Chapter 24

The party continued with their introductions while walking. Mei and Koki didn’t talk to Diya much because of the language barrier and chatted with Hina instead. Diya and Yuhiko walked ahead of them, discussing the tower. Unlike her younger clan members, she didn’t wear traditional Japanese clothes. She wore a shirt, knee-long cape, and baggy trousers tucked into plated boots. Her lack of a weapon didn’t concern Diya since a detailed black tattoo covered her forearm.

“You don’t have to worry too much about monsters,” Yukiho told Diya. “Mei is the clan’s best marksman. I sent a letter to the family when she exited the ground floor with a fox soul. I bet they’ll be ecstatic. She upgraded with a monster card on the first floor and will make light of most monsters.” She lowered her voice before continuing. “Koki got a beast soul too, but it’s a frog. He’s not particularly pleased about it and hasn’t found a decent card for it yet. Don’t worry, though; his sword and spear-play are formidable.”

“What about you?” Diya asked. “Won’t you help if monsters attack?”

“Only if their lives are in danger. This is their pilgrimage. I’m here to keep them alive, not help them climb or get their cards. My pilgrimage will continue from the sixteenth floor after I have finished my duties. Mei and Kiko can choose to follow me as equals or return to Japan and help protect our mountain from the beasts.”

“I was asking about your soul—”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Yukiho laughed. The long scar running across her nose, right eye, and nose did little to detract from her appeal. Diya could feel the strength and power in her. It was enticing and terrifying at the same time. “It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to people outside of the clan. I often forget that I’m an unknown.” She rolled up her sleeve showing off a wrinkly spiral on her forearm. “My soul is my cape. I’ve nurtured it to grow and harden while increasing my speed and agility. If something gets the jump on us, I’ll pull you out before the rest. We can’t continue the pilgrimage without your skills, after all. Mei and Kiko will oversee Hina’s protection.”

“My soul isn’t upgraded, but I’m trained in multiple battle forms,” Diya told her. “I’m not too concerned about my protection, more getting an idea of how we’d function as a party. Furthermore, Hina said you’d be open to negotiating loot distribution.”

“We aren’t too keen on that front,” Yukiho said. “Whatever cards we find goes towards upgrading souls, paying for supplies, repairs and tools, or for the clan’s protection. However, we were desperate for someone with rock-climbing abilities, so we put it out there as an option. What are you looking for, and what more can you contribute?”

“Besides my combat skills, I’m a practised trapper too. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the nightmare wolf, Akarai—”

“Akarai?” Her eyes widened. “That monster terrorised my party a decade ago! We used to prefer larger pilgrimage groups back then, and two of us fell to its terrible maw.” She sighed, glancing at the two younger clan members. “That included a member of the main family. They were so furious my father sent me away as soon as we returned home.”

“I don’t believe in coincidence or fate, but I reckon this might be it,” Diya said. “My traps help put him down. One of my former party members landed the killing blow and got an almost identical canine as his soul.”

“Considering what Hina told us about you, I’m inclined to believe you, Diya. Let’s move on to what you’d like to negotiate.”

“Let me help trap and kill beasts along the way. If we’re travelling through unfamiliar territory and Koki hasn’t upgraded his soul yet, things might get hairy. If we find a decent monster card with liquid manipulation, I’d like to claim it.”

“I’ll happily agree with the terms as long as you accept that Kiko gets priority,” Yukiho said. “His soul is... complicated. It can benefit a long list of mismatching keywords, and he isn't sure what direction he'd like to take. Liquid manipulation will benefit him, too."

“I understand,” Diya said. “Telekinesis will do too, but it’s unlikely we’ll come across beasts with such powers until the next interval. I’m happy to give Kiko the first pick, of course. If we come across any monster cards that he can’t or won’t use, I’d like to consider it.”

“You understand how rare and expensive those are, yes?”

“I do. At the same time, I’d like to express that I have the means to climb the tower alone or hire escorts for protection. Passage is barely sufficient compensation, and it’s not something I’m desperate for, like Hina. I agreed to help you because I need a decent upgrade for my soul soon.” Diya summoned his pen and showed it to her. Yukiho’s expression didn’t change as she studied it. “You require help to overcome the obstacles people and Gaia have put in your way. It’s a decent trade, don’t you think so.”

Yukiho nodded but said nothing more. Diya guessed that when she said they’d be open to negotiating, the party meant monetary compensation. According to Hina, they’d spent close to a month meandering around the second floor and were getting desperate. As a result, they had no option but to accept his request. They were still travelling through the populated parts of the floor with rest stops for miners and travellers. So, Diya had them stop and add his requests to the employment contract before continuing. Hina didn’t appear particularly pleased with the move, but Diya needed to protect his interests.

With the formalities out of the way, Diya took the time to study the second floor. Explorers had spent years exploring it but had never found an outside. It was all a network of tunnels and caverns. Bioluminescent plants illuminated parts of it while the rest sat in darkness. The party crossed streams that glowed bright blue and bridges with nothing but black underneath as they travelled away from the floor’s hub.

It was a couple of hours before Yukiho warmed up to Diya once again. She was leading them along the original pilgrimage path and had encountered a collapsed staircase. Diya climbed the rock face free hand and found the connecting tunnel hidden behind a collapsed boulder. It meant the route wasn’t completely lost. Diya summoned ink vines and helped them climb up before continuing their journey. Territorial Awareness and Climbing proved sufficient for their travels, but he kept Launcher in the deck. Burst of Strength would've likely served him better, but Diya worried about getting caught at a dead end with a horde or giant monster charging them.

The path didn’t have any lighting, so Mei took the lead. She summoned a red-skinned fox, and it manifested a trio of blue wisps. Diya recalled seeing a similar creature on the ground floor during his previous hunts. As far as he remembered, they were sweet, friendly beasts. Many parties considered them nuisances as they’d steal food or pick at monster corpses, but Diya didn’t mind them. Mei had either befriended one or landed an impossible shot with her bow.

Koki’s soul was an even greater mystery. Diya had never encountered a frog on the ground floor. He guessed they lived in the swamps to the east of the ground floor’s hub. There were no records of frog monsters in the area, which led him to believe the soul came from critters that explored the area. Diya couldn’t imagine how Koki got his soul, and it prickled him that both had beast types. He refused to believe it was just luck at play. Beast souls were a rarity. The Ito clan likely had methods for guaranteeing soul type, and it wasn’t fair to keep such things secret. Baba had taught him that life wasn’t fair, so he kept his mouth shut.

“How are you planning on nurturing your soul?” Yukiho asked when she caught him staring at the fox. “People think tool souls are easy to upgrade since they’re compatible with most cards, but finding something decent is a pain, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s got an odd combination of keywords. I checked its potential with a few monster cards from the first floor, but the upgrade's direction, though powerful, won’t work well with my style. I mostly need something that'll either give me control over ink or provide better durability for ink constructs. For the time being, I'll rely on my axe and this."

Diya needed a cover for his soul's full capabilities, so he flashed an Ice Spear card he'd saved from the first floor. The stolen spell from the spider queen had produced a spell called Frozen Ink Lance. The tier-one card sat in his backup deck, and he had added its effects to a blank slot in the journal. He guessed the spider queens had a tier-two version of Ice Spear called Ice Lance. As expected, the ink version of it was half as strong as the original.

“That's the tier-one card in your deck?" Yukiho asked, raising a manicured eyebrow. "You’re that confident in your spear play?”

For a moment, Diya considered disclosing his family background but decided against it. More than often, people would ask why he didn’t carry a sword as a sword master’s son. “I’m trained in most martial weapons. Stave weapons are my favourite, but they’re not ideal when in cramped spaces or for climbing.”

Yukiho’s eyes wandered down to the axe hanging from Diya’s belt. “I can’t help but wonder why the tower gave you a pen,” she commented. “I’d advise keeping your options open. Tool souls might be the most versatile. However, compatibility is often the issue. The best upgrade for the soul might take it in a direction that might not match your previous training. You might have to learn a new form of combat or adapt your style." Yukiho's fingers ran along her tattoo as she spoke. “I entered the tower as a marksman like Mei. Once you get to the third interval, ordinary arrows are pretty useless against the beasts. So, I had to relearn everything from scratch.”

Diya knew there was truth in what she said, but he didn’t have time to relearn anything. Eirkh’s Card sat in his vest’s inside pocket, and the temptation to use it intensified as they spoke. He doubted he'd discover anything as powerful. However, the hope of finding a decent base for his soul kept him from using it. The first upgrade would serve as a foundation and either open up more options for the soul's future or set him on a narrow and even harder path.

"Why aren't we going down this way?" Yukiho asked, pointing down a tunnel Diya had walked past. She flipped open the East India Company's compendium of the floor. They had invested heavily in the mining operations, and the maps were more detailed than the floor below. Yukiho had a map to her shrine, too. However, time had rendered them out of date. She lay them side by side, highlighting the parts that still matched. "I don't see it on the map, but it should take us straight through to—"

"The shrine is in a blank spot," Diya said, pointing at the updated map. "We don't know for sure where this tunnel leads or what made it. It could take us far under or over. For all we know, it isn't particularly stable either." The freshly inscribed Seek Prime Beast rune had pulsed gently during their travels so far, but its speed increased at the tunnel's mouth. "I don't like the look of the tunnel and would advise we stick to the plan. It might take us a bit longer, but it’s safer—"

"You forget that my soul is at tier-two. My body is once-tempered, and I have enough training to take on tier-three, if not tier-four, beasts. Whatever the risks, we can manage."

Yukiho marched into the tunnel before Diya could protest further. Koki and Mei followed. He looked at Hina for reassurance, but the party's porter only shrugged before running after the party. Seek Prime Beast vibrated as Diya followed them, but Territorial Awareness didn't highlight its source.

The tunnel’s walls appeared far too smooth, leaving Diya to wonder what had shaped it. He worried troglodytes would pour out of holes in the walls and surround them. Since they were in the first interval, the humanoid beast would likely have more grey matter, weapons, and armour than their ground-floor counterparts. Given the rune's strange behaviour, they'd likely have a chieftain, or worse, a magic-wielding shaman in tow. Yukiho's overconfidence worried Diya. Even if she had the strength to defeat them, he worried the tunnel could collapse on the party.

Diya took the lead as the tunnel twisted and turned. It wasn't long before the entrance behind them disappeared. They had found no side tunnels, holes, or other exits around them. Meanwhile, the rune's pulsing weakened and intensified randomly. Diya struggled to figure out the meaning behind the reaction until Mei froze behind him. She and Koki fell into a crouch, and Yukiho followed suit. The fox soul’s tail dipped between its legs, and it padded backwards. A soft scratching sound echoed down the tunnel. Diya drew his axe for security as the others fell back towards his position. The blue wisps flew up and down the tunnel, but they couldn’t see anything. Then the ceiling behind them collapsed, and a giant mole fell through the hole.