chop

Royal Road

1

SomethingOtherThanRain

The Legend of William Oh by Macronomicon

Chapter 1: He who has no Class

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"Slow down, you're going to give yourself a stomach ache," Gertrude admonished as Will devoured another entire loaf of bread. "You'll throw up the moment you have to run."

"Untrue," Will mouthed past the wad of stew-soaked bread in his mouth, causing the old woman to wince and avert her eyes. "The walk to the hunting grounds is over an hour, so I'll be fine by the time I get there."

"If you can afford to walk slow, then you can eat slow." Gertrude said, pulling the next loaf of bread away from his reaching hand.

"Awww..."

"You'll thank me when you're not reeling in pain from a busted stomach." Gertrude said, nose raised.

"I am…constantly not reeling in pain," Will sassed.

Gertrude smacked him over the head with the loaf, the black bread's hard crust making a dull 'conk' as it delivered its force into his cranium.

"How 'bout now?" the ancient priestess asked.

"Ow. I think there was a rock in there." Will said, holding his scalp and checking for bleeding.

"Nonsense," Gertrude said, prying open the rough-milled bread over her wooden plate.

Clunk!

A fingernail-sized pebble dropped out of the bread and onto her plate, causing her weathered face to freeze in surprise.

"Just…eat slow, alright?"

"mm," Will grunted, nodding as he began to masticate much slower.

It seemed the miller's new apprentice needed a bit more practice. Or perhaps a good caning.

"Seems like there might be a job opening at the mill." Gertrude mused as Dana took the pebble and stared at it with wide eyes. The little girl looked like she was going to put the pebble in her mouth before Gertrude snatched it out of her hand.

"I am not going to hunt a Wheat gremlin." Will said. "How would that even combine with an –" Will lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper "Uru Drake?"

"I'm sure I don't know. Make twice the flour from half the grain, perhaps? Don't act as though milling grain is beneath you. It's a lifetime of good, honest work."

"Drudgery." Will countered.

"Drudgery you can support a family with. Your parents-"

"Are awesome." Will interrupted.

Perhaps reading Will's mood, Gertrude changed tactics.

"I'm just saying it would be good for you to have a grounded life, raise children. Be happy. Many Climbers are not happy. I know. Perhaps you could even take Marissa as your bride? It'd be one less mouth to feed here."

Will glanced over at where Marissa was picking her nose. The little girl glanced back at the mention of her name, nostril distended with her index finger.

"I'm not sure we're a good fit." Will said.

"Sink into the Abyss." Marissa said, flicking a booger at him.

"Already there, Abyss-spawn." Will said, flicking the booger off. Marissa turned red, climbed over the table and leaped on him, sending the two of them tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

"Children!" Gertrude hollered over the two of them before Will could get Marissa in a headlock. "Sit. Down."

The promise of violence in the old nun's voice sent them scrambling back to their seats.

"I've got one piece of advice for you, William, Something the Gods know I've tried to teach you." Gertrude said, pointing an old wooden spoon at him. "Take your time. Don't leap into The Class Trial with the first three Sacrifices you can get your hands on. You've got all summer to hunt. Shop around. Sell some of the Sacrifices you hunt, buy some gear. Check the market, other Aspirants might pass on something perfect for you. You don't even have to take your Class this year. There's no time limit."

"Don't start The Trial until you're sure you have what you need."

"Yes, ma'am," Will muttered, ducking his head at Gertrude's intensity.

"Good."

"Sooo…" Will glanced around the breakfast table at the other children, who watched him curiously.

"Yes, you can go join The Hunt,"

Will shot to his feet and marched towards the door. Towards his Class, and by extension, his family.

The door slammed before he got halfway across the room.

"After you clean your mess," Gertrude said, her Relic of The Host glowing faintly as she pointed to his bowl and crumb-covered plate.

Will took a deep breath and grabbed the dishes, walking over to the sink, where he used the morning water to clean off the plate before setting it back in its proper place.

In a matter of seconds, Will was standing back in front of the door, practically vibrating with eagerness.

Gertrude looked like she wanted to say something else, but simply sighed and motioned to the door, her Relic faintly glowing again.

The door unlocked and swung open.

One small step for William Oh, one giant leap for Saint Gertrude's Orphanage.

Will could see it already: With the myriad potent Abilities granted by the Uru Drake Sacrifice, he would be able to acquire Relics and become a Climber, carving out a massive range on one of the upper floors, making him a Lord.

In his benevolence, Lord William would deign to send supplies and money to the poor unfortunates forced to suffer through the old woman's sermons.

Will burst into the early morning light, his calloused feet trotting down the compacted earth trail that led from the orphanage to the town proper.

The sun itself was a bit weak this morning, barely radiating heat as the glow bloomed from the top of The Tower, illuminating the land.

Still, the heat was fairly substantial since the orphanage was parked in the undesireable arid land baked by proximity to The Tower, and by extension, the heat of the sun.

Some people took days, or even weeks to travel from the outskirts to earn their Classes. Even months for the maniacs who lived in the frigid wastes at the very edges of civilization…if you could call living in ice-houses and eating raw gonku meat 'civilization'

Will only had to walk an hour, but he had to get some supplies first.

"One sling, two dozen bullets, two pounds of pemmican and a waterskin!" Will called as he strode through the door to the general store.

His plan to triumphantly slap the copper coins he'd been saving up on Leon's countertop was somewhat muddled as he realized the way was blocked: The shop was packed wall-to-wall with others, ranging from aspirants his age getting hunting weapons to full-blooded adventurers grabbing last-minute toiletries or food.

A group of adventurers currently crowding the countertop glanced over at him. Two women and three men, their Relics hinting at their roles in the party.

One of the men sported a smooth wooden bow that practically hummed with power and a simple cuirass, while one of the women bore a wand that crackled faintly with energy. She wore a ring that exuded ominous energy, while the other woman had a wooden symbol of Grevash in her belt that radiated an aura of calm, not unlike Gertrude.

Another man wore a ring on either hand, a helmet, and a waterproof smock.

The leader, a man wearing heavy armor, with a close-shaved head and scars near his eyes, glanced over at Will, his gaze skimming over him in an instant before he dismissed him entirely, turning back to Leon.

"Hey Will," Leon said, peering over his clients to catch sight of him. "Catch!"

Leon reached under the countertop, then threw a leather bundle over the heads of the store's many patrons, landing it in Wiliam's hands.

"Thanks!" Will said, tossing his handful of coins across the room at Leon.

"ACK!" The black-haired merchant ducked the flying metal, which clattered off the display pieces behind him, much to the amusement of his customers. "Gertrude already paid, brat!"

"Oh. Then can I get my coins back?" Will asked, holding out his hand.

Leon gave him a blistering stare.

"You know what? I'll check back later. Start a tab!"

Leon gave him a good-natured rude gesture as Will waved his way back out of the store.

He stopped in the shade of the store as the heat from The Tower began to build, opening up the satchel and peering inside.

Not only was there everything he asked for, there was also bandages and a tiny dagger more at home cutting cheese than braving the wilds inside The Tower.

But…orphans can't be choosers, and it was far better than nothing.

"'sup Will?" A familiar voice dragged him out of his musing.

Will peered up at Ben, his partner for today's outing. One of the local boys who could keep up with Will. If Ben would tell it, it would be Will keeping up with him, but they both knew who was in charge.

"I got my stuff," Will said, hoisting his leather sack of supplies. "You got yours?"

Ben raised a brow and wordlessly thumbed over his shoulder, where a fine wooden bow was slung. On his thigh was a machete for both setting up camp and defending himself if some of the monsters got a bit too friendly.

He was wearing a leather cuirass and what looked like pants treated with Gollak glue, making them extra durable while maintaining flexibility.

Will's gaze drifted further down to the expensive shoes the boy was wearing that looked supremely comfortable. Will wiggled his bare toes.

"Try hard."

"Don't hate the hunter, hate The Hunt," Ben said with a shrug. "So my dad said we should pick off some of the easier prey and cash them in at the bazaar, shop around while we give some of the more experienced hunters time to soften up the more dangerous locations before we go in, maybe after a week or so."

"Do you do everything your dad tells you to?" Will said mockingly.

"Hmm, let me think about that." Ben said, glancing off to the side before returning his gaze to Will. "Yes. Yes I do. Because my dad is a smart man with my best interests in mind. What did Gertrude tell you to do?"

Will heaved a sigh.

"Basically the exact same thing. Fine. Let's do things the 'smart way'" Will said, making air quotes.

Together, the two of them followed the path to The Tower, joining a steady stream of men and women marching along underneath the sweltering heat of The Tower.

Only the top third or so glowed white-hot, where it connected to the sky above, a mile or so above them.

The massive, arching entrance in the base that opened during the summer was only slightly warm to the touch.

Or so Will had heard.

"C'mon," Will said, nudging Ben to the side. "Let's enter on the edge. I wanna touch the entrance.

Ben sighed, but didn't protest, and the two of them dragged their fingers along the skin-warm stone as the gargantuan archway swallowed them whole.

The two of them broke off from the stream of Climbers and Aspirants as they passed the threshold, gawking up at the sky.

"What's wrong with the sky?" Will asked, staring up at the strange monochrome blue façade, with wisps of blue travelling across it.

"I'unno."

"What are those white things?" Will asked.

"I'unno." Ben grunted again.

"Why is the sun- OW!" Will blinked tears out of his eyes as he shielded his eyes. "Why is the sun so bright?"

"How many times I gotta tell you?" Ben asked, glancing down at him.

"Newbies, huh?" A voice drew their attention away from the sky.

Will glanced down and spotted the group that'd been in the general store with Leon earlier that day.

"How can you tell?" Will asked defensively. If he was wearing a sign around his neck that read 'newbie' he wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.

Wordlessly the adventurer gestured around the entry field, pointing out several groups of young Aspirants shielding their eyes as they stared at the sky in amazement.

"…Fair." Will admitted, resolving not to gawk.

"Also…You're children." He said.

"…Also fair." Will admitted, resolving to grow a foot taller and pack on forty pounds of muscle overnight.

"There's a good hunting ground that way, I used it when I was getting started out," The scarred man said, pointing off to the right of the entrance. "About three miles that way. There's a large boulder at the edge of a meadow with lots of wheat gremlins. Use the boulder and the entrance as your landmarks. Don't navigate with the sun, it moves."

"The sun moves!?" Will demanded, glancing up at the sun and burning his eyes again. "Ow, crap."

"Don't mind him, he has no Class," Ben said, offering his hand. "I'm Ben, he's Will. Thanks for the advice."

"You can call me Mr. Fontaine," the leader said, before turning and motioning to the rest of his group. "That's Bess, Amy, Mark, and Rodger."

"And he's Kyle." Amy said pointing at 'Mr. Fontaine'

"Listen, we've gotta be off, but if we meet up again, tell us how you did and we'll give you some pointers. It's always valuable to know if a hunting spot is still good or not from year to year."

"Will do!" Ben said, waving them off. "They seem nice."

Will wasn't so sure. Kindness from strangers usually was accompanied by a catch of some kind, or an offer that was far too good to be true.

But...they hadn't offered the duo much of anything aside from a location that didn't hold any value to the experienced adventurers.

Unless…we provide the value? Will thought for a moment, before he spotted Heath, a rather infamous bully about town.

"Heath, Heath!" Will shouted, flagging him down out of the flow of Aspirants

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.

"What are you doing!?" Ben hissed.

"There's a good hunting spot for wheat gremlins about three miles that way. A meadow with a boulder on the edge of it. Can't miss it."

Ben pinched him, but Will ignored it.

Heath squinted harder, confusion plain across his face.

"What's the catch? He finally asked.

"There's a teeny chance you might get kidnapped and sold into slavery." Will admitted.

"That's what this is about?" Ben asked rolling his eyes. "Not everyone is out to get you, Will."

"It sounds to me like you're too much of a pussy to handle it on your own." Heath said.

"Sure," Will shrugged. "Whatever."

"Thanks for the heads-up, pussy." With a malicious chuckle, Heath lumbered off in the direction they'd pointed out.

"I admire his confidence." Will mused as the overgrown slab walked away, long sword over his shoulder. Even if Heath were smart enough to suspect they might try to ambush him, he would never in a million years believe they could get the better of him.

"You just gave up a good hunting spot on a whim."

"A prime hunting spot out in the middle of nowhere, where only we and they know where we went?" Will asked.

Ben opened his mouth and considered it for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, okay."

"Let's go somewhere else, and check up on Heath in a few hours." Will said, motioning out into the wilderness.

"A'ight."

They followed the stream of Aspirants for a while until the stream thinned to nearly nothing before finally breaking off the path to delve into the forest.

They ran into other Aspirants every now and then as they stalked through the forest, heading their separate ways. Thankfully nobody got shot.

About half an hour into the hunt, Ben tugged on his shirt, catching Will's attention.

"Jumper." He whispered, pointing. The creature had short, tawny fur, scaly feet with strong grippers, sharp forelimbs and absolutely MASSIVE thighs.

Will recalled the information he'd researched about using the Jumper as a sacrifice.

Jumper: Adds Leg-based abilities to the Aspirant's class choices, mostly kicks and jumps. Provides 2 Str and 1 Kin/level. Suitable for unarmed fighters and scouts. 12 copper/leg

The monster was seemingly unaware of them, its attention directed off into the distance, it's view obscured by the foliage.

It was a long shot for a sling, but for a bow…

"You first," Will whispered, plucking a bullet from his pouch and dropping it in the sling before pulling out his tiny dagger in the off-hand.

Ben nodded, and quietly nocked an arrow, drawing it back while crouched in a hunter's stance.

He loosed.

The arrow hit some of the foliage between them and made copious amounts of noise as it dropped about two feet below the intended target. They both winced.

The Jumper flinched, glancing over at them before it hissed, and in the manner of all monsters, charged them with reckless fury.

"Oh crap, it's fast!" Ben started as the Jumper began leaping from branch to branch, a blur of tawny fur and glittering claws.

Will whipped the sling forward and the bullet hissed out, bouncing off the monster's hip as it shot through the air towards them. It let out a strangled cry of pain, but it was already-

"Fu-" Will stumbled backwards as it slammed into his chest, impaling itself on Will's tiny dagger. That held it at an awkward angle, so it wasn't able to bring it's claws fully to bear, but it didn't take the fight out of it completely, scratching and snarling ferociously.

Time seemed to slow as Ben dropped the bow and hefted the machete, eyeballing the mad creature scrambling to find purchase on Will's chest.

There was no way Ben wouldn't catch him with the machete, and Will didn't think he was in a state to listen calmly. The boy's eyes were white all the way around.

"Gah!" Will shoved the Jumper aside and rolled out of the way as the machete came down.

Crunch!

Will got to his feet and glanced down at the beheaded jumper, then Ben, and then remembered that some monsters come in packs, turning his attention back to the forest and their situation.

"That…was…it?" Ben panted.

"That was it, I guess," Will said, looking down at his scratched-up chest. The pain that had been shoved aside in the moment was starting to soak back into his perception.

"Ow."

They took a break, eating pemmican and drinking water after cleaning and bandaging Will's wounds.

Even low-level monsters were dangerous without Resistance.

"Let's go find that arrow." Ben said once they'd caught their breath.

"Why don't you stand in front of the monster next time?" Will whispered later as they crept through the forest. "You've got armor. Better yet, don't miss the first shot."

"How 'bout you don't stand there like an idiot while it charges?" Ben whispered back.

"I could say the same about-" Will stopped and tapped Ben's shoulder.

Will heard the faint trickle of water. After a moment of quiet listening, Ben nodded, indicating he could hear it too.

Together the two of them crept toward the sound of running water, discovering a tiny creek that fed into a pond that either of them could probably jump across. There was even a part in the center where the land rose up in the center of the pond, sporting a bit of water-grass.

Will scanned the edge of the pond, but didn't see any prey out.

"Wait," Ben whispered, grabbing Will's shoulder and pointing.

"What?"

"There. A foot."

Not willing to make any more sound, Will tried locating this 'foot' Ben had mentioned, without much success. Ben must've seen the confusion on his face, because he clarified.

"Under the water." Ben said, holding his hands apart to indicate its size.

Will's eyes widened at that indication of size, reorienting his expectations.

There it was.

A frog-foot about a foot across. Will traced the orientation of the foot…back to the lump of land in the center of the pond.

He realized what they were dealing with.

Wetlands Gulper: Adds Earth, Water, Slime and Tongue-based abilities to the aspirant's class choices. Provides 1 Res, 1Str, 1 Acq/level. Highly Sought after by Aspirant potters, farmers, and rich Lotharios.

5 silver per foot of tongue.

Judging by it's size…

"That's a wetlands gulper, and it's huge."

Ben's eyes widened. "We could trade that for a good Sacrifice, easy. Or maybe a Relic."

"A cheap one, maybe." Will mused, but the obvious question was: how would they kill it without getting dragged into a watery grave and eaten?

5 minutes later.

"Keep shooting, keep shooting!" Will urged Ben, his voice more shrill than he planned.

The wetlands gulper didn't have much in the way of sharp claws or teeth, and instead preferred to drag its prey underwater with it's powerful, sticky tongue and drown it.

So naturally, Will lashed himself to the top of a tree with his sling and began thrashing to get its attention.

The stupid monster burst out of the water and shot it's 20ft long tongue out, instantly ensnaring Will and dragging him down to the water…until the tree bent back and began dangling the confused monster above the water's edge by its own tongue, whereupon Ben began using it for some much-needed target practice.

The only thing Will failed to account for in his master plan: five hundred pounds of pressure on the sling rope looped around his waist, crushing his guts and threatening to tear him in half.

It was an agonizing three minutes before the enormous toad stopped twitching and Ben deemed it safe enough to run up and slash the tongue with his machete.

"And that's how you make a good eighty silver," Ben said, admiring the trophy as Will climbed down. "You could buy half a dozen sacrifices from this one tongue, easily."

"I think I'm gonna throw up," Will muttered, holding his bruised waist.

"Yeah…" Ben gave him a side-glance. "You seem like you're done for the day."

Will was about to respond when a flicker of light caught their attention. A pale yellow sliver of light opened out of thin air and formed a glowing archway.

It was like nothing either of them had ever seen, but they'd heard of it.

The Trial presented itself to those who had acquired all the sacrifices they needed.

Ben's gaze flickered down to the satchel that housed Will's dried Uru Drake. The third piece that had summoned The Trial.

"Did you want a jump-y…tongue-y, frog-y Class?" he asked.

"Obviously not," Will said, straightening.

"Then why bring the Uru Drake with you?"

"Well, I didn't know what we were gonna find," Will said. 'It could'a been something cool."

"It was something cool." Ben said, lifting the tongue. "Let's go check the bazaar. With the amount this sells for, we might be able to buy something a bit more…exotic for our classes."

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Royal Road

1

SomethingOtherThanRain

The Legend of William Oh by Macronomicon

Chapter 2: Life Goals

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"Well, that's more exotic, for sure." Ben mused as they looked down on the hunk of Lava Beetle.

The carefully preserved hunk of flesh must've come from climbers on the third floor. The Trial didn't care that no aspirant could possibly get to the third floor and back.

"Whaddya think?" Ben asked. "Fire and Earth. Two of the most useful abilities for a spellslinger."

"Also the most hotly contested relics." Will mused, rubbing his chin.

"For the love of-"

"Anything that grants full magic growth?" he asked, glancing up at the merchant.

"Here?" The merchant asked, motioning to the bazaar in general. Nothing with strong growth or good abilities, anyways."

"What about Uru drake?" Will asked. "Where could I get-"

The leathery faced traveler laughed in Will's face.

"If I had Uru drake, I would sell it to a Lord's son and live the rest of my life in ease."

"That rare, huh?" Will asked, feigning disappointment.

"It's not guaranteed, but a climber could get the Teleport ability from it, and even without that, it's got strong growth and it blends seamlessly with nearly any Class, providing more powerful abilities than they might've otherwise gained. It's worth more than everything and everyone else in this Bazaar combined."

Will blinked. He hadn't heard that.

Ben gave him a sidelong glance.

"Well, whaddya got anyway?" Will asked.

"You wanna be a Climber, eh? Charge focus? That's a hard path, but you seem like the type that likes to aim high." The leathery man asked, opening up a chest of preserved meat, usually retaining a portion of shell or distinctive feature of the monster's original body, to prevent counterfeiting.

"Here's what I got for Charge," the merchant said as he peeled away a layer of waxed paper to reveal what he had on offer. Will's eyes scanned through the handpainted tags, confirming what he already knew.

Ethereal Hare

Adds movement and dodging abilities to an Aspirant's class. Favored by scouts and speed-oriented builds.

2 kinesthetics, 1 acuity

Spirit Turtle

Adds passive defense abilities to an Aspirant's class. Favored by Climbers who wish to survive grueling engagements.

2 resistance, 1 focus.

Dreamcatcher

Adds Sleep and Plant abilities to an Aspirants class. Favored by Charge-focused Support Climbers.

1Acu, 1foc, 1 res

Will gasped, reaching out only for the merchant's pipe to smack the back of his hand.

"This may be the most expensive piece I have, but the turtle's a better choice for you." The weathered man said, shifting his posture as he sat back again.

"But…" Will pointed at the Dreamcatcher which grew both magic stats, and Resistance. Plus sleeping support abilities made one extremely valuable on the Climb, for both crowd control and morale, while Plant abilities were excellent logistics and utility. It would bolster the strength of abilities, and the usage he could get from the Uru Drake, while still adding resistance.

"Listen, kid, the one thing that every climber who becomes a Lord has in common, is that they are alive when they do it. You hear stories about the likes of Baron Akul, or Lord Bakton, or the Rotwitch. You don't hear stories about so-and-so who died ignominiously on the First Floor because they went all in on offence with their build."

"What do you mean?" Will asked, squinting.

"It's about surviving long enough to-"

"No, what does Ignoramously mean?" Will clarified.

"He's right, you know." A familiar voice sounded behind Will and Ben.

They turned and saw the adventuring party from before.

"You're not gonna find any adventurers above the Fifth Floor who don't have a strong defense. It gives you the leeway to make mistakes and learn from them." Kyle said, pointing to one of the scars over his eye.

"Dropped my sword. Now I keep it on a lanyard."

He traced a wicked scar just under his jaw.

"Used to skimp on armor fittings. Exposed a bit of neck. Now I stand still for as long as the fitter tells me to."

He lifted his shirt, revealing a jagged seam of puckered flesh across his midsection.

"Shield strap broke. Bad luck."

"Welp, I'm sold," Will said, turning back to the merchant. "One spirit turtle Sacrifice, please."

"Twenty silver," The merchant said, holding out an expectant palm.

Will felt physically ill as he handed the cash over. It was more than half of what he'd earned from selling the tongue. Turned out you can't get retail price unless you preserve it yourself and set up a shop to find people willing to pay.

Still, Will thought as he tucked the Sacrifice away in his satchel. Two thirds of the way there. On day one. Not bad.

"We stopped by on the way back from setting up base camp and were surprised to find someone else farming the wheat goblins," Kyle said as Will turned away from the merchant.

Ben took Will's spot, jingling his share of the silver in his hands as he scanned the preserved Sacrifices expectantly.

"He thought you were gonna kidnap us and sell us into slavery." Ben called over his shoulder before returning to peruse the selection.

"Well, how do we know they didn't kidnap Heath?" Will turned back to ask Ben.

"Hey, thanks for the advice you guys," Heath said as he lumbered by, clasping hands with Kyle for a quick shake.

"…How do we know that's not someone using a Disguise Ability to make us lower our guards?" Will demanded as soon as he recovered from Heath's sudden appearance.

"Later Pussy," Heath directed at Will before lumbering on, his coinpurse jingling with copious copper pieces from all the wheat gremlins he'd hunted, his giant two-hander slung over his shoulder.

The five stoic adventurers broke into gales of laughter as soon as Heath was out of earshot.

"I like the way your head works, kid. Paranoia serves a Climber well. Just not in this case." Kyle said, wiping a tear out of his eye. "But relax. The ring on my finger is worth a dozen of you. With all the brutal honesty I can muster: Kid, you're simply not worth the effort of taking advantage of."

"Wow, that makes me feel better!" Will sassed.

"Good." Kyle said, patting him on the shoulder with a calloused hand that felt hard as rock. "C'mon guys, let's get a drink. Maybe there's some Ganishans in town for The Hunt."

"They do know how to party," The bow wielding man murmured as he followed.

The Adventurers filed off, with the wand-wielding woman stopping to pinch his cheeks as she passed by.

Will tried to dislodge her, but her Strength made that a futile endeavor, and he was forced to endure the indignity. It must've only been a couple seconds but it felt like an eternity before she let go and faded into the throngs of people among the bazaar.

"Check this out!" Ben said, showing him a copper ring with malachite studs. Will's nose wrinkled as he caught a whiff of an acrid scent that evaporated into nothing.

"Eh?"

"My first Relic!" Ben said. "The Sting Ring."

"You realize you don't have a Class yet?" Will asked. "Also a Relic you can buy for silver isn't gonna be a game-changer."

"Dad already got me the sacrifices, I'm just hunting to 'get an idea what the first peoples went through'. Buy some of my own equipment in the process." Ben gazed at the malachite-studded ring covetously. "This here…I earned this myself."

He seemed to come to, glancing up and shaking Will by the shoulders.

"Let's go test it!"

"What's it do?"

"It adds a tiny amount of acid damage to attacks, and when I get Charge, it has an Ability that can launch an unerring acid bolt."

Will thought about it for a moment. If it was for sale for twenty silver, the effects could not be particularly potent. Not to mention any self-respecting Climber with a direct damage Ability would use their own, rather than that of a middling ring.

A Climber measured Charge regeneration by the week, so every point counted.

"They didn't have any rings of Accuracy?" Will asked. "Because I'm more worried about you missing."

"The cheapest one was three gold pieces for a 1.2% correction."

Will winced. That was so far out of his price range for such a tiny increase in accuracy that it boggled the mind.

Alright, let's go test it out."

Together the two of them headed back through The Gate and Ben put on the ring, firing his bow into a nearby tree.

They were a bit disappointed until they spotted thin tendrils of smoke rising out of the narrow wounds inflicted by the arrows. That got them excited for a few minutes, but the acid damage was never worse than a few whisps of smoke that quickly dwindled to nothing.

Will had cautioned himself not to get emotionally invested in the ring, but he was still a little bummed at his first close encounter with a Relic.

"Maybe the acid will cause extra pain?" Ben hazarded.

"You could do the same by dipping them in lemon juice." Will pointed out.

"Damnit, you're right." Ben mused, looking at his ring.

"Look, it's gonna be a long time before you ever manage to find a better ring for that slot, and something is better than nothing." Will said. "And it's easier than carrying around a lemon with you everywhere you go."

"Yeah, fair enough. I'll use it till I find something better, then put it up on the mantle." Ben went back to rubbing the Relic manically, hunching over the ring protectively. "My first Relic…It's precious to me."

Will rolled his eyes. "Look, I gotta go home and sleep these bruises off. Gertrude's gonna probably keep me busy for a while to stop me from going out before I heal, too..." He glanced at the bandages over the scratches on his arms and torso. At least a week.

"Next week?" Will asked, offering his hand.

"Alright, sounds good." Ben said, shaking it. "I'll probably do a little hunting on the edges during the week. Wheat gremlins and the like. When you get back I might have two Relics."

"Yeah, yeah," Will said, waving as he left.

Will and Ben broke up and Will trudged all the way back to Saint Gertrude's, up one good Sacrifice and down a bunch of minor wounds.

As predicted, Gertrude gave him an earful for using up half the bandages on the first day, and forbade him from leaving the house until next week.

Which was fine, because once the pain really set in, Will didn't really want to leave the orphanage for another week, even with the malicious gremlins haunting the halls, and Marissa constantly trying to pick a fight.

That night, Gertrude visited his room. Will had the rare honor of having his own room, being the only young man old enough to join The Hunt.

"I've been waiting until you're in a good position to talk," Gertrude said, sitting on the edge of his bed. "About your parents," She clarified.

Will glanced down at his wound covered body, which had stiffened once he cooled down and the wounds began to scab. Now, between the cuts and the massive bruise around his torso, moving even the slightest bit caused intense pain.

"You waited for me to be too wounded to avoid this conversation?"

"Precisely," Gertrude gave him a fatalistic smile that gave him chills. It was disturbingly unlike the Saintly expression she wore in front of the others.

"Will, it's been five years. Your parents are most likely dead."

"You said they were gone three years before that, Maybe they just went further up The Tower this time."

"Nobody has climbed The Tower higher than the-"

"Then where are my servants? Scratch that, where are my fucking shoes!?" Will demanded as a bit of the old simmering emotion leaked past the seal he kept around his heart.

Gertrude let his words flow past her, showing no reaction to his anger as he desperately stuffed it back down where it belonged.

"I used to Climb, you know. Got to the twelfth floor."

Wills brows rose. He figured she'd been a Climber at some point, to afford that Relic, but…the twelfth?

"I met all kinds of people," Gertrude said, her gaze going distant as she spoke. "Saw a lot of good people die, and a lot of bad people prosper. Eventually when Ian-" her throat constricted. "Eventually I'd had enough of the life, but your parents continued on. I eventually realized that there are two different kinds of Climbers."

"There are those who are after money and power. They always stop somewhere between floor eight and fifteen, having carved out a little kingdom for themselves."

"So mom and dad…"

"They were the second kind. The people who've become addicted to the challenge, to uncovering the mystery of The Tower."

"Mystery?" Will asked.

"There's things up there, vestiges of an unknown past that cast doubt on everything we think we know."

"Like what?"

Gertrude pursed her lips for a moment.

"On the tenth floor, we found the ruins of a town. We made camp in it for the night. One of our members was half asleep in the morning and wandered off before he started screaming. When we arrived he wasn't injured or attacked, but scared out of his mind."

"He had realized that the outline of the ruins matched the layout of his hometown precisely, right down to where his father's bakery was."

Will's hair stood on end.

"That's a coincidence…or an illusion…right?"

"I've seen far too many strange 'coincidences' to believe that." Gertrude mused. "In any case, that mystery, those nagging questions that build up and haunt you…they drove your parents onward.

"If they ever come back, they could shed more light on the mystery of The Tower than any other Climber, live or dead….but I wouldn't hold out hope."

Will frowned, but didn't argue with her.

"Which kind of Climber to you want to be?" Gertrude asked.

"I want money." Will said.

"If you want money, I can sell the Uru Drake for you-"

"Fine. I want power. Enough to decide the course my life. I want my parents. I wanna track them down and give them both a good thrashing for their irresponsibility."

"And what if that's not possible? What if you can never reach them because they've already passed from this world? Are you going to dedicate your life to pain, struggle and death chasing a hopeless goal?"

"So what you're saying is…I should adopt an achievable goal that will include punching my dad in the face as a byproduct of the journey, and not the destination."

"I…well, yes, that's actually quite wise, but..."

"Then my goal will be to make it to the tenth floor and carve out a Lordship there," Will said. "Then I will push further up, funneling money and Relics back down to my demesne, until the entire floor is pacified. Then I will do it again. And again, until the entire Tower is mine."

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