This was the message that popped up when entering the forty-first floor. Never before had such a rule been in the tower, so all newcomers were pleasantly surprised. As Roy was reading the notification, Olivia suddenly stabbed at his neck with her dagger. There was a loud 'd.i.n.k' as the dagger was knocked away. Roy stepped back while clutching his neck in surprise. "Hey! Why'd you attack me?"
Olivia mused aloud. "Looks like its true."
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Roy pouted by stomping his foot. He double checked his neck to make sure there were no wounds. Only then did he relax. "Give me a warning next time, sheesh."
Cheslov stepped forward and inspected his surroundings with disappointment. "Does that mean there are no monsters? No fighting?"
"Not quite." Jason shook his head and explained. "Only certain parts of these floors have safe areas."
"Oh." Cheslov was antic.i.p.ating fighting new types of monsters. If the next theme had been no fighting at all, that would have been his worst nightmare.
"Come on." Jason lead the way. The forty-first floor was reminiscent of scotland's highlands. The hilly landscape was covered in gra.s.s and flowers. Insects such as b.u.t.terflies, bees, and ladybugs were a common sight.
Ten minutes later, as they climbed to the top of a small hill, Roy's eyes lit up when he spotted something. "Look, a town!"
At the base of the hill was a large town. Over five hundred wooden buildings were placed in rows. More buildings were under construction, and the sound of clanging and hammering could be heard from below. Surroundings the town were crops and farms. One common thing among all of the buildings was the banner of a guild. Cheslov recognized it. "Isn't that the Skyfall guild's symbol?"
"Indeed." Jason nodded.
Roy's heart thumped loudly as he thought. The Skyfall Guild…
Olivia grew solemn as she commented. "The Skyfall guild is a top-tier guild, and recently they've grown much stronger. Some speculate that they're on par with Zui Gao, the strongest guild in the world."
Jason sighed inwardly as old memories rose from hearing the familiar name. The majority of Zui Gao's fame came from one man. Shenlong. A monster in human flesh. Shenlong spent his entire life pursuing martial arts. At the old age of one hundred, the towers arrived. Wielding a single spear, he entered China's tower and began a slaughter. As his stats grew, his body's strength returned. Normally he should have returned to a youthful appearance like Jason had, but Shenlong preferred his elderly appearance. The tower seemed to know this, so his appearance now looked like a seventy year old.
Roy's voice broke Jason from his thoughts. "So why is Skyfall building a town here?"
Olivia recalled the reports she'd read from her family and began to explain. "Community. That's the name of this floor's theme. Around fifty percent of this floor is a safe zone. Outside of it, monsters roam. They have a chance to drop an item called a 'plot flag'. With it you can own a portion of the floor, with higher grades allowing larger sizes. Only with the rights granted by a plot flag can you start to build."
Roy's eyes twinkled like stars. "So what benefits are there to building on a plot flag?"
"Too many to count." Jason shrugged and began to trek down the hill towards the town. "Discover it as you go, otherwise you'll ruin all the fun."
"Right, right. Don't spoil it all, Olivia!" Roy laughed as he sprinted after Jason. Olivia and Cheslov followed.
As they got closer to the town, Jason could make out thousands of people. Some constructed buildings, while others transported wood, stone, and other materials. Roy gasped at Jason's side. "Wow, how many members does Skyfall have?"
Jason glanced at Roy. "They aren't members of Skyfall. They chose to live here. Can't you sense it? They're all weak."
Roy narrowed his eyes as he carefully inspected the ascenders. After a moment, he exclaimed. "Ah, you're right! But why would they live here instead of on the thirtieth floor?"
"There are many reasons." Jason explained as they walked. "Besides the most obvious one, that this is the safest part of the tower, some people like to be apart of something new. Think back to when America was first discovered. Many people chose to be colonists, right?"
"I get it! I totally get that feeling. That sense of adventure!" Roy's heart thumped excitedly as he imagined exploring new lands and building a new home.
Jason glanced at the ascenders in the town. "They are basically all below level 10. All of the guilds, not just Skyfall, recruited laborers skilled in construction and carpentry from outside the tower."
Behind Jason, Cheslov rubbed his rugged beard. "How'd they get all the way to the forty-first floor?"
Olivia responded first. "Same as the way to get to the thirtieth floor, just a different teleportation scroll."
Jason added. "Also different is that anybody who takes the shortcut to get here can travel between all of the Community themed floors. They aren't restricted to just the one they teleport too."
At this point in the conversation, they stepped onto a dirt road leading into the town. On each side of them were crops and fences for animals. Roy ran up to the side of a fence and leaned over. "Come here, cutie!"
A baby brown horse with a blonde mane walked up to Roy and rubbed its head against his hand. Roy chuckled. "Aren't you a pretty one?"
Olivia walked over and copied Roy by extending her hand. The baby horse stepped backwards warily. Something from Olivia caused it to be cautious. Olivia sighed and began to turn away. Just before she could, Roy wrapped his arm around her and clasped her hand gently. "Look, she's alright, see? Come here."
As if calmed by Roy's words, the baby horse stepped forward and rubbed against Olivia's hand. Seeing this, she let out a rare smile.
"h.e.l.lo. You must be newcomers. Welcome to Skyfall's town." A voice called out to them. Their group turned and found a middle-aged man wearing casual clothes walking up to them. Unlike the other floors, this was probably the only place where one didn't need to wear armor. Everyone was completely safe here.
Jason shook the man's hand cordially. "We just arrived."
"Great!" The middle-aged man smiled warmly. "I'm from Skyfall and am responsible for greeting newcomers. Would you like an introduction to the floor?"
Jason shook his head. "No thanks. We did some research."
"Ah, no problem." The middle-aged man's eyebrow rose. "Are you from a guild, or are you a solo ascender?"
"A guild. It's just a small one, though. Just us four." Jason pointed behind him.
The middle-aged man relaxed after hearing that. "If you want, I can show you around town? We have plenty of services. Maybe you want to buy a plot of land?"
Jason once again shook his head. "Actually, I was sent by Index. I'm here to meet Walter."
The middle-aged man was briefly shocked before growing solemn. The man before him was big news, and Walter, his guild master, had already informed him to treat Index's group with utmost respect. With a calm voice, he motioned Jason to follow. "You're in luck. Walter is working on his house at the moment."
A few days ago, Index had informed Walter that he was sending a group to take over the plot of land Skyfall had been temporarily holding. Many months ago, one of the conditions of Index selling maps of the forty-first to forty-fifth to Skyfall were that they give him a specific plot of land. Only after many months did Jason finally arrived at the forty-first floor to take it.
As Jason's group followed the middle-aged man from a distance, Roy, Olivia, and Cheslov surrounded Jason and bombarded him with questions. "Did you just say Index?"
"You were sent by Index?"
"Do you know Index?"
Everybody in the world knew who Index was. Index was practically the most knowledgeable ascender in the world, and yet n.o.body had ever seen Index in person. Index was a person of speculation and controversy.
Jason gave them a look. "This is a secret."
Roy, Olivia, and Cheslov fell silent and pondered quietly.