It was not so easy as that, leaving the floor. There were injuries. Arthur remembered his own all too well, thankful at least that the deep cut that had shredded his breastplate had clotted already. He still had to pull the armour off with help, holding back the shouts of agony as his broken arm was maneuvered to allow the breastplate to be extracted so that the rest of his wounds could close. The parts that had been torn apart had to be pushed back away, hammered back into place, and then duct-taped over till a proper fix could be completed. His broken arm had to be straightened and splinted, his boots taken off, and his foot checked over to ensure that it did not swell too much before his healing caught up with it all.
Lam was just as injured. Moments after the Mama Roc had died, the man had taken a half-dozen steps back and then collapsed onto his back. He now lay asleep, his body in a vegetative and healing state. When asked, Casey had just shrugged and said “Chin family secret technique” and refused to answer more, beyond the fact that he'd be fine.
It did highlight some other aspects of the previous battles, how Lam had looked more lethargic after particularly intense battles, or how he'd managed to keep up with the team even without having a healing technique of his own. Or, in this case, seemingly had a combined berserk and healing technique.
Arthur wasn't jealous, not at all.
There were other injuries, big and small. More than that, though, the team needed time to harvest all the stones and refill their energy stores. Going onto the seventh floor without any energy at all was a bad idea, which was why not even Casey begrudged the time everyone took to rest up and cultivate.
Of course, it didn't stop Mel from coming over to bother Arthur as he sat propped up and waiting for the shooting pain that ran through his body to go away while his injuries healed.
"You nearly died there," she said without preamble.
"Not really," Arthur said, raising a hand and waggling it side to side. "I had the Cloud Stepping technique. Even if I hit the ground without Uswah's help, I probably would have only broken my feet."
She shook her head, pointing to his wounds in the side. "And that?"
"I dodged it." A slight pause. "Most of it."
"Because you were trying to save someone else. When you should have been saving yourself."
Arthur shrugged. He would not explain his instinctive reactions. They were, by virtue of being instinctive, not something he could do much about. "Nor did you plan to back-up with you."
"We needed all hands on deck."
"Did we?" Mel looked around at the injured and cultivating. She shrugged. "I'd say we pulled this off without anyone dying or coming close to it other than you and Lam. If we had one of us watching you, I doubt it would have changed much."
Arthur shook his head. "Me and Lam. That's two. And if it hadn't gone after me, it would have been someone else. And I'm the best with Cloud Step. So other than Uswah or Casey . . . I don't know if any of you would have survived the grab."
"Maybe no one else would have been grabbed." She shook her head. "It coming for you, after you killed its children, that was to be expected. If someone was watching your back, maybe you could have dodged it. Either way, if one of us dies, it's sad. But if you die—"
"It's tragic." Arthur sighed. "I know. I just . . . this was the best choice I could see. We all survived." He fixed Mel with a firm gaze. "I won't take chances, and I didn't; but I won't baby myself too. Because we have to climb, and without some risk, there's no point. Sooner or later, I'll be alone again. And if I don't get some experience this way, I'll freeze up. And then where will we be?"
Mel grimaced, then nodded. "Fine. Just . . . stop scaring us, will you?"
"My journey to become the OP protagonist continues," Arthur replied and that made Mel grin a little.
He certainly seemed to have some of it. His ability to think clearly in the middle of the fight, the way he could assess things; it was trained for sure. But the Yin Body was another aspect to it. It did dampen his desires a little—well, a lot—but he had never been that focused on the physical side anyway. One day, perhaps, but it was hard to worry about such things when you were surviving day to day and moving towards a goal.
Though, now that goal had shifted. Which perhaps made the idea of living for tomorrow a bit of a joke.
Something to think about.
"Going to see if I can focus enough to finish healing, if you don't mind . . ."
Mel nodded, propping the weapon by her side. "Go ahead. I'll keep watch."
After their previous conversation, he didn't even have the heart to object. Not that there was anything to guard against, considering how well they'd razed the surroundings of life. But it made her feel better, and that was good enough for him.
The faster he got to healing and refining, the faster they could leave anyway.
***
They chose to rest the night, not just because they all had a lot of energy to recover but also because no one wanted to enter the seventh floor half-asleep. They had all heard the rumours. The so-called resting floor of the Malaysian Tower might be safe—as these things went—from monsters, but it was not in any way and shape and form actually, you know, safe. Not like walking down the streets of Bangsar, or in KLCC Mall where armed guards kept the gweilo and other tourists safe.
No, safety was a varying concept and one that none of them were going to take for granted. Better to arrive on the seventh floor ready for the tricks and traps that might arise, rather than wander into it unknowing.
It would be the floor they stayed the longest on, other than the first floor, for they would recover and recuperate, cultivate and study more techniques, before making the push for the last three floors. The last three were both easy and hard.
Hard, because they were set up to bring individuals through—not teams—and so there was no helping one another. Not unless you were the Chins with their Tower-enchanted items.
Easy, because the floors themselves weren't considered super challenging for individual Tower climbers. You had to do them alone, but it wasn't like the Labyrinth in Athens that nearly two thirds of beginner cultivators got lost within or the chilling frozen tundra of the Swedish dungeon's final floor, where you had to keep moving or risk becoming a popsicle.
Easy and hard.
The seventh floor would be where Casey would get a chance to make full use of the Tower, to build up her body and cultivation faster than anyone could expect. It would be where the cumulative advantage of her clan would make a difference for her and hopefully justify all the expenses.
It would also be the last floor where Arthur would easily acquire stones to cultivate.
A lot of hopes and dreams lived on that floor, some never leaving.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Casey asked, as she watched Yao Jing slip through the portal. They would be one of the last to step through, their people making sure it was safe on the other side. At least, in theory.
"One more floor, then I guess I'll see you outside," Arthur said.
"Yes." She glanced to the side where Rick had been, then sighed. "I don't like you allying with him."
"He's a clan member now."
"Don't." She shook her head, facing Arthur firmly. "Don't try to justify what you can't. You know what you did. And I don't like it." She exhaled. "But I can accept it. Just remember, I offered first. And we can do better for you than he can."
"Nothing about how he can't be trusted?" Arthur said, wryly.
"Rick himself may be fine . . ." Casey said. "But you're going to be dealing with his parents. And you know how I feel about them. About what they did."
"I do." He remembered. Buying up factories, breaking their word. Putting people on the streets by automating work that didn't need to be automated yet. He remembered. "I'll keep it in mind."
"Then, also remember this. You'll get more offers, meet more people on the seventh floor. This is their last chance to make a deal, before you emerge and become a power." She tapped her bow against her leg. "And last chance to kill you before you become a public problem. Watch yourself."
With Lam gone, it was her turn. She didn't hesitate, leaving him with that dire warning. Leaving him to stand there, on the sixth floor, on the cusp of the next stage.
Unsure of what he might face, but knowing he still had a clan to grow and a Tower to conquer.
"Good thing I'm ready and all kinds of steady."
Chuckling to himself, Arthur stepped