The red sky was oddly peaceful despite it being a beacon of death and destruction for the first tier. In the safety of the fifth floor, though, where a large, sprawling tent made up the sanctuary for all of the Climbers, the sky looked like a beautiful, permanent sunset. It could almost be considered romantic if it weren’t for the obviously dangerous location.
Still, the group felt it was nice to relax on the fifth floor before continuing their climb to the sixth floor later in the day. Their first week of the new season was behind them, and they all had fairly impressive hauls of both coins and items to show for their efforts clearing out the first tier. At least what could be earned in one week. They deserved a few hours to lounge and mingle before returning to their obligation. Hopefully at some point Wyn thought he could enjoy spending days in an environment like this. But the ever looming threat of his family’s debt still weighed his thoughts.
The tent covering them was a strange, almost perverse take on the military tents Wyn was used to seeing out in the field when at war. The familiar canvas and wooden poles that held up the material were staked all around them, but that was where the similarities stopped. War camps had many tents of various sizes and quality for everyone who was in the field. The grunts had the worst of them, with their tents filled with holes and poles that constantly needed tending. The leaders and planners had larger, better tents with tables filled with maps, food and drink, cots with private areas, and adornments that made the space feel a bit like home.
Here, though, it felt like the tower was trying to recreate something like that experience while also providing a safe zone for Climbers. There was only one massive tent that covered the distance of a large courtyard, with various pockets of privacy for more intimate gatherings that were composed of additional canvas layers, and separate open spaces for community. Similar to the fifth floor last month, there were small ponds with fish calmly swimming about, and springs that gave fresh water. Both served as popular places for groups to meet and talk. Tables of food were set out in the middle of the tent like communal platters, and fine cushions and carpets were placed in other areas to make the space more relaxing.
It was nothing like Wyn had seen before, but he didn’t care. He felt at peace lying on a long cushion that was nearly as comfortable as his bed, hardly listening to the other four’s conversation. It made sense why Climbers would clear the first tier to then spend most of their time relaxing on the fifth floor throughout the month. The weather was consistent, the atmosphere perfect, and the company nice.
A pillow suddenly hit him in the face, stirring him from his zen-like state.
“Wyn, pay attention,” Marcy said. “Stop relaxing in the relaxing floor.”
Wyn halfheartedly threw the pillow back at her, but it sailed wide. She didn’t even flinch.
“It’s a good thing you use a spear and aren’t a ranged fighter,” Marcy said.
Wyn sat up and shrugged. “I have my strengths but they aren’t everything. What did I miss?”
“We were talking about what platter of food to get next,” John said with a smile.
The others all smacked the Squire with pillows.
“Seriously, though, we should all be celebrating,” Wyn said. “We finished the first tier in a week! And now we have four more weeks of climbing what we want. I’m feeling a lot better about this month, now.”
“Good,” Cedric said. “You should. We’re doing quite well for only five Climbers and three of us being new. But we do have some options about our strategy for the rest of the season.”
Wyn nodded. “Our original plan was to climb the second tier. But seeing how good the rewards are for the fourth floor, I propose we change our strategy.”
“What have you been thinking?” Tasha asked.
“I think we could clear the fourth floor twice a day with time to spare. So, we clear the sixth and seventh floors, then see if one of them is worth repeating. After that, we alternate by clearing the fourth floor and second tier floor of our choice.”
The others took a few moments to process Wyn’s idea. John was the first to respond. “I like it, but maybe tweak it a bit? What if we cleared the fourth floor twice, then the second tier floor the next day. That way we only focus on managing one floor a day instead of the challenges each one present.”
“Or,” Cedric said, “if the second tier floor is manageable enough, we could clear the fourth floor three times before changing. So two times a day, then the next day once in the morning before the second tier floor in the afternoon. Finishing a floor four times over two days is good progress, and our rewards would be even higher with it being the fourth floor.”
John snapped his fingers. “That’s a lot better than my idea. That’s my vote!”
Wyn thought about Cedric’s proposal. It was a good plan. The rewards wouldn’t just be high - clearing the fourth floor three times in a row in one day would give them each a guaranteed green magical item every two days by finishing the secondary quest, not to mention whatever other items they found in the floor.
And that wasn’t even the coins. Wyn earned almost 200 crowns for each clear of the fourth floor, which could make up a big deficit. He was slightly behind schedule for the month by needing to clear the floors rather than repeat them. Selling items would net him far more coins, too, putting him in a better position and easily making enough to satisfy The Assembly’s demands. If he could earn even more and start getting ahead of their debt? Well, that was an easy decision.
“I’m in agreement, too,” Wyn said. “Even taking a day off each week should be fine with that pace. As long as I can sell the items to Benedict’s mysterious buyer I’ll be happy.”
Tasha pulled out her necklace from under her tunic. “But only if you actually sell the items instead of trading them for gifts for us!”
“If you’re complaining I can always take it back.”
Tasha immediately pulled the necklace back to her neck and leaned away from him as though she was avoiding being hit. “Don’t even joke about that! This is too nice to take away now!”
Wyn smiled. “It doesn’t give that much.”
“I don’t care. It’s the meaning behind it that counts. And it does help!”
“She’s right,” Marcy said. “Thank you for the gift, Wyn. That was very thoughtful of you.”
Wyn shrugged. “It’s the least I could do. I was an ass before, and I don’t want to be like that. It was both an apology and a promise to keep my head about me.”
“Good,” John said, clapping Wyn on the shoulder. “Though we didn’t need either, it’s appreciated.”
“Agreed,” Cedric said.
Wyn smiled and laid back down on the pillows. “Thanks, guys.”
“Hey, don’t get too comfortable yet,” John said. “We’re eating an early lunch before advancing to the sixth floor! I’m ready to keep going!”
“You and your stomach,” Tasha said. She stood up and wiped off her cloak. “But you make a valid point. I’ll get started with that platter of fish!”
*****
Wyn stepped through a private room at the edge of the tent where a small basin sat beside a tome on a wooden table and the tent flaps made an exit on the other side. This season, and from now on, this floor only served as passageways to the sixth floor. The start of the harder but more prolific second tier. Thankfully he had an upgraded class to carry him further than before. He didn’t need to upgrade his class anymore walking between these floors.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Not until the third tier, at least, but that was a concern for another time.
Stepping through the portal with spear in hand, Wyn emerged back out into the plains that could be seen from the fifth floor with the red sky above. Except it felt much more ominous and real, like the rest floor tent was a far away place and nothing dangerous could ever reach it. Here, though, it felt like every step was a step closer to something that had the intent and means to harm him.
The feeling was likely from the dense fog surrounding the field in the distance that looked like a brisk morning in spring. Nothing could be seen past it, though it was hundreds of feet away. It made the plains feel confined and controlled. Even stranger were areas of dead grass and light divots in the ground like pockets of the earth were just scooped up and removed.
Wyn saw the rest of his group walk away from the tent as they slowly made their way together. In the distance, a cylindrical, stone tower beside a hut rose into the sky like a strangely built house. The tower was easily four stories tall though it was hard to tell being so far across the field where they stood and the dense fog clouding the area. It could be much taller, or even closer than he thought. Still, it was the only obvious structure in the immediate area inside the fog, and even then it was probably several hundred feet away. Whether it was the destination or a stop, Wyn wasn’t sure.
Wyn checked his parchment before continuing on.
FLOOR 6
Group: 5/5
Quest: Outside the city walls in the plains of the countryside, a mysterious force gathers itself to continue its assault. The lone defensive power, the Wizard’s Tower, was a beacon of hope and protection. Now, the magic inside is dim and gone, though why is unknown. It only happened before they showed up. If there’s any hope to saving the city, the answer will lie in the Tower.
That was certainly ominous, alright. Wyn put his parchment back into his jacket and mentally decided not to read that again. Not if he wanted to keep his composure while continuing in the floor.
“Keep your wits about you,” Marcy said. “My Extrasensory is sending me all kinds of signals. I don’t think it’s going to be very reliable this floor.”
“Then we go slow and in the trap formation,” Wyn said.
John moved forward beside Marcy while Wyn fell back to join Cedric. Tasha would advance in the middle as they formed an I-shape. The idea was to have both a close and ranged combatant surrounding Tasha, who was the group’s primary support. Marcy and John made the obvious choices of leading, as the Ranger could spot traps and threats faster than any of them, and John was their only defender in case there was a serious enemy or skirmish. Wyn preferred to be in the back anyway so he could keep an eye on the group and environment, and Cedric was there to blast any monster with lightning at a moment’s notice while John kept the immediate enemies at bay.
The progress forward was slow but steady. No traps were found on the ground, thankfully, but after a few minutes Marcy tensed up and started whipping her head around frantically before settling above her.
“Shit!” She yelled, pointing with an arrow to the sky. “Run!”
The others looked up, unsure what the threat could be. Wyn’s eyes widened as he saw a group of red stars in the sky grow larger with each passing heartbeat.
No, that wasn’t right. Not stars. Rocks. Or, more specifically, boulders. That were on fire. And heading straight towards them.
The five of them spread apart like scattering insects before the rocks made impact with the ground. Marcy jumped and rolled away to try to avoid them while John scrambled like a chicken with its head cut off. He stopped after a few seconds from panic and just raised his shield, hoping to absorb whatever came his way. Cedric hopped around like a rabbit, avoiding several flaming stones with inhuman agility. His Boots of Mobility showed their worth immediately. Wyn, to his credit, was able to spot the incoming rocks and avoid them similar to Marcy though only after activating his Speed Up skill to improve his reaction time and overall speed. Her new boots were serving her well, and she avoided the projectiles easily.
The person who had it worst was Tasha. She didn’t have the same level of physicality as the rest of them, and no magic items to help make up for that deficit like Cedric. Instead, she ran around even more chaotically than John with a near-constant Shield raised as extra protection. It was necessary, too, as the spell broke several times against the larger flaming boulders.
Every impact of the deadly rocks sounded like cannons as the noise was near deafening. There was nearly two dozen of them in total, some the size of buckets, most the size of barrels, but a few as large as a horse. The entire barrage only lasted about ten seconds, but it felt much, much longer.
“Holy shit,” John said. “I thought the environment wasn’t supposed to interact with us!”
“That was the first tier,” Cedric said. He stepped away from one of the smaller rocks that was still on fire and buried several feet into the ground. “Apparently in the second tier they aren’t illusions.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Wyn said. “Good Gods. Tasha, are you alright?”
Tasha still had her wand pointed at the sky, both hands gripping it like she was about to fight the sky itself. No answer came from her, though. She just kept staring.
“Tasha,” Wyn repeated, a little softer this time. “It’s over. Are you okay?”
“There’s more up there, you know,” Tasha said. “Flaming rocks in the sky. I don’t think those are stars up there.”
The others looked up but John was the only one who answered. “Damn. Alright, then. Let’s say we quickly move, yea? Since the only cover seems to be the tower itself.”
“You’re talking about potentially just running through the whole floor,” Cedric said. “This isn’t the first floor. Easier said than done.”
John pointed at Cedric’s feet. “Not with you and your boots. Don’t doubt how fast I can run when my life depends on it!”
Cedric pointed to Marcy. “She has a pair now, too, you know.”
“Enough,” Wyn said. “John’s right. Sort of. Let’s move quickly with the same formation. Tasha, I’ll stay with you and put up some Shields along with you to make sure you’re alright. You will be alright.”
Tasha pursed her lips and nodded curtly. “Thank you.”
Wyn could sense her annoyance at feeling helpless again, but he didn’t care. He just wanted her safe. Her strength was in her magic, but even just one of the large rocks completely shattered her spell by itself. Her cloak would cocoon her and protect her from a life threatening injury, but Wyn didn’t know if it would work from such a sudden impact. And he sure as hells didn’t want to find out.
The group immediately began running across the field directly to the tower. It wasn’t a straight run, unfortunately, as the missing pockets of earth required them to run around that slowed their advance. Cedric tested his boot’s levitating ability on one of the more shallow divots and found that he could run across it just as easy as if it was solid ground under his feet. He started slowing down his run when he figured he could just run straight no matter what was in their path.
After about ten minutes of running they slowed down as Tasha started to lag behind, her lack of physical enhancements impeding her ability to keep up. Cedric wasn’t too far behind her, either, and the group stopped to catch their breath for a few minutes. Wyn was thankful for his years of military service. He didn’t have any passive enhancements like John, and carried heavier equipment than Marcy. But his own personal training paid off tremendously.
Wyn kept staring at the sky hoping nothing would fall. Fatigue was not good when it came to the necessity of having to avoid deadly rocks from the sky.
“Heads up,” Marcy said, readying an arrow on her bow. “Not rocks. Monsters.”
Wyn looked down and ahead, following Marcy’s aim. Directly in front of them, less than a hundred feet away, was a small group of Ashen monsters jogging in a V formation. Three of them, possibly more. Similar to the fourth floor they carried weapons and armor, but unlike the fourth floor their equipment was nicer.
Much, much nicer.
All of the monsters wore helmets on their head with tall, upright black hair that looked like a bird’s plumage. They wore some kind of armor that covered them except for their forearms, hands, and lower legs. As they approached, Wyn saw there were five of them. The two in the back of the formation carried spears, the two in the middle carried a shield and sword, and the one in front carried a spear and a shield. The spears were long but simple, and the shields round but large. Their equipment softly glowed with magic, and their pace was far too fast for ordinary monsters.
Wyn was mostly worried about their magical weapons and armor. Did they have effects like Climber’s gear? Would they be able to use spells or sling elements at them like Wyn’s spear?
A rune appeared in front of Marcy’s drawn arrow briefly before she let the arrow fly as they approached. She waited for them to come within a decent range, something like sixty or so feet. The arrow flew through the air with impressive speed before splitting off halfway into a dozen more arrows.
The monsters stopped their run as the first three all raised their shields and huddled behind them, crouching to reduce their exposure to nothing as the shields took the brunt of the arrow’s force. All of the magically created arrows bounced harmlessly off and clattered to the ground. Then the warriors stood back up and continued to move at a more careful and slowed advance.
“They’re smart,” Marcy said. “We need a plan fast!”
“Gods, this is not good,” John said.
“Don’t say that!” Tasha said, practically yelling. “Get it together!”
Wyn took a moment to think. This was his element. He may not have been used to magic, and he still may not know too much about being a Climber, but he knew fighting. He knew battles on open plains, fighting together as a cohesive unit, and doing what was necessary to survive.
This was just another battle. Another test. One that he wouldn’t fail.
He quickly looked around their area. The divots in the ground made for rough terrain but it could be used as an advantage. It would impede the Ashen warriors just as much. It was a five on five match, and only he and John would be able to take on the enemies directly. But that was fine. Magic was far more useful in other ways.
“Marcy, set a trap by that pit,” Wyn said, pointing to the group’s left. “I’ll place my Wellspring immediately beside it. Cedric, bring up a storm cloud on the other side and force them to approach in the middle using the divots as barriers. Tasha, protection spells on me and John. Marcy, hit them from the back with magical shots.”
“And me?” John asked.
Wyn walked up and placed his skill on the ground beside’s Marcy’s trap. Then he backed up and stood beside the Squire. “With me. Aura up. We’re going to need it.”