Chương 29: Chapter 27 – Everyone loves trap floors

The evening rest went mostly well. I still spent a few hours attaching Elsha's blood-collecting vial to the Lantern of Endless Suffering. Astarielle didn't show at all, but she wasn't unsummoned, so the community must have taken her in pretty well. I enjoyed the rest. Yes, I should have kept Ashy summoned for the bond to grow, but I prioritized peace. The assistants, no, not Kareem, I hadn't seen him in days, but the general staff guided me to one of the apparently many side rooms. I didn't like that one bit.

I liked the spotlight. But I complied.

"The main stage is occupied for a priority climb of the 20th floor," she said on the way. Hmph. I grunted. That someone got to a higher floor than me, sure, that made sense, given I had to skip a day. But to relegate me to an off-stage? I glowered at everyone and everything. Side stage four turned out to be a room about the size of a large classroom. Three pods sat against the far wall, sleek and identical to the main ones. A single technician sat at a desk, scrolling through something on her tablet. No tribunes.

No audience. No host. What the room did have was a low table, a tea set, and three familiar faces. Henrik sat cross-legged on the floor with his back against the wall, tablet propped on one knee, sipping tea. Liu Wei knelt beside the low table, pouring tea from a clay pot with the unhurried grace of a man who had never once in his life been in a rush. Yukiko sat a few paces from both of them, legs folded beneath her, katana across her lap, eyes closed.

Meditating, or pretending to so she wouldn't have to talk to Henrik. They all looked up when I walked in. Well, Liu looked up. Henrik glanced. Yukiko opened one eye.

"Damian," Liu said, and poured a fourth cup.

"Please, sit. We might not be climbing together, but the tea tastes better when shared among friends. It's also a fresh batch brought from the mainland." I sat.

"You three are on the same team?"

"Hardly," Henrik said, pushing up his glasses.

"We are each on a different team. I got floor thirteen. Yukiko fifteen, and Liu seventeen."

"Still progress," I remarked, accepting a tea. It smelled heavenly.

"Not much," Henrik replied.

"My floor has already been cleared. So, I've received a detailed guide on its layout, enemies, and boss. I cannot express how entertaining I find this dive."

"Same," Yukiko added.

"I'm even getting two second-wavers to carry through the floor. Yay." I raised an eyebrow.

"Second-wavers?"

"That is the one smart thing we are doing," Henrik said.

"Tower does not assign more people to a floor than what's required to run it, until it's cleared. To push through people who would get stuck by unlucky floor progression, the strategy is to overwhelm the tower with numbers, forcing the stuck people through. This second wave is often civilians or other non-mages, who get carried by the actual mages, exclusively through already cleared floors since those are fully mapped."

"Let us not despair," Liu said.

"For fate shall surely return us to the forefront soon." Henrik snorted.

"You at least got a floor with a boss to fight. I have received a floor that is a maze with no enemies… and I have a map for it. My grandmother could clear it, and she can barely manage a shopping trip at Aldi." The door flung open. A Chinese woman with a severe bun pinned with jade needles, a business formal outfit typical for offices, walked in. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. We all paused, looking at her.

She scanned the room, locked onto Liu Wei, and crossed the distance in three steps. She shouted something in Mandarin. I couldn't understand a word, but she spoke fast, voice heated, each word sharp like a blade. Liu set down his cup, replying something in Chinese. She slapped him. The sound cracked through the room. Liu's head turned with the strike, his topknot swaying. Henrik's tablet nearly slipped from his hands. Yukiko's eyes were now very much open.

The woman shouted again, louder, gesturing with her whole arm. Another volley of Mandarin, this one longer, more detailed, building to a crescendo that culminated with another slap. This one also landed cleanly, on the same cheek, harder. The woman turned and kicked the tea table. The clay pot launched sideways. Cups scattered. Tea splashed across the floor in a puddle that had no right to look so elegant. She slapped Liu once more, spun on her heel, and stormed out.

The door slammed behind her with enough force to rattle the wall. The room sat in perfect silence. Henrik slowly picked a tea leaf off his tablet screen. Yukiko's hand rested on her katana. The technician still hadn't looked up. We all turned to Liu. He sat with one hand on his reddening cheek, expression thoughtful. He shrugged. A snort sounded from above me. I jumped out of my skin. I hadn't noticed anyone standing behind me. Yukiko's eyes shot wide, and even Henrik and Liu stared in stunned silence.

None of us noticed the woman who now stood behind me. Narrow, lanky, seven feet tall, dressed in sneakers, loose pants, and a pullover, Mina towered above me, a smirk on her lips.

"She's high up in the Tribunal. He jointly cultivated with her younger sister." Liu's cheek was still red. He met Mina's gaze with remarkable composure.

"It was greatly beneficial for both of us." Mina's smirk sharpened.

"As it shows on your face." Liu blushed. Just slightly, but that was the most rattled I've ever seen him. Henrik looked between them like he was compiling a report he'd never be allowed to publish. Yukiko's mouth twitched. The technician turned a page on her tablet. Mina tapped my shoulder.

"Sarah's here. We go diving." She stepped away. I took one big sip from the tea, put the cup down, and got up. The door opened. Sarah walked in, face bright and smiling. She froze in the doorway.

"What did I miss?"

"Nothing," Mina replied.

"We go climb." Sarah looked over the spilled tea, the toppled table, and the welt forming on Liu's face.

"Do you need a heal?"

"I am fine," Liu replied.

"Thank you."

"Very well. Good morning, and may God watch over you on your climbs!" Sarah walked to the pods and slipped into the first open one. Mina did the same, and so did I. Here we go again. The display flickered. Damian Gabriel O'Connor. Level: 22. Tower perks: 0. Artifacts: 0. Highest floor: 18. Darkness. I blinked, and the world remade itself. We stood inside the base of a tower. Not the Tower, but a tower within it. The building spiraled around us, stretching as high as we could see.

Mina and Sarah stood near me, looking around. Around the stairs stood bookshelves, with statues and paintings intertwined in between.

"Great." Mina clicked her tongue.

"No ambush. No enemies. A non-combat floor." She sighed.

"No fun." Oh, tell me about it. I needed souls for the lantern, and blood of the innocents for Elsha's statue. I wasn't getting shit out of stone and books. Ashy. In a burst of pink flame, Ashy appeared, shouting: "Ta da!" I glared at her.

"Turn into a sword." With a pirouette, she turned into the giant greatsword. I stretched my hand up.

"Fly me up." Ashy flew with the hilt into my palm. The sword pulled against my hand. I barely felt it.

"Really?" I asked.

"I'm trying! But you're way too heavy for this. Like, really, I'm not saying you're fat, I would never say that, even if you were, which you aren't, but you're too heavy for me to carry."

"Nice try," Mina commented. Well, thanks. I let go of Ashy.

"Turn into human form." Ashy turned into a human, straight into an impractical but cute pose, balancing herself with her tail. I focused and pulled up the tower inventory. I withdrew the leather cap. It materialized in my hand.

"Put this on. It gives some damage reduction, which should be useful." Ashy's eyes shot wide.

"You cannot be serious. This is… this is terrible! Look at the design. No matter how pretty someone's head is, they'll look awful in this. Plus, look at my hair. It takes forever to arrange my hair to be this cute. It's getting messed up just by me standing near this abomination of a cap. Please, master, don't make me wear this. I'll do anything else!" Sarah's and Mina's glares burned into my back. For fuck's sake, every time Ashy spoke, she made me look like an absolute monster. Fine.

I activated the System's ability to automatically resummon on her.

"All right." I pointed at the stairs.

"You go first."

"Sure!" She skipped to the stairs, took a few steps, and the blade slashed from the wall. It cut her in half, making her vanish into pink light. With a smirk, I watched the pink light resummon her. It cost about the same amount of mana as a normal summon, started a second after her demise, and didn't take the quick summon engraving into consideration. She still appeared with a pink flash within ten seconds.

"I'm so sorry!" she shouted.

"I didn't notice it at all. I promise I'll be more careful next time. I'll—""It's fine. Avoid that step this time."

"Yay!" She skipped ahead, jumped up the stairs, avoiding the one that triggered the trap.

"Woo hoo! I'm up on the floor." I headed after her. As I walked, I glanced at Mina and Sarah.

"Follow my lead."