Chapter 24

The moment the light faded away and I felt soft grass once again under my feet, my eyes shot open. All around people were flashing in. Some immediately grabbed hold of pendants around their necks and flashed away. Others began walking in a singular direction, Climber’s on the outside, those without the Tower’s Blessing on the inside. I mentally pulled up the Tower map, like Alexandra had mentioned and confirmed my suspicion. They were heading towards the second-floor portal.

After confirming that fact, I stood there in stunned silence as I took in the map itself. I’d spent a couple hours on the first floor, or at least I thought that was how long I’d spent. But I hadn’t realized or fully comprehended the full scope of the floor. It was massive, larger than the entire city multiple times over. The portal to the next floor was laughably close to where we entered the Tower, all things considered. If you headed off in the wrong direction, there was a good chance you could wander the entire day and still not figure it out.

“Let’s move out of the way for a moment,” Ryker said, ushering us along. “Let the morning stream finish, and then I can get you all sorted out for your first day on the job.”

He led us to an empty expanse of grass. As one the farmers all summoned a variety of chairs, stools, and one even summoned a hammock. They got comfortable and pulled out fruits and dried meats, while a few began playing instruments. The new climbers all looked awkwardly at the farmers, and then expectantly toward Ryker.

“First, how many of you actually made it to the second floor?” Ryker asked as he took in our group. Of the ten other new Climbers, excluding Nyle, myself, eight raised their hands.

“Good.” He nodded. “That will make this a little easier for you. I’m going to split you into groups of three and ensure the three of you without completed floor maps are with two who have the maps.”

“Floor maps?” One of the new Climber’s asked. Ryker immediately explained the system to them, just like Alexandra had explained it to us. With that sorted, he started pointing at Climbers.

“You three are going to be group one. You guys’ group two. You three group three. And that leaves you, to pair up with Ash and Nyle here.” The final member, one who had made it to the second floor, was a girl named Lyn. She had a bow strapped to her back, and a short sword at her side. Both of which, if I had to guess, were rented from Climber’s Rest.

“I forgot to ask,” Ryker said as the Climbers all began moving into their assigned pairs. He was looking directly at Nyle. “What type of fighting style are you going for?”

“Er,” Nyle held out his left hand, and a slender rapier appeared in his hand.

Ryker waited for a moment, “no shield?” he asked, as nothing else appeared.

“I was planning to use my spells.” Nyle said sheepishly, “and use the Rapier when needed.”

“Hmmm,” Ryker paused. “You’ll need some of these then.” I glanced between him and Nyle, watching my friend’s facial expressions shift. He started to shake his head, but Ryker shot him a look that silenced him. A moment later, whatever they were doing, trading if I had to guess, concluded.

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“Right, so we’ve got a fledgling spell sword,” Ryker said with a look at Nyle, “an archer?” He raised an eyebrow towards Lyn and she nodded, “and a…” he looked at me, and as he did I summoned my selection. His eyebrow raised even higher, and he let out a sigh, “really Ash?”

I shrugged, though I could feel my face turning red. I knew that tone. “I figured since we were going to be protecting the farmers against goblins and wolves this would work the best.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong.” He sighed, “but seriously? I swear I trained you better than this. Where’s the massive shield? Where’s the Morningstar.” He shook his head. “Did my training teach you nothing.”

“Ash doesn’t have the patience of a saint like you do,” Nyle piped in. Ryker laughed and ran his gauntleted hand over his hair.

“That is fair.” Ryker said. “He was more like your mentor in that regard, huh. Though he has nowhere near the natural talent with the whip as Thalia does.”

I ignored his quips over my weapon choices. I had a scimitar across one hip, and a parrying dagger across the other. It was going to take two copper pieces from my reward today, but I’d felt more comfortable selecting the two weapons, rather than relying on just one. The goblins were weak. I knew that much. But I hadn’t fought wolves yet. Still, I was comfortable enough to feel I could make do without a shield, especially if the wolves were as easy to kill as the goblins had been.

“I figured versatility would be key today.” I said with a shrug. “I’m pretty confident with my scimitar, and the dagger will give me extra attack and defensive choices as needed.”

“It’s not a terrible choice for the first floor,” Ryker relented, “like, I doubt you’ll let a goblin kill you. Though a wolf pack may give you trouble,” he shrugged, “but I’d advise about thinking about an overall style of fighting you want to focus on, and practice that every day in the Tower, rather than basing your weapon choices off of which floor you’re going to.”

He slapped his chest plate, “top rate gear is expensive, and unless you plan on wasting money and resources, you’re definitely going to want to focus on a single set of gear and such, to be your primary.”

“But for today,” he smiled and let out a sigh, “I guess I’ll not give you too much crap for your poor life choice.”

I looked from him, to Nyle. He was giving me a hard time, but saying nothing about Nyle’s choice? That hardly seemed fair. Still, as I looked at the rest of the Climbers around us, I realized our little three-man group definitely had the largest variety in our weapons. Most of our former platoon members had gone, once again, with sword and board. A few had at least changed from a short sword to other bladed objects, but nine out of ten of them were all using shields of various shapes and sizes.

Were Nyle and I being reckless for not grabbing shields? Were our weapon choices mistakes? Or were the others playing it safe? Had their experience with the Reaping made them hesitant to try other weapons until they were stronger?

I scoffed at the thought, thinking back to the goblins I’d killed. Sure, the Goblin Warriors on the second floor had killed me, but the little club wielding bastards on the first floor? No way was I scared of those little monsters.

“Right,” Ryker’s voice brought me from my thoughts. Nyle was looking around at my side, still taking in everything, seeming to enjoy the peaceful music of the farmers. All the other Climbers had been talking to their little groups, and then glancing in Ryker’s direction, their admiration of his armor evident. “Now that our teams our sorted, I’ll give you guys the rundown of how today will go.” He smiled widely at everyone, including the farmers. “We’ve two main goals for today. Obviously, keep the Farmers save and make sure they have a record day on the job,” the Farmers all cheers and raised their drinks and snacks to Ryker, “and the other, is to make sure you all get as much Tower Essence as possible today. So,” he clapped his hands together, “who’s ready to kill some monsters?”