Adam led their barriers down through the centre of the tower, passing by the burnt-out laboratorium, metal slime, and manawing floors before reaching the landing for the mana hoarders' barracks.

"Jesus Christ," Gladwyn muttered as they saw what lay in the entrance to the barracks chamber.

Her shoulders and head had been spared, but the rest of Maggie's body was pressed completely flat, turning skin, organs, and bones into a red smear.

They alighted next to her corpse and looked around for traps. However, it was immediately clear that this wasn't an ambush like they'd feared.

"She must've come into the tower when the Crawler made it down to this floor," Adam guessed.

James inspected her loot and a moment passed, before he said, "She must've killed the kid."

Adam brought up Maggie's loot as well.

< < Loot ­— Maggie Brown Adams > >

< Blood Mage Choker (Epic) >

< Tainted Helmet (Epic) >

< Captain's Cape (Rare) >

< Duellist's Glove (Rare) >

< Forlorn Cuirass (Rare) >

< Purple Slime Glove (Rare) >

< Vigilant Fighter's Vambrace (Rare) >

< Shard of Blood >

Her Stone Bracer is gone and she has the teen's Relics…

Adam inspected the Shard of Blood.

< < Quest Object > >

< Shard of Blood — The crystallised lifeblood of Marcus Ferguson >

She killed the kid to get this…

"I'm going back to the Sanctuary," Adam told his party.

"Why?" Gladwyn asked.

"Maggie killed the teen, I'm sure of it. His name must've been Marcus Ferguson."

"So why do you need to go back there?" he asked.

"I need to make sure," Adam insisted.

"We can just wait here," James told Gladwyn.

Gladwyn frowned, but then nodded. "Alright, but hurry. And don't get shot down by those bone things on the tower."

Adam quickly fused two of his barriers and shaped it into a sled with a handle he could hold to avoid falling off. Meanwhile, Gladwyn and James went through the loot, seeing if there was anything they wanted.

Adam had thought to triple-fuse his barriers, but even if he could gather the concentration to pull it off, the result would be too fast for him to handle and he'd no doubt slam into a tree on his way to the Sanctuary, killing himself in the process.

He flew out through the large tower gate, his remaining barrier orbiting him like a shield as he shot out from the structure at high speed. The Bone Creepers on top of the tower hardly seemed to notice him since he stuck close to the ground. When he reached the treeline he lifted up over the canopies, flying just shy of the treetops and keeping an eye out for any ambushers like the first Creeper they'd run into.

This Stage has honestly been such a mess…

At least next Stage I'll be working alongside Emelia, which should go a lot smoother.

Adam wondered just how many Points he'd end up with at the end of this. He was hoping for five figures, though he had no way of really knowing. Emelia said she was able to reliably hit 9000 Points from Stage Six, but she hadn't known about the Avatar or the Chimaera Stone, and she said she usually didn't lose any Players on her team. Since the rewards for objectives were scaled to the number of Players in the team, the three of them would essentially get double Points at the end, since half their team was gone. That alone would make a big difference.

If Emelia had been more ruthless, she would have killed off her teammates before the end to get the maximum amount of Points possible.

But that wasn't her way. Even though it put her at a disadvantage over those with no scruples, she focused on saving people, believing it would benefit everyone in the end.

Adam hadn't seen enough to know if she was correct, but he truly hoped so.

The giant tree of the Elphin Sanctuary came into view, followed shortly by the stone walls surrounding the city. Adam aimed his barrier down towards the ritual site where they'd all arrived together.

He had a good idea of what he would find when he got there, but he hadn't expected to see all the dead Elphin that filled the city streets on the way.

Maggie did all this…

Some of them had fought back, but most had been defenceless, especially the children.

He ground his teeth. They weren't real people, but he had fought to protect them by sparing Belamouranthe's life and not throwing them away needlessly in Stage Four. She had taken all his hard work and ruined it, and the sight infuriated him.

As he spotted the hole in the centre of the city, he lowered his barrier all the way down to the ground, coasting along it before reaching the top of the steps.

At the bottom of the ritual site lay a pale body with dark hair. It was covered in cuts and stab wounds.

Adam went down and inspected it.

< < Loot ­— Marcus Ferguson > >

< — — — >

He didn't even get to leave the starting point…

I should've been more insistent on him coming along.

I should have realised that Maggie's behaviour was suspect.

Adam sighed and got back on his barrier. It was too late to do anything about it now.

"So?" Gladwyn asked as Adam returned to them.

He just shook his head.

"I figured."

Adam resummoned his barriers after taking Maggie's Relics into his Spidersilk Sack. James had swapped his Curse-Giver Necklace for the Blood Mage Choker and equipped the Captain's Cape, although they would properly split up the loot when they reached the end of the Stage.

He paused for a moment after James and Gladwyn climbed onto the floating platforms, remembering the Secret Relic from Stage Five that was already inside his bag.

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< < Map > >

< Golden Map — Follow the trail of this map at thine own peril, but at its end awaits a treasure unlike anything known to thee >

When Gladwyn saw it, he pulled out his own copy. They'd both gotten it from the last Stage.

"I was looking at it earlier, and I don't think it's for this Stage," he said.

Adam nodded. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Sounds like it's related to pirates," James commented after inspecting the map.

The eighth Stage is Moonport, and it sounded like it was a big city. The ninth is where my True Flame's Icon crown triggers a Secret Boss, so I think it's related to the Forlorn Knights from Stage Four.

I think Emelia said Stage Seven is like a paradise to many people, so maybe it's related to pirates somehow? Regardless, I can't really figure out what the map is supposed to show. I feel like I'm missing something crucial.

Adam stowed the map away.

"Let's go see what the golden lever activates."

After returning to the treasure room full of gold, jewels, and finery, they looked around for a good 10 minutes before Adam noticed a short pillar buried in a pile of gold coins. Like everything else in the chamber, he was unable to actually pick up the coins, since they just slipped from his hands. The top of the pillar had a slot in it and after Gladwyn brought him the golden lever, it fit inside it perfectly.

A click came from the golden wall nearby where a small panel had opened.

Inside was a large key made from bone and embellished with veins of gold. It had four 'heads', each of them slightly different.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< The Slugwhale Key (Rare) — A large key made from the temporal bone of a Slugwhale >

"What the hell is a slugwhale?" Gladwyn wondered.

"Isn't the temporal bone part of the skull?" James asked.

Adam lifted the key with his left hand. It was almost half-a-metre long and surprisingly heavy.

"There's only one," he said.

"If I can keep the Cape and Choker, then you can have it," James replied.

Gladwyn looked at the soul blade hanging from his hip. He clearly wanted the Secret Relic, but he probably also felt that he'd received a lot from the Stage already. Adam had gotten a Legendary Relic though, so he asked, "Rock paper scissors?"

"Just take it, Adam," he said. "As they say, a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. Besides, there's no telling what the next Stage will be like or what kind of group I'll get. Since you and Emelia will be on the same team, you might as well take it if it benefits you both."

"It might not be for the next Stage," Adam replied.

"Just take the damn key," he said with a grin.

They reached the library after finding the Slugwhale Key and James finally got the chance to set fire to the large bookcases. Adam tried to help out with his barriers, but the 10% bonus fire damage from his crown only managed to char the wood, so he and Gladwyn just watched the pyromaniac do his thing.

As flames roared and black smoke billowed up through the tower, Adam took them to the landing for the study. Just as they dismounted their barriers and prepared for what they'd encounter inside, the announcement for the library arrived.

< < Optional Stage Objective Complete > >

< Destroyed the Library >

"How much time is left?" James asked his cube.

[10 hours 36 minutes.]

"If we're able to keep going after completing the main objective, do you want to continue looking around?" Gladwyn asked.

"I honestly think we've found everything we could find," Adam said. "Aside from trying other rituals, which isn't possible anymore, I don't think there's anything we could've missed out on."

"I think Adam is right," James agreed. "We looked everywhere."

Gladwyn didn't seem entirely convinced, but then he sighed. "I guess I'm ready for it to be over as well. I'm starting to feel the exhaustion."

He pulled open the metal door with the upside-down anchor sigil.

Or maybe it really is an umbrella?

As Adam and James followed him in, they were surprised by what they found on the other side.

It was not a study like one would have imagined. It was not even a chamber.

Adam looked back at the door. It was just an open doorframe placed in the air impossibly.

Alepheria's 'study' was a cliff covered in knee-high grass with a dense treeline of dark-blue trees behind the doorway. The cliff rose up towards a point where a canvas stood on an easel and a table next to it held paints and a brush. Past the cliff was a sheer drop to a beach full of sharp stones and beyond the shore was an azure expanse of ocean.

Gladwyn looked around. "I don't see a boss anywhere, but stay on guard."

They followed him up the cliff, which narrowed as it reached out over the drop down, like a finger reaching towards the gold-tinged clouds and the endless sea.

The long grass swayed back and forth with a gentle and warm breeze, and the salty smell of the water below was deeply calming.

The door to her study is not a door at all. It's a portal.

And those trees, they're the same trees in the forest around the Sanctuary and Tower. This must be a real place beyond that forest. Maybe it's even possible to travel here and ignore the tower altogether.

Adam paused and looked back at the forest behind them. He couldn't see the Crooked Tower or the Sanctuary's massive tree.

We're probably super far from either of those places.

He wanted to take to the air and explore, but like Gladwyn he was also tired.

James and Gladwyn had already made it to the canvas, and when Adam ran to catch up he realised it was actually massive. The easel itself was at least six metres tall and four wide, supporting the enormous painting on it.

As he approached, James reached out to touch it.

Golden light suffused his body and he was instantly pulled into the painting.

"Wait!" Gladwyn shouted, reaching out to grab him, only to get pulled in as well.

"Shit!" Adam exclaimed and ran up, but both of his friends were gone.

Touching the painting must end the Stage immediately!

He looked up at the giant canvas and what was depicted on it. He wondered if Alepheria was the one who had painted it.

Perhaps the Tome Keeper was wrong to assume she perished. She might have been pulled into the painting as well, vanishing from the world.

It was a fantastical image depicted and it moved as he looked upon it. The wandering eye on his necklace was also locked firmly on what it showed, indicating it likely held a lot of Mana or some other form of power.

The painting depicted a sea made of golden-tinged clouds where massive islands floated impossibly in the air, not too unlike Interim Island. Under his gaze, the clouds moved past his perspective as though showing a live feed from some elevated vantage point, and there were vessels travelling through this golden cloud sea.

Airships, Adam mused as he realised what they were.

Turns out James was right about pirates.

As he watched, two of the airships, which were like wooden ships from the Age of Discovery retrofitted with propellers and strange fins, pulled up alongside one another and started blasting each other to smithereens.

Now I understand why Emelia called it a paradise.

It looks so inviting, and I can imagine it would be quite exciting to fly around in an airship like that.

He was about to touch it and complete the Stage too when he noticed the round table next to the painting. The paint on top of it looked normal, as did the brush. But one of the table's three legs was clearly a telescope, which was strange.

Adam touched the object.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Navigator's Telescope (Uncommon) — Peer into the horizon of gold and find what your heart desires >

Wait a second.

Adam pulled the improvised leg free from the table and it tumbled down the slope, spilling its paint all over the grass.

He spun the metre-long telescope around in his hands to look at the large round lens at the end. It was the exact width of the round map with gold flecks on it, and its description seemed like a clue.

Adam pulled the map out of his Spidersilk Sack, but then he paused.

Oh shit… We didn't split the loot!

Man, Gladwyn is gonna be pissed.

But then he started laughing.

To be fair, they were to blame for that. Not my fault they couldn't wait.

He put the map over the telescope's lens and it fit perfectly into one of the grooves around the edge of the end-cap.

This has to be how the map is used.

Adam lifted the other end up to his eye and realised he could see straight through the canvas map, with the golden flecks the only thing visible. He panned around, looking at the clouds and forest, but then he noticed a faint golden string that led to the painting in front of him. Surprisingly, he was able to peer deeper into the painting with the scope and it revealed a trail of golden light that curled through the air, leading somewhere.

He removed the telescope from his eye.

Alepheria must've been using this to study her own painting perhaps.

Adam considered spending a while longer looking at the things the image showed him, but he felt confident that the snapshot of the sea of clouds was only a small portion of the coming Stage, especially considering that it would last three days.

He folded the telescope and it became the height of a coffee cup, though still as wide as a plate.

Wait, if this was the last Secret, then that means Gladwyn and James probably won't get that bonus reward…

Adam could only imagine how upset his friend would be when he realised what he'd missed out on.

Still, I'm taking no blame for that.

Adam reached out and touched the painting.

Golden light ran up his fingers to his arm, before enveloping him and pulling his body into the painting.

< < Stage Complete > >

< Tallying Score >

< < Score > >

< 13 Hours 37 Minutes Completion Time >

< 3 Players survived 600 Points >

< 0 Players slain >

< 4 Elites slain 400 Points >

< — — — >

< Main Objective Completion 2000 Points >

< Defeated the Avatar of Alepheria 2000 Points >

< Defeated the Cell Warden 1200 Points >

< Completed the Ritual 1000 Points >

< Destroyed the Laboratorium 800 Points >

< Destroyed the Library 600 Points >

< — — — >

< 1500 Point Most Valuable Player Bonus added >

< 1500 Point Secret Boss Bonus added >

< 1000 Point Flawless Bonus added >

< 800 Point All Objectives Bonus added >

< 800 Point Eradication Bonus added >

< 450 Point All Secrets Bonus added >

< 300 Point Plunderer Bonus added >

< — — — >

< 0 Damage Received >

< 14950 Points Awarded >

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