Chương 56

Fritz, Sid and Bert promptly stopped celebrating, breaking their embrace and staring at the flaring of golden light within the crystalline, orb-like Well.

"Golden Climb," Sid intoned reverently.

"What do we do?" Bert asked nervously.

"The same thing as claiming Power. I guess," Fritz said uncertainly.

"Should we choose our Abilities first?" Sid suggested.

"Don't know," Fritz said.

"Never asked my father about Golden Climbs." Sid sighed, and Bert took a step towards the misshapen sphere and placed his hand upon it. Fritz could see some of the golden light fade from the Well and slip up his friend's arm and into his chest, disappearing into his Sanctum. For a surprised moment they didn't speak then Fritz asked "Feel any different?" Bert looked over his hand then down to his chest and replied, "It's yelling in my Sanctum, have to go check it out."

After his 'explanation' Bert quickly sat and visited his Sanctum. Sid smiled at Fritz and placed her hand on the Well, claiming her golden prize. Fritz was quick to follow and felt the warm, celebratory energies rush up his arm and into his Sanctum, where it bounced and begged to be accepted. He sat beside Sid and plunged into his centre, following the dull pull of that cold star, and falling into his Sanctum.

It was raining, light spun around his willow and danced in the cloudy sky like quietly chiming bolts of lightning. There was certainly Power here, maybe not as much as his third level, when he gained his Path, a Trait and an Ability, but still plenty to be used. He searched the muddy garden, then his pavilion for the golden light but was surprised to see it glowing in glyphic form upon the trunk of his willow. The strange glyph seemed to read, 'Sunken Spire' to his mind if not his eyes.

Fritz wandered over to where it was carved and traced his fingers over its glowing circle and odd lines. He tried to activate it and was rejected. It wasn't a harsh rejection, he read its intent as merely a warning that he should complete his other choices before claiming his Golden Climb rewards. Fritz shrugged supposing he shouldn't try and mess with this Sanctum stuff like he had with the eldritch flame, which was still watching him spitefully from where it was held prisoner.

Thinking of the flame had him realise his arm did not hurt nearly as much any more, distracted as he was by the promise of power, he had completely forgotten about bracing himself for the pain. He looked down and studied his arm. It was a mass of white scar tissue, twisted and gnarled like the bark of an ancient tree. It still stung somewhat when he moved it and his fingers were stiff and uncomfortably numb but it no longer trembled and he could now dully feel the raindrops falling on his skin.

Fritz let out a sigh of relief, though it wasn't fully recovered he knew it would get better with time. More Wells would also speed up the process immensely; especially, it seemed, Precipice Wells. He let himself be distracted by his ugly, root-like scars for only a minute before he turned his attention back to pressing matters. Powers. He felt for the energies suffusing his sanctum and responded with impressions and images of what he was offered.

Ability Evolution Illusory Shadow Choose One Light Eater Illusory Shadow will be able to block light, cast a shadow and dispel magical light to a minor degree. Cost increase: Two.

Smother Sound Illusory Shadow will be able to suppress sound and dispel magical sound to a minor degree. Cost increase: Two.

Vast Dark Illusory Shadow's radius will be increased threefold. Cost increase: One.

Trait Choose One Bitterheart Icy hatred, old and mean, held eternal, cold and keen. Activate and Align six points to the following advanced attributes Nightwell, Essence of Ice. Increases resistance to cold, ice and cuts while increasing vulnerability to heat, fire and force. Alignment: Ice, Shadow. Cost: None. Duration: Passive. Refresh: None.

You have survived freezing temperatures for many hours. You have been rejected by a fellow climber. Influenced by Sanctum. Influenced by Spire. Influenced by Shadow Aligned Abilities (Gloom Strike, Illusory Shadow).

Eldritch Immolation Eerie burning, scorching skin, twisting turning, blaze within. Coat your skin and Sanctum in a layer of Eldritch Flame. Alignment: Chaos, Fire, Ruin, Shadow. Cost: Three per minute. Duration: Channelled. Refresh: None.

You have killed many blight hounds with Eldritch Flame. You have been burnt by Eldritch Flame. Influenced by Sanctum. Influenced by Spire.

Cloak of Dusk Wrap yourself in twilight's cover, what's one shadow from another? Activate and Align six points to the following Advanced Attributes: Dusksong, Grace. While you are in shadow or low light you are harder to notice and track to a minor degree. Alignment: Glamour, Light, Mind, Shadow. Cost: None Duration: Passive, Suppressible. Refresh: None.

Evolves from Twilight Kissed. You have treated with Faeries. You have attempted to be stealthy. You have sprung an ambush while hidden. Influenced by Shadow Aligned Abilities (Gloom Strike, Illusory Shadow). This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Attributes Gained +3 Unaligned Fritz went through the choices one by one, looking them all over before he made a rash choice. He winced then cursed at the 'rejected by a fellow climber' line in the description of Bitterheart but moved on quickly, not wanting to give the Spire its satisfaction. He focused first on the Path Ability Evolution, considering the perks of each selection.

Light Eater gave him a counter to light sources and created shadows, that would synergise well with something like the Cloak of Dusk Trait.

While Smother Sound also gave him another way to avoid detection or perhaps stop someone calling for help. As for the last Evolution, Fritz didn't exactly know what the explanation meant by 'radius' but the term 'Vast' clued him to its meaning. A threefold increase to his Ability's size would maybe be able to blanket an entire person or cover far more if he stretched it with his control. It also didn't increase the cost of the spell as much.

Still, he leant toward the other two choices far more heavily, they added a new way to use the Power rather than just giving him more of the same. Well, he wouldn't choose right away anyway, not until he talked through his choices with his crew, though he suspected they'd agree with him on most counts. Taking a look at the offered traits he went through the benefits and weaknesses of each. Bitterheart gave him access to not one but two Magical Attributes.

One of which was Nightwell which he desperately needed to cast his Gloom Strike and Illusory Shadow without tiring himself out. The other, Essence of Ice, was less useful, basically useless if he was being truthful but maybe if he got an Ice aligned Ability like Frost Bolt or Ice knife in the future it might be worth taking. What irked him most of all about the ability, apart from the unfortunate line about rejection, was the resistances.

In his mind, the increase of his resistance to ice, cold and cuts did not at all outweigh the negatives of a vulnerability to fire, heat and force. Weakening himself to force especially worried him, basically all physical strikes had force, and even some spells would have force as a component. That's not to mention the reduction to fire resistance, he had been burnt once and he shuddered to think how much worse even the mental injury could have been if he had been vulnerable to fire and heat.

He'd have to talk it out but he ruled the Trait as a maybe. The next in his list of wonderful choices was Eldritch Immolation. He already didn't like the name and its description was brief and to the point: Coat your skin and Sanctum in a layer of Eldritch Flame. So it was a set yourself on fire spell, with no mention of resistance or immunity. He suspected that this one was a supremely unsubtle 'piss off' from the Eldritch Flame imprisoned in his Sanctum.

No, you piss off, he thought at the flame as it wiggled and crackled in his peripheral vision, you almost burnt off my imaginary arm you blazing bastard! Annoyed Fritz quickly turned his attention to this next Trait, not liking the gloating way the fire seemed to flicker. Fritz didn't know what to make of Cloak of Dusk, he knew next to nothing about the Dusksong Advanced Attribute but assumed it had something to do with the Glamour alignment on his Illusory Shadow Ability. Perhaps it was a Magic Attribute?

Grace was nice, he had felt its effects when he used the Belt of the Moon Serpent's Ability and it would allow him to refine his movements to be truly perfect, or close to it. The passive effect of being harder to see in shadows and low light seemed extremely useful for his Role as a Scout, one he had been flailing his way through, getting caught by monsters the whole way through the Spire. With Grace and the passive combined his capacity to stay quiet and unobserved would definitely improve.

The cloak also seemed to have the most synergy with Illusory Shadow, if he Evolved it with Light Eater he could create his own shadow to hide within, even if it only lasted for nine seconds, that could create an opportunity to slip by on a lantern-lit street. The only thing he was leery of was its obvious connection to Faeries, especially the Duskmoth, it practically, no literally, had her name written into it. It even said that it evolved from his Twilight Kiss Trait.

Nothing good ever came from Treating with Faeries. Did he dare test his fortune and guile, try to fight a fate of cruel misery, heedless of the warnings? Undecided and somewhat anxious, Fritz left his Sanctum and went to shake Bert out of his. Bert ignored him and after a minute a golden energy radiated off his seated form coalescing, in his lap and shaping itself into a rectangle of light.

There was the sound of a bell ringing, or maybe something like the Tolling, then the radiance shifted and a small chest made of a polished dark wood came into being in its place. The chest fell lightly on his crossed legs seemed to shake Bert out of his Sanctum and he looked around as if seeing the world in a new light.

"Whoa," Bert said, impressed with something Fritz couldn't see.

"What?" Fritz said staring around.

"Oh, nothing, just the Spire Sigil's Bronze Award, it's curious," Bert explained, badly.

"The Spire what?" Fritz said prodding his friend. Who ignored him and looked down at the chest with a giddy grin, like a kid with a brand new toy.

"One of the Golden Climb rewards," Bert said as he opened up the small wooden lid then let out a contented sigh when he saw what lay within. Gold, at least sixty but maybe as much as ninety golden triads lay neatly stacked, and there sitting on top of the glinting rows of gold was a small nut or seed of the same glorious hue.

"What's that?" Fritz said craning his head around to peer into the chest.

"Gold triads," Bert replied.

"No, the seed thing," Fritz said with only a hint of annoyance.

"It's a Golden Seed," Bert espoused smugly.

"Is it like an Aberrant Seed?" Fritz asked annoyed at Bert's obtuse responses.

"Maybe," Bert said as unhelpfully as ever. Suppressing the urge to strangle his blood brother, Fritz tried a different approach, asking, "Wait, you selected your Trait and Evolution already?" Bert looked at him furtively then said, "Yeah, the choices were obvious and I wanted to see what the Golden Climb would give."

"And it gave you this chest and some awards?" Fritz inquired as politely as his annoyance would let him. Bert was about to speak when from out of the corner of his eye Fritz saw Sid also project an aura of golden light that took the rectangular shape, then materialised an identical wooden chest. Fritz scowled a little, did the others just pick their new Powers without a discussion?

His frown quickly disappeared when Sid turned and beamed at him, he couldn't stay annoyed with that smile as it sparked joy in his heart. She quickly opened her chest as well finding it similarly filled with the stacks of gold triads and a single slightly glowing Seed. Sid giddily plucked the Seed from where it sat and stared at it intently, turning it over with her fingers and tracing the strange lines covering its surface.

"What have you got there Sid?" Fritz asked, knowing he'd have more luck questioning her.

"Golden Seed," She replied also unhelpfully, but more out of distraction than malice. Fritz soothed his nerves and sighed, knowing she wasn't doing it on purpose like Bert. Sid looked up at the noise and looked at him quizzically and asked, "You haven't got your reward yet?"

"As I was saying to the font of frustration and stupidity that is Bert. I thought we were going to discuss our choices so our Powers worked well together. For the other Spires." Sid looked shocked, then she frowned and looked away. Conflicting expressions cascaded over her features, her eyes began to wet with tears, and Fritz could see she was stifling heaving breaths and could almost see the repressed emotions boiling off her. Sid buried her face into her scarf, covering and wiping her eyes.

"Did I say something wrong?" Fritz asked worried he'd somehow hurt her.

"No," Sid stated, her voice muffled by the red wool. Fritz turned to Bert to see if he knew what he'd done to elicit such a reaction, but he merely grinned knowingly back at him.

"Fritz, only you could make a lady cry at a Spire's Precipice. And while she's holding a chest of gold to boot. You villain," Bert accused jovially.

"Not a lady," Sid hiccuped as she struggled to get a hold of herself. Fritz, for his part, was startled, for him Sid's reaction had come out of nowhere. Though Bert's smug condescension was routine at this point, right now it seemed a little troubling. Had he really missed something obvious? Absurd, his Awareness and Perception were both eighteen each, nothing could slip through his discerning gaze. Or maybe not, he conceded as Sid stood and said, "Need to be alone for a bit."

She strode away without another word, hiding herself away behind a cluster of softly glowing pillars. Fritz looked worriedly to Bert who just intoned, "Worry not, dear Fritz. She'll be fine, trust her to sort her own soul out in her own time." Fritz didn't roll his eyes but he wanted to, but he did just as Bert advised and let her be.

He knew following her and pressing her to speak would just make her feel like a trapped gutter rat and the God's knew that they'd both had enough of that during their time on the streets. He breathed out a longing sigh and spun on Bert to find he had set down his chest as was testing out his punches and kicks, apparently getting used to some new Trait or Evolution. His strikes and movements seemed a little slower, or maybe weightier was the right word. Heavy, like his hands were hammers in truth now.

Fritz decided to interrogate him some more on the Golden Climb rewards.

"Just go pick your Trait and Evolution, and find out," Bert said stubbornly.

"It'll ruin the surprise otherwise, oh but don't align your points right away. If you get the same Awards I did you might need some points in strength," He added secretively. Sighing but determined to glean something about what Traits his friend had picked, he asked, "Well, at least tell me what Trait and Evolution you took. Just in case one of my choices had some synergy with them."

"Fine," Bert said with an exaggerated exhalation full of false fatigue.

"I chose an Evolution called Wall of Wounds for my Die Hard Ability. It says it increases my Durability when I'm severely injured."

"Wouldn't you want Durability before you're wounded?" Fritz asked.

"In a perfect world, maybe. But Epsa ain't that," Bert espoused roughly.

"But the other choices were slowing down and slightly suppressing the effects of afflictions while unconscious, or reducing the duration and chance of being knocked out."

"Hmm," Fritz hummed.

"I think I agree with your choice then, it will help you take fewer wounds when already hurt and therefore reduce the strain on your body and Stamina. Though the affliction one might have been better considering all the venom you are always injected with." Bert grinned and said.

"And that's where my new Trait comes in; Potent Blood. Evolved right out of that blighted blood Trait, isn't that just grand!" He extolled excitedly.

"What's it do?" Fritz asked, already weary of his friend's madness.

"Makes my blood better!" Bert said.

"I get that, but specifics, Bert, please," Fritz said pulling his hand down his face.

"It aligned more Vitality and Endurance for one. Activated and Aligned some Bloodwell. Not too sure what that is. And also increased stamina recovery. Wonderful isn't it?" Bert proclaimed proudly. Fritz could only agree, it was wonderful, especially Bloodwell the Magic Attribute for blood aligned Abilities. So he decided to act bored about the marvellous Powers his friend chose.

"Oh, that's it?" Fritz said blandly. Bert put on a scowl.

"What do you mean 'that's it?'" Bert said taking offence.

"You should be quite used to hearing that particular phrase by now, surely you know what it means?" Fritz said trying and failing not to smirk. With that, they began to bicker.

Sid strode off, to get some space between her and Fritz. What he had said had caught her off guard in the worst way. She had expected him to be flippant and say, "Thanks for the help Sid, see you around on the outside." Instead, he had wanted to discuss what Powers they were to choose like he wanted to keep climbing with her. Like he wanted to keep her around. Like this whole terrible Spire wasn't a one-time alliance. Sid thought, and fought back tears, of both joy and despair.

She sat heavily, with her back to the now bickering boys. She hugged her knees to her chest and stared into the scarlet strands of wool wrapped too high around her face. What Fritz offered made what she had to do all that much harder. Sid couldn't keep climbing. Not yet, not when the gutters and streets were so infested with vermin and there were those, like her, who cried out for help.

She needed to get in good with the Nightshark and become powerful enough that they would let her rule one of the districts for them. She had to do these things, she promised. Climbing with Fritz and Bert got in the way of all that. Now she knew Fritz wanted her to join his crew permanently, that she wasn't going to be tossed aside, she felt a bittersweet pang deep in her chest. A part of her, a not-so-small part, wanted to go with them, to climb every spire they saw.

Abyss, even brave the ocean like Fritz madly suggested. What a fantastic way to live. The very thought filled her with something akin to hope, something burgeoning on excitement. That something was quickly squashed by the bleak realities of the Sunken Ring, of Rain City and whatever lay beyond. Terror, hunger and cruelty, that was the world, and those without strength couldn't change it. So she needed strength. Sid let herself cry.

When she had pictured herself at the Precipice of a Spire she never thought she'd be weeping. Especially about abandoning a life and a crew she never knew she wanted. No, she was meant to be triumphant, as she was, but it didn't feel that way. Bert had been right, only Fritz could make someone cry at the Precipice. Bastard.