The three Climbers fanned out to cover more ground. John stayed straight while Lucy and Wyn took the left and right respectively. They took to a slow jog, wanting to meet the three large fish monsters somewhere in the middle of the open space.
Wyn felt confident. This was still the first floor despite the new environment and enemies. They should be able to handle themselves fine.
And handle themselves they did.
An arrow streaked by them and struck one of the enemies square in the chest. The projectile completely stopped its advance but it only squawked in anger and pain like a chicken.
The noise was strange, nearly pulling Wyn out of his focus. But then again, the entire environment was strange. He needed to get used to it fast.
John met the quickest of the three monsters and halted it with his shield before engaging in combat. It was bigger than John and carried its weight well, but John was a tier two Climber. He had plenty of his own strength and skills to not only match it but overcome the size difference. In seconds he was slashing at it with his sword making large gashes with each swing.
Lucy equally worked her single opponent, dodging its big legs and chopping with her axe in retaliation. It wouldn’t be long before both her and John ended their fight.
Then there was Wyn. His opponent was further back, wounded from Marcy’s arrow. It almost felt wrong, like putting down a rabid animal instead of killing a monster. The fish creature flailed and squirmed with the wooden arrow sticking out of its chest, trying to regain its composure. It faced Wyn and opened its wide mouth, sending a blob of bright blue water in his direction with a similar force to Marcy’s arrow.
The magical projectile was well off target and sailed harmlessly through the air.
Wyn then promptly stabbed it before it could repeat that attack, then stabbed it several more times after until it stopped moving. It was one of the easier kills he experienced.
“Well that was anticlimactic,” Marcy said, walking up to the now-ended fight.
“At least there weren’t any issues,” Wyn said. “And the portal’s clear so we can advance.”
“Maybe there’ll be better rewards on the second floor,” John said.
Unfortunately for him and the rest of the group, there weren’t.
The second floor was the exact same environment with them following a pink dirt road that wound around colored plants that resembled ocean vegetation and trees that looked like they belonged deep underwater. The only difference was that the road was a size and a half wider than the first floor and ridges of elevation changes with large cliffs and caves were immediately present around them. There was no way to climb the cliffs, though, except for potentially risking a regular climb or having some sort of climbing or flying item. Which Cedric, Marcy, and Tasha had, but they didn’t want to split the group without good reason, either. Not when the path was laid out on the same level for them to explore.
True to the second floor layout that Wyn experienced so far while Climbing, the path was a maze with plenty of wrong turns and dead ends. The environment was far more pleasant than the sewers of the last month, though, and if anything it was an exotic view no matter where they went. They didn’t find any traps, too, which was a welcome change.
In truth, Wyn didn’t mind taking wrong turns. He just wanted to make sure they were on the right path so they could continue advancing. It was such a pleasant environment that Wyn even considered stopping to break a couple of times just to take in the scenery.
The monsters they met were different, too, despite the environment being the same. Cedric assumed they were higher in elevation than the first floor, because the most common monster they faced was a flying creature called a Riock, and it was more of a pest than a danger. It was several feet long with a slender, long body like a snake with four long wings on its body like an insect. They came in all colors and launched elemental blasts from their mouths based on the color they were as their only means of attacking. Wyn thought that was strong for the second floor but each one died easily to physical attacks and their magical blasts weren’t too strong to be dangerous. It seemed to even out with them having a strong and unique attack but weak defensively.
That was, of course, unless they came in packs, which they often did. Packs of a half dozen to a full dozen. They also moved in the air like snakes, undulating with their bodies and wings at a consistent pace that made them easy targets for Marcy or Cedric to shoot with ranged attacks. That was the benefit of them being in packs, though without being careful a group could easily be overwhelmed.
The other monster they faced was a lizard-like creature that crawled on the ground and cliff sides on four legs called a Zalman-do. It wasn’t like the Lacerts from two seasons ago that looked like lizard humanoids, but actual monster ones the size of small dogs. They had sharp claws that they commonly used after rushing them, as well as a magical wind slice attack they launched from their unnaturally wide jaws. They came in pairs and small groups, never alone. Which made them a bit more formidable but still not overly difficult. Tough reptilian skin composed their hide but a strong attack or two easily killed them. Marcy’s arrows didn’t do much to pierce their hide but her attacks were still strong enough to bring one down with two regular arrows. Lucy’s axe was enough to split them in half with one strike, similar to John’s sword.
Climbing on the second floor just wasn’t as much of a challenge with the monsters as it was during their first month together. The only real obstacle they had was the environment itself that ate at their time.
The group took an hour exploring and advancing before they found something more interesting on the floor. And it wasn’t even from a monster drop, secret room, or chest. It was just part of the floor. After another seemingly dead end, something in the environment looked like it had an aura. It didn’t stick out or appear out of the ordinary at all. It actually looked to be part of a medium-sized plant that came up to Wyn’s waist but was as thick as a barrel. The overly large top had a triangular roof shape to it, and it was glowing with a strange gold aura.
Everyone crowded around it and studied it.
“Don’t suppose you know anything about that?” Wyn asked.
Cedric shook his head no. “Not that I’m familiar with. The only items that don’t follow the standard color schemes are rare growth items that have a gray aura.”
“Something new this season, then,” Tasha said. “Is it just me or is that happening a lot lately?”
The group all looked towards Wyn with a silent understanding. Everyone except Lucy, of course. She didn’t know about Wyn’s encounter with the Avatar of Alistair during his first climb, and Wyn wasn’t planning on telling her about it anytime soon.
“Well no sense in standing around,” Lucy said, reaching forward and grabbing it. As she did, a third of the plant broke off, as though it was meant to be in thirds all along. The object was over twice the size of a shield, though from how Lucy handled it it didn’t appear to be too heavy.
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She sat it down beside her and took out a piece of parchment from a pouch on her waist. It was crumpled and messy, and she flattened it against her leg. Wyn thought her class of Barbarian suited her.
“What does it say?” John asked.
“Weird,” Lucy said. “It’s called a Reef Glider. It says by catching special air currents it can be used to navigate the islands within Isoterra. It’s category is Special Item. And that’s it.”
“That is strange,” Cedric said. He plucked one of the other two Reef Gliders and held it with his arm with apparent ease. “There’s a natural handle on the underside. At least I can use it.”
“How in the hells are we supposed to use it to navigate air currents?” John asked. “That doesn’t even make sense. What are those, anyway?”
“I’m sure we’ll find out,” Marcy said. She grabbed the last remaining item and held it. “The better question is what are we supposed to do with these right now? They’re huge!”
John dropped his backpack and opened it. “Is there a way to put it inside?”
Cedric stepped forward and tried, but it was obvious the glider was far too large to fit inside the pack. Then, suddenly, the gray aura around the glider brightened and the item steadily shrunk to the size of a buckler. Cedric paused for a moment before storing it in the pack.
“That was unexpected,” Cedric said.
“There’s a lot of new things to be learned about it, apparently,” Wyn said.
Lucy and Marcy stored their respective gliders then the group continued. Tasha, being the group’s temporary Mapper, led them out and back on what she assumed was a correct path.
While they finished out the floor they completed the secondary quest they discovered along the way. It was a similar one to the two seasons ago, where they were tasked with finding flowers on the floor that they could keep.
Secondary Quest: Trudging along the borders of what the locals call the Island of Shifting Cliffs, you find many odd peculiarities. One of those is the Drifting Bloom, an unrooted flower that floats along the air at this elevation and only blooms when the sun is at its peak in the sky. Recover enough of them to return to the locals to prove yourself worthy of exploring the island they deem dangerous.
Drifting Blooms: 7/7
Of course Marcy was the first to stop the flowers in the air, and after she did it was fairly easy to find them. Wyn wouldn’t have believed they were actually flowers as they looked more like puff balls of cotton with blue leaves, but sure enough they would bloom and expand periodically into a beautiful array of colors. Each one they captured was as light as a feather, delicate, and wondrous. Wyn knew there would be plenty of noblewomen who would pay a hefty amount to have flowers like them floating around their mansions, and Tasha confirmed she knew of several families like that personally.
They each found enough flowers to satisfy the quest as they worked their way through the maze, and Wyn even captured a few more. If they really would sell for a good price, it would be worth storing some up. Even if they couldn’t sell them he was sure Arabelle would find them beautiful.
Arabelle. Thinking about her climbing made Wyn’s heart jump in fear. It wasn’t his place to tell her what to do with her life, but he couldn’t help but feel her decision was far too rash and sudden. She never mentioned becoming a Climber in their letters, only that she wanted to stay with Wyn and reunite so they wouldn’t both be alone. He figured she would find some standard line of work until she met a man to marry, at which point her future would be her and her husband’s responsibility to figure out.
But Climbing? He never expected it. But when she mentioned watching his performance in the guild trials and how she pictured herself performing similar feats of magic, empowered with strength that she never had, he didn’t blame her one bit. He was afraid of what might happen to her, sure, but he completely understood why she wanted to pursue climbing.
It still didn’t make the situation any easier.
At least he was in a guild and could acquire her some equipment or other items before she found a group and earned her own. Having a good head start would go a long way.
And then there was the matter of her choosing to become a Ruby Magician. At first Wyn thought it was a poor decision, but the more he thought about it the more he appreciated her changing her class. That was what he was hoping to do, after all - convince people that the class wasn’t useless but actually held some value to be successful as a Climber. Arabelle’s intent for picking the class wasn’t the same reason he had in mind, but it was close enough.
The strange part was how different her skills were to his, and Daniel only said that that’s how unique each Ruby Magician was. That because they had so many options they had a wide range of potential skills to have, though they all had the ability to use spells and wear armor. That was their two guaranteed abilities. Past that, it was a toss up. For Wyn, he had his speed skill as his only physical skill and then two that helped with his mana recovery and magic use, Lucidity and now Chaincast, respectively. It was a bit spread out but manageable.
Arabelle’s skills weren’t as spread as his. If anything, hers gave her more focus. Hers were directed more towards magic with a setup that favored using magic with the benefit of wearing armor and carrying weapons. If she was able to advance to the next tier or two she could have some seriously unique abilities that would give her a great skillset.
Well, not if she was able to advance. It was more when. Wyn knew his sister, and she was as determined and headstrong as she was.
Which brought his mind back to the task at hand. He stood to the side while the others cleared out another group of Zalman-dos, one of which dropped an item. It was a green aura leather jerkin, and they stored it right away. The guild had their quota of items for collection, so it would go into that fund. Splitting rewards was still well within their usual tasks, and Wyn had a feeling they were going to have a lot of rewards to split for the month after their payment to the guild.
It took another half hour of traversing the floor, facing both the flying and crawling monsters before they found the final area. The creatures they found were obviously the bossed based on their size, open area of engagement, and the red portal nestled behind them.
What was different was that there were multiple creatures split between the two types of monsters they faced on the floor - the Riocks and Zalman-dos. Only they were three times the size of the regular ones. Five massive Zalman-dos were spitting magic at four Riocks, and the moment the group entered the clearing all nine enemies turned their way.
Lucy, John, and Wyn immediately started forward while Marcy and Cedric peppered the enemies with long range attacks. The Riocks tried dodging the arrows and lightning magic and some were successful, but a couple others were hit and damaged. John activated his Squire Aura while the three combatants ran forward, coating them in boosting magical energy. Wyn decided to wait on his Speed Up skill as he likely didn’t need it, but kept it at the forefront of his mind just in case. Instead, he elongated his weapon to a spear so he could hit the Riocks better if needed.
He didn’t need to use Speed Up. John likely didn’t need to use his Aura, either, but Wyn appreciated the enhancements it gave him. He was lying if he wasn’t a little bit jealous of the natural boosts that John’s Squire class and Lucy’s Barbarian class gave them, and having a similar effect on him was borderline addictive. Even if it was temporary he relished in the feeling.
Both types of enemies turned on the Climbers and ignored each other. Wyn wondered what kind of setup this was supposed to be in the floor with the two enemies. They were the only enemy types spread throughout the winding pink paths, and here they looked to be enemies themselves.
But it didn’t matter in the end. The magical attacks from the creatures were blocked with Shield by Wyn and Shell by Tasha, and weren’t too strong or came too fast to bypass or overcome their barriers. Their physical attacks were managed as well, both with John’s Aura and their own equipment being more than enough defense to prevent any actual injury.
The fight itself only took a couple of minutes before the larger creatures were disappearing back into the void. They dropped more rewards than they found throughout the floor, with three small piles of coins, two potions, and one green aura cloth hat that looked like a hood. It wasn’t much, but it was something, and about average for the second floor.
The portal turned clear after the last Riock was blown from the sky by Cedric’s magic, and the group collected their winnings before gathering themselves. The others collected the items while Wyn took one last look at the environment. He had a hunch the next floor would likely be similar, but it really was a beautiful landscape despite its strangeness. Letting them gather the items, he decided to be the first one to go through the portal.
As he was carried through the familiar rush, the sensation of traveling through space tugged on him but he was used to it. Until light shone around him as the world opened up and he found that he was not standing on the ground, but falling in the sky, and the ground was approaching fast.