I know nothing is ever free, but the way everyone asks for shards in exchange for even the slightest bit of information is almost as annoying as it is funny in its own twisted way. The worst part is that I’ve been getting used to it.

Sooner or later, the tables will turn, and I’ll be the one scamming people for shards.

In a way, it makes sense. For example, the information guild has to function, and they need salaries for their people, so of course, they’re going to ask for shards. But there are also situations where people just wait around to exploit careless or impatient attendees.

Spending some shards can speed things up by a lot here. You can gather information on clearing the floors, ask about the guilds so you don’t end up picking the wrong one, get help with your training, or buy customized items of the sort you might not be able to find in the system shop.

I also know that the system shop won’t be available after the tutorial. That much is more or less confirmed. So, seeing as even locals ask for shards, it is likely they have access to the system shop as well and spend their shards there. Or maybe there is a different way they spend them. Who knows. Maybe I should ask. I'm sure they would answer. For shards.

So, that leaves the question. Will something else replace the shop after the tutorial is over, or is it only meant to be a temporary resource for the First Generation throughout the duration of their tutorial?

I also know I could get more of this information much cheaper or for free on my own, but I don’t mind spending shards at the moment.

That’s how I learn about the ways to get to the third floor. By asking and paying, of course. As before, there are multiple ways to get to the third floor, and I pay to learn about three that make up the most common approach.

One of them is similar to one of the options on the first floor. Some call it the Key Fragment Hunt, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. You kill monsters that have a chance of having a single blue bone. Gathering enough of them and setting them up in a special formation, almost like a ritual, that you, of course, have to buy information on, allows you to create an entrance for one person.

That also reminds me how different the requirements are here from the tutorial, which has its own proper quests. Is this difference between the tutorial made by the system, and overseen by the Rulers, and Beyond, which has been built up by a succession of Rulers over the place known as the First Dungeon? Was the First Dungeon made by the system? Or, is it possible that the First Dungeon predates the system, much like Primordial energies and Fragments do?

There is a question that comes to mind. Why did the Rulers do it? And what is the First Dungeon when the Rulers themselves don’t seem to have the same level of control as they do when it comes to the tutorial? Does the First Dungeon really pre-date the system, or is it something new the Rulers haven’t had time to learn about, or can they simply not influence it to the same level?

Either way, I won’t complain. Not having a quest that requires me to spend a month or two on this floor is better for me. But it just makes me wonder if all floors can be so easy to “clear” if you’re willing to spend enough shards.

The second way to get to the third floor that I’ve heard about is called the Ritual. There are multiple ritual circles placed all over the floor where you can sacrifice something to gain entrance to the next floor. That sacrifice can be items, memories, stats, and I’ve even heard rumors about human sacrifice.

This one is extremely interesting to me, especially because of how much it clashes with the system itself. Even during the Challenges, it’s extremely difficult to set things like that as wagers, from what I’ve heard, yet here they can be sacrificed?

Any other day, I would love to study it, and there will be a time when I will.

The last option I learned about is probably the simplest, but it’s also likely to be the most difficult in some ways. In the third city, there’s a permanent portal to the third floor. That city, like the second and the first one, has a King of its own, a powerful Local who oversees it and the surrounding area.

If the king likes you, he’ll simply let you pass. There is also the possibility of joining one of the big guilds that trade with the King and have a limited number of passes each year that they can give out. Even though I don’t think they use it that often, such big guilds surely can buy up any available blue bones and give them to an attendee along with the instructions to use them.

As I walk through the city, I glance at the back of my hand where I let a bit of my mana seep into and activate the identification emblem that shows the same Ivory White C, even after my battle with the Harvester.

Does that mean it should be possible for most B ranks to do what I did back then?

I slow down and allow the presence I sense behind to reach me as I take a seat on the bench under a tree nearby.

“Sir, attendee!” The lynthari boy says, greeting me with a big smile, slightly out of breath as he stops running. I would be surprised if he weren’t smiling after that. He just made a lot of shards off me after all.

“The thief,” I say, returning Lochi’s greeting.

“I didn’t steal anything! I merely facilitated the flow of information at a competitive rate,” he says quickly, grinning wider.

I raise an eyebrow but don’t correct him.

He plops down beside me, uninvited, like we’re old buddies. “Is the ascent to the third floor your next course of action, or are you still weighing the matter?” he asks, eyes flicking around, possibly looking for more prey in the crowd.

“Maybe,” I answer. “Why are you talking like that today?”

“Sir, I assure you, this manner of speech is my natural cadence when I find myself in the presence of greatness...” He gives a wink, half self-mocking, half calculating.

I sigh. He continues anyway.

“Besides,” he adds, folding his hands neatly in his lap and straightening his back, “one must distinguish oneself. In a city full of plebeians, elegance becomes its own form of currency.”

“100 shards if you tell me why.”

“My father read me a book where people talked that way, and I thought it sounded like fun!”

I glance at him sideways. “Your father, who died?”

“He got better! Anyway,” he chirps, smoothly shifting topics, “you want to go out on a hunt? I can connect you with some hunter groups or merchants who’ve been looking for materials from specific monsters. Or I could connect you with a trading guild that needs people to protect their caravans, or people searching for bodyguards. Attendees usually start with jobs like that.”

"Not really. How many shards did you make off me?"

"You mean from the fruits of my labor?"

"Sure."

"I asked for a percentage of the final profits once the items are sold. Sure, it’ll take years, and it might not work out to be all that much, but I trust Sir Merchant to work hard to make as much as possible!"

I watch as his two tails swing from side to side in excitement. Even his fangs show a little, smaller than Myrra’s, but still similar.

"Why do you have two tails? And please, don’t say it’s a genetic inheritance from some ancient lynthari ancestor."

"That exactly!" Lochi grins.

I sigh and stay silent, not reacting.

"So what are you waiting for, sir attendee? It seems like you’re either waiting or thinking!"

"Perceptive, aren’t you?"

"I gotta be if I wanna work with people," he says, nodding all serious. "Coldies are really hard to figure out just by looking at their faces, but if you watch what they do, it tells you way more than you can learn from normal people. People who don’t use concentration skills are kinda all over the place, and it’s hard to tell what they’re feeling. Like, if they’re trying to hide it, you’ve got no idea what’s going on in their heads. They could be scared or mad or something, and you won’t even notice until they do something really weird. But Coldies aren’t like that. They’re way better at hiding what they feel, but they don’t let their feelings boss them around as much. They don’t go nuts just ‘cause they’re mad or scared. So if you watch closely and think about it, you can generally figure them out. They don’t do random stuff like normal people. They do things ‘cause they thought about it, not just ‘cause they felt like it. You gotta look at what they do, not their face."

"I guess that makes sense," I admit, looking away from him and off into the distance at the ethereal-looking plains. "It could be said that I’m indecisive. I know what I want to do, but at the same time, I don’t know if I should do it."

"Is it something scary?"

"It doesn’t scare me, but the question is if I should be patient and do it later when I’m absolutely sure it will go my way, or if I should be impatient and risk it now."

"What would you do without your concentration skill?"

"I would’ve been on my way to the third floor a long time ago."

"Why don’t you partially weaken your skill to see how things go? Not fully?" Lochi asks innocently.

In some way, he reminds me of Vega, and as always, that childish curiosity and innocence feel so relaxing. Before I know it, I’m reaching out, my hand brushing the top of his head as a smile spreads across my face.

His little heart speeds up, and his golden eyes open wide as he stares at me in shock.

"Sorry," I say, quickly pulling my hand back.

"Sir attendee, please don’t smile like that in front of my mom. She’d leave Dad for real this time!"

"I won’t."

"Good! And how can you smile that way with a concentration skill? You’re weird for a Coldie."

"I’m doing some testing. Instead of suppressing all of my emotions, I’m trying to be more selective. I could do that before, but now I’m trying to improve on it. Partial suppression vs full suppression. I’m also trying to see if I can suppress pain entirely or maybe even make myself temporarily forget different memories. I’m practicing storing, arrays, and frequencies in layers so I can pull them up instantly without thinking. I’m practicing information compression so I can remember more with less space. Also, my mind is currently split in two, and one part has all its emotions suppressed, while the other one’s just suppressing anger and the like, and I’m working on switching between them. I’m locking away memories and seeing if I can stop myself from finding them. "

"Are you actually really strong, sir attendee?"

"My name is Nathaniel."

"Oh! Are you maybe really strong, sir Nathaniel?"

"Just Nathaniel."

"Are you maybe really strong, sir Just Nathaniel?"

"Wanna be suspended from that lamp over there by your leg?"

"Hehe." He smiles and stands up in that energetic manner only kids have. "I have to go, but don’t forget me when you become much stronger! And you should go. I think you’d be unhappy if you stayed a Coldie forever!”

Before leaving, he smiles deviously and takes a quick step closer.

It would be easy to avoid or react. I even increase my processing speed and watch in slightly slowed motion as he reaches toward me, but I don’t do anything to stop him.

His small hand taps the top of my head a few times, much as I did with his.

Then I return my processing speed to normal and watch as he runs back to the other kids at normal speed and shouts something, his twin tails swaying behind him.

"Damn man, I thought he would never leave. But it felt weird to interrupt, so I waited." A man’s voice sounds from my side.

"Yes, I noticed. Thank you for that," I answer and turn toward him.

There, a short man with a shaved head stands, wearing clothes laced with a mix of white and pale blue.

Upon seeing my face, he smiles brightly. "Well, you finally showed your face on the second floor."