Nar stepped into the blaster, and the door closed behind him, gently and on its own.

“Woah…” Nar whispered, staring at the closed door.

He passed a finger over the smooth, slightly reflective gray metal. Not even a speck of rust on it. The thing looked brand new.

With his head spinning at so much display of abundance and quality, he dropped his clothes in a bundle on the floor, and looked for the buttons to turn on the blaster.

Suddenly, it activated on its own, blasting him with near invisible tiny grits.

He hurriedly closed his eyes and pressed his mouth shut.

However, the blaster only hit his body, leaving his face clear from the gritty currents that scraped him clean.

Crystal. This is insane… But the pressure’s actually not the best. It could be a little bit m…

Nar yelped.

The pressure had suddenly increased, and the grit now scoured him harder, exactly as he had wanted it.

Does it hear my thoughts? Off!

It turned off.

By the Crystal…

He turned the blaster back on, and stood frozen in the sore, cleansing current.

Why don’t we have blasters like this?

Why did he have to force the jammed doors shut? Or open?

Why did he have to hold his breath and close his eyes, and wash in short bursts? And why was there so much food? And clothes, too?

The food, the ring, and now the blaster… Just what kind of Nexus awaited him up there. And why was there so little of it down in the cubeplant?

Was it all just part of their punishment?

Nar lowered his head into the grit, letting it scour the layers of dirty sweat and blood caked within his hair and upon his brow.

The sound of scratching against his scalp silenced the blasphemous thoughts that threatened to spill from their confines.

Crystal, I’m sorry. I’m trying, but I just… I just can’t understand why.

Maybe once on the surface he would finally learn what the Original Sin had been. Maybe then it would all make sense.

Maybe he would even learn that it was deserved. Maybe.

Nar bent down and felt for his clothes. There was no way he was leaving them behind. He might, begrudgingly, throw away his bloody, ripped first shirt. That one was beyond salvaging. But the others? They just need a good blasting.

He held the clothes up to the stream and stepped out of it.

He willed the blaster to go stronger, strong enough to fray the material, but at least, it still scrubbed off most of the filth encrusted into it.

Once done, Nar stared at the bundle in his hands.

At the cubeplant, he got to blast once a week, and he had always relished that clean feeling of clean cloth against his skin. Now though, staring at the bundle in his hands, all he could see was how filthy they looked. How old. How ragged.

There were stains in them that would never leave. Stains that had been in them long before the previous owner had passed them onto his dad’s hands.

And looking at them now, it was a wonder no one had asked him why his clothes looked so reddish. Had they not made the connection to what he was? Or maybe they had, and they had just not cared that he was an Unclean…

For a moment, he considered what that meant for him. Then he shrugged. It didn’t really mean anything, he supposed. At least not until someone made a problem out of it.

Right, uh… Let’s just check those new clothes.

Both Kur and Tuk had piqued his curiosity, and his heartbeat sped lightly with anticipation.

He lifted the ring to his face.

So… Inventory? Aaaaand take one… [Climber’s Shirt]?

There was no sound. No light. One moment he stared at his ring, the next, there was a piece of cloth in his clenched hand.

“Woah!”

His hand was even closed around it!

He dropped his old clothes as though they were a mere afterthought, and unfurled the new shirt.

So soft…

And clean. And it looked like it was made from such a higher-level material too.

He felt his fingers through it, marveling at both its soft touch and ingrained durability.

A tab popped up.

Climber’s Shirt

Uncommon

A shirt made from a flexible yet durable material. Offers a very small bonus to defense.

Stats

● Absorbs 0.5% of damage taken.

“No way…” he breathed. “It absorbs damage? So that’s why!”

No wonder the others had gotten rid of their old clothes!

He had to be an idiot not to wear the new shirt. 0.5% may not look like a lot, but under Pressure, or when being shredded to bits by a guardian, every HP counted. And 0.5% could be the difference between life and death!

He brought out a set of the new pants and shoes as well.

The pants were just the same as the shirt, but the shoes were made of something harder, though still flexible and comfortable to the touch.

Climber’s Pants

Uncommon

Pants made from a flexible yet durable material. Offers a very small bonus to defense.

Stats

● Absorbs 0.5% of damage taken.

Climber’s Shoes

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Uncommon

Shoes made from a flexible yet tough material.

No stats

No stats?

It was a bit of a letdown, but it didn’t really matter.

His feet revolted at the idea of going back into the old, dirty and stinking mess that were his old shoes. He would gladly throw them out. Gladly!

He paused, realizing the decision that had been so easily made.

Yes. He would throw it all out. He was a Climber now, with Climber gear. He had no use for dirty old rags anymore.

Dirty old rags, he thought, staring at his old clothes at his feet.

Compared to the new clothes in his hand, no, the gear in his hands, with its softness, quality and newness, dirty old rags was exactly what those things at his feet were.

Why…

He shook his head. Enough was enough.

He had been rewarded for his faith and loyalty. Whatever was in the cubeplant, it was none of his concern. Not anymore.

Only getting his dad out mattered. That was all.

He quickly got dressed.

He couldn’t help but sigh at the gentleness of the material. No, there was truly no way in the Infinite Nexus that he was ever going back to his old clothes.

Dressed, he set about looking for the drawer that Kur had mentioned.

As expected, it opened on its own, in response to his thoughts.

Nar scooped up his old clothes and held them over the drawer.

Destroyed or not, they tied him home, and to his dad. They were a reminder of what he still endured in the cubeplant.

Would the Nexus above, the Outside-Nexus, with all of its unknown wonders and sights, blind him to his promise? Would it make him forget? Would it make him want to forget? To put down the sword, and just enjoy a life of plenty as his dad had wanted him to?

Nar dropped the clothes.

They were just that. Clothes.

He would never forget his dad, or his promise. No matter what awaited him in the O-Nex, he would come back.

Nar stepped out of the blaster, leaving his clothes behind to be gone forever, and feeling like he had been born anew.

He would throw away the other two sets as well. No point in birding himself with useless things.

And once I store everything into the ring, I’ll get rid of that pack too.

He felt a lump in his throat. His dad had made it for him, and he had been damned proud of his achievement too. Nar hadn’t even asked him out of what it was made.

Probably from his own limited number of clothes. Or maybe from someone’s generous donation.

Nar shook his head.

It’s in the way of fighting. It has to go.

He had no need for sentimentality. And neither did his dad.

He needed levels and attributes and skills, and the advantages of his new gear and ring, if he was to survive the real Climb about to begin.

That was all there was to it.

********

As Tuk had told him, once he’d cleaned himself up, moved his leftover food into his ring and got rid of his old clothes and pack, there wasn’t really much to do.

He spent some time getting used to his inventory, taking and storing the sword out of his ring. It seemed to know that he was right-handed, and the sword always appeared on his dominant hand, even mid swing.

It was surprisingly easy to get the hang of it, though Nar couldn’t tell whether that was due to him or some knowledge unknowingly imparted into his brain.

Other than that, he ate. He used the toilet. He even jumped in the blaster again for the fun of it. After all, why not? If it was there, there was nothing preventing him from using it. He was pretty sure that Tuk went in and out of the thing at least 5 times, his skin looking red and raw from it.

For the most part however, he slept. They all did. It was like they just couldn’t get enough of it, or like their bodies and minds demanded that they make up for all the loss they had endured during the nearly two-month long Tutorial.

On the few occasions where they all found themselves awake, they chatted and roared with laughter. Cen and Viy seemed to have made a comeback from whatever it was that had weighed them down, and Mul behaved like a new man.

He was still rather grumpy and stiff, but nothing rude ever came spewing out from his mouth again. Nor complaints either. Though, there was really nothing to complain about in that safe room… They had to wait and see how deep his change of heart and behavior went, once they left the comfort of the safe room.

Tuk, for his part, found it hilarious to see just how far he could push him, and Mul’s forced politeness and patience were quite something to see.

Both Kur and Cen, however, made sure to stop the trugger whenever he pushed too hard. Everybody was much happier with the new, calmer Mul, and didn’t want to see a return to the old one.

Whatever anger he carried with him, from whatever had been done to him by his family, he truly seemed to be wanting to leave it all behind him.

Of the enormous, gigantic thing with the orange flaming eyes that had nearly ended their Climb, they spoke off only once, briefly, and in hushed tones.

“What do you think that was?” Tuk had asked, after a lull in the conversation.

Nar knew immediately what Tuk was talking about.

A shiver ran down his spine, remembering the heavy, booming steps and the guttural vibrations that had shaken the bridge.

“It had to be a guardian,” Kur said, his eyes vacant. “What else could it be?”

Gad nodded slowly next to him. “There are tiny guardians, so it’s not that strange that there would be huge ones too.”

A giant guardian, Nar thought, considering Gad’s words.

After all, why not? The Nexus was infinite, an immensity beyond his comprehension. Tiny guardians, huge guardians. Poison guardians. Who knew what was in the dark, in the quiet places of the Nexus, that they had yet to thread and disturb? And just how far were they still from reaching the surface? How many more yellow arrows had they yet to follow?

Thinking about all of that vastness above his head, and all around him, made him feel small. Tiny. Insignificant. And to dread the darkness at his back even more…

The others had lapsed into their own, dark introspections, and after a long silence, Tuk pulled the party towards happier topics of conversation.

Once in a while, however, Nar’s thoughts returned to the orange eyes, and to how narrowly they had escaped them. And to how much stronger he had to become, if he ever truly hoped of Climbing back down, by himself, to rescue his dad.

All in all, the party slowly recovered from the duress of the first leg of their journey, and time passed in a restful boredom.

When at last the night before the deadline arrived, Kur came and sat by Nar.

Nar often sat by himself, still finding it hard to socialize and mingle with the Clean. It would probably be another good while before he stopped being surprised whenever one of them smiled at him.

“So, I wanted to talk about your gains,” Kur said, pleasantries out of the way. “How did it go in the end?”

Nar rubbed his chin.

“Hmmm… To be honest, I’m still not sure.”

Kur’s face fell. “Oh, no! Was it bad?”

“What? No! I mean. I don’t think so?”

Nar told him everything.

It was only fair. He had heard the others talk about their new skills and attributes. Mul and Viy had actually gotten skills somewhat similar to his [Quickening]. However, theirs were more like Tuk’s now upgraded [Focused Fire 2], in the sense that they increased their DPS. In comparison, Nar’s new skill seemed to focus more on keeping him alive by making him better at defending himself.

Jul had surprised everyone by revealing she had unlocked [Instinct]. Except for Nar. It had made perfect sense since Jul had been the one to guide him when the attribute had first manifested itself. However, no one knew about that yet.

“I… Me too, I also have it!” he had stammered.

“What the fuck?” Mul had said. “You can also see the future?”

Of course, it wasn’t that simple. And the confusion they felt was the exact same he did.

However, Jul’s [Instinct] seemed to be a more advanced version than his. He sensed direct danger. Whether only to himself or to others as well, it was something that he, as of yet, did not know.

Jul’s [Instinct] however, seemed to carry with it a much stronger sense for bad things in general. Like, for example, how she had known that they had to keep moving during their Tutorial, when the Pressure had first knocked them all out.

However, other than that one revelation, Nar hadn’t shared much with the others yet, still trying to understand what all the changes meant for his path.

Now, as Kur listened to him, a frown formed over his features. By the end of it however, he seemed to just barely be containing his laughter.

“What’s so funny about it?” Nar asked, irritated, when he was finally done.

Kur took a deep breath.

“Hold on, let me get this straight,” he said, and had to take another deep breath to keep from bursting into laughter. “You are faster, stronger, have more HP, and have the ability to know how the enemy is going to attack you before it does. You deal more damage and take less, and your most useless skill has been replaced by something that not only is much more useful for you, it can also grow to become something ridiculously incredible. And… I don’t know if I’m missing something else in there, but do you see where I’m going with this?”

Nar nodded, looking down bashfully. “I didn’t say it was bad… It’s just… I don’t know what it means for my path.”

“Your path?”

“Yeah… I was thinking it would be more like hers.”

“Hers?” Kur asked, and followed the direction of his eyes. “You mean Gad?”

“Yes.”

“You mean with a shield and all that?”

“And taunts, and the [Constitution] and the attributes. She even unlocked [Toughness]!”

Kur stared at him with an incredulous look.

“And all that, with the DPS part too?” he asked.

Nar nodded, though he was unable to meet Kur’s eyes.

Kur finally burst out laughing.

“W-What?” Nar asked, suddenly self-conscious of the looks they were attracting.

“You! That’s what!” Kur said.

He wiped his tears, his body still quietly shaking.

“Ah, man… Thanks. I needed that.”

“I don’t get it,” Nar said, feeling slightly offended. He had confided in the party leader. What was all that laughter for?

Kur stood up and stretched.

“It’s not up to me to say anything. You’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“Figure out what?”

“You’ll see.”

And annoyingly, Kur had left it at that, leaving Nar scratching his head and trying to figure out what in the pile he had meant.

Was he missing something? The party leader seemed to hint that yes, there was something about his path, gains and new skill that he was not seeing. However, nothing came to mind.

That night, Nar lay awake, pondering Kur’s words. Turning them around in his mind and coming up empty. What was he not seeing?

NAR293457741235645XAV

Basic 6

Health Points: 160/160

Stamina: 140/140

Attributes

● Strength: 13

● Constitution: 16

● Stamina: 14

● Agility: 9

● Speed: 9

● Aura: 38

● ???: 6

● ???: 13

● Might: 4

● Endurance: 6

● Instinct: 10

● Reflex: 10

● Hearing: 6

● Sight: 5

His attributes list had grown considerably, and his status was looking much better now than when he had first unlocked his Basic class. However, he did not see what Kur seemed to be alluding to. He doubted the man was simply messing with him. There had to be something he was missing…

The hours passed, the timer slowly running out, counting down to the end of their peaceful days.

This is getting me nowhere. I’ll think about it tomorrow. For now, I should sleep.

In the morning, they would be out again. And the real Climb would finally begin.

He wondered what in the Nexus they would find next.

He would take anything… As long as it was not that damned corridor again.