Invitation

Sorry for the late chapter. My computer was cracking constantly yesterday. Finally, I took it to a repair shop and got it fixed.

__________________________________

When the rescued Earthlings asked Arun about the Resistance, he had no idea what it meant. He had learned a thing or two about Barbarians in his stay at Sleetrest, mostly from rumors. But he had never heard about Resistance.

This is why there and then, he decided to tell the truth, or at least the partial truth, "No. I am not with Resistance. I work alone,"

So-Young seemed disappointed by his response. But then Suzie asked, "But do you know where the base camp of Resistance is?"

He shook his head, "No. I have no idea."

Sanjay then spoke, "Dont worry about it.. We will find them eventually. I mean, how hard it could be to locate a group of Earthlings?"

Oh.. So a group of Earthlings is called Resistance. Arun thought inwardly.

"It would be harder than you think Sanjay," Igor added, "Remember what we heard from the guards? Most of the City Lords are looking for this group. And if they couldnt find them, how the hell are we supposed to find them,"

"We will think of something," Suzie added. "We will,"

To enquire more about this 'Resistance', Arun pushed the conversation forward, "Why do you guys even want to find Resistance in the first place?"

So-Young smiled, "What kind of question is that?"

"No, it is a genuine question. I want to know why you guys want to find the Resistance," 

"Because it makes sense," Sanjay said, "Resistance is a group of Earthlings, just like us. And humans need to stick together. Right?"

"So you want protection from the group?" Arun asked, "Is that the only thing that you wanted?"

Igor then chimed in, "You are talking as if that is a very bad thing,"

Arun nodded, and decided to bullshit, "Let me ask you this… What do you think that we are doing here?"

They all looked rather perplexed by the question. "Frankly… I dont know." Igor said, "I feel like I am stuck in some sort of hell. This game.. This world.. This is got to be some sort of hell,"

Arun nodded, "It might be. But as you said, this is a game. And from my experience, I can tell you, in this game, you can never truly survive if you hide behind someone else's back. You need to grind, you need to level up, if you want to have any chance to survive out there,"

"Level up?" Suzie asked, "You want us to go out there, gamble with our life so we could get what exactly?"

"He is right Suzie," So-Young said.

"I dont care if he is right or not. I have a daughter to go to…. I cannot gamble with my life." Suzie said, with emotion dripping on her face. "I am just a normal OR nurse. I cannot kil… I just cannot." She felt dejected.

"You want to see your daughter one day?" Arun asked, making tears flow out of her eyes. She wiped her tears and nodded, "Then level up. I can understand more than anything, how tempting it is go and be with more people like us. It is such an easy way. But sometimes, one has to walk on hard and rough roads, to survive."

Igor then asked, "Wait.. If you are not part of the resistance.. Are you one of the players that is looking for the way up? Are you trying to beat this game?"

Arun just smiled. Although he had not made any progress in beating the game, but that was his ultimate goal.

"Woah," So-Young said, "That is so brave," then she widened her eyes, and asked, "Wait, if you are trying to beat the game.. Then why were you outside the Kong's dungeon? Because from what we have heard, Beaters like you hardly take part in the rescue operation for captured Earthlings,"

"I was there for some business. I figure that I should probably rescue you guys, while I am at it," he said.

It was then Suzie asked, "Have you cracked the riddle?"

Arun knew exactly what she was talking about. While in the Dungeon Shop, he saw something that blew his socks off under the Knowledge menu. It was labeled, Way to Ascending Tower, when he asked the Shop-Keeper about it, the old man told him that this was the riddle that one needed to solve to find the way to Ascending Tower, the only way to get to the second floor.

At that moment, he was tempted to get the riddle then and there. But it was worth a whopping 5000 coins. He didnt have that kind of money at the time. So he forgot about it until Suzie asked him about it.

Could it be, that these guys had bought the riddle? To find out, he probed further, "Maybe." He said simply.

"You have cracked the riddle?" Sanjay asked in astonishment.

"I will not deny it, nor I can confirm it.. For my safety." He said. "But what about you guys? Did you buy the riddle from the Shop?"

Igor nodded, "It took some time. But I managed to buy it." Inwardly Arun exclaimed, BINGO!

"…These guys thought that it was a worthless purchase, but I didnt care. I knew that someday I will be freed from the grasp of that bitch Carlin. And then I would find the way to the second floor…" Igor said.

"Well, you did good." Arun said, "At least you didnt lose hope."

Igor smiled, "No I lost hope after seeing the riddle."

"What was the riddle again?" So-Young asked

"Let me take it out," Igor said. While Arun on the other hand wanted to kiss So-Young, she just made his task easy.

Igor fished out an old-looking scroll from his inventory and passed it to So-Young. Arun didnt ask for the scroll, he waited patiently. The scroll was passed from one member to another, and finally, it came to Sanjay, who was sitting right by him. 

"I still can't understand what it means," Sanjay complained.

"Let me help you," Arun said and then gestured to Sanjay to give him the scroll. The man complied, very easily…

______________________________

To reach the tower's heights, a seeker must strive,

Three keys, disparate, yet they all must arrive.

Gathered together, their union made strong,

To the Red Island, they journey along.

Unlock the path to ascend, they hold the power,

These keys, when combined, unlock the Ascending Tower.

__________________________________

Disparate means contrasting or different.. Union.. Keys come together… Red Island and Ascending Tower… With a few seconds, Arun analyzed and understood the whole riddle. It was a simple one to begin with. 

"This riddle, basically tells us that we need to get three different keys to get to the second floor. These keys would be different from each other, and one needs to get all the keys together and bring them to Red Island. And there is only one Red Island on this floor. And this Ascending Tower would be on that island."

"Does it say where we can find these keys?" Suzie asked.

"Nope… But I have some theories where these keys could be," Arun said. And he really did have some theories. There were three keys in total, and if the creators of this world weren't fucking sadists, then they would not hide these keys under a rock or something. They would probably will be hidden in a place with a lot of protection. And he could guess where they could be.

"What theories?" Sanjay asked.

"On top of my head… Three keys. Three Great Cities. Three Great City Lords." Arun said. It was then a window appeared before him, startling him. It was a window that he had never seen before.

_________________________

INVITATION

FROM- The Mistress of an Owl

DESCRIPTION- The greatest strategist in the world, the epitome of all the world's scholars, The Mistress of an Owl had shown interest in you. Which is why The Mistress of Owl Huntress would formally like to invite you to join her Familia.

REQUIREMENTS- If decided that the player wants to join the Familia then they had to adhere following rules…

They cannot kill other fellow familia members. They cannot kill familia members of allied gods. All the players must respect the hierarchy of the Familia members. It is up to The Mistress of an Owl to appoint or give a particular rank to any Familia member. Other than her no one has the authority to do so. The rank of the Familia members would be….

Soldier<Centurion<Major<Major General< em> In case of banishment or because of some punishment, The Mistress of an Owl could kill the player or lock some of their powers. The invitation would only be valid for 1 week from now, or until Mistress deems it to be.

REWARDS- Upon accepting the invitation the player would be awarded with Major rank. As well as you will also get a skill called the [Owl Familiar].

Will you accept the invitation?

Y/N

_________________

Mistress of an Owl? What kind of name is that.. Wait, these are the invitations that the letter warned me about. Arun thought.

"You got an invitation?" Igor asked. Arun willed the invitation to go away, and it did.

"Yeah. From someone called Mistress of an Owl," he said.

"Never heard of her," So-Young said. "Sanjay got the invitation from Muscular Monkey, once. Right?"

Sanjay nodded, "Yes. I didnt accept the invitation at the time. Nor will I accept it in the future.. I think."

"Good for you," Arun said, quickly adding, "That being said.. I am afraid I have to break some news to you guys," They all looked at him. "I will be heading my own way tomorrow. I cannot let you guys slow me down. I saved you guys, and this delicious Kong meat is my reward for the service. From this moment onwards, you dont owe me anything. Nor do I own you guys,"

No one said anything for a few seconds, then Suzie asked, "Can't you just… accompany us to Lando?"

He shook his head, "I cannot. I am sorry," No one forced him further.

One of the reasons that he wanted to get away from them was because of Calux. He had instructed So-Young just to tie him, and she did just that. If that boy was not killed by any random beast out there, chances are that he would have escaped from his restraints. And that would mean, he would go back to Sleetrest to get the word out. If he is right, then from tomorrow onwards, a search party will sent to track them down. So, he needs to get away from them.

That night, they took turns to sleep, and Arun volunteered to be on the first watch. It is after everyone fell asleep, that he took out the map that he brought and started looking at it. He looked at the Red Island, in particular, located on the North-Eastern side of the floor. Bloodvile was the name of the place.

I wonder why is called Bloodvile? Does some sort of war take place on that island?

His mind also wondered about the keys, and where they could be. His theory about City Lords of Great Cities having them might turn out true. But something told him that there would be some twist there.

The last thing that he was very curious about was a place, whose name horrified even the people of this world. Located in the Southern-Eastern part of the floor, Omeron's Nest, the home of the only S-Rank Beast in the world. According to what he had learned, Omeron was this reptilian creature, whose black breath could melt the hardest steel and stone. Its black breath could also excludes black hue, which is the most potent poison in this world.

Based on many stories he had heard, Arun understood that the creature that these people were describing was a Dragon. Or at least he thinks that they are describing a dragon. And for some reason, the prospect of seeing a living Dragon excited him. He would not deny it, his heartbeat became louder, the day he learned about Omeron from a drunk adventurer. He didnt know why or how, but he had the urge to hunt it. He wanted to bring Omeron down.

Currently he was in no condition to hunt even the strongest beasts of the place, but now with some knowledge and weapons in his hands, he was finally ready to start his journey.