Contrary to his concerns, Arthur made it across the first landslide without an issue. Oh, the mud had sucked at his boots, intending to entrap and slow his loping efforts across. The rocks and boulders and other debris he targeted for his jumps had a significant degree of give and variation, but when it became a real problem, Cloud Step gave him the perch he needed.
Something he learnt really fast was that if he only utilized a single cloud, he could hold the second and regenerate his first cloud much faster. It was very much the methodology for creating seven clouds, at least at the beginning levels, where one strode upon each cloud and then reformed the next before you rather than holding and forming each one individually within.
All in all, he figured he was finally on the way to pushing for his third step, which was a nice benefit.
The second landslide, after he had slept fitfully and coldly through the night - soaked as he was to the skin without a proper change of clothing - had dried out. He figured it would have been easier, because of that - but perhaps because the water that had slowly drained out or dried away held everything together - it was even more treacherous.
So much so, that Arthur was currently riding a freshly toppled tree, ant nest, bright leaves and broken branches all; down the slope as the earth gave way like a tree-board.
Surfing was a non-starter of a sport in Malaysia. Not big enough waves generally, no teachers or trainers or general interest. He'd learnt to swim - of course - and even gotten his certification to dive, but surfing? That wasn't a skill you needed. Not in the Malaysian dungeon.
Or so he'd thought, until he found himself desperately trying to balance on the sliding tree, grateful for the handhold of a spear.
As usual, it was Cloud Step that got him through this, a leap that sent his impromptu surfboard sliding off the mountain before he leapt, once and again till he was back near the top of the landslide. After that, it was more prying himself out of the ground and then walking - carefully - across sliding ground and the occasional hidden sinkhole.
Eventually, he managed to make his way out. Between the amount of time he had to take while traversing the land between landslides and the landslide itself, Arthur pushed as hard as he could late into the night, risking even attacks by the damn harimau hitam and other nocturnal predators like the skimming owl with their near silent wingbeats.
All of which was not at all fun. He eventually crashed after locating - and killing - the owner of a small burrow in the side of the hill. It was not perfect, but it was small, it was warm and he could strip down and dry himself off. He even went so far as to take his boots off and put on the pair of dry socks from his backpack, carefully sealed in a sandwich bag.
Warm and dry socks slipped into slightly soaked boots were never great but still better than the squishy mess. Overnight, the blisters that had formed had healed, thankfully, which meant that he was mostly comfortable when get going.
The rest of his trip to the damn village was, to his surprise, uneventful. If you considered being occasionally attacked by monsters uneventful - which in the Tower, it was.
Of course, quiet was never the normal.
So when he turned the corner, weapon ready as he listened to the constant fighting, he was only a little surprised to find not a bunch of monsters waiting, but also the Tinker fighting them off. The slew of lizards - a half-dozen of them - were harassing the poor man while the pair of komodo dragons crept up on his still trapped donkey. The poor thing was kicking outwards and defending itself as best it could, but being tied to the trapped cart, it wasn’t able to do much.
Decision making happened, fast during a battle. At least after all this time
The Refined Exploding Energy Dart slammed into the komodo dragon in its side, blowing its chest open and killing it. The sudden attack startled the group, even as Arthur ran over, the Mischief technique and Bark Skin running at the same time. He skidded a stop not far from the group, throwing his body into a full lunge that pierced the hasty block of the lizardman and punched into its chest. A pull and twist and then he was spinning his spear around, retargeting.
Eight opponents against two dropped down to six and two in moments, with the last komodo dragon hesitating as it searched for answers. It's owner was taken out of the battle for a moment, giving orders leaving only four and two were directly engaged with the Tinker.
That left two, which was simple enough for Arthur to deal with. He ignore one opponent almost entirely, instead targeting the other with his fast moving spear, darting it in and out until an opening was created and he put the tip into leg and then chest in quick order. In the meantime, the pair of swipes his other opponent managed to get into his side were deflected by his armour and bark skin alike - the greatest damage being done to his backpack which he had had no time to drop. Now, one strap hung askew, pulling his balance off.
Swinging his spear around in a sideways slam, he pushed the lizardman off him. Arms that blocked the blow of the haft grabbed the spear and Arthur let it go with one hand, shimmying out of the pack as he fought for control with the other. Two hands against one should have been a simple win for the other, but Tower mathematics and physics didn't always work that way.
Arthur was a lot stronger than he had been before, and holding onto his weapon was easy enough even if he wasn't strong enough to lift the creature up entirely with one hand. Once his backpack was off his shoulder, he did yank his weapon towards him, pulling the lizard closer. Then, he punched it with his free hand.
Once, then again, ignoring the way the creature tried to scratch him with its claws. Even when it pierced the gaps, his Bark Skin was good enough to avert most of the damage. The rest wasn't crippling, so it could heal, later.
The first punch glanced off a weird bone protrusion that led to its more angular snout, the second, coming in near the same angle struck properly along the side of the jaw and where the ear holes were. That dropped the already somewhat dazed creature, allowing Arthur to finish it off with a stab.
Then, he had to backpedal, fast as the komodo dragon and two more of the lizardmen arrived, the last keeping the Tinker busy.
A few hectic moments later and the use of his stored REED, Arthur was pulling the spear from the chest of the komodo dragon with his foot, eyeing the Tinker that had just finished its own opponent.
Not surprising, the Tinker was no human, just a humanoid looking creature. The closest animal - mammal - Arthur could fit to it was a turtle, except, you know - with proper hands. And with a shell that was made of hardened pockets that could inflate and have things stored in it or be extracted, like it was doing now to pull out a cloth.
"I thank you, stranger." Surprising how the voice, contrary to his belief was rather high pitched and not at all aged or wizened, even if the face reminded him of those stoned or elderly cartoon turtles. "Your arrival saved Porta."
"Porta?" Arthur asked, then nodded when the turtle gestured at the pony. “I’m Arthur. And you are?”
“Dovgrey.” A low bow, though Arthur noted that the large machete he wielded was now clean but not put away. He also noted that the cloth used to clean the sword was not bloody, unlike his own spear which he shook out, but still had blood dripping down the handle to stain his hand. “Would you be willing to help me extract Porta?”
“Sure,” Arthur said, walking over and blatantly ignoring the machete. The thing was big and nasty but the creature wasn’t trying to hurt him, just wary. After all, everything he’d learnt about the trio were that they were harmless for the most part. Sticking his spear into the earth near the cart, he walked back to look it over. “So, what do we need to do?”
“Simple. You dig it out, I’ll guide Porta out.”
“Why do I have to do the hard work?” Arthur grumbled, then glanced at the bodies. He gestured at the creatures, raising an eyebrow.
“Go ahead. You did the killing.”
“Thank you.” Grabbing his skinning knife out of the side of his belt, Arthur got to work. It didn’t take him long, what with his prior experience. In short order, he was standing again and Dovgrey continued the conversation as though he had never been interrupted.
“Porta doesn’t like strangers.” A quick and pointed snap of the teeth from the pony made Arthur wince. Big flat teeth that could probably mush his hand. Or grab at stray hair and yank him around. None of it fun.
“Point taken.” Walking carefully around the pony, he grabbed the shovel that was offered and got to work. He made sure he wasn’t near the creature’s back feet, working in sideways first before he managed to get an angle to free up one side and then, eventually, the other.
A good twenty minutes later and the cart was finally free.
“So, traveler, care to tell me how the road is the way you came?” Dovgrey asked.
“Bad.” A gesture by Arthur to the much smaller landslide they had just extracted the cart and pony out of. “Like that, but a lot bigger.” A glance at the unstable earth and a frown. “Didn’t realise things were still this unstable out here too.”
“Mmm, I believe it was a trap.” A nod to the dead bodies. “An opportune one.”
“Ah…”
Now Dovgrey looked perturbed, staring into the distance. Arthur, on the other hand, was playing it cool, waiting. He saw no reason to push matters, not right now, not when the NPC owed him for the save and the work. It’d come, later.
“Frustrating, isn’t it? When the Tower makes changes?” Dovgrey said, eventually. “As though I’m supposed to keep on going, when things are so… messy.”
“No idea what the Tower is thinking…” Arthur chimed in. “or why it separates the last three floors into individual tests.”
“Better for the final…” A shake of the head, its long sinous neck shifting around on top of its shell before Dovgrey turned to Arthur. “Will you aid me, again?”
“Doing what?”
“I will need to get my cart across this barrier, if I am to return to the village.” As Arthur glanced up, at the clouds and the fading sunlight, it added. “I can make it worth your while. Sleeping in the dark is not my preference.”
“Nor mine,” Arthur agreed. He was beginning to understand what was happening, and it wasn’t great. Escort quests sucked, but at least this one had the chance of a good payout. So long as the man – turtle – did not die. "Alright, let's do this."