ALL NOVEL Chapter 48 – Floor 6: Part 1
Chapter 48 – Floor 6: Part 1
The burning words of the completion summary lit the tunnel's darkness, allowing Mathew to see the destruction the explosion had caused.
The passageway had collapsed, and the air was filled with dust. Ken and Alivia were lying on the ground a little further in than him. The Drafter was still unconscious, but the teen was still alive and coughing from the dust.
Sagging back to the floor in relief, Mathew read the words hovering in front of him.
Floor 5 Complete!
You have successfully cleansed the Pit of the Greater Mimics and their experimentation to harvest Aether.
Completion Bonus: Any magical items placed in your inventory will now be identified for you. In the future, descriptions of an item's abilities will now appear.
Please proceed to Floor 6 within ten minutes. You must enter separately.
Mathew closed the summary, swiping his hand through the words to remove it immediately. He was too tired and in pain to check anything else, and he just wanted to rest for a moment. Unfortunately, Ken was in a better state than him and quickly scampered to Mathew’s side, forcing him to respond.
“Are you alright?” The Burglar asked, trying to help Mathew get to his feet.
With a put-upon sigh, Mathew slowly stood and regretted it immediately. Pain lanced through his back and scalp, the results of the superheated air burning atop him from the explosion.
“I’m fine. How’s Alivia?” Mathew lied, gritting his teeth and against the pain.
“She’s alive, but she’s in rough shape. And all her cards are gone.” Ken replied.
“That’s going to piss her off.” Mathew joked, understanding just how expensive it would be to replace them.
“At least she’s alive.” Mathew finished, patting the teen on the shoulder.
Another ‘Ding’ rang out in the passageway, and three elevators appeared, side by side. The summary clearly explained that they could not travel to the next floor together. Mathew and Ken were about to give Alivia a potion when she cracked an eyelid and groaned loudly.
“What happened? I feel like I was hit by a truck.” The Drafter said, her voice hoarse.
“Close to it, one of the Mimics hit you.” Mathew explained, and Alivia closed her eyes again.
“Did we win?” She asked.
“Yes, but your cards didn’t make it.” Mathew said, and he smiled when the young woman began to let out a series of curses.
“Relax, I think we made more than enough on this floor. You can buy a new deck with the Aether you earned.” Mathew interrupted her tirade.
The pair helped Alivia to her feet and guided her to the elevator doors. Saying their goodbyes and with the hope that they would meet again on another floor, Mathew entered his elevator, and the doors closed swiftly behind him.
He felt the elevator begin to move immediately, and he settled in for the journey. Opening up his inventory, the first thing he did was look at the staff, which was the last item of Oscars that Mathew had left.
The wooden staff was resting in his inventory, and it reminded Mathew of a broom handle. It was about five feet long and only as thick as his thumb. The description that hovered over it read:
Staff of Force
Crafted by the Forger ‘Oscar,’ this amateurishly constructed magical item will explode with force on impact, shattering the item but doing significant damage to your opponent.
“Of course it explodes.” Mathew muttered, identifying a theme with Oscar’s crafted items. Closing his inventory, Mathew switched over to his status and had his first look at the amount of Aether he had earned.
Name: Mathew Larson
Discipline: Trickster (Level 1)
Coward (Level 5)
Charlatan (Level 5)
Level: 11
Aether Required For Next Level: 66,000
Aether: 256,000
Attributes
Body: 2.8
Mind: 3.2
Spirit: 0.3
Blessings
Create and Control Flames III (Max Tier)
The Coward’s Brand (Max Tier)
Catapult (Tier 2)
Mathew was impressed with the amount of Aether he had earned on that floor. The Pit was saturated with Aether, and it showed by how much each of the defeated mimics granted him. He had enough to upgrade Catapult to its maximum tier and purchase two levels up, which he did right away.
After the feeling of euphoria swept over him from the level-up, he re-checked his status.
Name: Mathew Larson
Discipline: Trickster (Level 3)
Coward (Level 5)
Charlatan (Level 5)
Level: 13
Aether Required For Next Level: 91,000
Aether: 22,000
Attributes
Body: 3.0
Mind: 3.6
Spirit: 0.3
Blessings
Create and Control Flames III (Max Tier)
The Coward’s Brand (Max Tier)
Catapult (Max Tier)
Closing the screen once more, Mathew had never felt better. The wounds all over his body had healed, and the tiredness was once again gone. After purchasing a replacement outfit that consisted of a new white long-sleeved shirt, black jacket and blue jeans, he felt like a new man.
The last thing he decided to do was to check the ‘Judgement’ tab and review the comments and feelings of the gods regarding his performance. It was with a sense of trepidation that he opened the tab.
Displaying the top three most relevant Divine Judgements:
The god of Perfect Subterfuge is displeased at the actions of the Mimics. They have chosen to give you an Aether bonus on completion of the floor.
The god of Ruinous Detonations cheered at your destruction of the Pit. They have chosen to grant you the ability to ‘Identify’ magical items in your inventory.
The god of Crafted Possessions is pleased that you used items of its Demesne to complete the floor. They have elected not to grant you a boon.
Closing the screen, Mathew was once again struck by the mixed bag of responses. Maybe in the future, their judgements will mean more, but for now, it is irrelevant.
Mathew was just about to sit down and wait for the elevator to arrive at its destination when another loud ‘Ding’ rang out.
The elevator stopped, and the doors slowly opened to a blindingly bright light.
Mathew found himself standing on a white sand beach, the azure blue water spread out in front of him, sparkling in the sunlight. The day was warm, and the wind smelled like the ocean. He could hear seagulls in the cloudless sky above, and a few palm trees provided a small bit of shade beside him.
He was in paradise, the type of place that people would spend a fortune to visit for their vacations. But there wasn’t anyone around, not a soul on the beach or in the water in front of him. He was utterly alone, with no sign of civilization in sight.
Mathew’s silver wristband began to vibrate, announcing the summary for the current floor. Burning words appeared on the sand at his feet, informing him of the goal of this floor.
Floor 6: A World Divided
You have arrived in a world separated by more than just an ocean. Two continents have been at war for centuries, and the conflict has cost millions of lives.
The Empire of the East, Talrand, and the Kingdom of the West, Ama, are divided by the Azure Sea. Recently, steps have been taken to ensure a lasting peace through the marriage of the Talrandian Prince and the Aman Princess.
Objective: Travel to Center Island, the only landmass on the Azure Sea and ensure the marriage succeeds.
“Wonderful, who doesn’t love a wedding.” Mathew muttered, holding up his hand to shade his eyes as he looked around for a landmark or something to indicate where he should go. In the distance, he could see a rising plume of dust and white smoke.
With no other option, Mathew walked along the beach.