Chapter 63: Patience

Will was alone in his room, twirling the Axolotl arm in his hand. it was a shrivelled limb about the size of his forearm. It appeared to have once been somewhat transparent, but the preserving process had made it into an opaque chunk of flesh with the consistency of a piece of smoky quartz.He’d wanted to be alone when he Sacrificed the arm. Something about this felt personal. Private. A moment between Will, himself, and no one else. Mostly because he wasn’t sure if he would cry or not. He held it up, offering it to The Tower. Will’s body shuddered as his Ability was rewritten. Will glanced over at his stump. It…tingled a bit? Maybe? Will took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Will peered down at his wrist, half-hoping that might be the case. When nothing happened, he let out the breath that he’d been holding. “I don’t know what I was expecting,” Will muttered to himself. He leaned back and studied his arm. Will thought, thinking back to Loth’s reading of the church’s missives telling of ‘deceivers in human skin’. The rules of the ‘qualitative upgrade’ as told to him by the merchant said that when someone had low-quality sacrifices, they could upgrade their skills with a better sample from one of the three original sacrifices. The System thought he’d Sacrificed a sample of Immortal serpent. It had been his hand. The idea that one or both of his parents might’ve gotten busy with a giant snake monster, or simply been one…was not too surprising, actually. You don’t get to be legendary Climbers without a secret or two. Will had seen all kinds of races since he’d started Climbing, and even more in Akul just walking down the street. So what if he wasn’t entirely human? He was just another face in the crowd. Aside from the church of Granesh seeming to have a grudge against him specifically. Thoughts of the wizened crone, her quick hand and sharp tongue made him a bit misty-eyed. “Will?” Loth’s voice emanated from his door. “It’s time.” Will leaned over to grab his mask from the nearby shelf with the intention of hiding his tears and recoiled as it shifted under his fingers, becoming something altogether…scalier. Will picked it up and saw the spitting image of an Uru drake looking back at him, the dragonoid’s mouth half-open in a snarl. Will thought. The only explanation could conjure was that after upgrading Aspect of the Goat, the Mask of Manifestation registered him as a new wearer and randomly re-rolled its form based on his sacrifices, without assigning more weight to any given Sacrifice. Will mused as he put the mask over his face. Will thought as Loth ducked her head into the room. “New mask?” She asked with a frown. “Nope.” Will said, tapping the external features. “Let’s do some Phantom Thieving.” The party that Bee had challenged them to steal from was happening tomorrow night, but rather than do rational things like case the location and draw up plans, they were going to use tracking insects to follow Bee back to her lair and get what they actually wanted: Sure it didn’t have any stat boosts, but the psychic attack, the passive debuff and the Contract Ability made it a valuable weapon, which Will wasn’t willing to give up on. Plus selling a dozen rich people their art back seemed like a great way to refill the war chest. Will stood and marched out the door, heading downstairs before going out the back of the inn and jumping up on the rooftops, his body fading slightly to match the dim lighting as the Wand of the Trespasser made him ever-so-slightly transparent. It wasn’t his territory. Loth followed from up high, her insects carrying her up in the darkened sky, high enough that no one could see or hear her among the featureless black expanse that loomed above the city. Will could’ve hitched a ride with Loth, but he was badly in need of practice with his new loadout, so he peered up and gave Loth a salute. Will had gotten used to The Tower’s strange shifting stars, but strangely he couldn’t see them above the city. That was fine, because it made it harder to spot Loth. In front of Will, a single insect began flying, and he followed. As he swept across the rooftops like a quiet breeze, the scenery gradually changed around him, from residential neighborhoods for the wealthy guests of the likes of the Oiltons, to merchants buildings, middle class residential neighborhoods, slums with roofs creaking from years of neglect, dozens of people sandwiched below, praying that it didn’t rain…and finally the buildings began to spread out as he hit the industrial area. Warehouses, tanners, canners, paper mills, and any other business that either required loads of bulk goods that might choke a narrow city street, or simply produced obnoxious odors. The buildings had dozens to hundreds of feet between each of them, causing Will to have to scamper down before leaping over high fences designed to keep level 25 trespassers out. Everyone in the city was at least level 20, the only thing that gave Will an edge was his class was built for just this sort of behavior. Will thought sourly as the realization dawned on him that he might never fly again. Will jumped up, grabbed his Phantom Hand and launched himself further up the fence, silently surmounting it to land in a puff of dust on the other side. He leapt up onto the cannery and muscled past the smell of fish, scampering silently past it, always following the bug that was tracing the marking scent he’d long since scoured away from his own hand. When he came to the next gap between buildings, Will froze and ducked down, spotting half a dozen workers loading a wagon full of cans of fish, preparing them for distribution around the city. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. It was always amusing to note that the common laborers he saw below were, outside The Tower, functionally demigods. Any Climber who made it to the fifth floor was level 20 at least, and most rational people had at least 2 growth in strength, so these men and women were somewhere around triple the strength of a normal person, and the massive crates of jars they hauled around confirmed that. On the other hand, Acuity was often neglected by common climbers who only had so many points to spend and felt that better Acuity did not save one’s life with the same frequency of say…high Resistance and Strength. Which was generally true, although, it could be argued that a high acuity stat helped avoid trouble entirely, but if one didn’t have the strength to outrun it…it didn’t really matter. In any case, odds were many of them had Acuity and focus as dump stats. Still, Will didn’t think he could jump down, sneak past, then climb back up without alerting . There was still a good chance that one of them had put a few points into Acuity. Will was tempted to pick himself up and throw himself across with the Phantom Hand, but he ruled that out. It wasn’t that the Ability lacked the power: It was surprisingly strong, actually, able to rag-doll him fairly well. The problem was a lack of fine control. He didn’t have any convenient places to grab himself and little-to-no practice at it either. Meaning that while he theoretically fling himself over, he would be flailing the entire way and there was no guarantee he would hit the spot he wanted rather than going through a window. Will thought, glancing at the distant roof. Will was suddenly tempted to solve the issue of an untested Ability by replacing it with untested ability… So he compromised. Will ignored the insect urging him to go straight though the laborers to the next building over and instead took a sharp left turn, finding a side of the building no one could see. Will selected the edge of the roof his foot was resting on, and the edge of the other roof. His eyes hurt as they told him that , the two points got closer, the world outside distorting around a man-sized tunnel of space. From Will’s perspective, the distance between the two had shrunk to only about six feet. A little hop, and Will was on the other roof. He turned and looked back, seeing the same distortion lingering behind him. When he dismissed the Ability, space seemed to back to the way it was supposed to be, the distance between the two returning to it’s previous state with only a slight ripple. wild.Will thought to himself before crouching down and scampering to the next roof over. Will switched the Phantom Hand slot from the ring of accuracy, to the wand, feeling his body suddenly become sluggish as he shed nineteen Strength. There was a wail more felt than heard (but definitely heard) as a pinhole in reality opened up and a spirit was shot out like it’d been under pressure. Will thought, crouching down low and praying that the nearby laborers didn’t come investigate. He needn’t have bothered, because they were rational adults that weren’t getting paid to investigate spooky noises happening in someone else’s warehouse. Will thought as the blast of ectoplasm formed a semi-solid, resolving into a shape upon hitting reality like raw egg dropped into boiling water. The spirit resolved into a well-dressed, aged butler with no legs, who gave a genteel bow. “Good evening, young necromancer, how can I-“ “Get down,” Will whispered, motioning for the spirit to duck before someone saw him. “How can I serve you?” the spirit asked, crouching down to join Will. “Are we under attack?” “No, I’m trespassing.” Will said. “Oh. You’re a The spirit said with a tangible disappointment. Will cocked his head. “I did not summon you to be ” “Did you summon me to pick ?” the spirit sassed. “No.” Will said, peering over the edge of the roof. None of the laborers had bothered to investigate the sound. “Can you fly?” he asked, turning back to the spirit. “Of course.” “Can you pass through solid objects?” “Yes.” “Do you have a name?” “I am an amalgam of retainers, and as such I do not have a name.” “That explains the elitism,” Will scoffed. The undead retainer did not deign to respond to that. “If you’re dismissed and re-summoned, will it be you again?” “I experience continuity, in order to better serve my master, yes.” “Huh,” Will peeked back over the wall and connected two points. S~eaʀᴄh the NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. “Try and keep up.” Will leapt to the next roof, spotting the bug he was supposed to be following. Another soul-scream later, and a second butler stood in front of him, eyeballing the approaching butler. “Good evening young necromancer, how can I serve you?” There were some slight differences between the two, but they were largely identical, as if they’d both been squirted into reality from the same slurry of raw butler. Which was a fair analogy, Will supposed. Will could feel that he’d reached the limit on butlers, and if he tried to summon another, it would fizzle. Which was to be expected because his scaling hadn’t passed triple power yet. Still, two intangible butlers were better than one…save for their attitude. “Don’t bother, he’s a rogue,” the first butler said as he arrived, floating across the gulf between the two buildings. “I see. I suppose it’s unlocking doors from the other side, picking pockets and scamming tourists with Ouija boards for us.” The new spirit sighed. “Those are all really good ideas,” Will said, “But first we’re going to do a heist.” “Gods preserve,” the butlers said as one, rolling their eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes!” Will whispered. “This girl stole my tomahawk and a bunch of other stuff, so I’m getting it back…and maybe ransoming some of it back to it’s previous owners…you guys could actually help with that last part.” “As you , master,” Both of them said with the exact same amount of barely-allowable sarcasm. “Alright, Names: You’re Stevie, and you’re Billy-bob, if you wanted classy names like Magnon or Alistair, you should’ve acted classier,” Will whispered, pointing at the two of them. “I will not be saddled with unprofessional jackasses.” “Touche,” the ghosts muttered. “Stevie, follow us underground, look for any situation that might require your intervention, like distracting someone who is about to find me or flanking my opponent if I come under direct attack. You’re my safety net. I expect critical thinking and decisive action.” “Yes, Master,” Stevie said, sinking into the ground. “Billy-bob, I wasted ten charges on you and your dimwit brother, I need you to save me Charges by going over to that roof over there and catching me. “I do not have the strength required to-“ “You’re stronger than you think,” Will said, pointing at a nearby barrel. “Lift that.” The spirit gave a long-suffering sigh before bending and putting his arms around the barrel…then lifting it into the air with a confused expression. “You can put it down now.” “…are you some kind of necromancer/rogue hybrid?” “No, I’m just that good,” Will said. “Now get over there.” Billy-bob nodded and flew silently over to the next roof. Once he was in place, Will considered the best way to make this happen, first putting the Phantom Hand against his back, then under his feet before he finally settled on simply grasping his own hand. Phantom Hand was a little bit finicky. Its tangibility wasn’t 100% and had a tendency to fade and flicker, mirroring Will’s concentration. It often started out strong those first couple seconds, but quickly exhausted itself…much like Will’s attention span. Which was why it made more sense (at the moment) to fling himself with a single concentrated burst of energy rather than pick himself up and float over the gap, because he was more likely to lose focus over time. Will jumped and felt a harsh tug on his arm as Phantom Hand launched him up and over the fence. Then he was on his way back down, falling rapidly towards the warehouse roof. To his credit, Will didn’t scream, but he was flailing as he fell. Will caught his own shirt and hauled himself backwards, but it was too much force and he wound up tumbling backwards, towards the chain-link fence that bordered the two buildings. Stevie rose out of the earth beneath him and caught Will before he crashed into the fence, slowing him and directing his fall towards hard-packed earth rather than loud surfaces like chain-link and glass bottles. An instant later the spirit faded back into the ground. Will thought, climbing to his feet. He could probably have one of the butlers fly him around, but he needed to get the hang of maneuvering with the Phantom Hand. It was an option. Although wearing a handle on your body was just people to grab it. Will thought, extending his hand and hauling himself up with Phantom Hand. In a matter of minutes, Will arrived at Bee’s hideout, a dilapidated warehouse that had seemingly slipped into disrepair. Abandoned. Will knew which one he preferred. He sent Billy-bob to scout for Bee before unlatching the window from the inside. The spirit butler gave him the signal and he shortened the distance between the roof and the window, silently stepping through. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, William’s eyes went wide at the staggering amount of loot…much of it ruined. ***Ria’s perspective*** Since Anna and Jean were throwing Bee a welcome party, this was Ria’s perfect opportunity to leave them to their own devices and get the real dirt on William Oh. She’d ‘borrowed’ a Relic from her superiors that allowed her to track a selected target and conceal her presence. Now was the perfect opportunity to catch him in the act. Ria thought as she stalked after him. She thought he had caught her on multiple occasions, but he seemed to be having a heated conversation with…himself? She’d backed off after that, and nearly lost him half a dozen times as he swept from rooftop to rooftop with a silent grace only possible with an unlawful class. Thankfully he seemed to be heading in a straight line, so all she had to do was keep heading forward and eventually she re-acquired him. She nearly walked into line-of-sight, but managed to spot him first and reel herself back into an alley before he tuned his head. She peeked back out and studied her prey. William oh was standing like a phantom on the edge of the roof, looking down at a distant warehouse. With criminal intent. In front of her eyes, the window unlatched and opened itself, causing Ria to blink. What followed next was even stranger. William Oh’s partially invisible body over the distance to the window, his body lengthening for a fraction of a second, shooting forward and diving through the window in the blink of an eye, invading the unclaimed space like a dread spirit. Ria began creeping forward, intent on finding out what William Oh was so keen on concealing inside that warehouse. “Excuse me, miss guardswoman?” the voice of an older man called from an alleyway beside her. “I’m sorry, I don’t have time to-“ Ria froze as she glanced into the alleyway, spotting nothing. “Why is it so…cold?” The same voice spoke from behind her, causing Ria to whip around, her heart hammering in her chest, all the hairs on her neck standing on end. There was a soft brush of wind against her skin and the sound of footsteps behind her. Ria turned. Nothing. “This one is still warm.” The voice whispered directly into her ear. so close she could feel it’s breath. Cold breath. Ria choked back a shriek and swung wildly, her arm tearing through the air, but otherwise impacting nothing. She glanced at the distant Warehouse that William Oh had disappeared into. There was a figure in the window…a little girl…motioning her to come forward. To join her. Suddenly the dark buildings looming overhead hid any number of horrors in every deepening shadow. Waiting for her. “Nope. Nope, nope, nope.” Ria said, shaking her head and turning on her heel. ***Willliam Oh’s perspective.*** “You were being followed,” Stevie said, rising up from the floor, his body shifting from a little girl’s back to his standard butler appearance. “I convinced her to leave.” A moment later the spirit was gone. “Really? Wow.” Given Will’s prodigious Acuity, he must’ve gotten complacent, or his pursuer had a Relic that’d helped her to stay hidden. Perhaps some combination of both. Will had a strong suspicion which ‘her’ Stevie was talking about. “Now what are we going to do with this?” Will mused, eyeing the massive black and gold coffin placed conspicuously in the center of the warehouse. “I think I can help with that,” Loth said, descending from the skylight. A moment later, tens of thousands of insects beat their wings in unison, and the immovable stone coffin began to ascend. Will spotted his tomahawk buried in a wooden sculpture, and tugged it out, slipping it back into his belt. It felt like getting his hand back. Well, not quite good, but good. Will itched his stump.