Chapter 83

We ran as fast as we could through the first two floors on our way to the third. Well, Nyle and I ran as fast as we could. With her dexterity at 11, meaning she’d broken the first threshold, Lyn was jogging more than actually running. The ease with which she moved, the increased agility and athleticism she’d seemed to suddenly have, made me all the more eager to level up more.

Thanks to Quill, our path through the second floor, to the third, was an easy one as well. He’d given us directions the day prior to the portal for the third floor. With that knowledge in hand, and our partially filled out floor maps thanks to our time on the second floor during the gorilla hunt, we found the third-floor portal with relative ease.

That was the easy part of our journey. The known, that is, of what to expect for the day. With the three of us sitting at level 10, we’d had nothing to worry about, secret bosses and titans aside of course, from the level 2 monsters on the first floor, nor the level 4 monsters on the second. The third floor, whose monsters were level 6, technically wasn’t of much concern either. However, the past two days had taught us, or taught me at the very least, the need for caution. To respect the Tower, and its surprises. Even when an area should feel completely safe, I know now, there are dangers. On top of that, given how tough the gorilla had been yesterday for us at level 7, when they were level 4 creatures not even classified as monsters, it was all too clear that monster levels, and Climber levels, meant completely different things.

These thoughts all played through my mind as the light faded from around my body, as my party completed teleporting from the second floor, to the third, to start our day of climbing and leveling off right. However, all the caution, all the mental fortitude I’d thought I’d readied, couldn’t prepare me for one small thing. The complete and utterly different feel between the second and third floor.

The first floor of the Tower was pleasant, sprawling fields of grass and flowers, with a sparse forest filled with trees that were spread out to allow easy line of sight and travel, with streams and caves and the likes within. On that floor, there was a crisp breeze, making the whole area feel comfortable, pristine, welcoming.

Conversely, the second floor was a muggy, humid, jungle. The size of the trees made the first floors seem small and juvenile. The heat of the floor caused me to sweat purely by thinking about it, and the air was weighed down with a heavy moisture that made even breathing difficult. There was a weight to the air, and no faint breeze. It was, to put it simply, miserable.

The third floor seemed to move back to the theme of the first. The air was crisp and light, with a faint hint of cooler temperature on it. Gone was the oppressive weight of wet damp air. Breathing was easy, though with each breath I couldn’t help but feel… fatigued. It was as if the air itself was thinner. Like there wasn’t enough of it to sate my lungs.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I blinked a few times against the warm light of the floor. The ceiling above was bathed in an amber like color, giving the trees of the area, white trees with golden and orange leaves, a further bathing of amber color. Within the forest that lay before us, there were other trees as well. Conical trees that seemed, if I were taking them in correctly, to have needles instead of leaves. Most noticeable of all though, was the obvious mounds of earth that jutted upwards and all around us.

“First time?” A voice pulled me from my sightseeing, and I looked towards it, past Nyle and Lyn, who were both staring around with open mouths. The speaker looked to be a few years older than us, and was covered from head to toe in animal furs.

“That obvious?” I asked, feeling the heat rise to my face as I spoke. I didn’t like seeming new. It was a part of why I was so eager to hit level 15. So I could buy gear to replace my Climber’s Regalia, to help remove the immediate distinction of being a Coal.

“Pretty much,” the man motioned towards that very same regalia, and then to my friends. “Fresh Coals, out on their own.” He smiled, “that brings back memories. What brings you to the third floor today?” He pulled a knife from his side and began picking dirt from his fingernails. “Anything fun and exciting?”

By this point, Lyn and Nyle had stopped gawking at their surroundings, and were looking the man over as well. As I focused more on him, I took in more of his features. He had a brown beard that was more shadow than actual beard, and matching hair. As if to make up for the lack of heavy facial hair, his brown hair fell almost over his eyes, and covered his ears completely, giving him a wild, unkempt look. Atop his head, a cap formed from some animal’s pelt, with the tail of the creature still attached, dangling behind his head.

As for the rest of his clothes, it seemed all of his gear was made from deep brown fur, thick and heavy material. It reminded me of the fur on the massive, stuffed bear at the Hunter’s Guild. One of the monsters on the third floor.

“Er,” I glanced at the others. Considering our interactions with Hans and his gang of thugs from the first day, I was a bit hesitant regarding interacting with Climber’s we didn’t know. Something that bothered me, actually. We were all on the same team, all with the same mission. Feelings of distrust shouldn’t exist between us.

“What’s it to you?” Lyn said, asking the man the question and answering for me in the same instance.

The man chuckled, barely even glancing up from his task at hand.

“Just making small talk is all,” he said, as if he had no cares in the world. “Always curious to see what the next set of Climbers are up to. Especially in the first week or so.”

“Is that why you’re here so early?” Nyle asked, looking around as he spoke. There was no one else around. We’d headed into the tower the moment it opened at Dawn. And we had moved quickly.

“Not really early,” the man said with a shrug, “if you never leave the Tower is it.” He put his knife away and stood. Sitting as he had been, it’d been difficult to get a gauge of the man’s build. As he stood, I realized he was on the shorter side, only about five and a half feet, by my guess. “Name’s Wyll by the way, if you were thinking about asking.” He held his hand out to me. His hands were covered in dirt and grime, with cuts and scars crisscrossing them. I shook the hand, the sight and feel of which rose even more questions.

“Perceptive aren’t ya,” he said with a chuckle, as if reading my mind. “Wondering why I’ve got injuries, huh?” He laughed again and grinned, showing me a mouth that was missing a few teeth as well. “If you’ve got some time, I’ll tell ya my story.”