Silence filled the air as they walked, and after over an hour of that, Lukas exhaled, craving conversation.
He turned to look at lody who was walking beside him, her breath misting in the cold air as her eyes scanned the dark desert ahead on instinct.
"I’ve been thinking about sothing," he said.
She glanced at him. "What?"
"Businesses." He kept his voice low, making sure it was not loud enough to carry to the front pair. "I was thinking that we could have multiple businesses that we could build over ti into sothing larger."
lody was quiet for a mont, thinking about it. "Like an empire?"
"Exactly like that." He kept walking, a short silence between them. "From what we can already see, it’s more likely that the higher we climb in this Tower, the more opposition we’re going to face."
"With the one wish waiting at the top, I’m sure there are so powerful Climbers already way ahead of us, looking back and curating who would be allowed to climb up behind them."
"I’m sure there are Sovereignty Climbers out there hunting promising people from places like the Brotherhood to stop them from advancing up the Tower. We have no idea if we could one day beco marks like that."
"So what I’m saying is that strength matters, but strength alone isn’t enough. We need influence. We need money that works for us even when we’re on a dungeon floor sowhere and can’t touch it."
"The Le Fay family isn’t just powerful because they have strong fighters. They’re powerful because they have money and influence moving in every direction at once. They have the right connections to make people unwilling to touch them, because there could be retaliation."
lody nodded slowly. "So what kind of businesses are you thinking of starting?"
"That’s what I want to figure out." He looked ahead at the dark dunes. "What do you think?"
lody thought about it for a few strides. "Like Karrakas was talking about, how about an inn?" she said.
"We already know how valuable land around spatial gates is. An inn near a busy gate practically runs itself if it’s positioned well. With the three of us pulling our inco together, we can reach the goals faster. And in exchange, we get steady inco, and low maintenance once it’s established."
"That’s a good one. What else?"
"A pavilion," she said. "Or sothing like it. A trading post or an auction house. Sothing that caters to the elite, who would be displeased if we’re removed from the market."
"We’re going to be killing valuable beasts as we climb. Other people are too. If we build a place where they can bring their loot and get a fair price regardless of affiliation, we take a percentage of every transaction."
"We’d need a lot of capital to start that, and it’ll be even harder to break into the market, which seems like every major guild is involved in," Lukas said. "But it’s worth keeping on the list."
He thought for a mont. "What about information brokering? We’ve already seen how valuable current intelligence is out here. A properly run information network, with reliable sources across multiple floors—"
"That would take a long ti to build," lody said.
"Everything worth having takes a long ti to build."
She smiled at that. "What about sothing simpler to start? How about a supply shop? We can sell equipnt, rations, and specialized gear for new Adepts arriving on the Second Floor. With new Adepts arriving and the ambitious ones leaving to Tier 3 cities, I’m sure the demand would be constant."
"I like your idea," Lukas returned her smile. "It could work."
"Or we start a car dealership," lody said, and there was sothing in her voice that was only half joking.
Lukas laughed quietly. "We’d need significantly more capital for that."
"Eventually."
"Eventually," he agreed.
They walked in silence for a mont, both of them adding another item to the growing ntal list.
"Let’s stop here with the ideas for now," Lukas said, looking up at the two in front. "We’ll discuss this fully with Akira present."
lody nodded. "We’ll discuss it again when we’re back in Salaria, with all three of us at the table."
"Alright," Lukas confird.
Up ahead, Akira kept activating the headband, checking the seconds ahead of them.
The world fractured around her, the desert splitting into its familiar broken glass pattern as the next few seconds played out in front of her.
That was when she heard the loud screech, echoing across the night air. Then several more answered it, coming from different directions above them.
Her head snapped upwards, trying to catch a glimpse of what it was, but the ti ran out.
The cracks sealed, and the world resud in its normal state.
She turned to Karrakas imdiately. "I heard several large screeches above us."
Karrakas’s head snapped up to the sky. "How many?"
"At least five. I couldn’t get an exact count." She kept her eyes moving across the darkness overhead. "I couldn’t determine their rank either."
Karrakas swore under his breath. "I believe that should be Vampire Vultures. They’re able to mask themselves in darkness, so they love hunting at night."
He turned and raised his voice. "Lukas. lody. Stay on guard. You have Vampire Vultures in the air above you."
As if on cue, the screeching started.
It ca from multiple directions at once, overlapping with each other and filling the cold night air. Then one of the indistinct shapes in the air dropped.
It ca down fast and nearly silent, the dark sky making it almost impossible to track until it was already close. It folded its wings against its body as it dived towards Lukas and lody.
lody’s eyes widened as she saw it in ti, throwing up a [Hex Shield].
The Vulture hit it at full dive speed.
The barrier shattered on impact, the cursed energy breaking apart. The beast staggered in the air, several bones broken and its montum killed, its wings spreading wide to catch itself.
Lukas raised his hand and fired a [Death Bolt] directly into its head. The rot moved fast, killing it instantly, and the beast dropped to the sand.
[You have killed a D-rank Vampire Vulture.]
Lukas looked up into the dark sky above them.
"Be careful!" He shouted for Akira and Karrakas to hear. "They’re D-rank!"
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