The Maestro displayed his status menu, a gesture calculated to win the students' trust. The numbers displayed on the screen were absurd, surpassing any notion of balance.
╔════════════╗
[ Status Screen ]
╠════════════╣
○ Level: 100
Attributes:
○ Strength: 500
Speed: 500
○ Endurance: 500
Mana: 5000
○ Stamina: 5000
○ Intelligence: 500
╚════════════╝
But more than the numbers, it was the title of his Hero's Way that caught Renji's eye.
╔═══════════════════════╗
[Hero's Path: Collector
of Thrones]
╚═══════════════════════╝
"Incredible..." murmured Arisa, still absorbing the information.
The Maestro smiled, nodding courteously.
"I appreciate the compliment, miss."
Toru, however, didn't seem impressed. He leaned over the table, his eyes scanning the man in front of him.
He had a sturdy build, as if carrying weight was part of his routine. Over his shoulders, a white cloak fell, covering part of his body, with the collar and ends being covered by a metal part, molded in the shape of dragon scales.
Long white hair covered part of his face, but some oriental features were still visible.
"How did you get these statuses?" Said the young necromancer.
The Maestro raised an eyebrow, as if he appreciated the boldness of the question.
"Ha, it's years of experience, kid."
Toru narrowed his eyes, clearly dissatisfied with the vague answer. He sat back in his chair.
The Maestro, for his part, shifted his sharp gaze to Renji.
"But you have a different question, don't you?" He took out a piece of parchment and began to scribble on it with a quill. "No need to hide it."
Renji felt a shiver run down his spine. "Is he reading my mind?" He thought, startled.
"Haha, looks like I got it right." The Maestro looked up, an enigmatic glint in his eyes. "You can ask. I don't mind answering."
Renji hesitated. "No... you don't have to."
The Maestro shrugged, as if he didn't care, but there was something in his expression that indicated he knew more than he was letting on.
Arisa, taking advantage of the momentary silence, intervened.
"Mr. Maestro, I apologize for interrupting, but I need to know: why have you brought us here?"
The man tilted his head, as if trying to remember. "Ah, yes. I almost forgot that."
He left the quill in the inkwell and rested his hands on the table.
"As you've only just arrived at the labyrinth, you must be confused. I thought an explanation would be useful. Besides, I don't like leaving beginners lying around... you never know which floor this hellhole might throw them on."
Arisa nodded.
"I see, but... Speaking of floors, Renji and Toru, you commented about this place being like a game, do you know anything about that?"
The conductor frowned.
"Game... Ah, yes, you must be talking about these modern games... What was it again? IPG? HG? Ah, RPG!"
He laughed, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry, these virtual games didn't exist in my day, but I understand what you mean."
Arisa crossed her arms. "Your time? You talk as if you were..."
"Old? Yes, I am. In fact, I must be as old as all of you put together. Haha!"
An uncomfortable silence hung in the room.
The Maestro continued.
"The labyrinth is structured in floors, as you may have noticed on the stone tablet."
Renji and the others remembered the rudimentary inscription they had found earlier.
"Floor zero is the Goblin Lair, while the first floor is the Valley of the Dragons, where we are now." He pulled a scroll from a drawer and unrolled it on the table. "Look."
On the map, several spheres were connected by thin lines. The Goblin Lair and the Valley of the Dragons were connected by a passage called the Staircase. Further on, a stone coliseum connected to the third floor, called The Arena, and a boat connected to the eighth, identified as the Ghost Ship.
"Dimensions?" Toru frowned. "Are you saying that each floor is a separate world?"
The Maestro smiled. "Exactly."
Arisa shook her head in disbelief. "That's crazy."
The man laughed. "You've been teleported to a stone hall, fought goblins, awakened powers and even seen dragons... but dimensions are the problem?"
She remained silent.
"So, when we crossed the staircase..." Renji began. Renji began.
"You were crossing into another dimension. Exactly." The Maestro pointed at Renji, approving his conclusion.
It was then that Yui finally asked the question that had been on everyone's mind.
"Is there... any way back home?"
The Maestro sighed.
"I expected that question." He cracked his shoulders and smiled. "And I think the answer is obvious."
"So there really is a way?!" Toru leaned forward.
"Of course there isn't. Haha!" The Maestro laughed. "I've been here for eighty years. If there was a way out, I'd have left a long time ago."
The shock was immediate.
"What do you mean?!" Toru exclaimed.
"Time flows differently here. In fact, I must be over a hundred years old, but my appearance has stopped at thirty... I think. There are no mirrors here, haha!"
The impact of the revelation made Yui burst into tears. Arisa hugged her, trying to comfort her.
The Maestro looked at them with a tired smile. "Hey, no need to cry. This world isn't so bad."
He pulled up the collar of his shirt, exposing his chest. Scars, burns, cuts and bite marks covered his skin.
"I've been devoured by a dragon, arrowed, possessed by ghosts, buried... and I'm here." He laughed. "If I survived, so can you."
Yui cried louder. Renji and Toru couldn't hold back their laughter.
"That's enough!" Arisa shouted, grabbing her friend's hand and dragging her out of the room.
An awkward silence filled the air.
"Women really don't understand humor, do they?"
"That bitch is always like that, she's been making a fuss about everything since before we entered this world." Toru replied. "Leave her lying around, if she wants to survive, let her wash my clothes."
The Maestro laughed, realizing that he had finally found someone like him. But he stopped when he saw the look on the other boy's face.
Renji stared at him. "I thought we'd come here to get answers, not to waste our time." The Maestro sighed.
The Maestro sighed. "I'm sorry. I forgot that my mood might not be suitable for you."
He then changed his tone.
"I'll arrange dormitories and someone to guide you around the city... Tell Arisa I'll apologize to her as soon as possible!" He said, putting his scrolls away again.
At this point, Renji hesitated.
He didn't know if what he was about to say was real or not. But he needed an answer. "I... want to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"On the second floor, I was killed by a goblin and woke up in a white hall."
"..."
"There was a throne, as if I was in a castle... The system beeped saying I was in a dangerous area, and then I awakened my Hero's Path. Back to the Goblin Lair."
The Maestro stopped.
"You... have been teleported to a floor far above. A floor that even I don't know about."
Toru's eyes widened. "You mean... even death can be a passage?"
The Maestro smiled sideways. "Exactly. But I need to analyze this further."
He then looked up at the cathedral window, realizing that it was already getting dark.
"All right, I'll guide you to where you'll be spending the night. Wait for me outside, I'll finish putting these scrolls away."
Renji and Toru nodded positively, leaving the Maestro alone in that place.
He then pulled out an old piece of paper from his drawer, so worn by time that it couldn't even be called a scroll. He unfolded it and wrote on it: Floor number 1000 - White Palace.