Off Limit System

The staircase is like a twisting snake and so long. There seemed to be no end to it. Ethan, Dane, Chloe, and Percy must have gone up three or four stories.

"It's like The City," Dane half complained.

"The City?" A look of perplexity crossed Percy's face.

"You don't know, it's in The Casual, specifically for levels above ten." There was a tone of pride in Dane's words.

"No." Percy shook his head.

"How did you get into the City? We were level two before," Chloe said.

"Someone high up invited us." This time Ethan spoke, and the thought of Miriam made Ethan's heart tingle. There was an undercurrent of excitement when he even talked about the girl.

Chloe raised an eyebrow and said quietly, "That's cool. So what's in there?"

"Zombies," Dane replied with a shudder.

"Sounds fun." Chloe half-mocked.

Ethan couldn't help but chuckle. Hearing Chloe and Dane continue to argue was quite annoying. However, they continued communicating and talking as if they knew each other.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Percy said.

"You never tried to get into The Casual?" Dane gave Percy a quick look.

"All I know is that THE FOREST, THE BEACON, and THE FIELD are all part of the Wizard's life story. And this castle."

It sounded strange to Ethan. They were talking about a sub-game, but Percy was answering about something else.

"Is that why the lobby has a medieval theme?" Dane said to Chloe.

"Maybe," Chloe shrugged nonchalantly.

Ethan stepped onto a shiny black stone floor on the last flight of stairs. Up there was a massive room with a high ceiling that formed a circle.

It was just an empty room, windowless, with torches burning around it. Actually, it was almost empty, for they saw the figure of Ulrich sitting on the floor, face down, with his hands tied behind his back and his legs stretched out in front of him.

"Oh my God, Ulrich!" squealed Chloe.

The girl ran toward Ulrich as fast as she could until something invisible caused her to fall backwards. Ethan rushed to help Chloe up, then cautiously moved forward. Ethan's hands fumbled and felt a barrier that kept them from getting closer to Ulrich.

"Is he okay?" Dane asked.

"Looks like he fainted," Ethan replied.

Immediately, Dane drew his pistol and went on alert. They were in the enemy's compound, so who knew if the Wizard was watching? Even though Chloe said that the gun would be useless. But at least preparing a weapon was better than nothing.

"Maybe we should go to the left wing? Is the Wizard there?" Percy whispered.

"If we defeat him, we can save Ulrich," Ethan said.

Ethan was actually okay with Ulrich not making it to level four. But he couldn't bring himself to leave Ulrich tied up there. Trapped in a game, unable to return to the real world. Even if Ulrich was a pain in the ass. It was not Ethan's right to be the executioner and risk the lives of others.

"So we're going to the left wing?" Dane asked for confirmation.

"There's no one here," Percy replied.

Dane gave Percy a skeptical look. "Well, ever think The Wizard ability? Maybe he can switch places with the snap of a finger."

"Should we just wait for the wizard?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, sure. He could greet us and then invite us in for tea." Chloe fumed again. "We're just going to sit back, relax, and watch Ulrich in bad shape?"

"We'll go to the left wing of the castle then," Ethan interrupted.

"I'll wait here. You guys go," Chloe said.

"You're on your own; what if the Wizard comes? And you can't fight him?"

This time Ethan was apprehensive about Chloe; not only was she a woman, but no one knew how cruel the Wizard could be.

"Then I still have a chance to play." Chloe smiled at Ethan. "Besides, I went up a few levels, so I won't run into that damn wizard again," the blond hair continued.

Ethan nodded. "Alright. Stay alert and be careful, Chloe."

"I will, Ethan. Thank you."

Finally, Ethan, Dane, and Percy went back down the circular staircase and ran as fast as they could to the left wing of the castle. They crossed the courtyard and entered a large door on the left side of the building.

The scene was different once they entered the left wing of the castle. A long corridor appeared in front of their eyes. A red velvet carpet stretched along the length of the hall. There were paintings and preserved animal heads on the left and right sides of the lit torches. It looked really horrible.

Ethan felt strange when he looked at the paintings; a face was scrawled in black ink from different images, like family paintings, which looked like a gathering of wizards.

"Why isn't there a painting of the wizard with his army?" Dane scolded.

"Do you think he'd want to be with such filthy creatures?" retorted Percy.

Dane shrugged. "I suppose it's his army. Why not?"

"Of course not," Percy snorted.

"Ah, probably because Orc troops can't stand or sit comfortably for hours," Dane commented. "After all, what's the point of capturing a bad face and making it memorable?"

Not sure what was going through Dane's head, but Ethan thought it sounded funny. They were in a high-pressure situation, but Dane kept Ethan entertained with his jokes. When Ethan looked at Percy, the young man's face hardened. More somber ever since they entered the left wing of the castle. "Maybe Percy is very scared?" Ethan thought.

They walked down the corridor with cautious steps, not making a sound. At the end of the hall, they found a large room. It looked cozy, with a fireplace, bookshelves, casual seating, and a rug.

"Not a cauldron of green liquid," muttered Dane.

"What for?" asked Percy in surprise.

"Wizards usually make potions. Don't you ever read comic books?" Dane asked back.

Percy looked at Dane seriously. "Those aren't wizards. They're alchemists."

Ethan looked around; there was a connecting door to another room that probably led to the second or third floor of the building on the left wing. But what interested Ethan was something attached to the fireplace. A whip.

"What's wrong?" asked Percy, who had noticed Ethan's behavior.

"That whip, it feels strange on the fireplace. It's something very ordinary, isn't it?"

Percy turned to Ethan. "Whips are used to beating cattle. What's strange?"

Somehow, something alerted Ethan. Stories about cattle, as someone who grew up on a farm. Sounded very ordinary. However, Percy needs to correct a mistake in Ethan's eyes when he talks about the function of the whip. Ethan hurried back and approached the Dane. He immediately raised his shield and stood ready.

"Who are you?" asked Ethan with a hardened voice.

Percy stared in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It's no accident that you say you're a farm boy. Isn't it, Wizard?"