Encounter
One second the two are still in the forest on the Fourth Floor, and the next, as they blink, they're in that same white room from when they cleared the First Floor. It seemed to be the same one, too, as everything was exactly as they've left it – a wooden dummy with dozens of deep cuts on it stood in a corner, and the floor was full of wooden blades, though they've been fixed. As Kim examined the room, Felix picked up a sword from the ground, as he started swinging it around in the air. Kim noticed, and asked slightly confused, "What're you doing, Felix?"
"Just some testing. This thing is just as heavy as before."
"You don't expect it to get any lighter, do you?"
"No. But I expected myself to be stronger."
Kim's mouth shut instantly. Felix was right. They've been on The Line for four Floors now, yet they were still the same as when they came in – minus the experience and training. Their Stats... remained unchanged. Kim sighed as he murmured "Blank." and started scrolling through it, examining it. As he does, another Blank opens up right in front of his own. Before he can make an angry comment at it, Felix exclaims, "Oh, I got a Blank. Did you?"
"Yeah."
"I'm assuming they're the same, then."
[Congratulations on clearing all the Floors up until now, Liners. Please wait for all the other Liners to clear the Floors – or die trying. You will then be moved onto the Fifth Floor. Godspeed!]
And Felix was right – aside from that 'Godspeed!' their Blanks were the exact same. Felix rubbed his chin slightly, reading the window over and over again. He soon spoke up, confused, "Why do we have to wait for everyone to clear the Floors? That didn't matter until now, did it?"
"I... Hmm. I don't know."
"Well, that sucks..."
Felix, bored and still a bit confused, started tossing the wooden sword in his hand in the air, flipping it and catching it, then rinse and repeat. As he tossed it in the air one last time, higher than before, he paused and froze – the sword soon falling on his head, then the floor. Kim chuckled slightly, quickly hiding it while speaking, "What, what's wrong?"
"Blank."
Soon enough, Kim saw Felix scroll through the air like a maniac, moving windows around and scanning through them thoroughly – even if he couldn't see the actual windows, he just knew. Soon enough, Felix let out a loud "Aha!" and pressed his finger at nothing, soon throwing his arm in the air like he just won the lottery. He quickly turned to face Kim and spoke at a hundred words a minute, "Kim, go to profile, then Stats, then upgrade!"
Kim widened his eyes, shocked, then immediately did as he was advised, scrolling through his Blank at incredible speeds. In front of him, finally – finally – he saw it. A way to become stronger.
{Stat Upgrade –
Kim Jaehyun - Lvl 9
Class - ×
Affinity - ×
—
HP - 19/19 (+/-)
ATK - 24/24 (+/-)
ACN - 5/5 (+/-)
LUC - 9/9 (+/-)
AGL - 31/31 (+/-)
STM - 13/13 (+/-)
DEF - 8/8 (+/-)
DEX - 17/17 (+/-)
Free Stat Points - 32
-Press to extend-}
[Stat Upgrade –
Felix Fox - Lvl 12
Class - ×
Affinity - ×
—
HP - 11/11 (+/-)
ATK - 6/6 (+/-)
ACN - 2/2 (+/-)
LUC - 14/14 (+/-)
AGL - 7/7 (+/-)
STM - 5/5 (+/-)
DEF - 3/3 (+/-)
DEX - 11/11 (+/-)
Free Stat Points - 48
-Press to extend-]
Both of them, now looking at their own Blank and all those Stat Points, exchanged a glance and proceeded to high-five as powerfully and loudly as possible, with it echoing in the whole room. Felix lets out a loud "Hell yeah!" as he's punching the air in pure happiness, and Kim just smirks as he reads his Blank over and over again. Finally. They can improve. The two immediately get to it as they start punching in their desired upgrades for their respective desired Stats, still smirking from one ear to another as they do. Once they're done and they yell out "Confirm!" their Blanks close, leaving the two staring at each other for a second.
Immediately, Felix kicks up his wooden sword from the ground and catches it, soon followed by another as he uses the hilt of his own to send it flying towards Kim, who caught it flawlessly. The duo didn't bother wasting their breaths on any words, instead just charging at one another, swinging their swords relentlessly. Yes, this was it. This is what they wanted. To feel more power surge through them, to be more powerful... This felt good. Swing after swing, pierce after pierce – the two were laughing alongside their blades. They were having fun.
As one swing led to a block then a counter over and over again, the two finally reached somewhat of a stalemate as both of their wooden swords rested right by the other's neck, only interrupted by a "Ding!" somewhere to their side. Kim threw the now damaged wooden sword over his shoulder and redirected his attention to the Blank that stood on his right, reading it with a half annoyed and half angry expression.
{All Liners have either cleared the Fourth Floor of The Line or perished. You will be moved to the Fifth Floor in...}
Soon after, another Blank popped up somewhere high in the room as it started counting down.
[59:58]
Kim clicked his tongue, then sighed. If they had to wait an hour just to get to the Fifth Floor, completing it would probably take way longer than usual too. As he looked around the white, clean room, his eyes glanced downwards – down at all the wooden swords still scattered on the ground. Kim smirks, immediately kicking one up with his foot and swinging at Felix again, picking up right where they left off. He can't help but chuckle as Felix sluggishly blocked his attack, speaking as he does, "Hah, c'mon Felix, don't fall behind! Focus up, we're training here!"
"Hahah... Yeah, yeah... right..."
As Felix jumped back and fixed his stance, he couldn't help but let out a small, unnoticeable to Kim sigh. He gripped the wooden handle tighter as he glanced at his Blanks again, feeling slightly uneasy as his eyes hit the green windows... and what they said.
[Warning!
Warning!
Warning!]
[Emergency Plot - Prepare to meet with the other Liners!
Requirements - Keep Liner {Kim Jaehyun} alive at all costs until the start of the next Plot!
Punishment Upon Failure - Permanent Termination.]
Right over Kim's head levitated a small, green window – one invisible to himself, but very noticeable to Felix. It wasn't complex, as it just said [Kim] but it was probably there so Felix wouldn't lose him in a crowd. As Felix leans in, still gripping the wooden sword tight in his head, he can't help but get nervous. Why did he have to protect Kim? What from? And what was that 'Warning!' Blank, anyways... Felix's head was spinning, and he was unable to put his finger on the reason. His grip on the wooden handle weakened, and his ears started ringing again with the annoying static – was Felix... scared? What if he couldn't protect Kim? Was he strong enough? What if—
[Godspeed, Fox.]
["Wha...?"]
A silent feminine, charismatic voice spoke all the way in the back of Felix's mind, scratching his very cranium. The static slowly faded, and his grip regained strength. He glanced around the white room, but he saw... nothing. His cheeks felt warm, like they've been caressed for hours and hours on end, even if he didn't feel anything on them before. His mouth hung slightly open, yet this time, Felix closed it himself. He fixed his stance and waved his hand at the two Blanks, dismissing them in the process.
["Fine. I'll play your game."]
He then immediately stepped in towards Kim, starting to backfire at him through his defenses. His swings were wide yet precise, and his determination was unshakable and composed. Blocking and countering any and all of Kim's attacks, Felix didn't even blink once. He saw all of them coming – and he didn't need to use {Clear Vision} for it either. He knew.
Finally, as Kim manages to get a decent parry in and redirect Felix's sword in the ground, he smirks slightly, thinking it's over – just for Felix to immediately glare at him with bright green eyes, and within milliseconds converting the downwards momentum into an upwards swing. Felix's sword barely passed by Kim's nose, only to somehow appear right next to his neck in an instant. Kim remained speechless – he couldn't figure out how he... lost? He lost to Felix, finally?
{"Fast...?!"}
["I'll do it, Kim... I'll keep you alive!"]
Kim had a sour expression on his face for a bit, until he started smirking again. The determination in Felix's eyes, the faith – it reminded him of his grandpa. Their swords clashed once again, as Kim stopped holding back. The time above them ticked down from one hour to a few minutes to a few seconds so quick, the two weren't even done going through three wooden swords yet. As they each threw the damaged blades somewhere on the ground randomly, they glanced up at the timer in the air.
[0:26]
Felix tightened his fist. He was ready to defend Kim from whatever they were going to face. Kim fixed the sword sitting at his hip and Felix finally threw away the scabbard from Kim's old knife, setting it aside somewhere in the Resting Grounds – because he knew it'll be here next time either way. They watched the seconds tick down, slowly but surely, until finally... the timer hit zero. Both of them blinked, and they immediately found themselves in a big room that resembled somewhat of a fancy lobby. As they look around, they saw faces – a lot of faces.
Felix is quite amazed at what he sees – from teams composed of minotaurs and hogs to teams composed of elves and mermaids, this huge lobby probably – or, rather, definitely – held every single Liner who managed to clear the Fourth Floor. Kim tightened his grip on his sword's hilt, but Felix calmed him down with a low "Don't."
The two sit there in silence for a few seconds, as everyone else does too. After they were all done throwing each other dirty looks, they slowly but surely start conversing. The species, all of them – were talking amongst each other. Felix couldn't help but chuckle slightly, amazed at the absurdity of it all. Before he can say even a word to Kim, a shared Blank – shared amongst everyone – appears somewhere high up in the room.
[Welcome to the Fifth Floor, The Queen's Ball! Please standby until the Queen is ready to host you all.]
Felix nods after reading it, but when going to check in with Kim, he noticed he was already buried in women – and not just humans. Kim was now hosting a small meet and greet with about twenty girls, from which only thirteen were human at best. Felix just kind of sighed at him while facepalming, then waved goodbye as Kim threw him murderous looks that screamed "Save me, you motherfu—"
After getting a small glimpse of Kim's popularity, Felix started wandering about. As he walked through the lobby, looking at all the different species and people, he felt... weird. Thing is, he was weirded out by himself, rather than the monsters – because he didn't find the monsters weird. Did that... make sense? He felt so used to these different kinds of species even though he's only seen maybe five different ones at best on the Floors. He kind of expected himself to faint or something at the sight of them, but... he was alright.
As he was walking around, not exactly paying attention to where he was stepping, he had a sudden and unexpected stop as he went stomach-first into something – someone. He only managed to let out an "Oh, shit—" before said someone hit the floor, falling straight on their behind with an "Ouch!"
Felix panicked slightly, extending his hand out as he spoke, "Crap, man, I'm sorry... Are you—" but he quickly stopped as he noticed who he walked into. On the ground stood a relatively small kid, with yellowish hair and bright yellow eyes – no bigger than sixteen. He held a fancy staff in his hand, and most probably could only use thunder magic.
"Wait, you're... the mage kid?!"
As Day still sat on the floor, rubbing his butt, he looked up sadly at Felix only for his eyes to widen in a mix of shock and excitement as he exclaimed, "Woah, you're the guy who got hit by the mana!"
"Man, I'm so sorry! You good?"
Felix quickly helped Day back up on his feet, where he proceeded to dust himself off before responding, "Yeah, I'm alright! What a pleasant surprise to see you here!"
In less than a few seconds, a tall, blonde archer appeared next to the kid, bow drawn and arrow ready. Right as it's about to leave the string and dig into Felix's head, Day extends a hand and puts it in front of the elf's face. He yells out, "Wait, Leaf, it's him! Don't!"
"Hah?! Who's—" starts Leaf, but she doesn't finish her sentence as she sees the man standing at the end of her arrow. She sighs and lowers her bow, bringing the arrow forward and then removing it completely. She glares at Felix, with a suspicious tone as she speaks, "You're the guy from then? What're you doing here?"
"Uh... Well, surviving... hopefully..."
"What, so you've been... clearing the Floors?"
"Yeah, no, I've— I've been trying."
Leaf raised an eyebrow at this, growing even more suspicious than before. She spoke with a growl, "What, alon—" but she didn't get to finish as someone put a hand on her shoulder – someone tall, with blue hair, and a heavy sword at their hip. Felix's eyes narrowed at the sight of him, and without him even doing it manually, his eyes widened and shifted into a more greenish state as a window opened up right above him... Right above Haruko Aratashi.
[Skill Activated - Clear Vision!]
A bright blue burned all around him, echoing through all of his words, actions, blinks – everything. Everything Haruko did had a blue hint to it, and yet he spoke with a smile and his hand extended outwards for a handshake as he spoke, "It's nice to meet you, mister...?"
Felix remained silent for a second, watching Haruko's blue aura wave around his hand like a crazed tsunami. Through his better judgement, and even with all of his instincts yelling at him to turn around and run – Felix extended his hand and shook Haruko's, giving it a firm grip and shake. Felix finally responded as he did so, in a steady yet friendly tone, "Call me Fox. And you are?"
Though, he already knew who he was.
"Oh, my name is Aratashi Haruko. Please, call me as you please – although my friends call me Haru. And y'know, Fox, said friends told me a lot about you! You witnessed my fight back on... that planet of yours, right?"
"Oh, that. Yeah, no, I did. Uh, impressive, by the way."
"Why, thank you!"
"Ah, by the way... Do me a favor, Haruko."
Haruko's eyes slightly tightened and his smile withered a bit, but his overall expression didn't change as he let out a "Hmm?"
Felix glanced over Haruko's blue hair and past him, and as he saw a bright red aura approaching followed by a small, floating green Blank, he couldn't help but slightly chuckle at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Stand very still..."