Aectaeon stared at the panels for a short while more.
At first, there was just a puzzled expression on his countenance. His eyebrows furrowed deeper, making the lines on his forehead appear. His mouth slowly went agape which then revealed his desire to articulate his confusion.
In the next second, his bewilderment developed into something else. He slowly balled his hands into a fist, cracking his joint while he was at it. His gritted teeth had hidden his tensed tongue though the rest of his face was relaxed. The tips of his ears became flushed when the corners of his eyes began to twitch.
Ralkias, in the meantime, allowed Aectaeon to process all of the information he was seeing. A smile crept up his lips.
'He's more concerned than I thought.' Ralkias thought as he averted his gaze away from Aectaeon.
After a few minutes more, Aectaeon finally became conscious of his companion. He quickly turned his head towards the man and bowed.
"I uhh- apologize. There's just too much information to take that I didn't know where to start."
Ralkias patted his shoulder and replied, "Don't worry. If anything, I should be apologetic for bringing you here all of a sudden."
"I was on my way here from the beginning. It's fortunate that I have a companion."
"Well, do you still have anything to do here? How about going somewhere else? The crowd here is enormous. We can't converse here in private."
Aectaeon brought his hand to his chin and deliberated Ralkias' suggestion. In the end, he acceded with a nod.
"Then, how about going to the," Ralkias leaned down to Aectaeon's ear and whispered, "51st floor?"
Needless to say, Aectaeon felt like he was struck by lightning. And it all became clear to him.
Sans a word of reply, Aectaeon led the way towards the light pillar. Ralkias followed him without a complaint.
Silence accompanied their short trip, bordering the awkward side rather than comfortable. They stopped by the 33rd floor again since they believed that the floor currently had the least players on it.
They spent an entire ten minutes walking around in the darkness. Aectaeon was doing his own thinking while Ralkias let him have his space. They immediately headed back to the light pillar once they could use it anew.
In no time at all, they arrived at the 51st floor.
Ralkias foremost checked whether the last of the three players who had access was on the floor. When he saw that he was alone with Aectaeon, he sighed deeply.
'It would've been a great help if there's another person that can provide information.' Ralkias mulled over as he mindlessly went along behind Aectaeon.
Soon enough, Aectaeon stopped in his tracks and sat on the ground. Ralkias followed suit, but he was still busy accommodating his musings.
"Ralkias," Aectaeon called.
But to no avail, Ralkias didn't seem to have heard him. Aectaeon placed a hand on the man's shoulder and hit it with a bit of force. Though Ralkias didn't flinch at the hit, it was sufficient in gathering his attention.
"Yes? What's the problem?"
"Do you need more time before sorting out your thoughts?"
Ralkias shook his head, saying, "No, not at all. So what do you want to clarify?"
"You're one of the three who were transmigrated already, no?"
Before responding, Ralkias raised his hand.
"In exchange for answering your questions, you also have to answer mine. I won't accept anything else."
Aectaeon hurriedly agreed to the arrangement. Even if he had reservations as to whether he could provide crucial information, he was confident in being honest. He was still thankful that he would be benefiting from the exchange.
"Alright," Ralkias said with a nod, "To answer your question, yes, I'm one of the three, and you are as well. As for the last person, I haven't encountered them yet."
"Now that you mention it, did you know about my identity from the start? Right when we met?" Aectaeon inquired as he put his hands on the ground, leaning his weight on them.
"Don't you have to answer my question first?"
Upon hearing Ralkias' reply, Aectaeon felt the urge to click his tongue. But he suppressed it in an instant by putting an uncanny smile on his face.
Ahead of speaking, Ralkias stretched his legs out. He was standing for far longer than Aectaeon was, perhaps from the very beginning of his arrival at the Obelisk. Moreover, Ralkias never got the chance to relax in the game world he was sent to.
As he was about to tattle his query, Ralkias closed his mouth forthwith. He laid down on the grass and let himself be embraced by comfort. Aectaeon could see the wrinkles under the man's eyes, so he didn't bother pressing him for answers.
'I still have more than three hours to kill. Besides, I do need rest. Should I also lie down?'
The second he thought of the idea, Aectaeon's body acted on it. He was shortly on the ground, nuzzling the soft blades of grass and the gentle wind.
Without warning, Ralkias spoke which made Aectaeon wince a little.
"Was your question chosen by Luluwa?"
Aectaeon didn't take his gaze off of the pseudo blue shade of the sky. He went and took a deep breath as he gave a rejoinder.
"Yes, to be specific, I asked if I can replace one of the guides by killing them."
Ralkias snorted, remembering how Luluwa's face looked upon seeing that query.
"That was quite a spectacle. I should be thanking you for asking that question. That Luluwa didn't strike me as humble from the start. She always comes off as if she knows everything when she, in fact, doesn't."
"Right, that pissed me off as well. But it's not like we have the power to go against them."
"Yet… We don't have the power yet, Aectaeon."
Ralkias didn't hear a word from Aectaeon for an hour thereafter. Unbeknownst to him, his words just impassioned something within Aectaeon.