Return of the Tower Conqueror

  Euphoria (VI)

Cain was currently holding back laughter like a veteran of a million laughs; his back was turned toward the rest of them, shoulders bouncing, bursts of air occasionally slipping through the barriers that were his hands.

Luckily for him, however, none of the other six had a mind to pay attention to what he was doing. At the moment, they were stuck in a terrible predicament of battling baboon-like creatures roughly half the size of a grown man, each wielding either a short sword or a blowpipe.

Cain barely managed to recover and look back at the action, only to nearly burst out into laughter once again; Rick was on the floor, half his suit torn, his behind pointing at the sky as his head got stuck in the mud. Emma was next to him, holding a wooden plank and battering it into the nothing in front of her as the nearest creature was good ten feet away.

Of the four boys, two were running around the trees like chickens, occasionally yelping out in pain. One had somehow managed to climb on top of the tree and was hugging the trunk of it as though it was his mother. To Cain's surprise, however, the last of the boys -- Justin -- was doing far better than everyone else.

The boy's face was still covered in mud, his clothes torn, but there were also several corpses of the creatures strung around him.

"Come on guys, what the hell?!" Cain hollered from behind as a front to hide his laughter. "You've been at it for fifteen minutes! Are we shooting gore-porn or are we killing things?!"

"Why don't you fucking help us?!" Emma hollered right back.

"..." Cain merely shot her a disdainful glare upon which she scoffed but said nothing, realizing there was no point in him helping them. He was there merely as a safety net while they grinded out levels.

Eventually, Cain got tired and sat down, whipping out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it up by his index finger. Looking at the circus in front of him, he truly was at a loss for words. I was wrong, he mused silently. I only thought I'd have to raise their levels... but if I take them to that guy now... shit, we'd be lucky to get a hit in...

It was on him, however. Rather, it would have been even stranger if they could fight even remotely well considering that, to them, this was all new. What to Cain were the basics... to them probably seemed like complete mastery.

For example, one of the greatest strengths of Paladin Class was that they made the entire party effectively immune to a majority of debuffs at around the same level. However, Emma's timing on using the 'Rain of Light' was off by a mile, and that was not something she could learn within a day.

Furthermore, Bulwark was one of the few Classes that were aptly named -- they should never fall down, let alone find themselves with their asses flipping off the sky. Their greatest strength was that they were impossible to stagger unless the difference in Strength was a whole ocean -- which it clearly wasn't.

Even Justin, objectively the best of them, underutilized the entire point of the Assassin -- he should be leaping in and out, cleaning up the stragglers that others prepared for him. Timings... I can deal with that. I can just tell them when to cast something. But positioning, reactions... and, worst of all, I can't exactly warn them of what that guy will do. Was I too optimistic? Even for a minimal chance... we'd need a Bard...

Support classes, in the end, would come to dominate the Towers for a reason. On their own, they were all universally garbage, but they'd turn a five-man group without a support into effectively a twenty-man one with a support. Bards, specifically, were extremely good at enhancing the strengths of a party and covering up for their weaknesses.

"Justin, come here," Cain called out a boy who barely managed to loosen himself from the onslaught. With him gone, the pressure only grew on the rest, turning the whole thing into an even worse fiasco. "Why are you frontlining?"

"... huh?"

"Why are you at the front?" Cain asked again, taking a puff. "Weren't you supposed to be an Assassin?"

"... I'm the only reason we're even holding on." the boy replied with a scoff.

"And? Is the point to 'hold on' or to kill the damn things? But, anyway, that doesn't matter," Cain moved past it, realizing it would do him no good to preach to a clearly defiant teen who'd rather listen to a non-existent voice inside his head. "Have you guys met any other classes? Maybe something like a support?"

"... why?" Justin asked cautiously.

"Turn around."

"Hm?"

"Turn around." Cain pointed at the front, causing Justin to spin and look at the 'battle'. "That's why."

"... do... do we really look that bad?" the boy asked with gnashed teeth. "How the hell did you get so good?!"

"I watched a lot of porn as a kid."

"... what?"

"Did you meet any other class?"

"Yeah, we got stuck in here during a school trip, and I think our teach got some singing class -- wait, did you just say the reason you're good's 'cause you watched a lot of porn?!"

"You misheard," Cain said, the light in his eyes growing as he stood up and tossed the butt of the cigarette away. "Where can I find this teach of yours?"

"... why?"

"To ask her out on a date--the hell do you think 'why'?" Cain looked at him angrily for a moment, causing the boy to grumble something intangible.

"I don't know where," he said. "We got separated..."

"..." Cain fell silent, ruefully looking around.

Am I rushing it? There certainly was no need for him to go up against a General-class creature so early on, especially with the woefully unprepared party. There were hundreds of other things he could do not only to strengthen himself but also those around him. Yet... he found it extremely difficult to turn around and walk away. And, not even that deep down, he knew why.

To forge ahead within the new chance he'd taken for himself would mean that he couldn't be the way he was the last go-around; he couldn't be passive, pensive, always cautious, careful of every move. His sole advantage over other people was his muddy knowledge of the future, and that was it -- he wasn't nearly as talented as them, not nearly as adaptable, and not nearly as courageous.

Most of the knowledge he had on the future was of the events, items, creatures, and abilities that would require him to risk his life to acquire, no matter how strong he'd get before trying.

For instance, Ruedun -- the General-class creature that dolled out a quest to the newcomers -- guarded three items, one of which is potentially an amazing start-booster for him. He could wait a week or two to grow stronger and for others to develop, but if he got the item today, then tomorrow he could go out into the Molten Caves to acquire extra two items that could boost him.

In many ways, it was all connected -- from the tiniest sprinkle to the largest torrent. Furthermore, he didn't necessarily know when these items would be grabbed by other people. Not only was his memory of twenty-five years ago extremely fuzzy, but he also hadn't been a Conqueror back then, and hadn't even set foot into the Tower yet.

While people are still pensive about going inside, he mused, standing up. I need to grab as much as I can from the first floor. No... I need to leave some for others as well. It will do us no good if just my party gets stronger. But... it's not too bad if we take priority over grabbing some loot...

"... where was the last place you guys were together?" he asked the boy who was also having a near meltdown watching the others fight.

"Uh... I... it was a weird place," the boy replied. "Like a... cave of crystals or something." Diamond Crest? That's not too far...

"Lead me there."

"... what? What about the rest?"

"They can stay here and practice," Cain said. "If they get tired, there's the cave."

"... will they be okay?" the boy asked, glancing at his three friends. Ah, would you look at that...

"They'll be fine," Cain chuckled, patting the boy's back. "Hey guys!" he hollered at others to grab their attention. "Justin and I are gonna be gone for a while, okay? Make sure you stay safe, hydrated, and that you get plenty of rest! Big game tomorrow!"

"... what the hell are you talking about?" Justin asked with a strange look on his face.

"I don't know man," Cain said, slowly walking away. "I used to watch a lot of basketball, so some of those 'fire-up speeches' stuck with me..."

"... God, you are so freakin' weird..."

"Anyway, lead the way -- and be quick about it."

Though Cain knew precisely where the Diamond Crest was, especially considering he'd spent considerable time there digging out diamonds before he'd become a Conqueror, he couldn't exactly say it.

Luckily, Justin seemed to have good spatial awareness and a sense of direction as he took him by the straightest route.

They whiffed the cliff and exited the forest, latching onto a hilly plain surrounded by the mountains. The nearest one, precisely where the Diamond Crest was, was half an hour's worth of journey away. By the time they got there, Justin was out of breath and wheezing, while even Cain felt a sting in his lungs. Fuck, I really need to start working out even harder...

"... we... we are here..." Justin said through short breaths as the two came to a halt in front of a massive cliffside that spilled into a tall mountain. At the bottom, at a steep angle no less, was an entrance into the mountain, the signs of gemstones already present at the entrance as they shone above.

"Hm?" Cain's eyes picked up a silhouette not far from here, but before he got time to grow wary of it, the silhouette stepped out from the shadows of a tall cliff and began running toward them. Thinking it was some creature, Cain quickly charged his arms with Wind and Fire, ready to battle.

"Wait--stop!!" Justin suddenly cried out at him. "That's Mrs. Delleine!"

"... who?" Cain asked.

"Mrs. Delleine! Our teacher!" Justin replied.

"... oh." though Cain had visually withdrawn his charges, he still remained on alert and ready to strike back.

"Justin?! It's really you?! Thank God! Thank God you are alright..." the woman that came sprinting in appeared to be in her mid-twenties, and Justin's reddened cheeks were enough for Cain to understand how much the students liked her. Goddamn, where were teachers like her when I was a kid? She's a ticking time bomb...

The woman lobbed herself at Justin and hugged him tightly, likely ignorant of a hundred thousand thoughts she had just awakened in the boy. She was on the shorter end of things, barely scratching five-foot-four from Cain's estimates, sporting naturally-worn-makeup, long, brown hair and a body that certainly was slightly too stimulating for a high-school boy.

"T-teacher, I'm... I'm fine..." Justin mumbled, trying to turn his head the complete opposite direction seemingly in a feeble attempt just to escape.

"It's good... it's good that you're fine..." she said, tears gathering in her eyes. It was finally then that she noticed Cain standing above her, staring down at her with a dubious gaze, occasionally glancing at Justin with a pitiful look in his eyes. "Who are you?" she asked, frowning.

"... hopefully your future ex." Cain replied with a grin.

"... dude," Justin looked at him hatefully. "Don't you have a wife?"

"Ex-wife, Justy, ex-wife," Cain corrected. "And my goal in life is to gather as many of them as possible. Ex-wives, I mean. Like I'm catching Pokemon."

"... is this really the time and the place?!" he asked with a growl.

"I don't know who you are," the woman stood up suddenly and stepped in front of Justin. "Or why you're here. But thank you for bringing Justin safe. Still, I think it's time we went our separate ways..."

"... ah, I see," Cain said, a mischievous look growing in his eyes. "So, the other three kids that are with my friends... you don't care about? Shouldn't you be a teacher? Don't you know it's a crime to prey on your students? No wonder Justin looks so uncomfortable with you. You must have done this and that to the poor boy..."

"--there are others?!" the woman seemed to entirely skip over a good deal of Cain's words, latching on the first part exclusively. "Where?! Please, are they alright? They are not hurt, right?"

"... no," Cain said, sighing. "As a matter of fact, we came here specifically for you."

"... me?"

"Justin tells me... you're very good at singing." Cain said with a grin, an expectant look in his eyes. Bards... luckily, Bards don't need to know how to fight. If there's a class that's beginner-friendly, it's them... no more of... that... training or whatever the hell I should call it...