror. Unstoppable hands clasped around his neck¡­ And were severed by a cleaver, held by the withered crone. ¡°The real one isn¡¯t even here, Will!¡± Jean shouted, kicking the Tangled away from him as it turned to face her, sending it hallway through the far wall. Will was torn from the creature¡¯s grasp, furrows of missing skin on his arms and legs where it had gotten hold of him. ¡°The main body is somewhere you can¡¯t get to it, wearing damage-sharing Relics. You can¡¯t kill them.¡± The old woman glanced at her cleaver ruined beyond repair by the creature¡¯s stone-like body, and tossed it aside. ¡°How do you that? Did you help make these things or something?¡± Will gasped, tearing the disembodied hands away from his neck and flinging them aside. ¡°Nope,¡± Jean said, shaking her head. ¡°Theres a passage that leads to the second story dining room, we can escape from there.¡± She said, heading off to a side door. ¡°The others will be here in seconds.¡± True, the Tangled that she¡¯d kicked into the corner was getting back to its feet and Will heard footsteps pounding towards them from the main hall. His mind surged. ¡°Nah, I think I¡¯ll just beat them now,¡± Will said with a shrug, eyeballing the hall leading to the charging horde of Tangled before glancing back at the old woman. ¡°If I keep the Wyrd mercenaries from noticing your girls, you promise to tell me how you know this?¡± Jean opened her mouth, but there was no more time to speak, as the Tangled leaped at him, its body reforming into a human¡¯s for better mobility. Will leapt up and kicked off the ceiling. The hallway was a good eight feet tall, and the Tangled were five feet tall. He connected the air above to the far wall on the other side, shrinking the space of the hall above their heads. In the blink of an eye, Will had bolted over their heads, landing in the center of the main hall, where more of the masked minions were milling around, their attention snapping to him with unnatural synchronicity. ¡°FOOLS!¡± Will said, climbing up onto a decorative planter in the center of the room, leaning into the effect of his gaudy clothing and the snarling dragon mask that no one had associated with William oh yet. He drew on the experience gained in his recent part-time job of fixing exhibition matches and took a pose, pointing haughtily down at those below. ¡°You dare to fight the Dragon of Akul!?¡± Will motioned for them to approach. It had exactly the effect he was hoping for. Two Tangled leapt at him, but they were slow and he wasn¡¯t falling for the growing-extra-arms trick again. He leapt over them, kicking off their shoulders, pulling his feet out of range of their extra arms and heading towards a bigger group of them, skidding to a halt at the last second and juking to the left, heading towards the clump herding people into the west wing. He caught sight of Void as the masked mercenary glanced up at Will, chased by over a dozen leather-clad Tangled. ¡°Spread out you idiots, he¡¯s-¡° Will ducked under a flying sword from Arms, skidded to a halt and sprinted back, straight into the dozens of faceless masks approaching from every angle. Will raised his axe and sent a Charge through the Tomahawk, unleashing a haunting chord that created a 20ft AOE of Psychic damage. If there was anything Will was certain of, it was that the mental stats of Tangled were extraordinarily low. Their master wouldn¡¯t want them to be strong willed. The Stormfist effect triggered on the attack, and every single Tangled in the room began to convulse as their mind and body received a sudden shock. Even the ones outside the radius. They weren¡¯t dead though, and Will aimed to correct that as he began pumping psychic damage through his captive audience, chained together by damage-sharing. Boar charged Will, who wanted none of the wall of muscle approaching him. One of the psychic waves hit Boar, getting a lucky hit and sending crackles of lightning through his body. If anything, Boar went Will slipped out of the way of the massive man¡¯s charge with his speed, and immediately found a massive sword slashing towards his face. Will ducked and perceived another blade approaching out of the corner of his eye. Will thought, springing out of the way the only direction that was available, straight into the waiting blade aiming to skewer him. Will shoved himself with Phantom Hand and jerked sideways in midair, causing Arm¡¯s attack to miss. His enemies weren¡¯t using Charge yet. If he blasted through all his Charge just to stay alive, that was the end. He needed to kill the Tangled before they recovered and added themselves to the mix. That would make him well and truly screwed. Will sprung backward, sprinting up the side of one of the main pillars, tiny cracks in the paint becoming entire footholds as he ran, gaining distance before throwing his tomahawk toward the center of the pile of twitching minions. Boar dodged the spinning war axe, which was caught by Phantom Hand, which began spinning, creating a constant drone, applying the axe¡¯s debuff to everything nearby. That alone was valuable, but Will wanted something more. Will thought as he sent his Charges through the Phantom Hand. In front of his eyes, the axe erupted with the haunting chord, inflicting psychic damage as Will¡¯s Charges passed through the Phantom Hand. Arm¡¯s hand clamped down on the Tomahawk of the Serpent, and Will felt his connection to the Relic sever. An instant later, it tore itself out of the Phantom Hand¡¯s grip and began floating behind Arms, just one faceless weapon in an arsenal of them. An instant later, Will felt a bony fist grasp his heart, yanking him away from the pillar he was sheltering on. The wind was driven out of his body as he impacted the unforgiving marble, spotting Void with a sickly purple aura around his hand, his arm aiming right at Will¡¯s chest. ¡°Goodbye whoever you ar-¡° Phantom Hand impacted against Void¡¯s hand just as the fingers around Will¡¯s heart began to tighten. An instant later, the hand was gone and Will could breathe, scrambling to get upright before the next attack came. Arm¡¯s finger twitched and Will¡¯s own axe began to approach, spinning at a speed that Will never could¡¯ve managed, and that speed gave the single chord more depth, a pulsing rhythm, that seemed to add notes and a beat¡­as if he were listening to uncanny death-music. Rather than attack Will directly and give him the opportunity to take it back, the Tomahawk of the Serpent began to circle around him, and Will could feel his strength slipping away from him as the 3-second debuffs began stacking. Before Will could even consider his response, Boar slipped through the encircling axe, bull-rushing Will. Will dodged, but not quite fast enough, his ankle suddenly engulfed by iron. The mansion around him went topsy turvy, spinning wildly as Will was whipped towards the ground by his ankle. Desperately, Will pushed away the ground¡­and it worked, causing the floor itself to bend out of the way as he was swung downward, reaching the limit of Boar¡¯s arm and swinging down underneath the warrior instead. Will twisted his spine, released a chef¡¯s knife from Phantom Hand and slammed it into Boar¡¯s inner thigh with everything he had. ¡°AGH! DAMMIT!¡± Boar growled, releasing Will and clutching his leg. Will knew a healing potion was coming and he wanted to steal it, but Arms and Void pushed him back, taking all his focus and liberal use of Phantom Hand to avoid outright dying. By the time he¡¯d gotten some space to breathe, Boar had already yanked the knife out of his femoral artery and downed a potion, a red aura gathering around him. Will thought, ducking behind a pillar to give himself an instant to breathe and think of a solution. A heartbeat later, Boar emerged through the pillar with so much force that the stone parted like water. Chapter 66: Boar Hunting Hushed whispering and muffled weeping filled the side room they¡¯d been corralled into. The hapless waitresses curled in on themselves fearfully. Well, the blond one did. The other looked actually¡­eager?She was taking off her apron, tying up her hair, and rolling her sleeves¡­like one might do before taking out the trash¡­or picking a fight. Reggie and June each dealt with barely contained nervous energy, while Alicia stared at the wall, her eyes flickering as she no doubt watched what happened in the main room. Their kobold was nowhere to be seen. Mason thought, the fire crackling on the tips of his fingers, hand hidden behind his back. As far as combat effectiveness, nearly all of them were screwed without their relics, but since Mason¡¯s primary Abilities were direct damage and shielding, he had all the ingredients he needed to lay a beatdown regardless of his kit. His fire might be a small fraction weaker than it normally was, but that was about it. He watched one of the faceless minions surrounding them walk just a too close to another two of them, creating a three-person cluster. Mason felt a hand clamp down over his wrist, and he nearly incinerated it before he realized it belonged to a hostage. Mason didn¡¯t mentally assign himself to that category. The man was older, with fine clothes, darker skin and drooping jowels. ¡°Wait.¡± Mason hissed quietly in frustration and glanced back up at the minions, where they had drifted apart again. ¡°Why are you stopping me?¡± ¡°Because you were about to screw things up.¡± The old man said with a shrug. ¡°I to do something,¡± Mason whispered. ¡°I¡¯m the only one who can!¡± ¡°You act too soon. A Nuker waits until he beyond a shadow of a doubt that his actions will strike a critical blow not muck things up. Even if that means watching your friends suffer. How many of them are there? Three dozen? And they¡¯re not even the commanders. You want to expose your queen to take three pawns?¡± ¡°Something¡¯s happening,¡± Alicia said, her gaze flicking up to the ceiling of the next room over, then down and to the left. She glanced back up at the ceiling and frowned, before turning and staring at the guests, several of whom were arguing with each other with gradually increased fervor. ¡°Yeah, well if it wasn¡¯t for we never would¡¯ve been here!¡± A brown-haired woman in an evening gown shrieked, backing away from her husband as her voice rose above the growing clamor. ¡°You¡¯re the one who wanted to go to this damned party, I just for it!¡± the husband said, following after her with a thunderous expression. It was strange. Four women were backing away from four men, arguing about similar things as the woman¡¯s back hit the edge of the imaginary line their captors had defined for them, all at the exact same time¡­An uncanny synchronicity. The minions approached and restrained the women, wrapping their arms around them, pinning them to the side. ¡°Calm down or-¡° The four women slipped effortlessly out of the masked men¡¯s grasp and spun around, their hands morphing into blades as they latched on and began sawing away with what Mason could only describe as feral rage. ???? The other minions watching them ran to their aid, but their ¡®husbands¡¯ charged forward, hands morphing into something black, shiny and pebbled, like the shell of a beetle. The mask-wearing minions were blasted back, but they didn¡¯t seem to be receiving any damage. ¡°I got these ones!¡± the eight guests spoke as one. ¡°Go!¡± ¡°Will¡¯s about to die. Nevermind.¡± Alicia whispered, her gaze flickering around the main hall on the other side of the wall. ¡°No. Yes.¡± Mason and Reggie shared a glance before Reggie used T.O.F.T. on him, and Mason began sprinting down the hall, June running beside him, kicking off her heels as she ran. Mason glanced to his left with astonishment as the taller, more athletic baker girl tore the platters off her steel tower of baked goods, leaving behind the pole, turning it into a metal cudgel as she ran beside them. Jun took a pin out of her bun, allowing her brown hair to cascade down over her shoulders for the first time since he¡¯d met her. The brass pin began to glow as she imbued it with magic using her secondary Ability. ¡°I¡¯m only gonna get one shot before I have to run,¡± she said as they sprinted. ¡°I¡¯ll shoot first, then you rain hell.¡± Mason nodded, screeching to a halt as they arrived in the main hall. All the masked minions were facing away from them, clumped together¡­Mason nearly reflexively threw a Conflagration out before he noticed they were all paralyzed. Motion caught his eye, and Mason spotted Will scampering up one of the pillars supporting the massive main hall before he tossed his tomahawk down at the Boar-masked colossus chasing him. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The boar dodged the weapon and much to Mason¡¯s surprise, the tomahawk halted in midair, smack-dab in the middle of the cluster of paralyzed minions. In single a heartbeat, three waves of lightning-laced sound burst out from the tomahawk, and as one, the masked minions toppled to the floor, wisps of smoke emerging from beneath the mask. The red demon-faced mask grabbed Will¡¯s axe out of the air, and wrestled control of it away from whatever Effect Will was using. Will fell off the pillar, clutching his chest as he impacted the marble before scrambling to his feet an instant later. As Will¡¯s axe began to circle him, June tapped Mason¡¯s shoulder and pointed at the one with an arsenal of weapons floating behind him like a cape. She cocked back her arm, and the glow of the hairpin began to gradually increase as she waited for the perfect moment. Mason¡¯s heart leapt into his throat as the boar-face caught Will by the ankle and swung him at the ground, only for the ground itself to bend away, refusing to receive him. Will swung down between the boar-mask¡¯s legs and jabbed a previously unseen blade into the man¡¯s leg, an undoubtedly lethal attack, were it not for healing potions. Will was assaulted by dozens of blades from the demon mask, as well as a couple more attempts by the void-mask to stop his heart or summon ghosts from the floor to grab his legs. Try as they might, they couldn¡¯t quite pin him down. ¡°That is one slippery son of a bitch.¡± The jowel-faced old man mused with admiration as he arrived behind them. ¡°Tell me about it,¡± The athletic baker girl said sourly. Will scrambled across the floor, juking left and right with unnatural speed, sometimes shifting direction in midair to throw off the floating swords assaulting him, forced to back away from the boar-mask, who seemed to grow even angrier and more muscular as he drank his healing potion. Mason thought as Boar charged after Will, plowing right through the pillar he was hiding behind, the demon-masked Climber bending his knees to follow after him and provide support. ¡°Now.¡± June hissed, her arm quivering with the strain of holding her shot so long. Hunter¡¯s Patience triggered, and the brass hairpin flew forward with startling speed and accuracy, shearing through the air in an instant. One of the floating weapons raised itself to block the shot, and partially diverted it, exploding into Relic dust as it was destroyed in the process. Instead of instantly severing demon-mask¡¯s spine, the pin went through his windpipe. June didn¡¯t hang around to see if her attack landed, already sprinting the other direction. Meanwhile, the baker girl was charging the pincushioned devil-mask as he clutched his neck, wielding her heavy steel serving tower. The void-masked enemy whipped around towards them, his hand coming up, brimming with that ominous, lethal energy. Mason thought, bringing his own hand up to match. ***William Oh*** Will¡¯s bones creaked in protest as Boar broadsided him with a fist the size of his head. His lungs were paralyzed by the blow, and the force sent him flying backwards, the mansion cartwheeling around him. Will blasted through a wall, rolling to a halt in some kind of sitting room with dozens of old-timey paintings lining the walls. Will climbed to his feet, struggling to breathe as he looked back at the Will-shaped hole in the wall, spotting a faded painting of a young man leading the charge of thousands of soldiers against the enemy forces, pointing the way with his trusty, familiar axe. The painting dissolved into scraps as Boar exploded through it. Will raised his arm, but it didn¡¯t seem to want to move, as the muscles of his right side had been crushed by one strike. He glanced down and spotted a bruised mass. Definitely broken. Will thought, releasing a potent cocktail of Potion of Fury and a Potion of greater Healing from his Phantom Hand into his mouth, using Sourdough to save a portion to regrow. His body would pay for it later, but the immediate situation was much more concerning to him. It didn¡¯t have a permanent home in his Phantom Hand, like the tiny potions did. ¡°GRAHH!¡± Boar saw his arm straightening out and charged. That made Will angry. The whole situation made Will angry. It was pointless combat with no benefit to his team in sight. He had failed as a leader when he¡¯d gotten his party tangled up in his own business. He¡¯d failed when he didn¡¯t ensure they had the tools they needed to get the job done. But most of all, what made Will angry¡­ were the drugs flooding his body. +10 Strength +10 Resistance +10 Kinesthetics Luckily there was a convenient target charging menacingly towards him. Even with the boost to his strength, Will knew he had nowhere near the same sheer force as Boar, so he resolved to make this a dance. ¡°Where¡¯d you get the mask, boy!?¡±Boar demanded swinging the meaty fists at him, which Will flowed around. ¡°They aren¡¯t exactly common.¡± ¡°I think you know.¡±Will said back as he danced around the swings, unleashing a chef¡¯s knife from his Phantom Hand behind his back and whipping it forward, scoring a shallow cut on Boar¡¯s forearm. ¡°Dragon of Akul, my ass. You¡¯re William Oh!¡± Boar said, his red aura growing as he swung faster and faster. Nothing was totally free. Boar¡¯s skin was nearly as resistant as the Tangled, shrugging off damage from Will¡¯s nonmagical weapon without much effort. Will thought, weaving around a flurry of blows as he studied the wound on Boar¡¯s forearm. Will didn¡¯t have the Serpents axe on him to try a psychic attack against the physical-aligned adventurer, and even if he did, he had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn¡¯t work. Boar was a product of Climbing, rather than someone¡¯s weaponized science experiment. ¡°Hold still!¡± Boar shouted, kicking a nearby chair up and at Will. Boar was expecting him to dodge it, but as long as the chair was made of plain wood¡­ Will smashed his hand down through the wood, parting the missile around himself, keeping his footing, which allowed him to sidestep as Boar crouched down, his back growing spines. An instant later, the warrior flickered forward, barely brushing against Will, but sending him staggering backwards. As Will staggered, he threw his knife at Boar, who leaned out of the way. Phantom Hand caught the knife and attempted to stab the warrior in the back. ¡°Saw that trick already,¡± Boar said, twisting around with unexpected grace and catching the knife by the blade, twisting it into a useless coil of steel. ¡°You gotta be one dumb sonofabitch, to try and take on all three of us!¡± Boar said as he drove Will into a corner. ¡°That¡¯s odd.¡± Loth¡¯s voice sounded from the center of the room, halting Boar mid-strike. The black kobold scanned the room with clinical deliberation before returning her gaze to Boar. ¡°I don¡¯t see the other two.¡± The three of them peered at the hole in the wall leading back to the main hall, hearing the ring of steel, shouts and explosions from the main hall. Boar¡¯s Party was obviously busy. He was alone, and outnumbered. ¡°Ah, crap,¡± Boar muttered, red aura fading as his legs bunched beneath him. Boar leapt straight up, blasting through the ornate ceiling to land on the second floor and immediately begin running. A decisive retreat in an unexpected direction, showing how much experience Boar had. One look at a kobold and he knew any easy way out was a trap, and had acted on that knowledge. ¡°Shame. I didn¡¯t trap the second floor nearly as much,¡± Loth pouted before glancing back down at Will. ¡°Shall we go Boar hunting?¡± Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 67: Boar Hunting (pt. 2) Travis whistled, flushing the toilet before washing his hands as he appreciated the mansion¡¯s running water.It wasn¡¯t like their current accommodations didn¡¯t have running water, but he¡¯d found his appreciation for all its types blooming ever since he¡¯d begun his Climb. The 4th floor especially was awful, with standing water as far as the eye could see, but no way to get clean. The simplest form of achieving water pressure was a large tank on the roof that gravity-fed water back into the house, camp, whatever. The problem was filling it, whether it be from a Climber summoning it or a Relic, or some kind of pump tapping into a natural stream. There a pump he¡¯d heard of that could send a small amount of water against gravity while losing a much larger amount as it operated. Oiltons liked their pumps. Typically you wouldn¡¯t want a leaky pump, but if it was inside a stream anyway, who cared about the efficiency? Even if it was collapsable, it would be damned heavy¡­ Travis dried off his hands and considered that the young lady he¡¯d invited to join him upstairs hadn¡¯t showed. Not that he¡¯d really expected her to. Travis thought with a wry smile, opening the door and stepping out into the hall. The fact that he would have no idea how to handle the situation if a girl take him up on his offer to slip away didn¡¯t really factor- S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. An explosion in a distant room shook the whole second floor and sent Travis reeling backwards. The door to a room at the end of the hall exploded outward in shreds of wood as a massive man wearing a boar mask plowed through and began sprinting down the hall, straight towards Travis. The ceiling and walls began to strip away as strings buried under the wallpaper began to whip inward under tension, flinging razor sharp blades smeared with foreign substances directly into Boar¡¯s sides. Boar grew wiry spines from his skin as he ran that managed to shrug of the damage off, his bloodshot gaze landing on Travis. The Boar¡¯s foot shifted mid-stride. It was a miniscule difference, but Travis knew what it meant. Travis lunged back, triggering Mirage, causing two copies of himself to lunge different directions, out into the hall, running away. The Boar juked straight into the bathroom, ignoring the mirages and focusing on the one furthest away from himself, which also happened to be the real Travis. ¡°There¡¯s an exit that isn¡¯t trapped. Where is it!?¡± Boar said, grabbing the much smaller Travis by the throat, the tusks of his mask nearly putting out Travis¡¯s eye. ¡°The exits are trapped!?¡± Travis choked out. ¡°What are you about!?¡± Travis hadn¡¯t seen any people on the guest roster that would¡¯ve had a Boar mask and full kit. Matter of fact, he was fairly sure he was the only one of them who actually read the guest list. Travis had no idea what exactly was going on, but from context it was obvious¡­Will had done something stupid while Travis was in the bathroom. ¡°There¡¯s more than one way to get you to tell me what¡¯s trapped and what isn¡¯t.¡± The lumbering mass of muscle and scar tissue said, lifting Travis off the ground with a single arm and winding up. ¡°Wai-¡° The air was driven from his lungs as Travis was sent straight through the tile of the restroom and into the next room over, tumbling to the ground amongst cleaning supplies. ? Upon hitting the floor, Travis folded the air such that he seemed to split into two wavering illusions while his real body charged straight forward. This time it worked, as Boar lunged for the one going towards the door, while his real body dropped to the ground and slid beneath the warrior, leaping back into the shattered bathroom and sprinting for the main hall. ¡°You must be one dumb sonofabitch!¡± Travis shouted over his shoulder, triggering Taunt. Once he hit the main hall, he spotted Will and Loth, exiting from the shattered doorway the oversized warrior had originally burst from. At least he it was Will. It was the same flashy outfit, but the new mask really brought it together, making the rhinestones look like abstract scales. Travis would never admit it looked even a little bit cool, though. Over his shoulder, he saw a flash of the warrior glancing towards the oversized window, obviously considering jumping out of the mansion and resetting the circumstances of the battle that was in the palm of Loth¡¯s hand. But Taunt played hell with people¡¯s critical thinking skills. With an angry growl, Boar twisted on the ball of his foot and began chasing Travis. That was where 99% of Decoys got killed, after all. Mirage was good for opening opportunities to escape, but Travis needed some actual speed and possibly stealth Abilities in order to break contact as well. Loth wordlessly gestured for Travis to lead Boar towards the staircase, and Will scampered up the hallway¡¯s wallpaper, until he was sprinting nearly upside down, just out of sight of the boar as the warrior burst into the hallway, furiously chasing Travis. Travis thought, putting his head down and sprinting. Travis had no doubt there would a trap. The image of his uncle¡¯s shredded foot came to mind. Travis turned the corner and hit the stairs at outrageous speed, marvelling that he didn¡¯t roll an ankle at the sudden change in direction. The wallpaper shredded as thick strings of spiderwebs whipped inward and cocooned Travis in the blink of an eye. It didn¡¯t do anything to stop his momentum, though, and Travis continued flying down the stairs, his neck absorbing most of the force of his speed as he came to a sudden, brutal halt. If his Resistance hadn¡¯t been in the mid-sixties, Travis probably would¡¯ve broken his neck. Already he could feel Loth¡¯s insects crawling against his skin, cutting a line in the webbing along his midsection. The sensation made his hair stand on end. ¡°Told¡¯ya you¡¯d tell me where the traps were,¡± Boar said, slightly out of breath as he picked Travis up. ¡°not quite done yet.¡± Boar cocked his arm as if to throw Travis the rest of the way down the stairs, when the bugs finished their work and the cocoon exploded off him like It¡¯d ben springloaded, wrapping around Boar and attaching to the nearby staircase, looking for all the world like an egg-sac, or the recent kill of a spider. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Travis scrambled away from the restrained warrior who was covered in a thick layer of webbing that strained as he slowly moved his arm forward, the staircase flooding with a crimson aura that rolled off him like fog. ¡°GAAAAH!¡± Boar¡¯s face turned red as he struggled to escape, and Travis could see the thick ropelike strands begin to snap or pull bits of wood off the bannisters. He was gonna get loose. It was a matter of when, not if. Suddenly the warrior¡¯s scream took on a more urgent, pained quality as Loth stepped around the corner into view, a sickly glow around her hand pointed at Boar. Travis¡¯s eyes widened as a bulge began forming in the webbing, and an instant later, a bloody wasp the size of a child burst out of Boar¡¯s stomach. Travis might¡¯ve shrieked a bit. He wasn¡¯t sure, but he know he was backing away from the monster as quickly as possible, only realizing what he was doing when his back rammed into the wall. The giant wasp immediately turned and began biting Boar¡¯s face with its razor-sharp mandibles, struggling to pierce the mask. The red aura seemed to crystalize around Boar as he ripped the rest of the way out of the webbing, swinging a brutal fist at the wasp crawling over him. The wasp simply lifted off him, dodging the strike before returning to continue biting. On the other hand, Will dropped off the ceiling, riding a chef¡¯s knife, plunging it deep into Boar¡¯s back. The rest of the fight was a bloody affair of Will, Loth and the terrifying wasp harrying the increasingly slowing Boar until the massive warrior raised his hand. ¡°Urrender-¡° He gasped, his voice choked with blood. A moment later, a second wasp emerged from the warrior¡¯s back, collapsing the mountain of muscle to the floor before the two wasps chewed off the man¡¯s head. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything,¡± Loth said, glancing up at Will. ¡°Me neither,¡± Will said, walking up to Boar¡¯s disembodied head and kicking the mask off. ¡°He surrendered!¡± Travis said. Will¡¯s snarling pearlescent dragon mask turned towards him, devoid of any human emotion. ¡°He was a bad man and leaving him alive would present a risk to my Party. We don¡¯t have the means to restrain him, and I learned a valuable lesson about loose ends from the first Party I ever worked with. Remind me to tell you about it sometime. Besides¡­he works for the Wyrd family.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Travis¡¯s shock went out the door, his blood turning cold. ¡°Then it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t have removed the mask,¡± Loth noted. ¡°True. Damn.¡± Will mused. ***William Oh*** Will was nowhere near as calm as he¡¯d like to convey, but the mask helped, and he didn¡¯t have time to let cold-blooded murder really sink in, because the voice from downstairs sounded urgent. Especially when it said: ¡°IF YOU DON¡¯T GET DOWN HERE, I¡¯LL START EXECUTING YOUR PARTY MEMBERS.¡± Will glanced at Loth and motioned for her to go back the other way. Loth nodded and grabbed Travis¡¯s hand, pulling their Decoy up and away from the conflict. The enemy hadn¡¯t seen either of them yet at all, so why expose them now? Will strode carefully the rest of the way down the massive staircase, the main hall coming into view as he did. It was full of other guests restraining the rest of his Party and a few other guests. Will looked closer. The guests restraining the others had blank, expressionless stares, pale skin. They were dead. Will flashed back to Void¡¯s Ability to kill and revive in the same swing, when he¡¯d surrounded Will with Kaith zombies. Will¡¯s stomach twisted with guilt. Reggie didn¡¯t look so good, June was nowhere to be seen, Mason was curled up around a sword sticking through him, Ria was strung up, and Alicia was sitting next to Reggie. Seemingly she hadn¡¯t done any fighting, so the enemy hadn¡¯t labeled her as a ¡®party member¡¯. Still she was under close watch from a couple extra zombies, her fame causing them to give her special attention. Anna was still alive. That was good. Will wasn¡¯t sure where Bee was, or even if she was still alive. The shapeshifter could be any one of these zombies¡­or none of them. The void-mask¡¯s teammate was resting against a nearby pillar, his neck had a puckered scar bisecting it, and a mat of clotting crimson blood down the front of his shirt. Though he looked weak, his eyes were sharp, watching the hostages, his weapons floating around him, splayed and trembling with agitation. Will¡¯s axe included. Void looked singed, bruises forming up his arms. ¡°Here I am.¡± Will said, hand raised as he stepped off the last step, into the main hall, his heartbeat nearly blocking out the sounds of suffering. ¡°Was it worth pushing me this hard?¡± Void asked, motioning to the surrounding undead Climbers with his oversized scythe. Will thought about it for a moment. ¡°I guess it depends on whether or not you planned on leaving witnesses. Personally I don¡¯t think you wanted the Baron to find out what the Wyrd family is doing in his city. Easiest way to stop that from happening is to simply round up and kill everyone. People will cooperate if they think they¡¯re just being robbed, but not if they think they¡¯re going to die.¡± Void laughed. ¡°That¡¯s some cold-blooded logic. But you¡¯re not wrong. I going to kill all of you.¡± Will thought. ¡°Buut¡­You. Your Party is worth quite a bit more than you were on the second Floor. If you surrender, I will leave you and your Party alive, instead delivering you to the seventh Floor where you will become Vassals of my Lord.¡± The shoe was on the other foot, now. If Will didn¡¯t surrender, Void would start killing Hostages. If he there would be nothing to stop him from killing everyone, as originally intended. Will needed to gauge the authenticity of Void¡¯s Offer. If Void didn¡¯t have a reliable way to restrain Will¡¯s entire Party, there was no way he would keep all of them alive for the journey to the seventh Floor, and if that was the case, he would simply kill all of them once Will surrendered. ¡°Do you have a way of keeping all of us under control?¡± Will asked. Arms grunted, and Will¡¯s tomahawk flew out to land in Void¡¯s hand. ¡°This should work.¡± Void said, brandishing Will¡¯s axe. Will opened his mouth to agree, when a slender, balding man approached from where he¡¯d been crouched beside the onyx coffin. The balding man mopped sweat away from his forehead as he approached, his voice quiet and trembling. ¡°Excuse me, V-void?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Void asked, not looking away from Will. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­but I just can¡¯t do it without the missing tools.¡± The butler must¡¯ve misplaced the safecracker¡¯s tools in the few moments of time he spent sabotaging the enemy. Void held up a finger. ¡°Excuse me for one moment, please.¡± He turned toward the safecracker, raising his cursed scythe. The safecracker yelped and stumbled backwards, hitting the coffin before dropping to the floor and scrambling away an instant before Void brought the butt of his weapon down on the lid of the coffin. A shockwave of sickly blue miasma radiated outward from the strike, and the stone of the coffin lid cracked in two. ¡°Can you work with ¡± Void asked. ¡°Y-yessir,¡± the sweat-gleaming safecracker nodded vigorously and began prying half the lid away with a crowbar. ¡°Apologies. Where were we?¡± ¡°You were threatening to kill my Party if I didn¡¯t surrender.¡± Will prompted. ¡°Also the coffin is trapped,¡± he said, pointing. ¡°Eh?¡± Void glanced over just as the lid came off, and an explosion of light made the entire room white for an instant. Dozens of blades emerged from the floor and ceiling, perforating the poor safecracker in an instant while Void recoiled from the blinding light. Will reached out with Phantom Hand and snagged one of Void¡¯s rings. The connection between Void and the relic was hard to sever, clinging harder than he¡¯d expected, but Will pushed through the resistance and tucked the Relic in his Dimensional Storage, severing its connection to Void. 20 Charges remaining. Will¡¯s thoughts went white as an undead fist caught him in the side of the head, sending him sprawling. In a heartbeat, Will was boxed in by no less than half a dozen zombies, as Void swept forward with unnatural speed, malignant scythe carving a slice out of the marble behind him. Will tried to jump out of the way, but the zombies were faster and stronger than the Tangled had been. Overwhelmingly so. One caught his ankle and dragged him back down to earth, wrapping its limbs around him, intending to allow itself to be bisected along with him as Void brought the scythe up for a full body swing with every fiber of his being. The scythe swung right past Will¡¯s stomach as he artificially created distance between the two of them. Will¡¯s vision was covered in stars as the zombies latched onto him and began beating his head with their unnatural strength. His eyes went blurry with tears and concussion as he struggled to fight his way out, but all of the zombies had at least one hand locked around one of Will¡¯s limbs. Above him, the blurry figure of Void raised his scythe high in the air. ¡°Death before slavery? Not a bad choice, William Oh,¡± Void said, his thin arms tensing to deliver the killing blow. Desperately, Will shot a knife out of Phantom Hand at Void¡¯s neck, pushing the hand to the greatest speed that he could. Will didn¡¯t see exactly what happened through his fuzzy eyesight, but he heard Travis¡¯s especially annoying whistle, and it caused Void¡¯s gaze to flicker aside, just as some kind of spirit warded off Will¡¯s attack, sending the knife flying harmlessly away. Will thought, watching the scythe come down. At the last second, Void¡¯s hand was perforated by one of Loth¡¯s bullet-wasps an instant before he brought his weapon down on Will, sending the necromancer¡¯s scythe clattering to the ground inches away from Will¡¯s ear. ¡°¡­Huh.¡± Void said, staring at his maimed hand while Will struggled to pull himself back up. ¡°Cease, in the name of Baron Akul!¡± The battle came to a screeching halt as a young man floated through the main entrance, wearing gaudy silk robes and a full kit of Relics that oozed power. ¡°Ah.¡± Void grunted as he glanced over his shoulder, spotting the Baron. The zombies around the room collapsed like puppets with their strings cut, and as if he didn¡¯t have a care in the world, Void sat down, plucked the cape off a dead dandy and began wrapping it tight around his wounded hand. Arms looked similarly nonchalant, grunting and reaching into his pocket to retrieve a stick of gum, his weapons clattering to the ground. ¡°Luis,¡± The Baron said after floating over and peering into the coffin, prompting the jowel-faced old man to approach at a jog and kneel. ¡°Yes, father?¡± the man asked. ¡°Who is responsible for this?¡± the baron asked, his voice deceptively even. Luis pointed at Will, whose heart stopped beating for a moment. ¡°William Oh-¡± ¡°Nearly died protecting us from these mercenaries who were trying to steal the coffin.¡± Luis then pointed at Arms and Void. ¡°Arrest them.¡± The Baron instructed, his gaze locked on whatever was inside the coffin as guardsmen began rounding up the mercenaries and guests alike. Will assumed they were going to be debriefed rather than blindly presume innocence. ¡°Well, kids...¡± Void said, his gaze lingering on Will¡¯s Party as two high-level warriors in full kit dragged him to his feet. ¡°To be continued, I suppose.¡± Chapter 68: Advice From The Baron Will thought, leaning against the wall of his prison cell.It was a very nice prison cell, with a comfy bed, private restroom, miniature library and a plush recliner to read from¡­but the door locked from the outside, which was really the only criteria that mattered to Will. He tensed for a moment, waiting for the follow up that revealed that someone had claimed the bounty, but¡­nothing. Will thought. It made sense they would want to pry what information they could out of their unwelcome guests. Even though Will was in a cell, there were different types of prison cell. This one said: ¡°I¡¯ll get to you as soon as I can, thank you for your patience.¡± Will was fairly sure the other two were in a cell on the other end of the spectrum that said: ¡°You¡¯ll never see the sun again.¡± About an hour later, another message flooded the consciousness of every person on the 5th Floor. Will thought, picking up a book and starting to read. Loth had told him he should read more. About two hours later, There was a knock at the door before a pair of high-level warriors dressed in the duke¡¯s colors politely escorted Will down an ominous series of halls that culminated in an equally ominous wooden double door, which swung open to reveal the baron, sitting behind an oversized wooden desk. The size and shininess of the desk harkened back to the one he¡¯d seen in the Oilton castle. Something designed to make the person sitting behind it more important. Maybe that was a good thing, because the Baron didn¡¯t look much older than twenty, so gravitas was difficult to come by. Either his Body was outlandishly high, or he¡¯d found some other way to halt the aging process. ¡°Welcome, take a seat.¡± Baron Akul said, motioning to the chair in front of him. Will sat. Doing anything else didn¡¯t really fit the vibe. ¡°William Oh, is it?¡± The Baron asked. ¡°Yessir.¡± Will said. ¡°You¡¯re rather famous for a nobody.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± Baron Akul¡¯s brown eyes narrowed, and Will felt like a real big fish had noticed a waterbug on the surface of the water. Will was the bug. ¡°Did you want to become a Lord, William Oh?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t all kids want to become Lords?¡± Will deflected. ¡°That¡¯s just a lie parents feed their children to give them something to die for.¡± Baron Akul said, raising a hand. Will¡¯s skin went cold. That hand could produce bolts of fire that could kill kaiju instantly. ? ¡°But you¡­¡± the Baron lowered his hand, pointing at Will. ¡°You¡¯re well on your way to becoming one.¡± ¡°¡­Thank you?¡± Will hazarded. ¡°You¡¯ve assembled a talented Party. Secured sponsorship from two influential families. Funded a war chest that you could use to seed a Stronghold. All of these things are necessary steps.¡± Will didn¡¯t respond, hoping maybe the Baron would tell him what the next step was. ¡°In the interest of transparency, so you can understand my thought process¡­allow me to explain the situation you¡¯re in.¡± ¡°Please do.¡± Will said. ¡°You, an orphan ostensibly born to Mary and Thomas Oh, two of the greatest Climbers of the modern era¡­have appeared in my city shortly after the church of Granesh began circulating word that you are a demonic changeling.¡± Will broke into a cold sweat. ¡°My investigators have interviewed anyone who has so much as heard you speak, and based on your adventures, they tell me that you likely have the scout/Infiltrator archetypes, and have possession of a dimensional storage, and not only can you use it to steal other Climber¡¯s Relics, you can treat the dimensional storage as an extra Slot.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not unarmed even now, are you?¡± Baron Akul asked. ¡°I could do a bit.¡± Will admitted. ¡°I figured.¡± The Baron clasped his fingers together and gave Will a long, silent stare, seemingly weighing Will¡¯s fate. ¡°My options are threefold.¡± The baron suddenly said. ¡°First: I could kill you or deliver you to the Church. It would be a bit of a waste. Second: I could force you to become a Vassal. I would gain the service of a powerful rogue archetype.¡± Neither of those sounded very good. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Third¡­I could send you on your way with my blessing.¡± ¡°That last one sounds good to me.¡± Will hazarded speaking out of turn. The Baron didn¡¯t acknowledge him. ¡°¡­The Tower needs more Lords. We¡¯ve been whittling away at each other for decades, and there¡¯s only a handful of us left now.¡± The Baron glanced off to the side thoughtfully. ¡°You¡¯ve got of what it takes to be become a Lord, but the most important thing, I haven¡¯t got a clue.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°The most important trait to become a Lord¡­is an Ability synergy so wildly unfair that normal Climbers, who specialize in fighting monsters, don¡¯t dare cross us. In short, Lords are uncannily good at killing other Climbers.¡± ¡°You, boy, are not the best monster slayer. What Rogue archetype is? On the other hand, I¡¯ve heard reports from Micheal¡¯s ill-fated party and your ¡®fixed¡¯ underground matches. You have very strong mobility and an invisible attack that you use to take control of a fight regardless of how it started. That is Lord material.¡± The Baron finally wound down his pontificating about Will¡¯s Build and invited him to join the conversation. ¡°Were you going to join the ¡®under 25¡¯ tournament to secure opportunities for your Party?¡± ¡°Yessir.¡± Will said. ¡°I imagine you were going to conceal your Dimensional storage Ability and aim to hit the semifinals.¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Will admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t want to reveal-¡° Baron Akul broke into laughter. ¡°Sorry,¡± The Baron said, wheezing as he wiped tears out of his eyes. ¡°I remember playing things close to the vest like you, many years ago. Let me tell you something I¡¯ve learned.¡± Free advice from one of the Tower¡¯s most powerful combatants? Will was all for it. ¡°If you become a Lord, who matters is going to know how your Ability works, whether you like it or not. There are even families who figured out what 99% of Build is and have given their children the same starting point.¡± Will thought about Mason for a moment, then nodded. ¡°I have a grandson.¡± The Baron said, giving Will whiplash with the topic change. ¡°Luis¡¯s son?¡± Will asked. ¡°One of them. Luis tells me the boy is in need of humbling before he gets himself killed. He will be joining the under 25 tournament.¡± ¡°You want me to¡­beat up your grandson?¡± Will asked, frowning. ¡°Did you not have an experience that taught you to keep your secrets close?¡± The Baron asked. Will flashed back to the two days spent starving in that empty space¡­and the betrayal that led up to it. ¡°¡­You want me to traumatize your grandson.¡± Beating up was a component of that, but there was nuance. The baron held his thumb and forefinger slightly apart. ¡°Just a bit. Those who know no fear are not long for this world. You¡¯d be saving his life.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s what I want you to do:¡± The Baron said. ¡°I want you to join the tournament. I want you to use every Ability at your disposal to crush your opposition, including my grandson if you get the opportunity. I want to see what you can do when you¡¯re holding nothing back. If you win, I will give you my support.¡± ¡°¡­What does your support look like?¡± ¡°Protection. Money. Equipment. Sacrifices. Kaiju hunting without a line at one of my controlled spawn sites.¡± The Baron said, leaning back in his seat. ¡°And help reaching the sixth Floor.¡± ¡°And if I don¡¯t win?¡± ¡°Well, then your Ability synergy wasn¡¯t unfair enough to become a Lord in the first place. I will make you my vassal. Unless the church of Granesh makes me a good offer.¡± The cold sweat was back. ¡°What do you get out of me becoming a Lord?¡± Will asked. ¡°Ideally? A new ally, a new revenue stream from trade. A new friend when the rest of my family is dead and gone again. And of course, if you make your Stronghold in the higher Floors, that eases my troubles here.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Will asked, frowning. The Baron paused a moment, like someone who had realized he¡¯d overshared. He gazed at Will for a moment. ¡°Do not repeat this to anyone until you are a Lord.¡± The Baron said, his tone conveying all the threat Will needed to hear. ¡°Yessir.¡± ¡°The spawn rates of monsters in every Floor have¡­weather patterns. Some years it¡¯s worse, some years it¡¯s better. Most people know that.¡± He glanced sideways at Will. ¡°There used to be no less than eight Lords in the Floors above me. There are now five. Every time one of the other three died or disappeared, there was a corresponding uptick in the spawn rate and strength of the kaiju on my Floor. I believe no one else has noticed because it¡¯s damn near impossible to track the exact spawn rate on other floors, but here, it¡¯s impossible not to. My accountant who was tracking our income from kaiju farming brought it to my attention.¡± ¡°So¡­why not make more Lords? You could certainly afford to do so.¡± ¡°Oh, Zodiac and I tried that. We gave some promising, well-educated young men and women all the tools they would need to become Lords in their own right. One by one, they all failed. Some never had the right counter-Climber build to make it, others were assassinated by rival Lords jealous of losing influence, Others simply died fighting monsters, and still more had the power offered to them corrupt their minds until they were slaves to their cruel desires. ¡°And these promising¡­well-educated young men and women who died or went mad were all the children of friends and family?¡± Will asked. The Baron¡¯s expression soured. ¡°That played a factor in the blowback, yes. Since then, Zodiac and I have shifted to identifying potential Lords who are most of the way there already and¡­giving them a little boost past their last hurdle. Less effort for a better result.¡± ¡°And you think I¡¯m a ¡®potential Lord¡¯?¡± Will asked. ¡°Potentially. What do you think the tournament was created for?¡± Will¡¯s mind connected the dots. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Now, I believe this was yours?¡± the Baron asked, reaching under his desk and placing a familiar tomahawk on the desk. It was all Will could do not to lunge forward and snatch it up. ¡°Yessir.¡± The Baron motioned to it, and Will took his axe and slipped it into its familiar loop in his belt. ¡°That¡¯s a good weapon. Where did you find it?¡± ¡°In the hands of a Maksu chieftain on the 1st Floor.¡± Will said. ¡°Hmm. Take good care of it.¡± The Baron stood and shook Will¡¯s hand. ¡°William, this has been a nice diversion, but both of us have things we need to do. Enjoy the tournament.¡± Will bit back a sarcastic ¡®how am I supposed to enjoy it when I¡¯ll die or be enslaved if I lose?¡¯ and simply shook The Baron¡¯s hand. Will¡¯s mind was crowded as the guardsmen escorted him back to the entrance of the massive palace that doubled as the seat of government. The information revealed to him had a lot of subtext: Fewer Lords meant individual Floors became more dangerous, which in turn made it harder to pass through them and become a Lord, which in turn meant fewer Lords, which meant harder Floors¡­ If one took it to it¡¯s logical extreme¡­what happened when there were no more Lords left? Had this been happening a while? How many Lords existed fifty years ago? A hundred? A thousand? Will was starting to understand why the Baron told him to keep it to himself. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And the church of Granesh¡­The Baron had put next to no weight on their accusation of him being half-snake. Almost an afterthought. Did the man not care what they thought, or did he simply think they were wrong? ¡­Or did he not care if Will was a demon in disguise? From Will¡¯s perspective, their claims had a grain of truth. Sure, it was 99% bullshit, and they would never get along because of it, but Will was pretty sure he wasn¡¯t pure human at this point. That part they got right. Will thought to himself. They were going to be one of many churches providing healing and, like The Baron, keeping their eyes open for potential new Lords they could ingratiate themselves with¡­or perhaps to watch for enemies of the church who had escaped them before. The Baron was right. Sooner or later everyone who mattered would know exactly how his Ability worked. The Baron, and likely other Lords, knew nearly precisely what his Phantom Hand could do already. He needed to impress the Baron, but in so doing, he would draw the eyes of the church and alert them to what he was capable of, giving them a clearer picture of his Abilities. Will thought as he walked, flanked by Warriors in their 30¡¯s. If he gave a strong enough performance, the church would think twice about wasting their operatives on him. Will arrived at the entrance to the palace, where the rest of his Party waited for him. The guards gave a nod and turned on their heel to attend to other business, leaving Will free to do as he wished¡­for the most part. Will glanced over at Mason, who seemed fine. ¡°How¡¯s the wound?¡± ¡°The healers tell me I almost died from septic shock, but on the bright side, I have a really cool scar now.¡± Mason said, patting his stomach. ¡°Boar¡¯s bounty pushed me up to level twenty-three,¡± Travis said. The rest of the party nodded. ¡°What do you want to do now?¡± Loth asked, looking up at Will. ¡°Now¡­we¡¯re going to do everything in our power to dominate the tournament...but first, some raspberry tarts.¡± Will mused. Loth rolled her eyes. Chapter 69: A Missed Opportunity Jason Salazar***Stephan Akul*** ¡°Its technology surpasses anything I¡¯ve ever seen, My lord. At first glance it appears to be based on my own research, but I do not know how¡­half of it works. Asking me to fix it¡­I could take it apart and learn a thousand thousand things, but I could not fix it in this lifetime.¡± Stephan Akul eyed the mummified corpse dressed in decayed silks and loose-fitting gold Relics, like an emperor buried with his wealth from days long forgotten. His tinkerer was a man with powerful abilities specialized in repair and invention. He had made things that the Baron couldn¡¯t even understand, that drew power from the omnipresent Miasma that flooded every Floor. The new wave of the future, Allen called it. A power source that will revolutionize¡­everything. And yet¡­a stone coffin gave him trouble. Stephan reeled in his anger. An outburst solved nothing, and Allen was already plenty afraid of him. the man did not need more motivation. He simply¡­couldn¡¯t do what Stephan needed him to do. And giving Allen a glimpse into how badly this affected him would be unwise. ¡°Why is he still asleep?¡± Stephan asked. When he¡¯d shoved Pi in there, the creature had been thrashing and screaming. Now he appeared deathly still. ¡°Is he dead?¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s still asleep. Due to the manner in which it was broken, parts of the coffin are still operating.¡± Allen responded, standing up and going over to the broken side of the coffin, where the lid was missing. ¡°You see these nodes here? They match spots on the broken portion of the lid that we removed. That implies there are other nodes under the lid that are still operational.¡± ¡°Does it still do what I need it to do?¡± Stephan asked. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know what you need it to do?¡± Allen said with a shrug. Stephan pulled a knife out of its sheath and leaned down into the coffin, the hairs on his arm standing on end at the nearly imperceptible hum of power that filled the ancient device. He grabbed Pi¡¯s hand and gave him a tiny cut on his palm. The wound stayed. ¡°It¡¯s little more than a paperweight now,¡± Stephan said with a scowl before glancing at Allen. ¡°Take it apart. Learn a thousand thousand things, and maybe you can create something that can replicate the coffin¡¯s primary function. ¡°What is its primary function?¡± Allen asked. Stephan glanced over at his tinkerer. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to blind you with expectations. It¡¯s very possible that what think the coffin¡¯s primary function is, and what the thinks its primary function is, are two different things.¡± Allen gave a groan of frustration before he realized he was standing beside The Baron. The tinker froze, straightened up and bowed. ¡°I will uncover it¡¯s secrets, my lord.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you will,¡± He said, clapping Allen on the shoulder and turning to leave. ¡°¡­My lord?¡± The tinker asked. ¡°Hmm?¡± Stephan asked, turning back. ¡°What do you want done with the occupant?¡± ¡°Have the Relics he wears delivered to the Vault, and the man himself delivered to his own cell. A high security one. We¡¯ll need him at hand if you ever replicate the coffin¡¯s functions.¡± ? Allen bowed, and that was the end of it. Stephen turned away from his Tinker and rounded the corner. Stephan thought, removing the Obsessive Lover¡¯s Ring on his right hand and placing it in his pocket before switching to a shield enhancer that synergized with his build. Immediately, powerful living shielding appeared around him and began to fold in on itself, wrapping him in a layer of protection that would be the envy of any other Climber. It wasn¡¯t as good as perfect immortality, though. But what was? ***William Oh*** ¡°Even if I lived forever, I don¡¯t think anything would be as good as this,¡± Will said before unhinging his jaw and engulfing an entire meat pie at once. ¡°Are you even tasting it?¡± Ria asked, arms crossed. ¡°MURF,¡± Will said around the food as he began chewing. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°I¡¯m glad you like them so much!¡± Anna said, clasping her hands together. ¡°After¡­all that¡­I wanted to say ¡®thank you¡¯, and my mom always said nothing shows appreciation to a boy like meat pie.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s what she was talking about.¡± Jean said, scarred arms crossed. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Anna asked, glancing over her shoulder at the old woman watching Will eat with a permanent scowl. ¡°Yeah, what you mean?¡± Ria asked, looking at Jean. ¡°I don¡¯t get it either, but the pies are awesome,¡± Bee said, joining Will in devouring the flaky self-contained pies. ¡°Those are for customers!¡± Ria said, pulling the small Tangled away from her meal. Bee struggled mightily for a minute before giving up like a waterlogged cat. As far as Will knew, Tangled had something like 4-5 Strength growth, which made them strong in melee combat, the ability to split into multiple bodies further enhanced this advantage. While Ria¡¯s back was turned, Anna snuck a pie and took a bite, giving Will a guilty shrug. He returned a thumb¡¯s-up. The old woman saw everything, but didn¡¯t bother to tell either of them off. ¡°Alright, you¡¯ve showed him your ¡®appreciation¡¯, now get in the back and start prepping. We open in an hour.¡± The scarred old woman said, shooing the three of them into the back. The three rambunctious girls eventually filed away into the back of the shop with varying levels of sass. ¡°You called them ¡®my girls.¡¯ Are they Tangled?¡± Will asked as soon as he heard the clattering of work begin. Jean watched him with her arms crossed, her scar-covered face screwing up at his words. ¡°You¡¯re too sharp¡­When we arrived on the fifth Floor, none of them were strong enough to remember what had been done to them, and one by one they splintered off, all of them reacting differently to the hell they¡¯d been put through. Ria¡¯s sense of justice was inflamed beyond rationality. Wants to save the whole world from the forces of evil, but doesn¡¯t understand why. Bee holds a deep-seated hatred she doesn¡¯t know where to direct¡­and Anna just wants to forget everything and be a young girl in love. I don¡¯t know if it was a curse or a Contract they¡¯d been under, or if just the pain was too great to remember.¡± Will processed that. ¡°Did you see a girl named Brianna?¡± He asked, guts twisting. ¡°¡­She died,¡± Jean said. ¡°She kept escaping and no one knew how, so they finally decided to ¨C¡° Jean¡¯s voice hitched ¡°¨C put her down. Like a rabid dog. Or a failed experiment.¡± Will¡¯s fist clenched as he put together the timeline. They would¡¯ve had a criminally short time to see Brianna on the seventh Floor then make their way down to the fifth Floor before Will arrived. Short enough that they might¡¯ve gotten Acclimation Sickness. Everyone knew the symptoms were highly variable. And Tangled had weak Focus compared to the common Climber, so their minds would be the first things to buckle under swiftly changing miasmatic pressure. That opened the time frame significantly, matching with what Jean said, and what he knew. Will swallowed the impotent rage and regret. There was plenty of time to do something about that later. There was one last question that Will had. ¡°Did you actually escape, or were you planted here by the Wyrd family, set to explode some day and tear Akul apart?¡± ¡°Hah. That keeps me up at night.¡± Jean admitted. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think we were. But how would know!?¡± She pointed at her head. ¡°I¡¯m just the one that remembers ! And yet¡­no idea how much of it might be implanted, and how much is real. My Focus is garbage, so a good Charm user could have me barking like a dog.¡± S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°That¡¯s why I asked you to keep their attention away from my girls. They¡¯ve got controlling Tangled down to rote. If they what those three are, they will send a Handler after them, and they will become weapons again.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Can you do us a favor?¡± Jean asked. ¡°I know I¡¯m asking a lot, bu-¡° ¡°I¡¯m in,¡± Will interrupted. ¡°I believe that baker girls are cute and should be protected.¡± Jean gave a surprisingly youthful chortle, her wrinkles fading momentarily before returning as she sobered up, her mouth set in a thin line. Will thought. That was one of the things that¡¯d been bugging him. Tangled were a relatively recent invention, so there was no way an old woman could be one¡­unless she had convinced herself she one through a healthy dose of acclimation sickness pressing against a mind with weak Focus under heavy stress. The way Will saw it, in order to retain her memories, Jean had distanced herself from them¡­assuming an identity she believed would be tough as nails and capable of handling the stress. An old woman, with a lifetime of experience to dull the sting of traumatic memories. A humorless crone with an iron will. She¡¯d played the part long enough to believe it, without realizing. ¡°What do you need?¡± Will asked. ¡°If you could continue to¡­make a spectacle of yourself, that would attract attention away from us.¡± Jean said. ¡°The Wyrd family does like you.¡± ¡°Matter of fact, I was already planning on making a spectacle of myself at the 25 and under tournament,¡± Will said. ¡°No sweat.¡± ¡°And you need to stop coming around here.¡± Jean said, her expression severe. ¡°Drawing attention to yourself is pointless if-¡° ¡°I lead them right to you.¡± Will finished, guts twisting. Will¡¯s heart sank, and his breathing sped up at the prospect of cutting himself off from them. before he could sink any deeper, he took control of himself and sucked in a huge lungful of air before letting it go. ¡°Alright,¡± Will said, despite feeling all right about it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Jean said with a glimmer of sadness peeking through her stoic fa?ade. ¡°I know,¡± Will said, biting back the anger. She wasn¡¯t the appropriate target for it. ¡°Tell Anna¡­tell her something that doesn¡¯t make me seem like an asshole.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Jean said with a nod. Will reached out and shook Jean¡¯s gnarled, calloused hands. Then, before she could react, he brought the veiny, liver-spotted, age-gnarled hand to his lips and kissed the back of her hand, causing Jean¡¯s eyes to go round with shock. Decades faded away for a few heartbeats, revealing the face underneath the self-imposed disguise before she recovered and yanked her hand out of his with all the strength of a level 30 Tangled. ¡­ Will tapped his fingers together. A sensation¡­something was tickling the back of his mind. There was more to this, but he wasn¡¯t sure what it was yet. Jean had told him of the truth¡­but something was off. Will¡¯s mind was like a dog worrying at a bone. It loved chewing on these sorts of things, and would continue to do so whether he wanted to or not. ¡°S-Save that nonsense for na?ve little girls who don¡¯t know better, y-you c-cad,¡± Jean stammered, backing away from him, her age returning in an instant as she drew the old woman persona back around herself. ¡°Will do.¡± Will tipped his imaginary hat. ¡°Then, until this ugly business blows over, best of luck to all four of you young ladies.¡± ¡°Too sharp,¡± Jean muttered, arms crossed and shaking her head as she watched him leave. Once Will was outside of the bakery, he shook the bad feelings out. As much as he hated to admit it, there were more important things right now to turn his mind towards than Baker Girls In Trouble. Namely, winning the tournament and not getting turned into a puppet or gutted by the Church of Granesh. He¡¯d considered running away in the dead of night, disappearing from the city and trying his luck at catching a bus up to the sixth floor¡­but the risk was nearly identical to that of participating in the tournament, while the reward was tepid at best. Will needed to devote all his energy to developing strategies for the tournament. But the back of his mind would continue chewing that bone. Chapter 70: Round One The day of the tournament marched towards them, but Will didn¡¯t sit idle. Motivated by the fact that his life was on the line, he channeled all his energy into three things:#1: Power. Will bribed/coerced a few solo Climbers into giving up their spot in an upcoming Kaiju hunt. It was impressive standing at the knee of such monolithic beasts, but looking back on it, the fights were kind of boring. The mercenaries had developed a nearly flawless method of subduing them, strapping them to the ground with high-power restraining abilities and thick ropes, giving everyone present an opportunity to take an attack on the creature before it was executed. By doing this, Will was able to cross the boundary into Level 24. #2: Information. He needed to know his opponent¡¯s strengths and weaknesses. This wasn¡¯t some half-hearted attempt to fight in the tournament, test his strength for the fun of it and let the chips fall where they may. His life and freedom were on the line and there was no excuse. His first opponent was a chivalrous young man with brown hair and eyes, a little shorter than most with a Paladin Archetype and a deep-seated need to right the wrongs of the world. Apparently he had a very tragic backstory. The kind one might expect of the hero of a romance novel, who was destined to unite warring kingdoms¡­according to Loth. Will didn¡¯t really read romance novels, and merely noted that he wouldn¡¯t expect something he considered ¡®cheating¡¯ and mobility was not his strong suit. #3: Equipment. Will still had an empty finger in his Phantom Hand, and the idea of leaving it clear for a potential future was kind of meaningless if he didn¡¯t win, so he bought a buckler that enhanced blocking and counter-attacks. He could always overwrite it if he found something truly epic to replace it with. In the meantime, it was advantageous to have another strength-boosting Relic effect he could swap to aside from the mutated Ring of Accuracy, since Will¡¯s Strength was pretty damn bad. Once he sacrificed it to the Phantom Hand, Will checked his Build. It had become¡­complex. Item Abilities: Summon Undead retainer, Heal undead, 35% eidolon potency, 45% rogue Archetype potency, 50% Ranger archetype potency, Aetherhawk, Lightning Pulse, Wet footing, Homefield Advantage(Ice), Malleable Space 30% Trespass A/V dampening. Will thought as he inspected his Build. He had gone from a -3 bonus due to the falconer¡¯s glove penalty, up to +14., which was a more than double-daily swing. Will sat down and did some math, multiplying his total Acuity, which was 110, by his bonus to Phantom Hand specifically. Since it was an Eidolon a rogue archetype ability, it combined the bonuses from the ring and his rogue gear (not multiplied), for an 80% boost to its power. Which meant instead of 1% increase in his slotted Relic¡¯s potency per point of Acuity, he received 1.8%. Will scratched down the problem with one of the pencils that had mysteriously made it¡¯s way into his room. He¡¯d found himself doing a lot more math and writing than he¡¯d thought he would when he started Climbing. Who knew a Party leader had to do math and write letters!? 110X1.8 equals¡­198. The interesting thing was that the three point Acuity bonus he got from the Wand of the Undead retainer did not benefit from the boosting effect that the other affixes of the wand received. It have raised the acuity bonus from +3 up to +8, which would have been enough for it to raise to +9¡­ It seemed as though the System applied the bonus to Acuity he got from the item and added it to his total when calculating the slotted Relic¡¯s other powers, but in exchange, excluded Acuity bonuses from benefiting from boosts. Which made sense as a simple way to prevent breaking The System by stacking Acuity on top of Acuity until it went supercritical. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The System and magic as a whole had an energy source, which was Miasma. Anything that required an energy source couldn¡¯t go infinite. If Wills stats were allowed to go infinite based on self-compounding stats like that, something would fizzle out and break long before infinite stats were achieved. In this case, the thing that fizzled out would probably be Will. Looking at his stats made Will consider. Thinking of it, Will itched his stump. In the weeks since he¡¯d acquired the Axolotl Sacrifice, his missing hand had begun to¡­ Currently, it was just a sore, itchy nub of bone that had begun growing out of his truncated wrist, stretching the scar tissue above it. The scar tissue itself was rapidly fading from the pale white of rapidly-healed wound to something more in line with actual skin. It was only half an inch of growth, but if Will wasn¡¯t embroiled an avalanche of life-or-death bullshit, he would have been ecstatic. The timeline didn¡¯t really matter as long as he got his gods-damned hand back. Of course, faster was better. He¡¯d wanted to wear the Ring of Regeneration, but Loth Steve had told him it might weaken or malform the bone for it to grow back that quickly, something about the new bones needing to ¡®experience range of motion¡¯ as they healed rather than regenerating all at once as a fused together lump of bone. Plus, if they needed to make corrections to the hand as it grew, it would be easier if it was growing slowly. Apparently the hand and wrist had tons of tiny little bones and tendon attachment points, and even one the slightest bit out of place could cripple the hand and cause untold pain for years. And if he had to choose, Will would rather have a good, working hand, than a decoration. In the meantime, Will was keeping the regrowth concealed under a gauntlet strapped to his wrist. When it was fully grown, he could simply say that he¡¯d paid a healer an exorbitant sum to replace the limb, and no one would suspect he could grow them back. Still, Will would rather keep it a secret. The fact that The Tower refused to relinquish his old hand¡­that information could be used to deduce the fact that his hand had been used as a Sacrifice before he even had a Class¡­and could lead to another avalanche of bullshit above and beyond the one he currently faced. When the day of the tournament rolled around, Will was as prepared as he could possibly make himself, and his first opponent was as as Will could possibly make him. For some reason, the young warrior¡¯s inn had been haunted the last three days¡­strange sounds at night, things turning up missing. The usual. Will practically vibrated with nervous energy as he waited for the announcer to call them forward. He was so freaked out he actually missed the call until June tapped him in the shoulder. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re up.¡± She said, poking him. ¡°Right.¡± Will took a deep breath and walked out into the arena, feeling as though he were a puppet on strings. The sudden brightness of noon blinded him and the roar of the crowd deafened him, rendering his whole world a chaotic wash of light and sound. In a moment, his senses adapted, and he found himself at the steps leading up to a square raised platform. He started climbing them, ending up facing a young man a little older than himself. Maybe eighteen? The announcer¡¯s voice cut through the ocean of cheering. The crowd¡¯s volume dropped to hushed whispers. While the announcer spoke, Will sized up his opponent. The young man was wearing cheap gear that looked a little threadbare, and despite the dark circles under his eyes, he had a determined fire in them. Whereas Will wore expensive Relics from head to toe, hiding his appearance beneath a pearlescent snarling Uru Drake mask. ¡°I look forward to testing our mettle against each other.¡± Hiro said with a nod. ¡°But be assured I will not go easy on you, because I cannot lose here! My friends are counting on me!¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Will replied¡­ Will preferred to think he was the one who was serious about winning. ¡°Fighters, begin!¡± ¡°I invoke the blessings of Granesh, god of Order!¡± Hiro said, raising his sword to the sky while Will looked on in bemused silence. ¡°Helm of knowledge!¡± A glittering nasal helm appeared on Hiro¡¯s head, with a large bar of steel covering the bridge of his nose, but leaving his eyes exposed. ¡°Grants me the wisdom of the ancients!¡± Will thought, crossing his arms. ¡°Sword of Truth!¡± the guy¡¯s sword transformed into a glittering, fantastical version of his original sword. ¡°Its light exposes the unnatural!¡± ¡°Shield of Purity! Defends against the sinful! ¡°Boots of the Zephyr! Grants me the swiftness of the wind!¡± Hiro must¡¯ve finished applying his buffs, because he crouched down and lunged forward, the wings on his boots flapping to give him that bit of extra acceleration, his extended sword glowing with holy light that honestly hurt Will¡¯s eyes to look at. Will thought, squinting. ¡°Take this! Holy Smi-¡° ¡°Pocket sand.¡± Will said, pulling his hand out from where he¡¯d dipped it into the magical pocket he¡¯d stitched onto the front of his shirt and flinging it into the charging warrior¡¯s eyes. Simultaneously, Will grabbed Hiro¡¯s lead foot with the Phantom Hand, tripping him and turning the headlong charge into a dive. 61/62 charges remaining. The arena snapped to pristine ice in the blink of an eye, and the blinded, flailing Paladin Archetype flew past Will and slid off the edge of the platform. ¡°And¡­the winner is¡­William Oh¡­by ring out, using a combination of throwing sand into his opponent¡¯s eyes and turning the floor into ice. Let¡¯s umm¡­give him a hand¡­I guess?¡± The surrounding crowed muttered to each other, an ominous sound that spread across the arena like a disease¡­but Will didn¡¯t bother concerning himself with it. Again, he would die or be enslaved if he lost a single match, so being a good sport or giving people a show wasn¡¯t high on his list of priorities. ¡°The Baron has weighed in and declared that yes, sand counts as a weapon, and would like to remind contestants that if Relics of legendary power that can produce blasts of fire or inflict psychic puppeteering are allowed, what¡¯s a little sand? Nonmagical goggles are cheap and plentiful, folks.¡± Will glanced up and searched the stands, finding an oversized booth where the Baron Akul sat in the center, grinning from ear to ear. Real battle didn¡¯t have rules, so they must¡¯ve been trying to get as close to a ¡®real¡¯ battle as possible for this tournament. Will gave the Baron a bow and stepped off the stage, walking past Hiro, who appeared to be trembling with rage, but didn¡¯t act on it. ¡°Stevie. Billy-bob.¡± Will said as he stepped inside the fighter¡¯s waiting area. ¡°Yes sir?¡± the spirit butlers asked, peeling out of the wall. ¡°Whoever my next opponent is, go to their house and make sure they don¡¯t get any sleep tonight, and if they¡¯re unwise enough to take any of their kit off before bed, make sure a critical piece is misplaced.¡± The undead butlers shared a nearly identical sour face at the underhanded actions, but they¡¯d already expressed their distaste for ¡®rogue¡¯ work, and Will had already explained the severity of the situation they were in. They disappeared into the wall. Having intelligent minions capable of independent action and critical thinking was a game changer. ¡°You realize that¡¯s the only person who will fall for the ¡®sand in the eyes¡¯ trick?¡± Loth asked. He glanced down at her. ¡°I¡¯m counting on it.¡± He only had to win five more rounds. He had plenty more tricks. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 71: A race is run in an alley before the first step is taken Bron Gilder, the level 50 Bishop of the church of Granesh clicked his tongue as Hiro Tomaki walked out of the arena into the contestant¡¯s area, his body stiff and trembling with shame as he struggled to blink the sand out of his eyes without damaging them.¡°Send someone with a skin full of water to tend the boy¡¯s eyes. I¡¯d rather not Granesh lose a Paladin Archetype over this. Hopefully this will serve as a reminder to him that Climbers are a different beast altogether.¡± ¡°Yes, bishop.¡± His aide said before turning around and relaying the instructions to one of their healers on standby, swiftly returning. ¡°And make sure our priests are attending every match of Mr. Oh from this point on. If he is severely wounded in the course of the tournament, that would present a relatively simple way to remove this particular Deceiver from this world.¡± ¡°¡­What if he wins?¡± his aide asked, to which Bron turned to face him, raising a brow. ¡°Nevermind. Right away,¡± his aide began sprinting down into the bowels of the arena to haggle with the other churches while Bron watched the next few matches of the day. Youth who won the tournament often went on to become Lords, with the help of the Baron. It was the unspoken reward for victory. If William Oh won the tournament, he would be under the wing of the Baron, essentially becoming untouchable on the 5th Floor. Throwing sand in someone¡¯s eyes and pushing them out of the ring was infuriatingly uninformative, which Bron supposed was the point. Maybe William oh was very weak and using the sand trick to bypass what would¡¯ve been a difficult fight. Or maybe he was overwhelmingly strong and didn¡¯t want to reveal it quite yet. Maybe there was an extra ingredient in the sand/ice combo that needed to remain hidden¡­ As Bron was considering, the matches continued. The next match was between a rotund Climber with a sickly green appearance, while the other was a tall, muscular woman with vibrant blonde hair tied into a simple ponytail and reinforced with a headband. The rotund climber bore a wicked looking hooked blade seemingly meant for cutting branches or gutting enormous fish, wearing greens and browns, with swamp-stompers and ranger Relics. The tall woman bore a massive quiver with a single javelin resting inside, slung over her shoulder in a way that couldn¡¯t possibly be easy to draw. She moved like a person who had a tremendous amount of Strength and Kinesthetics, the way her toes seemed to grip the floor to keep her from flying away. A common trait for archers. The announcer went over the rules again as the two contestants stared each other down. In the blink of an eye, the woman¡¯s hand whipped up and then down again, producing a javelin as if by magic. The six-foot missile cut through the air where the rotund man¡¯s heart had been. ?? The squat fellow dropped even lower, the javelin passing above his head as his palms hit the ground. Without missing a beat, the woman drew another javelin, which had magically replenished itself in the quiver. An Ability or a Relic? Bron had no clue just yet. The next javelin whistled through the air, aiming to skewer the man as he crouched in place. Before it even landed, the javelineer had another one in hand, cocked back and waiting to be thrown wherever the man might dodge to. He didn¡¯t dodge. A tree trunk apparated out of thin air as the arena turned into a swamp, interposing itself between the two of them. an instant later there was a loud wooden as the javelin buried itself in the wood, nearly splitting the stump in two. The spectators could see the man dive down into the surrounding water, his body flattening as he passed through the standing water without so much as a ripple. The javelineer, however, her view was blocked by the stump and the low grasses that had appeared in the arena. Seemingly acknowledging that she needed a better view, the javelineer jumped up onto a twisted tree, balancing in its swaying branches without any visible sign of strain. It was only seven feet or so tall, but it gave her the view she needed to locate her prey and resume her assault. The man, knowing this, burst out of the water, having travelled a tremendous distance underwater without revealing his position, he was effectively flanking her. The man seemed to deflate as an oversized tongue shot out at his opponent, aiming at her throwing arm. The Javelineer interposed her off-hand, and an instant later she was drawn at neck-breaking speed towards her opponent, plucking her from the tree like a frog might pluck a dragonfly off a blade of grass. Bron thought. He¡¯d seen Builds like that before. On one hand, animal and environment-based builds were excellent at medium to low levels, since they had a cohesive build that leveraged the synergy that nature had perfected over uncountable generations. On the other hand¡­ The javelineer met the frog-man¡¯s hooked blade with one of her javelins. She was at an awkward angle, flying through the air so she didn¡¯t have ground to brace herself against¡­ And yet¡­ Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The frog-man staggered backwards as his hooked blade was nearly torn out of his hand by the javelineer¡¯s sheer Strength. Despite having all the advantages of natural synergy, animal Builds did not have the unnaturally concentrated singular intent of purpose that made for an unstoppable PVP Build. As her legs skidded to a halt in the thick mud, the frog man let go of the javelineer¡¯s arm with his tongue, aiming to dive back under the water, but he jerked in place, drawn back up as the muscular woman¡¯s off-hand clamped down around his slimy tongue and reeled him back in. Bron thought he saw the frog man say something before he was mercilessly riddled with javelins. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The fight was called the very next instant as priests of Andover leapt into the ring and drew out the half-dozen spears perforating the man¡¯s body, bringing him back before his soul could cross to the other side. It was a close thing. ¡°Bishop,¡± his aide panted as he arrived. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°The priestesses of Holdna have already claimed responsibility William Oh¡¯s matches and refuse to let us heal him!¡± How the good-aligned thousand-eyed goddess of prophecy and hunting wound up marrying the evil embodiment of Chaos incarnate, they would never know. It was a difference in opinion. The scripture of Granesh stated that only through stability and strong, just systems of government, could humanity build the strength of arms needed to conquer the tower. Holdna believed that the answer lay in a roll of the dice. A change in the status quo so drastic that it broke the stranglehold The Tower had on humanity, and so the thousand-eye goddess aligned herself with Ouroboros, the embodiment of the endless, ever-expanding nature of The Tower. Bron was old enough to have shed a bit of the blind zealotry of youth. He saw the reasons behind both sides, and felt that the two deities hindered each other, causing both their plans to become fruitless. If progress was to be made, one would have to go. Bron had made the rational decision to support Granesh, because it did not require chaos as a catalyst. Chaos meant heroism and nobility in the face of adversity, but it also meant death and destruction as a staging ground for that heroism and nobility. Bron would rather have order. A system that did not rely on heroes, but rather a unity of purpose. And for that reason he would do everything in his power to tear down the Church of Holdna. They could not both exist and save humanity. As the Bishop considered the future, William Oh considered dinner. Unable to purchase baked goods from his favorite shop, Will was forced to go to an actual restaurant and flirt with waitresses. It didn¡¯t go as well as he¡¯d hoped. Sadly, Will was much worse at it than he thought, although it could be because the waitresses were at least ten years older than him. In any case he got a pained smile and a polite request for his order. So it went that Will was downheartedly considering his flavorless meat pie and lack of baker girls, when Hiro Tomaki slid into the booth across from him. Will¡¯s paranoia exploded and he drew a knife out of his phantom hand and aimed it at the Blessed Warrior¡¯s femoral artery, all hidden beneath the table. ¡°Can I help you?¡± Will asked. ¡°Did you cheat?¡± He asked. Will considered it a moment. ¡°¡­Yes.¡± Hiro seemed to consider in silence for a moment, his hand clenching and unclenching, but no sign that he would try to attack. Will¡¯s knife hovered close to Hiro¡¯s crotch, held in place by the Phantom Hand. ¡°How?¡± Hiro finally asked. ¡°I had someone keep you awake the night before.¡± Will said. The paladin¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I had no idea. And in the arena?¡± Will shook his head. ¡°All legal in the ring.¡± ¡°I felt something trip me.¡± ¡°You sure did. That was an Ability of mine and therefore not cheating¡­You seem less mad than I expected.¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯m furious.¡± Will prepared to stab Hiro in the groin and gut. ¡°¡­but mostly furious at myself. All my life the nuns who raised me warned me about tricksters and schemers, but they also protected me from them. I guess I just assumed they were more of an abstract concept.¡± Hiro said, running his fingers through his hair before resting on his palm and giving the table the thousand yard stare. ¡°¡­Until you ran face-first into a Rogue Archetype.¡± Will guessed. ¡°Precisely.¡± Hiro said. ¡°Can I share with you some of the fil-ah-so-fi that¡¯s been brewing in my mind the last few months?¡± Will asked. Ever since Loth had told him he should work on his own, he¡¯d been doing his best. ¡°By all means.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve realized that all battles have an end, but none have a start.¡± The paladin¡¯s brows rose. ¡°When the announcer told us to start fighting, was that the start of our battle?¡± Will asked. ¡°¡­It was when you sent someone to keep me awake the night before.¡± The paladin said, nodding in understanding. ¡°Or was it when I bought the pocket sand knowing I would use it on ¡± Will asked. ¡°Or was it when you practiced your Abilities knowing would use it on someone? All of it played a part in our battle, a winding series of decisions that can be traced back to the very beginning whose outcome is murky at best until they are pitted against each other.¡± ¡°If you view each conflict as an isolated event where two standalone individuals are pitted against each other, and ignore the battle they¡¯ve waged before the fight even took place, then you¡¯ve doomed yourself.¡± ¡°The race is run in the mind before the first step is taken,¡± the paladin mused. ¡°Who said that?¡± Will asked, cocking his head. ¡°It was a saying one of the nuns liked to admonish me with. I feel as though I understand it better now. Thank you. May I ask one more question?¡± ¡°Shoot.¡± ¡°Why cheat?¡± ¡°Because I will die if I don¡¯t win.¡± Will simplified. ¡°¡­Or is it because you fear the shame of defeat more than death itself?¡± Hiro asked, pointing at with a smug expression. ¡°No, it¡¯s because I will die.¡± Will said. ¡°Oh. Uh¡­care to elaborate?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say I made a high-stakes bet with the Baron.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Hiro shrugged before standing. ¡°Well, William Oh, I must return to my Party. You¡¯ve given me a lot to think about. I will consider this exchange an important step in the resolution of our battle.¡± ¡°You¡¯re alright, Hiro,¡± Will said, shaking his hand. ¡°And you¡¯re rather cute under that mask.¡± Hiro winked. Will¡¯s concentration broke and the Phantom Hand dropped the knife, which thudded on the dense rug. Hiro¡¯s gaze landed on the dagger rolling out from under the restaurant¡¯s table. ¡°Were you going to me?¡± Hiro asked, eyes round. ¡°I mean¡­only if you attacked. Or got too agitated, or reached for something under the table, or the rest of your party arrived to hem me in.¡± Will admitted sheepishly. ¡°¡­Right. Well, this has been eye-opening for me. Best of luck in the tournament.¡± Hiro then stiffly turned and strode away. Will thought, picking up the dagger and storing it. Once Will finished his meal he started back towards the Inn, where he intended to get a full night¡¯s sleep before he had to take on his next opponent, who would be exhausted by the time their match came around. Unfortunately¡­his opponent seemed to have the same idea, as an ever-growing group of thugs herded Will off the main roads and into some dimly lit back-alleys. ¡°William Oh, good to see you.¡± A man with a shaved head said, emerging from among the group of blade-wielding thugs that crowded around him. ¡°I am your next opponent. Regards.¡± he said with a mocking bow. ¡°The Duke applauds your outside-the-box thinking and will not penalize you for acting outside the bounds of the arena, but he also likes a fair fight, and has given me similar permission to pursue¡­unconventional victory.¡± The surrounding thugs chuckled ominously. Will thought, tensing. ¡°Excuse me, coming through! CLEAR A PATH!¡± A young woman¡¯s voice shouted above the laughter, silencing them and parting the befuddled crowd. It was two young women, one in a Holdna priestess uniform, while the other wore black and white formalwear, both out of place in a grimy alley bristling with weapons and human excrement. Then Formalwear raised a cone-shaped Relic to her mouth and her voice took on a familiar power beyond her frame. Fighters, Begin!¡± Chapter 72: Round 2 ¡°Alright, where are the drugs?¡± Ria demanded, grabbing the Ear Collector¡¯s hands and twisting them up behind him. ¡°I know there¡¯s a surge around the tournament. People like to get high and watch the fights.¡±¡°Exactly. People to do that, why are you being a killjoy?¡± The Ear Collector asked, struggling to move and finding himself overpowered. ¡°Listen rookie, you¡¯ve only been a guardswoman for like, two months, and they only let you in ¡®cause you got that retard strength. Maybe keep your head down, lift heavy things for your superiors for a couple years and learn a bit more about how Akul works before you try to singlehandedly stop all crime everywhere.¡± ¡°If I want your I¡¯ll ask for it, what I want right now is to know where you keep your stash.¡± Ria said. ¡°Why, you wanna get lit? Ow, ow, ow.¡± Ear Collector winced as his bones creaked in Ria¡¯s hands. ¡°Oh, sure, let me just abandon my reputation and the business I¡¯ve been cultivating for because a pretty girl in a uniform asked. Let me tell you honey, that ain¡¯t the right uniform. But I hear 5th Floor Fantasies is hirin- OW OW OW!¡± ¡°Wait wait!¡± The Ear Collector shouted, prompting Ria to ease up the pressure. ¡°You gonna talk?¡± ¡°Obviously not. No, do you hear that?¡± ¡°Hear what?¡± Ria asked, but a moment later the wind over the alleyway carried the sound of steel clanging against steel and screams of pain, followed by a series of distant explosions. A moment later, William Oh jumped over the alley, pursued by nearly a dozen armed men. The cool, and heroic young man glanced down at them as he passed. Ria would never admit it to anyone, though. ¡°Ah crap,¡± Ear Collector muttered. ¡°What, why?¡± Ria asked. ¡°INCOMING!¡± Will¡¯s voice came an instant before he looped back around towards them, sprinting into the alley from the main street, thugs hot on his trail. ¡°Two freebies!¡± Will held up a leather-clad hand with two fingers extended. Ear Collector shook his head. ¡°Three!¡± Will held up another finger. ¡°DEAL!¡± Ear Collector shouted back. ¡°Hey! Are you guys crime-ing? Hey!¡± Ria demanded, suspecting she¡¯d just witnessed an illicit deal go down¡­but no context for what it might¡¯ve been. ¡°Gonna wanna leggo ¡®fore they get here, sweetheart.¡± Ear Collector said. Ria¡¯s eyes widened as she spotted the ten or so men charging after Will, their eyes crazed, practically foaming at the mouth with the desire to kill. ¡°WILL, WHAT DID YOU DO!?¡± she demanded, shoving the Ear Collector aside and grabbing her halberd. ***William Oh, 30 seconds before*** ¡°Fighters, BEGIN!¡±The announcer cried, making a chopping motion. Will immediately tensed his legs to leap upward and turn this fight into a chase. A pulse of energy washed over him and his body froze in place. The nearest thug wound up a beheading strike as Will struggled to move, while another aimed to gut him. He wasn¡¯t frozen so much as he was slowed to a ridiculous degree, moving at a snail¡¯s pace regardless of how hard he struggled to move. It was as if the air itself had turned to pitch. Phantom Hand was slowed as well, but since the Ability was already blindingly fast, it moved at a brisk jog. Which¡­wasn¡¯t nearly fast enough to save him. Stevie emerged from the wall beside the beheader and grabbed his arm, sucker-punching him in the side of the head, while Billy-bob yanked the other one¡¯s feet out from under him, causing the thug to crack his jaw open on the cobblestones. Together the two spirit butlers grabbed Will¡¯s glacially slow body under the arms and prepared to throw him high into the sky. The instant before he was launched upward, Will released a present from his Dimensional Storage, preserving it¡¯s Starter with Sourdough. Now that he knew he could direct Charges and certain Abilities through his Phantom Hand, there was no reason not to. Will tried to do something he¡¯d never tried before: Using Sourdough to retain the starter of the new item he released it from Phantom Hand¡¯s dimensional Storage. The alleyway erupted into smoke and screaming as the smoke bomb blinded them to his escape. Only temporarily, though. ¡°Godsdamnit how- Where did he go!?¡° Will was ever-so-slowly pushing himself to his feet on the slanted shingles as a trickle of men began streaming out of the smoke. The ones that had either seen where he went or simply jumped upward to get out of the smoke. The first one out got a faceful of Aetherhawk, summoned by his glove. The thug tumbled back, throwing others behind him back into the smoke as Magnus did his best to claw and peck his face off, sending his victim shrieking back to the ground. Will saw the announcer and Priestess erupt from the smoke, landing on the roof with grace and power that far exceeded that of a typical level 25. The priestess clasped her hands together and waited patiently for either of them to suffer lethal damage, but the Announcer was fired up. ¡°He¡¯s on the roof! Get up there!¡± his opponent¡¯s voice called out. As the slow debuff waned, Will gave the announcer a hard look before pulling his mask out and slapping it down over his face. She had the decency to shrug and look a bit sheepish. 60->57 Charges remaining. The three fireball beads he¡¯d purchased from the consumable store in Coalton sailed down into the alley, exploding with vibrant flashes of orange that lit up the thick smoke from the inside, catching any of the attackers who hadn¡¯t immediately jumped for the roof. About half of them were dissuaded from continuing pursuit, but there were still twenty or so remaining. The slow effect was fully gone by the time they located him and began chasing. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Five seconds of 95% speed reduction was more dangerous in practice than 100 seconds at 5%, since it allowed for a coup de grace. Will didn¡¯t have any way to prevent getting hit by the slow whammy again, nor did he have a good answer to it. Now that Stevie and Billy-bob had revealed their presence, they would only be able to help minimally if he were slowed that much again. Will thought, lowering his head and breaking into a sprint across the roof tiles. Will thought. ¡°And William Oh seeks to take advantage of the ringless arena and his superior maneuverability to buy some time!¡± The announcer shouted, running along beside him, effortlessly keeping up with his full-speed dash. Will felt the familiar pulse of energy and his body locked up halfway over the spine of a roof, causing his foot to catch and sending him tumbling headlong down the other side, unable to move his arms fast enough to catch his fall. Will wondered as he approached the edge of the roof, the alleyway spinning closer and closer¡­ Will caught himself by the belt with the Phantom hand, preventing himself from tumbling off the edge, only to glance up and spot half a dozen thugs cresting the roof behind him, eyes inflamed from the smoke bomb. Their war-cries devolved into shrieks of terror as their headlong sprint down the slope of the roof turned into terminal velocity plummets towards the unforgiving stone three stories below. One of the flailing mercenaries got a lucky flail as he went by, carving a deep gouge into Will¡¯s side. It bled pretty good, drawing a line of blood across his shirt, but it didn¡¯t cut through his ribs, so it wasn¡¯t inherently lethal. Another tried for his neck and Will yanked himself to the side at the Phantom Hand¡¯s subdued pace, only getting a shallow graze across his neck and nicking his mask where it guarded his jaw. The merc ¡®tsked¡¯ an instant before he disappeared off the side of the roof into the alleyway below. A moment later, the slow effect was gone and Will scrambled to his feet, lunging to the next rooftop over while the dozen or so remaining thugs went around his ice slick, aiming to surround him. Was the Ability built to have diminishing returns in exchange for a stronger initial effect on the ¨C generally correct ¨C assumption it wouldn¡¯t need a second application? A relic could come into play as a trump card. A few of them had gotten ahead of him, and Will pointed at the one covering the largest gap with his thick leather glove. An ethereal hawk dropped out of the sky, claws extended towards the man¡¯s face. To his credit, the Merc saw it coming and reacted with superhuman speed, blocking the attack with the flat of his blade, catching Magnus¡¯s semi-physical claws an instant before they landed. An instant later he unleashed an Ability, a massive flaming purple hand erupting from his wrist and crushing Will¡¯s hawk. The two summons vied over which one was more potent, with Will¡¯s bird giving a pained screech¡­until Stevie emerged from the floor, grabbed the merc¡¯s ankles and yanked them out from under him. A tried-and-true maneuver. Will leapt past the merc, busting through the encirclement and putting all his enemies solidly behind him, while his bird escaped the Ability and flew up into the sun, masking his next attack. A heartbeat later, Will jumped over an alley, spotting Ria shaking down the Ear Collector in the small hours after the bakery closed¡­as was her current tradition. Will ran a brief cost-benefit analysis. And decided that it was worth the risk. The Wyrd familiy was unlikely to be watching this bout, and if they were¡­they would only see it for what it was¡­ Scraping off pursuit on a hapless guardswoman. Will juked left hard as soon as he passed over to the next roof, slapping an Ability out of the hand of a mercenary before he shoulder checked him out of the way, fire spreading across his neck and torso as the wounds tore slightly. Will jumped down into the crowded streets, weaving through the locals, who did an admirable job of moving out of the way, given that everyone was at least level 20. He reached the alleyway where Ear Collector was doubled over with his arm twisted behind his back. ¡°Two freebies!¡± Will offered to perform two smugglings for free in exchange for the Ear Collector¡¯s help with the current situation. Will could see the Ear Collector process that in an instant, his slight smirk and head-shake giving away that he knew Will didn¡¯t have a strong spot to negotiate from at the current moment, but they didn¡¯t have all the time in the world to haggle. ¡°Three!¡± ¡°Deal!¡± Ear Collector said as Will sprinted towards him. ¡°Gonna wanna leggo ¡®fore they get here, sweetheart.¡± Ear Collector said. Ria¡¯s eyes widened as they focused on the mob behind Will. ¡°WILL, WHAT DID YOU DO!?¡± she demanded, shoving the Ear Collector aside and grabbing her halberd. The announcer said from her perch above the alley. ¡°Use bludgeoning.¡± Will said, finally drawing his tomahawk as he felt the blood from his wounds crawl down his side, wet and sticky. ¡°Gotcha.¡± Ear Collector said, bashing his fists together, an Ability passing through the loop of ears around his neck, causing them to glow with power. ¡°What is going on!?¡± Ria demanded. This was going to be a very risky move, but it could swing the entire fight. Will¡¯s hair raised on his neck at the visceral sensation of switching from one finger on his Phantom Hand to another, causing the third finger to blacken and radiate a dim phantom pain as he switched to the second. ¡°AAAH!¡± the mercs screamed as they charged, eyes red. Using the move he¡¯d learned from the battle with the Wyrd mercs, Will threw his tomahawk up above the heads of the charging enemies, catching it with Phantom Hand and triggering its psychic AOE. Will¡¯s maximum capacity of Charge had dropped from 62 to 50 after switching Relics. The vast majority of the charging mercs were suddenly sheathed in hoarfrost that slowed their movements to nearly nothing, causing them to begin tumbling, unable to move fast enough to sustain their momentum. Will felt a flood of healing suffuse his body, the wounds on his torso and neck sealing in an instant into crude scars that looked welded shut. A decent amount of the damage was still there, but they were a lot better and wouldn¡¯t get any worse, either. Ear Collector stepped forward and smashed one of the tumbling mercs with a fist, another with an elbow, delivering devastating damage due to the interaction between Hoarfrost and bludgeoning damage. The cursemage turned the corner and lifted his hand. Will ducked behind Ria. ¡°Hey what are you-¡° Ria froze in place. One of the few mercenaries who escaped the AOE charged forward, swinging a handaxe down at Will. Will maneuvered his shield into the way, the axe making a dull sound as it refused to dig into her shoulder any further than a papercut might. The merc gasped in pain as the Phantom Hand drove Will¡¯s tomahawk into his back. An instant later he was sheathed heat-to-toe in hoarfrost, and Will¡¯s gloved fist shattered his jaw. Literally. Thankfully the man¡¯s skin held everything together so a healer could piece the bone back together, and Will enjoyed the sensation of ache from his wounds fading away as Lifesteal caught up. ¡°-DOING!?¡± Ria shouted, shoving Will away from her. ¡°OOOF!¡± The wind was driven out of Will¡¯s lungs as he impacted the wall with enough force to send cracks through the stonework. Will thought as the one on his torso flared with pain. Will¡¯s body froze, followed by Ria and Ear Collector. 1¡­ Ear Collector shouted, one of the ears on his grisly necklace crumbling into ash as he shrugged off the debuff, whipping out a hooked knife that was obviously meant to remove ears from unwilling victims as he charged the Cursemage. The cursemage formed a little red ball and shot it outside the alley, sticking it on one of the curious onlookers. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. 2¡­ Ear Collector¡¯s feet shifted and he charged the hapless spectator, who squawked and began sprinting away, frantically trying to rid himself of the sticky Ability, Ear collector bellowing like a madman as he chased. Ria unfroze and charged forward, wielding her halberd. ¡°Stop right-¡° 3¡­ Will tensed up, getting ready to move. The cursemage spun another orb of red magic, shooting Ear Collector in the back with it. Ria swerved and charged after Ear collector, who in turn chased the hapless civilian, who was running like he¡¯d never run before. 4¡­ The slow didn¡¯t let up. The cursemage whipped up a hand and Will felt the slow effect lock into place. He glanced up at Will¡¯s floating axe, slowly returning to him. Will could see him measuring the AOE and speed, determining if he could beat it back to Will. He could. His enemy pulled out a blade with his left hand and rushed for Will¡¯s chest, his right hand still held up, locking the slow effect in place by bleeding Charge. 5¡­ Will waited until the last second. The range on this Ability was fairly short. Will sent five Charges through his expensive boots. A web of lightning spread out from Will¡¯s feet, latching onto the sprinting cursemage and causing his muscles to tighten up. His opponent dove forward, his rigidly held, poorly aimed dagger sliding off Will¡¯s sternum. The slow effect expired as the cursemage¡¯s paralyzed hand pointed towards the ground, the curse-sustaining ability losing connection with him. Will launched himself forward, catching his opponent¡¯s face with an elbow an instant before his tomahawk swept down at wind-rending speed and caught Josh in the side, shattering his ribcage and burying the blade in his organs, the sheer force the Phantom Hand delivered lifting him up and slamming him into the stone wall. Will caught the axe as his Phantom Hand delivered it back to him, raising it to finish his enemy off. In the blink of an eye, his opponent was covered by a priestess holding a hand to the cursemage¡¯s wound, glowing with divine light. Will pulled the axe an instant before it struck the priestess in the back. He didn¡¯t need trouble with church. ¡°The priestess of Holdna has called the match, and the winner is William Oh by lethal maiming! A frenetic match, and certainly more enjoyable than his first showing.¡± The announcer said. Who she was performing for, Will had no idea. There was some scattered applause from the street outside. ¡°How do you have-¡° The cursemage rasped, coughing out a lungful of blood as his torso sewed itself back together under the priestess¡¯s hand. ¡°So many Abilities?¡± ¡°Money.¡± Will replied with a shrug. Chapter 73: Round Three There was upside to fighting two matches in one day:Will didn¡¯t have to do anything but rest the next day. He vaguely suspected a setup, but when they marched him and the debuffer out onto the stage, Will¡¯s opponent forfeited without a fuss. Sure, people weren¡¯t happy about two let-down matches in a row, but again¡­he wasn¡¯t there to entertain people. Plus, breezing through his matches without revealing his limits to the other competitors was ideal. Even if they did give him looks. The day off gave him plenty of time and energy to study his potential opponents. Will¡¯s Round Three opponent was going to come down to the javelin lady or the wiry shirtless dude without an ounce of fat on him wearing the oversized necklace Relic. When the fight started, the wiry guy instantly took on a metallic sheen, rushing forward. Three javelins flew out and bounced off the wiry monk¡¯s metallic forearms before he reached his target, aiming for a punch with his whole body weight behind it. The javelineer choked up on a javelin, accepting the punch while stabbing down with the steel tip. The arena cracked under the Metallic Sage¡¯s feet as he blocked the stab with one hand while punching with the other, tucking his arm around his head like a shield. Karryn staggered back, looking none the worse for wear after the punch, aside from a bruise on her ribs. Her arm flickered and another three javelins filled the air between the two of them, aiming for the Metalllic Sage¡¯s midsection. The metallic monk shrugged off the attacks and bulled forward again. The javelineer choked up on the tip of her weapon again, but instead of trading blow for blow she gracefully slid backwards, whipping the haft of the javelin up towards his ear while his fist missed her ribs by over a foot¡­ Then the Metallic Sage slid forward another couple feet, as if an invisible giant had nudged him forward, his fist hitting the same spot while Karryn¡¯s wrist caught the side of his head rather than the haft of her weapon. Will wondered as the Javelineer staggered back again, her eyes narrowed. Chronos pursued the advantage, using his Mobility Ability freely now that it¡¯d been revealed, mixing in unnatural slides, hiccups and accelerations that seemed to come from nowhere. Will thought. It could be good practice for him to fight someone equally mobile. Interestingly enough, the javelineer abandoned offense and put her full effort into her mobility, moving just as fast as the metallic sage, albeit without the unnatural changes in momentum. The Sage finally caught up and unleashed a devastating kick on the javelineer¡¯s thigh, causing her to drop to her knees. He followed up with a kick aimed at her head, but she rolled out of the way and managed to get back to her feet before the metallic sage recovered. She continued to lead him around the arena, but her mobility suffered a bit, and before long, the sage caught her with another kick to the thigh, sending the javelineer back to the ground. Will winced as the sage followed up with the exact same kick to the head as before. Karryn had noticed it before Will, and the javelineer fully intended to take advantage of the monk¡¯s complacency. Instead of rolling out of the way again, she lunged up, caught the leg under her arm and punched him in the knee with every ounce of muscle she could bring to bear. Which was a lot. The sage¡¯s leg popped backwards with a the entire arena could hear. The Metallic Sage screamed, sliding backwards, his body wobbling left and right, up and down as though it was a bobber suspended in water, now entirely supported by his Ability. He could fly, or close to it, but missing a leg would definitely make things harder. Chronos landed on his good leg and stayed balanced despite the sudden trauma, his face revealing the depth of pain he was feeling. The javelineer grunted with pain as she used her javelin like a cane, forcing her battered legs to take her weight. She had bruised ribs and wobbly legs while her opponent could still fly. Will wondered. Apparently not. Without the use of both legs, the monk was no longer able to produce a blow with enough force to endanger the blonde woman. He tried hit and run tactics, but Will could see the way his flight Ability wasn¡¯t providing the same rotation power that planting his feet could manage, so she warded off the blows with a single arm, able to continue throwing her javelin, wearing him down every time he withdrew. A couple minutes into this fast-paced fight, the Metallic Sage¡¯s shiny body began to dull, then it began glowing a dim pink. Finally, he raised his hand and surrendered, his body dripping hissing blood from multiple minor perforations. ¡°And Karryn Amos wins by surrender! That was an entertaining match folks! And now Chronos is requesting a bucket of water!¡± The Metallic Sage dumped the water bucket over himself, sighing in relief as a cloud of steam exploded out from him. The two of them got healed and went back into the competitors waiting area, chatting amiably. ¡° my next round?¡± She asked, her attention turning to Will as they passed by, eyes scraping down his smaller body. She was a head taller than him and easily a hundred pounds heavier. ¡°I¡¯m your last.¡± Will replied. The javelineer gave a scoff as she continued walking. Will didn¡¯t know what her Primary Abilities were, since she¡¯d brute forced both of her matches. If he came in close she would beat him to death. If he stayed at a distance she would pincushion him. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She didn¡¯t have a bunch of tricks, like Will¡­because she didn¡¯t need them. By Will¡¯s reckoning, she¡¯d won all of her matches without leaning on her Relics, so even if he stole them mid-fight, it would only lower her effectiveness by a slim margin. and If he¡¯d seen her Abilities, he might not have to go all out, but since she¡¯d kept them hidden, Will was forced to go to extremes¡­Without killing her, anyway. Will had bounced between a couple different ideas. First idea was to tug her off the arena with the Manhunter ring. If it succeeded, then great, he could quickly and nonlethally end the fight. But, what if, during her fall off the arena, she triggered her heretofore unused Ability and cut him in half before hitting the dirt? Will would lose. And probably die. Second idea. What if he stalled and removed her Relics before knocking her off the ring? Stall how? Will wasn¡¯t confident he could face up to that barrage of steel. He could see it, maybe even dodge it for a while, but not forever. Will¡¯s resistance was unusually high, but he suspected that would simply prevent him from exploding. Third idea: Use the phantom hand to release a cannonball the size of her head, travelling at hundreds of miles an hour¡­right at the back of her skull. Would it work? Even if her Resistance was 125, that was simply six times the structural integrity of a normal skull. Will was fairly sure a cannonball at those speeds could plow through six skulls without losing much velocity. At the very least it would brain her. The downside...Will wasn¡¯t in a rush to start killing people whose only crime had been to get in the ring with him. They were lingering around the fighter¡¯s waiting area, making sure nobody sprained a muscle or had an untreated ulcer before their match. The Granesh priests universally pointedly ignored him, which Will found amusing, because it gave away how much attention they were paying to him. They were probably drooling at the mouth to declare him an unfortunate casualty. The clergy of Melisk included a single louse-ridden beggar dispensing healing with wild eyes. The clergy of Andover had gold-lined robes and business cards. They weren¡¯t allowed to charge the contestants for healing: That¡¯d already been paid for, but they treat this as an opportunity to advertise their services. The clergy of Holdna had a larger number of priestesses. Their uniform¡­wasn¡¯t much of one, mostly whatever the priest found comfortable, but they all wore a stylized symbol of an eye surrounded by a circle. Of those present, they seemed the least likely to shiv him or sell him a slave. ¡°Excuse me.¡± Will said, approaching the white-haired priestess, whose wrinkled face broke into a genuine smile when Will approached. ¡°Holdna sees you, young man. How can I help? Do you have an injury or concern?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t tell any other contestant what I¡¯m about to say, can you?¡± ¡°The healers attending the tournament are paid well for their discretion. I will not divulge it to anyone.¡± ¡°Yeah, um, if I were to say¡­¡± Will lowered his voice. ¡°...explode the other person¡¯s head, could you bring them back if you got to them fast enough?¡± ¡°No.¡± The priestess said. ¡°In theory, there is very short second or two where the soul would not have moved on yet wherein such a thing would be possible, but it is beyond the power of any mortal presently alive to recompose a within that time span.¡± ¡°Oh, damn,¡± Will muttered, going back to the drawing board. ¡°Holdna does not wish for you to fight at anything less than your best.¡± She mused. ¡°Listen, there is a healing Ability that can be cast in advance that could preserve your opponent¡¯s soul and body long enough to bring them back from an injury of that nature. I can cast it, but I have one condition.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the condition?¡± Will asked. ¡°You must swear to Holdna that you do not have the means or intent to use the passive healing buff against its bearer.¡± ¡°I swear to Holdna that I don¡¯t have the means or intent to use the passive healing buff against it¡¯s bearer.¡± Will said. It made sense. Could swing the match if he had an ability that could twist buffs into debuffs or raise his stats based on how powerful the enemy¡¯s buffs were or something of that nature. As soon as he finished speaking, it felt as through the whole world had grown eyes and was watching him. Like he was being watched from every possible direction. ¡°Holdna sees you.¡± The priestess said, and Will believed her. ¡°I will apply the protection to your opponent. Fight with everything you have. The goddess expects nothing less than victory from you.¡± ¡°Me, specifically?¡± Will asked, cocking his head. The old woman didn¡¯t miss a beat. ¡°Holdna encourages Climbers to seek victory over The Tower for the benefit of all.¡± ¡°Does she now?¡± Will asked eyes narrowed at the priestess¡¯s serene smile as she fed him a half-truth. ¡°Of course.¡± It seemed like there was more to this little slip of the tongue, but Will wouldn¡¯t get anywhere by pestering the old woman. He could already tell she was going to deny or misdirect any follow-up questions. With that, Will¡¯s concerns about going overboard and killing his opponent were put to rest. Will¡¯s current strength was 26. With the ring of accuracy, it was 46. With a potion of Fury, he would have 56. That put him solidly at about¡­half of his opponent¡¯s expected Strength. Similar Resistance and better Kinesthetics. Will glanced down at his serpent¡¯s axe. In Will¡¯s imagination, blocking his own view and putting Karryn on a clock would prompt her to use her Ability and the chances were good it would put a hole through his plan, his shield, and his body. In Will¡¯s imagination, the cannonball bounced off the back of the javelineer¡¯s head due to a shielding Relic or toughness above and beyond his expectations. She then begins filling the air with javelins. Once she begins throwing, Will dodges, fills the arena with smoke. When the smoke clears¡­giant snake. The snake¡¯s power was scaled down based on the ambient Miasma available when its body was created. Outside The Tower it was five feet long. Inside¡­? A huge portion of Karryn¡¯s intimidation was how fast she could move and throw those damned javelins. He might as well keep the Hoarfrost effect ready to go. If he could drop her speed by 87%, that would make things easier. Of course, Will couldn¡¯t guarantee it would work. Not without knowing if her Relics were offensive or defensive. There was a chance she wore Relics that protected against status effects so she didn¡¯t have to worry about stuff like that and just keep pincushioning people. It was hard to go wrong with more Strength. His previous one was still baking in the keg full of Relic dust in his room, absorbing the latent magic. Will left the arena and spent the rest of the night acquiring the appropriate supplies. By the time his match rolled around, Will was a nervous wreck. The Baron had sent a pretty clear ¡®stop cheating¡¯ message with his second opponent, so Will had decided to stop before he wound up getting shot through the eye by a javelin while eating breakfast. Not being able to anything other than prepare made him nervous, though. Once the time came around, Will strode out into the arena, his expression hidden by the mask. His body though, that was trembling like crazy. Will wasn¡¯t sure what it was. He hadn¡¯t been nervous against his other opponents. He wasn¡¯t even really nervous It was the same trembling one might have after drawing a bowstring back to their cheek. Anxious anticipation of a sudden, swift flight that ended in violence. Honestly, Will would feel once the announcer said ¡®begin!¡¯ and he could actually something. ¡°I look forward to seeing what kind of petty tricks you¡¯ve got up your sleeve.¡± The javelineer said, pointing the haft of her weapon at him. ¡°Wait. Are you ? Scared you finally have to actually fight-¡± ¡°Fighters, BEGIN!¡± Will tensed, ready to go down his list of tactics one at a time, accelerating the Phantom Hand to nearly it¡¯s max speed directly behind his opponent. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Karryn¡¯s head exploded into a fine pink mist. Panicking, Will grabbed the cannonball out of midair before it hit him. Like a magic trick, no one actually saw it before it disappeared again. ¡­ The arena was silent as Karryn¡¯s headless body froze, suspended in midair by the power of the protective Ability as the entire cohort of Holdna priestesses rushed to reassemble her face. The silence stretched out second by agonizing second as the thousands of spectators struggled to process what they¡¯d just seen. ¡°And the Winner is¡­William Oh.¡± The announcer finally found her voice. Will turned and left. Chapter 74: Teaching Caution secondJason Salazar ¡°That, my friends¡­is Lord material right there.¡± Baron Akul said to his guests as the youngling walked off the stage. It was a difference of night and day. Lord don¡¯t have dramatic, entertaining matches where either side might lose. They crush their enemies, and oftentimes do so in a way that the enemy never even saw it coming. ¡°You sure I can¡¯t have him as a Vassal?¡± Rotwitch asked. ¡°I need servants with high Resistance.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t any new Vassals until you learn to keep your hands off of them.¡± Bakton said, his scarred arms crossed and scowling. The other Lords nodded in agreement. ¡°You guys suck.¡± Rotwitch pouted, her metal chair rapidly tarnishing beneath her. ¡°Remember, gentlemen¡­lady,¡± Akul said, glancing at Rotwitch. ¡°We¡¯ve all agreed that he is not to be made a Vassal if he wins the tournament. If he does lose the tournament, you have all agreed to abide by the rules of the auction. If you wish to operate in my city, you must keep your word.¡± ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen, I am already eager to bid on him, but I was told the boy could steal Relics. So far, I¡¯ve seen none of that.¡± Ghoul said, frowning. ¡°Hasn¡¯t had to use it yet.¡± Marksman said with a shrug, his eyes glowing as he studied the young man. Akul was sure he had some means to peek into another person¡¯s Status. ¡°Next up is my grandson,¡± Akul said, leaning back in his chair. ¡°I¡¯m hoping he can make Wiliam Oh demonstrate more of his Abilities and create a better showcase for bidding¡­if William loses, of course. I asked the boy to make a show of it.¡± ¡°Which one?¡± Bakton asked. ¡°Both of them,¡± Akul said with a shrug. ***William Oh*** ¡°Damn, dude, what was that?¡± June asked, her jaw hanging slack as she peered behind him at the arena, which was crawling with priests of Holdna. Will removed the cannonball from his Dimensional storage and tossed it to her. It was a solid iron sphere about the size of two fists clenched together. It weighed around twenty pounds, and it had been moving at about¡­five hundred miles per hour. Give or take. Will was surprised it was that fast, but it was just his superhuman Acuity and Kinesthetics playing tricks on him, making him think it was closer to one hundred and still within the realm of something that could be . The speed had been steadily going up along with his ability to its speed, so that was understandable. Will had honestly been expecting his opponent to have enough Resistance that their skull resisted the strike enough that the force carried through the rest of their body, sending them tumbling and brain-damaged, but alive. Apparently not. Will sat a moment and simply took in the difference between himself at level four, when he desperately fought the Kaith to survive, and his current level of ability. Even though he wasn¡¯t a traditional Warrior archetype, Will had realized that he could probably tear through the monsters of the first three floors like tissue paper. That was how far he¡¯d come. It was just hard to see your progress when everything else around you got stronger too. Will took the cannonball back from June and stared at it, turning the sphere in his hand. Of course, if he lost his Rogue Ability boosting equipment, he would lose about 40% of the Phantom Hand¡¯s current speed and storage capacity. Nearly half. But still¡­ - There was a rather large dent in the solid iron sphere that hadn¡¯t been there before, so she might¡¯ve resisted a slower speed. The sheer force shattering her Resistance was the result of focusing his Build on exploiting the Phantom Hand. Will couldn¡¯t spread death and destruction en masse quite like a Nuker, but one-on-one? Will¡¯s enemy was Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Will put the cannonball back in his Dimensional Storage and walked through the waiting area, looking for Loth. The other competitors parted around him, maintaining their distance and staring at him. Will wondered, wiping off his mask and coming away with a bit of Javelineer. Will ignored the hushed whispered and the distancing until he arrived at Loth. ¡°Thank you for doing this,¡± Will said. ¡°Happy to help,¡± Loth said. ¡°As long as I get that Auction ticket from you. I¡¯ve been studying the Itinerary and there are some Sacrifices and Relics there that our Party would benefit from.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± ¡°In our next match, we have the grandson of Baron Akul, Nephir Akul, level 25 Potent Detonator, darling of our city and the favorite to win. He has dominated every match thus far with the overwhelming firepower that we have come to associate with the name ¡®Akul¡¯! The crowd cheered while Nephir waved. Lots of high pitches squeals filled the air as he sent a white-toothed grin towards the stands. And his opponent, The level 23 Hive-wielding Saboteur, Loth the Luminary, a member of, and second-in-command in the Party of William Oh. So far she has won all of her matches with hardly any visible effort as her opponents invariably stumble into her devious traps!¡± Will went up to the stands to get a better view, looking down at Loth and the dark-skinned young man facing each other. ¡°Fighters, BEGIN!¡± Nephir rose off the surface of the arena floor as visible shields began to wrap around him like the petals of a rose. Most of Loth¡¯s traps triggered on body-weight, so having someone fly above them was likely irritating. If she was bothered, she didn¡¯t show it, clasping her clawed hands behind her back as she waited patiently. ¡°Kobold! I¡¯ll give you the opportunity to withdraw!¡± Nephir said, a ball of fire growing on his fingertips, quickly expanding until it was larger than he was. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I must decline at the moment.¡± Loth said with a slight shake of her head. ¡°Very well, if you meet your end here, then it was meant to be!¡± Nephir shouted, throwing the vision-obscuring ball of fire. In the moment when the ball of fire was between the two of them, A hole in the arena floor opened up beneath Loth, dropping her out of harm¡¯s way. An instant later, wrist-thick bands of spider silk lashed out, securing themselves around Nephir¡¯s ankles and whipped him down to the arena floor, which opened up like the mouth of a giant before snapping shut again to engulf him in total darkness. Loth climbed back up out of the singed earth, waiting patiently on the corner of the arena as staccato explosions rocked the underground, causing bursts of flame to jet up out of the spaces between the tiles. The entire arena bulged upward violently as Nephir seemed to try to blast his way out of the trap and regain altitude, but the floor seemed to be held together by potent webbing and some kind of Earth Ability that Loth¡¯s insects were using, strengthening the stone against the blasts. Giving her insects direct control over stone made her traps much faster and more cohesive. This went on for about fifteen seconds, until the waves of insects worked their way through his shields and the screaming started. Once this happened, Loth held out a hand, glowing with power, and the screaming turned into shrieking, doubling in panic and volume. The spectators couldn¡¯t see it, but Will knew what was happening. She¡¯d hit her opponent with a curse that made a powerful insect chew its way out of him from the inside. The sound of the Baron¡¯s grandson screaming echoed through the arena for several minutes, the only sign the young man was still alive, before his voice began to fade as Nephir presumably lost brain function. The priests of Andover tensed, ready to call the match. Loth raised her hand. ¡°I concede,¡± she said before walking off the arena floor as the shredded body of Nephir Akul was returned to the surface by a tide of insects, his body giving those last, just-prior-to-death gasps as the priests of Andover swarmed over him, bringing him back from the brink of death. ¡°And Nephir Akul wins¡­through surrender? Moving on to fight¡­oh. oh, crap.¡± The announcer said, flipping through her notes before glancing off to someone beside her, forgetting to turn off her megaphone. ¡°Are there any Party members of William Oh in the tournament? Really? Damn¡­¡± The announcer realized her faux pas and quickly turned the magical voice-amplifying Relic off. Now, Will had no idea if Baron Akul actually wanted Will to traumatize his grandson to ¡®teach him caution¡¯ or if he just wanted Will to not win so quickly so he could demonstrate more of his Abilities for the Lords waiting to buy him from the Baron¡­ Those potent shields could present a problem to Will¡¯s ability to secure a win, and if Nephir had full Charge, he could probably rain fire down on Will until he was forced to surrender or die. So Will had asked Loth to put the fear of death into him and drain all his Charges before their match. That way Will still personally engage with the Baron¡¯s grandson and traumatize him, fulfilling his request to the letter, without risking a loss. ***Baron Akul*** ¡°I think your grandson is in some deep shit,¡± Bakton said, chuckling. ¡°¡­How much for the Kobold?¡± Ghoul asked. ¡°She¡¯s already in William Oh¡¯s Party, so he has dibs if he wins.¡± Rotwitch said. ¡°But if he loses¡­how much for the set? I¡¯ve got some mutated Rings of Arcane Endurance from the thirteenth Floor that you would believe.¡± Stephan declined to comment, still deciding how to feel about his grandson¡¯s maiming. It appeared William Oh was crippling him prior to their match in order to secure a total victory and do as Stephan had requested. He¡¯d it, so it was difficult to justify anger, but he just hadn¡¯t expected Will to actually it. Not that one-sidedly anyway. As it turned out, it was just those two, as June Perrier lost her next match, while Mason Lanover won with the Baron¡¯s Build, but only barely, through a close fight. Alicia Zodiac won her match handily by flicking pebbles at her opponent which seemed to only hit critical areas that numbed their bodies and made them collapse. She been on the path to becoming a Lord like Marksman if she hadn¡¯t died already. Reginald Thatcher, the Party¡¯s Tank hadn¡¯t joined the matches, given that his Build was ill-suited for fighting Climbers. Stephan decided. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Either way things went, the Baron intended to profit from it. A servant approached from the side, leaning down to whisper in Stephan¡¯s ear. ¡° Stephan¡¯s blood ran cold. The alleged engineer behind the slaughter of Oilton. Obviously a trial-run for taking the city of Akul. ¡°¡­Invite him to the join the festivities.¡± Stephan said. There wasn¡¯t much else to do beside keep him where he could see him. No one but a Lord had any hope at restricting his movements, and any fight they started inside city limits would level a huge portion of it. In all likelihood, Frederick was going to try to kill him. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time. Stephan was used to it by now. Chapter 75: Nothing Personal ¡°Frederick, Welcome to Akul.¡± Stephan said, offering a hand to Frederick Wyrd. The Thorns-build could probably kill him with a handshake, but Wyrd didn¡¯t know that.¡°I¡¯ve always thought it was childish to name a Stronghold after yourself.¡± Frederick said, glancing down at Stephan¡¯s hand, but not shaking it. ¡°I see you¡¯ve found your own fountain of youth.¡± Stephan said, ignoring the slight. It was expected. He hadn¡¯t failed to notice the gilded rod of bone that Frederick refused to let go of, either. ¡°Indeed. You¡¯re going to have to try harder if you want to outlast me, old man.¡± ¡°Your seat is right here,¡± Stephan said, pointing at his own seat. ¡°The seat of honor for a distinguished guest.¡± ¡°How gracious.¡± Frederick muttered, staring at the seat with obvious paranoia before finally sitting down. ¡°And Mark, I haven¡¯t seen you in ages!¡± Stephan said, giving Wyrd¡¯s son a great big hug. ¡°It¡¯s only been half a year,¡± Mark said, trying to extricate himself from Stephan¡¯s grasp. ¡°How¡¯s Amanda?¡± Stephan asked, trying to maintain a straight face. ¡°How¡¯s my daughter?¡± Frederick scoffed, and got under Stephan¡¯s skin, but he muscled it down, focusing his attention on his future son-in-law, who was significantly more tolerable. ¡°She¡¯s well, sir, I saw her less than a month ago.¡± Mark said. ¡°They would be on honeymoon right now if Mark hadn¡¯t botched the emancipation of Oilton.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Stephan said. He was sure ¡®emancipation¡¯ was code for ¡®conquering¡¯. He was also sure his hated enemy would never let his daughter escape, not even at the expense of his own son¡¯s happiness. In fact, he was counting on it. The divide between Mark Wyrd and his father was a hair thin crack that a patient artisan could fill with water and let the changing seasons drive the two apart. Frederick¡¯s view of his son as ¡®his¡¯ property, would not allow him to see that crack until it was too late. ¡°Enough of your chatter. Let¡¯s see this farce you call a tournament,¡± Frederick said, his feet tapping impatiently, glancing up at the other Lords as they filed into the viewing box. ??N??¨§? Stephan guided Mark to his seat and sat beside him. ¡°I think you¡¯ll find todays matches exciting. There have been many outstanding Climbers among this year¡¯s contenders.¡± ¡°This year¡¯s cattle, you mean.¡± Frederick said, turning his gaze away from the empty arena and towards Stephan. ¡°¡­Or do you not bid on them?¡± ¡°The one who wins the bid may make the first ¡± Stephan clarified. ¡°And the winner is assisted in seeking Lordship.¡± Frederick scoffed again. In a matter of minutes, the tournament was underway again, the fights more frenzied as the competitors struggled to reach the quarterfinal bracket, where the prizes began. Finally, the match Stephan had been waiting for arrived. ¡°In our next match, we have the grandson of Baron Akul, Nephir Akul, level 25 Potent Detonator, darling of our city. He has¡­won every match thus far! The crowd cheered, and Nephir waved, but it just didn¡¯t have the same energy as before. The cocky grin didn¡¯t manifest quite as brilliantly, and the squeals of young girls weren¡¯t quite so forthcoming. Stephan smiled and rested his chin on his fist. And his opponent, The level 24 Resourceful Climber, William Oh! leader of the Party of William Oh. So far he has won all of his matches without doing anything entertaining! Let¡¯s see if his streak of boring continues!¡± At the mention of ¡®William Oh,¡¯ Frederick Wyrd¡¯s knuckles went white around the rod he carried, eyes narrowing. ¡°Slippery fish.¡± Wyrd whispered, just loud enough for Stephan¡¯s immense Acuity to pick it up. Stephan saved that information for later dissection and turned toward Mark Wyrd. ¡°You see, Resourceful Climber is a Rogue Archetype with an enormous amount of tricks-¡° ¡°I know.¡± Mark Wyrd interrupted, his lips downturned into a scowl. Stephan frowned and glanced between Frederick Wyrd and his son. Both of them too focused on the match to notice the unusual reaction they each had to ¡®William Oh¡¯. ***Will*** ¡°So you¡¯re the William Oh I¡¯ve heard so much about!¡± Nephir Akul said, pointing at Will, levitating above him a bit to add gravitas. ¡°I-I¡¯m going to prove that the rumors about y-you are unfounded!¡± Nephir nearly choked on his words. He was looking a little anemic, having been healed from a near-corpse only a day ago. Even magical healing drains the body¡¯s resources. Nephir was basically suffering the effects of being forced to clean the entire orphanage in a single day. He was young and could probably shake it off, but it couldn¡¯t be good for his performance this fine morning. Additionally, the Nuker only had one day¡¯s worth of Charge built up since Loth had tapped him out the day before. In short, he was in the worst condition that Will could arrange without ¡®cheating¡¯. ¡°I want you to know¡­I don¡¯t actually enjoy doing this.¡± Will said. The Baron¡¯s grandson cocked his head. ¡°W-What?¡± ¡°Fighters, BEGIN!¡± A glow of fire began to glow between Nephir¡¯s fingers. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will slapped it out of his hand, causing a blast of fire to shoot off to the side, dissipating before it reached the audience. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Phantom Hand released the cannonball into Nephir¡¯s chest at a small fraction of it¡¯s max speed. Plus, even if he¡¯d been asked to rough him up a bit, an accidental death by chunking would probably not ingratiate himself to Baron Akul. The Nuker didn¡¯t move as the cannonball hit him, one of the petals of the rose of shield clustered around him crumbling fading away as the cannonball came to a dead stop. Will thought, retrieving the lump of iron. Nephir reached down and whipped a throwing knife out of a sheath on his waist. Will put the Phantom Hand at the end of his wrist action, knocking it aside and causing the throwing knife to go tumbling wildly off-course¡­before turning towards him, it¡¯s trajectory corrected by a Relic of some kind. Will took a step forward and the knife whipped past him, trying in vain to turn and come after him again before it ran out of energy and clattered to the ground. Nephir tried to blast him again, and Will slapped it aside again. ¡°do something ?¡± Will glanced over his shoulder at the announcer, who seemed to be disappointed with his lack of flair. ¡°GAH!¡± Nephir reached forward, a diffuse wave of Charge flowing past Phantom Hand before resolving into a glowing bead of fire above and behind Will. Phantom hand, being able to travel at seven hundred miles an hour, whipped up and slapped it upwards before it even started moving towards him. When Will glanced back down, a shield-infused chakram was spinning through the air, most of the way to him, the pale blue of the shield seemingly crystalized around the weapon. Stevie emerged from the floor of the arena and grabbed the chakram by its inner ring in passing, whipping it back at Nephil before disappearing again. The Chakram was stopped by the shields, where the shield petal unfolded from the chakram and re-attached itself to Nephir, unspent. Will thought. ¡°Shit,¡± Nephir growled. A flame appeared in both hands, and Will directed the Phantom Hand to slap them out of Nephir¡¯s hands. The shield flower seemed to tilt forward, the petals stretching out and covering Nephir¡¯s hands in layer after layer of protection. Phantom Hand was rebuffed by the layers of shielding, something Will didn¡¯t even know was possible. Will¡¯s eyes widened, preparing to dodge, but then something strange happened. Rather than the conflagrations shooting forward and exploding on him, they stayed in one place and the shield petals wrapped around the Conflagrations in Nephir¡¯s hand and crystalized into pale blue crescent blades with white hot cores of pure fire in their center, radiating destruction. They began to spin of their own accord, controlled by Nephir. In Will¡¯s imagination, Mason was furiously writing down new ideas for how to leverage his shields offensively once they matured. ¡°Mental constructs are rare indeed, but I can do that too.¡° Nephir said, the white-shot blades of force beginning to bob and spin around him, vibrating the air with their speed. ¡°What¡¯s this? Nephir has pulled out his ultimate technique, the Waning Moon! He¡¯s used this technique to literally butcher a kaiju! Nothing can resist it¡¯s power! William Oh will to do something now!¡± ¡°Prepare yourself for-¡± Will shot his cannonball into Nephir¡¯s chest. Again, the cannonball came to a complete stop, but this time, a dozen or so shield petals crumbled away to nothing, thinning out Nephir¡¯s protection drastically. Before his opponent could blink, Will grabbed the cannonball and did it again. was With a single gesture from their owner, the two spinning crescent blades spun down towards Will, humming in the air as they seemed to form a full moon as they spun faster than the eye could see. For the first time in the entire tournament, William Oh was forced to do something. Will switched from the Wand of the Undead Retainer to the Stormfists, the finger housing the wand giving off a painful popping sensation before darkening, as if he¡¯d popped the knuckle and it had suffered necrosis in seconds. The world seemed to slow down around him as his movement and attack speed were both boosted by about 26%, in addition to the eight points to every physical stat. Will slipped out of the way of the approaching blades, the arena itself cupping his heels as he accelerated at blazing speeds. Will drew his axe and tossed it up into the air at Nephir, while his hand unleashed another cannonball. The last of Nephir¡¯s shield expired the instant before the axe reached him, and the wide-eyed Nuker dodged, mostly through sheer luck, as his shields no longer supported him, dropping him out of the air and causing the tomahawk to spin over his head. Will heard the humming buzz of Nephir¡¯s shield-blades approaching behind him and dropped to the ground, rolling toward them to avoid their homing. ¡°And Nephir tries for a-¡° That seemed like what it might¡¯ve been for, since Nephir didn¡¯t exactly specialize in ranged weapons. Wasting a whole Relic slot for a chakram and some throwing knives made no sense, but using it to make his best technique do a bit of it¡¯s own work without conscious effort was definitely worth it. The blades dipped toward him and missed him by a fraction of an inch, burying themselves deep into the arena, disappearing into the white-hot wounds they carved into the stone. Will was pretty sure they were coming back. Will caught his axe with Phantom Hand and triggered the AOE thrice in rapid succession. The three psychic pulses were essentially ignored by Nephir, given that the Nuker had a strong Focus, but the Stormfists triggered on the second strike, causing a bolt of lightning to shoot down from the Serpent¡¯s Tomahawk and catch Nephir directly in the back. ¡°And William Oh responds with a feint and blast of lightning from his axe!¡± Normally, Stormfists only added a ¡®low¡¯ amount of lightning damage, but this was nearly tripled by the Phantom Hand, making it much more potent. Enough to be considered an attack in it¡¯s own right. ¡°GAH!¡± Nephir shouted as his lungs began to contract against his will, the lightning knocking him forward with physical force. Will skipped to the side as his mental timer went off. An instant later, the white-hot crescents shot out of the arena floor, crossing past each other right where he had been standing. The crescent moons spun up and up¡­bisecting the Serpent¡¯s Tomahawk where it was held by Phantom Hand. ¡°And Nephir responds by disarming William Oh, targeting his axe in the fraction of a second Will spent dodging the Waning Moon.¡± Will stared as his Relic, the first he¡¯d ever gotten, that he¡¯d his to acquire, that represented his journey as a Climber¡­collapsed into a pile of Relic Dust and sprinkled down over the battle-torn arena. While Will was processing his grief, Nephir took the opportunity to shake off the paralysis and climb to his feet. ¡°I knew if you expected me to only attack you, I would get an opportunity to disarm you.¡± Nephir said, pushing himself to his feet. ¡°Let¡¯s see how much of your Build I just destroyed,¡± he said, adopting a cocky fighting stance. Will looked at him. ¡°¡­Uh oh.¡± ¡°Congratulations, you¡¯ve outplayed me!¡± Will said, cocking his head as he smiled/snarled at his opponent. ¡°Here¡¯s your prize!¡± Will charged forward, watching the crescent blades gather in front of Nephir to block his approach. Phantom Hand grabbed Nephir by the hair and yanked the Nuker with neck-breaking force directly into his own summoned blades. Nephir moved the blades away from himself, but not before suffering burns on his arms, throwing off his reaction time from the pain. Now that the blades were cleared, Phantom hand accelerated Nephir even further forward, causing the Nuker to reluctantly skid forward across the arena at a small fraction of the Hand¡¯s max speed. Bringing his face to Will¡¯s clenched fist at about eighty miles an hour. As Nephir screamed forward, All Will had to do was lean into the punch, feeling a satisfying coming from his opponent¡¯s face. The Nuker went tumbling upside-down past him, his momentum carrying towards a ring-out. Phantom Hand caught Nephir by his belt and saved him from a ring out before slamming him back down into the stone of the arena. Phantom Hand proceeded to steal Nephir¡¯s Relics. They were incredibly difficult to steal, writhing against Dimensional Storage like living things as he tried to sever their connection and store them without their owner¡¯s permission. ? Still, writhe as they might, Will¡¯s Rogue Archetype Abilities were heavily boosted, and his Acuity, which the Ability scaled with, was exceptional. He overwhelmed the squirming connection between Nephir and his Relics, securing both rings, amulet, and headband. The blazing crescent moons above them exploded into pretty shards of miasma as the shields were no longer able to contain the Conflagration. ¡°Wai-¡° Nephir coughed before Will got on top and started punching. Roughly every third punch in the dizzying volley of punches included an extra bit of lightning to his opponent¡¯s face, keeping him nice and still. It wasn¡¯t until the male priests of Holdna forcibly dragged him away from Nephir that Will realized the fight was over. Nephir wasn¡¯t breathing, his body scorched, the scent of ozone and cooked blood lingering in the air. The priests of Holdna slammed a fist filled with divine radiance on Nephir¡¯s chest, and the charred corpse drew in a gasp of breath. Up above in the Baron¡¯s observation box, beyond Will¡¯s hearing, Frederick Wyrd turned towards the Baron. ¡°How much for that one?¡± Chapter 76: Hypothetical Countermeasures doJason Salazar ¡°May I?¡± The Artificer Archetype asked, his bushy white brows cocked as he glanced up at Will. ¡°Go ahead,¡± Will gestured to the jar of Relic Dust. To Will¡¯s surprise, the old man dipped his pinky in the jar then put it in his mouth, his face becoming contemplative. ¡°Psychic¡­.debuff¡­contract¡­and a bit of dirt,¡± He said, smacking his lips together and spitting. ¡°Sorry,¡± Will said, shrugging. ¡°Oh, no, for an unplanned Relic Loss, this dust is about as clean as you could possibly get it, which is good, drives cost down. I¡¯ve had to filter out blood and saltwater and soil before so¡­¡± ¡°You want the good news or the bad news first?¡± He asked, glancing up at Will. ¡°Bad.¡± ¡°The bad news is that your weapon is going to be very difficult to recreate. Large amounts of time and money difficult. To the point where you may decide that it doesn¡¯t suit your plans going forward. If you¡¯re planning on going above the tenth floor, there¡¯s a better chance of finding something better than this, and faster than it¡¯d be done. Assuming you don¡¯t die.¡± ¡°I¡¯d have to get an artisan to create a blank relic that matches your previous one perfectly, which is a tall order and would require you to be on hand for it¡¯s creation since you don¡¯t have a charcoal imprint. After that I¡¯ve got to apply your Relic dust there to it. ¡°While he¡¯s doing that¡¯ I¡¯ll be carefully sifting the dirt out of your Relic Dust.¡± ¡°Once we¡¯ve got the blank, it¡¯s going to absorb one to three of the dust¡¯s affixes. Now we might get lucky and get all three but it¡¯s more likely we only get two, and even likely I only get one.¡± ¡° if only one or two affixes land, I¡¯ve got to go buy up some Relic dust from relics which only had affix of the appropriate type. Which Then I¡¯ve got to bake the affixes in one at a time in a time-consuming ritual. And after all that¡¯s said and done, you get a weapon kinda-sorta like the one you lost.¡± The Artificier said, handing Will back the jar of dust. ¡°What¡¯s the good news?¡± ¡°The good news is that particular combination of affixes is rare and valuable, so the value of the relic, once It¡¯s done being re-created, would be worth the effort.¡± ¡°I could also buy the dust off you for a good price,¡± the Artificier said with a shrug before glancing down at Will¡¯s missing hand. ¡°But you seem like the type to stick to something even if it¡¯s hard.¡± ¡°That is the case,¡± Will said with a smile, glad to know that it possible. Now that he knew what was needed, he was confident he could use a modified Sourdough to imprint the tomahawk¡¯s affixes on something else. Will thought. There were as many potential upgrades as there were monsters, which was to say¡­an infinite amount. But Will could narrow it down a bit by checking potential suspects first. Just from what he¡¯d heard, the process of recreating the axe wouldn¡¯t be too dissimilar from how Will imagined Sourdough functioned. Will thanked the aged artificer for his time and took his jar of iridescent dust for a walk. At least, the only one who wasn¡¯t under some kind of contract with a Lord or a major crime syndicate. Will had been through four rounds and was now in the semifinal. Once this was done, he would have a free pass up to the 6th Floor. There was nothing protecting Will from a double-cross aside from the Baron¡¯s regard for his own reputation. That might be enough by itself. Will had spotted several other interesting looking figures in the box today with the Baron. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying over the roar of the crowd, but he could pretty damned well. Mark Wyrd sitting next to the baron, and someone who looked suspiciously like Mark was sitting in the big seat that was normally reserved for the Baron. ¡¯ the man¡¯s mouth had seemed to say. If the Wyrd patriarch knew exactly what Will had done in Oilton, he would probably be a bit more pissed, but even if he didn¡¯t know Will was responsible for debacle, he knew that Will had slipped his mercs once before, and now he saw him carving his way through the ranks of a tournament meant select potential Lords. No¡­there might even be more going on here than just Will. The mercs were in town. The Wyrds were in town¡­the Tangled were in town. There was already Tangled in the city that Will had personally witnessed. Will corrected, thinking of the Baker Girls. What was the chance that in a city this big, in only a matter of days, he had run into every single one? there must be a high density of them to allow that to happen¡­ That brought Will back to Oilton. The dead city they¡¯d discovered on the Third Floor. It had been flooded by a single Tangled that had self-replicated. If there were even only a dozen or so, it would a major problem for the city guard, given how strong they were. The Class was pure melee aggression with serious disdain for personal safety given their regeneration and self-replication. If the Wyrd Patriarch was planning on taking out Akul, there had to be some kind of unknown factor that would disrupt the city¡¯s functions drastically enough that the Tangled could begin to grow and spread through the city, establishing a foothold before the citizenry could stop them. But¡­Will¡¯s experience with stealing someone¡¯s slot on a kaiju hunt revealed to him that there were hundreds of mercenaries on this floor with expertise in subduing the monsters. It seemed improbable that Frederick Wyrd could take out the Baron, the Kaiju Force, the mercenaries who made their living killing kaiju. In Will¡¯s imagination, mindless Tangled spread rapidly through the streets, attacking anything that they possibly could, while kaiju loomed above the city, crushing homes and businesses as they tore through the flimsy human constructions. It was so vivid, Will might¡¯ve mistaken it for a memory. Still, just one kaiju might be able to be handled by the city guard and citizens. For that to be a solid tactic, there would have to be more than one at once. Several, even. So in will¡¯s imaginary scenario, Frederick Wyrd would kill the Baron and unleash multiple Kaiju on the city as well as dozens of Tangled that he¡¯d smuggled in over time. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There was just one major issue with Will¡¯s hypothetical plan to destroy Akul. It wasn¡¯t like they grew on trees. they spawned incredibly slowly, and didn¡¯t spawn inside city limits at there was nothing special about the man-defined walls of the city that prevented the tower from doing its worst. Will tried slotting that puzzle piece together, trying magical Abilities, good fortune, low-miasma, divine favor, but none of them fit perfectly with what he knew already to explain why there were no kaiju spawns inside city limits. Will thought back to his conversation with the Baron. The revelation that the number of Lords and their Strongholds on the floors above them had an effect on spawn rates was eye-opening. That got will thinking. The baron was using a technique whereby a farmer pruned one branch to make the fruit that grew on the others more plump and juicy. If Kaiju couldn¡¯t spawn within a certain distance of each other¡­then the Baron could¡¯ve restrained them under the city to prevent spawning inside the city for decades, which would be vital to creating such a large settlement¡­this had the added benefit of causing that extra unused miasma to divert to spawn kaiju outside the city at a higher rate, where they were caught and harvested. Will didn¡¯t know all the facts, and it was nothing more than a guess, but fit everything he know perfectly. After a few minutes of thinking, Will hit on the vague memory of nearly dying because of the berserk debuffs they¡¯d been hit by when they first arrived on the Fourth Floor, causing them to fight each other. Loth had been particularly hard hit by it as all her bugs had succumbed completely, killing each other in a matter of seconds and devastating their numbers before she got them back under control. Then he thought of the cursemage who¡¯d been able to direct Ear Collector to attack other people and leave Will hanging¡­ As a plan began to come together, Will found himself wondering about the timing. Will would¡¯ve guessed today, when the Wyrd Patriarch could¡¯ve caught all the Lords in one place with their metaphorical pants down. Will didn¡¯t know enough to even guess about who might be betraying who, but if not today¡­ Will thought back to the missing item from the Oilton Patriarch¡¯s office. Wyrd wasn¡¯t above a little petty robbery, but it had to be good. And if it was good, chances were it would be at that auction. Something was about to happen, and Will was sure it wouldn¡¯t be good. Once Will got back to the inn, he took Loth and Travis to the side. Neither of them were currently in the tournament, they had more ability to move freely, and they had the skillsets that he believed could ruin the Wyrd¡¯s plans for the city. ¡°There¡¯s something I¡¯d like the two of you to do.¡± Loth cocked her head as Will began to explain what he wanted, while Travis¡¯s jaw slowly went slack. Chapter 77: New Blood Will¡¯s eyes narrowed as he took in the slightly built girl in front of him.¡°What better way to settle who¡¯s the better Phantom thief once and for all than a tournament?¡± Bee said, gesturing to their surroundings where thousands of fans of violence were screaming bloody murder, hoping they would tear each other apart in the arena. ¡°I could think of a couple ways,¡± Will said over the din before cocking his head. ¡°How did you beat Mason anyway?¡± ¡°After he hit me with an explosion I collapsed to the ground and started crying, then when he tried to console me I punched him so hard his ribs collapsed!¡± She made a tiny fist. ¡°That¡¯ll teach him to be nice to girls,¡± Will said, rolling his eyes. ¡°Yeah!¡± she made a ¡®take that¡¯ gesture, shaking her fist. ¡°You being here is very inconvenient for me,¡± Will mused. ¡°I don¡¯t care! We¡¯re gonna settle this!¡± Will thought, glancing up at Frederick Wyrd, who was watching Will¡¯s matches with animalistic hunger. His mind quickly blazed through the options, reviewing and discarding them at a rapid pace. The absolute best way to prevent the Wyrd family from learning about Bee, and by extention, Ria, Anna, and June, was to simply forfeit here. There were a couple problems with this: She would advance through the tournament, and the guy might draw more tricks out of her that could only be attributed to a Tangled. More importantly to Will¡¯s immediate circumstances, he would immediately be enslaved, which was less than ideal. Thankfully her Class had some key exploitable weaknesses that didn¡¯t out her as a Tangled immediately. These were weaknesses that Will needed to perform a test-run on if his suspicions about the attack on the city were correct. ¡°Fighters, ¡°Hey look at this!¡± Will said, pulling a cursed ball of brilliant blue yarn out of the container meant to keep the curse from unravelling. Every fiber of his being wanted to keep the amazing yarn for himself, seal himself away with it and play with it forever, but he separated himself from his desires and instead dangled it in front of Bee. ¡°OOOH!¡± Bee gasped, her eyes going round. ¡°Go get it!¡± Will tossed the yarn off the arena floor, watching as she broke into a sprint and dove for the yarn, catching it and curling around it before they both hit the ground. Will¡¯s heart broke for an instant as someone else got hold of yarn, and his foot made a half step toward Bee with the intention of wrestling it away from her, before he was able to master himself. ¡°And the winner is William Oh by ring-out. Because he won without a fight.¡± ¡°DANGIT!¡± Bee shouted as the cursed yarn rapidly lost its whammy. ¡°I love this yarn, though.¡± By design, Tangled were incredibly weak to mental manipulation, So Will figured that if there were going to be an outbreak, that would be the solution. Will went back inside, where the other competitors had formed a loose circle around Alicia Zodiac, drown in by her stunning looks and piercing eyes. The metallic monk glanced over his shoulder, spotting Will coming. ¡°Shit,¡± he muttered, whispering to the others, who shied away as Will approached, creating a break in the encirclement, revealing Alicia with a polite smile drawn over her face. ¡°How¡¯d you lose?¡± Will asked. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not sure.¡± Alicia. ¡°All my shots were blocked, and it switched Abilities faster than I could follow, I guess.¡± ¡°Looking for insider information?¡± Carrie asked with a sly look as she arrived beside him. The frizzy-haired Eldritch Fashionista they¡¯d met on the second floor and discovered Oilton with had arrived on the Fifth Floor, and was doing quite well for herself in the tournament. ¡°That was a great fight, Ms. Zodiac,¡± the Eldritch Fashionista said, turning her attention to Alicia and giving her a gentle handshake. ¡°Good to see you again, Carrie. And Summer, it looks like you¡¯ve grown quite a bit.¡± Will said. ¡°Oh, she has,¡± Carrie said, petting the black blob as it emerged above her shoulder. Will could see the parasitic being disappearing beneath Carrie¡¯s collar, the thickness suggesting that the little blob of iridescent black had increased in size five-fold¡­at least. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°I spent an extra month on the second floor just feeding Summer Relics to grow her size before I went back to the Third and pushed on to the Fourth.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you survived.¡± Will said. ¡°You and me both!¡± Carrie said with a crooked grin. ¡°Thankfully, Summer can¡¯t get lung-rot and she helped get me and my Party to Way Station in one piece.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure if you¡¯d been using your bow you would¡¯ve beat me,¡± Carrie said, turning her attention back to Alicia, pointing down to her armlet that was inscribed with a shield made of blustery wind. ¡°Summer was able to bend your shots using the Wind Shield, but anything stronger would¡¯ve gone right through.¡± ¡°I¡¯m experimenting with the effects of new Abilities.¡± Alicia said by way of explanation. ¡°There¡¯s something to be said for handicapping yourself to verify the efficacy of your backup plans, rather than leave them untested.¡± ¡°Well said,¡± Carrie said, before glancing back at Will, who was studying her Relics. ¡°You like?¡± She asked, grabbing her amulet which was an intricate bone carving that appeared to be partially singed. ¡°This one allows Summer to shoot little fireballs for free. Got it on the third floor.¡± Summer connected to the amulet and sputtered with flame. ¡°This one¡¯s from the fourth Floor, and it allows Summer to drain blood to regenerate both of us.¡± She pointed at a blood-red ring. Summer connected to it and formed a needle-like siphoning appendage. Summer made a few demonstrative jabs at the air, lashing out like a scorpion¡¯s tail. ¡°Second floor, movement speed,¡± She pointed at her shoes. Summer went down to her and bound to the Relic. A moment later, oil-slick iridescent black spider-leg appendages emerged from Carrie¡¯s feet, causing her to slide back and forth without moving her legs. ¡°Focus boost,¡± She tapped her headband. ¡°Teamwork boost,¡± She said, tapping her other ring, a simple gold band. ¡°We technically count as two people in a party, so we get bonuses from that.¡± ¡°And of course, an archetype boosting torso piece,¡± She said, popping the collar on her ostentatious vest. Will thought to himself. The way her Build changed drastically depending on her Relics reminded Will of himself. ¡°William Oh, Carrie Envar, go to your corners.¡± An official said, arriving beside the two of them. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Good luck, Will, I hope I give you a better fight than the others,¡± She said, offering him a hand. Will glanced down at her hand, then back up at her. ¡°I¡¯ll shake your hand afterwards. Nothing against you, just-¡° ¡°No, I get it,¡± she said with a shrug, withdrawing her hand and wiggling all six of her fingers before Summer withdrew back into her sleeve. Will went to his side of the arena and waited behind the door for the official to motion for him to enter. A minute later, the official motioned for him to enter the arena. Having done this five times now, the sudden light of noon and the roar of the crowd didn¡¯t disorient him like it had before, allowing him to calmly climb the stairs onto the large stone arena, freshly repaired after it¡¯d been torn up the day before. Opposite him was Carrie, the Eldritch Fashionista¡­wearing an entirely different set of Relics. Will chuckled, his expectations for ¡®trickery¡¯ already fulfilled, and he hadn¡¯t seen the half of it yet. In many ways, her class performed similarly to his own. ¡°That was my Alicia outfit.¡± She said, seemingly reading his thoughts as she motioned to herself and did a little twirl, showcasing her new torso, glove and shoe slots. Presumably under the gloves were new rings as well. The amulet was tucked under her new robe so it could be anything. Headband was the same, though. ¡°This is my William Oh outfit. You like it?¡± She asked sweetly. Carrie was wearing an oversized robe with ostentatious beading and large sleeves, and a wide neck that seemed to not make contact with her skin, creating a shadowed area inside. The bottom of the robe hid her boots in a pool of shadow that seemed darker than it should¡¯ve been. ¡°I¡¯m sure I won¡¯t,¡± Will said, shaking his head. The instant the Announcer spoke, Will dodged to the side, unleashing a cannonball towards the back of Carrie¡¯s head. Summer interposed itself and caught the ball of iron, seemingly shrugging off the outrageous force without visible effort. Will just let the ball drop, abandoning the strategy entirely. There was no visual indicator to tell him whether or not he was making any progress against her defenses, like Nephir Akul¡¯s shields, so it was best to assume she could block more shots than he could deliver. As he was dodging to the side, an extension of Summer whipped out from Carrie¡¯s oversized sleeve and cracked through the air where he¡¯d just been standing. Will thought, scrambling to the side and leaping over a sweeping strike from the amorphous black tar-creature, keeping his speed up with nudges from Phantom hand. While Will was frantically dodging, Carrie was pulling out a jagged blade whose handle seemed to be carved from bone into an image of suffering faces. That did not look good to Will. Stevie seemed to agree as he leapt out of the floor of the arena and yanked the blade out of her hand. An instant later, the spirit butler exploded into¡­whatever spirit butlers were made of as a black tendril whipped through his form at incredible speeds. Will was sure that he was one of the few Climbers in the arena who could even perceive it. Billy-bob kicked the blade the rest of the way out of the arena before ducking under- A thin line of the arena exploded outward as a razor-thin tendril of Summer went the earth to tag Billy-bob out. Will thought, unleashing the Aetherhawk from his glove and instructing it to go high and wait for an opportunity to assist. The way Carrie¡¯s expression soured as the ominous blade landed outside the ring, Will could only assume it had been worth it. Her rings were hidden under her gloves, each finger bearing the lump of a ¡®ring¡¯. Which one was the magical Relic and which were decoys was anyone¡¯s guess. Her amulet was covered, shoes hidden by the hem of the robe. Only her headband was prominently displayed. Will was fairly sure that was a trap. Will thought as he watched Carrie draw her spare weapon, the deadly tendrils hidden inside her ostentatious robe. Magnus the Aetherhawk was kind of smart, but he wasn¡¯t as quick-thinking as the butlers, so will counted him as more of a tool or distraction than a teammate. Will cocked his head. Will grabbed the Clay Idol off his waist and shattered it against his knee. An instant later, all he could see was snake. Chapter 78: ‘Fencing’ A forty-foot long snake coalesced out of the miasma in the air, its serpentine loops pooling around him and nearly blocking Will¡¯s sight of his opponent.The snake¡¯s head reared high above Will and oriented on his opponent with an unnatural intelligence. Will thought, pointing. The snake nodded, it¡¯s eyes flashing cyan to iridescent green as it began moving toward Carrie. Carrie froze in place, her eyes locked on the oversized snake. Will directed the Aetherhawk to attack while he switched from the Wand of Undead Retainer to the Buckler of Rebounding, the hairs on his neck standing up as the finger on the Phantom Hand popped and went black. Will drew his new sword, purchased specifically to synergize with the buckler. It was a long rapier able to riposte quickly, which was all he really needed. It wasn¡¯t a fantastic Relic, it wasn¡¯t even good. It was simply the first one he could find in one day that suited his needs. With those changes, Will¡¯s Strength was now 53, and his Kinesthetics was 93. While his strength wasn¡¯t fantastic, it was now on the low end of what a warrior could be expected to have, and his Kinesthetics fantastic. Enough to act on the things he perceived. While blocking, 43% of the force would be negated, raising his Strength during a block or parry to 92. While attacking immediately after a block, (parries counted, Will had tested it) Will¡¯s effective Strength was 91. He was now a fencer Archetype. Or the closest thing to it. The snake lunged forward, mouth open to devour the paralyzed Carrie whole. Summer snapped out and carved away half of the Immortal Serpent¡¯s face while Will sprinted to the side aiming to flank Carrie, and the aetherhawk dove down. As the Immortal serpent reeled back in pain, Will lunged forward. As expected, Summer snapped towards him, whipping a deceptively thin tendril of black towards him with enough force to bisect him. Will thought, gritting his teeth as he interposed the blade between himself and the strike. The extra-durable rapier creaked in protest, and Will¡¯s feet threatened to slip backwards before the arena itself rose up to cup his heels. But he blocked it. Summer seemed a little surprised, reeling back from the strike as Will lunged forward, propelled by the stone beneath him. He wasn¡¯t close enough to attack Carrie directly, but he was close enough to attack Summer before it could withdraw back into her sleeve. The sword glowed faintly with the boost from the Buckler of Rebounding as he whipped it down into Summer¡¯s flesh. The black goo was incredibly resilient, the attack barely penetrating the skin, but Summer¡¯s form seemed to destabilize for an instant, shuddering and turning almost thorny before whipping back into Carrie¡¯s voluminous sleeve. Carrie winced, shaking off the Immortal serpent¡¯s mental attack just in time to reach upward with one hand and smack Magnus out of the air, her off hand drawing her back-up weapon, a shortsword. Will pursued the advantage and pressed forward another step, narrowing the distance between them¡­as well as the amount of time he had to react to Summer. Will twisted wildly, his feet flickering underneath him as he diverted a strike from Summer with his blade and knocked aside Carrie¡¯s hasty stab with his truncated wrist, the Buckler of Rebounding absorbing a huge portion of the force for him. Carrie broke into a grin as Will scooped up the cannonball with his phantom hand and flung it at her back while going for a pommel strike to the temple. Summer caught the iron ball while Carrie sinuously leaned out of the way. Sensing his intent, the arena floor rose up and locked Will¡¯s left foot in place, giving him the leverage to whip out with his right foot before either of them had recovered their stance. The ring turned into a smooth sheet of ice at the exact moment that Will¡¯s foot impacted Carrie¡¯s load-bearing ankle. Rather than topple, Carrie leaned into the strike, her foot flying out from under her in a move that would certainly result in her falling head-first. Multiple tendrils from Summer emerged from her collar, pierced deep into the ice, and turned the tumble into a cartwheel, the black tendrils supporting her through it as she delivered three upside-down kicks and a stab. Will blocked two kicks, the third glancing off his jaw and collarbone, causing him to stagger backwards. He twisted his leg out of the way of the stab, the blade passing uncomfortably close to his inner thigh before he managed to stagger out of the way of the follow up slash that would¡¯ve gelded him. Thankfully, Will¡¯s Resistance outweighed Carrie¡¯s Strength by a wide margin, so even a full-on kick to the face wasn¡¯t bad. Will had loaded the majority of his Phantom Hand¡¯s volume with his cannonball, so he didn¡¯t have much in the way of things to fling at her, just some potions of Greater Healing and Fury, and a few more tricks that didn¡¯t lend themselves well to being used as projectiles. The Immortal Serpent answered the question for him, it¡¯s face already healed as it lunged forward, engulfing Carrie in its mouth, tearing her off the icy surface of the arena, it¡¯s massive fangs crunching down into her armor as it carried her high into the air. It lifted its head high, tensing to take another victorious bite ¨C The snake head exploded as no less than a dozen black tendrils emerged in every direction, slicing the scaly head into bloody chunks that rapidly returned to Miasma as the snake died. Will thought, sprinting forward to meet Carrie where she was going to land. Carrie gave a guttural scream as she swung her blade down on Will, using the momentum of her fall to add power. Underneath her torn robe, Will caught a brief glimpse of Summer busily filling in massive puncture wounds that the Immortal Serpent had left on Carrie with that first bite. Summer was much bigger than Will remembered. Will blocked with the rapier and kicked Carrie in the stomach, his foot glowing from the Buckler of Rebounding. Pain shot through his foot as Summer must¡¯ve formed an impenetrable plate under Carrie¡¯s robes. She still tumbled violently backwards, but Will might¡¯ve gotten the worse part of that deal, wincing as he set his foot back down. It felt like he¡¯d kicked a slab of granite without any Stats. Carrie caught herself on the edge of the arena, her body bloodied, ostentatious clothes torn, breathing ragged. ¡°You could always give up?¡± Will said with a hopeful shrug. She grinned a wolfish smile, her teeth stained with blood. Will thought. ¡°I live for this shit,¡± Carrie said, Summer emerging from her ankles and creating a gust of wind to send her flying forward, her feet not even touching the floor as she ran on bursts of solidified air. Will caught her by the back of her robe with the Phantom Hand and tugged her backwards, aiming to disrupt her assault with the unexpected force. It¡­ worked. The other half was a disaster. Almost as if they¡¯d been waiting for it, black spines erupted from the back of Carrie¡¯s neck, perforating Phantom Hand. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Will gave a choked cry as phantom pain flooded his left hand, while Carrie¡¯s eyes widened as her own robe yanked her backwards with neck-breaking force. The spines grew barbs, locking Will¡¯s Phantom Hand in place as Summer began to feed, engulfing the eidolon like a relic-eating predator. Which is exactly what she was. Will didn¡¯t have time to cuss himself out. He rushed forward. If he sat around and waited while Summer disarmed him, he was done. Carrie seemed to read his desperation, turning defensive, dancing backwards and blocking every attack as he tried to stab a win out of her, all the while her Relic parasite was EATING his hand. Will wasn¡¯t a trained swordsman, and when he wasn¡¯t blocking first, his attacks were¡­kind of garbage. Will saw the realization brighten Carrie¡¯s eyes at the same time, a cocky grin blooming on her face. With the last of Phantom Hand¡¯s waning strength, Will yanked her to the side, putting her off balance and ramming directly into her torso, her blade sliding off his ribs while the shock of blade on bone transferred through his wrist as his blade speared through her body. Carrie¡¯s eyes widened as Will used his attachment to the ground and his rapier through her body to lever her off the edge of the arena. Will thought, shoving with every fiber of his being. Otherwise she could just use Summer to fly again. Will called down the Aetherhawk, instructing it to make sure she hit the ground first, in case she tried to spin them in midair. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this.¡± Will growled, Carrie¡¯s eyes widening as she was driven off the edge. Gertrude¡¯s voice emerged from a black mouth right next to his ear, and Will¡¯s whole body froze reflexively. Will glanced over and spotted Gertrude, the nun with her fists on her hips and giving him her patented scowl. ¡°I wasn¡¯t doing anything,¡± Will said, backing away and hiding Marissa¡¯s toys behind his back. Gertrude took a step forward, looming over him in a way that she hadn¡¯t done since - ¡°You made your sister cry again, And for what? Because of a silly doll!?¡± ¡°She started it!¡± Will whined, his voice high and reedy. Some dim part of him knew what was coming. ¡°That¡¯s not an excuse!¡± Gertrude said, her behavior mirroring his expectations exactly as she waggled a gnarled finger at him. ¡°You¡¯re the older one! You should know when to share, and when fighting over a stupid piece of wood is beneath you!¡± Again, Gertrude¡¯s voice echoed his expectations precisely. Will thought to himself as he looked up at the giant nun towering over him, but his childish mind was too inexperienced to- Will shook his head and drove that thought away. He¡¯d never¡­ thought of as childish. Even when ¨C when he being childish. ¡°Give me that!¡± Gertrude said, reaching for the toy in his hand. Will¡¯s hackles rose and he held the toy protectively behind him, but Gertrude¡¯s grip was like steel, yanking on the toy, yanking it up and over his head until he was practically dangling from it. Will tried to get a good grip, but his left hand kept slipping off, seemingly unable to find any kind of purchase on the handle of his Toy. In an instant his Toy was yanked out of his hands, and Will plopped to the ground, tears threatening to come bursting out as the feeling of betrayal nearly overwhelmed him. ¡°I hate you!¡± Will shouted, pouting. ¡°Granesh hates you!¡± ¡°Not as much as he hates disobedient little brats who take his name in vain.¡± Gertrude said with a withering stare. ¡°Now, go to your time-out corner and really about what you¡¯ve done. Oddly enough, the time-out corner was on the other end of the down a set of stairs onto a dirt patch that seemed to surround them in every direction. The spector of death seemed to haunt that ground, causing Will¡¯s childish fears to bloom. ¡°But if I go there, I¡¯ll die.¡± Will said, turning back to Gertrude. ¡°You impossible child, nothing is going to happen to you in the time-out corner. Do I have to put you there myself!?¡± Gertrude shook a finger under his nose as she assaulted him with her familiar haranguing. Will bit the finger. Gertrude let out an inhuman shriek, her body dissolving like a wavering mirage, revealing a black tendril in his mouth, and beyond that, Carrie, still holding her hand over the rapier buried in her stomach, with three black tendrils emerging from her robe¡¯s collar. Each of them was shaped like a mouth, singing a haunting melody. The black tendril yanked itself out from between his teeth and rejoined the group of false mouths, adding another voice to the chorus. Each of the mouths had veins of pale blue running down from them towards the amulet hidden under her shirt. Will¡¯s Focus was neither good nor bad, but aside from his Strength, it was his Attribute. A moment later, Will¡¯s thoughts were blasted away as the chorus of Summers assaulted him with four ideas simultaneously. Hideous wounds all over my body. A swarm of insects digging under my skin. No one will ever love me. My body is crumbling with age. The four thoughts wove together seamlessly, not giving his mind a moment to rest as they battered at his Focus. Each time he felt as though he could get a grasp on the foreign thought and banish it, another one took its place, keeping his mind forever off balance. Will gasped with pain as he felt his vitality fleeing his body under the non-stop assault. Will collapsed to his knees, the arena turning from ice to stone as he was battered down by an incessant torrent of thoughts and feeling designed to render him to nothing. Will gasped, eyes wide and staring at the floor inches away from his nose as a last-ditch bolt of inspiration shot through him. The physic assault was right! He too young and inexperienced. Focus was a multiplier. What did Jean do when she realized she was too mentally weak to withstand the memories of what had happened in the Wyrd Stronghold? She pretended to be someone stronger. She pretended SO HARD that she became that person. Seemingly from nowhere, a name surfaced above the constant thoughts being forced into his mind. He remembered the painting in the mansion moments before Boar had torn through it, depicting a heavily armored man leading a charge with his familiar tomahawk. Will wasn¡¯t sure why. Perhaps it was that familiar tomahawk in the painting¡¯s hand, but it felt as though a puzzle piece had clicked into place for him. Will¡¯s eyes fluttered closed as he reached inside for strength, imagining himself as an ancient warrior of myth and legend. So vividly he could it. When they opened again, it was Ezykial the Serpent viewing the world. ¨C Ezykial the Serpent levered himself to his feet, brushing off the annoying thoughts and raising his hand to summon his trusty axe. It¡­didn¡¯t come. What came instead was a semi-invisible hand missing a finger and a bit of the palm. Ezykial tried summoning a giant snake. Didn¡¯t work. What happened instead is a bunch of stuff fell out of the hand and clattered onto the ground, including what looked like several healing potions, and the floor underneath him seemed to wobble, bouncing him up and down ever-so slightly. Standing in front of him was a heavily wounded sorceress girl with an odd wiggly leech-looking thing emerging from her clothes. She was obviously the one responsible for his current predicament. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Ezykial glanced around, noting the arena and the screaming audience. Ezykial took a deep stance and began to slide across the arena, his footwork even crisper and more sinuous than it usually was due to the arena bobbing underneath him. The wounded child¡¯s eyes widened as he approached with deceptive speed. ¡°How did you-¡° The black tendrils stopped singing and instead moved to pierce him, but they hit nothing but air, unable to trace his erratic pattern across the arena floor. Ezykial shoulder-checked the child sorceress, causing her to cry out in pain as the weapon in her stomach was jostled. He normally wore heavy armor to allow his snake rushes to do more damage, but the little girl was already in a lot of trouble with the sword in her guts, so it was probably for the best. He wound around her body, his ankle protesting as he used her as a shield against her own tendrils, never staying in one place for any length of time. The tendrils seemed to use her as a point of reference. He could take advantage of that. Ezykial caught her clumsy attack, losing an eye as he realized a bit too late his left hand was nowhere to be seen, allowing the strike to glance off his right hand and gouge through his face. Ezykial¡¯s memories were hazy and fragmented. There were more immediate concerns. Like the person trying to harm him. Ezykial ignored the wounded eye and tapped the ground with his foot, experimenting with these new Abilities¡­feeling it wobble beneath him. Ezykial entered her space and slammed his foot down beside the child¡¯s and he felt his Ability reverberate through the stone before a ripple of stone jutted up around his feet and shoved her foot upwards, causing her to stagger backwards, off balance. Ezykial dodged the lightning-fast tendrils by jumping up above the attack and curling into a ball before opening up like a spring, landing a heavy strike with both feet in the center of her chest. She tumbled out of the arena with wide eyes, her odd parasitic companion emerging from her ankles and arresting her fall with gusts of air, beginning the process of bringing her back up. Ezykial thought, eyes narrowing. Then a slightly transparent hawk swooped down, hitting the child¡¯s upper body with bone-crushing force, knocking her upper body down an extra two feet, forcing her shoulder blades to touch the ground. Will shuddered as ¡®Ezykial¡¯ faded away, dissolving into nothing in Will¡¯s mind like a half-remembered dream. His hand went up to his gored left eye, flinching as it flared with pain. ¡°GODSDAMNIT!¡± It would heal¡­Will had made sure of that. But still. Fully a third of his vision was just missing. It was worth cussing about. ¡°And now, would all the semifinalists and finalists assemble in the arena for their prizes?¡± Will spotted Carrie approaching with a smile, her robe hanging open around her waist, where a hasty healer had left a thin white scar upon pulling out Will¡¯s blade. ¡°That was a good fight! How did you do that!? All of a sudden it was like you knew what you were doing!¡± Will shrugged. ¡°I¡¯unno.¡± ¡°Your foot¡¯s broken,¡± The priestess of Holdna said, bathing it in cool healing light before addressing his eye. Suddenly the blank vision of his left eye returned, although it was completely blurry, and will could only make out light and dark and a bit of color. ¡°I can stop the bleeding and stitch it together, but I¡¯m not powerful enough to completely restore your vision yet. Our more powerful members expended most of their Charge reassembling Karryn¡¯s head. If you visit the Church of Holdna, our bishop can arrange something more comprehensive for your eye. Free of charge, of course.¡± She said with a guilty look. ¡°Thanks for that. I¡¯ll be sure to visit,¡± Will said, relieved that his eye wouldn¡¯t be a blotch of light and dark for long. What concerned him was Phantom Hand, which was radiating constant pain. It was missing the Buckler of Rebounding finger, which had seemingly been gnawed away to a stub of phantom bone. It was only the Hydra upgrade that gave him confidence the Ability¡¯s finger might grow back. Will could tell the buckler¡¯s effect was gone, though, even if he got the finger back he¡¯d have to fill it with something else. He sent Carrie one of Gertrude¡¯s patented ¡®looks¡¯ before he spoke: ¡°My Ability is damaged. Know anything about that?¡± She at least had the decency to look embarrassed. ¡°I wanted to win.¡± Chapter 79: Prison Blues ¡°So what are you in for?¡± Void asked, leaning up against the wall and staring at the prisoner in the cell across from him. The emaciated prisoner had disheveled brown hair and a wild look in his blue eyes. He was relatively tall, maybe a hair over six foot, with the frame of a man who¡¯d eaten well in his youth, only for his luck to turn sour.That was a good thing, because after this debacle was over, they¡¯d either be dead or their no-longer-functional team would be broken up and the two of them would most likely receive a promotion and a new command, where they would never have to see each other again, which worked fine for both of them. That was about the best Void could hope for under the circumstances. The emaciated fellow in the opposite cell grunted and turned away, continuing to draw his mad scratches across the wall. Thankfully his neighbor had managed to pry a loose peg out of the bedframe and used it to scratch a detailed spiral on the wall. Thankful because if the madman had been forced to get any more creative with his art supplies, it would¡¯ve been shit on the wall rather than scratches. ¡°Depends.¡± ¡°Depends on what?¡± ¡°Whether or not I¡¯m imagining you.¡± the man said, going back to the outside of the spiral and adding a landscape on the outside, stick trees and animals and figures that fell deeper and deeper into the spiral, forming a loop that was so tight that the details compressed into nothing as they approached the center. Something about it gave Void a bad feeling. ¡°Why would you be imagining me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been trapped in a lightless box for¡­¡± The man paused, glancing around them. ¡°A long time.¡± He turned around and looked at Void. ¡°And I have a great imagination. I¡¯ve been seeing and talking to things for days¡­or decades¡­or thousands of years. Not sure.¡± After he spoke, the man glanced over to the side, cocking his head as though he was listening to someone speak. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll ask.¡± ¡°What Floor are we on? What Stronghold?¡± He asked, turning back to Void. ¡°Fifth Floor. The city of Akul.¡± The emaciated fellow chuckled at that. ¡°, huh? I guess decades. Assuming you¡¯re real.¡± ¡°Yes, assuming that,¡± Void said with a chuckle. ¡°You still didn¡¯t answer my question.¡± ¡°Well, you ever get volun-told for a job by your boss and it goes sideways in the most colossal way?¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty much my life,¡± Void said, fluffing the pillow of his prison cell. ¡°Well, my boss says ¨C¡° He adopted a high pitched, mocking voice ¡°¡®go into The Tower, grab some Sacrifices on an easy floor for Testing.¡¯ Next thing you know, it¡¯s The Cataclysm. The Great Churning, The Big Suck. Upheaval. Whatever folks call it nowadays.¡± Void cocked his head. Upheaval rang a bell. It sounded like the stuff the church of Granesh preached about. Void hadn¡¯t attended a sermon since he could sit on his momma¡¯s knee. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Void asked, his curiousity piqued. ¡°I¡¯unno.¡± The man said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ve always like Reese, though. You can call me Reese.¡± ¡°Okay, Reese, how old are you?¡± Void asked, working on a hunch. With the right build, a person could get pretty old, and Reese was definitely sounding age-cracked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± Reese said, glancing around the room. ¡°I think I¡¯m dead and in hell, and my ¡®previous life¡¯ is just a hallucination I made up to grant myself a little comfort as infinite suffering wears away my mind.¡± ¡°You think this is hell?¡± Void asked. ¡°What else would you call a place that subjects you to your worst nightmares over and over again, each iteration slightly worse than the last, until you¡¯re close to breaking forever, then a thin ray of hope wipes away all the pain and you spend a lifetime or two as a farmer falling in love, raising kids¡­ long enough to forget, and then BAM, back to the suck for you, and you remember EVERYTHING, and you know it¡¯s all gonna happen again, and again, and again¡­¡± The emaciated man lowered himself to the floor, shuddering as he drew his knees up to his chest. ¡°And again, and again¡­¡± He whispered between shuddered breaths. Void¡¯s eyebrows rose. Sometimes with enough age, the mind just¡­stopped working, no matter how healthy the body was. Nothing an Ability or his stats could do about it. The brain was still working exactly as intended. The mind however¡­ Void left his neighbor to his blubbering and turned his attention to the guard marching into their block, a young man with black hair, crooked teeth and a familiar gait. Void thought with a sigh as he stood, watching as the Tangled reached into its pocket and removed a bloodstained key. It wouldn¡¯t be long now. The Tangled had infiltrated nearly every facet of the city¡¯s beaurocracy, and Baron Akul was already sniffing around for the rot that had permeated it. Soon, soon, the Baron would catch on. Which was why they were letting him out. They would be moving onto the next phase. The final phase. Rather than turn towards Void and open his cell, the Tangled opened the cracked Climber¡¯s door, the enchantments keeping Reese¡¯s Abilities suppressed flickering off as the lock clicked open. ¡°Come on, you¡¯ve got an appointment with my Lord.¡± The Tangled said, hauling Reese out of his cell before he began unbuttoning his shirt. ¡°Umm¡­¡± Reese backed away from the guard as he disrobed, his gaze searching for an exit. The Tangled looked somewhat nauseous for a moment before a copy began climbing out of his chest, depositing itself onto the floor. The new Tangled gasped before his body began to shift, bones lengthening. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. A moment later, an exact copy of Reese huddled in the corner of the cell, while the Tangled put his shirt back on and grabbed Reese by the elbow, guiding him away. ¡°Hey, what about me!?¡± Void demanded. The Tangled looked over at him with passive disinterest. ¡°Your time has not yet come.¡± He nodded toward the Reese Lookalike. ¡°My copy will give you the signal. Until then do not reveal that the target has been taken.¡± Void waved him off and slumped back down onto his cot. On the other side of the city, Will and his Party were making the final preparations for the auction. With a golden ticket and a rather large allowance from the Baron to spend on the items, Will¡¯s entire Party was dressed in their finest apparel and ready to score some once-in-a-lifetime- Sacrifices and Relics. Will had learned his lesson about attending parties without warning his Party about potential sudden outbreaks of violence. He¡¯d warned them of his suspicions and was smuggling in his relics, weapons, and those of everyone in his party whose armaments he could fit in his dimensional storage. It was really only his, Travis¡¯s and Masons. Mason didn¡¯t have much in the way of weapons, save for a wand he¡¯d gotten to boost his damage output, Travis¡¯s weapons were all small, and Will¡¯s was remarkably thin. Rings and amulets barely took up any space at all, so everyone¡¯s jewelry was in the Phantom Hand. Reggie, Alicia and Loth¡¯s equipment were under the building, along with all the bulky Relics, like pants, torsos, helms and shoes, burrowed by Loth¡¯s insects in advance of the date of the auction. If nothing wound up happening and they attended a simple auction, then Will would be just as happy to walk away without issue. But if what his paranoia was telling him was about to happen¡­happened¡­ Then William Oh was going to show up in full Kit and make some changes to The Plan. They arrived at the auction just as the unnatural sun was beginning to sink lower on the horizon, making the shadows of the surrounding buildings cut through the streets, creating an almost striped look on the cobblestones. Will thought as their Party was ushered inside, getting one last look of the rapidly reddening ball of eye-searing light. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He hadn¡¯t been to the church of Holdna for the follow-up for his damaged eye like he¡¯d promised. He¡¯d been too busy making plans, calling in favors and paying off his debts with the local criminal element. Squaring everything away for this one opportunity. Will closed his right eye and checked his vision again. Even without a healing from a more powerful priest, his left eye had rapidly improved in a single week. Before his left eye could only make out light and dark, but after a week it was able to discern color and rough shapes as the damage sorted itself out, the cloudiness of the pupil gradually clearing. Will itched his stump, where a stubby lump was sticking out, vaguely able to wiggle as the wrist reformed its muscle connections. The gauntlet strapped around it prevented him from itching it directly, which was maddening. They stood outside the massive white stone building, pillars that must¡¯ve weighed more than entire villages looming dozens of feet above their heads. Men and women of high society flowed in from the street, their collars popped out like the Dragon of Akul. Loth caught his attention, and brought his gaze back down to her. ¡°What do you want to happen?¡± Loth asked. The best number one a man could ask for. ¡°I want to get Mason and Travis some good Sacrifices. I want a new Relic for close combat for myself. Something exceptional that expands my options. And if a war breaks out among the Lords, I want us to smash and grab.¡± Loth nodded and turned to June. ¡°I¡¯ll handle bidding. I want you to position us somewhere far enough from the VIP boxes to get a wall of meat between ourselves and the Lords. Doesn¡¯t matter to me if it¡¯s not a ¡®prestigious¡¯ location. Once we¡¯re there, I¡¯ll trust you to handle the unexpected.¡± ¡°Done,¡± June nodded. Once they were inside, they found themselves looking out over an amphitheater with round tables lining each staggered tier of elevation. Up at the very top was a box with a rug with the Baron¡¯s colors slapped across it. ¡°Why¡¯s there a rug on the Baron¡¯s private box?¡± Will whispered to Loth as June herded them toward a front corner of the room, near the bottom of the tiers. Right where it would be easy to escape if something went wrong. ¡°It¡¯s a tapestry,¡± Loth said. ¡°Wazzat?¡± Will whispered back. ¡°a¡­wall-rug.¡± Loth said with a shrug. ¡°Alicia, you sit here, June said, pointing at the seat on the table that pointed her facing backwards, towards the rest of the amphitheater, and specifically the VIP box. ¡°IF the VIP box starts looking tense, kick me under the table - gently.¡± June hastily clarified. ¡°Okay.¡± Alicia whispered. ¡°Reggie, have toft up on Loth and Mason.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Reggie said with a nod. ¡°Mason, Travis, I want you two to sit next to Loth and watch for things that catch your interest and signal Loth if you¡¯re interested in bidding.¡± Mason and Travis nodded. ¡°Mason, I want you to be prepared to blast a hole through that wall over there on my signal,¡± She said, leading Mason¡¯s gaze with her eyes. Mason nodded. Loth whispered in June¡¯s ear. ¡°Your gear is under that rearing lion on the carpet,¡± She continued without missing a beat. ¡°Travis, if shit goes down, I¡¯ll signal you to-¡° ¡°Excuse me, sir.¡± A dignified voice halted their scheming. Will frowned, glancing up at a waiter, holding a napkin-wrapped arm across his stomach and making a graceful bow. ¡°Eh?¡± Will grunted. ¡°I¡¯m afraid sir is not in his assigned seat.¡± Will frowned, glancing at Loth, then back up to the well-dressed servant. ¡°There¡¯s no assigned seating. We checked.¡± Will said. ¡°There¡¯s no assigned seating for , that is true. But as the winner of the tournament, your presence has been requested in the VIP box.¡± He pointed at the exact center of where Will expected the chaos to erupt from. Will blew out a breath. He couldn¡¯t exactly say no, though. ¡°Right away,¡± Will said, standing. ¡°Just give me a moment to give my second-in-command bidding instructions,¡± Will motioned to Loth. ¡°The kobold?¡± The servant said in surprise, eyebrow cocked for an instant before he masked his reaction behind a fa?ade of professionalism. ¡°¡­Of course.¡± Will bent down and whispered in Loth¡¯s ear. ¡°I¡¯m giving everyone their Relics now. Check under your seats when the time comes.¡± Loth nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to keep my eyes open for it.¡± Will released the Relics along with a tiny amount of sticky adhesive, securing them to the underside of their chairs along with Mason¡¯s wand. Once his Dimensional storage was empty of everything save his and Travis¡¯s weapon, Will turned and followed the servant back up to the VIP box, which was seperated from the rest of the auction house by an exclusive hallway guarded by several armored warriors. One of the intimidating walls of muscle was familiar. ¡°Hey Frank.¡± Will said to Frank the Tank, who nodded from his guard post as Will walked by. ¡°Good job, kid.¡± Frank said, offering Will a fist as he walked by. Will hit the meaty fist with his own as he walked by, the interaction causing the other guard and servant to frown. The servant shook off his confusion and guided Will down the private hall to the only door, a private booth with a single oversized table, where half a dozen unique-looking men and women turned to study the intrusion. ¡°Esteemed Lords of The Tower, May I present William Oh,¡± the servant said, bowing his head before backing out of the room, the wall-rugs parting behind him to seal Will inside. Will scanned the room, alighting on a few people he knew: The Baron, his son and grandson, who looked a little pale, and Mark Wyrd. And beside Mark Wyrd, someone who looked like an older brother, with more severe features and an unkind expression. Will couldn¡¯t look at him too long or risk his neutral expression slipping. Frederick gave a hungry look as Will¡¯s gaze slid past him, landing on the gilded cloth worn by the bishop of Granesh in attendance. The bishop gave Will a piercing gaze. About half the people in the room wanted him dead. The other half didn¡¯t care. The other Lords in the room appeared to be a regular swordsman, a marksman with eyes much like Alicias, a woman with dark hair and light skin whose chair seemed to be rotting away underneath her. And a ghoulish looking undead with a bit of fragrant incense hanging around his neck to cover the smell of decay. Will never thought he¡¯d meet of these people, let alone all of them at once. ¡°Come on in, sit next to me,¡± Rotwitch said, motioning for him to sit in one of the empty seats beside her. ¡°I¡¯ve got a good feeling I¡¯ll be seeing you again on the thirteenth Floor.¡± Out of the Rotwitch¡¯s line of sight, the man with the glowing eyes shook his head at Will. ¡°Nonsense, the boy has an assigned seat with some people his own age.¡± Baron Akul said, sliding out a seat between Nephir Akul and Mark Wyrd, motioning for Will to sit. Chapter 80: Kicking Things Off every ¡°ow.¡± june whispered as alicia kicked her shin. ¡°already? will left.¡± ¡°you told me to kick you when things look tense.¡± she whispered, her glowing blue eyes locked on the shadowed booth above them. ¡°they look tense.¡± ¡°¡­tell me when they start killing each other.¡± june said, going back to her preparations for a ¡®successful¡¯ auction. up above them, will was navigating the murky social scene, shaking each of the lord¡¯s hands ¨C except rotwitch ¨C before making his way to his seat. ¡°so¡­¡± will said, glancing to his left and right as he sat. mark wyrd gave him a studiously neutral expression, while nephir paled and glanced away. ¡°my name¡¯s william oh, honor to meet you.¡± will said, shaking mark¡¯s hand. naturally their coverup of oilton meant they¡¯d never officially ¡®met¡¯. ¡°likewise. you have a remarkable talent for single combat, mr. oh,¡± mark said giving will a short, painful squeeze before letting go. ¡°thank you!¡± will beamed the way he thought a simple orphan would at the direct complement. ¡°we¡¯ve already met,¡± nephir said, trying to avoid eye contact as will wiggled his hand under the nuker¡¯s nose. nephir finally relented and shook his hand to make the encounter end quicker. the nuker wasn¡¯t a person, per se, it was just hard to be civil to someone who¡¯d humiliated you that badly, that recently. mark had distance from the event and a fa?ade to maintain, so he was better at it. will sat down between the two of them, the gazes of the lords in the room raking across his body like hot irons. after a few minutes of strained conversation between the three young climbers, the lights in the auction house dimmed as a servant swept by and turned them off, signaling the beginning of the auction. will thought, smiling a bit as he glanced around watching the audience below shift and begin whispering to each other. will glanced down at the stage, an orb of light forming above and beaming straight down on the stage, just as a familiar young woman stepped up onto the stage. will thought sourly, half-tempted to give a petty booing. ¡°is this the announcer you have?¡± will muttered to himself, nebulously addressing the city without thinking too hard about who was listening. ¡°it¡¯s a big city, but it¡¯s not big,¡± baron akul whispered back across his son, leaning forward to see will. ¡°you try paying for a person to make it safely to this floor with nothing but voice enhancements.¡± ¡°no offence meant¡­sir,¡± will hastily retracted his statement. ¡°none taken,¡± the baron said with a grin before disappearing behind his aging son. luis was silently chuckling to himself and shaking his head. ¡°in this auction, over the next three hours you will bear witness to a selection of some of the most powerful relics and sacrifices to grace the fifth floor.¡± ¡°the attendants will now be handing out the final itinerary for tonight¡¯s auction.¡± a servant slipped a piece of paper in front of each of them with professional haste. will¡¯s brows rose as he skimmed down the list, gaze lingering on ¡®uru drake scale¡¯ before moving on. ¡°i don¡¯t really know what half of these things are,¡± will said, motioning to the dimensional oyster, and reinforcing awl. ¡°the dimensional oyster is a monster whose sacrifices are nearly as valuable as the uru drake. while it¡¯s sacrifice doesn¡¯t often grant dimensional powers directly, it has a tendency to empower them, apply a powerful defensive boost or even a growth-like effect to an ability.¡± mark offered. ¡°you see these?¡± nephir said, leaning over and pointing to about a chunk of about a dozen items on will¡¯s list simply marked ¡®pearl one through fourteen¡¯. ¡°yeah?¡± ¡°sometimes when climbers defeat a dimensional oyster, it¡¯ll have pearls inside it. these aren¡¯t normal pearls. they¡¯re typically the effects of climbers who have been eaten by the monster. rather than spit them out, the dimensional oyster forms a sheath of nacre around these irritating objects. this sheath of nacre protects the oyster from the irritating sharp edges of things like blades, buckles or jewelry.¡± ¡°so like¡­giant, sword-shaped pearls?¡± ¡°not exactly, because these pearls actually reduce the size of the object inside, growing smaller and more spherical with each layer until the offending object simply vanishes.¡± nephir said. beside them, mark made a ¡®poof¡¯ gesture without looking away from the stage. ¡°the pearls for sale today are the size of those a noblewoman might wear around her neck, indicating either the item inside the pearl is small, or they¡¯ve been encased in dimensional nacre for years. if you crack open a tiny pearl and it had a relic in it bathing in dimensional energies for years, the chances are good it has picked up an extra affix related to dimensional abilities, making it extremely valuable.¡± nephir continued. ¡°so the pearls are¡­.gambling.¡± will said. ¡°more or less. who doesn¡¯t like a mystery box?¡± mark said with a shrug. ¡°it may be gambling, but it¡¯s one of the few things that isn¡¯t rigged.¡± nephir said. mark grunted acknowledgement. ¡°but as soon as someone finds a way to do it...¡± he shook his head. the cynicism on display from these young men only a handful of years older than will warmed his paranoid heart. unauthorized usage: this tale is on amazon without the author''s consent. report any sightings. will relaxed in his seat and took the long view on the sacrifice: nice to have, but not critical. today¡¯s primary mission was to improve mason and travis¡¯s build in preparation for the 6th floor and beyond. ¡°now that our attendants have handed out the itinerary and you¡¯ve had a chance to review it, we¡¯ll begin with item number one! a mutated set of bracers of shielding!¡± the announcer motioned to the side and stepped aside as an attendant rolled a glass case on wheels out, revealing a simple set of bracers that had a bronze glow to them under the spotlight. she began reading the details. interesting, but it wasn¡¯t vital to any of his party member¡¯s build. will settled back in his chair and let the auction unfold, waiting for the items that loth decided to bid on. eventually the attendants rolled an ornate staff forward, and loth jumped into the bidding. s~ea??h the n??el fire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. bidding rose to a fever pitch as loth was rapidly, almost punitively, outbid by several rich families. loth didn¡¯t let her emotions get the better of her and simply stopped raising her bid as soon as they hit the limit of what she was willing to spend on a single relic for their nuker. after that, will was interested to see that loth shifted her strategy and began bidding more freely on most of the items that came on the stage. each time, a table with more money than sense bid the item above what it was worth, and loth would stop bidding before she won. will knew what she was doing: she was depleting everyone else¡¯s budget ¨C if they even had one ¨C and masking which items she really wanted versus which ones she was bidding up solely to gouge her competitor¡¯s pockets. will was fairly sure he wouldn¡¯t have handled it as well. through this masking technique, loth was able to acquire three pearls for next to nothing, when no one else had the appetite to jump in on a gamble after flexing their wealth on multiple occasions before. she also bought a sacrifice for travis for cheap: the wings of the iber fly that buzzed in the ear of its victims, causing them to go mad and attack things they shouldn¡¯t, getting them killed and allowing the iber to lay its eggs in the carrion. there was a torso relic similar to the cloak of misty escape that improved stealth and added the option of adding a fog cloud effect to every active ability use, for the slippery rogue types. will was perfectly happy with the cloak of the fade, but it was a bit painful watching such a nice item pass by. will thought to himself, keeping an eye on frederick wyrd as the man idly tapped his gilded bone scepter against his knee. from what will knew about mark¡¯s build¡­ that was what made sense to will about the lord¡¯s drumming on his knee. without knowing more about what that bone scepter did, will wasn¡¯t able to make a good guess. it looked¡­holier than the wicked knife that mark had cut himself with. relics focused on thorns and blood-for-blood type effects had an evil look to go with it. this thing wouldn¡¯t look out of place in the hands of a healer. the bone wasn¡¯t carved into wicked scenes of horror, instead it was minimally altered, with the gold serving to protect the bone and enhance its natural beauty. will still didn¡¯t feel like he fully grasped the gimmick. even if it was stored damage, it would only hit once, and if the other guy resisted, he could just¡­run away. the biggest weakness of the thorns build was that it required the opponent to participate in the fight. if he just ran away, few thorns builds had the damage output to kill them before they could escape. gotta mark¡¯s fingers nudged will¡¯s, and will kept his eyes on the stage as he felt a piece of paper slip under his fingers. making sure no one else was looking, will glanced at the note. ¡­ will disappeared the note into his phantom hand. it was an infinite loop. frederick wyrd chose a target, triggered his voodoo ability, tapped his knee, then the tiny amount of damage hit his opponent. that damage was revisited on frederick by the rod, which then was visited back on his opponent again. and again. and again¡­ all the while, his lifesteal healing was boosted by the rod¡¯s healing bonus, above 100%. so frederick wyrd walked away perfectly fine and the other person¡­kept taking damage until they couldn¡¯t technically take any damage anymore¡­ his lifesteal could be 50% or below, and he would still win the exchange as long as his resistance was higher than his opponent. it was only the thorns effect that truly needed to be 100% or higher. if it was below 100%, each successive damage exchange would be weaker than the one before it, rather than stronger and stronger in an escalating damage explosion. that would be the most effective way to neuter the lord¡¯s build. will glanced at frederick¡¯s headband, which had a drop of blood in amber in the center. the wyrd patriarch¡¯s amulet was tucked beneath his shirt, and his fingers were covered by thick gloves. beside will, mark wyrd tapped his left middle finger, seemingly bored at the litany or rare objects marching past them. will hoped he was giving will a hint and not just bored. a familiar scale the size of two palms was rolled out into the spotlight, and the bidding he¡¯d assumed had been frenzied before was suddenly a bloodbath, accelerating beyond anything he¡¯d seen. when the final bid rolled in, will hadn¡¯t realized that much money even the winning table took their leave then and there to go settle accounts and get their hands on the uru drake scale as quickly as possible. strangely, the wyrd patriarch didn¡¯t seem too interested in it. all of the lord¡¯s bidding patterns were strange, as they seemed to put high value on things that had no particular direct use to them. outliers, really. they didn¡¯t seem to want anything for themselves, as they already had highly polished builds that didn¡¯t have a single place to improve. will only realized what they were bidding on when an otherwise normal steel-skin potion went for five-thousand ten-pieces, to ghoul. steel-skin potions weren¡¯t¡­terribly expensive, so why would they be at an auction for the rare and unusual? and why so much¡­ will¡¯s eyes widened. that one item had just been a too out-of-place and on-the-nose, and allowed will¡¯s mind to pierce the veil. will quickly scanned the auction itinerary and found carrie near the bottom, a pair of fashionable long-boots with a charm effect whose power level didn¡¯t belong in the auction. ¡°so ummm¡­are you guys actually bidding on ¡± will couldn¡¯t help but whisper past nephir. he¡¯d seen the priests for sale in the temple of andover, but this was¡­ ¡°hah. sort of. not exactly.¡± the baron¡¯s aging son said, reaching past nephir to tousle will¡¯s hair. ¡°you¡¯re quick, though, william.¡± baron akul said. ¡°my friends here are bidding to the others from approaching them with an offer of vassalage. we can¡¯t talent to go one way or another, but if they only receive offer and other lords give them the cold shoulder¡­¡± ¡°they¡¯re nudged in the direction of the winner¡­¡± ¡°this city produces more talent than i could ever use,¡± akul said, ¡°so we decided to develop a non-violent way to recruit, and all agreed to it. easier and more plentiful than fighting over scraps.¡± will nodded, humming to himself. ¡°¡­can bid on someone?¡± will asked, scanning for some sign that loth was on the list but not finding any. nor any sign of alicia or mason. as will scrolled further down the list, he found a small cuirass of modest power that looked like it could only fit a child¡­or bee. ¡°knock yourself out,¡± the baron said, leaning back in his seat. during the entire exchange, frederick wyrd ignored them, his attention was on the itinerary, the drumming against his knee accelerating. will¡¯s heart began to beat hard enough for him to feel it in his temples. ¡°and now, ladies and gentlemen, a rare drop from the sixteenth floor. a complete dimensional oyster, preserved magically and divided into a dozen high-quality sacrifices. a perfect sacrifice for dimensional abilities, growth and crafting abilities! when the dozen or so dimensional oyster sacrifices were rolled out onto the stage, frederick wyrd gave a tiny inhale, his limbs tensed to the most minute degree as he drummed on his knee. will slipped the ring of eidolons out of the phantom hand and had it on his finger in the blink of an eye before interposing the hand between the rod and the lord¡¯s knee in the exact instant everyone felt a wave of charge travel through frederick¡¯s body. Chapter 81: Dance with the Rotwitch will¡¯s stats were very good¡­for a level twenty-four.his acuity was particularly excellent, so he was able to perceive about half the things that happened in the next fraction of a second. taking advantage of the heartbeat will had bought, the baron encased his son and grandson in living shield and shot them through the wall, the two younger akuls disappearing in the blink of an eye. an explosion and a screeching noise, as though someone had run their fingernails down the fabric of space, sounded to will¡¯s left-rear, but his head couldn¡¯t turn that fast. baron akul gave will a sheepish shrug before frederick wyrd¡¯s jaw flexed and the baron exploded. rotwitch lunged forward, aiming to touch the wyrd patriarch. while she was still frozen in midair, the marksman motioned as though he were drawing a bow, then released, sending an arrow of pure energy past frederick wyrd¡¯s face. will thought he¡¯d missed until a blast of air battered at him as the air formed a tunnel in the wake of his shot, nearly drawing will into its influence like so much of the furniture that sailed through the roof of the building and into the distance. frederick wyrd resisted the pull and turned to face the other lords, dancing out of the way of the rotwitch, his gaze landing on marksman. marksman slapped a hand to his chest and blinked out of existence, a necklace with a dull broken gem in the center clattering to the ground in his place. will reached out with phantom hand and attempted to use dimensional storage on the rod. it went about as well as he could expect. the resistance to stealing a relic had always been a test of their relative power, and as his opponents had grown stronger it had become harder and harder to easily steal relics. especially if he had some way to prevent the theft. trying to sever the connection between frederick wyrd and the keystone of his build was like cutting braided steel with a pair of rusty bronze shears. frederick¡¯s gaze turned toward will until a sickly bolt of green energy spattered against the patriarch¡¯s back. ghoul exploded, leaving behind a translucent copy of himself, holding his hand out to unleash the attack. the lord¡¯s spirit form glanced down at his non-corporeal body and gave wyrd a hate-filled scowl as his scattered bits began crawling back towards him, reassembling his form from the ankle up. ¡°hold. still!¡± rotwitch growled, trying to touch frederick, the air around her becoming toxic and catching in will¡¯s throat. will thought, glancing at tables below them. ¡°no you don¡¯t,¡± wyrd said, his hand clamping down around will¡¯s left wrist. ¡°you¡¯re not wriggling out of this one again-¡° ¡°ah hah!¡± rotwitch swung at wyrd, forcing him to let go of will and push the two of them apart in order to avoid either of them dying. ¡°use your little explosion trick on me, freddy, i you!¡± rotwitch said, chasing the thorns build around their little box, which would¡¯ve been comical if the observation box wasn¡¯t beginning to sag from the corrosive fumes rolling off of rotwitch. the swordsman lord and the marksman lord was gone, ghoul was reconstituting, akul was¡­everywhere, luis and nephir were gone, leaving¡­ a hand clamped down around will¡¯s shoulder. ¡° sorry about this,¡± mark wyrd said, bringing his fist down, prompting will to slide out of the way of a blow aimed at knocking him out. ¡°no, i get it.¡± will said with a shrug as he outmaneuvered the slower thorns build. in public they had their roles to play. mark didn¡¯t like will, sure, but he also didn¡¯t want to obey his father. the deciding factor was that he didn¡¯t want to turn frederick wyrd against him before it was time, which took precedence, leading to him attacking will on his father¡¯s orders. ¡°boy!¡± frederick wyrd said, pointing at will. ¡°behave yourself, or i¡¯ll remove your legs until you learn your place. i prefer my property undamaged.¡± will had no doubt that the man had the power to do it. his eyes narrowed as he glanced at rotwitch and back to frederick. sear?h the n?velfire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. why freddy using his explosive ability on rotwitch? rotwitch corroded anything she came into contact with. if the system made a connection between the two of them in the form of that damage loop, then her corrosive influence could infect freddy and possibly kill him. and freddy wasn¡¯t sure he would win that exchange. ¡°you know what?¡± will said, dodging another attack by mark before drawing his replacement sword out of the phantom hand and pointing it at frederick. ¡°i don¡¯t like your , freddy.¡± the wyrd patriarch¡¯s jaw tensed. ¡°very well,¡± frederick wyrd said, activating his voodoo ability to connect him and will, stooping to tap his own feet with the rod. will dropped the sword and ripped off his gauntlet, jabbing the rotwitch in the side with his regrowing nub of a wrist. ¡°eek!¡± rotwitch squeaked at the sudden fleshy contact while wyrd swung his rod down towards his foot, frowning at will¡¯s sudden change. his eyes widened. will thought, his regrowing wrist beginning to sizzle as his phantom hand raced the rod of the pacifist healer. the phantom hand flicked frederick wyrd¡¯s left middle finger with bone-breaking force an instant before he managed to hit himself with the rod. the damage loop triggered, damaging will in the closest place to frederick wyrd¡¯s left middle finger. his stump of a wrist. his stump of a wrist¡­currently afflicted with the rotwitch¡¯s curse, which was pressed into her side. ¡°aaah!¡± frederick wyrd¡¯s left middle finger half melted, half exploded as the infectious curse spread to his finger and prevented his lifesteal from healing it, allowing the looped damage to accumulate. the wyrd patriarch¡¯s side also began to smoulder where will had touched the rotwitch, implying his rod had decided the tiny amount of damage that had been done to her from will¡¯s wrist exploding was frederick¡¯s fault. will stalked forward through the sudden silence, approaching the wide-eyed lord. ¡°you thought i won that tournament through ¡± will demanded. ¡°i fight even without rules! i¡¯m going to find you on the seventh floor, ¡­hunt you down and-urk!¡° a band of spidersilk snapped around his waist and catapulted him backwards, yanking him violently over the bannister and out above the auction-house seating. will hit the ground in a tangle of limbs and shards of wooden furniture. ¡°he was about to kill you,¡± loth said apologetically. ¡°no he¡­¡± will thought about frederick¡¯s trembling fingers disappearing into his pocket, doing gods-knew-what. he¡¯d been too mad to be paying attention. too wrapped up in getting revenge for the suffering of brianna and all the grief the lord had caused will and others¡­ ¡°¡­.yeah, he was about to kill me.¡± ¡°his voodoo ability has to have a range limit.¡± mason said, peering up at the collapsing vip box. ¡°let the lords handle the rest of the fight.¡± ¡°alright you guys, go, go, go!¡± june said, motioning reggie and travis, each of them loaded with rare and valuable auction items, to sprint through the hole in the wall mason had ¡®engineered¡¯. ¡°awesome,¡± will chuckled. ¡°¡­can one of you cut off my arm?¡± he raised his left arm, which was sizzling and decaying at a rapid pace. in a matter of minutes the corruption would reach his torso, and that would be a problem. unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on amazon, report the violation. ¡°i¡¯ve been working on something,¡± mason said, stepping forward. ¡°no, no,¡± will stopped him. ¡°it can infect abilities. use something disposal.¡± loth motioned to a rare and valuable sword reggie was currently pilfering for them. her insects stole the sword and brought it to her. ¡°i can see how far it¡¯s spread, let me,¡± alicia whispered, taking the scimitar out of loth¡¯s hand and bringing it down on will¡¯s upper arm with all her might¡­which was significant. despite the searing pain, it actually felt than when the rotwitch¡¯s curse had been tearing through it. less¡­ and more¡­unspeakable pain. a marked improvement. alicia hissed and stumbled back, dropping the scimitar and bleeding from her eyes. ¡°alicia are you-¡° loth began. ¡°i¡¯m fine,¡± she whispered, raising a hand and looking back at loth with bloodshot eyes, red tears streaming down her cheeks. ¡°they aren¡¯t infected, so they¡¯ll heal. rotwitch¡¯s curse is pleasant to look at though.¡± ¡°let¡¯s you three!¡± june said, tossing will a healing potion. will uncorked it with his teeth and slammed it back, rolling away from his chunk of arm melting through the floor before he stood. it wouldn¡¯t do to re-introduce rotwitch¡¯s curse to his flesh. will thought sourly before shrugging it off. that brought a smile to his face. will thought, glancing back up at the vip box before he joined the stream of panicked civilians fleeing through the hole in the wall. will had bought baron akul a heartbeat of time to act as he saw fit. the man surely had powerful abilities that could¡¯ve secured his life or put wyrd at a disadvantage. ¡°remind me never to have children.¡± will said as they ran. loth sent him a sideways glance and shrugged. the six of them came to a screeching halt in the middle of the street. normally this would¡¯ve caused a problem with the press of people around them, but in this instance came to a screeching halt. in the distance, a building crumbled as a kaiju emerged from beneath it, groggily climbing to it¡¯s feet. it was a lizard-like thing with too many legs, and a sharp tongue that looked as though it could extend outward, spearing or slashing as needed. rumbling continued as another building collapsed, revealing a kaiju. then another, and another. the screams of panic turned to screams of pain as dozens of men and women on the street began to writhe, limbs bursting out of their bodies as they became tangled, immediately attacking anything and anyone near them. ¡°travis,¡± june said, holding out her arms. travis dumped his loot in june¡¯s hands before putting his fingers in his mouth and unleashing an ear-piercing whistle, garnering the attention of everything on the street. ¡°hey all you tangled sons-a-bitches!¡± travis shouted, his ability permeating his voice. the one thing the kaiju and the tangled shared was a low resistance to mental attacks. they immediately began chasing him, as if tugged along on strings. ¡°follow me!¡± travis shouted and immediately began sprinting toward the first of loth¡¯s traps. ¡°this way,¡± loth said, taking the lead now that june¡¯s hands were full, breaking their path away from travis and the steam of tangled following him. but the tangled weren¡¯t just those they¡¯d seen on the street. they were practically spilling out of apartment buildings, shops, boiling out of the sewers in a flood of angry, nigh-indestructible meat. they took a quick duck into a side-alley, the sound of buildings being stepped on turning into a constant background noise. dozens of tangled poured in the end of the alley before they reached it, and still more came in from the road behind him. ¡°we¡¯re going up!¡± loth said, and a moment later, the five of them were buoyed up by her insects, floating toward the roof of the building. will smacked a leaping tangled out of the air with phantom hand moments before it could grab hold of june. the creature tumbled backwards before its fingers dug into the building¡¯s stone wall, joining the other grotesque limb-monsters chasing them. they reached the roof of the building, able to see where a nearby kaiju was beginning to lay waste to the surroundings. this one was tall and slimy-skinned, with emaciated limbs that seemed to cut through buildings like butter. and it was only two buildings away. ¡°yes. here is good.¡± loth said as she scanned the rooftop. ¡°hold them off, mason.¡± mason rolled up his sleeves and the explosions began to echo across the roof, hot and heavy. the kaiju¡¯s attention turned towards the staccato blasts, and it began lumbering towards them, it¡¯s claws sinking into the building across the street. the creature was so huge that it leaned over the entire street to peer at them, the building underneath it crumbling under its weight. loth¡¯s trap went off. silk ropes whipped out of the crumbling building and slammed into the kaiju at high speeds, depositing a crimson powder across the creature¡¯s chest that seemed to sink into its skin instantly. in the back of his mind, will felt a faint, insidious urge to abandon everything he was doing and attack the offending monster. naturally this was outweighed by his understanding that that was a idea. not so with the surrounding tangled, who immediately began to swarm towards the kaiju, streaming past them by the hundreds. the gigantic monster reared back as tangled began to swarm up it, ripping and tearing to the best of their abilities. ¡°the handlers?¡± will asked. if they couldn¡¯t deal with the charm-based classes directing the tangled, then this little distraction would be countered in a matter of minutes. maybe less. ¡°i¡¯ll spot them,¡± alica said, unslinging her bow and scanning the surroundings. june handed her a glowing arrow, which she nocked without looking. ¡°¡­there.¡± alicia snapped her bow up, drew back to her cheek and released in one fluid motion. the arrow flew out and pierced the stone wall of a nearby apartment building. a moment later, the tangled began ripping into the kaiju with renewed energy, that little voice in their head telling them to stop going quiet. as they tore into the panicking kaiju, they began bleeding themselves as tiny bite marks appeared all over their bodies. it seemed as though through some unknown process, wyrd had buffed the kaiju with a fraction of his thorns, to make it significantly harder for the defenders of the city to get control of them. but since the tangled were the ones doing the damage¡­this actually worked just fine for will. the crazed tangled only attacked as they were wounded, lashing out violently at the nearest thing¡­the kaiju and each other. across the city, will saw the lizard-like kaiju get slapped with the tangled bait, followed by the other two kaiju. a moment later, all four kaiju were crawling with tangled. ¡°there¡¯s another handler.¡± alicia said, shooting high in the air, her arrow arcing across half the city before coming down on its hapless victim. ¡°i¡¯m proud of you,¡± will said, patting loth¡¯s head. ¡°it was idea,¡± loth said, peering up at him. ¡°ah, but the execution¡­¡± will clicked his tongue. ¡°i couldn¡¯t¡¯ve.¡± across the city, frederick wyrd blinked into existence atop the highest tower in the city, burning an incredibly expensive consumable to escape from the rotwitch. in a matter of hours, the city would be deserted, crushed between his tangled and stephan¡¯s hubris, every living soul within its walls dead or fled, leaving this prime territory his for the taking¡­ in front of his eyes, the tangled swarmed the kaiju like ants, whittling away at their flesh. killing themselves in the process. ¡°what are you doing!?¡± frederick bellowed at his handlers placed throughout the city. this was explicitly what he want to happen. then he spotted a blue streak of an arrow fly from the top of a distant building and bury itself inside a far-flung location. a familiar location. where they¡¯d hidden one of the handler/tangled pairs. a deep fury began to well up inside him. that arrow belonged to alicia zodiac. alicia zodiac belonged to william oh. william oh had read his plan and ruined it. ¡°my lord,¡± one of his men appeared beside him, shoving a greater healing potion under his nose, but frederick barely noticed it. ¡°please, take the anti-curse before it takes root,¡± the man said. that got his attention. frederick glanced down and began knocking back priceless medicines one after the other to flush his system and make sure no lingering effects stuck with him. his fist clenched tight as he considered going down there and putting william oh out of frederick¡¯s misery, but¡­ he glanced down at his missing finger. part of his kit was missing. his build was cracked. he needed to retreat. bakton and marksman had the speed to take advantage of catching him out in the open without his whole kit. if they were hanging around¡­ frederick¡¯s eye twitched at the indignity of a whelp who wasn¡¯t even halfway to his first class evolution forcing him to retreat. frederick thought, straightening and taking a deep breath. ¡°send word to gather up our acquisitions, we¡¯re leaving.¡± he said, swallowing the rage. experimenting with tangled required rare ingredients in bulk. small improvements were being made every year, and frederick was excited to see what could be done with dimensional oyster. everything else at the auction was just icing on the cake. ¡°umm¡­¡± the servant wrung his hands together nervously, drawing frederick¡¯s attention to him. frederick cocked a brow. ¡°it seems the auction items were stolen the moment the fighting broke out? several of our operatives in the vault room and behind the stage were killed or wounded by¡­traps.¡± the building cracked beneath him as he drove his fist into the worked stone. back at the auction house, mark wyrd¡¯s back was to the wall, his hands up in surrender. the rotwitch¡¯s hand hovered a hair¡¯s breadth from making contact with his neck. ¡°you little shit,¡± she said, her beautiful features twisted in anger. ¡°give me one good reason not to end you right here.¡± mark couldn¡¯t think of one. not a good one anyway. ¡°he¡¯s stephan¡¯s son-in-law.¡± ghoul said, approaching from behind the rotwitch, his hand extended, but not quite going so far as to touch her. ¡°so? this little punk kill a lord. stephan, specifically.¡± ¡°if his son dies, frederick doesn¡¯t have any reason left to keep stephan¡¯s daughter alive. stephan knew that,¡± ghoul said gently. ¡°he wouldn¡¯t want you to kill mark.¡± the rotwitch growled and pulled her hand back. ¡°fine.¡± the emaciated undead watched rotwitch stalk away, her posture radiating anger and frustration. once she was out of earshot, he turned back to mark and spoke. ¡°stephan wanted me to give you something. it was supposed to be after the auction, but i feel as though would be a better time.¡± ghoul produced a wicked-looking dagger and offered it to mark. ¡°he bade me to ask you to protect amanda with it.¡± mark reached down and wrapped his fingers around the wound leather handle. ¡°he said you¡¯d know what to do with it.¡± ghoul said. ¡°i certainly do,¡± mark said. ¡°get outta here before your father wonders why it took you so long.¡± ghoul said, pointing over his shoulder. mark nodded and left, jumping from roof to roof to navigate the chaos. the kaiju were dying not one building from where they had emerged, taking the tangled with them, making the rest easy work for the city guard. the city itself was largely unharmed. he found his father at the backup rally point outside the city, sitting in the center of a bustling camp, peeling his gloves off and removing the false rings from his maimed hand. void and arms stood beside frederick wyrd, guarding the patriarch during this vulnerable moment. mark glanced at void. void studiously looked away. he glanced at arms. arms did the same. ¡°son,¡± frederick said ominously, having missed the exchange, focused as he was on his hand. he began winding into one of his infamous punishment speeches as mark approached. ¡°i don¡¯t suppose you know how william oh knew which-¡° mark wyrd lunged forward and buried the dagger of sublime retribution deep in his father¡¯s lungs. his father¡¯s eyes widened an instant before he exploded into viscera. the weakness of the rod of the pacifist healer was that¡­against another thorns user, the damage reflected back to the user in each cycle would always be far higher than 100%. nearly impossible to outpace. especially not against the dagger and missing a vital piece of kit. ¡°baron akul says ¡®hi¡¯.¡± mark said as the entire camp stopped to stare at the pile of blood that used to be their lord. ¡°oh no, my lord has been slain. what a godsdamned tragedy.¡± void said in monotone. Chapter 82: Bakers United There was an inflection point. Will saw it.A point where panic and desperation on the streets turned to determination and effort. The point where the city of Akul realized they were going to win. As the mercenary companies and kaiju corps cleaned out the last remaining Tangled and attempted to get the kaiju back under control, citizens of Akul stopped running and started pitching in, their eyes clear and stoic. They were all Climbers, after all. These four kaiju had been chosen specifically because they were (relatively) easy to subdue, and the people were taking full advantage of it. The question now was whether the kaiju would survive the night after being brutally savaged by the Tangled. In any case, it was a logistics problem for the city, not something Will needed to involve himself in. They needed to start hiding their loot. More than one person must¡¯ve seen them hauling loot out of the auction house, and it seemed like in the process of saving the city, Will had also preserved law and order. Which meant that, through their own heroic efforts, they had ensured the heist would come back to haunt them. Will considered for a day, before deciding that yes, they had overstayed their welcome on the Fifth Floor and should be moving on. There were certain supplies they needed to go up to the next Floor. Namely an inflatable raft, food, a water de..de¡­ ¡°De-what?¡± Will asked. ¡°Desalinator.¡± Loth said. ¡°That sounds made up.¡± ¡°All words are made up.¡± Loth replied. Will thought with a shrug as another thought loomed over him. They were Tangled, even if only one of them knew it. The city was probably going to be pretty paranoid about people with that Class for quite some time. There were Classes that could tell what other people¡¯s Classes were. The clerk who verified Will¡¯s identity back when he¡¯d completed his Establishing Quest was a prime example. Will¡¯s paranoid mind immediately assumed that the city would invest heavily in I.D. verification over the next few years, which was not ideal for the safety and freedom of the Baker Girls. Jean might, but she saw the whole picture¡­or most of it. Will¡¯s feet turned towards Jean¡¯s Bakery. ¡°You want us to finish preparations?¡± Loth asked, following his gaze toward the opposite side of the city before giving a smirk and shaking her head. ¡°¡­If you don¡¯t mind.¡± Will murmured. ¡°Go check on your bakers.¡± She said, waving a scaled hand. Alicia frowned, glancing between Will and Loth before she leaned down to the kobold¡¯s ear, whispering so low that even Will¡¯s enhanced senses couldn¡¯t pick it up. Will decided it was none of his business and turned towards the west, following the main thoroughfare. ¡°Oh, I never thought of it that way.¡± He heard Alicia¡¯s whisper which was quickly buried by the sound of the busy streets. The bustling street had a harder edge than it¡¯d had the day before. Everyone moved with a purpose, every conversation was focused on survival. Strangely enough, he spotted the Ear Collector donating some of his opiates to surgeons keeping the injured calm and stable until healers could reach them. Will wound his way down to Jean¡¯s Bakery and stepped inside. The doorbell announced his presence, but he didn¡¯t pay any attention to it. The sheer of the bakery was alarming, to say the least. The wooden countertop was shattered, with splinters covering the floor. there was a hole punched through the wall, revealing parts of the back. The solid iron oven was dented. Splatters of blood dotted the walls and floor. The floor was covered in glass and splinters, with cracks and divots in the floor where something or some had hit the ground¡­hard. ¡°Oh, hi Will!¡± Anna said cheerfully as she emerged from the back of the shop, bearing a broom and dustpan. ¡°Are you¡­okay?¡± Will asked, peering past her where Jean was carefully bending the oven back into shape. Bee and Ria were nowhere to be seen. ¡°Oh, sure! Nobody¡¯s hurt or anything. We all just got a little there for a few minutes. You know how girls are sometimes!¡± Even with Will¡¯s staggering lack of experience with girls, that still sounded forced. ¡°What happened¡­exactly?¡± Will asked. Well, you know, the four of us were prepping for the morning rush and all of a sudden we all just got like girls do sometimes¡± ¡°Uh-huh.¡± Will nodded. She heaved a sigh and leaned on her broom. ¡°Honestly, I can¡¯t even remember what we were angry about. Anyway, it was over in a flash, and we all said we were sorry, Jean grew back her ear and Ria and Bee went out to help with the emergency outside.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. She cocked her head. ¡°Although I think Bee might be looting instead of helping.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a decent guess. Can I talk to Jean?¡± ¡°Sure, lemme just clear the glass.¡± Anna said, swiftly clearing a glass-free path to enter the back room with her broom before taking the work outside the counter. ¡°I thought you agreed to stay away from us.¡± Jean said, wiping soot off her hands. Sounds like you got caught up in the signal to go crazy and attack everyone.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting it to be indiscriminate. They had it worse than I did, though. I kept them inside, and they didn¡¯t like it.¡± Jean flicked her fresh ear, which looked out of place on her weathered face. ¡°Have you considered what happens next?¡± Will asked. ¡°Frederick Wyrd failed to take the city, which is good, but they¡¯re not going to forget about Tangle-¡° ¡°Frederick Wyrd is dead.¡± Jean interrupted him. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Yep, he died just a few hours ago. I could feel the last little bits of my Vassal relationship with him unravel suddenly.¡± Mere minutes after Will had last seen him, the Wyrd patriarch was already dead. Will opened his mouth to ask how he¡¯d died, before realizing that Jean likely wouldn¡¯t have any better idea than he did. She¡¯d been in the bakery wrangling crazed Tangled who didn¡¯t even know they were Tangled. ¡°Still. Are you and your girls going to be safe going forward? There¡¯s gonna be a little¡­discontent directed towards them. To put it mildly.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be safe if they think they got them all.¡± Jean said, turning away from Will and putting her hands back on the iron stove, popping out a dent with her fist. ¡°They¡¯re not gonna think that.¡± Will said. ¡°People are going to want to be absolutely this doesn¡¯t happen again.¡± ¡°I ¡± Jean said with a sigh. ¡°You could leave the tower. You wouldn¡¯t have any struggles outside of it.¡± They¡¯d practically be demigods, given their outrageous physical stats. ¡°That¡¯s part of the problem, isn¡¯t it?¡± She asked. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°The girls, they think they¡¯re just a stronger and tougher than normal. It hasn¡¯t sunk in that they¡¯re comparing themselves to level twenty-five and above Climbers. They don¡¯t feel like monsters.¡± ¡°And if you leave The Tower, they will.¡± Jean nodded, her expression severe as she pulled the bend out of the oven¡¯s opening. ¡°¡­Why can¡¯t you tell them?¡± ¡°Because they don¡¯t . You saw Anna. I have seen someone so strongly in denial.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m going to be a Lord on the tenth Floor.¡± Will said. ¡°What happened to making it to the top?¡± Jean asked, glancing up at him. ¡°A waystation.¡± Will said. ¡°Anyway, as I go higher, I¡¯m going to need durable cooks, guardswomen and phantom thieves if I make it that far. Imagine how normal your girls will feel among level 50¡¯s.¡± Jean chuckled before her expression sobered, and she shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t make their decisions for them.¡± ¡°¡­I think you might be able to.¡± Will said. Jean¡¯s brows furrowed. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Will reached out and took her left hand, sliding his thumb up her ring finger, stopping when it came across a lump that was just a little too hard. The Ring of Total Freedom, still hiding itself. The only viable reason she could¡¯ve escaped the 7th Floor. ¡°I think¡­the other girls are just emotions that one person couldn¡¯t process all at once without going mad¡­Brianna.¡± Jean laughed, her face crumpling as tears began to well up in her eyes. ¡°You know Jean is my middle name? After my grandmother.¡± ¡°I thought it might be something like that. She was strong?¡± ¡°Oh yes,¡± Jean nodded. ¡°A force of nature. I thought if anyone could¡­If anyone could survive it¡¯d be her.¡± ¡°¡­You¡¯re going to need to come back together at some point,¡± Will said. ¡°I¡¯d really rather not.¡± She said, looking up at him. ¡°I know, but your ¡®girls¡¯ are weighed down by the pain that you pushed onto them. That pain is frozen in time.¡± Will said. ¡°They won¡¯t get over it until do, and you won¡¯t get better until you reunite your memories with how you feel about them.¡± Wiping her eyes and drawing a shuddering breath, she nodded. ¡°Anna, can you come in here?¡± ¡­ ¡°Anna?¡± The two of them frowned, sharing a glance before they looked up. Outside in the shopfront, Anna stood stock still, staring at a crimson light beaming from the finger of a slender man. Beside him was the Graneshian Bishop. The two locked eyes. In the blink of an eye, a beam of red light caught Jean in the eyes, causing her body to go still. ¡°Oh, Come ¡± Will said. ¡°We were making ¡°You keep dangerous company, Deceiver.¡± The Bishop said, approaching the back. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°You they¡¯re not mydoingright? You people seem to think I¡¯m responsible for a lot of shit that I had nothing to do with.¡± Will asked, backing up. They didn¡¯t haul all their flour in through the front every day. Will¡¯s intention was to draw the bishop forward, distancing him from his backup and putting Jean closer to him, so that she had to cover less distance. The Bishop didn¡¯t take the bait, simply standing behind the bar and watching Will back away. ¡°I know. I know you aren¡¯t even inherently evil. Just an obstacle to the greater good. I don¡¯t want you to die thinking I hate you unreasonably or that I¡¯m blinded by dogma.¡± ¡°Wow, that makes me feel much better.¡± Will heard clattering come from behind him as church operatives entered from the back door, standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the narrow hall, three deep. ¡°I watched every match in the arena.¡± The bishop said, raising his voice. ¡°This team was hand-picked to neutralize every tactic you possess. Now, do you want to do this here and now, or would you be amenable to answering some questions at the church first?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean you¡¯ll live longer if you cooperat-¡° ¡°No, what does ¡®a-men-ibble¡¯, mean?¡± Will asked, moving his Phantom Hand far outside the bounds of the shop. They couldn¡¯t stop a distance shot. ¡°Take him down.¡± Will ducked and released the cannonball at maximum speed from far outside the shopfront, causing it to blast through the stone walls, filling the entire shop with shrapnel and catching the Charm class in the chest, killing him instantly. Or at least, it should¡¯ve. The Charmer flickered a bit, reappearing on the other side of the room, clutching a hand over a piece of shrapnel lodged in his stomach. Judging by how Jean and Anna were starting to recover, the Ability keeping them quiet had been broken. The bishop nearly bowled over at the sudden explosive pressure wave behind him. Will wondered, even as he tried to prevent himself from getting tagged from behind as well. He was¡­mostly successful. He rolled out of the way of a strike, but there wasn¡¯t enough room in the tiny bakery to fully dodge, and he wound up sporting a thin cut along his back that burned like the Abyss. Will thought as he ducked behind Jean, choosing to block the follow-up with something a bit sturdier. The sword of his attacker was held in place by Jean¡¯s shoulder, allowing Will to reach around and steal the guy¡¯s side weapon. Shouting and clanging began to ring from outside as Will dove over a table, scattering bowls and pans as he went. Jean drew a swift breath, like someone who¡¯d been startled awake. She scanned the surroundings, taking in the half dozen operatives watching her cautiously, weighing this new addition to the equation. ¡°Girls, can you come in here, please?¡± Jean asked, her voice wrought iron as she tugged the sword out of her shoulder. The wound sealed itself instantly. Will thought, ducking his head. There was a cry of pain in the distance as Ria bulled her way through the surrounding Granesh operatives, squishing them against or the wall in her rush to enter. ¡°What is it, Jean!? I got this weird feeling I should come back and-¡° ¡°I¡¯m baaaack!¡± Bee cried, entering through the gaping hole in the front with a gilded box full of jewelry over her shoulder. ¡°Oh my gosh, is everyone okay!?¡± Anna asked, seemingly dismayed at the surrounding carnage as she shook off the Charm. Suddenly, the Bishop was the one surrounded. Will could see it on his face. Jean dropped the sword and held out her hands. Ria seemed to listen to something, her gaze distant for an instant before she nodded, striding past the scatted operatives and taking Jean¡¯s hand. A moment later, Ria vanished, leaving behind her clothes and weapons. Jean stood a little straighter, bearing righteous indignation. ¡°Sto-¡° Bee kicked the bishop across the room before she and Anna sprinted up to Jean, taking her hands in their own. Bee and Anna vanished a moment later, their effects dropping to the ground. The righteous indignation on Jean¡¯s face turned to fury. A moment later, she began to split, a flood of over a dozen angry young women stalking towards the people who had attacked her bakery, each one as strong as three of their opponents. The following battle was brutal and swift. Will spent most of his time hiding under the table. When the screaming stopped, he peeked his head out to spot Brianna sitting in the wreckage of her escapist fantasy, tears streaming down her face. Will leapt up and grabbed the largest towel he could find, shaking the debris out of it and draping it over her shoulders. ¡°Feel any better?¡± ¡°Much, much worse.¡± Brianna shuddered, drawing the towel over her bare shoulders. ¡°Oh.¡± Will resolved not to speak again ever. ¡°But¡­myself.¡± Brianna said. ¡°So that¡¯s better. In a way.¡± ¡°We¡­I will come with you.¡± Brianna said, her voice catching as she stood. ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need more time away from myself to heal. It hurts a lot to be right now.¡± She stood in the center of the room and extended her hand. In a matter of seconds, Bee, Ria, and Anna budded off her, forming in place, holding Brianna¡¯s hand as they resolved into fully functioning bodies. Will thought at Brianna¡¯s skin began to wrinkle and liver spot. The four girls shared silent glances full of meaning, each now fully aware of who and what they were. Brianna had accepted it, so now they all knew why they hurt. It was the not knowing that had locked the four of them in the same caricatures of themselves. Now they could heal, and one day, Brianna would be able to be herself more than a few seconds at a time. ¡°Excuse me.¡± A voice came from the ruined shopfront, causing Will¡¯s head to snap up in case there were still church operatives lingering. What Will saw was objectively Lord Bakton and Lord Ghoul, each capable of killing both of them with relative ease, carefully picked their way through the ruined shop as they approached, trying to avoid the larger blood splatters and disembodied limbs. Will wondered, his unspoken question answered nearly instantaneously. ¡°William Oh, we¡¯d like to talk to you about the auction. And other things.¡± Chapter 83: The Tournament’s Real Prize They took him to a private room in the palace and Will was once again surrounded by people he was fairly sure could end him in the blink of an eye. Ghoul, Bakton, and Luis, who had been waiting for the three of them.Luis gestured for them to sit, and Will did so, heart hammering in his chest. ¡°So about the auction -¡± Will said before Luis held up his hand. ¡°We arrested several vassals of Frederick Wyrd that had been subdued by the auction vault¡¯s defenses. Obviously Frederick was the one who stole the auction¡¯s goods.¡± Luis said. Ghoul and Bakton nodded along with amused expressions. ¡°We don¡¯t care about the trinkets so much as we care about the prosperity of this neutral ground,¡± Ghoul clarified. ¡°The advantage it provides us in terms of produce and manpower is not to be understated. And you preserved that.¡± ¡°In any case, Frederick was the perpetrator, and sadly, he died before he could reveal where he hid the stolen goods, so they may be lost to the sands of time forever.¡± Luis said, leaning back in his ornate chair. ¡°¡­Right.¡± Will said. People had his party leaving with some of the loot hoisted over their shoulders, but if the Lord of the city said something loud enough, it would the truth. That was a relief. It was nice to see those kinds of things working out in his favor, but Will wasn¡¯t na?ve enough to believe they would. ¡°So why am I actually here? Will asked. ¡°Baron Akul was the spearhead in the movement to lift up promising young Climbers. We wish to preserve his city, and the traditions he began. They are both the right thing to do, and profitable for us, so it is an easy decision to make,¡± Ghoul said. ¡°To that end¡­Has anyone ever taught you how to fight?¡± Bakton asked. ¡°I fought all the time back in the orphanage.¡± Will said with a frown. ¡°No, I mean training, from an instructor. On to fight.¡± Will didn¡¯t say anything, thinking back. Nothing came to mind. ¡°Let me guess.¡± Bakton said, leaning forward in his chair. ¡°Every fight you¡¯ve ever been in since you became a Climber has been a white-knuckled ride on a wild horse that could throw you any second, constantly bouncing from desperate gambit to desperate gambit that always seem to work out because of your high natural talent.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­fairly accurate.¡± Will said. Not fight, but a lot of them. ¡°In honor of Stephan, I¡¯ll give you lesson. We¡¯ll see what you can do with it.¡± Bakton said. Will thought. ¡°I¡¯d like to give you a lesson on Ability use,¡± Ghoul said. Will glanced over at Luis, wondering what he was going to offer. ¡°I already let you keep you the contents of the auction¡­but I can throw in a boat,¡± The new Baron of Akul said with a chuckle. ¡°Much appreciated,¡± Will said with a nod. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get started.¡± Bakton said, the swordsman rising to his feet. ¡°¡­Now?¡± Will asked. ¡°I¡¯m only in town another day before I¡¯m going back up to my Floor.¡± Bakton said. ¡°So yes. Now.¡± Will hastily stood and followed the swordsman while he walked. The man was lithe, with defined muscles that seemed to anchor into his skeleton under constant tension like a taught bowstring. Will thought, poking his own normal stomach. Sure it was flat, but it didn¡¯t . Will followed Bakton out to a courtyard lined with weapons racks, a circle of sand in the center. ¡°We¡¯ve only got time for one lesson, but it¡¯s going to make a big difference.¡± Bakton said ¡°In order to throw a spotlight on your biggest weaknesses, we¡¯re going to need to establish some ground rules to avoid you compensating with Abilities as you¡¯ve become accustomed to. Wear this.¡± He tossed a metal collar to Will while putting on one of his own. ¡°What is it?¡± Will asked. ¡°It¡¯s a cursed Relic.¡± Bakton said. Will blinked, holding the Relic away from himself. ¡°Just put it on, I haven¡¯t got all day.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± Will asked. ¡°Sets our stats the same and messes with your perception of time.¡± Will put the collar on, stiffening a bit as the cold metal touched his skin. ¡°Piiiick aaa weaaapooon.¡± Bakton said, pointing. ¡°Yoouu sooound weeeird. IIII sooound Weeird!¡± Will gasped. He felt normal, but when he tried to speak or move, it felt like he was moving through honey¡­.albeit less sweet. Will¡¯s senses adjusted, making Bakton sound a bit more normal as he chose a tomahawk. ¡°Interesting choice.¡± Bakton said, taking a tomahawk off the wall as well. ¡°I thought you were a swordsman.¡± Will asked. ¡°At level? Doesn¡¯t make a difference.¡± ¡°Come here and spar with me. The one rule is that you are to use your Abilities. I will not use mine or my left arm. Our weapons are the same, our stats identical, so the only variable is skill. Do you understand?¡± Will nodded. ¡°Then come.¡± What followed next was both humiliating and enlightening. With how slow they moved relative to their perception of time, Will was able to catch every single subtle move the Lord made. Every time Will made a mistake and it was punished was made glaringly obvious by the time dilation. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Every move was calculated to put Will at a disadvantage, buy time, or go for the kill. Not a single action was wasted, and as he was sent reeling to the ground over and over again, Will had plenty of time to analyze what happened before he crashed into the dirt. The first thing Will learned was to widen his stance and catch his balance as quickly as possible between each exchange, or else Bakton would punish him. After Will no longer complacently stayed over-extended, Bakton started adding in strikes to deliberately catch Will off-guard or spin him around, causing him to trip over his own feet and topple onto the ground in slow motion. Will¡¯s footwork gradually improved, perhaps unconsciously matching Bakton¡¯s. When Will no longer fell for overextensions and footwork puzzles as often, Bakton disarmed him repeatedly. When Will began retaining his weapon better, Bakton threw in arm locks and leg swipes interspersed between the chops that have severed his spine or perforated his lungs. When Will started copying some of the more aggressive attacks that Bakton deployed, the swordsman went on to demonstrate the perfect response to them before going back on the offensive. Will felt like he was fighting against a mirror of himself that was guiding him through a foggy landscape¡­that was beginning to clear a bit. At the end of the ¡®lesson¡¯, Will was a shaky mess, his body trembling from exertion. His legs especially felt like they would give out on him. ¡°You did well,¡± The taciturn Lord said, taking off the steel collar and cancelling the effect on both of them. ¡°Not a savant, but a quick study. I hope you¡¯ve learned something that can be useful for you.¡± ¡°I think I have,¡± Will said, nodding. He felt like he was beginning to grasp the interplay of combat one move further ahead than he had when they¡¯d started. Against Bakton, all that ¡®one move ahead¡¯ really let him know was when he¡¯d made a mistake and it was about to be punished, and possibly how. But that was more than he saw when they¡¯d started. And it would likely be more useful against someone who wasn¡¯t Bakton. ¡°Keep practicing. I gave you a seed, but if you don¡¯t water it, it¡¯ll wither before it can grow big enough to sustain itself.¡± Bakton said before leaving. ¡°And if you make it to the ninth floor¡­¡± He called over his shoulder. ¡°let¡¯s spar again. I like a quick study.¡± ¡°I think he likes you,¡± Ghoul said, watching Bakton leave. ¡°He¡¯s never offered a second lesson before.¡± ¡°You think I want to go through this again?¡± Will motioned to his bruised form. ¡°You just improved your battle sense by leaps and bounds in a single lesson. I¡¯m absolutely sure you want to go through it again.¡± Will shrugged sheepishly. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Now for my lessons.¡± Ghoul said, rolling up his sleeves. ¡°Lessons, plural?¡± Will asked. ¡°Yes. I want my lessons to make Baktons look plebian by comparison.¡± Ghoul said, his emaciated skull giving him a death¡¯s head grin. From context, plebian was¡­bad? ¡°Have you ever heard of a ¡®memory key¡¯?¡± Ghoul asked. Will shook his head. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Of course you haven¡¯t.¡± Ghoul said, preening a bit. ¡°Because I invented it.¡± Will¡¯s brows rose. ¡°And if you teach anyone else about it without my permission, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Ghoul said, with the tone of someone speaking absolute truth. ¡°If this technique spreads far and wide, a counter will be developed and it will lose all it¡¯s value. So don¡¯t.¡± Will nodded. ¡°We can sit down for this part,¡± Ghoul said, and they both collapsed into the sand. ¡°A memory key is memories, ranging from a handful to hundreds, strung together end to end.¡± Will cocked his head, not quite understanding. ¡°Crystalize a memory in your mind. As accurately as you can, remember everything, from the feel of the sun on your skin, to the smell, feeling, emotions you were going through.¡± Will tried, picturing Muse on a typical orphanage morning, placing her buns on the rack to cool. ¡°I can tell from your expression that it¡¯s a pleasant memory. Now do you have it crystalized?¡± ¡°I think so?¡± ¡°Now crystalize a deeply unpleasant memory.¡± Will focused on the time he¡¯d gotten a nail through his foot, remembering the pain and panic as it had slowly pulled out of his skin, scraping against bone on the way. ¡°Now connect the two first one, then the next.¡± Will did so. ¡°Now add a pleasant memory to the chain.¡± ¡°Now an unpleasant memory.¡± ¡°And how are these useful to me?¡± Will asked. ¡°Mental manipulation is a brittle thing,¡± Ghoul said. ¡°And one of the few true threats a Lord has to face.¡± ¡°Picture a memory key as¡­saw teeth, or switching between hot and cold on a piece of glass. Whenever you suspect metal manipulation, run the memory key through your mind, as quickly as you can. The fluctuation between the memories will erode or crack forms of manipulation, giving you the opportunity to break through the rest of the way on your own.¡± ¡°It can also serve as an identification code for your true self. Should you ever be launched from your body or be confused about who you are. Which may happen more than you expect.¡± ¡°Practice crystalizing those memories and switching between them until you can do it perfectly, and . Once you¡¯ve got them down, add more ¡®teeth¡¯ to your key. More is better, as long as you make sure to crystalize them perfectly. Tepid, half-remembered memories do no good.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± Will nodded, before cocking his head. ¡°How big is memory key?¡± ¡°For obvious reasons, I¡¯m not going to give you an exact answer, but¡­big.¡± Will nodded. ¡°Alright, keep practicing the memory key, and remember not to speak of it to anyone.¡± Ghoul gave him a warning finger-waggle that reminded him of Gertrude. ¡°For the next and final lesson, I¡¯ll help you refine something you were experimenting with in the tournament final. You¡¯ll actually have to stand for this.¡± Will painfully climbed to his feet. ¡°You were making ripples in the floor to throw your opponent off-balance.¡± Ghoul made a ¡®stomping¡¯ motion. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not sure how I did that.¡± ¡°How does your Ability work?¡± ¡°It helps with traction, mostly.¡± ¡°Does it stiffen water?¡± Will nodded. ¡°It also extends surfaces to provide a better grip.¡± ¡°Show me.¡± S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will walked up the side of the courtyard wall, thin shelves of wall extending outward to support his feet. He really hadn¡¯t measured how far they extended outward, but they supported his whole foot, and they had for a while. Will stepped a little further out, the wall jutting out an extra foot to support him. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re already having ideas and experimenting. Good. Can you walk on air?¡± Will tried, but Aspect of the Immortal Serpent wasn¡¯t having it. ¡°Nope, seems like it has to have substance.¡± Will mused. In response, Ghoul blew a breath of rancid undead air in his face, with all the strength of a Lord, sending Will reeling backwards. ¡°Did that have substance?¡± Ghoul asked. ¡°Point taken.¡± Will coughed. ¡°Does it have to be earth? Because all air has tiny amounts of dust in it. Dust is just tiny particles of stone¡­.among other things. Focus on that.¡± Will tried walking on the dirt in the air. Will felt the slightest resistance before it evaporated. ¡°I felt something, but it shattered pretty much immediately.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll likely have to gain several levels, get an Ability upgrade, and maybe some specialized equipment, but I want you to be aware of it as a possibility.¡± Ghoul said. Will was already thinking about putting something to boost Aspect in his Phantom Hand. the amount of boost should eventually be enough to enable him to walk on air. Still, regaining the ability to fly on command would be¡­very nice. ¡°¡­What¡¯s stopping you from making stilts out of the floor and walking two feet off the ground?¡± Ghoul said after thinking for a moment. Will opened his mouth to reply, before pausing to think about it. He¡¯d never thought of it because he¡¯d never had any to need it, but he could tell Lord Ghoul was getting somewhere with this question. Will tentatively raised his foot before lowering it, taking one step forward. The ground twitched upward, as if reading his intent, before lying back down. ¡°Try again, focus on rising above the rest of it. imagine the ground is lava and you have to stay above it. The wall supports you because you don¡¯t want to fall. Use that sense of consequence.¡± A little children¡¯s rhyme started going through Will¡¯s head. The ground twitched harder under his feet before lying back down, as if sensing that Will wasn¡¯t in danger. Will didn¡¯t feel like he was in danger when he climbed walls. Danger wasn¡¯t a requirement, it was that sense of consequence that allowed him to get a feel for how the Ability worked. In a matter of minutes, Will was walking across the floor, each step met by a two-foot pillar of solid sand. ¡°Okay, now raise up a pillar and drop it ¡± Ghoul said. Will raised his foot, the floor drawing up with it, before stomping it back down. Ripples traveled outward through the solid surface of the floor, pushing several feet out in every direction. ¡°A fast study, like Bakton said,¡± Ghoul said, nodding. ¡°Now¡­¡± Ghoul said. ¡°Can you make the ripples stronger in one direction? Can you make spikes come out of the ground?¡± ¡°Why would I be able to do that? My ability doesn¡¯t-¡° ¡°Does it say anything about making the ground ripple like water?¡± ¡°¡­No it does not.¡± Will admitted. ¡°Get to it.¡± Chapter 84: Spoils of War ¡°This¡­this is more than we¡¯ll ever need.¡± Travis said, his gaze crossing the pile of loot in the center of Bee¡¯s abandoned warehouse. Rare sacrifices, weapons, and jewelry was piled up in the center of the room with casual disdain for their value. Of course none of it was weak enough to be damaged by the rough treatment, but it still felt weird.¡°More than we¡¯ll ever need? No. Not even close. More than we can use? Definitely.¡± Thea Oilton said. Their Decoy¡¯s socialite older sister crossed her arms over her chest, chewing her lip as she studied the pile. ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± Will asked. ¡°After one reaches a certain amount of wealth they simply cannot utilize the money directly. A man only has one mouth to feed, two slots for rings, etc.¡± She gestured to a case full of rings haphazardly laying on its side. ¡°Obviously even if your whole party were to don those rings, there would still be half remaining. And that¡¯s not including the ones you already have on, which would need to find new homes.¡± ¡°I understand the concept behind it being more than we can use, but why is it not more than we need?¡± Will asked. ¡°Because Strongholds burn through money, personnel and Relics like lamp oil.¡± Thea said. ¡°You¡¯ve got enough wealth here to hire the people you¡¯ll need to start one. You¡¯ve even got specialty Sacrifices that you could use to give some Aspirants custom classes for your Stronghold¡¯s benefit.¡± Thea must¡¯ve seen the disgust on Will¡¯s face. ¡°Despite what you might think, providing Aspirants with custom classes is an excellent deal for all parties involved, provided the Lord isn¡¯t a monster like Frederick. Typically these people provide so much value to the Stronghold that a Lord is incentivized to treat them very well. The Wyrd Stronghold is the exception to the rule.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will wasn¡¯t fooling himself into thinking they had the same starting point he did. With that in mind, the idea wasn¡¯t as awful as he¡¯d thought. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± Will mused. ¡°Long way to go until I hit the tenth Floor and become a Lord anyway.¡± ¡°And set up a Stronghold.¡± Thea added. ¡°Is¡­that a requirement?¡± Will asked. Thea blinked at him. ¡°Did they not teach you to become a Lord?¡± ¡°¡­what, at my bargain bin orphanage? No they did not.¡± ¡°Okay. To become a Lord, you have to meet these requirements.¡± She said, ticking her fingers. ¡°You have to be ¡®in control¡¯ of a large settlement, a Stronghold, not claimed by another Lord, that is capable of housing several hundred people. You then have to have at least a dozen Climbers swear to be your Vassals. After that, The Tower takes over, and you become a Lord. ?¨¢????? ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Will asked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem that hard.¡± Then his brain caught up with his mouth. If older Lords targeted your settlement to promote their own children up to Lords, like Frederick Wyrd had done in Oilton, then holding on to a settlement could be¡­difficult. Not to mention ¨C ¡°Climbing and creating a settlement are two completely different skillsets. As is defending it from monsters, and fending off other Climbers who might be interested in profiting off all your hard work. More than a few Lords got their start as claim-jumpers. Most of them aren¡¯t around anymore because that mentality isn¡¯t good for long-term sustainability, but it illustrates how many potential Lords failed at the finish line because of human greed.¡± ¡°I get it,¡± Will said, nodding. He and Thea glanced back to his Party, who were digging through the pile, inspecting items and putting them in piles to be discarded or investigated more thoroughly. Reggie was sitting off to the side, working with a clamp, mallet and a very long-handled chisel, carefully popping open the dimensional pearls. Reggie had volunteered to do it, despite having ham-hands, because he was the least likely person to lose a finger or die if a pearl turned out to encase a greatsword pointed directly towards his heart when it regained its full size. Thankfully there hadn¡¯t been any accidents yet. With a semi-sonic pop of displaced air, a roll of toilet paper coated in waterproof oilcloth appeared in the clamp as the dimensional effect of the pearl cracked. Reggie let out a sigh of relief and glanced up, seeing Will watching him. The blonde Tank gave him a grin and threw the roll at him. Will held it up and allowed The Tower to decipher the item¡¯s magical qualities, if it had any. ¡°Not bad,¡± Will mused, tossing it back. Sure, it wasn¡¯t a powerful weapon or ring, but it was handy. Like the endless back of salt. Something Will regretted missing out on every now and then. ¡°Oooh,¡± Alicia whispered, pulling a necklace out of the pile. It was an eye suspended within a gold and glass spherical cage. An actual eye, seemingly cut from some malevolent humanoid that spun around in the gold cage, looking at each of them with the deliberation of someone or something marking its prey. ¡°Witch¡¯s Eye.¡± Alicia whispered, hesitating for a moment as she touched her safety blanket, the Amulet of Heart¡¯s Desire resting on her chest. A moment later, the Artillery took a deep breath and took off her old amulet before putting on the new one. Upon settling over Alicia¡¯s neck, the Witch¡¯s Eye began glowing flame-blue like Alicia¡¯s eyes, it¡¯s gaze following hers, giving the casual observer the unsettling impression that Alicia had acquired a third eye. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Will thought. The addition of the Saint sacrifice meant that she might manifest healing secondary Abilities when she hit level 30, and her sight Ability had been expanded to see vulnerabilities in any living thing. She was changing from an artillery specialist to something a bit more¡­targeted. Probably in an effort to differentiate herself from Mason. Will thought, turning back to the pile. The amulet of the Homefield Advantage was great, but it was entirely it¡¯s own thing. It didn¡¯t have any stat bonuses, nor did it directly boost or synergize with any of his gear or Abilities, save for the Aspect footing bonus. And his pants raised strength and speed, but not much more than that. He found room next to Loth, who was sorting through different Relics, musing to herself as she discarded one after another. ¡°What¡¯s that one you go there?¡± Will asked, pointing at the ornate cuirass she had set down beside her in her ¡®keep¡¯ pile. ¡°Cuirass of the Cruel Tyrant,¡± She said, inspecting a ring. ¡°It allows me to shift damage from myself to my minions. I¡¯m going to experiment with whether or not damage redirected by it counts as coming from ¡®me¡¯ or ¡®my opponent¡¯, which will dictate what kinds of Relics will synergize. My current torso piece has no synergy with my Build at all and is simply for protection.¡± ¡°Do you have any minions tough enough to make that worthwhile?¡± Will asked. It seemed like a bug simply couldn¡¯t absorb much damage without dying, and the rest of the damage would overflow back on the kobold saboteur. ¡°Initial experiments are promising.¡± She said, holding out her hand. A black beetle with a mottled pebbly black exoskeleton that seemed to blend in with Loth¡¯s own fire-damaged scales emerged from her sleeve, waggling long antennae at him before skuttling back into her clothes. ¡°What about the Miasma bug?¡± Will asked. A few weeks ago, they¡¯d bought a knife that summoned maksu skeleton undead ¡®on kill¡¯, binding them to the wielder¡¯s control. Of course ¡®on kill¡¯ only included anything with enough Miasma build-up in its system to qualify as a monster or a Climber. Something with enough magic in it to fuel the effect. Loth was attempting to breed a species of insects that contained enough miasma to trigger ¡®on kill¡¯ effects while still being docile, because those could be wildly valuable to her Build. ¡°Less successful. When the Miasma begins to collect in their system they tend to become unruly and slip out of my control. I¡¯m experimenting with a way for them to contain Miasma without it interacting with their bodies, but¡­it¡¯s only been a month, Will.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Will said, sitting down beside his second-in-command. Starting his search with pants, Will pulled out a slick pair of black pants with a white stripe down each leg out of the pile. ¡°Found something for you,¡± Will said, tossing it to Travis, who inspected it critically for a moment before groaning. ¡°Damnit,¡± Travis sighed, shoving the pants into his ¡®keep¡¯ pile. ¡°But only because it¡¯s technically better than what I¡¯ve got right now.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve still got the boots of outflanking,¡± Will said. ¡°Those pants could trigger it on command, instead of once every half-hour.¡± ¡°It occurred to me,¡± Travis said. ¡°But is it worth being ¡®the fart guy¡¯ for the rest of my Climbing career?¡± Will shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll use it, but only in emergencies,¡± Travis said, pointing his finger at Will. ¡°What is he talking about?¡± Alicia asked, looking up from her new glowing blue amulet, the eye resting on her collarbone following her gaze. ¡°Travis¡¯s new pants make him fart,¡± June said without looking up. ¡°Oh.¡± Alicia nodded, returning to her sorting. ¡°That¡¯s not¡­whatever,¡± Travis ignored the heckling, realizing that fighting it would simply make them tease him even more mercilessly. Will dropped it and went back to sorting through pants. He went through half a dozen before he found one that made him pause. Without any shame, Will whipped his pants off in front of his whole Party before putting the new pants on. They had less Strength boost than his previous pants, but the Ranger Archetype boost was extremely tempting, and the thirty-five percent faster and beyond the user¡¯s control? Will had to see what that was about. Once the pants were on, Will moved away from the others and raised his foot, recalling his practice with Ghoul, who some might call the undisputed master of making Abilities perform outside their specifications. Will lifted a foot, urging the floor to raise with it. Then he nearly toppled over as the floor continued to raise under his foot, higher and faster than he¡¯d ever made it go, and without Will¡¯s permission, nearly catapulting him into the pile of treasure. ¡°ACK!¡± Will took his foot off the pillar of stone and regained his footing as it begrudgingly sank pack into the earth, much slower than it usually did. Typically when he took his foot off, it went back down, nearly instantly. With these pants? Not so much. Will tried again, lifting his foot, but taking it away before he reached the full height. The pillar of stone kept rising rapidly for a couple heartbeats, as if it still thought he was there, before it eventually reversed direction and sank back into the ground. The pants gave his Aspect ground manipulation a¡­slide-y feeling. Will raised his foot as quickly as he could then grunted with exertion as he pushed back down. Not with the intention of creating ripples, but the intention to jump off the rapidly ascending pillar, adding its momentum to his own. ¡°WHOO!¡± Will shouted as he soared into the air a moment before his head struck the ceiling of the warehouse and he tumbled back down to the stone several stories below. When Will pulled his head back up, spitting out blood and the dirt of the warehouse floor, he couldn¡¯t stop chuckling evilly. His Party ignored him, for the most part. Will had more applications to test. He tried some of the other techniques he¡¯d begun inventing under the supervision of Ghoul. Will dragged his foot along the floor, a lump of ground following beneath it. He whipped his foot forward, got it going fast and then set his foot down on the lump. The swell of earth continued going forward, dragging Will¡¯s foot along with it, and forcing him to do the splits before it seized his foot and violently dragged him forward for half a body length. ¡°AGH! OW! HAHAHAH!¡± despite the pain of having his legs wrenched apart and knees battered on unforgiving stone, Will was enormously pleased with the pants. Next, Will didn¡¯t set his foot down on the lump, instead letting it travel forward, causing Loth to wobble in place, rising up and down like a buoy. Loth gave him a look. Properly chastised, Will took his experimenting further from the group. After several minutes, Will figured out that the ripples moved faster, and significantly further while wearing the pants. Aspect of the Goat¡¯s original abilities scaled with Resistance, and they were a Ranger Archetype ability, so it made sense that this pair of pants boosted it¡¯s power drastically, but the way the effect persisted a little bit longer opened up many new options. Will thought, lifting his foot up then shoving it back down with a grunt. He hadn¡¯t figured out how to make an earth spike before Ghoul had to leave, but he had managed to make one side of the ripple crest higher than the other, about the height of someone¡¯s ankle, enough to trip them or maybe make them stumble, but nothing super impressive. With the pants on¡­the semicircle of ground that shot away from his foot rose up to knee-height, shooting out nearly twenty feet before it vanished back into the ground. That was a upgrade. It wasn¡¯t going to kill anything by itself, but it could disrupt his opponent¡¯s footing, maybe even break a leg, and any Ability that didn¡¯t cost any Charge should be polished. Maybe one day he could get it to make spikes from the earth¡­for free. In the common parlance¡­a cantrip. Like the way Mason could summon fire to his fingertips to light fires or intimidate people by triggering Conflagrate. ¡°Okay. The pants are in,¡± Will mused to himself, attempting to glide across the floor and tumbling to the ground. Will could tell there had to be a way to use the moving lumps as a movement technique, but he wasn¡¯t sure how¡­ ¡°Try riding the wave with one foot and then the other, like skating.¡± Thea suggested from where she¡¯d been watching his experiments with the new functionality of Aspect of the Immortal Serpent. ¡°Bold of you to assume I know what ¡®skating¡¯ is.¡± Will said, glancing up at her. Chapter 85: Spoils of War Pt. 2 ¡°Punth me in the fathe.¡± Reggie said around the mouthguard.¡°I believe you.¡± Will said, holding his hands up. ¡°Just because it says it reduces damage to your nervous system doesn¡¯t mean there won¡¯t be any. I¡¯m not gonna give you brain damage to test it.¡± ¡°Aw heck, I¡¯ll do it,¡± Bee said, stepping forward and winding up a tiny fist. ¡°Wait, Bee-¡° There was a small explosive sound as the shapeshifter¡¯s fist hit the Tank¡¯s jaw at superhuman speeds, sending the oversized young man bouncing away like a child¡¯s soccer ball. Will winced in sympathy as Reggie finally hit the ground, limbs tangled and dirty. A moment later, Reggie coughed and groaned, putting his arms and legs under him before staggering to his feet. ¡°WHOOO!¡± Reggie exclaimed, while Loth sighed and shook her head. ¡°Your jaw, skull, brain and spine are unharmed.¡± Alicia whispered, holding up Reggie¡¯s arm like the victor of a particularly nasty street fight. ¡°The rest of you¡­¡± ¡°Wait, I didn¡¯t get my hips in it, lemme try agai-¡° Bee began. ¡°Absolutely not,¡± Jean said, dragging her repressed anger away by the ear. ¡®Jean¡¯ was complicated. They had originally met her on the third floor under the name ¡®Brianna¡¯, where she had been the victim of a plot to engineer living weapons. The abuse she had suffered at the hands of her captors had led her to use her Ability to split to break her emotions off into manageable chunks, which led to the creation of Bee, Ria, Anna, and Jean. Bee had gotten a little less outburst-y now that she knew she was mad about, but she was still a bit of a wild card. Ria had gotten quieter and less brash, seemingly still in the process of absorbing the root of her burning desire for justice, and the fact that she would never have it. Even now she sat in the corner of the warehouse, sharpening her halberd and staring into space. Anna was active, the chubby blonde cheerfully cooking and baking for the group, putting on a fa?ade and keeping herself busy so she didn¡¯t have an opportunity to think about things too deeply. Each of them were working through feelings that had been cut out of Brianna by her tougher, older alter ego Jean, feelings that would cripple a normal person¡¯s mind. And they were now a part of William Oh¡¯s Party. From Will¡¯s understanding, their stats were identical: The Tangled, the brainchild of a mad Lord obsessed with power, was designed to be the perfect footsoldier. Strong, hardy, and cheap. Strong, because she had 5 Strength growth, which was outrageous. Hardy, because her Resistance was equal to a Tanks, and any damage she sustain was healed in a matter of heartbeats. All at the expense of Focus and Acuity. Any Focus in her status was purchased with Free Points as she had no natural growth for the stat. From what Will had heard of her time spent on the seventh Floor, she¡¯d been directed to only put seven points into Focus to achieve daily charges, and all the rest went into Resistance. The last three points into Focus had been after she escaped, determined to ward off the Handler¡¯s control. ?¦Á??B¨ºS? Finally, Tangled were cheap because they could copy themselves infinitely, and each copy gained the benefits of the original body¡¯s Relic slots, making them insanely inexpensive to deploy en masse relative to a typical army. Will knew they shared Relic effects because Jean had been wearing the ring of Total Freedom, but Bee had been impossible to grapple or restrain when Will fought her, above and beyond what her shapeshifting could account for. And all of them had more resistance to mental effects than their base stats would account for, allowing them to avoid the worst of the Handlers signal for Tangled to begin attacking the city. Again, because of the Ring of Freedom. And from what Will had seen in Oilton, each of them could split an extra copy of themselves up to three times a day. And those copies could do the same. There were many caveats to this, but worst case scenario, Jean could spread across the land like wildfire, exterminating all life in The Tower, if she really put her mind to it. Thankfully she did not. But she could. Will did not bring this up in casual conversation. Especially not where Bee might hear him. Tangled were cataclysms in the making. They were nearly as powerful as a Lord, save for their built-in weakness to mental attacks. They were strong, tough, easy to transport and deploy in large numbers, and¡­ Will thought, eyes widening. Will¡¯s entire experience Climbing flashed in front of his eyes. Will glanced over at Loth, whose insects could construct fortifications and traps in a matter of minutes. If they could produce those, surely they could make houses as well. Enough to make a ¡®settlement¡¯, anyway. Get a few hundred tangled copies ¡®living¡¯ there¡­could he fool The Tower? This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Even if that were the case, he still needed a dozen people willing to make him their Lord. Will glanced around his Party. Mason and Loth had their own plans for the future, and likely wouldn¡¯t be interested. Alicia might, given that she couldn¡¯t become a Lord. June might become his vassal if she smelled a big paycheck. Reggie just wanted to wait out his Contract and be done with it¡­although his attitude towards climbing had relaxed somewhat. Still, it couldn¡¯t be fun being the surrogate risk-taker of the group. Steve their Healer liaison, might swear fealty. Travis¡­Travis probably wouldn¡¯t be interested in being the vassal of someone he perceived as being lower-born than himself. Still, in a vacuum, if Will could convince Alicia to become his Vassal, Travis might follow suit. Jean had been Frederick Wyrd¡¯s Vassal, giving him an extra measure of control over her until his death. She couldn¡¯t be a Lord in her own right anymore, but would she be interested in subordinating herself to anyone ever again? Unlikely. Will glanced back at the pile of expensive loot. Thea was right. He needed bribes and expensive Relics to lubricate the attitudes of other Climbers toward throwing their lot in with an untested boy as a Lord. It wasn¡¯t like he could just get so famous that people would pop up out of the woodwork eager to¡­ Will was an urban legend, winner of the yearly tournament and savior of the city. They were building a statue of him on the islet in the center of the city. ¡°Jean.¡± Loth said, holding out an amulet. It seemed to be made of burnished steel depicting some kind of spiked collar. ¡°This one¡¯s for you.¡± Jean took the amulet and studied it. ¡°Amulet of the potent beastmaster?¡± Jean mused. Will thought, brows raising as Jean listed off the item¡¯s effects. That extra ten percent didn¡¯t do anything for Loth. An insect that was ten percent stronger didn¡¯t make any noticeable difference, but Jean¡¯s clones, whose Strength was 160? An extra 16 points of strength, fifteen of Resistance. That was substantial. It also raised Focus, protecting Jean and the others from mind control. Assuming Jean¡¯s girls counted as ¡®minions¡¯. Jean draped the Relic over her neck. ¡°So how do we know if-¡° Jean began. They glanced over at where Ria had accidentally driven the whetstone too hard against the edge of her halberd, causing the blade to crack and tear. Ria calmly set the broken Halberd down and stepped away from it. ¡°I¡¯m going to go lay down for a minute.¡± The athletic brunette murmured, walking away stiffly. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll go talk to her,¡± Jean said, following after Ria. ¡°Hey guys, I accidentally broke your mixing bowl?¡± Anna said, her head popping out from the makeshift kitchen she¡¯d been operating from. ¡°It works.¡± Will muttered. ¡°We need to get her more mage gear, specifically Summoner and Tamer Archetypes.¡± Loth mused, watching Jean go. ¡°To balance out and synergize with her Build. Can I see the ring box?¡± Mason wordlessly handed over a little jewelry box filled to the brim with rings of every shape and size before returning his attention to the Dimensional Oyster Sacrifice in his hand. ¡°If the girls count as ¡®minions¡¯, wouldn¡¯t the Cuirass of the Cruel Tyrant make Jean essentially unkillable?¡± Will asked, pointing at the ornate cuirass in Loth¡¯s pile. Jean herself and each of her offshoots was an incredibly hardy physical specimen, only outclassed by Reggie with the application of Class-specific Abilities meant to absorb and redirect damage. ¡°Yes, but I saw it first,¡± Loth said with a toothy grin. She glanced at where the Tangled had disappeared. ¡°Also, do you think it¡¯s wise to make her unkillable?¡± Will thought. Not that he planned on killing her¡­but who knew what the future held? Will turned his attention to where Mason was contemplating the Dimensional Oyster. ¡°What¡¯s the hold up?¡± Will asked. A bit insensitive, but Mason had been staring at his collection of Rings and Sacrifices for a half hour and Will was getting impatient. ¡°This is the single most critical decision I will ever make regarding my build:¡± he said. ¡°How I integrate my shields into my style. I felt like my mind was opened when I saw Nephir combine Conflagrate with Feedback Shielding. I always thought of them as two separate abilities. Attack and defense, each handling their own role and not intruding on each other. But that was rigid thinking.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± ¡°The dimensional oyster won¡¯t allow me to control my shields.¡± Mason said. ¡°It won¡¯t add any flexibility to my Build. It doesn¡¯t merge the two into a unique style. All it does is make the shields have nacre buildup.¡± ¡°Nephir¡¯s Relics didn¡¯t help?¡± Will asked. ¡°This one makes Nuker Abilities linger until they deal all their damage to an opponent, and this one makes shields selectively permeable,¡± Mason said, holding up two rings. ¡°The ability to shape his shields was from a Sacrifice, which we simply do not have here.¡± ¡°That is a problem¡­but who says you have to copy Nephir? I beat his ass.¡± Mason shrugged. ¡°You did, but his Build isn¡¯t finished yet.¡± ¡°Neither is mine,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°Neither is yours.¡± ¡°I only have two upgrade slots left for Feedback shielding. After this it will be one. If I don¡¯t find a way to integrate my two primary Abilities, Lordship will be out of reach.¡± ¡°Okay, then don¡¯t Sacrifice the dimensional oyster. ¡°But it¡¯s such a powerful effect!¡± Mason protested. ¡°Okay, then, Sacrifice it.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°But I could be locking myself out of an amazing Build like Nephir¡¯s!¡± Mason said, his voice growing more plaintive. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not sure what you want me to say here.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°What¡¯s the dimensional oyster do for you?¡± Mason rattled off the changes Feedback Shielding would go through if he were to feed it the dimensional oyster. ¡°What does that even mean?¡± Will asked, frowning. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not sure.¡± Mason said. ¡°Is¡­¡¯permeated tissues¡¯ a good thing?¡± Will asked. ¡°Probably?¡± Mason said, shrugging. ¡°Ability upgrades are rarely harmful, and those that are, are usually explicit about it.¡± Will scratched his head, contemplating. ¡°Well Mason, the way I see it, every person who became a Lord did so because they were the first one to master a specific Build. They didn¡¯t they were going to become a Lord. Once they become rich and powerful, people start developing countermeasures to their Build, and they spend their entire career as Lords barely keeping ahead of those countermeasures. The window to follow Baron Akul just isn¡¯t open anymore because people know how to dismantle copycats with less raw power.¡± ¡°If you wanna be a Lord, you¡¯ve gotta do something scary: strike out on an unexplored path with no guarantees.¡± Will said, looking their Nuker in the eye. Mason took a deep breath and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. Copying Baron Akul is a losing game. Let¡¯s see what does.¡± In a flash of light, the dimensional oyster sacrifice was gone. ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me¡­¡± Mason said, standing. ¡°I need to go exploit this.¡± Mason turned towards their Tank and waved, catching Reggie¡¯s attention. ¡°Reggie, I need you to punch me!¡± Loth cleared her throat, drawing Mason¡¯s gaze to herself. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°If you truly wish to your new Ability Upgrade, then you will need a higher rate of shield-breaking than two young men punching each other a few dozen times. There is no room for wasted time and effort.¡± She rested a black-scaled hand on her barrel, which began to ooze biting insects like morning dew. ¡°You will need to break your shield tens, or even hundreds of thousands of times. Building up nacre takes but I think we can accelerate the process.¡± ¡°Ummm.¡± Mason Gulped audibly. ¡°Do you want to try?¡± She asked, eyes locked on the Nuker¡¯s. ¡°¡­I want to be the best. So yes. I want to try.¡± Mason said, swallowing his discomfort at the idea of being swarmed by biting insects. ¡°Wear these rings.¡± She said, handing Mason some Thorns rings. ¡°Reggie, we¡¯ll need your assistance.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Reggie said, trotting over and spitting out his new ¡®helmet.¡¯ A white mouthguard one might see in a sport where lost teeth were a common occurrence. As Loth proceeded to set up a near-infinite shield-breaking loop with Mason, Will turned his attention to where Alicia sat. She pulled a conical hat out of the pile, wide-rimmed, midnight blue with gold embroidery. ¡°Oooh,¡± she said, putting it on her head. A moment later she turned to Will, her expression excited. ¡°Do you still have the Ring of Curse Concentration?¡± She whispered. Will nodded, handing it over to her. ¡°Thank you.¡± she whispered, slipping the Relic onto her finger. Will thought he saw her blue-flame eyes flicker just a bit as it settled around her finger. She tapped the glowing blue eye nestled against her chest, staring through Will. ¡°I need to test this soft-set on something we don¡¯t mind dying.¡± Alicia whispered. Will¡¯s brows rose. Chapter 86: 6th Floor When all was said and done, Will had picked out three more Relics to add to his Build. +8 Acuity +8 Resistance It was a pitted and worn shortsword that didn¡¯t have any special Affixes, but it had strong stat boosts for both of his most important stats, so Will kept it. This one was interesting because when he¡¯d had Reggie punch it, he could feel a large portion of the strike going down into the floor through Aspect of the Immortal Serpent. Somehow it was synergizing with that Ability to deflect more damage than it should¡¯ve, so Will kept it, despite already having an offhand weapon. He could rotate the Wand of the Trespasser out when he decided to engage in direct combat. And lastly, the Assassin¡¯s Amulet. The single best boost to his attack power that he¡¯d found. Well, Reggie found it popping open one of the pearls, but still. Will wanted to sacrifice it to the Phantom Hand, but there were a few things stopping him from doing it right away: #1: The empty finger was still regrowing. #2 He was more in the market for a powerful defensive item like the Turtle Shield. #3 It filled a very similar role that the Sparkfists did, increasing damage and speed. Finally, Will was considering what sort of item he wanted to use as a seed for upgrading if he finally figured out how to use Sourdough to bake extra affixes into Relics. ?¦ÁN¨®????¨º? The Assassin¡¯s Amulet was good, and if he made it better, it would become priceless. So, Will decided to keep it as just an external amulet for now, storing it in his Dimensional Storage so he could either don or Sacrifice it at a moment¡¯s notice. Will flipped through the list of Kit everyone had added to their Build from the heist. He had to actually write down what everyone had changed in shorthand in order to keep track of it all. Their Builds were starting to mature and branch out in interesting directions, and things were starting to get complex, managing a group of eight people and three emotional outbursts. Will hadn¡¯t personally witnessed all of the item¡¯s effects, writing down a brief description from each of his Party members for the things he hadn¡¯t seen in action or didn¡¯t have obvious effects. The ¡®weird coin¡¯ was a gold coin that had been affected by the dimensional oyster¡¯s nacre and could only land on its edge no matter how it was flipped. Will just liked it, imagining himself using it to win a bet or a do a party trick. After they finished sorting through the last of the treasure, Will left it in the hands of Thea Oilton, with instructions to fence the hot items through The Ear Collector while the rest went towards hiring support crew interested in following William Oh up The Tower. For Will¡¯s Party, it was finally time to move on. In the distance, a kaiju curled around the beam of Miasma being pumped up to the sixth Floor, absorbing as much of it as possible. The creature was vaguely humanoid, its flesh seemingly flaking away as if it couldn¡¯t quite contain the powerful blue energy burning through it. ¡°Alright, everybody gets a shot off, then Alicia can test out her new Build.¡± Jean said. Since they were all on the same party, they would all be offered Doors to the next floor, but nothing was ever certain. It was best to make sure everyone got a hit in. They snuck up close enough for Reggie to throw a rock at the thing¡¯s ankle. Once it bounced off, everyone else assaulted it with their best ranged attack. The Bakers threw their own rocks, hissing through the air with outrageous energy while June shot a magic arrow and Mason hit the creature with a conflagrate. Loth tossed off a bullet wasp, and Will released a sling bullet from his hand, burying it deep in the monster¡¯s ankle. The kaiju boss reared up, blearily blinking its eyes, scanning the horizon before looking down at the antlike beings nipping away at its ankles. It gave a furious bellow and grabbed a nearby hilltop, a house-sized boulder coming away under its grip. ¡°Anytime, Alicia,¡± June said, watching the boulder raise above their heads. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The wide brimmed hat Alicia wore shaded her face, making her Blue-flame eyes glow all the more brilliantly in contrast. For an instant, that glow was magnified a hundredfold as a flash of light from her eyes lit her face and the underside of her hat brighter than the sun. The giant gave them a confused look, the boulder slipping out of its hands and falling twenty feet away from where they stood. The giant¡¯s nose and eyes began to weep blood shortly before it slumped over and died, with that confused expression lingering on its face. ¡­ ¡°¡­What just happened?¡± Reggie asked. ¡°I gave it a brain aneurysm.¡± Alicia whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he didn¡¯t even feel it. There aren¡¯t any pain receptors there.¡± ¡°So you just¡­make things die?¡± Mason asked. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a sight-based curse of the Evil Eye,¡± Alicia whispered, tapping her eyeball amulet, ¡°Plus two curse-boosting items,¡± She tapped her hat and ring. ¡°And because you can see their weak spots¡­¡± Will filled in the blanks by himself. ¡°Yes, typically you can only curse a whole person, but my eyes allow me to scale it down to just their cerebral arteries, which makes the effect much more concentrated. Add in the Witch¡¯s Hat and the Ring of Curse Concentration¡­they go to sleep and never wake up.¡± She whispered. ¡°That¡­sounds cool¡­¡± Travis said, visibly pale. Will mused to himself. ¡°Be very selective about what you use that on,¡± Will said. ¡°If you used it on Mark Wyrd, likely be the one to fall asleep and never wake up.¡± Loth said, picking up his train of thought. ¡°And magic Archetypes might be able to resist or counter.¡± Will added, nodding. ¡°It¡¯s okay, there are plenty of nonlethal places to cause organ failure, like eyes, kneecaps, colons, genitals.¡± As she said that, Alicia glanced at Reggie and gave him a shy smile, her face eerily lit by her glowing eyes. Will could tell that Reggie to flinch, but a career of taking damage for other people made him more difficult to rattle. Loth gestured at June. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s a badass Ability, and we¡¯ll likely see some good use out of it. In the meantime, let¡¯s get ready for the next Floor. Check the giant for Loot, and everybody get your floaties on.¡± June said, leading the way by taking her floatation belt out of her backpack and beginning to inflate it. Sure they were all superhumanly strong, but they were also wearing full kit, and strength only helped swimming to a certain extent. Reggie in his full plate, didn¡¯t stand a chance, no matter how strong he was. So they wore floaties. Everyone except for Will. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Once they were sure the giant didn¡¯t have any loot, and everyone¡¯s floaties were inflated, June turned to Will. ¡°You¡¯ve got the raft?¡± She asked. Despite knowing it was in his backpack, Will knelt down and confirmed that it was there, making absolutely sure it hadn¡¯t snuck out in the last few minutes before answering her question. Naturally they couldn¡¯t carry a whole boat through the Door, but people had been shipping wood through the doors, along with Druid Archetypes for generations. There were boats on the 6th Floor already. Even a floating city called The Flotilla, with druid-maintained forests on the top of the ships specifically to support ship-production. They just needed a simple inflatable raft to carry them long enough to catch the attention of the locals, or make their own boat. Once all of them were outfitted with floaties, with Reggie¡¯s making him almost too wide to fit through the Door, the eleven of them braced themselves and walked through their Doors as one. Will was proud to note that he only felt the slightest tremor of anxiety as he stepped through to the next Floor. The ground underneath him gained the slightly gelatinous, wobbly feel that water got when it interacted with Aspect of the Immortal Serpent. And it held him up. Will scanned the horizon, marveling at the endlessly shifting hills made entirely of water. The sun was directly overhead, and Will was gently swaying up and down as the ocean rolled under his feet, making ripples around the large hemisphere of water locked in place under his feet by Aspect. In every direction, more water. Loth was riding her barrel, supported by thousands of flying insects. Despite knowing they could carry it, she had still wrapped an inflated floatie snug around the oversized barrel. Just to be safe. Everyone else¡­ they got a bit wet. Will pulled the raft out and began blowing it up, Reggie grabbing on for dear life as his buoyancy was barely enough to support him. ¡°In retrospect,¡± Will said between breaths. ¡°We should¡¯ve¡­ Just taken his armor off¡­and made it float¡­separately.¡± Even if they were attacked, he wouldn¡¯t be of any use in that armor. Will chalked it up to a lack of experience on their part. In a matter of minutes, everyone was safely inside the raft, sopping wet and shivering. ¡°Everyone hold on.¡± Loth murmured, moments before the inflatable raft began to rise above the water. Jean¡¯s group squawked with various levels of alarm, but the rest of them who¡¯d experienced Loth¡¯s makeshift flying raft on the 4th floor simply held on silently as they rose into the air, carried by thousands of insects, each capable of carrying five pounds due to her Ring of the Caravan Leader. ¡°I¡¯ve taken us above the water¡¯s surface for safety,¡± Loth said, peering out into the distance. ¡°¡­And to get a better view.¡± They floated high above the water¡¯s surface, allowing their sight to stretch for miles in every direction. Bee on the other hand, was looking straight down. ¡°What is ?¡± Bee asked, pointed down at the water. ¡°What?¡± Will looked down at the water, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Alicia looked over the side, her eyes widening. She grabbed Will¡¯s hand and motioned with his finger an outline on the water that stretched a thousand feet from end to end. Will was just looking too There was a dark shadow under the water that lazily glided through the ocean, without a care in the world. Will thought. The sheer mass put even the kaiju of the Fifth Floor to shame. ¡°Is everything big on this floor too?¡± Will mused to himself. ¡°No. According to Steve¡¯s dossier, the monsters of the Sixth Floor run the gamut from palm-sized to city-sized. We just got lucky, spotting one of these.¡± Loth said, peering over the edge for herself. ¡°What¡¯s a ¡®gamut¡¯? Will asked. ¡°The complete range or scope of something,¡± Loth said, returning to where she was scanning the horizon for signs of The Flotilla. ¡°Let¡¯s hit that brown smudge over there,¡± Will said, pointing to the west. It was in the right direction, and looked like a patch of flotsam. Maybe it was the floating remains of the shipwrecks the Flotilla must have every now and then. They could use the scrap to patch together a vessel so they didn¡¯t have to rely on Loth 100% of the time. In any case, it was Loth nodded, and a moment later, everyone swayed a bit as the raft began to speed up, reaching a brisk jog as it slid across the featureless expanse. The ¡®brown smudge¡¯ expanded further and further as they approached, becoming more and more apparent that it wasn¡¯t just the wreckage of a single ship. When they got close enough for Jean to see it, Will could tell it was huge. It stretched across the horizon nearly two palms wide and still far out of reach As they approached, the sun went down, burying their quarry in darkness. Only Will with his outlandish Acuity could make out the tiny smoldering fires glittering in the distance, each one gradually winking out as it ran out of fuel. Whatever had happened to destroy those ships, it was recent. Will thought to himself, Switching his Phantom Hand to the Wand of the Undead Retainer. Will shook off the hair-raising as the current finger disconnected and focused on summoning his minions. The two butlers appeared beside him. ¡°What do you need, sir?¡± Stevie asked for both of them. ¡°Ahead of us is a large patch of fresh wreckage. Go down there and scout it out for us. If there are survivors, use your discretion. We¡¯ll arrive in person in the morning. Have a report by then.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Billy-bob said, bowing. ¡°Hold a moment,¡± Will said, triggering the Ability a third time. As expected, Phantom Hand¡¯s multiplier had crossed from 298% to above 300% when he¡¯d hit level 25, allowing him to summon three ghost butlers, each of whom were three times stronger than they should¡¯ve been. Three medium power undead rather than a single low-power one barely strong enough to arrange silverware. A Remarkable boost in potency of over nine times, if one was looking at flat numbers, but in the real world, they could do things that a single spirit couldn¡¯t do no matter how much time it had. ¡°Your name is Noob.¡± Will said as the butler was solidifying after being squirted out of the raw butler slurry on the Other Side. ¡°Oh, gods,¡± Noob said, sinking to his knees as the other two butlers watched him with sympathy. He looked a little different than Billy-Bob and Stevie, who had been squirted out of the same slurry of butler souls. Its contents must¡¯ve changed a bit in the last month. ¡°If you¡¯ve got an issue with your name, ask your seniors about it. They¡¯ll also fill you in on what I want done. Now get to work.¡± Moments later the three of them turned into ectoplasmic mist and sank through the bottom of the raft and began streaming through the air towards their assignment. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ mean to them.¡± Anna pointed out. ¡°When we first met, they made it fairly clear that they consider working for me beneath them.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°I intend to disabuse them of that notion.¡± ¡°Excellent use of ¡®disabuse¡¯.¡± Loth said. ¡°Thank you.¡± Chapter 87: That’s How You Get Crabs In the dark half hour before the sun rose, all but a few the distant clouds caught the pre-dawn light, illuminating their tiny raft. Most of the Party was still asleep, and Will had nothing to do but think, practicing his Memory Key and cleaning his equipment while checking his new level 25 Status, waiting for Billy-bob, Stevie, and Noob, to arrive and give them their appraisal of the situation.Aside from their attitude, the ghosts did good work. It was difficult to overstate how valuable an intelligent force that acted on your behalf with initiative and critical thinking was. Will was 2.3 times stronger than a human without The System, while the average Climber at level 25 could expect to be at about 3.5. Still, growing his Dimensional Storage and the ability to launch increasingly larger payloads at increasingly higher speeds was an excellent way to cultivate an answer to every problem. An answer named ¡®overwhelming force¡¯, which seemed to be a Lord¡¯s stock and trade. Will had a Primary Ability Upgrade available, and he had taken several Dimensional Oyster Sacrifices with him for this exact reason.Will took out one of the Sacrifices he¡¯d been saving for himself, holding it in his hand to determine what the upgrade to Phantom Hand would be. ?§¡¦­O?????¦¥? Will had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn¡¯t something like a flat 1% per Acuity, which would allow infinite storage at 100 Acuity. But it would definitely be a strong effect, since his Acuity was outlandishly good. With a flash of light, Will sacrificed the Dimensional Oyster, adding it¡¯s effect to Phantom hand. Will was developing an idea for how to test it when the sun broke above the glittering horizon, revealing the patch of flotsam beneath them, and heralding the return of the ghost butlers. The other members of the Party were getting up and ready to start the day as the trio returned. ¡°How is it?¡± Will asked as Stevie floated up through the bottom of the floating raft. ¡°The remains of a major battle. No survivors, not even any bodies. They were either eaten or rescued already. No valuables aside from partially burnt floating wood. Anything worth anything either sank or was picked clean already. There¡¯s a few monsters beginning to make homes in the wreckage, but nothing particularly entrenched.¡± Stevie said. ¡°June, take the team and get some practice against the environment, I¡¯ll work on making us a boat so we¡¯re not relying on the insects.¡± Loth said. ¡°It¡¯s not gonna be trapped is it?¡± Will asked. ¡°You insult me!¡± Loth said, placing an offended hand on her chest. ¡°Of it¡¯ll be trapped!¡± ¡°Alright,¡± June said, making her voice heard after Loth gave the order. ¡°Will, you¡¯re going to take point. Mason, Reggie, and Alicia are going to stay on overwatch, while Jean¡¯s crew and I are going to follow close behind Will.¡± June pointed at Reggie. ¡°Toft on me and Will.¡± Reggie nodded. ¡°Keep a rope ready for us if we have to run. And don¡¯t distract Alicia.¡± Reggie nodded. June pointed at Alicia. ¡°Keep an eye out for ambushes from below.¡± Alicia nodded. June grabbed a rope from her bag and tied one end around Reggie, using their Tank as a temporary anchor point before throwing the rest over the side. She glanced down at the enormous patch of floating debris nearly a hundred feet below them, taking a deep breath before she began climbing down the rope. Will jumped off the side of the floating raft, whistling past June before slowing his descent with Phantom Hand, landing softly on a bobbing piece of wood, his influence extending outward to solidify a large patch of water around it. ¡°Showoff,¡± June scoffed as she arrived beside him, her Trailblazer Ability seemingly creating a path of denser wreckage behind her for the others to follow. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Alicia says to be careful for the things clinging to the underside of the logs!¡± Mason shouted down at them. Bee and Ria slid off the rope, testing their footing and glancing around. ¡°Let¡¯s clean out this patch,¡± June said, motioning at the patch Loth was directing her swarm to begin picking through for useable timber. It made sense to clean it of any monster infestation before it got up to Loth. It wasn¡¯t thirty seconds after Alicia¡¯s warning that one of the monsters made its presence known. As one of the logs was being lifted into the air, a pale spider-like creature launched itself straight towards Bee¡¯s face. The little shapeshifter squawked, flailing her hands, intercepting the crab and smacking it away through brute force, sending it spinning through the air to back into the water, landing between two pieces of flotsam. Will frowned as a faint noise began to travel through the stadium-sized patch of wreckage. By the sheer number of popping noises, there had to be a lot of them. The rolling ocean turned into ice, creating a solid surface between them and the swarm of monsters in a fraction of a second. Only three of the crabs got out of the water before it turned into ice, skittering towards June and Ria. Ria let out a breath and talons began to pop through her shoes, burying themselves into the chaotic mixture of ice and wood. She grunted with effort, taking a swing at the flying pale white crab, phantasmal claws extending from her hand and turning the attacking monster into chunks. June pranced backwards, Trailblazer smoothing out the pad of ice as she drew an arrow and pinned the crab to the surface. Bee shuddered, making ¡®yuck¡¯ faces as she brushed herself off. Will motioned to June, then towards the east. She seemed to understand what he was saying. ¡°They¡¯re going to come up around the edges, let¡¯s go east so they all come up around the west side.¡± Will nodded and began moving, his circle of frozen ground moving with him, interrupting any crabs trying to climb up the east side while behind them, the pad of ice rapidly faded away. This time it was about a dozen crabs that climbed up around the edge of the ice, three for each of them. Will thought, shooting a sling bullet out of the Phantom Hand, while one of June¡¯s arrows knocked another off the edge of the circle. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will and June each got off another shot while Ria and Bee moved to block them with their bodies. Bee and Ria both took out two in short order as they leapt upon them. Two crabs stayed with their meatshields, and two leapt past to attack Will and June directly. Will understood that Reggie was up there guaranteeing his survival, so he had to find the fine line between getting practice against these creatures to see what they were capable of and just annihilating them with Phantom Hand, learning nothing. Will drew the Shortsword of Perserverance, blocking the crab¡¯s flight with the blade. The pitted blade of the shortsword wobbled under the creature¡¯s assault, it¡¯s chitin absorbing the force without difficulty. Will got his first good look at it. It was spider-like, about the size of a dog, with pale white chitin, weird moving mouth-parts, and pincers that reminded him of those bolt-cutters that Leon had in the back of his shop. The same kind he¡¯d used to cut swords in half and render Relics down into powder¡­ Will slid the sword out of the creature¡¯s grasp an instant before it got the opportunity to lock its pincer around the blade and He shoved the creature back and sent it tumbling with a kick. Will quickly scanned the battle and noted dozens more crabs climbing up the sides of his iceberg. That made his decision for him. Will shot his opponent with the Phantom Hand, obliterating it, before whipping the Phantom Hand back around and annihilating a swath of the creatures before they could make themselves a problem. Once their numbers became manageable again, Will switched back to experimenting with the creature, engaging in hand-to-hand combat. They were stronger than he was, their legs and pincers possessed of far greater power than he had in him. The only weakness was their light weight, which allowed him to kick them aside. When he snagged a piece of wood out of the ice and bashed it against the creature¡¯s shell, it grabbed the wood with its pincer and sliced through the wood as if it were made of soft cheese. Will felt scuttling through the ground beside his ankle and lifted his foot an instant before a pincer swept through the empty space. Will fell into a crab-killing rhythm. Crabs were pouring up to them from all around the circle of ice. Will glanced up and spotted Mason watching intently with the Staff of the Warmage, waiting for the perfect moment to drop a massive fireball directly on their heads. ¡°Clump up!¡± Will said, motioning for them to step in closer. June followed his gaze up and nodded, putting her back to his as Bee and Ria stepped in. in a matter of seconds, the entire patch of ice was covered in crabs closing in around them from every direction. An instant later, a Conflagrate erupted above them, the flash of heat immolating any crabs above the water in a heartbeat, the damage passing harmlessly over them due to the Ring of Consideration. Probably one of the best acquisitions they¡¯d ever gotten for Mason. The Staff of the Warmage added Acuity scaling to the size of Mason¡¯s Abilities, allowing a single casting to cover the entire iceberg and beyond, boiling the edge of the water where the monsters were climbing from as well as frying the ones on land. The air itself split as Mason¡¯s new belt added a sonic damage after-effect to his Abilities, shredding the charred corpses of the crabs. along with the half-melted iceberg they were standing on. Bee and Ria shouted in alarm as the support beneath their feet collapsed and they fell into the endless ocean, slipping into the crab¡¯s home turf. June managed to react in time and scamper onto a piece of driftwood with her high Kinesthetics. ¡°Use , Mason! What did you think Phase Shift was !?¡± She shouted up at their Nuker, pointing at her head with a ¡®think¡¯ gesture while Will lunged for Ria. Mason shouted from above. The water bent ominously under his feet as he tried to pull her out of the water, threatening to dunk him if he put any more weight on it. ¡°I¡¯m fine, I have water-¡° Ria was ripped out of Will¡¯s hand and disappeared under the surface of the water. An instant later, crabs were boiling under the surface of the water, right where she¡¯d been. Will retreated back towards June before they could get a pincer on him, aiding her retreat towards the rope hanging from above. If necessary, Will was prepared to fling her up to the raft. Bee and Ria were¡­somewhat disposable, since Jean could make more, but June and Will didn¡¯t have backup bodies, and they probably couldn¡¯t keep the crabs at bay by themselves. Once they got far enough from where Ria and Bee fell through the water, Will re-upped the Homefield Advantage, creating a new patch of ice and debris to stand on. Will thought as crabs began boiling up the edge of the platform again. An instant later, a strange humanoid with a fish-tail launched itself up onto the ice, scattering the crabs. She bore a wounded human in her arms who- Bee shrank back to her normal size, the fish-tail disappearing even as she slashed around her with the phantom claws generated by the Gloves of ferocity. They¡¯d chosen them for Jean to wear so that her offshoots had a weapon no matter what. Ria caught her footing, struggling through shivers as she tore apart the crabs around her, her half-shredded body mending itself in heartbeats. A pincer caught Ria¡¯s ankle and she screamed in pain, but the wood-shearing strength of the pincer wasn¡¯t enough to break her bone. She ripped off the creature¡¯s arm before shredding its torso. A feat that will he couldn¡¯t replicate. The Tangled girls seemed to enter a state of feral bliss over the next couple minutes, savagely destroying the things that hurt them until there were none left. Bee and Ria were the two with the biggest share of negative emotions, so they were the most eager to join combat. The crabs eventually slowed¡­then stopped, leaving Bee and Ria panting wildly as they scanned for more enemies. ¡°We¡¯re okay,¡± Will said, approaching them. ¡°We¡¯re done for now.¡± The two girls spotted him and seemed to come to, gathering themselves. Ria blushed and covered her partially shredded clothes with her hands. Will scanned the surroundings to make sure he was right and the fight was over. Will thought as he spotted Ria tying her shirt¡¯s shoulder-strap back together, over the spot where she¡¯d been missing a large chunk of shoulder. Over the next half hour, they guarded the area as gigantic pieces of wood were plucked from the water, shaped and plastered together by specially bred insects that could create a resin stronger than the wood itself, and waterproof, making it excellent for patching together their makeshift ship. Alicia watched out for kaiju-sized threats that might approach from below while Will and June poked through the edges of the flotsam, taking care of any crabs that hadn¡¯t joined the initial swarm. One at a time they weren¡¯t that much of a problem. Bee went with Will, Ria with June, each acting as muscle for the Party¡¯s two scouts. The bones of their new ship were just starting to take shape in the sky when June called out, catching Will¡¯s attention. ¡°Hey, Alicia!¡± Will glanced up, spotting June waving at the raft high above them, her gaze fixed on the sky. ¡°That cloud is moving against the wind!¡± She shouted, pointing at the sky above and behind their floating raft that bore the rest of the Party. Will followed her gaze and spotted a cloud that subtly stood out, the sun reflecting through it just a bit differently than the surrounding clouds. Not enough to stand out unless you had high Acuity and were looking for it. ¡°Aw, shit,¡± Will muttered. Alicia turned around and directed her gaze for the first time since they¡¯d arrived. He couldn¡¯t hear what she said, but it looked like ¡®oh, crap.¡¯ Gaping maws with rows of serrated teeth emerged from the cloud, seemingly realizing their cover was blown. Chapter 88: Selachimorpha Cloud Formation ¡°Travis.¡± Travis¡¯s eyes snapped open, the light of early morning peeking over the edge of the raft edge beside his head. ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Loth said, from where she loomed above him. ¡°The rest of the Party forgot you existed when they went exploring this morning. Do you have some kind of mnemonic camouflage Ability upgrade? And do you perhaps use it to avoid taking watch at night?¡± ¡°¡­No?¡± Travis said, sitting up and cancelling the effect. ¡°You use it to dodge enemy engagement, not chores you find unpleasant.¡± Loth tutted at him. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t even know you had it if you didn¡¯t abuse it. One of these days, we¡¯re going to leave you behind somewhere you want to get left behind.¡± ¡°Okay, ¡± Travis said with a yawn and a stretch. ¡°My Build is perfect for getting left behind, so-¡° ¡°Your build is perfect for gaining, surviving, redirecting, and losing enemy attention. Nothing else. If we leave you behind in a cavern filled with poisonous gas, you have the same chance of survival as everyone else. Less, even.¡± Loth cocked her head, glancing between him and the flotsam below, where Will was presumably out scouting the dangerous wreckage. ¡°How are you so normal?¡± She mused. ¡°Don¡¯t compare me to Will.¡± Travis said reflexively before biting his tongue. Typically Travis would disparage William Oh at length, but the attitude towards him among the rest of the Party was something approaching¡­Worship. And it wasn¡¯t hard to see why. Their Party leader seemed to consistently luck into riches and support beyond measure, and as long as that wealth and support continued to trickle down to Travis¡­Best not stick his foot in his mouth. ???????????????? ¡°In most cases normal is good.¡± Loth said, her gaze returning to Travis. ¡°It¡¯s abnormality that demands explanation.¡± ¡°So you agree that he¡¯s a freak.¡± Travis said, shoving the covers aside and rolling to his feet. ¡°Yes. The kind that conquers The Tower.¡± Loth stuck her tongue out at him. ¡°Are you foolish enough to expect a normal person to succeed where all others have failed?¡± ¡°¡­Fair.¡± Travis said, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He was still pissed that only Will got to fight Frederick Wyrd shortly before the opportunity to avenge Oilton was snatched away forever by an ambitious assassin, but his rational mind knew Travis wouldn¡¯t have survived it if he¡¯d been the one facing his father¡¯s killer. Travis thought, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he studied the skeleton of a ship hovering in midair, supported by thousands of tiny flying insects, while tight chains of worms held together by spidersilk were carried back and forth, painting resin across exposed wood that had been shaped by highly disciplined termites. ¡°Hey, Alicia!¡± Travis heard June¡¯s distant voice and glanced over at where Alicia was leaning over the side of the raft, scanning the ocean below. ¡°That cloud is moving against the wind!¡± Came June¡¯s muffled voice from beyond the edge of the raft, and Alicia craned her neck, turning to look up and behind. Travis followed her gaze, and wished he hadn¡¯t. The cloud looming above them exploded with flying sharks¡­ It was still a few hundred feet distant, but the cloud formation was¡­so big. Mason spotted a¡­coral-like solid formation generating the cloud cover that was being ripped away by explosions and flying sharks. Mason lifted his staff and immediately dumped at least fifty Charge into Conflagration, as the cloud formation immediately became riddled with explosions that caused dead sharks and broken Cloud Coral to rain out of the sky. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. And more were coming. Alicia rushed over to her bow and yanked it out of her pack while Reggie paled and made religious symbols across his chest. ¡°I¡¯m landing us!¡± Loth shouted a moment before the floating raft lurched under them, descending at an angle, down and away from the fake cloud. The sharks approaching them filled the sky and the shimmering sunlight reflecting off their silvery backs made a strangely hypnotic pattern¡­ PAIN! ¡°OW!¡± Travis shouted as Loth clawed his leg. ¡°Partner with Mason!¡± she shouted, pointing at their Nuker as she hustled past, pulling Reggie out of the same stupor and instructing him to hold on tight. Travis nodded and moved over to Mason, who was scowling as the sharks began to spread out from their home, making it harder and harder to catch a decent amount of them in a single explosion. ¡°On my decoy.¡± Travis said before putting the mouth harp hanging around his neck between his teeth. Two mirror images split off from Mason. Each of them had the ability to draw enemy aggro independently, ever since they had been upgraded with the Iber fly Sacrifice. But only if they were being looked at. That was where the Luring noise came in. As he plucked it and ran Charge through, Travis directed his first mirage to sprint out into the open air. The decoy was made of light, so gravity didn¡¯t exactly have a hold on it, and the sharks weren¡¯t smart enough to know a person shouldn¡¯t be able to sprint at full speed across air. The mouth harp gave an annoying and the shark¡¯s attention was directed toward the mirage. The illusion¡¯s aggro effect did the rest. In a matter of seconds, hundreds of massive sharks diverted their course and swarmed around the image of Travis sprinting away from the boat at full speed. An instant later, Mason dropped a Conflagrate on the decoy and dropped all the sharks into the ocean, where they belonged, erasing a sizeable chunk of the approaching horde in a single strike. A moment later, a rain of arrows devastated another swath of the beady-eyed monsters. Then the sharks were on them. Loth slammed her foot down onto the floor of the raft, and poles that Travis didn¡¯t even know about snapped up, with spidersilk rope held taut between them, creating a physical barrier between their soft, squishy bodies and the swarm of razor-toothed sharks. The raft began to shake and spin violently, being sent into a spin as sharks weighing more than their entire team battered up against the cage, gnawing against every part of the raft they could get their mouths on. ¡°Where do you want the next one!?¡± Travis said, holding onto the edge of the raft for dear life as they spun. ¡°Fifty feet that way!¡± Mason said, pointing. Travis¡¯s decoy sprinted through the spidersilk net, and with another Charge through the mouth harp, it became the center of attention. For a brief second, nothing was attacking the raft, and they stabilized, the sharks creating a swirling cone around his mirage, rather than their raft. ¡°Hold o-¡° Loth¡¯s words were cut off as they impacted the ocean. The floor of the raft tried to jam his shins up through his lungs, and it nearly succeeded. ¡­ ¡°Can you do this!?¡± Travis heard Loth as he opened his eyes. Judging by the size of the ripples spreading around them, he¡¯d only lost a second or so. ¡°I don¡¯t to. But I think I ¡± Jean said, nodding. Travis coughed, withdrawing his knee from his rib and looking around. Mason was dangling from Loth¡¯s safety cage, the energy of the landing trampolining him halfway through the spidersilk strung tight enough to cut flesh. Mason should¡¯ve been gravely wounded, but after dropping so many blasts on the sharks, his shield was humming with energy. Will could drop one of his cannonballs on him and he¡¯d shrug it off. Travis stood and grabbed Mason¡¯s ankle, dragging the dazed Nuker back inside the spidersilk cage. Reggie was helping Alicia back to her feet on the other side of the raft when the spidersilk cage sprung open around them, creating an opening directly above them, where the sky sharks swarmed. The cage bloomed like a flower, the poles spreading out to create a much wider surface for them to stand on, extending twenty feet or so beyond the edge of the raft. Jean¡¯s age faded away as copy after copy split from her, sprinting away to take positions on the web-based platform. is Travis hadn¡¯t seen it himself, and when others informed him of the situation, it had seemed outlandish, but here it was in front of him. The last remaining monsters swam through the air towards them, jaws gaping, eager to take the unguarded meat-prize for themselves. Through sheer safety in numbers, the core group at the center of the raft was spared the worst of the assault. The two dozen Jeans lining the outer edge of the platform were attacked first by the opportunistic creatures looking to score an easy meal. They weren¡¯t easy meals. One by one, their Tangled companion tore the creatures apart with her bare hands, tearing jaws away from mouths, slicing apart faces and stomachs with magically enlarged claws, leaving behind nothing but rapidly dissolving carnage. ¡°It¡¯s clearing up,¡± Mason said, tapping his arm and pointing at the sky above. The concentration of sharks in the sky had become noticeably thinner, and they seemed less eager to rush to their deaths. ¡°We¡¯re on the other side of it, now. Set me up with three more decoys and the rest will be a snap for Alicia to mop up.¡± Travis nodded, and over the next thirty seconds, they made three more decoys before exploding them, each group of sharks noticeably smaller than the last. Meanwhile, Alicia did a quick-switch into her archer kit, setting aside her curse-boosting ring, hat and amulet. ¡°Can¡¯t you use the rain of arrows with the Evil Eye?¡± Travis asked. ¡°Need an upgrade for it.¡± Alicia whispered, shaking her head. ¡°but once I do¡­¡± Alicia shot straight above them, her arrow sailing high above the sharks before splitting into three dozen, each arrow taking aim at a specific shark that was more difficult to lure into a trap than it¡¯s cousins. Each of them took an arrow to the brain, sending them tumbling down to the water below. The last of the sharks were returning to the cloud coral, their stomachs gorged on the flesh of their kin. What little they could get before it dissolved into Miasma. Travis thought to himself, scanning the surrounding water, littered with the rapidly sinking, dissolving bloody remains of hundreds, if not thousands of sharks the size of a wagon. In the distance, he spotted Will sprinting across the surface of the water towards them, following the trail of bloody shark chunks that they¡¯d left behind in left in their wild escape from the swarm. ¡°Will! Get out of there, you idiot!¡± Loth said, waving at Will to move aside. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A fish-mouth the size of an amphitheater emerged from the water, gulping up the massive trail of dead sharks, catching Will in the process. An instant later, the mouth and their Party Leader were gone. Loth sighed, hands on her hips. ¡°He¡¯ll probably be fine.¡± She glanced over at the bones of the ship she¡¯d been building, tapping a black claw against her chin. ¡°We¡¯re gonna need a bigger boat, though.¡± ¡°I hate this Floor, I hate this Floor, I hate this Floor¡­¡± Reggie muttered to himself, rocking in place. Chapter 89: Gone Fishing was ¡°Will! Get out of there, you idiot!¡± Loth¡¯s voice crossed the rolling waves, reaching him just as Will was about halfway to them. Will took only a fraction of a second to understand what she meant, glancing down at the chunks of skyfish littering the bloody waters. A shadow swept over him, covering the light of the sun, and an instant later, the water around him began flowing backwards. Then the sun was completely gone. Will tumbled backwards for a moment before miasmatic fish-corpses began to crush down around him. Will had never been to the ocean or fishing, but he¡¯d seen fishes a couple times. Mostly stuffed, and there were a couple people eating it when they¡¯d visited The Ring. They looked¡­weird. Like a tube with little water-wings at the back that propelled them forward. These particular fishes that were being crushed in around him had much bigger teeth than the ones he¡¯s seen mounted above rich people¡¯s fireplaces. Will hissed in pain as one of the dead fish¡¯s jaws, complete with massive daggerlike teeth, smashed up against him, lacerating his neck and side. Will tried to shove it off of him, but lacked the strength to move the serrated teeth away from his body. The darkness was complete, and all Will could tell was that there was some kind of flesh pressing in around him from every direction. Will¡¯s ears popped as the pressure inside the creature began to spike, ice cold water covering his face as whatever had swallowed him forced all the air out of its mouth before diving. Will summoned his Phantom Hand to himself. He unleashed the cannonball straight up. The water Will was entombed in flooded with more coppery blood, strangely no warmer than the ice-cold water around them. Will caught the cannonball before it got too far away from him, then brought the Phantom Hand back through the man-sized hole in the creature¡¯s stomach. ?§¡¦­??§§? Or, he tried. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Phantom Hand, once it had followed the cannonball through the wound, was having difficulty going back through the wound as it closed. Phantom Hand was averse to going through a creature due to it¡¯s magical nature. He couldn¡¯t phase it through a creature when it was fully intangible, and tangibility didn¡¯t make it any easier. Will grit his teeth and started climbing, reaching up and pulling himself into the wound, catching more flesh and pushing with his feet. Bloody flesh, soft organs, and sharp, fractured bone scraped against him as he pulled himself out of the leviathan¡¯s body. Will felt as though he¡¯d travelled a quarter mile through the thing¡¯s chest cavity, his lungs burning with the need to breathe, but it must¡¯ve only been fifty feet when he finally burst out into the open ocean. For anyone else, it might¡¯ve been too dark, and too bloody, but Will¡¯s Acuity made it fairly simple to determine which way was up, as the faintest blood-tinted light filtered down from above. Will pulled himself up with the Phantom Hand and burst out of the water, hitting the surface with a desperate gasp for air, his feet wobbling in place for a moment as Aspect of the Immortal Serpent seemed to consider whether or not it was willing to support him when he was so sodden and salty. So clearly at one with the ocean. When he was sure he wouldn¡¯t fall back in, Will glanced up and spotted the others in their raft, nearly a quarter mile distant. In the thirty seconds or so it¡¯d taken him to comprehend what had happened and enact his escape, the creature had traveled far. It looked like it swam lazily under the ocean, but that was just a matter of scale. Will was now on the side of the raft, out in open ocean while the raft was closer to the flotsam, where June, Bee and Ria were waiting for pickup, unable to actually walk on open ocean. Will started jogging back, giving himself a boost with Phantom Hand. By the time he arrived, everyone else was already on-board, and Will was shivering, a crust of red-tinted salt forming on his skin as he climbed over the inflated rib into the raft. One of the ribs was popped, causing the raft to tilt wildly as he clambered on, but they still had enough buoyancy to keep them all up. There was a sharp pain as Loth plucked an ivory triangular tooth out of his shoulder. ¡°Souvenir?¡± She asked. Will waved her off and collapsed back onto the surface of the raft, his arms and legs turning leaden as he yanked out one of their clean wool blankets, balling up underneath it beside Bee and Ria to regain heat. Will was so cold he could feel the sun itself giving him its warmth. Normally it was difficult to feel beneath the chill wind, but now it felt like a warm hug from the sky. The warmth went away, prompting Will to open his brined eyes to see who or what dared steal heat from him. ¡°So¡­you get wet.¡± Travis quipped smugly, standing in Will¡¯s warming sunlight. Travis gave a squawk as Phantom Hand yanked him off the side of the raft and into the water. Will wasn¡¯t proud of his response, but he was in no mood to play the responsible Party Leader while shivering and miserable. Minutes later, Travis was balled up beneath wool covers beside them while the rest of the Party made themselves busy. ¡°H-How i-is the w-water ¡± Travis demanded, his skin pale, lips blue. ¡°Salinity lowers the freezing temperature of water.¡± Loth said from where she was studying insect larva with a jeweler¡¯s lens, brought to her for inspection by a line of ants, seemingly sorting them based on some criteria that Will didn¡¯t understand. ¡°It is possible for ocean water to be than freezing, but typically that¡¯s only in arctic biomes. This is not an arctic biome, so the water was likely closer to ten degrees.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°What¡¯s ¡®salinity¡¯?¡± Will asked. ¡°Salt content dissolved in a body of water.¡± ¡°I figured.¡± Will mused, scraping more salt off himself. ¡°Ten degrees below freezing,¡± Travis said. ¡°I¡¯m using Celsius.¡± Loth replied. ¡°Wha?¡± Travis groaned, frowning. ¡°It¡¯s resurfacing.¡± Alicia whispered. Will and the others wrapped their blankets tighter around themselves, putting their heads back in the wind and huddling by the edge of the raft to peer down at the water below. Will was eager to get a look at the thing that had swallowed him. He knew it was big, but he wanted to know exactly how big. For bragging rights. Below them, a massive form rose to the surface, silver scales the size of houses glittering in the sun. Then it just¡­stayed there, waves rolling over it like an oblong sandbar. ¡°Is it¡­dead?¡± Jean asked. ¡°It¡¯s dead,¡± Alicia whispered, nodding. ¡°Heart¡¯s not beating.¡± Will nodded and got back out of the wind. Apparently larger monsters take longer to decay into miasma, because it wasn¡¯t until half an hour later that the ribs of the giant fish even started to become visible as the flesh turned to miasma. ¡°Hey, the ribs are starting to show,¡± Mason said from where he was watching the water. Loth perked up at that. ¡°Ribs?¡± She mused, looking at her halfway completed ship¡¯s ribs, woefully inadequate compared to the sheer scope of the decomposing monster below them. The black kobold then leaned over the edge and peered down at the kaiju-eater whose ribs were slowly revealing themselves through the cloud of miasma that was tainting the air around it. She extended a single ebony claw and pointed at the leviathan beneath them. ¡°Bring me that skeleton,¡± she said, causing her insect to swarm forward, erupting like a cloud from her oversized barrel. ¡°And whatever loot is in it.¡± Will added. The next week was uneventful. Loth¡¯s bugs weren¡¯t able to lift the leviathan at first, but after a day or so, most of the flesh was gone, and they were able to lift the skeleton out of the water. In the meantime, Loth used the cloud of miasma rolling off the decomposing giant to advance her miasmatic insect breeding, the miasma causing horrific mutations at a much higher rate. The vast majority were monstrous or stillborn, but Loth was working with hundreds of thousands of samples. Alicia spent the time on high alert. Mason had dropped the majority of his Charges in the initial encounter to blunt the shark attack, so the onus was on her to detect problems before they became problems. Jean was also tapped out, and Loth¡¯s charge wasn¡¯t much better, so it was imperative to avoid another ambush, as they simply couldn¡¯t bring the same amount of force to bear a second time. The Bakers went diving for loot. Their shapeshifting, water-breathing, and disposability made them particularly well-suited for it, but even with all those advantages, they only managed to find a small fraction of the loot drops that thousands of monsters should have had, most of it trapped in a floating ribcage by sheer luck. The rest sank to the bottom of the sea, so deep that even the Bakers, with all their physical advantages couldn¡¯t find the bottom. The loot was¡­disappointing for the most part. After the heist, Will had come to expect about fifteen stat points and a helpful mutation from most of his gear, but this stuff all hovered around the 6-8 point range. But it wasn¡¯t a problem. They could still use the Relics, even if they were now substandard. Will added the loot to his Sourdough barrel, breaking the items down and gradually filling it with Relic Dust. Everybody else found a way to keep themselves busy while Loth made their new ship, and Will passed the two days by working on ways to track the progress of his various Abilities. Specifically, he wanted to know more about Sourdough and the Phantom Hand¡¯s exact specifications. Will thought, itching the doubtlessly infected wound on his shoulder. It wasn¡¯t a critical wound, but not being injured and fighting off an infection might save wounds later, so Will felt it was justified to nip it in the bud. Will drained a Greater Health Potion, repairing the lacerations across his torso before inspecting the remaining liquid with one of Loth¡¯s measuring calipers. Will scribbled on some of Loth¡¯s smudged up math paper. .175% Will could expect these to be done by day 24 rather than day 30. Once Will had figured out Sourdough, he turned his attention to the Dimensional Storage upgrade from the Dimensional Oyster Sacrifice. Will borrowed Loth¡¯s calipers again and fished out pieces of wood to make several objects whose volume Will knew Will thought as Loth watched him handle the calipers, as if afraid he would drop it into the ocean. Through a long process of trial and error, Will learned that any object that he put in his Dimensional Storage was shrunk to about 22% of it¡¯s original size. Will figured this out by calculating his maximum normal storage, which was 226.8 cubic inches (with Relic boosts) He cut one flotsam pole into two identical poles exactly 226.8 inches in volume (with Loth¡¯s help), then emptied everything out of his dimensional storage. He put the first piece of wood in, filling his dimensional storage entirely. Then Will tried to put the second pole in. It didn¡¯t work. He shaved off a tiny bit from the second pole and tried again, repeating the process over and over until the second pole went in. Then Will took both poles out and measured them against each other. The second pole was missing 22% of it¡¯s height when measured against the first, indicating that the first pole was taking up exactly that much space when he tried to put the second in. So, objects were shrunk down to 22% of their original size, but they still took up space, meaning the size of the item he could put in Dimensional Storage shrank as he put more things in. This would mean he would have to be more thoughtful and go from large to small when packing the Phantom hand with gear, but it could also hold quite a bit more in total. With the 22% result already known, Loth and Will were able to reverse-engineer the formula to determine how much shrinking occurred. They came up with this: 1/(Acuity*(Relic boosts)/50) 1/(126*1.8/50) = 0.2204 They confirmed this by taking off his Relics and the math held true when he had 26 less Acuity, and zero Relic boosts to his Ranger potency, resulting in the objects in his Phantom hand¡¯s Dimensional Storage shrinking down to exactly 50% of their original size. By the end of the first two days, Will had learned a lot about something Loth called ¡®algebra¡¯, Mason¡¯s Charges were partially recovered, and the entire party was beginning to come down with the ¡®raft crazies¡¯, a condition where you are forced to live within ten feet of others for extended periods of time, partially wet and buffeted by chilly salt-spray winds. By the end of the week, they were universally relieved to move into the ¡®boat-house¡¯, the wood, bone, scale, and resin monstrosity that Loth had fashioned, using the leviathan¡¯s rib bones for structural integrity, wood and resin for floatation and enormous scales for surfaces, paneling, and defense. The construction was about half the size of the leviathan itself, which meant it was big enough for each of them to have their own room. It did not matter to them that Loth had most likely trapped every square inch of the construction as long as they got a solid wall between themselves and the elements, and each other, for a few hours a day. Chapter 90: Ocean Life Heron Stiles, level 30 Sailor Will yawned and tossed the blanket off, slipping out of his Relics and back into his clothes before putting his Relics back on over them It was weird sleeping with falconer¡¯s gloves and a dragon mask on, but you got used to it. You didn¡¯t sleep in your Relics. Or at least, didn¡¯t ever since the church of Granesh had tried to kill him in the middle of the night while they bunked at what should¡¯ve been a reputable inn. Will glanced down at the Swampstompers that hadn¡¯t left his feet since last month. Will took his shoes off and regretted it instantly. The socks he¡¯d been wearing the entire time had holes eaten through the heel and toe, and the Will hastily tossed the shoes and socks in one of the Sourdough Barrels in the Relic room, where they stuffed all the Relics they plucked out of the ocean that were waiting for sorting and destruction. Some of the smaller, more valuable Relics, they saved to trade once they found The Flotilla, while the rest got broken down to bake their consumeables in. Will thought, using Sourdough on his socks and burying them. They weren¡¯t Relics, but maybe the Ability would restore them as if they were plain consumables. And even if it didn¡¯t, covering them in magical powder would likely kill anything living on them making that horrible smell. Or the magic might mutate it into a lethal stench. Will was willing to take that chance. He ambled over to the washroom, which was connected to the desalination room. During the day, polished metallic scales caught sunlight and reflected it onto a metal pan, which boiled saltwater. Above, the condensate was collected into a tank. It wasn¡¯t fully automatic, it required someone to add new seawater and clean the salt crust out of the pan every now and then. Anna had stepped into her role as the support, single-handedly running every aspect of the ship¡¯s domestic affairs. Despite being technically working for them, Will was intrigued to note how the attitude towards Anna had shifted from slightly awkward to deferential. Nobody wanted to risk having her stop making water, washing clothes and baking bread for them. ????¦Â¨¨? The bread still ran out, though. They were a bit too excited and had bread every night to celebrate another day of being alive on the 6th Floor. Their one bag of flour was empty after the first week. That was when they started taking rationing more seriously. Every morning Anna split into four, each copy bustling around the massive ship, keeping everything running smoothly, performing more work than any one person could hope to accomplish, justifying her inclusion as Support staff. They didn¡¯t bring a big enough pan to desalinate enough water for everyone to take full shower and baths, but they did get enough to drink and take quick sponge-baths. Loth was hoping to find a bit of another ship¡¯s desalination room with a bigger boiler, but she wasn¡¯t particularly expectant, since that part of the ship was more likely to sink due to the heavy iron. Will sat down and glanced up at the tank beside the desalinator. It was a makeshift wooden barrel about an arms-length from side to side, and half as tall as a man. Full up to his kneecaps. Will grabbed one of their ladles and scooped out his daily ration of water, drinking his fill before pouring about half of the rest in a shallow bucket and aggressively scrubbing his feet with soap. The soap they¡¯d brought was still holding steady, and likely would for another month. ¡°Ugh,¡± Jean groaned as she entered the room, taking a ration ladle off the wall and filling it before moving behind the women¡¯s divider. ¡°This is why you don¡¯t sleep in your Relics!¡± she shouted over it. ¡°Says the girl who¡¯s never been attacked in her sleep,¡± Will muttered, continuing to vigorously scrub his feet. ¡°I heard that,¡± June said. ¡°It¡¯s not so bad,¡± Reggie said as he entered, grabbing another ladle off the wall and measuring out his daily water, drinking about half before pouring the rest in a bucket and beginning his routine, soaping himself up. ¡°My uncle¡¯s feet smell way worse.¡± ¡°Your uncle literally has a disease.¡± June called over the divider. The rest of the party filed in while they were washing up, and Anna #2 made herself busy bustling between the two areas, cleaning up after them, bussing tubs, scrubbers and and soap without any particular awkwardness at seeing the male members without their clothes. Will thought. Anna #2 ran the bath and water desalinator because she was the first offshoot, created first thing in the morning while Anna #1 and the rest of the girls took their bath, then spending the rest of her day refilling their water supply. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. By the time Will got out, his feet smelled like¡­nothing in particular, which was about as good as it was going to get. Will used the last little bit in his ladle to rinse himself off before heading off to breakfast. Anna #3 was in charge of breakfast. ¡­it was fish. Because of course it was. ¡°The mushrooms are spreading well and the sprouts are thriving in the substrate. In about a week, we¡¯ll get our first crop.¡± Loth said as they each peeled bone-filled fish-meat off scaly skin with their knives. Will thought to himself, working his knife. Thankfully the room dedicated to growing mushrooms and breeding insects was kept far, away from their main living quarters, for their sanity. Reggie had invented the most practical way of eating fish by running his blade along the outside of the meat to separate the whole skin at once before quickly slicing it into bite-size chunks of flaky meat, then spearing each individual piece with his knife, treating the fish skin itself like the plate they didn¡¯t have. The rest of them gradually began to copy him. This left the problem of bones, but it was still leagues ahead of messily trying to gnaw meat away from greasy skin with their hands and teeth. Fish didn¡¯t smell too bad when it was fresh, but get the oil on your hands, and you¡¯d be carrying around a gradually worsening stink until you got the opportunity to wash up the next morning. ¡°Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, you cook fish good,¡± Mason said as Anna moved past him, popping some breakfast in his mouth. ¡°But I would fight to the death for some toast and butter.¡± ¡°Pepper.¡± June added. ¡°Peanut butter honey pancakes,¡± Reggie grunted. ¡°Cider.¡± Travis mused. ¡°The booze or spiced apple juice?¡± Will asked. ¡°Take your pick.¡± Travis shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll get right on that,¡± Anna #3 said with an eyeroll as she rounded up their fish skin plates, adding them to the bin to be thrown overboard. ¡°I think our party needs either a Grower or a Logistician that can shuffle supplies.¡± Will said. ¡°That one that Roger was talking about?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Eh?¡± Mason grunted, the slender Nuker glancing between the two of them. Will described Roger¡¯s story about a quartermaster who could spend Charges to shift the quantities of bulk supplies in their ledger by shifting the numbers around, as long as the values were roughly identical. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In theory, they could take a pound or two of flour with them and the quartermaster could add more by adding a zero to the flour and subtracting one pound from Relic dust. Add a Charge while doing it and the supplies would simply¡­shift. They were practically swimming in Relic dust. Over the last few weeks, they¡¯d gotten the knack for judging when and how to fish a miasmatic corpse out of the water, just before it spit out its loot. And there was always opportunity to learn, because the floor didn¡¯t ever seem to run out of monsters aiming to kill them. Fighting for their lives was a daily occurrence, and they could only afford to sleep because Jean and the butlers were watching their backs at night. ¡°Oh yeah, I heard about that lady.¡± Travis said, nodding. ¡°Incredibly valuable Builds like those get lost to the sands of time every day.¡± He shrugged and continued picking at his fish. ¡°¡­We could send Thea a letter asking her to look into it,¡± Will suggested. If they bought the recipe from whoever had funded the logistician¡¯s Class originally, - if they were still alive ¨C Will could theoretically fund his own, but he¡¯d also have to pay to give the person powerful relics to guarantee they survived their Trial, then hire mercenaries to guard them all the way up to the fifth floor. All told, that would take a large chunk of their war chest, and about six months to wait for the next crop of Aspirants. And then of course, it would be someone gullible enough to accept a job offer from an unknown like Will. All told, it was unlikely to work, risky, prohibitively expensive, and slow¡­but every day Will spent eating nothing but fish weakened his resolve. Someone who could magic fresh-caught fish and relics into sugar and flour was nothing short of miraculous. ¡°I¡¯ll draft a letter.¡± Loth said, nodding. After breakfast, they went out to their separate jobs. Will and Alicia: lookouts. Alicia could see anything with a physical body that might be sneaking up on them, no matter how many layers of camouflage it had. Will on the other hand, could see further and kept his gaze fixed on the horizon looking for any sign of The Flotilla. Reggie and Jean were on manual labor, Mason and Loth did logistics, Travis worked up in the sails, while June steered. Anna and the butlers kept everything running smooth while Bee and Ria killed things that needed to be killed. Anything that came at them in manageable numbers, the Tangled girls swept away like so much chaff. Thankfully, no leviathans were brave enough to attack Shimmer. The massive vessel was named such because of the way the hypnotic scales of the sky sharks decorated the sides. According to Steve¡¯s primer on the Floor, The Flotilla stayed at the same latitude in order to maintain its climate for the floating gardens, so all they needed to do was match that latitude and then maintain it until they came across the boat-city. The Tower had said the Stronghold was west, so once Loth confirmed they were on the right latitude, they continued going West, adjusting their heading as needed to stay on course. The signs were promising: They found more shipwrecks, scouring each one for supplies as they sailed past signs of human activity, like floating glass bouys, garbage, the occasional dot of sail in the distance. They didn¡¯t bother trying to chase anyone down to say hi. First, Shimmer wasn¡¯t built for speed, as lovely as she was. The ship was big enough to accommodate a crew a hundred times it¡¯s current size, with a barge-like, chunky look to her. And second, chasing people down on the open ocean wasn¡¯t the¡­friendliest gesture. They made decent time, but that was only in comparison to the floating city they tracked. Two weeks later, Will was up in the crow¡¯s nest, considering finally buckling under the monotony and tasting the honey created by Loth¡¯s ¡®Carrion Honeybees¡¯. ¡®meat honey¡¯ sounded¡­unpleasant, even though the others swore it was almost palatable. Will thought sourly as he scanned the horizon. The first sight of the floating city made him think he was hallucinating or seeing a low-hanging cloud formation on the horizon. As the smudge of white resolved into individual sails clustered tight together, Will¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I see it!¡± He shouted. ¡°See what!?¡± June shouted up at him. ¡°The Flotilla!¡± Will replied as Alicia squinted beside him, not quite able to make out the city herself. ¡°How¡¯s our heading?¡± June asked. ¡°Two degrees, port!¡± Will replied. ¡°Roger!¡± June made the adjustment on the steering wheel, gradually turning Shimmer¡¯s nose slightly portside. Over the next two hours, the city became visible in the distance, even from the deck. When the sun went down, The Flotilla turned into a beacon of light on the horizon as lanterns kept the night-life going aboard the floating city. The next morning they¡¯d closed the distance drastically, and a sloop detached from the several mile cluster of boats, heading their way over the course of the morning. The sloop pulled up alongside their port side, their deck about fifteen feet lower than Shimmer¡¯s. Will¡¯s party clustered around the edge and peered down as experienced sailors delicately secured themselves to the side of their ship. ¡°Permission to come aboard!¡± A sunburnt man shouted from below them, wielding a massive rope in his weathered hands. Will noticed everyone was looking at him. Despite the ship running like a well-oiled machine without his input, he was still the Party leader. ¡°Granted!¡± Will shouted back down. A moment later, the oversize rope was flung up onto the deck of the Shimmer, and they watched as three sailors climbed up the side. Will¡¯s bare toes clenched down on the deck as the heavyset men climbed to the top, each of them armed and armored with nearly a full complement of Relics. The grizzled veteran frowned when he saw Will¡¯s party, rubbing his back as he scanned the rest of the deck. ¡°Interesting ¡®ship¡¯, lads. Never seen anything like it. Makes my skin crawl.¡± The man muscled back a shudder. ¡°But I ain¡¯t one to judge. Since you didn¡¯t give the signals as you approached, we figured you were newcomers. My name¡¯s Heron, and we¡¯re the welcome party today.¡± He produced a waterproofed scroll lined with cork wood and offered it to Will. ¡°On that scroll is the law of The Flotilla. Study it before you dock, then return it. Ignorance is not a defense, and the lightest punishment on the Flotilla is banishment.¡± Will nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll be sure to do so.¡± Heron nodded, gazing back at Will for a long moment. ¡°Welcome to The Flotilla.¡± Chapter 92: Cracked Immortal A wet cough erupted from Will as he limped along the pier, followed by a sharp pain through his chest that froze him in place until he remembered how to breathe. Will gingerly poked his ribs, trying not to aggravate the shallow cuts covering the majority of his body. They had just finished scabbing up. With that in mind, Will ran his tongue along a couple teeth that were wiggling a bit more than they should, spitting the coppery blood welling up into his sleeve. Rule #1: don¡¯t bleed into the ocean. ¡°You gonna live?¡± A reedy voice asked, prompting Will to glance up, Phantom Hand poised to take the man¡¯s head off with a cannonball. A bar brawl is one thing, but following him into the dark of night¡­ Will relaxed when he recognized the emaciated, homeless fellow from before, rather than a Party leader with a grudge. The men at The Bridge had actually all seemed in pretty good spirits when Will had left, lots of drinks and back-slaps and un-requested shots of liquor dumped over his wounds to ¡®sanitize¡¯ them. Aside from that, and the horrible pain he was currently in, it really had been a great time. The single lesson he¡¯d received from Bakton had opened his eyes to a flow that he hadn¡¯t been able to perceive before and prepared him to deal with the vast majority of Climbers without too much trouble. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll live.¡± Will wobbled in place for a moment before using Phantom Hand as a cane, pressing back against his hand to stabilize himself. ¡°Here, let me,¡± the emaciate man said, putting Will¡¯s truncated arm over his shoulder and tottering forward in lockstep. ¡°Thanks,¡± Will said as they resumed walking through the pre-dawn light. ¡°¡­What do you want?¡± ¡°What?¡± The man scoffed. ¡°Me? Want something? I¡¯m just a humble- all right, fine. I do want something.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that? Drinking money?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say no to that, but I¡¯m after something a little¡­harder to acquire.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± The grey-eyed man glanced over at him, searching Will¡¯s expression for a moment before pointing up. ¡°On a certain Floor above us, is an object I really want.¡± ¡°And what do you expect from me?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re the guy.¡± Will raised a brow. ¡°You know¡­ The once-in-a-thousand-years legend. The one with the best shot of making it to the top. Did they not teach you this in school? The emaciated man frowned and mumbled to himself. ¡°I thought they taught that in school? They taught my kids that. Was that a different coil? Shit, is Jacob dead? No, I just saw him the other day¡­ is a day one revolution of the sun, or one winter, or one coil? No, it¡¯s probably not a coil, that seems like a lot¡­¡± £Ò§Ñ£Î??¨¨???? Will frowned as the emaciated man began muttering, staring straight down with a vacant look in his eyes. ¡°¡­Who do you think I am?¡± He asked. ¡°Ummm¡­¡± Will waited for a solid ten seconds before giving him the answer. ¡°William¡­.¡± ¡®William¡­ The emaciated man repeated after him. Oh.¡± Will finished. ¡°Right. Yes. I heard your larger-than-life legends and I knew you were destined for great things.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never heard of me before.¡± Will said. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of you before.¡± The emaciated man admitted. Will thought. This man didn¡¯t know Will, but he had known enough to know about the overblown legends. Typically he might¡¯ve fallen in the category of con men who simply praise every newcomer they meet as the ¡®chosen one¡¯ until they can take what they want and cut loose. But he wasn¡¯t slick enough to be a con-artist. If anything, he seemed like a dog that had been beaten too many times. Hunched over and self-blaming. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Will asked. ¡°Reese. Probably. Maybe.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°And how did you wind up here?¡± ¡°Well, I got swept up with Mark Wyrd¡¯s Party as they left Akul, and they cut me loose here a couple years ago.¡± ¡°A couple years ago?¡± will asked. ¡°Decades?¡± Reese said with a shrug. ¡°I dunno, I just remember getting shanghaied by them on the Ocean Floor, meeting a girl, starting a family here and being an exotic fisherman and my granddaughter took over the family business when-ah, shit, different coil. It was days. I¡¯ve only been here like a couple days. I think.¡± Will asked the obvious question. ¡°What is a coil?¡± ¡°You know¡­when all human civilization gets wiped out and The Tower adds a floor and everyone starts over from scratch. You know. A Coil. Happens like every year. Don¡¯t they teach that in school? I guess school gets destroyed too¡­¡± Reese got a vacant expression on his face. Will thought back to Baron Akul¡¯s ominous observations on the gradually worsening situation in the Tower as Lords died faster than they could be replaced. ¡°¡­How old are you?¡± Reese gave a small squeak and shrugged. Will saw the morning light beginning to touch the tops of the surrounding ships, and he knew he was going to get an earful from Loth. ¡°I have a thousand questions for you, but right now, I only want the answer to two things:¡± Will said. ¡°Number one: Tell me exactly what the item you want is. Number two: tell me exactly what you are going to pay for it.¡± Reese took a deep breath. ¡°Okay. I want access to a System Administrator panel that will allow me to revoke my protections and finally shuffle off this mortal coil. I think we made some in the high-tech coil.¡± ¡°And how I will pay for it: I have personally witnessed more Floors than anyone alive. I¡¯ve studied the pattern. I¡¯m betting that above the tenth Floor, information is limited about hazards and points of interest and such. I can help with that.¡± Will decided to test him. First he¡¯d ask about this floor and a few of the ones that came before to figure out what it looked like when Reese was telling the truth, then move on to the higher floors. ¡°Alright, what¡¯s the major hazard on this floor?¡± Will asked, expecting something along the lines of ¡®leviathan¡¯ or ¡®skyshark¡¯ ¡°Secret society of fish people.¡± ¡°What?¡± Will asked. ¡°What?¡± Reese asked with a frown. ¡°There are no fish people on this floor.¡± It was entirely environmental hazards like storms, and mindless monsters that tried to eat anything they could get their mouths around. At least according to Steve. ¡°Shhhh¡­.¡± Reese put a crusty finger to his lips, glancing around suspiciously before lowering his voice. ¡°That¡¯s what the fish people want you to think. I only found out about them when I got blown off course while fishing yesterday and sailed into the wrong port under the cover of darkness. I saw the some of the local powers making deals with them. Horrifying deals.¡± ¡°You sure it was yesterday?¡± Will asked. ¡°¡­no.¡± ¡°¡­Okay, you can come with me for now.¡± Will said. There was something about the matter-of-fact way that Reese spoke that made Will stop and take notice. He wasn¡¯t exaggerating, he was spilling what he perceived to be the absolute truth in the disjointed, stream-of-consciousness manner a person would if they were musing to themselves. There was no sign of deception. And that made Will¡¯s hackles stand on end. Either this man was telling the truth, haphazardly spilling secrets that could shake The Tower to its core¡­or he was so Cracked that he needed adult supervision. Will almost toppled over as Reese let go of his arm and turned to grovel in front of him. ¡°Oh, thank you! You won¡¯t regret this, Mr. Gandr!¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Will said. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Mr. Oh.¡± ¡°s¡¯wat I said.¡± Reese said, getting back under Will¡¯s arm and helping him stagger towards the warehouse dock, where Shimmer was tied up. In a matter of minutes, Will was back on the ship, being hosed down on the deck while the Bakers attended to his wounds. Sadly, he couldn¡¯t enjoy the proximity to multiple Anna¡¯s doting on him simultaneously because he was also getting chewed out by Loth at the same time. ¡°I expected to make trouble while he was out, not you!¡± Loth said, hands on her hips. ¡°Hey.¡± Travis grunted, glancing up from where he was eating blueberry ice. A specialty of the druids on the more central barges. Tasty and prevented heatstroke and scurvy. Not that they had to worry about heatstroke this time of year. ¡°I didn¡¯t make trouble,¡± Will said, wincing as Anna # 2 scrubbed his cuts with soap and boiled water. ¡°I got jumped by half the bar because my name got out.¡± ¡°What?¡± Loth¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Don¡¯t kill them.¡± Loth clenched her jaw and glanced aside. ¡°Don¡¯t do it.¡± Loth heaved a sigh. ¡°Foo.¡± ¡°If anything I saved us a ton of trouble by getting all the Party Leader fights out of the way at the same time. I¡¯m very solidly in the pecking order now. Near the top, too. They even said they were gonna have to change laws because of me. How cool is that?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t possibly have won. The fights are to first blood, aren¡¯t they? You¡¯re a mess.¡± Loth gestured at him. ¡°You look you went through a meatgrinder,¡± Anna#3 said, following behind her clone with salve to seal the wounds. ¡°I challenged the entire bar to a fight. If there are no neutral observers, then no one can objectively say who got cut when and by what. They only realized this after I¡¯d already took out a few of them, took my first hit and kept fighting. It was technically a draw, but it was a 50-on-1 draw, so¡­they were impressed.¡± ¡°Alright, then what about him?¡± Loth asked, pointing at Reese, who was coiling some ropes, peering down at them with dissatisfaction. ¡°Experienced sailor and fisherman.¡± Will lied. ¡°I figured we could use someone who actually knows the Floor.¡± Will tapped on Loth¡¯s hand with Phantom Hand, indicating they would talk about it more later. ¡°I been fishing longer than you¡¯ve been alive.¡± Reese said. ¡°Jason, can you help me seal the ends of these ropes? Whoever did it didn¡¯t know what they were doing.¡± Mason glanced around, realizing Reese was looking at him. ¡°My name¡¯s Mason.¡± ¡°Right. Right¡­ would you mind helping me with a bit of sizzle?¡± he wiggled his fingers. Loth glanced back at Will, a single scaly eyebrow cocked. He knew the ruse was already shredded by Loth, so he¡¯d have to clue her in, but the others could just assume he was a weird old man with poor memory for names and faces. ¡°Incidentally, I want to discuss our plans for the next outing.¡± Will said, standing and donning a fresh shirt once Anna #3 finished sealing the last wound. Anna and Loth clicked their tongues. ¡°Loth, if you would.¡± Will motioned towards their offices. ¡°Of course.¡± Together the two of them entered Loth¡¯s office, pried open a hatch in the floor and then entered a pitch back crawlspace, sneaking their way to the back of the ship before they spoke. ¡°Why does he know Mason¡¯s Ability and his name?¡± Loth whispered. ¡°Did you tell him?¡± S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°No. I honestly don¡¯t know.¡± Will whispered. ¡°I¡¯m waffling between him being Cracked, and him being some kind of immortal. Some of the things he says¡­¡± ¡°What if it¡¯s both?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Could be. He¡¯s offered to give us critical insider information on each floor in exchange for taking him up with us until he finds a way to kill himself.¡± ¡°How do we know he¡¯s not just lying?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Well, we could just kill him. If he dies¡­ then it¡¯s the former. Just doesn¡¯t feel right, though. Reese mentioned something about a secret society of fish people pulling the strings of The Flotilla from the shadows. Sounds pretty crazy, but if it checks out¡­¡± ¡°Verify that, and he stays.¡± Loth surmised. ¡°For this floor anyway,¡± Will whispered back. ¡°You know¡­we haven¡¯t gone out for a nighttime walk together since the Church of Granesh.¡± Loth said. ¡°Loth the Luminary. Are you asking me out on a date?¡± Will whispered in mock shock. ¡°If by ¡®date¡¯, you mean ¡®reconnaissance mission¡¯, then yes.¡± Chapter 93: A night for romance There were a couple places they had in mind to check for dark secrets: Abandoned docks, like Reese had suggested And the church of Granesh, because they had such a fine time breaking in the last time they went for a walk, and if there was a secret demi-human plot against The Flotilla, the church of Granesh would be the ones who would be most interested in finding out. Aside from¡­everyone else who liked a juicy conspiracy. ¡°Not a lot to go on,¡± Will mused as they walked down the floating piers that linked the ships of The Flotilla together a bit like a honeycomb. The night air was beginning to creep through the crowded together ships as the sun went down, adding an omnipresent cold draft to the smell of seawater and faint rot. Will and Loth could see just fine, though. The handful of ship lamps that spilled light into the city ¡®streets¡¯ were more than enough for Will and Loth to navigate by. ¡°Still, a fine way to spend an evening,¡± Loth said with a shrug. To be fair, Will like being sneaky and flitting from shadow to shadow when the mood struck, so he really didn¡¯t have much reason to refute Loth¡¯s statement. So far in the night, they¡¯d checked a dilapidated dock that no one used because it was treacherously unsafe. That had been a wash, with Loth almost falling into the ocean after a board that had held Will up collapsing beneath the kobold¡¯s weight. Their next stop was a pleasure vessel that seemed to facilitate a bit of smuggling on the side. They spent nearly half an hour watching level 30 sailors with bodies scarred from years of navigating treacherous seas, and fancy hats to denote their respective pecking order, running bushels of green seaweed back and forth. Will and Loth were surprised to discover that the drug-running operation wasn¡¯t even illegal, it was simply a mix of habit, peak demand hours and cool night-time temperatures preventing spoilage that saw teams of sailors hauling packages of meldweed into the floating brothel by the bushel. ¡°What¡¯s meldweed do anyway?¡± Will asked as they left. ¡°If chewed recreationally, It temporarily depresses parts of the brain responsible for individuality and sense of self, making it difficult to determine where you end and your partner begins.¡± Loth said. ¡°¡­Why would you want to do that?¡± Will asked frowning. ¡°Sometimes something you say reminds me how young you are,¡± Loth said. looking up at him with mock pity. ¡°Ah. It¡¯s a sex thing,¡± Will said, nodding more confidently than he felt. ¡°Anyway, if refined, it can be used offensively to make some rather interesting poisons. Ever since I learned of it, I¡¯ve entertained the idea of lacing a cocktail of it and a few other things on blackmail letters to make the reader unable to think critically as the substance absorbs through their fingers while they read.¡± ¡°That¡¯s monstrous.¡± ¡°Thank you. Can we get some?¡± Loth asked looking up at him with pleading eyes. ¡°Sure, on the condition that you don¡¯t use it on any Party members without their knowledge or permission. We can swing by and grab some after we¡¯re done looking around.¡± §²????£Î??????S ¡°Nice.¡± Loth clenched her fists. ¡°My first mind-effecting poison.¡± She rubbed her chin. ¡°I wonder if I can breed my wasps to replicate the compound? Anyway, meldweed might be illegal outside the tower, but it¡¯s on the list of approved substances here.¡± As if to emphasize her point, Will spotted a guardsman, to all appearances another sailor, with only the Flotilla¡¯s oversized ¡®guardsman¡¯ hat to denote his station, waving at the crew carrying massive baskets of seaweed into the oversized cruise ship. Together, Will and Loth crept off into the night, looking for any other sign of fish-people secretly undermining the flotilla. Their third stop of the night was when Loth tugged at his sleeve and motioned to an oversized ship on the edge of the water, with gentle swaves lapping up against it¡¯s side. ¡°Something¡¯s telling me that is a trap,¡± Loth whispered as the two of them hunkered down. ¡°What about it?¡± She cocked her head, seemingly considering. ¡°It¡¯s too far away from other light sources, the rear of the ship is unlit, unguarded, facing a clear swath of ocean with poor visibility, the panelling on the rear is oddly shaped, with an oversized rim around it.¡± Now that she pointed it out, Will could imagine a small vessel easily rowing up to the back of the oversized ship, without anyone spotting it. There weren¡¯t very many places for them to sit and watch, eventually they found a section of dock that hung a bit higher above the water, and Loth created a sling to suspend the two of them from it. As the evening gave way to night, lamp after lamp gradually went out as the city went to sleep. ¡°There.¡± Loth said, pointing. Even with Will¡¯s Acuity as high as it was, it was difficult to make out. The ripples of water that reflected the barest hint of starlight were being masked by something in the vague shape of a small boat gradually drifting towards the back of the ship that Loth had marked as suspicious. Will nodded silently, replacing Amulet of the Homefield Advantage with the Dimensional Assassin¡¯s Amulet. Between it and the Wand of the Trespasser, Will¡¯s audiovisual effects were dampened by 55% while he tried to hide. In broad daylight, that would make him somewhat transparent, but in the nighttime, he basically became a ghost. Will didn¡¯t assume that meant he¡¯d be completely unseen. The dampening effect really only leveled the playing field, given that nearly everyone had at least Acuity. His best bet would be to employ the age-old stealth technique of approaching from a direction they wouldn¡¯t think to look. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Loth pointed off to the left as the boat approached and Will nodded, slipping out of the sling Loth had made for them and dropping to the water without even a splash to announce his presence as the water solidified underneath him. Will kept low and scuttled to the left until he saw an opportunity. A swell of water, maybe two feet tall concealed him as he darted away from the dock and crawled silently across the rolling waves on his hand and feet until he was right behind the incoming ship. Close enough to hear their quiet breathing. From what Will could see, there were at least three of them, cloaks concealing their features. The one in the front peered up at the ship they headed towards, watching a tiny slight flickering rhythmically, like a candle with someone waving their hand in front of it. From Loth¡¯s perspective, she wouldn¡¯t be able to see the person signaling to the boat, but Will could see them. And by default, they could see crawling along the water, out in the open. If not now, then Will swiftly crawled forward and clung to the back of the boat, using it to hide himself from the watcher above while making himself as small as possible. One of the passengers must¡¯ve felt his weight shift the boat, because their hooded face glanced over the edge, scanning the surrounding water. Will didn¡¯t move a muscle. They didn¡¯t raise the alarm, merely leaning back into their seat with a grunt of displaced air from an obese body. A minute later, Will risked peeking around the side of the boat to see where they were going. Ahead of them, the back of the ship began to open. Loth¡¯s suspicions were proven correct as faint light spilled into the surrounding water, forcing Will to pull his head back and narrow his eyes against the glare. It was the faintest candlelight, but now that his eyes were accustomed to the dark of night, it glared like the sun. The rear of the ship opened like an inverted drawbridge, revealing that the guts of the ship had been hollowed out, leaving only a fa?ade of a functional ship. The secret smuggler¡¯s dock was held aloft by hidden pontoons, because it lacked a bottom. Will took a silent, deep breath as they approached the entrance, where sailors were pacing the sides of the dock, flickering lamps lighting the interior. Will would surely be spotted. Will took a deep breath and climbed down into the water, clinging to the bottom of the boat. He held his breath until the boat came to a complete stop, then another minute, his Resistance allowing him to hold his breath far longer than he ever had before he became a Climber. He heard some conversation muffled by a yard of water, followed by the boat shifting as the occupants began unloading it. Once everything went still, Will dove down deep until he hit the bottom of the fake ship, then swam towards a pool of darkness in the corner of the hidden dock. Will rose quietly, allowing his breath out silently once he was above the waterline, before taking another quiet lungful of air. While he recovered from holding his breath for an extended period, he studied his surroundings. He was in the corner of the hollowed out ship, submerged in the water beneath a raised platform that held crate and equipment for taller vessels that might dock inside the massive fake ship. Diagonally from him was the little boat that had just docked. It was standing silent and empty, but the wooden platform just beside it was bustling with activity as a young man and woman embraced while two fat, sweaty, harried-looking older men in fancy garb hustled to move an enormous amount of luggage. ¡°At last we can be together, Harold,¡± The woman said breathily, taking a moment to regain her composure after the enthusiasm they¡¯d just shown. ¡°We can escape our families and The Tower, and live happily forever after on the Seventh Floor, where they¡¯ll never find us!¡± ¡°I would gladly eke out a life in the jungles of the seventh Floor, eating berries and wearing leaves if it was with you!¡± ¡®Harold¡¯ replied. ¡°Oh, Harold!¡± Will wondered. Will waited as patiently as he could, but as the couple talked, the details of their conversation revealed a saccharine-sweet story of forbidden love that Will suspected had been concocted by their parents to make them think running away together was their own rebellious idea. Eventually, Will reached a tipping point. ¡°Oh come ON!¡± Will shouted, grasping the surface of the water and pulling himself up and out of it, causing everyone¡¯s attention to snap to him. ¡°Why on earth would your parents forbid you from seeing each other, then every summer, go to adjacent hunting lodges at the with easily climbable fences? Same winter dorms, spring camps? Riding lessons? Hawking? They¡¯ve been shoving you together longer than you can remember! Right now, your families are just waiting for you to get tired of living without creature comforts and come crawling back to their money. Am I right!?¡± Will glanced at the two sweaty fat men, who looked distinctly uncomfortable. Or maybe that was just their default look. ¡°This has been a tremendous waste of time,¡± Will grumbled into the stunned silence, wringing out his clothes as he stomped across the water towards the doorway leading to the outside. A false panel on the inside of the ship ripped aside as Loth cut her way out of it, no less than fifteen feet away from the happy couple. ¡°¡­Congratulations, to both of you.¡± Loth said, hastily bowing at the stunned onlookers before hustling to catch up with Will. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Will asked as they walked back outside into the cold night air. Upon it hitting his recently soaked clothes, a bone-deep chill caught up with him. ¡°I would say the floating church of Granesh, but I think you need a change of clothes, first.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll dry,¡± Will said, waving it off. Loth shrugged, making a relaxed gesture that seemed to say ¡®if you say so.¡¯ ¡°Three places, three misses.¡± Will mused. ¡°I¡¯m not saying that the fishpeople, if they are real, would be so easy to uncover that we could find them on the first night, only visiting three places, but still, it feels strange we didn¡¯t find anything out of the ordinary. I mean, aside from a poorly conceived elopement.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s not the only way to verify Reese¡¯s story.¡± Will¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°You trapped his room didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Nooo¡­.¡± Loth glanced up at him. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t trigger it yet.¡± ¡°I really rather wouldn¡¯t murder a man who¡¯s lost his mind to check if he¡¯s actually seen the rise and fall of entire civilizations. ¡°Think about it this way, if he¡¯s actually lost his mind, aren¡¯t we putting him out of his misery?¡± Loth asked. Will drew his hand down his face and groaned before shaking a finger at her. ¡°Quick and painless.¡± ¡°Quick and painless,¡± Loth said with a nod. ¡°So¡­we¡¯ve got some time to kill before your clothes are dry¡­¡± S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Yes, we can go buy some meldweed.¡± Loth silently pumped her fist in celebration as they walked back across the floating piers, Together the two of them headed to the Last Chance Inn, which had a carving of a busty mermaid hanging above the entrance. Unlike most other places in the Flotilla, the Last Chance Inn came alive at night. Noise and light engulfed them as they entered the brothel. Will waited against a pole in the main room while Loth went to the front desk to negotiate with the proprieter, a madame wearing a rather low-hanging dress and outrageous hat. Will watched as the conversation seemed to turn heated, extending far beyond the duration he¡¯d expected it to go. A few minutes later, Loth returned, looking miffed. ¡°They won¡¯t sell meldweed in bulk to non-vendors. Only recreational amounts.¡± She presented a tiny baggy of the dried seaweed.¡± What am I supposed to do with this? I need a bushel at to make it strong enough to incapacitate on skin contact.¡± ¡°Did you tell them they¡¯re unlikely to get their usual transporters in for a while because of the chaos on the Fifth Floor?¡± ¡°Yeah, but the way she spoke it was like she didn¡¯t care.¡± Will glanced over at the madame who was speaking to a prospective client. The woman idly scratched under her hat as she spoke to the client, giving a tittering laugh at something the man had said. ¡°Maybe they care.¡± Will mused. The rules on the Sixth Floor were more¡­loosy-goosy than not. The madame should be aware that they had more meldweed than the brothel could possibly use in a year, and their transporters were likely going to be days or even weeks delayed, causing a huge portion of their stock to rot. It was a plant, after all. And here was someone willing to pay a good price to take several bushels of the stuff off her hands, saving her a large net loss. Regardless of if it was against the rules or not, she should definitely be interested in finding a way to get some off her hands. The only explanation that made sense to Will was that they didn¡¯t care about getting the bushels of perishable product moved out of their ship was because they never intended to sell it anyway. Loth was following Will¡¯s unspoken thoughts. He could see her eyes light up with understanding as she scanned the building, mentally calculating how much meldweed was actually being used by patrons against the huge amounts they¡¯d seen loaded into the ship earlier in the day. They could be meldweed for sustenance and it still wouldn¡¯t use it all up. ¡°Do you think they¡¯re refining it themselves?¡± Loth asked. ¡°No idea, but this has got me intrigued enough to take a deeper look. Hopefully it¡¯s better than the elopement,¡± Will said, heading for the door. ¡°I thought it was nice,¡± Loth said as she caught up. ¡°A damn waste of a infiltration, is what it was!¡± Will said, shaking his fist while Loth chuckled beside him. Chapter 94: Getting Crabs at The Brothel Strangely enough, The Last Chance Inn was much harder to sneak into than the smuggler¡¯s dock, for a variety of reasons. The entire boat was well lit, there were tons of carousing witnesses, and nearly as many high-level bouncers with strong PVP skills patrolling every floor of the ship, looking for people not following the program. After surveying it thoroughly, they did manage to find corner of the vessel, near the waterline, that was shaded and protected from view. It wasn¡¯t an entrance, but that didn¡¯t matter much to Loth. ¡°I bet you never thought those riding chaps would come in handy,¡± Loth said from his shoulders. ¡°Why is it that every time we go out, you end up riding me?¡± Will asked as he crept along the waves. The water was bowing under his feet, nearly dropping them both into the ocean. ¡°Because you can walk on water, and I¡¯m cold-blooded. If I fall into that water, I will pass out.¡± Loth said. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°In a few hours, anyway,¡± Loth said, her tail waggling against his back. Will stopped and looked up at her. ¡°You don¡¯t feel cold-blooded to me.¡± ¡°Are you accusing me of pretending to succumb to hypothermia on the Second Floor as some kind of !?¡± Loth whispered. ¡°No, but I¡¯m definitely thinking it .¡± ¡°Too late, you¡¯ve already passed the test.¡± Loth said. Will rolled his eyes and returned to his business, the two of them falling silent as they approached the unguarded corner of the Last Chance Inn. Loth extended a black talon, lazily drawing a circle on the ship¡¯s wooden beams as a stream of insects crawled from her sleeve and deposited themselves along the circle she traced. The insects began chewing their way through the wood with startling speed. In a matter of seconds, the thick wooden side of the ship had a perfect hole drilled into the side. Loth clambered off him and through the hole, followed shortly by Will. One of the taboos of The Flotilla was entering a vessel without asking permission. Entering someone else¡¯s ship without hailing them was considered a hostile act and would result in being attacked on sight. ?????¦­¦ÏB¦¥? It was also a great way to lose the goodwill he¡¯d acquired in his brawl the previous night, so neither of them was particularly interested in getting caught. Will thought to himself, touching his mask to confirm its presence, his gaze scanning the pitch-black room they¡¯d found themselves in, the glimmers of light from between the floorboards of the rooms above the only source of light. All he could make out with his superhuman vision was ripples and orbs on the floor, and he smelled¡­less rotting seaweed than he would¡¯ve expected. ¡°Let me.¡± Loth whispered, reaching into a pocket and scattering some glowbugs. Her experiments with controlling insects with Miasma in them had led to several improvements in her basic lineup of insects. Glowbugs were the best example, as she had bred a variety that kept their luminescence into maturity, allowing them to fly, and their brightness had been improved from a dying candle to a brilliant lamplight. The glowbugs woke up from their slumber midair and flew up to the ceiling, where they became stationary lighting. Will¡¯s brows furrowed as he took in the sight before them. The entire room was filled with meldweed placed on drying racks that increased the surface area as much as physically possible, but that didn¡¯t feel right. The drying racks and floor were covered in meldweed and more was dumped haphazardly up against the drying racks where they couldn¡¯t find any space to put any more. As if someone had had a methodical plan, and begun it before it was taken over by thoughtless, disinterested laborers. Will got a strange feeling nagging at him as he scanned the room. Will glanced up and saw where several vents had been nailed shut, implying that the owners want the seaweed to dry out. The room been for drying meldweed, but now it was for something else. Will thought, inhaling. If anything, Will faintly smelled the musky smell of animal dung. ¡°It¡¯s a nursery,¡± Loth whispered, drawing Will¡¯s attention to her. She had knelt down and carefully peeled aside a bit of meldweed, revealing thousands of pinkie-sized eggs, as well as pale little crabs about half the size of Will¡¯s palm, who scuttled deeper into the mat of meldweed, seeking to avoid the light. ¡°Are they¡­eating the crabs?¡± Will mused. Loth¡¯s claws pierced the mat of green seaweed and came back up with a larger specimen, about the size of Will¡¯s hand. ¡°Shh¡­¡± Loth whispered to the crab struggling in her grasp, and Will could feel Charge moving through Loth¡¯s body. As his Acuity and Focus became higher, it became easier to feel if someone was using an Ability. ¡°You can control crabs?¡± Will asked as the crab relaxed in her hand before she began studying it. ¡°They¡¯re crustaceans, which is close enough to insects for The Tower,¡± Loth murmured, turning the tamed crab over in her hand and studying its belly. The crab¡¯s belly opened, revealing a serrated beak-like mouth and dozens of pink tendrils attached to a mucus-covered pink wrinkly nodule. ¡°¡­Is that normal?¡± Will asked. Loth gave him a ¡®look¡¯. ¡°Hey. I¡¯ve never seen a crab before this Floor.¡± Will said, raising his hands defensively. ¡°This is its mouth,¡± She said, pointing at a little set of mandibles near the creature¡¯s eyes at the front. I don¡¯t know this is,¡± She said, pointing at the belly-mouth. ¡°But I don¡¯t think they¡¯re raising them for food.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to-¡° Loth cut off as the door creaked open. The two of them silently ducked behind a drying rack, making themselves as small as possible ¡°This¡­isn¡¯t Madeline¡¯s¡­room is it?¡± a voice asked, his words slurred from drugs. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Sure it is, she¡¯s right in there, can¡¯t you see her?¡± Will peeked around the corner and spotted a patron of the brothel kneeling in front of a particularly big clump of Meldweed. The man¡¯s eyes were unfocused, as he chewed meldweed. ¡°I¡­think so?¡± he said before frowning as the heap of meldweed began to shift, revealing the legs of a crab about twice the size of the one in Loth¡¯s hand. ¡°Look closer,¡± The bouncer said, grabbing the man by the back of the neck and shoving his head towards the heap of seaweed. The pale crab swiftly clambered up onto the man¡¯s head and settled down onto it like a man might settle into a comfy chair, wiggling its butt to find the perfect spot. A wet carried through the still air to Will¡¯s ear, making his stomach turn. ¡°Oh. Oh!¡± the patron said, pulling his head back up, still bearing the crab on the crown of his head, a trickle of blood flowing down the side of his head. He looked around the room with the wonder of a newborn. ¡°Welcome to the world, brother,¡± the bouncer said, clasping the man¡¯s hand and bringing him back up to his feet. Will couldn¡¯t help but notice the bouncer¡¯s ostentatious hat. ¡°Let¡¯s get you covered up.¡± The bouncer said, producing a hat from a rack near the door, placing it over the crab attached to the man¡¯s skull. ¡°¡­Why?¡± the man asked with the tone of a child. ¡°Think about it a moment.¡± ¡°Oh¡­oh,¡± Will witnessed the wide-eyed curiosity fade from the man¡¯s face as he took the hat and clamped it down over the passenger atop his head, wiping the blood away from his temple. ¡°Let¡¯s get you to see Mother.¡± ¡°..okay.¡± The two of them left the room, leaving Will and Loth alone with thousands of parasitic crabs that could latch onto a man¡¯s skull and control his body. Will¡¯s scalp itched with phantom pain. Instinctively, Will ran through his memory key, causing his thoughts and feelings to rapidly shift as he ran a hand over his scalp. A shiver went down his spine. They¡¯d found the conspiracy they¡¯d been looking for. Not fishmen, exactly, but close. ¡°I think we should-¡° Will glanced down at Loth, who was inspecting the crab in her hand with a contemplative frown. In an instant, he saw the plan bubbling away under the surface. ¡°No.¡± Will said. ¡°I have no idea what you mean,¡± Loth said innocently, the headcrab crawling across her palm. Two day later, Will was chewing his own supply of dried seaweed, heart hammering in his chest. It wasn¡¯t meldweed, but it looked and smelled like it. Loth had put some chemical in his eyes that made them dilate, making everything too bright and irritating, and given him something to drink that made him sweat profusely. His clothes were sticky and unwashed. Evey bit of him looked the part of a meldweed addict. He was putting every fiber of his being into acting like the glaze-eyed addicts around him, slumping against a pillar in the brothel and just going with the flow, despite his nerves. He didn¡¯t feel like going so far as partaking in the place¡¯s¡­more exotic entertainment to sell the illusion of William Oh being a carousing meldweed addict, so instead he hit the gambling tables, where it was primarily games of chance, dice and cards against other Climbers, wagering various Relics in lieu of currency, which held little value on the sixth Floor. Not being drug-addled, Will was able to gamble or cheat fairly well against the others, but that wasn¡¯t the purpose of the assignment. After he had built up a decent pot, Will began systematically losing it to demonstrate his rapidly dwindling grasp on his senses. Hats were in vogue, recently, and the number of un-hatted people in and around the Last Chance Inn were dwindling. Will meanwhile, had cut his hair close to the scalp in an attempt to make it stand out as particularly juicy and easy to access. It didn¡¯t take long for the offer to come. ¡°William Oh, in the flesh.¡± The madame said, sitting beside him, pressing her hip against his own. ¡°Who is¡­¡± Will slurred his words, pausing as if he were trying to remember who he was. ¡°Right. That¡¯s me.¡± Loth¡¯s hypothesis was that Meldweed¡¯s effects eased initial rejection, so they picked their victims from those who were having trouble remembering who or what they were. ¡°I¡¯m sad that none of my girls have had the opportunity to entertain the great William Oh. Is there no one here to your taste?¡± she asked, pressing her chest up against him, tipping her crab-concealing hat uncomfortably close to his face. Heart hammering in his chest, Will didn¡¯t have to fake his nervous reply. ¡°Well¡­I¡¯ve never¡­you know.¡± ¡°Oh, my, I didn¡¯t think¡­¡± She lowered her voice. ¡°Tell you what. We have hostess named Madeline who is experienced with guiding young men. She is the embodiment of patience, kindness and discretion. A saintess who would be more than happy to take the time to teach. You. Everything.¡± She whispered the last few words directly into Will¡¯s ear, the crab under her hat inches away, causing him to shudder in disgust. Apparently she didn¡¯t read it that way, because she pulled away, a wide smile on her face. ¡°Now how does that sound?¡± ¡°I guess¡­I guess it sounds pretty good,¡± Will said, his hair standing on end, heart hammering in his chest before reaching into his pockets. ¡°How much¡­¡± ¡°Excellent.¡± She said with a smile, laying a hand gently on his arm. ¡°Don¡¯t concern yourself with payment just yet. A young up-and comer like yourself is more than good for it. Just enjoy. Milo will show you the way.¡± She pointed at the same oversized bouncer that he¡¯d witnessed shoving a man¡¯s head into a pile of seaweed two days ago. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will thought, trying and failing to hide the adrenaline causing his hands to tremble. ¡°Right this way, sir,¡± Milo said, his oversized hat nearly brushing against the establishment¡¯s ceiling. Milo led him down into the bowels of the pleasure ship, past several doors with intriguing noises, down a staircase, and in front of a single door in the center of the hall. It opened to reveal the nursery, and Will stumbled in, hamming up his inebriation. Will thought. ¡°¡°This¡­isn¡¯t Madeline¡¯s¡­room is it?¡± he asked, ¡°Sure it is, she¡¯s right in there, can¡¯t you see her?¡± Milo said, gently ushering him into the room and pointing at the large pile of seaweed by the entrance. ¡°I¡­think so?¡± Will said as he was guided to his knees beside the pile of seaweed. It began to shift as whatever was living under there began to stir. ¡°Look closer,¡± The bouncer said, grabbing Will by the back of the neck and shoving his head towards the heap of seaweed. In a flash of white, a crab that had been tamed by Loth clambered up onto Will¡¯s head, sending shivers across his entire body and causing every fiber of his being to want to immediately start swatting at it. A wet carried through the still air as it bit down on a little blood-filled pod it had carried up to his scalp, unseen by its brethren. Will thought, shuddering involuntarily as a bit of blood trickled down the side of his head. ¡°Oh. Oh!¡± Will said, pulling his head back up, studying the room with faux wonder. ¡°Welcome to the world, brother,¡± the bouncer said, clasping Will¡¯s hand and bringing him back up to his feet. ¡°Let¡¯s get you covered up.¡± Milo said, producing a hat from a rack near the door, placing it over the crab resting on Will¡¯s head. Will thought. ¡°¡­Why?¡± Will asked, sticking to the script. ¡°Think about it a moment.¡± ¡°Oh¡­oh,¡± Will unslurred his words and affected more control over his body, simulating the crab fully integrating with his brain. ¡°Let¡¯s get you to see Mother.¡± Milo said, clapping Will on the shoulder. ¡°¡­okay.¡± Will thought, following Milo deeper into the ship. He could feel it up there¡­existing. Menacingly. Will followed Milo through the halls until he came to a door, knocking politely. ¡°New arrival, Mother.¡± Milo called at the door. ¡°Send them in.¡± a voice called from the other side. Will entered what appeared to be an office with an aged woman sitting behind the desk and a bushel of meldweed in the corner. Will frowned. She wasn¡¯t wearing a hat. ¡°Come in, come in,¡± She said, her whole body exuding motherly love as she motioned for him to approach, Milo closing the door behind him. ¡°Come in, youngling, have a seat.¡± She said, indicating the seat in front of her desk. ¡°Everything must be so new to you. first bonding. What an exciting time in our lives.¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m flooded with questions.¡± Will said, a bit motion out of the corner of his eye attracting his attention. In the bushel of meldweed was a massive crab, larger than a man, squatting down over the leaves, depositing strings of eggs held together by sticky mucus. ¡°How embarrassing. Please, don¡¯t stare at me too much.¡± The woman in front of him said, drawing Will¡¯s attention back to her. She was blushing a bit. Will thought. ¡°So, youngling, do you have any questions about your new life and purpose?¡± she asked, leaning forward eagerly. ¡°What my purpose?¡± Will asked. ¡°Whatever you want to do. Most stay here and help out their mother, but many have gone on their own adventures. Captain Enora Moss is a great example of the adventurous type who really gets out there and makes a name for himself. Billy Tanton is a good example of the homebody type. He opened his own carpentry business of the Fifth Floor, you know? Quite successful.¡± She seems genuinely happy for her children¡¯s successes, like a mother would be. ¡°Am I William Oh, or¡­¡± ¡°Oh, yes, You¡¯re William Oh. You¡¯ll have his intelligence, memories, thoughts and feelings, which means you¡¯ve probably got his adventurous streak. Over time, the separation between you and your host will dwindle, and maybe one day you¡¯ll be like me! One soul in two bodies.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Will said, thinking. ¡°I love to help guide younglings through their first few days.¡± She said, grinning eagerly. ¡°Any more questions?¡± ¡°Just one:¡± Will said, taking the crab and hat off his head and placing them on his lap. ¡°How much are you willing to pay to keep this a secret?¡± Chapter 95: Any Boat in a Storm The headcrab matron¡¯s body stiffened as all the joy and excitement drained from her expression. Both from the human and the crab laying eggs in the corner of the room. Her hand shifted slightly on the desk. ¡°Before you do anything rash,¡± Will said, raising his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve got my entire Party waiting outside the brothel for me to return unharmed and without a passenger. They have instructions to raise a shitstorm if anything other than that happens.¡± ¡°William Oh¡­¡± She said, seemingly tasting his name. ¡°It seems like your legend wasn¡¯t as overblown as I¡¯d thought. What do you want?¡± she asked, seemingly relaxing. ¡°Both of you stand where I can see you,¡± Will said, motioning for the crab to join the human at the desk. Once they were both in front of him, Will spoke. ¡°I want Two things. First, I want your support. I want privileged status in The Flotilla. I know you¡¯re on the city council, so I want you to endorse me should the need arise. Take my side in legal disputes, funnel lucrative contracts towards those who align themselves with me. That sort of thing.¡± ¡°Easy enough,¡± She agreed readily. ¡°You do understand that once I endorse you, it is in your best interest to ensure we aren¡¯t discovered, lest my favor become a lead weight around your neck?¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Will said, nodding. ¡°The second thing I want is for you to not target certain people.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°In the coming months and years, there will be a flow of people following me up to my Stronghold. Naturally they¡¯ll stop in The Flotilla to wait out the acclimation period before their bus moves on. I want you to leave people allied with me alone.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Will said, spreading his palms as if to say ¡®easy, right?¡¯ ¡°This seems less like blackmail and more like a proper business arrangement.¡± The matron said, both the crab and her puppet assuming contemplative poses as they digested Will¡¯s requests. ¡°All this intrigue, the blackmail¡­was just to get my foot in the door.¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°To be taken seriously.¡± ¡°I would¡¯ve preferred a letter.¡± She groused. ¡°A letter doesn¡¯t have the same flair as a dramatic infiltration, and Loth says my penmanship is atrocious.¡± Will said with a shrug. She studied him for a moment, head cocked, studying him with inhuman focus, and Will felt the Charge running through her Body as she activated an Ability, causing Will to tense. ¡°You have six Party members surrounding the Last Chance Inn. Loth the saboteur, June the scout, Reggie the tank, Mason the nuker, Alicia the artillery, and Brianna the Tangled. Brianna has middling Focus at best, and like us, is one soul in multiple bodies. Her offshoots are currently acting as bodyguards for each of your other Party members. I dominate your Tangled footsoldiers and turn them against your core group, bringing them to me. Only Loth and Mason have enough Focus to resist my control at close range.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re not going to do that.¡± Will said. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± she asked, seeming to gain interest as Will spoke, leaning forward eagerly. ¡°Because if you¡¯re reading our minds, you should know that Alicia can stop your heart from where she¡¯s watching our conversation, Loth doesn¡¯t have any Tangled offshoot beside her, and even if she did, they wouldn¡¯t win. She get away and bring the Flotilla down on your head.¡± She twitched at that thought, seemingly trying to determine if Will was mind-bluffing. ¡°Face it. The risk of exposing your entire operation or dying if one thing goes wrong is higher than just working with me.¡± Will said. ¡°¡­You¡¯re not wrong. Let¡¯s talk terms.¡± The crab matriarch said, clasping her hands together. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What followed next was an exercise in weaponized boredom, as the specifics of an alliance between crab and Will had so many rules, caviats, and if-thens, that Will found himself thinking he might¡¯ve actually preferred a fight to the death. The gist of it was the same, though: Anyone allied with Will was off-limits. Will would protect the crab-people¡¯s secrecy and freedoms, as long as they didn¡¯t use that promise to put him in a compromising position, and in return, they would become a voting bloc that supported him politically. Milo popped his head in, seemingly wondering what was taking so long, eyes widening when he saw Will without his hat, head crabless. The matron made a swift gesture at him and Milo ducked his head back out of the room, nodding. She reached under her desk and brought out an inkwell that radiated the energy of a Relic. ¡°Let¡¯s make it official,¡± she said, beginning to carefully ink a Contract. Will held up his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s bring in Mason. We need someone you can¡¯t control proofreading the paper.¡± Will was definitely not bringing in Loth, as she was one of their last lines of defense, should things go sour, and having a Nuker start a fight on board the matriarch¡¯s ship was a great way to not have a ship anymore. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A few minutes later, Mason entered, pulling up a seat beside Will and scanning through the document as it was written. After a few more hours, Will stumbled out of the brothel with Mason at midnight, more exhausted than he thought he¡¯d be, the stress of riding the razor¡¯s edge of the situation devolving into a life-or-death fight fading away and taking all of his energy with it. Will spat out the seaweed he¡¯d forgotten he¡¯d been chewing, running his hand over his scalp. The sweat that had been beading up on his brow had dried into a crust, similar to sea spray. Nothing changed even as he followed Ghoul¡¯s mind control resistance technique. His thoughts and feeling fluctuated violently, and nothing changed, suggesting he wasn¡¯t under the matriarch¡¯s control¡­Probably. ¡°That was fun,¡± Mason said with an optimistic shrug as they met up with the rest of the party. ¡°Who should we blackmail next?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s a couple of rich runaways eloping on the other side of town¡­¡± Loth began. ¡°No, that would just be rude,¡± Will said, shaking his head. ¡°When is blackmail ever ¡± Travis asked from where he was sitting half a dozen feet away from them. ¡°Don¡¯t speak, you¡¯re supposed to remain unnoticed.¡± June said. Travis blew a raspberry before returning to his shaved blueberry ice. ¡°I like to think our blackmail was plenty polite.¡± Will said, musing. ¡°but they don¡¯t strike me as the ¡®hidden danger¡¯ that Reese was talking about. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Well, first of all, they¡¯re not fish.¡± Travis groaned. ¡°Second and more importantly, they¡¯re only a hazard to inebriates who can¡¯t get their life on track. They¡¯re not violently expansionist, merely opportunistic, and it¡¯s in their best interest for there to be a alrge population of inebriates for them to use as hosts.¡± ¡°And what is necessary for inebriates to exist in large numbers?¡± Will asked. Alicia and Mason frowned, while June nodded, seemingly following along. ¡°A big enough city with enough stability to allow them to exist while contributing nothing.¡± Loth answered for the entire Party¡¯s benefit. ¡°Exactly. The crabs The Flotilla being big and healthy enough to hide in. They¡¯re a live-and-let-live type parasite. Even the people with crabs attached to their heads seem to be doing better than they were before.¡± ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is¡­we should kill Reese.¡± Loth finished. Will gave Loth a noogie, grinding his knuckle into the squirming genius¡¯s skull. ¡°Not yet. Let¡¯s keep looking for signs of Reese¡¯s fish-people. We only checked three places, and blackmailing the crabs was just a target of opportunity.¡± ¡°Well, then where do you think-¡° The eight of them flinched in place as a flash of light pierced the dark, followed by an explosion so close on its heels that the two were nearly indistinguishable. Will was glad to know that his shriek was entirely drowned out by the explosion. ¡°What was that!?¡± Will demanded. ¡°Lightning.¡± Loth replied. ¡°Lightning can come from the ¡± Will demanded. He¡¯d only ever heard of it being shot from people¡¯s fingertips. Will looked up and saw roiling clouds backlight by the light of the moon, sweeping over them. The flags on the ships above them were snapped tight by the wind. They were only afforded a bit of protection by being in the center of a forest of ships. Under his feet, Will could feel the wooden walkway begin to lift and sway as the normally calm ocean beneath them began to swell ominously high. ¡°BACK TO THE SHIMMER!¡± Will shouted, his voice melding with Loth¡¯s as the eight of them began sprinting toward their dock, Will leading the pack. He leapt onto a pier at a sprint and nearly went down as the pier began sliding under him. It was unmoored from the ship beside it, simply floating free on its pontoons in between the two vessels. Will helped the others not lose their balance as they jumped over, falling behind to make sure nobody fell off the free-floating pier on pontoons. ¡°What¡¯s going on!?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called a Scramble!¡± Loth said, raising her voice above the sudden winds assaulting the sails above them. ¡°When a nasty storm shows up it makes the waves get high, so the boats unmoor to prevent-¡° A wave lifted a smaller ship, shifted it, then dropped it down on a larger one, crushing a large portion of the larger ship¡¯s side. ¡°That!¡± Loth said. ¡°Scramble!¡± ¡°Scramble!¡± Now that she mentioned it, Will heard the word ¡®Scramble¡¯ rising above the wind, echoing with a thousand voices. Will ran. The Flotilla was a big place though, and even minutes later, they were only a small way through The Flotilla. The waves were becoming gargantuan, and boats were starting to get few and far between as they drifted away from each other to give each other the space they needed to ride out the storm safely. ¡°Can you fly us home?¡± Will asked Loth. ¡°Not in this wind!¡± Her bugs could carry a ridiculous amount, but they weren¡¯t the strongest fliers, and the winds were outrageous. Around them, they saw hundreds of civilians climbing onto nearby ships from their boardwalks, in order to not be stranded on the pier. Their own length of unmoored pier was at least fifty feet away from any vessel and had no less than two dozen individuals on it, including Will¡¯s Party. A mountainous wave grabbed the pier and lifted it high into the air, tilting it nearly ninety degrees as it slipped off the top of the swell. Everyone on board was at least level 25 though, and they clung to the boards with fingers stronger than the wood it was composed of. Will thought, his breath nearly knocked out of him as the wave let go of their footing and gravity slammed them back down to the ground. ¡°Over here!¡± A voice shouted from an oversized vessel, bobbing wildly, shining a light down at their pier as it sailed past. ¡°JUMP!¡± ¡°Go!¡± Will said, pointing. He stayed behind on the pier and used his Phantom Hand to give his Party members and others the boost they needed to make the jump to the nearby ship. Finally, Will was alone on the pier as the ship began drifting out of reach. ¡°What are you doing boy!? Grow a pair and jump while you still can!¡± The voice called. ¡°Grow a pair, who the Abyss does he think I am¡­¡± Will muttered to himself, standing and rolling his shoulders before running across the gulf between himself and the oversized ship, sprinting up the side of a wave before catching on and climbing up the netting on the side, hoisting himself up the side. The first thing Will noticed was how finely sanded the wood of the ship¡¯s railing felt under his hand. They¡¯d been docked about a week now, and he¡¯d rarely experienced wood this pleasant on the skin. The next thing was the ostentatious gilding that covered the showy figurehead.. The showy figurehead depicting Granesh wrestling a snake. Will¡¯s gaze travelled back along the floating Church of Granesh, eyes narrowing as he took in the place he¡¯d only intended to break into on the way out of the Flotilla. Will thought sourly as the priesthood of Granesh clustered around him, checking his body for injuries. ¡°If you could do that the whole time, why didn¡¯t you help the others make it across the gap?¡± An aged priest asked, poking Will in the ribs, his nose wrinkling as if he smelled something bad. ¡°Just because you can¡¯t see something, doesn¡¯t mean it doesn¡¯t exist. Have some faith, priest.¡± Will said, brushing the man¡¯s hand aside and turning away before the man could get a good look at his face. ¡°Wait a minute¡­¡± The priest said, his eyes narrowing as he leaned in closer, obviously trying to see through the darkness to make out the detail¡¯s of Will¡¯s face. Will thought, his hand nearing his weapon. ¡°SKYSHARKS!¡± a voice shouted, and as one, all the ship¡¯s lights were pointed upward, revealing the triangle-toothed maws emerging from the cloud coral above. Chapter 96: Gerrymandering The night disappeared into a blur of teeth gnashing out of the darkness. This time they were attacked by skysharks, Will was aboard a ship filled with hundreds of other Climbers, so he was able to pace himself and let others take their places on the ship¡¯s railing, stabbing anything that got too close. While the task of defending the ship was spread out, it was also a much larger attack than the one they¡¯d experienced before, stretching out for hours rather than a few adrenaline-filled moments. Even those who made their homes on the 6th Floor were stunned at the skyshark¡¯s sheer numbers. By the time morning rolled around and the sharks retreated back to their floating cloud coral, Will and the other Climbers were exhausted, having been fighting mechanically the entire night. The dawn light and the relief of victory drained all the energy out of them, leaving every Climber a puddle of a man, incapable of moving from where they lay slumped over the ship¡¯s railing¡­or thinking too hard about anything in particular. Which was exactly what the Granesh clergy wanted. Will heard the sound of expensive boots on expensive wood, and mustered the energy to turn his head to look: A half dozen men wearing the ostentatious robes of high-ranking Granesh priests marched from the bowels of the ship, fresh-faced and bright-eyed with zealotry. Close behind them was a double row of Climbers that stretched beyond Will¡¯s sight into the bowel of the ship, each of them wearing pristine Relics, unmarred by blood or battle. ¡°Shit,¡± Will muttered, taking in the near-defenseless state of himself and others. The church of Granesh wanted to kill him as bad as the skysharks. Maybe more. The fight against The Tower was over, but he wasn¡¯t out of danger. An image of a young man crucified in the basement of the church crossed Will¡¯s mind. Will thought, his gaze flickering from the line of Granesh believers to a serrated tooth that was embedded into the wood of the deck beside him, where they¡¯d pried a skyshark¡¯s mouth off of it not an hour ago. Will rolled over, facing away from the marching troops, not having to struggle too hard to feign exhaustion. He pried the triangular tooth out of the wood and used it to score up the end of his truncated arm and cutting over his eyebrow, desperately stifling his whimpers as his body flooded with pain. this, Will thought sourly, aware that he¡¯d probably added more time to the recovery of his left hand. Not a lot, but some. He needed to be able to sell the idea that the lost limb was recent, and the blood currently dribbling down his brow and over his nose would at least mar his features. The footsteps grew closer, and Will wiped the blood out of his eyes, making sure to smear it across his face. Will thought as the footsteps grew closer and closer. The footsteps stopped behind him. Will wasn¡¯t sure if it was his whimpers of pain or him hiding his face, but all the same, he felt an expensive boot poke him in the back. ¡°Climber, turn around.¡± Will turned around, and a grizzled priest of Granesh squatted in front of him, peering down at him. His gaze landed on Will¡¯s face before drifting down to his arm. ¡°Looks fresh,¡± the priest grunted, rising back to his feet. ¡°Can you bring it back?¡± Will asked, adding a note of hopefulness to his voice, trying to sell the bluff. It was a mistake, as the priest paused and gave Will a second glance that seemed to stretch on for three more heartbeats than it should¡¯ve. More attention than Will wanted. ¡°¡­No. That level of healing is currently reserved for the mortally wounded. Petition at the church after The Flotilla reforms. Joshua will seal the wound.¡± The priest said, turning away. Once he was past a junior member of their order broke away from the stream of zealots, kneeling beside Will and putting a hand on him, his nose wrinkling up as he did so. ¡°Did you step in something?¡± The Junior member asked as his hands glowed, causing the wounds on Will¡¯s truncated arm to seal. Was it some kind of divine thing? Granesh saying ¡®hey, look over here!¡¯ or was Will just permeated by the rotting fish smell onboard Shimmer? ¡°Fish guts,¡± Will spoke as the junior priest stood. ¡°Plenty of them flying around last night, priest. For most of us, anyway.¡± Will said, eyeing the man¡¯s pristine cloak. ¡°R-Right,¡± Joshua said guiltily, nodding. ¡°Before you go,¡± Will asked the young priest. Young was relative, as he appeared to only be ten years older than Will, while the grizzled priest in the front of the line looked like he and the ocean were old rivals. ¡°Can you tell me who that is?¡± ¡°That¡¯s Saint Jairus, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve got to¡­¡± Joshua trotted across the deck to rejoin his place in line, which had been left open for him. The title of Saint, according to what Will understood, was granted by the church to members at least level 50, or higher. Which meant Will had to get off the ship. Maybe he could beat a Saint, maybe he couldn¡¯t, but either way, he¡¯d rather not engage him in such a disadvantageous setting. It wasn¡¯t Will¡¯s boat, and it wasn¡¯t Will¡¯s people that surrounded him. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Will scanned the boat and spotted Alicia and Mason, looking wrung out, leaning against railings. Bee, Jean, and Ria looked fresh enough, as fighting all night was a quick warm-up for them. Anna was still on Shimmer. Hopefully it hadn¡¯t sunk. Reggie was splayed out on the ground, staring at the sky, while June was slowly climbing up the mast, carrying her bow, aiming to get a good view. Will mused. ¡°Climbers!¡± The old man¡¯s voice rose above the others while Will was trying to find Loth. Will¡¯s gaze was drawn back to the speaker, who had arrived at a podium built into the fore of the ship. ¡°By the grace of Granesh, we have survived!¡± Saint Jairus said, raising a fist. There was a weak, half-hearted cheer from the Climbers strewn about the deck, reinforced by a more forceful one from the hundred or so fresh-faced priests and devoted Climbers. ¡°Granesh is the champion of unity, of solidarity, and so now it is time for to show our solidarity by reaching out and lending aid to those who share our convictions. We must put our best foot forward and demonstrate that the church of Granesh is¡­¡± The saint¡¯s impassioned speech faded into the background as Will¡¯s gaze landed on a young man handing out pieces of paper to the other priests, who then turned to their Climber Parties, speaking softly. Will¡¯s Acuity allowed him to read a snippet of paper where it was visible past a man¡¯s elbow. It appeared to be a list of ships. Will¡¯s eyebrows rose as a snippet of the saint¡¯s speech sunk in. That didn¡¯t feel like the whole story. It wasn¡¯t like you could predict when a Scramble would happen, and typically the event wasn¡¯t accompanied by a monster attack making it significantly more lethal than it might otherwise have been. Not to mention, that would be the same for any other major organization in The Flotilla. They would all try to help their allies first, others second. It was just how the world worked. That alone wouldn¡¯t out-compete the other religions and organizations among The Flotilla. Will thought. It odd how little damage there was to the boat and the priests aboard it, and how many of their militant members they¡¯d managed to retain during the Scramble. But the double row of Climbers standing at attention while Sain Jairus spoke indicated they had little to no people out and about the minutes before the Scramble hit. Will mused. ¡°Granesh also espouses Purity,¡± Saint Jairus said, making Will¡¯s bones turn cold as his attention snapped back to the podium. ¡°And before we extend our generosity to others, we first have to ensure our own purity,¡± He said, gesturing off to the side, where Loth was hauled up to the stage by an oversized warrior, her hands bound behind her. She looked¡­displeased. Realizing there was no time to screw around, Will pushed himself to his feet with a little help from Stevie, and began limping towards the Podium, hand raised as he began walking down the center of the ship, flanked by two rows of Zealots as he approached the podium. ¡°Purity means many things, but a core tenet is to excise disease wherever is it discovered. This kobold was discovered lurking about our ship, no doubt aiming to¡­¡± The saint¡¯s gaze landed on Will as he got closer, hand still raised. ¡°What?¡± He asked. ¡°That¡¯s my kobold,¡± Will said, pointing at Loth. ¡°You brought this abomination in a church of Granesh?¡± Saint Jairus asked. ¡°Yessir,¡± Will said, nodding. ¡°It¡¯s a part of my toolkit you see. I¡¯m a scout, and oftentimes I¡¯ve got to hunt or trap on other floors. It doesn¡¯t have a thought between its ears, but I can put it to work on a spot and it¡¯ll have that spot trapped in a reasonable amount of time.¡± ¡°And you expect me to believe that.¡± Saint Jairus said. ¡°Master!¡± Loth said, her head adopting the twitchy glances of a typical kobold, tongue hanging slack. Somehow she made her eyes begin to drift apart. ¡°I is stuck.¡± ¡°Yes, you are, Pluuk,¡± Will said patronizingly. ¡°Master fix.¡± ¡°We do not tolerate demi-humans onboard this vessel.¡± Saint Jairus declared, staring Will down. ¡°I know that, sir, but it was brought aboard during the confusion of the Scramble, and you wouldn¡¯t destroy a hammer you stubbed your toe on, you¡¯d give the man who left it lying around a sound cussing.¡± Will motioned to his missing left hand. ¡°And I¡¯m gonna need it¡¯s assistance more than ever.¡± By this point, Mason and Alicia had perked up and were watching with interest, slowly and carefully standing, readying themselves for a fight. Not that there would be a fight, given the sheer quantity of Climbers that surrounded them. Bee and Ria watched with barely contained rage. Jean looked icy cold. Together they could become a group of about a hundred high-Strength fighters, given that their Charge was still untapped. Was it enough? Maybe. Will could make out the sound of June enchanting an arrow above them. Will wasn¡¯t sure who noticed it, or whether it was subconscious, but the tension on board the ship seemed to rachet up with every heartbeat as Saint Jairus looked down at him from the podium. ¡°Five lashes for every trap your creature set while it was unsupervised.¡± Jairus said, his sun-weathered face wrinkling as he narrowed his eyes. The tension seemed to recede as a compromise was offered. ¡°Deal.¡± Will agreed before the terms got any worse. ¡°Pluuk, did you set any traps?¡± ¡°No Master, not do unless you say, even though Pluuk want to!¡± Loth said, shaking her head. The moment they let go of her, Loth sprinted up to Will and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his shirt. ¡°We¡¯ll be the judge of that. In the meantime, keep your animal on a tight leash, scout.¡± Saint Jairus said. ¡°Yessir.¡± Will said, patting Loth¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I mean that literally. Joshua, get this man a collar and leash.¡± It was in that moment that Will knew he was going to sink the floating Church of Granesh. He wasn¡¯t sure when or how, but he knew he was going to do it. ¡°In other circumstances¡­¡± Loth whispered as Will knelt down and put the collar around her neck, Loth holding it in place so he could close the latch with one hand, then attaching the leash. ¡°Don¡¯t you start,¡± Will said, waggling a finger in front of her. ¡°I¡¯m already mad at you for wandering off, Pluuk.¡± ¡°You realize they¡¯re going to ¡®find¡¯ a trap, regardless, right?¡± Loth whispered. ¡°We¡¯ll deal with that when we get there,¡± Will muttered, guiding Loth further away from the zealots that wanted her dead. They were all still on the same ship but a little physical distance could work wonders¡­as well as keeping her out of the public eye. While they retreated, Saint Jairus continued his speech, the assembled Parties of believers organizing into tightly regimented rescue groups that set out on small ¡®missionary¡¯ boats, with the intention of rounding up survivors and reinforcing Graneshian ships. ¡°Gerrymandering.¡± Loth breathed quietly as they watched as the missionary boats sailed away in every direction. ¡°Eh?¡± Will asked. ¡°Gerry-whatering?¡± Loth defined the term, and Will had to admit it fit what they were seeing. ¡°With a normal city, it¡¯s a rather convoluted task to redistribute voting power to your advantage. But in this case, since every Scramble brings about a complete re-design of The Flotilla, it¡¯s a rather simple matter. Just sink the boats that don¡¯t agree with you.¡± Loth mused. ¡°What if they were the ones who caused it?¡± Will asked. ¡°It would make sense, but the druids who mediate the weather are more strongly associated with Holdna, and if they noticed Graneshians manipulating the weather, they would make a stink about it and Granesh would lose believers.¡± ¡°So¡­third-party?¡± Will asked. ¡°Indeed.¡± Loth reached under her shirt and produced a leviathan scale with a couple words carved into it, seemingly by a claw. ¡°Found this before I was caught.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t read this.¡± Will said. It didn¡¯t look like any language he knew. ¡°It translates to Midnight, Skysharks.¡± Loth whispered. Will¡¯s brows rose as the details filled in on their own. Will thought, studying the one piece of evidence in his hand. ¡°We need to get back to Shimmer,¡± Will mused. They needed to get off this ship filled with enemies, and if they wanted to counter the Church of Granesh¡¯s bid to control the entire Flotilla, they needed to create an equally large voting bloc. Luckily Will had already thrown his lot in with one. .bg-container-10448ed3ed0{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } .bg-ssp-10448{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;display:flex;justify-content:center;} .bg-container-10448f61e68{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } Shimmer could house thousands if they converted it¡­ ¡°If we can even find Shimmer.¡± Loth said. ¡°I¡¯m sure Anna can figure out how to sail a ship.¡± Their cook was the only person who had still been aboard when the Scramble hit. Loth looked up at him, a single scaly brow cocked. ¡°Baking and sailing are close enough, right?¡± Will asked. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 97: Strategy Meeting Anna gaped as the stormclouds rolled over them far faster than she¡¯d thought possible, the wind whipping and clawing at the furled sails like a feral thing. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there, cut the lines!¡± Reese shouted, the emaciated sailor¡¯s bare feet were thumping across the deck as he wielded a machete with reckless abandon, trying to sever the lines mooring them to the dock, but finding that Loth¡¯s ropes were not made to be easily cut. ¡°Don¡¯t we have to-¡° Anna asked, pointing at the furled sail. ¡°What!? NO! you¡¯d snap the mast like a twig! We just need to shove away from this dock and turn into the wind!¡± He pointed towards the interior of The Flotilla. ¡°We¡¯re on the edge of The Flotilla and the wind is pushing us into them! Right now our huge bulk is acting like a sail and jamming us into them! We have to minimize our profile and let the wind go past us and push them away from us faster than we¡¯re being pushed into them! Now help me cut these ropes!¡± Anna¡¯s knees went wobbly as she realized that there wasn¡¯t anyone there to take the responsibility off of her shoulders. She being in charge of the food and washing, it was simple, it served a valuable purpose, and it wouldn¡¯t sink the ship if she made a mistake. But now Bee and Ria were gone, and Jean with them, all of the versions of her that bore a hard edge were away, as well as the rest of the party. Anna could tell through Hivemind that they weren¡¯t going to make it back before the storm scattered them¡­It was all down to her. 40->0 Charge Remaining. Anna had become somewhat accustomed to splitting and then reabsorbing copies in order to perform an outsized amount of work before her clones got hungry. This was no different. In a few heartbeats, no less than forty copies of Anna emerged from her, each of them accompanied by a visceral sound as their bones detached from hers. It was gross, but at the same time, it felt strangely¡­ sending a shiver of release and disgust down her spine as each copy emerged from her skin like a cancerous twin, ecstatic to finally be Each copy had a connection to Anna, an intangible string that connected their minds to hers, just like hers was connected to Jean¡¯s through the Hivemind Ability. It all traced back to Jean, like the spokes of a wheel, and they all instinctively knew that if Jean was lost, they all would be. Anna leapt into action, each of them frantically searching for something to cut Loth¡¯s spidersilk mooring ropes as thick as a man¡¯s wrist, until one of the more enterprising copies thought to use the enhanced claws from the gauntlet whose effects Jean passed down to them. Anna was not a fighter, and it took her a moment to discover the best use of her claws, frantically sawing through the stubborn ropes keeping them attached to the now-wildly rocking dock which was beginning to slam into the side of the ship as the waves grew larger and larger in the staggering winds. Thankfully leviathan scales were stronger than wood. ¡°OKAY! NOW-¡± Reese shouted, turning away from his rope and waving for an instant before he paused, frowning. ¡°Were there always three dozen of you?¡± ¡°What now!?¡± Anna demanded. ¡°Poles!¡± Rees said, leaning down and picking up a massive wooden pole some forty feet long that¡¯d been stowed alongside the railing. Reese deftly hooked an ankle on a nearby bit of rigging, keeping his feet even as the ship tilted precipitously, causing most of Anna to lose their balance and nearly fall overboard. When the waves dropped them back down, slamming them to the ground like a toddler throwing a fit, Reese took his pole and stood on the starboard prow, facing away from the wind. ¡°Grab the others and help me get our bow turned!¡± He said as he lowered the pole down between them and the dock that was currently being crushed to splinters between Shimmer and the floating warehouse. The next wave that tossed them would throw something substantially bigger than a dock at them, and Anna had no idea where the limits of Loth¡¯s shipbuilding talent were. Anna thought, rushing to grab the other half-dozen or so poles stowed across the deck. ¡°Over here!¡± Reese said, motioning them to him. ¡°Bow first!¡± Reese hauled back on his pole, but didn¡¯t seem to accomplish anything other than bending it a bit. The man weighed less than she did, and he certainly wasn¡¯t as strong. ¡°Take mine!¡± the emaciated sailor said, shifting out of the way as six of her took the pole out of his hand and began hauling back on it, shoving the nose of the ship a few inches away from the dock and the warehouse they were crushing into. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. That gave the other teams of Anna the opportunity to shove their poles down between Shimmer and the obstruction the wind was slamming them against. In a matter of seconds, the prow of the ship began to slide into the wind. ¡°WHOOOO!¡± Reese whooped, his bare feet thumping across the deck at a sprint as he went for the steering wheel, hauling the rudder to the side and turning into the wind as the team of Annas pulled their poles out of the water and set them against the side of the floating warehouse, shoving it away from them, and pushing their nose further into the wind. ¡°I think it¡¯s working!¡± Anna shouted as the rest of The Flotilla began drifting away, gradually creating more and more space between them and the others. ¡°Of course it¡¯s working!¡± Reese shouted. ¡°WAVE!¡± The ship nearly flipped over as an enormous wave caught the prow and lifted it straight up, leaving all of Anna clinging for dear life to anything they could get their hands on for a breathless instant before the swell picked the rest of the ship up and shoved them hundreds of feet in the air in a matter of seconds. Reese¡¯s shrill cackles were the only thing she could hear over the roar of wind and water. Anna thought as the wave disappeared from beneath them, dropping them another several hundred feet, vanishing as quickly as it had arrived. Another six waves later, and Anna had long since lost her lunch. ¡°It¡¯s easing up!¡± Reese said, grinning at her from where he kept the rudder stable. ¡°See? That wasn¡¯t so bad, was it?¡± A pair of massive jaws manifested out of the dark and clamped around Reese, dragging him screaming into the sky. ***Saint Jairus*** ¡°That right there is William Oh,¡± Jairus said, peering down from his commanding view atop the quarterdeck, where the one-armed boy, his pet kobold and the other members of his Party were conferring. ¡°Wha?¡± Joshua gave him a slack-jawed look. ¡°Him?¡± ¡°Yes, him. Don¡¯t point and lower your voice. He¡¯s Acuity focused. His whole Party is here, too, which is why I didn¡¯t press the issue earlier. A fight would surely have casualties. Casualties that would make it much more difficult to enact our current mission. The boy is at a disadvantage here, but according to reports, he thrives on disadvantage.¡± ¡°So¡­we just apprehend a Deciever? A seed of chaos in human skin?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say that,¡± Jairus muttered. ¡°We must simply ensure the disadvantage is systematic and insurmountable.¡± ¡°So, make sure the lashing leaves some permanent damage?¡± Joshua asked. Jairus looked over at his assistant, reeling in the urge to raise his voice. ¡°No. I don¡¯t believe that would work out in our favor. It would create premature conflict between his Party and the church. Until the final piece is in place, let¡¯s keep things at a low simmer. There were no traps found aboard the ship. Let¡¯s maintain an air of geniality. We the better men, after all.¡± ¡°I¡­see?¡± Joshua said in a tone that implied he did see. ¡°William Oh¡¯s entire Party is here. The vessel they sailed in on is unguarded. Finding it and sinking it is easily bundled with the duties our missionaries have already assumed. ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Without his vessel, William Oh will be forced on the back foot, drifting from ship to ship, working odd jobs and going where the wind takes him rather than charting his own course.¡± ¡°Umm¡­Saint?¡± ¡°What?¡± Joshua winced as he spoke, reluctant to make his superior seem stupid. ¡°According to the report, William Oh left the Fifth Floor three weeks ago, and arrived here one week ago with his Leviathan ship. Everyone knows no one made it for him, implying that someone in his Party has the Ability to make entire ships within two weeks. If we sink their ship, won¡¯t they simply make another?¡± ¡°Which is why the second order of business is splitting up his Party.¡± Jairus said, looking down at the one-armed Deceiver. ¡°The Deceiver¡¯s best tactic is surrounding himself with powerful allies. We must find a counter for it.¡± ¡°Do you¡­have any idea how we¡¯ll split them up?¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± Jairus said with a shrug as he counted the people standing around talking to Will. ¡°But I will. The longer we have them aboard, the more cracks they¡¯ll show us.¡± Meanwhile, Will and the four mentioned were at the fore, sitting in a semicircle, shielded from the sun by the sails as the ship cut through the water, the noise of the ocean spray creating a natural screen for their conversation. Loth sat beside him at the end of her leash, pretending to be simple-minded as she played with bugs. Travis was off chatting with the other sailors, making his presence as thin as possible. Will barely remembered he was part of the Party, so why should Saint Jairus? ¡°So we¡¯ve got a couple advantages here,¡± Will said. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Mason asked. ¡°Brianna joined my Party immediately before we left to the next Floor,¡± Will said, ticking off a finger. ¡°So they don¡¯t know who she is, what she can do, and her relationship to us. As far as they know, she¡¯s just three random Climbers that got caught up with the rest of us during the Scramble.¡± Will scanned the deck. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of others who match that description, so she fits right in, and it¡¯s why we¡¯re not including her in this discussion. They also forgot about Travis, and they are incapable of viewing Loth as a proper threat.¡± ¡°A dogmatic blind spot,¡± Loth said, still playing with bugs. If they had known how dangerous Loth was, there was no way they would have restrained her with warrior, rather than extensive magical bindings. Loth was arguably the most inherently dangerous person on their team, followed closely by Alicia, then Will, Brianna, Mason, and so on¡­ ¡°So the first thing we want to do is get back to our ship,¡± Will said. ¡°They¡¯re going to give me a lashing just to show who¡¯s boss, but afterwards we can arrange passage on one of those missionary boats and try and track down Shimmer-¡° Will cut off as a priest of Granesh approached in his golden embroidered robe. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°I¡¯m pleased to report that no malfeasance was detected on the part of your kobold. Provided it remains supervised throughout your stay onboard The Floating Church of Granesh, there will be no punishment.¡± The Priest gave them a polite bow and turned on his heel, heading out of earshot. ¡°Aw, crap,¡± Will muttered. ¡°Isn¡¯t not getting lashes a thing?¡± Reggie asked. ¡°in this case, no.¡± Loth said without looking up. ¡°If they thought I was a nobody, they would push a lashing just to flex on the other Scrambled Climbers on board. Enforce discipline.¡± Will said. ¡°The only reason they , is because they know who I am.¡± ¡°And they¡¯re wary of what you can do.¡± Loth finished. ¡°So since they know who I and they¡¯re not interested in picking a fight just yet, what are they going to go after?¡± Will mused for a moment before snapping his fingers. ¡°Shimmer! Because as far as they know, my entire Party is right here, and it¡¯s unprotected. If they can remove our base of operations, we¡¯ll be in a weaker position and that will make us easier pickings, individually.¡± Will glanced up at June, who was idly sharpening arrowheads as she listened. ¡°How good are you at faking taking a bribe?¡± Will asked. ¡°How much you paying me to take it?¡± June asked. ¡°Perfect attitude, love it,¡± Will said. When June¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, Will clarified. ¡°A lot. I¡¯m offering a lot, plus a personal audience with Lord Zodiac.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± ¡°Hey¡­¡± Alicia whispered, frowning. ¡°Sorry, but we really need on the same team.¡± Will said. ¡°We also need to coordinate with Travis and the Tangled girls without anyone noticing.¡± ¡°My bugs can deliver the messages.¡± Loth said. ¡°Okay, here¡¯s what I want to happen¡­¡± Will said, voice lowered, making sure his mouth was concealed behind the mast. .bg-ssp-10448{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;display:flex;justify-content:center;} .bg-container-10448f61e68{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } Once he had outlined the plan, it was Loth¡¯s responsibility to figure out how to implement it. Will stood and stretched his legs, waving up at Saint Jairus on the quarterdeck, seemingly saying ¡®thanks for not whipping me!¡¯ The Saint gave a nod and a gesture with his hand. Chapter 98: Float On Anna lay sprawled against the rigging, leaning up against the piles of thick ropes. Just getting her bearings She¡¯d been terrified the first few moments as sharks had swirled down from the sky, seeking to snatch them up and tear them into chunks with their razor-sharp teeth. The way that Reese had been lifted into the darkness with barely a scream had shocked her to her core. But then¡­ Then a few of her copies got bit. And she had to say, it was like getting bit by that little dog her mother¡¯s friend had in the tailor shop across the street. A little pinch. Despite their size, these monsters had all the strength and penetrating power of an inbred dog roughly the size of a soccer ball and just as kickable. Despite being fifteen to twenty feet on average, a little bop on the top of their heads while they were trying to gnaw on her would mush their brain or snap their spine, invariably rendering them a shivering corpse. Anna sighed. She didn¡¯t to be a living weapon, but that seemed to be all her Class was capable of. Anna admonished herself. She was the Queen of manpower. She could bake the bread, wash the clothes, mop the deck, make the beds, clean the halls, wash the dishes, all that and more in less than an hour. Honestly she had a lot of free time. Being able to beat giant sharks to death with her bare hands was just kind of a bonus. It brought a nostalgic smile to her face, remembering Mom killing rats that her father was too softhearted to dispose of. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She thought, scanning the deck where over a hundred copies of herself filled the ship, making themselves busy mopping the blood, stashing the Relics and and polishing the scuff marks away. Over the night, she and her copies had each been able to split two more times, allowing them to finally send the sharks packing after over eight hours of fighting. Thankfully the ship was extraordinarily sturdy. If anything had been broken, Anna wasn¡¯t sure she would be able to fix it. Anna thought to herself, realizing that knowing carpentry and tanning and any number of other trades would expand her value to W- Anna took a deep breath and shoved the thought aside. She was a monster posing as a bubbly young girl. A bleeding chunk of someone¡¯s hopes and dreams for the future isolated into a monstrous container. It was best for everyone if she kept her feelings to herself and did her job. The feelings weren¡¯t real: The job was. The more pressing concern was rejoining with The Flotilla. She didn¡¯t know how to sail. She didn¡¯t know where they had ended up. She didn¡¯t even know what latitude was. Just as Anna was considering what to do, a grunting noise attracted the attention of all Anna¡¯s aboard, who snapped their heads towards the sound. A moment later, a bony hand reached up and grabbed the railing, followed by another, struggling to pull Reese¡¯s head up to the deck. By then two of her had already made it to him and lifted him the rest of the way up, carrying him over to some shade. ¡°Reese, are you okay?¡± The emaciated man¡¯s clothes were shredded, and he seemed to have some sun damage, but other than that, he looked completely unharmed. ¡°Reese? I always liked that N-Oh right!¡± He seemed to snap to attention, gazing straight into her eyes. ¡°Emily, I have been floating for ¡± ¡°Hours.¡± Anna corrected. ¡°And my name¡¯s Anna.¡± ¡°Hours. Anna.¡± Reese muttered, his lips quivering as he seemed to repeat the words to himself over and over again. ¡°Reese, you know how to sail, right?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± He grunted, levering himself to his feet and scanning the horizon. ¡°I do, don¡¯t I? Hah. Wait until the folks back home hear about this.¡± ¡°Can you get us back to The Flotilla?¡± Anna asked. ¡°Sure, which direction is it?¡± Reese asked. ¡°I was¡­hoping you could tell me?¡± Anna said with a shrug. ¡°Although¡­Jean is that way.¡± She mused, pointing. ¡°That might lead us to them?¡± ¡°Oh. OH! Okay, let me see what I can do.¡± Reese clambered down into the ship and emerged a few minutes later with one of Loth¡¯s notebooks and a strange triangle thing that she¡¯d seen Loth pointing at the sky. Anna thought, the thought prodding her into movement. ¡°Umm¡­can you show me how to use that?¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Sure. We should probably see what they want first, though,¡± Reese said, pointing at the longboat filled with Climbers that was rowing it¡¯s way towards them. Meanwhile, on the Floating Church of Granesh, Will was equal amounts tense and bored. ¡°Bacon Bits Added to the roster!¡± the spotter called down. Tense because he expected to get a bag thrown over his head any second, waking up strapped to a crucifix. Bored because rebuilding The Flotilla was a week-long ordeal. Three days to find all the ship, four days to fit them back together into an actual ¡®city¡¯. ¡°Elmo¡¯s Funnel Added to the roster!¡± Warehouses wanted to go on the outside, where they could attach to the docks, bars and brothels wanted to cluster together, city hall wanted to have the best access to businesses, restaurants preferred to be far away from bathhouses, but both of them wanted to be near the distillers. Will even learned that there were aqueducts, of a fashion. Most of the stationary ships that had been converted to buildings for public use had pipes aboard that they could use to connect to distiller ships and each other to pipe water in and shit out. Naturally they had to have some sort of decision about where to put waste, because if everyone just tossed it overboard, the ocean would teem with life and monsters directly under The Flotilla, and their water would be tainted. They figured out the prevailing current and piped it downstream. ¡°Mike¡¯s Meats added to the roster!¡± the spotter called. ¡°Admiring the plumbing?¡± Jairus¡¯s voice called from behind Will, prompting him to straighten. ¡°Yes, actually,¡± Will said, turning away from the stub of steel tubing in the deck. It wasn¡¯t set up because the church hadn¡¯t found it¡¯s place in the Flotilla yet, but Will found the idea of inter-ship pluming on rocking oceans fascinating. ¡°How do they not break when the ships move?¡± ¡°A clever bit of joinery that turns a pipe into a ball and socket joint without spilling.¡± The saint said, his eyes lingering on the pipe, probably wondering if Will was planning on sabotaging it. The short answer was that Will didn¡¯t know if he was or not. Will left the sabotaging to Loth. She was the expert. The thing that really tore Will up was the casualties he was pursuing with his current strategy. Him and the church would never be friends. Ever since he¡¯d discovered an innocent boy tortured to death in one of their basements, he knew that finding a peaceful solution wasn¡¯t an option. The logical option was to kill them all. Wipe the board clean so they never troubled him again. The problem was the execution of that solution. Will knew the best thing to do would be for Bee and Ria to kill and replace a portion of their menial crewmembers, using her shapeshifting Abilities to pretend to be them. When things got heats, the crew would turn against the saint in dramatic fashion. ¡­Except Bee and Ria weren¡¯t heartless killers, and neither was Will. Asking them to do something he wasn¡¯t sure he could do¡­ So instead the Tangled girls had discretely replaced a few nonbelievers that Loth had snuck out on a stolen boat. Will thought. In the grand scheme of things, it didn¡¯t matter the manner in which they died, but he just couldn¡¯t bring himself to ask Brianna to do it way. The girl already had enough weighing on her shoulders. She would be much better served protecting her Party from an irrationally hostile force of zealots rather than stabbing sleeping men and women in their bunks. Will turned his attention back to the conversation with the saint. Only a fraction of a second had passed since he¡¯d mentioned the ball and socket plumbing. ¡°Since I¡¯m not planning on staying on this Floor forever, I¡¯ve got to consider what my ship¡¯s life is going to look like after we move on.¡± Will explained to the zealot standing beside him. ¡°It¡¯s not fast, but it¡¯s , so it¡¯s probably got value as a stationary part of The Flotilla once we¡¯re gone. I figured some plumbing would be just the thing.¡± ¡°Plumbing is expensive, but you¡¯re not wrong. I suppose you could lease it while you¡¯re away.¡± ¡°Would that work?¡± Will asked, frowning. He assumed he¡¯d have to sell it outright. ¡°Eh.¡± The saint said with a shrug. ¡°We try our hand at civilization out here. If the debt is registered at city hall, and your vessel remains in The Flotilla, you¡¯ve got a¡­decent shot at collecting. Provided it doesn¡¯t sink. Otherwise, money that leaves a man¡¯s line of sight has a funny way of making itself scarce.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t put all your hopes in your ship making it, though,¡± Saint Jairus said sympathetically. ¡°Empty vessels caught during a Scramble will often drift aw-¡° ¡°Shimmer added to the roster!¡± The spotter in the the crow¡¯s nest bellowed down at them, where another man with a ledger jotted down the ship¡¯s specifications. If Saint Jairus was upset, he didn¡¯t show it. The grizzled sailor simply had the raised brow of a craftsman approaching a particularly stubborn bit of work. Will had been counting the number of boats that had gone out against the number that had come back. One was missing. Will would bet that it was the missionary boat sent to sink Shimmer. ¡°Last Chance Inn added to the roster!¡± It also occurred to Will that he could¡¯ve had Bee replace all of them with offshoots of herself, fled on that stolen boat and simply gone up a floor before the confusion of the Scramble cleared. They¡¯d passed the acclimation period already. Will thought wryly. That was just kicking the problem down the line, though. Who was to say that Jairus couldn¡¯t set up a trap for Will while he was on the Seventh Floor and beyond that negated any advantage he might gain from extra levels? Best excise the mold before it had a chance to spread. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re eager to get back to your ship, Mr. Oh.¡± Jairus said. Will stiffened a bit before nodding. It was public knowledge that William Oh owned Shimmer, and he and the saint were apparently past the point in their relationship where they played coy about who Will was. Will lowered his voice. ¡°So is this the part where we¡­¡± went unsaid. It seemed uncouth to speak about it directly, even though that¡¯s exactly what they were both thinking. Will was considering whether to try to put a cannonball through the saint himself, or the row of sailors beyond him, crippling his manpower at the beginning of the fight. ¡°Have some patience,¡± Jairus interrupted Will¡¯s thoughts with a cold smile. ¡°These things take time.¡± Will thought with narrowed eyes as the weathered saint didn¡¯t give a hint of his thoughts away. Shimmer approached over the course of the afternoon, eventually growing close enough to see Anna standing at the prow, waving to them with an excited bounce. Tied to the railing with Loth¡¯s rope were no less than half a dozen Climbers with bruised faces. Will wondered to himself. It would have been easier to pretend they had simply missed each other. Less of a splash, since Will could easily imagine holding six allies of the Church of Granesh prisoner adding fuel to the conflict. .bg-container-10448ed3ed0{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } .bg-ssp-10448{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;display:flex;justify-content:center;} .bg-container-10448f61e68{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } .bg-container-10448222eb6{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } But again, Brianna was not a cold-blooded killer, so Will had to deal with the politics, messy as it was. Will thought, watching Anna wave. Will waved back. Anna gestured to the tied-up bodies in front of her, as if to say ¡®look what I caught!¡¯ Will gave her a thumb¡¯s-up. Chapter 99: Dictum of Sweet Dreams Aboard Shimmer, Will was staring at the setting sun, eyes narrowed for a moment before he glanced away, diverting his gaze to the sails bobbing all around them, dyed orange by the sunset. Lamps were starting to come out as the sailors around them began to work through the night to coordinate the reconstruction of the Flotilla. Despite the sheer chaos, it was moving faster than Will thought possible, owing to superhuman effort and years of practice. Will was pleased to note his political backer was still alive, slightly less pleased to note that the composition of The Flotilla had shifted drastically. Here and there he was able to pick out the absence of a ship he¡¯d seen earlier, and invariably, it was either a neutral ship or one that allied with a different deity. Meanwhile, ships that bore the symbol of Granesh across their sides clustered tighter together, becoming more and more prevalent as The Flotilla was stitched together. Will thought, picking them out as he scanned the surroundings. According to the headcrab matriarch, each ship captain got votes loosely based on the number of people aboard their vessel, and as soon as the Flotilla was put back together, the church of Granesh would likely have a supermajority. Which meant, once the reconstruction was complete, the church would make the rules, and complaining to them about them sending people to sink his ship would be pointless, since they would excuse themselves. With this in mind, Will hopped overboard and jogged over to the Floating Church of Holdna. Sailors called out to him and waved or shook their heads ruefully as he jogged past. Will thought, waving back. Will stood at the base of the Floating Church of Holdna, which was a damn sorrier sight than The Church of Granesh. It was made from cheaper supplies, the worksmanship was solid, but lacked the sanding, varnish and gold inlay that gave the church of Granesh such a luxurious feel. ¡°Permission to come aboard!¡± Will called up. ¡°What the-OH!¡± A priestess said, glancing over the side and spotting Will bobbing up and down on the waves beside their vessel. ¡°Granted!¡± Will climbed the side of the ship and found himself face-to-face with the same gnarled old woman that had overseen his matches on the Fifth Floor. She had the slender strength of a person who never slows down in old age, wearing warm sailing clothes. ¡°Holdna sees you, young man.¡± The white-haired priestess said, hands folded inside her cloak. ¡°How can I help? Do you have an injury or concern?¡± ¡°Are you following me?¡± Will asked with a frown. ¡°I go where Holdna dictates. I dare not presume her intent.¡± She dodged the question. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I never got your name.¡± Will said. ¡°Saint Charnesa.¡± Well, Saint Charnesa, were you aware that the floating Church of Granesh is going to take control of The Flotilla?¡± ¡°Mm¡­yes.¡± Charnesa said. Will cocked his head. ¡°And did you have¡­any thoughts about that?¡± ¡°The Church of Granesh, in their desire to achieve purity and stability will always push just a too far and foment chaos and revolution. They are their own worst enemies, in many ways. I take their current overreach as a sign that something or some will soon tear it all down.¡± ¡°Can that someone¡­be us?¡± Will asked, motioning between the saint and himself. ¡°Sure.¡± Charnesa said with a shrug. ¡°I was hoping to have your backing in the event that Saint Jairus tries to get me killed somehow through legalese. I hope it doesn¡¯t bother you, but I already talked with the Last Chance Inn, and they -¡± ¡°You have our support. We will join our voices with the headcrabs.¡± Saint Charnesa said, nodding. ¡°Buhh¡­¡± Will hadn¡¯t revealed detail. And the blas¨¦ attitude towards them¡­ ¡°Our goddess is the bride of Chaos.¡± The saint said with an amused smile. ¡°You¡¯ll find us an easygoing lot.¡± ¡°Well, in that case, I need help ¡®rescuing¡¯ the sailors aboard a few ships that are about to ¡®mysteriously sink¡¯.¡± ¡°We¡¯d be happy to help.¡± Loth then proceeded to sink a handful of Graneshian vessels, generously offering to house them aboard Shimmer until they regained their own housing. Some eight-hundred Graneshians were displaced in a matter of hours, roughly the same population as Ashwood, Will¡¯s home outside the tower. Naturally there was a great deal of panic, suspicion and finger-pointing, but Loth was too clever to get caught, and Will had spent the entire night standing in a beam of lamplight aboard Shimmer. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Being conspicuously innocent. Shimmer went from being an overly spacious ship that was haunted by a sense of emptiness, to a bustling village unto itself, with no less than ten absolutely livid captains who had lost their ships, and therefore, their authority and voting privileges in The Flotilla. It was a calculated gamble, bringing together ten crews of the same faith. On one hand it converted ten church votes into ten for Will. On the other hand, they could easily ally themselves against Will and try to take control of the ship. They would have to do so through open mutiny, though, as none of them were the kind of captain that could beat Will in a duel. Their ships had been selected for that reason. To nip any thought of mutiny in the bud, Will had Anna split, instructing her to take care of their guests until they departed. She had already revealed her Ability to the other followers of Granesh that they had released, so there was no point being sneaky about it anymore. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Having her be everywhere at once, keeping an eye on everything at once, helping every single one of their displaced residents settle in would make things go smoother, and it would also send a strong message about who was in control of Shimmer. He wouldn¡¯t assign Brianna something as amoral as cold-blooded murder, but a soft show of force? Will was perfectly fine with asking her to do that. Once Will was sure everything was going according to plan, he ducked into his room, pulled out the bed with its decoy, and crawled into the secret hatch underneath, curled up into a ball against the rough wood before finally allowing himself to fall sleep. ¡­ It felt like less than a second later, Will opened his eyes to the glare of a light shone directly into his pupils. ¡°Tell me about your dreams.¡± A voice spoke, and Will recognized it as Bron, the bishop that had followed him up to the Fifth Floor after Will had¡­sort of robbed his church in The Ring during their visit to Travis¡¯s family. Will narrowed his eyes, looking past the lamplight blasting him in the face and spotted Bron, cleaning a knife with alcohol and a bloody rag. Will thought, glancing from side to side, his stomach sinking as he realized he was restrained. His arms and legs were bound to an unnervingly familiar crucifix. Immediately, Will summoned the Phantom Hand, unleashing a cannonball through the space the bishop occupied. Phantom Hand seemed to react sluggishly, oozing towards Bron and dropping the cannonball on the ground, not even doing the bare minimum of dropping on his toes. ¡°Not going to answer?¡± Bron asked, raising the knife. ¡°I don¡¯t really dream that much,¡± Will said, testing the restraints. There was a fuzzy lack of realism that Will attributed to drugs. They would have to sink it before they could pry him out of it. A line of fire was drawn across his chest as Bron dragged the knife across his skin, eliciting a cry of pain. ¡°Do you have a strange empathy for certain corpses?¡± ¡°Do certain animals seem to like you more than they should?¡± The pain from the torture didn¡¯t seem to match the pain he would expect from being cut on. Will hastily ran through his Memory Key, picturing each crystalized memory as accurately and quickly as he could, ignoring the horrifying image of being tortured that his eyes were showing him, and instead reliving the emotions the memories brought. Will¡¯s mental state rapidly changed between hot and cold, and suddenly knife-wielding Bron in front of him seemed to smear, as though Will were looking at everything through an expensive window that someone had smeared a greasy hand across. Alerted to the fact that none of what he saw was real, Will began to thrash, physically and mentally, repeating the Memory Key over and over, shattering the illusion further. An instant later Will opened his eyes, limbs flailing as something pried open the hatch above him, seemingly alerted to his presence by his noisy thrashing. In a heartbeat, Will was staring up at a humanoid figure whose identity was conceal by a thick veil of living darkness. All he could make out was their grey eyes as their saber poised to skewer him. ***Saint Jairus*** Saint Jairus stood on the quarterdeck, picking out the Deceiver¡¯s ship among the myriad sails dotting the dark horizon. After the exchange of prisoners, threats and shouting earlier in the day, he felt invigorated. Nothing like a little conflict to get the old body thrumming along. The inherent chaos and lawlessness of this Floor appealed to him. Presented a challenge. Jairus glanced up at the night sky. It was three hours to dawn. Only a handful of sailors remained awake. ¡°The unfaithful will find their dreams to be prisons.¡± A silent wave of power rippled outward from The Floating Church of Granesh, infusing the surrounding land with divine authority. As it spread outward, it became harder and harder to detect, until by the time it reached Shimmer, even the highest-Focus member of their Party would fail to detect it. Healers were expected to specialize in healing, buffs, and debuffs. Not because it was necessary, but for PR. Sometime long ago, a priest of Granesh had decided that Healers should dedicate every spare Ability to support in order to make them indispensable to whatever Party they happened to be with, able to command a high price for their services without putting them on the frontlines. This had been wildly successful at securing the wealth and legacy of the Church, copied by every other Church to this day, but it wasn¡¯t without its downsides. Young men wanted to blow things up with their mind, they wanted to crush stone with their bare hands, wield swords the size of skyscrapers and bisect dragons. Not wish people luck. This led to youthful rebellion where many priests neglected or sabotaged their own buffing Abilities. But Jairus had always taken his mother¡¯s advice to heart. And it was. So Jairus had leaned into buffs and debuffs Picking Ability upgrades that focused on them exclusively, eventually realizing he had as much sway over a battle as a Nuker, if not When his Class Evolution came at the end of the Tenth Floor, he was offered Voice of Granesh. And he took it, evolving his Primary, Set the Stage to Dictum of the Divine. Set the Stage was a wide-ranging Ability that covered tens of miles, subtly boosting allies while debuffing enemies, making any battle go smoothly, even at tremendous range. Dictum of the Divine categorized its targets differently. Rather than friend and foe, it now separated by believers versus non-believers, and allowed Jairus to dictate the nature of the buff or debuff. It was also significantly stronger, holding a cost to match its power. Dictum of the Divine was what he had used to ensure the faithful had made it through the dual assault of the Scramble and the monsters the Kullin had lured to attack the Flotilla. ¡°The faithful will be bolstered by the might and unflappable will of Granesh.¡± Jairus thought, watching Shimmer in the distance. Somehow, a single maid had subdued a Party of half a dozen Climbers. According to the hostages they¡¯d exchanged to allow Will to leave, there had been over a hundred of the same girl, each of them freakishly strong and durable, wearing makeshift canvas wrappings. By all accounts, it sounded like one of Frederick Wyrd¡¯s experiments that had terrorized the lower levels for a few months before the Lord¡¯s death. It didn¡¯t take a genius to surmise that Frederick Wyrd¡¯s living weapons must¡¯ve had terrible Focus to allow them to be easily controlled. Unfortunately, Jairus didn¡¯t have anybody on board with a Charm class to take advantage of that fact, so it was a bit of a moot point. Jairus did a little math in his head and estimated the girl¡¯s Focus. The maid waving from the deck of Shimmer was not wearing Relics that Jairus could see¡­So she wasn¡¯t the original. The question was¡­where was the original Tangled? Was she hiding below-decks on Shimmer, or¡­was she a bit closer to home? Deceivers, and this one in particular, were known to be slippery. ¡°Joshua.¡± ¡°Yes, Saint?¡± ¡°Without raising suspicion, compile a list of the strangers onboard wearing heavy Focus-boosting Relics.¡± Jairus¡¯s brow twitched as an idea occurred to him. ¡°And a list of those not wearing any at all.¡± In theory it should be a short list. ¡°Yessir.¡± ¡°And tell the Boarders to come speak to me. I¡¯ve got a job for them.¡± ¡°Yessir.¡± For a moment, Jairus looked back out at the ocean, where the lights of The Flotilla were beginning to cluster on the horizon as they painstakingly re-ordered themselves, working through the night to create the center of the city: City Hall, the Distillery, and the permanent residences and businesses that clustered around them. .bg-container-10448869e4d{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } .bg-ssp-10448{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;display:flex;justify-content:center;} .bg-container-10448f61e68{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } .bg-container-10448222eb6{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } The two constants in a civilized world: Taxes and Plumbing. Jairus turned back to his work. ¡°The faithful will be cloaked and guided by the dark of night.¡± Jairus spoke as the Boarders assembled in front of him, Darkness swirling up and covering everything but their eyes. Chapter 100: Night Moves The blade glimmered in the lamplight as it was thrust down towards Will¡¯s chest. Will¡¯s spine cried out in pain as he contorted inside his hidey-hole, barely shifting his body far enough to allow the blade to go past him. The saber¡¯s blade turned towards him and he knew the attacker was going to drag it across his chest as he withdrew for another stab to start the fight off with Will wounded. Will knocked the blade aside with Phantom Hand and stomped on the side of the compartment, sending a ripple through the side of the wall and into the man¡¯s feet, forcing him off balance. The shadow-swaddled Climber pulsed with Charge an instant before he disappeared, sucked into the handle of his own saber. Will¡¯s eyes widened and he wrenched the emergency latch underneath him, falling straight down into the floor below as the saber exploded with motion, hundreds of saber blades filling Will¡¯s sleeping nook. The floor of Reggie¡¯s bedroom rushed up and slammed into Will¡¯s back, but Will¡¯s Resistance prevented him from getting the wind knocked out of him. ¡°Reggie, wake up!¡± Will hissed, scrambling to his feet and lunging over to the Tank¡¯s bed before shaking him. The oversized young man¡¯ brows were furrowed, and he muttered, his body twitching as he lived through his own personal nightmare. His eyes stayed closed. Will slapped him. Will thought, backing up towards the door as the mass of swirling shadows dropped into Reggie¡¯s room with him with a metallic before reforming into a humanoid shape. If Ghoul hadn¡¯t taught him the Memory Key, Will was fairly sure he would still be asleep, but Mason and Loth had higher Focus, so they be able to shrug off the mind control. Will thought as he sprinted to the door, his opponent hot on his tail. Will was tempted to put a cannonball through his pursuer, but Will knew Alicia¡¯s room was across that wall from Reggie¡¯s, and her Resistance wasn¡¯t high enough for Will to feel confident about filling her room with shrapnel. The sound of the footsteps behind him changed and sped up as they hit the straightaway of the officer¡¯s quarters hallway. Will stomped the ground and rolled to the side, tucking himself into the corner. The ripple in the floor tripped his rapidly gaining pursuer, who tumbled past him, razor-sharp limbs flashing past his face. The shadow-cloaked Climber seemed to had animalistic steel legs jutting from their feet, causing them to run at increased speed. Will jumped up and sent a cannonball at his pursuer as he sprinted the opposite direction, heading for Mason¡¯s room. Shimmer shuddered under Will¡¯s feet as a cannonball carried the attacker through the hull and out into The Flotilla, depositing him in the ship next door. Will thought, glancing over his shoulder. Will wrenched open the door to Mason¡¯s room and leapt up on their Nuker¡¯s bed, slapping him until his eyes opened. ¡°wha- wha- WHAT!?¡± Mason demanded as his eyes flickered open before shoving Will off of him. Mason sat up in bed, blinking blearily as he struggled to process what was happening. ¡°Attack!¡± Will said, shoving Mason¡¯s kit towards him. Another reason Will preferred to sleep in full kit. Sure it was uncomfortable, but times like this made up for it. Mason¡¯s eyes widened for an instant before he flung the covers off and began dressing at lightning speeds, slipping into his boots and snatching his staff off it¡¯s rack. ¡°Everyone¡¯s stuck in some kind of dream-lock,¡± Will said, peering out the hallway. Will ran through his memory key again, paying close attention to his surroundings for any incongruity that might arise. It was best to never become complacent when it came to mind control. ¡°There¡¯s an unknown number of attackers on board. Could be just the one, but I doubt it.¡± Will turned his gaze left, towards Loth¡¯s bedroom, spotting the door hanging partially off its hinges, spilling flickering lamplight mixed with shadow into the hall. In the other direction, June and Alicia¡¯s rooms seemed to be open as well. Making a split decision, Will turned right and sprinted towards June and Alicia¡¯s rooms. There was no chance that Loth hadn¡¯t trapped her room to kill anyone who entered without permission. If he went left, he would come across Loth cheerfully dressing beside a mangled corpse. If he went right, he might be able to stop their scout and special weapons expert from being murdered in their sleep. Will made it to Alicia¡¯s room first, where his ghost butler was struggling against a shadow-cloaked Climber, trying to scratch the man¡¯s eyes out as his sword flailed through Stevie¡¯s incorporeal form. Will thought as he pulled his sword out of Phantom Hand and brought it down on the man¡¯s skull. Rather than drop to the ground, the flailing Climber whipped around and nearly cut off Will¡¯s nose an instant after Will¡¯s sword off his skull. Will mused. He wasn¡¯t strong for a Climber, but he two and a half times stronger than a normal man should¡¯ve been, bringing a steel sword down on an unprotected skull. Even if the man¡¯s skull were ten times stronger than a normal one, it still should¡¯ve penetrated enough to stop him cold. The cannonball should¡¯ve gone his enemy earlier, but Will had just assumed the Climber was reinforcing his body with steel somehow. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. This was some kind of defensive buff, because Will wasn¡¯t seeing any armor peeking through the swirling shadows. Will twisted his foot to the side and pulled the man¡¯s wild flailing forward, shifting the ground under him to knock his feet out from under him in an emulation of the takedown that Lord Bakton had done to him so many times. There was a yelp of surprise, and Will took advantage of the momentary distraction to wind up a strong slice up and into the man¡¯s trachea. Will thought with satisfaction as the sword lodged itself a half-inch into the man¡¯s throat before his target leapt back, clapping a hand over his bleeding throat. ¡°Deciever-¡° He croaked, pointing his blade at Will. ¡°You-¡° The wall separating June and Alicia¡¯s rooms exploded as another shadow-cloaked human was launched through the wall, bringing the smell of burning flesh with him. On the other side of the wall, Mason stood beside June¡¯s bed, where a hole in her chest was spurting blood. Even with that lethal wound, the scout¡¯s eyes were still closed. Will shot a Greater healing potion out of Phantom Hand towards Mason as he drove the point of the Shortsword of Perseverance down into the stunned and smoking Climber¡¯s back before he could rise. The blade penetrated a fraction of an inch before it came to a complete stop, the pitted blade bending ominously as it refused to go any further. The wounded Climber lunged to his feet swinging wildly with his saber, forcing Will to hastily block. The shortsword jerked in his hand, slamming up against him as it spread the force over a larger area before Will was catapulted sideways, smashing through Alicia¡¯s door and back out into the hall. The burned Climber followed Will through the door, trying not to give him a moment to breathe. Behind him, Will could see the other one raise his saber over Alicia¡¯s sleeping form. Noob and Billy-bob, Will¡¯s other summons from the Wand of the Undead Retainer, tried their best to claw the man¡¯s eyes out and drag him backwards. The Climber shrugged off their attempts and raised his saber just as the partially cooked climber dominated Will¡¯s view. If he destroyed the mast, that wouldn¡¯t be nearly as bad as losing Alicia. Will drew a line between his two opponents and unleashed another cannonball directly into the man¡¯s chest. Thanks to the Dimensional Oyster¡¯s upgrade he could carry around three of them, plus minor things like his sword and a handful of consumeables. The cannonball picked up his opponent and carried him into the one looming over Alicia, sending them both through the wall and sailing out into the night, bouncing off the mast. Will glanced to the side and saw Loth sprinting down the hall towards them before he shoved off the wall and sprinted back into Alicia¡¯s room, glancing down to ensure she was unharmed. The noble scion was unharmed and still sound asleep. Will glanced to the side and saw Mason sprinting his direction, Stevie forcing the Greater Healing potion down June¡¯s throat while the other two dragged Reggie¡¯s unconscious body down the hall towards them. ¡°Protect them!¡± Will shouted at the ghost butlers as Loth came around the corner. ¡°Mason, go with Will, I¡¯ll defend them!¡± Loth said. Will thought as he leapt through the hole in the wall. On the main deck below, it was chaos. Anna¡¯s copies were fending off at least a dozen Climbers cloaked in shadow. They were fighting with nearly equal strength, but Anna wasn¡¯t much of a fighter and her opponents were getting the upper hand more often than not, dropping multiple copies of the Baker to the ground. Surrounding them were were dozens of gawkers on deck, most of them crew from the ships they¡¯d sunk earlier that night. Among the gawkers were dozens more shadow-cloaked figures, gawking along with the rest of the Climbers, at least until Anna engaged them. A bolt of realization shot through Will. ¡°Wait!¡± he shouted, tackling Anna before she could attack one of the stunned shadow-cloaked onlookers. ¡°What?¡± Anna asked. ¡°But he¡¯s-¡° ¡°It¡¯s not all of them!¡± Will shouted. Whoever had created the shadow-covering was applying it to some of the people they¡¯d taken under their wing, intending to use them as camouflage. If Will¡¯s crew attacked the people they were hosting without provocation that would be frowned upon. It was an attack on them their reputation. An explosion rocked Shimmer to the side as Mason unleashed a blast on a swath of shadow-cloaked figures. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will reeled Mason in with Phantom Hand to stop another blast before he lunged over and grabbed his staff, wrenching his attention back to Will. ¡°Only the ones who attack us!¡± he said, gesturing to the onlookers. ¡°They¡¯re civilian camouflage!¡± Mason¡¯s gaze flickered across the deck, taking in the shadowed figures mixed in with the unaffected ones, all watching Will¡¯s party in horror. Mason¡¯s eyes widened in sudden realization. As Will was speaking, a shadowed Climber slipped out from behind another shadowed onlooker and thrust a saber towards him. Will didn¡¯t know if it was one of the attackers, or if it was one of the graneshian civilians they¡¯d brought on board defending themselves from William Oh¡¯s mad rampage. Since Will couldn¡¯t tell which his attacker was, Will went easy on him, stomping the floor out from under his foot and hitting him in the face with a cannonball¡­gently. Will retrieved the cannonball and flung it at one of the shadows hacking at a downed Anna, knocking the climber overboard. Will took a deep breath. ¡°Listen up!¡± Will shouted at the top of his lungs. ¡°There are intruders on board! They have made some of you look like them! If you are not one of them, go back to your room and wait! If you one of them, stay and be disposed of!¡± The non-shadowed Climbers side-eyed the shadowed Climbers among them suspiciously, but in the end, they acquiesced, filing downstairs, leaving the deck empty save for the swath of burnt Climbers Mason had hit with Conflagration. ¡°Get them some help,¡± Will said to Anna. He didn¡¯t know which of them might be the attackers, but he knew that doing anything less than everything he could to prevent losing people under his protection would blow up in his face. The baker nodded, her many injured copies dragging themselves to their feet, their wounds fading away in seconds as they began rounding up the wounded and searching for potions and healers. There were a few among those aboard the ship. ¡°The attackers used the noncombatants as camouflage to escape.¡± Mason muttered, his hand clasped over his stomach. True, they had either joined the other shadowed civilians when they filed downstairs, or they had abandoned ship as soon as their camouflage dissipated. ¡°What¡¯ve you go there?¡± Will asked, pointing at Mason. ¡°Just a light stabbing.¡± Mason said. ¡°It¡¯s barely bleeding. Stings like a bitch, though. Not worth a healing potion.¡± Light Will thought, brow cocked. He was unsure if anything that could penetrate Mason¡¯s shields could be considered ¡°Show me.¡± Will said, peering down. ¡°See?¡± Mason asked, lifting his hand. Indeed, he wasn¡¯t bleeding very much at The wound had the narrow shape of a stab, but the wound only had maybe a teaspoon of blood soaked into the skin and fabric around it. Will wasn¡¯t sure, but in the lamplight, the wound seemed to glimmer with a faint shine. is Will thought. ¡°Make sure it¡¯s not cursed or poisoned as soon as you can,¡± Will muttered before turning back the way they¡¯d come. ¡°Loth!¡± Will shouted, waving up at the Kobold through the hole in the quarterdeck above them. ¡°What!?¡± Loth asked, poking her head out. ¡°Where are the other two!?¡± Will asked. ¡°As soon as they spotted Anna, I figured they might identify her Class and ordered Jean to abandon ship!¡± Loth replied. ¡°Travis on the other hand¡­¡± the hive-wielding saboteur gave a shrug. ***Travis Oilton*** Travis put away the last of his food and headed for his cabin for the night. It was a shared cabin, since there wasn¡¯t enough space to give refugees their own room. Travis didn¡¯t¡¯ mind it as much as he had when he first set out Climbing. You take what you can get, and sometimes a blanket is so bunk-beds seemed kingly by comparison. There should be at least half a dozen young men sleeping in their bunks by the time he arrived. Which was why he was taken aback when he arrived to an empty cabin. Empty, save one person, a grey-bearded man whose hide had been tanned for decades by salt, wind and sun. Sain Jairus. ¡°Good evening, Travis Oilton.¡± The saint said, his hands folded in his lap. ¡°I¡¯m not-¡° ¡°Before you make a fool of yourself:¡± the Saint said, raising a hand. ¡°My Focus is one hundred and eighty. Your little ¡®forget me¡¯ trick isn¡¯t going to work on me. Everyone else on board, maybe, but not me.¡± Above them, the sound of shouting began to rise as battle was joined on the deck. It sounded like their Tangled were fighting the crew of the floating church. Saint Jairus glanced up without any hint of surprise, then back down at Travis. ¡°I¡¯d like to ask you a question.¡± ¡°Is it how fast I can run?¡± Travis asked, backing towards the door. ¡°Because I can run pretty fast.¡± Saint Jairus shook his head without coming any closer. ¡°Did you ever get your revenge against the Wyrd family for destroying yours?¡± Travis halted in place. Chapter 101: Scripted Defeat Will¡¯s eye twitched. It had been over six hours of shouting back and forth from the moment the sun rose, a circular argument between Saint Jairus¡¯s attack dogs and everyone else with any sense. The Graneshians had lost their majority by the slimmest margin when Will had sunk ten of their believer¡¯s ships and taken their votes for himself. They had wanted to declare him an Enemy of the Flotilla and petition the Tower for a bounty. Will¡¯s faction vehemently opposed that, while the moderates agreed that it was a bit extreme, given that the attacks on other Climbers was unintentional. They advocated for a more mild punishment: Temporary Exile. The Floating Church of Granesh pointed out that Will had deliberately left his Tangled party member on board their ship with the explicit intention of attacking them, using that as a reason it should be permanent and carry a more severe penalty, such as confiscating Shimmer. Will¡¯s faction pointed out that the original had indeed left their ship, and the church had attacked Bee and Ria first, the fact that they split into nearly two hundred bodies in preparation for the conflict was irrelevant, as they were defending themselves. They shot back with the extensive list of casualties they took trying to attack the Tangled. Will¡¯s faction pointed to the half a dozen ¡®boarders¡¯ that had been captured trying to steal Shimmer and been returned to the church the morning of that day. On and on it went, in circular reasoning that chewed on its own tail like a mangy dog. And all the while, Will and Saint Jairus stared at each other across the meeting room of Town Hall. The steel-haired priest looked amused, much to Will¡¯s irritation. Will didn¡¯t particularly care about whether or not he was exiled. His Party had already proven they weren¡¯t reliant on The Flotilla when they rolled in on a Leviathan-bone ship. But if he looked at it another way: If Will wasn¡¯t allowed in The Flotilla and the Saint they would always have a place to retreat and repair that Will couldn¡¯t follow unless he wanted to get attacked by other Flotilla members. Will thought. If he got pushed outside the flotilla¡­ Will pictured Shimmer under constant attack by hordes of fishmen, attacking at irregular intervals to prevent any of his Party from getting any sleep before the Floating Church of Granesh swooped in to finish the job. Typically that wouldn¡¯t worry Will, since Brianna could fend off large scale physical assaults over a long period of time, but now that Jairus knew about Brianna, he would go out of his way to acquire some Charm-based Climbers to deal with the Tangled, And Will wouldn¡¯t know if or when he¡¯d done that if he didn¡¯t have any eyes and ears in The Flotilla. All in all, it was a thing to get exiled, indirectly harming him in myriad ways. Will thought back to Loth¡¯s mantra of leadership: ¡® Will thought to himself. Now, the saint was accompanied by several bodyguards at all times, indicating he had been bluffing earlier when he strutted around Will without any form of protection on his ship. And Will had bought it, assuming the saint, with Saint-levels, was a strong combatant. They¡¯d taken some time to ask around after last night and discovered that the saint¡¯s specialty was mega large-scale buffs, fighting. This implied very strongly that Jairus had instigated the attack on them last night, buffing his crew to the point that they could fight toe-to-toe with Will¡¯s Party. Unfortunately, since their features had been cloaked in shadow, not a single one had been identified. This gave Will no leverage to accuse Jairus of attacking him. In the end, the meeting was adjourned without declaring any particular punishment for Will. On one hand, the six boarders they had subdued trying to steal Shimmer had launched a shitstorm, and on the other, they had proven a preceding incident that the church had instigated, allowing most of the accusations to slide off Will in the name of self-defense. Will thought as he and Mason left City Hall. They would reconvene tomorrow to decide on a punishment, but Will didn¡¯t expect there to a tomorrow for certain individuals. ¡°What did you get?¡± Will asked, receiving the Dimensional Assassin¡¯s Amulet from Loth before she put on her usual one. ¡°There¡¯s another Scramble coming soon, possibly as early as tonight.¡± Loth said. ¡°The saint¡¯s ledger shows ¡®proof¡¯ that the fish-people can only summon one storm per month, and they have dropped their guard against being hit twice in a row. This is the perfect opportunity for the fish-people to buck the trend and lure another storm on top of The Flotilla, while they are struggling to recover.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°How can you be sure?¡± Will asked. ¡°I read through the Saint¡¯s journal and surmised the timing of previous Church-instigated Scrambles, then jotted down a note on the Saint¡¯s waterproof stationary, attaching one of the many rocks on a string to sink it to the bottom.¡± ¡°So there a bottom.¡± ¡°It would seem so,¡± Loth said. ¡°Anyway, I requested that the fish-people wait an extra month before the next Scramble.¡± ¡°Implying that the Flotilla is weak and needs time to recover,¡± Will mused. ¡°Practically guaranteeing that a sound strategist will see an opportunity to attack immediately.¡± Loth said. ¡°And if the fish people don¡¯t take advantage?¡± Will asked. ¡°They will, but if they don¡¯t I¡¯ll simply sink the Floating Church of Granesh and be done with it.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no ¡®and be done with it,¡± Will muttered. ¡°Sink that one ship and they¡¯ll commandeer another ship from one of the faithful and call the Floating Church of Granesh. We need to kill them.¡± ¡°Killing a religious figure is the surest way to galvanize their followers,¡± Loth pointed out. ¡°Not if it happens in hyperbole,¡± Will mused. He didn¡¯t need to just kill him. He needed to his legend. The only way to destroy a legend was with another. ¡°You¡¯re thinking of violence.¡± Loth said. ¡°Please, do tell.¡± ¡°How¡¯s Brianna?¡± Will asked. ¡°A little shaken after killing several of Jairus¡¯s followers last night. And experiencing death through a few of her copies.¡± Will winced at a pang of guilt for putting her in that position. She would eventually be forced to come to terms with killing, but for now, she needed time to rest and recover, so he would try to include her in their defense in the least violent way possible. ¡°let¡¯s put Bee on a mission to spread the rumor that Jairus is summoning the Scrambles, and another one will hit soon. Ria can guard the boat, and Anna can keep our guests happy. Let¡¯s have the others guard Jean.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Loth nodded. ¡°Understood.¡± A thought occurred to Will as he glanced up at the afternoon sun. Saint Jairus probably expacted him to respond as soon as the sun went down. Why not immediately? Because everyone was still awake. Because it was bright outside. because he would fail. Will pondered, flashing back to his curse-induced nightmare where he had taken the place of the poor boy that had been tortured to death in the Ring. A stark reminder of what would happen to him if he slipped up. my ¡°How confident are you that the fish-people will attack soon?¡± Will asked. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Supremely.¡± Loth replied. ¡°Alright then.¡± Will said with a chuckle as adrenaline filled his body. His duty as Party Leader was to make things as easy as possibly for his Team, and if that meant doing something monumentally stupid, then so be it. ¡°I wanna do something stupid, but if I¡¯m gonna pull it off, I need to ask Jean for a big favor. Where is she?¡± Will asked. Loth nodded toward Shimmer in the distance. ¡°Let¡¯s go, go go! if this is gonna work it has to be fast!¡± Will said, picking up Loth and sprinting across the waves to Shimmer, bypassing the winding boardwalk strung between vessels. ***Travis Oilton*** Travis thought, rattling the chains around his wrist. They were enchanted to drain his strength while being stronger than steel, and like Loth had warned, his Build was strictly designed to manage enemy attention. Nothing more. Manacles didn¡¯t exactly have an attention span. The door opened, revealing Saint Jairus, mopping a bit of sweat from his forehead with a towel before tossing it aside. ¡°Sorry about the wait, it¡¯s been a busy morning,¡± Jairus said, pulling up a chair and sitting in front of Travis. ¡°Did you need anything? Have they been taking out your chamber pot? Sponge bath?¡± Jairus wrinkled his nose. ¡°Please say ¡®sponge bath¡¯.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Travis said. ¡°Are you going to start torturing me, or what?¡± ¡°Torture? Pfft.¡± Jairus waved him off. ¡°The manacles are only there because you¡¯ll run off otherwise. My only interest is in making an arrangement between you and the church of Granesh.¡± ¡°Not interested.¡± Travis said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ve seen this happen before. William Oh keeps winning for some damn reason and the people who get in his way wind up dead or disgraced. I know enough to know a gravy train when I see one. You¡¯re gonna on your ass in a matter of days, if not minutes.¡± Jairus seemed to think about it a moment, nodding. ¡°He beat me. He just may. Among all the Deceivers I¡¯ve met, he¡¯s an exceptional one. But that¡¯s why this arrangement is between you and the not you and myself.¡± Travis frowned. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°I have the Ability to grant a boost to a Climber¡¯s stat growth.¡± Travis¡¯s brows rose. ¡°Is it retroactive?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°¡­How much are we talking?¡± Travis asked. William Oh had insane stat growth that implied he had used at three A-rank Sacrifices in his Build, something that Travis couldn¡¯t measure up to. Even plus one growth to one stat would be twenty-six points at his current level. A remarkable amount. The rest of the Party had been gradually exceeding him for a while now, and the quiet voice in Travis¡¯s brain told him that he would either get left behind or die when he finally couldn¡¯t keep up. Even one point of stat growth could remedy that¡­ ¡°Two points of stat growth of your choice.¡± ¡°Interesting proposition, but no thanks.¡± Travis said with a shrug, glancing up and spotting a nearly invisible William Oh creeping through the door, the hinge¡¯s telltale squeak muffled by an Ability as he slipped inside. ¡°What do you think is going to happen when you make it to Frederick Wyrd¡¯s Stronghold?¡± Jairus said, facing away from the door and unaware of the Infiltrator stalking towards him. ¡°He¡¯s not going to tear it down. William Oh will make a deal with the new owners, and the legacy of the one who destroyed is going to live and grow while your name will be a forgotten side-note in history. With the support of the Church you could-ACK! Jairus stiffened at the feel of Charge circulating an instant before Will flickered across the room and drove a Shortsword directly into Jairus¡¯s skull. All Abyss broke loose, and Travis covered his vitals as his tiny little prison cell turned into a tornado filled with cannonballs, broken limbs and knives. Bodyguards seemed to manifest out of thin air, emerging from the furniture to shove Will away from the Saint while the others healed him before a single heartbeat had passed. It was a brutal, short fight. Will managed to get one of the bodyguards with a cannonball that rendered the warrior into a fine paste and punched a hole in the wall, but the other three ganged up and beat Will within an inch of his life in the seconds that followed, ignoring the wounds they received in return. A moment later, the recovered Jairus strode up to him, kneeling down and healing the unconscious Will¡¯s fatal wounds while leaving the debilitating ones alone. Jairus knelt down to where Will¡¯s one hand was pinned to the floor by his bloodied bodyguards, plucking the gaudy Ring of the Eidolon off of Will¡¯s finger and Inspecting it. ¡°You nearly had me there for a second.¡± Jairus murmured before glancing up at his minions. ¡°Take him to the holding cell we¡¯ve arranged. Strip him, fit him with a restraining collar and mute his Abilities. He specializes in a Dimensional Storage Ability, he surely has some clever backup plan inside it.¡± Jairus glanced up at Travis, all the warmth and reasonableness that had been present while he was negotiating with Travis was gone, vanished in an instant. ¡°¡­Is that two-point buff to my stat growth still on the table?¡± Travis asked. ¡°¡­No.¡± ¡°Damn. Should¡¯ve sold out earlier.¡± Travis muttered, leaning back against the wall. A moment later, Jairus and his bodyguards swept out of the room, leaving Travis alone. Travis noted that one of his manacles was anchored into the wall right next to the gaping hole cut by the cannonball. With a firm tug, the chain popped out of the splintered wall. Chapter 102: Interrogation Will¡¯s left eye fluttered open. His right eye was swollen shut, throbbing with the beat of his heart. He was splayed out, Kit missing, hanging midair, every limb strapped to an unyielding steel X at least a couple inches thick, designed to contain a climber¡¯s superhuman strength. Will tried to move Phantom Hand and found it completely unresponsive. Not unexpected, but it still brought a cold sweat to his brow. Will thought. His worst fear would be- Will cut off that line of thought for a couple reasons: first because it was pointless to think about and second because he didn¡¯t know if they had a mind-reader on-site. No sense giving them his worst fears right out the gate. Will¡¯s eye focused on the saint as the grizzled veteran stepped away, his poking finger still extended. ¡°Welcome back,¡± Jairus said with a smile. ¡°Good to be-,¡± Will said before a hacking cough interrupted him. A little blood must¡¯ve gotten into his lungs while he was passed out. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get started, shall we?¡± Saint Jairus asked, pulling a chair in front of the Will Chandelier and taking a seat. ¡°What, no knives and brands?¡± Will asked. ¡°Other leaders in the church of Granesh jump straight to torture. I prefer to establish a dialogue first.¡± Jairus said, folding his hands. ¡°I have a great deal of experience with interrogations in general and have found that it always works out to my advantage to have a long conversation before I bring out the knives and Truth Debuffs.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Will asked, his mind lingering on the ¡®truth debuffs¡¯, finger itching. ¡°Because if I ask you the same questions before and after a Truth Debuff, it reveals to me what think is important enough to lie about.¡± ¡°Oh, interesting. Should you be telling me that?¡± Will asked. ¡°Oh, it¡¯ll let you wiggle a little bit, I¡¯m sure, but not to a great extent. The things you feel are important won¡¯t change. Meanwhile, I believe that establishing myself as the wellspring from which Truth flows is more important.¡± Every word I say you can take at face value. That¡¯s why I¡¯m not making any grandiose threats. My threats will be simple, actionable ones that will be enacted the instant they leave my mouth.¡± Saint Jairus leaned back in his chair. ¡°Shall we get started?¡± Will shrugged, best as he could. ¡°What are the names of your Primary Abiliies?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I see. Silence would seem like the best option in these circumstances,¡± Jairus said, nodding. ¡°Allow me to make you an offer, then. If you answer my questions, then not only will we avoid torture for quiet some time, I will also go out of my way to allow your Party to move on to the next Floor.¡± Will considered. Time was good. Buying as much of it as possible should be his priority, and if he simply stopped answering questions, they would skip the step where he could lie to them entirely, possibly spelling his doom. It was 100% in Will¡¯s best interest to go along with this. But how not to seem desperate? ¡°My whole party?¡± Will asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Including my Tangled and my Kobold?¡± Will asked. ¡°I know how you people are.¡± ¡°Your Tangled killed no less than fifteen sailors.¡± ¡°Who attacked her first.¡± Will said. ¡°She¡¯s a sweetheart if you¡¯re not trying to kill her or use her as a living weapon. Something I¡¯ve been trying not to abuse.¡± ¡°The kobold isn¡¯t in your Party.¡± ¡°It totally is,¡± Will replied. ¡°Interesting. Yes, I suppose a Deceiver would have affinity for the scaled subhumans.¡± Will cocked his head to the side. ¡°How about this?¡± Will asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to die here, yeah?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Jairus said with a shrug. ¡°Barring special circumstances we will execute you at the end of our interrogation.¡± Will chuckled. ¡°You really are committed to telling the truth.¡± ¡°A man¡¯s word is powerful, as long as it remains unbroken.¡± Jairus said. ¡°I¡¯ll give you all the answers you want, if you give all the answers want. Then when we¡¯re done, you can kill me as planned. No sensitive information leaked.¡± ¡°What makes you suggest that?¡± Jairus asked. ¡°I¡¯d like to know what a Deceiver is.¡± Will said. ¡°It¡¯s not like anyone taught it to me growing up.¡± Jairus seemed to consider for a moment. ¡°You are aware of the conflict between Granesh, god of order, and Ouroboros?¡± ¡°Vaguely.¡± ¡°During their first battle, the blood of Ouroboros rained down on The Tower, proliferating every scaled monster.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it,¡± Will said. ¡°Well, a few of the more powerful types, Immortal Serpents among them, carry on the ancient battle against order that is imprinted in their very blood. They use shapeshifting to replace human Climbers and send their half-breed children to sow chaos.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying that my parents¡­¡± ¡°One of them was replaced during their Climb, conceived you, and then delivered you to an orphanage, like a seed of chaos waiting to sprout.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Will mused. His life pretty chaotic. He¡¯d guessed most of this already, but it was nice to hear it straight from the priesthood themselves. ¡°My turn. What are your Sacrifices?¡± Jairus asked. ¡°Gravity goat, Uru drake, and my left hand.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°¡­¡± Jairus paused, glancing over at Will¡¯s missing left hand. ¡°You realize that confirms that you aren¡¯t fully human?¡± ¡°I had an inkling,¡± Will admitted ¡°Your turn,¡± Jairus said. ¡°Why do I have a strange empathy for certain corpses?¡± Will asked, praying that he wasn¡¯t giving away more information than he was asking for. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Every now and then I¡¯ll come across the body of a dead person and I¡¯ll see myself as them. Have conversations with them, even. This happened a lot more in the first few Floors.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your affinity for other Deceivers. Your progenitor scattered thousands of spawn outside the tower, and they leave a psychic imprint upon their death that you unconsciously absorb, drawing you into the last few moments of their life. The reason it¡¯s stopped in the upper floors is there¡¯s significantlyless Deceivers who¡¯ve made it this far.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Will cocked his head. ¡°Does that mean could get psychic Abilities?¡± Will asked, thinking back to the Tomahawk of the Serpent. Jairus shook his head and waggled a finger. ¡°My turn.¡± Will groaned, but nodded. ¡°Do you know where your parents are now?¡± Jairus asked. ¡°No, last I heard they were making their way back down, from the upper floors, but that can take years. I haven¡¯t seen them since I was ten.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Jairus scratched down a note. ¡°My turn. Do you know which of my parents is the serpent?¡± ¡°Typically it¡¯s the male.¡± Will thought, pursing his lips in thought. Jairus opened his mouth to speak when an urgent knock on the cell¡¯s door interrupted him. ¡°Excuse me!¡± the saint¡¯s assistant ducked his head into the room. ¡°There¡¯s a messenger here for you.¡± ¡°And?¡± Jairus asked, motioning for him to send the man in. Joshua cleared his throat nervously. ¡°He was very insistent that it was for your ears only.¡± Jairus groaned and pushed himself to his feet. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a moment. Sorry to stop just when we were getting somewhere.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think of some questions while you¡¯re out,¡± Will said with a shrug. ¡°Keep an eye on him,¡± Jairus said to his bodyguard, who nodded and fixed his gaze on Will, intent on not giving him any wiggle room. A moment later, the Saint swept out of the room, leaving Will alone with a powerful Warrior in full kit. Easy peasy. Will tugged on his bonds experimentally, satisfied when they threatened to slip off of him as if they¡¯d been made of greased seaweed. ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± The warrior threatened, tensing. ¡°Don¡¯t what? Test my bindings? You haven¡¯t held many people captive before have you?¡± Will asked, testing Phantom Hand. It was sluggish, but starting to recover from the numbness already. Will¡¯s ¡®big favor¡¯ to ask of Jean was to borrow the Ring of Total Freedom. It was the last lifeline that allowed her to avoid being captured and used as a living weapon, so naturally she was reluctant to part with it. Will had to do some pretty impressive groveling, and make the four girls several dubious promises he was unsure he could actually follow through on before they gave it up. All he had to do after that was put the ring on, allow it to hide itself, then put the Ring of The Eidolon on over it, acting as camouflage. Naturally, only the first ring would be active, and the second would be inert. So the Ring of Total Freedom was able to pass unnoticed when they took the Ring of the Eidolon, the people searching him assuming they¡¯d cleared that part of his kit. Unnoticed by the guard, Will swished the Phantom Hand around the room until he felt that he¡¯d shaken out most of its sluggishness. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He switched from the Wand of the Undead Retainer to the Sickle of Cold Harvest, causing a shiver to run down his spine as the Phantom Hand¡¯s finger and turned black. ¡°NNG!¡± The guard let out a muffled grunt of pain as a steel dart emerged from Phantom Hand at point blank, perforating his neck and instantly sheathing his entire body with oversized ice crystals due to Cold Harvest¡¯s effects. Will slipped out of his bindings and sprinted up to the bodyguard, feeling Cold Harvest¡¯s lifesteal effect causing the bruises and lacerations crippling him to begin fading away. Will reached the guard¡¯s sword before his hoarfrost-slowed hand could reach it, whipping the blade out and killing the man with a well-placed thrust to the eye. Will lowered the body quietly to the floor and put his ear to the door to see if anyone had heard. In the distance, he could make out Saint Jainus¡¯s receding footsteps. Saint Jainus was old, and specialized in Focus. That meant Will could hear him before he could hear Will. Will cracked the door open and peeked out, seeing nobody. He crept out and followed the saint¡¯s footsteps until they came to an end. ¡°I¡¯ll return to my duties,¡± Joshua said, his voice preceding him as he approached one of the doors in the hall. Surging with adrenaline, Will sprinted forward and leapt up, directly over the doorway his voice was coming from, clinging to the wall and ceiling. The door opened underneath him and Joshua walked out, not bothering to look directly above him. The assistant walked away, disappearing down the Officer¡¯s hall. ¡°What¡¯s this message then?¡± Will heard Jairus¡¯s voice ask. ¡°Not just yet,¡± the messenger¡¯s voice said, before Will felt a Charge move through the air in the room across from them, and suddenly the sound went dead. Will scanned his surroundings and spotted that the door opposite him was open, revealing a room with books inside. Will used Phantom hand to steal a piece of paper out of one of the bibles. The extra thin stuff. He pried a long splinter of wood off the wall about the size of his palm, and jammed it through the ultra-thin paper before feeding the splinter through the gap in the door. When the splinter was about halfway through the gap, the extra-thin paper began to vibrate with the faintest sound that his outlandish Acuity could barely pick up. Will frowned. ¡°So the Prophet thinks he¡¯s going to escape us?¡± Jairus asked. ¡°I¡¯m just the messenger, but it would certainly appear that way.¡± The other voice spoke. ¡°What¡¯s this about five silver?¡± Jairus asked. Will¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°Again, I¡¯m the messenger, and we were instructed to deliver the message before the prophecy could be completely interpreted. It was deemed important that it reach your ears immediately, given its potential time-sensitive nature.¡± Will thought, letting himself down from the ceiling and creeping away from the door before sprinting back down the hall on the balls of his feet. If anything he could sniff it out. It had been steeping in the scent of rotting fish aboard Shimmer for weeks, after all. As he was running, a body turned the corner, nearly running directly into Will. Will¡¯s adrenaline was so high that the sword was halfway to Travis¡¯s eye before he identified him. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± they whispered at the same ¡°Escaping, obviously.¡± Travis replied. ¡°Our stuff¡¯s over here.¡± He thumbed over his shoulder. Together the two of them sprinted down the hall until they reached the room where Will¡¯s kit had been stashed. Will listened at the door and determined there were at least two people breathing on the other side. ¡°Two enemies,¡± Will signed, pointing at the door. Travis nodded, and a moment later, Will cracked the door the tiniest amount, using the Ring of Total Freedom to ooze his way into the room without opening it more than a couple inches. ¡°You¡¯re not sneaky,¡± Loth¡¯s voice came from atop the chest with Will¡¯s gear, causing all the tension to drain out of his body. Will glanced over and saw that Ria was standing beside Loth, acting as the saboteur¡¯s bodyguard. Behind them was an insect-chewed hole in the side of the ship, marking the path of their escape. ¡°¡­I know I just asked for a huge favor,¡± Will said, turning to Ria. ¡°But would you mind doing one more big favor for me?¡± Shortly afterwards, Jairus finished the debrief with the messenger, drank a bit of water to clear his throat, and headed back to the interrogation room. The room was oddly chillier than he remembered it, but the guard still stood in the corner, watching the Deceiver with a steely gaze. The Deceiver¡¯s bruises seemed to have faded, his lacerations scabbed over. ¡°Did something happen?¡± Jairus asked. ¡°The Deceiver had a healing potion concealed in their collar. I as able to pry it out of their mouth before they could drink too much.¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± Jairus asked. ¡°Yes, Saint.¡± 153-123 charges remaining. ¡°Nonbelievers cannot lie to me.¡± Jainus said. There was no time to go through the typical process of slowly extracting information and cross-referencing it to get a deeper understanding of the subject. William Oh took in a sharp breath. According to the prophecy, Will was going to escape any second, or perhaps he had already. He no longer had time to dance around the issue and instead must cut to the heart of the matter. ¡°Are you William Oh?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± William Oh said. ¡°Are you planning on escaping?¡± ¡°Of course. Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± ¡°?¡± Jainus said, his voice taking on an edge. ¡°Well, my working plan is that I¡¯m going to paralyze you with hoarfrost, slip out of my restraints, subdue your bodyguards, then I¡¯m gonna drag you out onto the ocean and escape into the confusion of the Scramble as the fishpeople you¡¯re working with sink your ship with a bit of help from Loth the Luminary.¡± Jairus almost laughed off the absurdity of Will¡¯s ¡®plan¡¯, until the ¡®fishpeople¡¯ were mentioned. Jainus glanced behind him where his bodyguard stood, inhaling through his nose. Sniffing the air. Cold air. The faintest scent of blood. Something he hadn¡¯t been conscious of until he had grown suspicious. He¡¯d assumed it had been Will¡¯s blood. His eyes widened. 123-93 charges remaining. ¡°Nonbelievers cannot-¡° A piercing pain assaulted Jairus¡¯s chest an instant before hoarfrost locked his jaw shut. Ice covered Jairus¡¯s eyes and ears as he froze in place, toppling to the ground. Around him he heard the muffled sounds of battle as his hidden bodyguards engaged with Will and the false one that had been replaced while he was gone. Jairus felt the ship begin to rock, and beneath the shouting and ringing of steel he thought he could make out someone shouting ¡®Scramble!¡¯ Chapter 103: Getting the Hang of it nuthin¡¯ ¡°Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!¡± The clanging of bells rose above the shouts that multiplied, echoing from ship to ship. Will sprinted across the water while Ria jumped from pier to pier, the frozen Saint over her shoulder. The man¡¯s movement speed was penalized to such a degree that he was for all intents, paralyzed. Will thought. ¡°That way!¡± Loth said, sprinting along behind Ria while Travis was bringing up the rear. A dark form lunged out of the water, its webbed fingers clasping around Ria¡¯s ankle. The Tangled didn¡¯t even slow down, her powerful leap violently ramming the fishman¡¯s chest into the pier before he let go to save his arm. Will widened his gaze and saw that Climbers were being snatched off the piers in droves as they ran to their ships. Will glanced down and spotted even larger shadows moving through the churning ocean beneath. Will looked up and spotted the slightly pearlescent clouds he¡¯d learned to associate with cloud coral, and by extension, sky sharks. Will thought. It wasn¡¯t the right time to pat Loth on the head for her strategy sense, but when she called an incoming attack, it paid to ¡°Ria!¡± Will shouted over the storm, catching her attention. ¡°You wanted to save people!?¡± Will said, gesturing to the Climbers getting picked off in the confusion. ¡°Here¡¯s your chance!¡± Ria nodded and tossed the Saint to Loth, who let out a squeak of surprise before Travis caught up and helped her carry him. Together those two hefted the Saint and kept running. Shimmer was within eyeshot. Meanwhile, Ria split dozens of times over, each of her clones growing fins as they dove into the water. Jean was still wearing the Ring of Water Breathing, so the Tangled girls were their best underwater combatants. The water around them began to churn as Ria did battle with the attackers underwater, forcing many of them to release their captured Climbers, who dragged themselves back up on the piers, shivering and gasping. Will kept running and spotted a fishman about to pop out in front of Loth. Will turned suddenly and performed a sliding kick that shot seaspray into the air, catching the fishman in the face and forcing him away from Loth, allowing her to continue past him. Will¡¯s hand caught the water and pulled himself up before he sank into the ocean, getting his feet back under him and jumping out of the way of a charging fish person, their claws swiping where his calves had been an instant ago. A thought occurred to Will as he danced away, a face rapidly approached from under the surface. He slammed his heel down onto the water, stiffening it for an instant as the fishman crumpled against the hard plate of water Will was standing on. When Will glanced back up, Loth and Travis were climbing the ropes onto Shimmer as the wind and waves began to get more and more violent. On either side, scaled humanoid forms were climbing up the side of Shimmer. Will thought, bursting into a sprint, grabbing Phantom Hand and flinging himself up above Shimmer¡¯s deck, flying in a high arc above them before landing on board Shimmer. His shin bone nearly got shoved into his sternum as the swells propelled the ship up beneath his feet, but Will didn¡¯t have time to feel pain, scrambling forward and leaning over, taking his place beside the line of Annas leaning over the side of the ship. ¡°Push them off!¡± Will shouted to Anna, pointing at the boarders swarming out of the water, before he began hauling on the rope Loth was climbing, bringing her up to the deck ¡°One moment.¡± Loth said, pausing as Travis took the Saint huffing with effort as he threw the frozen man over his shoulder and sprinted further on board. She turned back toward the edge and peered over for a moment before slamming her fist down on the nearby railing. With a mechanical noise, the outer scales coating Shimmer flipped with explosive force, catching the limbs of the climbing fish-people and snapping them off as the orientation of the scales reversed. The vast majority of the boarders tumbled back into the ocean, missing a hand or a few toes, but there were still a dozen or so who had managed to avoid getting a body part snipped and retained their suction-cup grip on the side of the boat. Loth growled, holding one hand to her Amulet of Chain Casting, the other directing her claws towards the boarders. Two dozen fishpeople gave strangled gasps of pain as wasps burst from their chests before setting upon their allies, driving them back into the water. One by one, Ria found the ship and climbed aboard, cuts of various sizes closing as she did. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Hold onto something!¡± Loth¡¯s voice rose above the storm. Will craned his neck to see what she was warning of: a massive mouth erupting from the water, attempting to engulf Shimmer. With a jolt that caused dozens of people to lose their footing and tumble into the abyss, The mouth impacted the ship, not big enough to swallow Shimmer. Shimmer, half-inside the massive leviathan¡¯s mouth, was suddenly dragged downward as the creature dove with it¡¯s catch. Will looped his arm around the ship¡¯s railing, using his newly minted left elbow to secure it in place. It felt like the world had dropped out from under their feet for an instant before a wall of water crashed into them, scouring the deck with the fury of an angry god. The moonlight faded above as they were dragged down further and further, before Will felt a and a jolt, transmitted through the entire ship. A fishman approached from above, moving swiftly as he was drawn inward, riding the titanic eddies propagated by Shimmer¡¯s wake. Will quickly switched his arm out for his leg around Shimmer¡¯s railing, Standing up in the water to wait for the fishman¡¯s approach. Will finally got a good view of these new monsters. They had needle-like teeth, streamlined, scaled bodies, and large fins that splayed out from the sides of their short legs. Every movement screamed confidence as it approached, with all the swagger of a man approaching a duck about to be dinner. A duck he particularly disliked. Will thought, unleashing the Shortsword of Perserverance directly into its chest from Phantom Hand¡¯s storage. The water had no effect on how fast it could move. Will grabbed the handle of the sword as the stunned monster delivered it back to him, yanking it free and warding off the narrow spear thrust towards him by the creature¡¯s compatriot. The water was frustratingly thick, slowing down Will¡¯s movements to a perceived crawl as he tried to fend off dozens of creatures after his blood. A moment later, Anna arrived beside him, the chubby blonde baker had grown fins, her hair creating a glittering curtain in the water as she fended off the fishmen with the help of several other copies of Ria, Jean and Bee. One the pressure was off of them, she turned and gave Will a silent thumb¡¯s-up. Shimmer slipped out of the Leviathan¡¯s mouth and suddenly the water slapped Will down, nearly tearing his leg off as Shimmer began flying upwards at ungodly speed. Will stowed his sword before he lost it and grabbed the railing with his hand too, looking out past the railing, out into the abyss beyond. Hundreds of baker girls were swimming directly towards him, trying to catch up with Shimmer after being washed off. It was like something out of a dream: Their hair flowed behind them, their bodies framed by the endless expanse of black that lay beyond, creating a stunning visual as the moonlight highlighted their isolated bodies. Will thought an instant before Shimmer broke the surface, catapulting up into the air, carried by its own momentum. ¡°WHOOO!¡± Loth shouted from the upper deck. ¡°You think you can stop something built!?¡± She beat her chest and cackled. Will managed to collect himself and roll away from the railing before the sudden return to the ocean broke his leg. The sudden impact of his chest going down while the ship bobbed did knock the wind out of him for a second, even with his high Resistance. Will thought as he scrambled to his feet. ¡°Are you okay!?¡± Anna asked, erupting out of the water and arriving beside him, fins fading into legs like one of the mermaids from the old stories. The non-monster kind, anyway. ¡°Find Mason!¡± Will shouted back, a bit more barking than he would¡¯ve liked when speaking to their food, clothes, and cleaning specialist, but it was an emergency. Anna¡¯s expression went blank for a moment and Will thought he¡¯d pissed her off, but the girl simply pointed towards an empty section of railing. Will leaned over and spotted a shivering Mason barely clinging to a rope off the side of the ship. A Ria shot out of the water and landed on the netting beside him, grabbing their Nuker and hauling him aboard, delivering him to Will. ¡°Mason!¡± Will said, getting the slender Nuker¡¯s attention. ¡°Eh? EH!¡± Mason shook out of his stupor, seemingly surprised to be alive and above the water. ¡°Crows nest!¡± Will shouted, pointing. ¡°Leviathans!¡± He wanted Mason to give them a mouthful of fire next time they tried to drag Shimmer under. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Sky sharks!¡± Mason shouted back, pointing straight up. Will glanced up and spotted the thousands of sharks swirling above them, eager to pick off isolated Climbers. ¡°Take Ria!¡± Ria nodded and carried Mason up to the crow¡¯s nest, followed by dozens more of her. ¡°Do a headcount!¡± Will said, grabbing one of Bee¡¯s copies. Bee nodded, her expression going blank. ¡°Party¡¯s accounted for!¡± one of her clones said, giving him a mock salute as she sprinted past. Will¡¯s legs buckled and he grabbed the railing as the ship went nearly vertical. ¡°YEEEHAAAW!¡± Reese¡¯s voice rose above the storm with a strange battle-cry, the emaciated sailor heaving on the steering wheel as the waves carried them up. ¡°WILL, LOOK!¡± Loth shouted from her perch, pointing in front of them and down. Will dragged himself over and looked over the railing, spotting The Floating Church of Granesh in the valley of two swells, directly beneath them. Shimmer slammed down on top of the luxurious vessel, the reinforced leviathan scales cutting through the high-end wood. In a matter of seconds, the Floating Church of Granesh was sheared in two, drifting into Shimmer¡¯s wake as they cut through the water. Will thought, wincing as he spotted hundreds of sailors scattered to the wind. The vast majority of them would not survive the night. Will shoved nonessential thoughts aside, refocusing on keeping everyone aboard Shimmer alive through the night. And on the battle went. By the time the night ended, Will was a ragged mess, splayed across the deck and staring at the sky above, which was rapidly turning it¡¯s unnatural shade of blue as the strange sun peeked above the horizon. Anna¡¯s face came into view, blocking some of the morning light, seemingly fine despite fighting for her life the entire night. Will knew logically it was her higher physical stats, and the fact that she could keep fresh copies in reserve, but still¡­ ¡°Are you okay? Do you need anything?¡± ¡°Breakfast, nap and a bath. Maybe not in that order.¡± ¡°I bought some oatmeal and dried blueberries in the Flotilla,¡± She said, putting a hot bowl on his chest. ¡°Big spender,¡± Will grunted, glancing down at the steaming bowl of blueberry oatmeal under his chin and desperately tried to move his hand. It didn¡¯t work as well as he wanted to, so Will resorted to trying to grab some of the delicious treat with his tongue. ¡°Here,¡± Anna said with a sigh, taking the bowl off his chest and sitting him up before beginning to spoon-feed him the oatmeal. ¡°Having fun?¡± Loth asked, arriving beside them. ¡°I¡¯d be lying if I said no,¡± Will admitted. ¡°How can you still move?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t jumping around the deck from emergency to emergency all night,¡± Loth said with a shrug, folding her legs and sitting beside him, accepting a bowl of oatmeal from one of the dozens of Annas crisscrossing the deck with trays of steaming food. ¡°We have to kill the Saint.¡± Loth said matter-of-factly between bites, causing Will to nearly inhale a blueberry. Will coughed oatmeal out of his lungs for a moment before catching his breath. ¡°Moral dilemmas aside, he¡¯s got some information I want,¡± Will said. ¡°Then you¡¯d better find a creative way to get it out of him before he thinks to give Anna the Berserk debuff.¡± Loth said, scanning the surrounding Tangled, that made up perhaps a quarter of the five hundred people aboard. ***Saint Jairus*** ¡°So, let¡¯s revisit that permanent two points of stat growth,¡± Travis Oilton said, lacing his fingers together as he studied the Saint. ¡°I¡¯m assuming that offer is back on the table?¡± Chapter 104: The Double Fakeout Jairus thought sourly, taking in his accommodations. They were nearly identical to those that he¡¯d housed The Deceiver in a few hours ago. The crucifix restraining him was made of laminated Leviathan scale bound by some kind of resin, with silk bonds that outperformed any rope Jairus had ever heard of. There was a bit of bend, but it was easily as strong as the steel he¡¯d secured the Deceiver to. A small part of him beneath the controlled fear, was impressed by the material and dimly wondered what else it could be used for. There were reportedly at least a hundred fervent Believers on board Shimmer, as well as the low-focus Tangled pet that William Oh seemed to be fond of. That was fertile ground for his particular style of Abilities. Something that they were surely aware of, given how painfully secure his gag was. Jairus moved his lips around the gag. ¡°Gag off?¡± The young man asked. Jairus nodded. The Master Decoy pulled out a dagger and held the point to Jairus¡¯s throat, the tip pricking the skin under his throat. ¡°You understand if I feel any Charge, or if you start a sentence with the word ¡®nonbeliever¡¯, I¡¯ll have to kill you?¡± Travis asked. Jairus nodded again. Blade still held to his throat, the Decoy leaned up behind him and yanked the gag loose with his other hand. ¡°Let¡¯s talk details.¡± Jairus said, working his lips over dry teeth. ¡°Whaddya want?¡± Travis asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet.¡± Jairus responded with the closest to a shrug he could manage. ¡°Not ¡®set me free¡¯?¡± ¡°Not if it lands me in the middle of the ocean or gets me captured again. I need to know what is going on outside before I can make an informed decision. I might want to be let go, I might want you to deliver a letter, or maybe just ask you to kill me before your leader can get any useful information.¡± ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is¡­you want me to spy for you? For free?¡± The youngling gave a dramatic sigh and moved to put the gag back over Jairus¡¯s mouth. ¡°Half now, half later.¡± Jairus interjected before the Master Decoy could cover his mouth. ¡°Well, now I¡¯m interested.¡± Travis said, pausing. ¡°What stat do you want?¡± Jairus asked. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Focus.¡± ¡°¡­Pick something else.¡± The young man¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because the Stat point is coming from me. If I give you a point of focus it cripples my Build.¡± ¡°In what world do you expect to win without sacrifice?¡± Travis demanded. ¡°You¡¯re acting like you¡¯re getting out of this alive.¡± Jairus thought about it. ¡°Fine. I need to kiss your forehead.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m going to kill you with my Exploding Kiss Ability, then proceed to commandeer the ship with nothing but my lips. Get your fucking face over here.¡± Jairus growled, his sailor slipping through. The young man cautiously leaned forward, putting his head in front of Jairus. ¡°Take a portion of my Focus and carry it into battle, my champion.¡± The Master Decoy¡¯s eyes widened as his Focus suddenly shot up. Meanwhile, Jairus¡¯s Focus dropped precipitously. ¡°Now get me some information,¡± Jairus said, ushering Travis away. ¡°Nah, twenty-eight points to my Focus was plenty. I¡¯m not greedy,¡± Travis said, raising the gag again. ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll take Your Party to notice the extra Focus?¡± Jairus asked. ¡°They see your status if they want. Sooner or later, it¡¯ll come up.¡± The brown-haired young man paused, staring into the distance, obviously calculating his odds in his mind. ¡°Alright.¡± Travis said, stuffing the gag back into Jairus¡¯s mouth. ¡°Be right back.¡± He was not right back. Over the next eight hours, Jairus tested his bonds every way he possibly could, only pausing when their Nuker and the Tangled came to watch him use the chamberpot, something of them were happy about. Will visited twice over that time, asking odd questions about the organization of the Church of Granesh. Who reported to who, where they were outside The Tower, what responsibilities different parts of the church had in the day-to-day tasks of running such a large organization. These were largely questions that weren¡¯t even secret. Any Acolyte pushing a broom across the church floor understood the organization¡¯s hierarchy, and therefore how they could expect to climb it. It was strong institutions that led to human advancement. As Granesh intended. Meanwhile in another section of the ship, Loth and Will were poring over a map of Graneshian Churches, organized by hierarchical importance and their ability to rapidly deploy messengers to any corner of the ring. Based on what the Graneshian believers had told them from casual conversation, they were able to confirm large portions of what Jairus told them about the organization of the church to be true. And everything else¡­merely highlighted what was important enough for jairus to lie about. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Those tiny inconsistencies drew their attention to two possibilities: ¡°Well, it¡¯s either this one or this one,¡± Loth said, pointing at two different churches. ¡°The scribes of the Laniston church have a strange amount of independence from the hierarchy of the church. Robust logistics supporting a nearly independent intelligence agency. Their outward facade as scribes and messengers serves as an excellent cover for disseminating prophecy, sending out messages in large quantities and transcribing your friend¡¯s ¡®prophecies¡¯ for later dissection by scholars.¡± Will heard Loth¡¯s quotation marks around ¡®prophecies¡¯ without her having to make any gesture at all. ¡°You don¡¯t think he¡¯s a real prophet?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a firm believer in self-determination.¡± Loth said with a pointed look. ¡°I am where I am and I am because of superior talent and superior efforts.¡± Loth said. ¡°Yeah, but what if you were always destined to have superior talent and superior efforts?¡± Will asked, always enjoying poking the Loth. ¡°That¡¯s a circular argument,¡± Loth said, brushing aside the conversation with a wave. ¡°Which is why I detest certain branches of philosophy.¡± ¡°You taught me about philosophy.¡± Will replied with a frown. ¡°Yes, so that you could learn enough to hate it too,¡± Loth replied, eliciting a chuckle from Will. ¡°Okay, what about the other one?¡± Will asked. Loth¡¯s black claw glided across the map of the Ring to point out another location with a large painted mountain that looked vaguely like a femur. ¡°The home of the military arm of the Church of Granesh, Bone Mountain, where the leadership of the Church of Granesh resides. The level of security there is fitting for protecting a so-called ¡®prophet¡¯; not a single priest there is under level twenty and there are nearly a dozen Saints represented among their numbers. More than we could hope to subdue. Bone mountain also has it¡¯s own message system that they use to send relayed orders up The Tower. It¡¯s the only other place with the infrastructure to send word of your movements fast enough to take any advantage of it. ¡°So we¡¯ve narrowed it down to these two as the only ones able to send a message fast enough to hound me like they¡¯ve been doing, and the only two with the internal authority to hold a valuable asset like a prophet and thumb their nose at the other arm of their organization?¡± ¡°In any large organization, there are rivalries.¡± Loth said, scanning the map. ¡°These two are reputed to be particularly bitter. If we go after Laniston, their allies will be slow to defend them with arms, but if we go after Bone mountain, the spies of Laniston will be unlikely to warn their bretheren, and even if they did¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯d laugh them off,¡± Will mused, scanning the distance between the two locations. Only a few hundred miles. A high level Climber could cross that space in less than a day. I Will shook his head, briefly remembering a time when he thought level four was respectable. ¡°Either they¡¯re keeping him safe through obscurity,¡± Will said, tapping the monastery. ¡°Or through force of arms.¡± He tapped the impregnable mountain range. ¡°Defeated with blistering speed¡­or careful planning. Respectively.¡± Will mused. ¡°All we¡¯ve got are possibilities. We need a way to be which one your friend is at.¡± Loth said. They¡¯d danced around the issue and only asked easily verifiable, oblique questions to Jairus because they didn¡¯t want to tip their hand and reveal what they were after. ¡°But we run the risk of Jairus getting word out and warning the church what we¡¯re after.¡± Will mused. ¡°What if he did?¡± Loth asked. Will cocked a brow at her. ¡°What if he did get a message out?¡± She asked. ¡°We could follow it back to the person it¡¯s supposed to be warning¡­¡± Will mused. ¡°Assuming we ignored the acclimation period.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of a little fever, bulging bloodshot eyes, coughing, pustules, necrosis of the extremities, paraphilia, parasitic twin growths, and death, are you?¡± Will did the math. There were five floors between them and the outside world. Five days on the Fifth, four on the Fourth, and so on. Fourteen days of waiting, in total, since the first floor didn¡¯t have an acclimation period. A relay message system could get a letter back outside The Tower in a single day. If they could intercept the letter, and reach the destination first¡­ Will thought. It was the higher floors that skipping Acclimation would kill someone, but skipping the Acclimation phase of multiple floors in a row would still add up, and by the time they got outside the tower, the Miasma sickness would probably be crippling. ¡°I a little adverse to those things, yes,¡± Will admitted. ¡°Well, I have an idea for how we might be able to¡­fudge it a little.¡± Loth said with a grin, a row of insects marching across her arm. ¡°It won¡¯t be pleasant, but I think It might just work.¡± Will shuddered. He knew what it meant when Loth said something would be unpleasant. ¡°But we still have to give Jairus the right prod to get him to risk his life to send word.¡± Will mused. Will and Loth locked eyes and nodded. Two weeks later, Travis slipped into the holding cell, carrying Jairus¡¯s daily meal. Still gagged, Jairus merely glared at him. ¡°What? It takes time to get information without being suspicious,¡± Travis said, loosening the gag. ¡°We aren¡¯t rejoining the flotilla. We¡¯ve been moving, and fighting. I can tell. Where are you going?¡± Jairus asked as soon as the gag left his mouth. ¡°We¡¯ve been grinding.¡± Travis said, sitting down in front of him, giving Jairus a light tap with his dagger to indicate that he was still paying attention. ¡°Will and Loth have some hair up their butt to get the entire Party up to level thirty before we move on. The last of us passed it this evening, so we¡¯re going to be hitting the Key Point and moving floors tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°And¡­where does that leave the several hundred people aboard this ship? What are they planning on doing with us?¡± ¡°The other Climbers get the ship, and we¡¯re going down a Floor.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going ¡± Jairus asked. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because the seventh floor doesn¡¯t have the infrastructure to sell Saints.¡± Travis said with a shrug. ¡°You¡¯re ransoming me back to the church in Akul.¡± ¡°Loth got everyone together and gave us this weird lecture about ¡®Sun Tzu¡± and putting the enemy on ¡®death ground¡¯. I didn¡¯t get it, but it¡¯s above my paygrade. I¡¯m the lowest man on the Party totem pole¡­aside from Brianna, I guess?¡± Travis pursed his lips in thought. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°You¡¯re worth a of money.¡± Travis said with a shrug. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t we want to separate the profit from the hassle that is keeping a priest of Granesh hostage? I know for one, am eager to no longer supervise your shits.¡± ¡°Damned waste of a point of stat growth,¡± Jairus groused. ¡°Then after that, we¡¯re going back down to the Ring for some much-needed vacation before we go back up to the Seventh Floor. Can you believe we¡¯ve been doing this floor for over a month? I¡¯m starting to understand why married couples get further up The Tower.¡± Travis sighed. ¡°I need a girlfriend. Or two. Three might be too much. I know an infinite amount is definitely too much, that poor bastard¡­¡± Jairus frowned. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re gonna R&R and Will and Loth are gonna go visit a friend of theirs. Some kid named Jason.¡± ¡°Jason Salazar?¡± Jairus asked, his skin going cold. ¡°I¡¯unno¡± Travis grunted. ¡°Sounded like a friend from the orphanage?¡± Dozens of thoughts flickered through Jairus¡¯s head at once. The Deceiver had gleaned the existence and Identity of The Prophet. Likely from something said or housed aboard the Floating Church of Granesh. That was the secret of Fire. The Deceiver was going after him once it got back ouside The Tower. That was what the prophecy warned of. Unacceptable. They would take two weeks to get outside The Tower once they offloaded Jairus into the hands of the Church in Akul. He would send a letter down to The Ring, and it would get there with plenty of time to allow them to move Jason out of harm¡¯s way and set up a trap for the deceiver. The immediate problem was not letting on that he knew, and diverting attention away from the fact that he¡¯d asked the Prophet¡¯s name. That meant engaging Travis Oilton in meaningless conversation for at least half an hour, to scrub the exchange out of his recent memory, which turned out to be quite possibly the most uncomfortable experience of his capture, because even the was easier to relate to. ¡°So it seems that nothing is actually required of you, by evening tomorrow, I¡¯ll be free, and you¡¯ll walk away with thirty extra Focus. Seems like a good deal for you.¡± Jairus said. ¡°You¡¯re backing out of the second stat point?¡± Travis demanded. ¡°I don¡¯t NEED you to anything.¡± Jairus pointed out. ¡°You me to keep my mouth shut.¡± Travis said, leaning forward aggressively, dagger hovering near Jairus¡¯s throat. ¡°Go ahead, tell them you traded information to an enemy for a buff. See how that goes.¡± Jairus called his bluff. Travis growled and sheathed his dagger before replacing the gag and storming out of the room. On the other side of the ship, Travis marched down the Party¡¯s hall, his posture shifting from anger to languid ease. He ducked inside the officer¡¯s room and halted at the low Miasma that almost felt like walking into a freezer, causing an involuntary shiver to cross his body as an unknown energy began to drain out of him at a rapid clip. Lining the walls of the room were thousands, hundreds of thousands of Loth¡¯s bugs, pulsing faintly with a miasmatic glow, while Will and Loth sat in the center of the room, where they had had their Miasma drained out of them ever since they hit level 30, ten days ago. ¡°Seems like he bought it.¡± Travis said. ¡°We heard. Close the door, you¡¯re letting the Miasma in.¡± Loth grunted from under her pile of faintly pulsing insects. ¡°And so¡­¡± ¡°All proceeds from his ransom go to you.¡± Will said under from pile of bugs. ¡°You provided the inroad, you get the prize.¡± ¡°Nice. Sad I couldn¡¯t get that second stat point out of him, though,¡± Travis pouted for a moment before he caught himself and headed for the door before he grew an extra limb. ¡°I¡¯m gonna leave you guys to¡­¡± He gestured at the two of them. ¡°¡­whatever this is.¡± ¡°Have fun trying to score two girlfriends,¡± Will said. ¡°If you want, I can teach you how to get an infinite number.¡± ¡°Ah shit, you listening,¡± Travis said, shaking his head as he closed the door. ¡°I was just saying that to make him think I was stupid and shallow!¡± Travis shouted through the door. ¡°You really sold it!¡± Will¡¯s muffled voice carried through. Chapter 105: Level 30 Will sat under a pile of bugs crawling across his skin, focusing on his new Abilities so he didn¡¯t panic from all the things skittering across him, their proboscis dipping down to sip¡­something out of him. It didn¡¯t bear too much thinking about. Will thought, scanning the Ability. It seemed like it extended the effect of Aspect of the goat, allowing him to latch on to things and cling to them better, possibly even walking upside down on things, like the gravity goats were able to do. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. There were a handful of new selections since the last time he¡¯d been offered new Abilities at level 20. Gravity Charge had been added, which surprised Will. Will mused. One of the Abilities on offer, Molt, had been modified to Deceiver¡¯s Molt, raising the price, the potency, and including a decoy effect. Blood Binding was new, and it looked So good, in fact, that Will didn¡¯t want to have it languish as a Tertiary Ability, forever unable to receive upgrades. It¡¯s Relic-focused effect dovetailed in so nicely with his build design for Phantom Hand and Sourdough that he would kick himself forever if he took it as a stagnant tertiary. Gravity Charge was a good Ability, but Phantom Hand could move him around just fine as long as he was wearing the Ring of Eidolon. Will added it to his mental list of possibles. looked pretty good too. It had gone from minor healing to moderate healing, and included a decent way to recover or escape mid-fight. Although, Will was plenty slippery even without a decoy, and the healing effect¡¯s value was undermined by Sourdough keeping his Potions of Greater Healing refreshed, and being able to always keep one on hand with Phantom Hand. Phantom Eye would let Will spy or use Phantom hand with precision from an outlandish distance, boosting the power of the Infiltrator portion of his Class. When he first was offered it, the speed of Phantom Hand wasn¡¯t that high, and his Acuity wasn¡¯t high enough for it to last very long, but now, it would last roughly two minutes, and could move at staggering speeds, allowing him to catch a glimpse of just about anything he wanted within a several mile radius. Serpent¡¯s gaze had a lot of nerfs to make it less appealing, and it was very tempting. One second for every hundred Acuity seemed like almost nothing, but one second of paralysis was more than enough to perform a coup de grace or force an enemy to miss a critical step. Will was fairly sure he could stab someone at least six times in one second. The requirement of seeing their eyes was another nerf, and giving them the ability to resist with Resistance or Focus implied that it would be equally resisted by magic-users and warriors. No way to use it as a class-specific killer. Will¡¯s Acuity was outlandishly high for his level, and the only people likely to resist Serpent¡¯s Gaze would be¡­ Reggie was a professional Tank, one of the only Classes that had four or more stat growth for Resistance. Even dedicated Ability Users rarely had more than three growth in Focus. Will wondered, brows raising. Will was scanning back through and paused on Stubborn Ass. Stubborn Ass would compensate significantly for his low Strength, making him harder to shove, and his attacks hit harder because it would artificially add force to his arms and legs. It would be a good boost if he was planning on getting into a lot more close-combat fights. Will added it to the list. Titan¡¯s Grasp¡­Will didn¡¯t really want to add it as a tertiary ability. If it synergized with Phantom Hand that would be fantastic, but if it didn¡¯t, then maybe there would be an upgrade that would allow it to do so. If he took it as a tertiary and it didn¡¯t do what he hoped, he would be stuck with a non-synergizing Ability forever. His tertiary Ability needed to be something that could stand on its own, or had inherent, obvious synergies. Will scanned through the whole list again and then reviewed his list of possible choices and how they would affect his Build. Gravity Charge: Greatly increased mobility, and an alternate method of attack. (headbutts) Phantom Eye: Huge boost to stealth and information gathering abilities, allowing Will to deploy Phantom Hand in places he couldn¡¯t actually see and scout dangerous locations without risking his own skin. The choice pushed his build further into the Infiltrator rogue Archetype. Serpent¡¯s Gaze: Powerful, fight-ending combat debuff that could be used to dispose of mid-grade Climbers instantly. Ineffective against those that were much stronger than him and only useful in direct combat. Serpent¡¯s Gaze pushed him in the direction of an Ability user. Stubborn Ass: Powerful boost to Will¡¯s direct combat effectiveness, with utility for attack and defense, Stubborn Ass pushed him more in the direction of a pure warrior. After some consideration, Will mentally crossed off Serpent¡¯s Gaze. Perhaps he could take it as a secondary, especially if he already had Phantom Eye to boost its applicable range. It was just of limited use when punching up, and punching down was already easy enough. And there was no utility aspect to it. It was pure combat. As good as Stubborn Ass was, Will had never wanted to become a pure warrior, so it simply didn¡¯t follow the path that appealed to him. That left Will weighing Gravity Charge and Phantom Eye against each other. Gravity Charge was incredibly freeing, mobility-wise, and he could use it to cross vast distances in a short amount of time. But¡­Aspect of the Serpent boosted his mobility, and it would likely continue to do so as he gained more and more power Resistance over time. At the moment, Will could walk along any solid and even water. In the future, with the right upgrade to Aspect of the Serpent¡­he might be able to walk on air. Which would diminish the relative value of Gravity Charge. In the end, Will decided on Phantom Eye because it synergized directly with Phantom Hand, Uru Drake¡¯s Eye and Serpent¡¯s Gaze (if he ever got them) and gave him access to something he simply didn¡¯t have, rather than giving him an upgrade on something he already did have, or something he could obtain without spending an Ability. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And it sounded like fun. Will took a deep breath and selected Phantom Eye. The Ability fell into place with barely a tingle, leaving only the inherent knowledge of how to use it fresh in his mind. Phantom Eye 1->0 Charges remaining. Will felt his stomach churn as he suddenly saw the world through another eye, making his vision overlap strangely, as if he had crossed his eyes. Will closed his eyes and that helped bring the new image into focus. It was an image that seemed to originate from his forehead. With that brief thought, the image surged forward nearly a thousand feet, plunging into the ocean below. Will jerked in place under the mass of insects draining his Miasma. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Just got Phantom Eye.¡± Will said, reeling the eye back in. ¡°It¡¯s a bit¡­touchy.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Loth¡¯s voice came from beside him. ¡°Should¡¯ve gotten Progenitor Affinity. Comes with a built-in army. And you could stand to be handsomer.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re joking.¡± ¡°I¡¯m joking. Any of those choices would¡¯ve served you well, because you¡¯re you.¡± ¡°Even Stone Charge?¡± Will asked as his phantom eye was carefully reeled back through Shimmer, each individual cabin passing by in a flash until it stopped in front of him. ¡°would not pick something stupid like Stone Charge.¡± Loth said. ¡°Fair enough,¡± Will mused, viewing himself from an outsider¡¯s perspective. Will hadn¡¯t had access to a good mirror since¡­ever. What he saw through the Phantom Eye looked like¡­ Well, it looked older than fifteen, but maybe that was the months of hard living, the loss of baby fat and innocence. That could account for a few apparent years. Will didn¡¯t like he¡¯d changed, but he certainly like it. Less innocent Aspirant, and more hardened Climber. Will turned his head from side to side, inspecting himself. Poking his chin and cheekbones. Will took a breath and opened his eyes, carefully staying as still as possible and focusing until the two points of view separated from each other in his mind. His gaze was more piercing than he expected from a boy his age. More like someone who could and would kill someone who got in his way. Will turned his attention to his real eyes, and saw that the Phantom Eye was as described, a faint floating orb with a goatlike pupil, only visible to Will. Will turned his attention to Sourdough. He¡¯d reached the level 30 mark. He¡¯d already sacrificed the Erosion Golem to it as soon as he got it, so the Ability could target and repair permanent Relics. All he needed to do was find a Sacrifice that would allow him to modify the items instead of simply repair them. Will had heard of some potential monsters in the floors above the tens, but sacrifices for them were exceedingly rare, so they¡¯d likely have to get them themselves. Will sent the Phantom Eye through the door and spotted Anna on the other side. ¡°Reese says we¡¯re almost there, you two!¡± The baker called before bouncing on the ball of her foot and spinning away to attend to something else. Will didn¡¯t have to take her word for it, because The System agreed. Will rolled his shoulders. ¡°You still feel good about doing this with no Charges?¡± He asked. ¡°Our Party is phenomenal. Let¡¯s ride their coattails for once,¡± Loth said. As soon as they left the room, Will felt a feverish heat as Miasma began to sink back in before it was sucked out by the insects covering him. Together the two of them headed to the quarterdeck, above where Reese was steering the ship. From their vantage point, they could easily make out the distant beam of Miasma erupting from the water. The water boiled with fishmen corrupted by the miasma. Will thought to himself as the boiling ocean began to stretch towards Shimmer. That implied that these people had been civilians simply living around the key site before something had changed them into monsters. Perhaps one of them had, in an effort to become stronger, violated taboo and bathed in the light of the beam, coming away stronger than all of his peers. Maybe it had even been fine for a while, but the corruption had eventually consumed him. Or perhaps others had sought to emulate his success, but hadn¡¯t been so lucky. Will thought as his Party assembled at the bow to crush them. Chapter 106: Blitz telling Jason Salazar The Aluum offensive was blunted by Mason using Phase Shift to turn his Conflagration acidic. Rather than wasting a charge by increasing the heat of the surrounding ocean by a degree, a vibrant yellow acid manifested in the midst of the fish-people, eroding the gills of the approaching underwater army as they breathed it in. Hundreds of murky figures writhed in pain before going still. ¡°That one,¡± Will saw Alicia point out a slightly bigger shadow in the water. It was difficult to tell, with the way the water thrashed and boiled, but for Alicia to point it out, it was likely an Aberrant. Will felt Alicia consume a Charge and the underwater figure began to writhe as it died. A moment later, a narrow spear erupted from the water, streaking directly towards Mason. Reggie stepped in front of the attack and caught the spear on his shield, causing . It looked like the quill of some enormous creature that had been carved down to make it easier to throw. All the while, June loosed one arrow after another with languid smoothness, aiming at the stragglers that were diverting their path around the boiling pool of acid slowly dispersing in the ocean water, picking them off one at a time. Her arrows flashed blue as they streaked through the air, delivering outsized damage to her targets. ¡°Do they even need us anymore?¡± Will mused as the rest of his party annihilated the monsters over the course of several minutes. Travis created a decoy and it dove into the water, causing the fishmen to turn towards it. Will could see their higher thinking reflected in the way they hesitated and then quickly reversed directions an instant before the water turned yellow as Mason dropped another Phase Shifted Conflagration directly on Travis¡¯s decoy, catching only a few more than he might¡¯ve otherwise. Travis frowned, and put his jaw harp in his mouth and began making the annoying twanging noises that made Will want to punch him. The noises themselves were kind of fun, so the desire to attack Travis was more likely an Ability from the harp. True enough, the underwater enemies had a harder time turning away from his second decoy, and Mason was able to nuke a larger portion of them. ¡°¡­They do not.¡± Loth said with a smile as the tide of Aluum seemed to shake themselves out of their collective frenzy and scatter, every fishman for themselves, leaving only a few aberrations still interested in pursuing the fight. Alicia naturally acted as their guide, pointing out a target that she couldn¡¯t kill to June. It was some kind of aberrant fishman, with dull scales and a portion of it¡¯s ribcage missing, internal organs naturally pickling in the briny water, revealing itself as it leapt up onto the ship, covering nearly half the distance before grabbing onto the smooth surface with hands that were growing suckers and unnervingly long black talons. The fishman zombie was only above-water for a second before a blazing magic arrow cut a four-in diameter hole through its midsection. Another aberrant flashed out of the water, bypassing the side of the ship entirely, streaking through the air towards Mason¡¯s face. Will tensed for an instant before Reggie stepped forward and deflected the fishman¡¯s attack. This particular fishman was a warrior, no doubt about it. He seemed just as comfortable on land as in the water, bouncing off Reggie¡¯s tower shield and leaping up into the sails, aiming to rain down attacks on them. Alicia looked up at the warrior and frowned for a moment. The warrior slumped over, dangling from a sail as it died instantly. ¡°What happens when Alicia doesn¡¯t have the Charge to do that?¡± Will asked. ¡°They need a close combat specialist.¡± ¡°Which is what Brianna is for,¡± Loth said. Will glanced down at Rai and Bee, watching from a distance, where they had given them the fight off to rest their minds. ¡°With her on their team, they form a fully functioning Party.¡± ¡°To be fair, Brianna, a fully functioning party.¡± Will joked. ¡°Brianna is going to be your first Vassal, and will bind together your many Strongholds as you make your way to the top.¡± Will¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°They can communicate with each other.¡± Will said, gathering Loth¡¯s intent. ¡°Indeed. All of Brianna¡¯s clones share information with each other. We could utilize her as both a strong Warrior archetype and as a network for instantaneous information transfer. Right now it¡¯s just basic things like location, health and a vague sense of mood, but if we get her to level 35 and beyond we may be able to tweak her Build to communicate precise information between each other, allowing you to communicate between Strongholds and build a kingdom without limits.¡± Loth scoffed. ¡°And Frederick Wyrd could only see a weapon. How narrow-minded.¡± Will Directed the Phantom Eye high above the battlefield and watched from above as the Aluum scattered. So many corpses were floating out there in the water, decomposing to nothing in seconds, dropping any Loot they might have into the depths of the ocean. Will¡¯s eyes widened as he realized that with Phantom Hand and Phantom Eye, he could easily identify and snatch up Loot as it was released from underwater monsters, even scour the ocean floor if was so inclined. It was a brilliant idea, but he¡¯d have to save it for next time they passed through the 6th Floor. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was time to head back down. In a matter of minutes, Reggie was carrying a squirming Saint Jairus through a portal to the Fifth Floor. Will quelched his discomfort and headed through the portal, the chill, wet wind replaced by the sunny warmth of the 5th Floor in an instant. Will glanced up and around to make sure they weren¡¯t about to get stepped on by a kaiju, before they regrouped and headed for Akul. Having been through the Floor before, they didn¡¯t waste any time sightseeing and went straight to the Church of Granesh. After a short exchange and some veiled threats, Will was able to deliver the ¡®rescued¡¯ saint back to his church for a small commission, which went to Travis for getting the priest to talk. While Loth went out and bought supplies for their visit outside The Tower, Will and Bee hid in the rooftops surrounding the church, chatting about life in general and revenge specifically while they waited for the courier. ¡°Feels weird knowing I¡¯ll never get to smash the face of the guy who did this to us.¡± Bee mused as they waited for a courier to emerge from the church. ¡°Life happens like that sometimes.¡± Will said, thinking back to Frederick Wyrd¡¯s ignoble demise. Ignoble was a good word. ¡°I mean I to smash your face in, but Anna likes you too much.¡± got Will¡¯s complete attention. ¡°Why is your situation fault?¡± Will asked. ¡°Because if you hadn¡¯t given Jean the ring, we would be dead.¡± ¡°And you¡¯d rather be dead?¡± Will asked. ¡°Nnnooo¡­¡± Bee said, her eyes darting to the side. ¡°But still your fault. C¡¯mere, just a little smack is all I need to get it out of my system.¡± She shuffled towards him across the roof tiles, keeping her head down so as not to reveal themselves to the church below. The tiny black-haired girl raised her hand, eyes shining with murderous intent as she approached. ¡°I¡¯d rather keep my jaw intact,¡± Will whispered, shuffling away. ¡°Wait.¡± Bee said, freezing in place with a vacant expression, prompting Will to stop as well. ¡°Church courier over there,¡± She said, pointing to the west side of the city, where more of her copies had been forming a cordon. ¡°He came out of an underground tunnel, and is to the northwest.¡± ¡°To be continued.¡± Will said, leaping to his feet. ¡°Have a nice vacation.¡± Will signalled to Loth and sent his Phantom Eye high up in the air above the city, locating the messenger cutting across rooftops nearly a quarter-mile distant and Will broke into a sprint, joining Loth and tossing her over his shoulders. He¡¯d never had to race against a mobility-focused Climber with a headstart, and it wasn¡¯t looking good for him. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. It didn¡¯t matter that Will¡¯s footsteps were as solid and secure as a packed gravel road, the messenger¡¯s body seemed to slide forward through space at a speed that didn¡¯t match his footsteps. Will slipped his Uru Drake mask down over his face and triggered Malleable Space, targeting the edge of the city nearly two miles distant. Part of Loth¡¯s plan for them to remove all their Miasma and skip the acclimation period was to empty out their Charge. All he had was what he¡¯d gained since the start of the day. That decision was starting to feel like a mistake. Due to the sheer distance between the two points, the space-warping effect was significantly less powerful, but it did give Will a speed boost over the whole distance, allowing him to at least keep pace with the messenger¡¯s speed. Will kept the messenger in sight with Phantom Eye, keeping his real body out of sight, and watching for any sign that the messenger knew he was being followed. If he did know, he didn¡¯t show it. They reached the edge of the city only a minute later, and the messenger took a well-travelled road that was dotted with merchant caravans. ¡°He¡¯s going to The Hole.¡± Loth surmised. ¡°Bussing through a Key Point is likely a less efficient way of going down a floor when the spawn rate of Kaiju is as low as it is.¡± Will had never been to The Hole, the series of massive holes in Floors 1-5 that the merchant caravans travelled between. Will thought as they began sprinting along the main thoroughfare, whipping past one caravan after another. Merchants shook their fists at Will and Loth as they glided past. Will was pretty sure he heard some people yell about ¡®Damn Climbers¡¯, and he felt a grin cross his face as he was finally beginning to feel like a real Climber. The messenger hit the hole several minutes before they did. The last thing Will saw before Phantom eye expired was the messenger heading straight towards a massive hole in the ground. Will and Loth arrived a few minutes later, and paused in awe. The Hole was an abyssal crater seemingly melted into the ground by some incomprehensible force. It was the width of Will¡¯s old village, lined with thick rope and steel scaffolding, supporting elevators that seemed to emerge from the black abyss below with massive wagons loaded with raw materials in high demand in the bread basket of The Tower. ¡°So he went down here?¡± Will said, glancing across the edge of the pit, scanning the surrounding crowd, man of whom were resting chatting with each other while they re-packed or waited for their turn on the elevator. In the distance he spotted a man-made staircase for Climbers without much in the way of luggage who wanted to make their way down a floor with maximum haste. Will didn¡¯t see their messenger anywhere, implying he¡¯d already descended past the point of visual confirmation. They were losing him. ¡°Let¡¯s save some time,¡± Will said. ¡°What do you MEAAAAAN!?¡± Loth yelped as Will took a running headstart and jumped out into the pitch-black center of The Hole. Will¡¯s stomach rose into his chest as they began falling straight down, the surrounding merchants yelling warnings as their voices quickly faded to nothing. The only light available to them was the dim light of the lamps attached to the twisting staircases that navigated the twisted path of The Hole. Loth frantically fumbled through her robes and pulled out half a dozen glowbugs. With a word, they flared to life, providing the equivalent of strong lamplight to illuminate their descent. Loth threw the bugs straight down, revealing an approaching boulder composed of pitted steel and stone that jutted out of the darkness like a mountain peak. Will nudged them to the left with Phantom Hand, avoiding splattering on the floating mountain that whistled past them. Meanwhile, Loth pulled out her reflective disc of polished steel and put one of her glowbugs in the center, creating a beam of light pointed directed below them, revealing a labyrinthine maze of pitted steel and jagged grey stone. Will thought he might¡¯ve seen their courier jogging down the manmade switchbacks, glancing up at the two suicidal Climbers taking the shortcut to the Abyss. It was a wild ride, falling for nearly an hour before the darkness gave way to light, as they fell through the sky of the Fourth Floor. Will and Loth dodged the massive ropes and scaffolding jutting out of the swamp and anchoring into the inside of The Hole. Will turned and glanced up as they passed the last obstacle, marveling at the gaping void in what was otherwise a clear sky. Will put the Phantom Hand under his foot and used it to slow himself down until he hit the swampy ground with a landing beside a caravan of merchants waiting for their turn on the elevator. A man with the weathered face frowned at Will, as if not quite understanding where Will had come from, since the footpath was on the opposite end of the manmade clearing below The Hole. The merchant craned his neck to look up, seemingly tracing Will¡¯s trajectory backwards with a frown. ¡°Can you fly, son?¡± the merchant asked with a reedy voice. ¡°Sort of,¡± Will admitted. ¡°Stronghold¡¯s North,¡± Loth said, tugging on Will¡¯s sleeve. ¡°We¡¯ve got a headstart on him, let¡¯s not squander it.¡± They set out, aiming for Way Station. There was a Relay Station for couriers in that solitary Stronghold. Their courier would have to hand off the letter and spend the next four days putting up his heels before he could relay another message to the fifth Floor. They didn¡¯t know his timing, but they knew exactly where he was going. It took several hours to make it to Way Station, sprinting through mosquito-infested swamps. They were running too fast for anything to launch itself out of the water and try to ambush them. Will saw a couple swamp vamps who, instead of rearing up to attack, pressed themselves deeper into the muck. The courier passed them in the last mile or so, his passives boosts outweighing Will¡¯s more generalist abilities. Will sent the Phantom Eye ahead, the construct easily keeping pace with the courier until he reached his final destination less than a minute later, taking out a single letter with the seal of the church and Jairus¡¯s name written on the outside, handing it off to another courier. Will thought, memorizing the letter¡¯s appearance. The next courier took the letter and set off at a much more sedate pace, heading for a connecting bussing company to catch a ride down. They likely had a deal cut with the courier company, since they weren¡¯t directly competing, and more people in a bus meant it would be that much safer. This delay gave Will and Loth the opportunity to catch up, panting desperately as they arrived, only a few minutes before the bus loaded up half a dozen civilians from where they were bunking at the only inn in The Waystation. They followed the bus, joining the pack of Climbers that followed in it¡¯s wake, blending in with the rest of the desperate youth aiming to make their way up. ¡°Heath, Heath!¡± Will shouted, flagging him down out of the flow of Bus-chasers. The young man with the extra foot of height Will so desperately wanted, and the squinty, confused expression that he so loathed, turned at the sound of his name, locking in on the two of them. ¡°Hey Will, how¡¯s it hanging?¡± The Ashwood¡¯s infamous bully asked as they ran, carrying a man-sized sword over his shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s been good. Lost my hand,¡± Will said, showing off his wrist. ¡°But other than that, it¡¯s been good. Found a great Party, just coming back down from the fifth floor.¡± ¡°No way your scrawny ass got to the Fifth Floor before I did, but I am proud of you for getting this far. Ashwoods represent!¡± Will caught the high-five mid-stride. Will thought as he sprinted behind the bus shoulder-to-shoulder with his former bully. ¡°Any reason you¡¯re not tripping me or anything?¡± ¡°Focus helps me think a little cleaner, and I¡¯ve seen a of friends die. You¡¯re the best of what¡¯s left, twerp.¡± ¡°Sucks,¡± Will spat for emphasis. He didn¡¯t care to think of how many of those friends were young men and women he knew from last year¡¯s Aspirants. ¡°It surely does.¡± Heath agreed. The rest of the run passed in silence, and together, the crowd slaughtered the aberrations around the Key Point with ease. Will said his goodbyes to the town bully and followed the courier down to the 3rd Floor. The third, second and first floor followed a similar pattern: Follow the courier to the Relay station, join their bus and ride it to the next floor down. Since the courier switched off on every Floor, none of them bothered to ask if Will and Loth had been following them since the 5th Floor. That would be ridiculous. They were just regular travellers busing in the same direction. The couriers got a bit slower on every Floor, due to their decreasing level, eventually allowing Will and Loth to pace them rather easily, especially in the last two floor. When they got to the Hunting Grounds, Will and Loth were finally able to take off the thick overcoats lined with miasma-draining bugs. ¡°Gah, never again,¡± Will said with a shudder as he stepped through the Door and tossed the miasma-draining jacket aside, the inside literally squirming with legs and pulsing with concentrated blue miasma. When they arrived at the mail sorting center, sixteen couriers with sixteen bags full of mail concentrated from the entire Tower sprinted away in every direction. Will used the one of the Charges he¡¯d regenerated over the course of the day and used Phantom Eye to peek into the bag of each courier until he spotted the letter he was interested in, heading northeast. Will and loth took off running. In a matter of hours, they were overlooking a little monastery in the middle of nowhere, the courier taking a familiar letter out of his satchel and putting it into a mailbox before sprinting off to his next delivery. ¡°Well, I guess this is the place.¡± Will said with a nod, waiting for the courier to leave before heading up to the front door and listening. Will¡¯s outlandish Acuity cut through the sound of forks clinking on wooden plates, idle chatter, and the soft flipping of pages, making out a familiar voice speaking much deeper in the building, barely audible to his ears. ¡°You better watch out, You better not cry, You better get out. Ya better run now¡­I¡¯m telling you why! William oh is coming¡­to town.¡± ¡°What do you think he means by that?¡± a youngish voice asked, equally distant. Will asked, trying to pintpoint their location. ¡°Start packing.¡± An older voice responded. Will raised his fist and knocked on the door. Loud enough for them to hear. ¡°Who¡¯s that knocking?¡± ¡°It couldn¡¯t be¡­¡± ¡°Oh, but IT !¡± Will shouted, kicking the door off its hinges, revealing a hive full of kidnapping monks, some of them reading, some of them eating lunch, some working on transcribing letters. All of them guilty. For a sect of Graneshian believers that formed the backbone of the church¡¯s information gathering ability, they sure looked silly when you caught them with their pants down. A well-aimed cannonball ripped through three monks before they even stood up. Will leapt forward, sliding through the monestary with a ripple of stone preceding him. One monk tried to block his face, but the ripple in the floor caused the monk to lose his balance and lower his guard. Will dispatched him with a blade to the neck, sprinting past to where he estimated the faint voices had been emanating from, leaving the rest of the room to Loth. Will paused at a section of the floor that was a bit cleaner than the rest. A cannonball through the false floor revealed the ruins of a secret stairway. Will dropped down into it, warding off a butter knife as the younger monk tried to ambush him, kicking the monk¡¯s kneecap backward, causing him to fall straight down before dispatching him with the stone floor itself erupting upward, crushing the monk¡¯s skull between stone and Will¡¯s foot. The older monk scrambled backwards, eyes bulging as Will approached. Will thought when he spotted Jason. Jason Salazar, son of a con-artist, second-oldest boy at the orphanage, and William Oh¡¯s Hype Man, was sitting at a table, a long chain running from his feet to the post of his bed. He looked emaciated, his cheekbones prominent, his skinny frame nearly slipping out of his oddly fine clothes, revealing bruises that seemed to cris-cross his body. ¡°Hey. You got my message. ¡®Bout time.¡± Jason said wearily, struggling to lift his hand to point at Will. ¡°Sorry it took so long,¡± Will said before turning his attention to the older monk. He walked up to the monk and squatted down in front of him, staring into the man¡¯s eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t like killing people. I really don¡¯t,¡± Will said. ¡°A good fight? Sure. But slaughtering people like this?¡± Will paused to allow the sound of Loth purging the upstairs to punctuate his sentence. ¡°It turns my stomach.¡± ¡°You are-¡° ¡°Shhhh¡­¡± Will silenced the monk. ¡°I¡¯m not even doing this for Jason. Sure, I¡¯m mad, but the only reason I¡¯m killing your people is because your organization has, in no uncertain terms, laid out that they will take any opportunity they can to kill me.¡± ¡°We cannot exist,¡± Will said, gesturing between the two of them. Was it selfish to kill thousands so that one could live? Probably, but they had forced the choice in the first place. Will¡¯s stomach churned as he dispatched the monk before fishing through his pocket for the keys to Jason¡¯s chains. A moment later Jason was free. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go,¡± Will said, ushering Jason up the shattered flight of steps. The twelve-year old boy trembled like a leaf as he struggled to climb, taking Loth¡¯s hand a moment before she heaved him up. ¡°Oh hey, I remember you,¡± Loth said. Chapter 107: Regroup prophet EVERYONE! The three of them were seated at a rough-hewn inn in a backwater village stationed in the lush greenery of the rural Ring. Food was cheap and plentiful, and there was a salt deposit nearby so everything tasted fantastic. It was a great place to lay low and regain a few dozen pounds. Gods knew Jason needed them. The only sound for a quite some time was the mellow sound of a wooden spoon tapping the side of a wooden bowl. Eventually, Will broached the subject that had been on his mind for a few hours now. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t they have treated you like royalty?¡± Will asked while Jason wolfed down a stew. ¡°They at first,¡± Jason said, plucking the collar of his gold embroidered shirt that hung loose around his thin neck. ¡°But then they wanted me to use these dead guy¡¯s body parts as sacrifices and take¡­gods knew what class. I asked what it was, they said it was a prophet of Granesh, with a direct line to their deity. Great honor, and all that. Well, one of them let it slip that the direct line might be something of a two-way street, and frankly I didn¡¯t like the idea of a deity being all up inside me, so I respectfully said I didn¡¯t want to do it.¡± Jason motioned over his face with his hand. ¡°That¡¯s when the mask started coming off. All the ¡®young master¡¯ talk and luxury just kinda faded over time. They got pushier, so I dug my heels in further, and before I knew it, they were withholding food in exchange for my ¡®good behavior¡¯. You don¡¯t really know someone until you deny them something they want, my dad always said.¡± ¡°I was wondering why they didn¡¯t just shove me into the Trial with the sacrifices they wanted me to take, though,¡± Jason mused, pointing at Will with his spoon. ¡°Like what happened to you.¡± ¡°There¡¯s ways to leave the Trial via the merchant caravans that travel through the area, not to mention as you are, you¡¯d probably get killed.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± When will thought about it, once Jason dug his heels in, they shifted their priority from getting him his Class to breaking his resistance. They wanted to erase the idea of disobedience before they gave him the means to run away. That took time. ¡°More please.¡± Jason said, holding up the empty bowl, allowing Will to refill it from the pot they¡¯d ordered for the table. ¡°¡­Do humans throw up when they eat too quickly?¡± Loth asked from where she was flipping through an ancient tome, prompting a feral hiss from Jason. ¡°Why don¡¯t you let that first one settle, Jason?¡± Will said, pulling the new bowl away. ¡°It¡¯s not gonna do you any good if it¡¯s on the floor.¡± ¡°You suck,¡± Jason said, but didn¡¯t force the issue. ¡°You being in the condition you¡¯re in¡­¡± Will gesture to his friend. ¡°Is gonna make this next part a lot slower than I was hoping.¡± They couldn¡¯t blitz their way back up, that was for sure. ¡°Not much I can do about it.¡± Jason said with a shrug. ¡°We could probably put enough fat back on him in two weeks, but the lost muscle will take longer.¡± Loth said. ¡°What kind of Class would you like?¡± Will asked, hoping Jason would pick something in the Warrior Archetype that would make the Trial safer for him. ¡°Hype Man,¡± Jason said without missing a beat. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s-¡° ¡°No, you don¡¯t get it, drifting from inn to inn, people paying me good money just to tell stories about ¡± Jason said, pointing at Will. ¡°It suited me just fine. I enjoy it, I¡¯m good at it. I wanna be a Hype Man.¡± He glanced around and lowered his voice. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the wenches were hitting on me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re twelve, they were taking pity.¡± ¡°Thirteen, thank you very much.¡± Jason said, preening. ¡°You¡¯ve been gone nearly six months. ¡°Oh yeah. You didn¡¯t get any taller, though.¡± Will said, measuring Jason against himself with his hand. ¡°That¡¯s because got taller.¡± Will glanced at Loth, who nodded. He then glanced down at his sleeve, which had, without his knowledge, creeped from stopping at his wrist, to stopping a couple inches further back. He¡¯d kind of assumed it had shrunk a bit from being doused in blood and sweat. Well, alright. I¡¯m not sure that Hype Man is a known Class, though.¡± Will mused. Known Classes were ones whose Sacrifices were common knowledge. Most common people didn¡¯t need the services of a Hype Man. ¡°Sounds like a Charm Archetype, most closely related to a Herald or a Bard. Something in between the two.¡± Loth said, flipping a page. ¡°Actually, two of the key Sacrifices that can make a Herald were in the monastery, being the Glory Eagle, and wood from the Tree of Empires.¡± ¡°?¡± Will and Jason asked as one. Loth nodded without looking away from tome filled with the church¡¯s secrets. ¡°I assume they wanted the Class they gave Jason to enhance his natural storytelling ability. The third Sacrifice they had on hand was some kind of Saint who had found a way to surrender their body to the will of Granesh. Presumeably.¡± ¡°Gross.¡± Jason said with a scowl. ¡°Sooo¡­if we found Jason a Bard Sacrifice, then¡­¡± Will mused. ¡°The Class might not be Hype Man, but its abilities would be the closest we could get to what you¡¯ve described.¡± Loth said. ¡°¡­Without spending years and endless wealth testing on random civilians to get the exact Class.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll take it.¡± Jason said. ¡°Whaddya got there, anyway?¡± Will asked Loth. ¡°It¡¯s a list of your siblings that the church has killed.¡± ¡°WHAT!?¡± Will demanded, grabbing the book away and scouring the list of names until he found one that stood out to him. Will thought, vividly recalling the skeleton he¡¯d had that wonderful one-sided conversation with during his Establishing Quest. He¡¯d had an arrow in his ribcage. ¡°I guess Jairus wasn¡¯t lying to me.¡± Will mused, tracing his finger down through the hundreds of names of dead people he¡¯d never meet. ¡°There¡¯s the one on the second floor.¡± Will mused, his finger coming to a stop. ¡®driven into the wilds of the second floor. Never resurfaced. Presumed dead.¡¯ Will remembered the mangled headless corpse in the meatlocker he¡¯d been strung up in. The one that had given him a strange sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu. All the ¨C for lack of a better term ¨C Deceiver corpses Will had met were ¡®presumed dead¡¯, save for the one in the church basement. This led him to believe that the church didn¡¯t just leave the corpses where they lie. They gathered them up and disposed of them somewhere so that other ¨C for lack of a better term ¨C Deceivers didn¡¯t stumble across the bodies of their siblings. But the question was: did they destroy those corpses or did they store them somewhere? ¡°You look like you¡¯re plotting something.¡± Loth said, leaning on her palm. ¡°You think the grudge of a thousand half-snake children cut down in their youth would be enough to curse a Relic?¡± Will mused. ¡°Say a tomahawk, as a random, nonspecific example.¡± ¡°Not really my area of expertise.¡± Loth admitted. ¡°Billy-bob.¡± Will said. ¡°Yes, sir?¡± The spirit butler asked, rising from the floor with a polite bow. ¡°Gods!¡± Jason shouted, dropping the bowl of stew he was sneaking out of the pot. The young Hype Man glanced back and forth between Will and his undead servant, seemingly deciding whether or not to run. ¡°Same question.¡± Will said, pointing at Billy-bob. ¡°A small percentage of my makeup is comprised of those who have served high-ranking members of Granesh,¡± Billy-bob said. ¡°To my knowledge, the bodies of Deceivers are cremated and placed in special urns for storage, as their ashes have latent miasma and will contaminate the land around them with the essence of the Immortal Serpent.¡± ¡°So they still have some juice.¡± ¡°That they do, sir.¡± Billy-bob said, nodding. ¡°Would they be willing to help a brother out and destroy the church of Granesh?¡± ¡°Most willing.¡± ¡°Stevie. Noob.¡± Will called his other two ghost butlers, who rose out of the ground, awaiting his word. ¡°Get me a primo tomahawk.¡± Will said, pointing at Stevie. Stevie nodded and vanished. Will turned his finger on Noob. ¡°Scour the Ring for Sacrifices that might work with Sourdough. You know what I want done with it. Also grab Jason a high-quality Bard Sacrifice. Preferably stealing them from the church of Granesh if you can, but I¡¯m not picky.¡± Noob nodded and vanished. Will turned his finger back to Billy-bob. ¡°Do you know where these ashes are stored?¡± Billy-bob shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir. I only know what I do through hearsay and conjecture. The location is never spoken in front of servants.¡± ¡°I¡¯m on it,¡± Loth said, turning back to the massive stack of the most important books and letters she¡¯d¡­freed from the Church¡¯s information wing. There were thousands more with lower priority. Loth¡¯s insects had torn the entire monastery apart, brick by brick, both to uncover any potent secrets they might¡¯ve had (and there some) and also to erase any evidence of exactly what had befallen the monks. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As far as Will knew, the library was currently heading towards Loth¡¯s home den with a drawing of her, and the bricks of the monastery were being tossed into a bottomless pit one at a time by a line of insects. ¡°Figure out who or I would need to concentrate the energy of a thousand pissed off ghosts sealed in urns. Then bring it to me.¡± Will said to Billy-bob. ¡°Right away.¡± Billy-bob said, bowing before he sank back into the floor. Will thought. He knew he was going to have to destroy the church of Granesh as it was, and the most immediate move was becoming more clear. ¡°Since when do you have !?¡± Jason demanded, wiping up spilled stew. ¡°Since the fifth Floor.¡± Will replied, taking off the gauntlet and checking his left arm. He wiggled one of the stubby digits emerging from his newly regrown wrist. ¡°Gross.¡± Jason grunted. Will wiggled his middle stub at Jason. ¡°Seriously, put the gauntlet back on before I throw up.¡± Jason said, blocking his own vision with his palm. Will rolled his eyes and strapped the gauntlet back over his healing hand. ¡°Did you hear?¡± Will¡¯s ears picked up a couple of tavern-goers whispering to each other. ¡°The church of Granesh is mobilizing¡­Everything they have, they¡¯re scouring the ring like a wildfire, searching every town, village and city for heretics.¡± Will glanced up at the two, a mud-covered laborer and a well-traveled messenger sharing the news over a pint. ¡°But I mean¡­everybody worships different gods. Aren¡¯t most of us heretics by their definition?¡± The laborer said with a tired shrug. ¡°They don¡¯t have enough power to declare half the world heretic, and even if they did, they¡¯d be starting a war they can¡¯t finish. We¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°No, they¡¯re not declaring war on everyone. I heard they¡¯re looking for someone or something in particular, and the numbers that I¡¯ve seen¡­Way more high-level Climbers than anyone thought they had. They¡¯ve been keeping their total strength close to the vest, that¡¯s for damn sure, but for this mobilization, I heard they¡¯re even bringing Saints out of retirement¡­and it¡¯s a LOT of them.¡± ¡°What are you thinking?¡± Loth asked. ¡°Whether it would be a smart or stupid idea to try to hide inside the ring of their expansion.¡± Will said, making a circle with spilled stew. Presumably the church¡¯s forces were expanding outward from their military arm of the Church of Granesh, Bone Mountain. Hiding under their nose be clever. Bone Mountain was likely within striking distance of where they stored the ashes of all the Deceivers they killed, too. If Will could get inside their search line and wait there until the time was right¡­ ¡°Smart in the unlikely event that you could pull it off, but most likely stupid.¡± Loth said. They will leave a small contingent to watch for changes in any town or village they go through, and also offer the locals a reward for information on any unusual activity. Our current party lacks the Abilities needed to blend in effectively enough to hide.¡± Will frowned. She was 100% right. The odds of getting spotted were far higher than the benefit of being able to launch a sneak attack on the crematorium. ¡°Strategically, the most ideal move is to hide in the south Ring,¡± Loth said. ¡°The population primarily worships Holdna there, and the military arm of Granesh moving through will be met with stiff resistance, as it will be perceived as a hostile takeover, regardless of their stated intent. The Graneshians will take offense to this resistance and escalate to violence, which will in turn galvanize the local population, creating a nice little warzone to conceal yourself in, where the majority of the population will hide you simply to spite their occupiers.¡± ¡°¡­yeah, but I don¡¯t want thousands of civilians to die to hide us,¡± Will said, thinking of Leon, the general store owner in Ashwood. Most of them were level 1-10 civilians who had gotten out of The Tower before they got killed. There were millions more Leons out there just living their lives. Will could not abide drawing them into his war on the church. ¡°It¡¯s the most strategically sound choice, not necessarily the most ethical.¡± Loth shrugged. ¡°What could we do to raise our chances of going unseen inside their search line?¡± Will asked. ¡°Well, if we avoided coming into contact with any other people while we wait, that would greatly decrease our chance of being discovered. There¡¯s an uninhabited forest in the valley north of Bone Mountain, that¡¯s known for being especially cold because it lies in the shadow of the mountain.¡± ¡°Grubs?¡± Will asked as he worked out the plan. Loth nodded. ¡°I could do that.¡± Will turned to Jason. ¡°Would you endure cold and eat nothing but salted grubs for a couple weeks if it meant you could give the church a bloody nose?¡± Will asked. ¡°Abyss, I¡¯d do it for a .¡± Jason said emphatically. Will turned and flagged down the serving wench, placing two gold pieces on the table, causing her eyes to bulge, along with Jason¡¯s. ¡°Could we get a bag of salt and a bag of pepper, and where might we purchase a cast-iron pan, a small keg, and wool? Cloth?¡± ¡°Sheepskins,¡± Loth added, turning back to her research. ¡°And some sheepskins.¡± ¡°G-general store, sir.¡± their serving wench stammered, pointing. ¡°I¡¯ll get right on that salt and pepper sir.¡± She stood there for an awkward second, seemingly deciding between a bow and a curtsy, before she caught herself, heading back into the kitchen. ¡°Dude, you¡¯re rich!¡± Jason whispered to him. ¡°These are practically worthless above the Second Floor,¡± Will said, twirling a gold coin between his fingers. ¡°But yes. I am rich.¡± ¡°You do realize our shopping list will give a hint as to our intended destination?¡± Loth said. ¡°They¡¯ll think we¡¯re going outside the Ring. It¡¯ll send their attention away from the south Ring to the outer reaches, so maybe there won¡¯t be a war.¡± Will explained. ¡°Fair enough, but I¡¯m asking for some scrimshaw knives too, then.¡± Loth replied. The cold outer reaches were known for their scrimshaw artwork, since the beasts that roamed their land were so enormous. Scrimshaw knives made from good inner ring steel were in great demand in the outer reaches and could ingratiate them with a community rather handily. Not to mention salt and spices. Loth intended to buy some scrimshaw knives, making their shopping list point directly into the outer reaches, so that would be the first place the Church of Granesh looked, wasting time and effort scouring the frozen wastes, achieving nothing. ¡°That¡¯s such a blatant misdirect, you think they¡¯ll buy it?¡± Will asked. ¡°Organized religion is not the place to search for critical thinking.¡± Loth said. ¡°¡­What are you guys talking about?¡± Jason asked with a frown. ¡°¡­I thought he was smart.¡± Loth said. ¡°Eh¡­¡± Will said, waggling his hand. Jason kicked him under the table. Chapter 108: Hunted Jason Salazar ¡®Who are you talking to?¡¯ William Oh *** Caddock, level 65 High Paladin *** Old paladins were hard to come by. Young paladins are untempered by the harsh realities of life, and tend to drop like flies until they grow wise enough to build a fortress around the faith in their hearts and filter out the malign forces that would take advantage of it. In short, young paladins were stupid, reckless, and prone to being taken advantage of. Caddock watched his tracker crouch down in an animalistic fashion, the leather-clad Ranger Archetype nearly burying his nose in the floor and inhaling the lingering scents. He must¡¯ve had a few Sacrifices that had strong scenting abilities. It was one way to get things done. His apprentice on the other hand, watched the tracker snuffle around the village with visible discomfort. ¡°Do you to do this? You¡¯re-¡° Caddock¡¯s apprentice shut his mouth at a raised hand and a glance from his master. ¡°Don¡¯t interrupt your men while they¡¯re doing their job. Instead, find something useful to do.¡± Caddock scanned the assembled townsfolk, standing in a straight line hemmed in by half a dozen warriors. One of the tavern¡¯s serving women seemed a bit more badly shaken than the others, too young to be properly deceitful. A good place to start. Caddock motioned for Hiro to follow him. As they walked, Hiro leaned closer to whisper. ¡°Is it not improper for a member of the church to¡­behave that way?¡± Hiro asked, glancing over his shoulder at the tracker sniffing around the village like a dog. ¡°Where in the holy texts does it say we have to maintain a dignified appearance at all times?¡± ¡°It literally says that in the first volume: A priest of Granesh should strive to cultivate a sense of dignity in himself and those below him.¡± Caddock glanced over at the young paladin and raised a brow. ¡°It says not focus on appearances, you young twat. Look at these terrified civilians. Do you think us appearing as pompous as physically possible would cultivate dignity?¡± ¡°Wha-¡° ¡°Do you believe they¡¯re below us?¡± ¡°In terms of-¡° ¡°Shut up, answer¡¯s yes. If they¡¯re below us, then we must see to dignity as well. How would you maintain a sense of dignity in the people you¡¯re holding by force of arms?¡± ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°By finishing as fast as possible and leaving without causing undue fear or damage, not by nitpicking how your subordinate uses an Ability in of civilians!¡± Caddock thwapped Hiro on the helmet with his badge of office. ¡°Yessir,¡± Hiro said, nodding. ¡°Get me a table and some chairs.¡± Caddock said, pointing at the inn. Outside the door, the day¡¯s special was written in charcoal on a rough-hewn board. Hiro nodded and hustled to the inn, grabbing two soldiers to bring with him. in a matter of seconds, the young paladin returned with the requested furniture. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Caddock took a moment to set the chair in the partially cobbled street in such a way that it wouldn¡¯t rock, allowing the prisoners to see him frown with visible effort for a second before he found a position he liked. Humanizing himself. ¡°Send her over,¡± Caddock said, pointing at the young serving wench. She tottered over to the table. Terrified, but not quite as terrified as she might¡¯ve been if she were in an enclosed room separated from the rest of her family. ¡°I saw that today¡¯s special is sheep stew.¡± Caddock said as she sat. ¡°Is there any available?¡± She shook her head, shivering. ¡°W-we hadn¡¯t started it yet.¡± he thought, glancing up at The Tower, which had barely begun to radiate heat. Caddock took a couple gold out of his bag and handed it up to his apprentice. ¡°Let the cook back into his demesne and order the troop a batch of the stew before the meat spoils.¡± Hiro nodded and went to make it happen. ¡°Now young lady,¡± Caddock said, turning back to her. ¡°My name is Caddock. And you?¡± ¡°Mary.¡± ¡°Mary. If you can help me here, you may just be the first and last interview of the day, and we¡¯ll be out of your hair in a matter of minutes. Well, after the stew. I¡¯ve always been a fan of mutton.¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± ¡°Now, did you see a young man come through here recently? About this height?¡± She nodded. ¡°Can you describe him?¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. She did, and Caddock¡¯s brows rose with disbelief. ¡°He was ¡± he asked. ¡°yes-no?¡± She asked, trying to gauge his reaction. ¡°Don¡¯t bother yourself with what I will or won¡¯t like to hear, only tell me the truth.¡± Caddock said, raising his hand. ¡°He had sunken cheeks, and his collarbones stood out underneath his robe. He ate like it was his last meal.¡± ¡° monks,¡± Caddock said, palming his forehead. They had that ¡®purity in poverty¡¯ mindset that dovetailed nicely with their desire to punish the child for resisting their plans, so of course they thought starving a growing boy who was critical to their entire religion was a idea. As excited as he should be for catching wind of The Prophet, it also shone a light on how badly the Laniston monks had bungled things, and how difficult it would be to get Jason Salazar back on the team. Such thoughts were above his paygrade, however. And heretical. ¡°Sorry?¡± his interviewee said, cocking her head in confusion at his outburst. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing to do with you,¡± Caddock said, waving it off. ¡°Did the young man have anyone with him?¡± ¡°Oh yes, a strange black kobold, and a young Climber¡­¡± She wiggled in her seat, expression brightening. ¡°He was rather dashing, actually. And generous.¡± Caddock blinked, his skin turning cold. ¡°Did this young Climber by any chance have a missing left hand?¡± ¡°Oh, he wore a gauntlet on his left hand for some reason¡­¡± She cocked her head in thought. ¡°But I never saw it move. Maybe he missing a hand How mysterious. Caddock kept his cool and got the Deceiver¡¯s shopping list out of the girl, then interviewed the general store owner, confirming that those items had been purchased, and no one knew anything more about the strange visitors. No one had seen them leave. Which made sense to Caddock. The Deceiver would want to keep information about himself and his direction under tight wraps. In the middle of his musing, his tracker returned, tugging Caddock¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Did you figure out their path?¡± The tracker nodded, pointing straight up. Caddock craned his neck, sending his gaze to the sky above. That endless slate grey sky dotted with misaligned stars that twinkled in the morning sun. ¡°You¡¯re kidding me.¡± The tracker shook his head. ¡°Prophet, one kobold one deceiver and one ghost. Straight up.¡± Caddock sighed and drew his fingers down his face. Immortal Serpents were what was colloquially referred to as ¡®sticky trickys.¡¯ Hard to kill and they liked to play mind games with those who hunted them. Shape-shifting, a bit of psychic damage, that sort of thing. Flying didn¡¯t really enter into the equation. They would have to touch the earth again eventually, and when they did, his trackers would feel the connection. ¡°The items they were shopping for were an obvious red herring. Send word to the rest of the army to investigate ghost sightings. He¡¯s known for using them to do his legwork. What they do may shine more light on their intentions. AND GET ME SOMEONE WHO CAN FLY!¡± Caddock shouted, rising to his feet. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°C-can we go?¡± The general store owner asked, pale from where he sat rigid in his seat. ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯re all free to go, have some good Graneshian steel.¡± He said taking the man¡¯s hand and slapping an ingot into it before shaking both the man¡¯s hands with forced enthusiasm. ¡°Take that to the town blacksmith and have him make you something nice. Tablewear, pots, hinges, whatever. It¡¯ll outlast your grandkids. It¡¯s blessed to be rust-proof and strong.¡± Caddock motioned to the assembled townsfolk. ¡°Ryan, get everyone a souvenir. Too much wood and not enough good steel around here.¡± ¡°T-thank you, milord.¡± The merchant said, nodding. ¡°Of course, your village has been more than helpful, just¡­¡± Caddock placed his gauntleted palm on the man¡¯s shoulder, the cold, enchanted steel nearly brushing the man¡¯s cheek. He paused a moment until the man looked him straight in the eye. ¡°Let us know if you see them again, aye?¡± The merchant glanced down at the valuable steel in his palm, then the brutal spiked gauntlet inches away from his neck¡­and nodded profusely. The message was clear. ¡®choose which kind of steel you would like us to give you.¡¯ Meanwhile, William and company were taking a little break. ¡°They look like little ants.¡± Jason said, peering down at the town below them crawling with Graneshian military. They were currently resting on the underside of a star, which had turned out to be just a building-sized mirror with a massive hinge that allowed it to tilt. Will had noticed the empty space above the mirror while they¡¯d been attempting to fly out of the town with Loth¡¯s bugs to make themselves harder to track. This particular star was a ¡®star¡¯ because it was broken and didn¡¯t reflect the morning sun at the same time as everything else, making it stand out during odd times of the day when it¡¯s alignment didn¡¯t match up. This meant they could camp out on it¡¯s inside without getting crushed as it shifted around. There were quite a few stars in the sky, actually, such that they could travel to their intended destination without ever touching the ground by hopping from frozen mirror to frozen mirror. ¡°Ooh, they¡¯re deploying fliers.¡± Jason said. ¡°Get away from the ledge.¡± Will whispered. ¡°What, why?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Because some of these people have eyes better than eagles.¡± Will said. ¡°I am one of them. Also, you being on the edge of a ten-thousand foot drop with no way to save yourself makes me distinctly uncomfortable.¡± Jason shrugged and pushed himself back from the edge, while Will crawled forward and risked peering over the edge for a moment. Will slid backwards and turned to Loth. ¡°They¡¯re deploying a net of fliers to scan the ground in a circle a few miles around the town, looking for where our flying Abilities are presumed to have expired. They¡¯re only flying a few hundred feet up, staring at the ground, which is good. Their contacts on the ground are staring up at them, which is bad.¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± Loth nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll have to move at night to avoid being accidentally spotted.¡± ¡°Does that mean it¡¯s going to get even ¡± Jason asked, a hint of pain in his voice. The boy did not have the extra energy in his body to ward off cold weather, and since the sky¡¯s entire purpose was to reflect heat back down to the ground, it was naturally cold. ¡°Take all the sheepskins,¡± Will said, opening the bag and pulling out the rolled up sheepskins, handing them to Jason. ¡°You really got used to living with one hand, huh?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Eh?¡± Will frowned, glancing at Jason. ¡°You kicked the bag up with one foot, pinched a corner down with another, yanked on the string with one hand, then loosened it somehow.¡± He¡¯d used Phantom Hand for that. ¡°Yeah, you get used to it,¡± Will said. ¡°Is this what Climbing is like? Camping out on a ledge two miles high in the freezing cold? Having to shit an arm¡¯s length away from your Party?¡± Jason asked. Will glanced at Loth and shrugged. ¡°Aside from the monster killing, yes, this is actually pretty close to what Climbing is like.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Jason asked. ¡°Why would you subject yourself to that?¡± Will held a finger up before pulling out a gold coin from his satchel. He crushed the soft metal between thumb and forefinger. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m sold.¡± Jason said, nodding. ¡°Sir,¡± Noob said, arriving next to them, bearing a package of sealed wax-paper. ¡°An Enchantress sacrifice from the ninth floor. Premium Bard Sacrifice.¡± ¡°Sweet!¡± Jason said, heading towards Noob. ¡°Noooope.¡± Will said, snatching the Sacrifice out of Noob¡¯s hands. ¡°What? WHY!?¡± ¡°Because we are two miles above the ground, so when you came back from your Trial, you would be stranded if we were forced to abandon this location, and you¡¯re not recovered enough to perform the Trial, we can use this to your advantage if we wait.¡± ¡°¡­How?¡± Jason asked, crossing his arms. ¡°If we get surrounded and it looks like we¡¯re screwed, I can give you your Sacrifices. You can then go through the Door into your Trial, finish the Trial, then catch a merchant caravan back to the Hunting Grounds rather than going back through the Door.¡± ¡°In the meantime, you need to put on some weight,¡± Will said, tucking the Sacrifice into his Phantom Hand. Jason blinked a couple times, frowning as the Sacrifice casually disappeared. ¡°Salt and peppered roasted grubs?¡± Will asked, taking it off the tiny flame and offering Jason the pot. ¡°They¡¯re a bit like shrimp.¡± ¡°What are shrimp?¡± Jason asked, peering into the pot with visible disgust. ¡°They¡¯re this food on the sixth floor that ¨C You¡¯ll see. They¡¯re not bad. They¡¯re not great either, but a little salt and pepper make them much more palatable.¡± Jason winced, pinching a grub between thumb and forefinger before taking a deep breath and popping it into his mouth. ¡°Hey¡­that¡¯s not bad.¡± Jason admitted. ¡°Right?¡± Will chuckled, popping a couple into his mouth before Jason could steal all of them. ¡°They¡¯re better raw,¡± Loth said from her throne of books, pouring through them for any hint of where they kept Deceiver ashes. ¡°No they are ¡± Will shot back. Chapter 109: Cat and Mouse ¡°It¡¯s the oddest thing.¡± The tracker said, sniffing the wind. Caddock raised a brow and waited. ¡°Every once in a while I¡¯ll get a whiff of a campfire, but it¡¯s hard to nail down a direction. Like There¡¯s no origin. It¡¯s diluted, miles away, but there¡¯s no directionality to it.¡± After days of searching they hadn¡¯t found the Deceiver¡¯s landing point, nor had they caught sight of him. Like he disappeared off the face of the Earth. Most fliers couldn¡¯t fly any longer than their Ability held, it was a rare Class that allowed long range aerial hauling of three people and their gear. The prophet was recorded as stating that William Oh could fly, but there was no evidence it was anything more than short range bursts. And with two others in tow¡­ Caddock found the church¡¯s dossier on the kobold to be infuriatingly sparse, as though it were nothing more than a mascot for William Oh¡¯s Party, and therefore unworthy of note. The damned thing wouldn¡¯t be in the Party anymore, let alone running it, let alive, were it not an aberration worthy of note. Perhaps it was providing the means of flight¡­somehow. The old paladin craned his neck and looked up, studying the stars above. ¡°Pull the fliers back in, I¡¯ve got a new job for them.¡± In a matter of hours, Caddock was standing atop one of the enormous mirrors the gods had placed at the beginning of the Coil to keep humans warm, nudging a little campfire with the toe of his boot. ¡°It seems as though they¡¯re flying from star to star,¡± he mused to himself, before glancing up at Hiro, who was studying the stone ceiling with apprehension. ¡°Have our fliers search the stars back towards the village. Have our logistics crew begin packing for a run.¡± ¡°Back towards the village?¡± Hiro asked, looking back down at him. ¡°Can¡¯t we just use the village as their origin?¡± ¡°Maybe. I¡¯d like to discover their first two campsites, made while they still naively believe we will not find them. Those first two campsites are most likely to be the straightest line towards their final destination.¡± In a matter of hours, Caddock was leaning over a map, frowning as he traced a faint line of charcoal across his expensive map, using the blade of his sword as a straightedge. Caddock mused as he traced their projected course through the shaded forest north of Bone mountain. Under their very noses. Caddock was inclined to believe this was their true objective. His quarry was inexperienced, had never been hunted before: They had no experience with this kind of tracking. The route northeast wasn¡¯t an attractive distractor by any means. It was dangerous to be fake. Despite not knowing his end-goal, this route gave Caddock a bold, winner-take-all impression that screamed ¡®teenage boy assured of his invincibility.¡¯ Which fit what he knew about this particular Deceiver. Now that Caddock knew which way they were going and roughly how fast, he could estimate their current location to a few square miles, even get ahead of them and stage an ambush. The problem was, how to deal with this information? Caddock was only going to get one surprise attack on his quarry, - at best ¨C and certain tactics that he might like to use, such as softening up the entire area with a Nuker from a safe distance, were unacceptable due to the Prophet hostage. The Dossier on William Oh suggested that his Acuity was his strongest stat at over a hundred, base, not including his kit. He was going to be difficult to sneak up on. ***William Oh*** ¡°We can¡¯t stay here.¡± Loth said, peering through a spyglass above the crest of the hill. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Will asked. ¡°We made a mistake. The graneshian army is changing direction, heading straight towards us.¡± Will frowned, thinking about it for a moment. ¡°The campfires?¡± ¡°Probably. I¡¯m ashamed to admit I was complacent.¡± Loth said. ¡°How long do we have?¡± Will asked. ¡°Less than three days. We should leave as soon as we finish eating and aim for the northern tip of the circle. It likely hasn¡¯t received word of us yet, and they wouldn¡¯t send their best.¡± ¡°Oh no, we won¡¯t get to continue to freeze in this damned forest.¡± Jason muttered, huddled up in his sheepskins. ¡°What a tragedy.¡± During the day, the forest north of Bone mountain was brisk, but at night, it plunged to below freezing temperatures, forcing them to hunker down and see to Jason¡¯s survival. Will was surprised to note that freezing temperatures felt nearly the same as a brisk day. He could logically tell there was a difference when he paid attention, but it was a vague thought in the back of his mind. Even loth, who had been particularly weak to cold, was unaffected by these temperatures. ¡°North is even worse.¡± Will said. ¡°Oh. Shit.¡± Jason muttered before his expression changed. ¡°Actually¡­One minute.¡± He raised a hand and began trundling towards the latrine. Will glanced over as one of his ghost butlers arrived beside him. ¡°Let me se what you¡¯ve got for me this time,¡± Will said. ¡°I stole this from a crafter who paid their life¡¯s savings to acquire this for their son.¡± Noob said, offering him a package of waxed paper. ¡°It is a Cursed Armor from the Fourteenth Floor.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me who you had to hurt to get these, just pay them back if I can afford it.¡± Will said, taking the package and opening up the Sourdough Entry. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Will thought, checking the changes the Sacrifice would make. ¡°Nope.¡± Will said, handing it back. ¡°A Corsoth, from the ninth Floor.¡± Noob said, offering him the next package. Corsoths were notorious for yanking Climber¡¯s souls out of their bodies and shoving them in little dolls, or whatever they had on hand. Definitely a strong interaction between miasma and the physical world. Noob had been bringing him possible sacrifices for nearly a week now, and nothing had given him the ¡®new effects¡¯ so far. The relic still had to be damaged, but it was still progress. ¡°let¡¯s hold onto that one, but I¡¯m not a fan of ¡®rare occurrences¡¯,¡± Will said, handing it back. ¡°A Meldmonger, from the Fifteenth Floor.¡± Noob said, handing him a watertight tub filled with a wobbly jelly of some kind. Will thought. In simplified terms, The way Will was reading it, if he had a relic with 8 Resistance and 0 acuity, and he bathed it in Relic dust from items that only gave 20 Acuity, the relic would become a 4 resistance, 10 Acuity item. With high Resistance, the finished product might shift to 6 resistance, 15 Acuity, or more. The System did not like infinite scaling. Even Frederick Wyrd¡¯s infinite damage loop only worked because sooner or later one person exploded long before the power would tear a hole in reality. Still, this gave him exactly what he¡¯d envisioned, the ability to nudge the stat distribution and Abilities of an item the way that he wanted to. ¡°Holy¡­this is it.¡± Will mused, jiggling the container. ¡°This is the one I want.¡± ¡°Excellent.¡± Noob said with a nod. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will offered the Sacrifice up to The Tower. Will paused and gave it some thought. The Corsoth Sacrifice didn¡¯t mention a limit to the number of times it could trigger, although it was a ¡®rare occurrence,¡¯ whatever that meant. It was theoretically possible that Will could design a perfect weapon by hunting a specific monster over and over again, stacking tiny chips of upgrades from random chance until he wound up with something amazing¡­ Will could imagine himself trying to enhance the dimensional Assassin¡¯s amulet by smacking monsters with it, hoping for an upgrade that only happened every half-million kills. It was a bit sad that Will wasn¡¯t going to get upgrades to Sourdough that gave it the ability to duplicate or enhance consumables, or speed it¡¯s effects up to the point where he could make a huge profit like he¡¯d originally thought. The ability to custom-tailor an item to his build and then slot it into one of the fingers of Phantom Hand was¡­outrageously good, and far outweighed an infinite money glitch. Money was¡­fine, but after seeing Lords in action, Will had realized it was only a small portion of their power. They had something no one else could touch. And that was what Will needed. Will raised the Sacrifice and mentally confirmed his intention to offer it to The Tower. The Sacrifice disappeared in a flash of blinding light. As the light reached its peak, flooding his vision, Will heard the creaking sound of a taught string shifting against lacquered wood. A bow. Will threw himself backwards as an arrow blazing with energy shot past him, curving mid-flight to follow him and drawing a line of blood across his face. Will thought, tumbling backwards and using Phantom Hand to yank himself sideways, making his path erratic. Will switched his equipped Relic from the Wand of the Undead Retainer to Stormfists. The world slowed down as Will sped up. ¡°Loth, wha-¡° Will glanced over and Spotted Loth with an arrow through her temple, eyes wide and staring. Will thought, flinging himself up into a tree and snagging a branch with his hand while sending Phantom Hand towards his Party member as dozens more arrows aimed to follow the sneak attack and turn his lieutenant into a pincushion. Phantom hand grabbed Loth by the breastplate and yanked her forward. The arrow fell out of her head, seemingly burnt away by acid, leaving behind a steaming wound that was rapidly closing. Will spotted a handful of dead Armor beetles crumbling to ash as they fell out of her robe. ¡°Wha!¡± Loth snapped awake as she flew through the sky. ¡°Ambush!¡± Will said as he sprinted through the treetops, the finger-thin branches bearing him with the same strength as bedrock. ¡°They were already here!¡± Loth said, yellow-green eyes wide, mind leaping three questions ahead. ¡°How the-¡° ¡°Nobody could¡¯ve gotten inside the perimeter without me noticing. They were already in the forest waiting for the perfect opportunity!¡± Will thought, ¡°I¡¯m good!¡± Loth cried, signalling for Will to let go of her with Phantom Hand. Loth snagged a tree, digging in her black claws into the thin birch tree, causing the entire thing to rock violently in place as she held her other hand up and snarled. A series of explosions flooded the surrounding forest as her traps went off, bathing the forest in smoke and shrapnel, hopefully shaking up their aggressors, and- Will thought, bouncing off a tree and heading for the last place he¡¯d seen him. Will whipped past the latrine and there was no sign of his friend. Instead, there was a man wearing dull, unpolished heavy armor studded with wicked-looking spikes. Will thought, screeching to a halt on a tree-branch. ¡°I want you to know-¡° Will didn¡¯t bother to listen to the rest, instead lobbing an iron cannonball at the offending Graneshian soldier. The cannonball exploded like a snowball against a barn roof, leaving a fist-sized chunk of rapidly cooling iron fused to the man¡¯s breastplate. Like a snowball, the paladin idly wiped it off. ¡°That your friend is going to be fine,¡± He finished, drawing his sword. ¡°You on the other hand-¡° Will thought, grabbing himself with the Phantom Hand and yanking himself backwards. Not at full speed, not right away. Will wasn¡¯t suicidal. Soldiers seemed to burst out of the ground below him, unable to catch him due to his height above the ground. Two ahead of him leapt up to cut off his retreat, waiting with arms splayed on either side of a larger evergreen. Will shot a hole through the center of the tree and followed along behind it, tucking his arms and legs in tight, receiving some minor scratches, but punching through the wood and outside the encirclement. ¡°Will!¡± Loth shouted, prompting Will to throw out a hand and catch Loth mid-flight. ¡°Hold on tight,¡± Will said, putting the palm of Phantom Hand on the small of his back and gradually increasing the speed, until the wind and branches began tearing at his clothes like a mad beast, emerging into the sky and leaving the Graneshian soldiers behind in a matter of seconds. An explosion reminiscent of Mason¡¯s Conflagration detonated just behind him, the shockwave thrumming through his chest. The Nuker had missed the timing by a fraction of a second. Will increased the pressure, praying his concentration lasted. A second explosion came behind him. Closer, but still harmless. Will wrapped his hand around the back of Loth¡¯s head and grabbed his ankle with Phantom Hand, yanking himself down and backwards, aiming to dodge the third explosion before the Nuker got a feel for their speed. Will snapped downward, transferring most of his forward momentum into downward speed, heading straight for the earth. Another explosion sounded beyond Will. Will grabbed branches with his hands and feet as he hit the canopy with meteoric speed, transferring stability into the thin branches to slow himself down before he hit the ground. Even prepared, the snap and sudden stop nearly broke his neck. ¡°You okay?¡± Will gasped. Loth coughed. ¡°Bone Mountain,¡± She said, pointing up at the fortress looming above them. the military arm of Granesh they¡¯d been hiding in the shadow of. ¡°That¡¯s where they¡¯ll be taking him.¡± Will nodded, changed directions and began propelling them into the very heart of enemy territory. Back at the clearing, Caddock watched Will disappear with an appreciative whistle. ¡°Damn. He¡¯s .¡± The old paladin said. ¡°Sir, should we pursue him?¡± one of the rangers asked, approaching him. ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten, drank, slept or shat in a so no, we¡¯re going to leave that to the harriers, let them wear him down while we get some rest, now if you¡¯ll take the Patient Stalking ability off and excuse me¡­¡± ¡°Sir.¡± The ranger pointed up at the mountain, where they had sent the Prophet to be protected inside the fortress. There was an explosion on the side of the mountain along the road leading up to the Bone Mountain fortress. ¡°Shit.¡± Caddock began sprinting. In retrospect, sending the Prophet to the fortress was the best choice, which also made it the If William oh had done other than immediately bum-rushing the fortress, the prophet would be safely inside its walls before the Deceiver realized where he went. Caddock grinned. Chapter 110: Blessed Steel ¡°I said put me down, you scum-peddling shit-mouths!¡± Jason shouted at the top of his lungs, beating on the helmets of the people carrying him. It didn¡¯t do any good, but it made him feel better. They were sprinting at top speed up a stone-pathed road cut into the mountainside, wide enough to field an army and greyscale in the dim light of pre-dawn. Above, the Graneshian fortress was looming larger and larger, the gates yawning open to swallow him. They were only a few hundred feet away from the fortress now, and- William Oh landed beside the group, the earth twisting violently at his arrival before launching him forward. The ensuing battle was a fast, bloody thing, as one of his captors simply in an explosion of gore while the rest rushed forward, unsheathing their weapons. Jason¡¯s friend wove through them in a strange zig-zag pattern, the earth rippling behind him like the coils of a snake as he lashed out, dispatching one after another with brutal efficiency. The one carrying Jason cursed and broke into a sprint, aiming to deliver Jason to the fortress while his comrades were distracting Will. ¡°AGH!¡± The man¡¯s steps faltered and he collapsed to the ground, dropping Jason onto the cobblestones. Jason tumbled, rearing to his feet as quickly as he could, his skin going cold as the man¡¯s chest burst open, revealing a wasp nearly the size of Jason himself, which proceeded to attack the others. In the distance, Loth sank below the horizon, descending the opposite side of the mountain. In a matter of seconds, the fight was over, and his fellow orphan was sheathing his sword, approaching Jason. In a heartbeat, it occurred to Jason that maybe Will was just as dangerous as the church had made him out to be¡­ ¡°Are you alright?¡± Will asked, crouching down to study Jason¡¯s expression. ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason said, nodding, trying not to look at the carnage. ¡°I-¡° ¡°Cool, we ¡± Will shouted, throwing Jason over his shoulder and sprinting at ungodly speeds as the Nukers on the walls began to take potshots at them. Ear-shattering explosions soon became the only thing Jason could hear, along with dust and fire the only thing he saw around Will¡¯s shoulder. They broke into the forest on the south side of the mountain, bathed in the morning sun, revealing the surrounding trees as they made it out of the Nuker¡¯s range. In all his life, Jason had never moved that . It felt like he was dreaming, the world sliding around him, disconnected from any sense of effort. It almost made a man reconsider choosing a Charm Build. ¡­almost. After what felt like hours of running, Will finally staggered to a halt. ¡°Gonna¡­take¡­a¡­break,¡± he muttered, hoisting Jason off his shoulder and onto the loamy soil before collapsing against a tree, gasping like a fish. Jason wasn¡¯t feeling much better, having a shoulder jammed into his stomach for an hour. Loth disconnected the tiny string she¡¯d wrapped around Will¡¯s waist, her insects setting her on the ground. She¡¯d hovered along behind them like a kite the entire time. ¡°When we first entered the forest, I had my bugs trap two exit corridors.¡± She said, drawing a little map of Bone Mountain, marking an arrow to the southeast and one to the southwest. ¡°If we can buy time until the regular army is standing directly on it. I can use these to punch a hole in their ranks, or at the very least, distract them long enough for us to slip through in the chaos.¡± She glanced up at Will. ¡°Which way do you want to go?¡± She asked. ¡°Stevie couldn¡¯t find me a tomahawk I liked,¡± Will mused. ¡°And Billy-bob never found a suitable item that could allow us to concentrate the Miasma. We might as well cut our losses. Whichever direction gets us out of here.¡± Loth¡¯s eyes began to scan the air, as if she were reading. ¡°There is a town with a dead volcano to the southeast. Its people are highly Graneshian and the town itself lies at the intersection of three large roads. The monk¡¯s records indicate that the church makes a large portion of its money selling ¡®blessed steel¡¯ that seem to originate from the town. It seems to be some kind of processing center. It bears investigation.¡± Loth¡¯s brow twitched. ¡°Dead volcano. Lava tubes.¡± ¡° tubes?¡± Will and Jason asked as one at the unfamiliar word. ¡°Lava. Molten rock from a volcano. When it flows underground, sometimes it will leave behind tubes of stone where it used to flow. Caves. These tubes can be the size of an entire building. Plenty of space to hide the church¡¯s secrets without conspicuous construction on the surface.¡± ¡°¡­ can melt?¡± Will asked with a curious expression that mirrored Jason¡¯s own. ¡° can melt.¡± Loth replied with a chilling, matter-of-fact tone that spoke of experience. ¡°Oh. Cool. Well, sounds like as good a place as any,¡± Will said as he paled a bit. ¡°Southeast it is.¡± Loth nodded and scrubbed the drawing out of the ground with her clawed foot. On the other side of the mountain, Caddock called off the chase. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Why are we stopping? They¡¯re right Hiro said, peering off the edge of the mountain. ¡°I think I can see them.¡± ¡°When we¡¯re they¡¯ll be and so on,¡± Caddock said, pointing further afield. ¡°We didn¡¯t get ahead of them last time by blindly chasing them. We did it by anticipating their actions, and we¡¯ll do it again. Plus, I have to shit, and the fortress has toilets.¡± Caddock patted Hiro on the shoulder and went to take care of business, ignoring the screaming of high-ranking church officials on the way into the fortress. Once that was complete, Caddock invited the myriad church officials to a debriefing so he didn¡¯t have to repeat himself. That was na?ve of him. Naturally, the church officials tried to flex their authority to pin him down and answer stupid questions, stretching what he had hoped to be a short debrief out to a week. As long as his Harriers were busy wearing William Oh down, he had the time. Technically a lot of them outrank him, but Caddock was both the most powerful Paladin they could field, and also retired. The threat of dismissing him from service as a punishment was laughable. He actually laughed. Still, he had to slog through the week-long debrief out of a sense of duty, if nothing else. The most frequently asked stupid question during the debrief was ¡®why didn¡¯t you tell us William Oh was hiding on the north slope?¡¯ spoken in an accusing tone, as if they somehow could¡¯ve contributed if they knew. They couldn¡¯t¡¯ve, but high-ranking church members were politicians, and like any good politician, pinning the blame on others was practically reflex. Caddock¡¯s response was that William Oh was flightier than a hasted hare, and the assembled officials couldn¡¯t pull off a successful ambush against a blind and deaf cow. Some enterprising fool would¡¯ve tried to seize the glory, tipped off their quarry and made everything even worse. ¡°As it stands, I¡¯ve got the army surrounding the area in a staggered double line.¡± Caddock said, marking the suspended map for his audience. ¡°Regardless of what they try, they won¡¯t be able to break through that. We¡¯ve got them locked into this small mountain range. All we need to do is methodically grind them down with harriers.¡± ¡°Harriers?¡± Someone with a big hat asked. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Rangers specialized in nipping at their prey¡¯s heels. Once they¡¯re tired and out of Charge, the paladins will move in and finish them off. In the meantime-¡° ¡°Sir,¡± one of Caddock¡¯s messengers arrived. ¡°Report from the scouts.¡± Caddock tuned out the church officials and read the report, which detailed ghost sightings from the last few weeks. There were a few that stood out, where butler-looking ghosts tried to steal Crafting and Charm specific Sacrifices, stole several tomahawks and quizzed several crafters on how to refine miasmatic ash while they slept. Caddock¡¯s eyes narrowed as a sneaking suspicion began to build inside him. us us type Caddock cleared his throat, glancing up from the report. ¡°Good news, I know what William Oh is aiming for, and even better, due to our methodical method of encircling him, he won¡¯t be able to-¡° ¡°Sir,¡± one of Caddock¡¯s messengers arrived. The messenger¡¯s forehead was sweating profusely.¡°Report from the frontli-.¡± Caddock snatched the letter out of his hand and opened it up. The letter contained lots of misleading statements about what had happened, and softened the language as much as possible without explicitly lying to their leader, but the long and short of it was this: One of the enterprising fools commanding the southeast section of the circle hemming William Oh in, one Hagar Graziano, thought to seize glory and ordered his wedge of the circle to close ranks and pursue William Oh against Caddock¡¯s direct orders. Once they were packed in tight enough, and surprising no one, the ground beneath their feet exploded, causing general mayhem and allowing William Oh to slip through the containment zone. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been in command, what¡¯s the punishment for disobeying orders nowadays?¡± Caddock asked Hiro. ¡°Still a beating?¡± Caddock¡¯s first instinct was to make it brutal and personal, but any good military should have standardized rewards and punishments, so that soldiers knew what was at stake and did not fear cruel punishments from a particularly sadistic commander spilling over to their family, friends, or personal life. ¡°A lynching with wooden rods.¡± Hiro said. ¡°Iron if they¡¯re Officer rank, Blessed Steel for anyone above level fifty.¡± ¡°Make a note. One iron-rod lynching for Hagar Graziano, Hiro.¡± Hiro nodded. ¡°Gentlemen,¡± Caddock said, turning his attention back to the assembled church-folk. ¡°As much as I can¡¯t say I enjoy this, I¡¯m afraid I must call an end to this debrief. Unforeseen circumstances dictate that I be elsewhere.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± the man with the biggest hat, Saint Strauss raised his voice before Caddock could leave. ¡°Where is William Oh going? This time, us.¡± ¡°He¡¯s going to the town of Basalt, where he¡¯s going to take the ashes of the thousands of his siblings you¡¯ve stashed there over time and use them to make a Legendary Set keyed to his own bloodline.¡± The silence stretched out for several seconds, the high-ranking officials staring back at him like startled prey. Caddock shrugged. ¡°Or maybe he¡¯s just running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I¡¯ll let you know which it was after I kill him.¡± Outside the containment zone, Will used Malleable Space, the Stormfist gauntlets and the Phantom Hand pushing them forward to eke out every ounce of speed he possibly could and close the distance between themselves and Basalt in a matter of hours. They wouldn¡¯t be hard to track, so time was the key here. They arrived before the sun even set, the radiance of The Tower to the south dimming only slightly, signaling dinnertime. The town of Basalt was a rather large town, not quite a city, but definitely a healthy size, skirting a conical mountain that gave Will an odd feeling. The surrounding vegetation was lush and the dirt had an interesting red hue. ¡°Now we just need to scout this place to see if I was right without sounding the alarm,¡± Loth mused as they overlooked the town that sat in the center of the three massive roads that diverted around the mountain. ¡°We needn¡¯t cause a stir here if they don¡¯t have what we¡¯re looking for.¡± ¡°On it,¡± Will said. The phantom eye was as fast as the Phantom Hand, and in less than the two minutes he had available, he searched every single building in the town, seeing a couple things he quite frankly would rather not have, but nothing that looked like what they were looking for. After a moment, Will remembered Loth¡¯s Lava tubes. Will thought, sending the phantom eye ten feet underground and scanning. Nothing but blackness. Will sent it through the earth under the town at lightning speeds as the phantom eye came down to its last few seconds of life. A single flash of light caught Will¡¯s attention an instant before Phantom Eye expired. He resummoned the eye and sent the eye back to where he¡¯d caught the flash of light, moving it back and forth until he found it. Finally it revealed itself to him. Ten feet underground and near the town¡¯s southern border, was an endless stone hallway lit by dim lamps, with labelled black urns packed tightly together, stretching out into the darkness. Each black urn was inscribed with a familiar name, from the ledger of slain Deceivers. ¡°Oh yeah, these people have something we¡¯re looking for,¡± Will muttered, his Phantom Eye following the hallway back to an enormous underground smithery near the heart of the volcano. Will thought, watching teams of men load the massive stars unto red-hot patches of molten rock, heating the foot-thick, gigantic steel mirrors up to cherry-red before heating up smaller parts with Abilities and carving them away, forming them into ingots. Will thought. ¡°So, what are we doing?¡± Loth asked, drawing his attention. ¡°We¡¯re going in.¡± Chapter 111: Love Letter From Holdna They didn¡¯t get mobbed the instant they stepped into town, which was good. In Will¡¯s imagination, the instant they set foot inside the town, an old crone pointed a wizened finger at him and began shrieking, then every retired Climber in the place attacked him like a rabid animal. Reality was rarely so outlandish. Nobody gave him and Jason more than a glance. Due to the massive amount of caravans using the town as a waystation, no one bothered themselves over a stranger. Loth, though, had never even entered the city, instead breaking off to lay traps around the village to slow their pursuers and secure them an escape route. Being a kobold in the center of an all-Graneshian town would probably end badly anyway. They only had maybe a day before the army caught up with them. Will made a mental list of what he needed. In the center of the underground smithy buried in the mountain was a large, circular depression of shiny black stone in the ground that Will had personally witnessed being filled with ashes and used to bake new relics made of Blessed steel. Ash placed in it began glowing with miasmatic power, swirling in place as though some invisible giant were stirring it, with brighter ash moving towards the center and dimmer ash lingering on the outside. The Crafters working with it simply used a large shovel to scrape the outer edges of dull nonmagical ash as a helper poured new ash from a collection of monsters in, to create whatever blend of miasmatic ash the smith in charge wanted. Once it was done refining, they scooped up the vibrantly glowing ¡®good stuff¡¯ into a wooden box, labeled it with the smith¡¯s name and project, then scraped the entire thing clean, washing it out for the next crew. Simple really. It made sense that they had stored the Deceiver ash in a place that could use it. It made sense that the Deceiver¡¯s miasmatic ash hadn¡¯t been used at all: Deceivers were taboo in Graneshian culture. That likely extended to making anything out of them or using anything with their Abilities. So over time, nobody had wanted to use the Deceiver ash, and the urns just kind of¡­accumulated, taking up their own storage tunnel of the underground smithery. Will glanced down at the shortsword on his belt. It felt ungrateful to abandon his new sword¡­but he wanted what he wanted. ¡°Excuse me,¡± Will stopped a pedestrian. ¡°Where can I find a good weaponsmith?¡± In a matter of minutes, Will and Jason walked into the shopfront of a smithy, glancing around. It smelled of a typical smithy. Smoke, oil, wood. Portraits of women were placed on all four walls, even one above the door. They had large, expressive eyes, and they were totally out of place in a smithy. The portraits were placed slightly offset from each other, so that one of the portrait¡¯s eyes were dead center, opposite each other. It wasn¡¯t something Will would have noticed without high Acuity and a suspicious mind. The environs themselves were a little more disorganized than the other shops in town that will had scouted with Phantom Eye. There was a fair bit of clutter here and there, the weapons presented in a haphazard manner, as if they had been placed wherever the smith found a place for them between sales, rather than being organized by type or quality. It was a far cry from the other smitheries in the city. Each and every weapon on display was plain an unadorned¡­and entirely flawless. Every person in the city had recommended this shop as the place to get high quality weapons, with a price to match. The rumor was that the smith would eventually put himself out of business, because every weapon he sold would still be in the hands of his customer¡¯s grandchildren. That was a good enough endorsement for Will. The man behind the counter was reading some sort of trade magazine, smoking a pipe as Will entered. He grunted at the sound of the bell, but didn¡¯t otherwise acknowledge Will¡¯s presence. Will scanned the shop, his gaze landing on a tomahawk hanging beneath the painting of a young woman against the east wall. Will reached up and grabbed the tomahawk, feeling as though he was being watched from every direction. The painting above him had the faintest smirk. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Will hefted the axe and swung it a few times. It cut smoothly through the air, moving effortlessly, like it was made for him. ¡°Try¡¯n steal it, L¡¯cut your balls off,¡± the merchant rumbled around his pipe, his words slurring together through over-repetition. ¡°I¡¯d like to buy this one,¡± Will said, placing the tomahawk on the counter in front of him. ¡°Get outta here kid, I don¡¯t sell to Aspirants.¡± The man muttered without looking up from his magazine. ¡°Waste of a good weapon on dead meat.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that you are addressing William Oh!¡± Jason said, stepping up to the counter with a thunderous expression. ¡°The tamer of dragons, conquerer of leviathans, wooer of armies, and-¡° Jason cut off when he saw Will¡¯s expression. The smith glanced up, his gaze stopping at the tomahawk before travelling up to Will¡¯s face. The magazine flew out of the man¡¯s hand as he sat up bolt-straight, staring into Will¡¯s face. ¡°Like the tomahawk do you?¡± He asked, eyes narrowed with suspicion. ¡°It¡¯s not a popular choice around here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a soft spot for them,¡± Will replied before he paused for a moment, thinking. ¡°¡­You don¡¯t happen to have one like this that you can also use as a pipe, do you?¡± Will asked. He would need that if the ashes from the Tomahawk of the Serpent were to add the contract ability back onto his new weapon. It wasn¡¯t by any means, but it was nice. ¡°So you¡¯re the one, huh?¡± the shopkeeper asked, rising to his full height. ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°Few years ago I got a burning itch to move up north to Basalt.¡± The grizzled shopkeep said, ducking behind his display and rummaging through the cabinets behind him, punctuating his speech with curses as he began digging through the cabinet, hauling one thing after another out of the way, aiming for something buried deep in the back. ¡°Aha!¡± The smith returned with a plain wooden case. ¡°Then about six months ago, I started having nightmares, and they only went away when I began working on this¡­¡± The smith placed the case on the countertop. ¡°Show me your hand.¡± He demanded, pointing at Will¡¯s gauntlet. Will glanced around the room. ¡°You worship Holdna, don¡¯t you?¡± Will said, noting the paintings slightly larger than average eyes. A Holdna worshipper liked to put eyes at the four cardinal directions of their home as a sign of devotion. This man had been more subtle by using paintings with people attached to those eyes, likely to avoid persecution. ¡°That¡¯s not a crime. Show me your hand.¡± Will took the gauntlet off, revealing his left hand. It was skeletal and weak, pale from being trapped in the gauntlet. The bone had finished forming, but the muscles and tendons were still sorting themselves out, so the whole thing looked like Lumesh¡¯s bony hand. ¡°Just like my dreams,¡± the shopkeep chuckled before his face turned serious. ¡°The hand that¡¯ll usher in the end.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want this ,¡± he said, flinging the tomahawk on the counter aside and sliding the case forward. ¡°You want shit.¡± He opened the case and revealed¡­the Tomahawk of the Serpent. Will frowned as he studied it. There were several differences, large and small. The handle was leather-wrapped steel, for one, and the snake head at the top of the tomahawk had an actual body that wrapped around the handle, disappearing into the haft about halfway through. actually There was a crescent moon inscribed into the blade, and a sun inscribed into the bowl of the pipe. The snake seemed to have a feathered crown that trailed down its back. ¡°Holdna commissioned this for you, I think.¡± The smith said. Will reached out to the work of art, his breath suspended in his lungs. The box slammed shut inches away from his fingertips. ¡°Obviously you still have to pay.¡± ¡°Why, is Holdna not good for it?¡± Will asked. The case slid an inch backwards, the smith¡¯s expression unamused. ¡°Wait, wait!¡± Will said, holding up his hands before producing three ivory ten-pieces. ¡°Will this do?¡± Will asked. ¡°That¡¯ll do nicely,¡± The smith said, his expression overwhelmed with greed. ¡°Timmy!¡± He shouted towards the back room. ¡°Stop polishing your knob and grab the go bags! World¡¯s about to end!¡± A younger man with a metal doorknob in one hand and a polishing rag in the other emerged from the back room. ¡°Dad, the world is about to end!¡± ¡°Yes it is, you damn fool boy! Let¡¯s skip town and go to The Ring and live it up while we still can. You can grab that Doris girl if you want, but you¡¯ll have to convert her-¡° The conversation faded as Will closed the door behind him. If the display piece felt effortless, this thing felt moving with the barest nudge of intent, almost like he was following rather than the other way around. It felt¡­ Part of the reason normal weapons weren¡¯t steel all the way though was that steel was excellent at transferring force from the head back into a man¡¯s wrist, whereas a wooden haft absorbed some of the jolt. Will tapped the head of the tomahawk, his enhanced senses telling him the smith had buried some kind of deadening agent somewhere around the neck, where the scaled coils surrounded the haft, because none of the vibration a solid piece of steel should have had made its way down to his hand. Will thought, tucking it away under his coat, not willing to waste a Charge. While they were on the run, every Charge counted, and Will knew he¡¯d be pulling the axe out of storage again soon, anyway. ¡°Next time we¡¯re in a town filled with worshippers of the church that¡¯s actively chasing us, maybe don¡¯t tell them who I am.¡± Will said, glancing down at Jason while they walked. ¡°It just kinda bubbled out.¡± Jason said with a guilty shrug, his gait awkward. ¡°Hmm.¡± Will didn¡¯t really have anything to add to the discussion, so he let it lie. Together they headed for the southern border of the town, where Loth waited for them in the wilderness outside the town, directly above the tunnel filled with Deceiver ash. ¡°Good afternoon, gentlemen, did you find what you were looking for?¡± Loth asked from where she sat beside a perfect hole punched through the earth and the stone beneath it, hidden from the town in the distance by a stand of bushes. ¡°We did.¡± Will said, showing Loth the axe. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Ah, Quetzalcoatl,¡± she said, turning the axe over in her hand and nodding appreciatively. ¡°¡­What?¡± Will asked. ¡°A chief toltec and aztec god identified with the wind and air and represented by a feathered serpent.¡± Loth said. ¡°At least, according to my dictionaries. I personally think it is a borrowed disguise of Ouroboros, Holdna¡¯s consort. Odd to find on a tomahawk since they came from completely different cultures, but the imagery is still striking.¡± ¡°She commissioned it apparently.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Loth glanced up, frowning. Will explained his encounter with the smith, causing Loth to look at the axe with wonder. ¡°Perhaps this is Holdna¡¯s way of saying ¡®look how handsome your sire looked when he was in his feather-wearing phase. It was my favorite.¡¯¡± Loth mused as she handed the weapon back. ¡°It has that prideful feel to it, like a young woman drawing exaggerated pictures of her boyfriend.¡± ¡°No way,¡± Will said as he lowered himself into the pit. ¡°If it were vengeful and angry, it would be a completely different feel,¡± Loth said, dropping in behind him and moving out of the way so that Will could catch Jason. ¡°And given how many of her consort¡¯s spawn have been slaughtered¡­¡± Loth said, pulling out one of her torchlike glowbugs and holding it up high, revealing hundreds, thousands of black urns with the names of Will¡¯s deceased siblings. ¡°¡­You¡¯d think she¡¯d be a little more pissed.¡± Loth said, taking in the silent testament to a thousand years of Granesh hunting his kind. Chapter 112: Seeing a Friend Off Will had developed a method for carrying the urns one-handed: The rim of the urn was fairly strong, able to support the entire thing, so Will just flicked the top off and grabbed it by the rim, balancing part of its weight on his left arm, dumping it into the pit before receiving the next from Loth¡¯s insects. Loth was currently booby-trapping the shit out of the rest of the underground smithery. There were only a few minutes before the next rotation came in to use the refiner at the center of the underground smithery. Once that happened, their presence would be discovered and they would immediately be under pressure. ¡°It¡¯s so in here,¡± Jason said, wiping sweat off his brow as he scooped out a shovel-full of dull ash from the edges of the pit. Will paused and stared at Jason for a moment. His junior at the orphanage was wobbling on his feet, seemingly close to falling asleep¡­or passing out from the heat. Will thought, glancing at the lava pooling opposite the storage tunnel, where they used the enormous pools of liquid stone to pre-heat the stars. Was Jason getting slowly baked because he didn¡¯t have any Resistance? ¡°Go back outside and wait for us to finish, Loth left a rope.¡± Nuh-uh. I¡¯m gonna see this happen.¡± Jason said, stubbornly shaking his head. His skin was red and irritated. ¡°Fine. you can watch, but sit right there.¡± Will said, pointing. ¡°There¡¯s a column of fresh air moving through that spot.¡± He¡¯d noticed it as he trotted around the workshop getting everything set up. Jason nodded, stumbling away from the pit and collapsing down to his knees in the stream of fresh air. ¡°Oh thank the gods.¡± The next group of bugs handed him the next urn. Will stared at it for a moment, not getting any flashes of inspiration. ¡°Next,¡± Will said, handing it back. The next urn, as soon as Will touched it, he had a brief impression of kissing a boy in a barn before the angry men arrived with drawn steel and torches. ¡°This one¡¯s got some juice.¡± Will said, dumping it in. ¡°Next.¡± Will went through three before he got another that drew him into a memory of their last moments. Always angry graneshians with swords. The number of duds was beginning to clutter the opposite end of the workshop, which would normally be incredibly rude, but Will wasn¡¯t feeling like cleaning up after himself. Will thought, his shoulders beginning to burn as he threw one urn after another into the swirling bowl of black stone beneath him. It was very possible that Will was only adding a certain type of Deceiver with strong psychic potential into the mix, rather than a solid representation of them, but that was acceptable. He¡¯d much rather err on that side rather than add the ashes of a regular human who¡¯d been killed by mistake. That could dilute the ash with unwanted effects. Will paused to pick up Jason¡¯s shovel and scrape the dull outside of the swirling ash away, glowing brilliantly blue near the center as some unknown process dragged all the miasma inward. Will thought. It was nagging at the back of his mind, but it wasn¡¯t critical to what they were doing so he set the thought on the shelf to examine later. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Loth asked, emerging from one of the tunnels. ¡°Almost done. I can¡¯t believe our luck that they¡¯ve been away this long¡­¡± Will realized it as soon as he said it. ¡°What did you do?¡± ¡°I just set fire to a few buildings. No children involved. I know you humans are touchy about that. ¡°Because we don¡¯t lay clutches of a dozen eggs,¡± Will replied, scraping up and tossing nonmagical ash aside. ¡°True. Putting out the fire and then investigating its origin should keep the craftsmen in town busy until we¡¯re done here.¡± ¡°Hopefully.¡± Will mused, handing the shovel over to her while he continued testing the urns for the ones with ¡®the right stuff¡¯. ¡°Getting pretty bright,¡± Loth murmured. ¡°I can barely get the shovel around the core.¡± Will leaned over the massive stone bowl and squinted his eyes against the brilliant blue energy swirling around the center. Just like Loth said, the bright swirl of energized ash was nearly reaching the edge, making it difficult to run a shovel around it. ¡°Let¡¯s let it shrink for a minute,¡± Will said, removing the ashes of the Tomahawk of the Serpent from Dimensional Storage and dumping them straight into the center. He glanced down and ran his thumb over the lump in his glove that concealed the Ring of the Eidolon. It was absolutely critical to his build¡­and it formed a soft-set with half the things he carried. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°I¡¯m thinking about destroying my soft sets and adding them to the mix,¡± Will said. ¡°If I can get their effects on the axe, I can save enough space for another soft-set.¡± Loth stared down into the swirling Miasma, her features lit from below. ¡°Why just the axe?¡± She asked, glancing back up at him. ¡°That¡¯s a of charged miasmatic ash. More than you need for just the axe.¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Will¡¯s eyes widened. If he added a soft-set¡¯s ash into the mix and its effects spread to the other pieces¡­ ¡°I/you could make an ,¡± Will and Loth came to the same conclusion. Sets were rumors, wildly exaggerated stories of Lords from generations past, and Climbers who claimed to have found a set piece in taverns. Nobody had ever actually seen one, because if they they wouldn¡¯t brag about it for fear of being killed. Will thought, making up his mind, fetching the bolt-cutters from the wall. In a matter of minutes, Will had destroyed the Ring of the Eidolon and the Glove of the Aetherhawk, adding their ash to the swirling mixture. Whatever came of the ash, it should hopefully be good for Will¡¯s Phantom Hand. While they were waiting for the ash to mix, Will glanced over at Jason, finding his friend peeling his boots off to inspect his feet. Jason¡¯s feet had large discolorations on them. Will tapped Loth on the shoulder and together they went over to Jason. As they approached, Jason tried to put his shoe back on before they arrived. ¡°Hey guys, what¡­what¡¯s up?¡± Jason said, looking guilty. ¡°Lemme see.¡± Will commanded. Jason heaved a sigh and took his boots off, revealing massive blisters on his feet, popped and bloody. ¡°We¡¯ve been running¡­a lot, recently,¡± Jason said. It hadn¡¯t felt like it, but of course Will and Loth had set an inhuman pace without thinking too hard about how difficult it would be for Jason to keep up. ¡°We can¡¯t take him with us,¡± Will mused. Loth nodded. Sooner than later, Jason was going to reach the end of his pain tolerance and collapse. It was practically a miracle he hadn¡¯t already. ¡°HEY!¡± Jason shouted, wincing as he rose to his feet. ¡°You are ditching me here!¡± Will caught Jason¡¯s shoulder as he wobbled in place. ¡°Look, we¡¯re not ¡®ditching¡¯ you. We¡¯re following the plan. We¡¯re going to give you food and water and your Sacrifices. And you are going to get your Class.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Here,¡± Loth said, pulling out the ¡®supplies¡¯ she had acquired from the 5th Floor. It was two rings and an amulet tucked inside some boots, along with a sword, each raising Strength, Kinesthetics and Resistance by a significant margin. The Relics didn¡¯t have any special effects or synergies, but doubling a young man¡¯s physical prowess was a great way to make sure he passed the Trial, regardless of his Class. Will thought wryly. Once Jason brute-forced his way through The Trial, then they could get him gear that matched his Class. In the meantime, he was much safter being stronger, faster and tougher than he had any right to be. ¡°These won¡¯t have any effect until you get your Class, but once you have it, put them on. They should make passing the Trial as easy as possible.¡± Loth said. Jason¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he accepted the Relics. ¡°We¡¯ve got two weeks of food and water,¡± Will said, hustling over to their packs and moving all the food and water to one bag, bringing it over to Jason. ¡°Stay in the Sacrifice room until your feet heal. DON¡¯T leave that room unless you¡¯re at 100%. The danger of The Trial hits ¡± Jason nodded, his expression becoming more and more excited. ¡°Finish your Trial, but don¡¯t take the exit Door. That¡¯ll bring you back here. Catch a ride on a caravan to the nearest Stronghold, and we¡¯ll find you. understand?¡± Jason nodded. ¡°Alright, tell it back to me, what do you need to do?¡± Will asked. ¡°The ash is fully baked.¡± Loth interrupted from the center of the room. The miasmatic ash had taken on an opalescent look, with flashes of brilliant color emerging from the flakes of glowing ash, the massive swirling lump having shrunk down to only a bathtub worth of material. ¡°Shoot,¡± Will cursed and hustled back to the center of the room, taking off his Kit and tossing it in the chest they¡¯d set aside to store the ash. Will added the Dimensional Assassin¡¯s Amulet in, followed by the Mask of Manifestation, the tomahawk, the Cloak of the Fade, his pants, boots, and secondary weapon. ¡°You want me to wait in the Sacrifice room until my blisters heal,¡± Jason said, grabbing the bag of food and water and slinging it over his shoulder, wincing in pain as he walked over to them. ¡°Get my Class, put on the Relics. Do my Trial, then catch a ride with a caravan to a Stronghold.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Will said, huffing as he took a shovel of the pure, brilliantly glowing miasmatic ash and dumped it on his kit, bracing the shovel against the wrist of skeletal left hand. Will targeted all seven items with the newest variation of the Sourdough ability. In three weeks, Will would be able to see how they turned out. Loth followed the single scoop of ash with another, and another, burying the Relics in highly charged miasmatic ash as Will turned to Jason, checking his friend¡¯s bag, making sure he had everything slung over his scrawny shoulder. Once he was satisfied, he released Jason¡¯s three Sacrifices from Dimensional Storage. As he placed the Sacrifices in Jason¡¯s hand, a brilliant yellow Door opened behind the young man. Will placed his skeletal left hand on Jason¡¯s shoulder and looked him in the eyes. ¡°Be careful.¡± Will said, slipping a greater healing potion into Jason¡¯s bag. ¡°The Trial is to kill you. Don¡¯t let that extra Strength get to your head. One bad wound and you¡¯re done.¡± Jason nodded, his expression serious. my Will thought wryly, unable to stop a small smile from taking over his face. ¡°You¡¯re gonna do grea-¡° A glimmer of light from Will¡¯s left prompted him to shove Jason through the Door. Will watched in horror as a crescent blade of projected energy passed through the space Jason had been, severing Will¡¯s freshly-regrown left hand, causing the skeletal hand to tumble through the yellow door on it¡¯s own momentum. Will rolled to the side as Loth shoved the chest filled to the brim with Will¡¯s entire Kit through the Door an instant before the glowing yellow portal vanished. ¡°Oh come ¡± Will shouted, pointing at the freshly severed stump of his left arm, glaring at the graneshian swordsmen creeping towards them from main entrance, aiming to surround them ¡°I regrew that!¡± Thankfully the veins hadn¡¯t been full size yet, so it didn¡¯t bleed much. ¡°William Oh,¡± a familiar massive armored figure emerged from behind the surrounding warriors as Will stopped the bleeding, standing stoically in front of Will and Loth, his gaze scanning Will standing there in his underclothes. ¡°You seem to be out of Kit.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡± Will said, ushering Loth behind him as they edged away from the armored giant, backing away towards the hall of Deceiver ashes, where there was a hole in the roof they might be able to bolt out of. ¡°I¡¯d like to make you an offer. You¡¯re an exceptional example of a Deceiver. You¡¯ve come further than any of your kin that we know of. Surrender and we will keep you alive as an object of study.¡± ¡°So you can kill children they become exceptional?¡± Will said, shaking his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°We would also like to know what Sacrifices you gave our Prophet.¡± The armored giant continued without acknowledging Will¡¯s rebuke. ¡°Frankly I think we¡¯d like to know that a little than how you became what you are.¡± ¡°You do realize you almost killed him?¡± Will asked. ¡°Orders from on high,¡± The massive paladin said, pointing up. ¡°We¡¯d rather remove the Prophet from the board than see him used against us.¡± ¡°Loth, would you please bring this mountain down on top of us?¡± The paladin¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°It would be my pleasure.¡± Loth said from behind him. The assembled warriors looked up as a massive crack formed in the basalt ceiling above them, the sound travelling through the hard stone with an odd echo. Will and Loth took that moment to run. Chapter 113: Re-equipping ***Jason Salazar*** ¡°HGRFBLE!¡± Jason let out a string of consonants as he tumbled backwards and hit his head on the far wall. ¡°What the-,¡± Jason¡¯s complaint was cut off by a metallic screech as Will¡¯s chest full of gear slid into the white room, the metal corners of the box leaving a faint metallic trail on the otherwise pristine white surface. Jason didn¡¯t have time to roll out of the way, opting to scrunch himself up as the chest slid up to him, coming to a halt only a few feet away from the wall, nearly jamming his knees into his chest. ¡°What the Abyss?¡± Jason breathed a sigh of relief at not being crushed by the chest as he squeezed himself out and rose to his feet. One second it had been a friendly goodbye, and the next he was being shoved at dangerous speed, with no explanation¡­ A streak of red caught Jason¡¯s attention. There, partly underneath the chest was a human hand wearing Will¡¯s gauntlet. Jason squatted down and pulled out the shortsword Loth had given him, poking the gauntlet. After it didn¡¯t leap up and try to kill him, Jason sat down and considered what it meant and what to do with it. The conclusion he came to was that it had become unsafe back in the underground smithy: Will had seen something coming and pushed Jason through the Door, followed by his chest full of miasmatic ash. It must¡¯ve been Graneshian Climbers, because the natural world simply didn¡¯t have the means to cut Will¡¯s hand off that abruptly. Jason opened the lid of the chest, inspecting the softly glowing ash inside. He was vaguely aware that Will¡¯s Ability took a few weeks, so his best bet was to simply wait until the glow dwindled down to nothing. Jason¡¯s attention turned to the room he¡¯d been shoved into. The Class Creation Room. A white box with three altars, about twenty feet by twenty feet, with white light seemingly coming from everywhere at once. Exactly the way it had been described to him since he was old enough to understand words. It was something everyone went through, so there was no great mystery to it, but Jason still found himself fascinated by the room. The omni-present light, the perfect smoothness of the walls and floor. The altars that rose seamlessly out of the ground. Jason picked up his three Sacrifices and placed each of them in front of one of the altars, nodding in satisfaction. he mused, picturing how he was going to divide up the room. Jason sat down on the chest, dangling his feet over the edge, idly kicking his feet¡­ Jason¡¯s gaze kept being drawn to the severed hand in the center of the room, as if the thing had some kind of invisible current dragging his gaze back to it. Finally, his curiosity wouldn¡¯t let him ignore it any longer and he picked up the hand, tugging it out of the gauntlet. The hand was skin wrapped around bone, with barely any flesh to speak of, cut off about a palm¡¯s length past the wrist. Of course, Jason make it flip the room off first, spending half an hour or so playing with the disembodied hand. Thumb¡¯s up, hang loose, fist, hand-spider, scepter of Power, Sacrifice¡­ ¡°Behold, the Sacrifice of William Oh!¡± Jason shouted, holding the hand above his head, imagining himself speaking to an audience of thousands of rapt listeners. Jason frowned, bringing the hand back down to eye level. Jason tapped his chin with Will¡¯s fingers as he thought. On the other Hand, Will was kicking plenty of ass using his own hand as a sacrifice. It must be halfway decent. Before Jason could overthink it, he tossed the hand onto the first altar. As soon as the hand touched the Altar, a beam of light descended on it, gradually growing in brightness until a flash nearly blinded Jason. When he blinked tears out of his eyes, the hand was gone. ***William Oh*** ¡°How does an enormous suit of shiny armor keep sneaking up on us!?¡± Will demanded as the two of them burst out of the hole in the ground, volcanic dust following them out as the tunnel collapsed behind them. ¡°An Ability, obviously!¡± Loth said, pointing down the mountainside before sprinting at full speed. Will joined her in a heartbeat. A moment later, shouting began to fill the mountainside around them, hunting parties orienting on the plume of volcanic dust serving as a flag marking their exit point. ¡°could use some Charge right about now!¡± Will shouted as the trees whipped past them. He nearly had Deca-dailies, which was supposed to be some great accomplishment, but that just meant he would have to wait three hours for his next Charge to return. Will and Loth both snapped their heads to look behind them, where a gigantic armored figure emerged from the hole in the ground, hard volcanic rock flying away from him as he sprinted out of the hole. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can kill that guy,¡± Will said, picking Loth up and running harder. Going downhill made them faster, bounding from stone outcropping to boulder, tens of feet between each one. ¡°Agreed,¡± Loth said, peering behind them. ¡°But we can slow him down. You remember the Crawling Tar you bought a few months ago?¡± ¡°Say no more,¡± Will said, turning mid stride. He¡¯d purchased quite a few consumables from the town of Coalton on the Third Floor, holding them in his Phantom Hand¡¯s dimensional Storage for emergencies when he was low on tricks and needed to dip into consumables to make up the difference. This seemed like an appropriate time. For about the space of a single cannonball, he was able to store his three fireball beads (recovered by Sourdough) the crawling tar, and the bottle of lightning. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Between the one that had exploded on the paladin and the one he¡¯d used without recovering while rescuing Jason, Will was out of them. He still had the Clay Idol that summoned an Immortal Serpent, but that was largely dependent on the miasma of the Floor he was on. If he summoned it outside The Tower, it would only be about six feet long, and unable to do much more than distract a single enemy for a moment. The paladin was charging through the forest behind them, plowing through trees with no discernable effort, not slowing at all as he crashed through several feet of living wood. Will released the Crawling Tar from the Dimensional Storage, straight at the paladin¡¯s dull armor. The little jar burst into a cloud of glass and splatters of black goop that deposited droplets of the living tar on every inch of the man¡¯s armor. In a matter of seconds, leaves, tree branches, clumps of dirt and stone began to adhere to the paladin as he charged through the forest after them. It was subtle, but their pursuer began to slow down as his weight increased and maneuverability decreased. Their lead started growing, until Will skidded to a halt as the treeline ended, revealing two lines of staggered squads, giving each other plenty of space to engage Will as necessary. The line of soldiers wearing the colors of Granesh over their highly polished armor tensed as he came into view. A ripple that spread through the opposing army. Weapons rattled as thousands were leveled towards him. Will thought. The 4th Floor saw the harshest drop in survival rate. If a large organization wanted a lot of soldiers, it would be in their best interest to stop before they started dropping like flies, keeping the rank and file at level 15. Will thought, eyeing the commanders of the squads, wearing the golden tassels that separated them from their squad. At least a hundred of them. Will shrugged his shoulders, relaxing his neck. He could take a bunch of level fifteens, and a typical level thirty. But not in those numbers. Will¡¯s best move against other Climbers was stealing a critical piece of his opponent¡¯s Kit. Typically the rings or necklace. Unfortunately, this took Charge, and Will was tapped out. His next Charge wouldn¡¯t come for another hour or two at best. The army began to move: The inside circle began to close ranks and approach, one deliberate half-step at a time while the outer circle backed off, creating a wider net to catch him if he made it past. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Do you have a way out?¡± Will asked. ¡°I have a way could escape, but I don¡¯t think it would work for both of us,¡± Loth said. ¡°It¡¯s been fun,¡± Will said, setting Loth down. ¡°I think¡­I think I¡¯m gonna find out if I¡¯m as dangerous as they say I am.¡± Loth followed his gaze towards the approaching army, eyes widening. ¡°Very well. If you survive, I¡¯ll meet you with the others on the 5th Floor,¡± Loth said, spreading her arms wide and flopping backwards onto the loamy soil of the volcano¡¯s side. The earth began to churn beneath her as her earthshaping insects drew her underground in a matter of seconds, leaving a kobold shaped disturbance in the soil that was erased a heartbeat later. He could¡¯ve asked to go with her, but Will was the one they were after, and burrowing insects couldn¡¯t possibly be the fastest form of transportation. They would intercept them and pluck him out of the ground in a matter of hours. They weren¡¯t as interested in Loth The Luminary as they were in William Oh, the Deceiver, and they had proved they would never stop chasing him. Will might be able to used that to his advantage. Will turned back to the approaching army. If he charged them right now, they would pepper him with so many Abilities that he would be annihilated in a matter of seconds. Will could vividly picture being paralyzed by a hundred different debuffs landing simultaneously, followed by hundreds of Nuker Abilities, and guided arrows sinking in to his vital organs. Will glanced back up the mountainside, spotting the buildings of Basalt. Some of the paladin¡¯s army had to be in the town as well. Many of them had been taken by Loth¡¯s collapse of the volcano, but there were likely more stationed there. And they likely weren¡¯t as densely packed as the ones marching towards him. If Will bought enough time, he might be able to expand his options and escape. Will turned and began sprinting uphill, diving back into the treeline. In a matter of minutes, he crossed paths with the paladin. Will was faster by virtue of not having living tar covering heavy armor. The paladin turned towards him as he sprinted past, and Will gave the ground a sharp stomp, causing the ridge of earth to catch the man¡¯s toe and send him diving forward, missing Will by inches. Will danced out of the way of the paladin¡¯s dive and kept running towards Basalt, skidding to a halt as he arrived at the town¡¯s edge. ¡°Hey, there he is!¡± A voice shouted. Five soldiers leaning against the side of a wall were seemingly shocked out of their boredom by Will¡¯s unexpected appearance, straightening and raising their weapons. Will hefted the Shortsword of Perseverance, the only Relic he hadn¡¯t tossed in the chest. Will took a deep breath and fell back on Ghoul¡¯s lessons, adding the little half-step hitch to his stride that caused the jutting earth he summoned beneath his feet to propel him forward at outlandish speeds. It was a juggling act he hadn¡¯t mastered: He couldn¡¯t keep it going for long before he lost the rhythm, but it was enough to close the distance with startling speed over three steps. ¡°Oh shi-¡° Will landed beside the group, swinging wide to attack them from the side, lining them up and keeping the wall of the building on his left side, and their right. As he landed, Will sent a ripple of earth through the ground. The one in front weathered it well, assuming an over-defensive stance, while the one directly behind him stumbled. Channeling his fighting ¡®lessons¡¯ from Lord Bakton, Will overwhelmed the first enemy¡¯s overly defensive stance, charging in recklessly, locking their blades together and giving him a firm shove. His opponent toppled backwards into the stumbling man behind him, and Will proceeded to jam his shortsword into the lightly armored inner thigh while his lower half was unguarded. A shrill shriek filled the air as Will kept going straight forward, stomping down on the first man¡¯s weapon-arm, trampling over him with callous disregard and stabbing the stumbler tangled up behind his first opponent in the neck as their three friends retreated in fear. Will thought, spotting his next target. Will heard a bowstring, prompting him to drop down and roll away from the wall, approaching the hammer-bearer. The archer must¡¯ve had a good Ring of Accuracy, because the arrow twisted in midair, burying itself in Will¡¯s back and tweaking a nerve, causing him to stagger in place, nearly toppling over as the Shortsword of Perseverance slipped through his tingling fingers, sending up a tiny plume of dust in the earth between the feet of his opponent. Warhammer charged Will, eyes white all the way around, screaming in terror and fury mixed together as he saw an opportunity to take advantage of Will¡¯s weakness. His warhammer glowed with an Ability that would surely kill him if it landed. Will¡¯s hackles rose as the visceral sensation filled his body, switching from one finger of the Phantom Hand to another. Will wrenched his tingling arm behind him, tore the arrow out of his back and whipped it across the attacking Graneshian¡¯s leading arm, dealing almost no damage. Almost Warhammer exploded with hoarfrost as mobility hampering ice crystals erupted from all his joints, stopping at his neck and feet. As Warhammer tumbled forward, Will stepped in and snatched the warhammer out of his opponent¡¯s numbed hand, did a quick spin and whipped the warhammer around into the back of the man¡¯s helmet, creating a lethal puncture in the armor. His opponent dropped to the ground, twitching as the wound in Will¡¯s back sealed itself, the tingling in Will¡¯s arm fading to nothing. Will scanned the battlefield. The one he¡¯d stabbed in the inner thigh was losing consciousness, the neck wound had already died, and Warhammer was never getting up again. In about three seconds, all that remained of this group were two Climbers on the ground in front of him and an archer in an unknown location. Will dove back towards the building¡¯s wall, able to dodge the follow-up arrow this time, the curving attack missing his foot by a fraction of an inch burying itself in the packed earth. Will covered his head and smashed through the wall, diving into the house rather than take the predictable path. ¡°Pardon.¡± Will said, dusting rubble off his shoulders as a terrified woman shrank into the corner of the room. Will heard the sound of boot on rubble and kicked the ground before whipping the warhammer around. The Graneshian climbing through the hole in the wall collapsed as his one foot outside the wall was dragged backwards by the ripple of earth, causing him to dip precariously forward, using his weapon-hand to try and stabilize himself. Will exploited this half-second to deliver a blow to the man¡¯s undefended temple, causing him to go limp, eyed bloody and staring in death. Will scowled. He glanced above the corpse to the last surviving member of the squad assigned to watch the town¡¯s border, framed by the Will-sized hole in the wall. ¡°You¡¯re welcome to try.¡± Will said, pointing at the last survivor with his newly acquired warhammer. The soldier ran away. Will inspected his warhammer. Will thought approvingly. Will thought. Insectoid enemies weren¡¯t common outside certain floors, which made the hammer of limited use save for its boosts to his stats. Will glanced down and spotted some Relics on the corpse twitching where it lay halfway through the wall. Will could hear approaching troops shouting, but they were still twenty seconds or more away. Will tore the man¡¯s helmet off and grabbed the his amulet and slipped it over his head, the whole process more awkward than it had been before Will destroyed the Ring of the Eidolon. Will tucked the warhammer in his left armpit, tugged the ring off the man¡¯s left hand and put it on with his mouth. The shouting was much closer. It was time to leave. Will glanced down at his bare feet, wiggling his toes. His Resistance was high enough that running through the wilderness wasn¡¯t a real problem, but it would be nice to get some new shoes. Chapter 114: Dangerous as They Say Will thought, frowning. That sounded vaguely useful to coordinate stealth operations with multiple operatives, but Will didn¡¯t quite understand why they would be called ¡®of the returning hero¡¯. Will shrugged, beginning the laborious process of tying the boots one-handed. The ability to touch things with Phantom Hand had been taken for granted for a while now. Will thought as he finished the knot. Will frowned, head rearing up. It was too quiet. The distant sound of shouting and soldiers searching buildings had unobtrusively faded into the background of his awareness over the last few minutes, then it had dwindled to nothing over the last few seconds. Will clapped his arms over his head and neck. ***Caddock*** ¡°Hit it.¡± The Nuker beside him nodded, and an instant later, the abandoned water tower exploded into flames and shrapnel. One particularly stubborn piece of garbage went flying to the east, trailing smoke as it flew. ¡°Knock it down.¡± Caddock said. He didn¡¯t want it flying far. An explosion directly above William Oh drove him straight down, sending the deceiver crashing through the roof of a nearby home. ¡°I don¡¯t like that building blocking my view.¡± Caddock mused. The Nuker nodded, and a moment later, the houses walls exploded outward, a detonation from the Deceiver¡¯s exact entry point, clearing the view while driving their quarry further straight down. ¡°Lock him down.¡± Their cursemage nodded and a flicker of charge sang through their body before the effect leapt across the way towards the destroyed building. An instant later, Caddock felt a strange vibration of Charge through the air. ¡°He countered it.¡± ¡°He did ¡± S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°The charge just, pbbbblt.¡± The Cursemage blew a raspberry. Caddock¡¯s eye twitched. Caddock thought sourly. William Oh was incredibly hard to pin down because he was a jack of all trades, and leveraged it beautifully. He was a bit slower than their scouts of equal level, but he fought better, so he lured them away from their warriors to kill the scouts. Caddock had ordered them not to chase him beyond a certain distance from their backup¡­but people got caught up in the heat of battle. William wasn¡¯t as good at fighting as their dedicated Warriors and Tanks of equal level, so he simply never fought them, instead pelting them with stolen ammunition from a distance whenever he had the chance. Their Nukers could do decent damage if they could pin them down, but William Oh was nearly as tough as a Tank and squirrelly as an orchard, and he had a tendency to use Caddock¡¯s men as human shields. Thankfully the boy only had one hand so all he could do was launch bullets from a makeshift sling, rather than anything more dangerous. Seven ago they¡¯d closed the net around Basalt, and after the first hour of playing hide-and-seek, the Tower¡¯s light had dwindled to nothing for the night, plunging the town into complete darkness. Caddock had done night operations many times and knew that anyone with Acuity below thirty or so would have trouble navigating at night, and plenty of their men fell below that mark. Anyone above sixty Acuity could see in the night clear as day, and anyone above one hundred could practically see with their ears, nose, and skin. Most of his scout¡¯s Acuity lay between thirty and fifty. The 4th floor was a Ranger¡¯s playground, but there were very few scouts above level 25, since the Sixth Floor had a high death rate for scouts, especially land-based Rangers who found themselves trapped on a floating box, their survival dependent on their crewmates and not their own obsolete survival skills. ¡°Should we move in?¡± Hiro asked, looking at the ruined building, eager for a second chance at proving himself against the deceiver ever since he¡¯d learned who they were chasing. ¡°¡­He¡¯s not there anymore. Is everyone out of the town now?¡± Caddock asked. ¡°Yessir.¡± ¡°Burn it down.¡± Caddock said, motioning expansively to the town. ¡°Pull everyone out to the outskirts and burn it.¡± By morning there wouldn¡¯t any places to run or hide, or William Oh would be burnt to a crisp. Either outcome would satisfy Caddock. Hiro frowned but did not question, heading to relay his orders to the rest of the army. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it It was a matter of seconds before their logistician, a pencil-pusher of some political affiliation or other who coordinated supplies between his army and the church, came to a sliding halt in front of him. ¡°Milord Paladin, this is-¡° At a glance from Caddock the man lowered his voice and minded his tone. ¡°This is a town of financial interest for the church, we can¡¯t-¡± Caddock seized the political appointee by the scruff of his neck and pointed at the mountain. ¡° was the primary financial interest of the church, and the Deceiver already destroyed it. when this is reported, they¡¯ll send an army of engineers to repair it, an army to whom rebuilding a town will be an afterthought.¡± ¡°¡­Sir.¡± ¡°So far you¡¯ve done a good job keeping everyone fed, clothed and bandaged, but if you tell me what I do, and it doesn¡¯t have anything to do our supplies¡­I will fong you. Is that understood?¡± The logistician nodded vigorously. ¡°LIGHT THIS PLACE UP!¡± Caddock bellowed, turning away from him. ***William Oh*** Will thought sourly, watching from the eve of a nearby building, clinging to the underside like a bat as he plucked splinters out of his skin. Will didn¡¯t get very many splinters anymore, his skin was nearly as hard as the wood itself. It took getting blasted through a building by Conflagration to get them nowadays. The burns from the explosions didn¡¯t really hurt either, thanks to his stolen armor. He¡¯d been hoping for the commander to tromp into the ruins of the building and poke around a bit, shaking his fist at the heavens while he impotently cursed Will¡¯s name. It wouldn¡¯t have improved his situation, but it would¡¯ve given Will some much-needed props for the skin-of-his teeth escape. But instead, he bellowed ¡®light this place up!¡¯ and walked away. At first, Will naively thought he meant to scatter lamps, torches and Abilities around the town to better see Will moving around in the dark. But then a squad of protected Nukers started lighting buildings on fire, including the one Will was in. Will thought, wincing as he climbed through the window and dove through the empty building, aiming for the window into the alley nearby. Will skidded to a halt as he spotted a bowl of cold soup and a plate of baklava left there by the evacuated civilians. Will shrugged and wolfed the unexpected snack down before continuing on his way. It was only afterwards that poison occurred to him, but Aspect of the Goat made that not a concern¡­probably. Will jumped out of the burning house and began working his way towards the outskirts of town. Will could see where this was going. They were going to flatten the entire town to take away his ability to hide. If he retreated to the outskirts, they would prod him back into the flames or outright kill him. If he retreated further up the mountain the town was perched on, they would close the net tighter around him, giving him options in the future. There were no good choices. Will had regained two, with another on the way. Will could use Sourdough once, or Dimensional Storage once¡­or Phantom Eye. Will sat and thought about it and he really did only have three active Abilities. And Sourdough only provided future benefit. That future benefit had already come and gone as the Fireball beads he¡¯d saved during the 5th Floor tournament had already been used to save his skin tonight. Sourdough was meant for when he had plenty of charges and plenty of time. Now he was running dangerously low on both of those things. Will assessed his Phantom Hand¡¯s slotted Relics. Cold Harvest, what he had on currently, had kept Will going during this long game of keepaway, restoring the myriad small wounds he took, preventing them from slowing him down and getting him killed. Additionally, the freezing effect made the warhammer brutally effective in close combat. He¡¯d taken multiple scouts down with a bit of kicked gravel and a single swing. Will frowned. He hadn¡¯t thought about the ring of accuracy in a long time. Ever since he¡¯d left behind the gauntlets of Tracer Fire and the Sting Ring that formed a soft-set with it, he hadn¡¯t paid too much attention to the effect slotted in Phantom Hand. Will checked its effects. Ring of accuracy* +15 Strength 8 degrees of correction. Manhunter: When a creature is struck by a projectile from the wearer, they are drawn toward the shooter along the path of the projectile. Force scales with Strength. That was pretty damn good. 100 yards of flight would allow nearly a ninety degree turn. Frowning, Will reached into his pocket and pulled out all the rings he¡¯d looted off the scouts he¡¯d picked off recently. Any of the ones he¡¯d had time to loot before their friends chased him off, anyway. Will flicked to the next one. It would be sacrificing combat potential, which Climbers were loath to do. Will could picture a hunter shooting a barbed arrow into their target, the arrow suddenly held in place, the barbs preventing the prey from moving without causing itself extreme damage. could Will turned his attention back to the mutated ring of Accuracy in his Phantom hand, comparing the two ring¡¯s effects. The two effects did not directly interfere with each other. One acted on the target, one acted on the projectile. Will mused. Will broke into a sprint towards the nearest weapons shop. Basalt had plenty of them, and since the army had withdrawn to let the town burn to the ground, Will had free reign of the place for the next few minutes before it became too hot to survive. The attack came suddenly, without warning, and with brutal effectiveness. Their new commander Caddock had enforced a greater degree of discipline than they had been accustomed to in the past, but soldiers adapted. None of them were slacking off, distracted, or sleepy. They stared at the roaring fire that used to be a town, throwing baleful light on the jagged volcanic peak that rose high above the buildings. Waiting for the Deceiver to show his face. A sound, like a thousand dragonflies caught Keb¡¯s attention. A flicker of firelight glinted off a tiny metallic surface, prompting Keb to throw his hand up reflexively. A prick in his wrist was suddenly a searing brand of pain as his entire body was violently yanked forward, the foreign object slicing through his arm and shoulder before Keb collapsed to the ground. Keb hit the dirt hard, groaning in pain, his arm unwilling to support him. Gripping his mangled arm, Keb sat up as best he could, his skin breaking into a cold sweat as he scanned the surrounding soldiers. Men who had been standing shoulder to shoulder with him only a second ago. Limp and lifeless, each and every one of them. Erwin¡¯s helmet had fallen off in the tumble, revealing a thin puncture wound in his left eye, like a coin had gone through it. Keb twisted his neck to look at where they had been standing, and spotted hundreds of Blessed Steel arrowheads, each one suspended in place at the exact eye-height of the man who¡¯d been standing there. Coated in blood. ¡°Wha-¡° ¡°Nice reflexes.¡± A voice came from behind him. Keb twisted back to see the Deceiver, William Oh, standing behind him, rendered in silhouette by the blazing flame climbing the mountain behind him. Keb tried to scramble away, his wounded arm dropping him into the dirt. ¡°Here,¡± William Oh said, stooping down before tossing Keb a Healing Potion from a nearby commander¡¯s kit bag. ¡°Drink that before you bleed out,¡± The Deceiver said, fading into the darkness down the mountainside. Chapter 115: Cheese Morale NEED TO KNOW¡­.¡¯ ¡°He tested three places last night.¡± The scout said, gesturing. ¡°This one was the hardest hit, and where he slipped through. Their commander was known to have thought that Damage Chains were a waste of resources and invested more heavily in warriors and support staff.¡± ¡°I guess he learned his lesson,¡± Caddock mused, glancing over at a corpse wearing the gold tassels of a commander. Caddock stood in front of a line of dead men, his eye twitching as his remaining scouts walked him through exactly how such a disaster could have happened. ¡°So judging by the angle everyone was flung compared to where they were standing, William Oh shot them from an angle, tracing the side of the mountain from there to there, starting further away and ending closer, to cluster the hits together so there was no warning. ¡°How fast would he have to be moving to make that work?¡± Caddock asked the obvious question. ¡°Ummm¡­fast. The difference between an arrow flight from five hundred yards and one hundred is only a few seconds.¡± ¡°If he could move that fast, why didn¡¯t he just punch through the line before they had a chance to stop him?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t him that moved that fast.¡± The older scout said, shaking his head. ¡°Nobody saw the Deceiver blazing across the side of the mountain throwing arrowheads at them. It was an Ability.¡± Caddock remembered the cannonball that had manifested out of nothing and caught him square in the chest. ¡°Ah.¡± The Deceiver had used his rare and valuable dimensional storage Ability for the pedestrian purpose of launching hundreds of arrowheads in a very short time. ¡°See if you can pin down how fast the thing launching arrowheads moved.¡± Caddock said to his scouts. He¡¯d wager that would describe the boy¡¯s Dimensional Storage¡¯s maximum speed, which would be a nice thing for the church to know. ¡°Sir.¡± The second scout nodded, thinking for a moment before sprinting off to retrieve their logistician for his math skills. ¡°You see how the arrowheads fell right between these men¡¯s footprints?¡± The scout said, moving past the line of dead men and pointing at a glittering triangle of Blessed Steel. ¡°The arrowheads had just barely enough energy to clear them?¡± Caddock asked, but even to him that sounded wrong. ¡°No, they were suspended in midair. Like someone used a ring of snaring to hold the arrowhead in place, and then drew the men¡¯s bodies forward the arrows¡± The scout made a pulling motion before pointing at the line of corpses some eight feet from where they had stood in life. ¡°Like cheese through a wire.¡± ¡°And the accuracy?¡± Most of the hits were in the eye and face region, the blessed steel arrowhead punching through helmets and bone with equal ease. ¡°Ring of Accuracy? A good one. At least six degrees.¡± According to his timeline of reports from their battle, William oh started out fast and adding a bit of lightning damage to his attacks, then when he was wounded, he slowed down a bit and gained lifesteal. A respectable amount that allowed him to shed minor wounds easily as he fought, and an absolutely devastating Hoarfrost debuff. Then this. Accuracy and a devastating on-hit effect. Each item he switched to had granted William Oh a massive, noticeable stat boost that anyone would arrange their entire Build around¡­like one might expect from rare mutated Relics or those from the Unreachable Floors. Caddock¡¯s eyes widened. A six-point ring of accuracy was nearly impossible to acquire, but a three point one? Expensive, but still a consumer item. A single item that imposed sixty percent Hoarfrost that lasted ten whole seconds? Caddock had never seen one. Thirty percent for five? Not unheard of. Caddock nodded to himself. Even completely unarmed, William Oh should be considered to be wearing the equivalent of two or more identical Relics stacking their effects¡­ This meant that any synergies the boy discovered could become wildly more powerful than they had any right to be, because they would be bouncing off an item that was boosted far beyond its original scope. Caddock found a nearby rock and sat down, staring down over the slopes of the mountain. William Oh had cut through the inner ring, but not the outer one. They¡¯d caught William Oh on his worst day: Out of Charge, out of Kit, and missing a hand. And he still managed to get through. Caddock hadn¡¯t missed the massive chest that the kobold had shoved through the door. The ash concentrator had been used, the glowing remnants of purified miasmatic ash caked on the bowl. William Oh¡¯s kit was inside that chest, baking with concentrated Deceiver ash. Whatever came out of that chest was going to be powerful, whether it was a true Set, or simply a synergistic soft-set. The Prophet was going through his Trial. He would likely wait for it to bake before donning the set himself. That would be the best way to carry it. The Prophet would be strengthened by the Relics, but William Oh? He would become unstoppable if he met up with Jason Salazar and donned his Set. Caddock knew in his heart that William Oh¡¯s one goal was going to be to get that set back, and if Will got a lead on Caddock, he would never catch up. Caddock needed a head-start. Caddock acknowledged the fact that this army of level fifteens wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him, but they might slow him down long enough so that Caddock could head him off¡­ The problem was, these people were rare, and entrenched in church politics, such that trying to requisition a Party of them to hunt down a single Deceiver would be met with gales of laughter. ¡­ ¡°Hiro.¡± Caddock said, rising to his feet. ¡°Sir.¡± Hiro said, nodding. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡± ¡°Sir?¡± Hiro asked, frowning. ¡°I want you to work together with our beancounter to build a nation here. A nation called ¡®Keep William Oh Inside This Line.¡¯¡± ¡°Umm.¡± ¡°Your role is to not allow the commanders to get any bright ideas. All they need to do is maintain the integrity of their defense. Tried and true, basic siege tactics. Staggered, flexible lines, harriers keeping his charge Low.¡± ¡°¡­How long?¡± Hiro asked. ¡°Until William Oh escapes or I come back and give the all-clear.¡± ¡°Yessir.¡± Caddock moved to turn away before pausing and returning his gaze to Hiro. ¡°Your biggest challenge is going to be keeping morale strong. They¡¯re already tired, feet hurt, wondering why their commanders are ordering them to just waste their time standing in place rather than anything. Not to mention that while I¡¯m gone, a few of them are going to die every day as William Oh tests the fence. That¡¯s going to make their attitude sour damn quick.¡± ¡°I can handle it, sir.¡± Hiro said. ¡°Cheese.¡± Caddock said. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a town a little ways to the southeast that produces the most amazing truffle cheese you¡¯ve ever tasted.¡± ¡°Sir?¡± ¡°The High Saint¡¯s Council has a reserve there for their gatherings. Acquire it for the men. Should buy you a day or two of morale.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°¡­Maybe some hookers while you¡¯re at it.¡± Caddock mused to himself. Hiro choked on his own spit for a moment, coughing and nodding. Caddock put a hand on Hiro¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Try not to die.¡± Hiro straightened. ¡°Yessir.¡± ¡°May Granesh be with you.¡± Caddock said. ***William Oh*** Will thought, frowning as he studied the two-story gazebos from his vantage point high on the mountain. Over the last week, there had been a flurry of building in the line surrounding the mountain, and Will had assumed they were temporary fortifications meant to slow him down. Not that they would, but that¡¯s what Will had assumed they were building. Nope. It was gazebos and furniture. There were currently hundreds of men on break sitting under the eaves, enjoying a respite from the sun, a cool breeze, and being served bread and marbled cheese by young women. Will could smell it from here. Smelled pretty damn good. ¡°You¡­¡± Will growled. Partly because he hadn¡¯t eaten anything better than tree bark and twigs in days, but mostly because it revealed their plan. They were getting comfortable. Settling in for the long haul. Outwaiting him. Will could survive as long as he wanted. There was plenty of treebark and muddy rainwater to allow that. Aspect didn¡¯t mind. But starving him out wasn¡¯t their goal. They were investing a lot of effort in buying time rather than trying to seize him by brute force, but it wasn¡¯t to finish him off. Because they knew they couldn¡¯t. Will¡¯s eyes widened. Will slapped his forehead. Will hadn¡¯t been able to take out any of the remaining scouts that kept attacking him because they all had Tanks behind the lines bolstering their defenses, and Tanks bolstering Tank¡¯s defences, and so on. A Damage Chain. There were several variations that Will had discovered the Graneshian military like to utilize, but that was the basic gist of it. A couple times a day they chased him through the woods until he got a few good hits in on them, then they ran away. At Will¡¯s estimation, Jason still had a week before he would leave the Class Creation Room. The church of Granesh did not know about this delay, and may therefore move on to scour the nearest Strongholds looking for Jason after failing to find any sign of him in the Trial grounds. A nearby bird flitted from one tree to another. Without his mask and his ring, Will lacked mobility options, which meant no flying. No shortening distances, no standing on Phantom Hand and flinging himself. Fliers were rare enough that they couldn¡¯t assign more than one or two to each of these companies currently mocking him with their gazebos, cheese, and cute baker girls. If he could just sail past them, he would only have to contend with four or five people on the way. Aside from the obvious, that was. Such as the desire to not break his neck, the fact that he didn¡¯t have any straps that could take a cannonball moving at that speed without snapping¡­ ¡­not having any cannonballs. Will thought, looking down at the ashen section of the mountain, the ruins of the city. There had to be one or two lumps of metal the right size and shape. Will checked his Charge. Will suppressed a shudder as the finger bearing the Ring of Accuracy and blackened. Billy-bob and Stevie rose from the earth as Will summoned them. ¡°My deepest apologies for failing to-¡° ¡°It¡¯s fine, we figured it out,¡± Will said, holding up his hand. ¡°That¡¯s not what I need from you right now.¡± The two ghost butlers stood, taking in their surroundings. ¡°Could you two carry me past that army out there?¡± Will asked, pointing ¡°If you still bore the Ring of Eidolon, perhaps,¡± Stevie said. ¡°With your current Build, we are greatly weakened. While we can fly, we feel most comfortable flowing through the earth, and any overland travel is short hops interspersed with moments of respite in the earth. With the Ring of the Eidolon we were more comfortable maintaining our physical form in the living world and making long flights.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Will had thought as much, but it didn¡¯t hurt to ask. ¡°You can still do manual labor, though, right?¡± ¡°Yessir,¡± Billy-bob and Stevie nodded. ¡°We are still much stronger than a standard Undead Retainer,¡± Billy-bob spoke with pride. ¡°What do you two know about kites, and¡­carpentry?¡± Will asked, taking a bite of a thick wedge of tree bark and chewing as he studied the line of soldiers surrounding the mountain in relatively high spirits. The two ghost butlers glanced at each other, then back at Will. ¡°We have experience with minor home repairs¡­and young masters love their kites.¡± ¡°Excellent. I¡¯m going to lead the scouts tasked with keeping me suppressed on a merry chase on this side of the mountain. Here¡¯s what I want you to do on the other side¡­¡± Two days later, Will was strapping himself to a log. It had been carved into something of an arrow-shape, as light as they could manage while still maintaining strength. It was difficult with wet wood, but they made it work. The log had kite wings jutting out the side to hopefully grant him a bit of extra range. His ¡®seat¡¯ was leaned way back, and contoured to the shape of his body, to hopefully prevent him from snapping his neck. Several massive trees were bent nearly to their breaking point, putting a massive amount of tension on the thick rope holding him in place. There was a metal cup fused to the nose of the arrow, its dish facing backwards, a large steel spring inside it. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Will was tilted upward, as the massive wooden arrow was resting on top of a rail made of another log. He was basically riding a giant crossbow bolt. ¡°¡­Are you about this?¡± Stevie asked, surveying the contraption. ¡°No. Loose!¡± Will shouted. Without a word, Billy-bob chopped the rope, and Will blacked out. He woke up with the wind rushing past his face. It took a fraction of a second to realize that it had worked. One of the kite wings had snapped off in the launch, and the entire arrow was spinning in a most displeasing way. Will wiggled his foot out of the seat and kicked the other kite wing until it snapped off and whipped past him. A moment later, the flight stabilized with Will hanging upside down, staring straight up at the Graneshian army gradually growing closer. At the rate the nose was falling, he was going to land smack dab in the center of their lines, which was less than ideal. Will had figured if he was already moving fast, then the cannonball would be less likely to break his neck and the contraption itself. Will shot the spring with one of the half-melted cannonballs scavenged from the ruins of Basalt. The spring absorbed the shock, and the entire arrow lurched upward, tilting its nose back up as it received a massive amount of force into the system. ¡°SHIT!¡± Will cursed as the cannonball fell back out of the cup, having spent its energy on correcting the arrow¡¯s course. The problem was that since Will was upside down, the cannonball fell towards his head, forcing him to store it again before the lump of iron smashed his headrest ¨C and everything in it ¨C into kindling. Once he turned his attention back to the front, Will could see that the cup designed to be shot with a cannon was barely hanging on by a few shreds of wood and steel. It wouldn¡¯t take another. Will peered ¡®up¡¯, looking at the ground beneath him. He was going to get past the Graneshian line at this rate, but not by much. A Nuker¡¯s blast scorched the side of the arrow as they realized what was happening, but they were already too late. He was passing them. Will hit the back of the arrow with another lump of steel, the entire contraction leaping forward like a startled horse and dogind a follow-up shot. Then he did it again. The sound of splintering wood dominated Will¡¯s hearing as the back of the arrow fell apart, the arrow beginning to lazily spin as one of the fins was damaged. Eventually, the wooden arrow ran out of structural integrity before Will ran out of cannonballs to keep it moving, the entire thing disintegrating into a cloud of broken pieces of wood. Will tore himself out of his seat and grabbed a fin tumbling through the air beside him, using it to catch as much air as possible as he could as the spinning forest beneath him slowly got bigger. The landing was¡­a bit rough, but between the man-sized fin slowing him down, and his nearly one-hundred Resistance, Will survived. Will thought, releasing one of the healing potions he¡¯d stolen from the Graneshian army into his palm, tearing the cork out with his teeth before downing the bitter medicine. His bruises faded and the pain in his ankle went away, allowing him to get up and start running. Chapter 116: Prophet of the End Caddock, level 65 Paladin ***Jason Salazar*** Jason glanced down at the two remaining sacrifices in his hand, weighing his options. Enchantress in one hand, a branch from the Tree of Empires in the other. Weighing his options. He had two tags that leaned towards his Hype Man Class: Myth from Will¡¯s hand, and Glory from the eagle. If he Sacrificed the Enchantress, he would definitely get some Charm Ability options. Those were super cool. The Tree of Empires¡­What were it¡¯s effects? The Tree of Empires was probably the stronger Sacrifice, because he¡¯d never heard of it before, and the church of Granesh likely grabbed the best of the best for their Prophet. Two points of growth over thirty levels was quite the difference. But¡­ Jason took a deep breath and set aside the Enchantress sacrifice. There was more to life than the title of your Class. The Church of Granesh had wanted this specific combination for him because they knew it would be amazing. Deliberately crippling himself because he ¡®enjoyed¡¯ the idea of something more felt¡­childish. When he was an old man, would he appreciate being locked into a decision he had made at twelve? Jason doubted it. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It wouldn¡¯t be the end of the world if he didn¡¯t get Charm abilities. Jason placed the hunk of wax-wrapped wood on the altar. ¡°Status.¡± Jason said, his body practically vibrating with excitement. ¡°¡­Prophet of the ¡± Jason demanded. ¡°The end of !?¡± ¡°What¡¯s a coil?¡± If the Tower heard him, it didn¡¯t acknowledge his question, instead it began nagging. A Door appeared against the far wall, a glowing yellow portal that led to his Trial. After the Tower refused to elaborate for a long while, Jason sighed and nudged The System to show him his options for Primary Abilities. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Jason thought. Gain the use of an ethereal Hand of Fate. It may passively act as a dowsing rod to locate a hidden objective, or substitute as any number of materials in a scrying ritual. Spend a charge to apply positive or negative luck to an entity. Duration and potency scale with Acuity. *¡®luck¡¯ is a complex buff, whereby for the duration, the Ability creates a 2-state quantum superposition for a percentage of events involving the target within a certain radius. For each superposition, The System then chooses the state most beneficial for the target from among the states, collapsing the superposition and enforcing that outcome. Jason frowned. Jason asked. Nodding, Jason moved on to the next one. Scales of Ouroboros Jason let out an exasperated grumble. Jason admitted. He¡¯d be getting his dailies at level 2, which was a real feat. Jason frowned. Made Manifest: 1 Charge: Cloak target in the ethereal form of a myth that the user has created. The target receives bonuses to their combat skill, Stats and Abilities in relation to the nature of the myth. Finally, an inexpensive Ability. A little simple, though? The only legends Jason had created was Will. Would that make a Will-ghost overtop the people I summon it on? That would be silly. I could make more legends though, which would expand the options¡­ Next! Wildfire Heart Passive Active: 1 Charge Others are nudged to adopt whatever emotional state the user projects. When used actively, the effect is much stronger, lasts after the act is over, and can transfer between carriers beyond your vicinity for a short time. Scales with and resisted by Focus. So if I act sad it will make others sad? Yes. So if I act suicidal, it¡¯ll make others suicidal? There are practical and ethical concerns, but yes. And if I spend a charge it¡¯ll spread like wildfire? As the name implies. Hmm¡­Jason pictured acting suicidal in front of some bad guys and wiping out their whole camp by making them kill themselves. Then he pictured one of his Party members accidentally getting infected with some of the uncontrollably spreading malaise, then bringing it to an innocent village¡­and the thought lost a great deal of its luster. Maybe is should just stick to buffs, debuffs and party tricks rather than use it as an attack. That would be for the best. Next! Flagbearer Active: 1 charge Designate one entity as the ¡®Flagbearer¡¯. Any ally of the target who can see them receives a large buff as long as the Flagbearer remains alive. Should the flagbearer die or be captured, the buff switches to a minor debuff. Neat¡­Now, which two do I pick? Please choose your Primary Abilities. I hear you. Jason thought, glancing down at the unhealed blisters on his feet. Shoot. I should¡¯ve waited before I finished my Class. He¡¯d just been so excited to see what his Class was going to be, but now¡­ Please choose your Primary Abilities. Damnit. The next two weeks is gonna suck. Please choose your Primary Abilities. ***William Oh*** It¡¯s too bad I¡¯m on the opposite side of the Hunting Grounds from Ashwood, Will thought as The Tower loomed larger above him. It would add an extra day to his trip to go around and visit the orphanage, and Jason was likely to come out of hiding soon. Will needed to be present for it. Not to mention, I don¡¯t know if Gertrude has orders to kill me on site. On one hand, it felt strange that Granesh created as many orphanages as they did, considering how many of the Deceivers they wound up harboring. On the other, it made a certain sense, allowing them to keep a close eye on every boy and girl who went through their system, and target the ones who might cause them trouble. In need of a bit of rest and an ounce of water, Will staggered into a dusty little village just outside the tower and collapsed onto a stool near the inn¡¯s bar. ¡°What¡¯ll it be, Aspirant?¡± The Innkeeper said. Will thought, glancing down at himself. He was wearing ragged clothes stained and torn from throwing himself through multiple trees. bits of dirt and twigs adhered to the tree sap peppering his body. He looked almost as bad as when he first got started, save for the Relics he was wearing. Maybe they just aren¡¯t that impressive. ¡°Soup of the day and water.¡± Will said, sliding a silver piece on the bar, which the Inkeeper pocketed with magic-trick smoothness. ¡°How much you want?¡± he grunted. ¡°Until the silver stops covering it.¡± Will said. ¡°Or I stop eating.¡± ¡°Soup¡¯s mushroom and possum.¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t picky,¡± Will said. The innkeeper nodded and returned with a massive bowl of soup and a mug of water. ¡°Check it out, this kid¡¯s loaded,¡± Will heard a snarky voice emerge from the corner of the room, where four young men, each a year or so older than Will, standing from their table to saunter towards him. Will raised a brow, getting some soup down his throat before the local Bully Squad arrived. And they must be locals. They wore aspirant chainmail, nonmagical weapons and armor. The best a well-to-do merchant of modest success could afford. Not quite as rich as a legacy kid from the Ring, but well-afforded. Like Ben. The cocky arrogance, the superficial charm, the knot of friends. ¡°Where¡¯d you get those Relics? Your grandpa¡¯s attic?¡± The lead Bully said with a confident grin. History repeats itself. Will thought back to Baron Akul, who requested a traumatic thrashing for his grandson, to instill a sense of caution. ¡°I got these last week off some Climbers I killed,¡± Will said, tugging the ring off his finger with his teeth and placing it on the bar. It wouldn¡¯t do for them to think the Relics were the reason they lost. A wave of uproarious laughter filled the air, while Will smoothly took off his amulet, dropping it on the bar with a . ¡°Who the hell does this kid think he is, William Oh?¡± Another gale of laughter spread through the tavern while the innkeeper shot nervous glances at Will, eyes slowly widening. ¡°Hey,¡± One of the kids in the back tapped the lead bully in the shoulder and pointed at Will. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The hand.¡± Will used his toes to slip out of his boots, gently placing the warhammer on the bar. ¡°What, umm¡­what¡¯s your name again?¡± the leader said, his gaze lingering on the scabbed over stump where Will¡¯s left hand was truncated. ¡°¡­You¡¯re ¡®bout to find out.¡± Will said, stepping away from the bar. ¡°¡­Danny, we¡¯re gonna go! Money¡¯s on the table!¡± their leader said to the innkeeper before the four of them turned tail and hustled out the door. Will frowned, cocking his head as he watched them disappear through the swinging doors. ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°That¡¯s normal people for you. How far did you get, kid?¡± ¡®Danny¡¯ asked, wiping down the bar. ¡°Sixth floor,¡± Will said, sitting back down. ¡°Makes sense. People that get past the Fourth Floor treat a fight to the death like an amusing pastime.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t gonna kill ¡®em.¡± Will muttered into his mug. ¡°Sure. Anything else I can get yah, Climber?¡± the innkeeper asked. ¡°Just the soup is fine,¡± Will said, waving him off, staring into the broth and wondering how much he¡¯d changed. Now that he thought about it, he had been using the Stormfists to travel faster since he landed on the other side of the Granesh quarantine line. If he so much as tapped one of the Aspirants and the lightning effect triggered, would it have killed one of them? Chapter 117: Unearned Power witness ***Orev Harti, Level 57 Trickster Raven*** ¡°Children, what you see before you is the epitome of the Ranger archetype,¡± Orev said, gesturing to himself. ¡°I¡¯m the fastest sonovabitch that ever graced the Graneshian military. I¡¯ve never let a target get away from me. My tracking ability could trace the sun through the underworld, and my arrow always takes down its mark. I could shoot here to the southern palace blindfolded and take the wings off a fly.¡± All this is good, but you know what the most important tool in a ranger¡¯s arsenal is?¡± The children¡¯s wide eyes followed Orev as he paced back and forth in front of them. He stood in the center of a clearing in the lush Ring, lecturing a group of snot-filled noble-sons. Several of the children unconsciously shook their heads while the rest gaped like beached fish at his question. ¡°The ability to adapt to unexpected circumstances!¡± Orev said. ¡°You never know what the world is going to throw at you ne-¡° Crunch! Crunch! Orev glanced off to the side and spotted Caddock marching through the waist-high shrubs that afforded the lecture clearing a bit of privacy from the thriving city around it. ¡°Oh, look, it¡¯s the high paladin Caddock. He was my commander in my twenties. These are the kinds of classes you¡¯ll be working with as a Ranger, and they have a completely different style. You have to learn to accommodate their slowness.¡± ¡°Caddock, would you like to demonstrate what a Paladin is capable of for the children?¡± Orev asked, gesturing towards the kids. Caddock glanced at the children watching his steel-covered bulk with awe. ¡°Sure.¡± Caddock¡¯s arm snapped up and seized Orev¡¯s ear before he started yanking him away, the sheer unexpected nature of the attack preventing him from dodging it despite having better reflexes. ¡°Ow, ow, OW!¡± The raven-feathered Ranger hooted in pain as he stumbled along behind the paladin¡¯s determined march. ¡°Orev Harti, you¡¯ve been conscripted into my Party until such a time as I release you from service. Do you accept?¡± Caddock said. ¡°Do I have an, ow, choice?¡± ¡°Not if you want to keep the ear.¡± Caddock replied. Orev thought about that for a moment, until another tug from Caddock made up his mind. ¡°Fine, fine!¡± Orev said. You have joined the Warbringer Party! Orev¡¯s eyes widened as he saw who was in it. Caddock, High Paladin, level 65 Maybin Glasswind, Devastator, level 63 Imtithal Thuy, Bloodsoaked Berserker, level 61 Orev Harti, Trickster Raven, Level 57 ¡°Is umm¡­the High Saint Council okay with you having this many people above level fifty in your Party?¡± Orev asked. There was enough firepower here to topple a city. Or give the Church a run for it¡¯s money. ¡°They declined to provide me the personnel I requested, but never explicitly stated I could not gather them on my own. I will avoid receiving any correspondence from them until I have settled my current conundrum, therefore I will not receive any order to desist, should they send one, which I am confident they will not. There is no conflict of interest.¡± ¡°The sheer balls on you, sir,¡± Orev said, accidentally falling back into his old way of referring to his commander. ¡°What do you need us for?¡± Orev lowered his voice conspiratorially. ¡°Are we hunting a Lord?¡± ¡°Nah, some fifteen year-old kid.¡± Caddock said. Orev straightened. ¡°The Abyss do you need fo-¡° ¡°A fifteen-year-old Deceiver who stole the Prophet out from under our noses and killed over a hundred level fifteen soldiers in the process as well as a handful of level thirty commanders and level twenty-five Scouts, without Kit, and with barely any Charge.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°We are currently in a race to get to him before he gets back to his kit, which has, at best, become a seven-part soft-set, and at worst, a legendary Set.¡± ¡°Who the abyss is this kid, William ?¡± Orev asked, his long legs easily matching his commander¡¯s stubbier pace. The man was big, but he didn¡¯t have Caddock glanced back at him meaningfully, but didn¡¯t respond. Allowing Orev to draw his own conclusions. ¡°No way. I thought William Oh was a joke character that people liked making up stories about. Abyss, I¡¯ve even made a few William Oh jokes myself in the bar.¡± Orev processed that for a moment. ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve never killed someone famous before.¡± *** Jason Salazar, level 1 Prophet of the End*** Jason took a deep breath and began shoving the chest. He was wearing both rings, amulet, boots, and the dagger on his waist. Together the Relics made him feel like some hero of old, his strength and stamina more than doubled. Jason felt his face turn red with effort as he shoved the chest with every fiber of muscle at his disposal, aiming for the Door. time, the chest moved. ¡°I am a golden god!¡± Jason shouted in triumph as the chest began sliding easier and easier under his powerful shoves until it slid right out the Door. Jason followed shortly afterwards, eager to complete his Trial and become a real Climber. It was what he¡¯d been waiting for his entire life. Jason remembered Will¡¯s warning, his head rearing up to scan the environs. He was on the slopes of a mountain, with short, dead grass that spoke to a dry spell. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Jason narrowed his eyes and peered down the mountain, spotting a puff of smoke near the bottom of the mountain. Jason thought, able to make out a few figures shuffling around the firepit. It made sense though. Hype didn¡¯t exist in a vacuum. He needed people to hype up¡­ It was starting to niggle at the back of Jason¡¯s mind that maybe he was involved in something a bit bigger than doing a hype job for a friend for five silver. The biggest question now¡­ Jason thought to himself, peering down at the box. Jason glanced up at the distant people, and caught a hint of movement inching across the horizon. The war-band. There was no way he could expect to wait long enough, nor did he have time to go grab the people down there and guide them up the side of the mountain. Leaving Will¡¯s stuff unguarded felt like leaving your hard candies unguarded at the orphanage. You just didn¡¯t do it. Jason had peeked into the chest several times a day in the beginning, but he¡¯d eventually gotten bored with it, and simply amused himself by skipping the pits of dried fruit off each other, inventing complex games with intricate scoring rules for the sake of maintaining his sanity. When he drank the final sip of water, Jason had decided that it was time to go. There wasn¡¯t exactly a day or night in the room, so he just ate when he got hungry, slept when he got tired, and so on. Jason pried open the chest and peered inside. The ash inside was dead, having spent all its miasmatic glow. Just to make sure, Jason lowered the lid, shutting out as much light as he could and peering into the crack. No light whatsoever. It was dead. He¡¯d had a Class and been wearing the relics the whole time, did that¡­slow his sleep and eating down? ¡°Huh,¡± Jason mused, opening the lid again. If it¡¯s done baking, Jason reached in and fished around with his hand until he felt the handle of Will¡¯s axe, pulling it out, ash sloughing off of it to reveal the axe¡¯s silvery exterior. It seemed to have gained some kind of gemstone in the feathers, and the serpent¡¯s eyes had been filled in with stone that seemed to create an iris that followed Jason. Remembering his Climbing lessons, Jason focused on the tomahawk, trying to identify it. ¡°Hooooly Shiiiit.¡± +8 Strength +8 Kinesthetics +8 Resistance +8 Focus +8 Acuity Passive: Damage from the Tomahawk or Eidolons created by the user gain Psychic Venom, which applies psychic damage over time and incremental stat penalties until the target is dead or the effect is overcome or cured. Scales with Acuity Smoke drawn through the pipe will cure Psychic Venom and inoculate against psychic damage. 1 Charge: May be used to seal an agreement between two individuals by sharing smoke from the pipe. Anyone who willingly violates the spirit of an agreement suffers from Psychic Venom. ¡­ ¡­¡­ ¡°Oh, my god, oh my Jason dropped the tomahawk to the ground and scrambled backwards, averting his eyes. He didn¡¯t know much about Relics, but he knew he wasn¡¯t even worthy of at that. Hair standing on end, Jason pushed himself back to his feet and raised his eyes to take in the fanciful tomahawk. It exuded an aura of subtle menace, easy to miss when you were excited, but looking at it with a calm heart¡­it gave him the impression of Lumesh waiting just below the earth, ready to drag his victim to the underworld with implacable might. Jason glanced down at the war-band in the distance. They were steadily eating the distance between themselves and the helpless band of¡­cultists? Cultists that Jason needed to protect if he wanted to pass The Trial. Jason tipped the chest over, dumping its contents onto the dead grass of the mountainside, picking through the items, shaking the ash off them before donning Will¡¯s kit as quickly as he could. The glowing ivory hand that he¡¯d grown used to over his time locked away in the white room suddenly gained a feeling of weight, of physicality. As he added more items from the Set, the hand¡¯s fingers elongated and split into five glowing ivory snakes, each about the length of his arm that seemed to emanate good fortune, etched with strange patterns that he instinctively knew related to luck and augury. They lazily swam through the air around him seemingly with minds of their own, their scales making a hypnotic pattern in the air, like flickering firelight. Jason shook himself out of admiring the snakes and got back to work. Jason thought, slipping out of the loaner boots they gave him and tugging on Will¡¯s pants and boots, which shrank to accommodate him. Finally he took off the loaner amulet and threw Will¡¯s over his neck. Jason scratched through the pile of ash to make sure he didn¡¯t miss anything. Once he was satisfied, he slapped down the mask, snatched up the tomahawk and started sprinting down the mountainside, aiming for the helpless civilians who had retreated to their tents, hiding from the height of the noon-day sun. Jason arrived minutes before the warband, skidding to a halt and nearly tumbling, so unused to the sheer power his kit was granting him. He was as buoyant as if he were underwater, except there was no resistance. If anything there was less than ever. It was a strange feeling. In the center of the campsite was a big wooden statue that these cultists had apparently decided was a good idea to carry on their desperate escape from their old clan. More surprising, was the subject of the statue. The statue was poorly crafted and lacked artistry, but Jason could make out the important details. The statue depicted a man with one hand resting his palm on a kobold¡¯s crest. Jason cocked his head as he studied the weather-beaten wooden statue. ¡°It that¡­Loth?¡± ¡°Attack!¡± A raspy voice shouted. The tent flaps burst open, revealing a dozen kobolds and Jibleya of various color, aiming the pokey ends of their spears at Jason¡¯s neck. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Wait, wait WAIT!¡± Jason said, holding his hands up. ¡°I¡¯m here to help you guys!¡± ¡°Likely story humie,¡± The lead kobold said, gesturing with his spear. ¡°I thinks you SPY!¡± The surrounding kobolds cheered. The closest Jibleya frowned, glancing at the kobold. ¡°Your old clan hired a human child -whom they would rather eat- to attack us?¡± ¡°I¡¯m on my Trial!¡± Jason interjected. ¡°The Tower told me to save you from the warband.¡± ¡°Warband?¡± The jibleya asked, leaning on his spear. Jason pointed. Some five hundred feet distant, the band of kobolds trotting towards them was now putting on a burst of speed to catch their prey. ¡°Oh, them. Shit.¡± ¡°Stupid humie, you waste perfectly good ambush!¡± the lead kobold made a hacking cough that Jason was pretty sure was the equivalent of a rude spit before rushing to organize themselves. ¡°What help can you give us, Aspirant?¡± The Jibleya asked, glancing at Jason as the kobold-jibleya alliance formed a line, raising their spears. Jason hadn¡¯t gotten his adult height yet, so they were nearly at eye level with each other, and he could see the fear in the man¡¯s face. ¡°Umm¡­¡± Jason glanced down at the tomahawk, then back at the ivory snakes lazily noodling around him. With a thought, the snakes swam forward at the speed of an arrow, their mouths unhinging to reveal long fangs, latching onto the five closest of the two dozen kobolds sprinting towards them. The kobolds collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, as the snakes leapt to their next targets, bringing them down in a matter of seconds. In a matter of seconds, the process repeated itself until the entire warband was dead, none of them having come close enough to even throw their spears. Jason¡¯s hair stood on end as the notifications rolled in, bringing with them a looming sense of dread. The Set had singlehandedly slaughtered those kobolds with less effort than it took to wave his hand. Every ounce of Jason¡¯s mind was telling him that he didn¡¯t deserve the set. He wasn¡¯t strong enough to use it, and instead it would use him, dragging him along¡­until someone stronger discovered he was using it and took it from him. And if it was anyone other than Will, they probably wouldn¡¯t think twice about killing the occupant first. He was wearing something unspeakably valuable, and he was nowhere near strong enough to defend it. ¡°I think-OW!¡± One of the snakes gave a pulse of magic, tensing up like it¡¯d experienced a sudden cramp, as a pain in Jason¡¯s knee dropped him to the ground in an instant. A dark-feathered arrow flew past Jason¡¯s head, bursting into a cloud of black feathers, from which emerged a rather slender man wearing shoulder-pads made of raven feathers, wielding a hooked spear with a black feather mane. Without a word, the man pounced. Chapter 118: (Not) A Natural Born Fighter ¡°Ack!¡± Jason reflexively threw his hands in front of his face. He was not a trained fighter. He wasn¡¯t even an untrained fighter, and faced with instant, overwhelming aggression, his first instinct was to turtle up. Jason felt his arms and legs get something wrapped around them and an instant later his entire body lurched violently to the side, nearly knocking the wind out of him. Jason unscrunched his eyes and saw the spear-wielder whipping the spear around, aiming the hook at Jason¡¯s ribcage. Jason flinched again, trying to interpose his arm between himself and the attack, intuitively understanding that a wounded arm was better than a perforated lung. The snakes wrapped around his arms and legs yanked him forward, putting him inside the spear¡¯s range. ¡°Oof!¡± Jason groaned as the spear haft nearly doubled him over. ¡°Eh?¡± Jason glanced up and spotted a knife flashing past his cheek. The snakes were riding the strange man¡¯s arm, fangs buried in his flesh and wrenching his stab off to the side. Suddenly his crotch exploded in pain as a leather shoe impacted the center of Jason¡¯s body with enough force to send him flying. I Jason thought, curling into a ball as roots of pain spread through his lungs. The attacker shook the snakes off his arm with a nonchalance that spoke volumes, stalking towards Jason with unearthly grace, as though he had to hold onto the earth with his toes or he¡¯d fly off. Jason¡¯s eyes twitched as he realized that it hadn¡¯t been Withering repudiation that killed the kobolds, it was the Psychic Venom effect from the tomahawk. ¡­The tomahawk over there, that he¡¯d dropped when he got folded over by the second attack. ¡°You. Suck.¡± Jason rasped out, directing one of the snakes to deliver Withering Repudiation. It shot towards his enemy like an arrow, aiming to wrap around his limb. The man flicked his spear and bisected the ivory snake, which evaporated into nothing, creating a phantom pain in Jason¡¯s left ring finger that nearly eclipsed the pain in his balls. ¡°Easier to feel those things when they got Charge in ¡®em.¡± The man muttered, raising the spear above Jason. ¡°Killing a kid, huh?¡± Jason groaned. The man wobbled in place as the Ability washed over him, paralyzing his limbs. Jason felt a thin thread connect the two of them. It felt like a strand of spider-silk that was slowly being stretched and twisted. Sooner or later it would snap, and the only way that Jason could slow it down was to continue talking. ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised.¡± Jason continued, resisting the urge to whimper as he dragged himself toward the tomahawk with his forearm. ¡°From the moment we met, you¡¯ve been trying to stab a child, so obviously your priorities are a bit fucked u-¡± Withering Repudiation snapped, and the spearhead came flashing down. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A blur of red scales slammed into the side of the attacker, causing the spearhead to bury itself in the ground an inch away from Jason¡¯s stomach. A dozen more kobold and jibleya dogpiled the thin man, thrusting madly with their makeshift spears. The attacker exploded into a cloud of black feathers and reappeared some thirty feet away, plucking a dagger out of a dead kobold¡¯s chest. Jason thought, the panic cutting through the pain, sending him scrambling forward and lunging for the tomahawk. Jason got the tomahawk an inch off the ground before a foot slammed down on it, crushing his thumb against the gravelly dirt. Jason hissed and rolled away, clutching his hand. ¡°Huh. Oh. WOW!¡± a young woman¡¯s melodious voice entered Jason¡¯s ears as he tried to blink the tears out of his eyes. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s a Set. Wooow¡­can I keep it? it¡¯s pretty badass.¡± Jason blinked the tears out and spotted a young woman holding the tomahawk, her fine-boned face at odds with her attire, which was a mere handful of hardened leather straps dyed a ruddy brown. ¡°You know what he¡¯ll say about that.¡± The raven-feathered man replied, sprinting towards Jason. ¡°CUNT!¡± The charging man only lost control of his body for a second, tumbling forward for an instant before catching himself with his fingertips, springing up and sailing over Jason¡¯s head. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°BAHAHAHAHA!¡± the woman said, doubling over with laughter, pointing at the raven-feathered man. ¡°He-he called-he called you a-¡° ¡°I heard. Are you gonna help or what?¡± The raven-man asked, landing lightly on his feet. ¡°Do you help?¡± The woman asked, a strange undercurrent of menace in her words as she rested Will¡¯s tomahawk on her shoulder. ¡°Not really.¡± The feather-man mused, tensing, hand reaching behind himself. ¡°That¡¯s not yours,¡± Jason gasped, drawing himself to his feet, a trembling finger pointing at Will¡¯s tomahawk. The woman glanced at the tomahawk resting on her shoulder before shrugging. ¡°Sure ain¡¯t.¡± Her gaze scanned Jason from head to toe before holding out her hand. ¡°Cough up the rest.¡± ¡°You can have Will¡¯s Set when you peel it off my dead body.¡± Jason muttered. They were gonna kill him either way. Might as well have some balls. ¡°¡­Your proposal is acceptable.¡± The woman said. The straps covering her body began reddening like sponges plunged into a pool of blood. A red stain spread from the straps as they began to ooze blood, covering her exposed skin in a layer of shiny crimson. a little voice in Jason¡¯s head urged him to flee, but the more rational part of him knew that these people were faster than he was, so he was stuck there, in the center of the cluster of kobolds, facing two monsters who could disassemble them in a matter of seconds. He felt the rough-hewn haft of a kobold spear placed in his hand, and glanced up, spotting a jibleya handing it to him. The spearhead was made of glassy stone and tentatively held together with poorly cured leather straps. It would shatter on contact. Jason sighed, holding the flimsy wooden stick in front of himself. It was better than nothing, but they were still all going to die. The raven-feathered man whipped his hand forward, unleashing one throwing knife for each of them. Jason scrunched his eyes shut and swung at the dagger flying towards him. Again: not a natural fighter. POOF! His spear hit nothing, and nothing hit but an instant later a line of fire travelled through his side accompanied by an ache in his pinky finger. Jason hissed and stumbled away, spotting the raven-feathered man standing behind him, frowning accusingly at his hooked spear, which had a snake wrapped around the head. The man whipped his spear backwards and flicked it down with the speed of lightning, bisecting the snake wrapped around it. Jason glanced around and saw that most of the kobolds were wounded, with knives in nonlethal areas. The jibleya were worse off, their pressurized innards trying to force out the knives. Jason didn¡¯t know. Now surrounded, Jason turned sideways and started backing up, trying to keep both of them in sight. There was a flicker on his right-hand side accompanied by a jolt of force and extreme pain as Jason flew away from where he¡¯d been standing. The snakes softened his landing, preventing him from smashing his head open on the rocky outcropping he slammed into. When Jason raised his head with a gasp, he felt a growing pain in his cheek where it had been dragged across the stone. Jason raised his hand to his cheek. He jerked his head up and spotted the woman donning the feathered snake mask. A ripple spread through the blood covering her body, gaining a scale-like pattern and a slightly metallic hue. ¡°Yes. I could get used to this.¡± She said, nodding, turning to regard him with the mask¡¯s emotionless eyes. ¡°Now do I have to beat the rest out of you?¡± Jason raised a trembling finger. ¡°Will¡¯s gonna¡­kick your ass.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t play with him,¡± the feathered man said, the ground crunching as he stood above Jason, spear raised. Jason closed his eyes He really didn¡¯t wanna watch himself get stabbed. A deep, concussive release of force, as though the entire earth had shifted, rang through the ground beneath him. Jason pried an eye open and peeked up at the feathered man. He was nowhere to be seen. POOF! ¡°Son of a !¡± the feathered man shouted as he appeared beside one of his knives, shaking pain out of his fingers, a thin line carved into his neck. ¡°Good afternoon,¡± Loth¡¯s raspy voice emanated from the direction of the kobold¡¯s leather tents. A set of black claws brushed the tent flap aside before she emerged into the sun. A black kobold, at least four inches taller than the tallest example of their species. Her gaze landed on the blood-covered woman, eyes narrowing. ¡°Kill the child if you must, but the set belongs to my Party leader.¡± Loth said, stalking towards them. Jason demanded. ¡°Dibs on the kid!¡± the blood covered woman shouted, charging towards Jason. The feathered man rolled his eyes, throwing a knife at Loth. Jason couldn¡¯t quite make out what happened next. There were explosions, the earth itself flipped over and tried to swallow them up, stone shrapnel flew everywhere, and Jason was forced to shield his eyes to prevent them from being shredded. This lasted for quite some time until a pair of hands helped him up and brushed his shoulders off in the midst of it. ¡°Thanks.¡± Jason muttered, lowering his palm and blinking the dust out of his eyes, trying and failing to make out his savior against the omnipresent dust obscuring the sun. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± the woman¡¯s voice sent a chill through his skin an instant before a fist caught him in the stomach, and Jason felt something before he flew backwards, slamming into unforgiving stone. ¡°Uuugh¡­¡± Jason slammed into a boulder and collapsed to the ground. Somehow everything WAY more than it had just a few minutes ago. Like rock had gotten harder. Jason¡¯s rational mind cut through the pain in his stomach and reached his trembling hand into his vest, plucking out the healing potion that Will had slipped in his bag. He barely had the strength to tug the cork out with his teeth and both hands, spilling a bit with a jerk before before downing the remainder of the potion. The ominous pain in his torso faded quickly, leaving the external bruising largely untouched. ¡°Rogue Archetype!?¡± the woman screamed, looking down at the key-shaped stone dagger with obvious frustration. Jason patted himself down, realizing his cloak and sidearm were missing. ¡°Well, whatever,¡± She muttered, tossing aside Will¡¯s cloak and replacing a bone dagger on her belt with the glassy stone key. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that amulet do?¡± she asked, pointing at the silver scales around his neck. ¡°Jason, take-¡° Loth¡¯s words were interrupted by a flurry of feathers as the feathered man appeared behind her, stabbing her in the back to little effect, dodging out of the way of a retaliatory trap. She flickered forward faster than Jason could process, her hand clutching the top of his head in an iron grip. Her other hand seized the amulet and hauled up. Jason¡¯s hands and ears lost a bit of skin as the silvery scales were dragged ruthlessly up over his head. ¡°Wow.¡± She said as she released Jason, dropping him into the dirt. ¡°Yes. Very nice.¡± As she lowered the amulet over her neck, the blood coating her body rippled again, and five arm-length crimson snakes emerged and began floating around her, slithering lazily through the air. ¡°I wonder if it¡¯ll hang around even without the Marrow-leather,¡± She mused before glancing at Jason. ¡°Alright kid, you know the drill by now. Pants and shoes. Off.¡± ¡°Screw you.¡± Jason coughed. ¡°The only reason I¡¯m not killing you right now is because it¡¯s easier for someone to take their own pants off, rather than a corpse, but if you insist¡­¡± The snakes that had worked for him less than a minute ago flickered forward in the blink of an eye, one wrapping around Jason¡¯s neck and lifting him into the air, two more restraining his arms. ¡°Oh, cool!¡± she cooed as two snakes ripped his boots off, seemingly of their own accord. ¡°They can drain blood too!?¡± She exclaimed, her eyes flickering, seemingly re-reading the set description. ¡°At ¡± ¡°I wonder how that works,¡± She mused, studying Jason with lethal dispassion. A moment later, Jason felt a stab of pain in his neck and immediately felt a wave of weakness spreading across his entire body. ¡°Way more efficient. Lacks a certain something¡­Maybe I can get a crafter to tweak a few affixes, then I could wear the full set¡­¡± her voice seemed to fade as Jason¡¯s vision darkened. Just before he lost consciousness, Jason thought he heard a familiar voice. ¡°¡­Drop him.¡±