Corvayne was somehow the last person to his meeting at Ayame's noodle restaurant. The interior was nice and had cozy booths and lighting, but it wasn't quite as nice as sitting outside. Still, it was rainy and cold outside, and it was easier to talk to his friends across the table.

Spears was sitting there, wearing her Watcher clothes and attracting attention from at least a few people at a nearby table who kept looking at her. Corvayne had pulled her out of the containment facility yesterday, and was happy to see she hadn't carried over the loss of mass from before. She had expressed what was a few months of missing him her own way, which after sleeping with Bell a few times was very nice.

Bell sat across from her, itching her skin at the white patterns. Lythandies had done something to fix her, but it seemed it wasn't entirely comfortable. The princess had gotten better at not acting irritated, but Corvayne could see that she was annoyed at how itchy she was. She was packing a sidearm and carried a pack with her that likely had the rest of her gear and her sword.

He heard her grumble about “Fucking rain.” and guessed moisture set her scars to itch.

Grunt was sitting in the next booth over, two bowls already in front of him but not touched. The proprietor of the noodle shop, Ayame, was sitting on the other side chatting at him. Grunt seemed happy enough to sign her something that made the woman laugh, but he did glance back to nod at Corvayne. The large man of course had excellent senses. Part of why Corvayne wanted him as their point man.

Lady Blood Claw sat at the girl's table next to Bell, pouring herself a soda. She looked a little tired, likely from doing runs of some of the various Towers to help make money and to recover gear they had been using. She saw Corvayne and twisted a ring, letting a single strawberry pants leg dangle from nothing at all. Corvayne knew he must have groaned or let it show on his face because she grinned at him, then rolled the pants back up.

The last team member was Mister I, who was coming back from the bathroom and grabbed a chair so that he could cap the end of the table off. He was wearing his camo outfit, and Corvayne saw that the truck was parked outside with tarps over the back.

Corvayne slid into the booth next to Spears so he could look at everyone. “Sorry I'm late, I had to finish up one of our trades.”

There were groups who had gone into the Towers already at this point, and Corvayne had used funds from some of the Mine haul to get items he felt the group would need to go deep into the Tower. His source had potions, scrolls, and rings that would help with them falling. Aside from that, he bought a large amount of guns and ammo for them. Bell, Spears, Mister I, and himself all were proficient in guns and they would help cover early floors until they found better ranged weapons.

“Okay, I asked you guys to come because I want to go on a long tour of the Tower. We don't have anything pressing in town to worry about. Part of my goal for the run is to get the book we need to help Wick, but I also want to expand my own powers. We have adversaries out there who fought us and killed us, and we need to start working on advantages with our classes, pacts, and powers so when we engage them, they are the ones who are overwhelmed and die not knowing what hit them.”

Grunt gave him a thumbs up. Corvayne looked at the rest of the group and saw interest.

“To do what we need to do, we need to make contact with civilizations that have know-how on what we might be aiming for. The info from the bar implied that intent matters, and for too long I think me and the rest of us have been just sort of winging it with powers. Sorry if for anyone that's not true.”

Bell pointed at herself. “Pardon me for dealing with my Imperial Legacy as well as magical scars and Lythandies' pact-”

Corvayne let [[Unity]] project calm. “Bell, it was more directed at myself. I think we are all fine at doing a Tower run and knocking bosses out, especially under floor ten. But I want us to know what steps we can take to have exceptional powers. There's too much we don't know, and I want to find someone we can buy the info from in a way that isn't just hearsay at the bar.”

Mister I smiled at that. “I would also like to find places deeper in the tower we can shop at. We may even find something like a cultivator shopping district, full of natural treasures!”

Grunt looked at everyone and mimed a magnifying glass. Corvayne nodded. “I have enough scrolls to get us through a few floors of treasure, then the rest we hire folks at the bar.”

Bell cleared her throat. “How long are we planning to be in, real time?”

“I want to be in for two months relative time, and aim for floor thirty. I want to also take some time and solve floors when we can. Bell and Spears might not have seen it, but on some of the early floors there sometimes were secrets that had more treasure. I want to find a town where we can get everyone fully set with equipment and tools to explore more dangerous levels.”

Lady Blood Claw leaned forward. “We mostly have seen safer floors... what were you thinking?”

“Places like the train station with the walls of fire rolling through... or underwater areas, or floors where large portions of the landscape demands climbing or flying... The tower generally seems to exist to give out rewards for seeking challenges. Spears, you had something to add?”

She cleared her throat, which Corvayne was pretty sure was theatrical, then looked at everyone. “We were sort of doing that during the war with The Raven, and there were some higher risk floors where we got better things, but we don't understand the leveling system 100 percent. You've been stuck at a particular level for a long time, and the rest of us already shot past that point.”

Corvayne had a sense that they had bumped up past him. “What are you guys generally?”

“High 40s and 50s.” Lady Blood Claw said. “Depending on if someone had an accident before Wick did or if they had other projects besides dungeons. I think Bell here is our lowest level at 20 something.”

Bell cleared her throat. “I'm 27 but I'm still just a Warrior.”

Spears nodded. “We spent a lot of time talking with Gary... I think what I'm getting at is we should make an effort to get that information. A place where they sell info would also be the best place to get a book for the information about Wick.”

Bell slapped the table. “I don't get why she gets so much attention. You saw how she treated Corvayne!”

Corvayne felt a little surprised that she'd bring it up, but it felt nice to see Bell get mad on his behalf.

Mister I stepped in. “Wick is both a founder and leader of whatever our organization is and is ultimately trapped in a sort of deal with herself.” He held up a hand. “Please dispel any heart demons you might have Corvayne, I agree that I did not like how the relationship she had and Hari had with Corvayne ended. I also think that you would do yourself a disservice to cut them both out of your life. If not to honor the Karma that brought us together around her, but from the standpoint that she is the trigger for our loop ending.”

Spears looked over. “Even if we wake her up, she's still got a whole slew of problems that were occupying the 'other camp' until Corvayne fell. But right now it feels like we are in a state where we will wake her, then once again split up based on our goals.”

Lady Blood Claw tapped the table. “Wick's goal dovetails with what Corvayne and I want to do, as the whole point is to build a faction with enough power to protect her.”

Corvayne nodded. “I'm still interested in fixing myself, but I have goals like finding the village and discovering what is going on with the Magus. That Bell had been cursed at some point means he was alive sometime in her lifetime. We have the question of Bell's empire, and her line of succession, which might be something solved in the Tower.”

Mister I cracked his knuckles. “Well, I'm going to need to set someone up to run the place while I'm gone, but I'm interested in continuing to develop my powers.”

“Who were you thinking?” Corvayne asked, mostly because Mister I paused after speaking.

Grunt grunted and put his hand low to the floor.

“Why yes, our resident crafter no longer has his truck to work on. Remarkably, the shrine he built went with us in time too, so he would fit right in mending and working on our wonderful apartment.”

Lady Blood Claw pulled a pair of keys out of her pocket and spun it. “And our other home.”

Corvayne raised an eyebrow. “You had enough money to buy that place?”

She leaned forward. “Argyle this time period has given us room. I went ahead and cashed out some of the money that Nyxion had owed me all these years.”

He actually guessed that Nyxion would have paid for it if she asked. While he referred to Lady Blood Claw as his minion, Corvayne could feel the man through [[Unity]] and their feelings were somewhere between friends and siblings.

Mister I shot up. “We could craft it into the ultimate Qi gathering home, and find rare treasures that would enhance cultivation!”

Spears leaned over to Corvayne and whispered. “Not to offend your uncle, but is that at all a real thing?”

Corvayne whispered back. “Probably not, but if enough people buy into it, it could change. And I'd like to have a home to come back to.”

Spears took this as a queue to blush intensely, which was fine. The entire conversation had started to derail as Ayame came back out with steaming noodles.

Dinner settled into them making plans that materialized as a two day buffer before the group went in. Hari showed up, and gave a report on how Wick was doing and while maneuvering around speaking to Corvayne directly, asked if he had any need of her skills.

He hated to admit that he would have thought about it if she didn't distract him, but it was okay. He was growing up, and was finding his family and friends as he went. There were going to be stumbles. So he finished his noodles and sought out the table a little further away where Hari was sitting and let her know he appreciated her asking. She in turn smiled sadly, and Corvayne ended up feeling a little bit like the bad guy, which wasn't his fault.

He had been planning to go back to the apartment, but Spears and Bell both wanted to see the factory they had rented the first time before a police raid ended their residency. So he took a detour, but drew the line at sleeping there before it got fixed. He had enough money that he could get Mosh some helpers from around town. A good job for Brines to maybe take some of Corvayne's money and work as a fixer.

It was dark, dingy, and Corvayne smiled at Lady Blood Claw producing a bottle of champagne.

“I didn't think you were the type.”

Lady Blood Claw popped the cork. “We are alive, and for some reason, I've been feeling better about the future. So shut up and toast to another adventure.”

It was two days later, on a foggy and drizzle soaked morning, that they arrived at the original portal in the parkland. The floors they explored already had been re-cleared for treasure, so Corvayne spent the ride going over how he planned to change up how they progressed. Grunt sat in the back with Spears, who didn't mind the rain, halfway in the truck and half outside, switching her head around to share what Grunt thought.

They parked, and offloaded gear. Grunt was carrying a lot of it and a whole pack of bats. Bell was wearing what looked like a flannel trench coat with armor pads sewn on. Spears took a large backpack, perhaps to show off how much raw power and endurance she had. Corvayne had an enchanted pack they had found that wasn't quite as good as his ring, but at least had extra storage and reduced weight. He took a lot of water and two tents.

Lady Blood Claw had her jumpsuit on but had put rougher miner clothes over it, and had opted to bring lots of rope. Contrasting that with Mister I, who looked like he was preparing for a war on meat, with a grill and spatulas tucked away wherever he didn't have a gun or ammo sticking out.

The most important thing to Corvayne was he felt this group was excited to get into the reeds, go camping, and get treasure and powers.

“Let's move out team.” Corvayne said, taking a breath of fresh air then leading them down the path to the Tower.