"The Primordial Tower has 21 Floors," Arlen told Kai as they flew with Mr. Beedle pressed between them. "The Two systems divide all the floors into two territories. One is called Chaos' Valley, and the other, Order's Peak. An Empire rules each territory, and a noble from the empire governs each set of floors. They are collectively styled as Set Lords."
"So each System has its own Set Lords?" Kai asked, not expecting an answer. So he did the next best thing. Asking many questions, hoping to get an answer to at least one. "What do they do? What other powers do they have? Are they the strongest? How to become a Set Lord?"
"Have you gone insane?!" Arlen looked back, rage welling up in his blue eyes. "Only one answer and that's it. Pay me Mission Credits if you want more. Yes. There are two Set Lords for every three floors. The Set Lord of the 1st set of the Chaos' Valley is named Baron Silvas."
So there are 14 Set Lords, 7 on each side, Kai thought, summarizing. I wonder why Arlen didn't speak of the 22nd Floor?
Kai had just thought of breaking his mouth open when a distant rumble hit his ears.
A massive thunderstorm had covered everything in their eyesight. Hidden amid the murderous Supercell winds was the place Kai had come to know as Dufftown.
Run!
Kai didn't need to heed his Perception. All the fibers of his muscles, his bones, his soul were screaming, urging him to run.
They all were feeling it. A monstrous danger beyond their capabilities, beyond reasoning. Kai looked back and found Simon. He was struggling to keep the broomstick at its height, his lips pressed into a thin line.
Shae was almost petrified. Her eyes were wide open, wind smashing the white, making them red. Her blond hair flailed, like a thousand threads of silk made of sunlight.
Arlen stirred the broomstick forward, slowly but steadily. Simon and Shae followed in the shadow of Arlen's courage. As they kept nearing the town, the thunderstorm seemed to take one step towards them. The wind was intensifying every few hundred meters. And only one thing was in their favor.
Mr. Beedle had woken up.
"Yes, get me there," the mad wizard said. "Others are waiting for me in the town."
"My lord!" Arlen shouted, balancing the broom. "Can something be done about the wind?"
Kai got the shock of his life when Mr. Beedle took out his wand. Even Arlen forgot to blink at the sight. It was just a passing request, Kai knew. They had never thought that Mr. Beedle would really take action.
"Sure can, good lad. You two!" the grand wizard said, beckoning Simon and Shae with one hand. "Stay close to us."
Simon came rushing. The half creepy smile on his face had returned.
When they had come close enough, Mr. Beedle flicked his wand, rotating his wand-arm in circles. Suddenly, the wind weakened. Kai could feel an invisible layer of Mana around them, much like the one around Hidden Moor Hills.
Arlen picked up the pace then, unworried about the murderous wind. But even the magic wasn't enough to cancel out the noise. If he couldn't see it, Kai would have thought some high-tech bombs were going off.
ROAR!
The sudden roar thundered in Kai's mind, seeping into him, in his blood, trying to burst his brain. Blood seeped out of his ears, and he could feel a sweetness between his teeth too.
What was that?! Kai asked himself, panting, locking his legs around the broomstick. Arlen wasn't faring any better. His face had gained a blue tinge, and the broom was shaking like never. If it wasn't for Mr. Beedle's magic, they would have already fallen.
"Captain!" Simon called out, closing in on Arlen. "Shae's gone… What was that roar?"
Simon's state was bloodier than Kai's. How he had managed to stay in the air was a mystery. It became an even bigger mystery when Kai saw he was keeping Shae's unconscious figure from falling off the broomstick.
"I…" Arlen struggled to utter words. "I don't know, and I don't think we should know."
Kai and others looked at Mr. Beedle, hoping to get some answers. But even he looked puzzled. It didn't take for the three Contestants to guess that the origins of that roar lay in another Random World.
Soon Arlen landed the broomstick just on the Dufftown's outskirts. The thunderstorm was all around them, and black-gray clouds had shadowed the sky. Lightning crackled, and beastly roars surrounded them, imprisoning their senses.
We don't belong here, Kai told himself. We are too weak for something at this level.
Suddenly, the darkness receded. Everything seemed to have brightened up. It should have given Kai and others some relief, but their faces had become ashen.
The Perception, which once had urged them to run, also gave up. You are dead, it said. None can save you.
Kai, Arlen, and Simon all reluctantly lifted their heads, feeling the heat on their faces.
A massive Fire Column; Fire Tornado; Firefall, if one must give it a name, was coming towards them. There was no escaping it, and there was no defense against it. Only Mr. Beedle was their hope, but he had become a mute again.
I'll kill him, Kai fumed. He had never found someone so unpredictable.
"Simon…" Arlen whispered, stumbling back. But they all knew no amount of water bullets were enough to put out this fire. Everything had gone silent.
Haha!
The laugh came out of nowhere. Kai saw a hooded man appearing in front of them. He was tall, his back straight, and there was a power within him which made Kai's mouth go dry.
The man's hands moved in quick succession. Kai couldn't see what he was doing, but, in the next moment, he saw the man slamming his palms on the earth.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
With a bang, a wall sprung up in front of them.
It towered over them, like a beast made of mud and stones, crawling its way out of earth's womb. Then the firefall struck it.
Boom!
"Haha!" The laugh echoed again as the wall kept standing like an ancient giant.
"My lord, it's an honor!" Arlen bowed, followed by Simon and Kai.
"Mr. Beedle," the hooded man said, ignoring the rest. "You seem rather shaken. You aren't injured, are you?"
"No! No!" Mr. Beedle replied, shaking profusely. "You must hurry now!"
"At once, my lord!" the hooded man said, putting a hand over Mr. Beedle's shoulder.
Time seemed to slow down for Kai. Sweat, and an unbearable chill, engulfed his entire body. His throat felt dry, his lips quivered, and the tips of his fingers throbbed.
There was hidden in his heart and mind, a secret. It all depended on what the higher floor Contestant would do next.
Will he… find out? Kai asked himself, his breath pausing.
After a few moments, the hooded man looked at Arlen. "Haha! You guys have done a wonderful job. Mission Over."
The hooded man vanished, proclaiming those words, along with Mr. Beedle. Kai felt as if they had become thin air, melting into the surroundings. But he couldn't think more about it.
The dull-gray notification had returned.
…
[
Congratulations Contestant Kai Stormborn…
You have completed the Main Mission
…
Main Mission: Assist Thunder Faction in saving the life of Beedle the Bard
Mission Status: Completed
Mission Time Limit: 48 hrs
Mission Grade: E-
Side Missions Attempted: 3
Side Missions Completed: 3
Hidden Missions Attempted: 0
Calculating Mission Clear Rate…
Mission Clear Rate: 63%
Mission Rewards:
1. +550 Mission Credits
2. +2 Attribute Points
Warning:
1. You can only get 20 Attribute Points in the 1st Set of the Primordial Tower
2. You cannot leave the random world before the Main Mission's Time Limit is over
Time Left: 1 hr
]
*
*
"What does it mean I can't get over 20 Attribute Points?" Kai asked.
They had flown to a clearing miles away from Dufftown. Arlen was the first to arrive in the Random World. So he would leave first, as Kai had found out. Shae was sitting close to Arlen, and since their landing, Arlen had been whispering something in her ears.
"It means what it says," Arlen smirked. "No matter how many missions you do, you can only get 20 points in total from the first 3 floors."
"A word of advice, Red," Arlen added, his tone less mocking than before. "Join an Organization after returning to the Primordial Tower. There are many guilds serving the empire. And your loot and materials, use them well. You know what I mean, right?"
The Captain of Guard stood up, after whispering a few last words in Shae's ears. He gave a silent nod to Simon and then furrowed his brows at Kai. "Humph!" Arlen snorted, a blue light shimmering around him. "You are OK, I guess. Come to the Thunder Faction if you need any help."
The blue light became a thundering flash. When Kai could see again, Arlen Willey had already disappeared.
Shae didn't wait, either. She just climbed the broomstick and took off, not even saying a goodbye to the boys.
Kai and Simon shared a smiled.
Simon walked toward Kai. He reached into his pockets, took out a coin, and flicked it.
Kai snatched it out of air.
"Arlen is right," Simon said, planting Kai with his one eye. "It would be wise for you to join an organization."
Kai observed the coin. It was iron.
"There might come a time when you meet Simon in another Random World," Simon said, his smile gone.
What does that mean? Kai frowned, feeling the cold iron markings rubbing against his fingers. He flipped it and saw the blurred relief of a hooded figure.
"When that happens," Simon added, eying Kai knowingly, "present the coin to him and say… Valar Morghulis."
Kai's frown deepened.
"Repeat after me," Simon insisted. "Valar Morghulis."
"Valar Morghulis."
Simon nodded. "A man knows Contestants like Red. A man searches for Killers like Red," he said, creeping Kai out. "But a man can't invite you. You are not ready. Not yet."
A sudden flash.
Then Simon disappeared, leaving the deepest impression in Kai's mind.
What the… Kai gaped. And I thought the old wizard was the craziest?! Oh, wait! I can't take non-Items with me… So what will happen to the coin?
Puzzled, Kai threw the coin in his pocket, and looked around.
A silence had taken over his surroundings at some point of time, claiming every nook and corner. To the farthest eyes could go, Kai could see not a single living thing. Nor could he sense anyone.
Now… he was truly alone.
"Hehe…"
Kai's sudden chuckle creeped the silence itself. It seemed to run away from him, looking over its shoulder
"Haha…"
Kai held his hands high and laughed. He laughed like a maniac, his face contorting into that of a psychopath's.
"Hahaha…"
The wind tried to bury the sound, but the laugh intensified. Kai's knees buckled. No. Not in fear, but in excitement, pleasure, and victory.
"HAHA!"
The laugh had such an effect on him that tears streamed out of his eyes. His stomach ached, and he rolled over the earth, rocks, and grass, clutching it.
What crazy, what madness, and what silence? Nothing felt crazier, more disturbing, and more demonic than this laugh.
"HAHAHA!"
Some said he had become a Demon after killing his mother.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Some said Edith Stormborn had birthed a Demon, not a Messiah.
"HAHAHAHAHA… Cough! Cough!!" The laugh turned into a sudden fit of coughs, and Kai panted for air.
Finally, he stopped, the laugh vanishing into a thin smile on his face.
He lay there on the cool ground, gazing at the sky littered with clouds, the low wind blowing on his face, like a maiden's silk.
The words echoed then. In Kai's mind, they repeated themselves for the hundredth time.
Your Mission is to Assist Thunder Faction in saving Mr. Beedle's life, Desmond had told Kai in the carriage. It has nothing to do with what happens to Arlen. Or who the Captain of Guard is.
Yes, Desmond, you were right, Kai told himself. It also had nothing to do with what would happen to Mr. Beedle after reaching Dufftown. And it also had nothing to do with what happens to that book of his.
Kai's lips twisted into a hideous, vile grin. He swept his hand towards the sky as if snatching the entire vastness in one curl of his fingers. The sky, though, didn't move. It was still there. But Kai's hand wasn't empty either.
A Book!
Kai's pale fingers were wrapped around its black cover, feeling its ancientness. In thick gray ink, the book's name seemed to stare murderously at Kai.
One last scorning chuckle and Kai's clear hazel pupils reflected the title written in embossed runic symbols.
He did not understand that Runic title, but what could it mean other than…
The Tales of Beedle the Bard!