"Safe, but not very profitable," Arthur muttered his thoughts, about two weeks after their first ascent to the third platform. The problem, of course, was that the exit for the fifth floor to the sixth was never in the same place. There were a total of eight teleportation platforms, but which one was active at any one time was entirely random. So, the team could either trek around, searching for the latest one, or wait about.
Waiting was theoretically the smartest option, except for the fact that the teleportation platforms and access points never activated if someone camped by them. You had to wait until the final guardians reappeared at the location—which they would only do when it was empty—defeat them, and then use the teleportation gate that appeared to journey to the next floor.
Camping just outside the vicinity of the teleportation platform and boss formation area was theoretically possible, but no one had taken the time to test exactly how far away the optimal direction was. Also, if no one was going to the next floor and weren't killing the boss, you could be stuck waiting for weeks, if not months, hoping the boss would appear.
All things considered, most people just chose to kill their way upward, trekking their way through the marshy land.
"Yes." Mel was staring at the monster cores distributed to her. It had been long enough, and the breaks between fights wide enough that tonight they'd taken a moment to combine and then separate the cores gathered. It unfortunately left the team with just over two dozen each, not including the cores that they'd used as needed to keep energy levels up.
Perhaps one of the biggest issues of journeying through the third platform—or any floor, really—was the management of energy. Refined energy in particular, especially in fights. The need to use that energy to empower your body meant that the less you used up for fights, the faster you could grow your attributes. Which was why passive techniques that used Tower energy instead of refined energy were in high demand and ranked with quite a few more stars.
Unfortunately, not only were such techniques rare, but they were also limited to a significant degree. There was a reason his own Accelerated Healing utilised refined energy for the active healing process rather than Tower energy. There was a reason the majority of the powerful attacks were refined energy attacks, and why monster cores were utilised by climbers in other Towers. Though, supposedly, as one progressed through Towers, the density of even Tower energy increased, such that it was easier than ever to combine and integrate that energy.
"Should we split the team up?" Arthur said. "Not now, of course. But when we hit the next floor."
"The Chins already do," Mel pointed out.
"Seven is still too many." Arthur shrugged. "Five was fine, if a bit much, but now..."
"We need you with people we can trust," she said, eyes narrowed, as though guessing where he was going.
"I trust them. They're my seniors!"
"I don't."
Lips compressed, Arthur shook his head after a moment. "I won't argue. Anyway, four and three isn't a bad ratio. I would prefer more stones than less, but more safety isn't a horrible idea. So you or Jan or Yao Jing can rotate in when needed."
"Not me?" Rick, seated a short distance away, acted hurt.
Arthur paused, ran what he said without thought through his mind and realised what he'd done. Then, shrugged. "I guess not?"
"And here I thought we were becoming friends."
"We are," Arthur replied. "But... we aren’t yet."
"Well, tell me when then." Rick turned away, leaving Arthur to stare at him and frown. The others were idly listening, most in the process of putting away their beast stones already or just cultivating them.
Mel cocked her head to the side, watching the pair interact before she spoke up. "Not a bad decision, but you might want to figure out why soon enough. You know?"
"Yeah..." He hoped it wasn't a racial thing. Just because he didn't have many Indian friends didn't mean he was prejudiced against them. Or so he thought. They just didn't run in the same social circles, mostly. Even his sifu's place had mostly been Malaysians who were ethnically Chinese. It was just the way things were, back in the real world. The Tower was a little different, the population here being a smaller group and forcing interactions.
At least, he didn't think he was being prejudiced. But the problem with swimming in the muck was that sooner or later, you swallowed some of it. You could try for cleaner water, purer thoughts, but at one point or another, you still got stained. Though, sometimes, he figured the blatant racism you saw was at least easier to deal with than the various micro-aggressions they talked about in the West.
"Eh, at least rich boy’s not crying. All the cronies always think they can get what they want," Yao Jing said, rolling his eyes. However insulting the words were, though, he slapped Rick's arm to show he didn't mean it that much.
Not that Rick didn't roll his eyes a little. "Whatever."
"Hey," Arthur called out to Rick after a moment. "I know you got your movement skill. And I know you intend to do more with your guns. But... you know we aren't really able to help with that, right?"
Rick blinked, and Arthur noted that Casey had perked up. Her breathing had hitched just a little, though she was doing her best not to look over.
"Yes. It doesn't matter. My parents can help buy me what I want. We have contacts in the US, you know?" Rick said.
"Tower-enabled techniques?"
"No." Rick shook his head. "It'll be harder, but it was always going to be harder, not being there."
"So why not go back?" Mel could not help but ask. "I know your family's here now, but..."
"But why stay in Malaysia? Or South-East Asia?" Rick shrugged. "I don't think you all will be here too long. Not like Malaysia has many Towers."
"Two more," Arthur said. "One Beginner Plus. The other locked."
"And Singapore has its Intermediate one," Rick said.
Not that the terms they were bandying around were actual terms. The Climbers Association might have a document that they pushed, trying to get everyone to agree, but so did individual countries and even the net had different ways of measuring Towers. After all, this was a global phenomenon, with details still locked away half the time, and new information still coming to light, and Towers reconfiguring themselves.
Generally, though, the Towers were ranked based off two factors. How many prior Towers you needed to clear before you could enter them and the difficulty of the monsters within. Difficulty was based off the number of climber fatalities. Some more complex measures were used at times, like the mean and median number of days it took for a climber to exit a Tower, the loot factor in a Tower, the number of beast stones your average climber came out with, and even the kind of techniques available within, but those were generally just used on Tower wikis and the like. No one really talked about them in casual conversation.
"So, lots. And then Thailand, Indonesia..." Arthur said.
"You really want to do Indonesia?" Rick raised an eyebrow.
Arthur grunted. He did not look over at Uswah, who might have her own thoughts about the current state of that country. Even if she was Malaysian, you never knew who might have family over the water. Unlikely, of course, like thinking an American might have Canadian family just 'cause. But not impossible.
"Still quite a few places in this region. Be a while before I expand," Arthur said. "And probably for the best." He grimaced, thinking of having to deal with the Western guilds. Even if the Japanese, Chinese, and Indian sub-continent clans had long fingers and liked to get involved, the truth was, it was only at the Intermediate Towers or higher that they were a problem. "So why stay?" he asked Rick again.
"Told you, I want to grow your guild. Clan." He corrected himself before Jan could. "This is a hell of an investment opportunity, a way to really break the Tower." He leaned forward, saying firmly, "I do believe, the only way to climb the final Tower is via an organisation like yours. One that starts from the beginning."
"What makes you think there's a final Tower?"
"Ya lah," Yao Jing said, cracking one eye open as he cultivated. "No sign or anything."
"Faith."
Yao Jing snorted, and Arthur was not much better in his skepticism. Then again, Rick had stated he was a “real climber” on first meeting. You had to have faith, at least, to call yourself one. As for himself...
"I don't intend to do that," Arthur said, firmly. That got a smile from Mel. "A stable clan is all I want."
"Sure, sure..." Rick said.
"No, seriously. I don't."
To Arthur's chagrin, Eric was nodding along with Rick as they smiled skeptically at him.
Why did no one ever believe him?