We barely had time to recognize our surroundings as the central village of the fifth floor before the dungeon moved us to a new location. I was a little disappointed we didn’t get to take advantage of the village’s amenities before being shunted into the local zones, but with the war going on, I hadn’t expected anything else.

I dismissed the floor’s welcome notification with barely a glance, opting to focus on our new surroundings instead.

We’d been transported just outside the large, ornate gates of the central city that took up the majority of the unzoned area of the floor. There was also a small town nearby, just outside the gate. The town’s walls were much shorter than those surrounding the larger city.

As we walked to the smaller set of gates, I hoped the town was not also off-limits because of the war.

The town appeared to be at the border of two zones, one of which was cloaked in darkness, making it impossible to see within. Conveniently, the town itself was located fully within the illuminated zone. The opaque cloud of darkness hovered just a few meters away from the abutting wall like a sinister cloud.

Darkness was, if not a weakness, something that deeply unsettled me. I didn’t mind shadows and dim lighting, but I’d always found complete darkness unnerving. The thought of being blind had scared me as a child, though I was uncertain where the fear had come from.

“Oy! New elites at the gate!” someone yelled from inside.

The gate smoothly opened, revealing two individuals. The first was an attractive man who appeared to be in his early twenties and wore business attire similar to what I’d seen during my travels on Pylos and Olym. He did not wear any kind of sect emblems or paraphernalia, so I assumed he was an ally rather than an actual elite.

The second individual was a robed female elf who would have been striking if not for her completely blank expression. The elf wore traditional sect disciple robes in light blue, marking her as a likely Ice magic user. The female disciple watched us silently as the man stepped forward, tablet in hand.

“Welcome, representatives of the Hephaistos and Epíkairos sects!” the man said, bowing deeply. He turned to Niall and nodded. “Welcome to you also, affiliated Void Mage,” he said with significantly less enthusiasm. “I am Adrian, and my silent companion is Disciple Lillian, from the Cryos Sect.”

“Thank you,” Zavira said, taking the lead for our group. “Were you expecting us?”

The man’s smile widened, and he seemed to puff a bit in pride. “We were. The sect alliance has quite an extensive information network. Please, come in. Make yourselves at home. This is the base camp for the elite alliance. The dungeon makes finding newcomers associated with our faction quite easy since it literally drops you outside our gate.”

Before stepping forward, I used Assess to verify the man was not lying about his association. Though it made no sense for the dungeon to set us up for failure, being cautious wouldn’t hurt.

[Adrian – Level 44 – Administrator/Accountant – Air – Ally]

[Lillian deCryos – Level 49 – Sculptor/Enchanter – Ice – Ally]

Feeling confident that our greeters wouldn’t immediately attack when we entered the town, I passed through the gate.

“And the Springheart faction?” I asked as the gate slid closed behind us.

“They have a stronghold on the other side of Quintet – that’s the name of the central city,” he informed us. “There’s another city on the largest island,” he said, motioning above us.

I glanced up, noting the dark blobs in the distance. Zavira had told us the basics of what to expect on the fifth floor, but it was one thing to hear about floating islands and another to see them with your own eyes.

Zavira hadn’t been able to tell us much about the islands since she’d been more focused on learning about the fourth floor than later floors, but she’d learned enough to give us a general idea of the floor layout.

Aside from the floating islands – which expanded across the entirety of the floor’s lower zones – there was a dark zone, an overgrown zone, and grasslands.

The newly-built town appeared to be at the border between the dark zone and the grasslands since I didn’t see anything that I would consider overgrown. Zavira had described it as similar to the Space rift I’d delved shortly after awakening, where everything in the zone was oversized.

“There are hourly transports available to Spire – that’s the island city. But until the war is over, we aren’t allowed to go there either,” Adrian said with a hint of disappointment. “Luckily, it seems the war is winding down at this point, especially now that we’ve managed to get many of the Springhearts’ contracts canceled.

“About a month ago, one of the Springhearts was captured during a raid of their stronghold, and after a bit of negotiation, the man voluntarily broke every active Springheart contract on the floor,” Adrian said with an excited glint in his eyes. “It was no surprise that the majority of the Springheart supporters immediately exited the war. Many even switched sides. We suspect the war will be coming to an end on our floor within weeks, if not sooner.”

That was excellent news, as far as I was concerned. As quickly as I’d gained experience fighting other people, I still preferred fighting beasts. My conscience felt much lighter killing the latter versus the former.

“I believe there will be another push to remove the hidden Springhearts from the floor in the coming days if you’re interested in taking part,” Adrian said after pointing out the trading post that had been constructed to allow the various elites to trade their crafted goods. He was giving us a small tour of the town as we walked, which I appreciated.

Niall instantly perked up at the man’s words, making me wonder if the Kastet had been disappointed to learn the war was drawing to a close on the fifth floor.

I still wasn’t sure what was motivating the Void Mage to push through the tiers so quickly. He’d mentioned something about his father and proving himself, but the young Kastet was remarkably tight-lipped when it came to sharing information about himself.

Even after more than a year of fighting together, he still was quite private. And it wasn’t just with me, either. Niall kept his distance from Zavira as well.

“I’m interested,” Niall said before glancing at me and Zavira. The Smith nodded, and I reluctantly signaled my agreement.

I noticed that Lillian had disappeared at some point as Adrian showed us around the small town. It was set up similarly to the central villages, so there wasn’t a whole lot to see.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Adrian grinned as he tapped his tablet. “I’ve added you to the roster. You’ll be getting a message when it’s time for the mission brief. Expect it in the next few days. Otherwise, you’re free to come and go as you please.” His face shifted to a more serious expression. “We are trying to enforce a ‘no violence’ rule within the town walls, so please respect that decree. Anyone violating the rule will be banned from entering the town for the duration of the war.”

After acknowledging our understanding of the rule, Adrian left us to our own devices.

“Shall we do a little trading?” Zavira asked hopefully.

There hadn’t been any Tier Five ores for the woman to work with on the previous floor, and I knew the Smith preferred using metal weapons over the bone weapons she’d constructed out of the fallen bosses. The bone weapons were still amazing, especially with the enchantments I’d added, but I understood the woman was accustomed to a different type of weapon.

Niall nodded slowly, though I knew the Void Mage was perfectly happy with his bone weapons. The base material was really only important if he didn’t coat his weapons in Void mana, and that rarely happened. Even so, the Tier Five boss bones were surprisingly durable, even without the additional enchantments.

----------------------------------------

Less than three days later, I found myself huddled with my party in a remote section of the Wonderland Zone, which was what I was calling the overgrown zone. It felt remarkably like the scene in Alice in Wonderland where she was interacting with tree-sized flowers and huge bugs.

The entire zone was almost exactly like that, minus the weirder things like the Cheshire cat and other psychedelic influences.

“If our intel is correct, they should be somewhere nearby,” Brevin said. He was an elite from one of the Lightning-based sects and had been given command of the mission.

The Lightning Mage looked at me, and I shook my head, letting him know I didn’t sense anyone other than our group in the area. “Let me check something else. If they have a Space or Void Mage, they might be able to counter my basic sensory scans.”

After a moment of focus, I saw the tell-tale signs of an expanded space.

“There’s a large expanded space inside the stalk of the mushroom over there,” I said, pointing to a mushroom the size of a small house. “I don’t know if anyone is inside, though, since the space itself blocks me from sensing any further.”

“Can you force anyone hiding inside to come out?” he asked.

I glanced at Niall. “Can you do a limited Null Field around a specific area of the mushroom and drop it as soon as the expanded space breaks down?” I asked though I knew he could. We’d used a similar tactic to target beasts with Space abilities before.

The navy-furred Kastet nodded, and I had Lisa send him a 3D map of the mushroom detailing exactly where the expanded space was. He waited for me to establish my domain, which would be critical to stop anyone from Teleporting away once the Null Field fell – assuming the Space Mage who created the expanded space was still present.

I cast Haste on myself to ensure I was able to react quickly enough to catch the Springheart allies and motioned for Niall to act. The targeted Null Field appeared, immediately destabilizing the expanded space. I was already locking down the domain by the time the Null Field dropped.

The six people inside the previously hidden space were unceremoniously dumped into a hole much too small to accommodate them, which resulted in the mushroom splitting and toppling over.

I sensed someone attempting to Teleport away, but the Spatial Lock prevented them from successfully escaping. It seemed the Space Mage was present.

“They’ve got a Space Mage,” one of the Springheart allies called out from within the remains of the mushroom. His voice sounded muffled behind the fungus, but it wasn’t too difficult to make out his words.

“Wait! Don’t attack!” a woman’s voice yelled. “I surrender. Please don’t attack!”

There was a hiss from at least two of the woman’s companions at her words, but they made no move to subdue her as she awkwardly climbed out of the mushroom. A glance at the woman explained why she had been secluded away from the oft-attacked base.

It also explained the four men’s reluctance to use aggressive actions to stop her.

She was very obviously pregnant. I was actually a bit worried she might have been injured with the abrupt eviction from their hidey-hole.

A quick scan with Diagnose showed the mother and baby were fine. Neither had any injuries, which was good.

There was a tense exchange between the woman and the four men accompanying her, but it was only when a young boy of about three years old was carried out of the mushroom by one of the men that I gained a better understanding of the situation.

The woman and a young boy were the only ones who identified as Springhearts, and I was surprised to see the woman was actually a Healer with a Life affinity. The four men appeared to be guards of some sort, though it was unclear by their actions whether they were meant to protect the woman and child or keep them from running away.

“I’m Celina Springheart, and that is my son Vanimer,” she said, motioning toward the young boy being held awkwardly by one of the men. “We are not combatants. These men are our guards. Their only job is to protect us,” she said pointedly as she stared metaphorical holes into the man holding her son, “Not fight in the war.”

The guards eyed us and the woman suspiciously. It was clear there was some disconnect in their orders. All of the guards, including the one holding the boy, looked ready to attack.

I wasn’t overly worried as far as my party’s safety went. I’d reworked our protection talismans as soon as I gained access to the proper material, and I doubted anything they could hit us with would be enough to breach the primary [Barriers] and cause E3 to trigger.

Maybe if one person took all four attacks… but that didn’t seem likely.

No. Oddly enough, I was more concerned about the safety of the two Springhearts.

“You know what is required to end the war,” Brevin told the woman as he watched the men beside her.

“I-I can’t renounce my name,” the woman said before adding quietly, “They’ll kill me if I do.”

The hardened look in her so-called guards' eyes told me they would, without a doubt, cut the woman down if she was foolish enough to renounce the family. Pregnant or not, her life would be forfeit.

These people are crazy, I thought as I watched the little boy start crying.

Without asking any questions or waiting for permission, I targeted the four ‘guards’ with Stasis. It took more mana than Pause, but I wouldn’t have to worry about someone accidentally cancelling the spell.

“They are frozen. They can’t hurt you,” I said softly, drawing the woman’s attention as well as the people unfamiliar with my powerset.

I could sense the discomfort in my temporary allies. But really, what did they expect from an Epíkairos Sect elite? Fireballs?

“Are you sure? They’ll never stop hunting for me if they break free. They’re loyalists,” she said as she looked at the guards uncertainly. “They’re not compelled by a magical contract.”

When the guards didn’t move, the woman almost collapsed in relief before rushing to her son. It took a bit of effort to extricate the boy from the guard’s frozen arms, but she managed with a bit of effort.

Holding her son in her arms, the woman took a step toward our group. “Please keep me safe,” she begged before looking up at the artificial sky. “I renounce my name and my children’s names! Dungeon, please…” her voice caught as her eyes unfocused.

She immediately broke into sobs, which made me very uncomfortable. I’d never been good with crying. Thankfully, Zavira was happy to step in.

Curious to see if anything had changed, I used Assess.

[Celina – Level 41 – Healer/Herbalist – Life – Neutral]

The boy’s information had also changed, though he’d always been listed as neutral since he was much too young to take part in the war.

“What should we do with the guards?” I asked.

“They’ll try to kill me as soon as they realize what I’ve done,” the woman said between sobs as she clutched her son to her chest.

The other members of our temporary attack group began discussing the matter amongst themselves as the woman cried and rocked her son back and forth.

Wiping her eyes with a handkerchief, Celina said, “They’ll never give up, ever. The war will never end as long as they live.” Her expression hardened as her gaze fell on the four Time-frozen men.

“In the five years that I’ve been a part of the family, I’ve learned that the Springhearts and the people who support them don’t care about fairness. They don’t care about playing by the rules. All they care about is perceived power and their own sick amusement. The whole family is rotten,” she said venomously before her eyes fell on her son. Her gaze softened as tears started leaking once again. “But they hide it so well. You never know until it’s too late.”

After sniffling a few more times, she gently covered her son’s ears and said, “You should just kill them. I’ll tell you what I know about the rest of the people on the floor. My sister-in-law…” She looked at us pleadingly. “She’s like me. She didn’t know what she was getting into when she married into the family. I know where she is. Please rescue her.”