n

n

nA few minutes before

"Onii-chan arrived.

"

nAito descended the stairs. The surroundings showed by the transparent walls progressively changed from the second floor to actual stone walls the deeper he went. Sometimes, he'd see the staircases used by challengers.

nMuch like the ones accessible to challengers, the staff's staircase was light by small seafoam color light bulbs glued to the ceiling and the wall to his left. The wall on his right seemed to be solely kept for sighting the floors.

nCurious, he took a moment to touch the transparent wall while walking. Surprisingly, as if it were an illusion, the wall blurred as his fingertips entered it, creating ripples as it touched stone cold... stones on the other side.

n'The heck?' Aito thought, surprised. He was certain it had been hard, solid, normal before. Though he hadn't touched it once inside the staircase. Or maybe it was only solid on the outside? 'Interesting. If that is the case, it means it is possible to just exit the corridor by passing through it.'

nHe then looked at the supposedly transparent wall only showing stones.

n'Hum, yeah. Better avoid crossing to the other side right now.'

nIf his theory was correct, which was certainly the case, it could justify a few things. For instance, how moderators, at least those on the second floor, could seem like they appeared out of nowhere. Just like during the commotions a few weeks ago with Maba.

nOr maybe the man had flown to every location that needed investigation, included the one Aito had been in. Possible, since no challengers really looked up, nobody expected someone to be able to levitate, much less fly.

nThis thought warned Aito of the possibility he could stumble on a moderator in here. Well, luckily it was still morning. Moderators of the second floor would usually patrol around in plain sight at this hour.

nAs Aito continued further down to his possible doom, the metallic feeling in his right hand reminded him of something.

nIt couldn't be his ax since it was stored to his waist in a special sheath that allowed for a quick draw, an additional feature Ainar incorporated in the armor—few such features were added for comfort and practicality.

nAito looked into his hand to see two grey round-shaped items. Too focused on his personal mission and the peculiar staircase, he had forgotten to check these out. These were half the size of his palm. They were also heavier than their appearance suggested.

n'Just what are these exactly?'

nAinar had only left a sparse amount of instructions that were limited to

"use Durability, then throw.

"

n'He could have done a better job explaining.'

nWell, time had been of the essence, but still, the minerian could have at the very least told him what these balls did.

nHowever, judging by what Ainar had told him, Aito could guess he shouldn't be keeping the balls in hand after applying Durability on them.

nNo need to be a genius to figure that out. Which reminded him of a certain modern weapon on Earth.

n'Why do I feel like these awfully resembles grenades?' He thought, 'Nah… no way. Hum, actually never mind. Let's keep an open mind. It's Ainar after all.'

nIf these were really grenades then, yeah, they'll certainly be useful. He got the sudden urge to test one out, just in case.

nBut he forced the thought back into the mind-closet, where he stored stupid pointless ideas. With only two of them, it'd be a waste to do so.

nSoon, he'd know what they do anyway.

nA few minutes and many stairs later, Aito neared his destination.

nThankfully, he has come across no one until now. Every staff member was busy with their jobs, anyway.

nA clear straight line akin to a ceiling separated the first floor from what was possibly the challengers' staircases appeared on the transparent wall.

nThe stairs in front of Aito finally became flat ground, surrounding the entire Square. Aito suspected that at some point if he continued further down the road, he'd come across stairs leading to floor zero.

nWhatever, the see-through wall was finally showing something more interesting than stone for kilometers away. The Square was almost half-full or just appeared to be.

nHundreds of people, Aito supposed they belong to the sect, were monitoring each entrance. Unlike before, they seemed more organized, as if a capable leader was overseeing them this time.

nAt the center of it all was a dinner table with long candles, a white tablecloth, and two seats. One would think it was a gastronomic restaurant if it weren't for the large spaces, the lack of real ambiance, and the hundreds of men and women too numerous to be mistaken for waiters.

nAito barely recognized the place. It looked more like a garrison or a defensive position where one would wait for a mortal enemy to come by.

n'Are they really thinking that highly of me?' Aito thought, smirking. 'Frankly, I'm moved. Really, you shouldn't have! No really, I wished they hadn't.'

nIf he had to take a guess, he'd estimate the small army to number around three hundred to four hundred people.

n'Hum, here's that pain in the ass of a woman.'

nSheyla and someone whom Aito supposed was the sect master—or someone high in the sect's hierarchy—were seated at the table. A true romantic date.

nA noticeable difference between them was the bindings around Sheyla, while the man had none.

nWas it an ** date then?

nAito came to a stop at the blue corner, just next to the hundreds of candles leading to the blue challengers' lodgings.

n'What now?' He asked himself as he recapped his goals, more to look for an actual plan than because he needed it.

nAito simply needed one thing. Well, one person. Sheyla. Once he got her, he'd have to leave the first floor. Problem was, how?

nHe seriously doubted he'd have access to the staff's staircase once crossing to the other side. Which meant Aito must found another escape path.

nObviously, the challenger staircases were his only option. Those were spread around the four colorful corners. The issue wasn't to find them, but to get to them.

nAround seventy, possibly more, assholes were guarding each corner, with maybe a dozen at the center guarding the chubby Asian man.

nLuckily, some of them still wore grey clothes. The same as last time. Probably because they had participated in the commotions and escaped the moderators somehow. Or was it a fashion trend?

nWho cared? It allowed Aito for a way to blend into the crowd using the cloak a sect member had kindly given to him before.

nBut reaching Sheyla with it might be impossible. Even if he could, how would he be able to bring the ungrateful woman out of here undetected?

nSimple.

nIt was impossible with his current abilities.

n