Chapter 42: Ch 41: Into the garden of weapons [pt1]
Surprisingly, it was the father who decided to decide here.
“You are saying that there is a likelihood that I won’t be able to go back out, right? In that case, I would like to climb this tower as well. I want to find a safe place to raise my daughter.”
The father decided and his determined expression surprised Alex and Kurina. They had not expected the father to be this resolute.
“H-Hey, think over your words once more. You don’t know how dangerous this tower is and how easily you can out in here.”
Kurina tried to make the father back down but the elder man just shook his head in response to Kurina’s words.
“I am afraid that you are the one who does not understand my situation. As soon I exit this tower, both I and my daughter would end up dead or worse. I cannot risk such a future for my child.”
The display of the father’s love for his daughter was heartwarming. It touched Kurina as well and she softened her expression just a little bit.
For the first time, she looked at the father in front of her and felt as if she needed to help him out. She turned toward Alex to ask for his opinion.
“Well, whether you want to climb up the tower or not is up to you to decide. But do not expect me to put my own life in danger to help you out.”
Alex told this to the father-daughter pair outright. The father looked grateful but Kurina’s expression was filled with disapproval.
“Thank you. Thank you so much for your acceptance. I swear that you will not have to help us out and we will settle down as soon as we find a suitable place to do so.”
Alex only nodded at this decision. Even if he had not allowed these two to travel with him, their end destination would be the same. And Kurina also looked ready to escort these two people.
“We should gather as much supplies as we can from this place. Our deadline to reach the second floor is two days. It will take about 3 days for the others to arrive there. We should take advantage of this time.”
Alex had a plan now. And it involved pressuring Baron Lucas to remove his curse on Alex. and this would involve having a strong hold on the second floor.
Baron Luke was a coward who easily gave up once he was pressured. And that was what Alex would be going for this time as well. He would make Baron Luke give up everything he held dear.
They travelled for two days straight. They had a limited supply of food and water with them but that was quickly depleting.
There was also a baby travelling with them that slowed their speed but no one in their group minded. They knew the outcome when they accepted the pair into their group.
Kalidus was the dad while his daughter was called Merry. They were a sweet pair who were likeable and helped Alex and Kurina around when they needed something. In return, both Alex and Kurina were responsible for protecting their group.
It was a mutually beneficial relationship for the most part.
Finally, they reached their destination - the portal to the second floor. It shined brightly in front of them and was only a few steps away as well.
But before they could reach the door, the earth began to shake and a lot of long worm-like bodies broke the ground.
“Shit! The Barrel worms are here and there are a lot of them. We won’t be able to get through if we don’t kill all of them.”
Kurina summed up their situation quite well. The Barrel worms were a breed of enemies they had faced a lot in the past two days. But it had always been one or two individual worms.
Right now, there was a whole parade of worms. Alex could spot as many as twenty worms around them and they all came here to kill them.
“Kalidus, you hide with Merry. Leave these worms to me and Alex. We will take care of these things and call you out.”
Kurina assured the father-daughter pair but even Alex knew that getting rid of these worms was not an easy task. Especially with so many of them banding together.
Alex was already running into the hoard of worms to kill them all. He was only able to kill two before he began to tire out. His endurance was good but his body was still not trained to fight against these things.
Kurina was in a similar state but her situation was much worse than Alex’s. She needed to be at least 45% health or less to trigger her skill. And she had almost no defense to speak of after that.
So, their side was facing a crisis. They could only force a way through the monsters and it would only work once.
“Shit, this will not work. Kalidus, get ready to run. We will open a way for you to head to the other side and then follow you.”
Kurina yelled as she got ready to fight with everything she had. Alex was ready to back her up as well. Kalidus clutched Merry closer to his chest and the child looked confused by her father’s actions before he ran.
Both Kurina and Alex followed the pair and managed to enter the door at the very last second. They were finally out of the hellhole that was the first floor.
“Finally, we are safe. I thought that we were going to die for sure.”
Kurina breathed a sigh of relief and her legs gave up. She slid down to the ground and her body was still shaking from the after-effects of the adrenaline rush she went through.
This time, they had landed in what looked like a dumpster filled with all kinds of metallic things. Alex moved his hand around, only to find a gun in his hand.
The gun was small but he tried firing it and a beam of energy shot out of it. The ground it landed on was pierced and a small hole was left in its way.
Alex quickly let the gun fall back to the ground but he could not help but feel bitter about it. This technology could have saved his life if he had it beforehand.
“What kind of world is this? There is so much metal and weapons in here. Is this some kind of remains of a war zone?”
Kurina asked while she moved her hands around as well. Her hand caught a few guns as well and Kurina tried firing them off.
Most of the guns were in working condition and they seemed relatively powerful as well.
“No Merry, don’t! This is dangerous and you should not hold such weapons in your hand.”
Alex watched as Kalidus snatched Merry’s body and picked her up before she could touch any weapon. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief while Merry just pouted.
Despite being three years old, Merry did not speak or even cry. Alex was beginning to believe that she was mute by now. The only one who could understand what Merry wanted was Kalidus.
“I think we should get out of here. This place is too dangerous with all these weapons.”
Kurina whispered as she let the gun go and walked around. It soon became evident that they were in a confined space and there was no way out of here. The whole place was blocked off from the outside by a large fence.
Finally, they managed to find a gate which was locked but Kurina took out a small pin from her hair to open the gate. She only touched the gate when the alarm started to blast out of the speakers. It was loud enough to even hurt Alex’s ears.
“You are advised to not move and put your hands up. You are under arrest for tampering with private goods and trespassing. You will be put on trial to prove your innocence.”
Beams of lights fell on top of Alex and the group looked startled. Soldiers surrounded them soon enough and people aimed their guns at them.
“Keep your hands up and do not move. We will shoot you if you try to move even a little bit.”
Alex looked up from where he was standing and his eyes locked with the female on top of the tower. The female had sharp eyes and her face was flushed because of the heat of the summer sun.
The light of the sun made looking up tight for Alex but he managed to stare the lady in the eyes. It made her grin and she jumped down from the six-stories tower.
“Well, looks like we have some courageous people around us today. I will have fun breaking you apart and getting you to admit all your secrets.”
The lady grabbed Alex’s face and pulled it forward. Her tight grip on Alex’s face made him flinch and left impressions when she pulled her hand back.
Alex was not afraid of this female but he had a feeling that her black aura and determined expression were not to be messed with.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone