Mik gasped for air, releasing the smoking corpse of the Bandit Squirrel. The overwhelmingly stinging pain in his shoulder helped him ignore the smell of the burning flesh.

  “Are you alright?” Sofia asked, kneeling down next to him.

  “I’ll live,” Mik chuckled through a grimace, “Sorry about BB and Panda.”

  Sofia shook her head, “I understood it was necessary and they are not gone, I will resummon them soon enough. You were being quite reckless,” she reprimanded.

  Mik leaned forward slightly, pushing down on his shoulder, “Ah, my shoulder hurts…”

  “You were stabbed after all,” Sofia said, slightly confused.

  “Ah.. AH! No! I mean it really hurts!” Mik shouted and then began screaming in agony, “What is this!?”

  Sofia’s eyes widened in confusion, not sure what to do. She began looking around for help. But no one else was sure what to do either.

  Then Lissandra moved from the back of the cave. The fight forcing her to get up and help if needed. She then kneeled down next to Mik on his other side.

  “Lie back, let me see.”

  Mik could barely hear her, but didn’t resist when she and Sofia guided him to the ground.

  Lissandra quickly ripped open his shirt and recoiled at the sight of his shoulder.

  “It’s become discolored…” Lissandra said warily, “Everyone be careful of the knife the monster used. I think it has been poisoned,” she expined and began rifling through the rge rucksack on her back.

  She quickly found what she was looking for and pulled a small vial with green liquid in it.

  “Lissandra that’s our st antidote,” Grace reminded her from a little ways up the cave.

  “Would you rather he die? He can always pay us back.”

  Mik grunted in pain, “Oh great, more d-debt!”

  “This is no time for jokes!” Sofia shouted back exasperated.

  “He will be just fine with the antidote,” Lissandra assured, pouring it onto the wound.

  “I don’t feel fine!” Mik gritted.

  “You did good d,” Borik chuckled.

  Borik had apparently healed enough to move and check on Mik. Mik looked up the pain from his shoulder fading substantially thanks to the green liquid. His brows lifted as he saw Borik wipe some of the blood from his chest, no new stream of red repcing it.

  “Us regur Climbers have more than one skill boyo. Perks of being in a Family. Speaking of,” Borik grinned, “You did a mighty fine job there d, I didn’t hear you say a Family name. How about joining up with us after this whole nightmare is in the wind, eh?”

  Mik smiled despite the small lingering pain. He had been noticed faster than he expected because of the monster flood. His goal of having a stable income and a way to the top was already opening.

  “Yeah, I’d like that,” he replied, “I’ll think about it, thank you Borik. And thank you Lissandra for the antidote potion, how much do I owe you both?”

  “It wasn’t too expensive,” Lissandra said, relieved to see Mik’s shoulder was returning to a pinkish color, “10 G-Grade Fragments would be more than enough.”

  “Liss…” Grace grumbled.

  Lissandra shrugged, “We’re fighting this together, it’s fine if I give him a discount.”

  “How much is it really…?” Mik asked cautiously.

  “A full G-Grade Crystal,” Grace humphed.

  Mik winced, “Is that really ok?”

  Lissandra waved him off, “Don’t worry about Grace. She just doesn’t like sharing. We’re square after what you did to the roaming boss for everyone,” she winked at him.

  “Aye she has a right metal rod stuck up her-” Borik coughed not finishing his thought, looking over his shoulder with sweat beading down it worse than when he was stabbed, “Nevermind that. Lass,” he said, addressing Sofia.

  “You did a fine job as well, following up on the boy’s pn. The Brunwick Family would be happy to have ya as well, I’m sure!”

  Sofia smiled but it quickly turned to a solemn expression, “I am sorry but I will have to decline… I am a part of the Westeria Family. For better or worse.”

  Madaline came over, pcing a few items at Mik’s feet. Two daggers and a solid crystal, nothing like the small fragments he had gotten from other monsters.

  “Here are the spoils from the boss fight. Only right the person who contributed the most gets them,” she congratuted.

  “Madam Westeria, we also agree.”

  Sofia’s face quickly turned venomous at the voice.

  “Dominick and myself did not notice you earlier. We are gd you have survived after being separated from us.”

  “Separated..?” Sofia parroted in disgust, “You mean after you left me to die?! How dare you even pretend to be innocent after I trusted you. Trusted you both! And now you sit there after all these people risked their lives, pretending once again. As if you contributed in the slightest!”

  Mik got up, moving to be ready to hold Sofia back if needed.

  “When we return safely I will be making sure you and Dominick find a new home in a cell for the rest of your lives! Do not dare speak to me again! If it was not for Mik, I would have killed you already! Both of you would be better off as bait for the monsters!”

  Mik got in front of Sofia, “That’s enough… Don’t lower yourself to them. You got away and we have bigger problems than two cowards.”

  “Not so fast their d. What’s this about them trying to kill the little dy?” Borik asked, getting in between them.

  “She is lying!” Dominick spoke up, “She was separated from our group. We were attacked by a rge group of monsters during the flood and she ran away because she was frightened!”

  “And you lot didn’t think to run after her? Isn’t she your mistress you donkey’s arse?”

  “W-What?! You expect us to risk our lives to run after her?!”

  “She do be your responsibility no? She is your boss’s daughter,” Borik scowled.

  “I-” Dominick had no words to counter his argument.

  Borik shrugged, “But it’s your word against the ss’s. We can’t do nothing about it here,” he eyed Dominick and Sasha, “I warn ya though. You best be helping soon. Or I might be following the little ss’s suggestion of using you for bait.”

  Borik as well as the others looked to the front of the cave. The sound of distant footsteps beginning to funnel though once again.

  “Doesn’t look like the bsted monsters are going to give us a rest… But a dwarf needs no rest when he has a hammer in his hand. It’s going to be a fine night it is!”

  Mik grumbled, bending down to pick up the dirty looking knives and still slightly bloody crystal. He nudged Lissandra, offering the crystal.

  “I know it doesn’t cover everything, but here. I already owe a lot of money to people, I don’t want to owe more,” he said with a wry smile.

  “It’s more than enough. We need to work together to get through this and don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here after all,” Lissandra smiled, shaking her head, “The rest can wait.”

  She looked at Sofia then back at Mik, whispering in a hushed voice, “I would be careful now that your friend said that. You never know what might happen in the Tower.”

  Mik’s expression turned cold. He and Sofia hadn’t known each other long, but they had gone through life and death fights multiple times now. Their retionship felt as strong as his and James did.

  “Thank you for the warning,” Mik nodded, but suddenly he was reminded of the people who died during the fight with the Bandit Squirrel Boss.

  “What are we going to do about the bodies…?” he asked with trepidation.

  “Nothing to do boy,” Borik shrugged, “That’s the way of things. We risk every dark hair on our asses for gold, glory, and power. Sometimes, it just don’t work out. We’ll pack their stuff, if they got any remaining party members it will go to them. If not, we’ll take their cards and bring ‘em to the Guild. They find the right Families and next of kin. Best you remember that, returning fallen Climber affects gives a small reward. Isn’t much but makes it worth doing.”

  Mik wasn’t sure how to respond to Borik’s expnation. He had always idolized and glorified Climbers and the Tower as a pce where you could become rich and powerful. But after being in the Tower for only a few hours he quickly realized just how dangerous and hard the tower truly was.

  The struggle of every minute, second, being inside it was a strain on him both physically and mentally.

  Borik raised a hand to his nose, “Ah… Those stories in the city… They never tell you how they all shit themselves at the end do they.”

  Mik struggled to find the humor in Borik’s crassness but he appreciated how honest the dwarf was even in such dire circumstances. It had a peculiar charm when the walls were closing in around you.

  A sharp whistle came from the front of the cave. Madaline had moved to keep watch as everyone tried their best to get situated after they had killed the roaming boss.

  “They’re back. It doesn’t look like they’re going to give us time to rest.”

  Madaline’s eyes fshed a brief green and she frowned while pulling back on her bow string.

  “Looks like their levels went up a bit. Mostly level 3’s and 4’s. I know no one said they were a healing css, but do we at least have some support csses that didn’t speak up?” she asked in hope.

  No one answered her, however people began moving past the dead bodies of monsters to the front to join her, including Mik and Sofia.

  Mik remained painfully aware of Sasha and Dominick as well due to Lissandra’s warning.

  I’ll have to put a few points into Dexterity when I can. Having better cast speed on spells is always great, and the passive stats to perception and spell critical damage won’t hurt. He thought, information on stats he had read coming to the forefront of his mind.

  Mik knew the stat wouldn’t directly help his spell in its current form, but once he was able to learn new spells and possibly even a new element. Stats outside his main Magic stat would be vital for him to improve.

  The sound of an arrow whistling through the air followed by several more brought Mik’s attention back to the task at hand. Surviving this until hopefully the monsters ran out of bodies to send at them, gave up, or they were miraculously rescued by some C-Rank Climber or better.

  But Mik wasn’t holding out hope for someone to save them. He had never had anyone but Sister Mary and James help him when the chips were down. That was until he met Sofia.

  The way she had rushed in first after him to take down the roaming boss was the first time he had met someone who had his back like that in his life. And he pnned to return the favor.

  Monsters began to close in on the cave entrance once more and the archers including Madaline retreated behind the warriors. Borik was holding the frontline as he did before with support from the rest of the Climbers within the cave.

  Sofia had not yet resummoned her elemental familiars, but Mik suspected she didn’t have the mana or possibly the catalysts to do so. Not only that, but Mik looked over his shoulder for a moment. And there just like before was Sasha and Dominick behind everyone else.

  Unwilling to contribute.

  Mik strained his attention, looking for chances to use his chains and magic to help keep the line. While attempting to be as conscious as possible of where the two were.

  The siege against them carried on. The only thing keeping them from being overrun inside the cave was the entrance being a stable chokepoint that could be tightened with the bodies of the dead monsters. Level ups here and there helped them all keep healthy but it would only help so much as their resources were being depleted with every passing minute turned hour.

  Mik was already becoming tired, his mind strained with keeping an eye on Sasha and Dominick while also trying to provide support to the front of the cave. Each Climber was beginning to show the wear on their body and minds as the blood from the monsters began to crust against their skin and armor.

  The smell of the dead became a constant lingering reminder that there seemed to be an endless supply of monsters attacking them.

  But finally, Borik gave a deep exhausted breath.

  “Looks like the crazy bastards let up. Get some rest while you can, but no one strip down to ya skivvies just yet. Don’t know when they’ll be back.”

  Mik found the closest wall and colpsed in a heap. He didn’t know how long the siege of monsters had sted, but his body was screaming at him to rest.

  Sofia found a seat close to him and plopped down as well, her mouth opened to say something but instead a soft breath came out signaling she had passed out. Her head gently fell to rest on his shoulder.

  He felt more stunned than when he was being attacked by a horde of monsters. Not sure what to do.

  Mik wanted to rest as well but he remained vigint, unsure of what closing his eyes would allow someone with hostile intentions to do to them.

  He settled in, trying not to jostle Sofia as she slept.