"...if any freelance Awakeners try to claim the zone, they will be caught and executed. That is the law."
Captain Ryker of the Floor 101 Division of the Tower Guard said it flatly, like he was reciting sothing carved into stone.
It was already evening, and we were all gathered in front of the zone. I couldn’t count the number of people assembled here, but one thing was obvious, there were far more freelancers than Guild teams.
That realization made twitch.
Captain Ryker stood above us on a floating platform, explaining the rules. He looked to be in his early thirties and had the sharp, narrowed gaze typical of Tower Guards.
"I advise you not to commit any cris except hunting monsters in there," he said.
"Rember, we are Awakeners, and we tend to hold grudges for a very long ti."
Is he warning us not to fight each other because we might et again outside? I thought. Then another thought followed imdiately.....if Awakeners kill each other in there... who would even take revenge?
Ryker raised a hand. "No one is allowed to bring a personal spatial ring. We will supply you with our own."
The reason was obvious, to prevent anyone from smuggling in sothing too dangerous and so they could accurately assess the value of whatever resources were brought back.
"Now then, the next thing is..."
"Finally, it’s over," Litha muttered beside after a long ti.
We’d been standing there for close to an hour listening to him.
Once it was done, we were directed to the inspection area. It went quickly. All our weapons and tools were transferred into the temporary rings they issued us.
Team Gold wore black, with Thayer’s emblem on the chest, a gold coin bearing his smiling face.
Then it was back to standing with the others.
Ryker looked over us and nodded, seemingly satisfied.
"I’ll give you one last warning. There are different types of zones and I’m not talking about ranks, I’m talking about rules. Especially zones with this level of power. They tend to get... personal before you can claim them."
I narrowed my eyes. Do they know sothing they’re not telling us?
"Well then. Best of luck."
With that, he disappeared into the zone.
The front of the black castle swirled gently with darkness. No light passed through it. This was a High Zone in our rank, things worked differently here. Still, just looking at it made shiver. It reminded too much of dungeons.
The remaining Tower Guards began directing people into the zone one by one.
"Why did the captain also enter?" Tim asked.
"Probably to make sure we all start at the sa ti," Litha guessed.
"Seems reasonable," Cele nodded.
When it was our turn, we were guided to the entrance. Temur went in first, followed by Dile, then Cele and Tim.
"See you on the other side," I said to Litha and stepped forward.
Passing through felt like brushing against sothing that both existed and didn’t at the sa ti. I shuddered as darkness swallowed whole.
Whatever I expected to see on the other side...it wasn’t this?
"This is strange," Litha said behind as she erged from the dark doorway.
Instead of a room, we found ourselves in what looked like a crumbled village. Shattered houses lay everywhere. There was a sky overhead, a blazing sun, and so buildings were still smoking.
The air reeked of burnt wood and ash, smoke hanging thick and heavy.
New Awakeners began murmuring among themselves, while those who had clearly seen zones like this before remained calm, almost relaxed.
Temur turned and counted Team Gold. When he confird we were all present, he beckoned us closer.
"Rember what we planned. For now, we watch and learn."
Captain Ryker was still floating above us, his eyes sweeping the zone. From his vantage point, all that stretched before him were endless rolls of broken rooftops.
"I’ll be leaving now," he said. "Know this, the Tower Guards have eyes among you. If any rules are broken, we’ll know. And you will be found."
The mont the last person entered, he shot away, vanishing without hesitation. I glanced back at the darkness of the entrance. I half expect the door to lock shut but nothing of such happened.
Temur took the lead, and we followed. We searched through the houses first, but found nothing of interest.
"I don’t get it," Tim said. "I thought we’d be dropped into a forest or sowhere crawling with monsters. What is this place?"
I looked around at the other teams. Most were searching just like us but one group hadn’t moved at all since entering.
The Walkers.
From their attire and flat expressions, I could tell imdiately, they were veterans and this wasn’t new to them.
Studying the atmosphere, I noticed two distinct behaviors. So Awakeners were already moving quickly, eager to be the first to hunt monsters. Others stood still, waiting like they were expecting sothing.
So newbies like us are poking around because we don’t know what’s coming, I realized, while the experienced ones are waiting.
I knew exactly which group I wanted to emulate.
"Temur!" I called.
He was inspecting a chest inside a one-room house with its roof torn off. I jerked my thumb toward the outside and explained what I’d noticed.
"Now that you ntion it..." Litha narrowed her eyes.
"We should follow their lead," Cele said.
Temur shrugged. "That’s probably best. At the very least, we should understand why they’re waiting. This zone is different from the others we’ve been to."
"Completely different," Tim muttered.
So we went back outside and waited.
By then, about half the Awakeners had already wandered off. The rest stood silently.
It didn’t take long for the tension to rise. I felt it as a faint heat crawling along my skin. I was just starting to think I’d miscalculated, wondering if there really was no reason to stay behind..... .
.....when the sky split open with a sound like tearing paper.
Sothing shot down from the rift above.
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