Return of the Woodcutter

Aito gripped the air.

Soulcleaver, attached to his back, flew into his hand, ready for any unforeseen event. He stepped cautiously amidst the broken pieces of wood, the charred flesh and corpses missing body parts. 

Albeit for their abnormal grey skin tone, bulgy muscles, averaged 2m tall size, red crazed-looking dead eyes, and those purple protruding veins, those corpses looked human… kinda.

There were at least a hundred of them spread around the place.

An image of a fairly recent past surged because these monsters felt familiar. Back in the Red Trial, he had seen one of them and even fought it. 

It had been a Pyrrhic victory.

Unable to contend against that monster's strength at the time, he had baited the berserk thing to its doom. That brainless thing had followed him blindly, which resulted in a direct falling ticket for the ground floor. 

Something attracted Aito's attention. Crouched next to one, he examined a corpse using his own experience acquired on the forsaken island but also through the orc knowledge. 

According to the moderator, his companions were fine. With that out of the picture, he took his time to learn more about his surroundings. 

Aito's eyes scanned the corpse for any clues about what had happened. 

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'Charred wounds. Lucius's work. So he survived. Holes. Too small to be a spear or a sword. Probably arrows or bolts. Sheyla…,' Aito thought, remembering her pleading face before they had separated.

He had never seen her so desperate. Even during the time against the hobs horde, she had maintained a strong will. 

"Berserkers," Segolene said next to him. Her easygoing attitude was gone. "Warriors of Iris who succumbed to the Fear. Such is one of the fates of most who serve the gods. We are all doomed to either die on the battlefield or become a Fearmonger." 

"What are those disgusting things doing here?" 

"You know, you are not so cute when you lack respect, black challenger. They once believed and served a greater purpose than killing mindlessly," Segolene said. 

Aito remained silent. The fact that those creatures were once humans felt… weird, as well as being rebutted by a woman the size of a 12 years old girl. 

"From the 4th to the 6th floors, you were asked to hunt creatures in order to clear your quests. Thus the name hunting grounds. But you already know that. On the High Floors, however, things are different," the moderator explained. 

From the 7th to the 8th floor, challengers had to fight against waves of Berserkers. No real news to him. One detail he didn't know, however, was that both floors were part of the same quest. 

The quest was repelling and surviving the waves of Berserkers until no more was sent your way. 

"To maintain the continuity, you will be teleported to the 8th floor once you've cleared all the waves of the 7th floor. So no need for stairs! Pretty neat, if you ask me!" 

"That can't possibly be the real reason behind the teleportation." 

"You know smart men are even cuter than dumb ones?" Segolene purred, making Aito cringe internally. "Yes indeed, it's to trap you. There are no stairs or down from the 7th floor onward, meaning no physical ways of going back. From here on out, the only way is up." 

Aito looked back at where he had come from. A tree had replaced the location where the stairs were supposed to be. The way down had disappeared. 

"Three of the challengers who were on the 7th floor wanted to go back for you after you didn't show your sexy armored ass on this floor. Made me almost sad when I saw the ugly blue-eyed girl clawing the ground over there to try to reach the 6th floor." 

'Ugly blue-eyed girl? Is she talking about Sheyla?' Aito thought as he turned to look at the direction the moderator was pointing at. 

There was a two meters deep hole between two Berserker corpses. The marks indeed suggested it was dug out by human hands without any tool whatsoever. 

"Unfortunately, I'm a hard and honest worker. Although I pitied her distress, I couldn't simply let her pass. The old man had to stun the ugly woman for her own safety," the moderator shook her head. "I think she likes you quite a bit, you know? It's rare to see a woman in such a state because of someone." 

"That's not possible," he replied.

"Tsch, you truly are ugly right now, black challenger," Segolene said. "Men are ugliest when they are lying. Judging by how she reacted, her feelings should have been fairly obvious. You are also way too sharp to not have noticed those. Yet you choose to ignore them. Truly ugly." 

Aito lowered his eyes, ashamed.

Thinking back on things, it was true her behavior had turned for the better after he had saved her from the Cheese sect or whatever its name was. However, at the time, it was just gratitude. 

After the 4th floor, she had brightened up. The cold woman he had known was replaced by… a still cold woman, but instead of an absolute zero temperature, it had been barely under 0°C. 

He remembered them, those times with her. 

Her fearlessness, courage, and determination as she defended her brother.

'You will not have him!' 

Her beautiful smile under the moonlight on the 5th floor.

'You are a brave man, Aito Walker. You might not be one of the most honorable men there is, but you are certainly one of the bravest I know.'

Her warm voice as she stared at him in the cathedral when everything had been over. 

"I'm glad you're alive." 

Her pleading eyes in the coliseum as she tried to stop him from doing something foolish again.

'Not again… please. Let me stay…. Don't play the hero again.' 

He could still feel her warm embrace as they hugged in the arena under the watchful eyes of thousands of orc spectators and the threat of a giant crazed orc capable of rivaling an army. 

At that moment, he knew what Segolene just said was true, but didn't know what to think of it. He was only… thankful. 

People fell in love for no particular reason, at least for a reason they couldn't voice out. Confusing as it was, Sheyla liked him, maybe even loved him. 

Aito had felt it in the coliseum, but chose to ignore it because he thought he didn't deserve such feelings. Not after what he had done. And yet, he yearned for that warmth again. 

The same warmth that chased his loneliness away. 

"It seems you finally acknowledged it," Segolene said. "You're quite lucky, you know. She seems to care for you very much. Such a beautifu… ugly woman. Makes me almost jealous. She and two other challengers wanted to wait for you. However, the sparky man didn't leave them a choice and asked me to launch the berserker waves." 

"Couldn't you have refused?" 

"It's a matter of fairness, black challenger. Apart from the three challengers willing to go back on the 6th floor to pick you up, all the others thought you dead. They all agreed to clear the 7th floor. When we proceeded to a vote, they all voted in favor. And when the quest is launched, there is no going back, only forward, for everyone on this floor. No exception. Correction, no exception but me! Haha!" 

Aito sighed. He could hold a grudge against the moderator for that joke, but not because she was doing her job. It is true that if the majority agreed to launch the quest, it was only fair for her to grant it.

"When did they leave the 7th floor?" Aito asked.

"Yesterday. You missed them by hair length!" Segolene showed her shoulder-length brown hair. "Now, what will you do? Wait for help or try your—" 

"Isn't it obvious? I'll make a few preparations and challenge this floor." 

"On your own? Kya! How bold and cute!" 

"...."