Artemia: Journey To The Thirtieth Floor

7. Strongest Beta Tester

"This is the king of this world?" Freya asked as she stared at the statue in front of us.

Blake shook his head and sat on the stairs of the small shrine behind the statue. Oh, I guess he knows something. If he's a beta tester, then he probably saw this one already. I mean, that's how it's supposed to be, right? I looked at Blake, hoping that he would talk about it right now. The statue seemed intriguing, and I wanted to know more about Leon, so I was hoping that he could provide some information.

When Blake noticed me looking, he sighed and began to speak. "There are three kings, namely Leon, Eagle, and Orca. Leon is the king of the land, Eagle is the king of the sky, and Orca is the king of the sea. And as far as I know, there should be another king that's above the three of them. That was what's written on the lore. However, that person was never revealed." He shrugged as he eyed me, trying to tell me that that was all he knew.

"And should we be pondering about that now?" Dylan asked as he raised his brow.

Blake scoffed, and he was about to retort back, but I pointed at the shrine. There was a big butterfly on the door, but it wasn't moving. It looked really pretty, and I wanted to approach it! Just as I began to loom towards it, Blake stopped me. I looked at him, but he was just staring at the butterfly. It can't be some sort of enemy, is it? But Blake seems to be too hostile of it...

"Don't come near it no matter what," he said as he made me face the other way.

"Why?" I asked, curious.

Instead of answering, he shook his head at me. Maybe it has some sort of poison, so I'd rather listen to him than stir trouble up. Since earlier, I've been on my guard, and it seems like the monsters aren't allowed here. Huh, that's quite strange considering how battered this place is. It looked like it was abandoned several decades ago. Perhaps it's because of King Leon's power...

"The monsters can't reach this place. Just sit there, and the shrine will automatically heal us," Blake said as he took some water on the well. "The water is clean as well, so go ahead and drink."

I approached him so that I could help him bring it up. "How did you know that this is clean?" I asked.

"Everything here is clean, unlike how it is on Earth," he replied, laughing a little.

"Mm, I guess you're right."

"Blake, what level are you now?" I asked as I stared at him.

He's subtly been trying to avoid being subjected to that topic, something I barely noticed. And he never told us what his level was, which left me curious. If he said that he could take Mount Leona alone, I'm sure he can do it. But he would have to at least be on level 15 to do that. I have been thinking about this since earlier, but I don't think I heard a ting sound from his menu earlier, too.

When I looked at Blake, I saw how he stiffened, and he couldn't respond, something I didn't expect. He would have no reason to hide that, would he? I mean, it's not a big deal for us whether he's stronger or not. As long as he's not going off alone or causing harm to the team, I won't say anything about it. Is he thinking that we might not accept him if he had a higher level than us? Meh, I would be amazed instead.

"I..." he trailed off.

I waited patiently and stared at him. "You what?"

"No, you'd kick me out of your party if I told you..."

"I won't," I replied and continued to wait until he was ready to tell us. "But if you really don't want to tell me, I won't force you."

Blake might be uncomfortable about it, so I don't want him to cough it up just because I want to know. I smiled at him and was about to go give the bucket to the others when he stopped me. Oh, I guess he's willing to tell us about it now? I stood before him with a smile, trying to make him comfortable. I don't want him to feel like I forced him to tell us about his problem.

He sighed and looked at Dylan and Freya, who was now staring at us like hawks. I was worried that Dylan would get mad or something, but he just kept on watching. But they might misunderstand! It looks like Blake is still preparing himself to say whatever he has to say. Gosh, I wonder what they are thinking about us right now. I'm getting antsy now because Dylan might believe that there's something going on!

When I looked at Blake, he was still hesitating. Damn, is it that serious? It doesn't seem like he was mentally prepared about this at all, so it's taking him some time. I thought it was just because he's ashamed of it. I pursed my lips and tried to look him in the eye, but he avoided it. Seriously, what's going on? It shouldn't be that serious, right...?

"I guess it's about time. First, we should go back to the inn."

Even though we were confused, we followed him and started walking towards the exit. Everyone was quiet, and the atmosphere was almost unbearable. Heck, it was even worse than how suffocated I felt while fighting all those monsters! Even Freya, who's normally grinning when these types of situations arise, was serious.

I pursed my lips and sat beside Freya because Blake seemed way too serious, and Dylan looked like he was ready to throw hands. What the hell is going on right now?! We should be coming to Khrysheira by now, right?! I'm not sure why Blake was stalling, but we planned to head straight to Khrysheira and take one floor on.

Blake sighed and plopped on my bed when we arrived at the inn. "Finally..."

"Hey, that's my bed!" I complained as I sat on the bed.

"So?" Blake got up and looked at me. "All of you are aware that I was a beta tester, right?" he asked us, but he was just looking at me.

We nodded, wondering what that had to do with his issue. I swallowed the lump on my throat, getting anxious because of the anticipation. I'm pretty sure that he knows that we're getting worried because of him, but he's still trying to tease us, especially me! Why can't he just go straight to the point instead of stalling like that?!

"There seems to be an error, and our progress has been saved. Ivory asked me about my current level, and the reason why I couldn't tell you was that not a single team has accepted me after I told them what my current level was. I was scared that you would end up kicking me out of your team if you found out...and I don't want to be away from you," Blake said as he looked at me with those...puppy eyes.

What the...

I cleared my throat. "That's not really important to me, though..." I muttered because I couldn't stand how he looked at me.

"So, what is it?" Freya asked impatiently, glancing at me with a ridiculed look.

Blake cleared his throat. "One...hundred and thirteen..."

I blinked twice. "What...?"

As far as I know, it takes a lot of time to reach that level! Unless he's been a beta tester since day one, which was likely the case for him. Did he seriously grind all night back then?! But he always showed up at school like he's been having a good night's sleep! How the heck did he pull it off when I looked like a mess whenever I entered the classroom back when I was starting?!

Blake looked like he was ready to get kicked out of the team as he stared at me, which made me feel bad for him. I think he badly wanted to play with someone, the reason why he's been asking around, only to get denied. I mean, I did reject him a few times, but he wasn't accepted in any other teams because of his level. But I'm glad that he didn't get in any other team, though.

Just as I was about to speak, Dylan smacked Blake's head. My mouth went agape, and I didn't know what to do because the two looked like they were about to beat each other up. But I didn't interfere because Dylan looked like he had something to tell him. I don't think he's going to get mad at him or ask him to get lost, so I didn't worry about them.

"Was that it?" Dylan asked, annoyed.

"What the f**k do you mean-"

"You made us anxious for something like that? What's wrong with you?!"

"No, what is wrong with you?!"

"I think it's time for you to interfere..." Freya whispered as she nudged my elbow.

"And what am I supposed to do?" I whispered back.

To be honest, I think it's better to let Dylan say what he feels because he's willing to frankly say what he thinks. I mean, I think we're thinking of the same thing, but I don't think I can say it like how he would. Blake's level doesn't really matter to us as long as he doesn't have any evil intent against us.

"That sort of thing doesn't bother us. In fact, we can use you to our team's advantage. You can weaken the enemies and allow us to deal the final blow. That way, we can level up faster. You i***t, what made you think that we would kick you out because of that? Only retards would do such a thing."

Blake looked at me, so I smiled at him to assure him that we were not going to kick him out. He sighed as his head fell on my shoulder, making me feel flustered. I blinked twice, and I couldn't move at all! But I eventually caressed his hair to comfort him, and he slowly relaxed. Freya was grinning at me, trying to tease me because of the way I looked with Blake. Oh, gosh. I never imagined that I would be like this to him.

Dylan looked at Blake as if he couldn't believe that he had the audacity to do that. He was seriously about to pull him if Freya didn't stop him. Dylan looked at her, feeling betrayed. While I glared at her, motioning her to help me put because I didn't know what to do with Blake! But instead of helping me, the b***h dragged Dylan out of the room! Now I'm all alone with Blake!

I swallowed the lump on my throat as I tapped Blake's back a few times to try and comfort him more. I guess he was really upset that people didn't want to accept him in their teams. Well, I can't blame him because I'd feel so hurt if people said they didn't want me on their team. Now, he's acting like a neglected pet to me.

"Hey, it's okay..." I murmured as I tapped it's okay.

"But I'm not okay..." he whined and looked at me with puppy eyes.

"Then what should I do?"

"Give me a kiss, I guess?" he said as he pouted.

I frowned and flicked his forehead. "That's not allowed."

He scoffed as he wrapped his arms around my waist, making my body stiffen. "Why? Because you like that dumbass? If so, then why did you remain to comfort me?"

"Yes, whatever you say."

He sighed and backed away, laying on the bed. "You wanna know why no one wanted me in their team?"

I raised a brow. "Why?"

"Because I'm too strong and that there would be no thrill in playing if they're with someone like me. I mean, I can single-handedly take care of every enemy in sight at this level. And even if we fight together, they would be sharing whatever they get with me. They'd never catch up to me if that's the case."

"They're probably punching the air by now," I joked.

He snickered. "I doubt."

"Why? You're strong, and you could help the team survive until the very end. Right now, surviving is probably the only thing that's inside their mind."

"No," he replied as he firmly shook his head. "They would likely think that I'm the only one who would survive at the end. You still don't understand how this whole game works, Ivory?"

To be honest, I kinda get the whole picture now. But I guess I'm still hoping that we could all get out of here alive without having to sacrifice anyone. Maybe I'm just too optimistic. I already convinced myself that it's not entirely possible and that I should just give up on it. But I want to take it as a challenge to motivate myself to get stronger. Hmm, I'll just do it for my friends' sake!

"Everyone would do anything just to get out of here, so it's likely that we'd end up betraying each other. Heck, you can even backstab your teammate. It will be inevitable to sacrifice someone at this point. That's the rule of Artemia."

I smiled bitterly. "I know that. But I guess it was too tragic, and I didn't want to accept it. Because if I do accept it, that would mean that I'm willing to give Freya up, something I can't afford to do."

"Just as I thought."

"What?"

"Freya is your one and only family, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I can't lose her..."

"If that's what you want, I'll help you survive with everyone in our team."

My brows furrowed. "I thought that's out of the question now?"

He smirked. "Artemia has changed since the last time I've been here. And it's not a virtual world...but a real one. If Dr. Leandro found a way to open the portal, we should be able to do the same. So, what do you say?"

Even though there's only a slim chance that we can do that, it still made me feel like we can do it if we try. And I am very willing to do that! I'm sure that those two would agree with me. Besides, it's not like we'll lose anything by doing something like that.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm in..."

"Alright, then. We have a new mission to accomplish. That is to find a way to get back to Earth. But first, we have to go to Khrysheira and defeat at least two floors."

"Okay, then! Let's go!"

Blake smiled and kissed my forehead, which left me flabbergasted. I blinked twice, not sure of what to do as I watched him walk out of the door.