Going to the next floor with an injured body and unusable Gift was not the smartest thing to do. Alexei knew it perfectly. But when he thought of the wrecked automaton and the dark mage who would definitely come over to investigate, he could not help but furrow his brows. Negative thoughts sprang up inside his mind.
To face a dark mage or confront the unknown on the second floor? Which was more terrible? He deliberated for a few minutes before he shoved away all hesitation. What a stupid question... Dying from monster attacks would be ten times better than dying from a series of dragged-out tortures in the hands of those crazy bastards. He had not yet forgotten that any soul they capture would end up a soul-fuel of their battle automatons.
So Alexei chose to call the fairies.
He knew that they were everywhere, or at least had ears and monitoring tools everywhere so when he yelled that he wanted to ascend, a fairy the size of a computer mouse immediately materialized before him.
With a smile on its tiny face mask, the fairy waved its right hand and energetically said, "Hi. I am a Tower servant in charge of sending challengers to the next floor."
It looked around a bit and when it saw no one else in that part of the forest, it asked, "Are you alone? Or are we waiting for somebody?"
Alexei replied, "Alone."
"Oh?" The mask the fairy wore changed into that of a surprised one. "That sounds sad. Even though you are a human and humans have the tendency to commit stupid things, it's still an undeniable fact that numbers give you guys strength. So why are you alone?"
Alexei failed to understand why it mattered to the fairy.
With mild annoyance in his tone, he said, "Can't you just send me to the second floor?"
Alexei went through a lot and experienced many deadly situations, but never once did he regret being alone or think of looking for anybody to help him. So he only became irritated when he heard the fairy's words.
"Alright. But before I teleport you over, may I know why you chose to postpone going to the second floor? Are you scared? Do you think your odds of surviving are very low because you're as weak as an earthworm?"
"If you are curious, how about you just follow me on the next floor to see whether I'm scared, weak, and have little odds of surviving. You done with your questioning?" A placid look was on the youth's pale face.
The fairy complained that he was no fun, had a negative IQ, and lacked humor. But because it lost its interest, it finally drew a magic circle around him using fairy dust.
He did not wait long for the reddish magic circle to glow brightly. Alexei tightly gripped his unresponsive Gift as he closed his eyes to protect them from the blinding light that engulfed his entire being.
"Done."
'Huh?'
Alexei was confused because barely five seconds passed and he felt no turbulence in the air. It was totally different from when the fairy teleported him to the arena with Mikaela. Was he not even the slightest dizzy because he had grown stronger? Alexei doubted it so he carefully opened his eyes.
"...So it's like this."
Of course, he would not be dizzy or anything if he did not travel across space or dimension in the first place. Alexei wanted to laugh when he realized that the fairy had trolled him.
"You're thinking too naively if you believe that we will teleport you directly there. No, Mister. Daydreaming is deadly here. You should climb your way up properly."
The masked fairy giggled and pointed its little finger at the thorn-filled sky-high flight of stairs that unfolded before them. The helix-shaped stairs had no railings on both sides and the steps were quite narrow so the entire climb was destined to be dizzying. One misstep would be fatal, especially at the higher steps.
Alexei's face remained expressionless as he gave the mischievous laughing fairy a frigid glance. Then he dragged his drained body towards the only path that would lead him to the second floor. The fairy stayed below, watching attentively and occasionally laughing every time it saw the faint shadow on the stairs flickered or slouched.
...
A sigh echoed in the dark stone forest.
"What a miserable scenery."
With the fake stars above serving as a source of light, a pair of emerald-colored eyes stared into the darkness ahead, facing the swampy valley hidden by the southwestern mountain ranges.
In the area ahead, there used to be a village on the right side, with tree houses that seemed to want to merge with nature. However, while the houses remained, blood was everywhere and no inhabitants could be seen alive.
Giada had just witnessed the carnage that the hooded dark mage started. The latter was ruthless and inhumane. Those that looked weak were slain without hesitation while those with strong physiques were captured. There was no room was resistance because the dark mage was like a black magic god that descended from one of the highest floors of the Tower.
'I can still remember their faces that were filled with despair and hopelessness.'
She watched everything from the beginning to the end. Her heart was very uncomfortable at the sight of blood that used to belong to the people who took her in for a little more than a week. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do since she was not strong enough to confront the dark mage. All she could do was pray for their souls to be accepted into the divine kingdom of the gods.
After sending off the old hooded figure with her eyes, a gloomy look showed on her face. "Why did a Dark Palace subordinate appear here?"
Giada recognized the attire of the dark mage. Actually, everyone who had been in the Tower for years would be able to do the same. Only enough time was needed for them to hear about the suspicious organization that suddenly appeared in the abyss and had a presence inside and outside the Tower.
"It's the obelisk?" The woman narrowed her jade-colored eyes.
She did not find it surprising that the magical item was in the possession of mere renegades. What alarmed her was the fact that people from the Dark Palace seemed to know that villages on floor 1 had the thing in them. When the killing stopped, the hooded old mage immediately pointed to where the obelisk was hidden while his servants wordlessly followed. It was like it was not the first time that this happened.
Because curiosity got to her and she felt the necessity to observe more for a more accurate report, Giada did not leave immediately. Unfortunately, despite trying her best to hide her presence the best, the mage was just very perceptive. He somehow detected her.
"Oh-ho. A rat."
'The heck! I'm like, more than a hundred meters away!'
The moment he turned around and stared in her direction, Giada felt intimated and had goosebumps behind her neck. She immediately ran the opposite way. Not even her brain bothered to make a mental retort to what the mage called her.
Of course, she did not forget to first cast a secret technique to send her coordinates to her colleagues. The spell that was cast using a special card let out a bluish-white glow which she intentionally showed to the mage. She was hoping that the opponent would also hesitate from entangling her.
Unfortunately, the mage showed no sign of stopping, as if replying to her that he feared no retaliation from whoever was backing her.
Giada clicked her tongue and blamed her luck.
She knew simply running away would not shake off the pursuit of a mage's long-ranged spell.
"Fairy!" Hence, she summoned a fairy and expressed her wish to ascend to the next floor.
"Oh? Another person who wants to go to the second floor?" Only a second passed before the flying creature came out of a rift in the space beside the running woman.
Giada had no interest in why the masked fairy put on a surprised look. While running, she simply nodded and said, "Yes, please. I would highly appreciate it if you won't ask any stupid questions. I'm in a hurry."
"No problem. The stairs are still there." The masked fairy giggled before it pointed a direction with its little fingers. Then its eyes stared meaningfully at the dark valley behind Giada.
Meanwhile, no changes showed on Giada's face as if she already knew that the fairy would not transport her directly to her destination. She simply headed to the location pointed without turning her head back even once.
The woman was very thankful that her shoes could boost speed and movement agility. Although she was not a Fallen Blessed, it was not impossible to dodge and run from destructive magic. She was also thankful that the rumors were true.
'... What a relief that no Dark Palace mage really dares to go near the stairway.'
Giada was panting very hard. After ascending a few steps, she looked down to see the hunchbacked Dark Mage watching her from a distance. A few servants from varying Middle Land races appeared behind him one by one. None of them moved forward which made her sigh in relief.
"Hey, Miss. I think I have to remind you that there's only one option once you step up the stairs," said a tiny voice that seemed to be coming from the void.
Giada's attention was taken away by it. A moment later, a rift formed beside her again to make way for the masked fairy. The latter circled around her before it flew in front of her.
"Look ahead." It was urging her to ascend.
"The thorns on each side are so beautiful, right? And the transparent step that lets you see below you directly just makes you feel like you are in a fairytale? How about you start moving?"
"... Hah. You witch." Giada involuntarily snorted as she stared at the faint trail of blood. She was sure that they were from the one who went before her.
She was actually reluctant to leave the first floor and abandoned her mission. She was also not fond of the idea that she would have to climb the sky-high stairs for more than an hour just to reach the next zone. However, was there anything she could do?
Since it was obvious that she had no choice, Giada just took a deep breath and began to take more steps forward. In her mind, she started drafting an essay of excuses to avoid being berated by her superior...