The Last Experience Point

Chapter 48: Meeting Point

Stepping through the blue metal door and back into the dungeon, the very first sight to greet Zach’s eyes was an elevator call button just a few feet in front of him on the opposite side of a narrow hallway, one which contained the same fancy, royal-red carpeting that he recalled the throne room and the connecting double-doored entryway having.

“Well, it looks like we’re really escaping this place,” he said.

Lienne exhaled theatrically. “I think I’m all Yorna’d out for now.”

“Same,” Rian agreed.

With a somewhat muted thud, the exit door closed behind them—but it did not vanish. Testing it to see where it now led, Zach was pleased to discover that he could not only open it again if he desired, but that it was still connected to Angelica’s. “You guys know what this means, right?” he asked of both Lienne and Rian, who stood to each side of him. At the same time, the familiar sounds and welcoming scents returned, but only for so long as the door remained open.

Rian tilted his head slightly. “What’s that?”

Zach gently closed the door and then rapped his knuckles against it. “Even though we’ll probably find more eventually, we now have a guaranteed way to get to Angelica’s. Assuming we can just take the elevator back down here, I mean.”

“Ah. Good thinking,” Rian said. Then he laughed and pointed. “Hey, check it out. Look.”

As Zach turned his head to look in the direction Rian had indicated, he too let out a chuckle. They were now in a small, narrow hallway that was nearly identical to the one that had led to the throne room, only this one was on the opposite side of the chambers where the three of them had fought Moldark. This time, rather than a set of double doors, there was simply a giant, transparent window that spanned almost the entire section of the wall and gave a clear view of the throne room where they’d taken down the boss. Clearly, this had not been visible while within the room, as Zach would definitely have seen it. In fact, he was fairly certain the only thing he’d seen on the walls had been the paintings of landscapes and dull, orange-colored wallpaper.

Becoming curious, Zach walked up to it and peered into the screen, which gave him a fairly good view of the throne room. From where he stood, he could just see the back of Moldark’s throne—and Moldark himself, of course, who was sitting in it, clearly having respawned. Interestingly, however, there appeared to be no way back inside, which meant that if he wanted to fight the boss a second time—and to be clear, he did not—he would have to either break this window down or start all the way over from B1. Though, be it common sense or just basic intuition, something told Zach that even if he struck this panel with all his might while under the effects of Unleashed Phase, it probably wouldn’t break. If whoever created this dungeon had wanted adventurers to be able to take an elevator straight to the boss, they would’ve put a door here to get back in. Actually, that kind of raised a completely separate question.

“Rian,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“So wait, with this thing here”—he pointed at the window—“how did you get me to Angelica’s? After the boss died, I mean. You obviously didn’t come through here.”

“Huh?” Rian asked. He regarded Zach as though mystified, but very soon after, his eyes lit with understanding. “Ohh, right. No, uh, so basically, after you passed out, the wooden double-doors reopened all on their own, and we went to Angelica’s through the entrance just outside.”

“Oh yeah, forgot about that,” Zach said, recalling the entrance to Angelica’s to the left of the warning sign that had said a party of five or more was recommended. His curiosity satisfied, he decided to put Moldark and Angelica's out of mind for now, as it was long past time he returned to civilization and messaged Kalana. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”

Turning back around, he noticed there was little in this hallway other than the elevator to his left, the door to Angelica’s on his right, and at the far, opposite end of the hall was another blue metal push-bar door labeled B10->B11.

We’ll be back for you another time, Zach thought with a smile.

Similar to the elevator on B1, the actual “door” was hidden and blended perfectly into the scenery. The only clues of its existence were the indentations in the wall before him as well as the little red button beneath a panel that looked like a touchscreen. Thumbing the button, the panel lit up a neon blue. And now, a single word—or really, more like a location—was displayed on it in a font large enough to cover the entire screen.

B1

“I guess it’s coming down to us,” Zach said.

Lienne clapped her hands and made a chirp-like laugh. “I can’t wait to go shopping in that cute little market.”

“You and your dumb shopping,” Rian grumbled. She glared at him, and he shrugged.

B4

Given how far belowground they must’ve ventured, Zach was surprised to see how speedily the elevator was moving to their position. In total, he estimated less than a minute had passed between pushing the button and when, following a computerized ding, an entire section of the wall simply “slid” to the left as a bright white glow leaked out of the subsequently formed entryway and into the fairly dim hallway.

Eager to return to the surface, Zach stepped inside. Lienne and her brother wasted no time in following him. Then, once inside, the door shut automatically, and now a moment of silence passed between the three of them as Zach looked around for where to put the key Rian had given him, which he kept in the pocket of his reddish-brown pants.

“There it is,” he said aloud, mostly to himself. It was beneath the metal placard that offered a list of all the bosses in the dungeon. Apparently, whenever it would be they came back to this place, the next big foe they'd face would be someone or something called “Blood Stalker.” Zach shuddered at the thought of whatever that might turn out to be.

After reaching into his pocket and fishing around for the small, nondescript key, just three of the multiple metal-ringed buttons lit up with a yellow glow upon inserting it into the slot below the placard: the first was B10, where they already were, the second was B1, and lastly, the top-most button, labeled “EXIT.”

Zach stuffed the key back inside his pocket and went to push it, but with another giddy laugh, Lienne stepped forward and jammed her palm into the button before he had the chance. She was practically bubbling with excitement, at least from what Zach could tell. He couldn’t blame her. With the gold they’d gotten from the boss, they had a nice bit of coin they could spend on pretty much anything they wanted. Even if someone had stolen his bicycle, it would barely sting, financially speaking.

Less than a second after Lienne pressed the “EXIT” button, the elevator made several more dings almost as though it were a warning of some kind, and then it began to move—and fast. Very fast. So fast that all three of them let out a yelp as, with an extreme, sudden burst of acceleration, the elevator took off like a rocket ship, causing Zach to fall backwards onto his ass. Rian managed to stay upright, but only because he had already been gripping one of the metal handles on the sides of the elevator; with his opposite hand, he grabbed Lienne a moment before she almost fell on top of Zach.

“Holy shit!” Zach shouted, unable to even return to his feet as an incredibly uncomfortable sensation traveled from his belly up into his chest. “If it’s this bad going up, imagine coming back down.”

“We’re not doing it,” Lienne said, firmly shaking her head. “We’ll drive through Earth again!”

Rian laughed. “Stop being babies. This is fun.”

After about fifteen seconds, the sense of acceleration and movement faded, and once another few moments had passed, Zach risked standing back up to his feet. To be safe, however, he gripped the metal safety bar to his left, opposite where Lienne held onto her brother as though for dear life. Ultimately, it did not do any of them any good, as a half a minute later, the elevator made another series of dinging sounds, one after the next. Roughly around the same time, the display of a green LED above the door changed from reading "B2" to "Approaching B1." Just based on the way the dings continued to ring out with a sense of urgency, Zach knew he wasn’t going to like what happened next. And he was right, too.

Rather than gradually slow its ascent, the sound of a loud, high-pitched screech erupted from within the elevator as it violently came to a halt in less than a second. Releasing another cry, Zach found himself thrown upwards and off the floor with enough force to actually yank his hand free of the safety bar. Then, with a loud bang, his entire body crashed into the ceiling before he fell back down and landed with a painful, secondary bang onto the elevator’s hard surface. An instant later, he heard two more bangs, one from Rian and a smaller one from Lienne.

Even before the inevitable ache began resonating in his back and shoulders, Zach shot right back up to his feet, dashed forward a step, reached out with his arms, and then caught Lienne in his arms as her brother crashed down with enough of a thud to cause the entire elevator to shake.

“I need out of this thing right now,” Lienne whimpered as Zach set her down on her feet.

Fortunately, she got her wish. As Rian groaned and picked himself up off the elevator floor, the door reopened, signaling their successful escape from the Catacombs of Yorna. Right away, Zach had to raise both his hands to shield his eyes as a bright, blinding sunlight along with an immediate, intense burst of summer heat and humidity blasted him. The change in temperature and air quality occurred so quickly that Zach felt the fullness of it before the door had even fully slid open.

Even with his hands in front of his face, he still had to partially close both of his eyes as he stumbled his way out of this elevator from hell and back into the farmlands that had originally brought him here. “It’s great to be back, but I don’t miss this heat,” he said with a laugh. “I mean, really, it’s just as hot today as it was when I first—­”

He shouted out in confusion as he abruptly lost his balance and found himself planting face-first onto what was a hybrid of grass and dirt. It took him a moment to then realize why: it seemed he’d just tripped over his own damn bicycle.

“Ouch,” he grumbled as a dull but annoying ache emerged in his right hip. Bitterly, he picked himself back up off the ground and then wiped away some of the dirt and grass on his tunic. Gods, he felt like such a clumsy idiot. Regardless, he was glad to see his bike was still here and in one piece and undamaged despite having rammed it into the boulder at full speed. But…wait a second. If his bike was here, did that mean he’d exited in the same place he’d entered?

Zach only just had time to see the elevator door close before any trace of its existence became so blended together with the surrounding rock that it may as well have been invisible. Just to the right of where he’d accidentally thrown himself into the dungeon upon his arrival was apparently the elevator that led out of the place. Yet, as far as he was aware, there was no way of calling it. Just to be certain, Zach walked up to it and ran his palms along the stone, which felt smooth in some places and rough in others, but otherwise, there was no sign whatsoever that an elevator door was hidden behind this huge boulder, and there were certainly no buttons or screens to activate it. This meant that returning to Yorna would always require him to jump into the pool.

Now that I know what to expect, I might actually enjoy it the next go around, Zach thought.

Taking out his phone, he saw that it was now just past noon. It sure felt like it, too; it was absolutely scorching outside today. Yet, even despite the extreme heat, he was relieved to be back in the open sun on his own planet for a change. He actually snickered at that last thought. Just the absurdity of it all. The fact that he was actually relieved to be on his “own” planet as opposed to some other one. It really put into perspective the downright insanity that his life had become.

“You all right, Zach?” Rian asked him with a smirk. “You look like you’re cracking up over there.”

Despite only being out here for less than a minute, Rian was already beginning to profusely sweat like the sides of a cup with ice in it. Zach waved at him in a gesture he hoped would convey everything was fine. He didn’t feel like explaining what he’d found so humorous.

Staring at his bicycle seat, he said, “I guess I have to wheel the bike since you two won’t be able to keep up if I ride. Hey, how far away is the town from here, anyway?”

“Only about ten miles,” Lienne said.

“Only?” Rian asked, frowning.

She crossed her arms and gave him a frown right back. “Quit complaining. It’s good exercise, and let’s be honest—you need it.”

“Are you calling me fat, Li?”

“No. But…you could use a bit more cardio.”

Of all possible reactions, Rian simply laughed. “Yeah, because that’s so different.”

Something Zach was learning about Rian was that, when it came to most things, including even insults or harsh comments, he was very slow to anger and could easily accept criticism or take a joke in stride. But even that being the case, there were a few topics, particularly those involving his mother, family life, or other subjects that touched on previous trauma, where he could become explosively angry in an instant. It was something Zach needed to keep in mind for times when he decided to make a playful jab at Rian.

Definitely no ‘your momma’ jokes, that’s for sure.

Gripping the bike by its left handlebar in one hand and its leather-padded seat in the other, the soft grass squished beneath his feet and the bicycle’s two wheels as it rolled along beside him while he made his way to the Den of Ziragoth with Rian and Lienne. Even despite the terrifying elevator ride, he was still in an incredibly upbeat and optimistic mood. He ignored the perilous heat, the sweat that now began to trickle down his own face, and the doubts he had about what, specifically, he was going to do regarding joining a guild. Instead, he turned his thoughts towards Kalana, whom he was desperate to see.

“Can you wheel my bike for a second, Rian? Please?”

Rian nodded, and the gesture caused sweat to whiplash off his chin and almost strike Zach, which would have been disgusting. Thankfully, it landed on the grass instead. Removing his phone from his pocket, Zach glanced down and noticed he had several missing text messages from Kalana. Eagerly, he began to read each one of them.

>Just got back! The meeting went great!

>I can’t wait to tell you what happened. Ur not even gonna believe it

>Hey

>You there Zach

>Helloooooo

>OK guessing you’re busy in the dungeon ^_^ msg me when done!

Zach smiled at each one of the messages aside from the first, because he was pretty sure she was referring to her “meeting” with one of those damn political guilds. Why would Kal ever want to get involved with those people? It made no sense. One moment, she’d claimed she’d wanted to conquer them, and the next, she seemed to be forging alliances or whatever. Clearly, there was a lot going on with her right now, and Zach had only caught up on a fraction of it. Even with just a cursory glance at the news, he could see that she was still the top trending and most-discussed news story. Gods, this was all so surreal.

Now that he was out of the stressful dungeon and back under a blue sky surrounded by farmland and all the other ordinary, everyday Galterran sights, the full impact of Kalana’s current celebrity status finally began to really register in his head. It just…it just didn’t seem real. It wasn’t merely that he couldn’t believe this had happened to Kalana, but additionally, he was now reaching the point where he also couldn’t believe he knew her—let alone that he was going to spend time alone with her.

Why not? he wondered, becoming angry with his own self. This is Kal! No matter what, she’s still just Kal.

His brain had become caught in this two-track sort of mind. On the one hand, there were moments where he thought of her as he always thought of Kalana. And during these moments, he felt no uneasiness or apprehension. She was the girl he’d spent so much time with over these past two years, and now, he was sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was head-over-heels in love with her.

But…on the other hand, there was this new, second-track of his mind, and this was the one that saw her social media page, in which she had more followers than there were people living in some of the smaller regions. She had apparently—at least according to the news—signed multiple branding deals for everything from a clothing line to a new type of perfume, and she was now casually exchanging comments online with some of the biggest celebrities on television. This was fucking insane.

“What’s wrong?” Rian asked. “You’ve gone pale.”

“It’s nothing,” Zach said.

“It’s not nothing, dude. Did you text her? She say something you didn’t like?”

Zach shook his head. “No, I didn’t text her yet.”

“Then what is it?”

He sighed. Rian would keep prying until he fessed up. “I’m just a bit confused with what I’m feeling.”

“How so?”

Zach looked at him. “I just found out the girl I love, in the span of days, has become an international celebrity and is now the most-discussed person on the planet. So I, you know, I just…how do I even explain it? I don’t want to sound…” Zach again sighed. “I don’t know how to word it in a way that doesn’t make me sound pathetic.”

“Mind if I take a guess?” Rian asked as he continued to wheel the bike for him.

Zach turned over his palm. “Sure, go ahead.”

All at once, Rian’s expression became serious. And though his voice was soft, he spoke with a note of certainty. “Just to be clear,” he began, “I’m only saying this because it’s how I’d feel if I were in your shoes, dude. So this isn’t me trying to insult you or anything.”

“I gotcha. Go on.”

“Well,” he said, “if I had to bet money on it, I’d say you’re intimidated.” He paused as if waiting for Zach to reply. Zach, however, said nothing as a sharp, stabbing sensation pierced his gut. It was sort of a combination of unrest and a feeling of being exposed.

“You’re worried that you’re not good enough for her anymore, right?” Rian asked. “Now that she’s become this gigantic…I’m not entirely sure what to call it.”

Rather than reply, Zach looked over to Lienne, who not unexpectedly, had begun to walk a few extra feet away from the two of them, as had become typical lately whenever Zach talked about Kalana. He really didn’t like to bring this topic up in front of her. It was probably painful to hear him talking about Kalana.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said. Out of consideration, he spoke at just above a whisper—loudly enough to be heard while outdoors, but softly enough so that Lienne would not have to listen. “But even still, she’s still my Kal.”

“Then what are you so worried about, Zach?”

He twisted his lips into a sour expression. “With everything she has now, why would she even need me anymore?”

“And there it is,” Rian said, nodding.

“What?”

“The root of it all. Dude, you can’t think like that. She either likes you or she doesn’t. If she’s the kind of person who would drop you just because she’s in a much better position now than when she met you, then she’s not really worth a shit anyway, right?”

“Point taken,” Zach said—and he meant it, too. What Rian said made perfect sense. For some reason, it still did not lessen the uneasiness he felt as he thought about himself in comparison to the suddenly world-famous girl who’d lived in the apartment across from him.

“So, are you all right?” Rian asked, his voice sincere.

Zach nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. I mean, let’s be honest here: Kal becoming famous isn’t even the craziest or most emotionally fucked-up thing that’s happened to me lately. It’s not even in the top five, so…” He shrugged then released a small laugh. “I’m just going to take it in stride.”

“Attaboy.”

Rian, still wheeling his bike, took his hand off the handlebar for just a moment so as to give Zach a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. Then Zach returned his attention to his cellphone as he began typing a message to Kalana.

>Just got out of the dungeon, Kal. Heading into town

>OK COOL! I’m coming to see you then………I can’t wait anymore

Zach blinked, and he felt a rush of fear, excitement, and disbelief.

>Wait what????

>What do you mean???

>Kal???

>I’m gonna come to see you in that place you said

>The Den of Ziragoth?

>Yeah

>SERIOUSLY?

Zach didn’t realize how hard his chest was pounding until he started to pant. She was coming here? That was totally unexpected. Not entirely unwelcome, though. Honestly, Zach would be happy to see her in five minutes from now if that was possible, too. But putting all that aside, just the idea of seeing her today caught him so off guard he almost tripped over an oversized clump of dirt that had been partially concealed under a bush.

>I’m not far. Me n dad had 2 go see Alex. He wanted to talk to me and I wanted to get my diary and some other stuff from my old apartment

>Wait, so you’re in Whispery Woods right now?

>Yep

Wow. This meant they were in the same region, technically speaking. Zach practically burst with happiness as he told her to come as soon as she could. He couldn’t believe this was really happening. Kalana claimed she would be done in about four or five hours or so and then she’d head straight over. This was it. It was really happening.

I need to buy her flowers in town!

Zach lowered his phone to break the news to Rian and Lienne. Rian beamed a happy smile, which Zach took to be genuine. Lienne, on the other hand, didn’t even bother to try hiding her disappointment, for which Zach did not blame her. If anything, it dampened his mood only ever so slightly as he now felt the sting of guilt accompany the wonderful, incredible news he’d just received.

Just up ahead, Zach spotted the outskirts of the town, where a man on a tractor was tending to his fields. Beside him was a road that led into what, despite clearly being the largest town Zach had seen in the farmlands, was still nevertheless a sleepy-little village compared even just to Doom-Bound Keep, where he’d learned to use a sword in a field with Fluffles.

Even from where he stood, he could already tell that the densest, busiest part of the town was located directly in the center, where most of the businesses including the pub, the inn, and the open-air market likely resided. Once beyond the outskirts, the inner part of the town did not contain any farms and was instead comprised of mostly small-to-mid-sized two-story homes that looked a bit quaint with a somewhat dated architecture as evident by the discoloration of many of the bricks and the presence of clotheslines. Everyone in the city used a washer and dryer, but in front of these particular homes, Zach could see a wide assortment of clothing hanging openly in the summer sun.

“Before we do anything,” Rian said. “I need a cold drink and a bite to eat. Let’s go to the pub first.”

“Sure thing,” Zach agreed. “I could use a cola and a burger, too.”

Lienne sighed and followed along. “Whatever,” she muttered.

Zach tried not to let his guilt get in the way of his fantastic mood. Finally, at long-fucking-last, he was going to see Kalana again!

*****

“He’s where?” Anelia shouted into her phone. “The pub? Right now? Thank you, Jaken. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

She ended the call, loosened the holsters at her sides just a bit so her guns could be drawn in a hurry if necessary, and then quickly headed back across town where she’d only just been an hour ago striking up a conversation with a nice woman and her five-year-old son.

It was time.