12th Floor I

Orthis appeared in a forest but since he felt no living beings around, he diverted his attention to this floor's quest.

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[Welcome to the 12th Floor, Empire of Kersihm]

[The 12th Floor is a large world ruled by humans. The existence of climbers is a secret to the commoners but well known to nobles, as many nobles are climbers themselves]

[Due to this floor's ruling power's deal with the Tower, climbers are not allowed to share the existence of the Tower with the non-climber residents in return for shelter and education]

[Quest: Free Time]

[Description: There are no requirements on this floor to advance except for having to stay for two years. Use this time to train, fight, and live your life however you want]

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"What an interesting quest. It's basically saying we can do whatever we want for two years. Well, as long as we're obeying the empire's rules. But I have to say, these nobles are quite cunning, they are basically a hidden social class in plain sight as they gain power in the Tower and leave the commoners no chance to ever challenge their rule."

He was beginning to make guesses about how well-planned they made this floor. Even with the commoners not being a threat, the constant influx of climbers who think themselves above the law or simply don't respect authority alone would be difficult to handle.

As he made his way in a random direction in hopes of finding a way out, he didn't forget to send Urman a message that he had arrived. Urman just replied he would wait for him in the city like that would narrow it down in which direction that was or which city.

After a good hour of walking, he finally made it out of the forest and was immediately greeted by a city gate not even a hundred meters away with several guards standing there, and from what he could feel, none of them were weak.

Since he wanted to enter the city, he obediently stood in line with people he was pretty certain were also climbers from Earth. He didn't try to start a conversation with them as he was sure that they wouldn't have any useful information since they also just arrived on this floor.

While Orthis stood in line, he occasionally saw other climbers leaving the forest with most of them queuing up behind him. After a closer look, Insight informed him that the forest was called the Forbidden Forest and was enchanted with strong space and mind magic to make everyone come out at the same place to prevent climbers from running off in random directions and causing chaos.

When it was finally his turn, Orthis was greeted by a rather unenthusiastic guard. "Welcome to Beginner City, place your hand on the crystal for verification and creation of your ID. The pass costs 10 silver while entry to the city costs 1 silver."

Orthis already heard the exact line word for word being said to the people before him, so it was a bit relatable why the guard sounded so tired. Orthis didn't ask any questions or began making a scene like some people before him that were swiftly dealt with by some of the other guards.

After putting his hand on the round crystal ball and paying the price, he was given his ID with his name, age, and some other stuff he didn't understand and entered the city.

"Have a nice stay and don't forget to follow the rules or you will be punished" The guard said the same last words to everyone else.

Orthis didn't have the time to properly look at the medieval, yet somehow also modern buildings and streets as a familiar voice drew his attention. "Yo Orthis, is that you? What happened? You look so… different. Love what you did with the hair."

In front of him stood a familiar face, though he was now a lot shorter after his recent growth period during his mutation. Urman also grew a few centimeters but they were insignificant compared to the 20cm Orthis grew, though he could feel that Urman also grew a bit stronger.

"Urman, I'm honestly glad to see you and like I said, shit happened, the extra centimeters and the strand of white hair were the least important change. But let's not talk about that here, tell me how you've been instead."

"Apparently better than you, I haven't really had any struggles on the last few floors, a bit boring to be honest. I spend the last few weeks on this floor doing some odd jobs to pass the time. That reminds me, before we do anything else, you have to sign up for the Royal Academy." He said as he led Orthis down the street.

"You already mentioned it last time but why is this academy so important? It must be rather special if it can bring you to attend."

"Hmpf, do you think I like going to some school? Apparently, the Royal Academy has a special class assigned for climbers and teaches important knowledge and skills needed for climbing and my Master insists that I attend but I suspect it's just because he is too lazy to teach me all these things."

As they approached a fancy-looking stall, Orthis continued to question his friend. "That sounds useful, pretty sure it also has something to do with the deal the Tower informed us about. You said, one class, does that mean we will be attending the academy with the Nobles?"

"Not quite," this time it wasn't Urman who answered but the middle-aged woman sitting behind the stall, "If you decide to enroll, you will live and learn in a special building separate from the noble children. That's not only to prevent conflict but also for safety reasons as climber's powers tend to be more destructive."

"Does that mean we won't have any contact with the nobles? Wouldn't you have to lock one of us up to prevent us from meeting each other?" He wondered as he wasn't too keen on being imprisoned even if he would learn a lot of important things.

"You misunderstand, the Royal Academy is far larger than you can imagine, rivaling a small town. Anyway, I take it you want to enroll? You're in luck, I was going to close the enlistment in a few days, there are disappointingly few people willing to go to school again, most believe it to be a waste of time and that they will learn what they need along the way."

"I already enrolled," Urman said " but he wants to join too."

"Great, just give me the pass the guards gave you and one gold coin and you're in." the woman said enthusiastically.

After paying the hefty price and handing over his ID, the woman registered him as a new student and gave him his card back as well as a student card which will be the only way for him to enter the academy without being killed by the security systems.

The price seemed excessive and the security a bit over the top but both were very reasonable when thinking about it. One gold coin for an entire year of being taught by some of the best teachers was actually a steal and it was understandable that nobles wanted their children to be safe from the unknown beings from other worlds. However, Orthis also saw a larger scheme behind it.

After successfully enrolling, Urman led Orthis to the small room he rented for the last few weeks. This city mostly consisted of such places as this city was designed for newly arrived climbers and there were barely any normal people in it and the few that were all knew about the existence of the Tower, or better said that they were inside the Tower, like the woman from earlier.

"So, what do you think?" Urman asked expectantly.

"Well, the empire is clearly getting the better deal out of this. Since the coins we pay with come from the Tower, their wealth is increasing infinitely, making the rich even richer but that isn't anything new, I'm more concerned about the separation. I am pretty sure we will be observed and anyone with talent will be contacted by these noble kids. I only hope they aren't cliché and aren't so spoiled that they can't handle refusals. Being recruited might also be a condition to get access to more resources the nobles are getting in their section."

"…I meant about the city, Sherlock. But you're right, they certainly benefit from the infinite influx of cash to this floor. You must know that the coins given by the Tower are the official currency on all floors. And the nobles would be fools for not wanting talented climbers as their subordinates or at least in their good books."

"How do you know about Sherlock? Never mind, have you decided on which classes you want to take?" he asked as he looked at the list of subjects the woman gave him before they left.

There were many subjects to choose from but some like Mana Theories and Combat Training were mandatory but he was thinking about choosing Advanced Mana Theories, Advanced Combat Training, Monsters and Beasts, and Applied Magic on top of that, though he was ready to drop some subjects for more time in the library.

"I was thinking about just taking Mana Theories and Combat Training and their advanced courses, I'm not really interested in things like magic or alchemy. From what I'm told, just these two basic courses include physical training and learning basic magic."

Urman spent the rest of the day showing Orthis around the city specifically made for new climbers until it got dark. Since Orthis didn't have a place to stay yet, he just allowed him to sleep on the floor of his own rented room.

Well, sleeping was a strong word, since he just slept not too long ago on the last floor, he just sat in a corner and tried to meditate. It didn't have the wished results as he just entered a trance but he didn't know if it was because of his low proficiency or because his senses weren't sealed this time.

Regardless, time seemed to pass faster in this state and morning came and Urman began to take him along to help him with some jobs. Since the city was made for climbers, there were barely any long-term jobs and most were commissioned by the Adventurer Guild.

It sounded cliché but in a world where most people refused to settle down for a job and monsters were always on the move, this was actually an ingenious idea, though it required very precise management.

On the second day in the city, Orthis rented his own room right next to Urman where he would stay for the next two weeks before they would use the last week to travel to the Royal City.

He also registered as an Adventurer, which wasn't hard as any climber was already considered one since almost all of them would register sooner or later. There were a lot of people from Earth in the guild, some were just quietly sitting in the corners to look cool, while others tried making friends with stronger climbers.

There was also some strange guy who began acting like a politician, insisting that all Earthlings had to stick together and help each other. The idea wasn't bad if it wasn't for his clear motives as he declared that he should be the one to lead this group.

Honestly, Orthis didn't feel any connection to the people of his birth planet, whether it was because they were pathetically weak with no ambition to work hard to get stronger, because he was no longer completely human, or because he just didn't have a big enough heart to feel connected to over eight billion people, he didn't know.

Even Urman looked a bit confused and asked him why people from his planet were so much weaker than him, even weaker than most normal non-climbers.

***

Three weeks later of rather enjoyable work that didn't involve killing or violence, Orthis just finished his job as a cook for a restaurant when Urman appeared from a nearby dark alley like some villain.

Ignoring his friend's judging stare, Urman asked "So, last day of work. You have everything packed or do I have to remind you that the escort mission starts in a few hours?"

"You don't have to remind me. Why is the departure in the middle of the night anyway? Does it really matter if we start a days long journey a few hours later?" He complained

"Don't ask me, I didn't make the mission. As far as I'm concerned, we just need to come with them to the Capital. We need to go there anyway, so the pay is just a bonus I won't question."

After spending the next few hours talking and eating snacks while waiting at the meeting point, a small group of people moved through the dark street. The group consisted of four carriages pulled by rhino-like animals, some coachmen, a few other adventures that might or might not be climbers and from Earth, and at the very front, a chubby man dressed in overly colorful robes and wearing many rings, necklaces, and bracelets.

Despite not being an expert at Mana Manipulation or Magic, he could sense the Mana from everything the man was wearing thanks to his unnatural affinity and was certain that they all were heavily enchanted.

"Ah, and you must be the last group, am I right?" the chubby man asked us while warily looking at us and then his rings.

As the due wanted to get closer to talk, as doing it from 20m away was a bit strange, the chubby man suddenly screamed "Stop! Don't come any closer or I will consider you both a threat."

True to his word, the adventurers behind him all put their hands on their weapons until their boss signed in relief as one of his rings' gem turned white and they relaxed again.

"Haha, sorry about that. We merchants have bad experiences with adventurers robbing us instead of protecting us, so we pick our guards in small, manageable batches and only allow them to get closer after using a magic item to confirm that you hold no malicious intent." He explained.

Hearing the explanation and his employee's attitude, Orthis also relaxed as he once again went back into deep thought "That made sense, not everyone was willing to do some honest work and get paid some coins when you could also just rob your employee. His attitude also seems good, at least better than what I expected from someone who dressed like a snobbish peacock. At least he knows not to be rude to the armed guys that are supposed to protect you, that is arguably even worse than pissing off the guy that cooks your food."

Seeing Orthis just stand there with a blank expression as he stared into space, the chubby employee got a little worried "Is he all right? Should I be worried?"

"Nah," Urman answered, already long used to his friend's strange behavior, "He's fine, just thinking very hard, he does that sometimes. But don't worry, he is still very much qualified to protect you and your goods."

Hearing this, the round peacock just sighed in relief and began to introduce everyone and lay down a few rules before they made their way to the city gate, the only other one besides the one the duo entered from.

And so began the duo's first long trip on the 12th floor. The next few days were rather peaceful, bandits only appeared in the first half of the way as no one was brave enough to do such things so close to the Capital, for good reason, and most beasts were either weak or scared away as Orthis practiced his Intimidation, much to the discomfort of this fellow travelers.

After a few days of traveling and some short breaks in some cities on the way, they finally arrived at the Capital. To say that Orthis was blown away was an insulting underestimation, while the architecture alone was enough to give him a cultural shock, he was blown away by the sheer power this place had.

He could already feel how he entered a strong barrier from miles away, the closer he got, the stronger the feeling that his every move was being watched and analyzed, and whatever that thing was, it was immensely complicated as even his Insight had trouble explaining what this barrier was.

All it could tell him was that it was a masterpiece made from Magic, Runes, Alchemy, Shamanism, and more.

As soon as they went past the inspection at the gate, their employee paid them and they parted ways. The pay was only a measly 2 silver but it was in proportion to the difficulty and they had to go to the capital anyway, so this was just gifted money.

Over the last three weeks, Orthis learned that money wasn't so easily earned here unless you did kill some dangerous or valuable beast. He earned a lot of silver coins but he always had to spend them for either food or rent. Apparently with the two gold coins he had when he arrived on this floor, he could be considered well off, well, not anymore since he had to pay one for his enrollment.

The duo didn't get far before they were intercepted by two hooded figures who looked absolutely shady but it turned out they worked for a secret organization that managed climbers without the commoners knowing, which was also the reason for their appearance.

They were surprisingly friendly, though it turned out that it was mostly because they were notified that the duo was to attend the academy when their IDs were scanned at the entrance. It made Orthis wonder what else there was on this card, so far it looked like a magical combo of every paper he needed on this floor.

After getting a quick rundown about the capital and some directions for some places to stay until the academy began and they had to move to the dormitory, they continued on their way as the two hooded helpers made their way to the next climber that just entered the city.

"I wonder how they found us so easily. Should I be worried?" Urman wondered as he didn't see these two at the entrance and they seemed to know exactly where their next victim currently was despite him or her not being anywhere near them.

"Probably some tracking magic built into our IDs that connects to the magic array of the capital. You better get used to it if you want to stay here, they don't take security lightly. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't even have been able to get near the city wall if we didn't have our IDs."

They decided to skillfully ignore this slightly worrisome detail and continued on their way, trying to act as natural as possible since they now knew they were being watched. They didn't have to since they knew they weren't breaking any rules and didn't intend to but that didn't mean it made it any less uncomfortable.

Since the prices in the capital were a lot higher than compared to what they experienced in the Beginner Town, they decided to share an apartment. Even if there was only one bed, there was more than enough space in other rooms for another to sleep.

They weren't tired just yet, so they began to explore the capital, or at least a very small part of it since it was truly massive. They also made a quick stop at the Guild to look for missions they could do tomorrow.

As expected, there were a lot more missions and many truly dangerous and far away, others a bit unrealistic. Who in their right mind would take a mission to find the lost flying city of Harun? There were no directions or clues, just a line that someone told their child the story of that city, and an overly rich noble decided to invest in it.

After just a few minutes, the two decided on their job for the next few days. Orthis was going to work as an assistant for an unknown alchemist while Urman took a mission to teach some kids the basics of swordsmanship.

It's not that they wanted to work or wanted more money, it was just that the prices in the capital were above what the two could afford if they stayed for a week.

The last week passed quickly and the duo now stood in front of the largest and fanciest gate they had ever seen together with a few other students. Everyone wore the same luxurious uniform, enchanted for protection and comfort.

The uniform they wore was the second most expensive thing these two had ever paid for, right after the enrollment fee and it would be a lie if they said they didn't feel heartaches as their hard-earned money once again evaporated.

After showing their IDs to a guard Orthis felt he wouldn't be able to beat if his opponent slept, the two were given directions and began to walk off.

The academy ground was massive on a scale that no school on Earth could compare to, just the trip from the front gate to the administrative building took a whole hour but at least they were able to enjoy the impressive décor of plants, statues, and other arts along the way.

Although the building was packed with other people, many from noble backgrounds based on the way they carried themselves, there were probably a hundred receptions to deal with the masses.

Just a few minutes later, they were greeted by a very beautiful and busty receptionist who masterfully kept a straight face and ignored Urman's stares. After another verification that they were truly who they said they were, the pretty lady gave them their keys to the dormitory, their timetable, and asked them to go to the large open field behind the building and wait for the principal and the teacher to introduce themselves and say a few words.

Once again, the field was massive but that was beside the point. The point was the large crowd of people around their age standing orderly in rows, waiting for the event to start, as well as the clearly noble and important-looking adults looking over the students and something told Orthis they weren't teachers but most likely the parents of some students, meaning there might be some really high nobility standing there, watching everyone.

After two whole hours when the sky was already beginning to darken, something finally happened.

The moment a mystical-looking platform just appeared in the air, everyone stopped their chattering and looked at what was happening. Not even a few seconds later, many people suddenly began to appear on the platform, each in their own way.

Some simply flew from somewhere so fast that Orthis couldn't even tell from where exactly, others simply appeared in a burst of fire or light, while yet another batch of teachers appeared by forming from pasting by birds or insects.

Needless to say, this small demonstration of power was enough to make anyone behave as well as eager to learn. The teachers also just stood there for a few moments before a golden portal opened in their middle and an old man with a long beard and an appearance that would make Gandalf and Dumbledore jealous.

Despite being awed by their performances, Orthis didn't fail to notice that many of the adults who were watching from the sidelines became a bit tense when the old man appeared.

With a dramatic raise of his arms, the old man finally began to speak as the golden portal closed behind him.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Royal Academy.

For those of you who don't know me, I am Archmage Alian Tianos, former head of the Court Mages for His Majesty and your Headmaster, but you can just call me Professor Tianos.

Here, at the Royal Academy, we aim to help you discover your special talents and develop them so that you can walk the path of life like you want to.

Some of you might be nobles, some might be commoners who were found to have great promise and were thus sponsored, while the rest of you come from far, far away, with dreams and burdens that I can't even imagine.

Despite your differences, we, the collegium, wish for all of you to get along. You don't have to like everyone but we expect a minimum of respect for each other, no matter how different you are.

With that being said, I'm sure you all are either tired or wish to explore the academy grounds, so I will not continue to bore you all with the talk of an old man." His voice disregarded the wide space and landed in everyone's ears, no matter how far despite talking normally.

Once the Headmaster finished his speech, the other teacher also gave a short introduction and speech, which took almost another hour since there were so many teachers.

"Well, now that the introductions are finally done, I'm sure you all wish to move your legs a bit. With these last words, I once again welcome everyone and hope you have a good time." The Headmaster said before clapping his hands once and the surroundings changed.

One moment Orthis was standing next to Urman in a large crowd and the next he was standing in a nice apartment that could only be the dormitory and where he would live for the next year.

He didn't look around his new home and simply flopped on his bed, thinking about the amazing feats of magic he had been shown in the last hour, far surpassing what he saw in the preview of the 8th Floor.

While dreaming about one day using magic of this caliber, he slowly fell asleep.

****

A/N- I was planning to make each chapter one Floor but this one will easily be over 10k words and would take a long time to write, so I decided to split this Floor.