Chapter 179: Chapter 179

They returned to their viewing box together, the cheers of the crowd ringing in their ears. The silencing spell had dropped completely, allowing people to make as much noise as they wanted.

“Congratulations, Sylph,” Nolan said. “It looks like you’re still the strongest student at Blackmist.”

“I’m not so sure,” Sylph said. “The circumstances were in my favor. I’m going to have to spar Damien again to see him at full strength.”

“I was going to ask about that,” Viv said. “How come you both stopped using magic at the end? Did you run out of Ether?”

“Something like that,” Damien said. “I’d overused my magic a bit, and Sylph doesn’t have very much herself. I suppose it wasn’t particularly exciting for the spectators once we ran out.”

“Hardly,” Mark said with a laugh. “It was the most fun I’ve had watching a fight. There’s just something different about watching two people wail on each other with everything they’ve got.”

“You’re weird,” Elania said.

Mark shrugged. He wandered up to the food cabinet and opened it, pulling out a sandwich and taking a large bite from it. Damien and Sylph both got food as well. They ate over the next few minutes, the roar of the crowd slowly dying down as the announcer wrapped the first half of the tournament up and people started to leave.

The Goldsilk students headed out as well, bidding everyone farewell and promising to meet again in the next round of the tournament.

A few minutes after they’d left, Henry sent Damien a mental warning. Footsteps rang down the hall to their room and Whisp stepped out from the doorway, a pleased grin on her face. Nolan scrambled to stand, but nobody else budged from their spots.

“Dean Whisp!” Nolan said, inclining his head. “Were you watching the tournament?”

“I was. You all performed admirably,” Whisp replied. “I’m here to deliver on a promise. The second half of the tournament will be starting tomorrow when Kingsfront opens the Crypt. You all need to learn more about it before you enter.”

“Is that where the artifact you want us to get is?” Damien asked.

Whisp nodded. “The Crypt has multiple floors. Each one is essentially a maze. Monsters are drawn to it by the high amounts of Ether in the air and rare objects that put off auras that interest them. Your target is on the fourth floor, but we don’t know the exact location. Just the general directions to get there.”

“Why is that?” Damien asked. “If you know where it is, shouldn’t you know the exact location too?”

“The maze changes,” Whisp replied, waving her hand dismissively. “You’ll have to find it, but we’ll get to that. You’ll have to make it to the fourth floor before you can even start thinking about getting the artifact. Since you and Sylph were the finalists, you’ll be starting on the third floor. Everyone in the quarterfinals and semifinals will start on the second floor, and the remaining competitors will start on the first floor.”

“Sounds like they’re at a big advantage,” Mark observed. “Should the rest of us rush to the higher floors?”

Whisp shrugged. “It’s unlikely you’ll make it in time to aid the contest for the artifact. Each floor is exceedingly hard to clear, but there are more than enough objects of power or interest to be worth your attention, even on the lower floors. The Crypt was the underground fortress of a mage army that figured out a way to enslave monsters thousands of years ago. Even the lower level members had weapons that would be worth their weight in gold.”

“So there are a bunch of monsters and other students competing with us to get the loot,” Damien said. “What about healers?”

“There will be some present on each floor, but they can’t follow you too deep. The monsters in the Crypt are bound by a set of rules. We believe it’s due to an artifact very deep within it, but we’ve never confirmed or denied that theory. Either way, all we know is that the monsters appearing within the maze are scaled to the people entering it. If a mage such as myself or Dean Happenstance were to enter, we could be put against something so strong that there would be no chance to win. The healers will stay near the exits, which will make it so that you don’t have to deal with empowered monsters while you delve deeper.”

“That also means that fights are a lot more dangerous,” Sylph observed. “And there isn’t going to be anyone watching when we’re deeper into it.”

“Correct. You will have to be careful. Students aren’t supposed to fight in the Crypt, but I’m sure you’ve gathered that it is likely to happen anyways,” Whisp said. “I’ll let you deal with that. I really don’t care what happens, I just want the artifact. It’s located near the center of the fourth floor, behind a plain black door. The door is usually surrounded by options that seem vastly superior, but you have to choose the door. Don’t ask why – I don’t know. Every time someone chose something else, they were unable to find the door again.”

“You’ve yet to say what the artifact actually is,” Damien said.

“It’ll be behind the door,” Whisp said. “I don’t know what it looks like. It changes appearance, but you’ll know when you see it. And before you ask – trust me, you don’t want to know what it does. It’s largely worthless on its own anyways.”

“Remind me of the reward if we get it?” Sylph asked.

“A copious amount of gold and resources,” Whisp replied. “Artifacts too, if you want. That artifact is vital to gaining ground in the frontlines.”

“We’ll do our best to get it,” Damien promised. There were too many things going on that he had to deal with, and the less Whisp saw of his thought process the better. Even with her good mood, he still didn’t trust the woman in the slightest. “I’m feeling quite tired after Sylph beat the crap out of me, though. Are there rooms or something we can stay at?”

“Professor Delph was tasked with purchasing you all lodging for the night,” Whisp said, her lip turning up in a smirk. “With all the money he won betting on the results of the tournament, he could more than afford it. He gave me these to give to you.”

Whisp pulled several brown papers out of a pocket and passed them out. Damien’s simply listed a street address and the name ‘Mighty Willow’.

“I’ll leave you all to it,” Whisp said. “Don’t disappoint me. Get the artifact.”

She turned and swept out of the room. Several seconds passed before anyone spoke again.

“That was weird,” Damien said. “She wasn’t as horrible to speak to as normal.”

“I didn’t smell any alcohol on her breath either,” Sylph said. “I’m pretty sure she’s been drunk every other time we’ve met.”

“Delph put me in a stable,” Mark said, holding his paper up. “That asshole.”

“He put me up in a Kingsfront dorm,” Nolan said with a groan. “The one where the nobility stays. It’s where I would have been if I’d gone here instead of Blackmist.”

“His idea of a joke, huh?” Damien asked. “I’m just in some place called the Mighty Willow.”

“So am I,” Sylph said.

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“It’s an upscale inn,” Nolan said. “I guess he gave you guys the nice place since you did the best. Congrats.”

“I’m going to throttle him,” Mark grumbled. “I’m going to go find an inn to sleep at. I don’t want to be tired tomorrow.”

He headed out of the room. The others followed his steps, heading down the main road and into Kingsfront. Nolan split off after a few minutes. Damien wasn’t sure if Nolan planned to actually stay where Delph had put him, but the peeved expression on Nolan’s face stopped him from asking.

They traveled for several more minutes, consulting the occasional street maps at intersections to figure out where they were going. The Mighty Willow turned out to be a huge, six story building made of beautiful gold and black stone. A massive tree had been carved into its front, presumably giving the inn its name.

The inside of the building was sickly extravagant. Gold paved the floor and a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. Several couches and lounge chairs along one wall had lush red velvet cushions.

A handsome man with a sharp jawline and snow white hair stood at a desk beside a staircase, watching them with thinly veiled distaste. His black suit was plain, but something told Damien that it cost as much as a small house.

“Might I be of help?” the man asked. “If you are looking to purchase a room, I am afraid that the Mighty Willow does not rent on demand. You must have a referral to stay here.”

“Shit,” Damien muttered. “Do you think he didn’t even get us a room?”

“Let’s find out,” Sylph whispered back, then raised her voice so the man could hear her. “I think we might have a room booked. Is there anything under Damien or Sylph?”

“There is not,” he said, his brow lowering.

“What about Delph?” Damien asked.

The man opened his mouth, then closed it, reexamining the two students. A flicker of surprise crossed his features, mixed with something that Damien couldn’t place. “You are the first and second place winners of the intramurals?”

“We are,” Sylph said. “Our teacher said that he booked us a room here, but he’s also a bit prone to messing with us.”

“He did not say your names, but there is indeed a room in Delph’s name,” the man said. “And he stated that you would identify yourselves as the winners of the tournament. I suppose it is your room, then.”

“Can we get the key, then?” Damien asked. “Or is something wrong?”

“No, nothing is wrong.” The man cleared his throat and straightened his suit, waving for them to follow him as he ascended the stairs. “He simply had your room custom designed about a week ago. I had forgotten.”

They walked up to the third floor and down a short hall, arriving before a nice wooden door. The man pressed his hand against it, muttering something, and the lock in the door released.

“Your dinner and breakfast will be both provided when you pull the rope on the other side of the door,” he said. “The door will lock again in one minute. It is runed, so do not worry about intruders or locking it yourself. If you leave and need to get back in, please visit me in the lobby.”

He slipped past them and down the stairwell without another word. Damien and Sylph exchanged a glance.

“That was weird,” Damien said. “What’s his deal?”

“No clue,” Sylph replied with a shrug. She pushed the door open and they headed into the room.

It was pitch black at first, but as soon as their feet passed the door, faint light started to emit from a small chandelier on the ceiling. It grew brighter, illuminating the surroundings slowly.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Damien groaned.

The room was every bit as fancy as the inn’s lobby. A thick, fuzzy pink rug covered the floor and ran up the walls. There was a single, huge bed large enough to fit ten people in the center of the room, surrounded by tall arches of beautiful pink flowers.

Stuffed animals larger than Damien sat along the walls. They carried a variety of plush weaponry – bright pink, of course. In fact, Damien was struggling to find anything in the room other than the animals that wasn’t some shade of pink. Even the rope that hung near the entrance was fuchsia.

A door at the side of the room led into the bathroom. Not even it had been spared from the plague of pink rug. Damien made a face when he realized that the rug was even inside the shower.

The lock automatically clicked shut behind them.

“I think I’m going to join Mark in throttling Delph when we next see him,” Sylph muttered. Damien nodded in mute agreement.

He walked up to the bed and tested it. It sank under his weight, forming around his hand like a glove. Despite the horrendous stylistic choices, it still felt incredibly luxurious.

“I want to take a shower before I even think about lying down on this monstrosity,” Damien said, nodding at the bed. “But that shower is something straight out of the Void.”

Sylph walked into the bathroom and tugged on the rug in the shower. “It’s fixed to the floor too. I was hoping he’d just had a tiny piece put there to mess with us.”

“We don’t have a choice, either,” Damien realized. “I’ve got no money, so we can’t stay anywhere else unless you do.”

“No such luck,” Sylph said with a sigh. “On the bright side, they did appear to provide toothbrushes.”

“Fantastic.” Damien let out a miserable sigh. “Do you want to suffer first in the Void-shower, or does that privilege go to me?”

“Cold, wet rug floors sound worse than dry ones,” Sylph said with a smirk. “I’ll try to be fast so you don’t have to wait too long.”

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