Marcy and John led the way again as Tasha and Wyn kept a lookout behind them. The path was easier to traverse having been cleared already with leaves and brush littering the jungle floor in a wide swath.
It was cut cleanly with a blade as Marcy had pointed out, just like how her and John were forging a path through the floor before the river. This clearing was wider than they were cutting and looked like three or four Climbers were doing the work.
"So a group is directly ahead of us, then," Wyn said, picking up a large leaf that was cut and looking at it closer.
"It seems that way," Marcy said. "But it shouldn't be a problem. It happens. Especially early on when all the groups are having to clear the early floors to get to the tier and floor that will actually challenge them."
"That makes sense," Tasha said. "Like it's oversaturated right now with Climbers?"
"In a way, yea."
"Will we miss out on enemies and treasure?" John asked.
Marcy laughed. "No, don't worry about that. The tower will add more enemies to accommodate for the increased number of Climbers on the floor."
"I would’ve been fine without knowing that," Tasha said. "You just had to ask, didn't you, John?"
"Of course," he replied. "I need those sweet, sweet magical items."
Marcy stopped and held up a hand signal for them to stop. She looked back at them. "Something's coming. Get ready."
"Tasha," Wyn said, "remember what we planned for!"
Tasha nodded, grabbed her staff and settled behind John. The Fighter raised his shield and readied himself to fight at the same time. Marcy went to grab her bow but thought better of it and kept it slung across her chest. The jungle was not privy to longer distanced combat. Not that she was ineffective with her bow at close range, but she decided to keep more of a lookout role while the newer Climbers worked their strategy.
On second thought, she unslung her bow and nocked an arrow just in case. She’d let the other three go as long as possible, but after her last climb she wanted to be absolutely sure they’d be safe.
Marcy and Wyn formed a triangle with John then scanned the jungle while Tasha was protected in the center. Just like before it was hard to see past the dense bushes, grass, and trees, but they tried to be as still as possible while on high alert. Wyn turned his left forearm over and quickly checked his mark. Lucidity had recovered little of his mana from using Dyadcast on top of his spell, but he was still over half. He could cast any of his spells if needed.
They all heard leaves rustle and sway before seeing low hanging branches move in John’s direction. Wyn and Marcy shifted a bit for a better angle and John stepped forward with his shield raised. He was going to take whatever emerged first and didn’t hesitate in the slightest. Preparing himself, he breathed deep and let out a firm exhale, loud and strong like a bull before a rush.
Tasha tapped her staff on John’s back. “Arcane Aura!”
The staff glowed while a multitude of runes lit up in the air in the space between her staff and John. John instantly had a visible aura of white magic surround him. The magical armor overlapped his own, and he stood a bit straighter as confidence swelled up inside him.
“Focus,” John said quickly with another exhale of his breath. A red wave-like aura spilled out of his torso, covering his body under the armor spell that protected him. It pulsed like a beating heart, the aura trailing off and thinning under the white armor that enveloped him. It was duller in brightness than the armor’s aura but appeared more dense.
Wyn glanced at John and sensed something different about him. A chill run over his arms. He hadn’t seen him use one of his skills before. The blood red aura seemed like visible bloodlust. Wyn knew John had to have several other skills, too, but wondered how many the Fighter had since he couldn’t cast spells. It had to be enough to be balanced compared to the magical classes, or at least each of the skills strong enough to be powerful all on their own.
The large leaves suddenly moved and parted, pulling Wyn out of his thoughts. Nearly as quick as it emerged, John moved forward, bashing the first creature that came through to his left. He moved much faster than Wyn expected, his reaction and strength higher than he’d previously seen from the Fighter.
Just what, exactly, did that skill increase?
The lizard creature, bigger than the previous ones they’ve met, held a jagged dagger in each of its hands. It stumbled to the side, knocked over in surprise from John’s shield. Unfortunately being bashed to the side cleared a path for its allies to emerge as more barreled out of the foliage. Another monster leap from the bushes, this time a sword slicing down towards the Fighter. John met it with his own in the air, parrying it with a loud clang.
Wyn decided to act while John was keeping the other one distracted. He stepped forward and lunged at the staggered lizard monster with Windcutter, aiming for its chest. The spear struck true, sinking in and through it completely, the wind-element weapon showing its advantage. The lizard let out a shriek and coughed blue blood, coating Wyn’s boots and pants. It was dark and bubbly, a clear sign Wyn pierced its lungs.
To his surprise the lizard swung wildly at him with its daggers, still trying to attack him in a frenzy despite it clearly dying. Thankfully the spear was keeping it just out of arms reach, and Wyn pulled it out of its chest inflicting a deeper cut. It lurched forward from the momentum, trying for one last flurry, though Wyn spun the weapon around and used the clawed end of Windcutter to hook it and sling it to the ground out of harms way. He doubted he’d be able to succeed with that maneuver on one of the monsters who wasn’t on the brink of death and sputtering blood, but he was thankful for the advantage when he had it. One final stab to its chest on the ground sealed its fate, a perverse cry leaving its jaws before going still.
A loud thud made Wyn turn back to the group, hoping John wasn’t being overtaken. He should’ve known better, though, as he saw one of the creatures lying on the ground beside the Fighter trying to get up. John had moved to a third monster further in the grass, where he took another blow on his shield from a large hammer that caused the loud noise. This lizard was the largest of the group, even taller than John, and looked to be the strongest, too, as it swung its large hammer to attack. The weapon looked as though it should be wielded with two hands, but the monster made it look easy holding it in one. Its body was lean with muscle, too, comparable to any warrior Wyn had seen who’d trained for months to enhance their physicality.
Wyn was sure the blow would’ve hurt John’s arm seeing the force needed to move the heavy weapon, but the Fighter absorbed it without flinching. He figured the red-aura skill aided the Fighter in his physical ability, but he was shocked to actually see it in action. He doubted John even needed the magical armor around him. John, not missing a beat, swung his sword back, too quick for the lizard to react and cleaved its arm off at the shoulder.
It was gruesome, Tasha even yelping at the sight of it, as she turned her head away and closed her eyes.
The second lizard monster on the ground, meanwhile, was up and about to strike John from behind. Wyn started to rush forward to help but stopped mid stride when he heard the whoosh of an arrow fly beside him. It struck the monster hard on the back of its shoulder, and it whipped around to see who attacked it. Spittle flew from the monster’s mouth as it growled in anger, a deep, rumbling noise escaping its reptilian jaws.
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Two more quick arrows silenced it, one hitting it in the chest and another in the neck. It sputtered blood as it clawed at the arrow shafts sticking out of it, breaking them both as it ripped them free from its body.
Wyn promptly slashed and stabbed at the creature while it was recovering, peppering it was quick blows. The attacks caused it to bleed profusely, and it let out one final angry roar while dropping to one knee.
A fourth arrow pierced its open mouth and exited the back of its head, killing it.
Behind it, the largest lizard dropped its hammer and held its empty shoulder, screaming in a fit of rage. John promptly stepped forward and stabbed it with his sword, the blade emerging from behind it. It was silenced quickly as John retracted his sword and stabbed it again. It toppled over in death.
In a matter of seconds all three lizards were dead and bleeding, the ground in their area more blue now than green from the jungle floor.
Tasha gagged and wiped her eyes before taking a deep breath. “Is everyone okay?”
John breathed deep one more time and wiped his sword on a large leaf before sheathing it. “Should be. They weren’t that bad.”
“Tasha are you okay?” Wyn asked. He walked over to her and grabbed her shoulder. “Were you hurt?”
“No, I’m alright,” she replied. “It’s just… I wasn’t expecting it to be that gruesome.”
“You mean all those wolves and spiders weren’t enough for you?” Wyn asked.
“This was much worse than that and you know it,” Tasha replied. “I could handle spiders being killed all day long. But these reminded me of people.”
“That’s the tower for you,” Marcy said. “Monsters can show up like anything. But this is real. Don’t forget that. And I hate to break it to you, but life is gruesome.”
Tasha took another deep breath to settle herself. “I know. I just have to get used to it. But John - I’m speechless. That was incredible!”
“Yea,” Marcy said. “Where was that last week? That was… a bit terrifying. In a good way.”
John smiled at the compliment. “I wanted my first time to be skill-free, purely on my own training and abilities. But yea… that was special.” He flexed his arms, enjoying the rush of his skill and finding himself unable to be still from his physical surge.
The lizard creatures all began to dissolve and the blood along with them. Where the leader laid was a small item glowing with a green aura. Tasha was the first to spot it.
“Hey! Another magic item!” Tasha ran up to it and went to grab it but paused. There were two items rather than one. “Even better - there are two! How should we split them up?”
Wyn walked up beside Tasha and looked at the items. They were a lizard tooth and claw, both much larger than the lizards themselves possessed and giving off a faint green aura. Both were the size of his palm. He picked them up and handed them to John.
“I think you deserve these,” Wyn said. “They kept wanting to attack you, not anyone else. They saw you as their biggest threat and you were. And, you handled them easily.”
John grabbed them and put them in a pouch on his backpack. “Thank you. I don’t quite know what I want to do with them yet, but we can figure it out later.”
“What could you do with them?” Wyn asked.
“Well, I could sell them or have them crafted into something. Nothing too great since their both green items, but maybe a potion or basic item. My mother told me some crafters are able to break down items into raw materials that are more readily used, so even green items like these have some value.”
“Or the guild will buy them from you for a flat amount of coins,” Marcy said. “Something like 10 gold per green item, I believe. Nothing too much, but they can definitely add up.”
Wyn thought about that. That would certainly be another way to supplement his needed income.
“But like we said before, we can discuss all of this outside the tower,” Tasha said.
“Agreed,” Wyn said. He twirled his spear and slung the excess blood off the blade. “I assume we just keep following the path that was cleared?”
“I would think so,” Marcy said. “If a group ran into a dead end they would’ve retraced their steps and I haven’t seen or heard anyone yet.”
“Then we keep following it,” Tasha said. She grabbed her staff sheepishly and stepped beside Wyn. “But I would still like you two to lead.”
“Alright,” Marcy said, “then let’s keep going.”
A loud scream suddenly filled the air. Tasha jumped with a slight yelp then held a hand over her mouth.
“What in the hells was that?” John asked.
“I don’t know,” Marcy replied, “but it doesn’t sound like it was very far away.”
“And it was definitely further down the path,” Wyn added. “We should hurry!”
The others agreed without another as they followed the scream at a light jog. Wyn was impressed again at how well John was keeping up in his armor, but he had to remind himself that he had been training for this long before he came to Alestead. He knew a lot of soldiers who wouldn’t be able to keep at that pace and still be useful once they stopped. He wondered just how well his Fighter skills expanded his already improved physical talents. A passive skill or two was likely helping him like how Lucidity was helping Wyn recover mana.
“Once we see what it is,” Wyn said, still running, “we help, but stick together. No one separate.” He wasn’t used to running and talking at the same time, but he managed to get his words out between huffs of air.
“Good idea,” John replied. “Tasha should stay back with Marcy and Wyn back me up!” He was running just as fast as the others and didn’t seem to need to take a break to talk while running.
Wyn felt a pang of jealousy. John was basically showing off, now.
They could all see from the cleared brush a larger area ahead and heard more commotion. Yells, another scream, and loud thuds all hit their ears over the noise of their own gear as they ran. In seconds they came out of the cleared path and emerged into an open field full of chaos.
There were two giant lizard creatures, both holding heavy, huge weapons they wielded in their hands. One was a large club and the other a large axe. They easily stood over ten feet, dwarfing the previous enemies they’ve met so far. They had cloths that scantily covered their bodies and warpaint on their chest, arms, and face that looked menacing.
Unfortunately, they were fighting a group of Climbers who weren’t doing well.
Four members of the group were at the edge of the clearing, one laying on the ground and another holding him in a way that seemed like they were comforting or healing him. The third was standing nearby with a staff in hand and didn’t seem too engaged in the fight. The last member was just standing there with a large backpack on and not moving.
Three more Climbers were facing the lizards, engaged in direct combat. Two of the climbers were tall and dressed in armor like John, holding shields in one hand and a weapon in the other, while the third held two short swords and was working hard to mostly dodge strikes or reposition themselves. They weren’t doing much attacking back.
Wyn couldn’t make out their exact details but he knew they were in trouble. The front line Fighters looked exhausted and beaten, and they all looked ragged and worn to some degree.
Behind the two large lizards was the portal for the next floor. It was still red, the Climbers’s task not yet completed to gain entry.
“Rally!!” One of the Fighters yelled. “Don’t give up!” He stood firm, beating his shield with his sword two times before thrusting the blade up towards the sky in a cheer. A wave of red aura left him, covering over his allies in combat and shrouding them similar to John’s aura. It was less intense but familiar. The skill was obviously a strong and useful one as it was able to spread to others, and Wyn instantly wondered what benefits it gave. The Fighter looked back and saw Wyn and the group standing at the edge of the clearing.
“Reinforcements!” The Climber who held the short swords yelled, smiling and waving the weapons frantically. His head was covered by a dark cowl, and his thinner armor was darker than what the other Climbers wore.
“Stay focused!” The rallying Fighter yelled back. “We don’t need their help!”
One of the lizard creatures swung its club across in a wide arc, and nearly all of them missed it by jumping back out of the way or ducking. The Climber who held the two short swords was too focused on Wyn and their group instead of the fight at hand and didn’t even realize it happened.
The club caught him in the side of his torso and threw him several feet in a loud crunch. It sounded like dead wood splintering apart. The woman on the back lines screamed the same scream that pierced the jungle minutes earlier.
The Climber lay still, not moving. One of the Fighters moved to guard him with his shield from the lizards. His sword arm and legs visibly trembled.
The lead Fighter growled and turned back to the monsters. “Forget about him! Kill these bastards, now!” His armor was more easily seen now, green and black in color that stood out from the mundane colors of regular armor.
“Come on,” John said. “We have to help them!”
“Let’s do the boss formation,” Tasha said. “I think we can do it.”
Wyn looked at them and nodded, agreeing. They could do it. He didn’t have a doubt in his mind at their abilities. His concern was the lack of discipline and obvious skill of the other Climbers.
The woman from the other group ran over to them crying and screaming. She didn’t have her staff in hand as she left it back at the other Climber who was still lying on the ground. Her breathing was fast and inconsistent and her movements were jerky as she was frantic and panicking.
“Please, help us!” She cried, stopping as she got nearer to them. “Oh, gods, we’re all going to die!”
Wyn recognized her as she ran closer, able to see her features in more detail. She was the woman who laughed at him just hours ago at the base of the tower for being a mage wielding a spear. The familiar look of the rest of her group clicked into place in Wyn’s mind. The Fighter with the green and black colors wielding a sword and shield. The Climber with dark armor and two short swords.
This was the group who ridiculed Wyn. And now they were failing miserably.