Teruki quickly left my room to change, and I did the same, equipping my warm armor. The armor is made of leather and wolf fur, dyed yellow. I feel slightly guilty wearing it, but it's the best option for the cold ahead. I decide to leave my pistols behind, bringing a small engraved sword and a normal one instead. If things go south, I'll just summon Grim.
I glance around my room, still disheveled. A small paper peeks out from beneath a pile of clothes. The engraving of the Crusaders' Guild is slightly cracked, but I decide to ignore it for now.
I take the badge and the paper with me as I leave my room. The cake on my desk still shines brightly. Not wanting it to go to waste, I head to the kitchen — surprisingly modern for a game set in a medieval world — and place the cake in the fridge.
I'm the last one to arrive at Reyna's office. The tone is somber, and everyone's armor is dyed in their respective colors, similar to mine.
Reyna notices the small piece of paper in my hand, and I hand it to her. She reads it intently, and the room falls silent — a silence Viri breaks with her sharp voice. Her green hair contrasts starkly with the dull surroundings.
"What are we even doing on this floor again?" she complains. "I hate the cold."
Reyna glances up from the letter and looks to Teruki, who seems to understand without a word.
"This floor is different from the game," Teruki says.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"In the game, the ninth floor was another ghost floor, similar to the eighth," Teruki explains.
"But now it's a frozen wasteland covered in trees," Viri sighs. "It's all forest."
"That's just the tutorial," Teruki interjects. "It's not supposed to be too hard."
"Deserts, lava, volcanoes, and deep-sea floors come after the tutorial," Reyna adds.
"Either way, this is just lazy design," Viri mutters.
"Trust me," Teruki says, her silver-blue hair shifting as she shakes her head. "You won't be saying that later."
"Anyway," I cut in, "what's our job?"
Reyna places the letter face down on the table. "Our job is to find the boss, figure out its attacks, and once we do that, we can leave."
"That's it?" Sera mumbles from behind her mask. Her pale green, almost white hair peeks out from beneath it. She rarely speaks, and even I don't know why.
"Yes," Reyna answers bluntly. "Then I'll write a report and send it to RG about the floor."
"Aren't we supposed to defeat the boss?" I ask.
"We are," Reyna confirms, "but thankfully, Sho bought us some time."
"Once the report's written, we'll meet with the Crusaders at their base and train with them," Teruki adds.
"Why aren't we just training first?" Viri asks.
"This works better for both guilds," Reyna explains. "The Crusaders are a busy guild — Adrian's busy. After training, we'll fight the boss and instantly teleport to the Teeth once we beat it to ensure no one can give it a skill."
"Do we even know what the boss is?" I ask nervously.
"Unfortunately, no," Teruki says, her silver-blue hair swaying as she shakes her head again.
"In the game, this floor was supposed to have a dragon… but dragons aren't supposed to appear in the tutorial, so I really have no idea what it could be."
"Is that why...?" I trail off, my thoughts connecting.
Is that why I haven't seen a dragon skill? I always wondered where the staple fantasy creatures were… and what those skills were even based on.
A question lingers in my head.
"Teruki," I ask, turning toward her, "what happens if an ancient dragon dies?"
"In the game," Teruki explains, "when an ancient dragon died, an event would trigger called…" She pauses, searching for the name. "The Fractured Element."
"The Fractured Element?" I repeat.
"Basically," Teruki continues, "the element that dragon was tied to would fall into disarray, blocking skills for a while."
"Would it ever go back to normal?" I ask.
"No," Teruki says flatly.
The room falls silent for a moment.
"Luckily," Teruki adds, "we don't fight those bosses until about fifty floors from now."
"That's good," Sera says with a faint laugh. "I can't imagine fighting an ancient dragon."
"I can." Viri grins, clenching her fist. "I'd twist it apart."
The room settles into silence once again.
Reyna smiles faintly as we talk, her red, flame-like hair blending into the warm tones of the room. In the corner, a small piece of paper remains on her desk.
"What's in the letter?" I ask.
"Nothing important," Reyna answers quickly.
"Are you ready?" she asks.
We all nod.
A red rune envelops us, its crimson glow filling the room.
A flash — and then cold.