The second my foot passes through the doorway, I immediately find myself standing before a large steel gate surrounded by a huge stone wall.
The experience of walking through the door is incredibly disorienting, and the abrupt change in scenery makes me gasp as I do a little spin to reorient myself. Pawl seems unperturbed by the instantaneous teleportation, so I take his calm demeanor as a good sign and use the chance to check out the surroundings. Other than the giant gate in front of me and the wall that spans as far as I can see to my left and right- there really isn’t much else to look at. In the other direction of the wall is just mounds of rock and deep craters as far as the eye can see. The entire place reminds me of the Moon except for the Gate to Heaven sitting a couple meters away from me.
I can’t really force myself to be too interested in the bland surroundings due to how Floor One ended, so I instead just turn my attention to the new screen in my face.
[Welcome to Floor Two: The Silent Castle]
< You have received a new quest. >
[Quests]
Gain entry to the Castle
-Skill Evolution of Choice
Raise four skills to level 10
-Passive Skill of Choice
I read through the new quest with mild interest. The reward sounds pretty nice and gives me a few new ideas, but I can’t really make myself excited since I can also see that the entrance to Floor Three isn’t a reward listed. This means that there is some other hidden quest or second part of the floor objective that I don’t know about yet which makes me nervous. I have a few other notifications as well regarding my rewards from completing Floor One, but I don’t bother to open them just yet. Instead, I set Pawl on the ground, and we both approach the large gate.
As I get within touching distance, I spy tiny lines racing across whatever heavy metal the gate consists of. They look like super complex versions of what I saw the goblin enchanters creating, so I reach forward to run my fingers along the delicate inscriptions. Before I can even make contact, a blue shimmer appears and zaps me. I recoil my hand and inspect the damage, but there isn’t much more than a faint red burn.
“Am I supposed to figure out how to open it myself? Seems a bit cruel if you ask me but I guess that makes sense for DIC difficulty.”
I attempt to reach for different parts of the gate, slowly making my way down the wide surface as I continuously zap myself over and over again. Part of me thinks I might not be thinking straight, but I ignore the brief thought and continue to get my nervous system shocked like I’m a dog who doesn’t understand what the word ‘No’ means.
“Step away from the gate,” A gruff voice booms from somewhere above me.
Moreso startled from the abrupt command than actually compliant, I stumble away from the gate and crane my neck to see where the voice came from. Unfortunately, either the angle of the wall is too sharp, or the wall itself is just too tall, as I cannot spot anyone peering over the edge. I wait a couple beats before attempting to approach the giant doorway again, but before I can get close, a low groan sounds out, and I begin to hear metal screech as the gate slowly rises.
As if signaled by the gate opening, I hear a roar in the distance behind me.
“What the hell are you doing? Get inside right now!”
The voice has a slight panic in its tone, so I quickly run alongside Pawl and duck underneath the huge slab of steel to emerge on the other side of the wall. Almost immediately, a loud thump sounds out behind me as the gate is closed hurriedly and a plume of dust causes my eyes to sting. I can’t see very well, so I wipe at my eyes with the back of my fist.
Suddenly, I hear a cacophony of scraping on the other side of the gate. The metal is very thick, maybe a couple of meters in width, yet I can still hear the soft squeals of whatever is on the other side as the gate’s defensive inscriptions fire up.
“Are you stupid? Why were you just standing around out there? Do you want to be monster food?”
The dust settles and I can finally see a man standing in front of me.
< Stalwart Defender - Level ??? >
The icon hovers above an angry man looking to be in his early thirties and covered in thick plate armor. I just sit and stare with my mouth agape while I read his level description. Is this another human or is it a mob?
“What are you mute or something? I said to tell me what the hell you were doing out there?”
The man approaches me with a hand firmly placed on a fancy looking sword strapped to his waist. I suddenly remember the fact I am almost naked and covered with all kinds of filth, so I lick my lips and do my best to stand up straight and look innocent while words begin to fall out of my pie-hole.
“Ah, um, well you see, I don’t know why I was out there. I mean I know that I was out there but I wasn’t trying to do anything wrong or weird and this is just goblin guts and a little of my pee and I wasn’t trying to be a problem for you but like I think we got off on the wrong feet or I mean foot so if we could just talk this out like fellow gentlemen I would appreciate it and I’m sorry.”
The man’s face instantly turns from anger to pity which somehow makes me feel even worse. I watch as he calls out to a guard tower near the edge of the wall and two more plated people come marching out. My brain fumbles in its attempts to make more words, so I just sit quietly like an idiot while he confers with the two guards.
“Based on his level and obvious ignorance, I assume the boy is another one of those Fallen. Take him to the camp with the rest of them and tell Garf to punish the one that said there were no more Fallen on the way,” The man tosses me another glance before turning back around, “And make sure that one sees the medic because I’m pretty sure he hit his head.”
I just stare at the ground in embarrassment and confusion while the gruff man walks off back toward the guard tower, not even sparing me another look. I listen to the crunch of gravel as the other two guards approach.
< Rune Wielder - Level ??? >
< Physique Builder - Level ??? >
It’s hard for me to see their faces through the armor they wear, but the Rune Wielder is slim and tall while the Physique Builder is slightly shorter but much wider. They don’t even bother to say anything, and instead just gesture for me to follow while they turn toward what looks like a stable that is attached to the side of the wall. I stumble after them as I finally take a moment to identify my environment. The ground is identical to the cracked rock that was outside the wall, but I can see greenery and buildings in the distance as well as a tightly packed city farther away.
As we arrive at the stable, I cringe back as the two guards saddle up a hefty looking bull to a small cart. The wide one begins loading the cart with a couple boxes, but the slim one turns to me after having noticed my trepidation.
“Scared of bulls or something, kid?” He says with a small chuckle.
I quickly school my expression while shaking my head and stiffly walk forward to mount the cart. The builder makes an annoyed huff while he continues to load the cart next to me.
“Too good to help out a bit, huh? All you Fallen act like you’re something special,” he grumbles.
The rune wielder snorts and thumps his buddy on the shoulder, “Look at him. His hand looks like a Freylith sat on it, and he has about as much muscle as a newborn. Do you really want him helping out, Brian?”
‘Brian’ just offers an unintelligible grumble, and they soon finish up the loading process and begin mounting the cart. I sit silently in back with the boxes while the other two sit up front and talk to each other like I don’t exist. A small bag and waterskin are tossed to floor near me by the slim guard, but he doesn’t say anything and continues his discussion with Brian.
I silently thank the rune wielder and guzzle down half the water skin in one go before moving onto the bag. Inside there are a couple pieces of stale bread and some kind of dried meat. I don’t bother with saving any for later and quickly devour the small meal while giving a few precious pieces of meat to Pawl. I think briefly about thanking the man out loud, but the thought dies away the next second and I instead gaze out at the passing land while I retreat into my mind and pet the cat snuggled up to my feet.
The bull tows the cart at a steady pace, and I can’t help but glance at the large creature every so often. The end of Floor One plays over and over in my mind, but I can’t think of a single way that I could have survived the Rogue Exterminator if I were to go back and do it again.
It is clear that the minotaur let me live.
I assume it has something to do with the quest itself, as I don’t believe for a second that the minotaur spared me by choice. That thing was a stone-cold machine created with the sole purpose to kill every single goblin in that forest. I guess I inadvertently assisted with its mission which is the only reason I am still alive to tell the tale now.
It’s so goddamn frustrating.
There is no way I could have killed the minotaur even with all the time in the world. Hell, the goblin enchanters would probably have wiped the floor with me even if I somehow got to their level.
I can’t bear it. This feeling of complete powerlessness is something I was foolish enough to believe that I would never feel again. I was given a miraculous recovery and supernatural powers and yet I am still helpless when it comes to something with a higher level than me. I mean, I was even at a higher level than some of the goblins I fought and I still barely won. I need to do better. I need to try harder.
Mana flows through the network in my body and reaches toward the surface of my skin where I try to push it out as far as possible. It gets a finger’s length in distance away before my concentration breaks like all the attempts before and the mana unravels into the air. A thought occurs to me, and I pull up one of my rewards from clearing Floor One. A small list appears in the air, and I slowly look through it before I select a small dagger that appears in my hand.
[Iron Alloy Dagger] – Common
< A basic dagger with no enchantments and a dull edge. >
I can immediately tell that the knife is of even worse quality than the ones I found on the goblin seeker from Floor One. Unfortunately, I lost those along with the belt during my run through the ashen forest, so I am only left with this crappy weapon. I begin funneling mana through my hand and into the small blade using . It was something I hadn’t had the chance to try back then, but I can feel the skill seamlessly fill the iron with mana.
< Infuse Lvl. 4 -> Infuse Lvl. 5 >
The expected level notification comes in, but I dismiss the screen and play around with the knife and my skills while I replay the memories of the minotaur arriving at the camp and tearing through the goblins at speeds faster than I could perceive. I think about the bulky and lethal body of the giant bull. The way it surveyed the field with cold precision before bulldozing through the goblin’s defenses like they were made of paper. I hear a muffled voice to my side, but I ignore it and continue analyzing the way the minotaur moved. I think about the goblin enchanter that pulled ahead of its group and began weaving complicated spells in the air. I think about how all of that effort was worthless as the goblin evaporated before I could even react.
Suddenly, I feel pain bloom on my head, and I turn around in surprise to see Brian holding his hand up while he appears to be talking to me. I can see a screen in my peripheral vision, but I don’t read it just yet as I try to listen to what the man is saying.
“-swear I told you to cut that out! This suit is hot enough as it is. I don’t need you turning it into a furnace you hear me?”
I soon realize that I had unconsciously been pushing the output of too much, and a visible heatwave was surrounding me due to my incompetence. I hastily get the output back under control and direct most of the emission out toward the back of the cart away from the men. The itch becomes more prominent as I restrict how much radiation I let spill from my skin, but I accept the discomfort as to not annoy Brian again.
The rune wielder gives me a weird look with Brian before turning back to the road, and after making certain I have a hold on my skill, I turn back toward where a screen is waiting for me.
< You have learned the skill: Fixation >
< Cogitation Lvl. 9 -> Fixation Lvl. 2 >