Jace stumbled inside a local tavern, ordering a loaded mess of meat, unappetizing vegetables, and spare bread. He didn't care how expensive the succulent protein was nor did he give any mind to the long stares from the other people.
He must have fallen unconscious for days, judging by the new squads of Climbers that also happened to eat at the same time as him. Just not with the same pace and ravishing manner that the auburn boy was displaying.
Food had never tasted better in his life. His face could have been a mess yet there was no greater feeling than having both of his cheeks full of food. Through that repetitive trance of shoving his meal into his mouth, he managed to resurface through his indulgence and return to the world around him.
The tavern was moderately sized, occupying almost twenty humans and Climbers together. The interior was furnished with a majority of wood, casting tall beams with only the floor made up of paved stone. There were clear windows with heavy and dark drapes, the same ones that Jace had at his inn.
For a place that looked weathered by time, he was surprised the establishment could have this much business during the morning. Almost every stool and chair was taken.
Except for the empty ones near the corner of the tavern. None of them chose to sit near the monster that was actively wolfing down his meal like there was no tomorrow.
Though, Jace did enjoy the calm setting and found the taste of his food adequate. For a handful of chrome coins, there was a slight worry that he most likely overpaid the amount of pay but damages were already done.
He wiped his slathered mouth on his wrist, ignoring the snickers from the other Climbers. Looking at Jace in another perspective, he was probably hidden behind a mountainous plate of meat. It looked impossible to consume but his stomach was empty for days, especially after enduring the Curse.
As he repeated the same motion of tearing the cooked meat off its bone, his mind couldn't help but to concern himself with present problems.
(Curse of Unbridled) couldn't be destroyed. It had a defiant and resisting tendency to remain in his Soul like it was trapped there eternally.
'Like a curse…'
He refrained from knocking the clean bone on his head from the immature pun. If the Curse couldn't be destroyed, then the damned thing should be left alone, to never activate on his command. He should have been at least grateful that the Curse was an Active, not a Passive.
Because only the Tower knows what type of consequence it would have upon him.
With his Curse problem temporarily situated, he moved his mind into different matters. The actual goal when he had first arrived onto this Floor.
To strengthen his Soul.
Jace needed authority to ascend the Tower through Ports, and that was by confronting the mysterious woman named Agnes. But how would he find her? The old man left him without any clue to track her down.
Would he have to ask around the Port Town with her name, as if he was a lost teenager in search of their parents? No matter how ridiculous that sounded, it was his only chance.
He pushed away the empty plates of cleaned bones and crumbs, leaving the whole serving of vegetables alone. His stomach was full, and with his appetite satiated, it should be a few hours until the Soul heals him on its own.
As he turned back to the main paths of Sun Valley, he started to find the persistent shine of the sun mildly irritating. It was great to see the bright day but the auburn boy did not claim to be a morning person.
Walking down the steep stairs, and holding onto his silver sword like a supporting cane, nobody would ever expect he was a Climber. The pain from his Curse still lingered in his leg like an annoying ache, making the young teenager look like he was afflicted with a laughable condition.
But Jace had never cared about what people thought of him. In fact, his crippled state was enough to gain the pity of kindness from the commoners to ask them about the whereabouts of Agnes.
Some of their answers weren't satisfactory like he expected. When the name rolled out of his tongue, it sounded like he was speaking of a bad omen, writing their faces over in unease. None of them wanted to deal with her and neither with him when he mentioned the name. They would rather be left alone than be involved in whatever he was asking for.
Though with some time and tremendous amounts of patience, he managed to find the general location of the supposed witch of misfortune. The brilliant idea of moving onto the less populated areas of the Port Town, there were a few inconspicuous individuals that were already familiar with Agnes and her works.
They also wanted to know just as much for Jace, for a young boy waiting to conspire with that woman. He scoffed away any strange ideas and simply stated she had owed him something in return.
Looking at the limping boy with the sheathed silver sword, none of them had any further questions.
Some time later, Jace made his way to the far reaches of the Port Town, houses that stood closer to the valley's steep incline. The walk wasn't pleasant but the supposed woman was his only salvation to his journey as a Climber.
Not to mention that every house in this area shared that same hollow residence, despite being barely apart. When he had first entered, he could have sworn that countless eyes were glaring at him through the dark windows.
Though, he continued towards the described house from what they told him. The auburn boy could hardly bother against the supernatural.
This specific house was weathered down, with its bricks bearing a different color from the ones he saw in the main paths of the town. It was almost as if this area had never been touched by another human being. He found it hard to believe if anyone had even lived here, judging by the empty silence.
With no response to the knocks at the door, Jace looked through the dark windows, covered from the inside by a dark curtain to completely block away the sun's rays.
'Looks like I'm not the only one annoyed by that. At least I can find one thing we could relate about.'
He knocked at the door again, louder, so it was impossible for whoever inside to ignore him.
A few seconds later of constant hard knocks, the door had clicked from behind, with more clicks following the last.
'That many locks, seriously?'
Then the door opened, revealing a young woman with messy, dark violet hair that spilled over her very obnoxious thick glasses. Her face was thin and pale, devoid from any nutrition and sunlight as if she had been isolated in the house for years.
The young woman wore a thick bathrobe that looked too loose due to her slim figure. The lazy tie around her waist didn't help much of the slipping collar that showed a generous portion of her bare left shoulder.
But Agnes didn't seem to care how indecent she looked because there was no probability that anyone would show up to her door.
Except the exception of a lone Climber that had no other options.
'That…sounds out of context.'
Agnes stared at him for a few seconds, trying to figure out if there was a real human being that stood at her doorstep. It was like she was trying to analyze a new species of stupidity that stumbled on her home.
Jace was the first to talk, his words stable as they can be.
"I heard you can forge me a license for Climbers so that I could ascend through the Tower."
She squinted through the sun's rays and said back, her voice dragged with exhaustion.
"Who are you?"
"A Climber."
"No, you idiot, what's your name?"
"Jace."
She turned her murky, gray eyes into his. For a few seconds, nothing had happened between the two. Jace didn't know what she could have been asking for but the longer her eyes looked into him, he felt a strange sense of discomfort through the awkward silence.
The young woman wasn't passionately staring into his eyes. She was looking past him, into the core of his Soul.
Jace covered his chest in an instinctive response, as if she was inappropriately gazing in places that should have been private.
Agnes laughed, her voice revived from that dull tone, and gestured for him to come inside.
There was a little hesitation at first, watching her body disappear through the darkness of her home. The sun had barely provided a source of light, making him question the real endeavors of his resolve.
Of following a secluded woman in a hope to achieve new ways of strengthening his Soul.