He found Aysha near the City Hall as usual and talked to her about doing the challenge. She readily said she would join in, as she had postponed doing it for some time now only to wait for him. But she said that first she wanted to buy a few things, so they went shopping again.
It had been only a little over two weeks since they had arrived in the city and done their little tour, but it already seemed like so long ago. Things happened fast in the city, and the change they had undergone during this period could be seen in both of them. They had gotten closer during this time too; it was weird but having arrived in the city together and shared a little of their own stories with one another, they ended up creating a bond.
Some of that was probably due to the emotional moment everyone on the planet was going through. Being removed from one’s planet and thrown into a different land really had a way of making people cling to things they knew or whatever form of comfort they could find.
Aysha explained to him on the way over that she intended to buy one of those clothes that gave stats to the wearer. Lucas hadn’t really planned on buying one of those because he already had the necromancer’s clothes waiting for him, but now he was having second thoughts.
For starters, he needed to be level 25 to be able to wear them, and at the moment, that seemed pretty far away as he wasn’t rushing through levels. Another reason he had for buying one of those as well was the very compelling point Aysha made on the way over. She said that the Ten Floor Challenge gave out great rewards and that it could help them on their path later on, like coins they could use in the training rooms, weapons, tools, and whatnot.
Still, according to her, little was known about what exactly this challenge was and what happened once one got into the elevator. That happened due to some sort of spell that prevented others from sharing their experiences with others who hadn’t gone through the challenge yet. What she did know, however, was that with each floor one was able to go through, the rewards increased, and that the highest anyone had ever gotten was the fourth floor.
Lucas was pretty shocked by this news. In a challenge of ten floors, the highest anyone had ever gotten was the fourth? What kind of insane challenge was that? However, this level of difficulty only made him more eager to go and try his luck. Aysha added later that the record was held by that man with the carriage; Nicholas was his name. But she said that even if he had reached the fourth floor, he didn’t complete it, so in theory he only received the rewards from the third floor. But the amount of rewards also seems to vary according to one’s performance during the actual challenge, and she had no idea how this was measured.
Lucas had been locked up in his training rooms for too long and had missed out on most of what’s been going on, so it was good to catch up, and the news about the Tower made him take the challenge more seriously. He absolutely had to beat that Nicholas guy’s record. So he wouldn’t spare his pocket once he arrived at their destination.
When he asked Aysha if they should go out hunting to put a few more levels under their belt before the challenge, she said that wasn’t necessary and that the challenge was set according to the person’s taking it. That put Lucas mind at ease; he wasn’t willing to rush through levels, but if he had to, to have a better shot at this challenge, he could make a compromise, but he was happy he didn’t need to.
While they were walking towards one of the busy streets they had gone through when they first arrived, Lucas looked once more at his pile of coins that seemed very small compared to before, and also landed his eyes on another thing had been hanging around there for quite some time already, and he had almost forgotten it existed: the metal plate he had found in the river. His initial thought was to use it to make his new axe, or something of the sort; however, a lot had happened since then, and he no longer needed an axe or any sort of weapon. He also wouldn’t even consider using a metal armor, as that would hinder his movements, ruining his fighting style.
“Hey, Aysha,” he said, suddenly looking at her, who turned towards him. “I have this… do you want it?” he said, taking the metal frame out of his ring, remembering how he had struggled to hold that thing back then, now it was just a little heavy for him.
“Where did you find this?” she said, analyzing the metal, with her eyes and fingers. “This is a really good metal,” she gave her evaluation.
Lucas had already gotten used to her having random knowledge about certain things; as a princess, she had to know about a whole lot of stuff, and the quality of metal was apparently one of those things.
“I found it lying around at the bottom of a river,” he explained. “So, do you want it?”
“Can’t you use it? Didn’t you use to fight with an axe before you met me?”
“Yes, I did. But I’m thinking about switching weapons…”
“Still, you can use this metal to make whatever weapon you want,” she insisted.
“I already have the weapon I want,” he said, and before she could say anything else, he added, “Trust me, I don’t need it, and if you don’t want it, I will probably just throw it away.”
“Well… if you don’t need it, I can always use some extra arrows,” she said, thanking him, which was a lot of progress from two weeks ago when she had to promise to pay him back for anything he gave her.
She had a hard time getting the thing inside her ring, but with Lucas’ help, she finally managed to store the metal frame. After a little while longer, they finally arrived at the place they had bought their first set of clothes: Paradisus. And the same attendant was there to receive them, and she surprisingly remembered them, although he probably shouldn’t be surprised, considering Aysha was the only elf in the entire city.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Welcome back! Are you here to buy some more clothes?” she asked, and Aysha answered.
“Yes, the ones with the added stats this time,” she said, and the attendant got really excited, conducting them through the store.
Both of them took their time going through all that the store had to offer for their respective levels. Aysha was level 14 by now, while Lucas was still stuck at level ten, but in the end, the difference in their levels didn’t matter because the threshold after level ten was level fifteen, so she couldn’t use those and had to stick with the level ten ones. Lucas saw in her face what he interpreted as a desire to go back on her words and hunt some more to reach level fifteen, but she didn’t say anything.
After some browsing and a few considerations, Lucas ended up with three pieces of clothing and new shoes. The attendant told them that the maximum limit of stat upgrades from equipment they could receive below level 15 was twenty, so Lucas based his choices around that.
Leather Chestpiece
A chest piece made from a leather of a powerful level 20 beast. +5 Toughness
Required level to use: 10
Leather Bracers
A bracer made from a leather of a powerful level 20 beast. +5 Toughness
Required level to use: 10
Novice Hunter Pants
Pants made from the finest cotton, ideal for hunting. +5 Toughness
Required level to use: 10
Novice Hunter Boots
Boots made from the best leather, ideal for hunting. +5 Agility.
Required level to use: 10
His first priority, considering the challenge that was to come, was to address his low Toughness, which could be detrimental to his success there. So, he held nothing back, and even with the exchange rate due to his unique constitution, he got five points in Toughness, doubling the amount he previously had. To finish it off, he gained five more points in agility, simply because it was his biggest asset. Lucas looked at his stats again after putting all his new equipment on.
Status:
Lvl: 10
Name: Lucas Romano
Race: Human
Class: Glass Warrior
Health Points (HP): 380/380
Mana Points (MP): 300/300
Stamina: 200/200
Stats:
Strength: 31
Agility: 39
Toughness: 10*
Perception: 26
Vitality: 27*
Magic: 17
Distributable points: 0
Achievements: Special Unique Constitution. Survivor.
Abilities: Beginner Craftsman 1. Disembowelment. Beginner Skinner. Beginner Alchemist.
Skills: Flying Axe. Stealth (Common). Death Aura Manipulation (Inferior). Fireball (Inferior). Bone-blade (Unique). Beginner Pugilist (Common).
Lucas felt much relieved after seeing his new stats. Those added points in Toughness could save him in a battle; his blade alone was now twice as resistant, and that by itself was a big deal. On a side note, he looked really good with his new clothes on.
After Aysha also finished her shopping, they left the store with a very happy attendant waving them off. Lucas’ set had cost nearly five thousand coins, a huge amount compared to his previous clothes that costed only a few hundred coins. Aysha had a gloomy expression on her face after paying, but Lucas chose not to mention it. That probably was a huge amount for her, but for Lucas, it was still manageable as he still had his savings.
After they left, they went straight towards the place Aysha had visited a few days ago that could make the arrows from the metal frame Lucas gave her. She said that with that frame she could probably get a pretty good discount, which, by her look of gratefulness, she really needed. It seems that Lucas wasn’t the only one who needed to get the alchemy store going.
Before they got to where they were headed, however, they encountered a less than pleasant acquaintance on the way: Nicholas and his ever-present legion of followers.
“Aysha!” he said with a smile on his face after spotting them. “What a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?” he asked, completely ignoring Lucas presence.
“I’m just buying a few things. Lucas and I are going to do the Tower Challenge soon.”
Nicholas seemed to acknowledge Lucas for the first time since arriving, and looked him up and down, then threw him a very fake smile and a nod. “That’s good to hear. Nice meeting you. I didn’t know Aysha had a friend like you.”
“Like me?” Lucas asked, already starting to feel annoyed.
“Yeah, who do you think you are walking by her side like that? Are you stupid?” one of Nicholas followers yelled at him. It was a very scrawny man, with yellowed teeth who spat while talking. And when a few of the others were about to say something too, Nicholas interrupted them.
“Shut up!” Nicholas yelled at them, with a pretty furious expression on his face, and the two that had spoken looked down, apparently embarrassed to be reprimanded. The others around him also seem to feel wronged, as all of them only wanted to defend his honor. Nicholas turned to look at Lucas again and had a very amiable smile on his face.
“Forgive me for my friends’ lack of manners. They are just a little protective of Miss Aysha, as we all greatly admire her. What I meant was that I didn’t know that she had such a good friend. And I bet you are a good warrior too, to be so close to her. You know she is only second to me on the merit points scoreboard, right?” Nicholas said, sounding almost too eager to state his status as the first on the merit points scoreboard.
Lucas did not know that Aysha was so high already and was positively impressed with her. He obviously knew about her ability with the bow and didn’t doubt for a second her capability of achieving great things. But they had arrived just a little over two weeks ago, and she was already second on the scoreboards; that was impressive indeed.
The subtext in Nicholas' speech, however, only served to piss him off him even more. It was very clear that the man was provoking him, probably jealous of his relationship with Aysha, but he decided to remain calm. There would be no point in him losing patience with him, as that was exactly what he wanted.
“I can hold my ground,” Lucas answered simply.
“It’s odd. I haven’t seen your name on the scoreboards, but I’m sure I just missed it somehow,” he said, but Lucas was already looking to the stores across the street, as if he had lost interest in their conversation. This only served to further increase Nicholas’ anger.
Who does he thinks he is walking next to Aysha like that? I have to put him in his place, or he will think he can do whatever he wants in my town, he thought. However, I can’t antagonize him too much, or Aysha might resent me for it… Nicholas eyes lit up as an idea popped into his head.