Return of the Tower Conqueror

  To the Fiery Lakes (II)

"I can't believe we're doing this again," Senna sighed, lamenting.

"If I wanted to jump from high places, I would have become a sky-diver or something..." Jamal resonated.

"At least... at least this one isn't as high," Diya chimed in.

"Hey, aren't there far more people than when we came?" Emma asked, pointing at the countless groups that had gathered below the City.

"Yup," Cain nodded. "They don't matter. Come on. Let's go!" he exclaimed as he heaved off, waving at the seven who stared at him for a moment before following.

Though the drop wasn't nearly as long as back when they were in Graveyard of Swords, it still wasn't something that could be ignored -- exemplified mostly by Daniel and Lukas who had no experience with jumping off the high places. Diya had to bless the both of them to prevent them from passing out, and even the others were feeling jittery despite the fact that they knew they wouldn't be hurt.

The eight caused a massive commotion as they became noticeable by those on the ground who immediately dropped what they were doing and walked closer, their eyes glued to the falling silhouettes. Most have been here for days at least, completely lost as to how to get into the City. If the eight silhouettes were of people or creatures from the City, they might be giving Quests, but as the Quests might be limited, everyone grew jittery as they prepared to sprint forward.

Just as the group of eight began to land, a horde of souls came streaming toward them; yet, just a few seconds later, that horde was halved, leaving those still sprinting forward confused that their competition suddenly gave up. It wasn't just that they gave up, they also sprinted back, inching even further away than they'd been before.

Emma sighed at the sight of this while the others looked away, feeling embarrassed. Cain, on the other hand, stepped forward with a grin, joined by Larua who found the whole thing fascinating as she hadn't left Initiate Strata in years now. The sense of freedom was nigh overwhelming.

"We are 'The Greedy Seven'--no, wait, it's 'The Greedy Eight' now," Cain charged body into his throat and spoke out so that nearly everyone on top of the mirrored lake heard him. "That's right -- we are happy to announce we have a new member. The truth is, we are always accepting new members -- and to give you a perspective, our new member has donated quite considerably to us before joining."

"Huh? I hadn't--"

"I know you all know what that means," Cain quickly interrupted Larua who glanced back and saw that other six were all looking away. "As a favor to all of you, I will let you know how to enter the City -- you need to go beyond the mountains and bring a head of a semi-powerful creature and you will be let in. I just hope that, when 'The Greedy Eight' returns, you will remember our good faith. Of course, if you don't have the means of donating, we will not pressure you; we are not thieves, after all. Just a rowdy bunch, is all. Good luck everyone!"

He waved the confused and startled masses off as he spun around and led the group away, toward the southbound-part of the lake and beyond the mountains gating Fiery Lakes. The other six held their heads down, while Larua held hers up, her admiration for the man wearing a Dragon mask increasing day by day.

On the other hand, it took but a moment for most people in the sea to wake up and realize they'd just been given a key to the City. Right after, hundreds began bolting and sprinting in various directions, with the exception of South -- where nobody dared go.

"... why'd you let them know how to get in?" Emma asked when they were well enough away from the others. "Wouldn't that just scatter the rewards too much?"

"Eh," Cain shrugged, taking out a cigarette and lighting one up. "It's fine. I don't plan on us sticking around in that hellhole for much longer. By the way, the jump wasn't that scary, right? And nobody pissed themselves this time around!"

"..." Daniel, Lukas, Larua coughed awkwardly as the other four glared at Cain with flushed cheeks. Realizing he'd made an error in judgement, he smiled awkwardly before switching the topic.

"Anyway, from what I was told, Fiery Lakes hold a lot of resources and have a lot of mini-boss-type enemies. When we get there, we're gonna split into groups of two for the first part and converge a bit further inland."

"Why?"

"... were you not listening?" Cain glanced at Senna who asked the question. "A lot of resources, mini-bosses, yada-yada. I want us to gobble them all up."

"Well, you always did have a big-ass appetite..." Emma sighed. "So, how are the groups gonna go?"

"You and Diya," Cain said. "Jamal and Lukas, Daniel and Larua, and Senna and me."

"Nope!" Senna immediately exclaimed. "I don't wanna."

"Why?" Cain asked.

"Spend hours with you alone and listen to you make shitty jokes without a stop?!"

"... what? You worried you're gonna have so much fun we won't get to gobble up any rewards?" Cain asked her with a grin.

"Tsk, fine! I'll prove it to you that I don't enjoy your jokes!"

"... she's sixteen, you know?" Emma whispered to Cain.

"Yeah, that's what makes manipulating her so easy." Cain replied with a chuckle.

"And you see nothing wrong with that?!"

"Eh, come on, she's just trying to play it cool."

"Your group arrangement is strange..." Emma said with a sigh.

"Not really," Cain shook his head, taking a puff of the cigarette. "Diya, Senna, Lukas, and Daniel are fairly young so I can't pair them together. While Jamal is a bit hotheaded, Lukas will be there to hold him back from doing anything stupid. You can keep Diya safe, and I can keep Senna safe. And Daniel... well... he'd probably kill me in my sleep if I didn't send him with Larua."

"... yeah, he's a bit obvious with his crush, ain't he? Is that even okay? I mean, technically, she is an alien."

"It's fine," Cain replied.

"So... before...?"

"Oh, god, yeah," he nodded. "There was a whole resurgence of porn industry in 2038 when the first one with Tower-natives came out. It was like a whole new world opened--you know what, never mind. I know not of these filthy things!"

"..." Emma gave him a dirty look before she broke off and joined the others.

The trek to the mountain wasn't terribly long, and neither was the trek through it; the path was direct and clear, appearing well-maintained, with only an occasional, fallen tree getting in the way. Eerily enough, however, the mountain was barren of wild life, and, toward the summit, the plant life became scarcer and scarcer until there was little else besides the gray weed and dried-up stumps of dead trees.

The reason for it became clear once the group made their way up to the edge of the summit, looming over to the 'other side'. There, a world of ash and rocks and soot spread, interspersed by massive pools of boiling, liquid lava that occasionally seeped over the 'containers', forming streams of fire that lit up the otherwise gray world. The centerpieces, however, were situated further in, though the group could only see one due to the high concentration of smoke bloating out the horizon.

The lake stretched out wide, its hue a dark mixture of coral, yellow, and red, occasionally bubbling and shooting out a spraying gush of lava into the air. Even from this far off, they were able to see several, massive creatures drinking from the lake and a few even bathing. It was difficult to discern their exact shapes, though the silhouettes were terrifying enough.

"So, Senna and I will head straight on," Cain said. "Jamal and Lukas will head to the far right and in a circle, Daniel and Larua will cover the entire left side in a smaller circle, and Emma and Diya will cover the area between us and Jamal. We'll meet at that big lake in four days. I've put on my Mana signature on all of you," he added. "If something goes wrong, you can activate it by channeling Mana into your right shoulder. It will alert me and tell me your location, and I will head over immediately. Any questions?"

"Nope, we're off!" Larua grabbed Daniel's arm and immediately headed off.

"See ya' guys in four days!" Jamal and Lukas departed as well, leaving behind only Emma and Diya.

"What's wrong?" Cain asked.

"... there's something stupidly strong straight ahead, isn't there?" Emma asked.

"Yup." Cain replied.

"Let us help you, then! At least, at least until we defeat whatever it is! Then we'll go back down our route!"

"Don't worry about it," Cain shrugged it off. "I've Senna with me. Nothin's gonna happen."

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Senna joined in. "I'll keep him safe, I promise."

"Yeah, that's cute," Emma said as she walked over and grabbed Senna's shoulders, keeping her in place. "But, listen to me, young lady -- you are to do whatever he tells you to do, got it? Especially if he tells you to stay out of the fight. If I hear that you didn't listen to him, I'll take you out of the Tower immediately and ground you for a month."

"Ha ha ha, that's funn--"

"..."

"--khm, sure," Senna nodded fervently, somewhat afraid of Emma's expression. "I... I'll listen to him."

"And you'll stay safe?"

"And I'll stay safe."

"And you'll go shopping with me when we're out?"

"And I'll go--hey!!"

"Alright, enough, enough," Cain chimed in as he pulled Senna away. "Stay safe you two, and see ya' in four days."

"Good luck!" Diya exclaimed with a determined expression as she turned around and joined Emma. Now was the time to show off the fact that she had become more independent. Maybe. No, I definitely did!! I'll prove myself!

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