"This isn't the time to play incest chicken," I said.
"Objections, this is the perfect time to play," Luna said.
Luna handed me a heavy pistol that felt even heavier than it had before my awakening. I focused on the gun before I did or said anything I might forget. My heart hammered in my chest.
A Nox .45 was a revolver known for its reliability. Its cool black metal finish never chipped no matter what it bumped against. It kicked like a centaur and jammed my wrist when I fired it too much. I always fired it at paper targets and the occasional deer during hunting season.
I piled a few empty duffle bags in Luna's trunk. My gaze wandered to the street. The umbrella tree Sable loved to read under swayed under a gentle breeze. Strange, this was the time Sable normally walked out. I turned my alarm to look out the window to escape more questions from Luna. It was strange Sable didn't climb today, and her siblings were out. What could be keeping her?
My core throbbed in anticipation for the coming climb. It would be my first in a tower. The essence would be rich. What kind of drops would my ability grant me?
Did it matter I couldn't sell them directly? The dumb articles of mercantilism forbid it.
I shut the trunk and saw Lung standing next to me, arms crossed. "You need to get a better handle on your surroundings. And stop making your peeking obvious. You're a man now, so I can't keep covering for you."
"What's your problem? I'm not that bad." She flashed her teeth, and I knew better than to try her patience. More than a few lost wrestling matches taught me to be careful.
"Maybe this will be good for you," Luna said.
Luna had a red core while mine was black; a realm of difference separated us. The same with Sable. I recalled their competitions to advance within a year after awakening. I wanted to beat their time and catch up. For that, I needed resources.
I couldn't sell dropped weapons or gear. The articles forbid it. A single identify would see me saddled with a heavy fine.
We packed into her care and drove off toward a black tower. I memorized the roads as we made small talk. I asked her about the mobs, but she wouldn't answer. I didn't like the mystery, but I couldn't force the information out of her.
I couldn't approach Sable as more than a friend until I was on equal standing with her. People at different realms lived different lifespans. A black core, the most common ascender, could expect to live to two hundred. The numbers climbed higher after that. I don't recall a single ascender above the red tier who died of old age.
"Check your wallet and make sure your permit is there." I held it out to her, and she pushed down on the gas. The auto driver took over, and we merged into high-speed traffic. The car moved at a comfortable hundred and fifty miles per hour, putting me to sleep.
I woke up on a turn when the tower came into view. From a distance, it looked like a splinter in the ground. This was a black tower; it had nine floors, each one larger than the last. On the outside, it was twelve miles in diameter. Inside, it was much larger. A hissing sound filled the air until it became a roar. The structure of stone and cooling fluids poured essence steam into the clouds. The essence density had tripled, and we weren't inside yet. Outside my window, I saw ascenders with rifles putting down massive bug monsters. Their heavy silencers muffled the gunshots.
"I hear those jobs pay well and the pest control is always in demand. You could spend your time in high concentration zones and earn some money." She turned her head, spotting something in the bushes. Eye stalks emerged, and a snail monster opened its maw wide. One of the exterminators vanished down the monster's gullet before it hid in that same bush. "You know what I would understand if you don't want to become an exterminator after all."
"Did he at least go quickly?" I asked.
"Sure," Luna said.
So he was probably still alive and dying slowly. I closed my eyes and cursed.
Luna dialed in a number and reported the monster stealth-killing exterminators.
"I'm not against the job. I'll be more careful than that guy," I said.
"We can get you some detection skills. Loot drop might give you some good ones." Luna said.
This wasn't my first time seeing someone die in front of me. We lived in a dangerous world. Ascenders could make a lot of money or die horribly. Those with regeneration or durability abilities often survived long enough to move up the ranks. They were valued more than guys like me for that. Rumor had it that some could become stronger as they regenerated. Forget diamonds in the rough; those people were the jewels on the crown.
When I was mad at my sister, I didn't want to hear sense from her. Locked in the car, there was nothing else to do but think. I didn't like the sound of working for the government. But being in high-essence-density zones for longer would help me ascend faster.
Despite what I saw, becoming an exterminator wasn't the most dangerous job I could go for. Entry requirements were low because turnover was high. If I lasted a few months, I could put it on my resume and go for a better job. Exterminators gained a lot of experience with a variety of monsters.
I would need to take a field test. Depending on the scores, I might get a head start and the pill I need. Or I could use the money and purchase an alchemist slot at the local alchemy camp—two weeks of nothing but alchemy for fourteen days, with a test and certificate at the end. I can't sell what my ability conjures from the monsters, but I could sell anything I made with ingredients from my loot drops. I needed eight thousand dollars and anything that might enhance my mind and dexterity.
Exterminators kept tower monsters from overrunning towns and harming innocent people. I think I was going to do it. I glanced at the uniforms of the exterminators we passed. The Aesir company has an opening. Heck, they might have many by the end of the day. That snail was crafty.