Aris didn’t get a level from the Floor boss, but they hadn’t been on the eighth floor for very long when she made a pleased sound after shooting a Frigid Stalker.

  “I did it!” she crowed. “The peak of second tier!”

  Anton gave her a moment to assign her Abilities.

  “What’s the Capstone Trait?” he asked. He used Delver’s Discernment to see her stats.

  Aris Lucina, Level 15, Human, Original Gunslinger, Scullion/(broken), Original Gunslinger, S: 9 T: 13 A: 19 D: 19 P: 23 W: 21 C: 12

  That was… impressive. At the rate her Agility and Dexterity were shooting up, she’d overtake Zaphar in no time. Although that did depend on her next Class…

  She frowned. “I’m not sure what to make of all these. I’ve got Instant Reload, Ice Shot, Last Word and Deadly Shot to choose from. The first of those seems simple enough but the rest… Why would I need Deadly Shot? Aren’t my bullets deadly enough already?”

  “Not against high Tiers,” Anton told her. “Deadly Shot sounds like Deadly Strike, that Trait that Kelsey is expecting me to get. It’s more likely to kill tougher people and it burns through Traits like the one that kept al-Kadir alive before.”

  “Yeah! Get that one, teach that guy a lesson next time,” Kelsey said.

  “Ice Shot sounds like it imbues your bullets with magical energy,” Anton continued. “In this case, ice. You don’t normally get Traits like that until Third Tier.”

  “Is that because of… where we are?” Aris asked, looking around at the ice-lined walls. On this floor, the overgrown caverns had been replaced by icy tunnels. The walls were made of a blue-white translucent stone, which made it hard to tell where they started and the ice began.

  “Maybe,” Anton said. “Or it could be because our time in Elitra was so hot. It’s based on your entire experience, not just the last level.”

  “What about Last Word?” Kelsey asked. “It sounds ominous. In a good way.”

  Anton frowned. “If it were Last Shot, I’d think it was something like Final Strike, which I wouldn’t recommend. I don’t want you to trade your life for anything.”

  “But it’s last word, which… The Class doesn’t seem to be about talking,” Aris said.

  “Intimidation is a form of talking,” Kelsey pointed out.

  “Try thinking about it,” Anton said. “Your class is a part of you and you can often get some clues about the intention if you imagine using the skill.”

  Aris looked at him doubtfully, but furrowed her brow in concentration.

  “I think…” she said after a while. “I feel that it’s about when the conversation stops. Or stopping the conversation. The last word said is… something.”

  “I think I get it,” Kelsey said. “The conversation stops when the shooting starts, so the last word is the first shot.”

  “So it’s about firing faster?” Anton asked. “I don’t know if that’s good enough to be a Capstone Trait.”

  “Not just faster—first,” Kelsey said. Her gaze drifted away, looking at something only she could see. “It’s part of the legend of the gunfighter, you know? Facing his enemy at high noon, telling him to draw first… and only when the guy’s gun clears his holster does the gunfighter pull his own gun out and fire… but he still fires first.”

  “That still just sounds like a fast-drawing skill,” Anton said.

  “It’s got to be more than that, with a name like Last Word,” Kelsey countered. “But I think you should take Deadly Shot.”

  “We’ve had exactly one enemy who needed that Trait,” Anton said. “Instant Reload is a lot more useful.”

  “We have had more than the one time where we’ve faced more than twelve enemies,” Kelsey admitted. “But, going forward, I think we’ll be facing a lot more al-Kadirs than scrubs.”

  Aris stared at them both with a glum expression on her face. “But which one should I take?” she asked.

  Anton and Kelsey looked at each other. They were about to continue the argument when Kelsey sighed and held up a hand.

  “We can advise, Aris, but the decision has to be yours. Think about what calls to you, what you need, and something should just click.”

  Aris thought about it. “I do feel something…” she said. “Maybe it’s just because I felt for it before, but I feel… a connection with Last Word.”

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  “Go for it,” Kelsey said. Aris looked at Anton, who shrugged.

  “It’s probably more than just a fast-draw skill,” he said. “Capstones are normally pretty good, regardless.”

  “All right,” Aris said. There was a short pause as she selected it.

  “Can you feel what it does?” Kelsey asked.

  “I feel… that it’s available,” Aris said slowly. “It’s like… having the confidence to know that if something bad happens, I can stop it.”

  “Something bad…” Kelsey mused. “Zaphar! We need you to take the next hit, see if Aris can stop it.”

  “Let’s not do that,” Anton said quickly, before Zaphar could protest. “An appropriate situation is bound to come up at some point. No need to rush it.”

  “Oh all right,” Kelsey grumbled. “Let’s get going then.”

  This floor was a little less claustrophobic than the previous floors. The ground—or ice—was smooth underneath their feet, if a little slippery. Anton was glad that Spider-climb kept his footing stable. Kelsey and Aris had a little trouble with the floors, but neither of them needed to move quickly. Tyla was the most disadvantaged, at least until she switched back to her bow.

  That left Zaphar alone at the front, with Anton right behind him in case he got into trouble. They still left the fighting to Aris and Tyla, which meant Zaphar was constantly jogging back to get himself out of the line of fire when he found a new monster.

  On this floor, the tunnels were straighter and not at all clogged with writhing plant life, so it was easier to attack at range. The light was better as well. The tunnel walls seemed to catch the illumination of Aris’s light-stone and reflect it far ahead of them. Everywhere that Kelsey shone her torch glittered like it was made of diamonds.

  The first sign that this floor held more than Frigid Stalkers came when Anton felt something wrap around his leg. Looking down, he saw a gleaming white vine extending out of—and through—the ice. Wicked-looking thorns suggested it didn’t intend to stay gleaming, but its fangs were no match for Anton’s armour.

  “Watch out for vines!” he called, bringing his sword down and severing the frosty tendril with one blow. He moved quickly to protect Aris, but Kelsey had already grabbed the two vines that came out near them. They had wrapped around her hands and arms, the thorns piercing her skin, but she seemed unbothered, taking the time to look closely at the plants she captured.

  Then she closed her hands and crushed the life out of them.

  “Interesting,” she said. “I had no idea there was this much variety in ice-themed plants.”

  “Sorry! Sorry!” Zaphar called back. He was having more trouble with his attackers. His dagger was an appropriate weapon to use against them, but he wasn’t strong enough to slice through in one cut. “I couldn’t stop them, they move through the ice!”

  Nothing but dust remained of the ones that had attacked Tyla. Now, she moved to assist Zaphar. Moving as gracefully as someone could, over ice, she slid over to him and laid her hand on the vine that was wrapped around his leg. It disintegrated into dust.

  “Ah! I gained a level!” she exclaimed.

  They paused to let her choose her Abilities. Since this was an odd level for her, she didn’t get to choose a trait. Anton spared a glance at her when she was done.

  Tyla of the Padascar Tribe, Level 15, Elf, Dungeon Witch, Padascar Hunter (Broken)/ Doxy(Broken)/Apprentice Dungeon Witch/Dungeon Witch,

  S: 12 T: 9 A: 14 D: 20 P: 22 W: 17 C: 12

  Even though she was the same level as Aris, Tyla had taken a much more winding path to get there. While Aris was finishing her second Class, Tyla was just starting on her fourth.

  Before they moved on, Anton checked on Kelsey. “Are you all right?” he asked. “Those vines looked like they hurt you badly.”

  “It’s fine,” Kelsey said, holding her arms up to show him. They were unmarked. “They did some damage, but nothing I couldn’t heal.”

  “All right then,” Anton said, and they moved on.

  After a few fights, they came to the first chasm. Sheer cliffs descended into the darkness and rose up just as high. Aside from climbing to the bottom, there was just one way across—a narrow ice bridge extending from under their feet to a black cave on the other side.

  “This should be easy enough,” Anton said. “We’re a good match for this bit.”

  “What are you talking about?” Aris asked shrilly. “That’s a big problem!” she exclaimed, pointing at the bridge. “It’s so narrow and it’s made of ice!”

  “We’ll get to that, but first things first,” Anton assured her. “Zaphar, are you ready to go out on the bridge and play bait?”

  “Wait, wait, what what? I am most definitely not! Why would I?”

  Anton pointed to the empty air above the bridge. “We can get across it, but first we have to take care of the ice drakes. On this floor, they’re quite small, but they’ll be swooping on us from all directions. You’ll go out and attract their attention while the girls finish them off with ranged attacks. Don’t worry, I’ll tether us together with a rope, so if you dodge off the bridge you won’t fall far.”

  Zaphar looked dubiously over the edge. “Not far might be quite far enough,” he said. “But you have Spider-climb as well. Why do you not do it?”

  “Two reasons,” Anton said. “This is contributing to the fight, so you should get some experience. It’ll be reduced, but only by a half or a quarter. For me, it will be reduced by much more.”

  “One sixteenth or one thirty-second,” Kelsey put in.

  “And the second reason,” Anton continued, “is that if you fall, I can support your weight. Can you support mine?”

  Zaphar looked at Anton. He looked over the cliff again. He looked at the rope. His face screwed up into a grimace.

  “Fine, fine,” he said. “Tie me up.”

  Kelsey thought the Ice Drakes were pretty. Anton supposed that there was a certain grace to how they swooped through the air. They weren’t made of ice, but their blue-white scales glittered like ice would. Graceful or not, Anton preferred it when their swooping arcs ended with a bullet from Aris or an arrow from Tyla. Zaphar had also made his preferences known.

  “Oh gods, can’t you shoot it? Shoot it now, it’s right there!” he called. Every now and then one got through the barrage and Zaphar was forced to dodge until it was taken care of. Stabbing one himself would have risked being knocked off the bridge.

  Eventually, the attacks stopped and it was time to cross the bridge. Anton explained the plan.

  “Won’t it crack, if we’re all on it?” Aris asked.

  “It's strong enough, even if we all jumped on it,” Kelsey said. “It looks like ice but there’s dungeon stone underneath.”

  “It’s never broken in all the accounts,” Anton agreed. “Zaphar and I will be fixed points, we’ll stretch the rope tight between us, and you’ll all hold onto the rope.”

  “I’m not sure…” Aris said. She looked down into the darkness below.

  “You can hold on to me, then,” Anton offered. Aris perked up.

  “That sounds much… safer,” she said.

  Without any drakes divebombing them, they made it across the bridge safely.

  “Thank the gods that is over,” Zaphar said.

  “Oh,” Anton said. “Do you want the bad news now?”

  “What? What bad news?” Zaphar asked suspiciously.

  “We’ll need to cross three more chasms on this floor,” Anton told him. “Four if we get lost.”