Chapter 23

It wasn’t long after we left the Farmer’s Guild, entourage in tow, that the gates to the Tower opened. Unlike yesterday, when just our platoon had entered, now there was a mass of people. Climbers equipped in every type of armor imaginable thronged about, forming a massive line as the throngs of people waited for the gates to open. And dwarfing the numbers of climbers were the members of the other guilds. Those who were required to mine, farm, hunt, fish, and all other such tasks within the Tower. Those without whom the city wouldn’t be able to thrive. Those who, lacking the Climber’s Mark, would die forever if they died in the Tower. Their lives were quite literally in our hands.

“You two nervous?” Ryker whispered as we moved with the masses towards the Tower. Our total party, consisting of twenty farmers, and thirteen Climbers counting Ryker, Nyle, and myself, practically clung to each other to not get swept away in the crowd. As Ryker had requested, every single Climber with us, save for him, was wearing Climber’s Regalia, and were members of my old platoon.

“Excited if anything.” I said as played through my experiences from yesterday. Goblins and wolves were all I’d have to worry about on the first floor. Nothing else was an active threat, and unlike the second floor, I couldn’t recall any non-monster related animals being dangerous. I wondered how hard those gorillas on the second floor were to kill.

“That’s the spirit.” He ruffled my hair again and let out a jovial laugh. “How about you Nyle?”

Nyle looked at him and shrugged. “I’m excited to actually get to see the floor I guess.” He seemed somewhat subdued.

“How far did you get yesterday?” Ryker asked. “A lot of people have trouble finding the Portal during the Reaping. And wolf packs are dangerous if they get the slip on you.”

“I, er,” Nyle sighed, “I didn’t get very far.”

Ryker patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Being a Climber isn’t about any one day of success or failure. It’s a climb, you know.” He smiled, “making sure you’re constantly taking steps forward, is what really matters. Strive every day, to be a little better than you were the day prior, and you’ll reach your goals and dreams, I promise.”

I was smiling as Ryker spoke. He’d always been like this. Something about him drew people towards him. He was kind and easy-going, and yet when he needed to be he was an indomitable force of will. The type of person who you never questioned. If Ryker said he’d be there, if he said he’d watch your back and keep you safe, it wasn’t just a claim, it was a certain fact.

“I suppose.” Nyle said. He smiled at Ryker, but he still had a look of doubt in his eyes. “Hey, Ryker,” he began, as he looked around, “do you happen to know where Thalia is?”

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Thalia was Nyle’s Mentor. She’d been the exact opposite of Ryker. While Ryker was large and powerful, favoring a fighting style that focused on heavy armor and defenses, Thalia was small and agile. If I remembered correctly, she’d spent much of her time dual wielding thorned whips and had been terrifying with the weapons. Once she got her flow going with them, it had been impossible to get close enough to her to strike, without being sliced more ways than one could count by her deadly weapons.

“She’s in the tower last I heard.” Ryker said after a moment of thought. “I think she was trying to solo the 20th floor on this run.” He shrugged, “you probably know better than me that she’s not really the, er, teamwork type of person. The fact she’s not around, at least, means she hasn’t died yet. So, maybe she’s going to do it this time.” He chuckled. “To hear her tell the story, the last time she’d only died because she got unlucky at the last moment.”

Nyle and I shared a look. Hearing that Thalia was doing well, and climbing, seemed to have improved Nyle’s mood. However, Ryker’s comments also brought more questions to mind.

“How long does it take to reach the 20th floor?” I knew from training the Tower reset its monsters at the start of every day. We’d also been taught if you didn’t leave the Tower before Dusk, that you wouldn’t be able to leave through the portals, unless you died, I figured, until the next Dawn. Other than that, my knowledge regarding the Tower was sorely lacking. Now that we’d completed the Reaping, at the very least, we could access the Climber Records from the Cathedral for the floors past the fifth. Something I should probably do sooner rather than later.

“Depends on the Climber.” Ryker replied. “And what floor you’re starting on. Once you defeat your first Boss, on the fifth floor, the Tower will gift you a Teleport Pendant.” He pulled a shining necklace from under his armor. It had a crystal on it in the shape of the Tower. From the base of the crystal that was fastened to the chain, three glowing gems sparkled. “Each gem denotes a floor you can teleport to.” He pointed towards it, “essentially it will take you to the portal before the next floor. Having beaten the fifth, tenth, and twentieth floor bosses, I can teleport to those three.”

“So you’ve beaten the boss Thalia is going after?” Nyle asked.

“Yeah, though there’s no doubt I had an easier time at it than she is. Taking on bosses with a party is much easier than trying to solo the Tower. Though, there are pros and cons to both styles of Climbing.”

“What do you mean?” I piped in. “Isn’t it more efficient and faster to climb in a party?”

“It is definitely faster,” Ryker said with a nod, “but it also means you’re reliant on your party members. And if something goes wrong with one, or someone needs a day off, your progress is slowed. Also, there’s speculation that the Tower rewards those who solo with better chances at powerful and rare types of loot. And it’s a fact that if you solo a boss, you get more Tower Essence from it than if you take it on as a team.”

“All in all,” he continued, “it comes down to you. There’s safety in numbers. But it’s also undeniable the greater the risk within the Tower, the greater the reward.”

“It all depends,” he said as he glanced from us to the Tower itself. The doors were opening, and people were already moving into the glowing white entrance, disappearing from sight as they were teleported within.

“On what type of Climber you want to be?” Nyle and I both parroted before he could continue. He laughed as he pushed us forward eagerly, our group buzzing with excitement as we neared the glowing entrance ourselves.

“You two get it.” He said with another laugh. “And as long as you do, no matter what, I’m sure you two will go far.”