The Legend of William Oh - Book 3

Macronomicon

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The Legend of William Oh

by Macronomicon

Original Ongoing lit r p g Comedy Adventure Dungeon Crawler

Warning This fiction contains:

- Graphic Violence

- Profanity

- Sensitive Content

Listen here, because I've seen it with my very own eyes.

William Oh was born on the hundredth floor of The Tower, to the greatest Climbers of the ancient world, steeped in the Tower's lethal miasma from the moment he drew breath, giving him strange and unnatural powers.

They say he is an immortal being who circles the dreams of mortal men, resurfacing wherever the need is greatest. Those who disparage him will fall into despair, but if you're a Climber in a tight scrape, look to the sky and say a little prayer.

Maybe he will appear?

Odds are probably better if you pay for my drink.

- Rumor overheard on a 1st Floor Tavern. Originator did not pay his tab.

Chapter 101: Scripted Defeat

You know, I heard Granesh was so afraid of William Oh's arrival on this Floor that he allied with a secret clan of fishpeople to create the Scramble, hoping to delay his progress up The Tower to tear the crown from his head. Just you wait, another Scramble is going to happen again soon.

- One hundred thirteen strangers on one hundred and thirteen different vessels of the Flotilla.

Will's eye twitched.

It had been over six hours of shouting back and forth from the moment the sun rose, a circular argument between Saint Jairus's attack dogs and everyone else with any sense.

The Graneshians had lost their majority by the slimmest margin when Will had sunk ten of their believer's ships and taken their votes for himself. They had wanted to declare him an Enemy of the Flotilla and petition the Tower for a bounty.

Will's faction vehemently opposed that, while the moderates agreed that it was a bit extreme, given that the attacks on other Climbers was unintentional. They advocated for a more mild punishment: Temporary Exile.

The Floating Church of Granesh pointed out that Will had deliberately left his Tangled party member on board their ship with the explicit intention of attacking them, using that as a reason it should be permanent and carry a more severe penalty, such as confiscating Shimmer.

Will's faction pointed out that the original had indeed left their ship, and the church had attacked Bee and Ria first, the fact that they split into nearly two hundred bodies in preparation for the conflict was irrelevant, as they were defending themselves.

They shot back with the extensive list of casualties they took trying to attack the Tangled.

Will's faction pointed to the half a dozen 'boarders' that had been captured trying to steal Shimmer and been returned to the church the morning of that day.

On and on it went, in circular reasoning that chewed on its own tail like a mangy dog.

And all the while, Will and Saint Jairus stared at each other across the meeting room of Town Hall. The steel-haired priest looked amused, much to Will's irritation.

Don't we both have better things to do today?

Will didn't particularly care about whether or not he was exiled. His Party had already proven they weren't reliant on The Flotilla when they rolled in on a Leviathan-bone ship.

But if he looked at it another way: If Will wasn't allowed in The Flotilla and the Saint was, they would always have a place to retreat and repair that Will couldn't follow unless he wanted to get attacked by other Flotilla members.

Not to mention the Saint's fishmen allies, Will thought.

If he got pushed outside the flotilla…

Will pictured Shimmer under constant attack by hordes of fishmen, attacking at irregular intervals to prevent any of his Party from getting any sleep before the Floating Church of Granesh swooped in to finish the job.

Typically that wouldn't worry Will, since Brianna could fend off large scale physical assaults over a long period of time, but now that Jairus knew about Brianna, he would go out of his way to acquire some Charm-based Climbers to deal with the Tangled, And Will wouldn't know if or when he'd done that if he didn't have any eyes and ears in The Flotilla.

All in all, it was a bad thing to get exiled, indirectly harming him in myriad ways.

Will thought back to Loth's mantra of leadership: 'Always strive to make things as easy as possible for my Party to succeed' My role as Party Leader is to line up advantages for them so that they can excel.

Even if we can survive without the Flotilla, it would be poor leadership to have that advantage stripped away from my Party.

I'm starting to think I should've attacked Jairus back on his ship, Will thought to himself. Now, the saint was accompanied by several bodyguards at all times, indicating he had been bluffing earlier when he strutted around Will without any form of protection on his ship.

And Will had bought it, assuming the saint, with Saint-levels, was a strong combatant.

They'd taken some time to ask around after last night and discovered that the saint's specialty was mega large-scale buffs, not fighting.

This implied very strongly that Jairus had instigated the attack on them last night, buffing his crew to the point that they could fight toe-to-toe with Will's Party. Unfortunately, since their features had been cloaked in shadow, not a single one had been identified.

This gave Will no leverage to accuse Jairus of attacking him.

In the end, the meeting was adjourned without declaring any particular punishment for Will.

On one hand, the six boarders they had subdued trying to steal Shimmer had launched a shitstorm, and on the other, they had proven a preceding incident that the church had instigated, allowing most of the accusations to slide off Will in the name of self-defense.

I guess being merciful has it's uses, Will thought as he and Mason left City Hall.

They would reconvene tomorrow to decide on a punishment, but Will didn't expect there to be a tomorrow for certain individuals.

“What did you get?” Will asked, receiving the Dimensional Assassin's Amulet from Loth before she put on her usual one.

“There's another Scramble coming soon, possibly as early as tonight.” Loth said. “The saint's ledger shows 'proof' that the fish-people can only summon one storm per month, and they have dropped their guard against being hit twice in a row. This is the perfect opportunity for the fish-people to buck the trend and lure another storm on top of The Flotilla, while they are struggling to recover.”

“How can you be sure?” Will asked.

“I read through the Saint's journal and surmised the timing of previous Church-instigated Scrambles, then jotted down a note on the Saint's waterproof stationary, attaching one of the many rocks on a string to sink it to the bottom.”

“So there is a bottom.”

“It would seem so,” Loth said. “Anyway, I requested that the fish-people wait an extra month before the next Scramble.”

“Implying that the Flotilla is weak and needs time to recover,” Will mused.

“Practically guaranteeing that a sound strategist will see an opportunity to attack immediately.” Loth said.

“And if the fish people don't take advantage?” Will asked.

“They will, but if they don't I'll simply sink the Floating Church of Granesh and be done with it.”

“There's no 'and be done with it,” Will muttered. “Sink that one ship and they'll commandeer another ship from one of the faithful and call that the Floating Church of Granesh. We need to kill them.”

“Killing a religious figure is the surest way to galvanize their followers,” Loth pointed out.

“Not if it happens in hyperbole,” Will mused. He didn't need to just kill him. He needed to destroy his legend. The only way to destroy a legend was with another.

“You're thinking of violence.” Loth said. “Please, do tell.”

“How's Brianna?” Will asked.

“A little shaken after killing several of Jairus's followers last night. And experiencing death through a few of her copies.”

Will winced at a pang of guilt for putting her in that position. She would eventually be forced to come to terms with killing, but for now, she needed time to rest and recover, so he would try to include her in their defense in the least violent way possible.

“let's put Bee on a mission to spread the rumor that Jairus is summoning the Scrambles, and another one will hit soon. Ria can guard the boat, and Anna can keep our guests happy. Let's have the others guard Jean.”

“Ah.” Loth nodded. “Understood.”

A thought occurred to Will as he glanced up at the afternoon sun. Saint Jairus probably expacted him to respond as soon as the sun went down. Why not immediately?

Because everyone was still awake. Because it was bright outside. because he would fail.

What would happen if I fail? Will pondered, flashing back to his curse-induced nightmare where he had taken the place of the poor boy that had been tortured to death in the Ring. A stark reminder of what would happen to him if he slipped up.

They'll want to torture me and ask me some questions. The nature of those questions will give me answers to some of my burning questions.

“How confident are you that the fish-people will attack soon?” Will asked.

“Supremely.” Loth replied.

“Alright then.” Will said with a chuckle as adrenaline filled his body.

I guess we're doing this. So much better than tiptoeing around.

His duty as Party Leader was to make things as easy as possibly for his Team, and if that meant doing something monumentally stupid, then so be it.

“I wanna do something stupid, but if I'm gonna pull it off, I need to ask Jean for a big favor. Where is she?” Will asked.

Loth nodded toward Shimmer in the distance.

“Let's go, go go! if this is gonna work it has to be fast!” Will said, picking up Loth and sprinting across the waves to Shimmer, bypassing the winding boardwalk strung between vessels.

***Travis Oilton***

Well, this is a pickle, Travis thought, rattling the chains around his wrist. They were enchanted to drain his strength while being stronger than steel, and like Loth had warned, his Build was strictly designed to manage enemy attention. Nothing more.

Manacles didn't exactly have an attention span.

Creak.

The door opened, revealing Saint Jairus, mopping a bit of sweat from his forehead with a towel before tossing it aside.

“Sorry about the wait, it's been a busy morning,” Jairus said, pulling up a chair and sitting in front of Travis. “Did you need anything? Have they been taking out your chamber pot? Sponge bath?”

Jairus wrinkled his nose.

“Please say 'sponge bath'.”

“I'm fine,” Travis said. “Are you going to start torturing me, or what?”

“Torture? Pfft.” Jairus waved him off. “The manacles are only there because you'll run off otherwise. My only interest is in making an arrangement between you and the church of Granesh.”

“Not interested.” Travis said with a shrug. “I've seen this happen before. William Oh keeps winning for some damn reason and the people who get in his way wind up dead or disgraced. I know enough to know a gravy train when I see one. You're gonna on your ass in a matter of days, if not minutes.”

Jairus seemed to think about it a moment, nodding. “He may beat me. He just may. Among all the Deceivers I've met, he's an exceptional one. But that's why this arrangement is between you and the church, not you and myself.”

Travis frowned.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I have the Ability to grant a permanent boost to a Climber's stat growth.”

Travis's brows rose. “Is it retroactive?”

“It is.”

“…How much are we talking?” Travis asked. William Oh had insane stat growth that implied he had used at least three A-rank Sacrifices in his Build, something that Travis couldn't measure up to. Even plus one growth to one stat would be twenty-six points at his current level.

A remarkable amount.

The rest of the Party had been gradually exceeding him for a while now, and the quiet voice in Travis's brain told him that he would either get left behind or die when he finally couldn't keep up. Even one point of stat growth could remedy that…

Counterpoint: You take the deal and you're no longer in the Party at all.

“Two points of stat growth of your choice.”

Fifty-two to my stats!? I wouldn't even need the Party. Cutting off ties with the Zodiac family…

“Interesting proposition, but no thanks.” Travis said with a shrug, glancing up and spotting a nearly invisible William Oh creeping through the door, the hinge's telltale squeak muffled by an Ability as he slipped inside.

I guess it was minutes. Wow. That's ballsy. And stupid.

“What do you think is going to happen when you make it to Frederick Wyrd's Stronghold?” Jairus said, facing away from the door and unaware of the Infiltrator stalking towards him. “He's not going to tear it down. William Oh will make a deal with the new owners, and the legacy of the one who destroyed yours is going to live and grow while your name will be a forgotten side-note in history. With the support of the Church you could ack!

Jairus stiffened at the feel of Charge circulating an instant before Will flickered across the room and drove a Shortsword directly into Jairus's skull.

All Abyss broke loose, and Travis covered his vitals as his tiny little prison cell turned into a tornado filled with cannonballs, broken limbs and knives.

Bodyguards seemed to manifest out of thin air, emerging from the furniture to shove Will away from the Saint while the others healed him before a single heartbeat had passed.

It was a brutal, short fight. Will managed to get one of the bodyguards with a cannonball that rendered the warrior into a fine paste and punched a hole in the wall, but the other three ganged up and beat Will within an inch of his life in the seconds that followed, ignoring the wounds they received in return.

A moment later, the recovered Jairus strode up to him, kneeling down and healing the unconscious Will's fatal wounds while leaving the debilitating ones alone.

Jairus knelt down to where Will's one hand was pinned to the floor by his bloodied bodyguards, plucking the gaudy Ring of the Eidolon off of Will's finger and Inspecting it.

“You nearly had me there for a second.” Jairus murmured before glancing up at his minions. “Take him to the holding cell we've arranged. Strip him, fit him with a restraining collar and mute his Abilities. He specializes in a Dimensional Storage Ability, he surely has some clever backup plan inside it.”

Jairus glanced up at Travis, all the warmth and reasonableness that had been present while he was negotiating with Travis was gone, vanished in an instant.

“…Is that two-point buff to my stat growth still on the table?” Travis asked.

“…No.”

“Damn. Should've sold out earlier.” Travis muttered, leaning back against the wall. A moment later, Jairus and his bodyguards swept out of the room, leaving Travis alone.

Hmmm…

Travis noted that one of his manacles was anchored into the wall right next to the gaping hole cut by the cannonball.

With a firm tug, the chain popped out of the splintered wall.

Hmm….

Chapter 102: Interrogation

Once, after a mighty battle, Ouroboros was caged by Granesh and the deity demanded that the World Snake give over the secret of his immortality.

Oroborous slipped out of the cage, leaving behind a molt so realistic that Granesh continued to ply it with demands for many moons.

While Granesh was distracted, Ouroboros snuck out and stole the secret of Fire, leaving five silver coins in its place.

- Jason Salazar

Get this message to the 6th floor right now.

- unknown

Poke.

Poke.

Will's left eye fluttered open.

His right eye was swollen shut, throbbing with the beat of his heart.

He was splayed out, Kit missing, hanging midair, every limb strapped to an unyielding steel X at least a couple inches thick, designed to contain a climber's superhuman strength.

Will tried to move Phantom Hand and found it completely unresponsive. Not unexpected, but it still brought a cold sweat to his brow.

At least I still have my hand and feet. Will thought.

His worst fear would be-

Will cut off that line of thought for a couple reasons: first because it was pointless to think about now, and second because he didn't know if they had a mind-reader on-site. No sense giving them his worst fears right out the gate.

Will's eye focused on the saint as the grizzled veteran stepped away, his poking finger still extended.

“Welcome back,” Jairus said with a smile.

“Good to be-,” Will said before a hacking cough interrupted him. A little blood must've gotten into his lungs while he was passed out.

“Now, let's get started, shall we?” Saint Jairus asked, pulling a chair in front of the Will Chandelier and taking a seat.

“What, no knives and brands?” Will asked.

“Other leaders in the church of Granesh jump straight to torture. I prefer to establish a dialogue first.” Jairus said, folding his hands. “I have a great deal of experience with interrogations in general and have found that it always works out to my advantage to have a long conversation before I bring out the knives and Truth Debuffs.”

“Why's that?” Will asked, his mind lingering on the 'truth debuffs', finger itching.

“Because if I ask you the same questions before and after a Truth Debuff, it reveals to me what you think is important enough to lie about.”

“Oh, interesting. Should you be telling me that?” Will asked.

“Oh, it'll let you wiggle a little bit, I'm sure, but not to a great extent. The things you feel are important won't change. Meanwhile, I believe that establishing myself as the wellspring from which Truth flows is more important.”

Every word I say you can take at face value. That's why I'm not making any grandiose threats. My threats will be simple, actionable ones that will be enacted the instant they leave my mouth.” Saint Jairus leaned back in his chair.

“Shall we get started?”

Will shrugged, best as he could.

“What are the names of your Primary Abiliies?”

“…”

“I see. Silence would seem like the best option in these circumstances,” Jairus said, nodding. “Allow me to make you an offer, then. If you answer my questions, then not only will we avoid torture for quiet some time, I will also go out of my way to allow your Party to move on to the next Floor.”

Will considered.

Time was good. Buying as much of it as possible should be his priority, and if he simply stopped answering questions, they would skip the step where he could lie to them entirely, possibly spelling his doom. It was 100% in Will's best interest to go along with this. But how not to seem desperate?

“My whole party?” Will asked.

“Yes.”

“Including my Tangled and my Kobold?” Will asked. “I know how you people are.”

“Your Tangled killed no less than fifteen sailors.”

“Who attacked her first.” Will said. “She's a sweetheart if you're not trying to kill her or use her as a living weapon. Something I've been trying not to abuse.”

“The kobold isn't in your Party.”

“It totally is,” Will replied.

“Interesting. Yes, I suppose a Deceiver would have affinity for the scaled subhumans.”

Will cocked his head to the side.

“How about this?” Will asked. “I'm going to die here, yeah?”

“Probably.” Jairus said with a shrug. “Barring special circumstances we will execute you at the end of our interrogation.”

Will chuckled. “You really are committed to telling the truth.”

“A man's word is powerful, as long as it remains unbroken.” Jairus said.

“I'll give you all the answers you want, if you give me all the answers I want. Then when we're done, you can kill me as planned. No sensitive information leaked.”

“What makes you suggest that?” Jairus asked.

“I'd like to know what a Deceiver is.” Will said. “It's not like anyone taught it to me growing up.”

Jairus seemed to consider for a moment.

“You are aware of the conflict between Granesh, god of order, and Ouroboros?”

“Vaguely.”

“During their first battle, the blood of Ouroboros rained down on The Tower, proliferating every scaled monster.”

“I've heard of it,” Will said.

“Well, a few of the more powerful types, Immortal Serpents among them, carry on the ancient battle against order that is imprinted in their very blood. They use shapeshifting to replace human Climbers and send their half-breed children to sow chaos.”

“So you're saying that my parents…”

“One of them was replaced during their Climb, conceived you, and then delivered you to an orphanage, like a seed of chaos waiting to sprout.”

“Hmm…” Will mused. His life was pretty chaotic. He'd guessed most of this already, but it was nice to hear it straight from the priesthood themselves.

“My turn. What are your Sacrifices?” Jairus asked.

“Gravity goat, Uru drake, and my left hand.”

“…” Jairus paused, glancing over at Will's missing left hand. “You realize that confirms that you aren't fully human?”

“I had an inkling,” Will admitted

“Your turn,” Jairus said.

“Why do I have a strange empathy for certain corpses?” Will asked, praying that he wasn't giving away more information than he was asking for.

“What do you mean?”

“Every now and then I'll come across the body of a dead person and I'll see myself as them. Have conversations with them, even. This happened a lot more in the first few Floors.”

“It's your affinity for other Deceivers. Your progenitor scattered thousands of spawn outside the tower, and they leave a psychic imprint upon their death that you unconsciously absorb, drawing you into the last few moments of their life. The reason it's stopped in the upper floors is there's significantlyless Deceivers who've made it this far.”

“Huh,” Will cocked his head. “Does that mean I could get psychic Abilities?” Will asked, thinking back to the Tomahawk of the Serpent.

Jairus shook his head and waggled a finger. “My turn.”

Will groaned, but nodded.

“Do you know where your parents are now?” Jairus asked.

“No, last I heard they were making their way back down, from the upper floors, but that can take years. I haven't seen them since I was ten.”

“Hmm…” Jairus scratched down a note.

“My turn. Do you know which of my parents is the serpent?”

“Typically it's the male.”

So that's the one I need to punch, Will thought, pursing his lips in thought.

Jairus opened his mouth to speak when an urgent knock on the cell's door interrupted him.

“Excuse me!” the saint's assistant ducked his head into the room. “There's a messenger here for you.”

“And?” Jairus asked, motioning for him to send the man in.

Joshua cleared his throat nervously. “He was very insistent that it was for your ears only.”

Jairus groaned and pushed himself to his feet.

“I'll be back in a moment. Sorry to stop just when we were getting somewhere.”

“I'll think of some questions while you're out,” Will said with a shrug.

“Keep an eye on him,” Jairus said to his bodyguard, who nodded and fixed his gaze on Will, intent on not giving him any wiggle room.

A moment later, the Saint swept out of the room, leaving Will alone with a powerful Warrior in full kit. Easy peasy.

Hmm. Will tugged on his bonds experimentally, satisfied when they threatened to slip off of him as if they'd been made of greased seaweed.

“Don't.” The warrior threatened, tensing.

“Don't what? Test my bindings? You haven't held many people captive before have you?” Will asked, testing Phantom Hand.

It was sluggish, but starting to recover from the numbness already.

Ring of Total Freedom

+15 Focus

This Relic hides itself and causes Physical, Mental, energy-based, causal, and Ability-based Bindings to be slowly worn away. Aids in escaping grapples, adhesives, engulfing attacks, resisting slow debuffs, and allows the wearer to fit through significantly narrower spaces than they might've otherwise. Scales with Focus.

Reactive: 1 Charge

Dive into a mental projection of the self.

Will's 'big favor' to ask of Jean was to borrow the Ring of Total Freedom. It was the last lifeline that allowed her to avoid being captured and used as a living weapon, so naturally she was reluctant to part with it.

Will had to do some pretty impressive groveling, and make the four girls several dubious promises he was unsure he could actually follow through on before they gave it up.

All he had to do after that was put the ring on, allow it to hide itself, then put the Ring of The Eidolon on over it, acting as camouflage.

Naturally, only the first ring would be active, and the second would be inert.

So the Ring of Total Freedom was able to pass unnoticed when they took the Ring of the Eidolon, the people searching him assuming they'd cleared that part of his kit.

Unnoticed by the guard, Will swished the Phantom Hand around the room until he felt that he'd shaken out most of its sluggishness.

He switched from the Wand of the Undead Retainer to the Sickle of Cold Harvest, causing a shiver to run down his spine as the Phantom Hand's finger popped and turned black.

n n g

The guard let out a muffled grunt of pain as a steel dart emerged from Phantom Hand at point blank, perforating his neck and instantly sheathing his entire body with oversized ice crystals due to Cold Harvest's effects.

Will slipped out of his bindings and sprinted up to the bodyguard, feeling Cold Harvest's lifesteal effect causing the bruises and lacerations crippling him to begin fading away.

Will reached the guard's sword before his hoarfrost-slowed hand could reach it, whipping the blade out and killing the man with a well-placed thrust to the eye.

Will lowered the body quietly to the floor and put his ear to the door to see if anyone had heard. In the distance, he could make out Saint Jainus's receding footsteps.

He's already around the corner.

Saint Jainus was old, and specialized in Focus. That meant Will could hear him before he could hear Will.

Will cracked the door open and peeked out, seeing nobody.

He crept out and followed the saint's footsteps until they came to an end.

“I'll return to my duties,” Joshua said, his voice preceding him as he approached one of the doors in the hall.

Surging with adrenaline, Will sprinted forward and leapt up, directly over the doorway his voice was coming from, clinging to the wall and ceiling.

The door opened underneath him and Joshua walked out, not bothering to look directly above him.

The assistant walked away, disappearing down the Officer's hall.

“What's this message then?” Will heard Jairus's voice ask.

“Not just yet,” the messenger's voice said, before Will felt a Charge move through the air in the room across from them, and suddenly the sound went dead.

Damnit.

Will scanned his surroundings and spotted that the door opposite him was open, revealing a room with books inside.

Will used Phantom hand to steal a piece of paper out of one of the bibles. The extra thin stuff.

He pried a long splinter of wood off the wall about the size of his palm, and jammed it through the ultra-thin paper before feeding the splinter through the gap in the door.

When the splinter was about halfway through the gap, the extra-thin paper began to vibrate with the faintest sound that his outlandish Acuity could barely pick up.

“Oroborous slipped out of the cage, leaving behind a molt so realistic that Granesh continued to ply it with demands for many moons.

While Granesh was distracted, Ouroboros snuck out and stole the secret of Fire, leaving five silver coins in its place.”

Will frowned.

“So the Prophet thinks he's going to escape us?” Jairus asked.

Prophet?

“I'm just the messenger, but it would certainly appear that way.” The other voice spoke.

“What's this about five silver?” Jairus asked.

Will's eye twitched.

“Again, I'm the messenger, and we were instructed to deliver the message before the prophecy could be completely interpreted. It was deemed important that it reach your ears immediately, given its potential time-sensitive nature.”

I know what the five silver is about. Will thought, letting himself down from the ceiling and creeping away from the door before sprinting back down the hall on the balls of his feet.

Now I just need to find my kit.

If anything he could sniff it out. It had been steeping in the scent of rotting fish aboard Shimmer for weeks, after all.

As he was running, a body turned the corner, nearly running directly into Will. Will's adrenaline was so high that the sword was halfway to Travis's eye before he identified him.

“What are you doing here?” they whispered at the same

“Escaping, obviously.” Travis replied. “Our stuff's over here.” He thumbed over his shoulder.

Together the two of them sprinted down the hall until they reached the room where Will's kit had been stashed.

Will listened at the door and determined there were at least two people breathing on the other side.

“Two enemies,” Will signed, pointing at the door.

Travis nodded, and a moment later, Will cracked the door the tiniest amount, using the Ring of Total Freedom to ooze his way into the room without opening it more than a couple inches.

“You're not that sneaky,” Loth's voice came from atop the chest with Will's gear, causing all the tension to drain out of his body.

Will glanced over and saw that Ria was standing beside Loth, acting as the saboteur's bodyguard.

Behind them was an insect-chewed hole in the side of the ship, marking the path of their escape.

“…I know I just asked for a huge favor,” Will said, turning to Ria. “But would you mind doing one more big favor for me?”

Shortly afterwards, Jairus finished the debrief with the messenger, drank a bit of water to clear his throat, and headed back to the interrogation room.

The room was oddly chillier than he remembered it, but the guard still stood in the corner, watching the Deceiver with a steely gaze.

The Deceiver's bruises seemed to have faded, his lacerations scabbed over.

I wasn't gone that long.

“Did something happen?” Jairus asked.

“The Deceiver had a healing potion concealed in their collar. I as able to pry it out of their mouth before they could drink too much.”

“Is that right?” Jairus asked.

“Yes, Saint.”

Dictum of the Divine.

153 to 123 charges remaining.

“Nonbelievers cannot lie to me.” Jainus said. There was no time to go through the typical process of slowly extracting information and cross-referencing it to get a deeper understanding of the subject.

William Oh took in a sharp breath.

According to the prophecy, Will was going to escape any second, or perhaps he had already. He no longer had time to dance around the issue and instead must cut to the heart of the matter.

“Are you William Oh?”

“Yes.” William Oh said.

That's good. I was afraid he'd left his shapeshifting Tangled pet here in his place.

“Are you planning on escaping?”

“Of course. Why wouldn't I be?”

“How?” Jainus said, his voice taking on an edge.

“Well, my working plan is that I'm going to paralyze you with hoarfrost, slip out of my restraints, subdue your bodyguards, then I'm gonna drag you out onto the ocean and escape into the confusion of the Scramble as the fishpeople you're working with sink your ship with a bit of help from Loth the Luminary.”

Jairus almost laughed off the absurdity of Will's 'plan', until the 'fishpeople' were mentioned.

How in the Abyss does he know…Shapeshifting pet?

Jainus glanced behind him where his bodyguard stood, inhaling through his nose. Sniffing the air.

Cold air. The faintest scent of blood. Something he hadn't been conscious of until he had grown suspicious. He'd assumed it had been Will's blood. His eyes widened.

Dictum of the Divine.

123 to 93 charges remaining.

“Nonbelievers cannot-“

A piercing pain assaulted Jairus's chest an instant before hoarfrost locked his jaw shut.

Ice covered Jairus's eyes and ears as he froze in place, toppling to the ground.

Around him he heard the muffled sounds of battle as his hidden bodyguards engaged with Will and the false one that had been replaced while he was gone.

Jairus felt the ship begin to rock, and beneath the shouting and ringing of steel he thought he could make out someone shouting 'Scramble!'

Chapter 103: Getting the Hang of it

I'm telling you it was freakin' mermaids! Thousands of 'em wearing practically nuthin', fought off the scalies with their bare hands and brought me back to the surface before diving back down for more!

It sure as the Abyss wasn't Granesh that sent pretty demi-humans to rescue us, that's for damn sure. Those bastards got us in this mess…

- Brian Smith, Level 30 Sailor.

“Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!”

The clanging of bells rose above the shouts that multiplied, echoing from ship to ship.

Will sprinted across the water while Ria jumped from pier to pier, the frozen Saint over her shoulder.

The man's movement speed was penalized to such a degree that he was for all intents, paralyzed.

Hopefully he doesn't suffocate before telling me what I want to know, Will thought.

“That way!” Loth said, sprinting along behind Ria while Travis was bringing up the rear.

A dark form lunged out of the water, its webbed fingers clasping around Ria's ankle.

The Tangled didn't even slow down, her powerful leap violently ramming the fishman's chest into the pier before he let go to save his arm.

Will widened his gaze and saw that Climbers were being snatched off the piers in droves as they ran to their ships.

Will glanced down and spotted even larger shadows moving through the churning ocean beneath.

Leviathans.

Will looked up and spotted the slightly pearlescent clouds he'd learned to associate with cloud coral, and by extension, sky sharks.

They're coming in full force, Will thought.

It wasn't the right time to pat Loth on the head for her strategy sense, but when she called an incoming attack, it paid to listen.

“Ria!” Will shouted over the storm, catching her attention.

“You wanted to save people!?” Will said, gesturing to the Climbers getting picked off in the confusion. “Here's your chance!”

Ria nodded and tossed the Saint to Loth, who let out a squeak of surprise before Travis caught up and helped her carry him. Together those two hefted the Saint and kept running. Shimmer was within eyeshot.

Meanwhile, Ria split dozens of times over, each of her clones growing fins as they dove into the water. Jean was still wearing the Ring of Water Breathing, so the Tangled girls were their best underwater combatants.

The water around them began to churn as Ria did battle with the attackers underwater, forcing many of them to release their captured Climbers, who dragged themselves back up on the piers, shivering and gasping.

Will kept running and spotted a fishman about to pop out in front of Loth.

Will turned suddenly and performed a sliding kick that shot seaspray into the air, catching the fishman in the face and forcing him away from Loth, allowing her to continue past him.

Will's hand caught the water and pulled himself up before he sank into the ocean, getting his feet back under him and jumping out of the way of a charging fish person, their claws swiping where his calves had been an instant ago.

A thought occurred to Will as he danced away, a face rapidly approached from under the surface.

He slammed his heel down onto the water, stiffening it for an instant as the fishman crumpled against the hard plate of water Will was standing on.

When Will glanced back up, Loth and Travis were climbing the ropes onto Shimmer as the wind and waves began to get more and more violent.

On either side, scaled humanoid forms were climbing up the side of Shimmer.

This is going to be a long night, Will thought, bursting into a sprint, grabbing Phantom Hand and flinging himself up above Shimmer's deck, flying in a high arc above them before landing on board Shimmer.

His shin bone nearly got shoved into his sternum as the swells propelled the ship up beneath his feet, but Will didn't have time to feel pain, scrambling forward and leaning over, taking his place beside the line of Annas leaning over the side of the ship.

“Push them off!” Will shouted to Anna, pointing at the boarders swarming out of the water, before he began hauling on the rope Loth was climbing, bringing her up to the deck

“One moment.” Loth said, pausing as Travis took the Saint huffing with effort as he threw the frozen man over his shoulder and sprinted further on board.

She turned back toward the edge and peered over for a moment before slamming her fist down on the nearby railing.

Clunk!

With a mechanical noise, the outer scales coating Shimmer flipped with explosive force, catching the limbs of the climbing fish-people and snapping them off as the orientation of the scales reversed.

The vast majority of the boarders tumbled back into the ocean, missing a hand or a few toes, but there were still a dozen or so who had managed to avoid getting a body part snipped and retained their suction-cup grip on the side of the boat.

Loth growled, holding one hand to her Amulet of Chain Casting, the other directing her claws towards the boarders.

Two dozen fishpeople gave strangled gasps of pain as wasps burst from their chests before setting upon their allies, driving them back into the water.

One by one, Ria found the ship and climbed aboard, cuts of various sizes closing as she did.

“Hold onto something!” Loth's voice rose above the storm.

Will craned his neck to see what she was warning of: a massive mouth erupting from the water, attempting to engulf Shimmer.

With a jolt that caused dozens of people to lose their footing and tumble into the abyss, The mouth impacted the ship, not quite big enough to swallow Shimmer.

Shimmer, half-inside the massive leviathan's mouth, was suddenly dragged downward as the creature dove with it's catch.

Will looped his arm around the ship's railing, using his newly minted left elbow to secure it in place.

It felt like the world had dropped out from under their feet for an instant before a wall of water crashed into them, scouring the deck with the fury of an angry god.

The moonlight faded above as they were dragged down further and further, before Will felt a crack and a jolt, transmitted through the entire ship.

A fishman approached from above, moving swiftly as he was drawn inward, riding the titanic eddies propagated by Shimmer's wake.

Propagated. Nice.

Will quickly switched his arm out for his leg around Shimmer's railing, Standing up in the water to wait for the fishman's approach.

Will finally got a good view of these new monsters. They had needle-like teeth, streamlined, scaled bodies, and large fins that splayed out from the sides of their short legs.

Every movement screamed confidence as it approached, with all the swagger of a man approaching a duck about to be dinner. A duck he particularly disliked.

Odd I can see well underwater. Must be an Acuity thing, Will thought, unleashing the Shortsword of Perserverance directly into its chest from Phantom Hand's storage. The water had no effect on how fast it could move.

Will grabbed the handle of the sword as the stunned monster delivered it back to him, yanking it free and warding off the narrow spear thrust towards him by the creature's compatriot.

The water was frustratingly thick, slowing down Will's movements to a perceived crawl as he tried to fend off dozens of creatures after his blood.

I wonder If I can use Phantom Hand to grab some air and feed it to myself. Not really a long-term solution.

A moment later, Anna arrived beside him, the chubby blonde baker had grown fins, her hair creating a glittering curtain in the water as she fended off the fishmen with the help of several other copies of Ria, Jean and Bee.

One the pressure was off of them, she turned and gave Will a silent thumb's-up.

Can she even see? It's getting pretty dark down here. Judging by the pain in my ears, we're roughly…screwed.

Crack.

Shimmer slipped out of the Leviathan's mouth and suddenly the water slapped Will down, nearly tearing his leg off as Shimmer began flying upwards at ungodly speed.

Will stowed his sword before he lost it and grabbed the railing with his hand too, looking out past the railing, out into the abyss beyond.

Hundreds of baker girls were swimming directly towards him, trying to catch up with Shimmer after being washed off. It was like something out of a dream:

Their hair flowed behind them, their bodies framed by the endless expanse of black that lay beyond, creating a stunning visual as the moonlight highlighted their isolated bodies.

That's something you don't see every day, Will thought an instant before Shimmer broke the surface, catapulting up into the air, carried by its own momentum.

who Loth shouted from the upper deck. “You think you can stop something I built!?” She beat her chest and cackled.

Crash!

Will managed to collect himself and roll away from the railing before the sudden return to the ocean broke his leg. The sudden impact of his chest going down while the ship bobbed up did knock the wind out of him for a second, even with his high Resistance.

Where's Mason? Will thought as he scrambled to his feet.

“Are you okay!?” Anna asked, erupting out of the water and arriving beside him, fins fading into legs like one of the mermaids from the old stories. The non-monster kind, anyway.

“Find Mason!” Will shouted back, a bit more barking than he would've liked when speaking to their food, clothes, and cleaning specialist, but it was an emergency.

Anna's expression went blank for a moment and Will thought he'd pissed her off, but the girl simply pointed towards an empty section of railing.

Will leaned over and spotted a shivering Mason barely clinging to a rope off the side of the ship. A Ria shot out of the water and landed on the netting beside him, grabbing their Nuker and hauling him aboard, delivering him to Will.

“Mason!” Will said, getting the slender Nuker's attention.

“Eh? eh!” Mason shook out of his stupor, seemingly surprised to be alive and above the water.

“Crows nest!” Will shouted, pointing. “Leviathans!” He wanted Mason to give them a mouthful of fire next time they tried to drag Shimmer under.

“Sky sharks!” Mason shouted back, pointing straight up.

Will glanced up and spotted the thousands of sharks swirling above them, eager to pick off isolated Climbers.

“Take Ria!”

Ria nodded and carried Mason up to the crow's nest, followed by dozens more of her.

“Do a headcount!” Will said, grabbing one of Bee's copies.

Bee nodded, her expression going blank.

“Party's accounted for!” one of her clones said, giving him a mock salute as she sprinted past.

How long did all that take? Two minutes? Three? Let's see what happens over the next eight hours.

Will's legs buckled and he grabbed the railing as the ship went nearly vertical.

yeehaw Reese's voice rose above the storm with a strange battle-cry, the emaciated sailor heaving on the steering wheel as the waves carried them up.

will, Look!” Loth shouted from her perch, pointing in front of them and down.

Will dragged himself over and looked over the railing, spotting The Floating Church of Granesh in the valley of two swells, directly beneath them.

Crash!

Shimmer slammed down on top of the luxurious vessel, the reinforced leviathan scales cutting through the high-end wood.

In a matter of seconds, the Floating Church of Granesh was sheared in two, drifting into Shimmer's wake as they cut through the water.

Well, that's one way to do it, Will thought, wincing as he spotted hundreds of sailors scattered to the wind. The vast majority of them would not survive the night.

Will shoved nonessential thoughts aside, refocusing on keeping everyone aboard Shimmer alive through the night.

And on the battle went.

By the time the night ended, Will was a ragged mess, splayed across the deck and staring at the sky above, which was rapidly turning it's unnatural shade of blue as the strange sun peeked above the horizon.

You are now a level 28 Resourceful Climber!

Anna's face came into view, blocking some of the morning light, seemingly fine despite fighting for her life the entire night.

Is she just a better Climber than me, or what? Will knew logically it was her higher physical stats, and the fact that she could keep fresh copies in reserve, but still…

“Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

“Breakfast, nap and a bath. Maybe not in that order.”

“I bought some oatmeal and dried blueberries in the Flotilla,” She said, putting a hot bowl on his chest.

“Big spender,” Will grunted, glancing down at the steaming bowl of blueberry oatmeal under his chin and desperately tried to move his hand.

It didn't work as well as he wanted to, so Will resorted to trying to grab some of the delicious treat with his tongue.

I'm wearing the Ring of Eidolon again, so maybe I can use Phantom hand to-

“Here,” Anna said with a sigh, taking the bowl off his chest and sitting him up before beginning to spoon-feed him the oatmeal.

“Having fun?” Loth asked, arriving beside them.

“I'd be lying if I said no,” Will admitted. “How can you still move?”

“I wasn't jumping around the deck from emergency to emergency all night,” Loth said with a shrug, folding her legs and sitting beside him, accepting a bowl of oatmeal from one of the dozens of Annas crisscrossing the deck with trays of steaming food.

“We have to kill the Saint.” Loth said matter-of-factly between bites, causing Will to nearly inhale a blueberry.

Will coughed oatmeal out of his lungs for a moment before catching his breath.

“Moral dilemmas aside, he's got some information I really want,” Will said.

“Then you'd better find a creative way to get it out of him before he thinks to give Anna the Berserk debuff.” Loth said, scanning the surrounding Tangled, that made up perhaps a quarter of the five hundred people aboard.

Hmm…

***Saint Jairus***

“So, let's revisit that permanent two points of stat growth,” Travis Oilton said, lacing his fingers together as he studied the Saint. “I'm assuming that offer is back on the table?”

Chapter 104: The Double Fakeout

Oh yeah? Well, When William oh was a child, he wandered into the strategy room of the gods themselves.

Seeing that none of them were around, he spend many hours amusing himself by setting up the flags of nations atop their expansive map, lining the flags along the Ring before toppling them over like dominos.

In the real world, a hundred thousand years passed, the rise and fall of nations mirroring his every whim.

- Gerald Hussar – level 20 Cavelier

I don't think I've ever been in a ship that stunk as bad as this one, Jairus thought sourly, taking in his accommodations. They were nearly identical to those that he'd housed The Deceiver in a few hours ago.

The crucifix restraining him was made of laminated Leviathan scale bound by some kind of resin, with silk bonds that outperformed any rope Jairus had ever heard of. There was a bit of bend, but it was easily as strong as the steel he'd secured the Deceiver to.

A small part of him beneath the controlled fear, was impressed by the material and dimly wondered what else it could be used for.

Maybe if I escape or am traded back to the church, I can find the creator. Possibly that ranger girl they have in their Party. In the meantime, I should focus on the task at hand.

There were reportedly at least a hundred fervent Believers on board Shimmer, as well as the low-focus Tangled pet that William Oh seemed to be fond of. That was fertile ground for his particular style of Abilities. Something that they were surely aware of, given how painfully secure his gag was.

Jairus moved his lips around the gag.

“Gag off?” The young man asked.

Jairus nodded.

The Master Decoy pulled out a dagger and held the point to Jairus's throat, the tip pricking the skin under his throat.

“You understand if I feel any Charge, or if you start a sentence with the word 'nonbeliever', I'll have to kill you?” Travis asked.

Jairus nodded again.

Blade still held to his throat, the Decoy leaned up behind him and yanked the gag loose with his other hand.

“Let's talk details.” Jairus said, working his lips over dry teeth.

“Whaddya want?” Travis asked.

“I don't know yet.” Jairus responded with the closest to a shrug he could manage.

“Not 'set me free'?”

“Not if it lands me in the middle of the ocean or gets me captured again. I need to know what is going on outside before I can make an informed decision. I might want to be let go, I might want you to deliver a letter, or maybe just ask you to kill me before your leader can get any useful information.”

“So what you're saying is…you want me to spy for you? For free?” The youngling gave a dramatic sigh and moved to put the gag back over Jairus's mouth.

“Half now, half later.” Jairus interjected before the Master Decoy could cover his mouth.

“Well, now I'm interested.” Travis said, pausing.

“What stat do you want?” Jairus asked.

Please don't say Focus.

“Focus.”

“…Pick something else.”

The young man's eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

“Because the Stat point is coming from me. If I give you a point of focus it cripples my Build.”

“In what world do you expect to win without sacrifice?” Travis demanded. “You're acting like you're getting out of this alive.”

Jairus thought about it.

If I make sure he dies later, I can get it back. If I die, then it doesn't matter, does it?

“Fine. I need to kiss your forehead.”

“Seriously?”

“No, I'm going to kill you with my Exploding Kiss Ability, then proceed to commandeer the ship with nothing but my lips. Get your fucking face over here.” Jairus growled, his sailor slipping through.

The young man cautiously leaned forward, putting his head in front of Jairus.

Holy Investment

102 - 52 Charges remaining.

“Take a portion of my Focus and carry it into battle, my champion.”

The Master Decoy's eyes widened as his Focus suddenly shot up.

Meanwhile, Jairus's Focus dropped precipitously.

Focus 180 - 120

Maximum Charge has decreased!

180 - 120

“Now get me some information,” Jairus said, ushering Travis away.

“Nah, twenty-eight points to my Focus was plenty. I'm not greedy,” Travis said, raising the gag again.

“How long do you think it'll take Your Party to notice the extra Focus?” Jairus asked. “They can see your status if they want. Sooner or later, it'll come up.”

The brown-haired young man paused, staring into the distance, obviously calculating his odds in his mind.

“Alright.” Travis said, stuffing the gag back into Jairus's mouth. “Be right back.”

He was not right back.

Over the next eight hours, Jairus tested his bonds every way he possibly could, only pausing when their Nuker and the Tangled came to watch him use the chamberpot, something none of them were happy about.

Will visited twice over that time, asking odd questions about the organization of the Church of Granesh. Who reported to who, where they were outside The Tower, what responsibilities different parts of the church had in the day-to-day tasks of running such a large organization.

These were largely questions that weren't even secret. Any Acolyte pushing a broom across the church floor understood the organization's hierarchy, and therefore how they could expect to climb it.

It was strong institutions that led to human advancement. As Granesh intended.

Meanwhile in another section of the ship, Loth and Will were poring over a map of Graneshian Churches, organized by hierarchical importance and their ability to rapidly deploy messengers to any corner of the ring.

Based on what the Graneshian believers had told them from casual conversation, they were able to confirm large portions of what Jairus told them about the organization of the church to be true. And everything else…merely highlighted what was important enough for jairus to lie about.

Learned that one from you.

Those tiny inconsistencies drew their attention to two possibilities:

“Well, it's either this one or this one,” Loth said, pointing at two different churches. “The scribes of the Laniston church have a strange amount of independence from the hierarchy of the church. Robust logistics supporting a nearly independent intelligence agency. Their outward facade as scribes and messengers serves as an excellent cover for disseminating prophecy, sending out messages in large quantities and transcribing your friend's 'prophecies' for later dissection by scholars.”

Will heard Loth's quotation marks around 'prophecies' without her having to make any gesture at all.

“You don't think he's a real prophet?”

“I'm a firm believer in self-determination.” Loth said with a pointed look. “I am where I am and what I am because of superior talent and superior efforts.” Loth said.

“Yeah, but what if you were always destined to have superior talent and superior efforts?” Will asked, always enjoying poking the Loth.

“That's a circular argument,” Loth said, brushing aside the conversation with a wave. “Which is why I detest certain branches of philosophy.”

“You taught me about philosophy.” Will replied with a frown.

“Yes, so that you could learn enough to hate it too,” Loth replied, eliciting a chuckle from Will.

“Okay, what about the other one?” Will asked.

Loth's black claw glided across the map of the Ring to point out another location with a large painted mountain that looked vaguely like a femur.

“The home of the military arm of the Church of Granesh, Bone Mountain, where the leadership of the Church of Granesh resides. The level of security there is fitting for protecting a so-called 'prophet'; not a single priest there is under level twenty and there are nearly a dozen Saints represented among their numbers.

More than we could hope to subdue. Bone mountain also has it's own message system that they use to send relayed orders up The Tower. It's the only other place with the infrastructure to send word of your movements fast enough to take any advantage of it.

“So we've narrowed it down to these two as the only ones able to send a message fast enough to hound me like they've been doing, and the only two with the internal authority to hold a valuable asset like a prophet and thumb their nose at the other arm of their organization?”

“In any large organization, there are rivalries.” Loth said, scanning the map. “These two are reputed to be particularly bitter. If we go after Laniston, their allies will be slow to defend them with arms, but if we go after Bone mountain, the spies of Laniston will be unlikely to warn their bretheren, and even if they did…”

“They'd laugh them off,” Will mused, scanning the distance between the two locations. Only a few hundred miles. A high level Climber could cross that space in less than a day.

Abyss, I could cross that distance in less than a day.

Will shook his head, briefly remembering a time when he thought level four was almost respectable.

“Either they're keeping him safe through obscurity,” Will said, tapping the monastery. “Or through force of arms.” He tapped the impregnable mountain range.

“Defeated with blistering speed…or careful planning. Respectively.” Will mused.

“All we've got are possibilities. We need a way to be sure which one your friend is at.” Loth said.

They'd danced around the issue and only asked easily verifiable, oblique questions to Jairus because they didn't want to tip their hand and reveal what they were really after.

“But we run the risk of Jairus getting word out and warning the church what we're after.” Will mused.

“What if he did?” Loth asked.

Will cocked a brow at her.

“What if he did get a message out?” She asked.

“We could follow it back to the person it's supposed to be warning…” Will mused. “Assuming we ignored the acclimation period.”

“You're not afraid of a little fever, bulging bloodshot eyes, coughing, pustules, necrosis of the extremities, paraphilia, parasitic twin growths, and death, are you?”

Will did the math. There were five floors between them and the outside world.

Five days on the Fifth, four on the Fourth, and so on. Fourteen days of waiting, in total, since the first floor didn't have an acclimation period.

A relay message system could get a letter back outside The Tower in a single day.

If they could intercept the letter, and reach the destination first…

These are the lower floors, Will thought. It was the higher floors that skipping Acclimation would kill someone, but skipping the Acclimation phase of multiple floors in a row would still add up, and by the time they got outside the tower, the Miasma sickness would probably be crippling.

“I am a little adverse to those things, yes,” Will admitted.

“Well, I have an idea for how we might be able to…fudge it a little.” Loth said with a grin, a row of insects marching across her arm. “It won't be pleasant, but I think It might just work.”

Will shuddered. He knew what it meant when Loth said something would be unpleasant.

“But we still have to give Jairus the right prod to get him to risk his life to send word.” Will mused.

Will and Loth locked eyes and nodded.

Two weeks later, Travis slipped into the holding cell, carrying Jairus's daily meal.

Still gagged, Jairus merely glared at him.

“What? It takes time to get information without being suspicious,” Travis said, loosening the gag.

“We aren't rejoining the flotilla. We've been moving, and fighting. I can tell. Where are you going?” Jairus asked as soon as the gag left his mouth.

“We've been grinding.” Travis said, sitting down in front of him, giving Jairus a light tap with his dagger to indicate that he was still paying attention.

“Will and Loth have some hair up their butt to get the entire Party up to level thirty before we move on. The last of us passed it this evening, so we're going to be hitting the Key Point and moving floors tomorrow morning.”

“And…where does that leave the several hundred people aboard this ship? What are they planning on doing with us?”

“The other Climbers get the ship, and we're going down a Floor.”

“You're going down?” Jairus asked. “Why?”

“Because the seventh floor doesn't have the infrastructure to sell Saints.” Travis said with a shrug.

“You're ransoming me back to the church in Akul.”

“Loth got everyone together and gave us this weird lecture about 'Sun Tzu” and putting the enemy on 'death ground'. I didn't get it, but it's above my paygrade. I'm the lowest man on the Party totem pole…aside from Brianna, I guess?”

Travis pursed his lips in thought.

“That's it?”

“You're worth a lot of money.” Travis said with a shrug. “Why wouldn't we want to separate the profit from the hassle that is keeping a priest of Granesh hostage? I know I for one, am eager to no longer supervise your shits.”

“Damned waste of a point of stat growth,” Jairus groused. At least I can have a mark put on Travis's head when I get back. He'll certainly be easier to kill than the Deceiver.

“Then after that, we're going back down to the Ring for some much-needed vacation before we go back up to the Seventh Floor. Can you believe we've been doing this one floor for over a month? I'm starting to understand why married couples get further up The Tower.”

Travis sighed. “I need a girlfriend. Or two. Three might be too much. I know an infinite amount is definitely too much, that poor bastard…”

Jairus frowned.

“Anyway, we're gonna R&R and Will and Loth are gonna go visit a friend of theirs. Some kid named Jason.”

“Jason Salazar?” Jairus asked, his skin going cold.

“I'unno” Travis grunted. “Sounded like a friend from the orphanage?”

Dozens of thoughts flickered through Jairus's head at once.

The Deceiver had gleaned the existence and Identity of The Prophet. Likely from something said or housed aboard the Floating Church of Granesh. That was the secret of Fire. The Deceiver was going after him once it got back ouside The Tower. That was what the prophecy warned of. Unacceptable.

They would take two weeks to get outside The Tower once they offloaded Jairus into the hands of the Church in Akul.

He would send a letter down to The Ring, and it would get there with plenty of time to allow them to move Jason out of harm's way and set up a trap for the deceiver.

The immediate problem was not letting on that he knew, and diverting attention away from the fact that he'd asked the Prophet's name.

That meant engaging Travis Oilton in meaningless conversation for at least half an hour, to scrub the exchange out of his recent memory, which turned out to be quite possibly the most uncomfortable experience of his capture, because even the Deceiver was easier to relate to.

“So it seems that nothing is actually required of you, by evening tomorrow, I'll be free, and you'll walk away with thirty extra Focus. Seems like a good deal for you.” Jairus said.

“You're backing out of the second stat point?” Travis demanded.

“I don't Need you to do anything.” Jairus pointed out.

“You need me to keep my mouth shut.” Travis said, leaning forward aggressively, dagger hovering near Jairus's throat.

“Go ahead, tell them you traded information to an enemy for a buff. See how that goes.” Jairus called his bluff.

Travis growled and sheathed his dagger before replacing the gag and storming out of the room.

Now all we have to do is wait.

On the other side of the ship, Travis marched down the Party's hall, his posture shifting from anger to languid ease.

He ducked inside the officer's room and halted at the low Miasma that almost felt like walking into a freezer, causing an involuntary shiver to cross his body as an unknown energy began to drain out of him at a rapid clip.

You have entered a Low Miasma area!

Miasma Acclimation: 14 days!

Warning, this is a higher acclimation period than your current tolerance accounts for, leave the area immediately or you may experience detrimental side-effects, such as fever, bulging bloodshot eyes, coughing, pustules, necrosis of the extremities, paraphilia, parasitic twin growths, and Death.

Lining the walls of the room were thousands, hundreds of thousands of Loth's bugs, pulsing faintly with a miasmatic glow, while Will and Loth sat in the center of the room, where they had had their Miasma drained out of them ever since they hit level 30, ten days ago.

“Seems like he bought it.” Travis said.

“We heard. Close the door, you're letting the Miasma in.” Loth grunted from under her pile of faintly pulsing insects.

“And so…”

“All proceeds from his ransom go to you.” Will said under from his pile of bugs. “You provided the inroad, you get the prize.”

“Nice. Sad I couldn't get that second stat point out of him, though,” Travis pouted for a moment before he caught himself and headed for the door before he grew an extra limb. “I'm gonna leave you guys to…” He gestured at the two of them. “…whatever this is.”

“Have fun trying to score two girlfriends,” Will said. “If you want, I can teach you how to get an infinite number.”

“Ah shit, you were listening,” Travis said, shaking his head as he closed the door. “I was just saying that to make him think I was stupid and shallow!” Travis shouted through the door.

“You really sold it!” Will's muffled voice carried through.

Chapter 105: Level 30

'Level thirty is a big jump in power and flexibility for most climbers. It's the first level where a Climber gets a Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary upgrade all at once, and it's usually the only tertiary anyone ever gets. I was actually level thirty when-'

'What's Tershierry?'

'Means third in line.'

-Gertrude, to a younger Will.

Will sat under a pile of bugs crawling across his skin, focusing on his new Abilities so he didn't panic from all the things skittering across him, their proboscis dipping down to sip…something out of him. It didn't bear too much thinking about.

Please choose a Tertiary Ability

Uru Breath (minor)

Active: 5 Charges, unleash a blast of space-warping breath, the dimensional ripples cause temporary damage and nausea to those inside the cone. May cause objects to crack or joints to loosen.

Stone Charge

Active: 1 Charge, 20ft range. Coats the user's body in stone armor and/or propels them forward at lethal speeds.

Venom strike

Active: 1 charge, Add a poison effect to the next attack with a slashing or piercing weapon. Scales with Acuity.

Mighty Leap

Active: 1 Charge, user's jump distance is tripled for a single jump.

Prey's Senses

Passive: The User's field of vision widens, as well as minor improvements to their hearing and smell. Scales with Acuity.

Deceiver's Molt

Active: 5 charges. Moderate Self-heal. User slips out of their skin and creates a decoy that can perform simple pre-determined actions. The decoy will retain any wounds the user has healed through this Ability.

Titan's Grasp

Passive: Space and gravity subtly warp around objects the user tries to hold, allowing them to handle objects both larger and smaller than they might've otherwise been able to handle, whether that be from cumbersome size or weight.

Phantom Eye

Active: 1 Charge Summon a Phantom Eye for (Acuity) Seconds. The Eye is invisible, goatlike, moves at the same speed as Phantom Hand, and has depth perception.

Progenitor affinity

Passive: Further enhances the natural affinity scaled creatures have towards you.

Stubborn Ass

Passive: User's Inertia becomes more difficult to change through outside forces, adding force to their attacks and resisting shoves and strikes.

Serpent's Tongue

Active: 1 Charge

With a vile word of Eternity, extend the duration of debuffs on the target for acu ten Seconds.

Gravity Charge

Active: 1 charge

The user's personal gravity is oriented in the direction of the target for Resistance seconds. Ethereal horns grow from the user's skull, and their brain, skull, and neck are strengthened against impact. Scales with Resistance.

Cancelable.

Blood Binding

Active: 20 Charges

Apply your tainted blood to a weapon to imbue it with a fraction of your nature. The weapon will warp fate to always return to you.

On Binding, one Ability will be randomly added based on the User's Sacrifices. Only one Ability can be bound at a time, To re-roll the random Ability, Cast Blood Binding again.

Uru Drake's Eye

Passive: Become able to see that which a Uru Drake Progenitor can. Dimensional effects, Charges and miasma become visible to the naked eye.

Serpent's Gaze

Active: 1 Charge

Inflict (acu/100) seconds of Paralysis on a target you can see the eyes of. Acuity contested by Focus or Resistance, whichever is higher.

Astral Tread

Passive: A small doughnut shaped area of gravity below the user's hands and feet becomes under the control of the user and can be used to push off of, or pull into objects and surfaces. Can provide a tiny amount of propulsion should the user be outside the range of any solid objects, such as underwater or in outer space.

The heck is outer space? Will thought, scanning the Ability. It seemed like it extended the effect of Aspect of the goat, allowing him to latch on to things and cling to them better, possibly even walking upside down on things, like the gravity goats were able to do.

There were a handful of new selections since the last time he'd been offered new Abilities at level 20. Gravity Charge had been added, which surprised Will.

Maybe my Class learned it after using it for a while? Will mused.

One of the Abilities on offer, Molt, had been modified to Deceiver's Molt, raising the price, the potency, and including a decoy effect.

Blood Binding was new, and it looked good. So good, in fact, that Will didn't want to have it languish as a Tertiary Ability, forever unable to receive upgrades. It's Relic-focused effect dovetailed in so nicely with his build design for Phantom Hand and Sourdough that he would kick himself forever if he took it as a stagnant tertiary.

That's the problem, isn't it? I need to pick something good, but also something I'm comfortable with never getting any better.

Gravity Charge was a good Ability, but Phantom Hand could move him around just fine as long as he was wearing the Ring of Eidolon.

Although, the ability to fly regardless of whether I have the ring is….pretty tempting.

Will added it to his mental list of possibles.

Deceiver's Molt looked pretty good too. It had gone from minor healing to moderate healing, and included a decent way to recover or escape mid-fight.

Although, Will was plenty slippery even without a decoy, and the healing effect's value was undermined by Sourdough keeping his Potions of Greater Healing refreshed, and being able to always keep one on hand with Phantom Hand.

Phantom Eye would let Will spy or use Phantom hand with precision from an outlandish distance, boosting the power of the Infiltrator portion of his Class. When he first was offered it, the speed of Phantom Hand wasn't that high, and his Acuity wasn't high enough for it to last very long, but now, it would last roughly two minutes, and could move at staggering speeds, allowing him to catch a glimpse of just about anything he wanted within a several mile radius.

Adding that to the list.

Serpent's Gaze…Not bad either.

Serpent's gaze had a lot of nerfs to make it less appealing, and it still was very tempting.

One second for every hundred Acuity seemed like almost nothing, but one second of paralysis was more than enough to perform a coup de grace or force an enemy to miss a critical step.

Will was fairly sure he could stab someone at least six times in one second.

The requirement of seeing their eyes was another nerf, and giving them the ability to resist with Resistance or Focus implied that it would be equally resisted by magic-users and warriors. No way to use it as a class-specific killer.

And still…

Will's Acuity was outlandishly high for his level, and the only people likely to resist Serpent's Gaze would be…Reggie, maybe? Reggie was a professional Tank, one of the only Classes that had four or more stat growth for Resistance. Even dedicated Ability Users rarely had more than three growth in Focus.

…could I use Serpent's Gaze through the Phantom Eye if I got it as a secondary later? Will wondered, brows raising.

…Add it to the list.

Will was scanning back through and paused on Stubborn Ass.

Stubborn Ass would compensate significantly for his low Strength, making him harder to shove, and his attacks hit harder because it would artificially add force to his arms and legs.

It would be a good boost if he was planning on getting into a lot more close-combat fights.

Will added it to the list.

Titan's Grasp…Will didn't really want to add it as a tertiary ability. If it synergized with Phantom Hand that would be fantastic, but if it didn't, then maybe there would be an upgrade that would allow it to do so. If he took it as a tertiary and it didn't do what he hoped, he would be stuck with a non-synergizing Ability forever.

His tertiary Ability needed to be something that could stand on its own, or had inherent, obvious synergies.

Will scanned through the whole list again and then reviewed his list of possible choices and how they would affect his Build.

Gravity Charge:

Greatly increased mobility, and an alternate method of attack. (headbutts)

Phantom Eye:

Huge boost to stealth and information gathering abilities, allowing Will to deploy Phantom Hand in places he couldn't actually see and scout dangerous locations without risking his own skin. The choice pushed his build further into the Infiltrator rogue Archetype.

Serpent's Gaze:

Powerful, fight-ending combat debuff that could be used to dispose of mid-grade Climbers instantly. Ineffective against those that were much stronger than him and only useful in direct combat. Serpent's Gaze pushed him in the direction of an Ability user.

Stubborn Ass:

Powerful boost to Will's direct combat effectiveness, with utility for attack and defense, Stubborn Ass pushed him more in the direction of a pure warrior.

After some consideration, Will mentally crossed off Serpent's Gaze. Perhaps he could take it as a secondary, especially if he already had Phantom Eye to boost its applicable range. It was just of limited use when punching up, and punching down was already easy enough. And there was no utility aspect to it. It was pure combat.

As good as Stubborn Ass was, Will had never wanted to become a pure warrior, so it simply didn't follow the path that appealed to him.

That left Will weighing Gravity Charge and Phantom Eye against each other.

Gravity Charge was incredibly freeing, mobility-wise, and he could use it to cross vast distances in a short amount of time.

But…Aspect of the Serpent boosted his mobility, and it would likely continue to do so as he gained more and more power Resistance over time.

At the moment, Will could walk along any solid and even water. In the future, with the right upgrade to Aspect of the Serpent…he might be able to walk on air.

Which would diminish the relative value of Gravity Charge.

In the end, Will decided on Phantom Eye because it synergized directly with Phantom Hand, Uru Drake's Eye and Serpent's Gaze (if he ever got them) and gave him access to something he simply didn't have, rather than giving him an upgrade on something he already did have, or something he could obtain without spending an Ability.

And it sounded like fun.

Will took a deep breath and selected Phantom Eye.

The Ability fell into place with barely a tingle, leaving only the inherent knowledge of how to use it fresh in his mind.

Phantom Eye

1 to 0 Charges remaining.

Will felt his stomach churn as he suddenly saw the world through another eye, making his vision overlap strangely, as if he had crossed his eyes.

Will closed his eyes and that helped bring the new image into focus.

It was an image that seemed to originate from his forehead.

With that brief thought, the image surged forward nearly a thousand feet, plunging into the ocean below.

Will jerked in place under the mass of insects draining his Miasma.

“Something wrong?” Loth asked.

“Just got Phantom Eye.” Will said, reeling the eye back in. “It's a bit…touchy.”

“Ah,” Loth's voice came from beside him. “Should've gotten Progenitor Affinity. Comes with a built-in army. And you could stand to be handsomer.”

“I can't tell if you're joking.”

“I'm joking. Any of those choices would've served you well, because you're you.”

“Even Stone Charge?” Will asked as his phantom eye was carefully reeled back through Shimmer, each individual cabin passing by in a flash until it stopped in front of him.

Wow.

“You would not pick something stupid like Stone Charge.” Loth said.

“Fair enough,” Will mused, viewing himself from an outsider's perspective.

Have I aged? Will hadn't had access to a good mirror since…ever. What he saw through the Phantom Eye looked like…

Well, it looked older than fifteen, but maybe that was the months of hard living, the loss of baby fat and innocence. That could account for a few apparent years.

Will didn't feel like he'd changed, but he certainly looked like it.

Less innocent Aspirant, and more hardened Climber.

Will turned his head from side to side, inspecting himself. Poking his chin and cheekbones.

No, there's still a little of me in there.

Will took a breath and opened his eyes, carefully staying as still as possible and focusing until the two points of view separated from each other in his mind.

His gaze was more piercing than he expected from a boy his age. More like someone who could and would kill someone who got in his way.

And I have. I could probably make the younger kids in the orphanage cry just by looking at them.

Will turned his attention to his real eyes, and saw that the Phantom Eye was as described, a faint floating orb with a goatlike pupil, only visible to Will.

Will turned his attention to Sourdough.

He'd reached the level 30 mark. He'd already sacrificed the Erosion Golem to it as soon as he got it, so the Ability could target and repair permanent Relics. All he needed to do now was find a Sacrifice that would allow him to modify the items instead of simply repair them.

Will had heard of some potential monsters in the floors above the tens, but sacrifices for them were exceedingly rare, so they'd likely have to get them themselves.

Which I guess means I could spend my Secondary Ability this time on something els-

Knock Knock.

Will sent the Phantom Eye through the door and spotted Anna on the other side.

“Reese says we're almost there, you two!” The baker called before bouncing on the ball of her foot and spinning away to attend to something else.

Will didn't have to take her word for it, because The System agreed.

Chum the waters.

An underwater city of Aluum tasked with protecting a Key point have begun performing ritual sacrifices in the beam. These particular Aluum have become unusually warlike, disrupting Climber activity across the 6th Floor. Investigate, cull any showing aberrant behavior and drive the rest away from the Key Point.

Will rolled his shoulders. “You still feel good about doing this with no Charges?” He asked.

“Our Party is phenomenal. Let's ride their coattails for once,” Loth said.

As soon as they left the room, Will felt a feverish heat as Miasma began to sink back in before it was sucked out by the insects covering him. Together the two of them headed to the quarterdeck, above where Reese was steering the ship.

From their vantage point, they could easily make out the distant beam of Miasma erupting from the water.

The water boiled with fishmen corrupted by the miasma.

'tasked with protecting a key point?' Will thought to himself as the boiling ocean began to stretch towards Shimmer.

That implied that these people had been civilians simply living around the key site before something had changed them into monsters.

Perhaps one of them had, in an effort to become stronger, violated taboo and bathed in the light of the beam, coming away stronger than all of his peers. Maybe it had even been fine for a while, but the corruption had eventually consumed him. Or perhaps others had sought to emulate his success, but hadn't been so lucky.

I guess it doesn't matter now, Will thought as his Party assembled at the bow to crush them.

Chapter 106: Blitz

You better watch out,

You better not cry,

You better get out.

Ya better run now…I'm telling you why

William oh is coming…to town.

- Jason Salazar

What do you think he means by that?

Start packing.

Who's that knocking?

It couldn't be…

The Aluum offensive was blunted by Mason using Phase Shift to turn his Conflagration acidic. Rather than wasting a charge by increasing the heat of the surrounding ocean by a degree, a vibrant yellow acid manifested in the midst of the fish-people, eroding the gills of the approaching underwater army as they breethd it in. Hundreds of murky figures writhed in pain before going still.

“That one,” Will saw Alicia point out a slightly bigger shadow in the water. It was difficult to tell, with the way the water thrashed and boiled, but for Alicia to point it out, it was likely an Aberrant.

Will felt Alicia consume a Charge and the underwater figure began to writhe as it died. A moment later, a narrow spear erupted from the water, streaking directly towards Mason.

Reggie stepped in front of the attack and caught the spear on his shield, causing a burst of sparks to bloom amidst the dark storm. It looked like the quill of some enormous creature that had been carved down to make it easier to throw.

All the while, June loosed one arrow after another with languid smoothness, aiming at the stragglers that were diverting their path around the boiling pool of acid slowly dispersing in the ocean water, picking them off one at a time.

Her arrows flashed blue as they streaked through the air, delivering outsized damage to her targets.

“Do they even need us anymore?” Will mused as the rest of his party annihilated the monsters over the course of several minutes.

Travis created a decoy and it dove into the water, causing the fishmen to turn towards it. Will could see their higher thinking reflected in the way they hesitated and then quickly reversed directions an instant before the water turned yellow as Mason dropped another Phase Shifted Conflagration directly on Travis's decoy, catching only a few more than he might've otherwise.

Travis frowned, and put his jaw harp in his mouth and began making the annoying twanging noises that made Will want to punch him. The noises themselves were kind of fun, so the desire to attack Travis was more likely an Ability from the harp.

No wait, the harp just directs things attention to a certain point. The desire to punch him is a result of his personality.

True enough, the underwater enemies had a harder time turning away from his second decoy, and Mason was able to nuke a larger portion of them.

“…They do not.” Loth said with a smile as the tide of Aluum seemed to shake themselves out of their collective frenzy and scatter, every fishman for themselves, leaving only a few aberrations still interested in pursuing the fight.

Alicia naturally acted as their guide, pointing out a target that she couldn't kill to June.

It was some kind of aberrant fishman, with dull scales and a portion of it's ribcage missing, internal organs naturally pickling in the briny water, revealing itself as it leapt up onto the ship, covering nearly half the distance before grabbing onto the smooth surface with hands that were growing suckers and unnervingly long black talons.

The fishman zombie was only above-water for a second before a blazing magic arrow cut a four-in diameter hole through its midsection.

Another aberrant flashed out of the water, bypassing the side of the ship entirely, streaking through the air towards Mason's face.

Will tensed for an instant before Reggie stepped forward and deflected the fishman's attack.

This particular fishman was a warrior, no doubt about it. He seemed just as comfortable on land as in the water, bouncing off Reggie's tower shield and leaping up into the sails, aiming to rain down attacks on them.

Alicia looked up at the warrior and frowned for a moment.

The warrior slumped over, dangling from a sail as it died instantly.

“What happens when Alicia doesn't have the Charge to do that?” Will asked. “They need a close combat specialist.”

“Which is what Brianna is for,” Loth said.

Will glanced down at Rai and Bee, watching from a distance, where they had given them the fight off to rest their minds.

“With her on their team, they form a fully functioning Party.”

“To be fair, Brianna, is a fully functioning party.” Will joked.

“Brianna is going to be your first Vassal, and will bind together your many Strongholds as you make your way to the top.”

Will's eyes widened.

“They can communicate with each other.” Will said, gathering Loth's intent.

“Indeed. All of Brianna's clones share information with each other. We could utilize her as both a strong Warrior archetype and as a network for instantaneous information transfer. Right now it's just basic things like location, health and a vague sense of mood, but if we get her to level 35 and beyond we may be able to tweak her Build to communicate precise information between each other, allowing you to communicate between Strongholds and build a kingdom without limits.”

Loth scoffed. “And Frederick Wyrd could only see a weapon. How narrow-minded.”

Will Directed the Phantom Eye high above the battlefield and watched from above as the Aluum scattered.

So many corpses were floating out there in the water, decomposing to nothing in seconds, dropping any Loot they might have into the depths of the ocean.

Will's eyes widened as he realized that with Phantom Hand and Phantom Eye, he could easily identify and snatch up Loot as it was released from underwater monsters, even scour the ocean floor if was so inclined.

Assuming I find a way to get light down there, I suppose.

It was a brilliant idea, but he'd have to save it for next time they passed through the 6th Floor.

It was time to head back down.

Thank you for clearing the Key Site. You may ascend or descend at your discretion.

+ 2000 x p

In a matter of minutes, Reggie was carrying a squirming Saint Jairus through a portal to the Fifth Floor.

Will quelched his discomfort and headed through the portal, the chill, wet wind replaced by the sunny warmth of the 5th Floor in an instant.

Welcome to the 5th Floor!

Miasma Acclimation: ??? days.

It is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Miasma acclimation period has elapsed. Side effects of doing so include fever, bulging bloodshot eyes, coughing, pustules, necrosis of the extremities, paraphilia, parasitic twin growths, and Death.

Will glanced up and around to make sure they weren't about to get stepped on by a kaiju, before they regrouped and headed for Akul.

Having been through the Floor before, they didn't waste any time sightseeing and went straight to the Church of Granesh. After a short exchange and some veiled threats, Will was able to deliver the 'rescued' saint back to his church for a small commission, which went to Travis for getting the priest to talk.

While Loth went out and bought supplies for their visit outside The Tower, Will and Bee hid in the rooftops surrounding the church, chatting about life in general and revenge specifically while they waited for the courier.

“Feels weird knowing I'll never get to smash the face of the guy who did this to us.” Bee mused as they waited for a courier to emerge from the church.

“Life happens like that sometimes.” Will said, thinking back to Frederick Wyrd's ignoble demise. Ignoble was a good word.

“I mean I want to smash your face in, but Anna likes you too much.”

That got Will's complete attention.

“Why is your situation my fault?” Will asked.

“Because if you hadn't given Jean the ring, we would be dead.”

“And you'd rather be dead?” Will asked.

“Nnnooo…” Bee said, her eyes darting to the side. “But still your fault. C'mere, just a little smack is all I need to get it out of my system.” She shuffled towards him across the roof tiles, keeping her head down so as not to reveal themselves to the church below.

The tiny black-haired girl raised her hand, eyes shining with murderous intent as she approached.

“I'd rather keep my jaw intact,” Will whispered, shuffling away.

“Wait.” Bee said, freezing in place with a vacant expression, prompting Will to stop as well.

“Church courier over there,” She said, pointing to the west side of the city, where more of her copies had been forming a cordon. “He came out of an underground tunnel, and is booking it to the northwest.”

“To be continued.” Will said, leaping to his feet. “Have a nice vacation.”

Will signalled to Loth and sent his Phantom Eye high up in the air above the city, locating the messenger cutting across rooftops nearly a quarter-mile distant and gaining.

Oh crap. Will broke into a sprint, joining Loth and tossing her over his shoulders. He'd never had to race against a mobility-focused Climber with a headstart, and it wasn't looking good for him.

It didn't matter that Will's footsteps were as solid and secure as a packed gravel road, the messenger's body seemed to slide forward through space at a speed that didn't match his footsteps.

Some kind of passive speed boost.

Will slipped his Uru Drake mask down over his face and triggered Malleable Space, targeting the edge of the city nearly two miles distant.

2 to 1 Charges remaining.

Part of Loth's plan for them to remove all their Miasma and skip the acclimation period was to empty out their Charge. All he had was what he'd gained since the start of the day. That decision was starting to feel like a mistake.

Due to the sheer distance between the two points, the space-warping effect was significantly less powerful, but it did give Will a speed boost over the whole distance, allowing him to at least keep pace with the messenger's speed.

Will kept the messenger in sight with Phantom Eye, keeping his real body out of sight, and watching for any sign that the messenger knew he was being followed.

If he did know, he didn't show it. They reached the edge of the city only a minute later, and the messenger took a well-travelled road that was dotted with merchant caravans.

“He's going to The Hole.” Loth surmised. “Bussing through a Key Point is likely a less efficient way of going down a floor when the spawn rate of Kaiju is as low as it is.”

Will had never been to The Hole, the series of massive holes in Floors 1 to 5 that the merchant caravans travelled between.

First Time for everything, Will thought as they began sprinting along the main thoroughfare, whipping past one caravan after another.

Merchants shook their fists at Will and Loth as they glided past. Will was pretty sure he heard some people yell about 'Damn Climbers', and he felt a grin cross his face as he was finally beginning to feel like a real Climber.

The messenger hit the hole several minutes before they did. The last thing Will saw before Phantom eye expired was the messenger heading straight towards a massive hole in the ground.

Will and Loth arrived a few minutes later, and paused in awe.

The Hole was an abyssal crater seemingly melted into the ground by some incomprehensible force. It was the width of Will's old village, lined with thick rope and steel scaffolding, supporting elevators that seemed to emerge from the black abyss below with massive wagons loaded with raw materials in high demand in the bread basket of The Tower.

“So he went down here?” Will said, glancing across the edge of the pit, scanning the surrounding crowd, man of whom were resting chatting with each other while they re-packed or waited for their turn on the elevator.

In the distance he spotted a man-made staircase for Climbers without much in the way of luggage who wanted to make their way down a floor with maximum haste.

Will didn't see their messenger anywhere, implying he'd already descended past the point of visual confirmation. They were losing him.

“Let's save some time,” Will said.

“What do you mean!?” Loth yelped as Will took a running headstart and jumped out into the pitch-black center of The Hole.

Will's stomach rose into his chest as they began falling straight down, the surrounding merchants yelling warnings as their voices quickly faded to nothing.

The only light available to them was the dim light of the lamps attached to the twisting staircases that navigated the twisted path of The Hole.

Loth frantically fumbled through her robes and pulled out half a dozen glowbugs. With a word, they flared to life, providing the equivalent of strong lamplight to illuminate their descent.

Loth threw the bugs straight down, revealing an approaching boulder composed of pitted steel and stone that jutted out of the darkness like a mountain peak.

Will nudged them to the left with Phantom Hand, avoiding splattering on the floating mountain that whistled past them.

Meanwhile, Loth pulled out her reflective disc of polished steel and put one of her glowbugs in the center, creating a beam of light pointed directed below them, revealing a labyrinthine maze of pitted steel and jagged grey stone.

Will thought he might've seen their courier jogging down the manmade switchbacks, glancing up at the two suicidal Climbers taking the shortcut to the Abyss.

It was a wild ride, falling for nearly an hour before the darkness gave way to light, as they fell through the sky of the Fourth Floor.

Will and Loth dodged the massive ropes and scaffolding jutting out of the swamp and anchoring into the inside of The Hole.

Will turned and glanced up as they passed the last obstacle, marveling at the gaping void in what was otherwise a clear sky.

Welcome to the 4th Floor!

Miasma Acclimation: ??? days.

It is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Miasma acclimation period has elapsed. Side effects of doing so include fever, bulging bloodshot eyes, coughing, pustules, necrosis of the extremities, paraphilia, parasitic twin growths, and Death.

There is a Stronghold to your North, and a Key Point in need of clearing to your North.

Again, it is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Acclimation period has elapsed.

Will put the Phantom Hand under his foot and used it to slow himself down until he hit the swampy ground with a plop, landing beside a caravan of merchants waiting for their turn on the elevator.

A man with the weathered face frowned at Will, as if not quite understanding where Will had come from, since the footpath was on the opposite end of the manmade clearing below The Hole.

The merchant craned his neck to look up, seemingly tracing Will's trajectory backwards with a frown.

“Can you fly, son?” the merchant asked with a reedy voice.

“Sort of,” Will admitted.

“Stronghold's North,” Loth said, tugging on Will's sleeve. “We've got a headstart on him, let's not squander it.”

They set out, aiming for Way Station.

There was a Relay Station for couriers in that solitary Stronghold. Their courier would have to hand off the letter and spend the next four days putting up his heels before he could relay another message to the fifth Floor.

They didn't know his timing, but they knew exactly where he was going.

It took several hours to make it to Way Station, sprinting through mosquito-infested swamps.

They were running too fast for anything to launch itself out of the water and try to ambush them. Will saw a couple swamp vamps who, instead of rearing up to attack, pressed themselves deeper into the muck.

The courier passed them in the last mile or so, his passives boosts outweighing Will's more generalist abilities.

Phantom Eye

1 - 0 Charges remaining.

Will sent the Phantom Eye ahead, the construct easily keeping pace with the courier until he reached his final destination less than a minute later, taking out a single letter with the seal of the church and Jairus's name written on the outside, handing it off to another courier.

Bingo, Will thought, memorizing the letter's appearance.

The next courier took the letter and set off at a much more sedate pace, heading for a connecting bussing company to catch a ride down. They likely had a deal cut with the courier company, since they weren't directly competing, and more people in a bus meant it would be that much safer.

This delay gave Will and Loth the opportunity to catch up, panting desperately as they arrived, only a few minutes before the bus loaded up half a dozen civilians from where they were bunking at the only inn in The Waystation.

They followed the bus, joining the pack of Climbers that followed in it's wake, blending in with the rest of the desperate youth aiming to make their way up.

Matter of fact…one desperate youth seems familiar.

“Heath, Heath!” Will shouted, flagging him down out of the flow of Bus-chasers.

The young man with the extra foot of height Will so desperately wanted, and the squinty, confused expression that he so loathed, turned at the sound of his name, locking in on the two of them.

“Hey Will, how's it hanging?” The Ashwood's infamous bully asked as they ran, carrying a man-sized sword over his shoulder.

“It's been good. Lost my hand,” Will said, showing off his wrist. “But other than that, it's been good. Found a great Party, just coming back down from the fifth floor.”

“No way your scrawny ass got to the Fifth Floor before I did, but I am proud of you for getting this far. Ashwoods represent!”

Will caught the high-five mid-stride.

He seems strangely nice, Will thought as he sprinted behind the bus shoulder-to-shoulder with his former bully.

“Any reason you're not tripping me or anything?”

“Focus helps me think a little cleaner, and I've seen a lot of friends die. You're the best of what's left, twerp.”

“Sucks,” Will spat for emphasis. He didn't care to think of how many of those friends were young men and women he knew from last year's Aspirants.

“It surely does.” Heath agreed.

The rest of the run passed in silence, and together, the crowd slaughtered the aberrations around the Key Point with ease.

Will said his goodbyes to the town bully and followed the courier down to the 3rd Floor.

Welcome to the 3rd Floor!

Miasma Acclimation: ??? days.

It is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Miasma acclimation period has elapsed. Side effects of doing so include fever, bulging bloodshot eyes, coughing, pustules, necrosis of the extremities, paraphilia, parasitic twin growths, and Death.

There is a Stronghold to your West, and a Key Site in need of clearing to your South.

Again, it is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Acclimation period has elapsed.

The third, second and first floor followed a similar pattern: Follow the courier to the Relay station, join their bus and ride it to the next floor down.

Since the courier switched off on every Floor, none of them bothered to ask if Will and Loth had been following them since the 5th Floor.

That would be ridiculous. They were just regular travellers busing in the same direction.

The couriers got a bit slower on every Floor, due to their decreasing level, eventually allowing Will and Loth to pace them rather easily, especially in the last two floor.

When they got to the Hunting Grounds, Will and Loth were finally able to take off the thick overcoats lined with miasma-draining bugs.

“Gah, never again,” Will said with a shudder as he stepped through the Door and tossed the miasma-draining jacket aside, the inside literally squirming with legs and pulsing with concentrated blue miasma.

When they arrived at the mail sorting center, sixteen couriers with sixteen bags full of mail concentrated from the entire Tower sprinted away in every direction.

Phantom Eye.

3 to 2 Charges remaining.

Will used the one of the Charges he'd regenerated over the course of the day and used Phantom Eye to peek into the bag of each courier until he spotted the letter he was interested in, heading northeast.

Here we go.

Will and loth took off running.

In a matter of hours, they were overlooking a little monastery in the middle of nowhere, the courier taking a familiar letter out of his satchel and putting it into a mailbox before sprinting off to his next delivery.

“Well, I guess this is the place.” Will said with a nod, waiting for the courier to leave before heading up to the front door and listening.

Will's outlandish Acuity cut through the sound of forks clinking on wooden plates, idle chatter, and the soft flipping of pages, making out a familiar voice speaking much deeper in the building, barely audible to his ears.

“You better watch out,

You better not cry,

You better get out.

Ya better run now…I'm telling you why!

William oh is coming…to town.”

“What do you think he means by that?” a youngish voice asked, equally distant.

Are they underground? Will asked, trying to pintpoint their location.

“Start packing.” An older voice responded.

Will raised his fist and knocked on the door. Loud enough for them to hear.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

“Who's that knocking?”

“It couldn't be…”

“Oh, but it is!” Will shouted, kicking the door off its hinges, revealing a hive full of kidnapping monks, some of them reading, some of them eating lunch, some working on transcribing letters.

All of them guilty.

For a sect of Graneshian believers that formed the backbone of the church's information gathering ability, they sure looked silly when you caught them with their pants down.

A well-aimed cannonball ripped through three monks before they even stood up.

Will leapt forward, sliding through the monestary with a ripple of stone preceding him. One monk tried to block his face, but the ripple in the floor caused the monk to lose his balance and lower his guard.

Will dispatched him with a blade to the neck, sprinting past to where he estimated the faint voices had been emanating from, leaving the rest of the room to Loth.

Will paused at a section of the floor that was a bit cleaner than the rest.

A cannonball through the false floor revealed the ruins of a secret stairway.

Will dropped down into it, warding off a butter knife as the younger monk tried to ambush him, kicking the monk's kneecap backward, causing him to fall straight down before dispatching him with the stone floor itself erupting upward, crushing the monk's skull between stone and Will's foot.

The older monk scrambled backwards, eyes bulging as Will approached.

Oh good, Will thought when he spotted Jason. I thought I might be overreacting.

Jason Salazar, son of a con-artist, second-oldest boy at the orphanage, and William Oh's Hype Man, was sitting at a table, a long chain running from his feet to the post of his bed.

He looked emaciated, his cheekbones prominent, his skinny frame nearly slipping out of his oddly fine clothes, revealing bruises that seemed to cris-cross his body.

“Hey. You got my message. 'Bout time.” Jason said wearily, struggling to lift his hand to point at Will.

“Sorry it took so long,” Will said before turning his attention to the older monk.

He walked up to the monk and squatted down in front of him, staring into the man's eyes.

“I don't like killing people. I really don't,” Will said. “A good fight? Sure. But slaughtering people like this?” Will paused to allow the sound of Loth purging the upstairs to punctuate his sentence. “It turns my stomach.”

“You are-“

“Shhhh…” Will silenced the monk. “I'm not even doing this for Jason. Sure, I'm mad, but the only reason I'm killing your people is because your organization has, in no uncertain terms, laid out that they will take any opportunity they can to kill me.”

“We cannot both exist,” Will said, gesturing between the two of them.

Was it selfish to kill thousands so that one could live? Probably, but they had forced the choice in the first place.

Will's stomach churned as he dispatched the monk before fishing through his pocket for the keys to Jason's chains. A moment later Jason was free.

“Come on, let's go,” Will said, ushering Jason up the shattered flight of steps.

The twelve-year old boy trembled like a leaf as he struggled to climb, taking Loth's hand a moment before she heaved him up.

“Oh hey, I remember you,” Loth said.

Chapter 107: Regroup

Speaker, urgent news.

What could possibly be urgent enough to pull me out of breakfast with the baron?

Laniston is gone.

What does that mean?

The building. The people…. It's just gone.

…The library?

Gone.

The prophet?

Gone.

*smacking noises*

What the abyss are you doing standing there, mobilize Everyone!

What abou-

Everyone!

The three of them were seated at a rough-hewn inn in a backwater village stationed in the lush greenery of the rural Ring. Food was cheap and plentiful, and there was a salt deposit nearby so everything tasted fantastic. It was a great place to lay low and regain a few dozen pounds.

Gods knew Jason needed them.

The only sound for a quite some time was the mellow thonk sound of a wooden spoon tapping the side of a wooden bowl.

Eventually, Will broached the subject that had been on his mind for a few hours now.

“Shouldn't they have treated you like royalty?” Will asked while Jason wolfed down a stew.

“They did, at first,” Jason said, plucking the collar of his gold embroidered shirt that hung loose around his thin neck. “But then they wanted me to use these dead guy's body parts as sacrifices and take…gods knew what class. I asked what it was, they said it was a prophet of Granesh, with a direct line to their deity. Great honor, and all that. Well, one of them let it slip that the direct line might be something of a two-way street, and frankly I didn't like the idea of a deity being all up inside me, so I respectfully said I didn't want to do it.”

Jason motioned over his face with his hand.

“That's when the mask started coming off. All the 'young master' talk and luxury just kinda faded over time. They got pushier, so I dug my heels in further, and before I knew it, they were withholding food in exchange for my 'good behavior'. You don't really know someone until you deny them something they want, my dad always said.”

“I was wondering why they didn't just shove me into the Trial with the sacrifices they wanted me to take, though,” Jason mused, pointing at Will with his spoon. “Like what happened to you.”

“There's ways to leave the Trial via the merchant caravans that travel through the area, not to mention as you are, you'd probably get killed.”

“Oh.”

When will thought about it, once Jason dug his heels in, they shifted their priority from getting him his Class to breaking his resistance. They wanted to erase the idea of disobedience before they gave him the means to run away. That took time.

“More please.” Jason said, holding up the empty bowl, allowing Will to refill it from the pot they'd ordered for the table.

“…Do humans throw up when they eat too quickly?” Loth asked from where she was flipping through an ancient tome, prompting a feral hiss from Jason.

“Why don't you let that first one settle, Jason?” Will said, pulling the new bowl away. “It's not gonna do you any good if it's on the floor.”

“You suck,” Jason said, but didn't force the issue.

“You being in the condition you're in…” Will gesture to his friend. “Is gonna make this next part a lot slower than I was hoping.” They couldn't blitz their way back up, that was for sure.

“Not much I can do about it.” Jason said with a shrug.

“We could probably put enough fat back on him in two weeks, but the lost muscle will take longer.” Loth said.

Maybe if he had high resistance and Strength…but that would mean he was already in the Trial.

“What kind of Class would you like?” Will asked, hoping Jason would pick something in the Warrior Archetype that would make the Trial safer for him.

“Hype Man,” Jason said without missing a beat.

“I'm not sure that's-“

“No, you don't get it, drifting from inn to inn, people paying me good money just to tell stories about you?” Jason said, pointing at Will. “It suited me just fine. I enjoy it, I'm good at it. I wanna be a Hype Man.” He glanced around and lowered his voice. “I'm pretty sure the wenches were hitting on me.”

“You're twelve, they were taking pity.”

“Thirteen, thank you very much.” Jason said, preening. “You've been gone nearly six months.

“Oh yeah. You didn't get any taller, though.” Will said, measuring Jason against himself with his hand.

“That's because you got taller.”

Will glanced at Loth, who nodded. He then glanced down at his sleeve, which had, without his knowledge, creeped from stopping at his wrist, to stopping a couple inches further back.

He'd kind of assumed it had shrunk a bit from being doused in blood and sweat.

Well, alright. I'm not sure that Hype Man is a known Class, though.” Will mused. Known Classes were ones whose Sacrifices were common knowledge. Most common people didn't need the services of a Hype Man.

Although I highly recommend it.

“Sounds like a Charm Archetype, most closely related to a Herald or a Bard. Something in between the two.” Loth said, flipping a page. “Actually, two of the key Sacrifices that can make a Herald were in the monastery, being the Glory Eagle, and wood from the Tree of Empires.”

“Really?” Will and Jason asked as one.

Loth nodded without looking away from tome filled with the church's secrets. “I assume they wanted the Class they gave Jason to enhance his natural storytelling ability. The third Sacrifice they had on hand was some kind of Saint who had found a way to surrender their body to the will of Granesh. Presumeably.”

“Gross.” Jason said with a scowl.

“Sooo…if we found Jason a Bard Sacrifice, then…” Will mused.

“The Class might not be called Hype Man, but its abilities would be the closest we could get to what you've described.” Loth said. “…Without spending years and endless wealth testing on random civilians to get the exact Class.”

“…I'll take it.” Jason said.

“Whaddya got there, anyway?” Will asked Loth.

“It's a list of your siblings that the church has killed.”

what Will demanded, grabbing the book away and scouring the list of names until he found one that stood out to him.

Henry Green

- Shot with an arrow in the Abyssal caves of the 1st Escaped pursuit but never resurfaced. Presumed dead.

I remember him, Will thought, vividly recalling the skeleton he'd had that wonderful one-sided conversation with during his Establishing Quest. He'd had an arrow in his ribcage.

“I guess Jairus wasn't lying to me.” Will mused, tracing his finger down through the hundreds of names of dead people he'd never meet.

“There's the one on the second floor.” Will mused, his finger coming to a stop. 'driven into the wilds of the second floor. Never resurfaced. Presumed dead.'

Will remembered the mangled headless corpse in the meatlocker he'd been strung up in. The one that had given him a strange sense of déjà vu.

All the – for lack of a better term – Deceiver corpses Will had met were 'presumed dead', save for the one in the church basement. This led him to believe that the church didn't just leave the corpses where they lie. They gathered them up and disposed of them somewhere so that other – for lack of a better term – Deceivers didn't stumble across the bodies of their siblings.

But the question was: did they destroy those corpses or did they store them somewhere?

“You look like you're plotting something.” Loth said, leaning on her palm.

“You think the grudge of a thousand half-snake children cut down in their youth would be enough to curse a Relic?” Will mused. “Say a tomahawk, as a random, nonspecific example.”

“Not really my area of expertise.” Loth admitted.

Whose area of expertise would…

“Billy-bob.” Will said.

“Yes, sir?” The spirit butler asked, rising from the floor with a polite bow.

“Gods!” Jason shouted, dropping the bowl of stew he was sneaking out of the pot.

The young Hype Man glanced back and forth between Will and his undead servant, seemingly deciding whether or not to run.

“Same question.” Will said, pointing at Billy-bob.

“A small percentage of my makeup is comprised of those who have served high-ranking members of Granesh,” Billy-bob said. “To my knowledge, the bodies of Deceivers are cremated and placed in special urns for storage, as their ashes have latent miasma and will contaminate the land around them with the essence of the Immortal Serpent.”

“So they still have some juice.”

“That they do, sir.” Billy-bob said, nodding.

“Would they be willing to help a brother out and destroy the church of Granesh?”

“Most willing.”

“Stevie. Noob.” Will called his other two ghost butlers, who rose out of the ground, awaiting his word.

“Get me a primo tomahawk.” Will said, pointing at Stevie.

Stevie nodded and vanished.

Will turned his finger on Noob. “Scour the Ring for Sacrifices that might work with Sourdough. You know what I want done with it. Also grab Jason a high-quality Bard Sacrifice. Preferably stealing them from the church of Granesh if you can, but I'm not picky.”

Noob nodded and vanished.

Will turned his finger back to Billy-bob.

“Do you know where these ashes are stored?”

Billy-bob shook his head.

“I'm sorry, sir. I only know what I do through hearsay and conjecture. The location is never spoken in front of servants.”

“I'm on it,” Loth said, turning back to the massive stack of the most important books and letters she'd…freed from the Church's information wing. There were thousands more with lower priority. Loth's insects had torn the entire monastery apart, brick by brick, both to uncover any potent secrets they might've had (and there were some) and also to erase any evidence of exactly what had befallen the monks.

As far as Will knew, the library was currently heading towards Loth's home den with a drawing of her, and the bricks of the monastery were being tossed into a bottomless pit one at a time by a line of insects.

“Figure out who or what I would need to concentrate the energy of a thousand pissed off ghosts sealed in urns. Then bring it to me.” Will said to Billy-bob.

“Right away.” Billy-bob said, bowing before he sank back into the floor.

This trip to save Jason might just have fringe benefits, Will thought. He knew he was going to have to destroy the church of Granesh as it was, and the most immediate move was becoming more clear.

“Since when do you have three ghost butlers!?” Jason demanded, wiping up spilled stew.

“Since the fifth Floor.” Will replied, taking off the gauntlet and checking his left arm.

He wiggled one of the stubby digits emerging from his newly regrown wrist.

Only a few more weeks.

“Gross.” Jason grunted.

Will wiggled his middle stub at Jason.

“Seriously, put the gauntlet back on before I throw up.” Jason said, blocking his own vision with his palm.

Will rolled his eyes and strapped the gauntlet back over his healing hand.

“Did you hear?” Will's ears picked up a couple of tavern-goers whispering to each other.

“The church of Granesh is mobilizing…Everything they have, they're scouring the ring like a wildfire, searching every town, village and city for heretics.”

Will glanced up at the two, a mud-covered laborer and a well-traveled messenger sharing the news over a pint.

“But I mean…everybody worships different gods. Aren't most of us heretics by their definition?” The laborer said with a tired shrug. “They don't have enough power to declare half the world heretic, and even if they did, they'd be starting a war they can't finish. We'll be fine.”

“No, they're not declaring war on everyone. I heard they're looking for someone or something in particular, and the numbers that I've seen…Way more high-level Climbers than anyone thought they had. They've been keeping their total strength close to the vest, that's for damn sure, but for this mobilization, I heard they're even bringing Saints out of retirement…and it's a Lot of them.”

“What are you thinking?” Loth asked.

“Whether it would be a smart or stupid idea to try to hide inside the ring of their expansion.” Will said, making a circle with spilled stew. Presumably the church's forces were expanding outward from their military arm of the Church of Granesh, Bone Mountain. Hiding under their nose might be clever.

Bone Mountain was likely within striking distance of where they stored the ashes of all the Deceivers they killed, too. If Will could get inside their search line and wait there until the time was right…

“Smart in the unlikely event that you could pull it off, but most likely stupid.” Loth said. They will leave a small contingent to watch for changes in any town or village they go through, and also offer the locals a reward for information on any unusual activity. Our current party lacks the Abilities needed to blend in effectively enough to hide.”

Will frowned. She was 100% right. The odds of getting spotted were far higher than the benefit of being able to launch a sneak attack on the crematorium.

“Strategically, the most ideal move is to hide in the south Ring,” Loth said. “The population primarily worships Holdna there, and the military arm of Granesh moving through will be met with stiff resistance, as it will be perceived as a hostile takeover, regardless of their stated intent. The Graneshians will take offense to this resistance and escalate to violence, which will in turn galvanize the local population, creating a nice little warzone to conceal yourself in, where the majority of the population will hide you simply to spite their occupiers.”

“…yeah, but I don't want thousands of civilians to die to hide us,” Will said, thinking of Leon, the general store owner in Ashwood. Most of them were level 1 to 10 civilians who had gotten out of The Tower before they got killed. There were millions more Leons out there just living their lives.

Will could not abide drawing them into his war on the church.

“It's the most strategically sound choice, not necessarily the most ethical.” Loth shrugged.

“What could we do to raise our chances of going unseen inside their search line?” Will asked.

“Well, if we avoided coming into contact with any other people while we wait, that would greatly decrease our chance of being discovered. There's an uninhabited forest in the valley north of Bone Mountain, that's known for being especially cold because it lies in the shadow of the mountain.”

“Grubs?” Will asked as he worked out the plan.

Loth nodded. “I could do that.”

Will turned to Jason.

“Would you endure cold and eat nothing but salted grubs for a couple weeks if it meant you could give the church a bloody nose?” Will asked.

“Abyss, I'd do it for a year.” Jason said emphatically.

Will turned and flagged down the serving wench, placing two gold pieces on the table, causing her eyes to bulge, along with Jason's.

“Could we get a bag of salt and a bag of pepper, and where might we purchase a cast-iron pan, a small keg, and wool? Cloth?”

“Sheepskins,” Loth added, turning back to her research.

“And some sheepskins.”

“G-general store, sir.” their serving wench stammered, pointing. “I'll get right on that salt and pepper sir.” She stood there for an awkward second, seemingly deciding between a bow and a curtsy, before she caught herself, heading back into the kitchen.

“Dude, you're rich!” Jason whispered to him.

“These are practically worthless above the Second Floor,” Will said, twirling a gold coin between his fingers. “But yes. I am rich.”

“You do realize our shopping list will give a hint as to our intended destination?” Loth said.

“They'll think we're going outside the Ring. It'll send their attention away from the south Ring to the outer reaches, so maybe there won't be a war.” Will explained.

“Fair enough, but I'm asking for some scrimshaw knives too, then.” Loth replied.

The cold outer reaches were known for their scrimshaw artwork, since the beasts that roamed their land were so enormous. Scrimshaw knives made from good inner ring steel were in great demand in the outer reaches and could ingratiate them with a community rather handily.

Not to mention salt and spices.

Loth intended to buy some scrimshaw knives, making their shopping list point directly into the outer reaches, so that would be the first place the Church of Granesh looked, wasting time and effort scouring the frozen wastes, achieving nothing.

“That's such a blatant misdirect, you think they'll buy it?” Will asked.

“Organized religion is not the place to search for critical thinking.” Loth said.

“…What are you guys talking about?” Jason asked with a frown.

“…I thought he was smart.” Loth said.

“Eh…” Will said, waggling his hand.

Jason kicked him under the table.

Chapter 108: Hunted

'He's got a two day head start, on you, which is more than he needs. William Oh's got friends in every town and village from here to the wastes, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom. He'll blend in, disappear, you'll never see him again.'

- Jason Salazar

'Who are you talking to?'

- William Oh

*** Caddock, level 65 High Paladin ***

Old paladins were hard to come by.

Young paladins are untempered by the harsh realities of life, and tend to drop like flies until they grow wise enough to build a fortress around the faith in their hearts and filter out the malign forces that would take advantage of it.

In short, young paladins were stupid, reckless, and prone to being taken advantage of.

Granesh, I hate young Paladins.

Caddock watched his tracker crouch down in an animalistic fashion, the leather-clad Ranger Archetype nearly burying his nose in the floor and inhaling the lingering scents. He must've had a few Sacrifices that had strong scenting abilities.

It was one way to get things done.

His apprentice on the other hand, watched the tracker snuffle around the village with visible discomfort.

“Do you have to do this? You're-“

Caddock's apprentice shut his mouth at a raised hand and a glance from his master.

“Don't interrupt your men while they're doing their job. Instead, find something useful to do.”

Caddock scanned the assembled townsfolk, standing in a straight line hemmed in by half a dozen warriors.

One of the tavern's serving women seemed a bit more badly shaken than the others, too young to be properly deceitful. A good place to start.

Caddock motioned for Hiro to follow him.

As they walked, Hiro leaned closer to whisper.

“Is it not improper for a member of the church to…behave that way?” Hiro asked, glancing over his shoulder at the tracker sniffing around the village like a dog.

“Where in the holy texts does it say we have to maintain a dignified appearance at all times?”

“It literally says that in the first volume: A priest of Granesh should strive to cultivate a sense of dignity in himself and those below him.”

Caddock glanced over at the young paladin and raised a brow.

“It says cultivate a sense, not focus on appearances, you young twat. Look at these terrified civilians. Do you think us appearing as pompous as physically possible would cultivate their dignity?”

“Wha-“

“Do you believe they're below us?”

“In terms of-“

“Shut up, answer's yes. If they're below us, then we must see to their dignity as well. How would you maintain a sense of dignity in the people you're holding by force of arms?”

“…I don't know.”

“By finishing as fast as possible and leaving without causing undue fear or damage, not by nitpicking how your subordinate uses an Ability in front of civilians!” Caddock thwapped Hiro on the helmet with his badge of office.

Clank!

“Yessir,” Hiro said, nodding.

“Get me a table and some chairs.” Caddock said, pointing at the inn. Outside the door, the day's special was written in charcoal on a rough-hewn board.

Hiro nodded and hustled to the inn, grabbing two soldiers to bring with him. in a matter of seconds, the young paladin returned with the requested furniture.

“Hmm…” Caddock took a moment to set the chair in the partially cobbled street in such a way that it wouldn't rock, allowing the prisoners to see him frown with visible effort for a second before he found a position he liked.

Humanizing himself.

“Send her over,” Caddock said, pointing at the young serving wench.

She tottered over to the table. Terrified, but not quite as terrified as she might've been if she were in an enclosed room separated from the rest of her family.

“I saw that today's special is sheep stew.” Caddock said as she sat. “Is there any available?”

She shook her head, shivering. “W-we hadn't started it yet.”

Ah yes, we did get here rather early in the morning, he thought, glancing up at The Tower, which had barely begun to radiate heat.

Caddock took a couple gold out of his bag and handed it up to his apprentice. “Let the cook back into his demesne and order the troop a batch of the stew before the meat spoils.”

Hiro nodded and went to make it happen.

“Now young lady,” Caddock said, turning back to her. “My name is Caddock. And you?”

“Mary.”

“Mary. If you can help me here, you may just be the first and last interview of the day, and we'll be out of your hair in a matter of minutes. Well, after the stew. I've always been a fan of mutton.”

“O-okay.”

“Now, did you see a young man come through here recently? About this height?”

She nodded.

“Can you describe him?”

She did, and Caddock's brows rose with disbelief.

“He was starving?” he asked.

“yes-no?” She asked, trying to gauge his reaction.

“Don't bother yourself with what I will or won't like to hear, only tell me the truth.” Caddock said, raising his hand.

“He had sunken cheeks, and his collarbones stood out underneath his robe. He ate like it was his last meal.”

“Fucking monks,” Caddock said, palming his forehead. They had that 'purity in poverty' mindset that dovetailed nicely with their desire to punish the child for resisting their plans, so of course they thought starving a growing boy who was critical to their entire religion was a good idea.

As excited as he should be for catching wind of The Prophet, it also shone a light on how badly the Laniston monks had bungled things, and how difficult it would be to get Jason Salazar back on the team.

Maybe we can trade him to another religion for a profit.

Such thoughts were above his paygrade, however. And heretical.

“Sorry?” his interviewee said, cocking her head in confusion at his outburst.

“Oh, it's nothing to do with you,” Caddock said, waving it off. “Did the young man have anyone with him?”

“Oh yes, a strange black kobold, and a young Climber…” She wiggled in her seat, expression brightening. “He was rather dashing, actually. And generous.”

Caddock blinked, his skin turning cold.

“Did this young Climber by any chance have a missing left hand?”

“Oh, he wore a gauntlet on his left hand for some reason…” She cocked her head in thought. “But I never saw it move. Maybe he was missing a hand. How mysterious.”

Caddock kept his cool and got the Deceiver's shopping list out of the girl, then interviewed the general store owner, confirming that those items had actually been purchased, and no one knew anything more about the strange visitors.

No one had seen them leave.

Which made sense to Caddock. The Deceiver would want to keep information about himself and his direction under tight wraps.

But my tracker will figure out where you've gone, just you wait, William Oh.

In the middle of his musing, his tracker returned, tugging Caddock's sleeve.

“Did you figure out their path?”

The tracker nodded, pointing straight up.

Caddock craned his neck, sending his gaze to the sky above. That endless slate grey sky dotted with misaligned stars that twinkled in the morning sun.

“You're kidding me.”

The tracker shook his head.

“Prophet, one kobold one deceiver and one ghost. Straight up.”

Caddock sighed and drew his fingers down his face.

They're fucking flying. Of course, why wouldn't a half demon-snake be able to fly? Aside from there being nothing in their parentage that would account for that?

Immortal Serpents were what was colloquially referred to as 'sticky trickys.' Hard to kill and they liked to play mind games with those who hunted them. Shape-shifting, a bit of psychic damage, that sort of thing. Flying didn't really enter into the equation.

This will make tracking them difficult, but not impossible. They would have to touch the earth again eventually, and when they did, his trackers would feel the connection.

“The items they were shopping for were an obvious red herring. Send word to the rest of the army to investigate ghost sightings. He's known for using them to do his legwork.

What they do may shine more light on their intentions. and Get me Someone Who can Fly!” Caddock shouted, rising to his feet.

“C-can we go?” The general store owner asked, pale from where he sat rigid in his seat.

“Yes, yes, you're all free to go, have some good Graneshian steel.” He said taking the man's hand and slapping an ingot into it before shaking both the man's hands with forced enthusiasm. “Take that to the town blacksmith and have him make you something nice. Tablewear, pots, hinges, whatever. It'll outlast your grandkids. It's blessed to be rust-proof and strong.” Caddock motioned to the assembled townsfolk. “Ryan, get everyone a souvenir. Too much wood and not enough good steel around here.”

“T-thank you, milord.” The merchant said, nodding.

“Of course, your village has been more than helpful, just…” Caddock placed his gauntleted palm on the man's shoulder, the cold, enchanted steel nearly brushing the man's cheek.

He paused a moment until the man looked him straight in the eye.

“Let us know if you see them again, aye?”

The merchant glanced down at the valuable steel in his palm, then the brutal spiked gauntlet inches away from his neck…and nodded profusely.

The message was clear. 'choose which kind of steel you would like us to give you.'

Meanwhile, William and company were taking a little break.

“They look like little ants.” Jason said, peering down at the town below them crawling with Graneshian military.

They were currently resting on the underside of a star, which had turned out to be just a building-sized mirror with a massive hinge that allowed it to tilt.

Will had noticed the empty space above the mirror while they'd been attempting to fly out of the town with Loth's bugs to make themselves harder to track.

This particular star was a 'star' because it was broken and didn't reflect the morning sun at the same time as everything else, making it stand out during odd times of the day when it's alignment didn't match up. This meant they could camp out on it's inside without getting crushed as it shifted around.

There were quite a few stars in the sky, actually, such that they could travel to their intended destination without ever touching the ground by hopping from frozen mirror to frozen mirror.

“Ooh, they're deploying fliers.” Jason said.

“Get away from the ledge.” Will whispered.

“What, why?” Jason asked.

“Because some of these people have eyes better than eagles.” Will said. “I am one of them. Also, you being on the edge of a ten-thousand foot drop with no way to save yourself makes me distinctly uncomfortable.”

Jason shrugged and pushed himself back from the edge, while Will crawled forward and risked peering over the edge for a moment.

Oh hey, I recognize that guy.

Will slid backwards and turned to Loth.

“They're deploying a net of fliers to scan the ground in a circle a few miles around the town, looking for where our flying Abilities are presumed to have expired. They're only flying a few hundred feet up, staring at the ground, which is good. Their contacts on the ground are staring up at them, which is bad.”

“Mmm.” Loth nodded. “We'll have to move at night to avoid being accidentally spotted.”

“Does that mean it's going to get even colder?” Jason asked, a hint of pain in his voice. The boy did not have the extra energy in his body to ward off cold weather, and since the sky's entire purpose was to reflect heat back down to the ground, it was naturally very cold.

“Take all the sheepskins,” Will said, opening the bag and pulling out the rolled up sheepskins, handing them to Jason.

“You really got used to living with one hand, huh?” Jason asked.

“Eh?” Will frowned, glancing at Jason.

“You kicked the bag up with one foot, pinched a corner down with another, yanked on the string with one hand, then loosened it somehow.”

He'd used Phantom Hand for that.

“Yeah, you get used to it,” Will said.

“Is this what Climbing is like? Camping out on a ledge two miles high in the freezing cold? Having to shit an arm's length away from your Party?” Jason asked.

Will glanced at Loth and shrugged.

“Aside from the monster killing, yes, this is actually pretty close to what Climbing is like.”

“…Why?” Jason asked. “Why would you subject yourself to that?”

Will held a finger up before pulling out a gold coin from his satchel.

He crushed the soft metal between thumb and forefinger.

“Okay, I'm sold.” Jason said, nodding.

“Sir,” Noob said, arriving next to them, bearing a package of sealed wax-paper. “An Enchantress sacrifice from the ninth floor. Premium Bard Sacrifice.”

“Sweet!” Jason said, heading towards Noob.

“Noooope.” Will said, snatching the Sacrifice out of Noob's hands.

“What? Why!?”

“Because we are two miles above the ground, so when you came back from your Trial, you would be stranded if we were forced to abandon this location, and you're not recovered enough to perform the Trial, and we can use this to your advantage if we wait.”

“…How?” Jason asked, crossing his arms.

“If we get surrounded and it looks like we're screwed, I can give you your Sacrifices. You can then go through the Door into your Trial, finish the Trial, then catch a merchant caravan back to the Hunting Grounds rather than going back through the Door.”

“In the meantime, you need to put on some weight,” Will said, tucking the Sacrifice into his Phantom Hand. Jason blinked a couple times, frowning as the Sacrifice casually disappeared.

“Salt and peppered roasted grubs?” Will asked, taking it off the tiny flame and offering Jason the pot. “They're a bit like shrimp.”

“What are shrimp?” Jason asked, peering into the pot with visible disgust.

“They're this food on the sixth floor that – You'll see. They're not bad. They're not great either, but a little salt and pepper make them much more palatable.”

Jason winced, pinching a grub between thumb and forefinger before taking a deep breath and popping it into his mouth.

“Hey…that's not bad.” Jason admitted.

“Right?” Will chuckled, popping a couple into his mouth before Jason could steal all of them.

“They're better raw,” Loth said from her throne of books, pouring through them for any hint of where they kept Deceiver ashes.

“No they are not.” Will shot back.

Chapter 109: Cat and Mouse

“It's the oddest thing.” The tracker said, sniffing the wind.

Caddock raised a brow and waited.

“Every once in a while I'll get a whiff of a campfire, but it's hard to nail down a direction. Like There's no origin. It's diluted, miles away, but there's no directionality to it.”

After days of searching they hadn't found the Deceiver's landing point, nor had they caught sight of him. Like he disappeared off the face of the Earth. Most fliers couldn't fly any longer than their Ability held, it was a rare Class that allowed long range aerial hauling of three people and their gear.

The prophet was recorded as stating that William Oh could fly, but there was no evidence it was anything more than short range bursts. And with two others in tow…

What about the kobold? Caddock found the church's dossier on the kobold to be infuriatingly sparse, as though it were nothing more than a mascot for William Oh's Party, and therefore unworthy of note.

The damned thing wouldn't be in the Party anymore, let alone running it, let alone alive, were it not an aberration worthy of note. Perhaps it was providing the means of flight…somehow. Damn those monks.

Still. They must be stopping somewhere to camp…

The old paladin craned his neck and looked up, studying the stars above.

“Pull the fliers back in, I've got a new job for them.”

In a matter of hours, Caddock was standing atop one of the enormous mirrors the gods had placed at the beginning of the Coil to keep humans warm, nudging a little campfire with the toe of his boot.

“It seems as though they're flying from star to star,” he mused to himself, before glancing up at Hiro, who was studying the stone ceiling with apprehension. “Have our fliers search the stars back towards the village. Have our logistics crew begin packing for a run.”

“Back towards the village?” Hiro asked, looking back down at him. “Can't we just use the village as their origin?”

“Maybe. I'd like to discover their first two campsites, made while they still naively believe we will not find them. Those first two campsites are most likely to be the straightest line towards their final destination.”

In a matter of hours, Caddock was leaning over a map, frowning as he traced a faint line of charcoal across his expensive map, using the blade of his sword as a straightedge.

Is this Deceiver insane? Caddock mused as he traced their projected course through the shaded forest north of Bone mountain. Under their very noses.

Caddock was inclined to believe this was their true objective.

His quarry was inexperienced, had never been hunted before: They had no experience with this kind of tracking. The route northeast wasn't an attractive distractor by any means. It was too dangerous to be fake.

They should've headed south.

Despite not knowing his end-goal, this route gave Caddock a bold, winner-take-all impression that screamed 'teenage boy assured of his invincibility.' Which fit what he knew about this particular Deceiver.

They're travelling at night, sleeping during the day. I can take advantage of that. Sleep is overrated, anyway.

Now that Caddock knew which way they were going and roughly how fast, he could estimate their current location to a few square miles, even get ahead of them and stage an ambush.

The problem was, how to deal with this information? Caddock was only going to get one surprise attack on his quarry, - at best – and certain tactics that he might like to use, such as softening up the entire area with a Nuker from a safe distance, were unacceptable due to the Prophet hostage.

First, send messengers to the rest of the army to halt the spread and instead tighten the net, draw it inwards, so even if I miss, he's still caught.

Next, I need a crew of fast movers who can also camouflage well enough to avoid being spotted by our opponent's commanding visual field. Ranger Archetypes.

The Dossier on William Oh suggested that his Acuity was his strongest stat at over a hundred, base, not including his kit.

He was going to be difficult to sneak up on.

But that's not saying it can't be done.

***William Oh***

“We can't stay here.” Loth said, peering through a spyglass above the crest of the hill.

“Why's that?” Will asked.

“We made a mistake. The graneshian army is changing direction, heading straight towards us.”

Will frowned, thinking about it for a moment.

“The campfires?”

“Probably. I'm ashamed to admit I was complacent.” Loth said.

“How long do we have?” Will asked.

“Less than three days. We should leave as soon as we finish eating and aim for the northern tip of the circle. It likely hasn't received word of us yet, and they wouldn't send their best.”

“Oh no, we won't get to continue to freeze in this damned forest.” Jason muttered, huddled up in his sheepskins. “What a tragedy.”

During the day, the forest north of Bone mountain was brisk, but at night, it plunged to below freezing temperatures, forcing them to hunker down and see to Jason's survival.

Will was surprised to note that freezing temperatures felt nearly the same as a brisk day. He could logically tell there was a difference when he paid attention, but it was a vague thought in the back of his mind.

Even loth, who had been particularly weak to cold, was unaffected by these temperatures.

“North is even worse.” Will said.

“Oh. Shit.” Jason muttered before his expression changed. “Actually…One minute.” He raised a hand and began trundling towards the latrine.

Will glanced over as one of his ghost butlers arrived beside him.

“Let me se what you've got for me this time,” Will said.

“I stole this from a crafter who paid their life's savings to acquire this for their son.” Noob said, offering him a package of waxed paper. “It is a Cursed Armor from the Fourteenth Floor.”

“You don't need to tell me who you had to hurt to get these, just pay them back if I can afford it.” Will said, taking the package and opening up the Sourdough Entry.

Active: 1 Charge.

The user may gain the full effect of a Consumable Relic only using 80% of the relic. The remaining 20% may be reserved to ferment a new Consumable Relic if provided powdered Relic dust, time, and additional Charges. Scales with Focus.

Damaged (but not destroyed) permanent Relics can now be targeted with a charge of Sourdough, which will cause them to passively absorb Relic Dust to gradually repair themselves for one month. Speed scales with Focus

And what would Cursed Armor do to the Ability? Will thought, checking the changes the Sacrifice would make.

Gives items a mind of their own and limited mobility. May cause them to act in a manner that benefits the User, although consumables may be less eager to be consumed.

“Nope.” Will said, handing it back.

“A Corsoth, from the ninth Floor.” Noob said, offering him the next package.

Corsoths were notorious for yanking Climber's souls out of their bodies and shoving them in little dolls, or whatever they had on hand. Definitely a strong interaction between miasma and the physical world.

Allows damaged Relics to absorb miasma from living enemies. In rare occurrences, the Relic may absorb new effects.

Oooh. That's the closest we've gotten so far. Noob had been bringing him possible sacrifices for nearly a week now, and nothing had given him the 'new effects' so far. The relic still had to be damaged, but it was still progress.

“let's hold onto that one, but I'm not a fan of 'rare occurrences',” Will said, handing it back.

“A Meldmonger, from the Fifteenth Floor.” Noob said, handing him a watertight tub filled with a wobbly jelly of some kind.

Let's see…

For an additional 5 Charge, Relics absorb affixes from the Relic dust they are submerged in, with a tendency to average rather than add. Scales towards addition with Resistance. Can only be performed once per Relic.

Average rather than add? Will thought. In simplified terms, The way Will was reading it, if he had a relic with 8 Resistance and 0 acuity, and he bathed it in Relic dust from items that only gave 20 Acuity, the relic would become a 4 resistance, 10 Acuity item.

With high Resistance, the finished product might shift to 6 resistance, 15 Acuity, or more.

That's why it can only be performed once. If I could get close to 100% addition rather than averaging, and do it multiple times, that would be…a little too much for The System to handle.

The System did not like infinite scaling. Even Frederick Wyrd's infinite damage loop only worked because sooner or later one person exploded long before the power would tear a hole in reality.

Still, this gave him exactly what he'd envisioned, the ability to nudge the stat distribution and Abilities of an item the way that he wanted to.

“Holy…this is it.” Will mused, jiggling the container. “This is the one I want.”

“Excellent.” Noob said with a nod.

Will offered the Sacrifice up to The Tower.

Warning! This Sacrifice will complete this Secondary Ability. No further upgrades will be allowed. Do you wish to continue?

Will paused and gave it some thought.

The Corsoth Sacrifice didn't mention a limit to the number of times it could trigger, although it was a 'rare occurrence,' whatever that meant.

It was theoretically possible that Will could design a perfect weapon by hunting a specific monster over and over again, stacking tiny chips of upgrades from random chance until he wound up with something amazing…

But on the other hand, it would only work for weapons, and it's largely out of my control, the exact design.

Will could imagine himself trying to enhance the dimensional Assassin's amulet by smacking monsters with it, hoping for an upgrade that only happened every half-million kills.

No, I'll take this one.

It was a bit sad that Will wasn't going to get upgrades to Sourdough that gave it the ability to duplicate or enhance consumables, or speed it's effects up to the point where he could make a huge profit like he'd originally thought.

But…originally I was thinking a bit too small.

The ability to custom-tailor an item to his build and then slot it into one of the fingers of Phantom Hand was…outrageously good, and far outweighed an infinite money glitch.

Money was…fine, but after seeing Lords in action, Will had realized it was only a small portion of their power. They had something no one else could touch.

And that was what Will needed.

Will raised the Sacrifice and mentally confirmed his intention to offer it to The Tower.

The Sacrifice disappeared in a flash of blinding light.

As the light reached its peak, flooding his vision, Will heard the creaking sound of a taught string shifting against lacquered wood.

A bow.

Will threw himself backwards as an arrow blazing with energy shot past him, curving mid-flight to follow him and drawing a line of blood across his face.

I thought Loth trapped this place to the Abyss, Will thought, tumbling backwards and using Phantom Hand to yank himself sideways, making his path erratic.

Will switched his equipped Relic from the Wand of the Undead Retainer to Stormfists.

Stormfists

+10 kinesthetics

+10 Resistance

+10 strength

+31% movement and attack speed.

Each blow struck has a 42% chance to add a low amount of lightning damage. May paralyze.

The world slowed down as Will sped up.

“Loth, wha-“ Will glanced over and Spotted Loth with an arrow through her temple, eyes wide and staring.

She's wearing Cuirass of the Cruel Tyrant, Will thought, flinging himself up into a tree and snagging a branch with his hand while sending Phantom Hand towards his Party member as dozens more arrows aimed to follow the sneak attack and turn his lieutenant into a pincushion.

Phantom hand grabbed Loth by the breastplate and yanked her forward. The arrow fell out of her head, seemingly burnt away by acid, leaving behind a steaming wound that was rapidly closing. Will spotted a handful of dead Armor beetles crumbling to ash as they fell out of her robe.

“Wha!” Loth snapped awake as she flew through the sky.

“Ambush!” Will said as he sprinted through the treetops, the finger-thin branches bearing him with the same strength as bedrock.

“They were already here!” Loth said, yellow-green eyes wide, mind leaping three questions ahead.

“How the-“

“Nobody could've gotten inside the perimeter without me noticing. They were already in the forest waiting for the perfect opportunity!”

Shit, Will thought, Jason was further away from us, and I was blinded by the Sacrifice. It really was the perfect moment to attack.

“I'm good!” Loth cried, signalling for Will to let go of her with Phantom Hand.

Loth snagged a tree, digging in her black claws into the thin birch tree, causing the entire thing to rock violently in place as she held her other hand up and snarled.

A series of explosions flooded the surrounding forest as her traps went off, bathing the forest in smoke and shrapnel, hopefully shaking up their aggressors, and-

Jason! Will thought, bouncing off a tree and heading for the last place he'd seen him.

Will whipped past the latrine and there was no sign of his friend.

Instead, there was a man wearing dull, unpolished heavy armor studded with wicked-looking spikes.

Shit, Will thought, screeching to a halt on a tree-branch.

“I want you to know-“

Will didn't bother to listen to the rest, instead lobbing an iron cannonball at the offending Graneshian soldier.

The cannonball exploded like a snowball against a barn roof, leaving a fist-sized chunk of rapidly cooling iron fused to the man's breastplate.

Like a snowball, the paladin idly wiped it off.

“That your friend is going to be fine,” He finished, drawing his sword. “You on the other hand-“

Screw this, Will thought, grabbing himself with the Phantom Hand and yanking himself backwards.

Not at full speed, not right away.

Will wasn't suicidal.

Soldiers seemed to burst out of the ground below him, unable to catch him due to his height above the ground.

Two ahead of him leapt up to cut off his retreat, waiting with arms splayed on either side of a larger evergreen.

Will shot a hole through the center of the tree and followed along behind it, tucking his arms and legs in tight, receiving some minor scratches, but punching through the wood and outside the encirclement.

“Will!” Loth shouted, prompting Will to throw out a hand and catch Loth mid-flight.

“Hold on tight,” Will said, putting the palm of Phantom Hand on the small of his back and gradually increasing the speed, until the wind and branches began tearing at his clothes like a mad beast, emerging into the sky and leaving the Graneshian soldiers behind in a matter of seconds.

Boom!

An explosion reminiscent of Mason's Conflagration detonated just behind him, the shockwave thrumming through his chest. The Nuker had missed the timing by a fraction of a second.

Faster. Will increased the pressure, praying his concentration lasted.

A second explosion came behind him. Closer, but still harmless.

Will wrapped his hand around the back of Loth's head and grabbed his ankle with Phantom Hand, yanking himself down and backwards, aiming to dodge the third explosion before the Nuker got a feel for their speed.

Will snapped downward, transferring most of his forward momentum into downward speed, heading straight for the earth. Another explosion sounded beyond Will.

Will grabbed branches with his hands and feet as he hit the canopy with meteoric speed, transferring stability into the thin branches to slow himself down before he hit the ground.

Even prepared, the snap and sudden stop nearly broke his neck.

“You okay?” Will gasped.

Loth coughed. “Bone Mountain,” She said, pointing up at the fortress looming above them. the military arm of Granesh they'd been hiding in the shadow of. “That's where they'll be taking him.”

Will nodded, changed directions and began propelling them into the very heart of enemy territory.

Back at the clearing, Caddock watched Will disappear with an appreciative whistle.

“Damn. He's fast.” The old paladin said.

How the Abyss am I supposed to catch up to that? That boy's gonna be a Lord if we don't kill him soon.

“Sir, should we pursue him?” one of the rangers asked, approaching him.

“I haven't eaten, drank, slept or shat in a week, so no, we're going to leave that to the harriers, let them wear him down while we get some rest, now if you'll take the Patient Stalking ability off and excuse me…”

“Sir.” The ranger pointed up at the mountain, where they had sent the Prophet to be protected inside the fortress.

There was an explosion on the side of the mountain along the road leading up to the Bone Mountain fortress.

“Shit.” Caddock began sprinting. In retrospect, sending the Prophet to the fortress was the best choice, which also made it the most predictable. If William oh had done anything other than immediately bum-rushing the fortress, the prophet would be safely inside its walls before the Deceiver realized where he went.

Caddock grinned.

This is actually kind of fun.

Chapter 110: Blessed Steel

“I said put me down, you scum-peddling shit-mouths!” Jason shouted at the top of his lungs, beating on the helmets of the people carrying him. It didn't do any good, but it made him feel better.

They were sprinting at top speed up a stone-pathed road cut into the mountainside, wide enough to field an army and greyscale in the dim light of pre-dawn.

Above, the Graneshian fortress was looming larger and larger, the gates yawning open to swallow him.

They were only a few hundred feet away from the fortress now, and-

Boom!

William Oh landed beside the group, the earth twisting violently at his arrival before launching him forward.

The ensuing battle was a fast, bloody thing, as one of his captors simply disappeared in an explosion of gore while the rest rushed forward, unsheathing their weapons.

Jason's friend wove through them in a strange zig-zag pattern, the earth rippling behind him like the coils of a snake as he lashed out, dispatching one after another with brutal efficiency.

The one carrying Jason cursed and broke into a sprint, aiming to deliver Jason to the fortress while his comrades were distracting Will.

agh The man's steps faltered and he collapsed to the ground, dropping Jason onto the cobblestones.

Jason tumbled, rearing to his feet as quickly as he could, his skin going cold as the man's chest burst open, revealing a wasp nearly the size of Jason himself, which proceeded to attack the others.

In the distance, Loth sank below the horizon, descending the opposite side of the mountain.

In a matter of seconds, the fight was over, and his fellow orphan was sheathing his sword, approaching Jason. In a heartbeat, it occurred to Jason that maybe Will was just as dangerous as the church had made him out to be…

“Are you alright?” Will asked, crouching down to study Jason's expression.

But even if he is, he's on my side. I call that a win.

“Yeah,” Jason said, nodding, trying not to look at the carnage. “I-“

“Cool, we gotta Go!” Will shouted, throwing Jason over his shoulder and sprinting at ungodly speeds as the Nukers on the walls began to take potshots at them.

Ear-shattering explosions soon became the only thing Jason could hear, along with dust and fire the only thing he saw around Will's shoulder.

They broke into the forest on the south side of the mountain, bathed in the morning sun, revealing the surrounding trees as they made it out of the Nuker's range.

In all his life, Jason had never moved that fast. It felt like he was dreaming, the world sliding around him, disconnected from any sense of effort.

It almost made a man reconsider choosing a Charm Build.

…almost.

After what felt like hours of running, Will finally staggered to a halt.

“Gonna…take…a…break,” he muttered, hoisting Jason off his shoulder and onto the loamy soil before collapsing against a tree, gasping like a fish.

Jason wasn't feeling much better, having a shoulder jammed into his stomach for an hour.

Loth disconnected the tiny string she'd wrapped around Will's waist, her insects setting her on the ground. She'd hovered along behind them like a kite the entire time.

“When we first entered the forest, I had my bugs trap two exit corridors.” She said, drawing a little map of Bone Mountain, marking an arrow to the southeast and one to the southwest.

“If we can buy time until the regular army is standing directly on it. I can use these to punch a hole in their ranks, or at the very least, distract them long enough for us to slip through in the chaos.”

She glanced up at Will.

“Which way do you want to go?” She asked.

“Stevie couldn't find me a tomahawk I liked,” Will mused. “And Billy-bob never found a suitable item that could allow us to concentrate the Miasma. We might as well cut our losses. Whichever direction gets us out of here.”

Loth's eyes began to scan the air, as if she were reading.

“There is a town with a dead volcano to the southeast. Its people are highly Graneshian and the town itself lies at the intersection of three large roads. The monk's records indicate that the church makes a large portion of its money selling 'blessed steel' that seem to originate from the town.

It seems to be some kind of processing center. It bears investigation.”

Loth's brow twitched. “Dead volcano. Lava tubes.”

“What tubes?” Will and Jason asked as one at the unfamiliar word.

“Lava. Molten rock from a volcano. When it flows underground, sometimes it will leave behind tubes of stone where it used to flow. Caves. These tubes can be the size of an entire building. Plenty of space to hide the church's secrets without conspicuous construction on the surface.”

“…Rock can melt?” Will asked with a curious expression that mirrored Jason's own.

“Everything can melt.” Loth replied with a chilling, matter-of-fact tone that spoke of experience.

“Oh. Cool. Well, sounds like as good a place as any,” Will said as he paled a bit. “Southeast it is.”

Loth nodded and scrubbed the drawing out of the ground with her clawed foot.

On the other side of the mountain, Caddock called off the chase.

“Why are we stopping? They're right there!” Hiro said, peering off the edge of the mountain. “I think I can see them.”

“When we're there, they'll be there, and so on,” Caddock said, pointing further afield. “We didn't get ahead of them last time by blindly chasing them. We did it by anticipating their actions, and we'll do it again. Plus, I have to shit, and the fortress has toilets.”

Caddock patted Hiro on the shoulder and went to take care of business, ignoring the screaming of high-ranking church officials on the way into the fortress.

Once that was complete, Caddock invited the myriad church officials to a debriefing so he didn't have to repeat himself.

That was naïve of him.

Naturally, the church officials tried to flex their authority to pin him down and answer stupid questions, stretching what he had hoped to be a short debrief out to a week.

As long as his Harriers were busy wearing William Oh down, he had the time.

Technically a lot of them did outrank him, but Caddock was both the most powerful Paladin they could field, and also retired. The threat of dismissing him from service as a punishment was laughable. He actually laughed.

Still, he had to slog through the week-long debrief out of a sense of duty, if nothing else.

The most frequently asked stupid question during the debrief was 'why didn't you tell us William Oh was hiding on the north slope?' spoken in an accusing tone, as if they somehow could've contributed if they knew.

They couldn't've, but high-ranking church members were politicians, and like any good politician, pinning the blame on others was practically reflex.

Caddock's response was that William Oh was flightier than a hasted hare, and the assembled officials couldn't pull off a successful ambush against a blind and deaf cow. Some enterprising fool would've tried to seize the glory, tipped off their quarry and made everything even worse.

“As it stands, I've got the army surrounding the area in a staggered double line.” Caddock said, marking the suspended map for his audience.

“Regardless of what they try, they won't be able to break through that. We've got them locked into this small mountain range. All we need to do is methodically grind them down with harriers.”

“Harriers?” Someone with a big hat asked.

“Rangers specialized in nipping at their prey's heels. Once they're tired and out of Charge, the paladins will move in and finish them off. In the meantime-“

“Sir,” one of Caddock's messengers arrived. Tommy, I think. “Report from the scouts.”

Caddock tuned out the church officials and read the report, which detailed ghost sightings from the last few weeks.

There were a few that stood out, where butler-looking ghosts tried to steal Crafting and Charm specific Sacrifices, stole several tomahawks and quizzed several crafters on how to refine miasmatic ash while they slept.

Interesting. He's modified one of his Abilities to refine items. He's trying to use miasmatic ash to refine a tomahawk…

That's…

Is a slightly fancier tomahawk worth risking his life? This makes very little sense to me. Where would he find miasmatic ash from any monster of any significant power outside…the…tower?

Caddock's eyes narrowed as a sneaking suspicion began to build inside him.

Why would he attack us?

Because he thinks we have a large amount of miasmatic ash. A lot of large organizations keep quite a bit on hand for their crafters, and we're no exception.

But why us specifically?

It would have to be the specific type of miasmatic ash he wants.

…Deceiver Ash. Lots of it.

Oh crap, he's trying to make a Set.

Caddock cleared his throat, glancing up from the report.

“Good news, I know what William Oh is aiming for, and even better, due to our methodical method of encircling him, he won't be able to-“

“Sir,” one of Caddock's messengers arrived. Nigan, this time. The messenger's forehead was sweating profusely. “Report from the frontli-.”

Caddock snatched the letter out of his hand and opened it up.

The letter contained lots of misleading statements about what had happened, and softened the language as much as possible without explicitly lying to their leader, but the long and short of it was this:

One of the enterprising fools commanding the southeast section of the circle hemming William Oh in, one Hagar Graziano, thought to seize glory and ordered his wedge of the circle to close ranks and pursue William Oh against Caddock's direct orders.

Once they were packed in tight enough, and surprising no one, the ground beneath their feet exploded, causing general mayhem and allowing William Oh to slip through the containment zone.

“It's been a while since I've been in command, what's the punishment for disobeying orders nowadays?” Caddock asked Hiro. “Still a beating?”

Caddock's first instinct was to make it brutal and personal, but any good military should have standardized rewards and punishments, so that soldiers knew what was at stake and did not fear cruel punishments from a particularly sadistic commander spilling over to their family, friends, or personal life.

“A lynching with wooden rods.” Hiro said. “Iron if they're Officer rank, Blessed Steel for anyone above level fifty.”

“Make a note. One iron-rod lynching for Hagar Graziano, Hiro.”

Hiro nodded.

“Gentlemen,” Caddock said, turning his attention back to the assembled church-folk. “As much as I can't say I enjoy this, I'm afraid I must call an end to this debrief. Unforeseen circumstances dictate that I be elsewhere.”

“Wait!” the man with the biggest hat, Saint Strauss raised his voice before Caddock could leave. “Where is William Oh going? This time, tell us.”

“He's going to the town of Basalt, where he's going to take the ashes of all the thousands of his siblings you've stashed there over time and use them to make a Legendary Set keyed to his own bloodline.”

The silence stretched out for several seconds, the high-ranking officials staring back at him like startled prey.

Caddock shrugged. “Or maybe he's just running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I'll let you know which it was after I kill him.”

Outside the containment zone, Will used Malleable Space, the Stormfist gauntlets and the Phantom Hand pushing them forward to eke out every ounce of speed he possibly could and close the distance between themselves and Basalt in a matter of hours.

They wouldn't be hard to track, so time was the key here.

They arrived before the sun even set, the radiance of The Tower to the south dimming only slightly, signaling dinnertime.

The town of Basalt was a rather large town, not quite a city, but definitely a healthy size, skirting a conical mountain that gave Will an odd feeling. The surrounding vegetation was lush and the dirt had an interesting red hue.

“Now we just need to scout this place to see if I was right without sounding the alarm,” Loth mused as they overlooked the town that sat in the center of the three massive roads that diverted around the mountain. “We needn't cause a stir here if they don't have what we're looking for.”

“On it,” Will said.

Phantom eye.

31 to 30 Charge remaining.

The phantom eye was as fast as the Phantom Hand, and in less than the two minutes he had available, he searched every single building in the town, seeing a couple things he quite frankly would rather not have, but nothing that looked like what they were looking for.

After a moment, Will remembered Loth's Lava tubes.

Underground caves, huh? Will thought, sending the phantom eye ten feet underground and scanning.

Nothing but blackness.

Will sent it through the earth under the town at lightning speeds as the phantom eye came down to its last few seconds of life.

A single flash of light caught Will's attention an instant before Phantom Eye expired.

29 charges remaining.

He resummoned the eye and sent the eye back to where he'd caught the flash of light, moving it back and forth until he found it.

Finally it revealed itself to him.

Ten feet underground and near the town's southern border, was an endless stone hallway lit by dim lamps, with labelled black urns packed tightly together, stretching out into the darkness.

Each black urn was inscribed with a familiar name, from the ledger of slain Deceivers.

“Oh yeah, these people have something we're looking for,” Will muttered, his Phantom Eye following the hallway back to an enormous underground smithery near the heart of the volcano.

Dead volcano, my ass, Will thought, watching teams of men load the massive stars unto red-hot patches of molten rock, heating the foot-thick, gigantic steel mirrors up to cherry-red before heating up smaller parts with Abilities and carving them away, forming them into ingots.

I think I know how they make their 'Blessed Steel', Will thought. But where the Abyss did the church of Granesh get stars!?

“So, what are we doing?” Loth asked, drawing his attention.

“We're going in.”

Chapter 111: Love Letter From Holdna

On the day of their wedding, Holdna gave Ouroboros a feathered cape that allowed him to fly. In return, Ouroboros twisted himself into The Tower, so she would have something limitless to observe, explore, and hunt with her equally limitless gaze.

- Jason Salazar, Basalt Tavern

C'mon, finish your food, we're on a deadline. Literally.

- William Oh

They didn't get mobbed the instant they stepped into town, which was good. In Will's imagination, the instant they set foot inside the town, an old crone pointed a wizened finger at him and began shrieking, then every retired Climber in the place attacked him like a rabid animal.

Reality was rarely so outlandish.

Nobody gave him and Jason more than a glance. Due to the massive amount of caravans using the town as a waystation, no one bothered themselves over a stranger.

Loth, though, had never even entered the city, instead breaking off to lay traps around the village to slow their pursuers and secure them an escape route.

Being a kobold in the center of an all-Graneshian town would probably end badly anyway.

They only had maybe a day before the army caught up with them. Will made a mental list of what he needed.

Soudough, Check.

Huge Reserve of deceiver ash, check,

A way to concentrate it…check.

In the center of the underground smithy buried in the mountain was a large, circular depression of shiny black stone in the ground that Will had personally witnessed being filled with ashes and used to bake new relics made of Blessed steel.

Ash placed in it began glowing with miasmatic power, swirling in place as though some invisible giant were stirring it, with brighter ash moving towards the center and dimmer ash lingering on the outside.

The Crafters working with it simply used a large shovel to scrape the outer edges of dull nonmagical ash as a helper poured new ash from a collection of monsters in, to create whatever blend of miasmatic ash the smith in charge wanted.

Once it was done refining, they scooped up the vibrantly glowing 'good stuff' into a wooden box, labeled it with the smith's name and project, then scraped the entire thing clean, washing it out for the next crew.

Simple really.

It made sense that they had stored the Deceiver ash in a place that could use it. It also made sense that the Deceiver's miasmatic ash hadn't been used at all: Deceivers were taboo in Graneshian culture. That likely extended to making anything out of them or using anything with their Abilities.

So over time, nobody had wanted to use the Deceiver ash, and the urns just kind of…accumulated, taking up their own storage tunnel of the underground smithery.

Now, the last thing on my list: Will glanced down at the shortsword on his belt. It felt ungrateful to abandon his new sword…but he wanted what he wanted.

The last thing on my list is a good tomahawk.

“Excuse me,” Will stopped a pedestrian. “Where can I find a good weaponsmith?”

In a matter of minutes, Will and Jason walked into the shopfront of a smithy, glancing around.

It smelled of a typical smithy. Smoke, oil, wood. Portraits of women were placed on all four walls, even one above the door. They had large, expressive eyes, and they were totally out of place in a smithy.

The portraits were placed slightly offset from each other, so that one of the portrait's eyes were dead center, opposite each other. It wasn't something Will would have noticed without high Acuity and a suspicious mind.

Hmm.

The environs themselves were a little more disorganized than the other shops in town that will had scouted with Phantom Eye. There was a fair bit of clutter here and there, the weapons presented in a haphazard manner, as if they had been placed wherever the smith found a place for them between sales, rather than being organized by type or quality.

It was a far cry from the other smitheries in the city.

Each and every weapon on display was plain an unadorned…and entirely flawless.

Every person in the city had recommended this shop as the place to get high quality weapons, with a price to match. The rumor was that the smith would eventually put himself out of business, because every weapon he sold would still be in the hands of his customer's grandchildren.

That was a good enough endorsement for Will.

The man behind the counter was reading some sort of trade magazine, smoking a pipe as Will entered. He grunted at the sound of the bell, but didn't otherwise acknowledge Will's presence.

Will scanned the shop, his gaze landing on a tomahawk hanging beneath the painting of a young woman against the east wall.

Will reached up and grabbed the tomahawk, feeling as though he was being watched from every direction. The painting above him had the faintest smirk.

Hmm.

Will hefted the axe and swung it a few times.

It cut smoothly through the air, moving effortlessly, like it was made for him.

“Try'n steal it, L'cut your balls off,” the merchant rumbled around his pipe, his words slurring together through over-repetition.

“I'd like to buy this one,” Will said, placing the tomahawk on the counter in front of him.

“Get outta here kid, I don't sell to Aspirants.” The man muttered without looking up from his magazine. “Waste of a good weapon on dead meat.”

“I'll have you know that you are addressing the William Oh!” Jason said, stepping up to the counter with a thunderous expression. “The tamer of dragons, conquerer of leviathans, wooer of armies, and-“

Jason cut off when he saw Will's expression.

The smith glanced up, his gaze stopping at the tomahawk before travelling up to Will's face.

Thwap!

The magazine flew out of the man's hand as he sat up bolt-straight, staring into Will's face.

“Like the tomahawk do you?” He asked, eyes narrowed with suspicion. “It's not a popular choice around here.”

“I've got a soft spot for them,” Will replied before he paused for a moment, thinking.

“…You don't happen to have one like this that you can also use as a pipe, do you?” Will asked. He would need that if the ashes from the Tomahawk of the Serpent were to add the contract ability back onto his new weapon. It wasn't necessary, by any means, but it was nice.

“So you're the one, huh?” the shopkeeper asked, rising to his full height.

“…What?”

“Few years ago I got a burning itch to move up north to Basalt.” The grizzled shopkeep said, ducking behind his display and rummaging through the cabinets behind him, punctuating his speech with curses as he began digging through the cabinet, hauling one thing after another out of the way, aiming for something buried deep in the back.

“Aha!”

The smith returned with a plain wooden case. “Then about six months ago, I started having nightmares, and they only went away when I began working on this…”

The smith placed the case on the countertop.

“Show me your hand.” He demanded, pointing at Will's gauntlet.

Will glanced around the room.

“You worship Holdna, don't you?” Will said, noting the paintings slightly larger than average eyes. A Holdna worshipper liked to put eyes at the four cardinal directions of their home as a sign of devotion. This man had been more subtle by using paintings with people attached to those eyes, likely to avoid persecution.

“That's not a crime. Show me your hand.”

Actually, in this town, I think it might be a crime.

Will took the gauntlet off, revealing his left hand.

It was skeletal and weak, pale from being trapped in the gauntlet. The bone had finished forming, but the muscles and tendons were still sorting themselves out, so the whole thing looked like Lumesh's bony hand.

“Just like my dreams,” the shopkeep chuckled before his face turned serious. “The hand that'll usher in the end.”

“You don't want this shit,” he said, flinging the tomahawk on the counter aside and sliding the case forward. “You want this shit.”

He opened the case and revealed…the Tomahawk of the Serpent.

Wait, no, Will frowned as he studied it.

There were several differences, large and small. The handle was leather-wrapped steel, for one, and the snake head at the top of the tomahawk had an actual body that wrapped around the handle, disappearing into the haft about halfway through.

Those scales aren't carved into the metal, the metal actually has a scale pattern. How the Abyss…

There was a crescent moon inscribed into the blade, and a sun inscribed into the bowl of the pipe. The snake seemed to have a feathered crown that trailed down its back.

“Holdna commissioned this for you, I think.” The smith said.

Will reached out to the work of art, his breath suspended in his lungs.

Snap!

The box slammed shut inches away from his fingertips.

“Obviously you still have to pay.”

“Why, is Holdna not good for it?” Will asked.

The case slid an inch backwards, the smith's expression unamused.

“Wait, wait!” Will said, holding up his hands before producing three ivory ten-pieces.

“Will this do?” Will asked.

“That'll do nicely,” The smith said, his expression overwhelmed with greed.

“Timmy!” He shouted towards the back room. “Stop polishing your knob and grab the go bags! World's about to end!”

A younger man with a metal doorknob in one hand and a polishing rag in the other emerged from the back room.

“Dad, the world is not about to end!”

“Yes it is, you damn fool boy! Let's skip town and go to The Ring and live it up while we still can. You can grab that Doris girl if you want, but you'll have to convert her-“

The conversation faded as Will closed the door behind him.

If the display piece felt effortless, this thing felt alive, moving with the barest nudge of intent, almost like he was following it, rather than the other way around. It felt…sinuous.

How did he get it so light? And is it going to break my wrist, using it?

Part of the reason normal weapons weren't steel all the way though was that steel was excellent at transferring force from the head back into a man's wrist, whereas a wooden haft absorbed some of the jolt.

Will tapped the head of the tomahawk, his enhanced senses telling him the smith had buried some kind of deadening agent somewhere around the neck, where the scaled coils surrounded the haft, because none of the vibration a solid piece of steel should have had made its way down to his hand.

Best not carry this thing out in the open, Will thought, tucking it away under his coat, not willing to waste a Charge. While they were on the run, every Charge counted, and Will knew he'd be pulling the axe out of storage again soon, anyway.

“Next time we're in a town filled with worshippers of the church that's actively chasing us, maybe don't tell them who I am.” Will said, glancing down at Jason while they walked.

“It just kinda bubbled out.” Jason said with a guilty shrug, his gait awkward.

“Hmm.” Will didn't really have anything to add to the discussion, so he let it lie. Together they headed for the southern border of the town, where Loth waited for them in the wilderness outside the town, directly above the tunnel filled with Deceiver ash.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen, did you find what you were looking for?” Loth asked from where she sat beside a perfect hole punched through the earth and the stone beneath it, hidden from the town in the distance by a stand of bushes.

“We did.” Will said, showing Loth the axe.

“Ah, Quetzalcoatl,” she said, turning the axe over in her hand and nodding appreciatively.

“…What?” Will asked.

“A chief toltec and aztec god identified with the wind and air and represented by a feathered serpent.” Loth said. “At least, according to my dictionaries. I personally think it is a borrowed disguise of Ouroboros, Holdna's consort. Odd to find on a tomahawk since they came from completely different cultures, but the imagery is still striking.”

“She commissioned it apparently.”

“Who?” Loth glanced up, frowning.

Will explained his encounter with the smith, causing Loth to look at the axe with wonder.

“Perhaps this is Holdna's way of saying 'look how handsome your sire looked when he was in his feather-wearing phase. It was my favorite.'” Loth mused as she handed the weapon back. “It has that prideful feel to it, like a young woman drawing exaggerated pictures of her boyfriend.”

“No way,” Will said as he lowered himself into the pit.

“If it were vengeful and angry, it would be a completely different feel,” Loth said, dropping in behind him and moving out of the way so that Will could catch Jason.

“And given how many of her consort's spawn have been slaughtered…” Loth said, pulling out one of her torchlike glowbugs and holding it up high, revealing hundreds, thousands of black urns with the names of Will's deceased siblings.

“…You'd think she'd be a little more pissed.” Loth said, taking in the silent testament to a thousand years of Granesh hunting his kind.

Chapter 112: Seeing a Friend Off

Will had developed a method for carrying the urns one-handed: The rim of the urn was fairly strong, able to support the entire thing, so Will just flicked the top off and grabbed it by the rim, balancing part of its weight on his left arm, dumping it into the pit before receiving the next from Loth's insects.

Loth was currently booby-trapping the shit out of the rest of the underground smithery. There were only a few minutes before the next rotation came in to use the refiner at the center of the underground smithery. Once that happened, their presence would be discovered and they would immediately be under pressure.

“It's so hot in here,” Jason said, wiping sweat off his brow as he scooped out a shovel-full of dull ash from the edges of the pit.

Will paused and stared at Jason for a moment. His junior at the orphanage was wobbling on his feet, seemingly close to falling asleep…or passing out from the heat.

Come to think of it… Will thought, glancing at the lava pooling opposite the storage tunnel, where they used the enormous pools of liquid stone to pre-heat the stars.

How hot is it in here, anyway? Was Jason getting slowly baked because he didn't have any Resistance?

“Go back outside and wait for us to finish, Loth left a rope.”

Nuh-uh. I'm gonna see this happen.” Jason said, stubbornly shaking his head. His skin was red and irritated.

“Fine. you can watch, but sit right there.” Will said, pointing. “There's a column of fresh air moving through that spot.” He'd noticed it as he trotted around the workshop getting everything set up.

Jason nodded, stumbling away from the pit and collapsing down to his knees in the stream of fresh air. “Oh thank the gods.”

The next group of bugs handed him the next urn.

Will stared at it for a moment, not getting any flashes of inspiration.

“Next,” Will said, handing it back.

The next urn, as soon as Will touched it, he had a brief impression of kissing a boy in a barn before the angry men arrived with drawn steel and torches.

“This one's got some juice.” Will said, dumping it in.

“Next.”

Will went through three before he got another that drew him into a memory of their last moments. Always angry graneshians with swords.

The number of duds was beginning to clutter the opposite end of the workshop, which would normally be incredibly rude, but Will wasn't feeling like cleaning up after himself.

Are the duds not deceivers or are they just…lacking a certain something? Will thought, his shoulders beginning to burn as he threw one urn after another into the swirling bowl of black stone beneath him.

It was very possible that Will was only adding a certain type of Deceiver with strong psychic potential into the mix, rather than a solid representation of them, but that was acceptable. He'd much rather err on that side rather than add the ashes of a regular human who'd been killed by mistake.

That could dilute the ash with unwanted effects.

Will paused to pick up Jason's shovel and scrape the dull outside of the swirling ash away, glowing brilliantly blue near the center as some unknown process dragged all the miasma inward.

That reminds me of something, Will thought. It was nagging at the back of his mind, but it wasn't critical to what they were doing right now, so he set the thought on the shelf to examine later.

“How's it going?” Loth asked, emerging from one of the tunnels.

“Almost done. I can't believe our luck that they've been away this long…” Will realized it as soon as he said it. “What did you do?”

“I just set fire to a few buildings. No children involved. I know you humans are touchy about that.

“Because we don't lay clutches of a dozen eggs,” Will replied, scraping up and tossing nonmagical ash aside.

“True. Putting out the fire and then investigating its origin should keep the craftsmen in town busy until we're done here.”

“Hopefully.” Will mused, handing the shovel over to her while he continued testing the urns for the ones with 'the right stuff'.

“Getting pretty bright,” Loth murmured. “I can barely get the shovel around the core.”

Will leaned over the massive stone bowl and squinted his eyes against the brilliant blue energy swirling around the center. Just like Loth said, the bright swirl of energized ash was nearly reaching the edge, making it difficult to run a shovel around it.

“Let's let it shrink for a minute,” Will said, removing the ashes of the Tomahawk of the Serpent from Dimensional Storage and dumping them straight into the center.

He glanced down and ran his thumb over the lump in his glove that concealed the Ring of the Eidolon.

It was absolutely critical to his build…and it formed a soft-set with half the things he carried.

“I'm thinking about destroying my soft sets and adding them to the mix,” Will said. “If I can get their effects on the axe, I can save enough space for another soft-set.”

Loth stared down into the swirling Miasma, her features lit from below.

“Why just the axe?” She asked, glancing back up at him. “That's a lot of charged miasmatic ash. More than you need for just the axe.”

Will's eyes widened. If he added a soft-set's ash into the mix and its effects spread to the other pieces…

“I/you could make an actual Set,” Will and Loth came to the same conclusion.

Sets were rumors, wildly exaggerated stories of Lords from generations past, and Climbers who claimed to have found a set piece in taverns. Nobody had ever actually seen one, because if they had, they wouldn't brag about it for fear of being killed.

Maybe the soft set's ash would be drowned out by the deceiver ash, diluted down to nothing, and I would be essentially throwing them away.

…I've survived without the soft set before, Will thought, making up his mind, fetching the bolt-cutters from the wall.

In a matter of minutes, Will had destroyed the Ring of the Eidolon and the Glove of the Aetherhawk, adding their ash to the swirling mixture. Whatever came of the ash, it should hopefully be good for Will's Phantom Hand.

While they were waiting for the ash to mix, Will glanced over at Jason, finding his friend peeling his boots off to inspect his feet.

Jason's feet had large discolorations on them.

Will tapped Loth on the shoulder and together they went over to Jason.

As they approached, Jason tried to put his shoe back on before they arrived.

“Hey guys, what…what's up?” Jason said, looking guilty.

“Lemme see.” Will commanded.

Jason heaved a sigh and took his boots off, revealing massive blisters on his feet, popped and bloody.

“We've been running…a lot, recently,” Jason said.

It hadn't felt like it, but of course Will and Loth had set an inhuman pace without thinking too hard about how difficult it would be for Jason to keep up.

“We can't take him with us,” Will mused. Loth nodded. Sooner than later, Jason was going to reach the end of his pain tolerance and collapse. It was practically a miracle he hadn't already.

hey Jason shouted, wincing as he rose to his feet. “You are not ditching me here!”

Will caught Jason's shoulder as he wobbled in place.

“Look, we're not 'ditching' you. We're following the plan. We're going to give you food and water and your Sacrifices. And you are going to get your Class.”

“…What?” Jason asked.

“Here,” Loth said, pulling out the 'supplies' she had acquired from the 5th Floor.

It was two rings and an amulet tucked inside some boots, along with a sword, each raising Strength, Kinesthetics and Resistance by a significant margin. The Relics didn't have any special effects or synergies, but doubling a young man's physical prowess was a great way to make sure he passed the Trial, regardless of his Class.

Strength is Strength, Will thought wryly.

Once Jason brute-forced his way through The Trial, then they could get him gear that matched his Class. In the meantime, he was much safter being stronger, faster and tougher than he had any right to be.

“These won't have any effect until you get your Class, but once you have it, put them on. They should make passing the Trial as easy as possible.” Loth said.

Jason's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he accepted the Relics.

“We've got two weeks of food and water,” Will said, hustling over to their packs and moving all the food and water to one bag, bringing it over to Jason. “Stay in the Sacrifice room until your feet heal. don't leave that room unless you're at 100%. The danger of The Trial hits immediately.”

Jason nodded, his expression becoming more and more excited.

“Finish your Trial, but don't take the exit Door. That'll bring you back here. Catch a ride on a caravan to the nearest Stronghold, and we'll find you. understand?”

Jason nodded.

“Alright, tell it back to me, what do you need to do?” Will asked.

“The ash is fully baked.” Loth interrupted from the center of the room. The miasmatic ash had taken on an opalescent look, with flashes of brilliant color emerging from the flakes of glowing ash, the massive swirling lump having shrunk down to only a bathtub worth of material.

“Shoot,” Will cursed and hustled back to the center of the room, taking off his Kit and tossing it in the chest they'd set aside to store the ash.

Will added the Dimensional Assassin's Amulet in, followed by the Mask of Manifestation, the tomahawk, the Cloak of the Fade, his pants, boots, and secondary weapon.

Seven items. I've barely regained enough Charge over the last day to make this happen.

“You want me to wait in the Sacrifice room until my blisters heal,” Jason said, grabbing the bag of food and water and slinging it over his shoulder, wincing in pain as he walked over to them. “Get my Class, put on the Relics. Do my Trial, then catch a ride with a caravan to a Stronghold.”

“That's right,” Will said, huffing as he took a shovel of the pure, brilliantly glowing miasmatic ash and dumped it on his kit, bracing the shovel against the wrist of skeletal left hand.

Sourdough.

35 - 0 Charges remaining.

Will targeted all seven items with the newest variation of the Sourdough ability. In three weeks, Will would be able to see how they turned out.

Loth followed the single scoop of ash with another, and another, burying the Relics in highly charged miasmatic ash as Will turned to Jason, checking his friend's bag, making sure he had everything slung over his scrawny shoulder.

Once he was satisfied, he released Jason's three Sacrifices from Dimensional Storage.

As he placed the Sacrifices in Jason's hand, a brilliant yellow Door opened behind the young man.

Will placed his skeletal left hand on Jason's shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

“Be careful.” Will said, slipping a greater healing potion into Jason's bag. “The Trial is trying to kill you. Don't let that extra Strength get to your head. One bad wound and you're done.”

Jason nodded, his expression serious.

Back in my day, I had to do The Trial in the nude, missing a hand, uphill both ways…because it was a canyon, Will thought wryly, unable to stop a small smile from taking over his face.

“You're gonna do grea-“

A glimmer of light from Will's left prompted him to shove Jason through the Door.

Will watched in horror as a crescent blade of projected energy passed through the space Jason had been, severing Will's freshly-regrown left hand, causing the skeletal hand to tumble through the yellow door on it's own momentum.

Screech!

Will rolled to the side as Loth shoved the chest filled to the brim with Will's entire Kit through the Door an instant before the glowing yellow portal vanished.

“Oh come on!” Will shouted, pointing at the freshly severed stump of his left arm, glaring at the graneshian swordsmen creeping towards them from main entrance, aiming to surround them “I Just regrew that!”

Thankfully the veins hadn't been full size yet, so it didn't bleed much.

“William Oh,” a familiar massive armored figure emerged from behind the surrounding warriors as Will stopped the bleeding, standing stoically in front of Will and Loth, his gaze scanning Will standing there in his underclothes.

“You seem to be out of Kit.”

“You don't say.” Will said, ushering Loth behind him as they edged away from the armored giant, backing away towards the hall of Deceiver ashes, where there was a hole in the roof they might be able to bolt out of.

“I'd like to make you an offer. You're an exceptional example of a Deceiver. You've come further than any of your kin that we know of. Surrender and we will keep you alive as an object of study.”

“So you can kill children before they become exceptional?” Will said, shaking his head. “I don't think so.”

“We would also like to know what Sacrifices you gave our Prophet.” The armored giant continued without acknowledging Will's rebuke. “Frankly I think we'd like to know that a little more than how you became what you are.”

“You do realize you almost killed him?” Will asked.

“Orders from on high,” The massive paladin said, pointing up. “We'd rather remove the Prophet from the board than see him used against us.”

That means they're going to hunt him down on the first floor as soon as word of this encounter gets back to them.

“Loth, would you please bring this mountain down on top of us?”

The paladin's eyes widened.

“It would be my pleasure.” Loth said from behind him.

Pang!

The assembled warriors looked up as a massive crack formed in the basalt ceiling above them, the sound travelling through the hard stone with an odd echo.

Will and Loth took that moment to run.

Chapter 113: Re-equipping

***Jason Salazar***

hurgulbul Jason let out a string of consonants as he tumbled backwards and hit his head on the far wall.

“What the-,” Jason's complaint was cut off by a metallic screech as Will's chest full of gear slid into the white room, the metal corners of the box leaving a faint metallic trail on the otherwise pristine white surface.

Jason didn't have time to roll out of the way, opting to scrunch himself up as the chest slid up to him, coming to a halt only a few feet away from the wall, nearly jamming his knees into his chest.

“What the Abyss?” Jason breethd a sigh of relief at not being crushed by the chest as he squeezed himself out and rose to his feet. One second it had been a friendly goodbye, and the next he was being shoved at dangerous speed, with no explanation…Why did they…

A streak of red caught Jason's attention. There, partly underneath the chest was a human hand wearing Will's gauntlet.

No way…

Jason squatted down and pulled out the shortsword Loth had given him, poking the gauntlet. After it didn't leap up and try to kill him, Jason sat down and considered what it meant and what to do with it.

The conclusion he came to was that it had become unsafe back in the underground smithy: Will had seen something coming and pushed Jason through the Door, followed by his chest full of miasmatic ash.

It must've been Graneshian Climbers, because the natural world simply didn't have the means to cut Will's hand off that abruptly.

We were attacked, and they pushed me and the chest in so they didn't get it.

Jason opened the lid of the chest, inspecting the softly glowing ash inside.

He was vaguely aware that Will's Ability took a few weeks, so his best bet was to simply wait until the glow dwindled down to nothing.

Jason's attention turned to the room he'd been shoved into. The Class Creation Room. A white box with three altars, about twenty feet by twenty feet, with white light seemingly coming from everywhere at once.

Exactly the way it had been described to him since he was old enough to understand words.

It was something everyone went through, so there was no great mystery to it, but Jason still found himself fascinated by the room. The omni-present light, the perfect smoothness of the walls and floor. The altars that rose seamlessly out of the ground.

Jason picked up his three Sacrifices and placed each of them in front of one of the altars, nodding in satisfaction.

Now I just need to wait for these blisters to go away, he mused, picturing how he was going to divide up the room.

That corner over there is the toilet, and I can use the chest as a table and bed so I don't touch the ground…

All I need to do now is just wait for my feet to heal.

Jason sat down on the chest, dangling his feet over the edge, idly kicking his feet…Gods this is boring.

Jason's gaze kept being drawn to the severed hand in the center of the room, as if the thing had some kind of invisible current dragging his gaze back to it.

Finally, his curiosity wouldn't let him ignore it any longer and he picked up the hand, tugging it out of the gauntlet.

The hand was skin wrapped around bone, with barely any flesh to speak of, cut off about a palm's length past the wrist.

Of course, Jason make it flip the room off first, spending half an hour or so playing with the disembodied hand. Thumb's up, hang loose, fist, hand-spider, scepter of Power, Sacrifice…

“Behold, the Sacrifice of William Oh!” Jason shouted, holding the hand above his head, imagining himself speaking to an audience of thousands of rapt listeners.

Wait a moment…

Jason frowned, bringing the hand back down to eye level.

They wanted me to sacrifice a bit of an old priest, so it's definitely possible. And Will said he sacrificed his own hand…so why can't I?

Jason tapped his chin with Will's fingers as he thought.

I already have all three Sacrifices I'd need for a Hype Man class. It would be dumb to change it out for 'hand of orphan boy'. The stats couldn't be good.

On the other Hand, Will was kicking plenty of ass using his own hand as a sacrifice. It must be halfway decent.

And I mean, if I use the herald sacrifices with Will's hand instead of the Enchantress, isn't that just a slight variation of what the Church was planning? Except I don't have a god all up in my business.

And by all the gods, I can't imagine anything that would make those bastards angrier than me using Will's hand instead of their carefully prepared 'Puppet of Granesh'.

Prophet of William Oh. I kinda like the sound of that…

The hand's gonna rot if I wait 2 weeks. I need to decide now.

Before Jason could overthink it, he tossed the hand onto the first altar.

As soon as the hand touched the Altar, a beam of light descended on it, gradually growing in brightness until a flash nearly blinded Jason. When he blinked tears out of his eyes, the hand was gone.

Sacrifice detected…attempting to generate Class Seed… Success

Generating seed….

William Oh's Left Hand

1 resistance, 1 focus, 1 acuity, 1 kinesthetics.

Myth, Relic.

***William Oh***

“How does an enormous suit of shiny armor keep sneaking up on us!?” Will demanded as the two of them burst out of the hole in the ground, volcanic dust following them out as the tunnel collapsed behind them.

“An Ability, obviously!” Loth said, pointing down the mountainside before sprinting at full speed.

Will joined her in a heartbeat. A moment later, shouting began to fill the mountainside around them, hunting parties orienting on the plume of volcanic dust serving as a flag marking their exit point.

“Really could use some Charge right about now!” Will shouted as the trees whipped past them. He nearly had Deca-dailies, which was supposed to be some great accomplishment, but that just meant he would have to wait three hours for his next Charge to return.

Boom!

Will and Loth both snapped their heads to look behind them, where a gigantic armored figure emerged from the hole in the ground, hard volcanic rock flying away from him as he sprinted out of the hole.

“I don't think we can kill that guy,” Will said, picking Loth up and running harder. Going downhill made them faster, bounding from stone outcropping to boulder, tens of feet between each one.

“Agreed,” Loth said, peering behind them. “But we can slow him down. You remember the Crawling Tar you bought a few months ago?”

“Say no more,” Will said, turning mid stride.

He'd purchased quite a few consumables from the town of Coalton on the Third Floor, holding them in his Phantom Hand's dimensional Storage for emergencies when he was low on tricks and needed to dip into consumables to make up the difference.

This seemed like an appropriate time.

For about the space of a single cannonball, he was able to store his three fireball beads (recovered by Sourdough) the crawling tar, and the bottle of lightning.

Kinda wish I had more cannonballs, though.

Between the one that had exploded on the paladin and the one he'd used without recovering while rescuing Jason, Will was out of them.

He still had the Clay Idol that summoned an Immortal Serpent, but that was largely dependent on the miasma of the Floor he was on. If he summoned it outside The Tower, it would only be about six feet long, and unable to do much more than distract a single enemy for a moment.

The paladin was charging through the forest behind them, plowing through trees with no discernable effort, not slowing at all as he crashed through several feet of living wood.

Will released the Crawling Tar from the Dimensional Storage, straight at the paladin's dull armor.

The little jar burst into a cloud of glass and splatters of black goop that deposited droplets of the living tar on every inch of the man's armor.

In a matter of seconds, leaves, tree branches, clumps of dirt and stone began to adhere to the paladin as he charged through the forest after them.

It was subtle, but their pursuer began to slow down as his weight increased and maneuverability decreased.

Their lead started growing, until Will skidded to a halt as the treeline ended, revealing two lines of staggered squads, giving each other plenty of space to engage Will as necessary. The line of soldiers wearing the colors of Granesh over their highly polished armor tensed as he came into view. A ripple that spread through the opposing army.

Weapons rattled as thousands were leveled towards him.

The vast majority of these people must be level 15, Will thought.

The 4th Floor saw the harshest drop in survival rate. If a large organization wanted a lot of soldiers, it would be in their best interest to stop before they started dropping like flies, keeping the rank and file at level 15.

The Party leaders are probably in their thirties, though, Will thought, eyeing the commanders of the squads, wearing the golden tassels that separated them from their squad. At least a hundred of them.

Can I take on a bunch of level fifteens and a level 30 with no Charge?

Will shrugged his shoulders, relaxing his neck. He could definitely take a bunch of level fifteens, and maybe a typical level thirty. But not in those numbers.

Maybe if I had some Charge.

Will's best move against other Climbers was stealing a critical piece of his opponent's Kit. Typically the rings or necklace.

Unfortunately, this took Charge, and Will was tapped out. His next Charge wouldn't come for another hour or two at best.

The army began to move: The inside circle began to close ranks and approach, one deliberate half-step at a time while the outer circle backed off, creating a wider net to catch him if he made it past.

Screw it.

“Do you have a way out?” Will asked.

“I have a way I could escape, but I don't think it would work for both of us,” Loth said.

Works for me.

“It's been fun,” Will said, setting Loth down. “I think…I think I'm gonna find out if I'm as dangerous as they say I am.”

Loth followed his gaze towards the approaching army, eyes widening.

“Very well. If you survive, I'll meet you with the others on the 5th Floor,” Loth said, spreading her arms wide and flopping backwards onto the loamy soil of the volcano's side.

The earth began to churn beneath her as her earthshaping insects drew her underground in a matter of seconds, leaving a kobold shaped disturbance in the soil that was erased a heartbeat later.

He could've asked to go with her, but Will was the one they were after, and burrowing insects couldn't possibly be the fastest form of transportation. They would intercept them and pluck him out of the ground in a matter of hours.

They weren't as interested in Loth The Luminary as they were in William Oh, the Deceiver, and they had proved they would never stop chasing him. Will might be able to used that to his advantage.

Abyss, they might not even have noticed Loth escaped. That's how narrow their focus is.

Will turned back to the approaching army.

If he charged them right now, they would pepper him with so many Abilities that he would be annihilated in a matter of seconds.

Will could vividly picture being paralyzed by a hundred different debuffs landing simultaneously, followed by hundreds of Nuker Abilities, and guided arrows sinking in to his vital organs.

Will glanced back up the mountainside, spotting the buildings of Basalt.

Some of the paladin's army had to be in the town as well. Many of them had been taken by Loth's collapse of the volcano, but there were likely more stationed there. And they likely weren't as densely packed as the ones marching towards him.

One of them's gotta be the one using the Ability that lets him sneak up on us. Let's start with the easy ones and see how far we get.

If Will bought enough time, he might be able to expand his options and escape.

…Or maybe just take a bunch of them down with me.

Will turned and began sprinting uphill, diving back into the treeline.

In a matter of minutes, he crossed paths with the paladin. Will was faster by virtue of not having living tar covering heavy armor.

The paladin turned towards him as he sprinted past, and Will gave the ground a sharp stomp, causing the ridge of earth to catch the man's toe and send him diving forward, missing Will by inches.

Will danced out of the way of the paladin's dive and kept running towards Basalt, skidding to a halt as he arrived at the town's edge.

“Hey, there he is!” A voice shouted.

Five soldiers leaning against the side of a wall were seemingly shocked out of their boredom by Will's unexpected appearance, straightening and raising their weapons.

Will hefted the Shortsword of Perseverance, the only Relic he hadn't tossed in the chest.

Will took a deep breath and fell back on Ghoul's lessons, adding the little half-step hitch to his stride that caused the jutting earth he summoned beneath his feet to propel him forward at outlandish speeds.

It was a juggling act he hadn't mastered: He couldn't keep it going for long before he lost the rhythm, but it was enough to close the distance with startling speed over three steps.

“Oh shi-“

Will landed beside the group, swinging wide to attack them from the side, lining them up and keeping the wall of the building on his left side, and their right.

As he landed, Will sent a ripple of earth through the ground.

The one in front weathered it well, assuming an over-defensive stance, while the one directly behind him stumbled.

Channeling his fighting 'lessons' from Lord Bakton, Will overwhelmed the first enemy's overly defensive stance, charging in recklessly, locking their blades together and giving him a firm shove.

His opponent toppled backwards into the stumbling man behind him, and Will proceeded to jam his shortsword into the lightly armored inner thigh while his lower half was unguarded.

A shrill shriek filled the air as Will kept going straight forward, stomping down on the first man's weapon-arm, trampling over him with callous disregard and stabbing the stumbler tangled up behind his first opponent in the neck as their three friends retreated in fear.

He's got a warhammer, Will thought, spotting his next target. I'm going to need that sooner or later.

Twang.

Will heard a bowstring, prompting him to drop down and roll away from the wall, approaching the hammer-bearer.

ss thunk!

The archer must've had a good Ring of Accuracy, because the arrow twisted in midair, burying itself in Will's back and tweaking a nerve, causing him to stagger in place, nearly toppling over as the Shortsword of Perseverance slipped through his tingling fingers, sending up a tiny plume of dust in the earth between the feet of his opponent.

Warhammer charged Will, eyes white all the way around, screaming in terror and fury mixed together as he saw an opportunity to take advantage of Will's weakness. His warhammer glowed with an Ability that would surely kill him if it landed.

Sooner it is.

Will's hackles rose as the visceral popping sensation filled his body, switching from one finger of the Phantom Hand to another.

Switching Slotted Relic from Stormfists to Sickle of Cold Harvest.

+4 Focus

+ 6 Strength

4% life drain

Applies Hoarfrost debuff to those damaged by the user, 10 seconds.

(Hoarfrost: the victim's attack and movement are slowed up to 65% as crystals grow on their joints. The sharp crystals boost bludgeoning damage against the victim but interfere with slashing and fire damage.)

Will wrenched his tingling arm behind him, tore the arrow out of his back and whipped it across the attacking Graneshian's leading arm, dealing almost no damage.

Almost.

Warhammer exploded with hoarfrost as mobility hampering ice crystals erupted from all his joints, stopping at his neck and feet.

As Warhammer tumbled forward, Will stepped in and snatched the warhammer out of his opponent's numbed hand, did a quick spin and whipped the warhammer around into the back of the man's helmet, creating a lethal puncture in the armor.

His opponent dropped to the ground, twitching as the wound in Will's back sealed itself, the tingling in Will's arm fading to nothing.

Will scanned the battlefield. The one he'd stabbed in the inner thigh was losing consciousness, the neck wound had already died, and Warhammer was never getting up again.

In about three seconds, all that remained of this group were two Climbers on the ground in front of him and an archer in an unknown location.

Speaking of the archer…

Will dove back towards the building's wall, able to dodge the follow-up arrow this time, the curving attack missing his foot by a fraction of an inch burying itself in the packed earth.

Will covered his head and smashed through the wall, diving into the house rather than take the predictable path.

“Pardon.” Will said, dusting rubble off his shoulders as a terrified woman shrank into the corner of the room.

Will heard the sound of boot on rubble and kicked the ground before whipping the warhammer around.

The Graneshian climbing through the hole in the wall collapsed as his one foot outside the wall was dragged backwards by the ripple of earth, causing him to dip precariously forward, using his weapon-hand to try and stabilize himself.

Will exploited this half-second to deliver a blow to the man's undefended temple, causing him to go limp, eyed bloody and staring in death.

Will scowled.

Is this what a Lord is? Cheap tricks repeated ad infinitum?

He glanced above the corpse to the last surviving member of the squad assigned to watch the town's border, framed by the Will-sized hole in the wall.

“You're welcome to try.” Will said, pointing at the last survivor with his newly acquired warhammer.

The soldier ran away.

Will inspected his warhammer. Handles a lot like a tomahawk, Will thought approvingly.

Warhammer of the exterminator

+4 Strength

+4 Kinesthetics.

+15% Bonus damage to insectoid creatures.

For Kaith and fire beetles, I guess? Will thought. Insectoid enemies weren't common outside certain floors, which made the hammer of limited use save for its boosts to his stats.

But I'll take what I can get…

Will glanced down and spotted some Relics on the corpse twitching where it lay halfway through the wall. Will could hear approaching troops shouting, but they were still twenty seconds or more away.

Will tore the man's helmet off and grabbed the his amulet and slipped it over his head, the whole process more awkward than it had been before Will destroyed the Ring of the Eidolon.

Amulet of the legionnaire

+4 Strength

+4 Resistance

Shields and one-handed weapons gain 15% effectiveness.

Not bad. Not good, but definitely better than nothing.

Will tucked the warhammer in his left armpit, tugged the ring off the man's left hand and put it on with his mouth.

Gods, I miss the Ring of the Eidolon.

Ring of The Quartermaster

+3 Strength

-1 focus

Gradually repairs and cleans equipment worn or carried by the wearer.

…Again, better than nothing…but let's keep our eyes open for something better. The ring slot is valuable and this is just…

The shouting was much closer.

It was time to leave.

Will glanced down at his bare feet, wiggling his toes. His Resistance was high enough that running through the wilderness wasn't a real problem, but it would be nice to get some new shoes.

Let's see if we can scrounge up a good pair.

Chapter 114: Dangerous as They Say

Boots of the Returning Hero

+5 Resistance

+3 Focus

Allies of the wearer of these boots can perceive their footfalls at triple the range, and more easily locate their position.

What? Will thought, frowning. Your allies…can hear you coming better? That sounded vaguely useful to coordinate stealth operations with multiple operatives, but Will didn't quite understand why they would be called 'of the returning hero'.

Well, they grant Focus, and that's what I need right now, Will shrugged, beginning the laborious process of tying the boots one-handed.

I may just need to find another Ring of the Eidolon, because this is awful. The ability to touch things with Phantom Hand had been taken for granted for a while now.

I do have another Primary Upgrade available, Will thought as he finished the knot. I wonder-

Will frowned, head rearing up.

It was too quiet.

The distant sound of shouting and soldiers searching buildings had unobtrusively faded into the background of his awareness over the last few minutes, then it had dwindled to nothing over the last few seconds.

Ability!

Will clapped his arms over his head and neck.

***Caddock***

“Hit it.”

The Nuker beside him nodded, and an instant later, the abandoned water tower exploded into flames and shrapnel.

One particularly stubborn piece of garbage went flying to the east, trailing smoke as it flew.

“Knock it down.” Caddock said. He didn't want it flying far.

Boom!

An explosion directly above William Oh drove him straight down, sending the deceiver crashing through the roof of a nearby home.

“I don't like that building blocking my view.” Caddock mused.

The Nuker nodded, and a moment later, the houses walls exploded outward, a detonation from the Deceiver's exact entry point, clearing the view while driving their quarry further straight down.

“Lock him down.” A little paralysis will do us some good.

Their cursemage nodded and a flicker of charge sang through their body before the effect leapt across the way towards the destroyed building.

An instant later, Caddock felt a strange vibration of Charge through the air.

“He countered it.”

“He did what?”

“The charge just, pbbbblt.” The Cursemage blew a raspberry.

Caddock's eye twitched. The dossier did not say anything about him being able to counterspell. Caddock thought sourly.

William Oh was incredibly hard to pin down because he was a jack of all trades, and leveraged it beautifully.

He was a bit slower than their scouts of equal level, but he fought better, so he lured them away from their warriors to kill the scouts. Caddock had ordered them not to chase him beyond a certain distance from their backup…but people got caught up in the heat of battle.

William wasn't as good at fighting as their dedicated Warriors and Tanks of equal level, so he simply never fought them, instead pelting them with stolen ammunition from a distance whenever he had the chance.

Their Nukers could do decent damage if they could pin them down, but William Oh was nearly as tough as a Tank and squirrelly as an orchard, and he had a tendency to use Caddock's men as human shields.

Thankfully the boy only had one hand so all he could do was launch bullets from a makeshift sling, rather than anything more dangerous.

I can scarcely believe how long this bastard has been dodging us.

Seven Hours ago they'd closed the net around Basalt, and after the first hour of playing hide-and-seek, the Tower's light had dwindled to nothing for the night, plunging the town into complete darkness.

Caddock had done night operations many times and knew that anyone with Acuity below thirty or so would have trouble navigating at night, and plenty of their men fell below that mark.

Anyone above sixty Acuity could see in the night clear as day, and anyone above one hundred could practically see with their ears, nose, and skin.

Most of his scout's Acuity lay between thirty and fifty.

The 4th floor was a Ranger's playground, but there were very few scouts above level 25, since the Sixth Floor had a high death rate for scouts, especially land-based Rangers who found themselves trapped on a floating box, their survival dependent on their crewmates and not their own obsolete survival skills.

Hell, my Nukers can see better than a lot of these scouts.

“Should we move in?” Hiro asked, looking at the ruined building, eager for a second chance at proving himself against the deceiver ever since he'd learned who they were chasing.

Good way for the kid to make us look like a bunch of bumbling idiots again. I need to do something about his maneuverability. Take away his places to hide.

“…He's not there anymore. Is everyone out of the town now?” Caddock asked.

“Yessir.”

“Burn it down.” Caddock said, motioning expansively to the town. “Pull everyone out to the outskirts and burn it.”

By morning there wouldn't be any places to run or hide, or William Oh would be burnt to a crisp. Either outcome would satisfy Caddock.

Hiro frowned but did not question, heading to relay his orders to the rest of the army.

It was a matter of seconds before their logistician, a pencil-pusher of some political affiliation or other who coordinated supplies between his army and the church, came to a sliding halt in front of him.

“Milord Paladin, this is-“ At a glance from Caddock the man lowered his voice and minded his tone.

“This is a town of substantial financial interest for the church, we can't-”

Caddock seized the political appointee by the scruff of his neck and pointed at the mountain.

“That was the primary financial interest of the church, and the Deceiver already destroyed it. when this is reported, they'll send an army of engineers to repair it, an army to whom rebuilding a town will be an afterthought.”

“…Sir.”

“So far you've done a good job keeping everyone fed, clothed and bandaged, but if you ever tell me what I can't do, and it doesn't have anything to do our supplies…I will fong you. Is that understood?”

The logistician nodded vigorously.

light This Place up!” Caddock bellowed, turning away from him.

***William Oh***

I'm almost offended, Will thought sourly, watching from the eve of a nearby building, clinging to the underside like a bat as he plucked splinters out of his skin. Will didn't get very many splinters anymore, his skin was nearly as hard as the wood itself.

It took getting blasted through a building by Conflagration to get them nowadays. The burns from the explosions didn't really hurt either, thanks to his stolen armor.

He'd been hoping for the commander to tromp into the ruins of the building and poke around a bit, shaking his fist at the heavens while he impotently cursed Will's name. It wouldn't have improved his situation, but it would've given Will some much-needed props for the skin-of-his teeth escape.

But instead, he bellowed 'light this place up!' and walked away.

At first, Will naively thought he meant to scatter lamps, torches and Abilities around the town to better see Will moving around in the dark.

But then a squad of protected Nukers started lighting buildings on fire, including the one Will was in.

Damnit, Will thought, wincing as he climbed through the window and dove through the empty building, aiming for the window into the alley nearby.

Will skidded to a halt as he spotted a bowl of cold soup and a plate of baklava left there by the evacuated civilians.

Will shrugged and wolfed the unexpected snack down before continuing on his way. It was only afterwards that poison occurred to him, but Aspect of the Goat made that not a concern…probably.

Will jumped out of the burning house and began working his way towards the outskirts of town.

Will could see where this was going. They were going to flatten the entire town to take away his ability to hide. If he retreated to the outskirts, they would prod him back into the flames or outright kill him.

If he retreated further up the mountain the town was perched on, they would close the net tighter around him, giving him less options in the future.

There were no good choices.

If…I still had zero Charge.

Will had regained two, with another on the way.

What can I do with one Charge?

Will could use Sourdough once, or Dimensional Storage once…or Phantom Eye.

…That's it?

Will sat and thought about it and he really did only have three active Abilities. And Sourdough only provided future benefit.

That future benefit had already come and gone as the Fireball beads he'd saved during the 5th Floor tournament had already been used to save his skin tonight.

Sourdough was meant for when he had plenty of charges and plenty of time. Now he was running dangerously low on both of those things.

Will assessed his Phantom Hand's slotted Relics.

Wand of the Undead Retainer is ready, but I can't afford to summon one, and even if I did, their combat prowess isn't exceptional. Stevie couldn't get me out of here by himself.

Stormfists are still on cooldown for another 18 hours or so…

Cold Harvest, what he had on currently, had kept Will going during this long game of keepaway, restoring the myriad small wounds he took, preventing them from slowing him down and getting him killed. Additionally, the freezing effect made the warhammer brutally effective in close combat. He'd taken multiple scouts down with a bit of kicked gravel and a single swing.

Ring of accuracy…

Will frowned. He hadn't thought about the ring of accuracy in a long time. Ever since he'd left behind the gauntlets of Tracer Fire and the Sting Ring that formed a soft-set with it, he hadn't paid too much attention to the effect slotted in Phantom Hand.

Will checked its effects.

Ring of accuracy*

+15 Strength

8 degrees of correction.

Manhunter: When a creature is struck by a projectile from the wearer, they are drawn toward the shooter along the path of the projectile. Force scales with Strength.

Eight degrees of correction, that means it changes its orientation by eight degrees toward the target every 10 yards.

That was pretty damn good. 100 yards of flight would allow nearly a ninety degree turn.

If I wanted to punch a hole through their net, I'd have to do it from a distance. Suddenly, without warning, and with brutal effectiveness.

I think I remember something…

Frowning, Will reached into his pocket and pulled out all the rings he'd looted off the scouts he'd picked off recently. Any of the ones he'd had time to loot before their friends chased him off, anyway.

Ring of softstep

+3 kinesthetics

+3 Strength

Movement speed is increased by 10%, and the wearer's footsteps are muted when in a wooded area.

Nope. Will flicked to the next one.

Ring of Accuracy

+3 kinesthetics

1 degree of correction

Nope.

Ring of Satiation

+3 resistance

-1 Focus

1/7th of the Wearer's hunger and thirst are negated.

Nope. Wonder if there's a stronger version of that that prevents eating entirely? Climbers wouldn't use it though. It would be sacrificing combat potential, which Climbers were loath to do.

Next.

Ring of Snaring

+3 Focus

Projectiles shot by the wearer are held in place for a short time after they hit their target. potency scales with Focus.

…Huh. It says the projectiles are held in place, not the target. A nice little runaround a target's resistance to magical effects.

Will could picture a hunter shooting a barbed arrow into their target, the arrow suddenly held in place, the barbs preventing the prey from moving without causing itself extreme damage.

If it even could move.

Will turned his attention back to the mutated ring of Accuracy in his Phantom hand, comparing the two ring's effects.

…Could that work?

The two effects did not directly interfere with each other. One acted on the target, one acted on the projectile.

Suddenly, without warning, and with brutal effectiveness, Will mused.

It's worth a shot. I'm only missing one thing.

Well, several hundred things. But I know where I can find them.

Will broke into a sprint towards the nearest weapons shop. Basalt had plenty of them, and since the army had withdrawn to let the town burn to the ground, Will had free reign of the place for the next few minutes before it became too hot to survive.

Plenty of time.

***Keb Bower, level 15 Devoted Soldier***

The attack came suddenly, without warning, and with brutal effectiveness.

Their new commander Caddock had enforced a greater degree of discipline than they had been accustomed to in the past, but soldiers adapted.

None of them were slacking off, distracted, or sleepy.

They stared at the roaring fire that used to be a town, throwing baleful light on the jagged volcanic peak that rose high above the buildings. Waiting for the Deceiver to show his face.

Zzz

A sound, like a thousand dragonflies caught Keb's attention.

A flicker of firelight glinted off a tiny metallic surface, prompting Keb to throw his hand up reflexively.

A prick in his wrist was suddenly a searing brand of pain as his entire body was violently yanked forward, the foreign object slicing through his arm and shoulder before Keb collapsed to the ground.

Keb hit the dirt hard, groaning in pain, his arm unwilling to support him.

Gripping his mangled arm, Keb sat up as best he could, his skin breaking into a cold sweat as he scanned the surrounding soldiers. Men who had been standing shoulder to shoulder with him only a second ago.

Limp and lifeless, each and every one of them.

Erwin's helmet had fallen off in the tumble, revealing a thin puncture wound in his left eye, like a coin had gone through it.

Keb twisted his neck to look at where they had been standing, and spotted hundreds of Blessed Steel arrowheads, each one suspended in place at the exact eye-height of the man who'd been standing there.

Coated in blood.

“Wha-“

“Nice reflexes.” A voice came from behind him.

Keb twisted back to see the Deceiver, William Oh, standing behind him, rendered in silhouette by the blazing flame climbing the mountain behind him.

Keb tried to scramble away, his wounded arm dropping him into the dirt.

“Here,” William Oh said, stooping down before tossing Keb a Healing Potion from a nearby commander's kit bag.

“Drink that before you bleed out,” The Deceiver said, fading into the darkness down the mountainside.

Chapter 115: Cheese Morale

'I feel I was denied....critical…Need to Know…information.'

- Caddock, to the High Saint's Council of Granesh.

“He tested three places last night.” The scout said, gesturing. “This one was the hardest hit, and where he slipped through. Their commander was known to have thought that Damage Chains were a waste of resources and invested more heavily in warriors and support staff.”

“I guess he learned his lesson,” Caddock mused, glancing over at a corpse wearing the gold tassels of a commander.

Caddock stood in front of a line of dead men, his eye twitching as his remaining scouts walked him through exactly how such a disaster could have happened.

“So judging by the angle everyone was flung compared to where they were standing, William Oh shot them from an angle, tracing the side of the mountain from there to there, starting further away and ending closer, to cluster the hits together so there was no warning.

“How fast would he have to be moving to make that work?” Caddock asked the obvious question.

“Ummm…fast. The difference between an arrow flight from five hundred yards and one hundred is only a few seconds.”

“If he could move that fast, why didn't he just punch through the line before they had a chance to stop him?”

“It wasn't him that moved that fast.” The older scout said, shaking his head. “Nobody saw the Deceiver blazing across the side of the mountain throwing arrowheads at them. It was an Ability.”

Caddock remembered the cannonball that had manifested out of nothing and caught him square in the chest.

“Ah.”

The Deceiver had used his rare and valuable dimensional storage Ability for the pedestrian purpose of launching hundreds of arrowheads in a very short time. Not to say it didn't work.

“See if you can pin down how fast the thing launching arrowheads moved.” Caddock said to his scouts. He'd wager that would describe the boy's Dimensional Storage's maximum speed, which would be a nice thing for the church to know.

“Sir.” The second scout nodded, thinking for a moment before sprinting off to retrieve their logistician for his math skills.

“You see how the arrowheads fell right between these men's footprints?” The scout said, moving past the line of dead men and pointing at a glittering triangle of Blessed Steel.

“The arrowheads had just barely enough energy to clear them?” Caddock asked, but even to him that sounded wrong.

“No, they were suspended in midair. Like someone used a ring of snaring to hold the arrowhead in place, and then drew the men's bodies forward through the arrows,” The scout made a pulling motion before pointing at the line of corpses some eight feet from where they had stood in life. “Like cheese through a wire.”

“And the accuracy?”

Most of the hits were in the eye and face region, the blessed steel arrowhead punching through helmets and bone with equal ease.

“Ring of Accuracy? A good one. At least six degrees.”

The boy doesn't have two hands for two rings to make a soft set…It's part of the Dimensional Storage.

According to his timeline of reports from their battle, William oh started out very fast and adding a bit of lightning damage to his attacks, then when he was wounded, he slowed down a bit and gained lifesteal. A respectable amount that allowed him to shed minor wounds easily as he fought, and an absolutely devastating Hoarfrost debuff.

Then this. Accuracy and a devastating on-hit effect.

But he never switches backwards. Never changing back to something he had previously in short order. There's some kind of cooldown. Not to mention, according to his dossier, he should be able take one out and put it on, since he didn't have any kit when we caught him in the smithy.

…He can't take them out. They're not 'stored', they're bound to his Dimensional Storage, absorbed by the Ability itself.

Each item he switched to had granted William Oh a massive, noticeable stat boost that anyone would arrange their entire Build around…like one might expect from rare mutated Relics or those from the Unreachable Floors.

How did a poor orphan boy get four rare and valuable Relics?

Caddock's eyes widened.

He doesn't have four incredibly powerful Relics in that Ability. The Dimensional Storage is boosting them.

A six-point ring of accuracy was nearly impossible to acquire, but a three point one? Expensive, but still a consumer item.

A single item that imposed sixty percent Hoarfrost that lasted ten whole seconds? Caddock had never seen one. Thirty percent for five? Not unheard of.

That's how he's doing it. Caddock nodded to himself. Even completely unarmed, William Oh should be considered to be wearing the equivalent of two or more identical Relics stacking their effects…Probably scaling with Acuity since the boy seems to be focusing on it.

This meant that any synergies the boy discovered could become wildly more powerful than they had any right to be, because they would be bouncing off an item that was boosted far beyond its original scope.

Caddock found a nearby rock and sat down, staring down over the slopes of the mountain.

William Oh had cut through the inner ring, but not the outer one.

He's going to find a way to punch through sooner or later. Trying to pen him in with level fifteens just isn't working.

They'd caught William Oh on his worst day: Out of Charge, out of Kit, and missing a hand.

And he still managed to get through.

Caddock hadn't missed the massive chest that the kobold had shoved through the door. The ash concentrator had just been used, the glowing remnants of purified miasmatic ash caked on the bowl.

William Oh's kit was inside that chest, baking with concentrated Deceiver ash.

Whatever came out of that chest was going to be powerful, whether it was a true Set, or simply a synergistic soft-set.

The Prophet was going through his Trial. He would likely wait for it to bake before donning the set himself. That would be the best way to carry it.

The Prophet would be strengthened by the Relics, but William Oh? He would become unstoppable if he met up with Jason Salazar and donned his Set.

I need to get to him before William Oh. Caddock knew in his heart that William Oh's one goal was going to be to get that set back, and if Will got a lead on Caddock, he would never catch up. Caddock needed a head-start.

Caddock acknowledged the fact that this army of level fifteens wouldn't be able to stop him, but they might slow him down long enough so that Caddock could head him off…At the cost of many lives.

For the actual act of finishing him, I need a Party of my peers. Level fifty and up. Saints. None of these rosy-cheeked level fifteens.

The problem was, these people were rare, and entrenched in church politics, such that trying to requisition a Party of them to hunt down a single Deceiver would be met with gales of laughter.

…had he not stolen the Prophet, destroyed Laniston, and killed nearly a hundred soldiers in a matter of seconds.

I need to get moving.

“Hiro.” Caddock said, rising to his feet.

“Sir.” Hiro said, nodding.

“I'm leaving.”

“Sir?” Hiro asked, frowning.

“I want you to work together with our beancounter to build a nation here. A nation called 'Keep William Oh Inside This Line.'”

“Umm.”

“Your role is to not allow the commanders to get any bright ideas. All they need to do is maintain the integrity of their defense. Tried and true, basic siege tactics. Staggered, flexible lines, harriers keeping his charge Low.”

“…How long?” Hiro asked.

“Until William Oh escapes or I come back and give the all-clear.”

“Yessir.”

Caddock moved to turn away before pausing and returning his gaze to Hiro.

“Your biggest challenge is going to be keeping morale strong. They're already tired, feet hurt, wondering why their commanders are ordering them to just waste their time standing in place rather than doing anything. Not to mention that while I'm gone, a few of them are going to die every day as William Oh tests the fence. That's going to make their attitude sour damn quick.”

“I can handle it, sir.” Hiro said.

“Cheese.” Caddock said.

“Eh?”

“There's a town a little ways to the southeast that produces the most amazing truffle cheese you've ever tasted.”

“Sir?”

“The High Saint's Council has a reserve there for their gatherings. Acquire it for the men. Should buy you a day or two of morale.”

“Understood.”

“…Maybe some hookers while you're at it.” Caddock mused to himself.

Hiro choked on his own spit for a moment, coughing and nodding.

Caddock put a hand on Hiro's shoulder.

“Try not to die.”

Hiro straightened. “Yessir.”

“May Granesh be with you.” Caddock said.

***William Oh***

What the Abyss? Will thought, frowning as he studied the two-story gazebos from his vantage point high on the mountain.

Over the last week, there had been a flurry of building in the line surrounding the mountain, and Will had assumed they were temporary fortifications meant to slow him down. Not that they would, but that's what Will had assumed they were building.

Nope. It was gazebos and furniture.

There were currently hundreds of men on break sitting under the eaves, enjoying a respite from the sun, a cool breeze, and being served bread and marbled cheese by young women.

Will could smell it from here.

Smelled pretty damn good.

“You…bastards.” Will growled. Partly because he hadn't eaten anything better than tree bark and twigs in days, but mostly because it revealed their plan.

They were getting comfortable. Settling in for the long haul. Outwaiting him.

Will could survive as long as he wanted. There was plenty of treebark and muddy rainwater to allow that. Aspect didn't mind.

But starving him out wasn't their goal. They were investing a lot of effort in buying time rather than trying to seize him by brute force, but it wasn't to finish him off.

Because they knew they couldn't.

I haven't seen the big one since the fire.

Will's eyes widened.

He left!

Will slapped his forehead.

Of course he left, he's going after Jason!

Will hadn't been able to take out any of the remaining scouts that kept attacking him because they all had Tanks behind the lines bolstering their defenses, and Tanks bolstering those Tank's defences, and so on.

A Damage Chain. There were several variations that Will had discovered the Graneshian military like to utilize, but that was the basic gist of it.

A couple times a day they chased him through the woods until he got a few good hits in on them, then they ran away.

They're not even trying to finish me off anymore, they're buying time to kill Jason.

At Will's estimation, Jason still had a week before he would leave the Class Creation Room.

The church of Granesh did not know about this delay, and may therefore move on to scour the nearest Strongholds looking for Jason after failing to find any sign of him in the Trial grounds.

…I'm not that lucky. I need to make it to the Hunting Grounds before Jason pokes his head out and gets it cut off.

But first I need to figure out a way out of here.

A nearby bird flitted from one tree to another.

…Wish I could still fly.

Without his mask and his ring, Will lacked mobility options, which meant no flying. No shortening distances, no standing on Phantom Hand and flinging himself.

Fliers were rare enough that they couldn't assign more than one or two to each of these companies currently mocking him with their gazebos, cheese, and cute baker girls.

If he could just sail past them, he would only have to contend with four or five people on the way.

Wish I could strap myself to a cannonball and just launch myself past them.

…Why can't I do that?

Aside from the obvious, that was. Such as the desire to not break his neck, the fact that he didn't have any straps that could take a cannonball moving at that speed without snapping…

…not having any cannonballs.

Easily solvable problems…Will thought, looking down at the ashen section of the mountain, the ruins of the city.

There had to be one or two lumps of metal the right size and shape.

Will checked his Charge.

13/66 Charges remaining.

Thirteen charges in a week. They've been pushing me hard, but this should be enough.

Switching Slotted Relic from Ring of Accuracy* To Wand of the undead Retainer.

Will suppressed a shudder as the finger bearing the Ring of Accuracy popped and blackened.

Wand of the Undead Retainer

+13 focus

+3 Acuity

+33% potency of necromancer archetype Abilities.

1 charge: Heal Undead. Repairs undead tissue. Some reassembly required. Does not revive dead undead.

5 Charge: User may summon one permanent low-power Undead Retainer, to a maximum of 2.

The Undead Retainer is an intangible spirit with a limited ability to interact with the physical world, performing simple tasks for the wielder. They are sustained by the wand, not reliant on the wielder's Focus. If the wand is unequipped, the Undead Retainer is dismissed.

The Undead Retainer can be the target of Abilities requiring a living sacrifice and subject to lifedrain, as though it were alive.

13 - 3 Charges remaining.

Billy-bob and Stevie rose from the earth as Will summoned them.

“My deepest apologies for failing to-“

“It's fine, we figured it out,” Will said, holding up his hand. “That's not what I need from you right now.”

The two ghost butlers stood, taking in their surroundings.

“Could you two carry me past that army out there?” Will asked, pointing

“If you still bore the Ring of Eidolon, perhaps,” Stevie said. “With your current Build, we are greatly weakened. While we can fly, we feel most comfortable flowing through the earth, and any overland travel is short hops interspersed with moments of respite in the earth. With the Ring of the Eidolon we were more comfortable maintaining our physical form in the living world and making long flights.”

“Hmm.” Will had thought as much, but it didn't hurt to ask.

“You can still do manual labor, though, right?”

“Yessir,” Billy-bob and Stevie nodded. “We are still much stronger than a standard Undead Retainer,” Billy-bob spoke with pride.

“What do you two know about kites, and…carpentry?” Will asked, taking a bite of a thick wedge of tree bark and chewing as he studied the line of soldiers surrounding the mountain in relatively high spirits.

The two ghost butlers glanced at each other, then back at Will. “We have experience with minor home repairs…and young masters love their kites.”

“Excellent. I'm going to lead the scouts tasked with keeping me suppressed on a merry chase on this side of the mountain. Here's what I want you to do on the other side…”

Two days later, Will was strapping himself to a log.

It had been carved into something of an arrow-shape, as light as they could manage while still maintaining strength. It was difficult with wet wood, but they made it work.

The log had kite wings jutting out the side to hopefully grant him a bit of extra range.

His 'seat' was leaned way back, and contoured to the shape of his body, to hopefully prevent him from snapping his neck.

Several massive trees were bent nearly to their breaking point, putting a massive amount of tension on the thick rope holding him in place.

Learned this one from Loth.

There was a metal cup fused to the nose of the arrow, its dish facing backwards, a large steel spring inside it.

Hopefully it doesn't snap off.

Will was tilted upward, as the massive wooden arrow was resting on top of a rail made of another log.

He was basically riding a giant crossbow bolt.

“…Are you sure about this?” Stevie asked, surveying the contraption.

“No. Loose!” Will shouted.

Without a word, Billy-bob chopped the rope, and Will blacked out.

He woke up with the wind rushing past his face.

It took a fraction of a second to realize that it had mostly worked.

One of the kite wings had snapped off in the launch, and the entire arrow was spinning in a most displeasing way.

Will wiggled his foot out of the seat and kicked the other kite wing until it snapped off and whipped past him.

A moment later, the flight stabilized with Will hanging upside down, staring straight up at the Graneshian army gradually growing closer.

At the rate the nose was falling, he was going to land smack dab in the center of their lines, which was less than ideal.

Will had figured if he was already moving fast, then the cannonball would be less likely to break his neck and the contraption itself.

Will shot the spring with one of the half-melted cannonballs scavenged from the ruins of Basalt.

Bang!

The spring absorbed the shock, and the entire arrow lurched upward, tilting its nose back up as it received a massive amount of force into the system.

“Shit!” Will cursed as the cannonball fell back out of the cup, having spent its energy on correcting the arrow's course. The problem was that since Will was upside down, the cannonball fell towards his head, forcing him to store it again before the lump of iron smashed his headrest – and everything in it – into kindling.

Dimensional Storage.

6 - 5 Charge remaining.

Once he turned his attention back to the front, Will could see that the cup designed to be shot with a cannon was barely hanging on by a few shreds of wood and steel.

It wouldn't take another.

Will peered 'up', looking at the ground beneath him.

He was going to get past the Graneshian line at this rate, but not by much.

Boom!

A Nuker's blast scorched the side of the arrow as they realized what was happening, but they were already too late. He was passing them.

Will hit the back of the arrow with another lump of steel, the entire contraption leaping forward like a startled horse and dodging a follow-up shot.

Then he did it again.

The sound of splintering wood dominated Will's hearing as the back of the arrow fell apart, the arrow beginning to lazily spin as one of the fins was damaged.

Eventually, the wooden arrow ran out of structural integrity before Will ran out of cannonballs to keep it moving, the entire thing disintegrating into a cloud of broken pieces of wood.

Will tore himself out of his seat and grabbed a fin tumbling through the air beside him, using it to catch as much air as possible as he could as the spinning forest beneath him slowly got bigger.

The landing was…a bit rough, but between the man-sized fin slowing him down, and his nearly one-hundred Resistance, Will survived.

Didn't even pass out.

Okay, that wasn't the best idea I've ever had, Will thought, releasing one of the healing potions he'd stolen from the Graneshian army into his palm, tearing the cork out with his teeth before downing the bitter medicine.

His bruises faded and the pain in his ankle went away, allowing him to get up and start running.

Gotta get to Jason.

Chapter 116: Prophet of the End

'Your request for a Party of your peers is denied. We will take your debrief about the boy under advisement, but the church has more concerns in the world than a single Deceiver. Concentrating such a staggering amount of military might into the hands of one man is both a dangerous precedent to set, and against our ee-thoss of uplifting humankind equally. If you are incapable of capturing a single Deceiver, please let us know, and we will return you to your retirement.'

- The High Saint's Council

'I understand and will act accordingly.'

- Caddock, level 65 Paladin

***Jason Salazar***

Sacrifice detected…attempting to generate Class Seed… Success

Generating seed….

Glory Eagle

2 resistance, 1 focus, 2 strength.

Glory, Inspiration

…Who doesn't like Glory?

Jason glanced down at the two remaining sacrifices in his hand, weighing his options. Enchantress in one hand, a branch from the Tree of Empires in the other.

Weighing his options.

He had two tags that leaned towards his Hype Man Class: Myth from Will's hand, and Glory from the eagle.

If he Sacrificed the Enchantress, he would definitely get some Charm Ability options. Those were super cool. The Tree of Empires…What were it's effects?

The Tree of Empires was probably the stronger Sacrifice, because he'd never heard of it before, and the church of Granesh likely grabbed the best of the best for their Prophet.

Two points of growth over thirty levels was quite the difference.

But…

But do I want to be trapped in a Class 1 don't even enjoy for the sake of better stats?

Jason took a deep breath and set aside the Enchantress sacrifice. There was more to life than the title of your Class. The Church of Granesh had wanted this specific combination for him because they knew it would be amazing.

Deliberately crippling himself because he 'enjoyed' the idea of something more felt…childish. When he was an old man, would he appreciate being locked into a decision he had made at twelve? Jason doubted it.

For the sake of old me, I'll add the Tree of Empires.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if he didn't get Charm abilities.

Jason placed the hunk of wax-wrapped wood on the altar.

Sacrifice detected…attempting to generate Class Seed… Success

Generating seed….

Tree of Empires

1 resistance, 2 focus, 2 acuity,

Destiny, Growth, Empire

Class Seeds Acquired, generating Class…

..

….

…..

Class Generated. Speak or think 'status' to see your information

“Status.” Jason said, his body practically vibrating with excitement.

Jason Salazar

Prophet of the End Level 1

2 Strength

4 Resistance

1 Kinesthetics

3 Acuity

4 Focus

Charges: 0/4

Free Points: 1

Please choose your Primary Abilities.

“…Prophet of the End!?” Jason demanded. “The end of what!?”

Prophet of the End:

A Prophet of the End is a storyteller whose tales herald the end of the coil, and all the chaos that implies. They have potent buffing and debuffing Abilities, and a deep connection to myth and legend, particularly that of Ouroboros and The Tower.

“What's a coil?”

If the Tower heard him, it didn't acknowledge his question, instead it began nagging.

Please choose your Primary Abilities.

A Door appeared against the far wall, a glowing yellow portal that led to his Trial.

…After the Tower refused to elaborate for a long while, Jason sighed and nudged The System to show him his options for Primary Abilities.

Hand of Fate

Scales of Ouroboros

Divine Smite

Withering Repudiation

Relic Seed

Made Manifest

Wildfire Heart

Flagbearer

Starting from the top…Jason thought.

Hand of Fate

Passive

Active: 1 charge.

Gain the use of an ethereal Hand of Fate. It may passively act as a dowsing rod to locate a hidden objective, or substitute as any number of materials in a scrying ritual. Spend a charge to apply positive or negative luck to an entity. Duration and potency scale with Acuity.

What does luck mean?

*'luck' is a complex buff, whereby for the duration, the Ability creates a 2-state quantum superposition for a percentage of events involving the target within a certain radius. For each superposition, The System then chooses the state most beneficial for the target from among the states, collapsing the superposition and enforcing that outcome.

I didn't get half of that. Jason frowned. Maybe if I knew what a superposition was, I'd be impressed? Dumb it down.

…It makes some events turn out slightly better than they would've, within the constraints of what could've likely happened. It does not immediately make people start falling on their own swords or suffer brain aneurysms.

…So it's bad? Jason asked.

Just tempering your expectations.

Nodding, Jason moved on to the next one.

Scales of Ouroboros

Active: 5 Charge

Create an ethereal scale somewhere on the body. (max 20). When the user is wounded, consumes the scale and reverts the damage. Scales with Focus.

That'd be great if I could afford it. Next.

Divine Smite

Active: 5 Charge

Channel the wrath of your patron to smite those who oppose you. Scales with Acuity.

Jason let out an exasperated grumble. Why is everything so expensive? I can't choose this for my Primaries, I'd never be able to use it.

…Well that's not entirely true, Jason admitted. He'd be getting his dailies at level 2, which was a real feat.

Come to think of it, I have a spare stat point. I could use these at level 1! Once a week, sure, but I could.

I guess it's an option. Next.

Withering Repudiation

Active: 1 charge

Explain to an opponent in line of sight exactly why you don't like them. Inflicts paralysis and psychic damage over time as long as the user continues to speak. Language Dependent. Scales with Acuity.

Language dependent. Do they have to understand me?

Yes.

So it wouldn't work on monsters…or people with cotton balls in their ears?

Correct.

Huh. Next.

Relic Seed:

Variable Charge

Harvest a myth sown in an area and condense it down into a prepared Sacrifice to create a Relic Seed which can be added to a Relic to give it powers in line with the myth. The myths harvested this way have a chance to be uprooted and forgotten. As the Relic gains notoriety, the seed will grow in power.

One Relic Seed per Relic. Once planted, Relic Seeds cannot be removed.

The Abyss? Jason frowned. Next.

Made Manifest:

1 Charge:

Cloak target in the ethereal form of a myth that the user has created. The target receives bonuses to their combat skill, Stats and Abilities in relation to the nature of the myth.

Finally, an inexpensive Ability. A little simple, though? The only legends Jason had created was Will. Would that make a Will-ghost overtop the people I summon it on? That would be silly.

I could make more legends though, which would expand the options…

Next!

Wildfire Heart

Passive

Active: 1 Charge

Others are nudged to adopt whatever emotional state the user projects. When used actively, the effect is much stronger, lasts after the act is over, and can transfer between carriers beyond your vicinity for a short time. Scales with and resisted by Focus.

So if I act sad it will make others sad?

Yes.

So if I act suicidal, it'll make others suicidal?

There are practical and ethical concerns, but yes.

And if I spend a charge it'll spread like wildfire?

As the name implies.

Hmm…Jason pictured acting suicidal in front of some bad guys and wiping out their whole camp by making them kill themselves.

Then he pictured one of his Party members accidentally getting infected with some of the uncontrollably spreading malaise, then bringing it to an innocent village…and the thought lost a great deal of its luster.

Maybe is should just stick to buffs, debuffs and party tricks rather than use it as an attack.

That would be for the best.

Next!

Flagbearer

Active: 1 charge

Designate one entity as the 'Flagbearer'. Any ally of the target who can see them receives a large buff as long as the Flagbearer remains alive. Should the flagbearer die or be captured, the buff switches to a minor debuff.

Neat…Now, which two do I pick?

Please choose your Primary Abilities.

I hear you. Jason thought, glancing down at the unhealed blisters on his feet.

Shoot. I should've waited before I finished my Class.

He'd just been so excited to see what his Class was going to be, but now…

Please choose your Primary Abilities.

Damnit. The next two weeks is gonna suck.

Please choose your Primary Abilities.

***William Oh***

It's too bad I'm on the opposite side of the Hunting Grounds from Ashwood, Will thought as The Tower loomed larger above him. It would add an extra day to his trip to go around and visit the orphanage, and Jason was likely to come out of hiding soon. Will needed to be present for it.

Not to mention, I don't know if Gertrude has orders to kill me on site.

On one hand, it felt strange that Granesh created as many orphanages as they did, considering how many of the Deceivers they wound up harboring.

On the other, it made a certain sense, allowing them to keep a close eye on every boy and girl who went through their system, and target the ones who might cause them trouble.

In need of a bit of rest and an ounce of water, Will staggered into a dusty little village just outside the tower and collapsed onto a stool near the inn's bar.

“What'll it be, Aspirant?” The Innkeeper said.

I still look like an aspirant? Will thought, glancing down at himself.

He was wearing ragged clothes stained and torn from throwing himself through multiple trees. bits of dirt and twigs adhered to the tree sap peppering his body.

He looked almost as bad as when he first got started, save for the Relics he was wearing.

Maybe they just aren't that impressive.

“Soup of the day and water.” Will said, sliding a silver piece on the bar, which the Inkeeper pocketed with magic-trick smoothness.

“How much you want?” he grunted.

“Until the silver stops covering it.” Will said. “Or I stop eating.”

“Soup's mushroom and possum.”

“I ain't picky,” Will said.

The innkeeper nodded and returned with a massive bowl of soup and a mug of water.

“Check it out, this kid's loaded,” Will heard a snarky voice emerge from the corner of the room, where four young men, each a year or so older than Will, standing from their table to saunter towards him.

Will raised a brow, getting some soup down his throat before the local Bully Squad arrived.

And they must be locals. They wore aspirant chainmail, nonmagical weapons and armor. The best a well-to-do merchant of modest success could afford.

Not quite as rich as a legacy kid from the Ring, but well-afforded.

Like Ben.

That's who they remind me of. My ambitious 'friend' who got himself killed trying to take what didn't belong to him.

The cocky arrogance, the superficial charm, the knot of friends.

I never really thought about it, but Ben wasn't…a great guy, was he? A monster in the making, stillborn before power could truly corrupt him.

“Where'd you get those Relics? Your grandpa's attic?” The lead Bully said with a confident grin.

History repeats itself.

Will thought back to Baron Akul, who requested a traumatic thrashing for his grandson, to instill a sense of caution.

Really, I'd be doing them a favor by kicking their asses.

“I got these last week off some Climbers I killed,” Will said, tugging the ring off his finger with his teeth and placing it on the bar. It wouldn't do for them to think the Relics were the reason they lost.

A wave of uproarious laughter filled the air, while Will smoothly took off his amulet, dropping it on the bar with a clunk.

“Who the hell does this kid think he is, William Oh?”

Another gale of laughter spread through the tavern while the innkeeper shot nervous glances at Will, eyes slowly widening.

“Hey,” One of the kids in the back tapped the lead bully in the shoulder and pointed at Will.

“What?”

“The hand.”

Will used his toes to slip out of his boots, gently placing the warhammer on the bar.

“What, umm…what's your name again?” the leader said, his gaze lingering on the scabbed over stump where Will's left hand was truncated.

“…You're 'bout to find out.” Will said, stepping away from the bar.

“…Danny, we're gonna go! Money's on the table!” their leader said to the innkeeper before the four of them turned tail and hustled out the door.

Will frowned, cocking his head as he watched them disappear through the swinging doors.

“Huh.”

“That's normal people for you. How far did you get, kid?” 'Danny' asked, wiping down the bar.

“Sixth floor,” Will said, sitting back down.

“Makes sense. People that get past the Fourth Floor treat a fight to the death like an amusing pastime.”

“I wasn't gonna kill 'em.” Will muttered into his mug.

“Sure. Anything else I can get yah, Climber?” the innkeeper asked.

“Just the soup is fine,” Will said, waving him off, staring into the broth and wondering how much he'd changed.

I wasn't gonna kill them. Now that he thought about it, he had been using the Stormfists to travel faster since he landed on the other side of the Granesh quarantine line. If he so much as tapped one of the Aspirants and the lightning effect triggered, would it have killed one of them?

Okay, I might've killed one of them.

Chapter 117: Unearned Power

'William Oh's sheer manliness that exudes a potent miasma that unites people of all races, of all walks of life. They gather together, believing they have united to oppose a common enemy, but they have simply been chosen by The Tower to bear witness!'

- Jason Salazar

'…Who am I even talking to? I am so damned bored.'

- Jason Salazar

***Orev Harti, Level 57 Trickster Raven***

“Children, what you see before you is the epitome of the Ranger archetype,” Orev said, gesturing to himself. “I'm the fastest sonovabitch that ever graced the Graneshian military. I've never let a target get away from me. My tracking ability could trace the sun through the underworld, and my arrow always takes down its mark. I could shoot here to the southern palace blindfolded and take the wings off a fly.”

All this is good, but you know what the most important tool in a ranger's arsenal is?” The children's wide eyes followed Orev as he paced back and forth in front of them.

He stood in the center of a clearing in the lush Ring, lecturing a group of snot-filled noble-sons. Several of the children unconsciously shook their heads while the rest gaped like beached fish at his question.

“The ability to adapt to unexpected circumstances!” Orev said. “You never know what the world is going to throw at you ne-“

Crunch! Crunch!

Orev glanced off to the side and spotted Caddock marching through the waist-high shrubs that afforded the lecture clearing a bit of privacy from the thriving city around it.

“Oh, look, it's the high paladin Caddock. He was my commander in my twenties. These are the kinds of classes you'll be working with as a Ranger, and they have a completely different style. You have to learn to accommodate their slowness.”

Poor old man must be going insane from his retirement. Probably here to make himself feel relevant. I suppose I could let him show the kids a thing or two.

“Caddock, would you like to demonstrate what a Paladin is capable of for the children?” Orev asked, gesturing towards the kids.

Caddock glanced at the children watching his steel-covered bulk with awe.

“Sure.”

Caddock's arm snapped up and seized Orev's ear before he started yanking him away, the sheer unexpected nature of the attack preventing him from dodging it despite having better reflexes.

“Ow, ow, Ow!” The raven-feathered Ranger hooted in pain as he stumbled along behind the paladin's determined march.

“Orev Harti, you've been conscripted into my Party until such a time as I release you from service. Do you accept?” Caddock said.

“Do I have an, ow, choice?”

“Not if you want to keep the ear.” Caddock replied.

Orev thought about that for a moment, until another tug from Caddock made up his mind.

“Fine, fine!” Orev said.

You have joined the Warbringer Party!

Orev's eyes widened as he saw who was in it.

Caddock, High Paladin, level 65

Maybin Glasswind, Devastator, level 63

Imtithal Thuy, Bloodsoaked Berserker, level 61

Orev Harti, Trickster Raven, Level 57

“Is umm…the High Saint Council okay with you having this many people above level fifty in your Party?” Orev asked.

There was enough firepower here to topple a city. Or give the Church a run for it's money.

“They declined to provide me the personnel I requested, but never explicitly stated I could not gather them on my own. I will avoid receiving any correspondence from them until I have settled my current conundrum, therefore I will not receive any order to desist, should they send one, which I am confident they will not. There is no conflict of interest.”

“The sheer balls on you, sir,” Orev said, accidentally falling back into his old way of referring to his commander. “What do you need us for?” Orev lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Are we hunting a Lord?”

“Nah, some fifteen year-old kid.” Caddock said.

Orev straightened.

“The Abyss do you need me fo-“

“A fifteen-year-old Deceiver who stole the Prophet out from under our noses and killed over a hundred level fifteen soldiers in the process as well as a handful of level thirty commanders and level twenty-five Scouts, without Kit, and with barely any Charge.”

“Oh.”

“We are currently in a race to get to him before he gets back to his kit, which has, at best, become a seven-part soft-set, and at worst, a legendary Set.”

“Who the abyss is this kid, William Oh?” Orev asked, his long legs easily matching his commander's stubbier pace. The man was big, but he didn't have grace.

Caddock glanced back at him meaningfully, but didn't respond. Allowing Orev to draw his own conclusions.

“No way. I thought William Oh was a joke character that people liked making up stories about. Abyss, I've even made a few William Oh jokes myself in the bar.”

Orev processed that for a moment.

“Wow, I've never killed someone famous before.”

*** Jason Salazar, level 1 Prophet of the End***

Jason took a deep breath and began shoving the chest.

He was wearing both rings, amulet, boots, and the dagger on his waist. Together the Relics made him feel like some hero of old, his strength and stamina more than doubled. Jason felt his face turn red with effort as he shoved the chest with every fiber of muscle at his disposal, aiming for the Door.

This time, the chest moved.

“I am a golden god!” Jason shouted in triumph as the chest began sliding easier and easier under his powerful shoves until it slid right out the Door.

Jason followed shortly afterwards, eager to complete his Trial and become a real Climber. It was what he'd been waiting for his entire life.

Welcome to your Trial, Climber.

The danger hits immediately. Jason remembered Will's warning, his head rearing up to scan the environs. He was on the slopes of a mountain, with short, dead grass that spoke to a dry spell.

To the west is a group that have defected from their clan in order to worship your patron freely.

Their clan did not take kindly to this betrayal, and has sent a war-band to eliminate the cult.

Neutralize the threat, keep your patron's worshippers alive, and you will be qualified to join the Climb.

Jason narrowed his eyes and peered down the mountain, spotting a puff of smoke near the bottom of the mountain.

I can see further than I used to. Jason thought, able to make out a few figures shuffling around the firepit.

That's probably the people I need to save. I can't believe my Trial is an escort mission. Nobody likes escort missions.

It made sense though. Hype didn't exist in a vacuum. He needed people to hype up…Or I guess, prophesize to?

It was starting to niggle at the back of Jason's mind that maybe he was involved in something a bit bigger than doing a hype job for a friend for five silver.

The biggest question now…

How the Abyss am I supposed to get this chest all the way down there? Jason thought to himself, peering down at the box.

I'm not supposed to take them out before they're done baking. Abyss, I don't think I'm supposed to take them out at all. Guarding Will's shit wasn't part of the plan.

Jason glanced up at the distant people, and caught a hint of movement inching across the horizon.

The war-band.

There was no way he could expect to wait long enough, nor did he have time to go grab the people down there and guide them up the side of the mountain.

Leaving Will's stuff unguarded felt like leaving your hard candies unguarded at the orphanage.

You just didn't do it.

Well, I mean, have I even checked it recently?

Jason had peeked into the chest several times a day in the beginning, but he'd eventually gotten bored with it, and simply amused himself by skipping the pits of dried fruit off each other, inventing complex games with intricate scoring rules for the sake of maintaining his sanity.

Never again.

When he drank the final sip of water, Jason had decided that it was time to go.

How long has it been?

There wasn't exactly a day or night in the room, so he just ate when he got hungry, slept when he got tired, and so on.

Jason pried open the chest and peered inside.

The ash inside was dead, having spent all its miasmatic glow.

Just to make sure, Jason lowered the lid, shutting out as much light as he could and peering into the crack.

No light whatsoever.

It was dead.

Was I in the room longer than I thought? He'd had a Class and been wearing the relics the whole time, did that…slow his sleep and eating down?

“Huh,” Jason mused, opening the lid again. If it's done baking, I guess the easiest way to carry them would be to put them on and then I wouldn't have to worry about dropping it or anything.

Jason reached in and fished around with his hand until he felt the handle of Will's axe, pulling it out, ash sloughing off of it to reveal the axe's silvery exterior. It seemed to have gained some kind of gemstone in the feathers, and the serpent's eyes had been filled in with stone that seemed to create an iris that followed Jason.

Weird.

Remembering his Climbing lessons, Jason focused on the tomahawk, trying to identify it.

“Hooooly Shiiiit.”

Tomahawk of the Underworld Guide

+8 Strength

+8 Kinesthetics

+8 Resistance

+8 Focus

+8 Acuity

Passive: Damage from the Tomahawk or Eidolons created by the user gain Psychic Venom, which applies psychic damage over time and incremental stat penalties until the target is dead or the effect is overcome or cured. Scales with Acuity

Smoke drawn through the pipe will cure Psychic Venom and inoculate against psychic damage.

1 Charge: May be used to seal an agreement between two individuals by sharing smoke from the pipe. Anyone who willingly violates the spirit of an agreement suffers from Psychic Venom.

Family Gathering Set Bonuses:

Withering Repudiation's effects may be directly applied by Hand of Fate. Hand of Fate can interact with the physical world at will. (2 items)

Hand of Fate loses its hand form, which is replaced by 5 autonomous phantom snakes. These snakes can be fully controlled by the user at will, and have all the effects of Hand of Fate.

Each individual snake can automatically apply the effect of Hand of Fate to potentially ward off or blunt an attack once per day. (4 items)

Withering Repudiation's Potency is boosted by 5000% (6 Items)

…

……

“Oh, my god, oh my God!” Jason dropped the tomahawk to the ground and scrambled backwards, averting his eyes.

He didn't know much about Relics, but he knew he wasn't even worthy of looking at that.

And it boosts my Primary Abilities…did I ruin it by touching it first? Oh god, is Will going to kill me? He's gonna kill me. I'd kill me.

…Is your Patron not generous?

Huh?

Hair standing on end, Jason pushed himself back to his feet and raised his eyes to take in the fanciful tomahawk. It exuded an aura of subtle menace, easy to miss when you were excited, but looking at it with a calm heart…it gave him the impression of Lumesh waiting just below the earth, ready to drag his victim to the underworld with implacable might.

Jason glanced down at the war-band in the distance. They were steadily eating the distance between themselves and the helpless band of…cultists? Cultists that Jason needed to protect if he wanted to pass The Trial.

…I don't have time to wait. If Will kills me, he kills me, but failing the Trial would be worse than death.

Jason tipped the chest over, dumping its contents onto the dead grass of the mountainside, picking through the items, shaking the ash off them before donning Will's kit as quickly as he could.

The glowing ivory hand that he'd grown used to over his time locked away in the white room suddenly gained a feeling of weight, of physicality. As he added more items from the Set, the hand's fingers elongated and split into five glowing ivory snakes, each about the length of his arm that seemed to emanate good fortune, etched with strange patterns that he instinctively knew related to luck and augury.

They lazily swam through the air around him seemingly with minds of their own, their scales making a hypnotic pattern in the air, like flickering firelight.

Jason shook himself out of admiring the snakes and got back to work.

Pants…boots…Jason thought, slipping out of the loaner boots they gave him and tugging on Will's pants and boots, which shrank to accommodate him.

Finally he took off the loaner amulet and threw Will's over his neck.

Jason scratched through the pile of ash to make sure he didn't miss anything.

Once he was satisfied, he slapped down the mask, snatched up the tomahawk and started sprinting down the mountainside, aiming for the helpless civilians who had retreated to their tents, hiding from the height of the noon-day sun.

Jason arrived minutes before the warband, skidding to a halt and nearly tumbling, so unused to the sheer power his kit was granting him.

He was as buoyant as if he were underwater, except there was no resistance. If anything there was less than ever. It was a strange feeling.

In the center of the campsite was a big wooden statue that these cultists had apparently decided was a good idea to carry on their desperate escape from their old clan.

More surprising, was the subject of the statue. The statue was poorly crafted and lacked artistry, but Jason could make out the important details.

The statue depicted a man with one hand resting his palm on a kobold's crest.

Jason cocked his head as he studied the weather-beaten wooden statue.

“It that…Loth?”

“Attack!” A raspy voice shouted.

The tent flaps burst open, revealing a dozen kobolds and Jibleya of various color, aiming the pokey ends of their spears at Jason's neck.

“Wait, wait Wait!” Jason said, holding his hands up. “I'm here to help you guys!”

“Likely story humie,” The lead kobold said, gesturing with his spear. “I thinks you Spy!”

The surrounding kobolds cheered.

The closest Jibleya frowned, glancing at the kobold.

“Your old clan hired a human child -whom they would rather eat- to attack us?”

“I'm on my Trial!” Jason interjected. “The Tower told me to save you from the warband.”

“Warband?” The jibleya asked, leaning on his spear.

Jason pointed. Some five hundred feet distant, the band of kobolds trotting towards them was now putting on a burst of speed to catch their prey.

“Oh, them. Shit.”

“Stupid humie, you waste perfectly good ambush!” the lead kobold made a hacking cough that Jason was pretty sure was the equivalent of a rude spit before rushing to organize themselves.

“What help can you give us, Aspirant?” The Jibleya asked, glancing at Jason as the kobold-jibleya alliance formed a line, raising their spears. Jason hadn't gotten his adult height yet, so they were nearly at eye level with each other, and he could see the fear in the man's face.

“Umm…” Jason glanced down at the tomahawk, then back at the ivory snakes lazily noodling around him.

Maybe that would work?

With a thought, the snakes swam forward at the speed of an arrow, their mouths unhinging to reveal long fangs, latching onto the five closest of the two dozen kobolds sprinting towards them.

The kobolds collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, as the snakes leapt to their next targets, bringing them down in a matter of seconds.

In a matter of seconds, the process repeated itself until the entire warband was dead, none of them having come close enough to even throw their spears.

Congratulations on completing your Trial!

Based on your methods, you have been assigned the Buffer/Nuker roles in Quest Assignment. If you wish to dispute this assignment and apply for a different role, apply for a new Trial at the Kiosk on floor 5.

You may now travel freely between floors at Key Locations, be assigned Quests, form Parties, and petition to subjugate land.

Booting…

Complete.

Prophet of the End Level 2

4 Strength

2 Kinesthetics

8 Resistance

8 Focus

6 Acuity

Charges: 4/8

Free Points: 2

Primary Abilities: Hand of Fate, Withering Repudiation.

Jason's hair stood on end as the notifications rolled in, bringing with them a looming sense of dread.

That wasn't me. That was the Set.

The Set had singlehandedly slaughtered those kobolds with less effort than it took to wave his hand.

Every ounce of Jason's mind was telling him that he didn't deserve the set. He wasn't strong enough to use it, and instead it would use him, dragging him along…until someone stronger discovered he was using it and took it from him.

And if it was anyone other than Will, they probably wouldn't think twice about killing the occupant first.

Shit. This can't end well.

He was wearing something unspeakably valuable, and he was nowhere near strong enough to defend it.

“I think-Ow!”

One of the snakes gave a pulse of magic, tensing up like it'd experienced a sudden cramp, as a pain in Jason's knee dropped him to the ground in an instant.

A dark-feathered arrow flew past Jason's head, bursting into a cloud of black feathers, from which emerged a rather slender man wearing shoulder-pads made of raven feathers, wielding a hooked spear with a black feather mane.

Without a word, the man pounced.

Chapter 118: (Not) A Natural Born Fighter

“Ack!” Jason reflexively threw his hands in front of his face. He was not a trained fighter. He wasn't even an untrained fighter, and faced with instant, overwhelming aggression, his first instinct was to turtle up.

Jason felt his arms and legs get something wrapped around them and an instant later his entire body lurched violently to the side, nearly knocking the wind out of him.

Jason unscrunched his eyes and saw the spear-wielder whipping the spear around, aiming the hook at Jason's ribcage.

Jason flinched again, trying to interpose his arm between himself and the attack, intuitively understanding that a wounded arm was better than a perforated lung.

The snakes wrapped around his arms and legs yanked him forward, putting him inside the spear's range.

“Oof!” Jason groaned as the spear haft nearly doubled him over.

Shing!

“Eh?”

Jason glanced up and spotted a knife flashing past his cheek. The snakes were riding the strange man's arm, fangs buried in his flesh and wrenching his stab off to the side.

Suddenly his crotch exploded in pain as a leather shoe impacted the center of Jason's body with enough force to send him flying.

What the Abyss did I do? Jason thought, curling into a ball as roots of pain spread through his lungs.

The attacker shook the snakes off his arm with a nonchalance that spoke volumes, stalking towards Jason with unearthly grace, as though he had to hold onto the earth with his toes or he'd fly off.

He's poisoned right? Right?

Jason's eyes twitched as he realized that it hadn't been Withering repudiation that killed the kobolds, it was the Psychic Venom effect from the tomahawk.

…The tomahawk over there, that he'd dropped when he got folded over by the second attack.

Withering Repudiation

4 to 3 Charge remaining.

“You. Suck.” Jason rasped out, directing one of the snakes to deliver Withering Repudiation. It shot towards his enemy like an arrow, aiming to wrap around his limb.

The man flicked his spear and bisected the ivory snake, which evaporated into nothing, creating a phantom pain in Jason's left ring finger that nearly eclipsed the pain in his balls.

“Easier to feel those things when they got Charge in 'em.” The man muttered, raising the spear above Jason.

Withering Repudiation

3 to 2 Charge remaining.

“Killing a kid, huh?” Jason groaned.

The man wobbled in place as the Ability washed over him, paralyzing his limbs.

Jason felt a thin thread connect the two of them. It felt like a strand of spider-silk that was slowly being stretched and twisted. Sooner or later it would snap, and the only way that Jason could slow it down was to continue talking.

“I can't say I'm surprised.” Jason continued, resisting the urge to whimper as he dragged himself toward the tomahawk with his forearm. “From the moment we met, you've been trying to stab a child, so obviously your priorities are a bit fucked u-”

Snap.

Withering Repudiation snapped, and the spearhead came flashing down.

A blur of red scales slammed into the side of the attacker, causing the spearhead to bury itself in the ground an inch away from Jason's stomach.

A dozen more kobold and jibleya dogpiled the thin man, thrusting madly with their makeshift spears.

Poof!

The attacker exploded into a cloud of black feathers and reappeared some thirty feet away, plucking a dagger out of a dead kobold's chest.

When did that happen!? Jason thought, the panic cutting through the pain, sending him scrambling forward and lunging for the tomahawk.

Jason got the tomahawk an inch off the ground before a foot slammed down on it, crushing his thumb against the gravelly dirt.

Jason hissed and rolled away, clutching his hand.

“Huh. Oh. Wow!” a young woman's melodious voice entered Jason's ears as he tried to blink the tears out of his eyes.

“Yep, it's a Set. Wooow…can I keep it? it's pretty badass.”

Jason blinked the tears out and spotted a young woman holding the tomahawk, her fine-boned face at odds with her attire, which was a mere handful of hardened leather straps dyed a ruddy brown.

“You know what he'll say about that.” The raven-feathered man replied, sprinting towards Jason.

Withering Repudiation

2 to 1 Charge remaining.

cunt

Snap!

The charging man only lost control of his body for a second, tumbling forward for an instant before catching himself with his fingertips, springing up and sailing over Jason's head.

bahahaha the woman said, doubling over with laughter, pointing at the raven-feathered man. “He-he called-he called you a-“

“I heard. Are you gonna help or what?” The raven-man asked, landing lightly on his feet.

“Do you need help?” The woman asked, a strange undercurrent of menace in her words as she rested Will's tomahawk on her shoulder.

“Not really.” The feather-man mused, tensing, hand reaching behind himself.

“That's not yours,” Jason gasped, drawing himself to his feet, a trembling finger pointing at Will's tomahawk.

The woman glanced at the tomahawk resting on her shoulder before shrugging. “Sure ain't.” Her gaze scanned Jason from head to toe before holding out her hand. “Cough up the rest.”

“You can have Will's Set when you peel it off my dead body.” Jason muttered. They were gonna kill him either way. Might as well have some balls.

“…Your proposal is acceptable.” The woman said. The straps covering her body began reddening like sponges plunged into a pool of blood. A red stain spread from the straps as they began to ooze blood, covering her exposed skin in a layer of shiny crimson.

You should probably run, a little voice in Jason's head urged him to flee, but the more rational part of him knew that these people were much faster than he was, so he was stuck there, in the center of the cluster of kobolds, facing two monsters who could disassemble them in a matter of seconds.

He felt the rough-hewn haft of a kobold spear placed in his hand, and glanced up, spotting a jibleya handing it to him. The spearhead was made of glassy stone and tentatively held together with poorly cured leather straps.

It would shatter on contact.

Jason sighed, holding the flimsy wooden stick in front of himself.

It was better than nothing, but they were still all going to die.

The raven-feathered man whipped his hand forward, unleashing one throwing knife for each of them.

Jason scrunched his eyes shut and swung at the dagger flying towards him.

Again: not a natural fighter.

Poof!

His spear hit nothing, and nothing hit him, but an instant later a line of fire travelled through his side accompanied by an ache in his pinky finger.

Jason hissed and stumbled away, spotting the raven-feathered man standing behind him, frowning accusingly at his hooked spear, which had a snake wrapped around the head.

The man whipped his spear backwards and flicked it down with the speed of lightning, bisecting the snake wrapped around it.

He just teleported and tried to stab me in the back!

Jason glanced around and saw that most of the kobolds were wounded, with knives in nonlethal areas. The jibleya were worse off, their pressurized innards trying to force out the knives.

Unless that's normal for them. Jason didn't know.

Now surrounded, Jason turned sideways and started backing up, trying to keep both of them in sight.

There was a flicker on his right-hand side accompanied by a jolt of force and extreme pain as Jason flew away from where he'd been standing.

The snakes softened his landing, preventing him from smashing his head open on the rocky outcropping he slammed into.

When Jason raised his head with a gasp, he felt a growing pain in his cheek where it had been dragged across the stone.

Jason raised his hand to his cheek.

No mask?

He jerked his head up and spotted the woman donning the feathered snake mask. A ripple spread through the blood covering her body, gaining a scale-like pattern and a slightly metallic hue.

“Yes. I could get used to this.” She said, nodding, turning to regard him with the mask's emotionless eyes. “Now do I have to beat the rest out of you?”

Jason raised a trembling finger.

“Will's gonna…kick your ass.”

“Don't play with him,” the feathered man said, the ground crunching as he stood above Jason, spear raised.

Jason closed his eyes. He really didn't wanna watch himself get stabbed.

Pang! A deep, concussive release of force, as though the entire earth had shifted, rang through the ground beneath him.

Jason pried an eye open and peeked up at the feathered man.

He was nowhere to be seen.

Poof!

“Son of a bitch!” the feathered man shouted as he appeared beside one of his knives, shaking pain out of his fingers, a thin line carved into his neck.

“Good afternoon,” Loth's raspy voice emanated from the direction of the kobold's leather tents.

A set of black claws brushed the tent flap aside before she emerged into the sun. A black kobold, at least four inches taller than the tallest example of their species. Her gaze landed on the blood-covered woman, eyes narrowing.

She's here to save me!

“Kill the child if you must, but the set belongs to my Party leader.” Loth said, stalking towards them.

“Really?” Jason demanded.

“Dibs on the kid!” the blood covered woman shouted, charging towards Jason.

The feathered man rolled his eyes, throwing a knife at Loth.

Jason couldn't quite make out what happened next.

There were explosions, the earth itself flipped over and tried to swallow them up, stone shrapnel flew everywhere, and Jason was forced to shield his eyes to prevent them from being shredded.

This lasted for quite some time until a pair of hands helped him up and brushed his shoulders off in the midst of it.

“Thanks.” Jason muttered, lowering his palm and blinking the dust out of his eyes, trying and failing to make out his savior against the omnipresent dust obscuring the sun.

“Don't mention it,” the woman's voice sent a chill through his skin an instant before a fist caught him in the stomach, and Jason felt something pop before he flew backwards, slamming into unforgiving stone.

“Uuugh…” Jason slammed into a boulder and collapsed to the ground. Somehow everything hurt Way more than it had just a few minutes ago. Like rock had gotten harder.

Gotta get the healing potion before I go into shock… Jason's rational mind cut through the pain in his stomach and reached his trembling hand into his vest, plucking out the healing potion that Will had slipped in his bag.

He barely had the strength to tug the cork out with his teeth and both hands, spilling a bit with a jerk before before downing the remainder of the potion.

The ominous pain in his torso faded quickly, leaving the external bruising largely untouched.

“Rogue Archetype!?” the woman screamed, looking down at the key-shaped stone dagger with obvious frustration.

Jason patted himself down, realizing his cloak and sidearm were missing.

“Well, whatever,” She muttered, tossing aside Will's cloak and replacing a bone dagger on her belt with the glassy stone key.

“Hey, what's that amulet do?” she asked, pointing at the silver scales around his neck.

“Jason, take-“ Loth's words were interrupted by a flurry of feathers as the feathered man appeared behind her, stabbing her in the back to little effect, dodging out of the way of a retaliatory trap.

She flickered forward faster than Jason could process, her hand clutching the top of his head in an iron grip.

Her other hand seized the amulet and hauled up.

Jason's hands and ears lost a bit of skin as the silvery scales were dragged ruthlessly up over his head.

“Wow.” She said as she released Jason, dropping him into the dirt. “Yes. Very nice.”

As she lowered the amulet over her neck, the blood coating her body rippled again, and five arm-length crimson snakes emerged and began floating around her, slithering lazily through the air.

“I wonder if it'll hang around even without the Marrow-leather,” She mused before glancing at Jason. “Alright kid, you know the drill by now. Pants and shoes. Off.”

“Screw you.” Jason coughed.

“The only reason I'm not killing you right now is because it's easier for someone to take their own pants off, rather than a corpse, but if you insist…”

The snakes that had worked for him less than a minute ago flickered forward in the blink of an eye, one wrapping around Jason's neck and lifting him into the air, two more restraining his arms.

“Oh, cool!” she cooed as two snakes ripped his boots off, seemingly of their own accord.

“They can drain blood too!?” She exclaimed, her eyes flickering, seemingly re-reading the set description. “At range!?”

“I wonder how that works,” She mused, studying Jason with lethal dispassion. A moment later, Jason felt a stab of pain in his neck and immediately felt a wave of weakness spreading across his entire body.

“Way more efficient. Lacks a certain something…Maybe I can get a crafter to tweak a few affixes, then I could wear the full set…” her voice seemed to fade as Jason's vision darkened.

Just before he lost consciousness, Jason thought he heard a familiar voice.

“…Drop him.”

Chapter 119: Coiled Strike

Typically, Relics of limitless power carry their wielders through one shattering victory after another….

It doesn't matter who starts the fight with the Relic of limitless power.

William Oh is going to have it by the end.

And the shattering will be your bones.

- Jason Salazar, level 22 Prophet of the End in a 5th Floor tavern

How the Abyss did he stay in there an entire extra week longer than we thought? Will thought, sprinting across the sun-blasted ground, the earth itself rippling around his strange, hitched footsteps, which propelled him forward at blazing speed with half the effort.

After checking the local Strongholds and confirming no one had seen Jason, Will had been camping out on the highest mountain he could find on the 1st Floor, waiting with gradually sinking hopes for his friend to appear.

About fifteen seconds ago, Will had felt an urge to eat his breakfast of scrub and cactus while studying a distant mountainside, until a point near the valley began blinking with reflected sunlight.

One of Loth's favorite methods of signaling over long distances.

When a huge cloud of dust erupted from the valley, Will put his head down and focused on maximizing speed. They weren't alone down there.

They came within eyeshot as a larger woman discarded a cloak, standing some distance from Jason's battered form.

A flood of cold fury washed over Will's body, and he angled his path to approach from behind, aiming for the discarded cloak.

As she sauntered towards Jason, Will stalked forward, the earth a silent partner beneath his feet, the omnipresent dust and explosions filling the battlefield with enough distractions to bury even a level 50's senses.

Will whipped the cloak up and over his shoulders as he approached.

Deceiver's Mantle

+6 Strength

+6 resistance

+10 Kinesthetics

+10 Acuity

+6 focus

Lowers the audiovisual effects of attacks and Abilities. Resists tracking and extrasensory perception Abilities. Scales with Acuity.

Raises the potency of Rogue archetype abilities by 20%.

Family Gathering Set Bonuses:

Aspect of the Immortal Serpent's passive bonuses apply to eidolons created by the user. Phantom Hand can interact with the physical world at will. (2 items)

Phantom Hand loses its hand form, which is replaced by 5 autonomous phantom snakes. These snakes can be fully controlled by the user at will, and have all the effects of Phantom Hand. Each Snake has its own Dimensional Storage, but only 1 can actively provide a Relic's effect at a time.

Each individual snake can absorb one wound at will, or a lethal wound automatically, carrying the wound until it is healed, or the eidolon is destroyed, returning the wound to the user in whatever state of repair it was when the eidolon dissipated. (4 items)

Aspect of The Immortal Serpent's Potency is boosted by 5000% (6 Items)

Will didn't have time to gawk at the Relic as the strange blood-covered woman lifted Jason up and tore the amulet off of him, placing it over her head and immediately spawning five blood-snakes.

She's got four pieces of my set on, Will thought, studying his opponent. It had to be exceptional for a warrior to want to use it instead of whatever synergistic Relics they'd surely acquired over their entire career.

She wore the mask, the amulet, the wand-dagger on her belt, and the tomahawk in her hand. It didn't look exactly same as it used to, but Will could tell which were his. Now that he was wearing a piece of the set, the rest of it seemed to call to him, a magnetic attraction begging to be reunited.

The leather straps she wore across her chest were weeping blood. Will assumed that was meant to allow her to trigger her Build instantly, without having to first slaughter people and bathe in their blood, and that was why she had tossed aside the cloak, as its benefit wasn't powerful enough to justify giving up her instant start. Some creatures didn't have blood and it was always good to bypass external prerequisite wherever possible.

Which of those things are the easiest to take? Will thought, creeping up behind her. The amulet or mask he might be able to take with dimensional Storage, but it would be his Acuity measured against her Focus, and while she didn't seem the type to have a lot of Focus, he also didn't know what level she was, and the set seemed to grant powerful bonuses to Focus.

The wand on the other hand…if he was fast enough, he could physically slip it out of her belt and she would be back below four set items, greatly reducing her danger level.

If I could get the amulet…Will mused. It was the piece of gear he most wanted absorbed by the Phantom Hand. The question was, how would he approach-

Unfortunately, the choice of when to start fighting was made for him as the snake wrapped around Jason's neck bared its fangs and sank them into his friends' flesh, pulsating as it drank his blood.

“Drop him.” Will said, standing up straight and sending his Phantom Hand over to where the shoes had been torn off of Jason's feet, scooping them up.

Dimensional Storage

60 to 59 Charge remaining.

The woman turned her head to the side, the feather-maned mask regarding him with one serpentine eye.

The world exploded into motion.

The crimson snakes unwound from Jason's arms and legs and lunged towards Will…all save the one greedily feasting on Jason's blood.

She's putting me on a timer, Will thought with a scowl.

His enemy was embracing a cruel but effective tactic…forcing him to rush headlong to try and save Jason and sucker-punch him when he did so.

All right. Let's play.

“Jason!” Will shouted, breaking into a sprint, weaving past the blood snakes as he 'rushed headlong' to try and save his friend.

Will felt a sudden yank in his leg as the blood snakes 'unexpectedly' sped up, wrapping around his ankle, followed by three more snakes around his neck, arm and other leg, leaving only his truncated arm free.

The bloodsoaked warrior flickered towards him, nearly too fast to see, blinking across the last five feet instantly and whipping the tomahawk towards his head with a hiss of parting air.

Teleporting. That's the Dimensional Assassin's Amulet.

Will unleashed one of his spare cannonballs at full speed directly into the woman's chest while yanking his head back as far as the snake wrapped around his neck allowed.

The scaled armor of blood flexed, absorbing the impact as she skidded backwards a foot, completing her swing, the axe's blade missing Will's face by inches.

She's got high resistance too.

Will nodded to himself. Her Focus growth couldn't be above two if all her physical Stats were this high…probably.

There's a gamble if I've ever seen one.

Will felt a prick of pain in his neck, arms and legs as the snakes bit down, beginning to drain his blood while the warrior recovered gracefully, her expression thunderous.

Charge me, I dare you, Will thought, picturing how he was going to gut her with her own weapon.

The snakes tightened their grasp around him, making his neck creak in discomfort. If his Resistance had been any lower, it might've broken his neck.

…damn.

Instead of charging in a mad rage, his opponent took a defensive stance, giving herself space to react to whatever trick Will had in mind, allowing the snakes to do their work rather than finish him off personally. Forcing Will to break the situation in a way he couldn't take full advantage of.

We can't allow that. Will had obsessed about how insanely powerful that amulet would be when he modified it with Sourdough, and now that it was part of the set…if he could get it from her that could swing the entire fight in an instant.

Dimensional Storage

59 to 58 Charge remaining.

Will targeted the amulet and Yanked.

There was a moment of tug-of-war as Will's Ability fought the unreasonably strong cobwebs of magic that kept the Relic attached to its current wielder.

Will gasped when his opponent snapped her blood-covered gauntlet over the Phantom Hand, and Will experienced a crushing pressure as she squeezed down on the Ability.

Should've grabbed it from the back.

There was no time for should've, as a visceral snap traveled through his consciousness, the strength of his Ability exceeding her Focus and vanishing the amulet into Will's Dimensional Storage.

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second as the snakes draining him and Jason collapsed into splatters of blood across the earth. Her eyes narrowed, and she redoubled her grip on Phantom Hand.

Will could feel his Ability unravelling as crimson talons began to sink into Phantom Hand, piercing its ethereal flesh.

How was she doing it? Not important. The only thing he needed to do now was end this.

Would you like to Sacrifice the Dimensional Coiled Serpent Amulet* to gain its effect?

Yes!

Dimensional Coiled Serpent Amulet (x2.8)

+42 Kinesthetics

+44 Strength

+13 Acuity

+16 resistance

+16 Focus

56% Audiovisual Dampening while trying to hide.

Coiled Strike: 5 charges, teleport up to 14 feet in any direction, damage output is increased by 420% for 1 second. Applies *Psychic Venom.

*Psychic Venom applies psychic damage over time and incremental stat penalties until the target is dead or the effect is cured. Scales with Acuity

The set bonuses kicked in, and the Phantom Hand rapidly gained dangerous physical weight, as if someone had filled a leather sack with lead sand.

Rather than yank the hand away, Will triggered Coiled Strike.

Coiled Strike

58 to 53 Charges remaining.

The world twisted around Will as he arrived directly in front of the woman, ducking under a reflexive swing of the tomahawk and punching her in her blood-armored ribs with everything he had.

Will knew that if she could tank a full-speed cannonball, a fist, even with quadruple damage, likely wouldn't do much at all.

But if it did any damage at all, it would inflict Psychic Venom. It was worth a try.

The blood-scales on her chest flared outward and sliced into Will's hand, forcing him to retreat.

“Nice try, k-”

Will directed Phantom Hand to rear forward and slam into her throat with every ounce of power it could muster.

Her snide voice cut off mid-sentence, her grip loosening on Phantom Hand just enough for Will to rip it out of her bloody grip.

Will lunged backwards, dodging a reflexive counter and flicking the Phantom Hand towards Jason, releasing the contents of a healing potion towards him.

Not at full speed, obviously, I don't want to kill him with a healing potion.

Jason's face and neck were splattered with the crimson liquid, causing the oozing wound on his neck to seal itself and the color in his face to recover a bit, bringing him out of the danger zone.

Her gaze flickered from Jason to Will as they circled each other.

“Dimensional Storage? You must be that William Oh kid I heard about. I gotta say, I'm not impressed.”

As she spoke, Will kicked off the loaner boots he'd been wearing.

“Sure, you're squirrely, but if that's your damage output…I've killed better.”

“Tell you what,” Will said, not risking putting on the boots just yet. He wasn't sure he could release them from the Dimensional Storage directly on his feet, and if he couldn't, that meant he would need at least a few seconds of leeway to do so.

“Drop the mask, the wand, and the tomahawk, and I'll let you live,” Will lied.

“That's rich,” She said, running a finger down the mask. “This set is my ticket to being a Lord, to the Abyss with running errands for that prick. What do you think my name will be? Blood Lord is just too basic….Crimson Snake? No, too phallic.”

“Can't be a Lord if you're dead.” Will said.

“Your attacks are flaccid and impotent.” She said. “You couldn't fight your way out of a wet paper bag.”

“You're forgetting something,” Will said, pointing. “That's my Set. It likes me better. And when when I take it from you, I'll use it to rip you limb from limb.”

“Ooh,” She quivered in mock anticipation. “I'm looking forward to-“

Will heard the soft hiss of a projectile behind him.

He shifted the earth below his feet, holding his neck with Phantom Hand, allowing him to slide sideways a foot without moving a muscle.

A hooked spear shot through the space where Will's heart had been.

Will whipped around and smashed his wounded hand into the opponent's face…hitting nothing but an explosion of black feathers.

Hmm.

Crunch.

Will heard gravel under bloodsoaked boots, but he couldn't see much thanks to the screen of fluttering feathers.

He flung himself to the ground, dodging the obligatory sucker-punch, propelling himself sideways with a pillar of earth against his palm and right foot, sliding rapidly along the ground, which seemed to smooth and bend out of his way, so as to facilitate his slide.

Will emerged from the cloud of black feathers, spotting the blood-soaked warrior recovering from a feral swing, while the man who had spawned the cloud of feathers was tucking a throwing knife in his belt.

“Stop playing aro-“

Will sent Phantom Hand at full speed toward the man, while triggering Coiled Strike.

Coiled Strike.

53 to 48 Charge remaining

Will appeared directly in front of the bloody woman while the raven-feathered ranger whipped his spear up and attempted to deflect Phantom Hand.

He must've heard it coming, Will thought, seizing the wand in her belt.

Sss!

Her hand clapped down over the wand an instant before Will could slip it completely out of her belt. At the same time, the tomahawk began hissing through the air towards him.

Will let go and swung his wounded fist at her wrist with everything he had.

Boom!

Coiled Strike granted his offensive parry 420% of its original strength…And he still almost died.

The explosive force caused Will to tumble backwards, rebounding sideways off the ground before she bisected him.

Will glanced up and spotted the feathered man staring at his hooked spear in horror as it crumbled into ash. Coiled Strike's window of empowering attacks must've applied to the Phantom Hand too in that instant.

In the distance, Jason was being quietly drawn down into the earth by Loth's insects. In a couple seconds, he would be off the board entirely.

I guess it's my turn to handle both of them at once, Will thought.

At least for a couple seconds. Gotta keep their attention on me.

“I really hope that's not the best you guys can do,” Will said, standing with a bit more confident arrogance than he felt.

I really hope it is.

Chapter 120: Tricked

William Oh once had dinner with The Rotwitch and once he was done eating, he asked for seconds. No one had ever praised her cooking, let alone stayed the night in her home, so naturally this caught her off guard. The fair maiden blushed and ladled William Oh up another serving of Meltbeast and Wasteclimber peppercorn soup.

Once he was done, he ate the spoon before it finished dissolving.

Waste not, want not.

- Jason Salazar.

Time to switch up the game of tag, Will thought, using the springy earth underneath him to propel himself out of the bloody woman's reach, aiming for the feathered man.

The ranger's eyes widened, and he vanished in a cloud of feathers long before Will even got close.

Will felt a surge of Charge attempting to link him to someone, so he interposed Phantom Hand and scattered the Ability before it could firmly link the two.

Will heard someone mutter 'shit' under their breath in the distance and sent Phantom Hand to keep pressure on him while he continued to dance away from the blood-soaked woman's wild swings.

Some kind of berserker? Will thought.

She'd demonstrated an ability to fall back and approach him cautiously earlier, but her approach to combat was gradually becoming less methodical and more unhinged.

I think her stats are increasing over time as her tactics dwindle, Will thought. It wasn't immediately obvious, because getting hit even at the beginning of the fight would've turned him inside out, and nothing had really changed about that, but her attacks and movements were slowly getting faster, and staying away from her was getting harder and harder.

If her whole build increases in power with more exposure to blood over time, it might no longer be a viable option to try and steal the rest of my set back. There was a possibility that her Focus was also being raised, or that her Build was able to substitute or bolster Focus with another stat.

Or she may simply be so fast that the momentary distraction of trying to pry a Relic away from her could get him killed.

There is a silver lining though…

It was common knowledge: Builds that puffed themselves up like this had a…downswing, where the berserker, or magic self-buffer, or drug abuser, or whatever, eventually ran out of their self-buff and suffered from a diminished amount of power.

The Tower did not allow infinite accumulation of power. Sooner or later something exploded.

In most cases, the downswing meant they had less power than they had before, for a period of time that could be a few minutes to a few days. Sometimes it was simply a return to their baseline.

In either case, that was a perfect time for Will to take advantage.

This can't last forever.

The real trick was surviving until the downswing happened.

And that meant-

Sss

Will leaned out of the way as an arrow hissed past him, curving mid-flight to try and follow him before burying itself into the ground.

A second and third arrow angled towards him and Will could already see what was going to happen.

The second arrow was aimed at his lower midsection, and since he was already leaning the wrong way, he would be forced to use Aspect to shift his legs under him, putting him totally off balance at a roughly 45 degree angle to the ground.

The third arrow would explode into a feather-man with a raised weapon ready to stab him while he was off-balance.

Will moved his feet out of the way of the second arrow, and added an extra ripple to the ground, aiming at the area ahead of him.

Poof

Will heard the explosion of feathers behind him, from where the first arrow landed.

Damn.

Will leapt off the ground, his awkward angle causing his entire body to go horizontal four feet above the ground, legs flailing awkwardly up in the air.

He caught the third arrow with his toes and guided it down into the feather-wearing ranger's shoulder, deflecting the brutal thrust from the man's hooked spear with his handless arm, incurring a long thin wound as he did so.

Does he have backup spears or what?

The ranger pulled his spear back, gazing at the arrow sticking out of his shoulder with an alarmed expression.

Stop shooting yourself, Will thought smugly. Wait…That reaction…The oil on that spears smells... Poison? Poison on all of his weapons? Poison in me!?

The ranger Poof'd away just as a tingling began to manifest in Will's wounded arm. Whatever it was it had to be mean to manifest any kind of effect on someone with over a hundred Resistance.

Will caught his balance and sprinted towards the bloody woman charging him.

Coiled Strike

48 to 43 Charge remaining.

Will arrived directly in front of her, but rather than attack or try to take any of his Set back, he leapt straight up and over. She swung ferally upward, and Will caught the haft on his bare feet, giving him a perfect springboard to launch himself a dozen feet in the air.

Coiled Strike

43 to 38

Will appeared another fourteen feet straight up, still rising, scanning the surroundings nearly thirty feet in the air.

There.

Far, far away, half a mountainside over and tucked behind a large rock, Will could see the ranger fumbling a vial of antidote out of his satchel.

Yoink.

Dimensional Storage

38 to 37

Phantom Hand shot forward at blazing speed, snagging the contents of the vial as the ranger raised it to his lips.

In another heartbeat, the Phantom Hand returned and Will dumped the contents into his mouth.

Kinda bitter.

Beneath him, the berserker lunged off the ground, blasting upward. He couldn't see her expression under the mask, but he was pretty sure she was pissed.

Nobody likes being casually used as a springboard.

Will stood on the palm of Phantom Hand and lifted himself up further.

I should've done that to get the visibility I wanted, but I forgot about it.

Will mentally chastised the costly mistake as he raised his body another ten feet, lifting himself out of her reach. Will hung tantalizingly above as the berserker's inertia dwindled, leaving her flailing against the air, trying to pull herself up further to grab him.

He watched in fascination as the blood scales covering her body flapped back and forth like oars, trying to squeeze a bit of extra speed out, but failing to significantly impact her jump.

As she fell, she corrected her posture and aimed to land feet-first.

Well that won't do.

Will flung himself down to match her speed before sending the Phantom Hand down with her.

Rather than grab her directly with the hand and risk her damaging it again, Will decided to try out the first Set bonus: Using Aspect of the Serpent with Phantom Hand.

Mirroring his foot tricks, the Phantom Hand hovered behind her calf and summoned a pillar of stone diagonally towards itself.

Of course, there was a thin piece of bone between the pillar and the hand, but that didn't matter to the Ability. In rapid succession, pillars of stone jutted out of the ground and slammed her legs out from under her just as she hit the ground.

Will straightened his legs and landed directly on the hand holding his tomahawk, transferring all the momentum in his body directly into her fingers while stabilizing the ground beneath, preventing her harder-than-stone fingers from simply squishing harmlessly through the ground beneath her.

“Gah!”

Will didn't feel the telltale sensation of little bones breaking through his heel, but there was a cry of pain and there might be bruising to weaken her grip for when the time came to take his tomahawk back.

He bounced away, scanning the surrounding area for the other combatant.

Poof!

One of the many feathered weapons scattered around them disappeared in an explosion of feathers, revealing the ranger, bow slung over his shoulder, giving Will a victorious grin.

“I'll be the first to admit it, You've got a knack for combat and you're clever, but you're too naive!” the ranger said with a throaty cackle.

Will glanced past him, noting that Jason had long since disappeared.

Loth would be back in a moment.

“What do you mean?” Will asked, giving himself some distance as the blood-covered woman levered herself back to her feet. He already knew what the man meant, but the longer he kept talking, the longer Will didn't have to spend his stamina fighting.

“I tricked you! I tricked you into drinking a deadly poison, carefully concentrated over several months through complex alchemical processes, such that it could kill an entire town of Climbers your level!”

Will let out a belch that the other kids at the orphanage would be proud of.

“…So?”

“So, you're as good as dead! You're a walking corpse! Unless…”

Will plucked one of the ranger's arrows out of the ground and studied it for a moment before eating it, smacking his lips thoughtfully.

“…” the feathered ranger watched Will with a critical eye, his expression souring.

“Sonofabitch,” The ranger muttered, unslinging his bow.

Will's left arm was fully numb now, but he wasn't using it for much anyway.

Will sent Phantom Hand at the ranger, making sure it was intangible so it didn't cut through the air, aiming to sucker-punch the man in the back of the head while he played keepaway from the berserker.

The ranger ducked, seemingly able to detect the general position of the Phantom Hand..

Or maybe he's reading my gaze…

Will did need to see what he wanted to send the Phantom hand at. If his opponent's Acuity was high enough he could treat Will's gaze as an analogue for where the Phantom Hand was directed.

Add a vague sense of approaching danger and it would be enough to make some sloppy dodges.

I need to tighten that up, Will mused.

Phantom Eye

37 to 36 Charge remaining.

Will mentally bound the two Abilities together, keeping the eye hovering just over the hand's wrist so that he could see what the Phantom Hand was doing without looking, keeping his real eyes fixed on the berserker chasing him.

She leapt forward, forcing Will to duck and swerve.

He took that opportunity of apparent disorientation to direct the Phantom Hand to punch the ranger in the ankle, watching as if he were there, whipping straight towards the man's ankle before impacting violently against it, jutting stone up from the other direction to hold it in place for maximum damage.

Snap.

agh

Poof! Sounded in the distance as the ranger retreated.

Ssss-

A hastily released arrow went wide, curving towards Will with no hope of actually hitting him.

Will bounced off the earth and whipped his head back, inches away from the tomahawk.

Will spun the Phantom Eye, scanning the surroundings, spotting the feathered Ranger hovering silently in midair directly behind Will, using one of his Abilities to throw the sound of his teleportation somewhere distant, attempting to trick Will into thinking he was somewhere else.

He'd also seemingly learned about Will's exceptional relationship with the earth, so he was going to spend the fraction of a second before he hit the ground stabbing Will in the heart.

Will slid out of the way of the thrust, whipping the Phantom Hand back to them.

The palm of the Phantom Hand caught the ranger center of mass and shoved him directly between Will and the berserker.

gah

Poof!

The ranger disappeared in a cloud of feathers before the berserker tore him in half, but it gave Will the cover he needed to gain some distance.

As Will was dancing backwards, the earth opened up and swallowed the berserker, her frustrated scream muffled as stone collapsed in around her.

“What do you need!?” Loth's voice sounded from underground.

“Five seconds!” Will shouted.

“Got it!”

Will released the boots from his Dimensional Storage and began shoving the first one on.

Will heard the sound of an arrow flying towards him, followed by a shout of effort, the sound of crushing stone and twanging traps.

From his Phantom Eye hovering above, he could see Loth's insects and traps warding off the ranger desperately trying to keep pressure on Will, teleporting from spot to spot trying to find a way to get to him.

Will ignored it all, shoving the second boot onto his foot, which magically resized itself to him in the space of a breath.

Electric Serpentine Stompers*

+6 Strength

+11 Kinesthetics

+13 resistance

+6 Focus

+6 Acuity

Increased movement speed, increased footing on all terrain. Scales with Resistance.

+20% Ranger Archetype Ability potency

Coiled Lightning:

5 Charges: Eidolons controlled by the User gain a short-range electric aura which may paralyze enemies. Duration and potency scale with Resistance.

Will suppressed a shudder as Phantom Hand's fingers viscerally swelled and elongated, squirming forward, the palm unravelling into the tails of five snakes as each finger began swimming lazily through the air, spacing itself far away from each other finger.

Freaky, Will thought…But it'll get shit done.

Wait, I'm only wearing three pieces of the set? Boots, cloak, and amulet in the hand…

Oh…these guys are screwed.

Chapter 121: A Good Strategy is a Predictable one

“How goes it?” Caddock asked as Orev took a deep swig of a healing potion while Maybin kept his ankle straight. A little time-out to catch his breath.

“He's burning through Charge fast,” Orev gasped as he unsealed his mouth from the bottle. “But sir, I'm not sure if we'll be able to pin him down in one place long enough to-“ Orev made a hammering motion.

“Don't worry about that. As long as miss Thuy has parts of his Set, that's about the second-best bait we could possibly have.”

“That's the thing!” Orev said, raising a finger. “She's claiming the set for herself, saying she's gonna be some kind of Blood Lord, I don' fuckin' know. I do know that if she gets the rest of it, she's gonna stab us in the back.”

“I know.” Caddock said with a shrug.

“Then why did you add her to the Party?” Orev asked. “She's not even Graneshian.”

“Don't worry about it. Just make him use up as much Charge as you can before miss Thuy's Downswing. Which has…” Caddock glanced at the sand pouring through the narrow opening in his five-minute-glass. “About three minutes 'till.”

“Three minutes? That kid fights like the devil. He stabbed me with my own arrow. With his foot! in midair! He's level thirty, right? It feels like fighting another Advanced Class. I got him on the arm with some poison but it's not doing much and Imtithal hasn't done a damn thing to him…” Orev started muttering bitterly.

“Try not to die. I want you back here in three minutes.”

Orev scoffed.

“That's one hundred and eighty seconds.”

“I know, I know,” Orev grumbled, testing his weight on his newly healed leg.

“You can do it.” Caddock said, giving his subordinate a stiff smile and a thumbs-up.

Orev rolled his eyes and disappeared in an explosion of feathers.

Once Orev was gone, Caddock straightened, all signs of levity vanishing.

“Once that timer runs out, Miss Thuy has outlived her usefulness. When it runs out, I want you to vaporize everything in the valley.” Caddock commanded. “Start with Miss Thuy and the Set items she's wearing, then move on to Mr. Oh.”

“Yessir,” Miss Glasswind said, giving him a salute.

“I'm looking forward to seeing if your namesake is accurate.” Caddock said, clasping his hands behind his back as he observed the battle, picturing the valley filled with shards of rapidly cooling glass where once was earth and stone.

“My namesake is an understatement.” Maybin Glasswind said, picking up her mutated Staff of the Warmage in preparation for her task.

***William Oh***

“What now?” Loth asked as Will rose to his feet, watching himself from above for any sneaky behind-the-back attacks.

“Now we kill or scatter them and make our way back to the Fifth Floor. How's Jason?”

“He's on his way to the Hole.”

Will nodded, scanning the horizon for the next attack.

This whole battle felt off to Will, like all those times Lord Bakton had deliberately put him off balance in order to thump him on whatever unguarded body part he deemed necessary to teach Will the lesson.

The broad strokes of it were obvious:

The berserker had his gear, and Will wouldn't leave without it. The ranger was keeping pressure on him in order to drain his Charge and tenderize him for the finishing blow.

Will just had no idea what the finishing blow would look like, but he could feel it looming over them.

Will also didn't know who was running the show.

Is this a continuation of the battle against the paladin at Basalt, or did the church send someone else after me? Or is it someone else entirely who detected the set and is trying to steal it?

Unfortunately, Will hadn't seen anyone he recognized yet. For the first time in his life, Will wished that he paid more attention to celebrities.

The people trying to kill him right now were powerful enough that they had to be some level of famous, and if Will knew who they were, he might be able to figure out who they were associated with and by extension, what their goal was.

How can I mess up their finishing blow? Will mused.

He could leave: just pick himself and Loth up and fly faster than they could match. That would infuriate whoever was orchestrating this farce, but it would also give them the opportunity to claim and/or destroy the remaining three pieces of Will's Set.

And that would infuriate Will.

I could counter the killing blow. That would infuriate the puppetmaster.

The problem with that was that he didn't know what form it would take, where it was coming from, and the timing of the attack.

A guttural bellow of rage emerged from underground as the berserker burst out of Loth's stone containment trap, seemingly unharmed and flinging chunks of rock everywhere.

That damned rage is making the blood scales impenetrable. When the Downswing happens, I'll-

Will considered as he retreated from her maddened swings.

There's the timing. I'm on the defensive until her Rage expires. When it does, I'll immediately go on the offensive and aim to retrieve my set, my focus on that goal blinding me to what might be happening around me.

That's when I'll be vulnerable to being blindsided. They'll swoop in and switch out the berserker with something much more dangerous.

Now I still need to answer where and how.

“Hold Still!” the berserker shouted.

Will turned his attention over to the berserker and two of his snakes wrapped themselves around her legs and flung her straight up into the air, letting go before she had the opportunity to reach down and remove them.

The snakes weren't stronger than she was, but she only weighed two hundred and fifty pounds, at most. Even if she was stronger than them all he had to do was grab her in a place she couldn't easily reach and give her a little toss.

Oh. Will hadn't been able to throw her like that earlier mostly because he only had the one hand: He needed it to keep pressure on the ranger, and its grip wasn't wide enough to circle a fully armored leg.

Now that he had five…

Phantom Eye spotted the ranger poof silently into existence overlooking him on the hillside above, drawing an arrow to his cheek.

Without any prompting, two of the snakes –

Let's call them Thumb and Pointer, Will thought.

Thumb and Pointer sprang across the distance and tried to break the man's ankle the same way they had earlier. The ranger managed to dodge it this time, teleporting out moment before the snakes wrapped around his neck.

Will leaned out of the way as the arrow whistled past him.

Will blinked, scanning the battlefield as the ranger retreated, teleporting back to whatever distant hole he liked to hide. When he wasn't trying to trick Will, his retreat area was off the map entirely.

Did reaching the four-piece set bonus completely swing the fight the opposite direction? Will considered. Will's ability to multitask was outrageously improved, and it was making dealing with two opponents at once a simple endeavor.

Off the map…

If I want to counter the killing blow I need to change the flow of the battle and go on the offensive right now. The 4-piece set bonus was granting him enough breathing room to choose his tactics, rather than play endless keepaway.

Phantom Eye

36 - 16 Charge remaining.

Above Will, twenty Phantom Eyes emerged, causing Will to stagger in place as the vast amount of visual information flooded his mind.

He'd never practiced with more than a single one at a time, and now the spot he'd mentally partitioned for his 'third eye' was cluttered with twenty disparate viewpoints.

In a moment of inspiration, Will directed all of them to cluster close together and look straight down. After a bit of adjustment, his mind was able to stitch together the different viewpoints into a single image, which made him a lot less queasy.

Will directed the cluster of Phantom Eyes to shoot straight up a quarter mile before they began to gradually expand away from each other, creating a mental map that stretched dozens of miles in every direction.

Now where are the rest of you? Will mused, mentally scanning the map by dedicating his attention to one section of the map at a time, 'expanding' that part of the map by moving closer with the eye responsible for that piece, making the detail go up, while the overall map was preserved with the overlap between the Phantom Eye's view.

This is very strange.

Boom!

The berserker landed feet first, sending up a cloud of dust and stone.

The ground gave way underneath her as she fell into Loth's trap.

He distantly heard a feral curse, muffled under a wall of stone.

“Are we just too good at this?” Will mused as his Phantom Snakes harried the ranger, chasing him from hiding spot to hiding spot.

All the while, Will was expanding his mental 'map', looking for any sign of their backup.

They wouldn't be pressing this hard if they didn't have backup.

The ranger certainly didn't look like he wanted to be there, and there was no love lost between him and the berserker. Yet they were on the same team.

Will felt a Charge flow underneath his feet, and he pulled himself and Loth back moments before the berserker erupted from the ground again.

“You little shit,” She muttered, climbing to her feet.

Tried to climb to her feet. Two of the snakes he'd dedicated to harassing her – Let's call them Ring and Pinky – kept harrying her feet, preventing her from doing anything other than writhe face-down in the dirt where she belonged, never staying long enough to allow her to hit them with the tomahawk she was wildly swinging.

Meanwhile, Will kept searching the map in his mind, carefully keeping his stomach under control as the borders of the stitched-together images shifted, momentarily revealing that it was not one image, but twenty.

Finally he spotted two ant-size figures standing on the opposite side of the mountain southwest of them, some fifteen miles distant. One of whom was instantly recognizable as the paladin, while the other had a staff eerily similar to Mason's Staff of the Warmage.

There you are.

A feral scream pulled his attention back to the berserker as she gave up on standing, instead putting a hand over her stolen mask.

“That's how you wanna play it!?”

Will leapt backwards at the feel of a Charge being spent. The berserker exploded outward, the mask's jaws opening to reveal a real, hissing mouth.

In a fraction of a second, what was human was replaced by serpent as the snake mask seemed to extend backwards, engulfing the berserker's neck, shoulders, arms, legs, and gear, leaving nothing but a massive snake with a mane of multicolored feathers.

Between her scales, blood oozed outwards, forming another layer of protection until the entire snake turned crimson. She really could have been the Crimson Snake Lord.

“I don't mind the aesthetic; scales are better, obviously. But is not having hands…a good thing?” Loth asked.

The berserker seemed to recover from her transformation, fixing the two of them with a golden-eyed stare.

“…Nope.” Will lifted himself straight up into the air with Middle while Loth sank into the earth. No sense letting that thing engage them on equal terms.

I guess we're back to our rousing game of keepaway until I know exactly how dangerous that thing is.

The forty-foot crimson serpent leapt off the ground and began swimming through the air after him, eyes blazing with hunger.

Of course it can fly. Why wouldn't it be able to fly? Silly me.

Ring and Pinky snakes tried to shove her nose around a bit, but the sheer mass of the creature made that a pointless endeavor.

Changing tactics, Will withdrew Ring and Pinky and set them on the task of keeping him aloft and dextrous while sending the two figures hiding fifteen miles distant…the middle finger.

Chapter 122: Tricked You Back

William Oh challenged Ouroboros, the god of Mischief and Chaos to a footrace.

The Hero and the God ran at a speed that made mortal men age from sheer proximity, causing distances to shrink and light itself to politely step aside as they passed.

Time itself sped past the two as the footrace continued, and in the absence of Ouroboros's predations, humanity flourished and spread across the land.

Ages later, when he thought he'd finally caught up with William Oh, Ouroboros realized he'd been tricked: He'd been chasing his own tail the entire time.

- Jason Salazar

That damned Paladin is watching with a Nuker, Will thought as the wind whipped by his ears, nearly drowning out the massive crimson snake's angry hissing.

It's going to take just over a minute for them to receive…the middle finger.

Will frowned. There were some issues with his hypothetical counter-attack.

If the Nuker was anywhere near as high-level as the paladin, then she had to have some passive defensive Abilities, and both her Focus and Acuity would outclass Will's.

High Focus and Acuity allowed a Climber to detect the magic in Abilities that might otherwise be invisible.

Like Phantom Hand.

Most people couldn't see it coming, but Nukers specialized in Abilities, and Will would be damned if he was going to be the one challenging a Nuker in their own area of expertise and getting counter-counter-attacked like an idiot.

Well, if she'll see it coming, and I can't deal direct damage to her, where does that leave me?

Even with it's dreadful speed, it would still take over a minute for Phantom Hand to reach them, how were they planning on getting close enough to Will to attack him?

The ranger.

The only person that Will knew could teleport.

Over fifteen miles? Instantly? That's insanely good. And with how freely he was using it, it had to be a 1 charge Ability.

It had one obvious restriction, which was the ranger could only teleport to anchors, which in this case were his ranged weapons…or perhaps the feathers on those ranged weapons.

He has to set up the teleport in advance, which means he can't travel instantly without already having been there at least once.

That meant if Will were to fly somewhere that the ranger hadn't prepared feathers, he could shake them off, maybe even get away entirely.

I could steer the berserker away from the area pre-seeded with teleportation anchors, and when she loses her rage and shrinks back down to a human, I can grab her with the snakes and just fly away, faster than an arrow can shoot.

Once I've gotten the berserker away from his teleportation anchors, then he can't bring in the Paladin and Nuker with any semblance of speed, and I can deal with the berserker at my leisure.

…I tricked you!

Will frowned in thought as the dragon-like snake continued to chase after him, unable to match his speed.

The raven-feathered fellow sure did like proving how much smarter he was than his opponent and pulling off elaborate tricks, if tricking Will into consuming poison was any indication. Will would never know for certain if the ranger's teleportation truly required feathers as an anchor-point unless he read the Ability in person.

Matter of fact…

Now that Will had been Climbing for a while, if he saw a powerful Ability with a strict requirement for use, such as needing feather anchors, his first thought would be to look for a Sacrifice that could remove those limitations.

What if this 'trickster' can teleport without the feathers, but chooses to maintain the ruse to get people to underestimate him?

The feathered man's range certainly played a key role in Will's decision-making process, and if it was wrong, the 'grab-and-run' plan would get him Nuked.

The grab-and-run plan can still work, I just need to take out the ranger. No, what if they have some other way to reach me, even from fifteen miles away? I mean, how are they even watching the fight? I need to kill, or at least distract all of them, long enough to make good my escape.

…I know the ranger is going to be shuffling back and forth between them and me. Maybe I can have him deliver a present?

…Does he have any more of that poison?

A plan started to take shape.

“Stop Ignoring me!”

Will turned his attention back to the berserker-turned-snake. I didn't realize she could talk like that. The elongated muzzle, tongue, and teeth didn't do her any favors, but she did an admirable job forming the words necessary to throw a tantrum.

“Sorry, what were you saying!?” Will asked over the roaring of the wind as they spun around each other in stomach-churning helixes, moving just slowly enough that she thought she had a chance at catching him. “I was thinking about something else!”

The forty-foot snake unhinged its jaw and Will's eyes widened as a massive cone of crimson crystals exploded from her mouth. Each crystal was about a foot long, bearing the shape of a spearhead and a razor's edge.

Will yanked himself to the side and turtled up behind his left arm and leg.

Pain exploded in his arm and shin.

Let myself get caught off guard, Will chastised himself, yanking the crystals of hardened blood out of his body before the berserker could do something horrible like make them grow spikes inside his skin.

Thump!

A raven-feathered arrow buried itself in Will's right shoulder blade. At this point, Will's blood was quickened enough that he could barely feel it.

Was he waiting for an opportunity? When did he… Will thought as he yanked the arrow out with and snapped it.

“I have to use my own blood for that Ability. Never had quite enough to make it viable before, but this shape…I can use it to create a huge blast. Like a Nuker. How about that? Ready to take me seriously now, boy!?”

“Mhmm, sure,” Will said, diverting his focus to the two snakes harassing the ranger.

He deliberately 'closed' the eyes forming the mental map of the surrounding area and focused solely on the single Phantom Eye watching Will from above, zooming down to find the ranger.

Will deliberately pulled the snakes back, giving the ranger a moment to breathe and shoot some arrows at him.

The ranger didn't repeat whatever Ability he had performed that had snuck the arrow past Will's senses, likely understanding that he was trying to bait him into doing it again and reveal the method.

While that was going down, Will sent the Phantom Eye in, peering into the ranger's satchel, counting the number of vials that matched the one he'd been tricked into drinking.

He's got at least six more of those concentrated poisons on hand.

Excellent.

Scorned again, the giant snake unleashed another torrent of bloody spears, which prompted Will to pull himself out of range before it could do any damage.

That's the difference between these two. Now that I know how she does it, it's no longer dangerous. The Ranger caught me during a blind spot, so he can do it again.

Dimensional Storage

16 - 14 Charge remaining.

Will spent two Charge having Middle dip down to the rocky ground and pick up a stone about the size of his fist, while one of the snakes harassing the ranger grabbed about a head-sized chunk of air.

Will had never tried to do this before, and if it didn't work, he'd have to shift tactics, and fast.

Will lead his fight with the berserker down to ground level at the top speed she was capable of, dodging out of the way as she crashed into the ground.

It didn't do any damage to her. Stone might as well have been cottage cheese to her current self, doped to the gills with Abilities. But that wasn't what Will was aiming for.

As the sound, dust and vibration washed over the battlefield, Pointer snuck into the ranger's satchel and pumped air into each of his tightly sealed vials of poison.

Making them into bombs.

The vials weren't integrated into a person's System like a Relic, and they weren't inside the ranger, so Will could fiddle with them to his heart's content as long as the ranger didn't notice him doing it.

Releasing air from dimensional storage into a sealed container was a bit odd, but there was nothing preventing him from doing it. Will had released air inside air before. There was a faint feeling of resistance as the pressure inside the vials built, but it wasn't much.

Air can move aside for more air quite easily. I should ask Loth about that. On the other hand she might try to teach me some advanced math formula…

Will stopped pumping the air into the vials when he felt as though they might explode prematurely.

Will lead the berserker on a merry chase for a while longer, his right arm going numb as the poison in his shoulder blade spread through it.

“Hold…Still…Brat..” The massive snake panted, beginning to shrink as the berserker's bloodrage hit the wall.

Here we go, Will thought, charging in as the snake form unraveled in reverse. Starting from the feet, the mask's scales retracted until it returned to a lifeless snake-face.

With his Phantom Eye, he spotted the ranger teleport away from the battlefield, leaving behind Pointer and Thumb.

Will directed the four remaining snakes to grab her arms and legs.

“Agh, you son of a bitch!” She shouted as the snakes pinned her to the ground.

Will directed Thumb to take the wound in his shoulderblade. A small hole opened up on the snake's side, and the hole in his own shoulder closed instantly.

This afforded him just enough control over his right hand that he was able to reach down and pry the mask off of her wiggling face, revealing a rather young woman, in maybe her early twenties, with matted black hair from the mask and wild, bloodshot eyes.

Will could see the whites all the way around her eyes, and she had a nosebleed, likely as a side-effect of controlling her own blood.

“Fuck you! Give me that back! Damnit, where the Abyss is Everyone!?”

In the distance, the sky lit up as a bolt of lightning the size of a city struck the earth.

“They're busy,” Will said, putting the mask over his face.

***Caddock, level 63 high Paladin***

“Alright,” Orev said, appearing in a cloud of feathers and holding out his hand. “She's on the downswing, let's go.”

Still a few seconds left on the timer, Caddock thought. Need to get a better one.

Caddock strode towards Orev, aiming to take the man's hand.

“Wait!” Maybin shouted, her gaze snapping to the side, raising her hand to create a defensive barrier.

It was just a moment too late.

A rock the size of a fist appeared about a foot away from Orev's satchel and drilled into it at the speed of an arrow fired by a demigod.

Orev's eyes widened as a cloud of deadly poison erupted from his ruptured satchel, coating all three of them.

Maybin's gaze followed some invisible enemy and she dropped an impressive amount of lightning down, swatting whatever Ability William Oh had used against them, and glassing half the mountainside in the process.

Nowhere near where he wanted her to make the first blow. And now she was poisoned.

Caddock met Orev's gaze, his eyes narrowed as he suppressed a cold rage.

Sustain Life.

118 - 116 Charge remaining.

He targeted Maybin and Orev with Sustain Life, guaranteeing their survival. He was somewhat tempted not to include Orev, but the ranger hadn't done anything overtly deserving of death.

“Take miss Glasswind to get an antidote, please, Orev.”

“Y-yessir.” The pale ranger nodded taking miss Glasswind's hand and disappearing.

Caddock turned back towards the distant battle, crossing his arms as he waited for Orev.

I guess fifteen miles wasn't far enough. What a ridiculous young man.

***William Oh***

Will winced in pain as Middle snake and the Phantom Eye watching the exchange were both vaporized, sending a phantom pain through his middle finger and eye.

I just lost the Sickle of Cold Harvest.

Feathered Serpent Mask:

+8 Acuity

+6 Kinesthetics

+6 Resistance

+6 Focus

Progenitor's Disguise:

Variable Charge, Take the form of a spawn of Ouroboros.

Secondary, at will: encodes speech such that only spawn of Ouroboros may understand.

A ripple of power ran through both Will and the snakes as they gained the six-item bonus from the Set, the amulet in Phantom Hand now counting for three of them.

Better grab the rest and escape before they recover, Will thought, grabbing the stone dagger out of her waistband. As he removed the dagger, the armor of blood scales covering her form rippled for an instant then faded to a thin coating of blood.

Tecpatl of the Trespasser

+6 Strength

+6 Resistance

+10 Kinesthetics

+9 Acuity

+6 Focus

+20% Potency of Rogue Archetype Abilities.

25% reduction in audiovisual effects of actions taken to open doors, locks, or when sneaking on something or someone else's territory.

1 Charge: Tecpatl of the Trespasser changes size and shape to match any lock. Alternatively, can become a pry-bar.

This one's changed the most visually, but the least affix-wise, Will thought, ignoring the berserker's shouting as he tucked it in his belt.

That led Will to the steel tomahawk in the woman's right hand, held in a death-grip.

Will briefly considered the way she had toyed with Jason, draining his blood to fuel her Abilities…and made his decision.

She had survived to become a high level Climber, so she likely had some major defensive Abilities as safety nets that might keep her alive long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

He couldn't let her see it coming. She had to be calm.

“You remember how I said I was gonna rip you limb from limb?” Will asked, the snakes wrapped around her limbs lifting her up.

Her eyes widened as she began thrashing, nearly breaking free even with her diminished strength. Thumb nearly tore apart as the arrow wound in its side weakened it.

“Well, I don't have time to do that before your friends get here.”

She relaxed.

“I don't even think my Ability is strong enough to do that.” Will said placatingly, backing away a step to calm her down. “So let's make a deal: just let go of the tomahawk and-“

Coiled Strike

14 - 9 Charges remaining

Will flickered behind her and drove the stone blade through the back of her skull with all the force he could muster.

Chapter 123: Powerleveling

Jason blinked his eyes open, discovering a dimly lit ceiling above him.

I'm still alive? Or not?

“Am I dead?” Jason rasped, his voice coming out unexpectedly hoarse.

“I considered having someone to play that prank on you, but I resisted.” A familiar voice spoke beside him.

Jason glanced over and spotted Will and Loth seated at a table in the side of the room, a game board between them, lit by a flickering candle. Will had a cup, a bit of trash and some books beside him, indicating that they'd been camped out there a while.

He couldn't turn his head very easily, and his whole body felt like it was made of lead and bruises.

“Why am I so weak?” He rasped, clearing his throat and smacking his lips, trying to get the moisture flowing through a mouth that must've been hanging open for hours.

“You got most of your blood sucked out by a-“

where is She!?” Jason shouted as he sprang to a sitting position, scanning the room for the attackers. An instant later, his head was spinning and the room with it as he collapsed back into the bed.

“Dead.” Will said.

“You're sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Oh, thank the gods.” Jason sighed.

“You know resurrection is a thing Graneshian priests can do, right?” Will asked.

“It's not even that expensive for the higher-level Climbers.” Loth raspy voice added to Jason's blooming panic.

“Why would you tell me that!?” Jason demanded.

“Don't want you to get caught off guard if she ever shows up again, although…” Will frowned in thought.

“Unlikely,” Loth said.

“Why is it unlikely?” Jason asked.

“She was mean,” Loth said.

“And…?”

“And Loth was just telling me how Climbers above level fifty are rather polite to each other, for a handful of good reasons.” Will began, pointing to Loth.

“They don't have the luxury of choosing their teams as freely as lower Climbers, since the population is so low, so they try and stay on each other's good side and avoid friction. It's a much smaller group, and they feel they've earned at least that much respect. Also, anyone above level fifty might be able to kill you by looking at you funny, so it's best to avoid unpleasantness.” Loth continued.

“And finally,” Will said, holding up a finger, “If you make a good impression on other Advanced Climbers, and they find your corpse on a high Floor, they might just haul your corpse down and have you resurrected because they liked your attitude or you loaned them some of your dessert. It's statistically the most common way to be rescued from the higher floors: Corpse brought down by someone who owes you a favor.”

“What does that have to do with her being mean?” Jason asked.

“She wasn't a team player. Almost cut their ranger in half for getting in her way. They were treating her like disposable bait. I'm guessing that Paladin isn't shedding a single tear over her, and certainly isn't going to spend cash on a failure.” Will said.

“Caddock,” Loth said.

“Eh?” Will glanced over at Loth.

“His name is Caddock. I went through the rosters we took from the monks. The only one who matched his description is a retired level 65 Paladin.”

“Level sixty five!?” Will demanded. “How am I still alive!?”

“Apparently he never took any mobility Abilities, and you are pretty much composed entirely of mobility Abilities.”

“Huh, go figure,” Will shrugged, poking his drink with his straw before he seemed to notice Jason watching him.

“Chocolate milk?” Will asked, holding out the concoction, likely created by an Ability, and expensive as the finest wine that could be grown outside the Tower, pound for pound.

“Isn't that…expensive?” Jason asked with a wince.

“It's just like, eight silver.” Will said, glancing down and frowning at his drink, seemingly reevaluating his life. “Oh.”

Eight silver was good food for a Month, heck, five silver had bought him the Will Special for half a year.

“You get used to it.” Will said with a shrug, pressing the drink into Jason's hand. “One of the benefits of almost dying a lot is the luxuries get cheaper. Anyway, drink up. Healing potion can't fix hungry.”

Jason took a sip and was stunlocked for a moment by the sheer deliciousness of the drink, and took a moment for his brain to process what Will had said.

“…What?”

“Do you want to keep the Set?” Will asked.

what Jason flinched backward, nearly spilling the drink before some invisible force grabbed the cup and guided it to the side, catching the spill mid-flight.

“You can have the Set if you want.” Will said with a shrug. “You almost died in it. I figure you've earned it if you want. Could be enough to become a Lord, if you wanna.”

Jason considered it for a long time as the silence stretched out between them.

“…I don't think I want it,” he said, shaking his head.

“Why not?”

“Most pressingly, because it puts a huge freakin' target on my back, and I've discovered that I'm not cut out for that kind of heat. I suck at fighting.”

“True. Will is much better at fighting than you.” Loth interjected.

“He just needs practice,” Will said.

Jason wanted to grin at Will defending his honor, but the idea of 'practicing' people trying to kill him send a shiver of dread down his spine.

“The reason that motivates me more, though,” Jason said, “It's just not me.”

“What do you mean?” Will asked, turning his attention back to Jason.

“I mean, sure it's powerful, and maybe I'll never get the opportunity to wear a Set like that again, but it…wasn't my Build. The set was basically just stamping your Build overtop of mine. I want to…” Jason searched for the words to express how he felt.

“I want to discover how my Class works for myself, and what works for me, see how my Upgrades shake out, and make my own Build as I go.” Jason said.

Will seemed to consider for a moment before nodding. “That's a good choice. A man's choice.” He clapped a hand over Jason's shoulder. “Let's get some food in you, and head out as soon as you're recovered. You've got your own personal bus.” Will motioned to the two of them.

Will patted himself down, seemingly searching for something.

“Who has the Ring of Regeneration anyway?” He asked, turning to the kobold.

“Reggie.”

“Damn. Makes sense.” Will turned his attention back to Jason. “Alright, so here's the deal, Jason. Normally, I would want to let you take your time and make some friends, gain some levels, get some experience fighting monsters and Climbing in general, and catch up to us in your own time, but there's a problem: We've got a handful of level sixties chasing us, and we need to make you as unkillable as possible over the next week or so.”

“Which means…?” Jason asked.

“Powerleveling!” Loth said.

“I'm so glad you decided to do it without using the Set,” Will said, nodding. “That would've made things too easy and you wouldn't have learned anything. You gotta level yourself and your skill, am I right?” Will asked clapping Jason on the back.

“What? No, I like easy!” Jason protested. “If we're gonna powerlevel, let me use the set. I'll figure out my Build later!”

Loth cackled. “I told you!”

“Fiiine.” Will pouted, putting his tomahawk on the table and bending down to take off his shoes. “But don't get used to it: once we get to the Fifth Floor, we're gonna buy you some other gear.”

Once Jason no longer felt weak, he got up and began slipping on the Family Gathering set, frowning as he scanned the assembled Relics.

“Where'd the Amulet go?” Jason asked, wondering if the people that attacked them had stolen or broken it.

“I ate it.” Will said, causing Jason's eyes to bulge. “But don't worry, there's still six pieces so you can get the full set bonus.”

“He doesn't need the full set bonus.” Loth said with a sigh, pushing her way into their huddle, sliding the cloak and the stone dagger towards Will. “He only needs four including the tomahawk to give him the snakes that apply Psychic Venom, which is all he needs to powerlevel. Will, you take the two Rogue boosting pieces. They don't do anything for Jason, and they might be enough to get your full Set bonus.”

Will nodded, taking the two Relics before turning to Jason.

“Will you join our Party?” Will asked.

You have been invited to join the Party of William Oh!

Jason felt like he was about to cross a threshold into something dark and terrifying, with no way of telling how badly it could end…but at the same time, greatness was brushing against the tips of his fingers.

“Yes.”

You have joined the Party of William Oh!

Party Leader:

William Oh

Resourceful Climber Level 30

31 + 61 Strength

90 + 66 Kinesthetics

93 + 30 Resistance

60 + 30 Focus

116 + 32 Acuity

Charges: 27/90

Free Points: 0

Primary Abilities: Aspect of the Immortal Serpent**, Phantom Hand***

Secondary Abilities: Sourdough**

Tertiary Abilities: Phantom Eye

“Not enough to get the full Set bonus.” Will said. “I'd need another fifteen levels to make that happen.”

“Noted.” Loth said.

Jason's jaw went slack as he scanned Will's body.

Cloak. Dagger. And that's it.

Will wasn't wearing any other Relics that Jason could see, but his stats were…outrageously high, like he was wearing a full complement of legendary Relics that could've only been placed in the mortal realm by the gods themselves.

“How are your Stat bonuses so High!?” Jason demanded.

“Well I-“

“No, nevermind,” Jason said, waving him off. “The less I know, the less people can torture out of me. You're obviously chasing a Lordship, and that means keeping your Build a secret.”

Will shared a glance with Loth and shrugged.

“You're not wrong. Alright, let's get you up to speed,” Will said, nodding towards the door.

When they left the inn, Jason was shocked to discover that they'd made the climb to the Second Floor while he was unconscious.

The wind was biting, and Loth grumbled, bundling up inside a massive sheepskin, sending Will furtive glances.

But the view…

Jason forgot to breathe as he looked across the endless sky dotted with floating mountains.

The sheer majesty wiped away all the little niggling doubts that had been growing about a life spent fighting for his life. As a Climber, he would see every magnificent thing The Tower had created, and bring stories of them back to those who lived outside.

That was a good enough reason.

“We're going to take you somewhere to grind Kaith. I'm gonna pick you up, don't freak out.”

Jason felt an invisible force loop itself around his waist, and a moment later, he was speeding through the sky at an outrageous clip, the cold wind forcing him to shield his face to avoid getting it frozen off.

By the time the wind died down, they were standing on the side of a mountain, staring down at a line of massive bug-looking things, with skin and strangely mammalian eyes.

“We're outside the safe zone where people normally grind, so you don't have to share,” Will said, crossing his arms and finding a comfortable place to sit on the mossy rocks. “Those are Kaith. Every one you kill is one less to attack merchant caravans. They're not gonna to run out anytime soon. Have fun, let me know when your level caps out.”

The kaith noticed their presence and the line of creatures turned to face them, their ivory mandibles twitching, as if sniffing their scent to determine if they were prey.

Then they began charging uphill.

Oh gods, those are Way bigger than I thought! Jason thought, eyes widening.

***William Oh***

“He's really getting into it,” Will said as they watched Jason beginning to loosen up and try different things.

The Psychic Venom affix on the tomahawk, when combined with the 4-piece set bonus, basically trivialized the combat. All Jason had to do was send his snakes over to the kaith and bite them before moving on to the next ones.

But the Prophet of the End was experimenting, yanking kaith legs out from under them, shoving them around to see how strong the snakes were, applying Withering Repudiation to see how strong the paralysis and damage effect were.

Experimenting.

From what Will had read when Jason joined the Party, he wouldn't be able to apply Withering Repudiation to Kaith, because they didn't understand speech, but the set bonus bypassed that.

Maybe he's planning on upgrading it to bypass the speech requirement? Will thought.

If Jason applied the right Sacrifice from a creature with psychic communication, perhaps the speaking requirement would get replaced by a wave of psychic intent, which would bypass the language barrier, as long as the creature had any sort of mind at all.

And then add an area-of-effect upgrade…a Nuker with a psychic damage attack? Unheard of.

Hand of Fate looked like it could've been picked as a secondary. It made you a little luckier, or an enemy a little unluckier for a very short amount of time, and had no other effects.

Will watched as Jason flung his hand forward authoritatively and shouted 'Hand of fate!'…and it accomplished nothing. The Kaith charged him with mindless rage and Jason was forced to kill it with Psychic Venom.

Wait, did one of its feet slip a bit on a rock?

Is Hand of fate one of those that starts slow and ramps up to be outrageous or is it a wasted Primary? Will wondered.

Will supposed if it was upgraded to apply a wider, stronger effect, for a much longer period of time, then small benefits could accumulate to make it an unsung hero of Jason's build.

He knew how fatal a tiny slip could be in a fight, and giving a whole Party those marginal benefits over a long period of time could make a huge difference.

The only problem was, Hand of Fate wasn't flashy. No one would know it was happening, no one would thank him for casting it, and they might come to rely on it correcting their mistakes, which could weaken discipline in the long run.

We're going to have to have a talk about when and how to use that. He might want to consider adding a Sacrifice that solely gives it a visual effect, because his Party needs to Know that he's helping them, or it'll undermine his standing wit-

“Rock.” Loth's voice caught Will's attention.

“Eh?” Will glanced down at the kobold bundled up in sheepskins on his lap.

A single black claw emerged from the sheepskin to point at an enormous bird trailing a thunderstorm like a cloak in the distance, its gaze focused on the rapidly accumulating pile of kaith corpses around Jason.

“Ooooh, Roc.” Will said.

Chapter 124: Six Piece Set Bonus

William Oh walks on frozen lightning, drinks the tears of the gods, breathes defiance, and stares giants in the eye.

- Jason Salazar

“I did it,” Jason panted breathlessly.

You have reached level 10!

Now that you have reached level 10, experience gain in the Hunting Grounds through the 2nd Floor have been nerfed.

If you wish to continue to accumulate power, you must Climb to the 3rd Floor.

Jason Salazar

Prophet of the End Level 10

20 Strength

10 Kinesthetics

40 Resistance

40 Focus

30 Acuity

Charges: 3/40

Free Points: 10

Primary upgrade Available. (2)

Secondary Ability Available.

Wow. I am a complete badass. Jason thought, staring at his outlandishly high stats. I could probably take three Heaths at once now. At least, before he got his Class.

“Did what?” Will's voice came from behind as he climbed down the hillside to stand beside Jason.

“I got to level ten!” Jason cried, pumping a fist.

“Nice. Say, since you're done on this floor, can I get the axe and the mask back for a minute?”

“Why?”

A shadow blotted out the evening sun, prompting Jason to look up, and wish he hadn't.

“No reason.”

***William Oh***

Will would've laughed at how comically fast Jason tore off the mask and handed it over if he hadn't been paying more attention to the roc and counting down its e.t.a.

15…14…13…

Will slipped on the mask and looped a snake around Jason before he flew the two of them a couple hundred feet back from the pile of dissolving kaith corpses, watching and waiting.

The roc did not see them as a meal. Or even a threat. The bird landed right beside the largest pile of undissolved kaith and began gorging itself, it's back squarely to them.

From here, Will could make out the roiling thunderclouds that clung to the bird's shoulder down past it's tail. Crackling noises accompanied tiny bursts of light as miniature lightning bolts arced from one man-sized feather to another.

Will measured the height from the bird's shoulder to its pelvis, wondering how big the slab of breast meat would be. The woman at the Stronghold had carved her stall into the slab of salted meat.

What would a fresh roc sandwich taste like? Will thought, glancing at Loth.

“With cheese.” Loth whispered back, seemingly treading the same mental ground.

Will nodded. He would add tomatoes and onions too, but Loth didn't subscribe to veggies.

“We're gonna leave, right? Jason asked. “It's not interested in us, so we can just leave. Right?”

Will pursed his lips in thought. He was itching to try out the 6-piece set bonus. To an unusual degree, actually. And the 2nd Floor Raid Boss seemed like an excellent target to see what it could do.

But…he was supposed to be the wise leader here. He was supposed to give Jason a good example of what proper Climbing looked like, and proper Climbers did not pick fights they weren't sure they could win for a chance at a particularly tasty sandwich.

And what if the fight with the Roc spills over on Jason?

Will blinked as he realized what was going on in his head.

The roc was a stand in for the paladin's Party.

Will had made the right decision to run away….but it ate at him. In the back of his mind, Will was wondering if, with his full set, he could've beat them, and prevented them from becoming a problem later. Maybe he could've but the fight could've easily spilled over to harm Jason or Loth.

And that Nuker would've turned you to ash…probably. I'll never know for sure, will I?

Once he'd realized what was going on in his mind, Will was able to make a rational decision.

“You're right,” Will said, ignoring Loth's horrified expression. “Let's get back to the inn and rest up. We're heading up to the Third Floor in the morning.”

“Foo.” Loth pouted as Jason heaved a sigh of relief.

Will took that opportunity to duck down and whisper beside Loth: “Mark it.”

Loth's eyes widened a fraction before she nodded, tossing a handful of scent-laying bugs out, which flew up to the Roc and nestled anywhere they could find that wasn't brimming with electricity. Mosly on the bird's face and scalp.

They were so small that the roc didn't seem to notice.

They headed back to the inn they were bunking in, paid the 'we were never here' fee and set Jason up with a big stew dinner and a roc wrap from the nice lady's stall carved into the side of a breast.

They waited until Jason fell asleep to sneak out and attend to the roc business.

“Now, how is this going to work?” Will asked. “I'm not sure even you could handle the logistics of butchering and brining a Kaijuu-sized bird.”

“I did some research while Jason was eating,” Loth said, opening a narrow booklet with only a few dozen pages. Her notes on the second Floor.

“There is only one Stronghold on the Floor with the capacity to process and brine a roc. It is centered around a caldera with a lake in the center, and a salt mine on the slopes directly above. They call it 'The Salt Bowl'”

“mmm.”

“They grow a special blend of seasonings on the lower slopes.” Loth said, her black claw tracing the tiny squiggles of her own handwriting. “Which they then process and toss into the highly salinated lake, giving anything brined in it it's unique flavor.”

“You're just teasing me now.” Will said.

“A bit.” Loth said. “Anyway, typically, a Climber can't transport the bird themselves, nor can they process it, nor can they carry hundreds of tons of salted meat with them everywhere they go, so the processed breasts are sold at auction, and the hunter gets 35% of the profit, or some combination of cash and meat. The rest goes to pay for the facilities.”

“Do the hard part and only get a fraction of the cash,” Will groused.

“It's good to own land,” Loth said with a shrug. “Own the right land and you're set for life.”

Will lifted the two of them up and followed Loth's tracking bugs to the Roc.

The Raid Boss was taking a food nap less than a hundred miles from where it had glutted itself on the kaith they'd killed, beak tucked into a wing, looking like a pillar of roiling stormclouds standing atop a floating mountain.

“I want to see if I can do this by myself,” Will said, studying the roc.

“…Why?” Loth asked with a raised brow.

“…I want to get some practice with the Set before we meet that paladin again. I've got a few ideas I want to test out…I want to end him.” this living on the run, always wondering when the tireless, indestructible paladin would show up again with another plan to put Will's ashes in a jar…it couldn't stand.

“I'm sure he feels the same way,” Loth said, making a 'go ahead' gesture. “If things go sour, lead it to that mountain.” She pointed. “I'll be there.”

Will nodded his thanks before reviewing the set bonuses.

Family Gathering Set Bonuses:

Aspect of the Immortal Serpent's passive bonuses apply to eidolons created by the user. Phantom Hand can interact with the physical world at will. (2 items)

Phantom Hand loses its hand form, which is replaced by 5 autonomous phantom snakes. These snakes can be fully controlled by the user at will, and have all the effects of Phantom Hand. Each Snake has its own Dimensional Storage, but only 1 can actively provide a Relic's effect at a time.

Each individual snake can absorb one wound at will, or a lethal wound automatically, carrying the wound until it is healed, or the eidolon is destroyed, returning the wound to the user in whatever state of repair it was when the eidolon dissipated. (4 items)

Aspect of The Immortal Serpent's Potency is boosted by 5000% (6 Items)

5000% is fifty times, according to Loth.

Is it enough?

Aspect of the Immortal Serpent had carryover effects from when it was still Aspect of the Goat. One of which was 'hands and feet always find safe purchase on even the most hostile terrain'.

That manifested in two different ways:

If a surface was too weak to hold him up, it could stiffen that surface within a certain radius of his foot. If the amount of that solidified material was high enough, it could support Will's weight.

Or it could cause a piece of solid material extend outward to offer a better grip.

It was the first one that Will was interested in.

In the hours of Ability tutoring that the Lord Ghoul had given him, he had demanded that Will challenge every preconceived notion that he had about what an Ability could or couldn't do.

Will raised his right foot, heart hammering in his chest as he worked through the trick that Ghoul had taught him, convincing himself that he needed to walk on air.

Underneath his raised foot, the air solidified over two hundred feet in every direction, stretching beyond his ability to detect the change.

Yes! Moment of truth!

Will leaned forward, putting his weight on the platform of air.

…And I'm stuck.

Will's left leg was trapped inside a cage of hardened air.

As was Loth, and a large portion of the mountainside, for that matter. The scrubby pine trees on the slope below them that usually swayed a bit in the omnipresent wind were frozen in place, along with the scraggly berry bushes and tufts of grass.

Every single thing trapped in place by the air itself.

“Hurry up, this is wildly uncomfortable.” Loth said, up to her shoulders in hardened air.

“Oops, sorry.” Will said, picking his foot up, the air returning to its usual thickness, or lack thereof.

“New Ability?” Loth asked.

“The same one, actually.” Will mused. “Give me a minute to work this out.”

I definitely need practice with this.

Loth got to a safe distance, and Will spent the next hour going through trial-and-error.

I definitely would've gotten killed if I'd tried to use this in combat, Will thought as he worked.

Finally, he landed on the concept of 'terrain'. The spell got it's definition from Will, and he could easily convince himself to include large swaths of material that was all the same…Like air. But since air went right up to the edge of the skin, it essentially trapping creatures inside like insects caught in amber.

But what if he didn't want a creature to be caught in it? Like Loth…or his own leg, for example?

Following his lessons with Ghoul, Will built the mental image of a 'Not Terrain' aura in his mind and attached it to a little label that he could mentally place on people or things he wanted to exclude from the effect.

Like Loth…or his own leg.

Will placed the label on his leg, picturing it radiating the 'not terrain' aura out at least six inches in every direction.

Will pushed down with his right leg, pulling his left one easily out of the effect.

And that was it. Will was standing on air, without any kind of support. Without carrying himself with Phantom Hand or any external Ability…he was walking on air with just his Aspect Ability.

It had taken hours to take a single step without tripping himself, but the possibilities were mind-boggling, branching out into other questions, like 'could this skin-tight freezing effect be used offensively?' and 'can I treat creatures like terrain?'.

So many possible uses…

Will looked up at the Roc snoozing high above him. Such a massive bird took equally massive naps, and hadn't so much as stirred the entire time Will had been experimenting with his vastly empowered Ability.

I swear, I'm gonna walk straight up there and punch that Raid Boss in the face.

Will carefully lifted his left foot, dismissing the 'not terrain' label from it before setting it down on the air.

Another layer of air was solidified under his left foot.

Will applied the 'not terrain' label to his right leg an-

Will's right leg shot straight down through the hardened air beneath it, hyperextending his left leg and nearly smashing his balls straight onto the anvil of hardened air he'd prepared for them.

“You're doing great!” Loth said, giving him a thumbs-up from where she watched, high up in a tree, safely out of range.

Okay, still need to work out a few kinks. No biggie.

Will made some adjustments, and soon enough he was able to stride up the invisible staircase of hardened air without difficulty. Not particularly fast, but that would come with practice.

Now… Will looked up at the raid boss, so sure in its superiority that it ignored ants like Will wandering around it.

Time to make good on that promise.

***The Roc***

The roc felt something strange, like the wind around him had suddenly gone dead. Sometimes there were lulls in the ever-present wind, but it never simply stopped.

The bird untucked his head from beneath his wing, blinking blearily as he assessed the situation.

There was a…little creature standing in front of his face. At first the roc thought it was perhaps some kind of giant in the distance, but when his eyes focused, he realized the creature was directly in front of it, within swallowing distance.

The roc cocked it's head and let out a chirp, confused as to how and why a tiny two-leg would be standing in front of it within eating distance like that. Maybe it was diseased? Best not eat it.

The roc began tucking its head back under its wing and go to sleep again when the tiny two-leg used its tiny paw to bat the roc's beak.

It…almost hurt. More insulting than anything. Very insulting.

The roc let out a shriek of indignation and lunged forward.

***Jason Salazar***

Jason woke up to the smell of something amazing. It wasn't in the immediate room, it seemed to suffuse the entire inn, hints of it drifting from under the door.

“Is it…breakfast?” Jason asked, noticing that Will and Loth were gone.

There was a pile of strangely burned gear by the wall next to a keg. Will's discarded shirt looked like a black tree had grown across it.

Jason got up and got dressed, following the amazing smell downstairs, the sound of chatter growing as he did, until he could make out Will's voice.

“So there I was, clinging to the thing's neck-feathers for dear life, my toes getting shocked every time they slipped into the thunderclouds…”

In the center of the inn, Will was surrounded by dozens Climbers listening with rapt attention as Will told the story, standing on a stone slab as his stage.

No, that's…meat?

“Oh, hey, Jason! You're up!” Will called, directing the attention of everyone in the inn towards him. “You want some breakfast?”

Ordinary men would shrink back from the combined attention of dozens of superhuman Climbers, but if Jason was bad at fighting, he was damn good with an audience. This was Jason's area of expertise.

You'll curse the gods that you gave up the attention, Jason thought, suppressing an evil grin.

“Of course! You know, if you guys think that was crazy, let me tell you about-“

***William Oh***

Oh thank the gods, Will thought as Jason took the attention away from him, allowing him to finally slink back into the crowd and enjoy his food. Will's Hype Man had been asleep during the System Announcement that the Raid Boss had been slain…but he was quick on the uptake, fabricating outlandish details to Will's late-night escapade…and being unnervingly accurate about it.

“And then he stomped down on the creature's neck, and his Ability travelled through its spine and said 'this is mine now', paralyzing the giant bird long enough to climb further out of the thundercloud, clothes shredded and burned by lightning!”

The audience gasped as Jason described how Will and the roc had nearly crashed into the side of a mountain at full speed, narrowly avoiding it by controlling it's tailfeathers.

The way Jason acted out the scene brought the audience into the adventure, as if they were there, fighting alongside him. To Will, it had felt less heroic and more pant-shittingly chaotic at the time, but watching Jason from a distance…Will could almost believe the stories about himself.

So this is how the church was tracking me, Will thought, carving off a sliver of mineralized roc and adding it to his morning soup. Unfortunately, it would take two years to cure the roc they'd delivered to Salt Bowl last night, so they'd simply put part of the auction payout towards buying a pre-cured piece, roughly the size of a small wagon, and relatively fresh at twenty years old.

Should last us until we get to the 7th Floor.

Will tapped his feet as he listened to Jason's highly exaggerated account of the things Will was going to do.

I need to master all the applications of Aspect of the Immortal Serpent before we get there.

Chapter 125: Pioneers Are Stupid

It was remarkable how quickly things grew when you weren't paying attention to them. That applied to severed hands and organizations that treated you like a Lord.

By the time Will got back to the Fifth Floor, Thea Oilton, socialite extraordinaire and older sister to his Party's Master Decoy, had liquidated a large portion of the Party's wealth and repurposed it to create an organization specifically designed to…

Make Will feel important?

Everyone flinched or bowed and stepped aside as he walked past. One poor girl spilled her entire binder full of documents, and Will was certain she would have a heart attack when he offered to help.

The stories of him slaughtering hundreds of Graneshian soldiers spreading through the Tower might've played a part. Exaggerated or not, Will had killed a lot of people.

No, I'm sure it's not just to make me feel important. They were clerks tasked with divvying up the wealth the Party had accumulated, creating packages of money, Relics and Sacrifices, offering cushy benefits and powerful civilian Archetypes to Aspirants who wanted to get a Class that commanded a high salary for themselves and their future families.

The Jibleya and kobolds that he'd met on the Third Floor and again outside the Tower had jumped on the wagon early, joining the organization and securing jobs for themselves and Classes their children.

Will knew what the kobolds would do with their Classes, but as long as they were working for Will, he had no problems with their love of trap-making.

In the city of Akul, there was an apartment complex that had been crushed by the kaiju attack nearly a year gone by now. Thea had purchased the property and renovated it, making it a place to accumulate and store the first two hundred 'settlers' before they sent them up to the tenth Floor.

Once Will made it that high, they could come back and escort the seed of a Stronghold up.

Cheaper and safer than sending them up in ones and twos.

Despite being cheaper and safer, they were bleeding ivory, kept out of debt by a generous donation from Lord Zodiac that Thea had secured by hinting that Alicia was indispensable to Will's Party, and there might even be a romantic interest…

Which, to be perfectly clear, she wasn't, and there wasn't, but romance aside, Will had done Lord Zodiac a solid by finding and delivering his daughter's corpse back to him for resurrection.

Thea probably hadn't needed to be sly about it.

Even with the massive war chest and the extra money from his connections, Will was on a tight time-table.

He needed to reach the 10th Floor and establish a settlement, then upgrade it to a Stronghold in the next three months or his Party would be broke.

30 days there, 40 days back. Will mused. Not a lot of wiggle room. A few days to relax and Acclimate, then back up to the 10th Floor, another 30 days. A third of a year gone just making the trip there twice.

Starting to understand why my parents don't visit so often…and because one of them is probably a demon snake thing.

That led Will down a rabbit-hole of thinking how he would react if one of his parents had killed the other once they'd served their purpose as human cover.

I suppose in either situation, I'll simply side with my mother, Will thought. It seemed the proper thing to do.

William Oh clumsily rolled a large gold coin over the knuckles of his left hand as Thea laid the details of their plans out to everyone who needed to know the big picture.

Namely Will, Loth, and the captains.

The number of Climbers working for and with Will had ballooned to the low fifties, broken up into six Parties. Each of these Parties had a leader who would report to Loth. This wasn't including June, who was the captain of Will's party.

They would've had more, save for people's unreasonable aversion to taking orders from a kobold.

On a side note, human injuries from sudden releases of kinetic force had increased a hundred times over since the kobolds took up residence, and it was only the fact that Steve the Charlatan was technically working for a percentage and not a fee that they could keep up the healing.

That needed to stop. Will knew kobolds well enough to know that telling them to stop would be far worse than ignoring it. They did not understand 'not liking traps' and to suggest otherwise enraged them and led to more trap creation. Instead, they needed a more productive outlet for their nature.

Like the First Floor, the tenth floor was a desert. Unlike the first Floor, there were many valuable magical ores and powerful monsters.

Loth had bought a 10th Floor bestiary and set the kobolds on the task of designing traps for them, which was working, although the kobolds were getting anxious to test the designs on something.

The jibleya on the other hand were cooperative, good natured, and sometimes just a bit unaware of how weak other species were to corrosive and poisonous chemicals, which led to more than one incident where the jibleya wing of the apartment complex became off-limits to humans and kobolds because someone spilled a 'mild irritant'.

The gold coin fumbled its way across Will's knuckles until he dropped it. The coin he'd pried out of a dimensional oyster landed on its side. It always did.

Still a bit stiff, Will mused, picking up the coin and starting again. He was carrying other strengthening toys in his pocket, including a squeezy-toy and an elastic band made of the sap of some tree monster or other.

“Is there anything you'd like to add, Will?” Thea Oilton asked, turning to Will, causing him to break out in a cold sweat as every eye in the room turned to him.

“I'd like the vanguard of the caravan to clear the path with extreme prejudice. It would cause more chaos with a bunch of civilians winding around threats than simply clearing a tidy path. I'd be more than happy to take part in it to keep costs down.”

“We couldn't ask our potential Lord to stoop down to scouting…” Thea said, fanning herself as if the idea was giving her hot flashes.

“My Class archetype is literally scout.” Will said, causing several of the captains to chuckle quietly.

Thea pouted a bit, then turned back to the board, erasing chalk and changing the diagram.

“The Lord will clear a path for the caravan and cut straight through the floor's threats along the” – she glanced over at him – “easiest path for the caravan to follow.”

Easiest, not straightest. That made sense. Although with Will that might not warrant a distinction.

“Everyone follow me.” Will said, pocketing the coin and standing up.

Minutes later, they were standing beside one of the bridges that connected two sides of Akul, the largest city inside The Tower.

Will sent one of his snakes over into the open air beside the bridge. Understanding his intent, the snake coiled into a circle and grabbed hold of the air itself, creating an invisible platform that stretched from one end of the bank to the other.

“I'd like you all to walk across the river,” Will said, pointing.

One of the captains shrugged and headed out, stumbling when he came across the platform of air, but continuing to walk across empty air until he reached the other side.

The other Climbers, forewarned, followed suit.

“As long as I'm in the caravan, terrain shouldn't be a concern.” Will mused, watching the captains marvel at the invisible bridge.

“You can't possibly have enough Charge to spend on caravaning. Focus on staying combat ready for when they need you to act the Lord.” Thea admonished.

“It's a cantrip.” Will said with a shrug.

Thea simply stared at him, shaking her head. “I forgot how outrageous you were.”

Once the meeting was over, Will had the rest of the night to himself, until they set off in the morning.

About a third of their number would head out tomorrow as pioneers, aiming to carve out a safe zone in the treacherous 10th Floor of The Tower that the second wave could expand.

And Will would be their Lord.

This feels like a dream.

Will checked himself for mind-control, running through his Memory Key to disrupt any effects that might be keeping him blissfully ignorant while something ate him.

But no, this was really happening.

By the next morning, Will was at the front of a caravan of some sixty people: Will's Party, Three Parties of glory-seeking Climbers that wanted to be the nobility of a newly created Stronghold, and three Parties of Civilian Archetype classes rolling the dice on fortune or death: eight craftsmen of various flavors, seven cooks, four earth mages, three priestesses of Holdna, two water mages, and a bean counter.

The first thing that struck Will was how much organizing an organization needed. Everybody had to be told what to do multiple times over the course of the day and someone inevitably misunderstood or wasn't paying attention and got it wrong anyway.

Case in point: Once they defeated the kaiju guarding the Key Site and stepped through into the 6th Floor, they had been instructed throughout the day by their captains to wait until after Will stepped through to enter.

Only for one of the younger carpenters to scream “Yeehaw!” and jump through before Will took a step.

On the other side, it was a nice clear day. Not a skyshark cloud in sight. Will relaxed, watching the craftsmen carry through inordinate amounts of wood for their ship, which was being assembled with inhuman speed.

Just something that would last them until they could expand it further with flotsam or monster materials.

It just needed to be big enough that a Leviathan wouldn't be eager to eat it.

There was a trick for that, actually.

A large tarp could be used to expand the profile of the ship to make it seem bigger than it actually was.

Will glanced over at the sound of splashing as the carpenter's captain knelt down on the water's surface and dunked Leeroy's head back under the water until he learned his lesson.

“And what did we learn!?” the older woman demanded.

“Listen to the plan!” the carpenter gasped while some of the younger cooks tittered at their antics. His name probably wasn't Leeroy, but it seemed fitting.

The older woman spotted Will watching and stood up straight, allowing Leeroy to finally throw a hand up onto the hardened surface of the water and haul himself out, gasping like a fish.

“Apologies, my lord.” She said, straightening awkwardly.

“I don't care how you discipline him as long as the healers don't have to spend charge to bring him back to health.” Will said.

“You hear that? The Lord says I can punish you however I like.” The older woman demanded, nudging the carpenter with a toe.

“I can take it.” Leeroy said, staring at the sky.

“Oh, how about I have you and Eolande bunk in separate tents?”

At the mention of Eolande's sleeping situation, a young cook blushed, her friends nudging her ribs.

The carpenter's eyes widened, and he shot to his feet, giving Will a sloppy salute.

“It won't happen again sir!”

“Go help with the ship, you daft boy, or you'll be sleeping with Duncan.” She said, cuffing him on the back of the head, to which he ran off.

“Apologies about my son-in-law,” She said, turning her attention. “I'll keep a shorter leash on him in the future.”

Son in law? Will thought, scanning the civilian Parties.

Older captains, with a mixed group of young men and women.

It wasn't just Parties, it was families. Two generations in each.

I'm responsible for three families.

A strange weight settled over him, seemingly coming from everywhere at once.

“It's only his safety that he's risking so far,” Will said. “…But maybe emphasize what will happen to Eolande if he gets himself killed.”

The old woman's eyes narrowed.

“Excellent idea, My Lord.”

“I'm not a Lord yet,” Will said.

“Closest I've ever spoken to.”

“William Oh,” Will said, offering his hand.

“Brenna Egan.” She said, engulfing his hand in a weather-worn grip.

“And his name?” Will asked, thumbing towards the soaked carpenter hauling wood to where their craftsmen were magicking the ship together from the wood they'd carried across, bending and stretching the material in ways it was never meant to.

“Kearney, my lord.”

“Would've been funnier if it was Leeroy.”

“...We could make that happen.” Brenna offered.

Will thought about it for a moment.

“…nah.” It was a funny thought, but punching down was a bad look for a Lord.

Once they had made a serviceable ship, Will's Phantom Snake released the water, and they headed for The Flotilla.

Unlike the first time Will had gone through the 6th Floor, everything went remarkably smoothly, with them arriving at The Flotilla without any major incident.

One of their healers removed a particularly large splinter from a young man who'd been roughhousing.

Once they arrived, the crab-heads who resided there gave Will's settlers free room and board, along with a resupply to allow them to tackle the Seventh Floor. This satisfied the terms of their lease of Shimmer, the leviathan-bone ship that Loth had patched together the first time they'd come through the 6th Floor.

Needless to say, nobody woke up with a crab attached to their head, either. But Will checked himself just in case.

Once the group was Acclimated, they shipped out to the nearest Key Site in need of clearing.

Between the thirty-odd fighters, the giant eel jealously guarding the beam of Miasma was hauled into the air and beaten to death in a matter of minutes.

Each of the captains made sure they got in a hit or three to make sure their Party got the option to go through the Door.

“Captains, sound off!” Loth shouted, scanning the assembled groups.

Just as they practiced, each Party captain raised a green flag to indicate that they'd been offered the Door to the next Floor.

Loth counted them and nodded.

“After you.” Loth said.

Will braced himself and summoned the Door, stepping through onto the 7th Floor.

Chapter 126: Getting Our Bearings

Welcome to the 7th Floor!

Miasma Acclimation: 7 days.

It is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Miasma acclimation period has elapsed. Side effects of doing so include fever, bulging bloodshot eyes, coughing, pustules, necrosis of the extremities, paraphilia, parasitic twin growths, and Death.

There is a Stronghold to your South, and a Key Site in need of clearing to your West.

Again, it is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Acclimation period has elapsed.

People had described 'jungle' to Will, but he'd never seen one, and the image he'd built in his mind was nothing like the reality.

He'd pictured dense forest, with a canopy that blocked out the unnatural moving sun.

Sure, it had that, but that didn't do it justice. In his imagination all those trees were northern trees that stood straight and tall, with low-lying shrubbery around it.

In the jungle, the trees were violently elbowing each other for space, things were growing on top of other things, and the 'low-lying shrubbery' was about eight feet tall.

Someone could take a step off the path and be lost for good.

From what research Loth had done, the jungle was most dangerous at night, when the worst monsters came out of slumber.

The Floors had wildly different times, which meant proper precaution had to be taken when moving across floors that had a strong night-day element. That was why they'd crossed over in the evening, which got them to the jungle in the morning, to get as much sunlight as possible.

While the settlers were setting up base camp and wagons, Will watched for threats and contemplated his Build.

He was halfway to being a Lord, but there were certain holes in his Build that needed to be patched before he could really think of himself as one.

Twice now, he had lost a finger of Phantom Hand to another Ability. Thankfully it regrew thanks to the Hydra he'd upgraded it with…But it didn't retain the slotted item. That had been lost forever.

Lords and their Vassals practically by definition had overwhelmingly powerful Abilities, and Phantom hand wasn't at it's core an offensive Ability. It was Utility. If Will was going to keep bumping up against Climbers with potent direct damage or counterspelling Abilities, pieces of Phantom Hand being destroyed would become more and more common, which would eventually expose a weakness to the wrong person and get him killed if he didn't fix it.

Will wasn't optimistic enough to pin all his hopes for Lordship on retaining the Family Gathering set, specifically the amulet in the Phantom Hand's pinky finger. As it stood, it could easily be destroyed by a lucky strike, especially when fighting someone who could glass half a mountainside in the blink of an eye.

He remembered the bolt of lightning, fifteen miles distant…wider than his thumb.

Will found himself in the position where he needed to do everything he could to prevent himself from losing Phantom Hand's slotted items, but also prepare himself to live without the set if he had to.

I need to create some powerful Relics and get them slotted so even if I lose my current set bonus I can pivot fast. They should also be relics that offer a fighting style that my current Set bonus doesn't cover, so that they're not Just a backup, but also viable strategies.

…Not just powerful Relics, but self-contained soft-sets, Will realized, staring into the dense jungle.

Now that Sourdough could add one item's affix to another (although weakened), Will could take a soft-set of two or more items that complemented each other, combine their affixes, then put them in Phantom Hand.

The boosting effect of Phantom Hand would more than compensate for any loss of power in the individual affixes.

For example, if he still had the mutated Ring of Accuracy, Bracer of Tracer-fire, and the Ring of Snaring, he could combine their effects and slot the resulting item in the hand, freeing up slots on his body, and magnifying all three effects rather than just one.

That by itself wouldn't be quite as ridiculous as my current set, but it would be a very powerful, self-contained ranged option on the battlefield that I could switch to if the Set finger got broken or if it was more appropriate.

Also…that twenty-four hour cooldown on switching fingers needs to go.

As for which slotted Relics were good candidates to replace with more powerful options, Will had settled on the empty middle finger that used to have the Sickle of Cold harvest, and the ring-finger, which had the Stormfist Gauntlets.

Stormfist gauntlets weren't bad, but the Relic's bonus to speed and extra lightning damage were vastly outweighed by what the Amulet of the Coiled Serpent could do, between the Family Gathering set bonus and its inherent Abilities.

The undead butlers had their utility. They knew negotiation, cooking, taxes and tailoring, and any of a thousand other useful skills, and were capable of a higher level of independent thought compared to the semi-autonomous serpents created by his Set.

Will also had to admit that he'd grown attached to them, so severing the connection to them wasn't something he was eager to do.

The Ring of Accuracy…I suppose if I could make a better long-range Relic, I could replace that too.

Will scanned the surrounding camp, where work was progressing at a rapid pace that both seemed chaotic and highly organized. Calls for supplies, extra hands, and insults were lobbed back and forth across the camp.

Each civilian Party had a tall young woman with black hair and an athletic build helping coordinate and provide protection, while a shorter young woman with blonde hair seemed to exist in twos and threes in every direction he looked, cheerfully providing extra hands wherever they were needed, much to the confusion of…pretty much everyone.

It was amusing watching double-takes turn into confusion then sparks of comprehension.

Ria and Anna. Fragments of a mind that had been shattered by the Lord of this Floor in his mad quest to create the perfect soldier that he could conquer the whole Tower with.

And now she was Will's.

Bee's probably around here somewhere… Will thought, spotting the mischievous fragment in his tent disguised as a civilian, pocketing a paperweight, likely so that she could claim to be the better phantom thief.

Will assigned a snake to follow her and steal the paperweight back as soon as she stopped paying attention to it.

Obviously I'm the better phantom thief.

Bee wasn't…directly useful most of the time, but she came as a package deal with the other three, and she wasn't malicious, just angry. And the benefit of the other three vastly outweighed Bee's rebellious nature.

Each of the three fragments were essentially created to heal mental wounds that their primary body couldn't have survived, and they just sort of…became permanent features, like grooves worn into a road.

Their primary body, Jean, was with Loth near the center of the camp, coordinating the camp setup with the expedition's logistics officer.

Will watched as Loth tapped a black talon on the northern side of the sketched plan of the camp, her words lost to the distance, then he glanced over as Ria's body in the north went still for a brief instant, as though someone were speaking to her.

A moment later she turned and spoke to the civilians, gesturing for them to move a feature of the camp further away from another feature.

Three Anna wandered nearby and helped the civilians pick up their newly created wagon and placed it on the other side of their tent, more in line with where Loth wanted their starting point.

People wanted to be afraid of what they perceived as the Tangled monster in their midst, but Ria struck a heroic figure, while Anna was just plain cute. She was also in charge of delivering the daily rations of sweets and alcohol. Will figured if Ria protected them and Anna regularly bribed them with baked goods, the civilians would be less afraid of her.

And it seemed like it was working.

Will's Party…well, it was mostly June's Party now.

With Will staying with the caravan as the last line of defense against claim-jumpers, and Loth busy coordinating the entire group, they weren't directly involved in the Party anymore.

June whipped Mason, Reggie, Alicia, Travis and Jason into shape, getting them ready for a day of cutting a path to the south, aiming the caravan towards the 7th Floor Stronghold.

The Stronghold on this Floor was owned by Mark Wyrd, a young Lord with a highly specialized Thorns Build. He had…a rough relationship with Will and everyone else here, on account of his father being a petty tyrant who had caused outlandish amounts of pain and suffering to…pretty much everyone here, in some form or another.

Mark had killed his father and usurped his throne, but some grudges might be difficult to let go of…Will's eyes wandered to Travis.

Still, Will was going straight to Mark's Stronghold to offer a bribe and a truce, because he was going to be sending a lot of people and supplies through the 7th Floor, and trying to sneak through was practically spitting in Mark's face and daring him to capture large chunks of critical supplies and people.

Better to pay upfront.

Even if he didn't accept the deal, that would be useful information. And if he doesn't accept the bribe…guess I'll have to kill him.

How exactly that would happen was unclear, but Will would probably start by taking away his toys and then stabbing him to death.

Will checked on the status of the 'bribe', which was a pair of gauntlets of bone suspended in a little keg of Relic ash. The ash didn't seem to be glowing, and Sourdough was telling him that it was complete.

Will plucked the Relic out and studied it:

Gauntlets of Bloody Rejuvenation

+8 Resistance

+8 Focus

+5 Strength

+12% Thorns

4% Lifesteal

A small amount of lifesteal above what is required to completely heal the wielder is stored to be used on future wounds.

Yeah, he'll probably like it. Even if it wasn't perfect for Mark's Build, it was in the same theme, and he could either gift it to a child or resell it for a huge amount. No warrior could pass on gauntlets with those kinds of stats.

Typically gauntlets didn't have those kinds of Affixes, but Will had sacrificed some very expensive rings to put those affixes on the gauntlets, the likes of which Mark was unlikely to possess.

Hopefully the bribe'll work.

“Hey Will!” Will heard Travis shout from across the camp. He glanced up from his wagon of Sourdough kegs and glanced over at the Master Decoy.

Ever since Travis had swindled the Focus growth upgrade out of that Saint, Travis had been trying to shift his Build to be more of a caster, aiming to become something of an illusionist.

To that effect, Travis was wearing iridescent robes that didn't seem to get damp or dirty on the jungle floor, along with gaudy rings, amulet, and a circlet around his temples.

His sister spoils him.

“I thought the church would've had you killed.” Will mused.

“They forgot,” Travis said with a shrug before motioning for Will to follow. “Anyway, come check this out.”

Will cocked a brow, but followed anyway, walking on air as he did so, each step sending an imperceptible pulse through the camp as he went.

“Show off.” Travis said, glancing back at Will hovering six inches above the ground.

“Practice.” Will replied with a shrug. It really did take a lot of mental effort to manage what got locked in frozen air and what didn't, and Will wanted to keep practicing until it was second nature.

When they arrived at the edge of the camp, he spotted Alicia and the rest of the Party, staring up into the canopy at…nothing.

“What am I looking at?” Will asked.

“Those plants have nervous systems.” Alicia whispered, gesturing to the trees, her blue-flame eyes fixed on the canopy.

Try as he might, Will couldn't see any evidence the trees were monsters. Whatever was hiding there had excellent camouflage.

“The vines, in case there's any confusion,” Mason said from where he was sitting on a nearby log.

“You're looking…shinier.” Will mused, studying the slender Nuker. He wasn't wearing any makeup or oil that Will could see…The sun simply seemed to be gleaming from some reflective surface under Mason's skin.

“Thank you. Women seem to like it.”

Is that an effect of the Dimensional Oyster Sacrifice?

It's Dreamcatcher Vine,” June said, studying the vines. “A whole stand of it.”

Will's brows rose. Dreamcatcher Vine was a good ingredient for support Classes. Abyss, Will had wanted to add one to his Class when he'd first been starting out, just for the Resistance, Focus, and Acuity growth, perfect for a caster.

If he could send some back down to the 5th Floor, he could sell most of it, and the rest could go towards making some noncombatant Classes focused on buffing or Plant magic. With wheat gremlins, they could summon crops pretty effectively.

“You guys wanted to grab some of them?”

“I want all of them.” June said. “They're valuable Sacrifices, and also easy kills. They're not the smartest, fastest or strongest monsters. They rely on the sleep debuff to take out the unwary. The reason we called you over was to talk about your cut.”

“Eh?”

“In the contract that Loth wrote for the caravan, you get a flat twenty percent of all Sacrifices and Relics acquired by the armed forces in the caravan. That number jumps up to fifty percent in any battle you personally take part in.” June said, all business.

Will counted about twenty vines, give or take.

So June wants sixteen vines instead of ten. Will thought, turning his gaze back to June.

“That's fine with me, but did you really need to call me down here to tell me I'm not invited to the party?” Will feigned hurt.

“Just wanted to let you know so you didn't get excited and jump in,” June said, scanning the canopy and nudging Mason off his seat on the log as she began prepping arrows for quick firing.

“Fine, but I'm borrowing Alicia.” Will said, motioning for Alicia to follow him as they left.

“Did you need something?” Alicia whispered, Reggie following behind her like a puppy.

Will glanced up at Reggie, who towered over both of them. The two obviously had a thing, since they were always together. Mason had already hit level 30, and had secured a proper defensive Ability, so Reggie was both released of his Tank Contract, and a bit superfluous now that Mason was tough enough to survive on his own.

Will supposed he'd found a better body to guard. Couldn't blame him. Could do a lot worse.

“Would the two of you be interested in being the eyes of the caravan?” Will asked.

In the background, the sounds of brush rustling and hissing began to pick up as June shot the Dreamcatchers one at a time.

The stupid things thought their camouflage was impenetrable, and elected to remain still even when their comrades were being slaughtered.

June was right, that was a quick payday.

“What do you mean?” Reggie asked.

“The Party who leads the brush cutters is on a rotation to spread the risk across everyone evenly. I'd like to attach you two to whichever Party is in the lead on a more permanent basis to spot threats before they cause trouble.”

Alicia's glowing blue eyes could see straight through most substances save bones and vital organs. It made her excellent at spotting monsters before they became a problem, and shooting them where it hurt. It also made it very difficult for her to dress herself, since she was nearly blind to anything that wasn't living.

Her shirt was inside out.

“June isn't going to like that…” Alicia whispered.

Yeah, probably not.

He'd hired June to be a good leader as he gradually distanced himself from his Party and assumed a higher leadership role, and she was the problem was that it would be in the Party's best interest to charge the caravan master an arm and a leg for breaking them up like that, even if the caravan master used to be the Party leader.

I hired her to give me a hard time. Will thought with a sigh.

“I'll talk to her. You talk to Loth about when you'll be working.”

“Okay,” Alicia whispered, her gaze locked on the kobold through half the camp and three tents.

Reggie took Alicia's hand and guided the archer around the tents, along with some chairs and a campfire that she might've otherwise stepped in.

As it turned out, June did have some demands, insisting that Will cook up a Sourdough Relic for each of them as compensation for taking Alicia, and that Jason was not allowed to be loaned out to any other Party.

Will compromised on the bespoke Relics, but he refused to give June sole control over what was probably the most powerful buffer the Tower had ever seen.

After some haggling, June finally settled on the Relics, plus first pick for a week, which was probably what she wanted in the first place.

Since the resources were going to his former team, Will wasn't too upset about it either.

The next morning they headed out, the caravan packing up while the vanguard began cutting their way through the dense jungle, making a road that would vanish behind them in a number of days as the Miasma-boosted wildlife grew right back in.

Chapter 127: 7th Floor Bestiary

“Gods, it chafes.” Travis complained, adjusting his pants for the umpteenth time as he walked beside the wagon. “You're not chafing?”

“It's the moisture in the air.” Will said.

“There was moisture in the air on the Sixth Floor, and it didn't chafe.”

Will glanced down at the Master Decoy and shrugged. “I can't really feel it. Aspect of the Goat covers environmental discomfort.”

“Of course it does.” Travis groaned. “Alright, I'm taking my pants off.”

“Do what you gotta do, man.”

Thankfully Travis's robe covered his legs anyway, but it was amusing to know he was swinging free under there. Amusing or disgusting?

Bit of both.

“Monster!” Reggie called, drawing the caravan's attention to Alicia, who was pointing up and to the side.

From where Will sat atop the wagon, he could see a furry lump attached to a tree like a burl.

“Wazzat?” Will mused.

“Spectral Sloth,” Loth said from her barrel where she was studying a new insect. She had been collecting new insects from this Floor at a staggering rate, probably to make up for their absence on the Sixth Floor.

“They're sneaky little bastards who can tell when they're being observed and can cast an illusion that creates a mental dissonance between how fast they're moving and how fast they appear to be moving.”

Travis perked up at the word 'illusion' and began hustling to the front to catch up with Alicia and the brushcutters.

Will watched the exchange firsthand, as the spectral sloth began slowly…releasing…it's massive claws from the branch it was hanging onto…reaching a set of wicked claws over to the nearest branch, ever-so-slowly approaching them.

Under Will's sight the sloth got rapidly faster, until it covered the last ten feet or so in a flash of motion, bouncing off of Reggie's tower shield.

“You see, that thing didn't actually move slow or fast, it took exactly that amount of time to reach them, but it goes invisible and projects an illusion that gradually catches up to itself, until it makes contact, giving the appearance of rapid acceleration at the last second.”

“That probably makes them a bitch to shoot,” Will mused, watching dozens of arrows fly wide, burying themselves in the canopy or sailing off into the distance to have their own jungle adventures.

“Reggie, go for a counter!” Will shouted as Reggie was assaulted by the palm-long claws that drew gouges out of his tower shield. If it was only where it appeared to be at the moment of an attack, the best way to hit it would be a counter.

“You're welcome to step in any time!” Reggie shouted back as a nearby Climber drew his sword, aiming to join Reggie.

“No he's not! Mine, mine mine!” Travis shouted, putting his fingers in his mouth and giving an annoying whistle that caught the spectral Sloth's attention.

Thankfully Will was sitting behind Travis as the Master Decoy lifted his robe and taunted the monster, doing a stupid hip-gyrating dance. “You want somma this!? I'll bet you do!”

The sloth began slowly turning towards Travis, ever-so-slowly approaching.

The last fraction of a second, the creature seemed to whip forward faster than the eye could follow, only slowing down as it landed on Travis and began ripping into…an illusion.

hah Travis appeared beside the creature, bringing a wood-cutting axe down on the back of the thing's neck, causing it to go stiff and collapse to the ground, twitching as it began to leak Miasma.

“I can't believe Travis would kill such a cute little guy.” Reggie said, shaking his head.

Alicia put her hand over her mouth in shock. “It was cute!?”

“It had a face with, like, a constant half-smile.” Reggie described it to her.

“Awwww…Travis you meanie.” Alicia whispered.

“Yeah, you're a piece of shit, Travis,” one of the brush-cutter Climbers said, sheathing his sword as his Party nodded.

“Coool iit!” Will called from the wagon where he and Loth observed. Dogpiling someone was all fun and games until they went crazy and lured a boss monster into camp in a fit of violent retribution.

The Climber glanced up at Will and stiffened before nodding. “That was a clean kill,” he said, clapping Travis on the shoulder. “But we're gonna have a little talk about who gets priority on monster kills, hmm?”

Travis glanced down at the corpse of the spectral sloth and nodded. “I'd be happy to come to an arrangement.”

Whichever brush-cutting Party was on rotation each day had first dibs on anything they ran across in the process of clearing a path for the wagons, and Travis had spit on that in a moment of blind greed.

“I really hope he doesn't get himself killed.” Will mused as Travis and the brush-cutting Party Leader strode off to have a 'chat'.

It would be a waste of a perfectly good decoy to have him get killed by their own group.

“He'll be fine.” Loth said, not looking away from the long bug with thousands of legs winding around her hand.

Will closed his eyes and laid back on the wagon roof, letting the swaying wagon, Anna's lap, the shade of the canopy and the sound of Travis getting punched lull him to sleep. The occasional combat roused him halfway, but the sound of battle was light and infrequent, allowing him to get a decent nap.

When sun went down, Will was on duty.

The caravan came to a halt and cleared a wide area, with the earth mages flattening the land, water mages taking care of the drinking and wash-water, while the other Civilian classes cut down the trees and disassembled the wagons into sleeping quarters in a matter of minutes, their Abilities allowing them to prepare the camp faster than what should've been possible.

The different Parties assembled into half a dozen clusters around a handful of fires that beat back the darkness, while an Anna at each fire stirred at a bubbling pot of stew or handed out the daily ration of sweet breads and booze.

For a few minutes every night, spirits were high, and each cluster of brightness felt like it was its own little world, presenting an invisible barrier that Will could never hope to traverse.

If he approached, everyone would stiffen and call him 'sir' or 'my lord' and immediately focus all their attention on him. He could never simply be ignored until he said something truly funny or insightful enough to earn him a place in the circle.

One of the Anna's caught his gaze and blew a kiss.

Well…I guess it's not that bad. I've got work to do.

Nighttime was when the real terrors woke up and began stalking the Jungle, and it was Will's job to hunt the area clean rather than simply wait for attacks to happen.

He was at least partially a scout archetype, after all.

Will jumped off the wagon and landed in midair, using the boosted Aspect of the Serpent to walk on the air, stalking silently into the pitch-black jungle.

As the bright light of the fire faded into the background, his Acuity picked up the slack, causing the star-lit jungle to grow in brightness until it looked like everything was bathed in a pale white light.

Will trotted around the camp in an expanding spiral, body low, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Due to his Relic's bonuses to stealth, his body was mostly invisible, just a ghost gliding through the jungle.

Which is how he and another stealth-based predator bumped into each other.

Will bumped into a shadow perched on a tree branch overlooking the camp through a break in the foliage as he snuck through the canopy, his hip ramming into something fuzzy where there shouldn't be anything.

The two stalkers were at a loss for an instant as they sized each other up, but then the claws came out.

The vague lump of darkness swung out, not giving away any sign of its presence save for for the sheen of starlight on five shiny black claws.

The claws raked across Will's face and a bit of his shoulder as he raised it to protect his neck. The next instant, he swung his tomahawk through the creature's space, feeling the weapon wobble in his hand as it caught on something.

The creature let out a brassy shriek, like a trumpeter being kicked in balls, before bounding away.

Now that it was moving, Will could…almost see it. A leaf bent here and there, and a silhouette more felt than seen.

He broke into a chase, sending his snakes ahead of him to catch the thing.

Half of them missed their target, but one managed to wrap around a hind leg, prompting the thing to turn around and unleash its fury on the offending snake, battering it with claw strikes that did concerning amounts of damage to the snake housing his Ring of Accuracy.

Will withdrew the damaged snake as he tackled the thing full-speed, ignoring the pain in his shoulder as he thrusted out with his left hand, his hand gliding up the creature's chest until he discovered it's neck and jaw.

Will whipped the tomahawk forward and buried it in the monster's skull, and an instant later, the shroud of invisibility on it faded away, revealing…some kind of massive cat with black fur and retractable fangs like a snake.

…Ow.

It had occurred to Will to have Alicia scan for creatures at night, but he'd decided against it, because while she might be unaffected by light level, everybody else was, so if she pointed monsters out and said 'right there,' everyone save Will would say 'I don't see anything'.

Might as well use her during the daytime, while the things she pointed out were actionable.

Loth will know whether this thing's any use, but I bet it's a decent Rogue sacrifice, Will thought, offloading the wound onto the already damaged Pointer, and sent the mangled snake to rest in the camp, dragging the corpse behind it.

Will continued his patrol, running into a stand of vines that had needle-like hairs on their exterior, that seemed eager to drain his blood, reaching towards him as he approached.

Plant-based monsters weren't fast like the cat, so Will disassembled them from a distance, wielding his tomahawk with Phantom Hand.

Thump.

The daily raid was done, and Will was eager to get back to camp and get some shuteye, there was a short window in the morning where he could get a couple hours of sleep, and another later in the day as they travelled, and he didn't want to squander either of them.

Will strode back into the camp and spotted everyone still sitting at the fires.

Shouldn't they be getting ready to move? Will thought with a frown.

“Come join us, Will!” Brenna Egan, the matriarch of the second civilian Party, patted on a nearby tree stump that was conveniently placed in the circle around the fire.

The seat of honor, where he could regale them with tales of all the crazy monsters he'd fought over the course of the night.

“Welcome back Will, would you like some pastries?” Anna asked, offering him a plate full of sweets…wearing nothing but an apron.

She stepped up close, leaning against him as she nuzzled his neck, while the rest of the Anna's in the camp cried foul and rushed forward. Soon there were at least half a dozen of the plump young women offering him sweets, pressing in from every direction in a smothering wall of flesh…

Oh, godsdamnit.

Will engaged his Memory Key, a collection of hot-and-cold memories in rapid succession designed to shatter brittle mind control.

Muse in the window.

Nail through foot.

Sick soup.

Choking on stolen peanut butter.

Loth joining the Party

The scene in front of him smeared like someone dragged their hand over an oil painting before it resolved back into the darkness of the forest.

Except now his hands were pinned to his side by massive leathery wings, and something that looked like a cross between a leech and a bat was attached to his neck.

“Fuggoff!” Will shouted, his Phantom snakes grabbing the thing's fleshy pulsating tube of a neck and dragging it away from Will's veins.

Will dragged the restraining wings away from his hands and chopped the offending creature up until it stopped moving.

How do you know it isn't just making you think you won while it continues to feed on you? Will thought. There was nothing quite like mind-control to make you paranoid. Will ran through the Memory Key again, and this time, everything stayed put.

Good'nuff.

Will sent two snakes up into the air above the canopy with a directive to kill any of those things they found before they got the chance to hit Will with another mental whammy.

Will dragged his bloody hand down his face and heaved a breath.

I can't believe it dragged that out of my subconscious.

Will splashed a bit of healing potion over his neck, sent the bat-leech thing back to camp and pulled out his rations for the night.

Crispy stuffed dumplings.

Mmm.

Will checked one more time to make sure he wasn't dreaming then continued on his way.

As the night went on, Will managed to exterminate several dozen different monsters stalking the outskirts of the camp, but none of them were quite as difficult as the one he blundered into or the one that got the drop on him.

For the most part, Will was a ghost, and always got the upper hand. The snakes did an excellent job dropping those bat-leeches out of the sky before they could notice Will and hit him with a mind-whammy, allowing him to remain reasonably safe.

Still, when he returned covered in blood, he got an interrogation from Anna, who was horrified to discover he'd been patrolling most of the night after being wounded. It didn't matter to her that he'd patched it with a healing potion and gotten the blood back by eating.

The rest of the camp looked pretty damn impressed at the house-sized mound of dead monster bodies in the center of the camp slowly collapsing into miasma.

Loth and the caravan's logistics officer were sorting through the bodies, with the beancounter using some kind of preservation Ability on monster corpses that were deemed to be 'high value'. Will was happy to note that the giant black cat was on that list, as was the leech-thing.

Anna shook her head and yanked his bloodstained clothes off while another delivered a fresh set of clothes.

“Seriously don't get yourself killed,” Anna said, shaking her head as she bundled up the rust-colored clothes and trotted off in a huff.

“What's her problem?” the Anna delivering the clothes asked, watching her copy march away.

“You're the same person. You know exactly what her problem is.” Will said, slipping the pants on. Spending months in close quarters had killed most of his modesty, but not all of it.

“I can't do a bit?” Anna asked. “You guys are always doing a bit.”

“The dumplings were good. Thanks.”

“Ria made those, actually, you should tell her.”

“Again,” Will said, putting on the shirt. “You're the same person.”

“Eh…” Anna waggled her hand and shrugged. “There's actually some nuance there.”

As the sun began to seep through the canopy, Will laid down on top of the wagon and let the sounds of the camp wash over him.

It was a skill he'd perfected on the 6th Floor, trapped in close quarters on a ship with a dozen others. Just shut your thinking brain off and let the sounds fade…into the background. Time gradually lost its meaning and Will's breath deepened as the dappled sunlight played over his face.

Shouts and the ringing of steel brought him abruptly out of it.

Chapter 128: Wraith Vessel

Will was still shaking off the fog of sleep as his body shot to its feet.

Three big blinks and Will was back, orienting on the sound of combat.

It wasn't coming from the brush-cutting vanguard, but the rear.

Something smart enough to attack from behind, but dumb enough to think they could get away with it.

Climbers? Will thought, spinning and juking around his bedding atop the wagon, leaping off the wagon and sprinting through the air, creating a staircase upwards to give himself height.

Two Ria were faced off against six men with ragged armor, warding them off with claws while a third Ria took the opportunity to split into more reinforcements, forming a wall of flesh between the attackers and the civilians.

The parties guarding the sides of the caravan were then attacked in the moment of distraction as they turned to look at the sound.

Boom!

Nukers joined the fray as an explosion caught half of one of Will's combat Parties. Their amor diminished the damage, but they retreated behind a wagon to heal rather than suffer another blast, leaving that side of the camp uncontested.

A flood of Climbers emerged from the woods, aiming for the wagons and the civilians therein.

Mason jumped up on top of a wagon wielding his Staff of the Warmage, and in a flash of superheated air, the flood of climbers driving towards them was dispersed.

Something's wrong. Will realized, running through his Memory Key.

That wasn't it. The assault continued unabated, with none of the typical smearing of broken mind-control. Whatever was happening was really happening.

Will saw a mote of flame rise in the shadow of the jungle and send his middle snake to slap it out of the Nuker's hand.

The resulting flash of light highlighted three more Nukers and at least a dozen more Climbers of various Classes charging stoically forward through the shadowed underbrush, completely heedless of the fact that there was a Tangled replicating in the center of the camp, and that their bretheren had been slapped down by a powerful Nuker.

That would give most people pause.

Matter of fact…Are they the same people, too?

Will took a close look and sure enough, some of the Climbers charging suicidally in shared faces with others.

Tangled?

Then Will spotted it.

One of the attacking Climbers was skewered by the party that had taken shelter behind the wagon. Once Mason had told them it was clear, they charged forward, slamming into the approaching enemies with the force of an avalanche, impaling them on their weapons.

The mortally wounded Climber unraveled into pale, glittering dust and Miasma.

“The Abyss are they?” Will muttered. They were obviously the creation of some Ability or other, but-

Boom!

Will's caravan of thought was hijacked for an instant as the opposing Nukers got a shot through, and Mason countered with the opposite element, creating an explosion of superheated steam about halfway between the two.

But they're using Abilities.

Aside from Tangled, Will had never seen a summoned creature using Abilities of a Climber. Tangled could do it because they were flesh-and-blood, and they only had the one Ability.

Will heard a shriek from the vanguard as Alicia scrambled backwards, Reggie guarding her retreat with his tower shield against multiple Abilities the bounced off of it in rapid succession.

“..can't see them!” Will faintly made out her voice in the midst of the battle.

So they're definitely not real. Is there a real one? A summoner?

Will dashed over to where Alicia was backing away from the fighting, her expression haunted as the people around her fought invisible enemies.

“Alicia!” Will said as he landed beside her.

“Y-Yes!” She replied, forgetting her shy whisper in the midst of combat.

“Can you scan the surrounding and pick out a summoner?” Will asked.

She glanced up at him and nodded.

“Try not to die Reggie!” Will shouted, looping a snake around Alicia and flying her over to the vantage point atop the central wagon, where Mason was unleashing blast after blast to cover their ground-based guards.

“The Abyss do you think I am!?” the Tank's voice faded with distance as he shoved three of the attackers back with a feral roar, opening space for the rest of the vanguard to step forward and impale the attackers.

“Tell me what you see!” Will said to Alicia, gesturing to the surrounding chaos.

Alicia could see through the fake Climbers, through the woods, through the smoke and explosions rocking the entire camp.

She wobbled in place for a second, adjusting to the sudden acceleration and finding herself in a different place. Once she got her bearings, Alicia did a quick spin, her eyes wide and glowing brilliant blue.

“No summoner. There are three civilians being dragged through the forest. That way.” She said, pointing to the rear-right of the caravan.

Will was running before she finished the word 'that'.

He sped past Ria and tapped the Tangled on the shoulder as he passed. “Push this way!” he shouted to her, dozens of feet ahead before he finished his sentence.

Will dove through the line of expressionless Climbers attacking them, his footsteps sending out rings of churning earth higher than a man that scattered the dolls aside, clearing the way for Ria to fill the gap with more of herself.

Will caught up to the kidnapped settlers in a heartbeat, driving his tomahawk through one illusion before throwing it at a second. Will's phantom snake yanked the blade out of the man's dissolving skull and buried it in another, freeing the third civilian.

Will glanced down, his skin going cold as he recognized one of Eolande's sisters, a horrifying puncture wound in the center of her chest, clearly lethal. Eyes staring.

It's only been a handful of seconds, Will thought, kneeling down. The body didn't just instantly shut down.

“Get the others!” He said as several Ria rushed past him, tossing her some spare healing potions.

Sourdough.

82 Charges remaining.

Will dumped half the greater healing potion into her mouth, the rest on the puncture wound.

The staring eyes blinked and a wretched gasp of air filled the air as the girl came back to consciousness, clawing at her still-healing chest.

“Get her to the healers,” Will said, keeping her hands away from the wound long enough for Ria to pick her up and sprint back to the caravan with the young girl, along with another two kidnappees. One of which was a mangled corpse, not breathing like the other two.

Who is…was that?

Think about it later.

Will stood up and looked in the direction the summoned Climbers had been dragging their victims. The summoner didn't seem to care if they were alive or dead. Wore valuable relics or not.

It's not Mark Wyrd, or any Climber for that matter. People have value to people. Relics too. If a Lord's men or any other human Climber were attacking, they would conduct a raid in a businesslike way. Attack the strongest member of the caravan for a minute or two, offer a deal if they won, rob us, take a few slaves.

Even if they accidentally killed some civilians they would just leave them where they died to loot on the way out.

These things just wanted the bodies. The meat.

This was not human.

With that in mind…Will glanced up in the direction the civilians had been being dragged.

Is this thing clever enough to drag its food to it in a roundabout way? I doubt it. I'll bet it drew a straight line.

“Ware to the rear!” Mason's voice cut through the jungle, prompting Will to look over his shoulder, spotting a rush of bodies as the summoned Eidolons redirected their aggression away from the tight lines that were defending the caravan, to rush towards where Will and Ria had made a seemingly weak protrusion in their formation.

…Or is it a knee-jerk reaction because I figured them out? Will thought, glancing into the dark jungle, following the imaginary line.

Will broke into a sprint forward, and the summoned Climber's faces showed emotion for the first time since they'd begun the assault, their lips peeling back in feral snarls as they charged after him, only to meet Ria's claws as she literally bloomed outward in every direction.

Ria was living up to both her ideal of heroism, and her Class's reputation as a monster, flooding the battlefield with some three hundred of the statuesque, nigh-indestructable young woman, each of whom used phantom claws from the Relic Jean was wearing to great effect, protecting the innocent and helpless with savage ferocity.

Seeing the person she'd used to be in each of them. Seeing Frederick Wyrd in every face she tore off.

And I thought Bee had anger issues. Ria had purpose. A terrible will to right wrongs that could no longer be righted. And that could eat away at someone.

I should probably talk to her after this, Will thought, glancing behind him.

The illusory humans began to blink out of existence behind him, even ones that hadn't been torn apart by Ria's claws.

They're repositioning.

Will dropped into a slide, the air above him turning into a skin-melting furnace as a Nuker tried to get the drop on him.

Will kicked the ground, sending up wave of earth that crushed the offending eidolon against a tree before throwing his axe at the most distant summon, burying it in his chest.

Will caught the closest summon's sword-arm and drove his own weapon through his face while a phantom snake bit deep into the neck of one trying to strike him from behind, yanking it backwards just enough to cause its swing to go wide while Psychic Venom tried to find a hold on the non-living creature.

Another of his phantom snakes grabbed Will's axe and began laying into the enemies on the sides, creating a straight pathway of unwounded summons charging toward him, with a cluster ahead, seemingly climbing out of the ground to assault him.

Will whipped his foot forward, creating a ripple of earth with a leading edge at knee-height, with a crest that pushed and a trough that pulled.

It was designed to break legs.

There was an echoing of broken legs, that sounded something like a smattering of applause. A handful of the nimbler-looking summons jumped over the earth wave while the others dissolved into moonlight and miasma.

Will's axe hissed through the air and buried itself into the back of a head while Will threw his dagger at the other.

One of his phantom snakes stopped the nimble summon's reflexive block, holding its arm out of the way, allowing the shiny stone dagger to sink into the eidolon's hollow flesh, then the snake grabbing the dagger with its tail and slashing the final blocker.

The eidolons that were climbing out of the ground…were emerging beside a patch of white flowers with a wilted look.

Will made the ground churn violently with a single stomp, causing the pale flower's roots to be torn asunder…and the surrounding enemies dissolved into pale motes of light and Miasma.

You are now a level 31 Resourceful Climber!

Will scanned the surroundings.

The sound of battle had cut off as quickly as it had come. There were a handful of moans of pain, but even those were fading as the priestesses of Holdna emerged from the wagons to heal.

All Will could hear was hushed conversation as people anxiously waited for the other shoe to drop.

Will knelt to examine the plant.

It was pale, completely devoid of the green color he'd come to associate with plants. The petals of the flower started white near the base and turned clear by the end, giving a sense of ghostliness.

Will caught a glimmer of something shiny in the earth near its base and poked it with the tip of his axe. It was a piece of metal buried in the earth.

Frowning, Will pried on it and unburied a Relic, in the form of a golden circlet…along with the skull it'd been attached to.

The pale flower's equally pale roots worked their way down into the skull, where the monster had devoured everything inside.

And this is a monster…Will thought.

He understood it's intentions with the bodies now: Seedbeds for the next generation of flowers.

Will glanced up and spotted at least a dozen of the uprooted plants, each of which was perched atop a conspicuous lump that no doubt belonged to something that was once alive.

These things must spread like a sickness, Will thought. One would find purchase on a dead creature, then create an eidolon of that creature. That creature would go out and kill another creature, drag it back and feed the growth of more flowers.

As the flowers grew in strength and number, they could take tougher prey. Eventually they might snag a Party of Climbers.

Maybe they were weak from another battle, maybe they just weren't that good, maybe other Climbers robbed them and left them for dead. However it happened, the flowers now had access to Abilities and more advanced tactics, which would allow them to take even bigger targets.

Like a caravan cutting through the jungle.

A plant that summons eidolons, huh?

Will checked his potential Upgrades for Phantom Hand, the upgrade from the flower at the top of the list.

Wraith Vessel upgrade for Phantom Hand:

Adds a toggleable ability to create a physical manifestation* of any item inside the Phantom Hand's Dimensional Storage.

-14 Focus: Phantom Hand creates a physical manifestation* of a stored item.

* The physical manifestation has mass similar to the original item, but does not undergo chemical reactions, nor can it have magical effects or be consumed. It appears in the phantom Hand's space with the Phantom Hand's speed in an orientation decided by the user. It counts as an Eidolon. Its durability is a certain fraction of the original's, scaling with Acuity, and if it is substantially deformed or broken into pieces, it will expire, returning the Focus investment.

The item may be dismissed at will.

Will frowned.

Could that fraction be…more than 100%?

No, this is pretty good, even if I can't raise the durability above 100%.

Will's trick with shooting cannonballs at people always required that he then spend a Charge to recover it, which wasn't always possible. With a toggleable ability, he could give up 14 Focus for a fraction of a second, then dismiss the projectile once it had done its job. Basically free. Giving up that much Charge regen for that amount of time was effectively nothing.

The cost was effectively 2 Charge per day, but divide that by the number of seconds in a day…yeah, basically nothing.

It did make him more mentally vulnerable for a fraction of a second, though. Or however long he had an item out. That was Will's choice to make and could be mitigated by simply not using the Ability when he was in danger of a mental whammy.

It would be stupid to have six items summoned constantly, but one at a time for a couple fractions of a second wasn't such a big risk…

Will could tell he was waffling.

Hmm…no magical effects.

That was a sticking point for Will. If he could grab a single Relic and start shooting people with fully functional Relics rather than cannonballs, he would dive in with both feet. He needed some kind of upgrade to the cannonball trick as more tanks and Nukers in the higher Floors could splash them off their defenses.

The problem with just using real Relics as ammunition was that they were expensive and Will didn't want to just throw Relics at people and expect them to give them back. If they were anything like some of the Climbers he fought, they might just snatch control of the Relic away and use it against him.

The ability to dismiss it was a solid positive.

If it allows over 100% durability, then I would take it, but it doesn't specify.

If it allowed magical effects, I would take it…but it doesn't.

Psychic Venom on my projectiles because they count as Eidolons is nice, but if the other two things are a 'no', then how useful would it be in the long run?

Will knelt beside the plant for a quiet minute, thinking.

The deciding factor was Will's experience fighting the Wraith Vessel's summons.

Will had seen them use Abilities. That strongly suggested to Will that he could find a Sacrifice that would erase the 'no magical effects' clause in the ability's details. The original plant could make it's summons use magic, after all.

Wil suspected that limitation was a cap created by the System to prevent too much power in a single Upgrade. Another might very well bust through it.

Even if the gamble came out against Will, he could invest in nonmagical ammunition with more penetrating power than a cannonball, and that could keep him going another ten Floors at least.

Will held the ghostly plant up to The Tower.

Do you wish to Sacrifice Wraith Vessel to Phantom Hand?

Yes.

There was a flash of light as the Tower took the Sacrifice out of his hand, and Will's snakes shuddered as the Ability was rewritten.

Phantom Hand has been upgraded. Review the description for changes.

Phantom Hand****

Passive

Active: 1 charge.

Toggle: 14 Focus

Gain the use of an ethereal Phantom Hand. Access a tiny amount of dimensional storage with a Charge. Items inside the Dimensional Storage shrink, scaling with Acuity.

Create a physical manifestation* of a stored item for the Toggle cost.

Sacrifice a stored Relic to apply its effect to one of five slots. Only one slot can be active at a time. Switching to another slot causes the previous one to be inactive for 24 hours, and overwriting a slot causes the slot to be inactive for a week.

Easy way to test this out, Will thought.

Will stored a twig inside Dimensional Storage, then triggered the toggle, copying it before bringing out the original, bending the two between his fingers.

The copy was harder to bend.

I do have a lot of Acuity.

“You're giving a real evil chuckle, you know?” Loth said, peering over his shoulder.

“The copy is stronger,” Will said, showing her the two twigs.

Loth glanced at the identical twigs in his hand, then down to the pale flowers, then back up at him, scaly brow raised. He could tell she was putting everything together from that one statement, which was why it was so much easier to talk to her sometimes.

A moment later, a sharp-toothed grin accompanied a raspy chuckle as Loth bent down to inspect one of the flowers, rubbing her chin.

“I'm jealous. I don't have enough Upgrades left in Master of the Vivarium to accommodate this Sacrifice without disrupting my Build plan.” She said, rolling the pale white flower over between pitch black talons.

Will thought back to the Sacrifice rarity pyramid he'd seen displayed to him in the merchant's shop.

Uru Drake Sacrifices were considered S rank, with nine upgrade slots on a primary spawned from them. When he performed the Qualitative upgrade to Aspect of the Goat, its limit had increased from two to six.

This was not normal for most people.

Most people had to deal with a cap between two and four upgrades on their Primary Abilities, owing to the more common C and B-tier Sacrifices.

Loth would eventually just…no longer be able to keep up.

“What's your Build looking like nowadays anyway?” Will asked.

He could see the number of times an Ability was upgraded in his Party member list, but he couldn't open the description of their Abilities, only see the number of upgrades, indicated by the * symbol beside the Ability.

She'd upgraded Master of the Vivarium five times already.

At Will's question, Loth simply glanced up at him and winked.

Chapter 129: Loth's Build

“So, who was it?” Will asked, causing Ria to glance up from where she was helping to clean up after the attack. Ria smoothed her clothes and straightened, clearing her throat as he approached.

“Who was what?” the tall young woman asked, awkwardly leaning on a nearby wagon.

“Who died?” Will clarified.

“What?” Ria frowned, cocking her head to the side. “No one died.”

“…I saw you carrying a corpse.”

“Oh! That was Reese.”

“…Ah.” Will said as his body was paralyzed by a massive wave of relief. He'd thought he'd gotten one of his own killed…

I guess he really is immortal? A combination of Abilities that caused someone to be very difficult to kill and nothing else wasn't completely out of the question. There were stranger things…Like the fragment of Brianna's sanity currently watching him nervously.

“Would you mind keeping out another six of you?” Will asked. “I think we may need a more firm response to attacks.”

“I don't mind, but they'd need to eat,” Ria said with a shrug. “And I'll need some…” her voice faded off into mumbling.

“I'll talk to the beancounter. What was the other thing?”

“Clothes! I'll need some clothes for them.” Ria said, her face red.

Will paused. Tangled copies didn't emerge with clothing, and most people were polite enough to not mention it. Especially after they'd been around the Tangled long enough for the novelty to wear off…but, if they were going to be a permanent fixture, she would definitely want some clothes to feel like a person.

“…I can do that.”

Will went to Brenna and asked where he could find someone who could whip up some clothes, and as luck would have it, two of her daughters had Classes that could help.

They were more than happy to make some clothes for the girl who had delivered their sister back to them alive.

That reminds me. We'll need to power level the civilians.

Typically that was done in as controlled a manner as possible. Similar to a bus, a more powerful individual would subdue a monster and the civilian would stab it.

It required a much more powerful individual with experience of the Floor and its foibles to powerlevel a civilian through it, and the dangers were high. If a mistake was made and a monster got out of hand, it could lash out and deposit some venomous spines in someones' skin, and it was lights-out.

Actually, we've got priestesses on-hand. Should I put them to work? Will mused.

If he pushed his caravan harder, the number of injuries would go up, but the priestess's job was soaking up those injuries, and his people would grow more powerful, faster. Those injuries would taper off as they gained more power.

Hmm.

Will caught sight of the bean-counter on the way through the camp, where he was staring at the firewood attached to the side of the wagon. The man had a severe expression fixed on his bony face as he scribbled in his ledger without even looking down.

Will peered over his shoulder and found that his penmanship was perfectly inside the lines, and clearly legible, even to Will's weak reading skills.

4 cords dried wood, 6 cords wet wood. At current rate of consumption, will be out of firewood in six months. Recommend smaller fires. Recent fires have been larger than strictly necessary for cooking and light, in order to 'match the vibe', which is not a reasonable explanation for-

Will glanced away from the dry ledger and inspected the bean-counter.

Badur Jaskirit was wearing a thick, expensive suit, skinnier than Mason, and sweating profusely as he worked.

“You think about wearing lighter clothes?” Will asked.

gah Badur shouted, leaping in place an impressive height for someone without much Strength.

“You…” Badur controlled his expression when he saw who was speaking to him. “What can I do for you, my Lord?”

“Yeah, take off your outer jacket.” Will said.

Badur complied, revealing a fine silk inner shirt before he folded the jacket over his arm.

“Where shall I put it, my Lord?”

“Eh?” Will asked.

“I didn't allocate space in my luggage for the jacket, and if I were to take more than my fair share of space in the wagon, the whole system could crumble.”

Will raised a brow and leaned around Badur to peek at the wagon's interior…which had rather large gaps everywhere, where a single jacket could rest easily.

Will was tempted just grab the jacket and toss it into the wagon, but that wasn't leadership.

“Would anyone be willing to give up a half inch of their wagon space for Mr. Jaskirit to store his jacket?” Will asked, loud enough that the surrounding caravaneers could hear him.

Several Climbers glanced at Will, then at the partially empty wagon, then back to Will, with raised brows.

Will shrugged and pointed at the bean counter, his hand hidden from the man by his own ledger.

“Sure, man.” One of the Climbers said, causing Badur to heave a sigh of relief, opening his ledger and immediately adjusting numbers inside.

“Make a note,” Will said, leaning over the ledger. “That you are borrowing that half-inch of storage space for the express purpose of accommodating adjusting your attire to the environment and for no other reason. You will eventually give that half-inch back.”

“Y-yes, my Lord,” Badur nodded and made a note next to the entry, then sighed in relief, folding the jacked and stuffing it in beside his luggage.

I think I just got a sense of how difficult this is going to be, Will thought with mounting dread.

“Badur, how difficult would it be to feed another six Ria?”

“Impossible. We have exactly the amount we need to make it to the Tenth Floor, with a strict safety margin.”

“What's the safety margin?” Will asked.

“About forty percent above the minimum.” Badur responded.

“How much have we used so far?”

“Well, due to unreported fishing on the sixth floor, and the assistance of the tenants of Shimmer, we've used…” He flipped through his pages, eyes scanning the page with unerring speed before he looked back up at Will.

“Less than none of it.”

“So we have more food now than when you first made the calculation?” Will asked.

“Yes, my lord.”

“And we definitely can't afford to feed six more people?”

“No, my lord.”

“What if I were to assign certain Climbers to hunt and forage, could we afford it then?”

Badur flipped to a blank page and began scribbling numbers at a frantic pace.

“No my lord,” he finally said, looking up from his ledger.

“Why not?” Will asked, genuinely curious about how this man was still breathing if he couldn't afford to move his lungs.

“Most meat and plant matter on the upper floors is miasmatic in nature, and will degrade into bones and Relics without being preserved by an Ability. I have such an Ability, but my Dailies are reserved for preserving Sacrifices, according to my ledger.”

“What are your dailies at?” Will asked.

“Four, my Lord.”

“What level are you?”

“Fifteen, my Lord.”

That's low for the seventh Floor. I'm worried he might die from something sneezing on him.

“Would we be able to afford to feed six more Ria if you were level thirty?” Will asked.

Badur's hand shook as he wrote the calculation, obviously aware of what Will was planning. He did it anyway.

“…yes, my Lord.”

He's a good sport, at least. He was probably willing to be straight with Will because Will had approached him in the manner he preferred to engage with the world: Bureaucracy.

“Excellent. As of this moment your dailies are for preserving meat, we'll level you and get back the dailies required to preserve Sacrifices going forward. And maybe upgrade your Abilities in the process. Roger Oilton told me about a Logistician who could retroactively change what they had stored by changing the numbers in her ledger.”

Badur's eyes widened.

how

“As long as the values remained the same, it worked, as for the how…” Will shrugged before patting the bean-counter on the shoulder. “Maybe you'll figure it out.”

“But value is relative…” Badur was muttering to himself as Will left to talk to Loth, who was messing around with something beside one of her oversized barrels.

“Wanna see something cool?” Loth asked as Will approached.

“Four more ominous words were never spoken,” Will said as he arrived beside the Hive-Wielding Saboteur, crouching down beside her. “Whatcha got?”

“Tadaaa!” Loth pulled her sleeve aside to reveal a rotund insect about the size of Will's palm, with a butt that swelled with glowing blue miasma.

Upon seeing him, it turned away and started pulsing its butt towards Will.

“Is it...supposed to do that?” Will asked.

“Aw…it's trying to kill you.” Loth said, petting the agitated insect.

“Huh…” Will stroked his chin, watching the little bug wiggle uselessly.

“Remember my experiments to create a tame bug that has enough miasma that it could trigger on-kill effects?” Loth asked.

“I do.”

“Well…the most problematic part of breeding these little suckers was that the miasma made them go crazy and try to kill everything that wasn't infected with miasma.

“…You bred a useless aggressive response into them before breeding miasma into them.” Will said. “Even if they do get aggressive, it does nothing.”

“Precisely.” Loth said. “Now that I have a stable population, I can finally try out my dagger.”

Loth pulled out the wavy blade with a skull carved into the pommel and fingerbones forming the wristguard, that just screamed 'I'm a necromancer!' to the world.

They'd bought it some time ago on the fifth Floor, and its strength relative to the other things they'd found had rapidly dwindled…especially when measured against the increasing difficulty of the floors.

But as Loth would say: It's a proof of concept.

Will inspected the dagger as Loth raised it above the hapless bug.

Dagger of eternal Servitude

+4 Strength

+3 Kinesthetics

On kill: Consumes corpse to create a permanent bone maksu to serve the wielder. Capable of simple tasks, but prefer combat. Bone Maksu are sustained by the dagger. Maximum 3 bone Maksu.

The little bug died instantly, its miasma drawn into the dagger as the body crumbled into ash. Will felt something similar to Charge emerge from the dagger and go into the ground.

A moment later, the ground began to shake.

Loth tossed the rapidly crumbling ash aside as a bone maksu pulled itself out of the ground, silently staring at the two of them.

“Excellent.” Loth said, inspecting the maksu. “Free labor is always appreciated.” She motioned the maksu to come closer with a single black claw.

“Give this pile one good stir every three hours.” She said, handing the skeleton a shovel and pointing it to an extra-wide wide barrel filled with rotting food scraps.

The undead stood there with the shovel, silently staring at the barrel filled with bugs gorging themselves on the caravan's waste. Bones, peels, gristle. There was nothing they wouldn't eat.

“Starting now.” Loth clarified.

The maksu shoved the shovel under the pile and folded it once, then went back to passively staring at the barrel.

“Not as bright as your butlers.” Loth mused. “I feel as though my Monocle of the Overlord is the only thing that allows it to understand abstract concepts like 'three' and 'hours'.” She tapped the gold circle resting on her eye.

Monocle of the Overlord.

+7 Focus

+7 Acuity

Grants minions a profound sense of purpose, increasing their speed by 15%.

Bestows a small portion of the bearer's problem-solving ability and will upon their underlings, allowing them to adapt, problem solve, and coordinate with each other more fluidly, even when outside the bearer's direct control.

Having experienced decisive minions who could work without supervision, Will finally understood how valuable that Relic was.

“To be fair, the butler's intelligence was their selling point.” Will said.

Loth nodded, turning back to Will.

“You asked about my Build.” She said, locking her yellow gaze on his.

“…Yeah?” Will said, a bit intimidated.

“I did not know about Qualitative Upgrades until after one was performed for you.” Loth said, bringing up the event where Aspect of the goat had been replaced with Aspect of the Immortal Serpent by adding a higher quality Sacrifice to the Skill.

There had been several highly unique reasons why Will had been able to do that. His Immortal Serpent sacrifice (himself) had been low quality, as had his Gravity Goat Sacrifice, causing Aspect of the goat to be a low-grade skill with only one upgrade.

This gave him the ability to basically overwrite his old skill with one as it would've been if he'd given a high-quality Sacrifice from the beginning.

“Unusual you didn't know about that.” Will mused. Loth was typically the one who knew everything.

“It wasn't common knowledge in my clan, nor was it a particularly common practice in the human lands, being discarded as an overly risky practice.”

“I looked it up after it happened for you,” Loth said. “My second primary, Trap savant only has two upgrade slots. One of which is full already.”

Two upgrade slots? Did Loth use a low-quality Sacrifice, or…

“It was a piece of my grandmother.” Loth explained. “Every kobold gets access to Trap Savant because every kobold uses a piece of an ancestor who had it.”

Will cocked his head.

“She got to level fifteen and was considered quite the heroic figure in my little clan.” Loth explained further.

“Ah.” A sacrifice from a level fifteen was almost worse than none at all.

“Then how did you…” get an A-tier sacrifice for your bugs? Will cut himself off, realizing that the story around how she acquired something that rare might be…intense.

Loth smirked, seemingly reading his unspoken words, but not bothering to answer them. “I believe I may be able to perform a Qualitative Upgrade on the Trap Savant Ability.”

“What do you need?” Will asked.

“I either need to discover what Sacrifice originally gave my ancestors Trap Savant…or find a Progenitor.”

Will raised a brow.

“Kobolds didn't spring fully formed from Ouroboros's blood like the stories might've suggested. They have a distinct lineage from a series of dragons, who adapted to the low-miasma by growing smaller…and stupider, pushing down into the lower Floors where there was no competition from other dragons. This process repeated over and over again until…” She motioned to herself.

“They devolved into a species so bereft of magic that we have to rely on The Tower to grant us Abilities.”

Loth pointed up.

“They don't die from old age, you know? Somewhere up above us is a dragon that is a direct ancestor of mine. I want it.”

“You want to kill one of your direct ancestors?” Will asked, cocking a brow.

“Honestly I would just settle for a pound of flesh, but I don't think it will part with it willingly.”

“Probably not,” Will said, itching his left hand before shrugging. “We can put that on the 'to do' list. Is there anything I can do for you now? I'm planning on power-leveling Badur this evening to improve our food situation enough to support six more Tangled.

“It's good that you mention that,” Loth said, bringing him over to a wagon where she pulled out a small case with three relics: An amulet, Circlet, and ring.

“I'd like you to enhance my Cuirass of the Cruel Tyrant…if you don't mind.” She said.

Will reached in and plucked out the necklace, inspecting it.

Necklace of the Cruel Tyrant.

+7 Focus

+7 Resistance

A certain amount of damage done to you is done to your minions first. Scales with Focus.

“It's the same effect.” Will said, realizing why even as he said it. Will's Sourdough added part of the stats together and averaged the rest. If she was combining 4 items, and only two of them had the 'cruel tyrant' Ability, then the 'averaging' portion would be rather weak.

Then what are the other two? Will thought, pulling out a golden circlet.

Circlet of the Bloody Prince

+5 Focus

+3 Resistance

+3 Acuity

Whenever you kill a minion, all Allies gain a small boost to Strength and Resistance for the duration of combat or until an hour passes.

Blinking, Will checked the third item.

Ring of the Lash

+6 Kinesthetics

+4 Focus

+3 Strength

Whenever you kill a minion, all allies gain a boost to Kinesthetics, Movement Speed, and Damage for the duration of combat or until an hour passes.

Will glanced up at the smiling Loth.

“Let me get this straight.” Will said as he combined all the effects in his mind.

“Yeah?”

“You get hit.”

“Yes.”

“The damage gets magically offloaded to your bugs”

“Yes.”

“It counts as coming from you because the effect comes from your armor.”

“Yes. I tested that, actually.”

“Then all your minions get boosted for the rest of combat, making them more powerful. because 'you' killed some of them.”

“Yes.”

“And if you got hit for the same damage again, less bugs would have to die to cover it, because the survivors all got their Resistance boosted.”

“Yes.”

Will frowned, a thought occurring to him.

“…What's the difference between an ally and a minion?”

Loth's sawtooth smile widened.

“You're a scary girl, you know that?” Will said, patting Loth on the head.

“Not as scary as I'm gonna be.” Loth said, steepling her black claws.

Chapter 130: Power-leveling Civilians

William Oh once found a turd on the side of the road, and on a dare, polished that turd until it shone…

It's the centerpiece of Andover's crown now.

- Jason Salazar

William Oh

Resourceful Climber Level 31

32 + 95 Strength

96 + 76 Resistance

93 + 106 Kinesthetics

120 + 62 Acuity

62 + 61 Focus

Charges: 118/123

Free Points: 0

Non-stat Item Abilities: +40% Rogue Archetype potency, +40% Ranger Archetype Potency, Coiled Lightning, Coiled Strike, 70% Audiovisual Dampening while trying to hide. Decreased audiovisual of Attacks/Abilities, resist tracking/Extrasensory, +30% Ranger Ability Speed and Duration beyond control, 25% audiovisual dampening while tress-passing/breaking into a locked location or container.

Phantom Hand Slots: (Ring of Accuracy*) empty (Wand of the Undead Retainer) (Stormfists) -(Dimensional Coiled Serpent Amulet)-

Primary Abilities: Aspect of the Immortal Serpent**, Phantom Hand****

Secondary Abilities: Sourdough**

Tertiary Abilities: Phantom Eye

…And that's without anything equipped to my neck slot, hand slot, or rings, Will mused. Damn.

It was time to start sorting through the Relics they were acquiring to see if he could grab anything that could act as a standby.

Will still had the ring of Snaring, but it didn't synergize well with his build as a whole...

Another Ring of the Eidolon would be nice, but I don't think they make those things below the 9th Floor. And I can wear two now!

“A rare few people simply aren't cut out for fighting.” Loth mused, bringing Will's attention back to where Logistics Officer Badur was trying to kill a Lathran, which looked something like a giant centipede with fur.

The creature was pinned to the ground by one of the thousands of nonlethal traps that Loth's minions had placed along their route overnight.

All they had to do was follow the path they were planning on taking anyway, and have their weaker members pick off the trapped monsters. Usually with a long spear and some hand-me-down Relics designed to raise their Strength.

Badur let out a shriek and swung the spear sideways for some reason, the blade twisted and bounced off the target, the entire pole vibrating in his hands, causing him to drop it to the forest floor.

He spent the next five seconds fumbling to pick it up, during which time the monster would've definitely killed him if it wasn't strapped to the ground by nearly unbreakable webbing.

“Most people aren't cut out for fighting.” Will said, giving their bean-counter the benefit of the doubt.

“Not true,” Loth said. “When threatened with death, even the most mild-mannered civilian will fight, and surprisingly viciously. It's in your blood.”

Will glanced up and spotted other Climbers watching, shaking their heads, whispering to each other and stifling laughter as Badur flailed again, doing basically nothing to the monster he was supposed to be killing.

A thought occurred to Will.

He sent his Phantom Snakes out, ripping the webs keeping the monster pinned out of their anchors in the ground.

Badur let out a yelp of terror as the Lathran reared up, glaring down at the human that had been harassing it for several minutes, black mandibles twitching with anger.

Loth gave Will a sidelong glance as shouts of surprise rippled through the camp, the nearby Climber's hands going to their weapons as the civilians backed away.

Badur shrieked again and tumbled away as the Lathran struck like a snake, carving out a section of ground inches away from their beancounter.

Badur rose to his feet, his breath coming fast as the lathran reared up again. Will could see his heartbeat in his skin, practically humming.

“Stay back!” Will shouted to the Climbers who were edging forward, ready to subdue the monster again. They looked at Will with confusion, edging away.

Let's give Badur's mind a moment to process that feeling of near-death.

Badur was too trapped in the moment to hear Will's command. The world had shrunk to just him and the lathran. He tried to lever the spear against the ground as the monster struck down. A smart move, but it wasn't a Relic, and the creature was too heavy and too heavily armored.

The spear snapped off in Badur's hand, the Lanthar smashing into their Logistics officer and trapping him against the forest floor.

Will caught the creature's mandibles with two Phantom Snakes, preventing them from crushing the skinny man, or cutting him in half.

Badur's horror at being trapped between the mandibles with the mouth-parts trying to nibble at him while trapped against the ground triggered exactly what Loth had been speaking of.

Badur let out a feral scream and began stabbing the lanthar's eye with the spearhead, over and over again with every ounce of muscle he could bring to bear, and then some.

Will discretely had one of his invisible snakes bite the Lanthar's hairy underside where no one would notice the wound, inflicting Psychic Venom to speed things along.

In a matter of seconds, the beast's writhing coils went slack and Will helped Badur out from under the beast's mandibles.

“I got three levels.” Badur whispered, eyes white all the way around.

“Nicely done!” Will said slapping him on the back. “How about that!?” Will shouted to the observing Climbers.

“Whoo! Badur!” One of the Climbers shouted.

“That was sweet!”

“Badur, write off some food and booze, we're having a celebration tonight!” Will shouted.

Badur nodded numbly, staring into the distance as the other Climbers surrounded him, patting his back and giving him congratulations for the levels and for not dying.

In moments, Will was able to disengage from the situation and walk back to Loth, the celebration having already taken on a life of its own, Badur being sat down at a fire and handed a mug of beer.

“Why?” Loth asked.

“A lot of reasons,” Will said. “I wanted to see if Badur had 'it' deep down, like you said. I also wanted to ease tension between our logistics officer and our Climbers. And our guards were too relaxed. From now on they won't be.

“But you cast doubt on the ability of my traps to contain monsters,” Loth pouted.

“Aww, I'm sorry. I know your traps are inescapable.” Will consoled her.

Loth crossed her arms, looking away from him.

“And you wouldn't want people to correctly estimate their danger, would you? Misdirection is half of what a trap is about.”

Loth sighed and uncrossed her arms.

“You're not wrong, but I don't have to like it.

“Noted.”

“So what if he's…off, after this?” Loth asked. “Almost dying does that sometimes.”

“That's why I ingratiated him with the other Climbers.” Will said, motioning to the three Parties currently surrounding Badur. “I haven't personally witnessed it, but they've surely dealt with it before, and if they like him, they'll help him through it.”

“Mmm.” Loth nodded.

The three Parties on board to guard the Caravan were older than Will's Party, although was early twenties actually that old? In any case they'd all been Climbing for years longer than Will and they'd surely seen that kind of damage before.

I wonder…is that what Leon did for me? Will thought, frowning as he recalled the hint that the retired Climber had given him that allowed him to go through Doors when his body physically wouldn't allow him to move through the glowing portals.

Will's eyes widened.

“We need to have Badur kill some more monsters, right now.”

Will then set the pace of the caravan to seek out every trapped monster they could get their hands on, putting the Logistics Officer front and center to kill the things without a moment's rest between them.

Will could read in his body language that the slender waif was a hair's breadth away from throwing down his spear down and running away, but despite trembling hands, he tightened his grip and stabbed for the eyes. Gone was the wild flailing of before, replaced with a simple killing thrust.

He'd learned. Now was the time to ingrain it in his body.

“We're supposed to rotate the civilians,” one of the captains whispered into Will's ear. “Why are we still having Badur kill them?”

“He needs to do it until his body flushes out the fear. In short: until he gets bored.” Will replied, not taking his eyes off the display. “As soon as his hands stop shaking, you can switch in whoever you want.”

The captain nodded and went back to his Party, sharing the plan.

About sixteen monsters later, Badur's hands weren't shaking and he gave an exhausted but effective thrust to the eye, dispatching the creature in a single hit. He even kept his grip on the pole as the monster thrashed, yanking the bloodied spear out and cleaning it.

“Whoo!” One of the few women that bothered to continue watching the repetitive scene cheered him on, prompting a weary smile from the dark-haired Logistician.

“…Okay, he's done.” Will said, glancing up at the night sky peeking through the canopy, then down to where Anna was cooking up beer and pancakes for anxious Climbers. “Let him go to his own party.”

“So why did you double down on Badur?” Ria asked once they'd settled down for dinner. “The people were asking me if you were angry at him or something.”

“What?” Will asked, a syrupy pancake halfway to his face. He wasn't mad at Badur. The man was just doing his job, and doing it well.

“One quarter-ladle per person,” Badur reminded Anna as she approached with a ladle-full of syrup.

Needs to learn when he's off, though.

In response, the baker girl dumped the full ladle of syrup on his pancake, much to the amusement of the other Climbers.

Will turned his attention back to Ria.

“I thought if we let that one experience crystalize overnight in his mind, he might not have the bravery to try again tomorrow.” Will said. “I wanted him to do it so much that the fear drained away to drudgery.”

“I see.” Ria said with a nod. “By the way, what do you think?” She asked, spinning in place, demonstrating the new clothes she'd acquired for her six new copies.

Ria was wearing a simple, easy to produce one-piece shift with no sleeves that ended at her upper thigh, with a custom-fitted leather belt around her waist cinching it in. The belt had a decent amount of storage space built into the satchel attached to the back, and several loops to hang things like herbs, Relics, or whatever else she picked up along the trail.

It was light and breezy, which was good for the jungle. It didn't really provide anything in the way of defense, but Tangled didn't really need any more toughness.

Perhaps…too light and breezy? Will wasn't going to argue, though.

“…I like it.” Will said. “Where'd you get the belt?” It looked significantly more complex than the shirt.

“Brenna is a leatherworker and had an Ability that can preserve monster hide, so she threw it in for free.”

Abilities to stop the degradation of monster parts into Miasma were becoming more and more important the higher they went.

I should look into those.

“So, me and the other new Rias were going to push out into the jungle and establish a perimeter,” Ria said, sitting beside him. “I was wondering if you would be interested in joining us for a whil-“

“Will, you haven't touched your cake!” Anna interrupted as she arrived beside him, cutting a piece of syrup-soaked pancake and offering it to him. “By the way, I was wondering-“

…What is happening right now?

“Will, I stole your poorly guarded paperweight, making me the one true Phantom Thief! If you wish for it back, you must-” Bee began a rant as she appeared beside him.

“Ahem.” All of them froze as Jean cleared her throat, standing above the four of them, arms crossed ominously. The three fragments of Brianna Jean Baker's personality scattered, scampering away like frightened animals.

Will glanced up at Jean. The older woman seemed to be aging in reverse as her mental wounds gradually healed. She had steely white hair the first time he met her, and now it was black with a streak of grey, the wrinkled substantially reduced.

Jean was a persona that Brianna had adopted: The aunt whom she'd admired for her mental strength. As she needed to lean on the facade less and less, the original girl they'd met on the 3rd Floor began to shine through.

“You wanted my attention?” Will asked.

“You could tell?” Jean asked with a wry smile as she pulled up a log stool and sat beside him.

“A little bit.” Will said with a shrug. Being mobbed by all her fragments at the same time must have stemmed from the original wanting to get a word with him. Perhaps it was even unconscious. A lot of the information that passed between them was unless they directed conscious attention to it.

Jean clasped her gnarled hands together, scanning the party, where Anna was laughing carefree as the girl Jean had wanted to be and Ria was standing watchful guard, the protector Brianna had desired.

Bee was off being free and wild, fulfilling another fantasy of Brianna's.

“I never got much chance to see the Seventh Floor, the first time through,” Jean said, looking up at the stars through the canopy. “They kept us locked up in the bus the whole way to the stronghold. Didn't need to get leveled now that we were there, they said.”

Will nodded, not sure what to say. Jean simply let that statement and all it implied hang in the air for several minutes as she searched for the words to say.

“Will…I'm not sure we can go back to that Stronghold.” Jean said.

“Frederick Wyrd is dead.” Will said.

“Maybe, but it wasn't like he was the one doing all the work. There was an entire industry devoted to breaking Tangled. There's going to be some…familiar faces there, and I'm not sure how I'll react. Abyss, I'm not sure how they'll react. They have Abilities that can…make people with low Focus…do things. They might see me as easy prey or some kind of bargaining chip they can take away from you.”

“Want me to kill 'em?” Will offered. He'd probably have to kill Mark Wyrd too if that was the case, but that probably wasn't too great a challenge.

Jean gave him a long, weighty glance, seemingly considering his offer for nearly a full minute before reluctantly shaking her head.

“No, I want to put it behind me. I just…wanted to talk with someone who knows my story. Share my worries.”

Will turned and drew Jean into a hug.

“You're going to break through this,” Will promised. “And if they try anything, I'll pull you out of there and erase the Stronghold from the map. Trust me. I can do that.”

In the distance, several Anna wobbled in place and leaned on nearby support, fanning themselves off while more than one Ria tripped mid-stride, landing awkwardly as their knees gave out.

“…Okay.” Jean nodded. Even without his enhanced senses, Will would be able to feel the tiny bloom of damp tears on his shoulder.

“Smooth.” Loth said from beside them, where she was eating a steak.

“Quiet, you.”

Chapter 131: Training

The days gradually went by more and more smoothly once they got a handle on the monsters, which seemed unending at first. The teeming life of the jungle slowly ran out of surprises.

Never completely out of surprises…but less.

Taking the extra time to level the civilians kept them much safer than they might've otherwise been, and had fringe benefits.

The food got better, with Badur's preservation Ability allowing them to add more meat to the menu and stretch their stores even further.

As they gained levels, less civilians could handle more and more work, allowing the setup and takedown of camp to happen in a matter of moments. Fixes to caravan wheels or the dreaded broken axle were done in minutes, rather than bringing the entire caravan to a halt for an entire afternoon.

Will got used to the sight of most of the carpenters sitting around chatting while one lifted an entire wagon, another underneath the wood box on wheels, mending something or other with an active Ability.

The earth mages added a significant amount of volume to what they could control, allowing them to flatten a larger radius around the camp. They also used their extra Dailies to create earth works: short walls that Ria could man, creating just a little bit of extra protection against the outside.

More than anything, the walls hid the light of the campfire from monsters who might be drawn to it, which was plenty helpful.

The water mages didn't really get the opportunity to shine, seeing as they didn't need any extra water, but Will suspected they would be seeing the benefits of their levels once they reached the next desert Floor.

While the caravan was forming a cohesive group, Will ranged ahead of them, Checking Loth's traps, eliminating monsters unsuited for civilian powerleveling, looking for any signs that other Climbers might be staging an ambush.

Even with all that, he had plenty of free time, and most of it was spent practicing new applications of Phantom Hand and Aspect of the Immortal Serpent with a focus on integrating them into his fighting style.

Focus 123 -109

A nail hissed out and drove itself deep into the wood of nearby tree as Will sprinted through the air, coming to a sliding stop midair in the center of a clearing, picturing himself chased by the teleporting ranger that had given him so much trouble.

Focus 109 - 123

Will dismissed the carpenter's nail and his Focus popped back up, then promptly dropped back down as he created copy of a shortsword in his off hand, warding off an imaginary attack while throwing his tomahawk with the other.

The axe buried itself in a tree in the distance while Will kicked a shockwave through the air to blast arrows off course.

Will flipped upside down and kicked off the air above him and went to ground in the blink of an eye, winding through the brush as he retrieved the tomahawk with one Phantom Snake while two more unleashed their own carpenter's nails to cover the one retrieving the axe, preventing his imaginary opponent from seizing on the opportunity to steal it from him or damage the eidolon.

Focus 109 - 81

Will dismissed the two phantom nails and shortsword as the axe flew back into his hand, warding off a feral strike from an imaginary berserker in the process.

Focus 81 -123

Will continued the fight with varying levels of intensity for hours, giving Abilities to his opponent that he hadn't personally witnessed, but suspected they had, keeping them as fast or faster than him, always testing himself through new scenarios.

What if?

What if?

Will was fighting in tandem with Loth in his imagination when his imaginary ranger opponent tricked him into shooting a nail at Loth using portals.

A surge of panic flooded Will's body and he reflexively grasped the air with one of the snakes near imaginary Loth.

A wall of air solidified in front of her, which the carpenter's nail struck with overwhelming force, cracking the makeshift shield with an audible noise, burying itself into the tree that served as his imaginary Loth.

But not as deep as it could've.

I can do that!?

It stood to reason. He could create flat platforms to stand on. Why not a vertical shield?

It wasn't…exceptionally strong, but it was quick, free, and invisible.

What if I…

Will shot another nail at the tree, his Phantom Snake grabbing the air and yanking it to the side. It was a complex action because he had to stamp basically everything except for the nail with the 'not terrain' label.

But it worked.

Dragged by the suddenly thick air it was embedded in, The nail veered off to the side, carving a furrow in the side of the tree before tumbling off somewhere. Will dismissed it.

Will tried again, this time grabbing the air and shoving it violently forward in the opposite direction of the nail, intending to kill it's momentum by applying more direct force against the projectile.

Boom!

The nail cut through the extra stiff air and again…buried itself in the tree, regardless of Will's intent to block it. The brush and trees on the receiving end of a wall of solidified air on the other hand, had been knocked flat, creating an echoing rumble that would surely be heard all the way back at the caravan.

They probably thought Will was fighting some kaiju or something. He was probably going to have to apologize for worrying Anna.

Whoops…well, back to practicing.

Will dragged his foot forward through the air, grabbing a bit of it with his Ability and trying to create a spike of air that followed the trajectory of his foot, letting go and then moving his foot out of the way to allow the spike to continue on.

Crunch.

The solidified air made a scuff-mark on the bark of the tree, but it had nowhere near the penetrative power of his phantom items. Even boosted over fifty times, there was only so much power you could get out of air.

Could be useful for a quick, distracting punch to the nose or groin, Will mused to himself, practicing the move again and again, never quite making the 'spike' sharp.

He didn't make much headway with the move until he hunted another shadowcat and was plucking a stray claw out of a nearby tree when he noted the way it was composed, with an exterior layer, dulled by frequent use, and a small, sharp inner layer, ready to make itself known as soon at the outer layer sloughed off.

In fact, the claw was in the midst of doing so and Will peeled the outer layer away, revealing a fine point that could have ripped him apart if it had caught his skin.

An idea shot through his mind like a thunderbolt.

Can I make layers?

If he could find a way to sacrifice a dull, crumbly outer layer in exchange for reinforcing a smaller inner layer to a higher degree, it might be able to punch through things to deal real damage to his targets.

Will immediately began practicing it, and at first he couldn't quite grasp the mental image required to make any of the layering happen.

This went on for some time until he had the idea to introduce stress. Like bending the living branch of a tree, one side would compress while the other side would tear apart, eventually snapping.

Will stood on living tree branches far too small to support him all the time.

Will practiced adding a feeling of stress to the move. He had already gotten the hang of tricking Aspect of the Serpent that he needed those footholds in that specific shape. Now he needed to convince Aspect that it needed to be reinforced in a certain pattern to avoid dropping him.

As if he were expecting to receive a sudden weight shoving him to the side, Will convinced the air that it needed to be able to take a weight applying a bending force…

Crack!

What was that?

After hundreds of attempts, Will heard something different. He inspected the tree and spotted a line of damage on the bark about half the length of his finger.

A line of damage instead of a blunt scuff against the bark. It pierced maybe a fingernail's depth into the bark. Enough to make a nonlethal cut on a baseline human.

I wish I could see the damn thing, Will mused. This was like learning how to read and write while blind.

Not impossible but slow and frustrating.

…Why don't you just make it so you can see it?

Will then spent the evening kicking the air above a small fire that he kept fed with young branches, creating a billowing cloud of smoke.

Snag some air…manipulate that feeling of tension…where the stress will be highest. Create layers…

Will kicked through the smoke cloud, grabbing a chunk of it.

The block of smoke shot forward, Will watching carefully as the leading edge sloughed off as it traveled through the air, revealing a sharper section buried just under the surface an instant before it impacted the tree.

Crack!

About one knuckle deep, Will thought, measuring it. Enough to make serious lacerations on a pre-system human, and a nonlethal one on a Climber. Three knuckles deep in hardwood was enough for it to start being truly dangerous to another Climber.

Will went back to the fire and noted that the smoke from the fire was thinning out. He sighed and turned to find some green branches, spotting one of Brenna's younger daughters carrying an armful of green wood, perfect for making smoke.

“Milord,” She mumbled, bowing and adding them to the fire before leaving. In the distance, Will could see three other civilians had decided to gather green wood for him.

I didn't ask for them to do that…

It was a strange feeling, when your actions began dragging people along behind them, like the wake of a boat.

“Thank you.” Will said, resuming his practice.

He'd successfully driven the smoke into the wood to nearly the second knuckle, but he was running into the hard limits of what Aspect could do with air when he heard Mason arrive from the caravan. Everyone had a distinct chest, which led to distinct breathing sounds.

A year ago, if someone had told him that he could distinguish people by their breathing, Will would've scoffed. If they'd told him he could tell where they were by the change in temperature on his skin, he would've laughed in their face.

But here we are.

“Not very powerful is it?” Mason asked as he arrived beside Will.

“No, but it's free.”

“Ah. Yes. free is good.” Mason created a bead of fire that danced on the tips of his fingers before flicking it forward, searing three knuckles into the wood, his cantrip leaving a deep scorch mark right beside Will's. Mocking his progress.

Will raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Mason asked with a smirk.

Will stomped on the ground, applying the layering and stress techniques he'd been practicing on air.

Earth was much less slippery. Much more solid.

A ripple of earth coalesced into a man-length spear that shot forward and pierced through the tree, erupting out the back in a shower of wood shrapnel and causing the entire tree to split in half.

Mason was pale, studying the spike of hardened earth slowly crumbling as Will's Ability released it. Or maybe he wasn't pale. It was hard to tell with the way the light bounced off Mason's skin.

“Showoff.”

“What did you want?” Will asked.

“Practice.” Mason said.

Will turned to face him fully.

“We've been on standby for nearly a week.” Mason explained, motioning to the rest of Will's Party. “The other Parties we brought have gained levels and Relics, and generally gotten accustomed to the Floor. There's not much for us to do now. So we need some practice to stay sharp. We're about to go into another Lord's territory after all.”

“What kind of practice did you want?” Will asked.

Mason looked Will from head to toe.

“Hunting something dangerous.”

Will felt a smile blooming on his face.

“That could be arranged.”

Chapter 132: Itty-bitty Little Snake

Ouroboros was once attacked by a coalition of gods and men with the intent of subduing Chaos and bending The Tower to their will. In the midst of the battle, Ouroboros shed several skins of titanic proportions. These Immortal Serpents continued to fight on while their creator shrank down to the size of a humble garden snake, weaving between the hooves of cavalry and tromping of iron boots.

And so it was that humanity failed to bring Chaos to heel.

Ouroboros spent a few years being fed tasty mice and fishies by a young priestess of Holdna, but that's neither here nor there.

- Jason Salazar

The next day, Will faced off against his former Party: June, Loth, Mason, Reggie, Alicia, and Travis.

One, two, three, four, five, six. Will mentally counted them, moving his Phantom Snakes behind the ones with ranged Abilities as he spoke the rules they'd decided.

“No shots to the head, no faking serious injury. If someone gets hurt bad we bring them back to camp immediately. If that happens, everyone stops until that person is back on their feet. If a fight goes into the caravan or outside the arena, that fight is over.”

The six of them nodded.

“Alright then,” Will said, limbering up. “How unfair do you guys want this to be?”

“Go nuts.” June said, nocking an arrow. Mason nodded, along with Reggie and Travis. Alicia looked…a bit nervous.

Loth's eyes were half-lidded.

…They say that, but hitting everyone with cannonballs in the first fraction of a second would probably put a damper on things…plus nobody would get any meaningful practice.

begin Saint Charnesa, the leader of the small group of priestesses shouted, bringing her hand down in a chopping motion.

The ground opened up beneath Will, revealing a mass of flesh-eating insects that Loth had concealed overnight.

Will stood on the air above the trap, one of his Phantom Snakes batting aside Mason's Conflagration, causing a spout of flame to rise into the air.

Snap!

Lines of barbed wire hurtled up from the ground, attempting to surround him and drag him into the pit.

Will tapped the air with his toe, solidifying another layer of air beneath himself to ward off the barbed wire while his Phantom Snake blocked Alicia's curse that would've popped his heart, wrapping around her ankle and yanking her backwards, prompting a shout of surprise.

With his right hand, Will grabbed the air, pulling June's magical arrow aside and causing it to swerve around him.

Zzz

Will was forced to start moving as one of Loth's projectile insects approached from an awkward angle, prompting him to duck and sprint off to the side, heading for the jungle.

The 'arena' was a roughly one-square-mile area that they'd cleared of anything too dangerous. As exciting as battling each other and the unknown might be, it was pure foolishness getting ambushed by something totally preventable.

Will almost made it to the treeline.

“Is running away all you can do!?” Travis demanded, causing Will's feet to slide against the air as he unconsciously strove to reverse his course and punch the annoying bastard…who happened to be everywhere.

There were dozens of copies of Travis in various cocky stances, gesturing for Will to come and get them.

Will pointed at the Travis hiding inside the bounds of the caravan, the only one giving off body heat.

“Travis is disqualified. Good plan though.”

If it'd worked, no one would've been the wiser that he was cheating. Which, in an actual fight, was a good tactic. Still cheating, though.

“Tsk,” the surrounding illusions expressed their frustration and flickered out of existence while the rest of the Party recovered from the first exchange.

Will batted away another curse attempt from Loth and Alicia, avoiding the connection before they could be formed.

Which was good, because Will didn't want his heart to stop, or a wasp bursting out of his chest.

Now that I think about it, running into the forest immediately would be a problem.

Alicia could curse him from any distance, but he couldn't feel it coming form any distance. Part of it was simply being able to see the direction of her gaze and the flash of blue when she triggered the Ability.

If he couldn't respond to it, that would take him out right away.

Alicia's gotta go. Will decided. Now how-

Boom!

An explosion detonated directly in front of Will as Mason got a Conflagration past the snake impeding his hands.

Will tumbled into the jungle, crashing through a tree.

Ow.

Sure, he was far tougher than the tree itself, but cutting a tree in half with your lower back still hurt a bit.

Phantom eye

123 to 122 Charge remaining.

Will sent the Phantom Eye back along the path he'd taken, spotting the magical arrow hurtling towards him.

Will rose to his feet, intending to dodge, when steel wire burst out of the innocuous tree beside him, looping around him and strapping him tight to the hardwood.

Six at once might be a bit much, Will thought, his mind desperately trying to come up with a solution to the arrow problem even as Mason wound up another Conflagration, intending to clear-cut the jungle until he got Will.

Alicia was rising to her feet, pointing directly at where Will had landed despite hundreds of feet of rough jungle between the two of them.

Will grabbed the air with his hand and gave it a subtle twist, making slanted layers of hardened air.

The magical arrow deflected to the side and buried itself in the tree behind him.

Will used his Phantom Snake to kick dirt into Alicia's eyes.

She managed to block, but all he needed was a moment's distraction.

Progenitor's Disguise

This is Very strange…Will thought as The Feathered Serpent mask swallowed Will whole, causing his limbs to fuse into his sides, his body lengthening as he turned into…an itty-bitty little snake, less than two feet long.

The steel wires ratcheted inward as he shrank, intent on preventing his escape, but Will simply slipped one of his phantom snakes in beside him to keep the tension up, slipping out of the trap.

It was a strange sensation, the world around him seemingly expanding as he shrank, his depth vision turning blurry, and other senses rushing to take its place. His stomach wriggling of its own accord as he tried to move.

He picked himself up with a Phantom Snake and tossed himself up and away as fast as he could without killing himself.

Boom!

Mason's Conflagration erupted behind him, propelling him across the arena, along with hundreds of bits of the canopy, including a couple other itty-bitty-little snakes who happened to get dragged along for the ride.

Will flicked his itty-bitty tongue in greeting as they tumbled through the air.

***Mason***

Mason's heart was beating a frantic rhythm as he tried to calm it enough to feel the surrounding area for Will's damned Phantoms. They made casting nearly impossible.

This is what I asked for. Mason needed a sense for where he stood, and ideas for how he might continue to improve. And to get that, he needed to face something…monstrous.

“Where is he?” June asked, a glowing arrow nocked and ready.

Alicia unshielded her eyes, blinking to make sure there was no dirt in them before scanning the surrounding jungle, her eyes gradually widening.

“He's gone.” She whispered

“What do you mean, gone?” June asked. “His stealth Relics don't stop you from seeing him.”

Mason nodded. They had asked Alicia to track him while he was out scouting for a few days now. At no point had Alicia had any trouble following him, even when he was sneaking around the outskirts of the caravan. He couldn't hide from her.

Not with anything he'd revealed before, anyway.

Alicia gave a helpless shrug.

“I don't know,” She whispered, eyes wide and flickering desperately across the jungle, like someone who'd lost their grandmother's ring. “he's just…gone.”

Alicia let out yelp of surprise as an invisible force wrapped around her ankle and dragged her into the darkness of the jungle.

“Evidence to the contrary,” Loth said, pointing.

“Don't let it take her!” June shouted over her, drawing her bow and shooting at the invisible force in a single heartbeat.

Her arrow veered off to the side, thrown off course by another invisible force, and Alicia's squeals of distress faded into the darkness of the jungle.

Reggie charged into the jungle after Alicia, bellowing in rage.

“Well…You said you wanted to hunt something dangerous.” Loth said, gesturing to the jungle.

Mason and June exchanged glances.

“I'm game if you are.” June said, nodding to the looming jungle. “This was your idea.”

“I'll come with you,” a whited-haired priestess of Holdna said, approaching from the caravan. “Holdna tells me that healing may be required.”

The four of them forged a path into the jungle, stopping where Reggie was crying over Alicia's…'corpse'.

The girl was holding a trembling wooden sign made of green wood, carved out in rough print with a tomahawk, and it said 'Disembowled.'

“Dis-em-bowled?” Mason asked, frowning.

Loth clicked her tongue.

“So close,” the kobold's raspy voice said. “Honestly this is so much better than six months ago.”

“Is she still alive?” June asked the priestess.

“Disembowling isn't instant death, especially against a Climber, so as long as you have a Greater Health potion, she can rejoin the hunt.” Saint Charnesa said.

“Oh! Umm..” Reggie fumbled through his pockets and grabbed a wool ball with a red cross stitched onto it and tossed it to the Saint before helping Alicia to her feet.

The white-haired priestess of the hunt pocketed the 'greater health potion' with a quietly amused expression.

“Over here,” Loth said, motioning for them to come to her.

She stood beside a tree with steel wires embedded in the bark.

“This trap caught him, at least for a moment…” Loth said, running a claw along the steel, her eyes widening. “Then he got smaller.”

“He did what?” June demanded.

“He got smaller,” Loth said, a small swarm of insects emerging from her sleeve and alighting on the trap. Tasting it. “I can still track him though. Every trap I planted has a unique scent.”

In a matter of seconds, the insects began flying to the northeast.

This might just work. Mason thought to himself.

The swarm of trackers froze in midair and veered to the side, splattering against a tree trunk.

Loth clicked her tongue again.

“Foo. He's still watching us.”

how June demanded, trying to look everywhere at once.

“Phantom Eye. He got it when he hit level thirty.” Loth glanced up at the rest of them. “Lasts a bit over two minutes, no range limit. Allows him to see and direct his Phantom Hand from miles away?”

“…Does no one else take detailed notes on everyone's Build?” Loth asked, glancing between them.

“…It's kind of rude.” Alicia whispered.

“That's stupid.” Loth said.

“That's fair.” June said. “What else do you know about our prey?”

Loth tapped her chin. “The berserker we were fighting outside the tower transformed into a quetzalcoatl. It was unlikely her Ability, rather it was likely from the Set that Will is now wearing. He might be using it to transform into something significantly smaller to go unnoticed and buy time while his Phantom Hand picks us off one at a time.”

Loth glanced up at the canopy, then at Alicia. “How many snakes are in this jungle?” she asked.

“…So many,” Alicia responded, her blue-flame eyes wide.

Right. This is the Floor known to have Immortal Serpents as raid bosses, Mason thought, scanning the canopy, spotting a snake lazing on a branch in a matter of seconds with his advanced Acuity.

“Well then,” June said, hefting her bow.

“Don't aim at any snakes.” Loth said, holding up a hand. “It would be a waste of time and arrows. He can't read lips as far as I know, so he doesn't know we know. Let's keep it that way.”

“The tracker bugs gave us a heading, let's narrow in on his position before we spring the trap. Reggie. Keep us alive until then.”

'Smy job,” Reggie said, hefting his massive tower shield.

“Gods I wish Travis wasn't such an idiot,” June sighed, creeping forward into the jungle.

Mason noticed the Saint's eye twitch at that comment.

Hmm…

***Will***

I'm not sure…but I kinda think this might be a Raid Boss, Will thought as the gargantuan snake uncoiled itself to peer at him. It could've easily crushed the entire arena of the city of Akul and every spectator in it.

There was no raid boss in the area we cleared. Did it move in in the last few hours? Will thought, glancing past it at the massive path of crushed underbrush behind it, stretching for miles into the distance.

Will turned his gaze back to the Immortal serpent. He would've been sweating profusely if this form could do that. The Immortal Serpent's eyes were a brilliant green that seemed far too human, and far too intelligent, as it focused solely on him with the intensity not of a predator, but of an old man who'd found a curious distraction.

That was even scarier.

It flicked its tongue at him.

Hello? Hello, hello? Can you speak, young one?

Will blinked as the tongue flicks seemed to simply form into language in his mind.

…I suppose I can, Will tongue-flicked back.

Awfully small for such potent magic, aren't you? The Immortal Serpent tongue-flicked at him.

I suppose I am. Will replied, not really sure of what to say that wouldn't reveal his identity. Best to just go with the flow for now.

Are you lost? The immortal serpent asked. You're terribly young to be here.

Here is…where? Will asked.

The killing fields. Where the most exhausted of us go to do battle with Climbers to die in glorious battle and be reborn.

You…want to die? Will asked.

You must be a new soul. How rare. We Molts are blessed with infinite life…and cursed. Dying for us is…how do I put this…refreshing.

It dulls the pain of old sorrows, making them feel as though they happened to someone else. We still remember them, of course, but it feels like a new start.

Fascinating, Will mused to himself. I didn't know monsters had this much depth of thought.

Monster? Monster!? The Immortal Serpent reared up, peering down at him with deep suspicion.

…did I tongue-flick that out loud? Will thought.

Chapter 133: Youthful Competition

…And that is why we are not monsters, or demons, or anything but a proud race of warriors descended from the divine world-snake in ages long lost to the sands of time, waiting for the final battle, when Ouroboros will call his erstwhile molts back to him.

Unfortunately for Will, tongue-flicks didn't require pauses for breathing, so this old man hadn't stopped lecturing him in nearly an hour.

All the while his Party was creeping closer and closer.

Shouldn't they see the giant snake? Alicia at least should see the skeleton the size of a forest.

Maybe it's too big to make sense to her eyes. Like a gnat looking up at a bathtub…I should just warn them directly. None of this subtlety bullshit.

Phantom eye

113 to 112 Charge remaining.

Will sent the eye and three of his Phantom Snakes back towards them.

The Immortal serpent's carriage-sized emerald eyes flicked to follow Will's Phantoms, then back to him.

You have strange magics for one of us…who were your parents again?

Will mentally flipped a coin.

Thomas Oh, Will replied.

Thomas Oh… that doesn't ring a – Oh Him! – you call your father by his human disguise? The tone Will read from the tongue flicks was 'scandalized'.

Will tongue-flicked the equivalent of a shrug. It's the only name of his I've ever heard.

Oh…you must be the result of those attempts to create new souls by interbreeding with those skinsacks. It warms my heart to see something come of that, because so few of them survive childhood. They're such sickly offspring, albeit proliferous.

…you do realize they're being hunted by the church of Granesh? Will asked.

Of course they are. They're our sworn enemies. Every baby serpent starts its journey as both predator and prey, a natural weeding out of the weak is healthy for the population.

No, you don't understand, Will tongue-refuted. It's not 'natural' weeding at all. It's organized slaughter. They set up – there was no snake word for 'orphanage' – kill boxes where all young must pass through, test all of them and eliminate the ones they deem to be of your blood. The conditions aren't harsh: they're unwinnable.

And yet, here you are. The Immortal serpent said, his tongue-flicks radiating a certain smugness.

Will wasn't sure if he was more pissed at the Immortal Serpents for knowingly creating thousands of doomed innocents, or the Church for actually killing them.

Both could use a good punching.

While he spoke with the Immortal serpent, he directed his Phantom Snakes to snap a fallen log on half and carve a message on the flat surface with their teeth.

Raid Boss ahead. Hang back eksept Loth. Piecefull diskushin possible.

He watched the party discuss whether or not it was a trick, when Alicia finally snapped her head up, her gaze following the towering rib-bones the size of…towers.

With a whisper from her, the party changed their stance, becoming more alert as Loth broke out ahead of them, trudging through the jungle into the clearing formed by the shifting coils of the enormous snake.

What's this? A tiny devolved dragonkin cousin? The Immortal Serpent tongue-flicked lifting it's head and peering over its own bulk at the ant beneath it.

Greetings, cousin, it tongue-flicked.

Loth cocked her head to the side.

“I'm afraid I don't understand!” she shouted up at the looming head.

Oh, the poor thing, not knowing tongue-speech. I came out here intending to find glorious death in battle and a temporary release from the march of ages, and instead I find two curiosities, back to back.

I haven't done this in an epoch. Let's see…arms…legs, hair…penis…

The enormous snake stiffened a bit, and tongue flicked a groan of discomfort as it began to shrink, reducing from a natural calamity down to a withered, naked old man with a beard that seemed to trail down to his ankles.

“There we go. Forgot how awful human skin is,” He muttered, pushing himself to his feet and brushing leaves and sticks off his skin and out of his beard.

“Good afternoon, cousin,” he said, regarding Loth as he glanced past her into the jungle. “Do you wish for me to kill the humans chasing you?”

“Greetings, cousin,” Loth said, performing a rather graceful bow. “They are not 'chasing' me, they are my Party. I would request that you refrain from killing them.”

“Oh my! How progressive. You're so well-spoken for one of the devolved, too. Lovely.”

“Loth the Luminary. Kobold Paragon.” Loth said, offering a pitch-black pebbled hand.

“Arkesh the Mind-Conquerer. Molt of Ouroboros, twice removed.” Arkesh replied, giving it a dainty shake.

Will would've broke into a cold sweat if he could. 'Mind-conqueror' was concerning, to say the least.

“Arkesh, we were in the middle of a mock-battle with one William Oh, who has likely disguised as a snake. Would you happen to know where he went?” Loth asked sweetly.

Eyes on the prize, that one. Will thought.

“Ah, to be young again,” Arkesh said. “Is this true?” he asked without looking directly at Will. Will knew if he said 'no', the Immortal Serpent would immediately attempt to kill the others. Which was unacceptable.

Loth understood this and had put Will in the position of being forced to admit it, preventing him from trying any tricks…by betting her life.

…yeah, it's true. Will tongue-flicked.

“Then by all means, continue your wargames. If you don't mind, I will merely observe. I'm not so uncouth as to attack youth enjoying a lovely afternoon.”

Loth cocked her head and waited.

“…He's right there.” Arkesh pointed at the branch where Will rested.

Progenitor's disguise Cancelled

“Shit!” Will shouted, leaping to his feet and sprinting across the clearing as Loth's projectile insects began hissing through the air after him.

Arkesh the Mind-Conqueror laughed, clapping his hands together as Will began dodging and weaving through the air, slapping Loth's bugs aside and sending a shortsword hissing towards the others, trying to catch them off-guard as they emerged into the brightness of the clearing.

Reggie stepped in front and tanked the hit, the phantom Shortsword clanging aside, leaving a furrow in the tank's greatshield, which was functionally a portable wall to hide behind.

Will had to dedicate a whole Phantom Snake each to keeping Alicia, Mason and Loth under control, or else he'd be finished by their Abilities, leaving only two left to maneuver and adapt to the situation.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the Saint watching their battle impassively, keeping one eye on the Immortal Serpent.

I really hope she doesn't do anything stupid…I hope continuing the fight isn't stupid.

With a name like 'The Mind-Conquerer' Will had been running his Memory Key on and off from the moment he'd said it, which was eating into his ability to concentrate on the fight.

The fight was also eating into their ability to resist if Arkesh decided he wanted to kill them after all.

Yeah, it's stupid. I need to end this.

“I surrender!” Will shouted, holding his hand up, causing everything to come to a screeching halt.

“No, child, you had so much more fight in you!” Arkesh whined. “I could feel it in my guts that you could've won against these bony fleshbags.” Arkesh gestured to the rest of Will's Party, some of whom seemed a bit miffed at being called 'Bony fleshbags'.

Will gave the bony old man a sideways glance, carefully weighing his response.

“I mean no disrespect, but we can't possibly know your intentions, and weakening ourselves in front of a stranger would be foolish.” Will said, hedging his tone as best he could.

“Accusing me of the underhandedness of human savages. me! Pssh! The nerve!” Arkesh said, waving the idea away like an annoying insect.

“Fine! Come here, all of you!” he said, motioning for the rest of Will's party to approach.

They hesitantly approached, their weapons held tight.

“I give you my word as one of the divine Molts twice removed, that I will not attack anyone here under any circumstances, even unto my death. To sweeten the pot, I will give the winning group a prize.”

He pointed at Loth.

“What do you want, cousin?”

“A Sacrifice of a true dragon ancestor.” Loth replied immediately.

“I know where one is.” Arkesh said, then pointed at Will. “Scion, what do you want?”

“I want a Sacrifice to reinforce my Phantoms, prevent them from being destroyed by other's Abilities, and recover their slotted Relics if they are destroyed.” Will responded.

“I know of a Raid Boss that can do that first part.”

He pointed at the rest of the Party.

“I'll give you bony skinsacks some treasure if you win. I know how much you like shiny treasure.”

Arkesh made a strange gulping noise and tapped his chest with his fist. A moment later, his neck and mouth stretched unnaturally as he disgorged a bangle formed from gold and mother-of-pearl into his palm, tossing it to Mason.

Mason's eyes widened.

“I'm in,” Mason said, handing it to June.

June studied the Relic for a second, her expression matching Masons.

“We accept,” June said, passing it along. “We humans do love our shinies.”

“Of course you do,” Arkesh said, his gaze lingering on the Saint standing off to the side. “Is everyone in agreement?”

Will glanced at Loth, their gazes exchanging unspoken words.

What are the odds he's just going to kill us? And is the possible reward worth the risk?

He was still treating Will like the child of a familiar acquaintance. From the beginning there had been no hostility, and he seemed to be honor-driven before he'd even been aware of the rest of Will's party. If it was a ruse, it was a damn good one.

There was a good chance this was a legitimate offer.

Will ran through his Memory Key one more time, then nodded.

Loth nodded back.

The one thing that all Climbers shared was a burning greed for good Sacrifices, and a willingness to stupidly risk their lives to acquire them.

“I'm in,” Will said.

“Excellent,” Arkesh said, grabbing Will's arm and dragging him aside. “You stand here.”

“You guys back to the edge of the clearing.” Arkesh said, gesturing for the others to back up with a 'shooing' motion.

He's really getting into this, Will thought, bemused by the Raid Boss's investment in their mock-battle.

“And…Begin!”

Will hit all five of them at once with a barrage of cannonballs.

After each one hit, Will dismissed it and made a new one, creating an unending stream of heavy iron flying at lethal speeds across the battlefield.

It was…doing less damage than it should.

Reggie let out a shout as he buffed himself, his Resistance and armor allowing him to soak the damage from all five streams of iron without being torn apart like the other four would've been.

In a fraction of a second, Will had to drop three streams to stop Alicia, Mason and Loth's kill-shots.

June's arrows, while they had extreme penetrative power and a bit of tracking, weren't flying fast enough to cause Will serious trouble, so he left her as an afterthought.

Will directed his two free Phantom Snakes to grab Reggie by the ankles and toss him a mile or so away, effectively removing him from the fight.

Meanwhile, he wrapped the Phantom Snake under Alicia's chin, strangling her and directing her gaze straight up into the sky.

The invisible snake was forced to release her when she went to stab it with a sidearm, unwinding from her neck in a fraction of a second before wrapping around her weapon-hand, drawing it up in front of her eyes while twisting it in an attempt to break her wrist.

Will charged straight towards June while Loth contended with another Phantom Snake, and Mason screamed with frustration as a snake tail kept swatting his hands mid-cast.

June's eyes widened as Will arrived in front of her, dodging past a wild swipe from her shortsword and grazing his tomahawk across her shoulder before kicking her away.

Will had been hesitant to use the Psychic Venom debuff on his teammates, given how dangerous it was…which was why he had avoided it up until now.

Will gave himself a firm reminder to cure their psychic venom as soon as possible, then proceeded to have each of his serpents bite the target they were currently harrying.

There was a gasp of pain from Alicia before an explosion rocked the clearing.

Boom!

A beam of pure fire swept past Will, forcing him to flatten himself to the ground.

The snake that had bit Mason was missing its head, as rivulets of pure molten fire dripped from the fang-holes in the back of Mason's hand.

Interesting.

Will retired that snake before it could lose the Ring of Accuracy imprint. The head was more aesthetic than anything, so it could grow back as long as it didn't get completely erased.

“I don't feel so good,” Alicia whispered. June's knees were trembling as she tried to lift her bow.

“Mason light the pipe, please!” Will said, stuffing some dried leaf in the pipe in the back of the Tomahawk of the Underworld Guide before throwing it at the Nuker, who dodged, lit the pipe with a flick of a finger before firing back with a full-fledged Conflagration towards Will.

Will dove aside and sent the tomahawk to Alicia, who gratefully inhaled through the pipe, curing the psychic venom, then passing it to June.

“Alicia and June are out.” The bony priestess of Holdna said, nodding. “Take a rest, dears.”

Now it's just Loth and Mason.

Loth had sunk into the ground to break line of sight while Will had been blinded by Mason's counter. She had likely offloaded damage onto her insects rather than get hit by the Psychic Venom.

Will glanced at Mason's wounded hand. There was no actual blood. Did he resist Psychic Venom, cure it somehow, or did he simply take so little damage that the debuff couldn't take effect?

I suppose we'll see.

A deep rumbling filled the arena as two enormous hemispheres of solid stone emerged from the edge of the clearing, raising up into the sky before combining together above him, sealing off the blue sky above and plunging them into pure darkness.

“Fantastic.” Arkesh mused.

On closer inspection, the stone itself seemed to shift and shimmer ominously, and Will realized it was crawling with deadly insects who would swarm him if he got too close.

When did she even have time!? Will demanded internally as a ball of fire began to hover above Mason, acting like a torch and casting the Nuker in a bright orange glow.

Naturally, Loth wasn't planning on coming out from underground, fully intending to stay in safety while he exhausted himself against Mason.

To that I say…Phantom Eye.

Will began scanning the underground with Phantom Eye while skirmishing with Mason. If Loth still had any glowbugs in her clothes, Will would be able to locate her.

I've got four Phantom Snakes left, Will thought, what's my best option?

Mason's got his shield up again. Even if I don't let him hit me, he can recharge his shield by killing some of Loth's bugs.

The solution was instant, overwhelming aggression.

Will unleashed his cannonball trick on Mason, creating four streams of lethal iron.

The first few stopped dead against Mason's shield, causing a flare of blue, before the shield shattered, and the rest blasted through, blowing several holes through Mason's body.

Will immediately shut off the stream of cannonballs.

“Healing!” Will shouted to Saint Charnesa, an instant before a Conflagration caught him in the side and sent him tumbling across the clearing, his clothes and hair smoking.

“Come on, don't write me off like that,” Mason said, still standing in the same spot, the gaping cannonball holes in his body cracked and revealing a thin layer of pearlescent material framing a vast empty blackness inside him.

“Are you hollow!?” Will demanded, lifting his head as he struggled to right himself quickly.

Mason shrugged, waggling his hand, looking like a piece of living pottery someone had taken a hammer to. “It's a bit complicated to go into right this moment.”

From the vast emptiness inside Mason, Will spotted a point of light rapidly approaching, flinging himself aside just in time to avoid being caught by the attack as it blasted out of Mason's empty shell.

The ground under him snapped upwards, barbed spikes trying to sink into his flesh and drag him under.

This might be a bit more difficult than I anticipated, Will thought as he flung himself into the air.

How can I damage that? Will thought, eyeballing Mason's cracked empty form. He's got a near-impossible to damage Build…

…Oh right. Will nearly slapped his forehead. The original reason I'm so hard to fight.

Will sent his Phantom Snakes out and snatched away Mason's Relics, causing the Nuker's eyes to widen as the vast majority of his Build crumbled.

In a matter of seconds, the tide turned. Mason was still hollow, but he lost the ability to launch Conflagrations from inside himself, and his internal organs became visible, the red squishy bits floating in midair only about twenty feet deep inside him.

Will ran Mason around until the Nuker ran out of Charge, then he choked him out and threatened his hidden internal organs with a cannonball.

Mason tapped out.

Will drove Loth out from underground by spending the next few minutes using Aspect of the Serpent to collapse the little caves she made for herself, making hiding underground untenable.

Once she emerged, Will stole her Relics, prompting Loth to raise her hand and concede.

“I declare William Oh the winner! Excellent showing, young man,” Saint Charnesa said, placing a hand on Will's shoulder. “Holdna blesses you with-“

Will grabbed her other hand and twisted it with a Phantom Snake, causing the invisible dagger to drop out of it, flickering to visibility as it hit the ground, along with a crack as a bone gave way.

“Son of a bitch!” Travis shouted, clutching his broken hand as the illusion faded away. “How!?”

“You breathe different. You feel different through the ground. You're warmer than she is.” Will replied. “And you smell different.”

“Foo.” Loth groused.

Chapter 134: Prophesied Doom

Caddock heaved the arm-width rope over his shoulder, timing his tugs with those of other prisoners as they transported the star towards the cart designed to haul it out of the frozen wastes and down to Basalt.

Robbing the mostly empty frozen wastes of what little warmth they had in order to arm the Church of Granesh against the oncoming flood.

Caddock could see why it was necessary, he just wished it wasn't.

He and the other prisoners had the technique down to an artform, but it was still gruelling work…for the others, who were largely below level fifteen. Not Caddock. The frozen winds and hard labor were more like a slightly chill morning and a bit of brisk exercise.

It was hardly a punishment for him at all. More like a brief vacation and some calisthenics.

Even with the Blessed Steel chains on his arms and legs, he wasn't really bothered. He had long since detached himself from his situation and focused on the real problem. Caddock was mostly absentmindedly planning how to kill William Oh. He didn't have time to goof around in a prison camp. The boy was gaining power at an exponential rate.

I do not leave missions unfinished.

The little proto-lord is too squirrely. His detection range is huge, his movement speed, reaction time and toughness are all on Lord levels, but his primary strength is the Ability that allows him to both hot-swap outlandishly boosted Relics with powerful soft-sets, and confiscate other's Relics mid-fight.

Invisibly. From a distance.

The boy is practically engineered to be a nightmare to fight as a Climber.

I would need a way to gain power that didn't rely on Relics. Or Relics that couldn't be removed. Preferably both.

As for the power without the need for a Relic…a Lordship would do that. As far as he knew, Lords derived a portion of their power from their Vassals.

Paladins of the Church of Granesh swore an oath not to seek Lordship, so as to prevent the formation of a power structure external to the church's hierarchy.

I would need at least a dozen Vassals, and a small town's worth of civilians. People willing to accept me as their Lord. It would be hard to acquire that many people from the church legitimately, since they also have their oaths not to become vassals.

So where would I get that many people on short notice?

As he was musing, Caddock accidentally stepped on the heel of the prisoner in front of him.

“I-I'm sorry sir,” The prisoner stammered, picking up his pace and nearly slamming into the prisoner in front of him, who looked back with a snarl before he noticed Caddock, his expression going slack.

“S-sir,” the second prisoner nodded, before facing forward and minding his own business.

“No worries, gentlemen. It was my fault.” Caddock said, scanning his surroundings. No less than three hundred prisoners huddled inside their fur-lined coats, trembling with cold and effort as they struggled to move the outlandishly heavy stars.

Malnurished, exhausted, all but bereft of hope in the darkness of the frozen wastes.

All of them cast him furtive glances at Caddock when they thought he wasn't watching, awestruck at the presence of a High Paladin in their midst. Could he represent their salvation, or was he just a curiosity?

Where indeed? Caddock thought, slipping his shoulder out from under the rope as he stepped outside the line of prisoners.

“How long do you have on your sentence, Albert?” Caddock asked the man in front of him as he watched the foreman notice Caddock and begin trotting towards him, hefting his enchanted whip with a murderous expression.

“Umm, fifteen years, sir?” Albert said, glancing behind him, his eyes widening as he saw what was happening.

“And what did you do?” Caddock asked.

“I wrote some questions in the margins of the bible!” Albert squealed, hunkering down, along with the rest of the prisoners as the foreman wound up a whipping, safely outside the range their chains would allow them to move.

Defiling a bible. That's a pretty serious offense that I typically wouldn't be able to forgive, but at least he's not violent.

Finishing missions makes for strange bedfellows, I suppose. I'll give him time off for good behavior working as my Vassal.

Crack!

the whip's cracker came to a dead halt as Caddock caught it in midair.

He yanked the whip and the foreman stumbled forward far enough that Caddock was able to lunge forward and catch the man's wrist.

“Now son, you can give me the keys to my chains, or you can experience being beaten to death by your own arm. The choice is yours.”

prisoner Escaping!” the foreman shouted.

Well, you made your choice, Caddock thought, exerting a bit of force.

Rip.

***William Oh***

“What the Abyss is this!?” Will demanded as they arrived back at the Caravan, prying open Mason's shirt to reveal the slowly healing cracks in his form. “Explain.”

“The dimensional Oyster I added to my shields allows me to absorb a tiny fraction of their energy when they break, creating a permanent extradimensional space between my outer layer of dead skin and the living tissue beneath it.” Mason replied, his cheeks turning pearlescent red.

“So your internal organs are getting further and further away from your skin,” Will mused.

“Yeah, it - Stop that!” Mason slapped Will's hand away from his holes and glaring at him until Will took a step back.

“It's only about a hair's breadth of extra space every time the shield breaks, but it stacks up nicely, especially after Loth pioneered breaking it in rapid succession. I must've broken my shields a hundred thousand times while you two were gone.”

“Can you still feel anything?” Will asked, pinching Mason's wrist.

“Yes, I can still feel things, stop it. Can I have my Relics back now or what?”

“Sure,” Will said, dropping the Relics back into Mason's hands.

“So if your organs have at least twenty feet of clearance above the 'ground' inside you, can we store some…”

Mason's expression made Will's question wither before he even finished it.

“…Nevermind.”

“You're damn right nevermind,” Mason grumbled, tugging his shirt closed as he trundled off. “Store things inside you, see how you like it.”

“Arkesh, you old ponce, I haven't seen you in days!” Reese's voice came from across the camp, directing Will's attention to where the emaciated sailor and the wizened old snake were talking. The conversation was fascinating.

“…Who are you again?” Arkesh asked, frowning at the emaciated sailor.

“It's me, Reese, you know, the guy you ate who spent several years going through your digestive tract. Came out your ass like this, Blah!” Reese widened his eyes and splayed his fingers.

“Oh! Yeah, I remember you. Sorry about that, I was trying to kill you.

“And I wish you had!” Reese replied without an ounce of sarcasm.

“I haven't seen you since this was the Fifth Floor. Where were you in the last Coil?” Arkesh asked.

“Trapped in a lightless, soundless coffin that randomly hurts you for at least a couple hours! You know those black coffins on the Sixth-floor that the techno-priests used to fuel their immortality. I got caught in one and turned into a healing battery for generations of assholes! How have you been?”

“…Reconsidering what It means to suffer, I suppose.” Arkesh replied. “Maybe I'm not as tormented as I thought I was…Relatively speaking. You'll at least be glad to know the techno-priests are gone.”

“Is the whole floor wiped clean?” Reese asked.

“There's nothing alive there anymore, if that's what you're asking.”

“Hell yeah, fuck those guys! Freakin' technopriests, why I ought'a…” Reese shook his fists as Will approached.

“Excuse me,” Will said, approaching the two old men. Arkesh's eyes widened minutely and he glanced between Will and Reese before his expression came back under control. Will noticed it, and stored that tidbit for further examination.

“You know what Reese is talking about when he says a Coil?” Will asked, pointing at Reese. “I can't get any good details from him, because he's completely Cracked.”

“Is it that time again?” Arkesh mused, rubbing his chin before looking back up at Will.

“Yes, the Tower is always growing. Every thousand years, give or take, it adds a Floor. The more long-lived among us call that a Coil. When The Tower adds a Floor, the floodgates of Miasma temporarily open up, sending harmful magic and powerful monsters down to the lowest Floors and even out beyond the tower. Some societies remember and prepare themselves, weathering the catastrophic disruption, allowing them to maintain civilizations that spans multiple Floors, but a thousand years is plenty of time for humans to dismiss the 'ancient past' and sooner or later corruption brings their civilization down. Usually the following apocalypse is of such magnitude that humans are reduced to starving bands, losing technology and history, spending vital generations rebuilding society rather than preparing for the next Coil.”

“And how well prepared are we for the end of the Coil?” Will asked.

“I've never visited outside The Tower this Coil. It's wildly uncomfortable and I never had a good reason. How big is the defensive wall around The Tower?”

“What wall?” Will asked.

Arkesh sucked in a breath through his teeth.

“How robust is your highway system? Can goods and personnel be moved quickly in an emergency?”

“We've got cobblestone roads between the major cities of the Ring,” Will said proudly.

“What's your highest Floor Lord?”

“As far as I know? The Rotwitch on the 13th Floor.” Will replied.

“William Oh,” Arkesh said, putting a hand on Will's shoulder. “I don't know how to put this nicely, so I'll just say it. Everyone and everything you know and love is going to die when this Coil ends.”

Will's skin broke out in a cold sweat.

“Well, when is the Coil going to end?” Will asked. Maybe he could do something. At least protect the orphanage.

Arkesh looked Will up and down. “How old-“

“Ahem.” Reese cleared his throat, giving Arkesh a meaningful glance.

“You were about to ask how old I was.” Will said, glancing between the two of them. “Why would my age have anything to do with it?”

Will glanced over at Reese, who was looking away, fiddling with his ragged clothes.

“When we first met, you said I was the guy. The once-in-a-thousand-years legend. The one with the best shot of making it to the top. You asked if they taught me that in school.”

“…Shit.” Reese said.

“…Is there something about me that causes the Coil to end?” Will asked.

“Not causes…more like heralds it.” Arkesh said. “There's been a great hero at the end of every Coil who nearly makes it to the top before dying. It's like…the world's last dying gasp. Happens every time.”

I didn't realize it was you, but you fit the timing and the pattern. This hero starts his Climb quite young, becomes a legend in his own time, and dies somewhere around twenty years old.”

“Man, it never goes well when he knows this stuff.” Reese said, uncrossing his arms to point at Will. “Look, he's doing the math right now.”

Each Floor takes longer and longer to clear, so I would die somewhere in the late forties, maybe even the fiftieth…each floor taking longer than a month…and that's not including time spent going up and down for resupplies.

“What's on the fiftieth floor?” Will asked, turning his gaze back to Reese.

Arkesh glanced at Reese, who shook his head.

“I'm afraid I don't know. I'm not that old. You would have to find an original molt like your father to tell you.”

Will stored that information for later and turned his gaze on Reese, who obviously knew what was on the fiftieth Floor.

“Look, I was tortured for generations and didn't crack. There isn't a chance in hell you can get me to tell you what's there. It doesn't end well when you know. Let's just say it's where the thing I've been looking for is.” Reese crossed his arms again.

Will processed that. There was prophesied death waiting above him, a society-ending apocalypse of monsters and Miasma beneath…Will was confident that they'd grown powerful enough to weather the storm of a Coil if they wanted to.

Will could go back outside The Tower and he would probably survive, and even help society rebuild, since he was going to live at least two hundred years, given his Resistance.

It was tempting…but it felt like a trap.

This 'legendary hero' 'chosen one' stuff sounds like a con-artist's ruse designed to make me feel special before he takes my money. A distraction from something while I get hustled.

Will ran through his Memory Key just to be sure they weren't dicking with his mind, then turned his attention to Reese.

“We're gonna talk about this more later,” Will said, pointing at the immortal. “In the meantime, I'm going to keep Climbing. I've got things I want to do with my life and cowering outside the Tower isn't one of them.”

Reese heaved a sigh of relief.

Will turned back to Arkesh. “Did you say my father was an original molt?”

“Yes, a direct shedding of Ouroboros himself, formed in a battle between the gods on what is now the eighty-seventh Floor. One of the pioneers of breeding with humans, actually. He advocated for creating a new species to cooperate with the humans.”

Arkesh lowered his voice, leaning close to Will. “You know, I've heard that original molts have an echo of our god's memories. Perhaps Ouroboros gave him his mission to woo human women personally…”

“Or maybe he's just a freak?” Reese said with a shrug.

“…I'm gonna go sit down and think about this.” Will said, turning and walking to his tent as Reese and Arkesh glanced at each other.

He'd put most of it together already of course, but hearing it all from the snake's mouth was overwhelming.

And there's more to it than I thought, Will thought, slumping down onto his cot, staring at the plain canvas of his tent.

Will felt like a tiny cog in some universe-sized clock that kept spinning him around without his permission.

And still, it felt like he hadn't gotten the full story. There was something more. Something hidden that his subconscious was desperately trying to highlight, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it yet.

Speaking of my finger…

Will pulled out his Ring of Snaring and slid it over his left-hand ring-finger.

Nothing.

There was no subtle sense of his stats going up and taking a look at his status confirmed it: His left hand Slot simply wasn't working.

Not to mention…

Will grabbed his left hand with his right and gently squeezed, stopping when it felt like his bones were going to break.

For comparison, Will squeezed his foot. It felt like nothing special.

It's still weak. Why is it still weak?

His left hand looked perfectly healthy. Will could control it without issue.

It just…seemed to not benefit from his stats at all.

It was as if his hand had regrown, but The System hadn't grown to fill the space.

Then why would it even regrow at all? Will thought with a frown.

“Are you alright?” Loth asked, peeking into his tent.

“Some immortals just told me I'm probably going to die sometime in the next four years, that the country is doomed, and that my dad is some kind of demigod,” Will said. “All that could be outlandish lies to manipulate me. I won't really know until I talk to my Dad again, but what really bothers me, is my hand isn't coming back like it should. Other than that, I'm doing alright.”

“You want Anna to cheer you up?” Loth offered.

Will chuckled, idly bullying his left hand with his right.

“No, Anna is for nice things.” Will said, motioning for Loth to come in. “I need someone I can talk to about death and cold-blooded murder.”

“Will a map to a powerful Raid Boss make you feel better?” Loth asked, producing a roll of vellum as she sat down on the cot beside him.

“It just might.”

Chapter 135: Guy's Night

“Okay so right there is where Akresh says the Raid Boss is.” Loth said, pointing out a spot near dead center on the map.

Will frowned, studying the X in the middle of a lake below a waterfall.

“This hasn't been discovered in a thousand years?” Will asked. It was in the center of the map, partly between the Wyrd Stronghold and all the Key Sites.

“I'm sure it has, but it's likely rare.” Loth said, pulling out a pen and laying it between the Stronghold and key site, drawing a straight line between the two.

It bypassed the lake.

For illustration, Loth laid the pen between all the other sites. None of them crossed the lake.

“Climbers don't just…wander around aimlessly if they can help it.” Will said, nodding.

“Not the ones who have survived this far. Most people are headed directly to a Stronghold to rest, or directly to a key site to change Floors. Most grinding is done within a few hours walk of the Stronghold.” Loth said.

Unconsciously, Will's eyes traced the edges of the map.

If there's something hiding at the center of the map, how many more things have never been discovered along the edges? Will wondered.

“Now as for how we can fit this in to the Caravan's schedule,” Loth said, “The walk there will take roughly three days, so we may have to arrange for temporary protection for the Caravan while we deal with the Raid Boss.

“Three days?” Will asked with a frown. “I'll get us there in ten minutes.”

Loth paused, twirling the pen in her hand. “I forget you're actually becoming a Lord sometimes.”

“It would be irresponsible to leave them entirely undefended while we're gone, though,” Will said, prompting Loth to nod.

“I don't want to leave Arkesh here with the Caravan. Not even for twenty minutes.” Loth said.

“I totally agree,” Will said. The old snake had promised not to harm the six of them that had met him outside the caravan, but that promise didn't extend to anyone outside of those six, nor was a promise some unbreakable thing they should be riding their whole future on.

“Drop him on the Wyrd Stronghold?” Loth asked, getting a chuckle out of Will.

As amusing as the idea of Arkesh the Mind-Conqueror suddenly appearing in the middle of the Stronghold was, that was pretty much cold-blooded murder of hundreds of civilians.

Which I still want to avoid, Will thought. There were still lines he hadn't crossed yet.

“Honestly I can't think of anything better than just throw him a few miles out and hope he doesn't find his way back.” Will said

“That's a terrible idea.” Loth said.

“I know.”

“We could just kill him?” Loth suggested.

“Feels wrong.” Will said. “Even with him wanting to die, and it being a vacation from life for him…Still feels wrong.”

Will glanced up at the tent's door. “Abyss, let's just ask him.” he said, hopping to his feet and striding out into the caravan, where Arkesh was still chatting with Reese.

“Hey, Arkesh the Mind-Conquerer,” Will said. “You are a wonderful guest, but we are going to arrive at the Wyrd Stronghold soon, and you present a diplomatic risk if your identity is discovered.”

Will modified the reason for kicking the snake out of the caravan to shift blame onto Mark Wyrd, so as not to offend the giant snake.

Will began rolling up his sleeves.

“So do you want me to kill you now, or…?”

“No!” Arkesh said, holding up a hand. “I've lived through nearly a dozen Coils, but I've never met you…or the person filling your role before, I suppose. I've missed the drama of the end of the Coil every time. Usually I was just sunning myself out in the middle of the jungle, and the System Announcement hit everyone at once.

“I never…witnessed it happening. Please…This is the most interesting thing that's happened to me in six thousand years.”

Arkesh gave Will big, watery eyes.

“…Fine. Trim your beard, take a bath, wear clothes, and find somewhere else to be for the next week, and you can follow us up.” Will said.

Arkesh moved to hug Will, who stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“Trim your beard, take a bath, wear clothes, and then you get a hug.”

“Right away!” Arkesh said, turning away, before pausing and turning back to Will. “…What's a bath?”

“Not it.” Loth said, turning and leaving the situation at the exact right time.

“Damnit.” Will grumbled under his breath.

Will would really rather be doing anything other than teaching a smelly old man how to bathe and dress himself, but Arkesh was simply too smelly and too dangerous to foist that duty off on any of the civilians or Anna.

Will could easily imagine Arkesh accidentally squishing someone because he was ticklish.

Will heaved a long sigh. “let's get this over with.”

The next hour was a memory that Will wished he could forget, but at least the old man was a quick study, so Will would never have to repeat the process.

All told, once they were done, Arkesh was dressed in a fine shirt, shoes, and slacks, his white beard trimmed close to his face.

“Wow, my skin and face actually feel much better.” Arkesh mused, idly straightening his shirt.

“That's why we do it.” Will said. “Now find us again after the caravan is over fifteen miles out from the Wyrd Stronghold, understood? If you show up before we're outside that range, I'll assume it's because you changed your mind about wanting to die.”

“Very well, great uncle.” Arkesh said, nodding deeply.

“Don't call me uncle,” Will said. “It's weird.”

“You're the son of my father's uncle, so-“

“Just call me Will,” Will said. “…You still want that hug?”

“No…the moment's passed.” Arkesh said, looking up at Will from his clothes. “Don't get ambushed and die before I get a chance to find you again. Humans are always getting betrayed and dying and then not coming back with their memories intact.”

Arkesh tapped his chin in thought. “I'm fairly certain you take after your mother in that regard.”

Will frowned. “…Yeah. Probably. I've never tried it…Dying, that is.”

“Well be careful. I hear the lord of this Stronghold is a real bastard.”

“Mark or Frederick?” Will asked.

“Heath Wainwright.”

Will frowned.

“How long ago was that?”

“Ummm…I want to say…four hundred years.”

“…Well, okay then,” Will said, clapping Arkesh on the shoulder. “I'll see you in a week or so.”

Arkesh nodded.

“I look forward to committing your story to memory. Perhaps I'll even pass it on to your successor after you die.”

“Lovely,” Will said, gesturing the ancient snake towards the jungle.

In a matter of minutes, Arkesh was gone, and Will made another pass with his Memory Key to make sure the snake wasn't trying to pull one over on him.

It seemed like the old snake stuck to his word.

…That was good.

After Will was sure the snake was gone, he gathered up his Party.

“Alright, Loth got a map to a raid boss from Arkesh. I'm going to pick some people to come with me to kill it.”

“Ooh, ooh, pick me!” Jason said, raising his hand.

“And some people to stay here and guard the caravan.”

Jason lowered his hand.

“What's the raid boss?” Travis asked, arms tucked around his knees.

“It's a metallic slime.” Loth said. “It's an unusual case that spawned in a higher floor and found its way down to this Floor. Very resistant to physical damage, can make weapons out of its own body. According to Arkesh, it found a place it liked in this lake eight hundred years ago and just…stayed there, getting more and more dangerous, picking off any Climbers unlucky enough to come across it.”

“Okay, if physical damage doesn't bother it, we'll leave June, and since it's a slime without have any squishy weakpoints, we can leave Alicia.” Will said.

“Fine by me.” June said with a shrug. Alicia nodded.

“Mason, you want to come with?” Will asked, turning his attention to the skinny Nuker. Mason's ability to modify his damage type would probably come in handy against something with a strange anatomy like a metallic slime.

“Damn right I do,” Mason said with a nod.

“I'll come!” Jason said.

Will glanced at Reggie.

“…I'll keep him alive,” Reggie sighed.

“Hey!” Jason said, frowning at Reggie.

“So that's Me, Mason, Jason, and Reggie,” Will Mused. It wasn't a bad team, all things considered.

“Why do I need a babysitter?” Jason asked.

“Your Class might be super tough, but you don't have any good Abilities specifically for defense or mobility, do you?”

“Why does that matter?” Jason asked.

“Because from this floor onward, some of the monsters are going to be able to put you in checkmate before you can blink.” Will said.

Loth picked up the slack, sitting down beside Jason.

“A metallic slime forms a needle-like protrusion in a fraction of a second that it thrusts into your body” Loth said, poking Jason in the side with a claw. “But it doesn't stop there. It likes blood because of the iron, so it injects a portion of itself inside you, following every major vein in your body, rupturing them from the inside out as it greedily feeds on your blood.”

Loth traced her fingernail up to Jason's neck. “It's the most agonizing pain you can imagine, your body being ripped apart from the inside out. Finally, it reaches your brain, and you experience a strange sense of disconnect as the individual parts of your mind are uncoupled from each other, experiencing an odd, disjointed confusion as everything fades to black.”

Loth gave the frozen prophet a sharp-toothed grin.

The whole party stared at Loth in silence, especially the pale Jason.

“There's iron in blood!?” Will broke the silence.

Loth turned back to Will.

“Hemoglobin. Noun. 'A red protein responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood of vertebrates. Its molecule comprises four subunits, each containing an iron atom bound to a heme group.' It's amazing how much you can learn just by reading a dictionary.”

“Noted.” Will said with a shrug before turning his attention back to the horrified Jason. “Anyway Without an Ability that can let you dodge, or absorb…that, it's best to bring a Tank for you.”

“Okay.” Jason whispered, hugging his knees.

“Travis, Stay or go?” Will asked.

“You're giving me a choice?” Travis asked.

“I think you'd be equally useful here or there.”

“I'll take the levels, obviously.” Travis said, nodding.

“Loth?” Will asked.

“I'll stay. My current selection of insects won't be able to damage it in any meaningful way...Not to mention…” Her eyes slid to the barrel where her Cuirass of the Cruel Tyrant was baking.

“Without my best damage soak, it would be too dangerous.”

“Alright, so me, Mason, Jason, Travis and Reggie.” Will said, ticking them off with his fingers. Skirmisher, Nuker, Buffer, Decoy, and Tank. Not a bad selection.

“Hey! It's a guy's night out!” Reggie said, clapping Jason on the shoulder.

“…This is going to go horribly.” June said, poking the fire with a stick.

Loth nodded.

“True…” Alicia whispered.

“...And we're taking a few Rias with us,” Will added, pointing at Ria.

Ria blinked, frowning.

“But I thought it was resistant to physical damage?” Mason asked.

“Ria's coming along to establish a line of communication between us and the caravan in case of an emergency.” Will said.

There was also an unspoken understanding that if things went really bad, they could leave her behind and run, like a lizard abandoning its tail. It was unpleasant, but a serious consideration.

“Whew, dodged a calamity there,” June said.

“Aw man…guy's night out…” Reggie moped.

“You could take me with you instead,” Bee said as she arrived beside Ria.

I forgot about Bee. Will had kind of written her off as a useful member of the Party.

“Why you?” Will asked, glancing up at her. Ria must've contacted Bee, or perhaps it had been the other way around.

“Ria doesn't enjoy danger for danger's sake.” Bee said, looping one of her arms around her 'sister's shoulders. “Me? I can't get enough of it. You'll get all the benefits of having Ria there,”

“and…” Bee said, her body growing larger, voice deepening as she took the form of the young man she'd tried to trick Will with on the Fifth Floor. “We can still have a guy's night out.”

Bee waggled 'his' eyebrows.

Mason looked shocked, but Reggie took it in stride.

“Whoo! Guy's night is back on!” Reggie shouted.

“Somebody's gonna get hurt,” June said, putting one of Loth's meat-bugs on a spit and sprinkling some salt over it.

Alicia nodded.

Will had to make a decision.

Bee was significantly more unstable than the other two fragments of Brianna's personality. Chaotic and prone to impulse.

She was objectively a worse choice than Ria.

But Bee had offered to help. Spurning her help here was a good way to make her bitter and more reluctant to help in the future, and might delay Brianna's recovery. If they could improve her attitude and find something Bee excelled at…that benefited everyone.

“Tell Jean you're coming with us and make two extra copies, and you can come.” Will's reasoning was that Jean was well aware of Bee's foibles, and would monitor the situation from her end. if something went bad, she would know about it without Bee needing to be particularly responsible with her communication duties.

who Bee joined Reggie's chanting.

“Guy's night! Guy's night! Guy's night!”

I hope I didn't just mess up really really bad, Will thought. Unfortunately there was no crystal ball that could see the future. At least none that I've heard of.

“You guys realize we'll be heading out tomorrow morning, not at night, right?” Will asked. “A couple hours during the afternoon, tops then right back. There will be no 'guy's night'.”

Bee blew a raspberry. “Not with that attitude.”

Chapter 136: 'Good' Luck

William Oh won a coinflip against the God of Misfortune, who withered and died, having finally been released from his curse of infinite success.

- Jason Salazar

“Okay, we've got three Greater Healing Potions and six people.” Will gave Reggie and Mason one, taking the final one for himself.

“Nobody get injured more than half. That's your budget for the trip,” Will said, scanning his team.

“Half of what?” Jason asked.

“Half. You know. Halfway.” Travis said, rifling through a satchel full of supplies. He grabbed a bag labeled 'eye irritants' and set it aside. Eye irritants wouldn't be useful against a metallic slime.

“Halfway to what?” Jason asked.

“You know, halfway there.” Reggie said, standing still with his arms extended while a couple of Anna's made sure all the joints on his armor were clean and smooth.

“Halfway where?” Jason asked.

“They're just messing with you.” Mason said, applying some kind of powder to his staff so the wood didn't slip. “Will was making a joke. No one has any control over how injured they get.”

I mean…I do, but generally, most people don't.

“Alright, is this the first time this particular group has hunted together?” Will asked, thinking of Jason and Bee.

Mason nodded, while Travis grunted.

“Alright, you know the drill. Give the team a rundown of your powers.”

“I can make explosions. I've put a lot of effort into making sure the explosion is the right element to bypass damage resistances. I'm the most likely to deal lasting damage to the slime. My defensive shielding and damage-resistant body make me pretty durable.” Mason said.

“I've got tons of tricks for controlling enemy aggression, and I've gotten some sweet illusions recently.” Travis said. “Fairly durable, but no Abilities for soaking direct damage, so I won't be poking my head into the fight directly.” Travis said.

“I-I've got like three different Buffs for you guys and a damaging debuff for the enemy.” Jason said, eager to be included.

“Withering Repudiation is language-dependant isn't it?” Will asked.

“Not anymore!” Jason said. “In Akul I Sacrificed a Teranti Hive-queen, which erased the language-dependent requirement, then a Shrieking Fungus, which erased the single-target requirement.

“Read it to me.”

“Ahem:”

Withering Repudiation **

Active: 1 charge

Mentally describe to an area in line of sight exactly why you don't like the creatures inside. Inflicts paralysis and psychic damage over time as long as the user continues to think mean thoughts. Affected creatures must have a mind. Area & damage Scale with Acuity.

It went from language-dependent to mind-dependent.

“That is awesome,” Will said, to which the other Climbers present nodded in agreement. “…Does a metallic slime have a mind?”

Jason opened his mouth…then closed it. “I think…I don't think they do.”

“They don't.” Mason said.

shoot Jason cried, kicking a nearby stump.

“It's fine, just stick to the buffs.” Will said. “What do you have?”

“I've got Hand of Fate, Made Manifest, and flagbearer.”

“Did you pick a tertiary Ability?” Will asked. He should have one more secondary and a tertiary available, provided he didn't upgrade any of his secondaries.

“At level thirty, I got both a secondary and tertiary. I've been waiting to decide on which one should be the tertiary Ability.” Jason said. The Prophet of the End explained the remaining choices he had available.

“Scales of Ouroboros.” Will, Reggie, Mason and Travis said.

Scales of Ouroboros

Active: 5 Charge

Create an ethereal scale somewhere on the body. (max 20). When the user is wounded, consumes the scale and reverts the damage. Scales with Focus.

“But it won't get any better as a tertiary” Jason said, frowning.

“True…but it doesn't need to get any better. It's already good.” Will said.

“It'll save your life, but its scope is pretty limited to just that. Relic Seed on the other hand…” Will mused. “That one sounds like it could get pretty crazy.”

Relic Seed:

Variable Charge

Harvest a myth sown in an area and condense it down into a prepared Sacrifice to create a Relic Seed which can be added to a Relic to give it powers in line with the myth. The myths harvested this way have a chance to be uprooted and forgotten. As the Relic gains notoriety, the seed will grow in power.

One Relic Seed per Relic. Once planted, Relic Seeds cannot be removed.

“Really? It doesn't make any sense to me.” Jason said. “What does harvesting a myth have to do with anything? I don't understand what it does, and even if I did, myths are only available where there are people to tell them, so I'd have to use it in civilized places, wouldn't I?”

“All you really need to know is that it adds an extra Affix to a Relic, which is really good. And just like your Withering Repudiation, if you find the right Sacrifices to eliminate the restrictions, you could make something really special. Not to mention, the word 'seed' implies that there's some inherent potential for some form of pro…profil…

“Proliferation!” Loth shouted from across the camp.

“Pro-filteration,” Will said with a nod. “With the right sacrifice, they might be able to profilterate.

“Proliferate!”

“Hmm…” Jason mused. “Yeah, I can see that. Took 'em.”

“Okay, get your scales maxed out.”

“But that's like a hundred Charge!” Jason said.

“How much Charge do you have?” Will asked, expecting something like eighty or maybe even as low as sixty.

Jason muttered under his breath.

“What?” Will asked, desperately hoping he didn't hear what he thought he just heard.

“…Eight.” Jason admitted, causing everyone to glance at each other in confusion.

Will pulled up Jason's simplified Status on the Party Screen.

Jason Salazar

Prophet of the End Level 30

60 Strength

120+5 Resistance

30+3 Kinesthetics

90+12 Acuity

120+7 Focus

Charges: 8/127

Primary Abilities: Hand of Fate, Withering repudiation**

Secondary Abilities: Made Manifest, Flagbearer, relic Seed

Tertiary Abilities: Scales of Ouroboros

“You have nearly twenty dailies.” Will said, inspecting Jason's simplified Party Status. “So why the Abyss do you have only eight Charges left?”

The assembled men stared at Jason until he crumbled.

“Turns out Hand of Fate is really convenient.” Jason admitted with a guilty shrug.

“I knew you were cheating at cards!” Travis accused.

“You were cheating too!” Jason shot back.

“Yeah, but I was using cantrips, so it's fine,” Travis said. Mason raised a skeptical eyebrow at that statement.

“No cheating at games of any kind.” Will said. “More importantly…I can't take you with us.”

“What!?” Jason shouted, his eyes watering. “But. But…”

Will held up a hand to forestall any crying.

“Look, it's our fault for not instructing you properly, but that doesn't change the fact that you lack the Charge needed to respond to the unexpected. If the fight goes long, or if we get ambushed by some claim jumpers, you won't have the Charge you need to defend yourself.”

Jason seemed to curl in on himself like a dying spider.

“I say we take him.” Mason interrupted Jason's slow self-implosion.

“Eh?” Will glanced up at the unexpected support from the Nuker, who was more rigid about preparation and following the rules than the other three.

“You're worth an entire Party of Climbers of your level,” Mason said. “And none of us are slouches either. I think he'll learn more from running out of Charge and spending the whole fight cowering and feeling useless than he will being mad at us for leaving him behind.”

“Yeah, if something can kill him with us there, then it would've killed him anyways.” Reggie said.

Will glanced at Travis for the final confirmation.

“…I don't care.” Travis said.

“Alright, looks like you're coming with us.” Will said.

whoo Jason shouted, jumping in place.

“…But seriously, stop using Hand of Fate in the camp. And Travis, stop using cantrips to cheat at cards.” Will said.

Travis clicked his tongue.

“What's a cantrip anyway?” Jason asked.

“Mason, you volunteered to teach him about cantrips.” Will said, gesturing at Jason.

“I did?...I suppose I did.” Mason sighed, standing and gesturing for Jason to follow him.

Will stood, shaking his head and watching them retire to a campfire, where Mason began dancing a mote of flame across his fingers.

“Leadership feels a lot like babysitting.” Will mused.

“Now you know my pain.” June said from the firepit.

Will chuckled and turned aside, going back to making sure they had enough supplies to survive a trek through the jungle.

Sure, Will was planning on flying them out there and back in the space of a single afternoon, but they should at least have enough supplies to survive the walk back if Will got knocked out.

Unlikely but possible.

Several hours later Will was just about finished making sure everyone had everything they needed for the trip in the morning when Jason sprinted up to him, cheeks red and panting.

“Check this out!”

He revealed a coin in his hand.

“Heads!”

The gold coin spun in the air for a moment before landing in his palm: Heads.

“Heads!”

It happened again.

“Heads!”

It happened again.

Will raised his hand to forestall any more coin flips. “I get the picture. You figured out a cantrip.”

“I will Never lose a coinflip again!” Jason crowed, holding the coin above his head and posing.

“Wanna bet?” Will asked.

“Oh yeah, Let's do this.” Jason said, readying to flip the coin.

“Hold on,” Will said, gesturing for Jason to pause for a moment. “Let's add some stakes. A real coinflip has gotta have some stakes.”

“Oh right. If I win…I get Anna to feed me a fresh batch of caramel. Naked.”

Will blinked.

“Okay. And if I win, I get to punch you in the face.”

Hand of Fate, if you're listening, I will punch him either way, but also, I'll give Jason an ivory ten-piece if he loses, and he will learn a valuable lesson. Losing here will be the luckiest outcome for him.

“Heads!”

The coin landed Tails.

The expression of shock on Jason's face was priceless an instant before Will's fist made contact. Not particularly hard, considering Jason's excellent Resistance, but the young lad did go flying five or six feet and sat up with a bloody nose.

Jason sat up, face pale. Rather than look at Will, he stared at the coin in his palm like it'd betrayed him. Which it had, in a sense.

how Jason demanded, looking up at Will, who was rifling through his pocket for an ivory ten-piece.

“I'm William Oh,” Will said, flicking the ten-piece into Jason's lap.

“…” Jason just stared at him in absolute shock until Will couldn't keep a straight face any longer and burst out laughing.

“Just kidding. I tricked Hand of Fate,” Will admitted, squatting down next to Jason. “It's got some easily exploitable flaws, so I want you to sit and think about what those flaws are, and try to understand how it works better than a method for winning a simple coin-toss…Don't trust it blindly, and try not to use it against people like me or Loth, alright?”

Jason nodded numbly.

“And seriously, if I hear you creeped out Anna…” Will shook his fist under Jason's nose. “Understood?”

Jason nodded.

“Cool cantrip.” Will said, tousling Jason's hair and leaving.

The fact that Jason could literally predict the future with a coinflip was outrageous, even if it was as simple as 'good' or 'bad', but only Will and Loth would probably understand at a glance how outrageous it was and think of a way to exploit it:

Picking the best path to take.

Deciding whether or not to do something with high risk to reward.

Winning bets against people who were not schemers.

Naturally, the outcome was only what was best for Jason, but generally his Party's well-being translated to his well-being, so it could be…roughly relied on to serve the group. Mostly.

Except in rare cases where a punch to the face was the best outcome for Jason.

There were probably many more things Jason could do with it, but…Best to let him unravel it on his own with some helpful guidance.

The next morning, all seven of them were standing at attention, their gear properly attached to their bodies and ready to go.

Mason, Reggie, Travis, Jason, and three Bees stood in a line as Will gave them a final inspection. Everyone looked perfectly squared away, so Will stopped by Jason.

“Jason, how much Charge to do you have?”

“Twenty-eight.”

“You should only have twenty-six.”

“I dumped my free points into Focus. I'm almost Hourly now.”

Mason and Travis looked silently jealous. Hourly Charge was a Nuker's wet dream, and usually didn't come around until after Class Advancement.

Will rubbed his temple. Rather than exercise more discipline, Jason had decided to just go all in on Focus so that he didn't have to.

Well, his loss. Higher Focus means higher discipline anyway.

Jason's Acuity-based Abilities wouldn't be as powerful as they possibly could be without that sweet extra thirty points, but they were already getting a healthy three points per level anyway, so…whatever. Nobody suffered from having too much Focus.

“Alright, give yourself two Scales, and everyone hop on the sled,” Will said, gesturing to the sleek piece of carved wood.

Will only had five Phantom Snakes and eight people to carry including himself, so the carpenters had been happy to help out by building a transport for them.

Once everyone was on, Will climbed onto the sled behind everyone else and strapped in.

“So is the sled gonna go through the jungle or…” Jason's voice was cut off by a shrill scream as four of Will's snakes lifted the sled straight up into the air and then proceeded to head straight towards the ancient lake.

“Keep your eyes open for a lake under a waterfall!” Will shouted over the blast of wind steaming past them.

About six minutes later, Travis waved his hand, his voice nearly lost to the wind.

“Is that it!?” the Master Decoy shouted, pointing ahead and off to the right, where a small lake lay just below a waterfall, barely visible even from their extreme height. The entire place seemed to be slightly sunk into the earth, which made spotting it from land nearly impossible unless you were right on top of it.

In the center of the lake, a stone structure rose out of the water. A ziggurat, seemingly overgrown with ancient, gnarled wood.

“Yeah, I think that's it.” Will said, banking them slightly to the right and beginning their descent.

Chapter 137: Ancient Temple of Steel

With no regard for his personal safety, William Oh didn't hesitate a single heartbeat, charging into the ancient dungeon alone and headlong, eager to take on the raid boss that he knew in his heart was there.

Once he found Silverdeath, he stood his ground and challenged it to a fair fight, bouncing it's piercing spikes off his blessed steel bracers before taking the monster apart in a long, grueling battle that tested his strength and Abilities to their limits.

Never once did the thought of retreat even cross his mind.

- Some idiot who doesn't understand Climbing, Ringside Tavern.

Will set them down fifty paces distant from the lake. It was unknown whether the Raid boss they were looking for was making its home near, on, or in the ziggurat, and Will wanted them to meet it on their feet rather than get attacked as they were descending.

Rushing in like an idiot was to be avoided.

They descended into the jungle, which had an eerie feeling of descending into a different layer of reality as the sunlight and gentle breeze was swallowed by the shade and stillness of the jungle floor.

The sounds changed too. With thousands of bird and insect mating calls seemingly reaching a startled apex as they arrived before going silent, waiting to see what these strange two-legged creatures would do.

The eight of them began unstrapping from the sled and immediately armed themselves, but actually getting off the sled was a bit of a challenge, given how thick the underbrush was, rising above them in every direction, presenting a nearly-impenetrable wall.

“One moment,” Mason said, touching the Ring of Consideration on his finger to confirm its existence before he swiftly 'cleared' space around them. With fire.

Will felt a bit of warm air wash over him as the Ring of Consideration kept Mason's Conflagrations from damaging his Party.

In the blink of an eye, there was nothing but ash around them for twenty feet in every direction.

Reggie and Will jumped off first, followed by all the Bees and then their three casters.

“Alright, it's about fifty paces that way.” Will said, pointing at a wall of underbrush.

The eight of them studied the solid wall of greenery for a moment.

“Makes you wonder why nobody ever found it, am I right?” Reggie quipped.

“Alright, who wants to be the Flagbearer?” Jason asked, rubbing his hands together.

Flagbearer

Active: 1 charge

Designate one entity as the 'Flagbearer'. Any ally of the target who can see them receives a large buff as long as the Flagbearer remains alive. Should the flagbearer die or be captured, the buff switches to a minor debuff.

All eyes turned to Will.

“Yeah, I'll do it.” Will said. It was a bummer to miss out on a large buff, but it did raise the average of the party, and Will needed a buff far less than everyone else.

Plus if he were killed or captured, they were probably gonna die anyway.

Will felt a Charge manifest from Jason and settle over him like a mantle.

You are now the Flagbearer. Your allies in visual range will gain a large buff as long as you are free and alive. Death or capture will invert the buff.

“Balls,” Travis muttered, eyes wide as he inspected his stats.

“That's my long-term buff. After that, we've got my short-term buff Made Manifest, where I can make one of you fight like a legend for about five minutes. And then my ultra-short buff, Hand of Fate, where I can make you lucky for about ninety seconds.”

“define 'lucky'.” Travis asked.

“Idunno. Lucky. You know. Lucky. Good things happen more, bad things happen less.” Jason said with a shrug. In Will's opinion he was definitely getting Travis back for teasing him the day before.

“Fair enough,” Travis said with a shrug, not rising to the bait.

In a matter of seconds they were organized and cutting their way through the underbrush, With Reggie in the lead, carving a path to the lake ahead of them, the sight of which didn't manifest until they chopped through the last three feet of undergrowth to reveal their target.

The lake itself seemed to be a perfect circle, almost like a bowl that the waterfall above was pouring into. In fact, the waterfall seemed strangely unnatural as well, as it jutted out partly over the water, the stone holding it up seemingly carved into a chiseled edge, water emerging from the very center…like the spout of a carafe of water.

The waterfall and lake were clearly manmade, and that was before the eye even settled on the ziggurat in the middle of the lake.

The weathered stone pyramid was an ancient thing, nearly consumed by the trees that had somehow found purchase in the crumbling stone facade. Only a bit of actual stone showed through the crush of plants constricting it, but from its straight edges and uniform shape, it was clearly a manmade building.

Plus, the ominous hole near the very top. A pitch-black opening cluttered with roots and vines, that weren't quite thick enough to disguise the doorway.

Will allowed his eyes to slide past the ziggurat, instead scanning the water and shore, keeping his eyes open for some sign of the raid boss that Arkesh assured them was there.

The big mysterious pyramid in the center of a manmade lake was eye-catching and all, but slimes didn't have a flair for the dramatic. It might just as easily be sucking on hematite on the opposite shore or licking ore from the side of the waterfall's cliff.

They needed to make absolutely sure nothing was going to catch them from behind before confidently marching into a half-sunk dungeon.

“Mason, Travis, can you two flush out the surrounding area?” Will asked.

Travis nodded, and Will felt a Charge flow through the Master Decoy's body. A moment later, an illusory Party snapped into existence in front of them.

The illusion marched down the coast until they were about a quarter-way around the massive circle.

The illusion of Travis put his fingers in his mouth and unleashed an annoying whistle that made Will want to reflexively punch him.

Will caught Jason's chest with a hand as his Hype Man took a step forward to do exactly that.

In a matter of seconds, a large variety of monsters flooded out of the jungle, congregating around the fake party.

Boom!

The explosion neatly vaporized or crisped up the flood of monsters, ensuring that none of them would sneak up behind their party.

Will watched the ripples from the explosion cross the lake and lap up against the ziggurat.

I'm not sure I like that.

“Whoah!” Jason said, eyes sparkling.

“Let's see what Withering Repudiation can do.” Will said, turning his attention back to the monster extermination. “These things have minds.”

“Yes!” Jason said, rolling up his sleeve.

They went forward and repeated the process.

This time, Jason simply glared at the crush of monsters ahead of them, and the monsters assaulting the illusionary party just…died.

The area of effect seemed to be a bit smaller than Mason's Conflagration, but the effect was comparable. Minus the damage to the surroundings and the attention-grabbing explosion.

All told, everyone was very impressed at how clean the kills were, rivalling Alicia in their ability to snuff out a life.

If we got rid of the 'must have a mind' requirement, could he make stone crumble by hurting its feelings? Will didn't see how it was possible to inflict psychic damage to something without a mind. That seemed like the hard limit, but who knew? He'd been surprised before.

Still no raid boss though, huh? Will thought, glancing at the ziggurat.

They went all the way around the lake, making sure the raid boss wasn't hiding in or around the water anywhere, then it was time to go in.

“Okay, here's the deal. Bee, one of you stays out here and watches our back. One of you stays with the group, and one of you goes ahead of us.”

The idea was, they could know immediately if the raid boss snuck up on them or if the Bee ahead of them stumbled into it.

“Aw man, lookout? That's boring.” All three Bee said.

“Look at it this way. One of you gets to go in that big scary hole before any of us do. Who knows, if there's treasure in there, you might be able to Phantom Thief it before I can. I leave it to you to figure out who does what.”

Now that I'm thinking about it…

Phantom Eye

123 to 122 Charge remaining.

Will sent his Phantom Eye ahead, and inspected the entrance. The faint light of day filtering in was enough for his enhanced senses to study the root-worn stone staircase that descended into the darkness.

To Will's surprise, he came across a strangely shiny, rust-free steel door decorated with an intricate mural depicting a man being sacrificed to…The Tower, perhaps? Or a god? Will didn't know.

It was hard to tell, since it was partially melted along the bottom, as if something had corroded its way through. A good sign the metallic slime had at least been there.

“Will?” Bee's voice drew him back to his regular eyes, refocusing on the Tangled.

“Eh?” Will grunted.

“I'm going with you.” Bee thumbed her chest.

“I'm going ahead.” Another one said proudly.

“I'm…staying here…” the last one muttered, kicking a rock into the lake.

“It's a really important job,” Will said, clapping her on the shoulder.

“Yeah…sure.” She groused.

“Here, have some caramel.” Will said, handing her a piece of caramel wrapped in wax paper that Anna had made earlier.

“Oooh!” Bee said, snatching the sweet out of his hand.

“She gets caramel and I don't!?” Jason demanded.

“You wanna stay here?” Will asked.

“…no?”

“Alright, let's go,” Will said, stepping onto the lake and hardening it with Aspect. An instant later they were marching across the lake towards the ziggurat.

The 'vanguard' Bee rushed ahead with a barely suppressed giggle of excitement while the 'tagalong' Bee joined the Party at the back, peering around them to try and get a clear view.

Will assigned the Phantom Eye to follow along over their vanguard's shoulder, keepin an eye on both her and her surroundings, trying not to get caught up marvelling at the strange interior of the stone temple.

“This place is made of stone, right?” Reggie asked as he ran a hand along the melted steel door before ducking under and passing through.

Will didn't think a Metallic slime was smart enough to engrave itself with a mural, but he stabbed the shiny steel door and confirmed that it was just a door before ducking under.

Never hurt to be sure.

On the other side of the door was a strange sight. Metallic tubes and sharp-featured steel statues stretched the length of the hall, plunging deeper into the ziggurat that seemed to be larger on the inside.

The quiet steel statues lining the hall must've been terrifically impressive in their day, but their once stoic, brutal features had been long since melted away by something that fed on metal, leaving behind half-melted expressions that struck a completely different tone.

Haunted, abandoned, creepy.

“…I can't see a damn thing.” Reggie said.

“Same.” Bee whispered.

“Mason.” Will whispered back.

The Nuker flicked a spark above his head, where it remained suspended, giving off a glimmer of light. It was only about the light of a candle, but that was plenty. Even if the other Party member's eyesight wasn't as good as his, it was still superhuman.

The extra light allowed Will to take in far more detail than he had a moment before.

The thing that stood out most to Will was how little corrosion had occurred in this…What, eight-thousand-year-old temple, according to the old snake?

Will walked up to one of the statues and gave it a light rap with the back of his tomahawk.

Ping!

“This is all Blessed Steel,” Will mused, frowning. Blessed Steel is from stars. This Floor didn't have any stars, so…how did they get it?

Matter of fact, none of the Floors he'd ever been in had stars, instead having that same unnatural moving sky.

Does that mean they used to have a normal sky and Miasma changed it…at the end of the Coil? Is that part of the cataclysm at the end of a Coil?

Too many questions to think about right now.

Will turned his attention to the grimy floor, slowly filled with dirt over the centuries as wind kicked it in through the entrance.

Less water than I thought. I wonder if this place is actually flooded or not.

Will turned his attention to Vanguard Bee, where she was eagerly (and blindly) fumbling her way through the halls, splitting into multiple copies as she came across rooms and cross-halls, eager to map it all out at once.

Even being unable to see, she was going to probably find their quarry faster than the rest of the Party.

Which worked just fine for Will.

“I've seen some intense plumbing in the city but this is just crazy.” Travis muttered, inspecting the wall.

“What do you mean?” Will asked, turning his attention to the Master Decoy.

Travis Oilton came from a family of drillers who knew how to pump oil out of the ground. It was their trade before their Stronghold on the Third Floor was wiped out.

“Well, typically good plumbing is hidden. First, because people don't want to be staring at it, and second, if you expose it to the elements, it degrades faster. Best to seal it up.”

“This feels like someone showing off. Any material that doesn't degrade in hundreds of years-“

“Thousands,” Will corrected, earning a look from Travis. Will sheepishly motioned for him to continue.

“Any material that doesn't degrade in thousands of years has better uses than plumbing and statues. This is a show of force. With the way the pipes look like they grew out of the wall…feels like a last hurrah. Not to mention, you only need a handful of pipes for regular plumbing. Water in, water out.”

Travis counted the pipes on either side.

“A dozen pipes? That's just superfluous. Although…” Travis rubbed his chin and began muttering to himself. “If there was some sort of energy capture system in the lake underneath the waterfall, it might be able to power…”

Will scanned the surrounding pipes until he found one that was heavily corroded by the metallic slime's passing.

Will walked up the side of the wall and peered down into the pipe where a small piece of the outer shielding had been melted away.

Beneath the corroded layer of Blessed Steel There was some sort of keratinous substance that seemed to pulse with a heartbeat underneath it.

Well…I don't like that at all.

“It's not pumping water,” Will said, returning to the ground. “…Don't touch anything you don't have to.”

Bee gave a sudden sharp inhale of air, drawing Will's attention to her.

The tiny girl pointed a shaking finger ahead and to the left, her skin pale.

Phantom Eye.

122 to 121 Charges remaining.

Will created a new Phantom Eye and sped it straight along the path that Bee was pointing, going through a solid stone, steel, and empty rooms, until he found what she was pointing at:

Vanguard Bee suspended in midair by dozens of needle-like spears of liquid steel.

Floor-wide Alert!

The Raid Boss, Silverdeath has been engaged on the 7th Floor!

Silverdeath was a common slime that chanced across a large deposit of powerful Relics and Blessed Steel. Millenia of absorbing these has evolved it into a metallic slime and given it strange and unnatural powers.

Bounty: 2000 Ivory ten-pieces, 3,000,000 X.P, to be shared among the Parties that claim the bounty.

As Bee's copy died, The needles of liquid steel retracted into a lump of beautiful silvery metal the size of one of the caravan's wagons.

It then turned partially see-through and phased through the floor, vanishing from Will's sight in an instant.

“Back up the stairs! Travis, cover us!” Will said.

“Why-“ Jason started to ask, but Mason was already grabbing Jason's shoulder and hauling him back the way they'd come at full speed.

Will felt a charge flow through Travis, and an instant later, the Master Decoy's illusion was waggling his hips in the center of the room as the rest of them charged back the way they'd come.

“Nah, nah nah nah Nah!”

Over his shoulder, Will spotted dozens of liquid metal spikes emerge from the walls and shoot straight through the decoy, buying them a couple extra seconds.

It can move through walls and we can't. This is the absolute worst place to fight it.

Chapter 138: Silverdeath

Mark Wyrd was taking a much-needed break. Four months since he had killed his father and rescued his wife, and it felt like he hadn't gotten a single moment to rest.

It wasn't just purging the ranks of his father's stooges and straightening out their extremely crooked finances, it was also defending his claim on the Wyrd Stronghold. When a Lord passes, everyone and their grandfather suddenly thinks they have a chance at the title. Literally.

The first month saw the worst of the fighting, Where Mark just stood there and let people kill themselves beating their faces against his Build.

There were a few people who worried him a bit, but for the most part, it hadn't been a titanic feat.

Stressful, though.

And the paperwork…dear gods, the paperwork. That kept coming back to him like a damned dog with a stick.

Sign this, calculate that, oh by the way, since you signed this, you have to either sign this to change the law or go back and rewrite the original proposal.

Amanda had calmed him down enough to convince him that he should painstakingly try to do everything right the first time, so that the rats in the Stronghold's bureaucracy couldn't so easily chew holes in the law.

Mark was reclining against a large pillow, sipping something herbal while Amanda reclined against him, reading through documents with patience and an eye for detail that he simply didn't have.

She had asked him if he 'wanted to do anything' to which Mark had jokingly replied 'I want to stare into space for a couple hours.'

And that's what they were doing. Just blankly staring at the wall keeping out the jungle beyond. Occasionally remembering to drink the tea.

Floor-wide Alert!

The Raid Boss, Silverdeath has been engaged on the 7th Floor!

Silverdeath was a common slime that chanced across a large deposit of powerful Relics and Blessed Steel. Millenia of absorbing these has evolved it into a metallic slime and given it strange and unnatural powers.

Bounty: 2000 Ivory ten-pieces, 3,000,000 X.P, to be shared among the Parties that claim the bounty.

“… Of course. Why not?” Mark muttered. They would have to keep their eyes open to make sure that an agitated Silverdeath didn't come their way, but other than that, it wasn't Mark's problem.

Somebody wanted to go get killed by a raid boss? No skin off his back.

A few minutes later:

Floor-wide Alert!

The Party of William Oh has claimed the bounty!

Many thanks to our Climbers for their efforts.

Mark sprayed out a mouthful of tea.

“Who's William Oh?” Amanda asked.

***William Oh****

“Go go go gogogo!” Will shouted, herding the rest of the Party up the stairs. A confined space was not where Will wanted to be against this-

Will saw a flicker of movement ahead and put his foot on Reggie's back and kicked him up the rest of the way even as a curtain of liquid steel slammed shut in front of them.

Suddenly Will was alone on the staircase, with no one ahead, and darkness behind.

I'm cut off.

For a brief instant, Will considered turning around and leading the creature back into the structure and figuring out some way to get past it.

That brief instant was all it took for another sheet of liquid steel to block the staircase behind him.

Shit, what do I- Oh right.

Coiled Strike.

122 to 117 Charges remaining.

Will popped into existence near the top of the staircase, ahead of his sprinting Party.

“Gogogogo!” Will shouted, waving them past as he stepped out of the way.

Silverdeath rippled, and suddenly Will felt a pain in his pinky finger. The one bearing his Set piece. His teleportation had left them behind.

Usually that wouldn't be a problem, given how fast they were, but since Will had been teleporting out of an enclosed area…

Another pain in his fingers.

Shit! It's trying to eat my Ability!

Will drew a mental line from where the metallic slime had come.

Assuming it's trying to engulf that section of the staircase, the last point it would be able to enclose would be…

Will sent his Phantom Snakes down and to the right, utilizing their own intangibility to try and escape the monster's grasp.

It didn't work. Will felt his fingers slam up against something living only a few feet inside the wall.

Will gritted his teeth.

Coiled Strike.

117 to 112 Charges remaining.

Will lured the creature's attention to the fair side of the staircase with his snakes, then teleported back inside of its enclosure.

Will couldn't see, but he knew where his snakes were. They were further down the hall getting slowly compressed into a single point where the slime could absorb them.

Will considered unleashing a cannonball out of his Phantom Snakes to clear the way for them to go up the stairs, but his Party was up the stairs. The sheer amount of power he was going to use might accidentally kill or injure one of them.

Guess it's back to plan A. Will thought, creating a cannonball copy and shooting it downstairs.

The Coiled Strike bonus when combined with the manifestation's extra durability allowed the cannonball to cut through the metallic slime's body, cutting a head-sized hole in the creature's living wall, which his Phantom Snakes dove through.

Will followed after them.

Coiled Strike.

112 to 107 Charges remaining.

Will hit the ground hard, blind and not entirely sure of his footing. Aspect kept him from slipping on the staircase, and an instant later, he wrapped a snake around his waist, tugging himself forward as he used the others to feel their way through the dungeon below him.

With the slime taking up the entire staircase, there was no light for Will's enhanced senses to make use of.

It's times like this I wish I could use Mason's cantrips.

Still, Will could sort of feel the changes in pressure on his skin as he neared walls, hear empty cavities in the walls where intersecting hallways were.

It wasn't too bad. Will was getting used to-

Will was alerted to Silverdeath abandoning the hallway as light spilled down the hall behind him.

Now is it coming after me or them?

Will focused on his feet, using Aspect of the Immortal Serpent to stabilize the terrain around him, creating a sort of bubble around himself.

The idea was he should be able to feel if-

The air above and behind him cracked like an eggshell as something manifested out of thin air and attempted to snuff him out.

It's after me then, Will thought, the snake around his waist tugging him forward in a swift dodge as he spun and whipped his tomahawk into the liquid metal spear, just to see what would happen.

Clang!

The Blessed Steel of his tomahawk hit the liquid metal, rebounding off with a ring that sent shocks through his hand.

The attack left a tiny indent in the liquid metal that vanished in the blink of an eye.

Not entirely unexpected, Will thought as he dragged himself further away before the monster could try engulfing him again.

I need to get around it.

Will didn't want to fall into another trap. If it had left a significant portion of it's bulk near the staircase and was just harrying him with a small extension of itself, he might run straight back into it's clutches.

It probably wasn't that smart, but Will wanted more assurances than 'probably'.

I need to see the whole thing so I know exactly where it is. I need space.

Will thought back to where Bee's copy had been attacked. That had been a huge chamber with enough room for the entire slime to coalesce, and then some.

If he could bring it back there, he could verify that it was all present, then race it back to the surface.

Even with it being able to draw a straight line while Will had to take a roundabout path, Will was still confident he could beat it.

Will whipped himself down the hall at full speed, gradually growing blind again as the light from the surface faded to nothing.

He didn't slow down, using his skin, ears, and the snakes to feel his way through the ancient dungeon at full speed, arriving at the spot where Bee had been attacked only a few moments ago.

There's light here. Will thought, glancing around the biggest room of the ziggurat. The room was dome-shaped, with a glowing Relic in the center. It was a metal sphere the size of a horse that had seemingly been corroded by eons of the metallic slime chewing on it.

The sphere's corrosion revealed patches of brilliant Miasma blue beneath it, the toxic magic concentrated enough to cast brilliant blue light.

On the floor were dozens of tubes that connected the Relic in the center to black stone coffins bearing the mummified remains of humans. There were strange symbols carved into the coffins that seemed to pulse with faint light in time with the sphere in the center or the room.

The sphere represented a larger amount of Blessed Steel and concentrated Miasma than anything else in the ziggurat.

Even in this heartbeat of time that Will was able to observe the room, he could see that the sphere was repairing itself. Blessed Steel was filling in the gaps, seemingly pumped in from below, slowly dimming the light in the room as the exposed concentrated Miasma was slowly covered.

No wonder it was chewing on that. It doesn't run out.

Will bounced up to the ceiling as ten-foot steel spears emerged from the ground.

Will held himself up through a combination of Phantom Hand and Aspect, anchoring himself to the ancient stone ceiling.

“Come on, you son of a bitch, let's see your whole body,” Will muttered, staring down at the silvery spikes emerging from the floor.

Unfortunately, the slime didn't seem willing to play along, sinking its spears back into the floor before winding through the wall, trying to get around and above him.

Will detached from the ceiling and dropped out of the way as another volley of steel needles emerged from above, trying to catch him off guard.

As he fell, another dozen spikes emerged from the floor, attempting to surround him.

Will dodged in midair, dragging himself to the side the snake he'd looped around his waist like a belt.

The spikes from the ceiling and floor touched and merged together as the slime's mass began to coalesce in the center of the room.

now!

Will whipped himself back towards the exit door, his Phantom Snakes leading the way in preparation to feel his way back to the surface again.

A burst of pain from the leading Phantom Snake was the only warning, prompting Will to duck as a nearly-invisible string of steel across the door frame nearly decapitated him.

Will skidded to a halt and assessed the hall, noting several dozen glints of light ahead, glowing faintly blue from the light of the room behind him. Unnaturally strong and sharp wires filled the hall, when a couple seconds ago, there had been nothing.

It backfilled the way back to the surface with traps to slow me down! What an asshole!

Will almost gave an exasperated sigh, but there wasn't time to bemoan his circumstances.

This was just about survival at this point.

Focus 124- 82

Will sent a stream of three manifested shortswords buzzing through the air ahead of him, cutting through the steel wires with sheer power as he blasted down the hallway.

Will put his snakes and his useless left hand in front of him to feel for any wires he might've missed as he sprinted through the halls, praying that he didn't bisect himself by accident.

Go go go!

Will didn't know how he did it, but he could feel the slime moving through the wall above him, getting ahead of him to cut him off at the staircase again.

Screw that.

Will was no longer interested in conserving Charge. He was more interested in getting out of the monster's lair alive.

Will could see the light of the world outside filtering down the staircase and into the ancient hallway, faintly hear the sound of his Party shouting outside.

Will instructed each of his snakes to become as straight as possible, reducing their size relative to the series of cheese-cutting wires that cluttered the hall.

Now.

Will launched three cannonballs down the hall and began teleporting while his snakes tucked their coils in and shot behind the cannonballs as they cleared a path through the steel wires.

Coiled Strike.

82 to 77 Charges remaining.

Coiled Strike.

77 to 72 Charges remaining.

Coiled Strike.

72 to 67 Charges remaining.

Will teleported to the end of the hall, then halfway up the staircase as the cannonballs exploded into the stone behind him.

Will blinked one more time to the top of the stairs, where the rest of his Party was waiting for him just outside the small entrance room.

Will ducked as another three cannonballs preceded his snakes, who grabbed him by the limbs as they swept past, dragging him out of the room a fraction of a second ahead of Silverdeath.

“Run straight!” Will said, pointing toward where Bee was acting as their lookout.

Will set down a foot and hardened the air beneath his Party as they sprinted, stumbling momentarily at the unexpected surface beneath them, but quickly catching their balance and continuing to run.

An instant later, Silverdeath's spears jutted out of the side of the ziggurat where they would've gone, aiming to catch a few of them from beneath.

Unfortunately for the raid boss, they were retreating into the sky, where it couldn't go.

The liquid metal spears grudgingly retracted into the stone surface, giving the seven of them nothing to shoot at.

Will panted, hands on his knees.

“How long was I down there?” He asked.

“About five seconds.” Reggie said.

The adrenaline made it feel longer. Damn that thing's fast…and smart.

It had herded him, trapped the halls and deliberately stayed in the walls to prevent them from being able to get a bead on it.

Does it…have a mind? Will thought. Or are those just predator instincts? Instincts were a form of mind. The instinct-driven monsters who had been lured in by Travis had 'minds'.

If the only thing the slime had done was chase Will in a straight line, Will would've escaped it much easier.

It laid traps.

It knew which direction Will would be retreating and had moved to get ahead of him, forcing him to triple-teleport to outpace it.

…It had a mind.

Will glanced over at Jason.

Maybe this won't actually be that hard a kill.

“I got an idea.” Will said, glancing at the Party's Nuker.

“Do tell.” Mason said, squinting at the ziggurat.

“Jason, don't do anything until we say so, understood?” Will said, putting a hand on the inexperienced Climber's shoulder.

The Prophet of the End nodded.

“I think this thing has a mind, which means we might be able to have Jason kill it easily. The only problem is, it's currently hiding in the walls of the ziggurat. If we kill it while it's in the walls, we don't get any Sacrifices. It's a slime, so it's corpse will immediately begin to blend with the stone wall and instantly degrade in quality.

“So whaddya wanna do?” Jason asked, glancing up at him.

“First thing's first:” Will said, raising a finger. “Give me ten minutes to grab Badur. I think we can pry this clam out of its shell and preserve the meat.”

Will took them up further into the air, hopefully high enough that the slime couldn't percieve them, let alone attack them. He left a snake securing their perch high above the ziggurat, then he went and grabbed Badur, carting the whimpering Logistician back at speeds that would cause physical damage if he didn't use the Phantom Snakes to protect his eyes.

When Will got back, he was relieved to see that his Party was still there, sitting in a semicircle in midair and chatting with each other while they waited for him to return.

“Okay, I think we can make this happen with you three.” Will said, pointing to their Nuker, their Buffer and Badur.

“What's the idea?” Mason asked.

“Okay, you know what happens if you put an explosion inside of an enclosed space?” Will asked.

“No more enclosed space.” Mason said with a nod.

“That thing is smart.” Will said. “I'll bet its hanging around the entrance, waiting for one of us to set foot on the ziggurat again. Its lurking inside the stone near the entrance somewhere, completely intangible.”

“I want you to channel a huge amount of Charge into an overcharged Conflagration, vaporizing the top of the ziggurat,” Will said, pointing at Mason. “Silverdeath will suddenly be floating in midair where there used to be a stone ziggurat for it to hide in. Since it's intangible, the explosion and shrapnel will slide harmlessly through it, but it will be exposed. Then you,” Will pointed at Jason. “Paralyze and damage it with Withering Repudiation while I try and keep it from retreating back into the stone. When it's dead, I want you,” Will pointed at Badur. “To preserve it. This thing is going to make some sweet Sacrifices and I want all of them for my Stronghold.”

“…Let's kill this fuckin' thing,” Will said.

Chapter 139: Identity Crisis

3…2…1

Boom!

An explosive blast sent out a wave of compressed air, flattening the jungle around the lake for a hundred paces and disintegrating the top of the ziggurat.

Shrapnel cleaved through the platform of hardened air that they stood on, diverted off course by the angled layers just enough to not cause them any harm. Badur looked distinctly uncomfortable.

There!

Where there had once been an ancient ziggurat was a metallic blob hanging in midair several feet above scorched stone.

Jason's eyes widened and he immediately began muttering curses under his breath, causing the brilliantly reflective slime to freeze in place as it began taking psychic damage.

Will sent all his Phantom Snakes except for Pinky, the one with the coiled serpent amulet. That one was wrapped around his waist.

No way he was risking that against Silverdeath again.

The four snakes shot down with outrageous speed and caught Silverdeath before it even began falling.

Tangible, intangible, they can still touch you.

Will wrenched upwards with the four snakes, their combined strength enough to send Silverdeath straight up into the air.

“Reapplying.” Jason said, his gaze following Silverdeath as it rose high into the air.

That was the signal to withdraw his snakes.

Will was lifting the monster out of Jason's A.O.E. They decided it was worth the risk of interrupting the skill in order to get it in a place where it couldn't easily return to the earth.

Will let go and Silverdeath continued flying up for a moment, twitching for an instant before erupting in thousands of metal spines.

An instant later, it froze in place as Jason reapplied his Ability.

Will used the snakes to seize the air beneath the slime, creating a shallow bowl of hardened air for it to rest on while they pounded on it.

I wonder if Psychic Venom is doing its job, Will wondered. The thing had a mind, and he had done damage to it with an eidolon when he first escaped from its clutches…hadn't he?

The cannonballs were able to inflict psychic venom, a fun side-effect of the Phantom Hand's new manifestation ability combined with his set bonuses.

But it didn't seem like the thing was withering away like it should've been if it had been hit with Psychic venom.

Must be due to it's body being highly damage resistant.

The only kind of damage one of Will's eidolons could do was physical damage. Silverdeath laughed at physical damage…

Even surpassing the metal's resistance and blowing a hole through it's side hadn't done enough damage to trigger psychic venom. He had done as much damage as moving someone's hand off of your plate.

Which was to say: None.

Note to self: Psychic Venom is currently reliant on applying physical damage first. Physical immune creatures are immune to psychic venom. Fix later.

“I think it's tangible.” Will said, studying the pincushion-looking ball of shiny steel. It wasn't see-through at the moment. It had shifted to attack and been paralyzed mid-strike.

Mason nodded and assaulted it with their agreed-upon elemental damage:

Cold.

A bead of pitch-black nothing formed on Mason's finger, and the assembled team shuddered as all the heat in their skin seemed to be sucked away in a fraction of a second.

Mason flicked the ball of nothing forward, where it impacted against one of Silverdeath's many spines.

A man-sized swath of the metallic slime's metal spines became sheathed in a fine layer of frost as the jungle's humid air condensed and froze around it in an instant.

Mason followed up with a small Conflagration, and a large chunk of spines simply shattered, tumbling away to scatter across the platform of hardened air Will was maintaining.

“Watch those spines.” Will said, doing the same himself. If they coalesced and rejoined the main body, they would have a problem.

“Can't hold this much longer.” Jason said, his face turning red as he struggled to maintain the paralysis effect.

“Why isn't it dying?” Will asked.

“It feels like shouting at a mob.” Jason whispered, the veins in his forehead throbbing. “Its harder to shame multiple people at once. Especially when they're already aligned against you. It's taking damage, but it's got a huge ego.”

The broken pieces of liquid metal unfroze and began gradually creeping back towards the frozen main body.

Damnit.

“Acid?” Mason asked, a bit of faintly acrid material flickering around his fingertips.

Acid would probably work, but the problem was: how much Silverdeath would be left to Sacrifice if they just corroded it to nothing? Not to mention it might escape the damage through intangibility, making that approach a maybe.

“Nah, I still want to be greedy.” Will said.

“Hurry up, you guys,” Jason hissed between clenched teeth.

I need to find a way to inflict Psychic venom.

Will reviewed the effect and all Abilities related to it, starting with his tomahawk.

Tomahawk of the Underworld Guide

+8 Strength

+8 Kinesthetics

+8 Resistance

+8 Focus

+8 Acuity

Passive: Damage from the Tomahawk or Eidolons created by the user gain Psychic Venom, which applies psychic damage over time and incremental stat penalties until the target is dead or the effect is overcome or cured. Scales with Acuity.

Damage from the tomahawk or eidolons created by me.

Will had three ways of creating Eidolons: His Phantom Snakes, His manifested weapons, and his ghost butlers.

None of them had any kind of non-physical attack, so he wouldn't find his answer there…

Will rapidly inspected each piece of his kit, looking for a solution until he stumbled across his boots:

Electric Serpentine Stompers*

+6 Strength

+11 Kinesthetics

+13 resistance

+6 Focus

+6 Acuity

Increased movement speed, increased footing on all terrain. Scales with Resistance.

+20% Ranger Archetype Ability potency

Coiled Lightning:

5 Charges: Eidolons controlled by the User gain a short-range electric aura which may paralyze enemies. Duration and potency scale with Resistance.

Electric aura?

Will frowned and checked the Stormfist Gauntlets in the Phantom Hand.

Stormfists

+10 kinesthetics

+10 Resistance

+10 strength

+30% movement and attack speed.

Each blow struck has a 40% chance to add a low amount of lightning damage. May paralyze.

I'm so glad I haven't replaced this yet.

Make sure to get another elemental weapon when I do replace it.

Will knew from experience that the Stormfist Gauntlets worked well with other Abilities. When he had his old tomahawk it used to add lightning damage to the Psychic A.O.E. Now he was going to see if he could add Psychic Venom to lightning.

Why not? Will cocked his head to the side.

“…Does lightning work on metal creatures?” Will asked, glancing at Mason.

The Nuker raised a brow. “Generally not, no, I didn't even entertain the prospect, given how low the success rate is for that sort of thin. You might as well spit at it.

“Well, shit.”

“And that's…all…I…got.” Jason muttered, collapsing to his knees, clutching his forehead.

A strange groaning filled the air, like an old man waking up after an evening knocking back moonshine.

“I…I…Impudence!” A voice like tearing steel rolled off of Silverdeath, filling the air around them with ear-piercing vibrations.

“Well, lightning's all I got,” Will said, switching to the Stormfist Gauntlets, his stats lowering precipitously in exchange for the ability to create shocks. “You guys get some distance. I'm gonna peck it to death.”

“What is the meaning of this cadre of fools arrayed against me? I am the pinnacle of civilization, the master of The Tower! Lord of all I survey! I am Tek'tut'kanlay!”

As Silverdeath spoke in that strange metallic voice, it seemed to expand, forming an enormous scowling face wearing an elaborate headdress on its brow.

ooh! I get it now!” Will shouted as Silverdeath continued to expand, becoming the size of a house, then a warehouse, looming over them like an ominous cloud. The rest of the party ran away, Will's Pinky snake following along to ensure they had footing in the sky.

“You're confused!” Will shouted, pointing up at the building sized monstrosity scowling down at him. He recognized the headdress as something one of the mummies had been wearing.

“You ate so much of that old dead guy's stuff that you mistook yourself for him!” There was probably some kind of ego-preserving Relic in that ziggurat that the mindless Slime had unknowingly ingested…or something of that nature. Probably that ominous sphere of Blessed Steel in the center of the crypt.

Some sort of trap meant to steal bodies that got stumbled upon by a Slime? There was no way of knowing right this moment, and it changed nothing about what Will had to do.

But it made sense why Jason said this thing had a huge ego. And that meant it had a huge weakness.

“It's a common mistake! You're actually a dumbass slime that I am going to kill and sacrifice to the tower!” Will enunciated slowly so the dumbass slime could follow along.

“I am tektutkanlay the voice shrieked, the slime vibrating so hard that it had become visible. The expression on the face was…unfriendly as it seemed to regain a measure of control. “God-king of Ketulkitnah and ruler of both this life and the next. You will be the first sacrifice to usher in the revival of Ketulkitnah.”

“Nuh-uh!” Will shouted, running to the side. “Dumbass slim-“

Oh shit, it can fly!

The face dissolved as Silverdeath elongated, still outrageously large, growing winglike protrusions along its sides and squirming through the air towards him, moving deceptively fast.

Will looped Middle around his waist and zoomed out of Silverdeath's range an instant before the air around him filled with liquid steel

Coiled Lightning.

67 to 62 Charges remaining.

Will's Phantom Snakes each began crackling with lightning, waiting to unleash on some hapless enemy that got too close.

That was all well and good, but not the Eidolons he had in mind.

Focus 102 to 60

Will created a neverending stream of cannonballs from three of his Phantom Snakes, while his middle finger went into the empty hole that used to be the entrance of the ziggurat, on a mission to provide just a bit of extra psychic damage.

Each cannonball popped into existence with a lightning aura that played across the metallic slime, then upon striking the creature's surface, had a 40% change to jolt it with a blast of lightning the width of Will's arm.

“The mighty Tek'tut'kanlay does not even feel your pathetic attacks. Have Climbers truly fallen so far in a thousand years?” Silverdeath spoke, its shiny surface vibrating in the afternoon light as it swam through the air after him.

I wonder if it has to stay tangible to fly abyss how is it even flying? Will wondered as he kept sprinting across the sky, staying one step ahead of the enormous metal slime, wobbling as it approached like an enormous soap bubble.

…maybe it is an enormous soap bubble? Will thought, maybe it had made itself thin enough to…become light?

How would that work?

Will wasn't sure, but he had figured out one thing: It wasn't actually that big…it was just a bubble. It couldn't possibly have a lot of material on hand to make endless attacks like it had before. Just a handful at a time.

Plus…

Will glanced down at where the rest of the Party was watching Will lead Silverdeath on a merry chase.

“More like eight thousand, Dumbass Slime! You've been Frozen a long time!”

Will tapped Mason on the shoulder with Pinkie as he said 'frozen'.

Mason began to wind up a freezing attack behind his back, the ball of cold slowly growing as he fed Charges into it.

lies

Will's middle finger returned with Tek'tut'kanlay's mummified corpse, the snake wrapped around the emaciated neck, bony limbs dangling.

“Ooh, look at me, I'm a dumbass slime that thinks he's a real boy!” Will said, puppeting the ancient god-king's arms and legs in a silly dance with two serpents while the rest focused cannon fire on the slime's right side.

Despite the metallic slime not taking any direct damage from lightning, the repeated bolts were causing the metal there to glow cherry red. That couldn't be good for it.

Not that Silverdeath noticed.

An inhuman cry of rage split the air as the slime slithered through the air at air-tearing speed.

Will sprinted to the right, causing it to turn its glowing hot side towards Mason.

Mason knew his job.

A soccer-ball sized black bead of void impacted against the heated portion of Silverdeath.

Will juked back and to the left as Silverdeath's sinuous motion froze in midair, sailing past him.

Will threw his Tomahawk, wrapping all of his Phantom Snakes around the handle and delivering it into Silverdeath's side with all the force they could muster.

The Tomahawk of the Underworld Guide went through Silverdeath, entering one side and exiting the other, shattering Silverdeath into a thousand pieces of thin metal warped by opposing heat and cold.

Now let's see if that applied Psychic Venom. Will thought, creating a platform underneath Silverdeath as the shards of frozen mimic tinkled musically downward.

…Because if it didn't, I'm going to put everyone on the sled and run away.

Will carefully watched the liquid metal pieces as they thawed.

Some of them…did not move. They had been damaged to the point that they were no longer connected to the main body.

Damage was dealt. Now let's see if it applied the debuff.

“You…you cannot…defeat me. I am…I…” Silverdeath's voice began to slur and become indistinct as Psychic Venom went to work on it, dealing constant Psychic damage and debuffing it's stats.

It was withering away and losing the ability to think. Even then it was still trying to attack Will as it reformed. Slowly. Clumsily.

…Looks like the hard part is over. Will thought, straightening. Now it was just a matter of wearing it down over time.

“Alright Jason, try Withering Repudiation again.” Will called back to the Party.

no Silverdeath shrieked, turning intangible, slipping through the platform of hardened air and diving towards the ground.

Where the Abyss do you think you're going? Will thought, his Phantom Snakes biting into the creature's metallic flesh and hauling up on it, like a fisherman with a struggling catch.

An instant later, Silverdeath froze in place as Withering Repudiation paralyzed it.

Chapter 140: Ethereal Metallic Slime

Mark Wyrd felt like he was finally beginning to relax. The knots were coming undone, the tea from a rare flower that only grew on this floor had a mild sedative effect that managed to pierce a Climber's Resistance.

And it didn't taste half-bad either.

“This must be the most interesting wall in all the land,” Amanda Akul said, leaning close and following his line of sight to the blank stone wall.

“It's not bad.” Mark said with a shrug.

“Would you like some art up there, or…?”

“No, I'm not actually studying the wall, I'm all up in here,” Mark said, tapping his skull.

“Awww, sweety, I hope you feel better.” Amanda kissed his temple before brandishing a stack of papers covered in notes. “Pretty sure I caught an embezzler. I'm gonna go deal with them.”

In this case 'deal with' was probably a stand-in for 'execute'.

“Good luck, have fun babe,” Mark murmured, taking a long swig of his tea to mark the end of the conversation.

It was right about this moment that Mark vaguely wondered what had happened to that Party that picked a fight with a raid boss, about half an hour ago.

They were most likely dead, just based on the amount of time that had passed.

Floor-wide Alert!

The Party of William Oh has claimed the bounty!

Many thanks to our Climbers for their efforts.

A spray of hot tea blasted out of the raised pagoda and sprinkled down onto the courtyard below.

“Shit, damnit, fuck,” Mark muttered, setting the tea aside and springing to his feet, his body compelling him to do something before his mind had a firm grasp of what, exactly.

“…Who's William Oh?” Amanda asked, frowning as Mark began pacing.

Mark glanced up at Amanda's lovely brown eyes and frowned. Oh right, you were in prison the last three years.

“He's this…kid.” Mark said vaguely. “He's an up-and-comer a lot of people think are going to become a Lord.”

“Well, why are you so worried? You already are a Lord.”

“He already beat me in a straight fight three Floors ago, and he's going to be even stronger now. By a lot.

“Calm down, you've got all your father's resources. Nobody can touch you now.” Amanda said, punctuating her words with a calming gesture.

“That's just the thing.” Mark glanced around and lowered his voice. “You know how I killed my father?”

“You stabbed him when he least expected it.” she said with a shrug.

“Yes, that's what everyone knows.” Mark said. “What everyone doesn't know is that just before that, William Oh got into a fight with my father and managed to take his ring finger off, presenting a weakness that I exploited. This ring, specifically,” Mark motioned to the powerful Relic on his finger.

“He…did damage to your father?”

“Yep.”

“And he's still alive?” Amanda clarified.

Mark nodded.

“And he's surely stronger now.”

Mark nodded again.

“Wow, maybe we should be worried.” Amanda mused. “But…If he's passing through on his way to establish a Stronghold, he's sure to stop by here to at least make a gesture of goodwill.”

“Maybe. He hates my family, with good reason. I hear he got along great with your father.” Mark added.

Amanda snapped her fingers.

“Perfect. Let's use that story. You're besotted with me, the daughter Akul.” She put her fingers on her chest in a preening motion.

“But I am besotted with you.” Mark said, frowning.

“You allow me to dictate every aspect of the Stronghold's administration.”

“But I do allow you to dictate every aspect of the Stronghold's administration.” Mark said.

“Aww, sweetheart, I know,” Amanda said, wrapping her arms around him. “But we're going to have to sell it.”

“Uuugh,” Mark groaned, going limp in her arms.

“Don't treat demonstrating how much you love me like a chore!” She said, flicking his nose, forcing Mark to frantically suppress his Thorns lest her nose get broken.

“Young man, allow me to teach you that there are more ways to 'win' than simple violence.” She said, pushing him back down into his chair and sitting in his lap.

“This is great and all, but when you talk like your dad while sitting on my lap, it's just weird.”

Amanda's eyes narrowed. “Take off your rings, I'm going to pinch you.”

Mark chuckled. “You could try.”

***William Oh***

You are now a level 35 Resourceful Climber!

William Oh

Resourceful Climber Level 35

36 + 49 Strength

108 + 65 Resistance

105 + 63 Kinesthetics

136 + 49 Acuity

70 + 40 Focus

Charges: 60/110

Free Points: 4

Non-stat Item Abilities: +40% Rogue Archetype potency, +40% Ranger Archetype Potency, Coiled Lightning, Decreased audiovisual of Attacks/Abilities, resist tracking/Extrasensory, +30% Ranger Ability Speed and Duration beyond control, 25% audiovisual dampening while tress-passing/breaking into a locked location or container. 32%bonus to move/attack. 43% chance to apply Lightning on hit.

Coiled Strike, 70% Audiovisual Dampening while trying to hide.

Phantom Hand Slots: (Ring of Accuracy*) empty (Wand of the Undead Retainer) -(Stormfists)- (Dimensional Coiled Serpent Amulet)

Primary Abilities: Aspect of the Immortal Serpent**, Phantom Hand****

Secondary Abilities: Sourdough**

Tertiary Abilities: Phantom Eye

Primary Ability Upgrade Available!

“Uuugh.” Will let out a groan as he collapsed backward into the dirt of the Jungle. It had only been half an hour, but it felt a lot longer when you were fighting to the death.

“My lord?” Badur asked, glancing at Will and then up to the massive bowl of liquid metal Will was supporting above them.

Even now it was beginning to leak Miasma. Slimes, especially metallic slimes, were distinctly unnatural, and needed plenty of miasma to justify their existence, so they needed to preserve it immediately.

“Got it,” Will groaned, rising to his feet.

“I'm making a slope,” Will said, gesturing with his hand, prompting a nod from the Logistician.

Invisible slopes worked better than invisible staircases, Will had found, and soon enough the two of them were standing beside the massive pool of liquid metal.

Badur knelt down beside the slime's corpse, extending a trembling hand, his expression pale, likely thinking of all the razor sharp spears that had been coming out of the thing only moments before.

Will felt several charges flow through Badur, and a moment later, the miasma stopped flowing out of the dead creature's flesh, locked in place by Badur's preservation Ability.

“Thanks,” Will said, clapping Badur on the shoulder.

“It's my job,” Badur said, straightening his undershirt, seemingly a habit from wearing a heavier jacket. He turned to Will with an excited look. “I'd like to go back to the caravan and retrieve some measuring tools and my ledger. I'm confident this slime will be the backbone of your army.”

“Eh?” Will grunted. Army? The Abyss is he talking about?

“Raid boss Sacrifices often have A-rank Growth, which is already excellent. This creature had amazing physical attack and defence, and the ability to bypass physical barriers. It will certainly be an outstanding Sacrifice for a Class Seed. And you've got…” Badur scanned the Wagon-sized puddle of liquid metal.

“…Thousands of Sacrifices here.”

Enough to grant identical Classes to a small army, Will thought, nodding. Even as Badur said that, Will was already imagining what an army of men and women wielding flexible swords…or perhaps covered in fluid armor that could both attack and defend.

What if I combined it with a Roc? Lightning and metal? What would the third ingredient be?

Will shook it out of his head before he got too carried away.

“That reminds me.” Will mused, grabbing a double-handful of the liquid metal and offering it up to The Tower.

Let's see what this does.

Will had been propelled forward to level 35 by the bounty reward, so he now had the Primary Ability Upgrade to spare.

Ethereal Metallic Slime upgrade for Phantom Hand:

Adds polymorphic armor to Phantom Hand, which may be tangible or intangible at the user's discretion. Durability scales with Acuity.

“…What's Polymorphic mean?” Will asked, glancing around for Loth.

“'Many shapes.” Badur said. As Will stared at him, he clarified. “It's a fancy word for shape-shifting.”

Shapeshifting armor for the Phantom Hand… that would certainly decrease the number of times the hand got damaged, but it wouldn't prevent it entirely. It also doesn't do anything to regrow lost fingers.

Will thought about it for a moment. Maybe it wasn't perfectly what he was looking for, but he couldn't be that choosy. If he didn't armor up his hand here in anticipation of someday getting something better, and he lost the Dimensional Coiled Serpent Amulet because of that…that would be stupid.

Do you wish to Sacrifice Ethereal Metallic Slime to Phantom Hand?

Yes.

There was a flash of light as the Tower took the Sacrifice out of his hand, and Will's snakes shuddered as the Ability was rewritten.

Phantom Hand has been upgraded. Review the description for changes.

Phantom Hand*****

Passive

Active: 1 charge.

Toggle: 14 Focus

Gain the use of an armored* ethereal Phantom Hand. Access a tiny amount of dimensional storage with a Charge. Items inside the Dimensional Storage shrink, scaling with Acuity.

Create a physical manifestation of a stored item for the Toggle cost.

Sacrifice a stored Relic to apply its effect to one of five slots. Only one slot can be active at a time. Switching to another slot causes the previous one to be inactive for 24 hours, and overwriting a slot causes the slot to be inactive for a week.

*Armor is polymorphic. May become tangible at will. Durability scales with Acuity.

A slight shudder went through Will as he felt the armor crawl up the spine of each of his Phantom Snakes like a living thing, the sensation radiating up each digit of his left hand.

Will brought Middle up towards him, so he could inspect it.

The Phantom Snake had a little helmet and articulated armor that flowed all the way back to its tail. It was plain, without any frills or-

Just as Will thought about a fancier armor, the armor twitched, adding some engraving and frills jutting out the side of the helmet. The frills were half-formed and the engravings didn't really have a rhyme or reason, just a series of squiggly lines only vaguely pleasing to the eye.

When he focused on it, the frills fully formed, and the engravings took on a more logical pattern.

When he stopped focusing on it, the frills and pattern remained, locked into place until he decided to alter them again.

Huh. What if I…

Will formed a simple frill off the back of the snake's spine, then focused carefully on it, refining the frill down to a narrow, razor-sharp blade.

Then he decided it should be tangible.

Badur flinched as a hollow metal snake with a razor jutting out of its spine appeared in front of Will.

Will held out a piece of his shirt and directed the snake to pass the razor through it.

Slice.

Hmm…

Will's mind was racing with possibilities, but he shelved the follow-up experiments until he was in private, turning his attention to getting Badur back to the Caravan and getting the slime back to the caravan. They needed a new wagon built specifically to haul the slime, and to cut a path all the way back…

Which would take the rest of the day.

Totally worth it, though, Will thought, surveying the pond of liquid metal.

Despite everything he knew about Frederick Wyrd's inhumane experiments, Will couldn't help but let his mind wander about what kind of soldiers could be made using Silverdeath as one of the Sacrifices.

Fast, flexible, metallic, with a hint of ethereal Abilities thrown in. That made for excellent offense.

Now I just need to keep my eyes open for Raid Bosses that pair well with that…

I wonder if Brianna could use this for her Shapeshifting Secondary? Will mused. Or Mason on his Shield Ability to make it more durable or flexible? Or heal faster?

They didn't all have as many upgrade slots for their Abilities as Will did on Phantom Hand. Most of them were similar to Sourdough, which only had two upgrade slots, so they had to be very cautious about what upgrades they took.

Will refocused on the task at hand and shuttled Badur back to the caravan before setting the carpenters on making a super-wagon to transport the slime's corpse, Jean on clearing the path back to the lake, and the rest of the Party on cutting their way back to the caravan, with the intention of eventually meeting halfway.

Despite Will being able to fly there and back in about ten minutes, clearing the way for a wagon was an entirely different beast, and Will spent the rest of the day just sitting beside Silverdeath's corpse, feet dangling off the invisible platform, guarding it against monsters or other Climbers who might want a piece of a Raid Boss, watching as the two lines carved through the jungle got closer and closer to meeting.

Once Mason and the others had gotten far enough away from Silverdeath, Will stole a bit of the liquid metal, about a hundred Sacrifices worth, storing it in his Phantom Snakes.

The difference was imperceptible, even to Will, who had been the one doing it.

…Why would he steal from himself?

Badur hadn't measured the official volume of the massive slime, and once it was a matter of record, someone would get their eyes on it and be able to make plans based on those numbers. It was always good to have a little bit more than anyone thought you did.

Badur would probably have a meltdown if he knew the numbers were wrong.

My paranoia again, Will thought, scanning the jungle.

While they were all gone, Will experimented with Phantom Hand.

He couldn't take off his Set or else he would drop Silverdeath's corpse, but he could tell that the armor could be used to touch things even when the Phantom Hand wasn't being enhanced by the set.

All Will would have to do to touch things was form the armor around the hand like a glove, and then make the armor tangible.

All people would see was a metal hand flickering into existence.

I finally did it. Will thought, resting his chin on his left hand and chuckling morosely.

I finally got Phantom Hand to where it can replace my missing left hand…and it's…superfluous. I don't even need it anymore.

Talk about superfluous…

Will formed a long, thin blade from the snakes' armor, about twelve feet long and thinner than a hair.

He turned it tangible and whipped it through a nearby tree.

The tree toppled over, a perfectly smooth cut evident where the blade had sliced through it.

Hmm.

That was cool and all, but it was yet another way to manifest physical attacks out of thin air. Something that Will had already been doing for ages now.

Sure, it added a bit of flexibility, but when he stripped it down to what it could and could not do, it was very similar to the manifestation ability. In some ways better, in some ways worse.

There was a lot of overlap.

No, the primary draw here was the fact that Phantom Hand was now armored against direct attacks.

Will could use them in battle with more confidence against higher level opponents, and that alone was worth it.

I have four upgrade slots left in both Phantom Hand and Aspect of the Serpent. How much further can I take them?

In the distance, Will saw the two lines cut through the jungle merge, and the massive wagon was revealed, rolling towards him, pulled by dozens of Climbers.

Won't be long now.

Will glanced down at the broken ziggurat beneath him, the top missing, with a gaping hole in the center that led deeper into the ancient crypt.

I'll take care of you tomorrow.

Chapter 141: Distributing Wealth

Ethereal Metallic Slime upgrade for Aspect of the Serpent:

Metal bones: adds passive resistance to physical and lightning damage. Scales with Resistance.

Do you wish to Sacrifice Ethereal Metallic Slime to Aspect of the Serpent?

No.

Will dropped the liquid metal cupped between his palms back into the pond of material. It seemed as though it didn't synergize well with Aspect of the Immortal Serpent.

Extra toughness was good, but it wasn't what Will was looking for.

If it granted something like polymorphic armor, or better yet, some kind of Ability that allowed him to become intangible like his Phantom Hand, he would've leapt on it in an instant.

That leads me to ask: what would synergize well with Aspect of the Immortal Serpent? Will thought to himself.

Immortal Serpents were known for shapeshifting, Psychic attacks, and strong healing. Will had already grabbed the 'strong healing' piece of it.

Maybe it would grant powerful Abilities if I followed the theme and Sacrificed Psychic and shapeshifting monsters to it? Will wondered. There were supposed to be some of both on the 9th Floor.

Or perhaps instead of branching out, lean further into the Abilities I already have… Will mused to himself.

Maybe he could get psychic attacks or shapeshifting powers, but if he doubled down on the ability to control his environment through Aspect's ability to control Terrain, it could become something extraordinary.

In the future, it would probably be best to have a couple unstoppable Abilities rather than dozens of mediocre ones.

Then again. I've only added two upgrades out of six. If I focuses all of the remaining four on building psychic abilities rather than pursuing terrain control, that would definitely be enough upgrades to guide Aspect into a completely new specialty.

Terrain control was awesome, but Will had been irritated that he couldn't deal any real damage to the metallic slime. Having a powerful non-physical attack would be handy.

…I guess we'll see how things play out, Will thought as the wagon designed to carry the slime's corpse arrived.

Jean arrived along with the wagon, and once the slime was successfully moved into the wagon, she held a cupful of liquid metal aloft, frowning as she read her upgrade options.

Since Bee was technically her, she had been included in the Bounty and had been propelled straight to level 35, granting her another Upgrade.

“Anything good?” Will asked.

“Nothing fantastic for my primaries, but for my Shapeshifting Secondary, it would allow me to create metal weapons from my own flesh.”

Will's brows rose at that statement. That would allow her to change the gloves she was wearing that allowed her to summon claws out with something better.

“Do you want it?” Will asked.

“Honestly, I'd prefer things that defend against mental manipulation or grant the ability to bake better.” Jean said with a shrug. “But I'll take it if you think that's best.”

It was hard to find monsters known for their mental defense, because Climbers didn't go around constantly testing that. it wasn't the primary means by which monsters were dispatched, so mentally strong but physically weak creature would always die immediately, long before their mental abilities were discovered.

And monsters that were strong mentally were usually using that Ability offensively in some way.

“I'll give it some thought. No rush, you don't even have a secondary upgrade yet.”

Jean nodded and dropped the liquid metal back into the wagon.

Will was feeling generous, so each and every person got the opportunity to check if any of their Abilities could benefit substantially from Sacrificing Silverdeath. That's what these pioneers had signed up for after all: In exchange for the danger of establishing a new Stronghold, they would always be first in line for the rewards.

Strangely enough, civilians got more good uses out of Silverdeath than Climbers, because the metallic slime was powerful, unique and had a tendency to overshadow or overlap other offensive abilities.

Many of their Climbers passed on it because it had poor synergy with their build, but for the civilians, it provided the best Ability they would likely ever get.

Some tailors got the ability to mentally control their sewing needles, while others got the ability to give wire the texture and flexibility of string, while still others gained the ability to 'metallicize' clothing, making soft, flexible armor that felt and weighed the same as normal clothes. Given three sacrifices, they could get all three Abilities.

The resulting clothes weren't Relics, either, so the slot limit wasn't even a concern.

Once Will knew about that, he decided to allow the tailors use multiple Sacrifices, in exchange for a small cut of their output…Which Loth informed him was already part of their contract.

Will shrugged and told them if that was the case, then they were more than welcome to the sacrifices. Any enhancement he gave them for free would be repaid eventually anyway.

If there was a good fabric that could be produced on the 10th Floor, that could become a backbone of their exports.

The civilian Parties understood that something like this could define a generation, and Brenna Egan wept tears of joy, hugging her somewhat confused daughters, who perhaps didn't understand the implications of effortlessly creating near-Relic quality armor.

Will knew if they moved back down outside the Ring, they would essentially be nobility.

Mason passed on the Sacrifice, muttering something about 'nodules', which nobody wanted anything to do with.

Jason passed, saying it didn't fit his build, which made sense.

Reggie took two sacrifices, applying one to his 'Heavily Armored' Ability, and the other to his Second Wind Ability, granting him passive higher physical resistance and active temporary intangibility.

Reggie's armor began to flex and twitch on its own, seemingly fixing near-invisible misalignments and adjusting itself to fit him even more perfectly.

Reggie began bouncing on his toes, and Will could see the Tank's heavy armor itself flexing and unflexing, adding strength and bounciness to his movements.

Looks like Reggie came out ahead. Makes sense.

Even Badur got something interesting.

The Logistician held his palm over his ledger, and with a flash of light, the ledger vanished, replaced by a miniature representation of the camp, composed entirely of liquid metal.

No, it isn't the camp, Will thought, frowning. It was only things that Badur had written in his ledger. The people were missing, as was the fire Anna was cooking over, the tree stumps they used as chairs, things like that.

Badur glared at one of the wagons which was sloppily organized, and a moment later, the miniature began to fix itself, tiny luggage straightening into neat rows.

That change was reflected in the real world as well.

“Can you make the wagons move?” Will asked.

Badur frowned and glanced at the wagons, which lurched forward.

“Yes, my lord, but it takes a bit more effort. It would probably work best for getting them unstuck or moving them if there were no alternative.”

Good to know.

Carpenters saw some benefits from Silverdeath when added to the Abilities that allowed them to treat wood. They also got the option to gain mental control over their tools, but felt like it was a waste, and to a man, passed on that Ability.

Carpenters liked feeling what they were doing.

Loth passed on the upgrade, but mentioned that it might be a good sacrifice for kobolds who hadn't yet specialized their Trap Savant Ability.

June and Alicia passed as well, holding out for more specialized Sacrifices for their Builds.

The water-mages passed, but the earth mages in the caravan took two apiece, allowing them to reinforce their earth-works with metal.

The healers passed.

Once everyone had taken what they wanted from the wagon, Badur measured the depth with a marked stick and did some math in his notebook.

Then he said something insane.

“Excuse me?” Will asked, eyes round.

“Fifteen thousand, three hundred and nine Sacrifices.” Badur repeated, his gaze scanning across his notebook, checking for errors. With a margin of error of…three or four.”

…damn.

The caravan surrounding him cheered, and Will knew why. This was an incredible windfall. They could sell maybe a couple dozen of these Sacrifices at auction in Akul to pay for the entire trip, and the rest could go into the Stronghold's war-chest, towards covering future costs or creating Classes.

Of course that means it's a prime target for theft.

Will glanced around the caravan, scanning the excited faced and back-slapping, wondering which of them might try to steal some or spill the story to other Climbers in a fit of bragging.

Of course, nobody was wearing a sign that said 'information leak'.

Will called his right hand, her right hand, and Jean.

Once Loth, June and Jean were in front of him, Will took them away from the rest of the caravan.

“I want good security on that wagon,” Will said. “We've got three Strongholds to visit between now and the 10th Floor, and I would prefer it if Brenna's son-in-law – Will pointed at the young man dancing wildly next to the fire and spilling beer everywhere – didn't brag to anyone about what a haul we have. That's just asking for trouble.”

Loth turned to June and Jean. “June, you give Jean a list of potential blabbers, and we'll assign them each a Ria to chaperone them while we're inside the walls of a Stronghold.”

June nodded. “We're gonna want a couple people from each of the Parties on watch at the same time so they can watch each other as well as the wagon. I'll try and make a list of the most trustworthy ones and make sure to break up the gullible ones from the schemers.”

In a matter of seconds, the three of them had their heads together over a map of the camp, plotting how to adjust things to make sure nobody got any bright ideas.

Gods, having competent subordinates is a relief, Will thought, excusing himself and getting some dinner from Anna.

The next morning, they had a shift of guards set up for the wagon, and Will assembled the 'looting' Party, meant to raid the ziggurat.

Only the tip of the ziggurat was actually missing, meaning the staircase leading down had been removed, but most of the building below that point was still whole. There was a gaping hole in the floor that they could just jump down into to reach the hallway lined with Blessed Steel statues.

Will's looting Party was composed of himself, Loth, June, Reggie, Alicia, and Bee.

Bee was about to jump back down in and start running blind again, when Loth paused her for a moment, unleashing a swarm of glowbugs that took up positions along the walls, casting the same light as a torch every five feet.

Once the hall below them was lit, Loth allowed Bee to rush ahead.

Her job was to stumble into traps, after all.

The other five of them hopped down into the ziggurat, cautiously taking in the hall.

There was certainly a lot more dust and debris than there had been the first time they went through. It seemed as though the explosion had caused all the accumulated dust to fall to the ground, along with bits of shrapnel that had been propelled inward by Mason's explosion.

“…I can't see through the walls,” Alicia whispered, shaking her head.

Will nodded to Reggie and the Tank put his palm under Alicia's foot and propelled her back outside the ziggurat.

June led the way, using her Scout Abilities to enhance her threat detection and mask their presence as they made their way through the underground labyrinth.

Sadly, they didn't find much in the way of unbroken Relics, because of Silverdeath's tendency to chew on anything metallic. There were a couple pieces of treasure that were just whole enough that they hadn't dissolved into relic dust.

A bronze torc Relic, seemingly designed for near-permanent wear around the neck. It was pitted and partially dissolved, but still whole enough to identify.

Torc of Rallying

+5 Resistance

+8 Focus

Bearer may detect allies through barriers. Scales with Acuity.

1 Charge: Rallying Cry.

Give a shout that will cut through ambient noise or sound cancelation for Allies and grant them extra movement speed. Scales with Resistance.

Not bad, Will thought, inspecting the ancient Relic.

Could you use it to detect people that aren't allies? Will thought, imagining himself blocking his line of sight with his own hand while looking at someone to determine if they were an 'ally' or not.

Of course just because someone's not an ally doesn't mean they're an enemy…unless they really should be tagged as an ally, and not being one is a sign of betrayal.

This could be a good target for Will's Sourdough Ability, if he could find another item with enemy detection or something of that nature, perhaps it could create a 1-item soft-set.

First I'll have to fix it, though, Will thought, running a thumb over the pitted metal.

They came away with a handful of trinkets, but the pickings were slim. Eventually they arrived at the distant crypt room.

A murmur of amazement spread through the rest of the group as they arrived, and Will reminded himself that they hadn't actually seen this room.

Open coffins of black stone lined the walls, with nearly a dozen mummies standing up straight inside them, facing inward towards the Blessed Steel sphere in the center of the room, which was connected to all their coffins via organic-looking steel tubes.

There was writing across the walls and ceiling, along with pictograms carved into the stone, showing a massive snake swallowing a city whole. It was only when he unfocused his eye and took a step back that he realized the ancient empire sat on the snake's tail, and the city's destruction was just a byproduct of the snake eating itself.

A representation of the chaos of Ouroboros at the end of the Coil, or did that actually happen? Will wondered to himself.

“I can't read this,” Loth muttered, looking pretty pissed at not being able to read something.

“I know someone who might.” Will said. “Also it would normally go without saying, but don't touch anything, and especially not the sphere in the center of the room!” Will was directing that statement at Reggie who was wandering towards a mummy, finger extended.

“Mhmm…” Reggie mused, still approaching the coffin.

June gave a short, practiced hiss that sent a shock of primal fear through Will's body, the sound seemingly seizing on a deeply buried prey response.

The sound must've done the same to Reggie, knocking him out of his stupor. The oversized young man shook his head and peered around the room, confused.

“Loth, could you escort everyone out of the room?” Will said, trying not to alarm the others. There was some Focus-targeting mind-effects happening in here.

Will ran through his Memory Key as soon as he realized it.

“Where's Bee?” Loth asked as she grabbed the others and began leading them out.

Will could smell that she had come in here, but he didn't see her.

Now that he was paying attention to it, Will heard a tiny plap of blood on stone.

“Everyone out.” Will said, sprinting towards the sound.

There, Bee was being drawn into a hidden alcove beside one of the coffins, out of sight of the entrance.

She seemed to be lost in some kind of trance as organic-looking ropes of metallic material drew her into the darkness.

“Sorry,” Will said, eliminating Bee's copy with the Tomahawk of the Underworld Guide before she woke up and suffered.

Will backed away from the questing tendrils reaching for his ankles and went to stand in front of the coffin, whose symbols were beginning to glow with more power as the alcove behind it consumed Bee's flesh.

The mummy inside the coffin was slowly regaining a hint of life, the withered flesh smoothing and plumping to form a rather handsome man's face.

Will watched as the Sphere in the center of the room seemed to dispatch the man's consciousness, through the pipe connected to his coffin, marked by a pulsing glow along the tubes in the floor towards the reconstituting body.

Will crossed his arms and waited with a scowl, his weapon dripping blood beside him.

The moment the corpse's eyes opened, Will buried the axe between them.

Will wasn't against the occasional raising the dead. High-level Priests did it all the time. But these people gave Will the feeling that allowing them to resurrect would be nothing but an enormous headache.

Some dead were better off dead.

The Tomahawk of the Underworld Guide agreed.

Once Will was absolutely sure the mummy wasn't waking back up again, he, Loth, and Mason, the highest Focus members –aside from Jason– of the group, spent the next half-hour gathering up all the mummies and looting their bodies before Mason incinerated them.

Loth located and disabled the traps designed to lure low-focus Climbers into the body-consuming alcoves, grinning with manic enthusiasm as she dissected the strange technology.

Under no circumstances were they able to get Reese to come down into the ziggurat to translate the text, so they took some tracings, gathered up the loot and called it a day.

Around the fire that night, Reese cleared his throat and read the tracings.

“Keep in mind, this is a different language, so a direct translation is impossible, but here we go: Ahem. Rejoice, those of you who have discovered the tomb of the mighty Tek'tut'kanlay, whose power transcends death. Take comfort in knowing that your sacrifice will be the first light of dawn on an eternal empire that will seize the sun itself in place and transcend the will of the Tower. Ketulkitnah will reign forever. It will no longer succumb to the Coils of Ouroboros in this era or any other. The will of heaven be damned.”

“Huh.” Will grunted, chewing on a fresh loaf of bread from Anna. “They sound like assholes.”

“I mean, they locked me in a lightless coffin for…” Reese mused, frowning. “…At least a couple days.”

Chapter 142: Kill'em With Kindness

Anna poked Will in the cheek, causing his eyes to snap open.

With three big blinks, he was awake and aware. The caravan had cut its way into the Wyrd Stronghold's clearing, and about twenty feet inside the clearing was the welcome party.

Beyond them, a massive stone wall jutted out of the grass, an impressive hundred feet tall. The sort of thing you could sit and stare at…if one were so inclined.

Stifling a yawn, Will pushed himself out of Anna's lap and hopped off the wagon, heading towards the front with Loth.

She was wearing her new modified Cuirass of the Cruel Tyrant, so Will wasn't too worried about an ambush. She could soak an absurd amount of damage, and in doing so, would boost the stats of all of her allies.

Will peered at the figures ahead of them as he matched Loth's pace.

There were some obvious bureaucrats, men with ledgers, ink stains on their fingers, myopic vision and weak shoulder muscles.

The figures at the center were both familiar and unknown. One was Mark Wyrd, watching Will with intense focus. The other was a woman with dusky skin who bore a passing resemblance to Nephir Akul. She had the same ink stains as the others, but the way she carried herself felt much more dangerous to Will.

The bureaucrats had a hyperawareness of both the approaching caravan and the jungle beyond. A behavior that told Will flat-out that they were weak enough to fear what was out there.

She seemed completely at ease at an approaching army of Climbers.

Interesting.

The woman took a step forward and gave a graceful bow.

“Welcome to the Wyrd Stronghold.” She said, her voice cutting through the silence. “My name is Amanda Akul, the wife of Mark Wyrd. It is an honor to receive a celebrity such as yourself.”

Will snapped his fingers. “That's who you remind me of!” he exclaimed. Will had heard the baron mention a daughter…shortly before exploding.

“I bid you welcome you to our stronghold.” Amanda said, motioning behind them. “It isn't much but any respite from the constant threat of the jungle is a blessing.”

Our Stronghold? Will thought.

Amanda glanced past them, her gaze lingering on several identical Anna's and Ria's before returning to Will.

“You are Wiliam Oh?” She asked.

Loth nudged Will's wrist, slipping him the box with the gauntlets.

“That's correct.” Will said, taking the box and stepping forward. “Here is small bribe, as a gesture of goodwill.” He placed the box into the Akul scion's hands.

“Gift,” Loth corrected quietly.

“But it's a bribe?” Will asked, glancing down at Loth.

Amanda's lips twitched in a barely suppressed smile as she opened the box and inspected the Relic.

The faint smile slipped off her face.

Gauntlets of Bloody Rejuvenation

+8 Resistance

+8 Focus

+5 Strength

+12% Thorns

4% Lifesteal

A small amount of lifesteal above what is required to completely heal the wielder is stored to be used on future wounds.

“How did you get lifesteal on a pair of gauntlets?” She asked, handing the box to Mark Wyrd, who gave a similar wide-eyed expression as he inspected the Relic.

“We found a pair of Gauntlets with good Thorns damage and had a crafter in Akul add the lifesteal affix.” Loth answered.

“Ah. Shame it isn't a natural affix. Still, it's an outstanding…gift.”

Will glanced past Amanda at Mark, who was studying the gauntlets with a pensive frown.

“Why hasn't he said anything?” Will asked.

“…Greetings,” Mark Wyrd said, a tone of barely suppressed pettiness coloring his voice.

Ah. Will's eyes narrowed.

“I decided that I was better suited to handling diplomatic matters,” Amanda said, moving to stand between the two of them. “Especially after the…tension between you and his father.”

Will cocked his head.

“You decided?”

Amanda took a step back and ruffled her taller husband's hair in an overly familiar way, causing the rugged Thorns Tank to turn beet red.

“We make all our decisions together, but admittedly, this was a bit more me than him. We've been married since we were twelve, you know. Ten years now, actually!”

“We should do something to celebrate-” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed her husband's red cheek as Mark silently glared daggers at Will.

“Now let's not stand around forever, we need to get your caravan sorted before dark. This way to the entrance!” She stepped away and motioned for them to follow her. “Come along, Mark,” She chided her husband gently, causing the nigh-unkillable Thorns-Tank to blush more, and follow along behind her with his head hanging down.

“…I like her.” Loth said.

Will raised a brow.

“It's an act, obviously,” Loth said, “Designed to defuse tension. But it's her act, not Mark's. Which, in and of itself, implies that some of what she said is the truth.”

“Right this way!” Amanda Akul hollered, waving back at them. “The entrance is around the moat to the south side!

“Is Travis handled?” Will asked.

“He's gotten crippling 'food poisoning', if that's what you're wondering.” Loth replied. “He shouldn't be in any condition to do anything stupid for at least a couple days.”

“Alright, let's do this,” Will muttered, rolling his shoulders before motioning for the caravan to follow him.

The next few hours were the most tense Will had experienced in recent memory. Despite the grand welcome and hospitality, everything felt as though it were an instant away from catching fire.

Anna was pale and trembling, Bee and Ria both looked like they were going to start a fight, and Jean was mortified, her fingers shaking as her body seemed to revolve between rage and fear.

When June stepped away from the dinner table, was that to stop a heist, prevent Travis from causing trouble, perform her own heist, or just to use the bathroom?

Did Reggie eat so fast because he was trying to get in position for combat…or was it because he was Reggie?

What About Mark's minions, entering and leaving constantly?

One by one, everyone excused themselves, until it was just Will, Mark and Amanda.

“Sorry, we don't have the money to bring servants all the way up here,” Amanda said, gathering everyone's dishes and taking them to the kitchen, leaving just Will and Mark alone in the room.

“…I want this to go smoothly,” Mark said, leaning his chin on his knuckles. “If we fight here, we'll cripple both of our Strongholds…at least.”

“…I want everything to go smoothly too.” Will said with a shrug.

“Then why are you so tense? You look like you're a hair's breadth from jumping across the table and trying to kill me.”

“Because a good chunk of my caravan has…history with the Wyrd family.”

Even Will had some. Mark had almost killed Loth, after all.

Although Will had vented most of his anger when they fought on the 4th Floor.

“I see…” Mark mused.

“How many of them are left?” Will asked.

“How many of what?”

“How many of the handlers who tortured young Climbers into Tangled, lobotomized them, and used charm Abilities to control them…are still alive?” Will asked.

“…Most of them.” Mark said.

“Why?”

“Because they're assets. Valuable ones. You don't destroy an axe because its prior owner used it poorly. They use their Charm Abilities to keep monsters away from the Stronghold, or pull them in to be harvested. They produce value for this Stronghold.”

“I have it on good authority that several of them enjoyed their time under your father.” Will said.

“I can assure you that nothing like what my father did is happening now.”

“It just seems odd that you're offering these people sanctuary, when it would be in your best interest to mend bridges with other Lords by distancing yourself as far as possible from the Tangled experiments as possible. I know you're not particularly squeamish. You've got half the Tangled pipeline lingering around, ready to start back up any time you want. You can see how other Lords might take that, right?”

Mark opened his mouth to answer.

“…Are you and your father immune to Charm Abilities, Mark?” Will asked. “Or in the relentless pursuit for the perfect Thorns Build, did you neglect mind control? What's your Focus at?”

Mark's jaw snapped shut.

“I've had a lot of time to think about the fight with Frederick Wyrd,” Will continued. “How his Build worked, what the weaknesses might've been. Sure you can't punch him to death, your head would explode, but it's not like all mind-affecting Abilities cause damage. Would Thorns even detect it as damage? Could someone have used him like a puppet without triggering Thorns? Food for thought. There are more ways to win than simple violence.”

Mark froze for a nearly imperceptible moment before recovering, seeming to have realized something.

Mark looked Will up and down. “You know, I think we could scratch each other's backs here. How does a permanent zero percent throughfare tax in exchange for a favor sound?”

“Make it three percent for three years.” Will said.

Mark frowned. “Why!?”

“Because if it was zero forever, some other Lords would get the bright idea to use my name as an umbrella to shield themselves from tax, say, pay me three percent to deliver their goods to them… This would eventually cause a problem between us because your Stronghold would slowly wither as tax revenue dried up. You would be forced to aggressively renege on the deal, creating bad blood between you and other Lords.”

Mark stared at him for a solid minute.

“Loth's been teaching me about statecraft.” Will explained.

“…I can't believe you'd haggle yourself up,” Mark said, palming his forehead. “Fine. Three for three years.”

“Whaddya need?” Will asked.

“What's your Focus?” Mark asked. It was a rude question, especially given the topic of conversation, but Will had the feeling this was genuinely going somewhere.

“Right now? One-thirty-two,” Will replied, fairly confident that it wouldn't be easily broken through even if someone knew the total.

“One-thirty…how the-you know what, nevermind. That's plenty.”

“So whaddya need?” Will asked.

“I need you to-“

“Dessert!” Amanda said, bringing in a tray of what looked like glazed doughnuts.

Mark's mouth snapped shut, and he glanced at Will, shaking his head so minutely that Will almost thought he imagined it.

“Try the pastries,” Amanda said, offering them to Will. “Most of the ingredients are from outside our Floor, but there's plant we grow in the jungle, with a floral, slightly sweet sap, and if you boil it down, you can make a fantastic glaze out of it.”

Will had to admit, they were good doughnuts.

“Exotic teas and spices are one of our biggest exports, actually.” Mark said, smiling up at his wife. “You know, I'd love to show off to Will with some of our tea, do you think…”

“Oh, of course!” Amanda said with a beaming smile. “I'm so happy to see you two finally relaxing.”

She turned and left the room again, her footfalls disappearing around the corner.

Mark stood up and walked around the table to lean down beside will's ear, cupping his hand around it to protect from superhuman hearing.

“I'm gonna…stir some shit up. I need you to stalk my wife. You'll know what to do after that.”

Will raised an eyebrow. His first instinct was to refuse. A blunt 'stalk your own wife!' came to mind. But mending relationships between the Wyrd Stronghold and the Oh Stronghold was a high priority for Will.

That and paying 2% less throughfare tax for three years would save them a ton of money while they constructed and staffed Will's Stronghold.

Will gave a slight nod.

“Excellent,” Mark said, returning to his side of the table. “You got an extra change of clothes?”

Will frowned, and nodded again.

you Sonofabitch!” Mark Wyrd shouted at the top of his lungs, overturning the table, sending pasties and juice splattering all over Will's chest.

“Don't you Dare suggest anything of the sort!” Mark shouted while Will looked down at the food on his shirt, bemused.

“Get Out! And take your caravan with you before I burn it to the ground!”

Will played along, shouting back about Mark's failings as a leader and strongly implying that Will would personally see to the Stronghold's downfall.

Amanda arrived a few seconds later at a dead sprint, forcing herself between the two of them, trying her best to calm them both down, but Will scraped some of the food off his shirt and flicked it into Mark's eye, causing the Thorn Tank to nearly bowl her over to get at Will.

After a few seconds of this posturing, Will stalked off with a parting insult before the mean comments actually got his blood up.

Reggie was sitting within earshot of the dining room, a doughnut halfway to his face, frozen in fear.

“What…was that?” Reggie asked, his expression pale, half-eaten doughnut hanging near his mouth.

“Nothin'. Tell Loth and June I want them to round everybody up and get them ready to leave. Right now.” Will said, wiping the last of the gunk off his clothes and soaking up some of the liquid with one of the tapestries hanging along the stone hallway.

“Hey, what's that?” Will asked, pointing towards the end of the hall.

Reggie glanced over and Will launched himself up to the vaulted ceiling, his body turning invisible as his Rogue Archetype gear rendered him invisible.

“What are you-“ Reggie glanced back, his eyes widening as he discovered Will's sudden inexplicable absence.

Will crept back the way he'd come, watching Amanda trying to calm Mark down.

“No, not this time,” Mark said, standing in the center of the room and shaking his head. “He's lucky I'm just kicking him out, I should kill him!”

“Deep breaths, sweetheart. You know this isn't what's best for the Stronghold.” Amanda said.

After a couple minutes of trying to placate him, Amanda sighed and shook her head. “Why don't you take the night to cool off?” She said, patting Mark's arm. “I'll tell the cooks they don't need to bring out the rest.”

Mark nodded, pacing with feigned agitation. Or perhaps it's real? Who knows? Will thought as he scampered across the ceiling above them, his form so nearly invisible that he faded into the ceiling, undetectable even to these superhuman Climbers.

The shouting and clattering of silverware and broken plates helped keep people's eyes on the floor, too. If someone looked directly at Will they might be able to make out his faint shape against the ceiling.

Will followed Amanda back through the kitchen where she told the two on staff that they wouldn't be needing the next dessert.

Then something strange happened.

Amanda went through the kitchen and down a flight of stairs, hustling through a labyrinthine series of halls until she stopped at a series of well-appointed rooms, knocking on the door of one.

“Jasper?” She whispered.

A moment later the door unlatched, revealing a man with rich clothes, a shaved head, and a villainous goatee.

It couldn't be that easy, could it? Will thought, running through his Memory Key to make sure nobody was playing with him.

“What is it?” the bald man, 'Jasper' asked.

“Can I come in?” Amanda asked.

“Be quick.” Jasper said, stepping aside and motioning for her to enter.

Will took the opportunity to slip inside, crawling silently across the ceiling.

'Jasper' paused a moment, frowning.

“Something wrong?” Amanda asked.

“No, nothing, go ahead and sit. Tell me what's bothering you.” 'Jasper' said, sitting across from her.

Amanda sat down and began spilling every detail of their diplomacy, consulting this strange older man with a level of trust that Will felt was…unhealthy.

Over the course of their conversation, Will inferred that 'Jasper' had been one of Amanda's regular jailors over the three years she had been a hostage here, and over that time, an inexplicable bond of trust had grown between them, such that she seemed take any suggestion he gave at face value.

Deeply suspicious, Will thought, eyes narrowed. Objectively, the situation stank to high heaven.

“You just have to convince Mark to look past his feelings,” Jasper said. “Reigning in her husband's worst impulses is part of a wife's duty.”

“I know, it's just…out of the ordinary for him. It was just such a sudden change in attitude…it scared me a little. He seemed really mad at something.”

Pretty sure I know what he was mad at, Will thought with his arms crossed from where he clung to the ceiling by his toes.

“There, there,” Jasper said, extending his hand to brush Amanda's temple in a gesture so casual that it nearly didn't register as strange to Will.

The Charge that Will could feel passing between the two of them…that registered big time.

“You need to remind him what's important.” Jasper said as Amanda's eyes grew vacant. “Once the Stronghold is stable again, we can rebuild this place back to it's former glory. We can't allow anything to jeopardize that.”

Having seen enough, Will silently dropped down behind the Charm Archetype.

Muse in the window.

Nail through foot.

Sick soup.

Choking on stolen peanut butter.

Loth joining the Party

Will fluctuated his memories rapidly one last time to make sure he wasn't ensnared in mind-control before he buried his axe in the back of Jasper's skull.

The Charm Archetype sank to the ground with a soft groan.

Now that he was no longer trying to hide, Will was perfectly visible. He pulled his axe out of Jasper's skull and cleaned it off.

“You're welcome,” Will said, using Jasper's velvet cape to wipe the man's blood off the Blessed Steel.

Chapter 143: Clinging Falsehoods

Well…that was a lot of screaming. Will thought, staring into the sky as the wagon bounced and rattled underneath him.

Will had heard stories about mind-control when he was living in the orphanage. About Cleophas, an ancient hero with a Charm archetype, who reformed the minds of a population of ignorant savages, making them into upright citizens of his new Stronghold, creating a wonderful utopia.

The Stronghold no longer existed, but the descendants of those savages had long-since integrated into the outer ring.

And wouldn't you know it, every single one of them could trace their ancestry back to Cleophas.

How did that happen, I wonder? Will had never put those disparate facts together until now.

Will remembered talking with the other boys about all the cool things he was going to do to people when he had mind-control powers. He remembered Muse scowling at the group of pre-teens with an expression of pure disgust and walking away.

And not a playful disgust, but the expression someone had when they tracked something bad into the house, and went back outside to wipe it off.

Will hadn't really understood why Muse had given them that look until today.

Jasper was a talented manipulator who had skillfully hollowed out a space in Amanda's mind for himself as her 'best friend in the world'.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, that did not go away the moment that he died.

The damage to her mind was years old and reinforced daily, like a mine shaft dug into her brain and held open with wooden struts.

Amanda Akul truly believed that Will had killed her best friend in the world, who she loved like family…right in front of her. At her husband's request.

The first thing a mind-controller with any sense would do is make sure their victim was incapable of thinking critically of them. That didn't go away with Jasper's death either.

Will had presented evidence that Jasper had been objectively fiddling around with her mind. Will had Felt Charge jump from Jasper's fingertip to her temple like a static shock. He had heard the psychic drone in Jasper's voice and seen the glazed look she had while he spoke.

Will also had indirect evidence, like the strange willingness to spare Jasper and the other Tangled handlers. The subtle disconnect between the policies she'd been putting forward and their actual best interests.

…The evil goatee.

None of that mattered, because Will was the monster that had killed her best friend, the support that kept her from complete emotional collapse, the One person who had shown kindness to her while she was a political hostage.

From that perspective, it was understandable why she had immediately tried to kill Will.

He didn't hold that against her.

It was her enthusiastic defense of that monster, repeated over and over again, shredding her throat while tears spilled down her cheeks that bothered Will.

It made him second guess himself. Second guess what he'd seen.

Even knowing exactly what had been done to Amanda, her zealous defense of her 'friend' made Will ask himself stupid questions.

What if he actually was just using a soothing Charm technique to calm her down?

Total horse-shit, but repeat it often enough, and it seemed to find cracks in his mind and worm its way in like an infestation.

Second-hand mind-control. It gave Will a slimy feeling.

And the venom she had in her expression and words even after Will, Loth and Mark had subdued her…

It stung.

One bright note of the horrible debacle, was that Travis Oilton, freshly recovered from his 'food poisoning', took one look at Mark Wyrd's devastated Stronghold and marital bliss, and declared that he didn't feel like revenge anymore.

Good for him.

Thankfully the caravan was spared from the collateral damage, and they had managed to get out of there moments before the flaming bag of shit that was that situation exploded.

“Can I sit here?” Anna asked, standing beside him on the wagon.

“You already are,” Will said, pointing up at the Anna whose lap he was laying in.

“Which one was it?” She asked, crossing her legs and sitting beside him.

“Which one was what?”

“The handler you killed.”

“Jasper.”

Drip. Will felt a drop of warm salt water land on his forehead.

“He was their leader. The most powerful mind-controller the handlers had, reserved for their toughest cases.” Anna said.

Will understood without another word. Brianna had to have been one of their toughest cases due to her Ring of Absolute Freedom.

He would've 'worked' on her personally.

“Did I do the right thing?” Will asked, glancing past Anna at Jean, who watched them from the corner of her eye. “Was I right?” or did I kill an innocent man?

“Jean is sharing some of it with us.” Anna said quietly. “…We have two sets of memories from that time. One set of memories where Jasper was everything to me. My best friend, my father, my brother, the love of my life, somehow blending together with a dreamlike sort of nonsense-logic. Strange as it is…those memories feel real, even now.”

Will's brows climbed, but he didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. Reflexive quips seemed wildly inappropriate.

“I can't stop feeling sad that he's gone, and some small, weak part of me wants to hurt you for hurting him.” Anna said.

The Anna whose lap he was in extended shiny black claws from her hand, tracing them along Will's neck. Will held his breath.

“But…those memories have tiny seams and little cracks. The memories are paper-thin, and if I put my mind's eye up to those cracks, I catch glimpses of…awful things behind them. The second set of memories.” Anna said, staring into the distance as the claws against his neck retracted.

“The weak part of me wants revenge on you for killing him…” Anna glanced at Jean in the distance, where her main body kept herself busy. “But the strong part of me knows that fucker needed to die.”

Jean nodded to herself, expression stony.

Will let out a sigh of relief before a thought occurred to him.

“Is Amanda going to get better? Like you?” Will asked.

Anna sighed, brushing a strand of blonde hair from her face as she studied the jungle around them, seemingly unable to look directly at him.

“…I don't know.” Anna finally said. “I was only there for a month, and the methods he used must've been different. I was a disposable experiment, and Amanda was a valuable hostage. He had all the time in the world to work on her, too.

He would've been much more careful. More subtle. Wouldn't have done anything awful to her that left cracks in the facade…Which is good and bad.”

“Without those awful things hiding behind the cracks in my memories…I don't know if I would be able to scour away these clinging falsehoods, contradictory as they are.”

She glanced down at him.

“It's possible that Amanda Akul will forever think of you as the man who killed her best friend, no matter how much logic is applied. Logic can only get you so far when your mind is lying to you. She might even kill herself…if he had made himself the sole pillar of her world.”

“Damnit.” Will muttered. Ruining people's lives and being hated forever wasn't exactly how he saw things playing out.

“But you did do the right thing.” The Anna above him said, squishing his cheeks between her hands as she peered down at him.

“The man was a disease. You understand me?” She asked, peering directly into Will's eye. “He would've continued spreading.”

Will nodded.

“He did have an evil goatee. I was doing the world a favor.”

Anna gave a choked laugh and planted a kiss on his forehead. “Very true.”

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Despite being on high alert for an angry Amanda Akul flying in from above and dropping devastating nuker Abilities on them, no such attacks manifested.

Didn't mean Will slept, though. He'd slept plenty on the roof of the wagon.

Night time was Will's opportunity to stretch his legs, be alone and review his thoughts.

He'd never really thought in great detail about mind control before. He'd honestly thought it was pretty cool up until about eight hours ago…

But seeing it in real life…The insidious way that Charm archetypes undermined their victim's mind…the way they made their targets so reliant on their control that the mere absence of their influence was crippling.

The way she screamed like her soul was being torn out of her body. Like her father had been killed in front of her.

…What if you were wrong?

Will punched a massive jungle tree, his fist crunching into the wood and pressing water and pulp around his knuckles.

That stupid question keeps rearing its head.

He knew he was right. He knew it.

Anna had confirmed his conclusion. Given him the words that absolved him of guilt.

And still…

This would've been so much easier if Amanda said something like 'my hero' and heaved a sigh of relief, finally free of the evil sorcerer's grasp.

…but it doesn't work like that.

Will was mad at himself for hurting the daughter of the Akul family that he'd come to know on the 5th Floor. The daughter of the man who'd given his life to give her a chance.

It felt like he was spitting on the Baron's sacrifice.

But mostly he was mad at the shit-heels who had hollowed out a bright young woman's mind for their own benefit, leaving a scar so deep that she might never recover.

The ones who had hurt Brianna. Who Will had sent her to when he let her go on without them.

In that moment, Will had decided that quick and painless was the most efficient way of dispatching Jasper. A Charm Archetype was dangerous if given the opportunity to open their mouth.

But now Will wished this bastard was still alive. At least long enough to make him suffer some fraction of what he'd done to others.

A quick and painless death was too good for him.

No. That's not it.

The anger was buried deeper. Will wished he had his current strength six months ago. Wished he could've followed Brianna up to this Floor and burnt the Stronghold down before she even laid eyes on it.

There was a future where Brianna was a happy, well-adjusted baker tackling life as a young Climber that no one would never see.

That future got torn to shreds. And he let her go to it.

Crack!

Will punched the tree with his left hand, momentarily forgetting its relative weakness. A burst of pain yanked Will out of his sullen musings as some little bone in his left hand fractured. The throbbing pain seemed to reel his emotions back in, tugging him back to rationality.

I know, logically, that there were no good choices.

I know that she escaped because of the ring I gave her. Logically, this is a 'good' outcome.

Logic can only get you so far, because it sure doesn't feel like a 'good' outcome.

Will heaved a deep breath and prodded the bone in his hand with his thumb, wincing at the pain that momentarily whited out the guilt and remorse, allowing him to think.

You're letting the guilt of letting Brianna go mix together with the guilt from destroying Amanda's world, building into something bigger than it is. None of it was your fault. You weren't the one doing these things to these women…

…You just let it happen.

Will punched the tree with his left hand again.

And again.

Will ferally punched the tree with his weak, human hand for several minutes, wishing he could savagely tear someone's throat out…but no one responsible for all this horrible shit was still alive.

Except Will.

I'm not responsible, you stupid-

Will paused, pulling his bloodied hand away from the tree trunk.

He took a deep breath and ran through his Memory Key.

Muse in the window.

Nail through foot.

Sick soup.

Choking on stolen peanut butter.

Loth joining the Party

…Nothing.

This is real. I'm really feeling this. Will thought sourly, glancing down at his shattered left hand.

Will sent the wound in his left hand off to one of his Phantom Snakes to heal.

Nothing happened. The hand remained broken and throbbing.

Figures. Will thought sourly, taking a deep breath against the roiling feelings inside. Taking a moment to organize them and lay them out.

I can use this. I need a bad memory for the Memory Key.

Will put his back to the blood-spattered tree and leaned against it, closing his eyes as he began crystalizing another memory, adding it to the chain.

Muse in the window.

Nail through foot.

Sick soup.

Choking on stolen peanut butter.

Loth joining the Party

…Letting Brianna go.

Chapter 144: 8th Floor

***Caddock, level 65 High Paladin***

They were at a party teeming with sycophants, aiming to secure funding from the richest man in the world…and Orev was treating it like a bit.

“So I don't know if you knew this, but I've been to the thirteenth Floor and back,” Orev Harti said, subtly flexing as he made his best attempt at flirting with Maybin Glasswind. “No big deal.”

I think that man has a learning disability, Caddock thought to himself.

“You do realize that I've been to the fifteenth Floor?” Maybin asked, stirring her drink with a tiny glass spoon, staring up at the lean ranger with a cocked brow.

Orev glanced off to the side. “Usually that line works.”

“…On children?” Maybin guessed.

“…mostly. Though to be fair, you are very short.” Orev said, measuring her against his chest. “So maybe I got confused.”

“You do seem like the kind of man who would hit on children.”

“That's not what-I don't…”

“I present the Baron Akul!” The announcer said, his voice carried by an Ability above the chattering of the crowd.

Thank Granesh, Caddock thought, rolling his eyes and leaving the idiot to his own devices.

Caddock began crossing the party towards the baron. Typically, you were expected to mingle in place without moving too much so that the baron could make the rounds, visiting each cluster without missing anyone.

It was very rude to simply approach him with a business proposition, bordering on offensive.

The man's attendants took it that way at least, the two of them forming a living wall as Caddock strode forward, forcing him to gently brush them aside as he approached the Baron Akul.

Caddock's purposeful stride broke as he took in the man's face.

“You're not the baron.” Caddock accused.

“I have been since my father passed,” Luis Akul said, relaxing as Caddock didn't make any more movements.

“Ah. My condolences. He was a friend.” Caddock said, his thoughts broiling. He'd been counting on the rapport he'd established with the old Baron. This was a setback.

Probably.

“Friends of my father rarely show their faces around me unless they want something from me. Usually money. What purpose do you have here?” Luis asked, looking Caddock up and down.

“Money.” Caddock said with a shrug.

Luis burst into a laugh, causing the nearby sycophants to frown, glancing between the two.

“I appreciate your honesty. Now if you'll excuse me-“ Luis moved to walk around him.

Caddock stopped the baron with a hand on his shoulder, and the tension in the room shot up as the chatter around them went quiet as the entire party collectively held their breath.

“I never told you how I know your father,” Caddock said. “I carried his ass through the twelfth floor before he chickened out and went back down to play at being a Lord. That was more than eighty years ago.”

Luis glanced down at the hand on his shoulder and an ominous aura spilled out of him, flooding the party with dread.

“And that entitles you to a handout?” Luis asked, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

“Word is you're providing supplies to promising Lord candidates.” Caddock said. “I've got three hundred people that need food and water. Clothes, wagons, wood.”

“Promising young candidates.” Luis Akul said, a glowing blue forcefield manifesting long enough to pluck Caddock's hand off his shoulder.

“I'm eighteen.” Caddock said without an ounce of shame.

Orev spat his drink halfway across the room, thankfully he was turned away from Maybin when he did so, avoiding being vaporized.

“And what is your purpose for becoming a Lord?” Luis asked.

“Retirement.” Caddock lied. “The church and I have been at odds lately, and retirement outside the tower was driving me mad. I already have the strength to become a Lord, just never had the inclination until now.”

“You've got one foot in the grave already.” Luis said, taking in Caddock's advanced age. “You can't possibly hold a Stronghold long enough for it to be worth it for me to fund one.”

“I've already got a successor picked out.” Caddock said, gesturing for Maybin to approach them.

The Nuker handed her drink to a confused Orev and approached, giving a graceful curtsy, revealing her background in high society. While the young woman wasn't much for manners, she could turn it on when she needed to.

“Greetings, Baron Akul, my name is Maybin Glasswind, It's an honor to meet you. Your father was a great inspiration for my Build.”

“Maybin Glasswind?” Luis asked, his eyes widening.

“Yes sir.”

“And who did you say you were?” He asked, glancing up at Caddock.

“I didn't. My name is Caddock, High Paladin. No last name.”

“You want to create a Stronghold for your…retirement?”

“Yes.”

“I thought Paladins were sworn against such things?”

Caddock heaved a tired sigh. “As I said before, the church and I have had a difference of opinion. I respectfully believe that I can do more good granting humanity one more toehold in The Tower rather than wasting away in the Ring.”

Luis's gaze slid from Caddock to Maybin.

“If you truly are Maybin Glasswind, then I could fund your operation solely on her merits. Having her holding a Stronghold above us for the next hundred years could be very beneficial for Akul.”

“That's very generous-“ Caddock began.

“If she is Maybin Glasswind.” Luis said, snagging a drink from a nearby server and downing it before holding the glass out on his palm.

Over the course of a couple heartbeats, layer after layer of shielding peeled off of Luis and wrapped around the glass, until it was barely visible behind all the layers of protection that resembled rose petals.

“Show me your strongest cantrip.” Luis said, holding the glass out.

Maybin shrugged and took a few steps back, her eyes narrowing as she took a stance.

“Ahem.” Caddock cleared his throat, drawing the young woman's attention before she killed someone.

“Show him your cantrip most appropriate for the situation,” Caddock clarified before he glanced past the wineglass and gestured for some of the spectators to move out of the line of fire.

Kids these days.

“Aim up a few degrees, please.”

Maybin sighed and dropped her stance, extending a single finger.

A wineglass-shaped beam of crackling energy bored a hole through the baron's shields, completely vaporizing the wineglass before carving a wineglass-shaped hole in the wall, and presumably the city beyond.

“Gah!” Luis shouted, reflexively clutching his hand.

The baron's attendants rushed towards them, murder in their eyes, before the man held up a hand to stop them.

“Stop! I was just startled, that's all, let them be,” Luis Akul said, peeling flakes of melted glass off his palm.

He straightened, glancing down at Maybin, then up at Caddock, pursing his lips thoughtfully.

“You brought my father up to the twelfth Floor?

“Yes.”

“Let's talk in my office. I have a request.” Baron Akul said, motioning for them to follow him.

“Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the rest of your evening, please. An opportunity to serve Akul's interests has called out to me, and I must heed that call.” Luis announced to the rest of the crowd, who were now staring daggers at Caddock, having had their chance to meet the Baron stolen out from under them.

***William Oh***

There was no reason to hang around the 7th Floor any longer. Not all of the civilians, or even all of Will's Party had reached level 35, but everyone had gained a decent amount, and there was no sense tempting fate by staying on the same plane of existence as Amanda Akul.

Safer for everyone to move on.

They picked up Arkesh on the way out of the Wyrd Stronghold's immediate territory.

Since Will was already at level 35 thanks to Silverdeath, he'd been rotated out of the guard schedule, only being kept on hand in case of emergency while the other Climbers and civilians aimed to eke out another level or two before they made it to the Key Site.

The Boss monster guarding the Key Site was a strange monkey with a snake for a tail. It was only slightly bigger than a man, with unnaturally long limbs and a speed that would've made it difficult to pin down if they hadn't ambushed it with brutal efficiency.

As they'd practiced, they'd assembled a group with a representative from each Party of the caravan. Alicia and Loth disabled the boss and each Party representative struck it with an attack, qualifying their entire Party in the process.

Once the boss was dead, they made sure everyone had the option to proceed before they moved on to the next Floor.

Will watched the wagon filled with the Silverdeath sacrifice roll through the glowing yellow Tower portal before he summoned his own, passing through it without a hint of his former hesitation.

The Eighth Floor smelled of old decay.

As always, the smell hit Will's enhanced senses first.

It was dry air, that smelled of bodies that had begun to rot before the air sucked the moisture out of them and aborted the process halfway.

It didn't smell bad. It smelled stale. Like it had once tried to smell bad and then given up halfway.

The sun shone through a haze above them, shining down through a strange haze that dimmed the sun and turned it a sickly purple color.

Welcome to the 8th Floor!

Miasma Acclimation: 8 days.

It is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Miasma acclimation period has elapsed. Side effects of doing so include fever, bulging bloodshot eyes, coughing, pustules, necrosis of the extremities, paraphilia, parasitic twin growths, and Death.

There is a Stronghold to your West, and a Key Site in need of clearing to your West.

Again, it is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Acclimation period has elapsed.

Will ignored the oft-reminded information about ascending or descending too quickly. He was too busy staring at the surrounding buildings.

Is 'buildings' even the right word? Will mused.

They were almost closer to crystals than what Will considered a building. Perfectly smooth cubes that stretched up into the sky thousands of feet, seemingly grown straight out of the ground, because there was no seam or indication that it didn't belong jutting out of the cracked slate-grey stone they stood on.

The only reason that he knew they were 'buildings' was because of their state of decay. Several of them had cracked and fallen, the crystal facade breaking away and exposing obviously man-made innards, with obviously man-made furniture.

Desks, chairs, bed-frames, the skeletons of couches. The mummified corpses sitting in them.

How many people…would this city have to have to warrant such large buildings?

At first Will thought they might be palaces, but with the way the enormous buildings were clustered together, blocking each other's view and not serving any tactical or aesthetic purpose other storing many thousands of people at any one time, Will had to surmise that was their purpose.

If each of these buildings could hold…say five thousand people…how many millions of people would this city have had? Will thought.

The caravan came to a crossroads, and as far as the eye could see in either direction, Will could only make out more of these enormous buildings, looming high above them.

Like the file-folder Lumesh himself might use to store innumerable souls as they await their final judgement.

Shoved up against the crystalline buildings were rusted metal carriage frames, pushed aside by generation after generation of Climbers to clear the road for their caravans, leaving only this cracked, but still useable grey slate that they walked on.

For once, the wagons rolled smooth and quick on the strange surface, rather than fighting with rock and root for every foot of ground.

“Milord.” Badur said, leaning close to Will's ear.

“There is no life on this Floor. We will be dipping into our reserves exclusively to keep people fed. It had already been budgeted, but be aware that the sooner we move on to the ninth Floor, the better.”

Will nodded, his gaze drifting to a series of ancient trees planted along the side of the cracked stone road. They were ancient, gnarled and dead, showing signs of halted decay.

An eight thousand year old dead tree should've long since been felled by time. Scavenging insects would have torn them down to the roots in less than twenty years. The fact that they still stood…that implied that there no insects at all.

If there were no insects, it stood to reason that there was no other life either.

Just this mummified city, frozen in time.

It begged a chilling question:

If the architects of these wonders fell, what chance do we have?

Will glanced down and tapped his foot against the solid stone beneath his feet, recalling Arkesh's questions about the quality of his nation's roads.

Now alerted to the stone floor's identity as a road, Will tried to follow it with his gaze until it disappeared into the purple haze in the distance.

Smooth, flat, perfectly straight.

Yep. We're screwed.

Chapter 145: The Undead

Foolish mortal. Whosoever places a single foot upon my realm of the dead shall be bound to it eternally!

- Lumesh

Then I won't place a single foot upon it.

- William Oh

“Try not to let anyone die on this Floor.” Arkesh the Mind-conqueror said, the ancient Immortal Serpent walking beside Will as they led the caravan to the West. For once, both the Stronghold and the Key Site were in the same direction: West.

“I think that's pretty good advice in general.” Will replied.

“What I mean is, the Ketulkitnah did something unnatural trying to stop the growth of The Tower and prevent monsters from spawning on this Floor, in an attempt to preserve their way of life.”

“Did what?” Will asked.

“I'm not sure, but the end result is that if you die on this floor, your body becomes host to a ravenous consciousness, and you are lost. Resurrection becomes impossible.” Arkesh said.

“I'll field this one,” Reese said, approaching from Will's left-hand side.

“The Technopriests – easier to say than Ketulkitnah – were getting close to achieving the twin holy grails of magical technology: Extradimensional space, and self-replicating magic.”

“The thing that I have in my Phantom Hand is the peak of magical technology?” Will asked.

“Think bigger,” Reese said, gesturing to the world around them. “Where do you think we are right now?”

“Ah.”

They were inside The Tower. From the outside, the tower only looked like it could be maybe a quarter mile in width, but the inside contained entire worlds. It was just like Will's Phantom Hand, just on a scale he never had reason to think of.

And so many Floors, each one a world of its own.

If a society were to understand how The Tower worked, they could make their own worlds…manipulate or travel between the Floors as they saw fit, without being forced to fight.

That would be valuable beyond compare.

“That truly is…What's a holy grail?” Will asked.

“I forget.” Reese said with a shrug.

“Holy Grail: Noun. In medieval legend, the cup or platter used by Jesus at the Last Supper, and in which Joseph of Arimathea received Christ's blood at the Cross. Quests for it undertaken by medieval knights are described in versions of the Arthurian legends written from the early 13th century onward.” Loth said from a short disance behind them. “More colloquially used as a stand-in for something eagerly sought after.”

“Where the hell did you get that dictionary?” Reese asked, glancing behind him at Loth.

“Family heirloom.” Loth said with a shrug.

“Huh. So anyway, since The Tower has a ban on unchecked Extradimensional powers in the hands of mere mortals, the Technopriests ran into a wall before they could implement what they learned. They must've figured out self-replicating magic first. They figured out that you could dope miasma to cause it to form certain micro-structures.

Create just the right micro-structure and it will assemble more of itself out of raw miasma. Miasmatic life. Or I guess a miasmatic virus…since it doesn't eat or poop.”

“Pooping is a requirement for life?” Will asked.

Reese grunted, nodding. “Everything poops.”

“Even trees?”

“Trees poop air and dead leaves.”

“Huh.” Will mused, imagining them all breathing tree-poop.

Arkesh the Mind-conqueror was giving Reese a quizzical look.

“Quick disclaimer: I was in a box before…whatever this is,” Reese said, motioning to the purple haze around them. “But If I had to guess, they probably created a miasmatic virus that was designed to lower the Miasma levels on the Floor and prevent monsters from spawning, so that they could continue to dominate The Tower.”

“Now, typically, a living creature has it's own internal miasma ecosystem, and their little miasma virus struggles to get a foothold on it while it's alive. It just gets washed out along with the rest of the Miasma. But a dead body…that's a completely different story.”

“…What's a virus?” Will asked.

“An infective agent that typically consists of a nucleic acid molecule in a protein coat, is too small to be seen by light microscopy, and is able to multiply only within the living cells of a host.” Loth said, prompting Reese to stare at her. “Alternatively, a piece of code that is capable of copying itself and typically has a detrimental effect, such as corrupting the system or destroying data.”

“Code?” Will asked. “Like a secret code, or…what?”

“Let's not get carried away. We could spend multiple lifetimes on this rabbit hole, trust me,” Reese said, motioning for Loth to stop showing off.

“All you need to know is that they created a magic spell, it was self-replicating and they didn't perform enough testing before deploying it…or perhaps it walked out on the bottom of someone's shoe. In any case, when the dead started killing the living in a population dense urban center…that was the final straw, and the Coil ground down another 'great' civilization.”

Reese scornfully put air quotes around 'great'.

“But hey, at least there aren't many actual 'monsters' on this floor, so I guess they achieved one of their goals.” Reese said, glancing around. “Unfortunately, since the population was in the billions, I'm guessing you'll have to deal with the occasional zombie horde. Case in point:”

Reese pointed ahead of the caravan, where Will made out twin pinpricks of light in the distance, a brilliant glowing purple.

Eyes.

Through the purple haze, more and more twin points of light appeared, stretching across the road, wobbling side to side as they sprinted towards them.

Well, sprinted was a generous term. More like shambled hastily.

The creatures that manifested out of the fog were emaciated, dry and brittle human corpses covered in purple scars, their only moisture seemed to be a strange oily substance that dripped from their snarling mouths that only contained a few of their most stubborn teeth.

Their fingers seemed to be where the real danger was. Their fingers had somehow elongated over time, the flesh having long since sloughed off their fingertips. The tiny bones at the end of their fingers had been sharpened into shivs through repeated use as a stabbing instrument.

Will sent his middle snake forward, morphing it's armor into a long, thin blade.

With a thought, the front rank of the approaching horde was decapitated, slumping to the ground.

“Attack!” Will heard shouting going up from the sides and back of the Caravan, and he climbed up into the air to get a more commanding view.

The moving corpses were streaming towards them from every possible direction, stretching back as far as the eye could see through the ever-present haze. Will heard a faint thump and glanced up, spotting the glowing purple eyes of thousands more of the zombies above them, pressed tight against the inside of the crystalline buildings, their faces pressed up against the glass with feral hunger.

Glass. Windows. Those are windows? Will had never heard of a panel of glass larger than a man, let alone one strong enough to stop a person and without any imperfections. Will's brain recategorized the buildings from crystal to windowed towers.

Will shook the amazement out of his mind and focused on the current problem. The current problem was that the caravan was surrounded by undead in every direction and this was looking like it might be a battle of attrition.

Individually, and even in small groups, these creatures weren't that tough.

The problem was that there were enough of them that Will couldn't even see the limits of their numbers through the haze. There could be only a few thousand or there could be millions.

Or billions, according to Reese.

Might as well buy some time while I figure out what to do.

Will deployed his Phantom Snakes and had them cut swaths around the caravans, stacking up bodies at an outlandish rate.

The pressure on the defenders instantly eased up, and Will began to muse.

The first thing we're going to want to do is cut our way of the city. Then we'll probably wanna have Travis kite the horde off in another direction before we arrive at the Stronghold.

A sharp whistle caught Will's attention, and he glanced down at Loth waving up at him, standing next to one of the first zombies that Will had decapitated.

“What's up?” Will asked as he arrived beside her. “Also how do you whistle?” Will asked, frowning at the black kobold.

“With a great deal of practice.” Loth said, clicking her black thumb and forenail together. “Look at this.” She pointed down at the decapitated corpse.

The body was twitching, which bodies usually do after you bisect their central nervous system.

But the black ichor that was oozing out of the stump, creating weblike strands between the two pieces of the body and slowly drawing them back together…that was unusual.

“Shhhhiiit.” Will grumbled, glancing up at the hundreds of zombies he'd already bisected. Each and every one of them had the weblike filaments of shiny black bridging their parts.

“That's what the purple scars are,” Will said. The purple scars were where previous generations of Climbers had run into this exact same problem.

“How long do you think before the first ones recover?” Will asked.

“Oh...about five minutes.” Loth said, eyeing the head creeping towards the stump.

“I don't think we're going to clear these things in five minutes.” Will said, scanning the shambling horde.

The problem was, if it took more than five minutes to clear all of them, then the first ones would rejoin the fight, creating an infinite loop that would wear them down eventually, no matter how easy they were to kill.

“Yes, that seems to be a sticking point.”

“How are your bugs?” Will asked, wondering if Loth could make some kind of trap that could slow them down. Or just dig an enormous pit and fill it in. Problem solved.

“My bugs sicken and die as soon as they step outside my vivarium. I'll have to take some time to breed ones that are resistant to this air.” Loth said.

“We could get Mason to just vaporize them,” Will mused. Matter of fact, why hasn't he done it already?

Will walked up to where Mason was sitting on top of a wagon, surveying the battle while drinking some 7th Floor tea from a jar. He probably figured they had things well in hand, so there was no need to create explosions that might destabilize a building or cause more of the zombies to approach.

That's actually a really good concern, Will thought.

“They regenerate.” Will said as he arrived beside their Nuker.

“We were doing so well. There's always a catch.” Mason sighed, closing the lid on his tea.

“Try hitting them with a cantrip first. I'm concerned about what an explosion will do to these buildings.” Will said, gesturing above them, where thousands of hungry undead were waiting to literally rain down on them if someone were unwise enough to break the glass.

Mason glanced up and scanned the surrounding buildings before he nodded.

“Soft touches. Understood.”

A mote of fire leapt from his fingertip to a shambling corpse. Not having any moisture in it, the body instantly caught fire. It burned merrily, as though the oily black substance was… some kind of oil. Gouts of black smoke rose into the air as the corpse tottered to a halt and collapsed to the ground.

Which was good until Will sensed the malevolent Charge inside the billowing black smoke rising from the corpse.

Will thought he could almost make out organic shapes in the smoke, a half-formed demon sleeping behind a veil of inky water. Whatever it was it was hungry, and Will honestly thought it might be better off trapped in a physical body…where he could see it.

“On second thought,” Will said, holding up a finger. “Maybe we don't burn them.

A second zombie tripped over the flaming one, catching fire in the blink of an eye, as if it were doused in lamp oil. Then a third and a fourth.

The smoke flowed together, the figure inside and seeming to twitch, the demon inside beginning to rouse from its sleep.

“Mason.”

“On it.”

Mason flicked forward his ball of empty cold and the growing pyre of zombies froze in place, the flames snuffing out in an instant.

Suddenly detached from its umbilical cord, The smoke was began to wrap around itself like a living thing, concentrating and coalescing into-

Will whipped his foot forward, catching a spike of air and compressing it before sending it straight into the heart of the smoke. He released the air and the ominous cloud was scattered before it could form…whatever it had been trying to create.

Once he was sure it wasn't coming back, Will glanced up at the glass above them, wondering if the rapid temperature change would weaken them. It didn't seem like it.

“You think you could freeze all of these?” Will asked, gesturing to the shambling corpses trudging tirelessly towards them. It would likely take several hours for a body that had been frozen solid to start moving again. Plenty of time to escape.

Mason rubbed his chin, scratching the thin beard that was beginning to form.

He rose to his feet, picking up his Staff of the Warmage, scanning the endless army of the dead. They were beginning to pile up around the caravan, forming a stack of body parts three men deep.

“I think I could at the very least freeze enough for the caravan to punch through and lose them, but it would use most of my Charge.”

Punch through? Will thought, scanning the road. How are we even supposed to drive the wagons over these piles of limbs in less then five minutes? Some of the limbs still had a hint of life to them, reflexively swiping at anything they came into contact with.

That's just asking for a wagon to get a wheel busted. And…are those black filaments stitching multiple bodies together into one?

How can we get over these things without actually…Oh.

“Let's make freezing them the backup plan.” Will said. “I have an idea that should…more or less get us to safety.”

Will reached out with his right hand and grabbed the air with his right hand, adding the 'not terrain' tag to everyone in the caravan.

The world around them froze in place as the air solidified around them for hundreds of feet.

“Everyone back to the wagons!” Will shouted over the din. “I made a ramp leading over the wall of flesh in front of us!” Will motioned for the drivers to steer the wagons straight ahead.

The caravan hit the invisible five-degree incline Will had created and began rising up into the sky, gradually gaining more and more distance above the horde. They heaved a collective sigh of relief as they rose above the reach of the horde beneath them.

Higher and higher they climbed, with Will using two Phantom Snakes to alternate grasping at air, their controlled area overlapping by three hundred feet. When the caravan was entirely on the leading patch of solidified air, the rear snake would go forward six hundred feet and create another overlapping platform, keeping the bridge of air continuing without Will's direct input.

After they rose above the height of the towers, the entire city was splayed out beneath them, with patches of the city visible through the thinnest of the purple haze.

“I stand corrected.” Mason said, pointing down at the city hundreds of feet below them.

Every single break in the purple haze was populated by tens of thousands of undead covering the ground, each of them a pair of pinpricks of violet light staring back up at the interlopers.

They were everywhere, in every direction, swarming across the ground like ants, slowly shuffling to group up directly beneath them.

“…I could not have frozen enough of them to punch through.” Mason said.

“Hey Travis!” Will called over to another wagon seemingly gliding across the sky, with dozens of civilians peering over the edge with a mixture of horror and enchantment.

“Eh?” Travis grunted.

“Your time to shine,” Will said, pointing at the horde beneath them.

“Fair enough,” the Master Decoy said, cracking his knuckles.

Chapter 146: Extravagant Mediocrity

“You think Travis is okay?” Anna asked as she stirred the massive pot of gruel. It was mostly salt, tough barley and bits of preserved meat from the wagon's stores, and it smelled absolutely amazing.

They'd parked the caravan on top of one of the massive towers for the night. Will wasn't sure if he could keep the snakes holding up the caravan on task while he was asleep.

“He's probably still alive.” Will said with a shrug. “The main problem these things present isn't their lethality, it's their numbers. As long as he doesn't slit his own wrists or hide in a basement with only one way out, he should be just fine.”

“Decoys who survive past the 4th Floor have a much higher life expectancy.” Loth said, studying hundreds of dying insects all standing on a checkerboard. G.17 She muttered, consulting a notepad before fiddling around with her barrel.

Breeding insects resistant to the 8th floor's unique environment.

“How come we're not dying?” Will asked, having difficulty looking away from the writhing insects.

“The System, probably.” Loth said, pointing at her rows of dying insects. “These things don't have Classes collecting and processing Miasma into Stats, Abilities and Charge. “There's also a possibility we may be dying, albeit at a substantially reduced rate. Insects tend to die to environmental toxins far sooner than something bigger, like us. If that is the case, the difference may also be magnified by our Resistance. We should probably keep an eye on the caravan members with the lowest Resistance, just in case.”

“And get off the Floor as soon as possible.” Will said with a nod.

“That would probably be wise.”

Will turned his attention to Alicia.

“How's our surroundings, Alicia?”

The blue-flame eyed archer startled a bit as she noticed Will's attention on her.

“I'll check.” She whispered, setting a bowl of gruel down beside her and peering into the thick purple haze far beneath them.

“The ones on the ground don't seem to know we're here. They aren't as thick since Travis led them off.” She said before turning her gaze to the stone floor beneath them.

“The building has a frame of Blessed Steel blocking my view, but I can move…” She carefully paced along the ceiling, looking down as she did. “Up till about the halfway point there seems to be only a handful of corpses in the building, but I'm not sure if they're undead or not: They aren't moving. Below the halfway point, there's a few dozen undead moving around.”

Will glanced at Loth.

“Wanna go for a walk?”

Loth raised a brow before glancing at her barrel full of insects.

“…Yes.”

Will picked Alicia and Loth to come with him, leaving June in charge of the caravan while the three of them looked for a way down.

They located a steel door that seemed to be locked from the inside. Loth tapped it a couple times before using her trapmaking kit to punch a hole in the door near the lock, then peeling away a ridiculously thin layer of steel revealing the mechanism behind it.

After that it was as simple as pulling the bolt back, and they were inside.

They were on a grey stone staircase that wound around in a blocky spiral. Will leaned over the railing and stared down, noting that the staircase went all the way to the ground floor. From what he could see, anyway.

“This is the most direct way for them to get to us.” Will mused, the sight of the bottom lost in the purple haze.

“I can make it less direct.” Loth said, tapping her claws thoughtfully against the metal railing. “Take out a few flights, and they'd never get to us. Or at least, not in a reasonable amount of time.”

“Can you do it quietly?” Will asked.

Loth frowned, considering. “Unlikely, but I can quietly rig it to collapse should they start to come up it. Best of both worlds.”

“Please do. I'll take Alicia to check out the top floors.” Will whispered. “Maybe there's some loot.”

“Haven't made traps with my own hands in a hot minute.” Loth said, rolling back her sleeves with an eager grin. “Sometimes it's nice to get back to basics.”

She went down a flight of stairs, muttering to herself and pulling a small hand-drill out of her pack.

“Keep an eye on everything,” Will said to Alicia. “I want to know if the zombies downstairs start moving or if Loth gets into trouble.

The kobold might still be wearing her Cuirass of the Cruel Tyrant, which was excellent at damage soak, but without her insects she was significantly less powerful in a straight fight.

Alicia nodded, her eyes casting her face in a faint blue light in the dark. It was enough for Will to see by, actually. Maybe a year ago it would've been impossibly dark in here, but Will's Acuity had truly become something outrageous.

The blue-eyed archer was nearly blind as a result of seeing through nearly every substance save a few of the most resilient materials such as Blessed steel, so she placed a hand on his shoulder in order to avoid tripping over debris or running into a wall that she couldn't see.

“Twenty feet.” Alicia whispered after a few minutes, pointing at a wall ahead of them and a bit to the right.

Will scanned the wall, finding a doorway to the left.

Will crept forward, conscious of Alicia's hand on his shoulder. He tested the knob and found it to be rusted into an immoveable mass.

Taking a note from Loth, Will formed a Phantom Snake's armor into a tiny blade and carefully removed the lock, gently placing it down beside the door. After some consideration, Will did the same to the hinges and simply placed the door to the side.

Will poked his head through the doorway, towards where the corpse Alicia had been pointing to.

It wasn't in the hall that stretched down the length of the building, so it must be in one of the rooms further in.

Twenty feet.

Will mentally drew a line from where she first pointed, stretching twenty feet forward, stopping…right there.

Will locked in on one of the rooms in the middle, creeping up to it, repeating the process of silently removing the door. Faster this time, because he knew what he was doing.

Inside the room was a corpse, not mummified like the others, but skeletal in nature, slumped against the desk in front of them.

Their clothes were in a pile around them, strange wool things that seemed like they might've been loose-fitting even before they had become a skeleton. There were several pots in the corner of the room and withered plants sticking out of them. Hanging from the ceiling was a strange white object shaped like a miniature cloud with a metal grate on either side of the cloud.

It had some writing on the side, but Will couldn't read it. He ran his fingers over the material and tapped it a few times with his finger. It felt like that resin toy Climber the younger kids in the orphanage would cling to.

The desk was odd. In Will's experience, anyone who had a high enough position to warrant a desk would have at least a solid one.

Will tapped it with his finger, scratching away a bit of sawdust. This one seemed to be made of….paper-thin steel and sawdust?

Hmm.

On the desk in front of the bones was a cube of resin and glass whose purpose Will couldn't even begin to guess. He couldn't Identify it just by touching it, so at least it wasn't a Relic.

Will cautiously tapped the skeleton.

It collapsed into a pile of disconnected bones and the dust of dead fungus.

Will suppressed a sharp inhale as he took a step back.

“What's wrong?” Alicia whispered.

“Just remembered something.” Will said, looking at the stains on the floor where fungus had consumed every soft tissue of the corpse before expanding in every direction, looking for more to eat and finding nothing, eventually withering to dust.

This was exactly what would've happened to him if he hadn't made it out of the Trial room. The thought sent a cold sweat sweeping across his skin.

With the skeleton on the floor, it revealed what had been in the skeleton's lap. In the seat beside the hip bones was a framed portrait of a happy family. It was severely faded, but Will could make them out.

How many times has this happened? Will found himself wondering. If every Floor represented a thousand years, like the rings of a tree, one could determine the tower's age…

A hundred thousand? More? Nobody knew for sure how many Floors existed.

In all that time, how many times had a society risen to the pinnacle of power only to be cast down again by their own greed? Or was it The Tower, enforcing some kind of Divine Law?

Reese might know the answer, actually.

Will picked up the picture and placed it back on the desk.

This person wasn't important by any means. There was no treasure in the room aside from a nonmagical ring, no servant's quarters. If anything, this was the servant, with how their room was so tightly packed together with all the others.

And yet, they lived a thousand feet in the air in a tower made of Blessed Steel.

No…worked.

Will didn't see a bed anywhere.

Worked.

Were all these towers simply to house servants who…did what, exactly? There were huge gaps in Will's knowledge that he simply couldn't fill in with conjecture.

If these were the servants, where were the lords of these enormous towers? It was human nature to want to live above others, but they were already on the highest floor.

“Do you see any rooms that are bigger than the others?” Will asked Alicia.

“All I can see is the Blessed Steel frame of the building, but If I had to guess…” Alicia pointed into the distance, the way they'd come.

Will nodded and the two of them headed that way.

They wound their way around the staircase, checking in on Loth, who gave them a thumbs-up, before going through a series of doors to arrive in a massive room that seemed to stretch on forever.

The room was subdivided up into even smaller compartments, each barely more than the width of a man's arms.

Each compartment housed a cramped desk and a single chair. It was as if someone had been tasked with cramming as many scribes as possible in as small a space as possible.

Definitely not where the lord of the tower lived.

They eventually did find the lord of the tower…It was disappointing.

The lord's room was in the corner of the building on the top floor. it had a fancier desk, a toilet, and an attached room with a dilapidated couch and a small bed, both of decent quality before millennia coated them in dust and picked them apart.

On the desk there was a gold-plated figure of a man with a smiling face and a fancy headdress, his arms held out to the side, the two hands acting as scales that things could be placed on to weigh them against each other.

Some kind of deity? Will thought.

Like all the other desks, this one had a box on it that did…nothing. There were several rusted-out file cabinets against the back wall, and a strange stick made of Blessed steel leaning up against the wall beside a little white ball.

…This is not a lord's residence.

Sure it wasn't cramped, and was decently comfortable, but it wasn't the kind of lavish excess that Will would expect from anyone who could afford a place this grand. Fountains, food, furniture, entertainment.

Sure, maybe the lords of these people practiced frugal humility, but that wasn't Will's experience with human nature, and it certainly wasn't his experience with the supposed leader of their entire society who had escaped this Floor to the one beneath them at the end of the Coil.

It was more like whoever had held this office had been a steward. Another servant given small luxuries to set him above the rest…but still a servant.

Whoever owned this outrageously impressive building didn't even stoop to living in it.

There's not going to be anything valuable here, Will thought.

It made a certain sense. There were literally hundreds of these towers, but they solely housed servants. The chances of them landing on one that had some kind of hidden secret were slim to none.

That gives me an idea. But for now, let's head back, check in with Loth and get a bit of sleep.

“So, what's the deal with you and Reggie?” Will teased, relaxing as they began heading back. There were no undead within earshot for them to worry about, and Will hadn't been able to chat with Alicia since nearly the first time they'd met. “Is dating covered in the Party bylaws?”

“What's the deal with you and sleeping on Anna's thighs?” Alicia whispered back.

“Cuz it's super comfy. You should try it sometime.”

A sudden gasp brought Will's attention back to Alicia.

The archer was staring straight up at the ceiling, her mouth hanging open.

“What?” Will asked.

“Something's happening above. One of the there Alicia shouted, pointing.

Through the floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the hall, Will caught a glimpse of a body falling through the darkness.

Chapter 147: Night Terrors

William Oh once sneezed near a Climber Possessed by an evil spirit.

'Bless you!' the evil spirit said reflexively, not daring to be rude around William Oh, and in the process exorcised itself.

- Jason Salazar

The floor wrapped around Will's heel and propelled him forward at full speed, straight towards the floor-to-ceiling window.

Will threw his axe ahead of him, guiding it with his Phantom Snakes.

Crash!

The axe punched a hole through the strangely strong glass, and Will followed behind, smashing through the weakened hole face-first, using his mask as a battering ram and tumbling through the window.

There.

The body had fallen another thirty feet in the fraction of a second it had taken Will to jump out.

Will sent the Phantom Snakes streaking down, easily catching up with the man and wrapping around his waist, bringing him to a gentle halt to avoid snapping his spine.

Who are we dealing with? Will thought, landing on a platform of air as he turned the man around, prepared to cuss him out for playing chicken on the edge of the building or whatever stupid game the young men in the caravan liked to get up to.

Will froze as he came face-to-face with something out of a horror story.

The man's face was contorting wildly as though the muscles were struggling against each other, his eyes and mouth oozing black substance reminiscent of the undead spread across the road beneath them.

Kline, I think his name is. One of the Carpenters.

As he saw Will, he gave a black-ooze grin and slipped a civilian dagger out of his belt. The kind they might use for whittling, cutting bread or rope.

He whipped the dagger up-

Will's middle snake wrapped around Kline's wrist an instant before the dagger plunged into the man's own eye.

Why is he trying to kill himself?

Will put it together in an instant. Whatever was messing with his head was trying to secure a win by killing its host. Which meant there was a way it could be removed, as long as the body stayed alive.

Otherwise it wouldn't be in such a hurry to kill its host. If It couldn't be removed, it would gloat.

Kline stuck out his tongue, and Will shot forward, jamming his hand into the possessed human's mouth before he could bite off his own tongue and bleed to death.

Will winced as the black teeth sank into his fingers. Carpenters were, as a rule, modestly strong, but it didn't outmatch Will's Resistance.

It hurt, but it didn't break the skin.

Crack!

Will felt the teeth shift minutely as one of the man's molars cracked against Will's finger. The monster puppeting his body was able to muster more force than a man could sustain without injury.

Even if they saved his life, Kline was going to have a bad day.

Will secured the man's arms and legs with four Phantom Snakes, then used the armor of the fifth one to create a metal gag, preventing him from biting down before withdrawing his hand.

Will glanced up and saw at least a dozen civilians and Climbers staring down at them in dismay.

Will sprinted back up to the rooftop, carrying the possessed carpenter along with him.

Kline was hyperventilating as he struggled against the Phantom Snakes, but the carpenter didn't have any combat Abilities that the creature could use to get him out.

“Is anybody else-“ Will said, gesturing to the snarling man beside him.

“No, thank the gods,” Brenna said, the aged seamstress holding her family tight.

“What happ-“

Kline one of Kline's party, presumeably his wife, shouted as she rushed towards him.

Will took a step forward and blocked the young woman before she got within range of the infection…if that were a concern.

“Let me…see him!” The woman shouted, trying and failing to muscle past Will.

“Not until the Priests of Holdna fix him,” Will said. “Where are the priests of Holdna!?”

“Right here!” The ancient saint Charnesa shouted, approaching with two other priests. Her expression soured as she spotted Kline behind Will.

“Lay him down.” she said, gesturing to the floor. “And don't let go of him.”

Will did so, and the three priestesses knelt beside the struggling man, their hands glowing faintly as they pressed down against him.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Will asked, trying to divert the distraught woman's attention towards himself rather than her husband, who had begun twitching and vomiting black bile.

“H-he said he felt tired and was going to go to bed early. I went to bed with him. He got up a while later and said he was going to pee off the side of the building. I-I didn't think anything of it.”

“No black stuff when he got up?” Will asked, gesturing to his face.

“I'm sorry – it was dark,” She said, her voice trembling from barely restrained sobs.

“It's fine, she can touch him,” Charnesa said, arriving beside Will and tapping him on the shoulder.

The saint's gaze followed the young woman enviously for a moment as she collapsed beside her writhing husband, before turning back to Will.

“We need to talk.” The Saint's words provoked a cold sweat. “Over here.”

“We can get the spirit out of him, but there are problems.” Charnesa whispered as they ducked out of earshot.

“Tell me.”

“Removing possessions like that are a bit like yanking a root system out of the ground without damaging it.”

Will frowned.

“The thing has laid roots inside him, and if we pull it out thoughtlessly, it will damage him beyond repair. Also, if we miss a piece of the root, it will regrow. Maybe not into the same demon, but something that will cause him to hurt himself or his family.”

“What are you getting at?”

“It's going to be slow. Hours.” Charnesa said. “I would understand if you wanted to cut our losses here.”

Will understood what she meant. The excitement, noise and most importantly, the Charge expended at the top of the building would be like a signal fire, attracting the undead.

Staying in place for hours would definitely result in a confrontation.

“Could I just keep everyone in midair while you get the thing out of him?” Will asked.

“It's an option, but there's still the issue of the spirit, and whether or not there are more of them.” Charnesa said.

Will glanced around, not seeing any more spirits.

“What do you mean?”

“I think we're dealing with a night terror. Undead that don't have physical forms. Can't see 'em, can't touch 'em.

They're not even ethereal, they're entirely separate from our plane of existence. They'll trail after a Party until one of them goes to sleep, and then pounce. If the person sleeping isn't particularly strong of will, they'll be possessed.

“And is there a reason you didn't warn us about them?” Will asked.

“They're rare, there's no way to prevent them from showing up, and if everyone was afraid to sleep, it would cause problems. I've seen whole parties try to stay awake the whole Floor. It isn't pretty.”

“So what do you want from me, the spirit's already in him, Will said, pointing. “Unless…”

Charnesa nodded, the ancient priestess following Will's logic.

“Yes, they can come in groups. No one else has gone to sleep yet. I need someone with plenty of Focus to act as bait to clear the area around us of night terrors before anyone else in the caravan goes to sleep. Are you willing to put some of your Party in danger?”

“Yeah, me,” Will said, thumbing his chest. “Loth can keep the undead beneath us at bay for as long as we might need. We need June running the caravan. Of the remaining people, only Mason and Jason have about the same Focus as me. Mason's too destructive to have him sleep-fight anything, And Jason is twelve, so we're not using him as bait.”

“By that logic, aren't you far more destructive than Mason? What if you're possessed?”

“At the risk of sounding arrogant, I cut off my own hand to survive. I've got will for days. It's literally my first name.”

“You're right, that does sound arrogant,” Charnesa said, peering up at him for a moment before scoffing and shaking her head. “Teenagers. So convinced of your immortality.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “So be it. But remember that you are bearing all the lives in this caravan on your shoulders.”

Will appraised the Saint in front of him. To become a Saint, one had to be above level Fifty. There was a very good chance that Charnesa was completely capable of solving this crisis on her own and was overplaying the danger as a way to teach Will a lesson about…leadership or humility or some-such.

“You would never agree to this if you didn't think you could restrain me somehow.” Will clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Old people. Always so convinced teenagers can't see through their bullshit.”

Charnesa's eyes narrowed for a moment, a small smile fluttering across her face. “Hmph. Make yourself ready, then. I'll put you to sleep. If you kill everyone in the caravan while under a night terror's control, it will be a valuable learning experience.”

Will went and got some of the carpenters to secure Kline's arms and legs, and put a wooden bit between the man's teeth to prevent him from biting off his own tongue – or anyone else's, for that matter – Freeing up his Phantom Snakes before returning to Charnesa's side, carrying the pillow from his section of the storage wagon.

“Let's do this,” Will said, fluffing the pillow before laying down with his head propped up, clasping his hands together above his chest.

“Lay on your side.” Charnesa said, kneeling beside him.

Will frowned, glancing up at her.

“If you puke it's less likely to go back into your lungs. I've seen it happen. It's deeply unpleasant, even to a Climber with high Resistance.”

They might've had a bit of friction a few minutes ago, but Will wasn't about to completely ignore good advice from old folk.

Will laid on his side.

“Seize control.” Charnesa murmured, and Will felt a tap against his temple, then –

******

Will's eyes shot open with a start, and he tried to push himself up when his left arm blazed with pain, dropping him to the hard floor, clenching his eyes shut again.

Suboptimal Sacrifice detected…attempting to generate Class Seed…Retrying…Retrying…Failed.

Please place an adequate Sacrifice on the Altar. Poorly preserved or mixed Sacrifices have a diminished chance of successfully generating Class Seeds.

Will opened his eyes and realized he was still in the Trial room, the last year fading from memory, the wishful thinking of a desperate boy.

I had a dream where I imagined I'd become strong and went on dazzling adventures, Will thought, coughing as his throat was raw from screaming.

He groaned and tottered backwards, slumping against the white wall, unable to stand any longer than a few seconds as the blood loss was making him incredibly dizzy.

Well, I tried my best, Will thought, staring at the altar that had taken his left hand. There was nothing else to Sacrifice. No way to get his Class and leave this room. Just bits of metal and fabric from manically tearing apart the satchel and his boots.

On his left wrist, the string tied painfully tight around his forearm was the only thing preventing him from bleeding out.

It was tied with a little bow. Will hadn't thought about it before, but something about that was incredibly funny to him at this moment.

Like unwrapping the present of oblivion, all I'd have to do to escape this place is just...tug on a string, Will thought, giggling at the gallows humor.

Will reached for the string, and hesitated.

This is the only way out now. The alternative is starving to death.

Even though he knew all that, Will's mind was desperately searching for a solution.

What about Miasma? If I brought enough of it with me from outside, maybe I could…raise an insect to become a Monster, like Loth, and sacrifice it instead.

…Who's Loth?

Will shook off the vague memories of the fantasy he'd been indulging in and focused on the now.

There's light in here. That's a form of energy. Maybe I can breed an edible fungus off my scalp and raise it out of my blood, making a life here. Once I recover, I can…do something?

You know that's not going to work.

I am not giving up.

Over the course of several hours, Will ran through every possible scenario in his mind, but none of them led to him surviving this.

…You're not getting out.

After what felt like ages, his will was ground down to nothing, finally admitted it to himself, tears streaming down his cheeks as he glanced down at the string, right hand reaching for the knot, ready to uncork himself and let it end.

He paused as he noticed something.

Beneath the skin of his left arm were black veins, barely held back by the tourniquet, pressing against the physical barrier, waiting to climb up his arm and into his chest. Once that happened, he would be free from this pain. He wanted nothing more than to let this torture end.

Wait, wasn't it blood loss that was gonna kill me?

At that minor discrepancy, something bucked inside Will, a habit that had been trained to become as reflexive as kicking when tapped on the knee.

Muse in the window.

Nail through foot.

Sick soup.

Choking on stolen peanut butter.

Loth joining the Party

Letting Brianna go.

Will's hopeless suicidal exhaustion gave way to a teenage crush, then shock and horror, then the comfort of being tended to by a mother-figure, then the despair of possibly dying from his own stupidity, then the joy of making a friend, then the impotent rage of letting someone go to their abuser.

The scenery around him smeared like grease on a window as the reflexive technique from his suppressed memories broke the control.

The last year flooded back into him.

The omnipresent light of the box he was in faded to nothing, plunging Will's world into darkness, and the altar changed shape into something awful.

It looked like a horse-sized slug composed of silently screaming faces.

If this is a dream…Will thought, glancing around the surrounding darkness didn't seem to have any beginning or end. There was no scale or frame of reference.

Who was to say that horse-sized slug was actually horse-sized, instead of really close to his eyes?

Will closed one eye and squeezed down on the image of the night terror with his thumb and forefinger, plucking it out of the air.

The little creature wriggled in his palm for an instant before Will crushed it.

Chapter 148: Dangerous for Kobolds

Will's eye's snapped open, coughing as the air hit a raw patch of throat.

“Was I screaming?” Will asked, peering up at Charnesa.

“It's normal. Looks like there was another one.”

“Apparently.” Will mused, glancing down at his palm, which was dimpled where his fingernails had dug into his flesh. He felt like there was a bit of film on his hand, like he'd touched some greasy food and hadn't used soap to cleanse it yet.

Did the night terror evaporate? Will thought.

“These things aren't very smart, so if you go back under, if there's any more, one will latch onto you immediately. It's a lot like fishing for pike, actually, except your mind is the hook. Are you ready to go under again?

It gets easier after the first. The mind develops its own defenses.”

Will held up a hand, buying himself a moment to ask questions.

“These night terrors, can they be Sacrificed?” Will asked.

Charnesa blinked. “I've never seen it happen, but the rule of thumb is that anything can be Sacrificed with the proper preparation.

“Seems like a good opportunity. See if you can't get Badur to use some preservation magic when I catch it.” Will said, feeling the residue on his palm.

“You'd need someone with telekinetic and telepathic Abilities, some blessed glassware, and Badur's preservation techniques as well. If you had all that, we could try it.”

Will frowned.

“Hey Arkesh!”

The ancient Immortal Serpent looked up from where he was playing cards with the older generation of civilian Party Leaders.

“Eh?”

“Do you have telepathic and telekinetic Abilities?”

“I dabble!”

“He cheats!” Brenna said.

“Not my fault you don't guard your thoughts,” Arkesh groused.

Will motioned for Arkesh to come over, and called Badur as well.

“Do we have any enchanted glasswear?” Will asked.

“No, but Polly can make it with an Ability.” Badur replied. Polly was one of the Caravan's many artisans, whose task was to work together with the other non-combat Classes to make the Stronghold livable.

In this case, glassware for the home.

“Is that the one who's sweet on you?” Will asked with a frown, thinking back to the woman who kept watching Badur kill monsters on the 7th Floor long past when the novelty had worn off for everyone else.

“N-no!”

Will, The Immortal Serpent and the Saint of Holdna all gave Badur a critical gaze.

“It is.” Arkesh said before directing his gaze at Will. “They're both interested, but waiting for the other to approach them. It happens more than you'd think.”

Badur went pale.

“Well, you heard him, go talk to Polly.” Will said with a wry grin.

“Romance inside the tower is ill-advised.” Badur mumbled, turning red and seemingly collapsing inward. “Children are often stillborn or deformed, and it would be irresponsible of me to-“

“I really didn't want to step into this,” Charnesa said. “But for the sake of moving this along, there are infinite things young couples can do together that doesn't result in pregnancy, and there's only one thing that does.”

“Oh, oh!” Badur said, his eyes widening as though a divine revelation had struck him. Coming from a Saint of Holdna, Will supposed it was.

“Only one?” Will asked, frowning. According to Gertrude there were at least a dozen ways to get a girl pregnant. Kissing while alone, hiding sausages, going to town together, buying a house for a girl, rolling in the hay…

“We're not having this conversation,” Charnesa said, making a chopping motion with her hand. “You, go get Polly, we're going to need enchanted ampules. You, go back to sleep.”

“But-“

Charnesa flicked Will on the forehead, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

******

The second time Will found himself inside the Trial Room, Will clawed his way out when he realized the walls weren't perfectly white, bearing some kind of black tarnish. It inspired him to scrape his way through several inches of white, faintly glowing stone with the tiny pieces of metal he'd removed from his boots.

Will really knew he was onto something when the wall began to bleed black bile.

He eventually pulled himself outside the room into a void where a massive slug made of rotting faces formed the outside of the Trial room.

He'd cut himself out of its belly.

The creature looked over its shoulder, and for a moment, the two simply stared at each other as Will's memories flooded back.

Oh right. That's what's happening.

It twisted to reach him with its finger-lined mouth, but Will whipped a shoestring up and cinched it down around the creature's neck, tightening it until the monster's neck turned purple and shrank.

In the logic of dreams, as the night terror's body shrank, it merged with Will's truncated left arm, settling in behind the tourniquet, its mouth wrapped around the stump, looking like an overly ambitious snake trying to swallow a bull's foot.

“Let me get that for you,” Will said, grabbing the slug off his stump and crushing it in his hand.

Will felt a strange twisting in space around his right palm.

******

“We get it?” Will asked, blinking his eyes open.

“Sure did.” Arkesh said, holding up a tiny glass ampule with a purple and black mush inside of it.

Will blinked the sand out of his eyes and took the glass container, noting the way it was sealed off from the outside air, preserving the creature's properties inside the glass.

Night Terror upgrade for Phantom Hand:

Adds the ability to convert physical damage dealt by the Phantom Hand into psychic damage.

Nope.

Will already had a way to inflict Psychic Venom from his Kit, and he didn't feel like it was vital enough to drop an entire upgrade to guarantee he could do it without.

Psychic damage was great but it wasn't critical enough to drop a Sacrifice on.

Night Terror upgrade for Aspect of the Immortal Serpent:

Adds 'memory seed' to Aspect of the Immortal Serpent. If the user's mind is completely erased or replaced, a memory seed will regrow, restoring the user to their state prior to being erased.

Aspect's 'complete healing' now applies to mental conditions as well as physical ones.

Hmmm.

It would be nice to no longer be afraid of doors and nuns, but it was a minor gripe.

The ability to bounce back after the mind being overwritten was interesting, but Will could only imagine it working in an extremely fringe situation.

If someone erased Will's mind, why wouldn't they just kill him as soon as he was a drooling vegetable?

The only way this would ever pay dividends was in the very unlikely scenario where someone wiped his mind and then toted him around as a trophy for the days or weeks it would take fro his mind to regrow.

It would only ever help if he already lost the fight. Why burn an Upgrade slot that could be used to win a fight? That would be what Sister Gertrude would refer to as 'planning for failure'.

If it had been simple resistance to psychic damage and mind control, he would've taken it. that would help in a fight. But it wasn't. It was healing after the fact.

That wasn't to say that nobody else could get some kind of benefit. Will handed the Sacrifice off to the rest of his Party to fight over. Mason and Jason seemed to be the most excited about it.

“Ready to go again?” Charnesa asked. “We've got to keep going until there aren't any left.”

“Let me get up and stretch my legs a bit first.” Will said, holding up a hand.

The saint nodded, standing up and getting herself something to drink while she waited.

Will went over to the door leading to the stairs down to the ground floor, wondering how Loth was doing.

He heard the groans of angry zombies, and frowned.

We're already holding them off? How long have I been out?

When Will got to the staircase, he paused, staring down at the scene beneath him.

The staircase below was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with zombies, some of them even climbing up on the railings and each other in their desperate bid to make it to the caravan…

They were shuffling with a quickness, marching in lockstep, and yet, not a single one seemed to make it past the third floor from the top.

Will went down a flight and figured out why that was.

The entire flight of stairs connecting to the last three floors had been simply removed, preventing the horde of zombies from making it to them at all.

Instead the zombies were pushing each other into a hallway on the floor beneath them through sheer crowd-pressure.

The zombies beneath glanced up at Will and-

A hand dragged Will back from the ledge, breaking line of sight with the zombies.

“Don't let them see you,” Loth's raspy voice said behind him.

Will turned and spotted Loth. The kobold was covered head-to-toe in stone dust and looking more pleased than he'd seen her in a while.

“Why not?”

“They start mucking up their pathing if you attract their attention in the wrong spot. Let me show you where to stand.”

Loth guided him back up a floor and away from the staircase, towards the other side of the building, where she had cut a hole in the floor and set up one of the wooden folding chairs from the wagon.

“Whoah,” Will said as he peered down.

Loth had cut a hole through the window beneath them that faced the outside world and rigged the floor to tilt and tumble the zombies outside the building once a certain number of them had accumulated in the hallway.

Whoosh!

The floor rotated underneath the horde, dropping them outside the building, tumbling to the ground below where a tangled mess of zombies were pushing themselves back to their feet and heading back to the staircase.

Loth sat down on her wooden chair and cackled with joy, kicking her feet as another load of zombies was dropped out the side of the building.

“So…they're stuck in a loop,” Will mused, peering out the window.

The zombies fell thirty flights of stairs, hit the ground hard, then five minutes later, they started working their way back up the spiral staircase, only to be dropped again.

“Despite how basic this trap is, I simply can't suppress a burst of joy every time I watch it drop them. And the fact that they don't learn from their mistakes?”

Loth clicked her tongue, making an 'okay' circle with her talons.

“Very nice. I think this Floor could be dangerous to kobolds in a different sense.”

Whoosh!

The floor rotated again, dropping another load of zombies flailing into the purple haze hundreds of feet below them. Loth snorted, kicking her heels against the Blessed Steel beam beneath them.

“How long was I out?”

“About three hours.” Loth said. “In another fifteen hours, the pile of bodies combining with each other out there might be large enough to cause us a problem, but we're not immediately pressed for time.”

Will glanced out the window and saw that not every zombie they dropped got back up again. A few of them were fused by the black ichor that sustained them with the rest of the pile, creating a single ooze-like monster composed of writhing limbs and screaming faces.

“Hmm. Well, keep an eye on it.”

Whoosh!

Loth chortled again, kicking her heels as another group of zombies was dropped.

She must've been watching this happen for hours and she still hadn't gotten tired of it?

“I can see how this might be dangerous for Kobolds.” Will mused.

“Ahaha, what?” Loth asked, wiping tears out of her eyes as she glanced back up at Will.

“Nevermind, enjoy yourself.”

“Thanks. I think I'm going to start marking some with paint to see how fast they come back up. And because it's funny.”

Whoosh!

Will went back up to the top and asked a Ria to go down there and keep an eye on Loth and the slowly growing mega-monster at the foot of the building.

We should probably get this business taken care of before Loth decides to stay on this Floor, Will thought to himself.

In the distance, he saw the carpenter with the two priestesses hovering over him, slowly and carefully drawing the dream-parasite out of his body.

Remember, you're a Lord. You're doing this to protect your people from that.

“Alright,” Will said, laying back down and fluffing his pillow. “How many more of these things do we have to fish out of the ether?”

“Idunno.” The withered saint said with a shrug. “We'll know when they stop latching on to you.”

“Swell,” Will said. “Send me back in.”

Charnesa leaned down and tapped his head.

Will found himself in a familiar memory. It wasn't losing his hand this time, The night terrors seemed to have picked up that it wouldn't work anymore after the first two.

Instead, it was the memory of Loth getting burnt to a crisp and nearly dying.

The only discrepancy was that the thing in his arms that he was trying desperately to get to a healer was a kobold-sized face-slug in his arms.

That was a pretty big discrepancy.

In a matter of minutes he had it subdued.

The next one was even worse, with Will having lunch with Slug-Brianna just before she went on to the next Floor without them.

As it turned out, the number of night terrors in the area was four.

Chapter 149: Take one Please

The next morning, Travis was back safe and un-possessed, much to everyone's surprise. Of course, Travis didn't actually sleep that night, so it made sense he was still alive. Upon being informed that falling asleep probably would've gotten him killed, the Master Decoy just shrugged and said he was already operating under the assumption that falling asleep on his own in a zombie-infested Floor was a bad idea.

Travis brought back a few souvenirs from his time alone. Mostly strange 'convenience' relics, rings that heated and flavored food, anklets that made the body lighter and repaired arthritis…that sort of thing.

If it was truly valuable, Will wasn't sure Travis would've shown them. The Decoy wasn't against them, but he did have a streak of self-interest.

I suppose that can be said for most of us, Will thought, scanning the Party as they travelled. None of them were completely saintly, except maybe Anna, and she represented an idealized caricature of what Brianna thought she should've been.

As for Loth, they practically had to drag her away from the addictive joy of her infinite Zombie launcher, but after some whining and pleading on both sides, they managed to get her away from the trap and back on the road again.

The blob of splattered zombies outside the building was getting big and beginning to make some concerning moves. Namely, moving.

A few hours into their travel, Will caught Loth designing some kind of zombie-powered threshing machine in her notebook.

When she noticed him looking, she then spent the next hour describing how the mindless energy of the undead could be harvested to make life for the living better.

“So all the foreman has to do is stand there, and the zombies walk towards them on the treadmill, which turns the wheel, which powers the thresher, or whatever else you care to automate.” Loth said, tapping the different parts of the diagram.

“So umm…are we going to export zombies or something? Because nothing grows on this Floor.”

Loth's eyes went wide for a moment before narrowing as she realized how much of a hurdle her zombie-power revolution faced.

“…Foo.” Loth ripped her design out of her book and tossed it aside. Will caught it and teased her about hanging it up on the mantle.

After Loth gave him 'the look', Will backed off and turned his attention to the time, glancing up at the sun, barely visible through the purple haze.

Only a few more hours before we set down again.

Will caught Jason's attention and waved him over.

“Hey Jason, according to Charnesa, we still have a day before we hit Ghoul's Stronghold, and I had an idea for something you could help with.”

“What'sup?” Jason asked.

“You notice how all these buildings are about the same, and they've all been picked clean of anything cool by generations of Climbers?” Will asked, gesturing to the endless ocean of massive glass towers gliding by underneath them.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I'd like you to pick our next landing spot. One with something cool, if you can.”

“Eh?” Jason grunted, looking up at Will. “How?”

“With your cantrip.”

Jason's eyes widened and his face lit up.

“Right away sir!” Jason said, snapping off a sloppy-but-enthusiastic salute. “I'll find us a spot with so much goddamn treasure we won't be able to carry it all!”

“Just pick a good spot,” Will said, patting him on the shoulder. “More than we can carry is useless.”

Jason gave an ominous chuckle and rubbed his palms together before pulling out a gold coin.

Jason pointed at the nearest building and flipped the coin.

Tails.

Jason pointed at the next one.

Tails.

Will let Jason do his thing when it became obvious that it might take quite some time for him to find a good spot.

About four hours later, Will was playing go with Loth and losing horribly when Jason came back to him, tugging manically on his sleeve.

“Will, Will, Will!”

“You can just tell me what you got,” Will said, turning his attention to the excited prophet.

“That building right there, has some sweet loot.” Jason said, pointing.

Will squinted to see through the omnipresent purple haze.

“That shorter one by the bridge?” Will asked. There was an empty riverbed and a squat building beside it. 'Shorter' was relative, since the building itself was still about eight stories tall, which had previously been taller than the biggest building Will had ever seen.

“Is it dangerous?” Will asked.

Jason frowned, turning to stare at the building and flipping a coin.

The coin landed heads in his hand.

“Yeah.”

“I guess everywhere is 'dangerous' here. Is it gonna get us killed?” Will asked.

Jason flipped the coin again, and this time he missed the catch, causing it to tumble down to the platform of air beneath them.

The coin landed on its side, slowly rotating in place.

“…Answer uncertain, try again later.” Jason said with a shrug as he glanced back up at Will.

I can't rely on the coin flip for all my decision making, since it's fallible. Let's prop it up with some common sense. Any place that still has loot is probably more dangerous than the rest of the city.

Instead of landing directly on it, let's make camp on one of the safer nearby towers, and I can explore it solo without having to worry about the civilians getting wrapped up in whatever trouble I stir up.

“Can you find us a place close to it that's safe to spend the night?” Will asked as Jason stooped to pick up his coin.

“Sure.”

Will sent word to the wagon drivers and they began veering towards the empty river.

Once they were parked, Loth started setting up defenses again, and they tested the area for night terrors. Thankfully they hadn't run into another group of them despite crossing a rather large distance.

Will hung around for dinner, then got himself ready and snuck over to the squat building beside the bridge.

Perched on a windowsill high above the building in question, Will could see that there was a clear patch of zombies around the squat building, seemingly uninterested in approaching.

I wonder. Uninterested or unable?

Will took a button from his shirt and flicked it down into the empty area.

Nothing happened at first, but the sound seemed to attract attention from some of the undead, who began wandering closer.

Without warning, a round nodule of iron hanging off the underside of the building's entrance – that Will had previously dismissed as a stylistic choice – twitched, orienting a little black circle towards the zombie.

A moment later, the zombie toppled to the ground with a smoking hole in its chest.

Patches of the zombie continued disappearing in gouts of the nasty black smoke, which slowly drifted around the empty courtyard, gradually coalescing into the form of the demon that had been possessing it.

The smoke demon had mostly congealed when the nodule twitched again, and another hole was opened up in the smoke-creature's chest, followed by its head, and limbs.

Eventually the smoke-demon was scattered, the ominous black smoke sinking to the ground and lingering there, seemingly drifting through a grate in the ground that led the to sewers.

A few minutes later, the courtyard was pristine again.

I can see how this might be dangerous.

Will couldn't see any dead Climbers around the building, but between dead bodies being possessed and walking away, and whatever Ability the steel nodules were using to vaporize bodies meant that there wouldn't be any sign that combat had ever happened.

Now that he was alerted to people getting vaporized, Will squinted, scanning the courtyard.

There were more than a few all-or-mostly-metal Relics scattered around the courtyard here and there, a few simply shoved into the gutters by wind and the shuffling of zombie feet. The only sign that other Climbers had died here

In fact…

Scanning the gutters, Will could easily make out half a dozen Relics that had been durable enough to survive…whatever that thing was. If they dug through the clogged gutters, they'd probably find another dozen at least.

I wonder if that's the treasure that Jason dowsed for us?

It would be an excellent score, that much was true, but Will's curiosity had been piqued. What was inside that building that magical defenses that potent were being employed? How many people had actually made it inside?

Was whatever it was guarding still there, and still valuable eight thousand years later?

I mean…there's nothing stopping us from carefully looting the outside, and then carefully looting the inside.

Will's heart was pounding with the excitement of testing himself against a new challenge, but he forced himself to sit down cross-legged while he did the boring part thoroughly.

When did I start getting excited about things that might kill me? Will thought, leaning on his palm as his snakes began digging through the gutters, pulling out loot and delivering them back to the caravan.

Attracted by the motion, the zombies clustered around the gutters, but they couldn't see Will's Phantom Snakes, and inanimate objects floating away wasn't quite enough to keep their attention.

What changed the way I feel about it? Was it the treasure, or was it simply that I would go mad if I didn't find a way to justify risking my life on a daily basis? Will wondered to himself. He truly did enjoy it now, despite everything, and despite having vivid memories of the terrifying dread of near-death.

Or is it the mystery of The Tower dragging me along, like they said?

It might be.

It was the tantalizing not knowing that seemed to be motivating him to go in there, more than simple greed.

So what's the best way to get in there?

Will briefly considered destroying the metal nodules on the outside of the building, even going so far as to come up with a plan where he used the zombies as test dummies to trigger the traps.

That idea was scrapped. Not because he couldn't do it, but because the outer layer of defensive nodules with their invisible Nuker Ability were the only thing keeping zombies from flooding in behind him.

If he had to explore the basement, a flood of zombies entering the building behind him might complicate things, or even get him killed.

You know, now that I think of it. Loth might be interested in studying one of those nodules. They are technically traps. Maybe I'll snag one on the way out.

Will looped Pinky Snake around his waist and Middle Snake around that of a zombie, lifting it up into the air.

Will set the wriggling zombie on the building's roof.

A half-dozen nodules rose out of the floor and twitched, but the zombie didn't die.

Will frowned, squinting.

Each nodule's little black hole at its front seemed to be shattered or broken in one way or another.

Someone busted them. So people have been here before. So much for raiding an untouched dungeon.

Will cautiously lowered himself to the rooftop, keeping his eyes open for any hint of movement beyond the twitching of the Nuker Nodules that he'd already seen.

The zombie reached out for him, its legs wiggling in midair as it tried to shamble towards Will.

But other than that…nothing.

Will took his Zombie trap-checker and pushed him ahead of Will until he came to a doorway that led further into the building.

It had long-since been cut open by previous generations, and Will felt a tremor of disappointment as he entered behind his decoy.

Until he glanced up and saw the sign carved into the stone beam stretching across the hallway.

Please leave your zombie outside. It will only complicate things.

- Cass

Will's brows rose as he blinked off the surprise, the disappointment lifting like The Tower's unnatural sun breaking through the unnatural clouds.

Alright mysterious sign, I'm game.

Will tossed the zombie a few miles away where it couldn't make it back before forgetting what it was doing, then he went back inside the building.

Will carefully explored each floor with Phantom Eye as he descended the staircase, looking for more seemingly prescient notes.

Strangely, there were no more signs. Each floor was nearly identical to the building he'd been in before: Little desks with black-glass boxes on top of them.

Will got to the first floor and found another sign.

Rather than a note, this one was a simple arrow, painted in some ancient, flaking substance, pointing straight down on a metal box seemingly embedded in the side of the building.

Frowning, Will approached, noticing that the metal box had a seam in the center. Will put the blade of his axe in the center and twisted it. The two slabs of metal moved rather easily, strangely light for their size.

Hollow, maybe?

Will got his fingertips in between the two metal slabs and forced them open, revealing blackness.

There was a stone shaft that seemed to descend deep into the bowels of the earth.

Hmm.

Will walked down the side of the shaft, Aspect creating stone platforms for him as he descended.

Once he was at the bottom, Will found a small hatch in the floor. He glanced in and identified a small room with steel slab doors identical to the ones he'd pried open above.

Will dropped himself in and carefully pried open the doors, making sure not to put his whole body in front of the doors. He could easily imagine himself getting hit by another one of those nodules, a big hole vaporized through his chest.

Once the doors were open, Will peeked out into the hall beyond.

More broken nodules on the ceiling. Doors along a long hall that turned off to the right.

The walls were sterile white, as was the floor. The doors lining the hall had strange symbols on them, each with vibrant colors and shapes.

Warnings, or just some kind of color-coded departments for whoever worked here? Will thought as he crept further into the basement, his heart hammering.

Being underground was quite possibly the most hair-raising experience a Climber could experience, because the simple fact that there was only one way out made everything much more dangerous.

The sign was right: Bringing a zombie down here would just add to the number of things that could go wrong.

That refreshed the obvious question in Will's mind.

How in the Abyss did a sign know Will had a zombie he was using as a trap-checking ten-foot pole?

Will peeked in doors as he snuck through, finding little but more desks and the occasional shattered glass cabinet, anything of value already stolen.

When he got to the corner at the end of the hall, Will's hyper-sensitive eyesight picked up a faint glow coming from beneath the door at the end of the hall.

Because he wasn't stupid, Will checked all the doors on the way by, making sure nothing was waiting to kill him in any of the rooms.

Nothing.

Will finally arrived at the final room, finding that the door's lock had long since been cut out by a razor-sharp blade, allowing the door to swing open freely.

Inside the room, Will found something eerily familiar.

In the center of the room was a sphere of brightly glowing miasma, about the size of Will's fist, with a metal altar beneath it and little tubes running beneath that dipped down into the floor.

It was all suspiciously similar to the setup in Tek'tut'kanlay's crypt, albeit only a tiny fraction of the size.

Will glanced past the glowing sphere to the wall, eyes widening when he noticed writing above a nearby empty glass shelf.

Will wuz heer

Beneath it:

Anyone else getting some major deja-vu?

Beneath that:

Is it just us here? Sound off, Deceivers who follow in my footsteps.

…

You can follow Deez Nuts…also yes. Good luck, next guy.

…

I noticed the last person to come here was rude and emptied the place out without leaving their name. Judging by the pattern I've seen thus far I believe I know who did it, but I won't name names. Please take only one and place any extras on the shelf. This machine takes centuries to recharge and I suspect it is growing slower.

- Castavelle the Paragon

…

Stopping by on the way back. Save yourself some trouble and cut off your hand again before you leave. It's infected.

- Ezyk the Serpent

Will's eyebrows rose again as he inspected his hand in the cold blue light of the sphere in the center of the room. He didn't see anything wrong with his hand, but that didn't mean much.

I'll keep an eye on it.

Will wasn't going to blindly cut off his hand because a note on the wall told him he should…but now that it was brought to his attention…

It didn't exactly have the protection of his Stats and Abilities, did it?

He'd keep an eye on it.

Will walked over to the empty shelf where the notes on the wall were written and inspected it. The shelf seemed to be designed to hold those pale blue spheres. They each had a metal ring identical to the one the blue sphere floated above.

Place extras on the shelf? Will thought, turning back to the glowing blue orb.

Where would there be extras? Why wouldn't they be on the shelf to start with?

Will knelt and ran his fingertips along the floor tiles around the machine.

There.

He could pick up a nearly-undetectable divot where a sphere had fallen from a height of about three feet onto the floor, marking its departure from the altar above.

But I don't see any others.

So unless someone had been here and taken them recently, only one of…whatever the orb was, had been created since the last person to come by.

That was a problem, but did Will really care about the next iteration of himself? leaving some for the next guy was basically just assuming he was going to die and the Coil would keep grinding them down to nothing only for some bright-eyed young Deceiver with one hand to take his place.

Well, let's see what we got here, Will thought, Inspecting the sphere. A moment later, the System bounced back with something that made him frown.

Seed of Undeath

A Synthetic Sacrifice, it is the refined essence of thousands of undead. The ambrosia that the god-king Tek'tut'kanlay consumed to fuel his immortality and that of his court.

Adds Undeath, Regeneration, and lifesteal abilities to the aspirant's class choices. Provides 1 Str, 2 Res, 2 Foc/level. Unknown to all but a few.

Will peered at the machine, that didn't seem to be doing anything. If he squinted, he could maybe make out a pinprick of light at the base of the machine, but it would probably take over a thousand years before it created another seed.

Hmm…

Will's gaze followed the tube that descended into the floor.

It said…refined essence of thousands of undead.

Will's eye twitched as he remembered the undead being vaporized far above them, the black smoke harboring an evil spirit filtering down through a grate. Will hadn't thought much of it, but what if that had been intentional?

What if that grate was supposed to catch and collect that black smoke?

Will's gaze darted back to the tube going directly into the floor.

Where does that tube go? He thought.

Will created a Phantom Eye and followed the tube straight down until a glimmer of miasmatic light caught his attention.

There was a small room beneath him where all the demon-smoke was pulled in and captured, concentrated high enough that miasmatic light was being created. Even now, a trickle of the black smoke was falling through the grate above.

There was a massive paddle-like machine that seemed designed to stir the gunk, refine it and force it up some familiar tubes.

How would I even get there? Will traced the door in the room below to a staircase that lead to a secret door on this floor in another room that was only marked by an odd lump sticking out of the wall.

It was some kind of maintenance room, with heavy iron pipes and strange black tubes, heavy tools that had long since either corroded or stopped working.

Hmm.

Most maintenance was just cleaning and patching.

I wonder if I can speed this thing up enough to get another seed before I have to leave this Floor. Even if I don't, the next guy will probably benefit. Sounds like a win-win.

Will had no intention of going down there in person, and instead used Phantom Eye and his Phantom Snakes to assess the damage.

It was mostly just clog. The entire mechanism feeding refined undead up the pipe was covered top to bottom in tar-like black substance that had frozen the paddle in place.

No wonder it takes a thousand years, Will thought, peering up one of the pipes, which had been shrunk from wrist-thick to nearly a pinhole.

It was surprising anything got through with that level of clog.

Let's clean this mess up and see where that gets us.

Will turned the armor on his phantom snake into a pipe-cleaner and began dragging out the muck. Once he had it all in the same place, he would gather it up and transport it somewhere far away, but it didn't make sense to move it until he dragged all the gunk out of the major areas.

Who would've thought I would've just been cleaning things, Will thought to himself, scraping a long tube of sludge out of the pipe and onto the tar-covered floor beneath it.

Thump-Thump.

Is that a heartbeat? Will thought, frowning as he felt a vibration through the Miasma around him.

He turned his Phantom Eye to scan the room and spotted a humanoid figure rising from the tar-like pool on the floor.

It was looking straight up.

At Will.

Floor-wide Alert!

A new Raid Boss, The Sin Amalgam has been discovered on the 8th Floor!

The Sin Amalgam was a researcher who was caught and killed in the refinement chamber during the outbreak of Undeath. Millennia of absorbing undead by-product has given the corpse strange and unnatural powers.

Bounty: 3000 Ivory ten-pieces, 4,000,000 X.P, to be shared among the Parties that claim the bounty.

Shit.

Chapter 150: Thirty Seconds

Will broke into a sprint.

Under no circumstances did he want to fight a Raid Boss in an enclosed area.

Ancient papers were scattered into the air as Will flashed past them, a gale of wind following his passage and disturbing things that hadn't felt a breeze in thousands of years.

Will mentally tracked his progress.

Left turn. Hallway – Bang! – the seamless door leading to the maintenance room below was torn off its hinges just behind Will.

Too late, Will thought, sprinting down the hall and hitting the metal box, jumping straight up through the little hatch in the ceiling and sprinting up the shaft.

Platforms of solid stone jutted out of the square shaft to meet Will's feet as he sprinted upwards, a tar-black humanoid body arriving in the metal box beneath him.

Will picked up speed as the creature climbed up into the shaft, its sticky hands clinging to the walls without effort.

After about fifteen seconds of sprinting straight up, Will's mind registered something was wrong.

I should've reached the ground floor by now. Abyss, at that speed, I should've reached the ceiling.

Will covered his head and grabbed himself with his Phantom Snakes, launching himself up, with the intention of breaking through the stone ceiling of the building.

Will felt the sudden acceleration and the wind resistance, but…

No impact.

Will glanced down at the Raid Boss beneath him.

It was still the exact same distance away, despite having slowed to a crawl, limbs tentatively touching the walls as it pulled itself forward, like an insect.

Will glanced back up and threw his axe above him, then launched himself up at a greater speed, aiming to catch it.

The axe sailed ahead of him as though he were standing still.

I am standing still, Will thought, looking back down at the creature.

He was caught in some kind of Ability that limited the range that Will could get away from him. and was constantly shortening it.

Interesting. And terrifying.

Especially since Will was trapped in this narrow shaft. He'd had more options when he was on the floor below.

The Sin Amalgam was approaching, albeit slowly, creeping forward with malicious intent. Something told Will that Sin Amalgam couldn't move quickly while it was pinning him down.

Time for an experiment.

Will reached out with Middle Phantom Snake and grabbed the Sin Amalgam and pulled it towards him up the shaft while also lifting himself and placing his hand on the wall.

Will felt the wall drag along his fingers as he rose up, roughly the same amount that he'd raised the raid boss.

It's reeling me in like a fish on a line. But I can still struggle.

At the speed it was going, it would be nose-to-nose with Will in about thirty seconds, and Will didn't like his odds when that happened.

Despite being affected by an Ability, Will hadn't felt it latch onto him.

…Usually he could feel that.

Will briefly entertained the thought of dragging it back up to where the rest of his team was and they could all pile on it together. The only problem he had with that, was that the Ability he was trapped in was likely an area-of-effect, rather than a targeted ability.

If it had been targeted, he would've felt it. Will suspected he was in some kind of bubble of inward facing space that prevented living things from escaping or using superior maneuverability.

Which totally screws me.

If he swung by the caravan, that ran the risk of civilians being drawn into this thing's sphere of influence, not to mention his Party, none of whom had damage types that were particularly useful against this thing.

Will imagined a dozen people trapped in this thing's area of effect like insects trapped in amber, all struggling to push it this way and that, unable to pick a direction to move until eventually they were drawn into it.

That would be a shit show.

Come to think of it, I haven't even tried damage yet.

Will had been assuming it was similarly resistant to physical damage, like the zombies. Was a sense of hopelessness part of this creature's bag of tricks or was Will just slipping?

Slice!

Will cut the Amalgam into a dozen little chunks using Middle. Or…he tried.

The blackened chunks were suspended in midair like they were tethered to Will, rapidly recombining in a matter of heartbeats, and still approaching.

Yep. Wasted two seconds.

So physical damage wasn't the answer.

Will briefly wondered if it would burst into ghost-smoke if Mason were to burn it.

Or…if the defenses outside were to vaporize it.

Will grabbed Sin Amalgam around the waist and flew both of them to the first floor in the blink of an eye, crashing through ancient desks like piles of loose leaves.

25 seconds.

Will forcibly shoved the creature out into the main courtyard while Will waited behind the nodules inside the building.

Up close to the nodules, Will could hear a strange buzzing sound, like a single massive beetle trapped in a cardboard box, and Sin Amalgam was systematically vaporized by the building's traps, unleashing massive gouts of black smoke into the air.

Massive gouts of smoke that kept approaching Will.

Shit. 20 Seconds.

It was approximately a third closer to him now than it had been in the shaft, maybe fifteen feet away and meandering closer.

I am the inevitability of death.

That wasn't my thought. Will thought, narrowing his eyes as he realized he'd screwed himself pretty hard.

Middle couldn't wrap around a column of smoke to move it around.

No, I can move it.

Will directed the polymorphic armor of his Phantom Snakes to form a bubble around the column of smoke, then squeeze down on it.

Will ended with a bubble of metal about the size of a chair, slowly approaching him no matter how hard he tried to push it away.

It was like a law of nature, and there was no circumventing it. He could move it around, he could move himself, but he could not reduce the distance between them.

Searching for any idea how to handle this creature, Will's gaze caught the grate that led to the refiner. The clogged refiner that wasn't working.

Maybe…

You willing to bet your life on that idea? Will chided himself. It would either work, or he would be dead.

But isn't it always like that?

15 seconds.

Will spent the next two seconds flying back into the building and down into its bowels, the scenery flickering past him in a heartbeat until he came to a halt in the maintenance room just outside the gunked up refiner, the bubble containing Amalgam floating just behind him and continuing to approach.

Wand of the Undead Retainer

Will's body suddenly felt heavier as he switched from the Coiled Serpent Amulet to the Wand of the Undead Retainer.

He didn't need more strength. He needed more hands. Disposable ones.

“Billy-bob, Stevie, Noob,” Will said.

Undead Retainer

118 to 103 Charge remaining.

The three undead butlers coalesced out of the ether, lined up and bowing.

“How can we-“

“Shut up, I've only got a few seconds. Grab all the tools you can carry and bring them down those stairs,” Will said, pointing.

“Inside is an ancient machine. We are going to clean, maintain and reactivate it in the next ten seconds. Go, Go go go!”

10 seconds

The three undead butlers snapped to it, each grabbing an armload of maintenance tools and tossing them down the stairs before grabbing another, once they had stocked up to Will's satisfaction, Will Sprinted down the stairs, kicking a box of tools ahead of him.

The damned thing was only about two arms lengths away.

8 seconds.

I'm not going to be here for most of this, but I can cover the big stuff.

Will maneuvered Sin Amalgam into the corner of the room and released it from it metal bubble, allowing it to balloon outward, dominating the space as it continued creeping closer.

Will formed the Phantom Snake's armor into enormous spatula-like objects, scooping up huge amounts of goop from the walls and floor and flinging it outside into the maintenance room.

5 seconds.

Will could almost touch the thing with his fingertips.

“This looks broken, do we have a spare?” Stevie asked an instant before Billy-bob tossed him a part from the pile.

“This rubber hose needs a patch!” Noob cried from the ceiling.

“Patch!” Billy-bob tossed him the patch.

Will made his snakes into pipe cleaners and ran them through every pipe he could see.

“I'm gonna squeeze down and check the inner workings!” Stevie said before vanishing into the ceiling.

3 seconds.

If he reached out behind him, he could touch it, but Will didn't want to give it the satisfaction. He kept working until the last second, ignoring the creeping doom like it wasn't there.

Will scooped out all the tar-like gunk he possibly could.

The room was nearly clean. It was a massive improvement, but it wasn't enough.

“I know I give you guys a hard time, but you're the best butlers I've ever had,” Will said, giving the three spirits a thumbs-up. It wasn't saying much because he'd never had any other butlers before, but nobody wanted to go out whimpering like a bitch.

A man should die saying something real. It was the principle of the thing.

Will took a deep breath as he felt black, sticky fingers that seemed to suck the heat out of him coalesce out of the swirl of black smoke, drawing him inside the roiling cloud of smo-

***Patil, Head Undead Refinery Engineer***

Patil woke up and yawned, crawling out of bed and trudging to his coffee machine.

Why on earth the engineers had to wake up at four in the morning to maintain the refiner instead of later at night, when they were still awake, he had no idea.

Well, he did. They were short-staffed.

Patil knocked back his morning brew and put on his high-visibility outfit, giving his customary prayer to the idol of Tek'tut'kanlay hanging over his doorframe before heading out.

At least I live close to where I work, Patil thought as he walked out of the government-controlled apartment complex along with a flood of other workers going to their own stations.

Being the lead engineer, he was expected to be there before anyone else, always with the right answer to any problem. It was a heavy burden, but people could get used to anything.

Patil stopped outside the fence and waved to the truck driver waiting for him.

He's early.

The driver gave him a thumbs-up and oriented the rear of the vehicle on the gate.

Stifling a yawn, Patil opened up the gate and waved the man through.

The driver parked halfway through, and they both made sure none of the subjects could squeeze through the gap.

I'll always be impressed by how accurate these drivers are, Patil thought, testing the gap between the fence and the truck with his finger. Finally, he gave the driver the signal to open the back.

The door slammed open, creating a ramp, and the refinement subjects tumbled out, like they'd been stacked on top of each other rather than simply standing shoulder to shoulder.

“It's more every day.” A junior accountant said as she arrived beside him. Tek'lami, I think her name was. “Don't you wonder why we're getting more every day? Where are they getting so many people?”

Because we're losing, Patil thought sourly, but he didn't let it reach his lips. The deliveries were getting more and more frequent and less organized. It stank of desperation. A bad sign.

“They're not 'people', they are refinement subjects, and our job isn't to waste time with question that don't serve a purpose, it is to keep the refinery running for as long as Tek'tut'kanlay requires it of us.”

“…Right.” Tek'lami said, nodding, obviously unconvinced.

Once the delivery was done, Patil went downstairs to monitor the refinement process.

“The speed is a bit off,” Patil muttered to himself, watching the numbers on his monitor.

Probably a clog.

Once the seed was refined and the machine turned off, Patil went down into the belly of the beast through the staircase in the maintenance room.

They were working with a skeleton crew recently, just a handful of people to run this entire facility, and so Patil had to do a lot of the work himself despite having the kind of seniority that would've normally saved him from doing the dirty or dangerous jobs.

Let's see... Here it is. Patil thought, spotting a glint of gold in one of the exhaust grates, collecting gunk and creating a blockage.

It was a wedding ring. A popular synthetic Relic that allowed matched sets to send each other a handful of scripted sensations. A hug, the joy of seeing their partner happy. That sort of horseshit.

Patil didn't have time for romance, and he wouldn't have pursued it even if he had. Women didn't make a lot of sense to Patil. Men either for that matter.

He was a curious man, though.

Let's see, Patil thought, inspecting the ring. There was an inscription inside.

To Ji'petul, the light of my life

“Didn't Ji'petul get reassigned to the frontline?” Patil wondered aloud.

Clunk. Patter. Patil heard the distinctive sound of a truck door being opened, along with hundreds of subjects spilling out.

Again!? Already!?

Oh, that's not good. locking the door to the refiner was step number five, and they were already on number 9. Who the Abyss is up there to even give the green light!?

This shouldn't even be able to happen, unless…

Patil shoved the ring in his pocket and sprinted for the door.

Locked.

help Patil shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping someone could hear him. all he could hear back to the sound of subjects being vaporized.

An ominous black smoke began to pour in through the grates above him.

I don't think Ji'petul was reassigned, Patil thought, his skin turning cold.

The black smoke sought him out like a living thing, clinging to him, piercing into his skin and flooding his veins with corrosive darkness.

help Patil shouted again and again until the concentration of smoke rendered him unable to breath.

He collapsed to the ground, his vision darkening. In the far periphery of his senses, he could barely make out the refiner humming to life.

It was a beautiful thing, the blue light of miasma flickering and spinning, coalescing into something tangible from invisible vapors…like cotton candy.

In Patil's vision, the refiner got larger and larger as he was inexorably drawn towards it, unable to move or look away as it dominated his vision, until the refiner was all that he was.

***William Oh***

Will gasped for breath as the suffocating memory was ripped away from him, uncovering his face.

Will glanced behind him and saw his body was entirely coated in Sin Amalgam, but beyond that, the spinning turbine in the center of the room was rapidly getting faster and faster, Miasma beginning to spontaneously glow and flicker as the undead essence was concentrated and sent up the pipe.

There, near Will's feet, a trail of black smoke was being bled off Sin Amalgam and drawn into the machine.

I can win this.

hold on!” Stevie shouted as the three spirit butlers emerged from the wall, grabbed Will's hands and hauled them out of Sin Amalgam, placing them on a stone ledge where safety rails used to be.

The three ghost butlers were immediately drawn into the turbine as soon as they had secured his grip.

Will's entire body went perpendicular as the pull grew exponentially, the ancient stone cracking under his fingertips. Sin Amalgam didn't want to let go. The tar-like, clinging smoke had re-congealed around him, attempting to invade his body and use it as an anchor to remain in this world.

To the Abyss with that, Will thought, gritting his teeth and finding another handhold, dropping his body closer to the spinning turbine.

The pull redoubled, and Will's weak left hand lost its grip, leaving him flapping in midair like a windsock, tethered to the ground by his fingertips.

The more Sin Amalgam was drawn into the machine, the more strength Will could bring to bear, and the more Aspect of the Immortal Serpent was able to reinforce his grip.

Will's fingers kept their grip, and the ghost was peeled off of him, faster and faster, until with a shriek more felt than heard, the last bit of Sin Amalgam was drawn into the machine and the turbine came to a halt, dropping Will to the floor.

Floor-wide Alert!

William Oh has single-handedly claimed the bounty!

Many thanks to our Climbers for their efforts.

You are now a level 38 Resourceful Climber.

“How long was I out?” Will rasped.

Silence.

Oh shit, my butlers.

Undead Retainer

103 - 88 Charge remaining.

“How long was I out?” Will asked again, hoping that the ghost butlers hadn't been erased by the machine's refining.

“About five minutes.” Billy-bob said as he coalesced in front of Will.

“Felt longer.” Will groaned with relief, turning over onto his elbows and studying the immaculate machine in the center of the room.

“You guys do good work.”

“All part of the job.” Billy-bob said, the three of them bowing.

Epilogue

Dear Honored Lord Ghoul,

Circumstances have prevented me from passing back through and giving my thanks personally for all the help you have given me, and so I thought I would make this the first letter I send as a Lord.

That's right, Lord William Oh, master of a burned down Stronghold, a poisoned well, salted fields, and about twenty-two hundred starving civilians who were bussed up. The Paladin kept the Key Sites meticulously clear, so it'll be weeks, maybe even months before monsters move in and The Tower makes a Key Site clearing quest.

…That bastard.

I know that as a Lord, I can request Doors now, but the cost is outrageous, and I certainly couldn't send everyone back down a Floor with one Door.

…I also know that I could send you a letter through The System, but like I said, X.P is tight. I'm saving up to pay off the bounty and remove the restriction on travel.

I've just enough to send Mason down to buy up all the meat in the 9th Floor. Once our logistician gets up here, he'll be spending more time preserving monster meat than actual record keeping.

I see the plan now. These people are quick-drying concrete. Right now, they're displaced, with nowhere to go, refugees in a liquid form, ready to go wherever they must to survive. But if I help them survive, they will build houses, families, farms, businesses. They will harden and set in place around me. By the time a Door or Key Site becomes available, they may no longer wish to leave.

I know the intent is to bind me to these people through habit, shared struggles and a Lord's Obligation, but I see this an opportunity to catch my breath.

There are certain things I need to study before I head deeper into the Tower.

…That brings me to the actual purpose of this letter, even though in retrospect, I did vent a little more than I intended.

You told me you were a wizard.

What do you make of this?

(unintelligible scribbles)

It's a rough approximation of a miasmatic structure I've discovered. I found it in the veins of my arm, and I believe it's related to my Class and the System itself. I think it has something to do with Resistance, as my veins probably don't need the benefit of any of the other Stats.

This is all just guesswork though, and requires much more testing.

I have an opportunity to peer deeper into the nature of Miasma and the System at large, and I would like to share it with you.

The deal is this: Come visit to the 10th Floor whenever you're not busy shepherding Climbers on the 8th. Continue my lessons about magic and Miasma, and I will share my research on these miasmatic structures.

I could start from nothing for the sake of jealously hoarding my knowledge, but with your input I could progress far further than I could alone, simply by moving my starting point and springboarding off your expertise.

This could benefit us both.

Although…It occurs to me as I write this that you may already know everything there is to know about these miasmatic structures, and if so, I'm offering you nothing you don't already have.

If that is the case, visit all the same and give me a few months to come up with a suitable bribe.

I hope this letter finds you well, and that I have not overestimated your love for the discovery and sharing of knowledge.

- William Oh, Lord of the Burned Stronghold

A spray of glass shards bounced off Fabron's face, making a soft clink as it impacted against the goggles protecting his eyes.

“Damnit, why are we doing this again?” Fabron demanded, knowing the answer, but still seeking commiseration from his fellow indentured workers.

Fabron wiped the last of the glass dust off his cheek and glanced around, curious about the lack of response.

Clink, clink, clink.

He could tell by the sound of other workers chipping away at the glass, and the lack of screaming, that nothing was wrong. Rod was probably off taking a shit. His wheelbarrow was set down, half full only a few feet away.

The Abyss did I do to deserve this?

Fabron knew what he did, but he felt years of indentured servitude for a harmless grift was an outsized punishment. Especially considering how valuable a Climber above level 40 was, outside the tower.

It should be cheese, wine and women outside the Tower, but instead I'm breathing glass dust in a chain gang. Really makes you think.

Fabron considered it. Big fish in a small pond might honestly be better than a nobody among gods.

Since Rod was off who knew where, Fabron set down his tools and grabbed a chunk of glass that weighed more than he did, and with barely a grunt of effort, loaded it into the kid's wheelbarrow, enough to make the wheels sink into the mud.

That'll teach him to take off without letting me know.

Fabron took a deep breath and took a step back, inspecting the glob of glass.

It was a mountainous loaf of blackened glass the size of a castle, but it wasn't a beautiful thing. It was a terrible, ominous ruin filled with bones, rough patches of burned carbon and riddled with cracks.

The glass was murky and patchy, barely acting as a binder keeping stone, bone and charcoal together. Air bubbles were everywhere throughout the structure, like someone had deliberately folded it to add them in.

As the story goes, someone did.

Fabron hadn't seen it himself, but word went around. He'd heard that William Oh himself had used an Ability that melted the entire castle Fae Lord and all, then he'd stirred it up like a caramel confection.

I didn't think William Oh was real. I thought he was just a story made up by desperate people to make themselves feel like anything was possible. In fact, I still think that. Nobody's that amazing, even if the rumors are exaggerated.

Maybe it was someone else? Some other Lord who didn't want the attention?

Well, I guess that's one thing I'm sure of: Whoever or whatever did it is not to be fucked with, Fabron nodded to himself as he picked up his pickaxe.

Lord Bakton wanted to claim the arable land around the newly cleared Key Site. It was a large patch of good farmland, and The Lord insisted that he now had the power to keep the Fae at bay.

There was just one smudge on the valuable land: A huge lump of glass, stone and charcoal sitting directly on top of arable land.

Fabron didn't believe that Bakton had a way to make farming work, but he didn't really have a choice about his involvement in this project, so he just put his head down and broke off chunks of glass to be carted away.

At least it wasn't deep mining or clearing out the more dangerous monsters at the edge of Bakton's territory.

This was easy work, and he and the other criminal slaves knew it, so they dragged their feet a little, enjoying the safety and the fresh air.

Fabron heard the overseer's footsteps in the distance, and he hefted his pickaxe.

Clang!

With a crack, a layer of glass sloughed off the face of Fabron's worksite, crumbling to the ground and just barely missing his feet.

When Fabron glanced back up, a skeletal hand was reaching out from inside the blackened glass.

gah Fabron flinched, raising his pickaxe to take a swing.

The skeletal arm hadn't been reaching for him. It had simply flopped forward when it was released by the glass around it, but that was it. It wasn't an undead fae looking to kill him and consume his life essence. Just an arm.

“Uugh.” Fabron slumped in place, heaving a sigh.

He heard the overseer coming closer, and he straightened up, raising his pickaxe, when a glint of gold caught his eye.

On the skeletal hand was a ring set with a fire opal. It appeared completely undamaged by the heat of the apocalyptic event that had buried it in glass and stone.

That doesn't…Opal is a soft gemstone that is easy enough to damage. Gold melts easier than glass. And gold is squishy, too. A gold ring shouldn't have survived, unless…

It's a Relic. Spawned as the fae decayed into Miasma after the heat dwindled and the crushing pressures subsided.

Fabron's eye widened as he took in the enormous glass loaf that towered over him. It no longer looked like an ominous testament to one Climber's overwhelming power.

Now it looked like a gold mine.

Fabron inspected the ring.

Signet of the Burning Court

+4 Strength

+4 Kinesthetics

+12 Resistance

+15 Focus

+12 Acuity

+30% Fire Damage

Fire Abilities will not damage Party members.

Whenever an enemy is killed by fire, necromantic Abilities and minions gain potency until the end of battle or an hour passes. Scales with Focus

Burning Court Set Bonuses:

Half of potential damage dealt by the user is automatically converted to fire damage. Fire damage may burn Eidolons, Debt and Contracts. (2 items)

Drifter's Luck becomes an aura that deals large amounts of fire damage to enemies within range. When the user is damaged, a portion of the Fire aura may be consumed to reverse the damage. Range and damage scale with Focus. (4 items)

Fire damage ignores a portion of enemy Resistance. Scales with Focus.

Gain the service of the Burning Court. (6 Items)

it'S A set!? Fabron's eyes widened as his heartbeat skyrocketed. There was no Way they wouldn't find this and take it away from him.

But this could be my ticket to being a Lord. People will tell stories about me. Screw William Oh, screw wine and women outside the Tower. I could have it here!

Crunch. A footstep only a few yards around the corner of the little area of privacy they'd dug out of the glass mountain.

Oh, crap.

The overseer was just about to turn the corner, and then it would be gone. He needed to hide it. but even if he managed to hide it and take it home, How could he possibly-

Inspiration struck and Fabron jammed his pickaxe a foot into the soil, yanked it out and tossed the ring in, burying the Relic in a single motion.

Fabron the overseer barked as he came into her view.

Fabron flinched and stood, scraping his foot over the hole in a way that he prayed looked natural, filling the hole in with dirt.

The overseer was a mean old woman with steel grey hair, who didn't have any patience for slacking. The other prisoners joked that she was part-fae, with how obsessively strict she was.

“I heard you shout. What are you doing?”

Heart hammering in his chest, desperately trying not to look down at the hole he'd just filled in. Attracting her attention to it would be a bad move. Fabron simply gulped and pointed at the skeleton arm dangling from the wall of blackened glass.

“A s-skeleton.” He stammered, not having to fake his nervousness.

She glanced past him to the skeleton, her expression icy.

“You realize it's not alive?”

“Yes, ma'am!” Fabron said, nodding profusely. “Just startled me, is all.”

“Hmph.” She glanced down at Fabron's feet, looking like she was about to say something, when her eye twitched, and she snorted, glancing around.

“…Where is Rodney?”

“I thought he was off taking a shit, but he's been gone a while.” Fabron said.

really the overseer asked, her expression turning demonic. “I suppose I'll have to go find him and have a little chat.”

“Get back to work!” She called over her shoulder as she turned on her heel, scanning the surroundings.

Sorry about throwing you to the wolves, Rod. I'll pay you back when I'm a Lord.

Once she was out of sight, Fabron glanced back down at the hole. He'd barely covered it at all, just enough to hide the glitter of gold at the bottom.

He spent a minute packing the dirt in tight, making it nearly identical to the earth around it save for an oddly-shaped piece of bone to mark it before he got back to work.

I'll be back for you, he promised, memorizing its location before picking his pickaxe back up and slamming it into the stone with renewed vigor.

There were at least five more Set Relics in this blackened mass grave, and Fabron only needed to find one more to burn away the Debt keeping him enslaved on this Floor.

And after that…sky's the limit.

Fabron started working hard, and when Rod finally returned, he goggled at the massive pile of broken glass and rubble accumulating around Fabron as he dug his way into the mountain of glass.

“Guess she got you too, huh?” Rod asked, rubbing the caning marks under his trousers and wincing.

“I'm just feeling super motivated. Let's leave it at that,” Fabron said with a grunt as he carved away another chunk of glass, his eyes constantly scanning for orange glints of fire opal as he worked.

Everybody knew Set Relics followed a theme.

“Sure, sure,” Rod chuckled before his gaze turned to the wheelbarrow. “You bastard, you overloaded it!”

Fabron didn't respond, just kept hammering away at the glass, eyes searching hungrily.

“Oookaaay…” Rodney said, picking up the wheelbarrow and grunting away with it.