Chapter 30: Chapter 30 - Test and Exercise
Chapter 30 - Test and Exercise
Just Wow.
Falco has just finished telling me his story. I don't know if I can believe it, but I would be surprised if he made it all up overnight. I don't really see the point. I'm pretty glad the tower opened when I was still a kid and not an adult as a result. I find it hard to imagine the cobbled alleys covered with stray people. I would also really like to see what Falco's "Seraph" shape looks like. The only thing I could see coming close to it is the appearance of Orion when she came to greet the rangers returning from the fifteenth floor. But since he's lost his powers, I'm not going to see what happens anyway.
Falco and I continue to talk for another ten minutes, he is the first veteran I have met and apparently not the least. I'm not sure how to gauge the difficulty of the tower's floors, but he still managed to climb without killing anyone, all by himself, being a priest and all the way to the tenth floor. If that's true then it deserves respect.
I put myself in perspective anyway because of that. I know I shouldn't think too much about it after spending so little time in the tower, but when am I going to get strong myself? Because hey, Emy has a higher class and I now learn that Falco, who is a cook, made ten floors on his own by reaching the class / transformation into Seraph. I raise a mouse and get beaten up by a girl in an alleyway. It will start to get annoying. I'm so commonplace it's almost laughable.
Falco gives me some information mainly concerning the floors of the tower, in vain I ask him more specific things, but he cuts it short by telling me that I don't need to know.
One of the most important points is that inside a floor there is always a quest to complete. The concept is rather abstract from what he tells me since it is apparently up to the climber to know why he is there. This is also one of the reasons why it is sometimes difficult to pass a floor. There are only two ways to have more information on what to do and that is either to be helped by someone from the class of guides who have the skill of always knowing the direction to take to complete the quest and which act as a living compass, always indicating the right direction to follow. Or go see an oracle who can tell him exactly what to do. Otherwise, you have to be "listening".
The tower never chooses where it sends people randomly. Sometimes you just have to go to a tavern to listen to people and think that the story that seems the most difficult and dangerous to solve is the quest in question. Sometimes this is the case, but other times you have to start the research all over again if completing the quest you have found is not enough. In general, from what Falco tells me there are signs and you just have to listen to your instincts, but if really it's impossible to know, you might as well find an oracle than waste time looking for several months.
The other important information is that it is possible to come back to the foot of the tower from one floor. You just have to make a key appear and go to sleep with it, in the same way as to enter the Tower of the Worlds. On the other hand, the negative point is that the tower completely resets the climber's progress by making him start anew in another part of the world with a new quest if he returns without having completed it.
My discussion with Falco ends up ending after a few minutes as I have an acute inferiority fit. I can always ask Falco for new information this evening, there is no rush. And then I don't particularly want to run into Cyrus or the newcomers by staying too long here. Not to mention Emy who would be able to ask me to go train with her.
In short. I take my things and Micha with me and head for the Thieves Tower before any of these possibilities happen. The road was a little longer than going to the rangers tower, but I ended up getting there and after having passed the thieves' quarter taking care to put my equipment in my inventory I ended up arriving at the ranger tower. thieves. The large stone engraving at the entrance shows a hooded man with a dagger in one hand and a leather purse in the other: so far nothing unusual; I go in heading in the direction of the great hall, wondering what I will be able to come across. Right in the center is a giant multi-story fountain, but not just any type of fountain… I would have probably preferred.
The fountain in front of me is a stone fountain which has the peculiarity that it flows liquid gold. I was expecting something different like another giant statue, or a climbing tower, something like that. I approach a guard and ask for directions. He shows me the fifth floor indifferently. When I asked him if it's really gold flowing in the fountain he suddenly laughed, indicating to me to approach it with him.
He tells me to put my hand in it and I suspect there is a trap for him to ask me to do it. I run my hand over the fountain first to see if it's molten gold, but it doesn't look hot. I decide to put my hand in and take it out and realize that it is not gold, but water. The guard laughs again and returns to his post telling me to have "a good day beginner".
I watch him walk away with a sigh. The day had started well, however, and I found myself being called a beginner by a guard. It does not matter, I did not lose anything except a few minutes. I head for the stairs and get stopped by two guards.
- Coin.
- Sorry ?
- One coin, otherwise you can't go higher. This is the rule here for the beginner. To access the classes you need a room. If you don't have one, go get one.
- Is this racketeering?
- This is the rule here. No exception. Get out of there if you don't want to pay.
I walk away for a few minutes and watch other climbers go by to find out if it is really necessary to pay to climb and apparently yes. The only other option is apparently to climb the wall and I don't see anyone trying to do that. I decide to discreetly take a piece of the necklace and head over to the guards who let me pass once I give it to them.
I then go up to the fifth floor and pass the usual double door engraved with a hooded woman with a dagger covered in blood. The interior is very dark and only seems to be lit by a few candles. In front of me at a desk is a woman with dark glasses, phosphorescent red eyes that are far from normal, and a businesswoman's suit. She stares at me quickly before returning to her notes with a sigh.
"Right corridor, third door on the left"
I haven't even had time to say a word as she directly gives me a direction to follow. I go there and go through the door without further delay. Inside is a new area that looks like a nightlife district from medieval times. In any case, this is the closest definition I can give between the dark moonless night and the streetlights where lanterns with candles are hung. From the top of the hill where I stand, I can see a good part of this city which does not seem to have an end. What worries me anyway, is that there is not a single noise and that I do not see much.
Suddenly I feel a blade resting against my throat from my back and a man's voice rising.
" First lesson. There are three other beginners like you in the area. The last one standing will be the one who will become my student. You can try your luck again tomorrow with the others if you fail. The rules are simple. First, the area will gradually shrink over time. Second, use your weapons to kill, no one will die and they will just be sent back out of the area in the event of a fatal wound, which does not take into account those that will not kill. Third, you will have to beat two people to be able to win otherwise it will be a failure. Fourth, all methods are good as long as you win, there are no regrets if it helps you win. Lately you have five hours ahead of you. "
The blade pulls out of my neck and when I turn around I can't see anyone of course. This kind of disappearance is a bit cliché.
In any case, I who wanted action, I imagine that I am served. I take two stilettos out of my inventory and put them back in their places in the leather sheaths under my satchel and prepare to move forward in the dark.
4:54
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone