Tower of Fate - Chapter 11: Let’s See What They’ve Won (Patreon)

I shivered. It was cold in the stone challenge room now that we were both soaking wet. Hugo had it worse than me though. He kept shaking and ruffling his feathers but was having difficulty drying them out, and the excess moisture was keeping him from flying. I eventually took pity on him and lifted him up back onto my shoulder before placing my loot box back into my inventory.

“That sucked,” he said.

I silently agreed and waited for the next question.

[Challenge Completed]

[You may each select one prize from the available pool. Items can be held and examined, but you may only leave the room with one]

Both of us relaxed at the sound of that.

One of the walls then slid out and rotated, revealing a large rectangular glass case with objects inside. Getting closer told me that there were eight of them. But before I could ask how we were supposed to choose, the glass faded away like mist, leaving only a table of items behind.

I set Hugo down on it and touched the first item, which was a vial containing a red liquid.

*Item Identified!* [A Draconian Blood Vial, Rare: F-Grade] – A consumable for blood related classes that offer complete resistance to regular fire and may begin the path to Draconian transformation (Current state: Perfect).

The thought of being fire proof sounded fun, but I wasn’t sure how often I’d need such an ability. Also, while I’m sure some people would jump at the chance to transform into some other creature, the idea concerned me. Especially when I didn’t know what a Draconian was. I might drink it thinking that I’m going to turn into a dragon and instead find myself looking like an iguana.

I moved on to the next item, which appeared to be a pair of leather bracers with strange symbols carved into them.

*Item Identified!* [Enchanted Ice wind Bracers, Rare: F-Grade] – Created by the trolls of Thuumgard, these bracers can convert magic into a frost shield to reinforce their defensive capability. Offensively, they can store a powerful ice wind blast capable of knocking over even the sturdiest of foes. Upgrades available with the right parts (Current state: Perfect).

Getting a bit more armor sounded nice. Just because I was now a Blood Reaver doesn’t mean I have to bleed alongside my enemies. But did I even have magic? My Nights Eye and healing abilities seemed like magic, but nothing in my stats was called that. I decided to ask the person who’d raised and controlled a dead spirit what they knew.

“Hey Hugo, do you have a stat that says something like mana or magic?”

“Nope,” he replied, still staring at the other items.

Okay, good talk.

Let’s put the bracers in the maybe pile for now.

The next item was bigger than the rest by far and the one that excited me the most. It was a large, two-handed medieval sword.

*Item Identified!* [Stoneskin Claymore, Rare: F-Grade] – The ultimate weapon when facing multiple opponents at once. It carries an enchantment that encases your whole body in stone armor for as long as you have the ability to power it. Stoneskin makes one impervious to cuts and stabs from the same grade (Current state: Perfect).

Interesting. The sword was massive, and I wondered what it would feel like to hold and swing. I picked it up and was shocked at the weight and length of it. After a few awkward swings and thrusts, it went back onto the table. There was something that felt off about it. My attacks were too slow and clumsy. It was the polar opposite of my katana that had felt perfect from the moment I’d sharpened it. I dunno, maybe I’ll come back to it. The Stoneskin enchantment sounded great, and maybe with a few more points into strength, the sword wouldn’t feel so weird to use.

The next item was a pile of black cloth.

*Item Identified!* [The Cloak of Umbral Frenzy, Rare: F-Grade] – This cloak was made by the Shadow Weavers to hunt in darkness. It greatly enhances stealth against F-Grade perception when in shadow and can channel emotional anger into energy to sustain magical abilities (Current state: Perfect).

I grabbed the material and carried it away from the light and watched as the material seemed to vanish. Not as exciting as Stoneskin, but it would be useful. The cloak would definitely synergize well with my Nights Eye ability, and the Blood Reaver class description had mentioned stealth as a key strength of the Class. The only part that seemed like a drawback was the converting anger to magic part, since I currently only had passive magical abilities instead of active ones. Was it really worth taking now and hoping that I gain magic later?

I wasn’t sure, so I moved on to the one Hugo was staring at. It was a glyph made of light that was just hovering off of the table.

*Item Identified!* [The Mark of Roan, Rare: F-Grade] – The bearer carries the sigil of the Great god Roan and begins their service by receiving his lesser blessing of Twilight Conjuring. This allows the bearer enhanced spellcasting at dawn and dusk and opens the path to gaining future magic from the god (Current state: Perfect).

Before I could even consider what any of that might mean, Hugo pecked at the mark. It shifted from the spot on the table onto Hugo’s chest, where glowed brightly for a moment before disappearing.

“Damn it, Hugo! How could you be so reckless? This stuff could be dangerous or a hindrance. You can’t just grab the first thing you look at!”

Hugo sniffed. “I looked at the others and decided that this was the best one. Now, I can have Norris around for way longer.”

“At dawn and dusk? We’re inside a tower that’s in a black void. Should I check my watch and schedule your spell activity for around nine p.m.?”

“Hey, I wasn’t exactly awash with options unless you imagine me carrying that sword in my talons and flying low past people to cut them.”

“It was pretty heavy,” I admitted. “You could have always dropped it on someone, though.”

Hugo laughed. “Maybe I should change my class. I could be the first bird swordsman. The first swordsbird?”

I smiled, but still felt a little concerned. “Are you sure about this service to a god stuff?”

Hugo nodded. “I felt all tingly when I got the mark, but now I feel the same as before. If this god gives me any trouble, then he’ll have to face my wrath,” he said, lifting one foot up like he was ready for a kick.

“Maybe he’s the god of bad action movies?” I suggested.

“You think?” he asked, sounding genuinely excited.

I decided to keep going through the remaining items.

*Item Identified!* [Amulet of the Voidspawn, Rare: F-Grade] – This amulet makes you undetectable to Void born creatures of the same grade (Current state: Perfect).

It was a black gem encased in silver that had a sort of magnetic pull to it when you stared at it for too long. I thought about slipping the amulet on and going further down the stairs past that tentacle creature, but then I discounted the idea. There was only one of them, which meant that Hugo would be defenseless.

The last two items were a pair of boots and a knife.

*Item Identified!* [Shadowstep Boots, Rare: F-Grade] – These boots grant a speed boost to your legs when moving in darkness and only require contact with the smallest of shadows (Current state: Perfect).

*Item Identified!* [Blackfire Knife, Rare: F-Grade] – This knife injects a poison on contact that burns its target from the inside out (Current state: Perfect).

I suppressed a groan. Okay, now this was getting tough. The boots sounded amazing, but I wondered how much foot speed I’d need in these rooms and hallways. If it had been a general speed boost, then I might have taken it right away, since speed was the name of the game with my katana.

Last but not least was the knife. Being able to disable opponents with a single cut would have also been great, provided they didn’t have poison resistance. There was also no way of knowing how quickly the poison works its way inside.

In the end, I went back to the cloak. The description of it being made by Shadow Weavers made it sound impressive, but I took it out of practicality more than anything else. A lot of the items seemed situational, whereas the boosting my stealth with the cloak was something that I could use all the time.

I put the cloak on and watched as the material hit the floor behind me before magically shortening to the perfect length. It came with a hood which I put up. Much like on the rooftop, I became more aware of the darkness coalescing around me. Feeling myself becoming more attuned to the shadows. Becoming one with them.

“How do I look?” I asked.

“Sinister,” he replied.

“I was hoping for stealthy,” I said, disappointed.

“Maybe it’s because I’m your companion. We should test it out on the next floor.”

I nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

We went into the golden elevator. It contained only a single button with a downward arrow. I pressed it and readied myself for whatever horror awaited next.