CHAPTER FIVE

Two of the log cabins were occupied, by a slight, dark-skinned man with an African accent who’d introduced himself as Okembe and a large American man using the pseudonym of Jackal. They were both Solo Climbers, civilians like himself who’d heard of the Tower from associates or online. Okembe had been a police officer on Earth, though he’d apparently retired a few months before he entered the Tower, and had heard about it through his connections in the force and the military. Jackal, on the other hand, didn’t give any background on his Earth identity but it was clear from the way he carried himself and the comfort he evidently felt wearing a greatsword on his back that he was similarly trained. They’d both entered the Tower at least once before, and it seemed like they might have gone as far as Floor 3.

“Finding one of the fucking portals is the hard bit. The guardians aren’t that bad if you’ve got decent Stats and know what you’re doing. They’re tougher than anything else I’ve found on this Floor, to be sure.”

Jackal had followed Will into his own shack, and as Will lay back on the wooden bed inside to let the gains from his Skill sink in, was helpfully providing a commentary on the annoyances of being a Solo Climber.

“Okembe reckons there’s a pattern to them, he was saying. Guy barely talks though, get the feeling he’s not really the friendly type. What about you, newbie?”

The man had a bit of an abrasive personality, though there was a clear undercurrent of joking in his tone as he spoke. He’d latched on to the fact Will had (mostly truthfully) told him this was the first time in his life (or at least, this life) he’d entered the Tower and was taking on the role of wise mentor. Will was just too obviously new and weak to play the expert, even though he had the knowledge for it. That meant he was forced to indulge this man as he rambled on about things Will understood far better.

“Sounds plausible, but I’ve got no idea. How long have you been stuck here looking for one then?”

Will didn’t want to reveal what he knew about the portal’s spawning pattern to just anyone, and though Jackal wasn’t actively aggressive Will was still wary. As long as he was inside of the shack, no monster or person could attack him without being teleported outside, so it wasn’t an immediate worry but he did keep a guard up just in case.

“Nah, when you clear Floors you get a thing called a Recall Sigil, look.”

Jackal held out his hand and Will saw the telltale doorway tattoo of the Recall Sigil. He was a little surprised to see the man had chosen such a visible location for it, given that most tried to hide it. Will was planning to have his own Sigil manifest on his back. There was no benefit to having it be visible, and if he did by some chance need to go and act normal on Earth it would be an annoyance to have to hide it.

“I can go straight to Floor 2 if I spend Tower Coins, so I’m not worried about getting a portal this time. I’m just looking for more loot, honestly. Reckon once this place gets more public, stuff like that helmet you’re wearing will become worth a pretty penny.”

That made sense, and fitted with the vibe Will had taken from the man. He wondered if Jackal was aware of how the Sigils actually worked, the fact that every time he used them for a Floor he’d be increasing the cost, but didn’t ask. If he’d done it more than once, he’d already know, and Will had no plausible reason to raise the issue.

Okembe, though he’d only spoken to Will briefly before returning to his shack to meditate – apparently he’d taken the Psion Subclass when he’d hit Floor 3 and needed to recharge his psychic energy after a night spent battling monsters for Coins – had seemed like he was in this for the exploration and possibly challenge. Jackal though, the way he spoke about things like random spawns and finding the portal, it seemed to hint that he viewed this whole endeavour as an annoying but profitable job. His mention of Will’s helmet got his hackles up, just a bit, as the idea of being robbed for his gear started to come to mind. That wasn’t uncommon in the early days of the Tower, and even during Will’s day bandits and thieves were somewhat common. The Clans did what they could to stamp the behaviour out, but it was impossible to prevent it completely. Not to mention the fact that some Clans had been barely better than bandits, during the worst days.

“Yeah, good instinct. I’m glad to hear about the Sigil thing though, means I won’t have to make this trek if I decide to come back.”

Jackal perked up at this, and leaned slightly closer to Will.

“You not sure if you want to come back?” He asked, an inquisitive look flashing across his features. Will distinctly got the feeling of being appraised for value, by a salesman or a conman. He shook his head and reminded himself that he was safe in the shack. If Jackal did decide to fight him, outside where it was possible, Will was pretty sure he’d lose given the man had hit Floor 3 and gained a Subclass. Probably Barbarian or Soldier, judging by the greatsword. If it was Barbarian, that was really bad. It had the highest raw Stat requirements of any Subclass, and that would mean Jackal was easily capable of tearing his head off his body with a good tug.

“Nah, I want to see what Floor 2 is like before I decide. I’ll probably come back long-term, if this thing doesn’t suddenly disappear or start spitting out monsters onto Earth, but for now I’m thinking I might wait till there’s more information and I can benefit from other people doing the exploring.”

Jackal nodded at this, leaning back again, and held his hands up in a weighing gesture.

“Had the same thought my first time. Came back, of course, but I really thought about waiting. Hey, if you’re not planning to stick around much longer, why not sell me that helmet? Looks like it might be worth a few bucks to someone on the outside, you know?”

There it was, the offer that Will worried concealed a threat. There wasn’t any aggression in the man’s posture or voice, so maybe it was just paranoia, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Jackal was not going to just let him leave after an hour’s nap without giving over the helmet.

There wasn’t exactly a right answer, without more information, but Will tried to wave the man off in a way that didn’t spark conflict.

“Tell you what, if you give me a way of contacting you back on Earth, and I decide that I’m not coming back, I’ll sell you it for a good price out there. If I’m not Climbing, better to have cash than Coins.”

Jackal grinned but shook his head.

“Nah, until it’s either explicitly legal or I’ve got protection from the law, not gonna link my real ID to the Tower. You seem to have had the same idea, Pioneer.”

The last part was delivered with the same light tone as the man’s earlier words, but there was a mild sneer in his smile as he spoke.

“Anyway though friend, you look like you need a rest. I’m heading out hunting in a few hours myself, you’re welcome to join. You know which shack I’m in.”

Jackal didn’t wait for a reply before turning and exiting the room, giving Will a friendly half-salute on the way out of the door. It closed behind him, and Will felt the sensation of the room locking itself. Nothing would be getting in to harm him, so he relaxed for the time being.

9 hours till it hit darkness again, which should still be enough time to get to a portal and leave. He knew that it wasn’t more than three hours of travel to reach the location where the Wayfarer’s Guild had located their Main Hub in the first timeline. They’d picked that spot because, after a lot of analysis, they found it was in the closest proximity to the largest number of possible portal spawns. If he patrolled the vicinity, it was almost guaranteed he’d get one and be on the second Floor before he had to deal with the pseudo-night again. He checked his Sheet, pleased to note an Agility point and another Endurance point from the jogging and dodging he’d been doing with Conditioning active, and then closed his eyes.

After two hours, he woke to shouting and the sounds of clashing metal outside.

“Shit!”

There were two reasons why he bolted upright, drew his sword and opened the door of his shack like a man possessed. Firstly, he immediately realised he’d fallen asleep more deeply than intended. Secondly, the sound was exactly what he’d been worried about. Jackal was attacking Okembe, and that almost guaranteed he was planned to be next.

The dark-skinned man was wearing thick layered robes stitched with runes, some sort of Caster Item, and he held one hand to his temple as the other wove through the air guiding a heavy shield that floated in the air in front of him. It was one of the two classic Spells of the Psion Subclass, Telekinesis [E], and though it was stopping Jackal’s greatsword from getting through to hit the mage Will could see the telltale strain of low mana on Okembe’s face. Jackal had put on some sort of helmet since Will last saw him, and as Okembe tried to bash him backwards with the shield the helmet glowed red briefly. The shield was flung from the African man’s mental grasp, and though he managed to telekinetically grab hold of it before it hit the ground it distracted him long enough for a heavy slash from Jackal to land across his torso. That was bad. While Psions gained two useful Spells that they could evolve all the way to S Rank with enough work, they were definitely not built to take greatswords to the chest.

Will dashed forwards, sword raised but not breaking into a war-cry as his impulse wanted to. He wasn’t a tank like the first timeline, he needed to be more clever about how he fought. Jackal had his back to him, and so this was the best shot Will had of overcoming the man. Okembe’s shield had floated to cover him again, but Jackal’s blows were starting to knock it back into the man’s prone form and bludgeon him slightly with every strike. Hoping Okembe had some sort of healing Item or at least a decent Endurance Stat, Will reached striking distance with Jackal and aimed for a beheading stroke.

“Shit!”

Jackal shouted as the blade of Will’s scimitar sank into the flesh of his neck, not penetrating more than a few inches but still causing a large amount of blood to start spraying from the wound. The flow visibly slowed as the huge man turned and brought his greatsword to bear on Will’s defences, Okembe temporarily forgotten. Clearly a high-Endurance build then, and since Jackal wore no armour besides his helmet and a slightly heavier leather shirt, Barbarian looked like the right answer. Will managed to block the first attack, and dodge backwards to avoid the second, but as his arms quaked from the impact the Stat disparity made itself known.

Trusting in the fact that most Barbarians, especially this early, would have minimal Agility, Will started to dodge and weave frantically. Big, heavy swipes that would have ended him immediately came in with increasing ferocity from the big American, and Will was barely able to deflect the ones he didn’t manage to just avoid. The one saving grace, as he dipped and dove and twisted his body to keep the large blade from removing a chunk of flesh or worse, was that Barbarians were a low-Skill Class that mostly relied on sheer force and the actual fighting talent of the Climber. Jackal may be a large man, confident with violence, but compared to the thousands of hours Will had spent on the sword in the first timeline he was an amateur with the blade. His swings had plenty of gaps and openings that if Will had better Stats he’d be able to use to finish the fight with ease, but the raw power of his assault meant that if Will tried to take one and didn’t manage to end it, he’d be leaving himself open to a near-guaranteed deathblow.

Jackal’s face was twisted with rage, further confirming the likelihood he’d met the requirements for Barbarian, and Will watched the tribal tattoos across his forearms shift and bulge as the man tensed and un-tensed, swinging the sword like he really meant it. He was going to win if the fight didn’t change pace soon, just by wearing Will down, and that was a worrying reality to recognise. He kept dodging, wishing they were in a forest so he could have the benefit of the helm’s full effect, and managed to score a lucky cut across Jackal’s arm that made the man spit in anger. It wasn’t very deep, with the Barbarian’s skin being fairly tough, and Jackal gave a harsh laugh as he almost broke through Will’s hasty block and cut into his chest.

“No luck for you kid! I’m an Enhanced Human! You’ll never be able to compete!”

The emphasis he placed on those two words made his meaning instantly clear to Will. If he’d actually been a newbie Climber as he was pretending, they’d have been nothing but a confusing brag. But, knowing what he knew about the Tower and especially Floor 2, he instantly recognised the term. Enhanced Humanity was a Bloodline, the most easily and commonly available one in the whole Tower. It gave some Strength and Endurance bonuses, and increased longevity and lifespan by a decade or so. It was a very popular pick, even by those who didn’t enter the Tower and just purchased the Items from those who acquired them inside, in the first timeline.

“Enhanced Humanity was my Bloodline last time, so I know what it does for you.”

Will thought, dodging another swipe and landing another minor cut on the man’s other arm.

Despite its’ availability and popularity, the Enhanced Humanity Bloodline was actually one of the worst possible choices. He’d picked it last time, not realising how many better options would eventually present themselves on later Floors, and not understanding how difficult it was to remove and swap one. It was okay for now, and certainly made Jackal more of a threat, but it gave him a slight debuff to his Agility and Reflex which wasn’t even discovered until years into the first timeline, since nothing in the Tower’s interface or your Sheet indicated so. On top of that, the bonuses it gave were weaker than the ones Will got from his helmet, and when Items like that were more common Enhanced Humanity was barely worth noting. Really, the only advantage was that unlike some of the more powerful Bloodlines it wouldn’t cause any side effects or undesirable transformations.

He tried to take advantage of the Agility debuff to land quick strikes, aiming for death by a thousand cuts, but both Jackal’s superior stamina and his healing speed meant it was not very effective. Will was already tiring, the snatched sleep not making up for his training and travelling enough to count. Mercifully, as Jackal finally managed to bash aside his scimitar and land a heavy cut that disabled Will’s right arm, leaving it almost hanging off with the forearm broken, Okembe seemed to either awaken or recover and his heavy shield came flying up to smack Jackal in the back of his head. It knocked him flying, his sword clattering to the floor, and as Will fought down a scream at the pain in his arm, he swapped his sword over to his left and advanced on the downed opponent.

“Be careful, he may still be awake!”

Okembe called from behind Will, and he could hear the man jogging up behind him.

Jackal turned and forced himself to his feet at this, spitting blood and cradling his head in one hand. His eyes darted to his sword, but Okembe was faster and threw a hand out to blast it further into the distance with telekinesis.

Will darted forwards, ignoring the pain and the clumsiness of his off-hand to cut Jackal’s chest and arms in several key places, ensuring he wouldn’t be able to pick up the greatsword and fight them.

“Wait, don’t kill him!”

Okembe put a hand on Will’s shoulder and pulled him back, shaking his head while keeping his eyes fixed on the now cursing Jackal.

“He tried to kill us.” Was Will’s short reply, anger overriding the pain of his arm and the dizziness of lost blood. He’d killed people in the first timeline, not often, and always in self defence, but enough that he felt no issues doing the same now.

Jackal tried to lunge for them, but Okembe threw a telekinetic push that forced him back to his knees.

“Leave the Tower.”

Okembe’s voice was sharp and clear, but not angry or emotional. It was a command, the order of a seasoned member of law enforcement who was used to being obeyed.

Will took advantage of the moment to give Okembe another look. His robes had torn open from Jackal’s strike, showing a well muscled but lean chest that now had a large wound across it. From the way it seemed to ripple and the blood didn’t flow out, Will recognised the work of some sort of magical healing. He also, as Will took in the solid features of his face, seemed to be older than Will had initially assumed. It made sense, if he was a retiree, but he’d come across as far younger in their first meeting.

“Fuck you.”

Jackal spat blood at this, and Will went to cut him again, being stopped by Okembe’s arm.

“Leave the Tower. I will not ask again.”

Jackal didn’t reply, shooting another look to the direction his sword had been flung and then fixing both Will and Okembe with a murderous glare.