The Ruby Magician

Green fire bellowed over Wyn's head as he ducked under his Shield and expanded shield from his left bracer, his Ashen Gallidium Shield. The fire washed over the magical barrier easily, and he somehow still felt the heat from where the magical flame was exposed in the area around him.

After only a second of the fire on his spell, the barrier broke. Wyn then activated one of the two charges of Empower in his Ashen shield, and the expanded shield grew to be even denser than his spell. He didn't use it often, but having that emergency backup was a literal life-saver.

The green-scaled monster that spewed the flame was some kind of dragon-like reptile creature the size of a horse, though had no wings or long tail. Instead, it had sharp, jagged teeth and long claws, along with a dense magical aura that made it fast and strong, comparable to the auras of a second or even third tier Climber in the Fighter or Rogue class lines.

That was besides the ability to spew colored fire. A fire that was as strong as a third tier spell.

Wyn's speed didn't amount to much when the monster was able to reposition its head and breath attack at a speed that seemed like teleportation, though Wyn knew it was just that fast. Even with his physical enhancements the monster was nearly as fast as him, and he was thankful he had defensive protections coupled with his speed.

"Wyn!" Cal yelled, moving to attack the green monster. He bashed it in the hindleg with his mace, causing the monster to screech in pain and stop its fire attack. Unfortunately it responded to Cal by twisting and kicking at him with its other leg.

Cal caught the kick with his shield but it sent him flying backwards, forcing him to land awkwardly on his back with a loud thud.

Wyn moved to attack the monster on its other side, bringing up his war hammer and bashing the monster with a Silence Attack-enhanced strike. The weapon connected with the monster's front leg, then the spell washed over the monster.

Its aura only lessened instead of being removed completely. Wyn cursed, but knew that was still a favorable outcome. Any weakening of the monster's magic was progress. So, he decided to keep using the skill as he fought with the creature, mostly avoiding quick swipes and waiting for the next chance to strike back. He guessed that if he could land two more of the skill-laced hits on the monster, its aura would be gone or close to gone, and weakened enough to be far less of a threat.

"Remove its magic, John!" Wyn yelled.

While he maneuvered himself around the monster, Wyn tried to check on the rest of his team. Cal was standing up, healthy enough to soon join him in fighting the green monster, while John and Tasha were dealing with the blue monster on the other side of the room. It was the same dragon-like creature, only a different color, and its flames also reflected the color of its scales. They were both standing, though unfortunately so was the monster. John seemed to have heard Wyn's call as his huge greatsword was coated in the same red aura of Silence Attack.

That was good. Keeping the monsters alive but weakening them would be the key to letting Marcy and Cedric, who were still working on the puzzle in front of the altar, have the time to figure out the riddle. Wyn couldn't tell how they were doing as they both still faced the altar away from the ensuing fight.

Since arriving in the secret room on the fourth floor, the team found that the difficulty was more on the level of the eighth or ninth floor, possibly even higher. And it was the variety that had nothing to do with the current theme of the season.

They quickly discovered that the secret room was a hybrid puzzle and monster challenge set in a large open one room chamber easily several hundred feet long on each of the four walls. There was one altar in front of the wall opposite the entrance portal and no other objects in the room except for a floating, glowing orb at each corner of the walls and ceilings that provided some light. The altar itself was in the shape of a regular dining table, and had a phrase carved into it that was some sort of riddle. Wyn's lantern revealed no other identifying marks or clues to the riddle, and the six of them started to debate what the words meant before a crystal formed in the center of the room and summoned a single monster.

That monster was a red version of the reptile monsters, and the group defeated it while Cedric and Marcy worked on the riddle. It wasn't an easy fight as the monster was as strong as a boss, but it was still four on one, giving a heavy benefit to the group. Once the monster was killed, a minute passed before two crystals appeared, each summoning another monster in the room.

That benefit was suddenly cut in half, and then they had a far more balanced fight on their hands.

Wyn assumed that each wave meant another monster would be added to the fight until they either figured out the riddle or left, which left them with truly only one option – they had to figure out the puzzle during the current wave of only two monsters and before the next wave came. Having to face three of the monsters would be dangerous, and having Cedric and Marcy join the fight meant they couldn't focus their thoughts on solving the puzzle, which was the true challenge in the secret room.

Any wave after that would be too difficult to handle. It was one thing to only have to fight monsters, but needing to solve the puzzle added an entirely new element to finishing their challenge.

Wyn hit the monster he was fighting with another Silence Attack, causing it to howl and snap its jaws at him in anger. A quick flash of his shield blocked the monster's jaws from connecting, though Wyn stumbled back from the sheer strength of the hit. It wasn't quite as strong as it was when they first fought, and he realized the aura around it was so faint it was practically gone.

"Ours is weakened, now!" Wyn yelled. "Any luck on the altar?"

"We're so close!" Marcy yelled back. "Cedric almost thinks he –"

"Got it!" Cedric yelled. He stepped to the side of the altar and pointed his staff at the wall behind the altar. A large rune appeared in front of him before he unleashed a torrent of water at the wall, which did nothing.

Until a few seconds later, when the wall started to crumble and fall as though it was made of sand.

The monster yelped one final time as Cal unleashed a warrior's cry with his attack, pounding the monster's head with his mace so hard it caused an audible crack. It froze, stunned from the hit, then Cal struck it again with a similar ferocity. The monster then fell to the floor, limp and unmoving.

Wyn moved to help John and Tasha with their monster, though saw that both of them were just waiting on Cedric and Marcy to figure out the puzzle before killing it. Almost immediately both of them worked in tandem to defeat the beast, as Tasha blinded the creature with a quick flash of light and John empowered himself with another skill. Swinging his greatsword, he lopped off one of the monster's front legs, causing it to stumble to the ground, before he swung his sword up and then down with a ferocious strength.

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He cleaved off its head in one smooth motion in an executioner's style.

Gathering together, the group walked up to the altar and destroyed wall. In its place was a clear portal and a single, regular sized silver chest.

"Regrettably it took longer than I thought to figure it out," Cedric said.

Marcy sighed. "That was probably my fault. I was going off in the wrong direction, clearly."

"What was the answer?" Tasha asked. She had sweat dripping down her cheeks and dust all over her robe.

"Water," Cedric said, pointing to the wall. "The wall was a false wall, and it needed a strong enough source of water to wash it away."

John patted him on the shoulder, dust pluming off of him while he moved. There was still a white aura around him from Tasha's healing after their fight. "Good thing you're a Storm Sage! What would we have done if you weren't?"

Cedric shrugged. "Be shit out of luck?"

John's smirk was wiped away as Cedric's mouth turned up into one.

"We didn't get a tablet this time," Wyn said, examining the table. It was completely empty and unchanged. "But hopefully the chest will have something good inside it."

Cedric and Marcy walked up to the chest, then opening it together they paused briefly. Marcy reached down inside and pulled out a single object for everyone to see.

"A silver key?" Tasha asked. "What could it possibly open?"

"It's massive," John said, holding it in his hands. "Far bigger than a portal key. What in the hells?"

When Wyn got his turn, he inspected the key carefully. It truly was big, nearly as big as his forearm, but had the exact shape as a portal key. Except it was pure silver, polished so well it seemed to reflect even the dim light in the room.

"It has to be a portal key," Wyn said, handing it to Cal. "It's the same shape. That can't be a coincidence."

"That's my thought, too," Cedric said. "But the question is what does it open?"

Wyn turned around as the group debated further, examining the room one last time. There was no extra door opening or chest appearing anywhere. The altar was the same, too.

A part of him felt disappointed at not finding another stone tablet. And their only reward was a mysterious key, no additional treasures.

Was that the point they had reached? Finding something so unique as a key that it wasn't even that exciting to him? Sure, it likely opened another portal, but how could they even find it? Searching for it in Alistair would be like finding a needle in a haystack. A different haystack every day that changed size and shape, and then again each month. Or maybe it opened a portal on its own? But where would the portal go? There were so many unknowns.

"Come on, Wyn," Marcy said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "No sense debating this here."

Wyn agreed. And despite his disappointment, they had still accomplished something they'd failed to do since being a team – clearing the entire first tier in one day.

Leaving the secret room, the six Climbers returned to the fourth floor then progressed through the floor portal to the fifth floor. They had earned their rest for the day.

Stepping into the floor, Wyn was once again impressed at the wondrous way that Alistair created the rest floor as a stark contrast to the challenge floors. A large, spacious hall was lit with hundreds of candles ranging from normal size to large, easily several feet tall in their waxy cylinders, all scattered about. They rested on the floors, on the few wooden tables in the room, even on some sconces set at head height on the walls. Most candles were clumped in groups, giving off plenty of warm, ambient light that lit the room well but provided a relaxing atmosphere.

The room seemed to be a large entry way into the town hall, as the ceiling was two stories tall with windows all along the walls and wooden furniture in groups around the room. It looked like it was meant to hold a large group of people at one time, but now it was used more as a safe haven for the undead overrun town. There were no citizens, of course, and they were the only climbing group present, but Wyn based his assumption on the first tier's series of quests.

It was odd how Alistair organized the floors with some cohesive theme, from a small backstory and setup to the environment, monsters, traps, and changes from floor to floor. Wyn wondered what each third and fourth tiers looked like, and how the final floor played some role in the season's theme.

While they hadn't progressed too far into each month, Wyn was determined to change that this month. He wanted to see the third tier for himself.

The six friends all settled onto two benches around a wooden table in one of the corners in the room. No one else was around, but it felt better having some space for just themselves. They relaxed and talked about the first few floors while speculating about the next tier. Wyn was only partly paying attention, thinking more about the guild and responsibilities for the coming days and weeks.

"Wyn, what do you think?" Tasha asked.

"Hmm?" Wyn said, looking at the group while taking his gaze off some flickering candles that lulled his thoughts.

Marcy stood and stretched behind the bench she was sitting on, sighing loudly. "Damn, Wyn, you still zone out, don't you?"

Wyn shrugged. "Sorry, I was thinking about the guild. There's still a lot to do, you know."

"Yes, but you don't have to do it alone. We collectively run it, remember?"

Wyn smiled. "I do. I'm sorry. What was the question?"

"Do you think we'll be able to make it to the third tier?" Cal asked. "We cleared the first in less than a day. That's a great sign for having enough time to work on the harder and longer floors."

Wyn slowly nodded. "I do, yea. This is a good month for us. I want to take advantage of it."

"Even though the bosses will be harder?" John asked. "Cedric brought up a good point. The bosses are about one or two floors harder on average, which means we'll be having some truly challenging fights in our future."

"We can handle it, though. Honestly, we really haven't pushed ourselves much recently. We've been reorganizing ourselves but haven't tried to see what we could handle."

"Are you sure about that?" Tasha asked. "We haven't been slacking off, you know."

"I know that. But we've been staying in the second tier at most, securing items and building wealth. Which isn't bad, but we haven't tried to push for higher floors. We haven't had a full team, so I understand why – but now that Cal is with us, I want to keep pushing ourselves."

"Do we really need to?" Cedric asked. "Staying in the second tier would give us more than enough rewards to secure each of our futures, whatever they may be. Just one year of running the guild would be enough. And if we stayed longer, we could live a life like a noble."

"Living like a noble isn't all that glorious," Tasha said. "I'd much rather be known for something good. Making a difference."

"I'm talking about doing both," Cedric said. "Especially since our guild will be teaching Climbers, we can stay relatively safe while still making a difference."

Tasha tilted her head side to side, obviously thinking and not outright disagreeing. Wyn just listened. He understood where Cedric was coming from, and didn't disagree with him. In fact, that was exactly what he wanted. A relatively easy remainder of his life, set up after a brief period of hard work.

But another part of him also wanted to see how far he could go. Daniel had mentioned before no other Ruby Magician had finished the tower, let alone reached the fourth and final tier. Wyn was already the only Ruby Magician in the third tier, though his sister was quickly catching up. But what would it mean to always wonder if he could advance further and never tried? He was curious about his potential. He had no illusions of possibly completing the tower, but making it to the fourth tier would be a great feat. It could set a precedent for the guild and future teachings, knowing that the founding team made it all the way to the final tier, then was able to share their experience with others.

And it would help them be stronger to protect themselves for any threats. Threats like the Faceless Four, who were already deadly and at their doorstep.

"You're not wrong, Cedric," Wyn said, speaking after a few seconds. "We can make a difference, a name for ourselves, and amass a great amount of wealth without too much risk at this point. But is that we'll be? We made it to the third tier out of desperation, and now we coast, taking it easy?"

Cedric shrugged. "Climbing is never coasting. You know that."

"True. Climbing is challenging ourselves. And to continue challenging ourselves, we should see what we could actually accomplish. That means trying to press into the third tier. I don't want to look back one day and think what could have been."

"Yes," John said, punching his open palm. "That's exactly how I feel, too! I want to see how far I can go!"

"Together," Wyn continued, "I believe we could make it through the third tier. Just think of the legacy of our guild, knowing it was founded by a group who made it to the fourth tier, then shared their knowledge and experience so others could push themselves, too."

Cedric was quiet for a moment while John continued to express his agreement. The others started to agree, too, until Cedric finally spoke.

"I see your point, and I can see how it could be helpful. I'm in."

The six of them celebrated briefly, agreeing to try to advance through the third tier for the month. After, they settled on the duties needed to start preparations for their next project - celebrating the guild's first day.

Tasha and Marcy had worked with Wendy before the day to secure the food and drinks, and they left for the trading hall to meet up with her. The others returned to the guild house to start getting the dining room ready.

That night, they had a great feast as a complete guild. Wyn expressed his thanks for everyone showing out for the day, then congratulated each team on their own successes. Nigel and his team made it to the third floor before running the floor two more times to gain some experience fighting undead. They had just completed the fourth floor just before returning to the guild hall, calling it a successful first day with so many floors completed.

Arabelle and her team just made it to the fourth floor then left before facing the bosses, deciding to go in fresh in a new day. It was still a great leap for them to complete three successive floors in one day, and they were overjoyed with their success.

Faye, Brett, Gregory, and Caryn joined the guild for the celebratory dinner as well, behaving during the night while giving the three teams various forms of advice with undead seasons and enemies. Faye cozied up to Marcy more publicly, and the pair seemed to be enjoying themselves more openly and comfortably. Daniel and Wendy were also there, and both were respected among the Climbers, for Daniel's knowledge and experience and Wendy's management of the support staff as well as motherly demeanor.

It was the capstone of a great first day of the season in a new guild. The groups had success, Wyn's group was progressing well, and Wyn's family seemed to be thriving.

Wyn was the happiest he'd been in some time, and looked forward to the month. He had a strong feeling it was going to be both memorable and successful.