Tower of Souls

The door clicked shut, followed by the stomp of a booted foot, then... the clunk of metal on stone?

Cam sagged in relief, recognizing the sound of Davis’s crutch. The distinctive shuffling limp was a sound he had heard almost everyday for years, and he doubted anyone could replicate it so perfectly. The closet door swung open and, seconds later, he heard the familiar gruff voice.

”Come on out, son. Just keep your voice down in case anybody is around.”

By the time Cam managed to scramble out of the crawl space, ignoring the twinge of pain in his stiff legs, Davis was already seated in his favorite chair. Rushing over to the man, he frowned slightly at the hand held up to stop him.

”Damn, son! Did you ever leave that hole while I was gone?”

Cam hesitated for a second before shrugging. ”I mean, yeah. To use the bathroom...”

Davis’s nose crinkled as he pointed towards the bathroom. ”Go ahead and shower first; I can smell you clear from there... Not that I blame you for being cautious, I just don’t want to smell you!”

The easy grin on the man’s face took any sting out of his words, and Cam nodded before heading to the shower. Rushing through a quick shower- though he made sure to clean himself thoroughly- Cam couldn’t stop his racing mind. Obviously Davis was ok, but what had happened? Were they in any sort of trouble? Was anyone looking for him?

Hair still damp from the shower, Cam took the seat across from Davis. ”Is everything ok? They didn’t hurt you, did they? I didn’t mean to cause you so much trouble-”

”Whoa, slow down there. I can only answer one question at a time.” Davis chuckled. ”Yeah, everything is ok. No, they didn’t hurt me... And you damn sure better quit blaming yourself for any of this! That asshole Cole is the one that started trouble, and you already took care of that!”

”But-”

”No ’buts’, hear me?” Davis growled. ”You ain’t done nothing wrong, and you sure as hell didn’t force me to help you!”

”I did what I did because you needed time to prepare before those vultures could descend on you, understand? Ain’t much I can do anymore, but I can do that for you! Now, do you want me to tell you what’s what or not?”

Cam took a second to consider what the old man said; he completely agreed that Cole was the one that started the trouble... and he really couldn’t argue anything else Davis said, either. The man wanted to help him, and he did... And, while Cam still felt a little guilty about it, the choice to do so ultimately belonged to Davis and no one else.

”Yeah, ok. Just... I was worried about you.”

Davis’s expression softened, and he smiled kindly at the young man. ”I know, son. But ain’t nothing to worry about now, ok? Security called it ’defense of a newly Awakened from a criminal element’... fancy way of saying I was protecting you from scum, but that’s just how they say shit.”

Cam sighed in relief- that meant that they accepted his story and didn’t give him a hard time over it, so Davis was clear at least.

”Now, it ain’t all sunshine- that don’t mean the rest of it is bad, just that it ain’t good.” Davis said slowly. ”I’m pretty sure that some of the big groups have people watching me, hoping I’ll lead them to you. They’re keeping their distance right now, but clearly they are hoping to get their hands on you first. Whenever you finally go out there, expect to have people show up to make their offers.”

”The question is... what are you going to do? I ain’t got a problem with you hiding out here for a bit, but that won’t work for long. Sooner or later, someone will come poking around- and you need to have a plan before they do.”

Cam nodded; he understood that fact well enough already... And, having spent four days thinking about it, he had a plan- well, two plans really, though one of those plans wouldn’t work without more information than he had.

”Davis... you know I trust you more than anyone, so I was hoping I could ask you for some advice... and some help- hopefully without you freaking out on me.” He chuckled weakly, knowing how little he could actually accomplish if he tried it alone- he would basically be forced to pick one of the Families or Guilds with no information if it went that way.

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”Boy, I ought to-” Davis shook his fist mock-threateningly at the younger man. ”You better quit that nonsense! Acting like I won’t help you... or thinking I’ll lose my shit? You know better than that!”

Cam smiled at the crotchety act; he knew Davis too well, and the man was easily one of the nicest people around... once you got to know him. ”Ok. So, my first question... is there a way to reach the Tower, and enter it, without anyone seeing me?”

Davis stared, stunned, at the insanity of the question- he would have leapt up from his chair if not for his missing leg... And, if not for Cam requesting he not freak out, or the possibility of people paying extra attention to his apartment, he would have started shouting. Instead, his voice came out as an outraged hiss.

”Boy, don’t tell me you’re going to try and climb alone! That’s just... It’s fucking crazy!”

”Just hear me out, please.” Cam pleaded, waving the old man down before he got too worked up- who settled down slowly, though his glare was full force and locked on. ”If it’s possible to get in the Tower without anyone seeing or stopping me, then I have a plan.”

”It better be a damned good plan!” Davis grunted, not relenting.

”It is... I think...” Cam withered slightly under the glare. ”Just... bear with me, because I haven’t had a chance to test this yet.”

Focusing for second, Cam tried to activate his new Ability: Clone. The effect was less dramatic than Soul Harvest- at least to him. The moment he tried to use it, another him- identical in every way, except for the Stats, all the way down to the clothes- just seemed to step out of him to the side and stood beside his chair for a second before moving over and taking a seat as well.

”Well, this is interesting.” The clone said as Davis gaped at the display. ”It’s just like the description said.”

Davis, visibly restraining the urge to shout, ground out simply. ”What the hell is this!?”

”It’s an Ability.” Cam and his clone said simultaneously, before the clone waved for him to continue with a cheeky smile. ”I can create a clone of myself, just with reduced Stats.”

”How much lower?” Davis asked slowly, a look of calculation in his eyes.

To simplify the conversation a bit, Cam opened his Status screen and read the description out loud- and watched as Davis’s look of incredulity grew.

”That... Well, it might work...” Davis said slowly, tapping the arm of his chair. ”I don’t know how many Stats a Mythic gets each Level-”

”Thirteen.” Cam answered the unasked question- he trusted the old man, after all, and saw no reason to hide it from him.

Davis whistled at the number; he already knew how many the other Rarities got, it was well documented. But Mythic was a big unknown. ”Damn! With that... Hell, it’s like having a Mythic and a Legendary all wrapped up in one! Depending on what other Abilities you get down the line... Shit, I can’t even imagine what you’ll be able to do!”

Cam hesitated for a second; he didn’t want to hide anything from his friend, but his Innate Ability... It wasn’t something he wanted really known by anyone, at least not yet. ”So... My thought was, with this... I’m not really trying to climb solo. Do you think the two of us could manage at least a Floor or two?”

Davis paused to consider the question, before answering slowly. ”That... It’s tough to say, son. The fact that he sticks around until something kills him means that you kinda wouldn’t be solo, even though you really are...”

He sighed softly, before barely nodding. ”Yeah, maybe. But only if you’re extremely careful, and you don’t get unlucky with what sort of Floors you get.”

Cam nodded. He understood what the old man meant: regardless of how many Floors people had cleared, there was no definitive guide... Because the Floors were different each time someone entered. On your first climb, the first Floor could be rats or spiders- or maybe even goblins, if you were unlucky... But the next time, it could be something completely different.

Only the relative difficulty wouldn’t change: the First Floor would only ever fall within a certain difficulty level, regardless of how powerful the person was... But, even then, there were variances in it.

On the First Floor, rats were the easiest anyone had ever reported... but kobolds had been seen before, and they were substantially more difficult to deal with than the rats... And that didn’t even take into account the Anomalous Floors... Which were a whole different problem, though thankfully rare.

”It’s dangerous, son.” Davis said slowly, feeling his age more than ever. ”And I don’t just mean the critters you’ll face. The First Floor is usually quick... but that’s just in comparison to the higher Floors; you could still spend a day or two on it... and it only gets longer from there. Loneliness can get to a man...”

He waved vaguely at the clone. ”And I’m not sure talking to yourself will be enough to stave that off...”

A small chuckled escaped the old man. ”Listen at me! That would only matter if you climbed past Floor Ten, really!”

”Ah, hell with it!” He exclaimed suddenly, slapping the arm of his chair. ”I can see that you’re set on trying this. Only thing I can do is try to make sure you survive it...”

”So, ask the questions and I’ll answer what I can. Then you can tell me your plans, and I’ll tell you what I see that you didn’t... and I guess we’ll figure this shit out...”

”For starters... Yeah, there’s a way you can maybe enter the Tower with no one seeing you- or, at the very least, no one being able to stop you in time. It ain’t easy, and you’ll need a little luck... But here’s what I know...”