The Ruby Magician

"Tasha, how long will the spell take?" Wyn asked. He was frantically studying the walls to see just how extreme the trap was. "And Marcy how far ahead can you see?"

"Thirty seconds for the spell and to activate my own flying ability," Tasha said. She ran next to John and Cal and started to recite a spell over them. They both activated auras to boost the entire group but otherwise stood still.

"Fucking hells," Marcy said. She stored her bow and activated her Master Avian Cloak, which allowed her to fly with one of its abilities. She started hovering in the air just above their steadily dissolving island of loose rocks. "I can see until the next bend and the trap is active the entire length! Which is forty yards!"

Wyn activated Sprint and prepared himself to also activate his boots. Using two of the six daily charges gave him the ability to fly for thirty minutes. It wasn't as long as Marcy's cloak, but he could use it again right after if needed. Cedric had boots that also allowed him to fly and he possessed a spell similar to Tasha that gave him the ability to fly on wind currents.

Rocks fell from the roof of the cavern, and Wyn cast Shield to block the ones directly above the group. The spell was empowered from his abilities and easily knocked the debris away while continuing to hover in the air with a shimmering light blue.

Tasha's Fly spell would last for an hour, but their main problem was how quickly they could all fly. Magically flying wasn't the same as running on the ground, and flying was fast but not that fast. Wyn was far faster using Sprint on the ground and running, as the ability only worked for about half of its effectiveness when he flew. It was better than nothing and better than the others, and the versatility of flying was needed, but this trap was seriously concerning.

When Nigel explained it to them, he said they had two possible options of escaping it: outrunning it or teleporting out. Outrunning the trap meant flying out of the trap's area, which wasn't impossible but was risky, considering the trap wasn't just relegated to a small area. Nigel said the one time they tried to outrun it the trap lasted for nearly a mile, and they used a key to escape anyway before being crushed.

Giving a key to Marcy, Wyn wasn't above using it to escape. It was always better to leave and climb another day. But he still wanted to push the group to see what they were capable of.

"Marcy, Cal, you two lead," Wyn said as a larger boulder fell on the barrier and splintered into a dozen smaller rocks. "Then Tasha, Cedric, John, and finally me. Fly as hard and fast as you can. Blast away any rocks that look like they could hit us or deflect them with a Shield."

Everyone agreed as Tasha's spell came to the end. The walls were shaking, causing dust to plume and more rocks to splash into the water. They needed to leave immediately. Another foot or so had already been lost for the cavern's width.

Wyn's hope was that with John's and Cal's auras giving everyone improved physicality, they could push their bodies to actually outrun the trap. That was what they had agreed on before entering the floor. It was about to be a race, and they needed every possible advantage.

If they didn't succeed, Wyn had a signal ready to let Marcy know to activate the portal. They shoulder be able to catch up to her and escape right away without being killed.

In theory, at least. Though Wyn didn't want to dwell on that.

"Ready," Tasha said, as her eyes started to glow a bright yellow light. Marks like tattoos appeared on her face and exposed skin, all glowing a slightly less bright yellow. Grand ethereal wings of orange and yellow light sprouted from her back as she rose into the air, joining Marcy's flapping brown cloak and Cedric who hovered with a dense green aura.

John and Cal floated above the dwindling island with their own white and yellow auras and positioned themselves while moving forward. Wyn clicked his boots against the ground and mentally activated the flying ability, gaining a bright green aura similar to Cedric as he easily floated into the air.

The group then moved one after the other, Marcy leading the way. Everyone moved at a speed similar to running on the ground, not exactly a sprint but not a jog, either.

It still felt so slow to Wyn. He could move easily three or four times faster. Not as fast as his usual ground speed, but still enough to outrun the trap. But could they all make it?

Flying through the air, Wyn kept a close eye on the surrounding rocks. The walls continuously closed in as the path became narrower quickly as they rounded the first corner. He ignored small rocks that fell from the ceiling but ones the size of buckets he redirected, casting Shield in curved shapes or angles to make them fall to the side instead of on their heads. Tasha was casting the spell repeatedly, too, as the falling rocks grew in both number and size.

A sharp crack of lightning blew apart a rock ahead of them as Cedric cleared their intended path. The dust slightly obscured the way forward but was soon dissipated as the Storm Sage passed through it with small gusts of wind. The others stayed in line, their flying speed increased to slightly faster than an outright sprint on the ground.

Their repetitive rock removal and flying continued for what felt like an eternity, though Wyn guessed it was closer to five minutes. Being constantly barraged and on edge made the time slow considerably. They had crossed nearly a full mile but there was no sign of the trap slowing down. The path was now so narrow that they couldn't fly side to side to avoid the rocks, instead being forced to stay in their line and let Wyn or Tasha block rocks when they could as Cedric and even Marcy blasted rocks away ahead of them.

While at first it was concerning, now it was terrifying. The jagged rocks on the walls looked like miniature daggers slowly merging together to stab and crush Wyn and his team. His breathing quickened. Then his breaths felt inadequate in the dust and noise with the threat of death coming any second and the ever-looming watery surface below taunting them with every passing moment.

"How much longer?" Wyn yelled ahead. Within the next minute they'd need to use a key if Marcy couldn't see the end of the trap. The path was too narrow and would crush them before long. On seconds thought, Wyn guessed it would be closer to twenty to thirty seconds.

"I can see the end ahead!" Marcy cried. "But we might not make it!"

Wyn cursed. There was no sense in pushing it. They were on a straight path at least sixty yards long, with a forked tunnel at the end. They had been choosing random ones and had been lucky they didn't find a dead end so far. What if they approached one and it was just a small alcove instead of an actual path? It would be like the stories they were warned about, with Climbers pushing their luck only to succumb to the environmental dangers.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

A huge rock the size of a wagon fell from the ceiling, and Wyn desperately used his spell to block it. The rock smashed through the magical barrier as though it was nothing, shattering it like a pane of glass. John flew forward and yanked Tasha out of the way, avoiding it but hitting the side of the wall at the same time with a thud.

At the same time, a group of frog monsters all but materialized out of the rock walls, the only obvious marker of their arrival being their glowing weapons. These monsters were a mixture of speckled brown and grey, perfectly suited to blend in to the surroundings while somehow sticking to the walls with a single hand and foot.

Marcy immediately fired an arrow at one but it disappeared into the rock wall and reappeared a few feet away as though it melted into the stone. The magical arrow dissipated against the stone harmlessly.

Wyn internally cursed as despair filled him. Both walls on either side were so narrow that Wyn couldn't even extend one arm fully to the side.

Everything was going wrong. Was this it? Was this how they met their end?

It was in that moment that Wyn decided they had had enough.

He cast Flash beside him, coating the cavern in a sudden bright light while distracting, and hopefully blinding, the creatures while also giving his signal. Marcy immediately caught the message and used her key to open a portal, which everyone flew straight into without hesitation. As he was the last one to fly into it, he noticed the walls nearly colliding at his sides, now so narrow he only had inches of wiggle room on either shoulder. One of the monsters swiped at him with a blue glowing short sword but he dodged under it towards the water, bouncing off the jagged walls haphazardly. He quickly redirected himself up away from the water and into the portal.

The transition into the portal room was jarring, and Wyn had to stop his momentum suddenly to stop from hitting the others who were all flying. He failed, and stumbled into Cedric and John who then fell to the ground.

"Really, Wyn?" John asked, his limbs tangled with Cedric and Wyn. "Adding insult to injury?"

Wyn sighed while getting up with John and Cedric. "Apparently we need to work on flying more."

"And we all need items to make sure we can fly at a moment's notice," Marcy said, her arms crossed standing beside Tasha and Cal. "Another twenty seconds and we would have cleared the trap going into either of the forked passages."

"So if Tasha wouldn't have cast her Fly spell we would have made it," Wyn said. "Damnit!" Knowing they were so close was almost harder to accept.

"Don't beat yourself up," Cal said. "At least we made it out."

"That was a poor climb, though. We hardly saw any variance of the floor. And the magic and items of those damn monsters were advanced. Very advanced."

"That's the third tier," Cedric said. "It won't be an easy climb to make it through."

"At least we got some drops and coins," John said. "It wasn't much but it wasn't nothing."

Wyn looked at his team. All things considered they were in good shape. They weren't overly injured, they weren't fatigued, and they didn't leave from an impossible challenge. It was possible to cross that floor. Wyn knew it.

They just needed to be stronger. Himself included.

"We can make it through the third tier," Wyn said. "Not this month, but we eventually will. First let's take a break and meet back here in an hour."

"It's not wise to try again," Marcy said. "That floor is basically done for us until it resets tomorrow."

"That's not what I have in mind. We're going to split up and finish the fourth floor. Twice."

Cedric furrowed his eyebrows. "Why? We already know we can finish it. That'll likely take us past dinner."

"Because we need to be stronger," Wyn said, doing his best to keep his voice from rising. "The fourth floor has the best rewards right now if we complete it with only three people. Doing that twice will get us coins for more potions and our own pockets, but more importantly it will get us items. Items we need as trade stock."

Cal still needed to round out his items but the others had a few items slots they could add, too. Cal was the most in need of items but John also needed an item to let him fly. That way they could clear floors quicker and bypass traps like the one that just cost them a climb. Everyone trading for rings or bracelets that gave them waterbreathing significantly reduced their stash of items to trade. They needed to refill it.

Wyn was tired of coasting. For months they had taken things easy. It was a nice break after being out from the Assembly's thumb, but he was a man of action.

Plus, the Faceless Four wasn't backing off any time soon. Wyn wanted to be ready if a confrontation came to a fight, and right now he wasn't sure they could win.

"Alright, then," Tasha agreed. "And tomorrow we go back to the trading hall?"

Wyn nodded. "We secure the items we need then try for the eleventh floor again. Are you all with me?"

They each gave their own affirmations, validating Wyn's confidence in them. They'd keep climbing Alistair and prove themselves one way or another.

*****

"Here's a book for you," the guild official said, setting down the large tome on the wooden counter.

Wyn flipped it open while Cal stood beside him, looking at the pages over his shoulder. They had specific items they were looking for, and Wyn hoped it wouldn't take too long to find.

The first on their list was for Cal. Cedric had written down the set to cover his weapon, shield, and cloak to compliment his new equipment set, the Valor's Disciple. The chosen set was already showing its effectiveness with Cal being stronger, tougher, and easily handling enemies like a true defender should while still having some access to support skills that boosted the other's physicality and magical defense. The one glaring weakness of his was his pitiful weapon and shield.

Cedric had found what was called the Forgotten God's set, and deemed it a good fit along with the Valor's Disciple. Like most sets, it provided a set bonus when at least three items were equipped, allowing Cal the ability to use all of the Valor's Disciple items and still utilize another set of equipment. The Forgotten God's set was great for a Fighter-based class, giving strong bonuses to strength and defense, along with popular features that the normally spell-less classes lacked.

The cloak, which was the third piece needed besides the weapon and shield, was the actual item that gave him the ability to fly. It also gave moderate strength and endurance bonuses when he wasn't full on mana, an easy feat to accomplish after using his Paladin Aura or other skills. In addition, it gave a minor ability of decreasing all item weight worn or carried, which was a huge boon to Cal considering he was their proxy Packer. Those were the only features it had, though the flying effect was incredibly effective as it gave him up to three full hours of flight per day, which was even more than Marcy's cloak.

The weapon in the set was a mace, and the shield was a tower shield that was just monstrous. As Wyn and Cal met the seller who had all three pieces, they were both amazed at the sheer size of it. It was nearly as big as Cal, who was already the largest member of the group, and Wyn had a difficult time hefting the shield. In contrast, the cloak was worn and ragged, almost as though it was an afterthought when compared to the gleaming metal of the weapon and shield.

The tower shield being so large was a major focal point, however. It allowed the wielder a greater defensive climbing style and offered a major amount of protection against both physical and magical attacks. It also gave skill bonuses that defended teammates and an ability that Wyn thought was just unfair – Defender's Step. The ability was a short-range teleportation skill that cost a small amount of mana, allowing him to position himself exactly where needed. Coupled with the cloak's benefit of boosting when not full of mana, it was easy to see the synergy between the items.

Then came the mace. Wyn thought it was a bit conservative to call it a mace as it was easily the largest mace he'd ever seen, though somehow Cal held it in one hand with ease. The weapon improved his skills even more than the shield, while also decreasing the mana cost of skills and improving his skill's range, which meant his Paladin Aura would be even better. The final ability was a skill called Crush, which created a small shockwave at impact that didn't affect the wielder or allies.

All of the abilities came to fruition as part of the set, and Wyn knew Cal was no longer their weakest group member from his lack of items. He wouldn't dare rank all of them as they each brought something to the team, but he was far more effective than before.

Which meant their climbs would be easier, especially the ones in the third tier.

After finding Cal's items, the pair proceeded to secure Wyn's final item he'd been wanting for quite some time. Cal flinched at the seller's demands, and Wyn wasn't too happy with the payment needed, but it was necessary to complete his Sage's Set. The robe would take the place of chest armor, but he didn't mind. It was so strong he didn't care one bit, and his armor was blue rarity while this was a purple rarity set piece, being far more effective overall.

Handing over two blue rarity items, a half dozen high quality gemstones, and five hundred gold crowns, Wyn was nearly shaking holding the folded item in his hands. The seller was wanting to retire and looking for a small hoard before leaving the city to return home, and Wyn didn't blame him. He could make up the cost in a relatively short amount of time.

Putting on the robe, he was ecstatic to see his parchment's description.

Sage's Robe – Part of the Sage's Set, this robe is as immaculate as the finest Archmages could hope to create or find. It provides moderate mana recovery, major protection against magical attacks, and mild protection against physical attacks. When recovering mana, the cost of all spells and skills are reduced by a moderate amount.

Sage's Set – 3/6 – Mana recovery is improved by a moderate amount, mana pool is increased by a small amount. Gain 1 spell slot of any available tier.

Despite the loss of items, Wyn couldn't help but smile as he walked with Cal out of the trading hall. With his new set, other equipped items, and Lucidity, he would recover his entire mana pool from empty in a ridiculous four minutes. Having additional spells to use was a huge bonus, too, as he could add higher tier spells to his repertoire.

Being liberal with his abilities gave an entirely new meaning now that he could recover so quickly. He was prepared to cast spells with an intensity unmatched by any other mage class.

Unfortunately, Wyn's smile quickly turned to a scowl as he and Cal were stopped before the exit. Two people stood in his way, both cloaked and masked.

"Hello, again, Wyn," Landon said, his voice muffled behind the jackal mask. "Do you have a minute to talk?"