Tower of Souls

Cam was starting to feel anxious. Not because anything had gone wrong, or any major problems had popped up; If anything, things were going too right. Dealing with the treehouses filled with Kawe went almost like clockwork, with the only hiccup being the times that it was a Big Bunni that got double teamed, resulting in the Bunni being killed before it could finish off the Archer or Slinger it was targeting.

The first time it happened had slightly caught Cam and his clone off guard, resulting in Eron taking a couple extra arrows before they could collapse on the mobs and finish them- but, after that, the pair were extra wary of the possibility. While they couldn’t completely prevent it from happening, as they had no control over where the mobs would jump down, just being aware of the problem allowed them to keep an eye out for it, and work to finish their own targets quickly before rushing over finish the wounded mobs...

It wasn’t just the speed they were taking down the enemies, or the reduced injuries they were taking, that was making him nervous... but also just how much equipment they had collected along the way.

For whatever reason, the actual drop rate of weapons and armor in the Tower had always been only vaguely mentioned in school, his class always being told that weapons and armor were hard to come by, with climbers sometimes going multiple Floors without finding a single upgrade... And, given the very diverse assortment arrayed before him, he finally understood that it wasn’t that drops were necessarily rare, but that finding a drop that was suitable for a particular Class was...

Still, even with as much as had dropped for them in clearing out the treehouses, their luck was... a bit mixed.

Cracked Iron Mace

Tower Value=2

Damage = 6

Dusty Light Crossbow

Tower Value=4

Damage = 9

Weathered Old Longbow

Tower Value=4

Damage = 8

Blowgun Needles(50)

Tower Vaue=2

Shoddy Wooden Round Shield

Tower Value=2

Armor=2

Eyes panning across what he had deemed the ’lesser’ drops, Cam didn’t know whether to be elated or furious at his luck. The mace may have better base damage than his dagger, but it lacked the extra bleed damage- and it was heavier and slower; If he didn’t already have several other weapon options already, it would have been nice to have... but, as it was, he knew it would be the first item tossed when his Inventory started filling up.

It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t good. Just... meh.

The Blowgun needles almost made him want to cry; He finally found ammunition for a ranged weapon... It just happened to be a ranged weapon he didn’t possess yet. And one that was both rarely found, and even rarer to be used. Potentially good, if he ever found a blowgun... But useless for now.

The bow and crossbow would be amazing... if he ever found arrows or bolts. The fact that they were both already better than the shortbow he had found earlier, and the fact that, unlike most of his other weapons, they didn’t look quite as run down or damaged, didn’t do much to elevate his mood over the drops.

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The shield was likely the best of the lesser drops- even if it looked like crap. Jagged edged, with mold growing between the roughly nailed together boards, it wasn’t actually round... but, considering it actually did add armor, he wasn’t going to complain. Unlike the rest of the items in its row, it was useful, and that was good enough for him.

But it was the last three items that made his eyes light up, even if only one of them was useful right now.

Haunted Cudgel

Tower Value=8

Damage = 8

When striking a living target, deals an additional 2 necrotic damage.

Kawe Playing Cards(Relic)

Tower Value=20

Kawe Totem(Relic)

Tower Vaue=40

Cam didn’t even know where to start... but apparently Eron did.

”Holy shit, this thing is awesome!” The clone exclaimed, snatching up the wooden cudgel. Pausing to admire the polished length of dark wood- which looked like it could double as a walking cane for an especially dapper Kawe- that had purple smoke wafting off of it at random, making it look slightly sinister, Eron could only gape at it. ”Why didn’t we check the drops on the way!? This thing would have made the fights faster and easier! And it looks badass!”

”It also looks kind of evil...” Cam said, though he also agreed with his clone that it looked pretty badass. ”And we decided to stop checking every drop after we got two ranged weapons and blowgun needles in a row! Plus, we already had the fights locked in, so we decided not to waste a lot of time checking every time!”

”And this would have been the only useful item, I know.” Eron agreed, though he was still grinning. ”And, really, this and the shield would have been the only things we would have even considered using, since the damage would have been the same as my Moldy Spear...”

”A one handed cudgel and a shield is definitely better than the spear, for the most part; Same damage- as long as the enemy is alive-, more armor... Just less reach.” Cam shrugged. Ultimately, it wouldn’t have changed their fights much; Whichever of them- likely Eron, since he was usually taking the front in every fight- took the shield and cudgel would have maybe taken a little less damage... if he could block the attack, as that was the real issue with using a shield: Skill. If you couldn’t block the attack, the armor on the shield wouldn’t matter.

He still didn’t fully understand why you could still take damage through a shield. Some said it was because the force of the blow still transferred, while others just called it the will of the Tower... But it didn’t make sense to him that it was possible for a dagger to stab a solid slab of steel and still hurt the person on the other side.

But... the logic didn’t matter. It was how things worked, and that meant he had to work with how things were...

”I’m more in awe of these.” Cam said slowly, reaching out to touch arguably the least useful- and simultaneously the most useful- items. ”Two Relics? I don’t even know what the odds of that are... other than low. Extremely low.”

He couldn’t help but marvel over the pair. Relics were a special set of items that could drop, having no use inside the Tower... but offering a much higher value when sacrificed to push back the Wastes, and were highly sought after for that very reason; Just the totem by itself was already worth more than all of the weapons and armor they had gathered- assuming they were willing to sacrifice the very necessary equipment like that.

Carefully picking up the Totem, he stared in awe at the intricate detail; Looking like it had been carved by hand- even if he knew it was actually created by the Tower-, it looked almost like a mace, with a wooden handle and three animal head carved at the head, each pointing in a different direction... While the bear head made sense to him, considering how the Kawe looked somewhat like bears to him, he didn’t understand why a frog and a bird- an eagle, he thought, or maybe a falcon?- had been included... Not that it was important, but he was a bit curious.

”These are awesome!” He said softly, picking up what looked fairly similar to the deck of cards Davis owned that they used to play games occasionally... though with slightly rougher edges, and the face cards were actually Kawe instead of humans... ”You know, I never really understood why cards always have kings and queens; From what I remember of history, we’ve never had either...”

”Makes you think, doesn’t it?” Eron replied thoughtfully. ”If we’ve never had a king or queen, then why do those words even exist?”

Cam shrugged, as his clone had a point... though it was also possible that that part of history had simply been lost to time...

”You think the Boss here is their King?”

”...we’re on Floor 2.” Cam scoffed at his clone’s question, though he knew Eron was mostly just joking again. ”It would be pretty sad if it was.”

Sharing a chuckle at the thought, the pair quickly gathered up their loot once more...

It was about time they checked out the Boss.