Chapter 22

Diya entered the second floor’s primary hub, dragging his loot in a card-summoned tent and his coat stained green with ichor. He attracted several stares but couldn’t help but feel proud of himself. Blue twinkled from his swelling pockets, and the rolls of fur still dripped with arachnid remains. Diya kept the cards hidden inside his vest. Even though the hubs were almost always full of climbers, he didn’t trust human greed.

“What the hell have you been killing?” A wide-eyed climber asked, approaching him. She sniffed at the air about Diya before recoiling. The woman appeared no older than him and wore worn but heavily patched clothing. Her appearance suggested that she’d been struggling on the floor and money was tight.

“Ice spiders,” he answered. “They’re a nasty bunch.”

“Are they easy to kill? Where can I find them?”

It was then Diya realised. The information he had gathered was probably more valuable than his loot. He could use it to gain leverage over a party and use them to climb a couple of floors.

“I’m not in the habit of giving out free information.” The woman sighed, hearing his answer. It was probably not the first time someone had refused to help her out. Diya suspected she was no different from him: Gaia dealt her a seemingly useless soul. As a result, the woman’s former party left her to brave the tower alone. Her drooping shoulders stirred Diya’s sympathetic side, so he gave her one of the smaller crystal eyes. “I don’t know how much they’re worth, but should still fetch two, maybe three, pounds. If you help me carry my load, I’ll give you a couple more. Does that sound okay to you?”

The woman stared at him for a second, eyes narrowing. Diya knew the look. He had used it several times when dealing with the nobility’s generosity. “The name’s Hina,” she said, accepting the dark blue stone. She took the packed tent's tethers off his shoulder, tied them together with her belt and hoisted the load onto her back. “Where to?”

“It’s nice to meet you, Hina. I’m Udit.” He flexed his neck, back and shoulders, enjoying the several cracks. Two swigs of whiskey and the aches became manageable. “I’m going to need you to guide me around the hub. I need to attune my soul to the Bind Stone. Then we’ll go to the primary hub. Meet with an available administrator—”

“Why don’t you just talk to the administrator here? The lines will be shorter.”

“I need to communicate with the first-floor administrator, though.”

“They’re all cogs of the same machine and have the means of communicating. Let them do your job and make your life easier.”

“Fine.” Diya sighed. There was still too much he didn’t know. The stories never discussed logistics or administrative work. “Then I’ll need an appraiser to determine the cost of all this loot. Once that is done, we can find a buyer for all this.”

“You sure you’re up for all of that?” Hina asked, raising an eyebrow. “It looks like your knees are about to turn into jelly.”

“I’ll be okay once I’ve had some tea,” Diya told her, flashing a tired smile. He didn’t tell her the truth that he didn’t have any money for food or a bed.

“It’s not a problem for me. The sooner I get paid, the better.”

The second floor’s hub proved much bigger than the last. Much to Diya’s surprise, most of it was human-made. It did make sense. The floor was all subterranean and populated with veins of Earth metals. He had read that the deeper caverns housed gemstones and minerals not available in the outside world. As a result, several families and organisations had mining operations running all over the level. Many of whom had Climbers on payroll to fend off monsters and competition. They had laid tracks along the smoothed-out cave floor to make things more efficient. Carts moved along them, transporting people and lumps of ore.

A fur-covered man brushed past him. He stood taller than everyone in the vicinity, and his shoulders would never fit through an average door. When Diya saw his large rectangular pupils and horns, he understood why the man didn’t look human. He had a beast soul, probably of the bovine variety, and was exercising a partial body transformation. The man dragged a lizard with a mastiff-sized head behind him. Its bloody body appeared caved in. A shiver down Diya’s spine. It was his first time seeing an upgraded beast-type using a transformation—besides the rat man. Lawrence would never achieve something similar. However, his summon would likely become a terror on the battlefield with appropriate nurturing.

The Bind Stone sat in a side cavern full of food vendors. Diya struggled to avoid the stalls as he weaved his way through them to the floating sphere. It appeared to be made from the same material as the upgrade stations, but the runes covering the structure glowed with no one touching it. The smell of warm, spiced milk and meat pasties called to Diya, making his stomach growl. He ignored his senses and summoned his soul.

“What?” Hina mumbled behind him, but he ignored her too.

The fountain pen’s nib glowed with a bright silvery light when Diya pressed it to the Bind Stone. Just before it went out, Hina pulled him away from the floating sphere. The runes glowed brighter until it was almost blinding, and Diya held his breath, thinking it would explode. It rose into the air, dragging an unmarked door out of the ground. It swung open, and a trio of Climbers in mining gear walked out. Diya glimpsed the Gate Room before the door closed and disappeared.

“Careful,” Hina said. “Are you sure you killed these beasts yourself? Your reaction time is horrid.”

“I’m just tired.” Diya laughed. “Do you know where the Bound Gate is in the primary hub? I don’t recall seeing it in the Gate Room.”

“Let me get this straight. You have a junk soul and just solo-killed these ice spiders on the icy first floor? I’ve got to tell you, Diya, it’s mighty suspicious. More for your lack of companions than the soul.”

“Well, this suspicious person is paying you for your time and knowledge. If I weren’t new, I wouldn’t need your help, would I, Hina?”

“The Bound Gate is an identical stone deeper in the Gate Room. It’s just past the first ten doors. You can’t miss it.”

It explained the crowd in the Gate Room. Diya had been so tired after escaping the collapsing ruins. He hadn’t taken the time to study the primary hub. Then, while entering the first floor, he’d been anxious about starting the climb. After he ate, slept, and bathed, Diya planned on taking some time to explore the primary hub. It housed valuable resources that could potentially help him reach his goal sooner.

“Lots of newbies don’t learn this until much later, so I’ll just tell you,” Hina continued. “The door will only take you to the last Bind Stone you used. You don’t get access to multiple bindings until upgrading your soul.”

“I’m aware,” Diya said. He appreciated her efforts, but the pain and exhaustion took a toll on his patience. He was in no mood for long explanations.

Hina was right. The administration desk didn’t have a line. Diya spoke to the man in charge and handed him the job sheets from the first floor. He didn’t have to do it, but Baba had taught him to take the courteous route whenever possible. Besides, the woman had his name on file. He didn’t want to run afoul with the city-employed staff.

The administrator looked down at Diya throughout the conversation. He couldn’t tell whether the man was an arsehole or tired after dealing with rowdy miners all day. It didn’t matter, though. Diya remained polite throughout the conversation. He didn’t explain why the jobs didn’t get done beyond running afoul with monsters and finding a gate to defeat them. The administrator wrote it all down before returning to his book.

“Good work ethic,” Diya commented once far enough from the desk.

Hina laughed, leading him towards the local appraiser. She claimed when it came to gemstones, there was no one better than Hamish, the former miner. Apparently, the workers on the second floor trusted him over the staff in the primary hub. Diya spotted a free Upgrade Station on the way there and excused himself for a moment. He fished the Ice Spider Queen's card out of his vest’s pocket, making sure the card face faced the floor.

When he touched the stone monolith with the fountain pen, the runes lit up, but he didn’t feel the warmth like he had last time. It would’ve helped deal with the sore muscles and joints. Gaia spoke inside his head again.

Explorer expected you to do great things.

Never in his wildest dreams did he foresee you slaughter a centuries-old beast.

Your creative methods didn’t just kill Eirkh the Bone Cruncher but half her brood as well. Angered by your trickery, her sisters cry for your blood.

Absorbing her card will temper your body, making it hard, heavy, and impervious to the cold.

The inkwell within Explorer’s Fountain Pen will absorb her love of the cold. All ink constructs will grow stronger but lose flexibility while becoming brittle. A freezing aura will surround them, chilling all who dare approach.

Runes inscribed by your pen will consume less ink and last longer. If planted in aether-rich climes, they may last forever. However, your runes' brittle nature will make them vulnerable to the lightest of forces.

Diya didn’t know a lot about monsters but could tell it was a powerful one. While the upgrades were potent, he disliked the idea of losing flexibility. Ink vines had removed his need for rope, and he needed them to traverse the lesser explored paths. The runes and constructs becoming brittle worried him, too. They were already weak. However, when damaged, they exploded into ink. He didn't want them turning into shards of ice and hurting him.

After checking his journal, Diya finalised his decision. Rushing towards an upgrade would doom him in the long run. Spell Thief had won him another valuable spell. He couldn't confirm the details without creating the card but could tell from the outlines that it was a tier-one spell. Thanks to the blank slots, he had a diverse arsenal of attacks to keep him going.

“Got a decent upgrade?” Hina asked. It occurred to Diya then that he had trusted her with valuable goods in his state of tiredness. She could have absconded with the furs and made a quick buck.

“Decided to skip it,” Diya answered. “The compatibility isn't high enough. The monster card will only upgrade two keywords. I'll hold out for a while longer and see if I can find something better."

“You’d be surprised how many people don’t think to do that. When most Climbers find their first compatible card, they rush to upgrade their souls. Then they reach floors four and five, realise how much harder things are up there, and struggle to find an Ascension Gate. I’ll bet my left tit half the people on this floor work here for just that reason.”

Diya laughed. It was refreshing to talk to someone not from a noble house or in their employ. Hina wasn’t proper and reserved as women of ‘class’ were expected to be.

“Is that what happened to you?”

Hina shook her head. “Gaia thought it would be funny to give me Dandelion Puff as a soul. The best it can do is multiply a few dozen times, blind and choke people, and make my loads lighter." She nodded at the tent hanging over her shoulder, and Diya noted the white puff balls covering it. Hina had carried the load across the hub, and not a single bead of sweat dotted her brow. "My party got sick of it and booted me. I ain’t ready to give up, though.”

“I know the feeling.” Diya sighed. “People take one look at my soul and write me off as useless.”

“You’ll have that in the first couple of intervals. No one wants to group with someone with a supposed junk soul on floors one to five. Afterwards, people will think you bought your first upgrade and consider you a liability. That’s what I hear, at least.”

“I imagine the third interval onwards people are more accepting. A person with a ‘junk’ soul won’t risk themselves up there unless they know what they’re doing.” Diya emphasised the word ‘junk’. He understood why Neer hated it.

The appraiser turned out to be a wide-set man with a white beard and wisps of white hair. Bulging muscles covered his body, and Diya knew nobody with half a brain would dare challenge him. The instant the appraiser saw the ice spider eyes, he recognised them as Glacial Topaz. Even though they were brittle, the right power source could activate them. Ships transporting fresh goods out of New Calcutta employed them to reduce their cargo hold’s temperature.

There wasn’t much demand for them in the open market, but the noble houses and trade factions would most likely purchase everything in stock. The going rate made Diya’s eyes widen. He had at least a hundred pounds in his pockets. However, liquidating it all would be a challenge. The houses would probably not want to deal with him. He was a nobody. They’d decide the rate, and he’d have no choice but to accept it.

Diya didn’t believe in Lady Luck even though she starred in several of Neer’s bedtime stories. Baba had raised him not to believe in such concepts and superstitions. He felt luck was on his side for the first time in a long time. The woman in line behind Diya tapped on his shoulder.

“Lydia Stone,” she said in a thick Yankee accent. Diya hadn’t met many Americans, and as far as he knew, there were two kinds: Yankees and not Yankees. “I work for the Fair-Trade Federation. Would you care to share where you found your wares? We’ve been trying to acquire Glacial Topaz for some time, but the local nobles monopolise the hunting grounds and keep chasing our parties away.”

“That does sound like them,” Hina commented, snorting back a laugh.

“I’m afraid sharing that would cost me my profit,” Diya told her. He had heard of her organisation in the pubs. The noble families weren’t happy about their attempts to lower market prices.

“What if I buy all the Glacial Topaz you have right now? I can’t offer you the same price as the Ansons or De Lawneys, but I am willing to pay Joseph’s quoted unit price.”

“That gets me money right now but still affects future profits.” The cogs turned in Diya’s head. He had never negotiated a deal before, but Lord Graham often took Alexander to meetings. The young lord would get bored and drag Diya along. He straightened his back and looked Lydia in the eye, trying his best to remember Lord Graham’s tactics. “I can’t see myself letting go of future profits, either. Considering Joseph’s quote and your interest, I understand the gems are in high demand. I might be willing for a percentage of profits made from the hunting ground.”

“That’s just bad business.” Lydia shook her head. “We can’t agree to such terms without knowing the probable yield.”

“And I can’t trust you not to forget all talk of a deal once you know where I found these. Believe me. It’s a treasure trove.”

“I suppose we’re at an impasse, then.” She sighed. “It’s a shame. We, as an organisation, are trying to reduce market prices. Your city’s nobles run the government and get to inflate and lower prices as they please.”

“And you want to undercut them?”

“No,” Lydia said. “We want to make things fair and accessible to the common folk.”

“Tell you what, you’re trying to do something good, so I’ll help you out,” Diya said, trying to sound as earnest as possible. “You need a source of rare materials, and I’m looking for help to scale the first and second intervals. My soul isn’t ideal, and until I find decent upgrades, it will be a struggle. If your organisation can help me climb and upgrade my soul, I’ll give you the information you want. Contract pending, of course.”

Lydia looked at Diya up and down and smiled. “I’m afraid that doesn’t work for us either. All of our Climbers are busy guarding the few resources we own. When they’re not fighting monsters, they’re fending off other factions trying to steal control. What if I list you as a benefactor within our organisation? Every resource we control is built around a door. It helps us transport assets between floors and gets them to the primary hub with speed and efficiency. I’ll give you a list of these sites, and you may use the doors to help with your climb.”

“That sounds agreeable,” Diya said, studying the notebook she handed him. It listed doorways spread across several floors. There was one on the third and a couple on the eighth. After he got the Omrito and had the opportunity to climb past the third interval, he’d have access to more gates higher up. “Let me add another stipulation. Instead of a benefactor, make me an employee.

“As you can see, I’m a climber and explorer. Since I prefer taking the paths less travelled, this will most likely be the first of many discoveries. My plans for Gaia’s Ark don’t involve finding resource hubs and monopolising them, though. If you hire me as an employee, whenever I return to the primary hub, I’ll report everything I’ve encountered. You do whatever you want with the information and pay me a salary.”

“That sounds possible,” Lydia replied thoughtfully. “I can’t approve that myself and would have to check with the higher-ups. It’ll most likely be a finder’s fee for every lead that comes through, but I can see it happening. How about we start off by listing you as a benefactor, and we go from there?”

Diya agreed to the deal. He got the stones, cards and fur appraised; Lydia bought those too. Hina stood back wide-eyed, watching the deal go down. Diya could tell from the look on her face that she was impressed. He gave her a couple more of the smaller ice spider eyes before finalising a meeting time with Lydia. Then he left the tower, stumbled to an inn, ate, created a card out of his latest stolen spell and rented a bed for the night.