Wyn tolerated moving through the portal much better his second time. It was a stranger sensation since the first, almost like a delay, not quite as fast as before. As though the tower was taking an extra second to decide where to send him.
His desire to chase Lionel to the second floor easily overcame his desire to leave, and he found himself standing inside the mouth and entrance of a large cave. A wave of fatigue washed over him since he stopped running.
He looked around between breaths and was immediately thankful he could see, not standing in pitch black darkness. The cave was lit by clumps of glowing moss and various mushrooms scattered on the walls that spread from the ground to the very top of the ceiling. They emitted a soft glow, all varying in color, and the shimmer was similar to the treasure chest they found on the previous floor. There were also holes in the roof of the cave where beams of sunlight pierced the room, adding to the brightness though it was still darker than out in the open. He could see better than he did with Tasha’s Torchlight spell, and much further, too.
Lionel stood at the far end of the cave that seemed to lead deeper inside. He looked relaxed, almost peaceful, despite just stopping from a complete sprint. He faced Wyn with one hand by his side and the other holding John’s sword.
He didn’t assume a threatening pose. Wyn thought he might’ve attacked him right away but he was just standing there.
“What in the hells did you do?” Wyn yelled. “You bastard!” He raised his spear, ready to attack. He started running towards the Fighter, trying to close the distance before he struck.
“I did what I had to do,” Lionel said. His voice was different. Calm, purposeful, soft. “You had your objective and I had mine.”
Wyn gripped his spear hard, his knuckles white. He stopped his advance. “What are you talking about?”
Lionel scoffed. “There’s so little you understand about this world. About this tower.”
“Like you know more? You’re a rookie Climber! We’re here to work together against the tower, not each other!”
“No!” Lionel yelled. He pointed John’s sword at Wyn. “You’re wrong! I am here to defend this tower. Climbers have always been in the wrong, Wyn. You’ll find that if you keep climbing.”
Wyn was caught off guard. He didn’t understand what Lionel was saying. It didn’t make any sense.
Lionel reached into a pocket with his free hand and pulled out a key. “If you survive, that is. I was starting to somewhat warm up to all of you. But it had to be done. I finally saw the truth, and maybe one day you will, too.” Lionel smiled. “Praise Aliyar!”
At the same time, Marcy emerged from the portal behind Wyn and tumbled forward in a controlled roll. She rose to her knees with her bow readied and an arrow drawn. Lionel’s smile quickly turned sour.
Lionel opened a portal with his key and stepped through right as Marcy released her arrow. He seemed to duck at the right time, avoiding a lethal blow, but wasn’t able to avoid it completely. It grazed him right as he disappeared inside the portal. Marcy’s arrow clanged against the wall of the cave and the portal behind Lionel vanished.
“You didn’t try to stop him?!” Marcy yelled. She grabbed Wyn’s collar and pulled him close to her face. She was seething, her cheeks and nose flushed red and eyes wide. She had a feral look to her with her goo-coated fur armor and crazed expression.
Wyn raised a hand in surrender. “I was trying to stall and talk to him first. He said ‘praise Aliyar’ and that he wanted to defend the tower and not climb it. It didn’t make sense.”
Marcy let go of him. She yelled, and the cave returned her scream several times over.
Wyn looked at her and the empty space where Lionel just stood. He could hardly believe what happened. He was caught off guard with Lionel’s change of demeanor and words. Maybe he should’ve just attacked him instead, but he wanted an answer to his actions.
A realization suddenly hit him. How were they going to get out of the second floor?
Cedric appeared in the cave, entering through the same portal like Marcy. He looked around, his staff raised and glowing. His eyes were large and his moves sporadic.
“Where is he?” Cedric asked. His voice cracked.
“Gone,” Wyn replied. “He used a key and teleported out.”
Cedric cursed. Marcy laughed.
“What in the hells is so funny?” Cedric said and whipped around to Marcy. She was crouched at the other end of the cave entrance.
“At least I snagged him on his way out,” she said. She turned to face them, holding an arrow. The tip was blood red.
“So he’s hurt,” Wyn said. “He’ll likely heal.”
“Probably,” she said. “But it’s something. That bastard.”
Cedric sighed. “And I’m too late. I’m sorry.”
The three stood in the cave for a moment, all processing the events. Everything happened suddenly at once.
“We lost him,” Wyn said. “There’s nothing to do about it now. Cedric, how was John? Did you see him?”
“He should be fine,” Cedric said. He set his staff against the wall and sat down, folding his legs and resting his head on the wall. “Tasha was healing him. He should be stabilized and she’ll take him back through the portal I opened. The guild’s infirmary will take over from there.”
Wyn breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank the gods.”
“Thank Cedric and Tasha,” Marcy snapped. “They did it. Not gods.”
Wyn stared at her. “You’re right. Thank you, Cedric. And I’ll thank Tasha later.”
Marcy sat down beside Cedric. She straightened her legs and relaxed. “I’m sorry, Wyn. I don’t mean to be an ass. I’m just frustrated! And tired.”
“It’s okay,” Wyn said. “I get it. But now I can’t help but wonder how do we move forward from here?”
Marcy and Cedric looked at each other, bags under their eyes and shoulders slumped.
“I just used my key back on the first floor,” Cedric said. “I don’t have another.”
“We all know I don’t have one,” Marcy added.
“Okay,” Wyn said. He set his spear against the cave wall and folded his arms. He was too anxious to sit and did his best planning while up.
“This was not a smart decision,” Cedric said. “It won’t end well.”
“Downer,” Marcy said. She lightly punched him on the thigh.
Wyn took a deep breath. “Let’s talk this through. There’ll probably be another group come after us once word gets back, right?”
“Maybe,” Cedric said. “But the odds of them porting here is far too low. The tower starts parties at different locations for a better challenge.”
“Strike that one, then,” Marcy said.
“Alright,” Wyn continued, “why don’t we wait until morning, then? We camp here, wait for tomorrow when the next batch of Climbers enters the tower. The chance of one of them coming here or us meeting them in the floor increases.”
“That won’t work either,” Marcy said. “The tower resets itself with a new day. A new layout of the floor, a new set of monsters, different rewards. We don’t need to be in the tower when that happens.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s the reason people don’t camp overnight here. When it shifts, this small alcove could be where the boss is. Or at the bottom of a lake. Or in a volcano. Or in a horde of enemies. Or sucked into the void when the actual shift happens. No one knows because the Climbers stupid enough to try it have all died.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Wyn stopped pacing and stared blankly at her. “Shit.”
“I’ll say,” Marcy said.
“Strike that one, too,” Cedric added.
“Last idea, then,” Wyn said. “And I think it’s our only option.”
“I was afraid of that,” Cedric said. He closed his eyes.
“We finish this floor,” Wyn said. “And quickly, apparently, since we’ll all die when the tower changes. At least we have several hours.”
Cedric kept his eyes closed. “How? I’m nearly spent of mana. After clearing the first floor the first time and helping you guys I don’t have half my mana left. I’d be next to useless.”
“And I have less than half my usual arrows left,” Marcy said. “Just over a dozen. Like Cedric, I have about half my mana, too. And no offense, Wyn, but you’re not exactly an experienced Climber. Only three of us in poor condition tackling a floor? Even for just the second floor it’s not good odds.”
“Maybe not,” Wyn said. “But I’m experienced with fighting. And I’m damned determined not to die here. If you two back me up I believe I can lead us to the end.”
Cedric and Marcy simply stared at Wyn. Marcy chuckled.
“You’re confident, Wyn,” she said. “I like that.” She stood up and wiped her hands on her fur-lined pants, smearing green spider goo everywhere. “But you have a non-magical spear, limited magic, and used quite a few spells on the first floor.”
“True,” Wyn said. “Sort of. I currently have four spells.” He looked down at his forearm and noticed his mark was glowing but mostly dull. The time between casting his last spell at the champions and now was enough for Lucidity to regenerate most of his mana.
Wyn was thankful for it - it truly was an incredible skill.
“And, my mana will be fine. I’m over halfway full.”
Cedric stood up. “How? You cast several spells just an hour ago. It takes food and rest to recover mana. Or a potion. You should be nearly spent!”
“It’s my passive skill - Lucidity. It lets me naturally recover mana over time. I don’t have a large pool like you two but my mark tells me how little or how much I have thanks to that skill. And right now it’s saying I have over half of my mana available.”
“Damn,” Marcy said. “That’s pretty useful. You can be smart about spacing out your magic with other things and essentially never run out.”
“That’s the hope.”
“What are your spells and skills?” Cedric asked. “Marcy and I know ours, of course. We’ve been climbing for awhile together so we know how to manage when we’re low on resources. But I’d like you to share your abilities so we know what we have available.”
Wyn smiled. They were trusting him. Even if they were veterans they knew they had to work together. Hope swelled up in his chest that they’d get out of this hellish situation.
“I have Ice Shard, Arcane Aura, Regen, and Magic Weapon for my spells.”
“Regen is good,” Marcy said. “Just be smart about when you use it.”
“And Magic Weapon can solve your non-magical spear problem. This might work after all.”
“That was my thought, too,” Wyn said. “I took more utility spells thinking I’d be better served that way. I’m hoping it’ll pay off now.”
“What about your skills?” Cedric said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of folded paper. He looked it over for just a second and folded it back up.
“Lucidity, as I mentioned,” Wyn said. “Also Dyadcast and Speed Up.”
“Speed Up is straightforward. I’m not sure I know the other one. What does it do?”
Wyn flushed and his heart skipped a beat. He realized he never finished reviewing his skills with Daniel. A resource he had available wasn’t put to use because he wanted to rush into the tower. A pang of regret resonated within him. Like with his spells, he could read them on his parchment but he wouldn’t know the full capabilities or applications. Not yet.
He pulled out his parchments and looked them over. Rifling through the pages, he pulled up the paper labeled CLASS and looked at it. Sure enough, there was a brief description of both Lucidity and Dyadcast.
“Lucidity: Allows passive recovery of mana. Your mark will show the current status of mana and is a guide to your expected amount of recovery time from empty to full. When your mark fully glows you are empty and currently recovering. When your mark is dull and grey you are full. Current time to fully recover: 3 hours.
“Dyadcast: Allows you to cast a spell twice for only one and a half the mana cost. Speak the skill followed by the spell to engage the ability.”
Wyn read them out loud to Marcy and Cedric. He stared at it for a second longer. Shame crept up within him, now - he should’ve looked at this before he stepped inside the tower. This information was important and crucial to his success. The fact that he was just now learning about it was embarrassing.
“Not too bad, not too great,” Cedric said. “At least compared to others, honestly. Sorry, Wyn.”
Wyn held his head up and squared his chest. Based on what Daniel told him, he knew the Ruby Magician’s skill set and abilities wouldn’t be the most efficient. But he was damned if he wasn’t going to make the best of them.
“It’s alright,” Wyn said. “I’m going to prove it’s better than you think. You’ll see.”
Marcy smiled. “You must’ve been popular in your company. You seem to be a pretty positive guy.”
“I learned that you have to be,” Wyn said. “Especially when you’re young and facing the likelihood of dying.”
“And you’re wiser than most,” Cedric added. “Most rookie Climbers can’t see that. They’re too bold and make stupid mistakes.”
Wyn briefly thought of his own conversations with Daniel earlier in the day. How he wanted to rush to get into the tower rather than take his time to learn his abilities in a controlled environment. It was a bold and stupid mistake, the exact thing Cedric was saying he didn’t see in him.
“I wouldn’t count myself out of that category, yet. But all I know is that we can definitely make it through this floor if we work together.”
“You’re right,” Marcy said. “I believe we can, too.”
“Alright,” Cedric said. “Let’s get a plan. According to my parchment it’s currently 7:12. We have some time but we don’t need to be distracted. We’re a small group, low on mana and resources, and need to find the best way to the boss so we can open the portal and return to Alestead.”
“And be smart about what we do,” Marcy added. “We aren’t looking to grab rewards, here. Only move forward. We’re on a clock and the odds are still against us.”
“True,” Wyn said. “But what skills or magic do you two have? Since we’re laying everything on the table.” Wyn couldn’t suppress a smile. He was dying to know their abilities.
Marcy laughed. “It’s not worth the time to go over everything we can do. Let’s just say I will shoot things with arrows, Cedric will shoot them with spells, and you will stab them with your spear. On top of healing, if needed.”
“She’s right,” Cedric said. “But I focus on Lightning spells, obviously, and have skills to support the strength and mana efficiency of those spells. To be brief.”
Marcy threw her pack on the ground. “And mine support ranged attacks, improve my senses, and overall just make me more of a badass.”
Wyn’s effort at trying to get them to share their abilities wasn’t totally fruitless, but still disappointing. “That’s something, I guess. Do you have any magic items or weapons, at least?”
Cedric held his staff out in front of him. “My staff and robe are magical. I can cast a few basic attacking spells without using mana and it can amplify my magic, simply put.”
“Any my bow is similar,” Marcy added. “I can increase my accuracy, use it to cast some arrow-specific spells, and make standard arrows magical. You should find a weapon like that at some point, too, by the way. If we make it out of here.”
“Oh, and our packs are magical,” Cedric said. “They can hold more than normal.”
Marcy sighed. “And the rest we left back at our stash. This was supposed to be an introductory climb, remember? I didn’t want to bring anything extra with me outside of some snacks and an emergency kit.”
“Which,” Cedric added, “in hindsight, was foolish. We won’t make that mistake again.”
Wyn took a deep breath. “Okay, then. I have another idea.”
“Let’s hear it,” Marcy said.
“I’ll scout ahead for a bit while you two rest to recover some mana. I won’t engage with anything but will note the paths ahead. Then, in an hour, we start and push through.”
“I won’t even fight you on it,” Marcy said. She reached into her pack and pulled out a blanket and rations. She laid down on the cave floor and began eating, handing some to Cedric. Using her pack as a pillow, she pulled the blanket up like she was going to sleep. Cedric did the same beside her.
Wyn turned and looked deeper into the cave. It was lit by ambient mushrooms on the wall and ceiling and gave off dim light, which was enough for them to see without another source. It wasn’t lit as well as their space due to the beams of light from the ceiling, but at least they’d be able to see. He noticed the path immediately veered to the right, though, so he couldn’t see too far.
Using his spear as a walking stick, he began to walk into the cave to explore.
He stopped mid step as a thought struck him. The tower has objectives for them on each floor. Maybe the objective for this floor could give an idea about what lied ahead?
Wyn pulled out his parchment. There it was, magically imprinted:
“Your search for the girl leads you deeper into the unknown. What lies within? Is she still alive? Is she worth this much trouble? Keep pressing on to find out. Fair warning, though - something doesn’t want you here. Good luck.”
Wyn folded it up and put it away. He chuckled a bit at the near-absurdity of it all. The description was definitely ominous, and completing a quest in the midst of surviving here was ridiculous.
He thought about the objective at the last floor and trying to find the little girl. He didn’t remember any more clues but figured if he were to keep climbing the floors he’d find more. It seemed as though there was a large, connected puzzle between each of the floors inside the tower. As though the entire twenty floors laid out an adventure rather than random challenges.
Excitement grew once more despite his current situation. He understood the appeal of being a Climber with only the smallest of exposure. The taste was intoxicating, and he wanted more.
But now wasn’t the time for that.
Wyn checked his mark. It was still recovering mana, of course.
He had an idea.
Placing his hand on his chest, he immediately cast Arcane Aura on himself. The same showings of mystical armor appeared over his Ruby Magician robe gifted by Daniel, and he matched the same glow from the moss and mushrooms on the cave wall.
He checked his mark again. It showed less than half of his mark recovering mana but more than a third. So, one cast of his armor took about one third of his total mana. Using the time they have until they start exploring as a group, he could be able to track more precisely how long the spell lasts.
He tapped his spear against the ground and stood at attention. Being caught off guard here would spell death for all of them, and he’d be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t nervous. It was one thing to be out in the real world, but here he felt even more exposed and at risk.
Wyn took two steps forward and the moss on the wall changed color - what was just a soft green quickly turned to a shimmering purple, and the plants shifted like they were alive.
Two steps in and he was already questioning just exactly how far he should go.