Watching the central plaza of the Town of Beginnings, Jayce was now aware that the news Argo had shared with him was spreading quickly. A large group of people milled about talking excitedly with one another staring expectantly at the large archway that made up the very center of the town. This archway was currently nothing more than stones assembled to form two tall legs that curved and met one another at their peak. Up until today it had served no real purpose.
According to Argo a party of players had begun battling the boss creature of this floor. High up in the labyrinth that made up the pillar supporting the second floor was where those players now fought. The meeting Jemza had mentioned two days ago had been a planning meeting to formulate a strategy on tackling the boss. Argo had sounded quite confident that they would succeed. Afterwards the players would activate the portal up on the second floor and it would link with the one here in the Town of Beginnings.
Jayce stayed in the shadow of a building further away from the portal watching with a mix of anticipation and excitement. A new floor meant a myriad of things. New equipment, crafting materials, quests, and various other things would be available to the player base. More than any of that, however, was that this was the first step in freeing themselves from this prison. That very thought gave Jayce a sense of appreciation and respect to the brave men and women who were either currently fighting for their lives against the boss or had already succeeded.
He leaned forward as a flash of light appeared in the center of the archway. It blinked once before expanding rapidly into a swirling vortex. Hundreds if not thousands of players cheered as they watched the portal come to life heralding the verification that the team of players had been successful. Argo had been right. Not that Jayce would ever question her as she tended to be reliable when it came to information. With 98 floors remaining to clear, the task remaining was monumental, but at last, a month after being trapped the first step had now been taken.
Players began to enter the portal transporting them to the next floor. A quick blur of brown caught his eye drawing his attention away from the excitement. The unmistakable form of Argo running for the portal was a curious sight until he also saw the pair of players chasing after her. Both were in black cloth with similar colored masks weaving through the crowd to try and catch up to her. What was more interesting was that they seemed to be gaining on her, which considering her assumed agility, left Jayce impressed.
What made Jayce leave the shadow of the building and start chasing after them wasn't because of curiosity, but because the way Argo ran was out of fear. The two masked players chasing her were clearly after her in a non-friendly fashion and she was desperately trying to evade them. He sprinted ahead pushing his way through the crowd of people ignoring the handful of insults for his trouble. Argo and the two players disappeared into the portal far ahead of where he continued to struggle to make progress.
It took nearly two full minutes to finally enter the archway. Jayce's vision blurred for a few moments as he was teleported from the Town of Beginnings up to the main town of the second floor. When things began to refocus themselves he looked around quickly hoping to catch a glimpse of either Argo or the two chasing her. With their speed and falling two full minutes behind they were long gone by now. His agility parameters were nowhere near the level necessary to keep up and he didn't have the <<Search>> skill to try and track Argo. For now he just had to hope that she wasn't in any real danger.
After moving away from the portal as more people continued to filter through, Jayce looked around at the town. A large central street carved through the town from North to South similar to the Town of Beginnings. The buildings lining the street were all roughly the same height following the same style as the Town of Beginnings. The entire town itself was situated within a crater carved into a flat topped mountain with the gates to the city formed into the perimeter of the crater.
"It's called Urbus." Jayce was looking down the long stretch of road the formed the central avenue of the town when he heard the voice. If it hadn't been directly behind him he would have assumed it was just someone talking nearby, but this was a too close, and he knew the voice. As quietly as possible he breathed in deeply letting it back out through his nose.
"You're here too?" A quiet laugh came from behind him in response to his question making him look down at the ground.
"Of course, I needed to collect on your debt." Jayce raised his head still unable to turn around and face the person talking behind him.
"Debt?" He asked unable to remember owing anybody anything. His breath hung in his throat for a few seconds as Jemza came around from behind him and stood so they were face to face.
"You promised me dinner in exchange for this." She answered reaching down and tapping the handle of the <<Anneal Blade>> on his hip. He looked down at the sword and then back up at here. The only thing he could read on her face was a look of simple amusement. She spun on her heel and started walking away with both hands clasped behind her back.
"Why...why are you doing this?" She stopped a few feet away and looked back over her shoulder.
"Maybe because you spent hours beside me helping me get this dagger. Or, perhaps because you saved my life when I should have died. If I had to pick a reason, then I suppose I'll go with how I fell asleep in your room with no blanket and woke up with one over me." She immediately began walking away again. Before she turned her face ahead once more he could have sworn he saw a bit of redness in her cheeks.
It was clear what she meant. Without saying it or bringing it up she was forgiving him. Now, she left it up to him whether or not he could accept her forgiveness or stay in isolation. For the briefest of moments, he hesitated knowing full well that something like this could happen again in the future. She deserved better than that. If he just watched her walk away, then he would never scare her again. She would be safe, wouldn't she? Would someone else dive in front of her if the situation happened once more, or would she shatter into a million pieces perishing from this world and the real one?
There was a common phrase shared all over the world. A phrase that Jayce couldn't get out of his head mostly because it was fitting for the current decision he had to make. The first step is always the hardest. Just like making the decision to leave the Town of Beginnings beside Jemza. Standing beside her while they fought for hours in the shade of the forest on the outskirts of Horunka. He remembered the elation they both felt when after hours of searching, their target finally presented itself. They both stared at it in relief holding hands like it was perfectly natural.
"Ok..." He muttered forcing his right foot forward. She was already too far away to hear him, but after his foot hit the stone he lifted his other foot and pushed it ahead walking quickly to catch up to her. Exactly like the saying went, that first step had been the hardest, but now he quickened his pace jogging until he came up next to her. They walked in silence for a few minutes until Jemza lifted her hand and manipulated her system menus while they walked. After tapping once Jayce saw a window appear in front of him.
<<Jemza has invited you to join her party>>
With a relieved sigh he reached up towards the <<Accept>> button. A hand grabbed his wrist making him stop walking and look over at the girl next to him. Her look of amusement was gone, and now she stared at him completely serious. She let his arm go and looked down at the ground between them.
"Don't leave me like that again. Alright?" Her voice was a mix of sadness and fear. She was good at covering up her emotions, but he knew that right now this was her honest self-speaking. He couldn't continue to live with as much self-pity as he had been displaying to Jemza these last couple days. He wasn't the only person scared to be in this world. For once, without hesitating he reached up and tapped the <<Accept>> button quickly.
"I won't. I promise." She raised her head staring at him again. Her features softened and she gave a nod.
"Alright, then shall we move on to food?"
"It's still fairly early and I promised you dinner so maybe we could just explore the town a bit? Then we can find someplace to eat?" Jemza grinned and narrowed her eyes in response to his question.
"That sounds like a date Alchemist. Quite bold of you." She said making him take a step back.
"No, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that!" She waved a hand at his protests to show she was only joking. She began walking once more shaking her head slowly while laughing.
"You coward."