We stepped off the teleportation pad. The blinding white light faded, and the foul, suffocating stench of the swamp disappeared instantly.
We had arrived on Floor 20.
Alicia didn't even look around. She immediately dropped to her knees, placed her hands on the solid dirt, and literally kissed the ground.
"Firm ground," she muttered, pressing her forehead against the grass. "Fresh air. No mud. No giant bugs. Thank the gods."
She took a deep, dramatic breath, looking like a shipwreck survivor who had finally washed ashore.
I looked at our surroundings. Floor 20 was a massive, dense jungle. Towering trees with trunks as wide as houses stretched up toward the artificial sky. The canopy was thick, filtering the sunlight into patches of green and gold on the forest floor. The air was humid and warm, but it was clean.
"Get up," I said, checking my equipment. "Before a centipede goes in your ear."
