Arabelle shifted uncomfortably in her Ruby Magician robe. She had trained with it for weeks, but it still felt funny wearing it while holding a shield and her mace. Every other rookie Climber in the base of Alistair was clearly marked with their class so she didn't feel quite as out of place, though it wasn't ideal. Magicians wore robes or light clothing since they couldn’t wear armor, and carried wands, rods, or staves. Some even had packs and extra equipment on them. The combat-focused Climbers all had varying types of armor, ranging from light leathers to heavy chain and thick metal. Not one other Climber she could see had the combination like hers, however.

  It made her stand out, but such was being a Ruby Magician. She honestly didn’t care what they thought, though. Her only thought was how the robe could impede her ability to fight monsters. The clothing had proven its effectiveness during training but that was training. She was about to step into the tower and face actual, real monsters.

  A soft nudge at her side pulled her from her thoughts. “Come on,” Brianna said, flashing her typical grin. “It’s about to be our first climb! Look excited!”

  Arabelle gave a big, fake grin that just made Brianna laugh. The olive-skinned Fighter drew some glances their way, but she never cared about how others viewed her. It was something Arabelle admired and appreciated.

  The rest of their team were close, and both Oren and Adam were already drawing in other rookies with their charm and attractive features. Arabelle was thankful that both men were cordial, as each of them had mentioned multiple times about wanting the other’s class. Oren was a classically handsome man, tall and well built though was given the Diamond Magician class. Adam was the opposite with being shorter and stocky, but his kind face and curly black hair had its own charm. He wanted to eventually be a crafter but ended up as a Fighter. Normally it was Sorcerers or Magicians that had a crafting option as a later upgrade, but he was making the best of it.

  On the other side were the last two members of their group. Lydia, a Sapphire Magician, stood nervously while fidgeting with the hem of her robe. She had her bright blue robe’s hood up, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. Which was a shame, according to Arabelle, because the woman had beautifully thick auburn hair she kept in braids that made Arabelle jealous. Still, she was the least confident member of their group as she was still getting a grasp on her ice spells.

  Beside her stood Penny, their final member and third Fighter. She was nearly as impressive as Oren, standing tall, broad shouldered, and quite muscular for a woman. She was able to keep most people away from her just from her stern gaze, but the glaive she held with one hand completed the look of fierce warrior.

  Lydia liked standing beside her because the Fighter gave off a sense of security that even Adam was jealous of. And Penny liked Lydia nearby because the mousy woman presented the look of a damsel in distress.

  It was an interesting group structure, but Daniel said they would climb well together. And Arabelle trusted him. After training together for nearly two weeks, she believed him, too.

  Now it was the next to last day of the month, and it was their turn to prove they could finish the first floor.

  After one of the veteran Climbers announced to the group of likely thirty or so rookies the rules and expectations for the climb, Arabelle grew more anxious. It didn’t help that Brianna soon disappeared from her side, and then the other members in the group separated as per their usual demeanors.

  Brianna quickly returned, pulling a familiar Climber behind her. “Everyone,” Brianna said, her characteristic smile wide on her face. “I snagged a veteran to lead us!”

  The others crowded around as the veteran Climber laughed. “Hello, Arabelle. Good to see your team!”

  Arabelle breathed a sigh of relief. “Marcy! I didn’t know you were planning to help the rookie climb?”

  Marcy shrugged. “I actually like doing it. I wasn’t planning to this month but after the debacle of… well, you know… part of our discipline was to help with the rookie climbs in the coming months. So here I am!”

  “Your gear,” Adam said, practically ignoring her. “It’s incredible! So intricate and amazing!”

  “More like powerful,” Penny said, nodding her head in a bow. “It seems you could likely clear the floor yourself. We’d be honored to have you guide us.”

  “Wait, how do you know each other?” Oren asked.

  Marcy smiled. “Arabelle is a friend. Though, I'm sorry to say I actually won’t be the one leading you. This one grabbed me before I could object.”

  Brianna’s smile faltered a bit but she offered an apologetic smile.

  “Who will, then?” Arabelle asked.

  Marcy smiled and pointed.

  Behind the group, everyone turned, and Arabelle launched herself onto the newcomer.

  “Is that who I think it is?” Lydia asked, her voice soft.

  Brianna nodded. “Yep.”

  Arabelle let go of her brother and he stepped beside her, clearing his throat. “I’ve met most of you, but I’ll reintroduce myself. I’m Wyn. I’ll be the one leading you today.”

  *****

  Standing in front of a portal along with the rest of the group made Arabelle’s heart race. The only thing stopping her from having second thoughts was her brother, who was still talking to the others. He had met everyone except for Penny and Lydia, the two newest members to their group. The others he had seen in training and had witnessed first hand how they fought. She had told him several times how capable all of them were in the days leading up to the rookie climb, and he responded by saying he was relieved she had found a full group to start her climbing journey and that they all trained together several times first.

  She knew the story of his first climb, and absolutely did not want to repeat it. He didn’t either, obviously, and was dressed as though this wasn’t just a climb through the first floor and instead was taking on the hardest floor possible. His jacket made him look like a proper officer, though his complimenting tricorn hat was admittedly a bit ridiculous. He still looked very much like a mage, which apparently the look he was going for. She knew he could change the hat’s appearance at will, and normally wasn’t one to attract attention, but something in him changed to where he didn’t seem to mind looks from other people.

  The truth of the matter was that the looks weren’t from judgment. Not anymore. They were of curiosity and respect. He made a name for himself during the guild trials a month ago, and being a part of one of the best guilds in the city only made his renown grow. The others in her group all talked about him like some sort of amazing Climber, which he was. But he was still Wyn her brother. Someone who annoyingly tussled her hair when he made a joke or asked to grab dinner or breakfast nearly every day, lost in his thoughts too much.

  “Are you not carrying a weapon, then?” Adam asked. “You’ve seen us train before but I still don’t know what you use. And Arabelle won’t tell us.”

  Wyn chuckled. “If we’re lucky, you won’t see me use it all. But my weapon changes shape to whatever I want.”

  “Wow!” Brianna said. “I can’t wait to get a magical weapon.”

  “Be patient. It’ll come sooner than you think.”

  “Alright, alright,” Arabelle said, checking her strapped shield and the mace attached to her side one last time. “Are we ready to go?”

  “So eager,” Oren said, flashing a smile. He cleared his throat and held his wooden staff by his side, standing stoically. “Who wants to go first?”

  All of the rookies looked at each other while Wyn just chuckled. Arabelle saw him laughing and felt her pride hurt. “I’ll go.” She stepped forward and paused just before the portal.

  “It’s as easy as stepping through a door,” Wyn said.

  She took a deep breath, nodded, then walked through.

  The world around her warped and twisted, and her focus was lost as her body felt weightless in a void. The sensation only lasted a moment, and after a single blink she was standing in another, strange world.

  But she didn’t have time to register the world around her as she immediately stepped to the side and threw up.

  Arabelle ignored the sounds of her teammates coming out of the portal and stepping onto the odd ground around her. Lydia and Adam both joined her by losing their dinner, while the others seemed to reign in their stomachs.

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  “Wyn,” Arabelle said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “You didn’t think to warn me about that?”

  Wyn smirked and shrugged. “I warned them, at least!”

  Arabelle glared at him. “I might just kill you in here, you know.”

  Wyn laughed.

  “Take a few minutes and regroup,” Oren said, while looking all around. “I have a feeling we need it for more than just our stomachs.”

  Arabelle realized what Oren meant as she took in the environment. It was… an odd mixture of more disorientation and wonder. The ground was pink, the air looked like water, and the sun glazed the world around them as though seen through water. In fact, the entire surrounding looked like they were standing in a pool of water and was further emphasized with creatures floating in the air both tiny and large as though swimming in air.

  “The first lesson you should learn about climbing is that even the environment can distract you,” Wyn said.

  Everyone looked at him with varied expressions, though mostly confusion.

  “What do you mean?” Adam asked.

  “I mean, the tower is wonderful. The first thing you do when climbing is teleport to a massive location completely different from the world we know. It’s strange. Beautiful. Magical. It’s good to recognize that and appreciate it but you also need to ground yourself. What if you’re fighting a monster and get distracted because of a plant that starts moving like an animal?”

  “We’ll be more focused when a fight comes than you think,” Penny said.

  “Probably so. But still good to know. And also know that the environment is often your enemy, too. So be on guard.”

  Arabelle unfastened her mace from her belt and squeezed the handle. Oren was calling them to move, and she needed to be ready.

  Based on their training, the Diamond Magician was acting as their leader, and by all intents and purposes he was. They had mutually decided before that they would let him lead as he was both the current oldest and had been the most level headed during training. When they started climbing, he was the one to suggest that if someone else showed some display of leadership more capable, then they should give a try at being the group’s leader and he would step down.

  It was a gesture that further solidified his mark as a leader, at least in her mind. She was sure the others felt the same.

  So, they walked together in a practiced formation based on Daniel’s recommendation. Penny and herself led the group, Oren and Lydia were the two mages in the middle, and the other two Fighters made up the back line. Brianna was quick and could reposition herself if needed, while Arabelle carried a shield and could protect herself in a pinch. The other’s positions just made the most sense.

  Wyn followed along just behind everyone, occasionally giving hints on where to move forward or how to navigate. He didn’t outright tell them where to go, but it was appreciated having a general sense of direction. The environment was disorienting at times, and it took about fifteen minutes or so of travel before they were able to start following what appeared to be a path.

  That was also the time when they encountered their first challenge.

  Penny spotted the enemies first, much to Arabelle’s annoyance. She stopped her walk and readied her glaive, raising it from her previous use of a large walking stick. Arabelle followed her lead and raised her shield with a few spells ready to cast depending on what they found.

  An odd chittering was the first sign of an enemy. The noise was quickly followed by a pack of a half dozen small monsters, all a bit smaller than a dog. Arabelle thought they looked like strange fish with reflective scales of multiple colors, all natural camouflage blending into the background.

  Penny stepped forward with a grunt as a red aura enveloped her. Arabelle recognized that as her Defense Up skill, the same one she possessed. That skill was what pushed her to use a stronger weapon with more of a reach instead of something more defensive, and Penny showed that combination well in training.

  Arabelle didn’t have that confidence or desire to be so direct in combat, and was more than happy to carry a shield. Soon she’d be getting some armor, too, but the shield was enough for now.

  Keeping true to her practice, Penny stepped forward and swept the front line of enemies, knocking down three of them in one swing. While the weapon was strong, it was slow, and the other half of monsters were moving in before Penny could reposition her weapon.

  Arabelle stepped forward and bashed the closest monster with her shield before mentally casting Spark while swinging her mace. The weapon came down on the second monster while also shooting off a shower of yellow magical lightning. The spell stunned the monster just before it was flattened and then continued on to briefly distract the third. That was when Penny recovered and gorged the small monster. It was a much faster disposal than Arabelle, who took two more swings on the first creature to kill it.

  The first three monsters were dispatched by the others, with Brianna and Adam moving in to make quick work of them though they were mostly dead from Penny.

  “Good work,” Oren said. “Penny, that was probably too much with your skill but good thinking. And Arabelle, that spell was well-timed!”

  Arabelle took a couple deep breaths to settle herself. Her arms were shaking and she barely heard what Oren said. She had just killed two creatures. They were monsters, sure, but they still died at her hand.

  “Arabelle,” Brianna said. “You good?”

  Arabelle blinked several times, trying to refocus. She nodded in agreement.

  “Nice hits,” Penny said. “Next time try it with... less though, yea?”

  Arabelle snorted a laugh. “I’ll do my best.”

  Wyn stayed back and quiet, and Arabelle saw him give a smile and slight bow of his head in approval. He didn’t even have his weapon drawn. Apparently he thought they were capable of handling the monsters on their own, which was reassuring. And respectful that he let them climb on their own.

  The group continued on before finding another pack of monsters. This time they approached from the side, and there were nearly a dozen of them in total. Lydia joined the fray this time launching several ice spells, though most of them were from places of fear and trepidation. She was a strong mage, but her hesitation was her biggest flaw. It was something even Arabelle noticed during training, and she wasn’t quite as perceptive as the others.

  The monsters weren’t overly strong, but there were a lot of them. Oren was working hard casting several supportive spells during the engagement, blocking the monsters with Shield often and calling out more enemies as a second pack descended on them. The fight then grew from manageable to chaotic.

  Arabelle noticed Wyn watching them carefully, though never helping, choosing to avoid the monsters while they rushed the rookies. What if one of the monsters broke through? Or another monster ambushed them? She bashed another odd creature, causing it to yelp in pain and fall to the ground. Another two hits from her mace finished it off.

  “Arabelle!” Oren said.

  Arabelle turned to see a monster standing right in front of her, its unnaturally wide jaw open with drool falling from a row of sharp teeth. It was still and unmoving. The closer Arabelle looked, the more she realized it wasn’t drool but blue blood, and it wasn’t just teeth in its mouth. Half a foot of metal poked through it as Adam stood behind it, holding it aloft with his longsword he wielded with two hands.

  Another monster was now rushing at Adam, and Arabelle stepped to the side before casting Shield. The spell wasn’t timed well, and the monster was already past the magical barrier lunging for Adam. He turned just in time for the monster to latch onto his chest, and he screamed.

  Arabelle knocked the monster off her teammate and hit it several times on the ground, grunting with effort. She wanted to make sure it was dead. Turning to see Adam, he was inspecting his side, and pulled his hand away to find blood.

  “Oren!” Arabelle yelled.

  The Diamond Magician was on them quickly, and began healing Adam right away. “What happened?”

  “It was my fault,” Arabelle said. “I didn’t time my spell well at all.”

  “No, the fault is on me,” Adam said. “I left my back unprotected.”

  “If that’s the reason, then that’s also my fault since you saved me first.”

  Adam opened his mouth to speak but stopped. “Yea, I guess so. I’m sorry.”

  Oren huffed a laugh. “You’re injured and you’re the one apologizing. You’ll be fine, but this wasn’t your fault.” He looked over at Arabelle and gave her a disappointed look.

  Arabelle cursed. She knew she had a lot to learn, but she hoped that the first climb would have started better than that.

  The fight was over, and everyone was gathering themselves and checking on each other.

  “Everyone alright?” Wyn asked as he approached the group.

  “We will be,” Oren said. “Just caught us by surprise with the numbers, is all.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be watching out for us?” Penny asked. “You’re the guide, right? Where was the help?”

  “Penny,” Brianna said, the tone in her voice scolding.

  Wyn raised a hand. “It’s okay. I’m supposed to guide you, yes, but I’m not here to climb for you. You need to understanding climbing isn’t just killing monsters. Sometimes you fail. How you handle that failure is what really makes you a better Climber, not how you succeed.”

  “I don’t really agree,” Penny said, shrugging. “But that’s fine. More things for me to kill.”

  “We should be grateful for the words of a more experienced Climber,” Adam said. “I’m really fine. Honest!”

  “I know,” Wyn said. “And you have a very capable healer and a secondary healer, too. You won’t face anything that could threaten your lives. That’s why I’m here.”

  “We know,” Oren said, giving Penny a lingering look. “Thank you. Let’s collect what treasure there is and move on, yes?”

  “Yes!” Lydia said, clapping her hands together. She immediately started bending down and picking up copper coins.

  The group started to collect the few treasure piles from the monsters when an unfamiliar growl came from the other side. A different monster, this one larger and standing on two legs with a yellow mane of dense hair, stared down the group. Similar to Arabelle's Spark spell, electric jolts of magical energy ran along its mane.

  Arabelle felt a pang of fear. That monster wielded magic. That was rare for the first floor.

  Worse, it wasn’t alone. Two more similar creatures stood on either side of it.

  Lydia pointed her wand and cast Ice Shard, launching a large slab of ice the size of a bucket. The monster nimbly ducked under it, skirting to the side and rushing the group. The two beside it also moved, and Arabelle saw the rest of her team scramble to gather their weapons. The problem was that most of them had sheathed or put them away to gather the treasure, and they were caught off guard.

  She looked to Wyn and saw him eye the monsters, then crouch as a dense red aura enveloped him, one far greater than the rest of her team could produce. He then took one step before disappearing in a blur of red. Pink dust was then kicked up in the path in front of them, caused by Wyn moving so fast Arabelle could barely process his body. The only thing she saw was a red magical streak moving directly towards the monsters.

  “What’s happening?” Brianna asked, panic in her voice.

  Oren raised his staff, confusion obvious on his face. “I don’t know! Another monster, maybe?”

  The sounds of metal cutting through flesh and pained cries made Arabelle tense and Lydia chirp in fear. She was sure the others were also tense, though they all waited to see what was happening while huddling together in a defensive formation. The dust settled quickly, and the bodies of three monsters lay in pieces on the ground not far from where they first announced their presence. Wyn stood over them, holding a spear in his hand with that same red aura coating him that was dense and thick. A familiar but slightly different Ruby Magician symbol appeared beside the weapon he was holding for only a second before the spear disappeared in the blink of an eye.

  The entire experience didn’t last but a few seconds.

  “What just happened?” Adam asked.

  Wyn walked over to the group, his red aura still covering his body. “Monsters. Who caught you when your guard was down.”

  “We all stopped to gather the loot and no one kept an eye out,” Oren said, shaking his head. “Damnit.”

  “Worse than that,” Wyn said. “No one kept their equipment ready in case of a sudden attack. Except for Lydia, so good job.”

  The Sapphire Magician blushed and looked away, covering her face. She really wasn’t used to praise or even being acknowledged.

  Arabelle wanted to both punch Wyn in the arm and give him a hug. He had saved them, and at least he wasn’t being smug about it. At least not too much. It was annoying they needed to be saved, and she was sure he was going to critique them more later, but having him as their guide gave her more confidence than she realized she lacked.

  “I had wondered all those times you watched us train how good you were,” Brianna said. "But I didn't imagine you were that fast."

  “Don’t give him a big head,” Arabelle said. “Not anymore than he already has.”

  Wyn snorted a laugh.

  “I can’t wait to be that strong,” Adam said. “It’s amazing what better equipment and a class upgrade will do!”

  Arabelle looked at Wyn pleadingly. He returned her look, then shrugged. At least he didn’t correct her teammate. She really didn’t want them fawning over him anymore than they already were.

  “So what are you now?” Penny asked. “Ruby Runner or something like that?”

  Wyn tilted his head to the side. “It’s… a bit complicated.”

  “Oh, just spill it already,” Arebelle said with a sigh. She knew the others were going to learn sooner or later. Might as well get it over with.

  Wyn smiled. “I’m actually a tier three Climber, now. Ruby Tactician."

  Arabelle had to admit, the looks on her group’s faces were priceless.

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