"-eke?"
The sound of his name being called tugged him back into reality, and upon glancing in the direction of the voice, it was revealed to him that it was Esmerelda's voice that had called him.
Blinking absentmindedly and finding that it was not just her who was staring at him, but every other member of the Ravenlight Party, along with his uncle. Bonehead leaned halfway out of his seat to crane his neck to look at him. Jass was in a similar position; Sam and Bjorn had shifted themselves entirely in their seats to get a full look at Deacon and were scouring his form from head to toe.
"Are you okay?" Esmerelda repeated once more; this time her voice was clearer to him.
"Y-yeah," Deacon said, swallowing down the dry saliva in his throat as he forced the edge down with a quick nod as he glanced to see Uncle Bjorn's dark eyes fixate right on him. "Just… I was lost in thought."
Closing the door behind him, he stepped fully out of the room's small entrance walkway and inside the room, and almost everyone immediately went back to what they'd been doing before. He swallowed dryly as his gaze flicked back to the mirror across from the door.
It reflected back his somewhat pale skin, but along with that, he could still practically see the image of his uncle's expression lingering in the back of his mind like a splinter he couldn't dig out.
Did he go to our Floor One and see something there that made him angry? Deacon asked himself. But he reached Floor Thirty Four last time I asked, so why would he go to our Floor One…
Making his way to Esmerelda, who stood waiting for him just a couple of feet away, Deacon took out his Water Tin and took a few sparse sips before putting it away. In doing so, he caught sight of Esmerelda staring at him with a concerned gaze.
As he brushed past her, he gave her the smallest shake of his head, signaling her that he did not want to talk about what was and still is going through his mind.
Her lips flattened into a line, but, acquiescing to his gesture, they both walked together toward the row of crimson seats where everyone else sat.
The rest of the party had already turned their focus from Deacon and settled themselves in – Sam sat beside Bjorn as they were having a back-and-forth conversation that was about climbing the Tower and the situations they could potentially face.
Jass lounging back in the plush seat with her legs raised atop a small plush stool and with her manaphone in hand playing a racing sim, and Bonehead managed to find the seat remote and transform the plush seat into a massage one, and reveled in its features, despite not having a single muscle on his body.
"What—" Esmerelda began, her voice barely above a whisper as she sat beside him; however, she didn't get the chance to finish her sentence.
"Hello, Climbers of Gen 327!"
The speakers crackled to life, and a booming and overly cheerful voice flooded the private box until the walls that held it together seemed to shake from the vibrations.
Deacon's head snapped toward the glass wall in front of them, and he could see that, past the massive glass window, a kilometer away from where they all sat in the private box, on the vast stage below, smoke hissed out in curling waves, and within it a woman strode onto the stage.
And as the faint outline of her figure became visible through the haze, almost everyone in the audience erupted into cheers as practically everyone recognized their announcer despite only seeing her body's outline.
Reacting swiftly, Bjorn reached for the console on the table beside him without saying a word, and with a few taps across it, the massive glass window in front of them shimmered for a brief moment before the view pulled forward and sharpened until it looked like the woman and the stage were standing no more than a few strides away from them.
The female announcer strode confidently out of the smoke and into the spotlight, revealing to all her long hair that was a bright pale pink color with streaks of green highlighting the edges, hugging her form, much to the delight and ire of most in the crowd who were still cheering.
She wore flowing, embroidered robes in shades that matched her hair; the style was distinctly like the garments that were from the ancient eastern countries that they were forced to learn about on the history of Earth, and every stitch glimmered faintly as she moved.
In her hand, she carried a microphone worked in silver, and the moment it touched her lips, the sound of her voice rolled through the entire arena.
"Hi! Hi!" she chirped, flashing everyone in the crowd a closed-eyed smile. "Congratulations on completing five Floors to get here in such a short amount of time! Practically every climber before you was losing their minds after learning how your Gen pulled a Treasure Hunt Floor for Floor Three."
"So, let's hear it for your amazing luck and skill!"
The reaction was instant. The cadets below exploded into shouts and whistles, the noise hitting the ceiling in a wave. Deacon picked out a few of the louder cries—
"They got Marnia Viller to be our announcer!"
"I have all your albums!"
"Holy shit!"
"By the goth milfs below and above," Bonehead muttered, his jaw dropping open like it might just fall clean off. "It's Marnia Viller… she remembered my donation and came for me…"
Jass's head snapped toward him, a grin tugging at her mouth. "I'm surprised you even know her, considering you never shut up about your so-called 'goth mommies.'"
"Shhhh!" Bonehead hissed, thrusting his bony hand out to slap across her face without looking away from the glass. "Preppy, excitable idol by day, thicc goth mommy by night; that is Marnia Viller. Do not attempt to sully the dominator of my dreams in my presence."
Jass peeled his skeletal hand off her face and tossed it aside with an annoyed flick. "Ugh," she muttered, rolling her eyes.
But when she glanced around, she froze at what she saw; Sam's mouth hung open and Deacon's eyes were just as wide, locked onto the stage with a rare look of disbelief – just Marnia Viller's presence alone had pushed aside the lingering thoughts he had about his uncle's expression. Even Bonehead, still muttering reverently under his breath, looked like he'd been told he now had an unlimited supply of alchemical reagents.
Only Esmerelda and Bjorn sat unmoved; Esmerelda had her arms crossed and lips pressed in a flat line, while Bjorn was leaning back in his seat, chuckling at Deacon's expression, snapping a quick photo of it on his manaphone.
"Boys…" Jass groaned, shaking her head as she sank deeper into her chair.
On the stage, Marnia lifted her microphone with the ease of someone born to it, her smile wide enough to catch the spotlight. "I won't waste your time, as I'm sure you all want to climb onto Floor Six and get to work on finishing your first ever Linked Floor Quests and getting your first Achievement. So, without dragging it out, let me explain the rules of the Group Tournament!"
The massive screen hovering above the stage flickered to life, pulling up a series of colorful graphics that danced alongside her words.
"The group aspect should be simple enough to understand," she continued, pacing across the wooden platform with the silk of her robe trailing behind her like a tide of pale pink and green. "Just like every Generation's first Linked Quest, until its completion, every floor has been, and will continue to be, group-focused, with Party feature being at its core focus."
"Knowing this, the Iron Scale Guild, in cooperation with the Tower itself, has developed a device that can assign you points based on your Party's accomplishments while completing the Floor Quests."
The cheering that followed was immediate, a thundering applause and roar of voices shaking the chamber.
"And," Marnia added with a playful little wink, "given what we've gleaned from you about what you've seen on your Floor Five… you lot have a lot to look forward to."
That wink set the crowd ablaze again. Bonehead was no exception as he shot to his feet with his bony hands raised in the air. "Yes! She winked at me! Me! Haha!"
"She winked at literally everyone, idiot," Jass snapped, grabbing his arm and yanking him back down into the seat before he could embarrass himself further.
"For the Solo Tournament," Marnia went on once the noise had ebbed enough for her voice to rise above it again, "it goes in tandem with the Group one. Points will be awarded depending on the level of the enemies you kill and the modifiers they might have—" she paused, her lips curving slyly, "—excluding your fellow cadets, of course. Attacking or killing them will provide you with no points, and depending on who the aggressor of the fight is, a bounty will be placed on their head that increases per person attacked by them, and upon tearing the device off their person, you will gain that bounty's full amount while they will be kicked out of both tournaments."
The audience roared with laughter at her teasing tone, though Deacon's brow furrowed as the words sank in. A device tied directly to the Tower's mechanics itself? That wasn't something to dismiss lightly.
"How?" Jass's voice cut through the relative quiet in their private box. She was sitting forward now, staring intently down at the stage. "How could anyone work with the Tower… which was created by the System? I've never even heard of such a thing… and the only devices I've heard created by System that we could use were the Artifacts."
Her eyes shifted toward Bjorn, who was leaning back casually in his seat, the faintest curve at the corner of his lips as though he'd been expecting the question.
"My lips are sealed," he said smoothly, smirk growing. "But… the answers you're looking for will be found as you climb higher."
"Now I'm sure you might all be wondering," Marnia's voice snapped attention back to the stage, her tone turning teasing as she pressed a finger against her cheek, tilting her head just so, "Marnia, what are the rewards for each of the tournaments, and where do I get the device needed to earn my points?"
The crowd below roared like starving animals tossed a scrap of meat. Even Bonehead added his own shrill whistle into the din, clutching his skullcap with both hands as if to keep it from flying off.
"Well, wonder no longer," she said, laughter tucked behind her words. "The rewards are these right here."
With a wave of her sleeve, a hologram appeared beside her and began listing out the place rewards of each tournament as she said them.
"Group Tournament Rewards," she announced, and the crowd hushed to listen.
"Third Place: A Tier One Guild Waystone."
The cheers rumbled again, though the Ravenlight Party gave no reaction as they had already had one in their Party's Spatial Storage Bag.
"Second Place: Third Place's reward, a Tier Two Waystone upgrade, and coverage costs to build or upgrade your Guild Base."
"Yeah, I'd much rather that than have one of their builders build our base for us," Sam said, to which they agreed with as they had having another guild know the layout of their own guild base and location was utterly dumb.
Just having them cover the costs of its construction or upgrade was perfect.
"And finally… First Place." She drew it out, letting silence build, every set of eyes trained on her as the last line burned itself into being. "Second Place's rewards… plus year-long access tickets to use the Iron Scale Guild's Hunting Grounds."
"Is that supposed to mean something?" Deacon asked his friends around him and his uncle, looking completely clueless.
"I guess so…" Jass answered, looking just as confused as he was, along with everyone else in their Party – even Sam.
"It's a ticket that you can use to hunt and explore every Floor they've claimed as a hunting ground, which is quite a lot. They hold quite a bit of valuables, rare creatures, herbs, and much more," Bjorn explained for the group, highlighting the significance of the reward.
Marnia wasn't finished. "Solo Tournament Rewards," she announced, and another list sparked to life beside the Group Tournament Rewards one.
"Third Place: a Full Equipment Upgrade Pass that lasts one full year.
A solid reward, Deacon shrugged.
"Second Place: Third Place's reward, plus a Custom Tailored Artifact Upgrade and Enhancement."
"Holy crap," Deacon muttered. "Don't those go for like 1 billion credits… each?"
"Yeah," Sam muttered in surprise. "… They do."
"And First Place…" Marnia paused, letting the moment hang like a blade suspended by a hair. Her lips curved, and when she spoke again, the name hit like thunder. "Second Place's rewards… plus the Apple of Iðunn."
For a moment, the audience ceased their cheers and just stared in silence.
Then, only after a few seconds of silence did it get broken by an ungodly amount of cheers and whistling.
"Holy Fuck!"
"Doesn't that go for over 20 billion credits?"
"Marnia, step on me, please!"
Even Bjorn shifted in his seat at the revelation of the first place's reward of the Solo Tournament; his eyes widening in surprise.
He muttered to himself in disbelief, "They're giving that away…?"
"Now, now," Marnia sang out, lifting her free hand in mock defense. "I haven't even told you where to find the devices that tally your points."
With that, the crowd fell silent again, with every cadet leaning forward to her words with bated breath.
"They're beneath your seats."
With that, the Announcement Hall erupted into chaos.