Chapter 12: Entering the Fifth Floor!

I opened my eyes. I was lying on a hard surface. Above, a stony ceiling. I slowly sat up, and saw the bars which held me inside the room. I was in a cell. I went through the last memories in my mind. We defeated the King and Royal Chancellor, both of which were dead and controlled by a Gemini Shade. A single demon—or shade, whether they were one in the same or not, able to control two similarly leveled boss-type characters at the same time. I will need to be wary of them.

Unfortunately for me, I remembered something. I hadn’t been able to collect any loot! I went unconscious and now I’m in this cell! I went over to the bars.

“Hey! I thought I’d be taken care of?! Someone come get me out of here!” There was no answer, however. My voice echoed through this underground prison. I started trying to shake the bars to no avail. My body was still sore. I wasn’t sure how long I had been out for. I sat down on the floor and brought up my status.

I had gained a total of three attributes from the encounter. I didn’t learn any new abilities. I gained a little bit of experience, however, I finally had a result from my luck stat! So luck can work like that as well?

Though things didn’t progress the way I imagined, I did gather some answers like I wanted—apparently these Goblin masters—it was because of that Shade. I still need to talk to Karafil. I went up to the bars again, when I started hearing footsteps.

[Goblin General, Kirbel Smashsmash the Royal Chancellor, Lv9]

“Oi! It’s ‘bout time ye woke up. Let me let ya outta there so ye can go see ‘is Majesty.”

Kirbel came over to the gate, and placed his hand over where he should have been putting in a key. I gave him a questioning look and he laughed, “Ain’t ever seen that before? Internal lock, Goblin specialty.”

I heard a clank, and the cell door unlatched, opening up. “So,” I asked, “How long was I out for?”

“Who knows.”

“Who knows?”

“Not me. That’s for sure. I ain’t keeping track of anythin’ like that. Too much work for me. Hahaha.”

We started walking towards the stairs out of this dungeon-like prison. I couldn’t help but ask, “So, why were you made the Royal Chancellor?”

“Huh? What do ya mean? Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just seem—” I couldn’t really get it out.

“Hold up, bub. I’ll have ye know, I graduated at the top of class and was the youngest ol’ Goblin to be a general! I’d bet my special potty room that ye couldn’t even lead no troops near as damn well as me! My tactical prow… prow—”

“Prowess?”

“Don’t go interruptin’ me, bub! My tactical prowess is better than the last three kings, combined even! Just don’t go asking ‘is Majesty. No need to waste ‘is breath explainin’ this to you again.”

“Hmmm.” I didn’t speak anymore. I followed Kirbel up the stairs and we started walking through the castle. There were two guards which came to follow us as we made our way to the new King. As we approached the throne room, I could see guards standing outside, holding up a line of Goblin citizens. To my surprise, they were quite civil. There was sparse shouting, few were pushing, the majority waiting patiently for whatever.

Kirbel pushed through a couple of guards and was saluted. He looked up at me, “Alrighty, go on in. Don’t be an idiot.”

I couldn’t even bother retorting. I walked in, and there were guards lining up the room. Kirbel pulled the throne doors closed behind me. Last time I entered this room, well, I didn’t really enter, I was forcefully sucked in. However, there hadn’t been guards like this last time, like Karafil had expected. Perhaps it was due to the corrupted and dead previous King not wanting guards.

[Royal Goblin Kinged Guardian, Karafil Crownkeeper, the Goblin King, Lv11]

He—he gained two levels? And that is—a class evolution!

Karafil stood up. The guards kneeled. He motioned for them to stand. He looked at me. “Come,” he spoke. Though his words were faint, his gaze made my body feel persuaded to move. The authority of a king. I started walking towards him, our gazes locked. Then, I stood before him. He smiled weakly, and he looked tired. “Not only an evil bastard, but mannerless, too?” I felt my knees start to buckle after his chiding, but he placed his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t,” he said, “just remain standing.” He sat down on his throne, and motioned a couple of guards to come up.

“Zeryn Felix. I will list out your crimes and give you your sentence. One, not only did you interfere in a war between three Goblin tribes, you took it upon yourself to kill them all. Two, you massacred four villages. Three, you destroyed a majority of the Kingdom’s alchemists, their research, and their products. Four, you killed a friend of the throne, though, I will… pardon that offense and consider it an act of self-defense.”

The guards drew their weapons and pointed them at me. I wanted to move, but under Karafil’s gaze, I was struggling. Though, the way he makes it sound really does pin me as some evil bastard! I tried retorting, “Karaf—’

He again raised his hand. “However, Mr. Felix. You have assisted the entire Goblin Kingdom by uprooting a Shade, who had corrupted and killed my late Royal Father and the prior Royal Chancellor. A Shade who was using the highest authority of our Kingdom for his own desire and neglected the citizens of the Kingdom. We couldn’t see behind the mask the Shade wore due to a villainous spell. So, for the aforementioned crimes, you will be pardoned- if you choose to undertake an oath. What say you?”

“Kara—,” I took a second and cleared my throat, “Your Majesty, what’s the oath?”

“Simple. You must swear that you will not needlessly take the lives of my kind. Acts of unprovoked attacks will not be acceptable. If you see a Goblin in life-ending danger, you must do your best to assist them. Do you accept?”

[System Notice: You are being offered to undertake an oath. If you choose to accept, breaking this oath will cause you to undergo punishment from a worldly power. Do you accept? Y, N]

I looked at Karafil. “I accept.”

“Good.” He smiled weakly again. “Guards, have the Royal Chancellor inform the citizens that I will continue handling their requests tomorrow. Have someone take down the order in which they arrived so tomorrow is fair.” Karafil stood up.

The guards kneeled, “Yes, Your Majesty!” Karafil Crownkeeper turned around and started walking towards a room situated to the left of the throne. “Coming?” I was following him into the King’s quarters—or, so I thought.

“You must be famished, let’s eat.” We entered a dining room, where a chef had just finished bringing in food. The chef was Zarbie Meatchopper, who bowed when he noticed us walk in, “Your Majesty! You still look so weak. Eat, and don’t stop eating.”

“Mm. I finally get to enjoy a break. Did you take Salazar any food?”

“I did, Your Majesty, though he has barely eaten.”

“Thank you, Zarbie. I will go visit him after this.”

Zarbie bowed and started leaving, “Of course.”

Karafil returned his attention to me, “Sit. Anywhere is fine. Let’s eat, then we can talk.” I sat down at a random stool, and gladly dug in. When he had mentioned for us to eat, I truly was starving. I hadn’t noticed it at first. “How long was I out?” I asked.

Karafil held up two fingers. I acknowledged it, “Two days, huh? Quite a long ti—”

“Two weeks.”

“...what?”

“Mr. Felix. No, I will call you Zeryn now. Zeryn, do you care to know?” He held up three fingers. “Ask three things, and I’ll answer it the best I can. Another thing you may want to know, free of charge, is that a spiral staircase appeared in a cell near the one you were resting in. It wasn’t there before, and I know you are quite fond of them.”

Is that the staircase mentioned in the quest completion? Three questions—alright. I started to ask, “First…”

I walked down the dungeon, walking past the cell I had been in, and there it was. The cell directly next to mine, a beautiful, white spiral staircase. The cell was unlocked, so I left the Goblin Kingdom.

[System Notice: Congratulations! You have found the hidden staircase. You will enter an alternate fifth floor.]

[System Notice: You completed Floor 4. You gained 400 EXP.]

[System Notice: For conquering Floor 4 on Hardcore difficulty, you have received the item: Upgrade Jewel.]

[System Notice: For conquering the Goblin Kingdom with the path you chose, you have received the title: ‘Oathtaker, A Friend of Goblins’.]

[Title: Oathtaker: A Friend of Goblins] - Passive effect: +2 Charisma. Active effect: +5 Charisma, +5 Wit

[System Notice: Floor 4 complete. Heading to starting point for the alternate Floor 5.]

I closed my eyes, and when I looked again, I was in a waiting room that looked identical to where everything started, where I changed my difficulty. Where this last journey began. Luminescent, white. This place had windows, though. And through the windows, I could see a fiery domain. A bridge extended out to a floating platform, enveloped in flames. Magma flowed in the empty area around the platform. Ash was sprinkled throughout the air. I stepped back from the window, and spotted a button to spawn a shop. I reached out to press it, but...

[???: Welcome—to my hell.]

Something greeted me.

zeryn

I just wanted to extend another thank you to all. I also must inform everyone that I won't be able to guarantee many chapters in the next few weeks. I will soon be going to visit family for a month as I finish up my 6 years of military service, and will be driving from coast to coast with three kids, which will most definitely be a draining experience. I will still try to knock out chapters, as having people to write for has motivated me to continue this hobby. Apologies in advance. <3