Night ended without further problems for Mathew. The sun appeared just as suddenly as it left at the start of night. It was sudden, and Mathew had problems adjusting to the difference in lighting.

They continued traveling for a few hours until a blue screen popped up in front of them.

Mathew glanced between Zachary and the blue screen that popped up in front of him. Both Agnox and Cherry were summoned again. The former was enjoying the warmer climate. He was lucky that Cherry was able to tolerate the high temperatures with the cooling ritual help.

Area Quest: Sundrop Race

A Piece of the sun is condensing into an item on a pedestal. Find it. Defend it until it fully forms, and then claim it as yours.

Time till Sundrop forms: 2:33:47

Reward: Sundrop [Student Rank Body Tempering Item]

Zachary started to do stretches. “Well, I guess the race is on. You plan on getting it for yourself?”

Mathew shook his head, but Agnox spoke up. “Of course we are! A Student ranked body Tempering item? At our rank! It is a treasure beyond comprehension!” Agnox floated next to Mathew and whispered in his ear. “Listen Boss. That’s obviously a fire related body tempering item, or at least that’s my guess. I need this. My fire techniques will explode in power!”

Mathew couldn’t argue against that logic. Agnox could heavily benefit from such an item. “What about you? Such an item seems powerful.”

“Maybe. I’m mostly going for the fighting. It doesn’t do anything for me, but I could always sell it.” Zachary moved positions to stretch his legs.

“Could always help a new friend get it himself.” Mathew said with a sly smile, but knew Zachary didn’t care.

The timer continued to tick down. Mathew looked around trying to figure out where to go. Given the name of the item, he glanced out toward the sun. He noticed a dense ray of light beaming down toward the ground.

“Let’s race. First one there gets it.” Zachary said. “I win, you help me secure it, and I might sell it to you. If you win, it’s yours and I’ll help you secure it.”

Mathew raised an eyebrow. “What are the rules?”

Zachary smiled, “The rules of the jungle. There are no rules.” His body blurred as he took five steps then leapt into the air toward the beam. He was faster than Mathew, even with his body being enhanced by his Axiom of Bolster. Zachary landed nearly two hundred meters away from where he lept and continued going.

Cherry let out a disappointing sigh. “He’s fast. Guess we lose.”

Mathew nodded. “If it was a fair race, absolutely.” he pulled out a mana core from his bag. “Just as he said, life isn’t fair, there are no rules. Cherry! Pay attention, this is how a McGonald get’s things done.”

Agnox let out a laugh. “Are we finally testing this out? I thought we were saving it for an escape plan.”

“No point. We are in an open field desert. It would be impossible to run away from someone and lose line of sight.”

Mathew quickly summoned Jeffery, a slab of wood Agnox apparently packed, and started to work on the ritual, enhancing it by applying his Axiom of Patterns to it. It was layered to be Beginner rank.

It was a bit of a waste of one of the few Beginner cores he had, but he couldn’t let Zachary beat him. Not when he had a way to beat him.

Captain Henderson grunted as she defended another swing of the curved blade that was swung at her. “Hey! I was here first! No point in fighting to the death, we have over an hour until it’s even finished!”

“And let you take that precious reward? Never!” The thick German accented man swung his sword again. Henderson was forced to retaliate with intent to kill. Her longsword moved with such speed that the German man couldn’t defend.

She sliced the side of his torso, forcing him to fall. “Stay down. I don’t want to kill you. Just pop your token and leave.”

He growled. “I need this! The power!”

Henderson sighed. “We could have worked together. Break your token, or I’ll kill you.”

“Fuck you.” He spat at her. Henderson shoved her blade into his chest. She pulled the blade out and wiped off the blood.

“Some people…” She shook her head, disappointed in the actions she was forced to take.

Henderson looked at the four other people who have shown up so far. Nobody was hostile, but everyone was leery of one another. Everyone kept at least one eye on another person.

In the distance, she saw a large group of people running toward them. Several people were throwing ranged attacks at one another in attempts to slow them down or out right stop them from running. Some people used powers to control the sand or wind, completely removing people from the race.

She grimaced. “Looks like we got company. Anyone else here wanting to piss me off?” She shouted, glaring at them all. Nobody here was part of a team. Henderson didn’t know if they were true loners, or were like her. Used to be part of a group, and members left or were killed.

Nobody made a move. There was less than an hour left till the item was ready to be taken. The group of people came closer. Henderson realized not all of them were friendly with each other. She had rarely focused on her Wisdom stat, focusing more on Intelligence, Dexterity, Strength, and Constitution. Thus, her perception wasn’t as high as others.

Henderson tightened her grip on her sword. She needed this item. The..God…at least that’s what it called itself, said something like this would appear on this floor. She needed it.

The infighting group was close enough now that she could make out some figures. People of various ethnic backgrounds and fighting styles were seen. Some wore similar gear showing they were together. Others were close and not fighting, making it obvious they were together.

Henderson noticed a few familiar faces. Some she met on the lower floors, others she knew from Earth. Two faces she absolutely knew were in the group. She sent a silent prayer of hope to nobody, as she was getting ready to face one of them.

In the lead of the group was a woman that had no visible weapons. She was sprinting toward where the Sundrop would be appearing. Nobody stopped her as she ran up to it.

“Ha! It’s mine!”

One person with a katana sitting nearby just scoffed. “I suggest you be a patient girl. Otherwise-”

“Not my fault you are choosing to wait, old man. I’m taking this now.” the woman reached out. When her hand entered the pillar of light surrounding the quest reward, flames engulfed her.

Her screams reached out to everyone as she pulled her hand back and waved it around in pain. The katana man shook his head with remorse. “I warned you.”

Henderons shook her head, “That’s what she gets for not listening.”

A Mexican man walked up to Henderson with three others behind him. “Well, I didn’t expect to find you here. Where is everyone else?” Leo asked as he looked around.

“Just me left. Everyone else went back on the previous floor, died, or never came at all.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “Mathew left? That doesn’t sound like him.”

Henderson groaned in annoyance “That idiot was never with us. He’s still alive. Just never showed up with our group. I don’t think he actually made it in to be honest.”

“He’s here. I talked to someone who had seen him.” Leo rolled his eyes, “Bastard. He just thinks he is the best at everything. Anyone tried to kill him since I left?”

Henderson eye’d Leo. “No. A minor alteration with Agnox, but that’s it. Why are you asking? Do you still want to swing at him?”

He shook his head slightly, seeming tired and annoyed. “No. I just didn’t see him going far with his narcissistic attitude.”

“He’s getting better actually.” Henderson said, defending him. “Mathew went through some stuff after the undead. You leaving didn’t help. He asked about you when he woke up.”

Leo rolled his shoulders, looking at everyone. A few fights were going on, but only a couple of people were forced to pop their token. Nobody was injured to the point of death. His group was close enough to help if anyone tried to fight him or Henderson. She was still a friend in his eyes. “I have my own agendas. He’s a big boy. I honestly think the power he has is going to his head.”

Henderson huffed. “Maybe. He’s trying though. At least, he was before he went into seclusion to meditate and I entered this place.” Henderson slapped Leo on the shoulder. “You look good by the way. I’m glad to see you are doing well. I’m glad you didn’t go down the spiral of despair. Too many good men and women end up in the worst place with no help. I’m honestly proud of you for staying mentally straight.’

Leo smiled a bit at that. “Thanks. It’s hard, but I live every day in their honor. Including others. The list of reasons why never shrinks, only grows.”

The rest of the group that was behind Leo rolled up. Including a large group representing New America, with one familiar face standing among their group.

“Has Payne caused any problems?” Henderson asked in a low voice.

“I only bumped into them this morning after the sun showed up. Surprisingly, he doesn’t remember me, or hasn’t made it known he does.” Leo looked around at the small gathering of people all here for the quest reward. In total, there were just over thirty.

“It looks to me like this is everyone who made it to this floor. The Area Quest is done like this on purpose I think. We are reaching the end of it all.” Henderson said.

“I think it’s because something worse is going to happen.” Leo muttered. “What I’ve learned the past two months since I left, is that The System likes to play games. Besides, we have two weeks until the World Quest ends. I doubt it will end two weeks early.”

Henderson nodded, reluctantly agreeing with him. “Then let’s hope this shit show doesn’t have a splash zone. I already had to kill someone who picked me out because he thought I was weak. I proved him wrong.”

“Yea? How did you manage to gain six whole levels in the span of a couple days?” Leo asked with an inquisitive voice.

“You have your sponsor, I have mine.” Henderson said with a playful grin.

Leo looked at her approvingly. “I see. Well, don’t trust them fully. I don’t with mine. He hasn’t betrayed my trust yet, but I refuse to fully trust anyone that isn’t human right now.”

“They can’t all be evil or ill intended Leo. Just like people from Earth, not everyone is bad.”

Leo didn’t say anything, remaining silent.

The two of them continued to keep an eye out for trouble. The timer continued to tick down. When the one hour mark passed, tension seemed to grow more. Two more fights broke out, ending with four more dead.

Henderson and Leo with his group refrained from taking lives pointlessly. They both have shouted at people to stop fighting for no reason, but nobody listened.

The asian man with a katana walked over to them. “It’s good to see some people have common sense. Mind if I stand with you? I hope when others see more standing with good intentions it will ease tensions more. We can solve the issue of who can claim this reward without pointless death.”

Leo glanced at the man. He didn’t look threatening which meant he was deadly. To reach this floor alone, one had to be strong. “Sure.”

“My name is Kawamoto Naoki. It is a pleasure to be in good company.”

“You can call me Captain Henderson, everyone else does.” Henderson stuck out her hand to shake.

Leo just shrugged, “Leo.”

“Well then Captain Henderson and Leo. Are either of you going to attempt to claim this reward, or are simply here for something else? Something…more?”

Leo shook his head. “I’m not. I am here just to see who is left. I have my own path to follow.”

Henderson bit her lip slightly in thought. “I kinda do want it. If it’s light based, it might work for my path. I was told about a different item I could buy, but this is Student rank. That has to mean something right?”

“Hmmm. Sometimes, it’s wise to follow instinct, but be sure to balance it with wisdom.” Kawamoto said. “I have no need for it. I am here to prevent pointless death or an evil person to obtain it. If you wish to acquire it, Miss Henderson, then I think you should.”

Henderson turned to look at the stranger. “Why are you being nice and helpful?”

Kawamoto laughed. “Is it so hard to remember that good people still exist in this world?”

Henderson just nodded and looked around at the group of people. She noticed some were looking out in the distance and pointing. “What is it they are looking at?”

Leo looked out, “I just see sand getting thrown up into the air periodically. It looks like it’s getting closer though.”

Henderson put a hand on her sword’s handle. “A monster?”

“Probably. Could be related to a Dungeon boss, or worse, a Floor Boss.” Leo said then took a step back. “There’s another. This sand is consistent. It’s just flying into the air as if something is running through it. It’s close behind the other creature creating the sand explosions.”

Henderson tried to look out, but couldn’t. The asian man peered out. “I think those figures are too small to be a Floor Boss. One is jumping, the other is bigger, but running. I think someone is running away from a monster. Perhaps one of those sand sharks.”

The figures continued to get closer and people were getting ready for a fight. Whatever was coming, nobody was going to let it take the reward before them. Even those who didn’t want it.

Leo, who could see better than Henderson, kept her informed of what he saw. “Kawamoto is right. Someone is jumping over a huge distance, taking a few steps then jumping again. Some sort of beast is running behind him, but the beast is dragging something.”

Henderson nodded. “Do you recognize it?”

“That’s the thing. It matches none of the three creatures associated with this floor. It looks like a large dog. There are only supposed to be undead, sharks, and a weird looking eagle on this floor.”

“Floor Boss?” Henderson asked with a worry.

“No, I don't think so. We haven't seen one yet, plus it’s too small. Even the first floor bosses were larger.” Leo said.

“Could it belong to the jumping man? A pet?” Henderson asked. “Mathew has one, he can’t be the only person with a pet wolf.”

Leo didn’t say anything, but he couldn’t help but show realization on his face.

“What is it? Don’t tell me that it is Mathew's wolf.” Henderson asked, a small twinge of hope and disbelief in her voice.

Leo shook his head. “It is. And he is being dragged on something behind it. Like a sled.”