Chapter 39 – Floor 2 – Missing Person

Clico went back to his room, but to his surprise, Trike wasn't there. There were practically no moments when his roommate wasn't in bed, so Clico sought to find him. Going to the control room, Trike was not there. In the mess hall, Trike was absent as well. Asking around the ship, there was not a soul who knew where Trike had gone. Even the surveillance head, Groth, had no idea.

Desperately, Clico went back to 21's room.

"Where is he?" Clico demanded as he burst into 21's room.

"Whatever could you mean?" 21 smiled.

"Where is Trike?" Clico had a gut feeling. 21 was to blame. Not even 15 minutes had passed since their prophetic meeting.

"Tell me!" Clico demanded.

"Follow me then." 21 got up, and Clico followed him up onto the deck. Some of the Royalty and Deities carrying the Labyrinthian curiously watched as 21 got close to the railing.

"My dear main character, what does it mean to be strong?" 21 asked Clico cryptically.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Clico growled. At this point, he had had enough of 21 for the day.

"To be strong is to be bold, smart, and most of all, powerful. Trike seeks to be strong, so I gave him some friendly advice." 21 shrugged.

"Is this about our meeting?" Clico asked 21.

"If you want to find Trike, you will have to follow me." 21 ignored Clico and stood up on the railing, as if to jump.

"What are you doing? Get down from there!" Tyermsy warned 21 from afar. Ziphe stayed silent.

"You could die! Get down." Clico was suddenly worried about the unhinged prophet.

"Don't worry, my chosen one. Ziphe has given us permission. We will see them again in five days." 21 closed his eyes and put his arms out, falling into the watery abyss.

"Wait, don't!" Clico reached out to grab 21. At the last second, 21 opened his eyes and grabbed Clico, pulling them both into the Ocean of Souls.

"Psychopath!" Omira yelled as she strained to hold the Labyrinthian from falling further than the recommended speed. Ziphe instantly restrained her from going after them.

"Ziphe, what do we do?" Tyermsy gasped.

"Let them go. This is another one of his schemes." Ziphe sighed.

"You're just going to let him do that?" Tyermsy glared.

"Yes." Ziphe whispered. Omira glared angrily at Ziphe. Tyermsy sighed.

***

Clico was submerged in the waterfall. Much to his surprise, the waterfall's depth and width were astronomically larger than he originally thought. He was practically uninjured from entering, however.

"Skill: Air Mask." Clico mumbled in the water, and air formed around his head so that he could breathe. After his nearly fatal swim on the First Floor, Clico sought out help from Councilwoman Zirene, who taught him this simple yet obscure skill.

21 drifted slightly below Clico, smiling all the way. They were falling faster than the Labyrinthian, and the light it gave off slowly drifted into the sky above them. The gravity of their freefall was slightly less than what it would be in the air on Ryko, but they could still swim to move. 21 wore his mask artifact, which Clico deduced could help him breathe.

"Welcome to the real Second Floor." 21 laughed as Clico swam towards him to save him.

"Why did you do this?" Clico wanted to kill 21, but he also wanted to save him. Grabbing ahold of 21, Clico pulled his tunic close to himself angrily.

"You asked for Trike, right? He's waiting for us at the bottom." 21's eyes gleamed from beneath his mask.

"You're insane!" Clico yelled at the top of his lungs. It was hard to hear over the roar of the waters.

"If you want to survive, follow me." 21's strength suddenly soared, and Clico was easily pushed away.

"Just how strong are you, really?" Clico thought in awe. 21 was truly a wolf in sheep's clothing. It wouldn't surprise Clico if 21 was actually a Deity in disguise!

"I'm stronger than you can possibly imagine." 21 said, as if he could mindread. Swimming away from Clico, 21 got further and further away. Clico had no choice but to follow the crazed prophet. Without him, Clico knew he couldn't navigate through this strange place.

As time flew by, the duo made their way to a vertical mountain of stone, rock, and dirt. Using a mysterious skill, 21 lowered the pair onto a small ledge, wide enough for a few people to comfortably stand on.

"The nature of the first ten floors is different for the souls of the deceased," explained 21.

"What are you talking about? You're lucky I don't kill you for what you've done." Growled Clico.

"Calm down now." 21 sighed.

"When a soul dies and is sent to Hell, it enters the Ocean of Souls, and it can manifest itself as a ghost at random. If you were to die, you may awake on the First Floor, the Fifth Floor, maybe even the Tenth Floor. As the Floor go down, the likelihood of your soul manifesting on a Floor decreases exponentially as you descend." 21 continued his explanation, ignoring Clico's visible rage.

"I don't care about your pre created lines. Answer me!" Clico struck out at 21 with a wave of aura. 21 tilted his head and stopped the vicious punch with one hand, nonchalantly.

"You better listen, my hero. Your foundations are terrible. Your skills and potential are among the worst of the worst. Against those of the same realm as you, I wouldn't be surprised if you were to lose despite your vast swath of experience." 21 mocked. Clico grit his teeth but couldn't dispute 21. He was a veteran of the Wizard's Association, but his true power was horrendous compared to those at the same realm.

Truly, Clico was an example of hard work overcoming talent and knowledge. If not for his intense drive, he could have become a mid-level Sage. In reality, his only strength was his vast swath of experience.

"Hero, main character, why do you call me that if you also call me weak?" Clico locked eyes with the gleaming eyes behind the mask.

"Simply put: You fit the conditions necessary to conquer the 100th Floor. You are not special, nor are you talented. As a character, you have a good backstory, but your tragic life is cookie cutter compared to some of the others in our party." 21 admitted.

"Real nice of you to say." Clico backed away from 21, calming down. It was obvious that his attack had had zero impact, and it wasn't that smart to be fighting in their predicament anyways.

"I'm not a character though, prophet. I am a person. My life as a veteran and as a former party member of Lavilin are how my life went. I worked hard despite being Auraless and untalented. That is interesting enough to me. I don't care what you say." Clico rebutted moments later.

"Hmm, sure. Do you know anything about your party members' history before joining your party? Do you know Cheptah or David's histories? They have seen more than you can imagine. Along the same lines, if I were to choose a main character myself, I would have chosen Gileon." 21 explained.

"Gileon?" Clico stammered. This party member was perhaps the ineptest person in his whole party! The only reason he was able to be a successful adventurer was because of the support of Samcyra, who was clearly in love with him. Apart from her, Cheptah and David carried their party through their unique strategies before they met Clico's party and merged with them into a new party.

21 glared at Clico.

"Yes, Gileon. Although he doesn't know it yet, he is the most powerful person in our whole party. I can guarantee you that." 21 said, unfazed.

"How can that be?" Clico wondered out loud.

"Some are born with powers, physiques, and bloodlines beyond their true ability. Gileon is the weakest in your party, yet his potential is stronger than Ziphe himself. You on the other hand…" 21 sneered.

"You are just a pawn with no background nor skill. You have no right to call yourself the main character, but you are because of your connection to The Demon. Relish in your role as the conqueror of Hell when the time comes." 21 sighed again.

"Did you bring me here to bully me or to save Trike?" Clico grit his teeth. There was nothing he could say to change the mind of the delusional prophet.

On a dime, 21's mood swung.

"Yes, of course, follow me." 21 hopped down from the ledge and skidded along the vertical mountainside. With anger and resentment, Clico followed 21.

As they descended, 21 continued his history lesson.

"As I was saying before, the first Ten Floors were designed for the dead, not the living. This watery abyss against this mountain is the true Floor Two. Even on Floor One, the real Floor was beneath the surface, and we just avoided it by using the Labyrinthian. If we went the hard way, on the ocean floor, our casualties would be over a dozen by the time we reach the 11th Floor.

The various caves and ledges are inhabited by beasts and Shades, and the unfortunate souls that manifest on this Floor have a hard time. I forgot to mention: When a soul manifests in Hell as a ghost, they lose their Aura Realm. Imagine having to survive here as a F Rank Mortal!" 21 remarked. Clico listened intently. It was indeed interesting and believable.

"Now, you. Your greatest need at the moment is strength. You are Auraless and cannot physically walk the path of Natural Aura apart from body tempering, which is expensive. Your wits are decent enough, which is why you've dabbled in the Scientific and Runic Paths, but it is still expensive to maintain. For all intents and purposes, you've risen to your true peak.

You have attempted to use a common Summoner Path Skill with the Shade, but even then, your foundations are minimal. In a prolonged fight, you would lose badly. You are a glass cannon that can't do damage, in other words." 21 lectured the silent Clico.

"This leaves three paths left for you to attempt. Becoming a Shade is a difficult path laid with blood. Becoming a good person and a Shade is difficult, but not impossible. Its danger and volatility make it unfeasible for someone already in a life and death expedition like this one."

Clico could not refute the prophet.

"This leaves two paths left.

The Spirit Path is why I brought you here.

Skill: Author's Impartation." 21 touched Clico's forehead as he fell into the abyss.

"Runic Spirit Cultivation?" Clico asked out loud. What in the world was this skill?

"Yes, this is the skill that only works in the Ocean of Souls. Because of the spiritual density of the spirits here, and this is one of the only places in the universe where you can absorb Spiritual energy freely like Natural energies on the Natural Path. Since you are indeed Auraless, I tampered with the skill to make it feasible to use along with Runes. Here." 21 tossed him a storage ring full of Aura Credits and Artifacts, and Runes.

"If you look in the ring, I've inscribed a Tier Three Spirit Cultivation Rune on a Runestone. Use that runestone to cultivate the ambient spiritual energy into your soul. Your Aura Realm should increase up to the peak Sage Realm after using the Runestone. By the time we reach the Third Floor and meet up with Trike, you should go up two sub-ranks." 21 explained in a monotone. It was obvious that 21 treated Clico as an inconvenience but still cared deeply for him. The worth of the storage ring's contents alone were extremely extravagant.

"Thank- Thank you." Clico stuttered out. It was unclear if 21 inscribed the Runestone himself, but if he did, it meant that 21 had runic skills that were on par with those at the Royalty Realm. Although 21 was shifty, sneaky, crazy, and volatile, this was an insane gesture of good faith. There were hordes of people who would kill for a boost in ability by two sub-ranks! This was an unparalleled opportunity! If 21 really had a plan to meet back up with the Labyrinthian, Clico couldn't doubt this prophet's insane and ludicrous tactics anymore.

21 didn't respond to Clico's thanks but seemed to be lost in thought. As the two descended, Clico used the knowledge imparted to him along with the incredibly rare Tier Three Rune Stone. Soon, Clico used the Spirit Cultivation technique while 21 stared into the abyss with great loneliness.