I watch the man leave. Once again, I feel the urge to probe for his level, but I stop myself and let it be. I turn back to the screen and continue watching the rest of the event with the others. Small groups have ford around the area, and a few players from hard difficulty move about, taking the last bets or paying out the finished ones.
A few minutes before the event ends, I stand and teleport over to the fourth round's zone. Victoria is still inside the event, but I decide to wait for her there.
When I arrive, a few guards notice , but, realizing who I am, they let pass. I then head toward her place. It is a flat area near the forest with a few small houses and a larger workshop in the center.
Victoria's group is there as well, with an incredible fifteen survivors out of the twenty-five who started in her Hell group. Most are won from the prison Victoria was being held in, but there are also a few n and at least two kids who were visiting their families when they were all pulled into the tutorial. So are still participating in the event, while others have already gathered outside. I’ve seen so of them before, and Victoria even introduced to a few, though many still watch curiously.
I can't help but feel a strong sense of admiration. Isn't my sister the best? Fifteen people in one group from Hell difficulty survived and made it to the eighth floor. There are even three Beyonders. Victoria, Gloria, and another girl with a weird na who apparently isn't here right now. There are also a few of those fancy nuclear warheads that Vic keeps stashed away sowhere, maybe under the mattress or in so obscure room hidden behind a bookshelf.
Part of has to wonder what the won in her group must have done to end up in prison, but another part thinks it hardly matters when it cos down to it.
"Hello," Gloria says, stepping away from one of the gathered groups with an easygoing, if slightly bored air about her..
"Yo," I reply, noticing that she’s no longer wearing the yellow shirt with a grumpy cat drinking coffee. Instead, she wears a gray one with a goose holding a knife in its beak.
"Are you staring at my tits?" she asks as I look back to her face.
"What tits?" I reply, irritated by her tone.
Taken aback, she blinks a few tis before clicking her tongue. "Cold. You really are her brother," she remarks.
I raise an eyebrow. "Because I insult people?"
"Because you don't bullshit them." She leans in with a smirk. "So what were you staring at then? My incredible fashion sense?"
I nod and gesture at her shirt. "The goose."
She looks at it and then back at . "It represents chaos."
"Fitting."
"I thought you'd approve." She stretches her arms behind her head. "So what now? Are you just going to stand around looking impressed, or did you actually co over here for a reason?"
"I ca to see Vic, but I have a question."
"Go ahead."
"You seem to have a lot of earth clothes. This is the fourth or fifth set I have seen you wearing. I want to buy so."
Gloria smiles again. "If you want my used clothes, all you have to do is ask nicely."
I roll my eyes. "I ant clothes in general, not yours specifically."
She chuckles while rocking back on her heels. "Yeah, I figured. Just ssing with you. But I do have a stash. I bought a few from groups in the lower difficulties, and a few of my girls have more."
"I want to buy so," I say.
Gloria hums while crossing her arms. "I expect you’ll be paying in items?"
"Yes."
She watches for a mont, then gestures for to follow. "Alright, co on."
I follow her toward the storage building. I pass by a few of Victoria's people; so glance at , but most return to what they were doing. The place feels oddly relaxed despite everything.
Once inside, Gloria kicks open a crate and starts rummaging through it. "So what kind of look are you going for? Tactical badass? Mysterious wanderer? Luxury brands? Tank tops? Crocs? Sweatpants? Sweaters? Underwear? Socks? Fanny packs?"
I shrug. "Sothing comfortable. And... crocs, I’ll take a pair of those too."
She smirks and pulls out a plain black hoodie, tossing it at . "I knew it. Don't forget to put them into sport mode. Start with this hoodie. You want pants too?"
I glance down at the pants I got on the sixth floor. They aren't as stretchy as I would like. "Do you have sweatpants? Also, so shirts and more hoodies. Oh, and if you have a set of pajamas that would fit , I’ll throw in a little extra."
Gloria whistles. "Pajamas too? Fancy."
I shrug. "Might as well be comfortable."
She rummages through another crate and tosses a pair of black sweatpants my way. "These should fit. Got so shirts too. Pick whatever you want."
I glance at the pile she is making, a few simple t-shirts, a couple of hoodies, and a pair of pajama pants covered in images of a cartoon lizard.
I stare at them. "What is that?"
She grins. "It's a gecko."
"Why does it look so angry?"
She shrugs. "Maybe it didn't get enough sleep. Fitting for pajamas, don't you think?"
I consider it for a mont and nod. "Fine. Add it to the bill. I’ll be taking all the shirts. Actually, you know what? I’ll just take everything."
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
"Didn't think you were the type to wear won's clothes," she teases.
"For my group," I reply.
"Sure. But I can’t really sell you everything. This is my pile, so I’ll be keeping my favorites, but I should be able to sell you whatever you need. One of our normal difficulty groups got teleported here with an entire mall, so they have a ton of stuff. If you want, I can hunt for more."
"Sounds good."
Gloria snickers and stacks everything together. "Alright, I'll take a few mid-epic items and one upper epic item for the whole lot."
"Tell what kind of item you want and I’ll commission sothing from one of the crafters in our round."
"Oh? How nice of you. I heard you guys have Tent Creep and Miwa, so I expect quality work."
"Of course."
"In that case, since it is personalized, I want one upper epic item and two mid-epic items, and I’ll work on getting more clothes for group four. What do you think?"
"Works for ."
"This oughta do," she says as she tosses the clothes. "Pleasure doing business."
I grab them and nod. "Yeah."
As I turn to leave, she calls out, "And hey, are you sure you really don't want my cloth..."
I ignore that last sentence and make my exit while radiating a bit of mana, which I shape into threads to tie the stacks of clothing together.
Indeed, I remain the most normal person here.
I leave an hour later, having enjoyed the short break, I allowed myself to spend a bit of ti with my sister.
As before, all of my rewards from the second event have been added to the final tournant reward.
While walking back toward our zone, I reread the notification that appeared after the second event formally ended.
The third event, Chronicle of the Past, will start in 48 hours.
In the anti, you have the option of participating in an unofficial event called Clash of the Disciples! Participating yields no rewards, and the event is limited to participants from Hell difficulty.
Hard, Normal, and Easy difficulties will have different unofficial events.
If you decide to participate in the Clash of the Disciples, which will start in 10 hours, your disciple will receive an invitation and may choose to accept or refuse.
The event will begin right after the disciples join the tournant floor and will last for a maximum of 14 hours. After the event ends, the disciples will remain for the next 24 hours, at the end of which the third event will begin, giving you ti to pass on your teachings.
Do you wish to offer your disciple participation in the event?
Yes/No
When that notification appeared, I rember pressing Yes nearly imdiately. Now that Biscuit isn't here, I need my Emotional Support Minion more than ever. Plus, seeing her bulldoze through other disciples, how could I miss that?
Returning to our spot, I find Group 4 scattered across the property. Maya is sparring with Lily while Sophie is engaged in so kind of experint with Izzy in the workshop. I et Min-Jae and the twins in the living room and drop all the clothes onto Noodle, who is already resting on the cushions.
The pile of clothes slowly moves and shifts as the pearl white head of the snake pokes up with green eyes full of betrayal.
I rember my angry gecko pajama pants and go through the clothes again, piling the ones I don't like on Noodle.
In the end, I find a set of pajamas, so sweatpants, two hoodies, and a few shirts that should fit . I even take so comfy-looking socks for myself. And of course, I don’t forget to separate out a pile for my minion.
"You can choose a few things for yourselves if you think they’ll fit," I inform the boys.
Min-Jae eyes the pile skeptically and glances at the twins. "I'm not wearing anything with cartoon animals on it."
The twins, on the other hand, don’t seem quite so picky. One of them starts rifling through the clothes and pulls out a hoodie with a faded logo. "Doesn't matter. I missed wearing Earth clothes, that feeling of stretchy plastic against your skin, turning yourself into a walking billboard for so random brand after paying them for the privilege. How could I not miss it?"
Noodle slithers his way out from under the pile of discarded clothes and flicks his tongue at as if he were deeply offended.
Min-Jae sighs and finally picks up a plain black t-shirt, giving it a quick shake before nodding. "Fine."
I glance at the notification still floating in my vision. Eight hours until the event starts. Plenty of ti to squeeze in so training with Whitey, who’s honestly been acting uncharacteristically strange lately.
Once again, I find myself waiting in the common area. There are plenty of people from Hell difficulty waiting for the unofficial event to start. I notice so people are missing. Most are those who either decided to pass on having a disciple or those who lost theirs. Neither twin is here. Dennis’ disciple died, and Aaron gave up on the disciple-master relationship in support.
Overall, there are 269 people from the various rounds of Hell difficulty participating in the tournant. That ans there should be sowhere between 100 and 150 disciples. I lean towards the lower end because I’ve heard there are still people in Hell who chose to remain on the 4th Floor after dealing with The Colony and live on as adventurers in Virelia.
There are also quite a few people from other difficulties waiting for the Hell difficulty unofficial event to start. Many are curious about the disciples they’ve heard of, while others have either lost interest in their own events or have already completed them.
Just as the tir counts down its final digits, huge screens appear across the common area showing a new environnt. An empty city made up of beautiful towers and well-kept gardens. The city is nestled in the hollow of a mountain with a huge lake at its center, with a ship made of pearl white wood sailing its waters. The only sign of life is the disciples as they begin to appear. There are many humans, feyliths, and lynthari. Less common are vyssari, thylarin, and velnar. I also see a few less familiar races, and among them, demons seem to be on the rare end of the scale, featuring relatively few representatives.
All of the disciples seem to be around ten years of age, most are even younger. Children like Vega, saved from the brink of death by the system, offered disciple status and summoned to the 5th Floor of the tutorial.
Finally, I spot Vega. She appears near the lake and imdiately moves to make herself a harder target to track while scanning the area. I really like that reaction and keep a close watch on her.
Then a notification interrupts .
Your master has decided to participate in Clash of the Disciples!
Your location has been identified as the tournant floor, indicating your agreent to participate in the unofficial event.
You will now be transferred to the event area.
I feel a pull and suddenly disappear, reappearing in the city in the center of one of the gardens. Opposite , a young lynthari boy freezes in place. He looks at with wide eyes and a very, very bristly tail.
Looking at that scared little guy, a thought I often had when I was younger, back on Earth, flashes through my mind:
How many five-year-old kids would it take to beat an adult man?
User Comments
0 comments from readers