BXBX NOVEL Chapter 160: Floor Orb
Chapter 160: Floor Orb
While the darkness began to disappear, the strange monsters in the forests started to retreat back to their caves and hidden lairs, almost like they were allergic to the sunlight.
Eldertree Institute also woke up, doors banging open as the staff members of the facility stumbled out of their quarters and started their day.
At the dormitory for the students, the doors stayed closed and the light was dim there. Most of the students were still sleeping as it was two hours before their classes started.
However, there were a few early risers who left the dormitory to do either their running routine or to grab breakfast before the cafeteria got too crowded.
Inside a room, Adam pushed himself up and down in a series of push-ups, the sweat glistening against his relatively pale skin.
"Argh..." Adam grunted as he strained to finish his set.
Then, after doing the last push-up, he stood up and suddenly formed fists with his hands, then started shadowboxing against empty air in front of him.
Swish, swish, swish.
Before he could finish his shadowboxing set, the door opened, and a hunched man slowly walked in, holding a cane to assist him in walking.
"Young Adam, if you don\'t mind, can you follow me?" Mr. Caretaker said.
Adam stopped throwing punches, nodded while breathing heavily, then used a towel to wipe his sweat and then put a t-shirt on.
\'I didn\'t hear him come in. I didn\'t even hear the door being unlocked.\' Adam thought to himself.
He thought it was because he was so focused on his own training that he didn\'t even notice. They headed out of the room, and Adam thought he would meet other students already, but every other door was still closed and the dormitory seemed empty.
After leaving the dormitory behind, they started walking up the spiraling stairs, and this time, Adam was the place being more alive as staff members were bustling around.
As the Mr. Caretaker and Adam walked past several staff members, their gazes lingered in Adam\'s direction for a beat longer than usual.
"It\'s him..." A female staff member said to her friend and pulled out a piece of paper.
The paper had a picture drawn, and it was shockingly accurate compared to the real one. "S-ranker..."
While Adam couldn\'t hear their whispers, he could feel the stares stabbing into the back of his head like a thousand tiny needles.
\'How far are we walking?\' Adam wondered as they just kept walking longer and longer up the spiraling stairs.
Strangely enough, he didn\'t even have to slow down his walking pace, as Mr. Caretaker\'s pace was surprisingly good.
It didn\'t matter that he was walking with a cane and had hunched back, looking like he wouldn\'t be able to move, let alone walk at the same pace as Adam.
Adam tested a theory and picked up his pace slightly. His feet started moving faster and faster.
Still, Mr. Caretaker stayed ahead of him, and his legs didn\'t seem to move any quicker either. It was as if he was effortlessly gliding along the steps of the stairs.
\'Heh...\' Adam smirked. \'Interesting.\'
Since it looked like Mr. Caretaker could keep up with any pace of his, Adam kept his pace relatively quick so they would arrive at their destination quicker.
However, they walked another hour, yet it didn\'t look like they were half-way up the tree.
\'It would probably take me three days to reach the top.\' Adam thought as he looked up towards the top. \'Where exactly are we heading to?\'
"Ah, here we are..." Mr. Caretaker suddenly said and just entered one of the random doors that lined the stairs.
Adam, in surprise, followed after him and headed deep into the hallway that had one door left at the end.
With the master key, Mr. Caretaker opened the door, and instead of room, there was just a shelf of glowing orbs.
"Here..." Mr. Caretaker took one and tossed it over to Adam. "Don\'t drop it."
Adam caught it with ease and looked at it with a raised eyebrow. "What\'s this?"
"You must be wondering, Oh, this place is huge." Mr. Caretaker said. "This, in your hand, is Floor Orb."
\'I knew that already.\' Adam thought while acting ignorant. \'Floor Orbs are found on every floor and can only be used on a floor they\'re found on. They allow teleportation. No wonder; it would take days to move around this place without it.\'
Mr. Caretaker took out his own Floor Orb from his back pocket and said, "The headmaster office. Repeat those words."
As soon as he said that, the orb sucked him inside like a vacuum cleaner, and he disappeared from sight.
"The headmaster office." Adam repeated those words, and the same thing happened to him.
He got sucked inside the orb.
While inside the orb, he was spinning uncontrollably, and he felt like he was traveling through time and space.
Anyone with a weak stomach would have likely thrown up, and first-time users of the orb always throw up or pass out.
After a while, Adam got thrown out of the orb, and he appeared at the top floor of the tree, standing by the door of the headmaster\'s office. It was closed tight.
"Argh..." Adam touched his stomach and looked like he was about to throw up. \'Yep, my body isn\'t accustomed to that.\'
"If you throw up, do it over the railing." Mr. Caretaker said and pointed at the stairs with
railings.
If he threw up the railing, the vomit would travel straight down to the bottom floor and could make someone\'s day a thousand times worse.
"Nah, I am fine." Adam said, took a few deep breaths, and seemed to be feeling better.
"The headmaster doesn\'t like things that are dirty." Mr. Caretaker said. "He would not be happy if you dirtied the doorstep of his office."
"I understand; I am feeling better." Adam said with a weak smile.
He was slightly paler than usual, but the color slowly returned to his face.
"Good." Mr. Caretaker said and knocked on the door.
"Enter." A voice came from inside.
Mr. Caretaker opened the door, and stayed outside, not planning to enter the room. Instead,
he was motioning for Adam to enter it instead.
Adam nodded and stepped through the door into the cozy-looking office, ornate with a large mahogany desk in the center.
This was his first time seeing Renard, a stern-looking man with hazel-brown hair and scarry
fingers formed into a steeple as he observed Adam.
"Please, take a seat." Renard\'s mouth formed a smile, somewhat.
Adam bowed and took a seat on the other side of the mahogany desk.
He couldn\'t help but look out of the window that was behind Renard and saw the clouds
forming below the window and stretching out into the distance.
It was a spectacular sight.
"Adam Palestar, isn\'t that right?" Renard put on glasses and read through some papers.
"Correct." Adam nodded.
"I, honestly, didn\'t expect to see you that soon." Renard said. "I thought it would take longer
in the Culling."
Renard paused for a moment before continuing, "But I suppose congratulations are in order
for passing the test so quickly."
"Thank you." Adam nodded. "I couldn\'t do it without Terry; he was of good help."
"No need to lie to me." Renard said. "He cried to you about probably being expelled, didn\'t
he? You\'re a strong one, Adam; don\'t let these weaklings bring you down while you try to help
them."
Adam hid his frown, but he wasn\'t pleased with his words.
\'Pro-Strong, indeed.\'