Chapter 164: Criminal Element

‘Oh yeah, I tell all kinds of stories about him. it’s kinda my job. Will hired me outside the Tower about a year ago to be his hype man.’

‘Wow, that’s a sweet gig. Does he tell you what to say, or do you have a script, or a notebook, or…’

‘Nah, all of ‘em come to me right off the top of my head. Here’s one for you:

A powerful syndicate of criminals ambushed William Oh. They were caught completely off guard.’

‘Wow, cool. Tell me more.’

• Jason Salazar to Melroy Erikson

“You heard about the caravan?” Melroy asked, leaning up against the tables where dice were clattering back and forth as the local unsavory element amused themselves in Boss Sammohan’s gambling hall. Gambling was one of the few ways people could amuse themselves in Bakton Keep, what with how almost every other profitable pastime was forbidden.

But people are cunning and resourceful, especially those who have reached the 9^th Floor.

Everybody was on their best behavior inside the walls of Bakton Keep, but in the Grinding area of the forest beyond, where all the monsters of the Floor congregated…

Accidents happened.

Due to the nature of the Floor, extortion and thievery was always a dicey prospect, but if the person died? That severed the thread of Debt, and all their possessions were free game.

In many ways, the Debt system encouraged brutality.

“Yeah, I heard about the caravan: bunch of kids, under the watchful eye of William Oh,” Sammohan said, exchanging ten-pieces that would buy entire farms in the Ring.

Why didn’t more people retire while they were ahead? Melroy’s personal theory was that the Climbers realized on some fundamental level that those outside The Tower had no control. They were sheep in a pen, waiting for the slaughter. To retire to that ignorant bliss was anathema to people like them.

Sammohan lost a round and cursed, power radiating off him like heat waves. Or it could just be our addiction to power.

“Well, I staked out the market and spotted a group of them dropping some serious cash. Like, raid-boss level cash.”

“And?” Sammohan asked. Money didn’t have much use above the Ninth Floor. What they really wanted was the gear they would need to conquer the 10^th Floor and get their Advanced Classes and Lordships.

“Get this, I saw a kid shopping around for Relics for half a dozen different archetypes, some baking rings and he bought a bag of rings with no affixes.”

“He’s a crafter of some kind then?” Sammohan asked, glancing up at him.

“I think so. Plus he had one hand, a mask and a tomahawk.”

“So you saw William Oh,” Sammohan said.

“I saw a kid.” Melroy said, leaning in close. “I saw a kid with a Set.”

Sammohan frowned as the entire gambling alley went silent. Every one of them had superhuman hearing.

“What do you mean?”

“William Oh’s mask is a snake with a feather fringe. His cloak’s shoulders match it, as do his boots, and pants. The tomahawk is a snake with feathers. The kid. Is wearing. A set.”

“I asked around, and nobody’s heard of anyone buying, selling, or finding a new Set, none have been stolen from the vaults of the world powers. This one seemed to come out of nowhere. And this kid was buying up soft-set Relics that there was no way he could use all at once. Like he had some kind of way of combining them.”

Melroy turned the chair around and sat down in front of Sammohan.

“Here’s the best part. I chatted up some of the people at the caravan, met this Jason Salazar kid who let it slip he’d been paid to spread the word about William Oh. Said he was William Oh’s official Hype Man.”

“Kid’s puffing up his reputation.” Sammohan said, twiddling some gold coins between his fingers, seemingly in thought. “Good idea for his age.”

“I don’t think he’s a fighter, I think he’s a crafter that paid people to talk him up…and, I think he made the Set he’s wearing,” Melroy said, every ruffian in the gambling hall hanging on his words.

“His Party is going out into the grinding forest next two weeks. They’re underleveled on account of the eighth Floor. We’ve got ten levels on them, each.”

Melroy saw Sammohan run through it in his head.

Crafters who could make or modify Relics were rare, somebody making a Set was unheard of, and whoever had control of that ability would rule the Tower.

“When’re they gonna start Grinding?” He asked.

“Tomorrow.”

“Alright boys,” Sammohan said, the chair rattling backwards and he shot to his feet. “Listen up. If you do exactly what I tell you, you’ll earn a piece of the prize. Here’s what I want to happen:”

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***William Oh***

“That blows,” Will said, looking up at the lacquered map of forest carved onto the wood above and behind the clerks.

All the grinding spots closest to the Keep were already filled in with the names of different Parties, and the only ones remaining were three slots at the far edges of the forest, and split apart by other parties in between them.

“Keep Policy requires us to control the numbers of grinders and their location. To prevent infighting over space and monsters.” The clerk said, looking a little nervous. His heartbeat was a bit higher than Will would expect for someone doing a job as routine as logistics.

That’s odd. Are we getting screwed over? Will thought, glancing up at the map. He wouldn’t be surprised if there was some roundabout method that people would use to reserve good grinding spots outside the Keep itself, and then rent them out to desperate newcomers.

The three spots available were vastly separated both from each other and from the keep, and they could only be reserved day by day. If they took three hours to get to and back from, the amount of actual grinding that could be done was…slim to none.

Of course, that’s not really a problem for me. Will could get his people there and back quickly just by picking them up and flying them over.

The biggest problem was the distribution. Will had three Parties of Climbers as their caravan guard, and three parties of civilians. He also had his original Party.

Seven parties. Three spaces.

If they weren’t split up, Will would just reserve two spots that shared a border and have his Party and some civilians take the space.

I Think I’m gonna have to leave the civilians in the Keep for the first day or two, Will thought.

The Party limit stated on the map was eight people, so Will could shuffle his original party into the three caravan guard parties. Once they had experience with the local fauna, and they didn’t need any more levels, Will could cycle in civilians in ones and twos.

I’m gonna be on this floor another eight days.