Warning, super SHORT chapter. I wanted to get something out to you guys and this was the best I could do in the 3 weeka I haven't updated.

But don't worry, I have a plan for the next chapter that will either make it more interesting or longer. Idk which.

I apologize for how out of sync I am with updating and I hope you will stick to see the end of this book.

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GAME OVER

Chapter 22 [Leap!]

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It was only an hour past dawn, Adam rose when the lights turned on and he heard Seto shouting for everyone to wake up. When he sat up, Ross was already awake, dressed and eating his breakfast, which surprised him.

“Oh, I guess you woke up early.”

Ross snorted and rolled his eyes in response, with a cheek full of porridge he muttered, “You think?”

Adam merely scowled and saw his breakfast on his bedside table, so without a second thought he began eating. Well, he actually scarfed it down. He was somewhat used to doing so whenever Seto woke him up.

In only 15 minutes Adam was down in the inn lobby. Quite a few other were down here and chattering, along with 2 DROP officers. Seto was speaking to them.

Adam narrowed his eyes at Jin who promptly ignored him. Dear readers, you can definitely say without a shadow of a doubt that these two were certainly not on the best of terms. Though of have probably made that quite obvious in my story telling, nonetheless, you should be mindful of the troubles this will cause in the best new future. Because while one is a human whose nativity may be the death of him, the other is a player whose ignorance may be his downfall.

“Adam!” Adam jumped and turned around to see Jason stumbling down the stairs with a tired sigh.

“Yes sir?”

“Coffee.”

A look of confusion passed over Adam before he jumped and what Jason was asking for, “O-oh, yeah, sure. I'll make that right away!”

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Jason was happily drinking a mug of coffee as the entire End team walked the streets of the capital.

Adam remembered that not long, when he joined the AHD, Jin asked him to show him around the capital one day. Funny how it is that he first thinks of… but even so, he realized how much he missed these streets, how much he was looking forward to the comfort of his home. Maybe he could even get his job back at the bookstore, but that might be a bit hard. Regardless of that, he was still looking forward to going home.

“People, stay together and remain quiet, it is still early and most of the citizens are sleeping,” One of the DROP officer escorts announced, the minimum chatter quieted quickly. They were left in a thick silence with only the brisk morning air to hold them.

Everyone was walking up Main Street in the direction of the castle, Adam wondered if perhaps the portal was in the castle. Would they have to go in? He never really thought he would ever enter the castle.

However, just as he was thinking these thoughts the DROP officers turned off of Main Street and headed down a narrow alley that forced everyone to travel single file. There’s no way they were going to the castle.

In fact, the DROP officers were leading them out of the capital through the East entrance.

“The terrain here is a bit uneven, please watch your step.”

Adam recognized this as the off limits Mountain Pass, a trail that lead around the mountain that the capital was built by. The story goes that when Rekrium fell under its curse, this mountain formed from the ground as the land that Rekrium supports was pushed inward. He’d never been this close to the mountain and having it tower over him was absolutely stunning. It really put into perspective how massive it was.

“Wow, this is amazing,” he muttered under his breath. Adam stumbled over a rock lodged in the ground and he heard agitated mutters from the people he bumped into. He ducked his head and kept walking, this time focusing on the ground so he didn’t trip again.

“Alright, we’re here. The portal is past these doors. Council Member Seto, if you would?”

Seto, who was at the head of the large group of AHD, stepped forward and pulled out a key card. The mountain had a door built into it with large amounts of security to keep it from opening easily. However one swipe from that card and the locks unlatched and the door easily slid aside.

“Thank for your assistance, we will take it from here,” Seto said to the two officers. They nodded and stepped aside to allow everyone to file into the hallway carve from stone.

Adam waved to the two officers who only nodded in return and when everyone was in the cramped hallway the doors slammed shut with a loud thud and the hallways was pitch black. Countless voices sprang up in alarm but the lights flickered on before anyone got too worried.

“Everyone, what you are about to see it strictly classified. Once we leave this hallway we will be entering the heart of the mountain, our portal to the End is within. You are required to keep everything you see out of the public eye, the regular citizens are not to know of what lies next to their homes. Understood?” Seto’s voice rang out, he was answered by a somewhat unison chorus of ‘Yes sir!’

He slid his key car again at the other door at the end of the hall and the lights flickered off. A few moments later the door slid open and a blue glow broke through into the hallway.

What Adam saw next was something he never expected.

Outside the hallway was not a cave system, or a man-made system of tunnels that would lead them to the End portal. No, he saw something far more bizarre.

The entire mountain was hollowed out, but the mountains sides were so uneven and rough, it was impossible for this to be anything but natural. Impossible for the mountain to have been hollowed out by hand.

And just like Adam as the people exited the hallway, everyone let out awes of appreciation.

The entire inside was bathed in a calm blue light and white specks danced around in the air. They almost made Adam think of Snow, but they were unaffected by any form of gravity.

Adam spun slowly to take in the sight and as his eyes climbed higher and higher he stopped to look at the midsection of the hollowed out cavern.

Adam had already noticed the spiral staircase along the edge of the mountain, but now he knew why it existed.

A little ways past the middle of the cavern was an inky black surface of some kind that seemed to show a never ending void. But there were little pinprick of white speck, or were they stars? The entire thing looked like a night sky within the mountain.

One part of the black surface was blocked by a small platform that the spiral staircase connected too.

“Alright, let’s get going. What you see straight above you is our portal to the end, and we should move as soon as possible so that we can complete our mission,” Jason pushed past Seto and started to shout

“Come on! Come on!” Jason shouted and beckoned people to move along, “Hurry up!” He let out an impatient shout, Jason was practically shaking with excitement.

Adam climbed the stairs just like everyone else, and he stood on that platform like everyone else. His fingers could literally brush the surface of the portal, it was cold.

Everyone stood in two lines, this platform had one more small staircase that lead to a slightly elevated platform. Seto said that the portal would pull you through on its own once you took a leap high enough for the portal’s magic to take effect. He was near the front of the line, he felt a nervous rush in his heart, but Adam wouldn’t back down now. He was close.

His hand reached for his sword at his side before reaching up and rubbing the surface of his amulet.

He wouldn’t die this time, if he did, it would be hard to return.

One step.

He was almost to the front.

One more step.

He had reached the platform but Seto stopped him, “Adam hold on, your spawnpoint must be set manually. Wait here for a moment.

One minute.

Seto nodded.

And Adam leapt, the pull of the portal as he was sucked in a blackness so thick he thought he had returned to the nothing where he always ended up when he died.

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Again, sorry for such a short chapter. I hope the next one will be much better instead of this trash.

:(