After Ace left, Ax looked at the books he had gotten him. He said Ax asked for these, but Ax knows the real reason why.

  He finally opehe bag, and all the books were on different mythologies across history; the big three were here. Greek, Norse, and eveian, but there were some niches, like Japanese Shintoism and some others Ax was too zy to read.

  Ax was sitting on the floor, cheg his boots, his thumb gliding over the scrated during the fight with the s was clear that they were pretty scratched up. Ax's eyes drifted to his bed, or rather, u. His gaze locked on the silver gun lying there. It was 7 pm, and he had nothing else to do for the day.

  "I guess... now's a better time than ever," Ax muttered to himself.

  He got ready, his gear equipped and boots worn. A red graphic tee this time and his jacket tied around his waist, all by 7:30pm. With a simple thought, the blue door appeared in front of his bed. He walked up to it, his arm reag for the knob. With a deep breath, he twisted the knob.

  "It's open," Ax was relieved.

  As the door ushed open, the bright light weled him back to where he first arrived. Different races of people walking past him. The clicks and ccks of the metal boots, the harmonie of the lutes being pyed by passing musis, the sweet st of nearby florists and fruits rushing into his lungs with each breath.

  "Why did I not appreciate this sooner?" he muttered to himself.

  "Must've beey stupid," he said sarcastically, as he stretched his arms and shoulders.

  "Now... I owe you a visit, don't I?" Ax said as he had one person in mind who he wao meet.

  ***

  Ax was now in front of the shop with his favorite dwarven bcksmith. As he opehe door, he saw an elven man and a woman with fuzzy ears on top of her head and a furry tail ed around her waist, both of them wearing a mix of leather aal armor with swords stuck to their left sides.

  "That's everything; we'll be back for our order in about four days then. Is that enough?" The woman asked the shopkeeper with a satisfied tone.

  "Absolutely, upon my name as Vithr!" said the shopkeeper.

  "We'll e ba about a week then; take care," said the elf; the both of them seemed rather joyous.

  As they walked out of the store together, "Well, well, well, who do we have here?" Vithr said as he dropped down from his stool to get closer to him.

  "Well? Are you qualified yet?" Vithr asked, his voice cautious and questioning.

  "For... what exactly? Oh, if you mean for a 'Summit Seeker' or whatever, yeah, I am," Ax answered him, still fused as to whatever a Summit Seeker is.

  Vithr deeply sighed in relief. "Good. You must have questions then; ask me or whoever you feel like. Restris are off." He said as he walked back to the ter.

  "Well, first of all. What the hell are the restris for? Why could I not ask anything beforehand?" Ax asked Vithr as he walked up to the ter, eyeing the ons iore.

  "The purple doors lead to the final fli Floor-0; the more knowledge you have oure of the floors, the harder it gets. The difficulty of the purple door scales with the amount of knowledge you have figured out or have learned," Vithr expined, expeg more questions.

  "Wait... what happens if you lose in the rooms?" Ax asked him again.

  "If you die in bat, your memets wiped, and the void gets filled acc to your life. If you merely lose sciousness and wake up where you were safe, but this is also the case for someone in Nexus if they aren't a Seeker yet," Vithr tinued.

  "Die? ht, what about the oddities? Mine says"—Ax was about to reveal his oddity, but Vithr stopped him.

  "HALT! Oddities are abilities not everyone has access to; I myself do not have ohe nature of oddities is unknown, but there are theories as to why they ma," Vithr interrupted him with an expnation.

  "The most accepted theory is the idea that this occurs due to so many different worlds and sources of power meeting in Nexus," Vithr finished his expnation.

  Ax mentally noted every bit of information he just id out. "Okay, that's a lot to process... however, just o question. For now at least."

  "Ask," Vithr anded.

  "Why did you stop me from revealing my oddity?" Ax asked Vithr; he thought oddities were ong seekers.

  "There are... Orders. Orders are groups summit seekers join for bes. Some with noble goals... Others... not so much. Some Orders and seekers make it their goal to hunt down and eliminate, or try and steal, the Oddities of powerful people. If you have a strong Oddity, I reend you keep it hidden or attempt to do so," Vithr said, cautiously warning Ax, subtly hinting at the dangers of this world he's not familiar with yet.

  "I see, thank you for warning me, I guess..." Ax said as his eyes widened. His heart beating just over his normal rate, the idea of people finding out his oddity...

  The implicatio shivers down his spine.

  Vithr noticed his body nguage, his eyes curious as to what his power may be to warrant such reas. It, however, was none of his business. "Now, your name, boy. What is it?" Vithr asked him, trying to ge the topic to aodate his emotions.

  "It's Axton; your name is Vithr, right?" He answered him with another question.

  "Axton, were you the one who bested Medusa?" Vithr asked him, his eyes staring straight into Axton's.

  Ax's eyes widened. "I—yes, but how did you know?" Ax asked him.

  "Word travels fast. However, I assume the other human ith you didn't make it?" Vithr was asking about Ace.

  "He... he's bae, his memory wiped just as you described it," Ax answered him, his eyes lowered.

  "I see. I assume you don't want him to e back here?" Vithr asked him once more.

  "No," Ax answered bluntly.

  "Good, because death prote is only given the first time," Vithr answered bluntly.

  "I see..." Ax answered; he was dejected.

  Growl

  Ax's stomach growled.

  "...did much, did you?" Vithr asked him, directly refereng the noise.

  "Nope... just had a light breakfast; I'm starving." Ax was embarrassed to admit it, but it was true; he barely had anything to eat.

  "There's a tavern... I reend," Vithr tinued.

  ***

  Ax was standing in front of the tavern Vithr reended.

  'The Dragon's Kiss' was written on a massive signboard, music pying from ihe signboard was that of a dragohing fire into the name.

  "That's... whimsical..." he muttered to himself, smirking in amusement.

  As he pushed the doors open and walked in, straight ahead was a bar stand with tables scattered to the sides, filled with people who only be described as fantastical, looking like adventurers from fantasy novels and stories.

  As Ax walked closer and cln the musid people. Walking straight to the bartender.

  He was a rather skinny man, tall and slender. He was wearing formal pants and was looking behind him, probably wiping a gss. He was also wearing a white shirt and bck vest; he stood out from everyone else, however... What truly stood out to Ax was...

  As the man turned out, his head revealed to be a pressure gauge made from bck metal, the needle showing that it was somewhat above atmospheric pressure.

  "Wele to The Dragon's Kiss, how may I help you?" he asked.

  "The name's Valve," he finished.

  "I uhh... was hoping to catething to eat," Ax answered Val, distracted by his head.

  "I see... the tables are full, however," Valve said as he looked around.

  He spotted ay seat. He poio it.

  "Ask her if you sit across from her, sihat's a pretty big table. If she says no, you might have to wait. If she's okay with you sitting there, I'll send someone over to take your order," Valve expined.

  "Oh, alright then." Ax looked back at the table.

  There sat a human girl, wearing a red and bck graphic tee under a bck leather jacket. Her right arm was covered in armor and-

  "That's... her," Ax muttered to himself.

  She was looking in a different dire, but her eyes gravitated to Ax, squinting. As she stared at him, her eyes widened slightly. She reized him.