Present time…
'Blowing this place is up? Doesn't sound too bad to be honest.'
He looked at the small piece of metal in his palm, which looked like a grain of metal. But when he brought his closer to the thing, he could see that there was a small button at one of the ends of the grain-like metal.
'Hmmm… so this thing is supposed to open a portal for me to directly move to any floor.'
He looked at it for a while. It made no sense to him how this small piece of metal was going to help him directly reach the final floor of Lysander.
'Here we go, this thing better work.'
He pushed the button on the metal. A stream of shadows started to pour down from it. Emil was quite surprised. He watched the shadows twisting and turning, shaping themselves. They were also growing in size. Then they began merging; it first formed something like a knob. Then, a fully functioning shadowy door.
'What the.. Is it a door? Maybe like a portal or something, hmmm…'
'What if we do something like this?'
He moved closer to the shadowy door in front of the toilet seat. He thought for a moment whether to put his foot first or his hands. Then he lifted his left foot first, shook his head, and started lifting his left hand. He decided against them. Now he was lifting his right hand first, but instead of forcing his way through any of the hands or feet, he used his head.
He pushed through the shadowy door with his head. He grinned like an idiot. He was now standing in complete darkness. Then, suddenly, a screen appeared in front of him.
'Hmm.. Just like Gwen told me.'
It was basically a device that let people of the Arianrhod travel through this building to any floor and any location. It was not for everyone, of course. Even people like Dr. Turner and Gwen didn't have access to something like this. And as for the people of this building, they were well known to the paths of ascent to the next floor.
As Lysander is someone of high authority, it was pretty much given that he would possess something like this. But if he had taken something like this to them. They would have destroyed this or kept it with them.
'That would have been a disaster.'
The screen was lingering in front of him…
[
Savant Name: Lysander Antoniette
Savant Rank: Member
Savant Rank Tier: Expert
Savant Abilities: Preview not visible
Savant Abilities Rank: Expert
Savant Rank [Underground City] : [1007/50,000]
Rank Description:
(Strongest Member in the whole underground city)
Savant Rank Arianrhod: Preview not visible
Note: To unlock the preview, enter the password.
Which floor would you like to ascend to?
Choose from 1 to 100.
Waiting for your response.
]
'What the? This is just like a video game, and his rank is 1007 in the whole city. Just how strong is he? Strongest Member in the whole world, sounds like something he would definitely achieve. And he has already reached the maximum in both the Rank tier and the Abilities rank. This device is really useful.'
He looked at the screen for a moment, then sighed. Muttered something, then thought of the number 100.
[
You have chosen 100.
Be prepared for the transportation.
]
'Let's see what the hell this transportation thing is.'
The air around Emil started tightening. It was nearly the same pressure as he felt when he was in the dome with essential.
'In the dome, why did Emily feel different at the end of their discussion, and also why did I feel as if I had moved some places. I guess…'
A violent force from above tugged him. For a moment, Emil thought his head was snapping off. He couldn't move, see or even think.
The force stopped pulling him.
He dropped to his knees and started vomiting whatever little he had eaten today.
'I knew it, he wanted to kill me, that bastard. I will teach him a lesson. My head… it hurts.'
He touched his head there was no blood, but the pain was intolerable. He was still coping with pain when that screen appeared again with a notification.
[
You have reached your destined floor.
We hope your transportation experience was satisfactory.
Please leave a review so that we can improve the experience.
]
Emil's mouth twitched.
'Review, yeah, One Star.'
"Good." He said with a sour face.
[
Your review means a lot to us.
Thank you. Now you safely step out of the door. You are now present in the washroom on the 100th floor. Stall number IX.
]
"Who's there? Is that you, Sneha mam?" A soft voice came from the outside of the shadow door.
'Well, yeah, I AM FUCKED.'
***
A girl in her 20s was sitting on the toilet seat, her head supported by her hands. She was shaking her legs. A frown on her face was present.
There was a sudden shift in the air. She tensed. She looked up, and shadows started appearing. Then, out of nowhere, a door appeared in front of her. If she had been a normal human living on the surface of the Earth, it would have made her jump from her seat. But neither was this the surface world, nor was she a surface human. Sure, she was just a normie. But she did know that certain people have access to the Shadow Ascension Device.
And on the hundredth floor of the building, not everyone had access except those above the Member.
For the past few days, she had noticed that somehow, Sneha was the one who was travelling a lot to this floor. Even the Savants and the wardens were listening to her a lot.
"Who's there? Is that you, Sneha mam?" She tried to sound less intimidated.
No answer came from the other side of the door. She was now a little tense.
"Ma'am?" She got up from the seat.
She was shaking.
With her hands still shaking, she approached the shadowy door.
A hand came out of the door out of nowhere. It grabbed her hair and, with a tightening force, pulled her inside the shadowy door.
***
"Do not move or make a sound. It won't be good for you." Emil grabbed her from behind, fisting her hair with one hand while tightening his grip around her throat with the other, his voice low as he spoke.
'I feel so damn terrible, I am sorry…'