Hell Difficulty Tutorial - Book 8

by Cerim

Chapter 615 - Under the Surface

POV Lily Chen

I am awakened by the quiet sound of birds singing in the garden behind my window, which opens automatically each morning.

For a moment longer, I lie there with my eyes closed and listen before jumping out of bed.

Just a few steps take me to the room dedicated entirely to my personal bath, where a small pool steams gently. Thankfully, there are no servants around this time after I told them not to come here.

I take off my pajamas, submerge myself in the hot water, and breathe in the lightly scented steam. For that moment, I almost feel like I’m melting. I walk toward one edge of the pool. With most of my body submerged, I rest my crossed arms on the edge and look out through the one way window, through which I see little more than the small garden built on the terrace of my room and the blue sky, with several beautiful towers looming in the background.

Absentmindedly, I watch my hand and concentrate slightly. A piece of skin tears, and a sliver of bone slowly grows from the opening. Nerves, tendons, flesh, then skin follow. A few faint hairs appear as well, and the nail forms shortly after, mirroring the others.

I open and close my fingers into a fist. Even though it feels awkward to move, everything functions perfectly.

With a sigh, I snap off the finger and let it disintegrate in my hand. The wound heals almost instantly, even without conscious effort.

Stepping out of the water, I come to a stop in front of the fogged over mirror and wipe away a small section so that I can see my face.

I study my reflection, switching between multiple expressions.

First, I attempt a more serious look by mimicking her bewitching smile, the one I’ve always found so beautiful. To support it, my hair turns blonde, shorter, and wavy, and my eyes shift to the same gray as hers.

The mirror mist again, and I wipe it up once more.

My expression switches to a blank stare, hiding so much emotion below the surface. My hair turns black. My left eye turns a shade of gray, and the right one turns brown.

I smile again, amused by how silly this all is, then head to my dresser and begin mentally preparing for today’s lessons even though I know I will likely once again be better at healing than the Professor.

As cocky as it might seem, I don't think there’s anyone in the Academy who could compare to me when it comes to healing.

POV Maya Jones

“Maya! I order you, kill that boy!”

“I’m sorry, Lady Gabele. So long as we are within the premises of the Academy, I cannot do that.”

“You are useless!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Phe,” the little fourteen year old "Lady" chuffs, making the sound she has been fond of lately.

I start counting to ten, trying to erase my urge to punch her, while slipping into a shallow state of [Focus].

She yells a few more things, then slams the door to her room. She’s probably going to use the crystal ball to talk to another boy.

Teenagers.

I sit down near the door, and doing as he taught me, I use [Focus] to split my mind into two parts. The smaller one keeps watch over my surroundings and the girl I’m supposed to be protecting, even if only ceremonially. The larger part of my mind creates an orb over my palm. I expand it into the form of a dagger. Using [Focus] and [Boost], I begin compressing it. I even add [Compounding], which I’ve enjoyed experimenting with recently.

The dagger turns dark blue. Then it becomes dark blue with light blue streaks.

I push further, giving it my full attention, while keeping it under strict control.

The dagger shifts again and finally takes on a dark blue base, with light blue and purple streams swirling inside.

Immediately, I watch it closely as I know that if the balance were to break, it would flash white and, as that little half demon liked to say, go KABOOM.

Very satisfied with the result, I dissolve the dagger and start over. I try not to think about the fact that that freak was capable of this on the 3rd floor.

POV Tess Hansen

It is early in the morning, and I sit on the rooftop of the house where the student I am primarily, and mostly symbolically, guarding is still asleep.

I know I should have another hour of rest, but lately, sleep has been difficult. I could probably ask Sophie to help with the nightmares and anxiety attacks, but I made that decision long ago. I will not. However, I would not refuse Biscuit's company. His tiny, warm body and steady presence are strangely calming after what I experienced back on the seventh floor.

For a while, I watch my shaking hand. It trembles heavily, and my chest feels tight, which makes breathing difficult. These memories, which I know are fake and were created by me and my [Declaration], continue to haunt me.

I let the feeling fill me, then wait for it to fade. Eventually, my hand stops shaking.

In the end, it’s my decision to face it alone, and I know I can manage. This is something I need to handle by myself.

There is movement at the window I am watching. It opens into one of the taller towers, half a mile away, but I see it every bit as clearly as if it were just a few steps in front of me.

A pillow hits the window from inside. Watching it, I can only shake my head and smile.

So dumb.

POV Sophie Martinez

This early morning, the hallways of the Academy are mostly empty, and the echo of my steps feels like I’m striking the silence itself. The air is cold and fresh. I enjoy the absence of people.

Lately, as my [Manipulation] continues to level, their minds feel more and more defenseless. Almost every single one of them shines like a beacon, calling out for me to reach in and make them obey.

Even though I try not to use that part of my ability, it keeps reminding me that it’s there. It’s the easiest part to use, always waiting and ready. A constant reminder of where my talents truly lie, no matter how much I improve in other areas or how much I resist using it. And using it even makes it level faster than anything else.

It’s a disgusting ability, and I’ve learned a lot about it since arriving on this floor, and I continue doing my best to hide it. At this point, I’m much better at it, not like that time when Jean detected it instantly, or when others have noticed my influence.

During the tournament, I even went so far as to beg that silver haired monster for lessons. Whether out of amusement or some other motive, she agreed to help.

Still, I have no illusions about it. If anyone powerful finds out, my life will be at risk, along with the lives of anyone connected to me.

My sister. My friends.

But still. Even now. Why? Why can I not give it up? Why are there already five assistant professors under my control just three days into the loop? Why do I keep pushing?

Maybe I do it to punish myself. Because I know there is no happy ending waiting for me.

Not after Earth. Not after what I almost did to Izzy back then.

I am not a good person.

POV Kim Min-Jae

The library is quiet when I enter. Morning light filters through the tall windows, casting streaks of gold across the room. The sun has just risen high enough to reach the upper shelves, and the air still holds the chill of the night. The scent of special parchment fills the space, mixing with aged leather and mana conductive ink. The stone walls give off a subtle mineral smell.

I follow my usual path, walking past rows of shelves filled with heavy tomes and categorized scrolls. Between them, older forms of knowledge are stored. Mana stones rest on protected shelves, glowing softly. Some are permanently embedded in reinforced frames for direct reading through touch or mental attunement. Others are sealed behind glass. Others simply lie exposed.

My usual seat is on the left side of the main floor, near one of the large tables set beneath the windows. From here, I can see most of the central chamber, the spiral stairs leading to dozens of upper levels, and the doors that open into the restricted sections.

I set down my bag, open it, and begin arranging my tools. One mana reactive slate to help with locating and searching the books or mana stones I want. A pair of reading gloves to prevent accidental absorption of stored information from some of the older mana stones, which can be rather rough.

There is no sound beyond the occasional scratching of a pen on paper somewhere deeper inside the library.

Picking up the mana stone I noticed yesterday, I read for nearly ten minutes before I sense Tyven approaching. His steps are cautious, just like he is, but steady. As always, he hides his right side, where he has only one arm instead of the normal two. He mostly relies on the two remaining arms on his left.

I do not greet him. I simply shift my materials to make space for him.

If his behavior is the same as before, he will speak to me after a while. Until then, I keep reading and stick to the same schedule I had before.

At least until he learns more from that thylarin girl.

POV Dennis Dalton

As Aaron’s eyes go blurry, I know right away he’s reading the Community again. I grab a piece of bread and throw it at him while we wait for the servant to bring us the breakfast we’ve ordered.

(What,) He sends.

(I was asking if you think the student council could be behind all of this. The candidate might be involved with them as well.)

He perks up. (Oh, that’s true. It’s always the student council.)

(You remember that guy... I forgot his name. That cocky thylarin with six arms.)

(Oh, that one. What about him?)

(I think he’s on the student council, and I noticed him eyeing Lily. We could ask her for help getting to him.)

(She will murder him.)

(We just need him alive long enough to get us into the council.)

(Let’s try it without Lily first. By the way, how’s that new passive you bought?)

(No good. It doesn’t stack well with [Connection] and does almost nothing to improve it. I’ll try Mana Veil next.)

(Low arcane or mid arcane version?)

(Aaron, my boy. We are ballers. Of course, I’m going for mid arcane. How’s your Mana Sculptor?)

(Not much good either, but I’ll try the mid arcane version before I give it up.)

(Sounds good. Now that you’re satisfied, we should stop playing around and actually deal with "important stuff." Let’s get back to talking about the student council...)

POV Aaron Dalton

I partially tune out Dennis and his theories about the student council controlling the world, and possibly the Rulers. I keep nodding and tossing in the occasional “Yeah” or “Makes sense,” just enough to keep him from realizing that I’m barely listening.

I take a bite of the croissant-like thing. Then I dip it into the hot chocolate-like drink and take another bite. I could get used to this. Our effort to find the food most similar to Earth’s was worth it.

Trying not to alert Dennis, I keep reading through the Community and reply to some of the guys I met during the tournament. I just hope Brainiac and Lootenant are safe. They seemed to have run into some trouble on their seventh floor. Only being able to talk to people on the same floor is really annoying, especially since we’re probably the fastest climbing group in our round.

Angry Kittens, go! Go!

I glance up at Dennis. He has that smug look again.

One of our special mana orbs floats on the table between us. Both of us are silently wrestling for control of the orb while acting like we’re focused on other things. It’s one part training, one part rivalry, and one part boredom management.

Just like him, I push harder. Eventually, I start feeling lightheaded, and Dennis gets a nosebleed.

He thinks he’s winning. I can feel the smug pulses in his feelings, practically broadcasting his confidence.

Just like always, I push back. My grip on the mana tightens. It takes more effort than I want to admit, and after a few seconds, I start feeling the strain. My head swims for a second.

Across from me, Dennis wipes blood from his upper lip, tending to his bleeding nose.

Neither of us lets go.

The orb jitters once more, caught in the push and pull, then hovers, eerily still.

We sit in silence, both pretending not to care who breaks first.

POV Isabella Martinez

Lately, I don’t like being around too many people. Their emotions can be overwhelming to me, but at the same time, I dislike not being able to use [Empathy]. It’s something I’ve grown used to having, even just to detect presences nearby. Being in a small group like ours is the best. I love it, and I love the people in it.

I know stuff about them they don’t even know I know. Not in a creepy way, just... feelings that leak out. I deliberately hide that fact, though, because I know how much it would worry them. If they found out I could feel the worst parts of them, they’d probably stop talking to me. Or stare at the floor a lot.

The envy Min-Jae sometimes feels toward others in our group, the fact that Sophie sometimes finds herself thinking about manipulating people who disagree with her, Tess’s willingness to watch someone suffer if it means our bond will grow stronger, even though she loves everyone so deeply she would die for them.

The others have similar feelings as well. They can be ugly, very ugly, and at first, they were difficult to deal with. I didn’t always get it. But after everything we’ve been through on the floors and in the tournaments, I’ve kind of learned that everyone’s messed up sometimes.

Everyone has those weird, ugly feelings they try to pretend don’t exist. What matters is stopping yourself before you actually do something bad. That’s what makes me love them. Not the perfect stuff, the part where they try to be better, even when it’s hard, or at least when it comes to their idea of what a better person is.

There’s one person, though, who hides almost nothing from me. He only hides his shyness when he does something kind or something he thinks might upset me. Out of everyone, he’s the one I know best. Probably even better than I know my sister.

It’s simply the way he is. He carries all his scars with pride, knows them well, and carefully chooses the bits he wants to change. Then he follows through with his effort.

He’s also noticed the way I avoid large groups of people. Tess noticed too, but only he said something about it. He teased me and welcomed me to the ranks of the introverts. He said it with that usual expression of his, but I could feel the almost childish levels of cheekiness behind it. It’s become one of my favorite memories.

I also know he’s going to hate the videos I made of him and gave to the Channeler. But I’m also sure part of him will find them extremely funny. He’ll probably pretend to be angry, stay quiet, and I’ll get to feel that perfect mix of annoyance and amusement that only he has.

I shift, and Noodle shifts too, resting his head in front of mine. His head is currently much bigger than mine. He almost fills the room.

Curious.

I sense his question. It is not the way Biscuit communicates. It is just a feeling we communicate.

"I’m being evil, Noodle, and causing trouble for my friends just so I can laugh at them."

Guilty?

"Nope, I don’t feel guilty at all."

Embarrassed.

"You don’t have to be embarrassed for me! I’m generally pretty tame. Dennis says, I’m just at that age where I turn into a 'little shit.' So I think I already hold myself back quite a bit!"

Mournful.

"Sure, I used to be cute, but I can’t stay a child forever, right? I’ll be thirteen soon."

Wary.

"Don’t worry. I will love you forever, no matter how much I grow up."

Pleased.

He slowly moves and flicks his tongue just in front of me. I lean back and wrap my arms around his body as much as I can.

Happy. I send back.

POV Nathaniel

I wake up to warm rays of the sun landing on my face and the sound of Biscuit’s growling stomach instead of an alarm.

With an annoyed groan, I grab the pillow from under my head and throw it at the window, aiming at the sun, which I have officially decided to declare my enemy for the day.

Still half-asleep, I reach out and tap the belly of his puppy form. Biscuit lets out a cute little noise. Then I turn to the other side of the bed and curl into a ball with the blanket over my head.

My body feels slightly cold, and I feel the early morning weakness that comes with lingering sleep. Even my mind wavers between full awareness and the urge to fall back asleep. I hope one of the future body upgrades does not reduce the need for sleep any further. I get that not needing sleep or only needing a few hours per week could be efficient, but it would also strip me of one of the best feelings in existence.

As I continue hiding under the blanket, the beast awakens. I hear Biscuit walking around and sniffing. Then he starts jumping on my body, now hidden under the blanket, while I force myself to stop falling asleep and begin thinking.

It’s the fifth day of the loop, which means the thermonuclear warhead should have disappeared from my office once again, and I just let it happen again. If what Ari said is true and there are others, it is very likely the work of one of those "others." That intentionally vague, annoyingly mysterious wording she used strongly hints at who they might be, but I’ll learn more from her on the tenth day.

Waiting that long is annoying, but I’ve decided to endure it. Until then, I will not stray from my schedule any more than necessary. Surely I can do it. And I’ve advised the others to do the same.

That means today, fairly soon, I have to attend Professor Elian’s lesson. After that, I need to eat in the section where I usually run into Ari and Tyven.

What a life.

I let out an exaggerated groan, a pained noise, then poke my head out from under the blanket and play dead.

Biscuit barks and charges toward me, bouncing on my head and pressing against it with his front paws. Through my slightly open eyes, I see his tail wagging like crazy.

Not long ago, he shared another glimpse of his memories with me. Sounds, images, and confused emotions from his time before the tutorial, when he was with that cruel owner of his. I know that all his playfulness and his almost desperate fear of going without food comes from that time, when he lacked both care and food. One of the reasons he’s so much smaller than he should be is because of that lack of nutrition while he was growing.

So, would I, a near Absolute Candidate, really lower myself to something that someone clueless might consider beneath them, just to entertain this burrito shaped corgi?

Absolutely.

You bet I would.

And honestly, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it even if an Absolute were standing in the room judging me.

In fact, this tutorial is probably being observed by some of the Rulers, and they could be watching me right now. Screw them too.

Out of nowhere, I move like a viper and grab the attacking corgi, lifting him into the air by wrapping my hands around his sides, just under his front legs, leaving his hind legs dangling below him.

For a moment, he squirms, trying to escape my evil grasp, but slowly he gives up and stares at me with his tongue hanging out.

“I have something I want to ask you,” I say.

(Food?)

“No, I don’t want the food you’ve hidden under my bed.”

(Food!)

“Thank you for offering to share, but don't you think one percent is a bit low as an offer?”

(Food?)

“Just two percent?”

(Sustenance.)

“I am pretty sure that you aren’t dying of hunger. But I want to ask you something. Do you remember what you were doing during the first loop? The first eleven days on this floor?”

(Food?)

“What do you mean “a few pieces of deer jerky could refresh your memory”? Are you blackmailing me?”

He barks.

“Okay,” I sigh. “I will try. But for now, I want you to follow the same schedule. Try to act exactly the same, be with the same members of the group four and everything. I’ve already talked to them, and they should understand.”

I feel a sense of confirmation from him, so I let go. He immediately moves under the bed, either to guard his treasure or to eat it before I change my mind and claim my two percent.

With a few hours to spare, I close my eyes and activate [Framework], starting another round of testing.

Chapter 616 - Four Challenges

During the lesson with Professor Elian, I act exactly the same as before, the only difference being that I closely observe the Professor. Otherwise, none of the students seem particularly interesting, and from what I can see, no one behaves any differently than they did before.

It proceeds the same, ends the same, and I find myself once again in the park, eating the same sandwiches as before. As silly as it is, I even make sure that just as much remains as the first time I met the boy.

Upon seeing me, Ari comes to a stop in front of me, and he stands beside her. A thylarin with three arms, two on the left and one on the right.

“Assistant Professor Gwyn!” I hear her voice.

Still, I ignore it, do not look up, and continue biting into my sandwich. As before, that seems to make the damned impish thylarin even happier, and Ari giggles deviously.

When I glance up from my food at the boy, she introduces him.

“His name is Tyven. He’s a bit shy, but very kind and intelligent. Come on, Tyven, greet Assistant Professor Gwyn,” Ari says, introducing him.

“H-hello, Assistant Professor Gwyn,” Tyven says quietly, his eyes meeting mine for only a moment.

He glances at my hearts and my eyes. I can’t see even the slightest hint of any change.

I know it because I remember that scene very well, and I observed him carefully because of that.

Even the kinetic energy emanated by the twitching of his body is identical.

Ari behaves similarly, too, without any variation. She says the exact same words and gives the same teasing remarks before leaving, after reminding me that we have another lesson with Kays in the sensory deprivation tank in a few days.

I finish my sandwich while sitting there.

Then, I head to the place the students call the “Sweatbox.”

I didn’t think much of it before; it was barely worth mentioning. Now, with a bit more information, I am curious and eager to do some testing.

As is typical of Academy buildings, even this one is grand, and dozens of students are coming and going. It’s shaped like a pyramid made out of white wood, with platforms where trees grow. Even these trees have been carefully shaped to achieve an optimal, pleasant appearance.

At first, I thought all the shapes, parks, and styles of buildings would make the Academy look chaotic, but everything appears to have been carefully planned and arranged, however unlikely that may seem.

“Greetings, Assistant Professor,” a servant behind the table greets me. “What room would you like to use?”

To skip having the same conversation, I reply, "Nothing specific at the moment."

“Understood. Please enjoy your stay.”

He touches the panel in front of him, then nods for me to proceed.

One of these days, I swear I’m going to grab someone by the neck just so I can ask to observe some of the things they do. Curiosity is killing me.

After walking through a hallway lined on both sides with painted carvings depicting, as I have come to learn, great battles from their myths and legends, I reach the main room. The largest room in the pyramid, located exactly at its center.

The space is a large cube, with large screens on each wall displaying a series of rankings and points. These four large screens represent the standings for four popular challenges, exercises, events, sports, or whatever they might be calling them.

In the center is a seating area, complete with trees, statues, and waterfalls. Some students are seated behind the tables, eating desserts and drinking various beverages.

Groups of students fill the room, buzzing with laughter and competition. From time to time, one or two students leave for the side rooms, and when they return, everyone turns to the screens, waiting for the scores to update so they can either congratulate them or mock them.

Some students move through the room accompanied by guards, acting as if they stand well above the others. Yet when they return from the side rooms, they watch the screens just like everyone else.

The activities at the center of their competition are Target Gauntlet, Breakline, Run, and Current.

So far, I have only tested Run. It takes place on a cyclical track dug beneath the pyramid in a tunnel. The objective is… well… to run. You avoid the attacks being thrown your way and jump over obstacles while you do so. Gravity even shifts from time to time with the purpose of disorienting and confusing the participants. The longer you go, the more difficult it becomes. There are no lights either, forcing you to rely solely on your senses, which are then actively disrupted in various ways.

It’s enjoyable, but without any sense of danger, it lacks true excitement. I didn’t even bother to check my score in the previous loop.

"Assistant Professor!" a group of girls calls out, snapping me out of my thoughts. They giggle among themselves, followed by boys and girls trailing behind. They move together like a pack on a hunt.

I begin to suspect my schedule may be wrong, since I didn't see them the last time. Maybe I spent too much time standing around and watching the score screens.

“How can I help you?” I ask.

“What’s your alias on the board? I wanted to check your score,” the one who seems to be their leader asks, and some of the girls in the group giggle.

Their giggling continues, though the reason behind it remains a mystery.

“It’s my first time here,” I answer.

“Want us to show you around? Merielle’s on the leaderboard for Breakline, so you could try it first,” a girl who appears to be their second in command says, pointing at Merielle, who lifts her head proudly.

“Why not. So, what’s Breakline about?” I ask.

Merielle takes over the conversation, leading the small group toward one of the screens.

“There are five tiers of difficulty for each challenge. First is the lowest, and fifth is the highest. The lowest is for new students. Two and three are usually for advanced students. Fourth is for guards and Assistant Professors. Fifth is for professors and powerful guests. If you get 1st spot in any Challenge in your tier, the next time you do a Challenge, you’ll be moved to a higher tier.”

“I see,” I nod. “So you're at the top of tier two with the highest score there,” I say, taking note of her name on the boards.

Then her hypeman jumps in with what feels like a well rehearsed routine, showering her with praise, listing off achievements and qualities with practiced enthusiasm. Most of it blends into the background noise as I filter it out without much thought.

When he finally stops, I ask, “I noticed a name in third place on tier three, Grumpy. Why is there a star next to that name?”

The mood sours immediately.

One of the girls answers while Merielle clenches her teeth.

“That’s a new girl the healers brought here a few days ago. She’s just a brute. On the first day, she reached first place in tier one, the second day in tier two, and third day placed in tier three. She didn't mind publishing it and allowed the personnel to share records of her challenges, so we saw it all. The star next to her name marks people who climb unusually fast,” explains the hype man.

Merielle snorts. “Just a brute, as he said. She doesn’t even act like a healer should. Breakline is about skill and knowledge, not just punching barriers until they break.”

“Quiet, Merielle. Don’t badmouth the healers,” one of the boys whispers, visibly nervous. The others nod, which only makes Merielle snort again and turn away, but she stays quiet.

“So it really is just about breaking barriers?” I ask.

“Yes. The barriers get progressively tougher, and you have to break through as many as you can in five minutes. Any method works.”

“I see. I’ll give it a try then.”

Even though some of them look disappointed, I leave them behind and enter one of the rooms below the Breakline screen.

The door seals tightly behind me. A panel appears next to me in the dim room, lit only by two yellow lights at my sides. The rest of the room ahead is heavily reinforced, equipped with powerful defensive arrays.

I send some mana into the panel, which lights up as I start skimming through the options. Before I can tap on anything, it automatically selects Tier 4 for me. I guess it used my mana signature to recognize me as an Assistant Professor and sorted me in without asking.

The room’s defenses increase immediately. I can sense mana flowing through the building, reinforcing inscriptions and strengthening the barriers.

“Please select your alias.”

The text appears, and I type my alias in.

“Your alias has been confirmed as ‘Noname.’ The challenge will start in 10 seconds.”

That reminds me, I probably should have read the rules. I’m pretty sure there was an option for that on the panel. But I shrug it off, raise my mana, and wait.

A barrier appears, and the mana javelin I create pierces through it.

Another one forms and meets the same end. In quick succession, five more barriers break.

The eighth barrier deflects the javelin, but a line I attached to it lets me pull it back and launch it again, now boosted with kinetic energy and additional compressed mana.

Multiple barriers break in much the same fashion after that, and soon, stronger ones start appearing that I cannot pierce with mana constructs, no matter how much I condense them or increase their force.

It impresses me.

[Empyrean Lance] breaks through one such barrier. Then another. And another.

The lance, with a core of white light pulsing like a star’s heartbeat, continues to obliterate them. It even leaves behind a field that disrupts and weakens them as they are generated.

As I get bored with using the same methods, I switch to my eyes. Reading the frequencies of the barrier, I modify my output and deploy [Eclipse], whose oscillations cause the barriers to shatter.

Gradually, I find myself being forced to use more mana, collect more information, and deal with increasingly intricate defenses.

I quite enjoy it. I even gather a number of useful insights and inspirations from analyzing the barriers, so I often delay breaking them just to observe more.

The last barrier I reach during my allotted time appears to be made of water, pale blue with glowing white droplets suspended within. It’s beautiful. When I hit it with the full force of [Eclipse], it wobbles and stretches like the surface of a bubble on the verge of bursting, but it holds nonetheless.

Impressed, I reach deeper into my mana, modify my frequency, and prepare to hit it again.

Then the timer runs out, and the barrier vanishes. Following, the lights in the room brighten.

Text appears on the panel:

“Your score is 867 points. Congratulations!”

With no reference for how good that is, I simply shrug and read the next message:

“Would you like to use your current alias to register the score?”

And another:

“Would you like to set a delay in registering your score?”

I keep the alias and set a five hour delay. Just in case. It seems to be a surprisingly considerate system.

When I exit the room, the same group of students, apparently with nothing better to do, is still there, now focused on the screen with excitement. I take the opportunity to slip into the crowd and disappear from their view.

Before leaving, I glance back at the screen for Breakline, focusing especially on Tier 4.

1st, 561 pts - Screw you Quentin

2nd, 550 pts - Quentin van Deleric

3rd, 440 pts - Future Champion

Not bad at all.

Out of curiosity, I glance over the remaining screens, searching for familiar names.

I find one in Target Gauntlet.

1st, 1507 pts - Sset

That score is recorded in Tier 4, which includes the Assistant Professors. The second-place score is under 1000 points.

There are other members of Group 4 placed in different challenges as well. It seems they must’ve found this place too and started ruining the fun for the locals.

Min-Jae is 1st in Tier 3 of Target Gauntlet. The twins have high scores in Run, with their aliases just a few points apart. Sophie is already in Tier 5 of Breakline, which means she must have taken 1st place in Tier 4 at least a day ago.

The fact that they barely mentioned this place in the Community makes me think they were worried I might try to outcompete them.

I would never do such a thing. How ridiculous.

Chapter 617 - The Second Lesson

By the time I leave the Sweatbox, I notice several new names in the challenge rankings, particularly in Tier 4, where it appears a few competitors have made a strong push.

In first place of Tier 4 in the Run challenge, there is a new participant named NotNoname. An interesting coincidence.

The same goes for Target Gauntlet, where a new participant is listed. Unfortunately, that person is in second place, just behind Sset, who holds first. Their alias is Emanon.

Finally, in the Current challenge, a new competitor has completely dominated the second-place score, doubling it with ease. The difference is so large it hardly seems fair.

This individual uses the ominous name: You should have told me.

I’m facing off against the Vice Director again, in the same training hall she reserved before. It is the second out of the three lessons I’ve paid for.

“Where is your bond?” she asks and ignores the peck from her owl.

“Probably walking around the Academy. Do we need him?”

“Yes, call him here, please.”

Another three pecks from her bond.

Hoo, hoo! Lulu calls as she does.

“I guess that means we don’t actually need him,” I note.

She returns my gaze and refuses to answer. Instead, she begins raising her mana, and I raise mine to match her level.

“It is fascinating how quickly you can channel your mana for someone at your level. You are still somewhere around level 310, right?”

She asks, walking around me, as her huge, wide brimmed, pointy hat covers most of her face.

“You probably have a trait to help with that, possibly some passives as well, which, I suspect, are arcane.” Her mana clashes against mine for a second, and she nods, “Possibly two, but it’s all a wild guess without your confirmation.”

“Who knows,” I reply.

“That’s true, who knows?” Her mana surrounds me again, as if it were attempting to choke out my own, and I continue to fight it back.

As if deep in thought, she continues, “Most of your ability to channel it quickly and relatively safely comes from your talent. It’s simply one of those things you’re naturally good at. The way you move your mana feels ancient, almost as if it belongs to a much older era. Very curious.”

I shoot back at her, “What’s the difference between Potency, Restoration, and Amplification mana upgrades?”

“That’s something you should already know very well as an Assistant Professor.”

“I want to hear your thoughts on the matter.”

“I see,” she nods and then turns to her bond, “Lulu, can you stop limiting my mana?”

Same as before, the owl hoots and waves its tiny wings, and the Vice Director’s mana flares drastically. I sense her trying to compete with me this time. She’s raising and channeling mana as quickly as possible, to the point it begins to place significant strain on her faculties. But I match her speed with ease. At times, I even surpass her, but only until I reach the bottom of my mana, and her larger pool begins to make itself known. And she continues far beyond that point.

As before, it’s a weird feeling to release mana so freely without needing to worry about killing someone. But it’s not really a bad feeling, in fact, it’s exactly the opposite.

"I can tell you chose your attribute upgrade well, Amplification suits you best," the Vice Director says, and her mana continues to clash against mine. She doesn’t explain anything about how I should be moving my mana, seeming to prefer more or less to let me come to my own conclusions, while she directs me toward them.

She deploys multiple measures as we continue. She even uses items, a variety techniques, and her skills, things meant to show me how someone who was particularly skilled would go about countering an Amplificator. Some of the things she uses are things I hadn’t even thought of.

"You would probably have done well with both Restoration and Potency," she pauses, "but I think Potency would suit you more than Restoration. Amplification, however, is your true match. You rarely find a talent capable of handling that much mana without destroying their body.”

“It seems like it.”

The Vice Director nods, “Potency is more refined. Instead of increasing quantity, it boosts effects. Same mana, more impact. Think of it like sharpening a blade instead of swinging a heavier one. A skill used under the effects of Potency strikes harder, pierces deeper, and lasts longer. But the cost is that it’s much harder to control. Even a slight miscalculation gets amplified, and the margin of error narrows. It rewards precision and punishes recklessness.”

Then she deploys a five pointed array, and mana starts bouncing between them at a strange frequency. With each bounce, the frequency changes and sends out ripples. When these ripples crash into each other, the frequency changes again.

It has an incredibly irritating feeling as it does, and it clashes with my mana, disrupting it. It doesn’t even seem to use much mana, and it doesn’t really seem to affect me all that much, but for some reason, I find it incredibly irritating, that’s just the best way I can describe it.

Just as if someone were to keep throwing small rocks at a soldier in heavy armor for hours on end.

The Vice Director notices my reaction, and out of all the disruption methods she shows me, this one seems to have the most effect. I notice a flash of satisfaction make its way across her face.

“Restoration?” I ask.

“Restoration doesn’t make your attacks stronger or give you more to spend. It just ensures that you’re never running on empty for long. Think of it as having an endless number of projectiles. You’ll never match the raw force of an Amplifier or the sharp edge of Potency, but you’ll still be casting long after they’ve burned themselves out. It rewards patience and resourcefulness, while punishing waste.”

“I see. So, Amplification for quantity, Potency for quality, and Restoration for recovery. Of course, only if you go about it optimally and pick the right one for you.”

She nods. “Exactly. And each suits a different kind of person. Amplificators are engines, brute force that overwhelms finesse. Potents are surgeons, precise, elegant, ruthless. Restorers can’t burn out because they don’t stop burning.”

“Sounds boring and too "wordy". Which one do you think is best?”

Seeming annoyed by something I don’t understand, she doubles up on that disgusting method of disruption. I continue to defend against it while watching for any other attempts she might be trying to sneak by me.

All her attempts are very practiced, almost as if she were following a set of pre-made protocols she’s picked out. She tests me, then deploys two or three methods while keeping some in reserve. She watches my reactions and adjusts accordingly, testing me again. It all feels like it’s been designed for the purpose of facing down stronger opponents as well, something that seems deeply ingrained in her psyche.

After whispering something to Lulu, the tiny owl lifts up and starts circling around the two of us. I can’t quite detect the specifics yet, but as she does, something starts building up around us.

The Vice Director turns to me again and says, "None are “the best”. If you’re asking what’s more common, it would be difficult to say with confidence. People lacking in knowledge usually go for Potency since it sounds like the best out of the three. Restoration is the most common for people who like to fight melee and need a steady upkeep of mana to activate their skills. Amplificators are… not as common. Even the ones who generally rely on large scale attacks early on tend to pick Potency. Plenty of them pay for that, as the increased need for precision causes them trouble.”

“That sounds unforgiving. A single wrong choice that can ruin you entirely."

"That's just how the system works."

"Have you heard anything about mana that is black in color?” I ask.

Her eyebrow lifts at the question, and she thinks for a moment. “Never. Are you sure you haven’t mistaken it for Primordial void energy or one of the Fragments?”

“It’s possible,” I nod. “What primordial energies do you know outside the common five, and what of the Fragments?”

Still circling around me, Lulu hoots and then perches back on the Vice Director’s shoulder. The field they’ve been constructing activates fully, pressing in around me.

Instantly, the flow of my mana grows sluggish, as if it were moving through thick mud. My control weakens, and every attempt to manipulate it feels delayed and strained, like a weight dragging against my will.

Relying on my control over my mana, I start pushing against it, trying to grasp how it’s happening.

A notification dings as my [Perception] levels up. But that skill shouldn’t worry, I’ll make sure to use it in skill combinations as well.

“Assistant Professor Gwyn, before I answer, may I ask you a question or two?”

“Sure.”

“You have no formal education, be it from the Academy, be it continental, family based, guild-based, or knowledge passed to you by a master, correct?”

I notice a pattern in the way this field is slowing down my mana and observe how it clashes against my Mana Wavelength Tyrant, the passive I use to take control of the surrounding mana and increase my own. Even now, the Vice Director is failing to come up with a proper way to counter its effects other than overpowering it completely. I understand her stubbornness and desire to find another method. But it almost feels like she looks down on the idea that she should have to overpower the passive and has been trying instead to find some more “skillful way.”

There’s nothing wrong with crushing something head-on if it solves the problem.

I think about my answer before telling her, “I mostly learned on my own and came to my own conclusions. Though I’m not shameless enough to claim it was all me, of course. I did have a lot of help as well, but I never tried to listen too closely and instead picked the things I liked and wanted to understand better.”

“So there has been no one you used as a goalpost, measured yourself against, or tried to follow their way of doing things?”

“I probably did subconsciously sometimes, but consciously I would say no.”

“May I be so shameless as to ask you why?”

“Why not? Because I can do better than any of them.”

Finally, I grasp what she’s been doing and expand my mana outward, fluctuating it in the exact way needed to counter her field. It doesn’t break what she is doing, instead, it counters it by using channels her field isn’t covering, then expands through them.

Satisfied with the result, I look back at the Vice Director. “Why would I copy someone who, in the end, failed to reach the same goals I have?”

“Thank you for answering. As for the primordial energies, I assume you already know the common five: lightning, kinetic, void, gravitational, and thermal. Otherwise, I know about two more, stellar wind and binding primordial energy.”

“Interesting. Does primordial stellar wind energy not sound strange?”

“It does.”

“I see. And fragments?”

“I know of Fragment of Eternal Fire, Fragment of Eternal Wind, Fragment of Endless Night, Fragment of Eternal Ice, Fragment of Everlasting Wound, Fragment of Eternal Hunger, Fragment of the first Star.”

“I wasn’t expecting the last three.”

“People usually have that reaction. There are only likely only a dozen or so primordial energies, but dozens of fragments. A lot of them are incredibly weak and nearly useless, while others can be incredibly powerful.”

“What are the fragments actually?”

“I would recommend you ask Professor Elian about that. As far as I know, there are a lot of theories, but none have ever been confirmed to be correct.”

"Never mind then."

"Yes." With that single word, her mana begins to withdraw.

When the last of it fades, I check the time. She’s kept to the exact duration we agreed on, down to the second.

And I thought I might get a freebie from a fellow mana enjoyer.

She leaves first. I stay behind, sliding down against the wall to sit on the floor. My mana rises again, and I move it as she did, almost absentmindedly, while thinking through faster ways to counter her approach.

In the end, the conclusion is simple. The only difference between us is time. Given a bit more of it, I should be able to face her pretty comfortably. She’s a lot like me in some ways. She’s at her strongest when she has time to prepare. But I’m more combat oriented, while her strengths lie in suppression and support.

When the room starts beeping and forces me out, I leave reluctantly and continue thinking through what I learned, especially about the primordial energies and fragments.

Chapter 618 - Sting

I was never the kind to exactly follow a schedule. I see myself as more of a free-spirited person, the sort who doesn’t want to be tied down by anything.

What? Me, the guy who’s always trying to wake up at the same time, eat at the same time, and even go to sleep at the same time? That clearly doesn’t count.

It just doesn’t. It’s my free spirit that’s caused me to promptly abandon the schedule of this loop. It is not like I want to put a target on my back to make this floor more... fun.

That is why I’m not at the lesson the soon-to-be-deceased Champion is giving and am now sitting in the library for some reason. I would’ve expected it to be empty, with most of the Academy looking for an opportunity to glance upon the glory that is the Champion and maybe even shake his hand, so they could have an excuse to never wash that hand again.

Well, I’m not alone.

The three-armed thylarin is there as well. Tyven, one of my suspects for the candidate, sits there in the corner. Now, after I got information from Ari that there are "others," I suspect him even more. At the same time, Ari’s probably spent much more time with him, so it’s something she should know or suspect herself. Of course, I’m not naive to that point. Ari could easily be lying, and she could be the only candidate. Or maybe both of them are, and are in on it together.

That would be at least somewhat smart. What would not be smart is simply telling me she is looping. I am sure she’s planning something at the moment, but I don’t really know what.

As much as I enjoy the mystery, I also hate problems that can’t be solved by blowing things up.

Well, I do not think either of them is powerful enough to cause me any trouble. Even if they tried to kill me in my sleep, I could wipe them off the face of the world with ease.

Our group also possesses a mind blender called Sophie Martinez, who can break their minds if truly necessary, and a lie detector called Izzy Martinez, both of which we can use to great effect.

I keep a small part of my mind on Tyven and let the rest go into overdrive as I think and sketch on a piece of paper I grabbed from a nearby table. I have found that even my outright confusing lines and ugly drawings help me focus my mind. I’m currently trying to think up another technique to make my own.

Of course, I’m just calling it that. I am sure I could find out what officially qualifies as a technique if I bothered to look. This is the Academy, after all. But why should I limit myself to what others think?

Currently, there are two techniques I have and actively use. Mana Cycling, which came to me from the greatest of all cockroaches, Sandra. Even now, it is the major thing keeping me alive and preventing my mana from going wild. It could be said I love that technique quite a lot. With the constant changes I’ve been making to it, the improvements Lissandra taught me, and my ever-increasing mastery, it’s begun to grow into something truly special.

I categorize it as a cyclist destroyer kind of technique, and will continue to do so. I’m still too proud of the metaphor, despite how long it’s been since I came up with it, to change it.

Anyway, the second is Mana Weaving. Something I am sure exists on its own in the world, and others seem to have come up with their own versions as well, but I don’t want to hear about it. This one is mine, and I’ve even shown parts of it to the others from Group 4, to great success with some. Much the same way I steal ideas from them, I let them steal from me.

This technique is one of my main anti-disruption measures. It can be used outside the body for constructs such as armor, projectiles, or weapons, and to make mana itself denser. If I continue to develop it, I believe that one day my projectiles, with an added boost of kinetic energy, will be able to rival [Empyrean Lance] in piercing power.

Lastly, the third technique is something I am thinking of. This one will likely be very different.

On the paper, I have sketched four shapes, all suggested by Min-Jae and Tess.

Escher's Cube, Penrose Triangle, Klein Bottle, and Möbius Strip

Just looking at the sketches hurts my brain, my eyes, and my feelings. These shapes are extremely confusing. They shouldn’t work, and yet they exist, like some sort of monstrosity. I keep my eyes on them anyway.

The first one is Escher’s Cube. It pretends to be a cube. It clearly is not. The edges start out normal, solid. Then, somewhere around the second glance, they fold in ways that cubes clearly do not. One corner climbs when it should fall. The whole thing looks complete, but the more you stare, the more it stops making sense. I already hate it. Min-Jae picked that one, of course.

Penrose Triangle is more honest, I can at least tell that it should not work. Three beams, sharp angles, clean turns. Everything looks like it fits, until you follow the path fully. Then the triangle turns into a loop that should’ve never been able to close. My brain tries to fix it, but it cannot.

Klein Bottle is worse in a different way. I can’t even find a place to start. It folds through itself. The surface loops but does not complete. There is no clear boundary, it just keeps turning in a direction that does not exist. I cannot separate the front from the back or the outside from the inside.

A Möbius strip has only one surface and one edge. If I concentrate on it, it holds, but its orientation flips halfway through. Repeating thought loops remain intact but do not return in the same state. It differs from the other shapes because it brings three dimensions into a two-dimensional world, while the others are attempts at bringing four dimensions into three. At least, that is what Tess and Min-Jae told me.

I stare at them, and the shapes do not change. But my thoughts do. The more I look, the more I feel the weight in the center of my forehead build. Like something in my brain is trying to unfold in the wrong direction.

Maybe I should burn these papers. Pictures should not be able to deal this kind of mental damage.

But I think of them as a training base that could evolve into a new technique at a later point. Something to help me use [Focus] more effectively. Something that will work in addition to my mental passives and protect my mind from shutting down from information overload. In that way, it could help me use my eyes to a greater extent.

I have a few more ideas too, but they’re just bases that could change.

Maybe I could split my mind into one hundred parts, and focus each on observing different aspects of my opponent and look for a way to deal with their mana and the best way to disrupt everything.

Maybe I could form a double mind, and let the other take over when one shuts down from overload, while a smaller third helps the original reboot, and then cycle again.

All kinds of fun things. Maybe I am truly turning myself into a computer with all the practice I put into Logic Core, this mental technique concept, storing arrays, splitting my mind, and so on. Could I literally just download more RAM?

Anyway, my goal is to use my own mind to handle the sorts of things that would normally take an entire unit of people. Channeling, calculations, and other tasks. I want to do it all on my own, without relying on Logic Cores, items, or inscriptions. Just the raw power of my mind.

It might be weird, but I am also looking at my mind as a muscle, so of course, I have to put pressure on it for it to grow stronger.

All of this is just a concept for now, but I am sure that somewhere along the way, I’ll find something I can use, even if I am just throwing things at the wall right now to see what sticks.

After working through all of that and exploring some rough shapes in my mind, I stand up and walk around the library a bit. I examine the library’s arrays and weaknesses, all the defenses, and a number of other things to help Min-Jae steal it later. I locate the deeper levels and even find some hidden chambers thanks to differences in temperature and the way vibrations of my steps reflect off the walls and floor.

The entire time, Tyven says nothing, only giving me a glance when I stand up and when I pass by the shelves.

I still participate in my third lesson with Elian. I do not do it to follow the schedule, but more as a means to observe the Professor. Even now, he’s difficult for me to grasp. With Mana Wavelength Iris constantly activated, he must have an impressive degree of resilience. His [Mana Manipulation] should also be high, but I rarely see him doing anything impressive, so he could just as well be pretending, and this could all be a mask.

I think it is safe to say that at least the students have a decent amount of respect for him. The Professor is young, handsome, a descendant of someone from the First Generation, impressive traits, and all that other stuff. His personality is uptight and uncaring, but when he smiles, the girls in the class almost seem to squeak.

In my eyes, he could be level 200 as easily as he could be level 400. I truly have no idea, and as with many things, it annoys me.

As the day ends, I exchange some information in the Community and head to my room, where I do not sleep. Instead, I work on those impossible shapes, modifying my mana orb into them and attempting to move it in that same impossible way. I do it until morning without taking a break, or so much as moving from the edge of the bed I’ve been sitting on.

Only when the sun shines into the room do I move and head off to take a shower.

I’ve been curious about her ever since I heard about her from Izzy. A ten-year-old human girl, rumored to be level 350. A monster, even by the standards of some among the Assistant Professors. From Izzy, I know when she will be leaving her class, since they share one, so I stand nearby under a tree and wait.

When the first group of students exits in their white uniforms with black sweaters or shirts, I know she is not among them. There’s not even the slightest hint of danger coming from them. That feeling appears only when Izzy exits, two girls laughing and joking by her side. Like a true Hell Difficulty attendee, she notices me immediately but does not react.

The girl I’m waiting for exits last. She walks alone, and everyone else avoids her by a wide margin. I detect at least three items on her body that work to suppress her stats and mana, items which would seem to demonstrate a lack of ability when it comes to holding herself back, and were likely given by her mentor or the Academy.

Even so, she notices me immediately, just as Izzy did. Her eyes find me without searching, pinpointing my exact location.

She’s ten years old and looks fairly ordinary. Long brown hair, average height for her age, the same uniform as the others. Only three items restraining her are hidden somewhere on her body.

Upon spotting me, one of these items breaks.

She stares at me longer. Her brown eyes begin to lighten until they turn white, and her brown hair lifts around her as if stirred by an unseen wind.

The second item breaks, and her mana seeps into the area. The box of study materials in her hand fractures and falls apart as she clenches her fist.

Her eyes remain fixed on me the entire time, not shifting even slightly.

Before anything else can happen, a professor appears at her side through some form of teleportation, and from what I can sense, it was triggered by a mark that’s been placed on the girl. The professor immediately activates arrays to suppress her, and only then does the girl calm down.

When that Professor looks up to see where the girl is looking, I am gone.

Hours later, thinking this might’ve been enough fun for today, I find that I was wrong.

During one of the training sessions I’ve been using my office for, I feel a sting in my neck. Something that pierces through the barrier I reflexively create as I sense the projectile entering my reach. Even my kinetic energy fails to hold it back.

At the same time, I launch a projectile in the direction I figure the sting came from. My projectile breaks the glass of the window in the same place the tiny barb penetrated and follows that trajectory outside. I raise up my mana and stand up, deploying my barriers and unleashing my mana to follow the attacker when the changes inside my body make me stop.

At dizzying speed, some sort of toxin spreads from the tiny wound on my neck. It ignores my defenses, my barriers, and my mana as I try to push it away. The speed with which it spreads is incredible, and it’s already started to affect me.

My mana grows sluggish, warmth drains from my limbs, and pulses of pain make my muscles spasm. It actively tries to force me into unconsciousness while inflicting severe wounds that will kill me if I allow it to proceed.

I allow it to continue for a few more seconds and observe the toxin with fascination. Then I flood my body with thermal energy to activate my Subdermal Combustion Weave passive. Immediately, the pain intensifies as the thermal energy powers the mid-tier arcane passive, causing combustion beneath my skin.

I plan to move to follow the attacker, but something stops me again. The toxin is not getting burned out or destroyed at all. Instead, it spreads further, feeding on my mana, blood, and flesh, and mutating in front of my eyes. The damage and pain it causes increases further.

What a vile thing. What an incredible thing.

This time, I reach toward my Ignition Heart and fully lift the first seal, and let that concentrated thermal energy flood me and increase the efficiency of my passive. I have no thought of following the attacker anymore and instead sit down to deal with the pain my own passive and the toxin have created.

Then the toxin mutates again, reacting even faster to my countermeasures. My limbs begin to lose color, and my veins turn sickly black, visible even through the skin. I clench my teeth from the pain this inflicts.

The toxin finds the healing marks Lily gave me and eats them, which hastens the mutation. Even as I try to activate some of those marks myself, they do nothing.

As it starts to reach the barriers I’ve set around my hearts and brain, I decide it’s not the time to hesitate anymore.

I start lifting another seal on the Ignition Heart, and more thermal energy floods me. It damages me even more than the toxin, but it starts healing me that much quicker.

Even now, it’s not enough.

I push the seal further open, halfway to fully lifting the second seal, and only then does the spread begin to slow as the two forces collide.

Only my will keeps me from passing out, but I begin to lose control. Heat surges from my body, seeping into the room. The furniture catches fire, and the walls glow red before melting into shining drops of lava. The amount of thermal energy I’m currently generating eats into the walls, revealing the outdoors and the sky while tearing apart some of the Academy's arrays.

Pissed off, I force the seal open wider, drawing a painful groan as the toxin and pieces of my body evaporate. I watch my bones and organs be destroyed and rebuilt, my flesh burning and sizzling, burning them away with the toxin.

I continue until I am absolutely certain that all of it is gone, replacing most of my body in the process and barely managing to reseal the Ignition Heart in the final push.

Even when that’s all done, I still feel a remnant of that pain and slide into a deep state of [Focus].

I look around. The room is gone, along with a few of its neighbors. A massive chunk of the tower has melted away, opening everything to the elements outside. The constant sound of the array's alarm is ringing in my head, and I already sense a few of the Professors moving closer.

With a sigh, I stand up and come to a stop when I look down.

Let's find some pants first.

Chapter 619 - Professor Feran

I look around what used to be my room. All the furniture, all my belongings, even some of my more personal items, are gone. Before I can start to miss them, I remind myself that they should be back once everything resets, and shrug it off.

A variation of alarm rings, the molten rock glows orange, and heat fills one of the holes bored into the tower. Impressively, some of the arrays have been totally destroyed, even those I would have thought would be more durable.

I let a good part of my mind examine it while a small remainder pulls the remaining heat in as I search for some serviceable clothes.

There’s nothing left of my room, but I notice a hole opening into my neighbor's room further down. I step through it, break the already scorched cabinet, and find two somewhat unburned pieces of clothing: light brown pants and a long-sleeved black shirt, which I put on. They fit me well enough and, thankfully, do not appear to be women's clothing.

I check my reflection in the cracked mirror nearby, wipe my face with my sleeve, and brush my hair back.

Keeping my mana calm and hidden under the surface as much as possible, I enter my room again and step out into the hallway with my hands in the air.

Three guards stand there, joined by two Professors, and I can feel the pressure of the main array of the Academy, fully activated and ready. Each of these people feels at a level similar to mine.

Without struggle, I follow them as they lead me away.

An hour later, I find myself in the training hall, said to be able to withstand anyone below Champion level. As rumored, it lies deep underground and stretches at least half a mile in every direction. The inner walls are perfectly smooth and white. There are no arrays or inscriptions, and I can’t even see the entrance anymore.

Inside, there’s nothing but two wooden chairs. I sit on one, and the Vice Director sits on the other.

Her mana is partially released, and arrays are quickly built around us, most of which I’ve never even seen before. I cannot even examine them because of the bracelets on my arms and the metal loop placed on my head like a crown. Both are made of light gray metal and do an excellent job of suppressing me.

Other than the Vice Director, there is the Primordial Energies professor, that demon with short white hair and unusually calm mannerisms. The next one is, I guess, the main security officer, both standing behind the Vice Director.

Sitting there, she adjusts her wide-brimmed, pointy hat and says, “So, you were poisoned, cursed, or some such thing, and the only way you could keep yourself alive was by using your passive along with, as you put it, 'a shitload of thermal energy,' which caused all the damage to Academy property.”

“Yes,” I confirm.

“Feran, what do you think?” she asks, turning to the demon.

The man takes a moment to answer, and I sense him examining me before he responds in the same clear, calm manner.

“I noticed remnants of thermal energy at the site. I have also been observing him since we arrived, and I do not believe him to be lying.”

“Understood.” The Vice Director looks at me again and seems to think deeply before deciding. “I am inclined to believe you, Assistant Professor Gwyn, but at the same time, you have caused a lot of damage to the Academy’s property and its arrays, not to mention how much risk the students and employees in the area were exposed to.”

I try to say something, but she gestures for me to stay quiet. “Yes, I understand that your reaction was only natural given the risk to your life, and the kind of attack you were subjected to forced you to deploy extensive measures. But as unfair as it might seem, I cannot allow you to stay in the Academy at the moment, even if only for the optics.”

“So, I’m fired?”

She nods. “You could say that. However, I’ll need to ask you to stay here for seven more days while we conduct deeper examinations and possibly present you with further questions.”

“Ask me? So I get to refuse?”

“Yes. But if you refuse, we will do it by force.”

“Sounds good. I’ll stay.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

After that, all three of them leave through a door that opens on one side of the smooth surface. Before passing through, the demon professor looks at me one more time.

Then the door closes, and I am left alone.

The first day, I start exercising out of sheer boredom, jogging around my cell, doing pushups, bodyweight squats, and such. It is funny how, in just a few hours, I’ve gotten so bored, all because I can’t train the way I usually do.

With the thing on top of my head as if it had been glued to it and the bracelets on my arms, my physical stats are restricted, and so is my mana flow, even my primordial energies have been restrained for the most part.

All three of these items are works of art. They’re beautifully made, and that beauty is beaten only by the intricate ways they’ve been set to deal with me. Some sort of disruption, likely somewhat based on void energy and mana interference. I guess that because it is the only thing I currently estimate capable of disrupting mana and primordial energies, but it doesn't really feel all that powerful. Maybe it relies more on mana-based disruption, and the storage of void energy only supports it?

No one comes to visit me, and I only send a few messages in the Community. Out of boredom, I switch over to the Easy difficulty’s chat. Largely out of frustration and boredom, I use all of my time there talking to the Easy difficulty guys who are also on the 8th floor.

Funnily enough, they’re also in the Academy, but they are all students. Their floor quest is simple: pass an exam that proves they are ready to graduate.

While some from the Easy difficulty who trained and leveled properly on the previous floors could pass it on the first day, others chose to spend weeks or even months in the Academy, especially the younger attendees.

Potato (Easy, Royals) - Noname, should I continue to call you Noname, or can we use your real name?

Noname (Hell, Group 4) - Your nickname sounds familiar. You must have annoyed me somehow if I remember it. What did you do?

Potato (Easy, Royals) - You’ll burn me to a crisp or drop an island on me if I tell you.

Noname (Hell, Group 4) - How would I even go about that? You’ll probably be done with the tutorial before the third tournament starts.

Potato (Easy, Royals) - They say your first priority after returning to Earth won’t be rebuilding your life so much as settling old grudges.

Catsarebetterthandogs (Easy, The Guardians) - Yes, that! Word is you have a list ready for when we get back to Earth.

Catsarebetterthandogs (Easy, The Guardians) - Noname, just beat him up, this guy is a dick. Use that skill of yours to pull a meteor down on his head, please.

Noname (Hell, Group 4) - You, be silent, I don't like your name. And you, Potato, just tell me, damn it.

Potato (Easy, Royals) - I asked you if you knew what ligma was the first time you came to the Community here.

Noname (Hell, Group 4) - That’s not even that bad. What kind of monster do you guys take me for?

Potato (Easy, Royals) - I do not want to say.

Noname (Hell, Group 4) - Okay. Let's forget about that for now, but from now on, you have to start every sentence while I am in the Community with "I’m sorry." I can also tell you some tricks for mana.

Potato (Easy, Royals) - I’m sorry! Thank you, that would be great!

I can be quite nice when I want to be.

On the second day, I am finally able to partially move the mana inside my body, just a tiny bit. I also continue doing my mental exercises with the impossible shapes, choosing the Möbius strip as a starting point.

I modify them slightly so that they can be used to train mana control, like I’ve been doing with the mana orbs. The difference is that I will never be able to materialize them. The other three shapes simply cannot exist in the material world. I think. They’ll always remain a simulation in my mind, created to torture me and force my brain to work in ways it probably shouldn’t.

No one visits me today either.

I’ve been giving it some thought, and I don’t think it’s very likely that whatever tried to kill me would be the same thing that killed the Champion. There’s just no way. As normal as Champions might seem when they’re just walking around with their powers restricted, each one is a monster in their own way.

All of my Community's daily limit went into arguing with the twins, who came up with a modification to one of my weaker evil orbs, to allow them to do some sort of tandem training.

We can’t bring ourselves to agree on some parts of it, and later, even Sophie and Min-Jae join in, turning the conversation into a long, drawn out argument.

On the third day, I finally get a feel for it.

Something clacks, and one of the bracelets falls off.

On the fourth day, I pull the metal loop thing from my head. On the same day, I create [Mana Crown] over my head and start storing mana there while breaking the bracelets and the metal crown to examine them more closely.

I wait.

On the fifth day, I get a visitor. It is the thirteenth day of the loop when the demon Professor enters alone and closes the door behind him. He shows no surprise upon seeing me sitting in the exact middle of the huge training hall, looking over the broken pieces of the restriction items.

He walks casually for nearly ten minutes before getting close enough for me to hear without raising his voice or using other means of voice amplification. He doesn’t hurry at all.

"I would like to extend an apology for leaving you here without any communication. Just a day after you were put here, Champion Dion was found dead on the Academy grounds," Primordial Energies Professor, Feran, says.

"I am surprised the Academy still stands," I note, not even lifting my head from the broken pieces.

He takes a step closer, the sound barely echoing in the huge room.

"It’s not the sort of thing we understand either," he confirms. As always, when I hear him, he uses that soothing, controlled, and very undemon-like voice. "Champion Dion was considered to be one of the five strongest Champions on the planet, and he was close to being fully combat-oriented. He was very perceptive as well. Him dying like this should be impossible, even if the Absolute himself was involved."

"I heard rumors about a weapon the Absolute had left to someone, something capable of killing even a Champion," I say, listening to his steps and following their vibrations.

"Weapons like that are mere rumors. Students like to spread it to entertain themselves. No such thing could ever exist."

"There were some texts in the library, and I overheard some of the Assistant Professors talking about it," I mention, remembering the information Tess and others dug up.

A few more steps and he’s standing a mere few steps away.

"Oh, please don’t misunderstand. I’m sure there are powerful weapons in circulation that were made by our Absolute. Some people think of him as a bit of a nut or a weirdo, but even for him, to create something like that should be impossible."

"I see," I say, and look up from the pieces for the first time, and make eye contact with the Professor.

He meets my gaze and looks at me.

Finally, I stand up, brush off my pants, kick the pieces away, and take a few steps closer. There are only three steps between us now.

"The others don’t know you’re here?" I ask.

"They do not," he confirms.

"I see," I say, slowly rolling up the sleeves of my black shirt to my elbows. Then I partially lift the seal on Ignition Heart, and thermal energy floods my body. I adjust the setting on my Kinetic Mana Heart, and most of my mana shifts into kinetic energy.

Ever since he entered the room, I’ve been sensing his heartbeat and intent. I sensed it too when he left with the head of security and the Vice Director. Maybe I even sensed it the first time I met him back in the first loop.

And finally, he decides to drop that annoying mask.

He takes off his jacket, leaving himself standing there in a long-sleeved shirt and vest. His red eyes shine brighter than ever as he runs his fingers through his hair, brushing it away from his face and forehead.

The way he looks at me reveals the expression I’ve been waiting for since the beginning.

"If you wanted to fight, you should’ve just fucking said so, stupid demon."

Chapter 620 - Four primordial energies

From the first time I saw him, I knew he was just like every other demon I’ve met: a maniac like the rest, only better at hiding it.

That is what confused me. His heart, the look in his eyes, both told me he was ready to attack at any moment. To fight with that typical joy and aggression only demons seem to match. Yet his face and outward behavior are calm, perfectly controlled.

I can’t even blame it on some kind of concentration skill. Personally, I think those tend to be rare for demons because of what they are. This guy just controls himself.

But ever since he came into the room, the one so often used for duels, alone and out of sight of everyone else? Damn, I could feel the bloodthirst in his heartbeat.

We get thrown apart by a burst of kinetic energy exploding between us, but I absorb more of it and move quicker, reaching him before he can regain his composure. I release more of it directly at him, but instead of absorbing it, he redirects it and uses his own to attack me.

He’s skilled and clearly used to manipulating kinetic energy, but after a year with Lioren, I don’t think I’ll ever find anyone as talented as he was. This professor's use of kinetic energy, though skilled, lacks the natural ease that only Lioren had. With him, it just felt like another part of who he was, carrying that same overwhelming sense of oppression.

I deflect the Professor's attack and launch my own while shifting my body to avoid him.

He realizes as quickly as I do that he will not be able to face me with kinetic energy, but he’s stubborn, like all demons. So he continues to try.

His output is strong, but unlike me, he focuses on defense when it comes to kinetic energy. While I prefer using it for movement and flight, he uses it like a tank, deflecting attacks and layering barriers over his skin to endure the attacks.

The thrill of the fight surges through me, and I increase my output, overwhelming his attacks and slamming against his kinetic barrier. Each attack sends him sliding back a bit more. Loud thumps fill the huge room, reverberating through my chest and bones.

Every three heartbeats, I release another, synced perfectly to that rhythm, each containing my entire mana output converted into kinetic energy using my heart as a medium and [Redistribution] as a support.

I know he’s waiting for me to tire myself out. I see it in his eyes, that gleeful look, waiting for an opening to jump on me and tear me apart limb by limb.

Still, I do not stop. And the look on his face changes when he starts realizing that he might be the first to tire out. In the end, unlike the Vice Director, he’s not much higher level than I. I estimate him to be around 350.

I’ve dealt with worse.

When he changes his mind, he does not show frustration or disappointment. Instead, his excitement grows. That calm mask he wore is long gone.

Void energy surrounds him, a swirling mix of gray darkening toward black, with hints of purple. A single stream seeps from his left forearm as he pulls it free, spreading and circling around him to form a vast halo.

When my kinetic energy crashes into it, it dissolves, like tossing a ball of sand into water and watching it crumble into tiny particles.

That circle of void energy spins and sends out a pulse that crashes into me. My control over kinetic energy and mana slips instantly, even the bit that’s shielded by my natural barrier, and the portion contained within my body.

It fascinates me so much that I let it hit me again, even as he closes the distance using kinetic energy. I rely on my passive to absorb the impact, knowing it will hurt, but I focus only on observing the behavior of his void energy.

As rumored, it is not just mana disruption. Void energy affects primordial energies, too, and part of me wonders how much of an effect it would have on Fragments.

After the attack hits me, my reservoir floods with kinetic energy from the impact, already turning into mana. Even so, I slide across the floor with my limbs twisted and broken. Another pulse of void energy comes at me, followed by a kinetic attack. Before they land, with just one working leg, I use Wraith Dance to escape, breaking my leg in the process.

I lift the first seal on my Ignition Heart entirely, letting an immense surge of thermal energy flood my body. It combusts under my skin and starts healing me. Limbs twist and snap back into place. Ribs restore themselves. Torn flesh regrows. All of it followed by the incredible pain that always comes when funneling such pure thermal energy to heal through my passive.

I let it continue to combust under my skin and move again, but this time I’m even more reckless. Kinetic and thermal energy clash inside me. Kinetic energy breaks my body as I move too fast for it to keep up. Thermal energy heals me just as quickly.

When I appear by his side, he moves to attack with another pulse, but I disappear again, snapping both my ankles in the process. Golden flames start seeping out of my skin as I reappear on the opposite side, raising the flames around me until they crash into his void energy. While they clash, I bury my now healed feet into the ground, twist my body, and, channeling kinetic energy through myself, deliver a blow to his right shoulder.

I watch his skin and clothes ripple under my touch. His skin tears open, and his flesh and bones explode. His entire shoulder and right arm vanish into a pink, bloody mist as he staggers back.

I give him a second to regain his composure.

He looks up at me, clutching his left arm against the remains of his shoulder. And he’s smiling like he’s having the time of his life.

"Very well," he says in the same calm tone he always uses, which still doesn’t match the maniacal grin on his face.

The third primordial energy seeps out of him. A blue mark appears on his forehead, and a circle of primordial lightning forms behind his back. The same red and white lightning that Tess herself has. It moves, turning into dozens of finger-sized projectiles that surround him like a sea of stars.

So he uses kinetic for defense, void to support his attacks, and lightning for ranged attacks. Not a bad combination at all, and I’m not the least bit surprised by the amount of respect people have given him. So far, even after seven floors and starting my third year in the tutorial, I have yet to see anyone else with three primordial energies.

His void energy pulses again, but this time, I am ready, and I move before it reaches me. High in the air, I absorb my inertia, and dozens of lightning projectiles pass where I was headed. When I move again, more of them pass through where I was.

Like a minigun firing only tracer rounds by the thousands per minute, his attacks bombard the place. That red and white lightning screams like it’s tearing the air apart.

I land back on the ground and use Wraith Dance a few times. Then, to spice things up, I form a thermal orb, compress it, and fire off a golden laser-thin stream that cuts through the space and forces him to dodge. The place he dodges into ripples, and another thermal orb passes through my [Ley line] and explodes.

Kinetic energy bursts from him, pushing against the flames. A few loud thumps follow, but even so, parts of his clothes still catch fire from the heat. He doesn’t seem to care, even as they scorch the surface of his skin.

Even without eyes on me, the lightning projectiles continue to track me, and this time, every hundredth attack is an orb that explodes, releasing a strange sort of electrical field around it.

Void energy is slower, and at least in his case, he seems to need closer range to actually hit me, but now he uses it to make the lines I have stretched through the area unstable.

After I use Wraith Dance to reach him, his projectiles disappear. Instead, all the lightning pulls into his body, forming a new arm to replace the one I blew apart. Within that crackling limb, an axe made of lightning energy forms.

His pulse of void energy crashes into a sacrificial wave of mana I send his way, and I reach his body.

I duck under his swing, mana flashes around me again as another wave of void energy crashes into it. The entire time until now, he’s been pretending to have a longer "cooldown" on his void energy than was truly necessary.

Shifting to Pulser Stance, I move to his side and drive the palm of my hand into his chest. My frequency of kinetic energy wobbles in a triple-cascading effect and ignores the barrier he’s created.

When he stumbles and coughs up blood, I move closer and deliver a kick that sends him rolling across the floor, easily covering the distance of a football field.

Even while rolling, he finds time to dissolve his lightning arm and axe into projectiles that crash against one of my barriers. The surface of said barrier wobbles like a water bubble about to burst, but it snaps back and holds while the lightning discharges around me.

Already getting back on his feet, he wipes the blood from his lips and stares at me with that same bloodthirsty smirk.

And once again, I fully lift the first seal on my Ignition Heart.

Thermal energy seeps out of me, and I let it. At first, golden flames flicker across my body, red-hot and burning, but causing no harm. Then they spread further. They climb higher and wider, blazing behind me as I slowly walk toward him.

He still faces me, his heart pumping out even more kinetic energy. The void halo spins around him, and the mark on his forehead begins to glow.

Then I lift the second seal.

Thermal energy floods the room, wild and unchecked. I make sure that only my body remains untouched as it surges through me. The flames climb high, nearly licking the ceiling and stretching toward the distant walls of the massive cube-shaped chamber. Pure golden fire, burning as one indomitable flame, and at the center of it all, stands my small figure. Just a small dot engulfed by the blaze.

Finally, he hesitates. The pulses of void energy stop, useless now, no better than pouring a glass of water onto a burning house.

His eyes lock onto mine, but I do not stop, even as blisters bubble up across the surface of his skin.

Then he nods, the smile fading from his face. His heartbeat stops. All the kinetic energy vanishes, the mark on his forehead dims, and the halo of void energy flickers out.

He is the first to look away.

Only then do the burning flames freeze in place. I draw them back into my body within seconds. My Ignition Heart becomes a whirlpool, pulling them all in, and I seal it shut once more.

Relief crashes over me at once, sharp and searing, as the leftover thermal energy inside my body combusts and repairs the parts at risk of tearing apart. I show nothing and keep walking toward the guy.

"Professor Feran," I greet him.

"Assistant Professor Gwyn," he nods slightly.

"Tell me more about primordial void energy."

"I apologize, but I think I will need to seek out some healing first. Otherwise, I will be dead in a few minutes."

"Oh."

"Regretfully, it seems so. But I have to say, I admire the way you handle kinetic energy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it used as beautifully as you just did."

"Thanks, I guess. I had a good teacher. I’ll see you later, then?"

"Of course. It’s rare to find someone for a proper fight in these parts of the world. May I ask if there’s a demon among your ancestors?"

"There is not."

"Amazing," he rubs his chin.

"Why are you still here? Are you not dying?"

"I think I still have a few minutes left. The Head Healer owes me, so he’ll heal me quickly enough and without too many questions. Please don’t worry. As for void energy, I don’t know what I can say except that it affects mana and other primordial energies. Unlike mana disruption, which destroys structures, void energy isolates them, rendering them inert and unusable even to their source, after which they dissipate."

"That doesn’t really make much sense. It still sounds similar to mana based disruption."

He coughs up blood and wipes it away before shaking his head. "If you disrupt mana with mana, you need to either overpower the original structure, understand it better than the creator, or move faster than the creator to change it. Void-based mana disruption is like doing all of that at once, with isolation added on top. Some theorize that it’s just the nature of the void, as infinite empty space, that makes it possible."

"Well, it doesn’t really matter now. Just go and get your healing."

He bows slightly and leaves.

At first, I think he might walk away slowly, like before when he first came here, taking ten minutes to reach the exit and end up dying somewhere along the way. But there still seems to be some sense left in him, and he runs.

I head back to the middle of the room, where I find a puddle of gray metal, left over from the suppressive items they’d placed on me. I plop down on the ground and poke it with my finger.

A few hours later, the loop resets, and I find myself back in the room, surrounded by the rest of Group 4.

Chapter 621 - Number in the air

Right away, I open the status menu, select the three skill combination token, and use it.

Congratulations, you have successfully combined [Ley Line], [Perception], and [Mana Manipulation]! A new skill has been created.

You have acquired [Mana Relay]

[Mana Relay - Level 0 > Mana Relay - Level 19]

After reading the new skill name, I move my mana to activate it, and another notification pops up.

Congratulations, you have acquired a new skill!

[Mana Manipulation]

[Mana Manipulation - Level 0 > Mana Manipulation - Level 61]

At this point, I should say it isn't even funny how inseparable the two of us are, but even now, I'm still laughing. Screw you, system.

It also seems that I’ve been discovered. I really can’t bring myself to believe the attempt on my life was a coincidence. I should probably be worried about whoever did it, but why? The bastard didn’t manage to kill me. I don’t mind going through that pain and trouble again, even if it ends with me imprisoned in that room again.

Ha, is that the best they can do? Must suck to suck so much.

Anyway, I missed my lesson with Ari, so instead, I will meet her on the fourth day of this loop. Until then, I’ll keep up my schedule while doing some wild stuff in my free time.

As I exit that starting room, Professor Elian is there again with his usual "greeting." He summons the servants to carry my stuff into the office and then leaves, radiating disappointment.

I spend the first day training my newest skill, which, out of all the skills I’ve gained so far, seems to be the weakest. I guess the combination didn’t quite sync as well as I had hoped. [Mana Relay] doesn’t sound like much of an improvement.

I have a suspicion it will make it possible, at least at higher levels, to share my mana. Of course, I’ll still take the opportunity to learn from it as much as possible, but it’s not really the way I wanted to go. Especially after using a three active skill combination token, which seems to be very difficult to get one’s hands on, if not damn near impossible. I reserved all of my event rewards to get it, and for the points I sacrificed, I could have probably gotten a lot of shards. 500 thousand? Closer to one million?

It clearly shows how good the reward is, and I think, with the exception of [Ur Line], I haven’t been using it "correctly." Other than that first time, it seems like the skills I am getting would have been possible to create with a two active skills combination token.

The system wasn’t joking when it said it would be more difficult to find the right combination.

Please do not let this be the last loop.

And isn’t that unnerving to think about? Why can I not get any information on the total number of the loops? Knowing there are ten or so would be better than just guessing.

Am I asking too much from the system, hoping it would allow me to abuse it just a little bit more?

As before, I try to use the Beyond Stay Token and get the same notification again. It seems the inability to enter is really being caused by this Floor. Maybe it’s some sort of "nerf" that balances how much this mechanic can be abused. Maybe it’s just the system being an asshole.

Or maybe it would be too annoying to deal with attendees getting stronger in Beyond and then not knowing whether to reset their stats to the start of the 8th floor or keep their Beyond stats. But in that case, you could probably advance to the furthest day of the loop, gain stats, skills, and equipment, enter Beyond, add to it more, and then return to the loop after a day and keep it all. Then abuse the loop again.

Hmm. I think if I had designed it, I would’ve said screw it and blocked Beyond entirely. That is what the tutorial gets for trying to come up with these fancy mechanics.

I also think about what Ruler's Floor this could be. If I am right, the Candidate or possible Candidates are going to be from the same subclass as the Ruler who created this setting for the 8th floor. That would make this the second floor to give us confirmation about who the Ruler is.

With these thoughts in mind, I enter the Sweatbox and quickly register for all the Challenges. The first one I try is the Target Gauntlet, and it is definitely not because Tess was ranked first in Tier 4 during the last loop.

It’s a target-destroying challenge. You enter a room, and after the challenge starts, you have one minute to destroy as many targets as possible. They start out at the size of my head, but gradually shrink over time.

This one has much stricter rules than Breakline, where you can just act like a brute and hit barriers with your fists until they break. Here, large-scale attacks and skills like domains are banned.

Of course, that doesn’t mean your attacks have to be as narrow as the targets. You can use a stream of flames or similar attacks, but there is a limit. Honestly, the rulebook describing what exactly is and is not allowed is too long, so I didn’t bother to read it.

Simply put, you are expected to mostly use projectiles or similar attacks.

I may not like to admit it, but I might actually get my ass kicked by Tess here, no matter how much I try.

Last time, she seemed to attempt this challenge around the third or fourth day, so I hope she sticks to that schedule. I want to get first place and move into tier 5 before she can compete.

Is that cowardly?

Nah, I would say it’s just smart.

At the halfway point of the challenge, the targets become as small as my fist. In the last ten seconds, they are barely the size of my fingernail and pop up all over the room, sometimes appearing briefly on the opposite side.

When hit with a powerful burst of flames, they tend to resist just long enough to disappear, and you get no points. When hit with a much weaker projectile, about the size of an arrow, they break easily. The whole thing’s been designed to test reaction speed, accuracy, and control.

I would like to talk with the developers and recommend that they use flying ducks instead of targets.

When I finish, my points are at 1200, beating the second-place score but still far from the 1500 Tess scored in the previous loop. What a monster.

I choose to delay showing my points by one hour and select my alias as Emanon before leaving the room.

That's when I stop and go still.

Nearby, Tess is waiting like she's expecting someone. When she sees me, she lights up and waves.

With my mood soured, I take a few steps toward her.

"You should be guarding that little asshole of yours," I say.

"I have a few minutes. It should be enough time to break the record. I knew I would find you here, so what score did you get?"

"Exactly 1700. I think you should give up for the next 24 hours."

"Did you now? Impressive," she says, her lips curling into a playful and challenging smile.

"You are evil."

"Gimme a minute," she says and disappears into the room.

She reappears exactly one minute later. Together, we head off into the crowd and take a seat. Another minute goes by, likely the result of whatever delay she had planned, before the score appears.

1st, 1701 pts - Sset

Damn. That’s even more evil than I expected. Honestly, I have to admire it.

"You’re breaking your schedule," I tell her.

She nods. "I am."

"Why?"

"Shouldn’t that be obvious, Nat? We’re in this together, are we not? I will not allow you to take on all that danger alone just to take attention away from us. Don’t think I didn’t notice you breaking your schedule on purpose."

"What do you mean? I just hate following it, that’s all."

With her chin propped on her folded hands, she stares at me in silence.

“Sure. That’s all,” she says with a faint smile.

"You silly, stubborn, goddamned blonde."

"I have heard worse."

"You smell like cigarettes."

"I haven’t smoked since the first floor."

"You can’t even cook."

"Please, Nat, you can barely prepare instant ramen."

"My disciple loved the pizza we made."

"By the time you two were done with it, you looked like you had eaten charcoal out of the fireplace."

"I remember that time you thought pasta did not need water to boil."

Tess immediately leans closer. "Oh, so we’re doing this now? Do you remember that time you wanted to buy a chicken and get me to take turns slapping it with you until it cooked, just because you saw a particularly funny meme?"

"What can I say? I have a curious mind."

"Or when you once cooked a steak at my place until it turned grey and we couldn't chew it? You said it was 'well-respected.'"

"You did laugh."

"I’ve laughed at weirder things."

"Didn’t try to make a cake for dessert at one point, thinking all the while that baking soda and baking powder were the same thing? That cake could have killed a man, Tess. No, I’m sure if you made it here, it would’ve been classified as an upper rare at least."

Finally, she laughs and leans back.

"Just be careful, okay? Others in our group are starting to reach the point where they might break the schedule just to bring some of that attention back to themselves."

"That would be dumb. I’m taking a calculated risk, and unlike the others, I am sure I will be fine."

"Yup, it is dumb."

"Damn it."

"So?"

"I’ll be careful, okay? And stop smiling, it’s annoying."

"Nope."

At that, I just turn away. Indeed, I remain the most normal person here.

As planned, after a few days, I finally get to talk with Ari. With the lesson for her and Kays done, I leave first and wait in one of the side hallways. There, I deploy one of the detection arrays I’ve been working on for the past few days, just to be sure we don’t get surprised or fall victim to eavesdroppers.

Then, as she reaches me, I give her access, and after a quick examination, she nods, "Nice work for someone who melted half of the tower in the center of the Academy."

"Cooking accident."

"Am I to think Professor Feran ended up in one, too? He nearly died, dragging himself to the Head Healer."

"He must have fallen down the stairs or something. I have questions."

"I'll have mine too, so I expect you to answer mine when I ask you later. Alright?"

"That much is fine. Who are the others?"

"The Candidates and the Examiners."

"How many? Who are Candidates and who are Examiners?"

"You’re no fun, asking so many questions. At least show me some kind of fun reaction," she complains.

I twist my face into a shocked expression before returning it to normal and looking at her with a questioning gaze.

Ari sighs and says, "There were ten Candidates, including me, who’ve been placed in this loop, along with an unknown number of Examiners."

"What Ruler did this, and what do the Examiners do?"

"If you continue to interrupt me, it will take a while, you know, and I have only five minutes or so."

"That’s fine, just answer."

One of her six arms caresses her hair, another two rest in her pockets, and she continues to gesture with the other three.

"We don’t know which Ruler arranged this. None of the Candidates have gotten their subclass yet. As far as I know, this was all made possible by the Ruler, who put a great deal of effort into copying the mechanisms of the tutorial, just on a much smaller scale. They worked in tandem with the Absolute of the planet where the real Academy is located and created something called a 'record.' In exchange for his help, the Absolute asked the Ruler to make some twists and changes. One of these changes were the Examiners, the Absolute’s people who were sent here to hunt us down and kill us. For this, they are rewarded and also able to use the loop to their advantage. But no one knows who the Candidates are or who the Examiners are."

"What a goddamn mess."

"I agree, Assistant Professor Gwyn, but it is a fun mess, is it not?" she smiles brightly.

She’s not even bothering to pretend anymore, instead, she seems to have let her real personality show through. "Three years I’ve been here. Over 100 loops. I’ve improved so much, it’s crazy. In that time, a dozen or so Examiners have died, and to my knowledge, seven out of ten Candidates. And that will continue until I become the Ruler’s disciple and their true heir."

"Why haven’t the Examiners wiped you all out? Aren't they stronger than you?"

"They are, but they have to follow rules the Candidates don’t. If they kill someone who is not a Candidate, they will die themselves. But Assistant Professor, it’s you and people like you that are more interesting," her eyes widen and she leans in closer, poking me with her finger, "You aren’t a Candidate or an Examiner. And you haven’t even asked what you are. Maybe you can’t. Poor little thing."

Looking at me, she fixes my tie and then taps my chest with a smile.

"There are people like you. Bugs. Proof that this place, as much as the Ruler and the Absolute have tried, is imperfect. Once in a while, new people appear out of nowhere. Forgotten Assistants, Professors, or servants that were never loaded in the first loop. They tend to loop for a while before they disappear again. Examiners hate you and try their best to get you killed without breaking the rules. Some Candidates do the same."

"And you?"

"Me?" she asks as if surprised, but she smiles, and it is a dark smile. "I use them, obviously."

"You could easily end up dead," I note.

"Yet I am still here after all these loops." She covers her mouth with both hands and lets out a giggle, high and breathless, like she can’t quite hold it in. The sound is almost childlike, but underneath it, there’s something sharp, something broken. "It’s fun, so much fun."

But then, just as fast, she stops. The smile fades. Her arms fall to her sides, and the glint in her eyes hardens back into something cold and calculating, as if none of it had ever happened.

"I have to go, I will ask my questions later. So be careful until then, Assistant Professor Gwyn," she tells me.

As she is leaving, I call out to her. "How many Candidates have you killed, Ari?"

She halts mid-step and halfway turns to me. For a moment, that bright smile, too wide and too sharp, flashes across her face, carrying a glint of madness and something darker beneath it.

Without a word, she flicks her hand through the air, a lazy, almost playful motion. Mana trails from her fingertips, sparkling and twisting like smoke.

Then she turns away and leaves without looking back.

Hanging in the air, written in shining mana particles, is a single word.

Seven.

Chapter 622 - Student council

My opinion of this world’s Absolute dims more and more by the day. That guy is way too unhinged. What kind of asshole works with a Ruler to allow portions of their world to be recorded and used like this, even throwing in random ideas just for shits and giggles?

That almost makes it an interesting option. What if the Ruler who chose to use this place as a floor for the tutorial isn’t the Ruler testing his successors, but the Absolute who became the Ruler later? Or is it, as we’ve come to think, one of the little guys who’s been thrown in here with us?

Well, I’ll get to the bottom of it either way.

Since I’ve already been caught and am likely to be a target, I don’t bother to hide and head toward where the twins said the student council is, and the guy I should check out.

As before, they’re going to act like they don’t know me. Our conversations will only take place through the Community, at least with everyone other than Tess.

Silly blonde.

The student council, according to Dennis, oversees the laws of the universe and also decides what kind of desserts we’ll be served for lunch. It’s located in a set of surprisingly normal-looking buildings, which also play host to a number of research clubs, study clubs, and similar groups.

Located in the west wing, it sits on the highest floor, in one of the corner rooms, allowing it to have multiple huge windows on both sides that overlook one of the myriad gardens here in the Academy.

Of course, I barge in without knocking, destroying the weak attempt at a locking mechanism. It may have been good enough for the other students, but it’s far from enough to hold me back. There isn’t even a secondary lock or any kind of trap. Just a warning signal to be set off when the threads connected to it are destroyed.

Inside, I find the room to be a huge mess. There are two sofas facing each other with a small table between them. Strewn across said table are various pieces of metal, tools for creating inscriptions, and a large number of canvases. Clothes are littered about everywhere. Jackets, vests, and even socks, for some reason. One of the tables has been piled high with an assortment of lunch boxes and bottles next to a heating mana stone that looks ready to explode in two days, ten hours, and thirty minutes.

A few more chairs are scattered about the room, along with some cabinets, a full-scale, enchanting table that clearly does not belong here, and deep scratches on the floor from dragging it in. One of the windows has been broken, and the resulting hole has been patched over with a plank.

The plank in question seems to have come from a patch of floor that seems to have been torn up for the sole purpose of fitting a huge stone crystal pillar into the room.

I might just be weird, but it actually feels kind of cozy.

Amidst the chaos, I notice that there are four students present, while Dennis and Aaron seem to be conspicuously absent today.

The one who steps forward to face me is a selari boy who looks surprisingly calm at my appearance. He even looks a bit annoyed and pissed off. Like the other selari, he has pink hair, pink skin, white freckles, but his eyes are pale blue instead of the normal mix of blue and green.

"Ah, Assistant Professor Gwyn," he says with the same annoyance his face shows.

"I see my reputation precedes me," I say as I grab one of the mana stones from the table to examine it.

"Yes, the girls can’t seem to stop talking about you, they’ve been offering obsidian drachen for information on your schedule and even more for the times you visit the public baths."

The mana stone almost slips from my fingers. I had been fixing the line, since it was going to explode in a day or two, but now I undo it. Instead, I twist the inscription loop slightly to make the explosion stronger.

Only then do I turn to the boy. By this point, the two boys and the girl still in the room are clustered at his side, loudly whispering for him to calm down, but he just shakes them off.

"So what? This is our territory. We can’t show fear, even if an enemy like him does appear," he says, facing me with the same defiant expression.

I pick up a piece of cloth that seems like it’s destined to be made into a cloak.

"I don’t visit the public baths for your information. Is this cloak an attempt to make yourself less detectable?" I ask.

"Oh? You noticed?" he says proudly. "It is an invisibility cloak I’ve been working on."

"Won’t be worth much in a fight."

"Fight? It’s for spying on the girls."

"I see," I nod and pause, replaying his answer in my mind. "Wait, what?"

"I plan to work on it a bit more, add some dehumidifying inscriptions, and possibly change the materials without increasing the weight. Then I should be able to sneak into the public bath..."

He does not finish as I fry the circuits and destroy all his work, then toss the ruined cloak onto a chair.

"And this?" I ask, picking up a tube.

"Telescope. I have an idea to make it see through walls. Then I can go to the main observation tower."

With a sliver of hope, I ask, "Bird watching?"

"No, the public bathhouse is just next to..."

I crush the tube in my hands and let it drop to the floor.

"This?" I point at the mirror.

At this point, my voice is challenging, and his face remains just as proud as he stands tall.

"Remote Viewing Mirror."

I destroy it.

"This?"

"Bathhouse blueprints detailing a rumored hidden entrance. I just need to decipher them and..."

I burn the paper.

"Your name is Vance, correct?" I ask.

"Yes, Assistant Professor Gwyn."

"These items suck."

"Naturally. I'm not even level 100, I lack a subclass, and I'm constrained by the technology of my era."

"That is not what I meant."

"Well, too bad. I’ll just create even better versions after you leave, Mr. Hottest-Assistant-Professor-I-Can-Fix-Him type currently."

"For fuck’s sake, Vance, just stop, please," the other boy begs.

But Vance sticks out his chest even more and bears it all with pride, "I stand behind everything I’ve said. Show no fear, my friend. He can’t do anything to us."

"We are so sorry, Assistant Professor. He is just a bit like that. He grew up very sheltered and..."

"Silence! No more information! Did you forget the meeting we had to declare him one of our greatest enemies? And you, do you actually need something from the student council? If so, then it’s common courtesy to send a formal request or complaint first before simply barging in. As much as you might not feel like it, we students have rights too."

"Rights to spy on girls?"

"Only the hot ones."

I blink.

What is wrong with this guy?

I gesture for him to come closer, and he does so without hesitation, stopping a step away.

Then I hand him a brooch I found on the table and meddled with. It had a decent base, and with a few quick changes, I turned it into a low epic item after I finished the work he’d started on enhancing the base functions.

Its function as a mana signature detector is suspicious, given its connection to the boy, but I let it be.

The moment he takes the item and notices the changes, his eyes widen, and he turns to me.

"Holy fuck," he whispers.

I nod with satisfaction.

"How the hell can this work with such an ugly as fuck array of terrible circuits? It looks like someone stitched a dead mana beast onto a broken array," he blurts out, staring at the brooch like it might bite him. "There are no stabilization nodes, no compression filaments, and the flow channels are all jagged. Half of the conduction lines have been fractured intentionally, and the resonance core is exposed to external interference. Even the anchoring inscriptions for the mana framework have been layered incorrectly."

He breathes heavily, as if he’d just borne witness to something that should be physically impossible.

"And yet it’s stable. No, it is better than stable. It self-corrects the mana drift through chaotic realignment and handles excess energy like a champ through a dormant feedback loop instead of a stabilizer core. That shouldn’t even be possible without at least second-tier material catalysts or high-grade auxiliary inscriptions. This goddamned brooch should collapse and explode the moment it activates, but it just keeps balancing itself by feeding on its own turbulence."

He glares at me like I personally broke the rules of magic.

"This is a mockery of the inscription principles themselves," he declares.

I pat him on the shoulder once before stepping back.

"Learn something," I tell him.

After that, I leave the room.

Walking away, I open Community.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - you were right, he is incredibly good at inscriptions.

NotDennis (Hell, group 4) - told you! That guy is a genius.

I close it again and think. Some of the items, while skipping the weird functions and what they were meant for, were incredible. Something I do not think should be possible to create at his level. Or at least not without incredible talent.

From some points of view, the skill of that selari boy I observed is scarier than that level 350 ten-year-old girl.

It seems like there is another name to be added to the list of suspects.

The Head Accountant looks surprised by my visit, especially as I start putting mana stones, materials, and some items onto the table. They are ones that do not require a permit or registration.

I know very well which items are best. During the previous loop, I asked this guy extensively. Overall, I end up dumping around 450 thousand shards worth of items onto the table.

"Assistant Professor Gwyn, may I ask where you got all these things from?"

"You can't, I'm shy," I answer, sliding a smaller mana stone worth around 20 thousand shards toward him. "For your trouble."

"I'm sorry, but I have to refuse."

I reach out and flick the mana stone until it falls to the floor and rolls under the table, out of sight. "Damn, I'm clumsy. I hope I don’t forget to ask for that mana stone before I leave this meeting. Now, tell me more about that Professor specializing in traits."

The Head Accountant coughs and wipes his forehead with a handkerchief. "He’s one of the oldest people on the continent, from the Second Generation, and his master was a powerful Champion candidate from the First Generation before he died in a Challenge. He has a lot of experience and knowledge, but can be very... moody."

"I can deal with that. Please book him for me as soon as possible." I slide the rest of the items and materials closer to him. "Since I'm here, can you also tell me about the Head Crafter? What materials does he need, and would he be willing to help with a side project for the right price?"

"He’s a very stubborn and straightforward man, not someone I get along with, so it is hard to say. But there are a few materials he always complains we’re missing. The Head Supplier always vents to me about his requests, so I can get you information on those materials. The problem is that they are hard to come by on our planet, and with interplanetary travel currently locked by our Absolute, they’ve been even harder to obtain."

"That's fine, just get me the list."

As swiftly as before, he does so. He checks a few accounting books and has a quick communication with the Head Supplier through a crystal ball. Then, written out on a piece of paper, he hands me a list of materials. Some of which I’ve never heard of before, but after a quick check, I notice quite a few are available in the system shop.

"Thank you for your cooperation," I say, standing up.

Before I open the door, he calls out, "H-Haven't you forgotten something?"

I turn around, pretending to think deeply.

"Oh, right," I say, walking back seriously.

The Head Accountant smiles awkwardly, and expecting me to retrieve the mana stone, he moves slightly so I can pass by.

Instead, I grab a pen from his desk. "This is a nice pen. Thanks."

Leaving him stunned, I walk out without looking back.

Chapter 623 - Trait Specialist

As I was told, the Professor I’m supposed to be getting lessons from this time is an old man. Possibly the oldest one I’ve seen on the floor, looking like he is in his late seventies. All gray-haired, with a mustache that looks like he could sweep up snacks in it, and a slight belly.

The signs I usually look for when estimating someone's level are almost impossible to feel from him, and his mana is perfectly contained.

That makes me wonder. Let’s say you have 1000 points in constitution. Wouldn’t you think that’d keep your body in perfect shape for a pretty long time? By most logic, it probably should, but the things I’ve seen don’t really seem to support that theory.

I guess that even with high stats, your body will continues to degrade, and the rate only slows when you break through into the higher levels. For now, it seems that around the time you start getting body upgrades, it slows the aging process. Possibly even more so when one becomes a Champion, and even more when reaching Absolute.

Kyralon is rumored to be one of the oldest Absolutes in the system, likely thousands of years old. But how long can he actually live? Thousands more? Is he already degrading and starting to weaken?

How would it even look if your stats show 1000 strength, but you are close to death? Are these stats "weaker"? Will the system show less strength to reflect the change? Will you still have that much strength?

What also comes to mind is that it is our brains and hearts that degrade. But if that is the case, how would healers be able to affect these organs?

I know some things are difficult to heal, and that some people advise against healing certain things at all. But if your heart were degrading, could you not restore despite the risk, or by using your resources as a Champion or Absolute to get a new one? Could you not fix your brain as well? The main question I have regards how difficult these things truly are, but more and more questions keep popping up.

In the end, I stay with the conclusion that it is possible to extend your life through means that some might consider unnatural. But it’s likely to be difficult, and the things I can think of that could make it possible might affect you negatively. Otherwise, everyone would do it. It is also possible that some people simply do not want to live that long.

Humans on Earth are used to living 60 to 80 years, mostly, and in rare cases, over 100. What would happen to a person who, by evolution, was made for such an age and then suddenly could live ten times longer? New generations born to these people would likely deal with it better, but the first generation would probably be quite messed up.

Yup, just like us. There's a bright future ahead of us. Surely.

Damn, now I’m sure I’m going to be thinking about this the rest of the day, especially about the implications of the possibility of stats degrading. It feels like either the system is not omnipotent, or it is purposefully not giving enough power for people to live forever.

Forcefully, I clear my thoughts and continue walking toward the small lake where the Professor sits on a bench with his eyes closed. There are no students around, and this area is heavily restricted. I even needed a permit to get here. Even the arrays are different from those at the Academy.

As for the Professor, he continues to sit there as I stand over him, caught off guard by his lack of response. His head wobbles a bit, and I get the strong suspicion he might be sleeping.

After waiting a minute and getting no reaction, I shrug and walk over to the bank of the lake, searching the ground for the best flat rocks. Even the ones that are less than perfect, I pick them up and grind them down a bit by oscillating my mana around them. Then, without boosting my body, I swing and throw a rock to send it skipping across the surface.

It goes terribly. The throw has too much force behind it, and the rock hits the middle of the lake where water splashes high into the air, as the rock sinks to the bottom.

The next time, I change the angle and actively hold myself back before throwing again. This time, the spinning rock makes a few skips before sinking.

I glance down at the rocks I have collected and pick up another one. I give it a much stronger spin, lower myself more, and leaning into the perfect angle, I throw it, sure of the result. The rock bounces across the surface of the lake, then flies high into the air and over the lake to hit the trees on the opposite side.

I pick up another one and look at it.

It is a gray, normal rock. Somewhat flat, with a scar on its side where I used oscillating mana to remove an edge. Looking at it, I hold it between my thumb and forefinger and press. The rock cracks immediately, and the pieces crumble into fine dust between my fingers.

I feel no damage to my skin, no resistance, and I didn’t even need to use any strengthening.

So powerful.

Even after two years, little things like this make me giddy.

Instead of a small flat rock, a massive boulder catches my attention, a stone wider than me and standing waist-high. It might as well be a boulder. I grip it, then with a bit of effort, lift it and throw it up, high into the air. It rises to the height of a multi-story building before crashing into the center of the lake, sending up another massive splash.

Taking a few steps, I sit next to the sleeping Professor and close my eyes as well. Out of boredom, I start trying to estimate how much each minute of this lesson, which has already started, costs me based on the shards I spent on the lesson, and then I convert it to the value of items.

Maybe this is some sort of test where I have to prove I deserve his teachings. Maybe he’s going to ask me to wash his car.

I turn to my left, where the old Professor is still quiet.

I hope he’s not dead.

Turning away again, I enter my mind and start training with those impossible shapes that cause such irritating pain. It feels like something is burning in a number of places in my brain. But more importantly, I make progress.

These shapes, as weird as they are, start to feel more and more real. I even start imagining mana sliding across their surfaces. I also start experimenting by splitting my mind into as many parts as possible, or sometimes just splitting into two and cycling the one in control, trying to make the transfer as smooth as possible.

When it is ten minutes before the end of the lesson, the Professor finally snorts and wakes up from the noise he made. After a lightning quick scan, he turns to the right and jumps up, surprised.

"Holy hell, by the dried tits of the Desert Witches, you scared me, you little shit!"

"I'm sorry." I apologize.

He snorts, "At least you have some manners. What do you want?"

"I paid for a lesson, most of which you’ve slept through."

The old man yawns and scratches his mustache like he might pull a snack out of it any second. "Lesson, huh? Shit, boy, half the bastards around here could use a nap more than another fancy lesson."

He leans back on the bench, cracking his neck loudly enough that it sounds like dry wood snapping. "You think waving your money around means I owe you something? You’re just lucky I didn’t beat your ass for waking me up."

"I see. Thank you."

He squints at me like I’m some kind of stain he’s deciding whether to clean or ignore. "Fine. You paid, you’ll get your damn lesson. The first thing you’ll learn: mana is a bitch, and it loves nothing more than kicking idiots in the teeth."

He spits to the side, just missing his boot. "Second lesson: patience. You sit, you wait, and when I decide you’re worth the breath, you might just learn something that keeps you alive longer than a wet fart in a hurricane."

The Professor taps the side of his head with one bony finger. "Try training your brain, boy. Not your muscles."

I nod. "I see. Amazing. I was told you know a lot about traits."

"You little turd, I personally hammered two of today’s Champions into something halfway useful, and you stand there talking to me in that tone?"

"I'm sorry."

"Pah. A hundred years ago, I would have ripped your head off."

"That would be a perfectly understandable reaction."

"Damn right, it would. Now, spit it out. What are your traits? Let’s see if you’re even worth the shit stuck to my boot."

"Mana Wavelength Iris and Mana Physique."

For the first time, he pauses and seems to think. As if remembering things, maybe doing calculations or something else entirely. "Strengthenings?"

"Two for Mana Wavelength Iris and zero for Physique."

"Second strengthening for that trait already? Tell me your level, and don't lie to me. In my time, we showed our skill levels, traits, and levels with pride and simply beat the shit out of each other to prove who was stronger. Not this cowardly bullshit people like to do nowadays by hiding it all."

"Level 309."

"By the rotten balls of the Head Accountant, how are you still alive? Can you even handle using Mana Wavelength Iris?"

"Yes, I have passive and active skills to help me deal with it."

"Names, just give me the names."

"Mana-Fortified Mind, low arcane, Mental Attunement Loop, mid arcane, and [Focus]."

"Huh, surprisingly enough, you aren't all that bad at all. [Focus] is one of the best concentration-type skills there is, and having two arcane passives at your level... I could ask a lot of awkward questions, but I won't be nosy."

I want to ask him if it is not too late for that, but I eventually decide to stay quiet.

"I appreciate that," I say.

He takes some time to think again and then turns to me. His tone is more serious than before.

"Some might tell you that level and, in conclusion, stats are the most important thing to focus on. Others might sing the praises of active skills, dedicating their entire lives to breaking higher. There are even a few who strive for the best possible passive, a combination of multiple passives that give them a perfect, unique one that never existed within the system. Others might rely on primordial energies, fragments, items, inscriptions, knowledge, all that nonsense."

The old Professor waves his hand in a dismissive gesture. "They’re all wrong in my opinion, and that’s the only opinion that matters to me. Traits are more important than any of them. The perfect combination of traits can make you stronger than any passive or high level skill."

I want to disagree with him, but I’m curious too, so I listen. I have long since learned there are many people, each with their own different view of things, just as this Professor mentioned.

"Back in my youth, I was damn well known for it. At barely over level 400, I was beating the snot out of fresh Champions till they ran crying to cling to their mommies' skirts."

Standing up from the bench in a movement that belies his old appearance, he smiles under that mustache. "Oh, those were the times. Dozens of people telling me I was wrong, only for me to beat the crap out of ‘em. They called me The Tyrant back then."

The Professor stands there for a moment, staring out over the lake like he’s still considering whether it’s even worth wasting his breath on me.

"Remember this, boy," his voice is rough but steady. "Skills fade. Stats can rot with time. Equipment breaks. Even strength itself can betray you when you least expect it."

He taps the side of his head with one bony finger. "But traits... traits are different. If you choose right, if you strengthen and synchronize them properly, they will carry you further than any sword or skill ever could."

I don’t say it out loud, but once again, I don’t completely agree with him. As much as I dislike Lissandra, I do share her belief that active skills matter the most.

Still, I’m curious about the Professor’s explanations. If his talk is to be believed, he used to be powerful. Even if it’s only to sate my curiosity, I want to hear what he has to say.

"Humans," he says, "we get the shit end of the stick. Some races pop out of the womb with traits already polishing their asses. Us? We have to start with nothing and pray we don't screw it up."

He glances at me with that same judging look from before. "Three traits. That’s all you get. Pick wrong and it doesn’t matter if you cry about your choices for the rest of your life, that's it."

Once again, the old man drops back onto the bench with a grunt.

"Synchronization of traits," he says, rapping two knuckles against his head. "It’s the only way. Your traits need to feed into each other, build each other up. Thankfully, you didn’t completely screw up your first two traits. With a bit of luck on the third, maybe you won’t be totally useless. You’ll get that third trait at level 400. Heck, you might kick the bucket before then, but if you’re an optimist, I’ll tell you about all the things you could do until then to get the best trait possible, the options you might have, and the best ways to get the most out of your traits."

Without waiting for any dumb questions, he starts talking.

An hour passes in a blur while he goes on about strengthening traits, rare chances for evolutions, hidden upgrades the system barely hints exist. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything and talks about how idiots pick flashy traits and end up strong for a year, before ending up dead in a ditch.

He also brings up a few things I could do to acquire the best third trait possible at level 400. Surprisingly, he even recommends some books. Apparently, there's a lot of theory behind it.

After a while, as if realizing he is doing it for free, he stops.

"That is enough for today. Go chew on it before your tiny brain melts," he says, waving me off.

I stand up and give a single nod, doing my best to remember as much as I can.

I’ll have to find an excuse to annoy this guy again in the future.

Chapter 624 - Will you kill her for me?

Early in the morning, I enter the Craft Zone, and passing between all this machinery, forges, people, and students, I reach the hall that leads to a single door at the end. This hall has a ceiling full of hundreds of lamps, each one different from the last. Some are smaller than my fist, others are bigger than me. None of them is the same, and there are just so many shapes. Circular, square, a halo, as well as some that even look like a crunched-up blanket.

Each of them also gives off a different type of light. Some are colorful, while others shine in varying shades of white or blue, ranging from pale to dark.

The sides of the hallway are lined with suits of armor as well. There are some made from metal, while others have clearly been constructed from wood, glass, stone, and various other materials. A few are even formed entirely out of mana, maintained by tubes that connect to them and supply them with mana.

Two of the armors are the size of multi-story buildings, reminiscent of Exoria from the 6th floor. These ones appear to be the most ancient of the bunch, but just like everything else, they seem to be well cared for.

I know I'm being watched. I sense someone observing me from behind the far door, but I’m still incapable of resisting the urge to examine everything, and so I slowly make my way over, though I'm expected, and someone is clearly awaiting my arrival. I move from armor to armor, taking a moment to admire and examine each one.

Some are straight-up trash tier, others are incredible works of art, but all of them show the effort the creator invested in their construction, even the worst ones. I also have a suspicion that the creator of some of the worst ones made some of the best. In that way, the pieces are a record of their progression.

After knocking on the door, made of an alloy containing dozens of metals, I wait while observing the pattern. The different colored metals have all been smelted together in a way that’s created a series of whirlpool-like patterns. Forming one large spiral, starting at the center and unwinding to the edges.

As far as I can sense, it doesn't seem to have any purpose other than design, or maybe some structural effect.

Since I’ve made an appointment, the door opens fairly quickly, and I enter, whereupon I find the Head Crafter of the Academy.

His office isn't all that big, and the reason quickly becomes clear. Most of it is being taken up by a massive forge that probably shouldn't be here, behind which the man is currently at work, dressed in little more than a pair of pants, his muscular body sweating as he hammers at a piece of metal.

The man's arm looks to be about as thick as my waist, and he has a mid-length bushy beard that sometimes catches fire, to which he mostly pays no attention, simply tapping at it to kill the flames.

It is really hot in there, and the walls show it. Some of them are twisted, as if they had begun to melt and then cooled off. The floor is full of droplets of metal that cooled there and stayed, causing the formerly dark gray stone floor to shine like a night sky full of stars as the light reflects off these droplets.

I don't want to interrupt him during his work, even though he opened the door, meaning he is open to talk. Instead, I pretend to be polite and wait, using the opportunity to observe his work.

Just a few seconds after entering, I also have to use my skills to deal with the heat that reaches me. It really is hot enough to cook me alive otherwise.

Five hours pass like that.

Only then does he stop moving, all the while showing no signs of being tired. He grabs a piece of metal shaped like a helmet with tongs and throws it into a barrel full of some weird looking orange liquid.

Surprisingly, the liquid doesn't sizzle as it touches the red-hot helmet, and instead, the helmet sinks to the bottom while the liquid shows no reaction.

Could I steal a bit of that liquid before I leave? The room is small, so maybe I could pretend to be passing by and...

"What do you want?" the man turns to me and asks directly.

Instead of answering right away, I step closer, moving toward the only table nearby, which happens to be full of half-finished, smaller items. I drop a bag on it, which I then open and dump across the table, revealing various ingots of metal, all of which the Head Accountant has told me are rare here, with special attention to the ones the Head Crafter has been complaining about, asking the Academy to buckle down and find some.

I spent two hundred thousand shards just to buy this pile, and there isn’t even much here.

And the Head Crafter asks again, this time with a different tone, "What do you want?"

"It's simple," I say, taking a step toward him and offering my hand, in which rests a mana stone, "I want you to help me finish the design."

Before taking it, he looks at me and does a few quick safety checks, only after which does he take it into his big hand. In his grasp, that stone looks very small.

For the next minute, he is quiet as he observes the design I etched inside the mana stone.

"What a monstrosity of an item," he breathes out, "I can see where the designer was going with it, but the core it would require shouldn't even possibly exist, not even mentioning how difficult it would be to connect it all. And even then, in the best case, it would be a weapon as dangerous to its wielder as those he wielded it against."

He observes it again, "Forget that. This thing would be more dangerous to the wielder than to the people it was used against."

"There isn’t any need to worry about that. It’s all been sorted out. I just need you to follow the instructions there and finish up the design of the main inscription framework."

"Finish up, he says. Hah. You brought me a pile of bones and asked for a living beast."

He grabs a piece of chalk and starts scribbling quick, rough lines onto the stone wall, lines similar to those inscribed in the mana stone. He looks at them for a moment, thinking, then he turns away from the board.

"First issue: the projected metal composition is fundamentally flawed. Once the real flow starts, the structure will fracture under stress. For this application, you’ll need a purpose-built alloy, possibly several, each designed to handle specific load and fatigue conditions."

He moves over to the forge, throws in more weird stones that seem to serve in place of coal, and stokes the fire until it roars.

"Second, while the mana stone you provided is of decent quality, it is unsuitable for blueprint encoding. To store the design with the necessary precision and stability, I’ll need a more specialized stone. I have a few in reserve, and I can have my apprentice handle the transcription."

He picks up one of the half-finished items from the table, tossing it back down with a grunt.

"Third, must the form be a sword?" He gestures toward the mana stone. "The configuration is incompatible and would complicate integration. There are other weapon types that align more effectively with the intended properties, including purely geometric forms. Like an orb, or a disc. With a few adjustments, I could even redesign it for a crown, a helmet, or some similar structure."

“If you want to, do it. As long as it’s something that might improve the function, I don't mind in the least.”

He straightens up, looking me dead in the eye. “For the kind of person who would bring me such a design, you’re surprisingly reasonable.”

“Thank you. One more question. Can you have it all done in a week?”

“I take it back. You’re batshit crazy.”

I open my left hand and drop a small ingot of metal onto the table. Just one.

It’s only as big as my pinkie and quite possibly heavier than Isabella. Just this piece cost me almost all my remaining shards. Three hundred thousand of them. It's a metal called Iridite.

As he looks between me and the tiny ingot, I know I have him where I need him. A minute later, I leave with our deal sealed.

Of course, it will be impossible to bring the design he makes back with me after the reset, but I already plan to memorize it as much as possible. Sophie should be of some help, too. Lately, she’s been experimenting with something similar to my mind storage. While I set aside a part of my mind to constantly focus on the information and keep it fresh in my memory, she works on something she refers to as a memory pocket.

Together, we should be able to carry it through the loops, inscribe it again, and give it to the Head Crafter for further improvement.

And even though I’m sure it might take years for me to actually make that item, when it’s done, it will be scary. I just hope the name ends up more like Fracture rather than any of the names the twins came up with, like Fractureer or Throngler.

The first lesson with Ari and Kays ends, and as Kays leaves with Melo, I meet Ari in the hallway, same as before.

“Did you try to kill me?” I ask her this time.

“You mean your cooking incident? We already talked about it. I should feel insulted, Assistant Professor Gwyn. If I wanted to kill you, we wouldn't be talking right now.”

“That’s what an unsuccessful assassin would say.”

“Think what you want, but I’ve told you before. Don’t underestimate the others, whether they’re Candidates or Examiners. They’ve survived this far, so they’re very resourceful.”

“As long as it isn’t someone at the level of Vice Director, I’m not worried.”

“Yes? And what if it’s Champion Dion who goes after you?”

“There’s no way he’s a Candidate or Examiner.”

“I agree. For the first few loops, I thought he might be. The Absolute is just that twisted. But after he died the first time and re-appeared in the next loop, it was confirmed he isn’t.”

“Unless he’s been faking his death.”

“So paranoid. I like it! That’s true, but Assistant Professor Gwyn, what if one of the Examiners or Candidates manipulates the Champion into killing you?”

“That would suck.”

“Not for long.”

“True. Is it you killing him?”

“Nope. And I have no idea who could do it or why. Whoever is must be twisted to the core to even pull something like that off.”

I stay quiet.

Ari giggles. “It’s funny, the look you’re giving me. Like you’re thinking, ‘And you aren’t that twisted?’ I can’t say I didn’t think of killing the Champion, even if only to see how many levels I’d gain before the reset. But in the end, I don’t know how, and with that person killing him, it’s too risky to try to get to the Champion now.”

“Does he start in the loop or appear here later?”

“Everyone starts in the loop, even if they show up at the Academy later. Champion Dion and his disciple begin in a small village north of the Academy.”

“Disciple?”

She sighs. “Aren’t I nice? Sharing so much information with you?”

“You’re only doing it so I’ll feel like I owe you and help you later.”

“Is it working?”

“A bit. But to the point.”

She giggles again. “The transfer student. That ten-year-old girl is his disciple. I suspect she might be a Candidate, but I’ve never tried to kill her. I think if I did while the Champion was alive, he’d just find and kill me. And every time the Champion dies, she starts to get very, very dangerous. Assistant Professor Gwyn, if that little girl is a Candidate or Examiner, she’s very good at hiding it and likely the strongest one. Isn’t that amusing?”

“Yes, and a bit twisted,” I agree.

“Will you kill her for me? If it’s you, I think you can do it.”

“Nope,” I say.

She doesn’t seem disappointed. In fact, she looks like she expected the answer. “I’ll try asking you again next time.”

“Not going to threaten me into doing it?”

“By threatening those people you’re weirdly friendly with?” she asks.

“Something like that.”

"But then you’d kill me, and I don’t want to die." Her six arms sweep outward in a theatrical display, as if mocking the idea. Then, with a slow and almost dismissive motion, she lowers them and leans back against the wall. Her posture is relaxed, but there’s a flicker of fire in her eyes. Playful, defiant, and just a little bit dangerous.

“I see. One more question.” I say.

“So greedy. Please ask,” she gestures.

“What triggers the resets?”

"This is highly valuable information. Just remember that I gave it to you freely. There's a Core linked to this Record, acting as its anchor. It can take any form: an object, a random stone, even a scrap of paper. If the core is destroyed, the loop resets immediately. If not, the reset always occurs on the twentieth day."

“Thanks for telling me.”

"That's fine. Let me tell you one more thing: after I finish killing the others and make it out, I'll find the real you beyond this record."

I stay silent, but she doesn’t continue. So I ask, just as she anticipates it, “And then?”

“That’s fully up to you.”

I stay behind as she leaves and think about her words. As much as her last sentence sounds like a veiled threat, it doesn’t have to be that way, at least not entirely. It feels more like she’s absolutely sure I’ll agree to cooperate in the end.

It’s safe to say she’s met others like me, “bugs”, in previous loops and has used them this way. To me, it might feel threatening. But for a native of this world, someone who grew up in the system, this would probably seem more like an incredible opportunity.

As much as there are risks, the idea of pleasing someone this close to godhood would be tempting. We haven’t seen much of the Rulers, but it’s already clear how powerful they are and how much someone like that could do for you.

Well, it gives me more to think about later. For now, there are two valuable pieces of information. In one of our future loops, I will definitely need to visit a small village north of the Academy.

Chapter 625 - In the Library

In this loop, the Champion Dion doesn’t die. Or at least, they don’t find his body. The usual day when he dies passes, and there’s no information on it, no panic spreading through the Academy. Everything continues as if nothing had happened.

A change of schedule like this could’ve been caused by an Examiner or, more likely, by a Candidate. It also means that for some reason, someone is killing the Champion and that it’s not part of the floor´s "schedule.". It also means that, in some incredible way and with a liberal application of fuckery, there’s someone here who happens to be capable of killing a Champion.

Or I'm wrong, and someone actually managed to save the Champion, disrupting the original schedule. At this point, I don’t think the system even knows what's going on anymore.

I'm also reminded of the Floor quest that says: Locate and protect the Ruler Candidate.

The wording, as silly as it is, also hints at something. There are, at least according to the highly unreliable Ari, three Candidates remaining. Protecting any Candidate probably won’t work, the system isn’t nice enough to make it that easy for us.

So I come to the conclusion. One of the Candidates is a person who, in the real world, went on to become the Ruler’s disciple and heir. Someone who could be called the Ruler Candidate. So it is up to us to find out which one of the three it is and to protect them, with us likely replacing the role of someone who helped that person to survive, or doing something the Examiner did that allowed the candidate to “win”?

Maybe there is a small change that would make that Candidate die, unlike the real history, that change made to create this quest for us?

Like some kind of butterfly effect, but dumber. One missed coffee break, and now the Ruler’s heir gets assassinated, unless we can stop it. Wouldn’t even be the weirdest thing we’ve seen in the tutorial.

That also likely means that if we leave things as they are now, the “true” Candidate will die. If that happens, I'm sure nothing good will come of it. The way this floor is set up, I think failing the quest would probably trap us in this loop until the tutorial ends. It's even possible that the 'record' gets destroyed when all the Candidates die, causing us to disappear along with it. Which would be a very on-brand ending.

Congratulations, you solved nothing and got deleted.

That kind of stuff.

If my thinking is correct, that likely means Ari either isn’t the true Candidate, or that she is, and is currently on track to die soon, and that her only chance to survive is with our help.

Or maybe I’m just hallucinating and overthinking a bunch of bullshit.

Wouldn’t be the first time.

As much as the mental exercises and testing I’ve been working on with these shapes pain me, the unanswered questions here do as well.

In the end, there are four people we’ve come to suspect. Ari, Tyven, the ten-year-old girl, and Vance.

For the moment, the others don’t really suspect the ten-year-old little monster all that much. Her personality doesn’t make her seem like the sort to follow schedules or be tricky. She also enters the Academy on day 8, so this stands as another point against her. Yet her talent cannot be underestimated, and she stays on the list for now.

As for the assassin who tried to kill me, it’s got to be one of the Candidates who somehow got access to some kind of incredible toxin. That, or an Examiner who manipulated a native into killing me while trying to dodge the rule that kills them for harming anyone other than a Candidate. I'm sure the rule wouldn't be so loosely defined that 'hiring' help would count. Of course, that's only if Ari was telling the truth.

But even here, Group 4 cannot come to a clear conclusion. Some seem to think that it should be possible for an Examiner to hire someone to kill people, while others think such cheap tactics would’ve been banned, causing them to be killed.

We also start searching for the core that triggers the resets. Controlling something like that would be incredible, and at this point, it’s fairly certain someone here knows how to locate it, which explains the changing duration of the loops.

And we continue to abuse the mechanisms of this floor as much as possible. Knowledge gained or bought, lessons from skilled Professors, passives, skills tested. All these shards we have make our group likely the richest in Earth’s tutorial by a wide margin.

Even though everything seems fine, that doesn't last long because the same person who tried to kill me tries to kill Tess next.

While guarding her target, she gets hit in the arm with the same kind of dart that hit me. Knowing what’s about to follow, she destabilizes primordial lightning inside her body and blows off her entire arm, along with a huge chunk of her shoulder.

In a show of wild determination, she doesn’t use the healing mark she got from Lily, worried that if the toxin were there, it would just spread faster, and proceeds to retrace the attack’s trajectory as the attacker escapes.

Like some nightmarish manifestation of lightning brought to life, she smashes through a window and leaps from rooftop to rooftop, leaving a trail of blood behind her.

She almost catches them. But just as she’s about to close the gap, the floor resets. And all of us are pulled back into that small room.

That seems to confirm that whoever attacked me and her knows how to locate the core.

POV Kim Min-Jae

Another loop starts, and I’ve already spent most of my shards on passives I continue to test. One supports my Gravitational Wavelength Eye, and the other allows me to massively strengthen my [Telekinesis]. As far as I’ve tested, I think these are the ones I’ll keep, and it doesn’t hurt that they’re both mid arcane.

Not that long ago, I honestly believed it would take a lot more time before I could even hope to get my hands on any proper upper epic passives. It always seemed like something far off, like one of those goals that always remain just out of reach, no matter how much you grind.

It is an incredible amount of shards. But the knowledge in the library is incredible as well.

Somehow, even though I tell myself to hold back, I keep spending more and more time here. The temptation is constant. With every book I open or mana stone I touch, a dozen new ideas take form in my head.

At this point, whenever I’m here, I tend to forget all about following my schedule. I know I should try harder, and I know that Tess and Nat wouldn’t like it, but I’m tired of the rules. I just read what I want and focus on mapping the books and mana stones I plan to bring to the next floor. There’s so much to learn, it makes my head spin. It’s like I’m drowning in ideas, in a good way. The deeper I go, the more I realize how little I really knew before.

Some in the group, the twins, might tease me, but I’ve already learned enough to improve the ways I’m using my mana and gravitational energy and apply them to my future plans. I’ve also discovered better ways to use [Telekinesis]. The skill isn’t actually all that rare, so there’s a lot of knowledge about it. I’ve found ways to lift heavier objects more easily and reduce the mental effort needed to control multiple projectiles.

There’s even an obscure method buried in a flawed book of theory that suggested I should be syncing my [Telekinesis] with external vibrational frequencies. It sounded ridiculous at first, but it worked. A bit. Though I’m trying to connect it to Gravitational Wavelengths instead of the normal range of vibrations.

Most of what I learn, I keep to myself, planning to surprise everyone when the time feels right. At this point, I’m confident I could defeat both Dennis and Aaron at once, especially with all the work I’ve put into seeing through their illusions and countering their speed.

The others have warned me to be careful around Tyven, especially after Nat and Tess got themselves attacked. With how I’ve been acting lately, there’s no way he hasn’t noticed me. Every Candidate’s probably been suspecting that we were “bugs” since our first loop, when we appeared out of nowhere. That’s why I don’t think we really need to stick to the schedule, like some in the group say.

If they’re already watching us, what’s the point in pretending? I'd rather dig deeper while I still can.

Tyven spends a lot of time in the library, and from what I’ve seen, he follows the schedule exactly. He uses the same door to enter, at all the same times, he sits at the same table. Even the bottle he brings is always filled to the same level, with the same drink.

He always takes mana stones from the same shelf and reads them at his table. Every single day, without fail, no matter how closely I watch.

If this floor is really over three years old, and the Candidates are 100 loops in, it's hard to believe it's possible to keep exactly the same schedule for over three years, especially with Ari so close to him and watching the whole time.

Maybe I’m feeling off after the early reset, or maybe it’s the shock from one of my friends almost dying, but I decide to break my schedule a bit more. For the first time, I walk over to Tyven’s table and sit across from him.

“Is this seat free?” I ask quietly.

He looks up in that shy way of his and nods. Then he glances back at the mana stone in his hand. He does that often, even though you can’t read them with the naked eye. Still, I’ve noticed it helps with concentration, the same way waving my hand helps me focus whenever I’m using [Telekinesis].

“My name is Kim,” I whisper. “What are you reading?”

“I’m Tyven,” he replies softly. “Foundations of Basic Arrays by Solen Vey.”

Then a small smile appears on his face. “It sucks.”

“Solen Vey? Didn’t he write Advanced Studies in Magical Geometries? I wanted to burn that thing five minutes in.”

“Just be sure to use an advanced geometric structure when you set it on fire.”

That makes me laugh for a moment, and I glance down at my own mana stone. The stone in my hand is old, slightly chipped, but it pulses with steady light. I run my thumb over one of the surfaces without thinking, feeling the warm hum through my skin.

I look up again when I notice something moving in the corner of my vision. Tyven is waving slightly to get my attention.

When I meet his eyes, he shifts his jacket. And underneath, a spider clings to his black sweater. With its legs spread, it’s about the size of my hand, excluding my fingers. The spider is missing one of its eight legs, much like Tyven is missing one of his four arms.

Tyven smiles shyly, and the spider, still clinging to his clothes, wobbles from side to side as if greeting me.

“That’s Septa,” Tyven whispers, gently petting the spider with the tip of a finger. The creature moves excitedly, even nipping his finger in what looks like a playful gesture.

“Septa is very cute,” I say, and I mean it. As much as I dislike arachnids, Septa moves in a way that actually makes her seem adorable.

The thylarin boy nods and pulls his jacket back over her, then says in a voice mimicking one of the strict professors I know, “No pets allowed in the library, Mister Tyven, unless they’re annotated with a three-part classification system.”

He lets out a soft laugh, clearly amused by his own impersonation, then glances at Septa. She peeks out from under the jacket and taps his sleeve with two of her remaining legs, as if she were playing along.

I shake my head and turn back to my mana stone. Tyven does the same, and the Library falls quiet.

Chapter 626 - Normal thing to do

My plans for this loop are fairly normal, so before that normal thing happens, I have to do some other normal stuff. It’s because, however normal that thing is, it’ll still... incapacitate me a bit and make some tasks more difficult. But it is very normal, so it’s okay.

I’m the normal one here, after all.

A theory that’s only further confirmed as I gather more information on the Professors and any Assistant Professors who might be able to teach me a thing or two. The Head Accountant is quite willing to share details and has been very... talkative? Simply said, the man just seems to love gossip.

Thanks to him, I also conclude that my shards are best spent taking lessons with the Vice Director, the Trait Grandpa, Professor Feran, the Head Crafter, and possibly Professor Elian. The problem is that Professor Elian doesn’t offer such personalized lessons.

In the end, Sophie will deal with the Head Crafter as she has before, and I will pay. I don’t think I need any more lessons from the Vice Director. Even though I’ll miss watching cute Lulu, I doubt the Vice Director has anything more useful to show me. And even if she did, I suspect it would be things I don’t really want all that much, since I’m not directing my growth that way.

So that leaves Professor Feran and the Trait Grandpa, whom I currently find myself watching once again, sitting on his bench.

This time, I amuse myself by creating a tether high in the air and teleporting stones through it so they fall from that height into the lake. Gradually, I move that tether higher and higher and pick bigger and bigger stones.

I tear up the beautiful lawn and start digging for more stones buried under the ground. When I finally let them fall into the lake, it takes a few seconds before they hit the water with a huge splash.

It's actually starting to get really fun, and deeper underground, I detect a boulder the size of a small room, so I start digging in that direction.

That's when the Trait Grandpa wakes up, just to ruin my fun.

Listening to a reaction that is nearly word-for-word the same as before is still eerie. As much as I think the main objective of this floor is to identify the true Candidate and not the loop itself, the setting remains unsettling.

Then he sees the mess I've made of the lawn and hurls a fresh round of insults at me.

For me, it doesn’t really matter much, since I’ve kept my distance from most of the natives from the start. But I’ve seen Community logs from Izzy, Lily, Min-Jae, and the twins, who have been a bit shaken by it at times. It’s not surprising, since this is one of the rare opportunities for them to interact with someone their age and have some fun.

Watching that person loop over and over without recognizing you, and having to force yourself not to act too familiar with them, can be disturbing, I would guess.

As the Professor starts once again working through his tirade about how traits are the best, I keep thinking about how interesting it is that, even though I have my own experience of this floor, the others have something entirely different. I think I even sometimes forget that this is a loop with how much I change what I do or who I interact with. Only sometimes.

I throw in a few words to avoid the impression that I’m just dozing off, and having learned more about what to ask and how to behave to gain his approval, I get more useful information this time around.

I learn he’s the sort of old-guard person who doesn’t care much about the knowledge contained in books or mana stones and has his own set of terms he and his comrades once used on the battlefield. Their own trait categorizations used to be Cognitive Domain, Structural Domain, Interface Domain, Vital Domain, and Cross-domain traits. Knowing even one of these details allowed them to face the enemy with confidence.

Even such a seemingly 'small' bit of information can be extremely important when dealing with people over level 400. It can help you prepare countermeasures, making the fight much easier and often ends up saving a lot of lives.

He tells me about the most dangerous people on the battlefield, how to deal with them, who to focus on, who to kill at all costs, and who to ignore.

There also used to be challenges before each big clash, where the most powerful people from each side fought rather than risking the many deaths that would be caused by a person like that forcing their way through. Often, fights ended after such a challenge.

He complains to me about how much of a pain a proper healer can be, or how a good detector can mess up all your plans.

After that, he rattles through a number of stories: Champions throwing entire mountains at people, and by entire, he means entire. Miles-tall colossi. Or another Champion freezing the sea so more units could cross.

He also speaks with a high degree of respect about one of the most dangerous Champions he met, a person capable of orbiting the planet and, with the support of an entire unit doing calculations, launching projectiles at targets with perfect accuracy.

Like some crazy old-guard grandpa, he talks excitedly in the same rough tone, his speech littered with curses.

I think I should feel a bit ashamed for not pushing him to tell me more about traits, but I just can’t help my curiosity and end up listening to all these stories.

This time, I don’t even think he’s exaggerating. At least, not too much.

Soph (Hell, group 4) - I'm sure our stats reset because of the system. Imagine if they didn't, if Rulers could create places like this, where you could abuse the loops and level up by killing Champions or people just under that level.

Knight (Hell, group 4) - It makes sense, but we're not in the original loop made by the Ruler. We're in a copy that's more closely monitored by the system to be used for tutorials.

Soph (Hell, group 4) - My logic still stands.

NotDennis (Hell, group 4) - So we’re in a copy of the copy of the copy?

Soph (Hell, group 4) - More or less.

NotAaron (Hell, group 4) - So even most of the natives aren’t just fake, but were copied for the loop and then copied again by the system for the tutorial? Poor guys.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Dennis usually talks first, and Aaron follows. That means NotDennis is actually Dennis, and NotAaron is actually Aaron.

NotAaron (Hell, group 4) - Suuuure. I'm confident we wouldn’t expect that, and totally didn’t make countermeasures.

NotDennis (Hell, group 4) - Maybe we actually didn’t, just to confuse them.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Be not afraid!

Soph (Hell, group 4) - Nat, what are you teaching Biscuit?

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Be not afraid!

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Be not afraid!

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Be not afraid!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - I got bored. I swear, when you hear it outside of the Community, it sounds much scarier and more impressive. He’ll stop when you feed him.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Food!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Sure, but next time try saying it in a deeper voice, with no emotion, and slower.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Food?

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Yes. I'm sure it’ll get you more food.

Knight (Hell, group 4) - Biscuit, he's lying. Don’t listen to that guy.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Friend!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Don’t bother trying. Me and Biscuit are inseparable. By the way, do we already know who got to the 8th floor from the other groups? Is it that cowardly guy?

Soph (Hell, group 4) - No one talked yet, but he seems like the most reasonable option.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Well, whatever. By the way, our deal still stands?

Soph (Hell, group 4) - Sure. I’ve already transcribed the design onto a mana stone. I’ll be visiting the Head Crafter today. You really want to go through with your plan?

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Yup. See you later.

For the last time, I check my surroundings and stop my mind from focusing on mental exercises. I still don’t understand how it’s possible for me to feel pain just thinking of these shapes.

Why am I like this?

Maybe at the end of the tutorial, it’ll be 8th Floor Nat who proves himself to be the craziest. Even though the 3rd Floor Nat still feels unbeatable. Creating constructs on his heart, condensing tricolored mana, and black mana.

What a legend.

If he had only managed to hunt one of those goddamn sparrows, I probably would have declared him the winner right away.

With Sophie’s confirmation that she’ll handle getting the design to the head crafter and picking it up later, I'm ready. After the last round, the design is already improved, so the guy will have a better start. It might be awkward if he recognizes his own work, but I believe Sophie and I changed it enough to prevent that. And if he still does, she can come up with excuses or try to mindblend him.

I take a deep breath and focus on my Ignition Heart.

Then I lift the first seal and part of the second. I could probably lift the second fully, but I don’t like doing it. Each time I do, it hurts terribly, and only my passives keep me alive. Even then, I can keep it lifted for just a few seconds before risking death. The aftereffects are terrible as well. Even with healing, there’s damage to my circuits and body that takes weeks to fully restore, and in the meantime, I have to work around it.

It’s a good thing.

As I like to say: if it does this much damage to me, imagine what it’ll do to the other guy.

It’s the second day of the loop when my golden flames seep out of me and burn my room, the tower’s walls, and a few neighboring rooms. Just like when the toxin hit me, I damage the tower, the defensive arrays, and probably scare the shit out of a few people.

When it’s all done, I stop and look at the destruction around me. This time, I even manage to keep my clothes on, though slightly burned.

To perfect the impression, I smudge some coal on my face and tear my clothes a bit more.

Then, while the alarm rings and the guys with the professors start getting closer, I lift my arms into the air and walk toward them, trying to look as innocent as I can. I make sure to look weak and shocked.

I just barely survived an attempt on my life, after all.

Sitting there, the Vice Director adjusts her wide-brimmed, pointy hat and says, “So, you were poisoned, cursed, something like that, and the only way you could keep yourself alive was by using your passive along with, as you put it, ‘a shitload of thermal energy,’ which caused all the damage to Academy property.”

“Yes,” I confirm with a nod.

“Feran, what do you think?” she asks, turning to the demon professor.

The man takes a moment to answer, and I can sense him examining me before he responds.

“I noticed remnants of thermal energy at the site. I have also been observing him since we arrived, and I do not believe he is lying.”

The conversation continues more or less like it did last time. The only thing that changes is my behavior toward the demon Professor. I keep glancing at where his demon heart is, not subtly, and every now and then, I let a slow, deliberate smirk curl across my face. Just enough to make a point without saying a word.

Obviously, he notices. His heartbeat becomes more aggressive in a clear contrast to his otherwise composed exterior. He’s still sitting straight, still calm on the surface, but I can feel it: the irritation building.

While I speak with the Vice Director, I keep the act going, confident, almost dismissive, like I’m not just explaining myself but putting on a show for him. Every sideways glance, every measured pause, is designed to make him feel like he’s being sized up... and found lacking.

It turns out I'm surprisingly good at playing the arrogant asshole.

It’s a gift.

And damn, if he doesn’t look pissed off beneath the surface.

When they finally leave, it doesn’t take days for Professor Feran to come back to fight me. It only takes a few hours.

Both the bracelets and the metal loop are already down and taken apart for examination, and he finds me there, in the middle of that huge chamber.

Just like before, it takes ten minutes for him to walk slowly over to where I am, but this time his heartbeat is different, more angry.

Our conversation is much shorter than before, and we fight almost right away.

I will use this loop and the fights to learn from him as much as I can.

Chapter 627 - A demon, after all

I think demons as a race are a bit... well, weird. Not in a racist way! Unlike our paladin of Justice, Gareth, who almost certainly wouldn’t mind annihilating an entire city of demons, I hold no such opinions.

It’s just that they’re weird. My minion has a human part and can’t truly represent full demons, so it’s not as noticeable on her, even though she’s clearly been heavily influenced.

Unlike her, Professor Feran is a full demon. White hair, red eyes, horns. Even though he can control himself to the point that he’s allowed into the Academy without people worrying he’ll eat kids, he’s still a demon in the end.

During my time here in prison, he’s come to see me every day. We've already had six fights, and each time he’s nearly died.

Anyway, while the new active skill is kind of really, really bad. But what I would have expected from the skill called [Yarn]. I think even [Knitting], which formed the base for the skill, was more powerful, and the weird combination I made ruined it. Is it too much to hope I can get rid of [Knitting] without ending up with something equally lame instead?

At least I’m learning a lot from the demonic Professor.

As a true mana enjoyer, one of the biggest dangers I can face is misclicking when investing stat points and accidentally putting them into strength instead of mana.

The second biggest danger is someone cutting off access to my mana. I’ve experienced that many times, especially back on the 3rd Floor, where I almost died after being hunted down with no access to my mana. Ever since then, I’ve made huge steps. With all my effort, I can use my mana under my natural barrier, even against someone stronger than me trying to suppress it. Using mana outside my body is different and it’s more difficult, but I’m working on that too.

Of course, I have a fuck-you-and-every-trace-of-mana-in-this-area card called black mana. It’s just that I try not to rely on it too much, even now. It’s just another thing I dislike about LissLiss, because, of course, she was right.

Still, my goal for this loop is to observe primordial void energy, which could be dangerous to me, and the current setup is just perfect. I, alone in a huge chamber, not being bullied by other people. My only communication with the outside world is through text messages in the Community, if I want to talk at all. Food is delivered, without ever having to speak to the person doing it.

Plus, I get to fight this demon guy, I train, and I think they’ve noticed the broken suppression devices. They might put stronger ones on me, which I can try to break again, training myself against mana suppression in new and exciting ways. I hope they try something fancier this time.

My thoughts stop there as Professor Feran, whom I thought might be dead, moves and groans. He lies on the floor, curled up in a small pool of his own blood.

I watch as his eyes focus and he remembers that he lost yet another fight. Slowly, he gets back up on his feet. Even though burned and torn–he, not his clothes–he fixes what remains of his suit before sitting back down across from me.

“Who is the strongest person in the Academy?” I ask him.

Before answering, he coughs up blood that lands on the floor between us, “That would be the Director, but he’s off-planet at the moment. After him, that’s likely to be the Vice Director, though it’s hard to say because she refuses my invitations to fight.”

“What about Professor Elian and that old Trait Professor grandpa?”

“When you talk about the old Trait Professor grandpa, do you mean Hywell, the Tyrant?”

What the hell!? That old fart has such a cool name, and he didn't lie about his cool nickname to me?

“I’m terrible at remembering names,” I say out loud.

“It would seem so. As for him, I think he’s likely to be very powerful, but it’s been decades since he had to fight seriously, from what I’ve heard. I had hoped I could awaken his old fighting spirit and we could fight, but he dislikes me quite a lot for some reason.”

“Tell me more about him. I’m curious.”

“There isn’t much I can say. Long ago, he was a mentor to two of our current Champions. He and the Vice Director also used to fight together under the Champion Angar before he died.”

“So who are the baddies here? The current Absolute, or Champion Angar, who tried to become Absolute?”

“History is written by the victors. I believe you know what that means. Both sides committed terrible atrocities. The Vice Director and her black unit interfered with and destroyed the main defensive array of the capital, which allowed Champion Angar to kill tens of thousands. The Tyrant Hywell was known for killing his own forces if they tried to stop fighting or enact a retreat.”

“What about the current Absolute?”

“As a Champion, he was more craft-oriented. For a long time, he acted as a neutral party and created and sold items to powerful people on both sides. Then one day, all of those items exploded while generally killing or crippling their owners, and he appeared as a new force and pushed for the title of Absolute.”

“You don’t seem too bothered by this.”

To that, he tilts his head in a confused way. “Why should I care? I had no ties to them. I understand some people prefer that I at least act shocked to fit into society. I can do that, sure, if I have a goal that requires it, but it’s not how I feel.”

I sigh. A demon, after all.

“Why don’t you try to attack me with stealth? Or come up with some bullshit plan to work with the others to kill me?” I ask.

“Do not insult me,” he snorts. “While human, you have two hearts, and each one is certainly better than some of the demons’ I’ve met. More than that, you fight like one of us. There are purists among my people who wouldn’t care one whit, but some like me give people like you the same respect we’d give a half-demon or even a demon.”

“But you would kill me if you could?”

“In a proper fight, yes.”

“Shouldn’t I do the same and kill you to prevent that from happening in the future?”

Again, he seems a bit surprised. “It’s something you could have done ever since the start, and you decided not to for your own reasons.”

“So you wouldn’t mind dying the next time we fight?”

“If I die, I die. I just wish for it to be the best fight of my life.”

“Of course you would say that,” I mutter, still watching him. “If you had to explain how demons think, not just act, but actually think, what would you say?”

Feran scratches behind his horn like he’s trying to remember something. “You humans always want structure. A definition. We demons don’t all hate humans, if that’s what you’re asking. Some do, sure. Others don’t. We demons start from instinct. From pride. From strength. A wolf doesn’t hate the rabbit, it just eats.”

“And if the rabbit fights back?”

“Then it’s not a rabbit,” he replies simply and actually chuckles at that. Low and dry. “It’s not personal. We just expect strength to prove itself.”

“Yeah. That’s a very healthy societal model.”

He leans forward slightly, hands steepled like he’s mimicking a human professor again. “You keep trying to think of us in human terms. We’re not corrupted humans, but something else entirely. Born from different laws.”

“And yet here you are, in a nice, cushy, Academy job. And pants.”

“I adapt. Unlike most humans, I can.”

“Let’s say I kill you for real in the next fight,” I say. “Are you okay with that?”

"If you can and feel the need, then I deserve it for trying to challenge you. It’s something I’ve accepted since the first time I fought you."

“You say that, but you’d still claw at my throat as you died.”

“Naturally.”

I never thought of myself as particularly eloquent, so it’s probably partially my fault, but it’s hard to get a proper explanation out of him. At some point, I can “feel it.” I instinctively understand what he means when he speaks of the rule of the strongest and the respect due to proper demons, or people like me who, in his eyes, are at a level similar to half-demons.

Simply put, the stronger you are, the more demons will listen to you.

I’m willing to bet that if you became the strongest person to ever exist and told all demons to wear pink sundresses for the rest of their lives, they’d do it.

They would even admire you for it. They’d fight anyone who would mock the order.

And the entire time, they’d keep challenging you and trying to kill you, smiling as they died in the duels.

What a bunch of lunatics.

But isn’t that kind of cute? At least a little bit?

I shake my head and change the topic.

“Tell me more about your kind,” I ask. “I’m trying to figure out if you’re all wired the same way or if you’re just the academic version of a maniac.”

Feran hums. “Depends. There are many factions. Some demons go by their instinct mainly. Pack and hunt types, always trying to find the most dangerous environment possible to live in. Others, like me, follow our old war orders. There are purists who don’t respect anyone except other demons. Bloodline elitists. There are even demons who think peace is worth something. We avoid those.”

“Do they get laughed at or eaten?”

“Both. In either order.”

It takes me a while to realize it’s a joke. His expression tells me he's very proud of it, and he even giggles like the lunatic he is. Probably some kind of inside joke among demons.

After that, he coughs up blood a few more times before leaving to get healed by the Head Healer. Judging by how fast he runs, he really might die in the next few minutes if he doesn't find the guy.

Left alone, I turn my attention back to examining the flooring of the huge chamber I've found myself in.

Professor Feran survives and victoriously returns the next day, just to get beaten up all over again.

This time, I use mana mostly to push him into using void energy. I don’t think it would be that easy for me to gain it myself, but I observe it anyway, even if only to improve my disruption process. There are a few things I can take inspiration from, so that’s good.

I also get a better sense of how it feels and how to face it. Primordial void energy is very versatile, and it can certainly be terrifying. It’s powerful, hard to detect, and it affects almost everything, primordial energies, fragments, mana.

It’s kind of fun. Someone who uses void energy has an advantage over a person who relies on mana, but they can’t do much against someone who focuses on physical stats, like Jean or Tacita. Then again, those physical stat junkies tend to struggle against mana users... okay, maybe not the best examples.

Jean’s trait makes him oppressive even against someone who relies on mana, and Tacita is... well... scary. Thankfully, those two are rare edge cases.

While I spend my time focused on that, the loop stretches on until the 14th day, before it resets.

In the next loop, I spend a bit more time examining the Sweatbox and its challenges, and actually get pretty good at them. To avoid looking like a lazy ass, I also start thinking about the floor quest.

By now, we’ve put most of the pieces together and have been getting close to figuring out what the hell is going on. I’m not shameless enough to take credit, Sophie, Izzy, and the twins did most of the work. With Sophie’s mind-bending stuff and the twins' skill in espionage and deception, they’re a perfect fit for this floor.

Of course, I helped. A little.

Izzy also shares some things with me about Min-Jae, stuff that worries her, and I get why after hearing them. Apparently, it’s been a while since the others started keeping an eye on him and protecting him without him even realizing it.

It’s kind of like what happened with Tess back in the Mana Desert. The others are giving Min-Jae space to choose what he wants, to make mistakes, and to indulge himself.

It’s dangerous, of course. Spending this much time around someone we suspect might be a Candidate can’t be safe. But stuff like that is par for the course in Hell difficulty.

Whatever happens, this floor is slowly heading toward its end. And a very explosive one, if the Candidate who keeps stealing my thermonuclear warhead has anything to say about it.

Chapter 628 - Kenah

The loop resets, and just a few minutes later, it resets again.

Then this repeats ten times in a row before we finally manage to stay in a loop for longer than a few minutes. Even then, even after we finally separate, we still expect another reset.

Only after a full day passes does everyone start to believe it will actually continue.

It’s around that time Sophie tells us one of the students she’s been teaching is missing. A human boy. She says he was fairly average, but she had been observing him because she thought he might be paying too much attention to her.

During careful probing, she does, everyone acts like that human boy never existed.

Sophie remembers him clearly, his face, his seat in the classroom, the way he always seemed to be watching just a little bit too closely, as if he knew something. She doesn’t know what exactly caught her attention, only that it was enough to make her keep an eye on him. But when she tries to speak to the others about it in a way that won’t draw suspicion, no one else recalls a thing.

His classmates don’t recognize the name. The staff says she must be mistaken. There are no records, no assignments bearing his name.

There are a few possibilities. One is that he was a “bug,” basically the same kind of thing Ari thinks we are, though in that case, he wouldn’t have shown interest in Sophie. The second option, which is more likely, is that he was a Candidate. Desperately hiding, doing his best to improve his abilities while searching for the other Candidates.

Now he’s dead. Possibly having been killed by Ari, one of the Examiners, or another Candidate.

Here in group 4, there’s more panic now, they’re voicing concerns about the Candidate dying, the possibility that we might fail the quest.

Then there’s something that’s been bothering me about that crazy thylarin girl. After thinking on it for the first day of this loop, I come to the conclusion Ari has been lying to me about certain things. I also think I know what she might be lying about.

So the plan changes. Tess and I are free to move around, while the rest of group 4 decides to stick together as much as possible, only doing the bare minimum to avoid getting kicked out of the Academy. Consequences be damned. The goal now is to lure out the Examiners or the Candidates.

In the end, Lily manages to get Tess’s permission to move on her own as well. I’m honestly surprised by that decision. Sure, Lily is a near-unkillable terminator, but I also know how protective Tess can be.

As for me, I get a new skill.

Congratulations, you have successfully combined [Mana Domain], [Perception], and [Ley Line]!

A new skill has been created.

You have acquired [Foundation]

[Foundation - Lvl 0 > Foundation - Lvl 4]

So far, this seems to be the best one. Somehow, even compared to my very first combination. The low starting level confirms it - assuming that's how it works.

Now I create an orb and...

Oh, I haven't used [Mana Manipulation] in this combination.

Anyway, suck it, system.

I’ll have to get around to teaching Biscuit to say that at some point as well.

I spent the beginning of the loop north of the Academy, staying in a small village and moving from inn to inn, mapping the area as I go.

Now I find myself sitting in a cozy inn, sipping a nicely chilled drink and biting into small cubes of smoked and crispy cheese, fruit, meat, and who knows what else. This is already my second bowl, and I’ll be sure to get another once I’m done with these.

A big part of my mind is occupied with the torture of visualizing impossible shapes and trying to imagine my mana flowing through them.

One day, I’ll find the guy responsible for this training idea and maybe force him to do the same exercises as punishment.

The second part of my mind is focused on analyzing my new skill and growing more excited by the hour. It’s not purely combat-oriented, but it has the potential to be very, very useful. Especially when it comes to making longer-lasting webs, arrays, mental constructs, and ultra-durable projectiles. More interestingly, it seems to affect other skills too. [Mana Crown], [Eclipse], [Knitting], [Empyrean Lance], these four in particular.

With [Mana Crown], for instance, I have a feeling it’s more stable if I manifest it while the new skill is active. The difference is tiny, but the new skill is still low level, so I would expect bigger improvement later.

With [Eclipse], the connection is obvious. It’s a domain skill, and [Foundation] strengthens the base, making the domain more... present? Powerful? It is hard to put it into words. Even now, I think [Eclipse] is one of my top two or three most powerful skills. The fact that [Foundation] can affect it says enough about the skill´s potential.

I suspect more skills are being affected, too, but there’s a lot of testing to be done before I can be sure of that.

So far, this is my favorite. Even though [Ur Line] feels extremely powerful in its own right.

Lastly, the third part of my mind is carefully watching the strange duo sitting a few tables ahead of me. A selari man and a young human girl.

They sit alone, talking quietly while eating the same thing I’m eating. Actually, I asked the waitress to bring me whatever they were having. I have to say, Champions sure know how to enjoy life.

The ten-year-old prodigy of a girl sitting next to him seems calm. Far more than when I last met her. I know people say I have a punchable face and expression, but when she nearly attacked me on sight last time, it... it hurt a little. My face can’t really be that bad, right?

A few times, when she glances around the room like a nervous animal, she notices me, but shows no reaction this time.

It would be silly to take it as her failure to recognize me and take that as proof that she isn’t a Candidate, but considering everything, it seems more likely.

“Can I help you?” a quiet voice asks beside me.

I turn to my left. The Champion is sitting there. When I look forward again, I see him still at the table with the girl, continuing his conversation.

I glance back to my left, and he sits there.

I glance ahead, and he’s still there.

“He might be a spy, Master,” another voice says from my right. Turning, I see the ten-year-old girl.

I glance ahead, and she is there with the Champion.

I glance back to my right, and there she is, still sitting there.

She reaches into my bowl to take a cubical piece of airy and crispy cheese, but I react fast, grab it just before she can, and throw it into my mouth.

When I bite down, the airy cube crumbles with a satisfying crunch. The taste hits me again. Amazing.

At first, she doesn’t react. Then her mana rises quickly, and I see anger flash in her eyes.

The next second, it vanishes. Like someone had hit pause on a song. All gone without a trace.

“Kenah…” the selari man says in a gentle tone.

At that, the girl doesn’t say anything. She just looks down at her hands. More than anything, she doesn’t seem angry at him, honestly, she seems ashamed.

I glance forward and see the table with the two of them still sitting there. The second selari man and the little maniac continue their quiet conversation, sharing their food all the while. It doesn’t matter what I do, I still have no idea which ones are real. The ones next to me, or the ones sitting a few tables ahead.

“You’re Champion Dion, right? I’m a big fan! Sorry if I couldn’t take my eyes off you,” I say, turning to my left and forcing a smile.

“He is lying…” the girl whispers.

“Kenah, my stubborn ray of morning sun, the only child I know who thinks a compliment is a tactical weakness, I know. Can you tell me how you noticed it?” the Champion asks her, ignoring me completely.

“After I noticed him watching me, I made a wide-range scan and found traces of his mana in the air at the edge of the village. I scanned further and figured out that he probably flew in, only arriving here a few hours ago. The touch of his mana was by the other inns too, but they were very faint, like he didn’t stay in any of them for long. He probably only stayed in this one because he found us.”

“Very good. Now, a question. Do you think he noticed your wide-range scan?”

Kenah hesitates, looking at me and then back at the Champion. “Probably yes?”

"I noticed," I confirm.

"See, Kenah, he noticed. What does that mean?"

"T-that my scans aren’t as good as they could be?"

"That too, but the question is why would he stay here, knowing you’d noticed?"

"Maybe he gave up after we found out? It’s impossible to escape from you, Master, even if he had an hour or two for a head start."

"Kenah, my dear, my poor heart hurts from such a downplay of my abilities! I know my skills aren’t as sharp as they used to be during the war, but I should still be able to track him even with a whiff of his mana, anywhere on this planet, even weeks later."

"I’m sorry, Master." Kenah once again looks down at her hands and fumbles with her fingers.

"It’s okay, dear Kenah. Now, what else have you noticed about this man?" he asks her.

The entire time, neither bothers to try to include me in the conversation.

"I..." Kenah hesitates and looks at me. In her eyes, there is a hint of desperation as they flick around.

Out of the Champion’s view, I touch the cloth of my suit and shake it slightly, which catches Kenah’s attention, and she glances at it.

Her eyes light up. "He is wearing the Assistant Professor uniform from the Academy! He must be from there!"

"Very good. But must he be?"

"He... maybe isn’t?"

"Uniforms, clothes, suits, these can be stolen or imitated, even if the associated organizations make it difficult to replicate them. That kind of disinformation can be a very useful tool, Kenah. Imagine how easy it would be for someone to steal a uniform, commit terrible acts, and let the suspicion fall on an innocent organization, nation, or group."

"Ohhh, I see!"

"Yes. Anything else?"

In response, Kenah looks at me again. This time, she starts by looking at my face, her expression desperate, as if silently asking for help again. Likely without realizing, her mana flares up again, but as before, the Champion disperses it, probably without Kenah even noticing.

"Can I order more food?" I turn to my left and ask the Champion.

"Please."

I do as told, and when the server leaves, Kenah says excitedly, "He doesn’t seem nervous at all!"

"Really?"

“Yes, Master! They usually bow and look nervous, and then they start saying all these things about how powerful and amazing you are. You remember that uncle from last time? He soiled himself when you got even a bit angry!"

"Kenah, my dear, my brave little ember, the sun of my days, my newest disciple, my precious little flower who spent her childhood fighting instead of being a child, the man’s dignity should be preserved at least a little. Things like that should be forgotten and never mentioned out loud."

"But I didn’t lie. You told me not to lie."

Another bowl with crispy cheese, pieces of bread, and a mix of fruits and nuts arrives. I take a few cheese cubes into my mouth before picking up a bowl and offering it to Kenah, who absentmindedly takes a few while looking at her master.

Meanwhile, the selari Champion sighs. "Kenah, not saying it out loud isn’t lying. You must have noticed by now that my behavior tends to be very different when we’re around other people, and even more so when I address groups of people or those who match my rank. You are the light that warms my old bones, but damn if you aren’t socially inept. That’s why I think the Academy will help you."

"Just being with you is enough for me." The little girl sighs, looking down at her hands in silence.

"I won’t be here forever for you, Kenah, so you will have to find other people to stay with, okay? As for you, our dear little spy, you are terrible at your job. I’m thankful for your cooperation and for your patience."

He turns to me with a friendly smile and stands up with Kenah following him. Only for a moment does she glance back with the tiniest thankful nod.

After that, I’m left alone.

I know he is a Champion and that he’s probably used to people spying on him. Hell, even Lissandra had Ruby with her, a woman who was sent as a spy only to become her disciple.

Still, it’s frustrating and amusing at the same time how little he acknowledged me, without seeing me as a danger at all.

Chapter 629 - Current

The loop resets just a few days later. It seems like it happened because Sophie got close to locating the Candidate by taking over dozens of students and creating some sort of quasi-hive mind, and going through their memories while she was at it.

Just the fact that she was able to do it here in the Academy, under the noses of a number of decently powerful Professors, is scary. I would have expected at least the Vice Director to notice, but even she didn’t seem to have figured it out. The speed at which Sophie has progressed in making her abilities more difficult to detect is impressive, to say the least.

Sophie said she’s been doing this kind of stuff over the last few loops and comparing the results. Just in the latest one, she noticed inconsistencies, likely caused by someone moving in the background, thinking the Examiners or Candidates wouldn’t notice. So she decided to follow that track. And so the loop reset, likely because of that.

This loop starts with her doing the same, while the rest of our party moves around in groups. Even if it’s risky, I don’t expect anyone to make an attack on us, maybe with the exception of a surprise morning dart. The Candidates should see us as “bugs” and will likely choose to wait it out. Especially after seeing us move this way, they’d come to the conclusion we’re likely working with one of the other Candidates.

With me removing the 10-year-old Kenah from the list, and the one who died not long ago, it’s possible that there are only two Candidates remaining. I think the bit of information I got from Ari regarding the number of Candidates can be trusted, and I already have an image of what’s actually happening after putting together most of what we have found out and my own suspicions.

It all feels like the floor is coming to an end within the next few loops.

So I start this loop by putting a mark on the thermonuclear warhead, even though I think I know who is responsible for stealing it, having analyzed even the tiniest remains of the mana I noticed when it got stolen in the last loop. I place similar marks on the rest of group 4.

These marks are some of my best work so far. Even though there are no Ley lines stretched between the members of our group, it works in a way somewhat reminiscent of my [Tether]. As much as I have been focusing on the lines, creating marks like these is still something I can do. And I’ve been working on these improvements for a while.

A new loop also means a new skill.

This time it’s called [Conduction], and it uses [Mana Manipulation] as the base skill, with [Mana Domain] and [Ley Line] to act as support. Its function is simple: it just makes me more conductive. Simple as that.

Losing [Ley Line] makes some things difficult, but I’m someone who tries to properly master the skills, so even though it’s gone, there are still things I can do. Just like the marks I’ve created and placed on the warheads and group 4.

As for [Conduction], it is good. Crazy good. Goddamn good. Like holy fuck.

Still, I’m a gambler. I’m a little shit. If someone were to come to me, give me 10 million dollars, and ask me double or nothing, and the result relied on a coin flip, I’d likely flip that coin myself, and then complain for years that the result wasn’t what I wanted it to be.

Probably.

Or maybe that’s just when it comes to the system? I don’t know anymore. I’m just sure that even though it’s possible the next loop might be the last, I’ll still try to cycle through all the combinations I’ve been thinking of.

Even after seeing [Conduction] in action.

I tested it in the Sweatbox, in the challenge known as Current.

This one is the second longest after the Run, which can take over thirty minutes. Current takes 10, and you’re put into a room shaped like a sphere. That sphere gets filled with mana that bounces, changes frequencies, and increases in density to the point where the later stages build up enough mana radiation to wipe out most of Hell difficulty.

The objective of this Challenge is to stay in the room as long as possible. You get points for endurance and for how well you can channel the mana around you.

You can make it easier by grabbing that weird neutral mana, channeling it, swirling it around you, and fighting against all the currents clashing with each other. You can also add your own mana to the mix and make it even more difficult. In the later stages, even the slightest mistake can kill you.

There are safety measures, of course. But after reading through a long text written in that odd lawyer speak that causes brain damage on sight, you can sign it, and lower those safety measures to allow yourself to continue longer. A ten-minute challenge can turn into a much longer one then.

Once again inside that sphere, I move my mana around me. I synchronize it with the waves. I watch it swirl, bounce off the walls. I radiate it to defend myself from the mana surrounding me.

After some time, just using my own mana isn’t enough. The idea behind the Challenge is to use the mana filling the sphere. It’s made for that.

I continue even as the amount grows, and the whole experience begins to feel like I’ve been thrown into a huge whirlpool in the middle of the sea. The pressure continues to increase. Waves of raw mana crash against me, the air crackles, thick with ozone, and the constant hum of mana. Colors I cannot name flash at the periphery of my vision as the mana density climbs to absurd levels.

Even then, I stay calm. I spin it around me. My mind splits into as many parts as needed. Sometimes upwards of twenty times, just to help manage the smaller currents, sometimes just one powerful, focused will is all I need, a singular vortex of intent to counter a particularly massive surge. Most of the time, there’s a powerful main mind with two supportive ones, interweaving and working together, one predicting the incoming waves, another smoothing the transitions as I absorb and redirect, all as the main one focuses on maintaining the overall integrity.

My body endures it all with practiced ease. All that experience with Mana Cycling transfers over as if this is what it was made for. The sheer radiation pressing in would probably kill me if I were to slip up, yet here I am, weaving it all around me.

The ten minute mark passes, then fifteen.

The sphere's output intensifies again. Now it’s not just currents, it’s like spears of solidified mana searching for any weakness. The drain on my mana is immense, but I continue to take and channel everything in my reach and force it under my control. Something like this just can’t compare to the trouble black mana gives me every time I use it.

It's a very fine balancing act I'm doing, it’s exhilarating and utterly terrifying. The slightest miscalculation, the smallest lapse in focus, and the raging mana I am currently dancing with will consume me instantly.

But for now, I hold and continue to channel it for as long as I'm able, pushing my body and mind to their limits.

I don’t leave the room until one of the walls cracks and the Challenge shuts off while wildly flashing red lights fill the room, along with the sounds of an alarm, and the pressure of the Academy´s defensive arrays increase in the area around me.

Outside of the room, I find dozens of people. Professors, students, and assistants.

There is a defensive array placed around the door I just exited through, and there are more further out, encompassing the entire sphere I took the Challenge in. All around the place, an intense mana radiation lingers.

Like some of them, I glance at the screen.

My score is still in Tier 4, though, given that this is my first challenge of the loop.

1st, 9783 pts - Loop Loop Loopity Loop

First place in Tier 5 sits at 5500 points.

Professor Elian is not offering lessons, unfortunately. The longer this goes on, the more I suspect the guy might be a fraud. Could contact lenses mimic someone with Mana Wavelength Iris? Is there a skill that could make a person seem stronger than they really are?

A few days later, my warhead gets stolen, and I track its location, which crops up exactly where I expected. After a quick check, I confirm that we have time and leave it be.

The Champion dies again after his talk, but this time, they find Kenah dead next to his body. It seems like the Candidate came up with a way to kill her, even if only to confirm that Kenah wasn’t another Candidate.

This time, I stand over their bodies as one of the first. Over the loops, we have narrowed the area where the Champion often dies, and I act like I noticed a commotion before making my way over.

Both the Champion and Kenah are very pale, their eyes are burned out. For some reason, that sight hit me harder than I expected. I still remember Kenah and how much she reminded me of Vega. The way she lies there on her master's body almost makes it seem like she died after him, all the while trying to protect him.

Not even a speck of mana remains inside their bodies or the area around them. Even when I send out a bit of mana to probe the spot, my mana refuses to approach.

It is quite terrifying.

In the following days, I meet with the Head Crafter. Since I’m not sure when the loop will end, I visit him daily for updates on his design. It clearly annoys him, and lately he’s been growing more suspicious, seeming to notice that parts of the design have begun to resemble his own style.

I also get a lesson from the good old Trait Specialist. He tells me about a number of ways to use my eyes to a higher degree. According to him, Wavelength Irises are one of the best ways to perceive different things. In my case, mana. Also, according to him, even specialized skills rarely match Wavelength Irises.

It’s something I’ve suspected, but it’s good to have confirmation.

In his usual rude manner, he gives me a few more recommendations and some useful information. He knows a lot about combat specialists who’ve gotten close to the rank of Champion or just a step below, and he has a good idea of what they did to gain the traits they received.

As with all the knowledge I’m taught, I just take what’s useful to me. I’m doing things my own way, not following what someone else thinks is best.

Then I ask him if he was one of the people who killed Champion Dion and his disciple.

I ask out of curiosity, not because I actually care whether he did or not. Even though I thought Kenah was cute and, in some ways, innocent in that way kids tend to be, I also know she was native to the tutorial. I also know that Champion Dion, for all he might care about consequences and the lives of the people around him, wouldn't hesitate to kill me in a second if he wanted to.

The sense of danger from the old man in front of me rises to an incredible degree.

All three of his traits activate. He hasn’t told me about them in this loop, but in the previous one, where I spent more time with him, he did.

Hollow Core, Mirrorskin, Still Blood.

An area devoid of mana forms around him, a very similar one to the one that hung around the Champion, just much weaker.

“I could kill you for the things you’ve said.”

"Probably," I agree with him.

He turns to his left and looks toward the tower that stands far away, likely on the edge of the Academy grounds, around one or two miles away.

“I see that blonde loitering over there, and I can already feel that genius brat nearby, the one all the healers won't shut up about.”

"How?"

His eyes slide back to me. "What do you mean, how?"

"How did you know about the blonde? I understand being able to strengthen your sight to see her, but how did you know she was watching you? She isn't even using any attack skills. And I’ve met others like you before, who seemed like they could sense others just from being looked at, so I’m curious."

"You little shit, are you serious?"

I nod.

He looks at me for what feels like a minute. Even though his eyes stay cold, his mouth under that mustache twists into a smile.

"Ah, so you are one of those." His traits deactivate one after another, and that terrifying field around him disappears. "And stop gathering so much mana. The main defensive array will notice it."

As if it's not worth dealing with, he leaves, and I don't try to stop him..

(So?) Sophie sends through our connection. She is also waiting nearby in one of the diners between a lot of students and is the only one the monstrous man hasn't noticed.

(I think he did it, but not alone. They probably put their old gang back together, so likely the Vice Director helped, along with others we don't know about yet.)

(Even then, I don't think they would be able to kill the Champion so cleanly.) Tess says, joining the conversation.

I try to look in her direction and strengthen my sight as much as possible to see her. Even then, she’s barely a blurry figure, I only even find her because I know where to look.

Shaking my head at finding yet another area where I'm lacking, I answer, (It's almost certain one of the Candidates had a hand in it for some reason. I bet that, over 100 loops, you could come up with some method to either help these guys or manipulate them into doing it. It's also possible that they already had plans to start killing Champions back in the real world, and in so doing, start another war, either to replace the Absolute or simply to get revenge. And hell, maybe that weapon the Absolute left behind really does exist, and it played a part?)

(I don't like that old Professor.) Lily says.

(Me neither,) Tess agrees with her. (At least we’ve more or less confirmed it. I know the end of this loop is probably getting close, but let’s just be careful and leave the Academy for now.)

I give up trying to strengthen my sight. (School trip it is. So what do you prefer, an airship or a train?)

Chapter 630 - Greetings

The 11th day comes, and we all decide to join the trip. Some of us, being students, just go, while the Assistant Professors either file their own request to join the excursion as well, or they simply quit their jobs and go regardless, while, of course, making plans to pay the fine later.

Tess and Maya, being guards, have a bit more difficulty, but they manage to come along, too.

As we head toward the station, Maya seems to relax, almost like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders.

“You wouldn't believe how good it felt to tell that little asshole to screw off,” she says happily, adjusting a small bag on her back.

Most of us have a similar setup, just enough for a few days. We're dressed more casually now, too, finally getting a chance to wear something other than those annoying uniforms and suits.

“She’s just a young girl, Maya. We all used to be like that,” Tess notes. As usual, she has a different hairstyle, this time straight, with bangs covering her forehead and reaching her eyebrows.

“Some of us are still like that,” Maya shrugs. “I broke her crystal ball. I swear that girl was addicted to it, given how much time she spent ‘calling’ people.”

“We should modify it and turn it into a smartphone. It would ruin the younger generation and maybe earn us some better rewards,” Dennis smirks.

“Maybe we could serve ads to it, too,” Aaron nods seriously.

“That’s straight-up evil.”

“So what, Maya? This is what high-end schools do to people. It’s called entrepreneurship.”

“I wouldn't blame it on the school.”

“Aaron and I are perfect as we are.”

“Sure,” Maya sighs. “But I think I’ll miss this floor. It was nice to have a proper bed and good food for once. Being able to train here, the Challenges, and even all the knowledge here. I’ll miss it.”

Lily slides closer to her side and smiles, “I thought I would get bored faster, but it was weirdly fun. I think I could’ve even become friends with some of the natives.”

“Yes, I noticed you students really slipped into your roles,” Maya ruffles Lily’s hair a bit before turning to me. “I blame you, Nat, for not being able to stay here any longer.”

“Understandable,” I nod.

“If you want to stay here and keep looping for three more years, just say it,” this time it’s Sophie who answers.

And Maya sighs, “I don’t. I’ve seen enough movies to know I’d go crazy. So, where is this airship even going?”

Tess looks at her with what seems like disappointment. “And I thought you at least would know. It flies around the region for three days for a bit of sightseeing. There’s some kind of firework celebration in the south, a visit to the city near the Academy that students usually go to for shopping, then...”

“Okay, okay. Sometimes you’re way too responsible, Tess. Where’s your sense of adventure? Not knowing where we’ll go or what surprises await?”

I listen to the conversation with amusement, knowing all too well just how much Tess hates surprises. And as expected, poor Maya then has to endure Tess calling her lazy, irresponsible, childish, and other things besides.

Meanwhile, Izzy and Sophie walk around visiting small shops along the way. The boys, having formed their own group, are probably doing some unethical and likely evil things.

I just tag along, holding the sleeping puppy form of Biscuit in my arms, while Lily, who snuck up beside me, starts telling me about some interesting things she learned in the Academy.

And in this fashion, we finally reach the airship.

The station is a tower-like platform. It’s quite massive overall. The construction is made of stone, metal, and other durable materials. It holds all these shops and hundreds of people. The tower station has multiple terrace-like platforms, and hovering next to each is a flying ship, securely docked.

These ships are massive. Maybe not Earth-style-cruise-ship massive, but big enough to hold a few hundred people. They’re all made of smooth white wood and shaped mostly like ships. They’re wide, with no masts. The bottom of the ship has protruding crystals and some inscriptions that have been expertly concealed, they’re probably patented or something, if I had to guess.

The windows looking out from the hull of the ship are huge, mostly circular, and from what I can see, the rooms inside look especially cozy.

After giving our identification, we board one of the ships, and everyone heads to their rooms to wait for the airship to launch.

The ship starts flying without any noticeable shaking. Though I’m sure I could if I used my kinetic senses, but without them, there’s nothing. It just smoothly lifts up.

It’s so slow. Not to be rude, the airship is probably fast for someone around level 100 or by comparison to normal people. But more than anything, it feels like a holiday vessel. A luxurious weekend hotel. Even my room, which I’m sure isn’t one of the more expensive suites, is amazing, nearly as good as what I had at the Academy. Complete with a bedroom, a small living room, and a bathroom, it’s not missing anything.

For a moment, I look around, and a giggle escapes my mouth. My room here is bigger than the entirety of our old flat on Earth, the four members of the Gwyn family once shared. Just the bed here alone might be worth more than that entire place.

I open the Community, and after reading through a few messages, I head to the place where the excited Maya told all of us to meet. When I knock, the doors open, and I step inside to find everyone already waiting.

The living room I enter is bigger than my entire suite. On one side, there’s not just one but two windows, circular and huge, with wide window sills that have been designed as a sitting area. I immediately go over and sit down, surprised by the comfort of the cushioning. The window beside me offers a view of the beautiful countryside below us and the clear sky above. Biscuit, still in my arms, gives a sleepy woof, and I boop his nose until he settles again, then I continue holding him.

Then I learn, as I suspected, that this suite belongs to Lily.

Maybe I should try to become a healer as well.

In the hallway just outside the room, someone left a tray of untouched pastries with a note that said “for suite 8.” None of us is in suite 8, and we don’t know who is, but after about three seconds of discussion, the tray ends up in Lily´s suite anyway.

“They shouldn’t have left it outside,” Sophie says, already eating one.

“It was probably intentional,” Dennis counters.

“If it was a trap, you’re already dead,” I add.

They eat all of them.

For a while, the conversation drifts to random topics—half about the floor, half about nothing at all. I let the chatter wash over me until movement in the corner of my eye pulls me back in.

Lily is wearing a yellow-golden dress that fits her almost perfectly, and as she twirls, it moves as if it is light enough to float in the air. Even so, I notice special stitching placed in just the right spots to prevent it from moving in ways that would be too revealing, like if the skirt were to rise up too high.

The way the dress responds to Lily’s movements looks ethereal, as if it belonged to something not of this world. It flows, it glows, it dances, and it breathes with her. Watching her, it feels as though I’m witnessing something divine.

Lily explains how the dress came to be, and the girls around her look ready to pounce if it means getting their hands on it.

She tells us about how two people led a team of thirty who spent two years collecting the silk for it from some very rare spiders. Then they did the refining, the delicate work, and figured out how to process it and everything else. Thirty people spent two full years creating it, crafting it from one of the rarest materials there is.

Of course, with certain skills, the process could have gone much faster, but the time and effort invested are what make it pretentious and oh so valuable.

Someone apparently gifted it to her as part of an invitation to join their clan.

Maybe I really should become a healer.

Sitting on the plush windowsill, I keep looking up while ignoring the conversation that slowly develops into a party, as the entire gang stays here, ignoring the rest of what the airship has to offer. I watch the countryside below us shift and day turns into night, while the lights of the cities disappear, replaced by the shine of stars overhead, giving way to the nature below as the airship begins to slow.

The conversation fades away to a distant hum in the background as I make no attempts to listen to the words being said.

My thoughts drift, and I start to doze. Right before I’m fully asleep, Biscuit exploits the opportunity to boop my nose a few times with his front right paw.

The loop resets just a few hours later.

Two days after that, the Champion dies, and the warhead disappears during one of my walks around the Academy, as I mark the things I want to take with me to the 9th floor.

I walk around for a bit longer before sending the signal, and everyone moves.

POV Dennis Dalton

I open the small box, and Lily’s [Disintegration] orb dissolves as I blow onto it, causing it to eat through the excessively reinforced doors, which I honestly don’t think even Sophie would be able to open quickly enough to matter.

With that done, I channel mana through my body to strengthen it, then kick the door open before my brother, Sophie, and I rush inside.

Vance is in there, in the middle of the small room filled with inscriptions covering the floor, walls, and the thermonuclear warhead he stole a few hours ago, which he is currently drawing on and etching into. All of it has the look of something he must have done in just two days.

He tries to move, but his body freezes mid-motion as Sophie steps forward, holding him with her skill. Only his mouth is allowed to move.

“What is a mind mage doing in the Academy?” he asks.

His usual friendliness and easygoing nature are gone. He looks colder than ever before.

“Honestly, we should be asking why you want to blow up the Academy,” I say. Even now, I keep my guard up while Aaron circles around.

“Dennis, shouldn’t that be pretty obvious?”

“Is the bomb modified to target only guys, so all the girls stay for you?” I ask.

This time, he smiles, “As stupid as it sounds, it’s amusing how much it makes people not want to deal with you while causing them to overlook the items I’ve made to spy on the other Candidates. Listen, Dennis, don’t you want to help me? I promise to find you and Aaron outside and repay you. I even think the three of us could be friends.”

“I really think we could be,” I agree with him, "but I’m sorry."

He goes quiet for a while and bites his lip. I can see thoughts flash through his head as he searches for a way out. There isn’t one, not faced with Sophie, who’s already begun to erase some of the inscriptions.

“So what was the plan? Blow up the Academy and hope all the Examiners and Candidates die along with it?” she asks.

As if, an insulted Vance snorts. "The Academy? Please. That was never my only target. Shame I couldn’t get these idiots to kill the Champion first, but I had to take my chances."

Blood covers his teeth, seeping from his bitten lip. He feels so distant now, so much unlike that image he built up, one that fooled even me, no matter how closely I looked.

“I anchored the core detonation to a containment lattice of delay inscriptions and reverse-indexed circuits, synced with a pulse-lock to the Academy’s own warding infrastructure. The device wouldn’t blow, but it would absorb.”

I squint. “Absorb what?”

Vance’s lips twist into something between a smirk and a grimace, “Mana siphoning. Radiation folds in on itself, feeds the array cage. Everything inside stays locked in until I cause a spark, and then...”

His words cut off as a short sword pierces through his back, stabbing through his heart and coming out through his chest. Even then, his body doesn’t move. I and Sophie stare in shock at Aaron, who now stands behind him.

Vance coughs up blood, “I always knew you were the more fucked-up twin.”

Mana glows in his mouth, and only now do I realize what he’s been doing. There are inscriptions carved into the inside of his mouth, something he was working on during the conversation, masking the blood by biting his lip.

Before whatever he was doing fully activates, Aaron pulls back the sword and swings it. Vance’s head flies through the air, and the light of mana inside his mouth dies along with the light in his eyes.

Out of nowhere, with a curse mumbled under her breath, Sophie moves quickly and starts layering her web around the warhead.

Only now do I notice a change as the walls begin to light up. Like living beings, more inscriptions crawl across the surface, covering the warhead and the floor. Some of the inscriptions even crawl from the open mouth of Vance’s severed head, all formed from blood.

“Stop staring and help me before this thing blows up!” Sophie’s shout snaps me back to reality, and I quickly join in her efforts, hoping it's not too late.

POV Nathaniel

I locate Ari in one of the gardens, and no longer caring about the rules all that much, I boost myself with kinetic energy to fly for a short while before landing near her and slowing to a walk.

At first, I think she might ignore me, but then she stops and faces me. Even now, she continues to act and keep up with her schedule.

“Greetings, Assistant Professor Gwyn,” she says.

“Greetings, Examiner Ari.”

Chapter 631 - The last Candidate

“What do you mean by that, Assistant Professor Gwyn?”

“Exactly what I said. I do not think you are a Candidate, Ari.” I say.

More than anything, I think she would be killing many more people if she were a Candidate. Only Examiners are restricted to Candidates if they want to avoid death.

Ari looks around, and because we’re standing in the middle of the garden, there are some students, servants, and even a few Assistant Professors passing by. So far, no one gives us much attention, but I can see how much it irks her to break her schedule this way and lose control.

Even then, she just smiles with her hands playfully put behind her back. “Let’s talk about this later, okay?”

As she moves to leave, I let my mana seep out until even the people around us begin to notice and start looking our way. That makes her stop.

She’s still smiling as she says it, but her voice is quiet and sharp. “We made a deal.”

“I would’ve probably kept it if you weren’t such a liar. So, Ari, if that is your true name, tell me. Was there ever more than one Examiner?”

Gradually, her expression changes from blank indifference to settle into a smile, and she sighs. “You know it’s pretty rude to meet me so early after the start of a loop without giving me the chance to prepare any countermeasures, especially for situations like this, right?”

"You’ve had a few days. Besides, I’ve been told by some pretty reliable sources that I’m what some people might call an asshole."

“Indeed,” she nods. “So what now?”

“I’m a curious person, so I’m going to let you continue preparing that array you want to kill me with or use to escape. In exchange, keep telling me interesting things about this record. If you lie, I will kill you.”

“So rude. You’d really kill a young girl like me?” She asks, flashing a cutesy smile and adding in a quick, playful bow that somehow still looks elegant.

“I don’t think you’re really that young.”

Her eyebrow rises, and I can almost hear her calculating how far she can push me and stretch this conversation. The entire time, she weaves arrays around her.

When it comes to skill levels, mana, stats, and traits, she has nothing that could compare to me. She doesn’t even have that many items on her, since we haven’t gotten all that far into the loop. I'm sure that if we’d waited just a bit longer, she would’ve acquired some fairly powerful ones. But so what, even if she did? I could still face her.

Instead of using items, Ari uses the little mana she has and years’ worth of knowledge and preparation to create an incredible set of arrays. Even now, I'm getting lost in them. They are stunningly mana-efficient, and I'm sure her skills are leveling up like crazy as she continues to weave them.

“Like you said, I’m an Examiner, the only one. My master sent me here. Just like the Ruler’s Candidates, I’m being tested too.”

“Oh?”

“Oh, yes. My master is the Absolute who worked with the Ruler to create this. Twisted little shit, isn’t he? But can even he compare to the Ruler who threw kids without proper training into a record like this for me to hunt? Wouldn’t you agree it’s a terrible way to find a successor?”

“I agree.”

At this point, some of the students begin to notice something strange, and even two Assistant Professors nearby seem aware of the arrays Ari’s been weaving. Still, they don’t react. To them, it probably looks like I’m testing one of the students.

“Did you find out who the remaining Candidates are? I didn’t lie about the number, but I think a few loops ago, someone killed the eighth. I promise it wasn’t me.”

I nod. “I think the remaining ones decided that they’d had enough and decided to push for an end to this.”

Ari sighs. “And you ruined it. Between me and them, we could’ve had a halfway decent clash of wits, even if I didn’t expect much, given that they spent most of their time hiding.”

“You think so?”

“Isn’t it true?” Two of her arms spread wide, while the other four twitch their fingers in a manner that seems to help her focus on the arrays she’s weaving. “I was the one who hunted them down like mindless animals.”

That wild smile stretches across her face. “Ah, if you knew how much fun I had. One tried to use a ‘bug’ against me, but I turned that same ‘bug’ back on them. Another one found out my identity and tried to connect with another Candidate he’d located. Only later did he find out I had found her first and cooperated with her. We killed him, and then I killed her as well.”

She giggles, and her speech quickens along with the twitching of her fingers. “Then there was that little piece of trash who kept hiding. I knew he was from my class, but I couldn’t tell who it was. And you know, I really didn’t want to die. Can you guess what I did?”

“I don’t. Please tell me.”

“I pretended to break down and started crying in class. I kept mumbling things only the Candidate would understand. I made myself look small and weak. Scared.” She laughs again. “It was a risk, but I’d become quite the risk-taker about a year into the loops. Still, it worked. He found me after class and revealed himself. He pitied me. After a year alone, he was just glad to find someone else like him.”

She steps from side to side, almost dancing as she remembers what happened.

“Back then, I wasn’t as strong as I am now, and he was careful even after revealing himself. But slowly, I made him fall for me. Would you believe that?” She chuckles out loud and covers her mouth with two hands. “THAT DUMBASS FELL FOR ME.”

When she puts her hands down, the smile is gone. “I killed him that same loop.”

“You seem to have had a lot of fun, Ari.”

“A bit,” she nods. “Do you enjoy my information, Assistant Professor Gwyn?”

“Somewhat. Anything else?”

“May I ask who the remaining Candidates are?”

“Oh? You think you might kill me and want to find them after?”

“Yes."

“Wouldn’t killing me kill you, too, as the Examiner? Or is that something you lied about?”

“Please don’t worry. Bugs are excluded from that rule. As long as you’re looping, you’re fair game.”

“That’s good for you,” I say.

“Yes. So, please? Who are your suspects?”

“I wouldn’t call them suspects. I’m sure of who they are. I also wouldn’t say I’m the smartest person, but it’s quite funny that I found them before you did, even though I did my share of messing around. But I guess I did have a lot of help.”

For the first time, the pace of her weaving falters, but she quickly recovers and continues as if nothing happened. But I noticed.

“Do you know Vance?”

Ari blinks. “I was fifty-fifty on him. What gave him away?”

“Well, he wanted to blow up the entire Academy to wipe out all the Candidates and you all at once. It's possible he was trying to set something up that would bring all of you into the Academy in case some of you were scattered around the region, but we forced his hand, and he had to rush.”

“That’s surprising. How was he planning to do that?”

“That’s partly my fault. The guy’s a kleptomaniac and couldn’t help stealing from me. Even so, it’s impressive what he managed. All this while acting like a cliche young boy just spying on the girls, all so he could keep making items to hide himself, sneak around, and track down the other Candidates.”

“I would have dealt with him.”

“I agree with you on that. And by the way, this is an impressive array. Honestly, even as it is now, it's probably enough to kill me. But I don’t get that other thing you're doing in the background. The part you're using the array to hide. Are you searching for something?”

“Thank you. I’ve been working on it for years and poured a lot of drachen, along with help from many people, to develop it. Yet, you seem confident. Are you not worried?” She ignores my question.

“Not really.”

“I think we could have been good friends if we had met outside.”

“I don’t think so.”

"So, who is the last Candidate?" she asks.

"You’ve been doing a good job of making me monologue."

“I know, but you're enjoying it too, aren’t you? Please, don’t lie. I can see that you're the same as me in that way. So, where is your pride? Show it to me. Give me all the cards. Allow me to try my best and still defeat me.”

"Which Ruler’s been messing around here?"

"I don’t know."

"I see. You know what’s funny, Ari? You would still lose in the end." Her eyebrow twitches, and the rhythm of her heart shifts a little. I continue, "It’s Tyven."

She stops entirely, no longer working on the array, and instead takes a step forward. "There’s no way."

It almost makes me laugh, and I can see she’s noticed it.

"There is no way," she whispers, her eyes hazing over. She snaps back to reality. "There is no way “HE” is a candidate. There is no way I would lose against SOMEONE LIKE HIM!"

She makes quick changes to the array. It becomes less stable and more dangerous at the same time. Damage starts piling up across her body.

Somewhere in the distance, I notice the Academy arrays twisting into a defensive cupola around the place where Vance had been working on the thermonuclear warhead. An alarm reverberates through the Academy.

The movement of mana around Ari stops, and she looks at me. "I finally found it."

Her killing array fires at me, and while I’m busy blocking it, she does something else. Then the loop resets, and I find myself back in the starting room with the rest of Group 4.

Without hesitation, I break the wall of the room in a blast of kinetic energy. As debris rains down to the ground, I fly through it and lift into the air. I send a pulse of detection through the Academy and push against the first attempts of the Academy’s arrays to suppress me. Within seconds, I locate Ari heading toward the library.

I form a javelin and shoot it at her, but it gets blocked by one of the Professors who appears to defend her. Ari continues heading toward Tyven, mana twisting around her and damaging her body as she overextends her limits, and prepares to kill him.

The Professor, one I haven’t met before, uses his skill, and I feel myself pushed back, constantly being restricted. Another Professor starts twisting the Academy arrays to aid them.

I create an [Empyrean Lance] and shoot it at Ari again, piercing through the barriers and nearly catching her. At the last moment, she turns her eyes toward me, and the loop resets again.

I send the message to everyone, break the wall again, and fly into the air. An orb of black mana forms ahead of me. I feed it a good chunk of my mana and launch it forward to distract the Professors.

I spot Ari again and start heading her way, but I stop mid-flight as pressure fills the area.

Slowly, I turn my head and look toward its epicenter.

In the air, near my orb, stands a figure. The selari Champion who moved there from miles away in less than a second. With curiosity, he observes the black orb that’s been sucking in surrounding mana and tearing apart the defensive arrays.

Then he grabs it in his hands and closes it into a tight fist.

An audible thump echoes through the academy, breaking all the windows and blowing away the arrays as if they were normal spider webs caught in a hurricane.

Champion Dion turns to me and opens his fist, from which tiny black particles fall like sand.

All of my defenses are blown away as if they didn’t exist. I watch that incredible mass of mana head my way.

Lily reaches Ari, and the loop resets again.

I blow the wall of the room apart once again and continue on foot, sending a quick scan to locate Ari. The rest of Group 4 follows. Tess acts as a distraction and flies to the tallest tower, her primordial lightning cracking around her.

Finding Ari, I notice she’s searching for something. The way she does it is extremely specialized, unlike anything I’ve seen before. I halt for a moment as her senses lock onto a small pen in one of the classrooms. She immediately places some sort of mark on it.

When I break through the window and come to a stop in front of her, Lulu appears nearby, flying in through another window. I hear the footsteps of the Vice Director behind me as her arrays and mana spread through the area.

My teleportation fails, disrupted before I can even move, and the Vice Director’s mana pins me in place. Tess’ lightning javelin then pierces through the wall and strikes near the Vice Director, and forces her to defend against the next one.

I push against the restriction and move toward Ari.

She triggers her mark and destroys the pen.

The loop resets.

We rush out of the room again, some toward Tyven, others to distract the Professors. I go after Ari. She once again searches for the item, which I realize must be the core of the Record. Her constant search for it must mean it keeps changing, and it does. This time, it is a necklace worn by one of the students, and she places a mark on it as well.

In an entirely different area now, Ari stands not far from where we appeared, but as I reach through the air toward the mark she placed, something disrupts it.

From behind the trees, Professor Elian appears. His Mana Wavelength Iris glows deeply.

"Assistant Professor Gwyn, what is the meaning of this?"

I ignore him and shoot an orb of black mana at him while simultaneously using Wraith Dance to reach Ari. Using speed against mana-specialized opponents like him should...

My body slams against a barrier in front of Ari, and it doesn't even budge as I throw the full power of my disruption against it. Ari grins widely from behind it.

"Student Ari, what are you grinning at?" Elian snorts beside her and keeps reinforcing his barrier as I turn to my left. "You have a lot of questions to answer. Both you and Assistant Professor Gwyn."

There, the black orb I shoot at him floats in the air, surrounded by a spinning square cage of multilayered mana.

An overload of information makes me stagger. My Mana Wavelength Iris deactivates, and I fall to my knees.

"What an interesting thing," sounds a voice from behind me. When I turn back, selari Champion Dion is standing there as well, placing me between him and Professor Elian.

A chuckle escapes my mouth at the insanity of the situation. Before my connection to Group 4 disappears, I send information about the necklace on one of the students.

"Dion, may I ask what you are doing here at this time?" Elian asks in his usual nonchalant, arrogant manner.

Instead of answering, Dion points at the black orb trapped inside the cage, “That orb.”

"All of this has happened on the grounds of the Academy, so please exclude yourself from the situation."

"In that case, keep that thing. I will be taking this guy with me," Champion Dion says, and the pressure around me disappears as he steps forward and counters the Professor.

Elian doesn’t even blink. The golden circles around his pupils seem to burn a hole into reality itself as mana rises around him, sending a shockwave through the area. Above him, three cube-shaped objects appear, glowing with a bright mix of golden and white light trapped inside each of them.

And I realize that any one of those cubes is enough to destroy not just the Academy, but the entire region the 8th floor encompasses.

Then Dennis catches up to the girl and breaks the amulet, and the loop resets.

Reappearing again, I search the area the same way Ari did. I mimic it. I remember those waves. That weird frequency spreads through the area, nearly undetected, and I locate an apple. I extend toward it, place a mark on it, and teleport it into my hand just as Ari finds it as well.

Her run slows into a walk, and she changes direction. Tears begin to fall from her eyes as she grabs a passing Professor by his jacket and points at me as I enter the same hallway.

Wraith Dance brings me closer. Before the Professor can even move, I slam my palm against his chest, releasing a blast of kinetic energy. His chest bulges open and explodes, spraying the wall with blood and his insides before he collapses.

Behind me, I sense more presences coming.

Ari opens her mouth to say something, but a shimmering blue lance with a core of white and golden light pierces her chest and pins her to the wall.

She coughs up blood, but as her eyes begin to lose their light, she says with a smile, "How rude of you, Assistant Professor Gwyn...."

I release thermal energy around me just to be sure. The entire hallway burns, along with the arrays and the mana in the air. My body takes damage in the process as I lift two seals on the Ignition Heart. Then I squeeze the apple.

The loop resets, and I appear in the same starting room, surrounded by everyone else.

Congratulations! You've successfully completed the 8th floor's main quest. An entrance to the ninth floor has been created.

Chapter 632 - Without looking back

POV Kim Min-Jae

Even after the reset, the portals to the 9th floor remain where we stood when the quest was completed. They didn’t reset with the loop. Mine is near the Library, which is where I’m currently headed. As I reach it, it stands there with jagged edges, revealing a view into a completely different area. A green rainforest lies beyond, and the portal floats in the middle of the hallway, framing it like a picture. I notice something strange about it. When I connect to the link I share with the others, I realize they’ve noticed it too.

The portal is shrinking slowly. At this rate, it will become too small to pass through in a mere five minutes.

Before the sense of loss hits me, I, and everyone else, move to gather the things we want to take from the Academy. And just like that, a choice lies before us: stay here, likely trapped until the end of the tutorial, or head to the next floor.

Greeting the people I meet along the way with a smile, I hurry and enter the Library. Even now, the natives are moving as if nothing’s happened.

There, in the Library, Tyven is already waiting, even though, according to his schedule, he shouldn’t be here.

“Hello, Kim,” he says, greeting me with a smile. Septa sits on his shoulder, wobbling from side to side while keeping her many eyes on me. This time, she has all eight of her legs.

For a few seconds, I just stare at him.

Then, even though I have only a few minutes, I take the last few steps and sit opposite him.

“Are you a Candidate, Tyven?”

“Yes.”

“H-ho...” I start to say something, but stop. Instead, I ask, “Did you try to kill Nathaniel and Tess?”

“I’m sorry. Are they friends of yours?”

“Yes, they are. So why?”

“They seemed like they might be working with Ari, so I tried to either remove them or create leads that would point them and Ari toward Vance. Unfortunately, you all missed the hints I left at the scenes of the attacks. To be honest, you and the others aren’t very good at this, Kim.”

I can’t help but chuckle and bury my face in my hands. “Why haven’t you killed me? Why didn’t you kill Ari?”

Tyven reaches toward Septa, letting her playfully nibble his finger. “Killing you would have drawn too much attention. But mainly, I enjoyed watching you, Kim. You might not believe it, but after three and a half years of doing the exact same thing, it gets boring. You even didn’t notice when I’d occasionally read a different book than in the previous loop. But that’s not surprising. I was careful and always swapped them before you made your way to the Library.”

He smiles, proud of his little trick. It’s that same slightly shy smile he’s always had.

“As for Ari, she was very useful. I just needed to be sure she never suspected me. As an Examiner, she couldn’t risk killing a non-Candidate, because doing so would’ve killed her too. That kept me fairly safe. Besides, she was good at hunting the others.”

He notices me looking at him and shifts slightly. When I glance at the place where his missing arm is, he adjusts his uniform to cover it. He’s always been sensitive about it. As a thylarin, he isn’t one of the rare ones with six arms, and even being one short of the usual four leads others to look down on him. I’ve noticed that.

“What now?”

He shrugs. “The others are dead, Kim. I won. I’ll become a disciple of the Ruler if they think I’m a good fit for their subclass. If not, I’ll probably die the moment I leave this record. Until then, I’ll study here freely, without hiding. As for you... you’re a bug. You’ll disappear with the next reset. I’ve seen many like you, so I can tell.”

Without any warning, something shoots toward me. Ready for it, I use [Telekinesis]. Just a short distance from my neck, it stops, a dart. No, not a dart. One of Septa’s legs. Now she only has seven.

“Impressive. I never thought [Telekinesis] could catch it. I figured you’d try to use a barrier like everyone else.” Tyven drawls, still looking calm, as if he were waiting for something.

But that something doesn’t happen. For the first time, his expression shifts.

One of the nearby walls explodes, and an alarm pierces the silence. The missing wall reveals a view towards my portal to the 9th floor. Through the falling debris, Nathaniel steps into the Library.

“Yoo, I thought we were stealing this Library,” he says, and I sense him placing defenses around the area.

Tyven looks at him, and Nathaniel returns the gaze without hesitation. He even lifts up a piece of paper.

“You already marked and just kept trying to break the Core to reset the loop, right, you little shit? I always thought it was weird how Ari started using the Core so late. Seems like she couldn’t locate it before the end, and it was you resetting the loops, wasn’t it?”

Then, ignoring the future Ruler, Nat turns to me.

“Are you still thinking of staying here?”

“I... yes.”

“You know you could die, right?” He gestures at the spider leg still floating near my neck.

“I know. But there’s so much I can learn from him.”

“Oh.” He gets it instantly. As lazy as he can be, Nathaniel picks up on some things incredibly fast.

Then he nods. “It’s your call. Normally, I’d give you a smack in the back of the head and stop you if I thought you were about to do something this stupid, even if you hated me for it. But not this time. If it’s a mistake, it’s yours to make.”

Relief washes over me at his words, and I watch as dozens of mana arms start tearing the Library apart, throwing everything through the portal into the rainforest beyond. At the same time, he connects with me and shares the method he used to locate the Core. It’s incredibly complex and yet laughably easy once you know the trick.

As he heads toward the portal, he turns back to me and declares, “I’ll be stronger in the future than he ever could be.” Then he looks at Tyven. “I thought I recognized those orange eyes of yours from somewhere.”

There’s a lot hidden in those words, and then he disappears through the portal, which continues to shrink. The storm in my head won’t quiet down while the countdown ticks away.

The portal shrinks, every second shaving away my chance to act. And still, I can’t bring myself to move. I’ve gotten used to this place. I like the Academy and the Library. I like being a student, learning without the weight of my family’s expectations.

Here, I get to be someone. I’m more powerful than most Assistant Professors, and so many people look up to me. That, too, is holding me in place.

Then there’s Tyven. Even though he’s just a Candidate for now, he’s someone who will become one of the most powerful people to ever live. Just how much could I learn just by watching the steps he takes and the decisions he makes?

But maybe that’s just the excuse I need. A way to justify splitting from the rest of the group before I make a decision I’ll regret, one that might break what we’ve built. I know how I feel. Lissandra saw it too, and there’s no way Nathaniel hasn’t.

Yet...

As the remains of Nathaniel’s barrier begin to crumble, I activate my skills and move in the way I prepared so long ago. I shift gravity so the portal becomes the floor, and books and mana stones rain down toward it. I help them along, breaking the defenses just as the twins and Sophie taught me. I locate the hidden rooms full of rare books Nathaniel told me about.

A few seconds later, I pass through, without looking back. I don't even ask why he tried to kill me, I already know.

POV Nathaniel

Congratulations! You have cleared the 8th floor of the Hell difficulty tutorial. Welcome to the 9th floor: The Pit.

You have acquired:

Passive skill combination token (up to low arcane)

14 Day Beyond stay tokens x2

100,000 shards

Trait strengthening token (up to 2nd stage)

I get the rewards first while observing the area around me. The dense greenery of a jungle surrounds me. The air here is humid and hot, I can feel it as I breathe. Sending out a series of scans, I confirm the lack of enemies in the surrounding area, and Tess does the same.

Finally, a lot more books start pouring through the portal, and Min-Jae quickly passes through the entrance between them and steps onto the hundreds of books and mana stones piled up all around the entrance. The others are much the same, each bringing their own hoards of items.

Surprisingly, even Biscuit is here, holding in his mouth a huge cooked something that looks a lot like an animal leg, likely stolen from the kitchen. His tail wags proudly from side to side. He must have heard us talking about stealing things from the Academy and decided to steal something as well. I even get the sense that he’s looking down on us after seeing the things we’ve stolen.

Materials, items, food, and water supplies, enough to last months. Someone even threw in some mattresses, cabinets, and a few piles of clothes. The sheer combination of things piling up around us is impressive.

“Everything that wasn’t glued to the floor,” Dennis says.

“Yup,” Aaron confirms.

Looking away from them, my eyes meet Min-Jae’s. His normal brown right eye and the yellow Gravitational Wavelength Iris in his left. He looks at me for a moment without averting his gaze, only looking away when the twins start making their way over, talking about how he really wasn’t joking about stealing the entire library.

While doing yet another scan, I think about it. Min-Jae is what, now, 17-18 years old? Damn teenagers. I can’t have been like that, right?

I could also blame it on the tutorial. I might do that later.

For now, I open and check over our newest quest.

Floor quest:

Survive for one year

Rewards:

???

???

So mysterious. And I had hoped we were going for record time, reaching the 13th floor. One year… that's quite a long time. With the current countdown, we’ll finish this floor with one year and eight months left and four floors to go. Still, probably enough time to clear them all within the five-year time limit.

A part of me wonders what this floor could offer to justify such a long duration. But from how it looks now, it’s more about survival and leveling up rather than some kind of murder mystery like the last floor.

Of course, that’s assuming we weren’t just thrown into some giant area littered with dozens of random cities.

It also brings up the interesting problem of what to do with all these things. At least for now, Sophie has already started creating some small buildings, manipulating the trees around us, and weaving them into structures. Branches grow into walls, and the earth lifts up beneath them.

Tess and Min-Jae quickly begin moving all the stuff. Group 4 is indeed full of beautiful loot goblins. I remember the stories I used to hear when I was young. The prince saved the princess from the dragon, and the dragon’s cave collapsed behind them, burying all that gold. Or some archaeologist discovering a set of long forgotten ruins filled to the brim with treasures and jewels, and after killing some sort of mummy mage, the ruins get buried in sand.

All these situations likely carried a lesson about letting go and focusing on what truly matters.

Well, not on our watch. I’m sure the people here with me would immediately focus on digging out the dragon’s treasure in spite of the many tons of rock. Hell, some of us would probably dig it all out to get a hold of the dragon’s corpse instead, just to study it.

Another question. Do dragons exist in the system?

I want to know.

System, tell me. I promise not to make fun of you the next time I regain [Mana Manipulation].

There is no answer, as expected. But it seems like my good mood has returned, so I force myself to calm down and help the others set up defenses around our base.

A few days have passed, the way the early days on each floor usually do. We do encounter some danger, but it’s relatively safe, by Hell difficulty standards. This floor, this world, as far as we’ve observed, seems to be one huge jungle. Even Tess couldn’t find anything else, no matter how high she flew or how much she strained her [Farsight].

The density of monsters here is also pretty high. An assortment of snakes, red monkeys with two tails and four arms, living trees pretending to be normal, weird vines with surprisingly resistance to fire, all that good stuff.

One strange thing is that there are barely any flying monsters. Even if they can fly, they don't go above the crowns of the huge trees here. So after Tess’s first flight, we decide not to fly around either. At least not until we figure out whether there’s some kind of dangerous monster scaring the other flyers off, or something else entirely.

Nobody makes much of a push for hunting, either. Instead, we’ve been focused on regaining skill levels, buying passives, and working on the builds we had worked out back on the 8th floor.

Even though our skill levels reset, with some effort, it’s possible to level up fairly quickly. We just need to prove our qualifications.

So even after just these few days, my status is looking pretty nice, especially with my new skill locked in.

Name: Nathaniel Gwyn

Title: Champion Candidate

Difficulty: Hell

Floor: 9 - The Pit

Time left until forced return: 2y 251d 16h 15m 33s

Traits (2/3): Mana Wavelength Iris 2/3, Mana Physique 0/3

Lvl 309

Strength: 241

Dexterity: 231

Constitution: 430

Mana (Stage 1/3 - Vast Mana): 1633 + 1633

Primary Class: Mana Weaver (Unique Arcane)

Sub-class: [Adept of Pride]

Active skills (8/10):

Focus - Lvl 66

Perception - Lvl 64

Redistribution - Lvl 64

Mana Manipulation - Lvl 68

Ley Line - Lvl 56

Eclipse (Pride) - Lvl 40

Empyrean Lance - Lvl 24

Manifestation - Lvl 1

Constructs:

Reinforcement

Mana Regulator

Mana Sovereignty Mantle

Kinetic Mana Heart

Sealed Ignition Heart (Fully Sealed, 3/3)

Passive skills (5/5):

Mana-Kinetic Conversion Reservoir (Unique Epic)

Mana-Fortified Mind (Low Arcane)

Mental Attunement Loop (Mid Arcane)

Mana Wavelength Tyrant (Mid Arcane)

Subdermal Combustion Weave (Mid Arcane)

Tokens:

Beyond 3 day stay token

Beyond 1 day stay token

Passive skill combination token (upper arcane)

Communication with your disciple for 10 minutes

Send a single item to your disciple (up to epic rarity)

Beyond 30 day stay token

Beyond 30 day stay token

Beyond 14 day stay token

Beyond 14 day stay token

Passive skill combination token (low arcane)

Trait strengthening token (up to 2nd stage)

Shards: 1,139,631

To create it, three skills were used: [Knitting] as the main one, with [Mana Domain] and [Mana Crown] as supportive.

With that, the effect of Pride is no longer tied to the non-existent domain, and I’ve placed it on [Eclipse], which I need to test more thoroughly later.

Of course, I also think I’ll gain a few more levels in some of my other skills over the next few days, once I catch up on everything I’ve been doing inside the loop.

For now, I’m just sad.

[Mana Crown], especially, is something I’ll miss deeply. I didn’t want to use it for a combination, but in the end, I gave in. Please, forgive me. The crown barely made sense anymore, considering how full my mana reservoir usually is. I rarely used it. Another problem was the attention it drew from others when it was active.

But!

There’s already a plan. With my new skill, I totally plan to manifest the crown on my own.

[Manifestation] sounds powerful. I mean, just reading the name gives that impression. What's strange is that it started at level 1, while most other skills at least began around level 9.

There were other skills I liked, of course, in this order: [Conduction], [Ur Line], [Foundation], [Framework]. The rest weren’t really worth mentioning.

[Manifestation] sounds stronger than all of them and is likely the hardest to level, by a wide margin. That could be a result of its power, or maybe I just lack the talent or connection needed to make full use of it.

There are skills I am sure I’ll be able to push past level 80, where Champions typically have their abilities. A few, I believe, could even break through level 90 and enter the realm of Absolutes, and then further. [Manifestation]... I’m not sure. At level 90 and beyond, that skill must be insane.

But we’ll see. For now, I’m already preparing mental structures to try my hand at manifesting my [Mana Crown], and I couldn’t care less about any trademarks or copyrights the system might have on it.

With this skill, I think it’s possible. I’ve used and examined the crown enough to understand how it works. Trying to manifest it should also help me better understand the skill itself. In some way, this skill is certainly easier to understand than some of the others I’ve tested.

For example, [Foundation] and [Framework] allowed me to gradually build something. I could start with a physical structure and add to it over time. [Manifestation] feels completely different. It requires the entire structure to be prepared in my mind from the start. It’s extremely unforgiving. The design needs to be nearly perfect. Even the act of manifesting is tough, it requires a lot of mana and involves significant resistance.

Maybe at higher levels it will get easier. Maybe I’ll eventually be able to keep building on what I’ve already manifested. But right now? No chance.The skill doesn’t even want to level up, no matter how many mana weapons I create.

At least the weapons it creates are strong. They should be, considering how carefully I have to prepare their structure. The downside is that they don’t last long, and they disappear after a few minutes. That’s another thing I hope changes as the skill levels up.

At least that cursed skill that I was sure would evolve into [Crocheting] or [Sewing] is finally gone. [Mana Crown] was a steep price to pay, but I’ll get my baby back soon. And once I learn to manifest crowns like that, what’s stopping me from manifesting crowns for thermal and kinetic energy? Imagine it: three crowns floating over my head, stacked one above the other.

Ah, what a dream.

I also need to deal with my tokens. I have way too many. The passive skill combination token up to low arcane could probably be used, but I’d need to figure out whether I can combine it with my unique epic passive. Maybe sell Mana Fortified Mind, buy something else, and then combine that with the unique epic. Or reverse the process, sell the unique epic and keep the other.

I refuse to use a passive combination token for upper arcane just to combine a pair of mid arcane skills. That would be dumb. Same with using a 2nd stage trait strengthening token on a 1st stage mana physique. That would just be wasteful.

It’s all just one more thing I’ll have to deal with. Not a bad problem to have, but hey, why not complain a little about how tough my life is?

But seeing this Floor quest also means one thing. I might finally get a chance to use these 30 day beyond stay tokens.

Chapter 633 - Just bad luck

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 319]

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 315]

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 330]

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 301]

…

I create [Empyrean Lance] and shoot it through yet another Spineback Ape.

Even now, I'm only able to create one lance at a time. Would the skill need to be called [Empyrean Lances] for me to make more? It's still fun, though.

Sensing vibrations of kinetic energy, I track the incoming attack and jump to the side. A primitive spear made of some sort of very heavy and durable black wood hits the tree behind me, pierces it, and flies further. A few more follow. I weave between them while firing back my lances, which are much faster and rarely miss.

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 321]

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 331]

[Lvl 309 > Lvl 310]

My mood immediately improves as I put more stats into mana. Like a dose of endorphins I’ve been starved of for so long.

Maybe because of that, I attempt to use [Manifestation]. The image of a long javelin weaves into existence, accompanied by a dark hum and pressure every time I use the skill. A multicolored light shines weakly and briefly as the javelin forms over my shoulder. And a noticeable chunk of mana disappears.

The structure I had in my mind is gone, too, requiring me to rebuild it again.

I bend kinetic energy around it, and the javelin launches forward, only to miss the ape by the tiniest bit. It bursts into particles of mana after hitting the boulder behind it.

[Manifestation - lvl 1 > Manifestation - lvl 2]

Slowly, but surely.

Then I get back into the fight, even though I know I'm making it worse. The more apes we kill, the more of them appear to fight us, as if they were being drawn in by the deaths of their kind.

They throw themselves at us without hesitation or fear. Izzy thinks they may have some sort of primitive hive mind that drives them. And the longer it goes on, the more evolved the Spineback Apes seem to be. Min-Jae says he saw one with tree bark that had been worked into chest armor.

Otherwise, they are unassuming. They look more or less like normal apes, just as tall as we are, with grayish fur and orange eyes. They're very strong and durable, but at the same time, they’re not all that fast.

Other than some kind of shared domain that becomes stronger the more of them are nearby, they don’t seem to use any skills. That domain of theirs is interesting, too. It's a restrictive field that tries to suppress mana and physical stats.

So far, we've moved three times, but they follow us every time, somehow managing to pinpoint our location by some unknown means. Izzy doesn’t notice anything. Sophie and I find two mana-based marks. Biscuit and Noodle can’t sense or smell anything.

These damned apes must have put an airtag somewhere in our baggage.

Other than these annoying monsters, there’s something else the twins have noticed during their scouting. Because of the dense foliage, Tess can’t really see that far. We don’t fly high to scan the area, and so far we’ve avoided large-scale scans. So the twins, with their variation of Sneaky Mode being more hidey-oriented than mine, are currently the best suited for scouting.

It will be a sad day when that leads the system to offer them a class with Phantom in the name. I’ll have to beat them up then, even if it’s just out of principle. No way am I letting those two smug bastards get away with something like that.

On one of their scouting runs, they found a small village full of demons. Just those words are enough to give most people headaches. Demons are lunatics, and none of my experiences with them so far have shown me otherwise. My expectation is the same for these as well.

Dennis and Aaron observed them carefully. They know demons can sense hearts really well, and that much like me, they might have thermal or kinetic senses. They are excellent at detecting movement or heat. I also wonder: would a primordial lightning demon be able to sense the electricity in neuron connections? I mean, I’m no scientist, and maybe that’s just bullshit, but I don’t care. I like being paranoid. There’s just something comforting about assuming the worst.

From observing the demons, the twins learned quite a bit. There are about 100 demons. Rather than a village, it seems more like a tribe. They wear animal skins, though they are well processed. Their weapons are made from bone, monster teeth, processed crystals, and roughly smithed metals. There are bows, javelins, and other ranged weapons as well. Of course, there are skills we have to worry about, too, and primordial energies.

Interestingly, they live inside one of the massive trees, hollowed out likely with some skill. The entrance is masked and guarded. It’s to the point where I’d call them elves rather than demons. But I remember what Feran told me. Some demon groups just like to find a rough environment, settle in, and force themselves to adapt or die.

What a bunch of lunatics. I bet these ones are like that. Either they’re the descendants of such demons or some nomadic group that just moved into the area, maybe even to this planet, whatever it might be. Not like the name of this floor gives away a lot.

We don’t know exactly how strong they are, but to survive here, I’d have to guess that they’re somewhere over level 250, with some possibly ranging into the 300s. Dennis and Aaron are probably lucky to have gone unnoticed. Still, it’s an interesting find, and sooner or later, we might still run into them.

Possibly, there are more such tribes. Or maybe it’s one large group, split into smaller bands so that survival doesn’t become “too easy”.

I know I play with stereotypes a lot when it comes to demons, but damn, so far I haven’t seen so much as a single speck of a reason not.

Two days have passed, and I’ve had to endure the constant screeching of Spineback Apes. At this point, I’m sure we’ve killed thousands, and more still keep coming. Like ants, they wipe out all the monsters in the area. And interestingly enough, the other monsters rarely attack them. Instead, they try to escape without fighting back.

“I’m done waiting. I’ll just bomb them out. Tess, I swear I’ll burn this jungle to the ground. I don’t care if this place is humid, I’ll generate so much heat it dries up and burns like kindling.” I tell her.

Tess resolutely shakes her head. “No fire.”

“I can bombard the place. I could use kinetic or tricolored orbs. Say the word and I’ll carpet-bomb this place until it’s finally quiet and I see no more apes. Mana bursts, projectiles, lances, I can even make everything oscillate until it turns to dust. I have enough mana. I want silence so deep it echoes.”

“No large-scale damage.”

Instead of arguing with her, I turn to Izzy, who sits next to Sophie, who’s currently braiding her hair.

“We shouldn’t do it,” she confirms when she catches my gaze.

Sophie, from behind her, adds, “All the monsters avoid using fire skills or causing too much damage to the area. They’re afraid of something. The same goes for flying.”

“I can deal with any monsters that get unhappy with it.”

“And if it’s Champion rank?”

I’m about to groan when Izzy waves for my attention. I look back, and she smiles at me. “Just for now, please.”

Her sister smiles, whispers something to her, and hugs her from behind. Izzy leans back into the hug and giggles while still looking at me.

“You guys have a lot of tokens, right? Just go to Beyond for a day or two to check on things there. Maybe try to fish again. Meanwhile, we can explore the area. It's not that dangerous so far. It was you and Sophie who killed most of the apes, so we might lose them when you leave,” Izzy says.

Tess also seems to agree. “It's not a bad idea.”

“We could go tomorrow, just for a day, maybe two? We’ll appear in that Spherical safe zone, right?” Sophie asks.

“As long as they haven’t changed the rules, then yes,” Tess nods. “But we need to make some preparations first.”

“Do you want to meet that demon tribe?” I ask.

“I think we should leave them be for now. The ones staying can deal with them if we need to, or at least escape. But so far, it looks like everyone is avoiding this area, even the demons. Probably because of all the apes.”

Maya snorts from where she’s lounging near the edge of the clearing. “Even those frogs we saw the other day were smart enough not to kill any of the apes. We’re the only ones who screwed up.”

“I wouldn't call it screwing up,” I mutter. “I’d call it clearing space.”

Maya stretches her arms overhead with a groan. “Yeah? Space for what? More apes?”

I shrug. “Could’ve been worse.”

Tess tosses a small stick at my thermal cube as it floats in between us as if she were throwing kindling on a fire, “Anyway. Beyond.”

The way she says it makes us turn back to her, and we return to the subject.

As I enter Beyond, I find myself in that familiar area with my handler. It seems to be around midnight, and I’m standing on polished, perfectly smooth black stone that stretches on forever.

Even now, there's nothing as far as the eye can see. No hills, no trees, no mountains, no clouds. Just flat, polished black stone. Only broken by the sky, glimmering and sparkling above with a vast array of stars and nebulae.

My handler sits behind her old wooden table, piles of papers and mana stones stacked in front of her. This time, she doesn't even bother to look at them. Her expression is more serious as she watches me. Her hair, black with bits of red mixed in, looks redder today, and her brown eyes seem lighter in color.

"Congratulations on being one of the last tutorials to experience this version of the 8th floor," she says.

"How come?" I ask.

"Little Tyven died not long ago," she says, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "And I still don't know if I should find it funny, considering everything it set off."

"Is it ok for you to talk to me like this? It’ll only allow me to confirm my suspicions."

"I don't give a fuck."

"In that case, tell me more."

She snorts. "You’ve already collected enough information to piece things together, and lately, things really aren't going the way I'd like. Too many old monsters are coming out of seclusion. Ambition, vengeance, the thrill of battle, sheer spite, oaths that have yet to fade, and those still chasing meaning in a world that moved on without them. Some only want to blaze once more before the end. Things that should happen once an eon now feel like they happen every year."

"So the Ruler of Envy is dead."

"Yes, and already, several of the strongest Masters of Envy are fighting for his position. Envy having one of the highest numbers of Masters is both fitting and amusing, considering his subclass."

"Who did it?"

"Guess."

"Holy fuck."

"Holy fuck indeed.”

"You have to go now, but I want to give you a warning. As much as I can work around the rules, there are limits. I can't help you or tell you more, doing that would only make things worse. I just wish you and the others hadn't come to Beyond today."

Something in her voice catches me off guard. It makes me uneasy.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry. The timing is just too bad. It's too early for you to meet people like them. Please remember that. This isn't anyone's fault. It's just bad luck."

I start to feel a pull as her words hit. They cut deeper than I expected, especially coming from her. My vision begins to blur as I start to disappear into Beyond, no matter how hard I try to resist.

"What do you mean?!" I repeat.

The last thing I see before I'm gone are her eyes. They look more yellow than brown now.

"Just don't break," she says.

Chapter 634 - 23 hours

I appear seated on one of the stone benches arranged around the sphere at the center of the cave, where the water continues to swirl endlessly in an unpredictable dance of motion. Tess, Sophie, and Lily are nearby.

Other than us, there are only two more people. A feylith woman and a thylarin man with four arms.

Something about this meeting seems to unsettle the others as well. I notice them putting up their defenses and making themselves more alert. Lily shifts her huge axe and steps forward, Tess creates some distance, and Sophie narrows her eyes, steadying her stance.

My handler's last words echo in my mind, tightening the tension inside me. In the back of my mind, I already start preparing countermeasures after taking a moment to estimate the capabilities of the duo in front of us.

Noticing us, the feylith woman smiles and waves. She looks young, probably younger than me. Her hair and eyes are light green, but they keep shifting toward white and yellow. Like all feylith, she has small wings folded on her back.

Meanwhile, the thylarin is the tallest of his kind I’ve seen so far. He has four arms, and each of his forearms is covered in white, intricate, glowing lines through which light constantly shifts, sometimes deepening into orange. It feels almost as if a living flame is burning within them.

“Didn’t expect to meet people from Earth’s tutorial,” the feylith woman says. Her voice is calm, unhurried. “But that’s Beyond, isn’t it? Full of surprises.”

"And you are?” Tess asks.

“I’m Faora, and you must be Sset. The unfriendly-looking man is Noname, also known as Nathaniel. The tiny black-haired one is Grumpy, and the sneaky bitch over there is Soph. Is that short for Sophia or Sophie?” she asks with a curious smile.

“Sophie.”

“I see! Thank you for telling me, Sophie. And stop messing around with your mental abilities before I kill you. It probably feels pretty awkward for me to already know your names, right? I apologize. Luan and I had a long talk with someone from your tutorial not long ago. Right, Luan? So I remembered your names and descriptions.”

She gestures toward the huge thylarin, who stays quiet.

Faora doesn’t seem bothered by his silence at all. “This place is pretty, isn’t it? I like to stop here when I go fishing to make shards. And who would’ve guessed I’d run into people from Earth? Please, sit down.”

As she gestures at the benches near her, I tense up. This time, I let more mana seep into my body and push back against the pressure I've been sensing since we arrived. The pressure the massive thylarin is sustaining over the whole area.

“Luan,” Faora says, and the pressure vanishes instantly.

(Should we…) Lily tries to send through the link.

(Don’t talk. She’s listening,) Sophie replies, then tears apart the web.

That only gets an amused chuckle from Faora. Her eyes and hair are both yellow now as she comfortably sits on the bench. She seems to enjoy the situation. Unlike her, Luan just stands nearby with his arms crossed.

Faora pats the bench beside her like she’s inviting us to a picnic, not… whatever this is.

“I promise the benches don’t bite,” she says with a grin. “Though I can’t vouch for Luan.” She jerks a thumb toward the towering thylarin.

The thylarin doesn’t react. He just watches us. The glowing lines on his arms shifting slightly, as the color deepens for a moment before fading again.

I stay standing. So do the others.

Faora shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Suit yourselves.”

She leans back with one arm resting on the back of the bench, relaxed. The kind of relaxed that only serves to make me more alert. Her presence doesn’t press down like Luan’s, but there’s something else off about her.

“What do you want?” I ask.

“Want?” She seems to think it over, then smiles briefly. “A lot of things, but it would be boring to talk about that. After all, I just got to meet people from Earth’s tutorial. You might not know it yet, but because of that man, there are a lot of people curious about Earth. Tell me, what floor are you on, Nathaniel?”

“Ninth.”

“Oh? Not bad. You told me, so I’ll return the favor. It’s only fair. Luan and I are on the thirteenth floor. As for me, I’m only a few months away from the end of our tutorial, and Luan has a bit more time.”

Her words confirm what I suspected. Both the thylarin man and the feylith woman are extremely powerful. Faora’s unsettling presence and Luan’s glowing lines don’t feel like a good sign.

Why? Why do I feel this way? Are my handler’s last words feeding the sense of danger? Is there something I’m picking up on that I can’t explain? The others don’t seem to notice it quite like I do. I’m sure they sense the danger and pressure more than I do, but they don’t seem to understand.

That woman looks like a cat playing with a mouse just before it eats it.

“Well, it was nice talking to you, Faora. We already have something planned, so we’ll be leaving now, okay?” Tess says, still trying to remain neutral.

At the front of our group, Luan walks from side to side. Lily stands in front of him, mirroring his movements. He towers over her, but she shows no hesitation.

Faora’s smile grows. In some way, that smile reminds me of Ari.

"You guys are so clueless it’s almost cute. Tell me, Sset, do you even know your planet is currently in the process of a Pairing?” she asks, resting her chin on her palm.

“Pairing? That shouldn’t even be possible until we complete the tutorial, much less without an Absolute.”

“I fully agree with you. It should be impossible, yet here you are. Progress is probably very slow right now, but it’ll speed up after your tutorial ends. Then, five years later, Earth’s non-attack phase will end, and it’ll be possible for enemy Champions and Absolute to enter Earth. Luan, wouldn’t you agree that Earth is screwed?”

As before, the huge thylarin doesn’t even bother to answer. Instead, he faces Lily just as she faces him. Only two of his arms are crossed over his chest, while the other two hang at his sides.

“We’ll be leaving now,” Tess repeats, deciding that enough is enough.

In response, we get ready.

“Sset, I’d rather you didn’t do that,” Faora says, standing up as her smile widens more and more.

Her eyes and hair are now a striking shade of red.

“I don’t like that mind mage of yours. I hate her. I don’t like you, Sset. You’re too calm, your hair is too pretty, I hate the name your healer chose, and the way she looks at me. But most of all, I hate that bastard standing there making his preparations. I hate that nauseating mana I can sense radiating from him and the fact that he has the same subclass as me.”

The wide smile vanishes.

“Please, don’t be sad. Even if you had done everything you could to please me, the result would be the same. I do this to everyone with the subclass of Pride.” She fully turns to me. “Let’s play and see how long it takes to break you, Nathaniel.”

Everyone moves and attacks. Lily clashes with Luan. Lightning surrounds Tess, and the ground thunders as stones and debris begin to rise around her, falling apart under the pressure.

Without hesitation, I form the orb of black mana I’ve been preparing and-

I find myself in darkness I cannot pierce, no matter what I try. No fire I conjure lights it up. I feel water up to my knees as I take a step, and around me, splashes echo as something moves in the blackness.

My mana, primordial energies, everything is completely out of reach.

Then, a faint glowing orb rises, revealing Faora sitting on a throne made of bodies and illuminating a small area around her. Each body is a version of Faora, I recognize. Beyond that light of the glowing orb, everything is lost in pitch-black darkness.

Even the splashes around are more Faoras. When the light reaches them, they begin to groan and flail. They try to climb out of the water, but every time they take a breath, something drags them under.

“Please, ignore them,” Faora says, smiling. “They’re parts of my mind that... well, let’s just say if you push too hard, things start to snap. Welcome to my Mind Palace, Nathaniel. Oh, and don’t bother. You can’t use your mana here or anything else.”

It is just as she said, but I don’t wait for her to finish. I take a step toward her, then another, breaking into a run through the water, which I now see is red. Before I get too close, something far stronger than me grabs my feet and pulls me down, then lets go. When I rise and try again, it happens once more. It keeps dragging me back, further from her.

I search for my mana, for anything I can use, but there is nothing.

“Your mental defenses are impressive. I’ve only felt stronger from a rare few fourth-year attendees.”

I keep jerking my legs to break free and kick at whatever is grabbing me, but that only draws more Faoras closer. They groan as they move. I see how twisted they are. Some have too many limbs, some too few. Some are huge, others are too small. Some are missing eyes, and others have far too many.

I fight them off, feeling blood trickle from my nose as my temperature spikes. A ringing starts in my ears, and the pain forces a groan out of me.

Still sitting there, Faora smiles.

“Finally. I was starting to worry your mind was handling this too well. You know, Nathaniel, here in my Mind Palace, time passes much faster than it does outside. Of course, it’s not actually affecting the flow of time, it’s more like thought acceleration, and there’s always a cost. Most people die after just a few seconds, but you and Sophie are both holding up surprisingly well.”

Once again, I kick away the corpses. I leap over one powerful arm and duck under another charging at me, only to be hit by that same dizzying lightheadedness.

"Oh, come on. This is getting pathetic, Nathaniel. But who told you to pick such a subclass? Wouldn't you agree that Pride is the worst option? All these weaklings pretending to be strong, just to meet the expectations it places on them. There’s nothing better than beating them down and breaking them."

The dozens of broken and twisted fragments of her mind keep screeching around us.

"You might think I only know Sophie's name now, Nathaniel, but I now know so much more. Would you like to hear some of her secrets?"

My body rises into the air as one of the largest twisted versions of Faora lifts me up, holding me so I face Faora, still seated on her throne of bodies.

"Dear Sophie is scared all the time, yet she’s pathetic too. Because of her sister, she tries to be a better person. She holds back, barely makes use of her abilities, dabbling here and there, and mostly on natives. That’s why she didn’t put up a better fight against me today," she laughs.

No matter how I twist or strain, I can’t move.

The woman in front of me falls silent, her eyes glazing over as she focuses on something else. A drop of blood trickles from her nose.

Then silence falls. No splashing, no screaming.

And Faora says,

"Oh, I pushed a little too hard. Sophie might be dead, but it’s her fault for resisting me so much. I..."

At last, I find a sliver of mana. Only one skill works here. I use [Manifestation], and a spear made of mana forms in my hand, piercing through Faora´s neck as she screams.

The world around me vanishes, and I find myself back outside. My body wobbles, and my mind feels like it's about to shut down. I glance at the spot where I formed the black mana orb, but it's gone, and there's a huge hole in the wall.

It feels nearly impossible to reach for my mana, but I try anyway. Then something slams into my chest and sends me flying into a wall.

I try to move again, but that presence closes in. I barely dodge one fist, but the next two slam into my stomach, breaking both of my arms. When I try to rise and call on my mana, he doesn't let me. A punch to my chin nearly knocks me out.

Each strike leaves burning wounds, and I catch glimpses of the glowing lines on his arms, moving like living things. Shining brighter with every impact.

I release the heat building in my body and activate my passive to heal, but nothing happens. The burns from these blows don’t respond to healing.

Still, more thermal energy flows through me as I force myself to fight, even as my brain screams in protest. My wounds recover slightly. Then Luan is on me again.

Barely able to defend myself, he breaks my knee and slams me to the ground. My golden flames burn brighter around him, but he ignores them nonetheless.

His glowing lines pulse again as he flicks his hand to deflect a burst of kinetic energy that destroys the area behind him. When I try to gather mana, he grabs me by the neck and lifts me into the air.

"If you fight back, she will kill your friends," he says, his voice ringing quietly for the first time.

Another fist crushes into my stomach, and he throws me down again.

Then I hear Faora screaming.

I lift my eyes from the ground. She’s standing now. Her eyes are bleeding, her hair and irises burning in a deeper, more vibrant red streaked with white.

"Stop. You've done enough," Luan says to her.

Only that makes her stop kicking what I now realize is Sophie’s body. Lily lies on the ground nearby with the same burning wounds as mine, covering her body. Her hair is short, she is missing her arm, and the axe next to her is broken. Tess is nearby, with one of her javelins pierced through her shoulder and pinning her against the wall, and she’s covered in the same burning wounds.

"I will fucking kill them!" Faora screams.

"You've done enough, Faora," Luan repeats. "We don’t know how that man is going to react to this, since they are from his planet. So let it be. Is that mind mage dead?"

"How would I know? That bitch pushed against me, so I pushed back, so who cares?" Once again, she kicks Sophie’s body and then turns to me. "And you, what you did should’ve been impossible, how..."

Recovering a bit, I get back on my feet again. Luan also watches me, and so does Faora.

When I try to move to attack her, Luan is there again. I am unable to even compress my mana enough to do anything. My ankle breaks as I move with kinetic energy to dodge and attack him, but even then, he just grabs my fist. Then a punch sends me to the ground.

"Let the poor guy be, Luan. You can leave now. I’ll take care of the rest. Don’t worry, I won’t kill anyone."

The thylarin looks at her, then at me, before slowly walking away. "You find too much pleasure in your little cruelties, Faora. It will cost you your life one day."

Faora doesn’t say anything until he makes his exit and heads out through the tunnels. But only when he’s gone does she drop that polite smile, and her murderous intent is finally directed toward where he left.

She then turns and reaches me with a few nimble steps, blood on her cheeks from her bleeding eyes. "If you use even a bit of your mana, I will kill your friends. You can check, but I have placed some really fun marks on their heads. But be careful, if you aren’t, they will activate and..."

She drops to her knees, then stretches out on the ground, her face only a breath away from mine.

"I mean, if you’re really that confident, go on and remove these marks. To be honest, it would be fun to watch. But you know, I’m kind of a mind mage like Sophie, so you might miss some of my traps and end up killing them instead."

I can feel her warm breath on my face. I see the color of her eyes, her pupils expanding. A single strand of hair falls down her forehead.

She moves even closer, and her voice turns to a whisper. "But if you don’t do anything, they might still die. Luan’s Fragment is really scary, but he held back, so who knows?"

After brushing away some dirt from beneath her chin, she places her hands there, rests her head on them, and watches me. "Obviously, if you attack me, if you move from the position you're in, if you leak too much mana or try to use your primordial energies, they will die. They will also die if you try to use that black mana. I don’t know what it is, but Luan had a really difficult time getting rid of it, so I don’t want to mess with it."

The smile that forms on her face is one I make sure to remember. Every expression. Every word. I burn it into my memory.

Almost playfully, she watches me. "You won’t try anything? So boring. Say Please, don’t kill them, or I will kill that blonde."

"Please, don’t kill them."

Her expression shows a bit of surprise, but her eyes stay glued to mine. Then she bursts into a happy laugh. Her voice turns even quieter. "I lied. I wouldn’t have done anything to her, even if you hadn’t begged. To be honest, I don’t know if they’ll survive, but they’ve been wounded by Luan, so that’s going to be on him, not me. I’m not sure about dear Sophie, though. Her mind seems to be gone."

[Focus - lvl 66 > Focus - lvl 67]

She pulls herself even closer and whispers right into my ear. "Nathaniel, I think I might have killed Sophie."

Right after that, she moves back quickly to watch my expression.

Not getting what she wanted, she sighs. "Boring. Maybe next time you’ll be more fun? I know from Sophie’s mind that you guys used a one-day stay token, so the traps should disappear a few minutes before it ends. Until then, just lie there and hope they survive, okay? Or try to remove my marks and help them."

Taking a few steps toward the same tunnel Luan left through, she turns back one more time. "How is your pride now?"

Without waiting for an answer, she leaves.

[Focus - lvl 67 > Focus - lvl 68]

For the remaining twenty-three hours, I lie there with my eyes closed, unable to even make sure they’re still alive.

Chapter 635 - Debts

POV Maya Jones

It is all one huge mess. Izzy sits hunched over her sister and clinging to her. The more she learns about her state through her ability, the worse her sobs become. Not once have I seen her like this. She’s always been so cheery and so mature for her age, yet now she’s like this.

Sophie herself doesn’t seem to have any external wounds, but both Tess and Lily look to be near death. Like their lives are hanging by a thread. The wounds they have, these burns, just don’t heal at all while we panic and move between them, trying our best to help.

We try to activate the healing marks Lily left for each of us or use any healing items that might help, but nothing seems to work that well, and the wounds barely improve by the slightest of degrees.

Even the twins, though clearly shocked, try to help for a while before I send them to guard the area, since they aren’t helping much here and have only been making things worse.

I myself have trouble focusing as I see Tess lying there like that. She always knew what to do, took control effortlessly, and seemed completely reliable.

There is someone else who should be like that, but Nathaniel just stands there watching nearby, his face even more empty than usual, more devoid of any emotion. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him this deep in [Focus].

Currently, Min-Jae’s the only person anywhere near him, asking question after question, and slowly, Nat begins to explain everything that happened. He speaks deliberately and calmly, as if it were all some distant thing, sometimes pausing mid-sentence to take a breath.

And gradually, I can see how much it irritates Kim. Minutes pass, and he keeps moving between Tess, Lily, and Sophie, desperate like the rest of us, and then back to Nat, whom he keeps asking even more questions.

Now, even I can see that part of it is him hoping Nat could do more, even though, like the rest of us, he did everything he could the moment they appeared. In some ways, Nat might be even worse off than Tess and Lily, yet he still pushed himself until he bled and nearly passed out more than once.

Even now, he’s overtaxing himself as he sets up additional defenses in the area around us. He doesn’t hesitate to throw money at the system shop, but unfortunately, nothing like a healing potion exists, and the other items don’t do any good.

Anything we try just doesn’t work. These burns are pretty similar to [Disintegration] in that they are almost impossible to heal, and the wounds close very slowly due to the girls' natural regeneration having been weakened.

Then there’s something entirely different wrong with Sophie. After a long time, Izzy finally lets go of Sophie and sits down. Her eyes are empty as she whispers these terrifying words.

“They did something to her mind, and I don’t know if I can put it back together.”

It gets hard for me to breathe, and my eyes grow blurry before I blink. A sense of lightheadedness hits me, and I have to sit down.

Min-Jae stares at Izzy as if he can’t believe what she just said, before he swears and grabs Nat’s shirt and shakes him, while Nat just lets it happen.

“You said you’d be stronger than anyone! You told me to follow you instead!” he screams, with a twisted expression on his face, “You were so confident!”

Nathaniel’s shirt tears a little, but Kim keeps shaking him when he gets no reaction.

"Why do you just stand here. You lost, you got beat, but don’t fucking give up now! Do something!"

"There is nothing I can do right now," Nathaniel answers with that controlled voice. "Nothing."

Kim screams in a burst of emotion I have never seen from him. He turns and swings his arm toward the rainforest in a wide, violent arc. A massive surge of telekinetic force crashes forward, ripping trees from their roots and sending them flying. The jungle reacts as if it had been struck by a giant, ancient trunks snap like brittle bones, and the ground tears open.

After hours of our friends just lying there like they could die at any moment, I can understand. If I didn’t have my skill, I would probably do the same, or even worse. But I can’t bring myself to do it now.

Then he starts hitting Nat’s chest and shaking.

There's nothing he can do either.

POV Nathaniel

I watch as Min-Jae shakes me. From here, he looks like he is about to cry. A cold part of me wonders if he is like this because he still has a crush on Tess, or more likely, because three of his friends are lying there nearly dead. Meanwhile, after all the confident words I ever spoke and all the effort I gave, when it truly mattered, none of it meant anything.

He continues to shake me, and I think.

I know I’m not the most talented person here. My only true strength lies in channeling large amounts of mana and primordial energy, and the effort I put into everything. I also realize that I will become stronger than I am now. I know the winner is the one still standing in the end. I know that those people will die by my hand sooner or later, and only my death will keep me from seeing it done.

Situations like what just happened in Beyond are something I have, to some extent, experienced many times before, and I’m confident I can come out on top again.

But it also feels so different now, even through the thick layer of [Focus] that keeps me distant and allows me to think logically.

“They won’t die,” I say, and in a way it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself as well.

Finally, the boy stops to take a breath, the young man I’ve come to see as a younger brother.

I take a step toward Izzy and make sure she meets my eyes. "Sophie can be saved," I say as I kneel in front of her and take one of her hands. "She wouldn't go down so easily. So please, check her shadow and see if Blackie is still in it."

I always knew her as a mentally strong girl. The one who’s supported us this whole time. It is safe to say that without Izzy, group 4 would be even more messed up than it already is, and probably nowhere as tightly bonded. If there is anyone who is the heart of this group, it is she.

“My abilities don’t work that way, Izzy, and I’m really sorry. But I promise I’ll try to help as much as I can.”

"Please… can you leave me alone?"

"I will."

As I walk away, I stop by Biscuit. And when I’m sure we’re far enough away, I ask, "Will you stay with her?"

This time, he doesn’t say anything, but before leaving, he pushes his head into my hand until I pet him.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Then, as he leaves, I sit down and once again strain my mind. After escaping Faora’s Mind Palace, it feels like it’s at its limit and screams for rest. Even the healing marks Lily left on me don’t help, but I’ve long known that healing the mind or brain is very different from closing wounds or regenerating limbs.

In addition to that, there are these burns that spread from the points of impact where Luan hit me. They heal very slowly, and they even slow down my natural regeneration. To push against them, I have to use a lot of thermal energy. Even then, the results are poor, not to mention the pain that using it and straining my mind causes.

So for now, I ignore these wounds. I welcome the pain and continue to scout the area around us, setting up more defenses, constantly using my senses to check on the other wounded members of our party. Yet there’s still so little I can do.

Faora. Luan. I think of these names and keep repeating them in my mind.

A few hours later, Lily is the first to wake up. Even though she was more damaged than Tess, her body is more durable, and her natural regeneration is far higher. With a loud gasp for air, she regains consciousness and lets out a painful groan, her eyes darting wildly.

It takes her a bit longer to piece things together. She searches for someone, her eyes spotting me and then scanning around until she sees both Tess and Sophie.

When Lily sees Sophie unmoving, something tightens in her face. Her breath catches, and for a moment she stares, frozen in panic.

But her determination takes over. She shifts, dragging her legs under her despite the pain.

She doesn’t even think about taking care of herself. Instead, she moves toward the others. She staggers and almost falls, only to be supported by Maya, who wastes no time telling her to be careful.

I also move closer and stand over Tess as Lily begins checking her wounds. Unlike Sophie, she is someone Lily can help.

Her [Disintegration] rises up, starting to clash against the remnants of the wounds caused by Luan. They resist, but Lily pushes harder, erasing the aftereffects and restoring Tess's body where she can.

Sweat beads on her forehead, a mix of effort and strain are evident in every breath she takes. Her hands tremble as she refuses to give in despite the toll it’s clearly taking on her. The burns, cuts, and internal ruptures on Tess begin to fade, although some deeper damage seems to be taking longer to respond.

She starts gasping for air when I coat my hand in oscillating mana and cut deep into my shoulder to remove my pale left arm, which I place in front of Lily. With the same hand, I summon golden flames to burn the flesh and heal it.

Down on her knees, Lily keeps looking at me. Even through all the pain, I activate my healing passive and let thermal energy seep through. Slowly, I start regrowing my left arm so I can cut it off again once it's restored.

Lily understands what I’m doing and nods. Grabbing my severed arm, she lets it disappear into [Sacrifice] and begins healing.

Then, for a while, she keeps pushing me to give her something to [Sacrifice] so she can continue. But in doing so, I also push her to keep healing, even in the state she's in. Maya tries to stop us, to get Lily to slow down, but I know she won’t. Over time, I’ve learned to respect her determination, and now I’ll make use of it, pushing her forward even though I know how much it hurts.

Lily does the same for me. When she looks up, there’s no fear, no pleading, no request for permission. Just a silent command. Again.

She waits for me to regrow pieces of my arm so she can use them to power herself and heal Tess. It takes hours, but once it’s done, Tess looks much better, even though she’s still unconscious.

Lily moves to Sophie, kneeling beside her, hesitant now. Her hands hovering above her, then touching her gently. But there are no injuries to heal. Just the silence of Sophie’s mind, refusing to return.

There is nothing I can do anymore. This isn’t something I’m good at. My abilities aren't suited for helping others. In most ways, they’ve been honed for the sole purpose of making me better at fighting and killing.

And that’s what I’ll do. There’s still a long road ahead, and I’m not where I need to be yet, but I will get there. Step by step. Without pretending I’m something I’m not.

There are debts that require more than screams and blood.

Chapter 636 - Solo

Another week later, both Tess and Lily seem to be doing better, with only the burns on their bodies as a reminder of what happened. Sophie remains in the same state she was in when we returned. There are no wounds anywhere on her body, but according to Izzy, her mind has been broken and scattered.

In some ways, it could be said that Sophie is dead, but it's not that simple. Sophie can't save herself, but she’s done something that might allow her sister to help.

Pieces of her mind are scattered in her brain, and then there’s Blackie, still clinging to her shadow, with a few more pieces. That construct, created long ago by a Champion, now akin to an artificial bond to Sophie, holds what Izzy thinks are the most important parts of her.

Then there’s something else. More than just memories or instructions, it feels like a fragment of Intent. A piece of guidance that could help, something Sophie must have put together when she was left with no other choice.

But even with all of this, Izzy can’t do anything at the moment. She tries hard and pushes herself constantly. She hasn’t slept or eaten in days and stays with her sister as much as possible, accompanied by Noodle and Biscuit, who quietly stay by her side.

And Izzy just keeps pushing herself more than I’ve ever seen before.

The image of her struggling is heartbreaking. She doesn’t know if there’s a time limit, if it’s even possible, or if she’s just clinging to delusional hope.

During that time, I can’t even count how many times I’ve felt tempted to enter Beyond by myself and likely die trying to kill those two. But every time, I hold myself back. Oh, how much I dislike it. And I feel like a coward somewhere in the back of my mind.

Min-Jae’s words still cut deep. That dark part of my mind, the one everyone has, keeps spiraling into those self justifying thoughts, the kind that come when you can’t sleep and start reflecting on your life and everything else, always in the cruelest of ways. It keeps reminding me of what Sophie did to me on the 1st floor. It keeps telling me Sophie would’ve thrown me to those two without a thought if it saved Izzy. It just keeps finding ways to make me feel better about myself.

It’s pathetic.

So I listen to it and continue to prepare, but at the same time, I grow more patient. I only have one life after all.

I'm not scared of death, but if I just run off and die, those two will survive. They will continue to live as if nothing happened, and, in a few decades, they might even forget what they’ve done or even about having met us on the first floor of Beyond in the first place.

How could I possibly allow something like that?

They will die, and I don’t care how it happens. If I’m strong enough by the time I meet them, I will do it with my own hands. If not, I will use any dirty tactic I can think of to make it happen.

Over the next week, I try to help Izzy as much as possible. We get the twins to help, and everyone with even the faintest hint of mental ability. And we keep trying.

Tess, despite her wounded state, holds herself together really well. A part of me thinks she just sees it as another obstacle to overcome. Another part of me knows Tess, while realistic, tends to be optimistic. It’s part of a more childish side of her, shaped by all the stories where the heroes always win out in the end.

She believes, even more than I do, that everything will be fine. The wounds she and Lily suffered will heal and become just faint memories, used only as fuel to grow stronger. And in the meantime, we’ll find a way to help Sophie.

Everyone seems to believe her more than me. She smiles, knows exactly what each person wants to hear, and delivers those words with a weight that makes them stick. It’s a little bit scary. Almost as if, by saying those things, she’s convincing herself, too. Maybe it’s not quite brainwashing, but a strengthening of her resolve?

Still, I can’t help but agree with her somewhat. We have Lily. We have Izzy, the twins, and their [Connection], and Tess is even working on something with [Declaration]. Even if it takes time, I believe we'll find a way to help Sophie, and this will just be another obstacle we've overcome.

Meanwhile, I notice everyone stepping up. We had other moments like this during the tutorial, especially with Hadwin on the 4th floor. This is just another reminder to never underestimate this place.

Izzy, who always trained and worked hard, is now pushing herself more than ever. Min-Jae, with all his potential, is stepping forward too. And Maya, who felt so lost while Tess was out, now moves to scout the forest alone, sometimes for days, to level and train, and oftentimes she finds herself joined by the twins.

Like that, seven more days pass, and there is no progress at all. Lily has to forcefully put Izzy to sleep at some point. The rest of us also clear the area, and I erase any apes that appear.

Even though more and more keep coming after each one is killed, I deal with the huge swarms and erase them by the hundreds.

Meanwhile, one of the three seals on the Ignition Heart is entirely and permanently gone, even though I haven’t been using thermal energy lately because I’ve been worried the fire might bring in monsters too powerful to face on a floor we still know so little about.

At the same time, I abuse my body further. Lissandra’s warning is long gone from my mind, and three more new constructs have been etched into my body. I'm sure it will make things difficult in the future, as they clash with my system-given traits, passives, body upgrades, and the small changes high-level skills are starting to make to my body. I've only just begun to notice them recently.

Still, even with all of that, I have three new constructs now. None of them is perfect, but as always, I'll modify them along the way. Each one is something I’ve thought about over time and planned to do eventually, though the timeline got pushed forward.

More than before, I realize these changes and the imbalance and interference they bring will either hurt me terribly or kill me sometime after the tutorial if I don’t put a stop to it. Strangely, that realization calms me down. As if the effect of shortening my life and risking this much makes it feel like I’m actually doing something.

That feeling is like running downhill on a steep slope, where you have to keep going faster and faster, even though it increases the risk, because stopping would make you crash hard.

I just need to keep improving and find a way to fix things faster than I'm breaking them.

The first of my new constructs is the Mental Frame, it exists to aid me with my ability to split my mind with [Focus]. It’s largely inspired by Logic Cores and my experimentations with [Foundation] and [Framework] in the Academy. It’s probably the least developed of the three, but I like its foundation. I’ve begun layering subroutines onto it, using my previous experience and feedback from focus splitting. It holds at the moment, but only for short bursts. I’m aiming for longer durations, where I can maintain multiple thought tracks at once without degradation. It really is very similar to a logic core, just built around my mind to automate certain tasks while I train my mind to do it without the help of the construct.

It isn’t perfect. After all, it’s just an imitation of a passive mixed with an active skill made by me. I’m sure it’s terribly lacking, even though I’ve been kicking around the idea for months. But at this point, I don’t care about the damage to my body, and I’ll continue to upgrade it as I go.

The second one is the Thought Maze Circuit. I’ve created it for a single goal: to improve my mental defenses by creating a sort of external maze that must be passed to reach my mind. It is also made of something akin to a Logic Core fused with part of my mind, now tied up to the construct to help keep it up and working.

The third one is the Thermal Flux Regulator. Similar to Mana Regulator, but mostly here in case I need to focus my concentration elsewhere instead of circulating thermal energy through my body, the way I circulate mana with Mana Cycling.

Construct compatibility remains a problem. Not a critical one yet, but the tension is building. My system traits are pushing back, if only slightly. The feeling is very subtle, mostly feedback resistance, and mana circulating slower through modified areas. I don’t try to fix it yet, and instead, I watch. Knowing the pattern is currently more important than rushing to patch it.

I’ve also started working on control. Not just raw power, but on the level of precision and efficiency, I use my mana and primordial energies with. I’ve been experimenting with channeling traces of thermal energy through isolated pathways, something akin to test runs. The Thermal Flux Regulator stabilizes most of it, and while it's meant to be temporary, I’ve already started working on Cycling to eventually make it obsolete. It’s just training wheels, after all. The goal is automation, promoting circulation without thought, more akin to muscle memory.

Later that night, it’s just me and Tess at the top of one of the huge trees. Even now, it’s still hot and humid outside, but at least the screeches of the apes sound a bit more distant from here. If I remember correctly, it’s Min-Jae dealing with them right now.

"I think you should go," she says, legs swinging as she sits with them hanging over the branch.

After leaning back, I look up at the sky and start swinging my legs too, in the same childish way. Not like I ever cared how it looks.

"I’ve been thinking the same," I answer. "For the next thirty days or so, and then I’ll return to check on you guys. Of course, we could also make a plan..."

Tess interrupts me. "No. Just go solo for a while, even if it's two months or longer. Lily spoke with Leticia and Jean during the tournament, and we have a way to try to get in contact with them. So if we go, we go with them instead."

"Oh," I let out, not knowing what else to say.

Looking to the left, I see Tess just nodding, then looking up at the sky again. I wonder what she sees with her [Farsight], and just how far she can really see.

"Got it. I’ll leave tomorrow," I say in the end.

"Just don’t get yourself killed," she says with a smile as a sudden gust of wind tosses her golden hair across her face.

"That goes for you guys, too."

The night feels quieter after that. Neither of us says much more.

Tess eventually leaves to get some rest. I stay a little longer, still sitting on that branch, watching the stars through the crowns of the trees. There’s something comforting about being this high up, almost like I’m standing at the edge of the world.

I pack light the next morning. Just enough food to last for a while, some items I’ve been experimenting with, a few books, and mana stones from the Academy that might be helpful. I don’t say goodbye to everyone, since not all of them are here. I just give a quiet nod to Lily, who still seems to be caught in a sour mood, a short wave to Maya as she returns from a hunt, and a glance at Izzy, still asleep beside Sophie.

Of course, Biscuit, as always, seems to know what I’m planning and sits there waiting for me. The fee for leaving is, of course, the rest of my dried meat. There’s this feeling he sends me, like if I truly asked, he’d come with me.

I think about it for a moment, and even before I say anything, he already knows. He licks my face, then hops down and waddles off toward where Izzy is sleeping.

Truly the best corgi of the 8th... no, the 9th floor.

I’m sure they’ll be fine without me for a while. They’ll probably be much stronger by the time I get back.

After walking a bit into the forest, I activate the token. The shift is immediate. Just one step, and I’m once again in the same safe zone. This time, there’s no one waiting to welcome me.

Without any reason to linger I immediately make my way outside.

Chapter 637 - Meeting spot

This time I don’t meet my handler. I just straight up appear next to the sphere. My best guess is that she either didn’t want to or wasn’t able to meet me. Part of me understands. It’s not likely that anything good would’ve come of it anyway.

Now that I’m here, my 30 days in Beyond are about to start. All the meetings I had planned with Leticia, and maybe Jean, are a forgone conclusion because of the 8th floor situation, when we were barred from coming here.

The safe area I just left still lingers in my mind, there was no mark of what happened here before. Almost as if everything that happened that day was just a product of my imagination.

Fully exiting the safe zone, I head deeper into the 1st floor, toward one of the larger safe zones, based on the information and maps I got during the tournament and my prior visits.

This floor´s quest is still just as dumb as always.

1st floor quest:

???

Rewards:

7-day Stay Token

???

It feels like its sole purpose is to push people to explore the floor and maybe share what they find. Handlers and Guilds seem important here, along with the dozens of outposts and safe zones you can visit to meet other Beyond attendees and locals, buy items, gather information, and so on.

I already know of three ways to clear this floor.

First, you can hunt for a rare reanimated lurker or monster. On rare occasions, they have a special crystal inside their body. That crystal acts like a set of coordinates, and with the right items, it can create a temporary entrance to the second floor. Sometimes, that entrance only allows one person through. Other times, it’s more. The crystal can be traded, however, and tends to be fairly expensive.

The second way is to find one of the hidden entrances to the second floor. These are well hidden and usually guarded by a powerful monster, something stronger than the lurkers, even the named ones. Even so, I still think it’s possible that there are very powerful lurkers. Maybe people from the 13th floor of the tutorial who managed to be assassinated on this floor just before they were sent back to their planet.

As for the monster guarding the portal to the 2nd floor, it usually takes hundreds of attendees to bring one down. Sometimes they don’t even try to kill it. They just distract it long enough to rush through the entrance.

These hidden entrances tend to shift and don’t stay in one place for long, maybe a few months at most. People are usually invited to raids like that, and often get through for free. Everyone understands the info was shared so they could help act as a distraction for the monster.

I doubt those monsters are Champion rank, but they’re probably over level 400. I'm not entirely sure. I have a hard time estimating the power levels of monsters. Sometimes, it's possible to defeat a monster that's 100 levels higher because, even though it has incredible stats and abilities, it lacks intelligence. It doesn't use those abilities optimally or factor them into their tactics all that effectively.

I start to jog, weaving between pillars and scanning the area to keep my mind busy.

The average attendee on the 1st floor isn’t very high level, and I’d say I’m on the stronger end. So maybe these raid monsters happen to be somewhere around Vice Director level, or possibly higher. I’m sure she could, with some preparation, take on dozens of people just entering Beyond.

The third option to enter the 2nd floor is to head toward the center of the 1st floor. Something’s hidden there that causes the reanimation of monsters and attendees, turning them into lurkers. No one has made it there in the past few hundred years. That includes people from the lower floors of the Beyond dungeon and even attendees in their 5th year of the tutorial, about to return to their planet.

I also believe that whatever is at the very center of this floor is its main quest, which is currently marked only as ???.

On the edge of my scan, I catch a presence, and as expected, monsters start appearing soon enough. Not lurkers, though, this zone seems to be free of them. These are the skeletons of ancient monsters, long dead, maybe even entities that were killed by the first attendees or the Rulers themselves.

Their bones grind and shift as they move. Each one is unique. A patchwork of skeletons, cobbled together and moving in a jerky, clumsy manner. Some have fused limbs. Others have too many, with bones hanging uselessly. Many have multiple heads or mouths. Some even have mouths where their chests should be. Like something had thrown them together in a rush.

[Reanimated Beast - lvl 316]

[Reanimated Remnant - lvl 331]

[Reanimated Beast - lvl 346]

[Reanimated Beast - lvl 334]

[Reanimated Beast - lvl 326]

Their levels don’t worry me, and I have fought them before, so I know what to expect.

The first lance fires ahead.

[You have defeated Reanimated Beast - lvl 346]

I land and use Wraith Dance to reposition, dodging a barrage of attacks. I rise again and fly around a massive stone pillar stretching to the ceiling of this enormous, cave-like expanse that comprises the 1st floor of the Beyond dungeon. More projectiles follow, always just a moment too late, slamming into the stone.

Another [Empyrean Lance], another monster down.

Armor surrounds my body as I teleport along the line I created. The moment I appear, I launch myself forward and crash directly into another monster. It moves quickly, lashing out with the dangerous, sharp bones on its forearms, attempting to pierce through my armor. But I grab them with my hands and pull to the sides, powering myself further with kinetic energy.

The skeletal monster is torn into two pieces, each still moving and trying to kill me. A blast of thermal energy melts the surface of the bones, and I push further, redirecting some of the cycling heat into the area around me until the heat causes the bones to melt and drip like wax.

The bone projectiles that try to pierce me from behind meet the same fate, and I spot the attacker about half a mile away. I push further and finish off the monster I'm holding.

[You have defeated Reanimated Remnant - lvl 331]

My armor disappears, and I move again.

One Wraith Dance. Two. Three.

I use them quickly, straining my body with the pace of my movement, pushing myself as I push each leap to cover as much space as possible, a method I have been experimenting with for a while.

At the last moment, armor forms around my body again, and I slam into the Remnant just as it’s about to move and reposition, and it seems to be caught off guard by my speed.

With a burst of kinetic energy flowing through me, I tear it apart. I stomp on the pieces and release a blast of kinetic energy that sends small earthquakes through the area, and debris flying into the air.

[You have defeated Reanimated Beast - lvl 334]

Before the debris and dust even settle, I charge out from the epicenter and rush toward another monster.

A day later, I’m sitting on a small terrace-like platform of rock jutting out from one of the humongous pillars. The first floor stretches ahead of me as I take a bite of a protein bar and sip on a sugar-free energy drink I bought during the tournament. The guy asked for an upper rare item in exchange for just a few bars and cans.

Quickly, I redirect my attention back to the area, watching a movement in the distance that turns out to be the wind knocking over a heavily scorched tree. I observe it for a while longer and cycle through my other senses, just in case it was meant to be a distraction.

Only then do I return to entertaining my own thoughts, while another part of my mind continues scanning the area and another modifies the Restrictive Training Emblem etched over my heart. I’m trying to make it more, well, restrictive, to increase my physical stats even further. I’ve kept that emblem active since before I left the ninth floor.

As for the items and their value, some people with an economics background tried to estimate the worth of each rarity tier during the tournament. Of course, it was all very rough estimates. An upper epic weapon, of the type that makes the difference between life and death, might be far more valuable to someone than a low arcane weapon they can't even use properly.

The current consensus in Earth’s tutorial is that a new Champion typically has access to upper arcane items and often something from the next tier as well. Mid arcane items are considered a lucky find for even someone around level 400, while low arcane items are still highly valuable for anyone below that level.

That’s all, assuming the system hasn’t nerfed the items during the tutorial phase, so attendees don’t get a hold of overpowered gear with the potential to trivialize the challenge.

There are a few cases that might support this theory. Take the Sword of Aeons, for example. It was considered one of the best items in Eladore. Even after it broke and was classified as a damaged arcane-grade item, but I refuse to believe something of that caliber could drop down to such a low degree of rarity. It had to be at least upper arcane or even a low-grade item from the next tier.

It’s also possible that the nerfs are stronger on the early floors and only grow more relaxed as time goes on.

Even so, as of now, mid arcane items are estimated to have values in the billions of dollars. Billions, with a B. Yeah.

I don’t even know what’s happening anymore.

But I’ve heard people discussing the value based on more than just the rarity. They consider how usable the items are for the sort of regular people who might have that kind of money. I can imagine a normal or low leveled person dying just from getting too close to certain arcane items.

Some even argue that the real market won’t be for the items themselves but for the privilege of hiring the attendees who own them.

All of that, of course, only works if everything doesn’t go entirely to hell before we return to Earth. If the Pairing is already in progress, things might already be shifting. So, anyone saying that an upper rare item is worth half a million and an upper epic is in the tens of millions might just be talking nonsense.

Still, it’s a fun thought.

I take the last sip from the can and throw it to the ground, littering the first floor of the Beyond. I watch as the now-empty can slowly sails through the air, twisting before it hits the pillar, bounces off, and continues falling.

If those wannabe economists are right, then each can I bought for an upper rare item is worth about fifty thousand dollars. One side of this trade got seriously scammed.

After looking at the can one last time, I leave my spot. I stretch a line forward and teleport along it, following up with Wraith Dance a few times. I cover a few miles before the can even hit the ground.

Later that day, I enter the safe zone I was looking for. It turns out to be carved into one of the massive pillars, forming a perfect cube-shaped space filled with hundreds of smaller buildings made mostly of wood. The entire place is softly lit by a variety of moss that emits a faint green glow.

It’s surprisingly empty when I arrive. When I ask one of the locals if it’s always like this, he tells me that most of the people here have made their way to the gathering space for an expedition. Apparently, they discovered a portal to the second floor, guarded by a powerful monster.

After paying him in shards, he gives me a bit more information.

He tells me where the expedition group is gathering and that they plan to leave for the portal in three days.

Apparently, most Beyonders just head to the meeting spot in the safe zone closest to their target, return to their tutorial worlds, and re-enter at the scheduled time to avoid wasting their stay tokens.

The date of this expedition has been known for two weeks now, which has allowed more people to prepare and gather.

I check the map he shows me, compare it to the area I’ve already passed, and estimate that I’ll only need about a day to reach it, even if I get held up by monsters. I make sure to transfer the timing into my personal countdown so I don’t mess it up.

After a quick look around the safe zone, I head back out to train and level up before making my way to the meeting spot.

Chapter 638 - Beyond Diplomacy

POV Duncan

It’s been months since I last saw Noname, and just like every other time I’ve met him, he looks even stronger now.

I watch him walking alone between the groups gathered for the raid. Unlike many of them, he has no visibly active skills, and I can’t sense any mana radiating from his body. There's even less of it now than before.

He’s wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and some weird pants that I guess must be from his world, rather than the tutorial. He has no weapon, no armor, or any items I can see. Just a small bag slung over his back.

Like a wild animal, he almost seems to sense my gaze, and he turns, and when our eyes meet, I can’t help but shudder.

What a terrifying expression.

But maybe it was just a play of the shadows, because in the next moment it’s gone. His face takes on that usual blank expression. He even waves and takes a step in my direction. And then his figure disappears, and the next second, he’s standing next to me, finishing the step.

“Hey, Duncan. The more time passes, the deeper into the first floor I find you.”

“It’s partially thanks to you, you know. I made plenty of shards from our fishing expedition last time, and got some additional certifications that allowed me to take better paying jobs.”

Noname shrugs. “You worked for it, so you only have yourself to thank. Are you helping the attendees with the raid?”

“Yes. A few of the smaller groups joined forces and hired me as well. In exchange, I offer information, contacts, and coordinate with other Locals in the expedition.”

He looks around for a bit, taking it all in. He doesn’t rush, and for a moment, a flash of gold flickers in his eyes. Then he nods slowly, like whatever he’s seen has confirmed something in his mind. I follow his gaze, trying to guess what he could be seeing, but it’s impossible to tell.

Then he turns back to me. “Looks more organized than I expected.”

“It’s getting better,” I say. “Still a mess in some ways, but people are trying.”

“How many attendees?” he asks.

I take a moment to think. “Probably just over 100? Out of them, probably about 5 Locals. Mostly people from the first floor, but we’ve gotten a few helpers from the second. With these numbers, it should be doable. Based on what the other Local Guides are saying, I expect around 10-30% will die. The rest should pass to the second floor.”

“That´s a lot. Are they not going to kill the guardian monster?”

“It is always like that with the ones we don’t have information on. Some might try to kill it, but without someone to counter its skillset and a fair bit of cooperation, it usually ends badly. This one's new, too. No records, no known abilities. If they’re unlucky, everyone here could die.”

As always, I try to catch the small gestures he doesn’t realize he’s making. When I mention everyone might die, he lifts an eyebrow slightly.

His next question doesn’t surprise me. Have the other attendees been asking similar questions?

“You’re not going to fight?”

I shake my head. “I’m not a fighter, and I have a family to care for. It’s similar for the other guides. We’ll lead you to the place, but when we get too close, we split and leave with our guards.”

“Sounds reasonable. By the way, have you heard of a pair of attendees named Luan and Faora?” Noname asks.

These names sound familiar, and I try to recall anything I might have seen in the rankings or heard from other Locals. Nothing comes to mind.

“I don’t know them, sorry. Are they friends of yours?” I ask him.

And for the first time since I’ve known Noname, he smiles. It’s the most beautiful and friendly expression I’ve ever seen on his face. Not the usual cold or blank expression, but a real smile.

It’s warm, honest, and somehow makes him look completely different. All the coldness in his face disappears, and for a second, he looks genuinely kind. I’m not the only one who notices. A couple of nearby female attendees glance over and do a double take, clearly unable to take their eyes off him.

It slowly disappears from his face, but I can still see the remains of that smile in his eyes. It even lingers on his lips before slowly fading.

“I owe them quite a lot. In some ways, the bond we have feels even stronger than friendship. But don’t worry about it, Duncan. Anyway, can you tell me a bit about the leaders of this raid?”

I nod quickly but put on my best trade smile before answering. “Information like that…”

“How many shards?” he interrupts without missing a beat.

“For you, just one thousand! Always a pleasure doing business with you!”

POV Nathaniel

I watch Duncan leave. He’s a good man. Even though he might seem a little too shard-hungry, he’s always fair, even when he could easily ask for more. The value he offers is fair, too. It’s like anything else, why should he share information for free, information he must have paid for, risked his life for, or invested his time to acquire?

So I reach out with my mana and remove a tracking mark someone placed on his body, and another hidden on the huge bag on his back. The bag contains a number of items of decent value.

Both marks also have an effect attached to them that would’ve triggered paralysis and caused a lot of pain. They’re a really nasty piece of work. It’s obvious they weren’t placed out of concern for Duncan’s safety, and both were pretty well hidden. I don't think more than a few people in this group of 100 would have been able to notice it.

I activate [Eclipse] and overpower the connection linking one of the marks to a certain person, invade it, and then follow the trail to its source.

Passing between dozens of smaller attendee groups, I reach a group of three at the edge of the camp. Three men sit around a floating blue fireball, just like so many of the others, waiting for the raid to begin.

They're all human, and I wonder what their plan is. Maybe they’re all part of the guard detail that will escort the guides to the safe zone once we’re close? Or is it just one of them?

“Hey,” I greet as I enter their small camp.

Aside from a few blank looks, they give no response. The man whose marks I erased hasn’t even noticed the connection’s been cut. I made sure to be subtle when I did it, but it’s still disappointing.

I try to estimate which floor of the tutorial they might be on without aggressively using probes. The best clue is a dagger that reminds me of the kind the lumorans liked to use on the seventh floor.

“We’re not looking for members,” one of them says.

Even as he speaks, I notice all three of them raise their defenses. It’s clear in the movement of their mana and the vibration in their bodies as they tense up their muscles.

“What was that mark you placed on Duncan for?” I ask, "Attacking a Local is still off-limits. That much, I know."

The man who spoke flicks a glance at his companions. It’s a practiced, wordless exchange. The air tightens with tension. The kind that usually ends with blood.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says. His voice is steady, but his mana curls defensively across his chest, forming a subtle barrier. One of the others begins to slowly shift his position, widening his stance just enough to give him room to draw his weapon.

“That's a really shitty lie,” I say, stepping closer.

They attack immediately after, even surprising me with such a decisive reaction.

I step aside, and the blue fireball they had been sitting around roars into a stream of flames that explodes in my direction. The heat I sense from it is intense. The stream is focused, with white flames shifting inside it.

But it's almost too easy to take control of it with [Redistribution]. The blue flame swerves to the side, twists around me in a circle, and gradually takes on a golden hue.

It all happens in barely a second. Before the man who cast it can launch another attack, I compress the flames surrounding me. Then a single burst of golden fire shoots forward in a laser thin beam, no thicker than my finger.

Even though one of them manages to create a barrier just in time, it activates for only a moment before the flame burns through with ease. I move in a slashing motion, and the beam pierces another barrier surrounding the man who tried to use his flames against me. It cleanly severs his arm and slices through the huge boulder behind him. For a moment, the stone remains still, then half of it slides away in a smooth, silent motion before thudding to the ground.

Before I can focus on the next attacker, I notice the fire mage´s wound closing. Steam rises around it as blue flames coat the area, forming themselves into the shape of a new arm in an instant.

Another man charges in. Mana surrounds his body, forming a glowing suit of armor. His movements are wild, like an animal’s, and impressively fast. He comes at me from the side. Even then, I don't move and simply track the trajectory of his punch with my eyes.

Just before it lands, I activate [Eclipse] in a short, powerful burst that drains the color from the world. For this level of mana armor, I don't even need to activate my eyes.

His armor vanishes instantly, and his fist lands on my cheek with zero force. The kinetic energy of the attack is gone, absorbed entirely by me.

Our eyes meet.

I swing my hand in a backhand slap, redirecting the stored energy and adding a touch of my own. I watch the swirling energy inside me with interest as my hand moves toward his face. It's likely more than enough to kill him on the spot. A part of me really wants to do it. What these three were likely planning reminds me too much of what happened to us not long ago. But that part of me is buried deep. What I feel now isn’t even proper anger. That’s reserved for someone else.

Even though the consequences of killing him and the trouble it might cause are minimal, I decide not to risk it.

I pull back a bit of the kinetic energy, and instead of his head bursting open, his body is flung through the air like a broken doll. As he collapses to the ground, I use Pulser Stance and move in a disjointed rhythm, dodging explosions of blue flame from the fire mage.

I reach the collapsed man, who is already getting up, and deliver a kick to his chest. It breaks a few of his ribs and sends him flying again.

Even then, my leg is nearly torn apart by the kick. At the last second, he set up a nasty barrier that did a fair amount of damage.

Blue flames from the fire mage halt in the air around me, but I ignore them while I glance toward the man I just kicked, and who is finally unconscious. Then I look down at my leg, now nearly stripped of flesh.

I shrug. The thermal energy I had been circulating combusts under my skin and fuels my passive. The wound heals in a couple of heartbeats, and I turn to the fire mage. Even now, I continue to ignore the third man, who from the start has been trying to disrupt my control over my mana. He also seems to be preparing some large-scale mana-based attack.

Wraith Dance takes me to the fire mage. I grab his remaining arm to pull him off balance, but to my surprise, it tears away. His physical stats and body reinforcement are weaker than I’d expected.

When I look at him, confused by the state of his body, he opens his mouth, and from it, erupts a blue flame, exploding toward my head. This one is much hotter than anything he's done before. Before I can properly adjust my [Redistribution], the flame strips the skin and flesh clean off my face, leaving only the skull and the barrier around my brain that I maintain constantly.

Even my eyes are gone, but I switch to tracking his heartbeat and the vibrations his body causes. I absorb the flames completely and turn to face him. I sense his heartbeat speed up as he takes a step back. Flames combust within my body, and my skin begins to regrow from the neck up, covering my face again before flames ignite beneath the surface to finish the healing.

I realize I've been careless. Still, I find it hard to really worry about it. Instead of cursing myself, I begin preparing measures to prevent this from happening again.

My eyes regenerate, and I look at the fire mage still frozen in my grasp, held as I absorb the kinetic energy from his movements. Once more, I release a laser-like stream of flames and cut off both his legs before turning to the third man.

Above his head spins a pale blue halo, with an orb at its center shifting between pale blue, dark blue, and purple.

He shouts something about how I should stop if I don’t want everyone here to die. Before he finishes his sentence, I appear in front of him and kick him away while using my mana to hold the halo and orb in place.

The frequency of the orb´s vibrations increases, and it pulses wildly in a steady rhythm. A high-pitched noise surrounds the area. Dust and debris lift themselves into the air as the air itself begins to shake.

I lean in closer to observe the orb. The halo fractures, causing the orb to spin faster and glow brighter.

Some nearby people from the expedition build a quick array around me and add barriers to contain the explosion.

My Mana Wavelength Iris activates, and I stare deep into the orb.

Just before it explodes, I reach toward it with [Eclipse] and take control. I overpower and suffocate it. The orb halts, then dissolves like a ball of sand. All the mana trapped inside falls to the ground, cascading in waterfalls of pale blue particles.

I glance at the surrounding barriers and array. I take a few steps forward and fluctuate the mana around me, passing through them as if they didn’t exist. After a few more steps, I make my way over to the man who created the orb. He’s already surrounded by others drawn here by the clash. He stares up at me from the ground, clutching the wound he got when I kicked him away.

A high-pitched sound rises around me. Two short bursts of kinetic energy pierce his defenses and explode both of his legs.

While he screams, I notice a Local Guide nearby and call out, “They placed some pretty nasty marks on Duncan. There are two on you as well, and at least one more Local Guide.”

Without saying anything more, I walk away.

Chapter 639 - Harvester

Most of the people here are C rank, same as me. Whenever a raid party, expedition, or whatever they’re calling it is put together, rank is one of the things they check. D ranks are straight-up rejected, even though it's fairly rare for someone of that rank to get this deep.

The color for the C rank identification emblem is Ivory White. So far, I haven't seen anyone with the Royal Blue of B rank.

As our group of over 100 attendees moves through the first floor of Beyond's dungeon, part of me wonders what ranks Faora and Luan are. If they truly have reached the 13th floor of the tutorial, then that should mean they’re probably at least rank A.

I don't think they were S-rank, definitely not Faora. She was strong and certainly skilled, and her mental abilities were undoubtedly useful, but she still felt lacking to me. I've met a number of people with the Pride subclass, for example, Jean’s pride, though he himself is technically weaker, felt much stronger. Her pride just seemed a bit too… brittle.

Plus, from what I've heard, there usually tends to be only around 10 people at any given time with an S rank in the entirety of Beyond. Out of hundreds of thousands of people from Hell difficulty and tens of thousands in Beyond, the fact that only 10 of them ever reach S rank is insane in its own way.

Obviously, there are levels within each rank. It's nothing official, but there tends to be a huge difference between a fresh B rank and one close to turning into an A rank. But I gave up trying to classify people's power levels that way a long time ago. There are just too many factors to consider and too many variables that can change the outcome.

Our group moves deeper into the 1st floor, and once again, the monsters start attacking us. I move into position and use ranged attacks to bombard the skeletal creatures and deflect the strikes being thrown at us.

While we’re not perfectly coordinated, our sheer numbers are enough to safely deal with smaller groups of monsters that move around here. Everyone knows our estimated time of arrival near where the portal was spotted, so as that time gets closer, the mood shifts.

The tension that has been there since the start grows tighter. The weak, almost nonexistent trust built on the simplicity of a shared goal is starting to show us just how fake it always was. Just a bit more, and everyone will become the same sort of sacrificial lamb. The others are willing to throw people at the monster just to slow it down and reach the next floor.

Even if the monster turns out to be weaker, everyone will pile on it, and the survivors might just fight over the possible loot.

But I don't think I would have it any other way. It's weirdly comforting as it is now.

The area around us starts to change slowly. We pass over a small range of mountains and move through the dozens of valleys winding between them, all following the one local who knows the way. There are no breaks, and I don't think there will be any. People here are high enough level to push on like this for days without sleep or food, and that is exactly what we do.

The longer this goes on, the more I appreciate the old Local who’s leading us. Not once does he use a map or any kind of sensory skill. He just guides us from memory until the point where he stops. And even then, he doesn't hesitate for too long. He pauses only when there's a split in the terrain, like he’s taking a moment to recalibrate his internal compass. Then he moves again, always sure, always steady.

Later, I watch from a distance as he talks to the temporary leader of the expedition. Then, followed by the other locals and a few attendees acting as guards, they head back the way we came.

As their group passes by me, Duncan stops by for a few seconds and smiles, “Good luck. I’ll see you later.”

I nod in acknowledgment and follow our group, which now moves at a slower pace. Even now, no one uses wide range scans or tries to fly high enough into the air to scout ahead.

A scant ten minutes later, we climb to the top of one of the mountains and see the valley below, completely barren. Its sides and the surrounding mountains are scorched and cracked, filled with craters.

Two pillars are carved from the stone of the mountain, with a simple wooden door standing between them. A long pathway leads to the door, made of worn cobblestone with bits of grass growing through the cracks.

And in front of that door stands:

[Reanimated Harvester - lvl ???]

A twisted humanoid skeletal creature with no lower half, dragging itself with its long, uneven bone arms. Its spine and the bones beneath its rib cage dig into the ground as it pulls itself around. All over the valley and into the mountains, there are hundreds of ditches carved by its passing.

The monster itself is as big as a multi-story building, even without its lower half. Its head is skeletal like the rest of it, but the skull is unlike anything I’ve seen. It is humanoid, but there are no openings for eyes or ears. The surface is smooth, only leaving a few small openings where the nose and mouth should be.

And then there are the remains of what I guess would have to be a previous expedition. Dozens, possibly over a hundred, bodies litter the area near the portal. There is no way they all died in just that small place, so the only logical conclusion I come to is that the Harvester killed them and gathered them there.

It's becoming clear that we are not the first group to attempt this route to the second floor.

They could easily have numbered more than a hundred people, and just not left enough of their bodies behind for us to recognize. It's hard to estimate how long they’ve lain there. With our high levels, our bodies don’t rot all that quickly, and I’ve long since learned that for some people with high Constitution, it might take years for the process to start. It is yet another reminder that maybe we really do stop being anything that could be recognized as human.

Of course, there are still monsters above monsters, like a certain Absolute Healer from the third floor. After thousands of years, she looked like she’d just fallen asleep, and even in death, the processes continuing in her body were enough to destroy the world.

I filter out these thoughts and listen to the conversation that erupts between the participants of this raid. Unsurprisingly, everyone is blaming everyone else. I mean, seeing those bodies lying around, is it really all that unreasonable to think that some of us might have been members of the previous expedition who survived only to bring more sacrificial lambs to slow down the Harvester while they make another attempt to enter the second floor.

Or maybe they discovered a weakness during the previous raid. They might be counting on this group to weaken it and slow it down. That way, they can exploit the monster’s weakness, finish it off, gather the items already on the ground, and reach the second floor. Letting most of the people from this raid die would be the most optimal solution as well, allowing for a bigger share of the already existing loot and the additional loot from the people currently here.

At the same time, it is also obvious that there is no way the expedition will just be canceled after discovering this, and we will not simply head back. No, most of the people here are cocky enough to believe they can survive and triumph over the others.

I watch as, unsurprisingly, a few attendees begin moving away from the larger groups that have gathered to argue. These are secondary members of groups, trying to make diplomatic moves and join multiple groups in defense against the others.

A few of them even reach me, but I completely ignore them and continue to observe the raid monster. After a few attempts, they give up and leave.

Someone in the back whispers a theory that the monster may be using the bodies for energy or as a medium for some skill. Another suggests it might be feeding off them slowly, draining something from them over time.

One of the more aggressive factions tries to start a vote: who fights, who distracts, who pushes toward the door. It’s a joke. Half the people ignore it, already beginning to form their own alliances, speaking in hushed voices, or exchanging dark looks.

Then someone laughs. A dry, joyless sound. It comes from a tall man in a patched brown cloak, standing at the edge of the group.

He points at the monster with one hand and says, “It’s just bones. Big ones, yeah, but bones. Out of all the guardians I’ve heard about, this must be one of the weaker ones.”

I almost admire the attempt. The stupidity. Or maybe it’s simple bravado. Or maybe it’s just plain greed.

Even after all of this, preparations slowly begin, but there’s no clear command, no single voice giving orders. Just scattered murmurs and movement. A few begin drawing the lines of various inscriptions in the dirt with mana-conductive paint, pacing out distances, double-checking their items. Dozens of skills are used, and the mana signatures of over a hundred people begin to blend into one.

At this point, there is no way we haven’t been noticed, but the Harvester still doesn’t react.

The more organized groups start forming their own clusters, separating from the rest of the crowd. Some individuals keep themselves isolated, lingering near the back or choosing high ground. And everyone watches everyone else, making sure each person moves to attack and ensuring that there are no freeloaders.

There is a disadvantage to going in for a melee, but it also puts you closer to the portal. I, however, keep myself at mid-range. Not too close and not too far, it’s the space I’m most comfortable in, where I can rush into close combat or pull back as needed.

The Harvester remains still.

I shift the movement of my mana, place my last few marks, and prepare to activate the structures I’ve created in the back of my mind.

Conversation almost grinds to a halt, and only a few short questions remain, mostly revolving around logistical issues. I filter even these out. The sounds around me fall into silence. The colors lose some of their intensity, and mana rages just below my skin.

Someone begins a countdown that echoes through the area. It isn’t planned, but everyone seems to accept it and starts getting ready.

"Five."

"Four."

Armor surrounds me, more durable than I usually bother with, skin-tight so it doesn’t hinder my movements. Even now, my subclass influences its shape, giving it that rough, elegant, and practical beauty.

"Three."

The colors around me drain further as [Eclipse] activates, wrapping me in a bubble where only mana retains its color.

"Two."

My Mana Wavelength Iris activates, locking onto the monster, which even now stands still, no longer dragging itself around. Its head slowly turns toward the largest cluster of people, and it lifts its skeletal arms.

"One!" the man shouts.

Dozens of people move. Attacks activate and fly at the monster. Some are surrounded by barriers, domains, or armor and move slowly, each step cracking the ground beneath them. Others are fast, barely more than a blur as they rush downhill, covering great distances in the blink of an eye.

Projectiles rain down. Mana, primordial energies, and enchanted items flood the space with death.

Finally, the Harvester moves and raises one of its arms into the air. Purple mana begins to seep out around it, slowly forming the shape of a strung bow. Its other arm shapes five arrows from the same mana and sets them in place.

Then, a pulse explodes with the monster at the center. It touches everyone in the area and leaves a mark on each one of us.

As the attacks start clashing against the Harvester, it releases the arrows into the sky. Trails of purple light remain in their trajectory. They twist midair like whips and dive downward.

These arrows, each one the size of a smaller tree trunk, pierce through people like they’re made of paper. They track their targets like living things. They punch clean holes through mountains and catch even the fastest runners.

And as those arrows grind into nothing after killing half the expedition, the Harvester calmly nocks and releases five more, completely untouched by the barrage of attacks clashing against that bony body.

I watch as one arrow heads toward me and don’t even attempt to block it. My eyes stay locked on it as I finally read the mark placed on me. My skills activate one after another as I unwind the mark, break it down to nothing, and dissolve it.

I shift my footing, then use a boost to move aside as the arrow tears past me, twists midair, and slams into another attendee to my left.

For a moment longer, I observe how my mana clashes against the Harvester’s. I watch how it reacts to my skill and make note of just how useless my tricolored orbs are. Even the damage from [Empyrean Lance] barely registers.

Sensing it start to release another pulse to mark everyone all over again, I use one of my stored marks to teleport myself away, back to the top of the mountain where I had stood before. From there, I watch the Harvester send out a few more pulses, but none reach this far.

The bow and arrows disappear from its hands. Then it begins dragging itself forward with those bone limbs again, gathering what remains of the attackers around the door.

Now more than ever, it looks like it’s setting out bait.

Giving it one last glance, I turn away and walk toward where the survivors have gathered.

Only nine of us remain out of over a hundred.

That clash didn’t even last a few seconds.

Chapter 640 - Mana Boy

In the small surviving group, there are no healers. Once again, it shows just how rare they are. But beyond the lack of healers, everyone here seems to have some weaker way to regenerate their wounds, whether it’s passive, a trait, maybe an active skill that allows for a weak form of self-healing, or an item with even weaker healing effects. I once had an epic sword back on the 4th floor that could do that.

But the stronger you are, the higher your physical stats and the more body upgrades you’ve gone through, the more useless items like that become. They just aren’t powerful enough to regenerate the body of someone at that level.

While the others argue and try to heal, I watch the Harvester from atop the mountain. It’s back near the portal, dragging its body with its two arms as it moves around to gather the corpses.

Now, combined with the earlier expedition that discovered it, there are a lot of items lying around. I’d bet many are damaged low arcane, or even straight up low arcane.

I glance back at the surviving members and think.

Do I really have enough information to kill the Harvester on my own? Should I try to convince them, or force them to attack it again so I can gather more info?

Or maybe I just can’t defeat it right now and should focus instead on entering the 2nd floor. It is something I think I could have done during the clash, but I didn’t take the opportunity when it presented itself.

All because I believe my skillset could let me kill this thing, even though it’s a much higher level than me. Even now, years into the tutorial, I still strongly believe that if a person has the right set of skills, traits, and passives, they should be able to defeat someone far stronger, even someone who should be able to kill them in the blink of an eye.

Let’s say Tacita meets someone with weak physical stats and poor perception. Even assuming that person was 100 levels higher, if they grew too fast and didn’t work on their perception, she could easily kill them.

Or Jean facing someone who relies on mana. Someone with a mana regeneration attribute upgrade who uses endless barrages of weaker mana-based attacks. With his trait strengthened, Jean could be nearly unkillable in that scenario.

And those are just examples that come to mind.

Simply put, this is a game of rock, paper, scissors, not just a straightforward difference in power levels.

I shift my focus back to the conversation as I hear something interesting.

“We should try it one more time,” says the man who was most involved in organizing this. I remember him from the first clash. A ranged, sneaky type, using a fancy bow, I’m sure must be arcane, and arrows that are powerful despite being hard to notice.

“Are you crazy? That thing wrecked us when we attacked it with over 100 people, and now you want to kill it with just eight?” the vyssari man hisses at him.

Someone snorts from the side, a velnar with a huge hammer, clad in full armor. “How did someone like you even get to Beyond? The weak ones died, along with the impatient ones who attempted this too early. Now we know more about the monster, so we can prepare.”

“Or we could just sell that information. It would go for tens of thousands of shards if we sold it to the right guild,” the vyssari counters, ignoring the insult.

The man with the bow starts again. “As my tall friend said, we know more about the Harvester now, and I believe we can kill it with enough preparation. Of course, that doesn’t mean some of us won’t die. But if you were scared of that, you should’ve switched to Hard difficulty while you could, or given up your Beyond spot to someone else from your tutorial.”

“Or,” the vyssari replies, “and listen carefully, both of you, my brave human friend and tall velnar friend, we could return, sell the information, find some more Locals, and lead another expedition with what we’ve learned. All of us could survive that way.”

As with the other members of his race, he’s very short and mostly human-like, except for his scaly legs. I think I saw him using mostly earth-based attacks during the fight. Huge stone spikes and arms doing everything they could to slow the Harvester.

“Damn, it almost sounds like you were part of the expedition that got wiped out before us, and now you're thinking about putting together a third one just to get more loot,” the velnar with the hammer says, smiling brightly as he stares down the vyssari, “We can kill the Harvester ourselves and split all the salvageable loot. Close to 200 people’s worth of items should be enough. I remember a woman with an arcane shield who got her head blown off. I want that shield. I bet you could find something for yourself, too.”

Someone off to the side laughs. “I say we share the portal’s location with more people, without the other information. Then we wait for them to die, deal with the Harvester, and take the items.”

I can see that the vyssari is still interested in that one, but the velnar and the human archer are contemplating too.

A few don’t like the idea, but no one says anything. I stay quiet too, but I continue preparing a new structure in my mind.

“Hey, creepy mana boy, what do you think?” I hear the velnar say, and only after a moment do I realize he’s talking to me.

I look away from the Harvester and meet the velnar’s gaze. I keep looking until he breaks eye contact, then turn away so he doesn’t bother me any further.

That human archer talks again, "We could gather another expedition if you want to wait another few weeks, assuming you’re still too scared. As for me, just killing the Harvester and taking the items on the ground is enough. Honestly, I'm fine with just heading to the second floor. I'm sick of this one. If you’re part of the greed subclass and can’t control yourself, maybe you should just screw off right now."

These words piss off the vyssari man. I can sense it from his heartbeat.

The archer continues, even though he possibly noticed it as well, "There are eight of us here. Each of us was able to get rid of that mark or avoided having it placed on them in the first place. Just work on a way to do it again, and the danger drops a lot. Surely there will be more skills for the monster to throw at us, but you would be dumb not to expect it."

He looks around and smiles. "I'm sure some of you have noticed this: our bony friend's senses are mana-based, and the only part of its body it protected from the attacks was its head."

The feylith woman with the crown that looks like it's made of water floating over her head snorts from the side, "We also have noticed how little damage we dealt to it. That man you called mana boy probably did the most damage with his Empyrean skill."

I turn around and look at her, to which she shrugs and asks, "Can you make a stronger one?"

"Yup," I answer.

"But if you tried, there is a high chance the Harvester would sense it and focus on you?" she asks.

"It’s likely. When it uses that pulse to mark people, those marks were placed on the people who were radiating the most mana first. The arrows also targeted the people who either used the most mana after that or caused the most damage first."

My answer excites the archer. "Exactly! So, mana boy, why don’t you draw its attention? You can remove the mark quickly enough to dodge the arrows while we close in to kill it. This time, I’ll make sure to put an arrow right through its head, and the others can strike through the opening. I think the rest of the team will agree with me, but how about this: you take 30% of the loot for the risk you take, and the seven of us split the rest?"

That makes the velnar laugh out loud, "That was your plan? Fucking ridiculous. As if..."

"Why not," I say.

The laugh cuts off, and eight pairs of eyes turn to me.

The archer talks first again, "Great! Let's prepare then."

No one says anything for a while. I can feel the weight of their eyes on me, waiting to see if I happened to be joking.

I wasn’t.

Then I move a few steps away from the group and sit down on a patch of solid rock with my legs crossed. I start modifying the structure in my mind further. I’ll need stronger mana compression, faster deployment, tighter control. Nothing I haven’t done before, but this time my margin for error is much smaller.

Behind me, voices pick up again. There is less shouting now. Instead, they seem to have focused their conversation on strategy. Everyone starts working on suppressing their mana as much as possible. A skill. An item. Some quick paintings on the skin. Others just do something with a distant resemblance to my Mana Cycling with the intent to keep as much mana inside their bodies as possible.

No one questions the plan directly, but it’s clear they’re all adjusting their own priorities. They’re not worrying about me. They just want me to draw enough attention so they get a chance to either kill it or slip through the portal.

From the corner of my eye, I spot the velnar hammer-user tapping his foot, shifting weight back and forth like he’s already halfway through the fight in his head. The archer is the opposite, still, calm, running calculations behind that steady gaze. The others are a mix. Nervous, angry, impatient.

The Harvester, meanwhile, keeps pulling itself around the battlefield.

A few times, I'm forced to join the conversation, but not too much. Seeing what happened in the camp and probably noticing my lance made them put some trust in me. It obviously isn’t a blind trust. Everyone here is surely expecting to get screwed over.

We move thirty minutes later.

I walk in first, stopping at about the same distance I did last time. Out of curiosity, I keep circulating mana inside of my body to lower the leakage as much as possible, and the Harvester doesn’t even react to me. It probably also annoys my trusty teammates, who seem to think I may have changed my mind.

Taking a few more steps, I stop and let mana seep out of my body, and finally, the Harvester reacts. It stops in place and turns in my direction. A single powerful pulse rushes through the area, and I don’t fight it when the mark is placed. It still makes me curious how it manages to bypass my defenses.

While I observe the mark, the same as before, the Harvester reaches towards the sky, and a beautiful purple bow forms there out of that mana. It then creates five arrows and lodges them in place.

[Empyrean Lance] forms to my right, and I send as much mana to it as I can channel. The arrows that the monster releases all shoot towards the sky, twist, and head my way. All of them.

The longer they fly, the more speed they pick up, taking the shortest way possible to get to me while fully ignoring anything in their way.

Removing the mark is easy this time, and I just take a few swift steps to the side, and all the arrows pass by and bury themselves into the ground as if it were no harder than foam.

I raise my mana again and continue to feed the lance, and another pulse is sent through the area, and five more arrows head my way. The mark this time is different, and right after another pulse bursts forth, placing a second one, and then a third, making big changes to each of them.

Finally, the others move as well and rush the Harvester from the nearest mountain, using nothing other than the strength of their bodies.

One after another, I break two of the marks, but the third’s difficulty spikes too much, and despite my effort, I fail to remove it before the arrows reach me.

I lean in and explode into motion, the world around me blurring as I do so. The arrows follow my twists and turns, trailing me perfectly while I continue to work on the mark.

Then, five more pulses are sent from the Harvester, each placing a new mark, no matter how much I try to avoid it.

So instead, I focus my attention on the arrows. I break the first one easily with a disrupting wave, but the moment I do so, the second one changes to counter it. I still break it, but then it doesn't work on the third arrow, and the Harvester shoots another five my way. This time, a total of eight arrows trail me, already starting to catch up.

The others reach the huge skeletal body of the Harvester. I catch a glimpse of the velnar man swinging his hammer, which shines with white light, towards the head, and the archer standing atop the skull, shooting an arrow made of what feels like a dozen colors.

Two deep vibrations shake the area, and the arrows trailing me falter for a moment before picking up again and continuing to head my way. Three of them split up and head towards the group.

I absorb my movement and stop on the spot, turning to the five arrows. My mana swirls in front of me into the shape of an orb and then compresses further before turning black.

It then feeds on my [Empyrean Lance] and absorbs it completely.

Each arrow is ripped apart by the pull of the black mana and vanishes into it. For a moment, I struggle to keep the orb under control, which shows just how much mana was packed into the arrows it absorbed.

The Harvester, which was about to deal with the group, turns its head towards the black orb, even though it has no eyes. The three arrows twist, change direction again, and head back my way, combining into a single arrow that compresses further. Even as three of them combine, it shrinks from the thickness of a tree to the thickness of my leg. A core of white mana glows inside the resulting arrow.

Taking a deep breath, I push more mana into the black orb, which expands with a thump and moves in front of me.

It clashes with the arrow and devours it in the same manner as it did to the ones before.

Handling it becomes even more difficult.

Pressure from the Harvester increases further. Purple mana surrounds it, and where its forehead is, a mark starts glowing, and inscriptions spread from it, creating a circle around the skull.

The bow it holds expands in size, compresses, and becomes slimmer and more deadly looking. Then the monster reaches out with its other bony arm and pulls out another arrow from what looks like a hole in space.

That arrow burns with white light, and its light illuminates the entire valley and the sides of the mountains before it dims down, and the monster nocks it to the bow.

That also happens to be when the male archer releases another arrow, and it finally does some damage. Made of multicolored light, it pierces through the skull of the monster only to exit on the other side and deep into the ground. The velnar slams his hammer down onto the damaged area while the others continue doing whatever they were doing.

None of it helps, and the Harvester ignores them entirely.

In quick succession, a dozen pulses expand from it, and each places three marks on me, each more intricate and powerful than the previous one. Not a single mark is placed on the other attendees.

At the same time, it continues to draw the bow in an unhurried manner. The glowing white arrow radiates an immense degree of mana radiation, nearly disrupting the bow and damaging the immensely durable bones of the Harvester. Even the remaining attendees begin to suffer. Blisters rise on their skin, and blood seeps from their eyes, noses, and ears.

I don't even blame them as the seven make their way toward the portal, grabbing whatever they can from the ground before rushing into the portal.

Only the archer turns back before he passes through and shrugs apologetically.

Looking at how slowly the Harvester prepares its attack, I could probably escape as well, yet I'm here. As threatening as it is, it also feels like a challenge. The two of us clashing against each other. And here at least, I don't think I’ll lose.

I grab the ball of black mana with my hand and force it to change shape, all while letting it feed on more of my mana. It stretches to twice my length and takes the shape of a javelin while I let collected kinetic energy run wild through my body as I take a stance. One of my legs slides back, and I lower myself in preparation for a throw. A knot of compressed energy halts the core of the javelin to give it a further boost after I throw it.

I can't allow myself any distraction, so I use no thermal energy and let my new thermal construct deal with it as I delicately control the kinetic energy tearing through my body. The memory of Lioren using it to move my body keeps flashing in my mind.

The white arrow and black javelin launch at the same time.

Two sonic booms echo off the mountains, and by the time the shockwaves ripple through the air, it's already over.

And I'm alive.

As I start walking, I get my mana back under control and start combusting thermal energy under my skin to heal the damage while suppressing the pain as much as I can.

The Harvester still stands there, wobbling from side to side, but there's no mana around it at all. The bow is gone, there's no sign of any arrows, all the marks placed on me are gone, and even the mana radiation that once surrounded it has vanished. There's a wide trail with an area entirely devoid of mana, even the ambient field has been disrupted, and it continues to stretch far behind it into the distance where the black javelin flew.

In the center of the Harvester's head, there's a hole through which the black javelin flew. As I come to a stop next to it, the body finally collapses, falling and ending just a step away from where I stand.

[You have defeated Reanimated Harvester - lvl 398]

[Lvl 316 > Lvl 317]

[Lvl 317 > Lvl 318]

[Lvl 318 > Lvl 319]

[Lvl 319 > Lvl 320]

[Lvl 320 > Lvl 321]

[Manifestation - lvl 2 > Manifestation - lvl 3]

[Manifestation - lvl 3 > Manifestation - lvl 4]

[Redistribution - lvl 65 > Redistribution - lvl 66]

I look to my right.

[Perception - lvl 64 > Perception - lvl 65]

A pulse of my mana disrupts the camouflage of the lynthari man standing there with a dagger in his hand, and surprise evident on his face.

He moves quickly, but I'm long since prepared. A Needle Point explodes his knee, and before he can move again, I'm standing in front of him. Another powerful pulse of my disruption cancels out his strengthening, and my hand, coated in oscillating mana, cuts through the dagger he lifts in defense, and then pushes through his head.

[You have defeated Fade Stalker - lvl 310]

"You thought I didn't notice you like the others didn't?" I say to the corpse of the opportunist.

Then I scan the area to confirm I'm alone. Only then do I move to start gathering all the items littering the ground.

Chapter 641 - The second floor of the First Dungeon

After going through everything, I’ve gathered 130 usable items out of what I estimate to be 231 bodies. There are a few more items, but most of them are broken. Armor, weapons, pendants, and the like all got wrecked by the arrows. But even those, I immediately sold to the system shop, though I only got a few hundred shards each.

The 130 gathered items are a mix of rarities, with the lowest being mid-rare and the highest being low arcane. There are 11 low arcane items and 21 damaged arcane, around 60 upper epic, and I didn’t count the lower rarities.

I sit down next to a boulder nearby, observe the pile, and try to ignore the constant pulses of mana coming from somewhere in the distance.

Coincidentally, that’s where my javelin went.

These pulses are followed by pulls of mana and gradually happen more often, to the point where it feels like a countdown.

It’ll be fine.

Anyway, in the system shop, you can buy a low arcane item starting at around 100 thousand shards, with some going up to 150 thousand or slightly more. Damaged arcane items cannot be bought and can only be found in the tutorial.

The problem, when selling to the shop, is that if the system is selling a low arcane item for 100 thousand shards, and I make exactly the same one, it will only buy it from me for 50 thousand. What sucks even more is if such an item is found in the tutorial, whether taken from a native, bought in a normal shop on the floor, or otherwise, the system will only pay 10-20% of its value.

I quickly go through all low arcane and damaged arcane items to check how many shards I would get, and the final number is around 250 thousand shards. The remaining ones would take too long to check, but I estimate around 150 thousand.

That makes the decision simple. I may as well try to sell them to one of the Locals.

Using my mana, I weave threads to tie the items together into a huge pile, which I then surround with more mana threads until it becomes a cocoon the size of a large closet.

I stop only when the pulses of mana from the distance cease and bright white light fills the horizon.

[You have defeated Reanimated Remnant - lvl 311]

[You have defeated Reanimated Remnant - lvl 341]

[You have defeated Reanimated Remnant - lvl 361]

[You have defeated Reanimated Remnant - lvl 351]

[You have defeated Reanimated Beast - lvl 314]

[You have defeated Reanimated Beast - lvl 333]

[You have defeated Reanimated Beast - lvl 314]

[You have defeated Reanimated Beast - lvl 349]

...

[Lvl 321 > Lvl 322]

I see the shockwave heading my way. A single loud screech pierces through the area as a powerful presence stretches in my direction. It is easily comparable to the Harvester and likely stronger.

Without looking back, I create large arms of mana and throw the closet-sized cocoon through the portal before following after it, leaving the 1st floor behind.

I come to a stop with city buildings surrounding me, only to be bombarded with notifications.

Welcome to the second floor of the First Dungeon.

For a fee, you may utilize arrays to teleport to the first floor or to any safe zone you have previously visited on the second floor.

The second floor contains three safe zones. Each safe zone is a large city governed by a King.

I close that notification and open the next one.

2nd Floor Quest: ???

Rewards:

14-day Stay Token

???

Of course, it’s going to be like that. I wonder how many shards I’ll need to pay a Local for information on the floor quest without getting scammed.

As for the city I’ve found myself in, it's big, unlike any other safe zone in Beyond I’ve visited so far. The tallest buildings are two or three stories at most, and it's built in what currently seems to be a perfect circle around a mountain in the middle. The outer rim of the city is surrounded by simple stone walls, and a set of similar walls surround the mountain as well.

I stand on a hill that quickly gets steeper as it approaches the mountain, turned to place the mountain behind me and the city ahead.

Now that I’m looking at the mountain behind that wall, I notice some truly nasty arrays. There are people guarding it, and although it looks dangerous, it also seems pretty ceremonial. Most of them wear a combination of black clothes with bright yellow stripes and shiny silver armor. It’s probably safe to guess that they’re Locals.

Beyond the city, I can see the rest of the 2nd floor. Like the first, it’s one enormous cave that stretches miles upward and extends much farther into the distance, where I see a mountain range covered in snow. On the other side, there’s a black void filled with a near constant stream of red lightning.

All around the city, miles upon miles of plains stretch out, covered in soft yellow grass and patches of flowers that sway gently in the breeze. The landscape feels quiet and endless, as if it belongs in some long forgotten fairy tale.

Before I can look further, someone steps up to my side. A young lynthari boy in old, if fairly clean clothes. He’s probably somewhere around ten years old, and I notice him checking over my cocoon before looking at me. His hair is black, his eyes are gold, and his ears are a grayish color. Interestingly, instead of a single tail like other lynthari, he has two, both incredibly fluffy and the same color as his ears.

“Sir Beyond attendee, may I know your fine name?” he asks with a polite but energetic voice.

“No.”

“I see. It’s true, names are important, and I may have pushed too far in asking yours. I deeply apologize! Please don’t kill or beat me up!”

He lowers his face and lets out a bout of sobbing that’s more fake than a three-dollar bill. His shoulders tremble in exaggerated spasms, one eye sneaking a glance to see if the performance is having any effect.

“You want shards, right?”

“Yes! I mean, no!”

“So?”

“Maybe? You, dear sir, appeared in the zone where the most people who just finished the 1st floor tend to appear, and with so many items at that!” He steps closer and lowers his voice to a whisper. “Other guides like me wanted to come closer to offer their services, but they were scared off by your expression. But I decided to risk it, sir. You remind me of my father, who died long ago and whom I loved so much.”

“I see. If you lie to me again, I will hang you upside down from that lamp over there by your legs.”

“That would be a reasonable reaction, sir!”

“Your father?”

“I misspoke! He should be home from work by now!”

“It happens that one might forget things like that. So why did you decide to talk to me? Aren’t you too young to be a guide?”

“Maybe I, just a bit... overstated my qualifications! I don’t have any certifications. Yet. But everyone has to start somewhere, right? And I decided to talk to you because you seem like you might be rich, sir attendee!”

“Are you related to someone by the name of Duncan?”

“I don’t know anyone with that name, sir!”

“I see. And?”

“And I don’t think you would hurt me. Attendees very rarely do, and when they do, our King punishes them. At most, I’d get a kick in the ass or be screamed at and sent away. It’s only the other kids who are too scared.”

“You could be wrong, you know.”

“But we’re talking, and you haven’t gotten angry yet, so I’m not! Sir, would you like to know where you might sell those items? Or directions to the guild square, so you can meet with guild recruiters or have yourself tested? Any certifications you’re looking to acquire? I will say, though, that Guild Square is usually the first recommendation for most attendees.”

“It’s fine. Just tell me about the places I can sell these items. I don’t mind if you lead me to a merchant you have a deal with, I’m fine with you getting a small cut in exchange. But if you lead me to one that tries to scam me, I will get annoyed.”

“Indeed, my eyes weren’t wrong. You, sir, are surely very experienced, smart, glorious, and…”

"Are you stalling to buy time to think of a place because you planned to lead me to some suspicious merchant offering a huge commission in exchange for scamming me?"

“Yes!”

“Then keep thinking. Are you used to dealing with people who have concentration-type skills?”

“We call them Coldies, sir! They’re just like you. Empty expressions and sometimes they can be scary, but they tend to be very logical and rarely act with aggression.”

“You mentioned a King. Who is it?”

“I’m hungry, sir attendee.”

With a sigh, I transfer him 1000 shards.

At that, his eyes widen, and the tails stop moving. He nods quickly and says, “I’m not hungry anymore! Each city on the 2nd floor has a King that’s both a powerful Champion and one of us Locals!”

“Little jerk. Your name?”

"Lochi, sir! Shall I lead you to a very proper merchant who will give you a good price for the items you have?"

“Yes,” I confirm.

“May I ask for the rarities of the items in your possession?”

“11 low arcane, 21 damaged arcane, around 60 upper epic, and a jumbled mix of others. I already separated the items I will be keeping, so all of this is for sale.”

“Hehe, sir, you must surely be joking!”

Instead of answering, I just look at him, and he looks back at me.

I stay silent. His tails start moving wildly, and I sense his heartbeat speeding up as he keeps glancing between me and the cocoon at my feet. He gulps.

Then he nods once.

Not even ten minutes later, a lynthari merchant in one of the more expensive parts of the city, closer to the mountain in the middle, finishes going through all the items and moves to sit on the armchair opposite me. Between us, there is a small table where I’ve already been served a drink.

Lochi stays near the items and curiously continues to poke them, sometimes lifting up a weapon to swing it around a little.

The merchant lets the silence stretch a little before he says, “As a merchant, I will pay the systems cut myself.”

He waits for my reaction, so I nod.

"The system shop value of all the items, if you wanted to buy them, would be 2,545,131 shards."

Somewhere in the room, the sword falls from Lochi’s hands and rings against the floor.

I nod again.

The merchant continues, "If you wanted to sell them yourself to the system shop, you would get 381,770 shards. If I were to buy them from you, it would take me years to sell them all piece by piece. I need to pay for the shop, I need to pay for the employees, and with every transfer, the system takes 10 percent of the shards. Some of the items you brought are great, but some require work before I can sell them. Others are highly specialized, and I would either need to wait years for the right person to come along or cut the price. Usually, I buy items from attendees for 50 percent of their system shop value. In this case, that would be 1,272,565 shards. With me also covering the system fee, it would cost me 1,399,822 to pay you that."

He leans back slightly. Partially, it seems like he talks out loud to himself as well.

"I usually end up selling items to the attendees for 70 to 80 percent of their value. Then, subtract the system cut. Ten percent on every transaction. That’s around 180,000 shards gone immediately. It’s non-negotiable, automatic, and taken the moment the sale goes through. That leaves me with 1.62 million, if the items all sell for 70 percent of their value."

Second finger.

"Next, storage fees. Mana-secure vaults aren’t free, especially not for mixed arcane inventory. I’ll be paying around 15,000 shards per year minimum just for these. If it takes me four to five years to sell everything, that’s 60 to 75 thousand shards gone."

Third finger.

"Repair and prep costs. Even the damaged arcane items need some work, so it's not just cleaning. Some of the upper epic pieces will need enchantment tuning or rebalancing. That’s another 100 to 120 thousand easily. More if I have to hire local specialists."

Fourth finger.

"Staff commissions and handling. My apprentices get a cut of everything that moves. I can’t run a shop this size alone. I’m expecting at least 7 to 8 percent overhead here. That’s another 90 to 100 thousand shards eaten away over time."

He lowers his hand again.

"Then there’s the unpredictable drain. Customer disputes. Resales. Errors during the preparation of the items. One item flagged by a paranoid buyer as unstable, and I have to cover the loss or risk my merchant’ rating dropping. Factor in all that chaos, and I’m looking at a net return of somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 shards."

He looks me in the eyes.

"I am tying up 1.27 million shards of liquid capital to eventually make maybe a 10 to 12 percent return over the years. Of course, there’s a chance I might get lucky and make 5 percent more, or if I’m really lucky, 15 percent more. That’s something I always hope for, obviously, but I’m not the sort of person who relies on luck."

He pauses and looks at me with a questioning gaze.

Not once did I get the feeling that he is lying as I observe his heart, the vibrations his muscles cause, or the movement of his blood.

"I’ll take it," I say, standing up and reaching out a hand toward him.

He stands up from the chair and shakes it with me. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Chapter 642 - Information Guild

There are guild rankings in Beyond, the ones that update once a year. They’re more or less similar to the last time I checked them, with the exception of two guilds that have apparently swapped places.

Guild Rankings

1. Bloodline

2. Frontier

3. Crimson Forge

4. Primordial Knights

5. Astral Brotherhood

Crimson Forge is ranked higher than Primordial Knights now.

As one of the five top guilds, they even have a branch here in Rookie City. It's possible they have more in the other two cities, but I haven't asked about that yet. Actually, most of the guilds try to maintain some sort of presence here.

It almost seems like a custom for the guides to catch some random attendee and recommend that they visit Guild Square. It's usually one of the first things attendees do, as joining a guild can often extend the duration of your stay tokens. Apparently, the first-place guild doubles the duration. The rest of the top five increase it by 50%. Ranks 6 to 10 increase it by 30%, and ranks 11 to 100 by 15%.

There’s clear value in that, but it’s not something I’m currently interested in. Neither am I interested in the salaries guilds offer their more talented rookies.

I leave the merchant's house, where Lochi is probably still collecting his cut. The old man seemed fair, so that little jerk of a guide will likely walk away with at least a few thousand shards.

As for me, a nice number of shards appear in my status, likely an insane amount for so "young" an attendee as I.

Shards: 2,319,196

It's a good problem to have, but now I need to think about what to do with my passives.

Passive skills (5/5):

Mana Kinetic Conversion Reservoir (Unique Epic)

Mana Fortified Mind (Low Arcane)

Mental Attunement Loop (Mid Arcane)

Mana Wavelength Tyrant (Mid Arcane)

Subdermal Combustion Weave (Mid Arcane)

Upper arcane passives start at around two million shards. Not even a few weeks ago, I would’ve never expected to save up for one this soon. Hell, most of the Beyonders I know don’t even have a low arcane passive. Meanwhile, the members of Group 4 got one million shards each thanks to Lissandra killing the mimic Absolute, and now I’ve got over a million more. At this rate, I’ll likely be able to use an upper arcane passive skill combination token before the end of the tutorial and get a unique arcane passive.

I’ll need to sit down soon and give this all some serious thought. The most reasonable move would be to buy an upper arcane passive right away, but that would mean replacing either Mana Kinetic Conversion Reservoir or Mana Fortified Mind, both of which I really like. With my construct built for mental defense and all the other things I’m working on to strengthen it actively without relying entirely on passives, I think it would be a mistake to get an upper arcane version of Fortified Mind. I also don’t want to remove it just yet, even the low arcane version is plenty powerful, even if it’s not entirely effective against people like Faora.

As for Reservoir, although it's a unique epic, it’s a really good one, and I don’t think I’d be able to find another with a similar effect. I’m still learning a lot from it, especially now that I’m working on creating my own crown with [Manifestation], and Reservoir is a great point of reference.

Well, it’s a future problem for future me. Screw that guy.

Now I start making my way toward the place where the Information Guild is. Surprisingly, it's the only guild dealing with information in the city, and it’s directly supported by the local King. Part of its staff even consists of locals, but there are also attendees working there, and the two sides seem to cooperate.

The building it resides in is unassuming. Just another structure along the street with a scant few boards to mark it as an important place. But I guess if you can’t even find it, you’re probably not worth dealing with.

I enter, and I'm immediately directed to a table, from which I take a slip with a number on it. Then I head to the waiting area and sit with the other attendees.

Most of them are dressed simply, travel-worn clothes, a few enchanted accessories here and there, and some upper epic items. Some fidget impatiently with their numbered slips, others stare ahead, focused. No one’s talking. It’s not like it is forbidden, but the atmosphere just doesn’t invite it.

I glance around and choose two individuals to practice on. I split my mind into two parts and try to make these parts exactly the same, doing the same things. The goal is to put myself in a state where, at least temporarily, I won't be able to tell which one is the real me. One of the parts I’m practicing with observes a human woman, the other a male lynthari.

Even though I’ve experimented with this for a while, the results are still lacking. I can easily tell which mind is the “main” one. The second always feels like a copy to me.

That’s probably good. I’m sure there could be some messed-up side effects otherwise, but that’s not what I’m aiming for. It’s not my goal to create a clone of myself or a duplicate like I did back on the fifth floor, just something similar.

Well, I’ll keep working on it.

Eventually, a clerk calls my number, and I bring my training to an end. I follow the servant into a small side room packed with sparse furniture, a desk, and a few chairs. The woman behind the desk doesn’t introduce herself. She simply nods towards the chair, so I sit.

“May I ask what you’re looking for today?” she asks, not unkindly, but clearly pressed for time.

“Information on people.”

She raises an eyebrow. “There is publicly available information and rumors I can share with you, but our Information Guild avoids collecting or sharing too much information on individuals directly.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you. Now, before you ask, I will require a session payment from you before we proceed.”

Request to transfer -1,000 shards. Confirm?

Yes / No

I confirm.

The woman nods. “Thank you. Please ask your question, and before answering, I will inform you of the price.”

“I want information on Faora. She is a feylith and a 5th-year attendee, soon to finish the tutorial. And, a huge thylarin named Luan. He is also in his 5th year.”

“A moment, please.”

She closes her eyes. For a moment, an emblem lights up on her forehead before she opens them again.

“Both of them are A-ranks, so information on them is considered a high-tier request. Especially Luan, who is rumored to have the potential to reach S-rank before he finishes the tutorial. Information on Faora will cost 5,000 shards, and 20,000 for Luan. Would you like to proceed with one or both?”

“Just Faora first.”

Request to transfer -5,000 shards. Confirm?

Yes / No

The emblem on her forehead glows faintly again. There’s a silence that stretches for a few seconds before she speaks.

“Faora of the House known as Elvastra, as reported by attendees from her round of the tutorial, is a feylith of noble blood. She is a 5th-year attendee, currently on the 13th floor of the tutorial. She is rumored to possess powerful mental abilities, with a specialization in mental entrapment. An adept of Pride and a very... well, nasty personality, as confirmed by her slayings of at least a dozen other adepts of Pride. That number could be higher. Multiple record entries from her third and fourth year mark her as highly resourceful, and due to her usefulness, she is currently being supported by the second ranked guild, Frontier, which she is a member of.”

She pauses, still not making eye contact. “No information about her Handler. Several recruitment attempts were made by the Astral Brotherhood before she joined Frontier.”

I lean forward slightly. “Anything more on her combat records?”

"Sparse, but consistent. Selective participation in Beyond events, always in support positions. Other than some very high mental abilities, she seems to specialize in domains and disruption. Ability to fly at high speed confirmed. There are rumors of a teleportation ability. One unofficial report states that she performs well on the fifth floor of Beyond but prefers higher floors, though this has not been verified."

“Last known sighting?”

Her mark glows again, and then she shakes her head. “No trace for three weeks. The last activity logs come from the 1st floor.”

I nod slowly. “Anything else on her?”

"This is all we currently have. As I said, our guild doesn't spy on people, just gathers freely available information."

"I see. Please, I’d like the same for Luan."

Request to transfer -20,000 shards. Confirm?

Yes / No

The moment I confirm, the emblem on her forehead lights up again, a stronger pulse this time. She doesn’t move for several seconds, and when she finally speaks, her tone is more measured.

“Luan is a fifth-year attendee, thylarin with glowing lines on his forearms. Four arms. Widely considered one of the strongest attendees currently in Beyond. He recently joined Frontier, despite recruitment attempts from the other top five guilds, and especially Bloodline. The Fragment he possesses is one of the reasons he draws so much interest, but so far, it is unknown what Fragment he has.”

She pauses, then adds, “Reports indicate he’s currently moving with Faora for unknown reasons. His combat style is overwhelmingly physical, focusing on dealing wounds that either cannot be healed or heal very slowly. That’s supported by what’s likely a very rare and powerful set of traits. He uses no weapons, bare hands only.”

“Anything mental-based?”

The clerk shakes her head. “Limited to non-existent. He’s never shown signs of mental abilities, but most reports imply that he has ways of defending himself against mind mages, but that much is mostly expected from someone as powerful. He relies on physical overwhelming force as a counter.”

“And his personality?”

“Taciturn. Doesn’t speak unless necessary. There were even speculations that he may be mute, but that’s been confirmed to be false. Some information suggests he operates under a personal code, as he rarely attacks first. But if provoked, he rarely holds back.”

“Last sighting?”

“Eight days ago. On the third floor.”

I lean back slightly, processing. “No Handler for him either? Why is knowing who a person’s Handler is important?”

She shakes her head. “Unknown. This is all I have on him. He’s extremely private, and most attempts to learn more about his early tutorial years hit dead ends. As for information about the Handlers. Thousand shards for basic information. Ten thousand for more.”

“Ten thousand.”

Request to transfer -10,000 shards. Confirm?

Yes / No

The clerk nods after I confirm. “Each Handler has at least attained the rank of Champion, and some are Absolutes. They tend to be people from planets that lost their Pairing and managed to escape. Another option is that their planets were entirely destroyed. Another common case is Champions or Absolutes who received a quest from the system and tied themselves to Beyond for anywhere between ten years and a hundred, sometimes longer, serving as Handlers in exchange for quest rewards and a share of the opportunities Beyond might offer. Before you ask, they do not have access to the system shop. That is available only during the tutorial and to attendees. Outside of the tutorial, the shop is not available. This information is free.”

“Thank you.”

She nods. “Either through some aspect of their own abilities or with the help of items from the Ruler of Diligence, each Handler manages at least a dozen, if not several dozen, attendees, helping them orient themselves in Beyond, supporting their growth, managing Beyond quests for them, and providing other opportunities that will become available on lower floors. On the fourth floor of Beyond, it becomes possible to meet other Handlers as well, and there are areas where they can meet with attendees.”

“How are attendees assigned to a given Handler?”

“Usually, every Handler has a different quota of attendees they must manage and automatically receives assignments. Then, every Handler has low-grade access to records of the attendees and their performance in the tutorial. They also have a set quota of attendees they can pick themselves and take under their wing. If multiple Handlers are eyeing the same person, they negotiate over who will take them. From a certain perspective, a kind of competitiveness exists among Handlers themselves for the advantages that having someone so successful would bring. Just like attendees, Handlers are rewarded according to their performance.”

I listen carefully to what she says and use it to build a picture in my mind. But it is not like this concerns my Handler.

“As for your previous question about why knowing someone’s Handler is important. It tells you what kind of backing they have. A Handler does not fight in place of their attendee, but knowing who guides someone can hint at the kinds of opportunities they’ve had, the advice they live by, and the quests they’re being steered toward. Some Handlers are known for favoring certain strategies or for having better access to specific types of quests or resources. Other Handlers are known for taking only the most talented attendees, so knowing they picked someone can tell you a lot about that person’s potential. At the start, the Handlers are not as involved, but that changes slightly as the attendee spends more time in Beyond.”

"That makes sense."

“That is all I have for now. If you want more details on specific Handlers or the attendees under them, that will cost extra. Prices depend on the subject.”

“Understood. That’s all for today.”

As I move toward the door and put a hand on the knob, she calls out to me. “Would you like to know one more thing? It regards a rumor tied to you.”

“How much?”

“Two thousand.”

For the last time, I confirm the transfer and look at her.

"It is rumored that members of the Primordial Knights have been instructed to watch for a young man who might enter the second floor. He has black hair, gray-brown eyes, and a concentration-type skill."

“Got it, thanks.” I open the door and exit the room.

Chapter 643 - Coldie

I know nothing is ever free, but the way everyone asks for shards in exchange for even the slightest bit of information is almost as annoying as it is funny in its own twisted way. The worst part is that I’ve been getting used to it.

Sooner or later, the tables will turn, and I’ll be the one scamming people for shards.

In a way, it makes sense. For example, the information guild has to function, and they need salaries for their people, so of course, they’re going to ask for shards. But there are also situations where people just wait around to exploit careless or impatient attendees.

Spending some shards can speed things up by a lot here. You can gather information on clearing the floors, ask about the guilds so you don’t end up picking the wrong one, get help with your training, or buy customized items of the sort you might not be able to find in the system shop.

I also know that the system shop won’t be available after the tutorial. That much is more or less confirmed. So, seeing as even locals ask for shards, it is likely they have access to the system shop as well and spend their shards there. Or maybe there is a different way they spend them. Who knows. Maybe I should ask. I'm sure they would answer. For shards.

So, that leaves the question. Will something else replace the shop after the tutorial is over, or is it only meant to be a temporary resource for the First Generation throughout the duration of their tutorial?

I also know I could get more of this information much cheaper or for free on my own, but I don’t mind spending shards at the moment.

That’s how I learn about the ways to get to the third floor. By asking and paying, of course. As before, there are multiple ways to get to the third floor, and I pay to learn about three that make up the most common approach.

One of them is similar to one of the options on the first floor. Some call it the Key Fragment Hunt, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. You kill monsters that have a chance of having a single blue bone. Gathering enough of them and setting them up in a special formation, almost like a ritual, that you, of course, have to buy information on, allows you to create an entrance for one person.

That also reminds me how different the requirements are here from the tutorial, which has its own proper quests. Is this difference between the tutorial made by the system, and overseen by the Rulers, and Beyond, which has been built up by a succession of Rulers over the place known as the First Dungeon? Was the First Dungeon made by the system? Or, is it possible that the First Dungeon predates the system, much like Primordial energies and Fragments do?

There is a question that comes to mind. Why did the Rulers do it? And what is the First Dungeon when the Rulers themselves don’t seem to have the same level of control as they do when it comes to the tutorial? Does the First Dungeon really pre-date the system, or is it something new the Rulers haven’t had time to learn about, or can they simply not influence it to the same level?

Either way, I won’t complain. Not having a quest that requires me to spend a month or two on this floor is better for me. But it just makes me wonder if all floors can be so easy to “clear” if you’re willing to spend enough shards.

The second way to get to the third floor that I’ve heard about is called the Ritual. There are multiple ritual circles placed all over the floor where you can sacrifice something to gain entrance to the next floor. That sacrifice can be items, memories, stats, and I’ve even heard rumors about human sacrifice.

This one is extremely interesting to me, especially because of how much it clashes with the system itself. Even during the Challenges, it’s extremely difficult to set things like that as wagers, from what I’ve heard, yet here they can be sacrificed?

Any other day, I would love to study it, and there will be a time when I will.

The last option I learned about is probably the simplest, but it’s also likely to be the most difficult in some ways. In the third city, there’s a permanent portal to the third floor. That city, like the second and the first one, has a King of its own, a powerful Local who oversees it and the surrounding area.

If the king likes you, he’ll simply let you pass. There is also the possibility of joining one of the big guilds that trade with the King and have a limited number of passes each year that they can give out. Even though I don’t think they use it that often, such big guilds surely can buy up any available blue bones and give them to an attendee along with the instructions to use them.

As I walk through the city, I glance at the back of my hand where I let a bit of my mana seep into and activate the identification emblem that shows the same Ivory White C, even after my battle with the Harvester.

Does that mean it should be possible for most B ranks to do what I did back then?

I slow down and allow the presence I sense behind to reach me as I take a seat on the bench under a tree nearby.

“Sir, attendee!” The lynthari boy says, greeting me with a big smile, slightly out of breath as he stops running. I would be surprised if he weren’t smiling after that. He just made a lot of shards off me after all.

“The thief,” I say, returning Lochi’s greeting.

“I didn’t steal anything! I merely facilitated the flow of information at a competitive rate,” he says quickly, grinning wider.

I raise an eyebrow but don’t correct him.

He plops down beside me, uninvited, like we’re old buddies. “Is the ascent to the third floor your next course of action, or are you still weighing the matter?” he asks, eyes flicking around, possibly looking for more prey in the crowd.

“Maybe,” I answer. “Why are you talking like that today?”

“Sir, I assure you, this manner of speech is my natural cadence when I find myself in the presence of greatness...” He gives a wink, half self-mocking, half calculating.

I sigh. He continues anyway.

“Besides,” he adds, folding his hands neatly in his lap and straightening his back, “one must distinguish oneself. In a city full of plebeians, elegance becomes its own form of currency.”

“100 shards if you tell me why.”

“My father read me a book where people talked that way, and I thought it sounded like fun!”

I glance at him sideways. “Your father, who died?”

“He got better! Anyway,” he chirps, smoothly shifting topics, “you want to go out on a hunt? I can connect you with some hunter groups or merchants who’ve been looking for materials from specific monsters. Or I could connect you with a trading guild that needs people to protect their caravans, or people searching for bodyguards. Attendees usually start with jobs like that.”

"Not really. How many shards did you make off me?"

"You mean from the fruits of my labor?"

"Sure."

"I asked for a percentage of the final profits once the items are sold. Sure, it’ll take years, and it might not work out to be all that much, but I trust Sir Merchant to work hard to make as much as possible!"

I watch as his two tails swing from side to side in excitement. Even his fangs show a little, smaller than Myrra’s, but still similar.

"Why do you have two tails? And please, don’t say it’s a genetic inheritance from some ancient lynthari ancestor."

"That exactly!" Lochi grins.

I sigh and stay silent, not reacting.

"So what are you waiting for, sir attendee? It seems like you’re either waiting or thinking!"

"Perceptive, aren’t you?"

"I gotta be if I wanna work with people," he says, nodding all serious. "Coldies are really hard to figure out just by looking at their faces, but if you watch what they do, it tells you way more than you can learn from normal people. People who don’t use concentration skills are kinda all over the place, and it’s hard to tell what they’re feeling. Like, if they’re trying to hide it, you’ve got no idea what’s going on in their heads. They could be scared or mad or something, and you won’t even notice until they do something really weird. But Coldies aren’t like that. They’re way better at hiding what they feel, but they don’t let their feelings boss them around as much. They don’t go nuts just ‘cause they’re mad or scared. So if you watch closely and think about it, you can generally figure them out. They don’t do random stuff like normal people. They do things ‘cause they thought about it, not just ‘cause they felt like it. You gotta look at what they do, not their face."

"I guess that makes sense," I admit, looking away from him and off into the distance at the ethereal-looking plains. "It could be said that I’m indecisive. I know what I want to do, but at the same time, I don’t know if I should do it."

"Is it something scary?"

"It doesn’t scare me, but the question is if I should be patient and do it later when I’m absolutely sure it will go my way, or if I should be impatient and risk it now."

"What would you do without your concentration skill?"

"I would’ve been on my way to the third floor a long time ago."

"Why don’t you partially weaken your skill to see how things go? Not fully?" Lochi asks innocently.

In some way, he reminds me of Vega, and as always, that childish curiosity and innocence feel so relaxing. Before I know it, I’m reaching out, my hand brushing the top of his head as a smile spreads across my face.

His little heart speeds up, and his golden eyes open wide as he stares at me in shock.

"Sorry," I say, quickly pulling my hand back.

"Sir attendee, please don’t smile like that in front of my mom. She’d leave Dad for real this time!"

"I won’t."

"Good! And how can you smile that way with a concentration skill? You’re weird for a Coldie."

"I’m doing some testing. Instead of suppressing all of my emotions, I’m trying to be more selective. I could do that before, but now I’m trying to improve on it. Partial suppression vs full suppression. I’m also trying to see if I can suppress pain entirely or maybe even make myself temporarily forget different memories. I’m practicing storing, arrays, and frequencies in layers so I can pull them up instantly without thinking. I’m practicing information compression so I can remember more with less space. Also, my mind is currently split in two, and one part has all its emotions suppressed, while the other one’s just suppressing anger and the like, and I’m working on switching between them. I’m locking away memories and seeing if I can stop myself from finding them. "

"Are you actually really strong, sir attendee?"

"My name is Nathaniel."

"Oh! Are you maybe really strong, sir Nathaniel?"

"Just Nathaniel."

"Are you maybe really strong, sir Just Nathaniel?"

"Wanna be suspended from that lamp over there by your leg?"

"Hehe." He smiles and stands up in that energetic manner only kids have. "I have to go, but don’t forget me when you become much stronger! And you should go. I think you’d be unhappy if you stayed a Coldie forever!”

Before leaving, he smiles deviously and takes a quick step closer.

It would be easy to avoid or react. I even increase my processing speed and watch in slightly slowed motion as he reaches toward me, but I don’t do anything to stop him.

His small hand taps the top of my head a few times, much as I did with his.

Then I return my processing speed to normal and watch as he runs back to the other kids at normal speed and shouts something, his twin tails swaying behind him.

"Damn man, I thought he would never leave. But it felt weird to interrupt, so I waited." A man’s voice sounds from my side.

"Yes, I noticed. Thank you for that," I answer and turn toward him.

There, a short man with a shaved head stands, wearing clothes laced with a mix of white and pale blue.

Upon seeing my face, he smiles brightly. "Well, you finally showed your face on the second floor."

Chapter 644 - Weslin

I look at the man, and he looks at me. He stands there with arms crossed, and eyes that seem both sharp and lazy at the same time, like he’s sizing me up but still can’t be bothered to care too much.

“Man, took you a while to get your ass over here, but also lucky me to be here just as you came around. Or unlucky? I hate dealing with newbies.”

He is short, bald, and seems like he likes to smile a lot, but not always in a friendly way. These smiles are often ironic and for his own amusement rather than to show friendliness. The uniform he’s wearing isn’t too restrictive and seems to be made with comfort in mind while showing his affiliation with a specific group. Done up in a combination of white and pale blue.

Most of all, this man feels dangerous. Just the look in his eyes and the way he carries himself betrays his strength.

Seeing me fail to react, he doesn’t seem to care at all and shrugs, flashing me another smile. “Fuck, I hate dealing with newbies. Anyway, my name is Weslin, from the Primordial Knights. I will be taking you to the third floor.”

I observe him, but he seems to be serious.

Maybe I could use him to get to the third floor quickly. The plans are already starting to run through my head.

“Why?” I ask.

“Rookie recruitment program? Kidnapping? Test subject for the Doc? I don’t know, man, it’s mostly up to you and how much the Head Recruiter likes you. Though Nyssa seems interested, so she might want to test you personally? But who the hell knows. Lately, she’s been spending more and more time on the fifth floor, she might not want to come up to the third.”

“And if I refuse?”

He smiles. “Of course, you are free to do that! But then I’ll have to beat the crap out of you. I saw your fight with Whitey, so I’m curious to see how you do against me. The same goes for that black mana, as annoying as it seems, makes me very curious, so don’t try me. Now, you are Nathaniel, right? No need to lie, we’ve already bought some information on you. Will you go with me, or do I have to beat the crap out of you?”

“Haven’t the Primordial Knights been dropping in rankings? Why shouldn’t I join Bloodline or Frontier?”

Weslin sighs. “I know, right? I blame Nyssa for being so obsessed with trying to get to the sixth floor. Sure, the others have been taking care of the guild while she’s been working on that, but it’s not the same without her. Especially when she’s got most of her party on the fifth floor.”

He gestures at me as he starts walking, and I hesitate just a moment before following at his side.

As talkative as he is, he continues to blabber. “And damn, those maniacs. I was on the fifth floor too, and man, it’s an ugly place to be spending so much time on. Sure, Nyssa is a prodigy, one of the most talented users of primordial energies you’ll ever meet. I wouldn’t be fucking surprised if she gets the fourth one out of nowhere, but damn if she didn't pick one nasty challenge. And who the fuck was that Adrian guy? You saw the rankings, right? That maniac managed to get there all on his own almost a thousand years ago. Frigging monsters. I bet that asshole’s an Absolute by now somewhere outside of the tutorial.”

I keep nodding energetically as I listen to him speak.

This isn’t that bad. I'm getting a lot of information for free, and so far, the man hasn’t made himself very threatening. Though obviously that’s only if I ignore the fact that I’m getting kidnapped right now. It’s like following some strange man to a van with 'Free mana' printed on the side.

But I know that if I tried to leave or disagreed with him, he would turn against me very quickly. At the same time, I don’t think I’ll ever get a better chance to push against him than right now. If he takes me to more people from his guild, it’ll be harder then.

The question then becomes whether or not I even have a chance right now.

Weslin looks at me like he knows what I’m thinking. Then he smiles.

Nope, I don’t think so. He looks and feels stronger than Faora, and he’s probably at a level not far off Luan. If I threw all I had at him and surprised him, I could probably have a small chance, but at the same time, I don’t know how he would react to that.

So, for now, I may as well hold myself back and decide to use this as an opportunity. He will get me to the third floor. I’ll get plenty of information from him in the process. Then I can decide what to do from there.

“Man, you have one arrogant-looking pair of eyes. So what’s your conclusion? Think you can beat me up?” he asks, turning left between the buildings. From the direction we are heading, I figure we must be going to the Guild Square.

“Maybe,” I respond.

That only seems to make him even more amused, and he taps my shoulder a few times.

“Good! A real man should have confidence in himself. You seem like a decent enough man, so don’t make me do something ugly. I’d rather welcome you as a newbie in the guild than hand you over to the Doc.”

“Do you usually kidnap the new members?”

"You would be the first one in decades, but whatever that black mana of yours is, Nyssa seems very curious about it, so we kind of skipped some of the normal protocols." He slows and leans closer and whispers, “What is it, Primordial energy? One of the Older Fragments? Some kind of fancy skill?”

“Honestly? I don’t even know.”

“Damn, you don’t seem to be lying. That’s fucked up.”

“I know, right? Is Nyssa a demon?”

“Obviously. Ninety-nine percent of the guild leaders of the Primordial Knights over the past thousand years have been demons. Those fuckers breathe and fart primordial energies, I swear. You probably expect her to be a typical demon, though. Horns, white hair, red eyes, all that stuff. Well, somewhere in her distant bloodline, there must have been something different, so her hair is black. But god damn, don’t ever mention it in front of her if you like your legs unbroken.”

“I won’t. What primordial energies does she have?”

“Well, I can tell you she’s got kinetic, but you’ll have to find out the other two on your own. That’s not the kind of info I’m in the habit of just handing out. What I can say is that there both something beyond the common five.”

“I see. So you have void only?”

At that, he snorts. “Only... It’s not as fancy as having three or two, but just one is already super rare.”

“It is? In our group, we have, including me, three people with Primordial energies.”

“They aren’t demons, right?”

“Nope. All humans.”

“Well, in that case, you’ve got one really fucked up group. I think the information said you won your tournament, right? Probably both? Then you’ve got some kind of insane healer, a mind manipulator, and now a bunch of other folks with Primordial energies, someone else with a Fragment, and a few more. It’s like all the future Champions of your planet got thrown into your group, my guy.”

“Do people from my planet really blabber that much?”

That makes him laugh. “I said exactly the same thing a few years ago about my planet! There are always newbies that some skilled guide ends up running into, making friends with, and slurping up all that information for free. Then the guides sell it to Information Guilds.”

“Damn.”

“Right? You’d think all Locals were some kind of Greed subclass freaks who see us attendees like tourists they can profit off. Little shits.” He says the last part toward a few young Locals like Lochi, his smile seeming a bit more genuine than before. Even that much scares them off, and they run while glancing back at the scary attendee.

“Do you have information about a man from Earth? He...”

“...he started in Beyond,” Weslin finishes for me. “Another friggin’ monster in the making. There isn’t much we could gather. His Handler is probably one of the top dogs here, one of those old monsters who takes one attendee under their wing once in a hundred years. They block as much information as possible. But even that should tell you more than enough. Best to avoid the guy.”

“I thought Handlers were required to take in attendees.”

“Yes, most of them. But let’s say you’re a Handler for thousands of years. You gather enough rewards to the point you only need to take one every hundred years or so, and use Beyond like a holiday villa in the meantime. You might even have enough rewards to enter one of the deeper floors where only Rulers and maybe a few others can enter.”

“I see.”

“Enjoying the free information? The Information Guild would charge you tens of thousands of shards for this.”

“I am. Thanks. Do you know anything else about him?”

“Greedy little jerk, aren’t you? That’s all you’re getting for now.” He stops and points toward a food stall nearby. “Go buy me a candied molten thornfruit. And don’t give me that look. The information I gave you is worth way more.”

I glance at the stall. The molten thornfruit looks like some kind of dark, spiny fruit, its skin cracked and oozing thick, glowing syrup that drips slowly like honey but steams where it hits the air. The vendor uses tongs to handle them, dropping one onto a leaf wrap before handing it to his customers.

I sigh and head toward the stall, feeling Weslin’s gaze on my back the whole time. The closer I get, the stronger the sweet, almost sickly scent becomes, reminding me of burnt sugar.

The vendor barely glances at me and asks for a price I’m sure is multiple times higher than anything he’d charge the Locals.

Never in my life have I been so sure of something.

I transfer the shards, and he gives me two fruits, wrapped carefully so the syrup doesn’t burn my hands.

When I turn, Weslin is grinning like I’ve just passed some ridiculous test. I hand him the fruit, and he bites into it without hesitation, syrup dripping down his chin.

“See? You’re a good kid, newbie. That’ll help you last longer here as long as you don’t mess with the wrong people.”

I ignore him and take a careful bite of mine to taste it.

Then I turn to head back to the stall for more. Weslin shouts at me to buy more for him, too.

The square is busier now, with guild members, merchants, and curious onlookers filling the space.

Weslin finishes his thornfruit and tosses the sticky leaf wrap into a bin nearby. He wipes his hands on his uniform, then glances at me.

“You know,” Weslin says, licking the last bit of syrup off his fingers, “people like to act all grown up, serious, important. Funny, isn’t it? All these tough guys acting like enjoying a bit of fun makes them weak. But deep down, adults are just kids pretending they’ve got it all figured out.”

He looks at me, amused. “At least you didn’t act like it was beneath you. So let me give you some advice. Find a powerful backer soon. If you do manage to escape me, I won’t even try to hunt you down later, even if Nyssa herself orders me. You’d damn well deserve to be left alone if you managed that. I don’t care if it’s someone from the Primordial Knights or someone else, but do it fast. There are already rumors about that black mana of yours, and whatever it is, it’s making certain people curious. Plus, that asshole who started in Beyond isn’t doing a good job of not attracting unwanted attention to your planet.”

I bite into the thornfruit again and nod. “So, where are you taking me now?”

“Our guild’s branch. I have something to pick up from there.”

“Let’s go then,” I say, and as he starts walking, I follow.

Chapter 645 - Talon

POV Talon

Of course, that crazy bastard walks into the exact room I’m in, out of tens of thousands in this godforsaken city full of greedy assholes.

I’d hoped to never see him again, especially after we left him behind. I still think it was the most reasonable course of action, and he probably would have done the same. I swear by the name of the brother I had to kill when he backstabbed me, literally, that I wouldn’t have been angry if he had done the same to me and left me behind to deal with the Harvester.

I still remember the faces of the others when we entered the second floor, and a few seconds later, got the notification about the Harvester’s death. I never saw people rush so quickly to get away from the place we appeared in.

So here I am, alive and once again relying on my charm and prowess to get me through the floor. With my primordial energy giving me a chance at joining the Primordial Knights for a nice warm spot and a good salary. One-year contract nearly signed, and enough time to prove myself and negotiate for some fanciful rewards once it expires. With hopes of earning enough shards to buy a few nice passives or get some items from the guild storage to reinforce my primordial energy. After all, if they don't have an item like that, who would?

Just as I’d planned ever since the first floor, with the help of my lovely Handler.

But now, that mana boy glances across the room, and our eyes meet. I don’t even bother hiding and instead force a smile onto my face and wave.

His eyes slide off me in that manner I hate so much. Goddamn concentration skill users.

After looking at me like that, he follows the bald man he entered with, and they enter another room.

Not gonna lie, even though I’ve met people stronger than him, I feel a wave of relief wash over me.

Next to me, a few newbies also wait for their tests and take care of some other boring stuff before we find out if we can join or not. I’m confident about my spot, but it’s still too early to start building relationships with them when I don’t even know if they’ll be chosen.

One of them sees the whole scene go down and asks, “You know that guy, Talon?”

I already ranked the one who’s asking a bit higher than the other potential members, so it probably won’t hurt to be nice.

I turn to him. “Yup, we were in a group, fighting a guardian to enter the second floor.”

He lets out a low whistle. “Interesting. He didn’t even wait for the tests like we did. Was he strong?”

That makes me snort. “Strong? The bastard murdered the guardian monster by himself.”

“Bullshit.”

I look around and notice the other candidates listening as well, but I don’t mind, though I lower my voice a bit for the next bit, “I don’t know about you guys, but if we ever meet eye to eye, I will turn into the most obedient fucker there ever was. Yes, sir. Always sir. Please don’t kill me, sir. May I kiss your ass, sir?”

“If he really did solo the guardian monster, it had to be one of the weaker ones,” the useful looking guy theorizes.

“Weaker? That bony asshole wiped out ninety percent of our party.”

“The hell? Did you guys fuck up, or was it really that strong?”

“Probably both? It was a new one, and we didn’t have any prior information, we couldn’t even prepare properly. I bet at least some of the assholes in our party were doing their best to get most of us killed so they could take the items.”

"Oh, that makes sense. But your raid party could’ve waited, couldn’t they? Someone got greedy."

“Guilty as charged, but don’t think I’m joking either. The guy gives me chills, and it’s not just his concentration skill. What kind of bastard agrees to play the bait for a guardian monster?”

“So he volunteered? You’re serious?” the newbie asks.

I lean back and grin. “Serious as a heart attack. The guy’s got a screw loose, I swear. But in a good way. The sort of guy you want to point at the bastards you hate, while keeping him from coming after you.”

A woman with a scar running across her eyebrow chimes in. “So, he’s a frontline tank?”

“A tank?” I scoff. “Honey, we all thought he was gonna die. Some maybe hoped he was gonna die, you know, bigger share. And then… well, then he didn’t. He just… didn’t. That skeletal monstrosity totally ignored us like that guy was the only one worth its attention. I almost died to that fucking arrow it pulled out of its ass at the end. Meanwhile, the crazy bastard was just there, unfazed, dodging and weaving like it was god-damn dance night. Then he just waited like he was curious to see what kind of bullshit the guardian would use to attack him next. Who the fuck does that?”

A nervous cough from one of the weaker-looking guys. “So, when you say ‘murdered the guardian monster alone’… you mean, like, actually alone? Nobody helped him?”

“Are you fucking deaf?” I turn to the dumbass who has asked that. “I could sense it. Whatever bullshit that guy was preparing to face the guardian, I didn’t want to be near it. You just instinctively know you don’t want to be in the area.”

"Well, good luck with that." That asshole smiles and nods towards the door the mana boy is returning from as he starts walking in my way.

All that could be a coincidence, but what isn’t is his eyes glued on me as he walks toward me.

He stops as he reaches me and says, "You owe me 30% of the value of the items you grabbed before you ran away."

Motherfuc...

"Yes, sir! I was looking for you because of that!"

POV Nathaniel

Surprisingly, the archer guy just keeps nodding and smiling. He quickly names the items he was able to take before he ran. Unsurprisingly, the two low arcane items and two upper epics, from how he describes them, are fairly valuable.

He tries to be sneaky and offer me 30% of the value of the shards he would get if he sold them to the system shop, where he would only get between 10-20% of their value.

I gently correct him. I’m not too unreasonable, so I assume he would be able to get 50% of the value, not unlike the deal I got from the lynthari merchant, and so I ask for 30% of that.

In the end, he transfers me 39 thousand shards.

I observe him as we speak, and even though he seems sour about it, I don’t really think it’s all that much to him. More likely, he is just annoyed that he has to pay while the guys I haven’t met before don’t have to.

"What primordial energies do you have?" I ask after the transfer is complete.

"I don’t know, and it’s pretty rude to ask, man, hehe," he smiles, that smile some men can do that shows their teeth. With his stubby beard and wavy, long hair it makes him look rugged and not much different from a man known as Strider from one of my favorite movies.

It must be nice to be handsome.

"You know what’s rude?"

"Oh man, I know what you want to..."

I don’t let him finish. "Agreeing to let someone serve as bait while..."

"Come on, you almost literally begged us to use you as bait."

"...while relying on their teammates, who promised to use the time to kill the..."

"We did our best."

"...kill the monster, and then running after barely managing to do any damage, all while the other guy fights for his life."

"I did damage it a little bit."

"That’s what I consider rude," I finish.

"Stellar Wind," he sighs. "It’s not like I planned to keep it hidden. Such a rare form of primordial energy will get me plenty of attention from the other guilds and force the Primordial Knights to offer me something nice."

"I see. How did you get it?"

"You have to agree, THAT is a very shameless question."

Looking at his eyes, I give it a bit of thought before I agree with him. "I guess. Where are the others from our raid party?"

"No idea. They ran away the moment we got the kill notification."

"Shame."

"Right? Are you with Primordial Knights now?"

"It’s difficult to say, but if that bald guy I came with asks, then I said 'yes.'"

One of the guys to the side decides to join the conversation. "Don’t you know his name?"

"Weslin," I decide to answer.

"Damn. What’s a monster like him doing on this floor?"

Before I can say anything, the archer speaks up. He looks at me first. “By the way, I’m Talon.” Then he turns to the guy who spoke. “And who the hell is Weslin?”

"Sometimes they call him The Null King, he’s one of the top dogs in Primordial Knights and likely the best user of Primordial Void currently in the Beyond."

Talon blinks and then glances back at me. "You friends with him?"

"Not really."

"You should become one. If you don’t want to, just give me an introduction instead. I don’t mind handling the communication part, so you can stay in the background and continue training and fighting head-on with monsters many levels higher than you."

I suspected it from the start, but this guy really is a social butterfly. A pure extrovert and an opportunist. The worst part is, even though he talks like this and doesn’t seem to be hiding much, his face and easygoing nature make it seem like it might just be some harmless quirk. People around him actually find it amusing and listen to him.

At that time, Weslin finally exits the door, likely having received the package he’s meant to be delivering to the third city. When he spots me, he heads my way.

"There you are, making friends?"

"Sir Null King! Greetings, I’m Talon and..." The archer starts right away but stops in the middle when he sees Weslin’s expression.

Weslin stares at Talon, his expression a mix of mild annoyance and amusement. “The fuck are you on about? Stop licking boots. You’ll wear your tongue out before you even get a contract signed.”

That shuts Talon up for a second. The gathered people exchange glances, most of them clearly uncertain how to react. A few smirk at Talon’s expense, but nobody dares speak up, at least not right away.

I stay quiet and watch the scene with part of my focus. At the same time, I adjust my Restrictive Training Emblem to draw a bit more out of it and start feeling the damage it’s doing to my body. In response, I quickly tweak my construct to let bits of thermal energy flow through me, just enough to heal the worst of it without fixing too much. My body needs to take damage for the emblem to work the way it should.

Lastly, I keep manifesting a mana orb inside my closed fist, dissolving it right away, then creating it again. Each time, I make small changes and continue my testing of the skill.

Talon, shameless as ever, chuckles and shrugs off Weslin´s words. “Fair enough. No harm in trying, right? Got to grab any chance that comes your way, hehe.”

Weslin sighs, clearly done with the bootlicking. He glances at the others. “Any more bright questions or comments?”

No one says anything.

Weslin shifts. “Good. Enough gawking. Rookie, let’s go before I start losing brain cells just standing here.”

I follow, but as we head off, I hear Talon’s voice behind us, low but clear. “Remember my friendly face if you make it to the top, mana boy!”

Weslin snorts without turning. “He’s got better things to remember than your mug, and at least get your contract signed before you talk crap.”

That more or less says anything I could answer, so I just turn around.

Then, as we leave through the door, I shrug. Just once.

The expression on Talon’s face is well worth it.

Chapter 646 - Disable that skill

As we take our leave, I wonder if I’ll ever see that shameless guy again. At this point, I wouldn’t mind, even if it was only to observe the way he uses his primordial energy. Even now, there are so many things that make me curious about him, in particular, what his primordial energy might do. My best guess is that it has something to do with the multicolored light he used instead of an arrow that managed to pierce the Harvester’s skull.

There was also something about his movements that felt off, too, so maybe that’s part of it as well?

Just more fodder for the enormous pile of questions I already had. I wonder if I’ll still have this many five, ten, or even a hundred years into the system.

Obviously, that depends on whether I can solve the problem of my body modifications clashing with the system given ones. Lissandra estimated a deadline of ten to twenty years, but with three of my new constructs? Probably not as long.

But that is what I’ll continue to do. I’ll just keep running downhill, increasing my speed so I don’t fall, doing everything I can to make sure I don’t stumble along the way.

My first test will be killing Faora before she finishes her tutorial and returns to her planet. Everything I do now, including the custom training and experiments, has been done in preparation for facing her.

Weslin says we should reach the third city in four to seven days if we hurry. He doesn’t seem to be worried about the possible dangers of the floor. With him being the kind of person who reached the fifth floor of Beyond, I’m not that surprised.

In the third city, there’s a portal that Weslin plans to use to get us to the third floor, where a bigger branch of the Primordial Knights can deal with me. Something tells me that he’s impatient to get rid of me, like a hot potato he intends to let someone else handle. But Faora is likely on the third floor, so that’s exactly where I want to go. That’s why I follow through and continue with my planning. I will deal with the problem known as the Primordial Knights later, they’re not all that important at the moment.

My mental training continues as well, and every hour I learn a tiny bit more about my newest skill, and it’s always just a bit more than before. I start thinking that even though I’m normally confident, I may have underestimated myself.

Given a bit more time, I think in this game of rock, paper, scissors, Faora would be the scissors, and I’d be the meteor.

During one of our short breaks, Weslin turns to me. “Yo, newbie, I’m getting tired of that bitch face of yours. Just be a man, disable that concentration skill, and talk to me normally.”

I look at him and then glance around us. The space between cities is huge, and I suspect the second floor might be much, much bigger than the first. Even as fast as we’re moving, there are still a few days left until we reach the second city, and a few days beyond that before we make it to the third.

That’s probably why Weslin seems to be getting bored.

I suspect one of the main problems this floor presents is crossing these huge distances while avoiding monsters. Here on this floor, they are...

“You bastard, are you thinking about useless stuff again?!”

I look back at him. “Even without my concentration skill, I don’t talk much, especially not with people I barely know.”

“You talked a bit before.”

“You were giving me a lot of information I didn’t already know, but you stopped doing that, and then you started babbling on about a bunch of useless stuff most of the time.”

“So my adventures from before the tutorial are useless stuff?”

“Maybe I misspoke.” I correct myself a bit.

“You betcha you did, you little shit. Well, I can disable it myself, right?” He takes a step toward me and enters my reach without a speck of worry.

The light of the crystal embedded in the ceiling of this enormous cave, miles above us, shines down and reflects off his bald head.

“You think I can’t do it?” he asks threateningly.

“I think you probably can,” I reply.

“Let’s try then...” he says with a smile, and his primordial void rises around him. Then, in a way I haven’t seen before, it reaches out for me.

Even though I defend and try to stop it, it disables the effect my concentration skill has on my emotions, in what can only be a great display of delicate and precise, if powerful, use of void energy.

Weslin smiles brightly while he waits, as if counting down, “You know, I’ve learned how to deal with guys like you. I can pick out concentration type skills from the unique feeling they give off. Don’t ask me how I do it, maybe I’m truly a genius, but some of the things I can do with void energy no one in the Primordial Knights can understand.”

As he says that, all my other skills activate, but the part of [Focus] that affects my emotions feels distant and out of reach. It’s unlike anything even Professor Feran could do.

Weslin takes a step closer. “What now? Want to punch me?”

“A bit,” I agree. “But do you think my control over myself is so pathetic that I’d do it the moment after you disable my skill?”

I face his eyes until he groans in an annoyed manner and mumbles something about this being a boring mission while he kicks the rock on the ground.

That’s when I channel and unleash a surge of mana at him. It roars through me, moving so fast it ravages my body as I drive it forward with all my strength, sacrificing control for speed.

Even though there isn’t as much of it as there was back then, it still explodes in his direction, just like it did against the Witherclaw during the tournament.

It tears the area around us apart in one huge blast. Debris rains to the ground as I stand unmoving, and the air is filled with a distant hum and the scent of mana.

In the middle of the resulting crater, Weslin still stands, completely untouched and still with his back to me. His primordial void flickers across his skin as he turns his head around.

“Stop fucking polishing your head, it’s blinding me...” I don’t get to finish the sentence because he is suddenly standing in front of me.

I absorb the kinetic energy of his first blow and redirect it through my body, using it to meet his next attack and then reposition. That same feeling of void trying to cut me off from my skill reaches toward me, and I don’t hesitate to compress my mana into a black orb, which I place between us.

The surface of the orb wobbles, and the orb itself elongates and stretches. But then it bounces back into the shape of an orb.

It just fully resisted void energy disruption from someone who’s probably close to a hundred levels higher than me.

Staring into Weslin’s eyes, I grab the orb in my hand and squeeze, letting it seep into my body, where it flows through me, slowly feeds on my mana, and compresses it the same way.

I’ve seen him fighting often enough, so I don’t even bother with ranged attacks. The best chance I have against Weslin is to fight him at melee. Or possibly from a distance with matter-based ranged attacks, but there’s no way I would try that now.

With my suppressed emotions slowly rising within me, I reach him. The field around him flickers with void energy and disrupts my kinetic strikes, but I rely on my body, strengthened by black mana. Honestly, I’m not the greatest at mana based body reinforcement, but with the amount of mana I currently hold, I don’t have to be.

Weslin blocks my punch with his forearm and punches me, sending me staggering back. The skin on the arm I used to block twists like a whirlpool, and flesh, skin, and blood explode as a hole is punched right through me.

Once again, he’s in front of me, delivering another punch, which I partially manage to block. As another hole appears in me, I throw thermal energy at him. It blazes all around us, setting the grass on fire, heating up the dirt, and rising high into the sky in a rush of golden flame.

And he just swings his arm while primordial energy moves around it. As if it were blowing out a candle, the flame around me disappears.

A few more exchanges earn me a few more wounds. His body is ridiculously strong and durable, and even the technique he’s been showing off is great. But he’s still holding back, and I can use that against him.

I gather kinetic energy again and move. This time, as he sends a wave of void energy at me to disrupt it, and I force black mana from my pathways to the surface of my skin. His void energy bounces off it and fails to reach the kinetic energy beneath.

Wraith Dance brings me to his side, and I absorb my inertia, causing him to miss. Then I move again, using the kinetic energy the entire time, and bury my fist into his face with all the power I can gather. It sends a shockwave rippling out around us, so strong it looks like waves spreading through the grass.

Slowly, Weslin turns to me, with my fist still against his face. He is smiling.

“I didn’t expect that,” he says.

I don’t see what happens, but in the next moment, I find myself flying through the air. As if in slow motion, I watch him move toward me.

Not for a moment do I take my eyes off him. I absorb the inertia of my flight while clashing with his new attempts at disruption. I adapt to face them and stop him from interfering with my kinetic energy. I send a pulse upward and push myself toward the ground. As my feet touch the grass, I use Pulsar Stance to avoid three attacks aimed at me.

I release a seal on my heart a slight bit more and push all that heat into the area. And while he deals with that, I push through the golden flames with a Wraith Dance.

Even without [Focus], I feel myself settling into the familiar calm that comes during a fight. I concentrate on all the information I can gather. I keep coming up with ways to fight him. I keep handling the black mana, transferring bits of normal mana that regenerate into kinetic energy before the black mana can take it. I continue to cycle thermal energy through my body, and I keep observing his void energy as I do.

As my fist heads for his rib cage, I send ten pulses of kinetic energy at him, emanating from the front of my fist. All in a fraction of a second, each with a slightly different frequency.

He uses ten similar pulses of void energy that deal with all of them. My fist hits his chest, and I feel the bones beneath crack, but he doesn’t seem to care at all. In fact, his smile grows even brighter.

“How about this?” he says, and before I can even move, he sends a hundred pulses of void energy at me.

They bounce off me. They bounce off each other. Some push away the black mana, some try to contain it. Each one is different. About half push the black mana barrier away, even the one I’ve been using for reinforcement. The rest bounce around inside my body.

When it all stops, the second seal on the Ignition Heart lifts from the strain, and thermal energy floods my body. It forces me to immediately start dealing with it as pain and golden flames fill me.

But Weslin doesn’t give me a pause. He punches the exact spot on my chest that I struck on his, cracking a few of my ribs, then lands another blow in the same place.

I barely absorb the slightest bit of the incoming kinetic energy and dedicate more of my mind to handling the thermal energy.

As pain fills me, my body starts healing rapidly. The wounds he caused before close in moments, and even the broken bones begin restoring themselves.

In an effort to counter Weslin, I let some of the thermal energy reach my skin, forcing him to deal with it to continue his assault. At the same time, I shape some of the black mana in my body into a javelin and hurl it into the distance, because I can’t handle both it and this amount of thermal energy at once.

Weslin swings his arm again, the flames against me die off, he blocks my attack, endures another, then hits my chest again in exactly the same spot, sending more ripples of void energy piercing into my body.

The third seal around the Ignition Heart lifts just the slightest bit.

The flames surrounding me increase tenfold in a blink, causing Weslin to stagger back and cross his arms in front of him to fend it off. Void energy surges around him, and he takes no damage.

Even now, he moves closer and swings his arm to make the flames die out, and they do. But a moment later, they return, even bigger and more intense than before.

The air crackles with heat, and my skin starts melting and regenerating at an insane speed.

Looking at it, Weslin smiles. “That was almost too easy. I could probably just walk away and let you die from this, right? Damn, man, I really gotta show you at least a bit of how to deal with void energy.” He shakes his head.

He swings his arm again, and void energy gathers, surrounding us in a huge loop. It spins around both of us, with void energy flowing inside it. The loop then starts shrinking and spinning faster, and the faster it spins, the stronger its disrupting effect becomes. Gradually, the flames around me die off.

Using the small window of time that gives me, I work as quickly as I can on the Ignition Heart, placing the slightly lifted third seal back in place. As I do, I come to realize that it had lifted even less than I thought, just the tiniest bit.

The seal falls back into place. Then the second. The loop of void energy finally disappears.

My normal mana starts filling me again, and my constructs reactivate themselves. I throw myself onto the ground, resting on my back and breathing heavily. My body is perfectly healed, but the pain makes me feel like my head is going to explode and my body is going to melt.

I move a little and let out a long, painful groan as I do. I turn my head to Weslin, who’s still sitting nearby and observing me with curiosity. He’s barely taken any damage.

“Is it possible to enter all of Beyond’s floors without bothering with the quests? Just by buying the right stuff or passing through portals?”

“Holy hell, man.”

“Just answer my question, damn it,” I groan.

“Maybe if you didn’t look like you were about to die, I would.”

“Fuck you.”

At that, he smiles. “Bitch.”

Only then does he move a bit closer and answer. “It’s only the second and third floors you can enter so easily. Getting to the fourth is much more complicated.”

“Not so fucking difficult to answer, right?” In the middle of that sentence, I groan from the pain again and close my eyes.

He kicks at the ground, and bits of dirt and small rocks hit my face.

Then I spit some of the grass from my mouth and continue asking questions to distract myself from the pain.

Chapter 647 - Ol' Reliable

A while later, Weslin goes off to fight another group of monsters that’s been getting closer. I lay in the same spot as before and continue my mental exercises. The ones where I imagine mana flowing through impossible shapes still hurts, but I’ve made progress with creating two minds to cycle them.

I’ve decided to call it Load Rotation.

No one ever said I was good at naming things.

Weslin and I both ignore the black javelin stabbed into the ground a mile away, as it hungrily devours all the mana in reach.

As I continue practicing, I keep observing Weslin. After having my ass kicked by him, I can easily say he’s stronger than Faora. I just can’t imagine her being able to do anything to him, not with that primordial void energy protecting his mind. Even my black mana struggled to counter him. Although in this case, I blame it more on myself. I wasn’t willing to create a denser version of black mana because I knew I wouldn’t be able to control it properly yet.

I have a pretty clear view of my capabilities, thanks to my many deaths during the tournament.

Of course, I also know that if I needed to, I could push myself further than what my tests in the tournament showed. The real sense of danger and possible death just has that kind of effect on me.

It also makes me wonder if part of that comes from the effects of my Pride subclass. Even now, the things that subclasses actually do are hard to grasp. It’s more about a feeling rather than accurate numbers or something easier to quantify.

Still, I’m sure my subclass is constantly affecting me and my skills. That would explain why I’m better at some things than some people who should be comparable to me.

Another monster screeches, and when I look back, I see a huge white wolf with glowing green eyes. It bites at Weslin, who just moves to the side and delivers a punch that sends a shockwave through the monster and bores a hole through it. Weslin then tanks another bite to his shoulder, grabs the wolf by its teeth, and tears its mouth open.

Some of his fights feel like they can barely be called combat and feel more like executions. He’s clearly too overpowered for this area. His void energy disrupts the enemies’ mana and primordial energy-based attacks, so most of the fights end up being physical. In that, with his powerful body and nearly unpierceable skin, he usually has a clear advantage.

In my estimate, he doesn’t put many points into dexterity. Most likely, he focuses on strength, with part going into constitution and a bit less into mana. His skin is probably the result of a powerful trait or a combination of merely strong ones.

Maybe he’s even over level 400 with his third trait, but I’ve already asked, and he refuses to tell me.

When he returns to me, I ask, “Why didn’t you buy blue bones to create a portal to the third floor? Wouldn’t that be quicker?”

While cleaning blood from his hands, he looks at me. “Probably? But there’s a package I need to deliver to someone in the third city, so I may as well combine the two quests. The last time I was on this floor, I was in rookie city, so I appeared there. I just got lucky enough to find you. If I hadn’t met you, I would’ve just used the teleportation array to get to the third city, but it wouldn’t work with you because you haven’t been there yet. That’s why we have to go on foot.”

“You can’t fly?”

“You little shit, are you looking down on me?”

“I’m just surprised. I had expected flying to be more common at higher levels.”

He snorts. “As if. But we’ve got a few people in the guild who would already be in the third city and back before we could even reach the second.”

“I can fly pretty fast. If I wanted, I could probably run away from you.”

“Are you sure? I’d just need to disrupt your flight and kinetic energy to slow you down, and even if it took a while, I would still catch up to you. Then I’d beat the shit out of you for the trouble.”

“That’s why I didn’t do it.”

“Nah, don’t think I don’t notice how weirdly cooperative you are. I know bastards like you. You’re probably planning something behind those eyes of yours. To be honest, I don’t care. The others can deal with that. I’ll just do my job.”

I shrug and return to the previous subject. “How many people can fly?”

“Percentages? I don’t know. Probably ten percent? Five? Twenty? I never cared about that kind of thing, to be honest.”

“Aren’t you worried about someone attacking you from above and not being able to reach them?”

This time, a laugh escapes him as he crosses his arms over his chest. “There were assholes like that at times. Oh, so many. And you know what I did? Nothing. I just stood there, disrupted any attacks that reached me, or even let them hit me. Huge explosions, concentrated projectiles, piercing attacks, nothing worked. Most of them get annoyed and leave like the cowards they are. That, or if they’re really dumb, they come closer.”

His smile widens, and his teeth show in a dangerous grin.

Taking a few steps, he’s about to pass by me, but before he does, he taps my shoulder. “I knew you could do that, too, during our fight, but you didn't. That’s why I like you, newbie. You’ve got balls for facing me up close. But at the same time, you aren’t quite as bad as demons.”

Littering every floor I enter with black mana is likely one of my favorite pastimes. Every time, I just leave it behind because I don’t know what else I could be doing with it.

Even now, we move again, as my condition improves, and the javelin a mile away is about to destabilize. It has finished sucking in all the mana it can handle and is unable to reach for more.

It starts breaking down, and once we are far enough away, it finally explodes. And as a pleasant surprise, I even receive a few kill notifications about some random monsters.

[You have defeated Plains Shadow Wolf - lvl 371]

[You have defeated Plains Shadow Wolf - lvl 369]

[You have defeated Plains Shadow Wolf - lvl 374]

[You have defeated Sandfang Tunnel Serpent - lvl 368]

[You have defeated Sandfang Tunnel Serpent - lvl 358]

[You have defeated Ashcoat Field Scorpion - lvl 376]

...

[Lvl 322 > Lvl 323]

"Why is there sometimes such a huge difference in strength between two monsters at the same level?" I ask Weslin.

"How the hell would I know? I don’t care about that kind of stuff."

"I see."

A day later, we pass a mountain range covered in snow. By now, I don’t bother asking how it could be possible for it to snow inside a huge cave. I simply admire the enormous mountains. Everything there is eerily still, and I even feel a bit of the chill reaching us.

“What is that place?” I ask Weslin without stopping as I run near him.

He glances to the left. “We call it the Snowy Mountains.” Then he turns to the right and points to a black veil filled with lightning. “And that’s the Storm.”

“Attendees really don’t fuck around with names.”

“Right?” He smirks. “The locals have some fancy names for them, but you won’t get them from me. I forgot them long ago.”

He increases his speed, and I quickly catch up.

After days of running, the area surrounding us is getting stale. It’s still the same beautiful plains filled with lush grass and flowers swaying in the wind in beautiful patterns, but there are no hills, no trees, no lakes. Just an ethereal, never-ending plain, and once in a while, we encounter holes in the ground where monsters climb out.

“I wonder if it could really be so easy to enter every floor of Beyond? You just need some money to buy a portal and get there?” I ask, reiterating a question I never got a real answer for.

Weslin looks amused in a way that makes it clear he’s been asked this question many times before, but this time he answers more in detail.

He even confirms it. “A lot of newbies ask that. But, as I said before, no. That only works up to the third floor. To get to the fourth is harder. And yeah, you’re not the first to notice how weird this place is. Most people just say it’s because it isn’t properly included in the system. Either because it can’t be, or because the Rulers haven’t bothered.”

He gestures at me to speed up and runs more to the right. I follow, increasing my speed to run by his side.

“They say the Rulers were the first to clear the First Dungeon. After that, they used it to link the tutorial and the real world because of the unique properties of this place. Don’t ask me why. No one but the damned Rulers know. I like the theory where those dickhead Rulers cleared the First Dungeon and its floors, similar to how we clear the tutorial. Hell, maybe the tutorial was inspired by the First Dungeon by some asshole who came along before the Rulers. Some also say this place was much more dangerous, but after clearing the floors, the Rulers made it easier for the people who came after. That theory says the Rulers are still clearing deeper floors than we could possibly imagine. And once in a while, one of them dies there.”

"Do they just leave the Ruler's bodies there?"

"Newbie, what the fuck are you trying to say?"

"I mean, wouldn’t you have a lot to gain from studying such a body?"

"Newbie, you worry me sometimes. As you and I are now, we would probably turn to soup if we even got anywhere near close to the true body of a Ruler. Why do you think these assholes keep using Projections, Avatars, and Vessels when fucking around?"

"Isn’t that lame? I would expect some amount of control from them."

"Sure, some can do that, but others don’t bother. And if you’re dead, you really don’t care what happens around you, right?"

"Oh, the Saint from the third floor?"

"Something like that. Now imagine what a true Ruler's body would do, when even a powerful healer’s body like the Saint's fucked up an entire world."

"Probably nothing good."

"Shit beyond your tiny brain’s comprehension."

"I see."

"Newbie, you still want to see it."

"Yup," I confirm.

"Well, good luck with that. Now, you’ve stopped attempting to counter my void disruption. Why? Did you get lazy when I graciously offered to help you with that?"

"I didn’t stop. I just changed the way I go about it and decided to observe how that disruption works. It is very different from mana based disruption, and it’s quite a bit stronger. Do you think the system created mana-based disruption based on the Primordial Void that existed before it? There are skills that use or help with primordial energies, right?"

"Yes. I have several like that," Weslin looks at me curiously.

"So even though it likely requires more levels or effort, void energy should be possible to counter with the system given skills. There are some active skills or passives that help you fight back against mana based disruption. I think it is possible they were also inspired by something, a fragment, some other primordial energy, or maybe they were just derived from something else."

"And how will that help you?"

"Probably not much, but don’t you think it’s interesting?"

"Aren’t you a curious little jerk?"

"It’s you who is weird for not caring beyond making the numbers go up."

"Hey, it’s worked so far. So what are you testing?"

"Even though void energy is great at a sort of cutting you off from your powers, style disruption, I think it could be countered by having a better handle on these powers or even straight-up overpowering it."

"Newbie, I don’t know you well, but I think I see where you’re headed."

I look at him and tilt my head at his reaction. Weslin, as everyone from Hell difficulty and by extension from Beyond, continues to prove himself as a weirdo.

Then I turn my attention back to my body and continue making modifications to my already existing constructs and Mana Cycling, and Thermal Cycling. I do it all while remembering the feeling of that oppressive disruption. It is not something I will keep up at all times, but I create something akin to a switch in my constructs so I can quickly pump things into overdrive. It will make control more difficult, but the modifications I make should lessen the load for a while at the cost of some pain. It will also require more mental control from me, but that’s something I’m already working on.

I’m not the most talented person there ever was, so until I properly improve my control, level up my skills, or make my mind more powerful, I will counter these things my way, which still works reliably.

I’ll just straight-up overpower it with the sheer amount of mana or primordial energies I hold.

Chapter 648 - The third city

We pass by the second city without stopping. Unlike the first, this one has been built up inside one of the craters that dot the ground. The difference is that this one is enormous. It’s between two and three miles deep and about a mile wide. The hole is circular, with perfectly smooth edges covered in balconies, holes, and windows that lead to hallways and rooms, and each opening bathes the surroundings in a gentle light, even as the hole continues deeper into darkness.

As weird and creepy as it might be, it’s also one of the most fascinating and beautiful cities I’ve ever seen, and I promise myself that I’ll come back to visit sometime in the future.

We head deeper into the second floor, and the area around us doesn’t change much. The plains are still filled with the same yellow grass, and a myriad of flowers continue to grow even here. The only difference is that more monsters start to appear, stronger ones at that, and the black stormwall feels as if it’s pressing in closer around us. And this time, I can even hear the constant barrage of thunder pouring out of it.

Most of the monsters attacking us seem to be some sort of animal, whether they’re creatures I’d recognize from Earth or something I haven’t truly seen before.

There are Gleamspike Lopers, translucent jelly-like creatures with an orange flame pulsing along their spine. They move in this strange sort of leaping motion and scorch anything they touch.

Or Skraiths, which tend to move in swarms. Each one is the size of a football, made of flesh and chitin, and floats like a jellyfish with tendrils that crackle with lightning.

Once in a while, we encounter Behemoths, too. There are several elemental types, often closer to level 400 than 350. These turn out to be bull-like creatures with six legs, covered in brown fur, and with wide black horns on their heads. Each one is easily the size of a small building, and they’re extremely aggressive.

While Weslin fights most of them, I watch and study their weaknesses. Sometimes I take down a few myself, mostly with piercing projectiles to avoid causing overly loud explosions. According to Weslin, the noise only attracts trouble he currently does not want to deal with.

As for this member of the Primordial Knights, he, at least, is very efficient. His body is extremely powerful, his attacks pierce through enemies' defenses, which he disrupts with ease, and the way he renders nearly all mana-based attacks useless is fun to watch. I spend a lot of time watching, and as I do, I learn a great deal about the Primordial Void.

I don’t think my [Eclipse] will be able to disrupt primordial energies anytime soon, but I plan to work on it. It makes me wonder about the relationship between system-given skills and using them to disrupt primordial energies that existed before the system. It is likely possible, since in some ways the system itself includes primordial energies and works with them. But this is just one of the countless questions I keep having to ask myself.

Moving this way, we reach the third city. And it’s just as fascinating as the previous one. Where the second city was built along the walls of an enormous crater, the last safe zone on this floor makes itself manifest as a gigantic tower. Even though it is very wide, it also rises so high into the air that I’m sure that if the builders had been restricted to Earth’s materials, it would have been impossible to construct. And that’s without even mentioning the sheer scale.

“Some say the tower is the remains of an attack by one of the Rulers,” Weslin says as he stops by my side, also staring at this mile tall colossus made of white material. “They say it killed an Absolute grade monster long ago when the Rulers were exploring the First Dungeon. Over the last few millennia, the locals carved a city into it, aided by an early group that served as a predecessor to the Handlers. Only Champions and Absolutes are capable of carving into the material that makes up the tower.”

We start running toward it again, and the closer we get, the more impressive the scale becomes, cutting a grand impression with its myriad of terraces and balconies carved into the surface where it hasn’t been built out with other materials to jut outward.

From its many balconies, long strips of colorful cloth, each about the width of a car and nearly as long as a building, hang and gently sway in the wind. They tend to be decorated with paintings and texts that I still can’t quite make out from this distance.

Interestingly, the bottom fifth of this tall white pillar is bare of constructions and windows. The surface is almost completely smooth, likely showing how it looked originally. It might not even be made of stone, it could just as well be bone, or perhaps even some kind of wood I have yet to see, or even a material I have no hope of recognizing.

The smooth surface is broken by a single black door the size of a two-story building and just as wide. Its entire surface is covered in glowing blue inscriptions.

As we stand in front of it, Weslin pulls a mana stone from his pocket and sends a single pulse toward the door. I try to decipher it in case I want to mimic it in the future, but I realize right away there’s just no chance.

If my ability to read mana signatures is like being able to decipher a five to eight letter password, this feels like trying to break one with a few dozen. It’s far too confusing and too early for me to attempt.

After a bit of waiting, I hear creaking. The door does not open for us completely, instead, a small entrance forms at the bottom of the door. It looks like it’s probably tall enough for even a velnar to pass through, but it’s just so tiny compared to the size of the door and laughable compared to the city itself.

As we pass through the entrance, we cross some kind of barrier that places a mark on us.

“Don’t remove it,” Weslin warns me. “This city is the King’s domain, and everyone who enters receives his mark.”

I do as I’m told, though it doesn’t stop me from observing the mark out of curiosity. I even probe and poke at a few parts that I am sure have nothing to do with tracking, but I still can’t figure out their purpose.

I keep doing this as we pass through a huge, wide open, circular space, with a number of locals and attendees moving about.

The floor is made of the same material as the outside of the tower, as are the inner walls.

There are multiple elevators stationed in the exact center of the room. Some are big enough to fit several buses all at once, while others are clearly meant to ferry smaller groups of people and can therefore move much faster.

Around the edges of the space is a huge stairway that coils upward. Just wide enough for about ten people to walk comfortably side by side.

The entire area is illuminated by dozens of crystals embedded throughout the space. They’ve been placed under the stairs, on the floor, and simply positioned around the darker corners like lamps.

"Sir Weslin!" one of the locals shouts, rushing up to us. A woman wearing clothes similar in style to the uniform Weslin is wearing, white mixed with pale blue.

"Narisa, how the hell are you still working for the Primordial Knights? I told you, you can do better," Weslin snorts the moment he sees her.

That only seems to amuse her. From her expression, she does not look surprised or scared in the least. She seems used to this man’s behaviour.

"I am now the local director for this city’s branch of the Primordial Knights, Sir Weslin. I wouldn’t say I’m doing badly."

"Did they raise your pay?"

"They tripled it, and I negotiated some hefty performance bonuses on top of that. The contract is for three years only, so I will renegotiate later to get even more."

"I guess that doesn’t sound so bad."

"Right? I don’t know many locals who make nearly as much as I do. I made sure to use offers from their competitors to push my deal higher. I might have used your name once or twice during the talks."

"I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it hurt your case more than it helped."

"Always so ready to put yourself down, Sir Weslin. But we are being rude. Will you introduce me to your companion?" She turns to me with a look of curious calculation.

Instead of answering, I let Weslin speak. He says, "Yeah, that’s Nathaniel Gwyn."

To my surprise, that seems to tell her everything she needs. "Oh, that person. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister Gwyn. I am glad you decided to accept the invitation to join the Primordial Knights. I am sure you won’t regret it."

"I was kidnapped."

That makes Narisa freeze for a moment. Her smile fades slightly as she looks at Weslin.

"Yup," he confirms.

Her eyes move between me and him. "I’m sure it’s not as bad as it sounds, and there must have been a good reason..."

"He threatened me, kidnapped me, and said he would hand me over to someone called the Doc if I refused to join. He also beat me so badly I had to lie on the ground for thirty minutes because I couldn’t walk from the pain."

Weslin looks like he wants to argue, but after he realises that, even if it is a bit out of context, it’s all still true, he stays silent.

That silence tells Narisa enough. "May we talk, Sir Weslin?"

"Sure," he says and waves at me. "Newbie, go explore the city for a while. I’ll catch up once I get your transfer ticket from the guild. The portal can only be used once a day, so you’ll have a few hours anyway."

"I will. It’s been nice meeting you, Miss Narisa," I say, hoping to confuse the poor locals a bit more and potentially give Weslin a bit more trouble, before turning around and heading off into the city.

Since Weslin didn’t specify where I should go, I start walking upstairs, curious to see just how high I can climb before I reach a restricted area or before Weslin decides to come looking for me. I’m also curious to find out how he intends to find me. Maybe he’ll do it by using the mark the door placed on me. That thing is very interesting, and from what I can see of its structure, it’s very versatile as well.

There’s a node built into it for something like telepathic communication. I recognise it because it has a striking similarity to that thing Dennis and Aaron can do. There’s also a structure tacked on for teleportation. Maybe it could be used to forcefully teleport me somewhere else, perhaps some kind of prison. Then there are functions for stunning, restraining, causing pain, and other, more sophisticated effects.

To be honest, it’s pretty scary, and the ease with which it was placed reminds me of the Harvester. I start thinking of a way to defend against these placements in the future.

At the same time, I realise the mark is removable. I think I could get rid of it right now if I wanted. It would not be easy, but it is possible. So I think, rather than being a clear gesture of aggression, it’s intended as more of a warning meant to coerce attendees into behaving while in the king's city, who would seem to be a powerful Champion.

As I walk through the tower, I explore some of the smaller shops. A few guides try to offer advice, of course, asking for shards in return. I notice more guild branches and places to stay, either waiting to be rented out to attendees or serving as permanent homes for the locals.

There are no guards. None at all. And yet the city is very peaceful. After a while, I even learn to follow the frequency the mark gives off, and I realise that everyone here, even the locals, have one.

What an interesting way to keep order.

As I begin to approach the higher floors, I start seeing more professional smithies, bigger shops, and auction houses, paid entry parks, and even the odd restricted area. The architecture keeps changing, and an interesting thought comes to mind. According to Weslin, this place was carved out over the course of several millennia, so of course it makes sense that things changed as new parts were added hundreds of years after the oldest ones.

It’s while I’m exploring one of these floors, my mark activates, and an excited voice sounds in my mind.

(Hello!)

Chapter 649 - Spark

(Hello?) I send back.

(Hello!) The voice in my head replies.

This time, I follow it properly and confirm that it’s coming from the mark that was placed on me when I entered the tower.

(Are you the king of this city?) I ask.

(It seems that way!)

I blink a few times and glance around. Then I decide I should sit down, so I move over to a nearby bench.

(Seems that way?) I ask.

(It is difficult to say sometimes, with there being so many copies of me.) The voice sounds like a man in his thirties, maybe, but it has a strange sort of innocence to it.

(I don’t think I can really agree or disagree without more context. Also, don’t you have more important things to focus on than talking to me?)

(Not really. It’s pretty peaceful here, and the other parts of me deal with danger as needed, so I have time to watch over the attendees and my people.)

(Does that make you a stalker then?)

(I... I’m not going to lie, that definition is pretty close to the truth, but not really. There are a few more versions of me doing the same thing. I saw you with that rude guy, Weslin, before. Are you a disciple of his or a rookie freshly enrolled in the Primordial Knights?)

(I am neither. In the same way, you could almost call yourself a stalker, I could almost be called a victim of kidnapping. Are you a mind mage by any chance?)

(Don’t insult me. I only use my mind and marks to track people and observe them through the devices placed throughout the city. I don’t like to eavesdrop, that would ruin the fun of making my own observations and guesses. But some other parts of me might. Some of us are very curious.)

(So the ‘other parts of you’ that you’ve been referring to are different parts of your mind?)

(Hehe, I can guess why you might think that. I can sense you experimenting with something similar after all. I noticed it when I placed the mark on you. But no, it is not really like that. It is different from what you’ve been doing, but I won’t tell you more. Do you want me to save you from Weslin? Kidnapping people isn’t nice.)

(Thanks for the offer, but no.)

(Are you not angry at him? For kidnapping you and hauling you to the third floor? I know for sure that I would.)

(A bit, but so far it fits with what I was trying to do anyway. Are you a Champion?)

(Probably? I personally prefer watching people, but there are parts of me I can call on or ask for help. They're super strong. There are two or three that are fully combat-oriented and would have no trouble killing everyone in the city in mere moments if they wanted to.)

I pause my thoughts there. Yes, that totally sounds like a Champion, even though this one is really fascinating. I would have guessed it was someone who could split their mind like me, who’d messed up somewhere and created some sort of split personality. But he said that is not it. So maybe it is something more like duplication, intent, or an avatar, or something similar?

Leaning back, I notice myself tapping my finger on the back of my hand as I think. Maybe it really is something entirely different. But what? A Champion who acts as the main mind, meaning that the one I am talking to is something like a logic core that thinks it is the mind or the Champion? An artificial mind? A program?

Maybe he’s a new kind of race, kind of like a seven-headed hydra, each head having its own mind?

It could also be some kind of fancy trait, a passive ability, or a skill.

(Can you tell me what exactly you are?) I ask.

(Nope.)

Well, that’s it then.

I try again. (I am curious, so I hope it does not offend you. Do you want something in exchange for the answer to that question?)

(Hehe, people are rarely as bold in their curiosity as you. But I have to refuse. Still, I quite like you. You really do not want me to ask a stronger part of me to stop Weslin and sneak you up to the third floor? I can ask the part of me in control of the portal to let you use it.)

(Thank you, but there’s no need at the moment. Is it possible for me to see your body? Or talk to the main part of you?)

(Not really! And there is no main part. Each part is equally real. As for the body, we never leave our room at the top of the tower. Only parts of me move around to observe the city, guard it, run experiments, support the city arrays, and things like that. Our body has not left the room in a few hundred years. I am called Spark. And you?)

I see no reason to lie, and so I give my name to likely one of the greatest introverts I have ever met. (Nathaniel.)

My respect for the guy grows by a notch. I couldn’t imagine doing something similar, but who knows. Maybe in a few hundred years, I’ll have the chance to go on a training arc like that.

(Spark, can you tell me about Faora and Luan? Do you know them? I can give you their descriptions.)

(I can’t.)

(I see.)

(Are you angry?)

(I’m not.)

Spark lets out a laugh. (I can see that you’re not lying, hehe.)

(Why would I? I thought I’d try, but I didn’t have any expectations. So, do you need anything from me?)

(I don’t! I just wanted to watch you for a bit and talk. But I can’t annoy the attendees too much or the other me will get angry. So, in exchange, I’ll answer your questions. If you ask for something big, I’ll either refuse or ask for something more as payment!)

(That sounds good to me.) I answer, filtering out the background noise a bit.

While sitting on the bench, watching people move around, I anticipate the next question.

(Wait a moment! Another part of me has joined and wants to take part in the conversation too, so I’m trying to send him away!)

(I don’t mind.)

(You don’t?)

(I don’t,) I repeat.

(Great! This is Marble. He’s a bit rude sometimes, so please forgive him,) Spark says as he introduces another part of this city´s King.

That new voice joins. It sounds the same as Spark’s, but it lacks the excitement and innocence. Instead, it carries less emotion and sounds deeper overall.

(Human, there is something off about your body. Will you allow me to use the mark to observe it?) it asks right away.

(What will I get in exchange?)

(Yes! Don’t be rude, Marble. Offer something. It’s very rude to probe attendees like that. Remember what Sunshine always says!)

(I’m willing to offer equal payment to satisfy my curiosity, Spark. I know attendees are greedy, and such transactions always make things easier.)

Spark sounds a bit louder now. (That was rude too! Please forgive him, Nathaniel.)

(It’s okay,) I say. (What interesting or useful information are you willing to give me in exchange for probing my body, Marble?)

For a moment, he falls silent before speaking again. (I have a hard time judging what attendees consider interesting or useful. But there are four pieces of information my other selves were interested in as of late, so maybe you’ll find them interesting too. You can pick one.)

(That works for me. What are they?)

(Someone threatened to destroy the 1st and 2nd floors of Beyond. Then there was the death of someone important. The number of times attendees have tripped over their own feet while trying to look mysterious or intimidating in the past 500 years - the actual number will surprise you. And finally, a detailed chart tracking how many times attendees have tried to secretly feed the sparrows on the 26th floor of the city, only for the sparrows to completely ignore them. This one is long term, observed over the past 1,000 years.)

I sit on the bench and stare into the space in front of me.

Some of these don’t feel like the others.

Both Spark and Marble wait patiently while I make a difficult decision.

(The first question and the second one. What would you want in exchange for both?)

(Are you sure, Nathaniel? The actual number of tripping attendees would really surprise you!)

Spark probably doesn’t realize how close I am to picking that one.

(Maybe next time I come to the city.)

(He has picked his questions, Spark.) Marble says. (For the first one, I’ll probe your body. For the second one I will...)

(What are you two doing!) A third voice joins the conversation. It sounds the same as the other two, just stricter.

(Veil!) Spark says, and I can hear fear in his voice.

I feel Marble trying to slip away, but something holds him here just like Spark.

(You two aren’t going anywhere! What information are you trying to give to the rookie attendee!)

(But Veil! Nathaniel and I are friends.)

(We’ve made a fair trade, Veil. Please don’t interfere.)

(I’ll just sit here, then. Carry on.)

(I’m sorry, Nathaniel. It’s just Veil being rude. Veil, apologize to Nathaniel!)

(I agree with Spark, Veil.) Marble says. (You barged in so rudely, even though I...)

(Argggghh, just be quiet. How could I not barge in when you’re about to talk about this information.)

Marble’s voice softens a little. (I see. I guess it really was too much to offer information about the chart of the number...)

(Not that!)

(Veil, you’re getting riled up,) Spark warns.

I reach towards my bag next to me and pull out one of my last, and according to our calculations, around 100 thousand dollars’ worth bar of chocolate. I take only a few pieces before I carefully package it and put it into the bag while eating the ones in my hand.

After a bit of fighting, the conversation shifts when Marble says, (Veil, you probably would want to probe his body too. I got only a hint, but look at this.)

Then there is a long silence, and in peace I finish the chocolate.

(Mmm, I guess we could come to a trade agreement. But the chart is out of the question. Breeze spent too much time on it just to give it away so freely.)

(I’m fine with that.) I say.

(Thanks for your understanding, Nathaniel!)

(You are welcome, Spark.)

This time Veil addresses me, (Well then, the information about someone threatening to destroy the 1st floor and the death of someone important in exchange for a deep probe of your body. We will not touch your mind and will swear an oath not to share it with anyone other than ourselves, even if it would mean our death.)

(I agree.)

As I do so, Veil recites the oath, (We swear by our name, by our mark, and by our bond with this city. The knowledge we gain through this probe, or that any part of us gains by any means in relation to this act, will not be shared, shown, spoken of, or otherwise conveyed to any being or force beyond ourselves. This includes all parts of us, present or future, known or unknown. This oath will bind us wholly and without condition, and shall hold even if our ruin or death be the cost. This is our word.)

I confirm its reality by the feeling of weight these oaths have, and observe the entire process. As always, calling the system as a judge is a very interesting process.

(Go on,) I say.

Then these three presences, through the mark placed on me, start examining my body. It isn’t as creepy as I expected it could be, and it doesn’t feel all that intrusive either. They’re being very careful about it and never go any deeper than they need to. And the mark serves as a great boon to the process. With their work, it expands through me and allows for a deeper scan.

While they do so, I continue to hear their voices.

(Nathaniel, how are you still alive!)

(Isn’t that Cycling similar to The Absolute’s?)

(This is such a mess. How can all these things fit there?)

(Two hearts. You’re so cool, Nathaniel! The demons must love you!)

(Statistically, he shouldn’t even be alive right now.)

(When was the last time you saw someone with this kind of stat distribution?)

(Nathaniel, how are you still alive!)

(What is this?)

(Connection? Maybe to bond?)

(It feels scary.)

When it’s finally done, Veil leaves after a brief thanks.

(Thanks for your patience, human. Spark, you're coming with me. Right now.)

(Sorry, Nathaniel, I have to go. They probably want to reprimand me again. I’ll see you later!)

(See you, Spark.)

Only Marble stays, and from him I get two pieces of information.

About a certain Absolute who escaped the tutorial and threatened to destroy the first two Beyond floors. Something Marble and the other parts of the King noticed, and even feared, as it was happening, finding themselves unable to push back against that incredible power.

The second piece of information connects to this as well. The Ruler of Envy is dead, killed by the imitation of The Ancient Monster that once tore through the Beyond. She is now trapped on the 12th floor, where her fate remains uncertain.

And the last piece of information I get is for free. The death of the Ruler of Envy means one of his Masters will sooner or later be crowned as the new Ruler of Envy. Then they will gain privileges and the opportunity to pass through the floors the same as the Rulers before them and head deeper into the First Dungeon to prove themselves.

They might stop at the 11th floor like the other Rulers did. Or maybe they will head deeper, to the 12th floor, in an effort to kill the monster entrapped there.

Chapter 650 - Just good luck

In the end, I offer Marble two chocolates and a blue sports drink. He hesitates for a moment but eventually accepts and points to the place he wants me to leave them. Someone will be along later to pick them up and bring them to the room where the body he shares with Spark, and Veil is locked away.

And in return, I get an answer to something that's been stuck in my mind ever since he mentioned it.

The number of times attendees have tripped over their own feet while trying to look mysterious or intimidating in the past 500 years.

(Really?) I ask, after he tells me.

(I told you it would surprise you.) Even though he speaks in his usual, calm, deep voice, I can hear the satisfaction beneath it, he’s clearly pleased by my reaction.

(But how?)

(I know, right? It's really surprising.)

(I never would’ve expected that.)

(None of us did either.)

(Damn.)

After that, we spend a bit more time talking until Weslin comes to get me.

As we walk through what, by my estimation, must be the center of the tower, we enter a floor that seems to be completely empty. It’s a massive open space, broken only by a large portal framed in twisted silver metal shaped like roots. And through it, I can see the third floor.

There are no guards and no locks, but after everything I’ve seen, that doesn’t surprise me anymore.

Weslin and I pass through and leave the second floor behind.

Welcome to the 3rd floor of the First Dungeon!

There are multiple safe zones distributed across the floor. Each safe zone has a capacity limit of 100, 1,000, or 10,000 individuals.

During daytime hours, it is possible for the number of individuals in a safe zone to exceed the designated maximum. However, if the number of individuals remains above the capacity limit by nightfall, the offending safe zone will permanently lose its function as a safe zone.

Individuals who have been present on the 3rd floor for a duration of 24 hours or less, either as a result of utilizing a Beyond Stay Token or by recently entering the floor, are not included in the safe zone capacity calculation. Once the 24-hour period has elapsed, these individuals will be included in the capacity count in the same manner as all others.

3rd Floor quest: Contribute to the creation of new safe zones

Rewards:

14-day Stay Token

100,000 shards

Activation stone for the portal to the 4th floor

Most of all, this floor reminds me of the environment of the Astral Prison. Rocky plains stretch out in every direction, eventually giving way to mountains and hills. Only broken up by clusters of ancient-looking trees.

But the ceiling of this enormous cave cannot be seen. It feels as if it’s much higher than it was back on the other floors, and it’s covered in what looks like clouds, through which light shines down, sometimes slipping through holes in their cover, allowing their warm rays to fall on the ground.

“So, any info you would like to share?” I ask Weslin after rereading the information on the third floor.

“Maybe? I mean, should I, though? You’ve already gotten to the third floor like you wanted. You might try to run away.”

“Didn’t you tell me you could easily stop me and kick my ass if I tried?”

“Yes, but it would be too much of a bother at this point.”

Under his eyes, I just shrug. “I won’t for now. There’s someone I still want to find. If you help me, I might even give a thought to joining the Primordial Knights.”

“Was there ever a more annoying little jerk than you?” Even though he says that, he’s smiling. “Names.”

“Faora and Luan.”

“Luan?”

“Yes, Luan.”

“As in motherfucking Luan?”

“Probably?”

“Damn, I gotta admire the balls on you. Faora is a bitch, no question, and a dangerous, rabid animal. Even she is too much for you at the moment, but Luan? Why the fuck would you want to mess with that guy?”

“Because of stuff,” I answer, as I take a moment to control myself, as happens every time I talk about them. I feel a small smile climb onto my lips. “Luan, not so much, but I would like to talk to Faora.”

“Sure, man. Talk. Yeah, yeah. Just talk. Fucking great. I brought you here so you can get killed by that twisted bitch. Damn great.”

“I don’t plan to die. Is Luan that strong?”

“Not gonna ask about Faora if she’s more important?”

“There’s no need.”

For a while, he stares at me while the quiet of this floor continues to fill the area.

“I’m not surprised you’re asking about the two of them at once. For some reason, he’s been seen moving with her a lot recently. Luan is... well, insanely talented. He’s already an Absolute Candidate and just a step away from S rank.”

“Could you beat him?”

“Newbie, I love you for thinking your good ol´ kidnapper might be that strong, but we have to be realistic, okay? Even though I’m sure I could fight him for a bit, there’s no way I could win, and I would die if I made a single mistake. Wouldn’t you agree that would suck for me?”

“I do agree with that.”

“Good boy. I always say a man has to have his own mind and make his own decisions, so do whatever you want. But I would strongly recommend putting this off, especially when it comes to Luan. As for Faora, even though she will never reach S rank, she’s a very powerful mind mage. Newbie, you probably know that everyone here fucking hates mind mages. The fact that she’s survived long enough to become an A rank should tell you something about her.”

“I see.”

“Yeah, you won’t listen. Well, anyway, we’ll be heading to one of the smaller safe zones nearby, where I’ll get some information before we move deeper into the floor. I need to get you to the Black Tower. It’s one of the bigger safe zones here, and we have a branch there that will take care of you.”

"It seems like you'll be getting rid of me soon."

“Right? It was fun, newbie, but I ain’t built for taking care of rookies. After I deliver you, I’ll return to my tutorial for a week or two. When I get back, I’ll probably be assigned to some well-paid guild quest, or my Handler might have something fancy for me.”

He gestures, and I follow at his side as he heads on into the third floor. This time, he moves faster than he did on the second floor, so I put in more effort to keep up while flying. In some ways, these past days have been good training, and my use of kinetic energy for long-distance running has improved greatly.

“So what’s the deal with this floor?” I ask.

“Very simple, newbie. During the day, all is well. Everyone’s your friend, monsters are weaker, and it’s almost nice out there. But when night comes, stronger monsters start to appear. The longer the night, the stronger they get.”

“Stronger than you?”

"Get unlucky, stay in one place too long, or cause too much commotion, and you’ll get fucked up, newbie. S-ranks have been known to die on this floor."

“Damn.”

"Yeah, damn. You can go out at night, and it's even somewhat safe for about an hour after nightfall. If you're strong or part of a powerful group, you're probably fine. But with just a bit of bad luck, you're finished."

“And the safe zone capacity?”

"Sometimes it feels like I’m either babysitting or doing unpaid work for an information guild."

I open my status and transfer 100 shards to him.

Weslin stops running, and I stop too. He stares at me, and I stare at him.

“You little shit.”

I nod.

He accepts the transfer.

And we continue.

“As the system message says, if you have a safe zone with a capacity of 100 people, and night comes with 101 people inside, it stops functioning as a safe zone, and everyone gets royally screwed. Don’t ask for more than that. They’ll explain it better at the guild branch.”

Seeing that I’d only be pressing my luck, I agree and stay quiet.

We head deeper, and I keep thinking about how damn punishing this place is and how a little bad luck can get you killed. I also start thinking about the rules I’d set to keep an entire safe zone from dying over the actions of one asshole. I’m pretty sure that when night is coming, everyone in the zone checks the number of people there. And if it’s over the limit, well, I bet they wouldn’t hesitate to use... drastic measures.

The safe zone we reach first is small. Just a few buildings at the edge of a small forest. A few people move around, and more of them are in what’s no bigger than a camp.

When we enter, we get a notification.

Welcome to the safe zone.

Current capacity: 86/100

Instead of heading in, Weslin waits, and a man comes to us. At this point, I can more or less guess who’s an attendee and who’s local. This Vyssari seems like a local. Like others of his race, he's very short and wears little over his scaly legs, just something that looks like shorts.

As he and Weslin talk, I listen.

In a way that seems common on this floor, the vyssari tells Weslin that we’ll have to leave because they’re expecting people who registered their stay with the intent to return before nightfall. Weslin tells him that we’re within our 24-hour period, so we don’t count toward the limit.

That noticeably calms the vyssari. After some sort of simple check that washes over me, he confirms it somehow. I take note of what part of me he scanned so I can look into it later.

Weslin then asks for the capacities of the safe zones along the way in the direction we’re heading, and the vyssari shares the information easily.

It’s all clearly business as usual.

Looking at me with a smirk, Weslin turns to the vyssari one more time in a way that is clearly meant to make fun of me. “Have you seen a four armed thylarin and a feylith woman in the area?”

Unexpectedly, the vyssari lights up at the memory. “Oh, I did. Not that long ago. The thylarin was extremely powerful and helped us hunt a monster we needed for material. They left just a while ago.”

The rest of his words sound distant, with a dark hum echoing in the back of my mind.

Weslin’s shoulders slump, and slowly he turns away from the vyssari, who keeps talking about the thylarin he met, and looks at me.

When our eyes meet, there is an expression on his face that’s hard to read.

Just a few minutes later, we leave the safe zone. In the end, the vyssari doesn’t know where the duo that passed through that safe zone could’ve gone. He just points in the direction they left, possibly having decided to stay a bit into the night to hunt some powerful monster or maybe with the intent to head toward some other safe zone.

Weslin and I are heading that way as well.

“Newbie, once again I would like to remind you…”

“Weslin, want to hear what someone told me before I met Faora and Luan for the first time?” I interrupt.

He doesn’t answer and keeps that serious look.

But I ignore it and stare in the direction we’re heading. “She told me that it’s all just bad luck.”

The construct in my body twists, and I make further modifications. My mind strains to the point I have to combust thermal energy under my skin just to ease the strain a tiny bit. Even that isn’t enough as I push myself further.

Looking in that direction, I wipe away the blood that drips from my nose.

“Maybe this time, it’s time for me to have some good luck.”

Two days pass, and we spend the nights in two more safe zones along the way. One is smaller, with a limit of up to 100 people, and the others a bit bigger, with a limit of up to 1,000. During these days, I do not sleep. I keep preparing.

The nights are filled with roars, reverberations, and distant explosions that grow louder and more powerful the deeper into the night it gets.

Something huge keeps circling the safe zone as well, waiting but refusing to enter.

Most people in the safe zones create sound dampening barriers during the night, but I don’t. Instead, I spend these nights at the edge of the safe zone, looking into the dark night that even my strengthened sight fails to pierce.

On the third day, we leave the place we spent the night before and move onto the final stretch toward the safe zone known as the Black Tower.

I recognize two of the figures we see while heading there instantly.

They notice us too and stop, waiting. Weslin sighs, glances at me one last time, and heads their way.

By the end of the five minutes it takes us to reach them, my [Focus] is almost gone.

“Hello, Faora, Luan,” I say.

“Nathaniel! It’s nice to see you. Are you doing well?”

“I can’t complain.”

“How is dear Sophie?”

“She could be better.”

Faora laughs, both her hair and eyes turning bright yellow, her small wings flickering in excitement.

She turns to Luan and nudges him. “Did you hear that? She could be better, hehe. And look, he has Weslin with him. Weslin, are you guys going to be adopting this mess?”

“Maybe?” Weslin shrugs. “It’s up to the others to decide. Nyssa seemed to…”

“I don’t give a fuck!” Faora barks. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that veiled threat you made by using her name. If I want to, I’ll kill him right here, and I don't care what Nyssa might think!”

Weslin stays quiet, and Faora keeps looking between him and me before fixing her hair, which turns red, the same as her eyes. “But it would be rude for me to bully poor Nathaniel, right? So what if I just leave you here and head deeper into the dungeon? That would mean we wouldn’t have the chance to meet again before my tutorial ends. That would be terrible for you, right, Nathaniel? Would your pride handle it, especially with how happy you seem at the sight of me?”

I don’t answer, and she bursts into laughter. “Luan, let’s go. There’s no need to deal with someone as weak as him, right?” Her eyes stay on me. “Just tell my sister to stay strong, okay, Nat?”

For a brief moment, her hair turns black and her eyes green.

Time freezes as Luan turns to her. He watches, then his gaze changes, like he has just confirmed something.

Faora herself doesn’t seem to realize what she just said, and continues to tease me.

Then she and Luan turn to leave and walk away. By my side, Weslin breathes out in relief.

Then I say.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

POV Weslin

“Where do you think you are going?”

Just those words, and everyone stops moving. There is still a chance to de-escalate, but I’ve already decided to respect this man’s decision and won’t even try.

He watches to make sure Luan and Faora stop. Then, while she turns to say something, he completely ignores her and turns to me.

“Weslin, can you hold off Luan for a moment?”

I shake my head. “I won’t.”

I don’t know what happened between him and that woman, or what makes him so eager to die at her hands, but I won’t be helping with any of it.

Hearing my answer, he tilts his head in confusion. “Oh, you want shards then?”

Immediately, a notification pops up in front of me.

Incoming transfer of 2,286,688 shards. Confirm?

Yes / No

I have to reread the number a few times, unable to believe he could have that much already. The way the number hasn’t been rounded at all tells me this is likely everything he has. All offered without a speck of hesitation.

And my view of him starts to change.

When I look at him, without having accepted the trade, he's staring back at me with golden circles gleaming around his pupils.

“Is that not enough? Fine, I’ll join the Primordial Knights. I’ll sign a contract without asking for any pay. Or is even that not enough? I’ll make a mid arcane item for you. If you help me with the materials, I can make it upper arcane before your tutorial ends.”

He talks quickly, his eyes wide open. The golden circles seem to bleed light as he pauses, tilts his head, and asks, “Oh, are you maybe scared, Weslin?”

It isn’t him being rude or trying to provoke me. It’s a genuine question, asked in the same style as everything else he’s asked me so many times before, when we were still talking about the floors.

“Weslin,” he repeats, and his expression shifts from cold to slightly maniacal. “I don’t understand. From your heartbeat and movements, you don’t seem to be refusing because I haven’t offered enough. So what is it? Is it really that you are scared? Or am I wrong? Is it not enough? Do you want me to beg? I can do it, I can crawl at your feet. I can lick your shoes if that's what you want.”

He takes a step towards me, and I step back almost instinctively.

That makes him hesitate, and for that moment, he looks almost sad.

“Weslin,” he says. “Why do you hesitate? Why don’t you want to fight and push yourself? Aren’t you supposed to be really strong? You have such power, greater than I currently have, and yet you hesitate?”

In that moment, I understand, I was wrong about him the entire time.

This man is no different from demons. He might be even worse than any demon I’ve ever met.

And in reaction to that, something stirs inside me.

How does he dare?

Without hesitation, I refuse the transfer of shards. As I pass by him, I push him aside.

“Don’t do it,” Luan says simply.

“I don’t seem to have any other choice,” I shrug, and almost without realizing it, I smile.

What a nice feeling.

The void answers before I even call it. It wraps around me like an old cloak, familiar and cold.

Then I charge Luan, leaving the newbie and Faora behind.

Chapter 651 - Stay here with me

I feel the world twist around me, and I appear in that ever-present darkness once again.

Cold liquid reaches my knees. Painful groans and splashes echo all around me. Faora sits on her throne with a single glowing orb providing the only light in this place.

After all the planning, all the constructs, all the training, here I am, easily pulled into her Mind Palace. I can already feel a strain on my mind because of the effects of her thought acceleration.

Memories, either emphasized by me or by the setting itself, keep returning. Memories of those twenty three hours spent lying with my head buried in the dirt.

“Welcome back, Nathaniel,” Faora says from her throne, made of twisted bodies. “I don't know what you’re planning, but it won't work, and by the way! I noticed that you’ve improved your mental defenses a lot, and they’re really quite impressive now. But why would you let me take you here so easily? I don't understand. Are you sure it was a good idea? You know, your body’s kind of breaking right now. Well, it's not like it wasn't already. You've made some really interesting modifications, too.”

I don't answer, instead, I take a deep breath and force myself to step through the water.

When one of the bodies in the water reaches up to me, I shrug it away and continue walking.

More red drops fall into the dark water, blood flowing from my nose and lip. A few drops of blood stain my clothes; others simply deepen the existing redness.

“Nathaniel, are you angry? Why aren't you talking to me? I thought you missed me. You must have pulled a lot of strings to get to this floor so quickly, and using the Null King? Impressive, you actually got that guy to face Luan. Weslin usually is… well, more free-spirited than that.”

She giggles and swings her feet, tapping against her throne, striking the cheek of one of the faces that make it up. That face groans in pain, and Faora smiles more, putting her hand back on it. She buries her fingernails into the cheek of that face until she draws blood.

The next step I take is much more difficult, but I continue nevertheless. The bodies reaching towards me scratch me, tear at my clothes, and become stronger. The red water I walk through is incredibly cold, as if it's pulling all the heat and life right out of me.

“Nathaniel,” Faora says again, “I really, really want to break your pride. I thought maybe just leaving you behind, scared that I'd exit the tutorial before you could reach me, would’ve been nice, but you went and messed that all up. So should I instead, maybe return to the first floor and wait around there for your friends?”

She stops swinging her legs and smiles even more, looking directly at me with eyes wide open.

“Tell me, how is dear Sophie? Did I really break her? Did Izzy cry when you brought her back?”

I stumble slightly, and she bursts into laughter, still pounding on the throne of bodies she sits atop. With every strike, her fingernails draw more blood. She laughs even more as one of the bodies in the water knocks me down, and it takes great effort to get back up again. All around me, the groans continue to intensify.

Then she stops laughing, and the groans disappear as well.

“Why aren't you talking!” she screams. There is no echo at all, her voice simply disappears into the darkness. “What are you planning! Why aren’t you using that skill from the last time!? Why aren't you BREAKING!?”

The water around me explodes in motion, and I take another step.

They grab my leg, my arm. Teeth sink into me, tearing away at my flesh. A nail pierces one of my eyes, blinding it. Another rips off my ear.

My movement stops, and Faora stands up. She buries her hand in the pile of bodies that make up her throne and, in a geyser of flesh, pulls out a rib bone with a really sharp edge, holding it like a dagger.

“Why aren’t you talking!? Why are you even weaker than you were last time?!” she screams, taking a step from her throne, her face twisted in anger.

Before she can take another step, a pale blue spear pierces through her back and emerges from the front of her chest.

She lets out a loud scream, and the other bodies start to twitch. They let go of me, and I fall back into the cold water.

Just like Faora, who twists her head around in disbelief, I watch as a figure steps out from behind the throne.

It’s a young man with black hair, wearing simple, everyday clothes. One of his eyes is gray, the other brown, each encircled by a glowing golden ring that gives them an eerie look in the dim light. Blood flows from his nose, eyes, and ears, just as it does from mine, filling me with ringing waves of pain.

He has a calm expression and takes another step, lifting the spear he holds in one arm higher into the air, raising Faora along with it until her legs dangle there. Blood flows from her mouth and chest, and she continues to scream in pain.

“What have you done, you lowlife fuck! How dare you!” Then she stops for a moment and manages to control her twitching, and her eyes widen. “You… you maniac! Did you really split your mind like this? You… you tricked me!”

Faora starts clawing at the weapon, piercing her, attempting to break the spear. The other broken versions of herself start moving toward the man who stabbed her, but he remains unfazed and lifts her even higher.

While doing so, he looks at me, and I return his gaze.

I nod, and he nods back.

He swings his arm, and Faora's body slides off the spear, flying towards me. She crashes into me, sending us both rolling through the red water. We sink beneath the surface, and as she thrashes, I grab her, wrapping my hands around her neck and starting to choke her.

Red water fills her mouth, and she spits it out, but here, she's stronger than me. I can barely hold on as her thrashing breaks my bones, yet I refuse to let go.

"You maniac, how can someone like you exist! Splitting your mind like this only doubles the effects of my thought acceleration. There's no way your mind can endure more than mine. You're killing yourself, you fucker!"

"Two?" says the second voice in my mind, standing by the throne with a long, pale blue spear in hand.

It is a voice I recognize so well, but at the same time, it sounds so unfamiliar.

Faora stops moving and stares in shock.

"There's a third, small piece that stayed in my body, and it’s already moving to kill you," he says.

Then, just like me, he looks at the top of the throne where a small figure sits, having been there the entire time without Faora noticing it at all.

A little girl with black hair and green eyes.

He extends a hand to her, and after a hesitation that feels endless, she takes it, gently placing her hand in his. Then, as he stops manifesting his mind into Faora's, they both disappear.

I grab Faora, and even as she starts to twist again, I force her head underwater. She thrashes and breaks free, kicking me off. But I crawl through the water after her and lock her in a chokehold from behind.

I can feel her trying to escape, but I know it's not that easy. Once her skill activates, there is a minimum amount of time it has to stay on for.

"Faora, don’t go. Stay here with me." I whisper into her ear, tasting blood and feeling every strain in my body.

Her struggles grow fiercer, and I cackle even as she rips off my arm and kicks me away again.

She disappears after that, choosing to face the backlash of forcefully canceling her skill.

The Mind Palace falls apart, and I disappear as well.

As the three parts of my mind combine back into one, I find myself outside. My body is already in front of Faora. Barely a second has passed in the external world. Even the black mana isn't fully compressed, and the [Empyrean Lance] hasn’t been created.

The side effects of everything that just happened hit me hard, but I ignore them and pull my entire focus into finishing what the third mind started, having a head start over Faora.

But of course, even Faora isn’t dumb enough not to know about this weakness. Automatic defenses rise up around her. Arcane items activate, and barriers envelop her.

As she is opening her eyes and they start to get into focus, my black mana clashes against mana based barriers and starts devouring them. I barely deflect the first automatic attack, which tears a massive, bloody gash down my side, then dodge the next.

My lance pierces through the barrier and stops just a hair away from her eyes, held there by her automatic defenses.

Her eyes snap open, and a powerful mental attack slams into me, but my mental defenses are back in place. Her attack weakens as it clashes against my mind labyrinth, both passives and my active defenses.

I change the shape of the black mana into a dagger. I grab it and continue to expand the blade while stabbing at her.

Then, even as I try to stop it, she teleports away.

I track her through the remains of her teleportation, and the countermeasures and traps in it crash against me. My eyes bleed as I take this information in and disrupt it before I teleport as well.

She is already high in the air, flying, and when I move to do it as well, I hear a voice.

(Stop. Defend your mind.)

I do exactly as instructed, raising my mental defenses to their limit. Pain surges through me, causing me to falter, but I manage to stop the attack Faora hurls at me.

Then, mana projectiles shoot from her and head my way, but I raise the black sword and block them all, continuing to clash against her mind.

(I will help.) The voice says again, and the mental attacks assaulting me weaken.

I hear Faora scream, and another barrage of attacks crashes against me, explosions, projectiles, nasty circles, but I block them all with a sword that devours all mana in reach and disrupts the rest.

Staring at her, I hold myself there, and the presence I was feeling comes closer. Luan appears, standing in the air beside her. There is no damage on his body at all, and the glowing lines on his forearms seem more lively than before.

Weslin joins me by my side. His wounds aren’t healing at all, and he has one of his eyes closed with blood seeping out. He's well-pummeled, but he’s still alive and determined.

Faora begins to speak, her voice rising with each word. “Kill him. Kill that maniac. Kill them both, Luan. Kill that creepy-eyed fuck! That guy cannot be allowed to live!”

Luan glances down at me, then at Faora. She, like me, shows clear signs of our mental clash: ruptured veins in her eyes, a bleeding nose. Even though I don't think I can kill her, I don't think she can kill me either, without going through a lot of trouble, and with Weslin there, we could finish her off.

That changes if Luan decides to join.

“I won’t,” Luan says simply. “If you want to go after them, do it yourself, Faora. I’ve already weakened Weslin, so it should be easier for you now. And the other guy? He’s just a third-year, so it should be a simple matter anyway.”

The thylarin leaves, simply walking away over the air.

After a moment of hesitation, Faora follows him, before she is left to face the two of us alone. She has a hateful expression as she stares at his back, but doesn't dare to say anything.

Only for a moment, she looks towards me and Weslin. I can see that she’s thinking of attacking us, trying to estimate whether she would be able to do it.

But I already know what she will do. Faora is weak. Her Pride is brittle. She doesn't push herself enough.

She leaves just as I thought she would, and I let it happen. I'm sure we'll meet before her tutorial ends, and that will be the last time we do.

Me and Weslin stay where we are, and he sighs in relief. He starts blabbering in excitement about his fight with Luan, but it all sounds only in the back of my head as the world around me starts turning black.

I keep myself up just a bit longer, in case Faora returns, but in the end, I'm unable to hold on to consciousness, and before I black out, I feel my body hit the ground.

Instead of the black darkness surrounding me, I find myself back in my mental space. A small, clearly Earth style room with a crib, older furniture, and an open window beyond which I notice snow falling outside.

That green-eyed, black-haired girl I saw sitting unnoticed on Faora's throne is there as well, now on the ground with her back resting against the wall.

Yet another intruder in my mind.

Chapter 652 - Intruder

“Well, that was dumb,” the girl says, sitting with her knees pulled to her chest.

“It was all perfectly calculated.”

“You almost died. You could’ve just let her go for now and caught up with her later, but you risked everything just to get back at her.”

“I never said I was a smart person.”

“Splitting your mind into three parts, accelerating each of them to the point where your brain is almost sizzling out your ears… that’s not just being ‘not smart.’”

“Look, there’s this guy I know from the third floor I have to compete with.”

The girl sighs. “So dumb. And your good mood is showing. Izzy told me about it because apparently I didn’t notice before, and she’s right, you really do look more lively, talk faster, and joke more when you're in a good mood. So, you split your mind into three parts. You hid it from Faora and allowed her to take one of those parts into her Mind Palace.”

“She was careless, just as I expected. It’s fun when people underestimate you. A piece of advice from me: if you truly think you have no chance against someone, don't put up a proper fight. Just do enough so they feel satisfied with beating you, let them underestimate you, and wait for an opportunity. It always worked on my bullies before.”

"Were you bullied like that a lot?"

"A bit? Having very young parents, an alcoholic dad, a face everyone apparently wants to punch, and later on a sister who ends up in prison for killing said alcoholic dad probably doesn’t make other kids or their parents like you very much."

"Do...do you wish it was different?"

"I think everyone wants to change something, but at the same time, if they really did change, I wouldn’t be the person I am now, and someone else would be standing here instead. Well, that guy would probably have died on the first floor, served up as food for Cinderbear or that giggling goddamn Phantom Goblin."

“That makes sense. So you allowed one of your minds to be taken by Faora, and then you followed that link, manifested the second part of your mind in her Mind Palace, and waited for the right opportunity.”

“Yes. [Manifestation] is a broken skill. At first, I wanted to kill her, and if everything went perfectly, I think I could have pulled it off. One of my minds was made to be durable and to get her attention, the second was made for killing her, and the third was a failsafe. But everything changed once I noticed you.”

She stays quiet and doesn’t react to that. So shy.

I shrug, “But I made some miscalculations too. I expected doubled thought acceleration because of her Mind Palace, but somehow it even managed to affect the mind I kept in my body. But somehow it worked out in the end.”

“I don’t know if you’re lucky, dumb, or just that scary. Maybe all three?”

I take a few steps and come to a stop in front of her. This time, I speak with a more serious tone. “The first time I lost. The second time I met her, I was prepared. The third time I see her, Faora will die.”

These words are almost a declaration, and I’m as confident in them as I can be.

The green eyed girl doesn’t even bother to answer.

Sitting in front of her, I ask, “So, Sophie, how are things with you?”

“You’ve probably already guessed.”

“Explain it to me like I’m five years old.”

“Please stop giving me such stupid instructions.”

“So?”

She pulls her knees even closer. Right now, she looks a lot like Izzy. Even the age seems similar, perhaps even a bit younger, but there are differences, especially in her expressions and the general vibe she gives off. It’s like the real Sophie, but slightly different.

“I’m a fragment of my mind. Back then, I attacked her, and she fought back with a mental attack I couldn’t handle. The attack cracked my mind, and to keep it from fully breaking, I split it into parts. I hid some in Blackie and a few in my body. They contain my memories and other stuff. It’s hard to explain properly, since I mostly went by feeling and instinct.”

“That’s a nice, simple, explanation.”

“I know you prefer them like that.”

“I do. So what was this piece doing inside Faora?”

She looks down at her small body and then back at me. “This body, you see, is something like a manifestation of the memories it contains. I probably look like a child because the strongest memory it holds is from that part of my life.”

“You wanted to throw it away?”

When she looks at me, her green eyes are very piercing. “I hate how perceptive you can be sometimes.”

I don’t react to that and just wait for her to continue.

“Yes. The memories and parts of me here are the ones I hate the most. The unforgivable things I did, the impulses I hate, and so on. In that moment when my mind broke, I split them off and left them in Faora’s mind through the connection she made. As you said, she can be careless when facing people she thinks are weaker than her.”

“And she didn’t notice you there?”

“Nathaniel.”

“Yes?”

“I think if I really try, I’ll become a terrifyingly strong mind mage.”

“It seems that way,” I agree.

“Faora didn’t even notice me. Yes, this part of me is tiny and weak, and I was hiding, but Faora isn't weak or inexperienced, so logically, she should have. Instead, I kept improving the way I was hidden. I even siphoned off bits of her mana to keep myself stable without her noticing. I watched her, studied her, and planned. Over time, the mental abilities she was so proud of started to seem pathetic.”

Her eyes do not waver at all. “I slowly began to erode her, and in a few years, I believe Faora would be no more. Her mind would’ve been gone, wiped clean, without her ever realizing. And in her place, me.”

"I'm probably not the right person to feel sorry for her, Sophie. Honestly, I think she deserves worse. So if you had a plan like that, why did you show yourself to me?"

Slowly, she burrows her head between her knees, and her hair falls over it until I can’t see her face at all.

“I don’t know,” she mumbles from there.

“Good enough answer, but I think you know.”

She ignores the second part of my sentence and changes the subject, “Why did you agree to join the Primordial Knights, Nat? Didn’t you want to start a guild and name it Angry Kittens just to make the others smile, all while pretending to be annoyed about it?”

“Sounds like something the 6th floor Nat would’ve done. He was a total weirdo who nearly got played by a particularly dangerous minion. And why would I do that? It costs shards. And it’ll take years before Tess and the others get strong enough, and only then would they be able to start gathering people for a guild. If they want to do it, then I’ll join and we can just roll with it.”

“Why join Primordial Knights?”

“To be honest? Weslin is one cool motherfucker, Sophie. I offered him all my shards to keep Luan busy. And the guy rejected it all for some strange reason and then proceeded to face down one of the strongest attendees in Beyond.”

“That does sound kind of cool,” Sophie agrees. “But you wouldn’t do it just because of that.”

“They have a guild leader with three primordial energies. An S-rank, and rumored to be one of the three strongest attendees currently in Beyond. She also seems like she wants to go to the sixth floor of Beyond. That makes me curious. Plus, wouldn’t it just be more fun to help Primordial Knights reach first place in the guild rankings instead of joining someone who’s already higher? They also have a guy called Doc who apparently wanted to cut me open and examine my body. He might be able to help me with my construct problem.”

“Construct problem?”

“I have three new constructs.”

“…why are you like this?”

“I don’t know. Blame my environment or something. Oh, and the system too.”

“You also don’t seem very annoyed by my presence in your mind.”

“I’m used to it. I bet once I return you to your body, it won’t even be a month before someone else ends up here. Maybe in the form of a hand like Lissandra, as memories like Lioren, or in a memory pocket like you.”

"Lioren… do you miss him?"

"Yes, a lot."

"...it's amazing how you can say things like that without hesitation."

For the first time in a while, she looks up, and her eyes shine from behind her black hair. “You’re not going to ask me what kind of memory is at my core.”

“Nope.”

“I see,” she repeats.

I nod. “A question. Can you see what I see or go through my memories?”

“Don’t worry. I didn’t do that, and I won’t. If you’re not here, I’ll be sleeping, and I’ll only watch through your eyes, and listen, if you call me. I won’t touch your memories.”

“Got it.”

I walk over to the open window and close it. Even though this is my mental space, the cold air from outside makes it feel like it’s freezing in here, and as I do, a few snowflakes manage to drift in.

Just as I’m about to leave, Sophie buries her face back in her knees and waves her hand. The window slams open with a loud clack that echoes through the room as I walk out. She stays there, and this time, I black out for real.

When I open my eyes, I squint them closed again because the light of an orb reflecting from the surface nearby shines right into my eyes, blinding me.

Weslin moves his head, and the reflection disappears.

"Yo, newbie, you alive?"

"Apparently," I say and cough because of my parched throat. "My bag..."

"Oh, I drank everything you had in there. Some of it tasted really weird, and some were really nice."

I force my sight to unblur and focus it on Weslin.

"I ate everything in there, too."

"I hope you upset your stomach."

"Newbie, just say you hope I shat myself. Oh, and when I brought you here, I threw you on the ground for all the trouble you caused me. You were passed out for two days, and my wounds still haven’t fully healed because of Luan's goddamned Fragment, whatever that shit is."

Almost done checking my body, I thank my constructs for circulating my mana and thermal energy.

"I also used void energy a few times to deal with the thermal energy and mana build-up in your body," Weslin says, curbing my enthusiasm a little. Then he adds, "Even though I didn’t have to do it all that much for the mana. Even passed out, your body just kept circulating it in that fucked up way you do."

"Thanks, I guess."

"You’re welcome, you little bastard."

I turn my attention back to my body. To my knowledge, there was no part of my mind awake to deal with Mana Cycling, so my only guess is that my body actually started doing it almost instinctively, because of the years I’ve spent doing it constantly.

What a nice find. I’ll have to check it out later.

"Thanks for holding off, Luan," I add as I move my body into a sitting position.

Weslin, sitting on the chair near me, just shrugs. Looking over his body, I still notice the wounds he sustained in that short fight. But as quickly as he lost, I realize how incredible it is for him to be in such a state, and more so, to still be alive.

"I should have taken the damned shards. I don’t even know what I was thinking when..."

Not hesitating, I open my status and initiate the transfer, at which point he pauses mid-sentence and looks at me intently.

He stares for a few seconds before the notification window disappears. Canceled again.

"This is why I fucking can’t hate you, you little bastard. Damned little asshole."

"You’ll have to tell me about your fight with Luan."

"I will. That shit was crazy. But first, there’s not much time before we reach the Black Tower, and you’ll likely end up signing a contract with the Primordial Knights, so there are a few things you’ll need to look out for."

"Didn’t I say I’d join them without any pay or something like that?"

"You did? I don’t remember anything like that."

"I see. I must have misremembered. So what should I be most careful about in the contract?"

Chapter 653 - Beware of contracts

Weslin leans forward and cracks his neck. “Alright, listen up. The Primordial Knights aren't assholes like some of the other guilds, but they’re not a charity either. Their standard contract isn’t a straight-up trap, but there are things you really don’t want to gloss over.”

“Like what?”

“First, the duration. On the surface, it’ll say one year. Standard stuff. But you’ll probably find a clause for auto-renewal unless you cancel with a full thirty-day notice before the term ends.”

“That’s fine. I can read a calendar.”

“Want me to congratulate you?" he snorts. "Sure, but that clause could also be locked behind performance incentives. You hit those bonuses, and suddenly the contract extends by three months automatically, ‘to maintain stability.’ Which sounds great until you realize it stacks and resets the renewal window.”

“What does that even mean?”

“No idea, but I was warned about it before signing my own contract, so ask them to remove it.”

“Okay.”

Weslin sighs. “Second thing. Your salary in shards. It’s solid on paper, a monthly base rate, usually tied to floor, role, performance, blah blah. Yours will be higher than average because of the whole whatever-that-black-mana-bullshit-actually-is package. But again, read the fine print. They’ll say bonuses are performance-based, but they don't define performance either.”

“Can I hire someone to do it instead of me? I can pay.”

“Probably? But then that person is probably going to want a cut of your salary."

"Noted."

“Good. Now for the exit clauses. The contract will say you can leave at any time. What it won’t say up front is that there’s a cooldown period before you can join any of the other guilds. Sixty days, no exceptions. Or if you get too good a salary, the contract might straight up try to make it impossible for you to leave.”

"Didn't you just say the Primordial Knights weren’t assholes?"

“You should see the contracts Bloodline gives to their best. The salary and other stuff are insane, but damn, I would rather be thrown to Cinderbear as a level 1 than break it,” Weslin mutters. “Another trap, they’ll give you access to some good stuff. Class information, guild-wide skill libraries, exclusive training lessons from some of the A ranks we have, and some other stuff. But it comes with a Knowledge Lock clause.”

“I figured.”

“Means anything you learn through their resources can’t be taught, sold, or shared without explicit permission, even after you leave.”

I stretch my shoulders. “Any upside?”

“Plenty. Resources, information, guild quests, teammates you know won’t stab your back for an upper epic item, access to the guild crafters, training rooms, sparring arenas. Not to mention our item vault. They might loan, gift, or sell items that work really well with your primordial energies. I'm also sure you can imagine how much knowledge our library and members have on primordial energies, you won't find anyone better for that in Beyond.”

“Tempting,” I agree with Weslin.

I still think of myself as someone who specializes more in mana, and that’s something I want to explore on my own, maybe slowly, but I’ll go about it my own way.

It's not the way I look at Primordial energies, so some information would be nice. At least when it comes to thermal. I don't think they have anyone better than Lioren was when it comes to using kinetic energy. Even now, there's so much I'm trying to absorb and practise. The sort of things Lioren was able to do as easily as breathing.

That asshole of a demon was truly something else.

“Any exclusivity stuff in there?” I ask.

Weslin nods. “Yeah. You can’t work for other guilds or groups without clearance. And if you pick a fight outside of approved missions, you take the blame, not the guild.”

“So they’ll disavow me if I torch the wrong feylith?”

“Only if you do it publicly,” Weslin says with a bright smile. “Keep it clean, and usually the guilds will pretend they didn’t see. Of course, that might change if a guild starts losing important members and stuff, but don't worry about that, newbie. Unless it’s something truly outrageous, Nyssa and the others don’t give a damn. They’ll happily fight it out with other guilds, even if they’re one of the top five.”

"Weslin, why am I starting to think the Primordial Knights are a lot messier than they look?"

“Newbie, our guild master’s a demon, most of her party are demons, and out of every guild in Beyond, we’ve got the highest number of demons as members. Did you really think we were gonna be normal? As annoying as that can be, we’re probably the last guild anyone wants to mess with.”

As he cackles, I just stare at him.

When he seems to be done, I ask, “Any personal clause I should try to negotiate into the contract?”

“Yeah,” he says, suddenly serious. “Get a personal exemption clause. I think that's what they call it. It’s for these explory examiny types like you. Just a line that says your independent research is your own business, not the guild’s. You’ve got a weird brain, magic, or skill? They’ll want to study it. Make sure the contract says anything you develop yourself stays yours. With your black mana thing, it might be a bit more difficult, but you should agree, just ask for a lot in return. You might learn something useful about it, too.”

Taking a deep breath, he checks to make sure I’m listening and then fires out.

“Look for clauses that say they can relocate you to another floor without warning should the leadership decide it has a strategic advantage, the one that lets them use your combat recordings in training or promotions without credit or pay, promotion rights clauses that include your name, likeness, even your damn voice, automatic housing fees whenever you stay in guild facilities, training waivers that void all liability should you break something in sparring even if it’s their fault, priority reassignment clauses that let them pull you out of a guild quest mid-run to cover someone else’s mess, non disparagement rules so vague you can get fined for calling someone important a bitch, limits on out of guild quests that could keep you from being able to take shard work outside the guild, mandatory participation in guild events or public appearances for the sake of ‘building a positive image,’ medical clause exclusions for any difficult to heal wound earned under ‘reckless’ judgment - oh, that's me for example, I will need some specialized healing to deal with what Luan did, but it also could be anything from soloing a room too fast to jumping into a fight during guild events without asking first, data rights giving them access to your system logs or mana reports for the purpose of ‘guild optimization,’ clauses that let squad leaders override your combat decisions mid fight and still try to hold you accountable if it should fail, item use restrictions that stop you from using guild loaned gear during personal time, late return penalties if you show up more than a day late to report in, even with reason, shard docking for gear maintenance you didn’t request, and sometimes, they’ll try to sneak in permissions to simulate your combat style for testing or sparring constructs.”

"You remembered all that shit?"

Weslin looks a little too proud of himself. "You have no fucking idea how many times I’ve had to say that to other rookies. But there is one more thing, the most important one.”

He looks at me to make sure I pay attention.

“The thing is, Primordial Knights being run by a bunch of lunatics also means they don’t really care if you break half that crap. Sure, the contract says they’ve got the right to push it, and sometimes they will try, but if you manage to fight them off, they usually drop it."

"Fight them off?!"

"Anyway, I’m tired. Get some rest. I’m almost fully healed, so they won’t make fun of me, and we can head over to the Black Tower soon."

He walks away, and I wonder if he was just messing with me, maybe most of the things he mentioned aren’t worth worrying about. I just need to… fight them off?

What a guild.

I turn inward, slipping into my mind space.

(Sophie, there are some things I need to tell you about the contract and stuff. You’ll need to remember them before I forget.)

Reaching the Black Tower only takes us a few hours, and as it comes into view in the distance, I send a call ringing through my mental space.

(Yo, look,) I say to the intruder in my mind.

With a groan, Sophie awakens, and I allow her to look through my eyes.

There, nestled between two mountains, lies the biggest safe zone we’ve seen so far. As Weslin said, it probably holds somewhere around ten thousand people, locals and natives. It’s built in a mostly circular shape with multiple levels. Each level is slightly different, with the inner ones having taller buildings and seemingly better defenses. And at the center of it all stands the eponymous tower.

It’s not even close to the size of the one from the third city on the second floor, but it’s still pretty tall. This one is made of some smooth black material, with a stairway coiling around the outside. There are barely any windows or visible entrances, or anything of that kind.

Weslin notices where I’m looking and says, “Yeah, that belongs to this tower’s master. He’s one of the oldest on this floor, and not once has this place lost its status as a safe zone.”

“Because he killed everyone who took them over the permitted number?”

“That, or forced them out of the city.”

“Isn’t that the same, from what you told me?”

“Close. But if you’re lucky, very powerful and lucky, or good at hiding, you can survive the night. Or if you join some of the bigger parties that sometimes go on hunts for materials. But even then, try not to stay out so long that you catch the attention of anything too scary.”

“The same rules apply for this safe zone as well?”

“Obviously. These rules are older than most existing guilds. As cruel as they might be, they’re necessary.”

“I guess. Do you think there will be free spots for us?”

“We’ll see.”

“See?”

“Yup.”

“So you don’t know for sure?”

“I’m confident there will be some, but if not, we’d better hurry to the other safe zones they point out.”

(Nat, I don’t like this guy.)

(He’s not that bad.) I defend him.

Then I turn to Weslin. “So, doesn’t that mean we should hurry?”

“It’s fine,” he waves it off.

I follow him at the relaxed pace he keeps, and like that, we enter the city. Right away, I check the notification.

Welcome to the safe zone!

Current number of people: 9,766 / 10,000

“Please, this way,” a man appears in front of us as we pass the gate.

Weslin follows him, and I go behind him. We reach a mana stone embedded in the wall, and Weslin touches it briefly. I do the same after him.

It doesn’t place a mark on me, but it does take a bit of my mana.

“It’s your first time here, I see,” the man says after checking the mana stone in his hands. “This device serves as registration in case the city limit is exceeded and we have to decide who has the right to stay.”

What a nice way to put it into words.

The guard then turns to Weslin. “Welcome to the Black Tower, Sir Weslin. Can I assume the two of you are here together?”

“Yes. He’s here to join the Primordial Knights.”

“Understood. May I know how long you plan to stay?"

"My stay token ends in three days, and then I’ll return here after another week in my tutorial. He will likely stay a week or two before they decide what exactly to do with him.”

“In that case, I’ll register him as a long term visitor and include his presence in the calculations we share with the other safe zones.”

“Sure. Is that all?”

“Yes. Thank you for your patience.”

Waving him off, Weslin leaves and heads into the city without hesitation.

I observe the buildings along the way. Even though it’s “just” ten thousand people, it seems more than enough with how densely packed this place is. People are moving around with the same sense of urgency attendees usually have. Stay tokens have limited durations, after all.

“What percent of the people here are locals?” I ask. “And don’t say you don’t know because you don’t care.”

“Even I can remember that, you little shit. According to the latest statistics, the Black Tower has almost four thousand locals living here on a permanent basis, so quite a few, all told. It’s dangerous here, but the larger zones are safer, and the opportunities are equally as great as the danger. Outside the really big safe zones, this one is likely one of the safest.”

“How many safe zones are there? And how many attendees are there on this floor?”

“Are you trying to estimate how many tutorials are going on at once?”

“Yes.”

“Well, good fucking luck. This floor is enormous, and I don’t think anyone knows for sure.”

“But the second floor had only three safe zones. Even though they were big and each one had a few hundred thousand attendees…”

He interrupts me. “Three safe zones we know about.”

I sense Sophie becoming more attentive to what Weslin says.

“There are more?” I ask.

“Some people surely think so, but others strongly disagree. A few of the Handlers might know, but those assholes like to stay tight lipped. Anyway, we’re heading to the local Branch of the Primordial Knights now. You can start asking them instead of me, if only so they know what poor ol’ me went through. And don’t forget my warning about the contracts, and try to act somewhat normal. And be careful, the Doc might be there. He’ll hold himself back if you’re a guild member, but he can be... well, you’ll see."

(I bet you and the Doc will end up being the best of friends, from what I’ve heard so far.) Sophie mumbles before disconnecting again, fading back into my mental space.

It’s too late to respond to such slander, so I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear it.

Chapter 654 - Behave

The building of the Primordial Knights Guild branch is massive and not all that far from the Black Tower where the Enforcer lives.

That building is made entirely of some sort of whitish metal and glass. Multiple tall trees tower even over that huge manor, and there are pretty gardens nearby.

At first, I’m about to think how wasteful all of this is, but then I realize something. Wouldn’t creating a building like this take just a few days for someone with enough power and skill in something like [Metal Manipulation], or at least whatever that material really is? The same goes for the trees. I already saw Sophie grow an entire tree from a tiny seed in just a few minutes when she was practicing.

That would also explain why what I suspect to be the other guild branches are equally interesting. There is a big wooden pyramid, another tower nearby that’s about as tall as the black one dominating the city, a circular building with a myriad of windows, and a tree growing from the middle of it.

We find ourselves being let into the building that houses the Primordial Knights without delay. Weslin just sends a bit of mana to the gate, and it opens automatically. And immediately afterwards, a few people come to welcome him, all of whom I can only assume are locals.

I asked Weslin before, but it seems like any guild worth a damn employs plenty of locals to take care of upkeep, trading, organization, and that kind of thing. Meanwhile, attendees fill the positions of leadership, deciding the direction the guild will take next while learning from the attendees who led it for a few years and are about to leave the tutorial, or from locals who can share some information.

Overall, it seems to be a system that both sides are comfortable with, to the point where if I asked someone why it is like this, I’m sure I would hear something like, “It has always been that way.”

From the moment we enter, everything moves quickly. Within minutes, I’m standing with Weslin in front of the guild branch leader, an older and massively built human. He towers over us in a way that makes me wonder if he might not be part velnar.

At this point, I don’t even have to ask why, even though the Primordial Knights are supposed to have the most demons, I’ve barely seen any. These maniacs are surely crowding the deeper levels of Beyond. The same goes for the local demons.

Weslin and the guild branch leader seem to know each other well and waste no time getting caught up with one another. They talk for a bit, but in the middle of that conversation, the door opens and a lynthari in messy clothes looks over the room.

When his eyes land on me, they stay there. The crazed-looking lynthari pays no attention to anyone else in the room and charges straight at me.

“You should have told me he was here!” he hisses, his fangs showing.

His clothes are in an even bigger mess than his hair. They're still the same white with a mix of blue, like the other people from the Primordial Knights, but stained with red and black liquid, torn, and even burnt in places.

The branch leader seems used to it. “He’s a member of the Primordial Knights, so you know what that means. Behave.”

To my surprise, he lies, we haven't even gotten to the contracts yet.

“You! You mean man! Did you wait to inform me until he became a member on purpose?” the lynthari complains.

“Obviously. And I’m warning you. Nyssa’s going to want him on the 4th floor, and Weslin seems to like the guy, so once again, behave.”

“Sure, sure,” the disheveled lynthari scratches his chin with stubble and walks around me.

The entire time, he doesn’t even bother talking to me. Instead, he observes me. There are even some blatantly rude checks that I fend off with ease, but that doesn’t seem to bother him too much. He continues with modified and even more probing ones. He even puts on some round glasses with dark purple lenses that hide his golden eyes and continues to stare at me.

So far, he hasn’t tried to touch me, but I can see how much he wants to from how his arm and fingers keep twitching and sometimes almost reaching toward me.

“I see. I see. Interesting. What the fuck.”

He fixes his glasses and makes another, slower circle around me.

“This is weird. This is even weirder. What the fuck. Oh, so it's like that!”

The branch leader continues to look at me, as if expecting me to react, but so far, I just stand there, not that bothered. More than anything, I’m a bit curious.

“What the fuck. What the fuck. How? Broken, twisted. So weird.”

When another circle around me stops, he puts on another pair of glasses over the purple ones. These ones are bright yellow, with lenses as thick as my finger, and inscriptions are etched around their edges.

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

“Please, don’t swear so much,” the branch leader tries.

The Doctor just glances at him and shakes his head. Then, for the first time, he reaches out to touch me. His finger, his arm, stops mid-air, held there by my [Redistribution].

In a quick reaction, he attempts to do something to push through it, and a weird barrier flickers around his skin. But instead, I just use more mana and brute-force through that weird thing he’s placed around himself.

“Tsk,” he says and pulls his hand back, and I let him. Then he pulls a cute little scepter from his clothes and starts waving it around me.

The mana stones at its top light up, and the glasses he has on light up as well.

For a moment, he stands there in sheer shock.

“There are six good reasons you should be dead, and ten more lesser ones why you should be either in pain, dead, or crippled. How do you continue to exist?”

"When you hear people say it that often, it just turns into background noise," I say.

His ears twitch, and he smiles in that way only lynthari can, the kind that shows their fangs in full beauty. Slowly, he takes off both of his glasses and puts them away.

He reaches his hand toward me, as if to shake mine. “Nice to meet you, I am…”

I halt that movement as well. “There is no way I would fall for that.”

“Tsk,” he sighs and gestures at the branch leader, then at me. “I want him unconscious so I can examine his body!”

“I won’t be doing that,” the branch leader disagrees.

Once again, that crazed lynthari seems annoyed and makes another circle around me.

“Listen,” he says, circling me again, fingers twitching like he’s resisting the urge to grab a scalpel. “You are either a complete mess or something pretending really well to be one. Either way, I want to cut you open.”

“Metaphorically,” the branch leader adds quickly.

The Doctor waves him off. “Fine. Metaphorically. For now.”

That weird-ass lynthari sniffs the air. “You don’t even feel right. There’s no harmony to your mana signature. It’s like… someone chewed it up and spat it back out in your shape. So many things compounded to make such a gloriously fucked up body.”

He tilts his head at me and mumbles, “Has someone been experimenting on you? Did you get possessed? Or were you born like this? No, wait, don’t answer. I want to guess.”

He pulls out a notebook, flips to a page full of cramped symbols and messy diagrams, and starts sketching something while occasionally glancing at me. “Are your organs where they’re supposed to be? Can you confirm? Do they move on their own?”

I stare at him.

He blinks. “Rhetorical. Mostly.”

Then he starts making strange clacking noises and activating some kind of skill. I feel incredibly small and weak soundwaves wash over my body and then bounce back toward the Doctor. He repeats the process, this time using an array of tones, constantly shifting the pitch and frequency of the sounds he's making.

I look at him and then at the branch leader, who mutters with a shrug, “He does this sometimes.”

The Doctor suddenly looks up, wide-eyed with excitement. “Can I borrow your left arm? That pale one? Just the outer layer of skin and a few bones. I’ll return it.”

“How many shards?” I ask.

“Ugh. So greedy.” He taps his temple with the end of his pen. “But your mana doesn’t echo like a normal person’s. And why the hell is there so much of it? Rookie, what is your exact stat distribution? Did you go by the golden standard? Are you following the ancient ways? Some strange school I don’t know about?”

He eyes my chest thoughtfully. “If I could knock you out for ten minutes and do a non-lethal incision, I bet I’d learn so much.”

“Please try,” I reply.

His ears twitch in amusement. “You’re fun. I hope you don’t die too soon. Well, not like you have much to say in that. Oh, maybe you do. You can obviously make it come quicker.”

He cackles and scribbles a few more things down, then spins on his heel, talking to himself. “Nyssa will praise me again for letting her know how much she would want you after I heard about that black mana. Yes, yes, yes. She’ll love this one. Show me that black mana.”

“Nope.”

He pauses.

His eyes slowly drift back to me, wide and blinking, like his mouth had outrun his brain, “…Wait. Did I ask that of you out loud?”

He snorts and taps his forehead, his tail swaying. “Stupid mouth. Always skipping ahead. Can’t be that rude!”

Then he leans closer, just slightly, just enough to narrow the distance, his voice lowering into a strange mix of wonder and unease. “But how can I endure? There’s a signature. Very faint. Not exactly present, but pulling. Like a fucked up mana someone dressed up in fake mana skin and forgot to give it a name. Have you ever had people get headaches just from standing too close to you? No? You probably didn’t notice.”

He twirls the pen between his fingers and glances at the ceiling.

“See, once, once, long ago, I read about a field researcher who claimed she’d met someone like you. I wish I still had that mana stone where it was mentioned. It wasn’t mana she saw. It was… collapsing. Consuming. Dominating. Something she didn't know how to categorize.”

He looks at me again, a smile twitching.

“She wrote that it was a form of mana black as a night sky without stars. Compressed. Hungry. Like something that had forgotten it was supposed to cooperate with the world.”

He shrugs, casually flipping through his notebook. “She’s long dead, that researcher I mean, so it's not like I can ask her more. I don’t even know her name, and all the other mana stones turned to ash when I started reading them. But she did talk about her pet fish in the one that endured. Apparently, it was very cute.”

The branch leader sighs. “Get to the point, Doc.”

“I don’t have one,” the Doctor says cheerfully.

He leans back and tilts his head at me like I’m a magic puzzle box that hasn’t decided if it wants to open or eat him. “Have you ever suppressed something so hard that the suppression itself started leaking? Because that’s what this feels like. Like there’s a door. And it’s locked. And behind it is something that eats keys.”

Something about that sentence is very fascinating to me. And the more I observe this man, the more curious I get. He might be crazy as fuck, but there are things I can sort of pick up on and almost understand.

The others in the room seem to be annoyed, and it’s possible I would be as well if I’d known this creepy lynthari longer than a few minutes, but for now, he represents something new. And I’m curious.

He giggles again, the sound high and bright and just a little too sharp.

So I ask, “How much could you really tell me if I let you examine something?”

That shuts him up. Immediately. His ears twitch, his eyes narrow, and his tail freezes mid-flick.

Then his grin widens slowly.

Chapter 655 - Of course

“Define ‘something’,” he says.

“Skin. Tissue. Blood. A left arm or two? I don't know what you're looking for. No sedation. Nothing lethal. You look, I learn.” I gesture at his notebook. “I want all of your notes. And I will be asking lots of questions.”

The branch leader raises an eyebrow. “I don’t think this is a good...”

The Doctor is already moving like he wants to cut me open right here.

“No sedation?” he says, almost breathless. “You’re letting me? Is this a trick?”

“I want information. I’m not afraid of needles.” I extend my left hand, palm up. There, I compress a bit of my mana, push further, and turn it into a tiny black orb.

The lynthari maniac's eyes gleam as he leans in close, so close in fact that it almost looks like he might touch it with his nose.

“If your skin tries to grow teeth, please warn me,” he whispers absentmindedly and puts on a different set of glasses. These ones are dark red.

He also takes out a small glass rod as long as his finger. It looks very fragile and has wisps of white smoke bouncing around inside of it.

With an absurd level of care, he moves it closer, edging it towards the black orb. The white smoke inside of the rod turns darker, and he moves it even closer until it touches the orb hovering over the palm of my hand.

Then the rod shaped crystal cracks. The white smoke inside of it disappears and gets pulled into the tiny black orb, which grows a little from the surprising amount or quality of mana. Then the tool cracks a bit more and snaps in half.

The Doctor stares at it.

“...Okay,” he whispers. “That’s new. There goes 200 thousand shards. Or was it 600?”

The Doctor stares, motionless, eyes wide.

After a while, he finally exhales. “I’m going to need a lab, a containment array, four extremely illegal grimoires, maybe a vyssari or two to sacrifice, and an assistant just stupid enough to ask the right questions without dying halfway through. And I’ll need gloves. Better ones. Preferably made from the skin of anything at least distantly related to a wyvern. And maybe someone to kick me if I get caught staring too long.”

Without waiting for an answer, he leaves and heads back to the lower floors, calling out and asking for someone to take him to the treasury.

As I begin cutting the black orb off from all mana to starve it out, the branch leader calls out to me.

"I think we should quickly sign your contract before he finds out."

Just hearing those words starts to drain the energy from me, and I call out to my current favorite intruder in my mind.

(Sophie, time to pay rent.)

(You know how I told you this part of me holds all my darker impulses?)

(As if you were actually skilled enough to pull something like that off. Face it, you’re just a simple copy of yourself, loaded with the memories you didn’t like.)

(Maybe I should take over your mind just to show you how wrong you are, Nat.)

(Go ahead. What do you think will happen if I manifest myself in my own mind? I'll kick your self-pitying, sorry ass and drag you back to your body if I have to.)

(You're such a dick.)

(I’ve heard that one before. At least try to be original.)

(Arghhh, for fuck’s sake. Fine. Let’s check out this contract these lunatics’ve cooked up.)

With her cooperation secured, I turn to the branch leader. "Let’s go, then."

"Great," the branch leader says with a smile, pointing me upstairs, as we head that way, walking side by side. "I already have word from Sir Weslin, and thanks to Doc, Nyssa seems interested as well, so you can expect a decent offer. There’s no need for testing, but of course, you’ll still have to fight for the best possible contract."

His heavy steps make the stairs groan, and his smile grows wider. "Ah, I love this part. Don’t you think signing contracts is a fight all its own? A clash of wit and will, each side struggling to find an advantage. You wouldn’t believe how many contract variations I have. A few hundred years ago, the leader of the Primordial Knights at the time paid an insane amount of shards to one of the best contract specialists to create templates for nearly every possible combination. Whether they be S-ranks, A-ranks, B-ranks, or lower. For people with one primordial energy, two, or those rare monstrosities with three. And many more besides. These templates have all been crafted with one intention: to secure the best possible deal for the guild. Do you know why?"

He stops, and I do too. I have to look up because of his height.

"To entrap the poor sucker or make them fight against the guild?"

"Exactly!" he says with delight.

"Was that guy a demon?"

"The contract specialist? Surprisingly, yes. So was the guild master," he replies, starting to walk again. "Doesn’t that sound like a beautiful idea? So perfectly fitting for demons. If you are, as you said, a sucker, you’ll leave soon enough, and before that happens, the Primordial Knights will squeeze as much value out of you as possible. But if you’re a proper member, you’ll push back, and you’ll keep challenging the guild. In the end, the one who is right is the one who proves themselves stronger."

The longer he talks, the more my good impression of him fades. He may be part velnar and part human, but his eyes gleam with the same maniacal shine I've seen in so many demons.

(Did these lazy lunatics really not change the contracts in who knows how many hundreds of years?) Sophie asks.

(I think it’s safe to say at this point that the contracts don’t really matter all that much.)

We reach the office, and once we’re let inside, I sit down. Opposite me, stepping behind a massive table, the branch leader takes his seat as well. He places a few smaller piles of papers on the table and smiles.

"Let’s start then."

I leave the office five hours later, holding a contract in my shaking hand. Sophie’s presence is gone, possibly dead after the fight we’ve just been through. My body feels like it got run over by a bunch of Lily-shaped bulldozers, and there’s a constant ringing in my head.

Along with the contract, I’m also carrying several sets of white and pale blue clothes in different styles, so I can pick whichever suits me best.

With a one-year contract signed, a base salary of 500 thousand shards, and a myriad of performance bonuses tied to my rank, tutorial floor progression, beyond floor progression, and who knows what else.

I’ve officially become a member of the Primordial Knights.

The next goal is to stick around and work on some certifications. After that, I’ll be assigned a partner to start working on this floor’s quest, so I can finally enter the fourth, where Nyssa can make her way up from the fifth to meet me.

But before that, I still need to meet the Doctor.

POV Weslin

I return to Beyond exactly two weeks later, after a few of the usual checks on the 13th floor of the tutorial. But even now, we’ve made no progress. The floor’s quest is just too messed up, and it makes complete sense why barely anyone ever manages to clear it before the end of the tutorial. The difficulty might not even be all that much lower than gaining entry to the 6th floor of Beyond.

I remember Nyssa telling me once that she could clear the 13th floor if she wanted, but that would mean finishing the tutorial and getting sent home. And of course, that maniac wants to enter the 6th floor of Beyond before that. As the second person in a thousand years after that guy, Adrian.

Demons…

But speaking of demons, I wonder how that maniac’s been doing. It should’ve been about two weeks since he joined the guild. By now, he should have gone through some basic introductions, gotten some information, taken a few tests, and more likely than not been assigned a partner. Maybe even a quest, though I'm not quite sure. They probably just threw him out on the 3rd floor to clear the quest and move on to the 4th.

I appear in my room in the Black Tower, and find it just as I left it.

There’s no need to laze around, so I open the door only for it to hit someone I recognize.

“Oh, Sir Null King!” the man says with clear excitement, balancing a plate of food in his hand so it doesn’t fall. “What a nice coincidence.”

“You…”

“It’s Talon, Sir Null King!”

“Call me that again and-”

“And there will be consequences, surely! I apologize, but that’s what most people call you, so it stuck with me. Is Weslin okay?”

The speed with which he runs through thoughts and sentences clearly shows his entire intention was to talk to me using my name and create some sort of familiarity. Maybe even to make it seem like we’re close in front of others.

What a shrewd guy.

“What do you do here?” I ask him instead.

“Someone from the higher-ups liked my Primordial energy, so I got some preferential treatment!” he smiles. “Stellar Wind is rare! I also already shared some information from my status with the branch leader, so please don’t suspect I might be lying. Everyone thinks so already and…”

“Sure, sure,” I wave him off. “I have to go, so don’t bother me.”

“Of course! Are you looking for that guy? The Mana Boy?”

There can only be one person he means with a name like that. The way he says it, it’s like he thinks it’s something I’d want to know.

“Tell me,” I nudge, feeling like I’ve already lost to the guy.

“I came here just a few days ago, but I heard it’s already been a week since he got himself locked up in the Doctor’s rooms in the basement, and no one’s seen him since.”

“Well, whatever,” I pass by him, and I'm about to head to the branch leader for some information.

But somehow, I find myself turning right instead and heading downstairs toward the basement.

What the hell is that bastard doing?

A few minutes later, I find said bastard. He’s sitting comfortably in a chair and, upon noticing me, looks me over with that familiar expression.

“Oh, hello, Weslin.”

“Hello, newbie.”

The Doc near him curses. “Control your mana more! It's biting at me.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, it’s not biting anything,” the newbie says. “Just endure it a little. You’ll heal.”

The chair he is sitting on is made of a material I know is difficult to break, and very much so at that. His hands and legs are tied to it.

He’s shirtless too, but more than that, there’s a hole bored into his chest, revealing his strongly beating heart behind the ribs, though it's located in a different place than one would normally expect to find a heart. The skin is being stretched by silver slats, and wires are moving from a nearby panel directly into the heart.

“Newbie. What the fuck.”

“You mean the fact I’m shirtless? I apologize, but it’s annoying and expensive to go through so many shirts, so…”

“Do you want to get beaten?”

“Not currently, but we can spar later for sure.” Then he jumps as a bit of golden flame washes over his heart. “The fuck are you doing, Doc?” he turning to the lynthari.

“Your natural defenses are just so annoying! And these working conditions are terrible too!”

“It just happens,” the newbie says before turning back to me. “Did you know this crazy lynthari over here specializes in things called implants? Some of them are really interesting.”

“Obviously. I also know what usually happens to the sort of people who get them.”

Another wave of golden flames washes over his heart, and the newbie closes his eyes, letting out a painful groan that he tries to suppress. A golden circle glows around his eyes as he looks at the Doc.

The Doc rushes to the panel and starts adjusting some settings while mumbling, “Yes. Yes. I know. I know. I know what I did wrong.”

Then the newbie turns back to me. “Of course, it’s not like I need anything else to mess with my balance.”

“Your body is already beautifully messed up,” the Doctor nods in agreement, then runs back and stabs another needle into his beating heart in place of the one he just melted.

Nathaniel ignores him. “I don’t like to rely on items either. And even though implants are technically items, they’re fascinating, and I feel like I can pick up a thing or two. And as crazy as this catboy is, he has some knowledge, so we’ve been trading notes.”

“I get to cut him, and he gets some of the low level knowledge I’ve gathered!” The Doc agrees happily.

“Hell no. Mid to upper level, or you’ll never see black mana again.”

“Cheater!”

They keep talking, but by that point, I’m already halfway out of the basement.

After leaving the lab, I run into the branch leader’s assistant, who wordlessly hands me a piece of paper, my assignment. It seems word of my arrival has already spread.

I channel a bit of mana into the seal before opening the envelope, which would have burned if I hadn’t.

Inside, I find my assignment laid out in simple terms, along with the name of my partner.

I glance down the hall toward the lab and groan.

Of course.

Chapter 656 - Temperature control

POV Nathaniel

When I'm finally done with yet another round of examination with Doc, I use [Ley Line] to teleport to my room. It took over ten days to create one that would work within the defensive arrays of this building. But at some point, I started to take it as a challenge. A game of cat and mouse.

Then the voice of said cat echoes in my room.

(I’m asking once again, no, I’m begging you, please no more teleportation inside the main building. I had to call off the guards again, turn off three alarms, and modify four different arrays.) That voice belongs to the security lady. A particularly rude vyssari woman.

"Sure, sure, I’ll just modify [Ley Line] so I can teleport again. It's not my fault your defensive array sucks."

The voice sounds again. (If you said something, I didn't hear it because of privacy rules, and you know that. Still, I'm pretty sure it was something rude.)

"I’ve already started modifying my [Ley Line] to counter the changes you just made."

(It was so calm here after all the lunatics were moved to the lower floors and... wait a second... are you messing with the defensive array again, right now, as we speak?)

"Oops."

(Okay, I’ve had enough! Motherfucker! I’ve held myself back so far because of the branch leader, the fact that you’re still a newbie, and all that crap going on around you. Do you fucking know how many times I’ve had to deal with your bullshit!? Three of the members you beat up required a healer. Nine times you triggered the defensive arrays. Three times your black mana BULLSHIT or whatever erased parts of the arrays. Five times you left the guild branch without following the proper procedure. AND DON’T THINK I DON’T KNOW IT WAS YOU WHO BROKE THE TEMPERATURE CONTROL IN MY ROOM. And you did that only because I reprimanded you a little and called you names. YOU PETTY LITTLE SHIT! I swear, when I-)

I use [Eclipse] and disrupt whatever sound transfer array she’s been using, and the voice cuts off. Then I start stacking defensive arrays around the door, along with a number of additional locks.

Next, I use [Focus] to filter out outside noise and begin going over the results of today’s experimentations. This time, we were observing my sealed Ignition Heart. Even though it proved difficult, there is a thing or two I managed to take from the process, and a few more I still need to think about for a while longer.

The past two weeks here have been annoying at times because of lessons, certifications, and all that guild stuff, but Doc has proven himself useful, as time with him has helped a lot. I only wish we had Lily with us. She would have loved it here.

And Biscuit. I miss that corgi. I wonder how he’s doing. Not even being able to use Community to talk to my ESC doesn’t help either.

I had hoped I would have learned a bit more about black mana by now, but it’s nearly impossible to observe properly, at least between me and the Doc.

We more or less confirmed my previous suspicions. It is extremely densely compressed mana, but also something else. If it were just compression, every other Champion would have it. It dominates all mana in the area, and it grows the more it absorbs.

The more mana I use for its creation, the more it can absorb before it destabilizes. The destabilization, if allowed to continue, always ends in an explosion. Interestingly, if the same amount of mana is used to create a tricolored orb and a black mana orb, the explosion from the tricolored one is bigger. The black mana orb, however, causes a wide-range disruption that lingers for a while. The more mana, the bigger the range and the longer the disruption lasts.

Part of that disruption is similar to the field [Empyrean Lance] leaves in its wake, so we thought there might be a connection at first. But the difference is that the lance destroys, while the black orb disrupts. It is like a last attempt to dominate, to take control, or absorb everything around it. Black mana is also really difficult to observe, which makes things harder.

As a side effect, it is difficult to estimate how much mana was used to make it as an outside observer. That means it’s hard to grasp how dangerous it is. That could explain why some powerful but less perceptive people I met immediately tried to get rid of it and perceived it as a great danger, even though I probably couldn’t cause much trouble for anyone truly powerful. For now.

And oh, how many times we tested using black mana for body strengthening, mind strengthening, and empowering my skills. Up until now, I’ve mostly gone by feeling, but that crazy catboy came up with some numbers and a few more efficient methods.

Black mana isn’t really that effective for powering my mind, but it is far more efficient for my body. And even there, it’s better at increasing my durability rather than strength.

As for my skills, [Redistribution] and [Eclipse] work best with it. But even though we don’t really have any proof yet, I think once my mastery increases, [Focus] and [Manifestation] will become very scary.

I throw the mana stones and a few papers on the table and start taking off my clothes while heading into the shower, these thoughts still running through my mind. I keep thinking about the tests we could continue. Plenty of them have already helped me improve my constructs, some of them significantly.

As unpleasant as it is, I also know, from the tests I’ve run with Doc, where my body is most damaged. I know what parts to improve and modify further, and I know how to push things further if I choose to. And so I continue speeding up, running downhill, because stumbling and falling means nothing good.

Even if I hadn’t gained anything else by being here over the past two weeks, I think it was worth it. Just for one piece of information, I got from the Doc in exchange for three left arms.

I heard about someone who's rumored to have something similar to my black mana, or maybe even the exact same thing. One of the four people known to have had it in the past millennia.

The Ruler of Kindness.

Later that evening, I venture into my mental space where I find myself facing mini Sophie. She is, as always, in the same room I left her in, and even now I refuse to ask. I'm waiting for her to tell me, and she knows it.

And she’s clearly annoyed by it.

At first, I had wondered if there was going to be a big difference between this version of her and the real Sophie. After all, she herself said this is just an amalgamation of some memories she disliked. But the longer I talk to her, the more I think she may be wrong. Even though this one remembers almost nothing from before the tutorial, she knows everything since the start of the 1st floor.

I don’t think it was just a few memories, I think her mind fractured into many parts, and each part had the current Sophie as a base, with some of her Earth memories mixed in.

Or something like that. Who knows. All that mindblendering stuff is weird.

“I think that spine implant he showed you could help you improve your Thermal Cycling construct,” she says.

“How the fu… how the hell.”

“You know you can swear in front of me.”

“You look ten. I’m not going to swear in front of a child.”

“Don't bullshit me. I’ve heard Vega speak.”

“She learned all of that long before she met me. You know, growing up on the street kind of…”

“Sure.”

“Anyway, so how the hell do you think that weird spine implant can help me with cycling?”

“Isn’t it simple? That implant was made from the body of some monster he got his hands on. That monster didn’t channel thermal energy, but it did move fire through its bones.”

“Yes, but they were mostly hollow. And are you asking me to fix my construct by messing with my body more? I mean, I’m not against it, but…”

“No,” she energetically shakes her head and moves closer to me.

A bit of pale blue mana glows on the tip of her finger as she starts drawing into the air.

“Your thermal threads don’t handle the flow of your energy very well. They’re static and built to hold their shape. That’s fine for weapons, but not for something like your Thermal Cycling.”

I raise an eyebrow. “So?”

She redraws the bone and threads again. This time, taking a moment to adjust the shape, instead of focusing on layering or hollowing things out. The thread starts folding into itself, spiraling along the inside of the hollow. Like veins wrapped around a spine.

“You’ve woven multiple threads together,” she says, “but you don’t let them interact. You bundled them. That’s not a structure, it’s just a bundle of rope.”

I grunt. “I’m not stupid. I know where this is going. You want me to let the threads support each other.”

“No.” She looks annoyed again.

I stay quiet and listen.

“Right now,” she continues, “your pathways heat up evenly. All at once. That’s why they heat up so much, and probably part of the reason you feel so much pain. But what if one thread runs hotter, faster than the others? What if you let some threads rise while others fall?”

“That’d destabilize everything, and make channeling slower.”

“It’d accelerate everything,” she disagrees. “One thread surges, forces the weaker ones to collapse, while feeding the stronger ones. You don’t get simultaneous heat, but it cascades instead. You get spikes and surges. Instant, localized small explosions inside of your construct, that would force thermal energy into narrower paths and cause them to move faster.”

I blink, slower this time. "And to do that, you want me to alter the pathways so they feel more like proper parts of my body and use my subdermal combustion to heal them at the same time as they combust in cascading explosions?"

She watches me, then finishes, “Something like that. You and I saw the implants that maniac created, right? And you heard him blabber about the ways he makes sure the body doesn't reject the implants he creates. Your natural regeneration and passive heal those constructs, but it’s not all that quick."

"Yes, yes, my constructs aren’t like system-given traits, so they don’t work as well with my body’s upgrades, natural healing, passives, and stuff, and so they tend to mess things up," I say, giving it a moment of thought.

Then I continue, "So instead of just thinking in lines, or as you so nicely put it, bundles or ropes, I’ll think of them more like layers. Of course, it’s going to be a shitload of work again, just to modify what I already made. There’ll need to be segmentation, multiple layers, sacrificial threads, the main one... and fuck, creating nodes at the places where all the paths meet will be a pain in the ass. But like you said, I can use my bones and run a few paths through them as well."

"That should make it easier to force your body to accept them as a proper part of you."

"Or mess it up so badly that I won’t be able to heal my bones with my passive."

"Or that," Mini Sophie nods.

"I can do that."

"It’s always scarier when you say it."

"Mini Sophie-"

"Please don’t call me that ever again."

"Do you realize how much thermal energy I’ll be able to channel if this all works out?"

"A shitload?"

"Language. You’re too young to swear."

"Fuck you."

"A lot of thermal energy. And maybe, in just a few months, I’ll be able to keep the second seal on Ignition Heart lifted for more than just a few seconds. Anyway, you know what’s so nice about all this, Mini Sophie?"

"What?"

"As I apply these changes, I can start working on a prototype construct to allow me to turn all that thermal energy into mana."

"Not another construct. You just barely patched the ones you’ve already made."

"Mini Sophie-"

"Don't. Call. Me. That."

"More mana."

She glares. "You're going to set yourself on fire and die from mana radiation one day. You're actually proud of that, aren't you?"

"It was your idea. You should make a spreadsheet."

"You can’t blame it all on me. And no, I’m not making your damn spreadsheets."

"Something color-coded by likelihood of organ failure, heart explosion, that kind of stuff."

"Fantastic. Can’t wait to watch you combust."

“Thanks for the support.”

"You're welcome, you absolute maniac. I fucking swear, the longer I spend talking to you, the more I'm inclined to the idea of returning to my body."

She then tries to kick me out of my mental space, but she can't. Instead, she just stands there, awkwardly staring at me.

To make it easier for her, I leave.

It's all statistics in the end. Sooner or later, someone who enters my mental space will actually be kind to me.

Chapter 657 - Rumors

“Hey, Mik.” I greet as I barge into the smithy.

The velnar in the corner of the room groans, and the heat inside rises. Doing his best to ignore me, he takes a piece of metal he’s been hammering and throws it back into the forge, and the heat rises even more.

So silly. He’s long since learned that won’t work on me.

As I absorb the heat, I move closer and observe the axe he’s just thrown into the forge. He already carved pathways into it using his golden-hued tools. I know either he’ll alter it for one of his disciples or sell the weapon to some inscription master.

“I’m busy,” he complains.

(He doesn’t seem very busy,) Sophie says in my mind.

“You don’t seem very busy,” I say out loud.

Once again, the temperature rises, but I absorb it all, to his growing annoyance. This poor big fella is used to using heat as a wall and an excuse to get rid of people who annoy him.

He’s a smart man. I would totally do something like that.

“Are you annoyed because the items I made sold well?”

With a movement like an attacking viper, he turns to me. Seeing such a huge body move so fast is quite scary, but I’m brave, so I face him.

(Why did you want me to watch this?) Sophie asks.

“What is someone like you doing in the Primordial Knights? Those lunatics don’t usually gather crafters,” the velnar asks instead of answering.

“Please, Mik, I may be new, but I’m also a member of the Primordial Knights. You can’t be so rude about them in front of me,” I answer Mik.

(It’s more fun when I talk with you, too. It keeps my mind busy.) I say to mini Sophie.

(Nat, are you using me as a second monitor content because of your terrible attention span??)

(No.) I defend myself.

Meanwhile, I take a few more steps and come to a stop in front of Mik. “So? Just say it. Did my items sell?”

“Only a lunatic from the Primordial Knights could make items like that. Why were they so ugly? And why were so many of them prone to hurting their users if they got careless or exploding when misused?”

“Just use them correctly, it is easy. And I left notes and precautions for each item in case someone who was exceptionally cowardly got them. But the performance should still be pretty good. Since you’re twisting like this, I guess you were wrong when you said no one would want to buy them?”

Finally, he lowers his head in defeat. “They all sold at auction a day ago.”

Somewhere deep inside, this velnar seems to be hurt. He is someone who holds a great deal of respect for his craft, but he might have just forgotten how insane most Beyonders really are.

(I estimate your cut to be 100,000 shards.) I hear that voice in my head.

(Only? Some of those items were pretty fancy.)

(You mean the Antomic Bomb 2.0 and Sparrow Obliterator 9999? Both of those things could’ve killed the user far more easily than whatever they were meant to fight.)

(I miss them both. And I think you’re underestimating Beyonders. I’m sure they loved them and fought over the opportunity to buy them.)

(Whatever helps you sleep at night.)

“Your cut, as per our deal, is 155,000 shards,” Mik says.

I feel Sophie immediately disconnects from our call, and I decide not to push it, being the gracious winner I am.

While I gather my prize from Mik, I start to wonder if this is really the best way to make shards. So far, I’ve held off on buying an upper arcane passive because I don’t really need it. Something that powerful would just sit inactive most of the time to avoid making things too easy. There’s already too much for me to experiment with. Even so, I’m not dumb. I realize the value of a passive that grade represents, and I already know what I’ll buy if I ever truly need it.

Sure, it’ll take some time to fully apply, but at some point in the future, I’ll probably be kicking myself anyway.

One of the reasons I’ve kept over two million shards is to make more shards. With a huge sum like that, it should be possible. The problem is that I still haven’t found a proper way to do it.

Yes, getting a few hundred thousand shards here and there is nice, but it’s far from optimal, even though I'm using guild facilities and buying the materials from the guild, by way of my contract. I think they’ve underestimated how many materials I might be buying.

"I’ll see you later, Mik."

"Please don't return."

The next crafter I visit is someone I’ve lovingly come to call Dave.

Dave is a lumoran, and like all his people, he has black skin with transparent blue crystals covering patches here and there. Compared to most of the Lumorans I’ve met on the 7th floor, he has more of these crystals than most. That either means he's either very old or very high level. In his case, I’m guessing it’s age since he doesn’t really seem to be all that strong.

But Dave is very experienced, intelligent, knowledgeable, and talented when it comes to inscribing.

Dave also doesn’t talk. I don’t think he’s mute, it seems more like a decision on his part. Maybe it's like in that story I heard? The old man pretending for decades to be mute just so he wouldn't have to talk to his wife? Like many things, even this internet story is probably just a legend, but a part of me hopes it's true, if only for how ridiculous it is.

As with the many times before, when Dave sees me enter his shop, he smiles, waves, and gestures for me to come closer.

Used to this behavior, I follow him to one of the backrooms where he shows me three items he’s bought since the last time I visited three days ago. We spend a few hours examining these items and going over their structures. One of them is a broken shield, another is an inscribed dagger, and the last one is a pendant. None of them can be called anything impressive, but I’ve learned just how much this man admires craftwork.

Even if it might be rough, amateurish, there's a lot you can learn about a person from the lines they’ve made.

Just like Dave, I also take some time to point out the parts I find interesting, and they’re always very different from the sorts of things Dave admires. Our inscribing styles are pretty different, too, yet Dave, having seen my work, has never tried to correct me. Instead, he seemed curious about where my style might take me and found joy in comparing it to his own.

To put it simply, Dave is a pretty chill guy.

As I’ve done many times before, I take out a small ring I found in one of the Primordial Knights’ treasuries I was able to sneak into. Its rarity is only mid epic, but it was created in a style so different from mine and Dave’s that I’m sure he’ll find it interesting.

And he truly does, with his smile growing even wider.

He takes it and puts it away, probably so he can examine it more later when he’s alone, and I let him. I don’t even ask for any shards in return. I know for sure he’ll add its value to my share of the money from selling the items I gave him.

He gives me thirty thousand shards and a thankful shake of hands.

As I leave, Dave already rushes back into the backroom to examine the ring while setting up an alarm in case a customer comes in.

The last crafter I visit is a vile, tiny creature. A woman called Sutri. A vyssari.

When I enter her shop, she shouts, "Welcome back, you frigging lunatic!"

"Please don’t call me that."

"No way, anyone from Primordial Knights is and always will be a frigging lunatic by me!" she shouts again and jumps down from the normal-sized chair, which she always manages to make look ridiculously oversized. "Did you come for your shards?"

"I'm the most normal member of Primordial Knights you will ever meet, and yes, I would like my shards."

"Bullshit! I’m already hearing rumors spreading about you in Black Tower."

I halt my steps and look down at her as she stops near me. "Talon?"

"Talon," she nods. "I swear I never met someone who can talk and bullshit as much as him. But you know what's the problem? The guy is charming and seems to know just how far he can push things, and somehow you can't even get mad at him."

"What did he say this time?"

"Obviously, nothing too secretive. Some might not notice, but I did. Even when he seems drunk, he never lets anything important slip. Everything he says either boosts his own reputation, promotes your guild, or helps him get on someone’s good side. Frigging lunatic. That blabbering fool’s gonna end up as vice guild master of the Primordial Knights before any of you even realize it."

"As you said, he’s a blabbering fool. So, what are the rumors this time?"

Sutri smiles widely. "Apparently, you're scarier than the Doc and literally forced the poor lynthari to cut into you. Rumor has it the Primordial Knights are still crying over the contract they signed with you, weeping as they discover all the addendums you slipped in. You took over their defensive arrays in a matter of days. Your salary is two million shards a year as a newbie. You talk to yourself at times. Something seems to be possessing you and burning you out from the inside. You have an insanely powerful item that sometimes causes intense mana radiation that hurts people even stronger than you. You might be Nyssa’s lover."

"What the fuck was the last one?"

"...rumor has it you’re missing your left arm more often than not. Your eyes glow when you're hungry. They made Weslin your babysitter for some reason. And then there are the ones about the guild, Talon, and Weslin."

"I’ll have to have a talk with him again."

"Yeah, talk," Sutri smirks. "I think he’s just decided to stick with you for some reason. Just use him, he’s probably counting on it."

"Sure, sure, how much?"

"Twenty thousand this time. And I had a few B-ranks ask me who made the projectiles."

"They can keep asking," I answer while I accept the transfer of shards.

"You know I won’t say anything. I take the privacy of my clients seriously. But I’ve had a few people make projectiles for me before. From metal, stone, wood, and all kinds of stuff, but yours are really special. I don’t think there’s any other C-rank who can make projectiles from mana and make them so durable and long-lasting. I’ve got some saved in my storage because I'm curious, I’m sure it’ll take years before they start to lose their shape."

"Glad you like them."

"You bet I did! You made me some nice shards. So many projectiles, so quickly and in so many shapes. Hell, the better ones you made were even resistant to low grade mana disruption, and you made some neutral so they could be charged with mana."

"What about the armor I made?"

"Nah, no luck there."

"Oh, they prefer items with different effects? I know the chest plates I made didn’t have any, and..."

"They’re ugly as fuck."

"...I see."

"Yup," Sutri nods. "It’s different if you just want to throw something, arrows, javelins, throwing knives, orbs, that’s fine. But a suit of armor you're wearing at all times? But don’t worry, if you make that armor just a bit stronger, they’ll ignore the design. By the way, are you making them ugly on purpose?"

"I have to go. See you later, Sutri."

I open the door and exit while she calls something from behind me. Then I head back to the Primordial Knights.

The schedule is clear. Weslin used a one day beyond-stay token, so he’s already back in his tutorial, but it’s been decided that he’ll be returning once I return from my tutorial. Yes, somehow it seems that I will be sticking with the guy a bit longer.

My 30-day stay token ends soon, so I’ll be going back to the 9th floor for a day or two, to check on the others and deliver mini Sophie to her body. After that, it’s another 30-day stay. But before my 30-day stay token ends, I get to spend more time with the Doc.

And who knows, maybe I’ll get to learn a bit more about the Ruler of Kindness.

Chapter 658 - Fragile

The time finally comes. I leave the primordial knights without any goodbyes, just a promise to return in a few days and make my way back to the 9th floor.

The humidity of the 9th floor immediately hits me, and the near-claustrophobic, all-encompassing jungle wraps itself around me.

Min-Jae sits nearby with an array of interesting items around him. A few shelves filled with books and mana stones, some desks that seem like they’d belong in a library, and a few more pieces of furniture. The most eye-catching is the huge, closet-sized clock whose arms reach the set time, and then the clock rings.

As the ringing spreads through the jungle, Min-Jae looks at me and smiles proudly. The sound is somewhat soft while still being clearly noticeable.

After it rings for the last time, Min-Jae waves his hand, and the tree above the clock and the furniture around it creaks, cracks, and then entirely falls down, squashing it beneath a trunk as thick as a bus.

Still, with a smile, he explains, "I could just use the countdown timer to estimate when you'd return, but it was fun to set the clock to countdown, and I timed it to the second. I didn't even open the clock, I just used my senses and [Telekinesis]."

"I appreciate such frivolous uses of your powers, but wasn’t it a waste to destroy the furniture?"

"It's fine. We already moved all the useful stuff and sorted it out. There's just too much. Clothes, some mattresses, beds, pillows, blankets, books, furniture, food, their drachen, items, and all that stuff. We could probably furnish a small mansion with everything we’ve got."

"Then it’s fine," I say, and ask directly, "How’s it been going?"

For a moment, he looks awkward, but then shrugs with a weak smile. He doesn't mention what happened before, and neither do I.

"It was rough for a few days, but Izzy and the twins worked hard and found a way to “fix it”. So it went from Sophie being dead to… well, just you guys….”

“Getting our asses kicked.”

He shrugs awkwardly, “Something like that. Everyone more or less went on a training spree. We’ve moved pretty far away, so I came to wait for you and bring you back. Some of the demon tribes are highly perceptive, but we’ve been avoiding them thanks to Izzy and Tess. We know their territory pretty well, so I can lead you to our base without running into them."

He gestures, and I follow behind him. Then it’s less like he flies and more like he’s pulling on a set of strings he’s tied to himself. It's just more of that weird-ass way he moves when he uses [Telekinesis] and primordial gravitational energy to move.

"We shouldn't stick around too long. A few hours ago, one of the stronger monsters passed by here. Likely over level 400, big scary thing," he explains.

"Seems like you guys have learned a bit more about this place."

Min-Jae jumps on the branch of a tree and then moves to another with a nod. "Not the most important stuff, but it could be said we're slowly learning more. We could likely learn more, but the situation..."

"I see."

"Yes. And you, how’d it go? Did you kill them?"

"I met her. She's alive for now, but next time, she won't be."

"That's good."

"I guess. Can you sense that huge presence to our left?" I ask.

"Yup," Min-Jae says. "Even from this distance, I can see its gravitational wavelength. It has to be that big ass lizard. It moves pretty slowly, but it weighs a lot and it's likely very durable. We've avoided it so far. If you cause too much of a commotion, like explosions, fire, or flying around, more strong monsters like that lizard start appearing in the area."

"Likely a floor setting."

"Seems like it," he says as he comes to a stop, and so I stop at his side.

I notice he's looking to the left, where that lizard should be, and his yellow left eye shines just a little bit. "I think I can kill it without much commotion, but I want to plan things out a bit longer," he says.

I understand right away. "It's all yours."

"Thanks," there's a slight smile on his face, and we start moving again. "So, back to the demons, there are multiple tribes, and each far away from the others. They all look more or less the same. White hair, horns, red eyes, but some tribes seem to have more bias towards certain forms of primordial energy, while others orient around something different. So it seems likely that it’s genetic, at least partially? Whatever decides what demon heart they get."

"Have you spoken with any of them?"

"Not so far. We’re considering a few different tribes, and Tess has been planning for her and I to take the lead because of our primordial energies. I think, at worst, our group can deal with one of the smaller tribes fairly easily, and we’ll probably try before Tess and Lily head to Beyond again."

It all seems pretty well planned, and the whole thing carries Tess’s clear signature, so I keep asking for more details, and Min-Jae keeps answering. Once in a while, I watch him kill a group of monsters that gets in our way.

Most of the time, he just increases gravity under them until they fall and find themselves pressed into the dirt as if something were holding them down from above until they die. It is surprisingly mana-efficient when it comes to dealing with monsters with weaker physical stats.

For the stronger ones, he moves some of his projectiles out of the bag on his back, which holds hundreds more like them. Some are needle-like, others are orbs, and some take the form of long rods. All neatly organized to take up the least space possible, and each likely weighing many times more than Min-Jae himself.

A few hours later, we climb to the top of one of the highest trees in the area and set up shop to wait a few hours. The sun is setting, and dawn and sunset are the times when the most annoying and powerful monsters appear.

The view opens up a bit here, between the sparse branches, and I can actually see the never ending jungle with the last rays of the sun covering it in a beautiful golden color. The activity all around us rises in a swell, and we hear trees cracking and falling, small explosions, and monsters screeching.

I hear a familiar sound that doesn’t belong here at all, and look to my right.

Min-Jae is holding a smartphone and taking a photo. Another shutter sound follows.

Noticing me looking at him, he smiles. "Izzy hasn’t been in the mood for taking photos lately, so I’ve been taking some for her. She’ll like them when she sees them later. Maybe."

"She’ll like them," I say with certainty.

I know that even if Min-Jae’s only managed to take photos of his thumb from awkwardly holding the phone, leaving the other half smudged with his fingerprints, Izzy would like them. If only for the gesture itself.

For a moment, I close my eyes and appear in my mental space. In that small room with aging furniture, the crib in the middle, and a window open to the cold weather, and the snow falling outside.

Sophie has been listening and watching through my eyes since we entered the floor, as I’ve invited her to. Looking at her small figure now, she seems even more down, the closer we get to returning her to her body. And with her, the memories she wanted to throw away.

"Want to tell me?" I ask simply.

From down there, she looks up at me. Once again, I realize how much her younger version looks like Izzy. Not enough to mistake them for twins, but very close.

A self-deprecating grin appears on her face, and she starts talking, "I was an only child, and my parents gave me everything. Some people could say I was spoiled, and maybe I really was, but I loved them, and they loved me. It felt perfect, and I thought that was just how things would always be.”

She still keeps that grin, but it starts to fade, and her voice drops.

“Then Izzy was born. She was weak, got sick often, and almost died more than once. My mom quit her job just to watch over her, and my dad started working from home so he could help too."

As she talks, I sit down opposite her, putting the crib to my left, and look at those big green eyes.

And she continues, "It went on like that for months, and I slowly went from being the favorite child to the one in the background. My parents stopped loving me, and instead, there was little Isabella. She stole them from me. That always ill little thing. That's what I thought at the time. How stupid, right?"

"Kids are stupid."

"And not just stupid." She stops resting against the wall and moves closer to me. It becomes colder in the room out of nowhere, and the snowflakes start falling around us. "So, Nat. What would you say if that jealous little girl had waited until her parents were asleep, then went into her sick sister’s room, opened the window while it was freezing outside, and nudged the blanket off her just a little?"

For a moment, I just stare at her. The grin fades from her face, and her eyes start to well up, but she doesn’t cry. She just wipes them away.

"Izzy survived by a miracle. Dad woke up at night and, for some reason, decided to check on her. The next day, my mom kept crying, she thought she was tired and forgot to close it. Not even for a second did they think it was the little monster that they’d been keeping under the same roof."

Sophie wipes her eyes again, more aggressively. "A few days later, both of them died in a car accident." She doesn’t stop, continuing to wipe her face on her sleeves. "And then it was just me and Izzy, moving to my uncle’s. Nat, there’s a reason I’m here, and I still believe my parents' death was a punishment for what I did. And now I’m being punished again, dragging Izzy into the tutorial and to all this with me."

She keeps wiping at her eyes like she’s trying to erase the whole thing. The air in the room stays cold. Not from the window. Not from the snow.

I let the silence hang. It deserves to. Then I speak, quietly.

"I don’t think there’s anything I can say to that."

She doesn’t react. Just sits there, breathing unevenly, her face half-lit by the faint light from outside. The crib creaks slightly as if reminding us both what’s lying in the middle of the room.

"But I’m still here, and I can listen," I say.

Her fingers tighten slightly around the sleeve of her shirt. That’s it.

"And so is Izzy," I add and lean forward. "If you want me to hate you, I don’t."

She doesn’t answer right away. Just lowers her head again, like even that is too much to hold. "I wouldn’t blame you if you did, if everyone did," she finally says, voice barely audible.

"I know," I reply.

Sophie pulls her knees up closer, rests her forehead on them. Then she speaks again, and this time her voice is steadier.

"I kept telling myself I was a child. That I didn’t understand. But I did. I knew exactly what I was doing. And that’s what makes it worse."

I don’t interrupt her.

She lifts her head slowly. Her eyes meet mine. “Sometimes I wonder... does she know? What if she does, and just hasn’t said anything? Every time I think about it, I’m too scared to ask.”

Both of us stay quiet, and I stay with Sophie for a bit longer. Not because I have anything left to say, but because leaving would feel like I was abandoning something fragile.

The cold isn’t going away, but it stops feeling sharp.

"You should go." She says after a while.

I explore her expression for a moment, and only then do I nod and leave without any further words.

Chapter 659 - Sisters

As we travel through the 9th floor, I let Min-Jae handle most of the monsters, and we talk a lot. It's been a long time since it was just the two of us, and I’ve always felt more at ease when talking to one person at a time. And something about it makes it easier for me to speak up, too.

My intruder doesn’t count. Sophie is getting more nervous the closer we get, and I can only think that she’s quietly considering the merits of not “returning.” I think if she wanted to, she could disappear, dissolve these memories, and let them be lost forever, forgotten, known only to me, who won’t tell anyone.

The fact that I won’t tell Izzy likely makes it even harder for Sophie, since it all ends up being her decision.

To distract her, I let her watch constantly, after informing Min-Jae of her presence and explaining the situation a bit.

Min-Jae, meanwhile, talks a lot about everything that’s happened over the past month, and I have to say this floor suits him. He seems more confident and says he tends to move alone for days at a time. There’s also a lot he’s managed to learn from the materials we stole from the Academy, and even now, he’s taken to carrying some mana stones around to study at all times.

Two days pass like that, traveling, fighting, and having quiet conversations at dawn and dusk. Then we reach the “territory” that Group 4 has taken for themselves.

I would’ve expected the first person to meet me would be the best corgi of the 9th floor, and I obviously turn out to be correct.

Currently, Biscuit is big enough that his head reaches my waist, still perfectly proportioned as the glorious corgi he is. He flies through the forest at a speed that, by my estimation, is at least 6% faster than his previous record.

Min-Jae and I stop the moment we see him, and Biscuit continues floating toward us, waving his legs below him as if he were swimming. It takes a solid minute for him to reach us, and I pull his absolutely huge head into my arms.

“Have you gotten faster again? That’s so damn terrifying!” I rub the top of his head and give him a scratch behind the ears.

(Food!) He says, and I can hear the excitement and pride in his voice.

“Of course I noticed! Who wouldn’t?”

(Food.)

“Oh, Maya didn’t?”

(Food!)

“Yes, that’s pretty sad,” I agree, continuing to enjoy this big, fluffy corgi.

Even though I love Biscuit in his normal form, his puppy form, and his giga form, this current size is also very pleasant to hug.

He keeps pushing himself against me and sniffing. Each time he does, his wagging tail speeds up even more.

His smart eyes meet mine, and he suddenly shrinks into his puppy form. Tiny budding antlers sprouting from his forehead.

He sniffs again, and I feel our connection start to deepen. In a flash, I find myself forced into my mental space, in the small room with the crib and its open window, snow falling outside.

Mini Sophie looks around in confusion, and then, just like me, she glances down where Biscuit now stands. At which point he lets out a cheerful woof.

Still in his puppy form with those little antler buds, he jumps, wobbles, and runs to where Sophie is sitting on the ground, resting against the wall. From his back, a single purple tentacle stretches out and shuts the window close before he leaps into her arms. I feel a telepathic link forming between them as he jumps at her, licking her, pressing his tiny, cold nose into her face.

At first, Sophie tries to resist, but the little beast won’t stop. Eventually, she gives in, laughs softly, and starts hugging and petting him.

“I can understand him so much better now. He’s almost speaking in complete sentences,” Sophie says after a while, holding Biscuit in her arms as he relaxes. “Is this how you usually hear him?” she asks.

“I don’t think so? I understand him much more clearly than you guys do. Our dear Biscuit doesn’t know how to speak very well. When he communicates, he tends to send out too much information at once. Smells, emotions, all the things he perceives or thinks about. You guys hear one word, but to me, it’s like hearing dozens of sentences at once.”

Sophie’s eyes go wide. She looks down at Biscuit, then back up to me.

It’s amusing to see her like this, so I explain a bit more. “At first, Biscuit was scared of hurting you guys, so he tested things out on monsters, trying to talk to them. But even if they had high levels, it hurt them if he was able to connect. It’s just too much information, and the pressure of Biscuit’s mind can be overwhelming. He kept trying but couldn’t refine it, so he gave up and just picked his favorite words to use.”

“Food,” Sophie whispers.

Hearing that, Biscuit sniffs, twitches, and starts looking around. When he doesn’t spot anything edible, he snuggles back into Sophie, clearly disappointed.

“Yes. I think it’s because he’s my bond that my mind can handle it better. But ever since the 1st floor, I’ve been feeling how strong the presence of his mind is.”

Hearing us talk about him, he lets out a soft woof and twitches slightly when Sophie touches his tiny, budding antlers.

“And this?” she asks.

“Tess can be an asshole, so she wanted to surprise us. But Biscuit already told me about them a while ago, so screw her. The antlers came from that deer, the Champion that was trapped and tortured back on the sixth floor. When Biscuit ate him, he took something from it. Call it absorption, devouring, assimilation, whatever you like. Now the antlers are helping him communicate better. When he feels like it.”

I sense another presence coming up nearby, so I return to the outside world, leaving Sophie and Biscuit alone in my mental space.

Min-Jae and I, with Biscuit in my arms, reach the base as a simple defensive array lets us through. And I’d bet Tess is standing there in one of the trees, watching us from a distance as we approach.

Then, coming up on a house carved into one of the larger trees, I start seeing all the items we’ve stolen from the Academy, and in between them, somewhere are probably my thermonuclear warheads.

Like that, we eventually see Izzy, and watching through my eyes, Sophie sees her as well.

I won’t lie, I still feel a bit nervous. Even though I know Izzy, somewhere in the back of my mind, I think I might still expect her to hate me, even if only a little, because I wasn’t able to protect her sister.

But of course, the budding teenage empath bears not even a speck of such emotion. She rushes in to give me a hug, and I open my arms for her, and I gently hug her back.

“You were right, it is possible to save her,” she says when she finally manages to speak.

“Of course,” I ruffle her hair and look behind, where I sense what I can only guess is Sophie’s body.

"Dennis and Aaron helped me a lot, and together we found and connected the broken fragments. Lily’s been looking after the body, so somehow everything worked out."

Tess, surrounded by her typical cloak of flickering red and white lightning, lands nearby with her javelins floating behind her. At which point they stop and settle a bit further away so they don’t get in the way.

The blonde glances toward our empath. “Izzy likes to be modest, but most of it is thanks to her. She’s the one who’s spent most of her time searching for and carefully moving fragments back into place.”

(Indeed, a stunning pair of mindblender sisters.) I send to the space in my mind.

(Don’t put Izzy and me in the same bag. She is pure and kind, unlike me. She doesn’t have a talent for manipulating minds. Her gift is more about understanding.)

(Sure.)

When Izzy keeps staring at me, Sophie becomes quiet. Using senses I can barely perceive, Izzy notices the very thing I expected her to.

“You… you have one of her fragments,” she whispers.

“Freshly plucked from our least favourite feylith gal.”

“Nat… that… just how dangerous?”

“It’s fine. It’s not like I went to Beyond with the intention of avoiding her. You could also say it was Tess’s fault, at least partially. She pretty much sent me there.”

Izzy widens her eyes and turns to Tess. To that blonde, the unreasonable maniac, just like the rest of our group. Who else would just send someone after the very person who almost killed them? And what’s scary about it is her faith that I could pull it off. Even now, she’s not even trying to deny it, she just smiles just a tiny bit in that way only she can.

“She’s still alive?” Tess asks.

“For now.”

“Good. She should die for what she’s done. Was the piece of Sophie you have embedded in Faora´s mind?”

“Yup. Apparently, the laziest, nastiest, and most cowardly part.”

(I hate you.)

“Nathaniel…” Izzy prods, quietly tugging on my sleeve.

Looking at her, I can only sigh. I’ve thought about it a lot over the past few days, but seeing Izzy now, I’m certain of something even Sophie still questions.

Izzy knows. She understands what young Sophie did and how close it came to causing something terrible.

I wonder if it’s something she knew even back on Earth. Or if she learned about it here in the Tutorial. But looking at her, I can say by instinct and with absolute certainty: she knows.

How scary can this teenage girl be?

“So, how’s your progress?” I ask.

Izzy lets go of my sleeve and looks back towards the tree where her sister is. “I’m nowhere near as good as Sophie, but with some help from Dennis and Aaron, we should be able to do it in a few weeks. But that piece in your head feels very different from the ones hidden in her body or Blackie. It’s like they’re sleeping, but the one in you is awake.”

“Very perceptive, aren’t you?” I praise Izzy, who smiles weakly. “And yes, I think there might be something I can help with, so give me a minute.”

(What do you want to do?) Sophie asks.

(Isn’t it obvious? And why are you getting nervous now? You seemed so determined before.)

She stays quiet but also doesn’t protest as we enter the tree, where, behind the many layers of defenses, we reach her body. She looks almost as if she's sleeping, even though her chest moves in a shallow rise and fall as she breathes. She is a bit pale, but otherwise looks healthy. Well, aside from the way her shadow seems darker than it should.

Once there, I activate [Manifestation].

(The twins and Izzy seem to have prepared a connection I can use, but you’ll have to help me. Okay?)

(...okay.)

(And Sophie.)

(What?)

(I know you were probably doing it for Izzy. Trying not to use your mental abilities too much. But I don’t think you’ll have any other choice if you want to live, stay with her, and protect her. People are going to hate you anyway, no matter how little you use your mental abilities. So at least give them a reason to hate you, along with a reason to be scared shitless.)

(Yes, Nat. I will.)

There is more I could say about how unfair it is, how much it sucks. I can also think of a myriad of other problems it’s going to bring. It truly is a shitty situation. But as with all the times before, my priorities here are clear. Group 4 is mine, it's ours. And it seems like we’re going to have to be a bit rougher to keep it that way.

I use [Manifestation] and project my mind at Sophie’s, using the bridge Izzy and the twins prepared. Sophie holds onto me, and as we delve into her body, she nudges me along, sometimes taking the lead in the process.

It’s even simpler than I thought it’d be, even though it’s probably because of mini Sophie, who does most of the work. But before long, there we stand, mini Sophie, with me by her side, in front of a big wooden door.

“They’ve done so much work,” Sophie whispers while looking around at an array of things I cannot perceive. “The twins, Izzy. It must have taken weeks.”

“So it would seem. Do you just need to open the door?”

She nods. “Yes, my pieces, the ones they’ve already put together, are there. I just need to combine them before awakening them all.”

“So this piece, you, will become the new, main Sophie?”

“It’s not that simple. We will merge, and I will awaken. It'll be like I was when we met Faora, just with a few extra memories from the part of me I represent now. The others were sleeping, so there’s nothing for them to add.”

"In that case, I’ll be leaving."

"Leaving me to decide for myself."

"Yes, because it's your decision to make. But I think we both know what you've already chosen."

"...just get out already."

"See you later."

I leave and reappear in the room, and gesture for Tess and Biscuit to follow me out. Izzy stays behind, likely not even noticing as we leave, focused entirely on her sister’s body.

Chapter 660 - Awfully curious

“Where are Dennis and Aaron?” Min-Jae asks Tess.

“They went north to observe that area that’s always covered in mist. They brought Noodle and Maya along because they planned to explore deeper inside.”

“I’ll go and grab them so they can see Nat before he goes back to Beyond.”

“Sure. Be careful.”

As she says that, Min-Jae starts pulling on his body and quickly moves through the jungle, leaving me, Tess, and Biscuit behind.

Tess glances at the puppy sized corgi with his tiny, cute antlers, then at me. “Lily went east. She found some monsters she wanted to fight so that she could level up a bit, but she should be back in a few hours.”

“So everything’s going well so far?” I ask.

“As well as it could. Everyone’s been a bit more... proactive? If that’s the right word. It’s a reasonable reaction to what happened, but we’re only human. In a few months, when the memories start to grow more distant, we’ll calm down again, if only to find ourselves getting stomped on again.”

“How dark of you.”

“I’d call it being realistic. But it will make us stronger. And how about you? How did it go?”

“I found her and could’ve probably killed her if I’d tried really hard, but of course, nothing ever goes according to plan. Instead, I brought back one of Sophie’s fragments.”

Tess smiles. “So our spiteful mind mage managed to pull off something that sneaky. That sounds just like her. Still, who would’ve thought something like this would happen after everything that went down between you two on the first floor?”

“Or the second time, when she and Hadwin tried to kill me—right after I showed up half-dead from fighting Cinderbear.”

“I think it was me who put them in their place, if I remember correctly.”

“Yes,” I confirm. “You were so cool back then.”

Her smile widens. “I have my moments. How’s your social battery? Do you feel like talking about plans, asking questions, or just blabbering?”

“I think blabbering is fine. We can talk about plans when everyone’s here instead of everyone telling me things separately.”

Tess straightens her posture and lifts her chin. “In that case, you are currently looking at the second member of Group 4 to reach a level over 300. I’m only accepting congratulations. If I hear anything close to ‘took you a while,’ you can be sure I’ll be as petty as possible when the time for my revenge comes.”

“You’re so cool. Level 300 already? Congratulations.”

"I'd prefer a bit more enthusiasm, but I'll take what I can get."

Biscuit keeps glancing between me and Tess, as if unsure what to do, but in the end decides to stay quiet. He just snuggles closer. I’d even swear he puts his ear over where my original heart is and listens to it in much the same way my minion likes to.

That’s when a thought hits me, maybe the real reason Biscuit likes to take such a small form is so that he can be carried around. I still remember the existential dread my minion went through when Vic told her she wouldn’t be able to listen to my heart anymore as she grew older.

I push that thought away. “It must’ve taken a lot of work. I mean, I did some large-scale leveling with explosions and stuff to get where I am, but you…”

“Right? But with my Potency and my Primordial Lightning being so good at single-target damage, combined with my ranged projectiles… it wasn’t all that bad. Plus, I got some decent level-ups from everything that went down on the seventh floor.”

“What class did you get?”

"I thought you'd ask that first. It's called Primordial Stormpiercer. Unlike yours, mine’s just Arcane, but that just means I'll have to try harder next time."

"I don't think there’s really all that many attendees running around with Arcane classes."

"Right? I was thinking that too. It also came with a nice passive that improved my [Farsight] a lot. Soon, I might even be able to see through clothes."

I glance at her and blink slowly, half in disbelief, half daring her to elaborate.

She holds my gaze and smiles—calm, amused, utterly unbothered. It’s one of those smiles only this tall blonde can pull off.

I say nothing. Just keep looking at her, waiting.

She chuckles softly. "I think it’s part of your charm, Nat, for you to react like that after one of my looks. But it would also be fun if you blushed and looked away. Min-Jae did that. It’s heartwarming to see him act like that after everything he’s been through."

"I will not apologize."

"Of course you won’t. Biscuit, do you want to show Nat his new room?" she asks.

At that moment, Biscuit reacts immediately and wriggles until he breaks free of my hands. Then, instead of flying, he creates a series of purple mana arms from his back. Eight of them, moving upward before twisting toward the ground. Just like spider legs. Except they're human arms.

With fingers.

I had hoped he’d stop doing that.

Not expecting Tess to answer, we follow the terrifying being that is Corgider as he swiftly moves down the stairs and then to the side through a carved out hallway into one of the bigger rooms. This one is inside the trunk but has a huge opening onto a branch, like a balcony, offering a pretty nice view over the shorter trees.

I see. Biscuit knows I like a room with a good view, so it’s not bad. All my items are here, too. There are the thermonuclear warheads, some mana stones, my Earth clothes and snacks, a few experiments, and some things I was able to steal from the Academy, all nicely piled up.

There are even two mattresses. A larger one, and a smaller one near it.

Oh, how cute. He prepared a bed for himself as... Then Biscuit climbs onto the bigger mattress and lies down comfortably. His spider-human legs vanish, and he looks at me from the top.

I see. So the smaller one is for me.

There’s no need for me to turn around to know Tess has that smug smile on her face.

For the time being, I stay in my room alone with Biscuit. I'm gracefully allowed onto his bed, and as I lie there, I continue to pet him.

All these cheeky things aside, I still think everyone should have their government issued emotional support corgi. There is no question about that.

As I muse on that, I continue to check the Community while keeping my stats open on the other screen.

Lvl 323

Strength: 264

Dexterity: 252

Constitution: 457

Mana (Stage 1/3 - Vast Mana): 1675 + 1675

I’ll need to improve the Restrictive Training Emblem and Burden Enhancement Inscriptions again to increase their output, as my stat gains have been slowing down again. But it's nothing I didn’t expect, just one of the many things I’ll need to do.

Savant (Hell, Alone) - It's been months since we met during the tournament, and the first thing you said here is that I was a bitch when I forfeited our duel.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - I remembered it out of nowhere, and it pissed me off like it always does. And finally, you got your ass to the 9th floor.

Savant (Hell, Alone) - Not everyone clears their floors with a full roster of party members.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Oh, you are so cool, you clear all those floors alone?

Tacita (Hell, Luce) - 〜(＞＜)〜

Noname (Hell, group 4) - I still have no fucking idea how YOU cleared the 8th floor.

Tacita (Hell, Luce) - (￣ω￣;)

Grumpy (Hell, group 4) - Nat, stay where you are, I’ll be there soon!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - I'm not leaving, don't worry. I'll probably be staying for a day or two longer.

Sset (Hell, group 4) - Didn't you say you told your guild that you'd only be staying two days? That time is gone, taking your travel here into consideration.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - It’ll be fine. Savi, how’s your Sword of Aeons project been going?

Savant (Hell, Alone) - Absorbed.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Damn, and your kinetic energy?

Savant (Hell, Alone) - It's confusing and chaotic, but I’ve made some progress.

Tacita (Hell, Luce) - |ʘ‿ʘ)╯

Tacita (Hell, Luce) - ↜(╰ •ω•)╯

Tacita (Hell, Luce) - (ಠ o ಠ)¤=[]:::::>

Savant (Hell, Alone) - Is that a stabbing emote?

Grumpy (Hell, group 4) - She still doesn't like you!

Savant (Hell, Alone) - I noticed, especially when she attacked me during every other event just to fuck up my tournament performance.

Tacita (Hell, Luce) - (・`ω´・)

Savant (Hell, Alone) - You can keep trying. This is enough for me for now. I’ll be leaving for the time being.

I don't even bother responding, knowing his Community tab is probably already closed. He just loves having the last word.

Tacita then follows up with one more message.

Tacita (Hell, Luce) - ｀、ヽ｀ヽ｀、ヽ(ノ＞＜)ノ ｀、ヽ｀☂ヽ｀、ヽ

The emote likely means it’s raining where she is? How the hell would I know?

Grumpy (Hell, group 4) - No going back to Beyond before I get to our base! Promise?

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Promise.

After that, I close the Community as well. Biscuit’s already sleeping in my arms and breathing softly. I count my 660th boop since I came here and look around the room, picking out the things I’ll take back with me to Beyond. Likely some mana stones, and possibly a few things I’ll ask Min-Jae for recommendations on. Some Earth clothes and a few snacks for when I feel especially mentally drained after interacting with people.

Now that I’m a member of the Primordial Knights, I think I’ll get a boost to my Beyond Stay token. If I recall correctly, it should be a 50% duration bonus for 2nd to 5th ranked guilds, so my next stay will be 45 days. That’s why I don’t mind stretching my stay here for a few days longer. In the end, it won’t be me who has to deal with the consequences.

Interestingly, my affiliation with the guild now even shows in my status. Another line that people outside of Beyond aren’t likely to have. And one more, this time for my rank. That one appeared the moment I entered the second floor, I think. Or maybe only on the third, or after I joined the guild. I rarely check that part of my status, so it’s hard to know exactly.

Name: Nathaniel Gwyn

Title: Champion Candidate

Difficulty: Hell

Rank: C, Ivory White

Guild: Primordial Knights

Floor: 9 - The Pit

Time left until forced return: 2y 199d 16h 14m 36s

Traits (2/3): Mana Wavelength Iris 2/3, Mana Physique 0/3

Getting to B rank should be fairly easy, A rank as well. And I’m starting to think S rank should be possible if I really try. The only problem is that I don’t know the requirements yet, but I guess if I manage to enter the 6th floor and do some fancy Beyond quests, I should be able to pull it off. That would make me one of the apex Beyond predators for at least a few months before I have to leave the tutorial.

Facing equally strong opponents, or someone stronger than myself, is great, and I live for that feeling, the thrill of battle.

But!

Curbstomping someone who used to be stronger than you, once you’ve overtaken them through the results of your hard work, feels good in its own right.

Thinking of pleasant, normal, things like that, I continue to enjoy the view from Biscuit’s penthouse. Through my senses, I perceive that Izzy is still with Sophie, and Tess went ahead to help Lily get back, who apparently lacks the navigational skills to do so by herself.

The wind shifts slightly, brushing against my skin in a way that feels just a little too deliberate. Something in the air feels off, too still, like the world is holding its breath. Biscuit lets out a tiny huff in his sleep, ears flicking once, before settling.

One moment, I’m looking at the wide open view.

The next, there’s a face in front of me.

White hair. One red eye, the other closed, blood flowing from the socket. One leg cracks underneath her, and she stumbles a moment before regaining her balance, still putting full weight on it as if she were ignoring or failing to even notice the wound or the pain that comes with it.

All my instincts scream at me to move, but my mind races faster. Before I launch an attack, I recognize the feel of the presence in front of me. The presence of someone else piloting this native demon’s body.

Biscuit twitches, sniffs, and seems like he’s about to wake up, but I hold still and gently pet his head until he calms down and continues sleeping. Even then, I feel an adrenaline and mana rush through my body, preparing to fight in an instant.

"You seem to recognize me. I'm glad to see that!" the woman says, and her shoulder twitches and cracks, the bone tearing through the skin and clothes.

Watching that white bone covered in blood, I lift my finger to my lips and glance at Biscuit.

She smiles apologetically and lowers her voice. "How unkind of me, almost waking this beautiful beast from its slumber."

Taking another step, she stumbles again as she puts weight on her broken leg, and it twists a bit more. Looking at that leg for a good moment, she just sighs before turning back to me.

"You’ve been awfully curious about me, Nathaniel."

Chapter 661 - Not what it looks like

“I wouldn’t say awfully curious, maybe just a little bit? But don’t people do that often?”

The demon woman smiles, and something audibly cracks, likely another bone breaking.

“That’s true, people ask about us a lot, but you asking brought my attention. Can you guess why?”

“Is it this?” I ask as a tiny black orb forms over the palm of my hand.

As always, its oppressive presence fills the area, and even though I haven’t used that much mana to create it, it starts hungrily sipping on the mana surrounding me as well as mine.

“How terribly predictable I must be when even an attendee can guess that,” she breathes out in a playful tone and then tilts her head as if listening to something.

“This body isn’t that bad, actually. I picked it because it seemed stronger than the others, but examining it now, it’s quite impressive. This demoness would likely become a Champion candidate just through the power of her body alone.”

I look at it. One eye burst, bleeding tears, twisted arms, and bruises covering most of the pale skin. All that just from the presence of the Ruler, and likely a limited one.

“How do you guys even move around if even a fragment of your power causes that?”

Kindness straightens up again with a movement as creepy as it is elegant, at least as elegant as it can be while shifting her broken body. “There are different names for them. Some call them Apostles, others Heralds, but the term we use most often is Vessels. Usually, it is one of our Masters who serves us by offering up their bodies. Others tend to use Projections, Avatars, Clones, and Duplicates.”

“Wouldn’t a Vessel die if you were to manifest yourself through them?”

“They are very durable, but most of the time, yes.”

“So you guys just stay on your planets?”

She smiles, and the corner of her lip tears. “I like the many questions you ask and how much you try to exploit the opportunity. I still think you could have been a great Greed if you had decided to pick that subclass. You must have also sensed Greed nudging you towards it, greedy as always. As you said, we rarely move ourselves, often keeping to our own domains, the most durable planets.”

“What do you mean, durable planets?”

“You seem to suspect something already, don’t you?”

“Planets that’ve been through a lot of pairings?”

Her laugh spreads through the room. “When I watch you sometimes, I still find myself getting surprised by that instinct you have regarding the system’s functions. And yes. The more pairings the planet goes through, the stronger it becomes and the…”

She cuts her words and then shakes her head. “I think I’ll keep that one to myself for now.”

"So, which floor is yours?" I ask her directly.

She stares me down with the same gentle expression she’s worn this whole time.

I count three seconds before she answers: "Not telling."

Taking a few steps, more cracks sound, and her blood flows down her body, dripping onto the floor with every movement. From up close, she stares at the tiny black orb.

"Can you tell me what it is?" I ask directly. I know the body she’s possessing has a time limit, so I try to ask a question that hopefully won’t annoy her so much that I don’t get an answer.

Looking at the black orb for a bit longer, she stands and shakes her head. “It has many names, but no one knows which one is the correct one. Or maybe all of them are. Someone like the Warden, the Last Elf, or the Magi could probably tell you a dozen or so.”

“That answers nothing,” I say, pushing a little more.

“The best answers are like that.” Her smile turns more gentle, and she squints her good eye a bit. “I know Greed likes to think of you as her own ‘secret’ project, but I hope there is a little chance you could help me as well.”

“How could I even help someone like you?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“You probably can’t, but like Greed, I like to spread my webs even if the chance of success is low. Tell me, Nathaniel, do you know what she wants from you?” Her voice turns to a whisper, and she steps closer, only to come to a halt.

I follow her eyes and look down at Biscuit, who is calmly resting in my arms, his eyes now open. There is a slight purple glow to them. He’s not even doing it in a threatening manner. There is no mana, no primordial energy.

He just looks at her.

The Ruler of Kindness smiles wider and stays where she is, meeting my gaze.

“I'm sure Greed is listening, and she would get angry if I said any more, so I will keep her hopes and desires to myself. I have but one request. Only one thing I have longed for through the millennia. Something even Pride could not give me.”

She opens her mouth to say more, and the leg supporting her cracks. She falls to the floor backwards.

Slowly, she turns onto her chest and then uses her single unbroken arm to crawl around to face me. Blood covers most of her face now.

“I want someone, anyone, to extinguish what remains of me and let it be over.”

Her mouth curves into one last gentle smile before she twitches. Her lips begin to move, as if to speak, but no sound follows. Then she goes still, and the presence vanishes.

I wait a few seconds longer, just to be sure, but the body doesn’t move again.

Looking down at Biscuit, I say. “There is no way I’ll be able to do that anytime soon. Do you think she was just trying to ‘preorder’ my help, perhaps she asks the same thing of every particularly capable Beyonder?”

(Food.)

“I think so too. Most of the time, these people don’t even give it much thought. It’s just like those guys telling you to ask 100 girls on a date and hope one says yes. Like a numbers game. The thinking is: the more you try, the better your odds, and rejection, or in this case, my failure or death, just becomes part of the process?”

(Asshole. Food?)

I lay back on the bed and put Biscuit on my chest, where he sits in his puppy form, looking down at me.

“Maybe? They-”

The wind moves again, the side of my room explodes, and barging in through the hole is a petite black-haired girl, a gray mantle swirling around her. In her hands, she holds two axes made of bone. She breathes heavily, and her eyes first land on the dead demon at my feet before looking at me.

"It's not what it looks like," I say.

At first, her face goes blank, then confusion follows, and finally, it settles into a smile. With a groan, she lets go of her axes, which thump heavily onto the wooden floor and crack it with the impact. The mantle around her disappears, and she slides down against the back wall, landing on her bottom. There are wounds all over her body, quickly healing, almost fully closed already.

"Did she speak to you as well?" Lily asks.

"A bit, if you can call it talking. You know the type, mysterious, hiding behind 'it's too dangerous to tell you more' or 'such and such person wouldn't like it if I said anything.' That kind of stuff."

Lily gives a quick laugh, brushing sweat from her forehead. "She popped up out of nowhere, talked for a while, and disappeared heading in the direction of our base."

Another person steps through the hole, Tess, surrounded by lightning, with a crown floating above her head. "I've never seen anyone move so fast just using their body. That goes for you, too, Lily. You must have broken some kind of record."

"I was worried she was after the others, so I rushed back, but I couldn’t catch up at all."

"I’d have given you Biscuit if you had been able to catch up to her," I tell Lily.

When Biscuit looks up at me, eyes wide open, I whisper very quietly, "I wouldn’t."

He chomps down and bites my finger, then continues chewing on it as I look back at Lily. Tess, meanwhile, is in the room now, sitting on the windowsill.

"Did she say anything interesting?" I ask.

It takes a moment for Lily to take her eyes off me. She shakes her head and smiles wider. "Something about wanting me to extinguish what remains of her. And that I did something before to pass her test. I don’t even know what it all means."

I shrug. "It makes sense. You've just met the Ruler of Kindness, who took over one of the natives. And if I'm right, we've met her before. On the third floor."

Tess blinks, and while Lily seems even more confused, she says, "The Saint."

"Yup."

Lily looks between me and Tess, then briefly at Biscuit, still chewing on my finger, and back at me. "The Saint was dead. Only the body lived."

"And she also has black mana. That would explain why the King recognized it," I say aloud, thinking. "She’s looking for someone to kill her. So maybe the third floor’s setup wasn’t her getting assassinated, but it was her trying to kill herself. She probably failed and became a Ruler later. That floor might be designed to help her find people who might have even a small chance of killing her. Then there’s Greed, who wants to kill Pride. If someone kills Pride, it means that person is strong. And such a person might also be able to kill Kindness as well, and that’s why Kindness seems to be working with Greed. Pride couldn’t kill her, apparently, by the way. I don’t think she’s stronger than he is, though. I think he just literally couldn’t kill her. Lily, she might be an even more cracked-out healer than you. Scary stuff."

I pull my finger from Biscuit's mouth and wipe the saliva on his tiny nose. He scrunches it, woofs, and starts biting me again with more enthusiasm.

Thinking a bit more, I continue, "She didn’t seem all that great at handling mana, but who knows? I think that unkillable maniac brute-forced her way into compressing mana into black mana. Just abused her body and mind until she figured it out. I gotta say, I kind of admire the spirit of that. I’d love to see how her use of it differs from mine. And oh, Lily, we’ll run a few tests and see if you can learn it too. I mean, I don’t really think you need more terrifying abilities in your arsenal, but I’d die of curiosity if we didn’t at least try."

I look at her and wait. It takes her a second to realize I’m expecting an answer, and then she nods. "Absolutely!"

I grab Biscuit and hold him tightly with one hand while pulling my finger from his mouth, now even more soaked with his saliva. As if sensing what’s about to happen, he twists and hurriedly tries to get away. But I move quickly, stick the tip of my finger into his ear, and give it a twist.

Biscuit howls long and loud with that tiny mouth of his puppy form until Tess walks by, takes him from my arms, and holds him close to her chest protectively.

(Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole!)

I stand up from the bed and come to a stop in front of Lily, who’s sitting there on the ground looking up at me. She grabs my hand as I extend it to her, and help pull her to her feet.

As expected, she takes the opportunity to pull me into a hug. I try carefully to get out, but I can’t even push against the strength of her body and the grip of her arms, not without reinforcing myself or using kinetic energy. A part of me thinks it might almost be a threat or a reminder from her.

When she finally lets go, I’m about to step back, but she keeps looking at me with those big eyes.

"You haven’t pinched my nose," she jokes with a big smile.

I glance at Tess, who just watches in quiet amusement, then go ahead and pinch Lily’s nose, making sure to use the finger Biscuit was biting.

Lily hisses and jumps back, wiping her nose with her sleeve while I step toward the body on the floor and glance down.

"Let’s examine it a bit before the others get back," I say.

If it was good enough for the Ruler of Kindness to bother with possessing, it’s good enough for me to take a look at.

Chapter 662 - Demon cosplay

There must be a reason why even a Ruler called this body impressive, but that also raises some worrying questions.

Did the Ruler of Kindness just off an important native? Did she just ruin a potentially rewarding quest line?

I wouldn’t be surprised.

“She has really tough bones, they’re even stronger than mine!” Lily says while touching one of the arms. “I think she might even be over level 400 and have a third trait.”

“I don’t think we’ve seen any demons that powerful in the area,” Tess notes.

“She could’ve come from really far away. You saw how quickly she moved,” I say.

Looking down at Biscuit biting my shoes and pants, and pulling them in revenge for what I’ve done. I wonder what I should do with this ankle biter, but it’s cute when Biscuit embraces his puppy form and behaves like one as well, so I decide to let it go and move closer to the body. Biscuit follows and attacks me again.

(Asshole. Asshole. Asshole.) He keeps repeating, constantly sending thousands of words into my brain with each thought.

“So you can probably learn something from her?” I ask.

Lily nods excitedly. “I’m already out of finger bones from that Champion back on the fifth-floor, so this one should be a decent replacement. I’ve improved since last time, so I might be able to get more out of it. Her heart is unusually big as well, and probably gravitational in nature. I wonder if she compressed or strengthened her body with the help of gravitational energy.”

Tess gets the same idea I do. “In that case, this could help Min-Jae improve his training.”

Lily agrees. “Yes, I already thought of that and started preserving the parts he’ll need to examine.”

As she says it, the body, though broken, starts very slowly repairing itself. The broken arms begin to gradually snap back into place, the wounds start closing, and even the eye looks better now. It’s probably taking a lot of mana and effort from Lily. The stronger the body, the more it requires, so it makes sense that it heals more slowly.

Maybe she’s not just doing it to avoid looking at the broken body, but also to practice healing someone like this.

Another worrying thought forms in my head. “Let’s hope her tribe doesn’t come looking for her.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they did,” Tess sighs and looks up at the sky. “Those guys do like to mess around, and they don’t seem to care about the consequences. We might have to move now because of that, and even then, it’s possible that they could track us and blame us regardless.”

“You can flip off the sky. You’ll feel better.”

“Maybe next time, Nat.”

“As you wish.”

“You don’t want a piece of her?” Lily asks me as she looks up from the body.

“That offer sounds a bit weird for some reason, and I'm sure you’re trying to make me look like a creep. And not really, it wouldn’t be that useful to me right now, and I already have too many other things to work on. Just in case, though, when you’re done examining it, don’t take a piece or anything like that. Throw the body to some monsters to eat or something.”

“I already thought of that. There are a few around here we can toss it to. We’ll have to deal with the demons sooner or later, but I’d rather it be on my terms than theirs,” Tess says.

“Just have Lily kick their asses.”

“What else, Mr. Demon Expert?”

“You have to admit, I have the most experience with them. It’ll work for sure.”

“I wouldn’t say experience, more like familiarity. But yes, I know from watching you what works. Minimal speech. The harder you kick their asses, the more they respect you. Questioning the strength of their hearts is a challenge.”

"Tess, are you indirectly calling me a demon?”

"Maybe."

"Nat, I’m sure I could make you look like a demon if you wanted. I even thought of that myself. Look."

At first, I want to stop this petite bulldozer healer from showing off, but my curiosity stops me.

I watch as her body grows taller and her limbs stretch. Her frame shifts slightly, and her clothes tighten as they become a bit too small. She rises to match Tess’s height. Then, her eyes turn red. Starting from the roots, her hair begins to fade to white. Finally, a pair of horns emerges from her forehead, curving backward in an elegant arc.

Her face remains almost the same, changing only slightly to fit her larger structure.

Lily smiles and does the thing I think she’s most proud of. Her heart starts beating at a different frequency... no. I activate my eyes and expand my senses as confusion hits me. What did she do?

Tess says something, but I don’t listen. Instead, I stare at the place where her heart is.

Lily knows how dangerous messing with a Mana Heart can be, so she wouldn’t risk growing it any bigger or changing it too much. At most, she would do something like what I did, building onto it, some construct or something. But she doesn’t have the talent for that. So what did she do? Her heart feels almost like a kinetic heart, very demon-like.

Only when I focus in on it do I start to pick up on the differences.

Then, I get it. She’s hidden her real heart and built something akin to a fake heart right next to it. It probably shouldn’t even be called a heart, as I’m sure it doesn’t pump blood. It’s just some kind of fake organ that beats strongly and noticeably even to my senses.

I remember that Lily saw my heart working a lot during both of the tournaments and with our experimentation later. Still, to be able to mimic it to this point. It’s damn cool.

Satisfied that I was able to pick up on what’s happening, I look up to meet Demon Lily’s eyes. For some reason, she’s blushing, but while I would expect her to turn away shyly as she used to, she doesn’t now. Well, she’s likely ashamed I was able to see through her, so maybe I should compliment her a little.

“That’s actually impressive work. You made it look almost completely natural, seamless, even. It draws attention right away, but it doesn’t feel fake. You barely notice it at first, and even then, only if you look too closely. At that point, it would be considered a challenge to a fight, so you could probably beat that demon before he says anything.”

She doesn’t say anything. Neither does Tess.

I shift slightly and glance down at Biscuit, who’s still trying to chew through my boot like a dog possessed.

“And it’s not just the placement,” I add, still analyzing. “It’s the way it moves with everything else. You almost forget it’s not the real thing.”

I nod again, satisfied. “Good stuff.”

"Tess..." Lily pleads in a weak voice.

The blonde glances between her and me before saying, "I’m sorry. In situations like this, I’ve never been able to tell if he’s messing with people or if that’s just how he is."

While Lily starts returning to her normal form, I reach to the ground and lift up Biscuit, who twists a few times in an attempt to escape, but I pick him up and hold him against my chest. Maybe I should use that minion communication token already. I wonder how Vega’s been doing.

"The others are almost here," I say, and jump out through the hole in the tree Lily made.

I absorb the kinetic energy of my fall and gently land on the ground. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this. It just feels way too cool to the more childish parts of my brain.

Taking a few more steps, I then stop and wait, looking in the direction where I sense the signatures of the rest of the group.

Noodle appears first, quickly slithering between the trees in his giga form, where he’s as thick as a car. Flames of his Fragment of Eternal Fire still flickering across his scales. In shades of purple, blue, and green.

As polite as he is, he stops in front of me, his tongue flickering as he tastes the air around me and the mana as well. Then he nods politely, and I return the gesture.

He then shrinks further and rushes into the base, likely to join Izzy, whose emotions he must be feeling due to their bond.

Min-Jae exits next, by the side of the laughing blonde, blue-eyed boys. I swear these two have gotten even taller now, and I start to realize they might grow up to be handsome, just slightly below the levels of Lioren and Channeler.

I wonder, does growing to adulthood with mana flowing through your body and leveling up actually make you more handsome? If it does, I find that deeply unfair, since most of my growth seems to have happened just so mana could make me more handsome.

Some people really have it too good.

(You’ll have to chew their shoes or something, Biscuit) I send through our link.

Biscuit quickly looks up and tilts his head in a confused manner, making his ears flop around his head.

Min-Jae spots me and waves. The blonde twins are still laughing about something, probably an inside joke that started before they could even speak in full sentences. They reach me fast, skipping the greetings, like we’re in the middle of a continuous conversation that only paused because they were too far to shout.

“Did you kill her?” one of them asks.

“Unfortunately, not yet,” I say. “Everyone keeps asking that.”

Another one smiles. "We know you that well, at least."

"I guess," I agree. "By the way, the connection you guys built to connect to Sophie was a good job."

“Nah, it’s fine,” the one, I guess, is Dennis, says, waving it off. “We already got thanked by Izzy way too many times, no need to pile on more.”

“I don’t think so,” I say, getting their attention. “Izzy’s nice; she says thanks for everything, so sometimes it doesn’t feel quite as... rewarding? If that’s the right word to use. I saw what you two did, and it must have taken hundreds of hours to complete. I think you really did a good job, and for all it’s worth, you have my thanks as well.”

Aaron, next to Dennis, seems even more awkward and shoots me a playful look. “We know you probably want to thank us because you feel responsible for what happened to everyone in Beyond, but damn, Nat, you can be stupid as fuck sometimes.”

“Stupid as fuck,” Dennis nods seriously.

“Stupid as fuck!” Min-Jae quickly adds.

Aaron’s expression turns more serious, but there’s still that smile on his face he almost always keeps, which makes it so easy for me to tell him apart from Dennis.

“You’re the only one blaming yourself. But for now, if you’ll let us, I need to go see Sophie. If my face is the first thing she sees when she wakes up, she might just fall in love with me.”

Without further talk, he rushes toward the base, with Dennis right behind him. The two superhumanly fast guys push each other away to get there first.

Min-Jae stays behind and shrugs awkwardly. “Ehm, I didn’t call you stupid as fu...”

“It’s fine,” I wave it off.

He nods and also rushes in to check on the others.

It takes a few more minutes, but finally, Maya appears as well. Her body is surrounded by a massive mana construct in a humanoid form. The construct looks like a suit of armor, but it’s not solid. Its surface shifts constantly, flickering between dark blue and near-transparent pale blue. Purple lines run through the mech, glowing faintly. There is no face, just a smooth plate where one might expect eyes.

Maya floats just inside of the chest, sitting within a web of thin mana threads. The construct moves with her, responding like it’s part of her nervous system, and not something she’s piloting.

As her feet touch the ground, it shakes slightly, showing the weight of the armor. Even from a short glance, I notice places she’s made multiple improvements, and when our eyes meet, I recognize that look of being caught in a deep state of focus, trying to maintain the armor and move it properly. As always, there are also a lot of high-quality mana batteries lining her body.

She takes a few more steps, and I notice that the armor is dragging some sort of big, bear-like monster behind her by its legs as she walks.

With her final step, the mana armor breaks apart and collapses into particles that rush back into her body. The pale blue and purple threads slide over her skin, forming glowing purple and pale blue tattoos looking things that wrap around her arms, spread across her shoulders, and reach halfway down her back. They're clearly visible because of the tank top she's wearing, and they pulse slightly for a moment before settling.

Chapter 663 - Just one more day

“You can pet Biscuit a few times if you tell me what those lines are,” I tell Maya.

“Sorry to tell you, but Biscuit is surprisingly cheap. He lets us pet him just for a few pieces of any sort of smoked meat. He tried to make some on his own, but it went pretty badly, so he’s been relying on us to do it.”

As she talks, her [Focus] completely turns off, and her expression shifts back to her usual one. A bit sarcastic in her way of speaking, but easy to talk to, and someone who likes to smile.

Biscuit’s terrible sense of economy aside, I'm really curious. Maya was the first to come up with mana armor and later, mana mechs. The [Regalia] I used to have, along with most of my mana weapons, armor, and the similar tools I’ve developed since, can all be traced back to her.

It’s probably surprising from an outside perspective since she doesn’t even invest most of her stats into mana. But there's a reason she started with [Focus] and [Armament] as her initial skills.

While it's safe to say I’m probably developing Armament or Regalia–if you want to call it that–type skills faster than she is, she shows more talent for them. And as awkward as it might feel, I always find myself coming back to her for new notes and sharing my own in turn.

After all, it’s not like I’m a parasite or anything.

Now that I think about it, I do that quite a lot, learning from others and borrowing ideas. I wonder where I’d be without them. While I refuse to say I would’ve been any weaker, it’s safe to say my arsenal would be very different.

“Did you buy any mid arcane passives to help with that stuff?” I ask, taking my best guess.

“Yup. One of them probably isn’t much different from your Reservoir, but it’s more like storage. It helps to store a bit of mana, blueprints of my armor and weapons, that kind of thing. The second helps with mana flow and my control over it. Combined with the rest of my shards spent on mana batteries and some low arcane items I stole from the Academy, it works pretty well.”

“Plus [Focus],” I add.

“Plus [Focus],” she sighs. “I still don’t like it all that much, but I’ve learned to be more selective about how I apply it and used some upgrades to help me learn faster. And before you start having a heart attack, yes, I’ll use a detachment token and get rid of those upgrades as soon as I have a better grasp of what I’m doing.”

“Good. Those tattoos look nice. So, does that passive help you to store anything? Isn’t that way too good? What’s it called? I want to check it out in the shop.”

I step closer, eyeing her forearms, where pale blue and purple lines are arranged in elegant patterns. On Maya’s darker skin, they look cool enough that I start thinking maybe I should get some of my own. I know there are tattoos classified as items in the system shop.

“Mana Archive, it...”

“The hell, that sounds cool. How did I not notice it?”

“...it, as I said, allows me to store mana, though not as much as your passive does. And it helps me to store the blueprints. I think you mentioned you wanted to store your arrays and constructs in your brain or something.”

“I’m a romantic, so I might just change my mind and store anything mana-related in my heart to show my love for the best attribute.”

“Alright.”

“Alright,” I nod.

Even though I know she’s fighting it, she sighs and smiles. “You can be such a childish ass sometimes.”

“I blame my environment and subconscious need to catch up on all the things I missed out on growing up. I think Izzy said something like that once.”

“Doesn’t sound very much like her. But seeing you bullshitting like this and in a good mood, did everything go well?” She asks, stretching out a hand so I can examine part of the blueprints she’s archived there.

“If I were aiming for a perfect score, I’m still missing one dead feylith and a thylarin, but there’s still time for that,” I state, taking on a more serious tone. “Sophie left a piece of herself in Faora’s mind, and she says that piece would’ve, in the next few years, erased Faora and taken over her body. I believe her.”

Maya shrugs. “We all know how scary Sophie’s abilities can be. If you think about it, the way we’re always letting our guard down around her and trusting her, she could probably, slowly and carefully, turn us all into her slaves before the tutorial even ends. And then walk away with some of Earth’s best listening to her every word.”

“It sounds disturbing, and somehow cool.”

“You’re the only disturbing thing here. But if we believe she won’t enslave us, it’s more than likely that, before the tutorial ends, our group will have the best mental defenses on Earth after training with her.”

“Sounds about right. Izzy is with Sophie, who’s currently working on putting the fragments of her mind back together. She should be up and running soon. There might be some injuries or side effects she’ll have to work through, but I don’t think it’ll be anything too serious.”

Maya sits on a fallen tree nearby, and I sit next to her. “So in the end, she was lucky. It could’ve been much worse. And how’s Beyond?”

“I’ll talk about it later tonight, but it’s not bad. There’s a lot to do, a lot of information to gain, and plenty of opportunities. Do you regret not trying to get there?”

“Not really. If, after the tutorial, Earth ends up with 10-50, or however many people who survived Beyond, I believe I can still make it into the top thirty of those who only went through Hell difficulty. That’s enough for a very comfortable life.”

“I think you’re underselling yourself.”

“I’m trying to be more modest these days.”

“And if you aren’t trying to be modest?”

“If I don’t count some of the other members of Group 4 and a few monsters like your sister, Tacita, Savant, Jean, and the Kings, I don’t think there are many people from Hell difficulty who could stop me if I really tried.”

"And are you really trying?" I ask.

Looking at her hands and the lines covering them, she closes and opens her fists a few times while searching for an answer to that question.

When she looks back at me, she says simply, "I am."

What a nice expression.

Maya doesn’t talk about the training or the effort she puts in, but I can sense the effect it’s had from the state of her expression and hear it in her voice.

Ever since the first floor, she’s always preferred relying on others to make decisions and following along. It’s a part of her I don’t like much, but I don’t hate her for it either. I’m sure the others have things they hate about me, too.

But over time, I’ve come to see how Maya’s picked up the slack, and all the ways the personality that once needed someone to follow has grown more confident in itself.

Her subclass is Patience, the same as Savant’s, and it shows in the way she’s learned to patiently decide what she wants to do and then stick to it. I’ve seen it in the way she trains.

Once she decides on a target, she makes a schedule she sticks to no matter what, and progresses in ways that demonstrate an impressive level of determination. Out of all the members of group 4, she’s also the most "technical" when it comes to using weapons or martial arts, and likely when it comes to creating armor from mana. Everything is well structured, prepared, and practiced.

I don’t know if it has anything to do with her previous job as a personal trainer, or if it’s a remnant from the time she first started exercising and sculpted her current body from the person she still calls a sad slob. Or maybe it’s a result of her love for music and her ability to play multiple instruments.

Even after all this time, I find it fascinating how these little thoughts continue to float through my mind as I learn more about these people.

I decide to stay a day longer. During that time, Izzy stays near Sophie, who’s still working on her mindblender stuff and hasn’t awoken. Lily shows me the progress on her skele-suit, even though for some reason she still refuses to call it that. It’s not something she wants to use most of the time, since she has her mantle, and her body alone is currently more durable than any armor made of her bones that she could quickly deploy. But she says she’s doing it so that at some point in the future, she’ll be able to create a multi-story mech grown from her own flesh and bones. Possibly something as tall as mine and Maya’s.

It’s something we’ve talked about before, though I mentioned it mostly as a joke. To my horror and fascination, this petite, black-haired maniac actually wants to do it. And I respect her determination to make her powers as creepy as possible.

Her [Disintegration] has also gotten stronger again, her progress seemingly inspired by whatever Fragment Luan used against her during that fight.

While we're talking, I overhear the twins joking that in a year they'll be as old as I was when the tutorial started. A sudden, shocking thought hits me. I do the math and realize that Lily is now 19, almost 20, but as I get to that number, my brain just refuses to accept it, and almost shuts off.

I know close to two and a half years have passed. I know she was 17 and one of the twins’ classmates when the tutorial started.

But there’s just no way.

Maybe it’s because she’s still petite, even though she’s grown a little. Or maybe I just still see her that way. Or maybe it makes me feel old, since I’m also approaching 24 years old?

It’s straight up stupid. Why am I here, panicking about age when I’m on track to live hundreds, possibly thousands of years? The ticking time bomb that is my construct problem, aside, of course.

And doesn’t that mean Min-Jae’s almost 18, and Izzy’s almost 13?

I quickly cut off those thoughts and proceed to reject that reality.

We spend some time together in the living room, where I share as much information as I can and learn what they can tell me about this floor.

We, mostly Tess and I, make some plans. I leave some arms with Lily so she can use them later as needed, and as she takes them from me and puts them into the bag, the twins are still calling The Armory.

I look at Lily and wonder. Would I still look the same as I do now if I had an ability like hers to change the structure of my body? Or would there be a person with looks comparable to Lioren and Channeler standing in my place, if not surpassing them entirely?

I eventually come to the conclusion that I’d stay the way I am now, maybe with a few small tweaks here and there. A touch wider at the shoulders, slightly bigger calves. Nothing too unreasonable, I think. Everyone knows calves are fair game. Those things just refuse to grow properly. I mean, why is my ass getting rounder and firmer as I exercise, but my calves stay nearly the same?

With Maya, I examine her Mana Archive. It’s cool, and I think it fits her, but it doesn't make much sense for me to pick up. With my [Manifestation] and the mental exercises I’ve been progressing with, it only makes sense for me to store them in my mind.

While I talk to the twins, Tess sits with Biscuit, and Maya and Lily exchange ideas with Min-Jae, things based on what she’s learned from the demon’s body. It finally happens. I sense two figures approaching the room we’re in, and I’m not the only one. Gradually, the conversation dies down as everyone’s unique senses pick up on it, and we all turn toward the door.

Izzy opens them wide and, holding her hand, she pulls Sophie inside. Izzy’s eyes are red, but she has the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen her wear.

And Sophie herself is a bit pale and slimmer than usual. Her green eyes seem a bit wet, and she also moves somewhat awkwardly.

As the others rush in to greet her, I just watch, and for a moment, she looks my way. That short moment is enough for me to confirm one thing. And as Lily crashes into Sophie and nearly throws her to the ground, I step slightly back to avoid the commotion and noise, if only a little.

Chapter 664 - Acceleration

As time passes, I start getting a bit nervous, not gonna lie. That asshat of a security lady will surely complain again, and Weslin won’t be happy either. And the branch leader… assuming I’m right, probably snuck something into the contract to use against me in situations like this.

Well, that only leaves one option.

I will lie.

I could probably damage my body a little or ask the others to do it for me. I'm sure some of them would do it gladly. Tess’s lightning and its remnants could be sensed on me. Since it would be recognized as Primordial Lightning, I could blame it on one of the demon tribes if I needed to.

The problem will be lying convincingly. A few of the members of the Primordial Knights currently stationed at Black Tower possess thermal and kinetic energy detection. They might try to sense my lie the same way I’ve been known to do with others.

Well, that’s a problem for the future. For now, I’m going to sit here with growing fascination and listen to Sophie as she speaks to Maya.

“The way Faora’s thought acceleration worked within her Mind Palace wasn’t all that hard for me to grasp, and I think I can mimic the effects somewhat. Even though I don’t have a skill like the one that made the Mind Palace, I know I can make it work, if not at the same level.”

“So you’re saying that bitch was able to make minutes pass in her mind while seconds passed outside?” Maya asks.

During the conversation, Sophie’s voice sounds weak, but the longer she stays here and the more Lily pumps her with healing mana, the better she looks. Everyone is probably watching for signs that something might be wrong with her, but Sophie seems to be alright. That’s even more apparent as we watch Izzy cling to her like a baby koala, completely forgetting about Noodle and Biscuit.

Her older sister doesn’t seem to mind at all and treats her with an incredible degree of care.

“Yes, of course, you’d need to have a powerful mind to pull off something like that. But you have [Focus], and we have Lily in case anything goes wrong,” Sophie says.

“Okay, I get it. I get that you’re a maniac who can’t help but ramble about training mere moments after waking up from the dead. But what does that have to do with me? Wouldn’t Nat be better for all that mumbo jumbo?”

“That moment when you’re seconds away from death is, according to some people here, the moment you reach your peak performance.” As Sophie says that, most eyes glance between me and Lily, but I decide not to react to such slander, and Lily stays quiet too.

Sophie continues, “Nat can’t help me because he doesn’t have the skill you have, Maya. [Compounding]. You’re still using it only to increase damage, right?”

“Kind of? It levels very slowly, but the longer the fight goes on, the higher my damage gets, so that’s good. So what do you want with it?”

At this point, I already start getting an idea of what Sophie might want, and I really, really like it. To the point where I start thinking...

What if I stayed here a week or two longer?

And Sophie says, “I’ll make my own variation of thought acceleration. Then we’ll get you deep into [Focus], cooperate with the twins if needed, and use your [Compounding] to increase the effects of the resulting thought acceleration.”

That sounds way too cool, so I move closer and sit on the couch we stole from the Academy, next to Lily, nudging her slightly to the side so we can both fit.

“How much compounding do you expect to need?” I ask Sophie.

And she smiles. “I knew you’d like it. I’ll need to run more tests, but I think I can create something similar to your mental space and use thought acceleration there. Probably five seconds inside for every one second outside. Later, we could expand that to ten to one, and likely more with time. I’m not sure how long it will take Maya to be able to use [Compounding] that way, but it could probably compound the effect a few times at the first level. More at the second level, it should only increase more and more the deeper we go.”

“You’re already classifying it in levels?”

“Yes, before you try to give it some shitty name like you did with Manabloc.”

“Everyone loves my Manabloc chairs. So what kind of result are you hoping for and what do you think is going to be possible?”

Thinking for a moment, Sophie allows herself to dream.

“To make the math simple, let’s say my base, Level 0, is ten seconds inside of my mental space for everyone outside. That much I think should be reasonable with some simple training. Level 1 could be ten times that if Maya does her part as well, right?”

She doesn’t even wait for Maya to answer. “So at Level 1, that would be 100 seconds inside for every one second outside. Now what about Level 2? We compound it by ten times, once again, if her skill works the way I hope it does. That would make one second outside into about 16 minutes inside. That’s getting damn close to what that bitch could do.”

Sophie ignores Izzy’s less than enthusiastic complaints about her language. “And what if we compound it again, and go deeper? Level 3? That would make one second outside equal to almost three hours inside. Forget trading seconds for a minute. Ignore all that sexagesimal stuff, and just to keep it simple, say I could turn one hour of real time into ten hours in my head. At Level 0, that would be…”

“What’s sexagesimal?” I ask.

Everyone, including her, ignores me and looks at Min-Jae.

“I was never good at math, you know that, right? Damn stereotypes,” he grumbles and takes some time to calculate it anyway. “At Level 0, it would be 10 hours with just Sophie and her Thought Acceleration. With Maya’s help at Level 1, it would be 100 hours. At Level 2, 1,000 hours or almost 42 days. At Level 3, 10,000 hours or about 1 year and 51 days, if I calculated it right.”

“So how likely is it that this will melt my brain, Sophie’s, and anyone else’s? And why would we want to spend a year in your head, Sophie?” Maya asks, crossing her legs and arms, leaning back.

I answer instead of Sophie, “To train? I don’t know if you could gain skill levels if your mind was out of your body and in Sophie’s mind instead, but likely yes. Or Sophie could learn some things and teach you. Or you could just spar, practise martial arts. Invite more people there. Do some recon on a city's defenses and then spend a few minutes outside while taking months' worth of time inside preparing countermeasures and stuff. And I could probably go on.”

“Not to be a party pooper, but I’m sure most of us would fry our brains after just a few seconds of something like that.” Aaron says, looking around and smiling, “But I will not lie, I want to try.”

“Nat seemed to have some good ideas for...”

“Okay, okay, okay, let’s calm down here, Sophie,” Dennis interrupts her, “Nothing sane ever starts with ‘Nat had an idea,’ as I’m sure most of us can agree.”

As he looks around, everyone solemnly nods. I even look down at puppy Biscuit in my arms, who watches and then mimics them, nodding clumsily a few times with his ears flopping as he does.

He senses me looking at him, so he twists his head and looks up at me in a way that almost makes it seem like he’s broken his neck.

I blink.

He blinks.

Lily, sitting next to me, giggles softly.

Then I boop Biscuit’s nose, and in response, he grabs my finger and starts biting it with his tiny, needle-like teeth. Then, for some reason, he does something I’ve never seen before: a small helmet made of purple mana forms around his head, with extra coverage for his ears.

Then he bites my finger with even more enthusiasm.

“Of course, we’ll tone it down,” Sophie says to Dennis. “But he’s started doing some sort of mental exercises. I’ll modify them and prepare some for you, too. Plus, everyone here could probably stand to replace some of their near-useless upper epic passive with something that boosts their mental resistances.”

Tess also adds, “I guess it’s not something you want us to add to our mainline training, it sounds more like some sort of side training.”

“Exactly. I don’t think I’ll be able to finish any of that anytime soon, but I’ll work on it and would like Maya to as well. We have the floor quest to deal with. And I want to go to Beyond, so it’s not the main focus.”

Izzy stiffens a bit when Sophie mentions Beyond, and her sister notices it. They look at each other, and Izzy, for a moment, seems like she wants to storm off in anger, but in the end, she just stays there. I’m sure she wanted to get mad, but at the same time, she can feel her sister’s emotions, so she can’t help but fully understand.

Sophie smiles at her, and the conversation is about to continue. I almost want to step in and stop it, but Tess intervenes instead.

“Izzy,” she says softly, and all eyes turn to her as she stands there.

Her blonde hair is long now. With no hairdresser to fix it, it falls straight down her back like a golden waterfall. The [Lightning Crown] above her head cracks softly, flashing with faint red and white light.

“It’s okay to be angry.” Tess stares intently at the little empath. I can sense her shielding her mind so Izzy won’t pick up on her emotions. “You don’t always have to be understanding, and you have the right to feel anger. It’s okay to be selfish and put your own emotions first.”

Izzy opens her mouth to say something, but Tess adds in a colder voice, “Sophie almost died out there, and she’s already talking about going back just a few hours after waking up from what could have been the end of her. It doesn’t matter if I, she, or anyone else, even you, thinks it’s the best course of action. It doesn’t matter if being angry at her is illogical or if it might hurt Sophie.”

Once silence fills the room, Izzy opens her mouth again, but no words come out. She just looks around as if desperate, searching to find what she should feel. But this time, there is someone else who isn’t allowing her to do it.

Biscuit’s eyes have a faint purple shine, and his shadow, which is usually so tiny it barely exists under his stubby frame, now stretches unnaturally across the entire room. At first, it slithers as if in slow motion, then begins to twist, bulge, and ripple, branching out into a myriad of delicate, flickering tentacles that reach for the edges of the walls, the ceiling, and even expanding beneath the furniture. It doesn’t feel threatening, but it has a kind of silent presence.

It fills the space with something that feels eerily similar to the way I sometimes hide my emotions from Izzy, just covering the entire room and hiding the emotions of the others.

Izzy is left to her own emotions, and her eyes water as she looks at the corgi on my legs, but Biscuit doesn’t stop. He just looks at her with what feels like a gentle smile.

And just like that, Izzy rushes out of the room, and no one tries to stop her.

When she’s gone, no one blames Tess. Even Sophie gradually begins to relax, and the anger she had toward the blonde fades, replaced by understanding.

I could probably stay a bit longer, maybe even go after Izzy, but I think it’s better to leave her with her own emotions. She’s always been kind to all of us, but lately, it’s started to feel selfish on our part. Her bottomless well of kindness was beginning to seem unhealthy for her. Tess saw it and acted, so it stands to reason that she’ll be there to help her from here on out.

I share the last bits of information I feel could prove useful, wish them luck with the ninth floor, and with the Beyond expedition they’ll be heading into soon. Then, with a promise to meet here again in 45 days or leave a message on one of the Beyond floors, I leave.

And as I use my Beyond stay token, I appear in that never-ending space under a sky filled with nebulae and beautiful stars.

There, my handler sits behind her old wooden table. This time, her black hair with red streaks is entirely red, and her irises are yellow with intricate patterns. Even her face is different.

But rather than giving the impression that this is someone else, it feels more like she’s finally dropping the mask I’ve known about for a while.

Chapter 665 - Difficult to work with

“Hello,” she says.

“Hello.”

Then there is silence. Neither of us seems to want to break it. She probably wants me to ask first or react to her appearance, but I also know that’s what she wants, and I don't want to give her the satisfaction of doing so. So I stay quiet as our allocated time here ticks down.

In the end, it's she who breaks the silence, all the while trying to act nonchalant about it.

“I have a Beyond quest for you. It’s an eradication-type quest. You and a few other attendees will be dropped at a specific location to search and destroy. It is very dangerous, but the rewards are equally great and given according to performance, and split between the attendees.”

“A Champion could probably deal with a thing like that much quicker and easier.”

“Look at it as an opportunity to gain experience and either make connections with your fellow attendees while gathering more information. The duration is one week, and it will count toward the remaining time of your current 45 days in Beyond.”

“I see. How the fuck do you have so much time to mess around? Aren't you supposed to be busy or something?” I ask, unable to resist any longer.

“After my warning from the last time, you don’t have enough information allocation for me to answer that question.”

"I don't think so. Lately, it feels like you guys just bullshit your way through and make up the rules on the spot just to fuck around even more."

“While there are loopholes and ways to twist the rules around the access given to us, there are things even we don't mess with. Either because we can't, or because they tend to be soft rules we’ve set among ourselves, and simply breaking them means the others will break them as well. We risk everything falling down like a house of cards once too many of them go ignored.”

“Great. I need to let Weslin know that I’ll be gone if I accept this quest. I’m already late as it is.”

“You don’t have to worry about it. I’ll be sending someone to inform your guild. The rest will be up to you to deal with.”

“Damn it. Is it at least a good quest?”

“It is.”

“Tell me what it’s about.”

“I’m glad you’ve decided to accept it. The eradication quest is a mission to destroy one of the smaller bases of the Last Elf. Your goal will be to eradicate any of his replicas that happen to be present, down to the last one. Anything else is free game. You can explore the base. You can loot it. We don’t have enough time here for me to explain, but one of the A-ranks, a thylarin called Io, will be there to lead the Beyond quest. He will share more information with you and the others.”

As much as I want to be angry, the quest does sound interesting, so I can't bring myself to feel too mad about it. And this redhead in front of me, of course, sees that, much to her satisfaction.

“But allow me to leave you with a warning. The people going with you are all powerful, Champion candidates at minimum. Io came close to advancing to S-rank multiple times. The only things that held him back were a few very specific shortcomings.”

And of course, she times it so that as she speaks these words, the door appears nearby. The same hole in space, leading to somewhere unknown, likely lightyears away, yet seemingly so easily bridged.

And despite the beyond-insane levels of energy it must require, I can’t feel even a speck of mana radiating from it. Even now, after seeing it a few times, it sends shivers down my spine.

“Why did you drop the mask so soon?” I ask, stopping a bit from the door.

My handler smiles.

“I’ve mentioned it before. Once one of us breaks the rules, the others follow. There are currently seven Rulers who, either out of boredom or some hidden goal, have become Handlers. One of them broke our informal rule and revealed themselves to the attendee they were handling.”

“I see.”

She seems to be checking something before she gestures for me to sit on the chair opposite her.

When I glance at the portal, she says, “It’s okay, we’re still waiting for the last member. She’s a bit... difficult to work with. Until then, we can talk.”

As I sit down, I ask, “You said my information allocation is nonexistent.”

“A normal conversation is fine.”

I just shrug and take the opportunity, “I’ve heard it’s difficult to be in the presence of a Ruler. Something about them needing to stay on powerful planets, using vessels as proxies and stuff.”

“You should have known that there are ways to work around those things and there are exceptions to every rule.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It is not,” she confirms.

“So either you’re using something to limit your presence, or this place is special—oh, are we even in Beyond?—or it’s not even you. Possibly a projection, like my Minion mentioned, or maybe you’ve been speaking to me through a Vessel from the start.”

“If you try to get an answer by watching for my reaction to gather information, I will render you unconscious until the others arrive and then throw you through the portal.”

“How was your day?”

Leaning back in her chair, she looks at me very intently.

“I don’t think small talk counts toward the information limit.” I defend myself.

“That might be true, but you don’t seem like the type to enjoy it. And you don’t seem particularly fond of me either, as unfortunate as that is. We seemed to get along pretty well on the second floor.”

“And I’ll say it again. The Ruby I knew is dead, you aren’t her. I don’t know how much time has passed since then, but no matter how hard you try, you’ve grown into someone else entirely.”

“Other people would jump at the chance to form a good relationship with me, you know. For the possible information or favors I could give them.”

“Isn’t that what I’m trying to do?” I answer.

She stares at me for a moment, as if trying to figure out whether I’m serious or not, and I return the gaze.

In the end, she looks to the side and falls into deep thought. “I haven’t been asked that kind of question in a long time. So, how was my day? I wonder what I would have answered back then? It sucked? It could’ve been better?”

A smile grows on her face. “Or maybe: It would’ve been better if I had been able to embezzle more gold from Master Lissandra? That sounds like something I used to say a lot. It was a nice feeling, being richer than most of the Champions.”

“I’d like to think she was easy to fool because the original Lissandra was clueless when it came to money. But more realistically, it seems like she just didn’t care.”

“She didn’t care about the money at all. She even went entirely hands-off hundreds of years before the fall of Eladore, leaving the planet to her grandson Keiron and Champion Tristan. It was up to them to deal with the Mind Mage Emperor.”

“And they failed.”

“They did,” she nods. “Even though her grandson was resourceful, and even though Champion Tristan was one of those people she felt was capable of becoming an Absolute. She gave everyone on the planet freedom to act, to live their lives without her constant watch. All, so they could finally grow up and step out from under her shadow. And you saw what happened. But I think it’s time for you to leave.”

I stand up and give her one last look before turning toward the portal. She doesn't say anything, and neither do I. There's nothing left to add, no parting wisdom or final comment that would make a difference.

The portal hums quietly ahead, steady and waiting. I take a breath, and I pass through as it closes behind me.

POV Nathaniel’s Handler

The redheaded woman watches the portal close behind the young man, and for a moment, she looks at the place where it once stood.

Then she looks into the space in front of her, and even though she’s still alone, she starts talking.

“Yes, it’s me. Send someone to the Black Tower branch of the Primordial Knights. Tell them their new recruit, Nathaniel Gwyn, has been sent on a Beyond quest for a week.”

She goes silent, listening to something.

“No, simply say it’s information from his handler.”

The conversation cuts off, and she is left in silence again. Her face looks deep in thought as she weighs the pros and cons of a difficult decision.

Making her decision, her body changes. Her hair turns black with streaks of red, her eyes turn brown, and even her face shifts.

Then she speaks again, this time in a different voice than before. “Irun.”

It takes only a moment for her to get a response, and she says, “There’s no need to be such an ass. I won that last game fairly.”

Getting another answer, she nods, barely hiding a smug smile, even though no one sees it. “Anyway, I want to congratulate your Luan on becoming an S-rank. Everyone says it was about time.”

After a short pause, she shakes her head. “While I agree that you, as his handler, had something to do with it, saying it's fifty percent your merit might be pushing it.”

A longer silence.

Then she speaks again. “Yes, there is something I want. Not from you, but from Luan.”

She listens and nods. “Obviously, I'm not shameless enough to ask for it for free. I'll make it worth your while. I think you wanted a better temporary residence permit for your attendees on the fourth floor? I could get you one in the inner city.”

While listening to the answer, she plays with her hair absentmindedly, coiling it around her finger.

The never-ending space around her is filled with a quiet hum, and myriads of stars cast an unearthly light on her face.

And she nods. “We have a deal, then. I want him to return to the first floor in a week or two. I’ll specify the time and location he should appear at later. He doesn’t have to do much. I might even prefer if he stays hands-off. But I want him to bring that feylith mind mage with him.”

There is one more reply she listens to, and then the conversation ends.

With that dealt with, she looks toward the sky. She knows Wrath is watching because of that petite girl, and she knows Diligence dislikes this sort of interference. But with Kindness supporting her and Envy missing from the roster of five Rulers managing this Beyond cycle, any votes would end in a tie—until someone calls in one of the other Rulers to participate. But no one’s going to bother over such minor interference.

POV Nathaniel

After passing through, I see six other people appear with me, their portals closing at the same time as mine. With the portals gone, the place we’ve found ourselves in fades into darkness until ember-like sparks form around a thylarin with six arms and float into the air, generating light and almost perfectly illuminating the room.

A simple, not even particularly large room, but it is a very long one, with walls made of rough light gray stone, a single metal door waits nearby, and a long window looks out of the room, covered in dust. There are vibrations running through the entire place, almost as if the space is moving. Maybe we’re in an airship, or on a floating island, or a submarine?

I watch as a man with a tall, slim figure, almost gray skin, and long limbs reaches for the window and starts wiping the dust from it.

Others in the room are also examining the space, but they do so carefully, always pulling back their scans if they think they might be detected.

“Fuck me,” the gray, lanky man groans, and all eyes turn to him, except for the thylarin’s.

The freshly cleaned section of the window reveals a view, opening out to the blackness of space and glowing stars. Then we see a planet in the distance, red, enormous, and covered in shifting clouds. The planet stays in place while we continue moving, and the view pans over its surface.

The thylarin, who I assume is Io, coughs to draw attention to himself. His arms are folded, and unlike many thylarin I’ve met, he seems to be a bit on the shorter side, with slender limbs, all coming together to give him a nimble appearance.

“Welcome to what remains of one of the smaller examples of the Last Elf’s asteroid bases. We believe it's been moving through space on its own, using the gravitational pull of the planets around it and occasional bursts from its main engine to travel, heading in an unknown direction.”

He turns, letting all six arms fall loosely behind him.

“As with every sighting of a Last Elf replica, this mission has one objective: eradicate every single replica in the area.”

Io is about to say something else, but a human woman starts moving off to the side, and his words cut off. He watches as she almost playfully walks toward the window, her steps long and smooth.

She moves with silent, effortless grace, not making a single sound. Messy brown hair falls into her face as she reaches the window and, with the tip of a finger, draws a shape in the dust covering it.

(´• ω •`)ﾉ

Chapter 666 - Anyone home?

Io stares at the drawing in the dusty window, then at the brown-haired girl, who meets his gaze for a brief moment before lowering her head, letting her hair fall into her face. Her presence weakens further, to the point where I’m sure most low level attendees probably wouldn’t see her, even if they were staring directly at the spot where she stands.

It isn't camouflage or anything like that. It's just that strange field she has around herself, the one that almost makes your senses stop sending signals about her to your brain. Though I'm sure there's no mind manipulation involved. It's just far too strange.

Tacita moves with the same swift, elegant, and almost dance-like motion and hides behind my back, an arm’s reach away without touching me at all.

The whole time, the six-armed thylarin continues to track her without saying a word. After a few moments, he finally coughs and breaks the silence.

“As I said before, being so rudely interrupted, we are on one of the Last Elf’s smaller bases and…”

“What’s going on with these replicas of the Last Elf?” I ask.

This time, he turns to me, but unlike Tacita, I don’t mind it at all.

“Look, we have heard how important you are and everything, but you’re being a bit too dramatic and taking too much time to answer simple questions,” I say.

In reaction, a demon woman nearby sneers, and noticing her attempt at confrontation, I finally allow our eyes to meet. And it’s exactly as expected. The maniac looks like she wants to fight. Her red eyes shine as she moves her hair away from her face, her gaze moving between where my hearts are and my eyes.

"I’m with the human on this," she says. "You six-armed thylarin always act like you're so important."

“I do not want to hear complaints about anyone’s personality from a demon,” Io cuts her off.

That only amuses the demon woman more. "If that bothers you, you know what to do. If you've got the balls for it."

“We are here on a cooperative Beyond quest. There won’t be any fighting. Not now…”

“I wouldn’t mind it.” I rejoin the conversation.

Once again, he turns to me, and the demon turns as well, her heart already accelerating its beat. Familiarity with Min-Jae’s abilities tells me that it is likely a Gravitational Demon Heart.

"What?" I ask Io. "You know how these maniacs are. Beating the crap out of them right away will only make things easier in the long run."

“We will properly assess the situation. If it’s confirmed we don’t need all of us to cooperate to complete the quest, you can jump at each other’s throats right away,” he answers firmly.

The way my Handler talked about him made him seem powerful. After all, she mentioned he almost became an S-rank a few times and that only a specific weakness prevented it. So I would normally expect him to be able to do this quest on his own. But I guess that weakness stops him?

“Whatever, bluey. As if I’d let you order me around. Let’s fight and…” The demon takes a few steps forward and then, to her surprise, disappears, only to reappear a few steps back.

Just like me, she quickly figures out what happened and moves faster this time, but the result is the same. Just as she’s about to reach Io, she vanishes and reappears in front of one of the walls. Her momentum carries her straight into it, and she crashes, then bounces off.

Before she can do anything else, she disappears again and reappears near Io, who grabs her by the neck with one of his arms and throws her against the opposite wall.

While still in the air, she disappears and reappears again, this time above the ground, and crashes down hard from her own momentum.

More than simply hurting her, it confuses her senses. There are no wounds, and she gets back on her feet, a broad smile on her face. Her heartbeat intensifies. She takes a step, only to disappear again and reappear in front of Io.

She expects it and attacks him, but she disappears three times in a row before she can hit him, each time facing a different direction. On the last one, Io punches her in the face, sending her stumbling back with a torn, bleeding lip.

The thylarin is extremely fast, and whatever kind of forced teleportation he’s using, I’m having a hard time identifying it or figuring out how to defend against it.

Just as the fight seems like it’s about to get more exciting and I start placing mental bets on who would win, the door into the room creaks open.

Only then do I realize Tacita is missing. Turning toward the door, I see a smoothly cut lock, a flash of her dagger, and her figure as she disappears into the base. At that same moment, an alarm rings through the area.

It isn’t even that loud, just a deep vibration sent through the structure in a way that almost feels like I’m sensing it through my bones. A multitude of fields begin activating in the area around us as well.

I feel a presence heading our way, and Io disappears, this time teleporting himself. I spot his figure in outer space, just beyond the window, right behind Tacita’s emoticon. He grabs onto something and moves along with it.

Did... did he just run away?

Staring in his direction, I start wondering if I would be able to survive it, and what kind of defenses he uses to spacewalk. I also wish I had more knowledge about outer space. How was it? Super cold? Or super hot when exposed to direct sunlight? Some kind of radiation damage? Exhaling to protect the lungs?

Worst case, I’ll just use Subdermal Combustion and outheal the damage. Although… would my flames even work without air? Eh, it is probably fine.

The five of us remaining in the room seem confident enough to face our opponent. It’s a bit worrying that our possibly most informed member disappeared instead of confronting it, but I guess that explains why everyone else looks like they’re preparing an escape route.

Of course, everyone except the demon woman, who already seems completely ready to fight.

As always, I find that demonic, reckless drive to die strangely endearing. Maybe even a little cute, even now.

The lanky, gray-skinned man whispers quickly, "The Elf’s replicas are dangerous, despite their low level. The stronger they are, the more of his memories they unlock. But even the weaker ones have plenty of those, along with a ton of extra knowledge."

Everyone slips into their battle pose, and I can sense a few of them preparing for a quick retreat if needed.

A human man with brown hair even moves a few of the cube shaped items floating around him. They stick against the wall and start to hum. He’s also carrying multiple bags and several weapons, and he pulls out a hammer in one hand and a strange orb in the other.

“The replicas are known for experimenting on themselves, causing mutations, and using items and monsters under their control. If you see a replica, it’s either because you are far more powerful and managed to catch it off guard, or because it believes it can win.”

The gray, lanky man doesn’t finish his words. Instead, he touches his shadow on the wall and disappears into it. Said shadow moves quickly across the surface of the wall until it settles into one of the normal shadows nearby and becomes nearly unnoticeable, unless you happen to know what to look for.

The demon takes a step forward and stands beside me, her eyes glowing with excitement, just as a being appears in the hallway Tacita vanished into.

Right away, it's clear that this isn't one of the Last Elf’s replicas. Instead, it's a wolf-like creature with four legs, a massive maw, and a head level with mine. Its entire body is gray, including what should be the pupils and whites of its eyes, right down to the inside of its mouth and teeth. It almost looks like it's been carved from stone, with cracks, large and small, running across its surface.

And the golden halo floating over the creature’s head makes for a striking contrast to the grayness of its body.

[Gilded Huskwolf - lvl ???]

So, at minimum, it’s somewhere over level 350, even though it feels much stronger than most monsters around that range. It must be one of those “named” types, like bosses and elite monsters, as some would call them.

As it looks at us, it barks. The sound is deep and grinding, making the window showing the void of outer space vibrate.

My [Eclipse] spreads through the area, and my eyes activate as I detect the signal it is trying to send and resonate with it to suppress and cancel it out. The human man uses some of his floating cubes as well, and a kind of jamming field surrounds the wolf.

The demon charges in, her steps covering far more distance than they logically should. She reaches it first, but when her fist crashes against the wolf, her bones crack and break, meanwhile, the wolf doesn’t even move a single step.

Its head becomes a blur, and the next time I see it, it’s holding a piece of flesh in its maw, blood dripping down onto its gray body and the floor.

Taking a step back, the demoness grabs her side where a chunk of her waist, roughly the size of a football, is missing.

The wolf becomes a blur again, and this time, it appears in front of the human man. It bites at the item, creating the jamming effect while trying to emit its signal again.

Another cube floating near the man moves in to meet the wolf. When they collide, the wolf halts as a web of mana threads explodes from the item and binds it to the floor.

The threads snap, and the wolf is about to move again when Tacita appears behind it. With a dagger made of pale white bone and a jagged surface, she cuts into its neck smoothly and separates the head from the body. The dagger cracks and turns to dust.

Even as it falls, the wolf doesn’t die immediately. Now I see flesh and lightning-like veins running through its body, but they are all the same shade of gray as the rest. The body moves on its own and swings at Tacita, but she’s faster and avoids it.

The wolf's mouth still snaps open and shut as its head slides across the floor toward me, while its body lunges at the human man using the items.

I watch it creep toward me in a disturbing slide, its mouth wide open and snapping with force strong enough to damage its own teeth, without even a hint of emotion in its eyes.

There is a presence reaching out to both the body and the head with that same familiar, unnerving feeling I felt a few moments before. The same way it did with the demon, it ignores the wolf's natural and active defense against teleportation.

Just before the wolf is teleported away, I launch a tricolored orb I’ve been forming straight into its open mouth.

Both parts vanish and reappear several miles away in open space, floating weightlessly and twitching as they try to move back.

Then my orb, filled with a sizable chunk of my mana, explodes.

A silent bloom of blinding tricolored light expands outward, leaving arcs of raw energy spiraling through the dark. The wolf’s head and body twist mid-float as translucent shockwaves ripple through the vacuum, tearing them apart.

There is no sound, no fire, no vibration reaching us here. Only the brilliant flash of light, slowly fading. It pulses once, then fades completely.

Even the epicenter of the explosion drifts miles away, as the base we are on continues moving. Now that I observe it more closely, it feels like we are in orbit around the planet below us.

[You have defeated Gilded Huskwolf - lvl 375]

[Lvl 323 > Lvl 324]

[Lvl 324 > Lvl 325]

Io appears in the room again.

“I went ahead and disabled the alarm and checked for the guards. I’m not naive enough to think we haven’t been detected, but this should limit how much information they can gather on us and partially obscure our location,” he says, shooting an ugly look toward Tacita, who’s dropped into a squat near the dust left over from her bone dagger and begun working on something with some kind of strange black crystal.

The dust clings to the crystal like metal shavings drawn to a magnet. I watch as, slowly, a dagger’s shape begins to form out of the dust, very slowly solidifying. The process is almost mesmerizing. Bit by bit, the bone dust binds to the crystal, reshaping itself into the curved and jagged silhouette of the dagger Tacita had used only moments ago.

I push the thought aside and quietly apologize to Io in my mind. Then I focus on the golden halo I managed to grab with one of my Ley Lines before Io teleported the wolf away.

Synaptic Relay Halo (Low Arcane) - Synaptic Relay Halo is designed to be affixed above a deceased monster or deceased and altered being. It creates a mental link between the host and a controller. It enables direct command input, shared vision when active, and a faint feedback loop. The device allows the controller to issue passive and complex behavioral routines to the bearer. When activated, it can also trigger dormant protocols within deceased altered beings and monsters.

I see. I see.

I stare at it a moment longer before raising it and placing it above me. It floats into place on its own, adjusting slightly until it hovers steadily just above my head, in a similar way my crown used to.

(Anyone home?) I reach out with a thought.

Chapter 667 - Altercation

I wait for a few heartbeats, but no message comes, and the halo doesn't activate in the end. It just floats there.

I run a few more checks and assign part of my mind to keep monitoring it, while also setting up some defenses. Only then do I leave it alone and let it float above my head. It draws a few looks, but no one says anything.

Following behind Io, we move through the hallway. I still have so many questions about the gilded wolf thing that just ended up outside the space base in that pretty explosion of mine. Thankfully, Io seems to be in a better mood now that he is taking the lead, and we’re following him. He starts talking and begins to share some information.

“There aren’t many replicas here, and they’re not much stronger than us. If I had to guess, they’ll probably rely on traps and the functions of the asteroid base itself to take us out, so stay ready for anything. We’ll need to push through the defenses to reach the more secure areas, and they’ll be expecting that.”

“Can’t we just blow up the base?” I ask.

“This Beyond quest lasts one week, and we won’t have a way to return before then. The Last Elf is very familiar with the system and knows it well. There’s no guarantee, but he might know or at least suspect that we’re here on a Beyond quest. After all, quests like this aren’t exactly rare. At some point, he may try to use that against us, as you can probably imagine.”

“I have a question.”

“Yes?”

“Why are we killing the Last Elf?”

Io turns to the hallway on the left, and even though I sense it’s a dead end, I follow behind him.

“Who is your Handler? This is something you should have known before accepting the quest,” he says.

“She is a nasty, greedy person. You wouldn’t like her. I’m regularly getting scammed by her.”

“You know you can change your Handler, right?”

I pause there. Is he actually a good guy? There was almost a hint of concern in his voice. Is this a trick to make me put my guard down?

“Yes,” I answer.

“Then why?”

“I’m normal.”

“I didn’t say anything about…”

I ignore him and turn to Tacita, who’s following behind us. “Tacita, do you at least know why I haven’t done that?”

She quickly draws with the glowing tip of her finger:

(￣～￣;)

“Thanks. And for tripping the alarm too.”

(￣ヘ￣)

“Sure.”

We reach the dead end, and Io seems surprised by it. With all the active interference around here, I can’t blame him too much. Even I had to use most of my senses to know that we were heading into one.

I wonder if this is one of his weaknesses. Maybe the one that kept him from becoming S-rank? Or maybe it’s a lack of damage output on his part? Does that mean my senses are A-rank level, or is he just really bad at this? Or is it just one of those oddly specific situations where I’m better?

We turn around again and head down yet another hallway. This base is probably built throughout the entirety of an asteroid that stretches on for miles. I stop my train of thought.

Would this be large enough to kill all the dinosaurs on Earth?

Did that bastard known as the Last Elf do it? I've wanted to see a dino since I was a kid.

I guess probably not. That was about sixty million years ago, and he shouldn’t be that old, but it makes for a funny idea.

After we march for five more minutes, Io says, “The Last Elf is one of the few beings alive who was around before the system.”

“There aren’t many of those beings?” I ask.

“Plenty who were hunted down by the early Absolutes and Rulers. Some of them even ended their lives and destroyed their own bodies so they couldn’t be taken for study or harvested for materials by the early generations.”

“How did the system come into existence?”

The slim thylarin snorts. “Let me know if you find out. I don’t think even the current Rulers know for sure. Though maybe an older Ruler, such as the Ruler of Charity, knows.”

“Oh? Is the Ruler of Charity the oldest?”

“From what I have heard, he is very old. You’re asking an awful lot of questions.”

“I get told that a lot. So what happened to the other elves?”

“No one knows.”

“You mean, you don't know. There could be others who do know. Who’s older, the Elf or Charity?”

Io pauses for a moment and signals the others to stop. He looks as if he’s listening to something coming from the hallway ahead. I’ve already checked and know it’s another dead end, but like before, I don’t say anything.

While examining it, he says, “Logically, you’d have to answer that the Last Elf is older. But it’s also possible the Ruler of Charity existed long before the system and only took on the title of Ruler later.”

I feel almost proud as Io identifies it as yet another dead end, and doesn't head there this time. We follow him in a new direction, some of the others also chatting quietly behind us.

“So, no idea if someone created the system, or if it just appeared out of nowhere? Or if we’re all in a simulation run by something that’s forgotten we’re in here, or somehow wound up dead, while someone else watches us like a reality show? It could be a rogue robot vacuum AI or something. Maybe it’s not even technology, maybe it’s some ancient god that digitized itself and forgot it was a god, and decided to start handing out quests and stats because it thinks that’s what life is supposed to be. Or some overgrown code experiment gone feral, or a psychic parasite that latched onto reality and started handing out quests to keep us busy while it feeds, or it’s literally just a runaway script in some abandoned server farm in the year 30291 that’s been auto-generating the system ever since the lead dev died in a scooter accident.”

“I don’t even know what most of that means. But no, we don't know. There are dozens of opinions, and none of them are confirmed.”

"That sucks. You’re not as bad as you seemed at first."

"Thanks for nothing. You already know my name, apparently. I’m Io, from the Astral Brotherhood. And you are?"

“Nathaniel. Angry Kitt… I mean, Primordial Knights.”

“No way!” another voice calls out, and from behind, a figure crashes into me.

The demon woman throws her arm around my shoulder and shakes me. “I almost joined them too, but they seem to be going down the drain with their guild master doing nothing and just uselessly staying on the fifth floor all the time. Why did you join?”

“I like underdogs.”

She shakes me more energetically and leans in so close I could probably headbutt her if I wanted to.

“You're fun, and I like your hearts. You said you are Nathaniel, right? I'm Malika. Abyss Bound, Fourth Squad.”

"Sounds like a crappy guild. Even worse than the Primordial Knights, and ranked lower, too."

Her smile widens into something sharper, and her arm tightens around my shoulder. “Isn’t it better to join a new, growing guild, one that’s actually strong, where you can make your own mark, instead of siding with some washed-up group clinging to old connections and still managing to slip in the rankings, even with all their supposed advantages?”

“Sounds like something a loser rejected from the Primordial Knights would say. Now take your arm off me.”

“But I don't want to〜”

Before she can even finish, I split my mind into two more parts. One of them boosts my movement with mana, the other with kinetic energy, and I headbutt her.

As her head snaps back, both parts of my mind merge again, and I halt her movement mid-air. The blood spraying from her face freezes as well. The field that Lioren liked to use so much stops all motion around us. As she channels her gravitational energy, I feel pressure building around my head. I shift it to the side, and only my cheek and ear twist and tear as a compressed zone of steep gravity sucks at them while I move out of range.

Another gravitational zone forms around my head, following me like a trap about to snap shut. Malika’s red eyes stay locked on me, sharp and unblinking, even as she hangs motionless in the air.

It is not so different from what Min-Jae does with his primordial energy and Gravitational Wavelength Iris. She continues to manipulate gravity all around me. It strengthens, it weakens, it pulls me toward the ceiling or the walls until directions themselves become hard to estimate.

It all happens in a single second. She starts reaching into my head, trying to compress my brain. Her power slips through my natural defenses with a precision I’ve never seen before, and the sheer control behind it stuns me for a moment. Maybe my lacking physical stats are part of the problem, but even so, I never thought something like this was possible against someone at a similar level.

I throw up a barrier around my brain and conjure something like mana pillars to resist the compression, which now looks like a bubble trying to collapse inward.

A quick Wraith Dance puts me right in front of her. I tap her forehead with the tip of my finger, sending a pulse of kinetic energy through her, just enough to rattle her properly.

Then I wait and look at her.

She almost passes out from that, but regains composure. Her eyes still hold that same look, and the pressure on my brain intensifies further.

So I tap her forehead again, this time with a weaker pulse, a gentle nudge, barely even an attack. Just a message that the next one will be the last.

I return her gaze even as the pressure increases and my defenses begin to crack. All the careful balancing, my mind working in overdrive to protect me, and the absurdity of the whole situation make me smile unconsciously.

“Three,” I say, and her pupils widen.

“Two,” I continue, and they start to tremble.

“On…”

Before I even finish, the pressure around my brain vanishes.

I tilt my head and keep holding her in place. I stare into her eyes without moving at all, almost as if I were frozen by [Redistribution] myself.

Then she looks away.

Only then do I let her go.

"Got it, got it," she says with a smile as she takes a step back. She wipes the blood from her face, and the wound on her waist doesn’t seem to bother her that much at all. It’s still bleeding, but I saw her using some kind of item on it, and the rest is regenerating.

Just in case, I watch her for a bit longer, but I see no ill will. Competitiveness? Aggression? Sure, both are there and strong, and I’m sure she will try again if she thinks she has the advantage. But at the same time, I don’t think she would try to stab me in the back or something like that.

What a weirdo.

I fix the golden halo over my head that shifted during our... altercation, and send another message, getting no response, even now.

When I turn around, I catch a tall, slender gray man saying something to Tacita. She ignores him, just like she does with everyone else, and takes a step back. He looks confused, repeats himself, then steps closer and reaches out to touch her.

Oh, this won’t end well.

In the next second, his arm flies through the air, freshly cut, and he staggers back with a dagger lodged in his neck. As he looks on in shock at such a display of speed and lack of hesitation from Tacita, she takes a swift step closer and pulls the dagger out of his neck to take it back, then steps back to avoid the resulting spray of blood.

The gray man disappears into his shadow, which moves across the wall and slips into the larger shadow cast by one of our lighting orbs. When he reappears, his arm is reattached, and his neck is healed. The blood on his body remains, and I notice the mana radiating from him is noticeably weaker.

And as expected, Tacita moves. In a few steps that feel both animalistic and instinctual, yet strangely elegant and dance-like, she slips behind my back.

I have no illusion that it’s something she’s doing because she trusts me, and that she wouldn’t be stabbing me in the neck if I were the one to cross her line. I think she just acknowledges the fact that she might need to cooperate with us and stays close, for whatever reason. Maybe she saw something when she left on her own, if I had to guess.

So, at least here, I’m someone she knows a little, and she knows what to expect from me. As annoying as it is, I also don’t mind it all that much. I know she takes notice of my "cooperation" and will pay me back if needed.

But in the end, it is confirmed once more. The thing I say so often.

Among all of us present, my behavior falls closest to what might be considered standard.

Chapter 668 - Contact

Now that I think about it, I’ve visited plenty of secret bases, underground bunkers, floating cathedrals, fallen floating islands, and more. I even went to a base not all that dissimilar to this one back on the 4th floor during the hunt for The First One. Even though this one doesn’t come with a view of an Earth-like planet, the occasional sights I catch through the windows every now and then is nice in its own way.

The planet we’ve been passing by or orbiting appears to be completely red, giving off a dry, desolate vibe. But as I strengthen my sight, I start thinking I might have been wrong. Rather than being a desert planet covered in reddish clouds, it’s more like the planet itself is on fire. The clouds seem to glow with the light of fires below, stretching across almost the entire surface. The few areas they don’t cover appear to be drowning in molten lava.

Maybe it isn’t even a planet. Perhaps it’s a dying star? A gas giant or something else? Maybe I should have paid more attention in school. Then again, Mrs. Smith spent more time telling us to “be realistic” than teaching us anything about orbital mechanics. She always rolled her eyes when anyone said they wanted to be an astronaut.

I wonder what she’d say now, if she could see what I’m seeing. She’d probably complain about the lack of seatbelts or something.

Also, the halls of the evil base have been changing as we head deeper into it. We still move slowly, and no one runs, flies, or teleports. Along the way, we do our best to avoid traps and detection mechanisms. But the deeper we go, the more it feels like we’re walking through something constructed, not just natural tunnels carved into the gray stone around us by water.

There is some broken machinery. Piles of materials like wood and heaps of something like iron. There are even entire trees, and huge tanks filled with oddly colored liquids. Along with monster bodies, in various stages of dissection.

I try to sell some, but I don’t seem to have been acknowledged as their owner. Oh, and also, the system shop doesn’t seem to be working here, so that might be why.

At this point, it seems mostly confirmed that the shop doesn’t work outside of the tutorial, or at least not the variation I have access to. If that’s the case, just having it is a huge advantage for the First Generations.

I also take the time to observe the teammates I’m stuck with for the week.

Io continues to lead, and the others don’t seem to mind it much for now.

Then there’s the demoness, almost fully recovered from her wound and moving around confidently. And I think I caught her staring at my ass a few minutes ago.

The human man with brown hair mostly moves in the background and stays quiet, surrounded by his assortment of items. There are plenty of weapons hanging from his body, some bags, and a few items that he keeps constantly floating around, the cubes mostly.

Then there’s that lanky gray man, whose race I still don’t know. But like Rat, whom I met before, he seems to like using shadows, mostly to hide in or for movement. There’s likely much more that he can do, but like most of the others, he holds himself back. He also avoids Tacita as much as possible for some reason.

Lastly, there is that vyssari woman. She barely talks, and like all vyssari I’ve met so far, she is very short, with scaly legs, in her case, metallic gray. And like with most of her kind, she also has a favored element, in her case, it’s lightning, at least as far as she’s shown. It doesn’t have that feeling of Primordial Lightning I get from Tess, so I guess it’s a more normal manifestation. But I still don’t drop my guard. No one here can be called an average Beyonder.

And for more fun, there is something my beloved handler told me. The fact that the rewards are predetermined and distributed among the surviving members.

So. Does that mean the fewer people who survive in the end, the better the reward?

The last day or two of the quest will surely be interesting.

I continue to observe that human man. Sure, he notices and even looks at me. Maybe I’m expected to feel some shame, look away, and stop doing it. But I don’t. His items and the way he fights are both of great interest to me.

He doesn’t seem very physically strong. I can feel that much from the vibrations his body sends out as he moves and the way the air reacts to those movements. But then there are his items, and he has dozens of them. That much I’ve confirmed with my eyes. Some feel like single-use affairs. Others are at least arcane, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he even has a mid-arcane item or two. He just seems like the type.

Even as we make our way through the evil elf’s lair, the human man continues to modify some of the items in his possession. I’m sure part of it is adjustments for the environment we’re in and for the gilded monsters we’re expecting to appear. However, I’m also sure he’s modifying some of them to better face us, and I can’t even blame him.

I’m already doing something similar. I’ve sacrificed a small part of my mind to it, which even now continues to run mental exercises with twisted shapes, and I’m using it to observe the others and think of ways to better counter them.

The halo floating above my head has remained completely silent, neither receiving nor sending any signals. Of course, I think it was a pretty funny idea to just put it over my head in a moment of impulsiveness, but I didn’t do it without thought.

Another part of me constantly monitors it, ready to destroy it at any moment. If it were mid arcane, I wouldn’t have put it there. But I’m confident I could deal with a low arcane item, especially since its function doesn’t seem all that threatening to me.

Beneath the golden coating of the halo, I found a patch of inscriptions. Though I’m pretty sure they were only designed to work with the wolf we killed. Then again, maybe "only" isn’t the right word.

The halo was modified to fit the wolf’s body and what remained of its brain and nervous system, to allow whatever the crown does to function. So now I’m trying to modify that part, in hopes of replacing it or tricking it into activating.

There’s a being nearby who’s probably even older than that tower hikikomori, Kyralon, so there’s no way I’m passing up the chance to get some answers out of him.

“Please stop staring at me. It is creepy,” the human man says, coming to a stop in front of me. His items float around him like drones, but they’re acting differently than before. It doesn’t feel straight-up threatening, but it is more... firm.

I defend myself right away, “Just in case, I’m not staring at you because I’m attracted to you or anything.”

“I’d guessed.”

“I mean, I’m just making sure. Some people might misunderstand.”

“Right. As I said, I had guessed that wasn’t the case.”

"I don't know about you, but I’ve known girls who would start shipping people even based on such simple interaction. It's scary out there."

“Yes. No worries there. I haven’t taken it that way, as I have already said.”

“I mean, it wouldn´t even make sense. I’ve seen men many times more handsome than you and didn’t feel a thing.”

“I see.”

“I mean, many, many, dozens of times better looking. It can’t even be compared. Not even close. You look like a sad frog in comparison.”

“Got it.”

“Just making sure.”

“Yes. So please stop staring at me.”

“Nope. And I’m not staring at you, I’m staring at your items.”

“It’s rude.”

"Probably. But I’m from the First Generation, only a few years into the tutorial. I don’t know anything about the intricacies of social interaction, so I think that much can be forgiven."

“I’m also from the First Generation.”

“I see,” I say. “Maybe that’s why you’ve been rude enough to keep staring at my halo.”

That makes him pause for a bit while continuing to look at me with that same intense expression.

“It’s a Synaptic Relay Halo, isn’t it?” he asks.

“Yup,” I confirm.

“Low arcane?”

“Yup.”

I can see the question he’s trying to ask and the curiosity in his eyes as they keep flicking toward the halo floating above my head.

“I’ve only read or heard about them from a few people. They’re extremely difficult to make, even though their rarity might not be all that high. The materials they require aren’t that rare, but they demand a lot of work.”

“Are they a signature item of the Last Elf?”

“His replicas use them pretty often. More powerful replicas, once they reach the rank of Absolutes and Champions, rarely bother with them. But for the lower-level replicas of the Last Elf, with all his knowledge, I imagine halos are quick and easy to make.”

"That's good information, but I'm not giving it to you."

"I didn't even want to ask that," he looks around, and an amulet around his neck flashes. A bubble forms around us for just a short moment as he says, "In case everyone turns against each other, let's group up. I don't care about hoarding all the rewards for myself."

With that offer of alliance, he turns around and leaves to work on the door we are trying to unlock without triggering alarms.

I decide to examine the door later and reach towards the halo over my head with my mind. I find the part that connected it to the wolf and temporarily bridge it, which causes it to activate and slowly spin around my head.

In the window nearby, I see a faint reflection of my face, my eyes with my Mana Wavelength Iris activated, forming a golden circle like the one over my head.

Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to make my crown in the shape of a halo when I finally learn how to make it. Something about that sentence probably doesn't make sense, but I don't let it bother me.

(I can sense you sneaking and trying to activate some annoying protocols and pull out location and visual data. I disabled them all.) I send.

(How curious.) The voice says, calm and clear. (And who, I wonder, do I have the pleasure of speaking with?)

(I would rather keep that to myself. Are you the Last Elf?)

The voice doesn't laugh, and I might be imagining things, but I could swear I hear amusement in it as it answers, (So, you’re an attendee on a Beyond quest. And haven’t even entered the final year of your tutorial, if your inexperience is any measure. Will you tell me why you’ve chosen to reach out while on one of those eradication quests the oh so great Rulers are ever so fond of assigning?)

(You don't seem to like the Rulers.)

(Do not misunderstand me, attendee. I find their ways naive, occasionally irritating, but they’re not without a certain charm. There is something about it I still find oddly endearing, especially when they strut around and puff up their chests and act so important. But they and I have played this game longer than most of the current ones have existed. They track down my replicas, eager to erase me, and from time to time, I return the gesture. So then, what is it you want from me?)

(Mostly some information. Honestly, I don't mind failing this quest if I get some good intel.)

There’s a short pause that obscures the replica’s reaction.

When the voice returns, it sounds even more amused. (In that case, why don’t you go and kill the other attendees who came here with you. After that, we may speak.)

With that, the conversation cuts off, and I send a wave of thermal energy at the halo, melting it down in response to a sneaky attempt to activate some of the protocols.

I take a long look at the small pool of molten golden metal at my feet. Then, just to be safe, I burn it further along with a chunk of the floor, making sure to get rid of everything.

Only then do I stand up, dust off my hands, and head towards the door that the item guy is trying to open.

Chapter 669 - Fellowship

There is no panel next to the door we could use to hack the controls or anything like that. That leads us to think the replicas of the last elf must have some kind of Bluetooth like item on them that sends out a signal to open the door.

Hell, maybe he opens it mentally, or maybe there's some poor dead monster with a golden halo opening the way for him.

Our little fellowship already went to check all the hallways, and we fought another wolf there, like the one Io sent into outer space.

Part of me admires how the thylarin just tosses them aside like garbage, trying to ignore them, maybe hoping they'll drift close enough to that hellish planet and fall to its surface.

At this point, I’m also convinced we’re orbiting that planet for a specific reason, and I keep asking myself a bunch of things. Would I survive being caught on its surface? Would I survive crashing down like the asteroid that wiped out Earth’s dinosaurs?

I’m an optimist at hearts, so I guess I could. What really makes me nervous is the heat I can sense from the planet. As someone who deals with absorbing heat, thermal energy, and uses thermal senses, I can feel the heat of the surface even at this distance when I focus on it.

It’s not something I like to acknowledge, but I think I’d be able to survive down there for a few minutes, maybe a few hours at most.

Something is deeply wrong with that planet.

Once again, I shake my head and refocus on trying to hack into the door.

The item guy already cut a small square hole into the wall near the door, which took him an hour just for that tiny piece. That’s how durable the wall is. Though he was working slowly to avoid triggering any traps or hidden mechanisms.

Sure, the last elf knows about us, but our exact location in this massive asteroid should be a mystery. Someone at our level could probably find us in a few seconds if there were no defenses in place.

That’s where we still have a bit of an advantage, since he doesn’t know our power levels. He probably assumes we’re strong enough to deal with him, of course, or we wouldn’t have been sent on this quest at all. So he’ll be careful.

Possibly.

He should be.

Who the hell knows.

“How does it look, Barion?” Io asks the item guy.

Barion doesn’t even look up. He keeps connecting wires from a device tied to his waist, linking them to different parts of the inscriptions now visible through the hole he cut.

He says, “I think we found an important storage area. Otherwise, it makes no sense for this door to be so secured. The wall is built from a layered mana-reactive composite. No standard alloys. You can see the lattice lines and the tight crystal memory structure, probably bonded to a separate root core from the one deeper inside the asteroid.”

Barion threads a thinner wire through one of the exposed inscription nodes. “There’s an interference signal running across all of the outer channels. A full suppression net and lots of communication lines. That means any remote intrusion gets phase-cancelled before it even reaches the central array. You could try to disrupt it with a powerful interference-type skill, and it probably wouldn’t do anything.”

His hand adjusts a small dial on his belt. “There’s no active mana circulation on the surface layer, but I can feel something underneath. Likely some kind of hidden weave, one of those systems with its own power source that feeds on ambient mana. If you trigger it wrong, it spikes and sets off all the traps. The good thing is that it probably can’t be activated remotely.”

Another wire connected. Another tap. Then a pause.

“It’s running a negative feedback circuit too. Closed-loop resonance siphon as well. Similar setup to the ones they once used for very old safe rooms. Everything here is extremely old-school, honestly. Ancient even.”

He finally looks up, just briefly, then back to work, slower now. “I’m bypassing one of the external locks through the script anchor. Should take a few more hours unless the system is scheduled to shift frequencies. There’s a setup for that too, and it could add a few hours depending.”

Next to me, Malika stops and shoves my shoulder. “Do you know what he’s blabbering about?”

“Yup.”

“Bullshit.”

I turn to her and straighten up. “He says the wall is made of weird smart metal. It remembers stuff and blocks magic.”

Malika stares at me, but slowly her mouth twists into a wide smile that shows her teeth.

Before she can say something stupid, I walk past her and plop down on the ground near Barion. I draw a few Ley Lines that reach inside, much like his wires do.

There’s a strong hint of panic from him as I do that, but I ignore it and form more lines while separating a bigger part of my mind to focus on the task. Then, just like him, I proceed to work on the lock.

Negative feedback circuit. Closed-loop resonance siphon.

What’s wrong with all these people?

Just like Barion said, it takes a few more hours. In the end, the two of us are forced to cooperate. The guy acts like he thinks the wall’s alive and just pretending to sleep. Everything he does it’s like he expects something to lunge out and take his hands off. Can’t blame him. The trap that... never mind, we don’t talk about that one. It wasn’t my fault at all.

It could’ve happened to anyone. Even the best of us.

So Barion continues like he’s trying to read the damn wall like a book written in landmines. The others obviously aren’t there the whole time. They go on a few shorter expeditions through the base, only to be stopped by the doors. Not even close to being as well defended as the ones we’re unlocking, but still nothing they could get through without causing a lot of damage.

Even Io can’t teleport through them. At most, he could probably reach outer space and try to find a way around from there, but something tells me he didn’t like it very much out there.

"Careful..." Barion whispers next to me for the damn who-knows-how-many-th time.

As before, I ignore him and quickly bridge the gap I made by using [Ley Line]. Since I’ve gotten used to doing it, I try to partially activate [Manifestation] while doing so, in hopes it’ll help me train my new skill and understand it better. I have a theory that anything I materialize could be influenced by that skill and hopefully made stronger.

That line starts glowing like a wire about to melt, so I strengthen it and create another weave around the first so they share the charge.

Somewhere next to me, Barion starts sweating profusely, but finally, it looks like there is some progress. It took almost 24 hours. One entire seventh of the duration of our quest, mostly just to maybe open these doors.

I find it amusing that the others don’t even seem to mind all that much. Either they’re as curious as me, or they know they’ll probably have to destroy the other door without me or Barion, so they decide to wait.

“Okay, now, and I really mean it this time, PLEASE, be careful,” Barion says, drawing out the please like it might physically stop me.

I glance at the mess of wires and inscriptions, then back at him. “You say that every five minutes.”

“This time I mean it, like, seriously mean it. Capital letters. Bold text. You break that link, and this whole place might try to throw us all into outer space, or explode, or just lock us in forever.”

I hover my hand near one of his thinner, fragile-looking wires and raise an eyebrow.

“Don’t,” he says instantly.

“I wasn’t going to.”

“From what I’ve seen from you so far, it looks like you were absolutely going to.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

Barion mutters something I pretend I don’t hear.

I think there’s an opportunity to pretend to cut one of the lines we made and scare the crap out of him. I even hesitate and think about it, but then give up and let him do the rest while I observe. The way he uses all these items he has around him is just way too fascinating.

He’s even carrying a lot of materials and half-finished items, so he can complete his work in whatever way he needs. Working next to him, I recognize some defensive drone-like cubes floating around him, some shields, and a lot of weapons for different types of opponents: ranged, close, mid-range, some explosives, and such.

Something clacks, and the door opens ever so slightly.

Same as the wall, they are made from that silverish matte metal. No keyhole, no window, no handle. There are not even seams around them as they smoothly materialize into the wall. If you don’t know where to look, you probably wouldn’t even see them while passing by.

Air rushes in as they slightly open, making a hissing sound.

Everyone else gets on their feet and watches as I reach into the gap that’s been created and pull them toward myself to open them. Barion moves further back, but maintains his connection to his wires, and I’m sure he’s keeping an eye on them as he does.

The door opens very slowly, almost like it weighs way more than it should or is fighting to keep from being opened. But by using a bit of kinetic energy, I gradually get it open enough to see inside the room.

It’s the size of a small bedroom, with walls, floor, and ceiling made from the same silverish metal as the door. In the room, rests a single item, thrown on the ground and crammed in one of the corners.

A cage.

Small, no bigger than both my fists pressed together. It sits in the corner like it was discarded without a care, maybe even forgotten. But nothing about it feels casual.

It’s made of metal rods forming the edges of a perfect cube. The strange part is the material. Each rod is a different shade, not painted or coated, but naturally colored. Blues, greens, rust-reds, golds, deep violets, and something close to black.

Barion’s already scanning it, of course. A glass-like, bluish visor drops down from the helmet on his head.

I don’t move yet. I just stare at the thing. Everything else in this base screams locked-down and triple-secured and glued to the floor so the loot enjoyers like me can’t take it away. Meanwhile, this one item is just sitting here like trash.

You don’t build vaults with mana-reactive whatever walls like that and then toss an item in it to rattle across the ground like it’s one of these fake meat vegan burgers.

Before I realize what’s happened, I take a few steps forward after checking to make sure it’s safe, and crouch next to it. The metal doesn’t reflect light normally, refracting in some way I can’t identify. And it’s cold and weirdly still in the space around it for some reason.

Barion steps in behind me, already scanning it with some different devices and a cautious glance.

“It’s empty,” he says.

“Yeah,” I reply, and poke it with a mana arm I form and control from a distance, purposefully disconnected from my body.

Nothing happens.

Then I reread the item’s description again.

Thermal Nullframe (Low Pristine) - Cubic containment frame built from seven different mana-insulating alloys, each resistant to extreme elemental saturation. It’s been designed to suppress and isolate high-density thermal objects and heat-based entities. Neutralizes surrounding temperature buildup and prevents internal reactions from affecting external environments. Resistant to environmental damage and immune to energy feedback. Remains stable under indefinite exposure.

It’s just so very fun, isn’t it? Even more so as I watch the expressions of the others while they read the item description and take a note of its rarity, one after another.

After all, the absolute cheapest item of this rarity probably starts at… a shitload of shards.

A fuckton. A lot.

Probably illegal in some countries. Could probably buy a horse. A ridiculous amount.

I mean, like, really, really a lot.

Chapter 670 - Like children

Io is first to talk. “Before any of you do something stupid, how about this. We only got this item thanks to Nathaniel and Barion, and it’s possible we wouldn’t have gotten it without their help in the first place, since I don't think we would have been able to open the door. I think we can all mostly agree on that.”

He looks around and waits for someone to argue, but no one does.

Nodding once, he continues. “I would suggest that the item be sold, and Nathaniel and Barion split 70% of the value, while we get the rest.”

I understand what he’s trying to do right away. In some ways, it could be seen as Io’s attempt to help us, even if it looks like he just wants a cut on the surface.

Some of the others probably wouldn’t like seeing us walk away with an item like that. How much could it be worth? Ten times the cost of upper arcane? Twenty times? With upper arcane items going for something around a million shards, that’s a huge amount.

It is unfortunate that I can’t see the tutorial shop here, but after coming into “contact” with my first pristine item, stuff of that rarity should show to me in the shop, same as it did when I found my first arcane item.

So, obviously, the others would feel robbed, no matter how little sense that might make. Maybe they could even convince themselves that they were guarding us or something in the meantime, implying that they deserve a cut.

What Io does should somewhat keep the group working together, for a while longer.

It's insane by itself that we even managed to find such an item here, and behind such comparatively terrible defenses going by its value.

By my estimation, low pristine items are the sort of thing a new Champions would probably have. Of course, none of that’s been confirmed, and with the way the system likes to "nerf" some items, just like it did with the Sword of Aeons, so they don't ruin the floor. It's just hard to estimate.

Actually, with Sword of Aeons being one of the most powerful items in Lissandra's world, a world that went through so many pairings, it’s likely that it would have been upper pristine, or possibly even the next rarity. It all depends on how scaling works for items of pristine rarity. I still haven't even personally experienced the difference between an upper arcane and a mid arcane item.

It also brings back a thought I had not so long ago. I think if I'm lucky and abuse Beyond and the system shop a bit more, it should be possible for me to acquire millions of shards. Even now, I still have two and a half million of them. So, shouldn’t I be able to make enough to buy a low pristine item on my own before the tutorial ends?

Isn't that a bit too insane? Is that one of the reasons the First Generations are so highly revered in the worlds I’ve visited? The number of ways you can use the tutorial to get stronger and the number of advantages you get can be mind boggling.

At this point, it just feels like it's by design. To turn us into beings no one can stand against when we return to our world. The ones that will decide the direction of our planet, and be the first in line to fight during the Pairings: protectors, leaders, and teachers. Or whatever else we choose to become.

In some ways, it must be truly terrifying to be a normal human at that point. Imagine beings you almost no longer dare to call human, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, launching projectiles at you from orbit, setting cities on fire, outhealing the concentrated attack of an entire military, and moving at speeds no human vehicle can match—just by using the strength of their own bodies.

Well, my thoughts aside, what Io is trying to do in the end relies on people not being greedy. I don't know how much Io actually believes sharing the shards we could get for the item will work, and how much he’s just hoping to make the others hesitate.

Malika, I don’t think, would cause trouble. And Io… I don’t know what to think about him for now, as much as he’s made a good impression so far. Barion might be greedy enough to go for it, and the same goes for the vyssari and that gray man.

Only then do I realize I forgot about someone. I turn around to see Tacita squatting next to Barion, who holds the item. She pokes the cage a few times, then grabs onto it and pulls it toward herself when Barion tries to move it away from her. There she leans closer to it and even sniffs it a few times.

Well, in the end, it's not like I’ll drop my guard around anyone here, no matter what happens.

“I’ll agree to that,” Barion says in response to Io’s idea, and looks at me. Then gives up trying to get the cage back from Tacita.

To that, I shrug and nod.

Looking around, Io gets similar reactions from the others, and it's decided that Barion will carry the item for now.

When we start moving again toward where we figure the bigger facilities will be, Malika stops by my side with that typical demonic smile of hers. Clearly a sign that she’s up to no good.

“How many of us do you think are going to make it, funny human?”

I’m already thinking about why that item would’ve been locked in that room, why it was seemingly so far away from the elf, and why it was even there in the first place, so I barely pay her any mind.

Just as she leans toward me, I glance at her red eyes, then move my gaze higher and look at her horns.

So far, I’ve seen plenty of horn styles. Short, long, thick, bending toward the back of the head smoothly, sticking out to the sides, or projecting forward. There are many types of them. Malika’s horns are on the shorter, thicker end of the scale. They have that somewhat smooth-looking black texture and curl backward, then slightly to the side.

“Want to touch them?” Her words bring my attention back to her.

“Want to get punched?”

“Want to kill the others later and keep the rewards and items to ourselves? Or we could go for it right away if you prefer. I don’t think they can stop us if we really try,” she says out of nowhere, right there, in the middle of the hallway, where everyone can hear.

And I believe she means every word.

Her eyes shine, and she isn’t at all bothered by the others who stop after hearing that. They watch the two of us in a way that makes it obvious they’re ready to fight, depending on my answer.

Malika seems to find it even more amusing, and I can sense her heartbeat speeding up, her gravitational demon heart thumping louder and sending vibrations through the air. All around her, dust rises, and the light twists strangely. That pressure I’ve felt around my brain rises again. Not directed at me, but surrounding everything, ready to snap at the others.

Her white hair rises as well, and her red eyes gleam a deeper red. “That quiet girl seems to be with you, so we can take her in if you want. The three of us would be more than enough for this quest, wouldn’t we?”

“What are you saying, Malika?” Io asks in a firm voice.

Malika just looks into my eyes, and ignores our supposed to be leader. “Just a single word from you, we can kill these weaklings.”

“No,” I answer simply.

She blinks a few times, and the pressure around her lessens. Her hair starts to fall back down. A few expressions flash across her face: surprise, confusion, then hesitation. She looks me over once again, like she’s trying to figure something out.

Gradually, her eyes squint and turn sharp, dangerous, and that pressure rises again, this time directed at me.

“Maybe you aren’t as strong as I thought you were. Maybe you’re just another human after all.”

POV Barion

And here it is again. I just knew I shouldn’t have accepted this quest the moment my handler mentioned other strong Beyonders would be involved. It’s near impossible for people like them to cooperate efficiently, with all that confidence and their personalities. There’s a lack of trust, and everyone just thinks they know better.

Most of all, we’re already suspicious of each other, and this item isn’t helping. It’s truly a beautiful work of art, and better than anything I’ve ever seen, by so much, even. Right now, I really want to drop everything else and just sit here studying it.

That demoness sends out gravitational waves in a way that makes my sensor cubes scream warnings in my head as I watch the danger level rise. It even triggered some of my automatic barriers, which now surround me. Just like before, I anchor one of my explosives to the window, ready to blow it out and run if it comes to that.

And that man just stands there, aligned against her, seemingly not worrying about her at all.

He isn’t even using that amazing eye trait he was relying on while we were trying to unlock the door. He doesn’t channel that disgustingly high amount of mana through that body of his, that’s more conductive than most of the mana-conductive alloys I know. I really want to ask him about it, but I'm worried about how he’ll react.

“Maybe you aren’t as strong as I thought you were. Maybe you’re just another human after all,” the demon says, and the pressure rises even more.

More of my barriers trigger, and more warning tones ring in my head. My visor, plated in a thin layer of incredibly expensive liquified voidcopper and fueled by the inscriptions I’ve etched into it, moves down over my face.

“Yup, I’m human,” that man answers.

Through the visor, I see something akin to yellow smoke rise up around the demon. It spreads throughout the entirety of the large hallway we’re in and especially concentrates around the two of them. It clings to the floor, covering it. It’s a sight I can only see thanks to the visor.

“Yes, you are just a human,” she repeats, and that yellow smoke rises further. It follows her, twisting around her body as she moves, and it starts concentrating around the man’s head.

I would’ve expected Io to jump in, but he seems to know more than me and just steps back, letting it all unfold.

That usually collected and calm face of the man changes. I still remember a hint of almost childish excitement back when we were working on the lock, but none of that is here now. His face grows colder, almost arrogant, before shifting again.

He breathes out and lets out a chuckle.

“Like children,” he says in an amused tone.

Then mana seeps out of his body. It presses out, and through my visor, it looks like a torrent of water, like the first flaming blaze of a new sun. It makes itself known as a mix of bright pale blue and darker blue swirling together.

More alarms ring in my head, and more of the defensive mechanisms on my chestplate activate. Another visor slides down in reaction to it. My cubes move in front of me, and the battery in each one activates, creating more layers of defense.

Even then, I feel it. A mana level that’s just too high, too ridiculous, and moving too fast for anyone at our level to reasonably contain.

And then it rises further.

A torrent of blue waves fills the hallway in a way that makes it feel like we’ve been dumped underwater, and it only grows denser. For a moment, I see the afterimage of a crown floating over his head, and golden rings forming around his pupils.

“This is getting annoying. So just stop, okay?” he says. Just those words.

And the demon stands there, looking like she’s grasping for air. The tips of her fingers shake, and her eyes are wide open. The area around her looks like the deepest trench of an endless ocean.

Malika just nods, and all that mana disappears in a second, pulled back into his body like a whirlpool. And that body of his contains it all.

I still keep my eyes on him, but then another of my alarms beeps. I turn around only to find nothing there. Confused, I examine it to see if it triggered falsely, but there’s just nothing. Behind me, only Io, the vyssari woman, and that mute girl stand.

When I look that way too intently, Io moves closer. “Any problems?” he asks.

“Nothing. His mana must have damaged one of my detectors,” I shake my head, but still decide to be careful and check on it. I’ve detected part of the frequency, so I can modify one of my drones to find out if something triggered it, or if it was just a misfire.

“Got it. If anything happens, please let me know,” Io says and passes by, striding toward the demon. “With this matter solved, I think it’s time we move again.”

POV Nathaniel

The mood after the... altercation from a few minutes ago shifts and becomes calmer. People aren’t fighting as much, and we continue deeper into the evil lair of the allegedly pointy-eared megalomaniac. Along the way, Barion and I open a few more doors, and we even run into a couple more gilded monsters.

He asks me about the mana conductivity of my body using the same mana science bullshit jargon types like him seem to like. But he does it in such a polite and shy way that I can't help but feel amused. So I cut off one of my fingers and hand it to him so he can examine it, while using my passive and thermal energy to slowly regenerate it over time.

A few times, the room we’re in closes itself off. Either the Last Elf having finally tracked us down, or some automatic defense mechanisms kicking in to kill us. But so far, everyone’s still alive.

Io shines a few times, too. He teleports us one after another out of rooms that lock us in, and don’t happen to have countermeasures against his ability. They manage to stop mine for a bit, but I’m sure I could break through that kind of defense. Meanwhile, Io just sort of ignores it.

His ability to do that and bring all of us with him is straight up insane, to be honest. I don’t even think I could stop it right now, even though I’ve been observing it and trying to come up with a way to counter it.

We’re probably getting close to the middle of the asteroid now, and eventually enter one of the larger areas. It’s like a huge cave that could easily fit a small city block. One entire side has no wall. Instead, there’s a massive window stretching from floor to ceiling, reinforced with a metal web that probably makes it stronger somehow. It gives us a brilliant view of outer space and the burning planet below.

It’s beautiful. The rocky cave surrounding us, the enormous opening covered with glass that seems like it shouldn’t be holding up to protecting us from the vacuum, the movement of the asteroid, the darkness of space filled with what looks like infinite stars, and the planet below, it all just hits.

We decide to rest here for a while and continue prepping while looking around and checking over the piles of boxes scattered all over the place.

I spend a lot of that time sitting next to the glass, just staring out the window and taking it all in.

Then, when we’re getting ready to move again, I hear a few shouts and stand up to make my way over to the voices.

When I reach the others, they’re standing in a circle around something on the ground, hidden behind one of the piles of boxes.

Barion lies there, dead, with his head cleanly separated from his neck and a confused expression on his face.

The low pristine cage is near his body, along with all of his items.

Obviously, the murderer wouldn’t bother to take anything.

The mood shifts again and turns darker, even as the others start examining his body and arguing. Everyone suspects everyone else, but no clear conclusion can be reached, even though some are more suspect than others.

Then they take his items for themselves. Leaving them behind would be a waste after all.

I wait until they're done, then take the pristine item I had so much fun getting to while working with Barion. For now, I tuck it into one of the smaller bags I keep on me.

No one says anything about it.

Chapter 671 - E-3

“I think that crazy girl did it,” the vyssari woman says once again.

Despite having been so quiet up to this point, she now stands tall and points at Tacita nearby, who just lifts her eyebrow with a curious look.

“Io, I also think it was her. You saw what she did to me when I just touched her,” the gray, lanky man says, joining the vyssari in blaming the mute girl.

Before Io reacts to that, Malika joins as well with a smile that shows she doesn’t give a shit about Barion’s death, along with just how much she’s enjoying the chaos and dangerous situation.

“I agree as well, it’s probably her, we should kill her,” she says. “Right, Nathaniel? But if you say no, I’ll be on your side. The deal I offered, maybe we can expand that to the three of us, we can still get rid of the others, it still stands.”

Demons really do act like little kids sometimes.

Finally, Io gets his words in. “We can’t be sure who did it. Any of you could’ve been the one to do this, and if you look at it from your point of view, it could also be me. Lastly, there’s still the option that the Last Elf did it, or that some of his gilded beings have managed to hide from us.”

Meanwhile, Tacita doesn’t seem to mind it at all. She is confident as always and looks around in a way a cat would at a bunch of mice grouping up to fight her.

That and Io’s words seem to disappoint the gray, lanky man, and he looks at Tacita with anger.

“I know it was you, and I will get you sooner or later,” he says through his teeth.

Tacita meets his eyes and then smiles in that almost innocent-looking way only she can pull off.

She takes a step forward and disappears as her body fades into barely more than a blur. The next moment, she stands in front of the lanky man, and her dagger moves in a swishing motion to stab through his heart.

Before she completes her movement, she vanishes, teleported away by Io, who starts sweating profusely and staring wide-eyed as he does his best to react to the incredibly fast movement.

For a moment, Tacita stands where he teleported her, her face toward one of the walls, and her back to us.

Slowly, she turns her head around and locks eyes with Io.

I count one second as she makes her decision. Then her dagger flashes, and she moves.

She reaches the thylarin in a blink, and her dagger stabs its tip into Io’s chest right over his heart. But before it can pierce deeper, Tacita disappears, despite her field being modified to counter Io.

This time, he teleports her to the opposite side of the huge room, but Tacita quickly regains her bearings, reorients herself, and moves again, almost reaching Io before he teleports her again.

After that, she moves again, crossing the massive room even faster than before. She is almost on him before he can reactivate his skill, and her blade draws blood from his neck.

I know it’s only a question of time before she kills him, assuming he doesn't chuck her into outer space or tries something else, but he seems to be avoiding that for some reason.

Maybe it is because he needs her, or because he knows I would step in if he did. That would likely pull Malika in too, turning this into an even bigger mess.

Tacita is just too dangerous in this kind of combat, and Io will either run out of mana first or lose focus before she gets tired.

But that’s also when Malika moves into Tacita’s way, while as always having that demonic expression. She probably doesn’t even care about protecting Io, she simply can’t resist joining the fight taking place in front of her.

Tacita moves around the demon with ease and fully avoids her even as Malika tries to slow her down and use the same skill she used on me. Tacita even stabs Malika in the side twice as she passes by.

Thanks to the slowdown, she doesn’t reach Io and gets teleported toward one of the walls.

The gray man, who disappeared when the fight started, reaches out from one of the shadows, and the shadow itself creates dozens of ropes that reach out for the mute girl.

I slide deeper into [Focus] and watch as Tacita slows down, steadies her body, and breathes out. Her hand turns into a blur, and the dozens of shadowy ropes find themselves being cut short by the blue glow of mana shining around her dagger.

She dances around and avoids the lightning projectiles the vyssari sends her way as she joins the fight in turn.

The lightning projectiles crash into the wall and erupt into dozens of smaller bolts, scattering in every direction. But none of them touch Tacita. She weaves through the chaos with impossible grace, slipping between crackling arcs of energy that tear through the air around her. Each bolt lights up her figure for a split second, casting flickering shadows as she dances just out of reach.

The vyssari lifts her hand, and a ring of crackling lightning coils around her finger. In an instant, she creates dozens more lightning projectiles, each one sparking to life in the air around her.

But even then, it’s nowhere near close.

A second dagger appears in Tacita’s other hand. With which, she deflects the incoming projectiles in fluid motion. Then, without hesitation, she throws the blade forward with blinding speed.

The dagger slices through the air, pierces the barrier the vyssari creates, and buries itself in the vyssari’s arm. The strike comes within inches of her neck, just barely avoided at the last moment.

Malika, even though wounded, tries to use the opportunity in a perfect show of timing. Tacita just dealt with a mass of shadowy things, is wary of the gray man, and her body is slightly in the air from avoiding the lightning projectiles.

Even then, like an acrobat, Tacita twists in the air, evades Malika’s incoming strike, and her field flickers to counter whatever the hell Malika might be doing. Tacita’s dagger heads to stab itself through Malika’s eye and into her brain, but she is teleported again.

Reappearing again, she lands softly on the ground. Her feet touch down with barely a sound as she rises smoothly, already preparing to strike again.

“I mean, shouldn’t we stop for now?” I use the brief pause to say.

When the pause increases and no one moves to attack again, I add, “I mean, it’s fun to watch, but I think someone is going to die if it continues.”

"Then why won't you help us? Are you with her? Did you kill Barion?" the vyssari growls, her voice strained as she yanks the dagger from her arm, blood running down her fingers.

Even then, I see poison beginning to spread as she uses her lightning to burn the flesh around the wound. Behind her is a circle of lightning, spinning rapidly, ready to fuel and create more high-speed projectiles, and the lightning ring around her finger crackles dangerously.

“Wouldn’t you guys already be fucked if I was the one who killed Barion and decided to join her to deal with you?”

“Probably, but wouldn’t it make for a beautiful fight?” Malika says first. She doesn’t seem to mind her two bleeding wounds at all.

“This is the most dysfunctional group I have ever been part of, by far,” Io says, seeing that Tacita doesn’t rush his way to cut off his head. He wipes the sweat from his forehead and touches the scratch and blood on his neck. “Not only did I get stuck here with a demon, which is bad by itself, but there’s this girl who only communicates through whatever weird drawings she makes and does everything she can to stab everyone through the neck.”

“At least you have me,” I say.

"You are as bad as any of them. What are you, some kind of half-demon or something?" Io asks, regaining his composure. "So far, I've held back because I want this group to stay together. But if anyone tries to kill anyone else again, I will not just teleport you across the room, I will shunt you into outer space."

“Can’t you teleport people inside the walls? You know, to squish them inside and stuff? Or just teleport half of them? Maybe just a brain?” I can’t help but ask.

He just glances my way before heading towards the vyssari and gray man, possibly to scold them. He doesn't even attempt to do the same with Malika, and I'm not that surprised.

With the situation solved, I glance towards the boxes where Barion's body has been left and head towards one of the panels in the wall. It’s open and shows that the man was working on it before he got killed.

I barely knew him, but even then, I feel a bit of something that I identify as regret for not being able to get to know him better. I rarely get that feeling, but he just seemed like someone I could’ve gotten along with. A man who stayed in his lane, working on his own things, and exploring the things he got excited about.

The best I can do is to kill the one who did it.

I form a few Ley Lines to connect to the panel. Before, I would’ve done it differently, but after seeing Barion and his wires, I found that creating a direct connection helps a lot, especially if you place them in the right places. It’s possible to get through without it, either by direct thought or "wirelessly", but with more delicate or difficult locks, it can have its advantages. Also, [Manifestation] has made materializing them easier.

That skill just keeps on giving. It also worked really well back then when I released my mana to pressure Malika. And that's only the start. It is just unfortunate that I can’t use it with [Empyrean Lance] yet because of my limited understanding of that skill. But once I do... maybe I’ll finally be able to create multiple projectiles, and not just a single lance.

Thinking of that, I also continue to work on the panel, and as I work on that, I notice a movement nearby, and Tacita sits on one of the boxes by my side and faces towards the others.

"Are you guarding me?"

She nods.

"I’ll cover your back as well."

Another nod.

No more is needed to be said, and the panel and lines it is connected to require more of my attention. One of them is seemingly connected to one of the working tables in the corner and has something that I figure must be something akin to records. They likely belong to the replica of Last Elf, but I’m suspicious now.

Why would he keep records? For a being like him, I would’ve expected him to be able to keep them all in his mind. Maybe to share them with the other replicas? But wouldn't that mean he had something like a web for communication? Even our group has something like that. Or maybe they’re records left over from a time when he was much lower level and couldn't pull that off? Limited by his brain capacity, he kept them either as reminders or as something to share with the other low level replicas?

That part of the evil base system feels fairly old and rough, so I wouldn't be surprised.

But there is also always a chance they were left there on purpose. My paranoid mind just keeps thinking it might be that.

Even so, I sacrifice a bit of my time to pull them out. Because of the encryption, I don't get them fully. And as I do so, some of the information gets deleted by the safety protocols.

[Log 018.1_Core_Response_Log_A]

...held past projection. The gilded subject remained functional beyond the expected threshold. No instability recorded across the first three phases. Local containment adjusted 0.2.

[Log 019.0_Command_Override_Trace]

Command received via encrypted channel. Source authentication: inconclusive. Mission parameters updated. Priority shift from long-term analysis to asset collection. Before leaving, some leveling will be required to unlock more memories and to allow creation of blueprints... Destination classified: E-3.

[Log 019.6_Vector_Adjustment_Calc.v2]

Base trajectory modified. Current orbit decoupling in progress. Slingshot path through [REDACTED] system estimated to reduce travel time to E-3 by 17.03%. Estimated arrival window: 221.6 years at current mana draw efficiency.

[Log 036.7_Reactor_Load_Distribution]

...18% of reserve diverted to long-range vector core. Field distortion detected across Deck 4. No feedback loop triggered. Structural risk…

[Log 090.1_E3_SurfaceScan_001]

Initial survey complete. The planetary surface shows signs of catastrophic ignition. Origin unclear so far. Burnout likely occurred post [REDACTED] tutorial closure…

[Log 091.2_Mana_Reserve_Audit]

… reserves at 23.4%. Compression rates within acceptable limits. Spike in core temperature during artificial gravity realignment logged but dismissed. Continue monitoring for anomalous fluctuations every 2.4 cycles.

[Log 0105.6_Contact_Trace]

... a conclusion has been reached. [attendee] returned to E-3. The subject carried a Fragment of...

Then there is a huge number of logs missing, and the last sentence I managed to get out of it.

...blueprint for Low Pristine item modified. Containment pathways integrated into the revised design. Preparation sequence initiated. Resource gathering restructured at 94%.

With that, I open up my bag and look at the cage I threw in there.

Just what the hell are you for?

Chapter 672 - Chocolate

How interesting, logs to be deciphered. But I should also take into consideration that this might be a plant, left behind to confuse us.

Or the Last Elf just doesn't care.

That second option is also very likely, because so far, all the attempts on our lives were half-assed. At this point, I think I would prefer my next opponent to be a demon. At least in that case, there wouldn’t be any mysteries to solve, none of the backstabbing stuff.

Holding yet another halo from the Last Elf’s gilded monsters, I give it a thought and place it on top of my head. The vyssari woman next to me gives me a look that still says she suspects I might be communicating with the guy. She isn’t wrong, to be honest, but it’s not like I’m doing it to sell them off or anything.

“What?” I ask her.

“I don't trust you,” she says simply.

There’s something about her that feels off. Compared to everyone else, she would seem to be the weakest based on what she’s shown thus far. Her personality also seems to lack confidence and edge. I strongly suspect she’s hiding something, and that parts of her personality are just a mask she’s put on for our benefit.

“You do you,” I shrug. I don’t say as much, but if I had wanted to fight them, I’ve had plenty of opportunities. “Can you tell me about vyssari?” I ask.

She looks up from twisting the ring on her finger. It’s a simple thing made of some kind of white wood.

“Why?”

“I’m curious.”

“Good for you.”

“Please?” I try.

“I can’t tell if this is some kind of mask you’ve put on or if you’re really just that weird. ”

“You people always say that about me. That I’m weird, half-demon, twisted, or some other stuff. You know what’s funny about that? So far, I’ve found myself to be the most normal member of all the groups I’ve joined. You should’ve seen my tutorial group, the people from our first Beyond expedition, my guild, or any damned Champion, Absolute, or Ruler I’ve ever met or heard about.”

“You talk like a typical concentration skill user.”

“I’m not even using it for my emotions.”

And with that, she gives me an ugly looking smile. “I wasn’t talking about that. You don’t have to answer, but from what I’ve seen in your behavior, you started with a concentration skill. People’s starting skills are always at least partially based on either the personality or the talents of their owners, at least from what I’ve learned. Many people have told me that the system always prefers to strengthen and evolve what already exists. Starting with a concentration skill means you were probably like that even before the tutorial. A weirdo, constantly suppressing and hiding their emotions, or you were just the sort of person who was highly capable of controlling them. Or, in your case, someone who doesn’t seem to take things seriously.”

“Is that something you’ve really confirmed?”

“It comes from experience.”

“I see. So, the vyssari?”

She looks at me for three seconds before shaking her head. “I didn’t really know anything about it either, not before I appeared in that forest back on the first floor, but apparently, my race is an experiment set in motion by one of the Rulers. We haven’t even figured out their subclass yet.”

That self deprecating smile is back. “My lord, my creator, my god. Long dead and almost forgotten. Some asshole obsessed with dragons who couldn’t get a hold of any of their genetic material, then used the blood of a powerful wyvern to play god by creating us in a lab.”

She laughs. “On our planet, we had two main religions. Some believed in a single, all-seeing, all-powerful god. Others believed in a trio of goddesses that created us and the universe. And then we show up here and find out we were just an experiment, and the one who did it had the nerve to die already. Funny, isn’t it?”

“If you say it like that, it is. So your legs are part of that wyvern bloodline? Also, wyverns, dragons?”

“Give me that thing I saw you eating in secret with that absurd look of pleasure on your face.”

“It’s very expensive.”

“I am telling you everything and tolerating your questions when I suspect I might be about to die in a day or two, maybe even by your hands. I deserve that much.”

I give her a longer look, then reach into my bag and take out one of my chocolate bars. It’s been broken up, melted, and reformed a few times, but it’s still the same brown sugary matter so many of my people are addicted to.

After I unpack it for her, I offer it, and she takes a few pieces, throwing them into her mouth. I take a few too, and side by side, we eat it.

“Not bad,” she says and closes her eyes for a moment. “Dragons are entities that existed in the distant past, and possibly still do, from what I’ve heard. I met an A-rank vyssari in his last year of the tutorial, and he shared some rumors he’d heard about our race. Apparently, some vyssari from the purer bloodlines have a chance to gain powerful traits from that little bit of genetic material held over from the powerful wyvern the Ruler used to make us, who knows how many generations ago.”

“And wyverns are related to dragons, but weaker?”

“From everything I’ve heard. I don’t know how many dragons or wyverns are left, but since there’s so little information about them, they must be very well hidden, very powerful, or very dead.”

I offer her another piece of chocolate and take two of the bigger ones for myself. Unfortunately, she notices and quickly grabs a few more.

“Are you disappointed after finding out how your race came to exist?” I ask.

She seems to give it a longer thought and absentmindedly reaches for another piece, which she throws into her mouth in a hurry.

“Before the tutorial, I was viewed as a kind of religious leader. Do you have people like that on your planet?” she asks.

“I guess. The best example that comes to mind is the Pope, head of a religion consisting of over a billion people. But I think his role is mostly ceremonial now. He has some influence, obviously, he does engage in diplomacy and stuff. Still, he’s a figurehead. He says a lot, but I doubt he really rules over much of anything. Maybe it’s even by intent that he doesn’t.”

She chuckles with a half-bitter smile, licking a bit of chocolate off her thumb.

“I see. Then maybe I was something like that, though on a much smaller scale. I spoke, guided, wore beautiful robes, and people listened to the things I had to say, and that was the role that had been passed down to me. It all felt important at the time. But now, knowing we were made in a lab, for fun, by someone who came from normal people like us, it just feels... hollow.”

“Does it really matter?” I take one more piece and offer her the rest, which she accepts. “I mean, your origin was the same, before the tutorial and now. It’s just that now you know the truth.”

“Same origin, huh.”

She doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. She just breaks off another piece of chocolate, eats it slowly, then finally speaks.

“You’re technically right. I didn’t change. I was like this before the tutorial. These legs, this blood, all of it. Just didn’t know what it was.”

She points the chocolate at me a little.

"I think you're overlooking something, though. Most people aren’t so logical. Knowledge does matter. Information changes people, how they see the world, how they choose to act. In my faith, we believe that our emotions were given to us for a reason." She pauses, shakes her head, and laughs softly before looking at me, "Emotions are not flaws to overcome, but they're part of what makes us. Logic has its place, but it’s not the whole picture. I think, deep down, you know that too."

"You think so?"

"Obviously, otherwise you would just be like every other concentration skill user jerk who keeps their skills active all the time."

"I guess." I nod.

"Now leave me alone. I want to prepare for the coming fights."

I leave without any further words.

An hour later, I'm working on a lock when a disruptive wave washes over the entire room, blocking all my senses for a few seconds, and a big crack appears in the massive window. The suction starts pulling the air from inside the room until Io and that gray man get there first and patch it up with some items lying around and some mana.

The lights in the room flicker, then fade, until most of the glow comes from the planet below, spilling a dim reddish hue across the room.

As I regain my senses, my suspicions are confirmed. With a quick use of Wraith Dance, I reach the body resting against the wall.

The vyssari woman, whose name I didn't even know, is resting against it with her mouth agape and blood flowing from the corners of her lips. Both of her eyes are gone, exploded into gore and pieces. Something has been stuffed in her mouth, and I quickly recognize the color and material. It's the plastic package of the chocolate she and I shared.

The movement of my mana isn't even the slightest bit affected by the sudden spike of emotion. My hand doesn't shake, and I remain calm as I reach out towards the body. When I touch her to check over her body, it’s still warm, and I note that her brain has been reduced to mush, as it had been squeezed in a big fist.

The gray man starts panicking audibly and shouting at Io. He points his finger at Tacita for killing Barion, and now he blames the crazed demon for killing the vyssari, and he points his finger at me for being greedy and organizing it all for better rewards.

Barely two days have passed, and two out of the seven people who came here are dead.

I tune out most of the conversation and let Io handle it. I take the chocolate I opened earlier, break off a portion for myself, and leave the rest in the wrapper. I place the closed package in her hand, curl her fingers around it, and cover her with a cloth from a nearby box.

After a bit of working on the locks, Io stops by me and asks, "How does it look?"

"I had to start all over again. That pulse, whatever it was, reset and changed the defenses. You remember that thing Barion mentioned the room with the cage had, right? There’s one here as well."

Io groans audibly, and two of his hands cover his face as he wipes it down. "So we’re locked in here? The door we came through locked again? Am I correct to assume they’ve all been reset?"

"Yup. I also think there might be bigger groups of gilded monsters behind them now."

"Understood, thank you. Please keep trying. We’ll try to come up with another two or three ways to get out. Moving through the void of space is an option, but I would like to avoid it, given that it’s the most risky, and the replica will likely be prepared."

"Okay," I confirm.

He moves away, just a few steps. This time, we all stay clustered together. Everyone, trying to keep the others in their line of sight.

It might just be because I have what’s probably the lowest constitution here, if not the lowest after Tacita, but I start feeling lightheaded and my head hurts as well. Either the replicas are trying to poison us, or a bit of air is still leaking out. Even though I'm sure at our levels we don't need that much air, so I would probably suspect some poison or something.

Not that elegant or satisfying, but a simple way to deal with intruders. Just like a bunch of ants being sprayed down with Raid.

I allow my sealed ignition heart to beat slightly faster, and more thermal energy floods my body, activating combustion and sending a bit of healing through my body. In combination with the healing marks Lily left on me, I should be fine.

Just a glance at Tacita tells me she’s doing fine too, and noticing me looking her way, she draws something in the air with her finger.

(￣▽￣)/♫•¨•.¸¸♪

This time, I don't have so much as a clue what she means by that, and I lift my eyebrow to show her my confusion.

She smiles and tilts her head while moving the hair covering her ear. It reveals a wired white earphone resting there. I follow the cable, which leads into one of her pockets, where she likely has a smartphone or some other kind of music player.

It's safe to say she isn't all that worried.

Chapter 673 - Planet below

(I see it is you once again.)

(Oh, you picked up already. Is this the same guy as before or a different replica?)

(You should assume that it does not matter. Was it your intent to speak with me about removing the intruders here?)

(Not really, you already seem to have found someone to work with you.)

(That is an interesting assumption. But while it makes sense to suspect me, it could also be simple greed, and you seem to have some experience with its Ruler.)

(Has she left a mark on me?)

(Indeed. She likes to leave them on those she thinks of as candidates to become her weapon. These marks are usually meant for the other Rulers, but if you know where to look, with some effort it is possible to detect them.)

I pause and think. Some kind of scent mark from Biscuit, the mark from Lissandra’s probably still in place, and now one from the Ruler of Greed. This has to stop somewhere.

(You know what’s fun?) I ask.

(Tell me.)

(The tutorial system does not seem to be censoring anything here. So I can get some decent information from you.)

(Doesn’t that only work if I decide to cooperate and share such information?)

(I mean, keeping up the conversation is to your advantage, since it allows your hypothetical coconspirator to make preparations to kill someone else, right? Sorry to disappoint, but I already know who did it, and next time they’re dead. That is, of course, only if you have a coconspirator. If we want to pretend there isn’t one, you can excuse having the conversation by saying you are bored.)

As he talks, I can hear amusement in his voice. (Did you know Greed rarely picks people from the Pride subclass as candidates for her weapon? She, The Warden, and some of their collaborators consider it impossible for anyone under the rank of Ruler to be capable of challenging the Ruler of Pride. And you, as a Pride subclass, would not be able to become Ruler before challenging him.)

(Is he that powerful?)

(Wyvern, the Corporation, ancient families bearing powerful traits, dragons, beast clans older than most civilizations, forgotten Rulers, old Gods, and countless others, no matter how mighty they are, still fall short in front of his power. You seem to have met The Absolute. Long ago, she was thought to be capable of facing him. That day, dozens of the most powerful beings in the system watched her challenge. But even she was proven insufficient.)

He pauses, and I turn away from the panel to look out the window, where the cracked portion has been plastered with materials salvaged from the room. The crack keeps spreading even now. The lights are entirely off now, and only the red glow from the planet below gives any illumination.

(Never trust Greed. There are reasons most other Rulers despise her. Right in front of their eyes, she’s trying to raise people to accomplish what she could not, people who would become Rulers in their place. She would not hesitate to replace most of the current Rulers with her weapons, in the hope the chance of killing him would be higher.)

(Ah, do not worry about me. I don’t trust any of the Rulers.)

(Then Wrath should interest you. The Rulers of Wrath are often among the most formidable when it comes to combat, which is why Greed so often seeks out those with that subclass. As you might expect, the current Wrath finds this displeasing and takes some delight in making trouble for Greed.)

I almost chuckle at those words. Trouble for Greed likely means a dead weapon candidate, also known as a poor attendee. But that can only be expected. As much as she can be friendly and nice at times, the Ruler of Greed has a single goal in mind.

Killing Pride.

Even at the cost of her own life, thousands, millions of others, entire tutorials, and entire planets. All ready to be sacrificed for that single greed driven goal.

(How nice of you to talk with me for so long.)

(Do not think I am unaware of my own inclinations. I have long known that all replicas at this level share such traits, carrying both the tendency to look down upon those they deem weaker and the unfortunate habit of oversharing. This alters in time, as they reach higher levels and unlock more of the abilities and memories of the original body.)

(That poison seeping into the room, is it being released by you or your coconspirator... I mean, the hypothetical one?)

I’m already having trouble breathing, even though I tried to do it as little as possible. I feel blood in my mouth, and my passive healing is trying to mend the internal wounds it causes.

(I regret to say I have no knowledge of what you speak.) The elf lies.

The replicas of the last elf sure can be annoying at times. But at least they are talkative for being replicas of someone so old, or maybe they are as talkative because they have memories from when he was younger. Perhaps I wouldn’t want to meet a more powerful replica before getting stronger. Plus, I think they have a right to be annoying, since we’re the ones breaking into this place on a quest to eradicate them.

So who are the baddies? Us, or the replicas, with people being sent to kill them for whatever their main body wants to do?

(What happened to the planet below?) I ask, deflecting a few more attempts from the presence I’ve been talking to, as it tries to connect to the deeper protocols of the golden halo.

The attempts continue the entire time and do not stop even as the elf answers, (Is it not remarkable, the sheer level of destruction here?)

I turn away from the panel and glance outside through the cracked window. Calling it a window feels wrong, since it’s basically just a towering sheet of glass that stretches from floor to ceiling. Beyond it, the burning planet glows like an ember, a splash of burning red color against the endless black.

There is a strange beauty in that view. It is raw and dangerous, the kind that draws you in even as it hides the countless lives it’s taken.

The replica continues, (Even though the planet has not undergone any Pairing and remains extremely fragile, the extent of the damage is fascinating nevertheless, as are the fires that continue to burn after hundreds of years.)

(What kind of fragment is it?)

After my question, the voice falls silent and comes back just as I wipe a drop of blood from my lip and use more thermal energy to heal the damage.

(It seems you have stumbled upon some of my old records. I had all but forgotten them. It is a Fragment of the First Star if you have to know.) At the end of that sentence, the last elf may not laugh, but to me it sounds no different than if he had.

(What is so funny about that?)

(With great difficulty, I was able to figure out what happened here. Would you care to hear it?)

(Yes.)

(Are you certain? How is your body holding together? Have your lungs begun to fail? Do your thoughts feel heavier, and is your healing weakening as the poison adapts?)

(Something like that. So?)

(Oh, you people with the Pride subclass. Would you believe me if I said the holder of the Fragment of the First Star that caused all of that was also Pride? A powerful Beyond attendee, but arrogant and lacking where he should not have been. Even with that Fragment in his possession and after becoming an S rank, Greed did not consider him worthy of being a weapon candidate. But that matters little, for our poor attendee knew none of Lady Greed’s plans and hopes. Powerful, and the victor in three of the tournaments he entered, luck favored him, but only until he was able to get his hands on the Fragment on the thirteenth tutorial floor. But I suppose, had you asked him, he would have thought it nothing other than amazing luck, at least until the final moments of his death.)

I notice movement and watch as Tacita stands up and faces the gray man approaching her. He shouts something at her, at me, all the while coughing up blood. Malika stands nearby, slightly swaying from side to side with a faintly empty expression on her face.

(He was of the velnar people, his body was already powerful, and it only strengthened further during his time in the tutorial, until at last he stood among the strongest attendees who’d been seen in a thousand years. Supported by all the traits and passives he had gained, it was able to hold that Fragment, one of the most dangerous ones. But that was only if he had refrained from using it. He had been warned many times, told to be patient, to wait. But then, after his tutorial ended and all returned, he stood surrounded by those he had led or bent to his will. Facing him was another group, the Beyonders, who had never accepted him, joined by others from his own planet who had been swayed to their side by attendees from lower difficulties who had finished their tutorial earlier.)

I watch as Io moves toward Malika.

(So he chose to show them his blazing power. In his pride, he believed himself strong enough and believed he’d made enough preparations. He, an Absolute candidate. And so the Fragment, for the first time since he had claimed it, awoke. It burned the body the velnar had taken such pride in, without resistance. It burned away everyone in the area.)

I get to my feet and turn toward Io, who is currently facing down Malika. Malika looks as if she is about to collapse, and Io is trying to help her.

(It set the sky of his planet on fire. Flames with nowhere to go spread downward, like rain made of heat. Oceans split. Steam carried the fire further. Rivers boiled in their beds. Forests never burned, but vanished. Cities fell in seconds. Animals ran. People ran. There was no escape. Twelve hours passed before the planet fell silent, and days more before even the most powerful tutorial attendees perished in their hiding places. And the Fragment stayed. It is still there now, burning, with no one left to burn.)

I charge at Io, activating my eyes and with [Eclipse] draining the colors from the area. Projectiles form around me and shoot forward, and I use Wraith Dance to charge, reaching him at the same moment my projectiles do.

The thylarin faces me, and the world around me shifts. All the preparations and countermeasures I’ve set up activate at once, and I feel confident that I’ve done enough to counter his ability.

But it is all for nothing, and I find myself weightless in outer space, with the asteroid base passing half a mile in front of me and the planet behind me slowly pulling me toward its burning surface.

(Such is usually the way Pride meets its end.) And even now, the last elf does not laugh.

With a burst of thermal energy, I melt the halo above my head. The voice cuts off as the metal turns to liquid, breaking into glowing droplets that drift before cooling and hardening again.

The asteroid base, now drifting farther away, looms large in my view. It’s a massive gray rock, its surface split by deep cracks that glint like they’re filled with gold. Hundreds of windows are scattered across its surface, some no bigger than my palm, others as large as the ones in the huge hangar-like room we left behind.

On the sides of the asteroid, three huge creatures are holding onto the rock. They are all entirely gray, with golden halos fixed above their heads, all of them turned to face me.

Chapter 674 - Outer space

I’m drifting. The base spins slowly in front of me, getting smaller as it moves farther away. Still, I strengthen my sight and look through the glass wall on the side of the base, just in time to see Malika come back to her senses and attack Io, who is desperately searching for someone.

At the last moment, he teleports the demon away, and I see her appear in outer space to my left. She quickly regains her composure, moving back toward the base as attacks from the gilded monsters silently explode around her.

Io doesn’t move and stands there until Tacita appears beside him and strikes at his neck. But a moment before that, before even finding her, he gives up, teleports away on his own, and runs.

Tacita reaches out with her hand, and mana glows around her finger as she touches the space where he stood. A faint trace of mana glows around her eyes before disappearing, and she looks towards something deeper inside the asteroid base.

Then she glances out the window, just once before the air around her flickers, and she disappears, becoming undetectable even to me. If I am right, she intends to hunt Io, who I think had hoped to avoid this. The next time, he won’t be detecting her until he falls down dead, his flawed senses sealing his fate. For the rest of the quest, he will be forced to constantly look over his shoulder and pray she does not find him.

I’ve thought about it before, and yet I find myself turning the same question over in my mind once more. Just how much did Io have to sacrifice in exchange for the ability to teleport people without regard for their defenses, even those as strong as those protecting Tacita and me? Just how many passives, traits, and active skills went into doing this?

Is he regretting it now, since he can only use it on living beings one at a time? Is that why he did what he did, desperate for rewards, and maybe even items to help him get around that weakness?

The asteroid base moves farther away from me, and I watch it as I continue to drift towards the planet.

I allow myself to feel what I imagine I would have felt before the tutorial, and these few short moments before I start using kinetic energy are some of the scariest in my life. Scarier than the phantom goblin hunting me, scarier than hiding from the Veil Guardian, and almost as scary as those twenty-three hours I spent with my face in the dirt after our meeting with Faora and Luan.

A part of me takes it all in. Yet another experience I could’ve never had if not for the tutorial and the system. My body floating in infinite darkness while the asteroid drifts away. Left behind in this nothingness, adrift in the incomprehensible vastness of space.

One of the gilded monsters clinging to the asteroid base fires a wide, thick green laser at me, silent as it speeds through space.

I use kinetic energy to push myself, moving much farther and faster than I thought I would.

Of course. There is no gravity or air resistance to hold me back.

The first few seconds in outer space aren’t quite as bad as I’d expected. I guess even though my constitution can’t really be called impressive, I’m still superhuman after all.

There’s a deep pressure building in my head, like everything inside is trying to push outward. It’s not sharp pain, but it is constant and growing.

My eyes burn. There’s no moisture left, and blinking doesn’t help. I can still see, but it’s harder to focus. The light from the burning planet stabs at the edges of my vision, the glare making everything feel more distant.

My chest is tight, and I can feel the damage spreading. There’s blood in my mouth. Warm at first, then cold.

My movement is slow. Every small motion drags.

My limbs respond, but they feel disconnected, as if they aren’t fully part of me anymore.

I let out all the air I have left and watch it freeze as I do so. More thermal energy moves through my body.

Another projectile passes by me, and I push myself toward the asteroid, gradually adding more and more force. My speed keeps increasing since there’s no resistance, but with so few points of reference, it’s hard to estimate my actual speed.

I twist, I dodge, I disrupt incoming attacks, and keep moving back. Even in the vacuum of space, golden flames dance across my skin.

An [Empyrean Lance] forms over my shoulder, and I gradually feed it more mana.

Even with my healing, my lungs feel like they might rupture. I start feeling lightheaded. My skin feels like it’s starting to swell and potentially burst, and my vision is getting blurry.

A wide-range attack from a huge lizard with a similarly huge golden halo crashes into me, stripping away my skin and pushing me back until I observe it enough to counter it, and pass through.

Another blindingly fast laser attack crushes the arm I lift to protect my face, tearing through the layers of barriers I’ve stacked there.

My lance pierces the barrier surrounding the base and the window with ease, tearing into the defensive mechanisms inside.

I teleport through the [Ley Line] I’ve thrown ahead, and with a few more boosts, I crash through the cracked remains of the windows I destroyed with my lance. The room on the other side is empty, but I see multiple doors leading further inside.

A huge panel starts sliding down from the ceiling like a guillotine to cut off and secure this section of the base, and the lights flicker as the vacuum of space starts pulling at the air inside.

The huge gray lizard with its golden halo follows me inside, breaking what remains of the window as its body forces its way into the room. A mana-based attack fires toward me, and I activate my eyes to read and disrupt it. The monster swirls and rushes toward me, mouth wide open, moving with a speed that feels unnatural for such a massive body.

It slithers under the closing metal panel, and the field around me expands, mimicking one of Lioren’s favourite uses of kinetic energy.

The lizard freezes in place, unable to move, not even to twitch.

I sense it building up a strong mana-based attack, but the metal panel above it comes down and, just like a guillotine, takes off its head.

[You have defeated Gilded Beithir - lvl 365]

[Lvl 326 > Lvl 327]

The door seals shut with a hiss, sealing off the section. The space becomes quiet and still. The sound of the alarm fades, leaving only the flashing white light on the ceiling.

I take a deep breath and remain still. Thermal energy gets to work on healing my wounds, and, just in case, I activate one of Lily’s healing marks.

Then I look down, dust off my clothes, examine the head for a few minutes, and step back into the base, this time alone.

After a few hours, as I’m slowly moving through what looks like a complex of gardens, I climb up and sit on the body of a gray creature I just killed. It looks like a mix between a spider and a giraffe, which is the best way I can describe it. What a creepy thing this is.

Its big halo now floats over my head, and after bridging the connection, I send my message.

(I am still not sure if Io was cooperating with you, or if you just had similar goals.)

(That’s an interesting welcome message.)

(I think we can skip niceties and get straight to the important stuff at this point.)

(Like satisfying your curiosity?)

(Like satisfying my curiosity,) I confirm. (You do your evil monologue, which makes me sit here and listen, giving you time to prepare to kill me.)

(I wonder what you would have thought if that behavior had caused your end. What would’ve been your thoughts in your last moments?)

(A lot of cursing, I would guess.)

(How very human. As for your unfortunate colleague, what can I say? Desperation draws people into desperate acts. Foolish ones. The sort that leads one to try their hand at playing every side at once, and in doing so, ensures that they inevitably stumble.)

(Sounds about right. So he was working with us to use the threat of our presence to shake a better deal out of you, while reducing our numbers to get better rewards, all the while planning to screw you over in the end, finish the quest, and maybe even reduce the numbers further?)

(What a simple and direct way to put it.)

I turn the other way to place the spider-giraffe’s head out of view and face the patch of trees that seems to stretch about half a mile into the distance. Somewhere, I even hear the sound of a waterfall, and note the artificial wind blowing through the area, carrying either the scent from the flowers or from a hidden scent dispenser.

Something activates in the ceiling, and a liquid starts dripping from it.

I push my mind into overdrive and examine it. After confirming it a few times, I stay where I am and make no move to dodge it.

The liquid doesn't turn out to be acid, nor is it poison. It’s just water, artificial rain. Even the scent changes to that of the ground after rain, and the sound of droplets falling on the leaves of the trees fills the room.

My hair gets wet as the rain pours down on me, and I comb it back with my fingers, flicking the water away from my forehead.

(What a dick move,) I send.

With a hidden sense of humor and amusement, the elf answers, (So then, what is your plan, candidate for Greed’s weapon?)

(There are a few, but in the end, it comes down to who ends up stronger, who can improvise better, and who can push themselves further without breaking.)

(I will allow myself to disagree.)

(That’s fine. So your goal is to go to E-3 and collect the Fragment of the First Star in your pristine cage?)

(Indeed.)

(I am a bit confused here. Apparently, the Fragment destroyed an entire planet. But at the same time, it could be held by someone who hadn’t even reached the rank of Champion. Also, there’s the matter of an item at pristine rank, suitable for someone at the level of a weak to average Champion, has no problem trapping said Fragment. Champions usually top out at the level of continental destruction, only growing stronger with the help of items or by sacrificing their lives, while Absolutes are planetary destruction. This Fragment seems to be at the planetary destruction level.)

And the elf who likes to hear his own voice, at least the replica as it is at this level, answers with the same amusement, which implies that he’s looking down on me without seeing me as a valid opponent.

(The more powerful Fragments, such as the Fragment of the First Star, are not as simple as you might believe. Some planets are far more fragile than others, especially those that have never experienced a Pairing. And after burning for centuries, the Fragment on E-3 has weakened, just enough that even a Low Pristine item could contain it.)

(Lies.)

This time, he laughs softly, very shortly, and quietly. (There are other preparations I have made, ones that will aid me in containing it. That, however, is not something you need to hear about. As for the rest...)

The doors behind me open with a hiss.

I comb my hair with my fingers, sweeping it back over my scalp, and turn toward the replica of the last elf, but even now, I do not see his body. Instead, he’s clad in an angular suit, made up of rigid panels of a golden metal that catches the light like a polished suit of armor. The heavy helmet tapers forward into a narrow, slit-like visor, leaving only a thin line for him to see through. Every surface gleams with heat-reflective plating, giving it an uncanny presence.

"I have made my preparations, so there is nothing more to discuss," the somewhat muffled voice says, and the artificial rain stops.

Chapter 675 - The Replica

Unlike our conversations over the telepathic link, he doesn’t monologue anymore and proceeds to immediately attack. He moves surprisingly quickly in that bulky golden suit.

My kinetic attacks crash against it without it as much as registering the attack. My concentrated stream of golden thermal energy blazes across the surface, but barely seems to do anything, just scorching the air around it, causing it to waver around the suit.

As he moves around, a green light seeps out of him as he draws inscriptions in the air.

As my eyes activate, he does something else to overwhelm them, clearly prepared for my trait as well. But this time I am ready too, it would be weird if I wasn’t after so many people have tried to abuse it and overwhelm my trait with information.

The part of my mind that I dedicated to using Mana Wavelength Iris shuts off, but another replaces it while another, smaller part observes the methods he’s using to overwhelm it and records it for reference. When that mind shuts off as well, another replaces it, that smaller part already has the information collected and begins modifying a replacement.

Even with how quickly the elf moves to draw, I observe the inscriptions, countering the effects. Most of them are wide-range attacks, meant to punish my comparatively low constitution while dealing with my quick, confusing movements.

When I try to teleport, the activation fails. I detect the inscriptions he’s drawn behind his back to do so, then begin deciphering and countering them.

[Empyrean Lance] materializes, but as I shoot it at him, the chestplate of his armor opens and sucks it in in a blue whirlpool that redirects it there. A blender-like noise erupts, and exhaust-like pipes on his waist violently spit out black smoke in which the remains of the lance flicker. The opening in the chest closes as quickly as it appeared, yet there is damage. By my estimate, he can manage it only a few more times.

Another of his wide range attacks activates again, making my mana sluggish and corroding the projectiles I’ve stacked around me. Another sends a cutting wind my way. At which point it proceeds to follow me, by means of what I believe is a mark stealthily placed on me.

The barrage is relentless, and he counters most of my abilities. Kinetic energy is absorbed by the golden suit, thermal energy just heats the air around it. Projectiles are disrupted. Teleportation is blocked.

I sense movement as two gilded monsters break free of the forest behind me, a gorilla-like one with pincers instead of hands, moving on four legs, and a praying mantis thrice my height. Both of which are entirely gray with golden halos over their heads.

I push through the disruption in the area and activate a set of arrays stored in my mind inspired by Maya. A dark blue suit of armor surrounds me, darker blue than ever before, as I push it further with [Manifestation], affecting whatever parts I’m knowledgeable enough to create with the skill.

Surprisingly, it is not the gorilla that crashes into me, but the praying mantis. It moves blindingly fast, cuts a few times, smoothly snapping through the armor, and almost through my body, that I just manage to shift at the last moment. For its height, it moves very nimbly on its many legs. And I can’t help but admire the elegance of its movements.

More mana seeps out of me even as a barrage of attacks from the elf in golden armor hits my back, and I send kinetic energy through the armor to attack the mantis.

It avoids them, jumping to the side just as the gorilla shuts its pincers and a sonic boom echoes through the garden. The trees in the way evaporate into nothingness, and the shockwave slams into me, obliterating the armor in front of me before hurling my body through the air, bouncing me across the ground.

I absorb my momentum, freezing midair. Where I would have landed, the mantis appears, slashing through. I use kinetic energy to push myself along the ground, then unleash Wraith Dance.

Another wide range attack from the elf shakes the area where I stood, this time incorporating vibrations tuned to disrupt my kinetic energy based movements.

A healing mark from Lily restores my body just as I reach the gorilla, but at the last second, I change my direction as the second pincer shuts and explodes everything in front of it. Unfortunately, it does not hit the mantis behind me, which still dodges every bit as swiftly as before.

I use [Manifestation] and a single, extremely simple sword forms in my hand. It is almost like the design of a wooden sword you might buy for a child. Still pale blue but with an unearthly shine to it.

I lift it and deflect the claw of the mantis’s scythe-like foreleg. The kinetic energy of the attack flows through me, all absorbed and easily channeled, preventing the attack from moving me at all. The sword doesn’t even crack as I block an attack from a much larger and physically stronger monster.

[Manifestation - lvl 7 > Manifestation - lvl 8]

Before the mantis can strike again, the last elf’s attack strikes it. In a blink, the gilded monster’s body bulges, cracks, then bursts open.

[You have defeated Gilded Severis - lvl 379]

[Lvl 327 > Lvl 328]

The last elf makes an attempt to block my movement, but I push through with my sheer mastery of kinetic energy and use Wraith Dance to escape.

When the mantis explodes, everything around it gets covered in a gray liquid that melts through everything in its path. It even destroys the metal floor and drops down, eating into the rock in the big area. The liquid clings to the manifested armor around my body. I drop the affected pieces to the ground, where they continue to corrode as the liquid eats through them and the floor beneath.

An alarm starts to ring. Additional metal plates seal over the already closed doors. The metal around the holes in the floor begins to melt, flowing to seal them.

The sword in my arm dissipates, and the mana it once contained manifests into a hexagonal segment of the barrier I use to block a combined force from both of the gorilla’s pincers snapping closed at the same time. The shockwave from that strikes my shield, then ricochets outward, uprooting trees throughout the area.

[Eclipse] drains the colors from the area, making the shimmering pale blue of mana even more striking. The sounds I hear fade into a distant murmur. The smells disappear, even the flashing of the light becomes muted, and I combine multiple parts of my mind.

The restricting array the elf put around me shatters under my gaze, as a golden circle flares around my pupils, and a single [Empyrean Lance] shoots forth, boosted by kinetic energy at a speed much faster than the gorilla could ever hope to move. It pierces its chest, then continues forward into the wall behind it, through that, and out of the base.

The distant sound of an alarm intensifies. Where I struck and pierced the metal wall, the surrounding segments begin to melt, and inscriptions dance as they work to close the hole.

[You have defeated Gilded Bruteclaw - lvl 368]

[Lvl 328 > Lvl 329]

My Ley Lines stretch through the area, and even as a few snap with the last elf’s actions, I use the ones remaining to move around, avoiding his attacks as I make my approach.

When I get there, he just stands there unmoving.

My [Empyrean Lance] pierces the head, and the armor reveals its interior. Its arms extend and swiftly move to coil around me, holding me in place as it explodes, releasing all the thermal, kinetic energy, and mana it’s stored.

I don’t even make a move to escape.

Standing there, I absorb all that heat and kinetic energy back into my body. A small black orb forms in front of my chest and absorbs all that mana, hungrily drawing it inside.

When it is all gone, I move the black orb over the top of my head. It spins and expands into the shape of a black halo, not all that different from the golden ones the gilded monsters have.

And for the first time, I face the replica of the last elf who had left the armor before he set it to trap me and explode.

“I thought you would be stronger,” I say to him.

The last elf looks like a man in his mid twenties. Bright orange long hair combines with his perfectly shaped face and piercing dark blue eyes.

He is beautiful in a way that feels wrong, an unsettling kind of beauty that makes my skin crawl. You can tell instantly that such a person should not exist. His face and features are impossibly perfect, carrying an otherworldly beauty that feels as unnatural as it is flawless, like a divine being, sculpted without a single flaw. He looks like an angel sent down to earth not to save it, but to cleanse it of the human race.

Or maybe it is because of his expression, which looks almost dead and empty, with a hint of cold amusement. There’s not a speck of fear in him.

Lastly, he has those pointed ears. They are not overly long like some depictions, but of moderate length, angled to the side. Though they are perfectly shaped and sharply defined, as if crafted with the same impossible precision as the rest of him.

"Yo," I greet him, "I thought you guys only showed yourselves if you believed you were capable of surviving or killing your opponent."

He moves with the confidence and elegance I would expect from someone with his face. Wearing a simple white loose shirt, partially unbuttoned at the neck, and black pants, he takes a few steps closer.

"Sometimes, when our available resources are not enough to test our target, one of us appears to gather more information for the others," he says.

"So you’re just a sacrificial lamb to make me reveal more of my abilities?"

"Indeed."

"Did you guys draw lots?" I ask, letting him come close, just within arm’s reach.

He’s taller than I am, and as cold as his perfect face is, it is easier to read his expression now. There’s still the faintest trace of superior amusement in it, just as I heard in our conversations.

His arm stretches out, and with the tip of his finger, he carefully touches the black halo floating above my head. As he does, I notice there is not even a speck of mana left inside his body.

"I am not even joking, but I swear I will let you live if you tell me its name," I tell him.

The replica of the last elf lowers his head, and a strand of orange hair falls across his dark blue eyes.

A second passes as I face his gaze.

Then he laughs.

He laughs as if it is the funniest thing he’s ever heard.

His arm moves, fingers pressed together. I notice a shine of mana forming around it, shaping a sharp barrier as he thrusts his hand toward my eyes.

I realize he has somehow stolen a fragment of mana from the black halo.

My body moves faster than his. My palm slams into his chest, kinetic energy drilling a hole through his heart and bursting out his back.

He staggers before finishing his attack, then collapses to the floor.

Looking at his body, I feel something close to a sense of loss as I watch the light fade from his eyes.

[You have defeated Replica of the Last Elf - lvl 101]

He’s much lower level than I would’ve expected. If the other replicas are the same, then they just sent us to kill someone more than 200 levels below any of us.

I know level isn’t everything, and I’ve seen that proven so many times before, but the number still pokes at my pride. I have not been paying all that much attention to the halo above my head, but… how did he manage it, especially at such a low level?

The conclusion is the same as always: I still have a long road ahead of me, but I don’t think I’d have it any other way.

Chapter 676 - The Containment Protocol

I could probably say more about my time here in the base, but the days are impossible to track without the system's countdown for this beyond quest.

As interesting as the first few days were, the ones that follow are fairly boring. There are a few more attempts to eject me into outer space, along with a few attempts at poisoning me, and encounters with man-eating fauna, including a parade of gilded monsters.

There was even an attempt to cook me alive when I was moving through one of the rooms with a glass wall, and the local star appeared in the distance. The replicas somehow turned the glass into a magnifying lens and concentrated the light into a thin beam that melted half my body before I managed to defend against it.

Another fun one was when metal particles started shedding from the walls of the room I was examining. Over time, I breathed them in without noticing. Then they attempted to solidify inside my body.

Oh, and I can’t forget a few simple, but very effective, traps. The replicas left interesting items scattered all over the place, making them explode whenever I tried to examine them, no matter how sure I was they shouldn’t be able to. Just by using some weird vibrations, frequencies, or radiation, the replicas caused explosions in otherwise normal or even solid-looking items.

But as exotic as these attempts are, they’re all but useless against me.

With one and a half seals on the Ignition Heart lifted and my passive feeding on the generated thermal energy, my body restores itself quickly. My hearts and brain are kept in a barrier at all times, not to mention the other defenses I’ve built to keep them safe.

My body might not be the most durable, but damn, I am a tough bastard to kill.

Plus, there’s still my “fuck you and this base” card.

I just pierce a hole through the entirety of the base with [Empyrean Lance] and then use [Ley Line] to teleport into outer space through that hole, giving me time to break into another room should it become too dangerous to stay where I’m at.

The last elf can’t be very happy with having to constantly patch the holes my lance has caused, so damn, I love that thing.

But in the end, even I can see that these attempts on my life are not as serious as they might seem. They only serve to gauge my abilities, observe my healing, and study my defenses in preparation for the true attempt at killing me.

The replica I met said as much as it died, having no problem sacrificing itself just to gain more insight. The last elf is not combat-oriented, but he is an extremely inventive jerk when his replicas haven’t reached a high enough level to face their target directly.

I think it is a good thing these replicas only unlock their memories as they level up, likely as a result of a limitation in his [Replication] skill. If they had all his memories and knowledge from the start, I think with some resources, even a clone closer to level 200 would be enough to threaten me. Not as oppressively and easily as Lissandra could, but still.

Anyway, no one likes that guy. After my days here and with around five hours remaining, I glance over my level and stats.

Lvl 333

Strength: 274

Dexterity: 261

Constitution: 466

Mana (Stage 1/3 - Vast Mana): 1705 + 1705

My strength, constitution, and dexterity have continued growing, even now, as I make careful use of my Burden Enhancement Inscriptions and Restrictive Training Emblem.

Some might call it madness, but they would be wrong. My stats keep going up, so who are they to disagree?

At last, my mana has broken into the 1700s.

It is a good thing.

With my Reservoir, that is a shitload of mana, but nothing I can’t handle. At this point, my body is a well-oiled machine, running on a ton of mana and a questionable degree of optimism.

My skills are also rising nicely, with most of them gaining a level or two, and [Manifestation] hitting its first bottleneck.

Active skills (8/10):

Focus - Lvl 68

Perception - Lvl 66

Redistribution - Lvl 67

Mana Manipulation - Lvl 68

Ley Line - Lvl 59

Eclipse (Pride) - Lvl 42

Empyrean Lance - Lvl 27

Manifestation - Lvl 9

It has been quite a while since I freed up two active skill slots, and they have stayed free thanks to my deliberate choice. I have decided not to experiment too much with getting new skills until I know exactly what I want.

There are some I would prefer to have, while I am hoping for one that would help me with my mental abilities—like splitting my mind, thought acceleration, and the new mental exercises I’ve continued to do even now.

But even without that, the grind never stops. There are already new problems being caused by my constructs, so I have to divert more of my attention to fixing what I can and monitoring what I can’t. It is a careful balance of fixing some stuff, while creating new fuckups that I inevitably have to fix again, and then getting screwed over by things like stronger active skills making slight changes to my body, my stats causing imbalances, or a slightly relaxed seal on my Ignition Heart.

That kind of stuff. It keeps screwing up the balance. I fix it, and then it screws itself up again just to spite me. A truly neverending cycle, like a snake eating its own tail and pretending it has no other option.

As the hours tick down, I start to wonder how the others are faring. Mostly Tacita. As for Io, I think he might be dead by now. I just can’t imagine a scenario where he could actually be able to face her. Maybe he could survive if the elf locked him up somewhere in an isolated room, but that is probably all the thylarin can do.

That gray man should still be around somewhere as well, since I haven’t actually seen him die, but to be honest, I don’t really care about him all that much.

Oh, and Malika, of course. There is a fifty-fifty chance she is either still alive and throwing herself into every fight or dead at the first trap she came across. I still do not know what to think about her.

Dealing with Malika reminds me of my first minion. I hope she’s doing well enough that she doesn’t grow up to be like her. As her master and with her as my disciple, I still have that token that should let me communicate with her. I could use it once I finish this quest and sort out a few things.

I want to poke her tiny, pointy horns.

At least after all this time here, I have this place mostly mapped. A poor part of my mind, I lovingly named Mapthaniel, is currently running at all times with a single target - to keep a mental map of this place alive so I do not have to.

Using kinetic energy, thermal senses, and everything else I could, I mapped out what I could. Now, I head toward its front, where I think I can find the remaining replicas, with all of them likely very well prepared for me. The words that when the last elf shows himself to you, it is usually because he thinks he can kill you, come to my mind. If that does not sound like a clear challenge, I do not know what does.

But as I reach one of the thicker, more important doors, I stop, taking a few steps back.

I check with Mapthaniel again, and there should be a door on my left side, since there is a room there.

But there is no door.

As many times before, I release one and a half seals on my ignition heart, using a laser stream of thermal energy to start melting the surface. I narrow it even further, continuing for fifteen minutes until I feel a change in pressure. Instead of melting rock, the stream suddenly shoots ahead.

Then I stop and send [Ley Line] through the hole, teleporting inside with my defenses ready. I’ve fallen into similar traps too many times before not to be careful. But this time, there’s nothing like that. Instead, I find a dead teleportation array on the ground and a single huge panel on the wall.

One of my thermal cubes floats up and, without me even realizing it, turns into the version that gives off light with sounds similar to a crackling fireplace.

Realizing it, I shake my head and swiftly change the mode, converting it into a normal cube to light the small room.

The teleportation array is dead even as I examine it. I realize it has been like that for a long time, there are pieces missing, likely scrapped for materials to use somewhere else. But the panel is still working even though it has no power at all.

Multiple threads of mana surround me as I start connecting to the surface and nodes under the panel. I modify the frequency of my mana to match the mana crystals placed inside, all with my Mana Wavelength Iris activated. Then I start powering it up.

Right away, something makes an attempt to cut off my connection, but I track these attempts through the walls. When I locate the source and the nodes deep inside the pathways leading here, I form a lance, shoot it through the wall, and destroy one. Then repeat the process three times, destroying three of the possible access points and cutting off access to the replicas.

Each lance pierces the stone and metal like it’s nothing, then shoots out of the asteroid, probably on its way to lay the smackdown on some unsuspecting UFO. I honestly have no idea how far it will travel without any air resistance.

Then the base obviously starts patching itself up.

Just in case, I move the black halo from its place over my head and form it into a simple arrow-like projectile. Remembering how the replica stole mana from it, I pour the entirety of the mana from my Reservoir into the black projectile, making it more unstable and harder for him to interfere with. The projectile eats it all, as always, without slowing even for a moment.

When it starts reaching toward me for more, I launch it through the walls toward the place I think the replicas have hidden themselves.

Dozens of alarms activate, the base shakes noticeably, thrusters fire, then cut off as the structure changes direction. It seems I’ve already caused some trouble. I imagine the black projectile appearing in the middle of the room, possibly lodging itself in one of the control pillars or panels, as multiple replicas start rushing around in panic to get rid of it.

That should entertain them for a while.

Then I return to one of the base protocols I noticed earlier, something called The Fragment Containment Protocol. It includes dozens of sequences intended to activate one after another when the time comes to use the Pristine Cage I still have in my possession. Just as I suspected, the cage alone is not enough, and the entire base has been made from materials that should aid in the process.

I delve deeper to activate some of the sequences manually, but a warning tone rings in my ears. The engines fail me whenever I call on them, and so do the inscriptions etched deep into the evil lair of the pettiest elf in existence.

I spend the next few minutes creating [Empyrean Lance]s and shooting them through the wall toward where I estimate the control center is. I fire enough of them that I have to make myself stop before my mana drops further. The skill consumes a lot, but with the incredible piercing power it has, I’m not exactly surprised.

Afterward, I try to get into the system again, only to disappointingly meet the same result, with warnings beeping as I try to activate the sequences.

I check the timer and allow myself a minute to think.

Then I shrug.

It seems I’ll just have to cut the base in half, separating it from the replicas, so I can take over. Even though it will be more dangerous to contain the Fragment, the protocols seem like they’ll still work even with a smaller piece of the base. Half should still be enough.

I fire off another lance and send a mark through the hole to exit into outer space. Then, as the time limit runs down, I move to destroy the engines, push us closer toward the planet, and set up the charges that will split the base.

Chapter 677 - A World on Fire

I considered it for a few seconds and came to the smartest possible decision in the current situation. As much as I think there is to gain from meeting more replicas and killing them to improve the quest's rewards, I still keep coming to the same conclusion.

How the hell could that even compare to getting my grubby little hands on the Fragment below?

Do these elves think I’m the sort of dumb fool who’ll just run straight at them after they spent seven days straight preparing to kill me?

I mean… I still want to… but maybe next time.

So as the base splits into two, the piece I am on starts falling toward the planet. I checked it properly, and I’m pretty sure I’m alone here, leaving the rest of my colleagues back on the other half.

I watch as the other piece uses its thrusters to keep itself in orbit. At the same moment, more of that metal melts, covering the holes I’ve created and blocking my view into the base.

There is no question that I would love to have a face-to-face talk with Io and find out how much I’d need to twist his neck before it snapped, if he’s still alive. I would also like to see the face of that gray asshole, if he’s managed to survive. But damn, I’m just too curious about the Fragment to pay them much attention. I just separate a small part of my mind that I lovingly name Assholethaniel to do the mental trash talking, which makes me feel better right away.

While the base around me shakes, I keep checking the timer tracking the end of the quest, and my bearing through the panel in front of me.

I can’t really do much except rely on the calculations the last elf made and watch the trajectory while feeling the vibrations as the base tries to hold on. I could probably try to absorb the kinetic energy of the entire base, but at the speed it’s falling and with all the mass it contains, something in the back of my mind tells me that would be a bad idea.

Though something else keeps nudging me to try it. I bet it is Assholethaniel.

At least this plan seems to be working well, as expected of the most smelly elf in existence. Even with only half of the base, it manages to change trajectory, deal with missing parts, force out propulsion, and follow the protocols that guide it to the Fragment’s location.

This is going suspiciously well...

I surround myself with as many layers of mana barriers as possible, infusing them with thermal and kinetic energy to absorb the heat and the impact.

The base explodes around me, breaking apart into dozens of massive chunks and hundreds of pieces the size of cars and buses. All of that, along with myself, continues its fall to the surface.

Two golden suits nearly the same as the one I saw before appear among the debris and charge to attack me, one of them riding a lizard-like gilded monster with six legs and two heads. Unlike the last time, these suits also have glowing blue inscriptions peaking out through the gold plating.

Either the replicas triggered a self-destruct protocol from the section of the base still in orbit, or it’s been set off by the two replicas on this section that I’ve somehow missed.

How petty of him to destroy it, and with it an aid that would’ve helped me collect the Fragment.

Using kinetic energy, I move behind one of the huge chunks of debris, which explodes as the two heads of the lizard both shoot orange lasers at the same time, one from each eye.

I absorb the momentum of the debris in front of me to hold them in place, then send bursts of kinetic energy their way, launching them like shotgun pellets toward the lizard and the elf in golden armor riding it.

The lizard darts forward, leaping from one piece of debris to the next with incredible agility.

Even now, we continue to fall toward the surface, speeding up the closer we get to the burning planet.

My body moves, almost on its own, as I sense mana building up, while the place where I stood is struck by a barrage of nearly invisible cutting attacks. They carve deep holes into the side of one of the larger pieces. So I continue to zip around, flying here and there, moving between bigger and smaller pieces, using them as footholds and launching them at my opponents.

At this point, I’m not even taking the fight seriously because I have a much bigger problem. Most of my mind is focused on modifying one of the arrays I’ve been keeping stored in the back of my mind.

To keep the replicas from getting too cocky, I fire an [Empyrean Lance] or two in their direction while making sure I still have the Low Pristine cage on me. As much as it might not actually help, and despite the fact that it’ll probably end up being unable to hold the awakened Fragment without the base and its protocols supporting it, I still have a plan.

The planet below us fills more of my view, and the falling debris starts creating bright streaks of flames as it plunges downward. Smaller pieces start breaking apart under the stress of the heat, splitting into even smaller fragments.

I dedicate a part of my mind to creating and maintaining a lightly pointed barrier in front of me, absorbing the heat being generated around it. Gradually, the air resistance builds back up, and the sense of weightlessness disappears. And the entire time, I continue to burn through the healing marks Lily left me, still having plenty of them left.

Out of nowhere, intense shockwaves surge through the air, created by the explosion of one of the larger chunks of the base, pushing the smaller pieces farther out of the way, while creating an even bigger field of debris. The pieces with weird shapes start twisting, spinning, and changing direction as they tumble unpredictably. One of them crashes into the piece where the lizard and the elf are standing, and both of them are sent flying through the air.

The lizard is already burned to a crisp, but the elf in the golden suit seems completely fine. Before they can reposition properly, my lance pierces both of them.

[You have defeated Gilded Scintilizard - lvl 381]

[You have defeated Replica of the Last Elf - lvl 102]

[Lvl 333 > Lvl 334]

The remaining elf tries to use that distraction, but the chunk of the base he’s been standing on explodes as I teleport one of my tricolored orbs there through a [Ley Line], and he finds himself being hurled through the air, spinning wildly as he shoots off in another direction, moving faster than I toward the planet.

I give it a few moments to see if he uses some sort of propulsion or item to head back toward me, but nothing like that happens. He spins, continuing to plunge downward uncontrollably.

The remaining pieces around me start glowing even more, and tails of the superheated material trail behind them, something I probably should have learned about in school.

I push myself toward the piece I was on when it all started. The panel where I was watching the trajectory and reaction is still here, though of course it’s not working. A burst of kinetic energy I create pushes it away from me. I continue strengthening the barrier around me while slowing myself down.

The debris beneath me streaks toward the planet like a rain of fire, crashing into each other and breaking into more fragments that almost instantly evaporate.

I halt my movement once I decide I am low enough, then float in place.

A new suit of armor I’ve been working on forms around me. It is not much different from the one I usually use, but it is bulkier and at least partially inspired by what the last elf was doing. Of course, the effect of my subclass still refuses to allow it to be ugly, so some shapes change automatically to make it more visually pleasing while retaining the simple design.

The timer tells me there’s only five minutes remaining when I finally boost myself toward the area I sense emitting the highest concentration of heat.

Somewhere below me, the first pieces of debris slam into the planet and send another shockwave roaring through the air, in a blast I can feel even up here. The temperature keeps climbing, and when I pass beneath the clouds of smoke, lit from below by the flames burning on the surface, I finally see the planet itself.

A molten wasteland stretches as far as I can see, with patches of solidified stone that only wait to be melted. The air itself feels like it is burning, and something like a powerful wind coming from the Fragment’s location keeps sending twisting lines of flame spiraling through the air. It is just like one of those close-up videos from the surface of the sun.

I head straight toward it with complete confidence that I should be able to endure it for a few minutes at least.

[You have defeated Replica of the Last Elf - lvl 104]

Getting the notification surprises me. I would’ve expected him to survive longer with that suit on.

The wind-like pressure keeps pushing against me, forcing me to use more strength. It becomes so unstable, and there are so many wisps of flame cutting through my armor, that I’m eventually forced to land. And as I get closer, I continue forward on foot.

The armor around me expands to create larger buffer zones as the heat rises. I keep channeling that heat, absorbing it, moving it through my body and armor, then releasing it out of my back to shed and use it as propulsion to move faster.

Barely a minute remains, and I attempt to speed up.

[Redistribution - lvl 67 > Redistribution - lvl 68]

I let my mana manifest to create a pale blue hexagonal shining barrier segment in front of me, but it starts melting immediately, even as I keep remanifesting it, attempting to stack more layers. Whips of flame lash against it, cutting through and melting it, but I keep pushing through.

[Manifestation - lvl 9 > Manifestation - lvl 10]

[Focus - lvl 68 > Focus - lvl 69]

A bigger flare explodes toward me. My fragmented minds all connect and go into overdrive, trying to absorb as much heat as I can. I take it all into my body, where it swirls, trying to free itself from my control, bouncing inside until it can destroy me. My heart, even without me doing anything, speeds up. I can hear it pounding in my ears.

Ba dum. Ba dum. Ba dum.

A constant rhythm of heartbeats, strong enough to shake the world, is nearly drowned out by the screaming flames around me. Then I realize I am screaming too, from the pain and the pure thermal energy flooding my body. My passive healing struggles to keep up and feels ready to fail at any moment. Thermal energy keeps combusting under my skin, restoring the bits that burn away, but there’s far too much of it. I grab some of the energy I gather, gather it, and move to push it out.

[Redistribution - lvl 68 > Redistribution - lvl 69]

I take all that bouncing energy inside my body and channel it through me, detonating it behind my back.

Congratulations, you have acquired a new skill!

[Accumulation]

[Accumulation - Level 0 > Accumulation - Level 9]

[Redistribution - lvl 69 > Redistribution - lvl 70]

It launches me forward through flames. Even with all my defenses, the heat melts the skin from my body and chews into my flesh. The sheer magnitude of the temperatures here makes my passive combust constantly, sending healing bursts through me. I start using two healing marks from Lily at a time whenever the flames begin to damage anything important.

Then I see it.

The Fragment of the First Star.

Not floating in the air or lying on the ground, but glowing, just behind the forehead of the velnar’s kneeling body. His form barely resembles a living being, having been reduced to a charred statue.

When I lift the Pristine item, I notice its surface is already starting to melt. I open the cage and shove my hand into what remains of the velnar to grab the Fragment. The charred figure crumbles. As I draw my arm back to place the Fragment in the cage, I realize my hand is gone, burned away, and disintegrated up to the elbow.

The Fragment lies on the ground. It looks like a pinkie-long transparent pale orange crystal with orange and white flames dancing inside it, surrounding a core hotter than anything I’ve ever seen.

I collapse weakly to my knees, my movements sluggish and awkward. I press the cage into the dirt and scrape earth over the Fragment to force it inside. It takes a few tries, but once it is in, I slam it shut.

As if someone flipped a switch, the heat from the Fragment vanishes everywhere except my immediate surroundings. It is still enough to turn me to ash in minutes, but after what just happened, it feels like a cool breeze in summer.

Then the cage starts melting from the inside.

I watch it and glance at the timer, morbidly curious about which will happen first: the fragment melting through and killing me, or the quest duration running out.

In the end, I’m lucky. The timer ticks just as the cage begins to break, and I feel myself pulled away, reappearing in my handler’s room. The pristine cage floats in the air near me, but the Fragment inside is calm, unmoving, almost as if it were afraid of upsetting the being in this room.

My handler sits behind her table, red hair, yellow eyes, not bothering with pretending to be someone else.

I stand while turning my back to her, activating my last few healing marks to restore my body, and using my passive too. It takes a few long minutes, during which neither of us speaks, but slowly my body repairs itself. It is far too quick for the wounds I had, so I’m pretty sure she’s helping somehow, though I don’t say it out loud.

Only then do I slowly realize I’m butt naked.

Before turning around, I weave a rough pair of mana pants, just enough for now. Then I make a manabloc chair and weakly sink into it, sitting across from her. I can’t remember the last time I felt this drained. My head throbs with a dull ringing, but at the same time, I’m calm. As if every emotion had already burned itself out.

"Hello, my dear, favourite handler. My most favourite, even."

"What in the unholy fuck is your problem?"

Chapter 678 - Pay up

"Can I get some proper clothes?" I ask very politely, hoping my suspicion about how she will answer is wrong.

"It was all set so simply that even your little brain should understand. You go there, gather all the information you love so much but can’t seem to get in the tutorial, steal everything not bolted to the floor or carve it out along with the floor itself, maybe even learn something from the pointy-eared fuck, kill him, then leave. Congratulations. You’ve become stronger, your Beyond rank has increased, and I can finally send you on the Beyond quests I want, plus have you take part in all the events you couldn’t before. All while there are millions of ways for you to die during this quest, since otherwise you would just sit in the corner sulking like the petty little bitch you are."

"So, no pants?"

"No pants," she confirms, her face settling back into a calm expression as she lets out one long sigh.

Her chair gives a faint creak as she leans back, eyes drifting past me toward the nebula horizon. I follow her gaze, half expecting some new spectacle, but it’s the same endless swirl of colors, slow and heavy like thick smoke rolling through water.

The wood of her table has been darkened and scarred with grooves that cut deep into the grain. There’s a box on the far side, crammed with mana stones. The light inside them isn’t still, it moves in slow spirals.

"Don’t touch those," she says without looking at me.

"Wouldn’t dream of it."

"You would, and it would end badly."

"Define badly."

"You’d die."

"Quickly?"

"Not quickly enough."

I glance back at the stone. The light inside swirls faster when I stare at it. My hand twitches, but I hold myself back. I'm almost proud of myself.

“Who made it out? And what rank did I get?” I ask.

My handler tears her eyes away from the partially melted cage, the fragment inside it, and looks at me. “If I hadn’t stopped it, the fragment would have melted through and killed you.”

“I know.”

“If I hadn’t brought you here before returning you to the 3rd floor, it would have exploded and killed tens of thousands of attendees and locals before any of the stronger ones stopped it.”

“Possibly. But it happened before, when you stole…”

“I sold it and gave you a big cut.”

“… when you stole that white sand from me. So I expected the same thing now. Honestly, I had hoped to unawaken the fragment like the elf planned and store it, but he was super petty and ruined my plan. The cage got damaged in the process, but I think that much is fine. The fragment will be worth more than some low pristine item.”

“Much more. I have seen bigger ones, but this is unusually large. But it’ll need some recharging after burning for so long.”

“What the hell is the 13th floor for that velnar to have even been able to get it?”

“Can’t tell.”

“Of course you can’t. So who made it out?”

“Surprisingly, Io, your skittish friend, and the demon. Only Rendy died. Also, congratulations on becoming an A rank, one of the youngest ever, with the rare jump from C straight to A. Don’t ask me how. The system decides that on its own, using its own weird metrics. I still have no idea how you didn't rise to B rank after killing the Harvester. But don’t get too big headed, you’re still at the bottom tier of A rank.” She waves her hand, and on the back of mine a new letter glows for a moment before fading away, a shimmering silver A.

“Rendy who?”

She sighs. “The gray one.”

“Ohhh. How did he die?”

“It was kind of… brutal, but also pathetic. His handler’s a decent guy, so I’ll keep that to myself.”

That only makes me more curious. Maybe I could use my information allowance to ask about it?

I push the thought away. “I want to kill Io.”

“You’ll get a chance when you reach the 5th floor.”

“Okay, I’m surprised you guys are so chill about him cooperating with the elf.”

“In the eyes of the Rulers, it is not much different from the things you’ve done. There were times when everyone who even came into contact with the elf without immediately killing him was… removed.”

“Ehm, how about we change the subject?”

“Sure.” She leans back, arms crossed over her chest. Her posture tells me she is leaving the choice to me. She doesn’t bring up the information I learned from the elf, and I feel no need to mention it.

“So, about this,” I point at the trapped fragment floating there.

There is no visible barrier, but all of its heat is perfectly contained. It does not damage the cage any further.

“Want me to hold on to it and give it back when you return to Earth?” She asks.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Are you sure? Where is your pride? I bet you could channel all of it.”

“Would you unawaken it for me?”

“No.”

“Yeah, I don’t feel like burning down my planet.”

“Why burning? I bet you would improve enough by then to channel it all.” She repeats.

“No fucking way. That thing, as it is now, could probably kill a weaker Champion. Maybe not instantly, but it would overwhelm them until they couldn’t contain it.”

“It would. But you still endured it for a few moments. Come on, accept my offer, you worked so hard for this fragment.”

“All my healing marks are gone, and I used everything I had to endure a few seconds around it. No, thank you. As much as I would fucking love it, and even though I will be getting much stronger and could get some help with the preparations and… hmm… maybe I should.”

“You should not. You would fucking die.”

“I guess,” I sigh.

Even now, I feel severely disappointed. Terribly disappointed. Very strongly disappointed. I want this fragment. But I also feel it in my bones, I would die. If it were unawakened, like it was for that velnar who got it, I would take it without hesitation and learn from his mistakes. But awakened? I would burn, and take Earth with me.

Thankfully, I can look for it on the 13th floor. If that thing is there, and I can only imagine there’ll be even better stuff.

“I’ll be taking it then,” my handler says.

“What do I get?”

“Nothing.”

“I refuse then,” I answer, and she halts. “You either pay up or I will take it with me to the Beyond.”

“Just give up on the Fragment, it will make things easier.”

“For you, maybe. Pay up.”

“I won’t.”

“Then I will keep it.”

“Listen here…”

“You can’t just take it away from me without me agreeing. So either pay up or I take it to Beyond.”

“Do you really think you can blackmail me?”

“A little.”

“I can still let you reach the Beyond, wait for it to kill you, step in to stop it before it can hurt anyone else, and take it from there. The longer I spend talking to you, the bigger a fan I am of that option.”

“You can’t do that,” I answer, though I’m not as confident as before. I’m strongly relying on there being rules limiting that kind of interference.

There is a long pause. Just as I start to get nervous, I remind myself—she can’t do that, right?

"Two million shards, and I know Diligence is already going to complain. You could have gotten much more for the item, but nooo, you had to be smart, and damage the cage," she says through her teeth at last.

“HA! No fucking way.” My confidence returns instantly as I feel her moment of weakness.

“That cage is already too damaged, so don’t expect anything close to ten million…” she starts, but I cut her off.

“Low pristine items are worth ten million shards?”

"They start around that price, but you shouldn’t be expecting anything close. If you’re lucky, you might be able to sell it for about five million shards to a top-ten guild, one of the top three merchants, or a powerful local on the fourth floor."

“Sounds terrible, but I could live with that.”

“If it weren’t damaged. Now it’s worth one to three million at most, mostly for the materials.”

“The real prize is the fragment. That beautiful little thing is worth much, much more.”

“That thing melted your face off.”

“I love it like my own child.”

“You damn, stubborn dumbass.” She groans and waves her hand, summoning a bottle and two wineglasses. The bottle is beautiful, like a brilliant diamond cut into a stunning shape, with a small amount of red-colored alcohol inside.

She pours it into both glasses and slides one toward me. This time, she does not seem to be in a hurry, nor does she seem concerned about my time limit here.

I take the glass and sip. As expected, it tastes just like the alchemical wine Ruby poured me on the 2nd floor.

For the next few minutes, we continue to take small sips out of it, as I allow memories to swirl inside my mind.

To me, it looks like she’s only pretending to try to scam me out of my rewards. I suspect that she’s only acting like she’s annoyed, and deep down, she is pleased with how things turned out.

“What are you plotting?” I ask her.

“Nothing,” she answers shamelessly while taking another sip. “According to the rules, the simplest way to deal with this Fragment gained out of the tutorial is to give it to you after your tutorial ends. You would get both the damaged cage and the fragment, then it would burn your planet and everyone on it.”

“I’m not a fan of that option.”

“Me neither. The second option is to give it to you now. You return with it to the Beyond floor, where it kills you and thousands of attendees and locals before someone powerful stops it. Or before the handlers or Rulers are allowed to act and stop it.”

“Is there some percentage of attendees that have to die before you can act?”

“Something like that.”

“I think you also like to bullshit a lot and follow rules that fit you while twisting the ones you don’t like.”

“That is true. The third option is that I buy it from you, but there’s no set price. With White Sand, it was simpler since there are ways to keep its properties intact while making it less dangerous. Fragments are different, especially the truly old ones like Fragments of the First Star.”

“Twenty million shards?”

“More,” she sighs, “before you ask, I can’t give you that much. But why the fuck am I dealing with this crap alone? Diligence, get your ass over here.” Her head tilts toward the sky as she shouts toward it.

It takes only a few seconds, and while I do not see anyone else, a voice makes itself known, almost like a whisper in my right ear. “This is all your problem. You know that. This quest was fully under your jurisdiction. I also truly do not appreciate you revealing your identity.”

“Oh, come on, everyone who spends their time messing around does it at some point. Don’t be so uptight, and at least don’t be rude, send us a projection or something.”

"You want me to use my projection to reveal my identity to that attendee of yours. I can see that."

“What are you talking about? I’m just saying you’re rude,” she replies without hesitation, then smirks. “Besides, if I really wanted to, I’d come up with a better excuse than this.”

A faint pause, like the voice on the other end is weighing whether to keep arguing or hang up on the whole conversation.

“You’re irritating,” the voice says.

“Thanks, I try.”

She winks at me and whispers, "This one’s for free."

A sharp clack of mandibles sounds, and this time, when I turn to the right, I find a figure standing there.

An ant, its head level with mine if I were standing, stares back at me. Its compound eyes hold thousands of tiny reflections of me, and its black carapace seems to swallow the surrounding light.

Chapter 679 - Reward negotiation

Diligence turns to Greed, “Give him something other than shards. Not enough to make him much stronger, but enough to satiate his greed. You should know a thing or two about that.”

“I want a 5 active skills combination token,” I say from the side.

The huge ant glances at me and then back at Greed, “Is he trying to figure out if such a thing exists from the way I answer?”

“He can be very shrewd at times,” Greed nods. “I also thought of what you said, but I know you will only get angry if I give him something and you think it's too good. So it is better to have you here and pick something you agree with. We can even get Kindness to join in, in case it comes down to a vote. Wrath can just fuck off.”

The ant takes a few steps. Even though he is a projection and I can tell it is immaterial, it is almost too perfect. It completely tricks my eyes, along with every perception based on them, and the same goes for my ears.

“That makes sense,” the ant agrees. “What were you thinking of?”

“Two day Earth stay token? The value should be comparable?”

“No,” Diligence disagrees right away. “While possible, it is not applicable to this situation, and it does not fulfill any of the other rules required to earn such an award. May I also ask why we’re even speaking this way, at a speed he can process?”

“It would be rude to ignore him.”

“You, Greed, are just as bad as him. Please do not try to abuse our conversation to share more information than necessary.”

“Or what? Will you and your Colony come to my planet and…”

“Enough.”

Even though the ant is not present here, that single word has an incredible presence to it. It causes the manabloc chair under me to flicker and disappear, and I have to regain my balance to avoid falling down.

My pants made of mana disappear as well.

More than anything, this seems to surprise the ant, and in his compound eyes I see thousands of reflections of… I unhurriedly reform the pants and then the chair into which I calmly sit down again.

“That man has many reasons to hate you, and you see how well he behaves himself. Meanwhile, you only bring shame to yourself,” Greed provokes while mostly ignoring what just happened.

The First One sounded almost weary. “Please do not remind me of my mistake in choosing that era of my life for the floor. Unfortunately, I have not yet found one that fits my intent for the floor any better.”

That black body turns to me again, “I apologise for my behaviour just now.”

I notice he does not at all apologise for what happened on that floor. I still remember Hadwin’s death so vividly that I feel blood boil in my veins, but at the same time, it is… difficult.

I know he wasn’t the one who truly did that, even if he bears some responsibility. I also know our group shares the blame. That floor had too many ways we could have cleared it, and in the end, it was our weakness that decided the outcome.

“Pristine passive?” Greed asks before I can react in any way.

I push these emotions away and quickly add instead, “Mid pristine?”

“Low,” she says firmly.

“Low is only what, twenty million shards?” I complain. “If not that, from Kyralon I heard Diligence can make a Spatial Cache, I could take one of those. I won’t even be greedy, even one of the smaller ones would be enough.”

“What the fuck do you mean, only twenty million shards? And do you even have any idea how much a Spatial Cache is worth? Even if that fragment were three times its size, it wouldn’t even come close to the value of the smallest Spatial Cache…”

Diligence cuts her off. “No Spatial Cache, that’s out of the question. Not even a pristine passive. If he is diligent enough, he might earn one such passive on his own before his tutorial ends, but granting it here would be far too much.”

I mutter under my breath, “I could just take the blueprints for a spatial cache. If you’re all going to be such dicks about it, I’ll make my own.”

Diligence ignores what I just said. His voice sounds thoughtful as he walks around, chitin legs clacking with each step. “Unawakening the Fragment would be stretching the rules too much, as would taking the Fragment or fixing the cage for him. My recommendation is two million shards along with two or three smaller rewards.”

Diligence looks at me for a second. “1st stage trait strengthening token, and two active skills combination token, together with two million shards, should be enough.”

“The Fragment is worth well over 20 million,” I protest.

“Only if you were capable of using it. Awakened, and for someone like you, it is currently worth almost nothing. You cannot hold it, you cannot store it.”

Greed takes a sip out of a wineglass. She still lazily sits behind her wooden table, “It is still too little. He’s also due a reward for his participation in this Beyond quest, so we can combine them.”

“Just give me a low pristine passive and we are all good.”

“Nathaniel.”

“What?”

“Shut the hell up.”

As I look at her, she returns my gaze. She seems to have some kind of plan, but it annoys me a little. I know she probably wants to scam Diligence and get some fancy things for me. It feels childish, but with an annoyed sigh, I pour myself the last of the alchemical wine and then deliberately knock the bottle off the table.

I don’t know which one of these petty assholes does it, but the bottle halts just an inch from the floor and hangs there instead of breaking.

“How about two upper arcane passives so he can use his combination token, a first-stage trait strengthening token, five million shards, a high-end fourth floor residence permit, a twenty-four hour Earth visit token, and the possibility of me giving him Beyond quests normally intended for S ranks. Also, a ten-year Beyond visitor pass for after his tutorial ends.”

“Are you serious?”

“I am.”

“Just that visitor pass is worth more than the Fragment itself.”

“I would say they are of similar value.”

“You purposefully did not take into consideration that the Fragment is awakened, needs recharging, and is not usable by him, thus drastically reducing its value.”

“Did I?”

Diligence ignores her playful tone, “No ten year Beyond visitor pass, and for sure no token to visit his planet.”

“Come on, you know something is messed up with it, too. When was the last time you saw such a new planet in the system start a Pairing without even having an Absolute, and against a planet that’s already been through multiple Pairings?”

“If Humility were here, she would berate you endlessly for revealing so much information.”

“There wasn’t even the slightest censorship spike from the system.”

“It is because… oh, nice try. One year Beyond visitor token, and that's only because I give him a high chance of not surviving the tutorial, given the way he goes about things. No Earth visit token. Three million shards and a residence permit reduced to low tier. The rest is acceptable.”

I keep looking between the two of them as they continue to talk. Once again, Greed falls silent and takes a few sips while my mind goes into overdrive to try to estimate the value of all of that.

Two upper arcane passives combined would be around 2 million, making it 4 million total. Then, a first stage trait strengthening token, which really isn’t all that valuable, never mind that I’m sure I’ll get one from a side quest sooner or later. As much as I would love to visit Earth, even if only to replenish my stock of sweets, I think I can go without it.

Overall, these rewards seem fairly disappointing. The question is whether the Beyond visitor token is that valuable, or if the ability to take on S rank Beyond quests makes up for losing on the Fragment and the cage.

Finally, Greed leans back and smiles, “All your recommendations are fine, but allow me a small change. High end residence permit, four million shards instead of three, and we stop blocking the communication attempts by slightly lifting the spatial locks.”

Her answer confuses me. When I look at her with a question in my eyes, she returns my gaze. Her words are directed at Diligence, but at the same time, they sound like they’re really meant for me.

“In the end, she is his master and should be able to use her minion communication token.”

In the end, I ask my handler to split 30% of the shards I get between Tacita and Malika. Somehow. I just hope she doesn’t keep a cut of it for herself. It is possible that in the current situation, the deal we made for the pristine cage does not apply, but I decide to go through with it anyway.

Shards: 5,346,999

After that, my shards look better than ever, to the point that I have to think the others in the tutorial are lazy. With my salary in Primordial Knights growing, if they haven’t kicked me out for being late, with the addition of crafting plus a few more Beyond quests, I can make quite a lot. Before the tutorial ends, I smell the possibility of low pristine passives.

I can also pick two upper arcane passives now, and I’ll need to do that soon. I should choose the two that would combine best into a unique arcane passive, while selling the ones I no longer need as much.

I open my status to examine my passives.

Mana Kinetic Conversion Reservoir (Unique Epic)

Mana Fortified Mind (Low Arcane)

Mental Attunement Loop (Mid Arcane)

Mana Wavelength Tyrant (Mid Arcane)

Subdermal Combustion Weave (Mid Arcane)

I know I said the rewards were a bit weak. If Diligence or Greed had asked me, I would’ve cried over how badly I got scammed, but damn. That Fragment has to be something else to be worth such a fancy array of stuff. The Beyond visitor token especially confuses me. I heard it was possible for Champions, Absolutes, and a few others to be allowed into Beyond and certain floors of the First Dungeon, but I have no idea how valuable that is. Another thing I’ll have to figure out later, along with the residence permit.

The trait strengthening token is good enough to finally get my Mana Physique to its 1/3 stage. It’s been stuck on 0 for too long.

I can’t wait for the pain it’ll bring.

Most of all, I am curious about the last two parts. The ability to take on Beyond quests meant for S ranks sounds cool, though it also sounds like a quick way to die. I already asked my dear handler to get me one, but she told me to fuck off.

Then there is that thing about not blocking my communications. I think I know what that’s about, but for now, all I can do is wait.

With the quest done, I finally appear in what I quickly identify as my room in the branch building of Primordial Knights.

I barely look around for a few seconds when a voice sounds in my head, (Got you, you little shit, you’re finally back! I already let the branch leader and Weslin know. I hope you get your ass kicked, you petty little bitch. I know it was you who got into the high rank pantry and broke all my bottles of Evening Dew. Just wait…)

Once again, I reach toward the structure in the air while disrupting it to make the voice of the security lady fade away. People in this guild sure are nasty. The number of things that get blamed on me for some reason is incredible.

A few minutes later, someone knocks on the door. “Rookie, will you open the door for me?”

“I don’t like your tone of voice, Weslin. I think we should all calmly sit down to talk about what happened as adults.”

“Rookie. The. Door.”

“Yes, sir.”

I open it so my partner can walk in. Slightly shorter than me, shaved head, rocking those white and pale blue clothes of Primordial Knights. As always, I can sense the strength of his body just from the way the area around him reacts to each of his movements. I don’t think he’s a pure Strength enjoyer like Jean, but he definitely went hard on the physical side with traits, skills, passives, and raw stats.

When he closes the door, I start to get a bit nervous, even as he moves calmly and sits down in one of the armchairs. He crosses, looks at me. Very intently.

“I guess I could say I am sorry, but…” I start.

He interrupts me with a smile, “Rookie, why don’t you try apologizing by offering me your shards? Maybe as a thanks, just like before. For me, being patient for wasting a week of my stay token while sitting on my ass here. For enduring the Doc who keeps asking me where you are, for the branch leader who keeps asking me what kind of little shit we accepted into our guild. One of the oldest, most prestigious guilds in Beyond, with a history longer than many Absolutes.”

“I think you’d actually accept the shards this time, so I’d rather not.”

He smiles even more widely, “You have one hour to sort out your stuff. If you are not ready by then, I will personally ask them to activate the clause that backdates your absence as a ‘breach of contract’ and let the guild reclaim every shard you earned this month.”

“There is no way something like that was in there, or that you would be able to do it.”

“Try me, bitch.”

And with those last words, he leaves.

Chapter 680 - Look at you now

POV Aaron Dalton

Nat left two weeks ago, and now Tess, Sophie, and Lily are leaving for Beyond, and leaving us on our own. I mean, almost. Even though Izzy’s still not quite back to herself, she keeps an eye on us. I’ve noticed Noodle slithering around and spying for her recently.

Then there’s Maya. Damned Maya.

I don’t know what happened, if it was after the Beyond incident or if she just woke up some new side of herself, but damn, she’s been getting kinda scary these days. When in full [Focus], her eyes remind me of Nat, an impression that seems to be strengthened by the way her armor’s started to resemble his. Honestly, I like the badass tattoos, the ones even Nat’s been coming by once in a while to copy. The problem is, he keeps teaching her a bunch of scary things in exchange, like manipulating tricolored mana.

We don’t need more people with tricolored mana orbs.

Thankfully, she prefers to use it for armor and weapons instead of blowing it up and hoping it causes more damage to her enemies than it does her.

(We seriously need to train more. Min-Jae’s getting stronger, Maya’s catching up, too. And Izzy… she might end up on her own training arc or something,) Dennis sends over, seeming to easily know what is currently on my mind.

(Izzy’s gonna go on some arc where she finally awakens the full power of her Fragment. Or maybe Noodle’s the one who’ll end up awakening some ancient bloodline or whatever.)

(If you think about it, if it weren’t for Nat, wouldn’t that make all the most powerful members of our group girls?)

(Alright, I see where you’re going, but chill, we’re not that lame.)

(You wouldn’t have a chance if you went up against them on your own.)

(You dumbass, we’re twins, so we count as one, even in 1v1s.) I send back.

(That’s true. Tess is probably the strongest, though, and there’s no way we’re beating her.)

(I don’t know, man, I’d rather fight Tess than Lily.)

(Fair enough… so who’s up next in the power rankings?)

(Us?)

(Huh?)

With that, I respond, (I’m telling you, Maya with her [Focus] could probably take Sophie… if she, like, really, really tried. She is stronger than her in close and mid range combat. Maybe Sophie would have an advantage in long range, especially if she could get away with setting traps, but if Maya were to resist her mental manipulations, I’d be more than willing to bet on her.)

(True true. I bet we could face Sophie too.)

I stop, and Dennis comes to a stop at my side. In the distance, we watch as Biscuit, in his puppy form with his tiny antlers budding on his head, stops and sniffs. Both of us are quiet until he sneezes when dust gets into his nose.

He takes a few steps and sneezes one more time. He waits a few seconds, thinks it might be done, then takes another step and sneezes again, shaking his head as he does so. A few quick, angry woofs burst from him at whatever absolute monster could have caused him to sneeze, while he wipes his nose in the grass on the ground.

When he starts walking again on his short wobbly legs, I send, (If we surprised Sophie, we might be able to beat her. But damn, she went full on mindblender skill tree as of late.)

(At least she’s our mindblender. How about Min-Jae?)

(We would kick his ass.)

(Totally, easy fight, no sweat.)

(Yeah, that fucking neeeerd.)

(Neeeeeeeeeeeerd.)

(Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerd.)

(Doesn’t even have time for his best buds, constantly studying, and going out solo hunting.)

(Asshole.)

(Asshole!)

(Food food, asshole, sustenance! Be not afraid, bitch!) I send, mimicking Biscuit’s voice.

Dennis pauses and looks at me. (Damn, that was a good impression.)

(Thanks, I’ve been trying to teach him some new lines to surprise Nat, but Biscuit just won’t listen to me.)

Both of us go silent again as we come closer. We’ve long since learned how dangerous it is to talk that close to Biscuit, since he can connect to even our most private links. We cannot have that while spying on him.

Biscuit is standing in the middle of a small clearing. And I realize there’s another presence nearby that we haven’t marked on our map of the area. This is a place we don’t really visit often, since we noticed one of the demon tribes moving around here too much.

But what walks from behind the enormous jungle trees is not a demon.

It’s a dinosaur.

A goddamned dinosaur.

(A goddamned dinosaur,) I hear Dennis in my head.

Both of us quickly move to duck and hide behind the branches and leaves. We watch Biscuit sniff in our direction. I almost think he’s caught us, but then he sneezes again. A series of angry barks burst from him as he jumps around, annoyed with himself. It distracts him enough to keep him from looking our way.

The dinosaur tilts its head and lets out a series of noises similar to Biscuit’s barks, almost as if it were mimicking him. I feel my mouth open, but force it shut. That dinosaur most of all reminds me of a T-Rex. Huge head, massive legs, long tail, dangerous eyes behind armor-like scales.

Lastly, over its head floats a crown. A pale blue crown, the same crown Nat once had.

[Rex Coronis - lvl ???]

Biscuit comes closer. He looks so tiny in comparison. The T-Rex seems even larger than the ones I saw in the movies, maybe twice as big. The corgi doesn’t seem to care and begins to grow as well. Biscuit becomes the size of a big dog, then the size of a horse, then a car, then a bus, and grows further until his head reaches the chest of the dino.

Even then, Biscuit retains the proportions he had in puppy form with his tiny antlers. My vision blurs as I try to take it in, as if my brain is telling me I’m seeing some kind of optical illusion, after all, the corgi just should not be that big.

Taking a few jumpy wobbly steps, Biscuit reaches the T-Rex and headbutts him as the beast lowers his head. For a few moments, they push against each other until the T-Rex sidesteps. Biscuit pushes further but cannot stop himself, rolls, and crashes into a boulder. He gets stuck on his back with his legs waving in the air as if he were swimming and twisting in an attempt to get up.

The T-Rex lets out a few deep barking noises and, with its massive maw open, takes a few steps closer before lowering it. For a moment, I imagine him tearing into Biscuit’s belly, but instead, he nudges the stuck corgi so he rolls over to get back on his legs.

Biscuit woofs a few times and rushes at the T-Rex again to play, the ground shaking beneath him as he jumps.

“The best T-Rex of the 9th floor,” Dennis whispers next to me.

Both of us crank up our Sneaky Mode and leave the two big beasts to their game. Before we head out, I pull out my phone, record a quick video, and snap a few pics.

POV Tess Hansen

As we appear in Beyond, two figures come into view. Lily does not hesitate and reacts even faster than I do. She uses [Sacrifice] three times in a row, shooting ahead at a speed that feels like it should be impossible for her tiny body to handle.

All my javelins shoot forward too, imbued with as much primordial lightning as I can force into them. They whistle as they cut through the air. I channel more lightning and let it flicker through my body. The ground bursts under me as I use [Psychokinesis] to prepare for the leap forward.

Lily crashes into the monstrously tall four-armed thylarin with burning symbols carved into his forearms. Her [Disintegration] flickers everywhere, erasing everything it touches from existence.

All except Luan.

(Go, help Lily. I’ll handle it here.) Sophie shouts through our connection, and I do not hesitate. I fly high into the air, channeling more primordial lightning to craft something much more dangerous. Something I’ve been working on for a while.

I don’t just let the lightning flicker through me. I force it into shape. Arcs bend and curve around the javelin until a spinning ring forms around the haft, a circle that grows brighter as it tightens. The air hums and shrieks under the pressure as currents collapse toward the weapon. Metal groans. Even the hardened body of the javelin begins to glow, heat rising as the circle compresses tighter and tighter.

The instant I release it, a flat metallic snap cuts through the air, followed by a boom that shakes the ground.

The javelin vanishes from sight, leaving only a jagged white-red line tearing across the air. It’s not smooth, it flickers and breaks apart as plasma bursts along the path, each fragment collapsing almost as quickly as it forms. Dust and stone rip upward in its wake, pulled into the vacuum.

Far ahead, the projectile reaches its target almost before my eyes can follow. A compressed air bursts outward from the collision. The delayed thunderclap crashes through a heartbeat later.

I see through the dust easily, and Luan’s eyes lock on mine. In his hand, he holds the javelin, glowing red-hot as if ready to melt from the friction and speed I launched it with. The weapon is lodged slightly into his chest, but he holds it, stopping it from going any deeper.

Two of his hands snap the javelin in half. The other two, for the first time since the fight started, move as well. They slam together in a clap. The burst of shockwave that follows is strong enough to send the charging Lily flying.

Instead of being thrown away, she crosses her bone axes in front of her body. The gray mantle behind her back expands in size and extends in length while leaving an eerie feeling in its wake.

But before anything else can happen, a scream tears through the surroundings.

Sophie falls to her knees, pale, bleeding from her eyes, nose, and ears. She coughs dryly and groans in pain as she sways, then collapses sideways.

I dive down in front of her, preparing another projectile for Faora. I should have targeted her first. We should have killed that feylith. I should not have left it all to Sophie, no matter what she said–

I stop.

Faora lies on the ground, unmoving.

“Did you really think you would get me a second time with that shitty skill?” Sophie cackles weakly behind me, coughing up blood. Lily’s already there, healing her body immediately. Healing her mind, though, will take far longer.

“Did you fucking think you would get me again, bitch!?” Sophie climbs back to her feet, pushes Lily away, and tries to move past me.

She screams, every word growing louder than the one before, “Did you really think you’d break me? You wanted me on my knees, begging for mercy? Look at you now!”

Luan moves almost too calmly. In a few steps, he reaches the feylith’s body. Her hair and eyes are both white. I can barely believe what I’m seeing.

Faora is dead.

Luan is as surprised as I am. I tense as he observes the body at his feet.

He whispers something as he reaches down and closes Faora’s eyes. He hunts out some items from her corpse for some items before standing up. Then he turns to leave.

Just like that.

I stop Lily from rushing him. He doesn’t seem to want to continue the fight.

Then Sophie calls out, “I can do what you needed her to do.”

Luan stops, his back still turned to us.

She continues, “I’m stronger than her. I have a lot more time left in the tutorial, and I saw it all in her memories.”

“You would have to join Frontier as well, and be willing to work with me,” he says as he turns around. His wounds already healed. I feel an immense pressure radiating from his body as he takes those few steps towards us. Not even for a second does he seem to think we would be a threat to him.

“I know,” our mind mage says.

(Sophie,) I whisper.

(I’ll tell you everything back on the 9th floor. Trust me, okay?) She answers in an uncharacteristically soft voice.

I watch as she passes by me, and I let it happen. She walks to Luan’s side and follows him as he starts walking away once again.

Worried, I turn to Lily, but the expression I expect is not there. She doesn’t look desperate, doesn’t seem scared of being left behind again. Lily’s not that girl anymore.

“Well, Sophie has some explaining to do,” she says with a weak smile. She seems to trust our friend, and maybe I should as well.

“It seems so, but let’s trust that she knows what she’s doing,” I sigh, and look at the feylith’s corpse. It looks like we’ve got yet another monster in our little group. I’ll have to keep working hard.

I switch back to scouting while telling Lily, “I have a way to contact Leticia and Jean on the 2nd floor, so let us clear this one quickly and see if we can group up.”

Chapter 681 - The Open Path

POV Nathaniel

You have been invited to meet with your master for 10 minutes. Will you accept?

Yes/No

It’s been a week since I returned from my Beyond quest, meaning I still have at least 2 weeks left on my stay token, maybe longer, since it’s being boosted by the Primordial Knights.

During that time, I’ve been getting bullied by Weslin. Something tells me he didn’t like having to wait for me. But it’s all good, since we still get some work done advancing the progression of my quest, along with some side stuff he claims he needs to take care of in order “to make a living.”

“Hey, I need ten minutes,” I tell him.

He looks around to check for danger, then sits down on the ground in the next moment. “Go on.”

As a man of developed taste, I create a manabloc chair and sink into it before confirming.

Just like when I meet with my minion, I find myself in a never-ending white void. Everything’s just… white. There are no walls, floor, or ceiling I can see, but when I walk, I feel the ground beneath my feet. With a few steps, I reach a figure standing ahead of me.

Lissandra has looked better. She’s missing her right arm, and her clothes are in poor condition, though someone has done their best to make them look neat. Her left eye stays closed, and her silver hair has been burned short, leaving it weaving and twisting at the edges.

“Rough day?” I ask.

Even in her state, she smiles with absolute confidence. “It reminds me of the good old days, before I even took on the rank of Champion.”

“So, it could’ve been better, I guess?”

“Likely, but I had a promise to keep. Little pup, I didn’t think I would see you for a while, not until you came to Eladore.”

“That is what I thought too. Did you get fucked over?”

“It was a result I had expected, and nothing I can’t handle.”

“I see, even without a heart?”

“How very perceptive. Little kitten has been sharing her mana with me, so it’ll be enough for now.”

“Just for now?”

“Yes, for now. Little pup, I might have changed my mind. I will stay here a bit longer, dig deeper, and see what this is all about.”

“At least until they kick you out?”

“They’ll need a strong majority for that. It’s not impossible, but it’ll be difficult. Even if they did manage it, things would still work in my favor, since it means I would be sent out of the First Dungeon, along with our little kitten. After that, I would return. But enough chatter. Do you know what I want from you?”

“My black mana?”

“Exactly.”

“Will it even work? I mean, where the hell are you?”

“We are on the twelfth floor of Beyond. It’s been spatially sealed, though the seal is, honestly, rather pathetic. Unfortunately, without my heart, there’s not much I can do, but a few days ago, they loosened it enough that I could connect to you.”

“What even is the First Dungeon?”

“I do not know.” She smiles, and this time it’s a big, excited smile. Damn, she really seems to be enjoying herself.

I try to see if I can channel and compress my mana. At first, it moves strangely, having grown sluggish in this place, but the moment I compress it enough to turn black, it flows more easily. As if this space can’t really affect it as much.

“Can you even take it? We’re not meeting in person, after all,” I say as I shape it into a dagger, almost the same as the first one I created.

“Thanks to its inherent properties, it should be possible.”

“They won’t try to stop it?”

“It’s not breaking any rules, so they can’t interfere. Little pup, will you not ask me for the name of your… black mana?”

“Nah, I'm done with that shit. I ask. You’ll just tell me you’ll reveal it next time, or feed me some other bullshit. The number of times it’s happened now would probably surprise you. So, now I’ve reached the point where if someone comes to tell me what it is called, I mean to tell them to fuck off, then simply force everyone else to call it black mana as well.”

She blinks her single open eye a few times and reaches her hand forward, "For some reason, that makes me kind of curious about how many times it must have happened."

“It would surprise you. What do I get for the dagger?” I ask, still holding the dagger close to my body.

"Information. A small hint from me, left for you to think about on your own."

"Aren’t you getting a bit too cheap since you took the greed subclass?"

"How very amusing, little pup," she says as she moves, and I allow her to take the black dagger from my hand.

She immediately starts working on it. Unlike the replica of the last elf, who only managed to pull away a few scraps of the mana I fed into the black halo, Lissandra goes further. She uses the same method as before, strengthening and shaping it so it becomes solid enough to be used as a proper bridge between herself and the outer world. That way, she can let the dagger absorb mana, which she will later draw out as needed.

Without lifting her eyes from the dagger, she says, "There is something you should know about Absolutes and pairings. An Absolute is at their strongest on their own planet, which is why they almost never leave. But when one does, the system reacts in a very particular way, little pup. The moment an Absolute steps onto another world, that world’s Absolute is alerted. They are told another Absolute is present, and the system forces them to choose between two options."

When she finishes whatever she was doing, she glances at me. After I give a nod, she stabs just the tip of the black dagger into my arm. I make no effort to fight against the pull on my mana.

As she looks at the drop of blood flowing from the wound, she continues, "The first option is simple: nothing happens. The second is far more interesting. You can treat the presence of another Absolute on your planet as a challenge, and if you choose that path, you may proceed to begin a Pairing."

When it is all done, she pulls the dagger out and slips it behind her belt.

The last few seconds of her visit begin to run out.

"Take care of Myrra, okay?" I say.

"How foolish you are, little pup. I gave you my word, and I will keep it, even if it costs me my life. You may not see it that way, but I would never break a promise to one of my disciples."

With a final smile, the space around us breaks, and I find myself back next to Weslin.

Dozens of thoughts swirl in my mind until suddenly the need for my ESM strikes.

"Ten more minutes," I tell Weslin as I use my minion communication token.

Thankfully, my minion is online. Before Weslin can even react, I’m already appearing in that endless white space once again.

"Master! You haven’t forgotten me!" My minion greets me with her mischievous smile, just like always. Her brown hair is longer now, her horns are sharper, even though they remain short. I just hope the other demons don’t bully her for it.

"Who are you?" I ask, tilting my head and feigning confusion.

She does not even slow down, only giggles louder. I think she might leap into my arms, but instead, she suddenly comes to a stop in front of me. She lifts her arms up, asking me to pick her up.

I do it right away. She quickly nestles her head against my chest, shifting until she can listen to both of my hearts. As always, her pointy horns poke against the underside of my chin.

"Are you eating well?" I ask.

"Yes! I even got my first minion, and now she cooks for me! She’s a half demon, too, and she swore to serve me in return for saving her life."

"Your what?"

"She also has a cute talking dagger! I’m glad I didn’t throw it into the volcano when we fought in that Demon Lord’s castle."

"You were where?"

"A big fancy castle, master! It even had a lake full of man-eating fish. You need to get a castle like that! I went there because I was poisoned. And there was a healer there who could help me, so I joined a small group of thieves to get inside, but they betrayed me. I had to kill most of them."

"The hell?"

"I met the leader of these thieves in jail, where those silly villagers had locked us up so they could feed us to the monster they called their god! I almost died, but I killed it instead. Then I burned the whole village down! But don’t worry, I stole anything of value first."

Her face beams with excitement while she rushes through the story of her adventures. Since we only have ten minutes, she pushes herself to share as much as possible. She doesn’t even let me get a word in, but I don’t mind it at all. With a smile spreading across my face, I listen to her, praising her whenever I can while reminding her to be careful.

I only wish she would not always answer, "I’m as careful as master is!"

When we’re finally getting down to the last few seconds, I finally stop her. She realizes how little I spoke and starts apologizing.

I wave it off and describe in a few sentences what I have been doing. My smile seems to calm her down.

"What will you do now, master?" she asks.

I think about it. My smile stretches further. "The only thing I can do, minion. My best. And if that’s not enough, then I will make it enough."

POV Rafael Vaughn - Channeler

I’m alone in the room now. It feels strange, remembering how cramped things were scant a few months ago, if only because this one is so much larger and far more luxurious. The wide windows stretch almost from wall to wall, opening onto a breathtaking view of cliffs and the restless sea in the distance. From here, I can see two helicopters lifting off the helipad beside the house, carrying the Easy Difficulty attendees. Out on the water, a smaller ship waits to take them the rest of the way.

I look away from it, and for a while, I just stare at the phone in my hand. Then I dial the number I received only hours ago.

"How did you get this number? Who are you?" a female voice asks after just a few rings.

"Jessica, it’s me, Rafael."

"Channeler? How the hell did you get this number? I just got it today."

I lean back on the couch while clicking through photos on my laptop. "I’m in the good graces of the US Army. They give me things if I ask for them."

"They caught you? Do you need help?"

"It’s not like that. We’re cooperating with them. You already know who I work for."

"Gwyn."

"Yes, the mana mania… oh right, Gwyn."

"I guess that makes them think twice before messing with you. So why are you calling?"

"First, congratulations on finishing your tutorial. I think you’re one of the first from normal difficulty."

"That’s right!" she says, her voice rising with excitement. "I thought it would be a total mess here, but it’s actually okay. Sure, a few monsters are appearing every now and then, like weird animals, but the Hard Difficulty guys will take care of them as soon as they get out. And it’s only been one week since I arrived, but I’ve already made more money than I have in my entire life."

"If I remember correctly, you used to be a surgeon?"

"A Cardiologist. I made half a mil a year. But now? People just keep throwing money at me. I’m sure I can make billions. Oh, wait, is this call secure?"

"I’m not dumb, Jessica," I say. Then I wait, letting her talk, because I know she likes to show off in front of people she believes to be high up in the hierarchy. And now, thanks to my connections, I count as one of them.

"I guess you’re not dumb. You never were." She laughs. "Anyway, in a few weeks, I might even manage to cure baldness. You can’t imagine how much money there is in that shit. I can use my healing skills to create a temporary solution and sell it. Not a one-time cure, but something like a subscription. People will be paying me forever. I’ll be drowning in money."

She looks pleased with herself, waiting for me to say something. I take a moment, then finally speak. "Jessica, I have an offer for you."

"I was wondering why you called. What is it?"

"I want you to be a personal healer for around two years."

On the other side, there is silence until she finally replies with caution, "Go on."

"It’s for a cat. It’s old, sick, and close to dying. I already tried throwing millions at it, but no vet or doctor could do anything."

"So you thought a healer from Normal Difficulty would do the trick?"

"The ones from Easy Difficulty aren’t enough."

"Rafael… really? A cat?"

"It belongs to Grumpy."

I expect a long pause, but it lasts barely three seconds. "Tell me where you are. I’ll be there tomorrow."

POV Warden of the Parallax Eyes, Kyralon

Kyralon rises from the low table. A layered field surrounding him, strengthening the reach of his trait. His expression is unreadable as his gaze fixes on a single point in space. Looking over the shelf, he selects an oval mana stone, which unfolds into the form of a transparent blue book.

From his pouch, he draws a wooden pen. With it, he writes the date in the private system only he uses, then begins recording.

16:00 - The Ruler of Pride has entered Beyond. All active Rulers were notified, and those available shifted their focus accordingly.

16:01 - The Ruler of Pride descended directly to the Twelfth Floor. A brief exchange occurred between him and the imitation of Absolute Lissandra Hawthorne. Without confrontation, he turned and departed, moving toward the center of the Twelfth Floor.

16:11 - The Ruler of Pride cleared the Twelfth Floor and entered the Thirteenth.

18:12 - The Ruler of Pride cleared the Thirteenth Floor and stepped onto the Fourteenth.

18:22 - The Ruler of Pride has departed Beyond. A message has been sent through the system itself, a reminder that his seclusion has ended, and his strength remains unmatched.

Kyralon pauses, his grip tightening around the pen. His eyes lift to the starlit sky, following paths invisible to others. When he writes again, his hand trembles slightly, though his lines remain precise.

For the first time in thousands of years, the path to the Thirteenth Floor stands open. Not through the effort of many, but through the power of a single being. The First Dungeon remains a mystery, its meaning and purpose still hidden. Perhaps it holds knowledge of the system itself, knowledge Pride seems to grasp more clearly than anyone else.

But the question remains: who among the Rulers will dare to follow?

After all, on the Twelfth Floor, a wounded Ancient Monster now awaits. Placed there by the Rulers to die, she remains, licking her wounds as she waits for those who cast her down.

Chapter 682 - If you’re reading this, I’m probably dead

If you’re reading this, I’m probably dead.

Damn, I’ve always wanted to say that.

Anyway, in my hunger for knowledge and abilities many would call unnatural, I dug too deep. Well, not actually dug, but metaphorically dug. Assuming you’re not a crayon eater, you know what I meant.

Anyway, again, maybe I should have paid more attention to the early signs. They were all there, but in my pride, I ignored them.

But before we get to that.

Months have passed since I returned from that quest during which I met the pettiest elf alive. I still cannot forgive him for splitting the base in half, then trying to kill me by detonating the bits I was on. In an incredible show of greed and pettiness, he did everything he could to stop me from saving the Fragment of the First Sun from the planet’s surface. I mean, it was lying there for hundreds of years, so clearly no one else wanted it.

Ever since that quest ended and I got my rewards, I’ve been asking my handler when I would finally get the promised S rank Beyond quests and events. So far, the answer remains the same:

Fuck off.

My handler remains cryptic as always, so I can only hope it will be soon. She says if everything works out, I will understand why she chose the rewards she did.

In the past few months, a lot has happened. I think it surprised more than a few people in the Primordial Knights when I became an A rank. According to the contract, my salary should escalate along with the benefits, but of course, they pushed back, hiding behind some fancy clause that gives them grounds to postpone things a bit.

I fought back, too. Literally.

Turns out blowing up half of the guild’s sparring zone makes them give you a bit more respect. Those fancy clauses suddenly became less strict, and I got my escalators leading to better pay. Not like I need that many shards. I doubt there are many Beyond attendees with more shards than me, but it would feel wrong not to demand what I deserve.

Weslin acted like a big tsundere about it when I blew up the sparring zone, screaming at me, complaining with that vein bulging on his temple like it might pop. But I believe, deep down, he was happy for me.

My progress to clear the third floor to reach the fourth, where I might meet Nyssa, continues well. With Weslin’s help, we’re working on creating a safe zone for the Beyond floor quest. Of course, we’re not going for a small one either, having decided to focus on building a larger one. I am fine with that, since it is more dangerous and more interesting. The branch leader and the security lady also say it should help build up the standing of the Primordial Knights. So we’re gathering materials, building outpost arrays, and killing monsters. Lots of monsters.

There were a few times where it got dangerous, but my partner and I are a good combo. Weslin gets punched in the face, and I blow up the area, often as he uses his primordial void to strip defenses, where the enemies make attempts to block it.

Once in a while, Weslin leaves to train alone. For some reason, even I see it, a spark inside him reignited, an ambition to get stronger. I also think he and the security lady were together for a few weeks, but they must have broken up. Maybe that’s why. The same kind of thing that motivates people to hit the gym after a breakup, except Weslin’s hitting monsters instead.

Anyway, Talon tells me there are rumors that Weslin might become an S rank before the tutorial ends. That would make him the third person currently in the Primordial Knights to do so.

I even found out a bit more about it in my curiosity, but both Luan and Weslin have similar amounts of time left in the tutorial, while Nyssa has even more months left than they do. It’s even been said that she might soon be the strongest S rank in the tutorial.

Overall, I like Weslin. He is a cool guy, and I bet if I keep acting this way, it won’t be long before I’ve got him saying, “I’m too old for this shit.”

I really want to hear it.

So, if I really am dead as I said at the start, someone please give Weslin my collection of antomic bombs, sparrow obliterators, and all of my prototype items. Especially the mana batteries shaped into crowns and halos. I think they might suit him.

Do not, for any reason, let the Doc get my body. I repeat, DO NOT LET THE CATBOY GET MY BODY.

Burn it if you have to. Now that I think of it, even if I’m dead, it should still be resistant to fire, so I don’t know… throw it into a volcano or shoot it into outer space.

Group 4 is also doing well, from what I’ve seen on the ninth floor. It’s a one year survival challenge, so I’m not worried about spending most of my time in Beyond. I think it’ll help group 4 prosper in the long run. Those beautiful lunatics just keep getting stronger.

Sophie killed Faora. Just like that, she ended her. May that feylith bitch find herself revived one day so Sophie can kill her again. I always knew Sophie was a terrifyingly talented mind mage. I even told her to stop being a scaredy cat and start using her abilities again, but now that she has, I’m actually a little scared.

Thankfully, my mental defenses are better than ever. I gave up on having mental defense passives and developed a new way to protect my mind instead. When I was training with Sophie, it seemed to shock and even scare her.

That must be a good thing.

Instead of defending against mind mages with labyrinths and walls, I went for a better strategy. I lovingly call it “Oh, You Dumbfuck Actually Walked In”.

Tess continues to develop her [Declaration] and even got a fancy new skill to boost both the range and purity of her primordial lightning. After she found just the right metal for her javelins and started using that railgun-like attack, she’s become far scarier than before.

The piercing power of her attacks is now comparable to my [Empyrean Lance], but they’re much faster too. I mean, much, much faster. And she can shoot those things off from miles away with really high accuracy.

She’s also started sparring more with Lily to reduce her weakness in close range combat, and damn, the bouts really get close sometimes. Tess and Lily are now on the second floor as well, while Sophie, with help from Luan and some support from Frontier, is on the third.

As for our petite bulldozer? Well, she grew her own unholy mech. A massive suit of armor made from her own flesh and bones, stored in our camp so she can wear it when the need arises. It allows her to go toe-to-toe in melee against much larger monsters.

I don’t know if we’ll be able to drag it up to the tenth floor, but there is still plenty of time on the ninth. And damn, if it isn’t likely to turn into something truly terrifying. Lately, she’s also been experimenting with growing wings, and the other day I saw her pummel a bunch of level 350 monsters without using even a speck of mana. She did it purely with the power of her body.

And Min-Jae hasn’t been slacking either, and his flight speed is the fastest after mine when it comes to group 4. Well, only he, Tess, Biscuit, and I can fly, but it is still impressive.

And now he has a better hold on his gravitational primordial energy through his work with [Telekinesis]. He’s also started experimenting with that thing Malika once tried to do to me: the thing where you pierce a person’s natural defenses and compress their brain.

And he reads. A lot. Sophie made a wooden cabin for him, and somehow, he made it float a few hand widths above the ground while storing books, mana stones, and other things inside. He has to recharge it, but it is the first step toward making his very own floating island.

I’ve already reserved the second one from him. He agreed to make it for me after he completes his own. We’ve even been thinking of stealing one of those huge aircraft carriers and making it float. We both agree that those ships have always looked cool, and making them float will only make them better. And if I’m not wrong, they only cost a few billion dollars, so we can probably just have Lily heal a few CEOs or something for some quick cash. If we don’t just steal it.

The twins can now place marks on items and teleport to them whenever they want. These marks last for a long time, and they love putting them on the daggers they like to throw around. It reminds me of something, but I can’t recall what exactly. They’ve also been investing heavily into Dexterity while working on their [Haste] and stat sharing. I think when one of the twins stacks all their stats and they go all out together, they become almost as fast as Tacita for short bursts.

They have also created a few nastier ways of using [Connection] in their fights, and they’re getting better at using their opponents’ skills against them, thanks to the efforts of their combined minds.

I’ve spent weeks with Izzy, too, hoping to understand her Fragment of Eternal Fire. After losing the Fragment of the First Star, I am determined to improve my channeling and get a new fragment on the thirteenth floor.

Both Izzy and Noodle are really good at burning stuff now. I tried to compare their fragment to my thermal energy, and it’s actually really difficult. I think when it comes to raw damage, their fragment is stronger. Thermal energy just feels like it’s focused in a different area.

I talked about it with the Doc while applying the trait strengthening token to my Mana Physique, letting him observe me as I squirmed in pain. He just said he doesn’t care about that stuff.

Good enough answer.

When I also applied my second token to push my Mana Physique to the second stage, I thought the Doc would jump out of his skin with happiness. I passed out, but he collected a lot of data, which I went over later with Lily. We’ve spent many long nights studying and theorizing.

As for Maya, I keep getting more and more jealous of her tattoos day by day, the way she stores mana and even her mech blueprints inside them. She’s become really good with tricolored mana and honestly uses it more often than I do. Where I like to overwhelm enemies with quick attacks using normal mana, she’s precise, like a sharp tool. She trains in martial arts for hours every single day. And she spends every night playing the instruments we borrowed from the Academy.

Before, I thought she might not be able to reach Champion rank, but now I am almost certain she will.

I also met Biscuit’s new friends: a T-Rex, a Chameleon, and that creepy-murderous maniacal-little-shit-ferret-looking-spawn-of-the-devil.

It makes me worried, but Biscuit’s cute, so he can do whatever he wants.

So here I am. Things are going well. I have everything. Money, houses, a dog. I might even get myself a car. Young, no loans, secure for life.

But it wasn’t enough. Not for me. The more I level up and put stats into Mana, the more I feel my body breaking apart. And my constructs have only pushed it further, and my mind has been strained beyond the limit. I have become very good at it, though. Escher’s Cube, Penrose Triangle, the Klein Bottle, and Möbius Strip. I can see them all clearly in my mind. They look real to me, and in my mind, my mana moves through them even when it shouldn’t work.

That was my calling. It made my mind far stronger, and Mana Cycling much easier. It allowed me to accumulate more mana than ever before, and it let me split my mind into a lot more fragments. I set the basis for techniques and optimizations I’ve named Sequence Pinning, Load Rotation, and Parallel Mapping.

But then something changed. At first, I barely noticed, just small hints, but over time, it became impossible to ignore.

My separated minds began to optimize themselves, only by the tiniest fraction, about 0.05 percent, and only on occasion. Especially the older ones, I’ve kept running for months, like Mapthaniel and Assholethaniel.

I kept them running because I needed them.

After all my experimenting, I discovered not every mind fragment had to be the same. For example, for Mapthaniel, I slowly stripped down useless functions, increasing efficiency and freeing processing power. Some fragments need more raw power, others require more speed, and others need things like stability, durability, or long-term persistence. And I’ve come up with ways to do that.

Then I found out about something Mapthaniel did behind my back.

It had one job, one simple job: to maintain the map of any area I enter so I wouldn’t have to.

But that part of me, Mapthaniel, split itself, creating a new sub-sub-mind. Then it gave the sub-sub-mind a single task.

To maintain the map so it no longer had to.

So if I am dead, it is probably my own fault. It wasn’t the butler this time.

Anyway, my new unique arcane passive is strong, but it’s turned out very different from what I wanted and expected.

I considered selling Mental Attunement Loop (Mid Arcane) and buying another low arcane passive to combine with Mana Fortified Mind (Low Arcane). And that would have left me with the original three passives plus the new one:

Mana-Kinetic Conversion Reservoir (Unique Epic)

Mana Wavelength Tyrant (Mid Arcane)

Subdermal Combustion Weave (Mid Arcane)

But this wouldn’t have left me with a slot to get two more upper arcane passives. I still don’t want to give up any of them, and if I had to, it would probably be my unique epic. But for now, I wait. I think I am really close to turning kinetic energy into mana, thanks to months of observing this passive at work.

So that passive combination token (low arcane) will likely rot in my inventory forever.

The only choice left was to sell both Mana Fortified Mind (Low Arcane) and Mental Attunement Loop (Mid Arcane).

After that, I got Retinal Fractal Interpreter (Upper Arcane) and Wavelength Signal Differentiator (Upper Arcane).

That, in turn, got me a new passive. Something called Mana Wave Predation (Unique Arcane).

Even without strengthening the trait, my Mana Wavelength Iris is stronger than ever before, while at the same time, I can process much, much more than ever before. All in preparation for choosing my third trait far in the future, with help from the advice I got from the trait grandpa.

Simply said. If you use mana and face me, you’re fucked, assuming you aren't A LOT stronger than me.

P.S.: This letter will destroy itself in five seconds. I tried to estimate your reading speed and time it so that it burns right as you reach the end.

P.P.S.: But enough jokes. I know we already talked about most of these things, Weslin, but thanks for reading anyway. I just really wanted to write a letter like this. I also set it so that it would only show to your mana signature. Please tell the branch leader I will be back in two days instead of a few minutes. I want to check on my group, and that asshole threatened me with a fine for breach of contract or some other bullshit. I will…

Before the man can finish reading the letter, made of yellow paper with visible threads of mana woven into it, it bursts into wild flames. A massive blaze of golden fire shoots up to the ceiling of the room, setting it on fire.

Multiple alarms ring all at once.

(You petty little shit, what have you done this time!) A voice echoes in the room.

“It is me. Nathaniel’s not here.”

(Oh.. I..)

Weslin ignores her apologies. He brushes the ashes from his hands and with a single pulse extinguishes the thermal flames. For a moment, he stares at his empty hands where he once held the letter.

“What the fuck.”

Chapter 683 - Dusk Horizon

After returning to the 9th floor, I send a scan through the area after realizing the base has disappeared from the place I’ve appeared. My scan finds the mark, the kind we developed locates only markers we have made. It has a huge range, doesn’t use much mana, and since it’s only looking for these markers, it’s hard to notice as well.

Doing that, I take a few steps and find a small pile of rocks piled up against a tree. Buried under it is a small sheath of metal with carved words on it.

“We had to move again because of Skippy. Be careful, he might still be in the area. We’re temporarily located in the Dusk Horizon village.”

And immediately, the noises of the jungle sound more dangerous. It feels like Skippy could be hiding behind any of these trees.

And I really don't feel like meeting Skippy.

I reduce my mana signature even further and start moving, keeping myself pointed at the demon village. I know it’ll take me a few hours to get there, but I’m not in a hurry. After the weeks of constant grind in Beyond, I take it as an opportunity to rest. But even so, I refuse to let myself slack off and start examining my mental techniques.

As funny as the thing with Mapthaniel is, it also makes me cautious. Even now, I can’t help but think of my mind as the most important part of me, so not fully understanding parts of it annoys me and could be dangerous.

I have a theory, though. I have long known that powerful active skills gradually change your body. Not to the extent of passives, at least not at the low level mine are. But I have reason to suspect the changes my active skills are going to bring could be greater at higher levels, especially given that some take years to level up just once, giving the skill enough time.

So I have to wonder. Could my low constitution and my powerful skills be doing that already, if only slightly? I know they do, but maybe they’re doing it to a greater extent than I thought.

If so, should I stop raising my constitution to allow it to happen at a faster pace?

I suspect it could be [Manifestation] or [Focus] that’s causing my split minds to behave this way, especially the ones I’ve kept running for longer periods of time. I still do not think it is anything close to what happened with Duplicaniel, and I don’t think it will ever reach that level. It is probably just my mind evolving, maybe it’s just something you need to go through. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a chance for it to go terribly wrong. Faora was a good example, with all the pieces of herself trapped and tortured in her Mind Palace.

Maybe 9th floor Nathaniel will finally be the first to beat the living legend, the 3rd floor Nathaniel. Damn, that guy was cool. I wanna be like him one day.

Do you agree, Mapthaniel?

There is no answer. Thankfully.

For now.

I don’t know what the hell’s even happening anymore.

The tribe we’ve been staying with is called the Dusk Horizon, as is their village. Tess would probably know why, but I don’t. I didn’t even bother to ask.

The demons stay mostly on one of six trees clustered together, often connected by powerful branches. This place is relatively safe thanks to the fact that the main tree, the one the others grow around, eats monsters.

If anything bigger than a human-sized snack comes close, it opens its single huge eye on the trunk, and crazy shit happens. I haven’t seen it in person, but Dennis and Aaron have been swearing that it’s super metal.

Otherwise, the flesh-eating tree doesn’t bother to attack, likely because the Dusk Horizon tribe has been feeding it. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it actively demanded sacrifices, but as it turns out, they just lure in monsters, which have started avoiding the area, cutting out a source of protein for the tree.

I don’t know the exact level of the tree, but it shows as three question marks, so at least it is below 450, though probably not by much.

It doesn’t seem to care when demons climb, sleep, eat, or do any of their other daily activities all over it, and it needs to be seriously damaged before it reacts. Though it really doesn’t like fire, not at all. Dusk Horizon members mostly have gravitational demon hearts, so that works for them. Similarly to Malika, they have strong bodies and move in a way not unlike Min-Jae.

Even though Min-Jae isn’t really aggressive enough for their liking, they probably like him the most out of group 4. They seem to respect and challenge Lily the most, but they spit on the ground whenever Tess walks by. They really don’t seem to like lightning primordial energy users.

I think Tess beats the crap out of one or two demons per day, but never gives in to the urge to push further, so they pick on her, exploiting her kind heart. Though now that I think about it, she might be doing it on purpose so that she can use them as training. How scary.

Meanwhile, on my first visit here, I almost killed ten of them. This tribe is shameless as hell. I expected one-on-one challenges, but after I said, “Let’s make it quick, just attack all at once,” they took me up on it and came at me as a group of ten.

I mean, I know I said it, but I didn’t expect them to actually do it. I guess it’s just the results of growing up in a tight knit tribe, and them behaving slightly differently than the demons I met so far. As I noticed over time, they even take things you wouldn’t otherwise expect seriously. So if you tell them to attack all at once, they think you’re either powerful enough to back it up, making it okay, or you’re dumb enough to deserve to be fed to their tree.

In this new area, I can already join the web of Ley Lines. It is a secret cupola-like construct that Sophie and I have set up in a number of places to serve as defensive zones.

[Ley Line] is used to create the base, and everyone from group 4 gets a mark that allows them to connect to it. Then they can use some of the functions. My skill makes the construct long lasting, and I fill some of the nodes with my mana every time I leave. We also modified it so Sophie or the twins can charge and connect to it as well.

Soon, Min-Jae might be able to do it as well, and I’ve seen how much that annoys the twins. This is something they’re really good at, and here Min-Jae is, catching up to them. Honestly, I think it’ll only make them push further, so it is a good thing.

The web we’ve made has been heavily inspired by the Veil from the 5th floor and a number of defensive arrays we’ve seen, including the Academy’s. So far, none of the demons have seemed to notice it, or at least they’ve just been ignoring it. Either option could be true.

Not far from the main tree, I brace myself and take a few deep breaths.

As with almost every other time I’ve been here, a bunch of demon kids come rushing in while screaming. They all have white hair, red eyes, and thick, short horns. They are tall and slim, leaping from lower branches or hovering down as if they can levitate.

“Two-hearted one!” one of them shouts.

“Human demon!”

“Nya!”

“Mana Daddy!”

“Who the fuck said that!” I ask, looking around.

Giggles echo, and a bunch of demon kids aged three to twelve laugh as they circle me. A few try to sneak in some punches, but I just absorb the impacts.

“You’ve been away for a long time!” A five-year-old girl shouts, jumping on my back and climbing up higher. As always, when she does, she goes through my hair, searching for horns, still refusing to believe that I’m not just a demon who dyes his hair.

The smallest one, a three-year-old boy, clings to my leg and bites me right above the knee, leaving drool everywhere.

That’s new.

I start walking with the girl on my back and the boy clinging to my leg, while the others move along with us.

“I went somewhere to train,” I answer. As always, I’m still a bit curious how much the system truly influences the natives when an attendee leaves for Beyond. Some of my excuses no normal person would believe, but when it is connected to Beyond, the system seems to ensure that they accept it more easily.

“Did ya, kiw somewan stronk?” The boy asks, taking a break from biting my leg and looking up. His red eyes look huge.

“A few strong monsters,” I nod.

He giggles happily and starts biting me again.

“Still no horns,” the girl sighs, disappointed, and taps my head multiple times.

“He’s already told you loads of times, he’s not a demon!” one of the older girls shouts to the little one.

“My mom said he must’ve been born with hidden horns, and my auntie said she’s going to check someday to be sure he’s not hiding it in his pants!” the girl on my back insists, stubborn as ever. She shakes my head left and right while digging through my hair again. “Maybe they're just slow to come out.”

“They’re not coming out,” I answer.

An older boy snorts. He is probably around twelve, his horns already longer than the rest. “It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have any. He fought ten of my uncles, and they lost.”

The hell? Was it his entire family that grouped up on me? What a vile bloodline. I should’ve known from the way he was punching harder than the others.

The group goes silent for a moment. Then the little one, still chewing on my leg, pipes up through a mouth full of cloth. “He tastes like metal.”

Some of the older kids burst out laughing so hard that a few nearly fall from the branches. The girl on my back tugs harder, frustrated. “No, he is hiding them! I’ll find them!”

At the same time, the three-year-old finally lets go of my leg, leaving spit everywhere. He grins up at me, red eyes glowing faintly in the shade. “Can I have your horns when they grow?”

“They’re not going to,” I answer, shaking my head.

“Yes, they will!” the girl insists, and now two more kids start digging through my hair while others shout out their bets on when my horns will appear.

The one from the vile family smirks. “If they do come out, I get to be first to fight you to the death.”

The others cheer at that, voices overlapping as if it is the most natural thing in the world. Fight to the death, laugh about it, then run back to play.

“Sure,” I say flatly. “If I ever grow horns, you can line up behind the rest of your family.”

The girl on my back taps my head again. “See? He admits he has horns.”

“I did not,” I mutter, but no one listens.

Another kid shouts, “When they grow, we will all fight you!”

Great. I can already see them setting up a little death tournament the second I sneeze wrong.

The drool monster at my leg looks up, still chewing on my pants. “If he dies, can I keep his bones?”

I sigh and kick my leg with enough force that the drool monster loses his grip and goes flying into the air. While he’s up there, I use [Redistribution] to freeze him in place. Before his movement fully halts, his face twists into a wide, happy grin.

The girl on my back moves and tries to dig my eyes out with her hands. She always does that.

I freeze her movement as well and take a step forward, leaving her body hanging in the air in the position she had been clinging to me.

The remaining kids charge at me all at once. Someone kicks at my crotch, someone else pulls out a dagger, and the vile one tries to punch me with gravitational energy surrounding his fist.

All of them freeze mid air.

It almost looks like some sort of twisted painting. A bunch of white-haired, red-eyed kids with horns, attacking me with wide smiles on their faces.

Knowing she hates it, I step toward the girl who was searching through my hair and start poking her tiny horns. I tap them multiple times. From the ground, I pull up a bunch of grass and put it on her hair. Noticing her mouth is slightly open, I shove a few flowers inside. I finish by moving her hair into her eyes so that she can’t see anything.

I walk between the floating kids, hands in my pockets.

The drool monster gets his nose tapped, then I wipe the spit from my pants onto his forehead in an awkward motion while lifting my knee high into the air. For good measure, I press a patch of grass between his teeth so he looks like he’s been trying to snack on the lawn.

The dagger kid gets a quick poke in the ribs. Then another. Then another. I keep going until I’m satisfied he’ll feel it the second he unfreezes.

One of the older girls has her mouth slightly open. I drop a tiny pebble inside. Not big enough to choke her, just enough to leave her spitting it out in disgust later.

I do similar things to all of them, and finally, I step back, satisfied. I’m not even sorry. Not in the slightest.

A cackle escapes my mouth, and I secretly use nearly invisible threads of mana to tie their shoes together, weaving them just wide enough that they can waddle about. I set it to dissolve after one hour. After that, I release my skill and teleport away.

I stop by the home belonging to the leader of this tribe. An old demon man with his name showing three question marks. I walk over to his usual spot, in a house made of wood, built at the top of the man eating tree. I’m sure he sensed my presence as soon as I approached the village.

Once there, I greet him with a simple and respectful nod.

After looking at me for a moment, he nods back, and I leave, teleporting back to our temporary base. As scheduled, everyone’s already here, sitting around the table with some snacks on it.

“Hey,” I say, greeting everyone and getting a chorus of greetings in return.

(Food!) Biscuit shouts, sounding the most excited of all of them, as he jumps into my lap the moment I sit down. He expands in size until he’s about as big as a Labrador and snuggles against my whole body.

I wait until he settles, then look around him to see the others. They all seem a bit quiet, as if wanting someone else to speak first.

Tess takes that role. “Before we have our meeting, I think we should share some of the information Sophie managed to gain.”

Her tone sharpens my interest, and I glance over at Sophie, who gives me a strange smile in return.

And Tess continues, “It seems that our round’s first Beyonder will be participating in the 3rd tournament.”

Chapter 684 - Get them!

I tap on Biscuit, signaling him to shrink so I can focus on the others. He seems to misunderstand, though, and instead of shrinking his body, expands even more, forcing me to strengthen my manabloc chair before it cracks. He snuggles against me playfully, and I can hear his breathing close to my ear while his wet nose pokes my ear.

My body is barely visible under him, and I peek to the side so I can look at Tess. “Where did we hear this from?” I ask.

Instead of her, Sophie answers, “I learned it not long ago, from Luan.”

I push against Biscuit and move him slightly. He seems to think I’m playing and pushes back with excitement, rubbing his head against mine. I peek from the other side this time, bringing Sophie into view.

As if she’d been waiting for just that moment, she meets my eyes. “Luan didn’t tell me much about the man, not even his name or even what guilds he could be in. He only mentioned it as a warning. I’ve tried to learn more, but Frontier still refuses to explain. Maybe I will get a bit more once I reach the 4th floor.”

“If Frontier knows, isn’t it possible that the Primordial Knights know something too?” Tess asks, looking at me.

I give up peeking and mumble from under Biscuit, and answer without looking at her, “I’ve never asked, to be honest. I could try, maybe Weslin knows a thing or two. But isn’t it more likely that Luan’s bullshitting? It’s a strange thing for them to know about, much less for him to share with you so casually.”

I can’t actually see Sophie, but I can just imagine her shaking her head. “Luan is… difficult. He follows that odd sense of honor he has.”

“Does that honor include attacking a bunch of Beyond newbies?” I ask.

“Apparently, yes. He was ordered to guard Faora, so he did just that. He’s much the same with me. If I decided to kill people, he would guard me while I did it.”

“He didn’t do a very good job guarding her.”

“I think that was deliberate, probably under orders from Frontier. I saw him fight more than once, Nat. Luan is insanely strong. If he had truly done his best to protect her, it would have ended very differently.”

“So they wanted you instead of Faora, and you fell for it by just offering yourself up?” I ask.

“I think it was more that they already had a replacement for Faora in mind. I just made the offer myself before they could bring their replacement in, and Luan decided to accept me. Frontier seemed to agree. If I’m not good enough, I’ll probably end up the same way that feylith bitch did.”

“Dead.”

“Yes, they’ll probably kill me off.”

“Izzy, what do you have to say to that crap?” I call toward where I think she’s sitting, leaned up against Giga Noodle.

“If Sophie dies, I think I may die too. I am too weak to survive alone,” our empath says simply.

“Is that some kind of emotional blackmail?” I ask, not expecting such words from her.

“Maybe. Who knows. Sophie certainly doesn’t. I can feel it, even when she tries to hide it. She can’t hide anything from me. So yes, it’s very possible that if my dear sister Sophie, whom I love more than anything, dies, I’ll die too.”

Daaaaamn.

Silence fills the room. No one knows how to respond to Izzy. Ever since we pushed her to act on her emotions instead of always trying to please us, she’s started acting out like this. Just like a feisty teenager, using her powers every now and then to get her way.

I don’t think for a second that it’s ill intended or meant to hurt any of us. Even someone like me can see that. It’s just the result of Izzy trying to find her place instead of constantly bowing to our feelings, even if it does mean she acts this way from time to time.

Honestly, it makes me kind of happy. It feels better, and somehow right, even if it does make some things more difficult.

Biscuit expands even more and then bites at me, taking my entire head into his mouth. I can smell his breath and see his tongue and teeth. He grabs me gently, playfully shaking my head before letting go and licking me with a tongue bigger than my torso.

“Eww,” Dennis blurts out, making the obvious mistake.

“Biscuit, get him,” I say.

The giga corgi jumps off me, breaking some of the furniture in the process, and rushes at the poor twin, who vainly lifts his hands in front of his face. He might even try to teleport away, and I might even disrupt that attempt.

Lily stands by my side. Looking up, I see her offering me a towel. With a nod of thanks, I take it and wipe off my head, while Lily sits in the armchair next to me.

Tess is already speaking again. “So far, it seems right to assume that the First Beyonder is going to be stronger than anyone from Earth’s tutorial, judging by the way the others treat him. The top guilds seem to know more about him than we do, yet they’re still acting like this.”

“So, S rank then?” Lily asks from beside me.

Tess shakes her head. “I don’t think that’s it. While yes, he could be S rank, that alone wouldn’t earn him so much attention. From what Nat’s told us, we know more Rulers are meddling around as Handlers, so it’s possible they’ve been telling their attendees more about this man. It seems to be less about his current strength and more about his potential.”

“Every S rank is considered to be a future Absolute, so are you saying the First Beyonder is being seen as a Ruler candidate?” Min-Jae asks.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Sophie sneaking nervous glances at Izzy, who is sitting on the floor against Noodle. And Izzy meets her sister’s gaze with a wide smile, which only seems to make Sophie even more uneasy.

“It’s hard to say. Lyraen, Nyssa, and Solae are all considered powerful future Absolutes, but no one’s calling them Ruler candidates. No one’s called our First Beyonder anything like that either, and yet at the same time, it feels like some important people are giving him way too much respect,” Tess says.

“What even is he? Some kind of mass murderer with an insane talent for mana? A hermit who meditated for decades in the mountains and awakened mana before the tutorial? Another monstrous corgi, maybe a member of Biscuit’s family, just to make it dramatic?” Maya snarks, waving her hand.

Biscuit, hearing his name, stops and turns toward her, away from Dennis, who is still hiding his face from Biscuit’s giga form. Maya immediately realizes her mistake, but it’s too late. With a squeak, she lifts her arms, trying to shield herself from the attack of the now horse-sized corgi.

Everyone else ignores her, and only Dennis gives her a quick salute, silently thanking her for her sacrifice.

“He would’ve had to survive the surface of Beyond as a level 0, assuming he started there like the rest of us. Even now, people are saying the surface is often more dangerous than the fifth floor, even S ranks have been known to die there,” Lily says.

“Wouldn’t he have to have gone through three trials before that?” Min-Jae wonders. “All of you did, right?”

“Well, we can ask him. If he really does end up joining the tournament.” I say, lowering my voice, not wanting to draw the attention of the beast now pressing its huge nose against Maya’s face while she giggles and struggles to push him away. “Sophie, did you find out what they need you for already?”

“It’s the same as with you. While Nyssa’s hoping you’ll help her to the sixth floor, Frontier hopes my mind magic will do the same for them, though in a different way than the Primordial Lunatics. Apparently, Bloodline started stirring things up as well and got Crimson Forge to join them. My Handler said it’s been a long time since he saw people racing so hard for the 6th. He also mentioned a rumor that something big happened on the lower floors.” Sophie shrugs after glancing away from Izzy.

“Yeah, the Cockroach is there. Also, really? Primordial Lunatics?”

“Everyone calls you guys that. And I think your master being trapped there isn’t the only thing that went down. Something else happened on the lower floors.”

“That’s for others to trouble themselves with. Do you want more explosive cubes or temporary tattoos?”

“Not really, but I will take a few more of your mana woven clothes. That shirt you gave me is insane. Some guy offered me a lot of shards for it.”

“He was likely interested in industrial espionage, trying to obtain the design or replicate my patented process. And Sophie, it is not mana woven, it’s manatex.”

“Screw off. I’ll give you the design and work with you on it.”

“I’m hurt,” I say, turning to my right. “Are you seeing this, Lily? This is what I have to deal with. Will at least you defend me?”

“No,” she says with a bright smile. “Your designs are terrible.”

“First floor Lily would’ve defended me.”

“First floor Lily would be blushing and staring at you in secret,” she says with the same smile.

“Typical lust subclass girls,” Dennis sighs.

“Biscuit, get him!” Lily says right away while pointing at the twin.

Looking up from his place on top of Maya, Biscuit lifts his head and tilts it, ears flopping. A smile-like expression spreads across his face as he stands up and charges Lily, who squeaks and falls to the floor.

The brutality of the attack is too much to watch, so I turn away and look at Tess. “How is your Beyond party doing?”

"It is going quite well. We have Leticia and Luna joining us. Jean, Lucien too, and..."

"Lucien?"

She sighs. "Spacepup."

"Oh, I see, that little shit."

"Then we met up with a few more of Leticia’s and Jean’s beyonders. We were working with Baek for a while, too, if you can call it that."

"No sight of Vic?"

"None at all. I bought some bits of information from the guilds. She was seen on the 2nd floor a long time ago, so I suspect she might be on the 3rd already or maybe even making her way to the 4th."

"I tried looking too, but I could only find scraps about her. Did you know there is an option to pay off the information guilds to keep them from sharing your info? I mean, people will still sell it if someone offers enough, so it ends up being a matter of who pays more, you to make them shut up or the other party to buy your details."

“Yes, I know that. On another note, Lily and I should be able to reach the third floor soon.”

"As long as some guild doesn’t kidnap me and try to force me to join them," Lily calls from under Biscuit, who does not even move, just lies on her with a proud expression.

"Any serious trouble?" I ask her.

"There’s always some kind of trouble. Most of the time, the guilds are super nice and generous, though when I reject them, they tend to get annoyed and try some shit," Lily mutters.

I glance at Tess, who shrugs. "We’ve long since known Lily was a highly sought after healer. But I’m keeping an eye on her, as are the others in my party. Plus, it helps that even if they get through us, that just means they get to face Lily."

"The Bulldozer," Aaron whispers with a dark face.

"The Terminator of Lust," Dennis adds in the same tone.

"Biscuit, get them!" Lily calls from underneath.

Unfortunately for her, the corgi only expands in size more, totally obscuring her beneath his bulk. He yawns and settles in more comfortably.

After an hour or two, everyone calms down, and the conversation continues more smoothly, and I share some of my own information.

Working with Min-Jae, we go over his library, while he recommends a few mana stones that I immediately take for study. In exchange, I tell him some things I learned from the Doc, like how to get the most out of the Gravitation Wavelength Eye he has, and how to make it fully integrate with his body.

There also turns out to be something like an improved version of what Min-Jae does with gravitational energy to train his body. I got it from one of the demons from Primordial Knights. I bought it cheap, too, I just had to beat the guy until he almost died.

It’s been a long time since I saw anyone as happy as that, so I think I may have gotten scammed. Somehow.

After getting a design from Sophie, which she sometimes comes to check on as I work, I start weaving a shirt from manatex. It is something I started doing out of boredom, clothes made with a base of Ley Lines. So far, I still can’t make them entirely out of Ley Lines, so I have to thread them together with Mana Weaving, in a manner similar to the way I used to apply [Knitting].

I switch between these techniques as I go. I’m not all that good at it so far, but I want to learn where to use Ley Lines, where to use more flexible knitted lines, and where I should weave in more durable threads. All for maximum comfort and defense. I even had Maya tell me a bit about tailoring, since she knew some things about it from before the tutorial. That learning session ended with us coming up with new ways we could apply it to our armor.

It is weirdly calming. Stretching threads of mana, compressing them, using [Manifestation] in different spots. I am still not sure how long they’ll last, but they should hang around a few months at the minimum for sure. Each of these pieces has durability on the level of mid to upper epic armor, just without any added effects. For now.

As I do this, I let my mind wander. Part of me listens to the low murmur of conversation, part of me observes Biscuit resting against my leg, and another part opens my status, which I stare at while I work and plan my next progress.

Name: Nathaniel Gwyn
Title: Champion Candidate
Difficulty: Hell
Rank: A, Shimmering Silver
Guild: Primordial Knights
Floor: 9 - The Pit
Time left until forced return: 2y 84d 19h 59m 6s
Traits (2/3): Mana Wavelength Iris 2/3, Mana Physique 2/3

Lvl 346
Strength: 291
Dexterity: 272
Constitution: 476
Mana (Stage 1/3 - Vast Mana): 1744 + 1744

Primary Class: Mana Weaver (Unique Arcane)
Sub-class: [Adept of Pride]

Active skills (9/10):
Focus - Lvl 70
Perception - Lvl 68
Redistribution - Lvl 70
Mana Manipulation - Lvl 70
Ley Line - Lvl 65
Eclipse (Pride) - Lvl 49
Empyrean Lance - Lvl 31
Manifestation - Lvl 16
Accumulation - Lvl 19

Constructs:
Reinforcement
Mana Regulator
Mana Sovereignty Mantle
Kinetic Mana Heart
Sealed Ignition Heart (Partially Sealed, 2/3)
Mental Frame
Thought Maze Circuit
Thermal Flux Regulator

Passive skills (4/5):
Mana Kinetic Conversion Reservoir (Unique Epic)
Mana Wavelength Tyrant (Mid Arcane)
Subdermal Combustion Weave (Mid Arcane)
Mana Wave Predation (Unique Arcane)

Tokens:
Send a single item to your disciple (up to epic rarity)
Passive skill combination token (low arcane)
Beyond visitor token - 1 year (unlocked after tutorial)
Beyond 4th Floor High end residence permit
Beyond 7 day stay token
Beyond 14 day stay token
Beyond 14 day stay token

Shards: 6,686,111

Chapter 685 - Pride in the Burden

I do not sleep in my room at night, even though I have a mattress there. I gave the twins a lot of good things in exchange for it. They’d stolen a dozen of them from the Academy. Some of the demons got their hands on a few as well, which made it really profitable for the twins. In a way, it almost reminds me of people getting gold from natives in exchange for glass bead necklaces.

Still, even with a fancy mattress, I end up on one of the highest branches of the man-eating tree, in a patch where the branches thin out enough to offer a view of the night sky.

I receive a question and send back my answer, and soon after, a floating burrito-shaped corgi appears near me and plops down on the branch. This time, Biscuit is in his adult form without the antlers. He’s wearing a vest, showing that he doesn’t plan to expand in size anytime soon.

The vest is something Izzy made for him with the help of some of the women from Dusk Horizon. It’s been woven from the black threads of a dangerous spider often found in the area north of here. On it is a set of embroidered images, colorful and cute. And pockets. Lots of them. Biscuit likes to keep things in them, mainly shiny stones.

"You still don’t want to come to Beyond?" I ask.

From his lying position, he lifts his head and shakes it. (Food.)

That single word contains dozens of sentences interwoven with images, memories, and flashes of the scents he’s experiencing. As always, I look very different through his eyes from how I see myself in the mirror.

I’m not black and white as I would’ve expected, having always heard that was how dogs saw the world. In Biscuit’s eyes, I look much bigger, and the colors around me are warmer than the rest of the area. Through the shared sense, I feel what he feels when I pet his head, an incredibly soft and gentle sensation. My voice also sounds different, softer and clearer, as if not a single word I said could be missed.

There is much more, but even these surface thoughts, memories, and feelings, all shared in less than a second, would be enough to overwhelm some people at my level and might even kill a normal human outright. It feels crazy when I think about it from the point of view of my pre-tutorial self.

"If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. You know very well I won’t force you," I say.

In answer, he nudges my hand. He continues until I pet him again, while he keeps looking up at me.

"You really should stop playing with that ferret thing, it is creepy."

(Friend!)

"I would rather it was sustenance."

(Asshole!)

"That thing is so much worse than me."

Biscuit bites my finger, shaking his head while holding it between his teeth.

"How scary."

(Asshole.)

"Yes, that’s me. What do you want to ask?"

(Happy?) He stops shaking his head and instead looks into my eyes.

I give it a thought, but not for long. "I think I am, and you?"

(Friends. Happy. Food. Happy. Stay. Always.)

"Well, if we want it to stay that way, we’d better take out anyone who tries to interfere, shouldn’t we?" I say. Though I do notice that he’s put friends before food.

(Fuck up!)

"Yeah, but please don’t say it too often, the others will complain."

His voice turns deeper, the kind you would hear from a dark sky with the distant rumble of a world-ending storm. (Be not afraid.)

"You little jerk, I’m not afraid of them."

(Gone. Weak.)

"Yeah, yeah. Brave words from someone who shows his belly for the smallest piece of deer jerky. Have you met up with your disciple through your token?"

(Meet. Happy.)

"That’s nice to hear. Hopefully, you get to summon him during the 3rd tournament. This one will be spicy, though, so we’ll have to be careful."

(Be there. Help.)

I ruffle the top of his head. "Yes, if we need it, I will ask."

(Help. Now?)

The words catch in my throat, heavy and difficult to force out. "No need," I manage after a pause. "I can endure this much. The others haven’t noticed, so don’t tell them. Okay?"

He bites at my hand to get my attention. (Friend.)

I take it all in, the sentences, the flashes of memory and feeling. They are warm.

"I know my body is getting more and more fucked up as we go. But I have a plan. Several of them actually."

He stares at me for a while longer. (Stay. Together. Always.)

The sound of these sentences is not the same. Each word comes out softer, carried on a voice that sounds weaker with each one.

I look at him for a bit before reaching out and slapping his back near his butt, making him twitch and woof in surprise.

He attacks me right away, in a way that makes me wonder if the drool monster demon didn’t learn his ways from him.

I return to Beyond feeling refreshed. We set up more plans, well, mostly Tess and the others. Even though we are not strong enough to avoid being thrown around by much more powerful people, there are still ways for us to fight. Soon our time will come too, when we will stand as the top dogs of Beyond, replacing the monsters who’ve already finished their tutorial.

Back in my room in the branch of Primordial Knights, I look at the burned ceiling and wonder what the hell could have happened in here. Did the security lady do that?

So far, there’s no one knocking on the door, but I am sure people have been alerted to my presence. While I wait for them, I make my preparations and continue to think.

There’s no way for me to hide it from Biscuit, but thanks to my effort, the others from group 4 do not know. Lily might suspect something soon, especially if we want to experiment on my body, and I will not let her. I already have countermeasures in place for that.

It is silly to hide it, I know. As cliché as it sounds, I don’t want them to know. Not because they would worry, but because they would treat me differently. They would try to take on some of the burden I’ve placed on myself. But my pride tells me this is the right way to go about things. I want it that way.

Maybe in the end, it is not just a slightly selfish act that I’ve forced on myself. Instead, it’s my pride telling me that I can handle it, that I can endure it.

I will continue pushing my body. I will not stop leveling up. I will get my next body upgrade soon, which will make these problems worse. My partially unsealed heart. All the constructs I’ve been strengthening, and having to fix more and more often. My active skills as they steadily grow too powerful for my body, leveling too quickly for how low my constitution is.

Even then, I feel it is not enough. I can push myself more. I can become stronger.

I’ll stop raising my constitution, and I will change my restrictive training emblem and burden enhancement inscriptions so they no longer increase it. Just so I can see how the higher-leveled active skills affect my body. In the process, I will master these skills to an even higher degree.

Lissandra said I have five to ten years to come up with a way to solve all of this, and I plan to do so. I will continue running downhill, gaining more and more speed as the slope grows steeper, just so I do not fall.

I hear a sound and watch as a letter slides from under the door. I stare at it for a bit, but it does not explode or burn, even after I do a few checks on it. Taking a few steps, I grab it and read the contents.

The branch leader angry. Security leader angry (more so than usual). Weslin and Talon are waiting for you at the foundation of the new base.

I recognize the handwriting as belonging to one of Talon’s underlings.

Without hesitation, I move quickly, taking a few of my prototypes and some items I think I might need. I don’t bother with the door. Instead, I reach toward a [Ley Line] I know they haven’t discovered yet and teleport. I know it will trigger dozens of alarms, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Outside the guild branch, I use Wraith Dance a dozen times in a row. Some simply take me around large groups of people, others take me across entire streets. I channel one after another in quick succession. When I finally come to a stop, I examine my body, pleased to find no damage at all.

Exiting the city-like outpost, I lift into the air and head in the direction of the outpost we’ve been working on. There are a few monsters along the way, but this time I ignore them and just continue forward.

In about ten minutes, I reach the meeting place while sending a signal through the small brooch pinned to my shirt. As for my clothes, they are mostly white, like a uniform, with a pale blue shirt beneath. Out of the multiple styles offered, I picked the most comfortable ones that still looked the least formal. The brooch, after receiving my mana, decodes it, confirms it is me, and then activates while sending a single ping of signal towards the others.

This is already the third one I’ve gotten, since I dismantled the others, yet so far, I still can’t mimic how it works, no matter how much I try.

Once inside the camp, the ones responsible for security deactivate part of the defenses. I get marked, and after that, I’m allowed to pass. There, standing on the edge of the camp, Talon waits for me.

He is waving and smiling brightly. Unlike me, his clothes are more formal and well taken care of. On his back rests a pitch black bow, and the sleeve on his left forearm is rolled up to his elbow, showing an emblem etched into his skin. I know that emblem helps him concentrate, letting him channel his Primordial Stellar Wind and form projectiles from it. It also helps him to create arrows made purely of mana.

"Long time no see, Nathaniel. You look good! I just got a list of complaints from one of our scouts. He said he could barely feel your mana or notice any of the kinetic energy radiating off of you. He only realized you were near when you got close enough to send a ping."

"Isn’t that his problem?"

"Oh, come on! The guy is trying, and despite being a demon, he’s one of the more reasonable ones." Talon waves it off.

He takes me to the edge of the outpost, and only there stops to face me. His voice becomes quieter. "He has good hearing, so don't provoke him, please? Nathaniel, I swear, he’s going to challenge me again if he hears you say that. I am tired of lunatics trying to fight me the moment I look even a little available. I didn’t sign up for that shit. Every single time, every damn time, the moment I breathe too loud, somebody comes running with that smug demonic grin. ‘Oh, Talon, I’ve been waiting to test myself against you!’ Test yourself? Test yourself on what exactly, my nerves? My patience? My good heart? Because I’m starting to get fucking fed up!"

His voice lowers even more, and his expression twists into something almost as maniacal as some of the demons he’s been complaining about. "You know how many nights of sleep I’ve lost already? Do you know how many dinners I had to leave going cold because some lunatic thought it was the perfect moment to test themselves against me? I can’t even eat in peace anymore. I sit down with a nice roasted dead fucking bird, and boom, challenge. I sip water, boom, challenge. I sneeze." He pauses and takes a deep breath. "I FUCKING sneeze, Nathaniel, and suddenly I am in the middle of a duel like it is some sacred demon tradition!"

A sudden grip on my shirt pulls me forward, his gaze darting around. When he sees no demons standing nearby, he shakes me slightly. "And don’t get me started on the bow. Ever since I got it from the Primordial Lunatic treasury, it’s been the same thing. ‘Talon, BUDDY, let us see how long I last against your arrows!’ You know how long they last? Ten seconds. Maybe fifteen if they’re particularly stubborn. And then somehow I end up being the bad guy because I went easy on them. What do they expect me to do, fucking kill them right away? Do they even understand how many shards I would be fined with the clauses in my contract?!"

His grip becomes stronger. "And every time I complain to the branch leader, that asshole just laughs in my face and says: ‘Oh, Talon, that’s just the price of power, you should be proud!’ Proud?! Proud of what, exactly? Proud that I suffer from mana deficiency because of all the constant fighting? Proud that my shirt sleeves keep getting ruined in the process? I liked that shirt, Nathaniel! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find one that fits properly?"

After finally letting go of me, he takes a step back. His eyes are wide open, and he smiles far too brightly. "I swear, if one more person tries to ambush me in the bath, I’m quitting. I will walk straight into the wilderness and live off mushrooms and grass. They’ll never find me, not before I return to my tutorial."

I nod and think about giving him some advice, but from the look on his face, I can tell he’s not interested in hearing it. He just wanted to vent. So instead I ask, "So what happened, and why are the branch leader and security lady angry?"

"Oh, that? The guild currently holding seventh place in the rankings just declared war on us."

Chapter 686 - Eternal Court

Talon leads me through the base while the others offer their greetings. The group here is mostly the same as the one I’ve been working with for the past few months, so I know most of them already. Usually, it’s somewhere around ten to twenty people, mostly from Primordial Knights with a bit of hired help mixed in.

Me and Weslin usually take care of security, while others focus on building the core of the future base and handling logistics. As for Talon, I think he’s mainly there to organize things. Most of the people from the Primordial Knights don’t even care that he might be weaker than themselves. They’re simply glad they don’t have to deal with it themselves and can just focus on their own tasks.

“Do you know how long it has been since there was a proper war between two of the top ten guilds?” he asks me, clearly excited. A part of me thinks it might be because the demons from our guild are about to be too busy to keep challenging him. Though it’s more or less his fault, somehow he still doesn't know how to treat them properly, and that's why they keep coming at him.

“No idea,” I answer.

“Three decades. The last time it ended up pulling in seven guilds in total. When it was all over, three of them completely dissolved. Four hundred attendees and three dozen locals died in the process. Because of that, most of the old guilds like ours made some kind of informal pact to avoid future guild wars. They rarely bring anything good.”

We stop as Talon greets a man who’s currently working on creating an alloy out of three of the metals we’ve managed to mine here. He pours it into a mold made of stone, also gathered here.

With a satisfied nod, Talon smiles at the thylarin man before continuing. “I tried asking the branch leader about these accords, but apparently my rank’s still too low and I have no clearance,” he snorts.

“I know nothing of it, if that’s where you’re heading with this.”

He stops and stares at me. “Not even for a moment did I suspect you were going around asking about that kind of thing. I still checked with Weslin just in case, but he doesn’t seem to care either. I need more information! This is egregious.”

“Good for you. So, does that mean we should be expecting some kind of attack?”

“It’s fairly likely. They’re going to exploit the fact that Nyssa is on the fifth floor at the moment, along with our second S rank and all of our elites. That’s left us quite vulnerable here, and it’s not like we’ve been trying to hide what we’ve been doing. Plus, they might be looking to target Weslin before he becomes an S rank.”

“His strength won’t really increase all that much when he becomes one. He just gets a fancier identification emblem.” I note.

“That is true, but just getting that rank counts greatly toward the guild’s performance. I think they consider us the most vulnerable of the top five currently. The dumb fucks. They probably think they can exploit it, push us down, get some points while doing so, and then slip into the top five before the next reset to grab better bonuses and other stuff. Also, Weslin is currently the strongest member we have on the third floor, so they might think they can steamroll us once he is dead.”

While observing Talon checking on our dedicated detectors to keep the area scans up, I think about the current situation. Honestly, it is a bit annoying. We’re not that far from finishing the core of the outpost and setting off its ignition.

Once it is done, my third beyond floor quest will be complete. The Primordial Knights would gain a solid amount of points for future guild ranking calculations, and the path to the fourth floor would open to me.

It could have been finished sooner if I had gone with a smaller base, but I let Weslin change my mind. I can only guess this is what he went with after discussing things with leadership. So we started gathering the materials, clearing the space, and defending it from monsters. We avoided staying here during the night, though we did cut it pretty close on occasion.

This floor is the kind of setting that makes nights extremely dangerous, even to S ranks. The safest place is always within the outposts, each has a strict limit on how many people it can hold, based on size. Usually, the limits are 10, 100, 1000, and the largest can hold up to 10,000. If the night comes and even one person above that limit remains inside, the entire outpost loses its safe zone status. Whatever prowls the floor at night usually kills everyone.

I heard about one such case from Weslin. Ten years ago, there was an outpost with 10,000 people, they were even hosting one of the strongest locals on the third floor. Whether it was an act of deliberate sabotage against the place, bad luck, or some other reason, one night that number went over.

Everyone died. The newcomers later found the whole city wiped out. Not a single destroyed building, yet every person inside, attendee and local alike, had been torn apart so badly that the body of a single victim was found to be scattered across the entire city. There wasn’t even a single sign of anyone fighting back.

The quest of this floor is to participate in building yet another safe zone.

We reach Weslin, who is standing near one of the demons from Primordial Knights. Their conversation is short, and I can hear how annoyed Weslin is. Not with the situation itself, but seemingly with the demon.

In the end, Weslin does not even have to fight. The demon simply steps back, rushes off in a blur of motion, and heads off toward the Black Tower outpost I came from.

“Good news?” Talon steps closer, fist clenched with an excited smile.

Already used to this shameless guy’s behavior, Weslin shrugs. “They’re sending Morwag to our floor.”

“Oh fuck,” Talon breathes out, eyes wide open.

The mention of the name piques more of my interest. Morwag is, after all, the second S rank in our guild and Nyssa’s “hunting dog” as some people have taken to calling him. He’s known for many things, but being delicate is not one of them.

“Yes, my head already hurts. How long until we can ignite the outpost?” Weslin asks.

“A week, maybe two,” Talon answers.

“That is not a very precise number.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t really give you a better one. A lot depends on the quality of our molds and how much we’re able to mine. We’ve already exhausted a few veins, so we had to start searching for new ones.”

“I guess,” Weslin sighs, then looks at me. “Rookie.”

I glance around.

“Don’t look around, you little shit. I meant you.” Weslin specifies.

“Oh, come on, Weslin. At this point, I’m established enough to be a senior member of the Primordial Knights, a highly valuable A rank. A great future prospect…”

“That A rank stands for you being a pAin in the Ass and nothing else. I can say that from my unfortunate personal experience. First of all, you and I will be guarding this place. No more monster hunts in the area, no explorations. If we leave, it’s possible that everyone here will die, and we do not want that.”

I nod. “No, we don’t.”

“Great. We leave last, just a few minutes before nightfall, to make sure some asshole doesn’t try to destroy what we’ve built. We get here first thing in the morning to ensure the same.”

“That would be annoying.” I turn to the other side. “Talon, what are the rules surrounding guild wars? Are there any? Or is it something less formal? I checked the rankings for the 7th guild’s name, but I don’t know anything about them.”

Talon replies, “Guild wars have three stages. These are based on informal rules, since no official system rules exist. But the guilds will hold to them most of the time. Those who don’t risk pissing off both the Handlers and the locals. The Kings of the three cities on the second floor, and the one on the third, especially hate it when you go against them. If you mess around too much, you can say goodbye to your progress on those floors.”

“And we don’t want that?”

“We do not want that,” Talon nods. “The first stage is targeting combatants only, and only outside of the safe zones.”

“Oh, that means us here.”

“Yes, that’s us. Most guild wars are ‘solved’ during the first stage. You kill the important members, steal their supplies, and all is good. This stage lasts two weeks. If, after that time, one of the guilds is still unhappy with their level of progress, the second stage begins. One week during which you’re allowed to target non-combatants belonging to the enemy guild and guild buildings inside safe zones. Some damage to the city or outpost area is accepted, but if you kill non-participating attendees or locals, you’ll be in some really big trouble. Usually, you end up paying out a large amount of shards or receiving severe punishment. But if you are a dumb fuck or don't do your utter fucking best to avoid casualties with the locals, the Local Kings will come down to fuck you up.”

“Can you hire other attendees to help?”

“That’s the third stage. It also lasts a week. During that, you’re allowed to get other guilds to help or hire outside people.”

“So it is just guild versus guild for the first three weeks?” I ask.

“Are you really that naive? Everyone fucking cheats,” Talon sighs.

Next to him, Weslin nods. “If you cheat, make sure there are no witnesses. Do not kill the favored attendee of a powerful Handler. Otherwise, you risk the handler doing everything in their power to screw you over. They keep records on their attendees, which they can use against you later. Usually, they don’t seem to care, and even if they do, it is difficult to press it. But the more powerful ones, and those willing to put in the effort, can do it.”

“Weslin, that sounds like a jinx, doesn’t it?”

“You’re right, rookie. Eternal Court... ”

“Why don’t we call them Eternal Clowns?” I ask.

“I second that,” Talon joins in quickly.

Weslin doesn’t even skip a beat before repeating, “... The Eternal Clowns have the triplets, and all three share the same handler. Their handler is strong, maybe even the real reason they matter. People say it’s either Tandu or Gabele. Tandu is the spiteful one, Gabele is the one with connections.”

“Oh? The Triplets joined them?” Talon asks, surprised.

Weslin nods. “Not all that long ago.”

“Please don’t make me ask who,” I mutter.

“They’re A ranks, all three of them. Upper mid A rank?” Talon turns to Weslin.

The bald man shrugs. “Closer to the top. I heard they got some fancy new skills.” Then he looks at me. “They’re lumorans. Two males and one female. I think they’re at the end of their fourth year of the tutorial. Some have even taken to calling them rising stars. They did well on the fourth floor of beyond and have likely made their way to the eleventh floor of the tutorial by now. They’re quite mysterious because of their abilities. Some say they hold powerful fragments, others claim they have one or two primordial energies. Some say each has a different trait, and by working together, they combine those traits extremely well. They always fight together.”

“A few more words and they will pop up from behind the corner with boss music playing.”

At that, Weslin only smiles. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it? The Eternal Clowns don’t have any S ranks, but they do have quite a few A and B ranks. Their leader is an A rank himself, but he’ll likely never reach S rank. Same problem as Io, some sort of weakness holding him back.”

“And they thought it would be a good idea to challenge us in the Primordial Lunatics,” Talon sighs and turns to me with a plea.

As I have many times before, I create a manabloc chair. And he slides into it with a comfortable groan and continues. “They probably don’t have much experience with demons. Even fucking Bloodline won’t mess with the Primordial Knights. Poor clowns. They’re probably counting on Nyssa or Morwag not joining in.”

Weslin gestures, and I create another pair of manabloc chairs for him and myself. We sit down. And the bald man goes on to say, “They’re right. Nyssa will not leave her floor for them alone. She would only move if even more guilds grouped up against us. And damn, knowing the demons here, they wouldn’t want her here even if they were on the brink of extinction. I am still surprised she sent Morwag. It must have annoyed her a little that the seventh place guild dared to poke at us like we were an easy target. Do you have any idea when Morwag will be here?”

Talon takes a few moments before answering. “A day? A week? From what I’ve heard about him, I don’t think he’ll be in a hurry.”

They continue talking. I only listen with half an ear, while the rest of my focus remains set on [Accumulation] and on the faint pale-blue halo floating above my head. It’s the simplest design I was able to manifest and maintain. Inside it is a single thread of [Ley Line] forming a circle while the halo surrounds it, mana swirling and spinning inside. Like a calm river, slowly and steadily, accumulating.

It’s still far too imperfect, but that doesn’t bother me. I know I’ll manage to improve it. My excess mana begins filling it while I continue working on making the construct more stable.

Chapter 687 - All yours

As night comes, I rush into the basement of the branch house to avoid an array of annoying questions, complaints, and the endless chatter. It is one of the tricks I use to escape them by applying some of the sillier parts of the contract I missed.

Everyone does it.

The Doc is down there. His two tails are swaying like they’re arguing with each other as he bends over the table. His thick glasses sit crooked on his nose, and he mutters to himself while poking what I recognize as my pale left arm, the one I cut off for him a week ago in exchange for some of his research.

“I want to meet your healer,” he blurts, not even glancing up. His pen scratches over a notebook filled with cramped symbols. “Would she let me experiment on her? Hmm?”

“Probably for a price?”

“Great! Glorious! Decapitation?” His ears twitch as if the word tastes good.

“Ehhh, maybe?”

“Wonderful! Would she be willing to try growing two separate bodies, one with a head, one without, then switch the heads back and forth?” He slaps the table with both hands.

“I don’t want to know what her answer would be.”

With a spin, his lab coat flares out, one tail hitting a chair hard enough to knock it over. He doesn’t even notice. “In the worst case, she dies, and that is a sacrifice I am, after brief but intense consideration, entirely willing to make.”

“How nice of you. We are at war, you know?”

He waves one hand like brushing away a fly. “Yes, yes, yes, war. Always the same, always dull, always bodies for me to cut open.” His head tilts. “Ah, but Nyssa. She promised Morwag would bring me something fun from the 5th floor. She always delivers.”

“What is she like?” I sit on the steel table beside him.

The Doctor’s expression shifts. It softens, just a bit.

“She is beautiful. A mistake made perfect,” he says. “Something that should’ve never existed, yet I am grateful I was allowed to linger in her presence. As much as I’m just a tiny footstep in her journey.”

“How poetic.”

“I am always poetic! My entire work is poetry. What else could be more glorious than discovering the secrets of our bodies? Aren’t people always saying to look inside yourself for answers?” He taps his pen against my old arm, grinning. “I just do it literally.”

“I think you got that a bit wrong. And Morwag?”

His glasses slip, and he pushes them back with one finger. “Morwag is a perfect representative of the demon race. If you boiled every demon bone, ground every horn, shredded every tendon, simmered it all for two weeks, three hours, ten minutes, fifteen seconds, stirred counter-clockwise the entire time, then let the steam condense into a single drop to get an essence of demons… that drop would be Morwag. The most demon demon to ever demon.”

I nod. Talon’s going to love the guy.

“You were right about my constructs. They are getting harder and harder to remove. Even the old ones and the earliest changes I ever made are almost seeming to come back to life.”

“I told you!” He nearly shouts, tails thrashing. “But no one listens. Please, don’t stop, never stop. Make more constructs, ten more, twenty, no, a hundred. A hive inside you! In the best case, get many more of them before the body upgrade. I’ll watch them grow until you crack. Beautiful cracks.”

“You theorized the body upgrade could kill me.”

He raises one finger like a teacher correcting a child. “Not the upgrade. The disruption it’ll cause. A hammer smashed into the nest of wires and strings and bones you dared to call stable.” His grin stretches. “I want to see it. I want front row seats when you break. And if you don’t break? Even better.”

“Yup, that. I’ve been making preparations to counter it, so everything’s going to be fine.”

He exhales slowly, almost dreamily. “Mind and body are indeed mysterious things. Combine them with mana that defies the natural order, forcefully awakened within us, and you get an accident waiting to happen. Oh, to be young and wrong again. To be able to fail so gloriously. I envy you.”

“Good for you. I came to check on the orb.”

The Doc freezes, his ears snapping upright, then he practically vibrates in place. “The orb! The glorious little parasite, greedy bastard, hungry child!”

He doesn’t wait for me, already skipping toward the corner of the basement where the voidcopper door waits.

It takes a minute to open. Both of us have to work together. A precaution set in place so he doesn't mess with the orb without me here. A deal that was forced on me by the branch leader after the... incident. Barely an inconvenience in my opinion.

The locks click, and the door swings open.

We step into the voidcopper chamber, the walls plated with the same metal the door is made of. The room is just large enough for two people to breathe without touching shoulders.

In the middle, on a small pillar, the black orb the size of my fingernail floats over the palm of a pale left hand. My severed hand is connected to tubes running into containers filled with red, blue, and gray liquids. The hand itself is covered in carved inscriptions, a mess of my work and the Doc’s scribbles blended together.

And the hand is moving slightly. Fingers twitch, curl, uncurl, like they are resisting sleep.

The Doctor exhales, “So beautifully conductive. So obedient, yet so hungry. Adapted to your black mana. Your body, your beautiful broken body.”

He rushes closer, crouches low, then begins stroking the pale hand like it is a pet. The hand twitches again, harder this time, jerking toward him like it wants to grab his throat.

Good boy.

While he blabbers, I examine the orb for a few minutes.

Then, testing, I reach out with my hand like all the times before. The black orb reacts instantly. It stretches toward me, trying to drink from my mana.

I don’t simply let it happen. The same way it reaches for me, I reach back.

From inside it, I pull a thread of mana. My Mana Wavelength Iris works on full throttle, my unique arcane passive Mana Wave Predation supports me, and I just do it. The orb’s hunger for mana is met by my own.

A part of its mana fuses with mine. That mana, entirely unwoven from a part of what used to be the black orb, joins mine, stolen and ready to be used.

It feels wonderful, and wrong, and like a cheat all at once.

The Doc gasps sharply, glasses sliding down to the tip of his nose. His golden eyes seem to glimmer. He sees what I am doing, and his voice trembles.

“Yes, take it, devour it, claim it! Push it as far as your will and effort can carry you. Again and again, push past the edge until all mana will be yours!”

I cut off my connection to the black orb and take a step back with myriad thoughts flashing through my head.

The doc staggers a step closer. His voice becomes quieter, but still carries that insane excitement he constantly shows. “A god born in my basement. A god I will dissect.”

The moment I leave our branch to head toward the outpost, someone places a mark on me. More than anything, it feels like being slapped with a wet noodle, even though I notice the effort they’ve made to hide it.

My mana flares as I take the mark apart, leaving only the connection to its origin. Then I follow it and spot a single lumoran standing in the distance. Like all of them, this one has black skin and golden eyes. The usual web of crystalline features is embedded in his flesh, covering his arms and neck more than anywhere else.

When our eyes meet, he smiles at me and turns to walk away. A single step with Wraith Dance takes me just a few paces behind him, and I follow through the street.

There, at our goal, the lumoran who escorted me is holding a restaurant door open. His golden eyes track me the entire time, unblinking, until I pass inside.

At the table sit two more. A man and a woman. The three of them are nearly indistinguishable. The same obsidian skin, the same web of crystalline features, the same faint smile waiting to spread. If not for the minor differences in where the crystal spreads across their bodies, they could be copies. Even their posture mirrors one another, like reflections set at different angles.

I sit. My escort takes the chair across from me, sliding into it. The other two fold their hands on the table at the exact same moment.

“You’re paying for the food?” I ask.

Both men glance at their sister in the same instant. She tilts her head, still staring straight at me, and smiles. “Yes.”

I gesture with my hand. When the server comes closer, I say, “The most expensive food and drink you have.”

The server hurries off. The grinning brother starts drumming his fingers on the table in some erratic rhythm, but the sound cuts off the moment I look at him. His sister leans back, utterly relaxed. The quiet one remains still.

“So, to what do I owe the pleasure? Do we talk about the weather first? Or will we skip straight to threats? Perhaps you’re stalling me while someone else hits the outpost?” I ask.

The two men look at each other, but the woman keeps her eyes on me. “And if we did send someone to the outpost?”

I shrug. “S rank?”

“No,” she answers.

I observe her heartbeat, the twitches of her body, the movement of her blood. All of it confirms that she’s not lying. It makes me relax a little more, and the mana I had been accumulating seeps back to circulate through my body.

“In that case, I don’t think I need to be in a hurry,” I reply.

At that moment, the food arrives. Some sort of steak from a high-leveled monster. One bite would likely have been enough to last the pre-tutorial me an entire day. The drink is light purple with blue swirling inside. It is slightly fizzy, bitter, and sweet at the same time.

“You have a lot of trust in your Null King,” she notes.

“Weslin hates that name. If you ever do meet him, do not call him that,” I say in between bites, then pause. “Or you know what, do. I want to be there when it happens.”

I can almost hear the three of them exchanging mental communication, but I do not bother trying to spy on them. Instead, I pay attention to my food.

“Are there many of you here on the Third?” I ask.

The man on the left snorts. “You don’t seriously think we would answer that, right?”

His male triplet joins in. “He does not. He’s just looking for lies and reactions.”

Lastly, their sister, who has not taken her eyes off me for even a moment, smiles again. “Let us say there is someone much more powerful than the three of us coming.”

“Strong enough to fuck up Morwag? And please don’t act like you didn’t already know he was coming,” I say.

She shrugs. “Maybe.”

This time, I cannot even properly estimate what she means, but I judge that even she herself does not know for sure. She seems to think that the person is either equal to or stronger than Morwag. Interesting. I thought the Eternal Clowns didn’t have an S rank.

“Anyway, I’ll be leaving now.”

For the first time, the two men show a hint of aggression, their mana surrounding me. Some kind of field forms, trying to keep me here.

“I would really appreciate it if you stayed here with us a while longer,” the sister tells me warmly.

“Nah. Fuck you. And by the way, nice attempt, but good luck trying to remove the marks I placed on you.” Saying that, I stand up, let [Eclipse] surround me, as I teleport through their field.

I appear near the entrance to the guild branch where I placed a mark just before following the triplets. From there, I quickly reach the edge of the city, rise into the air, and head toward the outpost. The marks on my radar remain in that restaurant while, with a few powerful pushes of kinetic energy, my speed picks up and my surroundings blur.

On the horizon, a dark sky covers a massive area. It almost looks like night itself hanging over one place. The location of our outpost. From within it, I sense the unmistakable vibrations of Weslin’s attacks and pulses of his void energy. The defensive array we’ve set up there is also fully active and in use.

I fly higher, letting my sight encompass the entire area, drowned in darkness. Quickly, I locate a few sections hidden by shields and powered by massive, almost industrial sized, mana batteries.

Multiple javelins of pale blue mana manifest around me. Each one shoots ahead with a booming crack, shockwaves reverberating through the air. They pierce the barriers as if they were paper, damaging the inscriptions that have been placed there.

The moment that happens, the darkness starts wavering and dissipating, and I enter.

A shockwave shoots towards me, tearing through the three barriers I’ve stacked in front of myself. Another follows right after, stopping only when it collides with the last barrier I manifest, and still manages to push me farther back. Something below roars, the sound carrying a force that feels like it could disintegrate all of the material around us. That roar is followed by a violent pulse of void energy and tremors like an earthquake.

The darkness vanishes completely, revealing a monster below with Weslin standing against it. The creature is distantly humanoid, but much taller, with massive gorilla-like arms and dark brown fur covering its body. Its head is elongated like a hyena’s, full of dangerous teeth, and four white horns grow from the sides of its skull.

[Gorakth - lvl ???]

As the last of the darkness fades, the monster screeches even louder and bolts away, throwing itself against a nearby hill. It digs straight into it at incredible speed, clearly using some kind of skill. The hard stone simply moving aside as if it were foam.

“You good?” I ask, landing near Weslin, both of us facing the direction the monster fled.

“Yeah. We got lucky that a stronger one didn’t come out. But even this one was in the 400s, so don’t get any ideas about following it. Our objective is to defend this place.” His tone is steady, but I notice wounds across his body. Not life-threatening, but I know well how durable he usually is.

“As you wish, boss. I met the triplets and left marks on them.”

“Will they be able to remove it?”

“In a few days, maybe. I placed the annoying self-replicating one.”

“Good. Next attack, you're on defense.”

“Please say: next attack you're on defense, because I’m too old for this shit.”

“Fuck you, Nathaniel.”

Chapter 688 - Above the battlefield

We return to Black Tower City once the light starts creeping out. In the distance, roars, screeches, and deep vibrations echo as powerful monsters make their way into the shadows. Even within the safety of the outpost, we can sense these powerful presences circling around.

It is also the hour when all city guards and the local “king” sitting in his towers make sure the number of people inside hasn’t exceeded the limit. They watch from afar in every direction, and I am certain that if any attendee or local rushing into the city were to cause that number to be exceeded, they would be killed from a distance, no matter who they were. Either that, or they would be forced to stay outside, far away from the city.

Sometimes I still catch myself thinking how crazy it would be if the city had exactly ten thousand people, and then one more person slipped in, somehow breaking the defenses, however they’re supposed to work.

Weslin and the others separate, each heading to their rooms, the guild facilities, or into the city to blow off steam. I find myself heading back to the basement, into that voidcopper-plated room, waking up the sleeping Doc in the process so that we can unlock it.

I want to train. The sheer possibilities opened by my effort and experiments will not let me rest.

And after all, I know there’s going to be more attacks tomorrow.

Once morning comes and we return to the base, my work starts. I find myself being peppered with complaints as I do so, but I ignore them, connecting to the array surrounding the base. I begin modifying it while taking it fully under my control.

When the ones in charge of it raise their voice for me to stop, I face them with a simple: Make me.

I stare them down, letting my two hearts beat in a twisted, combined rhythm, while the halo over my head spins wildly as my accumulated mana rages inside it.

But they do not try to push me. Unlike Talon, I have set clear boundaries with them. While I may not mind some messing around, there are situations where I truly appreciate being left alone to do what I think is best.

I erase a few of the supportive webs and change the shapes of others. I drain mana storage batteries as I expand the web and connect it to my halo. A few threads float around me, coiling around my arms and shoulders, sticking to them like a sort of 3D tattoo.

It could be said that my work is going smoothly. It’s something I have wanted to do for a while, hijacking this kind of array and reshaping it entirely to support my own plans. It takes a few hours, but soon I am done. There are no signs of the triplets or their goons, no trace of that weird field they made before.

Plenty of time remains until night, so I move toward one of the mines. I enter and walk between supporting wooden beams. Every few steps, a symbol has been carved into the wall with a tiny mana battery fueling it, making the hallway glow with even light.

There’s a shaft heading straight downward. Wide enough to fit the entire length of a bus. Instead of waiting for the elevator or using stairs, I simply drop myself straight into the darkness.

As I fall, inscriptions around me react to my presence and light up, only to turn off as I descend.

Near the bottom, I absorb my momentum to land gently on the floor. A few more steps take me into another wide tunnel where I find a demon and a velnar loitering near one of the veins. It looks like lightning made of molten copper with a bluish shine.

You cannot sell it to the system shop. It has no name. Its mana conductivity is average at best. Weapons made from it are neither powerful nor special. I tested that much myself, just as many generations of locals and attendees before me have. The only real use for this metal is building up the core of the outpost, according to a set of blueprints left behind by who knows who.

At first, I helped mine it in hopes of increasing my participation and securing better rewards for this floor. Then the doc explained it to me in his own twisted way, even if it was easy to translate.

Simply put, completing Beyond floor quests from already cleared floors will never be as rewarding. Beyond is different from the tutorial. While it exists on the edge of the real world and the tutorial, it’s not really the same as either. There are parts of it that even the Rulers don’t have much influence over, and one of those is the way rewards are given.

The only exception is clearing the 5th floor and advancing to the 6th, something only a rare few are able to achieve. Otherwise, the other floors have been cleared many times before. At first, by the Rulers who found the First Dungeon. After they reached floors they could not clear, they tried to connect the dungeon to the system and the tutorial system, succeeding in some places while failing in others.

In some ways, it could be said that there are three separate systems. The main system, which seems to cover the entire universe as it continuously expands, forcing newly initiated planets into Pairings. Another subsystem for the tutorial. And still another for the First Dungeon. Similar to the other two, but nonetheless distinct.

To simplify it further, while my participation needs to be acknowledged for me to complete the 3rd floor quest, it does not need to be impressive, since the rewards will not improve much. I already mined plenty, killed monsters, and did my best to protect the outpost’s construction. That much the system will take into account.

It also confirms what I have suspected for a long time. For an average attendee, trips to Beyond might not be all that worth it. But the more powerful, lucky, or smart attendees can gain a lot from it. Information, connections, Beyond quests, Beyond events, any one of these can be more valuable than tutorial floor rewards, yet at the same time, they can also be far worse.

In the end, it truly is a place between the real world and the tutorial. It grants advantages to the First generation, though they are muted, and rewards those who put in the effort.

“Came to mine with us again, mana boy?” the demon asks first, using my appearance in the mine as an excuse to sneak in a cheeky break.

At this point, I don’t even bother trying to stop him. I’ve broken his arm multiple times, but it’s only made him more determined to call me that. A part of me suspects he might have heard Talon say it once and decided to keep using the nickname.

“One day I will bury you down here,” I note.

The demon gives it a thought. “That would be interesting to try. I wonder how long it would take me to get out. It’s half a mile to the surface, the rock surrounding us is…”

I ignore him as he starts making calculations with a bright look in his eyes, and turn to the velnar. “Ehm, I might have broken the array that kept the air circulating down here when I was taking over. I tried to fix it, but it has a terrible design that I hate.”

The velnar just stares at me without saying anything.

“Soo… I was hoping you could fix it, like before.”

“Fifth time,” he says.

“Ehm.”

“This is the fifth time you’ve broken it and then asked me to fix it. You say it is a terrible design, but that’s only because I had to patch it up after you broke it the first time. And the second. Then the third. And then you and Weslin kept telling us to hurry, and you never gave us time to make a new, proper one. What did you expect?”

“I mean, your patch worked pretty well.”

The velnar stares at me again, and in the background, the demon continues to estimate how much rock falling on him would be required to crush his body.

I initiate a transfer, sending five thousand shards to the velnar.

He rejects.

In response, I make it ten thousand.

He accepts.

I quickly leave, feeling his gaze on my back until I disappear around the corner.

As night starts closing in and I finish a conversation with Talon, we finally see movement. The three marks inside the Black Tower moving away from the city, heading our way.

Talon’s words fade into the background as I stand up from the chair I’ve been sitting in. The mana inside my halo spins faster, and the array I took over awakens. My Mana Wavelength Iris activates, aided by my Mana Physique and my unique arcane passive.

When Weslin looks at me, I gesture to him that I’ll take care of it, even as more presences start appearing and encircling the outpost. I detect multiple powerful items and mana batteries filled to the brim. These people cooperate with each other, setting up an array just beyond the edge of our own, though it’s not the same one that created the darkness before. And they wait for the triplets.

I follow my marks, sharpening my sight in their direction, and see the three lumorans appear just out of range.

They stand there. Watching. Calculating. Dragging out the moment. Predictable, almost dull, and most of all, disappointing.

I stand ready to accept their challenge, but they hesitate and wait, delaying the attack, as if their hesitation makes them clever.

A snort escapes me without my realizing, and I rise into the air.

POV Talon

The moment he rises into the air and Weslin's void energy starts to flicker around us in defense, I know things are about to go crazy. And they do.

All around Nathaniel, segments of his barrier light up as attacks rain down while he makes himself a target. That halo over his head grows an even darker shade of blue, and the mana inside starts spinning faster and faster while the flash of the incoming attacks explode around him. Then the halo expands to ten times its size, and in the next moment, condenses and turns pitch black.

The parts of our defensive array he took over light up, supporting him in whatever the hell he’s doing, and our industrial rated mana batteries drain in a few seconds. Then that black halo starts pulling in all the mana in the area. Mana from me, mana from the offensive array our opponents set, even drawing in the ambient mana around us.

He’s still just floating there, most of the attacks aren’t even reaching him now, breaking into mana particles before they even manage to get close, serving as fuel to be devoured by that black halo.

A pulse erupts from Nathaniel, and the world around us drains of color. The effect spreads further outward, swallowing even the area around the attackers. Only the golden rings around his pupils remain, burning all the brighter against the dark.

While the enemies scatter around us, erratic in their attempts to counter him, he calmly lifts an arm into the air, palm facing the sky. The projectile forms there. Threads of luminous mana coiling and fusing, as they pulse with a heartbeat all their own, forging a lance whose core blazes with a golden-white light. It shoots forth, near silent, and leaving a trail of pale blue, white, and gold, much more vibrant in the black and white shades surrounding us.

The lance pierces through whatever defenses the enemy prepared and even kills one of them.

Another lance forms right after, repeating the process.

The triplets in the distance gather together a circle of pale-blue mana glowing around them, spinning wildly. Their crystals glow, and similarly glowing white tattoos appear on their black bodies. The air trembles with the sense of danger radiating from their attack. A single purple projectile forms, a pyramid with a blazing white core, before shooting toward Nathaniel. It burns like a falling star, the sides of the pyramid flashing with shifting hues.

Nathaniel doesn’t move to evade. He halts the formation of another lance and simply watches the incoming projectile as it shakes the air around it.

But just like the previous attacks, before it can even come within reach, it starts to dissolve at the edges, already starting to break apart. Halfway through the process, it explodes, a countermeasure likely set in place by the triplets. The explosion paints the sky purple before it drains to black and white. Nathaniel still floats in place, untouched, the only change being the larger halo glowing above his head.

A smile spreads across his face, his eyes wide open like a demon’s, the golden circles of his trait burning with an endless, unnatural light.

Once again, he lifts his arm into the air, palm facing the sky. That movement is faster, more energetic, and almost playful. His smile widens.

Then a purple pyramid with a white core starts forming there instead of a lance. The pyramid spins, each side reflecting the nonexistent lights in the area. A thread of mana stretches from the black halo, latching onto the pyramid and pouring mana into it until it swells to three times the size of what the triplets created.

I sense Weslin near me moving into action now, and more of his void energy seeps into the area, stacking defenses around us while he mumbles something, but the entire time, I find myself unable to take my eyes off that pyramid.

The assault on Nathaniel intensifies. Dozens of projectiles, each molded in different colors and shapes, crash toward him, some dissolving into mana before they reach him, while others land, sparking his barrier to life in brief flashes.

His domain, draining all color, expands even further and engulfs the enemies attacking him. Like me, they discover they cannot use any skills to manipulate the mana outside their bodies, and only my Stellar Wind still answers.

With a roar like tearing metal, the pyramid rips ahead, the air shuddering under its speed, far beyond what the triplets managed.

The pyramid slams into the spot where the triplets once stood, the explosion catches them as they run away. The blast expands, the area around it warping under its heat. The surface ripples like liquid waves, stone melting and surging forward before hardening into a jagged sheet of glass. A moment later, the glass itself detonates, bursting into a storm of fine, razor-sharp particles that ride the shockwave outward, grinding everything in their path to nothing.

I start turning back towards Nathaniel when hundreds, thousands of finger long projectiles made of pale blue mana pass through the black sky, each trailing a line of glimmering mana behind them. They pour across the sky like a storm of falling stars, all streaking toward the triplets as more and more follow in their wake.

Another lance shoots off in the opposite direction, breaking the barrier and skewering an attacker with effortless precision. A moment later, a second lance follows. Attack after attack kills B ranks, and maybe even A ranks, without them even being able to stop them. Unable to use most of their escape skills at all, with mana constantly slipping out of their control.

In these moments, his mana feels bottomless, surging without end. Just the fact that it’s enough to sustain that monstrous domain is difficult to grasp.

Then the black halo above him finally unravels, and the last threads of mana are drawn back into his body. And when it’s gone, he looks unchanged, as if he hadn’t spent anything at all.

Above the battlefield, Nathaniel hovers untouched.

Bit by bit, color seeps back into the air, painting over the black and white world. Yet it feels fragile, as if it could vanish the moment he wills it.

Chapter 689 - In the restaurant

POV Nathaniel

I land back on the ground with a disappointed sigh. "The triplets ran off. Those assholes removed my marks, and they had some kind of movement skill I couldn't disrupt in time. But I think I still got a few of their buddies."

Weslin turns to me with a snort. "You think you got some? The triplets escaped into the outpost, so it's good you didn't follow them there. We don’t want to pick a fight with the Black Tower’s master."

“How shameless, little shits,” I note.

“You would do the same if you thought you needed to.”

“Yup,” I confirm.

He looks at me for a while longer before asking, “Are you okay? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you this exhausted.”

I wave it off. “It’s fine. I tested some new stuff, it was more difficult to process than I expected, but I’ve already started making modifications. Next time things will go much smoother.”

He sits on the ground next to me, resting against the same boulder. “Nothing like testing new things in combat.”

“I was never a theory guy.”

“Me neither,” Weslin smiles. “Want me, as a void energy specialist, to point out a few weak points I noticed? There aren’t many. You’re better than me when it comes to dealing with mana, but I just might have seen something you missed.”

“You know I won’t say no to that. Just give me a few minutes to rest, I feel like I might throw up that nice steak I ate earlier. Also, your eyes are slightly red.”

Weslin reaches to touch his face, but his hand freezes midway before he puts it back down. After a few long breaths, his heartbeat calms, and the faint red hue in his eyes disappears.

He, like everyone, has his secrets. I’m just glad to be one of the people he trusts with them.

“Thanks, I seem to lose control more often lately,” he says.

“It happens. Were the triplets really that fast?”

“They used teleportation. I almost cut them off so you could finish them off, but they pulled out some weird shit that still confuses me, and used that opening to escape. It cost them, though, they had to drag one of the triplets into the city because he blacked out from the backlash.”

“Did they not even want a proper fight?”

“I don't think they were prepared for what you just showed them,” Weslin says with a clear note of mockery. “I think they’ll give it a lot more thought before messing with you again. Was that what you’ve been working on?”

I confirm with a nod. “There’s still a lot of work left, but it could turn into something truly great.”

“I can imagine. And you still plan to avoid increasing your constitution.”

“You know the answer. High risk, high reward.”

“And you know I’ve called you fucking dumb more than once. All that teasing bullshit aside, and all the jokes, I’d prefer not to see you die because of it.”

“I know.”

“And yet.”

“And yet,” I repeat with a nod.

“You said your pride tells you the winner is the one alive in the end. Doesn’t that clash with your approach?” he asks.

My body is already feeling better, the movement of my mana growing less erratic. It slides back into control as I use Mana Cycling to guide it through pathways and circuits, across my conductive body.

“There are things I value more than my life,” I answer.

“Nathaniel.”

“Yes?”

"This is the most fucking cliché thing I’ve ever heard from you. I’m cringing just listening to it."

“Fuck you, Weslin.”

“Fuck you too.” He snorts and looks toward the fake sky in the distance. “But I can’t say much. I’m just the same as you, I’m quite fucked up myself. As much as I think you’re dumb, you think I’m dumber.”

“That is very correct. Sorry to tell you, Weslin, but you are indeed very dumb.”

He glances at me and grins. Then he looks back upward. “In one thing, I think you are right. If your planet really is caught up in a Pairing, and it’s possible you face Champions or maybe even an Absolute, then you all need to become stronger and fast. Even if it’s only about protecting a few people at the cost of the entire planet.”

“I’m glad you specified that. Protecting an entire planet of people I have never met and will likely never meet? What am I, some kind of selfless fairy tale hero? I’d never do that.”

“But if you had the strength to do so easily, would you?”

“I mean, probably yeah. I’m an asshole, but if it were easy to do, even I wouldn’t just let billions of people die. At the very least, I’d want a good life without having to deal with the kind of mess a mass extinction would cause.”

Weslin nods. “I do agree with you on that, you are an asshole.”

“That is correct.”

“An asshole addicted to progress and the thrill of danger. An asshole who only digs himself in deeper every time someone tells him he’s being stupid. An asshole who believes he can push through impossible situations with nothing but sheer, obsessive dedication. A prideful, arrogant, infuriating little shit of an asshole.”

“Please carve that into my tombstone if I die.”

Night creeps closer, and there are no more attacks on our base. Still, we come to the conclusion that The Clown Brigade, or whatever they’re called, will likely strike again. As much as I believe them about having someone stronger than the triplets on their side, I doubt they want to rely on that person showing up sooner than Morwag.

But what can they really do? They can’t do much against me, and they don’t have the people to face Weslin either.

There has to be something they’re still holding back. I just can’t believe someone in the top seven would challenge Primordial Lunatics without at least a half-decent plan. Maybe they’re planning to pull something against us on the second floor? But we don’t have all that many people stationed there. So perhaps they’re planning something with a different outpost on the third.

The fourth floor feels like a stretch for them to mess with, especially since it’s so close to the fifth. One wrong move there and they would have Nyssa on them in an instant. So it’s just obvious they’d try some sneaky shit.

Just like now, as we return to the city with darkness already closing in. Monsters begin crawling onto the surface, their roars echoing in the distance. Several powerful signatures appear just as we reach the outpost.

With perfect timing, an array of mana stones I hadn’t detected, buried deep underground, suddenly activate, ripping through a mile of earth and shooting into the air above us after breaking through the surface. A web of arrays sparks alive, meant to hold us here until the monsters can finish the job.

This time, I don’t interfere. Instead, I watch as a monster appears on the cliff while Weslin’s primordial void energy flares to deal with the trap.

I step away from the others to face the monster and slow it if needed.

The creature towers on its spidery lower body, eight legs with far too many joints, each step clacking against the ground like knives on stone. Its upper body mimics human muscle but swells in grotesque proportions, cords of flesh and veins under armored hide gleaming as if it were drenched in oil. Where a face should be, a cluster of eyes sits blinking out of sync, black and wet, and beneath them opens a vertical maw lined with hooked teeth.

[Skreth - lvl ????]

“Weslin, I think you should hurry, like really hurry,” I say.

Something in my voice keeps him from asking questions, and in the next second, the barrier around us shatters, just as more monsters climb over the hill. They’re all twisted and broken like the first one, but instead of attacking, they stand still, watching in silence as we rush toward the city. Only when we finally cross into the safe zone do they turn back, retreating behind the hill as their screeches return.

In the distance, a sudden burst of fire lights up the night, flames shooting into the sky. Dozens of attacks detonate in rapid succession, explosions scattering across the horizon like a battlefield igniting all at once. I recognize the direction and already know what it means, yet Talon still confirms it from my side, his face set in a grim mask.

"That’s an outpost called Minefield. Or it was. It was set up for a thousand people," he says.

For a while longer, I watch the storm of attacks raging in the distance, bursts of fire and light tearing the night apart as defenders desperately try to hold the line or escape. The sky flashes again and again, each explosion marking another desperate stand. A part of me swears I can hear their faint screams being carried on the wind.

When I finally force myself to look away, the others head toward the guild branch, while Weslin and I make our way into the city, following the lit streets where a few people still wander. We don’t even speak, moving in sync as I track the faint remnants of the marks I left, gathering fragments of information from the air.

Following those traces, I find the triplets and enter a crowded restaurant with Weslin right behind me. The lumoran triplets sit there as expected, showing no sign of the fight earlier today, and daring as always. But someone else catches my eye. At the table near them, a tall thylarin with four arms seated beside a black-haired woman with green eyes.

I blink a few times at Sophie, who only shrugs and gestures a quick “later.”

Luan doesn’t even glance my way, continuing to enjoy his food. I know he noticed me, and Weslin, too, who stares at him longer than I do. I nudge my partner and head toward the triplets, sitting opposite them at the largest table in the center of the restaurant. Next to them is another empty seat: a massive chair with a plate already set, as if waiting for someone.

I open my mouth to say something, but a huge hand gently lands on my shoulder. Goosebumps rise across my skin. I hadn’t even felt the presence behind me, although I should have. Especially now, since my kinetic, thermal, and mana senses are running at all times. Yet somehow I missed her?

"Thank you for joining us," the woman says in a smooth, deep voice. She’s a velnar, tall like every other velnar I’ve ever met. She wears casual clothes, and I notice rings on eight of her ten fingers, each one a powerful item.

"Hela, don’t tell me you joined their guild," Weslin says next to my side, as the woman releases my shoulder and moves to sit near the triplets, towering over them. Her movements are smooth, nimble, and entirely unfitting for someone of her height.

Facing Weslin, she answers without apology, "They pay well."

"Enough for an S rank? Don’t you have better things to do?"

"They…"

Before she can continue, one of the male triplets interrupts, "Please, keep the details of our deal to yourself, Lady Hela."

The velnar woman tears her gaze from Weslin, then stares that triplet down for a solid ten seconds before turning back to him until the lumoran looks like he is about to collapse. "As I was about to say, they offered me an item from their treasury. My tutorial ends in a month, so why not take it?"

"You’ll never get it if you die."

"Was that a threat, Weslin?"

"A friendly warning. Nyssa sent Morwag."

"You are sweet, Weslin, but I considered all that. And I’ve already met Morwag. Assuming he doesn’t leave the Black Tower to fight the monsters that seem to be having such a great time out there, he should be joining us soon."

At that, Weslin sinks into his chair defensively, earning an understanding smile from the velnar.

And just as she said, the doors swing open and a tall figure enters.

The moment he steps inside, everyone in the restaurant turns to him. Not in admiration, but in that wary way one watches a ticking bomb when they have no idea how much time’s left on the clock.

Morwag, the most demon demon to ever demon, is muscular and very tall, as tall as Luan, although both remain shorter than Hela. From beneath his white, wavy hair, which reaches his shoulders, two thick black horns peek out. They’re not overly long, but they grow from the sides of his head near the ears, twisting forward in a dangerous curve.

His eyes burn redder than any demon’s I’ve ever seen.

Only after taking in the entire room does he start walking, his boots heavy against the floorboards. He moves between tables without haste, each step pulling every eye until he stops at the largest table in the center. Without asking, he drags out the empty chair over beside Weslin and drops into it, leaning back like the seat had been waiting for him all along.

Chapter 690 - Morwag

“Weslin,” the demon says.

“Yes, Morwag?”

“Why aren’t you an S rank yet?”

“Why did your mom drop you on your head as a child?”

Holy fuck.

I keep glancing between the most demon demon to ever demon and Weslin. Luan sits there, completely unbothered. Sophie makes a face that is somewhere between pity and finally understanding what the Primordial Lunatics are really like. The triplets and their S rank velnar don’t really seem to mind the situation either.

Morwag laughs out loud, not showing the slightest sign that he ever took it as an insult. He pulls Weslin closer and hugs him with a strong, shaking movement. I’m pretty sure if he did that to me and I didn’t strengthen my body, it would’ve killed me.

“Ah, this reminds me of the good old times when we used to be a duo. It was so fun back then, when I was showing you the ropes. I hear you’re doing the same for our human boy over there.” His red eyes turn to me. There’s hardly any gradient to them, just a single vibrant blood-red color with a vertical slit pupil in the center.

“You probably know more about him than I do,” Weslin says with a shrug.

Morwag shakes his head and says brightly, “Not a thing. Other than Nyssa wanting him on the fifth floor. But I never bothered asking, so that might be part of it.”

“And that’s why the Primordial Knights are going to drop out of the top five,” the velnar says from the side. She easily towers over everyone here.

“Hela. I swear, every time I hear you talk, I want to punch you. But more than that, I want to punch my blue friend over there. Hey Luan, why don’t you group up with this lumbering oaf of a woman and fight me two versus one?” Morwag’s eyes are wide open now, and his heartbeat feels oppressive, yet it still hasn’t pushed too far.

“I’m not interested,” the thylarin next to Sophie says simply, without even looking up from his food. The glowing lines on his arms don’t even light up as he maintains his calm demeanor.

Disappointed, Morwag leans back and glances at Sophie. “I thought you were being dragged around by that feylith bitch. Is she finally dead?”

“Yes, Faora has passed away,” Luan says.

Morwag’s smile widens. “So you got a replacement. Another mind mage for Frontier’s silly attempts at reaching the sixth floor. I wonder, if I killed her, would you be more willing to fight me?”

"Yes," Luan says, taking a slow bite of a pink dessert shaped like a small animal, chewing without concern, and only then does he lift his eyes to meet Morwag’s.

They lock eyes as they stare each other down until Morwag suddenly shifts his focus to me, like a wild animal. He studies me for a moment, then bursts into loud laughter. "I knew I felt something. You’re angry, just like that mind mage over there, aren’t you? Do you want to fight? Is she your bud, rookie?"

Not seeing a reason to hide it, I nod, further drawing his attention to me.

While Luan and Hela remain calm and controlled, Morwag continues to feel like the most dangerous person here, if only because of how unpredictable he is. He seems like he’s being completely led by his emotions. Out of the three S ranks gathered, he’s the one who’s most likely to snap and cause chaos, and everyone here seems to realize it, while being sure not to antagonize him too much.

“You could say that,” I confirm.

“What a fucked up situation. What would you do if I killed her?”

“Well, first, I don’t think it would be that easy for you. She is a pretty nasty mind mage.”

“Ahhh.”

“Then that douchebag, stick-in-the-ass thylarin called Luan, said he would try to protect her.”

“Yes, he said that.”

“And I would use the opportunity to sneak up on you.”

“Your own guild mate?” Morwag asked, feigning horror.

“Without a speck of hesitation.”

Hela starts laughing, and the triplets seem amused too. Out of them, the sister says, “Maybe we should just wait it out and let them clear themselves out.”

Morwag laughs too, for a couple of seconds, before suddenly stopping as if someone pressed pause, and turns to the triplet, “Lumoran, I will paint the walls with your insides.”

The silence that follows makes me realize the other people sitting around were listening, and at hearing that, all of them stopped. It almost seems like most of them want to leave, but they are scared of what their reactions might cause in the demon.

Seeing that none of the triplets even dares to breathe too loudly, Morwag turns back to me. “Your name was Nathaniel, right?”

“I thought you knew nothing about me.”

“I lied. Don’t you think anyone foolish enough to believe anything they’re told, or blind enough not to see through a lie, is beyond hope?”

At that moment, Luan breaks the silence to order another portion of whatever he’s been eating. I see it annoys Morwag, but he says nothing and keeps his attention on me.

The server, hands shaking, confirms Luan’s order and quickly rushes into the kitchen.

“Anyone who feels tired should probably leave this place. Don’t forget to leave a massive tip,” Morwag says to the restaurant at large, though his eyes never leave mine.

For a moment, silence holds. Then someone moves, dragging a chair across the floor. When nothing happens to that brave soul, the rest burst into motion, scattering and clearing the place within seconds.

Morwag drags his chair closer, far too close, and locks his eyes on me. I do the same, looking back almost without blinking. I know for a fact that he’s listening to my heartbeat as well, but I return the favor.

I observe the rhythmic, calm beats. Even when he seems annoyed, happy, or outright angry, they don’t change in the slightest. His control over his powers is absolute, and I realize that any aggression he shows is a deliberate choice, him allowing his emotions to break through.

“Do you think I could kill you?” he asks.

“Probably, but you won’t do it.”

“Why not?”

“I haven’t given you a reason.”

“Not because we are in the same guild, or because Nyssa told me not to?”

“I don’t think any of that would stop you.”

His smile widens at my answer. “Do you want to fight?”

“Not really. I’d rather fight you when I’m stronger.”

“Oh.” Morwag seems disappointed. “So you’re scared of losing, of getting wounded?”

“No.” I shake my head, pulling his attention back to my face. “You just seem like the kind of person I would learn nothing from, and it would annoy me to no end to lose against you. I don’t know why, but I want to stomp you into the ground the moment I think I have the slightest chance.”

As I say that, I notice how hard it is to control my hearts. I still do it, it is my power after all, but there is a constant push to release everything I hold against this guy sitting so close to me. I haven’t felt anything like this in a long time.

Glancing at Weslin, Morwag asks, “Why aren’t you more like him, dear Weslin?”

The bald man ignores him completely, which only seems to amuse Morwag even more. He scrapes his chair across the floor with a loud screech as he shifts away from me, aiming to bother Weslin instead.

Deep in thought, I stare at the demon’s back when I notice Hela watching me. The huge velnar woman lifts an eyebrow as I meet her gaze. “I heard you messed up the triplets pretty good.”

I glance at the lumoran trio. Even though they try to hide it, I can see it bothers them.

Looking back at Hela, I shrug. “Not like it was anything difficult.”

To my answer, she just nods, as if confirming something, and I look away. This time, I meet Sophie’s eyes.

The moment we do, she creates a connection between us, and I accept it. It’s a much improved link, and completely unlike the twins’ [Connection]. More relying on her mindbender abilities, subtle and much harder to detect. I have no illusions that the S ranks here could’ve missed it, but at least it will not be easy for them to listen without us noticing.

(Up until this morning, I didn’t even know I would be here.) She explains her presence.

(It’s okay. Did Luan come here to pick a fight?) I ask.

(I think he just wants something from the master of the Black Tower before we leave. What’s happening?)

(The Primordial Knights are at war with Clown’s Emerald, or whatever they’re called. The triplets are from the other guild, and our big girl here is an S rank who seems to have joined them. You know Weslin from my descriptions, and this creepy demon is the most demon demon to ever demon, apparently. He’s an S rank too.)

(I know you probably can’t help it, and it wasn't your fault, but why do I feel like this mess all started because of you?)

(Malicious rumors deliberately spread to tarnish my unblemished reputation.)

(Surely.) I can almost hear a sigh in her voice. (Need a hand? I could try to trick Luan into helping out.)

(I think it is better if you don’t. Morwag and Hela are already big enough problems without Luan complicating things even further.)

(I’ve heard things about Morwag, and I’d expected him to be different. So far, he seems a bit… restrained. But yeah, it is not as if he’d go around breaking the rules in a guild war.)

For a moment, I think about saying something, but I decide against it. I figure it’ll be a good reminder for Sophie of how demons can truly be. She already has something of a grasp on it after dealing with the Dusk Horizon tribe on the 9th floor, but Morwag is a more... raw version of what a demon can be.

Luan and Weslin both seem to know what’s about to happen. Hela probably knows too, even though she doesn’t seem to care enough to try to stop it.

And so the bomb continues to tick down towards detonation, though no one knows when it’ll blow. The restaurant feels eerily quiet without the other guests, but the servers and other employees still move about, serving us while everyone picks at their food. The conversation keeps going as well.

Hela leans toward Weslin, trading words as she does. Morwag turns his attention back and forth between Luan and Sophie, poking and provoking. Sophie, to her credit, keeps her reactions measured. She answers politely, but with enough firmness in her tone that it doesn’t sound like submission.

The longer we sit, the more the rhythm falters. Food cools on plates, drinks go half-finished, and the steady murmur of voices disperses into scattered fragments. Nothing happens, yet the atmosphere settles into something hard to define, not hostile, just drawn out.

When it finally looks like it is about to end, Luan stands to leave, and then Hela and the triplets follow, I feel myself tense up even more.

The triplets are just passing by when, as if remembering something, Morwag stops them. "Just a moment," he says as he rises.

Weslin doesn’t even try to intervene, knowing it would be pointless, while Hela watches on, uncaring.

For the first time, the lumoran triplets begin to realize what most of us already knew.

As Morwag turns to them, one of the brothers stammers, "The rules, you..."

Before he can even finish, Morwag swings his arm and the lumoran sister explodes, as if her body were no more solid than a pile of feathers. She vanishes in a burst of pink mist, her flesh and blood splattering over her brothers and spraying across the wall behind her.

With a nod, Morwag picks up a napkin from the table and calmly wipes the blood from his hand.

As I watch the shocked, horrified lumoran men touch the pieces of flesh clinging to their faces, I realize that Morwag never tried to drag it out. He didn’t insult them, he didn’t explain why, and he didn’t care about the rules at all. He simply did what he promised when the lumoran woman interrupted him, a woman he already considered an enemy, yet not killed instantly, in what he saw as a show of politeness.

At the time, the triplets had taken his words lightly, but now they see he meant every word.

Morwag dabs at the lumoran’s cheek with a napkin, wiping away some blood as the man stares back in horrified disbelief, too stunned to move. “Messy, isn’t it? So much for your rules.”

Chapter 691 - Severe mana deficiency

"This will have consequences, Morwag," Hela says.

The demon only shrugs, ignoring her completely, as he continues wiping blood from the lumoran man’s face.

"Consequences," Morwag mutters, then shoves the bloodied handkerchief into the lumoran’s mouth, forcing it closed. While staring at the man, he continues, "You say it like it is a bad thing."

As he turns toward Hela, the lumoran spits out the handkerchief and starts vomiting, which Morwag ignores. "We have been challenged, Hela, and we will respond without being bound by the rules others set to control the powerless."

"Don’t tell me. You know I don’t care. I’m only in it for the items."

"I guess you are. But is it good enough to risk your life for?"

"Rumors are already spreading, so I can tell you. The Eternal Court found an ancient armory on the 4th floor, filled with high grade arcane items, some even ranked as high as low pristine. It’s incredibly old, and may have belonged to some Ruler’s companions, possibly one of the earliest Beyond explorers. Half the guild died just to bring out a few pieces."

"Why not sell them or bring them out of the tutorial instead of wasting them on hiring people to start a guild war?"

"There’s a pristine item, a strong one. It requires a great many demon hearts, powerful ones. The guild master is desperate to use it. Which means you’re being hunted now."

"I can’t imagine you’re the only one they’ve hired."

"Not at all. The Eternal Court are already in talks with other guilds to help explore the armory in exchange for a share of the items. I think they’ve contacted Bloodline and Frontier, especially." She nods toward Luan.

The thylarin next to Sophie keeps his face unreadable, but Sophie’s expression makes it clear she didn’t know this at all.

"Good. I will let you leave this time," Morwag says with a smile.

Hela just snorts. I think she shared this information because she just doesn’t care, and also because she knew Morwag would "reward" it. She doesn’t seem to be afraid of him, but she feels like the type who prefers to be prepared before getting into a fight.

"The trip... twins?" she asks, and the two lumorans twitch at once.

Morwag thinks for a second before waving it off.

In the next moment, Hela grabs them by the arms and pulls. With one step, the air in front of them twists, and all three of them vanish.

"Luan, you sneaky, sneaky thylarin bitch," Morwag says, though Luan’s expression remains calm.

Without waiting for a reaction, Morwag heads out of the restaurant.

I tear apart my connection to Sophie so it can’t be used for any sort of tracking, then follow closely behind Weslin and Morwag, who doesn’t even seem to care enough to hasten his steps. He strolls through the streets while looking around curiously, sometimes at the shops, sometimes at the people passing by.

After a few minutes, he’s the first to speak. “Weslin, are you able to detect Hela?”

“I cannot,” Weslin admits. “At most, I can keep up the field around me so I know when she’s nearby, but it wouldn’t be very useful against her.”

“That’s true. Well, do your best, or you will die. Don’t think she’ll hold back just because you went on a few expeditions together. Her skill allows her to warp her presence and body. It’ll either look like she is in a different place than she actually is, or it’ll seem like she’s not there at all. She can also use it for teleportation. That oaf of a woman even kept leaving the restaurant when I tried to scare her a bit, and half of the time she only seemed like she was there with us.”

“I thought it worked like that, but she’s improved quite a lot.”

Morwag snorts. “Child’s play. Relying on tricks instead of fighting properly, but I guess it’s handy for birthday parties, and cowards.”

“I guess. But I wanted to ask. What if, because of what you did, the Black Tower’s master allows the guild war to go into a second or maybe even third stage? What if Luan decides to help them, uses the opportunity to join Hela, and fights you?”

“Weslin, in that case, I’d just kill them both.”

“You can do that?”

“Yes.”

“You are bullshitting.”

Morwag laughs and puts his arm around Weslin with a bright smile. “No, I’m not. You think Hela’s skill or Luan’s fragment scares me? Me?”

“I think not being scared and being capable of winning are two very different things. But let’s say you die. What then?”

The demon seems to give it some thought and then smiles unapologetically. “Then you guys would have a pretty big problem, wouldn’t you?”

The moment we arrive at the guild branch, the security lady vyssari is already waiting for me. This time, no words are directed at me at all. Instead, she instantly throws dozens of questions at Morwag, with some complaints too. The entire guild is on full alert, defensive arrays have been activated, and the guards have been tripled. Some of the less secure sections have been entirely evacuated, and people have started gathering in safer zones.

Yet the people from the guild don’t seem panicked, it’s more like they’re just shifting their behavior to fit the situation. Many of the demons even look excited, and without asking, I can bet some are already using Beyond stay tokens to extend their time here so they don’t miss out on the fun.

Soon after, a vyssari man arrives at our branch. He doesn’t look all that strong, yet the branch leader immediately shows him respect, greeting him as a servant of the Master of the Black Tower. That vyssari wears a plain white suit with a brooch shaped like a black tower, a copy of the one in the middle of this outpost.

Morwag, fully uninterested, leaves for the basement to hand the Doc whatever item Nyssa has sent for him. The branch leader nearly panics while apologizing to the vyssari in the suit, calming down only when Weslin joins the conversation and begins explaining what happened and the background behind this war and the recent breach of the rules. At first, I listen, curious about what will be said, but it quickly turns boring, so I sneak away.

As I walk down the hallway, I wonder what kind of item would need so many demon hearts and why the Clown Council would pursue it like this. Could the guild master not get them from the tutorial? Or from some lonely attendees? How many does he even need? Ten? A hundred? A thousand? Maybe he’s stuck on a floor where demons don’t exist, but in that case, could he not post quests for others to gather them in the tutorial and bring them to him without starting a war?

Is it possible that demon hearts from the natives of the tutorial aren’t as good as those of attendees? Could it be that they discovered the armory months ago, and tested the item, and, faced with no other options and the pull of greed, decided to take this path so that he could use it before the tutorial ends? It is not like he needs to be remembered as a nice guy in Beyond once he’s back on his own planet with a dozens other problems.

If I were a cowardly, greedy, weak man, I would probably hire Bloodline or another top 5 guild for protection. I would offer them items from the armory in exchange for help exploring it. Then, if I were an asshole, I would start a war. But that item would have to be a true find. Still, it being pristine, in a class of item a Champion might use, is very possible.

I can imagine him staying in Beyond for the rest of his tutorial under the protection of a powerful guild. He would only need to get the item working and then return to his planet, likely securing his place as top dog there, securing his position as an Absolute for a good while yet.

Laid out that way, it makes a little bit of sense, doesn’t it?

There’s also the chance that Hela twisted the truth, and the heart he really wants is Morwag’s or Nyssa’s rather than any of the others.

Another option is that the item requiring the demon hearts isn’t meant to strengthen him directly, after all, they may be using it for something else entirely.

Ahhh, it’s all just so fun, isn’t it?

Near my room, I run into Talon waiting for me. He often does this when something happens, hoping to gather information. In exchange, he usually helps me finish some annoying tasks or shares some of his own information.

As I tell him what happened, his face turns sour and he curses multiple times. A few dozen counts as multiple, right? Most of those curses come when I mention that Bloodline or Frontier might be involved in this mess, along with possibly more powerful attendees for hire.

"You still haven’t realized one thing, Nathaniel," he tells me once I’ve shared most of it. "If that armory really does hold a pristine item, the resulting mess is going to be huge. You don’t care about items all that much, but fuck, some assholes here would commit murder over a low arcane. If it’s like Hela said and the rumors are spreading, the 4th floor will be a fucking disaster of a mess. I wouldn’t be surprised if people from the 5th floor rush there too. Eternal Clowns members will be hunted down, all of them, tortured in an attempt to force the location of the armory out of them. The top 10 guilds will form coalitions, and Bloodline will cut a deal with the Eternal Clowns. Everyone’s going to want a piece of it."

"I mean, pristine items are nice and all, and you can make shards, but in the end, it’s just an item," I counter.

He stares at me without blinking. For a moment, I think he might pull that black bow off his back and try to beat me with it, but instead, he just sighs and walks away.

What a weirdo.

Finally alone, I head into my room and drop onto my bed, staring at the burned section of the ceiling. While I study the charred wood, I think of ways to locate Hela. I pull the things I’ve seen her do from my memory and compare it to the way Ruby used to teleport, since it feels similar, along with the other abilities I’ve seen with similar effects. In some ways, it resembles Ruby’s warp-type teleportation, but it’s likely been mixed with another skill like [Projection] or [Replacement].

I still find it fascinating how different people find their own ways to grow powerful, even though we all started from nearly the same point, just two starting skills, with everything snowballing from there.

While I think, I continue to accumulate mana in the halo over my head. So far, it’s been the simplest and easiest shape to maintain. I can make it look like a crown, but right now, it’s less efficient and requires more effort. Still, once I improve it, I will.

My new skill should also let me store primordial energy in the halo, but so far, I’ve only used mana. Mana can be turned into kinetic energy through my heart, and my Ignition Heart can pump enough thermal energy into me to kill me, so there’s been no need to accumulate it there.

But mana? I need more. I am starving.

I'm literally suffering from severe mana deficiency.

I let my mind wander while focusing on the shape of the burned ceiling. At the same time, I form a few evil pyramids that float around me as I continue with my daily mana-shaping exercises.

I bring up my status screen and reread the description of my newest passive.

Mana Wave Predation (Unique Arcane) - You’ve become the natural predator of all mana. Your body and senses are refined to predate upon, seize, and bend all wavelengths of mana you can perceive to your will. This passive’s strength is directly tied to your mana usage, and the more you channel or consume, the stronger the effect of the passive becomes.

I really need more mana.

Chapter 692 - The Finger

When morning comes, we’re one of the first groups to leave the guild branch. We receive no reinforcements, unsurprisingly. After all, we have Morwag now.

We step outside, and I’m not surprised when he changes direction, heading toward the Minefield outpost, where the fights broke out the night before. I thought about going there, too, as morbid as that sounds. If everyone in that outpost died, it is highly likely people from the surrounding outposts will head there, though they’ll likely be more interested in looting than searching for survivors.

The further we get from the city, the more people I see gathering, all moving in the same direction Morwag went. He’s already almost out of sight. So far, he has yet to use kinetic energy for movement, and I doubt he even has it. Weslin already told me what primordial energy Morwag has. And for the moment, I believe he only has the one, and I am waiting for him to reveal it clearly so I can observe it.

I set it as homework for myself, something to muse over during guard duty, and to think about how it could "work". I also take my guard duty far more seriously now with Hela around, since I have no idea what to expect from her.

If she sneaks up on me like last time, I could end up very dead, very quickly. That is why most of my effort goes into detection, mostly searching for any small window of warning I might be able to get if she uses her skill before reaching me. Of course, there is also the chance that it is not a skill like I think, but rather a fragment or maybe even some kind of primordial energy. Hell, it could even be an item.

Weslin knows her somewhat, so I’m sure he’ll be doing the same. Reliable as always. When I met him, he was a mid A-rank, but now I can say with confidence he’s reached the peak of A-rank, and without hesitation, I would grade him higher than Io. He completely lacks the weakness that cowardly thylarin had.

“I’ll be watching for Hela. If she attacks, I’ll take her first strike, then you can step in,” Weslin says simply.

I don’t bother asking if he is capable of that. I have fought by his side enough times to know when to trust him.

“In that case, I’ll get ready and either place a mark on her or stop her entirely,” I answer, already dividing my mind into three parts: one preparing a mark, another preparing disruption, and the third to take care of the other stuff.

And, as I did with him, Weslin doesn’t bother asking if I can do it. Some of our dear colleagues glance at us, looking doubtful as they listen in. After all, it is an S-rank we’re talking about. They probably felt secure with Morwag here, but seeing him abandon us at the first possible opportunity probably shook that trust. Even so, I am sure the demons among our colleagues are more disappointed that they can’t just challenge him and die in the next second.

Isn’t that just a little bit cute? They’re like children. Silly demons.

That, of course, applies only to the ones weaker than me, totally not for Morwag.

“Did you get the skill you wanted from your combination token?” I ask Weslin as we reach the outpost and set ourselves apart from the others while on guard.

“I haven’t used it yet. I want to level up the skills I’m planning to combine first.”

“Sounds like the smart thing to do. Smart, but boring.”

“Are you still annoyed that there aren’t any five-skill combination tokens?” Weslin snorts.

“You know what, I’m sure there is. You said you heard rumors about a four active-skill combination token, so why not five? That Diligence asshole is just hiding it from me.”

Neither of us sits down. We keep scanning the area, keeping our bodies warmed up and mana circulating, ready to be unleashed in an instant. In some ways, it’s unnerving, in others, it’s boring, because I know we will remain like this for hours. Yet at the same time, it is exciting: a fight to the death that could start mid-sentence, mid-breath, with the enemy exploiting any hint of vulnerability we might show.

“I still can’t believe you actually met his projection. It only makes me more curious how you managed it,” Weslin says.

“I told you, I cannot say. I mean, I probably could, but it would piss someone off if I talked about it too much. So you just have to live with the knowledge that I saw his projection, somewhere, sometime.”

Weslin waves it off. “I do not mind that much. You know, when you traded me that insanely expensive information…”

“It was very cheap.”

“…that it is possible to meet Rulers on the floors, I actually thought the Living Tree was going to become the Ruler. When we went to the old capital, it caused us so much trouble.”

“Did it fly?”

“It could fly?”

“Yup.”

“It didn’t for us.”

“You missed a lot. By the way, aren't all ‘leader’ ants queens? The First One led his Colony, and everyone called him a he.” I muse.

“Does it matter? He started as a result of an experiment. I always thought most of the other ants were created as his copies, or shared his genes, maybe some of them were modified to be queens.” Weslin glances at me for a moment.

I start to reply, but then notice he’s not looking at me. His eyes are fixed on something behind me, and I freeze, every nerve tightening as my attention sharpens. My body coils, ready to explode into attack at the slightest movement.

Weslin does not move, nor does an attack come.

“I think she’s nearby,” he mutters.

I nod and take a step to the side to make some distance between us, only to find myself somewhere else. Not teleported like Io would do, but as if I had stepped through an invisible portal, warped space placing me somewhere entirely different. What surrounds me are the destroyed buildings of an outpost. Some are still burning, others have entirely evaporated. Blood is everywhere, along with clear signs of the fights that happened here.

In front of me stands Morwag, his expression tilted in faint curiosity.

“I thought I snuck up on her, but it seems that she used her tunnel to swap places with you,” the demon smiles. “She inverted the flow at the last instant. She was already focused on you, but instead of drawing herself through it, she tied it into Warp Step’s fold. That turned your position into the exit point while erasing her own. How sneaky of her. You were with Weslin?”

“Yes. Our outpost.”

Morwag nods, and in the next moment, he vanishes with an audible shockwave that rips through the area, throwing ruins and debris away from us.

I rise into the air and follow in the direction he left, watching him sprint across the ground. Each of his steps sends another shockwave, tearing the land apart and sending him far ahead.

Even as I push out as much kinetic energy as I can, I cannot catch up. His movement looks inefficient, it looks slow, and yet he’s still far faster than me.

Multiple times, I try to activate one of my marks in the outpost to teleport there, but their end trajectory warps, trying to send me somewhere entirely different. Having experienced it before, I take notice, even though it’s very well hidden, so I avoid using my marks.

As I finally reach the outpost, Morwag is already there, clashing against Hela. It seems like she can’t use her skill to escape as Weslin’s void flickers around her and the area.

And Weslin, well, he barely stands there, almost collapsing, with a long dagger stabbed through his chest, piercing out the back. The blade is transparent, with a mana structure shifting inside it, clearly trying to suppress his void, and even succeeding to some extent.

Even so, Weslin holds out, managing to stop Hela from escaping. His forehead scrunches with an expression of deep concentration. Both of his eyes are now noticeably red, and his heart thumps audibly in an erratic rhythm.

Morwag continues to clash against the velnar that towers over him. While she is faster and smoother in her movements, Mowag moves like something unstoppable. Every one of his attacks evaporates anything it touches, not unlike Lily´s [Disintegration]. But where [Disintegration] erases matter entirely, Morwag’s primordial energy unbinds connections, causing matter to break apart into an ever-changing mist of color. Sometimes it is brown like the stone he strikes, other times green like the grass, or blue like the mana projectile he swats aside. It always takes on the color most present in whatever he destroys..

Morwag has a single primordial energy called Binding Primordial Energy, and now he’s using it in his attacks in an attempt to cancel out whatever it is that binds Hela’s body together. At the same time, he increases the forces that bind his body together, making himself extremely durable.

In just a few seconds, before I even step into range, these two S-ranks move all over the outpost, exchanging dozens of blows. Multiple rings on Hela’s fingers glow, automatically activating barriers, attempting to counter Weslin’s void, trying to hide her presence, or increase her speed and strength.

But it all still seems to fall short against Morwag. His strength swells through his body while his primordial energy binds him from breaking apart, allowing him to push himself further and further with fewer consequences. Durability, strength, speed, and attacks meant to dissolve bodies into particles stripped of their bonds. Like an unholy abomination, a twisted fusion of Jean and Lily, given form in this demon man.

My [Eclipse] spreads over the area, and a black orb forms above my head as dozens of barrier segments flash into existence, blocking the attacks raining down on us to support the other members of the guild in the area.

I don’t even try to attack Hela. While Morwag might be fine with Weslin using void on her since she attacked him first, I am absolutely sure he would not look kindly on my attempts, even if it meant she would escape otherwise.

Instead, I start building up more defenses, throwing lances and attacks where needed, and overall drawing more and more attention to myself from the other enemies.

I land near Weslin just as he staggers back with a groan, his void weakening and nearly disappearing, just enough for Hela to push through.

The air around Hela wavers as she takes a step forward to disappear. Morwag attempts to stop her, in what I guess is an effort to bind her to this place, but he fails. Like many others, while he is extremely talented in some aspects of his abilities, other areas are lacking or simply not as refined.

So the velnar escapes, and I let it happen without trying to stop her. For a moment, I ignore the rain of attacks. Even as multiple weaker and faster ones slip through my defenses and damage my body, I deflect only those meant for Weslin. Instead, all the rest of my attention, the entirety of my Mana Wavelength Iris, is locked on observing the way Hela teleports, reading every frequency and fluctuation.

I watch mana move outside of her body as she rushes to do so. I even see movement inside her body as her shielding weakens and her attention focuses elsewhere, and I study her skill, weaving and activating.

For a fleeting instant before she vanishes, her eyes snap to mine, wide with disbelief.

Then she’s gone.

Weslin, barely standing beside me, giggles through bloodstained lips, his eyes still glowing a deep red. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and grins.

“Ah beh she din’ expec’ tha’,” he mumbles thickly, then spits something into his palm.

It lands with a wet thud. A severed finger, delicate and pale, though it’s much bigger than mine. A golden ring is still clinging to it. Hela’s.

I can only stare at it in shock while Morwag’s unhinged cackle bursts out behind us at the sight of the finger.

Chapter 693 - News from the Fourth

After Hela escapes, the attacks stop as well, though I think the real reason has more to do with Morwag’s arrival rather than the velnar’s retreat. Morwag charges toward the source of the attacks, letting the projectiles crash harmlessly against his body or turning them into colorful mist before they reach him.

Weslin, seemingly unfazed by the long dagger still lodged in his torso, studies the ring he took before tucking it away into his pocket and tossing the severed finger behind him.

Just in case, I burn the finger, which earns me a raised eyebrow.

“You ok?” I ask, pointing at the dagger.

"Pulling it out feels risky. Whatever it does can wait until I’m back at the branch, with Doc there to hold me down. Until then, the pain is bearable." As he speaks, the red glow slowly fades from his eyes.

I nod and decide to respect his decision.

When the attacks finally stop, work resumes, and the outpost nears ignition. Only around a week remains.

The rest of the day is uneventful with no more surprise attacks, even though Morwag still seems to be having fun somewhere in the distance.

When we reach the city at nightfall, Weslin goes straight to the basement and signals for the healer on duty.

I watch him descend the stairs, steady despite the weakness clearly creeping in.

The next day, we barely return to the outpost when the long-range bombardment starts up again. I pick up the defense, mindful of my reserves. I track the projectiles and activate the barriers only where needed. It is a riskier option, but it’s also much more mana-efficient. It just requires fast channeling, good tracking, and enough processing. And unfortunately for the assholes attacking us, I have all of that.

The black orb is already floating next to me, and I send it into the trajectory of the stronger mana attacks. So far, it’s been easy to call the orb back and control it, but the more mana it gathers, the harder it becomes.

If there is an attack based on fragments or primordial energy, I manifest a more powerful segment of a barrier to clash against it.

In some ways, it’s actually kind of fun. Sometimes they just send a few strong attacks at a time. Other times, they try bombarding us with a volley of weaker ones from every direction. And they keep trying to be sneaky about it, too, throwing in traps, disruptions, and other bullshit.

So far, I’ve come to recognize the mana signatures of around five people, three more with primordial energy based attacks, and two more using fragments. Over time, I learn these signatures and connect them to their attacks, slowly learning the tendencies of each user.

For example, there’s this one bastard I am sure has the Regeneration upgrade for mana. He or she prefers weaker attacks but creates a lot of them, usually trying to change their direction at the last moment to counter my strategy of activating only the necessary barrier segments.

Another one with Potency likes to compress their projectiles as much as possible and shoot them straight ahead, leaving a trail of mana behind it. The idea is likely to make the projectile move faster than my black orb can devour it or outstrip my reaction speed. These attacks usually come in the middle of the heaviest bombardments, too.

I had hoped some of them would be at the level of Tess’s railgun-like projectiles or my lances, yet none seem to have quite that level of piercing power. Even though I would be in trouble if they did, I still hoped for it. It’s the sort of thing I’ll need to overcome sooner or later.

This particular group of ten always runs when Morwag stops by the outpost. For a while, they tried attacking even with him here, but after a few minutes, he got pissed off at the bombardment and charged them. So they disappear, clearly having some kind of teleportation they can use to escape.

I even thought about charging them myself, but every so often, they split into two or three groups to attack from different sides, so it would leave the outpost exposed if I attacked at the wrong time.

Lately, they’ve even learned to stop their attacks when Morwag passes, since they know it annoys him and makes him charge. Instead, they wait for him to leave before resuming the bombardment.

And of course, I constantly expect Hela to appear and strike, and something tells me Weslin would appreciate the rematch. Maybe he wants to chomp on more of her fingers.

A day ago, we heard that more guild members were attacked near several outposts, and a few were even killed. The demon members of the group were found with their chests cut open, their Demon hearts missing.

Currently, the Primordial Knights have stopped recruitment for now, trying to prevent spies from slipping in. Some newer members are being examined, too, after suspicions of information leaks.

The outpost in Black Tower is the safe zone where we have the biggest guild branch, but there are several others nearly as large.

Morwag is clearly being hunted and targeted, or they’ve at least been trying to hunt him down. So far, there have been three major attacks on him, always led by Hela and backed by multiple powerful A-ranks. They’ve tried poisoning him, ambushing him with a suppression field. They tried to lure him into a warren of confined tunnels somewhere deep underground. Assassins, strikes from the shadows, attempts to wear him down with swarms of lesser attacks before moving in for the kill.

The only outcome is that Morwag appears to be enjoying himself. Sometimes he joins us just to talk for ten minutes straight about the latest “fun” attack they’ve made against him.

Just his presence here shifts some of the pressure off us. The question is whether they’re targeting him because he is the strongest member here, or because they want his heart.

Well, the others can think about that anyway. Talon, the Branch leader, and some of the others have already been discussing it extensively as they gather more information. Somehow, it’s amusing how Talon snuck his way into our leadership. But I guess there just aren’t many people here who like to deal with that kind of stuff. A big portion of the Primordial Knights are demons, and demons are not exactly diplomatic or patient enough for that sort of thing.

I cut off my thoughts as another barrage of attacks rises. This time, I dig deeper into my reserves, connecting to the array and covering the entire outpost in a translucent pale blue barrier.

Its surface wobbles and ripples from the impacts as dozens of projectiles smash against it. Up above, a green cloud forms, and soon a green rain starts falling, droplets gliding along my barrier and corroding it in the process. More clouds gather, the rain intensifies, and the other attacks light up the area in colorful flashes.

“Need help with that crap? It’s some kind of weird fragment, but I can cut it off with my void,” Weslin says next to me.

“No need. Keep watching for Hela.” I answer as I focus on the attack. In some way, it is pretty to watch that green cloud, and rain fall against my barrier in a constant attempt to melt a path through it.

Ten minutes later, he asks again, "Why aren’t you getting rid of it? You could have, you know."

I nod. “I could, but it’s fascinating to watch. Probably not all that old or strong of a fragment, but I have to keep modifying my barrier, and that thing keeps evolving to counter it. I’m using it for training. Also, it is connected to someone five miles away, so I’m carefully tracking the connection.”

“Why?”

“That dumbass has been keeping it in place for feedback so he can modify the clouds and the weird rain. But where there’s a way in, there’s a way back. Sure, there are a few safeties in place, but I think I can do it.”

At this point, my Mana Wavelength Iris is at its limit. It takes ten minutes longer, but I manage. By then, it had already been half an hour since I started gathering a mix of thermal and kinetic energy inside an orb shielded from any prying eyes.

One of my Ley Lines is also reaching out in that direction. This one is made to be single use, as undetectable as possible, even compared to the obscurity of the normal ones. It will break apart when I send the orb through, unable to handle the load with how thin I made it, but it’ll be good enough for a single strike.

In a few more seconds, everything falls into place. The frequencies align, the orb is ready, and the dumbass is attacking again, his concentration slipping in the process.

My mana flares up along with my [Eclipse]. My control rises like the moon obscuring the sun, overshadowing and taking over as I match the frequencies.

The orb disappears, and I cut off the connection so they can’t just send it back. Another pulse from me shoots toward the clouds, disrupting their base and causing them to start breaking apart.

I count the following seconds.

Three.

Two.

One.

No kill notification, disappointingly.

So I channel my mana, making it roar through my body and spill outside. There is so much of it that my unique arcane passive strengthens from the sheer amount. A tricolored orb forms in front of me, as big as my fist.

Then I send it to the mark I left hidden inside the first orb I sent through. A tiny core no bigger than a grain of rice, yet still serving as a [Tether].

This time, there is an explosion a few miles in the distance, but it bursts in one direction only, which means they likely redirected it or defended only the side they were on instead of containing it fully.

Quite competent, aren’t they?

I send another tricolored orb, and this time, a bigger explosion rocks the area. Though this time, I’ve also sent one of my mana constructs along with it: another rice-sized sliver designed to track the closest mana signature. I give it a few seconds. A low-frequency signal pulses back from there as the tiny orb spends its allocated mana and triggers, which means someone tried to remove it after it successfully latched on.

Yet another of my orbs teleports through.

[You have defeated Ward Enforcer - lvl 364]

[You have defeated Ember Conjuror - lvl 366]

[You have defeated Line Breaker - lvl 341]

[Lvl 346 > Lvl 347]

I gather more mana and quickly send another orb. This time, it explodes properly, with nothing blocking it. The mana construct placed there does not latch onto anyone, even as I wait a full minute. The conclusion is simple: they ran away.

“Got three,” I tell Weslin.

“I can see you want to check things out.”

“Weslin, maybe their cowardly friends ran and left the bodies and items behind.”

“As if they would’ve left anything intact.”

“I guess,” I say, disappointed.

For a moment, I try to examine my feelings, to see how I feel about killing real people, not just natives from the tutorial. I find no regret, no disgust with myself. It is simple, kill or be killed, and it was them who started this oh so eagerly. I feel no regret for ending people like that.

When Talon moves in closer, I redirect my attention to him. From his expression, I already know it’s not good news.

“I got a message from the branch leader. Morwag destroyed a branch location belonging to one of the smaller mercenary guilds in the city. He killed three dozen of them and damaged a good sized chunk of a street. One of the servants to the master of Black Tower got super angry and threatened him, saying he would be jailed and exiled from the city at nightfall.”

“That’s like threatening him with a good time,” Weslin mumbles. “Anything else?”

Talon nods, serious. “Both Nyssa and Lyraen have left the 5th floor and entered the 4th. Everyone’s shitting themselves.”

Chapter 694 - No

Lyraen is a member of The Silent Veil. Just that guild’s name alone reeks of some kind of phantom invisibility assassins, cloak swirling, voice dropping to a whisper, eyes glowing in the dark for no practical reason, bullshit class. Their guild isn’t in the top 5, though it often shows up in the top 10.

It’s well known for an elite guild with relatively few members, the lowest of them holding an A rank. People tend to think of it as an elite mercenary guild. Hela apparently used to run with them before she bailed for some reason.

As for Lyraen, he’s placed among the top 3, maybe even the strongest. Nyssa, Lyraen, and Solae M’Karn, the guild master of Bloodline. I’ve asked about those three before. Out of those names, Nyssa has the most time left, Lyraen comes second, and Solae has the least. Not much different from Hela.

What’s interesting are the rankings.

Individual Rankings

1. Adrian (Ivory Tower)

2. Lyraen (The Silent Veil)

3. Nyssa Volare (Primordial Knights)

4. Solae M’Karn (Bloodline)

5. Zarith K’Traal (The Darkmoon Collective)

They reset once every thousand years, and the next reset isn’t far off either. It’ll probably happen sometime in the next 10 years. Yet the top 5 already have 3 currently active people. That fact hasn’t escaped me, and it sure as hell hasn’t escaped anyone else in Beyond either.

Some say it’s luck or coincidence, others say it’s always like this, with maniacs from the last rounds of the tutorials pushing hard before the thousand year reset. This generation has the highest number of risk takers and the most casualties, and the most clawing their way higher. Others claim it is yet another sign that big changes are coming to the outer world, with ancient monsters stirring into wakefulness and new talents rising to carve their mark into the system.

These individual rankings come from your performance in the tutorial, while exploration rankings are tied to Beyond performance. Mostly floor exploration, with some weight from quests and events.

Exploration Leaders

1. Adrian (6th Floor)

2. Voss (5th Floor)

3. Nyssa Volare (5th Floor)

4. Orion (5th Floor)

5. Zenith (5th Floor)

In this iteration of the top five, only Nyssa remains active. Rumors say she might soon overtake Voss, a beyonder from almost three hundred years ago, and might eventually come to match Adrian.

Sometimes I wonder what drives her to push like that. And sometimes I wonder how she turned a bastard like Morwag into the kind of person people call her hunting dog. I wonder about a lot of things. For example, why is Biscuit so cute, and why is his nose so pleasant to boop? Important things like that.

It’s already night again. Monsters are roaming outside the safe zones, and Weslin and I are serving as Morwag’s entertainment. After what he pulled today, there’s a mark on his forehead for everyone to see, a black tower, branded into his flesh by the tower´s master. A local Champion, or something close to it.

It works like one of those ankle bracelets for house arrest. And damn, how the most demonic demon to ever demon hates it. It’s probably costing him ten years of his life not to storm the black tower and tear it down. Every ten minutes. Or five. He only held back because someone reminded him of Nyssa’s words, or something along the lines of what she would think if he went against her. She sent him up here without much oversight, but this time, he figured she wouldn’t approve. So he gets to remain alive instead of being exiled into the night.

Now the only places he can walk are our branch, then straight out of the city through the streets. No other buildings. And I might have mentioned it already, but damn, how he fucking hates it.

While everyone else avoids him, I’m sitting in a chair right across from him. I’m already sure he’ll leave this outpost tomorrow, either to hunt Hela or to cause trouble in another one. I might have worried more before, but now I think I’m better prepared to face Hela.

“Can you tell me about Binding Primordial Energy?” I ask him.

“No.”

“What about the item Nyssa sent to the Doc?”

“No.”

“Can you tell me about Nyssa?”

“No.”

“Say no if you’re dumb.”

“No.” He answers with an aggressive smile crawling across his lips.

“Interesting.”

“Human with two hearts.”

“No.”

“Say no one more time, and I’ll tear off your arm.” He threatens.

Something about the way he says it irritates me suddenly and intensely, the kind of irritation that crawls under the skin. It is the way he tosses it out dismissively, not even bothering to look at me.

“You’ll have to come up with something more threatening than that,” I answer.

“Do you want me to? Unlike the lumoran triplets back then, you’re a member of the same guild as me. That earns you a certain level of goodwill.”

Once again, that tone.

“I know, it’s one of the pros of being kidnapped and forced to join the guild everyone’s been calling the Primordial Lunatics,” I say.

“They call us that?” Morwag asks in surprise, "I hadn’t heard that one."

"What would you do if someone called it that in front of you?"

Morwag smiles widely. "That might be one of the reasons. But, human, who taught you how to use kinetic energy for movement?"

"Someone must have taught me, otherwise, there is no way such a lame human like me could use it that way?"

"Something like that."

"Since you are an ass who never answers questions when I ask them, I’ll only tell you a little. It was a lurker, the others call him Whitey."

"Ahhhh," he says with an expression that clearly means he knows who I am talking about. He observes me for a while, then laughs shortly and shakes his head. "I see, I see."

"So damn mysterious. Not very demon-like."

His expression hardens. "Who are you to decide what a true demon looks like, human? You may have a pair of strong hearts, you may have learned from a great one, you may even share some of our tendencies. But your judgment means nothing, because you’re still just a human."

"And you’re wrong."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because if I prove myself stronger, then my opinion is right and yours is wrong. Even if I claim that proper demons wear pink dresses at all times."

He starts cackling, clapping a few times. "Exactly. Until then, you are wrong and still just a human. Now, tell me, how did you learn anything from that demon?"

I look back at him as the mood shifts.

The quiet of the room grows louder, the kind of silence that screams in your ears, and I know what is going to follow. Yet still, I have already picked my answer.

For some reason, I do not feel like sharing this at all.

As a smile climbs across my face, I look at him and answer.

"No."

Of course, I put up a fight. I try to hold him in place. I strengthen my body with kinetic energy and mana. I am even quick enough to create a barrier around my skull and launch a burst of kinetic force at him.

Yet he still moves like a tank, grabbing my arm and pulling it off exactly like he said he would.

Then, instead of destroying it, he drops it on the floor in front of me. It is something halfway between a polite gesture toward me as a guild member and a laugh at my expense. A gesture that says he did not destroy my arm, so I would have an easier time reconnecting it without having to regrow it or beg the healers for help.

But to me, it seems like he spat in my face, a clear provocation and challenge.

For a while, I stare at my arm in that mess of the room, nearly all of it evaporated in our short clash. Dozens of alarms are ringing out loudly somewhere in the background.

I reach down, pick up my arm, and stare at it for a short moment. It is a weirdly unnerving feeling, the weight of it, the way it balances in my hand. And, of course, it’s my left arm again.

Then I throw it at him.

Morwag catches it with a short cackle. He opens his mouth to say something, but the arm in his hand explodes, holding nearly all of my mana, which I had channeled there in that short moment I held it, forcing it to destabilize. Nothing too fancy or powerful, just the kind of simple, inefficient explosion I used to make on the early floors. A single droplet of blood falls from my nose from the strain.

The arm swells up, fingers twitch, and all that mana detonates.

Morwag’s binding energy goes into overdrive. He not only hardens his body but twists the explosion into pale blue mist that bursts through the room like a crashing wave.

For a heartbeat, the room settles into that pale glow, quiet as falling snow. The mist like particles curl between the shattered furniture, soft and almost beautiful.

Morwag stands in the center of it, shoulders loose, expression unreadable. He brushes a flake of ash off his chest like it was nothing at all.

Then another arm lands at his feet before he can say anything. My right one.

This time it contains, as some might say, a shitload of thermal energy from my Ignition Heart. I lifted the second seal entirely to fill it.

As the golden light starts seeping from it, ready to explode, I look at Morwag.

And I say, "I said NO, you bitch."

Another explosion fills the room. This one becomes a golden mist that crashes outward like a wave, but like a shockwave, bouncing off the walls.

Bursts of kinetic energy rocket through my body, carrying me in front of the demon while two arms made of mana grow from my stumps. The air around us drains of color. Running on what I would call fumes, but still holding enough to be equal to the mana pool of an average attendee, I reach him.

He keeps his eyes locked on my mana arm as it reaches for his face. Just like before, his primordial energy rises to unbind my mana.

But not this time.

My mind, my skills, my passives, my domain, my focus, everything flares up to stop him, and even despite his attempts, my fist reaches him and crashes into his chin.

His face does not show pain or recoil, but his surprise is obvious.

This is my mana, and it will not be unbound so easily.

In the next moment, multiple people rush in, Weslin included. Some of them literally throw themselves at Morwag, in a rush to hold him down, though he just stands still, looking only at me. His deep red eyes glow, and his heart tells the truth. It thumps through the wreckage louder than the alarms and louder than the shouts of the people. He looks as if he hasn’t even noticed them swarming around him.

Then, as if nothing had happened, his heartbeat stops. In the next second, it returns to normal, and the mood around him shifts just as quickly.

Without saying another word, he leaves the room.

A few days pass, and looking back at that clash, I start to think Morwag left so the blame would fall on me. But as amusing as that would be, I believe he left before he had to fight me with everything he had.

Some would call it very undemon-like to walk away from a fight like that, but to me, it fits demons perfectly. Maybe not the younger ones who throw themselves into every brawl, desperate to show aggression at every chance. But from Morwag, it felt right. Demonic.

Even while he carries the same violent energy as the others, he can still bring it all under control if he chooses. After all, from his perspective, wouldn’t it be pathetic to let anything control you, even your own emotions?

Since that day, I have not seen him, only heard rumors from Weslin about his clashes with the Ethereal Clown Band. More mercenaries keep appearing, too, but even with their numbers, it’s not enough to stop him.

The same goes for the attacks on our outpost. Without a powerful demon heart in the area, they don’t amount to much.

The days roll into next week, and Hela disappears from the third floor. Rumors say she went to the fourth.

Morwag follows just a few hours later.

Multiple powerful A-ranks, especially from the top guilds, head down there as well, all of them acting on information I don’t have.

But it’s obvious. Something big is going to happen there, on the fourth floor, deeper inside the First Dungeon.

I am growing impatient to head there, and thankfully, the rest of the outpost construction goes well, up until only the last step remains.

This time, more people from the guild are with us to “claim” the outpost. It is not like we’ll actually own the safe zone after we ignite it, but as the ones who built it, we’ll get a cut of the taxes and a good bit of influence in how things are run. At least that’s how Talon explains it to me, simplifying things since he knows I’m not really all that interested. I’m sure it’s far more complicated than that, dealing with locals, finding someone strong enough to defend the place and enforce order like the master of the Black Tower, all that shit.

The ignition itself is… well, something. After all our work, the mining, the gathering, there’s a big circular platform, wide enough to hold a large building. This will be the core of the base, the same way the Black Tower is the core of, well, the Black Tower safe zone. The attendees really don’t seem to give a fuck about creative names.

In the center is a single hole in the ground shaped like a cube, and above it floats another cube, about the size of a package, large enough to hold a few thousand slabs of deer jerky all crammed in together. It’s extremely delicate, and made of a number of rare materials, and represents hundreds of hours of labor following some blueprint the Primordial Knights bought. It drifts down and slides into place, locking in perfectly, leaving no visible seams or gaps.

And that is it.

There’s no insane waves of mana, no thunderous eruption of noise, no control panels to light up one after another while someone in the background screams about the power levels being too high.

There are no sudden accidents turning out to be sabotage, or summonings of monsters for us to fight in a panic as half our members end up dying, no need for Weslin to bite off the monster's fingers, and nothing forcing me to lose my left arm just to finish it off at the last second, as I break through my limits and level up, unwillingly, to 350, unlocking a body upgrade only to die in the very next moment.

None of that.

All in all, it’s a good day. At least I get a notification this time.

Congratulations on completing your Beyond floor quest!

You have received:

14-day Stay Token

100,000 shards

Activation stone for the portal leading to the 4th floor

So cheap. After I finish reading the notification, I glance over at Weslin, who already seems to know what I am thinking.

"Let’s head down to the fourth floor," he says.

Chapter 695 - Mistake made perfect

Welcome to the 4th floor of the First Dungeon!

There are no safe zones on this floor.

4th Floor quest: Permanently sacrifice 15 stat points at The Quiet Circle

Rewards:

14-day Stay Token

100,000 shards

Activation stone for the portal to the 5th floor

I had heard about this “quest” before, but a part of me always suspected it might just be a joke Weslin was trying to drag me into. Reading it now though…

"I told you," he says at my side, already knowing what is going through my head. "But let’s get to the Megacity before something finds us outside."

"Attendees really don’t fuck with names," I mumble as I follow behind him, only the two of us appearing here.

"I thought you preferred it that way. Said it was easier to remember."

"That doesn’t mean I can’t complain about it."

He mumbles something, probably something insulting about me, but while we run, I keep examining the fourth floor, or at least what I can see of it. We’re currently passing through a canyon, its walls rising miles into the sky, towering over us like cliffs of stone. The place is enormous, oppressive, and yet strangely still.

Soon after, we exit that canyon only to enter a wide valley surrounded by even taller walls, enclosing us on all sides.

The mountains and cliffs look fairly normal at first glance, just scaled up to absurd levels. The valleys are covered in greenery, knee-high grass, patches of shrubs, and even an array of exotic plants, somehow growing out of the rock itself.

We continue running for more than ten minutes, and I don’t see anything resembling a broad plain or open flatlands. Mountains crowd the horizon in every direction, as if some mad cartographer got drunk and scattered them all over the place like a lunatic. It’s just as Weslin described. And, as he said, we don’t meet any monsters this close to the Megacity. We even pass a few attendees heading out on hunts, a reminder that the areas nearest to the city are deliberately being kept safer.

The fourth floor used to be unlivable thousands of years ago. Beyond explorers and the descendants of attendees who came here almost always died, unable to resist the monsters and establish any footholds without the protection of standardized safe zones. Back then, they were forced to hide in caves, build tiny camps, and never move in large groups for fear of drawing the monsters that loved nothing more than hunting them down.

That was until she entered the fourth floor. The current strongest Local in all the Beyond. The Pathfinder Thane.

She started the same way as everyone else, hiding in caves, burrowing underground, running from monsters with nowhere to stay for long. But her story stretches across decades. She gathered other Locals, sometimes earned help from the attendees, and slowly built up her forces.

Still, it wasn’t all teamwork and happy cooperation. No, it was her power that made it possible. Her power and her power alone. She was the daughter of two powerful attendees who had died in beyond long ago, and she grew into something beyond them. People were drawn to her like moths to flame, and under her lead, they carved out what became the first real base here: the Megacity. Not a true safe zone, but a city, guarded by her alone.

We exit another canyon, and the view opens.

The Megacity doesn’t look like something planned. It looks more like something that just happened. Built where the canyon widens into a massive bowl-shaped valley, the place feels half-carved and half-grown out of the mountain itself.

The outer zones sprawl across wide terraces stacked against the canyon walls like the steps of a giant staircase. They’re packed with rough housing, stalls, forges, and crowds of people. These layers look newer, pieced together from stone, bone, wood, and scavenged metal.

The deeper you go, the more ordered the city becomes. The middle zones climb higher up the terraces, fortified with walls and guarded gates, streets paved with cobblestones worn smooth by countless steps. These parts feel older.

Above them sits the upper city, carved directly into the cliffside. Wide balconies, fortifications, and halls cut into the rock itself, lit by softly glowing lights. According to Weslin, this is where the old families and the rich live, where the guild branches are located, and where the descendants of Thane’s first companions keep their residences.

At the very center, on the highest plateau, lies the innermost zone. Safe, beautiful, luxurious, the place where the Handlers are rumored to gather. Its gates are marked by the skeletal remains of some colossal beast, half a ribcage arching overhead, bone fused with stone, bleached white against the dark cliffs.

Some say it once belonged to a Champion-grade monster Thane slew when defending the city during a month-long siege. Others whisper that it was already here, buried in the rock long before the dungeon itself truly formed. Either way, the bones are bigger than buildings, and their shadow looms across the inner city like a permanent reminder of her power.

From outside, the Megacity looks like a great spiral fortress climbing the canyon wall, layers upon layers, chaotic yet holding some strange order. And above it all, like a crown, sits her residence, cut into the highest ridge, overlooking everything below.

Weslin and I enter the Megacity without much trouble, though I immediately sense multiple scans and marks being placed on me, the same kind Spark and Marble spoke about back on the second floor of the Beyond.

Just as it looked from a distance, the zones farthest from the Pathfinder’s keep are the newest and likely the least safe. Still, I doubt the others would just sit back and watch monsters chew through the outer districts without lifting a finger.

Slowly, the mood shifts the deeper we go. The main difference, though, is that we get stopped by guards more often as we pass through the gates, the marks on our persons changing to grant temporary access to each new zone as we head toward our guild branch. The deeper we go, the prettier and cleaner everything becomes, and the more expensive the residences are.

It is possible to buy a residence permit or get one from your Handler as a reward, and even those are split into tiers, low-end, mid-end, and high-end. There are even rumors of “named” residences, ten of them in total, almost impossible to obtain, even for S-ranks.

The city itself is divided in much the same way. Low city, mid city, high city, and the inner city, where Handlers are rumored to live as well. With Weslin, I pass into the high city and toward the guild branch located there.

The street is quiet, lined with tall green trees, the color standing out sharply against pale gray stone. Vines climb the walls, adding streaks of red, purple, and gold. Immediately, I notice the other guild branches as well, Bloodline, Frontier, and Crimson Forge. Every guild in the top ten has a presence here, along with a few others.

Our branch isn’t quite as large as the one on the third floor in the Black Tower city. It’s just a black gate that leads into a pathway through a small, well-kept garden and then to a multi-story building in the center. Behind it lies a terrace and a few small sparring areas.

Inside, it doesn’t seem overly decorated. In fact, there are almost no decorations to speak of. Just stone that radiates a sense of firmness and copper-colored inscriptions etched into the walls, with soft lights framing the hallways. The open rooms have sparse furniture in white and pale blue, the same colors as our guild uniforms, the same ones I’m wearing now.

All the demons here are behaving themselves. Tame, almost. No one raises their voice. No one tries to challenge me. They just move about, quietly doing their jobs.

As we pass through the rooms, we come across Morwag. He’s seated in a white armchair that looks a bit too small for him and talking with a demon woman at his side. When he spots us, he gestures casually in greeting.

"Nyssa’s in the garden," he says simply, then turns back to his conversation. The woman giving us a lingering look as we pass.

Passing through another long hallway, we finally end up alone. Weslin glances at me, opening his mouth like he wants to say something, but then he shuts it again. Without a word, he opens a door and gestures for me to step into the garden while he stays behind.

The garden isn’t large, framed on three sides by buildings. In the middle stands a single tree, its trunk surrounded by a circular patch of grass and a lone bench. The tree is pale white, its thick stump scarred by the damage that’s clearly split it in two. One half remains dead and hollow, while the other half grows into a new trunk, living and strong.

As I walk past it, I catch its scent, it smells like freshly cut grass with a faint hint of citrus. I stop for a moment, taking a few deep breaths, then move toward the figure waiting at the far end.

Nyssa Volare stands at the far side of the garden. The garden is open there, not walled in by buildings, and instead reveals a view of the Megacity below and the valley framed in by the mountains. The square opening looks almost like a portal, a window cut into the fabric of the world.

When I approach, she turns. Nyssa is not much taller than Lily, petite even, and her appearance is that of what I would almost call an albino. Her skin is unnaturally pale, her horns are the same color, and her eyebrows and eyelashes are all white as well. The horns curve in a style similar to Vega’s, but they’re a bit longer, and her left horn is shorter than her right. Her hair is raven black, falling to the middle of her back. She wears the same style of pale blue shirt and white pants I do.

Her eyes lock with mine. Unlike other demons, hers are a pale shade of red, fading into white. The edges burn crimson, but near the pupil, the color grows increasingly pale until it forms a white ring around her irises.

And she smiles. It’s not sarcastic, not fake. It is almost gentle, a true smile. Like sunshine.

"You have very pretty eyes," she says, her voice soft, matching that smile. She takes a step closer. "I am Nyssa Volare. I am happy to finally meet you, Nathaniel."

Somewhat awkwardly, I take her offered hand and shake it. "Nathaniel Gwyn. Nice meeting you."

She lets go and steps back, the view of the city and valley framing her from behind. She stands close to the edge of the stone platform with no railing, nothing between her and the drop.

"Do you have any questions for me?" Nyssa asks playfully. Her eyes dart around like those of a hyperactive child, rushing to catch sight of something amusing.

"I heard you needed me on the fifth floor," I answer.

Her eyes tick back to me as she half-smiles. "I do, but that’ll have to wait for now. Just do your best to survive until then. But that wasn’t all you wanted to ask, right?"

I shake my head. "I heard you have three energies. Kinetic and two of the rarer ones. I’ve only heard of one other person with three."

"Professor Feran from the Academy, isn’t it?" Nyssa nods slowly. "What a tame lost demon that man was. But you are right, I have three. Would you really like to know about them?"

I keep watching her, searching for a flicker of danger in her tone, a shadow of hostility, a crack in her composure. Yet there’s nothing there for me to find. And slowly, painfully, I understand why.

Nyssa does not see me as a threat. Not even a tiny bit. She looks at me the same way I would look at a child devoid of power.

"Yes," I manage to say, the words catching in my throat.

She gives a short laugh, tilts her head, and nods. "One of them is Primordial Blood. The other I will keep to myself. But Nathaniel, if you tell anyone, I will be angry."

"I’ll keep it to myself," I answer.

"Good. You can go now, and please send in Weslin as you leave."

I do exactly as told. Out in the hallway, I slump into a chair just as Weslin enters the garden behind me.

Only then do I notice what my body has been doing on its own. My Mana Wavelength iris has flared into activity, hitting its absolute limit. The second seal on my Ignition Heart is still lifted, pulsing violently. A black halo spins above my head, while kinetic energy bounces inside my body with every heartbeat.

I look at my hand trembling in front of me, and a rough laugh escapes me. Shaky and bitter.

An hour later, Weslin and I are sitting in one of the guild lounges when the notification appears.

Emergency Beyond Event in Progress!

Participation Parameters:

Location - Fourth Floor.

B-Rank and above.

All individuals currently engaged in the guild war declared by the Eternal Court against the Primordial Knights, and all individuals interfering with the Ancient Armory located on the Fourth Floor.

Special Conditions:

S-Rank participants will be transferred to a separate event zone. They will be assigned higher-risk objectives, distinct from those of the lower-ranked participants.

Primary Objective:

Prevent the threat contained in the Ancient Armory from awakening, escaping, and annihilating all Locals and Attendees present on the Fourth Floor.

Time Constraint:

Maximum duration: seven days. Duration may be reduced without prior notification.

Rewards:

None other than what can be taken during the Beyond Event itself.

Note from the Ruler issuing this event:

It’s your fault this is happening, so you’d better take care of it or die trying. - Ruler of Diligence

Do you wish to participate? You have ten seconds to decide.

Yes / No

I glance at Weslin. He stares back with a shrug, then taps at something in the air. A few seconds later, I do the same. The moment I confirm, a pull drags me away, and I vanish, reappearing in a wide underground hall. At its center rises a massive stone pillar, thick as a tower, with glowing vines spiraling upward.

Around me, people are already gathering and beginning to arrive, one after another. Some I recognize as Primordial Knights by their uniforms. Others belong to other groups, mercenaries, and different guild members. Just as the notice said, all of them are at least A-rank or B-rank, possibly even a few of the same bastards we fought against not so long ago.

"This is going to be a mess," Weslin mutters beside me, scanning the room.

Then, without warning, a severed finger drops onto the floor in front of us with a soft plop.

I stare at it.

Weslin stares at it.

"Don’t eat it!" I shout to Weslin.

"Motherfucker, I only did that onc..."

Before he can finish, a figure grows out of the finger. A woman, black-haired and beautiful, roughly my height. Her eyes are brown, and one is lighter than the other. Her clothes are casual, comfortable, but well cared for. There is not a single piece of equipment on her body.

Her face lights up in a rare smile, and she opens her arms wide just as I rush forward. I pull her into a hug, feeling a smile climb its way onto my lips.

"I’m not even surprised you’re here, Vic. How the hell did you get caught up in this?"

"It is a long story, but you don’t need to worry. I’ll tell you anything you want to know. For now, let’s head over to the others. Gloria is there, along with someone else I think you’ll want to meet."

"Sure. Weslin..."

"It’s fine. Just go. I’ll check on the others from the guild and regroup with you later." Weslin's voice is calm, but the surprise is clear on his face as his eyes flick from me to Vic and back again.

It’s probably rude not to introduce them right away, but I’m not exactly known for my social skills. Especially when I choose not to be.

I follow Vic through the growing crowd while talking to her. People around us are splitting into groups, forming circles, and scouting the area. She leads me toward a smaller group of about ten. Some I remember from the tournament. My eyes catch on Gloria immediately, she’s wearing an oversized pale yellow shirt with a crying cat printed on it.

But my focus drifts elsewhere, almost without me realizing.

A man stands slightly apart from the others. I estimate his age to be somewhere around forty, though with the stats we’ve been gaining, he could easily be much older. He’s tall, seems well-kept, while his black hair is marked with faintest gray at the temples, and his jaw clean-shaven.

"Is this your brother, Miss Victoria? The resemblance is obvious," he says politely, his tone calm.

Victoria nods. "This is Nathaniel. Nathaniel, this is Christoph."

"Hello," I say, taking his offered hand and shaking it.

"Hello. Chris is fine, no need to be so formal," he replies with a faint, observant smile.

My eyes have been active since the moment I arrived, and I pick up the faint movements of mana around him. Incredibly delicate, fragile even, and yet it’s been woven into an array of intricate patterns. He smiles, tilts his head slightly, and adjusts his posture just enough that my kinetic senses scream at me, picking up every shift and the gesture.

For a moment in my mind, his figure overlaps with someone else entirely.

He releases my hand and says, "It’s good to see more people from Earth made it to the fourth floor."

POV Rafael Vaughn, aka Channeler

Jessica finishes her examination of the old cat, who lets her hold him without complaint. Grumpy’s fur is disheveled, and he’s partially blind, his eyes clouded with the layers of white that come with his state. Yet, unfitting to his name, Grumpy lets it all happen. Even as Jessica sets him down, he leans forward and licks her hand a few times in a gesture that looks almost thankful.

Grumpy then turns around, takes a few tired steps, and lies down on a very old, torn blanket before closing his eyes to rest.

"How does it look?" I ask.

"Do you even realize how difficult this will be?" Jessica mutters, "He probably awakened, sure, because he’s in our presence. But he’s old, weak, and fragile. And in case you forgot, he’s a cat, not a human. I know human anatomy far better, and even then, there’s more room for error, especially with attendees and their superhuman bodies. But if I make a mistake here, he’ll die instantly, and it’ll fall on me. Rafael, I don’t want it to fall back on me."

"I knew healing was difficult. I saw it marked as easy difficulty under capabilities, but I thought it would be simpler for someone from Normal. Especially since you already cleared your thirteenth floor."

"You, my dear, have been spending too much time around Grumpy. And by Grumpy, I mean Lily fucking Chen. Don’t give me that look. Her real name’s been an open secret for a while."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh, and for your information, I’ll do my best. I won’t sleep, I won’t eat, I’ll spend every hour of the day digging through every book on cat anatomy I can find. I’ll pay tens of thousands to contact the best feline vets alive, if I can find any who’ll talk to me. I’ll even call in favors from healers I know and force them to work on it with me."

"That sounds like a lot of effort, Jessica."

"Please, don’t act like you didn’t expect that when you called me."

"I’m sorry. And I hope you won’t be angry if I ask, but what do you expect to get out of this? I have an idea, but you were already hard for me to read before."

"Are you trying to pick me up? I won’t say no if that’s the case. After I’m done here, you can invite me out on a date. But no pressure. As for expectations…"

Her eyes cloud over a little, and a smile spreads across her face. "I’ve spent some time with Lily. I’ve heard her talk about this cat more than some of my group members ever talked about the children they left here on Earth. If I do this, and she gets out… I have no illusions about my potential of becoming a Champion, or even hitting the higher levels. But if it’s her, she’ll be able to prolong my life quite nicely, I believe."

"I agree with you there."

Jessica smiles again. "Just how insane is it? The only thing on Earth that made us all equal, no matter if you were rich, pretty, ugly, talented, or useless. At most, you could squeeze out two, maybe three extra decades, if you had a team of doctors around you at all times. And now, even this, life itself, is about to become currency."

POV Earth

"Colonel Jonathan Kane, we’ve received information from one of our Returnee contacts."

"Is it from Codename Channeler?"

"No, this came from a Normal difficulty Returnee assigned as the president’s bodyguard. The notification appeared to him just thirty minutes ago, and I rushed here to deliver it."

The man in the suit clears his throat and pulls out a tablet, reading from the glowing screen.

Congratulations. Enough attendees have completed their tutorial to move into the next step.

Dungeons will start gradually opening all across Earth, trapping a certain percentage of dangerous awakened animals inside and allowing those who enter the opportunity to gain levels.

Each dungeon can only be cleared once, and their number will continue to grow over time.

No information about dungeon tiers will be provided. Extreme caution is recommended.

POV Nathaniel

I appear inside my mental space, this time manifesting there myself. The place looks like that endless white expanse again, no walls, no floor, no ceiling. The only thing in it with me is a small bed with unmade sheets and a few pillows piled on top.

I walk closer and stop at its side, giving one of the legs a light kick.

A grunting noise comes from underneath.

"Come out," I call.

"No! I’m hiding!" The voice is young, muffled from under the bed.

"I know what you’re doing. I came because I need you to hide something."

The noises shift into an annoyed groan. A figure crawls out from beneath, shuffling forward on all fours. It’s a young boy wearing worn-out clothes and a single sock. Around his shoulders, tied loosely at his neck, is a red, bleached-out blanket pretending to be a superhero cape. He stands up and meets my eyes. One is gray, the other light brown.

Sneakythaniel tilts his head, looking at me. He doesn’t say anything, just smiles faintly. His eyes are lively, and there’s that strange, gentle warmth radiating from him, like he’s happy just to exist.

"Where’s your other sock?" I ask.

"It’s been hidden somewhere," he says.

"Aren’t you supposed to be pretty sneaky yourself? How could you lose one of your socks?"

"How many times did you lose your favorite left sock? No matter how sure you were that you put it into the washing machine, and that it had nowhere else to go. It just disappeared, as if it’d been thrown into a black hole. Aren’t the left socks the sneakiest, most phantasmic things to ever exist if you really think about it?"

"I can’t fight with that logic," I sigh as I kneel in front of him.

It feels strange to look at him like this, knowing this is how I looked when I was younger. The same bed, the same worn clothes, the same cape tied around my neck.

"You can’t have it," he says, watching me glance at the cape. "It’s for heroes only."

"As if I even wanted it."

"You’re me, of course, you wanted it, no matter how much you try to hide it." He smiles brightly and pats the top of my head. "We always wanted someone to save our sister and mom, a hero just like in the stories."

"It’s silly."

"It is. But wasn’t it a beautiful dream nonetheless?" His smile softens, and then he hugs me. "This hug isn’t from me, it’s from yourself, you know? Because I don’t exist, and it’s just you here. I am you. So I’m hugging you, us, for being crazy enough to create me, who is you, even though the others would just think you were giving yourself a mental illness."

"Yes, yes."

He laughs harder. "Now, what do you want to hide from yourself?"

"I want you to hide this information about Christoph until the third tournament, possibly longer. Don’t let me connect the dots or come to that conclusion again."

Sneakythaniel touches my forehead, eyes serious for a moment as he observes the information and my intention, then he nods once. "Got it!"

I look at him, confused. "You got what?"

"Not telling!"

"Ahhh," I groan, realizing what must have happened. I must have given him the knowledge of what I just gave him to hide. I want to ask, curiosity starting to torture me, but I know I wouldn’t have made myself do this without a damn good reason.

Sneakythaniel seems amused. With a giggle, he spins in a circle, the red blanket twirling around him, then drops down on all fours and crawls, clumsily, back under the bed, his movements childlike and carefree.

Shaking my head, I stand up and turn to leave. After a few steps, he calls out from behind me. "Hey!"

"What?" I ask, glancing back.

From under the bed, in a space that somehow looks a lot darker than it should, only his head peeks out. Sneakythaniel smiles widely, his eyes shining. "I know it’ll annoy you, so I want to tell you. You’ve already been here before today, and you already had me hide something else from yourself."

I just wave him off and keep walking, but he keeps laughing. "After you leave, the memory of me existing will get hazy and hard to remember. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure we remember it all and tell you when it’s time. So get stronger!"

As if I needed the reminder. Getting stronger is the only plan I’ve ever had.