Andriscius

The Dinner finished in joyous atmosphere. Ronny and her group talked about some adventures that they had on 12th floor and hyped the party even more.

They also disclosed crucial information about what they had found on 12th floor that required Oleye to caution Jean's team.

Apparently they found a golden plant, that was known commonly as Andriscius very close to the location where we harvest our food.

Andriscius is a rare plant that produces a kind of Grade 1 fruit that is very popular on the tenth floor.

Most higher level worlds contained multiple such plants, and though we didn't know what these Grade 1 fruits did exactly, just the fact that the higher worlds keep their usage a secret, spoke volumes about their value!

This is the first grade 1 resource that Alesky had come across that could be harvested regularly. If handled correctly, our world could have a stable supply of a rare resource that is even coveted by higher worlds.

But though we occupy the current location on which this resource grows on the 12th floor, we don't actually own it.

Moreover, before we took over this place, this was the farming location for Aquarain, the higher world from which we brought the materials for our headquarters and Inderdimensional portal.

They had given it to us as a part of the whole deal.

But that was only because they hadn't know the existence of Andriscuis on this farming land.

The priority was to confirm the existence of multiple Andriscuis plants, and if confirmed, increase the security around the location, while keeping it's existence secret.

Since we are from the same world, I belive that the Climbers wouldn't leak this secret, which is a massive sigh of relief.

As for security, I believe that Oleye is planning to shift two of the Spirit Path groups to the location as soon as he gains confirmation from Jean.

So that's taken care of.

Anyway, there wasn't any immediate action that needed to be taken, so the dinner party was quite relaxed.

****

I carry the fatty Melissa, who wanted to eat even after the dinner party had concluded on my back and drop her in her room.

I then return to my room and fall into thought.

Everything was going well, but it's kinda boring just staying in the headquarters.

But I don't want to fight monsters by climbing into higher floors. It's about time I visited Oleye and had a talk with him.

Today's events also gave me the perfect reason that I could use to reason with Oleye.

****

Just as I woke up and freshened up, Melissa barged into my room and dragged me to have a chat with Ronny.

When we reached her room, Ronny had just woken up and was getting ready to cook herself a huge breakfast.

But Melissa shamelessly barged into her kitchen and cooked for all three of us.

Ronny didn't seem to mind us eating her share, so I only rolled my eyes at Melissa.

She's becoming more and more of a glutton. Eating other's rations.

While Melissa is busy in Ronny's kitchen, we both sat in the living room and made small talk.

"How is the production of food? Is it enough to sustain us?" I asked. Trying to get to know the exact figures.

"Two months of harvest is enough to feed 50 of us. But, excluding the team on 12th floor, the only ones who need food are those in our headquarters. At maximum we have 15 members in headquarters, so, we have plenty of stock stored up." Ronny answered.

Ronny was the same age of Melissa, but she had entered the Infinity Dungeon when she was just 16, about the same age as me, so she had seen more things and was more experienced than Melissa.

"So, how many Andriscius have you found? If it was a sufficient number, Oleye wouldn't have asked Jean to search for more."

"We found one last month, and after another month of search, we have another. Honestly I'm not expectant towards us finding more."

It seems Ronny wasn't optimistic about out chances to find a goldmine, but I think otherwise.

"Even if we don't, we can always grow the plant. Finding two is enough." I say in a consoling tone.

Ronny nodded in agreement.

We then get around dinner table to have our breakfast.

While eating, I suddenly turned to Melissa and asked.

"How is the cycle of day and night consistent with our world's day and night cycle? I don't see the suns and moons anywhere!"

Melissa was stumped. She thought for a while, but ultimately gave up, looking towards Ronny to answer for her.

"I heard that our world core is the reason. But I'm not sure. Previously, when we were in Aquarain's territory, the day and night cycle there were the original Aquarain world's day and night cycle. Also, I heard that if a world doesn't have their world core, but only has their headquarters, their day and night cycle follows a universal day and night cycle that the Infinity Dungeon implements."

"Hmm. Sounds reasonable enough." I nod, while knocking on Melissa's head, who held her head and cried out in pain.

"See, you're both the same age. Why are you so dull compared to Ronny!"

Tears appeared on her face, as she gave me a resentful look.

"Don't use me to show off before your crush!" She spat out angrily, making me knock her head once more.

Melissa suddenly jumped at Ronny and hid behind her.

"Ronny, once you become my sister in law, you have to help me. You have to protect me from his bullying! In return, I'll tell you all his embarrassing secrets!"

It was Ronny's turn to roll her eyes at Melissa.

As we are done with breakfast, she just kicked us out, without bothering to answer Melissa.

"See what you have done, I'm ashamed to even call you my sister!" I give Melissa a disgusted look.

"What, you're blaming me? You are the one who said Ronny was intrested in you yesterday!" Melissa protested angrily.

She wasn't listening, so I tried to knock on her head once more, but she dodged it agilely and knocked my head instead.

My eyes become red in anger, as I start wrestling with her. We dragged each other's hair and bit each other for a while before Ronny appeared and kicked both of our asses literally.

"If you're going to fight, do it somewhere quiet." Ronny left her words and shut her door to our bruised figures.

"Weak ass." Melissa, who was panting on the ground from the ass kicking she recieved from Ronny, still had the energy to run her mouth at me.

I roll my eyes at her.

After the small incident, I carried the tired Melissa, who was still running her mouth at me, and dropped her at her room.

Then I made my way towards Oleye.

****

"Oleye, my buddy. How are you?" I hug the kid and pat his back heavily before backing out from the hug.

Oleye looked up and down, as if he was studying me, and a rare smile appeared on his face.

"Better than you." He answered.

My face distorted in embarrassment.

I just got my ass kicked by Ronny, so I looked kinda weak, and pitiful.

Didn't expect you to have a humorous side, buddy.

"Anyway." I ignore his comment and get straight to the topic I came here for. "I'm bored of our headquarters. I want to go and see other worlds."

Oleye fell into thought at my words.

He remained silent for a whole minute, as if he was considering many things before he sighed.

"Ok. You can go to Aquarain. The yearly rookie competition is set to happen in three months, and you're our only rookie this year. According to our deal, Aquarian is supposed to give us a slot for this competition, so use this as an excuse to visit them."

I nod, completely fine with this arrangement.

"And?" I ask, knowing that this trip wouldn't be so simple.

Oleye was silent for a few seconds before he answered.

"I need you to try and collect information about Andriscius. I'll give you a few names of Climbers who are still loyal to us that we exchanged with Aquarin for our headquarters. But don't let Aquarain catch you. They are waiting for a chance to pounce on us, so don't give them that chance."

Oleye was about to tell me the names but I shook my head.

"Rather than those who are loyal to us, I would rather know the names of those who have betrayed us." I say.

Oleye was silent for a whole minute this time.

He squinted his eyes at me as I felt him trying to read my mind.

I roll my eyes. Though I'm not bothered by you trying to read my mind, I can't let you learn all my secrets.

After a few minutes, Oleye was sweating. His eyes had turned red from exhaustion and he was panting heavily. He had failed to read my mind this time.

Taking a deep breath, he said.

"YOU should have CHOSEN the Mind Path!"

"There's no fun in that." I smile and pat the kid.