"Are you done yet?"

A bit annoyed, Arthur asked the calm Celes, who was backing her things very slowly, clearly taking her sweet time. They're probably the only pair who still has not started searching for their target, which kind of frustrated Arthur, who did not want to be disqualified due to this woman's easy-going behavior.

"I told you there's no time limit. As long as we find the Bee, we'll proceed to the next floor so why are you in a rush?"

"Unlike you, I didn't come here to have a picnic but to rich the highest floor."

"You will reach it… if you behave accordingly and stop the urge of getting everything done within a day. The competition may last months if not years and it's pointless to burnout yourself right at the beginning."

He didn't how to properly retort so he snorted and kept waiting for Celes, who finished packing two minutes later. After she finished eating, her hair magically changed color, becoming beige, her face also brightened and her expression lightened, no longer grim and expressionless.

Soon, the two embarked on their journey to find this normal-looking Bee, which is quite a small thing to search for in this world. The third floor was called the Land of Ancients and, to sum it up, it's an old-world, desolate and lacking any vibrant life.

The green vegetation was nowhere to be seen and even if you stumble upon a tree, it's a mutated kind that's dangerous and aggressive. The place was a series of half-destroyed mountain ranges, enormous canyons, and ancient ruins inhabited by strange and powerful monsters. It is a deadly place to tread for a God Monarch, though an Overgod can manage if he or she exercise a bit of caution. As for Exalted Gods, they shouldn't encounter any problems, however, that doesn't mean there aren't living beings that can threaten them.

"Any idea what this Bee is?"

Seeing her carefully look at the tattoo on the back of her hand, Arthur asked her, hoping she can facilitate the search.

Unfortunately, Celes shook her head while turning around and walking ahead.

"You know nothing so why are you heading to that direction?"

She halted her steps, slightly turned her hand, glancing at him while replying: "It's a hunch."

"A hunch? Hah!"

Arthur stood his ground, refusing to follow her up just because of a hunch. In terms of locating something, he was much more suited than Celes, who spoke and acted abnormally. Irritated, she glared at him without saying anything, however, he could feel a slight change in the air. Understanding what's going on, he grinned and mockingly said:

"You better try harder, this fog is useless."

She creased her brows, both startled and confused, unable to understand how he saw the colorless fog or was even able to resist it. In the end, she concluded that he was a Death Magic-user but not an experienced one, which is, sadly and actually, quite the opposite.

"Honestly, since we're a pair now, I don't want to fight you or drag you around like a rag so, I humbly request that you do not resort to any aggressive actions… like the one you just did. You may be one of the Nine Seats but don't forget that I'm one too."

In the end, Celes let out a sigh and followed Arthur, who, after meticulously stretching his sense and using various detection skills, found an area that is inhabited by various kinds of insects, though he was unable to sense the presence of any Bees. Nevertheless, in this situation, it's the best place to search into, and the probability of finding the Bee is high.

*********

"Wow! I like your hair."

Maxine leaned closer to the pink-haired woman, admiring her long and bright-colored hair. She was paired with this strange, whom she was unfamiliar with but knew was decently strong. Her ability to judge people with one look is one of her talents and the moment her eyes landed on Lucy, the player was sure that her temporary partner is a strong and capable individual.

"Thanks! Yours isn't bad either."

Contrary to her usual attitude, Lucy took a more friendly approach as to not alert Arthur or anyone familiar with the way she behaves. She smiled back at the talkative Maxine, who didn't seem to worried about the target and was more focused on getting to know Lucy.

"Where are you from?"

"Bard Realm in the Cloud Sea Universe."

"Are you part of any sect?"

"No, I prefer not to be restrained by sect or clan rules."

"So you're a cultivator? How come you've got the System."

"I once visited the System Universe so it was automatically added to me."

What Lucy said was believable because it was the truth. If anyone goes to the System Universe, they'll get the System. Of course, it's possible to remove it using powerful cultivation techniques or unique artifacts, which is why no one was worried about having it permanently.

"The system is useful, right? It tells you exactly how strong you are."

Lucy seemed rather doubtful as she sighed and complained: "It's helpful but I've heard bad rumors about it. Like secretly planted malwares that hinder the future progress of the users or programs that spy on special people."

As she heard that, Maxine chuckled but didn't deny any of those claims. She sized up this pink-haired woman before speaking again:

"I see you've gathered quite a bit of info."

"No no, it's nothing like that. Those are just stuff I've heard in my travels."

After a short silence in which neither of did anything in particular, Max said:

"Well, it matters not now. Let us find this Bee or whatever."

*********

Zodiak and Hach'ara traveled a long way until they found the remnants of a city. There was rubble everywhere and the buildings were way too over-sized for humans to live in. This can only man that the previous inhabitants of this worlds had a ginormous size, at least tens of meters in height.

The disgusting old man kept pestering Zodiak and talking every five minutes, though his words and questions received no reply from the ever-so-silent Dark Magic user.

"Anyway… what do you think this black circle means?"

Surprisingly, Zodiak did reply this time. He lifted his head and pointed his index at the sky, more precisely at the jet black moon which was visible in broad daylight.

"What?! We need to get the moon?"

Hach'ara didn't quite believe Zodiak as it's impossible to fly, much less fly all the way to the moon. While it's true that it resembles the tattoo on their hands, it's not yet confirmed that the literal moon of the third floor is what they need to acquire, nonetheless, that possibility can't be ruled out, which made the insect master a bit angry.

"There are cases when somethings are not actually what they seem. There is no such thing as Black Moon, I think it's an illusion… a mirage of some sort."

"So we need to find the case of this..mirage?"

Zodiak inspected the mountain-like buildings and towering doors, his mind thinking about a certain extinct race.

He motioned for his partner to go the side before crouched down and stabbed his hand into the ground, immediately corrupting it and turning it jet black. The area of effect of Dark Magic became larger until there was a dark circle with a radius of 50m around Zodiak.

Before Hach'ara could react, he and Zodiak were sucked into the ground, appearing in a luminous city filled with machines, some pumping energy and others doing various miscellaneous jobs. The place was so very bright, almost blinding, it was truly a breath-taking and shocking sight.