They sat in the middle of the room looking at the art objects in the middle of the room. Nothing there was particularly special, and yet each piece had an aura about it, a personality that seemed to stem from the emblem of the Lupe clan on the artefacts. Because of this they interested Laurence. He had not thought about them before, but could see how the symbols that a clan rallies behind could become a sigil for creation in its own right. It was the intent behind the glyph that gave it the power, so the more intention that could be held in a glyph from any and all sources gave it more power. It made the boy wonder what else could be considered a glyph and whether he could manufacture a glyph that could contain the same sense of prestige, the same radiance as the Lupe clan glyph.
As Laurence sat working out how to create a glyph with the prestige and inherent power of a clan emblem the adjudicator of the floor, Declan, walked into the room and sat down in front of the group. He pulled his jacket up to flare the collar, some would have said it looked more imposing that way. Looking at the group in front of him, the dog-man stretched out and picked up the three objects. Putting the statuette down, he smiled and said, “You’re the tenth group to finish this test. Well done.” His voice still contained the arrogance that it had when he was explaining the way the test floor worked, but it was a quieter arrogance. It was the kind that commanded the room without effort rather than the kind that someone had to work for. It was like he had been bred to lead. “Now, before I send you to on to the fifth floor I would like to ask you all, did any of you end up in the plains of fire on the previous floor? If so, could you tell me whether you discovered anything other than just a plain of fire?”
“I did” Said Laurence. “I was in the plain, and I discovered a mountain. Inside the mountain was a man. A man called Luke.” The moment Laurence mentioned the man, Luke, a flash of recognition passed across Declan’s face. It was nearly imperceptible, and left as quickly as it came but it was there.
“Would you pass me your pointer stone, child?” Said Declan, reaching out towards Laurence. There was a light in his eyes that betrayed his cool exterior, a fervent vigour that expressed his excitement and apprehension. He took the small black stone and placed it next to a black ring he had on his finger. A string of fluorescent symbols sprang from Laurence’s stone and injected themself into the ring. Soon the symbols began moving back from the ring into Laurence’s stone.
“As you should remember, on the second floor testing area your pointer stone would have been augmented for the first time to give you an instant mana restoration skill.” Declan continued, handing back the stone to Laurence once he had done. “On the third floor test room your stone would have been changed to include a communication hub, a text based one. Last floor your stone would have been restructured to include a person sensor, one that shows the location of any living persons in an area around you.” Declan paused, taking in the pointer stones from the rest of the group. A beam arced out of his ring and split into four more, landing on the stones of the others. “This floor gifts you with a barrier. It will stand up to any single strike, but will shatter after that. It takes one full day to recharge but after that will be good to go again.”
“An incredible lifeline.” Said Sara, quickly taking up her stone. She grabbed her chewing pouch and stuck the stone inside it. “Do we get anything else? I have already found the medicine pack rather useful. Some of the herbs are excellent battle stimulants.”
“So that’s what you've been chewing!” Said Quentin. He had a great respect for medicinal herbs, being from the clan of the Book of Life, so to hear that someone was chewing the herbs that they had been given on the fourth testing room angered him considerably. “You’re wasting the herbs!” He gasped. “If you are just going to chew them, then give them to me. I’ll make sure someone actually gets some use out of it.”
“Hell no kid, If you want me to give you the herbs then I need something back from them. Teach me how to do that healing thing you do and I’ll give you them.” Sara waved the bag at Quentin, almost taunting him with it.
“I don’t have a problem with showing you the path of Life, though I would have thought you were more suited to the path of Destruction. You are a mercenary.” He began playing with his fringe again. “It’ll take a long time too. You’d have to come with me for a few years, and I’ll be travelling mighty quickly. I have to to keep up with people like him.” He pointed at Laurence.
“So does that mean you two will be travelling with each other from now on?” Said Louisa.
“I guess so.” Said Sara. “I got nothing better to do, my bounty is impossible for me to collect on and the kid can teach me how to get stronger. You two?”
“I’m going to keep climbing the tower. I want to see what is on the next floor, and Yun is going to come with me.” Said Laurence. He had no trouble deciding what he wanted to do, because his wanderlust was the driving force behind everything in the boy’s life.
“Would I be able to come with you Laurence? It may not mean much to you but I would love to be able to spend some time with an iconic creature like your wolf. A white tiger-wolf is the totem of the Lupe clan, and while my clan’s totem is the vermilion phoenix it would still be a magical experience for me.” Said Louisa. Her eyes shone with a light that Laurence understood well. She wanted to know better what living with Yun was like.
“I don’t see why not.” Said Laurence. “I probably won’t be trying as hard as Quentin to climb the tower, but I will be quick. You will have to keep up.” He laughed.
Declan stood up and handed the group a small bag. “In this bag there is 20 copper shards. and a small poison kit. You can apply them to your weapons to act as a numbing agent or mix something more lethal. The antidotes are also in there in case you poison yourself. If that will be all, I must ask you to leave. I have other groups to see.” He ushered them towards the door and pushed them out quickly. “Good luck upon your journey, challengers, I wish you a safe trip.”
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