Chapter 83: The Levelling Path
The briefing room was warm, early light streaming through the observatory’s dome. Nathan arrived to find his party already assembled—Garrett cradling Volcan across his knees like a sacred relic, Dillon nursing a coffee that was more cream than caffeine, Elise scrolling through her interface with quiet intensity. Mirko stood in humanoid form beside Nathan’s chair. Kuro was a black shape on the windowsill, her eyes fixed on the eastern horizon.
Valerie entered with her TUFF GRANNY mug and a thick folder of Tower dossiers. Boris shuffled behind her and collapsed in the corner with a rumbling sigh. She didn’t waste time on pleasantries.
"Congratulations," Valerie said. "You just cleared a High-Class Tower that’s stood unbeaten for three years."
She set her mug on the table with a soft clink.
"You’ve earned the right to be unbearably proud of yourselves." A faint smile crossed her face. "For about a week."
Dillon immediately opened his mouth.
Valerie didn’t even look at him.
"That wasn’t an invitation to comment."
He quietly closed it again.
"It was simply a statement of fact."
She pulled out a chair and sat, folding her hands on the table.
"Now..." Her expression turned serious. "Let’s talk about why you’re still not ready for Drak’thar."
The room fell silent as. Valerie spread the dossiers across the table. Six Towers. Six environments. Six sets of challenges.
"The jump from High Class to Elite Class isn’t anything like the jump from Mid Class to High Class," Valerie began. "It’s not a step up. It’s a cliff."
She let that sink in before continuing.
"Elite Class Towers don’t just throw stronger monsters at you. They throw smarter ones. Bosses with multiple phases. Arenas designed to kill you before the monsters even get involved. Enemies that learn as the fight goes on."
She folded her arms.
"The Pyre Wyrm was dangerous. You earned that victory, and the Wyrm Heart Core proves it." She nodded toward the glowing mace "But at the end of the day, it was still a beast. It fought on instinct."
Her expression hardened.
"The bosses waiting in Elite Class Towers are different. They’re intelligent. They watch how you fight. They figure out your habits. And the moment they find a weakness..." She snapped her fingers. "They exploit it."
The room stayed quiet.
Valerie tapped the stack of dossiers on the table.
"What you need now isn’t courage. You’ve already got that. You need experience. More levels. More battles. Different terrain. Different enemy types. The High-Class Towers around Ashwick can give you all of that."
She looked at each of them in turn.
"So clear them. Get stronger. Keep improving."
A small smile crossed her face.
"When you’re clearing High-Class Towers with S-Ranks and it feels routine..." She leaned back in her chair. "Then we’ll have the conversation about Drak’thar."
Nathan absorbed the words. They weren’t what he wanted to hear. The Dragon’s Heart Core was still out there. The third summon was still waiting. Every day they spent climbing High Class Towers was a day the Nemesis Court grew bolder.
But wanting something and being ready for it were different things. He’d learned that on Floor 9 of the Tower of Ash.
"How many Towers?" he asked.
Valerie met his eyes. "As many as it takes. I’ve identified six that are suitable. Rotating environments. Increasing difficulty. You clear these, you’ll be Level 50 or close to it. That’s the minimum I’d recommend for an Elite Class attempt. And even then, I’ll want to see a few more clears before I sign off."
She paused, her sharp eyes softening slightly. "I know you’re eager for whatever reasons you have. I don’t need to know what they are. But eagerness got you shattered on Floor 9 of the Tower of Ash. Patience got you an S-Rank clear six weeks later." She raised her mug. "Trust the process."
Garrett spoke first. He was still holding Volcan, its molten veins pulsing gently in the morning light. "She’s right. We barely survived the Tower of Ash the first time. Drak’thar is supposed to be harder. A lot harder." He looked down at his mace. "I just got this. I’d like to learn how to use it before I find out what ’harder’ looks like."
Dillon nodded slowly. "I just got Thunder Edge. I’d like to actually know how to use it properly before I try to stab a sentient dragon boss with it. There’s a difference between ’can use’ and ’have mastered,’ and I’m definitely still in the first category."
"The data supports Valerie’s recommendation," Elise said quietly. She’d pulled up statistics on her interface. "Elite Class Towers have a fatality rate three times higher than High Class. Most parties that attempt them before Level 50 don’t reach the boss floor. Of those that do, fewer than half clear it." She closed the display. "We’re strong. The Tower of Ash proved that. But we’re not strong enough. Not yet."
Nathan looked at Mirko. Through the link, he felt her presence—warm, reassuring, patient. She didn’t need to speak. The slight incline of her head said everything.
He turned back to Valerie. "We’ll follow your lead. What’s the first Tower?"
Valerie grinned and slid a dossier across the table. "Tower of the Frozen Throne. High Class. Ice environment. Should be a nice change of pace after all that lava."
---
Helena took over the briefing, pulling up the Tower’s specifications on the holoscreen. A rotating image appeared—a spire of pale blue ice rising from a frozen plateau, its surface gleaming with reflected aurora light.
"Tower of the Frozen Throne," she began. "High Class. Eight floors. Located in the northern highlands, approximately six hours from the capital. The environment is sub-zero throughout—ambient temperature well below freezing. Winterhart cloaks will help, but you’ll need additional cold-weather gear. The guild will provide it."
She advanced the display. Images of the Tower’s enemies appeared—ethereal shapes of pale mist, hulking figures of ice, and finally, a delicate creature that looked like a butterfly sculpted from frozen glass.
"Enemies include Frost Wisps on the lower floors—similar to the Veil Wisps from the Colosseum, but cold-based. Glacial Constructs on the middle floors—slow but heavily armored. And the boss on Floor 8 is called the Ice Queen Butterfly. It’s a speed-type boss with area-of-effect freezing abilities. Don’t let the name fool you. It’s a killer not a looker"
She looked at Elise. "Your Frost Golem will be in its element. The cold environment will strengthen it rather than drain it."
Elise nodded, a faint light of anticipation in her eyes. "I’ll take point on environmental control. If the Tower is sub-zero throughout, the Golem won’t suffer the sublimation issues we faced in the Tower of Ash. It’ll be at full strength the entire climb."
"The Tower’s been cleared before, but not in the last eighteen months," Helena continued. "The mana buildup is significant. A full clear will stabilize it and earn the guild a nice bonus. The TCA has been requesting parties to clear it for the past six months, but most Climbers don’t enjoy fighting in sub-zero temperatures." She closed the dossier. "You leave in two days. Any questions?"
Nathan shook his head. "We’ll be ready."
---
Meanwhile, in a dark chamber, not the throne room from before, no. That was reserved for audiences with the lord himself. This was a communication hub, a smaller chamber lined with flickering holoscreens and humming with the faint static of encrypted channels. Smithy stood before one of the screens, his grey robes freshly pressed, his Void Eel coiled at his feet.
The voice on the screen was not the Lord’s. It belonged to someone else, a lieutenant of the court like himself, though the transmission was audio-only, distorted by layers of encryption.
"The Bunny King cleared the Tower of Ash. S-Rank."
Smithy’s jaw tightened. "I know."
"He’s not slowing down. He’s leveling up. The party is getting stronger. They took down a Pyre Wyrm. If they keep this pace, they’ll be a legitimate threat within months. Maybe sooner." A pause. "The Lord is aware?"
"The Lord is aware. He’s chosen to observe for now. As per my suggestion ,He believes they may still be useful."
"Useful?" The figure gave a quiet, humorless laugh.
"They’re Climbers, Smithy. They clear Towers. They stabilize mana. Every step forward they take is a step against us." His gaze hardened. "And if they start disrupting the collapses... if they begin hunting our operatives..."
He let the silence finish the thought. "They stop being useful then and They become our targets."
"They won’t. They don’t know enough."
"They will. It’s only a matter of time." The voice hardened. "No, I suggest we eliminate them before they get the chance. A surgical strike. An ambush. They’re strong, but they’re not invincible. No one is."
Smithy’s hand clenched at his side. "No. We continue to observe. If they do become a threat..." He hesitated, the memory of the Lord’s pale eyes and cold voice pressing against his thoughts. "Then the Lord will do what he promised."
"Damn fool." The lieutenant cursed at smithy before disconnecting.
The screen flickered and went dark.
Smithy stood alone in the humming silence. His Void Eel coiled tighter around his legs. The Lord’s words echoed in his memory: Do not disappoint me again.
He stared at the empty holoscreen for a long time.
