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Jackal held his breath, staring from his concealed position as the dragon’s companions left the tunnel and entered the second floor. Once they were out of sight, and Jackal could no longer discern their footsteps from the ambient noise, he exhaled and climbed out of his hiding spot. He made his way over to the tunnel and crouched by the two armored men. Their eyes were glazed over, and their bodies were unmoving. Jackal placed one finger underneath each men’s noses. After a few seconds, a small smile appeared on his face as he confirmed they were still breathing. The dragon’s companions were more merciful than expected. They had actually left the muggers alive.

Jackal retrieved the halberd with the fire-shaped blade and the white rifle. He stripped off the glove with the Legion of Light’s emblem on it before storing all the items into his root bracelet. When the items vanished from his hands, a vial with purple liquid inside of it appeared where the weapons had been. Jackal uncorked the vial and used an eyedropper to drip a few drops of the liquid into each of the men’s mouths. Their bodies jerked and twitched as foam bubbled out of their mouths. Their eyes, which had glazed over, rolled towards the tops of their heads, only the whites left showing. A few seconds later, their bodies stopped moving.

Jackal rose to his feet and stowed the vial with the remainder of the purple liquid. At the same time, he retrieved a knife from his root bracelet. Without hesitation, he stabbed himself just below his shoulder, the blade exiting out of his armpit. His lips contorted into a grimace, revealing his curved and pointed teeth, and he pulled the knife out. The root bracelet on his wrist flashed, and the knife was replaced by a cloak which he equipped to hide his wound. Jackal’s eyes narrowed as he headed in the direction that the dragon’s companions had went, not minding the warm liquid slowly flowing down his torso.

***

The second floor was a large space with a massive, brown dome acting as a ceiling. An artificial sun hung in the sky, illuminating the buildings arranged in neat rows and columns. The streets were filled with people walking in different directions.

“I guess there really are areas of the tower where no one’s watching,” Tafel said, looking behind herself. Even though Lindyss had ruthlessly bashed the two muggers into the wall, there were no signs of their group getting into trouble. Guards didn’t come after them, and an administrator like Geomi didn’t show themselves.

“If the tower’s willing to let me skip an entrance exam, I think it’d be willing to overlook your acts of violence too,” Melody said. She glanced at her root bracelet and read her information again, confirming she was now qualified to stay on the second floor. The tower was scared of a dragon; wasn’t that too ridiculous?

“That’s true,” Tafel said and turned her head back to look ahead. She didn’t have to watch where she was going thanks to the mount beneath her butt. “Where are you taking us, Diamant?”

“Where am I taking you?” Diamant asked. “Where are you taking me? I’ve been following your aunt.”

Lindyss raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you want to go sightseeing? I’ve been walking around while taking in the sights.” Her eyes narrowed at the people who were gawking at their group. “But it seems like we’re the most interesting things on this floor.” She glanced to the side without moving her head. “I blame the spider.”

“You can blame Vur for this,” Diamant said, the front legs of the spider shrugging. “I’m just following orders.”

Tafel glanced around. “What is this place supposed to be, anyway?” she asked. Her eyes focused on the tops of the buildings where holographic images of giant weapons were displayed. Each building had a different weapon hovering over it. “I didn’t think much of Kim Hajun before, but I’m starting to miss him now. It’d sure be nice to have a tour guide.”

Lindyss grunted. “Shouldn’t there be people looking to sell guide services?” she asked. “I guess we’re unlucky since we met muggers instead.” She stepped to the side to make space for a cloaked figure to walk past, but the person fell over to the side instead, landing with a thump.

Diamant came to a halt, and Tafel raised an eyebrow. “Hey, are you alright?” she asked, leaning over the spider’s head to get a better look at the cloaked figure that had fallen in front of her mount. “Where did he come from? You didn’t knock him over, right?”

“No,” Diamant said. “He just fell. Is this a classic scam where someone fakes an injury? If there are muggers, then there should be scammers too.”

“If it is a scam, he’s quite devoted to the bit,” Lindyss said. She walked over to the collapsed figure and used her foot to raise its cloak, revealing a bloody torso. Her brow furrowed, and she pointed a finger at the man. A white light radiated out of her fingertip, illuminating the cloaked man’s whole body.

The man groaned and sat up, the hood of his cloak sliding down to reveal a jackal’s head. His eyes widened upon seeing Lindyss, and he touched the area beneath his shoulder. “Did you heal me?” he asked as he donned his hood once more. “Thank you. You can call me Jackal. If there’s anything I can do to repay you, let me know.”

Lindyss took a step back. “How well do you know the second floor?”

“I know it quite well,” Jackal said as he climbed to his feet. “Are you newcomers, perhaps? I’m usually a very busy individual, but I can take some time out of my day to act as a guide.”

“How convenient,” Tafel said, glancing down at her seat as if she could look past its grassy exterior to see Vur sleeping inside. “We needed a guide, and a guide appeared.”

“Yes, how convenient,” Lindyss said with a monotonous voice. She nodded at Jackal. “Well, alright, guide us then.”

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