Eric could feel himself being moved. His body scraping against the floor.

  It wasn’t like he was conscious enough to make sense of what was going on, but he was aware enough that something was happening and that he couldn’t do anything about it. Even his eyelids felt too heavy to budge, blocking him from seeing where he was or who was with him.

  Every so often he could even feel how those that were dragging him along also made efforts to wake him, but just like Eric himself, they had little luck in achieving it. Whatever was happening to him went beyond normal exhaustion, in fact, he wasn’t even sure if it was exhaustion at all.

  “—yeah right there. We’ll take care of our third, see if we can trigger a quest, and if we can’t we just wait until he gets up,” someone said, their voice rough, but calm.

  “Piece of shit won’t wake up!” another exclaimed, their voice rough and mean. Just as he finished speaking, there was a loud thud as something hit the wall with great force.

  Eric’s body rolled limply on the ground, the pain a distant sensation that he was barely aware of.

  “Told you he wasn’t faking it,” a third voice said. “And look, he’s already healing. Do you think he already took it?”

  “Took what? The infinite essence?” the second speaker asked. “That’s not what the infinite essence does. No, whatever is healing him is something completely different. I bet that we can—”

  A loud snapping was heard. “Focus, first we finish the floor and then we plan for the future. Others might already know that he’s here,” the first speaker said.

  “Fine,” the second speaker agreed.

  Before Eric could hear them leave, he first felt a dull strike directly against his face and then another against the side of his head, like a stomp.

  Suddenly, as their steps grew distant, various sounds came out of nowhere. Even in his addled state, Eric was more than capable of distinguishing the sounds of combat, not specific sounds, just that combat was happening.

  After a couple of minutes Eric’s mind began to clear, allowing him to more accurately assess what was going on, as well as realize his condition more clearly. While his mind was mostly there, his body refused to respond.

  This is still better than a moment ago, he thought to himself. Suddenly, a loud crash echoed in the distance, drawing Eric’s already weak concentration to it. Perking his ears, he tried to make sense of things.

  Having been exposed to various forms of damage and attacks, either by experiencing them directly or from a vague memory, he began to distinguish what was going on.

  Another loud crash echoed through wherever they were, reaching Eric, the sound of crumbling following soon after.

  Someone or something hit a wall and some of the rubble is rolling down.

  Then, a sound that reminded Eric of something charging up was heard, a hum that kept building without end. When it appeared that the sound reached its apex, a sound similar to tinnitus flooded the area.

  Fuck! Eric exclaimed mentally, annoyed by the sound.

  As Eric continued to hear, something became increasingly clear to him. These guys didn’t just meet, they’re a team. They know all about each other, or at least enough that they don’t need to talk all that much. Yet, that still doesn’t answer my question: why am I here? Why did they bring me—

  Eric’s train of thought was cut off as everything suddenly went quiet. He soon realized that the silence signaled the end of the battle, but the silence was short lived as it was replaced by the sound of footsteps. Then a question bloomed within Eric’s mind and with a simple thought, he sought to answer it.

  Quest: Rampant tests.

  Objective: Find and kill all the escaped test subjects. Test Subjects 2/3.

  Rewards: Access to next floor, +10 Reward points.

  Shit! It didn’t count, Eric thought.

  Even though the test subject’s death didn’t count toward his own, he did confirm that the giant’s death did count for himself. That’s something, I guess.

  With his newfound clarity, Eric could distinguish that there was something else within the noise, something was being dragged.

  “Set it there and take out the other two, and you, check on him,” the one with the rough but calm voice said.

  The sound of two bodies hitting the floor was heard, it was an odd combination of metallic ringing and the light thud that comes from flesh hitting stone.

  They must’ve taken out the other two test subjects. Why? A secret quest? It has to be, from what little I’ve learned from hearing them, they aren’t exactly weak. The fact that I’m with them means that they were able to take care of the giant that pummeled me.

  Footsteps could be heard nearing him, Eric braced himself mentally, already knowing what was about to happen.

  A loud thud was heard as Eric was once more kicked in the face. The force behind the kick was so great that it sent him hurling into the same wall that he had hit earlier. Eric himself wanted to react as any normal person would, but his body refused to respond and it left even his complaints unfulfilled.

  Son of a—

  “Still nothing,” the one who had just kicked Eric answered. The voice belonged to the same person who had kicked him earlier and Eric made a mental note of it.

  “Crisas!” another called out. “Crisas! Look!”

  “What?” the one with the rough but calm voice answered.

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  “Look, they’re humming in unison.”

  Footsteps were heard, they were walking away from Eric.

  “It’s something within their chests. Take—”

  Crisas words were cut off as the humming ceased but instead of the affair ending there, all of their devices, including Eric’s, made a light notification sound.

  “Looks like we’re going to go see their mother,” Crisas said, his tone playful but with a hint of ruthlessness. “Store those three and you, carry that one.”

  “Is he really worth it? We can just earn the infinite essence on our own. We have been doing great ever since we entered the tower. I know we entered early because of him but is it really necessary?” the one with the rough and mean voice complained.

  “Is it worth it…?” Crisas asked, almost astonished at the very question. “Do you even know anything about it? Because your words suggest that you don’t. Because if you did!... then you would know why it so important for us to get it right now and only right now.” His words were seething with greed and even a hint of malice toward his companion for not knowing the reason behind their actions.

  Infinite essence… There’s that term again. I’m pretty sure I saw that word before, but I can’t remember were and Mental Focus isn’t responding.

  “But—”

  “But nothing! We have to take it know or we will never make a name for ourselves. We will forever be the bastard sons of a useless drunk that can’t even die when the time is right,” Crisas spat. “I thought you were prepared to do what was needed but you even lack the fundamental knowledge to do what we need you to do. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  “I just want to know why!” he shouted in response. “While you were busy researching, we were busy gathering the necessary funds to be able to begin our journey. So, please forgive me if I’m not as informed as you are. Oh! Mighty Crisas!” he added, sarcastically.

  Even though Eric’s body refused to respond, that didn’t mean he was disconnected from it or that he couldn’t access it. He could still feel the pain from every kick, punch and cut that was done to him. It was because of that that he had felt that the air was beginning to turn dangerous.

  There was a palpable desperation within the one called Crisas, one that Eric was sure was the very reason they were here to begin with. However, as the rough and mean speaker voiced their thoughts, that danger that lingered in the air vanished into nothingness.

  One step, two steps. “I’m sorry younger brother. It’s just that the very idea that we will fail and have to return to our life as nothing better than dirt in the ground… it makes me lose focus,” Crisas said, his voice calm and Eric could tell that he was sincere.

  That’s nice and all, but can you get to the important part about this, Eric said mentally, urging them on.

  “And you are also right, I should explain why it is absolutely necessary for us to get the infinite essence at this point and not later.” Crisas took a calming breath. “Once, when I was delivering food to father… he struck me hard enough that he knocked me unconscious—”

  “Wh—”

  “It’s in the past and it’s because of that strike that I now possess this vital information,” Crisas said, silencing his younger brother. “He was talking to one of his concubines when I awoke, and I heard him planning the ideal path for his possible heir.”

  “Isas?” the third speaker asked, doing the math in their head.

  “Yes, older brother. It was the path that Isas was to follow before he was also discarded like us,” Crisas said. There was oddly no sympathy in the way he spoke, as if Isas wasn’t relevant to them. “Father spoke about the tower rewards. About how they change every ten floors.”

  That’s where I know it from, Eric said to himself, finally remembering. It was one of the rewards—one of the most expensive too. How much was it? 250? But why do these guys think that I have one? How did they even recognize me to begin with? Maybe they just thought I looked like somebody else. If this is a case of mistaken identity, I am going to be so pissed.

  “Yes. We already knew that,” the younger brother said, somewhat confused. “Beside the first ten introductory floors that change every time you enter, which only serve as a way to get ahead, the rewards of the other floors change to reflect their difficulty.”

  “Yes,” the older brother said, agreeing with the youngest. “Adept to the twentieth floor, pilgrim to 50 and lord to 100. Just like the ranks. It would be useless to use a rank E treasure while you’re a lord.”

  “No. Those are not the changes that I speak of,” Crisas said. “Each floor has a unique treasure that can be used regardless of rank and its efficacy never diminishes. Never.” The air suddenly changed.

  Eric couldn’t see, but he imagined that Crisas’s expression turned serious.

  “Though, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any benefit in taking or using the treasure earlier,” he added.

  “And the infinite essence is the treasure from the adept floors?” the younger brother asked.

  Eric heard nothing but he guessed that Crisas gestured in confirmation.

  “That means that if this useless piece of flesh has one of those treasures, we can focus on other rewards with the leftover points. Maybe we can all afford one of these ‘infinite essences,’” the younger brother said, greedily.

  “Indeed. That is why we must take him with us,” Crisas said. “We already searched his storage ring and didn’t find it. So, it’s highly likely that he has it in his tattoo storage that’s on his wrist. But we can’t access that without an expert that can safely remove it. In the meantime, let’s just hope that he wakes and sees reason.”

  Reason? Fucker, if I could get riled up, I would. As Eric spoke to himself, he suddenly felt himself be lifted up and rested upon a shoulder that dug into him.

  “There is another option that we seemed to have avoided speaking about,” the oldest said, some worry in his words. “What if he already consumed it and all of this is for nothing?”

  “You mean that I could be carrying this useless sack of shit for no reason?” the youngest brother said, moving his shoulder in such a way that it dug deeper into Eric’s abdomen. “Is there a way to find out?”

  “No,” Crisas answered succinctly. “At our rank, unless you specialize in it, there is no way to know the inner workings of another. If he has taken it or not is something that we will only know when he wakes… Let’s just hope that for his sake, he didn’t take something that belongs to us.”

  You guys scream of worthless side characters that will die without achieving their wish, I just hope that I’m able to physically gloat when you do. In other news, what do they mean I have this “infinite essence?” Since when? And how do they know something I don’t?

  ----------

  In an almost abandoned part of the futuristic city that Eric now found himself in, there was a street that had constant activity. Box trucks of similar make and model moved through the basically derelict street in almost the same way each time. Even the discrepancies in their movements could be accounted for by the very fact that they weren’t the exact same.

  All these trucks would silently hum as they made their way toward the back of the same building, their rear connecting with a metal door. This connection would last no more than a few minutes and after they were down, the trucks would depart without much else happening.

  If you were to observe the building from three sides, it was an average two-story building. There was nothing particularly special about it. It had windows high up, only one steel door in the front, and no particular way to know what was going on inside. The only indicator of what the building itself was for was the large sign at the front that simply said “Morgue.”

  Unlike the ones that people from Earth were used to, this morgue, which was normal in this world, resembled a factory more than anything else. Trucks would deliver a shipment of bodies and be on their way, their part of the process finished, and whatever happened afterward was simple “processing.”

  In other words, it was an average and boring morgue that didn’t deserve particular attention in this world.

  Though, that was if you only saw the building from the three sides that the trucks were always able to see. If you were to observe the fourth side of the building, the one that the trucks had no reason to see, you would see that there was something wrong with the morgue.

  The fourth side of the basic morgue was completely destroyed. Where there once was a wall, now only rubble remained, exposing the insides of the morgue for everyone to see. And inside the morgue, there were various figures standing upright and behaving oddly, twitching in almost robotic fashion.