Return of the Tower Conqueror

  Changes (III)

Finishing his morning coffee, Cain stood up and stretched, his bones creaking and cracking and crying as though they hadn't had a good exercise in years. The yesterday's appearance, one adorned with unshaven beard and unkempt hair, was gone, however. In its place was a refreshed man and though he hadn't aged visibly in all the six years, there were traces of it all emerging further in his eyes.

Looking at the clock, he took one last glance at the completely empty apartment and smiled. This had been not only his but also his family's home for seven years now and it wasn't easy leaving it. But... it was time. Everyone else, actually, had moved into the City already, some as far back as a whole week ago, ever since Cain announced to the group he'd be returning into the Tower since the Eight Floor had been cleared almost ten days ago.

Though the world was ablaze with the information and interviews of the group that charged at the front, he hardly cared much for it. The 'False God' wasn't a particularly hard boss to beat, especially if people stacked Mind Resistance which effectively nullified the boss' main attack. There was virtually nothing for Cain to glean from listening to the group who beat it and so, instead, he focused on finalizing the preparations.

The Ninth Floor was... strange. One reason he decided to return was that people's items and levels and any numerical stats, really, won't be of much help. So, even on the off chance that there was somebody out there who simply outbodied him through stats alone, he was still certain to dominate. In extension, by the time they cleared the Ninth Floor, he'd have likely caught up and shot past everyone else, with the main culprit behind that being the ring.

Cain glanced at it, sitting neatly on his finger, shimmering in faint crimson, triple-gemmed at the front. Even six years after obtaining it he still had some difficulties believing. The scariest part, however, was that the ring would only continue to grow stronger. Right now, it was at its weakest possible state. And yet... it was likely better than at least two of the other best items combined out there, currently discovered.

Leaving the apartment and closing the doors, he descended the tall building and landed into the empty courtyard-- well, almost empty. A bulky man with a bitter smile stood there, a cigarette in hand, his hair ruffled.

"I thought you already left?" Cain approached, smiling before the two men hugged.

"Aah, I did, I did," Rick replied, shaking his head. "But... I had to come back. At least once. Seven years down the drain..." he added, looking around at the giant complex that until just a month ago was a city within a city.

"Yeah," he nodded. "But still... it hurts, man. I went gray to build all of this."

"Then how come your hair looks the best it has since you were literally nine?"

"Khm, khm... anyway, that City is really amazing!" Rick quickly switched the topic as the two men began to walk forward. "But it's literally impossible to buy anything on any of the upper stratas. I must have tossed literal trillions of dollars worth of items at them... and nothing. Nada. Zilch."

"Well, duh," Cain looked at him oddly for a moment. "Without me, you'd literally be unable to buy anything, even on the shitty strata. You're still severely underestimating the City's value, especially considering it was the first Tower-city to be vastly inhabited."

"Yeah," Rick nodded, having long since learned that every Tower's Second Floor, even if they were different in nature, had a massive city that acted as a heart of the floor and quickly became the center of commerce. "For a businessman, though, it's quite suffocating... I have all this money but literally nothing to do with it."

"Just feed Taima any item below 'A' grade and let him melt them down for materials," Cain advised. "And have a quick sellout of most of the warehouses. Basically anything below 'S+' needs to go on the shelves."

"... will I get an answer if I ask why?"

"No."

"Alright," Rick shrugged. "So, we're having a clearance sale, I guess."

"It won't be too suspicious, right?"

"Nah," he shook his head. "They'll just assume I'm trying to re-calibrate after my entire business kingdom out here fell apart. Do I prioritize selling to the Tower-natives?"

"It's irrelevant, either one's fine I think," Cain replied as the two left the massive complex and headed down the main street toward the Tower, quickly entering the hustle and bustle of the city. However, nobody even as much as looked at them; Rick had long since withdrawn from being the company's public face, and Cain-- including his persona that had once upon a time shaken the world-- were just distant memories by this point, and most had actually assumed that he was killed on the second floor. "How's Sarah and the kids?"

"Excited," Rick chuckled. "They got classified last week-- they've been wreaking havoc around the house ever since. Especially Sarah, strangely, despite saying countless times before that she didn't care."

"She chose an Elementalist, right?"

"Yup."

"Eh, magic is always fun," Cain shrugged. "Young or old."

"..." Rick's expression immediately darkened when he heard 'young'.

"I'm sorry, both from me as well as on Emma's behalf." Cain added with a chuckle.

"It's... it's better if kids are active... yeah..."

"It'd be stranger if she was silent and withdrawn, to be honest, having grown up surrounded by... well, all of this and all of us. To be fair, I mainly have Senna to thank for that."

"Yup," Rick nodded. "She's pretty much the only one who can reign that girl in."

"She looks up to her," Cain shrugged.

"Eh, she looks up to you far more," Rick shrugged. "She's doing basically everything in her power to emulate you. You shoulda seen the fuckin' light in her eyes when I accidentally told her how you declared war against the entire world."

"..."

"I swear, I can't even think of an analogy. I wish my kids would look at me like that even once."

"They should," Cain said. "While I may have declared the damned war, you're the only one who's been fightin' it, old man. Thank you."

"Ah, it was nothing."

"We both know it's not," Cain added, glancing at the aged figure. "I can't imagine the pressure. I really can't," he sighed, looking up to the sky. "I was literally 100% certain that we'd leave the Tower and discover the entire world at war, even six years ago. While I played the role in reigning them in... you were the plug."

"... you know what?" Rick chuckled. "It actually feels good to have someone finally recognize it. A damn fine ego boost."

"Ha ha ha, well, us old men gotta have each other's backs. All that young blood out there is gunnin' after fame and shit, but we need to stay calm."

"Speaking of old men, did you know Kramer's kid has a starting Intelligence of 142?"

"... a what now?"

"Yea-- the kid got classified as a Bard like half a year ago," Rick replied. "It's nuts. To be fair, she also has a 'Trait' that essentially makes her incapable of raising any other stats besides Vitality to a certain degree, but still."

"Tsk, who knew the bastard's girlfriend was also a freakin' high-end climber? They're probably the highest leveled of all the peeps in our group. Do they ever even leave the Tower?" Cain quizzed.

"The last time was when Delilah went into labor," Rick answered. "So, what? Maybe just short of five years ago?"

"Aah, battle-crazed bastard."

"A pot calling the kettle--"

"How the heck am I a battle-crazed bastard?!! I literally just went six years without genuinely using Mana! Not just not fighting, but not even using Mana!"

"Well, you know, there was that whole 'declaring war against the whole world' and then declaring a war against the entire Kingdom in the Tower and then literally obliterating the Kingdom--"

"A'right, a'right, that was--- that was before."

"And you'll just casually enjoy the scenery now?" Rick asked with a wry smile as they landed in front of the Tower, a pair of well-armored guards both bearing a shield and a sword walking up to them and quickly scattering when Rick showed them his identification.

"..." To be fair, there ain't much to see or visit on the 9th floor, Cain mused inwardly but maintained a poker expression. "Of course."

"Damn, ever after six years, you're still somehow dislikable."

"I'm an old man, Ricky, you should know," Cain said. "We are stubborn oaks set in our ways, hellbent on defying the progressive youth."

"Ah, yes, you, hellbent on anything. To live to see that day..."

"I was hellbent on having a chocolate cake for my 37th birthday but Emma went with strawberry. Didn't talk to her for like half a month after."

"O' yeah! I remember!" Rick exclaimed. "She made sooooooo many jokes about that time, there would be an entire stand-up special if we recorded them."

"..." Cain grunted lowly while the two men crossed through the wide, gaping entrance to the Tower, entering the well-charted, by now, first floor. Though there were no long lines and swarms, there were still many people around, especially some few miles in-- the surrounding hills were teeming with unlucky bandits and thieves who deemed Rick and Cain as two weak, old men on their way to explore and see the beautiful sights. Alas...

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