The Tower, 2nd Floor

Sanul walked up the staircase to the 2nd floor rather urgently. Once up, he cast a simple spell to buy him just a bit more time: a Barrier at the door, to hold his opponents for a bit whilst he looted (13 Atk. to break).

He looked around. Pretty much looked the same as the first floor, with a few differences in layout. From the staircase, Sanul spotted a chest, covered in dust. Eager to find something, he opened it and found... an Iron Helmet, enchanted with strong mana essence (+1 Defense, +1 Intellect); as well as 18 gold coins. Sanul happily pocketed his gains and put on his helmet. Hmm... a bit tight, but no matter.

Upon continuing his search of chests, Sanul saw a curious sight indeed; a couple of Great Apes running about the halls, whooping rather loudly. He decided to take the moment to hide in the room to his right; meditate a bit, loosen up.

Sanul finished meditating, and got up off the floor energized and with his mind open (+4 Speed and +2 Intellect to next encounter). By the time he finished, the Apes finished patrolling the area, and he continued wandering.

Soon enough, Sanul was meet by a Corrupt Paladin; a holy figure rendered soulless by the Tower's will. Oh, THIS was gonna be fun. With his scepter ready to wreak havoc, he blew on the head of it like a candle, spewing out a massive cloud of scorching flames. The Corrupt's screams were drowned out by the roar and crackle of the pyrotechnics, and when Sanul finished, all that was left was a pile of ash... and a single gold coin, not bad. (Buffs have worn off)

Sanul picked up the single coin and continued wandering, the thought of the two Believers in the back of his head at all times.

Elyzabeth waited, halfway down the staircase, for the grumbling paladin to cross the threshold. There was a disappointing lack of explosions and/or fiery deaths, meaning she had wasted her time making him her trap tester.
The second floor landing had several branching paths. Elyzabeth left Satogi with his swords and food. She returned the one she had drawn to its sheathe, deciding that if she was going to be attacked again, he'd have already tried something. She narrowed the beam on her lantern, pointing it down a hallway at random. It had something small and shiny halfway to a sharp turn. "You go that way." She pointed, and pushed him in the direction. "I'm going to go a different way. I don't want to see you again. Do you understand?"
With that, she executed a left-face and took a hallway at random. Satogi was lucky she didn't just run him through for attacking her. Bastard's lucky I opened with my right-hook. Now where's the cunt that threw that monster at me?

Satogi Orokawru

---

Satogi was not only angry with the elf, but he was rather embarrassed about the whole thing. He could do little about his situation and all because of a lapse in focus. He supposed it was his own fault but he had to keep his pride strong in his order of light. He was pushed and forced down a single hallway, which he cared nothing for. As soon as the elf took he leave Satogi started emitting light from his armor once again, so he could see where he was going. If the elf didn't want to see him again than she should have killed him instead, it was inevitable that they would run into each other in the Tower again, but he couldn't complain.

Drawing his sword and letting it show him the way, he explored the second floor a little before deciding that he had to find a safer place to set up his base. He found a smaller room with a door, lock or no lock it was safer than sleeping in the hallways. He ate some rations and tried to find a comfortable spot in the room to sleep, with his sword drawn at his side and ready for him to kill anything that dared enter his claimed domain. The light of his armor and sword faded to near nothing as he drifted off to a light sleep, but would spark back up quickly if he was startled by something.

Sanul was wandering about the halls of the 2nd Floor when the light of Elyzabeth's lantern shone through his intended path. Wanting not to face her until he saw her in action, he stood up against the wall and casted one of his favorite spells: Stone Skin. Ah, he fun he'd had with this: replacing statues in the Great City with himself, placing himself in museums, even infiltrating the castles of the royal blood that lived among the Believers. But now, it would grant him the benefit it always had: hiding.

With a soft grunt and a flexing gesture, he adjusted his body to look more like a statue would; as he muttered a few chants, he felt his body seize up, and his meat turn to stone (+9 Defense, -9 Speed). Hopefully, if the elf bothered to look at him, either she wouldn't notice, or his state would absorb any impact she applied upon him.

Elyzabeth grumbled to herself without regard for who might overhear. Satogi accepted her chosen route, and hopefully would not bother her again. She took a few turns at random, finding neither items of value or opposition, both with some disappointment. "I mean, the wolves and stuff, I get it. You're the goddess of the wildlands and nature and all that kind of horseshit. That's how you operate. Fine. But humans?" She addressed Elsir with her typical dismissive disdain. "They're the worst. I thought he was going to give me some long, boring monologue about how I brought great shame to his family or something. I do not have the patience for that kind of crap." She continued to grumble to herself until something vaguely like speech came from a turn in an upcoming intersection. She lowered her lantern and rested her hand on the pommel of her sword and approached carefully. "Show yourself!" she demanded. "And I will kill you quickly."
Elyzabeth sprang around the corner like she was expecting a great surprise. Instead a statue of a man was leaned against the wall. "...the f..." She sighed, like she would have preferred some great monstrosity be lurking in the statue's stead. She leaned towards it, then pressed her boot against its foot, then gave its shoulder a hearty shove. "Treasure's always hiding in statues," she mumbled. She placed the heel of her boot against the center of its chest, like she might try to crush the stone, but she was interrupted by the scattering of scales against the roof. She turned away and shone her light, then stepped back into the intersection. Sanul was lucky the noise came when it did, or he would not have had much skin for his body to turn back into. Elyzabeth turned away and went north. Skittering darkness wasn't worth her time.

"OK... Shit, not doing that again..." Sanul thought as he let his body loosen up. Now that she was gone for now, he'd continue wandering about.

After looking into a few rooms, he found the staircase upwards... and a small vial of Antivenom on a table, yes please. The caster quickly walked up the stairs...but not before triggering a trap at the start of the staircase! The walls of the 2nd floor of the Tower began glowing a bright blue, overwhelming Sanul's eyes as a massive iron door slammed down on the path upwards. He felt a strong curse settle down on him as he looked around, seeing the entire floor fill with skeletons, zombies, and goblins. He locked himself in the room, hoping to wait out the trap in safety. (Everyone in the 2nd Floor has their Defense temporarily drop to -10, making the simplest injuries incredibly dangerous!)

Satogi Orokawru

---

Even though Satogi was woken early he was still able to get some rest. (Stamina restored) But what he awoke too surprised him. A zombie had crawled it's way into his room through the wall. Without hesitation he charged his blade struck at the dark creature. The impact lit up all the nearby hallways as the dark energy clashed with Satogi's light technique.

Hearing more undead outside the paladin went to town clearing the halls of the wretched things with the flashes of his blade cutting them to pieces.

Satogi easily defeated the zombie; it did not drop anything of use.

As the paladin left the room, he found himself in front of dozens of undead beasts, running amok the floor mindlessly. A small horde of them noticed him and began an assault on the paladin. Normally, these monsters would be no match; for even if they got a hit in, the paladin's armor would sustain their meek hits. However, after clearing a handful of them, he was stopped abruptly by a skeleton archer; with a single shot, the sniper's arrow flew into the teen's hand, shattering his gauntlets and leaving a wooden shaft stuck firmly into the paladin's palm (Gauntlets have been broken). The sudden and unexpected hit causes Satogi to drop his blade as well, allowing a nearby goblin to grab it. The tables have turned on the young warrior, as the horde now has him surrounded.

Satogi Orokawru

---

The Paladin kept attacking, only taking short rests to catch his breath between strokes of his sword as he slaughtered the undead before him. Unfortunately an arrow destroyed his right gauntlet, shattering it into pieces and making him lose his sword. He made a grab for it when a goblin came out of the blackness and snatched it up before he could. His anger broke at the thought of such an evil thing carrying a sword of light. He charged that anger into his remaining left gauntlet and slammed the ground with all his might, sending out a shockwave of light out in all directions for at least 20ft. This had enough energy to disintegrate the other gauntlet but would undoubtedly take out many of the undead surrounding Satogi.

Now a little tired and banged up from the assault of zombies and skeletons, Satogi decided to use the other pair of chainmail gloves he had gotten earlier that the elf had not wanted to take from him. They would only shine with enough light to see by and would not last as long as the other gauntlets if used as a light weapon. He used this light to find the goblin knocked down by his shockwave, which he then attempted to pin to the ground with his boot to retrieve the sword from it and quickly slay the creature. He would not be made a fool of like that, and took a short rest before returning to his fight against the rest of the Tower's local undead.

The goblins looked as confused as Elyzabeth did.
There was a lot of kicking and crushing under-foot. Bone wasn't difficult to snap, or otherwise reduce to powder and fragments. What was difficult was trying to track the many small, terrified, hopping creatures that bounced around, unable to decide if she or the undead were a larger threat. Elyzabeth, no large fan of goblins, did not take pity on them, though she didn't target them either; many were knocked about just by the nature of her wide swings. Her knuckles were starting to hurt from collapsing so many noses.
With incredible fortune, the surprised attack came just as Elyzabeth crossed another intersection. She was able to kite, dodge, and push through into a dead-end that left her free to focus on one direction. The fight went well thereafter, enemies eliminating each other or falling to each pommel-strike or hard shove twos and threes at a time. That was until a the unexpectedly large, horned rotted carcass of a reanimated bison charged.
The destruction was incredible, and disgusting. Twisted, chipped bones gored a score of goblins and reduced everything in their way to splatters of blood and handfuls of dust. She had one of her swords wrenched out of her hand as it reared its head, the blade halfway through the chest of the goblin it now impaled. With its head turned away, it charged shoulder-first into Elyzabeth and rammed her hard against the stone wall. Her diaphragm was forced up so quickly she barely had to yell "Fucking dammit!" before bringing her fists down on the animal's head. Her hands throbbed, then went numb; she finally put an elbow through its skull; she slid onto her ass and it collapsed in her lap. The twitching goblin looked like it was more concerned with crawling away from her than trying to free itself. She sucked in a deep breath, then angrily kicked through its horn. Her sword fell out of the goblin's chest with a clatter; she leaned over and took it up, pointing it at the creature that, miraculously, was pulling undead bison horn out of its back like it was an everyday occurrence.
Elyzabeth freed herself by rolling the bison skeleton onto him and pushed herself up to her feet. The goblin wasn't strong enough to get out. Both of his wounds were closed. Her whole body ached. "How?!" she demanded, not that she expected it to speak the common tongue.

As abruptly as chaos had ensued in the second floor, it quickly ended. The walls of the Tower stop glowing, and enemies stop spawning aggressively. (Defense stats have returned to normal.)

Sanul, whimpering quietly in his room, has relieved to see the trap he had triggered was short-lived. "Damn," he thought to himself. Was this really how things would go down? He shuddered at the thought of what the higher floors had. Seeing as though the pathway to the 3rd floor had opened, he left to the next level before anything else could happen.

The goblin waved her off with one hand, and brushed itself off with its other, grotesque hand. "How?" Elyzabeth demanded again, grabbing his arm and holding it over his head. The goblin, somewhat annoyed, pointed at itself and declared "Gakgak." Then it pointed at her, and uttered his foul language's word for her race. She released his wrist, then shoved him down and pointed a sword at his chest, which showed no signs that it had just been pierced in two places. "What has healed you?"
The goblin stared up at her. It touched its chest and pointed at the smelling remains of the bison, then at her sword. It was clad in some sort of soft leather outfit, which had its chest piece thoroughly ruined, and a belt. It clattered at her angrily in terse phrases, but his native language was snarls, growls, barks, yaps, and nonsense. She understand "Elf" and "Scared of," things she'd taken in pride in juxtaposing in goblin conversation many times before.
One of her hands was throbbing, either from being thrown against a wall or trying to get through an animal's skull. Either way it loathed to support the burden of her sword; both, finally, were returned to their sheathes, and she took the goblin around the shoulder and hauled him to his oversized feet. "Go." She pointed, and gave him a shove. If he couldn't say what his secret was, she couldn't beat it out of him, but she could wait for something else to, so she could watch and learn. Goblins weren't smart enough to do magic, not like what would be needed to survive Gakgak's injuries. It hesitantly complied, plodding along a few steps ahead of her.

Satogi Orokawru

---

The paladin rookie was glad that most of the monsters seem to have either already been vanquished or all together left the area. He had gotten in a good workout and needed to rest for at least an hour before continuing. He broke into another room and began to meditate once he was sure it was safe. During his meditation he focused on his religion and gained some insight into further reaching the light of his faith. (New Ability: Flash Familiar) It took him twice as long as he thought it would, two hours in total. The benefits of his pray however paid off and he felt even stronger than before.

Leaving his sanctuary he now heads out to find the next staircase or even more things to fight.

Satogi would continue to wander about the second floor until he found the staircase. However, there, he'd find himself met with a strange sight...

A friendly demon, dressed in rags, happily greets the paladin at the staircase. He offers to sell the hero a variety of tools and items... for the right payment of course.

His inventory includes an Offering(+10 Faith for next holy skill, removes all debuffs, heals 1 critical wound), some winged boots (+3 Speed, +1 Stealth), and a Tome.

He currently accepts payment in gold, equipment... or blood.

Satogi Orokawru

---

As Satogi approached the staircase but was interrupted by the demon merchant. He was rather disgusted by the foul creature but supposed he was being useful for the moment. The paladin rummaged through his pouch and offered the little demon the scroll of blink and his seven gold in exchange for whatever shield he could get. Paladins were used to using shields in conjunction with another weapon, and Satogi was already regretting not bringing one with him. Once the transaction was over Satogi moved around the demon towards the third floor, now feeling more confident about his success in the Tower.

Satogi would not reach the third floor so happily unmolested, unfortunately; he was doomed once more to face Elyzabeth, now with Gakgak the goblin as her shield. A living creature that could bite and regenerate threatened to be more useful than a metal buckler, if they were to come to blows again. Which was likely, given Elyzabeth's empowerment, and the goblin's unease at coming to a crossroads between two paladins.
"I said I didn't want to see you again," Elyzabeth barked angrily, with clear disregard for the fact that Satogi likely had as little control over his path as she did. Her back, arms, wrists, lets, and chest still ached from being pinned between flagstones and bison skulls, but she felt confident in her ability to knock him aside again, especially now that her new companion could dive for his ankles or attack his shins, at the least.
Gakgak chattered in the foreign tongue neither of them could understand. He stuck out a crooked, bony finger and traced shapes in the air, like a wizard might deign runes before invocation. Elyzabeth watched him from the bottom of her vision, not sure what magic he could do (if any), but interested in seeing it used on someone that wasn't herself. "Stand aside, human," she ordered. "And there will be no violence."

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As the two paladins exchanged their words, a third party decides to join the fray; a group of Corrupt Guards and Casters stand in the background, placing bets with the imp scavenger. The Casters, however, decide not to play around with their coin, and join the battle soon to begin. 2 Red Casters join Elyzabeth, while 3 Blue Casters join Satogi.

The radiant darkness of the casters limit both the heroes' holy connections (-5 Faith to Elyzabeth and Satogi). The two Red Casters raise their staffs high, and blast the elf with blazing mana-essence (+2 Attack, Armor Ignoring Attacks, Fire DOT). The Blue Casters on the boy's side of the field raise their weapons as well, and envelop the warrior in a glowing blue forcefield (+3 Defense, Strong Injury Recovery, Physical Damage Immunity).

It seems like all hell is about to break loose on the second floor! While the battle progresses, more monsters will join the audience, and some may even join the fight as well.

It was quite unfortunate for the goblin, standing between the angry paladin and the selfish elf. He was still tracing in the air, with not intention of actual spell casting, when various magical effects and another fight broke out. Gakgak was not prepared to feel the full weight of the paladin and his ridiculous shield falling down a flight of stairs on him (which was exactly what happened; Elyzabeth used him as an obstacle without compunction). She didn't know why she was suddenly glowing, and decided to ignore it; the human was attacking her, not the costumed wizards that stood on the sideline. She felt the weight of her swords, drawing both and holding them just above her waist. Though she couldn't explain why, she felt like they could have gone straight through Satogi's newest addition. Fortunately for him, she didn't care about killing him if simply disabling and abandoning was faster.
"Heuhf." The goblin coughed and wheezed. Its torso was flattened, and his skin ruptured at ribs, spilling liquefied internal organs. His legs twitched once, then what was left of him went limp. Elyzabeth was not concerned with his condition. "I asked that you stand aside," she announced like it would justify killing Satogi. "You force my hand." She kept her distance from the advancing paladin, unimpressed by his violent strategy but wary of the size of his new shield. She felt confident that, if needed, she could snake an arm between the wall and the side opposite the paladin's sword, and stick her blade through his ribs, or else throw her weight against it, and leave him in the same condition he reduced Gakgak to. "This time I will take more than your possessions."

(Power Damage: -All buffs, Heart damage 1/10)

Elyzabeth wasn't impressed by the paladin's display, but at least appreciate the wherewithal to recognize the influence of the magi and dispose of them. It was somewhat disappointing to lose her newfound enchantments without having the opportunity to test them on the poor paladin, but she'd have ample opportunity. It was good that he refused to fight thereafter; she was struggling to regain her vision, pointlessly trying to hide her frantic blinking from Satogi, least he realize her weakness. Arguably she could fight at least half-competently in the dark, and had done so in the past, but not against enemies that carried functionally rocks strapped to their arms.
Elyzabeth's vision filtered back in, albeit marred by black floating blobs compounded by a headache, after Satogi had already doubled over to cough. She raised her swords expectantly, anticipating either his or the mage's attacks, but he was preoccupied with trying not to cough himself to death and the spell casters were ashes. "...by Elyz..." So he has a bad attitude, and takes all the fun out of the Tower? She hesitantly returned her swords to their sheathes to approached. While it looked like a gesture of comfort, the hand she placed on Satogi's shoulder was intent on shoving him sideways if he proved still hostile so she could stomp his little neck permanently closed. "Human: Uh, thanks," she mumbled, finding it difficult both to be humble and get over the adrenaline rush of expected combat. "I will be leaving, then," she told him with disregard for his health. She assumed if he could manifest light with physical properties strong enough to break through thick stone once, there was no reason why he couldn't continue to do it (and for her to remain within instant-ashification-range of him). "And, uh, Elsir's blessings and all that good stuff." She didn't dare actually try to call on her patron to cure a human's maladies. That went poorly the last time it was attempted, which was on someone she tolerated far better than the screaming, indignant paladin.
"Gakgak, are you coming?"
The goblin was still on the ground, seemingly barely clutching to life, but he was no longer a puddle of liquid organs. The stone around him was bloodstained and reeked, but the seems at his sides had patched themselves shut. "...you going to be a minute?" She asked, impatiently. The goblin gave her the goblin hand gesture equivalent of "go to hell."

The crowd of beasts (or what was left of it) was appalled by Satogi's brutal strike against the casters. However, seeing as he had left, they declared Elyzabeth the winner of the fight by default.

The crowd of beasts cheered the elf, throwing a few hundred gold coins (274g) at her as her reward for giving them all a good time. From the crowd, a Kobold Chieftain offered her his blessing, granting Elyzabeth a powerful item. He handed her a Tome, titled "COMBAT: HOW TO WIN". In this ancient book hides incredible techniques and tricks that have been kept secret for centuries. (Permanent +1 Attack, +1 Defense, and +1 Speed).

Once all the fanfare ended and all the monsters left, the friendly imp that had offered Satogi his wares approached the elf as well.

The imp had 4 items for sale; an Elixir of Life(42g), a Holy Staff [weapon] (+3 Faith when equipped; 102g), a Powder Grenade (Guaranteed crippling injury on victims, large area-of-effect; 74g) and finally, a Draught of Celerity (+10 Speed for 1 fight; 17g).

Lance sighed, irritated for the moment about his decision to traverse with this mage. "Fine," he told the mage. "Get your rest." At the same time, he found the logic in the decision. Koko was not nearly as powerful as a well experienced mage would be. Hell, Koko wasn't even done with his schooling as this was his final task. He also knew that he wasn't invincible and would likely need rest too. So, he took advantage of the opportunity to sit down, close his eyes, and "meditate". He was patient.

When Koko proclaimed himself ready, Lance got up. He was feeling as fulfilled and ready as he had upon entering the Tower. His "meditation" didn't really do much for him but improve his mood. "Lead the way," he told Koko as he followed behind him. He held his sword in front of him, ready for adversaries.

As soon as Koko and Lance finish their rest, they stumble upon a Workshop; here, they could work on their equipment, make something of use, etc.

On the table, there was also a Scroll of Challenge. Written in a great hero's blood, it shall summon a Champion, with the promise of the elite fighter carrying an item of incredible value. This champion shall not attack anyone who didn't summon it (unless they join the fray).

The question now is... Will the party of two dare to challenge one of the Tower's mightiest?