Chapter 46

  Tower Conquerors (VI)

“Out, at last!!” Evon cried joyfully as he stepped over the last boulder and landed on the flatland overlooking the ravine’s entrance on the other side. Lush green spread out in droves, framed by a forest of what looked like pine trees, a set of hills to the west, and a mountain ring surrounding a grass-green valley further north-east.

Everyone slowly sat down, gasping for breath, as the climb up on this end was far, far more difficult than the descent previously. After all, there was no stair-like path, and they instead had to use massive, house-sized boulders extending from the cliffside to slowly climb up, boulder by a boulder. It took them just over half a day to reach the top, and exhaustion had long since set in.

Cain was even incapable of lighting up a cigarette, lying flat on the ground, his arms spread open, staring at the 'sky'. It was... strange. There was the sky, so to say, but the unnatural gray-orange color and the heavily desaturated hue made it seem so odd and lifeless that it was difficult to call it ‘sky’.

One by one, everyone crawled onto their legs, looking around cautiously. However, save for the occasional burst of wind, it was eerily silent and still, almost like a strangely realistic painting. Cain was the most relaxed of all, knowing that this was considered a ‘crossroad’ for the Tower natives, and most creatures stayed well away from it within their own territories.

“Damn, that was fucking hard,” Jamal groaned, stretching. “Every bone’s hurtin’...”

“To think that I wanted to be a mountain climber in my youth,” Evon commented. “I was nuts...”

“You still are.” Jenna added with a chuckle.

“Tsk, yeah, pile on a rookie.” he flipped her a middle finger and turned toward Cain. “Hey, big dog, teach me that trick you promised!”

“... big dog?” Cain grimaced, standing up. “You can create unique spells.”

“Huh?”

“Charge whatever elements you want in whatever order and whatever shape and you can create a spell,” Cain quickly demonstrated Amnesty Shield, leaving Evon -- and everyone else, really -- fairly shellshocked.

“What the hell?! How?! How do I create spells?!” Evon asked excitedly.

“... just say ‘Spell Creation’ and then cast whatever spell you want.” Cain shrugged. “I dunno whether there’s a limit for it, but be careful not to overuse it.”

“Sure thing, sure thing...” Ah, he’s gonna blow through all slots in two days, I guarantee it...

He didn’t mind sharing it as it really wasn’t a ‘big secret’. He was fairly certain that there were already plenty of Elementalists that were capable of creating spells, but only the smart ones didn’t. Slots were limited, and erasing the created spell was extremely difficult. Even Cain regretted wasting his first slot on a fairly generic attack spell -- after all, the true strength of Spell Creation lied in its absurd enhancement. Amnesty Shield, for instance, if used raw, would be like glass -- yet was now his strongest, life-saving skill and would continue to be so forever as all spells scale off of stats and masteries.

“... are you sure you guys don’t want the items? Most of them are duplicates, anyway...” Edward asked Emma who quickly snuck a single pearie and ate it.

“Uhm, yeah, yeah, don’t worry,” she said. “If you guys want to sell them, you can sell it to our guy.”

“Your guy?”

“Yeah, Rick Garcia,” Emma said. “He’s like our boss or something.”

“... ah, that’s why they’re good.”

“... of course, rumors were that he was looking for strong ones...”

“Damn, if this is how strong his group is...”

“So, uh, yeah, sell them to him in a bulk,” Emma ignored the not-so-hushed ‘whispers’ and spoke with a smile. “Just tell ‘im we sent you and he should give you a good price.”

“Uh... how do I contact him?” Edward asked awkwardly. “I don’t think I can just stroll into his office, you know?”

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“Oh, of course! Oi, C’, what’s Rick’s number?” Emma asked.

“How the hell am I supposed to know?”

“Aren’t you his friend?” Emma frowned.

“You’re my ex-wife and I don’t know your number.”

“... write down yours,” Emma said to Edward. “We’ll give you a call once we’re out.”

“Sure.”

Cain glanced down the ravine and smiled faintly, shaking his head. Soon after, Edward settled everything with Emma, and two groups spoke short farewells to one another as Edward and his group followed a path back that Cain informed them of. It wasn't without dangers, but it was much quicker than trekking back through the ravine.

Seeing them off, the group of four spun around and headed in the opposite direction, toward the massive mountain range. Though, on the outside, it looked like any normal mountain -- with greenery halfway up and the nakedness further above -- it was anything but. It was generally considered one of the first few ‘hardcore’ challenges of the first floor for the newcomers.

The open field stretched out for miles in front of them, dipping into a green valley, which prompted Cain to continuously charge Body into his eyes and look back. Oh? They’re surrounding us? Clever... he saw roughly half the group of thirty or so split into two, with one of them further splitting to circle around Cain and the rest, while the other group of fifteen stuck together and suddenly sped up as they rushed to close the distance between the two.

“Eh?” Diya exclaimed softly, glancing back. “Lots of people... are coming.”

“Oh? What happened?” Jamal asked, though none of the four stopped moving. “I thought they’d follow us to our destination.”

“Maybe us grouping up scared them?” Emma suggested. “And they’re afraid we might run into a larger group?”

“Possibly,” Cain shrugged, taking out a cigarette and lighting it up almost by instinct now. “Whatever it is, just play it cool. Don’t kill anyone.”

“Why would we?” Emma asked, frowning.

“Emotions can get the best of us,” Cain said. “Things... can go out of control quickly.”

“... he’s right,” Jamal said. “It’s not even just ‘cause of emotions -- but Mana as well. When I charge starlight through me, I need to get it out -- and something is usually pushing me to go all out, no matter what.”

“Ah, yes,” Emma realized, nodding. “Can’t you just whip their asses quickly so we can be done with it?” she asked Cain.

“If I had to do it quickly,” he said, smiling faintly. “I’d have to go all out. I’d rather not be a TV sensation this early on.”

“Oh, right,” she grinned apologetically. “Wow, they’ve surrounded us?” both Emma and Jamal also realized that they’ve been surrounded, with the largest group of fifteen closing the distance between the two down to less than four hundred feet. By now, the two groups could see each other which prompted Cain and the three others to stop in place, waiting for them.

"Be scared and defensive," Cain spoke softly. "Maybe their ranks falter as I doubt the majority in there want to actually hurt us."

“Should I cry to sell it?” Emma asked with strange excitement in her voice.

“... what?”

“Nothing.”

“Just... do whatever you want.” Cain glanced at her strangely for a moment before turning his attention back on the approaching group that was now within shouting distance.

“H-help!!” and shout they did, immediately. “Please, wait! Help us!” Ah? They’re going with that one? Cain smiled strangely for a moment, taking a puff of the cigarette. A cold chill ran down his spine abruptly, causing him to frown -- however, he quickly recognized that it didn't come from anyone from the group in front of them or even those who surrounded them. There’s someone else? He quickly ignored the group and charged Body fully into his senses, scouting every inch of his surroundings... but still finding nothing. An Assassin?

"What's wrong?" Emma asked as the group stopped a good twenty feet in front of them, panicked expressions on their faces. "Eh? You're those guys from the entrance! What a coincidence!"

“Yes, and a happy one!” the leading man said. “Please, help us!”

“Huh? What’s wrong? Eh? Aren’t there like half you guys left? What happened to the rest?” Eh? Cain mused silently. Isn’t she... a bit too into it?

“Some deranged maniacs suddenly started attacking us!” the man explained in a hurried voice. “While we were running away, we lost half our members!”

“So... you led the maniacs to us?” Emma immediately became defensive and pulled back, angrily staring at the man. “What the hell man?! I get that you’re scared, but shit! Don’t drag us down with you!”

“E-eh?”

“What?! Where are they, huh? Shit, guys, we need to run! These idiots led some scary maniacs toward us! What if we die?! I can’t die! I’m too young and pretty!”

"..." by now, Jamal and Diya were completely ignoring her, the latter slightly red in the face, and even the group up front seemed to pick up on it.

“Too much?” she quizzed with a faint grin.

“... you knew?” the man asked, his voice turning cold and calm immediately.

“...” Emma merely shrugged, glancing at Cain and noticing he was distracted by something and not paying attention. “You guys really are awful!” she continued her facade in the meantime. “Surrounding us with so many people? What do you want? Our items?”

“Yes,” the man nodded. “Your items and info on the place you’re heading toward.”

“E-eh?!” Emma put on an expression of horror and stumbled back. “Aah, I can’t do this anymore, C’. It’s boring.”

“...” Cain suddenly snapped his eyes open and looked to the left. There, a flicker of light appeared for less than a second before vanishing. Oh, boy... he charged Earth into his feet rapidly and slammed them into the ground, erecting a dome-like cover over the four, startling them.

On the other hand, before the group in front of them could even pick up on what was happening, a blast of energy preceded a skyborne strike of rain of swords that each caused individual explosions to form a massive crater in front and around the group, kicking up dust and debris into a storm. What the hell? Cain thought, frowning. Is... is that a Weapon Saint? No... no... not that crazy bitch! What the fuck is she doing here?!!