Chapter 22

“The Obsidian Shield,” the man at the counter in the Farmer’s Guild exclaimed as he looked at Ryker. He hadn’t even noticed Nyle and I. In fact, everyone in the guild, climber and farmer alike, had all grown quiet as we made our way into the building to report for our job. “What brings you to our humble Guild?”

Ryker placed himself between Nyle and I, put a hand on each of our shoulders, and pushed us forward. “Here with some promising new Climbers,” he said, loudly. “They’re friends of mine, and I figured I’d accompany them on their first day, to make sure everything goes smoothly.” Ryker’s head swiveled around the room as he spoke, his words clear. We were under his protection.

“The crew will rejoice today,” the Overseer exclaimed, clapping his hand together, “with you around, there’s no doubt we will have nothing to fear today.”

Ryker laughed and pushed the two of us forward. The Overseer nodded and looked down at as.

“Good morning, Climbers,” he said in a friendly tone, “I’m Mitch Bark, Overseer of the Farmers Guild.” He motioned towards a book in front of him, extremely similar to the one Alexandra had. “Allow me to record your presence here today, and we’ll get you sorted right away.”

We stood there for a moment as he looked at us, expectantly. Ryker chuckled and elbowed me in the back. “He needs your Climbers ID.”

I felt the heat rise to my cheeks as I mentally pulled up my inventory and summoned the ID in question. I handed it over, and Nyle did the same. The man quickly began writing in his book as he glanced at our information. Once done, he returned the card.

“I don’t suppose,” he began as Ryker handed his own Climbers ID to Mitch, “you’d be willing to take on a job on a higher floor instead?”

“Probably not,” Ryker said with a shake of his head, “though I would say, since I’m going to be helping Nyle and Ash on the first floor, you should be safe to assign Hans group to a higher floor.” He chuckled, “in fact, I’d prefer it if you did.” The sound of coins hitting wood drew my attention to the counter, and I noticed a few gold coins had suddenly appeared. The Overseer silently took the coins and gave Ryker a knowing smile.

“Right then,” he looked past us, then back at Ryker. “Would you like to pick the group to accompany you and your companions on the first floor today?”

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Ryker looked around, “put all the new Climbers on the first floor with me. I’ll ensure none of your farmers are in danger. All the other veterans you can assign to floors 2 and up.”

The farmer rubbed his hands together nervously. “I know of your reputation,” he said, “but are you sure you’ll be able to keep everyone safe?”

Ryker grinned. “I may be the only one accepting a job here with you today, but,” he chuckled, “I have it on good authority a few other members of my clan will be on the first floor relaxing. Apparently, the Clan leader decided to be selfish and take the day off climbing, so they found themselves with nothing better to do.”

Ryker looked down at me and winked. “I’m the clan leader, by the way.”

The look on the Overseer’s face was one of pure surprise and delight. He clapped his hands jubilantly together and began hurriedly scribbling in the book. As he did, he began calling out a list of names.

“Fran, Rachel, Blaise, Paul, Rand, Trixie, Trish,” more and more names, until he’d said at least twenty, “you’re being blessed by the Tower today. I expect record harvests today, you hear.” He looked up as he finished speaking, “once they’ve gathered all they can, help yourself to the livestock too. How’s a fifty-fifty split sound?”

Ryker looked down at us. “Keep eighty percent,” he said to the Overseer, “and make sure these two get a decent reward. Trying to make sure they’re set up right, you know. It was just last year after all that a similar kindness helped set me on the right path.”

The Overseer nodded. “May the Tower bless you Ryker, and all the others like you.” He practically had tears in his eyes, “you’re true exemplars of your Marks.”

Ryker chuckled and turned away. “It’s nothing. Besides, you and I both know even if I took a hundred percent of everything, it’d hardly cover my normal rates.”

The Overseer turned sheet white at that statement. I, on the other hand, looked at Ryker’s back, my mouth wide. I know I’d only seen a small portion of the first floor, but even still. The sheer expanse of the fields, the number of livestock. All of that was less than what Ryker could normally make? Then I remembered the reward for the SSS ranked job. I made a mental note to check the C ranked jobs when we returned to Climber’s Rest after our job today. I was more than a little curious now, to see just what a day in Ryker’s life was like. How strong, how rich, had Ryker become in his first year as a Climber? And, would I be able to follow in his footsteps, and have similar results?’

What type of Climber do you wish to be?

There it was again, the question, lingering in my mind. What type of Climber was Ryker? What was he classified as? How had he distributed his stats? What level was he? More questions pressed forward as Nyle and I followed him out of the Farmer’s Guild, a group of farmers trailing after us, while our fellow Climber’s Regalia clad peers joined as well.

The thoughts subsided for a moment, as we made our way past the five washouts. They were cursing up a storm and looking at Ryker, though they grew quiet as we got closer. Before they completely shut up though, I caught more than a few words and comments. They were pissed he’d gotten them reassigned. Yet, it was evident there was nothing they could do about it. Even though Ryker was by himself, his gear, his level, his rank with Climber’s Rest. All of it told the same story. Ryker was better than all of them.