Tower of Souls

Cam followed his clone back towards the intersection, stopping to wait as soon as it was in sight. He watched calmly as Eron leaned around the corner, double checking that it was still clear, before he turned left into the corridor- the only other choice was straight ahead, seeing as to the right was where they had come from, but their plan was to turn left whenever given a choice...

No reason to change the plan when it was working for them so far, even if they had really only just started...

With their first Tower monsters down, and with no real problems, Cam had calmed down quite a bit. While he was still nervous, as climbing the Tower was always a risk- especially solo, which he technically was- it somehow felt more manageable now. The old adage that success breeds confidence was true, and as long as he didn’t let himself grow arrogant or complacent, he was sure he could handle it.

But, when Eron hurried back around the corner minutes later with a serious look on his face, the tension ramped back up once again.

Without saying a word, Eron handed the dagger back to him and slapped a hand on Cam’s shoulder, staring expectantly at him- but no words were really needed, as this was another of their plans: if enemies were nearby, and they needed to quickly and silently decide how to handle it, Cam would just Subsume and resummon his clone.

Cam focused for a second, and his clone just seemed to melt into his body- it was vaguely disconcerting the first time he had used Subsume, but he had quickly grown used to it. In an instant, Eron was gone... and his memories flooded Cam.

From the moment he had summoned the clone after entering the Tower, creeping silently down the hall, the ambush on the lone kobold miner, and his short trip down the next corridor, hearing the chatter of kobold voices growing closer and closer... everything was as clear as his own memories, just with a shifted perspective- which made sense; Eron was him...

Cam shook his head, zeroing in on what was important: a group of kobolds were heading his way. He couldn’t be sure exactly how many, though it sounded like two, or perhaps three, different voices. Likely more miners, but he knew it was possible for there to be other types of kobolds- the miners were likely just the weakest of the enemies on this Floor...

While they had handled one easily enough, dealing with three required a solid plan. Especially since he had no idea what these kobolds could do... and he didn’t want any of them to get away to raise an alarm; having every kobold on the floor hunting for him would make things far too difficult to manage...

His mind raced across possible plans, searching for something to give him them advantage and accomplish everything he need in the situation. An ambush at the intersection could work, but it risked one of the kobolds fleeing down the hall, and leading them down to the deadend was another possibility, except it trapped him more than it trapped them...

Unless he wasn’t actually in the trap.

Cam knew he didn’t have a lot of time to plan, so he settled on something quick and simple- though it still held some risk. With a thought, Eron appeared beside him once more, grinning broadly at the plan. Even if it did hold more risk for him than Cam, that didn’t matter. He was a clone and could simply be resummoned if the worst happened... And it wasn’t like they would keep the memories of dying; those would die alongside the clone body- assuming he died at all.

Cam handed the crafted shortsword to his clone; while the dagger was a better weapon, the greater reach would be more beneficial for this plan- and, given Eron’s lower strength, the greatsword would still be too unwieldy for him right now.

Sword in hand, Eron waved cheekily as they split up- him creeping towards the approaching kobolds to play bait, while Cam went back towards the safe room to wait just out of sight down the corridor.

Hopefully the stories of kobolds having poor vision wasn’t exaggerated.

Cam crouched against the wall down the corridor, the intersection just out of sight in the murky dimness. He knew the plan wasn’t perfect; there were plenty of ways it could go wrong and, as the minutes drew out, he had had time to consider the possibilities...

A muffled thud, and the soft ting of steel on stone, broke him from his thoughts... then, Eron’s low voice whispering, ”Fuck..” echoed down the corridor, and he knew it was time to move.

The soft patter of running feet, and the chatter of the kobolds, made it clear that they were quickly pursuing his clone... and, as the footsteps started to fade in the distance, he hurried after them.

Turning down the hall towards the deadend, Cam moved as quickly as he could while still making as little noise as possible. The sounds of combat soon reached his ears: the ring of metal clashing, the excited yips and shrieks of the kobolds that had apparently ’trapped’ their quarry, and the panicked sounding grunts of his clone fighting for his life...

Though he knew the panic was faked, it still sent his heart racing.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Rounding the last curve of the winding corridor, he took in the scene before him. Eron had stopped his flight near the end of the tunnel and, as if he had just then discovered he was trapped, was fighting desperately to keep from being pushed back into the open room where the kobolds could move to surround him.

Batting away a pick swung at his knees, Eron was forced to give ground before the two kobolds pressing him... and, as the entrance to the room yawned wider around him and the attacking duo had more room to try to flank him, he was forced back even further...

But Cam’s eyes were locked onto the third enemy: a robe wearing kobold that hung back from the melee, likely a caster of some sort, that appeared to be waiting for the right time to tilt the battle in their favor with whatever Ability it possessed.

Not that he would give it that chance.

With his clone distracting the other two, Cam crept closer to the apparent caster. Pulling the dagger from his Inventory with his left hand, his right arm snaked around the kobold’s throat- and he pulled up, lifting the thing clear off its feet... and preventing it from shouting for help.

Despite this being something he never could have done before his Awakening- even with how small and light the kobolds were- he didn’t waste any time to marvel over his new found strength. As the kobold caster reached up to try and pry his arm off its throat, he plunged the dagger into its side.

Critical Hit!

A vicious grin stretched across his face; basic monster anatomy was taught in school, and, while it obviously couldn’t cover every type of monster... kobolds were a common enemy. And their internal organs were arranged similarly to humans...

The kobold grunted in pain as he ripped the dagger free and plunged it in once more, and it’s arms came down to try to protect itself from the sharp blade... Not that it mattered to Cam; even if it got its hands or arms in the way, all it did was stop the attack from being a critical.

And as long as the kobold was taking damage and unable to fight back, it was as good as finished.

The dagger flashed back and forth, almost frantically, as he knew he needed to hurry- Eron was still keeping the other two busy, but he was quickly taking damage. It was only a matter of time before their coordinated attacks killed his clone... And Cam needed to be in position before that happened, assuming he couldn’t turn the fight around before they eliminated his clone.

The kobold caster’s resistance suddenly stopped, and a ding from the system told him all he needed to know. Dropping the body at his feet, he rushed forward, pulling the greatsword from the Inventory.

Just as he arrived behind one of the kobolds, Eron threw himself bodily on top of he other- the signal that his HP was nearly gone. The diminutive kobold shouted in alarm as it was dragged to the floor, its body buried under the man- while he would never be called a big a man, he positively towered over the small creatures... and weighed probably twice what the four foot opponent did...

And strength was typically pretty low for kobolds; even if kobold miners had a higher strength than most of their kin, lifting twice their weight was still a challenge.

Cam’s stomach twisted as the remaining kobold took a step forward, its pick rising up above its head before plummeting down- straight into his clone’s back... Seeing what was basically himself being killed right before his eyes was not something he had ever expected or considered before...

Reigning in the horror he felt at the sight, he quickly tried to activate his Clone Ability again- and wasn’t sure if he should smirk or not as Eron suddenly appeared... While things were going according to plan, being able to instantly call out his clone meant that the previous clone had died...

The whole situation just hammered home how serious his situation was.

As the kobold crowed at its success, and its trapped brethren grunted out what was probably a demand for assistance, Cam handed the dagger off to his clone. Gripping the greatsword tightly with both hands, he stepped up behind the cheering kobold...

Depsite the trapped one’s shouted warning, it wasn’t prepared for massive iron blade descending on top of its head.

The critical hit shaved off a chunk of its health, and it spun quickly to defend itself, only to gape dumbly as it came face to face with two more people identical to the one it had just killed- and one of them plunging a dagger into its side even as the other wound back with a huge sword to finish it off.

A dark chuckle escaped the pair as the strike from the greatsword not only killed the kobold, but sent its body flying over its trapped companion- which began frantically scrambling to escape from the corpse that pinned it. Exchanging a glance, the duo advanced on the helpless kobold...

Kobold Miner(Lvl. 1) has been slain. +50 Xp

Kobold Miner(Lvl. 1) has been slain. +50 Xp

Kobold Shaman(Lvl. 1) has been slain. +75 Xp

The pair sighed in relief; the fight went better than they could have hoped, even if a clone had been destroyed in the process... Though the sight of his own dead body- even if it was a clone, it was a version of him- still sent chills down Cam’s spine...

Clone was an incredibly powerful Ability, and he couldn’t imagine how much of a coward Cole had to be to waste it... But it was also disturbing in a way...

”Halfway to leveling up...” Cam tried to distract and console himself from the sight.

”Yeah. Just gotta keep our shit together until we level... and hopefully get another Ability.” Eron agreed slowly. Shaking his head, he turned and headed towards the corridor again. ”I’ll go keep an eye out, you grab the sword, check for a useful Ability, and wait for loot.”

”What, you don’t want to wait and discuss the Ability with me?” Cam joked; it wasn’t really necessary to talk about it- after all, they were the same person... But, while it was a bit comforting to at least have his clone to talk to after the stressful fight, he knew that wasn’t the right thing to do now.

They were still in the Tower; danger could show up at any time, just like this group of kobolds had...

Grabbing the sword the dead clone had dropped, Cam tossed it and his greatsword back into the Inventory before heading over to the dead shaman- this was it, the chance to gain another Ability. Even if it wasn’t a great one, as long as it was at least useful... Maybe it would be some sort of ranged damage? That would be ideal, but almost anything could improve their chances in the Tower...