Chapter 22

...

[Floor 3 – Day 1]

[Total Days in Trial: 83]

"Ping!"

[Floor 3 - Minimum Clear Condition:]

[Complete 20 E-Rank Quests: 0/20]

[Floor 3 – Secondary Conditions:] [Complete 10 D-Rank Quests: 0/10] [Condition met! – No Perk] [Temporary Perk awarded!] [Lesser Analysis] - [Granted]

"Ping!"

Temporary Perk – Presently limited to the Third Floor. Allows the user to access additional information about the contents of a Trial floor.

[Status]

Name: John

Attributes

Class: Disciple – Skills: 4/7

Titles:

Perks:

Strength:

15

-

Lesser Analysis

Dexterity:

13

Archery 8

Constitution:

22

Resist Poison 18

Intelligence:

10

-

Wisdom:

14 [+2]

Meditation 10

Lesser Heal 7 - (Miracle)

Wise man of the Mountains

Charisma:

10 [+0]

-

Ambitious [INACTIVE]

With a gasp, I awoke to loud noises. The change was sudden, jarring, and... smelly. Which was fitting, as it appeared that I had gone from floating in an empty void where I didn't appear to possess a physical body, to sitting in a busy tavern.

All around me, were people.

As I blinked away the confusion, they bustled about. Large men were yelling. A woman with what might have been a lute, was strumming chords by a fire pit. There, people sat, savoring the smells of roasted meat turning, while others sang along to the unfamiliar song. The roar of many rolling dice, or playing cards, erupted with shouts and cheers, as drinks clattering together in wooden mugs as ale foamed and spilled. People of all shapes and sizes who were wearing armor, backs slung with swords, or axes, or bows...

“You’re going to do great, John. All you need to do is put the time in, and it will pay off.” A man shouted above the din.

I blinked.

“What-“ I couldn't finish my question in time, as a rough hand slapped down on my shoulder, and a mug was pressed into my chest.

“Now drink! We’ve not got long!” The large man who had forced a mug to my hands smiled wide, thumping down at the table across from me, before passing another mug of ale to a woman seated to my left. “I know it’s going to be tricky for you, but we’ll be back in town before you know it. Don't you worry.”

"What?" I closed my eyes for a moment, as my vision was spinning. My head felt like the worst migraine in the world was starting to split it open, and knowledge was bubbling as everything around me seemed to slow.

Things I couldn’t possibly know were funneled endlessly into my head. I felt the urge to vomit, as the sudden rush of knowledge came in a torrent of images and concepts. Lesser Analysis pinged away so quickly, it sounded like it was humming. Then, as suddenly as it had started: it stopped.

And I understood.

In the town of Greywalk, along the frontier, mankind pressed on towards the dangers and riches of the unknown. Across from me, the man’s name was Congrad. He was a [Warrior] Classed Adventurer of reasonable rank. The woman beside him was Kayla, a [Mage] of equal standing. They were my mentors, leaving town to take an important job for the Guild, and were not expected to return for several months. Perhaps, depending on the conditions, they might be gone even longer than that.

I blinked away the dizzy-spell, trying not to wrestle with the existential nightmare of a fact that the [Trial] could apparently drop information directly into my mind. I could, and would, try to unpack that issue later.

“Just make sure you don’t take on anything you can’t handle.” Kayla added, as she clinked her mug against mine. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. No point in losing it over something stupid.”

“I…” Reaching out, I found something I'd been expecting was missing. The familiar sixth sense of Charisma didn’t guide me. In fact, it was noticeably absent.

The Menu Status Screen flashed by quickly, confirming this fact. All I had with me were my own wits.

"I..." I repeated, cleverly.

Hoh boy. My own wits, huh?

Self deprecating humor aside, I found myself tongue-tied as I reeled from the rapid change. This was a lot to take in: One minute sitting on the edge of certain death, about to be ripped apart by hungry demons. Then, floating in an endless void. Then, dropped into a tavern, drinking... And apparently already a little buzzed? No, my words were not immediately forthcoming.

Thankfully, Congrad cut back in, saving me from the awkward pause.

“Oh, now you’ve got the lad choked up.” He slapped my shoulder again, a little less violently this time, although his beefy hand still threw me off balance. “John will be just fine. Gods, I’d be willing to bet he’ll have climbed up a rank in no time. Couple more after that, and he might surpass us!”

“Now, now.” Kayla tried to settle Congrad down, as the man rose to set a boot on his chair, swinging ale into the air as he went. "Let's not be hasty-"

“He’ll be ranked by the time we get back. Ranked! You hear me?” Congrad shouted, spreading his arms wide, as several tables around us cheered in response. "My lad here, you see him? John's going to be a legend!"

What a rambunctious crowd. The overwhelmingly positive attitudes here were throwing me for a loop.

Ah.

The rest of the knowledge flowed into my head, catching me up, further. Things were starting to make sense, for the most part. Ignoring whatever lasting psychological damage the 2nd floor probably left behind. That, I was going to box up for the time being, and work through later. Repress... repress...

But presently, I had pieced things together:

This was a script.

Well, no, not a "script" exactly, but something very close. What was happening around me now, was very much like I had been dropped into a scene of a play, or some similar concept. The two people at my table were providing me an introduction, which was what was being used to set me up for completing the third floor.

And what a Floor it was: The memories were starting to settle again, but there was a lot more of value here, when compared to how I'd landed blindly on the second Floor. This was so much more preferable, and it had me wondering what script would have waited for me if I'd been faced off against fifty Goblins instead of an entire army of demons.

While I was on the third floor, it appeared that I was recognized as an “Adventurer.” And, more importantly: I was a brand new Adventurer, who had only just become recognized. It seemed that I was in the process of obtaining an official rank of "E." Which was the lowest "Rank" on the Adventuring totem pole.

All around me, in the tavern, were other Adventurers, and what appeared to be some sort of human society which was very different from Earth. From what the memory-dump had provide me, the World's technology was far less impressive than Earths, and most things seemed to be substituted for Mana-related shenanigans. The knowledge that had been dropped in my head seemed to fill in most of the blanks. Or, at least, I thought it was. It was making a bit more sense with every passing second.

The point of the third Floor, was that I was going to earn my "Rank" in order to advance. But to do so, I was going to be on my own for the first time. No longer under the watchful eyes of my mentors. Metaphorically speaking, I was taking off the training wheels.

Abruptly, I realized that I'd been quietly thinking for a bit too long, and this short introduction was about to come to a close.

“Don’t worry about me, I'll be fine.” I replied quickly, taking my best shot at Charisma-less interaction. “It’s you two who should be careful!”

“Ha! You hear that?” Congrad let out another bellow of laughter as he finished off his mug. Beside him, Kayla did much the same, before giving me a quick flick of the forehead and rising from the table. Her finger seemed to "zap" me, as she did.

“Stay safe, John. It’s okay to push yourself, but don’t get in over your head. We’ll be back before you know it.”

With that, and a few more goodbyes and shouts, it seemed that my brief introduction script was over. The pair left the tavern, joining others beside a wagon on the street, and then, a few moments later, I was left alone.

Well then.

There I sat at the table, nursing a warm ale, still surrounded on all sides by drunken Adventurers, completely unable to catch up with the sudden shift.

My mind was spinning like a top. Circling back to what I'd just been through, to what had just been dropped on me as I arrived here, to just about anything and everything. My body felt healthy, as I creaked forward in my seat. The ale tasted of spice, and weak alcohol. My breathing slowed, as I slipped back into the pattern before I realized it.

I skimmed my menu screens, and listened to the conversations, as I nursed my drink. Facts and information filtered in, but nothing that surprised me after the sudden info-dump directly into my skull. As the night winded down, I walked along the edge of the Tavern, skimming request papers that were tacked to the wall, letting Lesser Analysis ping me quick blurbs of information. Then, after reading through all there was to see, I headed upstairs to a rented room, first paying a woman who was behind the bar with a few particular looking copper and one silver I apparently had in my coin-purse. It seemed that exchange was enough for a week's stay.

Considering I'd spent weeks on end sitting on a boulder in the middle of a pond, that seemed a fair price to sleep in a real bed.

As I locked the door and tucked the room key back in my pocket, I sat down at the small table and took a brief inventory of my new possessions. Leather armor was fit to my body, and as I took off each piece, I inspected it closely. It came in the form of armguards, chest and back guards, leg guards, and a loose helmet. I doubted it would do much against anything seriously dangerous, but it would help a little if something attacked me.

Apart from the armor, it seemed that my bow and arrows had once again come with me. Slightly different in shape and form, but very much recognizable. The quiver of arrows and the bow were set down, placed beside a rusty sword that seemed familiar as well. Perhaps the Priest's weapon had come along too, as it was stamped with the church symbol I remembered: A circle with some embellishment, that reminded me a little of the sun.

Outside of these things, I had a small bag, which contained some travel rations, and basic outdoor related supplies. The coin purse clinked, still mostly filled with copper and some silver.

So, nothing too unusual, and still no medicine to be found. Of course, I recognized that this was much better than starting with nothing, and if the [Trial] wanted to cut me some slack, I shouldn't complain.

Repacking the small bag and dressing down for the night, I sat down on the room's bed with a heavy "thump" before lying backwards. There, I stared at the glowing rock that seemed to be acting as a light source. Letting the Miracle trigger, flowing through my now healthy body, I sighed as the familiar meditative breathing pattern resumed. I would have to be certain to keep that Miracle casting, as often as I could, but starting from perfect health (relative for me, at least) meant I had plenty of time.

Which... meant this was insanely simple.

Wasn't this too easy? Everything on this Floor was laid out in front of me, and all I needed to do was... I checked the crumpled request paper I took from the wall.

E - Rank Quest: Gather 50 Tolloc Herbs Gather 50 Tolloc Herbs of Decent Quality

So far in the [Trial] Floors, I'd been forced to climb a mountain so high, it almost killed me. I'd been dropped into a new world, with no supplies, and faced with the existencial horror of an unstoppable demon army. All while trying in vain to keep my body from falling apart.

Now, all I had to go and do was weed a few times?

That was laughable... In fact, maybe that was entirely the point. After all I'd been through, I suspected that I could breeze through this floor in a few days if I wanted to.

Maybe that was the trap of this Floor? The [Trial] was tempting me into rushing through it, only to deeply regret my choice to do so when I reached the next one? I wasn't certain, but I pondered this, as I let the lingering traces of the Miracle cycle in my veins.

I had some time, I decided.

Not an endless amount of time, but certainly some. A lot more than I'd felt I might have when I landed on the second Floor, at least. I felt confident I could easily complete the main condition for the Floor, and maybe look into the secondary condition. It was possible there were other conditions, too. Hidden ones, like those I'd earned for staying on the first Floor for as long as I had. So, there was no need to rush.

As tempting as it was to quickly move through, I knew the best longterm course of action was to stay on this floor until I felt my health taking a turn for the worst. I could bide my time, work on my Attributes and Lesser Heal, and then I could hopefully clear the Floor when things became too unpleasant. By using the healing qualities that came with reaching the next floor to reset things, I could keep a safety net...

All of that was well and good, but I realized that I had no idea what was waiting for me on the fourth Floor, and I had no way to find out. For all I knew, not preparing myself to the fullest would get me killed.

Closing my eyes to sleep, and exhaustion finally took me, my mind settled into a dream.

Of demons, and miracles. Of monsters, and gunshots. Of flowing Strength and arrows that soared through the air. Of mountains that overlooked forests of endless green. Of plots, and plans, and the new days ahead of me.

But mostly I dreamt of floating in the nothingness, and breathing it in.