Chương 36

Bert and Sid sat with their backs resting on the grey stone orb, waiting for Fritz to speak.

"My, oh my, what choices I have. Well first there's Gloom Strike; the Ability that Steve used to stab Bert. It does some extra damage and obscures the attack made, making it hard to notice. I would know, I've been on the other end of it. It's truly terrifying" Fritz explained. Bert nodded excitedly and Sid shrugged then gestured for him to continue.

"Then there's Lethargy. A curse," Fritz announced grandly. Bert grimaced, rubbing at the now scarred-over cursed cut on his side.

"A curse?" Sid said surprised.

"Why do you get all the rare stuff? What's it do?"

"Drains stamina and reduce s stamina recovery," Fritz boasted fairly sure he was going to pick the curse.

"No damage? Or heal suppression?" Bert asked sourly.

"No, but as you should know curses are hard to remove and generally have a long duration so are some of the best weakening Abilities you can get," Fritz said trying to soothe Bert's apparent grudge against the potent magic.

"No damage," Bert grumbled again.

"What's the last choice?"

"Oh, the last one. Just Lacerate. You know the ability Toby had? Not too keen on picking that one up. Did you see how many times he was splattered with blood? I don't want that, no thank you sir," Fritz said, cheerily reminiscing about Toby's smug face being covered in monster muck. The image must have also appeared in Bert's mind because a grin broke through his grimace.

"That's a tough pick," Sid said seriously, bringing them back to the present dilemma.

"Not really," Bert and Fritz said together. They looked at each other suspiciously and Fritz asked, "Which one do you think I should choose?"

"Lacerate! It's got damage!" Bert stated as if it were obvious but there was an amused light in his eyes. He obviously would delight to see Fritz get covered in blood all the time, so he could mock him mercilessly.

"Lethargy. It's. A. Curse," Fritz replied, then peered past Bert to Sid for her opinion, but she was still in thought and ventured no comment one way or the other.

"You can't keep avoiding damaging options, Fritz," Bert argued.

"I can leave all that for you two," Fritz responded.

"Think about how good it'll be against large monsters. We can soften them up or even render them unconscious if their stamina is completely drained away."

"And what about hordes of monsters, like goblins. O r statues like the bull?" Bert pointed out.

"Or undead," added Sid, as she finally finished her contemplation s.

"Well, that's what my other abilities are for. And if they're statues or undead and don't have blood I don't think Lacerate will work on them either," Fritz said confidently. Bert frowned at the good point, and Sid spoke up, "I agree with Bert, you can't keep taking non-damage Abilities. If you keep scouting solo you need to be able to put out the hurt on your own. You got lucky the last couple of times but how long can you rely on that luck?" She asked sweeping his small victory away with her logical arguments.

"I'm not taking Lacerate," Fritz grumbled.

"Then take Gloomy Strike," Bert said happily, "Suits you better really." Sid nodded at the assessment and Fritz scowled a little but quickly hid it under a smile. At the end of the day it was still his decision to make but he did value both Sid's logical and Bert's illogical advice. Fritz sighed, curses were fearsome, curses were rare and powerful.

But he had also been desperately wishing for another chance at selecting Gloom Strike and if it were against anything but a curse or maybe an arcane Ability, he would have selected it easily. Especially because he had seen how potent it was in his fight with Steve. He weighed each choice in his mind one last time. Lethargy lasted a long time, drained a creature causing it to become weaker over time, was difficult to cleanse, it fit into a hit-and-run, attrition-based spell set and was rare to boot.

But as Bert had helpfully pointed out it dealt no damage on its own and though he hadn't mentioned it to the others it did cost two rather than one making it the most expensive of the Abilit y choices. Without a Magical Attribute he couldn't feasibly cast it over and over, making it far worse in fights with multiple foes. Lacerate seemed good on the surface and even better if he thought of combining the Ability with the bone dagger's curse or his fish blade's wicked edge.

But then again, blood all over him, blood all over the walls, blood everywhere. That and it aligned to blood and blade mana and he didn't exactly know which mana types worked well with those alignments. Metal and life were maybe close; but those were terribly hard to get in Rain City; he'd have to travel to a different Spire entirely or plan his Path perfectly to get those Magic Attributes Activated. Gloom Strike seemed to be looking better and better.

He already had a Path Ability and Trait that aligned to it, as well as a Technique that complimented it. It was a great feint enabler in battle and the sense deadening effect was not to be underestimated. Plus it might just be the perfect Strike to take for killing an enemy quietly, unless there was some sort of Assassin's Strike. W hich now that he thought on it, there probably was.

It was also more straightforward than his other Abilities, just cast and stab, no positioning, no fiddly Control to worry about using. Or was there? No. None of that right now, pick your ability, worry about Control later, he admonished. He went through the choices one last time but had already decided. Fritz pulled himself down into his Sanctum riding the currents of cool Power to his centre and greeted the rustling willow and the drumming of rain with a smile.

He lay his forehead against the willow's cool, grey trunk and chose. The co ld energies burned and shifted, transforming from bright, searing lights into twisting, subtle shadows. The bark of the willow groaned as it stretched taller and grew a new black branch, the Power affirming his choice. The new shadowy branch whispered in the wind and caressed the air, clutching at the drops of rain with the tiny, writhing black tendrils it had in place of leaves.

It was a little bit odd and a mit e scary to Fritz's mind to have such a clearly malevolent Power but he put it out of his mind. It's just a tool, a means to an end, he reassured himself. There were still some strands of cold Power floating around his Sanctum and he thought on what Attributes to align next. More Control to shape his spells? More Awareness to detect threats better, maybe some Agility to boost his fighting? Strength to help him hit harder or Endurance so he could use more of his Abilities?

Fritz let the events of the last floor come to mind and reviewed his successes and failures, he had eventually spotted the monsters and wasn't caught by surprise too badly, his focus and memory hadn't seemed to have mattered much and he wasn't using Strength. Now that he had Gloom Strike some of the damage he would do would be magical; so strength wasn't a priority, though he did wonder how it would feel to have powerful and possibly larger muscles.

He knew more Strength didn't necessarily bulk you up, but a man could dream. It seemed the choice was between his Agility at nine and Endurance at six. Searching through his thoughts he found that it was his endurance he was most worried about, especially with the new Ability he was likely to use a lot over the coming floors. Endurance it is then. He grasped the cool light around him and aligned the Power to Endurance feeling it seep into the roots of his willow, extending them deeper into the muddy ground.

He decided to have another look at his Spire Sheet to check his progress and the silvery glyphs appeared revealing the extent of his Power.

Spire Readout Name: Francis Hightide Level: 6 Path: Spy Strain: Human Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Attributes Strength: 0 Agility: 9 Endurance: 9 Perception: 18 Focus: 9 Memory: 9 Advanced Attributes Awareness: 12 Control: 6 Activated 2/3 Stone Pit Gouge the stone, shift the ground, instant craters, holes abound.

Gloom Strike Weapon writhes, in shadow's grace, deliver foes, to night's embrace.

Passive 1/3 Trap Sense Pits and wire, falls and fire, discover danger, before it's dire.

Trait 2/3 Door Sense Beyond the portal, behind the door, a brutal death or distant shore?

Twilight Kissed Perhaps a boon, perhaps a curse, you'll find out soon, which is worse.

Path 1/3 Illusory Shadow Fake darkness, mocking light? Pseudo shadows, subdue sight.

Technique 2/3 The Observations (Novice) Whittle away, scatter survive, poor prevail, covertly thrive.

Arte Pugilist (Novice) Strike, Slip, Punch, Kick, Dive, Skip, Grab, Flip.

Strain 0/3 Satisfied in his choices Fritz pulled himself out of his Sanctum, a s he returned to his body he felt the heaviness in his limbs retreat and his tiredness slough away leaving him feeling better than ever. Gotta love the rested feeling that Endurance gives you. He opened his eyes only to see both of his crew staring intently at him.

"Well?" Bert asked.

"Well, what?" Fritz replied.

"What did you choose?" Sid said eagerly.

"Gloom Strike and Endurance, as you suggested," Fritz answered defensi ve ly.

"Damn!" Bert yelled punching the ground lightly.

"I thought he was totally going to take the curse anyway and really screw us over."

"Why would I?" Fritz said perplexed and almost outraged. Bert just looked at him with an equally perplexed face.

"That's just what you do?" He said as if were a question.

"Not all the time," scoffed Fritz, but he sounded unconvincing even to his own ears.

"Anyway that's a full gold triad to me, Bert," Sid gloated with a huge grin on her face. Her smile is nice, smiling suits her, Fritz thought to himself.

"You bet on my choice?" Fritz said in mock anger.

"How could you Bert? Do you really think I'd do that to you? To us? To the Pack-pact?"

"Yes, you would," Bert replied easily. Fritz was about to rebuff the ruffian when Sid spoke up interrupting his act of ill-temper, "Alright, alright, enough. Good choice, Fritz, I know you wanted the curse but right now I think you needed the extra attack power. So thanks for sticking to the plan." She smiled at him and Fritz thought maybe he should do more 'good' things even if it was just to see her smile again.

He shook himself out of his distraction, turning his rapidly heating face away and searching for the Doors. To his surprise he found that there were four, not the usual three. However, the fourth door seemed to be heading downward.

"Four Doors," Fritz commented gesturing at the stairway leading down.

"Yeah, exits every sixth floor," Sid said.

"I thought Nic said it was every ten?" Bert asked.

"He was wrong, or maybe just lying to get us to climb the full way," Sid said certainly.

"Not that he needed to. I'm climbing the whole thing either way. And in one go, they say there's a big reward for Golden Climbs and I mean to find out what it is."

"They do say that. I wonder what it is?" Fritz mused.

"We won't find out wasting our time here," Bert said eagerly.

"True enough, but how are your injuries and mana looking?" Fritz asked.

"I just aligned another three points to Essence of Air, so I feel my air mana is about a third full," Sid explained.

"I feel great, aligned another point to Agility, Endurance and Vitality" Bert boasted.

"Guess stamina recovers faster than mana. Or is that just my twenty-one Endurance?"

"Depends on how much you have aligned to the Magic Attribute," Fritz corrected.

"Does it?" Bert said.

"Yeah, but I think stamina outpaces mana at lower levels," Sid added. Fritz nodded in agreement.

"So go check out the Doors, Fritz," Bert said. Fritz complied with the request, getting onto his now far more steady feet and then scrabbled and slipped up the smooth basin and over its green lip. Standing and doing his best to remain regal in his crew's eyes he strode to the three Doors leading to the next floor. He let his gaze run over them then approached the Door on the left and started his investigation. The leftmost Door was of wrought iron, set with large bolts caked in rust.

The stairs up were similarly dark iron and covered in a thin layer of red dust. Impressions filtered into Fritz's mind through his Door Sense, showing him images of clanking men in brutal and bolted dull iron armour. He got the feeling that they weren't entirely human or even alive and he stepped back and away from the cold hollowness that they echoed. Shivering slightly he moved to the next Door searching the odd portal for anything useful.

It was a rippling plane of deep blue almost black light, it gave off the scent of... lightning, the smell that suffused the air around a recently struck lightning rod like those that littered the higher tenements and mansions of the Upper Ring. When he probed it with his Sense, he felt the roil of high, chaotic waves. Like he was stood alone on a small ship in a terrible storm.

The immensity of the sea's wrath terrified Fritz for a moment as the images flashed through his mind but the fear was pushed aside quickly by his will. With his emotions under control and now feeling curious he felt at the portal again. S omething about the ocean had always intrigued him. When he was younger he always imagined himself setting sail braving the Oceans, avoiding the Leviathans and doing battle with their vicious, rampaging spawn.

He had wanted to t ravel to the Countless Isles and climb the innumerable Spires encountered on those mysterious spots of land that could be either civilised and populous or completely untamed and unexplored or anything in between. It was not to be, not anymore. Fritz sighed, pulling away from the storm portal and the crashing waves just beyond and turned to the last Door. A chill breeze emanated from the worked grey stone arch inlaid with simple, inert, lightless runes.

The stairs that led upwards reminded Fritz of stacked stones and the passageway walls were of a hard, greyish dirt. Beyond the Door's entrance, he could hear the braying of beasts and sense the presence of animals, monsters, both hunters and prey stalking and striding across a great, cold forest. Stepping back and spinning to face his friends Fritz told them his findings, hinting subtly at wanting to take the sea portal. He was rebuffed immediately by both Sid and Bert.

"Why would we want to brave a sea storm? I've hidden from enough gutter-flooding storms to know how bad they can get even when you're on land. You should've too," Sid argued.

"Well, it's just you know... the Sea," Fritz said wistfully not really expecting them to get it. Bert shook his head, he had heard enough about Fritz's fantasies of climbing the Rain Spire, earning a fortune, using said fortune to buy a ship and explore the world whilst climbing any Spire that took their fancy. A life of Adventure and Treasure.

'It's not really the Sea, it's a Spire's floor, Fritz," Bert reminded him dousing the flame of adventure and Fritz's mood.

"True enough," Fritz replied with a long sigh.

"Which do we want to take then? Cold forest or metal men?"

"Food's almost out," Sid said as Bert's stomach growled as if it was offering its own opinion.

"Well I don't think we can eat metal men, but there might be fish in the ocean," Fritz said hopefully.

"We can't fish in a storm, you know we aren't prepared for an ocean floor why are you being so insistent?" Sid demanded.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just now that we're getting Power and are on our way to becoming Climbers. I keep thinking about the future and what it could hold and, for me, travelling to other Spires was part of what I wanted. I can't help but think that maybe there's hope for us to seize some freedom for ourselves.

I guess the sea Door is just appealing to m y want of freedom in that way," Fritz explained with his tone wavering sadly as reality and melancholy sunk their teeth back into him dragging him down to his still bleak prospects. He also still had siblings to take care of, best he could. Sid looked down and away, probably shocked by his honesty while Bert smiled on in acceptance of his 'quirks.'

"No sea storm," Sid said into her scarf.

"I agree, we don't have water breathing or anything to help us swim. And do you really want to get soaked again after the last floor?" Bert added, not unkindly but clearly bored of the argument.

"Let's hunt some monsters in the cold forest then. Sid can even play at being a ranger," Fritz suggested. Sid began to smile but then wiped the expression off her face quickly and nodded.

"Got the bow and quiver, just need a hooded cloak," she said. Fritz smiled wide at the thought and said, "The breastplate totally clashes with the whole ranger aesthetic though. It should be leather or shadow lynx fur."

"No way, you hide the glittering breastplate under the cloak then when it's cut to ribbons by bandits or monsters you reveal the armour underneath with a dramatic swoosh," Sid said emphatically. Fritz supposed she had thought this through already and conceded the point to her with a smile and a nod. Her cheeks coloured as she realised she had gotten carried away in a flight of fancy and she adjusted her scarf to obscure more of her features.

"When do we go? Rest up a bit first?" Bert asked clapping his hands and rubbing them together in excitement.

"Eat up then go through. You never know how long it's going to take to track something down," Sid advised. They did so taking about fifteen minutes to prepare themselves for the next floor, eating their fill of metallic fish and drinking some of the slightly salty water they had gathered from the previous floor. During this small break they chatted a little about the snail fight while they refilled their Treasure's mana C apacities.

"Nice job with the Stone Pit spell to weaken the shell," Sid complimented.

"Oh, you noticed that?" Fritz said beaming.

"Yeah, you were mumbling 'Stone Pit' over and over while the shell shifted and cracked," Sid commented. Fritz's face fell. Oh no! I was saying the name of my ability while casting it. Wait don't let them see you quake with embarrassment, he thought while reapplying a false smile.

"Wish you'd thought of it earlier," Bert groused.

"Could've saved me some skin." Fritz kept on his smile and replied, "And I wish you weren't a madman who would dive into a monster's caustic flesh on the off chance it would save you from a tentacle's slash."

"Guess were both left wishing," Bert easily grinned.

"Oh and nice Striking Sid, no complaints." Sid smiled. They sat a while in companionable silence until their Treasures were filled and the golden heart had been shaved down again, the pale spots flaking and disappearing into dust. There was about half of the original mass left in Fritz's estimation, they were going through it at an alarming rate. No wonder there was always a demand for gold or other materials that could act as mana-reservoirs.

They packed away the less substantial heart and shouldered their packs, letting Fritz lead them into new perils as he strode forward and to the right, plunging into the chilly breeze of the third Door.