章節 5: Quest: Ascend the tower
Aria fell on the ground and started vomiting. Rex wasn't too good either. The moment he appeared he lost his balance and fell on the ground, grasping for oxygen to breathe. In the last second, he felt his internal organs are crushed under huge pressure. It took a while before he could stabilizer himself.
Rex looked around the place, but it was too dark to see. The floor was soft and humid. At closer inspection, he felt like the floor was breathing.
Rex jumped up in fear. The moment he did green fires lit up at the four walls around him. The view sent a chill through his spine.
It could be called a room. There were a ceiling, a floor and walls at four sides with a door on the front wall. But the similarities end there. The floor was wet felt more like a jungle. Rex wasn't sure whether it was tree roots of tentacles those were on the floor but it was beating. Aerial roots like those of banyan tree were coming out of the ceiling.
When Rex stood up he accidentally touched one of it, but it had the life of its one moved away from him.
An explanation was the thing he needed most, but looking at weak Aria, he didn't ask. And the wind wasn't willing to talk about it.
Rex looked around for a moment before he stepped towards the door. At first step, the ground quacked. A stele came out of the ground. Unlike the one outside, this was of wood.
[ Those were willing to climb the tower put your hand on the stele.]
There was a shape of a hand on it too. If felt like cheap but popular live show tricks but Rex put the hand of the mark nonetheless.
[Identifying…
Name: The Devourer.
Qualification: Defeated the guardian. Recognition of the guardian.
Qualified to climb the tower…
Will you start your ascending now?]
Rex didn't know how to react. He just said yes.
[Configuring the tower…
Error…
The tower is not complete…
Reconfiguring…
The floor reduced to 5.
Compiling the data…
Due to 9 floor reduction the difficulty is readjusted.]
The door of the wall flung open.
[Generating quest.
Quest: Climb the tower.
Duration: 4 days.
Quest Reward: Depend on the result.
Caution: Failed to clear the quest will result in enslavement for five years.]
"What the hell is this? Is this some kind of joke? Enslavement? Are you kidding me?" Rex was sprouting curses one after another.
But at the next moment, something unimaginable happened. Aria had already recovered. She was standing behind Rex. But all of a sudden she ran out of the door.
He wasn't sure whether he was going to climb it or not, but he had to run after Aria. After coming out he turned left like Aria only to be blocked by an invisible barrier.
He looked in surprise as she vanished in the darkness. He stood up and extended his hand. It was blocked by something invisible. No matter how much he pounded it wasn't breaking at all. But a stone stele started to glow.
[ Not eligible to descend the tower.]
'There is something beneath it too?' It was not hard to believe that being an important building of the city it has some basement floors.
"What I have to do to go there?" At Rex questions, the stele glowed in green light.
[Condition: Complete the ascending.
Time Remaining: 95 hours 54 minutes 37 seconds]
The second was continued to change.
"Then how can you let Aria go?"
The stele didn't respond, just the second continued to change.
"Ascending the tower is the only way."
"Why are you here?" Rex was angry with the wind which comes and goes as it like. The Wind fell silent again.
Rex took a deep breath and went the other way.
After walking for about 10 minutes he was greeted by stairs along with another stele.
[Take the stairs to the second floor.]
Other than the line the remaining time was also there.
'Can it be so easy?' Rex couldn't believe it but took the stairs. Not like there was anything else he could do.
One, two, three… hundred and one.
Rex was surprised. Did he just count till hundred? He turned around but the first steps couldn't be seen.
'It is a 14 storied building after all. The real challenge might be at the last five floors.' He assured himself as he continued to climb. 100 turned to 500, then 1000 it continued to increase. Rex didn't realize himself, but at some point, he stopped counting.
'How many stairs could there be?' He felt that he had already claimed till at the height of the Eiffel tower. But there was no way to confirmed it. His thoughts lost in the steps.
The energy drained of his body as he continued to step forward. Stamina was one thing he was most proud of even then he had already crossed his limits.
*Step* *step*
"Could it be some kind of puzzle?" He asked. The wind didn't answer as usual. No matter whether he was thinking or talking to himself his foot never stopped at once. He had already lost the sense of his leg. One thing he had learnt from the marathon that never to stop your feet until you reach your destination.
"Even if it is, there is nothing I could do about it. Only thing I could do is climb." He was never good with head, so from a very young age, he gave all his time to the sports. With that dedication, he was even able to land a job at the school as a sports instructor. From that perspective his life was good. He was happy. Though he lost his parents at a young age, his uncle who was a brother of his mother and aunt never ever discriminate against him. With a sister to dote and a girl to love he felt he was really lucky in his life.
While in thought he himself didn't notice but a smile appeared on his face.
Right at the next moment, he fell. He looked at the surprise that he had reached the second floor. A stele was beside him.
[The first floor has been cleared.
Time took: 3 minutes 15 seconds.
Times Remained: 95 hours 42 minutes 05 seconds]
"Are you kidding me? I was climbing over five to six hours and it is saying…" His intended words never came out. He looked with the big round eyes at the stairs. There were just 22 steps. But it actually took him three minutes.
"It was an illusion." Once in a while, the wind gave a right explanation at the right time. Rex sighed at his wasted minutes and left to explore the second floor.
Soon he was standing in a long corridor with a stele beside him. The corridor had doors on both sides. The corridor wasn't too long and there were just six doors. Three doors on each side.
Rex looked at the stele. There was just one sentence written on it over the remaining time.
[Open the right door and leave.]
The work was simple as expected. Rex didn't hesitate and took the step. He looked around. What was inside the door made him speechless.
First four doors were made of glass. There was a single bed in the first two. In one was Aria and Mayuri was on other. They were sleeping. Rex stepped forward to find in the next two were two couples. His parents in one and his uncle and aunt in other. All four of them were smiling at him. And last two were little different. 'Exit the tower' was written on one and 'Exit the floor' on the other.
But what confused him most was the stone steles in front of each floor. Along with required time, on each stele, there was a sentence written, 'To open the door open the door opposite of the door.'
'Which one is the right one?' That is something he himself didn't know. How can one define what is right in life? Are your parents right? Or the one who rear you? Sister or wife? Escaping the tower is important but the goal is to clear the floor. Then the door with exit the floor should be the right one but the point is to open the door you have to open the door opposite of it.
"Brother." "Rex." Both the call came at the same time. Both the girls had woken up.
"What are you doing here?"Rex asked
"Brother let me get out of here."
Mayuri answered that she didn't know.
"Brother, time is running out. Let me out quick."
"It just good to see you again." It triggered something in Rex's heart, he went close to the door of Mayuri. "It good to see you too."
"Brother…" Aria continued to shout but Rex talked with Mayuri for a long time before moving to his parents.
"Boy, you have grown to a big boy." The tears appeared on mother eyes as she spoke. She continued to speak for a long time. Rex just stood there like a good boy and listened, what his mother had to say. His father on the other hand just smiled didn't say anything words.
After bidding bye to his parents he went to uncle and aunt and talked to them. Before returning middle of the corridor.
"They all know what they should now and the only thing they don't know was how they get here." Rex was in deep thought. "I want to mark Mayuri and my parents out as they were dead but what is happening in the world make me think otherwise. Uncle and aunt are out that left the door of Aria." Rex couldn't find the right door no matter how much he wanted. "The last two-door is too straight forward. Ohhh." Even my college exams were easier than this one.
"Wind can you help me?" He wasn't expecting anything but it won't hurt asking. With Aria's continuous he couldn't concentrate. He took a deep breath and went to the head of the corridor.
[Open the right door and leave.]
No matter how many time he read it he couldn't find any hidden meaning.
"Ohhh" Rex gave out a frustrating shout.
"Come on Rex, think of something. The time is running out. It had already been three hours, and you…" Rex stopped at the middle of the sentence and ran into the corridor again. He went for every door look for something and then moving on to the next door.
He started with the door of Aria then moving on the one at right and so on. At the last door, it was Mayuri.
He smiled at Mayuri, "I love you." He said grabbed the knob, opened it and entered. The corridor fell silent again.
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