The next batch of spells for the guys were upgrades to stuff they already had, like a stronger Heal for Jason and a stronger Snare for Dan. The really great update was a new spell that would resurrect our bodies if we died. Where the last one returned 50 percent of our lost experience, this one returned 70 percent. That was a solid upgrade that we hoped we never had to use.
Sir Arthur was a bust, just as we expected. Apparently, the King still needed more time to uncover who the leader of the Turncoats was, which meant we needed more levels.
We had only investigated about a quarter of the swamp at that point, with still lots more ground to cover and Dungeons to conquer. Our teammates were also taking advantage of Dan’s brain and hitting Dungeons that we had already gone through. So a small benefit was that, if necessary, we could link up quickly to help each other.
“As much as I hate the place, it looks like we are heading back to the swamps.”
“If you have somewhere else, Alex, we are all ears,” Jason said before turning to Dan. “And shut up, Dan. Being all ears is a perfectly acceptable saying.”
Dan put his hand down that was pointing in Jason’s direction and closed his mouth, stopping whatever words that were about to come out.
“I got nothing, Allister. We can’t beat the experience and the advantage of having a very complete and detailed map. I’m just tired of the smell.”
There was one other small part that made me not fight against the idea as hard as I could. The untraveled swamp was yet another place that the code could be hiding. If there was anywhere that I would put something, which I didn’t want found, it would be in these swamps. The Monastery would have been my first choice, since there was no getting across that without the magical words, as we learned from Constantine’s writings.
“Well, suck it up, Buttercup. We got experience to make.”
November 19th, 2016
After three days, and several more hours climbing those blasted trees again, I gained another eight points in Scaling. I was now at 82, and the trees were offering little, to no challenge. It was time for me to go back to the Keep if I wanted to max out this Skill. I also wanted to talk to Waseem about that tower I had seen.
Grinding was grinding, and there was nothing of great note that occurred during our trek through the muck and swill. It all became a blur, with me on autopilot for most of it. I only paid attention while practicing my Scaling or searching for something that looked out of the ordinary.
I made an excuse for calling an early day at the swamp, saying I needed to sell our loot. It wasn’t entirely false, as I had lots of crap in my bags, but I could have gone another day or two if I shared the loot out amongst the group to hold. I think the guys were a bit tired of the swamp as well, and I had no pushback on calling an early day. We headed north to the road, and Jason logged off. Dan and Wayne ran back into the swamp, planning to join up with Jenny’s group.
That was something for us to consider in the future; joining up with our team, and trying to tackle one of those Red Dungeons. It would be worth the effort to see if we could form a raid on our own, and not only when the AltCon quest told us we had to do so.
I arrived at the city and went through the routine of selling our loot and dropping off our cash at the Bank. I made a quick run over to the tower I had seen, and it was still Red from the bottom to the top. I then made my way over to the Pit, via the rich neighborhood I had previously used to increase my Skill.
The buildings offered far more challenges than the trees in the forest could, and I was planning a solid few hours of practicing after I talked with Waseem. That tower continued to vex me, and I had to know how something could be Red from the very lowest floor to the top, when I could clearly see it was a simple climb.
The front door to the Pit was open, which was rare for the tavern. Smiling to myself, I saw an opportunity to enter with my Blacksuit on and get a good look at what went on in the place when I wasn’t there.
I took three steps into the Pit and looked around. The place was empty, with even Molly not being behind the bar. I had never been back in the kitchen, and I wondered if there were some nefarious activities going on there, or if that’s just where Molly prepared the slop she called food. Deciding I had to see, I turned toward the kitchen and headed in that direction.
“I can seeeee yoooouuuu,” came from out of the air in a childish, sing-song voice. I realized it was Waseem, and I sighed to myself.
“I hate you so much right now. You know that, don’t you?”
“Be nice, Alex, or I won’t teach you anything further.”
“I thought you said there was nothing more you could teach me.”
“What I should have said is, ‘Remember, I’ve taught you everything you know, but I haven’t taught you everything I know.’ I’m sure you can see the difference. Now what brings you here?”
I recounted my progress through Scaling, even telling him the story in the trees where I almost fell to my death. When I got to the story of the tower, Waseem ran for the door and looked around outside.
“What’s gotten into you?”
“You didn’t climb it, did you? Please tell me you didn’t try.”
“I’m not that stupid, Waseem. I came here to ask you about it first.”
Waseem let out a huge sigh of relief and headed toward his usual table. I joined him after he waved me over.
“Don’t mess with the Tower. Ever. That place is wrapped up tighter than the Bank, and for good reason. The entire collection of Loust artifacts, going back hundreds of years, is located in that tower.”
“In the middle of the frigging Capitol?”
“Kich’s Keep wasn’t always so large. It has grown, and it grew around the Tower. From the earliest age, all children know to stay away from the Tower. The wards placed on it make sure few could get close.
“That’s what you saw, by the way. The wards scream out to anyone who walks by that the building is not to be trifled with.”
“Why would you bother to put wards that someone as unskilled as me could see. They aren’t very effective at being a secret defense.”
“This isn’t about secrecy at all, Alex. Think of something like the Bank. Only instead of being a non-descript building, like it is now, it looked like a fortress—massive battle formations on the outside, spiked walls surrounding it, and a door so massive that a battalion of Trolls couldn’t open it. Now, what would be the point of putting on such a display?”
“I get it. One look and you are going to say, ‘Nope, not getting in there.’ Only with the Tower, they do it with wards that magically saturate the area, affecting all senses.”
“Yes, you do get it. I have no doubt that if you could get through the obvious wards on the outside, the ones inside would blast you to pieces. Like I said before, that place is better defended than most castles.”
Waseem was not his usual flippant self, so I knew he was deathly serious about the defenses of the Tower. If I had no plans to try and see what happened with a climb before, I most certainly wasn’t going to give it a shot now.
“I don’t have much farther to go before I reach the pinnacle of Scaling. It really is a fantastic Skill that has improved even my normal Climbing abilities. The area where you first saw me should be perfect to finish out.”
“If you truly are that close to mastering the Skill as much as you can, then I have some bad news for you.”
“Really? Do you see the smile on my face and just have to ruin my day?”
“No, Alex. That part is a bonus.”
“I wasn’t kidding; I really do hate you. You know that, don’t you?”
Waseem laughed off my comments and was walking toward the door, when he looked back at me. “Well come on, I can’t show you here.”
We walked out of the Pit and down a few different side streets, stopping before a building that at least didn’t look like it would fall down. I took it in, using my Climbing and Scaling Skills, and it looked like a walk in the park. I t
old Waseem as much.
“Not everything is what it seems. I want you to Scale up to that third-floor window. Can you do that?”
The route, even for my Scaling, was all Green. I was looking forward to making Waseem look dumb, but that last line kept going around in my head. What was I missing?
Not seeing anything obvious, I jogged over to the building, jumped up and started Scaling the wall. I was up to the second floor and past it in a matter of seconds. That’s when I heard Waseem yell up to me.
“When you’re done, come on back to the Pit, but don’t take a straight route. I’ll see you in a bit. And one more thing. Don’t forget to run.”
I looked down and saw Waseem run full out back toward the tavern as I placed my hand on the sill of the third-floor window. Only self-preservation kept me from letting go of the wall entirely and covering my ears when the loudest alarm I had ever heard went off right next to my head.
Despite the ringing in my ears, I could hear shouts coming from all around me. I needed to get out of there, and I needed to do so quickly. I used a technique I had been practicing, sliding down the wall, letting my shadows act as brakes. It would leave marks, but at this point I didn’t care.
Like Waseem advised, I ran like a bat out of hell, but not directly back to the Pit. After a half hour of making circles and doubling back on myself, I felt confident that no one was following me. Checking around me one last time, I made my way back to the Stinky Pit, and entered.
Waseem was sitting at his usual table, feet up, and leaning back in the chair. Next to him was an older female gnome, wearing tiny glasses, and dressed in all black robes. She looked like a Death Caster.
“What the hell was that? And why the hell didn’t you tell me that would happen? You obviously knew.”
“That would have entirely negated the point of the exercise. If I told you that reaching up to the third window sill would have adverse effects, you wouldn’t have done it.”
“Right! Because I almost lost my hearing, all so you could have a laugh!”
“Calm down. It wasn’t for a laugh. I mean, I did laugh. A lot. But that wasn’t why I did it,” Waseem said, bringing his chair forward and resting all four legs on the ground. Motioning toward the woman sitting to his side, who still hadn’t said a word or moved a muscle, Waseem said, “This is Sally. She is to be your next teacher.”
I wasn’t following the train of thought Waseem used to go from almost getting me killed to introducing my next teacher, but I was calming down enough to ask questions without yelling. “A pleasure to meet you, Sally. I look forward to whatever tutelage you can provide. Only first, I need to beat some answers out of this one,” I said while pointing at Waseem.
I didn’t know what to expect from my new “teacher,” but hearing her start to giggle definitely wasn’t one of the options. “Oh dear, you would need to get in a really long line of people who want to do that.
“What Waseem isn’t telling you is that I am to teach you how to avoid the very scenario you found yourself in today. I will be able to show you how to avoid it, and when you become strong enough, go right through it.”
“Forgive me for being so blunt, Sally, but what the hell is ‘it?’ You’re talking as if I have some semblance of an idea about what happened to me.”
Sally looked over at Waseem with a scornful face. “You didn’t tell him the threat?”
“How are you both not seeing the point of my exercise? By not telling him, he was caught off guard, and it made a more lasting impact, I’m sure,”Waseem said to Sally. Then, turning towards me, “It was a ward, Alex. The fact that we had just talked about the Tower told me you had no idea what wards really were. And if you want to go climbing around the Noble Quarter, you will need to know about wards.”
Turning to Sally, I asked, “So you can teach me how to see them and get through them?”
“In time. But there is much work to do before you can get there. We should start immediately,” she said and rose from her chair, motioning for me to follow. “We will leave this one to his smugness in solitude.”
“Sounds perfect to me.”
“What a baby,” Waseem said in a low voice, before yelling to the closing door of the Pit. “You’ll thank me later!”
Sally led me to a nondescript door amongst a dozen others, down some back alley in the seediest part of town. The place didn’t look like it could house a closet, let alone enough room to train. But as I have learned in Resurgence, time and again, there is the potential for a mystery behind any door.
We stepped through the door and walked several feet away from the street. Sally fooled with some contraption inside the near lightless room, and another door opened. I walked through this door and found myself in a massive apartment of sorts. The entryway also acted as a sitting area and living room. Off of this large room were about a dozen doors. As I took it all in, I realized the building took up the whole block.
“All those other doors we saw walking down the street, do they all lead here?”
“No. Only the one we went through. The rest of those doors, if you could get them open, would give you access to a very small empty room. Not worth anywhere near the trouble of getting into it.”
Sally walked to the middle of the large room and spread her arms wide. And like I said, she was a gnome, so they didn’t really spread that wide.
“Using all of your senses, tell me what you see in this room.”
I did as she said, opening up my mind to my Climbing and then Scaling Skills. I saw a few pillars I could climb and some corners in which I could wedge myself, but that was it. I told Sally my findings.
“Hmm. Ok. If nothing else, that tells me exactly where we need to start.”
Sally walked back to me and then led the way to a door on one of the far walls.
She opened the door and pointed into the room. “Can you see the lever on the far wall?”
I nodded to her that I could.
“All you have to do is pull that lever, and you may use whatever skills you like to do so.”
Realizing there was something going on that I wasn’t seeing, I took my time scanning the room. There were parts that I couldn’t see, but where I could, I noted some handholds I could use if the floor fell out from under me or something.
“So just go in?”
“Yes. Whenever you are ready, simply step through the door.”
I wrapped my Blacksuit around me and crossed the threshold of the room. As anticipated, the door swung shut behind me.
I’m sure Sally waited patiently on the other side. After several seconds, I knew she began to hear my curses and screams. Her training had begun.
*
When the lever was finally pulled, the door next to Sally swung open. Inside, she could see me on the far side of the room. I was quite bloody and, I’m sure, looked more than a little angry.
“Tomash, if you wouldn’t mind?” Sally said to another gnome that had arrived since I entered the Room of Suffering. At least, that was what I would likely call it.
Tomash nodded and threw a powerful heal on me, restoring all of my hit points in one shot. I took the time to nod toward Tomash in thanks before striding purposefully toward Sally.
As soon as I walked out of the room, Sally commanded me to stop. And it was a command. I didn’t even realize how quickly I stopped. At first sight, you wouldn’t think of Sally as the type to throw out a Patton- or Napolean-type command, but she certainly did. That still wasn’t going to stop me from yelling at her.
“What was the point of that?”
“Well, what did you learn?”
I explained in detail what happened once the door closed and I began to make my way toward the lever, my anger subsiding by small degrees as I went through the details. The first indication something was wrong in the room, I told her, was the spike that drove through my foot on my first step forward. I leapt off the ground from that point and grabbed one of the handholds, only to have arrows fly from the other
side of the room, boring into my side. I had let go from there and dropped back toward the ground. My impact caused a gout of fire to be released from the ground, burning me on the arm.
The lever, which was still quite a distance away, seemed to be mocking me. I decided to make a run for it, only to be smacked, hit, burned, frozen, impaled, and impacted by over a dozen items. I was also bleeding profusely and was poisoned from one of the countless darts that had been shot at me.
“Yes, I know what happened. I asked, ‘What did you learn?’ Tell me, look in the room and tell me what you see.”
I looked around, and noted a few additional handholds I hadn’t seen before, but if there was something more Sally wanted me to see, I wasn’t getting it. I told her as much.
Sally let out a heavy sigh. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”
With a shove that seemed impossible to come from such a tiny individual, I was thrown back into the room, and the door closed behind me. I looked across the room and saw the lever reset. Sally told me I had to move the lever again.
“And what if I just decide to sit here by the door?” I yelled at her.
I realized I should have kept my mouth shut when the wall where the door was located started pushing forward, pushing me deeper into the room. “Not cool, Sally!”
I obviously had no other options but to make it across and swing the lever from one spot to another. I couldn’t just stand in one location. I learned that when, moving through the room, I got hit with a fireball. I just wanted to rest for a moment, but another fireball followed up soon after. If I didn’t move, I would get killed standing in the same place.
As soon as I made it through the room and hit the lever, the mini apocalypse would stop. From a location above me, an opening would appear. Tomash would peek his head out, and then hit me with a heal. After that, Sally would ask me what I learned.
I did this twice more. Each time I thought I would get better at something, but I never learned anything at all and was getting slower on my times.
Perhaps you are wondering why I didn’t just stay on the other side of the room next to the lever. I tried that. Sally hit the room with a knockout gas, and when I woke up I was on the far side from the lever again. Only that time I had a headache.
Restoration: The Rise of Resurgence: Book II Page 40
