You have entered the Third Floor: Burial
There are two settlements on this floor. One to your west, and one to your north.
There is only a single floor boss across this floor. Once killed, the floor boss takes three days to respawn.
To clear the floor:
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You must defeat the floor boss, or at least be a contributor in defeating the boss.
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Sacrifice 450 litres of magically treated blood at the altar after defeating the floor boss.
The message said about meeting at the west settlement.
Lugging his bag, he starts walking, as a few avatars extend out of him, scattering around him to look for any dangers. Dangers in the desert come not just from places that are visible, but also from places that are not so much. Every step he and his avatars take requires a nice amount of focus to listen for any dangers coming from underneath.
But beyond that, night time in the deserts is a beautiful spectacle.
Everywhere one looks, they can find crystals glowing a pure white jutting out of the desert intermittently. The third floor doesn’t have stars, instead these are the ones who bring the light of the stars to the ground, lighting the way for wanderers.
If Adrian remembers correctly, then there used to once be a belief among the climbers who lived here, about a Wanderer God, who has plucked stars out of the sky and put them on the ground for wanderers to walk at night.
Of course that age ended long ago. High Climbers from the Clarity came upon them with the wrath of a bruised ego, and destroyed the floor. Back then Adrian had wondered if the floor would still be broken when he entered, but now seeing the Reset, he can guess what may have happened after the High Climbers left.
Ignoring the crystals for now, he continues walking further and further west, trying not to pick a fight with anyone. Disturbing the sleep of something dangerous at these hours would be a direct death check.
An hour or so in, he starts to pick his pace, jogging through the desert towards his destination, and yet even after another hour of it does not bring the settlement in view. Adrian is almost glad that it is night-time right now, because running so much in the heat would’ve killed his avatars.
Even though his avatar skill can create a disgusting copy of clothes, they completely fail when creating the artifacts.
Upgrading the skill in that direction could be worthwhile. Would I be able to sell them?
A possible source of income, but he cannot imagine someone wanting artifacts made out of human skin. Can I sell them to magical creatures? Surely higher floors would have intelligent ones, right? Maybe we can communicate and come to a deal.
A possibly good idea, but not something to concern himself with right now.
After another four hours of trek, which includes him taking appropriate breaks to avoid overexertion, and fighting sometimes when he cannot help it, the settlement finally comes into view as the sky slowly changes colour.
It is still a dark blue before the arrival of morning, but morning is definitely here.
In the distance he can see a huge pond. Adrian has packed enough water for this journey, but he has not packed for random sandstorms which occur throughout the night. Seeing the blue pond shining in the distance really makes him wanna jump into it and take a nice long dive.
Adrian controls himself but still increases his pace, sending his avatar away to keep an eye on the settlement and memorise its layout. Meanwhile he walks straight towards the settlement.
The settlement is built in a semicircle around the large pond. Huge and small buildings made of hardened sand can be seen. Early in the morning one can see shops being set up, curtains coming out to remove the upcoming heat.
The settlement is coming alive in front of his eyes, as more and more people walk out. Windows open, chatter starts, and runes flash, putting the final preparations for the day.
Adrian follows one of the avatars who has already found an inn near the pond. It seems to cost a bit, but Adrian is running low on steam and is very sleepy. He also has some gold and cores to use if he has to. He’ll probably change inns after waking up to save on cash, but right now this is perfect too.
The inn master who seems to have just woken up takes a double check on him, gives him the keys to a room, and then dismisses him. Walking into his room, he finds that it is actually a very pleasant temperature inside.
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Runes on the wall reveal atmosphere modification done on a very small scale inside to keep the room fresh.
Adrian plops on the bed, feeling the softness of it, gives one last command to his avatars to find more about this place, find good poisons to buy, and find the person he’s about to meet, before finally falling asleep.
#
Avatar Adrian grumbles in protest. Avatar #2 is by his side, and he hears similar curses coming from him.
“He could’ve at least resummoned us! Why are we such an asshole to ourselves!?” He questions.
Avatar #1 says, “He probably didn’t think at all before giving the order. Seeing a bed and a nice room, he must’ve directly collapsed,”
“That does sound like us,” Avatar #2 sighs, his shoulders slacking in defeat. Avatar #1 can understand, because he too is very tired. They’ve been running and fighting for just as much time as the main body, and although they don’t really have the necessary organs to feel exhaustion, their bodies naturally feel tired after extraneous work.
Maybe an Upgrade which can boost certain stats of the avatars would be worth looking into. He stores that idea for main body to go through later, before focusing on studying the area around him with avatar #2.
The settlement in the next hour or so becomes more and more busy, but the residents are not just humans. There are monkeys too, who live in homes.
Avatar #1 and #2 have been shocked to their core when a shining monkey suddenly opens the window of a building, and jumps out like it’s a normal day in their life.
There are a lot of empty or abandoned rooms in the settlement, and those are the places which these monkeys live in. The monkeys have crystalline structures appearing out of them. They have been thinking about asking someone about this, when avatar #1 suddenly sees someone.
Without even alerting avatar #2, he runs. The figure is a little far, blending in the crowd, and he is not even sure if what he saw is right or just a trick of his mind, but he has to check anyway.
He pushes past people, and complaining monkeys, almost knocking a store before he manages to side-step in the last instance, only to finally catch the figure who is having a chat with a monkey on her shoulder.
“Oh hey Adrian, you finally got here!” She says with the same smile on her face. That same carefree smile that he had thought is dead now. Avatar #2 catches up at that instance, and he too looks shocked.
Her eyes toggle between him and #2, before saying, “Ah, you must be the avatars. Where’s the main body?”
#2 finally asks what he has been meaning to ask for a while, “What the hell Ji-a? I thought you were dead,”
“How could you curse me like that!?” She says, acting astonished. “Did you not get the package I sent you?”
#1 and #2 look at each other, understanding dawning upon them at the same time, and then they sigh. They had expected it, but the chances felt way too small for it to actually be true.
“Come let’s go surprise the main body. He’s asleep right now, so he won’t even see you coming,” #1 says, settling into normalcy once again. Yes, this is her. Acting all mysterious and everything just to take off the mask at the most unexpected instant.
Ji-a brightens up like getting a new toy, the monkey on her shoulder also lights up. Now he’s kinda looking forward to the main body’s reaction.
#
For some reason, Adrian has a premonition in his sleep that something bad is about to happen. It’s like a tingle along his back, a small jolt that threatens to wake him up. He doesn’t wanna wake up though. He-
Something soft lands on his face, and he has been about to open his eyes when water suddenly falls on him. He tries to breathe, but the thing over his head blocks his nose, and all of a sudden, Adrian is drowning.
Then he rolls off his bed, the cloth on his face falling away, and he starts breathing again. Laughter bursts around him.
Adrian looks up at two of his avatars laughing together with Ji-a, and the anger turns into surprise. Quickly dismissing the avatars, he takes in their memories, and sighs.
“You’re the masked woman?” He asks.
“Who else but me, right?” She says in her most confident smile, the monkey on her shoulder looking extra proud.
“Why do you have a monkey with you?”
“Just cause. I was replacing you until you came, but now I’m quite attached to it. I might keep it with me until I leave this floor,” She says.
Adrian doesn’t retort, only sitting on the floor in silence. Ji-a too stays silent for once, as they look at each other and Adrian asks, “So you’re part of the revolution too?”
“Are you?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“I’m not.”
“But you were in their hideout. You seem to be quite attached to them. Then why do all this if you don’t wanna be a part?”
“Really just because it seemed fun. I’ve been bored for a while now, and staying on the edge keeps me alive. Also, it helps me keep up with what’s going on. It’s always better when you know about things,”
“Wouldn’t you have a contract with them? What happens if the contract kills you?”
“The contract won’t do shit to me,” Ji-a giggles, “I can break every contract I ever make, and I’ll still be on my top form.”
“Is it related to your big secret?”
“It is. I will tell you, honestly, but it’s just not suitable to do so inside the Tower. Perhaps if we meet outside someday I can,” She shrugs.
“What should I do? What do you think?”
“You haven’t signed a contract with them yet, so you can literally do anything. Although going back on your word would most probably make them your enemy and you’ll be hunted throughout the floor. The church might catch wind of it too, and then they’ll hunt you too. You’ll really be signing your death warrant at that point.”
Adrian listens silently. It’s not that he hadn’t thought of this, but listening to it like this really drives home the commitment he has decided to be a part of.
“We gotta find that treasure, don’t we?” He looks up and asks.
“Yepps. Also because it’s fun. At least 3 High Rankers are involved, and many more climbers. Things always get interesting during this time in the Tower,” She says excitedly.
“What time is that?”
“When the race starts.”
“What race?” Adrian frowns.
“Don’t worry, you’ll know in due time. Just focus on getting stronger right now. Come on get up, we have a treasure to hunt,” She hooks her hand across his elbows and lifts him up.
“Can’t I sleep for a while more? I only had like,” 2 hours 2 minutes 43 seconds, “2 hours of sleep.” Adrian looks at his bed which is very wet right now, and not ideal for a sleep at all.
“Can you get the water out of it, please?” He asks.
“Nope. You’re coming with me. Change up quickly, I’m waiting downstairs.” With that she storms off. Adrian sighs again, pulling his hair in mild frustration before walking into the bathroom to freshen up and change clothes.
They do have a treasure to hunt after all.
#