Chapter 50 – Seasoned Adventurers
[Sam]
[The Tower - 1st Floor]
[Gurthok’s Rest]
Sam woke up with a start. He was propped up against the base of the towering Gurthok statue. A small makeshift camp had sprung up around him. There were several tents, as well as several more adventurers sitting around a campfire, sprawled out in a haphazard manner. There was a large pot emitting a delicious spicy aroma that hung over top of the fire.
“You’re up!” said Piper, the rune mage he had briefly met before everything went chaotic. Sam looked at her with confusion, then around at the rest of the campfire. Sam instantly recognized the large burly warrior known as Hank who had solo defended against Gilfred. He was in a gray tank-top, sitting next to another warrior who had a t-shirt on, cradling his greatsword. Both were seemingly unaffected by the cold. Sam’s eyes darted across the group. There were several more of what he thought were mages based on their robes and the staffs they propped up next to them. This was that woman Sameera’s group. The United Forces of Earth.
“What happened?” Sam asked, trying to put the pieces back together on what took place. He remembered getting pinned down by some painful technique, and then knocked out. His confused thoughts slowly put themselves in order as he came to Hannah and Jack. They weren’t here. They were in the dungeon. Sam jumped to his feet.
The people surrounding the fire all looked at him. The two warriors lowered their bowls and fixed Sam with a hard look, the mage’s hands slid down to their staffs.
“Sam. You’re safe. Everything is alright.” Piper said, trying to calm him down.
Sam teleported away.
He didn’t go far. Just a quick jump to the cave behind him. He jumped down the narrow path in three quick teleports arriving at the stone door to the dungeon and placed a hand on the cold grey door.
[Dungeon locked until completed or current party dies.]
Sam stared at the message. Then touched the door again.
[Dungeon locked until completed or current party dies.]
He touched the door again.
And again.
And again.
The same message popped up every time.
“Damnit…” he cursed, slamming a fist into the stone door.
“I take it you’ve received the same message?” came a voice from behind him.
He turned around to see Sameera Hawk standing there, hand resting on the handle of her saber.
“It says it’s locked…” Sam slowly said, staring at the woman. “Have you ever come across anything like that?”
“No. I imagine it must be some sort of Tower punishment for them. Your friends must have really done something to anger the Tower. Adventurers couldn’t kill them, so it locked them in a dungeon instead.” She said, a frown on her face.
“They won’t die in there.” Sam said, the words coming to him easily with a surprising amount of confidence. He paused to think about that and allowed himself a small smile. Those two really could do anything…
“I’m sure your friends will make it out of the dungeon just fine.” Sameera said in a tone somewhere between disbelief and condescending affection.
Sam stared at her for a long moment, deciding something in his heart.
“They're going to make it out.” He said a little more fiercely than he had intended. “And you can’t be here when they do.”
“What do you mean?” Sameera said, fixing him with a confused look.
“I know why you’re here. The quest. That’s what screwed everything up. You’re what screwed everything up. I should be in there with them right now.” Sam said, his anger rising with every word.
“Samuel, I have no intention of-“
“Liar.” Sam shouted, his voice turning cold. “I get tricked every time. I always trust other adventurers and they always turn out to be horrible people. If you think I’m just going to sit here while you camp outside the dungeon so you can kill them the second they walk out.” Sam said, rage filled tears forming at the corner of his eyes.
“Sam” she started to say and then stopped when Sam formed [Chrono-Missiles] in the air behind him. This was one perk of leveling up his willpower to apprentice mastery, he could more freely control his spells. He could currently cast and hold up to five Chrono-Missiles in the air before he lost control.
“So long as your friends do me and my team no harm, I swear on my soul that neither I, nor my team will hurt you, or them.” She quickly said.
Sam stared at her wide eyed for a long moment.
“Do you really mean that?” he asked, still holding the missiles in the air.
“I don’t think it matters if I mean it or not. Soul oaths are magical things, more powerful than us all, no?”
“You have no idea…” Sam sighed, letting the Chrono-Missiles dissipate.
“How about you come have dinner with us and you tell me just what the hell happened here?” She said, smiling more warmly.
Sam nodded and followed Sameera out of the dungeon pass. The rest of the party payed the two no mind as they sat down around the small campfire. Sameera pulled out two bowls and ladled something out of the pot.
“Gumbo,” she said, handing the bowl to Sam. “Vincent’s recipe.” She finished with a nod at one of the men sitting around the campfire. He had a green robe pulled over his shoulders, and a dark goatee that came to a point.
“Cheers,” he said, tipping his bowl to Sam.
“So, what happened exactly? You guys obviously killed Gilfred, but what about all the other adventures?”
“That.” Sameera said, anger growing in her eyes. “Was a mess and a half. Jimmy Takashi and his band of criminals have been stirring up trouble all along the mountain range. I hadn’t realized it was him at first, only rumors of the horrible things he’s done…” she said, trailing off in thought, staring down at her food.
“Anyway.” She said, collecting herself “The fight with Gilfred went down rather quickly. Thanks to the empowerment of our rune mage Piper, we could cast several extremely… effective spells that were able to prove too much for his regeneration. Also, once your friends disappeared his power level seemed to drop off significantly.”
“And Jimmy and all the other adventurers?”
“A small battle broke out… But I’m afraid the only people capable of contesting our group are currently back in the Crowen kingdom fighting a war. Jimmy fled along with several others. We suspect he’ll be back though.”
“War actually broke out?” Sam asked, eyes going wide.
“It did. The U.F.E. has officially launched its campaign against the Crowen kingdom – but enough about that. I suspect we will have plenty of time to talk about it later. Can you tell me what went down here exactly? What did your friends do to cause such a lucrative quest?”
“They broke a soul oath…” Sam said in a quiet grimace. That brought the campfire conversation to a halt. Everyone turned to stare at Sam for an explanation.
Sam relayed to them the events that lead them here. The werebear quest. Gilfred’s multiple betrayals and Jack’s logic behind breaking the soul oath. Sameera’s frown deepened the more Sam spoke.
“This damned Tower.” Sameera spat. Several of the other adventurers around the fire nodded in agreement. Sam let himself a small smile. Jack would actually like these guys.
“Sam, I want you to know – This is the reason the U.F.E. was formed. To fight against things like this. The Tower manipulating fate and forcing people into killing each other? It’s inhumane, and I, for one, will not stand for it. We shouldn’t be questing at the expense of humanity. We must work together. Not kill each other for small gains.” Sameera finished, vigor in her voice.
Sam nodded along rapidly. Finally, he found people who were talking some sense.
“So, what is it you’re doing out here anyway? If you’re part of the U.F.E. shouldn’t you be out on the front lines of the war? You all seem pretty powerful. I’m sure your presence would make a huge difference.”
“It would.” Sameera agreed. “But our mission is more important. We have been tasked with finding and completing the secret dungeons. Your group is already inside so I take it you're at least somewhat aware of them, no?”
Sam felt his heart stop. Just when he thought he could trust someone.
“I… I haven’t heard too much about them.” Sam mumbled.
Sameera gave him an odd look, and then a small laugh.
“How many soul oaths am I going to have to swear to you before you believe I won’t kill you or your friends, Samuel? If you and your group have a key, we aren’t going to kill them off and take it for ourselves. It would be best if you would allow us to purchase them from you – but if not, we can always figure out other arrangements that ensure all parties are happy.” Sameera said, instantly picking up on Sam’s concerns.
“Has your party completed any of the secret dungeons?” she asked.
“Yea…” Sam said slowly, still staring at his food bowl. “Hannah and I – one of my friends currently trapped in the dungeon – stumbled across the secret dungeon in the Crowen kingdom. The dungeon of Diego the Rogue. The second we… acquired from a group of bandits.” Sam said, not elaborating on how he and Hannah attacked them.
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“Do you have the keys with you?”
“No…” Sam said slowly, squinting at her. Then he came to the same realization she must be having. “If they die in there with the keys, what happens?”
“I’m not sure…” Sameera grimaced. “If we’re lucky, the dungeons will respawn. Do you remember where the first dungeon you did was located?”
Sam nodded and then stopped. “It’s not necessary.”
“Why is that?” Sameera asked, tilting her head at Sam.
“Because they aren’t going to die in there.” He said with conviction.
Sameera nodded slowly at Sam.
“What makes you so confident in those two?”
“My friend Jack is… I’m not sure how to put it… Impossible to kill maybe?” he said, almost laughing at himself as he did.
The rest of the group fixed him with an odd look and then started to giggle.
“Well, that is quite the attribute to have.” Sameera said, a small smile on her face.
“While I’m sure your friends will survive the dungeon, I hope you will take no offense if me and my party camp out here and wait for them, no?”
“So long as you don’t take any offense at me camping out with you all.” Sam said with a smile. “If I may ask, how many keys does the U.F.E. have?”
“Just the one. We acquired it from the other secret dungeon within the Xogon territory.” Sameera said, pulling a key out of her void sack and tossing it over to Sam.
Sam snatched it out of the air and inspected it.
Key of the Hero, Winthrop the Bard
Type: Key
Tier: Rare
Unlocks the fifth seal to the Dungeon of Xinnolath
Sam handed the long black key back to her.
“Any idea where the Dungeon of Xinnolath is located?” Sam asked as Sameera put the key back in her void sack.
“Underneath the Crowen Kingdom castle proper, we believe. The king also holds the seventh key” Sameera grimaced.
Sam’s eyes went wide at that. “Is that why you guys are going to war with the Crowen kingdom?”
“Not exactly…” she said. “Depending on who you ask, you’ll be told that the U.F.E. is fighting for the sake of humanity, making sure we don’t get enslaved by an evil empire.”
“Do you really believe the Crowen kingdom is evil?”
“Yes.” Sameera said matter of fact.
“Why? What have they done that’s so heinous? I feel like I would have heard about it.”
“That’s exactly it. They’ve kept a tightly wrapped secret about what’s actually going on.”
“Which is?”
“Their portals. They have an extremely extensive portal network that covers most of the Crowen kingdom, and the outskirts of both the Xogon territory and the Lilux Empire. But we believe it extends far beyond that.”
“I fail to see how that makes them evil.”
“Tell me, did you ever find it strange how few adventurers you actually come across? We all came across our fair share in the beginning, but past that, how many adventurers have you come across?”
“Aside from everyone here? Not many…” Sam admitted. “But I just assumed most people either moved on to the second floor as fast as possible or…”
“Died?” Sameera offered. “So did we. But it didn’t make sense. The continent is too small. Roughly the size of North America, we believe. Do you really think 7 billion people from earth could fit on a continent that size and you wouldn’t be bumping into other adventurers constantly?”
Sam just nodded along, trying to piece out what information she was getting at.
“That’s what the U.F.E believed, until we received a visitor.”
“Visitor?”
“Yes. Another human. Not from this continent.” She said, letting the words sink in.
“Where was he from? How did he get here? Other continents?” Sam asked rapid fire.
“Yes.” Sameera nodded. “He comes from a continent that they call Isora. Somewhere to the north of ours. They have a kingdom over there that is seaside, his group was able to acquire a ship and sail his way here.”
“He had to sail here? Why?”
“Well. That’s where it gets interesting. He sailed here as a scouting party. They refer to our continent as “The Dark Continent”. Supposedly it was decimated and overrun by demons. You can imagine his surprise when he sailed over here and found nothing of the sort. Which prompted him to ask why we weren’t connected to the first floor portal network.”
“First floor portal network?”
“Yes. Apparently, there isn’t just one additional continent. But four – all connected to each other and freely available to travel through for all adventurers.” Sameera said.
“And since the Crowen kingdom are the only ones with portals…” Sam said, piecing things together.
“Exactly,” Sameera said. “We confronted the King about it, and he blew us off. Then we demanded answers, and that’s when war threatened to break out. The Crowen kingdom has cut us off from the rest of humanity. But it appears to be even worse than that.”
“How so?”
“We’re further behind than everyone else in terms of knowledge and technology. Something about this continent in particular… It's… Evil?” she said, unsure herself.
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is they told us the first floor was supposed to be helpful, no? Yet it’s been our experience that all the tower NPC’s have been out to get us. And judging from the story you just told me; I’d say your experience is much the same.”
“The delegate who sailed here was actually shell shocked. Apparently, the other continents have stable law and order, and the NPCs are helpful. They're helping humanity to better learn and understand the system and fully utilize it. Everyone isn’t out to get each other. It’s like the Tower put a bunch of us here on this continent in hopes of creating some sort of powder keg situation. The leading theory is that our continent is the one with the secret quest, so the Tower has made everything more difficult here to “balance” it out since none of the other continents have an opportunity to complete the quest. That’s why we are after the keys, Samuel.”
Sam chewed on this information for a long moment before deciding something.
“I’d like to help.” He said after a long moment.
“You mean enlist? Join the U.F.E?”
“I don’t know about that… But I would like to at least join your group for now. I want to do good, and you seem like you’re doing good.”
Sameera stared at Sam with sharp eyes for a long moment.
“What’s your level?”
Sam pulled up his stat page
Statistics / Quests / Tower Store / Achievements
Name: Samuel Frost
Race: Human [Common]
Floor: 1st Floor
Level: 6
Class: Time Caster [Uncommon] [+3 Willpower +1 Focus Per Level]
Core Type: [Chrono Core] [Uncommon]
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Stats —
Strength: 15 - [Novice - High]
Endurance: 5 - [Novice-Intermediate]
Vitality: 5 - [Novice-intermediate]
Dexterity: 2 – [Novice – High]
Focus: 8 - [Apprentice-High]
Willpower: 20 - [Adept-High]
Free Skill Points: 0
Achievement Points [AP]: 375,000
----------------------------------------
Abilities [4/5] —
Chrono-Missile [Uncommon, Apprentice–High]
Slow [Rare, Apprentice–High]
Chrono-Boost [Rare, Apprentice-Low]
Teleport [Rare, Apprentice-High]
----------------------------------------
Passives —
Multiverse Common Tongue [Non-Upgradable]
Sword Proficiency [Common, Novice-Low]
“Six.” Sam said “My class is called Time Caster. It’s uncommon, so the bonus stats have allowed me to punch above my weight.”
Sameera nodded.
“The reason my team is so effective, Samuel, is that everyone here has a rare class.” She said matter of fact. “The average group level here is 12. What can you, a level six with an uncommon class, offer for my party?” She said, turning business like.
Sam just smiled. “Well, for starters, my team has two keys, and is about to gain a third. I’d like to think I’m the person you want to curry favor with the most.”
“That will only hold true if they live…” Sameera said, considering.
“They’ll live.” Sam said more strongly.
One warrior at his side snorted.
“Alright... I’ll allow you to join us, provided you assist with negotiations when your friends make it out.”
“Sameera…” Came a deep voice. She turned a sharp gaze to the warrior who had spoken up. “Lieutenant Hawk,” he corrected. “If I may, you can’t seriously believe two under leveled adventurers are going to make it through the dungeon? This deal is atrocious for us.”
“Thank you, Hank.” She said, “But there has been too much… coincidence going on around here. The Tower has pulled and manipulated at fate to bring us all together here. I say we give the boy a chance and see what happens.” Sameera finished. Hank simply nodded at her, returning to his food and quiet conversation with the other warrior.
“You said you’re a Time Caster? A mage class I presume?” Sameera asked.
“Yes.” Sam nodded. “I get three Willpower and one Focus per level.”
Sameera nodded. “We have several talented mages in our group. You would do well to train under them while we wait. I promise you’ll be all the better for it.”
“Thank you.” Sam nodded, smiling at Piper, who suddenly looked very excited to train someone. The other mages of the group seemed nonplussed, only halfway paying attention as they talked amongst themselves. “But becoming a caster isn’t my goal. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to train under you, Hank.”
Sam looked over at Hank. He was a large bald man with biceps roughly the size of Sam’s waist. A thick brown beard covered what was no doubt a square jawline. He cocked an eyebrow at Sam.
“Spell swords are noob traps.” He said matter of fact. “It almost never works out, and then you end up with a broken, useless class. Tell me, how have you been spending your free points?”
“Strength mostly, but I have split some into vitality and endurance.”
“See, that makes you weaker than other mages and weaker than other warriors. Your class balance is already all out of sorts. If you want to be some sort of spell sword, then you’re going to have to be far more clever than every opponent you come across.”
Sam nodded along. He knew all of this. He knew it was a bad idea, and he was likely screwing up his class. But he didn’t want to be on the back lines casting spells. He wanted to be on the front lines, leading the charge. If he wanted to change his fate, he would have to do it now.
“Lets just do it…” said the warrior sitting next to him. He had black spikey hair and a sharp look on his face. “It’s still early days for him. If we start training him now, no telling what will happen.”
“I agree.” Sameera nodded along. “The Tower does at least seem to cater to our desires. A time based spell sword.” She mused to herself “Could be interesting. If that’s what he wants – train him. I’m willing to see how this gambit plays out. At the very least, we will have a case for what not to do if it doesn’t pan out. ” She finished more strongly.
“Fine. But I still think it’s a bad idea.” He said in a gruff tone. “You.” He said, leveling his gaze at Sam.
“Yes, sir?” Sam said, snapping to attention.
“Knock that shit off. We start in the morning. I’d suggest you go to bed now – you're going to need as much rest as you can get.”
There was a mixture of laughter and jeering from the other adventures.
“You’ve done it now.” Piper said, “No one survives Hanks training.” She said with a laugh.
Conversation broke out among everyone else, mostly on the best way to build a spell sword class. Then it devolved into swapping adventuring stories, training stories, tower theory, debates on point distribution and monster fighting tactics. Sam challenged them all with ideas of his own, enjoying the conversation immensely.
He sat back, eating his gumbo as the conversation carried on into the night. This is what he had wanted, this is what Tower life was supposed to be like, Sam thought. Seasoned adventurers questing together and growing stronger. Jack and Hannah were great, but they both seemed entirely uninterested in how the system worked, or talking about classes and leveling strategies, or tactics, or anything Tower related for that matter. He was excited to finally find some like minded individuals. For the first time in a long time, Sam fell asleep with a smile on his face.