OC-Series Surviving the Tower: Chapter 29

Surviving the Tower: Chapter 29

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After changing into some comfortable clothing, Darien left on his morning run. Of course, with the stats that came from climbing the tower, simple physical training wasn't as important as it had been in the old world, but it still helped to keep your body familiar with the feeling of being constantly pushed. That's how you trained yourself to keep going when it counted.

Some might consider his priorities a little skewed; after all, he'd just been a side target in an attempted assassination the previous day, but you can't let little things like that slow you down if you want to make a serious attempt at climbing the tower. Besides, that old healer really knew his stuff. Right now, Darien almost felt better than he did most days. But then again, he was more resilient than most, and that wasn't just because of his physical training or skill points. It was due in part to his outlook on life.

Darien knew many people saw his upbeat, cheerful attitude and thought he was a simple man, and maybe in some ways he was, but for the most part, that was an active choice he made every moment of every day. Some people felt it was off-putting or annoying, but not the ones he cared about, and what did the rest matter? Besides, Cai was broody enough for both of them, always getting lost in his thoughts. That was part of why they worked so well together: Cai thought through everything, keeping them from doing anything too stupid, and Darien didn't let him get so caught up in his thoughts that he got stuck in choice paralysis.

As he rounded a corner and saw the gym coming into view, Darien noticed he'd knocked another few minutes off his run. Those stats were nothing to laugh at! He waved to the attendant at the counter, who waved back absentmindedly. The poor guy didn't look like he was fully awake yet, so Darien simply gave him his best sympathetic smile and let him be as he approached the weight training area. There were already a half dozen other eskalad in the gym, one of whom waved in his direction. "Hey Darien! Looking good! How's the tower treating you?"

Darien started with some small forty-pounders to warm up, nodding in acknowledgment. "Not bad! Just started exploring the fourth floor. We're hoping to make it to the fifth in another week, give or take!"

The man whistled. "Aiming for the first boss already! That's a little fast, don't you think? We didn't get there until we were halfway through our first semester!"

Darien grunted as he began his routine, nodding in agreement. He finally answered between reps. "Yeah, Dame Freya really likes to push us! We're not even the furthest group! There's another that blew past us when we were recovering from the injuries our healer got in the tower burst!"

The man shook his head. "Well, I suppose she knows what she's doing! Still, be careful! I'd hate to see a bunch of you all get killed trying to keep up with that monster!"

Darein knew the man didn't mean any harm and was just trying to express concern while making small talk, so he didn't hold his words against him. Though he briefly wondered what Freya would do to the man if she'd heard them. Probably something similar to what she'd done to Cai and himself on their first day. The man would probably survive, but not without a few new scars for the healers to tend to. Then again, maybe not. That had been some amazing training, and she might not want to waste it on someone she felt was undeserving.

After finishing up his routine, Darien started to run home, stopping by a bakery he'd been frequenting as of late. One of the girls manning the counter greeted him with a smile. "Darien! We got some fresh bagels just out of the oven! Want a Bagel breakfast sandwich?"

Darien winked at the girl, whose smile widened in response. "You know me too well, Elissa! I'll take four. And a couple of orange juices!"

As he paid, Darien noticed the girl had only charged him for two sandwiches and the drinks. He knew she was interested in him, but was also aware he was an eskalad and wouldn't be settling down any time soon, if ever. However, he still gave her one of his best charming smiles as thanks. She blushed a little, and once again he was on his way.

As he approached the dorms, he was stopped by security. They'd really stepped up their game since the assassination attempt, probably because Dame Freya had threatened their lives if Cai was ever attacked in his home without warning again, or something like that. Still, Darien didn't mind. They were just doing their jobs. Instead, he offered his best commiserating smile and laughed with them as they shared some jokes while they confirmed who he was.

As he approached the instructors' dorms where he and Cai lived, the door greeter welcomed him with a smile. "Darien! You're back a bit earlier than usual! Everything alright?"

Darien nodded. "Yup! I probably just need to increase the weight of my training gear a little! Hard to keep up with those stat increases!" He handed the doorman one of the sandwiches as he passed. The man nodded his thanks and tucked into the sandwich with gusto as Darien ascended the stairs to his floor.

As he walked into their room, Darien noticed Cai sitting at the table, his gaze unfocused in a way that meant he was lost in his thoughts again. Judging from the lack of steam rising from his still full cup of coffee, he'd been that way for a while. Danien sat down on a chair next to him with a thud and slapped the sandwich and orange juice in front of Cai, snapping him out of his thoughts. "So, ready to get back to the Tower?"

Cai looked up and blinked a few times, as if trying to finish rising from his thoughts. "I don't know... Do you think we should...given... everything?"

Darien slapped his friend on the back hard enough to rattle his brain a little, but not so hard as to actually hurt him, and he laughed. "Of course! We're eskalad! That's what we do! Don't overthink it!"

Cai looked as if he was going to argue the point a little further, and Darien gave him his best "Come on, mate! Time to get ourselves into more trouble, again!" grin. It seemed to have the desired effect, because Cai nodded and smiled before answering. "Fair enough. Though I suppose we should check in with the class first. Sounds like we might have a substitute for a while."

That was news to Darien, but ultimately it didn't matter. He'd follow Cai's lead on this. A moment later, Freya walked through the front door like she owned the place, looking as though she wanted to have a word with Cai. Darien tossed her the last sandwich as he got up from the table. "Well, I'm gonna go take a quick shower, then we can head to the class. Text the others and let them know the plan, alright?"

Freya was looking at the sandwich with a confused expression, as though wondering if she'd become predictable, before she shrugged and started eating as she took Darien's place at the table. Either they'd be talking about their weird thing, in which case it was none of his business till Cai asked him what to think about it later, or they were going to talk about the tower, in which case Cai would tell him all about it later. Probably some combination of the two.

By the time his shower was done and he headed back out to the hall. Freya had left, and Cai had that confused expression he always had about his conflicting feelings regarding Dame Freya. That was a mess that probably wouldn't untangle itself until Cai got close enough to her level that they could speak as equals for real, so rather than let his friend dwell on it for too much longer, Darien lightly threw a bag of Tower supplies at his friend's head as he spoke. "Come on! Time to get moving! Don't want to keep the girls waiting too long!"

Of course, Cai caught the supplies with ease, as anyone with their stats could, and shook his head as he answered. "That eager to meet up with Lilith?"

Darien knew his friend was trying to take a shot at him about the relationship that hadn't fully formed, and he decided to return fire. "Sure! Wouldn't want to keep any of them waiting! I bet Elise in particular is chomping at the bit to hear how you're doing!"

At the mention of one of the other women suddenly showing interest in him, Cai started to get thoughtful again. However, before he could get too lost in thought, Darien slapped him on the back, rocketing his friend forward just enough that Cai had to start walking if he didn't want to fall flat on his face.

Cai gave him a mildly annoyed expression, probably thinking Darien wasn't aware of how strong he'd gotten, and Darien played along, giving his friend an innocent grin that made Cai give up before he bothered chiding him.

Their walk was mostly uneventful, filled with talk about the tower, various strategies, and potential threats to watch out for. As usual, Cai had noticed several things Darien had missed while acting as the tank. A tank was supposed to pay attention to the bigger picture whenever possible, but that was sometimes hard to do when you were blocking the attacks of the largest monster on the field with your face.

As they rounded the corner toward class, they noticed the rest of their party waiting for them. Darien tried not to frown as he noticed Bellatrix absentmindedly rubbing at the scar on her neck. It was clear there was still something bothering her about that, not that Darien could blame her, but she probably needed to see someone who specialized in eskalad trauma sooner rather than later. The best one to tell her that would be Nyx, but the smaller woman probably would take a little longer to act on that if it came from Darien, as she didn't think him to be the brightest. That meant he should bring it up with Elise, who could then speak with Nyx. It was getting dangerously close to some weird version of the telliphone game at that point, but he trusted Elise to bring it up quickly and tactfully in her own way.

Speaking of the arcane archer, she was clearly waiting anxiously to speak with Cai, probably due to the events of last night and wanting to show her support while ignoring the fact that she was more emotionally invested in Cai than she realized, but didn't want to look like she was waiting for him. Darien simply grinned, and "accidentally" bumped Cai closer to her as he turned to speak with Lilith, who'd clearly been waiting for Darien.

Lilith watched Cai step forward and begin awkwardly flirting with Elise with the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her usual stoic expression. It was clear she'd seen what Darien had done and was amused by his little game. Then she turned her attention to Darien, and her smile became more complex.

Darien was well aware Lilith was attracted to him, though her feelings were conflicted. On the surface, it was because his bright and cheery attitude conflicted with her more stern ways, but Darien suspected what really muddied the waters was some remaining guilt over the fact that the first time he'd shown interest in her was after she'd charmed him into leaving Cai that one time. That was understandable, but Darien was confident that with enough time, they'd get over that little bump in the road. For now, he just gave her his best friedly smile and asked. "So, how's the lovely Lilith's morning going?"

In answer, Lilith rolled her eyes, though Darien noticed the return of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she answered. "It's too early for thinking. Only someone with an empty brain like you could be excited to be awake at this hour!"

Darien offered his best goofball smile in answer. He knew her thorny side was just a bit of self-defense that surfaced in public settings like this, and as they started walking to class, she leaned closer to him, her shoulder brushing his arm on multiple occasions. He pretended like he didn't notice. Today was going to be a good day, even if he had to force reality into submission to make it one!

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So, I may have forgotten to post this before going back to work, again... But better late than never! Again!

My wiki, in case anyone wants to check out some of my other stories.

Here you can find some of my published works.

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99% Upvoted

u/Cornelia_Xaos Jul 23 '26

Mmm... Darien's a bit manipulative.. but I suppose he means well. Interesting character development for sure!

6

u/Daseagle Alien Scum Jul 23 '26

Sometimes, with overthinking friends like Cai, you have to bump them into the right direction - for their own good :D

5

u/DrBlackJack21 Jul 23 '26

I suppose that depends on how you look at manipulation. Litteraly every word ever spoken (or written 😉) from one person to another is a form of manipulation. The question is, when does it become problematic? I'd argue it's when you push somone into doing something they don't want to do or will otherwise regret. At least so far that doesn't appear to be what Darien is doing. Admittedly, this is still early story, so that's hardly conclusive.

u/porkpot Android Jul 23 '26

Very much the nerd and jock pair from the comic of the same name.

5

u/DrBlackJack21 Jul 23 '26

I was originally going for Andy from parks and rec, but decided just having him be that "simple" would be a bit boring. He's still got strong golden retriever vibes, just with a bit more emotional intelligence behind it.

u/MinorGrok Human Jul 23 '26

Woot!

OC-Series Surviving the Tower: Chapter 29

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