Floor 10

The Kitsune Capital

Checkpoint 1

Our point of arrival was on a vast prairie, the grass around us stamped down from consistent travel. The sun had begun to edge upward in the eastern sky, a handful of clouds with some dark grey tinting in the far off distance. The breeze on the tenth floor was gentle and warm, moving in advance of what was most likely rain clouds.

A pinch in the back of my right hand was the first thing I noticed, and the wince on Kuzu's face made it obvious she had the same sensation occur. I checked my hand, though I already knew what should be there, and smiled at the sight of the red crystal embedded in my flesh. It was opaque, but when you stared at it long enough you could almost imagine that blood flowed through it. From firsthand experience I knew that nothing short of an attack from Lute could hope to damage the crystal.

With the rising sun providing a decent backdrop, the city of the kitsune was framed with tall spires centralized. A stone wall surrounded the city, tall and thick with mortar that held the material together. Along the top of the wall seven archers had been stationed with about ten feet between each of them. Even from this distance I could tell that those kitsune who guarded the walls looked bored, depressed and tired expressions obvious on their faces.

The relaxed stance of the archers changed instantly when they noticed our distant figures. They called back and forth to each other, bows raised and arrows prepared in case they needed to fire. A single one of their group pulled out a spyglass and stared at it, before he gave a signal with his fingers to the others. It was only then that they returned to being relaxed, while one of their group vanished from the top of the wall.

"Only seven?" I wondered aloud, while we started to walk toward the city.

"If we need more than seven it means our camp on the ninth fell, or the orcs pushed past our holdings on the eleventh. In either of those instances we'd know about it before anything came through the portal," Osai explained.

Kuzu adjusted the strap that held the scabbard on her back. She was obviously new to carrying such a large weapon, and I doubted that she had much experience in using two-handed swords. However she had been wise enough to accept the gift. Thankfully I doubted we'd need to do much fighting anytime soon, although with the changes caused by the Tenth War my expectations could prove wrong.

Our approach toward the wall put us near a small gate, one that had been layered in steel and most likely had taken centuries to construct. It was doubtful that anyone could ever get through it without the help of extreme magic, or perhaps some type of weapon from one of the higher floors.

The archers on top of the wall all looked down at our trio, and they made little effort of hiding their interest in Kuzu. It was only when Osai placed himself in front of her that they realized how obvious they'd been, a hint of shame on their faces.

"What's an Elf doing here!" one of the kitsune called out, his fingers lightly touching the end of one of his arrow shafts. The others on the wall also took note of me, a couple actually preparing their bows for use.

Osai lifted his arm up and placed it in front of me. "This man is on his way to meet my reynard, if you wish for our skulk to fight yours than shoot me now."

Kuzu's tail twitched in confusion, because she still had no clue how to speak in the language of the kitsune. "What's going on?" she whispered, her eyes locked onto the agitated archers.

"A disagreement about me," I told her. Though I was calm on the outside, my inner warrior raged to be released at this aggravating delay. Though I wasn't fully recovered I could most likley make quick work of the archers with a few well placed lightning bolts.

"You offer your skulk's protection to this thing? Are you insane, Osai?" one of the archers on the left cried out.

"They are both under the protection of our skulk, until our reynard says otherwise. Now will you calm your souls or must we settle this with blood like kitlings?"

One of the archers spat on the ground, but he lowered his bow and moved his hand away from the quiver. "If it kills someone it's on your head, remember that Osai."

The other archers followed his lead, though some seemed much more hesitant than the original had. Some didn't even bother putting their arrows away, their hostile glares directed at me. Though they'd never seen an Elf in their life it was obvious their race had learned to hate them.

Kuzu and I followed Osai as he walked to the metal gate. The worry on her face was obvious, as she couldn't stop herself from glancing up at the archers as we neared the wall. "Don't worry, they won't touch another skulks protected people," I informed her, patting her lightly on the shoulder.

Kuzu inched a little bit away from me at that contact, although she didn't flinch away. "What's a skulk?" she asked me while we waited for the gate to open.

"Kind of like a family for the kitsune, although broader than that. Numerous families come together, they work together, they swear to guard and help each other," I explained, my interest less on the archers and more on the gate I'd never seen before.

Bars on our side visibly slid in multiple directions, before a loud clunk came from the other side, and then even more metal sliding could be heard from somewhere inside the gate. It was almost as though they'd designed it to be a puzzle, perhaps so that intruders couldn't simply swing the door open.

"The reynard is their elected leader," I continued to explain. "They're almost always the most respected, and quite often older, member of the skulk and tend to be male."

"There have been some females though," Osai added in from the side. "I met one once when I was a kitling. Their skulk moved on to the twelfth floor a while back, and I haven't heard of them since."

When we passed through the open gate we were greeted by an exterior ring of very poorly constructed homes. Much like with Grantis the shacks were designed for the poorest, usually the kitsune who had been relegated to not having a skulk or those who had dishonored themselves severely. In the case of a war they would be the first to die, but any who survived would recover some respect from their fellow kitsune.

It was easily an hour of walking before we finally reached an area with proper housing. The buildings were single floor, but wide and quite often with wide open doorways. The kitsune had a very open approach to their housing, most likely because of how they cared significantly for their families and friends. In one of the houses we could see a group of kitling seated around an adult who had a book.

Throughout all of our walk Kuzu couldn’t stop her tail from wagging back and forth excitedly. Every new building and person constantly brought a smile to her face. I could understand why she was so excited, but at the same time it was a slight embarrassment to have her acting like that near me.

We walked even further into the city and eventually reached a district where the buildings were made of brick. These were the buildings that stood much higher than a single floor, and yet the truly tallest were even deeper. Osai came to a stop when we reached the brick district, his attention drifting toward the north.

Kuzu and I couldn’t resist following his line of sight, and what we saw made me want to start laughing. At some point in the past the reynards had made good on their threat, and they had constructed statues out of steel. They had been well crafted, but for some obscure reason they were fifty feet tall.

"The heroes who saved us over a thousand years ago," Osai proudly announced before he turned to look at Kuzu. "I know! I have something I can show you since you’ve never been here before."

"Oh? What?" Kuzu asked, her eyes almost glittering at the prospect of seeing something new.

While they talked, I didn’t even hear a single word. That thousand years resonated deeply within me, a vast sum of time that made my heart drop. A thousand years since all my friends had died, and a thousand years since I’d left Lisa and Mika behind.

A thousand years with Lute’s corpse festering in the deepest, hidden part of the labyrinth. All alone, cold and exposed to anyone who wandered in. An anger grew within, mostly at myself, one that caused me to clench my jaw and curl my hands into fists.

"Fenix?" came the gentle voice of Kuzu, a voice that pulled me back to reality.

I forcefully relaxed my muscles and put on a fake smile, trying to reassure her. "Yes?"

"Osai said he wants to show us the Black Fortress," Kuzu told me, as she pointed toward the kitsune in question who had already started to walk away.

Black Fortress? I scoured my memory for any information on that, but I couldn’t recall ever running across a Black Fortress in the city of the kitsune. All I could guess was that they’d built it, perhaps due to the Tenth War.

For another twenty minutes Osai lead us through the city, our path taking us through the various types of districts. From the brick buildings we wove our back to toward the wooden homes, and from there we looped into a deeper part of the city.

In the end we arrived at a very familiar place for me, one that had cherry blossom trees and a large open field. A small pond had been placed toward the south end, and all around the park numerous families could be seen relaxing.

"Oh no," I muttered as I figured out what the Black Fortress was.

Ahead of us near the center of the park a massive building could be seen. It was easily four-stories in total height and at least three hundred feet wide. A balcony could be seen at the top in the center of the building, though no door or window was visible near it.

The building was blacker than the night itself, created from a type of metal that couldn't be found anywhere on the tenth floor. It would require going all the way to the fortieth floor in order to get even a small amount of it.

If not for Lute cheating the place never would've been made. In the end she wanted to create a memorable, permanent aspect to our lives. A mark that we had been there, and a way to commemorate our love after we married. Even knowing her secret I had chosen to marry her, and she knew eventually I would either grow too strong or pass away.

"The home of Theodore and Lute, the heroes of our distant past," Osai said as he smiled at the building. We stood on the fringe of the large park, yet the building still dominated most of our vision. “They who stood against an orc army and saved my ancestors from destruction. With their most trusted friend Pierre they worked miracles and brought peace.”

Kuzu's tail stopped moving and even her ears went rigid. Her head started to turn in my direction, yet she stopped and instead looked at Osai with a smile. "That's wonderful, does anyone go inside it?"

Osai laughed at that, before he started to walk away from the park and back into the city depths. "Nobody can get inside that thing, it's made of something harder than steel. Apparently some mages even tried blasting it open with their spells about five-hundred years ago, but all it did was spit the magic back at them."

“Oh,” Kuzu followed after Osai once more. “What were those heroes like?”

“I don’t think we really need to talk about them,” I murmured as I shadowed the two, my eyes focused on the back of Kuzu’s head.

“You really want to know, huh?” Osai clapped his hands together once. “I got it. Pierre brought the knowledge of concrete with him. He apparently learned it somewhere deep in the labyrinth. Thanks to him we were able to make some of our larger buildings.”

“That sounds pretty neat,” Kuzu’s tail tip started to wiggle. “How far did those heroes manage to dive?”

Osai paused for a moment as a large group of armed kitsune walked through an intersection in front of us. His one arm lifted up in front of me of all people, though I knew it was to warn those kitsune not to interfere with the Elf.

“Legend says that the three heroes came back from the eightieth floor once,” Osai said after the kitsune had finished walking by. “All we can confirm is they knew things that made us look like savages, but they shared much and helped us grow.”

“What about...who was it, Lute?” Kuzu innocently asked, before she glanced behind her at me. There was a smile there, a wicked little one that I wanted to wipe off her face.

In truth she knew a bit too much, a mistake on my part. I’d figured I could simply pulverize my way through everything, but I’d overlooked my need for deceit. It was a lesson I’d need to take to heart before I reached the Architects. If they ever found out the truth of who I was, if He was still somehow alive, the entire labyrinth would be in danger.

“Ah yes, I’ve heard she was named after the Goddess,” Osai laughed at that one. “She was the greatest swordswoman to ever live, so good that merely watching her would raise your skill.”

Osai paused as we arrived at a district where everything was made of crystals and concrete. The concrete worked as pillars and flooring, but the crystals made up most of the walls and ceilings. Archways were heavily used, and the only doors were designed to slide open rather than swing.

Each of the buildings had a single emblem etched into the crystal above their main entrances. Osai led us to one that had a tulip, a symbol I’d never seen before. He slid the crystal door open and boldly walked in, before he turned and motioned for us to follow.

After we walked into the building Osai led us even further in, passing by numerous kitsune who stared at me. Some were openly hostile in their look, and others simply confused, but none stood in the way of our chaperone.

The room Osai finally brought us to was not altogether large, with a clean interior. The floor had cushions and a thick carpet. Each of the walls where thick, and someone had draped thick cloth from ceiling to floor. A single person was inside and looked like he was asleep, as he lounged on a pile of cushions with a steaming cup on a small wooden stand next to him.

"Reynard Niran, I bring guests who wished to meet you," Osai stated loudly before he stepped to the left and promptly sat down on the ground cross-legged.

I chose to speak next, given the fact that Kuzu was unpracticed in both Vulpese as well as the manners of her kind. "My humble hands bring a 'Gift of the Divers' for the reynard who is so kind as to receive us."

While the man who looked asleep continued to not move I pulled out the staff and placed it gently on the ground in front of me. Before anyone said anything I took two steps to the right and knelt down, before I nodded at Kuzu toward the empty space to my left.

Kuzu was not altogether dumb so she caught on quickly and followed suit. I gave a small smile to try and reassure her, though the nervousness was obvious on her face.

"Ah...a gift? How long have we reynard gone without one," asked the kitsune before he opened his eyes. One was a brilliant gold while the other was a dark blue, and both settled upon the beautiful Kuzu who sat across from him. "Is she a mute? Does she not know her manners?"

"My apologies, but Kuzu was born on the first floor and her parents seem to have not taught her properly," I explained quickly, while Kuzu continued to merely twitch her ears in confusion at our conversation. "She means no disrespect to you, aged elder, and I hope my gift can help overcome the disrespect she still brings through ignorance."

Niran laughed at that, his free hand slapping against his knee. "So you don't know your own tongue, child? A kitling still are you?"

Kuzu blushed a little at that, although she could only nod in response. "I haven't had the opportunity to learn how to speak the language of the kitsune, I'm sorry."

"Very well, we shall speak in the tongue of the humans then to make it easier for you," Niran told her. He looked at the staff and then scoffed, before glaring at me. "A goblin staff? How foul, why did you bring this as a gift? This is nothing but trash."

"I did not bring the staff but the knowledge on how to use the magic within to you and your skulk, Reynard Niran. It is my hope that you will find it useful and use it to boost your skulk to a point greater than the others," I told him.

Niran could not resist moving his ears forward eagerly. "Magic? That is lost to us and the others, how could one of the Elves from the first floor know the means by which to use it?"

Osai cleared his throat to draw his reynards attention. "He was using magic during a fight on the ninth floor, Master Niran. According to Kuzu, the female, he knows the secret of granting magic."

"Indeed, all you need to do is carefully remove the crystal and then carve it until the center is a proper sliver. After doing that you implant the piece into the arm of the carver, and they will be able to use magic. Though there will be pain," I warned him. "Two warnings though. The first is that the original crystal loses the power when you carve it, and the second is that you can only inject one crystal over the course of three to five days. Do it too fast and the person might die.”

Niran listened to my words and nodded his head. He calmly reached down to the cup of clear liquid and drank from it, before he tossed the empty cup over his left shoulder. The noise of it breaking made my heart skip a beat, as it was not a good sign.

"If we were to try this tactic you seem to have told me there is a chance of death, and you wish me to use my own kitsune as an experiment?" Niran half-asked, before he shook his head. "My skulk will not conduct this experiment, not until we know a kitsune can safely do as you say."

It was what I had been afraid of. The act of tossing the cup had been a move similar to flipping a coin. If the cup had not broken he would have agreed to the proposal, though most likely hesitatingly.

"I'm sorry but I know of no kitsune who would help me in this endeavor," I told him honestly. To do something that might kill them, especially at the behest of an Elf?

"I will," Kuzu calmly announced. It was a statement that drew all of our attentions back to her, and one that surprised me.

"Are you sure, kitling? You might die during this," Niran checked. “You would trust this Elf with your life?”

"Yes, I've seen the process done so I'm sure I can do it too," Kuzu said, before she reached for the goblin staff.

All three of us watched on as Kuzu began to pry the crystal out, and then she pulled out a steel dagger from her sash. The process was slow, as Kuzu carefully began to slice away at the gem in her hand. Not long into it her concentration on the crystal became absolute, and so while she worked on the task I made a move of my own.

“With your blessing might I speak with you?” I requested of the reynard.

Niran gave a nod of his head. “You may, though I would love to know how an Elf learned our language and etiquette.”

“My benefactor was wise, and he taught me of magic and words beyond the normal knowledge of my kind,” I told Niran, lying through my teeth.

“A wisdom that one could hope might help change this stagnant labyrinth,” Niran sighed to himself. “Speak of what you wish.”

“You seem to doubt what I’ve told you, so how about a wager?”

Niran leaned forward a tiny amount, his one ear flicking. “You have my interest, Elf. What shall we bet on?”

That aspect of their culture had apparently remained intact over the last thousand years. Their race preferred to stick to the tenth floor, and that lack of moving gave them a good deal of extra time. To that end some smart kitsune far back in the past had fallen in love with gambling.

Pierre had loved that, often making a small fortune whenever he passed through the tenth floor. The fact that the kitsune always repaid their debts made them some of the best victims for my gambling friend.

“Since you doubt me, how about we make it an interesting one. Let’s bet on whether or not Kuzu will live.”

“Hah, interesting. You’re either certain of this procedure or you don’t care for her. To that end I can grant you some gold, what do you offer?”

“I will serve your skulk for a year.”

“An Elf,” the reynard gave a small shake of his head. “I would normally say no, but Osai backs your claim of magic. To that end I will happily agree to your little bet. Though I hope you win, as I’d rather not see such a beautiful flower wither.”

Kuzu had paused in her carving, her attention once more shifted back to us. “Is everything alright?” she worriedly asked.

“Everything’s fine,” I smiled at her, my hand waving toward the crystal. “Is it finished?”

She brandished that crystal in front of her with a wide smile, her eyes wide and bright. It was crudely done, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to tell her how badly mangled it was. “All I need to do is put it in my arm?”

"Yes, and it’s going to hurt,” I reminded her.

Kuzu looked down at her left arm, the crystal in her right hand. She started to aim it at her arm, but I coughed and raised my hand. Still next to her I leaned over and put my hand on top of her own.

“Oh?” her smile faltered, but her ears didn’t sag.

“Trust me, if you put it in the wrong spot you’ll bleed all over the place,” I informed her. My hand moved her own, and I tracked the crystal toward an area where fat and muscle should be.

When I started to move my hand away her own quivered, and she looked down at that crystal with a hint of fear. Though she’d put on a brave front it was easy to see that she dreaded either the pain of the crystal, or the pain of the mana merging into her.

"It's okay, we'll go on three," I told her, my mouth close to her ear. The fox ear flicked at the breath of air from my mouth, and she couldn’t stop herself from giggling. Apparently the kitsune ears could be tickled quite easily.

“Alright, on three!” she smiled once again, her eyes turning to look at me with such trust that it almost made me feel bad.

"One," I counted out, before I forced the crystal into her arm.