Chapter 45

Tower Conquerors (V)

As soon as the roar erupted, the entire ravine began shaking -- so much so that everyone except for Cain and Jamal hit the floor, losing their balance. Cain was less so terrified than he was annoyed as he lazily looked around, noticing a pair of crimson eyes in the distance looking at them. Fucking Te’gha... he grumbled inwardly, rubbing his temples in frustration. Ah, we’re gonna lose at least two days if we tangle with this bastard... but... his drops... are too good...

"... I'm so fucking greedy..." he mumbled aloud as another roar shook the ravine, promptly tossing everyone, now, except for Cain onto the ground. There was a fairly ordinary reason for it -- the actual roar... wasn't even a roar. Te'gha wasn't some behemoth of a beast... it was the Tower's version of a cat. A completely ordinary, small, furry, two-eyed, two-eared, four-legged, one-horned cat. A cat that used the Mind element, something nobody except for Cain here had any experience with.

Because of it, the other nine, including even Emma and Jamal, were shaking faintly in fear, certain they were about to meet some dragon-like beast. It was pointless to try and explain to them what was going on, and as Cain wasn't a class that had access to the Mind element, he was unable to dispel it. Among the party, only Diya and Jenna could, in theory, do so -- but since they were both under the influence, that ship has sailed.

Sighing, he glanced at the other nine before taking a step forward, casually walking toward the pair of red eyes that stared at him cautiously. Cain stopped around fifty feet from the small crevice in the wall within which the cat was hiding and stared back in silence for nearly a minute before talking.

“... what’s the condition?” he asked.

“Oo--oh?” a rather strange and queer voice, one that spoke directly into his mind, answered him. “Rules, know?”

“Yeah.”

“Hehihe~~”

“Cut the creepy shit,” Cain frowned at the grating ‘laughter’ in his mind. “And state the condition.”

“Hehe~~okee. Catchhhh us~~ pppeet usss~~”

"... what? No, fuck that," Cain immediately rejected with a groan. "Even if we were a hundred levels stronger, it wouldn't matter. Don't fuck around, weird lumper. If you do, I'll just take them and walk away. I don't care."

“Eee-eeh, no fun! No, no, fun human! Huurph!”

“...” Ah, this bitch is just as annoying as ever... God, I can’t believe that insane maniac Lyonel kept it as a fucking pet... Jesus Christ...

“Grr~~ fine, fine! No condition! New condition! Break them out! All them! Three minutes!”

“Nope.”

“Aaagh!! Darned humanss! Cursed!!” Cain rolled his eyes in silence. The cat’s temperament used to be the talk of the late 2030s. Anything -- anything -- could set it off for no apparent reason. The reason, however, nobody bothered hunting it down... is that the cat never really harmed anyone. It just liked playing around and hated fighting. "Fine! New condition! Guess this name--”

“Te’gha.” Cain answered immediately before the cat could change its mind.

“You will never, he he~~wait, no. Human! No! Not this name!”

"Cut the crap and gimme the Lunar Crown," Cain licked his lips in anticipation, greedily staring at the pair of red eyes that had begun showing traces of panic. "No--wait--I want the Fortune Coin! No, shit, what about the Rabbit's Paw? Fucking cat, you have way too many good items!"

“Aaahss! Chrono-thief! Unfair! Cheating!” realizing it had been duped, the cat jumped out of the crevice and landed in front of Cain. It was black-furred and around the size of the average cat, the solitary ‘sticking-out’ point the single, silver horn on top of its forehead. Its rather red eyes staring angrily at Cain, whiskers trembling. “No reward! Thief! Cheater!”

“Oh? You’re renegading on the condition?” Cain grinned evilly, crouching down. “Won’t seven years of bad fortune strike you? Ha ha ha, is it really worth it? Eh? Eh? Is it?”

“T-t-terrible! Human, awful! Ggssh! Hate! Hate you! I award you my companionship!”

“--wait, no--”

“Ten years! Together! Heheggaahee~~”

“...” Cain froze in place for a moment, anger bubbling inside of him for a moment. Wait, no--wasn’t Lyonel always equipped with top-tier equipment and said the cat was his ‘lucky star’? We all thought he was just fucking around... but... maybe? “A’right,” he shrugged, picking the cat up and settling it on his shoulder. “However, if you start yapping too much, I’ll invoke a Challenge.”

“... terrible! Thief!”

“Cha--”

“I kidding! No, joke! Te’gha jokes, he he he~~”

“... what are you doing here anyway?” Cain walked over to the other nine who were just slowly starting to recover. “Shouldn’t you be on the fiftieth floor and above?”

“U...uhh---”

“You fucked with someone, didn’t you?”

“Grr, no! Never!”

“... eh? What’s with your voice, C’? Why is it so weird?” Emma asked absentmindedly as she struggled to stand up.

“It ain’t me,” Cain said, pointing at the cat. “It’s this weird, furred thing.”

“...” only now did everyone realize that, on top of Cain’s shoulder, there was a black-haired cat staring at them.

“Oh my God, adorable!!” Jenna stood up rapidly and, in a rush, stumbled and fell down.

“She’s so fucking cute!” Jamal raced forward as well.

“E-eeh... can... can cats really be that cute?” Diya wondered. Is it really that cute? Though it might be personal bias, whenever Cain looked at the cat, the only thing he saw was a devil that people should never let their guard around.

The petting sprint ensued right after, one that Te seemed to enjoy, eventually even leaving Cain's shoulder and dropping into Emma's arms, cradling tightly. By now, the group had begun moving forward once again as Cain vaguely retold them what happened, leaving some key details -- such as him knowing how to deal with the cat because he traveled back from the past.

“Eeeh~~so this little thing is really strong?” Jenna mumbled, petting behind Te’s ear.

“Strong! Te’gha really strong! The strongest!”

“Ha ha ha, so cute~~”

“How does it feel to be outdone by a cat? Huh?” Jamal jabbed Cain with an elbow, a grin on his face as he asked.

“... are there really people insane enough to be jealous of a fucking animal?” Cain quizzed back. “Damn, dude. You’ve got issues.”

"Wait--no, that's not what I meant--ah, fuck it. Fine, you win this one," Jamal relented with a sigh. "So, we can have pets? That's pretty cool! Imagine if we, like, stumble upon a dragon's egg, and as soon as it hatches it sees me and thinks I'm his mom..."

“... mom?”

“... don’t.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I see it in your eyes. Don’t.”

“...” Cain merely grinned at the red-faced Jamal who slowed down and joined the rest as they continued questioning Te who seemed to enjoy the attention.

“Hehehea~~this, human! This how you treat Noble Te’gha! Heheagah~~”

“... sweet hell, your laughter is the ugliest thing I’ve heard in my life,” he looked at the cat with the disdain in his eyes. “Shut up and enjoy being cuddled. Right, are there any stronger creatures around here?”

“Te-gha--” the cat swallowed another bout of bragging underneath Cain’s hollow gaze, ‘smiling’ right after. “T-there is... this... big, rock thing. Big, pretty scary!”

“Where?” Cain asked curiously as he’d never heard of a ‘big, rock thing’ near here. Though there were dozens, if not hundreds of creatures that fit the general description, none stood out as ‘strong’, at least of the possibilities around the ravine.

“The belly! Big hole in ground! Its palace!”

“...” Ah! Cain remembered it, at last, glaring at the cat right after. Rock thing? Fuck me, this thing is useless...

However, he had no intention of straying from the course and visiting the 'big, rock thing'. Not only because the detour would waste too much time, but because it was far too risky to go after it just yet. Especially because his role would be to cry in the corner and suck on his thumbs as that thing was completely immune to magic attacks.

For the remainder of the ‘day’, the group continued moving forward, occasionally meeting a group of Spikers and quickly dispatching them before continuing. Though there was no ‘day’ or ‘night’, the rough calculations allowed them to at least have a semblance of time. As the ‘night’ fell, they found a nearby platform extending from the cliff wall and climbed, sitting down as Diya and Evon started taking out rations, spreading out a fairly decent meal.

Everyone immediately jumped in, even Te letting the curiosity get the better of it, while Cain leaned against the cliff wall and lit up a cigarette. He’d come to realize that variables played a much bigger role in the Tower than he anticipated upon his return. Even with the Graveyard... what if it’s different than I remember it being? Maybe it weakened over time since nobody was able to clear it... aah, he sighed inwardly, taking a puff of the cigarette, glancing further north-east where they were headed. I can’t rely too much on the memories, he concluded. But then again... I can’t always be too wary of everything either.

“Toss that thing,” Emma suddenly ripped the cigarette from his lips and tossed it over the edge, handing him a fairly warm plate of food that, strangely enough, included fresh-seeming slices of kebab meat. “Eat. You keep bitching that your stats are garbage, and this is why. Coffee, beer, and cigarettes aren’t meals.”

“Says someone who’s never tried the combo,” Cain chuckled, taking the plate and joining the rest. “Eh? It fell asleep?” he mumbled, glancing at Te who was peacefully lying next to Evon, fast asleep. Was it this relaxed in the past?

“Poor thing must be scared and tired~~” Emma said.

“Make sure that Cain takes care of it!” Jenna warned. “I don’t trust him!”

“Don’t worry,” Emma replied. “I’ll beat it into him if need be.”

“...” Cain smiled faintly, eating. He’d never experienced this, not to this level at least.

In his last run, by the time he'd joined as one of the Conquerors, most people were very, very wary of the party members. The atmosphere was usually cold and business-like, and when it was time to rest and eat, people would spread out and build up their own defenses just in case someone wanted to rob them. He engulfed himself in the atmosphere, wondering in silence whether he'd be able to preserve this as more and more people joined, and as more and more time passed. Trust... was devilishly difficult to earn in the Towers, and astoundingly easy to lose. At least, he promised himself, he'd try. To change the world, as it went, first start by changing yourself. And remnants of his past self still remained rooted deep inside his soul, demons that would be extremely difficult to exorcise. He knew, however, he had to try -- if nothing else.