Chương 15: Chapter Fifteen: Cards on the Table

FIFTEEN" Can I talk to Darren?" Roan sat to the side as everyone recovered from the fight. Taoya he could trust, the big man had that instinctive feel about him. Darren was the brains though. Roan didn't think Taoya or Moira was dumb, but Darren was trained to be a commander type. Someone who kept the groups working and grinding in at peak efficiency." Will they trust me? I did just kill Craig. That might make them nervous. Just get up and go do it. This is too dangerous to keep hidden.

Especially if I have to kill another one and they find out. It'll make everyone suspicious." Roan made up his mind and walked over to Darren and his small knot of fighters.

"Need to tell you something," Roan whispered, trying to keep his voice low.

"Speak then. No secrets among us," Darren said instantly, waving at his teammates.

"Alright. I got all of Craig's credits and a bonus from it on top of it. Twenty credits bonus for killing him," Roan replied, keeping his face flat. Stunned silence met his proclamation as Darren blinked twice.

"Shit." Darren's proclamation was met by grimaces as everyone understood the implications.

"I think I know why nobody has managed to conquer this tower. Unlimited power at a cost, but don't worry, you can kill your way into money," one of the group members said. Roan glanced at the man and admired that he was able to piece it together again.

"Trust. Trust in each other and our goal. We clear the tower and stop the drain," Darren said looking over his group with a serious expression.

"How do we trust anyone else though?" the same guy asked, looking at Roan specifically. Darren turned and stared at Roan, eyes looking through him. There was a glint of something in his eyes, a hint of the same wild energy that surrounded Taoya when he was charged up.

"Roan, are you an honest man?" Darren asked. Roan pursed his lips and thought as fast as he could, staring at the hints of power in the man's eyes.

"When it benefits me," Roan finally admitted. There, in Darren's pupil, something had glittered, like a spark. If he hadn't been paying attention he would have missed it." Can he tell if someone is telling the truth? Or is it beyond that? There's too many variables, just be honest and ride it out." The thought reassured him, that and with how exhausted they were, along with sitting down, he could likely beat them in a fight. As long as Taoya didn't get up and charged in time.

"Are you a psychopath?" Darren asked.

"No. I am a survivor and am willing to do what's needed to survive." Darren blinked once and then nodded slowly.

"Will you kill other climbers to harvest their wealth?"

"No." Roan spoke honestly. Slaughtering his fellow climbers for wealth was stupid and short sighted. He had no doubt there were others out there who would do it, but he wouldn't.

"He's truthful enough. He won't go around and start harvesting all of us," Darren said. The entire group relaxed instantly. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Would you be willing to tell me what your bloodline power is?" Roan asked.

"I have the ability to perceive. It's quite useful," Darren said and Roan felt the conversation die. He started to walk away before Darren raised his hand to stop him.

"Where are you going? You're in, that means you're in. Sit down and here what we're planning," Darren said." He's decisive. That's good. Need to find out what they meant about the drain and how all these guys are connected." Roan stood off to the side and listened as they all talked back and forth, pitching ideas to each other about what to do. It took twenty minutes before they had a plan.

"We keep farming these halls. That's all we can do. Earn as many credits as possible. How many hours are left before the timer is up?"

"Forty-two or so?" one of the guys said, answering Darren's question.

"Sleep, eat, but we keep grinding through them. Get those other guys on the first rotation. Get their minds off of what's going on. Taoya, Roan, I want the two of you back in the saferoom. Sell the weapons we got, dump the ten percent into the collective fund and get some sleep. Camp by the doorway, I don't want Nash anywhere near it," Darren gave his orders.

"Come on, Roan. Let's get the weapons gathered up," Taoya said. It was the first thing he'd spoken since Roan had come over. The big man slowly leveraged himself up, yawning loudly as he wiped at his eyes.

"Those attacks take a lot out of you?" Roan asked. Taoya smiled and nodded, his eyes half closed as they started to gather up all the daggers they'd thrown back. It wasn't much, but occasionally there was a piece of jewelry that caught Roan's eyes. Amulets or rings that he put off to the side, adding them to the pile to be sold.

"If I can develop a mana core it won't exhaust me as much. I need a bunch of credits to get it though. Specialized cores are expensive," Taoya said.

"You're wracking up the kills fast enough. Shouldn't take you long to hit your goals," Roan said as he used his poorly made slings to gather everything up.

"It'd be faster if someone took the develop neutral core skill. Can make a few cores to sell," Taoya said.

"Wait. That skill can be used to make cores for other people?" Roan stopped and thought of changing his mind about skills to buy.

"Why wouldn't it be? The skill said make neutral mana cores. Why wouldn't it make cores for other people? At least a starter core, I could specialize it later, but it would be a nice kickstart," Taoya said." They know so much more than me. Guess that's what they get when they have a sober instructor." Roan finished grabbing the loot and walked with Taoya back to the gate as Darren got the independents formed and moving toward the hallway to start their harvesting rotation.

Even with how poorly everything had gone, Roan had a small windfall to cash in and he wanted to see if he could find anything in the shop to speed up the process. They pushed through the gates and the nausea feeling came and went in an instant. The rolling hills appeared a second later and Roan stared at an array of motley weapons. Rusted axes and swords were aimed at him and Taoya as the sneering face of Nash stared at him. To the side Moira and the rest of the crew were standing to the side.

Harris was passed out on bloodslick grass, but the splinter in his thigh had been removed. None of them had their weapons though.

"That's far enough. There's a toll here to come through," Nash said, his slimy voice grated on Roan's nerves." Really? On the first level? Makes sense, stop cap others growth for your own as fast as possible. Told Darren we should have taken care of him."

"Are you shitting me? Are you that fucking lazy?" Taoya snarled, for the first time his smile had disappeared as he rose to his full height. Roan dropped the weapons and the ground in a clatter, but kept the hammer on his shoulder.

"It's just a small toll. Half the loot. None of the credits you earned. Pretty fair in my opinion," Nash said. Roan really disliked the man. He could understand greed, the need and desire to have what others possessed. It was just how sloppy it was. Just unprofessional.