Chapter Eight
“Right guys, the Guide I bought says that you can tame one of these things with Manafeed. Be careful with it though, it was fucking expensive. The Clans are monopolising it, so I had to go through a Fence and he gouged me.”
John handed a small pouch of what looked like blue-tinted birdseed to Will, moving down the line to the other Companions and giving them their own.
“I’ll go first.”
Anthony strode up to the horse-like animal with his head held high. The huge broadsword he’d spent all night haggling for was strapped to his back, and Will had a moment of envy for the damage that his party-mate could do. He didn’t mind acting as a Tank, really, but he envied the Vanguard Elite Class that Ant had somehow managed to convince a Fence to sell him on Floor 4.
Anthony offered the feed to the animal, one hand carefully reaching out to brush its greyish fur. Just as they were all hoping, it sniffed slightly and then ate the feed, glowing internally with the telltale blue tint. Once the small amount of feed had been fully eaten, the creature snapped its head back up to the horizon and waited. Anthony swung a leg over, and seated himself. He turned to grin at the rest of the party, but the horse-thing bolted and he was sent yelping into the distance.
“Horse’s Ass!” Sam called after him, and they all laughed. Will and John shared a look of mock suffering while Sam and Mary high-fived.
“Right, so don’t do that. Whatever it was that...that was.”
John’s words came through chuckles, but everyone nodded at them. One by one, they each crept up to their own creature and fed them. Thankfully, not only did they manage to avoid accidentally triggering a gallop, Anthony had managed to get his mount under control by the time they were all ready.
“Let’s go and prove ourselves worthy!”
John’s call met with cheers, and they all turned their attention towards the direction he was pointing. It had been a long time since they’d moved up a Floor, since none of them felt like joining a Clan and being designated to guard newbies on the 1st Floor for a year before getting the chance to advance. According to the FCA rep that John knew, if they made it to 10 on their own they’d be rewarded and made part of Clearing teams. That was the goal they were pushing for, and they’d finally got the information they needed to make the next step happen. Proving themselves worthy was a vague challenge, and none of the Clans were being particularly forthcoming about what it meant, but the New World Foundation had finally broken the silence. Now, they just had to pull it off.
Will enjoyed the memory, as he took the pouch of Manafeed [D] from his Spatial Ring and approached the auburn horse. It wasn’t quite an Earth horse, with longer limbs and a bulbous skull with sharp rather than dull teeth inside the equine mouth, but that was the closest analogue and these things worked the same way. In fact, they were better than an Earth horse, since once they’d eaten the feed they would obey you completely, and didn’t tire as fast as a normal horse would.
He’d made sure to purchase a large stock of the Manafeed, leaving only a few pouches in the Store to avoid a total monopoly, and had distributed them not only to the Chancers, but to Towerfall in general. It wasn’t only useful on this Floor, and making travel quicker was a big priority. Now, he dropped the empty cloth pouch on the grass and swung up onto his mount’s back. A gentle tap of the heel was all it took, and the horse began to gallop. He held on carefully, thanking his past self for practising so much, and enjoyed the vista of the Floor as it began to whizz by.
He didn’t know the exact location of the Class Trainer he was looking for, but he had a general area to check. Thanks to the effort of his mount, which could be supplemented with Alacrity to move even faster at the cost of barely being able to see what was happening, he was able to reach the general vicinity of his goal without much trouble. He’d seen a few monsters of various forms, but the huge size of the area and the lack of other Climbers meant that it was a mostly clean ride until he drew into the dense undergrowth which covered the northern part of the Floor. There, he started having to fight his way through.
“Stay here, buddy.”
He spoke directly into his mount’s ear, trying to be calming, as he climbed down and lunged into battle. Whisper and Shout flashed up as his Spells activated, and his blades met the axe of the incoming troll with a loud clash. He effortlessly dodged aside as its’ partner jabbed forward with a large crooked spear, pointing Whisper and letting off his newly improved Skill.
“Vicious Whisper!”
The Growth Item Improvement Token was a great piece of loot to receive from Clearing Floor 5, and though he’d first considered using it on his Soul Anchor, he could feel that it was close to upgrading of its’ own volition and that felt like a waste. Now at C Rank, the burst of piercing force that launched from the tip of his rapier was as thick as a broom handle and punched a hole clean through the spear-wielding troll. It moaned, stepping back and trying to staunch the bleeding, as the other tried to swipe Will’s head from his neck.
Just trying to keep his eye on his surroundings as his mount blurred across the Floor, with Tough Conditioning active, had granted him another point of Reflex. Along with the two Free Points which went into Agility, he was able to keep ahead of the troll’s attacks as easily as if it were moving in slow motion. He kept the training Skill active, the Soul Anchor weighing down on his magic Stats as he kept up Alacrity and Vigorous Sharpen, as he delivered precise cuts and kept away from the weapon. He didn’t have to worry about the others, about his role as Clan Leader, about anything more than the fight, and it was freeing.
The wounded troll came back, the extremely fast regeneration of the monster species allowing it to fight through even missing a significant chunk of its torso, but Will knocked its spear aside with Whisper and then finished it off with a series of chops with Shout that split the monsters’ spinal cord and disabled its healing. More than one Climber had died to figure out that particular weak point, and without an easy way of delivering fire damage it was the only option he had. He repeated the move against the other troll, gasping in pain as a lucky swing of its’ axe caught him on the leg, but thankfully the Sandwyrm Plated Greaves held and his Endurance kept his bones in one piece.
Not a bad haul, in terms of Tower Coins, and he could see a small book glowing in the space where the spear-wielder’s corpse had been moments earlier. He couldn’t remember the last time he got loot from just a random Floor monster, so he eagerly picked it up.
Redundant Systems [C] Skill Guide
Requirements: Fighter-offshoot Class, 40+ Endurance
Passive Skill: Reinforces your body by allowing for the generation of redundant temporary organs when sufficient internal damage is sustained. These temporary organs allow the body to continue functioning past the point it should shut down.
A Passive Skill Guide? This early? He made a note of it, although the red glow reminded him that he still hadn’t managed to get most of his Stats to 40. Pausing for a moment, he used the Clan Connection Ring to speak with Brunjar.
“Clan Connection. Clan Overseer.”
“Pioneer? Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine. Are things still stable below?”
“Yes, no change since you left. Irikaz is back, and we’re sending teams out to some of the further settlements.”
“Good news then. Is Domovoi around?”
“He’s on Floor 3 at the moment, auctioning off the loot that we bought from Marco’s last visit. Why?”
Annoying, but understandable. Honestly, Will could have just contacted the man directly, but had wanted to check in with Brunjar first either way.
“Just wanted to check something about loot. Have you heard of anyone finding a Passive Skill Guide?”
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“Um, not off the top of my head. I’ve definitely seen Passive Skills, but I’m not sure I’ve seen a Guide for one.”
“Well, I’ve just found one for a C Rank tank Skill that dropped from fodder. Trolls, north of Floor 6. As soon as we have teams on this Floor, we need to farm them.”
“Got it, I’ll make preparations. Estimate is a week or two before we’ve finished all the Quests and can start moving up.”
Will thanked his Overseer and closed the connection. The Guide went into his Spatial Ring, a gift for when he returned to Unk. It might be a while before they could push his Endurance to 40, but it was more than worth it. Even though Will had never heard of this Skill before, he already knew it was valuable. The problem with taking damage on higher Floors was that although you healed quick, with potions and Items helping, you would eventually start to take damage that was healing resistant, or just getting crushed by single attacks that would kill you before healing was possible. Having something like this would make that circumstance a lot less scary.
His mount had taken a few steps back as the fight went on, and was looking nervous, but hadn’t bolted. He gave a reassuring smile to the animal, and gently swung himself back onto it.
“Don’t worry bud, they won’t attack you unless I die, and that’s not happening. Got far too much to do.”
The horse creature gave a whinny, and Will nudged it into a trot.
It took Will two days before he found the hut. Tucked away between several trees, almost camouflaged by its wooden construction and the thick leaves woven into a thatched roof. He spotted it from atop a hill, where he stood panting.
“Finally.”
He checked the Party Chat, just to see if any of the other Chancers were within range, but no luck. They were all still on the Floor, but not in range to Chat.
“Clan Connection. Clan Overseer.”
“Pioneer?”
“Hey Brunjar. All good?”
“Nothing we can’t handle. What’s up?”
“Found the Class Trainer. Will be out of contact from here on out.”
“No worries. Floor’s filling up and word is EuroClimb are close to finishing their Quests.”
“To be expected. They close to Dunebed?”
“No, other side of the Floor. We got word via their messengers.”
That wasn’t perfect, since it would be better to build a main outpost where their allied Clans could join them, but at least it meant the Floor would be explored more thoroughly more quickly.
“Right, got it. Okay, well like I say, I’m going in now. Speak to you soon.”
“Yeah. Good luck, if you need it.”
Will dropped the connection and turned to his mount. It was obediently waiting for him just past the area where he’d been fighting. The corpses of the burrowing warrior ants had already dissipated, but their sticky blood painted the grass.
“Hope this guy has somewhere for you bud.”
He led the creature down the hill, quickly glancing at his Sheet. +1 Agility and +1 Mind Power since he last looked, bringing him ever closer to C Rank. On top of helping to rebuild the Coins he’d given to Brunjar, he’d been trying to get Vigorous Sharpen [E] to upgrade. The guide he’d briefly skimmed in the first timeline had been enough up to now, but he was having trouble finding the trick to getting it further upgraded.
As he got closer to the hut, the door swung open with a bang. Striding out, clad in shining armour and with undulating orbs of golden light swelling in both palms, came the person he’d come to see.
“You can stop there, boy.”
Will obliged. He may not have perfect knowledge of the Class Trainer he’d sought out, but what he did know lined up quite well with the circumstance. Almost human, except for skin tinted purple and a height of over 7 foot. Galliar Foredell, the Tower’s War Enhancer, was supposed to be a paranoid and abrasive man who expected deference and respect to be shown by anyone who came seeking his Elite Class.
His weapons were sheathed already, so Will just removed the Jungle Shaman’s Coronet from his head and gave a small bow. The buffs the small crown provided left him, but he ignored the unpleasant feeling and spoke clearly and calmly.
“My apologies if I am trespassing. I had heard that there was opportunity to improve my Class in this area.”
Galliar snorted, his eyes darting around the area as though waiting for an ambush.
“Can’t exactly trespass on land I don’t own. What’s your Class then?”
“Enhancer. I was hoping to improve the scale of my Spells, so as to reinforce a larger group.”
That received a nod, though the man didn’t drop whatever magic he was channelling or step any closer to Will.
“And what makes you think I’d bother to help you? I may not have much to entertain myself in this bastard hut, but I’m not interested in having an army of you fuckers seeking me out.”
“I give you my word that I will not inform any others about this location or about your Class, unless given express permission. Beyond that, I am currently mid-D Rank, lead one of the largest and most powerful Clans at this point in time, and have personally been the first to Clear multiple Floors by this point.”
That seemed to have the desired effect. Galliar dropped his Spells and gave Will a tilt of the head.
“Huh, not bad. If you’re not bullshitting me, then maybe it is worth giving you the training. You sure you want to be a War Enhancer? There are other Elite Classes, you know. Probably easier ones to earn.”
Will shook his head firmly.
“War Enhancer is the path for me, sir. I intend to drag my people to the top of this Tower with me, and there is no better method I can see for accomplishing it.”
Another snort, sarcasm evident in the exhalation, but Galliar shrugged softly.
“You’d better come inside then. I’ll check your Sheet, make sure you aren’t lying, and then we’ll see if you’re really worth training. You can tie up the Equinus round the back, first.”
Equinus, huh? He hadn’t recalled anybody using that name for the particular species of mount in the first timeline, but it certainly fit. Horselike, but not a horse. He thanked Galliar for the consideration, and quickly hurried to do as he was told, before pushing open the hut’s door and stepping inside. The Class Trainer himself was sat back in an armchair, feet up on a desk covered in cuts and missing chunks, as though it had been used for cover in a pitched battle.
“First things first. Your Sheet.”
William Sutton/Pioneer [D]
PARTY LEADER: Chancers – Okembe/Trucker_1972/Daphne/Metrodora
CLAN LEADER: Towerfall
Class: Fighter/Enhancer
Strength: 35 (+3)
Endurance: 33 (+10)
Agility: 41 (+2)
Reflex: 36 (+2)
Mind Power: 31 (+3)
Mind Depth: 34
Skills: Tough Conditioning [E], Ambidexterity [E], Empowered Buffs [D]
Spells: Vigorous Sharpen [E], Alacrity [C], Verten’s Vitality [C], Endure [D], Glacial Pace [D], Bleeding Strikes [D], Caster’s Reinforcement [E], Pain Ward [E]
Active Effects:
Mark of the Snow Sentinel [C] – 50% Resistance to Cold and Cold damage
Boots of Jungle Serpent Swiftness [D] – 25% increased dodging and running speed
Tower Coins: 1859
Skill Points: 2