Chapter 14: Chapter-14: Cataclysm-2

It was nighttime. The moon was shining brightly in the black sky. Most of the Midgard was asleep and was dreaming of a better tomorrow. But there were a few people in this world who didn't have a shred of sleep in their eyes. And amongst the group of people were Dan, Suzie, Soo-Young, and Sanjay who were all sitting in one room discussing their future actions…

“I say that we should run away from here.” Sanjay declared.

“I don't think it was a good idea. We don't know the extent of magical powers that the people of this world could perform. Don't you remember that the red-haired woman was able to disable us with the roots of trees? And then she magically made us appear in Ravenshade. Then the people of this world were able to fully heal Dave within hours. This shows that the magic of this world is very versatile. So even if we make a run for it, the chances are that we would get caught immediately.” Suzie added.

“So running is not an option. So what should we do?” Soo-Young asked.

“It is a very tough decision to make. If we join her cause then we will become her puppets. And I don't think I want that. I don't trust that woman or anything that comes out of her mouth.” Suzie added.

“If we can't run, then why not join her for now? And then we would just run away afterward?” Sanjay added.

“That is a good plan. I think for survival we have to go with the flow.” Soo-Young said.

“So it is then settled, we would stay in Ravenshade for now then run away at the first chance that we would get,” Suzie added.

“Yes… Dev what do you think?” Sanjay asked Dave who for some reason was in a daze.

“Dev?” Sanjay called him again after shaking him with got him out of his stupor.

“Yeah? Sorry, I was thinking about something.” Dave said.

“Dave-Oppa did you hear anything that we discussed?” Soo-Young asked.

“No, I am sorry. I was thinking about stuff that happened today.” Dave apologized.

“So were we. Anyway, we were thinking of taking the offer of Carlin. We would join the city of Ravenshade. And then we will run away at the first chance that we got.” Suzie said.

“Right. That is the only solution to our problem. So it would work for now.” Dave said.

“Dev, what were you thinking about?” this time Sanjay asked.

“Before? I was thinking about the race.” Dave answered honestly.

“The Race?” Soo-Young asked.

“Yeah,” Dave said.

“Did you notice something?” Suzie asked sounding interested in the conversation.

“A lot of things,” Dave said.

“Like what?” Sanjay asked. Hearing him, Dave sat comfortably and started speaking…

“Let me start from the beginning…. First of all, the map of this world is weird. It was way too small. And then remember during lunch when I asked Carlin about the map, she said that this map was very accurate. And when I asked her what is beyond the boundaries of the map, she said that their world is surrounded by what people of this called abyss.”

“Yeah, she told us that it is called the edge of the world by some people. And we would fall off into the abyss and die if we flew across the edge.” Suzie said.

“Yes, now that part felt weird. Because we all know that can’t be true. Because there was a theory that Earth is Flat. But that theory was later proved wrong. What if that is a similar case here as well?” Dave questioned.

“What are you trying to say?” Suzie asked.

“Guys, remember what is our goal? All of this is not supposed to be a game of survival of the fittest. But this is supposed to be a Race. The quest in our system says that we need to cross the 9th world and reach the 10th floor in the hope to get out of this place. That means that there is a way to go to the second world here and we just need to find it.”

“So in the sense you trying to say that their abyss could be the entrance of the second floor?” Sanjay asked.

“Could be. But it needs to be investigated first.” Dave said.

“Could be worth a try,” Suzie said while thinking about it.

“And then comes the map of this world. Did anybody observe it properly?” Dave asked.

“Was there something special about the map?” Soo-Young asked.

“Everything was special about the map. The rivers of this world were originating from an island called Death Valley which is situated in the middle of the map. But the thing that peeked my internet was the fact that they are originating from an island of red color. And when I asked Carlin about it, she said that the island was a bunch of mountains. And a special type of tree grows there that produces toxic gas, so potent that it could kill anyone in contact with it within minutes. That is why it is called death valley. But when I asked her whether the mountain had any snow in it, do you remember what she said?”

“She asked ‘what is snow?’,” Soo-Young answered.

“Bingo. That means if the rivers are being originated from the mountain and there is no glacier in it, then what is producing the water? And I guess that there is some sort of natural pathway in the mountain that is sucking up water from below and spreading it here. It is a far fetch theory, but if I am right then it would mean that this place is located on top of a mountain or something. And then we could run away from this place by getting down this huge mountain.”

“But mountain tops are usually not this big. The scale of this world is too huge to be considered to be built on a mountain top.” Suzie questioned.

“I know. But it is something that we need to investigate. If we stay here in Ravenshade, then we need to survive but also gain strength so that we could find the way to the next floor. After all, we need to find the way to the next world. That is our ultimate goal.” Dave said. Hearing this everyone started nodding their head as if he was right.

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And it was at that exact moment, blue boxes started appearing in front of the eyes of everyone present in the room…

Seeing the bunch of messages popping up one after the other, everyone became quiet and started reading it. And once they were done, all of them looked at each other to confirm that they all got the same message…

“Guys, do you know what is this cataclysm?” Sanjay asked.

“It usually refers to an event that causes a great amount of destruction,” Suzie said.

“So what should we do now?” Soo-Young asked in a scared voice.

“Follow the instruction. We have to prepare.” Dave said in a grim voice.

***

5 mins ago,

Sonia was in her house provided to her by Yureka. Igor was fast asleep inside while she was out in her small backyard basking in the moonlight. She tried her best to quell any doubts that the Earthians had about them. She answered them best of her abilities and she thinks that she did a good job in it. And now all she could do is wait.

Yureka was pretty open about the future vision of Earthians in the city. Because strength matters a lot in this world, any Earthian who is willing to become a warrior or an adventurer would be supported by the city. They would be provided with homes and a certain amount of fees from time to time during their tenure under the city.

But the Earthians who were cowards or were not willing to fight will be cast out by the city. The city will not provide any sort of facilities to them. And their movements would be restricted. They cannot migrate to another city or become a warrior in the future. Because if they did so, Yureka would make sure that they would be hunted down and killed by her most loyal servants.

It was a little bit cruel, to force someone to fight for death. But the morals of this world are very fickle, to begin with. And the sooner the Earthians recognize this fact, the better it would be for them.

The only regret that Sonia had was that she played a very important role in the manipulation plan by Yureka. According to her instructions, she had explained all about the world to Earthians. And then she had deliberately portrayed an image in their minds from which they would think that working as a Guard or an adventurer is a pretty noble job in this world. And the people who do not work at these jobs are considered weak people and they are destined to die penniless.

It is the harsh truth about the world. But somewhere in her heart, she feels what she did was a little unethical…

SWING

Sonia took out her sword and started swinging it. As she couldn't sleep she thought that she should practice her swordplay a little bit. Maybe she would be able to get a stat point while practicing.

Before she thought that one could only get stat points if they level up. It is only later that she realized that if one strengthens their core attribute by doing repetitive tasks then they would be able to get a stat point for themselves. Like when she used to practice sword swinging in her earlier days, the sword was very heavy for her. But after constant swinging, she automatically gained 1 strength stat point.

And when she started exercising regularly, she gained dexterity and endurance stat points. In the same way, Igor found out that when someone reads the books of this world, they gain intelligence stat points.

Now she had reached the stage when swinging the sword doesn't easily give a stat point. But she still keeps trying, after all, she needs the power to survive in this world.

While swinging the sword, Sonia heard a squeaking noise from her left. When she turned that way, she saw a mole the size of Corgy eating away her vegetable garden. Seeing this she got irritated. She hated these creatures as they always destroys her garden. So stopped swinging for a moment, she gripped the tightly in her hand, and then she threw the sword like a spear towards the mole.

The sword easily penetrated the moleskin and thus killing him easily. But it was then Sonia started to get a string of messages in front of her.

*****

Ravenshade is known throughout out Midgard as the city of magic. The Mage of this city had adept in magical art and they are known to produce the strongest mages in the whole of Midgard. And one of the biggest accomplishments of this city is the network of Watch towers that they had built throughout their domain.

Every watch tower had a certain number of soldiers guarding it. These soldiers go on regular patrols to see whether any beasts are spawning in the nearby area. And if there is then they take care of it. Or if beasts that had spawned are a lot then, they can contact the watch tower above them and order major reinforcements. And just like that with the combination of 50 small watch towers and 4 Big Camps, most of the beast tides and attacks from any other city are easily dealt with…

Like always 3 soldiers of Ravenshade city were off on a regular patrol when they saw an orange light in the sky towards their left. Seeing this everyone stopped. Usually, the orange light in the sky means that there a monster had spawned just below the illuminated area. So the three soldiers started moving toward the light to scout the area. Their job was to look at the monster that had spawned and deal with it if they can.

But as they were moving towards it, they started noticing a very peculiar thing. Usually, after the monster spawned, the orange light vanished without a trace. But today, that didn't happen. As they were moving toward the spawning point they could help but notice that the orange light didn't vanish. It was still there.

Seeing this the two of the soldiers looked towards Ron who was the leader of the group. He had been working at his watch tower for 50 years and was quite an experienced soldier.

“Why the hell is that light not going away?” one of the soldiers asked.

“I do not know. Never saw something like this before.” Ron truthfully answered.

“What do you reckon that is then?” the other soldier asked.

“DDon'tknow. But it is our job to find out what that hell that is.” Ron said and with that, they started moving toward the spawning point….

***

15 mins later.

The southernmost watch tower of the Ravenshade city was oddly quiet at the moment. 6 men were sitting around the table and playing cards. The silent game of cards was so intense that none of them noticed that 3 of their comrades who had gone on patrol under the leadership of Ron hadn't returned yet. They would have probably not even noticed them missing. But it was then…

BAAM!

The door of the watch tower swung open and Ron ran inside while covered in blood. The men of the watch tower only saw a glimpse of the man, but they smelled the blood on him. Some saw the blood on him firsthand. And all of them noticed that there was not a trace of the other two soldiers that went him. Seeing this everyone got up and rushed inside to see what had transpired…

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