Babel - 60 Knowledge

After leaving the weapons shop with two new daggers stowed away in his Inventory, Linnaeus began searching for his next destination, an armorsmith. He had noticed that most people had forgone the use of their self-repairing bodysuits so, if he wanted to avoid standing out, he would need to change his clothing.

For now, Linnaeus decided to stick close to buildings and alleyways, using the skills he had acquired in the slums to get a better grasp of the territory around the Inn. He knew the importance of having a proper grasp of the terrain around one’s home as it could allow him to escape pursuit and drop a tail if he was being followed.

Fortunately, while most people went about their business without paying much attention to their surroundings, Linnaeus made eye contact with several others in the same ‘profession’ as him. They too kept to the places where people didn’t typically look and, while they didn’t seem as active as the thieves in the slums, it was obvious the timeless trade had continued in the Crucible of Souls.

Had there been fewer thieves, Linnaeus wouldn’t have been able to relax as he couldn’t fathom the existence of a society that functioned in perfect order. He believed that the more peaceful a society appeared to be on the surface, the darker the shadows laying underneath. This was the conclusion he had come to after his discussion with Eliza and, after changing his perception slightly, Linnaeus had started to notice things he had previously overlooked as a result of the incongruous feeling that had plagued him since entering the Fifth Floor.

The blacksmith with a beard, who Linnaeus had come to know as Baro, had mentioned that this city was protected by the Lord’s Familia, Caulder. They were a large organization of powerful individuals who, failing to exit the Crucible in time, formed a contract with the Lord of the Crucible, the aptly named Goddess of Darkness, Tenebrae.

Though the terms of the contract were not made public, it was an inviolable truth that, in the central district of the Fifth Floor, the Caulder Familia reigned supreme. They worked tirelessly to keep order over the last 800 years and, despite many powerful figures passing through over the centuries, their rule had been largely uncontested.

From Baro, Linnaeus learned that the members of the Caulder Familia all wore a similar emblem somewhere on their body. With this information, he was able to glean some insight into the means used by the Caulder Familia to keep order as, during his skulking about, Linnaeus noticed that nearly every thief he came across had the identifying mark.

Eliza had mentioned that a structured society was very orderly but, from what he could tell, Caulder and his Familia were just a very organized gang. The only thing that made them ‘good’ was the fact that they were the strongest faction as, in the endless annals of history, the victor was justice while the losers’ reputations were dragged through the mud…

Fortunately, Linnaeus had come to learn much about the Fifth Floor through Baro so, even if Eliza and Emilia pressured him to stay for an extended period of time, he should be able to convince them to spend their time productively.

The Fifth Floor was a vast plane of various different environments, each rich with both monsters and resources. There, you could earn more Soul Kindling for yourself and, if you obtained rare materials, converting them into greater wealth, weapons, or armaments was an option.

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Linnaeus realized that the Fifth Floor was one giant trap but, considering what awaited them in the Fourth through Second Floors, they needed to be prepared. They only had a year since the time of their entry into the Crucible to reach the surface so, if they became complacent and used to living on the Fifth Floor, there would be no escape. From then onward, they would be bound to the Crucible of Souls until their bodies turned to ash.

While this may not seem like the worst fate, as living on the Fifth Floor seemed rather comfortable, the truth of the matter was that the longer you spent in the Crucible, the more of yourself that was lost. You would slowly begin losing your memories and, after a few decades, even your basic senses would begin to fade away. This could be tentatively treated by consuming Soul Kindling but, from that moment onward, you would need an ever-increasing amount to keep yourself functioning.

Linnaeus wasn’t fond of the idea of being trapped inside the Crucible until his very existence began to fade away so, in order to return to the Tower and reunite with Saht and his sister, he would gather the necessary Soul Kindling to purchase a new life from Tenebrae.

According to the information he had obtained from the inordinately kind Baro, reaching the First Floor alone granted you the right to make a contract with Tenebrae. There, in exchange for 100,000 to 1,000,000 Soul Kindling, you would be allowed to return to the world of the living. This value was based on how long you had been inside the Crucible of Souls and, according to Baro, how much the temperamental Goddess favored you…

Though Linnaeus had yet to meet Tenebrae directly, he had the distinct impression that the Goddess was over-fond of him based on his conversation with his fellow Party members. They all had similar experiences with the lascivious-sounding Goddess of Darkness and, prior to hearing her interact with him, her voice had been distant and cold when they had to interact with her.

Linnaeus had no idea why Tenebrae was so taken with him but, from what he was able to glean, she apparently just picked people at random to show favor to. He didn’t believe this in the slightest bit, until he could meet with her directly, there was no way to ascertain why she was so fond of teasing him.

What mattered at the moment was that Tenebrae’s ‘affection’ was a costly burden to bear as, rather than make the price more affordable, the Goddess hiked up the cost for those she favored. This was so that she could keep them in the Crucible and, while it was frightening to imagine, Linnaeus heard the Goddess kept a vast collection of the people she cherished the most back in her palace on the First Floor.

In order to avoid this ridiculous end, Linnaeus would need to earn upwards of 4,000,000SK as his instincts told him the Goddess would extend the same ‘favor’ to the rest of his Party. There was a good chance that Krone wouldn’t want to return to the Tower but, so long as he was Party Leader, Linnaeus would always look toward the ‘best’ route forward for his entire Party.

This was where the Fifth Floor came in as, even if you weren’t a powerful combatant with a high Level, you could still earn a fortune. There were various materials that could be found in the vast wilderness surrounding the five major districts circling the central region dominated by the Caulder Familia. Some of these could be exchanged for thousands of Soul Kindling at a time and, if you were fortunate, obtaining a rare artifact that auctioned for several hundred thousand wasn’t impossible.

The caveat to this system was that, in order to pass through the Fourth, Third, and Second Floors, the number of Soul Kindling you possessed determined the difficulty of the trials you would face. If you did not possess adequate willpower and resolve, passing through would be impossible as Tenebrae would not so easily allow you to simply move on whenever you’d like.

Linnaeus assumed that she used the first three Floors as a metric to determine the type of person you were so, after hastily moving on from the Sixth Floor, he imagined she was eager to force him into a difficult position. Fortunately, at least according to Baro, most of the challenges on the next three Floor weren’t strictly combat-oriented as it would otherwise be impossible for those with non-combative Blessings.

Without having to be asked, Baro had regaled for Linnaeus the tale of his own ascent through the Crucible so, unless the middle-aged man was lying to him, the information should be trustworthy.

From this story, Linnaeus learned that Baro had been required to forge one-hundred high-quality weapons back-to-back with the only rest afforded to him being when he was polishing the edges of various blades. If he stopped for more than a half-hour at any point, the room he had been forced into would begin to rapidly decrease in size, threatening to skewer his body with the very weapons he had forged.

This seemed to be an impossible task in Linnaeus’ mind but, from how Baro talked of the event, it apparently hadn’t troubled him all that much. Rather, it was the challenge on the Second Floor that was his undoing as he had been forced to clear nine rooms, each containing a progressively stronger Doppelganger of himself. He was only able to clear up to the fifth room before he was forced to give up, a right that was allowed to everyone at the expense of never being able to leave the Crucible in the future.

After failing his challenge, Baro was sent back to the Fifth Floor and, with no way to move upwards, decided to settle down. It was rumored that, if you lived a good life on the Fifth Floor, you would be given the chance to reincarnate into a better standing in your next life. There wasn’t any evidence for this but, after being sent to the Crucible of Souls upon their first death, many of the residents on the Fifth Floor believed in things like reincarnation.

Linnaeus felt that this was just something the ruling families came up with to keep people in line but, as there was no harm in believing in an ideal that made people live better lives, he didn’t mention his opinion. Rather, he eventually realized that Baro thought he was a girl when the man told him that, if he failed to leave the Crucible, he could always return to the weapon’s shop. After that, he began to talk up how ‘kind’ and ‘hardworking’ his grandson was, alerting Linnaeus to the misunderstanding his appearance had caused…

Fortunately, Baro seemed rather amused by the fact that he was a male and, towards the latter half of their conversation, he began droning on about eating more meat and exercising frequently. He even tried to convince Linnaeus to purchase a warhammer and a battleax, claiming they were the types of weapons used by men to build strong upper bodies and toned back muscles.

Though it was a uniquely ‘frustrating’ conversation, Linnaeus appreciated Baro’s advice as the man had given him a lot of information for no real cost other than a bit of his dignity. He was actually a little inspired to take advantage of his looks more often but, remembering the fate of many women in the slums, Linnaeus had no intention of following through on this urge. Though he might be able to trick a few people, there was a chance he would trick someone he had no hopes of defeating and, as a result, suffer an extremely terrible end.

To avoid this, Linnaeus had found a relatively affordable clothing shop before purchasing distinctly male clothing. He also used his newly acquired dagger to give himself a haircut as, without any real need to maintain it, his bangs had grown near eye level while the back of his hair had nearly reached his shoulders. In hindsight, it was easy to understand why some people would mistake him as a girl, especially with his small stature and thin frame. Unfortunately, cutting his hair actually made his face stand out even more so, after returning to the Inn for the night, Eliza pestered him for more than an hour before he was finally able to rest…