Chapter 19 [Promotions]

I sat at the foot of my bed, studying my cane and patiently waiting for the sounds of the boozers outside to die down. It was already a few minutes past the turn of the day, and the people were still as lively as ever. Glancing at the other bed, I saw Nathaniel lying back with his one leg crossed over his raised knee, looking back and forth between the four Cards in his hands—my Summons.

He’d asked to see them once we’d gotten settled in. Locke said he’d be staying with Nick for the night and promised not to say anything to the old Deacon. I was somewhat tempted to give the boy permission to talk with his adoptive father about our discussions, but ultimately decided against it.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the man—I did. It was more that I didn’t know enough about the Order. The organization I’d been somewhat dragged into was obviously very powerful, and I had no doubts that they were willing to use dubious means to siphon information from their members if they thought it would further their interests.

As always, I don’t know enough. I stood and peaked through the room’s curtains. From its second story vantage, I could see much of the street, along with the many men and women stumbling about. It’s a wonder they’ve never had any trouble here. How does a town that gets so lively every night never have any crime worth reporting? No. Someone must be withholding the reports.

I closed the curtain and turned back… only to find Nathaniel standing right behind me with his arm extended, waiting for me to take my Cards. Shaking my head, I took the Cards, unbuckled my Deck Box, and slipped them in.

“You know, some may find your sneaking rude. Too many surprises and I may die of a heart attack before seeing the Tenth Floor.” I leaned against the wall next to the window. “Family training or some silencing Enhancement?”

Nathaniel wiggled his hand back and forth. “Partial family training, mostly high Dexterity. My Foundations are all Levels five or six.”

“So, you must have chosen the Deft Movements path of the Dexterity Foundation,” I guessed.

“I did.” Nathaniel nodded in confirmation. “And you… Not only do you have four Summons of Holy Rank or higher. One is indeed higher. A Sacred Summon… and if I’m not mistaken, that’s the Ghost of the Academy that none of us could find.”

“It is.”

“And…” Nathaniel smiled wryly. “You still used one of my Promotions on that Beetle.”

“Heh…” I scratched my cheek and looked away. “You did offer.”

Nathaniel shrugged. “It’s fine. I meant what I said at the time. The stronger each of us is, the stronger our Party is. The Syward family treasury has no shortage of Promotion Relics, so it wasn’t a loss to assist you. One of the Elders conditions for my going out on my own was that all the Cards in my Deck at the time were to be Promoted to the Holy Rank.”

They… what? My thoughts must have shown in my expression, since a look of confusion briefly crossed Nathaniel’s face. He pulled a chair from the nearby desk and sat before pulling an item seemingly from thin air and placing it down between us. As with every other object in the room, my Appraising Eye forced its description to show above it without any prompting.

[Name: Cube of Obscurity]

[Class: Relic]

[Rank: 3]

[Description: An item designed to keep out prying eyes.]

[Effect 1: Projects a small area with the cube at the center. Within this area, divination is less effective.]

Nathaniel tapped the top of the cube and dull blue lines extended from the tiny object until they were pressed into every corner of the room. The light didn’t carry at all, and I could tell that even if the room were completely dark and I held my hand to one of the outlines, I wouldn’t see the glow on my skin.

“There. Now we can speak freely,” Nathaniel stated. “It won’t keep our voices from reaching the next room should we talk too loudly, but I won’t have to concern myself with family trying to listen in. That frown earlier… was I wrong to assume you were rushing us to the Fifth Floor so that we could start earning our own Promotions?”

I stared at him blankly for a moment, then moved to sit on the edge of the bed in front of him. For a time, I remained silent, considering what he’d just said. After a few seconds, I shook my head.

“No, that’s not the case.”

“I see…” The man ran his hand through his silver hair. “You’re a mystery, Rowan. You knew of every achievement on the First Floor. Seemingly before even we Descendants were informed. You managed to steal the Academy’s ghost out from under us. You have multiple high-Ranking Summons. You have more skill, awareness, and experience than any of the other Descendants from my generation. And your Origin Card…”

He left the unspoken question hanging in the air while staring at me. Well… I wanted to start opening up.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance this evening to discuss everything I’d intended,” I began. “After seeing the others’ reactions to my Summons, I felt like they needed time to digest that information before dumping something else on them. You asked why we were rushing through the lower Floors? That’s simple. Essence. I have my own goals that I’m pursuing, and I need Essence to achieve them.”

“And between your Origin Card and your Holy Tame Creature Card, your chances of Summons dropping are exponentially higher when farming the Fallen Beasts that start to appear here…” Nathaniel swiftly filled in the blanks.

“That’s right.” I nodded. “Even with my Luck Enhancement, my chances of obtaining a Pure Summon on any Floor below this were low. I can cast Tame Creature just shy of eighty times per month. Even hunting Corrupted Beasts, I’d only manage one Pure Summon every couple of months. Against Fallen Beasts, however, we have a chance of obtaining a Pure Summon every seventeen casts or so. That’s practically one a week. More as I Level Condense, Luck, and Tame Creature.”

“Mmm,” Nathaniel grunted in agreement. “Since you don’t have to get last hit on the Beast you’ve cast Tame Creature on, I can purchase a Luck Enhancement when we visit the Origin Floor to further increase our success rate.”

“Nathaniel. You shouldn’t alter your build for anyone else,” I said seriously. “Not even the Churches have ways to safely remove Cards above Level Five. If they do, it isn’t public knowledge.”

He shrugged. “One Card won’t hurt in the end. I intend to wholly rely on Enhancements. If it weren’t for that, I’d take Condense as well, but it would do me no good without Spells or Abilities. Tame Creature is the only non-Enhancement Card in my Deck, since almost every big faction recommends having one to use on the higher Rank Beasts after the Tenth Floor. Never know when you might get lucky.”

“So long as you’re doing it because it’s what you wish to do,” I replied.

“We’re getting off subject.” Nathaniel waved away my worries and switched the topic. “Since we’ve already broached the topic, I don’t see any harm in informing you. The challenges at the end of every Fifth Floor, should you perform specific tasks within, your rewards at the end will include a Promotion Relic. It’s not very well known, and the Families try to keep it that way. Only some of the houses close to the Family Elders are permitted to know and only if they swear to donate their earnings to their Family Treasuries.”

“Is that so?” I leaned back slightly and looked at the ceiling. If that’s the case, then why are they having so much trouble clearing the upper Floors? Couldn’t they simply Promote Pure Summons that have the potential to fly or dive into the depths?

Nathaniel coughed, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked back at the youth to find him giving a half smile. He gestured up and spoke, “You’re wondering why they don’t just use the Promotions on Summons that can face each Floor’s hardships.”

“I am…” I narrowed my eyes. If everyone were half this astute, no one would be able to hold their secrets.

“The Promotions that we received from the final task aren’t normal,” Nathaniel answered without hesitation. “Every Promotion Relic that I’ve seen could only be used on one specific Class of Card. As per their nature, those that can Promote Summons are exceedingly rare. Following those would be Spell Promotions, then Enhancements, with Ability Promotions being the most frequent. Mmm… If you can call it frequent. Even those who’ve reached the Fifty-First Floor have only had ten opportunities to receive one, and only a scarce few of them even know of their existence.”

“Greed.” I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white. Images of the end played in my mind, of the giants rampaging freely through the city with only a handful of Wielders being capable of standing up to them. The young men and women… the children who had perished. If everyone knew about these Relics and how to get them… would we have stood a chance?

“It’s wrong, innit? How the large factions hoard their knowledge while so many struggle. Everyone who knows their secrets is under some Oath or Contract.” Nathaniel sighed, then grunted. “It’s fortunate that our Party Contract provides a way around that.”

“Mhmm.” I was only half listening as I rose and walked back to the window. Peaking out, I could see that the liveliness in the streets had calmed considerably since we’d begun our discussion.

“You mentioned that you have a goal, Rowan…” Nathaniel started. I didn’t look away from the street, where I noticed a young woman stumble into a distant alleyway. A group of the town’s guards followed a short way behind, and one stepped into the alley while the rest stayed on the cobbled walk, shooing away any citizen that happened to walk by. “May I ask what it is that you’re after?”

I looked at the young man for a few seconds before answering. “Something bad is going to happen, Nathaniel. Many people are going to die. Ultimately, I want to survive. If I can do something to help others along the way, however…”

With a tap of my cane, my outfit changed to that of Ravan. I felt the weight of the mask on my face and the world lit up as I looked through the lenses.

“I won’t stand idly by.”

I cast Shroud and leapt through the window.