Chapter Four
It took another ten minutes of battle before Will was able to widen the openings on the golem’s back enough to get his swords inside, and Unk was bleeding fairly profusely as each time the golem slammed a limb into Will to try and dislodge him, the impact was transferred to the tank.
Between Endure, Verten’s Vitality, and Unk’s own armour and Stats, it wasn’t a big problem. If he wasn’t so busy keeping the casters safe while Will flailed and hacked, he’d have just downed a health potion and got on with it. Still, even with Pain Ward reducing his feeling, Will knew that the American would be hurting fairly badly so he didn’t take any more time than necessary.
[Core explosion warning, everyone be ready. Will]
He didn’t wait for a reply from the rest of the party to his message, before wedging both blades into the golem’s body, pointed at its core, and unleashing both Skills one after another.
“Powerful Shout! Piercing Whisper!”
“You have defeated [Floor 4 Exit Boss] [Millstone Golem]
Clear Rating: A
Clear Contribution: 32%
Clear Rewards: 1000 Tower Coins, Millstone Chestpiece [D], Solid as a Rock [D] Skill Guide
You have Cleared the [4th Floor] of the Tower.
Rewards:
1000 Tower Coins
Floor Transfer Sigil x 50
1 Skill Point
+1 All Stats
You have achieved the First Clear of this Floor. Choose one of two rewards.
1. Spawn Location Choice – Select where you and your party will be deposited on Floor 5, as well as the location that your Floor Transfer Sigils will link to.
2. Clan Growth Booster [Minor] – Gives a small bonus to all members of your Clan that affects Stat, Skill and Spell progression. Lasts for 1 week.
Welcome to the [5th Floor] of the Tower. The Denizens of the Floor may help you locate the Exit, if they see fit to do so.”
They didn’t waste any time hanging around in the now ruined Boss room before stepping through the small gateway that appeared in the air. There was no reason to delay, since Will had already made clear they should all take the Clan Growth Booster. It might be only Minor-tier, the weakest of the Clan buffs available on subsequent Floors, but all 5 of them could apply it simultaneously. Together, that would make a big difference. They could deal with random spawn locations by mapping and setting up transit links on the Floor, so it wasn’t worth losing any of the bonuses to compensate with the other choice. The only real decision was when to use them.
Blinding sunlight greeted the Chancers as they stepped out onto the surface of Floor 5. Daphne stumbled, slightly, not expecting the soft sand that her feet found beneath themselves.
“Ah, not ideal. We’re in the Eastern Desert section of the Floor. It’ll take a few hours moving at a fairly good clip if we want to reach one of the Denizen Villages before nightfall. Judging by the sun’s position up there, we should be able to do it but it’ll be tight.”
Not for the first time since he’d done it, Will thanked himself for being honest with the party. Not having to pretend to be figuring things out for the first time meant he could lead far more effectively. At his words, Metrodora began rummaging in her Spatial Bag and pulled out a cloth-wrapped bundle of vials.
“These should keep us cool and hydrated. Jen helped me with the recipe, and we sent one of your exploration teams into the desert Zone of Floor 3 to test them.”
He smiled warmly at his partner, having apparently missed that particular memo from the new Head of Research. As he took one of the tiny vials, no bigger than his index finger, and allowed the few drops of ice-cold liquid to pour from its neck onto his tongue, a heavy shiver ran across his whole body.
“Woooo!”
Unk’s voice pierced the air when he did the same, and it was joined by similar sounds from the others. Whatever Jen and Metrodora had put in the elixirs, its effect was immediate. Will’s skin felt as though he was stood in front of a powerful fan, and the already increasing dryness of his mouth and tongue suddenly abated. All in all, he hadn’t felt as refreshed in a long time.
Pausing to bond the Millstone Chestplate and suggest Unk to do the same, Will checked over his Sheet quickly.
William Sutton/Pioneer [D]
Class: Fighter/Enhancer
PARTY LEADER: Chancers – Okembe/Trucker_1972/Daphne/Metrodora
CLAN LEADER: Towerfall
Strength: 34 (+3)
Endurance: 33 (+8)
Agility: 36 (+2)
Reflex: 34 (+2)
Mind Power: 35 (+3)
Mind Depth: 34
Skills: Powerful Conditioning [D], 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]
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Bonded Items: Jungle Shaman’s Coronet [C], Millstone Chestpiece [D], Soul Anchor [D], Spatial Storage Ring [D], Whisper [D], Shout [D], Yeti-Hide Leather Trousers [D], Deflection Amulet [D], Boots of Jungle Serpent Swiftness [D], Reactive Bezoar [D], Mental Aegis Amulet [D]
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: 15779
Skill Points: 2
Not bad, all things considered. He didn’t like seeing unspent Skill Points, but he was waiting till Floor 6 and his Elite Class to use them, so it couldn’t be avoided. Thankfully, though he hadn’t been able to devote much time to grinding or Climbing since founding Towerfall, he had been able to keep up training with Tough Conditioning [E] until it had become Powerful Conditioning [D] and that had not only pushed him to D rank but a good way towards C. He had no real idea how the others to reach that point had done so, with the exception of Okembe doing it by upgrading Telekinesis/Telepathy and boosting his mental Stats.
While F to E was as simple as getting your Stats above 20, the stages beyond that were a lot more personal and difficult. You generally needed 30+ Stats, as well some combination of Spells, Skills and feats of higher level for D rank, but the specifics depended on your Class and build. For Will, he needed to improve one of his buffing spells to C and get his Agility and Mind Power to 40 if he wanted to reach the next stage. It would happen, but it was hard to force it when he had other priorities.
“Hey, I know you warned us about these Denizens, but you didn’t say that the Clear Notification would be so vague and spooky about it!”
As often happened, Will was shaken from his introspection by Daphne’s joking voice.
“Yeah, get used to that. Floors 7, 8 and 9 barely even give you a vague hint. Plus, even I’m not sure exactly what the Clear Requirements are for some of the later Floors. Don’t worry though, the Denizens on this Floor aren’t that tough and tend not to be aggressive unless you really screw up.”
Floor 5’s Denizens filled small villages dotted across the landscape, safe areas with a few extra huts and the space to construct more, along with actual stores and inns. They hadn’t yet Climbed high enough to meet larger civilisations and more impressive residents, but the way that the people of Earth interacted with these first Tower-natives would set the tone for future Floors. If possible, Will wanted to avoid some of the conflicts that had emerged in the first timeline that way.
“No more time-wasting, we can talk as we move, let’s go let’s go!”
Metrodora’s vine grafted tentacle slapped against the sand a few times to punctuate her words, and Will quickly nodded and began leading the way. Though the Eastern Desert wasn’t the best spawn location of the ones available, it didn’t have too many monsters during the daylight hours, so they prioritised speed over care as they jogged across dunes.
The sun was low, almost disappeared over the horizon, by the time they came upon the first signs of settlement. Low stone walls, with guard towers dotted across them made of the same sandy rock, ringed a claustrophobic and haphazard crush of tents and huts and buildings. There didn’t seem to be any order or structure to the locations of the dwellings, and as the Chancers drew closer to the area they could see people hustling about within.
“Hello there! Welcome to Dunebed Village!”
The figure who came riding out of the open village gates, on a creature that looked something like a hybrid of a camel and an insect, was humanoid but definitely not human. A lot of theories had existed, in the first timeline, about the nature of the Denizens. Were they constructs, like the ones in Events? Was the Tower another planet that had collided, and they its alien natives? Almost all were humanoid, although some on the higher Floors stretched that term somewhat, and before the 25th Floor they couldn’t or wouldn’t share much information about where they came from or how they reached the Tower.
By the end, Will felt like he understood. The Denizens were people from previous Iterations, members of species just like Earth who had undergone the Tower’s arrival and test for themselves. Consensus was that they were likely from failed Iterations, saved from the annihilation of their world to act as NPCs in the Tower’s next use.
The thought was both scary and hopeful, although given the Coin of Second Chances [SS] had indicated a worse punishment than normal for failure on this second run, he did wonder what relationship that risk had to Denizens. Would there be more Earth-originated Denizens if they failed this time, or less? He wasn’t sure, but dismissed the thought whenever it emerged. He wasn’t going to fail, so it was irrelevant.
“Hi there! We’re the Chancers! Your village looks lovely, are we okay to enter? We have had a long day, and would appreciate the ability to rest within your walls.”
He hadn’t interacted too much with the Denizens of the lower Floors in the first timeline. That had been left to more senior Clan members, usually, since there were so many people competing to speak with the Denizens about any given topic. Still, he knew how best to approach them when they weren’t actively hostile, having had it drilled into his head by his FCA trainers. They didn’t want one of their fodder Climbers to stumble upon a hidden village and accidentally make an enemy of the inhabitants.
“No, that was the job of the leadership, when they tried to bully the Denizens into acting like slaves.”
He thought darkly, not letting the negative memory reach his face. The figure drew close enough to make out all of its features, and stepped down from its mount. It was taller than any of the Chancers, at least 7 and a half feet in total, but with slender willowy limbs and features that prevented it from being intimidating. He wasn’t certain as far as gender went, as the creature’s smooth and almost blank facial features and lack of any hair or secondary sexual characteristics gave no clues. Frankly, there was no guarantee that this particular species even had genders, let alone the same ones as humans.
“Welcome, Chancers. I’m the Mayor of this village, Irikaz Thox. We would be delighted to host you, as we have not had outsiders in quite some time!”
The little hint of past Climbers would have grabbed Will in the first timeline, sent him down a rabbit-hole of rebuffed questions and pointless speculation. This time, though, he simply nodded and offered a hand to the creature – Irikaz. They gave it a curious eye, but after a moment seemed to shrug and reach a soft, thin palm out to shake.
“Hi, I’m Daphne. This is my Uncle, Trucker_67, that’s Okembe, that’s Metrodora and the bossman is called Pioneer!”
He was almost bowled out of the way as the younger girl stepped up and gave a small curtsey to Irikaz. She’d been the most excited of everyone he’d told to learn that the Tower had natives, and judging by the enthusiasm in her tone that hadn’t dulled over their long trek. The others were slightly more calm as they gave their own greetings, and Irikaz’ face twisted in surprise and then what Will hoped was joy.
“Trucker underscore sixty seven is an unusual name, do you mind if I ask its meaning?”
Daphne burst out laughing as the alien directed the question towards her uncle, having got exactly the reaction she’d hoped for, and Metrodora made a sarcastic swat at her head in response.
“We’re from Earth, and some of us have strange names by your standards. I prefer to go by Unk, though, if you don’t mind, Mayor Thox.”
To his credit, the American took his niece’s prank in stride, and Irikaz gave a wide smile, the most expression that had been shown all conversation.
“Ah, Earth. An interesting home, one we have not met natives of before. Please, come in, I will introduce you to some of the others and you can tell us of Earth.”
Ah, so he was one of those Denizens. Although most simply lived out whatever role they appeared to have been designated and showed little meta-awareness of the Tower or its mechanics, there were some who gave more indication of true sapience. Many were just as enthused as Irikaz looked to be about learning from the Climbers, and more than one useful discovery had been made just by deigning to have a short chat with a curious Tower-native. It was a blessing, actually, since it meant Will would have an easier time building a rapport.
Irikaz didn’t climb back onto his strange mount as he lead them back, instead leading it with a simple leather reign strapped across the creatures’ armoured neckplates. He and Daphne hit it off immediately, as they swapped questions back and forth in animated voices. Will was listening, but he was also looking around and thinking about the longer-term plans.
Irikaz, who it turned out was from a species that called themselves Gellons and preferred “he” as a pronoun to “they”, informed them that he did have a way of contacting the other villages in the Eastern Desert area, which was good. He needed to make inroads, bring Brunjar and Dane up with their teams, and get things stabilised on this Floor ASAP. Floor 6 held his Elite Class, and he wanted it sooner rather than later. Fully Clearing this Floor, picking it clean of rewards and benefits, was something he’d leave to the Clan and the Climbers who came after.
He’d likely have to spend some more time in the coming months having meetings with other Climbers and Clans, trying to keep relations with each other and the Denizens cordial, and so if he was going to do something just for himself, he couldn’t be wasteful or inefficient. As they followed Irikaz into his village, smiling and waving at the curious citizens (all of whom appeared to be the gellons as well) along the way down a winding road of simple sandstone tiles, his mind was working in overdrive. So much to do, and only so many hours in a day to do it.