The Second Floor (1)

Nox reclined on the couch in his dimly lit room.

His wounds had healed, and the tracksuit had already repaired itself.

"This's fun," he whispered as he tossed a ball of fire from one hand to the other.

He started practising his skills on reaching the inn, not wasting time resting.

After a few hours of practice, he could finally control the fire freely. He had kept the candle aside and started practising with the fireplace's fire as soon as he could perfectly control the candle's flame.

Someone calmly knocked on his door.

Putting the ball of fire back into the fireplace, Nox opened the door.

"I brought your dinner here," Margaret said, handing Nox a plate of meat and rice.

Nox was about to head down to the restaurant, but getting dinner in his room was better.

"Thank you," Nox replied, taking the tray.

After offering a slight bow to Nox, the waitress left.

Closing the door, Nox sat at the table and began dining on his dinner.

'It tastes just like normal chicken and rice. How nostalgic.'

During Nox's training days, he was forced to eat chicken and rice almost daily. It wasn't one of Nox's fondest memories.

After eating dinner, Nox resumed training with the fireplace's flame.

It was a dazzling sight.

Nox effortlessly tossed the flame around as if it were a ball before finally getting tired of it.

'I may as well work out a bit after dinner!'

Getting down on the floor, he started his regular callisthenics regime.

Five hundred standard pushups, two hundred thumb pushups, four hundred knuckle pushups, and finally, a hundred pushups with his little finger.

After training his arms, he started doing four hundred classic crunches, three hundred reverse crunches, three hundred bicycle crunches, and finished with a hundred oblique crunches.

After finishing his ab workout, he sat on the floor for a couple of minutes. He took off his sweat-soaked tracksuit and threw it on the couch.

After resting, he started doing a thousand standing situps, completing his regime.

Maybe because of his stats, completing his exercise regime wasn't as exhausting as it used to be back on Earth.

After completing his regime, he sat on the floor with his legs crossed. He calmed his tired muscles and mind.

For the next hour, Nox meditated, keeping his mind free from all the joys and sorrows of the world. He was at peace.

##########

"How has he been?" Sarroth inquired, reclining back in his chair.

He was seated in his neatly arranged office, with not even a single stray piece of paper lying around. The walls were blue, and the floor was wood panelled.

A few shelves filled with files and documents were fixed on the walls. A huge desk was placed in the centre of the room, with Sarroth sitting behind it.

Expensive art and crafts were hung on the blue walls, increasing the room's aesthetic exponentially.

"He's doing well so far," Margaret replied. She stood in front of the table, her head facing the ground.

"He's growing at an exponential rate. Make sure that no harm befalls him on the zeroth floor," Sarroth ordered as he picked up a file and began sifting through it.

Margaret was confused. Even though Sarroth was somewhat impulsive, he always made rational decisions. But, just why was he favouring a newbie?

"May I ask wh–," before she could finish her sentence, Sarroth raised his index finger.

"It's not your place to ask," Sarroth replied.

Even though Margaret was one of the head waitresses, she was still new. Bowing down, Margaret walked towards the door, not daring to face her back at Sarroth.

"On your way out, send Glasluk over," ordered Sarroth as Margaret stepped out of the wooden door.

Her hands and legs shivered violently as she pressed the button to call the elevator.

'I asked the wrong thing. If he wasn't in a good mood, I'd undoubtedly be dead already,' she thought, entering the elevator.

##########

The sun had risen.

Nox sat alone at a table in the corner of the restaurant. His sleeves were rolled up, and his hair was tied in a ponytail.

At dawn, he had ordered food for a hundred people in his room. Although the waitress was confused by his weird order, she delivered it unquestioned. Taking the food, he stored it in his inventory for future use.

He calmly sipped his tea as he observed the people in the room.

Most wore full body armour, while a handful walked with only their clothes on. The waitresses rushed around the restaurant, swiftly placing orders at the respective tables.

A group of twenty men and women, sitting at the centre tables, were chatting and laughing loudly.

"Did you hear what happened on the twentieth floor?" asked a man sitting on the table beside Nox's. He wore a light blue robe and was having some coffee.

"Yeah. To think the Burning Flame guild would send one of their executives there, all of a sudden. Why do you think they did that anyway?" The man sitting on the chair in front of him replied. He wore a light red robe and sipped on some fruit juice.

A short silence followed the conversation. Since Nox was sitting beside their table, he had no choice but to unintentionally eavesdrop on them.

"Well, a lot of guilds have been in a state of panic these last few days. I can't even think of a reason that would put them all in such a state," said the blue-robed man.

"Anyway, it's not our place to discuss what those guys do. So tell me, how are your children?" asked the red-robed man, changing the topic. An elaborate discussion about their families followed the question.

Nox beckoned the red-haired waitress, who was serving another table. After handing over that table's order to her colleague, she quickly made her way to Nox.

"What may I assist you with today?" Margaret asked, standing in front of Nox.

"Do I have to go to that stone platform to go to the second floor?" Nox inquired.

Margaret was taken aback.

'He just cleared the first floor the day before yesterday. Why's he in such a rush?' she thought.

"It would be better if you took some rest before you leave," she advised.

Even if something happened to Nox because of his rash decisions, Sarroth would still partially blame Margaret.

But this wasn't a rash decision. Nox had already carefully planned the steps he needed to take in the Tower. He knew if he took any careless actions, he wouldn't only lose the opportunity to meet his parents but his life too.

"Please answer my question," Nox calmly said, standing up from his seat.

"Yes, until the tenth floor, the players need to use the platform to move between the floors," she reluctantly replied.

Thanking her, Nox exited the inn. The crowd outside the inn was thick as usual.

He headed straight for the blacksmith's shop.

After a few minutes of strolling around the town and partially losing his way, he reached the 'Blazing Blacksmiths!'.

"Hey there, Newbie," greeted Matt as Nox entered the shop.

The shop was almost empty, other than a man looking at the bows hanging on the wall.

"Hello," he replied.

The blacksmith briefly examined the customer before saying, "Just what did you do? Your armor is almost going to break."

"Well, stuff happened. Can you repair it?" Nox asked as he took off his armour and handed it to Matt.

Taking the armour in his hand, the blacksmith moved his hand around it, sifting through it.

"Well, luckily it's just surface dents, the frame itself hasn't been damaged. It'll take around ten minutes to repair it," the blacksmith stated as he moved towards the door behind the counter, entering his smithy.

Nox waited patiently, looking around the shop. A few new weapons and armour could be seen here and there.

"Hello there," greeted the man, who was previously examining bows. He had appeared behind Nox.

'I didn't sense him move.'

His senses had exponentially increased after being able partially to use his arcane to survey his surroundings, going far beyond the senses of an average human.

"Hi," Nox returned the greeting.

The stranger was a human with white hair and fair skin. Although he looked in his late fifties, he was still in peak physical condition. He wore a dark green blazer along with a black shirt and pants.

"Do you have some business with me?" Nox inquired, breaking the silence.

"Ah no. It's just strange seeing customers in this shop," the man replied.

"A friend recommended this shop to me," Nox replied.

Nodding his head, the man said, "I see… Then please continue with what you were doing," before taking his leave and exiting the store.

"Strange guy," mumbled Nox.

Coming out of the smithy, Matt yelled, "It's fixed."