Tafel yawned and stretched out her arms and legs. She had fallen asleep whilst sitting against Vur’s massive body. She removed the blanket that had been placed on top of her, and she threw it into a portal.
“Good morning!” Garlic said, the melon-shaped egg flashing with an array of brilliant colors on the ground beside the demon.
Tafel squeezed her eyes shut and exhaled before giving the egg the stink eye. “What did I say about being loud and bright?”
“Don’t be so loud, and don’t be so bright!” Garlic said, his voice loud enough to wake everyone in the campsite.
Tafel sighed as she climbed to her feet. “And what are you right now?”
“An egg!”
Tafel glanced at the portal that was still open. Then, she looked at Garlic. After a moment of silence, she patted Vur’s side. “The child Geomi asked you to raise needs to be raised.”
One of Vur’s opened, the one on the same side as Tafel. His golden irises shifted downwards to look at Garlic, and the egg promptly stopped flashing. Vur lifted his head off the ground, his neck twisting as he looked at Kax. “You’re an animal doctor, right? How do I raise Garlic properly?”
Kax scratched his head. “For regular egg, keep constant warmth. Bird sits on egg; egg hatch.”
Vur turned his head back onto Garlic, and the melon-shaped egg flashed repeatedly. “No! Absolutely not!” Garlic shouted, the egg wiggling back and forth. “My egg already broke once! It’s not durable enough to withstand the weight of a dragon sitting on it!”
A blood-red flame appeared in Tafel’s hand as her phoenix imprint appeared on her forehead. “Are you cold?” she asked Garlic with a smile. “I can warm you up if you are.”
“No!”
Kim Hajun watched Tafel, Vur, and Garlic interact with a blank expression on his face. He turned his head towards Lindyss; the cursed elf was still sleeping, the bundle of blankets covering her unmoving. She almost looked like a corpse. Since it seemed like everyone was waking up, Kim Hajun went over to the cursed elf and placed his hand on the blanket near her shoulder. “Hey,” he said, nudging the elf. “We’re—”
Whomp.
Kim Hajun was sent flying, a massive fist made of shadows occupying the place he had previously been. Lindyss let out a groan before rolling over onto her side, her eyes still shut. The shadow receded back within the confines of the blanket, not making a sound despite its large size.
Kax looked over to the side where Kim Hajun was lying in a heap. “Kax not human doctor, but Kax know your leg broken. Knees don’t bend like that.”
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Kim Hajun gritted his teeth and forced himself into a sitting position, dragging his leg along. He gave Vur a half-hearted wave. “Can I get some healing?”
A green light fell over the well-dressed man, and his countenance smoothed out as his body relaxed, the pain fading away. Vur’s eyes stopped glowing golden once Kim Hajun’s leg was bending the right away. “Don’t wake Auntie,” Vur said. “She likes sleeping.”
“If she sleeps any longer, there won’t be much sunlight left,” Kim Hajun said, his voice barely audible. Vur’s group had the ability to clear the first floor with ease; as such, they took their sweet time getting things done. “We have to get moving.”
“What’s the rush?” Tafel asked, packing things away while taking out some mugs and toothbrushes from her portal. “If you want to go, you can. We already gave you a skill from one of the temples. You’re freeloading off of us, so the least you can do is not nag.”
Freeloader? Him? Kim Hajun opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Now that he thought about it, what had he done for Vur’s group? Vur located the hidden pieces like some kind of hidden-piece detecting machine; Vur transported the group from temple to temple; Vur hunted the food to open the temples and punched them open when he wasn’t in the mood to share his food. Other than pointing out the way, which anyone could do when they realized the temples were located in the center of each distinct climate region, Kim Hajun hadn’t done anything but beat Kax in a fight.
Kim Hajun shut his mouth and took a seat by a tree. It wasn’t unusual for a group to have a relatively useless member, and after living a life of constant success prior to entering the tower, he had almost forgotten what it felt like to be in that position. Vur’s group was already treating him pretty well for someone who didn’t contribute; unless he was able to do more, he didn’t have a large say in the decision-making processes. Trying to force things to go his way wouldn’t work; he needed to take a subtler approach.
***
“Welcome back, my liege.”
Mary glanced at the jackal-headed man kneeling on the ground. He was the first thing she saw upon opening the door to her residence. For a brief moment, she wondered if he was constantly waiting at the door or if he ran and knelt by the door when he heard her returning home. As for the result of her wondering, she found she didn’t care either way.
“Congratulations on setting a new record while clearing the tenth floor,” the jackal-headed man said. “Even the ones at the top of the tower weren’t as fast as you.”
Mary grunted as she walked past the man and took a seat on her throne. She rotated her wrists and ankles, causing cracking sounds to ring out, before she sank into her usual pose, her elbow propped up on the armrest and her cheek propped up on her palm. “Walkthrough,” Mary said, holding out her free hand.
The jackal-headed man remained on his knees as he made his way to Mary, keeping his head trained on the ground. He took a booklet out of his root bracelet, offering it to Mary with both hands. “The eleventh floor is a group test,” he said. “Hyeonnam Tokki still hasn’t set off to deliver your invitation. As such, I’ve prepared the finest recruits from our guild to accompany you. They’re waiting outside for your evaluation; if I have overstepped my bounds, just say the word and I’ll tell them to scram.”
Mary flipped through the booklet before nodding. According to the walkthrough, the easiest way to clear the eleventh floor was to annihilate the other guild groups. She didn’t need people to help her with that. However, looting was a boring and tedious task. “I don’t need to evaluate them. If they have working hands and feet, they can come.”
“Yes, my liege,” the jackal-headed man said. “May you be the Virtuous Hand that guides us.”