I'm here again. Why? It's complicated. But I'm here.
The name's Tristan, though most of my peers just call me Monster candy, Bench Boy, Trash fire or just worthless.
Most people just stick with the last one though. So I guess I should compliment the jerks with a little creativity. Heh...
However, I shouldn't complain, they're right. After all, if it wasn't for the fact I had a Spark, I wouldn't be even able to join the Defense Guild. The only reason they let everybody with a Spark in is because this country lacks those with a Spark and has an excess amount of Towers. Why couldn't I just be blessed with a Spark like the S ranks, or at least the As? I would love to be able to slice down S ranked monsters like it is nothing, or cook them till the Tower is clean! Better yet- I kinda wish the Towers never appeared, never sprouted from who knows where!
Ugh, but what is done is done. I'm just a worthless, bottom feeder boy who is just trying to pay for his college fund after his father disowned him! Amazing! ...
I couldn't help but sigh as I stared in the crowd of people. It seems they're almost ready, as everyone lines up, each person grabbing either their bags or weapons. I tighten the straps of my backpack along my shoulders. With reluctance, I pull out my ID card on its lanyard and go into the back of the line, like always.
"Alright everyone!" A moderately fit man yells from the front of the line. His voice is loud enough to where even I could hear him.
From the looks of it, you could probably guess that he has two kids in college or in the workforce already, with his balding head and fluffy salt 'n pepper beard. His name is Arnold, the main damage dealer and the highest rank in the whole party. You could tell from his nice silver plated armor and his great sword he swings like a twig that he is C rank.
Arnold continued, "I have high hopes for this team! While quite a few of you are newcomers, we have a high amount of potential in this party! That saying, for the new-" Arnold's speech was then cut off by a younger looking guy in the middle, about my age and blonde hair that just screamed jerk-face, dimwit.
"Sir! Don't you mean, 'some of us have potential- except the Bench Boy!' heh!" The jerk giggled to himself, even trying to egg others to do the same.
Told ya some were creative! A-anyway-
While a few people did join in, Arnold shut them down with a simple cough. "Alright everyone! There is no need for pettiness! We are here to clear this Tower and get paid! If I hear- or see- any tomfoolery, they will be seeing the dull end of my great sword!" He glared into the jerk's eyes, and like a puppy who just peed on the carpet, the jerk looked away in shame.
After a few moments of silence that I spent laughing in my head, we got the go ahead to enter the Tower. The Tower looked like all the other towers, tall and made of stone bricks that cracked up at the edges. Though there is one difference to all towers, the vines below. The vines can't be cut and they change colors depending on how difficult the Tower is. Of course the vines on this Tower are green since it is an E rank Tower. Anyway... One by One we head into the Tower. I don't know why they had to make everything so boring! We used to be able to head into low ranked Towers without this whole thing but after the whole, 'E ranked Tower was suddenly a D rank situation', we can't just walk in anymore.
Once it was my turn, I gave my Spark ID card to the Observer. It's always the same one for these low rank Towers, I swear.
She smiles at me, her blue eyes like gems in the sunlight and her hair perfectly contrasts it as it shimmers this purple in her silky black hair. If I didn't need the money, maybe... maybe I could settle down, I wouldn't be the bottom of all defenders if I wasn't one... What am I thinking? I barely know her, I've only spoken to her a few times... But, settling down isn't a bad idea... I could just get a different job...
I am suddenly snapped awake from my rambling thoughts as she says something, "Tristan Bao, I've never seen this before..."
Ah-!... My eyes blink in confusion as I tilt my head. "Wha-?"
"Your ID- it... it... It expires tomorrow, you should get it renewed and reassess at the Defenders' community hall!" She smiles and hands me my ID back.
I couldn't help but stand in shock for a moment. She just- did she just lead me on? Of course... She probably never saw that before since people usually rank up after a few towers and update their ID cards. But, since I am still the only rank F person apparently that can't rank up, I haven't taken my ID to be updated in the two years I got my Spark ID.
Ugh. Whatever.
I roll my eyes before heading in. That lady's smile and wave taunting me like the devil. After entering the Tower, I see the group already heading further down the floor, without me... Again. I try to follow, though a bit behind, both because I can't catch up and I kinda don't want to. It already stinks in this Tower, I don't want it to stink of both Garbage and Jerk.
Though I probably should try to catch up since of what this Tower floor seems to be. Usually bad smell means undead of a form or goblin or kobold- but since this is the first floor of a E rank Tower...
Suddenly the party stops, splitting into two groups to cover the whole width of the floor.
"Stand Guard! We got Kobolds!" Arnold yells as he readies his sword.
The others also ready themselves. The rouge-likes ready themselves at the edges, the tanks in the front or middle, while the mages- and me- stay in the back. I might be a rogue but I am definitely not strong enough to go upfront.
Wait-
"Wha-" I slip a whisper.
Kobolds? I thought it would be like skeletons or maybe slime on the first floor, but kobolds? Those should be a sixth floor monster, or at least a fifth. Whatever, it's an E rank monster so I'll be fine! Quickly, I run up behind the group as I grab my dagger out from its sheath. However, I don't tense myself up too much, at least I don't try to. After all...
"Alright! On the move!" Arnold yells and I can hear the smile in his voice.
Kobolds shouldn't get to the back with this party. With mostly D ranks, the party itself might even be a bit too high level for an E Tower like this. But eh- I'm not complaining. All I need to do is sit in the back and hope we don't get any pigeol monsters. Those monsters are like small birds and they target the weak points in a party. Even though I can take those monsters with the help of an E rank, they are just difficult based on numbers since they are pack monsters.
We move further, just stopping a few times to fight, but eventually we hit the floor stairs. Like I said, quite easy for this party. Next level, here we go!
Oh no... As we step up the stairs I can already smell it getting worse... Gross! "Eug!-" ah! I feel like throwing up... Though, I'm able to shake it off as we make it to the second floor. Around us I see the stone walls are more scratched than the floor below and there are holes cracked or carved in the bottoms of the walls.
The part suddenly stops, I don't know what they're thinking, but I bet it's like- "oh no! We should be quiet!" And they would be right.
It's weird this floor is so low, but these are the E rank monster, Two-tail rats. Basically big rats. They aren't bad when alone or in small packs, but they are pack monsters and even an C ranker like Arnold would get overwhelmed with a whole floor of them. This is because they have both sharp teeth and thick skin. That's why we're being quiet, since the rats are sensitive to sound, we could alert the whole floor.
We end up clearing that floor with ease, and the next couple floors too. Though, I do sense a pattern. Each floor is a harder monster, though all still E rank. Like the seventh floor was tangled trap weeds that I've seen at tenth levels before, and then it was Beetles, which are less hostile but are very tough as their shells are incredibly hard to pierce. The last tower I raided with this party actually was an R rank Tower that had Beetles as the Boss's minions.
Eventually, we make it to the twelfth floor after taking a break at the tenth and the eleventh being cleared by Arnold and the other damage dealers. The Tower boss should be on the fifteenth floor so I shouldn't have to worry until there are monsters that can get past the front line or can climb walls.
Surprisingly, the twelfth floor so far seems like it's also pretty easy. I don't even hear them fighting anything! Maybe we got a repeat monster or something like the previous floor. Wait-! Are they not fighting?
Arnold apparently also was suspicious about the situation and stopped everyone about halfway through the floor. "Everyone... Stay still, something doesn't feel right..." He said, though I could barely hear him through the back.
Suddenly, a stinging sensation flung from my shoulder down my arm, like a wave of acid or burning lava. Instinctively I screeched in pain and pulled my dagger from my good hand and quickly stabbed it into what had just bit me.
All I saw was purple blood that splattered- covering me, a creature's large and numerous red eyes, and its eight fuzzy dark grey legs clench onto me. As I stabbed it in the eye, it just dug its fangs further into my arm.
With another scream, the person next to me, a newbie mage, quickly turned around and shot an arrow made of what looked like electricity straight into the monster's other large eye. As both of its large eyes were out of commission, it lunged away from my arm and prepared itself to attack the arrow guy. However, quickly, another party member near us swung in and slash the monster in two. Out of breath, I clenched my arm as the veins in it were starting to visibly glow bright purple.
"Ugh!" I groan as my veins pulse with pain. Just fucking great! "Ah-!..."
The mage quickly comes over to me, "oh my-! Are you okay? No that's a stupid question- um..." They stutter trying to say something of use.
"Just fu-", I get cut off as I see everyone else fighting the monsters similar to watch we just faced.
"Everyone! Uh-! Keep focused! These are Bull-tuck spiders- a C rank monster!' Arnold yelled as he sliced one of the spiders into the ground.
"Wha-!"... What's with the total jump in difficulty? From E to C!? There wasn't any trouble before- and wasn't this an E rank Tower? I've never even seen these kinds of monsters!
Suddenly the mage perks up from me and shots another arrow behind me. As I look back at it, I see another spider being knocked back and then decapitated by the same party member that cut the last monster in two.
They must be two D ranks to be able to take down a C rank monster. Old man Arnold wasn't kidding when he said the newbies had potential.
After a while of me trying to dodge since I couldn't do anything, the onslaught of spiders slowed. If I didn't have my Spark- "feather dance"- I would probably be dead right now. It allows me to react slightly faster than a normal person, approximately 2 to 3 seconds faster.
Though, that doesn't help much if you can't defend yourself, ironic when we're called 'defenders'...
With a last slash and last bolt of mana, we were finished. The spiders were gone but there were others who also got a bit of a friendly touch from the spiders.
We all decided to take a break and I sat with the other wounded as the two healers of the party- one E and one D, went to each of us and healed us up. Of course however, I was last of their priority list.
The healing magic finally sinks into my arm like a warm bath after a long day- soft, but most importantly, numbing. The pain dulls, fading into a light throb. I let out a sigh. My whole body slumps, sinking against the cool stone wall behind me.
Around me, the others are patching up, swapping water flasks, low-talking in that "post-battle adrenaline crash" kind of way.
I stare at my hands, flexing my fingers slowly. It's a weird feeling, my veins not quite back to normal but not too painful. I still can kinda see the purple in my veins. There's a small smear of spider guts under my nails too. Gross. I wipe it on the corner of my already-ruined dark hoodie. Adds to the aesthetic.
Now that I have time to think, what was that? I still don't understand why a C rank monster is in an E rank Tower? I realize that it was a bit harder than a regular Tower before the spiders but now- wait- what if the next floor-!
"Do you have a speed Spark?" The mage from earlier plops down next to me, interrupting my thoughts and handing over a canteen. They're still breathing a little hard but have that stupid glint in their eyes like all newbies have. "That's pretty cool. You dodged like-bam! Zip! I thought you were gonna do a flip! Heh!"
I gave them a look as they chuckled. "....Yeah, well. A flip probably would've dislocated my spine, so. I resisted."
They laugh again, a little awkward, but not mean. That's rare. I take the canteen, nodding thanks, and sip. It's warm. Tastes like metal and old plastic. Classic Tower hydration.
We just sat there. Eventually, Arnold strolls by, pacing after battle like always, wiping his blade down with a rag. He gives me this long, unreadable look-probably trying to figure out if I'm going to keel over or not-then nods, like, yeah, you're still mostly functional, and moves on.
What a guy! ...
I glance up at the ceiling of the Tower. It's a weird mix of natural cavern and twisted architecture-like a dungeon designed by someone who failed interior design but aced nightmares. But right now, with no spiders crawling all over it, and no screaming or slashing echoing off the walls, it's... almost peaceful. Horrifying- but peaceful.
The mage leans back with a groan. "Man... I could go for a smoothie."
I blink at them. "...Smoothie?"
"Yeah. Like a peach one. Or mango. Something cold. With a tiny umbrella."
I let out a short chuckle. It surprises me more than them. "I'm here getting stabbed by a spider and while my first thought is, wow I'm not dead- yours is smoothie?"
"Well, yeah. Life's short. Smoothies are sweet. And umbrellas are cute."
"...Fair... I guess?"
They chuckle and lean their head along the cold stone wall, staring into the ceiling. Honestly, I follow suit, staring into the cracks in the stone lining.
Sounds dumb, but I guess after risking your life in something you didn't even prepare for- something sweet and soothing that doesn't taste like metal would be nice.
I should head to the bar after this.
That!- would be nice.
"Hey," the mage says, nudging me, "whats your name? Mine's Kelvin Doji- or Kel, I like Kel."
"Tristan, Tristan Bao..."
After the break, we got moving again, my body still sore, but the healing spell did its job. The group begins their climb up the stairs, twisting and turning upwards under the faint light. Everything feels quieter now. The only thing breaking the silence is the steady sound of their boots hitting the stone steps as they move higher.
Then we reach the next landing, and something feels off. The air is thicker here, heavier. The stone walls seem to pulse, like the Tower itself is breathing. The others don't seem to notice. Or maybe they do, but they're too focused on their job to care. Either way, when I step off the last stair, I freeze.
Before us stands a door, huge and looming-black oak with silver inlays twisting around the edges. The thing practically hums with the definition of eeriness. It's strange, I've never seen such a door, its accents curving upon itself like thin wings of a bat. Even though it's weird, now that I look at it, it feels... welcoming?
Arnold's eyes narrow at the door, "That's new," he mutters under his breath, his sword held tighter now, like he's expecting something to burst through the door any second. But nothing happens. The air just thickens with the tension.
"Thats odd... This doesn't look like an E rank boss room... even if it was it shouldn't be in this floor," Arnold continues, now addressing the rest of the group. "Keep your guard up. Something's off."
I glance back at Kel, who's still breathing a little heavier, but they're eyeing the door with that same gleam from before. The kind that says you're thinking too hard and this is gonna be fun at the same time. A bit too excited for the situation.
"Doesn't look like an E rank door, huh?" they whisper, just loud enough for me to hear, but no one else.
I grunt in response. "You think?"
They chuckle, the sound low and light. "We got this, don't worry."
I shift on my feet, feeling a little out of place, but I'm not gonna be the one to turn back now. Not like I can. If the boss isn't defeated the monsters are bound to respawn... I would not be able to fight my way out.
Arnold's already stepping toward the door. "On three, we push it open. Stay sharp."