The Climber Guild is opening a school.

“How’s it going?” Ryan asked while he battled a pack of rats on his own. A small pack, to be fair.

It wasn’t necessarily hard, since he had his shield and boots with him this time around, and this was still the nearest paths of the first floor. He could fight here in his sleep if he had to. If he’d had a short spear with him instead of a sword, Ryan could have just gone around and skewered the rats one by one without much effort. Stab, poof, splash. Stab, poof, splash. Easy. He knew a lot of teachers preferred it that way. It was just efficient.

A spear would have also have given him more reach.

As it was, Ryan was growing taller and taller and the rats grew further and further away. Two years ago, fighting them had been easy. Easier. Now, he had to bend his knees, lean forward and aim.

How annoying.

Maybe he just needed a longer sword.

The only reason Ryan was even remotely worried was because of the boy that worked behind him.

“Almost full,” Micah answered with a working tone. He was busy cutting off long stripes of the sewer moss before ripping them off, rolling or bundling them up, and stuffing them in a sack they’d borrowed from his older sister.

The Climber’s Guild is opening a school and I want you to apply.

Ryan could still hear the rain of that day, feel the drops on his skin, the mud on his feet. Gardener’s earnest voice. It stuck with him.

Flakes of moss had broken off from Micah’s bundles and fell into the water. There, they swam around Ryan like mirrored fireflies. Or maybe underwater ones. He imagined, if he had only seen the water and then looked up, he would have expected to see the insects flying in the air before him. There weren’t any, of course. Dim light streamed down from a grate in the center of the ceiling above. The two sources together illuminated the large, circular room they were in.

And the rats that scuttled through its water.

You have a unique Path, Ryan, and nothing against this place, but I’m worried we can’t offer you the education you deserve.

Ryan cut at a rat and felt a breeze tickle his skin.

What’s up there? Micah had asked him when he saw his first grate. Ryan had smiled because he’d asked the same thing during his first time. Back then, he’d thought they might lead to a city. Sewers were under cities, after all. Gardener quickly explained that the Sewers only led to the Ruins in Annevos. Here in Hadica, they led to the Tunnels where spiders and ants crawled. And other monsters.

Annevos had the Ruins, Hadica the Gardens, Trest the Underworld, Lighthouse the Reefs, and Ostfeld the Deserts. They were supposed to be the only differences between Towers, aside from minor ones, like Annevosi keys, or Ostfeld’s portals showing you an image of where they led. And, of course, the difference of monsters that inhabited those places. Only Trest had undead. Only Lighthouse slimes.

Ryan had told Micah as much. He had to re-learn all of this in preparation for entrance exams anyway, for … for …

His thought trailed off and he cut down another rat. More force. More swing. He felt a stronger breeze this time. Or rather, remembered it. There was no wind, after all. It was a smell.

The rats were getting more and more. Testy little things, waiting at the edge of Ryan’s reach until more of them were there to back them up. If there weren’t enough of them, they wouldn’t attack. And it wasn’t like Ryan could go on the offense. He had to protect Micah.

He really should have brought a spear.

He kicked water at a few that were inching closer, making them shuffle back with angry squeaks. That’d buy them some more time.

Ryan’s parents were going to go to the Climber’s Guild with him tomorrow to get some information about the school. It was the only reason Ryan was in the Tower with Micah today, because they couldn’t hang out tomorrow. Micah had asked if they could go casually on Friday, much too casually, and Ryan saw once again the disappointment in his eyes that he’d spotted on Monday. It seemed like the boy really wanted to be a [Fighter].

Ryan blamed himself.

He hoped Micah would get over it soon. If Lisa really wanted to go climbing with him someday, that meant they had a defensive fighter and a mage. And it seemed like she did, from the way she always went out of her way to greet him in the school halls. He hoped Micah could become something to round his merry little group off. Maybe a [Scout] of some sort? He basically already was one with his [Essence Sight]. Or a different kind of mage? Something utility-focussed that matched with his [Alchemist] class.

Then they’d have the three basics: magic, strength, and utility.

Then again, Micah probably wasn’t going to become a climber. His parents aside, there were half a dozen reasons why. Hopefully, Ryan could still count on him for potions when he was older, though. Still, it’d be a shame to see Micah just become his go-to alchemist.

“Can you even add a wind ‘fect, next time?” he asked out of curiosity.

“Huh?” Micah asked behind him.

“On the breeze potion. You called it breeze potion, but there’s no actual breeze.”

Ryan still didn’t quite understand how that worked. By all rights, the cologne that Micah had given him smelled like nothing but rain. When he wore it though, it smelled cool and soothing, like when a slight breeze rolled down the street in the summer. Ryan didn’t feel the breeze. There was no wind to push the heat of his skin away. Nothing to ruffle his short hair or tear up his eyes. But he could smell it, remember it. It was …

Honestly, at first it had been annoying. Remembering something that wasn’t actually there. But he was getting used to it. Plus, Micah had made him the potion, so it wasn’t like he could say no to wearing it. At least, it didn’t have a particular scent. Ryan wasn’t really a fan of cologne unless there was a special occasion for it. He liked that it was just kind of neutral. Kind of Ryan.

Micah had gotten it almost right.

“Uhm, I don’t know. I might need [Dissettle] for that. Unless you know of any monsters with wind essence?”

Ryan made an Iunno sound in the back of his throat.

“Can’t you guess?” Micah asked him.

“Does the monster have to be from this Tower?” Ryan asked back.

“Yes.”

He thought about it for a moment. Ryan didn’t know all monsters that existed in the Tower. He only knew about up to the fourth floor or so, and the names of some that he heard in passing. Of the ones he knew, he thought of the ones that flew. There weren’t many. Bats and all sorts of small critters in the Gardens. Some of the ant types flew. Did that necessarily mean air essence, though? The wolves apparently had mist essence …

“Can’t you just make it with mist essence?” Ryan asked. “Like, add more crystals to make it stronger? Mist is part air, after all.”

Micah heard a rope being wound tight and then Micah splashing up to him, his sword still drawn.

Careful there, he wanted to say, even though he doubted Miah would stab him … on purpose.

“If you want stronger, I could add alcohol.”

“Alcohol?”

“Sure, it’s part of regular colognes. Remember the first few months of my potion?” Micah asked.

Ryan did. It was hard not to. The boy had shown up one day smelling like a field of flowers stuffed into a tiny bundle. Or maybe one of those censers that the Riverbend people like to use. That was to say, it made Ryan want to leave the room as soon as he could. And he did. And he found Micah biting his hand for some reason. The next day it had been much better, but still strong. It got less and less over time until it was just right.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I put copious amounts of ingredients in that, but I'm not sure I can do the same for this potion because it won't get stronger near you. The second didn't have that. It had much fewer flowers and pollen, but a little bit of rubbing alcohol in exchange, though.”

Ryan was still a bit iffy on how alchemy worked. More pollen meant stronger smell? Alcohol meant you could smell it more the closer you got? That still wouldn’t create an actual breeze, though. Maybe they just had to work their way up to that.

“Sure, just try and make it a little stronger next time, however you wanna do it. Right now it’s … it tickles.” Ryan avoided saying annoying because it wasn’t true. It just wasn’t something he was used to yet. In the summer, he would probably love it. He was glad Micah had made it for him.

Apparently, he’d even leveled up from it. Again.

[Personalized Alchemy], Ryan mused. He wondered what potions he would want personalized for himself. And of course, [Lesser Vibrancy]. Ryan honestly hadn't known that alchemists got magic strength. What kind of spells did they even learn?

It was more proof that Micah might become a [Mage].

“What do you even need this sewer moss for?” he asked instead.

He was still keeping his guard up against the five rats in the room, but Micah looked strangely calm next to him. It irked Ryan. Didn’t he say he had nightmares? Wasn’t he supposed to be afraid?

No. Apparently not.

“Light potions,” he answered. “The guide says the moss was used for material in the early days, but now its only application is chewing a little to settle your stomach. Not a lot, though, because it’s moss. I’ll try and see if I can figure out why it glows in this water. Easier than collecting fireflies. What are you looking at?” He said that last bit to a rat getting closer, and suddenly he leaped forward trying to strike it.

The rat dodged, of course, but Micah chased after it a few steps until he’d slashed it into smoke. Then the room burst into chaos and Ryan had to try his best to keep the beasts off them.

By the end of it all, they only collected a few of the crystals that had fallen in the water. Micah could see them, apparently. If he looked. But they heard squeaking in the distance and didn’t want to get caught up in another fight, so they hightailed it out of there. Ryan wanted to be home by time to eat dinner with his dad anyway, and Micah had what he wanted.

As always, Ryan had memorized where the exit was. He still made Micah lead the way. Just to make sure he was taking this seriously.

Easier than collecting fireflies.

Ryan remembered when he’d been younger and collected fireflies with his parents. A jar with holes in the lid and an evening of running around between dancing lights.

Less magical, too.

Still, Micah had a look of wonder on his face while he filled his waterskins with sewer water. He must have still thought of the Tower as something wondrous, then. Or did it become something wondrous, in his eyes? He’d described things the way he saw them to Ryan and it seemed like a whole different world. It reminded him of his paintings, the ones he made in his head for [Exemplarism Path].

He could see them clearly when he closed his eyes.

Micah could with his eyes open.

When Ryan turned back to look at the Sewers, all that was there was dark stone, glowing water and the smell of wet dog. He heard sounds in the distance, squeaks of beasts that meant nothing to him nowadays.

He followed Micah out instead.

“So you think the moss can only be used for light potions?” Ryan asked once they were outside. They walked against the stream of afternoon young adults. In some parts of the city, going into the Tower was apparently considered something like a sport. Ryan preferred alleyball, but he could see the appeal. You earned a little, too.

“And comfort potions, I assume. Why, do you have an idea?”

“No. No idea. I just thought … have you considered asking a Tower alchemist for recipes? Or maybe a receptionist.”

Micah gave him a weird look.

“They’d probably just tell me to do a bad word in a direction that led away from themselves.”

Now it was Ryan’s turn to give Micah a weird look. A bad word …? And then he caught on. Oh, he means f-

Ryan nodded in approval. It didn’t become Micah to swear. Not yet.

“And receptionists ... “ Micah just shook his head.

Ryan let it be. If Micah wanted to train himself, he could do so. Maybe he’d figure something else that no one else knew. Maybe he would learn better that way. Maybe he’d get a special new Skill. Maybe he’d poison himself and die.

Self-trained …

The name they gave me is Ameryth Denner’s School for Self-Trained Climbers.

Gardener wanted him to go there.

Apparently, regular teaching Classes were supposed to have Skills that helped students learn, but apparently, that came at a cost. Each of these Skills was supposed to have a higher chance of teaching students Skills the Class-owner themself had. If one [Instructor] had [Strong Right Hook] and another [Nimble Feet], it was likely that their students would end up with those Skills, too. People who could afford it sent their children to teachers’ whose Skills they found preferable. Some teachers even advertised themselves with it. Ryan had thought that was natural. It was the basic nature of teaching, after all. He did things mostly the way Gardener had taught him. Gardener probably did things the way his instructor had taught him.

Warping, Gardener had said. Not teaching. Warp. Nine times out of then, the Skills you learned this way were supposed to replace Skills you might have gotten otherwise. And apparently, the Climber Guild wanted to avoid that. Their school was supposed to have a rule that they wouldn’t employ anyone who had a Skill that might warp a child.

Ryan was skeptical.

Is that even safe? he asked. To him, it seemed like one big experiment in which the students would be the guinea pigs.

Apparently, Mrs. Denner had just gotten full support of the Registrar's Department in the Climber Guild. Apparently, that was a big thing. If only for the information her students would have access to. Not to mention the location. The school was supposed to be in one of the buildings that rested against the Tower’s wall. Getting into the Tower would take minutes, instead of the half hour trip Ryan knew so well. But it also meant he would have to move into a dorm.

You have to do that anyway.

He almost chewed on his nails in frustration. He didn’t know. He didn’t know what was the right choice.

I want you to apply.

“Ryan?”

It wasn’t like Ryan was getting much use of his current teacher’s Skills, was he? He didn’t have a single Fighter Skill. Did Gardener even have the [Instructor] Class? Where was his [Mean Right Hook] or whatever the Skill was?

I’m worried we can’t offer you the education you deserve.

Ever since Gardener had said that Ryan was noticing more and more faults in his school. Like how he had been fighting Salamanders for two years now and had nothing to show for it. Maybe Gardener was right. Ryan had always assumed his school was the best because his parents had chosen it for him. But what if they had just picked the next-best school or the closest to home?

Seeing faults in his teachers was easy.

Seeing faults in his parents was terrifying.

None of that answered whether or not Mrs. Denner’s school was going to be the right choice.

“Ryan!”

Ryan stopped. Micah was calling for him. Lost in thought, he’d just headed on into the large corridor that led back to the Climber Guild, like he was used to. But apparently, one of the guards had stopped Micah.

He stood next to one of the two receptions there now. There was someone else in line in front of him.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Sorry,” Ryan said while he jogged back. “I was just … you know.”

“Oh. Right.”

Micah had done a lot of spacing out lately. It made Ryan wonder if he was meditating properly or not. But the upside was that the two didn’t always have to be … present around each other. Sometimes, they just hung out together without really talking, close to each other but not with each other, each of them doing their own thing.

It was comfortable.

“What’s wrong?”

“The guard told me that there’s a message for me. He just picked me out of the crowd! Did he recognize me, or do you think they have Skills for that? [Deliver Message] or something?”

“I think they might have systemic Skills like registrars and workers often have. Maybe something like [Colleague’s Aid] mixed with [Guard’s Eyes]?”

“Are those real Skills or are you making those up?” Micah asked.

“They might be real Skills. You don’t know.”

“That’s why I’m ask—”

“Next!” the receptionist’s rough voice cut them off.

Micah scowled but stepped closer. He stood on his tiptoes to put his elbows on the counter and face the lady. Ryan idled a little to the side. He was curious, though, what this was about.

“Uhm, good afternoon?” Micah started, polite despite the woman’s annoying tone. “The guard said there was a message for me?”

“Name?”

“Micah Stranya.”

Her finger went down a list until she found him, and she looked back up with a scowl.

“Sir Garen wants to speak with you.” For some reason, she didn’t agree with that. She glanced at Ryan, then back to Micah. “It says here you would know where to find him?”

“When does he want to speak with me?” Micah asked.

“Now.”

“Oh.” Micah turned to Ryan. “Uhm, how long do you have before your dad’s shift starts?”

“We’re cutting it short.”

“He wants to speak with Micah Stranya,” the annoying receptionist cut in. “Alone.”

Ryan gave her a glare that told her she could do a bad word in a direction that led away from them. Still, they started walking down the hallway to get away from her.

“I can walk home on my own,” Micah said.

Ryan was already shaking his head.

“I promised Prisha I would watch over you.”

“It’s just the walk home from the Climber Guild,” he protested. “You also promised you would have dinner with your parents, right?”

That was also true.

“I’ll be fine, really. How often have you walked home alone? How often did something happen?”

“Never,” Ryan mumbled, knowing he had lost this argument before it had even started. “But keep the sword. I can give it back on Monday.”

“Alright. Thanks. Monday, then?”

“Monday.”

They bumped fists and at the end of the hallway, Ryan headed off. Micah went down the stretch of receptions to find this Garen. The man who had let him into the Tower in the first place.

It wasn’t hard to find fault with him. And by extension, the Climber Guild.