Klav scratched his stubble and yawned. The lack of action had begun to bore him, especially when the squad always bickered about Jace at the end of every encounter.
Erin sighed as she stood.
"Just let her heal him, Heather, didn't the Jackals run away or something?"
Heather smacked his lips again and raised his voice.
"That's exactly the point! They're going to come back! And what do we have? A mage with no mana because she spent it on a useless Climber!"
The conversation fell silent again among the rainforest. For some reason, the silence had seemed much quieter than before.
But Brita kneeled beside Jace, sprawling her soiled cloak on the mud, and held her staff.
"Everyone has to be in peak condition, no matter the Climber and their Soul. That was how every squad operated in the Tower."
Then Klav shoved her aside, holding Jace's face in a tight grip.
Jace tried to free himself, his voice tense by the barbarian's hold.
"What—the hell are you doing?!"
Klav fished for a vial filled with red liquid from one of his packs, and popped it open with his teeth. He turned to Brita and said:
"Peak condition, huh? That would mean you as well. You need to learn how to reserve your mana for real Climbers, not your little boyfriend."
Erin's face scowled, probably because of how obscene Klav was pouring the potion into Jace's mouth.
Jace tried to wriggle himself free but to no avail, there was no way of overpowering this barbarian that thrives his Soul Points into STR.
As the potion entered into his mouth and saturated into his tongue, he felt like he was going to vomit.
Health potions always tasted disgusting, that was why he vowed to never drink them again. Despite its promising effects to Climbers and their Soul, he couldn't even manage to ingest that liquid after every encounter.
They were always warm, with the consistency of blood, and lingered in his mouth with an appalling after-taste.
Klav released his grip, throwing the empty vial across the trees.
Jace hurled over into a disgusting round of coughs. By the way Klav was holding him, it had almost felt like he was being strangled.
'You damn meat-brain, do you even realize that you're higher-leveled than me?!'
Erin flipped him back, wrapping his torn arm in bandages. It wasn't instant like a healing spell but the potion would mend him over time. She said to him in a low sigh:
"It isn't that bad, right?"
Jace caught his breath, wiping the rain, or sweat, from his brow. He didn't even want to look her in the eyes.
Klav loudly chuckled, fixing his belt like he had just committed the most indecent act.
"Quit your crying, bread-boy, I'll make you drink another one if I have to."
Jace muttered back, his voice hoarse from choking.
"I'll kill you."
He chuckled again, clearly entertained by the hollow threat.
But Jace wasn't joking. He was serious. Nobody, not even his own squad members, should force him against his will.
Heather sheathed his sigil sword and stood among his squad. He ordered to them:
"We can rest before another encounter, because of Jace, and continue our gain of experience later. I am not letting our expedition be interrupted because of this."
Klav agreed, shackling his great-axe on his back. He slumped onto the ground and traced his fingers along the splattered Jackal blood.
Jace quietly thanked Erin and chose to be alone before she could shower him with pitiful encouragement.
Erin left to rejoin the squad, not before tightly wrapping the bandages, sending spikes of discomfort throughout his arm.
He winced and gritted his teeth.
'What was that for?'
He exhaled, bearing with the throbbing pain and opened his Soul.
[Name: Jace]
[Rank: Climber]
[Level: 10]
[HP: 71 > /130]
[MP: 10/20]
[STR: 5]
[END: 2]
[AGL: 3 + 3]
[INT: 0]
[WIS: 0]
[Skills: (Wide Slash - Lv. 1), (Strike - Lv. 1)]
[Blessings: (Blessing of Starch - Lv. 1)]
[Curses: ]
[Relics: (Ring of Haste)]
His eyes immediately locked onto his new Skill. He magnified the lines.
[Skill: Strike - Lv. 1]
[Type: Active]
[MP: 5]
[Description: Deliver a focused strike to your opponent.]
Jace recoiled his face in bewilderment.
'You have got to be kidding me! It's literally the same with my other Skill!'
He quickly hovered through his Soul, magnifying onto (Wide Slash).
[Skill: Wide Slash - Lv. 1]
[Type: Active]
[MP: 5]
[Description: Deliver a focused slash to your opponent.]
He tried his hardest from ripping his hair out. The Soul was toying with him again in the most sadistic way. From being impaled by almost a foot long tusk and threatened to be shredded by jagged claws, his reward was the same pathetic present gifted by the Soul.
'Why can't I just get something extravagant like any other Climber?! Like missiles made from pure light or arrows that burst into flesh?! Is this just my fate, to be cursed for mediocre abilities?!'
He groaned and stopped himself from spiraling into more madness. But it was simply hard to believe his Skill was a real competitor to his other squad members.
Klav, for an easy comparison, most likely had the majority of his Soul Points into STR.
What could Jace do that Klav could not? Even with the presence of his Skill, what could possibly be any different?
'I continue to be the joke from the Soul. Why do I even bother anymore?'
He dismissed his Soul, lifting his head, and tried to cope with his torment.
'At least you can give me a better Skill name than (Strike). Seriously, Soul, could you make it sound any less intimidating?'
Then the rain suddenly grew, peltering the squadron's faces in more intensity. What used to be a slight drizzle, was returning to the same downpour when they first arrived in Verdant Maw.
Erin shouted, her voice muffling against the encroaching rain.
"Should we find shelter, again? There's no way we can fight in this type of weather!"
But Heather refused. He shouted back to her:
"No way! We're spending every minute gaining experience until my Soul gets tired!"
"But, the ground—"
Erin stopped in the middle of her sentence. Her eyes tunneled to the direction behind Heather.
Heather furrowed his face.
"The ground—what?"
Erin frantically cried out to her squad.
"Run! We have to run!"
Jace heard the desperation in her voice and jumped from the mud, almost slipping in the process.
The other squad members did the same, turning their heads to each other, trying to figure out why Erin looked so distraught.
But Heather wrinkled his nose, as if thinking his squad had truly gone insane. He yelled back through the rain:
"Run? What are you talking about?"
Erin ran to Jace, stumbling along the mud, but she grabbed him by the wrist.
Jace resisted the urge to follow her. Her face looked terrified through her wet, blonde hair that came loose.
'What could she have seen to make her act like this?'
He held her steady and asked her:
"Erin…what did you see?"
She answered with her eyes widened in fear.
"It's…already here."
Heather was the second to notice it. He unsheathed his sigil sword, flourishing it in flames, and shouted:
"Beast!"
Klav pulled his great-axe from around his shoulder, facing the same direction as Heather.
Brita followed, holding her staff with both hands and prepared to unleash another devastating spell.
Erin's fingers still wrapped around Jace's wrist, almost like she was refusing to let him go.
Jace gripped his silver sword in unease. He glanced at her frozen face, as if her eyes were glued on that unseen monster. He said to her, loud enough through the pouring rain:
"Erin, we'll be fine. There isn't any monster these guys can't handle."
She shook her head, creeping back with her words.
"No, this—isn't any monster."
He asked her again:
"What did you see?"
She finally turned to him, her voice falling apart.
"A Guardian, descendant to the Gatekeeper."
Jace felt his heart drop.
'That's impossible. We aren't even deep enough in the Tower to encounter a Guardian, especially on the fifteenth Floor. Haven't the First and Second Generation cleared everything?'
Then he turned to the sound of violent rustling, like the trees and bushes were parting way for a force of real terror.
He felt Erin's hand pulling his arm as it came closer. She would rather abandon her squad than face that monster.
But it was too late.
It emerged from the thickets as if a nightmare had come alive. The Guardian was a staggering seven foot tall, standing on its hind legs like a humanoid beast unlike the Jackals they fought before.
Even if it appeared emaciated, that was far from what they hoped.
Dark fur enshrouded around the beast's like a wretched mane, covering its long limbs and hiding the tremendous weave of veins underneath. Despite its thin arms, there was still enough muscle to rip their bodies beyond recognition.
Without mass, that had only meant it moved quicker.
Its crimson eyes glowed through the showering rain, watching the droplets trickle down its uneven row of protruding sharp fangs. It snapped around with its snout, trying to locate the source of the scent of bloodied Climbers.
Until finally, what felt like an eternity of staring at the terror, it locked its eyes in front. They became the contenders for new prey.
Jace muttered under his breath:
"Alpha Jackal..."