"That's quite an island we've got in front of us, huh?" I said, letting out a nervous laugh.
The island had storm clouds spiraling above it with lightning striking every other second. Just the sight of it alone was enough to freeze me in a place. Everything about it just made me wanna say nope and walk away. That wasn't an option though. I said I'd help Felix liberate his homeland and I'll stay true to it.
There was a long bridge that connected the two islands together. Not the kind of bridge that would shake in strong winds though, it actually seemed rather sturdy despite the conditions it was putting up with.
"You've all grown a little since we first got here so stand strong." Vylan said, patting me on my back as he walked past me.
"You've got us too, John." Steven said, giving me a reassuring smile.
I grinned, "You've changed a lot since we first met, Steven. I'm glad you're my right hand man."
His eyes widened for a moment before turning away, "S'nothing."
I turned to face the rest of the people who willingly stayed with me on my journey, my friends. "If it ever gets too dangerous, please run. You've all helped me so much so I don't wanna lose any of you."
Alice walked over to me and punched my shoulder, "You won't be losing any of us! Just who do you think we are?"
Now it was my turn to feel a little bashful. I smacked both sides of my face before letting out a deep exhale, "Thank you. I'll be relying on all of you."
Felix stood behind everyone and nodded his head. Although I can't read minds, I could tell he was trying to thank me. He walked over to the rest of the group as we all took one last good look at the island hidden within the storm.
"C'mon ya rookies. Let's get this over with." Aoi said, brandishing his trident as he took charge of our march on the bridge.
We all followed closely behind him, silently bracing ourselves for the battles to come. I'd have to face Godrick again as well as face the one who runs this whole show. It was frightening but… I had to do it. Not just for Felix either. How could I ever reach the top of the tree and get my wish if I couldn't beat a monster on floor twenty? The thought alone made me tighten my grip on Genki.
"Ow ow! Not so tight!"
Genki's plea made all the tension I had built up vanish in an instant, "Shoot, sorry!"
"I forget Genmochi's can talk when they find a user." Aoi said, looking down at his trident.
"Yours isn't?" Emma asked.
Aoi shook his head, "No. Just a regular old trident. I don't need a Genmochi anyway, I'm plenty strong as is."
"Indeed you are Cap'n" Vylan said, giving him a playful salute.
After crossing the bridge, we found ourselves in a large clearing. A castle bigger than anything I had seen here on this floor towered over us in the distance. It seemed pretty well kept to be honest. Like there wasn't any damage on it at all and it looked old too.
"Can't say I'm a fan of how nice that castle looks." Vylan said, putting his hand to his chin to think.
"Well let's break it all down then." I said, putting my fist into my open palm.
"No arguing with that. Let's see what you can do, Wild Card John." Aoi smirked.
I turned to look at him, "Y'know hearing it out loud kinda makes it sound dumb…"
The two of us stared blankly at each other for what was definitely too long.