Chapter 467

“Here,” Arthur said, handing over the squirming mass of chickens to the chef. It had been rather frustrating, this last quest in the fifth floor chain. It was only because he had watched Jan do the same thing a few minutes ago that he was not surprised when the chef tossed the bag to a kitchen assistant who reached in, plucked a chicken out and then wrung its neck, before chopping it of and hanging the chicken upside down.

He was Malaysian enough to have gone into numerous wet markets, where the smell and cries of dying or penned chickens filled the air, mixing with the smell of fresh fish and stripped guts. It was not something that concerned him, not after his own past in a butcher’s shop and abattoir.

No, the thing that annoyed him was that the quest had specifically required live chickens. Which meant that he had spent the last two and a half hours scrambling around the chicken field, trying to catch the creatures with his bare hands.

Minimal use of powers allowed, certainly no kicking or stabbing or swatting them with his spear. He had to catch them with his hands, pick them up and then deposit them in the bag and get a half-dozen. All of which had to go into the same bag, which had to be carried by his side.

Break any of those stupid rules and the whole quest reset.

It was the most broken game quest he had ever experienced; and all of it just to watch them kill the creatures right after. Utterly pointless, other than to drive him mad. Whoever, or for whatever reason, the Tower makers had engineered this quest, Arthur just knew it was because they were sadists. Each and every one of them.

Admittedly, creating a series of Towers that disrupted social order, required your first test to kill a manifesting monster and then, forcing you to fight your way through most levels kind of leant itself to that explanation too. But, outside of that!

He watched as they finished killing his chickens and then took the small token from the chef, turning it over. There was nothing particularly special about it, beyond being the last item one required to pass the test to go on to the next level. Supposedly, according to Kyra, if you spent enough time completing all of the branching quests and got six of these, you could actually utilize them to access a secret area.

Access and the prize for such access varied each season, such that no one was ever certain of the prize; though more often than not, they were worth it. Everything from new techniques, a one or two star cultivation manual, enchanted items and more were on the table.

Not too surprising, that some of his team had chosen to try for more. Rick and Uswah had both requested to be allowed to gain access, and after getting a promise to handover anything worthwhile for the Clan to acquire; he'd let them at it. Normally, of course, he would not have the same level of control - but these people were technically on his party; and benefited from that. Not just constant access to the Clan buildings, but the outflow of crystals, the training and money that he access to.

In Rick's case, it was less of an issue, being the rich kid he was. However, Arthur knew the man was trying to tie himself to the Clan, to make it his major project. This request was as much a test as anything else, and the man - so far - had passed with flying colors. Whether he would when - if - he received something truly tempting like a Clan Seal; it was impossible to say.

As for himself, Arthur knew he could not waste the weeks trying to access the secret part of the palace, not when he had a lot more Towers to climb. They had been in the Tower for nearly a month now, and while he had progressed in many ways, he had not taken the time to truly pull energy into his body and finish the refinement process.

That would happen on the eight floor, when the cores that they could acquire had the biggest concentration of energy. Anything else before that was just preparation for surviving the top floors easily. 

All of which meant that when he wandered back itno the center of the building, he smiled and nodded to the various NPCs who made up the floor, keeping his smile fixed and polite but not interacting with them. Arthur had no desire to trigger another random quest, no matter what minor amount of time it would take or the rewards, but also because he could not help but remember the last floor of the KL Tower.

Having old Climbers who had 'died' or been caught in an infinite loop being forced to act out the part of NPCs was a rather frightening concept in many ways. Would he be forever caught in such a process if he died? Was that the ultimate fate of every Climber? If so, where did they live? How did they live? None of the Climbers had indicated any information of what happened in-between assignments, but each and every one had wanted out. 

Not torture, probably; but boredom? Perhaps. And really, infinite boredom by itself was torture.

"You are done, then?" Haughty, tall and sniffy; that was all that Arthur could use to describe the NPC he handed his chit over to. Grey eyes looked down on him, pale hair that was a wig rather than dyed - the edges of black peeking out underneath it - and lacey finery. "Well, this is yours then." A small brooch, handed to him. Gold and ruby red, cheap looking for what it was supposed to do. The NPC sniffed one last time when Arthur, knowing the ritual, chose not to move on. "Well?"

"I'm curious if you have any additional jobs?"

"None in the palace. Everything I need to be done for the ritual is complete."

"But...?" Arthur said, leadingly.

"This ritual is uncommon. Unusual. I would feel safer, if we perhaps secured the help of one who has actually cast it before," the man eyes narrowed. "There is a team I have been putting together. Will you join them? The way to the bomoh is hard, dangerous and prone to death. You must go there with the team and then escort them back."

"I understand," Arthur smiled. "I think I've shown you can trust me." By running a bunch of silly errands, but hey; that was the game in play here. Who was he to argue otherwise?

"I do." A slight narrowing of their eyes as they continued. "Nor do I have a choice. We need a safeguard, and this will be it. Will you?"

"I will." 

A flicker, a hand offering something else this time. A different seal as Arthur handed back the simple ruby pendant back. He bobbed a head, receiving the instructions of where to go with only a little attention paid to it. Knowing the entire ritual would be repeated in moments when Jan, standing by his side did the same. 

She had waited for him to finish this portion first, but they would both be on this part of the branching quest. The others in the party had their own similar but different escort quests to do, at least for the next two 'floors', as they shifted terrain and locations before they rejoined once more on this level.

Or, well, a version of this level - because from repeated experiments, it was clear that none of the people on the fifth floor could ever interact or even see those on the eight. Or vice versa. Yet, somehow, the various NPCs managed to be in both places.

Tower-magic. It would mess with your mind, if you let it.