The climb of the First Stair proved, without a doubt, to be a herculean task for Sethryn.
It was a challenge that pushed his body and mind beyond their natural limits.
He was glad that phase of the endless climb was over. Happiness washed over him like rain as he stepped out of the door into a new world.
The new world was warm and welcoming, not as frigid and indifferent as the white void named the First Stair.
"I made it," he whispered with a great sense of fulfilment in his voice.
His notification bleeped.
<< You Have Successfully Climbed The First Stair >>
<< Welcome To The 2nd Floor >>
Sethryn muttered something under his breath.
"Finally..."
He could not believe that he made it out of the hellish void alive. It was when he fully realised it that he let out a loud cheer that strained his throat.
"I made it!"
His voice echoed in the green expanse that now surrounded him.
He threw his arms up in the air in excitement with tears flying from his eyes. The ecstasy from completing that deathly experience overwhelmed every fibre of his being.
The onerous and endless journey through the First Stair was now a memory and soon to be... a distant one.
But will Sethryn ever forget his days in the First Stair?
He was not the same. Even though he could sense it within himself but could not tell exactly what had changed inside him.
...
...
...
Sethryn looked around. His surrounding was silent with only the wind whistling.
He was not in a hurry to continue the climb of the Tower of Babel. He needed to rest from the torment of the First Stair.
Sethryn pulled up his profile in an attempt to log out but faced the same fate that his sister did.
There was no 'Log Out' tab any longer.
Sethryn was not fazed by the new development. He anticipated it.
"So that was it."
He knew something had happened which kept his sister trapped in Alderix. He had many options and thoughts that he tagged as suspects in such an event.
"They removed the log out tab. We are all trapped here."
It was all making sense to Sethryn. The motive behind the attack on their lives and that of Anna Smith's. He seemed to be putting the pieces together to make a bigger and clearer picture.
It was all too convenient for Anna to suddenly be found dead just moments after Eve's disappearance and about the same time when they were attacked.
Even more convenient was the closing and eventual dismissal of her case. The matter died out like nothing ever happened.
"We are all just disposable extras to him."
Scarred Mouth's voice suddenly played in his head.
"It's just our boss covering his tracks so that people like you don't come biting him in the ass," he recalled.
"Beckwell was indeed the one behind all of it and to cover his tracks, he eliminated the closest companions of his beta testers. Family, partners, lovers and friends. That's sickening.
"Very sickening."
...
...
...
Synapse interrupted his thought pattern, bringing him back to his reality — the 2nd Floor.
<< Welcome To The 2nd Floor >>
<< Proceed To A Lighthouse >>
Sethryn looked around, only just noticing the slim towers that were coloured white and red.
"I guess it's those."
He had seen them but was not ready to take another journey into the unknown.
Sethryn heaved a deep sigh and pulled up the screen in front of him using Expand. He looked at his profile again and checked his progress so far.
<< AVATAR PROFILE >>
Name: Sethryn
Age: 18
Sobriquet: [ None Achieved ]
Race: Human
Level: 2
Grace: ??? [ Yet To Be Unlocked ]
Grace Type: ??? [ Yet To Be Unlocked ]
Class: Tank
Mana Type: Neutral [ +1660 MCP To Tier 1 ]
Skills:
– Right Of Roaming [ Yet To Be Activated ]
– Shield Skill: Mana Resistance
Inventory:
– Shield [ Level 4 ]
– Basic Map
Coins: 0
Experience Points [EXP]: 900
Mana Core Points [MCP]: 340/2000
Life Points [LP]: 400
>>
Sethryn felt a heavy burden of sadness fall on his shoulders. He had made so much progress since he arrived yet from his profile, it made so little impact.
"Tch! It's back to square one."
He tapped the blue screen and a circle appeared that began to spin with a percentage written in its centre.
"Activate Right Of Roaming," Sethryn instructed.
<< Right Of Roaming [ R.O.R ] >>
[ Activation: 12%... 28%... 41%... 51%... 65%... 78%... 89%... 94%... 100% ]
[ Activation Complete ]
[ Right Of Roaming [R.O.R] Has Been Successfully Activated ]
"I wonder what it does."
Sethryn tapped on the R.O.R tab.
[ To Activate R.O.R, Please Proceed Into A Lighthouse ]
"Hmm. Looks like I won't be able to do anything until I enter the lighthouse."
He looked around again.
"Seems this is just the entrance of the 2nd Floor," he pointed out, having realised that he had not actually entered the floor but was merely in its periphery.
...
...
...
"It is bigger than it appeared from there."
Sethryn had reached close to the entrance of the lighthouse. He looked at it up and down yet still sceptical about entering.
If he did not proceed, he was not moving to the next stage and Sethryn did not enjoy the idea of standing in the green expanse under sunlight, surrounded by lighthouses and doing nothing.
Reluctant, he opened the door and entered into the lighthouse. He stood and absorbed the view in front of him for the last time as the doors of the entrance slowly closed.
An arrow appeared on the inside of the door that blinked red and pointed upwards.
Sethryn felt his body being lifted upwards after the arrow disappeared.
"An elevator?" he wondered, not sure where he was being taken to.
Even if he knew, there was not much he could do about it. Sethryn simply stayed calm and waited patiently for his arrival at whatever destination the lift was set to arrive at.
It was a swift and calm ride and within seconds, he had arrived.
Sethryn stepped out and into his new location — a forest.
A forest loaded with tall trees and bushes. There were so many trees that the sunlight hardly penetrated through the shade provide by the trees.
Sethryn walked through the forest while admiring the many different trees and flowers that filled the area, turning from time to time as he walked.
...
...
...
After about an hour of walking.
"Is this what the Right Of Roaming does?"
He brought up his profile again with a single thought.
"Huh? I didn't turn it on."
Sethryn facepalmed and shook his head.
He tapped the screen to use the new function that he had activated earlier.
<< Right Of Roaming [ R.O.R ] Has Been Turned On >>
[ Countdown: 60 Seconds ]
[ Roam ]
Sethryn raised his brows. He did not understand what was going on and why the R.O.R had a timer that was counting down and why the word 'Roam' appeared.
Was it an instruction?
Was it a warning?
Sethryn was about to find out for himself soon enough.