"Since we've got a river flowing here we've got water taken care of. Food's our concern." Max said.
An hour passed since the battle and they sat down on large rocks.
They discussed about their food reserves.
"Rationing well, we can last a week." Manuel said.
"After that it's starvation and degradation." Eliyah added.
"Well let's hope it doesn't come to that." Max concluded. "Eat up."
Max took out a blue fat worm-like fish with blue strings going from its head and twice the length of its body.
He put it all in at once.
The taste was great. Foreign and hard to explain by the player, but he liked it. It was a boiled and cleaned fish that rotted extremely slowly.
Yes, food went bad even in the Inventory subspace. Though not as fast as in the "real world".
The cave was illuminated by Max's gem on his waist.
They took turns when it came to the flashlight part.
To save every bit of aura possible. Just in case.
"Follow the river guys. It has to be coming from the sea, right?" Max said, a small look of concern on his face.
"It's our best bet." Eliyah replied.
Their talk echoed in the silent, dark cave.
Going back to where they came from would be complete suicide. This was their only chance at survival. Though it didn't look very good.
***
Two players sat facing each other while sipping their tea on wooden chairs.
Alex Revic and Paul Veritas.
A peaceful silence hung between them as they looked to their side, beyond the white stone fence of the walkway, at a beautiful, grassy courtyard in the castle of Priam's guild.
There was a fountain among the dark, tall rocks, colored trees and grass hosting flowers of all colors.
White pillars held up the roof above the walkway that formed a square encirclement around the courtyard with the open sky above.
"Man I'm loving this tea." Paul said gleefully as he set the cup down on the wooden table.
"Made from a boss monster's nectar, huh."
"Psychos."
"It's peaceful here. I could stay for a long time." Alex said while staring at the fountain. Sounds of water the only sound they hear besides their own voices.
Paul smiled after hearing that as he leaned back.
"We haven't leveled up in a week. You up for some hunting today?" Alex asked Max's brother.
"Sure, I'll tell Alice we'll be out for a couple days."
"I'll ask Nik to join us."
Paul nodded, sipping the tea with closed eyes.
The two engaged in small talk until a pair of women strolled into view.
They each held a cup of tea as they laughed.
One woman, with long blonde hair, wore a casual white dress decorated with patterns and red flowers.
A Supreme Knight. Lianna. Paul knew her for a long time.
The other person was a girl who seemed to be in her late teens or early twenties. She had shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, a green sleeveless shirt, white shorts and brown sandals.
Neither Paul or Alex knew who that girl was.
As Lianna approached the two players unaware, she froze upon recognizing Paul on a glance.
"Paul?"
"It's been a while." The man stood up.
They hugged each other and Paul gestured towards Alex.
"This is my friend, Alex."
"Hey. I'm Lianna Lorent. It's a pleasure."
"Good to meet you." The long haired player stood up and shook the woman's hand.
The two men also politely shook the hand of the silent, brown haired girl.
"I'm Mikena." The brown haired said. The two men nodded with a small smile.
"What are you doing here?" The blonde woman asked.
"You don't know?"
"I was out on an errand."
"Oh, sit, it's a story you won't believe."
Paul and Alex sat together, while the two women accepted Paul's proposal and sat down opposite of them.
"You know about the first floor player?"
***
After explaining the situation to the shocked knight the four of them relaxed for a while.
"Why is he still down there?" Mikena asked.
"Me and Max stuck together on the first floor after meeting up at a place we agreed on before joining. He stayed back after the next floor opened, said he wanted to explore a bit more." Alex answered.
"Weird guy." Lianna added.
"I begged him to come with me. But he was stubborn. Found his brother eventually, completely on accident. And here we are."
"You skipped a lot there. I heard stuff about the two of you." Mikena said, looking at them with intrigue.
"Even a secluded princess heard about us?"
"Yes she did Alex. Yes she did."
A familiar, powerful yet peaceful voice came from behind the two men.
The two women got up immediately upon seeing the man.
Alex and Paul also got up, the voice being enough to recognize the man behind them.
They turned around to look at the man in white armor.
Brown eyes, brown hair, a red cape and a height that was of two meters.
Priam Castellan.
"Hey guys. Been a while." Priam said with a smile.
He shook the hands of the two men, then hugged Lianna and Mikena.
"I didn't know you had a sister." Paul said.
"Yeah. Four years younger than me."
"What happened at the visit?" Alex asked the king.
"Valenti will send ten strong Elevated and a Transcendent to aid us at the Death Pillars. Oh and that reminds me. I'll be sending you guys there too."
"When do you want us to depart?" Paul asked.
"Tomorrow is fine for you?" Priam asked.
"Y-yeah." Alex answered as he looked at Paul. Who nodded his head.
Priam turned towards Mikena.
"You're gonna be telling me about what you read over the past two weeks later." He said, smiling.
"Okay, okay." The brown haired girl smiled and hugged her brother again.
"Lianna, thank you. I don't have to ask if he accepted."
"You definitely don't."
Priam turned towards the two men.
"Lavonte and Valenti, along with me, will be fighting with all of you guys once we precisely locate the main boss."
"That's amazing." Alex said while nodding his head.
"Hmph. We might finish the game before Max gets to us." Paul said and then smiled with closed lips
"I'll go get us some sweets, sit back down you guys." Said the first-ranked player.
"Did he know you were here?"
As the guild master walked off in the distance, Paul asked a silly question to Mikena in a lowered voice.
"Yep. I'm wearing a tiny invisible item tied to his soul. He can find me pretty easily." She said as he sipped her tea.
"She's more safe than the top ten themselves." Said Lianna, as she smiled at Mikena.
"What do you do in your spare time?" Paul asked.
"I read books, hang out with people, take walks, play board games. It gets boring sometimes, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I never leave the headquarters."
"Books? Like books written by NPCs in this game?"
"Yeah?"
"Huh. There's something like that too?" Alex said, looking at Paul.
"Just how ambitious was the damn creator? How did he even do this? AI?" Paul replied with another question.
"We'll know everything once we get out of here." Lianna said with a cold expression. A top 1000 player like Paul and Alex.
The three of them went through unimaginable things and ordeals because of the creator of this game.
"Look what I brought guys!" A soothing voice came from the hallway nearby. The 2 meter tall man walked out while ducking his head slightly.
"Oh...I still don't know the rules fully, Priam." Lianna said when she turned around and saw what Priam held in his hands, her mood improving immediately.
"We got the entire day to spare." Said the king.
"You're gonna be teaching us from scratch. We have no idea what that is." Alex said with a smile.
"It's a cool little board game from the third floor I brought over. If you learn quick, I'll gift you boys an elixir each." Said the guild master as he grabbed a chair to sit in between the two pairs.
"Not fair. You didn't give me an elixir in a month." Lianna said, pouting.
"Haha, I gotta give a welcoming gift to our newcomers."
The man sat down and placed the board, along with the sweets on the table.
The morning kicked off with smiles and laughter as the five of them ate and played by the castle's courtyard.