49 The Obelisk: Return (11)

"That makes sense. Let's do that then." Ralkias said with a nod.

The two continued walking around aimlessly. Still, they had a destination. They're planning on using the light pillar that was farthest from the crowd in order to avoid suspicions.

Well, they're aware that some players were giving them curious looks. They deemed that it would be better to remain oblivious to the stares lest leading the intelligent players to their identity.

Oddly enough, the number of players who were trying to intimidate the others lessened. Many witnessed the confrontation between the two and the elf aggressors. But Aectaeon and Ralkias didn't care less. Some of the victims even called out to them for help, yet they turned a blind eye on them.

The Obelisk would soon be a warzone.

Learning how to defend oneself ought to be the basics. Learning how to think for yourself was also important. Most important of all, a player should not be dependent on another.

Reliance could kill. And so could betrayal.

If Aectaeon and Ralkias stopped every time someone needed their help, it would be their loss. Withal, they dreaded the possibility of having someone hand around them because of gratitude more.

What good was there in letting a burden hold them back?

"I'm afraid I'm getting hungry again."

Aectaeon darted his gaze towards the man, furrowing his eyebrows as he asked, "What's with your stomach? Are you a budding juvenile or what?"

"Juvenile? Well, I'm only 92 years old. I guess you could say that."

"92 years old? Wait-- your world follows the time period of earth? Years, months, and weeks? Days?"

Aectaeon was more surprised of the fact that Ralkias' used years. If he stopped to think for a second, Ralkias looked very much younger than his age.

Ralkias laughed at how furrowed Aectaeon's brows had become, their near ends almost touching.

"No, we don't. I studied the time conversion as soon as I could. We all need to get used to it, right? I was curious about a lot of things. One of them was my age equivalent to earth years."

Under the mask, Aectaeon's mouth went agape. He shortly ceased walking and turned his whole body to face Ralkias.

"So, you're saying that a 92-year-old man like you is considered a juvenile in your world?"

Ralkias nodded enthusiastically, answering with, "Our elders could reach the age of 800 earth years, you see. That's exclusive to my race though. There are other races in which the average life span is only 300 to 400 earth years. What about you, Aectaeon?"

"I'm…"

Aectaeon bit his lip down, debating on whether he should reveal his real age.

'If I say that I'm 19, will he treat me as a child? No, I don't want that. I'm a full-grown adult. Why would I be treated like that?' He thought, but in the end, he went against his thoughts. 'Ralkias doesn't sound like he's lying. I'll just, uhh, add a year or two, I guess?'

"I'm 20 earth years old."

"Wh-"

Aectaeon quickly raised his hand to stop Ralkias from talking.

"As you can see, I'm what you call a human, Ralkias. The average lifespan of my race is 70 to 80 earth years old. I'm considered an adult."

Ralkias slowly nodded his head, his mouth in the shape of an 'O'. He then gave his reply, "I see. There are also humans in my world, but they only live up to 50 earth years at most."

"You call them humans too?"

"Strangely, yes. All the humans in my world belong to just one tribe. There are only less than a hundred of them and they live on the most secluded island way down south. Because of that, there's little to none that we know about them. Only what I already told you."

"Ah, I see."

The two ended their talk about their ages and races thereafter. Regardless of how comfortable they were with each other's company, there's a limit to how much information they could disclose.

One's comrade for today could become their enemy by tomorrow.

The lives that they led would ultimately give a clue as to what their real names were. Their names were, as they all knew, their main lifeline in the Obelisk.

Twenty minutes before their eventual transmigration, Aectaeon and Ralkias decided to settle down adjacent to a light pillar.

Unlike the upper floors, the first floor was, in itself, the gate to the other worlds. Light pillars were all over the place, serving as the main attractions rather than the transparent flooring.

"It's a good thing we found this place," Ralkias said with a sigh.

The man placed his hands on the ground and leaned back.

"Who would stay here when it's above an active volcano. Not to mention," Aectaeon observed the basement through his squinted eyes, "there's a basilisk roaming around the ceiling of the basement."

Though the Basilisk, as Aectaeon called it, was repeatedly banging its head on the ceiling, the players could not feel any sort of vibration from its attacks. Nevertheless, the mere sight of its enormous eyes was enough to chase the player's away from the spot

Aectaeon and Ralkias were not the least bit bothered, considering that they believed no harm would befall them.

"What do you think of having that as a pet?" Aectaeon asked sans taking his gaze off of the Basilisk.

"Hmm, if I have no concrete source of food, I'd rather not take it as a pet. Besides, it will be hard to tame that creature. I encountered one in my world, but I just froze when I saw it."

"Food supply is worth taking into account." Aectaeon replied, concurrently nodding, "But taming it might be a good challenge. Is the system planning on giving us superpowers?"

Ralkias laggardly turned his head towards Aectaeon, a look of confusion in his eyes.

"Superpowers? What do you mean by that?"

"I remember seeing the word Grimoire in the information about the 51st floor. Doesn't that mean that we will be able to wield magic?"