Cass followed Marcus into a gym at the ground floor of a tall condo complex or apartment building. Marcus was pointing things out as they walked, his unending stream of consciousness revealing his nervousness.

"... so obviously the concept of paying rent fell pretty quickly once people gained the power to literally put their landlords through the wall. Plus, with all the deaths that happened there were a lot of vacancies. People just kinda moved in wherever there was room at first. It was chaotic and caused a lot more deaths and building destruction. Finally, some of the higher powered political types stepped in and did something useful for a change. They were getting skills for things like population satisfaction, population control - not like you're probably thinking! Their skills were more for helping the population with things like urban planning, housing, proper distribution of living, shops, facilities, etc. They also helped negotiate some very fair contracts that were mutually beneficial to everyone. It turns out that a society as advanced as one that can create The System recognizes that you don't help the entire population by letting the rich and powerful shit all over the weaker ones. Go figure."

"So anyway, if you need housing you go to one of the residential kiosks that are in any marketplace and search through them. There are some that are recruiting specific talents and abilities and you'll get very favorable terms if you fit one of those slots. Others are just open spaces that can fit anyone - they can't offer a lot in the way of protection, training resources, nearby shops - stuff like that, but they're always really grateful to get good candidates. They're mostly temporary anyway, since most of the people that move into those eventually become useful enough to be accepted into better houses. The only permanent residents are the ones who either have some sort of handicap that prevents them from advancing or are just too lazy to grow. I'd love to say we take care of those too, but I'm the first to admit that we're not a utopia. So anyway, here we are!"

Cass had only been listening with half an ear but perked up when they entered the gym. Without waiting to be asked Marcus explained.

"This is training housing. The building above us is exclusively for people competing in The Climb." He had explained the details of The Climb to Cass on the way over. "The first few floors have been converted to gyms and fighting rooms, all of them extensively reinforced to withstand almost anything. The rooftop is open too, for anyone who might overpower the rooms' defenses. There are only two hard rules and one unspoken one: One, no killing. Accidents happen, but every fight is recorded and if it's determined that a fighter could have spared a life by holding back then they are severely punished."

"Two, no damaging the building. Everything is pretty reinforced, but sometimes a certain power or person can overcome that. This place, and the others like it, are paid for by a co-op of the different Climb structures to support future competitors. They do NOT like it when they have to spend money fixing the buildings because some dickwad didn't know how to pull his punches or wanted to show off to some chick or something."

"And what's the unspoken rule?" Cass asked.

"Don't be a dick," Marcus laughed. "Everyone here is young, dumb, and full of cum. Tons of testosterone and adrenaline, all of it fueled by an intense competition to qualify for The Climb. That can lead to a lot of bad blood."

"So everyone here is friendly?"

Marcus laughed. "Oh god no. There are rivalries, fights, cliques, and bad blood everywhere. You can't have this many competitive people in one place without it. It's just that you take it out in the rooms and in accordance with the rules. Anything beyond that and you need to go outside of the city limits and settle it on your own."

"Okay, so is there anything I need to know before going in here? Anything that'll help my odds?"

Marcus looked at Cass, then waved him over to a pair of chairs that faced the windows to the street. The small, round table between them was covered in glowing icons. Marcus studied them for a moment and tapped one twice. A small gold glow flowed from Marcus into the table and two steaming cups appeared on the table. Marcus picked them up and handed one to Cass. "It's chai tea. Don't worry about the cost, it's on me today. Anyway, we never really went into how I'm going to help you. It goes beyond just introducing you to the teams. I'm going to act as your liaison and do everything I can to help you get the best teams for the best deal you can."

He caught Cass's narrowed eyes and rushed to explain. "Don't worry! I'm not going to screw you. First of all, you made it VERY clear what would happen if I did." He shuddered at the memory that was still fresh in his mind. It had been the only thing on his mind their entire walk here. "But also, it's in my best interests to give you the best deal you can get in accordance with our contract. I get more experience points for negotiating you the best deal for the best teams. If I get you a shit deal or a shit team I get almost no experience for it, so I'm going to do everything I can to help. And also, I want to be someone you come back to later. I know we started off on a bad foot, but I really do want to help you out. I'm being straight up with you Cass - I really am sorry and I really do want to help you out as much as possible."

"With that being said, here's what we'll do. I will introduce you to Climbers and try to gauge their interests and what they're willing to accept. They're obviously going to try to highball you and get as much out of you as they can, and that's where I come in - I know the going rates. They won't be able to pull a fast one on you with me here."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Then what do I do? Just sit here and look menacing?"

Marcus laughed. "You're a scary dude when you want to be, but you couldn't look menacing if you tried. I'm sorry to say it, kid, but you are a teenager with a baby face. You basically have a big sign hanging on your chest that says 'please screw me over I'm just an innocent babe.'" His smile fell when he saw the look on Cass's face.

"Don't shoot the messenger! You need to know what you're walking into if you're going to get what you want. You can't just go whisking everyone off to the hyena gorge, or whatever it was, whenever they make you angry. Not only will that not make you any friends, in this place it's likely to get you dead. You're good - damned good, probably top tier here, but you're not at the top of the pile. Not even close. You have a lot of experience fighting monsters - I can see that on you - but these people have a LOT of experience fighting people. People like you. You need to win them over."

Cass deflated, the power he'd been feeling on the trip here draining out of him. It seemed that no matter what he did, how strong he got, there were always others who were stronger. Part of him was infuriated by that, but the bigger part understood and accepted. He was weak, and he hated himself for that.

He shook off the thoughts and approached the situation like a problem to be solved. "Okay, so then what is my best strategy?"

"You need to define your need - have a very clear picture in your head of what you want. Your job will be to sell it to them."

"How do I do that?"

"First off, you need to appeal to their needs. They want to get stronger and to have enough trophies and accolades to earn them respect."

"Do I offer them money?"

Marcus waved that away. "You can, but honestly you'll probably just pay an initial recruitment fee that hires them for a week or two. Money here is only good for the equipment and training it can buy. You need to sell them on equipment and experience, especially if the experience brings recognition or glory. You need to make them see that what they can get with you is far better than anything they could get here."

Cass was developing a pit in his stomach. "But how do I do that? You guys have everything here! We don't have anything like this over by us."

"Oh kid," Marcus chuckled, "you don't even know the gold mine you're sitting on. I don't know what you gave to Ginny to sell, she couldn't tell me with your contract in place, but I've never seen her jump so fast as when she wanted to sell your items. That's a big selling point. But you're missing your biggest one."

"What's that?"

"Monsters! Here in the city we just get the same kinds of monsters over and over. And, by the time you hear about some appearing, they're already dead by the time you get there. You have to visit a summoner to face rare creatures, and that costs an arm and a leg - and even those take place in controlled environments. Pretty much the only fighting we do here is against each other."

"Why don't people just go outside the city? There's plenty of monsters out there."

Marcus nodded. "That's true, there are - but it can take a while to find them, and most people want to be back in their beds at the end of the day. I hate to say it, but city life makes a lot of people soft. Everything we need is here and, as long as we're the best of the best here, we don't really think much about what's happening outside."

"But, that's dangerous and short-sighted," Cass said in disbelief. "Eventually bigger things are going to show up and you may not be able to fight them off. Even if you have the power, sometimes power doesn't matter - it's the experience. A three-story bear that is a few levels lower than you could still tear you apart if you don't have the knowledge that comes from experience. I once faced a horde of exploding spore people that probably wouldn't scratch your skin, but get enough of them around you and you're dead anyway."

Marcus sat forward, eyes sparkling. "That's it, kid! THAT'S what you sell! Go with that. For some of the people here it'll hurt their pride and they'll disregard it all, but those aren't the ones you'd want anyway. They wouldn't be likely to take commands or work as a group anyway. You want the people that want the opportunities you're talking about while being able to work as part of a team." He tapped his finger on his lips, eyes staring into the distance. "With that being said, I think I know who to see first…"

A few minutes later they were standing in front of a glass wall where two racquetball courts had been combined by knocking the wall between them down. They pushed through a small crowd to sit on benches at the front. In the room were two women in their mid-twenties, long black hair and almond eyes highlighted by their dark skin. The first thing Cass noticed is that they were tall, each approaching six foot, and were built like Amazon dreams. He didn't know how long he'd been staring when Marcus elbowed him in the ribs.

"Watch it kid, they don't like when people stare. They know what they look like, and far better men than you have tried," he said with a chuckle.

"Are they twins?"

"Glad your eyes made it that far up!" He laughed. "They are indeed. We actually have a twin circuit. Twins can get useful shared powers, some of them even being completely dependent on both of them. 'Wonder Twins Activate' and all of that. Nisha and Diya are that type - it takes both of them to activate their powers. Theirs are a bit unique, though, in that they can switch the powers between them. It's the same power set but it manifests differently depending on which twin is using it."

"I had no idea," Cass whispered. He was thinking of his Empathic Melee and was just now realizing how underused it was.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, although it can be limiting. But not for these two. They are the first I want to introduce you to because they have attacks that may be helpful against a group rather than individual foes. Plus their skills hit on two different aspects… you know what? How about you just see for yourself." He winked at Cass and nodded toward the window.

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