The Ruby Magician

FLOOR 4

Group: 5/5

Quest: Escaping the city’s walls was only the beginning. Entering the heart of the invading forces is no easy task, and you’ve decided to take the hard route. The forces can be overwhelming, but there is reprieve at the end of blood and sweat. Can you survive long enough to find it?

Secondary quest: the Fallen army has barely breached the city’s wall, and most of them are on the outside trying to kill their way in. The outside, where you currently stand. Protecting the city means killing the invaders. Fallen killed: 8/24. Enemies killed: 14/40. Reward: one green magical item.

Blood ran down Wyn’s leg and soaked his boot. He cursed his luck, angry at both the Fallen being able to hit him and being injured on the fourth floor. This should have been an easy climb, especially after repeating it for the last several days. It was straightforward - the entire floor was short, with waves of enemies to kill and lots of energy and magic to spend. Wyn honestly thought it was easier than the third floor. Plus, after discovering the secondary quest and the rewards it brought, it was an easy decision to repeat the floor for the rest of the first week.

It would be a hard floor for a newer group looking to advance into the second tier, but that thankfully wasn’t Wyn’s group. Not anymore.

Wyn spat at the ground. He was already upset and this just made his mood worse. Arabelle wrote to him last night and her words were foreboding, to say the least. Things were getting worse at home, and there was nothing he could do about it. He only wished she was safe and far, far away from the Assembly’s grasp.

Making him angrier by the second, healing his injury didn’t make the blood go away much to his annoyance. He wouldn’t be able to stop and properly clean the leather boot, either. Another pair likely ruined.

He stabbed the Ashen monster on the ground two more times with his spear for good measure, ignoring that it was already dead. He wanted to prove a point.

This floor was exactly as it promised - chaotic. The same red sky filled with flaming projectiles and dark clouds hovered above, while louder and more intense fighting surrounded them. Fighting that was the same kind of illusion magic from the tower, where the defending army of the city clashed with the invading monsters as though it happened behind a veil. They never interacted with the group and the group couldn’t interact with them. What it accomplished, though, was a reminder of the tower’s progressing and strange environment.

“Wyn, more on your right!” Tasha said, pointing her wand to the side. A large magical barrier deflected several arrows from hitting Wyn.

Another curse left his mouth. He needed to focus. There would be time to think about Arabelle and his boots later. For now, he wanted to live, and taking an arrow through the throat would be a guaranteed way to die. His Sage’s Overcoat protected most of his torso, but his neck still had a few areas of exposure.

Wyn turned and saw two of the newer enemies rushing him as three more stood back with bows. These enemies, just called Ashen, were strange. They looked liked humans except they had dark grey skin, horns, black hair, and yellow or red eyes. At first Wyn thought they were demons, or what he imagined demons to look like. But his parchment clearly stated they were simply called Ashen, and gave no more information. Wyn had no hesitations about fighting, and killing, them since they had a more demonic look than human and carried vicious looking weapons.

It didn’t really matter, though. They were enemies to defeat. And Wyn was getting better every day at defeating them.

Wyn activated Speed Up and dodged the first attack, a wild sword slash that was more strength than skill. He immediately pierced it in the back with his spear and hopped back to avoid the second enemy that held its own spear. An arrow suddenly struck it in the neck, quickly followed by another that hit its chest. It dropped to the ground, out of the fight.

At least Marcy was covering him while the others dealt with their own group of Ashen.

A few more quick strikes to the sword-wielding Ashen killed it, but before Wyn could finish off the other he jumped out of the way of more arrows. It was easier to dodge when he was faster from his skill, and felt no real threat from them. His Shield spell wasn’t needed. Not yet, at least.

After pulling his spear out of the second enemy he turned to face the archers. “Cedric, Marcy, can you take care of them?”

A crack of lightning hit two of the archers and made the third stumble. It was a strong spell, but Wyn wasn’t surprised. Cedric stopped pulling punches yesterday when they were nearly overrun with the enemies, and told them he’d just recover with mana potions while deciding not to hold back anymore. The floor wasn’t long, but it was packed with enemies, and he reasoned it was still a net gain on coins as long as he only used two mana potions per floor clear.

Wyn wasn’t about to complain. Faster clears meant more climbs during the day, and the rewards were great even for the fourth floor. Killing more enemies to complete the secondary quest meant more coins at the end, too. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up, as long as they weren’t reckless.

Tasha had been having her work cut out for her. A near endless amount of enemies made healing and defensive spells basically necessary. After her class advancement she gained considerable range on her spells, too, something Wyn was incredibly jealous of. His spells required close proximity, and the furthest he could cast a Shield spell was about ten feet. Tasha easily had four times that range.

Another mark against a Ruby Magician.

Wyn felt a warm wave wash over him from Tasha’s healing spell. He felt the wound on his leg close and the frustration rise from being injured. It was a lucky swipe from an Ashen’s sword, and Wyn was outnumbered three to one, but he still felt more than a little annoyed. His jacket helped reduce most blows that he couldn’t outright dodge or block with a quick cast of Shield, but his legs and feet were the most exposed. Maybe he could find a nice pair of magical knee high boots to wear. Something like Cedric’s was definitely on his list to have at some point that offered so much additional mobility. But maybe a spell that let him teleport would be even better? Or a shield to use in addition to his own physical shield? He wasn’t unfamiliar with the setup of a spear and shield, just more used to using the weapon alone. If they were going to climb with only five in their group for the foreseeable future, and no other defender like John, perhaps a shield would be a good move.

“Wyn, was that enough?” Tasha asked. She stood beside him and lightly pulled his pants at the knee, grimacing from the blood.

Wyn moved his leg in several ways, testing it. “Yes, thank you. I might have to get a new pair of pants, though. Boots, too.”

Tasha chuckled. “You could spend money on worse things.”

“That’s nine more enemies killed,” John said. He twirled his sword around, the blue blade shining like polished metal. “We’re doing even better than yesterday! I can’t believe it took us three clears to finally discover the damned quest. I could do this all month, honestly.”

“The seventh or eighth floor should still give a better return,” Cedric said. “But if it feels the same after a few clears, we could alternate. For variety’s sake.”

“Whatever gets me the most coin,” Wyn said. “Either actual coins or items to sell. I’ll run it all day if I have to.”

“I know you need the coin, but we haven’t gotten to the point of desperation, yet,” Tasha said. “We have a solid plan. We should be able to make plenty this month!”

Wyn shook his head. “I need more. As much as possible, really. If I’m able to pay off the debt early then me and my sister will be better off for it. I’m tired of being more cautious and worrying all the time.”

Marcy eyed him suspiciously. “Listen, I’m all for going faster. But I’m also not stupid. Tasha’s right, we have a good plan.”

Wyn actually laughed. “Are you calling me stupid for wanting to push it? Miss Impatient last season saying to pace ourselves?”

Marcy scoffed. “Of course not! That was because the first tier is pretty boring. Now that we can climb the second tier, we need to be careful. But we can save the emergency climbs for the last week of the month to help earn whatever you need. We have a lot of time.”

“Well I don’t!” Wyn said, his voice rising. “That’s all great, but my sister and I are on a timeline. Coins mean she doesn’t lose her fingers or I lose everything.”

The others looked at each other, questioning his outburst. Wyn read the expressions on their faces but he didn’t care. They didn’t understand how dire his situation was. Not really. Despite how much he’s told them.

“Wyn, is something wrong?” Cedric asked.

Wyn looked at the Wizard. He wasn’t an idiot, of course, and was usually honest no matter what. There was genuine concern on his face, not judgment. He wasn’t questioning Wyn. He was trying to help a friend.

Exactly like how Wyn helped him after he lost his arm.

Wyn took a deep breath to calm down. “I’m sorry. Arabelle wrote me a letter and it seems like things are worse at home. After meeting Lucy and seeing how close The Assembly is to me, now, I just… want to be done with this damned debt and make sure she’s safe. I hate being so far away and not being able to help her directly.”

“We know that,” John said. “But we’re here for you. And to help.”

“Yea, maybe it would be good to actually take a break?” Tasha asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” Wyn said. “That would just stress me out more knowing I could be earning coins instead of something else. I think taking a good stock of items to sell and taking a chunk out of the amount owed this month would help the most. Then maybe I can relax a little.”

Marcy drew three arrows from her quiver and held them with her bow in her left hand. “Good. Then let’s finish the quest, go again this afternoon, and sell it all. See what kind of profit a few days of collecting items can make.”

From the chaos around them came another group of Ashen soldiers, this time led by a Fallen. The leader-type enemies were more obvious as they were either the fat, bulbous kind from the last floor or the thin and lanky ones from the first floor. This Fallen was a thin and lanky one that carried a long spear and shield that made Wyn’s look small in comparison. Marcy and Cedric quickly took out three of the five regular soldiers with relative ease, and John and Wyn made quick work of the second two after a well-timed Flash stunned them all.

The Fallen, though, wasn’t affected by the spell. Its eyes were hidden behind a strange, awful looking helmet that completely covered its head and had spikes protruding from it at various angles. It looked more ridiculous than practical, but whether from magic or simply covering its eyes the helmet prevented the spell from working. Still, it was five on one, and the group had no reservations about being able to kill it.

Unfortunately killing it took far longer than they expected. The monster’s spear reach was even longer than Wyn’s, and it was surprisingly agile. It blocked nearly all of John’s attacks and dodged most of Wyn’s, using its build and shield to defend itself fairly well. Its downfall was that it was outnumbered, and the group whittled it away over minutes rather than seconds as expected.

No loot dropped from its body, either. Wyn cursed at their bad luck. Hopefully those monsters wouldn’t come in groups of more than one, or they’d be more difficult to kill.

Climbing this floor made Wyn reevaluate his previous decision to go without a shield, especially without another front line warrior besides John. Marcy and Cedric had plenty of firepower to handle nearly any enemy as long as they didn’t mind spending their resources of arrows and mana, but John being able to only distract one or two enemies at a time was becoming a problem. Wyn felt comfortable killing monsters but wasn’t equipped to helped hold the line with John. If he could find a good shield worth carrying, he decided then and there to try one out. For now, though, they had more enemies to kill.

*****

The guild official brought out the familiar small, orange glowing chest and set it on the counter. He held Wyn’s parchment in his hand for another second, reading it one more time, before handing it back to him.

“Congratulations on completing the secondary quest,” the official said. “Please reach into the chest for your reward!”

Wyn folded his parchment and put it back in his pocket. This was the group’s third time completing the fourth floor, but the gamble of pulling out a random item still had its appeal. Most of the items their group pulled so far were potions, but none of them complained. Not yet, at least. Any item was great, and getting potions helped them from spending precious crowns to acquire some later.

Still, John got a green belt after their most recent climb, and Marcy and Cedric each pulled a weapon. Tasha was the luckiest of all, having two green items for rewards, while Wyn had none.

Reaching his hand into the chest, Wyn changed from concentrating to being excited. It wasn’t a vial his hand wrapped around, but a grip, and he pulled out an axe. A large, double sided, long handled axe that required two hands to hold once he completely freed it.

“Wow, that’s a great pull!” John said. “Two pieces of gear isn’t so bad for us this time.”

“Yea, not when we could clear the floor two or three times a day,” Marcy said. “And I much prefer killing monsters than avoiding traps.”

“Then we’re done for the day?” Tasha asked. “I was going to get together with Cynthia and train some more after dinner.”

“You’ve been doing that more, lately,” John said. “Don’t push yourself too hard, now.”

Marcy mockingly laughed. “Don’t push yourself too hard? What, are you afraid she’s going to pass you by training harder?”

“No, I’m not worried about that at all,” John said, folding his arms. “I just don’t want her to go too hard.”

“I think she can handle herself,” Wyn said. “Tasha, do whatever you need. I’m going to go to The Silver Step and see about selling my items. I want to make sure I’m on the right track to cover this month, and don’t want to burden Benedict with a bunch of items all at once.”

“We should actually be ahead of schedule,” Cedric said. “Getting an item as a secondary reward is a great benefit, and clearing it twice a day would net about 350 crowns alone. Just doing that would be -”

“Over 2000 gold crowns in a week, I know,” Wyn interrupted. “And that’s besides what we find in the floor, and selling items, too. I’ve been doing the math over and over. But I’m tired of being in the deficit. I want to get ahead of this debt and get the hells out.”

The others were quiet for a moment before John spoke. “Do you want some company? Maybe have dinner first, at least?”

Wyn shook his head. “I’d rather go now and get my coins. Like Tasha, I want to train later, too. I’m thinking of picking up a shield and using it.”

“Oh?” Cedric asked. “Why the change?”

“John is our only defender. I can hold my own, but I can’t defend like him. If we’re going to keep climbing with just us five I want to make sure we’re better protected. That I’m better protected. So I want to try it out.”

“I’ll join you, then,” John said. “Get some sparring in with an actual Climber instead of just the dummy. However long you need!”

Wyn looked at his friend. He was usually carefree and relaxed, but he looked serious. It was obvious he genuinely wanted to help, and Wyn appreciated it. Looking at each of them, they all had looks of worry or concern.

Wyn hadn’t been himself the past few days. He was on edge, snapping or lost in thoughts of Arabelle and their debt. Climbing was more than just earning gold - he had a group to lead. A group to protect. A group to grow with and climb together.

A group that he considered friends.

Wyn smiled. “I’d like that. Thank you. And I’m sorry I’ve been so distant and rude lately. It’s not fair to all of you.”

“No, it’s not, but we understand,” Cedric said. “Take it from me who was actively pushing away friends when I actually needed them most - we wouldn’t be your friends if we didn’t care.”

“Yea, as much shit as I give you, I still want you around,” Marcy said. “Us ‘weak classes’ have to stick together.” She flippantly waved her hand while calling their classes weak in a mocking gesture.

“I think a shield could be helpful,” Tasha said. “It won’t slow you down, will it? Or change how you move around us so well?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Wyn said. “I won’t be able to use my spear as effectively but I mostly just stab through the enemies anyway. I could always change to a sword and show John how to really fight.”

The others laughed while John scoffed. “Okay, I know we sparred once before, but I’m far better now!” John said. “Let’s really see who’s the better sword and shield user!”

“No items, then,” Wyn said, playing up his playfulness. “Like your armor or that belt you just pulled from the chest.”

John flashed his wide leather belt that held a silver buckle. “Don’t be jealous! It’s not every day you get a belt that lightens your armor and prevents pouches from being nicked.”

“If you get too used to it you’ll be a burden in the future,” Cedric said. “It’s a novelty feature at best.”

“A novelty I’m fully keen on using and abusing.”

Marcy and Cedric rolled their eyes while Tasha and Wyn laughed. It felt good to laugh and enjoy the company of friends.

Hopefully soon he’d be able to laugh and enjoy the company of his sister, too.