Chapter 232 Mounting the Blue Bird

Not all mages who were on that floor followed him, but the three who were in the tenth circle were there, per usual.

They acted as the owners of everything, and Arthur disliked that. The only reason he did not go after them was to keep his peace intact and focus on what was important.

“I did not expect guests. What do you want?”

“What do we want? You dare to ask that question.”

“Calm down, Kane. We are here to talk.”

One of the three tenth circle mages was Kane, a red-haired youth who was visibly angry at Arthur for keeping the staircase a secret.

The other one was a beautiful woman with blue hair and her eyes had sparks on it, as if they were a thunderstorm.

“What do you know about the staircase? I am Laura, by the way.”

She was acting friendly, different from the guy beside her, but Arthur was no fool, and would not trust someone without knowing them first.

“I do not know. It just appeared here.”

“Laura, don’t trust that guy. He is obviously lying. Look at his face of- “

“Kane, shut the fuck up!”

Kane stopped talking like a loyal dog.

“Do you mind if we climb up with you?”

“No problem.” Arthur said.

He smiled at the thought of it. Based on his calculations, there was no way they could leave, as they still had twenty-four hours of survival left.

Arthur climbed, one step at each, and when he looked behind again, he saw the three of them trying to climb the staircase as well, but there was an invisible barrier stopping the three of them.

The look on their faces was pitiful, but Arthur did not care about it either. He kept climbing the staircase until a thundering roar soared through the skies, catching the attention of everyone present.

From above the clouds, the immense bird flew down. The flap of its wings created a fierce wind, and some trees around the area were sent flying.

It was the same bird Arthur saw when he tried to fly the very first day. When he talked with Samantha, she said she tried to fly as well, but some lightning stroke down from the clouds, making it impossible for them to do that.

She said nothing about a bird. Arthur was sure he was the only one who saw it, as he had been the first to enter that floor.

“What is that thing? The mana coming from its body is just, just…”

They were from families which had official mages in it, but the power coming from that bird was even stronger than the ancestors of their families.

How strong was it? They did not know. For a moment, the three youths thought they would die.

Arthur shared the same thought, but then he noticed how the bird went in his direction, stopping just beside him.

“Kiddo, hop on.”

The bird used a mental transmission to say that, which caught Arthur by surprise.

“Will you eat me? Please, eat them and let me live.”

“Eat you? Maybe if you were a giant worm… Listen, I will lead you to the next stage of the test. You are the first to pass, so you have the advantage of skipping some levels.”

It turned out the bird was there to give Arthur a reward for being the first one to pass through the sixth floor. Unexpected and Arthur was happy about being the first one to have the balls to leave the fifth floor.

The three were angry after not being able to climb the staircase, but now envy as well after seeing Arthur mount the bluebird, who was the strongest creature they had ever seen.

Arthur flew away toward the sky where the staircase led. Then he saw it, an immense floating city with an enormous palace in the center.

“This is the last part of the test. All the other floors are divided into parts of the city, and like I said, you will pass through some levels as a reward. I will place you near the palace, in the outer district.”

He had no time to thank the bird as it tossed him directly into the city. Flying was not allowed there as well, but Arthur only floated a few meters away from the ground when near it so that he would not hit and turned into a meat pulp.

All the houses and buildings were destroyed, corroded due to passaging time.

It was easy to follow the right direction, as the palace was literally immense, but before Arthur could walk, a group of zombie creatures rushed toward them.

They were undead, wearing plate armor and all different weapons.

“The guards from this place. Draugrs?”

Arthur was not expecting to see anyone alive inside that place, but usually it was the home of beasts, not undead.

A rusty sword came slashing, and Arthur defend against it with his claws. He was not expecting to open up his magical pouch, but he tried anyway, and it worked!

He grabbed the sword Merethyl gave him, which was a treasure from the lineage of elves.

Those rusty swords were not a rival to it, breaking the moment they met his sword. Arthur parried one of the draugrs, breaking the weapon in its hands, creating an opening for a clean strike.

Slash. The draugr was cut from head to toe, one part falling to the left side, and the other to the right side.

Killing one was not the end. More and more draugrs appeared, circling around him. Typical mages would find trouble in a situation like that one, but Arthur, who was incredible in melee combat, laughed as he slashed those mummies, ending their lives for the second time!

An arm falling into the ground, a leg, a head. Arthur kept cutting those draugrs as if they were bread. When the fight was finally over, Arthur tried to stop to catch some breath before continuing, but more of those creatures appeared.

It was not a beast invasion like the previous levels, but it had the same principle! The city was immense, and Arthur was the only living thing inside that place.

All the undead guards had only one prey: him! Just like on the sixth floor, Arthur had the advantage of being the first one, but also a clear disadvantage as well!

“Screw it. I am way closer to the palace than the rest of them, and that is where the inheritance is! All I had to do was endure it!”

Like a madman, Arthur ran through the streets, killing any draugr that stood in his way. He turned into a killing machine, and the speed at which he did it increased after every kill.

Arthur was more focused, more sharp. Those weak draugrs had no change against him, and despite their high density, Arthur killed them all!

The streets of the once empty city had piles of undead corpses.

Then, something unexpected happened once again; a human scream.

“Help me! Help me!”

Arthur instantly dashed toward the place where the scream came from.