Early in the morning Mars met an old friend in a cafe. The man sat straight as a rod on the upholstery. He had long white hair tied into a ponytail, giving him a strangely martial look for a man so opposed to violence. The man was older than Mars by at least a decade and a mage, but his specialty was not evocation, not spells to attack, ensnare and destroy. No, this man was an enchanter. A true mage enchanter and one of the few masters below the 50th floor. He was also indebted to Mars and a good friend. His name was Torus and he smiled when Mars sat down opposite him.

  “Good Morning Mars, come to check up on me after I did your bidding like a common serf?”

  “Exactly. People in my station must make sure insignificant cogs in the machinery that is the tower work as intended.” Mars said in an intentionally haughty voice, before they both grinned at each other.

  “No, but seriously, how was the work?” Mars asked.

  “Easy. Nothing that I have not done a hundred times before. But I hear you have even more work for me?”

  “I do pay you, Torus, very well if I remember correctly.”

  “You do, but I have other things I need to do.” Torus said and turned serious for a moment. His old wrinkled face was taut and tense as he thought of the looming problem in his future. Mars knew what plagued his old friend, leaned closer and looked around, but nobody was looking at them.

  “Did you get what you were looking for?”

  “Your information was right on the money as they say.” Torus said and paused for a long moment.

  “But?”

  “But it will take a significant amount of my wealth to get my hands on it. I ran the numbers. A year of hard work on my salary.” Torus scoffed and gave Mars a helpless shrug.

  “Still worth it though, no?”

  “Yes, of course it is.” Torus said with conviction.

  Mars had given Torus information and access to a terminal and an auction house connected to it that sold an elixir from very high up the tower. Both a terminal and the information about the auction were something almost nobody had access to down here in the lower floors. Said elixir was extremely valuable as it would heal almost any permanent chronic illness. It was not for Torus himself, Mars knew, but for his daughter. When Mars had found out his old friend’s little girl was sick he had helped him without hesitation. But now Torus was more than aware of the debt that he had to him. Which was why he came down to the first floor whenever Mars needed him without asking any questions.

  “So, what else do you have to do for me?”

  “Aurix, the mayor and the strongest mage down here has a bit of a paranoia problem. I hear he lost something precious when he had a run in with a Cultivator before and now that a new Cultivator appeared he is basically holding the whole Town hostage with a nonsensical manhunt that blocks the majority of climbers from actually climbing and bringing back loot.”

  Torus raised an eyebrow and then sighed.

  “And here I was thinking stupid mages were not your problem on the first floor.”

  “Hah, well one of them is more than enough to ruin your day.”

  “How do I play into this?” he asked.

  “I want you to enchant his villa, good protective enchantments, deployable shield, attack spells, the works.”

  “In exchange for him holding the town hostage I guess?”

  Mars nodded. Torus seemed to think for a moment and then shrugged.“It does not have to be a mage keep, right? Just basic enchantments and a bit extra for some flash to impress the man?”

  “Yes, exactly. I do not want him to have a proper fortress, but I want him to think he has one.”

  “That is doable. If you wanted him to have a copy of your house, it would take me half a year, but just the basics and some pizzazz should be the work of 3 or 4 days.”

  “Good. Then follow me.”

  “Lets enjoy breakfast first. I really believed for a moment you finally outgrew your impatience.”

  “Never. When I can do something, I want to do it myself and I want it done yesterday if possible. But you are right, we do have some time.” Mars said and leaned back in his seat.

  “Sometimes you amaze me. I know nobody else who can be so persistent and dedicated, who can work on revenge for a decade, yet is too impatient to sit still.”

  “Those are two different things, Torus. One I can do nothing about for now, the other can be done. Its a matter of perspective.”

  “Still. What do you recommend in this place?” Torus asked and Mars chuckled.

  “This is not Ambition where there is a master cook in every roadside stall. But they do make a good breakfast set here.”

  “Very well. I’ll have that then.” Torus said and waved for a waitress. They ordered and ate while gossiping about their families. Work, the condition of the tower, the economic situation in Ambition. All things old men talked about. But they steered clear of the difficult topics. Mars did not ask about Torus daughter and Torus did not mention Ambitions underworld gangs. Torus was open, knowledgeable and had deep connections to many of the mage families in Ambition. He was officially a retainer for one of them, since nobody could afford to stay on the sidelines in Ambition without getting killed. But they did not talk about that either. Instead for a few minutes while they ate eggs, bacon, freshly baked bread, they talked only about pleasant things. A beautiful new enchantment that created an almost eternal water fountain out of a bucket of water, a new potion discovered by an alchemist with mercurial properties. Things that were news and important, but would not make either of the two old men uncomfortable.

  When they finished their breakfast, Mars paid for them both and they made their way over to the town hall. The magical and societal nexus of the first floor. Here most mages exchanged notes, learned and studied. And did generally what people did who were on top of the societal hierarchy. They partied, had good food and wine and made decisions that would affect the whole floor on a whim. Even with his alchemist guilds elder status Mars would not be very welcomed here. Only magic could grant you entrance to these halls and many mages that saw themselves as climbers did not bother either. No, here gathered the fools satisfied with their lot, their high status and people fawning over them. In many ways Aurix was one of them. An exile like Mars, vastly more powerful than any other mage down here, but in the end, he too was comfortable and satisfied staying down here and enjoying the perks of his power.

  Torus was greeted with much scraping and bowing. For he was a master and as such the most skilled mage on the floor by far. Many sycophantic men and women of all ages crowded around them once they realized who the tall old man with the white hair was. Mars stood back and let Torus handle them. He was used to this. To the wheedling, scraping and bowing. Mars wanted to vomit inside it was all so blatantly self serving.

  “Master Torus, please will you not take a look at this spellform? It is rare even in Ambition.”

  “Thank you, but my enchantment repertoire has reached its ceiling for now.” Torus said defensively.

  “Oh Master Torus, have you met my daughter? A mage herself of course. Brought up learning magic before she could walk. Such rare talent for enchantment. Will you not give her a minute of your time?”

  “Have her come to Ambition and try out at one of the colleges, when she has finished a proper education, she may apply at my company.”

  And so on and so forth, they did not stop and even though Torus did his best to fend them off, the closer they got to the real Town hall, the more pleading the cries became. In the end Mars had enough, he pushed his way through the crowd, his high class and strength giving him more than enough authority.

  “We have business with the mayor. Out of the way.” he said curtly and moved some young mages aside. Before the men could protest, he gave them a stern look that made them freeze up, then he finally vanished behind the tall oaken doors of the Town hall proper with Torus in tow.

  Aurix sat on a small throne, eating fruit and drinking wine as he looked out through a window, without a care in the world. But every time his hand went back to the bowl of fruit Mars could see the shimmer of a shield his hand moved through. It was honestly impressive. Keeping up any shield for that long was a feat of magic few could replicate. But it also clearly showed how paranoid and fearful the man had to be to keep up the shield at all times. There was a dozen guards spread out all over the hall. They stood guard at the door, the windows and some rested sitting at a table in the corner playing cards. A tall guard in good armor stepped in front of Mars and Torus and held up his hand.

  “Halt, what business do you have with the mayor?”

  “We have an appointment with him. Alchemist guild Elder Mars Ventros and Master Enchanter Torus from Ambition.”

  The guard straightened a bit and then nodded.

  “Please, go ahead.”

  Mars strode confidently across the great hall, its high ceiling and columns made him always remember the drawing of cathedrals from Earth. He had never actually seen a cathedral, but the motive was familiar. It gave the space an awe inspiring, expansive feeling that did not vanish even if you knew it was the seat of power of one of the most close minded and stupid men Mars had ever met.

  Aurix turned towards them in his throne and stood up. His massive fat body billowing the fine spider silk clothes in garish colors. His fingers had a dozen rings on them, glittering like golden ornaments on a pig. His face was slightly reddened and his small set eyes were glinting with an inborn suspicion that was only heightened by the man’s obvious paranoia. Mars knew the reason for the many rings was that most of them were enchanted with some spell he could conjure at a whim. It made him much more dangerous, but Aurix had no relativity to his power. He was as afraid of a normal man than he was of a powerful Vessel, Mars knew. The only thing that could top his normal apprehension was his almost irrational fear of Cultivators.

  Mars bowed, only a small bow of respect for Aurix office and Torus nodded at the man. As a master enchanter there were very few people he had to scrape before in the tower. Aurix saw the obvious disrespect, but although the man flushed, he did not rage instantly. He was politically savvy enough to first assuage someones strength before putting them into their place.

  “Elder Ventros, welcome. I assume you have come to berate me once more on behalf of the guild council.” Aurix said contemptuously. “But tell me who is this gentleman you brought with you?”

  “This is Master Enchanter Torus from Ambition. An old friend of mine.”

  “Master Torus. Of course. I have heard many great things about you and your art. And it is art. One of these rings was made by you, I believe. Marvelous work. Always a pleasure to meet someone so distinguished and proficient in the magical arts.”

  “Likewise Mayor Aurix. I see you have an uncommon talent for shield spells. Rare and powerful indeed.”

  Mars straightened and looked Aurix in the eyes and started talking before the man could fawn more over Torus.

  “Sadly this is not entirely a social call, mayor.”

  “I expected as much. Tell me, what is it now?” Aurix said with a theatrical sigh. “Master Torus would you like some wine? I have some really good vintages I order from Ambition.”

  “No, thank you.” Torus said and Mars had to suppress a smirk at the crestfallen expression of the fat mayor.

  “Mayor Aurix. I have come here today to offer some solutions to some of your problems.” Mars began, but Aurix interrupted him with a scoff.

  “Solutions? From the council?” Aurix laughed heartily.“That would be a first.”

  “Well, the solution was devised by me. But I do speak for the council. It is concerning a problem that has severely damaged the economy of the Town over the last few months. The manhunt.”

  Aurix amused posture shifted and his face fell.

  “Out of the question.” he growled, his emotions creating sparks around the shield that surrounded the man and turned it visible for a moment.

  “Please, at least listen to my proposal. The guild council has repeatedly protested against the manhunt and rightly so. The climbers bring almost 60% of all base materials from their climbs back down to the first floor. Every crafter, alchemist and most mages rely upon those supplies. We are already far behind our expected quota of export goods to Ambition and as you know most of our income comes from those exports, yours included. If this continues your tax income will shrink to about 10% of the previous quarter.”

  Aurix scoffed again and took a long swig out of his wine goblet.

  “So what? The vessels are still well paid and they are the driving force of the first floors economy. It is all worth it, if we can get that bastard.” Aurix said grimly.

  “But we are not getting him, respectfully, sir. The cultivator has not been seen in months. His last known location was on the second floor. Most people expect him to have found a way off that floor, or to have died. Either way, keeping up the manhunt and the blockades is futile.”

  “Dead? Hah. I believe it when I see his severed head! Don’t you understand Ventros? Cultivators pose a significant danger to all of us. They slaughter indiscriminately. Why if he reached the Town the casualties would be in the thousands. Maybe tens of thousands. I cannot in good conscience allow that to happen. As mayor I have been appointed to protect this Town and its people. This is my first and last agenda. The Cultivators death is the only way to achieve that.”

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Mars knew Aurix would sooner or later come to that point of his. It was true, Aurix was officially the protector of the first floor. Not that he had ever acted that way in his life. But he had used this argument every time someone had criticized him. So Mars had come prepared with an answer to it.

  “I am well aware of your duties and I concur. The Cultivator is a threat that can’t be taken lightly. But in the end he is like a natural disaster. Unless we can find him, which it does look like we cannot. He will come down on us like a storm. So I want to offer you an alternative strategy.”

  “What?” Aurix asked suspiciously.

  “Master Torus here is a master enchanter and more than capable of turning a mundane compound and house into a fortress. He has worked on the magical fortresses of the old mage families in Ambition and he is well versed in things like defensive enchantments. I offer you to enchant a shelter, free of cost to you. This shelter would be equipped with the latest and strongest enchantments. Strong enough to endure even a Cultivators attack. Shield spells, elemental attack traps and wide range extermination spells included. Of course it can’t be just any house. We have looked at the different buildings in the Town and your villa seems to us to be the best candidate for such a magical shelter.”

  Aurix seemed genuinely surprised and he studied first Mars, then Torus.

  “That is a very generous offer, Elder Ventros.”

  “Of course with such a shelter in place, a manhunt would no longer be necessary. Your duty would be upheld and the town could go back to business as usual.”

  Aurix eyes narrowed a bit more and the man shifted his weight as he processed the offer made by Mars.

  “If I may?” Torus asked and took out a piece of wood from a pouch at his belt.

  “To demonstrate what we are offering and since you are a master of shield spells yourself. Let me show you what you can expect from my enchantments.”

  Mars could not actually see magic, but he could feel it. His high level skills gave him enough insight to see what his old friend was doing. The piece of wood was long and straight, but completely ordinary. Then the old enchanter brushes his fingers over the surface and like a bubble a spell expanded and bloomed into a circular shield that was visible to the naked eye.

  “There will be interlocking shield spells protecting your villa. First a shield projected form the outer walls creating the first external shield. Then reactive shields interspersed with offensive spells like a Chain Lightning spell. As I do with all my enchantments, I add onto the material a spell called Mana Durability, which means its almost impossible to break without exhausting the spells on the piece of the outer wall. Then there will be the actual house that will have a permanent and reactive shields as well and one extermination spell for each side of the villa. Thunderstorm for example.” Torus reached out and offered Aurix to inspect the spell on the piece of wood.

  The mayor stepped closer, studying the piece of wood intently, his eyebrows rising higher and higher until he stepped back and nodded, visibly impressed.

  “Two rows of shields? That is...Well…” Aurix paused and then studied Torus with something akin to greed in his eyes.

  “What about another layer for the most important pieces of the villa, the bedroom and the vault.”

  “Of course we can talk about adding a special something for those places to ensure they are absolutely safe.” Torus said, a picture of professionalism and poise.

  Aurix hesitated for a long moment and then he turned to Mars.

  “Free of charge? How much does Master Torus usually earn for his marvelous work?”

  “Around 200 high grade beast cores a day. On top of what he needs as materials to do his enchanting work. How long would this take in your estimate, Torus?”

  “4-5 days depending on the complexity of the enchantments already on the villa.”

  Aurix actually blanched and seemed to think for a long moment, before he got a broad sycophantic smile on his face.

  “Well such a shelter would obviously be immensely beneficial for the Town and in case of a Cultivator attack we would be capable of protecting the people. You are right Elder Ventros, this is truly a marvelous initiative.”

  “Excellent, then I look forward to the end of the manhunt. Master Torus will start his work once the announcement is out.” Mars said. He did not want to give the man any political wiggle room. Once he had declared the manhunt gone, it would be difficult to reinstate. So it was better to make this a condition before any work was done.

  “In that case, let me make the announcement right now.” Aurix said and turned to the guards.“Mestrix, go and fetch Rowan. I have an announcement to make. Also send for Merlin and his group.”

  The guard saluted and walked off quite quickly. Aurix seemed to be satisfied with that and turned back to Mars and Torus.

  “Truth be told the manhunt did cost me a lot of shards every day. I am glad there is a more permanent solution to it. Although I had hoped for the death of the cultivator, you were right. If we can’t find him, we can’t kill him. It’s ultimately a waste.”

  “I am certain the Tower will do what we can not. Challenging the Tower on your own is folly. He will surely perish sooner rather than later.”

  “I am not so sure about that.” Aurix said and drank another gulp of wine. “Cultivators are different beasts. Vile, corrupt, treacherous and without a sense of compassion. They are as you said walking calamities. All we can do is prepare for the worst.”

  Mars bowed his head.

  “Wise words. I just hope the disaster strikes not us, but somewhere else. If you may excuse us, I’ll have master Torus prepare himself for the work ahead.”

  “Excellent. Excellent. Of course you may go. I’ll look forward to seeing your marvelous work master Torus.”

  Mars and Torus left with a bow and as he left the Town hall behind him Mars felt like a weight had lifted from his shoulders. With this he should be able to get enough crystal dust to prepare for the next shipment to Ambition. Which would give him enough time to prepare and solve his immediate problems. Much would depend on the Cultivator and his strength and Mars was tempted to just sacrifice some people to his strange ability to absorb spirits. In the end low ranking Vessels were a dime a dozen. Cultivators were unique and it was unlikely for another one to show up in the next decade. On the other hand Aaron seemed too independent minded, as he had made it clear he was a contractor and ally, not one of his people. Mars needed to tie him closer to his organization until the man would think an attack on Mars would be an attack on him. That would take time, favors and a lot of work. Mars itched to push ahead with his plans, but he knew for now he could do nothing but keep building up his forces and get ready to make his play.

  Torus said his goodbyes to Mars and went to look at Aurix compound to make some plans and give Mars an inventory list he would need to get his enchantments done. Mars looked after the old mage fondly. There was a man who did not let his status and abilities go to his head. Someone who was willing to do almost anything for his family and friends. Such people were rare and Mars thought himself lucky to have such a friend. Sure, he had him in his pocket, but he had not done that out of some sort of malicious intent, but love. That he owed him was besides the point to Mars.

  Tex greeted Mars with a nod and a stack of documents that made Mars sigh internally. Paperwork really was not his favorite past time, but it had to be done. He settled down in his chair when Tex cleared his throat.

  “Sir, one of the groups from upstairs is here, they have been waiting for a while now.”

  Mars raised his eyebrows in surprise and then frowned while he let that information sink in.

  “Have they indicated what they want? More supplies...or?”

  “They did not say, just that they needed to talk to you.”

  “Very well, bring them in.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Mars straightened in his seat and then recalled what he knew about the groups currently in his sphere of influence. There were 6 groups currently climbing up to Ambition that he knew were from upstairs. They were easy to spot as they had no mages, did not do any missions in Town and went to him to do their shopping. Ever since Mars had established himself as an information broker with contacts even upstairs he had become the sole source of supplies for the groups doing their preordained routes to climb the tower. It was all part of an agreement he had signed to keep the peace between the different factions upstairs. As far as he knew there were multiple competing kingdoms and nations that had come to this accord in an attempt to prevent him to play favorites. The main contenders were the 51st and 52nd floor nations. Both floor spanning entities that had an historical enmity with each other. Apparently they had been one kingdom once, but then had splintered after a disputed heritage and civil war. Latter conflict had never really ended and the different factions of the 50th floor that formed the Alliance had a vested interest in keeping both nations occupied with each other to prosper themselves.

  So when Mars had taken over the criminal underworld and stretched out his feelers all the way up the tower by supporting some climbing groups and earning himself information in return, the nations had reacted with the treaty. It bound him from not supporting any faction more than the other and had kept the first 10 floors peaceful for the upper floor groups. They typically did not have much contact with normal Climbers, but they did need supplies and items they had to get in the Town. They did not want to submit to the mages tyranny and so they had always found it easier to go through illegal channels. In the end things had calmed down. Mars had become established, important and well informed as a result. Funnily enough Ambition was almost never a stop for these groups from upstairs. Why was difficult to guess. Probably some historical precedent with the old mage families controlling the 10th floor. It had left him in a unique situation that gave him much more influence than anyone below the 50th floor realized.

  Tex came back with two men in tow. Well, men in the most generous meaning. They were boys, barely 15 and clearly still growing. It was not uncommon for people to start climbing at that age. But most tried to train, take it slow and charge ahead at 18 or 20 when they had gotten a grasp on their powers. Not so these groups. Mars knew they had been trained to climb the tower since they were 5 years old and they knew more about the first 20 floors than probably all other normal climbers combined. They had predetermined upgrade paths for their classes to get the class they had wanted or their superiors wanted. In many ways they had perfected what Emnu’s Army was doing. Bringing up many soldiers to a level they desired in a very short time.

  Mars studied the two youths with interest and identified them as people from the 51st floor. The smaller of the two men stepped up and gave Mars a curious, but also respectful look. He had sandy blonde hair and Mars gave him one of his affable grandfather smiles.

  “Welcome young masters from the 51st floor.”

  “Mars Ventros. Underworld contact in the Town of Beginnings.” the young man said as if he was reciting from a book and he probably was, now that Mars thought about it.

  “We have come in accordance to the treaty to ask for your help.”

  “And you shall have it, what do you need, young masters? I believe you already received the supplies allocated to your group?”

  “We have, we did not come here for supplies. Not only.”

  Mars raised his eyebrows and smiled at them again.

  “Please, go ahead and tell me your wish.”

  The blonde haired man hesitated visibly, opened his mouth and then closed it again before looking to the ground. The second man cleared his throat as the first one clearly had difficulties with the next part of the conversation.

  “The treaties state that you are obligated to balance the scales. No group shall gain advantage over another because of your actions or lack of action.”

  “Correct.”

  “A few days ago our group was ambushed by a group from the 52nd floor. They lured a horde of monsters to our farming spot and one of us got cut of from the group. He died.”

  “My condolences. I did not know that.”

  “So you see, that group hindered us, they gained an advantage over us. Now you as guarantor of balance have to even the scales and hinder them.”

  “Apologies young master. But that is not how it works. I am guarantor of balance, yes, but that just means I do not take sides. I am a neutral entity. Conflict between your nations is not my concern. No matter what kind of conflict it is. I will neither support nor hinder you or the groups from the 52nd floor.”

  “But you must. Its in the treaty!” the blonde man called out outraged.

  “What my captain means.” the other man quickly interjected. “Is that you would break the treaty if you did not hinder their group because your lack of action would give them an advantage.”

  “The advantage comes from your own failures, not mine. I am sorry young masters, but I am not obligated to do anything, quite the opposite. Now I could do something within the confines of the treaty if I wanted to. But so far you have not offered me anything that is worth my time or effort.”

  There was a long pause and the two men shared a look.

  “What do you want?”

  “Information of course. The only thing of value you posses.”

  The taller of the two men seemed to have anticipated this and nodded.

  “We are willing to trade information if you hinder their group.”

  “Information you are allowed to trade I assume?”

  The taller man hesitated and then nodded again.

  “Well, if it is enough, then fine. Go ahead tell me what is it?”

  “The location and exact way of entering the lair of two rare monsters on the 3rd and 7th floor. Both either guard or are valuable resources that are extremely rare to find anywhere in the tower.”

  “Interesting. But ultimately useless to me. The problem with rare and as such high level resources is that it requires high leveled crafters to process them. I could only sell those resources and while yes, that would probably be a good amount of shards, its not enough. I am risking my neutrality here.” Mars said and leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed, showing he was defensive and apprehensive about this whole deal, although internally he was more than willing to trade for any information. He felt he could get a lot more than this though.

  “That is all we can trade for.”

  “Then I am sorry, but I can’t help you. My condolences again for your friend. But I am sure you will be able to catch up to that group and have your own revenge in due time.” Mars said with a gentle smile. Reminding them of their dead friend and vengeance that they knew just as well as he did they would not get. The other group would eclipse them too soon. Both boys flinched at his words and the blonde one looked like he was furious and about to storm out of the room. But the tall man put a hand on his shoulder and looked Mars in the eyes.

  “We heard rumors that you can take someone’s class? Is that true?” he asked.

  “It is.” Mars said simply and did not elaborate. Now that was interesting. Had they heard about that rumor and decided to come here afterwards, or was this a coincidence? He guessed the former was more likely and had to stop himself from smiling. Sometimes the most random events could bring you good fortune. Although spreading rumors about his new capabilities had been a deliberate act of propaganda.

  ”How?” the blonde man asked, his fury gone, replaced by eagerness.

  “Oh I am sorry, I don’t believe you are willing to trade for information in that price range. It would take half of everything you know for me to tell you this.”

  “Do the victims survive?” the taller man asked, more reserved but no less eager.

  “Yes, the only thing permanently gone from the Vessel is their spirit.” Mars conceded.

  “Could they re-implant a spirit?”

  “Theoretically. We do have the wellspring of souls here on the first floor. All a Vessel has to do is get there.”

  “But all their progress would be gone, even if they were to get a new spirit, yes?”

  “Naturally.”

  The taller man was silent for a moment, while the blond man looked pensive.

  “Can you teach us this method? How many times can you do it?”

  “Again, that kind of information is valuable. I am not even certain I want to sell it and even if I did I am not sure you can offer me anything valuable enough for that. Sorry.”

  The blonde man seemed crestfallen, but the taller one continued the line of inquiry.

  “Could you take the classes from the group that killed our friend?”

  Mars paused and studied the two men with interest. So this was really what they were after and if they were still sitting here than they were willing to trade for more than they were allowed to. Good.

  “Yes, but that would cost you as well.”

  “How about a path to Ambition. A secret and safe path?”

  “Interesting.” Mars said. Safe passage meant probably actually safe for mortals if the information came from upstairs. An emergency route maybe?

  “A caravan capable path.” the tall man said stiffly and Mars eyes widened. That was something else entirely. A secret, safe passage to Ambition? That was any smugglers dream.

  “A safe caravan path through the 5th floor?” he asked, since the 5th floor was the most dangerous to caravans.

  “Yes.” the tall man said firmly.

  “Well now, gentlemen. You have my full attention. If you truly have the information about such a path all the way up to Ambition then we might be able to go into business together. Please, sit down. Do you want something to drink? To eat?”

  Both men hesitated and then sat down, before they both said they did not want anything, although the blonde one did stare a bit too long at the liquor collection Mars had assembled at one wall of his office.

  “Now, you have me at a disadvantage. You know me, but I do not know your names.”

  “I am Marius son of Geralt, vassal of house Clark. This is Gerrus Clark, youngest son of the illustrious House. He is our captain and I am his sergeant.” the tall man said.

  “Well met. The House Clark. If I remember correctly they were hit hard in a border skirmish in the last conflict between floors. But as a noble house I assume young master Gerrus you are a third or fourth son?”

  “I am the fourth son, yes.” Gerrus said stiffly.

  “Such is the way of those born less fortunate. We have to fight for our rights.” Mars said and Gerrus mood seemed to brighten as he nodded.

  “I assume this safe path is secret and you are not allowed to trade it usually?”

  “Its a cowards escape. We all learn about it. But those who use it have already lost their way. If you can’t beat the lower floors how can you live through the expedition past the gap?” Gerrus said passionately.

  “We...have decided that it is a bit of information that is not important enough to be considered a secret.” Marius said with a nod.

  “To my good fortune it seems. Now to the specifics. You want the group that killed your friend to be hindered, to lose their classes and be stranded down here for a while, not to be killed, correct?”

  “Yes. Making a trade with you for murder would be akin to a declaration of war. But having them hinder you will be seen as a natural reaction to them luring one of us to his death.” Marius explained an argument he clearly had before with his captain who looked like he wanted to say something, but decided otherwise.

  “Alright, that can be done but only if we can find them. Most Climbers never meet one of your groups. You people seem to vanish into the floors like ghosts.”

  “We do not know where they are right now, but we do know where they will be, which is much better.”

  “It is indeed. What about their combat strength?”

  “Around lvl10 to lvl15, but well...very strong lvl15s.”

  “Very well. How many?”

  “Eight, the 52nd floor always runs a group of 8.”

  “That is quite sizable. But it should not be that much of a problem. It will take some time and setup though. We need to confirm your intel and make sure we have everything in place. On which floor will they be?”

  “The fourth floor.”

  “Well that makes things more interesting. Anything else?”

  “You can not kill any of them. No matter what.” Marius emphasized.

  “Not to worry young master, Marius. For how long would you like them to be out of commission?”

  “They need to miss the next expedition.”

  “We can do that, but well, that is months at least, if not a year to be sure. That increases the cost. How about you throw in those two rare spawns as well?”

  Marius jaw tensed, but then he said stiffly:

  “Very well.”

  “Excellent. Now, Tex here will write down what you say exactly. So you will now describe first the location of the enemy team, then the way to Ambition and last but not least the spawns.”

  “Only for you to betray us once you have all the information? No way. We will give you the location and the spawns, but not the pathway until the job is done.”

  “Give me the path up to the 5th floor so we can verify such a thing even exists. The rest you can tell us after we are done, how about it?”

  “Fine.” Marius said and looked at Gerrus who hesitated and then nodded.

  Mars listened to the description as both young men recited a path in rhyme form. It was marvelous to listen to and so precise and interesting he was captivated by it. The knowledge he had gotten here today would enable him to speed up his plans by many times. A smuggling path to and better than that from ambition would enable him to undermine his enemies position as soon as he had the information. His revenge could start that day. It looked like Aaron would get another mission and this time on the fourth floor. He would have to talk quite a bit with Iris soon. He wondered if the Cultivator was up for something like this. But then again 8 spirits would be a nice boost for him right? It would also give him an accurate assessment of his combat capabilities. Mars grinned as he listened to information falling into his lap. He had not planned for this, but he just knew this would pay off many times in the end.