Chapter 386: Blue Rose
Kael stared at him. "We have already discussed this. I refused then, and nothing about nearly dying to a Death Knight has made guild membership more appealing."
"It was worth trying again. Eventually, you may become tired of doing everything alone."
"At which point I’ll consider bothering people I already know."
"You keep returning to my bar, so you’re halfway there."
"I return because you pour the drink before I ask."
"That was meant to demonstrate the benefits of guild membership."
"You already give me the benefit without requiring membership."
The bartender paused and looked at the bottle in his hand as though it had somehow betrayed him. Around them, the tavern carried on with its usual rhythm, glasses knocking against wood, chairs scraping over stone, and conversations blending into a steady murmur that made it easy to forget how many dangerous people were sitting within arm’s reach of one another. "I may have negotiated against myself."
Kael smiled and lifted his glass. "You should be more careful."
They spent some time discussing ordinary matters around Community Floor 2. Traffic through the transit points had increased, new Climbers were preparing for their first challenges, and several established parties were gathering resources before attempting higher Floors. News of Andre reopening his forge had already reached the Blue Rose, despite Kael having left the workshop less than half an hour earlier.
"That fast?" Kael asked.
The bartender shrugged while wiping down a section of counter that was already clean. "Climbers are terrible at keeping secrets when there’s money involved. A forge reopening means repairs, commissions, materials, and possibly equipment nobody else can make. Half the Floor probably knew before Andre finished heating the first furnace."
Kael supposed that was fair. Information moved strangely inside the Tower. Something useless could remain unnoticed for months, while a rumor involving equipment, hidden rooms, records, or rare materials could cross several Community Floors before the person responsible even knew there was a rumor to begin with.
Eventually, the bartender set the glass aside and studied Kael more carefully.
"You’ve been making quite a bit of noise."
Kael glanced around the tavern. "I’ve spent several days working beside a forge. Noise was unavoidable."
"I mean the records. Your name may be hidden, but people have started noticing that the same anonymous Climber keeps appearing in places he shouldn’t."
Kael leaned his forearms against the counter. The humor faded from his expression slightly. He had expected the records to draw attention eventually, especially after the Tower began throwing notifications at him with increasing frequency, but anonymous was supposed to mean anonymous. "How much attention have I drawn?"
"That depends on who you ask. I’ve found it entertaining. Leonard’s people appear considerably less amused."
Kael remembered the name from record boards throughout the lower Floors. Leonard’s achievements had remained untouched long enough to become standards by which newer Climbers judged themselves: boss kills, challenges, contribution scores, and several clear times that once appeared impossible. Kael had seen the name enough times that it had stopped looking like a person’s name and started looking more like part of the Tower’s furniture.
"How many of his records did I break?"
The bartender gave him a long look.
Kael’s expression tightened. "That many?"
"Every one you’ve encountered so far."
"That wasn’t intentional."
"I doubt Leonard will find that comforting. He spent years building his reputation by chasing records left behind by the Fist King."
The title caught Kael’s attention immediately. "My master’s records?"
The bartender stopped moving.
Kael realized what he had said and slowly lifted his glass, though there was no undoing it now.
The old man watched him over the counter as a smile spread across his face, slow enough to make Kael regret speaking even more.
"Your master?"
"Forget that."
"I’m old, not senile. That may be the most interesting thing you’ve ever said at this bar."
"You serve alcohol to Climbers. Someone must have said something stranger."
"Stranger, certainly. More useful? Rarely."
Kael drank instead of answering. The alcohol bought him several seconds of silence, though judging by the bartender’s expression, the man had absolutely no intention of forgetting what he had heard. Kael briefly wondered whether revealing that connection had been a mistake, then dismissed the concern. The old bastard already knew enough about him that one more dangerous piece of information probably changed very little. The Blue Rose Guildmaster was the sort to not expose his secrets. Otherwise the Sn Clan would have already known who he was.
"The Fist King left records throughout the Tower," the bartender continued. "Most Climbers treated them as impossible challenges, but Leonard spent years trying to prove otherwise. He broke a few, and that alone was enough to make his name."
"How many did he fail to reach?"
"Most of them. The Fist King was operating on a level that few Climbers could understand, and time has only made those records more important. They’ve become benchmarks for entire generations."
Kael could understand why Leonard’s achievements mattered. Millions of Climbers passed through Towers around the world, and most records were replaced quickly. The ones attached to legendary figures became proof that a higher standard existed, even when nobody else could reach it. Breaking one of those records was not simply about finishing something faster. It meant stepping into a comparison most Climbers would spend their entire lives avoiding.
"And now I’ve been breaking Leonard’s records," Kael said.
"Every one you’ve crossed," the bartender confirmed. "If the pattern continues, you will eventually take something important enough that Leonard decides to find the person behind the anonymous name."
Kael lowered his voice. "Has he already started looking?"
"He knows someone is breaking his records. He doesn’t know it’s you yet."
Kael’s decision to hide his own identity had never seemed more valuable. He glanced around the tavern, but no one appeared interested in their conversation. That meant little in a room filled with experienced Climbers. Some of the people here probably had abilities specifically designed to listen without appearing to do so.
"You’ll keep it that way."
The bartender folded the cloth beside the glass and met Kael’s eyes through the helmet. "You’ve asked me to protect your identity before, and my answer hasn’t changed. I don’t sell information about people who drink at my bar."
"That is an oddly specific moral code."
"It has served me well."
"Would it survive Leonard asking?"
The old man smiled. "That depends entirely on whether he remembers his manners. I become remarkably principled whenever someone tries to intimidate me."
Some of the tension left Kael’s shoulders. He had no interest in adding another problem to the list when his immediate concerns already included higher Floors, Yenna, the strange behavior of his runes, and whatever was currently developing inside the egg sitting quietly in his inventory. "Good. I’ll try to avoid breaking every record with Leonard’s name attached."
"That would be wise."
"I said I’ll try. I don’t usually enter a Floor intending to break anything."
The bartender glanced pointedly at Kael’s gauntlets. "Records may be the only exception."
Kael finished the second glass and placed it on the counter. Leonard could become a problem later. For now, he had come to the Blue Rose because of something far stranger than another offended Climber.
"What do you know about familiars?"
The bartender’s hand stopped midway toward the bottle. The change was subtle enough that most people would have missed it, but Kael had spent too much time watching enemies for small movements. The old man’s fingers remained around the neck of the bottle without pouring, and the relaxed humor that usually occupied his face thinned slightly.
"Enough to know that the kind matters," the old man said. "What did you receive?"
Kael hesitated before answering. He had already accidentally revealed one thing he probably should have kept to himself tonight, and the bartender’s reaction suggested this information might be considerably more valuable. Still, he had come here specifically because there were very few people he trusted to answer questions without immediately trying to profit from them.
"The status window calls it a Mutated Dark Beast Familiar."
The glass became perfectly still beneath the bartender’s hand. His gaze lifted toward Kael and remained there for several seconds longer than necessary.
"Where did you get it?"
"As a reward."
"From which Floor?"
"It wasn’t part of an ordinary Floor. I received it after completing a messed up sudden event.."
That answer changed the old man’s entire manner. He looked past Kael toward the nearest tables, then examined the far side of the Blue Rose as though checking who might be listening. One group near the entrance was arguing over some map, while two women farther back were loudly discussing equipment repairs. Nobody appeared interested in them, but the bartender apparently found that insufficient.
"Do you have the familiar with you?"
"It’s still an egg, and it’s inside my inventory. The shell knocked twice, but the Tower refuses to tell me how long it will take to hatch."
The bartender placed the glass beneath the counter and walked around the bar. His earlier humor had vanished, replaced by the quiet concentration of someone who understood far more than he wanted to discuss in public.
"We shouldn’t continue this conversation here."
He crossed to a narrow door at the back of the establishment and opened it, revealing a stone staircase descending beneath the Blue Rose. Little light reached beyond the first few steps, and Kael had been coming here long enough to know that he had never once seen anyone use that door.
Kael remained at the counter. "You’re making this sound considerably more serious than I expected."
"It may be. Bring the egg and follow me. Once we’re downstairs, you can tell me exactly what happened during that hidden challenge."
The bartender started down the stairs, then looked back when Kael failed to move immediately. His eyes briefly passed over the tavern once more before returning to Kael.
"This should be interesting."