Chapter Eleven

Will looked around when he returned, just to make sure nothing had changed in the area while he was gone. Satisfied there was no ambush or sudden spawn to deal with, he grabbed his gear pack from where it was stashed and transferred everything to his Spatial Ring. There was a hut that acted as a safe area just a few minutes away, so he jogged there quickly.

Once there, he focused to expand the Store Interface and navigate to the Valuable Items section. This was the smallest category, one full of unique and minimal supply Items that few could afford so early in the Climb. Many weren’t actually worth the cost, seemingly on the list only to trick Climbers into wasting time and Coins on things less advantageous than just Climbing higher. There was one particular item, pair of items really, that was worth the price though. Whisper and Shout, twin swords and just like his Soul Anchor, growth items.

Whisper and Shout [E] – 1 / 2 Available – 6500 Tower Coins

Requirements: Fighter or Rogue-type Class, 15+ Strength, 15+ Agility, 12+ Endurance

These twin swords, with only two pairs in existence, are growth items that gain additional abilities as the user masters them.

Whisper: +2 Agility, +2 Reflex, increased piercing damage

Shout: +2 Strength, +2 End, increased slashing damage

The twin blades were beautiful, having enchanted his eyes the first time he’d seen a B Ranker from the Excellent Jade Alliance invoke one of their higher powered abilities to annihilate a Miniboss in a single thrust. Whisper fell somewhere between a rapier and a sabre, with enough of an edge to be used for cutting but clearly designed to pierce and stab. Shout was a wider, thicker blade more similar to the scimitar Will had been using so far. Both were well-made and decorated with simple etching and gilded ornamentation, though at the E Rank they weren’t anywhere close to their final form. Either way, they had been on Will’s shopping list since the moment he’d realise this second try at the Tower was real.

One pair had been bought already, which was mildly surprising, even though he’d noticed it earlier when he’d bought the supplies for the Trial. This early on, getting that many Tower Coins should have been nearly impossible unless you found some sort of farming exploit or had a decently sized group behind you supplying their own loot. Then again, he was aware that there were both budding elites who would already be making their first steps towards A and S Rank and that there were groups like PETEF with a lot of backing in the Tower already. Either could be the explanation, and as the B Ranker Will had first seen using the swords had bought them third-hand, he had no idea which.

Still, thanks to his knowledge of the 3rd Floor and the monsters therein, once he had a Subclass and a bit of time to train he’d be able to farm those Coins in decent time. It was actually quite amazing how much of an advantage he had just from knowing how to use his time and Skills. There was always a chance the other pair would go before he managed to accumulate another 6416 Coins, and in that case he’d have to pivot, but getting growth item swords that he knew the abilities of would be a huge boon to his personal progression. Hopefully, nobody else got the same idea before he managed it.

With a new Spell and new Items in tow, he checked over his Sheet and grinned. Just one more point of Mind Power and he’d be able to hit the 3rd Floor and take his Subclass. With Sharpen and Alacrity both under his belt and the Soul Anchor engaged, it was time he started practising his spellcasting. Taking a moment to think, he plotted out a route from the abandoned village to a cave he knew spawned Drakes and started heading in that direction.

As he ran, he started working on bringing his Mana to the fore. Sadly, the Tower didn’t give you any sort of nice numerical readout to track your Mana Points, though eventually people would figure out how to enchant their own. Instead, he just felt a vague sensation almost like a balloon inside of his torso, and knew that the more Mana he used the less full the balloon would feel. At the moment, thanks to starting with above-average magical Stats and adding the bonuses he’d accumulated to this point, he felt nice and full. Even though he’d learned the two Spells, without a Caster type Class his comprehension wasn’t instantaneous. He’d have to access the Mana for the first time on his own, and that would forge the link to his Sheet.

This was a task that caused many of the first people to try using magic to feel they’d made a mistake. Unlike those who started with Caster, anyone who picked Rogue or Fighter as their Base Class would have found themselves completely unable to make any Spell work even if they’d had the requirements to learn it. Of course, some few were talented or hard-working enough to suss it out, and by the time he entered the Tower there were several well-established tricks and methods being shared around – guides he’d be posting online himself in just a few more days. Thanks to that, as he jogged he simply followed one of these guides in his mind. Eventually, he reached a step that required him to sit and close his eyes, so found a few rocks to tuck himself behind for a few minutes.

Envisioning himself as a boat on an endless ocean, drifting with no wind in his sails, focusing on the sensation of powerlessness and isolation he felt. Feeling the wind pick up, within himself rather than in the environment, and imagining himself thrusting the wind out of his body and into the sails. The boat begins to shift, slowly but steadily, towards the horizon. The breeze he felt grew to a gust and then a gale, as the powerlessness and isolation melted away to a sensation of rightness and dominance.

His eyes flicked open to see a small web of blue and yellow lights dancing across his fingertips. They dissipated quickly, but he smiled. The connection was forged. He stood, stretched himself to avoid injury, and then crouched into a sprinter’s position. With his current Stats, he’d be at the cave he was aiming for in around two hours, but now he could use Alacrity he’d be able to cut that down substantially. Tapping a hand against his heel and whispering the name of the Spell, he felt the balloon in his stomach deflate slightly, a small amount of Mana being spent each second to sustain the Spell.

The first 15 minutes of the run were almost comical. He continued to pass small groups of Climbers, and areas that bore signs of their passage, but he was moving too fast to even take note of their faces. With 15 Agility, he wasn’t quite tripping over his feet and face-planting but his feet still felt clumsy and his still low Reflex meant that changing direction and picking a route quite difficult. Eventually, he had a sufficient handle on things that he felt comfortable returning to a full sprint for a time. His stamina was draining faster than he’d expected, having never used Alacrity for this kind of longer-term use in the first timeline and only benefited from it temporarily during a fight when an ally cast it on him. With his Mana pool draining steadily to keep up the cost of the Spell, he knew that one of these two resources would be empty soon enough and he’d have to stop.

He managed to last what felt like a good while before his Mana was gone, though he’d had to drop the consumption and slow his speed fairly early on to make sure it sustained over a longer distance. Still, with the Soul Anchor disabled he’d keep it up longer, and if he was fighting rather than long-distance running that should also help. Still, as he came to a halt and let the Spell fade, he immediately had to place his hands on his knees and pant for a minute or so. The stamina drain had been substantial, almost at the border of bearable, and using the Spell in conjunction with Conditioning was guaranteed to expedite the Stat gains. Speaking of that, he’d gained a point of Mind Power and one of Endurance from this run – getting one step closer to 20 Endurance and meeting one of the criteria to evolve himself to E Rank. It was still a ways off, but he returned to a slower and more careful pace towards the Drake cave in an optimistic mood.

He made great time to the Drake cave. There were still a few hours till night would fall, giving him plenty of time to clear the place out and stay there for the night. He came to a stop about a hundred metres away from the cave’s entrance, at the entrance to a small valley tucked away behind the ruins of a castle. Thankfully, there weren’t any other Climbers exploring the place, giving him time to recover his energies and plan.

“14 Drakes and a Drake Denmother. Three in the opening chamber, four in the next, six in the next, and the Denmother with its’ guard in the last.”

Reciting the details of this particular spawn cave to himself helped calm his buzzing nerves. He wasn’t afraid, as such, given the scale and number of fights he’d endured in his time. He was excited though, excited to get to put his Spells to the test in a combat situation. Drawing his sword from his belt and holding it in front of himself, he raised his offhand to touch the edge carefully.

Dissection Yin hadn’t ever publicly released her own training regime for Sharpen, despite being affiliated with the New World Foundation. Usually, they were very open about releasing information to the Climber community as that was their entire founding ethos but though they weren’t a combat focused Clan they did need fighters to protect their position and a few of those elites kept tricks to themselves. However, he didn’t need the specific method she used, if his assumptions were correct. He had enough of a grasp on the general process of improving Spells that he could figure it out for himself.

It was time to take on the Drake cave. He’d cleared it as part of a 3 man group before, with more preparations and higher Stats, but they’d not had much trouble. Only the Denmother breathed fire, and the others were strong but slow. With his Agility focused style and the new Spells, it should be a nice way to farm some safe Coins and get himself a sleeping place for the evening. He walked forwards, sword drawn and head held high. Reaching the cave entrance, he saw a shimmering almost transparent white bubble sealing it off. That caused him to smile. Confirmation he was the first to find this particular den, meaning the rewards for Clearing it would be increased.

“Sharpen”

He spoke clearly, biting the word off with a deliberately sharp tone. He watched a sliver of grey light leap from his fingertip onto the blade and begin running up and down the edge like a bolt of electricity. Rather than considering his work done, however, he forced the Mana connection to remain open. He willed the Spell to continue, refused to accept that the Spell had been cast, focused his mind completely on pumping Mana into the edge of his sword. The grey light grew thicker, longer, moved quicker up and down the edge as he felt his Mana Pool draining further.

“More!” He barked through gritted teeth, chest and mind both twitching in pain as he drove his mind entirely towards the goal and pulled his Mana into the sword. He nearly convulsed and collapsed, crossing the barrier into the first section of the cave and having to lean against the wall to get his breath back. His Mana had stopped flowing, and the blade of his sword glowed brightly with the grey energy flickering to white occasionally.

“Okay, overdid that.”

His sword was definitely sharpened, but that had cost him a lot more stamina than he’d expected. That was the issue with aiming for a magic focused build with only second-hand knowledge. No real gauge for the feelings involved. He’d made the choice to swap builds on the premise that he needed reputation to get people on his side, and gaining that reputation as a non-DPS focused build would be a lot more difficult. Still, this was another reminder that he needed to take the change seriously. Shaking his head, he stepped forward and watched the first three Drakes charge, ignoring the strain he felt across his chest and casting his other Spell. His heels sparked, and he dashed into the fight with a wild grin.