Octavius awoke some time later in the night. He sat up and gently rubbed his head. His hands stopped when they felt something. It was wooden and around his face. Suddenly he remembered he put on the lion mask and felt its power consume him. After, he seemingly passed out. Looking around the room, he saw the others lying on the floor and realized they must have passed out, too.

  His head throbbed. What was that about? Weren’t the masks supposed to give power, not pain?

  He nudged Jane and she stirred. Then she shot up straight, grabbing his hand. She looked strange wearing the falcon mask. But he didn’t sense any malice under her grip. Or fear. He only sensed control.

  Then she groaned.

  “Damnit,” Jane said. “Why does my head hurt?”

  “You too, then?” Octavius asked. “I’m glad it’s not just me.”

  Jane nodded slowly before rubbing her temples. “I think it’s easing up, at least. That was bizarre. But at least we’re alive.”

  Octavius had a pang of worry. His head wasn’t easing up. If anything it was getting worse. “What do you mean?”

  Jane stood up and nudged Landon and Corbyn, who both started to move. “After you put your mask on, the three of us had another flash of magic. It felt like I was being stabbed in the head over and over. Then I passed out.”

  Octavius swallowed hard. That didn’t sound good.

  “Shit,” Corbyn said. “That was weird.” He sat up on the floor and rubbed his neck.

  “At least you’re alive,” Jane said. “How do you feel now that we’re all wearing the masks?”

  “Better. More myself. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was like a serious longing when it was just me wearing a mask. Something like being alone. Or like it wanted the others to be worn.”

  Octavius shuddered, though the smallest movement hurt his head further. “I hate the sound of that.”

  “At least you’re better,” Jane said. “That’s all that matters.”

  “Well it also matters about what happens now,” Octavius said. “Now that we’re all wearing them.”

  “Now that all of them are worn,” Landon said, standing up. His wolf mask had a distinct green tint underneath it, like his face was glowing and the mask was hiding it. “That’s a crucial difference.”

  Corbyn suddenly doubled over, holding his stomach. He groaned. Jane rushed to his side and put a hand on his back. “What’s wrong, Cor?”

  “I’m… starving.” He put a hand on his mask and lifted it. It came off easily as he held it in his hand.

  Jane gasped. Then she laughed. “It worked! You can take it off!” She cautiously lifted her own mask and it came off easily in her hands.

  Octavius fell to his knees from the throbbing pain in his head. It felt like he was being stabbed in the skull and the knife was being twisted and turned. What in the hells was happening?

  Cor suddenly gasped like he was starving for air. Then he floundered to the floor. He was scratching at his neck and jaw, and Octavius nearly forgot about the pain in his head watching him. Was he possessed? It was horrifying. Octavius felt fear grip him like a vice.

  Then Jane fell to the ground and moaned in pain. She grabbed her head and winced, and Octavius wondered if she was feeling something similar to him.

  “What the fuck is happening?” Landon asked. He still wore the wolf mask, and looked at each of the others in shock.

  Corbyn crawled to the kitchen and began tossing everything on the counter as though he was frantically searching for something. He grabbed a loaf of bread and began to gnaw on it like a rabid animal. He seemed to calm down a bit after, but then moved to another plate of food and began shoving it into his mouth. It was their leftovers from dinner earlier that evening, likely cold and stale, but he didn’t care.

  Octavius could barely think from the throb in his head. “Gods, my head! What is happening!”

  Jane started wheezing lying on the ground, her body shaking as she tried pushing herself to no avail. Both Landon and Octavius watched in horror as her body started to shrivel, as though her skin was dehydrated and she was drying out rapidly. Landon ran to the parchments laid out on the table and started to read them.

  A lump formed in his throat reading the mask’s final descriptions. Nothing had changed except for the final curses. He paused on his own, but ignored it and read Jane’s. He flinched at what he saw but moved towards the ailing woman and put her mask back on. She seemed to calm down from that, and her body stopped deteriorating. But she still was on the ground and looked like a far older woman with pale and wrinkled skin.

  “Attack me,” Landon said. “Cast a spell on me, Jane. Hurry!”

  Jane didn’t question him. She raised a hand as a dull rune formed at the end of it, then a small bolt of magic hit Landon square in the chest. He stumbled back from the hit and rubbed his chest, but it didn’t penetrate or do any major damage. He was just surprised at the intensity despite its small and pathetic appearance.

  Jane immediately sat up and looked at her hands. They were a bit more normal, now, far less shriveled than before. Instead of looking like a hag, she looked like she had only aged a decade. She looked at him with confusion, though it was hard to tell with her mask on. “What in the fuck was that?”

  “Hold on,” Landon said. He moved to Octavius and knelt beside him, getting as close as possible. “Cast a protective spell on yourself. A weak one that lasts awhile.”

  Octavius was breathing heavily but put a hand on his chest and cast Aura Skin. It was a simple protective spell that boosted magical abilities by a small amount and lasted an hour. It usually wasn’t worth casting as it cost more mana than to heal someone or use another type of spell, but it was one he liked having in case the situation ever called for it. A very faint aura settled around his body and he immediately calmed down.

  His headache was suddenly gone, like a fire being snuffed out. It came on suddenly and worsened, but the relief was instant from his spell. Why was that the case? He looked at Landon in confusion. And how did he know it would help?

  Landon moved to Corbyn and gave him the bull mask. Corbyn stared at it with half of a turkey leg falling out of his mouth, then he reached out and put it on. Instantly he gathered himself and looked at the others.

  “We all need to sit down,” Landon said. He pointed at the couch. “The curses are worse than I thought.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  *****

  Three Climbers sat in disbelief, each of them holding their parchments with the description of their masks. Landon was pacing the room. All of them wore their masks, hiding their expressions.

  “We need to keep the masks on for now,” Landon said. “None of the curses that are active while wearing them harm us that bad.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Corbyn said. “How the fuck am I supposed to take something’s life force? Do I have to drink your blood or something?”

  “I… don’t know,” Landon said. “But we likely will be able to use monsters. That’s what the masks are for, right? To be used in Alistair?”

  Corbyn didn’t answer. He just stared at his parchment. The expanded hunger curse was bad enough, stating if he didn’t satisfy his hunger than his own life would be consumed instead. That thought terrified him. But it was the additional curse that happened when he took off his mask that concerned him. When he wasn’t wearing it, the description stated the hunger curse would be exponentially worse, and his body would physically hurt and be injured while he ate anything as the only thing he could focus on was consumption. What kind of life was that?

  “It’s all I can do, now,” Jane said. She threw her parchment down. “Fuck! What kind of damned objects are these? We’re so fucked!”

  Her curse that happened when her mask was off, the witch’s curse, caused her to rapidly age to the point where she could die if left without her mask too long. She didn’t know if it was a play on her class or fate that that was the mask she equipped. But she also wasn’t able to focus or keep her composure so any rational thought was gone.

  “There has to be a way to manage them,” Landon said. “We’ll make do.”

  “Make do?” Jane said. “Make do? You were the one who insisted on having them! You were the one who pressed us to wear them and use their power!”

  “I put the first one on, Jane,” Corbyn said.

  Jane scoffed. “Godsdamnit!”

  “You aren’t the only ones who have awful curses,” Landon said. “If I take mine off, my skin and flesh will start burning, and if I leave it off long enough it will eventually kill me.”

  The others looked at him. Everyone was silent. No one knew what to say or what to think.

  “Mine’s worse,” Octavius said after a few agonizing seconds. “I have two negative effects.”

  “We all do,” Jane said. “That doesn’t mean yours is worse.”

  “Oh, it doesn’t? Really? If I don’t have a protective spell on me I’ll get headaches that can cripple me or give me permanent mental damage, eventually killing me. How can that even be calculated? That’s terrifying! And that's wearing the damn mask! And, if I take my mask off, I’ll lose my sight and my eyes! My fucking eyes!”

  Jane opened her mouth to respond but then closed it. She put her head down in her lap and held herself protectively. Octavius took that as a sign he was right. That never happened before. And Jane wasn’t normally one to give in so easily.

  “The drawbacks aren’t great,” Landon said. “But the benefits are phenomenal. None of you can deny that. We’re likely the strongest four Climbers in the city!”

  “And how does that matter when they’re eventually going to kill us?” Octavius asked.

  “It matters because we have power now! How many Climbers die or lose themselves here, anyway? More than anyone would like to admit. We can push to the top with these masks and gain all the treasure and glory we want along the way!”

  Octavius laughed. “Typical. All you think about is power and glory. Fuck off, Landon. We’re talking about how our lives will never be the same and you’re still stuck on the same damn thing.”

  “Get a hold of yourself, Vi. You wanted this power just as much as me. Otherwise why put the mask on at all?”

  Octavius stood up and pointed at Landon. “I used to be so afraid of standing up to you. Not anymore. Not since I have power now to actually put you in your place.”

  Landon laughed. “Go on, then! Show me! I’ll slit your throat before you even get a spell off.”

  “Fucking stop,” Jane said, her voice cracking. “This isn’t productive. We need to work together, remember?”

  Landon didn’t move but Octavius nodded in agreement. Corbyn laughed and pointed to the other men. “See, Jane? It’s not just me.”

  “Imbeciles,” Jane whispered. “But you said something interesting, there, Landon. Climbing our way to the top?”

  “Yea,” Landon said. “Even with just four of us we are likely the strongest Climbers here. Soon we’ll get better items to further increase our abilities, then class upgrades when we reach the next tier -”

  “No, I don’t mean that. I mean making it to the top. The literal top. The 20th floor.”

  Landon’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why? That’s not something we’ve mentioned before. Wasn’t your goal always to make a fortune and obtain nobility? Why aim for the final floor?”

  “There’s no point in trying for nobility if I have to wear this mask for the rest of my life. A short life, most likely.”

  “But still, why the last floor?”

  “Because of the reward,” Octavius said. “Holy shit.”

  “Exactly!” Jane said. “It’s well documented that reaching the final floor gives a magical reward on the level of gods in the form of a request or wish. So we get there and then our reward is to remove the masks! Curses and all!”

  Landon stared at Jane for several long moments. He looked strange wearing his mask and it was impossible to see his exact expression but Jane understood he was thinking of her proposal. She’d have to get used to reading more body language than facial cues from the others now that they were going to be wearing their masks nearly all the time.

  “That’s a good point,” Landon finally said. “While I have to admit that it pains me to think the first goal after finally having and wearing the masks is trying to be rid of them, it makes sense. We can achieve glory by completing the tower and living to tell the tale.”

  “Not to mention earn a damn fortune along the way,” Octavius said. “Jane, you’re a genius! It’s the perfect solution!”

  Jane bowed in thanks. If they couldn’t see her face, she had to be more obvious about her responses.

  Landon snickered. “Don’t get a big head. It’ll still be a challenge getting there. First we need to practice using the masks then start climbing. Items, gear, the entire process. And I believe we’ve finally earned it.”

  “Earned what?” Corbyn asked.

  “A guild title. So let’s get started.”

  *****

  Landon sheathed his swords with practiced ease. The three monsters behind him, Spitters as they were called, all went up in smoke as they died.

  He laughed. It was such an easy move to slice them to ribbons it felt trivial. The mask’s benefits were so tremendous he felt unstoppable with his swords. And they weren’t even magical! He thought what would happen once he obtained better gear. Or even a set of items.

  Behind him, Corbyn rolled through more of the Spitters, dispatching a monster per swing of his hammer that was so easy he might as well have been swatting flys with a wooden spoon. None of their attacks could even scratch his browned, tough skin. And after each one died, he focused on their bodies. They didn’t disappear like normal. Instead, they turned to magical smoke that wafted through the air towards him, coating his body as he absorbed each one. Each bit of magical essence felt like a long drink of cold water after having been in a desert, or eating a steak after living off stale bread for weeks.

  He felt more at peace after each kill as his hunger was satisfied.

  As Corbyn smacked another monster and then consumed its life, he ignored a rushing monster at his side. It reached back with a hand to attack him but was blasted with a purple sphere as big as its head that completely obliterated it. Jane stepped forward near her brother and raised her rod at another monster. With a simple gesture of her free hand, she formed a large purple ball and shot it towards the monster as fast as an arrow. It once again destroyed the monster without issue.

  Jane smiled under her mask. That was one of her weaker first tier spells, something more fit for a monster for the first or second floor. It used to be monsters in the sixth floor resisted it fairly easily, but now they were killed completely in only one hit.

  In her celebration she missed a monster that shot a glob of acidic spit at her, and she lurched forward. It hissed and sizzled against her shoulder, eating through her simple robe. She gritted her teeth against the pain before turning and blasting the monster with a spell.

  Pulling out a healing potion, she stopped herself. Those wouldn’t work anymore. As she paused, she realized her shoulder wasn’t hurting nearly as much. Looking at it closer, the wound was nearly gone, as her shoulder was glowing a faint purple light and her flesh was knitting together as she stared at it curiously. Then she remembered her mask’s benefit. Using damading spells on others healed her body. Turning to another monster, she prepared another sphere with a hidden smile on her face.

  Octavius watched in equal parts fascination and horror. His three teammates were completely annihilating the sixth floor monsters with such ease it was like they were back at the first floor. There was a pack of over a dozen monsters they met, and they were torn through in seconds. The only one of them who possibly needed help was Jane, but he watched as her injury healed itself in seconds as she killed more monsters.

  This was their new power, then. Despite the mask’s negatives he had to admit they could run through enemies like never before.

  Sensing his protective aura was growing faint, he cast another spell on himself to make sure he was protected. He couldn’t afford to lose focus and gain another headache. While the others were figuring out new ways to kill monsters, his new goal was learning how to manage his mana to balance being able to keep himself mentally ready and having enough in his mana pool to support the team. It would be tricky, but not impossible. And some pieces of equipment he already knew about would certainly help keep that balance in check to improve his mana efficiency.

  A ping in his mind alerted him to a new monster group behind and to his left, away from the remains of the pack the others just killed. His true sight ability gave him an incredible awareness of a large area that he felt he could see all and never be surprised. Gone were the days when he was afraid of looking over his shoulder. No more blind spots or hidden areas if they were within 120 feet of him.

  “More behind us,” Octavius said, turning from the group. “Appears to be five of them.”

  “Enough for me, then,” Corbyn said, rushing forward to greet them the only way a Barbarian knows how.

  “This is going to be far too easy, now,” Landon said, stepping beside Octavius as Corbyn smashed through the monsters.

  “I don’t see you complaining about that fact,” Jane said, standing with the two men.

  “Not at all. I’m encouraged, actually. We should progress to the third tier this month. I have a feeling that will be more of an appropriate challenge for us.”

  “I see no problem with that,” Jane said, raising her rod to inspect it as though she were bored. “But maybe we should pick up some more items along the way to complete our equipment.”

  Octavius expanded his sphere of perception but wasn’t alerted to anything else. It was just them, now. “Agreed. We can handle it. This is too easy for us, now.”

  Landon laughed again before running his fingers over his wolf mask, relishing the very item that fueled his new power. He felt right at home.

  Thanks for reading! Don't forget I have a if you want to read ahead! Wyn's story will pick up in February, but if you can't wait, there are 12 chapters ahead!

  If you'd like to chat about the story or other things, please join my .

  If you're enjoying the story, please provide a comment, rating, or follow. They go a long way!