Chapter 123: Powerleveling

Jason blinked his eyes open, discovering a dimly lit ceiling above him. “Am I dead?” Jason rasped, his voice coming out unexpectedly hoarse. “I considered having someone to play that prank on you, but I resisted.” A familiar voice spoke beside him. Jason glanced over and spotted Will and Loth seated at a table in the side of the room, a game board between them, lit by a flickering candle. Will had a cup, a bit of trash and some books beside him, indicating that they’d been camped out there a while. He couldn’t turn his head very easily, and his whole body felt like it was made of lead and bruises. “Why am I so weak?” He rasped, clearing his throat and smacking his lips, trying to get the moisture flowing through a mouth that must’ve been hanging open for hours. “You got most of your blood sucked out by a-“ “WHERE IS SHE!?” Jason shouted as he sprang to a sitting position, scanning the room for the attackers. An instant later, his head was spinning and the room with it as he collapsed back into the bed. “Dead.” Will said. “You’re sure?” “Absolutely.” “Oh, thank the gods.” Jason sighed. “You know resurrection is a thing Graneshian priests can do, right?” Will asked. “It’s not even that expensive for the higher-level Climbers.” Loth raspy voice added to Jason’s blooming panic. “Why would you tell me that!?” Jason demanded. “Don’t want you to get caught off guard if she ever shows up again, although…” Will frowned in thought. “Unlikely,” Loth said. “Why is it unlikely?” Jason asked. “She was mean,” Loth said. “And…?” “And Loth was just telling me how Climbers above level fifty are rather polite to each other, for a handful of good reasons.” Will began, pointing to Loth. “They don’t have the luxury of choosing their teams as freely as lower Climbers, since the population is so low, so they try and stay on each other’s good side and avoid friction. It’s a much smaller group, and they feel they’ve earned at least that much respect. Also, anyone above level fifty might be able to kill you by looking at you funny, so it’s best to avoid unpleasantness.” Loth continued. “And finally,” Will said, holding up a finger, “If you make a good impression on other Advanced Climbers, and they find your corpse on a high Floor, they might just haul your corpse down and have you resurrected because they liked your attitude or you loaned them some of your dessert. It’s statistically the most common way to be rescued from the higher floors: Corpse brought down by someone who owes you a favor.” “What does that have to do with her being mean?” Jason asked. “She wasn’t a team player. Almost cut their ranger in half for getting in her way. They were treating her like disposable bait. I’m guessing that Paladin isn’t shedding a single tear over her, and certainly isn’t going to spend cash on a failure.” Will said. “Caddock,” Loth said. “Eh?” Will glanced over at Loth. “His name is Caddock. I went through the rosters we took from the monks. The only one who matched his description is a retired level 65 Paladin.” “Level sixty Will demanded. “How am I still !?” “Apparently he never took any mobility Abilities, and you are pretty much composed of mobility Abilities.” “Huh, go figure,” Will shrugged, poking his drink with his straw before he seemed to notice Jason watching him. “Chocolate milk?” Will asked, holding out the concoction, likely created by an Ability, and expensive as the finest wine that could be grown outside the Tower, pound for pound. “Isn’t that…?” Jason asked with a wince. “It’s just like, eight silver.” Will said, glancing down and frowning at his drink, seemingly reevaluating his life. “Oh.” Eight silver was good food for a MONTH, heck, five silver had bought him the Will Special for half a year. “You get used to it.” Will said with a shrug, pressing the drink into Jason’s hand. “One of the benefits of almost dying a lot is the luxuries get cheaper. Anyway, drink up. Healing potion can’t fix hungry.” Jason took a sip and was stunlocked for a moment by the sheer deliciousness of the drink, and took a moment for his brain to process what Will had said. “…What?” “Do you want to keep the Set?” Will asked. “WHAT!?” Jason flinched backward, nearly spilling the drink before some invisible force grabbed the cup and guided it to the side, catching the spill mid-flight. “You can have the Set if you want.” Will said with a shrug. “You almost died in it. I figure you’ve earned it if you want. Could be enough to become a Lord, if you wanna.” Jason considered it for a long time as the silence stretched out between them. “…I don’t think I want it,” he said, shaking his head. “Why not?” “Most pressingly, because it puts a huge freakin’ target on my back, and I’ve discovered that I’m not cut out for that kind of heat. I suck at fighting.” “True. Will is much better at fighting than you.” Loth interjected. “He just needs practice,” Will said. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Jason wanted to grin at Will defending his honor, but the idea of ‘practicing’ people trying to kill him send a shiver of dread down his spine. “The reason that motivates me more, though,” Jason said, “It’s just not .” “What do you mean?” Will asked, turning his attention back to Jason. “I mean, sure it’s powerful, and maybe I’ll get the opportunity to wear a Set like that again, but it…wasn’t my Build. The set was basically just stamping Build overtop of mine. I want to…” Jason searched for the words to express how he felt. “I want to discover how my Class works for myself, and what works for see how my Upgrades shake out, and make my own Build as I go.” Jason said. Will seemed to consider for a moment before nodding. “That’s a good choice. A man’s choice.” He clapped a hand over Jason’s shoulder. “Let’s get some food in you, and head out as soon as you’re recovered. You’ve got your own personal bus.” Will motioned to the two of them. Will patted himself down, seemingly searching for something. “Who has the Ring of Regeneration anyway?” He asked, turning to the kobold. S~eaʀᴄh the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. “Reggie.” “Damn. Makes sense.” Will turned his attention back to Jason. “Alright, so here’s the deal, Jason. Normally, I would want to let you take your time and make some friends, gain some levels, get some experience fighting monsters and Climbing in general, and catch up to us in your own time, but there’s a problem: We’ve got a handful of level sixties chasing us, and we need to make you as unkillable as possible over the next week or so.” “Which means…?” Jason asked. “Powerleveling!” Loth said. “I’m so glad you decided to do it without using the Set,” Will said, nodding. “That would’ve made things too easy and you wouldn’t have anything. You gotta level yourself your skill, am I right?” Will asked clapping Jason on the back. “What? No, I like easy!” Jason protested. “If we’re gonna powerlevel, let me use the set. I’ll figure out my Build later!” Loth cackled. “I told you!” “Fiiine.” Will pouted, putting his tomahawk on the table and bending down to take off his shoes. “But don’t get used to it: once we get to the Fifth Floor, we’re gonna buy you some other gear.” Once Jason no longer felt weak, he got up and began slipping on the Family Gathering set, frowning as he scanned the assembled Relics. “Where’d the Amulet go?” Jason asked, wondering if the people that attacked them had stolen or broken it. “I ate it.” Will said, causing Jason’s eyes to bulge. “But don’t worry, there’s still six pieces so you can get the full set bonus.” “He doesn’t the full set bonus.” Loth said with a sigh, pushing her way into their huddle, sliding the cloak and the stone dagger towards Will. “He only needs four including the tomahawk to give him the snakes that apply Psychic Venom, which is all he needs to powerlevel. Will, you take the two Rogue boosting pieces. They don’t do anything for Jason, and they might be enough to get your full Set bonus.” Will nodded, taking the two Relics before turning to Jason. “Will you join our Party?” Will asked. Jason felt like he was about to cross a threshold into something dark and terrifying, with no way of telling how badly it could end…but at the same time, greatness was brushing against the tips of his fingers. “Yes.” “Not enough to get the full Set bonus.” Will said. “I’d need another fifteen levels to make that happen.” “Noted.” Loth said. Jason’s jaw went slack as he scanned Will’s body. Will wasn’t wearing other Relics that Jason could see, but his stats were…outrageously high, like he was wearing a full complement of legendary Relics that could’ve only been placed in the mortal realm by the gods themselves. “How are your Stat bonuses so HIGH!?” Jason demanded. “Well I-“ “No, nevermind,” Jason said, waving him off. “The less I know, the less people can torture out of me. You’re obviously chasing a Lordship, and that means keeping your Build a secret.” Will shared a glance with Loth and shrugged. “You’re not wrong. Alright, let’s get you up to speed,” Will said, nodding towards the door. When they left the inn, Jason was shocked to discover that they’d made the climb to the Second Floor while he was unconscious. The wind was biting, and Loth grumbled, bundling up inside a massive sheepskin, sending Will furtive glances. But the view… Jason forgot to breathe as he looked across the endless sky dotted with floating mountains. The sheer majesty wiped away all the little niggling doubts that had been growing about a life spent fighting for his life. As a Climber, he would see every magnificent thing The Tower had created, and bring stories of them back to those who lived outside. That was a good enough reason. “We’re going to take you somewhere to grind Kaith. I’m gonna pick you up, don’t freak out.” Jason felt an invisible force loop itself around his waist, and a moment later, he was speeding through the sky at an outrageous clip, the cold wind forcing him to shield his face to avoid getting it frozen off. By the time the wind died down, they were standing on the side of a mountain, staring down at a line of massive bug-looking things, with skin and strangely mammalian eyes. “We’re outside the safe zone where people normally grind, so you don’t have to share,” Will said, crossing his arms and finding a comfortable place to sit on the mossy rocks. “Those are Kaith. Every one you kill is one less to attack merchant caravans. They’re not gonna to run out anytime soon. Have fun, let me know when your level caps out.” The kaith noticed their presence and the line of creatures turned to face them, their ivory mandibles twitching, as if sniffing their scent to determine if they were prey. Then they began charging uphill. Jason thought, eyes widening. ***William Oh*** “He’s really getting into it,” Will said as they watched Jason beginning to loosen up and try different things. The Psychic Venom affix on the tomahawk, when combined with the 4-piece set bonus, basically trivialized the combat. All Jason to do was send his snakes over to the kaith and bite them before moving on to the next ones. But the Prophet of the End was experimenting, yanking kaith legs out from under them, shoving them around to see how strong the snakes were, applying Withering Repudiation to see how strong the paralysis and damage effect were. Experimenting. From what Will had read when Jason joined the Party, he wouldn’t be able to apply Withering Repudiation to Kaith, because they didn’t understand speech, but the set bonus bypassed that. Will thought. If Jason applied the right Sacrifice from a creature with psychic communication, perhaps the speaking requirement would get replaced by a wave of psychic intent, which would bypass the language barrier, as long as the creature had any sort of mind at all. Hand of Fate looked like it could’ve been picked as a secondary. It made you a luckier, or an enemy a unluckier for a very short amount of time, and had no other effects. Will watched as Jason flung his hand forward authoritatively and shouted ‘Hand of fate!’…and it accomplished nothing. The Kaith charged him with mindless rage and Jason was forced to kill it with Psychic Venom. Will wondered. Will supposed if it was upgraded to apply a wider, stronger effect, for a much longer period of time, then small benefits could accumulate to make it an unsung hero of Jason’s build. He knew how fatal a tiny slip could be in a fight, and giving a whole Party those marginal benefits over a long period of time could make a huge difference. The only problem was, Hand of Fate wasn’t flashy. No one would know it was happening, no one would thank him for casting it, and they might come to rely on it correcting their mistakes, which could weaken discipline in the long run. “Rock.” Loth’s voice caught Will’s attention. “Eh?” Will glanced down at the kobold bundled up in sheepskins on his lap. A single black claw emerged from the sheepskin to point at an enormous bird trailing a thunderstorm like a cloak in the distance, its gaze focused on the rapidly accumulating pile of kaith corpses around Jason. “Ooooh, ” Will said.