Chapter 21: Teleportation Portal
Two things.
Seeing who had just stepped in, Tony turned his back to him and continued putting on his coat.
It was either the figure that had just stepped in was the familiar silver-white-haired boy he knew, who remained defiant with calling him little brother.
Or...
"Congrats, you just entered the main character’s room. No refund if you die in act 1."
On hearing those words, Kratos stopped midway on entering the ward room. Then, after an unsettling silence that passed within seconds, he fully stepped inside.
"Not funny," Kratos scoffed.
Tony’s heart stung, his brow furrowed, his face twitching in fury. But he decided almost immediately to keep his calm and instead, clenched his fist and turned around.
"I was not trying to be funny."
"I know, little brother," Kratos said and headed to a bench stationed beside the window and sat on it, revealing the phone that had been dipped in his cloak’s pocket. "Were you pretending to be then?"
This time, Tony couldn’t help it. His clenched fists tightened the more, his teeth grinding together against each other. But careful enough not to make scenes out of nothing, he let himself loose and exhaled softly.
Unknowingly to him, Kratos seemed to be staring into his phone’s screen. But in actuality, he was stealing glances at Tony with the edge of his eyes.
A grin spread into his chin as he slipped his phone back into the cloak’s pocket and stood from the bench.
"Alright then, little brother. I thought as much; once you wake up from your rest, you will want to immediately enter the tutorial grounds to complete the mission you told me about. So, I already made inquiries beforehand."
Tony turned to him and smiled. He thought this was his best opportunity to make a comeback for what Kratos just did.
"I didn’t ask you, did I?"
"I see. Then you can as well wait until tomorrow for the receptionist to resume work again so you can ask ’you’."
Tch.
"I’m prepared already," Tony admitted the defeat instantly, fastening his sword sheath beside his waist to rest diagonally.
"How do we enter the tutorial grounds?"
Kratos didn’t answer immediately. He looked sternly at Tony’s serious facial expression before suddenly bursting into a loud, disheartening laughter.
***
Kratos walked ahead with his usual composed stride, this time around not getting himself distracted with any abstract activity. The twin swords that he had rested at his waist had been relinquished and returned to their normal position. Now, they were fastened diagonally across his back, crossing one another in an X-shaped arrangement to reveal only their hilts.
"Are we almost there?" Kratos asked without looking back, walking with the less confidence required of someone who was leading the way.
Tony simply nodded.
The Monarchs Guild District was far larger than Tony had even envisioned.
He had imagined that every place in this district would look orderly and rich to the eyes. But here, leaving the central district behind, that scenery gradually became quieter until they reached what looked like the outskirts of the Guild’s territory.
Few people wandered this far, especially since it was supposed to serve as the anchor for accommodating players who are about to engage in one mission or the other.
Standing in the middle of a vast circular plaza was a structure unlike anything Tony had ever seen. It was a gigantic cylinder formed entirely from condensed energy.
Brilliant streams of blue and silver light spiraled upward within its transparent walls, stretching several stories into the sky like a pillar connecting heaven and earth. Beneath it was an enormous circular platform engraved with countless glowing runic matrices that constantly shifted and rearranged themselves.
The surrounding air hummed with concentrated mana.
Tony instinctively slowed his steps.
"So this... is the teleportation portal?"
Kratos nodded.
"I guess so."
Tony silently observed the countless players — newbies and veterans — coming and going.
Some entered the cylinder alone, mostly the newbies who had also thought they were ready to face the tutorial grounds. While the veterans walked in groups.
Each vanished moments later without so much as leaving behind a ripple.
Curious, Tony asked, "How does it know where to send us?"
Kratos folded his arms.
"According to the receptionist, the destination depends on your command.
"Once inside, simply state the location you wish to enter. Being able to safely enter the portal already means it recognizes you as a guild member."
Tony glanced down at the Guild identification card in his hand, and a tinge of worry flashed in his mind.
"In that case, are you saying you won’t be able to enter the teleportation portal with me?"
Instead of receiving a response from Kratos, the system suddenly came alive at that moment to answer the question.
[Do not worry, Host. Everything is under control.]
Tony nodded on seeing the system’s response, and this even made him question the mystery behind the system’s existence.
But since he would be left with no answer, he decided to dismiss the thoughts and focus on what is before him.
Kratos, on his part, acted as if he knew this all along and instead continued with his explanation on how to use the teleportation portal.
"So if someone says ’Second Floor’... they will be transported somewhere on the Second Floor."
"Somewhere?"
Kratos nodded.
"The portal won’t choose a specific destination unless instructed. It simply places you at any available entry point on that floor. So it’s better to be specific.
Tony slowly nodded. That certainly explained why precise commands mattered.
"There’s one exception," Kratos added.
"The Tutorial Grounds?"
"Yes."
Tony looked at him and remembered how it was when Sandra wanted to first enter the tutorial grounds as a newbie.
Although this portal required one to state their precise location, it can also be said that it had been automatically programmed to transport players into the second floor.
In that case, whatever location it is, it will only lead such a player to that location on the second floor, since other floors are yet to be opened.
But that was not what Tony remembered. It was the order in which the tutorial grounds had been set.
Unlike ordinary dungeons, which are ranked from F to S, tutorial grounds are generally regarded as F rank dungeons but are divided into three tiers.
There was the normal, the survivor, and the nightmare dungeon. So to say, each tier is significantly more difficult than the last.
Tony frowned slightly on remembering this. It seems like his mission won’t be an easy one.
After all, the system seemed to have been aware, and that was why it used the phrase "completely clear" while displaying the mission.
"Seems like you know what I was about to say," Kratos said, seeing the frown on Tony’s face.
"Yeah. I remember now that Sandra passed through the same process last year."
"That reminds me, we have a score to settle."
"Postpone that score until we are done with this first mission, Sir Kratos," Tony said mockingly.
Instantly, Kratos’ expression became unusually serious once again.
"The receptionist says that you must not challenge all three consecutively. You can challenge the first today and come back next time to challenge others if you succeed.
"According to her, attempting every tier without sufficient recovery has claimed more lives than most people realize.
"Well," Kratos raised his hand over his head into a stretch. "Challenging all three tiers should be easy peasy for little brother. Whatever opponent we face should be equivalent to chicken strength."
Tony nodded.
He didn’t plan to stop halfway after all, since he was determined to complete the quest given to him and figure some other things out. After all, he had ample time within his grasp.
That said, both of them ventured forward and stepped into the teleportation portal. Soon, they were standing at the center of the massive runic platform.
The humming energy intensified around them.
Streams of luminous energy flowed across the runic matrix beneath their feet.
The entire cylinder came alive.
Tony’s brows furrowed a bit. Once again, the system has miraculously handled what couldn’t be technically handled by somehow making it possible for Kratos to step into the portal.
In that case—
The runes exploded with dazzling radiance.
The swirling currents surrounding the cylinder accelerated violently as space itself distorted around them.
Tony felt his surroundings blur. His vision became consumed by white light.
The sensation lasted no more than an instant, and before he knew it, the world around them changed.
The pillar of light disappeared.
The plaza was gone.
Instead, Tony and Kratos stood upon weathered stone before an enormous green portal that swirled endlessly with emerald light. Its shimmering surface rippled like liquid, releasing an ancient aura that seemed to beckon every beholder to come forward.
