The moment we entered the tower, I saw the entire group disappear, wrapped in some kind of strange whirlwind, and when I opened my eyes I was in what seemed to be a plain with huge flowers all around me. It's a place that feels almost enchanted, and it gives me chills. I don't like knowing that everything around me is literally gigantic. It's very unsettling, but well, my goal for now is to find chests and then reunite with my teammates. I'm on floor number 5, which is quite low, so I need to climb higher to find my friends who are spread out across 30 floors. We're supposed to meet exactly in the middle, on floor 15.
So I start running, and I see a timer on my interface: I have 30 minutes to find chests with useful items. I make sure I still have the infinite bag that Iwwer gave all of us, and then I start looking for an exit to climb to the next floor, floor six.
I notice that the floor is perfectly round. I can see that the walls are covered in some kind of illusion that makes it look like the field goes on forever, but if there's a wall, the best way to find the staircase in a tower is to follow it. That's what I begin to do, and along the way I spot a chest. I rush toward it. The chest is large and excessively decorated with all sorts of jewels. I open it, and inside I find about a dozen white bracelets. They seem useless until I look more closely: "Grants resistance to cold." I guess that could come in handy, but anyway, the rule is that everything I find, I have to take, no matter how cumbersome or useless it may seem. I put them in my bag and keep running.
On my way, I come across a tall borrun with red hair and eyes of the same color. His muscles resemble those of Sang or Ithiel, and on top of that he shows them off proudly with his open blue jacket. His name is Jacopo, and it's not only his physique that frightens me and makes me feel in danger—there's also the Deadhorse he's affiliated with… Number 2.
I have to admit, I have no idea what that number actually means, but what I do know is that the smaller the number, the stronger the Deadhorse is, and thus potentially an heir. He clenches his fists and walks toward me. He's alone, but I'm alone too, and there's no way I can fight someone that strong. Killing is forbidden, but fighting isn't.
As he approaches me, I raise my guard and he attacks. I dodge the first punch aimed at me, then a second one right after. I barely avoid the strike, but it drains my energy, while his seems endless. Then suddenly he disappears from my sight—someone has arrived incredibly fast, and to my great surprise, it's Stellio, who appeared by kicking the borrun with both legs. I had never seen her move so quickly. She turns to me with a big smile.
"Ah! There you are, Roxy, I was looking for you."
Behind her, I see Deodat arriving as well. He looks exhausted, probably from running to catch up with Stellio.
"You're so fast, Stellio."
"I'm glad to see you both. Did you find much?"
"I found two whips and five baseball bats, and that's it," said Deodat. He managed to find weapons, which is great, even if they're not exactly the best weapons in the world for fighting.
"I found some extension cords, some cat plushies, and a pair of protective glasses," Roxy says, scratching her head. I'm not sure if they've been lucky or not, but they've each already opened two chests, while I only have a few bracelets—which I quickly point out.
We then continue on our way and manage to climb a floor. The staircase blends into the environment, and as we go up, the scenery changes a little. This time it looks like a small empty village, but still with those same gigantic flowers. We find several chests: I find one with packets of ice cubes, which I put in my bag, though I have no idea what they could be useful for. Stellio quickly finds two chests and gets 5 kg of carrots as well as three scrunchies. Deodat only finds five speakers. The problem is, the more items we collect, the harder it becomes to carry them around for a long time. It already seems heavy for Deodat, who, on top of the whips and baseball bats, now has to carry speakers too.
We didn't run into anyone else on floor 6, so we kept climbing: floor 7, then floor 8. Slowly making progress toward the fifteenth. Unfortunately, we found nothing on floors 7 and 8; all the chests seemed to have already been taken. Floor 9, this time, was divided in two by a silver-colored river, with only one bridge across it. As we crossed the bridge, we saw two young boys. They were both from Team 3. The first had a bow—his name was Evyatar—and he wore indigenous clothing, probably a guy from one of the islands. The other, named Sukrah, had slightly brown skin, messy red hair, one blue eye and one orange, and wore a student uniform. The first was an heir of Summer like Deepa, while the other was the heir of the 21st Deadhorse, whom I didn't know yet. They didn't seem to want to fight.
"Have you seen any members of Team 3?" Sukrah asked.
I shook my head in response.
"Why are you looking for them?" Stellio asked curiously.
"Team 8 has gathered on floor 13 and they're hunting down all the players. One of our allies was knocked out by the group."
A whole group on floor 13—that sounds dangerous. Deodat looked at me, wondering if I had any information on Team 8, but I shook my head.
"The only person we ran into was from Team 1, and he's very dangerous. You might want to search below."
"Thanks," Evyatar said, before leaving, letting the three of us continue on our own.
After some time, we reached floor 10, where we managed to find several chests. I stumbled upon wallets with nothing inside—useless. Stellio managed to get three scrunchies and three footballs, while Deodat found a phone and… a toilet. I was surprised too—I didn't think furniture could be found in the chests. It was a bit of a mess trying to fit the entire toilet into Deodat's bag. We had to try to carry it, but once inside the bag, it was swallowed up, though Deodat's bag became much heavier.
"This weighs a ton, seriously, it's not easy."
We continue along the path, helping Deodat bear his bag. We pass floors 11 and 12 without finding much; we saw a few people in the distance but I couldn't get their info, and finally we arrive at floor 13—the place where, according to the Team 3 duo, a whole team was waiting. The room was a vast plain with almost no hiding places except for the tall grass. In the center of the space stands a gigantic tree with giant apples, and I can also see Group 8. No surprise: it's Romuald's group with his four lackeys, plus another team that must have allied with them to participate; this other team, probably members of another guild, were watching the surroundings. At the foot of the tree I see several people on the ground, probably all knocked out since killing is forbidden; some are awake and tied up. Unfortunately, among those bound people I see Senga and Deepa — they must have been the first to encounter the group since they're already awake. But how to help them? Even though there are only 10 minutes left on the timer, the two girls probably hadn't finished opening all the chests.
In the distance I see Admetus bringing in a woman, probably about 23 years old. Her name is Prissy, an heir of the 15th Deadhorse, a woman with fairly short blond hair in a kind of bob, wearing a wool sweater with a turtleneck; she seems to have been knocked out by him.
We approach slowly through the tall grass.
"Where is that Panari we saw? Catch her!" Romuald barks at two members who teamed up with them; they immediately start searching the floor. They're looking for a Panari? That's a race from Halykone — satyrs. I look at Stellio and Deodat; the latter is horrified and saddened to see his two allies tied up near the tree.
"We have to free them…" Deodat says in a desperate tone.
"But how… it seems almost impossible… We have to go now."
"You're right…" he says with a small sigh, not wanting to leave his two friends behind. Suddenly I see the Panari they're looking for in my field of vision—her name is actually Dirce, a satyr woman with long blue hair wearing an old adventurer's outfit, an attire almost typical of Halkyone residents. She is the heir number 36. Suddenly she charges at full speed toward the group and knocks out a boy from Romuald's alliance; he screams in rage.
"Damned Panari! Capture her!"
A large part of the allied group—Romuald, Lynette and Admetus—set off in pursuit of the Panari. Only Wolf and Emilliana remain to watch the rest of the group.
"I want to take this chance to save my allies," Deodat tells me, and I nod. I understand how he feels because if it were Lesky or Amr trapped, I'd do the same.
"All right, but we'll have to be quick, and Emilliana will be a big problem since she's a borrun." Stellio gives me a thumbs-up and a quick wink.
"It'll work out, Roxy Rox — count on me." I look at Wolf, then turn to Deodat.
"I'll take care of Wolf, you untie your friends and we get out of here."
"Yeah…" I check the timer: only 8 minutes left to collect chests, and I can still take seven. Stellio and I glance at each other and charge unarmed at the group. Stellio heads for Emilliana and quickly kicks her in the stomach, destabilizing her, while I rush at Wolf and punch him in the gut.
"Oh shit, it's Roxy…"
Wolf falls to the ground. He doesn't seem strong physically—more of a brainy type, like Ulrich. I land a second blow to his face while he's down; I can't afford to show mercy to one of Romuald's allies.
Deodat takes the chance to untie Deepa and Senga, who quickly join us. Emilliana tries to fight back, but her raw strength is no match for Stellio's agility and speed. Stellio then turns and shouts:
"ROMUALD! ROXY IS HERE!"
I look in the direction Romuald went. His group seems too preoccupied chasing after the Panari, who was relentlessly striking at them. But now I see Romuald, Lynette, and Admetus running toward us.
"Let's go!"
We manage to escape together to the 14th floor. Deodat was slower because of his heavy bag, but we still got away. We had 4 minutes left when we reached floor 14, which turned out to be a forest filled with several giant trees like the one on floor 13, and multiple unopened chests. We all spread out toward different chests. I manage to find some arrows, though no bow. I don't know what the others found, but as the timer hits zero, we are all teleported into a room. Ithiel, Amr, Lesky, Ulrich, and Ashley appeared at the same time as the five of us. Since we hadn't run into them earlier, I assume they were on the upper floors.
Now we have 30 minutes to take inventory of everything we're carrying. So we all empty our bags and end up with a pile of random objects, but to make a simple list of what's most important:
Ten cold resistance bracelets
Two packs of ice cubes that can freeze enemies
Five swords
Five extension ropes
Three safety glasses
Five baseball bats
We've got plenty of other items, but that's all that's really useful in combat. Ulrich, however, seemed totally in his element—he's an heir of Knowledge.
"Football balls—if I add the can of gasoline Ashley brought back, they can be used as projectiles for Lesky and Deepa… I can potentially make grappling hooks with the extension ropes… and I should have enough with the perfumes Amr recovered."
Ulrich starts crafting several tools, and now we face a choice: we need to elect two team leaders for the battle. All eyes turn to me and Deodat—we were both guild leaders, so the role of Leader naturally falls to us. Once we confirm we'll take the role, we're asked to pick our teammates, and at the same time we're told who our opposing captains will be. I don't know if it's destiny or just pure coincidence, but we're going up against one team led by Curro and another led by Romuald.
"I'll take Romuald as my target. We've got unfinished business."
Deodat nods. "As you wish… Now, for the teams… anyone got preferences?"
Lesky immediately raises his hand. "I want to be on your team. I'm still furious at Curro for killing me during the last trial."
Deepa and Senga, who seem to have gotten really close since we first met, give their decision: "Romuald's group screwed us over, so we'll join Roxy."
Deodat looks a little sad and jealous that they'd rather be with me.
"Me, I don't care," Ulrich says as he keeps working. Amr nods too, also indifferent about which group he joins.
"I'll go with Lesky and Deodat," says Stellio, patting Deodat's shoulder.
"A cop and a thief—makes a good duo, doesn't it?" she adds teasingly, which earns a small growl from Deodat.
"I've never met Curro before, and my Vengeance Heir ability makes me stronger against someone I hold a grudge against… so Romuald is the one I'd prefer to fight."
Ithiel, the tall borrun—one of the heirs of Destruction—thinks calmly for a moment, then points at Deodat. "I'll join them. They need brute strength."
"Wait, so if Ashley's with Roxy? Yeah no, I'd rather go with Deodat," Ulrich says once he finishes his support inventions.
"You really can't stand me, Ulrich."
He shakes his head. "No. Not at all, actually."
Amr then shrugs. "So that leaves me. I'll join Roxy."
We record the groups, then gear up—ready for the upcoming battle.
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Lore informations
Jacopo : A 19 year old borrun from Holy Carmen, he works as a firefighter at Holy Carmen. He is a heir of the deadhorse of Eternity
Evyatar : A 15 year old boy coming from Palm Mountain, he is part of the indigenous part of the Island who's deep in the moutain, he is a trainee hunter and a farmer trainee. He is a heir of the deadhorse of Summer
Sukrah : A 15 year old student in the caliphate of Afnan, he is a studious student but tends to get in trouble quiet easily. He is a heir of the deadhorse of Balance
Prissy : A 23 year old girl from the Protectorat of Kaia, she works as a consellor in a famous entreprise who deal with selling cellphones and other electronic device. She is a heir of the Deadhorse of Spring
Dirce : A satyr coming from a small tribe of Satyr with blue hairs in halkyone. She has always been ready for adventuring in the world, she has never dared to leave Halkyone so she traveled and know Halkyone like her pocket
Panari : They can reach a height of 1.9 meters and a lifespan of 120 years, they are usually lean but can be muscular.They have goat like legs, short curling horns and fur covered lower body. They live in Halkyone, mostly in small villages lead by elders councils. They lives in forest and thrive near springs an rivers. Their houses are simple woodland dwellings. They are agile and can climb clifs easily, they have a natural sense of rythm. They are known as Musicians, storytellers, entertainers, travelers, shaman or druids.