Myria stared into the darkness, her pulse pounding in her ears, but no matter how they searched, the strange man and Clothilde were gone. It had all gone down so fast. The short battle, the kidnapping, the man's flight through the tunnel. And now that they stood in the former nest of the moths, getting slightly dizzy from the leftover chemicals, Myria did not know what to do anymore. Nothing in their extensive planning and preparation had ever covered the loss of two of their party members. Nobody had thought it possible, or even likely for that to happen. The route up to the 20th floor was not exactly safe, but the risk was more than manageable. This though, this was bad.

Orlean paced up and down in front of the different tunnel entrances holding a glowstone in his hand. He seemed tense, on edge and Myria could sense the same from the other members of her group. Trisk had his crossbow trained on one of the tunnels and did his best to keep watch, but in his wide eyed stare Myria could see how shocked her friend was. Miran was playing nervously with his staff, something she had never seen before from the usually stoic and affable man. He tapped his foot in a nervous tick that made Myria frown in agitation. Could he not sit still for one moment? Kentris stood next to her, his presence the polar opposite of the others. He was calm, his skin still showing blotches of metal and he cleaned his mace in a ritualistic fashion like he always did after a battle. Ketris was kneeling on the floor hunched over a locator slip, his face tense, his brow beaded with sweat. Myria had to admit he had reacted the best out of all of them. His cool, quick decision making had probably prevented the worst from happening in the last fight.

Not that this situation was not a worse case scenario, but at least nobody had died.

"What does the locator slip say?" Orlean asked tensely, almost bouncing on his heels he was that keyed up.

"Give me a minute." Ketris said in a voice filled with strained calm.

"A minute?! A freaking minute?!! The bastard took Cloe and you are dragging your feet!" Orlean bellowed.

"Calm down, Orlean. He is doing the best he can." Kentris said while he hung his mace back into the loop at his waist.

"Calm down? Calm DOWN?!"

"Orlean. Please. Everyone here wants Cloe back and this is not helping." Myria said, trying to force the same calm into her voice that Kentris exuded, although she was not feeling it. Orlean huffed, looked at her for a long few seconds, looking like he wanted to yell at her before he decided against it and then turned back to watch the tunnels close to them. That was one problem solved. But all of this was a catastrophe. Her fault. How had everything gone so wrong?

"Got it!" Ketris said, holding the scroll in his hand and studying it for a long moment before he pointed at an opening to their right.

"This way."

"Combat patrol, Trisk is lead scout behind Kentris, I will take up the rear with Orlean, Miran you stay in the center with Ketris. Got it?"

They nodded and got into formation. Their tension did not ease as they entered the tunnel and carefully moved along a narrow winding pathway into the next cave. Trisk looked visibly sick as he peered into the darkness. Myria knew his senses were leagues apart from Cloe's but he had the best senses out of all of them now. So it was his responsibility to guide them. As cruel as that was, they all had their strengths and weaknesses. He needed to step up without Cloe here. Myria's heart ached when she thought of her. Her stomach felt like it dropped to her feet when she imagined what the strange man might be doing to her right now.

The lower floors were uncivilized, rape was not uncommon here she had learned. Out here on the uninhabited floors of the tower there was no law, no consequences for behaving like a monster and the people climbing here were a rough sort. Used to violence and death. They had been warned repeatedly not to underestimate the people they might meet while climbing and Myria did not think she had. She had done everything by the book, per regulation. Two guards at all times was standard, that he had gotten Koris was obvious now. Kentris looking for what was going on had been his mistake and she could sense that under his calm exterior Ken was blaming himself maybe even more than she was blaming herself. It was in how he walked, how he stared into nothing every few seconds. Myria knew his tells.

But this time it was not his fault, it was hers for bringing the group out in the first place. But she had done everything right according to the plan. A combat patrol to find a missing teammate was literally in the book. And yet the strange man had ambushed them as a group, in formation, just by himself. How he had been able to do all of that was a mystery to her, maybe he was a high level Vessel? But she could not think about that now, she had to focus on the here and now. The Tower was unforgiving if you got distracted. One wrong step and you could die, you and your entire team. So there could be no mistakes anymore. Myria forced herself to concentrate and banished all those distracting thoughts to the back of her mind, for the moment at least. She squared her shoulders, her blade held ready and she peered into the darkness behind them making sure nothing could sneak up on them from that direction.

They entered another cave made out of soil and roots and moved slowly through the dim light of the glowstones, stumbling over roots and their feet sinking into the earth with every step.

"Tris, do you see anything? Footsteps maybe?" Myria called out and took a glance over her shoulders towards him.

"No, nothing."

"How can that be?" Orlean asked with a sharp note of anger in his voice.

"The guy can almost fly, its not hard to imagine he can cross this cavern without leaving tracks." Kentris said calmly, his mace leaned against his shoulder as he stepped boldly forward into the half darkness. His answer seemed to quieten the group as they followed Ketris directions he read from his spellscroll. They were just turning to enter another tunnel when Trisk stopped them with a gesture. They had all learned quiet communications via gestures in school and they all paused. Kentris only after Trisk put a hand on his shoulder.

"Rats ahead, big nest." Trisk said quietly and pointed with his hand sized crossbow into the dark tunnel.

"What do we do?" Miran asked, his staff held in both hands as if he was ready to fight personally. If it came to that they would be in really dire straits, but Myria knew how he felt. He wanted to do something and so did she.

"Cloe is in this direction, Ketris?" Myria asked.

"Yes, absolutely."

"Then we move in, combat formation, 3 ranks. Go."

The group formed up quickly, Myria and Kentris in front with Trisk and Orlean behind. Ketris and Miran were in the third rank as they moved into the tunnel. They were halfway down the tunnel when Ketris called out with a curse.

"Stop. Fuck."

Everyone turned to the scroll mage, but the man had fallen to his knees, studying the spell on paper and then hastily pulled out another scroll out of his book.

"Cloe's locator slip was destroyed." he said bitterly.

"I am trying her identification coin next."

"How long will that take?" Myria asked concerned.

"I don't know, a few minutes at least."

"What about Koris coin, they might be in the same location, can you layer the signals?" Orlean asked and stepped next to Ketris and knelt down to peer onto the new scroll.

"I still have the ingredients you asked me for last time." he added.

"Hm, possible, it might be stronger if they are in close proximity." Ketris conceded and for the next minute or so they both frantically poured ingredients on the paper and Ketris painted an intricate spellform on the already painted surface, expanding the magic circle.

Myria peered into the darkness towards the rat nest and finally had some time to think. Finding Koris and Cloe was obviously their first priority, but could they actually do anything if they found them? If the man held them hostage could they risk their friends lives trying to save them? Why was the strange man doing this? If it was really just for information, then why had he attacked them again? They would have bargained for Koris life just as hard as for two of their team members. Fact was that she needed them both to finish their climb efficiently. With only six of them there was the distinct possibility that they were unable to advance smoothly. The critical classes they needed for their path were all still there though, Ketris [Scroll Mage], Orlean's [Explosive Alchemist] and Trisk's [Mechanical Sniper] were crucial for this step of the plan. Later Kentris [Ironblood Smith] would become the most important and Miran would have a big role to play to push past the 15th floor. The problem was that she could already see them fail some stretches that relied on Cloe's senses. Navigating this floor without her would be much, much harder for example. There were plenty of caverns that had roaming monster nests they could not predict and avoiding them would be difficult without her, not to say destroying them. Her groups current combat potential had almost halved. Both Cloe and Koris had really strong early builds that could carry them through the few necessary combat stretches beyond the fifth floor. Passing the 15th floor without Koris would be...No she could not do this.

Her friends were still alive, she could not think about what to do if they were gone forever. She had to be positive, but she also had to be realistic. Could her group as it was now defeat the strange man? What did they even know about him?

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Myria sighed and then sheathed her blade. She turned to the group who noticed her actions and looked at her surprised.

"Listen up, guys. Lets use this time, while Ketris finishes the scroll to analyze the situation. If...Once we find Koris and Cloe we have to fight that man again and we do not know if he acted alone or if he has a group backing him up. So lets recollect and reassess the threat and make sure we are all aware of the facts we can establish from our last encounter." Myria said.

Kentris nodded next to her, looking thoughtful.

"You are right, I have been thinking about that guy the entire way here. I think….well I suspect really that the man is not a Vessel."

Myria blinked and the others were just as perplexed for a moment.

"What do you mean Kentris? The way he moved, his speed, he must be a high level rogue, no?" Miran asked with furrowed brows.

"Its true, some rogues can recreate the feats of athleticism he showed us, he was quick enough for a rogue for sure. But he did not fight like a rogue."

"I agree, he is far too strong for a rogue." Trisk said and opened his small bag he carried around with him, showing the group splinters of his big crossbow.

"He did that with a backhanded slap. That is hardwood with metal clasps, not to speak of the internal mechanisms that bent at the impact. No way can a rogue slap that in two and send me flying with a backhand."

"Okay." Myria said, trying to guide the conversation a bit.

"Lets say he is not a rogue, what is he then? Some sort of speed warrior or a hybrid class?"

"Its possible." Kentris conceded with a nod. "But that does not explain how he can move like he can. There was something off about the way he moved, it was like...like he moved under water, but ten times faster than that. I saw him dodge your blade Myria. He slapped your blade away with his bare hands. No, no...I don't think he is a Vessel at all."

Ketris looked up from his parchment and glared at Kentris. The two boys with the similar names had a rivalry going from all the way back in school. Ketris had always won academically and Kentris had wiped the floor with Ketris everywhere else.

"He is not a mage if you are suggesting that, Ken." Ketris paused and then added with a frown. "But I think he can sense magic."

Kentris clicked his fingers.

"Yes, exactly. Listen, I think the man we encountered was not a high leveled Vessel or a mage, but a Cultivator."

Myria scoffed.

"One of the Elevator Wardens? Why would one of them be down here and besides they are harmless. Basically tools."

"Upstairs they are, but down here that is not necessarily the case. You all remember the third door, right? Some summoned become Cultivators down here, free ones. Also all Cultivators on the lower floors are always summoned. So they can sense magic like Ketris said." Kentris said with a smug expression on his face.

Myria frowned and then remembered reading about Cultivators on the lower floors. How they were a failed experiment of Lord Emnu's, unable to leave the lower floors because of their weakness.

"Okay, that is possible, I guess. But can a cultivator even become that strong?" she asked with a furrowed brow.

"Why not? You know there is a theory the beastmen on the 55th floor beyond the sanctuaries are Cultivators, right? They are supposed to be incredibly strong. No Expedition to conquer that floor has ever succeeded and wild beastmen lack aptitude for magic and can't become Vessels. So Cultivation is the most obvious solution for their strength."

"I have met a beastman Vessel before." Trisk said with raised eyebrows.

"A Half beastmen whose parents were enslaved in one of the conquests maybe. Pure beastmen can turn back into animals and are considered property by law." Kentirs said.

"So what? That man was not a beastman, even if he is a Cultivator what does that actually mean for us? For rescuing Cloe...and Koris." Miran said in an uncharacteristically harsh tone.

"Sorry, I got a bit off topic there."Kentris said and he had the decency to look ashamed for once.

"If the man we fought is a Cultivator then we have to treat him differently than a high leveled Vessel. We all learned how in class."

"Isolate, constrict, eliminate with ranged fire." Trisk recited from memory. "But Ken that talks about Cultivators the army fights for Lord Emnu, not you know, people in the Tower."

"A Cultivator is a Cultivator." Kentris said with a shrug.

"You forgot the second part, 'If that does not work, run.'" Myria said with a deep frown on her face.

"Okay, lets say you are right Kentris and he really is a Cultivator, do you know how low the chance is to meet one randomly down here on the fourth floor?"

Myria shook her head to emphasize her incredulity.

"According to the statistics we have there is one Cultivator in 10 Summonings on average, one in a decade. And none of them make it past the gap, like ever. Not since the foundation of the Republic. The chance he really is a Cultivator is minuscule. And even if he is a Cultivator, nothing he has done so far makes any sense. How exactly did that Cultivator find us and why is he attacking us in the first place?"

Ketris cleared his throat and then said grimly.

"You are right, the chance that a Cultivator of all people finds us are basically 0. But what if he is not here randomly? Think about it. Who knows about the existence of the lava cave on the fourth floor?"

Myria frowned and shook her head.

"Nobody as far as we know, its too far away from the normal paths Climbers take and of no interest to anyone but us."

"Exactly, but we do know a group who does know the lava cave exists." Ketris said with a grim facial expression.

Myria froze and blanched.

"The group from the 51st floor."

"What?" Orlean said, blanching even more than Myria.

"Yes, I agree. They must have told the Cultivator about the lava cave, they must have sicced him on us."

"So what? Its my fault now?!" Orlean hissed.

Myria raised a hand and shook her head.

"Nobody says that. But Ketris is right, nobody down here knows about the lava cave and even if they do know about its existence, they would not know we would be going there. Someone must have told that man about it."

Ketris finished his work on the scroll and activated it with a flourish by ripping it in half. A magic circle appeared in the air and Ketris studied it for a moment before he pointed in the direction of the rat nest.

"The coins point vaguely in the same direction as the slip has."

"Okay, do we know any known emergency stops groups could use in that direction?" Myria asked.

"The problem is there are a few, three or four in that direction and within the range of this spell." Ketris answered.

"That still narrows it down considerably."

"Hey, look something is happening Ketris." Miran said pointing at the spell. The balding man turned back to study the magic circle in the air and then let out a breath of air he had held.

"The coins are moving, together…Oh...now they changed directions. No...actually they split."

"That means they know about the coins and removed them, right?"

"Its the most likely explanation. Cloe and Koris would have stuck together if they managed to escape" Ketris agreed, before he turned to Myria.

"Captain, I think we can pinpoint which of the campsites is the most likely, but even with that I am not certain we can defeat that man, especially not if the full group from the 51st floor is backing him." Ketris said, wiping his forehead.

"But we have to do something!" Miran interrupted Ketris.

"Of Course." Ketris continued. "But we have to be prepared. If the group from the 51st floor is behind this, then they do not want to kill us. That is akin to a declaration of war. I doubt they have authorization for that. So they want to hinder us most likely, want to make us miss the next expedition as a reprisal for us attacking them."

Myria nodded and considered the situation.

"You might be right about that, but...what can we do about that?"

"We know plenty about Cultivators and we can share some knowledge with him as a bargaining chip. What if we negotiate with the Cultivator to make him betray the group that hired him?" Ketris said, a sly look in his eyes that reminded Myria that the man was very much one of the smartest people she knew. He had always been the best of them academically and he had studied tactics and strategy as a side project. She trusted him and his assessment almost to a fault.

"Betray them? How?" she asked.

"Offer him knowledge, whatever we can to free Koris and Cloe and let us go on our way. Or maybe we can even sic him on that group, if we play our cards right."

"That is madness." Miran said desperately. "What makes you think he can't get the information he wants from Cloe or Koris? He could be torturing them right now! We have to save them."

"How Miran?" Ketris asked, his face taking on some color as he argued.

"That Cultivator took one of my real Gravity Crush scrolls and still moved around like it was nothing. Lord above, he should have been on the floor getting crushed to to a pulp, unable to breathe. Instead he flew around like a damn bird."

"Wait you used one of the three emergency scrolls that time? That was not your usual gravity crush?" Myria asked and felt sick. Those scrolls had been given to them as a life saving treasure from Ketris teacher.

"Sorry, I know I should not have, but it happened so fast and I used the reverse polarity of my own scroll and that did not do anything to him. I acted on instinct." Ketris said his hands raised in his defense, his face beet red.

"No, you did well, better than any of us Ketris. But that makes this even worse than I thought. We have to face the possibility that we can't defeat him as we are right now." Myria said and when she saw Miran's face she quickly added. "At least not without casualties."

"Then what do we do?" Trisk asked weakly.

Everyone turned and looked towards Myria, looked to her for answers. She was their captain and right now they all wanted a plan, wanted answers. Myria took a deep breath and gripped the pommel of her blade tightly.

"We have to get stronger. I think we should do the first drop now. That should give all of us 4 levels, which will put us in a much better position."

"What? Do the drop without Cloe and Koris?"

"I know, they will be far behind. But we can make up for that eventually. There are catch up routes we can take. It will take us more time to get to the 20th floor in the end, but that is not important right now. We need to save them first and that means we need the best chance to beat the Cultivator or whatever he is and if we need to beat the group from the 51st floor too."

Myria looked each of her remaining group in the eyes.

"With 4 more levels we will have more options, it will give us the power to beat them if we prepare properly."

"I agree, its the best option right now. We know more or less where they were hiding. We know this floor like our own pockets, we can find them. We just need to be strong enough to beat them." Ketris said.

"Agreed." Kentris said with a nod.

"Fine, although I don't like leaving Cloe out there." Miran said grimly.

"Then its decided, lets hurry back. We will need a bit of time to prepare and then to level up. Back into formation." Myria commanded and the group formed up. They looked more determined now. But Myria knew this was a desperate thing they were attempting with 6 people. Nothing should go wrong, but it was still dangerous. But it was much better than the alternative right now.

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