Return of the Tower Conqueror

  Boiling Breaths (III)

Cain gingerly walked up the guards at the bottom of the bridge, his features hidden behind a mask which further alarmed the six ante-Humans and several lizard-like creatures. They tightened their holds on the weapons and circled the entrance, trapping it.

"Hello!" Cain waved jubilantly and exclaimed in the friendliest voice he could muster.

"Halt! Who goes?!" one of the guards asked, pointing a spear at Cain.

"Just new Trial Takers!"

"Oh." the group seemed to relax slightly, though still didn't appear void of suspicion. "Are you spies?!"

"No."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?"

"We just entered the Lakes," Cain replied. "I'm sure you can sense it."

"... ah, yes," one of the guards nodded after brief scrutiny, relaxing his weapon after. "Very well, let it not be said that Albadesh turns away the innocent. But," the guard emphasized. "Do not make a scene."

"No need to worry," Cain said. "We just plan on staying here for a few days to figure out where we will go next. Do you have any suggestions for lodging?"

"Hm? Ah, yes, you should try Bree's Lodge. It's just a few streets that way," he pointed to his right. "You can't miss it -- it's a building that looks like a sphere within a sphere. They only charge one C-ranked item a night per person."

"What's your name?" Cain quizzed as the group finally landed off the bridge and onto the city's ground.

"Be-zek."

"I'll mention you sent us."

"... I appreciate it. Good luck."

"Likewise!"

Cain and others quickly dipped into the alleyway to their left, surrounded by ever-taller buildings made of stone similar to marble, high-arched roofs occasionally flat and occasionally domed. Though the streets were far from completely barren of people, there was a distinct lack of them, especially considering that most of the buildings that were clearly shops were closed. Occasionally, they'd meet a pair of eyes scrutinizing them, though nobody approached or tried talking to them.

Bree's Lodge was exactly as the guard said -- impossible to miss. Seemingly two spheres were lodged into one another, Cain musing that it was the reason for the name. It was quite tall, sticking out from the surrounding low-rises, more so due to the fact that there were quite a few people present around it as well as within.

Cain's group walked in gingerly into a wide and open hall, almost appearing like it was meant for a ball, with tall, cylindrical pillars upholding the upper floors. The floor beneath was tiled in black and white, walls decorated with paintings, various creatures' heads, and some statues standing tall in front of them.

The hall itself had quite a few creatures in it, most being ante-Human and the so-called 'humanoid' races as the entire lodge seemed to have been made with those in mind. Cain walked up to a counter and quickly reserved two rooms from the ante-Human pair standing on the opposite end, paying with eight out of literal dozens, if not hundreds, C-ranked items they had in stock.

They were ushered upstairs through a spiraling staircase that wound to a ring-like floor with doors embedded into the walls. The center of the floor sported a sprouting tree and the surrounding garden of wallflowers, fenced off with thorns. Further out, just before the rounding path that led to the rooms themselves, they noted countless sets of chairs and tables and quite a few ante-Human sitting there, chattering, though Cain's and others' arrival interrupted that as they became the center of the attention.

Just as Cain was about to offer a greeting, he felt his arm pulled and himself dragged to the side by Emma who quickly located one of the two rooms they reserved, dipping into it while the rest followed. One of the rooms was reserved for girls and the other one for guys, but as they had no plan on sticking around just yet, they all walked into just one.

It was far from being spacious, four beds lined on the opposite end of the doors, beneath a pair of arched windows, leaving little room for much else, but it was enough for the time being, at least.

"It's a nice place," Jamal said as he sat on the bed. "Nice beds, comfy. Yeah, like a three-star or something, right?"

"Alright," Emma drew everyone's attention onto herself before tossing it away. "Diya, run us through what you had in mind."

"O-oh? O-okay," Diya nodded pensively as she took a deep breath to calm down before speaking. "I... I think we need to learn more about the city. Important parts, maybe how it's separated, important people, and gathering places. We also, I think, need to find a way to be in a constant loop when it comes to news about the war."

"So, like, locating a chatterhead and befriending him?" Jamal quizzed.

"S-sure, something like that. The higher his position, the better."

"Alright, I can do that," he smiled confidently. "My charm ain't only for the ladies~~"

"Ignoring that," Emma said. "Daniel, how confident are you in finding the black market or something like that?"

"Pretty." Daniel replied simply.

"Alright, you'll get on that then."

"Okay~~"

"Girls, did you ever consider styling your hairs differently?" Cain asked abruptly.

"Huh?" by now, everyone had picked up on the fact that he rarely spoke just randomly, and when he did, it was quite obvious.

"I mean, you know, what's the heart of the gossipy culture?"

"... hairdressers," Senna mumbled. "You want us to go and spy on them?"

"Aye," Cain nodded. "Y'know, say you want something new and refreshing -- basically something that would take a long-ass time."

"Do you think the city even has something like that?" Daniel asked.

"Well, considering that every woman we've seen on our way over had some of the most elaborate and insane haircuts, I'd bet my money on it."

"Alright... we'll get on that... I guess," Emma replied, somewhat uncertain. "What about Lukas, Larua, and you? I'm guessing you have something in mind for the two of them while you'll just 'relax and see out and about'."

"Wow, I'm becoming predictable!"

"C'!"

"Don't worry," Cain laughed faintly. "Larua and Lukas will stay here and try to chat up the guests. I'm guessing that quite a few have escaped into the city and may have some information on the outside."

"And you?"

"I'll go and sign up for the war."

"..... huh?" there was a collective grouping of the questioning gazes pointing at him, yet he paused for a moment instead of elaborating, letting the tension stew.

"C'!!"

"I figured... why not complete both quests?" he added, smiling mysteriously.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly that," he shrugged. "We figure out who killed the Queenie, but we don't tell anyone and instead go and fight in a war for a while. If it looks like we're winning, we keep the info we have until the end. If it looks like we'll lose, we give the info to the King and dip out with our rewards before things become truly ugly."

"... like your soul?" Senna commented quickly.

"I'll sign up first, to see the process," Cain said. "And once I'm in, I'll let you guys know.

"... you've grown kinda greedy." Emma commented as well, looking at him dubiously.

"..." Cain smiled indifferently. This was hardly 'greed', especially considering all the hell people did and would do in the future. An example of greed would be him pushing when they were exploring "Molten Cave", resulting in unnecessary, innocent death. Simply playing both sides of the quests was merely smart as it offered the best rewards as well as the biggest leeway in case something went wrong.

And, usually, when it came to outright wars inside the Tower... things tended to go wrong and they tended to go wrong fast. This was doubly so the case on the earlier floors as there was less caution, both by humans as well as Tower-natives. Humans, especially, were quick to develop the 'hero-syndrome', a state in which they believed they were the chosen ones, meant for far greater things. This, in turn, would lower their threshold for risk, and dampen their survival instincts; they'd toss themselves head-first into the fire if it had a chance of giving them a crown.

Cain suspected, even if there really was no proof, that in the long-term, the number of humans that died inside the Towers because of the 'hero-syndrome' actually outpaced all others, including being jumped by others, or just accidentally stumbling into something well above their means.

He suspected that if he had entered the Tower early on the last time around, he'd have become one of 'those'. Luckily, by the time he actually got his Class, there were heaps of warnings and cautionary tales when it came to believing that. He was firm in his thought that he was a pebble, a tiny patch of land in the stormy seas, at risk of being drowned every single day.

The group dispersed after a short rest, everyone heading in their direction with a goal in mind. Cain stuck behind for a little while longer, adrift in his thoughts; he largely mulled over what he should do about his gear, as well as something about the First Awakening that he remembered -- his 'Hero' title mentioned he'd be given a few extra options, and he was wondering whether he should explore any of them. As far as he knew, actually, nobody in his past life had a 'Hero' title before their First Awakening, which is also why he had no point of reference.

Though the 'Spatial' option suited him well, it wasn't perfect by any means. Eh, it won't hurt to ask, he mused as he stood up, stretching and readying to depart as well. Hopefully, there's something good... hey, maybe there's gonna be like a hidden class or something? 'cause I'm so special, after all! I became a 'Hero' this early on----oh, wow, it's so easy to get dragged into the fantasy. I need to be careful...

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