The Fractured Tower

Book 2, Chapter 75

“Yep, looks just like mine except for the style and color,” Sorin confirmed after examining Rue’s twin blades. “Nice upgrade that they come with storage enchantments, though.”

His own sword would be the first thing he’d work on if that armoire did turn out to be an enchanter’s cabinet. It was still serving him well, but the demands on it would only increase as they climbed higher. The plan for Floor 6 was a lot like Floor 5, which meant they’d stick around just long enough to clear a ruin, then head straight for the portal guardian.

“I guess that means the tower wants us along for the ride, smiting voidlings,” Rue said.

“So it would appear, but it’d be better to test that before we reach the wall. If nothing else, I don’t know how the enchantments will hold up to void exposure.”

Nemari had a wand that was similar to Rue’s blades and was also enchanted to allow her to overcharge spells she cast through it. As far as Sorin was aware, that didn’t change a damn thing about voidlings being immune to magic. It would make for a poor weapon if that was the case, bludgeoning weapons not being the best option to begin with, and slender wands being even less than that.

She wasn’t the only one with seemingly worthless red tower gear. Yoru had received a whip made of interlocking blades that promised to shred anything it touched, which would actually be a remarkably practical weapon for use in hunting voidlings if not for the fact that it was extremely difficult to use. With enough practice, he’d still be formidable. Odric’s wristband and Vendis’s amulet were a bit more confusing, however.

They all had their own mosaics, though, and with any luck, there would be other soulprints in there that made the tower’s odd choices make sense. That probably meant they’d have their own private Antechambers in the future, and he was curious whether it would show them the same seven-tower image Sorin saw.

However the Antechamber rewards were meant to be used in relation to voidlings, they had other properties that made them valuable. Odric’s wristband gave him an immense, temporary boost to his strength. Much like the brooch held a spare anima reservoir, so too did the wristband. Sorin estimated about ten seconds of use time if it was full, and he recommended Odric timed accessing it to coincide with his swings to give him a solid fifteen to twenty hits.

Vendis’s amulet functioned similarly to Nemari’s Barrier soulprint, except he could cast it out on other targets, and it was at least as strong a D-rank version. Sorin had his suspicions that such an ability, combined with some other tower gift, would prove integral to avoiding being slowly devoured by an endless stream of voidlings.

Mysteries upon mysteries. You know, it’d be a lot easier to help you if you’d deign to explain anything.

The tower remained silent.

“Let’s head out,” Sorin said.

“Wait, what about your Antechamber? Did the slate work?”

“It did something. I’m not sure what, just yet. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I have a direction to work toward. I promise I’ll tell you once I know myself.”

Rue huffed, but then her lips curled into a smile. “You’d better. We’re all in this together. Can’t be keeping secrets at this point.”

* * *

Morlin was practically vibrating in his chair. “You’re certain?” he demanded, leaning forward. “It’s real? It does what the legends say?”

“As certain as I can be without actually testing it out, sir,” the enchanter said.

“Astounding,” he breathed out. “Fantastic work…” Uh, what’s his name again? He’s one of Keldor’s kids, I think? Ku-something. Or no, Vu-something. Oh, whatever! “Fantastic work.”

“Thank you, sir,” the enchanter said, obviously recognizing that Morlin couldn’t remember his name but wise enough to bite his tongue over the issue.

“A small test is in order, I think,” Morlin announced. “Nothing too big. We just need to make sure it actually works.”

“Already done as part of the verification process,” the enchanter assured him. He produced a small carving knife for Morlin’s inspection. “I personally charged the cabinet for two hours, then used it to enchant this for increased manual dexterity and a keen edge when used on wood.”

“That’s a simple, basic tool,” Morlin said, dismissing the knife without bothering to look at it. “Something like this needs a bit more complicated test than that.”

Hmm. We probably have a week before Yoru returns with that blowhard. He’s not wrong in that they’ll need every advantage they can get if they’re going to take on Samael and his Void Wall, but I’m practically the king of the tower. I’ll use my cabinet as I see fit, damn it! Now, what would be—Ah. Yes, that will do just fine.

“Tell me—” Morlin paused again, momentarily annoyed that he still couldn’t remember the enchanter’s name. “You’re familiar with steel silk, are you not?”

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“Of course, sir,” the enchanter said. “My father taught me the enchantment many years ago.”

“Ah, yes, Keldor was brilliant with it.”

“Er, no, sir, Keldor was a different enchanter. My father was Chatlut.”

Morlin waved a hand. “Regardless. You know the biggest issue with steel silk?”

“Time and anima needed. The silk has to be enchanted after it’s been woven into its final form, which limits the size of the piece.”

“Precisely. It’s the perfect test. We can easily measure how much time and anima the cabinet accounts for when compared to your normal output. I’ll have one of my silk-lined overcoats delivered for enchanting.”

“An overcoat?” The enchanter’s eyes bugged out. “Sir, a piece that size would take… God, I don’t even know. A week at least?”

“Let’s see if you can do it in less than that,” Morlin said, his mouth thinning into a stern line. “Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir,” the enchanter said. “I’ll get started right away.”

It had been close to twenty years since Morlin had set foot in the tower. He had no need for a steel silk overcoat, but he’d always been taken with the idea of one. It took a powerful enchanter to even do a simple shirt, however. An entire coat had been simply out of reach.

Finally, I’ll have one! he thought gleefully.

The enchanter left, and Morlin’s majordomo stepped forward to take his place. “The latest expense report regarding financing your son’s team, sir,” he said, holding out a scroll for Morlin to read.

The gleeful smirk soured immediately. If there was one drawback to this whole situation, it was just how much damn money it was taking to treat a whole team like they were scions of a high family. Morlin skimmed the numbers, a growl unconsciously escaping his lips as he regarded the total.

“This is really the cheapest we can get this?” he demanded.

“Rare soulprints are always expensive,” the majordomo said.

“I know that! But look at this thing. Umbral goat’s eye, fifteen hundred danirs! Who the hell does this Lorvaine woman think she is, trying to gouge us like that? I’m not paying that. Sorin can go farm his own damn eye if he wants Aura Sense that badly.”

“Indeed, sir,” the majordomo agreed with a bland expression.

“Bah,” Morlin grumbled. It’s only going to get worse. I almost can’t believe Yoru when he says he broke the floor limit. That just means more money, faster. This whole scheme better work. I want that fucker Samael dead.

“Any indications the Black Hellions are onto us?” he asked.

“Nothing that’s crossed my desk,” the majordomo said, but they both knew the real person to ask was the chief courier, whose post was a cover for his real role: spymaster. “I’ll go see if any word has come in right now, if you’d like?”

“Yes, go do that,” Morlin said. “Be back by the time I finish dinner.”

“As you will, sir.”

Glancing at the scroll again, Morlin shook his head. So much money…

* * *

The team reached the Floor 6 portal hub a day and a half later, after traveling across what Rue hatefully described as ‘a wrinkled shirt sized for the whole tower itself.’ Sorin couldn’t deny that there was more up-and-down in the terrain than there was straight-forward, but he felt they’d still made good time. That might have just been in comparison to Floor 5, where everything had been flat, but stretched out ten times farther than it needed to be.

With every floor they climbed, the portal hubs became smaller and smaller. Though he’d been expecting that, the fact was that the hub here had literally one single big tent pitched next to it and nothing else. It was little more than a glowing red circle floating in the middle of a field. Even the tent itself was heavily patched and seemed to be sagging on the back end.

They took one look at the place, shrugged, and moved on. Only Yoru and Vendis bothered to go back, none of the rest having any interest in visiting Floor 0 and potentially running into Samael’s gang again. More importantly, they didn’t want to pay the taxes on their latest haul when they had no reason to.

“Honestly, why are we still seeking these places out every floor?” Nemari asked. “It’s not like we need them.”

“Well, it’s nice to have a bit of a break, but this hub seems… abandoned,” Sorin said. “That tent is empty, too. Whoever owns it better show back up soon, or it won’t be here when they get back.”

“Anything interesting in there?” Rue asked. “I think I see some sort of camp bed and a crate.”

“We’re not thieves,” Odric told her.

“If the tower’s going to take it anyway,” she shot right back.

“Then it’ll take it,” Sorin said. “Let’s set up our own camp. Our presence here should give the tent’s owner more time to return. We can wait for the others to get back, then start the next leg of the trip.”

“Where do you think they went?” Nemari asked as the group set about digging their own small firepit. Firewood was plentiful, unlike on the previous few floors, so they quickly got their camp situated and started cooking.

“Who knows. Probably through the portal somewhere,” Sorin said. “Can’t imagine any climber capable of getting this high would be foolish enough to leave valuable supplies behind for more than a few minutes if they didn’t have to.”

“Valuable by some definition of the word,” Rue muttered.

Given the tent’s general state of disrepair, it was hard to argue with that opinion. It was even possible the previous owner had abandoned it to be reclaimed by the tower, and that they’d simply had a coincidence of timing in arriving between those two events.

The food was just coming off the fire when the portal flickered, its light disrupted by somebody passing through. Yoru and Vendis shouldn’t be back quite so quickly, Sorin thought, tensing slightly as he sent his sensory soulprints questing out to give him details.

It was a full team of six, one experienced enough that they still moved in formation even coming through something as safe as the portal hub. A tall, armored figure came through first, followed by a woman, then two androgynous figures at the same time. A thin man came after, and a short, furtive man followed at the end.

Sorin didn’t even need to turn around to identify them. How is that possible? They’d have to be really moving to beat us here.

“Vanir?” the thin man asked. “God, it really is you! What are you doing on this floor already?”

Grimacing, Sorin stood and turned to face the youthful, exuberant face of the wind mage, Calder. The rest of his team from Floor 3 was still with him, though most of their names escaped Sorin.

‘Vanir?’ Nemari mouthed in question.

“Alias I created,” Sorin told her out of the side of his mouth.

“And you’ve reunited with your team,” Calder continued to gush. “But of course you must have. Impressive work all around, I’d say! We were going for a record-breaking run, and you’ve all somehow kept pace with us.”

“Let the man have a chance to talk, Calder,” the tall woman, Ostelle, said.

“I’m more interested in whatever they’re cooking,” the armored front-liner said. “That smells amazing.”

“I suppose I could make some more if we’re having unexpected dinner guests,” Odric said, already reaching for the supplies bag. “Come on, have a seat. Let’s get some introductions going.”