The increasingly more bustling streets below Max's open window woke him up. He got up and looked out the window for a bit. The two distant suns in the sky hit his face.
He equipped his newly bought armor that he picked up off the shelf yesterday in a reputable shop, his sword and left his room.
He descended the stairs to the ground floor where his friends were drinking. The player sat down with them.
"Morning," the green eyed archer Thomas said.
"Good morning," Manuel fist bumped Max.
"Good morning guys. I have to tell you something," said Max as he sat down in the dark wood chair.
"What is it?" the archer asked.
"I'm leaving this town for a quest. I'm going to Mareka, which is hundreds of kilometers from here. Which means I won't return here. I have a time limit of one month."
"Why the time limit? Is your head gonna explode on the last day?" asked Manuel.
Max looked at the dark haired, dark eyed man and shook his head. "I hope you can come with me because we might not see each other ever again if you don't."
"Fine by me. I'll come with," Manuel responded. He rubbed his angular jaw.
"No problem," Thomas said.
"Great. I'll get something to drink and after that we can leave this inn and buy some stuff for the journey."
Soon, the waitress came and Max once again order Jalin's Eye.
"There's a mountain nearby that I really want us to check out," said Max.
"On the way to Mareka? Sure, why?" asked Manuel
"I got a weird item and its description says it's used for something at a certain location. The description of the item describes the place very similarly to a nearby mountain."
"We gotta climb it, then?" Thomas asked with pursed lips.
Max nodded.
"Oof." Thomas reclined on the chair and cracked his back.
They sat and drank for a while.
"We walk on foot as usual?" Max asked them. "We can buy a mount if you guys want. But we have enough time to get there walking."
"Let's walk. Like usual." The two companions agreed.
Soon, the trio left the inn. Max said goodbye to the waitress.
People moved out of the way when they saw the three of them walk out.
They bought juices and some snacks for the journey to keep them active and energetic.
The weapons on their backs, the armor and the warrior presence made the crowd part before them.
Well, until they arrived at the town's entrance where a procession of the Lord and his knights was entering the town.
Knights clad in dark golden armor with white capes on their backs showing the sigil of the the kingdom. "The Morning Knights," Manuel said.
"One of the strongest knights on the continent," Thomas added.
There were also the knights directly serving and protecting the nobles. The Noble Knights.
The Duke was waving to the people as he rode by with his exotic mounted animal Max has never seen before.
I wonder if I could take him in a fight now, Max thought.
The three players left the safe yellow-stone walls of the town and in front of them were three roads leading straight, left and right. They went right.
The roads were mostly safe. However, this was temporary. They would soon go off-road to take the long way and traverse several biomes to reach a mountain.
They plan on climbing it, since the mountain perfectly matches the description of the hidden item Max obtained.
***
Yesterday, in a secluded area of the fourth floor, stood two players. It was a bright day. They were fishing in a lake that had several statue heads above the dark water.
Around them were cliff overhangs with grey leaf trees sticking out from the sides.
It was a truly bizzare and alien place. They were fishing when the Epic boss notification came.
"What the hell? I'll check that out later," said a short haired man.
The other player opened the notification and started watching the video.
"No way! No fucking way! Paul!" A long haired man yelled.
"What is it?"
"It's Max!"
"What?!"
Two tall, imposing players were watching a video after hearing the notification.
"That stupid fool. What the hell is he still doing on the first floor?" The two meter tallvshort haired player, Paul, asked.
"That monster looks as strong as the first floor main boss. And dozens raided it with Priam." Max's old friend said. He had long black hair, dark brown eyes that looked to be black, dense and dark eyebrows and pitch black armor.
Paul laughed with tears in his eyes.
"But who is that other player he's with?" Alex asked a rhetorical question.
"Could be an NPC.It's gonna be crazy when he comes up." Paul said, he had blue eyes unlike Max.
"Yeah." Alex exhaled heavily.
A brief pause.
"Alex, what do we do? I need to meet my brother," Paul asked the long haired player.
Alex was silent for a few seconds.
"I think...we should join Priam." Max's friend, Alex, said quietly.
"What? Why?"
"Think about it. They're the strongest guild and they will surely find the main boss first and defeat it."
"And?"
"What is the best way to attract Max to higher floors?" Alex asked.
"Oh, damn. If he sees me and you he'll certainly want to come up. I'm sure he's concerned for me."
"Let's go to their headquarters then."
"Good thinking man," Paul said with a nod.
"It's basically impossible to find him when he's down there still."
***
The trio walked through the wild forest.
"I see something red over there." Thomas said. He had a white bow and arrow holder on his back.
"Monster?" The knight asked.
"I'll take care of it." The ginger archer answered.
He equipped his formidable looking bow and arrow and imbued aura into the arrow. Pulled back the string as far as he could, with his inhuman strength, and then released.
The sharp arrow imbued with aura easily pierced the red furred monster. It destroyed its insides, and the monster staggered.
It didn't die yet, so the archer sent another arrow. This one made it fall to the ground.
The archer could also see weak spots. However, aiming towards the weak spots was not easy.
These monsters that have appeared would be a threat to Level 40 players or so. However, they are simply food for these players. Max let his friends take care of them.
Birds sang, leaves rustled and monsters flew high up.
Sweat was going into Max's eyes.
They used the mountain for directions, otherwise they'd be trapped here for a long, long time.
"Monster!" The spear knight with raven black hair called out.
In front of them appeared an insect-like flying monster. Human-sized. A tail was pointed at the trio . The insect was flying around fast. The tail's head was a large, black spike.
Woosh!
It rapidly extended towards the spear knight. Luckily, his shield was already up instinctively.
The tail pierced the shield and damaged it. Dangerous.
Max sent an aura slash. It dodged. His body was enhanced.
The spear knight infused his spear with aura, doubling its length. His shield was strengthened as well. He kept chasing it and attracting its attacks.
Max used his Hero King's sword and his old sword to send out a double crossed aura slash towards it. It swerved around them again and went into the forest. Smart.
"It could come with more insects," Max said.
"Don't follow it, run," said Manuel.
They started running. Their stamina was superhuman because of their stats, especially Max's. They were easily twice as fast as Olympic sprinters.