Chương 88: Book 1: Epilogue

Chapter Forty-One: Floor 1 Level 2 FORTY-ONE Roan woke as someone shook him gently. He wiped at his face as his brain shifted into gear. A bolt of adrenaline shot through him and he jerked awake, looking around the room as he saw dozens of faces staring at him. Standing up he discreetly checked his pockets and gear, making sure it was all there. From the frowns he saw on a few faces, he hadn't been discreet enough.

Everything was there and both manuals were sitting in the middle of the room with people still reading them.

Deacon snorted and shook his head, but didn't say anything as he pointed toward the portal. Roan looked over to it and saw that it was changing, shifting even as he watched. An alert appeared before he could really look at it. FLOOR ONE LEVEL TWO OPENING: 1 MINUTE 32 SECONDS FLOOR ONE CLEARANCE RATE: 91% LEVEL BONUS: 91% FINAL EARNING ON LEVEL ONE: 19, 013 CREDITS BONUS: 17, 302 CURRENT BALANCE: 17, 410 Roan felt a smile stretch across his face so wide it nearly hurt.

He went to access the marketplace and found that he couldn't, receiving an error message. Attempting to use this round's bonus on the level seemed to be frowned upon. All around him people were cheering or laughing as they saw their earned wealth nearly double in a second. Roan blinked the alerts away and focused on the portal as it changed from a sliver of space and into a long staircase. In seconds where there was once a slit in space there was now a worn wooden staircase, veneer stripped away by time and use.

Roan reached over and snagged the manuscripts, tucking them into his pocket before he jumped on the stairs. A few of the faster people were right behind him, their feet pounding the stairs as they raced upward. In a second the grove was gone and the only thing Roan could see was the wood rising higher and higher above him." Might have been dumb to try this so quickly," Roan thought to himself as he ran. The nap had helped and the exercise banished the last of the fogginess.

His mind cleared as he started to slow down, observing the space between levels. There was nothing to see. It was a blank space with nothing to observe aside from the stairs. Foot after foot, Roan marched up the stairs with no end in sight. He looked behind him and saw nobody, he was alone on the stairs with nothing on either side of him. A sense of vertigo hit him and he suddenly felt on the brink of falling, of sliding free of the stairs and tumbling into the nothing that lined both sides of the stairs."

Focus," Roan snapped at himself as he stopped himself from falling and started back up the stairs. Slower this time. Step by step with the same determination and practical efficiency that had taken him this far in life. Step. By. Step. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The vertigo faded as Roan focused on just pushing ahead. He didn't look into the nothing that bordered him. Just the wooden steps.

He lost track of time as he marched on his solitary route until it ended as soon as it began. Soft grass rose up to his shin as he blinked against bright sunlight that pierced his eyes. A bird cried out and wings fluttered from a tree, shaking free verdant green leaves. Roan turned around and looked at the forest that teemed with life. Flowers sprouted through the grass in a sea of myriad colors.

"What the hell?" Roan muttered as he shifted the warhammer off of his shoulder. The change in scenario was startling in its abruptness. Where the crypts had been devoid of any hint of life, he now stood in the exact opposite. LEVEL QUEST GENERATED FIND THE NEXT PASSAGE TO LEVEL THREE REWARD: PASSAGE TO LEVEL 3 TIME REMAINING: 5 DAYS (120 HOURS)"That's different," Roan said, turning around to see if there was anything that would give him a hint of where to walk.

"Just pick a direction I guess," he finally decided as he started trudging forward. The canopy of the forest was thick enough that he couldn't see the sky except in slim slivers where the sun streamed through. It gave the forest a dusky feel, warm but gentle. After the dust and stone of the first level, it was a welcome break. Roan sipped on his water canteen as he walked, keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't long before he found another of the climbers.

A man he didn't recognize in tower bought clothes, identical to what Roan himself wore.

"Hello?" the man said, a bit of quaver in his voice as he hefted a spear in a trembling hand." TRAP! This is a trap!" Roan's inner voice screamed as he looked at the apparently scared man who was holding a spear. He wasn't a good actor, whatever his name was. There was no sign of fear in his eyes as he looked at Roan with a predator's gaze. Roan blinked and looked around the area, trying to see if there were others waiting to ambush him.

"I'm Fred. Have you seen anyone else? My team disappeared as we went up the staircase," Fred said. Roan took a deep breath and settled himself down, getting ready to move.

"No. Haven't seen anyone around. We're you in the tower association instance?" Roan asked. For the first time, Fred showed emotion on his face as he blinked stupidly a few times before shaking his head.

"No. There's other instances? I guess that makes sense. There weren't enough people in ours, even before the anomalies," Fred said." They had the anomalies too. Wonder if it's the same scenario across all the instances and how many people have my mana core quest?"

"You going to lower that spear?" Roan asked. He thought he saw blood flecked on it, near where the spear head was attached to the shaft by the crossbars. It was hard to tell from the angle he was at. Fred smiled wryly and slowly moved the spearhead away from Roan, pointing it upward. Roan drifted toward him, ready to act at the moment Fred decided to show his true colors." The bonus. If he knows you earn money from killing someone, then this is the best moment. A nice bonus and you could come up quick."

Roan got closer to the man, his suspicious nature screaming at him to act now before Fred took the initiative.

"You haven't seen anyone else?" Fred asked, looking back and forth across the woods.

"No. Not a single soul." Roan tightened his grip on the haft of the warhammer. The spear had a longer reach than his hammer did, but if he was quick he'd be able to get inside of his reach.

"Guess we'll just have to keep our eyes open," Fred said, smiling woodenly. Neither of the men moved an inch. Fred's stiff smile started to fade and he shifted his weight back and forth slightly as the head of the spear dipped toward Roan. Roan tensed, ready to counter-attack, but before Fred could make up his mind there was the crack of a tree branch snapping. Both of them froze and looked toward where the sound had come from as something came charging toward them.