Legends of Orlea

Chapter 22:

(There is a giant, massive, massive timeskip  in this episode. Don't say I didn't warn ya!)

Zirem and Alicia ran up the stairs three at a time, making it to floor 1954 in a few seconds. There, Alicia lead him to the boss dungeon of the floor, and they finished it quickly. On floor 1955, they met Akil at the first town, one called Solime, where commerce was booming. Many people decided to stop climbing despite the danger of the tornado. 

Zirem let the massive man hug him, and then pushed himself out of the embrace after a few seconds. They spent some time chatting, but it was ended by the rumbling of the tornado that was climbing up a floor. "Geez, that thing just won't stop... Annoying."

"Dude. Of course. I haven't been on the frontier for at least a year now. I was close, but never on it."

"Right. For you it's been the biggest pain; you were always the closest to it of us three."

"Yeah. Feel my pain," he joked. 

"Shut up!"

"Haha!" They kept walking, until they left the town entirely. "We'd better get going. I don't want to end up destroyed by the tornado. It still goes just a bit faster than us."

"How do you know?"

"I sometimes go to see it."

"AAH! I got you! Finally, you have been exposed! You do check where the tornado is at!"

"Crap. You got me." They reached the boss dungeon, and Akil opened the door to it. As they ran through, Alicia got lost as she took a wrong turn, and Zirem only noticed a few seconds later that she wasn't following them. he whirled, and yelled at Akil, "Stay there! I'll be back in a sec!"

"Okay!" Zirem rushed off, following the trail of dust Alicia had been making. Since his stats were so much higher, he soon caught up, but not before she had found the boss room. "Alicia! Just wait here 'till I get Akil."

"Sure." He ran all the way back, and grabbed Akil, showing him the way. When they reached the boss room, they opened the doors, and commenced the fight.

-----------------5 years later--------------- (Told ya!)

Five years had gone by. Now, the end was in sight. Even the player on the lowest floor that was still alive was on floor 4500. The tornado, at this point, was way behind; on floor 3500 or so. Zirem himself was going through floor 4976. 24 more to go. Less, now that he was past that one. 

Alicia and Akil both managed to stay alive during the whole game, and they were now so close. However, their concentration was failing now, the closer they were getting. They couldn't focus on the monsters, only on the one image they had left of real life. The one their brains had made up. Five years without any reminder, that was too long. Now, they would put an end to this.

They'd also discovered something. The identity and location of the leader of Haclaw's guild. They'd faced many members of the guild, and were now very close to the demolition of the whole thing. 

When they passed the next floor, a new (New as in never seen before) player, obviously very experienced, asked them, "Would you accept me in your guild?" 

He was a bit short, blonde, had blue eyes, and wore an armour that seemed a bit flimsy, but he had a resolve in his eyes that wouldn't be erased. His eyes almost sparkled as he asked, but Alicia said no. Then, she drew her sword, and the face-off began. "So my cover is blown. You know who I am."

"Yes. You're the person who was the mastermind behind all the injustice in this game," she replied harshly. He seemed a bit surprised at that, but then got over it. However, he didn't give them any more time to get ready. Quickly, the man who was supposedly named Gindil charged, slicing at Alicia with one of his two short swords.