Return of the Woodcutter

"You're welcome… hum, what's your name again, handsome?" Donna said, smiling beautifully, with her white apron highlighting her smile.

Again? He didn't remember ever saying it once.

"Aito," He said, "Pleased to me you."

She gave him a wink, turned around, and walked back to her stove, her white apron, too big for her, weaving with each step.

"The hell was that?" Roan asked, "She never gave me that kind of smile."

"That's called flirting, and it doesn't necessarily mean anything," Aito replied. "Like most men, some women also like to flirt for the simple act of flirting."

"And how do you know that, mister playboy?" Roan asked.

Aito didn't know it, he just thought it was the case. Before falling into alcoholism, like most young adults, he had enjoyed life to its fullest. Meaning hanging out with women, having girlfriends, go to parties, etc. Of course, he had his own take on the matter, but he wasn't willing to discuss it with a man that seemed to be hated by most women.

He ignored Roan's question, and pointing at the water bottle, changed the topic. "How does that work?"

"Swapping topics like you do towels.… tch." Roan said, pouting like a child, seemingly unpleased that Aito had ignored his previous question. Although, as a guide, he couldn't simply avoid answering Aito's question. "Anyway… what you're looking at is a common item used in every restaurant… nevermind, it's used everywhere by a lot of people. To put it simply, by infusing mana into it, the device will attract particles of water from the nearest source. In this case, it was the humidity in the air, that's why it took about ten seconds. But if you were near a river, the bottle would probably be filled in less than two seconds."

"Interesting. Do you happen to have one of those for selling?" Aito asked, before serving himself a cup.

The idea of having a portable source of water with him was too enticing to let it pass. With it, he wouldn't have to worry about thirst unless he visited an area devoid of particles of water, which would probably mean he had died.

Roan smiled, happy to do business, and sold him the exact same bottle for 500 TP. It was a mass-produced item, so it wasn't that expensive. Aito stored it in his bag and continued to eat.

"Since we are currently talking business over dinner, how about I sell you bits of informations?" Roan asked, with greed shining in his eyes.

Aito lifted the bowl to his mouth, drank the broth, and settled it down on the counter before answering. "Hum, first, isn't that supposed to be free since you're my guide? Second, how can I know they are reliable? Third, Donna, can I have another serving, please?"

"Sure, handsome!" She said, immediately preparing another bowl of ramen.

"To answer your first question," Roan said. "I am only obliged to give you basic informations, like where to buy your equipment and such. However, if you want information on how to clear this place, apart from the obvious, you will have to pay an information broker. Which I happen to also be one."

Aito eyed him suspiciously. After all, that red-haired man seemed to dabble in all sorts of things. He knew about magic; he was a merchant, a guide, and now also an information broker. How could he not be suspicious of someone with so many jobs?

"Hey, hey, hey. This isn't what you think. I'm just a merchant." Roan said, before puffing his chest. "And a true merchant doesn't lower himself to sell only one kind of good or service. It also requires to be knowledgeable about what I'm selling."

"Hum, is that so?" Aito said, unconvinced. "I've never seen a merchant like that."

"Well, you've clearly never met me before today! Hahaha!" Roan boasted, laughing louder than what was appropriate.

"That much is certain," Aito said, snorting. "But are you reliable?"

Roan pursed his lips as if he had been offended. "Come on, Aito. Did I ever mislead you?"

Aito shook his head at the merchant's exaggerated reaction. How could he say that since they had only met today?

However, apart from his usage of Haggle, Roan hadn't misled him. And since it was a common practice for merchants to use this skill, it technically couldn't be considered as misleading.

"I suppose you didn't," Aito said, taking a sip of water before adding, "yet."

Roan pushed out a weird grunt out of his throat and drunk his sake.

"Oh, Roan's informations are very reliable. Because if he lies, he dies. As simple as that." Donna said, bringing him another bowl. "So don't worry, you can trust him as long as it's a transaction."

She then went back to prepare another batch of ramen.

"As the lady said," Roan added, serving himself another cup. "Information brokers are bound by the System. It works more or less like an oath pact. So the real question doesn't lie in trust, but whether if the information I know about is correct. But I assure you that you will be satisfied! That's a Roan guaranteed!"

The thought about Roan's obligation of telling the truth eased up Aito's suspicion. Although he wasn't certain since he had never seen an information broker die from lying, but he would naturally come to know more about it with time. For now, he could only trust his words.

"Fine, how much?" Aito asked, letting loose of his curiosity. After all, he did come here with the goal of clearing the top floors.

Aito paid 500 TP to start the explanation machine, called Roan, who cheerfully accepted the transaction. Then Roan used his authority as an information broker to summon a blue window. He then pledged to the System to only tell the truth. The notification window only visible to both of them confirmed his pledge and would remain by their side until they both agreed that their talk was over.

According to Roan, the Tower was composed of just ten floors and separated into four zones.

The first zone was the living quarters of the challengers, ranging from 1st to 3rd floor. Aito already knew of the Square and Mall. But he had yet to discover what was commonly called the Training Ground or 3rd floor.

"The clear condition is to undergo a week of training," Roan said. "There, you will be taught the most basic skill any combat class must know of. Very important, don't neglect it if you want to survive in the Tower or even in Iris."

Aito gave him a silent approval as he ate his noodles.

From the 4th to the 6th floor was the middle zone or also called Hunting Grounds. As for who was the hunter and who was the hunted, it depended on the challengers' abilities.

These floors were filled with creatures inspired by Earth's culture and therefore couldn't be found anywhere else on Iris but during the trials. The 4th floor was inhabited by goblins, 5th floor by hobgoblins, and 6th floor by orcs.

"Once you arrive on those floors, you will be given quests to hunt down a certain number of creatures. For additional rewards, you could, of course, hunt more. And since you've survived the black trial, you'll probably find these floors to be a piece of cake. Now, the real challenge comes afterward on the high floors."

High floors ranged from 7th to 8th and were occupied by beings that had succumbed to the Fear. They were devoid of fear and also known to be particularly violent.

"They are called Berserkers. Fellow warriors of Iris who transformed into raging monstrosities." Roan said, his face turning gloomy. He took another sip of sake before resuming his explanations. "These floors were built based on the idea of tower defense. Basically, you will have to defend your location against hordes of enemies for a set amount of time. I'd recommend finding partners for these floors."

Aito settled down his empty bowl on the counter and turned towards Roan. "We'll see about partners. I prefer to fight alone rather than being stabbed in the back by people I barely know."

Roan tapped the end of his empty bottle of sake, trying to draw out a last drop of alcohol, but nothing came out of it. He sighed, ordered another bottle, and said, "Commendable. Understandable. Yet dangerous. If you want to increase your chances to clear the floors, you will need partners, comrades, friends. Whatever you call them. Learning to cooperate with other people is essential in the Tower. Heck, even in Iris."

"It's not that I don't want to, but I can't just trust strangers right out of the bat. What should I do if I'm betrayed mid-fight? Should I just hand over my tanned ass cooperatively to them?" Aito replied, staring intently into Roan's eyes that looked somewhat different from those he had seen today.

Roan appeared more serious and mature. Nothing like the clown who kept throwing jokes at everyone's faces. He seemed like a different person to Aito. Although he could be wrong, since they only had known each other for a day.

"You look afraid to fail, Aito," Roan said, staring back into Aito's black pupils. "But failure is a necessary step towards success. Nobody ever accomplished anything great without failing first."

Aito frowned. That red-haired man wasn't making any sense. What was the relationship between being "afraid of failure" and his unwillingness to trust complete strangers? To his mind, there was none.

"Nevermind, just be sure to keep this somewhere in the back of your mind." Roan sighed, and as if nothing ever happened, regained his jovial side. "Anyway! What was I saying? Ah yes, the last zone, meaning 9th to 10th is known as the top floors from which nobody ever made it out alive since the creation of the Veil a long time ago, hahaha!"

That change of tone, facial expression, and weird laugh confused Aito, but he wasn't about to spend time thinking about it. He wanted to listen attentively to Roan's explanation about the top floors. After all, Belmand had 'tasked' him to clear them.

"If nobody ever came back from such a place for a long time, I suppose informations on those floors are rare, if not inexistent now," Aito said.

"Hum, for ordinary people, yes," Roan said, smirking.. "But I am a merchant through and through."