“You, who bravely entered this room, shall receive my gifts of power and wisdom.”

As the words were pronounced, the huge figure gathered his two hands in front of his naked torso in prayer.

‘This is disturbing…’

Extremely confused by the turn of event, Naomi tried to scheme a way out, but nothing came to her mind. Surely due to the fact that she had absolutely no idea of what she was dealing with. Is that thing a leaving being? A monster? A god?

It slowly started to separate its hand from one another. A burst of light emanated from the revealed space, so bright that Naomi had to divert her eyes.

When she finally managed to get her view back, she found the… man? with a knee on the ground, holding his hands in front of her, palm toward the sky, revealing two mysterious objects in each of them.

On his right hand, a simple staff, harbouring a simple colourless gem at one of its ends. On the left, an old scroll.

“Are… are you offering me this?”

“Yes, your worth has been assessed, and according gift shall be delivered to you.”

“What… are they?”

“Behold the Colorless Staff, carved from an ancient oak and set with one of the Sea King’s jewel. And here is the Prophetical Scroll, it shall give you crucial advice and guide you in your upcoming journey.”

“Well, thank you, I suppose.”

Slowly overcoming her doubt and hesitation, Naomi extended her hand and grabbed the staff. She instantly felt the power of the artefact, as if the simple fact of holding it made her lighter. As for the scroll, she will open it after leaving the room.

“Farewell.”

“Wait, what is…”

Before she could ask anything, the figure faded away, leaving Naomi alone in the room.

She inspected the staff a bit more closely, the surface was really smooth, and the gem was perfectly polished. Without a doubt, it was made by a master. If it was made by someone, of course, at this point you can’t really know.

After that, she finally left the room, Xavier must be worried about her, and she made him wait long enough. However, upon her exit, there was no one.

‘Odd… where did he…”

The door behind her suddenly re-opened, and Xavier stepped out of it.

“Here you are!”

“Where were you?”

"I followed you in the room, but you weren't there. Instead, there was…"

“A pharaoh?”

“Yeah, something like that. And I received this.”

Xavier showed his new gifts, a scroll similar to Naomi’s, and a ring, carved with a mysterious symbol.

That didn't explain why they were in the same room without seeing each other, but at this point, Naomi couldn't care less. They completed the sub-objective, and it was time for them to head out toward their next struggle. And because she had already complied with his first demand, Xavier had no excuse this time.

They quickly arrive in front of the final door, once again. Without waiting, Naomi put her hand on its surface, and the symbol carved started to glow. As opposed to the entrance door, those signs had no particular meaning, at least not that she knew of.

The door opened, revealing a simple room plunge in the dark.

“It looks a bit like the treasure room.”

“All the room we went through were identical.”

“Oooh… That’s why I had this feeling of déjà-vu all along then.”

It is with a total lack of surprise and a relative raised of eyebrows that the duo watched the rows of torches on the wall turn themselves on. There wasn’t much to see anyway, just an empty throne with lots of gold coins forming a huge pile behind it.

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"So… this is the end? We have finished the struggle?"

“Let me verify.”

Struggle#11

Objective: Reach the end of the dungeon

Non-objective: Encounter the minotaur - Find the treasure room

Indeed, it was the end.

Needless to say, Xavier was disappointed. Struggles could last from a few hours to several weeks, but, unfortunately, the one he is lucky to share with his favourite girl happened to fall into the first category.

Moreover, two exact same doors had already appeared at both sides of the throne, confirming the Books narrative.

“Xavier, don’t make that face.”

Without realizing it, he was looking down, lost in thought.

“Wh-what face? I’m not making any face.”

“Hehe, if you say so.”

…

“I… we need to have a conversation.”

It was the time. Naomi could feel it. It was time to reject him.

She took a deep breath, and…

“Me first.”

“Sure.”

“It’s about Sam…I know you and him have a special relationship, and that even though you argue all the time you like each other a lot.”

Naomi was starting to get uncomfortable, on one hand, she was glad he might have figured out they are dating all by himself, but on the other… this is about Sam?

“I really like Sam, he’s one of my best friend of course… but, he’s not like us. He… he will want to go back to the camp.”

"Of course, unlike us he was sufficiently socially skilled to get along with the proletarian."

"That's my problem, I have a theory, well, it's not really mine, anyway, I think Sam might be… dangerous."

“Samsy? What are you…”

"I know! It's crazy! But… Jules told me that the most session fails because of one person in the group. Someone that lose control over his own power."

“And you seriously believe that Sam…”

“I believe in Sam! He has without a doubt the strongest will among us. He has proved it during the purge, but…”

“But what?!”

“Sigh… His growth… it’s too fast. He has almost caught up to the rest of us, even though his i-talent is so far behind. Even Jules told me he never saw a newcomer grow so fast in the first stages…”

“… So, that’s why you were so distant during the last struggle…”

“Yes… but there’s more…”

“No. This conversation is over.”

“Please, I…”

Despite being relatively calm and somewhat composed, Naomi's face was completely red, and a faint vein had appeared on one corner of her forehead. With a short and cunning line, she attempted to end the conversation and headed to her door.

However, he insisted. Apparently convinced in his theory that Sam will end up betraying them.

That was too much for her.

As she was about to touch the door, she turned around.

“You brought up the purge, right? You ignore half of what occurred. Scorn my fiancé one more time and you will regret it.”

“…what?”

“You are all my beloved friends, but you should be aware that the group revolves around him. Everything revolves around him. And yes, I love him. At least more than I could ever love anyone else, including you. If something happens, no matter what, I’ll stand by his side.”

Speechless, Xavier was completely spacing out, unable to process what he just heard. Using this chance, she put her hand behind her, on the golden ring serving as the door handle.

“I didn’t want this conversation to turn up this way, and sorry if I hurt your feelings. Bye, Xavier. I hope to see you again.”

And she left.