Artemia: Journey To The Thirtieth Floor

10. A Quest At Last

"Ah, my whole body hurts..." I complained as I stared at the ceiling.

It's like my body turned numb after all that fighting. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but I really feel weird right now. It's almost as if I lost feeling on all of my limbs despite the fact that I wasn't really injured. I took a little damage, but I think it's the loss of elemental power that's taking me out right now. That probably goes for the other two as well. Blake might be an exception since he didn't really break a sweat.

Anyway, I think it's a given that we'd be tired as heck after getting out of Khyrsheira because we pushed ourselves to the limit. We went all the way and finished floor five, but we were too exhausted after brawling with a herd of harps. Those things are way too fast! Damn, it was one hell of a ride throughout that period of time. But I'm glad that we lasted until the fifth floor. I mean, we had to since we were already there.

"We're gonna need a whole day's worth of rest..." I muttered as I closed my eyes.

All of us agreed and decided to sleep for as much as we could, except for Blake. Well, I understand, but he must be a bit exhausted. At least a little? I mean, it took us a lot of time to leave the tower! But it's also reasonable because he said that it would be dangerous for all of us to be asleep. I don't know why but I don't have the capacity to pay attention to it anymore because my eyes felt heavy as heck.

"Yuki..."

"Please accept my apologies, my love. I promise to see you once again when everything is over..."

"Until we meet again, my queen..."

Before I could hear the full conversation, my eyes opened. I blinked a few times and looked around, only to find nothing. The three are not in their beds, and I don't know where they are because I just woke up! Did they seriously leave me here?! I remained there, trying to remember what happened. As far as I remember, I was just sleeping, and then I dreamt of something I couldn't quite understand.

I stood up to look for them, but I stepped on something and fell on top of it. What the hell...? A bear plushie? What's this thing doing here, and how did it get here? I sat properly and examined the bear to see if it was alive or it was just a normal stuffed toy. I looked around to see if there was any trace of the person who left this here, but I couldn't find any. Maybe this is a gift from those three?

"Oh, Ivory's awake."

I looked at the three of them, only to see them pushing a cart that's full of delicacies. My mouth watered as I stared at the food, unable to hide my hunger. I quickly stood up and pushed the bear, waiting for them to hand me some food. Freya laughed and took a tray as she gave it to me. I quickly took it and stuffed my mouth with food. How many days was I asleep for me to feel this sort of hunger?! It's like I've been asleep for five days without eating anything!

"You worried us to death, Ivory. You were asleep for five whole days!"

I almost choked on the food that I was chewing after hearing what Freya said. They quickly gave me water while I was holding onto my chest. Oh, damn. That almost killed me! Oh, gosh. That was a lot scarier than when we were fighting inside Khyrsheira. These people are unbelievable! They shouldn't say something shocking while someone's eating! I quickly gulped the water that they gave me. Ah, I can finally breathe.

So I've actually been asleep for five days. Well, considering how tough the fight to the fifth floor was, I think it's pretty much a given for us to be that exhausted. But I feel like I'm the only one who needs a ton of sleep. By the looks of it, Dylan and Freya seemed to have been awake for some time now. They look a little better than before, but I think we all look like we still need some rest. Of course, Blake aside. It's just Blake who didn't break a sweat because of how tough he is, something I'm thankful for.

I sighed and sat on the bed after eating five days' worth of food. "Thank you for the food."

"So, Ivory..." Dylan trailed off as he sat beside me. "We encountered an NPC earlier. She offered us to take her quest on."

"Did you accept it?" I asked while munching.

They shook their heads. Oh, right. I'm the leader, so they wanted me to decide whether we're taking the quest or not. They just watched me while I was eating because I could no longer speak with all the food in my mouth. It was awkward that they were watching me, but I was too hungry to be conscious. When I finished, I stood up and started walking outside. They followed me even though they were confused.

"Where is the NPC?" I asked as I peeked at the lobby.

Blake walked straight ahead and pointed to a woman outside the inn like a child. Why did that look extra cute to me? I almost stared at him, but Freya poked my arm to tell me that we were heading for the lobby. I tried to suppress a grin as I walked towards the woman. Ah, why did I think that that small gesture was cute! I must have gone crazy after battling those creatures yesterday.

"Hello," I greeted the woman.

She turned to me with a passive expression. I wondered if she could keep it if either of my boys here flirts with her. Although I want to gatekeep them for as much as I can, I want to test this person. Anyway, a hologram appeared before me. It was asking whether I wanted to take the quest on or not. But I wanted to hear what the woman had to say first before taking it on. I'm not reckless enough to take a quest without knowing the details, you know.

"Recently, there has been an interruption with the power supply of Stellar Town. Please find out what has been causing this disruption," she said politely.

I looked at the three, and they nodded at me. It doesn't seem to be that difficult, so I wanted to take it on. But I had a bad feeling about it, so I hesitated for a bit. The woman was raising a brow at me, almost losing patience. For some reason, I wanted to stall even more to tease her. But I'm really unsure about this quest, though. There's no use in contemplating, so I chose to accept the said quest.

"So, are we heading straight to Stellar town?" Dylan asked, looking straight into my eyes. "Ivory just woke up, and everyone's still recovering."

"Are you sure it was good for us to accept the quest?" I asked as I checked my current stats.

Blake sighed as she shook his head. "I'm not sure. I feel like the NPC was luring us into accepting the quest on purpose."

"It's because we're the strongest team around. We're the only team to reach the fifth floor this early," Freya told me as she scrunched her nose.

"Then it's not a good decision..." I murmured.

"It is. This quest will surely give us a hefty award if it's that difficult. As long as we complete the quest safely, it'll be worth it," Blake replied. "Come on, we need to hurry."

"Shouldn't we be taking it slow? If we're going too fast, everyone's attention would be drawn to us," I suggested as I looked at them. "We can lie low for a while and let everyone else catch up to avoid getting too much recognition that would put us in danger."

Dylan agreed. "Then let's take a few quests or commissions first or rest."

"Yeah. If everyone's rushing, we can't do the same."

After agreeing on that, we decided to take a ride towards Stellar Town. I haven't seen the other towns except for the starter town because we're living there. We've also reached Khrysheira and Mount Leona, but neither of them is located in any of the towns. Khrysheira is quite far from Stellar Town, while Mount Leona is outside the towns.

While I was looking at the scenery, I contemplated whether we could handle this commission or if it's necessary to drop it cold. Or maybe we can create a good experience out of this quest. Huh, this could be a great experience if it wouldn't be too difficult, which I doubt would be the case. I feel like we're going to encounter some sort of thunder beast crawling around the town. Although that might be too much.

I looked at the others to see how they were taking this, but they seemed excited. I guess all of us are anticipating that sort of adventure now that we've tasted the ecstasy of being on the battlefield. I might just be daydreaming, but for some reason, I desire more battles. It's as if my body has been cultivated solely for the purpose of fighting. That's just an exaggeration of the feelings that I have inside me, or maybe not. I'm not really sure.

That's weird. I don't think I've ever felt this way, and there's literally no reason for me to think this way! This isn't me at all because I prefer peace over fighting! I sighed as I shook my head slightly, trying to rid myself of those thoughts. Ah, there's just no way that I'm craving for something such as a fight. Come on, I'm a scaredy-cat! There's just no way.

"I'll take a guess," Blake muttered all of a sudden. "The cause of the interruption of Stellar Town's power supply is a Raiku. It's an animal that grows stronger after absorbing electricity. It must have gotten attracted to the town's power supply."

I blinked twice as I remembered how I thought of a thunder beast just a few minutes ago. "Don't they live in the wild? How do they get electricity there?" I asked with furrowed brows.

"There's a forest that's known for having a never-ending storm. The Raikus probably live there and feed off of the lightning that hits the forest. However, I'm not sure why they're suddenly here."

"We'll find out later on, right?" Freya asked.

Blake nodded. "Yes. We're going to investigate at night because it's easier to spot that creature at night."

"If it's been feeding off the town's power supply, I suppose it has gotten strong?" Dylan asked.

"That's likely. But we're not going to allow it to get stronger."

For now, we're going to stay in an apartment near the power supply because the creature could be hiding there. The closer it is to the suspect, the easier it would be for us to investigate. Although it's also a lot more dangerous that way because we haven't seen it, nor do we know how it moves. Although Blake might know, it would be a bit dangerous for the three of us.

"If we don't find anything later, we'll have to investigate the whole place. But let's pretend to be normal guests to avoid alerting the creature," I said as I sat on the bed.

To be honest, all of us are probably itching to go outside and drag the creature out of its hiding place already. I think everyone felt that peculiar presence was coming from the warehouse. But we shouldn't just charge forward head-on without thinking of the consequence. Not when we haven't even seen it.

"Still the same plan. We'll wait for it to come out before striking. Plan A, if it's just as strong as Ivory, you three would have to distract it so I can kill it..." Blake murmured as he eyed me.

"Plan B, Freya will place a barrier around it so we can see interrogate it with the device that we bought."

"Plan C, we'll lure it outside the city and go all out."

After making sure that everyone understood the plan, we decided to eat first while keeping our guard up. Who knows, that creature could go on a rampage right now. Although, I doubt that would be the case. If I were it, I would stay lowkey because it's going to get dangerous if high-level players find me. Hmm, it's an animal, so I'm not that sure if it would actually do it.

I sighed and started to clean my katanas, wondering if Blake's suspicions were correct. If it is, then it would be a real mystery. There's absolutely no reason for a raiku to be here! But if it's not, then it would be quite a shame. I'm a bit worried if there's one here, though. Because if there is, then it means that something is wrong with the ley lines. I hope not because that's another job to fix if it is.

"Is everyone ready?" I asked as I stood up.

They nodded and did the same, preparing to blast off the moment the creature came out. Ah, they're way too excited. I mean, I also feel the same way, but everyone needs to calm down! We might alert it and give it a chance to run away! Our main goal is to take it down. We'd have to kill it if it doesn't surrender. I mean, I doubt that it would actually ask for mercy, but who knows? There's no harm in trying, after all.

"The warehouse door is opening..." I whispered as we started walking out of the inn.

My senses tingled, and I could hear a few crackling sounds, like that of electricity clashing. I squinted my eyes to see what was glowing and saw a rat-like animal walking towards the barb wires. A raiku, indeed. But what the hell is it doing here?!

"We're going with Plan A..." I whispered.

I got a glimpse of its level, and it was just as high as mine. Only Blake could kill it at this point, so we ran around and acted as decoys, making sure that it was paying attention to us and not to Blake.

I've been screaming a couple of curses inside my mind because it was incredibly fast! Freya had to help me speed up because it was almost catching up to me. Hell no, two hits, and I'm dead!

It sped up more, and I had no other choice but to put my katanas up. Just as it was about to reach me, it got sliced into half, slowly dissipating into nothingness.

"You okay?" Blake asked as he held my hand.

I sighed and fell to the ground. "I think so..."