欧洲无人区天空码头IV

He needed to get to the next floor as soon as possible.

They would most likely level up in the next room. After that, he would have no choice but to go back to [0-0].

"So, how did you get here?" asked Aleesia.

Mori turned around.

"The mountain range west of Dustriver."

Aleesia was nodding.

"Wish I could\'ve visited that part of the continent," she said.

Mori approached closer, doubt on his mind.

"You... want to visit the continent where DiveCore is most established?"

"Dive what?"

His eyebrows shot up.

Elves are so far removed from world politics, they probably see the border conflict as something that will roll over in a couple of years, or decades.

"Humans have arrived from another world, they took over several regions, don\'t you know?"

Her face showed he was right, she had no idea what he talked about.

She looked as if she was digging deep, looking inward and outward for clues as to what he could be rambling on about but nothing.

"Well, that\'s just how humans are. No offense to you, but wars are so common it\'s pointless to keep track. They rarely poke at us, not that they didn\'t try, just recently they sent some emissary trying to bribe some of our council members."

Mori\'s attention was undivided as he listened to her talk.

"Can you tell me more about that?" he asked.

"Well, they said they were peace emissaries. They went through the trouble of reaching us so we gave them an audience."

In the game, reaching the elves is extremely hard. The worst part was probably having to listen to them afterward, as their arrogance toward humans was unparalleled.

It was only hard if you went there with no knowledge. Once you knew the inner-workings of the elvish society, coming and going was actually pretty easy. They most likely made it look like they went through hell while just using their game knowledge.

"Anything stood out?" asked Mori.

"Well, my father said once they were told elves wouldn\'t ally themselves with anyone they simply left, just like that."

"How long ago was this?" he asked.

"Maybe six months? What? Why?"

Mori started pacing again, tuning out Aleesia\'s voice that echoed in the background of the room and his mind.

He took a few steps toward her again.

"Don\'t you think it\'s weird they came all the way you, only to nicely turn around when turned down?" he asked.

"What else can they do but leave? We wouldn\'t have changed our minds, they probably realized it."

They already knew you wouldn\'t ally yourself with anyone. Everyone knows how you believe yourselves to be above anything the realm goes through. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence would realize they went there for other reasons.

Mori scratched his head, while biting his bottom lip.

"What\'s your name?" asked Aleesia.

"Didn\'t I mention it? Mori."

"Huh. Mori. The emissaries also had funny names."

"What do you mean?" asked Mori, confused.

"Steadfast, Karma, Reaper, they don\'t sound like names we\'re used to from you guys."

Mori\'s gaze went blank, his hand firmly gripping his spear.

The passageway\'s outline kept drawing itself on the wall, silently progressing through the tiles as he stood there, immobile.

Aleesia\'s eyes jumped around the room.

She felt like anything she said, at this point, triggered Mori, which wasn\'t far from the truth. It also felt like anything she did upset him, so keeping interactions at a minimum felt like the right thing to do.

But something felt wrong.

"You seem concerned, is there something I should know about them?" she asked.

"I\'m guessing you escorted them out, saw them leave, maybe tailed them a while."

"I don\'t know, I\'m not really a part of all that stuff..."

"It doesn\'t matter, it was your mistake to even trust humans to be decent."

"But you\'re also-"

She didn\'t finish her sentence. If Mori\'s stare was knives, she\'d be stabbed to death right there.

"Once we get out of here I\'ll fix the problems you\'re causing."

"I doubt they\'ll let new visitors in anytime soon-"

"I don\'t care if they let me in or not, I\'ll kill and burn my way through your stupid forest if I need to."

The intensity in his tone changed the mood, the air felt colder and the silence between words heavier.

"W-What? Why? Did we upset you?"

Mori\'s eyes and muscles softened as he took a deep breath.

"No. No you did not."

Humans upset me. I told the moderator I would be the antagonist, but this isn\'t the kind of antagonist I want to become.

"Your kind is arrogant," said Mori, calmed.

Aleesia wasn\'t answering, still trying to figure out what was happening.

"In your arrogance, you tend to underestimate people who can easily take advantage of that. Like humans."

"There are wars recorded in our books, we have lost none against humans, doubt it would start now..."

"I don\'t care about what happens to you. You guys will reap what you sow."

Aleesia\'s face was getting redder, and her muscles more tense, but her self-control was surprisingly good.

She calmly replied, but her words were cut short and dry.

"Good. So I guess we\'ll lose a war you think might maybe happen someday who knows."

"What I\'m thinking about, Aleesia, is the World Tree. The grasping roots. The divine-tier portal. The Divine Elixir. The Divine Tears. The-"

Aleesia jumped on her two feet, rapidly walking toward Mori.

"How do you know all of this?! Some of these things are secrets even among the council!" she said.

She looked at Mori up and down, trying to assess him but nothing stood out.

The same weak-but-useful human she encountered.

"You\'re working for them?" asked Aleesia.

"See, that\'s what I meant by arrogance. You think they discovered your secrets on their \'peace mission\' and then spread that information?"

"W-"

"When they came through your gates, they already had that information. They have more than that, actually. They probably looked weak and stupid to you, huh? As they strolled through your city?"

Aleesia\'s eyes went down, as she nervously played with her hair.

"I need to go back, quickly, I must warn everyone..."

"Yeah, sadly I also now need to go back with you, but this \'quickly\' part might not be possible."

Mori bit his bottom lip again, "If they get their hands on divine tears they could even the playing field..." he muttered.

Mori glanced at the wall, the passageway had appeared, finally allowing them to go through.

"Let\'s rush, then. Let\'s pick up the pace, find some sort of strategy so..." started Aleesia.

"It\'s useless," replied Mori. "Quick or not, they most likely already have their hands on what they need. I killed Reaper not so long ago, so he shouldn\'t have any clones in your city but still..."

"You killed reaper?"

"Quite easily, actually."

Aleesia tried to resist chuckling openly, which Mori immediately noticed.

Well, I\'m level 2 and stuck on the first level\'s farming level with her. I\'d have her reaction too, in her shoes.

"Alright, let\'s head to the next room. No point in overthinking what\'s happening outside of here, we could die in the next room for all we know."

Aleesia recovered her serious expression, as she followed Mori through the passageway.

"I\'m sorry," she said, breaking a short silence.

"What for?" asked Mori frowning.

"We do tend to be arrogant. I barely ever gave a thought to anything outside of what was in my immediate world."

Mori sighed, but for once, not in disappointment.

"It\'s fine. Worlds tend to crumble when we least expect it. All we ever knew was something we thought wouldn\'t end, but then it does."

Aleesia\'s tone was surprisingly serious as she spoke with Mori.

"I might\'ve tried to run away from home, but that was just for attention."

Mori\'s eyebrows went up, in disbelief.

She\'s extremely childish and stupid. But saying something like this requires maturity some people I know would never get in their lifetime.

"I thought maybe things would start going my way, if I did this. And now here I am, while everything and everyone I love is in danger..."

"If you hadn\'t run away, you wouldn\'t have met me here. Now that you did, you can make a difference, something you couldn\'t do, would you have stayed. Worlds crumbling create stronger people, like you and me need to become."

Aleesia looked at Mori, smiling, her cheeks pink.

"What?" said Mori.

"Nothing."

She jogged the last steps toward the room. Without waiting for any instructions, she went straight for the monster in the middle of it.

She was still closing her eyes as she swung randomly in front of her, but she did so while standing her ground.

Not running away.