After several minutes, War managed to transport everyone to their next destination: a massive plot of red land in the middle of an apparent creek of blood. It was hard to notice it from afar, but Walkyr's eagle eye did not miss much. He was a sharpshooter, after all.
Saving War was the most difficult part of it all. He was being swarmed by monsters and thus, Walkyr couldn't find an opening to get close to the Holy Knight. If he could not even get close to him, then he surely couldn't get away either.
Fortunately, War had seen the last person on the mountain go despite the many obscurations to his vision. He redoubled his efforts, rushing through the swarm and cutting away at any abomination ignorant enough to block his passage.
In the middle of all that chaos, Walkyr saw an opportunity to warp in and grab hold of the mountainous fellow.
"Gunslinger!" The Holy Knight yelled once he saw the man appear. "You've taken everyone you can?!" As they snapped up the mountain, War confirmed everyone had been taken.
"'Course I have, Old Man! I've never gone back on ma' word!" With that, they were off, quickly moving up the mountain and then warping into the distance, many miles away from where they once stood.
Once they rejoined the group, the majority were lying on the ground or sitting, trying to regain their energy. Physically, most of them were fine. There were various abilities that alleviated their physical exhaustion. Esme's ability aided in their recovery too. It was primarily the mental exhaustion that made it difficult for everyone to recover.
The battle up the mountain had been long and devastating. They suffered their first collection of casualties — they'd lost their first collection of friends.
Many of the Climbers had grown to know one another during their time spent in the Devil's Den. So, the dozen men and women who died were an unsettling reminder to all of them. They did not enter the tower to make friends or laze about. Each and every one of them were aware of the risk, lured by temptation, and accepting of the threat of death that lurked around every corner of this place.
Maybe if there were exits on the First Floor, many of them would've forfeited without climbing higher. The random penalty may have been worth it, assuming it did not make living life impossible or too challenging.
Such fortune did not find the greedy souls who entered Aciago Tower.
Instead of finding a Gateway that led them out of the tower, they could hardly find one that led them up, which was supposed to be far easier to find than the former. Escape was not an option, they'd been shoved into a meat locker and the only way out was clawing their way up the tendons and bones and flesh of the carcass they were trapped in, and eventually make their way out through the top.
And for some of them, this realization was almost too much to go on.
"...Yesterday, I… He and I were talking about what we'd buy from a shop in the capital when we got out of here. I'd buy the sharpest vest I could find. He'd buy the most tacky bowler hat in the shop, then we'd go out and find our matches made in heaven."
"She… I can't believe it. She… she's really dead. Gone, just like that. In a flash, a hole just gnawed through her like a… a… I don't know! Just— gone!"
"None of us are making it out of here. Ha. Ha—ha! Damn! I can't even remember what drove me to come here. You know, I was just a bloody courier before I came here. I made a living carrying trinkets and packages from place to place, and it was a good job. Sheesh. Among all the sins, I'd never expect greed to be the worst."
There were many conversations like this taking place throughout the encampment. In truth, it could hardly be called an encampment, since there were no camping devices laying around. No tents, nor fires, or even canopies for catching rain — not that there was any rain to be found where they were.
Worthy found himself with his head on top of his backpack, acting as a cushion to relax his exhausted body. He and Esme had separated when they were transported so that she could help tend to anybody wounded and make sure everyone was in top shape to travel when the time came.
They were taking a break. Climbing two mountains in the span of a few hours was not an easy task. The first, which had a built-in repellent that gave them time to manage the influx of abominations, was the easiest. The second mountain was hell incarnate, with no shortage of abominations pulling themselves from the mountain's flesh. A short respite would do them wonders as War and Walkyr discussed the next step of their journey.
'Hm… I wonder what Hope is doing right now. If I had to guess, I'd bet she's doing something to dad's hair, or somebody else's. Yeah, I don't have to guess. She's almost certainly doing that.'
Hopeful was very interested in cosmetology, an ambitious young girl. More than a few times, she played with her brother's hair and gave him a few decent hairstyles once in a while. It was a cosmetic gambit, but the odds became more favorable as her skills developed.
'If I keep thinking about having my hair fixed, I'm going to want to do something with it. Let's focus on something important. Yeah, super important actually.'
Moving his thoughts elsewhere, Worthy drew something from the corner of his mind. Throughout his week in the tower, he'd abstained from thinking about the image frequently so that it would not distract him or appear abruptly, leaving him paralyzed mid-motion.
Shortly, the tower acknowledged his mind and cast an image to the front of his mind.
[Reward - Guide Initiate: Your initiative has been noticed by the towers. 'Lost' is an alien concept to a pathfinder who leads others. When in doubt, you may always guide oneself to mundane places.]
There, he found the description of his Reward, the upgraded version of it. However, that was not what he was looking for. He was looking for something outdated, but still especially relevant.
Cross-referencing his capabilities was necessary, thus he delved deeper into his conscience and sent out a command — he sent an order to the tower, to show him what it is that he wanted to see. He wished to see all of his capabilities, all the versions of his Reward.
And then, obeying his command, the tower showed it to him accordingly.
[Reward - Guide: You are subconsciously aware of the path you must take. The towers may guide you, should you prove you are worth leading.]
[Reward - Guide Initiate: Your initiative has been noticed by the towers. 'Lost' is an alien concept to a pathfinder who leads others. When in doubt, you may always guide oneself to mundane places.]
The first version of his Reward, [Guide], was not something he could control. The tower pushed him in whatever direction it wished in a way that he still hadn't confirmed. Initially, he'd assumed that it was solely his intuition that led him out of the Lake of Blood and towards War Reaver, but now he was doubtful.
No, he was certain of it. What he thought was his intuition was undoubtedly the influence of the tower nudging him in a direction.
After he reached the Devil's Den, a settlement created by one of the Five Craftsmen, he'd found a supposed landmark and had his Reward upgraded, something which shouldn't have been possible.
'The Five Craftsmen, huh…' Haul had claimed at some point, each at different times, the Five Craftsmen entered the tower and built settlements throughout it. Her wording was very specific — they'd built settlements through the tower, not solely on the First Floor. In the future, he'd come across even more landmarks. In fact, he was all but certain Middle Town, the settlement they were heading to now, was a landmark that'd give him a new upgrade.
The question he was dying for answers for now would probably never be answered…
'Who even are the Five Craftsmen, in the first place?' The builders of human sanctuaries throughout the tower were shrouded in mystery. Although people knew their stories, nobody seemed to know where they came from or what happened to them. There were only plain assumptions that the individuals had died, but Worthy had doubts that it was that simple.
He believed that these Climbers hadn't been Climbers at all, but agents of the tower, or something foreign to the tower.
The evidence he'd present if asked was simple enough: the tower had tailored a Reward towards their creations. Despite climbing up to mountains, Worthy hadn't gotten a single landmark notice. In fact, he'd landed at the Blood Lake, which was undoubtedly a noteworthy location, but still hadn't received a notice.
So far — albeit he only had a single instance to base his assumptions off of — his Reward only received an evolution when finding one of the locations made by the Five Craftsmen.
'Middle Town… If that place is anything like the Devil's Den, I'd bet there's a deeper shroud around that place than the underground bunker.'
In the end, there was only one way to find out. He'll have to reach Middle Town, or die trying.
Same old, same old.