The Phoenix [Cultivation, Reincarnation, Tower Climber]

I pick up a rock and chuck it at the ant. It hits its head and passes through, killing it instantly, and its legs buckle as it collapses to the ground.

"We need to leave first thing in the morning," I say. "Go back on your watch. Don't wake the others. I'll investigate a bit more."

It's common sense not to want to fight off a colony of giant ants, but there's another reason that we really need to avoid their territory. In the catalog that detailed all the different trophies we could collect, the single most valuable trophy was the one of the Queen Fire Ant here in the desert region. It's only a Middle 2 star, but it's worth significantly more than any Late 2 star or even Early 3 star spirit beast listed. That tells me everything I need to know about how difficult they are to handle.

That said, if those weakling lizards could hold the ants back on their own, we're not in any immediate danger right now. We might get a few more scouts like that one, but they'll be weaker than the lizards were. It does raise some concerns about the consequences of this mass Starter Quest though. With thousands upon thousands of Climbers working through the desert, they'll probably find more places similar to this one where animals are holding back the ants, and if all those animals are hunted… Well, it's a good thing we're leaving the desert in a week.

Vanessa turns to head back to the camp, and I walk up the hill toward where the dead ant lies. I inspect the carcass, but there's nothing special about it. It's just a big ant. I still break off the antennae to take as a trophy, but I don't pay it any more mind. Instead, I start moving further. I don't see anything else, in the immediate vicinity, but when I crest a hill a few hundred feet away, I grimace.

The vegetation beyond this point is picked clean. As in, nothing is more than a foot high, and all the leaves and cactus pads are very clearly chewed down to almost nothing. By the light of the artificial moons and stars, I can see a couple more ants wandering around in the darkness too, though none of them are heading my way. A bit further out, I see a narrow line of them extending into the distance toward a tall hill at least a dozen miles away. The hill is unnaturally conical. The maps we had access to explicitly didn't mark the locations of any of the targets of our hunts, but it's fairly obvious that that is a giant anthill. It's far enough away to not be a threat, but at least now I know where we're not going to go later.

I look around for a few more seconds, then turn to head back from the camp. Vanessa looks extremely relieved when I return.

"We're fine for now," I say as quietly as I can. "If any more show up, just kill them. They're weak. Try to be quiet though. I'm going back to sleep."

Vanessa does a good job of being quiet but Kat, who is on watch after her, does not, and wakes me up again when she hears what Vanessa tells her. Then she wakes me up again when she runs off to kill another stray ant. And then again when she wakes up June and tells her about the situation. After that though, I'm able to make it all the way to sunrise without any more interruptions.

After explaining the situation to those who were on watch before the first ant arrived, we all eat a quick breakfast of more lizard meat, then set out for the nearest oasis. The morning temperature is actually somewhat pleasant for all of an hour before climbing back to unbearability, and then it's another hour and a half of slog before we see the water in the distance. We also see a dozen or so tents already set up around it

"Hey, look, people!" says Kat. "That means it's safe!"

"Safe from animals, maybe," says June.

As we draw closer, we see many of the people in the oasis camp moving about. There's an enormous rattlesnake corpse coiled up near the camp, and most of them are working on it, removing scales and cutting meat away. The fangs and rattle are notably missing, and its head is already quite cut up, probably to get to its venom glands. A group of eight people are standing at the ready for us. I recognize none of them, but they're all well into Early 1 star, with one being close to Middle 1 star.

"Hello," says one, a stern-looking man, and the one with the most advanced cultivation. "Welcome to our oasis."

"Your oasis?" asks Jacob, who has accepted the role of being our group's spokesperson.

"Yes, ours," says the man, nodding. "We defeated its guardian, making it safe to stay at. If you want to set up camp here, you'll need to pay a fee."

"A fee?" asks Jacob.

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"Half your trophies."

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely. Got a problem with that?"

"...Yes, but it's not worth it. We just need to refill our water and we'll be on our way."

"You need to pay for that too."

"And what if we don't?"

"You will pay," said the man, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. "One way or another."

Jacob glances back at me, asking a silent question about whether we should bother to get into conflict with these people. I could handle them all easily, but I don't know if it's worth it. It's just a bit of water, and we just refueled at the little pond, so we're in the clear until we make it to the next oasis. Then again, these people are clearly competent, and if they keep extorting people, they'll be in the running for most points. Time for some good old fashioned intimidation then.

I step forward drawing my sword. The leader of the others draws his sword to meet me, but hesitates when I flare my oum, showing my cultivation.

"This is my oasis now," I say. "Tell me why I should let you live."

"I'm not just going to-"

He stops and his face pales when I make a finger gun and shoot some oum at him. It doesn't do any damage, but it hits him in the shoulder with enough force that it moves him. We Earthlings haven't been in the Tower for long, but I don't think any of them fail to recognize the significance of being able to use oum projectiles.

"I'll give you the trophies from the oasis guardian," he says, sheathing his sword.

"Smart man," I say. "Hop to it." I turn to my teammates. "Go fill up on water and get ready to keep moving."

While the leader of these wannabe landlords is smart, his subordinates are less so. One of them looks angry, and draws his sword.

"Ivan, are you seriously going to-?" he starts.

"Shut the hell up," says the leader, punching him in the gut. "Do you want to get us all killed?"

One of the others punches the idiot in the side, and two more grab him and carry him away as they turn to follow their leader.

A minute later, while Jacob and the others are filling up their waters, the leader returns with a leather sack that rattles with every step he takes. He hands it me, and I take it and find the rattle, the larger fangs, and two fleshy sacs.

"I'll be coming back through this area in a few days," I say. "Am I going to find you here again?"

"Frankly, no," he says. "I'm not going to get anything good with you around."

"Liar," I say. "You're going to gather a group to ambush me in revenge."

"I would never-!"

"Save it. I know your type. Just know this: if you're still here by the time I get back, you'd better be waiting with a tribute. And if you try to kill me instead, then you'd best be prepared to die, because it won't end well for you. Got that?"

He nods nervously.

"We'll be heading out now," I continue. "Good luck!"

I stop by the oasis to fill up my own waterskin before leading the rest of my group away, heading toward the next oasis deeper in the desert.

We arrive in mid-afternoon, when the heat of the day is at its peak. Everyone is exhausted, even Kat, and when we can finally see the water, the others rejoice with as much energy as they can muster. Unfortunately, there's still the problem of the oasis guardians, and these oasis guardians present multiple problems.

They are giant tortoises, and seven are the size of an elephant or bigger, with a dozen smaller ones behind. The biggest one is an Early 2 star, while the rest run the range from Early to Peak 1 star. I let the other fight them off for a bit, but it becomes very clear that this isn't going to be quick. The tortoises aren't good at fighting at all, and they're slow as hell, but even Jacob, who currently has the strongest attacks on the team, can hardly scratch the bigger ones. Eventually, I get bored and just kill them myself. This isn't good experience for them at all, and for me watching, it's just boring.

Even for me, it takes a little while to finish them off. I can't pierce the shells of the biggest ones, since other than being thick, they are also coursing with earthy oum, meaning I can only target their heads and legs. However, when I do that, they just pull back into their shells and wait for me to get in range of their beaks. The only saving grace is that they're also stupid, so I can bait them out and stab them in the head, but it takes longer than I would have liked.

The worst part of it all though is that for all that trouble, all we got was access to the oasis. The tortoises' trophies are their shells, and there is just no practical way for us to get them back to the checkpoints. They are worth a lot, but nowhere near as much as we'd get from just hunting more portable trophies.

We set up camp on the opposite side of the oasis from what are soon to be a bunch of rotting corpses, then head off to do some hunting. At first, we're all together, and I watch over as the others kill a couple stray lizards, then I separate from them to do some independent hunting. We're not deep enough in that they should need my help, so might as well rack up as many points as possible.

We all meet back at the camp around sunset and for dinner, we eat some meat from a rattlesnake that we all killed together. The conversation starts out as usual, with just idle chatter, and a bit of cultivation talk, but as the meal reaches its end, Al says something that kills the rest of the conversations in an instant.

"So, what did you all come into the Tower for?"