Strange.

  The throne room was somehow very familiar, like the one in the fortress.

  The difference was perhaps that here, it was much cleaner and grander, with a red carpet that was so shiny and soft it welcomed Suna’s shoes as if they just tried to melt them. Shrewn tapestry of banner hung far above, where a red flag with the King’s drawing was etched. Unfortunately, what ruined the throne room's seriousness and grandeur was that the throne itself was built so high up with dais upon dais, forcing any subject to crane their neck up.

  However, despite the obvious stupidity of the throne design, what earned everyone's attention was the gate. Nestled in the throne room’s corner wall was a sword, of which Suna could no longer make out its color.

  [Pyre One] [Mystic]

  The sword was planted between a large double-door gate, which was currently burning with intense green flames different from Pyre-flame.

  “The Necromancer’s flame,” Wendy remarked, tugging at her cloak.

  The Integrators huddled together, just under the throne’s shadow, watching Floundea and Amidela examine the flame closely with the Undead King in between them. Jack, along with his fellow Runebearers, had their weapon ready for anything.

  “Tell me, King,” Floundea's voice might as well contain venom in it. “How long has this been going on? How could we expect this sword to hold?”

  “It's supposed to be able to hold for a month. But, you lot killed Landfred! Now, the Necromancer will come sooner.”

  “Do I need to remind you, undead, that your fate is now tied with us?” Amidela asked, mindlessly fingering her Thief Sword.

  “Of course, of course,” The king raised both of his hands. But, he couldn’t seem to wipe that annoying smirk off his face. “I just want each of you to know that actions have consequences.”

  “Can it be replaced?” Slea asked, stepping forward and crossing her arms.

  The King bristled at her, but answered anyway. “No, there is no way to replace the sword. Not even if you had someone who could control Pyre-flame. The Pyre-one was carefully forged by the Necromancer himself; in a way, it possessed the Necrotic flame, even just a bit of it.”

  Was he lying?

  No, lying would not serve him any good.

  It would be critical to know how long this can last, though. “Well? How long will that sword last?” Suna asked.

  “I could not be sure. Why don’t you get your Truthwatcher to find out?”

  “Wendy? Can you do it?” Noa asked her.

  She tensed, eyeing the king through her luminescent purple eyes. “Yes, I think I can.” She mumbled smally and stepped forward, tapping her staff once and twice in front of the king.

  “What?”

  “She wants you to move,” Jack stated.

  “Ridiculous, I will not—”

  “You will move, king.” Floundea cut him off.

  The King knuckled his hands hard, ice scratched againts each other, and small bits of frost fell. The Undead moved, and it acted like its pride had been forever tarnished.

  “Thank you,” Wendy smiled, to more of the king's scowl.

  Suna, at this point, knew that the king would always be the butt of jokes.

  Jack and one other Runebearer moved for Wendy. She knelt, aiming the end of her pendulum-like staff at the dying sword.

  Wiping a sweat that trailed down his neck, Suna decided to move forward. Wendy whispered under her breath, and her staff glowed with white light. A soft gasp escaped Wendy’s lips, then she said.

  “Five days.”

  ---

  Trails of water vapor swayed up, spreading their heat through the bathroom. Suna dipped his head back, and hot water engulfed him. He raised his head up again, letting out a chuckle. His legs comfortably rested at the edge of the bathtub, which was a bit too small for him, but surprisingly, having his legs up like this was far more comfortable than he had thought.

  Five days.

  Five days before, they had to dive to fight the [Necromancer] and be done with the tutorial. Under normal circumstances, Suna should now start tearing apart the palace for the Pyre-amulet, so he could start experimenting for his class upgrade. But the king had already sent some of his servants to find it, and now they were also stacking corpses in the courtyard for him.

  So he should take a rest.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  This kind of luxury was something he did not have in his old world. He was far too cheap for this bathtub.

  He palmed the boiling water and splashed it into his face. Yes, boiling. Normal heated water was not enough for Slea and Suna. So Suna had left a myriad of Emberwind’s arrows beneath the wooden bath, weakening them enough so they did not burn.

  How long has he been here?

  An hour?

  Yeah, it was about time for him to leave. Despite his enhanced body, his mind already gotten woozy after all.

  He left the bathtub, donning his clothes and Spirit Rabbit Cloak, which he hung. Throwing a look back, Suna swore he would be back.

  Walking into the hallway, he still had to take a look around. This place looked like a modern hotel. Suna touched the brown-goldish wall, wondering if this was wallpaper. It turned out the walls were somehow heated with a strange, rough sensation like a brick wall.

  Expensive chandeliers hung above, each holding twelve candles. They were beautiful, sure, but it was sickening how every five paces away the same chandeliers hung. It was like seeing spiders hung upside-down.

  Besides Suna’s bath chambers were another eight, of which their sandals were still by the door mat. None of them has gone out yet? Well, whatever, he needed to get sleep anyway. Suna turned, and just as he was about to leave, he stopped. Someone was singing at the end of the hallway.

  He looked at the glass-pane door of the balcony. With his eagle eye, he saw Min leaning againts the balcony’s rail and humming to herself.

  It looked like she did not want to be bothered, and besides, Suna probably would ruin her peace if he went to her. So he was about to leave, but then, not seconds after, Min opened the door, letting in the cold that softly swayed his Rabbit cloak.

  “Suna! Join me, would you?”

  He wanted to rest, to be in bed and close his eyes. But, for some reason, his feet went to Min, joining her by the balcony as she closed the door.

  The second-depth sprawled across their vision. The four bastions’ wall almost blocked their vision, but beyond them, Suna could see the land of endless snow. Inside the capital wall was the city, whose all buildings looked like a thousand tiny ants, some bigger than others.

  “You could not really see anything here,” Suna remarked.

  “Nope, too high up.” Min shrugged, pushing herself up the balcony and playfully leaning one leg againts the thousands of feet fall. “I want to apologise to you.”

  “For what?”

  Min raised her eyebrows.

  Well, he had an idea.

  “You must be disappointed that your first partner in crime is actually a coward.”

  Right, he remembered, the time when both of them sneaked between rooftops to kill Drows.

  “Whose plan was that again?” Suna wondered, thinking back, that was quite reckless.

  “Reki’s, I swear, at first, I thought he was trying to kill us.”

  “Why did you accept then?”

  “Because you were there. The madguy who soloed an entire Drow tower and arrived with potions to save my life.”

  She bumped her elbow into his shoulder.

  “I remember the time when we first arrived, y’know.” Min continued, “When we are inside that white room.”

  “Oh, I’m no longer pissed about that. My Class is the best one,” Suna assured her.

  “Actually… I was about to choose Archer.”

  “You what?”

  “I was a hunter back in our world. Sometimes use a bow when necessary. Well, mostly guns, though. So I settled for Hunter.”

  “Well, I would make Hunter work too if I got the class,” Suna said. He was prepared to close his eyes in sheer embarrassment. But, surprisingly, the embarrassment did not come. He’d really think he could make it work.

  “Yes, you probably will,” Min chuckled, “Anyway, Suna, what I’m saying is. From here on, if you want to abandon me, then feel free to do so.”

  Suna had expected the conversation would turn this way, which was why he had planned to just go to bed earlier.

  “We are alive, Min. “ Suna said, pausing, considering his next word. “I believe progress matters more than results, but if the result is you having all your limbs together in the end, then it all still works out isn’t it? So… just… don’t repeat that.”

  Min watched him intently, and for the first time, Suna noticed how this world changed Min. The confidence she had dangling on the balcony like that—he just now realised Min’s clothes, a dark cloth wrapped tight around her, stretched her figure. She was like a cat as she pulled her muscle—just like Slea, she chose a path away from humanity. A path Suna had access to if he wished.

  “I will try, but I will still tell the others what I just told you. It just, I just felt shitty. I was the one who told Noa to his face that I would rather leave him here, remember? And he just smiled warmly, now, saying that he will not abandon me.”

  “Then all the more reason for you to get strong. So you could repay his kindness, no?”

  “Very straightforward, Suna.” Min rolled her eyes.

  “Also, it's not good, Min,” Suna said.

  “What is?”

  “You ‘trying’”

  Min tensed, and her eyes dropped into a sad smile.

  “Don’t say trying. Tell me you will do it—fight with us.”

  “This whole time, I’ve been in the shadows. Just following, each of you in the back. Then, when it comes time for me to step up, I scurried away.”

  “That,” Suna pointed at her, and she tilted her head. “Just change the last part of what you're saying, instead of running away, then provide support—like your class meant to be.”

  “Prowler,” Min muttered. She let out a small chuckle. “I suppose, now I know why I get this class.”

  “Not a bad way to fight, is it?”

  “Maybe.”

  They talked further. Min told her about her life, her fiancée, and their cabin, which they used as their hunting base.

  Suna had thought he had plenty of stories to tell when he spoke with Jack. But, as Min kept going and going, even smiling at the memories, it told him that he truly had not seen much at all.

  Leaning against the railing, he tipped his head up, wondering the whole wide world after the Tutorial. He would need to return to his own world first, deal with his pact, and secure the planet. But, after that, what? There is a whole literal universe for him to explore.

  It must be endless.

  Suna wanted to see them all. Briefly, he wondered if his lifespan would be increased thanks to the system. He hoped so.

  “You’re zoning out, that is rude. I’m just about to get to how he proposed to me.”

  “Did he tie the ring around your target so you guys could hunt the animal down?”

  “We’re not that barbaric, Suna.”

  “What did you two hunt the most?”

  “Rabbits,”

  The Spirit rabbit Cloak twitched around him, sending him a jolt of energy like electricity.

  Suna winced and scowled at it.

  “Seriously?”

  “What?”

  “Its nothing,” Suna mumbled.

  Actually, it was not ‘nothing’. Did it just sympathize with the hunted rabbit? Suna just remembered how he was frozen dead when he felt the Undead Godknight’s aura just beyond the throne room. This cloak perhaps had some more weaknesses he needed to figure out.

  “Suna!” a chirpy voice called. Slea opened the balcony’s door and gave both Min and him a grin. “They got your necklace, and our corpses.”

  “I never see someone so happy on getting corpses,” Min whispered.

  Suna tugged his cloak to cover his mouth. “She's not going to eat them, right? I mean, her class will turn her into dragon-race?” That might be a ridiculous question, but Suna genuinely worried.

  “Dragonoid,” Min corrected. “And no, I don’t think they eat corpses,” she added. “Maybe.”

  “Well, they’re undead anyway.” Suna reasoned, pushing him off the railing, and now it's time for him to experiment with his Pyre-armor making.