Chapter 19
Molten Cave (I)
Everything still seemed like a strange, fever dream to Diya, even as she found herself standing in front of a tall skyscraper that blocked the sun from shining down upon her. In the distance, ruin and rubble caused by the fall of the 'Great Iron' as people back home called it confirmed that, indeed, she was in L.A., next to the same structure she had found herself trapped in just a week ago. Yet... her mind had difficulties accepting it.
One moment she was running away from her family, and the next she was on a plane headed half a world away. Even the contract itself that she had signed kept flashing in and out of her memory, appearing more like a lie than a truth. Free housing, food, bills, car, everything, on top of twenty million a year. For someone who barely survived on two thousand rupees a month for nearly her entire life, the number 'twenty million' was an abstract concept.
Yet, taking out her phone and checking her bank account... it was there, resting. A car suddenly pulled up in front of the building, black and luxurious, as six people stepped out, some dressed casually and some business-like.
"We still have some members coming," one of the men, appearing to be the oldest of the group, spoke out to others. "So, we'll depart in ten. Make sure you take the gear from the lobby."
His eyes scouted around and landed on her, a smile suddenly springing on his face as he began walking over. She found herself nervous, as even if she wasn't the most experienced person in the world, she could tell he was someone important, especially because everyone else listened to him without complaint. He had a pair of starkly black eyes and short, black hair that didn't appear styled overtly. Aside from that, she had little mind to notice more, her heartbeat quickening as the man stopped in front of her.
"Mrs. Badami, I presume?" the man said with a smile, extending his hand. Diya accepted it pensively, barely managing to squeeze out the words from her lips.
“Y-yes. D-Diya... is... fine...”
“You may call me Rick, then,” the man said, ignoring her awkwardness. “I apologize for the hastened process of bringing you here; I am sure you have a lot of questions, and I will be more than happy to answer them all as we head to the Tower.”
“... the... Tower?” Diya quizzed.
"That thing," the man pointed toward the Great Iron. "There will be ten of us, I included. You needn't be too worried; it's just an expeditionary force, and there will be two other women besides you coming if it will make you more comfortable."
“... are you... are you sure... I should go as well?” she asked, biting her lower lip. She wanted to go. She knew that it was in there that she could change not only her life but also herself. It was there that she could finally learn to not be afraid, to not be terrified of every shadow.
“If I wasn’t, I certainly wouldn’t have invited you, ha ha ha,” the man laughed freely, dispelling some of the worries she had in her heart. “Right, we’ll do a Class rollcall before heading. If you don’t feel comfortable disclosing the details, you don’t need to feel pressured in doing so.”
"N-no, it's fine," she shook her head, quickly bringing her screen up and showing it to the man. She didn't know why... but she trusted him -- a complete stranger. If nothing else, she'd learned to spot who meant her harm and who didn't. A small consolation prize for the hell she lived through. "H-here."
“...” Rick smiled lightly, glancing down. He knew most of her story by now, and couldn’t help but feel pity for her. However, he didn’t let it show on his face. What she needed wasn’t pity, but an opportunity. A quick look at her screen let him know precisely why Cain sent him in search of a support all the way to India of all places.
///Name: Diya Badami Age: 22 Race: Human
Class: Illumity Level: 3
Strength: 6 Vitality: 13 Agility: 9 Stamina: 15
Intelligence: 106 Wisdom: 71 Health: 130 Mana: 2120
Traits: Paranoid(D+), Intelligent(SS-), Timid(B+), Stubborn(C+)
Skills: Grand Illumination(B+), Salvation (C), Soul Recovery (C+), Rebirth(B-), Undying(E)
Items: N/A
Titles: The First Illumity
Achievements: 1 (+1 to Main Stats for each achievement)///
Holy shit... Rick sucked in a cold breath, unable to entirely hold back the amazement from showing on his face.
Noticing it, Diya felt a tiny surge of pride swell inside her heart, feeling acknowledged without pretenses.
“... I... I know my other stats are... bad--”
"No, no, don't worry about it," Rick interrupted quickly. "The rest of us are here to ensure those stats don't get to play a role. As I said, you are a support and as such, you'll always be in the safest position. Ah, the last two are here," Rick added, noticing Cain and Emma leaving the building, looking around and nodding at him once they found him. "Come on, let's go meet everyone."
Smiling at her once again, he began walking back, Diya speeding up to catch up to him. Her lime-green eyes stared at his back with gratitude and respect, cementing a thought inside her heart that he was her savior, and that she should never forget that.
Rick noticed that almost everyone else was ready, including the solitary returnee from their last ‘expedition’ -- Justin. The young lad accepted the offer without any consideration, sounding all too eager and excited to do so.
Emma quickly walked over to the newcomers and began chatting them up while Cain sat down onto the stairs and lit up a cigarette, appearing as worry-free as the wind itself.
“Yo’,” Rick greeted him with a smile, walking up. “You rested well?”
“Better than the death itself.” Cain replied with a smile, offering him a cigarette.
“Thanks,” accepting it, Rick lit it up quickly as Diya finally walked up behind him, cautiously staring at Cain. “Diya, meet Cain.”
"Hello." Cain waved at the newcomer, smiling the best he could, yet the somewhat adverse reaction of the young girl left him with wounded pride.
“H-hello...” she nodded politely, though, inching closer to Rick.
“... is my face really that ugly?” Cain glanced at Rick and asked bitterly.
“The first time I saw you, I wanted to perform a series of plastic surgeries on it.”
“With your fists?”
“... what kind of a man do you think I am?” Rick grumbled. “There’s no reason to be afraid of him,” he spoke to Diya. “He’s likely the most harmless man you’ll meet in this country. All bark and no bite.”
“... how is she?” Cain asked with an understanding smile causing Rick to sigh.
“Better than I thought... can we even get hurt with her near us?”
“Who knows,” Cain shrugged, deciding it was better to keep his mouth shut for the time being. “I sure hope not. I don’t like pain, you know?”
“Ah, really? I actually took you for a masochist...”
“...” Cain glanced at him oddly before standing up and stretching lazily. “I see the kid’s returned. What about the rest?”
“The best I could scrap together at such short notice,” Rick explained. “Average level is 5. As you ordered, there’s one Bard -- that woman, Lamia. Then, we have one Paladin, that tall man, Jim.”
“...” Cain casually glanced over them, but none of their faces sparked a memory. To be fair, though, even if he did know them, he most likely wouldn't have recognized them. After all, he didn't even recognize Diya.
“Those three hitting on Emma are all Bulwarks,” Rick said with a grin. “Decker, Gerald, and Sam. And the last one, Jamal, is a Blademaster.”
“... oh?” Cain arched his brow in curiosity, glancing at the man Rick was pointing out.
He stood out among the rest by quite a margin as he appeared to be almost six-foot-six with broad shoulders and gym-built body. Even so, Cain was certain that the man wasn't even thirty yet, though couldn't quite explain why past the basic 'intuition'.
What surprised him was not that there was a Blademaster, but rather that there was one this quickly. The shrine for becoming a Blademaster was the most convoluted one to find as it was lodged at the center of a labyrinth-like set of frosted paths through the frozen cliffs where every corner looked the same to a naked eye.
Of the six classes that there were in the Tower in L.A., he’d now ‘met’ so-to-say bearers of every one of them: Paladin, Bulwark, Bard, Assassin, Elementalist, and now the Blademaster. Classes are a bit scattered and uneven, lacking especially in damage, he mused as he took note of the entire party. But it should suffice. Rick and Emma can be the main frontline, Justin can act the role of a scout and occasionally help with damage, while Jamal and I should be enough as damage dealers. The other three Bulwarks can stand back to protect Diya and Lamia.
“Let’s greet the rest,” Rick said. Though he was curious about Cain’s reaction, he didn’t probe any further. “Right, Diya. Do you mind showing Cain your status screen?”
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“... uh... sure...” Diya replied with a trace of uncertainty in her eyes, turning toward Cain and sharing her screen with him.
Though he had expected it, Cain still barely managed to remain level-headed when he saw her stats and skills. Tsk, she wasn’t a superstar without a reason... he merely nodded as a reaction, causing Diya’s opinion on him to increase somewhat.
“She’s the smartest one of us, so she can be a strategist.” his words startled Rick as the old man looked at him oddly for a moment.
“Uh... I... I don’t have any... experience, leading people...”
“No, no, you just theorize what we ought to do,” Cain said with a smile. “And this old fella then will get others to do exactly that under the threat of not paying them. Right, old man?”
“... really, I ask again: what kind of a man do you think I am?” Rick asked bitterly as the trio walked over and joined the rest of the group. “Alright -- we’re all here. You guys can get to know each other on our way to the Tower. Though I will be acting as the head of the expedition, Mrs. Badami here will be our planner. Consider everything she says as though it came from my mouth, and listen to her. Everyone sorted their gear into the inventories?”
“Yup...”
“Yeah, all ready.”
“Good,” Rick nodded. “There will be a sea of people once we get to the Tower, so stick close with the rest of the group so you don’t get lost in the masses. Let’s go.”
He took the lead with everyone else following right after. Diya and Lamia quickly obtained comradeship as they found themselves chatted up by guys in the group, with Emma breaking into the circle right after, causing Cain to remain at the back end of the group, whipping out a cigarette and lighting one up as he casually began following them.
“... yo’,” he hadn’t even noticed that Jamal had joined him, stealthily separating himself from the group. “Cain, right?”
“Right,” Cain replied, accepting the man’s handshake. “Jamal?”
“Yup,” the man nodded. “My parents weren’t very creative, you know? Ah, a baby popped out? Wait, it’s black?! Name that shit Jamal!”
“Ha ha ha...” Cain laughed leisurely, taking a puff. “I don’t think mine were better.”
“Yes, yes, very Biblical. Warns people to stay away lest they really, really like getting their asses stabbed.” Jamal grinned, taking a swing from a bottle of water. “So... you think... this is legit?”
“Hm?”
"This isn't some mass-ass delusion, right? Like, we won't wake up tomorrow swinging our arms around like crazy trying to cast 'magic' only for everyone else to look at us like we're some kind of idiots."
“... let’s hope not,” Cain chuckled, taking another puff of the cigarette. “Anyway, how did Ricky find you?”
“Internet baby. He rolled out a job listing, and I applied.” he replied.
“... so... basic,” Cain said with a strange expression. “I expected it to be more... shadowy and shady...”
"Yea, you'd think? A rich man and all. What class are you, by the way?"
“Elementalist.”
“Uuu! So, you’re like a genuine magician, huh? Can you shoot fire and stuff?”
“... yup.”
“Cool! Can I see?”
“...” Cain laughed gently at the child-like curiosity of a man that was nearly two heads taller than him, casually extending his hand and summoning a tiny ball of flames above his palm.
“Fuckin’ hell, that’s super cool! Tsk, I wish I’d waited as well... Blademaster... who the fuck wants to be a Blademaster with guys who can shoot fire from their dicks around?”
“... you’d shoot fire out of your dick?”
“... khm, no, of course not. It’s, uh, it’s, you know, a saying.”
“No, no it’s not.”
“... anyway, you know where we going?”
“Hm,” Cain nodded. “Rick told me it was some caves with lots of fire and lava in them.”
“...”
“Yup, reacted the same, ha ha ha...”
“Won’t we burn alive?”
“No,” Cain shook his head, casually flickering his finger and sending the fireball at the startled Jamal. However, even as it landed, the man realized he felt no pain. “Turns out, even with just getting a Class, we become fairly resilient. Who would have thought?”
They quickly caught up to the rest of the group and the chatter ensued, largely with Diya asking everyone their Class’ specifics, seemingly easily landing into the role of a ‘party leader’ as though it was the most natural thing. Cain remained largely silent as there was little for him to say or do since this ‘expedition’ was mostly for others to attune themselves to the Classes and level up slightly.
In the end, the deepest part of the Molten Cave can’t be reached by anyone else here except for him, and everything before that should be passable with some strain by the rest and his slight aid.
Just as Rick said, the area directly surrounding the Tower was absolutely stuffed with people -- thousands upon thousands hollering that they wanted to enter. Their small party circled around the back and entered the inner parts, right next to the tower, through back channels. This was the first time Cain had ever experienced skipping the queue of the Towers and finally understood why everyone who did get to do it in his past life acted so smug about it.
They left the screaming and angry masses behind as they pensively walked through the massive entrance, going from bright daylight into the dim light almost akin to that of a barely-lit cave.
Cain had already instructed Rick where to head once inside, and the old man quickly turned to the left, ignoring the path most others took once they stepped into the Tower. The general shape of the first floor resembled a convex octagon in its structure, at least as far as the mapped out version told, and its topology largely consisted of flatland surrounded by cliffs and mountains.
Molten Cave was lodged into the side of a seemingly ordinary mountain that would eventually turn out to be an active volcano and a home to the only ‘Field Boss’ of the first floor -- Luxar, Hellfire General.
However, he had no intention of disturbing that monstrosity -- not just yet anyway -- and if anyone would, they would essentially have to go to other Towers to level up for at least a year or two before facing that thing.
Around two hours into their journey, as the silence began looming over everyone since they found themselves in a completely alien environment with strange, rose-shaped plants heaving up nearly ten feet into the air and a startling lack of light compared to before, Cain noted that everyone was on edge and jumpy. Even the faintest of noises had them all stopping and turning toward the source, causing him to sigh inwardly. Eh, should get a bit better before we get to the cave...
He’d chosen this path specifically because there actually was a decent number of monsters as it was better to oil things out before tossing themselves into the figurative and literal fire.
“To your left!” he cried out suddenly, causing everyone to stiffen up and turn to the left where they saw to rose-shaped ‘trees’ scramble and wiggle, parting to reveal a strange clearing where three even stranger monsters stood, staring at them. All three were similar in size, roughly two feet tall and six feet long, six-legged, thin till the point bones were beginning to stick out of them.
Their general shape resembled that of a crocodile, long and lean with scaled skin and wide maws, though a pair of horns on their heads, strong limbs, and frozen manes in the shape of icicles determined that they certainly were anything but crocodiles.
"... i-in formation!" though she was shaking, Diya managed to call out the simplest of commands, rousing everyone from their sleep. Emma and Rick had already reacted beforehand, moving to the front, while Justin had already activated his stealth skill and was hiding amidst the strange 'trees'. Cain moved to the back of the group, just in front of Diya and Lamia, while Jamal headed to the free flank, opposite of Justin's. Decent reactions, he evaluated. Let’s see how they handle it...
The three beasts suddenly screeched and bolted forward, spacing themselves into a triangular formation, startling everyone -- even Rick and Emma.
“... buffs.” he glanced back and Lamia and Diya who stood frozen, reminding them with a soft voice and a smile. The two women quickly woke up and blushed in shame momentarily before springing a series of rejuvenating buffs on the whole party. Cain found his main stats nigh quadrupling, and even his health neared 500 due to Diya’s buffs.
“F-fan out slightly!” with her wits returned, Diya focused on commanding the party once again. “Decker, move in front and assist Emma and Rick with... uh... empty spaces?”
“Gaps.” Lamia added.
“Yes, gaps. Cain... uh... you... you can deal damage when, uh, when they slow down.”
“... sure.” he nodded with a polite smile, turning forward and noting that both Emma and Rick had taken out their ‘equipment’.
Though it wouldn’t do much, it would help at least slightly in the initial stages before they had acquired enough items from the Tower. The shields they held up in front were state-of-the-art steel-cast ones, usually used on armored trucks as they were too heavy for people to lift up, but thanks to their classes that became a possibility. All the same, however, they’d be lucky if those things lasted three rounds against the ‘Stalkers’ as the monsters in front of them were called.
The three monsters attacked at virtually the exact same moment, the three 'tanks' upfront, Emma, Rick, and Decker meeting them head-on. Emma and Rick found themselves pushed back a few steps, while Decker was launched into the air, flying back good twenty feet, almost reaching Cain.
The creature that breached past the front suddenly appeared to crouch, lowering its head and lifting the 'mane' on its back up, aiming at Cain and those behind him. A mere moment later, six bolts of ice erupted from the 'mane' and flew off toward them like bullets. The two women behind cried out in panic, while Cain quickly cast 'Elemental Shield', easily blocking the six bolts.
Right as he was about to launch a counterattack as to ease some burden off of the rest, he saw Jamal leap up from the creature's blindside, swinging a sword in a crescent arc, aiming at the creature's head. A trail of milky-white light accompanied the swing, spilling onto the creature's back as he missed the head by quite a margin. Starlight? Hmm... guessing... rank C or so? Not bad...
The hit creature howled out in pain and turned its focus to the now-flustered Jamal who seemed to have expected his strike to kill the creature instantly. Yelping, he spun around and tossed himself onto the ground as the creature lunged at him, its maws gaping open as to swallow him. He managed to evade it, rolling in the dirt for a few moments before leaping onto his feet, his hands gripping the sword shaking.
“F-focus on the one attacking Jamal!” seeing that Emma and Rick, at least temporarily, were handling the other two creatures, Diya chose to focus entirely on the third creature. They quickly encircled it, with Justin creeping up from behind as well, waiting for a perfect moment to strike.
Cain casually charged some Fire and Arcane within his fist, lobbing a sphere at the creature and dragging its attention away from Jamal onto him. Though the ball didn’t do much damage, it did further weaken the scales where Jamal hit it the first time around.
“Aim at the same place!” Cain signaled to him as the creature heaved itself forward, its maw gaping once again, causing Cain to Blink away to evade it. Jamal finally managed to calm down slightly, gripping the handle of the sword and screaming out as he rushed forward, appearing to use the same skill once again.
Whether it was accidental or with intent, he managed to reach the creature just as it was about to land, when it was the least mobile, and swing the sword in a straight trajectory, hitting the weakest point of its scales precisely.
The monster roared out as it began thrashing on the floor, blood gushing out of its wounds, its movements becoming more and more lethargic. Right then, Justin appeared from thin air, right next to it, and stabbed it into the same wound once again, finishing it off.
Once they saw that the monsters could be killed, and with relative ease at that, the remaining two -- especially with Emma’s and Rick’s help became relatively easy.
By the end, nearly everyone fell onto the floor, more mentally exhausted than physically, looking around at the three corpses with a tinge of horror still stuck in their eyes.
Eh, not bad, Cain mused inwardly, noting that it took them less than five minutes to take care of three Stalkers. In the grand scheme of things, the speed was atrocious as even Cain, on his own, in the last life could deal with three within a few seconds. Still, for their first encounter, it went surprisingly well. Another surprise turned his mood even further up as a set of notifications flashed on his screen.
//You have leveled up...
Congratulations on reaching Level 20 -- Unlocked a Passive Skill: Mana Surge (consecutive hits have a chance to replenish 10% of missing Mana)
Unlocked Nature(D-), Body(E+)
Achievement unlocked: Level 20
Title Unlocked: The Herald (First to reach level 20) (+5 to Main Stats; + 10% Mana Regeneration; +10% Movement Speed; +5% Bonus Experience)
///Name: Cain Gregory Age: 32 Race: Human
Class: Elementalist Level: 20
Strength: 11 Vitality: 29 Agility: 13 Stamina: 24
Intelligence: 77 Wisdom: 70 Health: 290 Mana: 770
Traits: Labourer(C+), Quick-witted(A-), Tenacious(B-), Leadership(B-), Analysis(B-)
Skills: Spell Creation(?), Fire(B-), Frost(C-), Arcane (C+), Earth (C+), Wind (B-), Blink(C+), Elemental Shield(C), Water(C-), Blood(D-), Mana Burning (E), Mana Surge(E), Nature(D-), Body(E+)
Created Spells: Falling Fire(C-)
Items:Ember’s Quartz(B-), Phoenix’s Feather(A-)
Titles: The First Elementalist, Bandit Slayer, Direwolf Slayer, Monster Slayer, Maverick, Spell Creator, The Herald
Achievements: 8 (+1 to Main Stats for each achievement)///