The Fifty Floors

Favard paused on the stairs, convinced it was the right move but berating himself for taking it. "You made so many boasts when you went off to challenge the Autumn Tower, didn't you, idiot? Fifty floors of ferocious battles were nothing to you, even though a man able to beat a single one can pick up a captaincy in any country. So strong, so skilled, and you're taking a break after five floors."
The floor challenges justified the tower's reputation. The first was nothing much, just eight expert fighters all at once. The second floor, that one was serious; Tevarin the Hawk had won fights before. Blast Guzo not only won but rarely lost, Baugon the Spiral was enviable in his physique and his record, and then the fifth floor. Diphon Tuesday and his immaculate technique. Favard broke it, but could he really climb higher?
He slapped himself, and the mere fact that he remained conscious proved the weakness of his limbs. Nevertheless, he finished the climb and searched for the next challenge. He saw nobody, smelled nothing, and sensed no fighting spirit at all. He perceived only a sign. A riddle, then? Or some intellectual challenge? He read it.

Now HIring
Expert fighters needed to populate tower. Wait for challengers and take them on. Bonuses for higher floors.
You DO Have To Fight!! You DO NOT Have To Win!!!

After the commute Favard had in reaching the top and going back to the bottom, he understood the labor shortage.
Finis

Discussion Corner

When another Wheel of Time TV show is produced in thirty years after we're all dead, should it be a game show? That's what the name would lead one to suspect, after all. A history-based quiz show? A bunch of challenges like stand on one leg for three minutes? An endurance battle of flames and scorpions? That'll probably be legal by then.

The Christmas Endurance Challenge

Can you bear Christmas for more than a month? If not, you'd better learn how, because none of us get a choice.

Challenge of the Werethief

Crime! Police ran through the streets of Priscarbs but the news ran faster, the news that the Curtains of Heaven had been stolen from the residence of the Dowager Duchess of Vernaseges. Those pearls were worth more than half the city, and now they were in criminal hands.
Whose hands? Who else but Hisfendivarius the Werethief? Any daring crime was credited to that mysterious maestro of robbery whose true appearance was unknown. The hoi polloi would say Hisfendivarius stole the sun to explain a cloudy day and laugh at the police for letting him get away.
This time, though, it was true. The Dowager Duchess's servants reported seeing a hawk, a monkey, a cat, and a slithering snake. The police knew what that meant, but not what to do about it. Inspectors and custodes ran hither trying this and thither looking for that, each method seeming as good as any other when it came to catching a thief who had never been caught. Inspector Iagius had his own theory.
"Falgunus, if that thief has gone so much as a dozen yards away, I've never learned a thing in all my years on the job. But I think I have, and I think he hasn't."
"Yes, sir. What do you want me to do then, sir?"
"Have your restraints in hand and be ready to act on my word."
The inspector and the custos crept around the robbed residence, looking for a culprit who could look like anything. The wonder was not that Hisfendivarius stole the Curtains of Heaven, but that it took him so long to get around to it when his techniques were unopposable.
"Hold on a moment, Falgunus. I must tighten up my laces. I'll quit tomorrow if I trip tonight. Just stand right there if you would while I . . . Now! Get that zebra!"
Custos Falgunus twisted around and tossed his loop over the neck of the inconspicuous zebra behind him which struggled and spat and turned into a man. Hisfendivarius!
"You finally slipped up, my lad. If only you knew that zebras don't live here. I only know what one is because my little ones love the zoo so."
The crestfallen Hisfendivarius shook his head. "I don't know what a zebra is. I don't pick what I turn into, you know. It's just always worked out until now is all."
Another impossible case solved by Inspector Iagius!

Writing Exercise

If your writing is feeling stale, try crafting a short story without ever using the word "contumelious." That will make you consider the words you use more carefully.