I heard William Oh once went up against a succubus—you know, one of those demonfolk from the nineteenth Floor that draw energy from desire—but it wasn’t much of a fight. William oh gave that demoness a saucy wink, and she exploded. What? No, no, literally exploded, like with blood and guts everywhere…

-Sable Carver, Level 42 Climber

Carrie watched the black kobold as he meticulously organized his belongings, finally pulling out a stubby spade and slowly digging through the ash, pouring each spoonful through some kind of metal grate.

Everything about the creature ran counter to what she’d been taught about kobolds: that they were barbaric and bloodthirsty, blessed with cunning when it came to creating traps, but little else.

Loth was the picture of deliberation in every action and every word.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Looking for insects,” Loth said, feeding another trowel of ash through the grate.

“Why?”

“My vivarium has been rendered useless by the extreme heat, only useful as emergency rations. The heat has been slowly cooking them. I’m operating at less than half my capacity without the support of my insects.”

“You really think you’ll find insects in the ash?”

“Insects are incredibly adaptive,” Loth said, feeding another trowel through the grate. “Despite their relative weakness, they are able to expand to fill any niche.”

“But will some random insect you pull out of the ground be able to help?” Carrie clarified.

“Every living species has some method, some tool or tactic by which it defends itself, secures its food and mates, whether that be the swarming proliferation of an ant, the stink of a stinkbug, or the web of a spider.

“Every insect has some utility that an enlightened mind can bend towards their own ends,” Loth said. “Ends that their minds couldn’t possibly comprehend, yet are quite simple to higher beings like you and me.”

With a little burst of ash, some kind of insect was revealed as its surroundings were sifted through the grate.

Loth snatched it up, and began inspecting it as it skittered along his palm. It looked a bit like a chip of shiny black volcanic glass.

“Imagine, a being of unimaginable power and intelligence snatches you out of your world and sets you on a course that makes every action you take, everything that comes naturally to you, benefit them.”

Loth put the insect inside a barrel filled with ash and fungus carefully prepared from the nearby environment. A miniature world of Loth’s creation. “Not unlike the gods themselves.”

Carrie’s brows rose. “…Do you have a god complex?”

Loth froze, his clawed hand hovering over the top of the barrel, glowing with an Ability.

“…Possibly.”

***William Oh***

“Hup,” Will grunted as he jumped to the next rooftop, the roof tiles catching his feet without too much fuss.

Bri jumped next, trying not to scream as she covered the twenty-foot gap, Will stabilizing her landing.

Travis followed, and the two of them caught him.

They crossed the city like that, leaping from roof to roof, staying off the streets where the corpses stretched in every direction.

The last thing Will wanted to do was be down in those tight streets and alleys, unable to see any further than the next bend in the labyrinthine passages.

Maybe when the sun came up, if there was still no danger, they would head down to the bazaar and steal everything they could carry.

Climbers had a strong culture of Finders Keepers.

There had to be millions of gold worth of Relics and Sacrifices down there, just waiting for someone to take it.

But…the best stuff was sure to be in the Lord’s mansion.

And if the Lord was still alive, just holed up in his castle, then looting the city was illegal anyway…or at least, it would piss off a Lord. So common sense dictated they knock on the door first, before they started their shopping spree.

It took about two hours to cross the city on the rooftops, always dropping down and waiting for the unexpected after every jump.

Nothing.

Finally they got to the roof of the building closest to the castle.

The Lord’s castle had sustained significantly more damage than the rest of the city. It was covered in telltale scorch marks, melted stone, and damage from weapons.

So something without weapons killed the city…some kind of monster. And Climbers killed the Lord. Will’s appraisal of the situation was becoming more and more clear.

Another Lord had transported an unknown species of monster into the city and had assaulted the Lord’s castle while the monsters mopped up everything else.

Well, the good news is it’s not some kind of evil curse. Just regular evil.

Will scowled, inspecting the shattered shield generators on the walls of the castle and the melted-shut front gate. They would have to go over the wall, and none of them could jump that far.

“Hold this,” Will said, handing Bri the other end of his rope as he took the opportunity to try something.

Gravity Charge

10/18 Charges remaining.

“Fuuuuuck!” Will’s breath was torn from his body as he fell towards the castle tower beyond the outer wall. The good news is that the boots make Gravity Charge faster! The bad news is I think I’m gonna die!

He passed where the shield would’ve been and impacted against the tower, smashing through the wall. Will’s new boots made the landing—which should’ve shattered his legs and spine—feel like a dream.

Once his target—the wall—was shattered into a thousand pieces, Gravity Charge cut out, leaving only the momentum carrying him across the floor of the room he’d smashed into, sliding until his feet hit the inner wall.

It must’ve been someone’s bathroom once upon a time, because there was soap, mirrors, and a giant brass tub that must’ve weighed a dozen Wills. Will tied the rope to the tub and limped over to the Will-shaped hole in the wall, giving Bri and Travis a thumbs-up.

They pulled the rope tight and began climbing, swinging over to the outer wall before scaling it. While they climbed, Will turned around and inspected the room he was in with a closer eye.

This had been a woman’s bathroom, if he had to judge by the soap and bathtub, fluffy towels, razors, etc. This’ll make Bri and Carrie happy, Will thought, looking for the door.

It was on the opposite wall, slightly splintered where his feet had slammed into the wood on his first landing.

Will pressed his ear to the door, listening for the telltale signs of alarms being raised.

Nothing.

Pretty sure they’re dead, then. Will’s entrance had not been quiet.

He cracked the door and peered into the hall.

Faint blood splotches and weapon damage, suggesting the fighting had gotten all the way inside the castle.

Will opened the door and crept out, looking both ways before he went towards the dead end, intent on clearing every room behind him before he pushed deeper into the castle.

Office, cleaning supplies, office, wha—

Will paused by a window in his methodical clearing of the hall.

In the distance, he could barely make out the edge of something moving. Some enormous thing seemed to be rotating. Will could only catch the metallic edge of it because of the darkness, but judging by the curve, it had to be at least as big around as his entire village.

No way.

Will studied the rotating screw for another couple minutes before shaking his head and getting back to work. He checked the next room and found another office.

A fancier one, this time.

There were trophies on the walls, bits and pieces from high-floor monsters, Relics that had been collecting dust for years. A desk made of expensive-looking wood, and a chair with a pretentiously high back.

This must be the Lord’s office.

Will went to the shelf full of Relics, and did Climbers everywhere proud.

He started looting.

Will went through about half the shelf before he noticed one of the Relics was missing. There was a conspicuous rod-shaped patch of clean shelf.

Somebody else already got the best loot, Will thought, clicking his tongue. Will craned his neck, scanning the surroundings for any sign of other looted Relics.

Just this one, huh?

That implied that it hadn’t been a simple robbery for the sake of making money. Whoever had smashed this castle had wanted this one specific Relic, likely to complete a Build that granted unimaginable power.

Looks like becoming a Lord is basically painting a target on your own back… Still wanna do it, though.

In the meantime, might as well grab the rest of Travis’s dad’s stuff.

Will grabbed a display of six rings, then two amulets, a bangle and a small dagger, dumping out all the bullets in his Phantom Hand before shoving the loot inside in one go, then turning back towards the hall.

9/18 Charges remaining.

Will froze in place, his eyes landing on an odd trophy on a high shelf near the door. It was a glass dome with a wood foot, with something pale floating inside.

It was a gigantic larva suspended in preserving fluid, about the size of two fists pressed together.

Bullet Wasp Larva, the plaque helpfully read.

Will knew for a fact that Loth wanted that.

He got up on his tippy-toes, pulling the ornate fluid-filled glass stand down and inspecting it.

The larva was curled in on itself in death, showing no outward sign of why Loth wanted it so badly. The larva was bulky, and Will didn’t have that kind of space in his Phantom Hand.

But Loth wanted it, and Will owed him gear twice over now, so he tucked it under his arm, even though he knew Travis was going to cause a stink about robbing his dead parents.

Shame they didn’t have any Relic Worms, Will thought, creeping back into the hall, where Travis was peering out from the bathroom.

“SOAP!” Will heard Bri’s astonished whisper from behind him.

“What were you doing in there?” Travis asked, glancing down at the trophy under Will’s arm, his eyes narrowing. “That belongs to my father.”

“If he’s still alive, I’ll give it back to him,” Will said. “I don’t think that’s likely, though, because quite a bit of his stuff has already been looted.”

Travis frowned, stalking past Will to peer into the office, scanning the partially emptied shelves.

“Put it back.”

“It’s got a Sacrifice that will help my Party with their Build,” Will said with a shrug. “Unless you want a giant dead bug for sentimental reasons?”

Travis scanned Will up and down, his gaze lingering on Will’s pockets and pouches. “Fine. If he’s alive, you give everything back.”

“This is all I got,” Will lied, raising the bug.

“I don’t believe you, but I’ve never been here before, so I have no idea what was here originally.”

“Me neither. Most of it’s gone,” Will said with a shrug.

Sorry, dude, you’re not in my Party. Will had learned his priorities. If Travis had been in his Party, he might’ve gone about things differently.

They checked the other doors and cleared the hall before opening the door to the main hall. It had been shattered by the foot of a high-level Climber.

Brianna was grinning like a maniac, a pillowcase stuffed with all sorts of toiletries slung over her shoulder. “Gonna brush my teeth, gonna clean my clothes, oh yeah…” she half-whispered, half-sung to herself as they stalked down the stairs.

The throne hall was a slaughter.

High-level Climbers and parts of high-level Climbers were strewn about the throne room, including a richly dressed one near the center of the room, surrounded by a sphere of destruction.

He hadn’t gone down easy.

Travis knelt down, inspecting the corpse.

“I hadn’t spent much time with my father,” he mused, standing back up. “Every once in a while, he’d ‘visit’ us. His children would be lined up for inspection, and he’d stalk past, not giving any of us a second glance before disappearing into his bedroom.

“He spent more time with the older kids, but I don’t think they really knew him that well, either,” Travis said. “I’m not even sure he wrote the letter condemning me for my choice of Sacrifices himself. I think it was probably a secretary—one of my older siblings, maybe. I don’t know if me acting out even reached his ears.”

“Where’s his loot?” Will asked.

Travis turned on him with a snarl. “You—”

“Where’s all their loot?” Will interrupted, gesturing at the surrounding Climbers, who had been relieved of their valuable gear.

“Obviously, the people who attacked took—”

“Then why didn’t they clear out the upper floor?” Will mused.

He didn’t have to muse for very long as a glint of light caught his eye.

A spear emerged from the darkness, carried by a pink, shiny hand about half the size of a man’s.

“Hold it right there, humans,” the Jibleya said as more of them emerged from the edges of the room. Jibleya had somewhat distended translucent pink flesh with shiny skin stretched tight like a grape. They were industrious folk whose skin and flesh was naturally resistant to poisons and acids, so they tended to steer towards alchemy.

From the other side of the throne room, a half-dozen kobolds emerged from beneath the tufted stools that, in retrospect, had been far too neatly arranged, given the amount of battle damage that had filled the room.

Damnit.

Bri clutched her pillowcase full of toiletries to her chest protectively as they circled around them.

“Why you no wait for humies to touch body?!” the closest kobold hissed at the Jibleya.

“They were about to figure out we were here,” the Jibleya said. “We decided to move while we still have the element of surprise.”

“You ruin good trap!” the kobold spat, hunched over its spear and eagerly jabbing it in Will’s direction. Will and Travis took a half-step away from the Lord’s body.

The kobolds ran the gamut of colors: red, rust-colored, metallic, brown, green… No black, though, and they moved with an odd twitchiness that spoke of barely formed thoughts constantly being interrupted by new sensory information.

Like an animal.

“Who are you people, and what do you want?!” the lead Jibleya said, gesturing towards them with his spear. He was wearing fine Relics that Will could only assume came from the nearby corpses.

Looters, like us.

“We’re looters,” Will said with a shrug. Will figured Travis’s relation to the Lord of the city would only serve to complicate things.

He could have played the game of claiming to be the people who had destroyed the city, but it seemed like it might backfire if they didn’t buy it. As fellow looters, they were at least starting on neutral footing.

“This our find!” the kobold leader said aggressively.

“It’s true, we got here first,” the Jibleya said. “By Tower Law, loot belongs to those who discover it.”

“Well, we discovered the upper floors first, so everything we took from there is ours by law, then,” Will said with a shrug. “I know you guys haven’t been up there yet.”

“‘Law’ not stronger than pokey spears! How you not get stopped by traps, looter?” the nearest kobold, a creature slightly shorter than Loth, asked, poking Will in the armor with his spear for emphasis.

“We came across the rooftops,” Will said, brushing the spear away from him.

“Hah. Haha. HAHAHAHA!” The surrounding kobolds broke into uproarious laughter.

“You lucky! Lucky humie! Streets trapped good. REAL good, to catch the Tangled.”

“…The what now?” Will asked.

“Did you not see the bodies on the way in?” the Jibleya leader asked, cocking a shiny eyebrow.

“No, I saw them. I just didn’t know what caused them. Was it these Tangled you’re talking about?”

“Let’s just say that, normally, Jibleya and kobold don’t get along…” the Jibleya leader said. “But there’s a lot less of us than there were a week ago, so we can’t exactly afford the luxury of fighting each other for loot anymore.”

“This is everyone?” Will asked, scanning the two dozen or so individuals.

“Used to be a lot more.”

“I didn’t see anything I’d describe as ‘Tangled’ on the way in,” Will said.

“They sleep at night,” the Jibleya leader said, pointing towards the center of the city. “They like to sleep near the water storage. It’s cooler there. During the day, they spread out and fill the city. Every day, it seems like there are more of them and less of us…no matter how many we kill.”

“You could just leave?” Will said with a shrug.

“And abandon the score of a lifetime?!” the Jibleya leader demanded.

“We be gods among kin, even…sharing with berry-people,” the kobold leader said, growling out ‘sharing’ with a level of disgust reserved for people who dislike traps.

“It sounds to me like you’re in need of extra hands.”

The kobolds and Jibleya glanced at each other, then back up to him, seeming to contemplate Will’s words.

“…Perhaps even some leadership.”