“What? How could you possibly know about that?” Realization dawned on Turok’s face. “Did Astrid tell you?”

I shook my head. “Not Astrid. Hiko and Yuri. They filled me in on the conditions that you lot get when you decide to sign up for the Tower.”

I debated with myself on how much to tell him. Unlike with Hiko, who was someone that I could almost trust, I knew I couldn’t trust Turok at all. To be honest, I trusted Yuri more, ever since he lost his memory of our battles. But I noticed a look across Turok’s face. Was that longing, maybe even desperation? Rather than offer up information, I waited to see if I was reading his reaction right. Sure enough, his next words were filled with unmasked desire.

“Please, tell me what they said.”

Even though my guess had been correct, I was still surprised at the sheer longing in his voice. I hesitated, trying to determine how much I should tell him, how vague I should be. But when he saw my uncertainty, he shoved Amos away.

“Here, take him,” he said desperately. “Please. I must know. I’ll do anything you ask.”

At my side, Kundar gasped in shock. “Turok, what are you doing?” he demanded. “They’ll kill me.”

Unfortunately for Kundar, it seemed like Turok didn’t give a shit. His eyes bored into mine with an uncomfortable intensity, and I began to realize why he was so desperate.

“You don’t remember anything,” I said. “Before the Tower, I mean.”

His face twitched—all the answer I needed. I pursed my lips and nodded.

“Okay, Turok, I think we can come to an agreement.” Using the flat of my katana, I prodded Kundar to join his friends. The boar-faced alien looked at me in confusion for a moment before picking up his shield, placing it in his inventory, and walking back over to Turok and the other champion.

Kundar had a defeated posture as he approached, and I saw Turok’s face soften. “I’m sorry, my friend,” he said gently, “but you know how long I’ve been here, how long I’ve waited with no answers. I must know.”

Kundar’s shoulders slumped, and the creature nodded once. “I understand, old friend. I don’t blame you.”

Turok placed a hand on his shoulder, met his eyes, and nodded once. “Thank you, Kundar.” He turned back to me with a steely-eyed determination. “Please,” he said, “I’ll tell you whatever I know. Come to any arrangement you require. I just need to know what you heard.”

“Before I tell you anything,” I said, “we need to sign a Soul Contract right here, right now. You and the rest of the Champions will no longer be allowed to conscript any more Climbers.”

His face dropped immediately. “We must meet our quota.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why do you have to meet a quota?”

“If we don’t, we’ll not go to the next floor. We’ll be out of this Tower, forced to wait many years, possibly centuries, until our rotation comes up again. They’re not so cruel as to keep us awake for the entirety of our purgatory, but we do have to stand by for the duration of the Climb. In my experience, it’s five to ten years of nothing, twiddling our thumbs to the side.”

“I see. And what is your quota, exactly?” I asked.

“The bare minimum—” he started, but cut off as the tentacle-faced alien stepped to his side.

“Turok,” he hissed. “The restriction.”

Turok’s eyes shifted up for the briefest moment, then turned to his friend. “Damn the Restriction. This is the best chance we’ve had in 300 years, Aladar. What’s a little pain in the face of that hope?”

The alien named Aladar sighed, stepping back. Turok looked at us, Frank, Byron, Lacy, Jerome, and Amos at my side, then stepped forward. The others tensed, but I saw what he intended to do through Fate’s power.

Dropping to one knee, he bowed his head.

“I cannot promise not to recruit. Not meeting the quota would banish us to a fate worse than death. But I promise not to recruit any of your race in exchange for some answers.”

A notification appeared in my vision.

Turok Lighttouch has offered a Soul Contract:

Condition 1: He pledges not to recruit or forcibly conscript any Climber of the human race for the duration of this Tower Climb.

Condition 2: He pledges not to engage in hostilities against you or those designated as part of your party.

Counter-Party Condition 1: In exchange, the Counter-Party swears to answer his questions pertaining to the Cultivator known as Astrid Black-Eye, the Cultivator known as Watcher Yuri, and the Cultivator known as Mother Hiko for the duration of this Tower Climb.

I studied the contract, reading through it a few times. I knew better than most that there were untold loopholes in a Soul Contract, no matter how ironclad you thought it was. But while this Soul Contract was interesting, it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for.

“First of all,” I said to Turok, “you can stand. I know we were just fighting, but I’m not interested in having anyone kneel before me.” Surprise registered on his face for a split second, and then he gave a respectful nod as he rose to his feet.

“Second,” I continued, “I didn’t say you couldn’t recruit anyone. I said I didn’t want you to conscript anyone. As long as you’re honest about the Boons you offer and the ramifications of joining your faction, I won’t bar you from speaking to anyone. Now, I would prefer if you signed on the Jree, as I had hoped to recruit most of the humans and the Co’xatl to my own faction, but I’m beginning to understand the fuckery of this Tower and the contracts its inhabitants are forced into, and believe it or not, I am sympathetic.”

Behind Turok, Aladar and Kundar exchanged a look that I couldn’t quite read. I continued anyway.

“Now, I don’t know what role the factions will play on the Second Floor, or even higher. I’m hoping we won’t be pitted against each other. In all honesty, I’d rather us form an alliance than try and cut you out at the knees. The more of us Climbers and the native Tower inhabitants working together, the better.”

“I’m grateful to hear you say that,” Turok said. “But unfortunately, the one truth of the Tower, the one concept that runs through the arteries of this place, is also the name of its creator.”

“Conflict,” I supplied.

“So you know.”

I sighed. “Yes, I’m very familiar with the Aspect that created these Towers and the purpose behind them.” I shook my head in frustration. “I don’t get this guy. Everyone I’ve talked to claims he’s honorable, that he’s doing this for some grand purpose, but I look around and all I see is needless suffering and pointless fighting. Wouldn’t we all be stronger if we worked together?”

Turok pursed his lips, not quite in disagreement, but I could tell that he had some thoughts on the matter.

“Do you see things differently?” I asked.

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He shrugged. “It’s not that I disagree with the sentiment,” he said, “and to be honest, I have no memories of my life before the Tower. But I have been through many iterations, many Climbers, many races, and one thing that I have come to realize is that power is a limited resource, and there comes a breaking point when you concentrate enough power into a single individual. No amount of cooperation, teamwork, or camaraderie among weaker individuals can overcome that breaking point. From what I’ve heard of the outside world, every faction of note collects power and funnels it to the top as much as they can. One B-grade powerhouse is worth more than a thousand C-grade cultivators.”

“I don’t buy that,” I said. “We’re all still Nascents,” I waved my hand to encompass my party. “You said so yourself, you’re an Adept, right?” He nodded. “But you would agree that the gap between our power levels is not insurmountable.”

Kundar stepped forward. “You are not wrong, Climber, but as Turok said, none of us have our memories from before the Towers. We woke up with these powers, we didn’t develop them naturally. We skipped all the struggle, strife, and revelation that came with our rise to the Adept stage. To us, it’s like this power was handed to us on a silver platter. I’m quite confident that the Turok from before the Tower could handle all of us without breaking a sweat.”

That was a thought that gave me pause. I had been considering breaking his geas the same way I had broken Yuri’s, only this time on purpose. If we entered a Soul Contract once my redos were back up and he broke it, then on the next redo, his geas would be broken and he’d remember his past life. I hoped to use this as leverage to guarantee a friendship with another powerful Adept. But the truth was, we had gotten lucky with Yuri. Though his Tower persona had been bloodthirsty and merciless, he claimed in his pre-Tower life that he never murdered sentient beings. What if Turok was a raging dickhead before the tower? I’d have no Soul Contract in place to guarantee his good behavior. And now, Kundar was telling me that the pre-Tower Turok might be something that we couldn’t even handle.

“So, what, then?” I asked. “Three alien races enter, only one leaves? Are we doomed to extinguish each other in the pursuit of this Conflict guy’s sense of the universe?”

Turok shrugged. “It does appear that a certain amount of fighting will be mandated. But my offer still stands. I am willing to sign a Soul Contract not to engage in hostilities with your people and your faction. There will be plenty of enemies as we Ascend.”

Well, peace, I could at least agree on. I gathered my thoughts and willed the System to offer an amended Soul Contract to Turok. He couldn’t conscript or mislead any potential recruits and in exchange, he’d be able to meet his quota. There was also a stipulation calling for peace, though I made an amendment that they could defend themselves if attacked—using the least amount of force necessary. God knew I didn’t have anywhere close to a handle on the bulk of the human race—could barely even corral my own Instance without the help of my party.

Turok’s eyes scanned the air in front of him, then he turned to me and nodded. “We accept.”

The Soul Contract materialized in my soul, forming a familiar knot near where my contract with Yuri had rested. The conditions coalesced into physical strands that wrapped around my soul, locking in place like chains. I felt the unbreakable nature of those chains, felt how it would destroy me to violate the conditions. Redos or not, I realized that I had no interest in testing the bounds of a Soul Contract.

“Um, can you tell us what’s happening?” Byron asked from behind me. “What the hell is a Soul Contract?”

I looked over my shoulder to see Byron with a confused expression. Jerome was crossing his arms with an annoyed scowl, while Amos was coddling his pigeon like a newborn. Lacy, thankfully, didn’t give me a disapproving look, but I could tell she had wished we had talked things over more before jumping into another alliance. Frank had a quizzical look on his face, and I could already hear him asking to inspect the Soul Contract once everything was settled.

“I’m about to explain everything,” I said to Byron.

And I did…almost. I relayed everything I knew from Astrid, Hiko, and Yuri about their history, the conditions that brought them into the Tower, and all of my interactions with them.

Except one thing.

I made sure to omit exactly how Yuri had regained his prior memory and lost his Tower memory through violating the Soul Contract. It was risky, but I had specifically noted that Turok had crafted my Condition so that I only had to answer his questions faithfully. So I spewed out almost everything I knew to drown him in information and direct him away from that topic. He never asked about Yuri's memories, and I didn't bring them up.

Once Turok was satisfied, we bade them farewell. The Condition didn't fulfill, as none of them had time limits or closing conditions specified. Which was fine with me. As long as they couldn't mess with us, I was content with having the Soul Contract conditions stand. If we avoided too many interactions with the Champions, I wasn't too worried about my half of the Soul Contract.

“If there’s nothing else, we’ll see you on the Second Floor,” I said.

He gave us a respectful nod and said, “Till then.” Kundar and Aladar followed him as he turned to go. I hadn’t seen the Champions of Order’s stronghold yet, but I assumed that was their destination.

Once they had cleared off, I turned back to the party. “Sorry for taking the reins there, guys. But my Fate vision showed me that the fight was gonna be bloody.” Lex had flown down from the sky where he had been diligently waiting to see if the fight kicked off again. Once the Soul Contract was signed, he had landed on my shoulder and listened as I filled Turok in on the details. “In fact, in the vision, Lex was the first one to die. I thought peace was the better option.” I gave him a loving pet.

“Wha—excuse me?” he asked indignantly. “I am a battle-hardened combat goose. There’s absolutely zero chance I died first.”

I snapped my fingers as I remembered the vision. “You’re right! You died second. Lala died first.”

Amos’ head snapped up, his eyes wide. “Thank you, mate.”

I didn’t do it for Lala, I thought. All the same, I gave him a friendly nod.

I surveyed the group. Everyone seemed uninjured, though I knew Jerome had taken a blow across the chest of his armor. And, of course, the pigeon clutched in Amos’ hands had a bent wing—but I wasn’t counting her.

“Everyone good?” I asked, just to make sure.

Byron held his hands out and examined them. “Ten fingers, ten toes. All good.”

I nodded, turning to Frank and Jerome. Frank nodded shyly, while Jerome rubbed at his chest and grunted once. Turning to Lacy, I raised my eyebrows in question. She was biting her lip and I immediately grew serious.

“Lacy? You good?”

She nodded, waving away my concern. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. We just…we need to talk,” she finally said.

I suppressed a groan. Those were the words someone used before they broke up with you. But we weren’t even together! Not that I didn’t want to be, but someone wasn’t allowed to break up with you before you even become official!

Right?

“Sure thing.” I tried to keep the trepidation out of my voice. Turning my thoughts from that looming conversation, I addressed the group. “Now that that’s dealt with, it’s time to grab our final round of Boons.” Frank and Byron shared an excited look. Jerome’s expression remained neutral. Amos was still fussing over his pigeon. Lacy had a thoughtful expression as she chewed her lip. “Let’s head over and we can gameplan the best distribution.”

As we walked over to the Boon plaza, we engaged in idle chat. But I was only partially paying attention to the conversation around me. Inside, my mind was churning.

What was the best plan? I thought fitfully. There were the two Heirloom Boons, the Class upgrade, the Spirit stat unlock, the stat boosts, Karmic Sight, the crafting tables, the information packets, and the two skill Boons from Time and the Keepers.

I knew none of us would pick Fate’s Boon, no matter how overpowered it was—beholding ourself to that bitch anymore was off the table.

The Boons we couldn’t pass up on were the Heirloom items and the Class upgrade. In my opinion, those were the three biggest level ups on the entire First Floor. Three Boons down, three to go. Karmic Sight and the Spirit stat unlock were probably my next two choices for the team. Byron had explained the Karmic Sight a bit in the last redo and Yuri had claimed it was one of the most powerful Boons before I told him I couldn’t take it.

From what Byron had mentioned, when activated, it displayed the Karmic threads tying living creatures together. He had said that by focusing on specific strands, he could glimpse packets of information about the person or animal and how they were connected to the living being on the other end of the thread. When he looked at me, he said the Karmic threads were obscured by blinding, golden light—my Fate energy, I had guessed. But for the others, he saw interweaving strands connecting to each other in fascinating ways.

We hadn’t fully experimented with the Sight, but I had already thought of a few powerful usecases. For one, it seemed to be usable as an infallible bullshit detector. Anyone claiming to be friendly would immediately be found out based on the information from their Karmic threads. We also suspected it could be used to detect invisible or hiding enemies—the threads trailing away from them would out them once in range.

It was a definite must-grab, but I wasn’t certain Byron was the best candidate for the final run. He wasn’t the most reliable amongst the team, nor the brightest, if I was being honest. On the other hand, the Class upgrade and the two Heirloom items didn’t require any big-brained thinking. But Byron wasn’t my top candidate for the Heirloom items. His Class was more about support and being a force multiplier for the team. The weapon or armor would be wasted on him. The Class upgrade, however…

As the most studious—and probably most intelligent of the party—I figured Frank would be the best candidate for the Karmic Sight. Though I knew the Mind stat boost would also give him a nice power-up, the plus 50 across the three Mind stats was a Boon that would be eclipsed once we all hit Adept. It was a short-term decision that I couldn’t justify if we wanted to make it to the top of this Tower.

Of course, that was assuming he wasn’t able to select his Patron’s Boon for a second time.

As for Amos, I heavily considered the Body Boon again. For one, his pigeons scaled on his Body stats, making them less flying rats and more of a legitimate fighting force.

And for two, I had really been enjoying forced-sobriety Amos. Our battle with Turok had shown that shit-faced Amos was a liability that we couldn’t afford.

That just left Jerome, Lacy, and myself.