The group ran together as they watched the sun rise from the horizon. Confusion clogged their minds, asking themselves why such a thing existed.
"Isn't this place inside a tower?" Joseph asked. "Why is there a fucking sun here?"
Mira grit her teeth, the woman taken aback by the sudden appearance of the ball of light. Kian watched her think, obviously not thinking that something like this is possible inside the tower.
"No use fretting over the sun," Mira suddenly spoke, making everyone look at her. She smirked and shook her head. "Anything can happen in this place. Now we know that they have a sun and the presence of monsters has rapidly decreased since. This Hell Pit isn't so hellish after all."
"The sun may just be a reflection of the sun outside," a middle aged man spoke. He wore rectangular eyeglasses over his freckled face, his eyes covered with his dishevelled curly hair. This man was Austin, the Hero of Circinus, the Compass. "This is just a theory, but the tower that had no windows has its own sun? It's quite impossible."
"So you suggest that this tower is the sun outside?" Mira asked. "That could be true except the outside world is not nighttime. The rising of the sun would not happen in at least seven hours, Horologium can you confirm?"
An older man nodded his head. He had white hair with a heavily declined hairline. He was the Hero of Horologium, the Pendulum Clock. "I can confirm this. I have tracked the time here and the outside world."
"Interesting," Austin was left speechless after. The group watched the sun rise further, spending their hour just watching the ball of flames slowly move out of the horizon.
Kian had other matters in hand. His mind was preoccupied with learning the abilities and weapons of each individual Hero. For now, he had seen five powerful Heroes that excelled in different fields.
The first one was their leader, Mira, Hero of Cassiopeia. She was the one who lead the group towards their victory with her wise tactics and her supporting capabilities. When she sits on the throne, her allies get more boosts apart from the crown on her head. It was a sight to behold as she commanded each Heroes.
The second and third ones were Dexter, Hero of Hercules, and Sebastian, Hero of Perseus. Both of them showed powerful mastery of their weapons as they fought the monsters. Each of them possessed a powerful force that is not meant to be toyed with.
Juan, Hero of Orion was also notable but in terms of power and overall capabilities, he was behind the two.
The fourth hero was the one Mira just spoke to, Franco, Hero of Horologium. He was notable not because of how he fought in the battle but how he supported his group. Kian noticed that there was an abnormality in the area that Franco was in.
When he took a closer look, he noticed that the monsters were slowed down. They moved much sloppier than the rest of the monsters, even when they had the same level in power. Franco altered the time around the monsters, making them slower. It was a powerful skill and was useful in the future.
The final Hero was none other than Brent, the Hero of Leo. He acted the bravest in the battle. He was the first one to draw his sword and the last one to put it back in his sheath. His combat skills were also good, making Kian lose a bit of fatigue in fear that his brother would not adjust to the battles but it seemed like the greatest fighter among them was Brent.
"You're not too fond of the sun?"
Kian woke up from his thoughts when Chen walked up to him. The younger man seemed more comfortable now being around him rather than shaking in fear. "You know, the sun brings a lot of meaning to life. Joy, hope, and new beginnings."
"I don't care about any of those," Kian said bluntly. "The only path I know is protecting my brother."
"I'll help you," Chen suddenly uttered. "I think it's my fault that you don't get to have any skills or power, it should be wise for me to at least assist you."
"Look," Kian rubbed his temples. This thought also entered his mind before, about Chen's existence blocking his powers. But it doesn't seem to work that way. "Sagitta and Sagittarius belong to the same group like you and me, the Arrow and the Archer Centaur. The last time I checked, Sagittarius did not lose his powers and Sagitta is still alive."
"But the bow does not swallow," Chen suddenly spoke. "The serpent consumed your powers. It's my fault."
"No," Kian groaned and shook his head. "I don't even have the time for this. Do whatever you want as long as you don't become a burden to me."
"I won't," Chen cheered. He then sat beside Brent and then talked to him like they knew each other. Just when Kian thought that they were friends, Brent glanced at him, begging for help. Chen was oddly talkative towards Brent, but he was afraid of Kian.
The man just shook his head in amusement. At least he wasn't the one being bugged by Chen.
"We have to move," Mira announced. "We still have a lot of ground to cover and a boss to defeat. The first floor does not seem to have many strong monsters. We're lucky that this was the case. If we were greeted by powerful beasts, I wouldn't know what to do."
Mira led the group once again. This time instead of fighting monsters, it was now to search for the arch. They sent out the assassin Heroes to check the perimeters since they are fast and agile, but to no avail. No arch was found for the entire morning.
"I don't think the Arch would just appear along with the boss or vise versa," Kian said to Mira. "There must be something that could trigger it. We lure it out and then group ourselves to defeat it or whatever, I don't know."
"I think so too, but we don't know what else to do than look," Mira nodded her head in agreement, but placed a finger on her chin. "It's quite complicated too. Yet then again, we don't know what else to do here."
Kian was not sure about what to do with the bait or trigger the boss to appear. He tried asking for any suggestions from other Heroes, but no one could answer him.
It took a while before Joseph was the one who sighed and answered. "How can we entrust out lives to you, Mira? You already showed your true colors, about how brutal you are and you seem to hold a grudge. Not a good qualities for being a leader."
Kian was silent as he watched everyone look at Mira silently. It wasn't a good position for her because it would look like she was incapable of doing the leading.
"Do you suggest you lead us?" Mira threw back. "After you panicked after those few monsters appeared, you think that's the best quality in being a leader?"
Joseph scoffed. "That's only because they appeared in front of me. You'd do the same."
"Doubt," Mira said. "Prove yourself first."
"She's right, Joseph," Brent intervened. "Mira led us to victory last night. We would've died if she didn't command us."
Joseph growled, obviously angry. "You dare speak to me, peasant?"
"Now that's what you call true colors," Mira chuckled. Joseph was about to open his mouth and speak but Amanda squeaked, making everyone look at her.
"Guys, look!" she cheered. "The Arch!"
Several meters from them was a giant golden arch. It was made of pure gold and had an ancient Greek-style. In the center of the arch was an empty socket, a gem was missing from it. The beautiful structure was filled with several engravings on each of its pillars, words and runes that they do not understand.
The upper part of the arch looked like golden blankets forming a wave as it met in the middle to hold the large circular sphere where the empty socket was located.
"What a beauty–"
Before Mira could even finish, the ground shook. Everyone tried to balance themselves as they felt the earth open up. A crack appeared on the ground, opening the earth making the Heroes jump away so they wouldn't fall.
"Damn it," Mira grunted. "I guess this is the boss."