Chapter 9

Despite Marcus’s warning, the pair didn’t leave the settlement straight away. Upgrading Explorer’s Fountain Pen might’ve restored Diya to near-full strength, but the events on the sixth floor had worn Gwyneth out. The sun had already crossed its apex in the sky, and they’d need to move at breakneck speed to get far from the settlement and set up camp. Diya didn’t think Gwyneth could maintain such a pace. He might have upgraded his soul a second time, but he needed time to update his summons and prepare a new one. Besides, the number of DeLawney crests had increased when they exited the alley. Diya would be underprepared if they got followed and attacked, and Gwyneth was too exhausted to contribute to the defense. So, he declared they’d set out at first light, and she agreed.

Even though Gwyneth didn’t say anything, Diya suspected she was mentally worn out too. She and Ashish had struck up a friendship while he was unconscious. The last thing they saw was a spear ripping through one of his wings. They couldn’t be sure of his fate, but it was likely he didn’t get away. So, Diya wanted to give Gwyneth time to recuperate. He could use the time to test his soul’s upgrades and sort out a new summon.

Since the DeLawneys were looking for a pair and knew Gwyneth’s face better than his, Diya left her at the closest inn and headed out on his own. She didn’t like the idea but didn’t fight him on it. Diya was sure he’d have an easier time moving around the settlement alone. If required, he could use the Slimeskin to hide or evade pursuers too.

As Diya walked, he sensed a new presence in his pen. It was playful without the mischief of Spell Thief. He slipped into a quiet alley and called forth his soul. When he willed the presence to show itself, nothing happened. As far as he remembered, Gaia hadn’t granted him any new active abilities or spells. Instead, Diya willed the inkwell to expel a few drops of its contents. Instead of dripping, the fluid swelled around the nib. It wasn’t just shades of black or navy. Globules of white, sky blue and verdant green blossomed.

Gwyneth said that monster cards are born of the original creature’s aether. She also said aether is alive. Is this you, Glrrg?

The pen, of course didn’t reply. Diya summoned his coat, willing it to manifest in bright blue. His soul obeyed. The shadow rune made the material dull and rough, but didn’t help blend with the darkness between the buildings.

Runes have their limits, too.

Due to the seventh floor’s heat and intense sun, bright colors weren’t uncommon. The travelers stuck to the murky shades they wore on other floors, but the locals displayed various vibrant shades. Diya spotted several whites, yellows, and a couple of light greens too. He couldn’t tell how they managed to keep the fabrics so clean, but it didn’t matter. When he willed it, the Slimeskin shifted to a paler hue of blue, and then he fit right in.

As Diya walked through the market street, he realized the new card’s tempering was already taking effect. He felt more energetic, alert, and lighter. Diya understood it was the result of his lungs taking in more air and pumping it into his blood. He hoped that the improvement to his body wouldn’t drain him faster. Unfortunately, only time would tell. Still, he resolved to carry high-quality and high-energy rations on his person.

The streets were abuzz with talk regarding an incident involving the Montagus. Some reported that a disgruntled employee had tried to disrupt one of their significant contracts to sow distrust in the house. Others claimed the nobles were making an example of an independent business that attempted to dispute the trade tariffs. Dozens of more colorful rumors reached Diya’s enhanced ears too. Fortunately, they only spoke of a solitary winged attacker and didn’t mention two hooded figures stowing away through a controlled gate. The pair hadn’t made enemies of the Montagus after all.

Food rations alone wouldn’t be enough for the journey through floors seven and eight. Both featured arid climates, forever-shifting dunes, and a blaring sun that spent most of the day-night cycle in the sky. So, after buying jerky, cheese, and bread, Diya traded a couple of Exploding Inkfire Ball cards for a tier-three campsite card. The merchant claimed it adjusted to the local climate and partially camouflaged, too.

When he got back to the inn with kebabs rolled in flatbread, red and purple hues colored the sky. Gwyneth’s snores reached his ears before he entered their room. Diya pulled the covers up to her neck to cover the plump breast that had fallen out of her nightgown. The sight was a pleasant one, but he didn’t trust himself not to stare. Gwyneth didn’t seem to mind him looking or feeling her up, but it didn’t feel right. Diya did find her attractive and liked her as a person too, but he wasn’t in the headspace to think of her as anything other than his climbing companion. The closeness and intimacy came naturally, though; her company kept loneliness at bay. Diya appreciated her moral support too, but he was too much of a mess for anything more.

The innkeeper sent a bowl of fragrant mutton curry and rice to the room for Diya. He set the wraps aside for later and tucked into the mouth-watering dish. Gwyneth had already eaten and ordered Diya’s meal before going to bed. After finishing his meal, Diya tried to busy himself with new summon designs, but his eyes kept drifting to Gwyneth’s sleeping form. It didn’t make a lot of sense to Diya, but the closer she got to her, the more Victoria popped into his thoughts. He didn’t know what to think of the young noblewoman.

Gwyneth claimed he had unresolved feelings for Victoria. They weren’t just romantic but platonic, too—she’d been the only constant female presence in his life, after all. Now that someone new was taking her place, he couldn’t help but feel guilty. Diya thought she was talking out of her arse but let her stick to her hypothesis. Victoria may have risked her safety to facilitate her escape and paid for it afterward, too, but that didn’t change everything else that had happened. Diya just couldn’t trust her anymore, but that didn’t mean he intended Gwyneth to become her replacement.

After several minutes of restarting the same sketch, Diya slapped himself, trying his best to concentrate. Diya realized he was stuck in a loop. He needed the pen to create Slimeskin tentacles whenever he pleased, but that didn’t mean it needed to sit in the gauntlet all the time. Instead, Diya designed a new version of the gauntlet that had two receptacles for the soul. One under the wrist and another over it. He hoped to learn how to summon the pen directly into one of the slots.

As Diya tweaked the artwork and the runes contained in it, a fun idea came together in his mind’s eye. The launcher mechanism, though useful, often turned into an inconvenience. Activating and reloading it required an empty right hand. So, he worked the Harden and Relax runes into the trigger mechanism. By default, the spring would stay compressed and remain hard. The Relax command would release the spring, launching Ink Vines, Ensaring Vines, or whatever projectile he needed. Reloading would still require manual input, but he rarely used the launcher more than once in a fight.

Diya couldn’t tell whether it was an oversight on his end or the summons had gained new capabilities with the latest upgrade. He could now summon the gauntlet onto either arm or both simultaneously without using a second summon slot. Diya hoped to fuse it with another one of his favorite cards, pushing the gauntlet to tier-three. As a tier-two climber, he could now add tier-three cards to his deck. Which meant the inkwell’s and journals slots could house tier-three summons and spells, respectively.

Once done with the gauntlet, Diya made a fresh set of lance cards. The first came with frostfire and Piercing Cold. While the other replaced frostfire with Shadow Touched. Even though the functions were the same, both cards completed as tier three. Cardsmith had sensed his intention. When Diya called the summon forth, the pen didn’t transform into a fountain pen. Instead, it blossomed from the nib and solidified into his hand. The new spearhead now looked more like one of the leviathan’s fang than a spider leg. Much like with the gauntlet, the resulting summon appeared sleeker and truer to the artwork, too.

Finally, Diya busied himself with his idea for the pen’s final summon slot.