The feather swarmed them in a black, soft bubble, seemingly hung by the wind itself. A glint of steel appeared in the blink of an eye—scoring against Rue's throat, but the attack just clanged away, leaving him uninjured. Summoning a blue fireball, Rue smashed the spell straight to the wall on his right. Fire blasted in a ricochet and burned the feathers.

  Rue held the melting sensation, which was mostly cold rather than hot. The feather scorched, but most of them managed to escape. He turned toward Lars, who was still surrounded by this strange magic. As he was about to help, Lars screamed. “Stay away!”

  Lars' sword moves in a flurry of movement too fast for Rue’s eye. Every small feather around him cut and fell after a second passed. The feather shook on the stone stair, and they flew up again—above the void, in the middle of the spiral staircase.

  Half of the doctor's body is submerged from its beaked mask to its stomach; the other half is made up of feathers that dance in place of its limbs. He hung in the air, peering curiously at both Rue and Lars.

  “This is the Elhron tower, no?” The Beaked Doctor asked.

  “You asking us?” Lars demanded, his long, thin sword glowed with bright white light. A deadly spell is brewing in those steel.

  “Hm, this is my home. Yes, I'm sure of it. The question is, why are you here? You’re illegally here! Without my permission, without my say so… But, but if you agreed to be my guinea pig, then maybe you should stay.” A long, thick needle formed beside the Doctor's hanging body. Feathers of black flapping around it, like it tried to hold back the wind that was about to propel the spell forward. “Answer”

  Rue was about to cast another Fireball before Lars spoke up in a low tone. “Get out of here,” he whispered to Rue. “My class will let me fight better if I’m alone without any allies. So…” Lars moved in a blur, like his body zipping in a flicker of light; he appeared behind Rue, and Deja vu invaded his whole being.

  With that bright white sword, Lars smashed Rue with his pommel.

  Obsidian ice cracked, and Rue went flying down in intense pain. His consciousness faded before being forced into place by his natural healing and his passive. Wind swirled around him, and he made out ice trying to spurt down from a stair to catch him, but he was too fast. His armor bent, he had a guess that Lars was holding back, which hopefully he is.

  Rue stretches his armored hand. The Doctor repeatedly became smaller and smaller as he fell through this gigantic tower. Fireball formed, and he let it fly above. He briefly made out the doctor trying to dodge, and a slash of bright white attacked it from the side. But, darkness took them, and Rue landed with a great resounding crack on his back.

  Wood splintered, and he tried to reach up, but the pain in his back prevented him from doing so. He let his hand down, intending to wait out for his recovery. He looked around to be greeted by a wooden structure; he was inside something woody. And was glad no blood splattered around him. He certainly would be traumatized if he had crushed someone in his fall.

  “The hell was that!”

  “Did something fall?”

  Rue winced internally. He just wanted to recover first. He watches his health, and it is already almost full again.

  The commotion of voices began wafting across the lit-up base floor of the tower. Rue rose to the terrified gaze of a worker group. Some mouths gaped, pointing at him. But, worse is that bows were drawn atop the stair, and mages prepared their spell. Warriors and scouts, even some upgraded classes, surround him. These people are capable, and Rue did not plan to take any chances.

  He was about to undo his armor when a booming voice shouted in a commanding finality.

  “Fool! Identify him! He is human! Drop your weapon now! And get back to work”. A stern man with graying hair glared around him. He wore a gray apron that had many pockets with various tools in them.

  His voice, however, did not calm some. As their weapon was still drawn.

  “When we’re done here, you lot will be sorry for—”

  Rue undoes his armor. Vapor of cold streaked up, his back wound healed, and he rose, shrugging off wood from his tunic. He did not notice his tunic before; it took on the Obsidian armor property and turned black, but now it took in the color of blue again. His Lion Mane Cloak, however, Rue shrugged it off, and anger rose in him as he saw a hole from Lars' strike, causing a gap across the back of it.

  “I’m human!” Rue shouted. “Get back to work, all of you,” He finished, dropping from the wooden elevated structure. He noticed it was a ballista he fell on; well, the weapon was ruined now.

  Eyes follow him; most have already sheathed their weapon. Rue pushed aside a warrior and a scour. He looked up the stairs, debating whether he should climb back up or not. But Lars was adamant about fighting alone…

  His eyes landed on the spawning. 97355/100000. A bright light shone, and a newcomer spawned in the bright light. He couldn’t be older than ten. Right… Kid existed too. But there’s none here; the rest must be protected somewhere.

  “Wait, hold on!” The man who appeared to be the boss halted Rue, clutching his cloak to hold him. “The rest of you get back to work! Now!” He lashed out. And it worked, a flurry of footsteps went about, some grumbling, wanting to know what was happening, their eyes still on Rue, a group of people rushed around him.

  “What was that?” One asked, earning a glare from the boss.

  “Well? What happened? Why in the bloody system did you fall?” The man asked.

  Seeing there’s no need to lie, Rue replied. “We were under attack by a monster that can fly,” He answered.

  The word hung for a moment before he burst out a dam of panic.

  “An attack from up there?” A fat woman asked, her eyes gaped in horror. She was only level 3 somehow.

  Rue looked around, and to his dismay, most of the people gathered here below level 10. If the Doctor made its way down here… they will be melted like some failed science project.

  Bodies of people abandoned their work and tried to make it toward the archway, which had a giant wooden gate successfully built already. The barricade they had built here was supposed to be carried out to reinforce the archway from outside. Making a defense structure just in case a monster conquers this tower

  Why they made it inside this tower perhaps had something to do with the rain, and they just planned to build and attach it later.

  “Wait,” the boss shouted. “Carry the fences out! Now go!”

  Rue heaved up a fence, bringing out of the archway. The wooden makeshift tower they had built stood in two twin blocks, not covering one tenth of the wall. But they were tall enough to go beyond the archway. Rue made out a dozen mages and archers atop each of them. He nodded approvingly. Sadly, there's no high wall between the tower, only a small fence not taller than him. In exchange, there are about a hundred of them, arranged in a maze that gives the Archer and Mages a free shot.

  This structure was built assuming the stone tower would've fallen. Rue couldn't help but wonder why they were expecting the worst. Maybe there's nothing to build on the tower top?

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  He passed by a dozen people who stuck the fences deep into the ground.

  “Where should I put this?” Rue asked a gangly man.

  “Here, right beside me,” he pointed out.

  “You were there? There's really a fight?” Ask a girl who has been making an arrow with a group of five. Their eyes went to Rue; fear was obvious in them.

  “Yes,” he said. “Can one of you get Mey?”

  “I will,” one of them said, she looked around her friend, no doubt a silent code.

  “We will all go,” another said sheepishly.

  At once, all of them abandoned their arrow-making and started to run toward the dark castle nestled across them. Rue scowled at the obvious escape. But he just sighs. Their level is below five anyway.

  “Come on, better bring these arrows”, the man who looked like a bodybuilder beside him said. He picked up a dozen bundles, motioning Rue to take the other dozen lying around.

  They carried it up the wooden tower, climbing the frail ladder. An archer with red hair reached down as Rue struggled to balance the bundle while he was climbing.

  “Eur? That you”

  Rue looked up to see Soma with his stark wound across his eyes.

  “Soma! You're alive*

  “Why would I die?” He said, confused. Soma lends Rue a hand, pulling him up atop. This could fit two dozen archers, perhaps, but there's no defense like the battlement atop the stone towers. They would be vulnerable.

  “Heard there's an attack?” he asked. Eyeing down below as things settled down. Warrior had spears perched against the fence, steel points glinting under firelight, pointing at the gaping gate.

  “Yes, a level 40 was fighting it,” Rue said. Not mentioning the monster is level 50.

  A silent chatter went on among the surrounding dozen others with them.

  “Level 40? Who is it?” a woman archer asked. Before Rue could answer, a figure appeared from the archway.

  Impossibly lean, with a tight decorated jester shirt that covers to his wrist. Embroidery of gold and yellow veined his clothes. Atop his head is a circus hat, one that a magician pulls a rabbit from. He wore a mask with one eye hole and a teardrop drawn pitifully beneath it.

  He flourishes long claws from each of his fingers. Standing between the wooden tower without any care.

  “That's not the one..” Rue muttered, gripping the elderwood staff he had just summoned.

  (Ringmaster. Lvl 52)

  “Greeting!” The clown spoke up, bowing deeply with one hand on his shoulder. “Human. My name is Joya. Can I get a nice to meet you? Well, anyone?” Joya asked, motioning with his hand open. “Anyone!” He growled. “I demand a greeting! A performer must not perform without a crowd. But a crowd needed to respect the performance so we both can coexist! If not, then–”

  “Clown!” A voice boomed, cutting Joya's monologue. From the other tower across of Rue’s, a man stood, armored in leather clothes. He jumped down, eager for a fight.

  They had a talk, one that was done in casual volume. He could not hear them from up here.

  “I'd better get down,” Rue said to Soma.

  “To that?” The red-hair eye widened, like looking at some fool. As Rue was about to climb down, Soma followed him. He paused, wordlessly asking him to explain. “Anyone can switch with me; besides, I’m a warrior,” Soma explained.

  Rue was not happy with the explanation, but he kept going, still not convincing the red hair to stay. He hops across a couple of fences, wading through a group of warrior lines, then a dozen archers and mages ready to blast the Clown apart.

  “Wait, we're about to–” A mage tried to stop them. But Rue shrugged her hand. None of them is above level 20, none of their spell will probably work–their best chance is for Rue to hold the front line, keeping the Clown focused on him. And maybe some high-level warrior can help him.

  “You’re very rude,” The clown seethed at a big man who was very familiar.

  “I’m Bremer, the iron shield! Undefeated during the tour–” Bremer's eye settled on Rue. “You!” He pointed, letting one shield down upside-down, leaning against his body. “Your magic trick will no longer work this time, if it's a rematch you wanted…”

  “Who are you?” Rue raised his eyebrow at the huge man.

  “Who am I? You did not remember–”

  “That Bremer,” Soma whispered to his ear. “The one you fight in the courtyard”

  “Huh, so his name is Bremer,” Rue muttered, just remembering the Brute who kept hiding beside those two huge shields. He turned to Soma, just now realizing he was here. Why are you here?” He hissed.

  He shrugged, tapping his sword. “To fight, of course, I can’t keep missing out on a kill. This new world made that clear.”

  “Enough!” The clown screamed, vexed. His hand clenched, those long claws drew blood against his own wrist. “How dare you, how dare you! A performer is in front of you, and there’s no respect given… None at all!” He screeched, clawing at his mask, making a grating sound against the night, a torch flame flickered as the sound of the grating claw echoed, sending a thrum of steel resonance up.

  Is it magic? Rue thought.

  “Are you all right?” Soma asked the clown.

  Rue's mouth gaped at the stupidity of the question. The red hair continued. “It must be frustrating, isn’t it”?

  The clown let his arm down, like it had fallen off. He turned to Soma and his hand stammered, his whole body shook in… Excitement?

  Soma elbowed Rue, motioning him to say something.

  He looked at him, and Soma's gaze was serious, settling in on the clown.

  Rue decided to play along with this charade.

  “We’re sorry. That was disrespectful of us.”

  “Yes… yes! If you’re wrong, then apologize! Then we can be peaceful, we can respect each other.” The clown expanded his clawed hand upward, like intending to scratch the moon. He is jubilant, to the point his body twitches like a drunken person. “There’s no need for any killing! I'm just about to commit one earlier. But both of you, both of you, wonderful humans! Wonderful audience, both of you ought to be allowed to see any performance without a ticket fee! Oh, I should give each of you a ticker right now! And after that… most of all, the most wondrous thing. Do you know what it is?”

  “Surprise me,” Rue gulped.

  “The show can start, of course!” Joya screamed gleefully, he reached for his long trousers, which fit his leg so tightly that it was almost a wonder how he could put them on. He pulls two papers, and they both glow with greenish light. “It's the natural order of things! You observe and be amazed, for what else is a circus for? Such a simple interaction, yet one of the most beautiful in this entire multiverse. I have been to many worlds, but none have interaction as grand as a performance. The clapping audience! The awed audience, the cheering! Ah, but please don’t cheer too loud. It was the concur of life! The very meaning of one! Perhaps your appreciation of a great show has not opened up yet? Well, I shall open it for you. Were you bored with life? I can tell from the looks of your eyes, yes, yes, Mhm, you were bored, something unique has happened to you, making yourself look toward the future favourably, I can tell, I can! Don’t worry, more excitement shall come for you! I shall be the connoisseur of it, I promise! And your red hair, you sought strength, something, and something has happened, so you seek it, hmm? How very convenient of you, cheeky human! The god of performer Merim herself smiled down upon you, I Joya! Shall grant your wish, or at least be the path toward so! So please just enjoy, close your worries, focus on yourself internally as you watch me, the Ringmaster! I guarantee the life you will live shall be more colorful after you see me, the world shall open up, welcoming, embracing, loving–”

  “Nonsense! This is nonsense,” A voice boomed, cutting Joya's ramble.

  “What?” Joya turned to Bremer, who had both of his huge shields ready. The clown voice is… heartbroken.

  “Now Clown com–”

  Bright claw flourished, Joya rend his hand down. And Bremer's upper body fell to the ground in bloodied sizzle, along with his two shields. Blood pooled around his lifeless body. Just like that, someone who had a specialized class for defense died.

  Joya took a step toward Rue and Soma.

  Both of them took a step back, unconsciously. Then Joya jumped, kicking off leaves, and vaulted over behind them.

  Soma's hand flashed to the sword in his hip, but Rue was able to hold the pommel of his sword, preventing any draw.

  Behind Joya, a myriad of arrows and spells flew at the monster. Joya merely clicked his claw, and Rue made out a slash of light carving through the enormous attack into pieces. Making spells fizzled out in the middle of the air.

  “My audience,” Joya flourished, handing both of them a ticket.

  Soma looked at Rue, and he gave a hesitant nod.

  They took the Ticket.

  Ticket of the Ringmaster (Unique) – You have been invited to the grand performance! Joya the Ringmaster is the most sought-after entertainer throughout Biom! His grace and elegance are a thing that any king would be lucky to see. Pour your man into the ticket to transfer to the circus.

  Joya, the grandmaster, has issued a Quest!

  The Grand Circus.

  Enjoy the circus performed by Joya the Ringmaster.

  Reward: Ringmaster Class Scroll.

  “My audience, I shall wait for your arrival”, Joya bowed. The clown proceeded to leave toward the archway. Both humans could only watch the back of the monster as he disappeared into the darkness.

  “Are you going?” Soma asked, gripping his ticket.

  “Do you have a death wish?”