Chapter 5 – The Keeper’s Trials

  “You mentioned finding a large tower-like structure, right?” Teresa asked. She led Jack and Rayne through the city until they were looking up at a large tower on the outskirts of the city rising through the bedrock. “Do you think this could be it?”

  “I don’t know,” Jack said examining the structure. “I never saw it from this side. The only part I saw from the outside was in a different cavern. It is cutting through the bedrock like the one I found was, and it is the right size. Could be it.”

  “There is only one way to be sure,” Rayne said.

  “Yeah,” Jack said. “But if this is it, then there is a path up to the surface here, and there is no telling what, or who else might have found their way in.”

  “Time to get the others then,” Rayne said.

  “Yeah,” Jack agreed.

  “Don’t want to take a look to be sure?” Teresa asked almost disappointedly.

  “Shouldn’t risk it,” Jack said. “The entrance to the surface comes out next to Clayton and the Wenduags’ camp. If this is the place, there is a chance Clayton would have found it.”

  “Alright,” Teresa sighed. “Let’s go collect the others.”

  *~*

  “You’re sure this is the way to that place?” Savgar asked several hours later. “How’d you even find it?”

  “I figured that if Jack came across the challenge but not the city then it had to be at the edge of its limits,” Teresa said. “So, I was trying to find a wall, or something marking the end of the city and start looking around there. Took a while, but I eventually found the city limits. The city fills up every usable space inside the cavern and the city walls are built into it, but I remembered what Jack told us about a tower cutting through the bedrock where he found it and started looking for structures that did the same. It wasn’t that hard at that point. It almost leaps out at you when you get close enough. See, that tower over there, it rises up but doesn’t seem to end.”

  “Aye, I see it,” Savgar said.

  “We haven’t confirmed it is the place,” Jack said. “But there is probably a good chance of it being it. We should prepare for anything once we enter though. No telling if Clayton found it by now.”

  “You think he found it?” Victor asked. “We haven’t seen any evidence of him or the Wenduags in the city so far.”

  “It is possible,” Daniel said. “Clayton was desperate to find the place. I doubt he left any stone unchecked.”

  Jack nodded. “Yeah, the entrance was on a cliffside below their camp. I don’t think it would be that difficult for Clayton to figure out as well.”

  “Right,” Victor said, hefting his new spike mace in his hands. “But things are different this time. He won’t catch us off-guard.”

  “And if it isn’t,” Elaine said. “We might still find a way back up to the surface. We are going to need to start looking for that soon if we intend to put any of our city plans into action.”

  “That is true,” Daniel said. “But I think there might be another way up to the surface nearby. The goblins had to have their own way up. We might be able to find the path they used, and it might even be further away from Clayton’s camp.”

  “I’m not certain about that,” Reuf said. “There were always new goblins being captured during our time there. Could be that the Wenduags already have eyes on the place.”

  “Even if that is the case,” Victor said. “We can probably handle a few of the Wenduags and maybe even Clayton as well now, but I don’t think we are ready to handle the whole camp yet.”

  “Eh,” Savgar said. “No use worrying about things like that yet. Let’s just see what this tower is about for now.”

  Not knowing how long or how far they would need to go, they decided to pack up the entire camp and head over to the tower as one group. It was a relatively simple process at this point. No one had much to carry and anything that did take up space was picked up using Jack’s Storage skill. They had done this so often in the past few days that it was practically second nature now.

  The journey to the tower didn’t take very long. But if there was a chance of making it back to the surface, no one wanted to stay behind. Well, one person wanted to stay behind.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “I still think leaving right now would be a waste,” Daniel said. “We haven’t even been able to learn anything from the library we found yet. A wealth of knowledge, and we are just going to abandon it?”

  “Not abandon,” Sylvian said. “Just prioritizing. We will be back, possibly soon if this turns out to be nothing.”

  “There is no use in staying here if no one can access any of the facilities,” Elaine added. “We need to get started on the city and deal with Clayton. Once those two obstacles are taken care of, we can take our time exploring this city.”

  “Fine,” Daniel sighed. They assembled outside the tower a short while after and positioned themselves for a fight. Savgar took the lead with Teresa right behind him. The others filled in the middle with Reuf and Daniel taking up the rear.

  Once they were in position, Jack opened the door and got out of the way as the dwarf charged into the room with his Warhammer, Thurg, already mid-swing. But Savgar only ran forward a few feet before coming to a stop. The room was empty except for a staircase rising through the ceiling.

  “No one is here,” Savgar called back to them.

  “At least no one is still here,” Victor confirmed.

  Savgar placed his hand on the ground and Jack felt the Familiar pulse of energy radiated from it. A moment later, Savgar stood back up and placed his hammer in a sling across his back. “Still can’t get any sense in this place.” Savgar grumbled

  “Were you able to determine anything?” Zajowle asked.

  “Nothing,” Savgar confirmed. “Nothing important. Lots of floors going straight up. Place is bigger than it looks, but that is more my natural senses at work than what my Earth Sense is telling me.”

  “Like the Legacy Hall,” Rayne said.

  “Legacy Hall?” Daniel asked.

  “Oh, we found something that appeared to be some sort of museum before discovering this place,” Jack said. “Forgot to mention it before.”

  Daniel gave Jack an exasperated look. “And you want to just leave? There could be all kinds of things to discover sitting right there.”

  “Oh, there definitely is,” Jack said. “But we would have the same issue that we were having in the library. Everything is in Karzasic, and it is still going to be a while before I’m fluent in Elvish and complete that quest to get the free language.”

  “I don’t mind helping you learn,” Sylvian said. “If you don’t mind helping me with English. I am close as well. If we are going to form an alliance with each other, it would be worth learning each other’s languages.”

  “Strange,” Victor said. “I thought you already became fluent in the language.”

  Sylvian shook her head. “I am close, but I haven’t been as adamant in learning the language as I should have been.”

  “That works for me,” Jack said. “So long as it isn’t too much trouble.”

  “Later,” Teresa said. “We got a tower to explore first.”

  “I’ll take the lead then,” Savgar said. They ascended the stairs single file behind Savgar. The stairs were wide enough to allow multiple people to walk side-by-side, but in case a fight broke out, everyone wanted some room to maneuver.

  It wasn’t until they rose a few hundred feet that they came across the first real floor of the tower. The new floor was accompanied by several new rooms behind more locked doors. They ultimately decided to leave these alone for now. If the Trial was here, it would be at the top of the tower. They went through several floors like this, all similar to the first and Jack was starting to have de-ja-vu from the last time he was in a tower like this. It wasn’t until they reached the fifth floor that Jack got his confirmation.

  The fifth floor contained two doorways, one that was unopened, and another that was left open showing a large cavern on the other side. Jack recognized it as the cavern he had first traveled through. The news created mixed emotions among the others. Knowing they were so close to the surface once again was exciting, but that also meant they were close to the Wenduags’ camp and Clayton.

  From there they took greater precautions. Savgar tried checking the area with his Earth Sense again. Being this close to the surface, he was able to sense the Wenduags’ camp but couldn’t determine details of what was happening there. Too many trees and roots interfering with his senses.

  They continued up the tower, but unlike the other floors, these contained open hallways filled with more rooms that they continued to ignore. Their only goal right now was getting to the Trial, but Jack wasn’t against some exploring once they found it.

  Once they were at the top, Jack saw the Familiar doorway with the soft blue and white symbols glowing on it. They came to a stop in front of the door, waiting for Jack to take the lead, but instead of opening when Jack placed his hand on the door, a rejection message popped up in front of him.

  *Access Rejected: Trial already completed by Associate*

  *Level Up! Seeker (Level 2)*

  +1 Dex./Int./Wis. +2 Per. +1 unallocated point

  “Why did that happen?” Jack muttered. In all the time he had that class, he had never seen it level before, but for some reason it had now.

  “What’s the matter now?” Savgar asked.

  “Nothing,” Jack said, closing the System Windows with a thought. “It won’t let me open it. Says I already completed it. Someone else will need to try.”

  “Will it let us without having your city access?” Victor asked.

  Jack nodded. “It should. I didn’t have any access before when I first entered. But now that I think about it, I am not sure how many people can take it at once.”

  “Well, let’s see,” Teresa said, placing her hand on the door before anyone could stop her. Just as fast, the light from the symbols moved to connect with her hand, joining and crawling up her skin as it once did with Jack. Jack winced at the sight, still remembering that burning sensation, but Teresa never grimaced or winced from the experience.

  “Kind of tickles,” she commented as they all watched it move up to her face and then sank into her skin. Teresa closed her eyes as she processed the influx of information, but it was over just as fast as it started and the door to the Trial opened to admit her.

  Teresa crossed the threshold, and Savgar tried to join her, but he was stopped by an invisible wall.

  “Guess that answers that question,” Elaine said. “One at a time.”

  “Wait for me on the floor below or something,” Teresa said as the door started to close again. “I’ll try to make this quick.”