Striding forwards, and then breaking into a jog followed by a sprint, he let the familiar feeling of Conditioning activating wash over himself as he triggered the Skill. A sensation like someone had just manacled his hands and feet with heavy iron chains slammed into his limbs and threatened to send him tumbling over. He felt like the full night’s sleep he’d gotten was reduced to only a few minutes of napping, and his breath was already coming in pants after just a minute or so of exertion.

This was why most people ignored or avoided this Skill in the first Timeline until they realised just how bad a decision that was long-term. Unlike basically every other option for a Base Skill, Conditioning didn’t make you stronger when you used it. Completely the opposite in fact, which was exactly why Will had made sure to grab it and start training immediately. The earlier and for longer he could use the Skill, the more his Stats would benefit.

He kept a consistent pace through the fields and hills of the Floor, keeping his head panning around for any threats or opportunities while aiming straight for the forest up ahead. The 1st Floor was arranged into three circles, an outer ring and inner ring of plains and hills with a separating barrier of dense forest. The trick was that the outer ring, while looking safe and even quite pleasant, was not designed for lingering. He struggled onwards, the Skill hitting him hard given his low Stats, not willing to slow his pace too substantially lest he be forced to waste time fighting. If he could get into the Forest and find a landmark to guide himself into the inner ring quickly, he might be able to avoid fighting anything on this Floor except the Exit Boss.

Coming over a crest, he paused and stepped back slightly. Crouching so he wasn’t too obvious, he looked over the ridge and gave an annoyed sigh. Goblin Camp. They were scattered around the 1st Floor, designed for a few new Climbers to clear out for some early Tower Coins and the chance at some loot. For him, with his Stats and having to fight solo, it ran the risk of being far more trouble than it was worth.

Four regular Goblins and one Goblin Captain bustled about the small camp, hurrying to and fro completing minor chores like chopping wood and tending the fires. They didn’t seem that aggressive or dangerous from this distance, which was part of the trick. Little bastards were extremely vicious and violent, but only when they were aware of Climbers in the vicinity, otherwise they seemed quite cute and possibly even like they could be recruited or asked for help. That way, the maximum number of gullible newbies would approach them and end up as dinner.

“Hmm. Never actually fought goblins before, so hard to judge. Could go around? Nah, too far. Quicker to go through them. May as well get a few Coins on the way to the Exit.”

He’d fought Death Knell Abominations, Blood Orcs and a whole host of other horrible monsters and Bosses in his time, even if he hadn’t been leading the charge against the worst threats like the S Rankers. Entering the Tower as late as he did had robbed him of the chance to face goblins though. The non-respawning camps had been long since cleared and looted to the dirt, and the few that respawned were owned by various Clans and organisations that he hadn’t want to get mixed up in just for a shot at basic monsters. He hadn’t done much fighting on the first 2 Floors at all, really, just using the infrastructure of past Climbers to speed straight to 3. That had been a mistake, stunting his growth and slowing his Climb, but it had been the common wisdom at the time.

The familiar feeling of pre-combat came over him, and he quirked a grin as he surged forwards over the hill. He’d forgotten about this bit, how the Tower could be fun. By the end, nobody was enjoying themselves and it was easy to lose sight of how people had felt when the Tower first came. As soon as people “realised” that it wasn’t an apocalypse, they saw it as a gift and opportunity. He’d entered to satisfy curiosity and look for new purpose after his life fell apart, and now he was entering to make sure that that interpretation of the Tower was true. It would be a gift, because Humanity would not fail the Test that came attached.

Will dropped Conditioning, revelling momentarily in the sensation of his body being freed from the extra pressure. Energy surged through his body in response, and he came up to the edge of the camp with his sword flashing out of his belt in both hands. The goblin cutting wood was the first to react to Will sprinting at the group. He called out in their harsh guttural language, and came towards Will to swing the small hand axe at his chest.

Without any of his Stats or Skills from the old timeline, he wasn’t able to blow through the lot of them in a second, but one goblin? Child's’ play. The creature barely came up past his waist, and its’ spindly arms were ripe for the breaking. He wasn’t a Strength focused tank like the first timeline, so instead of that he just dodged swiftly to the right and threw a precise cut across the monster’s throat. It went down flailing, axe clattering to the dirt as blood spewed from the Goblin’s neck and it writhed for a second before falling still. He wasn’t paying attention to that, though, having to take a quick step and jump to the right to avoid an arrow sent by one of the other Goblins.

“Shit, archer?”

He hadn’t expected that, and as he was forced to bring his sword forwards to clash with the spears of the other two regular Goblins, he started to feel a bit of worry creep in. He batted one spear away with his sword and stepped inside the range of the other, driving his sword forwards and managing to land a heavy cut onto one spear-wielder’s torso. Pivoting, he took a small nick from the other spear grazing against his side but ignored the pain and doubled down on his assault. This Goblin managed to block the first attack, showing just how weak Will’s Stats really were at this point, but couldn’t block the second and third and fell just like its’ brethren. Will kept his eyes fixed on the archer through this whole process, and though one shot had come close none of them had connected with him aside from one that got deflected by his mail half-shirt.

Before he could dash forwards and take out the archer though, the goblin captain roared in anger and came flying from a tent towards him. He’d noted the larger monster dashing inside of the conical structure when he first engaged the goblins, and now he saw why. In the goblins’ hands, barely held up and seeming to slow the creature’s movements somewhat, was a huge greatsword. The goblin captain, who stood a foot taller than the creatures Will had been easily dispatching, raised the improbably proportioned weapon and charged.

“Right, Gob Surge!” Will laughed to himself even as he had to rapidly engage the large sword and still keep an eye out for incoming arrows. Gob Surge had been the nickname for a Skill possessed by many goblinoid creatures in the Tower, a power that let them temporarily enhance their Strength Stat if they were sufficiently enraged. Clearly, that explained how the goblin captain could raise this weapon let alone swing it with enough speed to keep Will from counterattacking effectively. Without higher Reflex, he wouldn’t be able to pull any arrow-deflection tricks just yet, so he instead tried to move and backpedal as he blocked the captain’s strikes.

Tiredness settled in his bones after a few more heavy blows came down on his block, and he cursed how hard he’d pushed himself before. He’d been so focused on avoiding the trap of staying still he’d burned too much stamina to be effective in a forced situation like this. Overconfidence, he reflected, cursing as one arrow finally managed to slip past his defences and thud into his ribs. Spitting to purge his mouth of the bitter taste that had started to bubble, he sped up his movements. Floor 1 goblins were not going to cost him even more time and get in the way of his grand purpose.

He’d managed to maneuver the clash with the captain closer to the archer despite being under pressure, and now he took advantage of that bit of planning. Stepping to the side and letting the captain’s blade slam into the dirt, he bent low and leapt forwards to tackle the smaller goblin. Surprised by the unexpected move, the archer tried to drop its’ bow and draw a knife, but couldn’t before Will’s 5 ft 11 frame slammed directly into its chest. He felt and heard several pops and snaps, and grinned as he rolled over the body and came back to his feet. He’d even managed to keep a grip on his sword.

The goblin captain charged again, but without the extra threat of the archer Will had no further problems. He dodged and wove, disabling the captain’s left arm with a well timed cut and forcing the captain to abandon the huge sword for a smaller dagger. At that point, the monsters’ Skill seemed to be wearing off, so Will just battered the weapon out of its’ hand and went to decapitate the creature. His blade connected perfectly, and the goblin’s movements ceased, but without the Stats he was used to it didn’t go all the way through and simply came to a halt in the creatures’ spinal cord.

Pulling it free, Will brought up his Sheet to see what he’d gained. A point in Agility and one in Endurance, which was good. He’d also earned a handful of Tower Coins, what looked like 2 each for the regular goblins and 5 for the captain. As he removed the arrow and used the small length of bandage from his gear pack to cover the wound, he stepped over to the greatsword. The rewards from the fight hadn’t been great, other than the Stats, which was more to do with his use of Conditioning than the combat itself. If the sword was something more than a weapon too big for its’ wielder, it might make up for the lost time of the skirmish.

Big Goblin Sword [F]

Requirements: 13+ Str

This is a big sword, designed for wielding by a Hobgoblin or other larger goblinoid. Thanks to the dirty conditions of the Goblin forges, it has accidentally become imbued with a form of rust-based poison.

When you draw blood with this weapon, there is a chance that this poison will temporarily drain the targets’ Stats by a small amount.

Well, it wasn’t great. Given the weight, he wouldn’t even be able to carry the thing with him to sell later, and it definitely wasn’t powerful enough to justify changing his build around. Still, for his old build, or for a newbie Climber who had different priorities, it would be a nice headstart into the loot game. Once he hit Floor 2 and the Store Functions unlocked, let alone 5 when they were fully enabled, Items like this would be a hot commodity simply for their novelty. Honestly, they’d probably make more money taking it out of the Tower, at this point in the timeline. When the Tower went public, the economic surge of Tower-related goods was something he’d been amazed by even before he entered himself.

“Well, let’s hope you help someone else then.”

Mind made up, he forced the sword into the dirt blade-first and took a quick scout around the rest of the camp. He managed to find a few waterskins, which he added to the pouch from his gear pack. It would reduce the size and weight of items placed inside a small amount – enough to help here but not enough to carry the massive sword. While he might have been inclined to leave the Tower with the blade in the first timeline, or to lug it through the rest of the Floor, it was too small an advantage to let slow him down this time. There would be other, better items in the future. He wouldn’t have to hurt for Coins or Items thanks to his head-start and future knowledge, so it was better to leave this for someone it might actually make a difference to. Sure, he planned on reaching S Rank and becoming one of most powerful Climbers out there. That didn’t mean he was going to take benefits from others who needed them, or neglect to strengthen the species as a whole. That had been one of the biggest obstacles to reaching the 51st – selfishness and infighting, hoarding of resources, exploitation of lower-levelled and weaker Climbers.

He’d spent long enough waiting around in the camp, and he didn’t want to trigger a wild spawn. That was the trap of the Floor, if you stayed in the same area of the outer ring too long then all sorts of burrowing and crawling beasts would emerge from the grass around you to attack. The Tower wanted to be Climbed, not lived in. He cast a final look at the area, making sure he hadn’t left anything of value behind, and reactivated his Skill to continue jogging.

Thankfully, the camp wasn’t too far from the edge of the 2nd ring, meaning that he’d been fortunate enough to get a close spawn. Entering the Tower, moving between Floors, very often it was randomised and it had screwed over more than one promising Climber. Will estimated he’d probably been in the Tower for a few hours at this point, though gauging time’s passage on a Floor where the sun was constant and unmoving wasn’t an exact science. Still, he’d made good time despite the Goblin Camp detour, and in that fight he had learned a few useful things. First, he wasn’t as strong as he’d thought he’d be – without the Stats and Skills, even his memories and prior training couldn’t make up the difference if he got cocky. Additionally, it definitely wasn’t worth trying to farm this Floor before moving up. 13 Tower Coins from killing 5 monsters was pitiful, and he had purchases in mind that would require several times that. Better to hit Floor 2, where he had actual goals to accomplish, and start accumulating Coins there.

He passed into the shade of the trees, finally, and deactivated his Skill once more. The forest didn’t automatically spawn monsters if you waited in one place like the outer ring, but it was stuffed to the brim with twisted versions of Earth animals. Bestial Wolves, Enraged Bears, Vicious Badgers, Bloodthirsty Squirrels and the like. He’d need to be on guard, especially since his low Endurance wasn’t healing the arrow anywhere near as quickly as he’d like. Stepping carefully between roots and through bushes, sword held at the ready, Will moved deeper into the Tower.