22 - A Pub?

After a few minutes of walking away from the Coliseum, Lucian and the rest of them were all walking on the main street of the First Floor… and compared to the Outer Regions, there were a lot more people. This was clearly the place to go if you wanted to equip yourself before trying to do the first floor trial.

"So, what's your plan now?" Lucian asked.

He truly hoped that Alex had prepared something for refusing such a good offer. Still, deep down, Lucian didn't have much hope… he had already seen how Alex had been acting, and he already knew there was nothing planned.

"I told you many times already… I want to explore this place."

Lucian was close to face-palming himself. But he kept a calm expression on his face, even if he wasn't calm at all. He needed to keep up the appearances even if they had disappeared earlier. From the way Alex had talked to him earlier, it was clear that Lucian and Alex weren't part of a team. Lucian was still following him around, while Alex couldn't bother enough to tell him to fuck off.

It was a one-sided relationship, and it had been very clear when Alex had told Lucian face-to-face that he could leave if he wanted to. He even told him that he was following him like a dog.

'How can we even go up to the second floor?'

Lucian tried looking around himself. However, there weren't any indications of where they could find a way to go up to the second floor. It was a little weird, considering that everyone they had met told them to climb.

So… shouldn't it be visible for everyone to see?

"Let's go in there. Maybe someone will be able to tell us something…"

Alex pointed to a weird-looking building, and on it, there was a sign indicating what the building was for. Lucian thought that they would have gone to a blacksmith, a potion-maker, or anything that could actually be useful… However, no, Alex pointed toward the only useless place in the entire main street… [First Floor Pub].

'What are we even going to do in there? Drink booze and find someone drunk enough to guide us? Does he even know what a pub is?'

Lucian was pretty sure that such things didn't exist in the world that Alex was from which is why he had picked such a bad place to go in.

'Should I tell him about it? Nah, better to watch him get confused…'

Lucian had a little smile on his face as he thought of that.

They entered the pub, and there were all sorts of wooden tables on their left and right. The people sitting on them all stopped shouting and started staring at Alex, Lucian, and Ava. It was a little intimidating, but if Michael hadn't managed to scare him… Those present here wouldn't make him anxious for a single moment.

They looked in bad shape. Some barely had any clothes on, and some had so many injuries that they probably struggled to stand up.

'I guess Ariel didn't lie… those living on the First Floor truly don't live in the best conditions… However, it makes sense, considering that there aren't any powerful people or monsters living in the area.

Alex walked toward the barman and sat down on one of the three benches that were in front of him.

'Probably the best choice he could have… good job.'

While Lucian congratulated him in his mind, Alex spoke up to the barman, or rather… almost whispered, "Hey, where do we need to go to reach the second floor?"

The question was direct, just like Alex does best.

However, contrary to Lucian's expectations, Alex wasn't taken seriously… not in the slightest. Everyone inside the pub burst laughing as if they had heard the greatest joke of the year.

"HAHAHA! How many came here today asking the same question? How confident are those guys to challenge the first trial when they just arrived?"

"I know, right? Are they stupid? There's a reason all of us are stuck here… the first trial isn't that simple."

Lucian was hearing everyone inside the pub talking about how overconfident they were… but it seemed that no one inside this bar was smart enough to understand that Alex could kill them all with a single strike from his sword.

'They really shouldn't have done that…'

As soon as laughter broke, Lucian noticed that Alex had grasped his sword around his thighs, ready to kill them all if it continued.

"Everyone, silence!" The barman shouted out of nowhere.

'Oh… did he catch onto something?'

It was a possibility… the look in Alex's eyes wasn't normal after all. It was clear that he was different from the others, and the barman had probably already noticed this.

"Are you guys from the last batch?" The barman asked.

"We are," Lucian answered.

The barman just nodded a few times in understanding. "Hmm… so no one was good enough to join a family, huh?"

"We-"

Before Alex could even continue his answer, Lucian knew he needed to interject as who knew where this whole thing would even lead.

"Exactly… we didn't perform well enough in the Tutorial. So, now we have no idea of what to do next…"

Lucian made sure to sound as pitiful as possible. He wanted everyone in this pub to underestimate them, and he hoped that it worked.

The barman didn't answer right away, clearly thinking about what to say next.

"Hmm… if you didn't receive any offers, then you should probably hire an informant… or, as most people call it, a veteran."

"A veteran?" Lucian muttered in reaction.

While he had a vague idea of what it was, he hoped that he could get more information from the barman.

"Yes, someone who has already taken part in the first trial and can give you information about what to expect inside it."

Lucian was instantly interested, and he truly hoped that Alex wasn't going to refuse it just like he had refused the rest of the help he had gotten.

"And you guys are quite lucky… this whole bar is filled with veterans," the barman said as he got closer to them… whispering, "Though… try to find good ones…most of them have…you know…problems in there."

The barman pointed to his head as he uttered those last words.