“It's time,” Rue huffed. He chose his reward for slaying the three brothers. And he settled with equipment.

  Rue opened a chest that appeared out of thin air, different from his frost chest; this one had a pure blue color. Cold mist seeped out, letting a comfortable, ashy texture coil around his face. He was greeted by a stark, dark blue tunic that extended to his knee. It has a slight embroidery of a woman crying, holding something small in her hand. A man was comforting her, both of them were in dark shadow upon the tunic—Rue could make out the man's emotion, he could only tell the woman was crying because of tears that fell out of her eyes.

  Pale Frost Tunic (Mystic) – Woven by the glacial holder Ashara and sewn by his wife Mona, they dyed this tunic under the wyrmwyvern blue blood. The tunic was meant for their son, who had fallen to the cold in the land of frost. This tunic has a strong resonance toward frost as it still holds the wish of being worn by its maker's son. In exchange, this tunic swore to protect its bearer, fooling itself that it still can someday be worn by its rightful owner. Strength + 75, Dexterity + 75

  He donned the tunic, and it settled comfortably, albeit a bit loose around his hip, if only he had something to tie it. Rue could feel the cold emanating, creeping in, inside his body. This is very convenient for him, as he would heal from the cold.

  The description is sad, a tale that could have happened thousands of years ago. He wondered how does item like this could be obtained from a chest.

  Shrugging his thought off, he opened the frost chests, now intending to just open all of them.

  Cold Sash (Common) – A sash that emits cold.

  “Huh,” Rue muttered. It's a disappointing item, yet quite convenient. He tied the sash around his hip, shrugging his lion mane cloak off him. And the Tunic now fits him just perfectly. Rue looked over at his tattered Mage Cloak, which the tutorial had given him. It was just a common item, and completely useless now.

  Keeping in his spatial ring would be just a waste. But he did not want to throw it away.

  Instead, he draped it on the bookshelves, and strangely, this room felt a bit homey. He smiled, having a useless item you never use in your room does have a certain romance, well, perhaps this is just his bum self taking. But Rue likes it that way.

  He went ahead and opened the rest of the four chests.

  Winter Wolf Tooth Dagger (Uncommon) – The tooth of Winter Wolf is a natural dagger one could instantly use after killing it. The giant wolf bore huge loot in its body, and he dagger is one of the most sought-after.

  Winter Wolf Tooth Dagger (Uncommon) – The tooth of Winter Wolf is a natural dagger one could instantly use after killing it. The giant wolf bore huge loot in its body, and he dagger is one of the most sought-after.

  Frost Wand (Uncommon) – Frost is a deadly force of nature; to channel it, one couldn’t be too careful. This wand shall help redirect the force of Frost, making it easy and lightening the burden inside your body.

  Frost Spear (uncommon) – Enhanced with the power of Frost, this spear shall deliver a jab worthy of death for each strike.

  Mammoth Eye Ring (Uncommon) – With the warmth of the Mammoth, and the blessing of frost. The ring was wrought from the Mammoth's bone and blessed by the mammoth's long-lost friend, the Wolf of Frost. The ring shall grant a portion of the Mammoth might, Grant +50 Strength.

  Rue was happy with every item except for the spear; he doubted he would use it anytime soon. But the others are a great addition for him. He noticed the Wand was the same one Eve had gotten from her chest. He wondered what had happened to them—deep down, he still hoped at least one of his previous group would be here, with him. There’s the comfort of having someone you know. Perhaps he will try to find out before the quest starts. But everything that happened in the courtyard made him reluctant to interact with others, or even show his face.

  He looked at his bed, and at once the intense feeling of wanting to sleep again almost overwhelmed him. Rue shook his head and stifled a sigh. “At least I should find out how many people have spawned already,” He muttered, shrugging on his Lion Mane Cloak over his tunic.

  Slipping on the ring, he put the daggers and wand by his sash. The spear he saved inside his spatial ring.

  “Oh, what is his name again…”

  The guy who had given him a piece a paper and a room number. He had something about going to get his task, was it? Rue did not remember. He lost the paper somewhere, probably because Mey kicked him like a football.

  Well, he has a convenient reason for not being able to show up wherever he wanted to.

  Rue opened his door, peeking at the hallway—night has arrived, it's probably midnight by now. He closed his room and began to search for the stairs. There were the stairs he and Mey took, leading up to the small square of pathway atop the wall—it also extended down to the bottom, leading toward the tower where he had spawned too. But, he wanted to try the grand stair that was able to fit a dozen people walking together—he wondered does it extended high up, toward the very top of the tower.

  Reaching the dead end of the stale stone hallway, Rue finally found it. He grasped the railing, looking down to see light warm around the bottom, revealing a crowd of people mulling about. Working at the wooden construct to cover the huge archway, mulling about as they do it. He heard the conversation lull peacefully, even high up here.

  Then he looked up, and the stairs extended spirally toward the very top. Curiosity got to him, and he climbed his way up. He did not pass any floor as his room is already the highest one. Through countless arrowslit, light shimmered the weak moonlight, giving the still darkness a bit of light for him to navigate. Reaching the top felt fast; it was a pleasant climb, one he does in silence, leading to a wooden double door. He opened it, and immediately, wind whooshed, settling around him. He stood above the world, the mountain was still taller than him, but Rue could see them clearly, like staring at a giant of white. The four mountains glow dimly in the dark, an arcane sight that he doubts he would ever see in his old world.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Who are you?” An almost silent voice asked. A man, around Rue’s age, probably slightly older, sat above the parapet—his feet dangled over the tower, and another one he hugged tight to his chest. His hair is the color of rave, tied in a ponytail. His eyes are bright yellow, glowing in the dusk of night. By his hip is a sword sheathed with a very thin sheath.

  Rue could instantly tell, even without looking at the steel, that those are not common steel swords like most have here. And he was armored, like a knight, but with lighter and less bulky armor. The steel fit comfortably to his body, and a helmet resembling an insect head rested on the battlement.

  Human. Lvl 45

  Even higher level than Mey…

  He almost went down the stairs before realizing he was not fighting for his life here. He wanted to trust humans; his experience with the gamblers had been anything but pleasant. Emily and Benedict had an unfortunate encounter, but Rue was still not there. He will keep trusting, for now.

  “Actually, it doesn’t matter,” The man said, with a sigh, fist against cheek. He sighed and went back, staring into nothing. “Does that woman send you? Who was it again?” He massaged his head.

  “Mey?”

  “Yes, the white hair. Tell her to just tell me what to do. Send me on one of those mountains already.”

  “Are you by any chance just spawned?” Rue asked. People around seemingly had at least heard of Mey name.

  “Yes, not two hours ago, maybe.”

  “Must be an interesting phase for you then,” Rue smiled, trying to stroke a friendly, everyday conversation.

  But he was greeted with a glare by the man. Those cat eye pupils enlarged, like it was sizing Rue as his prey.

  “Uh, I apologize?” Rue turned it into a question.

  The man let out another sigh, seemingly fully intent on not talking. “If you do not have anything to do, then leave, please.”

  Rue gulped; perhaps his approach was too insensitive. This guy's tutorial has run very long, no doubt chance are the goblins had attacked him over and over again.

  “You…” The man paused, her mouth widening open in a brief second before he closed it. “You’re high level… good. Chances are you wouldn’t die then,” He muttered. “My name is Lars. Yours?”

  “It's Rue.”

  “Good”

  Good?

  “You!” A new voice screamed. Rue turned to see someone leaning against the thick wooden door. The man wore an official suit like he was about to sign an important million-dollar deal. His glasses puffed with his ragged breath. “You, I heard from Mey, that you settled on the highest floor.” He breathed out. “Why would you bloody—”

  He stopped, shaking his head. Who was he again?

  Oh, James!

  Rue is remembered because it’s the most common name.

  “Anyway, both of you come down with me! We will start the assignment—which tower to position both of you. Mey also wanted to put each of you into a raiding team. There are only twenty thousand people left before the phase truly starts. Come on!”

  “Sure,” Rue grumbled. He wanted to stay up here, since it was pleasant. Well, Lars' broody energy made it less pleasant, but the night still looked like a wonder, with the starlit night sky, and they especially looked ethereal above each of the four mountains.

  Lars jumped down from the parapet; he was taller than Rue, it turned out. He motioned for James to lead on. The middle-aged man was complaining about youth and how they were hard to control. Rue blanked out the entire conversation between the two. Not ten minutes on their descent, James stopped, staring at something below them.

  Standing by an arrow slit, the moonlight lit a beaked face armor in a dark, stale color of gray—two green circles as eyes, each was large enough to almost cover its entire mask. Dark fur draped across its neck, and a bulky robe extended to its ankles. A normal person wouldn’t wear such clothes, especially in a stairway like this, where a fall would cost you your life. Perhaps it's the cane that is inlaid with dark silver that is there to keep it from falling

  The masked one, arms and legs hidden beneath its cloak. It stared at them like a curious crow. Rue did not think much of it at first, until Lars got closer.

  (Plague Crow Doctor. Lvl 55)

  “Level fifty monster?” Rue's breath hitched under his breath.

  “Heads up!” Lars screamed, and he drew his sword.

  The masked doctor split apart in front of their eyes, feathers of black went sprawling up. Rue summoned FrostBite Sword, holding it in both arms.

  Each and every feather morphed, spinning like it had just wrestled apart the dimension it occupied—they turned into three sharp, huge needles and flew straight at them.

  One of the needles flew straight at him. He gripped his sword tightly and parried the heavy force, but the needle slid over his sword. He was still able to redirect it off him, yet it was still able to draw blood from his cheek. The three needles went above them, forming into the beaked doctor again.

  Rue growled, and he was about to charge at him as Lars did beside him. But then he fell on one knee, ice sprouted behind him to hold him from sprawling down.

  Lars stopped, standing over him, with sword drawn, facing the beaked doctor.

  “Poison resistance?” It tilted its head. Its voice is inhumane, a deep rattling of bones. “But the other one is dead already, so some are strong and others weak.”

  Rue looked at James, and his body froze at the sight. The man is now a husk of skeleton, its body burned like being thrown by powerful acid—the slight skin still existed, rapidly melted—his blood drenched down the stairs.

  “What in the—”

  “Do you have resistance like it just said?” Lars spoke softly, still holding his gaze at the monster above them.

  “Yes,”

  With his left hand, a vial of green materialized—he handed it to Rue. Who drank it eagerly—It tasted bitter, almost making him choke. But, its effect is undeniable, yet not strong enough as he began to feel his vision closing in, and deep inside him, there’s a slight burn that is currently dealing with his passives. He stood gingerly, summoning his Time of Obsidian ice.

  Lars' eyes widened as he saw Rue's skin engulfed by dark ice. He took a step forward, casting now suspicious ice at Rue also.

  “Not just poison resistance, you have something to resist burn,” The masked monster said. “Troublesome… But, good to know. How kind of you.” It split again into dark feathers as it finished talking.