"Greed in some manner is what leads us all to Ascend, for in order to become Seekers we must all harbor an intense and selfish desire, the greediness to see our desires, our goals, and our dreams fulfilled above all else. But greed alone cannot carry you to the top of Eden."
- Saa'færuun the Enlightened
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Eden Floor 1 | The town of Weir:
Lexi was lounging in the lower branches of a tree, bemoaning her poor luck at having lost to the person she challenged this morning, when she heard something interesting from the nearby group of 4 walking through the courtyard below her.
"If we all get 4 points apiece for this quest, won't that put us quite a bit ahead of the other Seekers? It should be easy for you to make up your win afterwards Sola," the tall blonde boy says to his much shorter catgirl companion.
Lexi can't help but stare down at the girl's fluffy ears as she walks past, they looked so soft.
The elegant looking girl walking beside them spares a sharp glance up in Lexi's direction, her emerald green eyes glaring up at her perch for a moment before she speaks up, "yes, assuming we can complete it within the day it should indeed set us ahead. Now if we could stop mentioning our business where just anyone can hear."
Lexi hurriedly looks off to the side, trying to seem inconspicuous before she nearly falls right out of the tree when a voice calls out from right in front of her.
"Hi, I'm Sola." The cat beastkin greets Lexi from where she'd seemingly just appeared on the branch in front of her, a mischievous twinkle shining in her deep purple eyes.
"Gyah!" Lexi screeches out as she scrambles to keep her balance atop the branch, finally latching onto the catgirl in front of her to steady herself, "Um hi? U-um I mean, I'm Lexi.. nice to meet you?" As Sola sets her down, Lexi's eyes are once again drawn to her fluffy black ears as they flick in amusement at Lexi's startled response.
They were so cute! Lexi decided then and there that she needed them. Impulsively, she scrunches her eyes shut in order to concentrate, and after a brief moment she feels the new cat ears grow and settle atop her head. She immediately reaches up to fidget and play with the new additions to her body, marveling at the texture and sensations of them as well as the way her hearing has changed before she abruptly remembers the girl in front of her. Her eyes snap open, an embarrassed blush rapidly spreading across her face as she sheepishly looks back at the girl whose ears she'd just copied.
"Ah I-I'm sorry- I wasn't- I mean-" Lexi starts to stammer out in a panic.
"-Huh, you're a natural shapeshifter? I didn't know such a thing existed, it definitely wasn't something I ever encountered back where I come from," Sola responds before Lexi can finish her apology, the slight tilt of her head makes her look more intrigued than upset or anything.
"Y-you're not mad?" Lexi stammers back disbelievingly. Shapeshifting to mimic someone's features right when you first meet them would be seen as quite rude by most people. Lexi always struggled with her impulsiveness when she saw something she really liked though, so she hadn't been able to stop herself from mimicking Sola's ears. Even now, as she happily flicks her new ears around atop her head, she doesn't think she'd have regretted it, even if Sola had gotten angry and refused her apology.
Sola's other companions are making their way over to the base of the tree as she speaks again, "Mad? Why would I be? I'm sure Ars here would copy my ears too if he could." She gestures down at the boy below, who suddenly starts blushing at her accusation, "Don't think I can't tell how tempted you've been to touch them Ars, and the answer will always be no."
"Oh come on! Anyone would be tempted! You get it, right Amelia??" The tall boy, Ars, tries to defend himself as Sola glares down at him from the tree branch.
The elegant girl turns her nose up at his obvious plea for help, "hmph! As if I'd be at the whim of such a base desire. Besides, don't you find it demeaning? Sola's not some common housepet."
Ars looks aggrieved at the lack of support, causing Lexi to speak up on his behalf, albeit quietly, "I get it.."
Having heard her quiet defense, the boy turns to her with faux tears glistening in his eyes, "At least someone gets it. You said your name was Lexi right? I'm Ars, its nice to meet you."
"Amelia de Felaine, charmed. And this one is Kuro," the blonde girl, Amelia, tersely introduces herself as well as her golem. The golem even gives a little bow in Lexi's direction.
If Lexi was being honest, the golem made her a bit uncomfortable, as a being completely devoid of any individuality, or even any personality beyond what had been programmed into it. It's existence almost feels like the opposite of her own. Where her form is more fluid in nature and can be changed and shifted to suit her current mood and tastes, encompassing whichever combination of individual traits and looks that she likes. The golem on the other hand is stagnant in it's existence, it only exists in the way that it was originally designed and created to and it can never change on it's own. She would hate having to live such an existence more than anything..
As the silence starts to drag on, she snaps out of her train of thought and introduces herself again, more confidently this time, "My name is Lexi, and it's nice to meet you all!"
As the other two remain silent, and Sola looks intently into her eyes with an expectant look at her, Lexi hesitantly continues, "Um, is there anything I can help you with?"
As Sola's eyes turn to victorious crescents at Lexi's response, she can't help but wonder if she'd made a mistake somehow.
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Eden Floor 1 | The town of Weir:
Just call it intuition but I'd had a good feeling that Lexi would be able, and willing, to help us.
Though her being a shapeshifter was an unexpected surprise, it would obviously come in handy if we could have her infiltrate the group of kidnappers once we found them. Speaking of the kidnappers, none of us thought it'd be very hard to find the fuckers, but finding all the people they'd kidnapped, and finding them before they kidnapped anyone else, could prove more difficult. That's why it was ideal to get as much information as possible beforehand, and if Lexi was particularly suited to helping with that, then I was sure both Amelia and Ars would be happy to have her along.
"So why'd we pick her up?" Asks Amelia from where she sits beside us. We were in the same courtyard where we'd met Lexi, just sitting on a bench instead of in a tree while we waited for her to go and accept the necessary quest. She'd also stated that she needed to go and get changed after agreeing to help us, which Amelia had already begrudgingly done a little earlier.
"Honestly I just thought she seemed interesting, and I usually trust my intuition when it comes to befriending new people. It's the same reason why I initially wanted the three of us to team up," I give her shoulder a companionable bump with my own while letting her know the simple reasons for my actions.
"Well I'm inclined to trust your intuition, it's worked out pretty well for us so far. And she seems cool," Ars voices his support with some conspicuous flattery.
Amelia scoffs in response, clearly seeing through his ploy, "Neither of them are going to let you play with their ears, no matter how much you flatter them."
"Please don't do anything that would make her uncomfortable," I take the chance to gang up on him, trying to keep the smile from my voice as I bump shoulders with him this time.
"This is bullying! Treating me like some sort of degenerate.." Ars sulks at our teasing before continuing on more seriously, "Honestly though, I'm glad to have teamed up with you two."
Before either of us can respond to his heartfelt statement, we're interrupted by the sound of the lift arriving. Looking up, we see Lexi stepping out of the nearby lift that leads towards one of the platforms that's been set up as a housing area for Seekers. She pauses a moment to gather her bearings and her resolve before she makes her way over to us.
As she walks up, I take a moment to more closely study her appearance as well as her new attire; she stands maybe an inch taller than I do with her new furry ears resting atop her head. They and her hair are a sky blue streaked with white, messy bangs and shoulder length wisps of hair frame her face, with the rest of her hair being kept in a ponytail to the side, held up by a somewhat elaborate french braid. Light pink eyes, like the outer petals of a carnation, look out with a determined glint that's magnified through a pair of rimless glasses. Whereas before she'd worn a simple loose-fitting blouse and plain pants, now her eyes are matched by a form-fitting sleeveless v-neck shirt and tight black pants. She's encircled by no less than 3 leather belts, presumably meant to help in carrying a bag, a weapon, and to hold up her pants. Lastly, she wears firm looking leather boots and a pair of black fencing gloves. All in all, she appears like quite the capable adventurer. If I had to guess, she favors a more dexterous style of fighting, something with quick steps and rapid lunges, but without a weapon on her I couldn't be sure.
Stolen novel; please report.
It seemed like most people here didn't often keep their weapons on them, instead choosing to summon them to hand whenever necessary. I could do the same if I chose to, but most of my sword techniques started from a stance in which the blade was sheathed at my side. Though seeing as I was without a sword at the moment, I suppose it was kind of a moot point.
Turning to her and standing with a stretch as she approaches, I speak up, "So Lexi, are you ready?"
"Um I think so. Do you guys have some sort of plan?" Lexi tentatively asks.
My other two companions each raise an eyebrow and look at me. "Yes, do we have any sort of plan Sola?" Amelia primly asks.
"Ah-ahem! Of course I have a plan," I state with chagrin.
I guess since I was the one who'd gotten Lexi involved I'd been voted as the leader of our little group, no matter that I didn't actually have any sort of plan as of this moment. I had ideas though! Maybe not great ones, but it was better than nothing.. right?
"I was thinking we go ask, you know who," I say with a conspiratorial look at Amelia and Ars.
My companions both mimic my conspiratorial look, glancing to and from one another before Amelia speaks up, "hmm, yes I suppose you know who would've likely seen anything suspicious happening."
Ars takes his moment to be mysterious as well, "I agree, but how are we going to get you know who to talk?"
"Well I was thinking, and while I can't guarantee it'll work-"
"Wait wait wait, what're you three talking about??" Lexi interjects before we can carry on further with our little act.
Ars gestures vaguely in the air, doing his best to keep the shit-eating grin off his face, "you know.. that person."
Amelia continues on in a taunting voice, raising her hand over her mouth to hider her smirk, "you certainly couldn't have missed them."
As Lexi turns her glare to me, as if daring me to keep up the act, I decide to take pity on her and dispense with the nebulous references, "You know, the guy who's been standing out on the road the past week? Permanent glare on his face? Yeah that guy."
Immediately, her eyes light up in recognition, "ohhhh~ you mean that Grumpy Tiger!"
"Grumpy Tiger?" Amelia asks, voicing the question we were no doubt all thinking.
"Did you not think his scars looked like tiger stripes? And that he always looks grumpy?" Lexi tilts her head back at us like it was the most obvious nickname for the man.
"Huh. Now that you mention it.." Ars mutters before bursting into laughter, "hahaha! I wonder if that'll finally get a response out of him. Grumpy Tiger!"
A sudden snort causes me to turn wide-eyed to where Amelia is trying and failing to hold her laughter in, one dainty hand raised in front of her mouth to try and muffle the very un-dainty noise she just made. Her eyes go wide as the sound involuntarily escapes her, causing me to start laughing as well. All the while Lexi just looks proud at the nickname she came up with.
"Whew~ You don't think the person he's waiting for is one of the people who got kidnapped do you?" Ars asks, wiping a tear from his eye as his voice once again takes a more serious tone.
"Ah-hem." Amelia clears her throat before speaking, "I doubt it. There have still been a steady stream of Seekers arriving in Weir. So while it's possible that whoever he's waiting for was kidnapped, it's still probably more likely that they're simply lost out in the woods somewhere."
I was inclined to agree with Amelia's logic, I doubted the kidnappers had abducted more than a handful of people at most, likely just enough to guarantee their daily wins so far. Compare that to the hundred plus Seekers who'd arrived throughout the week and it seemed unlikely that whoever Grumpy Tiger was waiting on had been kidnapped already.
That did cause me to think of something else though.
"A week in the woods huh.. How come none of the late comers have seemed on the verge of starving? Surely every Seeker isn't adept at wilderness survival?" I hadn't thought about it before, but now that I did it was kind of bothering me. How had all the Seekers fared so well out in the woods for an entire week? The forests around Weir may be plentiful comparatively speaking but you had to know quite a lot to survive an entire week out in the wilderness without any sort of issues. And yet none of the people I'd seen arriving to town throughout the week had even looked particularly unkempt, let alone malnourished or dehydrated.
At my question Ars, Amelia, and even Lexi give me a look like I'd asked something especially dumb, causing me to do a double take.
"You know, you're remarkably dense sometimes Sola..." Amelia states after a pause, meeting my eyes with a pitying look.
Ouch.
Ars hesitates a moment before reaching over and patting my back, as if to comfort me, "And here I'd been proud of you for figuring it out without having to ask, even as obvious at it is."
Double ouch.
"It's okay Sola, sometimes super obvious stuff goes right over my head too," Lexi chimes in helpfully with an understanding look in her eyes.
Triple ouch.
At the very much aggrieved look in my eyes and the frustrated swishing of my tail, Amelia speaks up once more, concern evident in her voice, "Sola, we've literally seen you go over a day without sleeping or eating. Were you really just doing that without having figured out that Eden was sustaining you?"
Um no, that was just because I needed less food and rest than most people. Though it seemed like they wouldn't buy that answer so I decided to just keep it to myself.
Instead I asked, "Does that mean everyone in the Tower doesn't need to sleep or eat and you guys just do so because you want to?"
"Not exactly, people who aren't Seekers still suffer all the usual trappings of their mortality; hunger, fatigue, etc. But Seekers very existences become entwined with the Towers, and as they ascend, the Tower sustains them more and more. Eating and sleeping become less and less necessary and can eventually be forgone altogether. Ascend even higher and the Tower sustains our very lives, we'll age slower and be less likely to suffer from diseases and illnesses. Ascend higher still and we'll become near immortal, non-Seekers won't even be able to harm us, only other Seekers could hope to kill us... but that's an incredibly long way off," Ars tapers off his excitement at the end of his explanation.
Well that was certainly a lot, and strangely it sounded oddly similar to the changes I'd started noticing in myself on Sola as I'd gotten stronger. Which I guess is why I hadn't noticed anything here in Eden yet. But if it was the Tower sustaining Seekers as they Ascended, then what had sustained me as I'd gotten stronger back on Sola? I didn't even know where to begin to answer that question, but at least I had my answer for why no one had starved to death or arrived to Weir emaciated from lack of food.
-o-o-o-
Grumpy Tiger stands exactly where we'd first encountered him, if anything, the constant vigil he's been undertaking has left him looking even grumpier than when we first saw him a week ago.
Ars, obviously unable to help himself after being inspired by Lexi's nickname for the man, raises his voice and calls out to him as soon as we're somewhat close, "Hey!! Grumpy Tiger! We came to visit in case you've been lonely!"
Surprisingly Grumpy Tiger actually turns around at Ars' laughter filled shout, I can see his glare briefly give way to utter confusion before re-affixing itself back on his face once more.
As we all walk up and greet him with various instances of "Grumpy Tiger" I swear for a moment his mask almost fully cracks, but sadly we still don't get anything out of the big man. That's ok though, if he's willing to do so much as point us in a direction it'll still be plenty helpful. Y'know assuming he doesn't choose to point us in the wrong direction for the nickname we one-sidedly gave him that is. I had a feeling though that the man would help us, even with his somewhat intimidating appearance he felt like the type who'd look down on "bullying the weak" like the kidnappers were doing.
Coming to a stop in front of the man, I speak up, "Hey Grumpy Tiger, you've probably seen pretty much every Seeker that's come and gone from Weir yeah?" I pause a moment, making sure that I pay attention to his expression before I continue.
"-Well apparently there's been a group of Seekers that have taken to kidnapping, and we've a mind to put a stop to it," briefly I see a spark of something in his eye; Anger? Accompanied by doubt..? I wonder if his doubt is directed towards me or himself, though if he has seen anything suspicious then I imagine he's more likely to trust me. Maybe he's thinking the same thing Ars did, that perhaps whoever he's waiting on was kidnapped. If he is then he'd be more likely to help us at least, so that was a plus.
"We were wondering if you'd seen anyone suspicious this past week. Maybe groups of Seekers frequently coming back with less people than they went out with? Or groups frequently going in a certain direction?" I finish asking, hoping he'd actually be willing to give us some info so I didn't have to think of some other plan on the spot.
After a brief moment of us all standing there silently, Grumpy Tiger uncrosses one of his arms and points out into the woods to his right.
With a triumphant grin underneath my mask, my companions and I make our way in the pointed direction, slipping off the beaten path and into the forests embrace. The bright light of the morning sun dimming as it winds it's way down through the forest's canopy to where we walk below.
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Eden Floor 1 | Somewhere in the woods:
Byron was really loving life as a Seeker so far.
Finally, he didn't have to control himself. All the little things he'd always been told he couldn't do, the things he'd gotten in trouble and been called cruel for, he could do them as much as he wanted now. There was no one here to stop him, no one to punish him for his actions, it's like everything for the first test had been designed just for his enjoyment. Designed just for him to finally be able to express his true self.
He'd even found several like-minded people to join him, and the past week had been some of the most fun he'd ever had. They were well on their way to just taking it easy the rest of the floor too, they had 5 whole weeks to find 28 more Seekers who couldn't put up a fight against them. Considering they'd found 7 in just as many days, he was certain they'd all be finished with the test well before the 5 week duration was up. He was confident that soon they wouldn't have to worry about failing the test and could just do whatever they wanted.
And what Byron wanted more than anything was to have others at his mercy, oh how he loved it; the confusion, then the anger, then eventually the pleas and begging, and then finally they'd settle into sweet despair and misery as they realized this is the end of their dreams. He wanted to watch that moment more, that moment where they realized that they wouldn't be climbing the Tower, realized their failure, their powerlessness. The best part was that he didn't even need to do much, just a few good hits for fun and then he'd simply left them to experience all the little demeaning injustices that piled up and crushed someones pride. Sitting in your own piss and shit for days on end like some filthy animal, nothing but your thoughts and failures to keep you company.
Byron watches as the young man in front of him fights a losing battle against his own emotions, hatred and despair warring for dominance behind bloodshot eyes. He tries desperately to keep his tears in check and fails, his body becomes wracked by the pitiful sobs stemming from his own inadequacy, even as he tries to maintain his hateful glare. Byron loves the moment the boy can no longer hold his gaze, when he looks down dejectedly into the dirt and grime beneath him.
Oh Byron really was loving life as a Seeker indeed.