Chapter One
Will fought the urge to bash his head against the wall.
“How are they still recruiting?”
Brunjar gave him a commiserating look and shook his own head.
“Our reach isn’t infinite. Especially with the Tower expanding so much, there are lots of Climbers we just haven’t got to with our warnings. The FCA are offering extremely good pay out-of-Tower, and promising huge insurance payouts for the families of Climbers who die. We can’t compete with that till our loot selling operation is more robust.”
Stopping the formation of the Clan that had exploited him and his allies, the only Clan among the 10 Ascended Clans that Will actually believed hurt Humanity’s Climb more than they helped, was not going as well as he’d hoped. It wasn’t that his changes had no effect. Much the opposite, in fact. Several Clans that didn’t exist first time round had formed, and the Clans that he did remember were different in many ways.
Somehow, despite that, the FCA had still formed just as before, and at this rate would genuinely be able to compete for the Ascended Clan Tokens. He looked down again, checking Brunjar’s custom leaderboard.
CLAN RANKINGS
1. Excellent Jade Alliance – Arakan [D]
2. Towerfall – Pioneer [D]
3. Bold Explorers – Colby [E]
4. Full Clear Association – Jeremy Shiner [F]
5. EuroClimb – Phillipe Delacroix [E]
6. Inexorable Advance Guild – Suqot [D]
7. United Resource Extraction and Monitoring Team – Extractor 1 [E]
8. El Castillo – Vasco [E]
9. Spire Conquerors – Implacable [E]
10. Vanguard Group – Samir [E]
Arakan, though he hadn’t yet earned his “Thousand-Sword” moniker, was growing even faster than he had in the first timeline, thanks to Will’s information and the increased pace of the Tower in general. He was arrogant, and somewhat selfish, but unlike the FCA Will had little knowledge of his Clan’s workings or of his weaknesses, and so he’d decided on a strategy of management rather than conflict. The EJA weren’t attacking other Climbers, and in the cases where members of the Clan had been caught doing so Arakan and his subordinates had punished them. That was progress, and he was confident he could build on it.
He wasn’t too worried about being in second place. Arakan had hit D Rank before him, thanks to leaving administration to his subordinates much more, and back on Earth the Chinese Government was stopping just short of conscripting Climbers. According to the representatives from EuroClimb and the other Government-affiliated Clans Will had spoken with, this was a tense situation being kept under control by the overall dominance of Western nations in-Tower. Towerfall would rise to the top once they cleared the Exit Dungeon and hit Floor 5, and when they were the first to gain Ascended Clan status that would be fixed in place.
The fact that, despite dedicating a not-insignificant amount of resources to spreading warnings that the FCA were untrustworthy, getting hold of their contracts to publish, and encouraging people towards other Clans, the group were still almost in the top 3, gave Will far more anxiety.
The problem was that he didn’t know where all the Ascended Clan Tokens were. He knew were several were, and he had at least a theory for the others, but the details were muddy. There were at least 4 Tokens that the FCA could obtain before him if he was unlucky, and if they did then stopping them would become a far harder task.
“They’re concentrated on the lower Floors, and they’re going for mass-recruitment over quality. They aren’t helping their newbies grow like we are, so as long as other Clans hold up their end of the deal and keep the first three Floors accessible they won’t be a threat.”
He did have to give Brunjar credit. Not only had the man’s information network, administrative skill and personal charisma proved the silver bullet when it came to expanding Towerfall but he was also something of an impromptu therapist when the responsibility threatened to crush Will. There had been no better choice he could see for a Clan Overseer.
He shook his head, waving away the rest of Brunjar’s reassurances.
“It’s fine. We’ll just have to be prepared for Floor 10. I know it seems quite far away, but once we hit 5 we’re not stopping till 10. No more waiting around, no more sandbagging.”
The bearded man took on a serious expression at that. Will had only told him and Dane the full truth, about the Coin of Second Chances [SS] and the first timeline, a few days prior. It meant he could give Brunjar far more information and let the man decide how to distribute it for maximum effect, and if he was going back to Climbing full-time he’d need that. Plus, they’d more than proven loyalty and the capacity to handle it. Still, they hadn’t quite adjusted yet.
“Yeah. Speaking of that, we have the announcement in an hour. Colby’s team are still in the Hobgoblin Lord’s Lair, but he’s sent a few more groups to compensate. Are you sure about telling everyone in advance?”
“Absolutely. We won’t be the first to every discovery, even if that’s all we dedicated ourselves to. I don’t want to give people a reason to hoard secrets if they find them.”
Stolen novel; please report.
This was something Will had settled on right at the beginning of his journey. More important than his own power, more important than any specific move or goal, was giving people the tools to help themselves and each other. He could give them the practical tools by distributing build guides and Event tips-and-tricks, but the emotional and ethical tools would be just as important.
“Okay, then we just need to go over the plans for while you’re gone again.”
Climbers littered the area, bunched in small groups that stayed close to their larger Clan allies. Brunjar had managed to find a handful of people with relevant experience and useful Classes to construct the little stage on which Will now stood, and the walled area protecting the crowd from any roaming monsters. He looked over the surveyed mass, noting specific faces that he recognised as allies or issues. The last two months had been administrative hell.
Will was never the most social person, never the most adept at leadership or negotiation, and without Brunjar and Dane’s support he’d have struggled to recruit much outside of the people he’d personally met. Now though, they were ready. The rest of the Chancers were meeting him later in the day, and he was going to take them on a whirlwind clearing tour of the next few Floors. Just one final obligation in his “Clan Leader” hat and he could return to what he enjoyed – Climbing.
“Welcome, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well, and your Climbs have been fruitful. In case you don’t know me, I’m Pioneer. I lead Towerfall, and our mission is to ensure that each and every one of us has the ability to reach the top of this Tower.”
His voice almost trembled. He’d given plenty of speeches since founding the Clan, had faced down veiled threats from Government representatives and other Climbers alike, but he still got a flutter when he looked out at a crowd.
“Those of you who’ve been Climbing for a while might remember when Floor 3 was Cleared. My team located the Hidden Bosses and claimed the Key Pieces, and we shared this information with everyone. That is what Towerfall is about, and so I have brought you here to do something similar again. My scouts have located the Exit Dungeon for this Floor, and we have obtained some useful information about its function.”
Of course, Will’s scouts had been following maps and guides he’d constructed based off his future knowledge, but that was a detail best kept to the chest. Instead, he continued on, explaining what the other Climbers needed to know about the Exit Dungeon.
“Several groups or individuals may enter simultaneously, though there is a limit of 1000 Climbers at any one time. From what we can tell about the Dungeon, it is Instanced, which means that groups will not cross paths or interfere with one another. The threats within are significant, harder than anything you will have faced on the previous Floors, and I would highly encourage a full 6 person party for any group intending to Clear it. We believe that once a party has Cleared the Dungeon, if they are members of a Clan then they can provide access to Floor 5 for some of their Clan members, but this is just a theory.”
It wasn’t just a theory. This was part of the reason Will was looking forward to Climbing with his party again. He didn’t have to hint and imply, couch his answers in false modesty to keep up the facade of a well informed but not time-travelled expert. Still, now he had a reputation to bank on and a Clan to work with, he’d been able to dramatically increase the amount of information he shared, and he’d already been seeing the benefits.
If he had to estimate, he’d guess at there being two or three times as many Climbers on this Floor as in the first timeline, though he still hadn’t entered at this point during his first life so was only guessing. He was only looking at a tiny fraction of the Tower’s population at the moment, with thousands if not millions scattered across its Floors at this very moment. The Tower had already begun expanding to accommodate, and his scouts were reporting more Roaming Bosses and Hidden Events spawning as well.
“I will be leading my party, and several other parties from my Clan, into the Dungeon immediately after I leave here.”
This was the possibly awkward part. He cast a glance at Dane, stood like a statue in heavy plated armour with a warhammer in hand, and received an almost imperceptible nod in reply. They had Clan members in the crowd who would deal with any disruption.
“While I do believe in sharing information, and I want you all to follow us to Floor 5 and beyond, my Clan will be entering the Dungeon before anyone else. I will be releasing the information that we currently have about the Dungeon’s location and mechanics in three days. If members of Towerfall have not managed to reach the next Floor within those three days, then I wish you all good luck in surpassing us. Once we’ve reached Floor 5, I will begin working to construct an effective guide for the Dungeon that should allow those of you with lower abilities or Stats to make it through without trouble.”
Whispers, murmurs, even shouts erupted at this but that was to be expected. Will felt a little hypocritical, but he had a good reason for preserving his head-start. He wanted to hit Floor 10 before anyone else, to make sure he got the Ascended Clan Token.
If Towerfall couldn’t get one of those Tokens, they’d be crushed by the other Clans no matter how much future knowledge he shared. He’d still be able to help Humanity, but it would be up to others to lead the way and that was something he didn’t want to risk. There may be others who could do better than him, but it was an unknown quantity.
“We have made agreements with the heads of the EuroClimb and The Bold Explorers, and intend to provide security at the site of the Exit Dungeon so that order can be maintained and nobody can monopolise access to the next Floor. You may be familiar with similar efforts by these Clans and my own on the lower Floors. If you wish to assist in constructing a fair system for determining access, or keeping things civil, then speak to someone from any of our three Clans.”
That got even more people talking, whispering about “secret alliances” and wondering if Will was working with EuroClimb because of his British origin. He ignored it. EuroClimb might be funded by primarily European governments, but its leadership were all Climbers and he knew several from the first timeline as trustworthy. The Bold Explorers had functionally become the police of the Tower first time round, and had done as good of a job as could have been expected, so he was happy to help speed that process along.
The crowd seemed to take his words fairly well, all things considered. There were some who seemed clearly annoyed – he caught a glimpse of Thousand Sword Arakan and Almighty Wrestler Dao bickering near the back, probably over the fact that despite having more members and more Earth money the Excellent Jade Alliance was still playing second fiddle to Will when it came to Climbing. Still, overall the sentiment seemed to be one of respect and gratitude, showing that once again Brunjar’s ability to weed out the groups with potential from those just looking to selfishly hoard resources had paid off.
He gave a few more pieces of information about the Dungeon and Floor 4, things he’d already shared within his Clan so the members could get stronger ready for this push, and handed over to Brunjar to give more details on how and when the information would be released.