>>6312105“Contestant Number 23, Crowley, has defeated Contestants Number 12, Number 17, and Number 26, Adalbert, Hansel and Norbert, on Floor 9. Contestant Number 30, Timmy, has self-eliminated, by removing his badge on Floor 9.” The voice of Kosmas announces, echoing through the jungle,
“What?” Saoirse remarks, completely taken aback by the update. “How is that even possible? One man alone has already defeated 5 other competitors? Who is he?”
Good question. You recall the announcement previously stating that he’d already collected one badge. Now another three had somehow fallen into his lap. Four if he had picked up Timmy’s, who evidently could not handle the rigors of the tournament following the death of Oswald. At a five badge advantage, Crowley could teleport from Floor 9 all the way to Floor 34. How irritating. Had you done nothing back in the classroom, you could have started at Floor 9, and those five or possibly even six badges could be yours. Now you were stuck having to climb this inane tower, forced to wade through shit water.
>“Let’s get moving. We’ll go straight to Floor 10.” You’d hold onto Conrad’s badge for now, only using Shea’s to progress. In your current state, you weren’t sure a confrontation with Arios or Leonora would be a wise decision. Particularly when you had Gyles and Elric as well to worry about. Better to progress up the tower naturally and with comrades you could trust rather than go at it alone.Saoirse leads you and Butch a short distance through the jungle. Thanks to knowing where the warp panel already was, you’re able to cut down on the time it would have taken to find it. That was good luck, as you felt you’d already wasted enough daylight dealing with Shea and the Floor Guardian. Doing as Kosmas advised, all three of you step onto the panel, each holding onto a badge. The jungle fades behind you, and you are pulled a nice five stages ahead, just as Kosmas promised. When you regain your senses, you find yourself on Floor 10. Every other floor had carried with it a theme, however, you have a hard time discerning what this one was supposed to be.
>Turn 8/40>Floor 10/40“Woah. What happened here?” Butch remarks dryly.
If this floor had carried a theme like the others, you weren’t sure what it was supposed to be, for all that was left here were ruins, and a massive crater that ran deep into the ground. At the center of it, you could make out bits and pieces of…something. It was too charred to tell, but you had a feeling it was supposed to be this floor’s guardian.
>“I can make a pretty good guess.” Leonora, Arios, Gyles and Mystletainn. A massive battle had taken place here. The crater was undoubtedly the work of a mage. Likely Gyles or Leonora. Given that you’d heard no news of any of them being eliminated, the brawl must have ended in a stalemate. 