Chương 32: Chapter Thirty-Two: Aligning Goals

THIRTY-TWO Roan stepped into the cleared out cul-de-sac and saw the group coming back instantly. Taoya was hard to miss after all. The massive man had strings of amulets dangling from his fingers and his customary wide smile as he saw Roan standing there.

"No kiss needed to wake this one up," Taoya laughed as he shook the rattling chains around his fingers. Roan felt an instant desire to own them, but kept his face blank as he walked up to them. From behind Taoya's mass came a flow of strange faces wearing familiar garbs. Sect robes or college uniforms. All of them had the same competent dangerous feel to them that Taoya did.

"Say hello to the rest of our instance!" Taoya said, waving his hand at the seven other fighters.

"This is who we came back for?" A woman asked from the back. She looked Roan up and down and snorted in dismissal before rudely brushing past him to enter the portal to the saferoom.

"Forgive Claire, she's been having a rough day," Taoya said, grimacing in memory. The rest of his small contingent pushed past and into the saferoom without saying anything.

"That's the strike team?" Roan asked, not letting his irritation leak into his voice. Taoya nodded and gently tossed the amulets to Roan with a flick of his wrist. There was a hint of the blue-white energy around the toss, enough that the nine amulets all flew with unerring precision. Roan managed to snag them all out of the air with his free hand, tangling the thin chains around his fingers.

"Most of it. Those who came for a quick rest and healing here. The rest are with Darren at the closest saferoom to the event horizon," Taoya said.

"Event horizon?" Roan asked with a quick laugh. Taoya shrugged and rolled his eyes as he flopped against a wall and slumped against it.

"That's what they're calling it. The point of no return where the corruption overwhelms the amulet. We already tested the twice upgraded amulet and it lets you push further with no problem," Taoya said. That reassured Roan as he went to a knee and pulled out the repair kit he'd bought and started to feed the amulets into the pot.

"Who went?"

"Darren of course. He's the best scout with his perception bloodline abilities. Also nobody is worried about him trying to take everything at the end of the hall. Unlike some other greedy people," Taoya said, staring holes into Roan." What? You expect me to sit here and stagnate? Let the rest of you eclipse me? Let you all decide how to steer this climb?" Roan didn't say any of his thoughts, just looked at Taoya and shrugged unapologetically as the eighth amulet went into the repair kit.

"So…why are you climbing the Unconquered Tower? You're not like the rest of the locals who this is their only shot. You had a mentor, someone I assume could have sponsored your climb to a less deadly tower," Taoya asked. Roan fed the tenth and final amulet into the pot and watched as it began the process of repairing the shards again.

"He wouldn't. Only reason he agreed to train me was so I would enter this tower," Roan said, dodging the question. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Why?" Taoya asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"He's lost family to the tower. Can't enter it himself so he trains others to break it," Roan lied with a shrug.

"When I realized I wasn't going to qualify for any of the other towers, I started researching this one. I mean, we learn about all thirteen of them, but I mean really started researching this one." Roan pulled out the new amulet from the broken repair pot. A bit of heat stung his finger tips as he slipped the much heavier piece of amber around his neck. It was close to twice the weight the other had been, a tug around his neck that took a moment to familiarize with.

"You know it took seven years to figure out the restrictions on entering here? It seems simple now, but back then everything was still new. The forum posts were insane, I read some of the early ones and the thought processes was crazy." Taoya trailed off as he stared at Roan.

"I grew up here. I always knew what the restrictions were," Roan said with a shrug.

"Can never have entered another tower. Simple at first, but it takes time to realize what that means. Tower Conquerors had to travel around and try out a few more before they realized that the Vegas Tower couldn't be entered by them. Then came the false restrictions after nobody came out. That slowed down more people entering the towers until the government was reformed. Now it's mostly the young and desperate, some old-timers too, but not really," Taoya said.

"Every year a month before the solstice the trains start coming every day again instead of the once a week supply drop offs. The old hotels fill up and an entire economy is born as tens of thousands crowd into the old city. It's the only time there's ever any life here," Roan said. He sat down and leaned back, matching his gaze with Taoya's. The other man was fishing for something.

"I feel like you're a direct man, Taoya. We haven't known each other long, but I get that feel from you," Roan said, suddenly changing the topic. Taoya smiled again and nodded his wide head.

"It's been said that a few times. Darren says it's because I'm strong enough I never have to worry about subtlety."

"Then spit it out and stop playing games. What is it you want to know?" Roan asked. There was nobody else in the cul-de-sac, just the two of them lounging around in the dust and bone fragments. The everpresent smile slowly slid off of Taoya's face and Roan saw the truth of the man for a second." He's much more dangerous than he seems. He plays up the laughing giant act." Roan was sure of it as he saw the dangerous gleam in the other man's eyes.

"I was getting there, but being slow about it. Didn't want to spook you. In my studies of this place, the deep studies and not the casual stuff, I looked at everything. Ecological reports, precipitation, birthrates, mana density readings, etcetera, you get where I'm going?"

"That you spent months studying something that any local could have told you in minutes. This place is fucked. Less rain, less plant life growth, more…strangeness in birthrates. It's why the city is empty aside from those too poor or too stubborn to leave," Roan said. He wondered where this was going, but he had an idea.

"That's right. It's an open secret, but one not talked about. But, what I found is the effect is spreading. Further and further it stretches out and soon it will be leaving the desert and start impacting the more fertile regions of North America."

"Sounds bad," Roan said. He could see how the rippling effects would hurt, but he had a hard time mustering the empathy for those who didn't live and die in the shadow of the Unconquered Tower.

"I figured this out a few years ago. That was when I decided I was going to throw my tests and only qualify for this tower. It's when I started talking to others about this problem. At first it was a personal quest to try to conquer the tower and stop the spread of…whatever it is. But after every meetup, every match with other sects, competition with the colleges, I found more like-minded people. And eventually, we formed the Pact."