The Ruby Magician

The group didn’t have to wait long for the other Climbers to finish off the monsters. As Wyn watched he grew more impressed by the second. The team was efficient, communicative, and strong. Very strong. Each flash of a spell or ability was well-placed with either attacking their foes, reducing the chance of injury with the team, or controlling the course of battle to flow exactly how they wanted. It was obvious the Climbers had worked together for some time, and that this floor wasn’t a challenge for them.

Wyn felt jealous. He couldn’t help it. While his focus was gaining coins he still wanted to excel, and seeing a group work that well together was fueling him far more than a group who struggled.

Cedric and Marcy began to walk over to them and the three rookies followed. No one said anything. They weren’t sure what to say. Before long the other group noticed them and waited for them to approach. One of the Climbers, an olive skinned woman with a similar build to Marcy, wore simple leather gear and carried a quarterstaff heavily adorned with runes and markings. Nothing from her equipment even looked that impressive.

Wyn knew her gear was anything but simple, though, even if it wasn’t as flashy or ostentatious as some other Climber’s gear. In fact, she seemed like a humble person that belonged more in a forest than the city.

“Marcy! Cedric!” The woman said, instantly skipping forward and wrapping both of them in a hug. She squeezed tight, and both of the Climbers returned her hug warmly. She then let go and looked at Cedric closer, her expression hardening. “Are you alright?”

“I am now,” Cedric said. “Just a minor setback.”

The woman - Faye, Wyn assumed - hugged the Wizard once more.

One of the other Climbers in their group stepped forward. It was a man dressed in knightly armor not unlike John, except his matched and covered his body from head to toe. There was a slight orange sheen to it, making the plates and metal look like embers from a dying fire. On his left arm was a tower shield and he placed an elaborate mace in a loop on his belt. The group behind him silently chatted to themselves, not really paying attention.

“Hello there,” the man said. “My name is Gregory. Any friend of Faye is a friend of us. How do you know each other?”

“We used to be in a group together,” Marcy said. “Before she left for bigger and better things.”

Faye pouted and put a hand on her hip. “Oh, don’t act all put out. You were the one who told me to leave, after all.”

Marcy’s serious expression softened into a playful smile. “Ouch. You’ve already forgotten my wonderful sarcasm? What happened to you, Forest Faye?”

Faye relaxed and laughed. “I wisened up, that’s what!”

“Hello,” John said. He stepped forward with an awed expression. “I’m John, by the way. Big fan of the Twilight Blades. Love your work!”

Wyn looked at his friend. Did that even make sense?

Gregory smiled and nodded his head. “Thank you. If your friends here climbed with you before, then you must be seasoned. Are you two showing these others the ropes?”

Marcy shook her head. “Not really. They do fairly well for rookies. It’s their second season and we tiered up last week.”

Faye leaned around and looked at the three rookies. The others in the Twilight Blades quieted and focused more on the conversation. Wyn didn’t love the attention on him, John, and Tasha, and wondered if they felt the same way. Tasha was as stoic as a noble, and John looked like he just grew six inches. So, maybe not.

“That’s pretty impressive,” Gregory said. “You’ll likely make good guild members one day if you keep up that success. Are you looking to join a guild?”

“Soon, I hope,” John replied without hesitation. “Maybe not this month, but I’m definitely interested.”

“And you two?”

Wyn looked over at Tasha who raised her chin before giving a firm nod. “Eventually, yes. I think it would be a good way to have security, growth, and success.”

A noble’s answer. But a damn good one all the same. Wyn wished he thought of it.

“If they’re in, then I’m in,” Wyn said. “Not sure when we’ll be looking, though.”

“What’re your classes?” Faye asked. “If you don’t mind me rudely asking.”

Wyn knew the question was going to come eventually. He just didn’t expect that right away. But maybe it was his strange gear combination of magical jacket, magician hat, and spear that made them wonder.

“You know I’m a Ranger and Cedric’s a Lightning Wizard,” Marcy said.

“What about your new group members?” Gregory asked. Apparently Faye wasn’t the only one interested.

“I’m a Fighter upgraded to a Squire,” John said.

Gregory smiled broadly. “Excellent! We need more Knights in Alistair. That’s a good path choice.”

John beamed.

“My name is Tasha and I’m a Divine Magician upgraded to a Herald,” Tasha said.

There were some murmurs from the other Climbers but Faye and Gregory didn’t betray any change of emotion. They remained smiling and inviting, patiently listening.

“That’s a strong choice,” Faye said. “Not a common one or easy one, though. Think you have what it takes?”

Tasha took a step forward, beside and slightly in front of John, and returned her own smile. “I do. But I have no one to impress or prove that to, except for myself.”

Faye elbowed Gregory in the ribs playfully. “Oh, I like that. I’ll be remembering you, Tasha.”

Gregory looked over at Wyn. “And you? I have to say, I’m not quite sure I’ve seen a Climber with your… equipment choice before.”

There was some snickering behind him. Wyn didn’t care. Though, there’d be more in a second.

Wyn stepped forward beside Tasha. “I can understand that. My name is Wyn. I’m a Ruby Magician upgraded to a Ruby Strategist.”

Whatever silent conversations were happening with the other group stopped immediately. They all stared at him with varied expressions. Faye was the most expressive, her face scrunching up in confusion. Gregory’s smile wavered, his face growing serious.

“I have to admit, I wouldn’t have expected a Ruby Magician to keep the class and continue to climb,” Gregory said. “Let alone make it to the second tier.”

“In one season, no less,” Marcy said. “That’s partly why he’s our group leader.”

One of the Climbers in the other group chirped a laugh. “No way. Him?”

Gregory turned around. “Don’t insult our fellow Climbers, Brett. Would you question two experienced Climber’s decision for their group’s dynamic? Who are personal friends of one of our own, no less?”

Wyn couldn’t help but smile. He was really liking this guy.

The Climber, Brett, was a tall man with dark leather armor and a sword sheathed on each hip. He sighed. “Sorry, Gregory, but… a Red Mage? Were you telling a joke?”

“I could show you my parchment for proof,” Wyn said.

“That’s not necessary,” Gregory said.

“I’d like to see it,” Faye said.

The others, including Gregory, turned to the Druid with baffled expressions.

“He’s offering!” Faye continued. “I’d love to see your mark, Wyn. Unique classes are so interesting.”

Wyn reached into his jacket and pulled out his parchment. “It’s not a problem. Take a look.”

Faye gingerly took the papers from Wyn. After a few seconds, her face lit up in excitement. “I’ve never seen one like yours! The runic makeup is impressive! Your skills are all over the place, though.” Faye looked closer at the sheet and knitted her eyebrows. “Lucidity is pretty ridiculous. And Chaincast? That doesn’t seem very balanced.”

“Are those skills?” Gregory asked. “I haven’t heard of either of them.”

“They’re really not fair,” Cedric said. “But, he has less mana than other Magicians and less skills than the combat classes.”

“And less spells to use,” Wyn said. “Don’t forget that.”

“I’m sorry, Wyn, I didn’t mean to come across as offensive,” Faye said.

Wyn laughed. “Trust me, you didn’t at all. I know the setbacks of my class. I’ll be just fine.”

Gregory opened his mouth to say something then stopped. He then briefly looked back towards his group. “I have an idea. Would you be open to showing your abilities to us?”

Wyn looked at his group. They didn’t offer any kind of advice or change of emotion. Except for John. He was nearly shaking with anticipation.

“How can I do that?” Wyn asked.

“Simple,” Faye said. “Just climb. And let us tag along.”

“But Gregory,” Brett said. “We’re supposed to clear the tier by the end of the day.”

Gregory turned back to him. “And we’ll continue with our goal. The first leg of this floor is already complete, and we’ll just stay together while we finish the floor.” He turned back to Wyn and their group. “I don’t believe they’ll slow us down. But only if that’s alright with you.”

Wyn put his parchment back into his jacket. “It’s alright with me. Through the rest of the floor, then!”

Faye bounced up and down and hugged Marcy and Cedric again.

“You won’t regret this, Wyn,” John whispered. “Impressing a top guild is no small feat. Even if you aren’t interested in being in a guild.”

“I know,” Wyn whispered back. “Being friendly with a top guild is a smart move, pure and simple. Having allies is always good, and I have a good feeling about them.”

“Even if the floor is harder because we’re traveling with them?” Tasha asked.

“We’ll overcome whatever is thrown our way,” Wyn said. “This is just the third floor. I believe in us.”

Tasha smiled and seemed to relax at Wyn’s confidence.

“Are we ready?” Wyn asked.

John drew his blue bladed sword and the others readied themselves. Gregory’s group was also preparing to move, gathering their gear and drawing weapons.

“So how does your style work?” Gregory asked as they began to walk out of the grand hall. “Faye seemed impressed with those two skills.”

Wyn thought for a moment. How did his style work? He was working towards focusing on mana recovery and that was about it. Was that a style? Coming across as ignorant wouldn’t look great, and Wyn wanted to leave a good impression. Both for himself and for his class.

“It’s not easy because Ruby Magicians are so varied,” Wyn said. “Lucidity allows me to quickly recover mana. Chaincast can activate if I change spell types in quick succession, and when it activates it casts the same spell again without using mana. It’s a bit random, though. It could activate anytime between two to five casts.”

“Hmm,” Gregory said. “How long does it take for you to recover your mana?”

“An hour and fifteen minutes from empty.”

Gregory stopped walking. “That’s… a very short amount of time for a second tier ability. Even for a Magician with limited resources.”

“I do have a few items that improve the time, but yes it is. My goal is to be able to regenerate my mana much quicker than that, too. Part of my Ruby Strategist class upgrade was that healing spells recover mana as well, so I’m able to share the recovery if needed.”

Gregory chuckled. “That’s an incredible support ability. I haven’t heard of something quite like that before.”

Wyn smiled. It was nice having his class complimented, and by a respected Climber, no less. He was fairly sure if Daniel was here he’d have a heart attack purely from disbelief.

As the two groups stepped outside of the grand hall the open air welcomed them with more destruction on a scale larger than the first floor. The castle they exited was on a small hilltop, and at least two dozen intricate marble steps led their path down to more chaos. The steps themselves were nearly gone, mostly rubble with pockets that were on fire or pitted into the earth below them from falling meteors. It looked to Wyn like any one of them could be struck at any moment, and he felt his attention being pulled in different directions. He wanted to keep talking to Gregory and his group, but he also needed to pay attention to his surroundings. No where seemed safe.

Marcy nocked an arrow and hurried down closer to the front of the group, leaving Cedric and Faye behind. “Enemies ahead.”

The Twilight Blades stopped at the bottom of the broken marble staircase but readied themselves. Wyn and his group kept advancing, their boots hitting the familiar dirt path from the first floor. At least it was even ground, now.

Both sides of the path ahead of them were lined with building edges, fires, or the same magical fighting of an army against the demonic dogs that shimmered like a false reality when really looked at. Their path looked to be a road, one that was wide enough for three carriages to comfortably move side by side. Plenty of room to move and control a fight. A collapsed building to their left side had its front door smash open towards the dirt street. Behind it came one of the Fallen giants, a round, grotesque monster that held three of the Ashen Dogs on chains. They snapped their jaws and snarled at the group, their red saliva hissing as it burned the ground when it fell.

Then a second, identical group appeared from behind them, except the large Fallen only had two dog monsters.

Wyn knew they would be strong. But his group was strong, too. No sense in holding back right now with Gregory and his group watching, either.

“Tasha, it’s time,” Wyn said.

Tasha waved and swished her wand in the air in a series of movements, chanting something under her breath. Her Calling would take a few seconds to appear, seconds that Wyn used.

“John, we do the boss approach,” Wyn said. “No holding back.”

John squatted and activated several skills at once. His Squire aura coated both him and Wyn, and an additional layer of his familiar red Focus skill made him look intimidating and out for blood. If he was going to be the primary defender, though, he needed the extra support. Wyn was capable but more suited to mobile attacking, but once Tasha’s Calling came it should be far easier.

Wyn cast his speed skill and took a deep breath. He let his physical enhancements wash over him and basked in his new power. It was intoxicating. A feeling of newfound strength that gave him confidence to face whatever in his path.

He crouched, preparing his legs and body to strike. The first Fallen enemy didn’t bother waiting any longer before releasing the chains that held back the snarling, flaming dogs. They lunged forward in a burst before immediately being hit with both a water-enhanced arrow and a lightning strike that slowed them and outright killed one of the dogs.

John met the first one with his shield, which he bashed to the side before swinging his sword at the next dog. His blade carved into its hide, its water element opening the monstrous beast effectively. He glanced back at the dog he bashed but ignored it and kept focusing on the immediate threat.

Wyn lunged forward and stabbed into the first dog as it scrambled on the ground to recover. It whined and thrashed from his weapon stabbing it over halfway up the spearhead. Even though the weapon had the elemental advantage Wyn wasn’t quite strong enough to completely gouge it. John’s aura was improving his physicality well, but his focus was on speed, not strength.

So, Wyn freed his weapon in the blink of an eye and promptly stabbed it three more times before it even had a chance to retaliate. On the third strike the monster stayed still.

The sounds of roaring beasts harshly grated on their ears. Wyn looked up to see the other two dogs sprinting towards them and the first Fallen waddling to their group. It was laughably slow with its huge size, but Wyn had a gut feeling it carried ridiculous strength and likely high defense, as well.

With two dogs dead and John more than capable of managing the third from the enemy’s first attack, they were in a great position. He felt confident about handling the two Fallen with his speed advantage and two ranged attackers, and was affirmed when Cedric and Marcy began attacking the first of the larger creatures.

“Ready!” Tasha yelled.

Wyn positioned himself to intercept the two running dogs. “On me!” He yelled. Then, he waited with an outstretched hand. The dogs may have been large and flaming, but they weren’t particularly smart. Just before they crashed into him, front paws up and ready to swipe, Wyn released a Shield spell. The barrier held as both monsters yelped and fell to the ground, but the image flickered from their hit.

Wyn had to suppress a brief flare of panic. Thankfully the spell was enough, but how well would it last at higher floors? He didn’t have a problem on the sixth floor last week. Were these dogs stronger than he thought? Or maybe it was both of them attacking at once?

He didn’t have time to dwell on theories. He changed his focus to attack one of the flaming dogs on the ground before feeling a wave of mist coat his side. A blue figure about his height but bulging with muscles rushed forward and stabbed the closest dog with a long dagger. Then it stabbed it four more times, nearly as fast as Wyn with his enhanced body. Three fins adorned the figure’s head and more accented its arms and legs. It was only wearing a pair of green, skintight pants, and it looked like a combination of a man and a fish, though it was built like a warrior.

The figure looked at Wyn with black eyes and green pupils. It wasn’t scary, especially since Wyn knew it was Tasha’s new Calling Zoriquin. He was just grateful the blue Calling was on their side.

The only two enemies left were the large Fallen. The furthest one was already being pelted with arrows and lightning spells by Marcy and Cedric, and the other one was nearly at John’s side. He was finishing up dealing with the flaming dog and either didn’t see the oncoming enemy or didn’t have the means to divert his attention.

Wyn rushed forward and met the rotund monster head on. “Feeble,” he said, then dodged to the side when the monster struck at him with a fist the size of his torso. The spell took, though, as a large skull appeared above it and the monster shrunk in size about half a foot.

Most of Wyn’s strikes were distractions at best, as the large monster didn’t appear to have the same fire element as the dogs and it’s huge, fatty body was like heavy armor despite his weakening spell. His spear was still capable, and his improvements made him a fierce combatant, but when he looked over and saw John running to the other Fallen and Zoriquin coming to help him, he knew it was only a matter of time before the enemies would fall. Two enemies on the third floor were no match for their entire group including Tasha’s Calling.

As Wyn watched the Fallen disappear back into the tower half a minute later, he was relieved to see that John, Marcy, and Cedric took care of the other enemy easily. The three piles of treasure that littered the ground was a welcome sight, as well.

“I have to say, that wasn’t bad,” Gregory said. He, Faye, and Brett were standing beside Cedric and Marcy behind the fight.

“For rookies, at least,” Brett added.

Faye smacked him on the back of the shoulder. The Climber smirked in a friendly way, more relaxed than before.

“I’m just kidding,” Brett said. “You know that, Faye!”

“But they don’t know that,” Faye said. “They could be our guild mates one day, so we should be extra nice to them.”

“We should be kind to them because they’re Climbers,” Gregory said.

Wyn looked over at John who was actually ignoring the piles of treasure to listen to the conversation. Apparently there were things more interesting to the Squire than rewards. Impressing a guild leader of one of the top guilds seemed to be high on John’s to-do list.

Wyn was happy they met but more relieved there were Climbers at their position and renown who valued others. It gave him hope both for his status as a Ruby Magician and his future as a Climber. Friends were needed to not just succeed, but survive. Especially in a profession as dangerous as theirs.

John clanked in his armor as he trotted over to the nearest glowing pile and began picking through it. Wyn couldn’t help but laugh. Treasure was needed to succeed and survive, too.