Chapter 31

Before starting his climb, Diya removed the vest he wore under his coat. The temperate climate and testing inkfire cards had soaked his pits, back and hair. He couldn’t very well take off his jacket—its protection was invaluable. Still, he was happy to forego the metal studs that held onto his torso’s heat. Sleep, healing brew and a couple of shots of whisky had washed all the fatigue and pain out of Diya’s joints. With the Mole's Claws conjuring claws out of his boots, Diya climbed twice as fast as usual. The thought of kicking in Yukiho's face spurned him along too.

Rage is pointless unless you can do something about its source. Either channel it into doing something impossible or let it go and find a way to find peace. People don’t talk about mental health, Diya, but it’s just as important as physical wellbeing. That’s especially important for Climbers.

Neer’s words came back to Diya when he reached the top. It had been one of the last conversations they had before the disappearance. Concepts like mental health had been well beyond Diya’s comprehension back then, but he understood now. Neer was most likely at a low point and was trying to reach out for help. It saddened Diya that he couldn’t give his brother what he needed.

Tracks lined the cliff’s edge. Besides the human footprints left behind by him and his former employers, there were two sets he recognised as lizard men. They had three claws pointing forwards and one back, much like bird’s feet. Judging by the tracks, Diya guessed they were much bigger than the creatures on the ground floor. He hoped they had similar intelligence levels, though. Diya feared brains over brawn. The find brightened Diya’s mood. It meant his assumptions had been correct. There had to be a settlement nearby. With the plant monster dead, they had most likely expanded their patrols.

Diya followed the lizard men’s tracks back to the previous day’s battlegrounds. The bushes had been picked clean—uprooted, the roots butchered, and the flowers harvested. The ground trembled under Diya’s feet when he entered the clearing. He scrambled backwards just as it crumbled. Everything not held together by the leafless trees collapsed, throwing a cloud of dust into the head. Diya covered his mouth and nose, trying to keep the debris out of his lungs. He guessed harvesting the plant monsters had destabilised the ground in the area.

It took several minutes for the dust to settle, but Diya stuck around. He wanted to study how deep the lizardmen had dug. It would give him a rough idea of the tools they had access to. Neer theorised the troglodytes, argonians—lizard men, and other tribe-based creatures in the tower were remnants of previous Climber species. He encountered different versions of the same animals across several intervals. Their intelligence, strength and equipment improved with every floor.

The dig marks were far from smooth, and bruises covered the chopped roofs. Diya guessed the lizard men either had stone tools or aged metal equipment. If he found himself in melee combat with the creatures, their bladed weapons would most likely bruise and break bones. The padded leather coat would hopefully protect him from most of it. The lizard men’s actions weren’t enough to cause a complete collapse, though. So, Diya climbed down to investigate the sight closer.

The door they had used to enter the floor had dropped down to the below-ground location. Diya wasn’t aware that permanent doors could move. The next Ito clan pilgrimage would be in for a surprise when they came through. Diya found himself tempted to lay a trap for them. He was quick to contain the urge. There was no guarantee the following party of pilgrims would be as bad as Yukiho. Besides, innocent Climbers could chance upon the gate too.

Diya found the cause of the collapse buried in a tangle of dead roots covered in soil. It was an old upgrade station. Diya guessed the plant monster had grown around it because of the yellow goo covering it and the location. He suspected foul play. Not only had someone changed the door’s destination, but they also left the monster there as a trap. Perhaps the Ito clan had pissed off influential Climbers during their last pilgrimage, and they had retaliated in kind.

After marking the upgrade station and door on his map, Diya moved on. If he encountered anything of value nearby, the FTF would want to know about it. The now caved-in clearing would also serve brilliantly as a base of operation. Diya followed the lizard men's tracks deeper into the forest of deciduous trees. It surprised him how there was a sharp contrast between the mangrove-filled swamps behind him and the bare branches ahead. As far as he knew, in the outside world, they grew in contrasting climates.

The footprints occasionally disappeared, and Diya had to spend several minutes hunting them down again. It took him a while to figure it out, but the creatures avoided the bare, grassless patches whenever possible. Diya couldn’t help but wonder whether it was to avoid leaving tracks or if something else was at play.

Critters of varying sizes occasionally run between the budding bushes. Quite a few of them carried berries, and their odour made Diya’s stomach rumble. After watching a sizeable green rodent devour a small pile of blue fruits, Diya dared to taste one. The sour hit made him flinch, but he didn’t mind the aftertaste. He suspected it would mess with his stomach later, so he left the berries alone. The large green rodent watched Diya curiously. It probably had never seen a human before. After the incident with the ice spiders, Diya wasn’t too keen on befriending the tower’s inhabitants, so he carried onwards.

It was almost afternoon before the first lizard man approached. The creature wasn’t just one and half times the size of the ground-floor specimens but had long skinny feathers along its back and limbs. A forked tongue tasted the air before disappearing into its pointed snout. Diya held his breath, falling into a crouch. Lost in his thoughts, Diya hadn’t kept track of the wind. He was pretty sure the lizardman and his spear would be no match for him. However, there was no telling whether the monster was alone. It could very well have friends that would come running to the rescue as soon as it cried out.

Diya's hold on his axe tightened when the lizard man fell into a crouch, too. The green and red feathers blended into the local foliage. An unwary traveller would’ve walked past the bushes and never known a hunter awaited them with a weapon. That’s precisely what happened to the green rodent. It scurried over a tangle of gnarled roots towards another berry bush. The second it paused, a spear skewered its side. The lizardman stood up, pulled the creature free of the spearhead, and bashed it against a tree trunk. Then it stuffed the corpse into a crude satchel with berries before heading into the trees.

The lizard man had displayed skills that far surpassed its ground-floor cousins. Only a swift and precise thrust would’ve caught the beast off guard. The attack would’ve been impossible without a sharpened spearhead as well. Diya guessed that without Climbers affecting their society, the lizard men could’ve progressed much further than their fellow tribes. At the same time, perhaps their ability to fight similarly sized opponents had deteriorated. Diya followed the creature, burning with optimism. There had to be several sufficiently aged individuals among the lizardman’s tribe. Older, more experienced specimens dropped better cards.

Diya watched the lizard man pick off another giant rodent as smoothly as the first. It used similar tactics, going still against a moss-covered tree trunk before thrusting its weapon when its prey paused to sniff the air. Diya couldn’t help but feel amazed by how smoothly the lizard man blended in with the green and brown bark. It wasn’t a camouflaging ability so much as erasing one’s presence and becoming one with their surroundings. The lizardman turned itself into a statue, and a white film covered its bright yellow eyes, dulling their colour. Occasionally, the forked tongue would dart out and flick at the air. It moved with blinding speed like last time, stomping a clawed foot into the underbrush. It had another giant rodent in hand, this one more yellow than green.

The lizardman hissed when yellow sparks flew from the creature’s cheeks. It repeatedly bashed the rodent against a tree trunk, not stopping even after the monster limped. Diya took the opportunity to readjust his position so the wind wouldn’t carry his scent to the beast. He ensured to walk on grassy bits like the lizardman and avoid leaving tracks. The ground had gotten wetter, and the last thing he wanted was for a squelch to give away his position.

When Diya’s prey encountered another one of its kind, he knew they had to be getting close to a settlement. Keeping the axe in hand helped him feel safe. The lizard men were almost as tall as him and bulkier. Diya didn’t like his chances if they ganged up on him. Unlike the first specimen, the second’s green feathers had bits of blue and black. They squeaked at one another softly and occasionally cooed. The lizard men on the ground floor would screech and grunt. Victoria believed their communication was rudimentary, while the third-floor specimens were perhaps close to primitive man.

Diya shoved all thoughts of her and the Boleyns out of his mind. He missed them. Neither Victoria nor Alexander would screw him over like the Ito clan. Edgar would try, of course, but the other two would ensure he never got away with it. The fire in Diya’s chest burned hotter, and his vision narrowed as he watched the lizard men. Their chieftain or shaman’s card would perhaps become his salvation. Using it, he’d climb to the next interval, fight his way through it and find Omrito to save Alexander. Then he’d never have to group up with the likes of Yukiho again.

The lizard men’s settlement appeared surprisingly small. It only housed four rough mud huts but had a couple dozen of them milling about. Diya climbed a tree to get a better look and soon noticed there weren’t enough children or elderly among them. They were all young and spry, going about their work with enthusiasm. It didn’t take him long to find their leader. Its feathers were longer and thicker than the others. Instead of working, it remained in one position, cooing at others and pointing at several piles of sacks littered around the giant firepit.

A sizeable wooden staff sat in the leader’s hand. The multi-coloured feather decoration and softly glowing bone short atop it confirmed its status as a shaman or chieftain. Diya had read about its kind, animating shadows, shooting fireballs, or conjuring servants of leaves, branches, and mud to fight for them. He marked the creature as his target. Hopefully, it would drop a monster card he could use.

Diya theorised he had found a budding outpost. The sweet and spicy aroma from the campsite reminded him of the plant monster. Then he spotted the heavily muscled individuals still working on the huts. Either they had built the settlement to combat the plant monster or expanded their territory following its death. It didn’t matter. Diya watched the routes they took out of the outpost and put a plan together.

Once the sun had set, the firepit came to life, and the hunter lizard man got to work over a titanic pot. It wasn’t just him that added berries and meat to the container but others too. Diya knew very well how big a menace the creatures would become once they gathered strength and targeted Climbers. So, he didn’t feel bad about what he intended to do to them.

After watching the settlement all day, Diya knew where the night watch took their posts. He ducked around them, staying downwind, onto the settlement’s most used path. It was almost all grass, with barely any muddy patches. The harder ground also had more berry-laden bushes growing out of it. When Diya spotted tracks going well past it towards lower elevation, he guessed it led to another settlement.

Fortunately, the bare branches didn’t obscure the moon’s light. When passing through the plant monsters’ lair, Diya had collected the aromatic yellow goo. He rubbed it all over his leather coat before settling into the clearing between the bushes. Lighting a fire wasn’t an option, so he relied on the scent to ward off predators. After having a quick meal of cheese, bread, and dried meat, Diya started digging. When using the Mole's Claw card, he envisioned a shovel. The tool formed in his hand with a wide head that tapered to a sharp point. It broke ground and stone with ease.

On the ground floor, pitfall traps had gotten boring. They were effective but straightforward and far from interesting. When facing superior numbers, Diya couldn’t think of anything better. Besides, the lizard men’s senses would most likely detect a pendulum log. Because of a lack of foliage, there wasn’t a lot he could use to conceal the traps.

The digging helped Diya work the cold out of his bones. When roots got in the way, Diya paused and chopped through them with his axe. He hoped the crimson core would keep the weapon from blunting. He needed the weapon sharp for when heading into a fight.

As the temperature dropped, worries of the lizard men sneaking up on him disappeared altogether. Cold-blooded creatures relied on the sun to stay warm. It was why the animals on the second floor were mostly mammals. The guidebook claimed that the first floor didn’t have any reptiles either. Diya recalled seeing other beasts in the plant monster’s lair. He was sure they were mostly rodents and deer, though. Hopefully, the predators were smarter. If they were smart enough to avoid the beast’s luring scent and the lizard men’s, Diya had little reason to worry.

A lone pitfall wouldn’t do. So, Diya gathered fallen branches and sharpened them with his dagger. He hoped the stakes would function how he intended. While setting up a proper trap, Diya would’ve preferred picking out the straightest branches, even if it involved scaling a tree and chopping parts of it down. However, he couldn’t afford to make too much noise or leave traces of his work. Since he was dealing with intelligent prey, the sight needed to appear relatively untouched.

It was well past midnight when Diya finished. Then it was a matter of concealing his work before resting for the night. He spread the dug-up soil around the clearing and under the bushes. Then he removed Mole's Claws from the deck and slotted in Ensnaring Vines. When he used the card, the vines snapped to the hole's edges, forming a crude net. Diya covered it with dirt, fallen branches, and bits shed by the local bushes. He arranged everything such that there were plenty of dropped berries to attract a forager without it looking suspicious. After a few finishing touches, Diya scaled a wide-branched tree and had a snack and a drink before going to sleep.