Chapter Thirteen

Thankfully, Will’s wounds weren’t too severe and he was suffering more from exhaustion and Mana overuse than physical injury, which meant that he awoke only a few hours later feeling mostly recovered. Finishing a Boss fight by the skin of his teeth was a familiar and enervating sensation, one he’d had plenty of experience with in the first timeline. He didn’t enjoy it, and certainly never planned to almost die, but walking out of the other side of such an experience had a way of sharpening the mind.

He looked over at the unconscious form of the Climber he’d rescued, and noted that it was a woman, with enough of her wounds and burns having receded for him to make that out. Absently, he reached into his Spatial Ring for spare clothes and a blanket, draping the blanket over her to cover the areas her burned robes didn’t and dropping the clothes in a pile beside her. The woman was tall, only a few inches below Will’s own 5'11, and slender with a body that spoke to fitness but not extreme training. She had blonde hair, slowly growing back into a short bob from its’ burned state, atop a face that he would describe as “pleasant”. Overall, the mystery woman wasn’t supremely beautiful, but it would have been silly to call her unattractive. Judging from the tone of her skin and hair, he’d have guessed at her being American or European, but when she’d briefly spoken in the cave her voice had been so ruined he could not make out any accent to be more sure.

He was no healer, but from what he could tell she would be well enough to wake up and start moving before the Med-Tent expired, which was good. Her arm wasn’t back, still a stump below the shoulder, but the skin around it had healed significantly. The Store just didn’t carry anything capable of regrowing a limb wholesale this early, and he had no other access to supplies yet. In fact, replacing lost body parts was one thing the Tower seemed reluctant to do. You could heal from being almost cut in half, with the right Class and Stats, but wholesale limb regrowth or replacement was out of reach this low. He poked his head out of the temporary shelter and took a look around himself to make sure they were still alone by the cave. They were, and so he ducked back inside to look over what he’d gained from the – admittedly not quite to-plan – Spawn Clear.

As he looked over the notification again and compared it to his Sheet, he smiled. Although it hadn’t been part of the plan, and in the moment he’d been fairly panicked, the accidental imposition of this other Climber seemed to have helped him get even more benefit than planned from the Drake Cave. Because the difficulty had been raised, he’d qualified for a B even despite the injuries and time taken, and because the other Climber had done little aside from providing him the vial he used for the killing blow he’d gained the vast majority of the Contribution. That had not only increased his Coin rewards, useful for getting Whisper and Shout quicker, but also the quality of his Item rewards and Stat gains. Even a Skill Point for being part of the First Clear!

He’d also managed to get another point in MP and MD from using the Soul Anchor during the earlier part of the cave, along with having used both of his Spells at the peak of their functioning to survive the Denmother fight. That would help him keep them up longer, and though he hadn’t pushed Sharpen [F] to the next grade he was confident a few more sessions of training with it would be enough to upgrade it. Before checking on the Items, he opened the Skill List and looked over the options. Since he was only looking at the Fighter list, and hadn’t gained a Subclass or Elite Class, the Skills available were largely generic.

“Healing Surge could be decent if I can get a Spell to boost its’ effects. War Cry could work well as a buff that doesn’t take Mana, little something extra once I’ve got a Party going. Or maybe Quick March since I’m doing so much travelling on foot.”

Will quickly became lost in the contemplation. He’d always been something of a theorycrafter, even if in the first timeline his lack of resources and freedom had shaped his build more than his own desires. Now, as he felt the remainder of his Mana return and his stamina regenerate, the cuts and broken bones of the Denmother being reduced to minor itches, he sat and stared at the Skill List for over an hour muttering to himself and trying to make a decision. Things hadn’t been smooth sailing till this point, his overconfidence almost getting the best of him, and if he wanted to do more than die pointlessly he needed to get serious. His build would be the start of that.

“Umm...hello?”

He was startled from his muttering by the soft voice, and spun to face the source with his sword sliding out of his sheath. He swiped away the Skill List, and then let out a breath of relief and took his hand from his weapon. It was just the Climber he’d saved. He’d forgotten about her in his reverie, but it looked as though she’d recovered enough to wake up and be confused about what happened.

“Hi. I’m Pioneer, or at least that’s what I go by here in the Tower. I’m sorry about your arm, but the Healing Potions weren’t strong enough to regrow it. Other than that, how are you feeling though? You were pretty badly injured, and I wasn’t sure you’d make it.”

The woman looked slightly shocked at his words, and turned to see her own missing limb with an expression of horror. Will thought she was going to start screaming, or crying, and cursed himself for being so insensitive and blunt about it.

“Nice one Will, you’re always so good with words.”

He thought, almost comforted by the reminder that future-knowledge or not he was still terrible at dealing with emotional situations. Having had no close friends outside of his job and a girlfriend who hated him made sense, when he reflected on it. He’d definitely improved his social skills in the Tower, but the bluntness had remained.

Despite his recriminations, the woman didn’t break down. She seemed to steel herself for a second, and then replied with a voice that refused to shake or tremble.

“What happened? All I remember is the Denmother fucking me up and then passing out in the cave. Clearly you saved me, so thank you for that, by the way.”

Huh, impressive. To take the loss of a limb in stride like that and focus on the issue at hand spoke to serious emotional strength. Will found himself wondering what had brought this woman into the Tower in the first place.

He gave her the short version, then left the tent to let her dress herself. Once she was ready, he gestured to the tent and gave her an inquisitive look.

“Still feel like you need the last hour or so of this thing, or are you good to get moving? We’ve got less than an hour till it goes dark, and we’ll probably want to be in a safe area when it does. There’s one not too far from here if you can walk.”

She nodded, blinking a few tears away from her eyes as she looked at the remnants of her left arm and hefted her gear pack onto the other shoulder.

“I can walk.”

With that, he started heading towards the safe area, sword drawn to protect himself and the woman if necessary. They continued to talk, and by the time they’d reached their destination, night had fallen, Will had killed four Kobolds and a Lesser Lizardman, and they’d shared more of their history with each other.

Metrodora, which was a pseudonym just like Pioneer, was apparently a biochemistry graduate student from the United States. She’d learned about the Tower online, just like Will, and had entered to explore the rumours of magical potions and pills. Surprisingly, despite having no prior experience or skill in combat, she’d been able to make her way to the 3rd Floor and obtain the Alchemist Class. She’d already been gathering herbs and various other things and experimenting with them, and her prior love of fantasy novels had allowed her to effectively choose her Caster Class and some useful low-level Spells.

“I knew the explosive formula I’d made would be enough to dispose of the Denmother, and I was sure it was stable enough that it could last until it reached the temperatures in the back of her throat. The monster guide I found in that Hidden Event didn’t really prepare me for just how big and fast she would be. So much for getting a bunch of useful rewards from soloing a dungeon as a non-combat Class. Typical, honestly. I’ve been so careful until now and as soon as I decide to try something a bit more risky this happens!”

Will had to suppress a chuckle at her sour words. She’d repeated something to that effect a few times, and other than explaining how and why she’d ended up near-dead in the Drake Cave with a vial of magical explosives, it had also served to further his respect for the woman and her talent. In fact, he had to compare her to Okembe – someone who, in the first timeline, likely died without his intervention but who had been on pace to be a powerful and important Climber otherwise. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he knew of anyone who’d explored alchemy to anything like the level Metrodora was trying to this early on in the first timeline.

“Well, this is the safe area I mentioned. Like I said earlier, I really am sorry about your arm. If there was anything I could have done-”

Metrodora waved him off with her good hand and a firm tone.

“Not your fault. It sucks, it really really sucks, but what can you do? If it weren’t for you, I’d have died in that Cave, and I’d rather have one hand than no life.”

That was the fiery spirit he’d become accustomed to already from the blonde, and he smiled at her words.

“I have to say, I’m impressed how well you’re taking this. It’s inspiring, honestly.”

That caused her to blush slightly, but she pushed him with her good hand and shook her head.

“Look, I’m going to go spend the few Coins I got from the cave on some ingredients and see if I can get back into some brewing. Thankfully, I kept my dominant hand so it should be okay. You’re welcome to join me if you like.”

She pointed towards one of the larger stone huts, shifting her gear pack awkwardly on her shoulder.

Well, he didn’t exactly have anything better to do in the middle of the night, and he wasn’t quite ready to just part ways with Metrodora. Plus, though he hadn’t actually seen much alchemy up close, he had a few choice pieces of knowledge rattling around from the first timeline that he might be able to impart subtly to help her along.

They spent most of the night together in the hut, continuing to swap Tower stories and discuss Metrodora’s experiments and findings. Will managed to give her a hint towards a method Researcher Jen had discovered in the first timeline for increasing the potency of herbal ingredients without seeming too knowledgeable, and had continued to be impressed with the progress she’d made. Mostly, she was able to brew the same low-level potions that could be bought for cheap in the Store, and other than that she’d had a lot of failures that provided useful information for future experiments.

What was really impressive though, was the systematic nature of her research and the way she was categorising everything she found. A few more Floors and some more ingredients available, and he could see her being one of the most important Climbers in the coming months and years. Eventually, alchemy would be a full-time career for hundreds of thousands, much like medicine on Earth, but until then the people who could brew you a Healing Potion for less than it cost in the Store would be worth their weight in gold. He’d convinced her to write down some of her discoveries, so he could include it with the information pack he’d be releasing on the internet once he returned to Earth.

“So, what do you say? I’m going for Floor 3 today, and once I’ve done a few things there I’m going for 4. I’ll help bankroll your experiments, you can take the Drakesblood Elixir, and we can work together to help each other.”

Metrodora looked torn as she packed away her folding cauldron and other supplies and stored them in her gear pack.

“I wasn’t really planning on Climbing anymore, at least not right now. You know it’s nearly Christmas, right? I need to figure out how I’m going to explain this to my family, and convince them that it’s okay because I can make magic potions and one day might make one that regrows my arm. Then, I’ll have to break out of the psych ward.”

Though the reply came with a lighthearted tone and the expression of someone making a joke, he could hear a bit of genuine worry and bitterness underneath which was to be expected. She wasn’t inured to the Tower’s violence like he was, and even if this injury was unlikely to be permanent as long as she lived long enough for a treatment to become available it was still hugely traumatic. Plus, unlike him she had a real life on Earth that mattered and she was trying to maintain. He couldn’t just let her leave without making the offer though. Even moreso than Okembe, having this woman join his party would be a huge asset.

“Okay, well how about this? I’ll give you my real name and my email, you send me a message from a throwaway account if you don’t want to share your info, and once I’ve done what I need to on Floor 3 and am ready to go for 4, I’ll get in contact. You can tell me then if you want to come with or not. Plus, I’ll keep an eye out for anything that can help with your arm. I’m not sure what’s on Floor 3 exactly, but I’m sure there’s got to be something in this Tower that can fix it up.”

That offer was taken much more readily, and the blonde girl did actually trust him enough to share her own details. Her name was Katherine, and they swapped email addresses before he set off and she teleported home. He also told her to keep an eye on Spiresidechats and encouraged her to share whatever information she could, even using Pioneer as a pseudonym to post if she preferred. Will hoped she dealt with the injury well, and that whatever she shared with her family didn’t actually end up with her being stuck in a psych ward. He didn’t think it would, but there were stories of similar things happening in the early days. Of course, given that the people being institutionalised often also had Stat bonuses and dangerous Skills and could simply enter the Tower to escape, those types of reactions never went well or lasted long.

The fact it was Christmas in the next few days was something he’d quickly let slip his mind once he entered the Tower. He’d known the date, of course, but the actual realisation that he’d be spending Christmas Day in the Tower made him chuckle. No more awkward dinner with Sara’s family this time. With both of his parents dead, that meant Christmas Day held little appeal compared to saving Humanity from total annihilation. Was it sad? Yes, sure. Was he sad about it? No.

He’d never been popular, never been a social butterfly, and always struggled to keep friends or loved ones long-term. Laziness and selfishness had been his worst flaws, the ones that led to him delaying his first Climb till he was far behind the curve and the ones that had driven Sara away just like everyone else. His time with John and the Companions had helped sand down some of those rough edges, and he’d certainly left laziness behind, but the prospect of pausing his Climb to go back to Earth and deal with messages from foster parents he’d long forgotten and school friends who were mass-texting their phonebook still didn’t get him excited.

Still, it did mean he was right to let Kat and Okembe go. He could return just after the holiday and get in contact, and hopefully by the time the New Year rolled around they’d be ready to join him in heading for the 4th Floor and starting their Clan.

He had just one more errand to run on this Floor, and then he’d hit the next and pick his Subclass. Things would speed up from there, and he needed to start building his reputation both inside and outside the Tower if he wanted to create the first Ascended Clan and lead Humanity. Hopefully, Okembe and Kat would both agree to come with him once he was ready to head for Floor 4, and he could find some more allies in the meantime. Floor 3 would have far more Climbers per square foot, and he might even be able to find some former High Rankers from the first timeline if he was lucky. He definitely needed to grind some Stats and improve his use of his Spells if he wanted to stand at the head of the pack – no more barely surviving Exit Bosses.

Plan set, he checked his sword and the new dagger that rested on his hip, along with the now usable Weight Changing Charm [E] that attached to his scimitar. A bit of practice would be useful to help time his use of the Item, but even just passively leaving it enabled gave him a tiny damage boost with little extra effort on his part. The Fang of the Denmother [E] was a decent little secondary weapon, and though he planned to swap both blades for Whisper and Shout at the earliest opportunity it would do to begin his training with dual-wielding. He’d ended up taking that as his Skill, during the night, a simple Passive that turned his Skill points into perfect ambidexterity. The dagger itself gave him a +2 Agility and Reflex, and had a 25% chance to deal extra fire damage on hit, so it would do until he could upgrade. The Bloodline Elixir he’d obtained, while a lot better than Enhanced Humanity (with some nice Endurance buffs and bonuses to poison resistance), wasn’t as good as the one he planned to obtain later. He’d offered it to Metrodora out of genuine good faith, since he only knew of a handful of Alchemist-specific Bloodlines and none until Floor 6. He still planned to save it, just in case she did change her mind and want to party with him. Either way, the rewards from the Drake Cave had been just what he needed. Satisfied that both weapons were secure, he looked at his Sheet one final time before he set off at a jog for his next goal.

William Sutton/Pioneer [F]

Class: Fighter

Strength: 19

Endurance: 21 (+5)

Agility: 16 (+2)

Reflex: 13 (+2)

Mind Power: 9

Mind Depth: 10

Skills: Conditioning [F], Ambidexterity [E]

Spells: Sharpen [F], Alacrity [C]

Bonded Items: Oaken Helmet of the Dryad Slayer [D], Ogre-Hide Leather Chestpiece [E], Soul Anchor [D], Spatial Storage Ring [D], Weight Changing Charm [E], Fang of the Denmother [E]

Tower Coins: 1661