Tower of Souls

It wasn’t the silence, or being alone, that bothered Cam; Being alone was fairly normal for him, having spent years living alone, with no real friends and only Davis and Mrs. Elsbet to talk to... If anything, the long hours of quiet felt familiar.

But the constant, pressing feeling that he could be attacked at any moment, that his life was on the line... That weighed on him, even if it also felt familiar.

Living in the Outer Ring, Cam was used to the possibility he could be mugged at any time, and, with the regular harassment from his bullies, the possibility of being attacked at any time. While most of those encounters weren’t with lethal intent, the experience had left him partially accustomed to the constant tension and the chance of imminent violence. But there was also an edge to it here. In the Tower, it wouldn’t just be a beating, or being robbed, but the real chance of something trying to kill him at any moment...

Of course, having a clone that wouldn’t hesitate to -temporarily- give his life to protect him also helped to take the edge off a bit. Still, trying to sleep that first night, knowing that monsters could literally be right down the hall from him and ready to kill him on sight, was a bit of a struggle.

The following nights weren’t quite as bad, but the edge was still there, always at the back of his mind.

”Not as easy as I thought, but we can handle it.” Eron, his clone, said as they quickly packed up on the last day. While the week of just talking to himself- if rarely, as they were careful not to make a lot of noise and attract the kobolds- had seemed to drag, they had gotten through it with only one minor incident: a patrol of kobolds stumbling on them while Cam was asleep.

Thankfully, Eron took his role seriously, managing to wake Cam before they got too close and allowing the pair to ambush the patrol; Still, it was a pointed reminder of the risk they were running.

”Yeah... Thinking about it, this is probably part of why the Families and Guilds insist on people climbing in teams.” Cam nodded, absently chewing on a ration- the food replacement was incredibly bland, but he was used to it after years with few options. ”The psychological impact is probably just about as big of a threat as the monsters, when you think about it; Monsters can kill you, but weeks or months alone could drive a normal person crazy... And that runs the risk of causing problems in the city when they come out.”

”Not like we’re normal anyway, right?” Eron shot back with a grin.

”Probably not.” Cam chuckled, shaking his head. ”Still, I can see how it will start to be a problem even for us in the future; The constant tension, and building paranoia that we’ll be attacked at any moment, especially when I’m sleeping-”

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”It’s not paranoia if they really are trying to kill you.”

Cam nodded at his clone’s comment, as it was true enough; The monster’s really were trying to kill them... Still, it didn’t change his point. ”Yeah, but you get what I mean. If I didn’t have you to keep watch, that patrol would have walked in on me sleeping soundly... and I probably wouldn’t have had a chance to wake up before they started butchering me. Most Classers, even Legendaries, don’t have a way to guarantee their security while they sleep; That’s why they climb in groups, so someone is always on watch while the others rest.”

”There have been some with Abilities that can guard them while they sleep.” Eron nodded slowly, thinking back to some of the stories they had heard. ”Like the one that could mind control a monster, or the guy that could manipulate stone to make walls-”

”But those won’t always work.” Cam quickly countered- he knew he was just arguing with himself, but it felt good to talk even a little bit... even if it was with himself. ”Not all monsters could be controlled, and some Floors are rumored to lack stone or earth for manipulating... Even if I don’t know how exactly that would work.”

”Maybe a Floor where everything is metal or something?” Eron shrugged, not really sure either. After a second, his grin returned. ”I guess it’s good that you have me instead of those Abilities, eh?”

”Yeah, I guess it is.” Cam laughed; As cool as it would be to have some of those Legendary Abilities he had heard of, he wouldn’t trade his clone for any of them... Not that he would have to, he knew, as he already had the potential to collect all sorts of Abilities- assuming he could find them somewhere in the Tower, as he had no plans to hunt people just to get a strong Ability. ”All right, enough yapping; We’ve got a Floor to clear. Same plan as before, taking it slow, and keeping our eyes open for good Abilities to harvest.”

”It’s kobolds on the first floor. How many good Abilities can we find?” Eron snorted, turning towards the hall leading out. ”We already got lucky finding two solid options, even if we could only grab one; What are the chances we find another that is worth grabbing?”

”I mean... odds are, most of the shamans will just have repeats of the Abilities we’ve already seen; Most Floors don’t usually have a huge diversity of Abilities among the monsters, so the three we’ve seen are probably it... Though the Boss may have something different, that isn’t guaranteed- and usually it’s just an upgraded version of an Ability the normal mobs have.”

”Hey, maybe that means he’ll have Fireball or Ironskin!”

”Fuck I hope not!” Cam snorted at his clones enthusiasm- even if he felt kind of the same. ”A first Floor Boss with Ironskin? That sounds like it would be a bitch to deal with!”

”Yeah, a tank Boss would be rough; I think I would rather it be a shaman Boss.” Eron nodded in agreement. ”A nice, squishy caster with a long range Ability would hurt while I close the distance... But he would definitely go down faster once I reach him.”

”Caster bosses usually have minions to protect them, though.” Cam added, the pair continuing their quiet theory crafting as they moved- there was no way to really know what they would have to deal with until the got to the boss, but he would rather be prepared with ideas than rush in blind...