>>6324495There was no way this gold was real. The Yasha were counting on the glitz of this room to cause you to forget the very name of the tower you were climbing. Trying to take this gold with you would make you look foolish at best, and present impending danger at worst. You leave everything where it was and step on the warp panel with Crowley, heading towards Floor 30, where Gyles had last been announced to be present on.
>Turn 20/40>Floor 30/40Arriving on the next floor, you find yourself amidst the makings of a great library. You and Crowley are sandwiched in between two giant shelves filled to the brim with all manner of books and tomes, and stretching onwards to nearly touch the room’s incredibly high ceiling. You pull one such book off the shelf to examine it closely. Just like everything else encountered in the tower, it seems real enough. Only the language the book is written in is strange. It is similar to the local Morfisian scrawl that you’ve seen, but at the same time different enough that you can’t make heads or tails of it.
“We shouldn’t tarry on this floor.” Crowley says. “Arios and Leonora were last heard of having dispatched the Guardian of Floor 25. I don’t sense their presence here. It’s possible they may be taking a short rest. But if so, they can come to Floor 30 at any minute. And with your Crest charges spent for the day, I don’t like our chances against them.”
You hated the idea of hiding from those two, but the man did have a point. If you were to fight either Arios or Leonora in your condition right now, damaged and Crestless as you were, the odds would be seriously stacked against you. You either need a full rest, another elixir, or one of those damn heal panels that supposedly existed. The two of you begin walking through the aisles of bookshelves looking for the exit off this floor. As you do, a shadow passes over you. Looking up, you find the source. A giant owl soars across the cavernous room. It lands atop a high above ceiling beam. Other than eyeing you curiously though, it does not outright attack.
“I take it that’s the guardian of this floor?” Crowley suggests.
>“Gyles must not have killed it. Perhaps he didn’t like the risk?” The beast was huge, reminiscent of the giant tiger you’d seen on Floor 5. And it looked even larger when it spread its massive white wings wide. It was certainly an intimidating and fierce looking creature, but it appeared as though it wouldn’t make the first move unless attacked. You liked your odds against this thing better than you did against your fellow contenders. As a winged opponent, you should have multiple options available for you to do effective damage against it, including your bow and your final charge of Macuil. And Crowley’s Wind Sword would also tear through those wings no problem. It was a good thing you’d gotten here before the other two did.
