Bunty’s hosts were still fast asleep when he set out the following morning. It was for the best. He wished to minimise human interaction. Before going to bed the night before, he had spent quite a while fixing his rope. It wasn’t just shorter, but the slime lord’s tentacles had corroded parts of it. Thanks to the high-quality materials, it was still usable, but wouldn’t last him incredibly long. The elements would get to it now that the chemical treatments were damaged. The Bunty didn’t want to dip into his bank account for a new rope, so he hoped to earn some money while exploring.

The guidebook detailed the monsters in the area. Bunty didn’t want to risk running into giant beasts, so he looked up the humanoid, tribal entities instead. It wasn’t just that they’d be better suited to his axe play. As far as he knew, almost all such societies followed a shaman or spirit caller-type individual. They tended to be several centuries old and wielded incredible powers. The Cores earned from slaying them often provided powerful spells and summons. This made them desirable targets, of course, but Bunty hoped to find one in one of the more inaccessible parts of the floor.

Bunty headed back towards the plant monster he had slain the day before. He’d encountered several lizardmen remains in its lair. That had to mean the reptilian people had a settlement nearby. It wasn’t marked in the guidebook, but he chalked that up to Climbers keeping clear of the area. Sooner or later, people would discover that the region was safe for traversal. Then all the hidden riches would be picked clean. After all, the little cliffs weren’t as inaccessible as the crags around the Bear’s Tooth.

It was all speculation, of course. Perhaps he’d walk away from the excursion with nothing more than the monster’s roots and dead flowers to show. Bunty didn’t mind. He wanted a break from people and hopefully, find a hidden door.

The other parties on the route shot Bunty suspicious glances—only the incredibly powerful or extremely stupid ventured out alone. The floor’s rainforest biome put humankind at an exceptional disadvantage. It didn’t bother Bunty. Neer used to say that he loved the forests and wetlands and chalked it up to their origins. Baba grew up not far from the Sundarbans mangrove forests in Eastern India. Perhaps ancestry had to do with their comfort in such temperate regions.

Before starting his climb, Bunty removed the vest he wore under his coat. The temperate climate had soaked his pits, back and hair. He couldn’t very well take off his jacket—its protection was invaluable. Still, he was happy to forego the metal studs that held onto his torso’s heat. Sleep, healing brew and a couple of shots of whisky had washed all the fatigue and pain out of Bunty’s joints, so he climbed at his usual speed. Maybe the rage boiling inside his chest sped him along too.

Rage is pointless unless you can do something about its source. Either channel it into doing something impossible or let it go and find a way to find peace. People don’t talk about mental health, Bunty, but it’s just as important as physical wellbeing. That’s especially important for Climbers.

Neer’s words came back to Bunty when he reached the top. It had been one of the last conversations they had before the disappearance. Concepts like mental health had been well beyond Bunty’s comprehension back then, but he understood now. Neer was most likely at a low point and was trying to reach out for help. It saddened Bunty that he couldn’t give his brother what he needed.

Tracks lined the cliff’s edge. Besides the human footprints left behind him and his former employers, there were two sets he recognised as lizardmen. They had three claws pointing forwards and one back much like bird’s feet. Judging by the tracks, Bunty guessed they were much bigger than the creatures from the ground floor. He hoped they had similar intelligence levels, though. Bunty feared brains over brawn. The find brightened Bunty’s mood. It meant his assumptions had been correct. There had to be a settlement nearby. With the plant monster dead, they had most likely expanded their patrols.

Bunty followed the lizardmen’s tracks back to the previous day’s battlegrounds. The bushes had been picked clean. The bushes had been uprooted, the roots butchered, and the flowers harvested. The ground trembled under Bunty’s feet when he entered the clearing. Bunty scrambled backwards just as it crumbled. Everything not held together by the leafless trees collapsed, throwing a cloud of dust into the head. Bunty covered his mouth and nose, trying to keep the debris out of his lungs. It had to be the lizardmen. They must have harvested the plant monster’s remains and destabilised the ground in the area.

It took several minutes for the dust to settle, but Bunty stuck around. He wanted to study how deep the lizardmen had dug. It would give him a rough idea of the tools they had access to. Neer theorised the troglodytes, argonians—lizardmen, and other tribe-based creatures in the tower were remnants of previous Climber species. He encountered different versions of the same animals across several intervals. Their intelligence, strength and equipment improved with every floor.

The dig marks were far from smooth, and bruises covered the chopped roofs. Bunty guessed the lizardmen either had stone tools or aged metal equipment. If he found himself in melee combat with the creatures, their bladed weapons would most likely bruise and break bones. The padded leather coat would most likely protect him from most of it. The lizardmen’s actions weren’t enough to cause a complete collapse, though. So, Bunty climbed down to investigate the sight closer.

The door they had used to enter the floor had dropped down to the below-ground location. Bunty wasn’t aware that permanent doors could move. The next Ito clan pilgrimage would be in for a surprise when they came through. Bunty found himself tempted to lay a trap for them. He was quick to contain the urge. There was no guarantee the following party of pilgrims would be as bad as Yukiho. Besides, innocent Climbers could chance upon the gate too.

Bunty found the true cause of the collapse buried in a tangle of dead roots and covered in soil. It was an old upgrade station. Considering the yellow goo covering it and the location, Bunty guessed the plant monster had grown around it. He suspected foul play. Not only had someone changed the door’s destination but also left the monster there as a trap. Perhaps the Ito clan had pissed off influential Climbers during their last pilgrimage, and they had retaliated in kind.

After marking the upgrade station and door on his map, Bunty moved on. If he encountered anything of value nearby, the FTF would want to know about it. The now caved-in clearing would serve brilliantly as a base of operation too. Bunty followed the lizardmen tracks, deeper into the forest of deciduous trees. It surprised him how there was a sharp contrast between the mangrove-filled swamps behind him and the bare branches ahead. As far as he knew, in the outside world, they grew in contrasting climates.

The footprints occasionally disappeared, and Bunty had to spend several minutes hunting them down again. It took him a while to figure it out, but the creatures were avoiding the bare grassless patches whenever possible. Bunty couldn’t help but wonder whether it was to avoid leaving tracks or there was something else at play.

Critters of varying sizes occasionally run between the budding bushes. Quite a few of them carried berries, and their odour made Bunty’s stomach rumble. After watching a sizeable green rodent devour a small pile of the blue fruits, Bunty dared to taste one. The sour hit made him flinch, but he didn’t mind the after taste. He suspected it would mess with his stomach later, so he left the berries alone. The large green rodent watched Bunty curiously. It probably had never seen a human before. After the incident with the ice spiders, Bunty wasn’t too keen on befriending the tower’s inhabitants, so he carried onwards.

It was almost afternoon before the first lizardman approached. The creature wasn’t just one and half times the size of the ground-floor specimens but had long skinny feathers along its back and limbs too. A forked tongue tasted the air before disappearing into its pointed snout. Bunty held his breath, falling into a crouch. Lost in his thoughts, Bunty hadn’t kept track of the wind. He was fairly sure the lizardman and his spear would be no match for him. However, there was no telling whether the monster was alone or not. It could very well have friends that would come running to the rescue as soon as it cried out.

Bunty held his breath when the lizardman fell into a crouch too. The green and red feathers blended into the local foliage. An unwary traveller would’ve walked past the bushes and never known a hunter awaited them with a weapon. That’s precisely what happened to the green rodent. It scurried over to gather more fruit when a spear skewered its side. The lizardman stood up, pulled the creature free of the spearhead and bashed it against a tree trunk. Then it stuffed a crude satchel with berries before heading into the trees.

The creature had displayed skills that far surpassed its ground-floor cousins. Only a swift and precise thrust would’ve caught the beast off guard. The attack would’ve been impossible without a sharpened spearhead as well. Bunty guessed that without Climbers affecting their society, the lizardmen could’ve progressed much further than their fellow tribes. At the same time, perhaps their ability to fight similarly sized opponents had deteriorated. Bunty followed the creature burning with optimism. There had to be several sufficiently aged individuals among the lizardman’s tribe.

Bunty witnessed the lizardman pick off another prey creature as smoothly as the first. It used similar tactics, going still against a moss-covered tree trunk. Bunty couldn’t help but feel amazed by how smoothly the creature blended in with the green and brown bark. It wasn’t a camouflaging ability so much as erasing one’s presence and becoming one with their surroundings. The lizardman turned itself into a statue, and a white film covered its bright yellow eyes, dulling their colour. Occasionally, his tongue would dart out and flick at the air. Like last time, it moved with blinding speed stomping a clawed foot into the underbrush. It had another giant rodent in hand, this one more yellow than green.

The lizardman hissed when yellow sparks flew from the creature’s cheeks. It bashed the rodent against a tree trunk repeatedly, not stopping even after the monster went limp. Bunty took the opportunity to readjust his position so the wind wouldn’t carry his scent to the monster. At the same time, he ensured to walk on grassy bits like the lizardman and avoid leaving tracks. The ground had gotten wetter, and the last thing he wanted was for a squelch to give away his position.

When Bunty’s prey encountered another one of its kind, he knew they had to be getting close to a settlement. Keeping the axe in hand helped him feel safe. The lizardmen were almost as tall as him and bulkier. Bunty didn’t like his chances if they ganged-up on him. Unlike the first specimen, the second’s green feathers had bits of blue and black in it. They squeaked at one another softly and occasionally cooed. The lizardmen on the ground floor would squawk at one another and grunt. Victoria believed their communication was rudimentary at best.

Bunty shoved all thoughts of her and the Boleyns out of his mind. He missed them. Neither Victoria nor Alexander would screw him over like the Ito clan. Edgar would try, of course, but the other two would ensure he never got away with it. The fire in Bunty’s chest burned hotter, and his vision narrowed as he watched the lizardmen. Their shaman’s Core would perhaps become his salvation. Using it, he’d climb to the next interval, fight his way through it and find Omrito to save Alexander. Then he’d never have to group up with the likes of Yukiho again.