It took them just over two days to cross the first platform to reach the edge of the second, cutting through and utilising some of the common paths that had been carved out. It wasn't much safer, but even the minor aid was enough to allow the group to speed up. It helped, of course, that in a few cases they even had paid for the access beforehand, such that the 69 and the Gee Hin weren't going to cause problems.
It did, of course, highlight the path they were going to take but for the sake of expediency, the group were willing to take the risk. Of course, they only made sure to make payment the moment they were leaving, taking the simple chit that showcased payment to offer to the gang members when they came across them later.
For all their precautions, they actually missed the 69 member entirely. Either the group had taken time off or the team's slipping on and off the marked trail had let them do so. The choice, mostly to avoid trouble geography or to locate batches of herbs, roots and the occasional monster nest, was all dictated by Kim and the slowly developing map that Yao Jing carried.
Still, they were here, before the ivy filled wall that led to the second platform. No gentle slope, just a straight wall which made up the entirety of the second geographic change. It was not unsurprising, though annoying for the group as they took to climbing upwards. Arthur stayed at the bottom, watching over his team as did Rick.
"Contact!" Rick roared, pistol pointed upwards. He did not fire though, the forty or so feet between him and the movement in the bush too far for him to hit, not with the weapon he was holding. Even perfect aim did little for the minor variations that pistol and movement might cause, especially with a barrel that short.
He would fire if needed, but first...
Arthur was bounding forward, leaping towards the wall and kicking upwards again and again. He used the ivy that was present to give him footholds to carry him up a few feet each time till a foot struck wrong and he pushed off further than he could recover. Away from the wall but still travelling upwards, he conjured the first cloud, striking it and using his cloudy step to throw himself up again and towards the wall. He could have done this earlier, but uncertain of where the monsters might be, he had elected to wait till the team was higher up.
Or a monster appeared.
The second floor platform first variant and change poked its head over the edge, hands held above itself. Between its clawed fingers it clutched a large rock, the creature ready to toss it at the climbers. What it did not expect was the soaring Arthur, coming in hot to grip the wall with one hand and swing his long spear with the other.
A jerk, a twisting pressure as the spearhead exited the creature's mouth. The lizard humanoid, lizardkin thrashed and died, the stone landing on the ground even as Arthur hauled himself upwards with one last surge. Screams and hisses greeted his appearance, the four foot tall lizard monsters pelting him with the stones they had begun hauling over.
Shielding himself with a hunched shoulder and twisted body, he swung his weapon to launch a series of attacks. One after the other, Arthur battered and broke limbs, striking at the smaller creatures. He felt rocks strike him, one after the other, but the creatures lacked the muscle mass to truly injure him.
No, the rocks were not the danger. The problem was...
There!
He leapt and twisted, utilising the cloud steps that had reappeared again and pivoted before the komodo dragon pet that they used could bite him. In the air, he struck downwards and to the side, piercing the back of the creature's skull and plunging his spear within. He felt the cloud he had formed begin to dissipate and he threw himself away, leaving the wounded dragon to strike at the crowd of lizards.
Another stone, striking his leg caused him to stumble as he recovered. Individually, the lizards were not strong, though their claws could leave infection and poison behind. However, it was their swarm tactics that they utilised right now that endangered him, the creatures abandoning their ranged attacks to approach.
"Cepat lah!" Arthur cried, encouraging his team to move faster. He was providing a distraction, but not all the lizards had come to attack him, leaving some still at the edge tossing rocks. He could hear the curses and cries of pain echoing up from below, even as he sought to keep the monsters back.
However, spin though he might, the lizards were fast and they only required a brief moment to strike. Some were even willing to risk death to land their attacks, leaving Arthur's lower legs where the armour could not - did not - cover properly bleeding. Knees, back of legs, along his buttocks...
Cursing the lack of full armour, and yet knowing he'd die of heatstroke if he had worn it, Arthur fought on. He spun his spear, cut and battered lizards and kicked them away when he had no other choice. He never stopped moving, even if it was by a few feet each time, because stopping was death.
And then, finally, finally the rest of the team managed to make it up. The first to rise was Kim, body blazing with flames, her aura pouring off her for a moment. She could not contain it for long, the technique exploding outwards to sear and scare the lizards. Then, she sat there, panting, exhausted.
Vulnerable.
Only for her daughter and Mel to arrive moments later, one cursing at her singed hair. Both drew their weapons from their backs, working to guard the recovering Tower climber. They lunged forwards, giving space as the screaming and hissing lizards attempted to take at least one of them down.
One even managed to slip between the two, lung forward and sink fingers deep into the raised arm. Kim took him down, gripping scaled forearm and pushing needle-toothed mouth into the dirt before she pounded fist into back of head, again and again till it stopped moving.
Then the others. Yao Jing and Lam , rising up from different sections. Yao Jing shrugged off the creatures clambering over him, the bronzed skin of his technique protecting him briefly even as he cast the monsters into the land below. He struck, not with his weapons but with his fists as he preferred, knuckle dusters cracking open skin and breaking bones beneath with each impactful strike.
More komodo dragons arrived, some breathing ice to cause Lam to slip, to scramble and flail on his back as he tried to clear the cliff face for his employer. He struck and kicked a few off, turtling and spinning on the ground until the komodo dragon lunged and he had to fight it from biting, holding tight to its neck.
Arthur cursed, feeling the poison course through him. The damn needle point nails couldn't deliver a lot, but they didn't need to when the constantly kept adding to it. It numbed the skin around the injuries which was great, but it also stopped him from clotting and, most of all, it made his movements slower.
Death by a thousand cuts, as they said. The numbness was not just in his feet, though it was making him stumble now, force him to move to a tree to put his back against it gove himself more security. It was in his hands, in his lungs. Enough of it, it would stop a person from being able to move, to breathe.
A bad death.
But then, the bark of a weapon. More cries of pain, as Uswah and Jan arrived, the pair of women tearing through the monsters surrounding him. They fought hard, giving him a break, nearly decaptiating one of them as his fingers struggled to hold onto his spear. Driving the dozens of lizards away, scrambling back to their forest.
The group, finally, victorious. And on the second platform at last.