Days had come and gone.
After recovering, the players had already sailed through the storm, using the eye of the storm as a shield. During that time, Nico had completed five basic training regimens, earning himself five fortifying potions.
After drinking 3 of the potions he earned, he inspected his system screen, hoping to see some actual visible change:
{ Player: V-777 (Vortex_7)
LVL: 9
Race: Night Phoenix
HP: 800/800
STR: 1,200/1,200
DEX: 321
CHA: 100
LUK: 5
Mana: 1,000/1,000
Value: #1534
Aestrol Coins: æ44,218.00
Companions: TreeHart, Lex1
Weapons: Steel Blade (D-rank); Voided Xiphos (Unknown Rank)
Items: Packaged Food (3); Healing Potion (2); Ominous Egg (Unknown Rank); Fortifying Potion (2)
Abilities: Dancing Fire (D-rank); Phoenix Rebirth (D-rank) }
He had improved greatly in this short amount of time. The effects of the tower played a huge role in this much improvement.
What worried him though was the Luck trait. It was at 7 before, and now, it was at 5. This meant that Nyx's warning about Nico growing stronger but facing imminent danger was far from being over.
Saving his worries about facing death once more for another time, his eyes moved towards the Ominous Egg in his inventory.
It was red with black streaks running around the shell. Inside it was something similar to a heartbeat, pumping itself back and forth as Nico stared at it.
'I've never seen this in the game before... Ominous Eggs were found in dungeons and enemy bases. When they hatched, a monster capable of killing S-ranked monsters would be born,' he thought.
The wisest thing to do would be to do would be to eliminate it, but he decided against it.
He couldn't help but think that this egg was... his.
The colour, the shape and the mana flowing around it; all these factors felt like something that was tailored for him and him alone.
The mana was just like his, not to mention the red shell that resembled the colour of his eyes. Nico knew this Ominous Egg would be his to take care of until it was its time to hatch.
{ Good job on clearing the second floor of the Tower of Poseidon! Now, one boat will appear next to your vessel.
The boat will lead you safely to a small peninsula, where you'll find the cave leading to the 3rd floor.
The ship you stand on will take the players who wish to return to the surface, with their rewards still intact.
Now, would players kindly step into their designated vessels }
As the message rang out, the players descended the ship and hopped into the spacious boat. Once all 16 were on, the boat began moving and continued travelling Northwards.
As they rowed farther away from the main ship, other players couldn't help but feel anxious. One of them turned to look at the ship and his eyes widened in disbelief.
As his breath became ragged, the other players looked at him, then eventually turned in the same direction. Seconds later, they immediately wore the same shocked expressions.
"Well... That's one hungry snake..." Victor said as he scratched his cheek.
Jörmungandr had wrapped his massive tail around the ship and effortlessly snapped it in half, plunging the entire body into the ocean.
Then, he raised his head and groaned slowly, shaking the world and the water. Veronica shook her head and took deep breaths to calm herself down.
"What's wrong?" Jax asked as he noticed Veronica's anxiety attack. "We managed to get away from him, didn't we?"
"It isn't about that..." Veronica responded in a low voice, barely above a whisper. "Jörmungandr said that since he couldn't kill us, something less merciful than him will finish the job..."
"How'd you even understand that?" Sophia inquired.
"Veronica is a phantom. As such, she can feel the presence of anything around her if she's focused enough. It doesn't matter if it's dead or alive. If it's around her, she'll hear it," explained Nico.
"So, she's Dr Dolittle, but with ancient beasts and dead things," said Victor.
"Don't put it in such a shitty way. If I knew how powerful phantoms were, I would've chosen that when I played the game," said Nico.
"As powerful as phantoms are, we carry curses with us; a heavy burden that no one else can feel... I've gone nights without any sleep simply because I'm afraid of what I might hear or feel..." said Veronica as she shuddered.
"Players don't exactly need to sleep... But, I understand, to some degree. In a world like this, sleep is your only escape," said Jax. "Am I right?"
Veronica smiled softly at Jax. "Even back on Earth, I used to sleep so much that my family thought that I was cursed. Now that I'm here, I can't even do that..."
"You'll get back home, eventually," declared Nico as he crossed his arms.
Everyone looked at him like he was high on something. Sophia furrowed her eyebrows slightly and glared at Nico.
"You're stupid," she blatantly said as she turned away from him.
Nico sighed. "I'm not even going to bother with you. There's evidence that a way out exists."
"Oh yeah? And how do you plan on escaping? By killing a god?" Sophia retorted.
Nico's heart started beating a bit faster. "... Do you know something...?"
"... I don't just know. I was there... I helped a group of players kill Ares..." Sophia admitted as she crossed her legs.
"You worked with Genesis?" Nico questioned as his eyes slightly narrowed. Anger was slowly starting to arise with him. If Sophia worked with Genesis, then she might be a potential enemy.
"Not just Genesis. Arrollora, Tucker, Asura... And, the worst of them all... Emerald..." Sophia said in a low voice as her heart pounded, threatening to fall out of her chest.
"They started off as people who wanted to save us players. They rallied hundreds of us and we trusted them. We believed in their strength. Even my sister trusted them. But now, she's 6 feet under, all thanks to the 7 God killers," she added as she gritted her teeth.
The group was then silent for a few moments until Sophia spoke up once more. "Killing the gods won't get us out of here. The best thing to do to survive is to avoid them. We don't need to be causing unnecessary conflict."
She was speaking calmly, which was different from how she usually spoke. In Nico's eyes, along with everyone else's, she didn't want anyone to die, especially not in front of her eyes.
Victor sighed and wrapped his arm around Sophia's shoulder, holding her tightly while she struggled.
"What are you doing, meathead?!" she shouted.
"You don't have to think about that crap now. Besides, I can't let you feel sad when I'm sitting right next to you. That's not how a man works," explained Victor.
"You're killing me! Let me go!" Sophia crowed as she tried prying herself out of Victor's hold, only for him to tighten it.
The group chuckled lightly, which made Sophia even angrier. "Stop laughing!" she shouted.
Nico watched their exchange and smiled to himself, thinking about how near-death encounters can sometimes bring people closer.
'It's been a tough 3 days. We're bound to be a little closer...' he thought to himself.
"Looks like the fun's over..." said Veronica.
The excited and cheerful chatter slowly died down as the boat stopped moving. In front of the players was a waterfall that fell from the sky and created some sort of invisible barrier, one that people would only be able to see when they were close enough.
Inside the barrier was an intricate and deviously enchanting scene; coralline trees and shrubs of various colours, shapes and sizes were all over the area, and the ground appeared to be solid.
Tropical fish and other types of sea creatures swam around the coral as if they were underwater. But, to Nico and the other players, they were swimming in front of them, and seemingly through the air.
"That's creepy..." Victor said as he looked at the coral plants, one of them morphing into a monster similar to a Venus fly trap and consuming an unsuspecting tuna.
{ Welcome to the 3rd Floor, The Coral Labyrinth! }