- You will never stop the flood. –

…

‘’ You will never escape the flood. ‘’

…

‘”’ The blood will always catch you. ‘”’

…

// THE POOL WILL ALWAYS DROWN YOU!! \

* * *

Rakna’s eyes snapped open as they flashed red. He sat up and panted as he covered his face with his hand. Oblivious to him, crimson flickering lights had surrounded his body for a second.

He groaned and got out of bed after looking at the city through the window to his right. The sun had not even risen yet but he had no reason to go back to sleep at this point.

“This is grating… I’ll have to ask foxy if she has something against nightmares,” Rakna muttered and glanced at Pronos who was mutely sleeping on Sonata. The scarf never gets too warm or too cold thanks to the Eion energy coursing through it and the little snake seemed to enjoy it.

Rakna snorted and visited the bathroom before changing. He then opened the fridge provided by the hotel and drank a small bottle of cold water. He looked at the clock on the wall and there were still three hours before sunrise.

He mused for a moment and ultimately decided to wake up Pronos. The little snake first rubbed his eyes with his tail before Rakna’s intent came to him under the form of a mental missive through their connection.

He yawned and slithered out from his nest in Sonata. He jumped on Rakna’s shoulder as the latter put his scarf back. He then left his room and silently closed the room behind him.

A minute later, he was out of the building and he now could see the cityscape with no lights from an inside look. Just like the day before, Black Steel had become devoid of any flashing light and the only ones remaining were very faint glows coming from the ground and cars on the roads. It was just enough to allow people to safely navigate during the night. HLs also had a low-grade night vision integrated into them.

Rakna joined the few people walking on the streets. He could have activated his Fabled Sight to see everything as clearly as daytime but he wanted to enjoy the nocturnal atmosphere.

‘Alexa, does Black Steel’s Spear operate at night?’

[Affirmative.]

He hummed and looked at the sky with squinted eyes. To be exact, he focused on the moon that was three-quarters full. ‘Do you know what will happen to me when the full moon rises?’

[I… do not know. I apologize.]

‘You don’t need to apologize. It’s not your fault. Though, I guess you are saying this because of my situation, right?’

[Yes. There is no precedent data on Nine-Tailed Werewolves that I can go from. However, I can tell you that the full moon might not necessarily affect you. Ultimately, the moon is merely a celestial object. When a werewolf becomes stronger or goes berserk under the moonlight, it is not because of the moon itself but mostly the individual.]

‘I see. In other words, certain breeds of werewolves simply ignore moonlight while others have a genetic reaction to it.’

[You are correct. That is why I cannot predict what will happen to you.]

‘Then, when is the next full moon? Also, does every Plateau share the same time zone?’

[Four days. And the answer to your second question is yes. As we speak, every Plateau is at night time. Though you will come to know that there are some peculiar Plateaus.]

‘All right. Thanks, Alexa.’

[You’re welcome, Rakna.]

As they were talking, Rakna noticed he had once again wandered into a shady part of the city. This time, it was even worse than when he had found that child. He activated Fabled Sight when it got too dark and looked around the dirtier alleys of Black Steel.

He didn’t know how far he had gone, but at some point, he reached a new street. However, it wasn’t one of the main streets or roads. It was also considerably smaller and dirtier. There were also all sorts of makeshift tents and huts everywhere.

‘This looks like slums,’ Rakna commented inwardly as he gradually began to notice people with barely anything to cover themselves with sleeping on the ground or against the walls.

Additionally, after a bit more observation, he realized that what enclosed this ‘street’ were in fact the back walls of Black Steel’s buildings. It truly was a hidden dark side.

‘I guess no matter how advanced a city is or how much like a game they make it sound like, reality will always catch up to you,’ he thought and stopped in front of a mother and her child. They were both asleep in each other’s arms but their bodies were shivering because of the cold.

He gazed at them with a hollow look. He compared them to the similar family he had helped in the morning and couldn’t help but to note the difference. ‘Truly, you can’t escape it.’

He continued walking down that street without looking back, leaving behind him the two people hugging each other… but with a brand-new blanket over them along with a pile of Talys that he had just withdrawn from his balance.

[If I may, Rakna.]

‘What is it?’

[I believe you are a very cynical person,] Alexa bluntly said and Rakna paused on his tracks.

He didn’t look surprised or mad about what she had just said. If anything, the feeling at the top of his mind was amusement. ‘Why do you say that?’

[Because… I find myself curious,] she admitted. [Why did you help them? They are strangers. From what I understand of you, you would have been very capable of ignoring them. This is an inquiry I wish to extend to what happened this morning as well.]

‘Hm,’ Rakna mused as he resumed his walk. ‘Summarized; you are asking the reason behind my actions because you do not understand them, correct?’

[That would be accurate.]

‘Answer me this; if I was in mortal danger, would you warn me about it?’

Alexa was confounded for a second before she answered, [I would.]

‘Then, would you help me survive that ordeal as well?’

[Yes. I would do what I can.]

‘Then I ask you; why would you?’

[Because it is my duty as your Artificial Intelligence.]

‘That is my answer to your question.’

[…is your answer… duty? Are you insinuating helping those people was your duty?]

‘Yes and no. It is a duty I owe to myself. It is a duty that one who wishes to call themselves humane must follow. It has nothing to do with justice or the yearning to become a hero. This morning, my duty was to kill trash that would harm and kidnap a defenseless child. The duty that came after that was to bring a scared and crying child back to her mother safe and sound.’

Rakna walked for a few meters without saying anything before he continued, ‘My duty… is to do what I know is right. My duty is to help anyone whose situation would be something I’d like to be saved from myself. I’m a hypocrite in many ways, but this is not one of them. If I ignore someone in need, it will not be because I could but because I had no other choice.’

Alexa tried to process everything he was saying and it felt like a painful struggle for her to actually incorporate those ideas in her mind. [But…is that… truly something genuine?]

‘Nothing is truly genuine, Alexa. But there is nothing more genuine than this. If you had someone that helped you in the past, wouldn’t it be the natural thing to do to repay that person? It’s just a different way of putting it. Duty. And not respecting that duty, makes you a coward.’

[With all due respect, Rakna, I cannot help but feel… that this is a broken train of thought.]

‘Is it a bad thing though?’

[…]

‘If being broken is a bad thing, what do you make of what you call ‘normal people’? Are they not broken? In that case, are they perfect? Are they all a good example of compassion and morality? If that was the case, Alexa, this misery I see right now would be inexistent and we would not be having this conversation.’

With these words, none of them spoke again and Rakna soon reached the underground station after leaving the slums with fewer Talys and blankets in his possession. He patiently waited for the train and boarded it.

When reached the wilderness, he turned into a wolf and deployed his wings at the same time. He had been using his werewolf form last time but after thinking about it, if he wanted to be faster, would it not be a better idea to use the transformation that increased his speed the most in the first place?

That’s why, after mentally slapping himself, he flew off in his wolf form while using Stealth. The place he was heading for was the Trial he had been looking for before being sent to the Dungeon by Gaelius.

After ten minutes or so, he flew above the settlement he had stopped by last time and reached what seemed to be his destination. It wasn’t an isle this time. In fact, it had nothing in common.

The only thing he could see was a granite altar erected in the middle of nowhere. It was exuding a sort of liquid-looking light and two disk-like objects were hovering above it.

When he landed near it, a prompt appeared in front of him like last time.

❮ ◈ ❯

You have reached a Trial Zone.

---

Second Trial of the First Plateau

Touch the altar and a road of light will be formed; leading to a goal line. After a five-second countdown, the race will begin and the disks will start flying toward it.

Conditions to Pass: Reach the goal before the disks.

❮ ◈ ❯

“Is this the so-called Race Trial?” Rakna commented as he neared the altar. He casually touched it with his paw and with a burst of light, an ethereal road of white light materialized under his eyes and also seemed to be complemented with invisible barriers. This meant that Rakna wouldn’t be able to soar too high but he still could fly at low altitude.

At the same time, the two disks whizzed toward the starting point defined by a red line. Rakna let out a snort, which sounded like a gruff grunt in his wolf form. He then walked to the starting line as well and spread his wings as the countdown reached its end.

❮ ◈ ❯

3

2

1

Go!

❮ ◈ ❯