Mikhail sighed as he stepped foot in Grand Elder Maya's house again.
He was feeling... wistful. It had been a long two weeks, after all.
He had had a great deal of fun with his pals, gallivanting throughout the tribe. Enjoying good food together. Laughing and cussing together. Doing all sorts of things together.
But they had left, leaving him behind with only a few acquaintances that were, for the most part, a great deal younger than he was. Unless he counted that one rowdy group of adults that were his age. The ones that fought with the orcs during the Weekly Gatherings to put on a fun show.
But he didn't count them, not really. They never shared much dialogue with each other due to how voracious Mikhail had been on both occasions.
What was worse was the departing farewells he had just shared with his good friends.
He felt tinges of joy upon seeing them. Tinges of sadness as they left. But was ultimately left feeling empty within seconds as what should've been tearful toodles turned into sour sayonaras.
He felt tinges of grumpiness now, and those tinges only made him feel genuine frustration.
'I hate this…' he thought to himself as he made a left into one of the square stairwells.
As he ascended, he could hear a commotion. Little kids, barely four, began walking down the stairs past him. Most said hello to him as they passed, though there were a few that seemed to look at him strangely without a word.
Mikhail greeted them casually and continued ascending until he got to the fourth floor. All the hallways on each floor basically looked the same, so he had no trouble crossing it until he saw a fork in the path, matching the layout of the seventh floor's corridor.
Rather than double doors though, the corridor smoothly transitioned from the pale-yellow stone to the glossy black stone that the dome above seemed to be partially made of. Yet, the silver lines adorning the walls and ceiling seemed to abruptly stop at the black stone.
The floor also transitioned from the pale-yellow tiles to the gold veined marble tiles. So instead of from above, the light illuminating the area came from below.
It was silent save for a soft hum that grew louder as he continued inwards.
On the walls, he noticed several door frames blocked off by blackstone slabs. They were all spaced out evenly, taking him a couple of paces per door.
The hall seemed to go on until it reached the other side of the building, but he eventually came to a crossroad with silver lines on the ground.
Looking down, he saw the silver lines coming together to form a circle.
He could see four rings within it, with the center being empty and the others having complex inscriptions on them.
Mikhail also noticed how the outermost ring had offshoots like vines that seemed to fade the further away they got from the circle until they disappeared entirely. Something he had failed to notice while he was busy brooding.
He looked into the paths at either side and noticed that there was a familiar face approaching him from the left casually.
"Atticus?"
"That is correct, kid! Glad you remember me still!"
"It's only been two weeks."
Atticus rolled his eyes. "I'm just trying to lighten up the mood. I can practically smell your bad attitude from outside, you know."
Mikhail took in a deep breath and then let out a frustrated sigh, trying to release all of the tension in one go.
It sort of worked, but only enough to take the edge out of his voice. Atticus revealed a helpless smile as he entered the formation of lines on the ground, taking residence in the empty circle at its center.
"I know goodbyes can be tough, but-"
"Atticus. I'm not having a problem with that. I'm having a problem with my lack of a problem."
The man looked at him funny as he sat down, but a light of understanding suddenly flashed across his eyes.
"Right… Damn. I don't really know how to help you there…Just, try and focus on what you need to do, I guess?"
"Trying… Yeah. It's all I can really do right now, after all…" he said before releasing another sigh. "Anyway, I got the gist of how this works from Maya, but do you think you can give me some more details?"
"Sure…" Atticus said with his own sigh.
"Ahem… You must stand upright with a proper posture in the center of the inscription field so that you can make the best of the stressing effects of the Refinement Room. The inscriptions in your room will stay active for as long as you manage to stay upright."
"It is okay to falter, but you must maintain proper posture for as long as possible. If you fall to the ground, I'll cut the power supply to your room."
His voice was comically robotic, making it clear that he had probably said these lines a great many times before.
Mikhail was about to ask how Atticus would be able to see him fall from his position, but then he saw a small group of familiar people enter from the hallway behind.
They were quite the boisterous group…
Atticus continued to explain regardless of that though.
"The intensity of the stress will slowly increase as time progresses. And after the inscriptions in your Refinement Room turn off, a compartment on the far side of the room will open and deliver a Muscle Refinement Pill. Take it as soon as you are able; the sooner the better. After thirty minutes or so, you'll be good to go for the next part."
"I see. And the rooms, does it matter which one I go to?"
Atticus shook his head, a smile creeping onto his face.
"Not really," he said, his voice returning to normal.
"The rooms are first come first served. There's no real difference between the rooms, only their location. Those with lower stamina tend to aggregate towards the farther rooms, while the ones pushing themselves to their limit tend to choose the rooms around here."
"Since you're new, I can't really say with certainty where you'd belong. So, just pick a random door and wait for the rest to arrive. I'll keep myself busy in the meantime."
Atticus then closed his eyes and assumed a more rigid posture. He seemed to be meditating now.